#like. i understand cats like. genuinely freak him out for whatever reason.
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The Hashira reacting to your fear of spiders
Quite a self indulgent post, as I am currently sleeping in the basement so I can beat the summer heat. However I keep finding spiders which is awful because I hate them too T_T
Post is just as the title says, hope that you enjoy ^^
Word Count: 3.5k~
Mitsuri Kanroji
You would think that as one of the strongest Hashira that she wouldn’t be intimidated by insects
After all, she is pretty close to Shinobu and Obanai
Surely this sweetheart would be able to save you from this predicament!
Well you thought wrong
From the second she lays eyes on you cowering in the corner staring at the ceiling in horror, concern washes over her
“Aw baby, are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Until she follows your unmoving stare to find the spider you’ve been glaring at this whole time
A shriek is ricocheting all around the building’s interior as Mitsuri scrambles to the opposite corner, nearly knocking over the small table in the process
“Sweetie, there’s a spider” You warn nervously. Mitsuri is biting her nails as she frantically looks at you and the spider over and over. “How do we get rid of it? I don’t want to touch it!!!”
Turns out Mitsuri hates spiders too
Kind of ironic for the Love Hashira, don’t you think?
Both of you try to throw objects at the spider to hopefully kill it without ruining the ceiling
Mitsuri isn’t even close to hitting the spider because her throws aren’t even reaching the ceiling, she keeps severely underestimating her tosses because she is afraid to cause more damage
Now you’re both stuck
You end up chucking a newspaper at it, causing the spider to scurry a couple inches to dodge the roll of paper
This freaks both of you out, leading to Mitsuri clinging to you as you both run out of the room
Eventually one of Mitsuri’s cats will wander into the room and take care of the problem for you both
You now have an ally in your arsenal :)
Obanai Iguro
It’s no secret that Obanai loves creepy shit
He loves horror, foggy days, and Halloween is probably his favourite holiday
Obanai even has Kaburamaru around, he’s for all things spooky
When he walks in to find you cowering away from a spider on the table near your cup of tea, his reaction surprises you
He’s lowkey offended
“Are you kidding me” “Just get rid of it Obanai”
He just doesn’t understand why you’re afraid of them
“Explain it to me first, you’re being ridiculous” Obanai groaned with a glare. “I just hate them, they’re creepy and they can jump at you” “Oh, so if Kaburamaru was a snake you would hate him too?” You could feel your eye twitch at that response. “That’s not the same thing cause he’s a snake, you idiot!”
Now look at who’s being unreasonable
Obanai would probably interrogate you for a few minutes before reluctantly catching the spider and releasing it outside
Of course he does this with his bare hands
When he returns to you calming yourself down, he gives you a firm pat on the shoulder while you focus on your breathing
“It’s not that big of a deal, you’re bigger than it anyways” “Wash your damn hands, you sadist” “Rude”
He’ll probably just leave the interaction like that and not think much of it
However if he sees that you’re genuinely hurt from his part with the incident, he’ll give you a hug and apologize
“I should’ve done better the other day, I was disrespecting you and your fear” He whispers while awkwardly holding you close
He’ll make it up to you eventually, but he still seems annoyed by your hatred for spiders
But he knows that it surely comes within good reason
Just give him time
Tengen Uzui
Immediate laughter was heard from all across the estate
Here you were, in Tengens arms after you found a spider in the cabinet while the two of you were in the middle of dinner
The spider sat on the container of salt you were going to add to your stew, but you ended up leaping at the Sound Hashira in an effort to get away from the eight legged bastard
Tengen instinctively carried you as he searched for whatever spooked you, but he had howled with laughter when he found what it was
"It's not funny, Tengen." "You're right honey, it's hilarious! Hahahaha!"
He was laughing so hard that his knees were pointed inward, struggling to hold himself up
Once he calmed down, he placed you off to the side to go remove the spider
You had a frown on your face, but you rolled your eyes and got back to cooking dinner
Tengen returned with a cocky smirk on his face, which didn't help soothe your irritation
"Another good day with my beloved saved by yours truly, man I'm good at this" He said while smoothing his hair
"Pfft, you're oddly smug for someone who just took a spider to a patch of grass" You quipped
"Is that so?" He rested an arm on the top of your head, leaning on you ever so slightly to show off his large stature. "I think you're quite picky for someone who's afraid of spiders"
You didn't say anything, soley focusing on getting dinner done
Tengen was concerned by his silence, thinking that maybe he had gone too far with his teasing
"Hey..." He whispered, resting one of your hands in his, bringing it up to his face to place a soft kiss on your knuckles
"No hard feelings?" He had a slight smile on his face, looking down at you while you softly tugged your hand away from his
You punched his arm jokingly with a playful smirk on your face
"For now..."
Sanemi Shinezugawa
"You're a fucking wuss" Sanemi groaned
He was in the middle of training only to be interrupted by you calling his name with panic in your voice
Running to you, he tore the door to living room with his blade drawn, only to find you pressed up against the wall
Looking around, he doesn't see anything but you still shook from where you stood
You directed him to the blanket you were using, where a joro spider sat with its bright green abdomen shining in the sunlight
Now here Sanemi stood, with his blade on the floor where he dropped it and had his arms crossed
"Kill it" You begged. Sanemi only raised a brow at you, but otherwise remained unmoving
"What's in it for me?" He said with a sly smirk on his face
You really didn't want to make any deals with the Wind Hashira
Not that he never kept to them, but rather that he requested the most ridiculous things to agree to your demands
"Ughhhh fine, what do you want?" You wailed. Anything to get the damn spider gone and get back to the book you were reading
Sanemi's smirk widened. "We're going hiking tomorrow"
You blinked at his bargain
"Deal"
Sanemi crouched down, and picked up the spider carefully with his bare hands
He was calm and quick about it so he was able to hold it in a manner that didn't risk him getting bit
"It's going to be a short hike though..." You pondered out loud
Sanemi stood up again. "What makes you say that?" He asked with his back to you as he headed outside again
This time you had a clever smile
"You never said how long this hike had to be"
Sanemi stopped suddenly, standing still in the door without a single inch of him moving
"Uhh, Sanemi?"
Sanemi turned to you creepily, an evil grin plastered across his state
A chill ran down you spine and you broke into a sprint, Sanemi chasing you with the spider around the training grounds
What an asshole
Shinobu Kocho
On the outside, Shinobu seems like a good person to go to
You shyly lead her to one of the empty wards, pointing to a spider resting on the wall near one of the beds
"Oh my! Are you afraid of spiders? Do you want me to take it outside?"
When you nod at her, still cautiously staring at the spider preventing you from completing your tasks around the Butterfly Estate, Shinobu doesn't waste a moment to save the day
"Alright! I'll take care of you my sweetheart~"
She is the Insect Hashira after all, so she can take care of this issue no problem
Easily traps it in a cup and placed her clipboard over it to prevent it from escaping again
When Shinobu returns, the spider is gone and her clipboard isn't with her
"That must have frightened you! Do you need to sit down? I'm here now"
Her face is beaming with a grin as you hug her, thanking her profusely for getting rid of the little terror
She's kind of surprised with how grateful you are, not really expecting such a happy glow to take over you
It leaves her kind of flustered
Little did you know that in the other room, the spider was seated on a desk still trapped in between the cup and the clipboard
Shinobu keeps the spider for a while without you noticing
At first she was going to use it to hopefully help you get rid of your fear
She thought that if she showed you the spider in a more controlled environment, like a small terrarium, that maybe you'll find it as interesting as she does
But the plan has changed after seeing your expression
Shinobu starts to release the spider every few days in places she knows you'll find it
She does it all for the giddy look on your face when she comes back empty handed, and the tight hugs you give in appreciation
She feels guilty for it, but she can't resist your embraces
By the second week, the other residents started to notice
The butterfly girls pulled Shinobu aside to convince her to stop scaring you unnecessarily
"That's so mean!" "How could you do such a thing?" "Apologize immediately!" The triplets lectured collectively
After explaining her intentions, Shinobu vows to the girls and herself to correct her wrongdoing
"Shino, where are you taking me?" "I don't want to spoil the surprise~"
She leads you to her study, where a small terrarium sat on her desk
"Oh you got a new pet! What is it?" You questioned ecstatically
Shinobu had a small smile on her face as she handed you a bag of mealworms
"It's a spider that I trapped two weeks ago. I wanted to see if I can help you ease your fear of spiders." Shinobu spoke calmly as she gathered two books full of annotations, flipping to some pages she had noted. "You don't have to love them, but I wanted to see if you could understand them. They are quite fascinating creatures!"
You two spent the day learning about spiders, and although you still hate them, you found yourself a little bit soothed by the interesting facts Shinobu shared
Admittedly, feeding mealworms to the spider she kept in the terrarium was kind of cool
Kyojuro Rengoku
Okay there are two options here
If he finds you with a small spider, he is like your knight in shining armor
“Don’t worry my love, I’ll remove the threat at once! You can count on me!”
Kyojuro will take a small cup and a piece of paper, calmly trap the spider, and take it outside with a smile on his face
He’s so gentle that it makes you question why you were afraid of the spider in the first place
When he comes back, he will lift you into his arms and hug you tightly while nuzzling his cheek into yours
“See? It’s not so bad! I’ll always be here if you find another, my love”
Will happily participate in anything you ask of him in times where you need more calming down
How endearing ^^
That is until you figure out that there is a second response to situation like these
Even heroes have their limits
Kyojuro comes home to find you calling out to him, in the bedroom this time
When he enters, there you are, pointing at a spider that’s as big as your palm sitting on the middle of your bed
“Kyojuro, you’re finally here! I was just trying to put away the linen from the…. Uh- Kyo? Are you okay?”
You’re absolutely floored to see the Flame Hashira standing there with his usual smile on his face, but he looked like a nervous wreck
Panic was in his eyes and this man was sweating bullets
“Oh, hahaha! I’m sorry my love, what did you need me for?”
Is he serious…
“Yeah there’s… a spider on the bed”
You couldn’t believe your eyes as his expression shifted from anxious to cold so smoothly
Kyojuro’s face was dead, devoid of his cheeriness, staring hollowly at the large spider that sat on his sheets
Then his face snapped back to a grin and pulled out a matchbox
“Kyo, what are you do-“ “Killing it with fire of course!” “WHAT???”
You had to drag him out to calm him down and convince him not to burn down the entire building
After Kyojuro returned to a more sensible state, he kindly asked his crow to eat the spider and led him into the room
Kaname gobbled it up and thanked his master for the snack
Yummy :)
Giyu Tomioka
Depends on how he finds the spider can drastically change his reaction
If he finds a spider by himself while minding his own business, he'll leave it alone
Completely unfazed by it
He'll only move it if he knows that you'll see it, but often makes truces with them over their existence
"I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone" Kind of deals here
But the second that you scream at the eight legged thing, Giyu smashes it and the surrounding area to get rid of the spider
For such a stoic guy, he went all out like it stole his cold soba
"It is done" Giyu mumbles, calmly wiping the remains and debris off his fist with a handkerchief
You found his confusion hard to believe when you backed away from his open arms, silently declining his affectionate offer
Frankly you now had more things to worry about now that the wall was destroyed, but at least the spider is gone
Giyu is lowkey proud of himself, thinking that he handled the situation well
By the third hole in the living room wall he finally questions if there's a more effective way of doing this
The way that he sees it, Giyu is completely okay with sharing a space with a spider because he does not fear them
This is why he has an unspoken truce between them and other bugs
But because you fear them, Giyu views the same spider as an immediate threat to your safety because YOU fear them
Which is why he attacked so strongly
After speaking with you about your fears around spiders a little more, Giyu now reacts more tranquil at your shrieks when you discover them
Now uses the sheath of his blade to prompt the spider to step onto the holster, and slowly brings it outside to set the spider down on a tree
Still isn't sure what to do when you're still a little freaked out after the interaction, but at least he's learning
Gyomei Himejima
Overdramatic as hell
You almost don't want him to take care of it for you, but the spider sitting on the door has effectively trapped you in your bathroom
When Gyomei opens the door to the bathroom you cowered in, his expression is the same but can't seem to find the reason why you called him over
"Is something troubling you?" Gently speaking in case any sudden movements scare you more
You whimpered “The door…”, shakily pointing at the door he opened
Gyomei enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him and uncovering the spider that got injured in the result of him entering
Two of its legs were bent the wrong way, twitching violently
The giant man before you immediately bursts into tears at the sight of the dying spider
"Oh, I did that. I'm so sorry little one, I didn't mean to." Despite how tranquil his words were, there was a steady river of tears on either side of his face
Your heart wretched at the gentle giant before you crying at the small creature
The spider was so small and jerked at every second, there was nothing you could do to save it
Gyomei felt it was necessary to put the spider out of it's misery, and ripped a small piece of a rag you kept in the bathroom and killed it right where it was
This caused Gyomei to cry even harder
You felt quite guilty about the whole situation, since you were afraid of spiders
What kind of threw you off was the funeral you held afterwards in the garden
You found it silly to throw a large funeral for such a small creature, but Gyomei answered the questions flooding your head before you even voiced them
"No creature is small enough to not be worthy of life" He said, praying silently with the beads around his clasped hands. "All of them are precious, all living beings are loved as long as I am around. Death is such a sorrowful thing"
Your silence didn't go unnoticed by him
"Why do you fear spiders? They're so small, and you're as large as I compared to them. Why do they trouble you?"
You tell Gyomei as much as you were comfortable with, he was nodding silently from where he sat next to you
His hand touched your shoulder softly, tracing his way to the top of your head where he stroked your hair
You leaned into his side, allowing him to wrap his arm around you as he patted your head softly
Perhaps you were too judgemental of Gyomei at first
The gentle giant was just sensitive, that's all
Muichiro Tokito
You might as well go to someone else
Muichiro is an amazing training partner and a great friend, but you have to admit that he's not going to be of much help
You had hung your haori on a railing when you got back from the lake with Muichiro since it had gotten soaking wet
Muichiro dropped it in the lake while you were packing up your stuff after enjoying some early morning training
When you returned to your haori after stopping at Ubuyashiki's estate for some guidance and food, you found a spider sitting ontop of where it layed on the railing
You froze where you were, sweat dripping from your temple and slowly backed away to return inside
"Muichiro?" You called. "Hmm" Muichiro was muching on some tempura at the table. "There's a spider... Could you get rid of it?"
Muichiro shoveled some more food into his mouth
"Let me finish eating and I'll do it" He said without even looking at you
You were skeptical, but you sat down and continued eating with him, occasionally talking in between bites
You had left to go speak with Kagaya about an upcoming mission, but when you returned to your haori again, the spider was still there
It was as if it was mocking you
Inside you found Muichiro, but this time he was doing some crafts, like making paper flowers and knitting lilac bouquets
"Muichiro, the spider..." "Hmm" He hummed again, still not looking at you
You sighed and walked back outside, seeing if you can wait for the spider to leave instead
You found that your haori was spiderless and warm from drying in the sunlight all afternoon
While the two of you walked back to the village on your way home, you both continued talking about whatever came to mind
"I think I'm forgetting something..." Muichiro mumbled
Keeping quiet, you didn't want to mention the spider on your haori earlier
You didn't want to make him feel bad about his forgetfulness
Thinking of ways to avoid the topic, you didn't realize that you were quite a bit in front of Muichiro until he put his hands on your shoulder suddenly
"Stay still for a sec..." "Huh? Oh, okay. Is there a leaf in my hair again?" His fingers gently pinched your upper spine
You turned around and immediately flew to the ground, scrambling backwards away from your friend
"Nah, just this spider on your haori" Muichiro mumbled with the same one you saw earlier
You were thankful that he caught it for you before you noticed it was on your back
He sat with you as you squirmed where you were, trying to get your disgust out of your system before you return to your respective estates
꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚ ꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚ ꒷꒦˚︶︶꒦꒷︶꒷꒦˚
Thank you for reading! This took a while to complete but I had a lot of fun writing it :D
If anyone wants to submit a request, know that my inbox is open and that there are request info available on my pinned post so please look it over before submitting ^^
#demon slayer#kimetsu no yaiba#kny#kny blog#demon slayer blog#kny fluff#kny hashira#kny gyomei#kny shinobu#kny scenarios#kny tengen#kny giyuu#kny obanai#kny mitsuri#kny muichiro#kny rengoku#kny reader insert#demon slayer fluff#demon slayer headcanons#demon slayer hashira#demon slayer gyomei#demon slayer x reader#demon slayer x you#shinobu kochou#shinobu kocho x reader#gyomei himejima#kyojuro rengoku#uzui tengen#giyu tomioka#mitsuri kanroji
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more trans eddie thoughts:
he's constantly getting into it with teachers who say transphobic shit and/or misgender him, which is (part of) why he's been held back so many times
he got into dnd rly young, before he'd figured his shit out completely, but that first time playing was a massive eye-opener because the character he created was a guy & for ~some reason~ ppl using he/him to talk about him was kinda awesome
his bandmates were the first people he told when he came up with his new name
he likes having his hair long, but for some reason tying it back makes him dysphoric
EEEEEEEE!!!!
Oh for sure, he's probably gotten more detentions than he could count just standing up for himself, much to his uncles complaints to the school. And first days are his worst nightmare, which is why when he finds out he's being held back for the first time he nearly has a full on breakdown in his room.
Because he can't do that again, can't go through the embarrassment of correcting his teachers on the first day, hearing all the kids laugh at him, the soft whispers of "freak" from the back of the room. Can't take the constant misgendering and dead naming from everybody, even those trying their best to understand his "situation" as they called it. Couldn't take another year of wondering if the people who were actually nice to him, of which there were very few, were being genuine or just putting on a facade to back stab him later. He couldn't play the constant cat and mouse game anymore and told himself he wouldn't
And, yet, at the beginning of August he found himself back, sitting at the same old wooden desk, attached to what he swore was a chair designed to be uncomfortable, listening as the teacher went down the list of names. Every name closer to his making him feel more and more sick to his stomach.
Joshua Miller...
Ashley Moore...
Caroline Munson?
It was as if Eddie could feel his heart stop in his chest, fist clenching as he grit out a firm, "Eddie." And to his surprise the whispers didn't sound as deafening as they did the year before, so powerful.
"Pardon?" his teacher questioned, looking on at him with confusion. And instead of cowardly mumbling his name again he said it with pride, "It's Eddie." he looked up, making sure to make eye contact with the stout woman standing before him, "Not Caroline," he grit with enough attitude to make her cock an eyebrow at him. But, to his delight she didn't dwell on it further, just gave him a semi-judgmental up and down, made a note on her roll sheet and moved on.
'86, maybe it really was his year.
OKAY I LOVE THIS BECAUSE THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I DO 😭 Not only does he give all of his DnD characters he/him pronouns, but by any means possible he will make them as strong as he possibly can, even if it means they're dumb as a rock because hearing the amount of hit damage he does to whatever villain they may be fighting, especially if it's the fatal blow always makes him feel so euphoric and happy. Especially the way everyone looks at him and cheers for him like he's some kind of hero. I also hc that his first character would be a Shifter idk why 🤷🏻♂️
YES!!! I also think they would be the first people he comes out to after his uncle, of course. And I think they would have a lot of questions but would wholeheartedly support him. Really, even after Eddie came out nothing would change between him and his band, he would just be "one of the guys", like he'd always been, and that's what be loved about them, they never treated him differently. But I honestly think they would love his name and the reasoning behind it. They would definitely think it's "metal" and would grin and laugh out of excitement for him, some even calling him lucky that he got to pick his own name and Eddie telling them not to push it with a soft smile. And one of them would definitely be disappointed they didn't pick his name even if in the back of his mind Eddie is thinking about how dumb of a name it was he wouldn't have the heart to tell them that.
Okay, I feel like this is so true and I just feel it. I think that when Eddie ties his hair back it makes him look more feminine and draws more attention to the "softness" of his face which everyone he asks swears doesn't exist, but he swears up and down that having his hair up just brings out his more feminine features so he never wears his hair down. But shit happens and things change. That "shit happening" happening to be the stuff with the upside down and that "change" being him not wanting to fight interdimensional with hair in his eyes if he can help it. So, he borrows a hair tie from Robin and smacks the hell out of some demobats. And almost the second they're done he starts taking it down but not before Steve cam stop him.
"Woah, dude, what're you doing, what if they come back," Steve exclaimed, shaming Eddie for his lack of readiness and quick relaxation.
But Eddie just shrugged, not giving much thought to it, "Don't like it," he explains simply, taking his hair down and shaking it out, adjusting it like it wasn't just going to get fucked up all over again.
Steve shook his head, "your funeral, Munson," he sighed, picking his ore up off of the ground.
"Wouldn't expect you to understand anyways, Steve."
#going feral currently#sorry it took me so long to get to this work wore me tf out lmao#Eddie Munson#Trans Eddie Munson#Stranger Things
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I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this before but I think it just makes sense for Judai to be naturally nocturnal. Like boy is legit the embodiment of the gentle *darkness* and canonically sleeps a lot during class. I genuinely think the only reason this boi can function during the day is due to years spent having to adapt to how society works around him. I can just imagine once he leaves duel academy he naturally reverts back to this system now that he doesn’t have such a need to conform.
I can just see one of the gang walking downstairs in the middle of the night, finding these golden eyes staring at them from the darkness and just thinking “oh, Judai needed a place to recuperate after one of his Judai adventures” without fucking questioning it.
Oh, absolutely.
Again, Jaden to me is such a fascinating intersection between neurodiversity and genuinely non-human. Because when I first started watching GX, I immediately clocked this over-sleeping, daytime-catnap boi as a comrade in adhd; many of us naturally have circadian rhythms that are not in line with the rest of diurnal society. I for one can remember plenty of high school classes I slept through and, just like Jaden, managed to squeak out a passing grade through a combo of natural smarts and last minute panic.
So the idea that he's not only naturally like that not only due to his amazing cocktail of mental oddness, but also it's a deep part of the magic part of him, is so wonderful and comes with so many intricacies. It just feels. So nice, to see a character as chaotic and messy and against the grain as he is, traits nd viewers can relate to, while still making them deeply consequential to his life and his protagonistdom.
I headcanon that sleep is something he doesn't really need, especially after his fusion with Yubel, but he got into the habit as a kid (Again, projecting, but he was that kid that absolutely didn't want to go to bed and didn't understand all this "just lie down, you'll fall asleep :)" talk) So post-highschool, eventually when he's doing whatever he's doing in europe in bbt, he tends to travel at night and then explore and chat with people during the day, and catches small naps when he feels like it: On nice benches, log bus rides, that sort of thing.
And yes yes DOUBLE yes to his eyes reflecting in the dark like a cats. Glad to know we're all thinking it because it is 100% correct. He has freaked out many a person driving down the highway at night. Hassleberry probably has a similar thing, but only when his eyes are dino-ey. Jaden has it full time after his fusion with Yubel, and this not only makes it very easy to know when he's riffling through your kitchen at 3am, but also is one of the reasons the yearbook staff had such a hard time getting a nice picture of him. In every single photo he's just
#yugioh#yugioh gx#ygo gx#ygo#gx#ask#jaden yuki#judai yuki#yuki judai#continuing to push my eldritch jaden agenda#headcanons
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Just The Way You Are
also on ao3
written for the Monster March prompt list
prompt: horns and fangs
Jaskier has never understood why people call witchers monsters. It's true, they're different, but so are cats and dogs and horses and people like them just fine. Jaskier just sees Geralt as Geralt and always has. He's no different than any other person he's met - a little more coordinated and he dies a little less easy - but otherwise the same. People are so cruel and dismissive of Witchers, but Jaskier is a firm believer that they deserve nice things as much as the next person, maybe even more, and so, he decides to take it upon himself to do nice things for Geralt. Like surprise him in Kaedwen when he comes down from the keep.
Only it turns out Jaskier is the one to get a surprise. He's never understood why people call Witchers monsters. Not until now.
He spots the hooded figure passing between shops and he's sure it's Geralt, but he doesn't want to approach until he's absolutely certain. So he sneaks between the buildings, trying to get ahead of him and catch a glimpse of his face. Maybe-Geralt pauses in front of a stall and for a moment Jaskier thinks he's stopping to buy something, so he sneaks away, but when he comes around the other side of the house, he stops dead.
His breath catches and for a second, he's certain that even his heart stops beating.
The man in the market is certainly Geralt, he knows that now, but sprouting from the top of his head are two thick, curled horns. He tries to call out, but his mouth is dry and maybe it's for the best because Geralt’s expression darkens suddenly and he sniffs at the air.
For the first time, Jaskier considers that maybe Geralt meets him further south for a reason. Maybe he doesn't want Jaskier to see him like this, he obviously takes measures to ensure that he doesn't. Fuck. He's gone and fucked this up, too.
Ducking back behind the building, Jaskier holds his breath, hoping that Geralt hasn't caught his scent. He knows if he has there's nothing for it, he's caught, but maybe-
"Jaskier."
Geralt's voice is low, right on the edge of a growl, and Jaskier winces. When he looks over, the hood is back in place, but Geralt's teeth are bared and they're barely teeth at all - at least the canines - more like fangs. He swallows hard and risks a glance up at his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Geralt demands, moving at once to pin Jaskier's shoulders against the wall. Jaskier doesn't know what to say. He shifts uncomfortably, unwilling to look Geralt in the face.
It's not the first time Geralt's been upset with him, but this time Jaskier’s intentions were genuine, he just didn't think it through all the way. Or rather, he hadn't considered that after fifteen years together, there are still things Geralt keeps from him. Deflated, Jaskier wrenches out of his grasp and picks up the bag he dropped when Geralt shoved him. He's embarrassed, feels like an idiot for thinking Geralt might be happy to see him and now on top of it, he's intruded on something he was never supposed to see.
Geralt doesn't stop him from walking away and Jaskier tries not to think too much about that.
He books a room at the inn and doesn't bother to go down for dinner. He doesn't know what to do with himself, because if he can't travel with Geralt - and he certainly didn't seem like he was happy to see him - what can he do? Certainly not go back to Oxenfurt and admit to all his peers that yet again, he was a fool and thought someone cared when they didn't.
It's just that fifteen years is a long time. Nearly half his life. And for Geralt who rarely lets himself form attachments well, Jaskier had thought maybe it meant something to Geralt. It did to him.
Jaskier doesn't even bother to put his things away before flopping onto the bed and staring up at the beams. Geralt had been so angry. He had just wanted to do something nice, he should have known showing up himself would not be welcome. But maybe this is for the best, maybe everyone was right when they told him he couldn't follow Geralt around forever.
But he had wanted to. For the last fifteen years of his life, Jaskier has wanted nothing more than to have Geralt in his life, even if nothing ever comes of it. He's never been greedy, never wanted more than he thought Geralt would be willing to give. And look where it's gotten him? Geralt doesn't even trust him enough to show him what he really looks like.
Geralt lingers as Jaskier hurries off away from him, and he can hardly blame him. He wouldn't stay either if he’d found out the person he'd been travelling with was a monster. Jaskier tries to convince him he's not, but the thought has always been there, nagging at him. He just hasn't seen you, it says and Geralt knows it's true. He is a monster. Whatever happened to him during that second round of trials took away the remaining sliver of humanity. He'd tried so hard to hide it, to try and keep Jaskier for just a little longer, but Jaskier shows up here and how is he supposed to plan for that?
And what is Jaskier doing here in the first place? Geralt needs this time to himself. Needs a chance to hole up and file down the horns and the fangs, to make himself presentable. To visit the brothel before returning to the torture that is travelling with Jaskier.
Jaskier showing up here had thrown him off. He'd been overcome with shock and confusion and fear. Fear that Jaskier would see him like this and hate him. Fear that this one minor incident would ruin everything he's worked so hard for.
Fear had taken over and he had reacted... badly. It's no wonder Jaskier had left him there, no wonder he didn't want to be seen with him when the first time Jaskier sees what he really looks like, he practically attacks him. Fuck, he really is the monster everyone always says he is.
After everything Jaskier has done to try and prove to the world that Witchers have been given a bad name, that they're not mindless, emotionless killing machines, this is how he repays him. He has to fix this, if not for him then for his brothers' reputation and for Jaskier's peace of mind. The last thing he wants is for Jaskier to think he's in any danger with him. With a sigh, he pulls his pack higher on his shoulder and heads toward the inn.
He catches the scent of Jaskier's perfume as soon as he walks through the door and it tugs at something in his chest. It's bright and floral, but there's a tinge of despair, of sadness intertwined with it. It's not fear though, and while Geralt struggles to comprehend that, the innkeeper passes over a key. Geralt follows the directions to his own room, ridding himself of his pack and swords. He strips his armour, leaving him in only a thin black shirt and his trousers. Before he leaves the room, he pulls his travelling cloak back over his head and shoulders.
He finds Jaskier's room in a matter of minutes and stands outside the door. He's faced griffins and fiends and hired assassins and none have come close to the fear that surges through him now. Because if he failed there, he just died, plain and simple; a fitting end for a Witcher. If he fails now, he loses the person most important to him. He's glad Jaskier isn't the one with heightened senses, glad that he doesn't know how long Geralt stands outside the door before lifting to hand to knock.
But he does. And as soon as he does, Geralt’s chest tightens and he wants to leave. There's a shuffling from within and then the door pulls in and Jaskier is right there. It catches him off guard and before he can consider what Jaskier might be thinking, he blurts out,
"Let me explain," and then doesn't know what to say. What do you say? What are you supposed to say to a man who's known you half his life and only now learns you have horns. Geralt shifts, looking at him. Jaskier says nothing, but he moves aside, letting Geralt come into the room. The door shuts behind him and a wave of fear crashes down over him.
Jaskier looks sad, confused, hurt. He doesn't know where to start.
"I know you're mad and I understand-"
"You're the one who slammed me into a building," Jaskier chokes. The anger is there, Geralt expected it, but it's being smothered by something else, something stronger, like ivy around a sapling.
"I'm sorry," he winces. He is. He never meant to hurt Jaskier, not emotionally and certainly not physically. "I was... scared. I saw you and I didn't know what to do." His shoulders slump and he turns to look out the window, jaw clenched. "You're not supposed to see me like this."
"And why not?" Jaskier asks. The anger is toned down slightly, the other feeling still there but not so harsh. Geralt doesn't like it, doesn't like the feeling of it or the way it makes Jaskier's voice breaks and he wishes it would go away all together, but he doesn't know how to do that.
"I'm- Look at me, Jaskier. I'm a monster. I'm exactly what they say I am. A mutant, a freak." The anger scent remains, but it takes a sharp turn, twisting into something much more recognizable. Something he knows from tavern brawls and holding Jaskier back when they’re on the road when someone makes a snide comment.
"You absolutely are not. You're a liar and a terrible friend, but you're not a monster."
"What-"
"Why did you keep this from me?" Jaskier asks, that other feeling creeping up to regain dominance.
"I thought you'd-" Geralt drops his chin, staring at the floorboards between them. There's a crack down the center of one of them and he focuses on that instead of the sound of Jaskier's voice. "You were the only one who stuck around. You met me during the spring when they're shaved down and I- I was selfish."
"How?" Jaskier prompts. He sounds impatient, but excited, like he's anticipated what Geralt is going to say. But if he had, he wouldn't be happy about it.
"I didn't want you to hate me. I didn't want you to leave me. So I hid it from you. I became good at keeping them filed low during the warmer months and let them grow out during the winter. I didn't- it's why I never asked you to join me in Kaer Morhen."
Jaskier squints at him, disbelieving or confused, he's not sure, but the look is piercing and Geralt feels transparent under it, like Jaskier can tell every thought in his head. But he knows how that feels and this is not it. Jaskier is making assumptions if anything. Not that that thought is any less horrifying under the circumstances.
"So let me get this straight," Jaskier says, calmly, cooly. Too calm. "You once rescued me from the den of an incubus you thought would kill me if he tried to fuck me. Again, I might add. If you recall you walked in in the middle of it. You stopped me from leaving the bar with a vampiress one time because, and I quote, you don't need any help losing blood, and one time you intentionally gave me space to continue a quite lovely conversation with a, particularly amenable centaur. But you thought horns were a bit too much for me? Is that what I'm to understand Geralt?"
He doesn't know what to say to that. It's not just the horns, he supposes. But he doesn't need to give Jaskier another reason not to travel with him. Melitele knows there are enough of those already.
"Am I to believe that you're daft enough to believe that after fifteen years of traipsing over the continent with you, of writing you songs and cooking you supper and tending to your wounds- that horns would be the final straw? Geralt if you haven't noticed I've fucked dozens of people who are, to put it indelicately, much less human than you."
Geralt isn't sure how Jaskier's sex life is relevant, but he says nothing.
"I actually like them," Jaskier says, eyeing the hood. "Could I... look at them?"
Reluctantly, Geralt reaches up and pushes the hood back. The air feels cool on his head and he feels incredibly exposed letting Jaskier see him like this, but he shuts his eyes and ducks his head as Jaskier takes a step toward him.
"Can I touch?"
The air is punched from Geralt's lungs with that one simple question and he nods slowly, tucking his chin a little closer into his chest. Jaskier brushes his fingers along the curve of the left horn and the only way Geralt knows he's touching him is the way he hums with intrigue, similar to the way he hums at his lute when it's newly strung. He takes his time, reaching right down to the base and touching the more sensitive skin there. It doesn't hurt, but it ignites Geralt's instinct to protect himself, makes him feel like he should pull away, hide this from Jaskier again.
When Jaskier touches his head, he does. He's not sure what it is about the touch, maybe that he can fully feel it, but it snaps his restraint and he pulls back, breathless.
"Sorry," Jaskier whispers, "did it hurt?"
"No," Geralt admits, "just... unusual. No one's ever touched them before. Maybe Eskel when he helped me file them down the first few times."
"Why don't we," Jakier suggests, "come sit on the bed, take your cloak and your boots off. I'd like to get a better look at them. if that's okay?"
Geralt nods and Jaskier's hands are on him before he removes his cloak himself. He undoes the clasp with no effort, draping the cloak over his arm before directing Geralt to the bed. This is... not at all how he expected this to go down, but at least Jaskier hasn't turned him away yet. He toes off his boots and sits back on the mattress, leaning against the wall with his feet at the edge.
In a moment, Jaskier climbs up over him, making himself perfectly at home in Geralt's lap.
"There," he says proudly, "it's much easier to see like this and you won't' end up with a crick in your neck." Geralt remains silent, worried that he doesn't know the situation well enough to comment.
Jaskier's hands slip into his hair again, fingers looping around the base of both horns and he feels the faint tug and Jaskier slips up, following the curve of them with his hands.
"Do you brothers have them?" he asks. Geralt shakes his head.
"Second trials" he explains. "Lost the pigment in my hair and grew fucking horns."
"I like them."
Jaskier continues his ministrations, apparently happy to just sit and touch and nothing else. And Geralt relaxes under the touch, even if he can barely feel it. Jaskier isn't angry with him, doesn't hate him, and for now, that can be enough, But the air between them grows thick. He doesn't notice it right away, too preoccupied with Jaskier touching his horns, but the scent is what alerts him. Spicy, earthy, floral.
It's nice, he thinks absently, familiar and enticing. But he doesn't think too much about it. Not until Jaskier's little hums become softer, sweeter. The realization hits him so abruptly he nearly snaps his head back up, but he doesn't want to give Jaskier any more reason to leave him, although, maybe that's not as much of a problem as he thought.
"Are you... aroused by this?"
Jaskier huffs a little laugh, awkward, but not uncomfortable. "I just think they're sexy."
"Oh."
"Why, does it turn you on?"
"No," Geralt snorts, "I can barely feel it. If I could filing them down would be excruciating."
"Right," Jaskier realizes and Geralt can sense the thinly veiled horror in his voice."Anything else I should know about?"
Somewhat reluctantly, Geralt opens his mouth and pulls his lip back. He'd be horrified at the way Jaskier gasps if he couldn't smell the arousal wafting off of him.
"Fuck, Geralt, that's-" he reaches out, pressing the pad of his thumb to the point of Geralt's fang and smiles. It's a faint sort of thing, more amusing than outright joy, but he's fascinated and right now that's good enough.
Jaskier's finger slips along his bottom teeth, but Geralt shifts under him, dislodging him, and Jaskier's fingers brush his bottom lip before slipping forward, sliding between his lips and pressing against his tongue. Geralt's skin prickles just at the thought of it and when he looks up at Jaskier, he finds him wide-eyed and intrigued.
Their eyes meet and Jaskier holds his gaze. Then, cautiously, withdraws his fingers and runs them along the swell of Geralt's bottom lip, eyes dropping to watch the way they press against it.
"Geralt?" he whispers and Geralt realizes he's been so focused on Jaskier's fingers that he hasn't been paying attention to anything else. He's surprised to find he's got his hands settled on Jaskier's hips. His eyes flick down to his hands, then quickly back up to Jaskier's. The moment they meet again, his willpower snaps and he hauls Jaskier forward, one hand slipping to the back of his head to guide him.
The moment their lips collide, Geralt realizes this was inevitable. That one day Jaskier was bound to find out and want to know about them. His reaction though, Geralt never could have anticipated.
Geralt is... kissing him. It takes a second for his brain to catch up with what his body has already realized and he breaks the kiss with a jolt.
"You're not mad at me," he pants and Geralt just stares at him for a moment.
"No, I told you, I was afraid-"
"That I'd leave you." Jaskier finishes. Geralt nods. "I'd never leave you." He leans in again, trying for a softer, gentler kiss, but the way Geralt's hands press against him sends sparks across his skin.
Jaskier leans into it, parting his lips to deepen the kiss and Geralt's hand slips to his waist, one big, warm hand curling around his side. He pushes into the touch. It's not often he feels small or delicate with a lover, but Geralt does that for him and it's hotter than it has any right to be.
He parts his lips, deepening the kiss and Geralt moans softly against him. It's the most beautiful sound Jaskier has ever heard and he responds in kind, desperate to hear that sound again.
When they part again, Jaskier's breathing heavily and, much to his delight, so is Geralt. He leans back a little, far enough to look at Geralt's face, but not far enough to keep from touching him. He takes in the golden eyes staring back at him, the point of his teeth where Geralt's lips are parted, and the horns. Fuck, Geralt must be an idiot to think he wouldn't want him like this.
"Can I touch you- the rest of you?" he asks and Geralt grunts a yes, surging forward to hold him again.
Geralt gets both arms around him this time, lifting him off the mattress and rising to his knees. He shifts them so he's facing the head of the bed and as he settles, gently lays Jaskier back against the mattress. His head hits the pillow and Geralt settles between his thighs, slipping his hands over Jaskier's hips.
Jaskier reaches up to him, running his hands over Geralt's shoulders, down his arms. He follows the lines of his chest through his shirt, straight down to his trousers where he tugs the fabric free. His fingers slip beneath it and he sighs at the warmth of Geralt's skin on his fingertips. Geralt shudders against him and it gives Jaskier the encouragement he needs. Carefully, he curls his hands around the hem of Geralt's shirt, lifting it up and tugging it over his head.
He inhales sharply and Geralt pulls back just slightly. Jaskier is quick to explain his misunderstanding, slipping his hands around the back of Geralt's neck and sliding them down his shoulders.
"You're beautiful," he whispers.
"You've seen me naked a dozen times this week, Jaskier."
"Not like this."
And it's true. He's seen Geralt naked more times than he can count and he knows Geralt is sexy, knows the lines of his chest better than he should for never having seen them up close, but he's never seen him like this. Geralt is soft like this, so close, and Jaskier is allowed to touch him, Jaskier is allowed to look.
He brushes his fingertips over his nipples. Geralt gives a little gasp and his eyelids flutter.
"Wouldn't think it makes a difference," Geralt mumbles and Jaskier realizes he thinks he's talking about the horns.
"Oh it does, my darling, but I mean like this," he says, pulling Geralt lower over him. "Where I'm allowed to touch you."
"You're always allowed," Geralt mumbles, chin dripping to inadvertently give Jsskier a better look at his horns. He reaches out, slipping his fingers down to the point again. "I just... can't help the way I react when I'm too close to you."
"What do you mean?"
"You make me want things I shouldn't, make me think about things I can't have-"
"Bullshit. What shouldn't you have? What can't you have?"
Geralt lifts his head to look at him, meeting his eyes for a moment and then, "you," he says sadly. Jaskier doesn't give a chance to respond before Geralt continues, evidently relieved to get this off his chest. "You spread your affection so wide, in every town and village and I- it's different with me. You're soft and kind, but how could you want... you have your choice of any person on the continent, how could I-'' he cuts himself off with a sound that Jaskier would call a sob from anyone else.
"What are you saying, Geralt? You don't think I could want you? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"
Geralt just snorts at him and moves to pull away, but Jaskier rolls him onto his back and straddles his hips.
"Do you know how wonderful you are?" He pushes his hands through Geralt's chest hair, pressing his fingertips into his skin. "How could I not want you? Do you see me following anyone else around?"
"You're always with someone, always inviting someone else into your bed-"
"Because you wouldn't have me. Or, I thought-" He shifts a little, and suddenly Geralt's hands are sliding up his back, pressing him down against him.
"You thought wrong," he breathes, and then he's kissing him again, soft and slow. One hand slips up into his hair and Jaskier sighs against his lips, letting his eyes fall shut.
He slumps against Geralt's chest, pressing his hands to either side of Geralt's face and he kisses him softly. He pours all of his affection into ever, every feeling he's never been able to share with Geralt, every little thought that he's thought would be too much for him. He rocks against him, pressing their bodies together. He wants to feel Geralt, to be as close as he can for whatever time he has with him.
But then Geralt is pressing back, arching off the bed and wrapping one arm tightly around Jsskier's back until they're so close Jaskier can barely move. He nips at Geralt's lips, pushing back the words that bubble to the surface, the words he wants so desperately to say. He's been holding back for years and maybe now he's allowed? Maybe now Geralt would be amenable - her certainly seems to be so far.
And Jaskier is so caught up in the thought, in the idea of being able to tell Geralt how he feels, that he doesn't realize he's being rolled over until he's on his back and Geralt isn't touching him anymore. He rises to his knees, breaking the kiss only to mouth at Jsskier's jaw and down the side of his neck.
Geralt nips at his collarbone, runs his tongue along the ridge of it and sucks at the skin just below. There will be marks in the morning, Jaskier is sure of it, and he's already itching to look at them. But Geralt doesn't give him much of a chance to think about it before he's nuzzling at Jaskier's neck again, the tips of his fangs just barely brushing against his skin. And Jaskier shudders. The motion goes through his whole body and a soft whine escapes his lips. How the fuck Geralt ever thought seeing him like this would be a bad thing is beyond him.
"Jaskier," he whispers, "I want you. Can I?"
"Anything," Jaskier gasps, "please Geralt, anything."
Geralt hums against him and meets his eyes for just a second before lowering them again to Jaskier's chest. He presses soft kisses into the skin, slipping down to nuzzle into his chest hair and Jsskier is preoccupied with the warmth of his breath and then Geralt's fingers brush over a nipple and he cries out, arching off the bed as Geralt pinches it between his fingertips. It's still gentle, still softer than he's used to, but it's Geralt.
It's Geralt touching his chest and kissing his neck and playing with his nipples. It's Geralt kneeling over him and Geralt breathing against his skin and it's... a lot. Automatically, Jaskier reaches out to him, pulling Geralt close so he can bury his face in his neck.
Geralt works a hand between them, slipping down to fumble with the clasps on Jaskier's trousers and then he's pulling away just enough to be able to undo the clasps. Jaskier groans as his trousers are shoved away, discarded off the side of the bed, but then Geralt is fumbling with the buttons on his own and a wave of heat engulfs him.
This is really happening.
In his 33 years, Jaskier has slept with kings and queens, counts and countesses, and he's never wanted someone so badly as he wants Geralt. It makes him a little anxious and he has to swallow back his self-doubt as Geralt shifts out of his clothes and settles on his knees between Jaskier's thighs.
Without breaking the kiss, he slips his arms under Jaskier's knees, pressing them back against him until he's leaning over him again. Geralt deepens the kiss, pressing down on him and Jaskier groans despite himself. Geralt's cock brushes against his hip and he's hard. It tugs at something deep inside him and Jaskier wraps his arms around Geralt's neck, fingers pushing into his hair.
He shifts against the mattress and Geralt pulls his arms back. His mouth doesn't leave Jaskier's, even as he reaches for something off the side of the bed. When he settles again, he's got a bottle in his hand and Jaskier whimpers at the thought of it.
Geralt draws away, breaking the kiss with a hum and kissing down Jaskier's chest. He doesn't hesitate to wrap his mouth around the head of his cock and then he's bobbing gently, sliding halfway down his cock and slipping back to the head. Jaskier's eyes drop shut and he focuses on the feel of him, the warmth of his mouth, the softness of his hair in his hands.
When one of Geralt's hands presses against him, he hums encouragingly but doesn't move otherwise, afraid of breaking whatever spell he's under. He doesn't want to risk ending this, doesn't want to risk almost losing Geralt again.
Geralt slips a finger into him and Jaskier reaches up, smoothing his hands up the curve of Geralt's horns. He tries to keep steady, to keep from getting too worked up, but it's hard. Because this is Geralt, this is something he's wanted for years - what if it goes badly? What if it's terrible and Geralt no longer wants him?
A second finger presses into him and Jaskier gasps, startled from his thoughts. Geralt's eyes meet his and he looks worried, questioning.
"Is this too much?" he asks, "we don't have to-"
"No. No, I want you, I want this. Please." Jaskier's fingers slip to the base of his horns, brushing almost nervously where the flesh meets horn. "I just want to be good enough for you."
"You are," Geralt says immediately, "more than enough."
Their lips met again and Geralt's fingers press in a little more firmly. Heat rolls up Jaskier's spine, but he's not aching for it, he's not desperate to come. His cock is hard against his hip, but he wants to be close to Geralt. He wants his arms around him, wants to wrap his legs around Geralt's waist and just press himself against him. He wants the press of skin on skin, unhindered by clothes or blankets of any number of things that have kept them apart in the past.
He just wants Geralt and it doesn't matter how.
When Geralt finally pushes into him, Jaskier groans at the stretch. It's good, so good, and Geralt presses down against him again. Jaskier takes the opportunity to wrap around him and they move together easily, as though they were built for each other. Geralt kisses and nips and Jaskier loves so deeply he can't cope.
He hates the tears that bead in the corners of his eyes, hates the emotion that threatens to tear him apart and he buried his head in Geralt's neck to distract himself. Before he can get his arms around him properly, Geralt pulls back. As soon as he sees his face, Geralt's features pinch together.
"Jaskier-"
"Fuck," Jaskier whines weakly, "Geralt."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Jaskier whimpers. He reaches up to Geralt, wanting to pull him close again. He doesn't want Geralt to see him, doesn't want him thinking he's too much, too emotional.
Geralt guides him back against the mattress and detangles their arms, leaning up on one elbow. Jaskier is embarrassed. He's a renowned lover, known for giving his partners the greatest pleasure and in the face of Geralt and one tiny bit of genuine affection, he breaks down.
He crosses his arms over his face but Geralt just wraps gentle fingers around his wrists and pulls them back.
"Hey," he whispers and there's worry in his voice that only makes Jaskier shudder. He chokes on a sob and turns his face, pressing his forehead against Geralrt's wrist.
"I'm sorry," he mumbles, but Geralt just brushes his thumb over his forehead.
"For what?"
"I'm... " he doesn't know what to say. A mess? too much? not good enough for you? "okay."
"Jask, you're crying. Is it me?"
"No," he blurts, "no, Geralt, I-" a gentle thumb presses beneath his eye, wiping a tear away and that only makes it worse. "I love you," he whispers, so quiet he's sure no one will hear it. But Geralt, aside from his horns and his fangs, has sensitive hearing.
"And that's... bad." He says. It's not a question.
"No. No, but I- I fucked up. I almost lost you-"
"Jaskier," Geralt says softly, "you didn't. I was afraid you'd hate me like this, that you'd see me as the monster everyone else does. I was angry because I thought I was going to lose you."
"I know I'm a lot to put up with-"
"You're not."
Jaskier huffs a wet laugh. "I talk too much and I get in trouble you have to get me out of and I'm too slow and too annoying and too-" Geralt quiets him with a soft kiss to the tip of his nose.
"Once," he says, "at a tavern in Posada, I would have believed those things. I don't anymore." He brushes his fingers down Jaskier's side, settling his palm against his hip. "If I really thought you were too much, I wouldn't be here now." He dips down, kissing him on the mouth again.
Jaskier can't help but sink into it and when Geralt shifts back on top of him, Jaskier winds around his neck again. Geralt breaks the kiss, kissing Jaskier's jaw and down his neck.
"We can stop if you want?"
"No," Jaskier mumbles.
"What do you need?"
"Just... you."
"Yeah," Geralt breathes, "yeah, okay."
He shifts his hips, resuming his slow but steady rhythm and Jaskier clings to him. He can't believe he came so close to losing Geralt tonight, to losing him and losing this forever. A swell of emotion threatens to rise up again and overwhelm him, but he kisses Geralt, holds him tight and focuses on the weight of his body against his own.
His fingers trail absently around the base of a horn, bumping over the uneven skin there. The horns themselves are smoother than expected, probably because they're so fresh, but he likes the sensation of them under his fingers and Geralt seems pleased about it.
Sparks skitter across Jaskier's skin as Geralt's pace quickens and he gaps against his mouth as Geralt rocks into his prostate. Even when Geralt's lips aren't on him, they hover above his skin, hot breath creating goosebumps in its wake. And when he kisses him, it seems a tremor audit through Jaskier's body, making his heart beat quicker and his toes curl in the sheets. He's never felt this way with anyone, never found himself chasing closeness before an orgasm, but he likes it.
He likes the sleekness of Geralt's horn under his palm, the tickle of his hair as it brushes his bare skin, the tackiness is dying away on Geralt's skin. All of it. He draws him close again, just as Geralt's hips give a little snap and it knocks the breath out of him.
"Can I touch you?" Geralt asks and Jaskier knows he won't last long with Geralt's hand on him, but for once that doesn't seem important.
"Please," he whispers and Geralt's palm slips up the underside of his cock, making him shudder.
"Good?" he asks and Jaskier just nods, a small sound escaping his lips as he rocks his hips into the touch.
Geralt's fingers wrap around him and it's like a wave of heat washing over him. Jaskier's entire body burns for him, arches off the bed to get closer to him. Geralt takes him apart so easily and it's only a matter of minutes before he's gasping for it, groaning his need into Geralt's shoulder.
Geralt rocks into him, stroking him in time with his thrusts and when he kisses him again, Jaskier shatters. He groans against Geralt's lips, rocking back onto him as he spills between them. His thighs shake and his arms feel like noodles around Geralt's neck, but he holds him closer anyway.
He's still breathless when Geralt's hips snap forward again and Jaskier can tell he's close in the way he shudders as he rocks into him. He tangles his fingers in Geralt's hair, kisses him hard. He wants this to be good, wants Geralt to know that he's safe here, he can be happy here.
When Geralt comes, it's with a quiet moan against Jaskier's chest and he stays there for a moment, breathing against his skin. When he pulls away, he wraps his arms around Jaskier's shoulder, pulling him onto his side so they're still facing each other. Neither speaks and Geralt kisses him again, slow and gentle. His hand comes up to cup the back of his head, and Jaskier hums softly against his lips.
They part again on a shaky breath and Jaskier bumps his forehead against Geralt's. He doesn't want to ask him to stay, he's still too afraid to hear him say no. But he doesn't want Geralt to go. It's already hard enough losing him over the winter, he can't bear the thought of being parted any longer than that. He shuts his eyes and presses close, pacified by the way Geralt's arm tightens around him.
"Next winter," Geralt mumbles, abrupt, "come with me. There's nothing left for me to hide and I... miss you over the winter. I worry about you." Jaskier's heart soars, despite his best efforts to keep his emotions restrained.
"You'd want me there?" he asks, "with your brothers?"
"Yeah. And they've been bugging me about it since I first mentioned you."
"You talk about me?" Jaskier asks, pulling back to look at him. Geralt tips his head up, golden eyes shining even in the dim light.
"Of course. You're-" he pauses as though unsure of what exactly Jaskier is. "I love you, too," he whispers at last, eyes lowered.
It feels like a dream, like any moment Jaskier will wake up and be back hiding behind that building or worse - alone in his room. But when he kisses him, Geralt is warm and solid against him and Jaskier buries himself in that warmth.
He will never, could never, understand how anyone can see this man as a monster.
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love struck!au x tbz
find other love struck!aus here: monsta x | day6 | ateez
*this post was commissioned through kofi
sangyeon
confident sangyeon spends half the day flirting with you
then shy sangyeon spends the rest of the day running embarrassment laps around the creker building
he has high spikes of adrenaline where its just quite literally circling you with hearts in his eyes and doves singing
and then low long silent moments where he sits in a corner, muttering at the wall and everyone is like what is going on with him
if he could he might just spend eternity flip-flopping between the two
it’d take an intervention to get him to just seize the opportunity during one of his more positive moods to just ask you on a date
the only problem is he talks so fast and so jumbled and waves his hands around
and you’re like wh-
and he’s like datetommorrowcoffeeorteawhichdoyoupreferdoyounotevenwanteitherwhataboutumlikeamoviepleasesayyes
once again you are like ?
and sangyeons meter of confidence is slowly depleting hes about to run away until sunwoo is like
let me step in and translate:
sangyeon wants to go on a date with you tomorrow
when you brighten up and accept, sangyeon just breathes a sigh of relief and maybe almost tips over from the intense amount of feelings hitting him at once lol
jacob
no one takes him seriously when he starts saying he likes you
not because you’re unlikable but because jacob says it with such normalcy that everyone is like
nah
if you liked them, you would definitely be all mushy and shy and embarrassed about it
and jacob is like what are you talking about im not embarrassed to have a crush on someone i think is really awesome
even kevin is like dude don’t push it - you shouldnt make jokes about liking people
and jacob is just like *blinks*
but seriously, everyone expects him to be writing lyrics in secret and practicing some kind of grand serenade to ask you out - like you’re literally an angel dude so you have to like someone in the most cupid-esque way possible
which jacob is just like :/ about because there’s no right way to show someone how much you like them-
juyeon: sorry what i was not listening?
you on the other hand, don’t ever even catch wind of it because jacob is so sweet at all times
polite, caring, gentle touches, lots of eye contact, little smiles that make your heart melt, the usual
that you just assume he’s like this to everyone so of course you are clueless and his lack of grandiose confessions is making everyone else clueless too
until one day jacob is like fine if no one believes me ill just tell them a
nd everyone in the room is like pfft would love to see you try-
three seconds later jacob is standing in front of you and saying “want to date me?” and you’re so shocked you can’t speak
but the rest of tbz is so shocked at least three of them nearly faint
younghoon
keeps his mouth shut
literally like shut shut like not a WORD to you or to anyone in a five foot distance of you
he’ll be talking to chanhee about something and you’ll walk in and suddenly younghoon just hits pause
chanhee is like hello are you broken hello and younghoon is just _____
until you walk out of the room and then he’s like
“-that’s why i think we shouldn’t include that dance move”
and chanhee is like what the hael just happened
you will be in a conversation and pull younghoon over to join you and when you’re like what do you think!!!!!!!1
he looks at you and the cognitive function for speech just disappears
maybe its your cute face accelerating his heartbeat or maybe its the all the nerves in his body going haywire because all he wants to say is how much he really really likes you
but he can’t just SAY that so instead he says nothing
sometimes he’s lucky and members who understand this younghoon lovestruck glitch are around can save him
but sometimes its just you and him and silence until youre like ok- well-
you think maybe he just doesnt want to talk to you because he doesnt like you
so you apologize for bothering him
and its like everything that has ever blocked him from speaking before just flies out the window
because suddenly younghoon is holding your hands in his and saying
“no, im sorry. i just dont know what to say because i like you so much.”
it’s the longest sentence you’ve ever heard from him
and you are so flustered but all you can say back is
“you can keep saying ‘i like you’ if you want...........”
younghoon for the rest of the week: i like you
you: giddy
tbz: kinda wishing he’d shut it again
hyunjae
there’s no lovestruck period, it’s straight up infatuation from day ONE
and it comes at full force
hyunjae is like bubblegum, stuck to you and only you
sugary sweet and always reminding you that he is available whenever you decided you want to take him
it can really overwhelm someone, because his attention is fixated and forthcoming
and i mean you’d really have to lack all the common sense in the world not to see that he’s interested
but that’s the thing interest is not always a form of sincerity so you just kind of chalk it up to him trying to be funny
and he sprawls across your lap like a cat
happy with the fact that you just giggle and smile because ok you might never believe that he’s so in love with you it hurts but at least you still let him near you
really people probably ask you if you’re dating him and when you say you’re not their follow up is usually like well arent you exhausted having someone you dont love always around
and you’re like um - no well - i mean - and you are like ok i mean i do love him but im not going to be a fool and fall into a trap of thinking im special
and hyunjae will literally be like they are special. i feel nothing for anyone else, it is just them
and you’re like see! he’s so sweet!
and at some point i think you either drive hyunjae crazy and he kisses you because words are pointless - actions are everything
or chanhee pushes you two into each other from pure, unfiltered annoyance
“if you love each other stop pretending like it’s a big joke and just DATE!”
juyeon
return to kindergarten romance
literally he sees you and goes pink to the ears and slinks behind his friends even though he’s taller than most of them
and he can barely hide the fact that he jumps over the rainbow when your shoulders brush in the halls
if no one knew any better, juyeon probably scribbles your name in hearts on a notebook page somewhere
but then crumples it up and almost eats it if anyone tries to see what he’s up to
but again you enter the vicinity and he’s goo - muttering and forgetting to string nouns to verbs or whatever
everyone is so amazed that someone with so much charisma on stage can turn this goddamn goofy around someone he likes
and you are energetic and bright - you always want to pull juyeon into the loop - and you think the flustered look on his face is just from genuine surprise or confusion
and you’re like “oh! let me explain what we’re doing blah blah blah” and yes juyeon knows you guys are going to play monopoly but like words? dont? come ? out ? of ? his ? mouth?
and just like kindergarten he probably ends up writing you a note about how much he likes you (tick this box for yes and this box for no) or some form of that
maybe like a text where he is like hi do you want to go on a date and it was actually supposed to be like a ten page essay about why he likes you but then he got too nervous to send it so yeah
its a text that comes out of the blue and when you agree and see juyeon in person the next day you’re like why didn’t you just ask me like months ago
and once again, words? dont? come? out? of? his? mouth?
kevin
gift giving
nonstop gift giving
like to a point where jacob is worried about kevin’s spending habits
but it is all like handmade items and cute stuff he sees that reminds him of you
and everyone knows he has a crush before he can even process it because they’re doing a show halfway across the country and everyone is like practicing or doing something on their own
and kevin’s like guys look i saw this in a shop and it reminded me of-
all of tbz looking at him like: we know who it reminded you of
he plays it off though when he gives you the gifts, he’s like ah this was just like in my bag or whatever or oh i made this extra keychain when i had a day off like do you want it
and kevin thinks he is so sly and covering it up so damn well but he isn’t
you try to give gifts back, mostly because you feel bad that he’s always offering something to you
and one day you are like - at first as a kind of jest - like “here ill just give you myself in return”
and you throw your arms around his neck like you’ve done a million times before and oh shit you think kevin is going to pass out with how fast his heart starts beating and how he overheats
and you’re like kevin?!??!?! are you ok!?!??! and he’s like areyouserious
and you’re like wh and he’s like are you serious about that,,,,and you’re like oh well i mean do you even want someone like me
and kevin unblinkingly is like of course you are the only person i want
and suddenly you realize that these gifts youve been getting are kevin’s love language and its so freaking cute
(but also stop spending money just give kisses instead) (kevin agrees but he is still like im buying you anything cute i see because u are cute and cute people deserve cute things we love kevin moon logic)
changmin
ignores his feelings by throwing himself into his work
much to the surprise of no one, because he’s naturally a workoholic and perfectionist, but this time something is off
no one should be beating themselves up over such miniscule mistakes like he is
and hyunjae is convinced changmin has finally lost it, like the goddamn lid has flew off the kettle with this one
because they finish practice and everyone is clapping and changmin looks like he’s going to crush the speakers with his bare hands
less lovestruck as he is loveconfused because the real reason he’s so upset is like
he wants to focus so hard on being a great performer and whatnot but when he shuts his eyes or takes a moment to breath
his brain is fuzzy with thoughts of you and not like super romantic flowery thoughts like you see in movies or read in comics
its just little snapshots of you being,,,,,,,,,,,you
laughing along with eric, fixing the hem of your shirt in the mirror, waving at changmin before looking both ways and crossing the street to his side
GOD WHEN HAS SOMEONE CROSSING THE STREET MADE HIS HEART DO A BACKFLIP
the worst thing is he can’t seem to find a way for it to stop until like you are actually in front of him
like the real you - not the memories and thoughts he has daily of you - no just you
and you’re putting your hands on his face and he’s sweaty and hot from dancing for god knows how long and you’re like
“don’t wear yourself out like this, take care of yourself - if you don’t want to do it for you - can you do it for me?”
and changmin realizes oh right - for you, for you he could move mountains, for you he could fly, like seriously for you he could do anything
and he thinks he just says this to himself but he just said it outloud and somewhere in the room hyunjae is slapping his knee like
“AH! he’s not nuts - he’s just in love.”
chanhee
falls head over heels for you and expects you to read his mind about it
you walk into a room and he sits up a little straighter and is like ok one step two step ok come over to me, look at me, pay attention to me
and you - because you are not a mindreader - go to talk to juyeon first
and chanhee is like OH I SEE HOW IT IS and gets all moody there on out
honest to god he probably knows he’s overreacting but he just does not get why you cant tell how he’s feeling
and he asks like everyone this question and theyre like what? because you aren’t making it obvious at all?
and chanhee is like what the hell do you mean i totally make it obvious and everyone is like did you ask them out? did you get them a gift? did you compliment them?
and chanhee crosses his arms like no......but like......i smiled at them in a way i dont smile at the rest of you clowns
tbz: :/
either way, you start to notice this pattern, that when chanhee is not getting your attention he gets a little like a cat and curls himself away from you
so you, much like one with a cat, start to shower him in attention
and he just uncurls and gets all giddy and swats anyone away who tries to get into your little bubble with him
and its a bit entertaining really lol but you think its just chanhee being chanhee
till it keeps happening over and over and over again and you’re like ok wait
and chanhee is like hmm and you’re like why dont we just go somewhere alone together like on a date or something if thats what you like so much
and chanhee, who has been under the suspicion you have been going on dates sitting together in the tbz practice room is like
“oh right! a date, um i guess sure!”
inside he is screaming
haknyeon
does not waste time, he puts his detective hat on and makes a plan
for one of the youngest members he probably puts the most diligence into liking someone
its not just lovestruck butterflies and running away whenever you’re around
haknyeon swats all that gooey-mushy stuff away and is like ok lets see what movies do you like? what kind of food do you like? he has to know so that when he asks you out he is ready to impress
it shocks some of his other members, sangyeon has never seen haknyeon almost bite younghoon’s hand when he tried to as him to get off the shared desktop
haknyeon just wants to know everything about you - which kevin says he could probably do by talking more to you
and haknyeon is like go away grandpa and kevin is like WH-
either way, when it all comes to a head and haknyeon has memorized what he’s going to say in his confession to you for the one millionth time
he does not prepare for what actually happnes
which is you bound up to him with your arms open and you’re like let’s hang out! just the two of us!
and he’s like ok ill go get the other- wait
haknyeon.exe has stopped working
because truth be told he’d spend so much time trying to research and be perfect when all you really like about him is how fun and eccentric he can be
so you just ask him out first and this was not in the plan, but haknyeon is not about to let go of your warm hand as you pull him along beside you
sunwoo
swears to deny it to his grave because one) it’s embarrassing and.........no that’s it. it is embarrassing to have feelings
jacob: feelings aren’t embarrassing! they’re the reason we can care so deeply about others <3
sunwoo: ok nerd........keep it moving
and unlike younghoon who just goes silent around the people he likes or juyeon who tries to find sangyeon to hide behind
sunwoo just straight up is like cold. and you are like what didi i do?
everyone is just like he’s complicated, it’s just who he is and he’s young so just ignore him
but it makes you sad that sunwoo just doesn’t want to be your friend
and in sunwoo’s head he’s like I DONT WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND BECAUSE YOU ARE MY DREAM PERSON BUT THATS SO FREAKING CORNY TO SAY SO LET ME JUST MAKE GRUMPY FACE
he also has such a bad luck, even when he’s not trying to come off mean he probably accidentally spills something on you or breaks something of yours
and instead APOLOGIZING like everyone is telling him to do he just yoinks out of the room and you’re like damn :(
to be honest, i think the more you guys get distant the more sunwoo falls deeper into it because even with everything
you are always so kind and sweet and how? like how? how are you doing that?
it probably takes a miracle or actually just like someone spilling the beans to you that sunwoo stayed up all night trying to fix the bracelet of yours he broke for it to all change
for you to find sunwoo and hug him and thank him for trying to fix it and the minute you touch him its like
all these stupid little walls he built melt into nothing and sunwoo is just like i like you so much im sorry im so dumb and you’re like
well you’re like shocked but youre like im sorry i also like you and im also dumb sometimes
both of you standing there wide eyed but also like super super super giddy
one day you aren’t even talking to each other the next day you are cuddling on the couch
kevin: these people are giving me literal whiplash
eric
thinks you’ll never feel the same way so he does the next best thing, he tries to be your bestest friend
for someone so spunky and confident in himself most of the time you’d think lovestruck eric would just GO for it
but more than he is like outgoing and brave, he is devoted to people he loves
and losing you as a friend over confessing his feelings would probably spiral him into a dark place
so he’ll just take his spot as a super close friend, and horrible wingman
who tries to get you to admit that you like someone in the group when you have told eric ten times no you dont like changmin like that and yes juyeon is cute but youre not interested
and eric just wants you to be happy and he thinks youre lying and keeping it from him because like you think it would be weird to date someone in tbz
and he’s like cmon tell me! or do you like someone from skz, im friends with felix - do you think he’s cute
and at some point it wears you down and you are just like over to play video games and have fun with eric
and he’s like hey felix said you were pretty when i showed him a photo and you are like ERIC LISTEN TO ME and he’s like blinking like oh?
and you’re like i do like someone but its you and so since that isnt going to happen lets move on
and eric is like lets not move on because from the minute i saw you i thought cupid lodged an arrow so deep in my heart its been stuck their permanently and yes i watched hercules last night so i made that analogy isn’t it about time you kissed me so i would shuttup?
and when you do you’re like ok i have wanted to do that SO many times and he’s like well you should have
and youre like dont be sassy i will bring up every oppurtunity you tried to hook me up with your group member if you do and he’s like
i will shut my mouth forever if that is what you wish <3
#the boyz au#the boyz imagines#the boyz scenarios#tbz au#tbz imagines#member: the boyz#tbz scenarios#the boyz#tbz#sfw#the way younghoon is the ideal man: nothing to say just heart eyes in a stupor JK trgkdls
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I've got you - Derek Morgan x fem!reader part3
A/N: Thanks to @wanniiieeee for the idea:)
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1907
***= time skip
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I checked my phone for what felt like the hundredth time in the past 20 minutes, my body wracked with nerves. After that night at Derek’s, he’d asked me to be his girlfriend and obviously I’d said yes. It was still incredibly new for us, seeing as it had only happened a few days back, but I couldn’t be happier. There were only two things weighing on my shoulders – telling the BAU lot, and Sean. I felt so guilty. Even though me and Sean were nowhere near being official as we’d only been out on a few dates, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d gone behind his back. He’d been nothing but sweet to me and the thought of hurting his feelings was killing me. But I knew I couldn’t be happy with him, not in that way anyway. Derek had suggested to just call him, but this felt more like something that needed to be done in person. So, I’d texted him asking if he wanted to grab a coffee and that I needed to talk to him.
“Hey, sorry I’m late traffic was a nightmare” He said, smiling as he sat down.
“Yeah no worries I get it.” I replied, returning his grin. “So how are you? How’s work going?”
“Yeah I’m doing good. The jobs going great, this new bakery I’m working at is so much better than the last place. You should swing by sometime; I might be able to snag you a free doughnut.” He joked.
“Oh, for free food? I’ll do anything” I said trying to hide my nerves. Sean cleared his throat.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Here goes nothing. I took a deep breathe before answering.
“Um, the thing is that I- well you know, you’re a great guy but- it’s just- I don’t wanna-“ I stumbled over my words, unsure of how to phrase it.
“Just take a breath Y/N, it’s okay.” Sean said calmly.
“Me and Derek are together.” I blurted out.
I held my breath as my eyes scanned over him, trying to get a grasp as to what he might be feeling. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal. All of the above. But just like his brother, he was impossible to read. He was leant back in his chair, just sort of looking ahead of him. A neutral expression on his face.
“Sean I’m so sorry, I don’t even know how it happened – it just kind of did. You’re such a great guy and if it’s not to selfish of me I’d love to remain friends? But if your mad at me or anything like that I will totally understand.” I rambled anxiously.
Sean let out a small chuckle at my rushed state before leaning forward and placing his hands over mine.
“I’m not mad. These things happen you know. And as much as I enjoyed the dates we had; nothing was set in stone it was all relatively new so don’t feel bad about anything. We will definitely remain friends, I still need my drinking buddy.” He said nudging me arm. “I hope you and Derek will be happy together.” He gave me a genuine smile allowing me to relax.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s all good” He replied. “So, what did my brother think?”
I chuckled, relaxing back into my seat.
“We haven’t told any of his team yet. I’m actually going there later to tell them.”
“Wow today is full of confessions”
“You got that right.”
Me and Sean spent the next few hours chatting about anything and everything
. Suddenly my phone rang, and Derek’s name flashed on the screen.
“Sorry I’ll be a minute” I said before standing up to take the call.
“Hey Derek”
“Hey you. How’s my favourite girl doing?”
“I don’t know I haven’t spoken to Garcia today” I teased.
“Hey, come on now, you know you’re my favourite.” He replied.
“Come off it, we all know Garcia will forever hold that position. But that’s okay because not only do I love her, but I’m also the one you come home to every night.”
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I could practically hear his smile through the phone.
“Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” I asked.
“Well, I wanted to see what time you’d be coming by the office. Oh, and check to see how things went with Sean”
“Things with Sean went great. He was so understanding and not mad at all. We’ve literally just been talking for hours. I don’t know why I was so stressed.”
“Because you overthink everything” Derek quipped.
“Um rude”
“But true”
I rolled my eyes while biting back at smile.
“Whatever. I’ll probably be able to come by in about 10 minutes. Sean has to get to work anyways.”
“Okay I’ll see you in a bit then.”
“Yep see you soon.”
“I love you gorgeous.”
“I love you too idiot”
I hung up the phone before he could bite back a response. Shoving my phone in my pocket I headed back into the café.
“Hey, so I guess it’s time for me to tell the team.” I said to Sean.
“Ah the time has come.” He laughed, standing up. “Well good luck, and if any of them give you shit – let me know”
“Sean in the nicest way possible, what could you possibly do? Tell them off?” I joked.
“Hey! I’ll have you know I can be quite intimidating when I like to be” He defend.
“Mhm sure you can. Now run along to your bakery.”
“You wound me. Truly.”
I laughed before waving goodbye to him and jumping back in my car.
**********************************************************************
The elevator ride to the BAU department was probably the most nerve-wracking trip. I was trying to convince myself that if Sean could accept it, there should be no reason for these lot not to. But to be honest, I think I was more worried about the a million questions we were about to get bombarded with. I mean Emily was already rooting for us. So yep, definitely more freaked for the questions. Derek was right, I over think stuff too damn much. As the doors open, I saw the man himself waiting at his desk for me. As his eyes caught mine, he flashed me that heart melting smile making me forget any worries I had.
“Hey” He greeted before wrapping his arms around me. “You nervous?”
“Nah. I was but realistically what’s there to be nervous about? At the end of the day, I still have you and that’s all I need.” I replied. He smiled brightly at me before leading me into the bullpen.
“Y/N! It’s good to see you.” Spencer called.
“Hey spence. It’s good to see you too.”
“Hey pretty boy, do you know where the others are? I wanna talk to you all.”
Spencer’s brow furrowed. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. Can you just grab the others? We’ll wait in the meeting room.” Derek replied before heading to the stairs. I saw Spencer shoot us a look before getting up to find the team. Derek leant back on the table.
“So how are you planning on telling them?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Me? I’m not telling them you are.”
“Why me?”
“Derek they’re your team. Not mine. Plus, I already had to tell Sean and that was stressful enough as it is so why would i-“
“Baby hey, stop pacing I was joking”
I hadn’t realised that was pacing back and forth across the room until he said that.
“Not nervous huh?” He joked. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Hey, come here”
I made my way over to him, standing between his legs. His arms gravitated towards my waist as I looped mine around his neck.
“What’s on your mind?” He asked softly. I moved my hands to fiddle with the collar of his shirt before answering.
“I just really don’t want to mess this up.” I whispered,
“Nothing the team can say will change anything-“
“No Derek I mean this, us.” I muttered. He placed his hand under my chin, lifting my eyes to meet his.
“Nothing you can do will change how I feel about you okay? I’m in this for the long haul.” His words made my stomach flutter.
“I love you.” I said before leaning in to kiss him. Even though it wasn’t the first, he took my breath every time. His lips just felt so perfect on mine.
“FINALLY” A shrill voice from behind us made us jump apart from each other. I turned to see the team standing in the doorway, a mixture of emotions on their faces. The voice that had scared us belonged to Garcia as she stood there grinning like the Cheshire cat whilst clapping her hands happily.
“Details now. When? Where? How long? Can I plan the wedding?” She gushed. I could feel my face burning bright red as I stood there unable to talk. Derek stood up, snaking his arm around my wait.
“Relax babygirl. We’ll explain everything” Derek said to her.
“T-that’s not exactly how we planned to tell you” I said, the embarrassment of being caught by our friends beginning to sink in.
“It’s about time” Emily chipped in, nudging me on the arm. “I’ve been waiting.”
Derek shot her a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean considering what happened at yours the other night, I figured it would happen sooner or later” She replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Derek looked at me. “You told her?”
“She literally came over and I was freaking out of course I told her” I replied, laughing.
“What happened at Derek’s?” Garcia called, her eyes darting between the three of us.
“Emily went over to check on them because neither of them were answering their phones..” JJ answered.
I looked at Emily. “So, you told JJ?”
Emily held her hands up defensively. “She’s my girlfriend I had to.” I rolled my eyes.
“And by doing that she interrupted them about to kiss” Spencer piped up. My jaw dropped.
“You told Spencer too?” I looked at Emily accusingly.
“No! I only told JJ” I turned to JJ, raising my eyebrows expectantly
“He’s my best friend.” She replied.
Derek sighed. “Okay so was there anyone who didn’t know?”
“Well technically me and Hotch didn’t know but we had a feeling.” Rossi answered. “Actually, that reminds me, you owe me ten bucks Aaron”
I threw my hands up. “Oh, brilliant so three of you knew and the other two had a bet on us. Good to know” I said sarcastically.
“I’m feeling rather left out. Why am I the last to find out?” Garcia pouted.
“Gotta save the best till last babygirl” Derek replied, throwing his arm around her giving her a squeeze.
“Good point” She said, the smile promptly returning to her face.
“You two are good together. I hope you’ll be happy” Hotch commented with a tight-lipped smile.
“Thanks Aaron.” I said returning the smile.
“Right” Emily clapped her hands together. “Who wants to go get drinks to celebrate the couple of the hour.” Everyone raised their hands and headed out the door.
“Hey” Emily grabbed Derek’s arm pulling him back slightly. “Be good to her.”
Derek patted her hand. “Always. I’ve never felt like this before about anyone. There’s no way I’m losing her.”
#derek morgan x reader#derek morgan x y/n#derek morgan#criminal minds#bau#bau team#arron hotchner#emily prentiss#jj
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Ink (TMA Fanfic)
For TMA Gerry Week 2021 Day One
Pairings: Jonathan Sims/Gerry Keay/Martin Blackwood
Rating: T
Summary: Art’s how Gerry shows his love- a few snippets where he does exactly that. No powers-au, Gerry and Martin own a bookstore. Takes place in this universe but can be read alone!
He’s getting used to having people who want him around.
Gerry’s had friends, sure. Once he left the institute and began working odd jobs, he realized how much he genuinely enjoyed having company. He still isn’t the most social of creatures, but he does enjoy a night out with old coworkers who enjoy his stories and laugh at his jokes. But now, with Jon and Martin, they want him around all the time. Even after they started dating, even after he moved in, he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never does, though. And Gerry, in spite of himself, begins to relax. Begins to feel at home.
He’s laying on the couch, scribbling in his notebook when Martin surprises him with a peck to the top of his head. “Whatcha drawing this time?” He was very excited when he heard Gerry liked to draw, immediately asking to see his notebook or anything he’d done. He’d only recently shown him some of his work; he knows Martin would never make him feel embarrassed, but, well. It’s another part of himself no one’s ever been interested in. Until now.
“Jon,” Gerry responds, leaning into the touch. It’s an amateurish attempt in his opinion, just a rough sketch. But he’s got the proportions down and he never forgets a face. Couldn’t forget, in Jon’s case.
“That’s…” Martin trails off, peering closer at the page. “That’s really good. You’ve even got him smiling!” It’s not that Jon never smiles; he smirks and laughs and snarks. But he’s managed to capture that rare, bright grin that makes Gerry’s heart skip a beat.
“Mhm.” Gerry nods slightly, pen tapping against his sketchpad. He turns around, seeing the naked fondness in Martin’s eyes and has a particularly wicked thought. “Y’know, this is how he looks when he’s watching you.”
Martin sputters, turns a lovely shade of red. “W-What? Really?”
“No,” Gerry smirks. “It’s the way he looks at the Admiral.” A groan and a light smack to the shoulder prove his joke is unappreciated. “Sorry, sorry! I’m sure he also looks at you that way-”
“You’re an ass.” Martin rolls his eyes but oh-so-gently picks up his hand, pausing to inspect the ink-stained fingers. “A very talented ass.” His mind blanks as Martin kisses them one by one.
Thoroughly distracted, he never gets around to finishing that sketch.
_______
Painting, as it turns out, is a lot harder than it looks. Still quite fun, though.
They’ve just found the perfect space- a little out of their price range, but Gerry’s got savings and Jon was willing to part with a bit himself. Martin fretted over his ‘meager contribution,’ as his savings were depleted in the final months of his mother’s care. Ridiculous that he would ever think his contribution meager, considering he’s the one who scouted for locations and did all of the paperwork and stayed up late, agonizing over their finances. Some days, Martin’s the only one keeping them sane. Gerry and Jon are due to remind him of that.
Which is why they’re handling the decorating. Jon claims to have no artistic talent, but he does have a knack for making places seem like home. There are boxes filled with knick knacks and rugs and pictures, all waiting to be hung somewhere once Jon’s finally settled on a layout. Gerry’s left with painting the walls, labeling the different sections in whatever way he sees fit. He’s currently at work on the horror section, painting a stylized eye above the tarp-covered bookshelf when he hears the sound of the bell; Martin must be back from the store. They’d run out of appropriately-sized nails and after a minor freak out, he’d been on his way.
“Find what you were looking for?” he calls, listening as Martin’s footsteps grow closer, the crinkle of bags in his hand. “Here to save the day?”
“I wouldn’t call it saving,” Martin snorted, setting them down on the ground with a thump. “But it’ll certainly help. That looks nice.”
Gerry pauses, considering his work. He really needs a darker green for this. “Thanks. It’s a work in progress.”
“I’m sure it’ll turn out great,” he murmurs distractedly, and Gerry turns to look back at him. The lines of his face are more pronounced than usual, as are the shadows under his eyes. A sure sign that the stress is getting to him. Gerry understands, and he’s not much for being particularly sappy but he does what he can to help.
“Hey,” he calls down to him from his ladder. “C’mere. Need your opinion on something.”
Martin sighs, but heeds the call. “What is it? You know I’m rubbish with this art stuff-”
“It’ll only take a second. Come closer.”
“What am I supposed to be looking at-”
“Closer.”
As Martin huffs and leans towards him, Gerry darts his paintbrush out, drawing the quickest of hearts on Martin’s cheek before he can pull away.
“Gerry!” Martin startles and his hand reaches up to wipe at his cheek.
“Don’t smear it, it’s a heart.” He pauses, going for his gravest voice. “Because I love you so much. I’ll be devastated if you ruin it.”
“I don’t appreciate that.” Martin sighs but drops his hand, his face softening already. Exasperation has never been paired with fondness, not when it’s aimed at Gerry. Another thing he’s starting to get used to.
“Shame. It looks good.”
Martin goes home with a heart on his other cheek as well. He looks ridiculous. Gerry loves it.
_________
When Jon’s particularly stressed, Gerry leaves him post-it notes.
Often he leaves before Gerry even wakes, so he’s got to do them the night before. A little cat here, a little caricature of Bouchard there. He leaves a variety, depending on his mood. Jon always gives him a kiss when he gets home, a soft ‘thank you for the note,’ and that’s all he needs, really, to keep doing it. He likes making Jon smile.
Martin’s gone grocery shopping and Jon’s pulling a late night again, so Gerry’s alone in the flat looking for something to do. There’s nothing on Netflix worth watching (or at least, worth watching by himself) and he’s not in the mood for his latest novel, so he decides he’s going to be productive, make a list of all the things he has to do this week. Jon’s always going on about lists, though he leaves them everywhere and never seems to accomplish everything on them. Maybe it’s the act of making them that’s relaxing. It’s worth a try.
He makes his way over to the second bedroom they (mostly Jon) use as an office. He’s sure Jon’s got a little notepad here that he can use, and he wants it to look as official as possible. He opens the left hand drawer but only finds Martin’s receipts, and on the right he finds a plain-looking notebook, a little worn with use. Maybe that’s what he uses-
Gerry opens it. Pauses. Blinks. Feels something heavy and thick form in his throat.
It’s his notes- his stupid little sketches, his ‘have a good day at work’s, his smiley-faces and little hearts. Each carefully placed on page after page with an accompanying date, neat and tidy, like a little scrapbook. Mum used to throw out his ‘doodles,’ as she called them, told him his time was better spent on actual art, but Jon’s kept all of them. Like they mattered. Like they were important. He sets it back down on the desk and just stands there, heart beating hard in his chest.
Gerry’s tearing up like some sort of moron so he’s distracted and doesn’t hear Jon come home, doesn’t hear his usual grumblings and sighs. Doesn’t hear him until Jon’s right behind him, startling him with a hand on his arm. “Sorry, I was just- Gerry, are you alright?”
Alright. Alright. It’s a word that doesn’t encompass everything he’s feeling. Wanted, embarrassed, a little overwhelmed. And so, so happy.
He turns around and grabs Jon in a fierce hug, overcome with affection and eager to hide his stupid tears as he squeezes Jon to his chest. “You’re adorable, you know that?” he says, peppering kisses to the top of his head despite Jon’s weak protestations. “Real fuckin’ cute.”
Jon melts into his embrace, even as he complains. “I’ve got no idea what you’re on about, Gerry,” he says into his chest, the words muffled. “You’re being absurd.” Jon’s just about the only person he knows that uses ‘absurd’ on a daily basis. It’s insufferable. Gerry loves it.
“Just let me hug you, you little ogre.”
_________
Sometimes, Gerry’s the one who’s got to be up early. Doctors appointments are a bitch, and after a brief scare last year, it’s important that he keep up with them. Martin helps him schedule, marking the appointments on the calendar with a bold black marker that can’t be missed.
This morning’s particularly brutal, with an eight o’clock appointment an hour’s commute away. Jon went to sleep at a reasonable hour last night and he needs the rest; Gerry knows if he wakes Martin, he wakes them both. Jon’s never been good at sleeping alone.
He’s stumbling blearily around the kitchen, about to put the kettle on when he notices it. On the table is a post-it note; he doesn’t remember leaving one for Jon last night, but he’d been rather tired, so who knows? Gerry putters around, fixing his tea and nibbling at toast when he finally spares it a glance.
It’s not for Jon. It’s for him.
Good luck at your appointment! It reads in Martin’s familiar, neat script. Accompanying it is a small doodle that has to be Jon’s; it’s not particularly good, but it clearly shows a little Gerry, makeup and all, with a plaster on his cheek and a heart over his head. It looks like Jon spent time on it. Spent time on some stupid little post it note to make Gerry smile.
He puts it in his pocket. Takes it out a few times in the waiting room, stares at it. Everything looks fine, the doctor says at the end of the appointment. He’s so lucky.
He’s so lucky.
ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29635833
#tma#the magnus archives#tmagerryweek2021#gerry keay#gerard keay#jonathan sims#martin blackwood#jongerrymartin#my writing
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hi! Can I Dragon!matsus meeting Knight s/o? How the dragon boys would help with missions?
You met Osomatsu because you were taking a break, deciding having a drink would be a nice break… he tended to love alcohol… of course.. and had the habit of scaring others off to have a taste. He was wrong to try and take from you though, you were a strong knight and were able to capture him instantly. You recognized him of course, he was known to steal and many feared him. However, you came to a compromise, upon finding out he could shapeshift back into a cute looking boy. He still had his dragon like features though. He had his red wings, his red horns, fangs, his long red tail, claws, his hands having patches of red that would blend into his actual skin color towards his wrists.
He was to help you fight for your missions and in turn you gave him booze and a place to stay.
He proved to be a lousy dragon during missions though, the only way to motivate him out of laziness being booze.
However, he proved to be useful when he could fight, since he can literally breathe fire. You can often be seen riding on your favorite dragon, fighting off whoever it may be! You quickly became a dynamic duo.
His flirting and teasing got annoying though.
Karamatsu was a simple dragon, he wanted attention. He wanted people to see how cool and strong he could be. Unfortunately hurting others in the process, so queens totoko and nyaa chan decided this dragon needed to be slayed. You were to slay it of course. However, as you fought this dragon, you were quick to realize how timid it became when you showed violence, it became scared that it transformed into a rather cute boy! This boy keeping some of the dragon features though. You were kind enough to give him a deal, and he accepted.
From your understanding, this dragon just wanted attention. It seems like in his natural form he isn’t feared much, even ignored. But people paid attention to him as a terrifying dragon that could throw ice beams out of his mouth.
He is actually just really sweet.
On missions though, a bit overconfident. You learnt that when he held so much confidence for your first mission and completely failed you.
However, other than that very helpful! Always listens to your orders, he’s a extremely loyal dragon as well! He has such a way with words to ease you whenever you feel particularly nervous about a mission.
Choromatsu was a dragon that tried to keep to himself.. mostly. But unfortunately, he ended up being captured despite this. Dragons are just naturally feared and treated less, a couple seeing him and being terrified, telling queen totoko that you must simply deal with this terrifying creature.
This was so stupid, in your opinion. However the dragon seemed to understand his situation, very willing do to whatever you wanted. So you promised him a good life, as long as he worked as your dragon. He was quick to agree to these terms, it was a good deal after all.
He proved to be a rather timid dragon though, despite all this. Getting a bit scared for fights, he proved he was good strategically, but got way too freaked out.
However, anytime you promise him a kiss on the cheek.. he seems to snap back and goes fighting mode. So no more issues.
“I’ll get totoko to kiss your cheek..” nothing. “Nyaa-chan” still nothing. “Me?” All of a sudden he’s wreaking havoc. “I wasn’t expected that but okay”
Ichimatsu was by far the scariest dragon people have had the misfortune of meeting. That evil aura being enough to drive people away. Sooner rather than later the entire village demanded you do something about this dragon. He was too much to deal with.. he was eating all of the poor cats!
But as you went finding him, you’d find he wasn’t eating any cats! But rather.. sleeping…? With them?
He didn’t even bother anyone. Though you must admit he looked very menacing. But he was really living his best life.
You tried to reason with him and tell him he’d be safe with you, he didn’t listen at first.. for awhile. Until you made it clear you’d take it by force, he was too tired to fight back, deciding it would be best to just do as you say.
As a dragon, he just be kinda lousy. He makes up for it though since most opponents just end up pissing themselves before they can do anything against youre dragon that’s 10x the size compared to a normal one. If you really needed him to fight though, you promised him a cuddle session with him, you, and your cat.
Jyushimatsu was a rather excitable dragon, always coming to visit to watch others play games and such, getting sad when he scared them away. Many telling you this dragon was harassing them, so of course you went to investigate. Imagine your surprise to see a yellow dragon smiling down at you in interest, you thought he was thinking about eating you, but he did nothing. After a conversation with him, you understood he was friendly. Which now lead to you toe becoming a great duo.
Jyushimatsu got a bit carried away during missions though, wanting to do his absolute best (and more) to help, even when it wasn’t needed. Plus, he was just so eager to destroy opponents. So you had to tell him not to go beyond what you tell him to do.
He was good to be around though, and in general made others around him a bit happier.
Besides, he gave the best hugs in his normal form.
Todomatsu was a feared dragon, whomst you got many complaints about. You couldn’t for the life of you figure out as to why that was the case, because in your opinion he was the cutest dragon you’ve gotten the pleasure of knowing. He was even pink! And he loved being around humans and trying to be social with them in his normal form. He was friendly towards you, even flirting with you sometimes.
Thanks to you, people were able to talk to him now though, since you gave a speech saying he was a good dragon that you’ve tamed, and he shall be a loyal partner in battle.
This raised some problems for him, since he genuinely doesn’t know how to fight, however you gave him so much! This is the least he can do.
He proved to be very scared during battle, he was a timid dragon when it came to fighting.
“Whatever you want totty! I will give you!” You promised, trying to get him to fight. “Date me then!” He said rather boldly, thankfully he was in his dragon form so you couldn’t see his blush. “Fine!” You yell.
Ever since then he’s been very good at fighting.
#choromatsu x reader#ichimatsu x reader#jyushimatsu x reader#karamatsu x reader#osomatsu x reader#todomatsu x reader#ososan x reader#osomatsu san x reader#osomatsusan x reader
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Smirk Part 2 - Matthew Tkachuk ft. Brady Tkachuk
Part One
A/N: Thank you all for the love on part one!! It was my first fic so I was blown away so many of you seemed to like it. I decided to turn it into a series because I couldn’t help myself. I hope you love it!
Summary: It’s time for Y/N’s first chirp-filled family dinner with the Tkachuks where she gets to meet Taryn and Chantal.
Word Count: ~3,000
A few hours later, Y/N sat at home with her brother watching an NHL Network special with highlights from the season, but she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind kept wandering to Matthew. That infamous smirk was still stuck in Y/N’s mind. Then suddenly, as if the NHL Network could read her mind, a clip from a Battle of Alberta game played and she was watching him trade punches with Ethan Bear.
Y/N’s brother smiled at her from across the room knowingly. She blushed and silently wished she wouldn’t have told him who she met that day.
“When are you going to post that photo?” He asked for at least the 10th time that day.
“I think enough time has passed now that I can post it,” Y/N said.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t post it right away. That’s what I would have done,” he said.
“I told you I didn’t want to come off creepy or too interested,” Y/N replied.
“Girls make no sense,” he replied and rolled his eyes.
Y/N went to her room so she could freak out in private, opened up Twitter and wrote, “Just a casual day out in St. Louis” and tagged Matthew and Brady. They liked it almost instantly, as if they were waiting for the notification. It only took a few minutes for the chirps to start in the comments.
Matthew Tkachuk @TKACHUKycheese_
Replying to @Y/T/H
Walt is STILL talking about how much cooler you are than me
brady tkachuk @BradyTkachuk71
Replying to @TKACHUKycheese and @Y/T/H
Oh whatever, we all know it’s you who won’t stop talking about her
Y/N liked both comments as she laughed to herself, thinking Brady was just joking as all the Tkachuks seemed to do. When she checked the rest of her notifications, she noticed that Brady had followed her just like he said he would. But another notification caught her off guard.
Matthew Tkachuk followed you
Y/N caught herself smiling for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help it.
Her jaw dropped a few seconds later when she got another notification.
Brady Tkachuk
Matt really won’t shut up about you and my mom and sister really want to meet the girl that can out-chirp Matt ASAP. Wanna replace Matt at our family dinner Saturday night?
Y/N
Duh! Send me the details and I’ll be there.
Y/N’s thoughts started spiraling. He was really talking about her to his whole family? What did this mean? She didn’t have much time to freak out, though, because soon enough she received a message from another Tkachuk.
Matthew Tkachuk
Brady’s tweet was wrong, you know. I swear it’s my dad that’s been talking about you
Y/N
Oh, really? Because Brady just told me your mom and sister have heard all about me from you and are dying to meet me. I’m replacing you at dinner Saturday night
Matthew Tkachuk
…No one told me we were having family dinner Saturday night
Y/N
Exactly. Have fun stuck at home!
Matthew Tkachuk
We’ll see about that
While Y/N was getting a lot of enjoyment out of her childhood hero saying he liked her more than his own son, she did wish Matthew would be there Saturday too so she could see that smirk again in person, but she kept that part to herself.
_________
When Brady told Y/N they were going to Charlie Gitto’s, she swore her stomach growled in that moment. Two things filled her mind as she was getting ready Saturday: the toasted raviolis she would demolish and the small hope that Matthew would weasel his way into dinner anyway.
Either way, she was going to look good. Charlie Gitto’s wasn’t very fancy, but she still wasn’t sure what she should wear out to eat with the Tkachuks so she texted Brady, who had given her his number to discuss the details of family dinner easier. They fell into an easy friendly conversation and hadn’t stopped talking since.
Y/N
Can you ask Taryn what she’s wearing? I don’t want to overdress or underdress
Brady Tkachuk
Giving the phone to her as we speak
Hi, Y/N! I’m just wearing a yellow sundress and sandals. You can wear whatever you want though, I’m sure you’ll look great. I can’t wait to meet you!
Y/N
Thanks, Taryn!! I can’t wait to meet you too, sis!
Brady Tkachuk
Sista, sista!
This conversation definitely eased some of Y/N’s nervousness for the evening and she was able to enjoy getting ready. She danced around her room to her favorite Lady Gaga song as she curled her hair, put on some light makeup and put on a light blue sundress with multi-colored flowers and sandals.
As she drove to the restaurant, she started to get nervous again. Before when she was debating whether she should talk to the boys or not at Ted Drewes, she had nothing to lose if they said no. Now, she felt like she was becoming friends with Brady and she was nervous that Chantal wouldn’t like her. She was also nervous Matthew didn’t like her like she wanted him to, but she still didn’t want to admit that.
Y/N’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard her phone go off. She made sure she was parked safely before she even looked at it.
Brady Tkachuk
Hey, we just got here. You close?
Y/N
Just pulled in
Y/N scanned the parking lot for a second before she saw Brady running over to her car. He was opening her car door and pulling her in for a hug before she could even step out.
“Whoa, someone’s excited. What’s up with you?” Y/N asked cautiously.
“My mom felt bad for making Matthew stay home so she let him come to dinner. He has been getting on my nerves all day laughing because my plan failed so I have really been looking forward to you roasting him,” Brady explained.
Y/N tried to hide her excitement that Matthew was there by sharing a laugh with Brady. But she still had her concerns.
“Not that I don’t enjoy roasting Matthew, but I feel like me and you have become friends in the last few days and I’m afraid to do something that will make your mom not like me,” Y/N said quietly.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t for Brady to laugh, but he did.
“Y/N/N, first of all, we are most definitely friends. Second, my mom can be protective over us, but Matthew gets on her nerves too. Literally no one we’ve ever met can roast him as hard as you do. He’s finally getting back what he dishes out and we live for it. Mom already loves you, you have nothing to worry about,” he replied, knowing just what to say to comfort her.
“Thanks, Brades. I needed to hear that,” Y/N said and sighed in relief, finally feeling better.
“Anytime. Now, let’s go. I’ve been waiting for this all day,” he said as he put his arm around her and almost ran towards the rest of the Tkachuks on the other side of the parking lot.
“Y/N!” Walt shouted as he saw you both approaching. Brady dropped his arm so Walt could hug her. “It’s nice to see you again,” he said with a huge smile on his face.
Y/N smiled back at him after the hug, but before she could even respond, Taryn was squealing and pulling her in for a hug. “HI, sis!” Y/N and Taryn shared a laugh.
“I’m happy to finally meet you, sis,” Y/N replied before it was Chantal’s turn for a hug.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said as she looked over at a slightly pink Matthew. Y/N looked at him briefly, but tried not to let her gaze linger. “I’m so glad to finally meet you,” she said with a genuine smile.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for letting me intrude on your family dinner,” Y/N said with a smile.
“You’re not intruding, honey. We’re all happy to have you here,” she said with another pointed look at Matthew.
Y/N smiled. She felt herself become more relaxed for a second before she realized that everyone was glancing between her and Matthew.
“Y/N,” Matthew said her name formally as a way of greeting her and looked into her eyes.
“What, cat finally got your tongue after talking about me all week?” Y/N smirked at him, turned on her heel and headed for the restaurant. She could hear all the Tkachuks laughing at Matthew behind her. Damn, that felt good. The only thing Y/N enjoyed more than Matthew’s smirk was his pink cheeks after she teased him.
Dinner was better than what Y/N expected. The Tkachuks asked Y/N a lot of questions about her life, Matthew would try to chirp her, she would chirp him back even harder without even trying, everyone else would laugh and that would shut him up for about 10 minutes before he got the nerve to try to chirp her again. She never wanted it to end.
“Can we have a family game night tonight?” Taryn asked just as they were finishing up dessert, seemingly reading Y/N’s mind.
“Absolutely, we haven’t had one in forever,” Walt answered.
“Can Y/N/N come?” Brady asked.
Walt nodded, but Matthew spoke before he got the chance to respond outloud.
“If she wants to lose, she’s more than welcome to come,” Matthew said with his signature smirk.
But Y/N’s comeback rolled right off her tongue. “What, like you’re going to be able to concentrate enough to win anything with all the beer you’ve had?”
Matthew was about to argue with her, but Taryn could feel like he was going to say something mean and interrupted. “We always play Skip-Bo. Have you ever played?”
“Once or twice,” Y/N replied. Matthew laughed at this. So did Y/N, but for a different reason.
Brady, who was completely oblivious, said, “I’ll teach you. You can be on my team.”
“Thanks, Brades. It can’t be that hard if Matthew can do it,” Y/N chirped and gave Matthew a smirk. He looked back at Y/N and smiled just like he had the day they met at Ted Drewes. Y/N was so lost in his eyes that she missed the rest of the Tkachuk family laughing and patting her on the back for her latest chirp at Matthew.
Y/N looked back down at the piece of gooey butter cake sitting in front of her and tried to keep her thoughts from spinning.
Thankfully, Chantal piped up, “You’re more than welcome to spend the night after, Y/N. Our game nights usually last all night.”
“Yeah, you can stay in my room!” Taryn said excitedly.
“That would be great, thank you guys!” Y/N responded. “If someone wants to give me your address, I can take my car and meet you there.”
“Taryn and I will go with you and give you directions,” Brady said as Taryn’s face lit up.
“Well, they both have a terrible taste in music so you’ll need a good DJ on the way there. I can help you there” Matthew said. There was that smirk again. Although she liked it more than she wanted to admit, it was getting a little annoying. She had the sudden urge to wipe it off his face.
“You can come, but I’m giving the aux to Taryn,” Y/N replied, which earned a cheer from Taryn and an eye roll from Matthew.
After dinner was over, Y/N thanked Walt for paying for it and led the Tkachuk siblings to her car. Y/N got in first and expected Taryn to get in the passenger seat since she told everyone she was getting the aux, but Matthew appeared smiling next to her and Taryn got in the back seat, clearly annoyed. Y/N looked between the two of them, clearly confused.
“He pushed me out of the way. I fell and scraped my knee,” Taryn explained.
That’s all Y/N needed to know before she hit Matthew across the chest. “What is your damage, dude?”
Matthew put his hand over where she hit him and sighed dramatically. “She’s just being dramatic because she lost the race here and-” he tried to explain before Y/N cut him off.
“Apologize and switch seats with your sister or I swear to god, I will leave you at this restaurant and you can Uber home,” Y/N said as Brady and Taryn cheered.
Matthew turned around and glared at them both before switching seats with Taryn. “Listen, I’m really sorry, Taryn. I just wanted to play one song.”
“You’re so dramatic. Play your stupid song and then let Taryn have the aux. Now, someone please lead me to your house so we don’t stay in this parking lot all night,” Y/N sighed. Taryn started leading her to their house while Matthew tried to find the song he wanted to play.
When it started playing, Y/N thought her heart stopped beating. It was the very same Lady Gaga song she had listened to while she was dancing around her room earlier in the day. This felt like a sign. She tried to even her breathing so she could sing along quietly.
After the song ended, Brady said, “Out of all the songs in the world you could have picked, you pick You and I? That’s so lame, dude.”
He must have been oblivious to the fact that Y/N was singing along too, but something told her Matthew knew. She looked up at him in her rearview mirror and he looked back at her when he said, “It’s my favorite song.”
Nothing could hold back Y/N’s thoughts now. The way he had been looking at her all night, the way it took almost nothing for her to get his cheeks to turn pink, the way he played that freaking song. Did he like her?
Taryn played the Jonas Brothers and U sang along, trying to act like she was playing her favorite song in the world and that Matthew hadn’t just played it minutes ago.
As soon as she took two steps into the Tkachuk house, Walt was insisting on giving her the grand tour. Brady and Matthew followed when Walt took her downstairs to show her all the hockey memorabilia in the basement.
They hadn’t talked about hockey much yet, but Walt could tell she loved the game and was trying to hold back on the fangirling. He was proven correctly when he showed her his game-worn jersey from his last NHL game in 2010 and started to talk about how he played that day, but Y/N remembered.
“I actually went to that game with my family. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I remember you had two assists and the Blues won that day. I thought it was so cool that Brady, Taryn and Matthew went on the ice with you. I think it’s even cooler now that Brady and Matthew are in the NHL themselves.”
Even Walt didn’t remember that he had two assists that day. He, Brady and Matthew exchanged glances. They were all impressed at her knowledge.
Just then, Chantal called downstairs. “You guys will be down there all night if I don’t stop you. Come upstairs, let’s play Skip-Bo!”
“Clearly we need to talk about hockey more often, Y/N,” Walt said. “You’ve been holding out on us.”
“I’d love that. I didn’t want to come across as a fangirl, but hockey is a huge part of my life,” Y/N replied.
“You fit right in, Y/N/N,” Brady said and everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Matthew laughed. Matthew was oddly silent. Y/N braced herself for a reaction that didn’t come.
As soon as they got upstairs, the boys went to change and Brady motioned for Y/N to follow him. “Here, let me get you sweats and a t-shirt. We’ve gotta be comfy if we want to beat dad and Matthew,” Brady said seriously.
Y/N decided now was a good time to let him in on her plan. “Brades, I play Skip-Bo with my family all the time. I’m kind of an expert,” Y/N whispered. “But don’t tell anyone, I want to wipe that stupid smirk off Matthew’s face and kick his ass. He’s been so annoying tonight. ”
Brady’s eyes got bigger than his head. “You are my favorite person ever. This is about to be a very fun night,” he said and you both laughed.
“I’m gonna go change and I’ll meet you there, partner,” Y/N said.
What Y/N didn’t expect was that Y/N was going to wipe the smirk off Matthew’s face before the game even started. When Y/N met Brady in the living room, both of them wearing Senators shirts, she felt like someone was staring at her. She turned around to see Matthew giving her a death glare. She didn’t understand so she looked at Brady, who was trying to contain his laugh as he pointedly said, “Looking good in Senators gear, Y/N/N!” just loudly enough that Matthew would be able to hear him. Matthew stormed into the dining room where they would be playing.
“What was that?” Y/N asked Brady.
“I was just testing a theory,” he said casually as if that was supposed to explain it all. It did, but she still wanted to hear Brady say it.
“Do you think he-“ Y/N started to ask before Brady cut her off.
“Obviously. Do you-“ he started to ask, but it was Y/N’s turn to cut him off.
“Obviously,” Y/N replied.
“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” Brady exclaimed before dragging Y/N into the dining room.
Part 3
#matthew tkachuk#brady tkachuk#my wriitng#nhl imagine#nhl imagines#nhl fanfiction#nhl blurb#nhl blurbs#nhl#hockey#calgary flames#ottawa senators#tkachuk#m. tkachuk#keith tkachuk#matt tkachuk#flames#senators#smirk#matty tkachuk
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Felinette day 2 call out
Felix’s POV
His mother had forced him to go live with his cousin, ugh, so here he was, the entrance of his cousin’s house. Uncle was standing at the top of the stairs……again, seriously why does he always stand there. it’s like he just has a statue of himself at the top of the stairs that can talk.
“Felix, I trust you had a great flight I’m sure you would like to sleep of the jetlag but before that we have to set some ground rules.”
“first of all, I have enrolled you to Adrien’s school and I have made special arrangements for you to be in his class.”
Ugh, of course how could he ever forget, no running we have a reputation to uphold, photoshoots, fencing, Chinese- wait what?
“other than that, the other rules are the same: no running around we have a reputation to uphold……………”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???! I have to go to his school and his class and look at his face? AND I’m miles ahead of all of them in everything!”
Obviously, he would never shout out loud like that so he stuck to his thoughts instead.
Tuning back into reality, Gabriel was done repeating the rules he had remembered by heart and dismissed him.
-The next day-
Adrien was already ready and pointing at the door, “hey Fe, ready to go?” with a noise of confirmation they left the house.
-------------------------cue long drive to school with a hyperactive cousin-----------------------------
“Good morning students” shouted (well not really shouted but he was standing next to her okay?) The teacher with red hair to which Felix winced at. “Today we have a new student joining us! And I’m sure you’ve all heard by now Lila’s home from her trip to Achu and she is back in school with us again.” he noticed something or rather someone who wasn’t here before, an Italian looking girl with chestnut hair that was tied up into what looked like three sausages and huge bangs at the front, with an olive skin tone and emerald green eyes that looked at him then at Adrien and had a look of confusion on her face. BUT! She then proceeded to IGNORE HIM. HIM! HE WAS A FREAKING INTERNATIONAL MODEL AND ACTOR AND THAT CAGNA IGNORED HIM! But whatever from the way she looked at his cousin she was probably a gold digging harpy. And his suspicions were correct when she greeted everyone.
“hi everyone,” she said in a fake sounding voice.
“Hi Lila!” the class sounded back. Lila? That’s her name?
“Oh~ a seat in the front row! You all remembered my hearing issues! You’re such sweethearts all of you~” “Mwuah!”
He inwardly cringed
“You have a hearing problem, Lila?”
‘hmm?’
“yes, I suffer from tinnitus. A constant ringing in my left ear. I’ve had it ever since the sound of an airplane engine burst my ear drums on the runway when I was saving Jagged Stone’s lost kitten.”
He had to admit her voice sounded genuine like it actually happened and he might have never found out she was lying if one, he was not an actor and could see the difference between genuine and fake faces and two, if her lies weren’t a load of bull. LIKE, COME ON! Which airline would let an UNDERAGE GIRL WHO’S UNAUTHORISED, ON THE RUNWAY? That airline would have closed down long ago if they couldn’t keep people from running on to the runway for reasons unknown.
The worst part is, yes there’s a worse part, his classmates seemed to believe the story she just pulled out of her ass. Well at least there was one student who doubted her.
“isn’t Jagged Stone’s pet a crocodile?”
“Now it is, yes. He had a kitten until he found out he was allergic to it.”
Deciding that everyone here was way too dumb and he didn’t want to lose any brain cells so he decided stop whatever quarrel was definitely going to go on.
Faking a cough, everyone seemed like they just remembered he was there. Even the teacher. If he were living in a comic or a cartoon there probably would’ve been one of those red crosses on his head.
“Right. Class, this is our new classmate, Felix Graham De Vanily.”
Hi’s, welcomes and clapping were heard around the room.
‘Could I just not have come?’
“Now Felix you and Marinette can sit in the back together. Also, as class president, Marinette can you show Felix around the school?”
“sigh, yes miss Bustier.”
When both of them sat down she started to introduce herself, “Hi, I’m Marinette. We can start the tour at lunch today and if you have any questions about the curriculum just ask me or anyone in the class.”
She said with a sad and tired smile.
…It looked… sincere…
Going with a simple nod they both turned their attention to the front.
After the tour he stayed back at the locker room near one of the corners. It was easy to blend into the shadows now that the people in Paris didn’t know him. despite being an international model (and sometimes actor) his face wasn’t well known as Adrien in France.
To that, he was thankful for.
Sticking to the shadows to read his book not five minutes in the girl- Marinette was it? Came back, and into the bathroom next to the locker room along with the sausage haired girl right on her heel.
“Marinette? Are you crying?”
“No, I’m not.”
“I can sense that you don’t like me but I don’t understand why, we barely know each other.
Don’t tell me it’s because of this new seating arrangement in class. It is! Of course, you were jealous because I’m sitting next to Adrien because you would have given anything to sit there yourself. You know what? It’s really not worth fighting a for a boy, you and I could be friends and who knows? I might even be able to help you with Adrien.”
Oh? Crush on my cousin? But it seemed like she was just cast into the back without her input despite all the others getting to sit at the place they wanted to.
“ugh. You and I will only be friends the day you stopped lying, Lila.”
So she knows she’s lying?
“I can’t prove it but I know for a fact you don’t have tinnitus, that your wrist is just fine, but you don’t know prince Ali cause’ you’ve never even set foot in Achu, and despite what you got Alya to write on her Ladyblog Ladybug has never saved your life.”
The first one definitely correct and so is the second one possibly, the third one might be a bt of a stretch and the fourth one, who the heck is Ladybug?
“I only tell people what they want to hear.”
“it’s called lying!”
“There’s nothing you can do about it anyway. People can’t resist when they hear what they like to hear. If you don’t want to be my friend, fine. But soon you won’t have any friends left at all and trust me, I’ll make sure you never get close to Adrien in class or anywhere. You’ve been a little less dumb than the others so I’ll give you one last chance: you are either with me or against me. You don’t have to answear right away I’ll give you the end of class today.”
Ok, first of all, were people supposed to hear that cause’ they were loud and secondly, what the heck school was he enrolled in??
The sausage haired girl walked smugly out of the bathroom.
“Hey Lila.”
“Adrien! We’ll have to figure out when you’re gonna help me catch up on all the schoolwork I missed. I also heard you play piano, my uncle’s a great pianist ‘Stroke Burrow Check’ she wanted to teach me when I was little but I had to stop playing because of arthritis. But when my wrist gets better, I’d love for you to give me some lessons.”
Didn’t sausage hair say uncle? why’d it change to ‘she’?
“Lila, I’m perfectly fine being friends with you and I’ll gladly help you catch up on your schoolwork but…please don’t lie to me like you did last time with Ladybug.”
Ah, his cousin knew she was lying. Wonder why he won’t step up for his classmate… unless it he never changed…
“Ladybugs the liar!”
“I’m not judging you, Lila but instead of making friends, you’re gonna turn everyone against you. You can tell me if there’s something bothering you. I can help. But you need to bee honest with me.”
“Are you trying to be some superhero lecturing me just like Ladybug did. Well, thanks but no thanks. Ugh.”
And with that the door slammed shut.
“I’m still here if you need catching up with your schoolwork.”
…is that a black glowing butterfly?...
…and did someone run out of the bathroom wearing a ladybug onesie?
“Hey!”
Snapping his head to the front he saw sausage girl pushing Adrien back a little.
“Adrien, I wanted to apologize for what just happened I’ve thought about it and you’re right I want us to be friends so I’ll never tell another lie again will you make peace with me?”
Then, she kissed Adrien on the cheek and… morphed into him?! what hellish nightmare place did his mother send him to?!
*insert falling to the floor sound* “Whoops! I lied.” *SLAM* huh. Sucks to be him it must be uncomfortable in there
“If this is an enchanted sleep what could possibly wake him up? Oh no, not an enchanted kiss. Please. Mmm nobody will ever know.”
Raspy low voice…can’t be a student
“Plagg? What happened? And what are you doing?”
“o-oh me? Nothing! I-I uh- Your friend Lila put you to sleep with an evil kiss. You should be more careful picking your friends!”
…it’s coming from the locker Adrien was in… should I go see what’s happening?... Nah not my problem
“Lila must have been re-akumatized! Quick! Plagg! Claws out!”
…The locker just glowed green...and someone in a cat costume just ran out… what the hell does Adrien do in his spare time? I have so many questions… you know what? I’ve seen weirder.
“Of course Ladybug saved my life. She never misses an opportunity to rescue her best friend.”
“Did your tinnitus give you vertigo when you went up the Eiffel Tower?”
“Oh no! Ladybug knows me so well that she brought me an ear plug to stick in my right ear!”
Again with someone named Ladybug…
“Grr.”
Hmm?
“Right ear? did she say right ear? This morning she said the ringing was in her left ear!
She’s not wrong… sausage hair did say the tinnitus was in her left ear this morning…
I’ve got her this time.”
Nice, things are finally getting interesting (oh Felix, if only you knew)
“Are you going to tell everyone?”
“Of course I am. Lila is-
“-A liar. Yes, I know. But do you really think exposing her will make things better?”
Did he just ruin the most interesting part of his day? Bitch. Try again.
“And who’s to say not exposing her will make things better?”
“But if you humiliate her, she’ll just be hurt more making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy-
“And has letting a so called bad guy do whatever they wanted ever make them a good guy?”
(“Ladybug and I are like two peas in a pod.”)
“Take for example, Bourgeois. Heard she’s the resident school bully. Has she ever changed?”
“She’s better-
“Wasn’t talking to you, Adrien. Has she treated anyone in your class out of the supposed kindness in her heart?”
“Well no but-
“There is no but. It just proves that even if you let the ‘bad guy’ do whatever they want they won’t become a ‘good guy’ also if you keep letting Bourgeois do whatever she wants your going to lose all your friends. I may not have friends but even I know that much. Think about it, how many times has Adrien stood up for you or any of your classmates when Bourgeois were bullying you and your classmates vs the times Adrien has stood up for Bourgeois for bullying you.”
“I-he uh, he stood up for the whole school when Chloe pulled the fire alarm and- uh”
“That’s just one time. Face it, Adrien stands up for bullies far more times than when he stood up for his friends.”
“That’s not true! I apologised-
“You apologised but did you stand up or defend your friends?”
Okay, so half of it might be about my grudge on him but it was true! Surprisingly, Adrien didn’t approach him for the rest of the day.
-The next day-
His seatmate, Marinette, sat down next to him, “Thank you. I never noticed I had always put Adrien up on a pedestal like he could not do any wrong. I never noticed that Adrien had some very questionable flaws.”
“Mm.”
And then she smiled at him.
His heart skipped a beat, the smile was sweet and sincere… and he found that she was rather likable.
@felinettenovember
#Felinette#Felinette November#Day 2: Call Out#There's Adrien salt#If you dislike Adrien salt you probably shoudn't read#hahahah. It's 10 pm right now#I should sleep#I can't fall asleep in class again#felinettenovember#felinette month 2020#adrien salt
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12. Granny Out of Control a.k.a. headless chickens, Gene Simmons’ girlfriend and Rapunzel
In the previous chapters: Judy and Stone act after their embarrassing encounter in the shower as if it hadn’t even happened; they implicitly agree on not telling Mike that his one-night stand was just the consequence of Judy’s revenge-fueled rumors about Stone’s sexual preferences. Ed loses his voice so the show has to be canceled, Jeff offers to give guitar lessons to Judy instead in his spare time. Granny buys a metal magazine to learn more about Seattle-based rock bands; the picture of Pearl Jam makes her think the perfect match for Judy isn’t Jeff but Stone. Krisha picks Effie up in the city to tell her that Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver have plans with her as a photographer; she also gives her the list of codenames the band and crew members use at hotels. Effie also joins her when she feeds Stone’s unsociable cat, Red who is incompatible with all girls who try to approach him.
„I don’t know, man… Are you sure you saw them?”
“Don’t piss me off, Schmitty, of course I’m sure. I know whom and what I saw.” I mumble as I put the flashlight back between my teeth. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Not only makes he me do this stupid act, he even drives me crazy with this weak-minded questioning in the meantime. The guy obviously watches too much TV. Especially detective shows about drug cartels.
“But let’s go over it again. Maybe you were wrong or misunderstood the situation or…”
I sigh, and take the flashlight out of my mouth only to direct the blinding ray of light in his face.
“Okay, but this is the last time. And I’m only willing to tell it again because I have nothing better to do and because technically, I can’t do anything else until we finish this. Open the bag and hold it.”
“Yes sir... so you went having a shower…”
“Not that it matters if I went showering or shitting but yes, I went to the restroom.”
“And you opened the door…” he goes on with the storytelling like a small child who already knows his favorite bedtime story by heart.
“And there were they, standing at the sinks…”
“Stop. Are you sure it was them?”
“Of course I am, I could recognize Judy and Stone from miles!”
“Are you 100 % sure?”
“No, I’m only 99 % sure because there’s a very small chance that they both have doppelgangers right in this town but let’s say I’m very likely to have seen them.” I confirm while I start portioning the green leaves into the plastic bag Schmitty is holding.
“And they were…”
“…basically naked.”
“Basically?” he asks like he’d never heard the word before.
“Yes, basically.”
“How do you mean “basically”?”
“What? I’m fucking around here with sharing my weed with you and you’re already high? Unbelievable…”
“No-no-no, seriously, man, you didn’t say “naked”, you said “basically naked”. Define the difference. It’s important.” he flails fussily.
“Stop shaking the bag, it’s difficult enough to do this only with one hand. So, uh, they weren’t completely naked, they both were wearing a towel…”
“The same towel or…?”
“Hah, interesting idea, but no, they both had their own towel on. But I assume none of them was wearing any underwear…”
“That’d be normal, I mean, after showering… but that’s the weakest point in your theory, them having a shower at the same time… it sounds so unreal.”
“Yeah, I thought the same until I found the only logical reason.”
“What? That you only dreamed the whole thing? Or that it was just an intense trip due to the shrooms Mike gave you?”
“I know it sounds unbelievable but at this point, I’m pretty much convinced they did it on purpose.” I close the bag and throw it at Schmitty who hides it immediately in the inner pocket of his jacket and pats himself on the chest satisfied.
“Thanks. But I can’t follow your thinking, Scully. Why’d they secretly meet in the shower?”
“I don’t want to shock you but… I think they had sex right before. I almost entered but then I glanced them and they were almost naked, both giggling and Judy was groping Stone and… I backed out, I was so surprised, I didn’t even know what to do…”
“But they hate each other.” Schmitty protests shaking his head.
“And? Since when can’t people who hate each other have sex with each other?”
“Man, this is too much to me, Stone has Amber at home, Judy is like a nun, they can’t stand each other so obviously, they have sex??? Bullshit, that’s all I can say. I don’t know what you saw but it definitely couldn’t be a post-coital scene.”
“Look, I don’t understand the exact reasons either but…”
“I’ve always been told that as soon as we start touring, girls will try to drag me in the tour bus all the time but I imagined it somehow different…”
We both freeze at the hearing of Stone’s smug giggling and our surprise only grows when we recognize the voice that belongs to his companion.
“Sorry for ruining your wet rock star dreams but it’s impossible here to talk to someone face-to-face, even the walls have ears in this crew.”
Schmitty and I exchange a meaningful look and to his nod, I turn the flashlight on the lowest level. Walls might not have ears here but this bunk bed curtain we’re hiding behind definitely does. Even four, to be exact.
“So what’s the purpose of this conspired, hyper-secret meeting, Camden? I’m hungry so let’s get over with this as fast as possible!”
Hungry, yeah, I can imagine. So you prefer quickies, Stoney?
“I just wanted to talk about yesterday.”
Schmitty stares at me with popped eyes, even his jaws drop of shock.
“Ha. So you were thinking about it?”
“Yes but not the way you think. I’m not gonna tell you tirades about how much I regretted it or stuff because I didn’t. I only want to ask if you talked to Scully about it?”
Schmitty grabs my forearm, digging his nails into it, his other hand is shaking uncontrollably.
“No and I don’t know why I should force it, I mean it happened, it’s embarrassing enough for both of us so let’s draw a veil over it.”
“It’s embarrassing for both of us? Do you really think I give a damn about that? I mean, okay, I lost control, which doesn’t happens really often to me but who cares, I can handle the consequences. You feeling embarrassed, now that’s the last thing I care about. But have you already thought about the feelings of your friend at least for one single second?”
We both furrow our eyebrows and her words probably found their marks since Stone doesn’t answer, which makes Judy go on with the pep talk.
“Okay, neither of us is going to say a word since we both have selfish interest in keeping it in secret but if Scully shoots his mouth off and he finds out about what happened… just think into it, it’d ruin his self-esteem. I mean, it’s inevitable that it turns out later but the best strategy is discretion. Now, it’d be too fresh for him, let’s wait until he forgets about this little… intermezzo.”
Schmitty covers his still opened mouth in complete horror and even I start feeling uncomfortable now that my intuition is basically confirmed.
“So, would you finally promise to talk to Scully?”
“Dunno… I’ll consider it.”
“Jesus Christ, Gossard, would it hurt not to piss me off once in a lifetime?”
“To answer your question, yes, it would but this time it’s not about you, Miss Fussy. I was just thinking that we should let it slide since after all, it’s not as a big deal as you think.”
You fuck her and then try to ditch her? Come on Stone, I thought you were better than this.
“I mean, you make such a fuss but I don’t think Scully would let it slip, he’s probably already forgotten about the whole scene. And if I came up with it, he’d just start overthinking it; when he knows he has to shut his mouth, he becomes gossipy all the more.”
Ha, thanks Stoney but just for the record, I don’t gossip, I just process things by discussing them with other people, see also at “coping mechanisms”…
“It’s you who’s overthinking it. Just stop protesting and do what I ask you. I even use the word “please”.”
“Fuck, okay, I’ll see what I can do, just leave me finally alone with this. Can I ask you something too?”
“It depends…”
“Could we stay here for ten… fifteen minutes? You know, it’s about my reputation…”
“Fuck off, Gossard!!!”
We both exhale with a deep sigh when we hear them leaving the bus.
“Holy. Shit.”
“Holy. Fucking. Shit. Dude, you were right!”
“Of course I was right, I always am, you just never believe me.“
“But… damn… I didn’t see that coming… Gahhh.” Schmitty facepalms, rubbing his forehead worried.
“I’m surprised, though, I thought they didn’t notice me.”
“Apparently, they did. Jesus, I doubt there’s something serious between them but now that I heard it with my own ears, it all makes sense! They hook up, they are both embarrassed since they are enemies, plus the Amber-factor… and poor Jeff, he has a massive crush on Judy and she knows it, maybe she tries to have two irons in the fire… So she convinced him to keep the fling in secret not to ruin her chances at Jeff… She looks so innocent and now she turns out to be an actual snake… Do you think Karrie knows about it?” he jabbers staring desperately in front of himself.
“Whoa, stop, dude, are you insane? She’s not a bitch, they just made a mistake and she freaked out. Her worrying about Jeff sounded genuine, after all, Stone is no perspective for her, he’s got that… he’s got Amber, whatever she is for him. And I don’t think Karrie knows anything, even if she does, she’ll pretend she doesn’t.”
“But this changes everything! Jeff is our friend too and I don’t want to lie to him.”
“Trust me, he’ll never ask “And tell me Schmitty, have Judy and Stone had sex?”, so you don’t have to.”
“You’re making fun of me but you know too how dangerous information these are so you’d better have a good idea what are we going to do know.”
“I’ll tell you, Schmitty: we’re gonna act casual. Just watch me.”
***
„There’s no chance I could reach that string. Just… no. I don’t have that muscle, I’m done.” I moan as I desperately try to stretch my pinky finger to play the next chord following Jeff’s instructions.
“Hey, relax, just reach a bit further, you’ve almost got it.” he chuckles and makes an insecure move to help me out but he changes his mind in the last moment and pretends he only wanted to scratch his arm. And I pretend not to have noticed it.
“No, it’s impossible, I can’t twist my wrist that much. I don’t have freakishly long fingers like Stone, it’s enough.” I give up and put the guitar aside. We’ve been practicing for like one hour, I played him my still rudimentary sounding song idea, of course without telling him what exactly it was. He improvised a bass line to it on his acoustic bass guitar, his fingers are still running back and forth over the strings despite the fact I stopped playing. When I was a kid, Grandpa would tell me that if you cut the head of a chicken, it can still run around for a few seconds before collapsing, maybe it’s a similar phenomenon. Or maybe it’s like when a freight train hits a car and it pushes the vehicle in front of itself for miles before stopping. Headless chickens and train wrecks, why am I thinking about stuff like these while hanging out with a nice guy?
“I’m sure you can do it if you practice it. Look, my fingers aren’t long either.” he raises his palm. Is he expecting me to measure mine to his by placing them together? Could we rather just draw them around and compare the drawings like small children? Okay, he’s got strong, manly hands, that’s not bad at all. But how can he stuff those thick fingers between the strings? And those jewelries, God, they are terrible. Would he mind if I asked him to put them off?
“No, I can’t. I’m not good at these moves, I’ve already tried to play the violin, it didn’t go well. It went awful.” I protest, rather to overtalk my racing thoughts than to argue with him. I hope he’s not going to ask me about the details, I don’t feel like telling him that story at all.
“Okay, it was you who asked me for help, so…” he shrugs with a half smile, his fingers are still nerve-wrackingly torturing the instrument.
“Actually it was you who offered to help so…”
“Fair enough. I don’t want to force it so… if you want to finish all your future performances by saying “sorry, now comes the chord which is incompatible with my wrist so go the fuck home” – then okay, I don’t care.” he puts down the guitar. I try to decode the expression on his face, is he disappointed or just casual or…?
“How do you do that?” I ask quickly, I can’t bear that look.
“What?”
“This… everything…” I flail helplessly.
“I don’t know… I think I got bored with doing nothing and wanted to try something new and I realized I could do everything instead of nothing.” he leans back with a challenging smirk.
“Geez, you spend too much time with Stone.” I roll my eyes. “I mean… I played you something and you immediately knew what to do with it. Your head is full of ideas and variations, can you hear the harmonies instinctively or…?”
“I don’t know… when I hear a melody, I start hearing the other parts in my head… but sometimes I just mess around and try different things to check if they can work as a song or as an idea that I can use later. I try to keep my ears fresh, I fight against crafting only bass lines in my head, that’s why I pick up the guitar from time to time. You know, if a bass player never leaves his comfort zone, after a while, he’ll tend to operate only with the same five or five notes, it’s like a tunnel vision… or tunnel hearing…” he ends his explanation with a shrug and a lopsided smile, as far as I’ve observed, he does that pretty often.
“That’s amazing… I envy you so much. I’ve been studying and playing music for as long as I can remember but I’ve never felt that… sense of liberty? I practiced my ass off, I learned everything I could, at Juilliard, we basically dissected classical musical pieces into single notes and… I developed some weird perfectionism in the meantime, I know how good music is supposed to be composed but… I myself just can’t do it. I was so busy with studying other people’s works that I couldn’t develop the ability to create something, it’s like… my knowledge paralyzed my creativity… Or that’s just what I keep telling myself because I1m not willing to accept the fact that writing music is a gift you can’t just earn by practicing and learning…”
“Maybe you’re right.” he shrugs again and his reaction somehow hits me hard; I don’t know why, though. “I think I’ve already mentioned you that I took piano lessons but I hated it. I found literally nothing intriguing in it, it was boring, I’ve never been into Beethoven or some shit like that.”
“What?” I frown. I didn’t expect him to like the same things I do but… could he just show at least a little interest in what I like? I even talked about art and skateboarding with him. Okay, he doesn’t owe me anything, we’re not dating and all but if he ever wants something from me… okay, he probably doesn’t, it was obviously just a stupid gossip.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to trash your music, it’s just not for me, I appreciate it but I don’t like it. I’m just a Montanan jerk, did you forget?”
“You’re not a jerk, don’t say that… I’m just… nothing, forget it.”
“No, if you want to say something, don’t swallow it. Did I hurt you?”
“You didn’t… I’ve just spent my entire life playing classical music so I can’t imagine how someone is able not to like it at all.”
“Same here with sports.”
“God, I hate sports!” I exclaim and I immediately begin to laugh realizing I’m not better than him either.
“You see? But speaking of your music studies, there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to ask.”
“No.”
“No what? Am I not allowed to ask the question?”
“No is the answer to the question.”
“But I haven’t even…”
“Trust me, it’s no.”
“If you say so…”
“I’m just kidding. Most people attack me when they learn I’m a musician asking if I’d sing or play something for them, it’s so annoying, it’s like the “grunge question’ of classical musicians…”
“Okay, I get it.” he smiles. “But that’s not what I was about to ask.”
“Thank God. So, I guess you don’t want me to teach you reading sheet music either, because that’s usually the second question, which is usually asked by people with no musical hearing at all...”
“No, it’s more of a… personal one.” he hesitates squinting at me for the final permission.
“Hit me.”
“Why are you here?”
“Here? Like, here and now, with you or…?”
“No, I mean, why are you here, with the band? You graduated from one of the most prestigious music schools on Earth, you could conduct top choirs or whatever… and you’re here, loading our shitty van every single night, smelling sweat and cigarette smoke, spending days in a tour bus with beer drinking ugly dudes… Why? I guess Juilliard graduates can pick whatever job offer they want so...”
“I’m here for the money.” I answer without thinking and it immediately sounds false. Am I? Really? “I came here for the money, I don’t deny it, I had no job and however terrified I was, something told me I had to take this opportunity.”
“But… as a classical musician trained at Juilliard… why this job? I just can’t get it.”
“Well… I’ve known for a very long time that the music of baroque era is in which I’m the most interested. It’s, you know, a passion to me, it’s like punk was to you. And if you want to be really good at it, you have to go to the place where it comes from. Here in the States, you can basically hear nothing that was written before Mozart.”
“Europe?”
“Exactly. So in my senior year, I applied for a scholarship of the music academy in Leipzig.”
“And…?”
“And I won it.”
“So you studied in Europe too?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because my father died a few months before I graduated and the small firm he ran died with him… it was a very complicated period so I asked the academy if I could postpone it by one year.”
He’s chewing his lower lip and speaks up only after digesting for a few seconds what he’s just heard.
“And they refused your application?”
“No, they sent me a kind acceptation letter in which they cited their scholarship regulation that said postponement is allowed once. So I moved back to Seattle and started teaching.”
“Oh. I guess something came up one year later too.”
“Well yeah, my sister’s almost dying, that came up.”
He exhales with a deep sigh, I have the feeling he already knew all the details, he just couldn’t do the math. Maybe Karrie told him our family saga. I don’t mind, though, I don’t feel like telling him those stories either…
“Well, that’s a lot… but it also sounds like… you gave up your dreams.”
Now it’s me who can’t do anything else but shrug.
“Maybe… or maybe, it was just a warning from the universe. I’m not religious but I do believe that everything happens with a reason, maybe you can’t find it out ever because it’s something bigger than you or your shitty little life. My family needed me and they still do, or at least they need my two hands I can make money with so… plus, I’ve always been terrified of performing. I have worst stage fright, I doubt I would be able to conduct in the spotlight of the world’s biggest concert halls… anyways… have you ever heard about famous, female conductors?”
“Normally, I’d say you’re a coward and you should follow your dreams but I understand the family factor, of course. And I don’t want to act like a hypocrite either, I could have looked for another graphic design program too when mine was canceled in Missula.”
“But changed your dream instead.”
“Exactly. And maybe that’s what you should do too if universe or God or Buddha or the spirit of Johann Sebastian Bach is trying to message you that you picked the wrong dream.”
“Are you trying to say I should switch my brain to believe loading shitty vans and smelling Scully’s and Schmitty’s stinky feet is my real dream?” I giggle.
“If that’s your way, than go for it, girl!” he plays the overly enthusiastic motivational trainer. We crack up but none of us is laughing heartfelt. His face finds finally rest in a genuine, encouraging smile. “Let’s raise our glasses to the new dreams!”
We both reach our hands to clink our imaginary glasses.
“To the new dreams!”
***
I’ve been on the road with them for days and nothing. Not a single move or a sound that’d confirm we’re following the right traces. And I’m thirsty. So thirsty. But they are so envious, I know they are hiding spare water in their stupid spacesuits or what but they claim they have nothing to share. Sure. I would never drink recycled pee, anyway. But those two moons look pretty cool, the night sky compensates me for every inconvenience I’ve experienced since we started chasing that gross sandworm… everything for the melange…
However important my mission is, it gets interrupted by three quick, impatient knocks on the door.
“You’ve been shitting in there for forty-two minutes! I know you’ve finished and you’re just reading! I have to pee! Get the fuck out of there! Why do you have to do this all the time?”
Maybe because this is the only place where I can have some progress with my current reading undisturbed? I reluctantly close the hardcover volume of Frank Herbert’s Dune and glance lazily at my wristwatch.
“First of all, it’s been only forty minutes. Second, it’s shorter than a blink of an eye, if you measure it in cosmic time. Not even applicable.”
“Okay, I can use astronomical metaphors too. My bladder is a red giant that is about to explode so…”
“I’m coming, I’m coming, geez, urinary incontinence? You should see a urologist.” I remark opening the door. He basically tosses me out of is his way and almost slams it on my nose.
“It’s rather you who should see a doctor, fuck, Stone, what did you eat? Uuugh, I’m dying.” I hear his muffled indignation.
I lie down on my bed and stuff the pillow under my nape. I turn the pages back and forth for a few times until find the place where I was before Mike kicked me out. So, back to those goddamn pervert Fremen fuckers…
I barely manage to read a few lines, when Mike comes back and throws himself on his bed, unmuting the TV that is showing underdressed ladies caressing their own body and telling their erotic fantasies in seductive voice. I clear my throat. No reaction. I do it again, this time longer and louder. Nothing.
“Sorry, am I bothering?” I ask sharply but our guitarist seems to be completely immersed in the curves. “Okay, busted. I know you only went to the toilet to jerk off. You only watch Playboy TV and noname porn channels, you really need to get laid.”
“Done, last night. Remember?” he answers slowly and mindlessly, his eyes are still glued to the screen.
“No, because I wasn’t there, thank God.”
“You’re just envious because you have to practice celibacy, otherwise Amber would cut your balls off.”
I squint at the girls over my book.
“Not that I feel tempted. Jesus, I’m sick of these… udders…”
“Hey, watch your mouth! Those ladies deserve more respect! Especially her!” he points at the blonde, blue-eyed, busty woman on the screen who is dropping her lingerie standing at a bath tub.
“Why, who is she?” I look back at the text in front of me, not that I understand a word of it. Since I receive no answer I turn my head towards Mike only to see he sat up in the meantime and stares at me offended. “What? I have no idea.”
“That’s Shannon Tweed!!!” he flails outraged.
“… who is…?”
“Who is a goddess, Playmate of the Year in 1982 and last but not least, the girlfriend of Gene Simmons!”
“Oh. So she’s old as dirt.” I summarize laconically.
“Stone, what’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with big boobs? I thought you liked them… I mean, you are the guy who’s entitled to do anything with Seattle’s most spectacular pair of bosoms so…”
“Hey, you’re talking about my girlfriend!” I grunt.
“I’m talking about your girlfriend’s tits!”
“Exactly, that’s it! Don’t talk about my girlfriend’s tits! Anyway, how do you know what they look like?”
“Hey, first, I’m only talking about them. It’s called freedom of speech, First Amendment…”
“What the fuck, parts of the Constitution are printed now on beer tags or did I miss something?”
“…second, it is very difficult not to know what they look like, they basically poke your eyes out!”
“Only talking, ‘course.”
“Certain female anatomical features attract men’s eyes, it’s in our genetic code. Don’t even try to make me believe those features had nothing to do with you ending up with her. Wait!” he exclaims with a finger snapping. “Oh, I get it already. You miss her! That’s why you can’t stand the playmates on TV! But you could have said, it’s not a shame…”
“Dr. ‘Cready, expert of constitutional law and anatomy, psychotherapist. I’ve just said I don’t feel tempted…”
“Because those boobs” he points at the screen “are forbidden fruit and remind you of those boobs in Seattle.”
“You’re pointing in the wrong direction, Michael. You’re pointing at boobs in Indiana.”
“Whatever. You miss her, admit it. My boobies are over the ocean, my boobies are over the sea…”
“Stop!”
“My boobies are over the ocean so bring back my boobies to me…”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“BRING BAAACK, BRING BAAACK, BRING BACK MY BOOBIES TO ME, TO MEEEE!”
“I’m only saying that even huge breasts can be boring after a while.” I overshout his off-key singing.
Mike suddenly stops singing and just blinks at me completely frozen.
“You mean… you want to leave Amber?”
“Jesus, what did I do to deserve this?” I bury my face in my hands. “I mean… imagine your favorite food!”
“But that’s… risotto…?”
“Perfect!”
“But risotto doesn’t look like boobs!”
“Jesus, of course not, just imagine it!”
“Okay. Mmmh, it looks delicious. I can even feel its smell.” he moans with closed eyes.
“So you want to eat risotto now, right?”
“Oh yeah, I want it more than anything.”
“And if you could… or had to eat risotto every single day, would you feel the same?”
“Uhm, probably… not.” he opens his eyes.
“And here we are. If you’re in the position where you can play with huge breasts every day, it’s not such a big deal anymore.”
“Hm, makes sense…” he lies back. “But wait!” he sits up quickly again.
“What?”
“In that case, risotto wouldn’t be my favorite food anymore.”
“Yeah, probably…”
Congrats Sherlock. I drop my book on the nightstand, by now, I basically gave up all hope for finishing the chapter I was reading.
“But that means that you prefer small boobs now!”
“I didn’t say that but obviously, smaller tits have their appeal too. And there are girls who would look ridiculous with big breasts.”
My mind begins to wander involuntarily… Yeah, Amber is a bombshell and she drives me crazy whenever she’s around but I’ve always had a thing for more fragile looking girls…
“Who are you thinking about?” Mike asks greedily like a curious puppy.
“Jesus, no one.” I scoff frowning. “I mean, very slim girls look better with… proportionate breasts, you know, like small apples…”
I catch myself cupping my hands, what the hell, am I honking imaginable tits in the air? Okay, I have to talk to Eric to fly Amber here, I’m going to put an end to this, I’m pathetic.
“Say an example!”
What? I don’t know whom I was thinking about, I don’t even know if I was thinking about an existing person, maybe I was just fantasizing about freaky phantom breasts, I couldn’t even see them, it was just a desirable cleavage… and round hips… and shapely thighs…
“I can’t!”
“Just say an example, I don’t know, someone famous who looks like that, or someone who we both know…”
“Kylie Minogue?” I groan in agony. Hopefully I satisfied Mike’s need for a new protagonist for his erotic dreams because he only nods with an appreciative pout.
The ringing of the phone on the bedside between us interrupts our intellectual conversation and we both stare at the device surprised and confused for a few seconds, it’s usually us who call family members and friends, not the other way around. Finally, I decide to pick up.
“It’s Stone.”
“…” No one answers but I can hear some indistinct noises coming from the other end of the line.
“Hello… who’s that? Wo am I talking to?” I ask, and Mike pulls closer to the speaker of the receiver too.
“Ah… excuse me… I must have dialed the wrong number… you’re obviously not the Notre Dame Hunchbach…” an old female voice answers.
What the hell? Is this a prank call? Old people make phone pranks too?
“Who?” I mouth to Mike who mouths “Judy” as a response. Ah, yes. She also chose a codename, not that anyone is interested in her. “You’re talking to Dr. Hugh Jeego, but who am I talking to?”
“Ah, you must be Mr. Gossard. I’m Mrs. Albertson, Judy’s grandma.”
I almost drop the receiver.
“Ugh… uhm… hi, Mrs. Albertson, it’s nice to meet you… I mean, even if not in person but… I guess you wanted to call Judy so…” I make an attempt to finish this awkward intermezzo but she cuts me off.
“Actually, I am glad that I can talk with my Judy’s new colleague, this job is so different in comparison to what she worked earlier, you know, she taught in a school…”
“Yeah, I know…”
“…and now she’s with a rock band, and there are so many rumors about musicians, they drink and do drugs and…”
“We… we don’t drink… that much… not before shows…” I answer and Mike nods approvingly opening a beer can with a loud fizz. “… and we prefer herbs…”
“And mushrooms…” Mike adds.
“Shut up, you ruin everything!” I hiss between my teeth while I cover the microphone with my palm.
“Who was that?”
“It was… it was Mike, our lead guitarist.”
“Ah, Mr. McCready!”
Mike pats his chest proudly.
“Exactly, Mr. McCready…” I flip him the bird.
“I hope my Judy takes care of herself, she tends to become obsessed with work, she even forgets to eat… does she eat properly?”
“I’ve… I’ve seen her eating… so I guess she does…” I try to reassure her but I’m afraid I don’t sound very convincing; after all, the eating habits of Miss Smarty Pants don’t belong to my main interests.
“I wish she ate more, she’s so skinny, isn’t she?”
“She is… I mean, she’s slim. But like… not too slim. Her body is proportionate… I mean, physically, anatomically… her shape is feminine… and when I say “feminine” I mean she’s not malnourished…” I babble and the small apple tits appear in front of my eyes again, Jesus, I’ve started losing my sanity… For some reason, Mike feels necessary to grab the receiver and yell a gratuitous, cheesy tirade into it.
“My learned colleague is trying to say that she’s a very pretty young lady, with all the respect, of course. She’s the most virtuous girl I know, she behaves well, you can be proud of her, Mrs. Albertson.”
Yes, Mrs. Albertson, exactly, your grandchild behaves well, she brought condoms only enough for a whole fuckin’ football team, safety first… I snatch the receiver out of Mike’s hand and lift it back to my ear but before I could finally get rid of the old lady, the TV catches my attention. While we were listening to the phone call, the harmless playmate fantasies ended and the channel started airing hardcore porn. And either was the petting part very short or it didn’t even exist since the “characters” are pretty much in the middle of things and before we could react anything to avoid the disaster, the actress starts screaming rhythmically.
“What was that noise? Are women with you too?” the old woman inquires suspiciously.
“Turn down the volume, for fuck’s sake!!!” I scream-whisper to Mike.
“No, we’re alone, Mrs. Albertson… we’re just watching TV… Murder She Wrote, someone is being killed!” Mike improvises aggressively poking the remote. “It’s not working…” he groans with a miserable expression.
“Oh, I like that show… which episode? Maybe I turn on the TV to watch it too...”
If you knew… In the meantime the man starts moaning too so the obvious noises grow even louder.
“Oh, the murderer is being killed too!” I try to win some time for Mike, I admit, it wasn’t the most creative lie I’ve ever said…
“I’m saying it’s not working, it must be contact failure or low battery…” he explains beating the remote against his palm at full strength, creating a counterpart to the sound of the bodies snapping against each other on the screen.
“It’s the episode about the slasher.” I maintain the conversation and then address Mike again. “Then use the power button on the TV device or throw it the fuck out of the window, I don’t care, just do something!!!”
“Ah, great idea!” his face lights up and finally, he walks to the TV and turns it off. I swear, I thought for a second he was going to choose the window version, like Keith Moon. I’m sure he was considering it but found the box too heavy.
“It’s over…“ I transmit to Mrs. Albertson.
“It ended with a cliffhanger, what a shame…” Mike remarks and I can barely suppress my snorts.
“I hope for a happy ending…” I grin, Mike presses his pillow against his face, while the poor lady obviously doesn’t even know what to say. After a few seconds of silent, body-shaking laughter, he rearranges his face muscles and takes the receiver away from me.
“It was a pleasure to meet to you, Mrs. Albertson. Judy is a great girl and as far as we know, Effie too, please, hug her for us. I hope we can meet you in person too, when we get back.”
“I admit, I’m relieved, I want you to know I think you are just darling guys. And now, I call the Notre Dame Hunchbach, as I intended to. Goodnight, Mr. Gossard, Mr. McCready.”
“Goodnight, Mrs. Albertson.” we sing in unison.
After I hang up the phone, we stare at each other silently for long moments, before we burst out laughing hysterically.
***
Great. She’s late. She promised she’d be waiting for me at the bar counter at 9 p.m. I’m doing the third circle in this goddamn place and she’s nowhere to be found. Okay, RCKNDY is actually my favorite place and I was happy when Krisha offered to meet me here to unveil Kelly’s and Susan’s “great idea” about which I only know at this moment that it concerns my photos. The cigarette smoke irritates my throat and some unknown band is in the middle of sound check on the stage, the indistinct guitar noises and the female lead singer’s instructions blast at random moments from the speakers causing me mild heart attack every single time and making the crowd members overyell them. Despite the early hour, the place is packed; I can barely struggle through the mass of flannel-wearing guys and girls. Early hour… what am I talking… now that my lifestyle converges on clinical death, both metaphorically and literally, I usually spend my evenings in front of the TV wearing my pajamas. It’s good Krisha picked this day, Mom is working at that new side job again so I didn’t have to make anything up to prevent her from asking suspicious questions.
I visited the restroom to kill some time but it just made me frustrated all the more since I involuntarily became the audience of a bunch of girls, one of them was gushing about the kissing skills of her current crush… gah, I can’t believe I turned into this sour bitch, just because I’ll end up as a spinster, she’s entitled to have some fun…
Almost fifteen minutes have passed by and she still hasn’t shown up yet. I can’t hang out with Victor either, he’s helping with putting the finishing touches at the sound check. I guess I have to wait then. I pick a bar stool and try to decipher the list of beverages on the wall.
“What can I get for you?” a red-haired bartender girl asks. Her question catches me off-guard, since my good old answer “beer” hasn’t been an option for a while and I didn’t have enough time to consider the alternatives. She’s chewing gum with a bored face, reminding me of a ruminant… a hot ruminant.
“Uhm… I… ugh, I haven’t…” I jabber and she reacts with an impatient eyeroll, the countless bracelets are clinking around her wrist as she runs her fingers through her red mane.
“I’d like to have a virgin mojito.” I utter the first thing that comes to mind. She acknowledges my choice with a scornful scoff… Yeah, in case I haven’t felt embarrassed enough yet, she makes obvious that she’s the sexy and cool femme fatale and I’m a straight-edge cripple in a boring, worn, brown jacket.
“Hey, here you are!” someone grabs my shoulders.
“Me? I’ve been waiting for you for like… hours?” I frown while Krisha settles down on the bar stool next to me and places her beer on the counter.
“Gosh, sorry!” her eyes pop as she checks her wristwatch. “I arrived too early and went to the executive office to meet a few friends.” she points at some people talking in front of a door that probably belongs to the office rooms. “That’s Alex, he runs this place, he’s a good friend of Stone, by the way. And that girl next to him works here too, she’s the girlfriend of Regan.”
I observe the girl she’s talking about, she has a nice, bright smile. Fantastic. Krisha knows everyone here… and I have no idea who these people are, and by the way, I’m nobody.
“Regan?” I furrow my eyebrows. “It’s a unique name, I swear I’ve heard it but I can’t place it…”
“He’s also an old friend of mine. And of Stone of course. You might know his name because he played in Malfunkshun with Andy. I mean Andy Wood.”
“Wood.” we say the name at once. “Of course I know his name, I didn’t grow up in a cave…” I explain, maybe in a sharper tone than intended.
“Oookay… “ she raises both hands defensively. “Actually, Regan almost became the drummer of Mother Love Bone, until they replaced him with Greg Gilmore. They made Stone fire him, I was thinking “okay, that’s it, he’s gonna hate us forever” but somehow, he managed to convince him by using logical reasons. If you ever want to fire a drummer, just call him because he’s your guy.” she nods meaningfully and takes a sip of her beer.
“Based on my sister’s opinion, drummers probably leave the band willingly, after having spent some time with him.” I remark dryly. “Thank you.” I reach for my drink and slide the money towards the phlegmatic redhead. I suppress a smile when I see her realizing with disappointed face that I spared the tip. What was she thinking, seriously?
“Oh yes, I forgot your sister and you sew Stone-shaped voodoo dolls in your spare time. By the way, Regan has played with a guy called Shawn for a few years, he’s a huge talent. The dude is a Prince-freak, which is somehow odd in a city where you can’t make a single step without stomping on a distortion pedal but he’s an awesome singer. AND they are planning to jam with Stone as soon as he gets back. I can give you the address of their rehearsal room in case you want to assassinate him…”
“No, thanks, I already know where he lives so…”
“Right!” she slaps herself in the forehead.
“Anyway, can I finally learn why we’re here?”
“Soon. We’re waiting for someone… I’m going to introduce you to someone… who has a job offer for you!”
“Wow… let me guess… healthcare branch has discovered me and they want me to be the face of some firm’s dialyzer portfolio?” I squint at her as I loudly slurp my cocktail.
“Damn, you nailed it!” she bangs her fist against the counter. “Anyway, I’m not going to tell you anything until she arrives, you need to be punished for the self-deprecating joke.”
“Spank me…” I mumble but my retort stays unnoticed since Krisha stares in an indefinite direction next to me sending an enthusiastic wave towards someone.
“Look, Jer is here too.” she points at the target of her smile and I follow her gaze only to recognize Jerry Cantrell… he’s wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket with a white tee.
“Wait… didn’t… didn’t you mention… I mean, you dated, didn’t you?” I ask confused, trying to form coherent sentences. It’s not going well.
“Yeah, we did.” she wiggles her eyebrows.
“But exes are supposed to hate each other…” I try not to turn around too obviously, so I remove a non-existing hair from the shoulder part of my jacket. While he’s slowly walking through the crowd, I notice he’s holding hands with a long, brown-haired girl. She has a perfect body and she’s probably completely aware of it since the tight leather pants highlight every curves of her. Sure, a 10/10 chick for a 10/10 guy, that’s how world has always worked… His hair is let down… I catch myself smiling, Dad insisted on calling him Rapunzel…
“It was just a summer fling and we realized after a few dates that we weren’t made for each other. So no one got hurt.” she shrugs. “Anyway, we share the building with the management of Alice in Chains so we knew we would run into each other all the time. The music scene of this city it’s like a big, incestuous family so…”
We both crack up.
“Oh no…” she sighs annoyed, staring over me again. I don’t know what’s going on in her head but it must have to do something with another twenty-eight people I’ve never met. “DON’T TURN AROUND!” she yells at me when I try to check the cause of her reaction.
“Why, what’s…?”
“It’s too late, I guess she’s already noticed us… or hasn’t she? Bow your head…” she leans on the counter, letting her hair cover her face.
“What the fuck?”
“I said bow your head… avoid eye contact… shit, I don’t have the nerves for this right now…”
“Krisha? Oh my god, it’s you, I haven’t seen you for ages!” I hear a powerful female voice from behind my back.
“Oh, hi Amber, it’s nice to see you!” Krisha groans with a painful smile, lifting her head and letting herself be pulled in a half-embrace resigned. I have to bite my lips to prevent myself from giggling since she sends a cross-eyed grimace to me over the girl’s shoulder. So she must be Stone’s Amber.
“Hey, are you here with your little friend?”
And that must be me. I involuntarily straighten up as much as I can but despite the high bar stool, I’m still shorter than her in her heels. I wonder if Red peed into these ones too… Now that I’m checking her out properly, I realize somehow she doesn’t belong here. Mini dress, heels, perfect makeup… That’d be Stone’s type?
“Uhm, this is Effie, she’s the sister of the band’s new monitor engineer…”
“Ah, Julie, you see, I know everything…” she knocks on his temple with her index finger a few times. “I’m Stoney’s girlfriend.” she grabs my hand and shakes it aggressively. I don’t correct her, I just exchange a quick look with Krisha, her eyes confirm that it wouldn’t make sense anyway.
“And… are you going to stay for the gig too?” Krisha nods towards the stage after a few moments of awkward silence.
“Oh, no, I’m going partying with my girls, I just checked in, I wanted to say hi to Alex and ask him for a favor. We’re organizing a grunge-themed fashion show and this place would be a perfect place for it.”
“A what?”
Krisha’s face radiates shock and disgust at the same time.
“You know, this grunge thing is blowing up, the firm is about to launch a collection, you know, flannel shirts, jackets, shorts with leggings, so we’re looking for a grungy place to present it…” she explains with huge hand moves. As she begins to explain the details of her brilliant idea, I get immediately distracted. Not only because my mind is desperately trying to ignore this nonsense but because I spot Leather Pants Chick at the same sport were Alex and his colleague were standing a few minutes ago. Only a few seconds pass by until her partner arrives too, he immediately pulls her closer by her hips as he leans against the wall… they engage into a make-out session without hesitation. Jerry digs his fingers into her hair and as things are getting more intense, his hands slowly wander along her back until they reach and firmly grab their destination…
I swear it wasn’t so hot in here when I arrived, I can feel my face is burning, I’m sweating like I was in hell… Yeah, being forced to watch a hot guy smooching with a girl who isn’t you but in exchange, is much prettier than you, that’s how I imagine the first circle of hell. I can barely peel myself out of my jacket, my elbow gets stuck when Amber grabs its sleeve. I’m still a little dazed-off and stare at her expressionlessly while I’m trying to pick up the threads of conversation.
“...exactly like this one, thrift clothes are so trendy now, where did you get this one?”
She shakes the sleeve of my jacket impatiently, making me realize that’s what she’s talking about. Should I tell her the truth? That it’s not from a thrift shop, that it’s original, that Judy and I pooled the money we earned at our summer jobs together and made an agreement about taking turns on wearing it six years ago?
“I can’t… can’t remember…” I manage an effortless answer.
“You have a great taste, we three should do a thrift store tour together.” she rants on.
“Totally.” Krisha tries to seem enthusiastic but she rather reminds me of a snarling serial killer.
“Okay, I have to go, oh my god, I’m late and I haven’t even talked to Alex. We could hang out in the city next week, call me, Krish! And bring your new friend too!” she winks at me. “See you, later girls!” she finally leaves us alone, the quick tapping of heels echoes in my head even after she has disappeared behind the office door. Krisha grabs her glass and drinks its content for one sip.
“Ah, I feel much better now.” she sighs. “I’m afraid my phone is about to die. I may not be able to make phone calls for a while.”
I snort into my drink.
“I must say, she’s not the girl I’d imagine as Stone’s girlfriend.”
“Trust me, she’s not the girl whom anyone would imagine as his girlfriend. But seeing them together is always like a free circus ticket, it’s pretty funny, especially when you have coke and popcorn too.”
“Sooo… where’s the mysterious person who we’re waiting for?” I look around, although I have no clue what physical characteristics I should look for, I don’t even know if we’re talking about a man or a woman. As my gaze slowly wanders around the room, I admit to myself unwillingly, that I exactly know what I’m looking for. Long, blonde hair, black leather jacket and a white shirt. The realization makes me blush, I feel like in those good old high school days, trying to casually encounter my current crush who doesn’t even know I exist. Why am I like this all the time? Why? I’m such an idiot…
“Okay, I check Alex’s office, maybe we misunderstood each other and she went in without me noticing her. And I’m sure Alex needs some spiritual support too, the recovery will be tough for him. Do you wanna come?”
“No, I… I’d rather wait here.” I answer quickly, flushing, I’m stupid, stupid, stupid… “So it’s a she?” I shout after Krisha but she just waves me off laughing.
So… what was I thinking? I could have join her and meet her cool friends but I chose to drink here alone, not that I don’t feel lonely enough. And I ran out of drink in the meantime too… I want to procrastinate the next round until the other, friendlier bartender shows up again but unfortunately, the red-haired demon spots my empty glass and elbows on the counter opposite me with a challenging, patronizing smile.
“May I bring you a next lemonade?”
I’m about to snap back but a pleasant male voice over my head makes me change my mind.
“One more of this, whatever it is. And the lady is my guest.”
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Just Like Family pt 4 ~ Harry Styles
In which she’s avoiding him
Warnings: none :)
Word Count: 3.2k
A/n: Yay! Surprised you all didn't I? Well, honestly surprised myself too. Anyway, this is the last part to ‘Just Like Family’, even though I took my fair time I enjoyed writing this so much! From the bottom of my heart, thank you all and happy reading!
Pt1 Pt2 Pt3
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Y/n was completely shattered, her posture was slumped and her eyes were lost, her walking seemed vague and everything felt tasteless. Her heart swelled with pain and she no longer felt like reading or being her usual self.
Y/n was heartbroken to say the least.
Not only did she felt so much pain, but deep down she knew she was a moron and this was her price to pay. Once again, Y/n had let her fantasies get to her head, ideas of what-ifs and scenes taken from the many books and movies she had read and watched. The truth is, reality sucked. A hell lot.
How could she lie to herself so much? Dear God, how could she have believed that? No way in earth would Harry freaking Styles want to be her boyfriend-- her friend even -- but she had had reused to think otherwise and here she was.
At the end of the day, everything was as clear as water. Olympic Gods like Harry are meant to date Olympic Goddess like Sofia.
Sofia.
No matter how hard Y/n tried, her name would never sound hateful to Y/n. Besides, it was not Sofia’s fault Y/n had this nerve-wreaking crush on a boy for more than two years. But it would have been so much easier if Y/n hated her, blamed Sofia for her own stupidity and tried to move on.
Now, that seemed impossible. It was like every turned she made Harry was there waiting for her, to talk or ask her if she was fine. Y/n tried her best to avoid him, avoid the look on his eyes -- amazed and so in-love -- as he looked at Sofia, they fingers intertwined. Every little step Y/n made further, would take a single glance at them to push her two steps behind.
Three weeks since Harry and Sofia got back together and Y/n felt more broken than ever.
“Hey, Y/n?” Tracy waved her hand in-front of Y/n trying to gain her friend’s attention. She placed her fork back down and sighed, “Y/n, when are you going to be okay?”
Y/n felt guilt rushing through her veins, the sadness in Tracy’s eyes was so genuine she almost forgot about Harry for a second. Almost. Then he came rushing back in and Y/n could see herself hiding further behind her lunchbox.
“I’m trying Tracy...” Y/n’s sight was lost between the head of students. “It’s just harder than I thought” She was lying, Y/n wasn’t trying at all, she had given up two heartbreaks ago. She glanced back at Tracy, her friend was looking at her helplessly, Tracy’s eyes eyed her up and down as if she was trying to figure something out.
“I know, Y/n. I just wish you could see...”, Tracy turn her head around and allowed herself a small glimpse towards the table full of boys, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea, and you are such a pretty girl. It wouldn't be a surprise if a couple of boys liked you”.
Was she really pretty? Not like Sofia, at least.
Y/n sighed trying to clear her mind from those negative thoughts that would only ever bring her down, it was just that it was getting harder to get away from those thoughts when it seemed like it was the only thing she could think of. “I know, but... they are not like Harry.”
And it was true. They were not like Harry and they would never be. Harry could simply walk by and take her breath away, literally. He mesmerised her in every way possible, making her get lost in seas of green and memorising the way that rebel curl would differ itself from the other locks. The way his smiled shined and how the only sound she wanted to hear in repeat was his rough laugh.
Tracy wished she could understand her, she supported Y/n at least, but it was so difficult for Tracy to comprehend how someone could have such a strong crush. She knew Y/n wasn't lying, it was obvious by the way her friend’s cheeks would redden and how she stumbled on her words as she tried to express herself to Harry. But Tracy couldn’t believe how a feeling could be so intense, no boy had ever made Y/n feel this way.
Y/n was lost in Harry Styles’ spell and it seemed like she wasn’t going to get better anytime soon.
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Y/n L/n, Y/n, L/n, Y/n L/n... Y/N L/N!
Harry couldn't get her out of his mind, she was like a catchy song that would keep on playing on repeat until it became so tedious he had to find another one to fill in. The thing is, Sofia didn't seem to be doing the job just right.
Everything, somehow, had its way to connecting him back to Y/n, it wouldn't be as bad if she wasn't avoiding him. It started to seem as if the were playing cat and mice, and Y/n was a pretty good mice.
What had he done?
He asked himself the same question over and over. Harry knew he had done something wrong, he could see it in the way her eyes would get lost with pain, how she walked with no direction in particular, her back hunched down and her shoulders fallen.
Harry began thinking some girls were messing with her? He had noticed the way Y/n would look at her feet as soon as Sofia’s group passed by. If that was the case he would have a long talk with Sofia.
Regardless of what it was, something was bothering Y/n, and that seemed to bother him too. He had noticed this pattern a few weeks ago, somehow it was as if his and Y/n’s emotions were in some way connected. Y/n would feel angry, Harry would feel angry; Y/n felt happy, Harry felt happy; Y/n was confused, Harry was confused.
That’s probably the reason Harry was certain Y/n was feeling an enormous amount of pain. Because he was too. His chest felt empty and his stomach bloated, his mindset was completely lost and out of control and there was a certain swelling in his heart that would make his eyes prick annoyingly.
Whatever was going on, he had to fix it as soon as posible. For both their sakes.
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They were terrible terrible news.
How on earth was Y/n going to survive a second dinner with Harry by her side? She had barely survived last one and they weren't even friends, now, she was actually avoiding him and his weird questioning look. There was no way she was going to get away this time.
No way.
That’s what scared her, she barely had enough strength in herself to keep avoiding Harry. Oh god, how many times had she desired to run back to Harry’s opened arms. She knew well enough that the second she came back to him, Harry would be pleased as ever to have his friend back, maybe she wouldn't have to answer any questions and he would let himself live with the doubt of what had her distanced so much from him.
It seemed easier in a way. But she couldn't keep hurting herself in this absurd way, because at the end of the day, what did she win? Maybe third-wheeling with Harry and Sofia? That sounded awfully fun.
She had finally settled her mind in getting over her stupid crush on Harry, and her mother had come to ruin her plan.
With everything going around, Y/n had almost forgotten about the fact that her brother was dating Harry’s sister. That seemed to be the key problem that prevented her from achieving her goal. Well, that and the significant pair of green eyes.
Her hands were sweaty, extremely sweaty, she kept rubbing them on her jeans as she looked at herself in the mirror. Y/n didn't feel pretty. In fact, she felt awkward --her back hunched down, a rebellious straw of hair standing out and a smile that felt way too tight and fake. She thought that maybe she could come up with an excuse, say that Tracy needed her help or that an emergency had come up and avoid the night altogether.
But it was too late, and besides, when had she become so self-concerned?
“Y/n!”, her mom called, “the Styles are here! Come down, honey!”
That was her cue, and oh god how much had she wished it wasn’t.
“There she is!”, Y/n could barely hear anything as she descended, the stairs felt like they were moving and her grip on the railing was definitely not a soft one. She kept feeling her heart throbbing on her throat and an intense panic.
“Oh, look how beautiful you are!” she finally raised her head to catch Anne wrapping her tight in a warm hug, standing to the side both Gemma and Mason watched Y/n with a pleasant smile.
“Mom, let Y/n breathe, you are going to suffocate her”, it was funny how his voice would probably be the reason for Y/n’s suffocation given that her breathing seemed to stop every time he’s near.
“Oh, Harry, dear” Anne gave Y/n a final squeeze before setting her free, “you know how I am.” Everyone but Y/n laughed at this and soon enough Harry was approaching her too.
“Hello”, he said with probably the warmest of smiles as he leaned in to give her a quick hug, “how are you?”
“Great”, Y/n answered as they parted. The strange thing of it all was that it was the longest conversation they’ve had in weeks, well, of course it was given that Y/n’s had been avoiding Harry like a pro.
“Dinner is ready!”, Y/n’s father called followed by Robin as he held a big plate full of pasta. Chairs and plates were moved and soon enough everyone had sat down, Y/n had been oh so deeply blessed to have Harry right in front of her. Great. Now there was no way she could avoid interaction.
Fortunately, most of the dinner was focused on political matters, jobs and the two oldest children. Y/n’s dad had done a great job with the pasta, it was soft yet not overcooked, the salsa had just the right amount of spice, and a spoonful of pasta was enough to warm Y/n’s insides. She though that maybe, she could keep her head hung low and focus on eating.
Y/n wasn't oblivious to the fact that Harry’s eyes were stuck on her, what was he even doing? Examining her every move? The thought did break a sweat on her back neck.
“Y/n? How about you?”, suddenly every pair of eyes was on her and she felt like breaking into a run and completely dipping dinner. Anne was talking to her, what about? That, she didn't know.
She gulped down the pasta and cleaned her mouth with her fist, “hmm?”
Anne laughed kind-heartedly, “I asked you if you had a boyfriend?” That took Y/n completely by surprise, so much she coughed a few times as if trying to realise if Anne was in any sort of way joking.
Everyone looked at her expectantly.
She inhaled a huge lump of air. Where they for real, now? She tried to remember when did the once calm conversation took that unexpected turn. No way in hell was she answering that in front of everyone, in front of Harry. Oh how awkward!
Of course Harry already knew the answer. Y/n was as single as anybody could be. After all, who would want to date someone like her? Harry would most definitely not want to.
“I– em–”, she brought her hand to her throat that still hurled from the recent cough, “a boyfriend?”
That sent everyone into a fist of laughter. How dare they make fun of her? Y/n felt humiliated and dumb, ugly even. Everything was turning out so wrong, just like she predicted. How dare they make fun of her when she was the one who didn’t want to be here in the first place? She felt tears prickling her eyes.
“I’ll take that as a no”, Anne finally said, “I’m glad Harry isn’t the only one, then”
This made Y/n frown. Harry was not single. He was dating Sofia. Everyone knew that, they were together everywhere, held hands in the hallways, whispered things in each other’s ears, made out in classrooms.
Y/n had tried not to pay attention to it, but it was almost impossible given that it was the only thing the school could talk about.
How was Anne not aware of such thing? It was wrong, Y/n knew it was wrong, but it boiled her blood and raged her body. How had Harry not said anything? She had to suffer watching them everyday and he didn't even dare to tell his mother.
Y/n knew it wasn't her place, but it would feel good. Just a little bit of revenge.
“But Anne...”, she sounded confused, the right touch of innocence, “Harry is dating Sofia. They got back together weeks ago.”
Oh, how the tables had turned. Everyone was silent. Anne looked at her son confused, unsure as to why he would keep that a secret from her. And Y/n’s mother watched her daughter with uncertainty, why would she say that?
But Y/n didn’t feel bad at all, they all had mocked her, laughed at her and her absurdness. Why was it so wrong to fight back?
And then she looked at him. His eyes were fixed on her, a prominent frown on his face and a sad glow on his green eyes. Harry looked at her, up and down, trying to figure why in the world would she betray him. And that was enough to break something inside Y/n’s chest.
But it wasn't her heart. This time it was her pride and her morals that knew what was right and what was wrong.
And what she had done was completely wrong and out of place.
She had overstepped her boundaries and by doing so she had hurt someone she cared about. Someone she loved. And there weren't enough words to describe how much to pained her.
“Harry?”, Anne asked in a whisper.
It was all too much, too much for Y/n to handle and she could feel her cool crumbling down.
“I-”, Harry looked at his mother and then turned back to Y/n, “Why?”
Why?
Why had she said that? Why did she have to be so jealous and angry? Why did she have to love Harry? Why did it have to hurt so much?
Y/n once heard that love makes one blind. Right now, she could confirmed it.
“I... don’t know”, a single tear rolled down her cheek, “I’m sorry”
In a moment Y/n had stood up and hurried away from the table, a slam echoing through the house as she ran away.
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Y/n was cold, her hands rubbing her bare arms due to the fact that in the hurry she hadn’t been able to grab a coat. It was dark, and single cars passed every minute or so through the otherwise empty street.
Now, long gone from the heat of the moment, she felt stupid. Everything. The way she acted, how she reacted, and the fact that she had runaway.
How embarrassing.
How was she able to go back to school on Monday? Go back home, even? There was no way. No way at all. She could take in the cold and stay here on the bench forever.
“Y/n?”
Y/n’s heart completely stopped for what felt like the third time in the night. No no no. She didn't need Harry right now, in fact, she needed to stay as far from him as possible.
Yet, why did it feel so right when she was near him? So mind-numbing? His eyes, his tugged smile, everything about him made Y/n want to open her arms and throw herself towards him.
Y/n looked up at him, remained quiet, and looked back down embracing her legs with both her arms as she rested her head on her knees. Harry watched her for a while, taking in the way she glowed with the light of the moon and the tear-stained cheeks, then, he walked towards her and sat in silence next to her.
The silence was comforting.
Even though both of them where well aware that there were many things to be talked and explained, they remained in silence, absorbing their surrounding and silently enjoying the peacefulness of each other’s company.
A fresh breeze touched their skins and Y/n gritted her teeth. Without second thought, Harry took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. His scent was reassuring, a hint of roses and rusty smoke. She wanted to remember it forever, engrave it on her mind for when he’s long gone and only her dreams keep her awake.
Surprisingly so, Y/n was the first one to talk.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice came out raspy yet with her usual softness. She looked at Harry straight in the eye, catching the way his green orbits moved from side to side examining every inch of her face.
He shook his head with a faint smile, “forget about it, Y/n. Everything's okay.” She nodded, and a faded gasp falling from her lips when Harry intertwined his fingers with her. They were warm, his hold gentle and in a strange way soothing.
“Y/n, me and Sofia aren’t dating. I know we were back together for sometime, but we weren't working, mostly because I lost interest on her a long time ago.” Y/n didn't know why, but it didn't surprise her at all, or concern her for the matter. It was simply okay.
Slowly, their surrounding began to blur away, and in a moment they were all alone. Two lonely hearts staring at one another.
“May I ask, why did you tell my mother?”, Harry’s hot breath reached Y/n’s lips. She breathed in, suddenly realising how close they both were, their noses barely inches apart.
“Because I love you. And that makes me selfish.”
The words rolled through her tongue without warning whatsoever, and before she could retract herself, Harry caught her lips.
His thumb rubbed her tinted cheeks and Y/n could feel herself loosing her mind slowly. The kiss was so much more than she had ever imagined. It was snug and warm, their soft lips against one another as it magically started heating their insides until the only remnant of the cold where the tips of their noses. The feeling was so incredibly heart fluttering, it made Y/n stomach twist and turn with excitement.
She let her hands roam through his hair, hooking her fingers on one of his curls and tug it softly. That made Harry react with a low moan, bringing Y/n closer until their noses brushed against each other.
When they finally pulled apart and Harry rested his forehead on hers, she smiled, a bright full smile that Harry hadn't seen in so long.
“I’m glad mom made me attend dinner”, Y/n said.
“I’m glad our siblings started dating.”
Y/n nodded, leaving one last tender kiss on his lips. After all, Y/n L/n and Harry Styles were just like family.
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Okay, that’s it, I finished just as I promised, I hope you all enjoyed this mini series as much as I did. Love you all!
masterlist is here
#harry styles#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles fanfic#harry styles imagine#harry styles prompt#harry styles one shot#harry styles preference#harry styles fandom#one direction#one direction imagines#one direction oneshot#one direction fanfiction#one direction preferences#one direction fandom#one direction fluff#one direction family#1d#1dfamily#1d fandom#niall horan#zayn malik#louis tomlinson#liam payne
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Why I love Gundam Wing and hate Frozen Teardrop
With Frozen Teardrop being the first new thing released in the Gundam Wing universe in ages, I feel I should make my stance on it clear, seeing as I’ve read (and by now thankfully forgotten) a large chunk of it.
So, what do I like about Gundam Wing? I can say without lying, almost everything. I like the story, the characters, the themes, the designs and the music. I like its humor, its subtlety, the fact that everyone plays a role and that there's no definite bad guy (nor good one for that matter). I like its dynamics and how you can view it any way you want, e.g. the Gundam pilots being heroes or plain murderers. And I like that you can and even must dig to understand things. The whole composition really works for me.
And what's best is that this entire composition makes Gundam Wing more; it makes it unique. I grew up with classics like Dragonball and Sailor Moon, the forefathers of the 'Idiot Hero' archetype for both males and females. Even to this day you see series featuring these types of main characters. Classic scenario of a naive yet pure kid growing up to become the savior of the world. We've all seen that.
It's why Gundam Wing is so special to me. It has a completely atypical setup and there's absolutely no stereotype I can apply to any character, no matter what TV Tropes may say. Heero is hardly your typical hero, is he? Heck, Heero is hardly a typical anything. What's more, Gundam Wing doesn't follow the 'growing stronger' plotline that, for example, the original MS Gundam or Seed series used. No, Gundam Wing starts out with fully trained soldiers who can kick your butt from episode 1 and will kill you without qualms if the situation requires it. (That's not to say that the characters don't grow, it's the physical growth and capabilities I'm talking about.) What's truly surprising about that is the age of the characters.
This is another important point. Gundam Wing and realism. Many times I hear that GW is realistic. I'm sorry but no. Teens fighting against armies isn't realistic. Teens leading said armies isn't either. Neither is bending steel bars, nor surviving jumping off cliffs or blowing up your suit, nor successfully back-flipping from a motorbike onto a clothesline, nor becoming the Queen of the World as a teen, nor stealing a MS carrier plus suit at the age of ten, nor walking around with bazookas at the age of ten nor what have you.
It's safe to say that Gundam Wing lacks any sense of realism. But it does not lack logic.
Realism never was Gundam Wing's aim to begin with. The way I see it, it's not just the plot or circumstances that prove this, but also the "inhumanity" of the characters. Would a real person with a similar background as Heero, Duo or Trowa really exhibit such selflessness or noble-mindedness as them and risk his life for strangers by fighting a war that could end in their death? I don't think so. Would anyone as sheltered as Relena give up her lifestyle, have the guts to go against the world's armed rulers with just words and put her life on the line for the sake of others? Hard to believe.
And that's it. One of the things that contributes to Gundam Wing's uniquity and is therefore a, if not the, defining trait of the series, is that it doesn't tell the story about angst-riddled terrorists and princesses, but a tale of heroes. The characters are ridiculously noble, strong, selfless, courageous, determined, make the impossible possible and still retain a certain purity, despite having gone through hell and back.
It's what makes them so awesome. It's what makes the series so awesome. Duo isn't badass because he fights in the war. He's badass because he fights "so that no one else will have to" and when you see what he went through, you can only say "wow". Lady Une killed Relena's father and when Relena is given the opportunity to take revenge, she declines, saying there's been enough bloodshed. That's role model material there. Something that is sorely lacking in a lot of shows nowadays. And something that a lot of people seem to miss the point of (I'm referring to those that call the pilots wussies for not killing in EW).
All of this is the reason I hate Frozen Teardrop with a passion. Forget the nonsensical, recycled plot or the billion clones of everyone or the terrible mobile suit names like Snow White or Merciless Fairies. Forget Treize getting French’d by his mom or the Zero System being a digital cat or Relena’s grandfather being a disgusting ephebophile. That stuff is messed up and random and dumb and I have no idea what was wrong with the author at the time to write this.
It’s also that he completely destroys the essence of the original series, making every single characters whine about some drama and the never ending “woe is me” monologue I had to wade through every chapter.
Let’s take Duo, for example. He woke up one morning and decided to become an irresponsible, gold-digging bastard. To get Hilde’s money, he agreed to her terms to cut his braid off and get a “proper” name, just to buy himself a motorbike with their joined assets. Then he inherited a church plus orphanage, which Hilde got stuck with, too, being his wife, and when she asked him how to fund the orphanage, Sumizawa wants me to believe that Duo freaking Maxwell was just “Eh, whatever, leave them to it. I’m out” before taking off? Excuse me, what???
I’ve had discussions with people about this and there were statements that maybe more people just need to learn how actual manic depressives and people with PTSD act in relation to Duo's development in Frozen Teardrop. I've noticed a tendency for people to want to apply realism to Gundam Wing, especially in fanfics, but as I said before, Gundam Wing and realism don't have anything to do with each other. So why should I apply it?
What I expect from anything featuring Gundam Wing's characters is the same "heroic" behavior that was displayed in the series. Sure, the pilots each had a mental burden to carry but it wasn't what defined them. For example, Trowa's insecurity about not having a name or yearning for a home never became the main focus unlike his endless selflessness. And Heero's bitterness about the colonies' betrayal was well hidden under his joining the Treize faction to be able to keep retaliating against OZ. A noble deed to fight on but was it really necessary for him to go for the missions with the lowest chance of survival?
As I said, Gundam Wing is unique because it is atypical. That encompasses pretty much everything; you have bloody murderers in the role of the 'heroes', noble, honorable 'bad guys' who value life and the ever flashy Gundams that can't even begin to compare to non-flashy Relena's influence and importance to the plot.
So why on earth should I go along with Duo and Wufei bickering like kids, like characters from five million other series do? I want my uniquity. I'm not saying that it isn't a possible outcome for Duo and Wufei to become bitter and bicker and argue and not be able to stand each other when they become adults. But considering those two could get along splendidly, it's a letdown.
Duo and Wufei are very much alike; they both lost people important to them twice, they both fight partly out of revenge and their loss has had the biggest impact on shaping them into what they are in the series, unlike the other pilots. Heck, they both wear their respective culture's colors for mourning. Despite that, their personalities (or ways of dealing) are exact opposites. It's enough to make for a more interesting relationship dynamic between them than what was done in Frozen Teardrop and a lot of Gundam Wing fanfics.
Heero's regression is the same. He was frozen because J said something to the extent of "a guy like him would be needed in the future". How J is even alive is another point of unnecessary addition. But what would a guy like Heero be needed for? Killing, apparently.
Way to ignore the ending of Endless Waltz.
I guess it's partly my wish for Heero and everyone else to live a well-deserved 'happily ever after' which makes me have such a knee jerk reaction to all the drama. That and the fact that there was nowhere near as much drama in Gundam Wing. Nor sap, nor stereotyping, nor "realism". >_>
This grated on my nerves, which was why I dropped Frozen Teardrop like a hot potato and haven’t bothered since. This novel does not only fail on a general level with all the random, messed up crap and terrible pacing, it also fails to satisfy the Gundam Wing fan in me because Sumizawa, the very head writer of the show, also ignored major character traits on top of everything else. Why would Catherine, who stated that she hates war and did everything she could to keep Trowa from fighting, train his clone to become a soldier? Why would Duo become that deadbeat I described above?
Being the sole writer of Frozen Teardrop meant he could take as many creative liberties as he wanted. But in the end, he took too many, which in turn resulted in so many inconsistencies with the series that Frozen Teardrop now takes place in an alternate universe, in which not the series but the manga Glory of Losers takes place. Which is the sole reason I’m not bothered by Frozen Teardrop’s existence anymore.
There were some good passages in the novel, it wasn’t all bad. The battles with the new characters were exciting at times, I’ll be honest, but even those couldn’t be called genuinely good because of the carbon copies deal. There is always some blemish. Like Heero’s proposal to Relena. I’ve seen fans of the pairing rejoice at the scene. Alas, I’m not one of them because frankly, the characters in the novel hardly resemble the original ones. So I don’t care.
As the head writer of the show I had expected him to treat the source material with more care and not run it over with retcons and meaningless additions. Best example being everything surrounding Odin. The world could've definitely done without him being Heero's father. Or freaking Trant being related to him.
But again, alternate universe so who cares.
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I'm risking sounding terribly egoistical by sending a public ask about my own url here but I'm doing it!!!!! I need the super graphic-details
Your ego is my ego, dearest nharidy. There's a reason the doc is named after you hahaha
[ 👉 My Wips ]
OK so the Absolvisti sequel's been sitting in my head since well, the week after I published it lmao. But I never got around to writing because I wasn't sure if it was being too self-indulgent (I'm feeling more confident about it now that I know you'll be pleased by it!). Also because I was having trouble deciding on a pov: should I continue with the Tatiana 1st person pov as always? Change it up to Martin 3rd person? or surprise: 1st person Don Juan?? Should it be a new chapter or new fic? (def. open to suggestions here!) Also I think it'd be Iconic to publish a story in the Dies Irae universe with our new cat profile pics.
Graphic detail time :D Prepare for a SUPER LONG answer LMAO. Most of the things I mentioned here and here will make their way in, with maybe a bonus ns/fw chapter from Martin or Andres' pov. The main story is SFW however, and there's like a hilariously high amount of hurt!Andres, who doesn't have demons to rely on anymore but still carries all the permanent damage the demons left on him:
It takes place some months after Absolvisti so Andres is doing better, but not fully well yet. He's not actively dying anymore but he does faint a lot and isn't exactly making a full recovery. Because I wanted to make things harder for Martin. Because he's not a young man anymore, the wounds were super extensive, and this is the result of years of accumulated damage + a form of "withdrawal" (the shadows/demons that used to feed on him were also the things that kept him alive so it's one big cycle that his body isn't leaving that easily).
This means every time Martin plans something nice for him like seeing a play or going out for a nightly walk, Andres can't go through the whole thing without feeling unwell. (Martin: "I over-exerted the love of my life. I am so SELFISH. what does Andres see in me??" Andres: "I disappointed the love of my life. I am the WEAKEST. what does Martin see in me??" Tatiana: feed me, bitches)
They manage to sit through one play though (not sure if I want this at the beginning or end of the fic LMAO). It's the one Bogota wrote, The Necromancer's Lament, a "biopic" about Andres' life. And it's every bit as terrible as Martin expected. Bad special effects, bad acting especially from Martin's actor, Andres' actor has a beard, and Tatiana looks like this:
Andres thinks it's the best play ever. Martin hates it and demands a refund. Tatiana hates it too but Don Juan's like, "mi amor, you are still beautiful to me, even as a deformed puppet."
Martin's 120-page complaints aside, Bogota runs the theatre troupe with his partner, Nairobi/Agata, and they're both going to start teaching performing arts at Santa Catalina because the last drama professor died lmao
Meanwhile, Santa Catalina has a new bad girl student, Tokyo/Silene! Sergio took her in as a charity case after some dark and mysterious events in her life. But Tokyo being Tokyo can't stay away from trouble, and she becomes obsessed with finding the demons that Andres expelled. Some bizarre possessions start happening again and the school's sponsors force Raquel to keep it under wraps. (Raquel: maybe if you increased funding, we wouldn't have so many problems!!)
In the meantime, Martin gets that letter from a long lost relative asking to meet him. Not sure about the order of this either. Anyway, Martin was planning to ignore the relative, but Andres insists he go. Either Tatiana or Don Juan accompany him. Martin learns that he's the sole heir of his dead parents across the sea (the will: “we forgive you for being a heretic, a freak of nature, and the alchemist of Palermo. also no hard feelings for leaving you to die as a baby xoxoxo”). There's one (1) condition though: he has to end his partnership with the necromancer. Martin: NO THANKS.
So while Martin's dealing with this unexpected drama, Sergio decides to call in Andres' expertise TM again because it's also a good excuse to talk to his brother. Martin is Very wary about this and rejects him. But Andres insists that it'll be fine. Plus, maybe he wants to turn a new leaf and help Santa Catalina for nothing in return this time. Not everyone gets a second chance at life and he doesn't want to be a bad person anymore uwu (Tatiana: "Andres was a pretentious piece of shit, surprising no one." Martin: "Nobody deserves Andres, not even me, and I'm like, the most amazing person in the world.")
Andres comes to do the exorcism with the random priest the school hired. And they discover there aren't any demons- it's just some ghost fucking around (maybe I'll make it the spirit of Gandia or Alicia since they haven't shown up yet lol). Anyway, it doesn't go very well but Andres gets rid of the creature or whatever. Not before it punctures a hole in his side though. Then Martin loses it, just full-on screams at Sergio for almost getting Andres killed again, makes a lot of threats against the school, etc. etc.
Raquel, being more useful, plugs up the wound. But the priest accidentally provokes Martin more by asking Raquel if he should mop up Andres' blood with holy water or something. What if the necromancer's blood is cursed?? And now it's all over the floor, so disgusting :/
Martin, already in a very bad mood, beats the priest up.
They go home. Martin's in a really sour mood and he just doesn't understand why Andres isn't mad at Sergio. Martin: "It's really emotionally damaging to me if you don't give a fuck about yourself." Andres makes him even angrier by bringing up the Berrote family will and having the audacity to suggest Martin leave him for money. He makes a huge case about how he literally has nothing to offer Martin except a body that barely works and a terrible reputation. Martin: "I lost a fucking eye for you??"
They fight and Martin storms away, and also kidnaps Don Juan, his honorary new soulmate who would never betray him like Andres.
A while after this, the Spanish Inquisition local clergy arrests Andres for "questioning." Because the shenanigans at Santa Catalina are still going on and that one priest suspects him of being behind everything just because. Raquel's the one who bails him out. She may not like Sergio's brother, but the way everyone else treats him is ridiculous.
Andres limps home, hoping Martin's still away. Surprise! Martin felt guilty and came back. And it's pretty obvious that Andres has just been tortured. Martin: "Say no more. I'm going to kill some people."
Andres gets Martin to not do anything stupid by dropping the thing with the will. He admits he was wrong for saying those things to Martin and he selfishly, genuinely wants to stay with Martin forever. Martin: "I'm still going to kill your brother. You may appease me with a kiss."
Does it end here? No! Because the shit at Santa Catalina is still happening. Andres and Martin solve it for good though. But it's all very dramatic. I'm vaguest about this part, but maybe Nairobi's injured saving Tokyo, and this gives Tokyo the wakeup call to move on from whatever baggage that got her into this mess in the first place. Then Andres' solution for saving Nairobi is to ask Martin to work that alchemist magic and transfer her wounds onto himself (at this point, we're just going overboard with the Andres whump but asdfasdf why stop??). Raquel: Sergio, tell your brother to stop dying. That's a bad example for the kids.
It takes a lot of convincing, but Martin relents in the end, only because he trusts Andres. At this point, Andres has been through so much that he physically cannot take any more damage. Like, he just can't lmao. So the whole process puts Andres into a coma or something. But we don't need him anymore because now we can revel in Martin's angst!
Martin spends the rest of his time crying and angsting and guilt-tripping Sergio, and just being very loud in general. He also writes back to his family and tells them to fuck off.
Once we indulge in enough of Martin's pain, Andres finally wakes up. Still very bad off but he's alive and not showing signs of dying any time soon. So that's good enough for Martin. They have a nice heart-to-heart, and idk, maybe Raquel comes to see them because Sergio's too embarrassed to. Until Andres insists, because he loves hermanito unconditionally uwu. Martin: "watch your back, Sergio. I might murder you in your sleep (:"
Then at the very end (I have no idea how long this story is LOL), there's some kind of family photoshoot between Raquel, Sergio, and Paula. Everyone's raving over this new invention called the "camera." Andres is admiring it from a distance until Raquel's like, "get over here. what part of FAMILY photoshoot do you not understand!?"
Andres is shocked pikachu face because good will towards him for once?? he's being included in something?? people want him around?? what is happening??
Martin's happy for him though. Then he's admiring from a distance until Raquel's like, "I said FAMILY photoshoot. Get over here, Martin!"
Tatiana didn't want to be a part of it, but Paula saw her favorite talking cat and like, grabbed her lmao. Don Juan photobombs it because he can't be excluded from an activity with Tatiana, especially when his former rival Andres is in the photo too. (His current rival is Casanova, an unworthy white cat vying for Tatiana's affections)
Sergio proposes to Raquel. The end! Yes, the kitty love triangle is also a central theme of this story LMAO Hope that satisfies you, nharidy! And I welcome any and all suggestions!
#nharidy#wip meme#asdfasdf this got so long omg#as you can see I thought a LOT about this sequel and have it all written... in my head rip#but if I know it will please you then that's enough motivation for me to get it on a document#kinda want to keep it tatiana's pov since she's what holds the dies irae universe together#also because Martin's pov would be 'andres never did anything wrong in his life he is so perfect'#andres' pov: 'everyone loved Martin and I because we are so beautiful and humble and amazing'#'someone threw an apple at me yesterday- a gift from another adoring fan obviously'#adfasdf so many shades of delusional and insufferable
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Okay, but I can definitely imagine Barb/Dia doing that. It seems like quite a possibility. But wasn't dying mc's own fault though? Like,, Barbatos did warn,,, unless he knew this was gonna happen and mc was DUMB AND STUPID enough to show up to everyone like: "hi." and possibly be dumb enough to get killed. Idk lol I forgot this part.
But what you said about Beel, I really like that. I think you even mentioned belphie guilt tripping you in your yandere hcs, and trying to make you completely depend on him?? I like those possibilities. Mammon though,, too soft. Like you said, they've robbed him a lot. He could have had so much potential to be a dark character. Similarly Levi omg.
The brothers are the embodiments of the 7 deadly sins, yet, tbh, I haven't seen too much of this side of them. At least, not like how'd I expect. Leviathan, for eg. Envy. I don't recall seeing his sin playing out anywhere except in the TSL Quiz thingy. I mean, it's been toned down a lot for someone who's the literal embodiment is envy. Idk I just don't feel he's like that? As from what I found: Envy (Latin: invidia), like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. The struggle aroused by envy has three stages: during the first stage, the envious person attempts to lower another's reputation; in the middle stage, the envious person receives either "joy at another's misfortune"(if he succeeds in defaming the other person) or "grief at another's prosperity" (if he fails); the third stage is hatred because "sorrow causes hatred".[38]
Envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.
They toned him down a little too much?? If this game has actually been inspired by demons and the 7 deadly sins, they could at least make them similar to the demons, at least in some way. I'm not that far into the game yet, but so far that I've played, I haven't seen much. As for a demon who is the embodiment of envy... I wish to see more. Levi is capable of A LOT.
Similarly, Satan. I sometimes wonder why is he even called the Avatar of Wrath when we hardly see it?? The only time I remember is him losing his calm during the whole body swap event. The fact Satan got mad at us refusing a pact actually made me think that he was the sin "wrath", but idk now. And the way it was said that "every smile is an act", I really like that concept too. But I don't think I've paid much attention to see where it played out. Sigh now Satan simps for cats like,,, please show me your dark/evil side sir.
The way you said Barb and Dia took part in a torture dungeon, I want to see more of that too. If they're demons, wouldn't they have caused SOME sort of bloodshed in a way? Especially if they're the strongest demons. Killing humans, eating them, or I even like to think doing the same to their own race. Torturing... Seems like something that every demon's blood would contain lmao, I'm not answering questions bye.
And I believe so too. The human seems like a pawn... I feel the demons would use humans for entertainment and their own purposes, while keeping up the facade of loving them. It's easy, since demons are manipulative. In that case, losing the human whether by their own hands or not would go like: "Oh well, that's unfortunate. Time for another human."
But if they REALLY did love you, I feel they'd still be manipulative. Like you said. Corrupting/spoiling the human so much to the point that they'd just HAVE to depend on them. I feel they'd also have yandere tendencies, or be "protective". Like, then I feel they really wouldn't want to let you go, despite knowing how much it can ruin your innocence.
I also don't like how everyone is after mc like "uwuwu master". The human is still a weakling despite having pacts, plus, the pacts aren't even demanding the human's soul or anything. I don't get why they let mc walk over them when they are CLEARLY much stronger? If I were a demon I'd do the opposite lmao. Making the human seem as if they are controlling me, but it's the opposite. I don't think a mere pact can change the fact that the demon's stronger,,, esp if the pact didn't demand the human's soul/life/whatever.
Also, thank you! Things got better for me :)) and also,
💫✨💕send this to ten bloggers you think are wonderful. keep the game going 💕✨
Ofc you don't have to do this, but I got this, and it really made me happy, so here ^^
Oh btw in lesson...56 I think?? Just gonna tag this as a spoiler, but where for whatever reason Satan was "Sully" and the angel Lucifer asked him whether he liked books, let me just say I haven't even played it that far yet, but Satan going, "...Every book here is precious."
TOUCHED ME SO BAD LIKE. I DON'T KNOW IT REALLY MADE ME SOFT LMAO HE'S JUST SO okay I'll stop 🏃– 🍹
It's been a while since I've thought in-depth about the whole time traveling thing tbh, but couldn't Barbatos generally see the outcomes of the world?
We went back because they wanted to know who opened it, but considering Diavolo's the ruler of hell who turned Lilith human and Barbatos is basically the ruler of time & practically the universe I believe they already knew Lilith did it since it had to be "blood related" basically.
Barbatos also knows he can stitch together timelines and get of "extra" MCs essentially, so I believe he'd take that into account. I'm not saying MC getting killed was 100% part of the plan, but that they didn't care of MC was traumatized because they knew they could bring them back if necessary.
Imo the real goal wasn't to find out who did it, but to avoid breaking the family's bonds and devotion to Diavolo. The way it worked out was incredibly convenient and "coincidentally" a huge upgrade for Diavolo that kept the status quo and made him look good (or at least better) to Belphie and Beel without making Lucifer choose.
We see that kind of repeat later when Diavolo withdraws from the play because he was worried Lucifer wouldn't be as loyal. That's also why Lucifer gets that warning from Barbatos.
I think a huge part of why Levi's characterization is like that is because not enough people like him enough to tolerate it tbh. Even Mammon and Lucifer stans complain about the other characters hogging screen time and a lot of them admit to feeling bad for other fans. Levi is pretty much always second to last popularity wise.
I think he'd actually be more liked if they focused more on the jealously instead of making almost every interaction otaku/Ruri-chan related, but it's a bit too late now. I really, really hate how they just pretend otaku culture always existed and that's all Levi ever was. Like at least make him have an obsessive personality and be hyperfixated on novels instead of talking manga in an era before Japan even existed. It's so unbelievably lazy and really takes me out of the story.
Another problem is we only really see him interact with family or people that could enact severe consequences like Diavolo & Barbatos or people protected by the exchange program. He never gets a chance to shine or be cunning. The closest we get is things like him purposefully trying to ruin Christmas for random people online in his Christmas card. I think if he genuinely got jealous of MC and some random demon he would summon lotan almost instantly.
It's especially painful knowing what we had & being so excited to get more only for all of that to get dropped.
In an early devilgram, Be You, Satan gets jealous and feels bad about not having much unique to him and Lucifer comforts him in his own way when the others make it worse. Mammon is the most empathetic though ofc. They also talk about horror movies and Mammon says he doesn't find them scary (& the way it's framed sounds honest, idk if it's a retcon or a lie,) and Satan says "I'm sure we've all witnessed plenty of real-life horrors worse than anything in the movies."
Then when Lucifer asks for a time when he was really angry Satan first casually then gleefully talks about torturing a family to death because a kid set him up to get scolded by their parents. Meanwhile the brothers act wary of him and worry about him getting out of control while Lucifer tells everyone to take cover for their own safety with a smile. Satan happily talks about them begging for their lives and says he wishes they saw it too.
Levi also says he hates hearing about people being happy, but likes hearing about the negative things. While Asmo and Mammon are freaking out he also calls Satan cool. Which shows at least a little bit of his envy for once. Satan also says just the aura of his rage is usually too much for humans which is also interesting.
But back to Diavolo and Barbatos, I don't hate how the whole torture thing isn't super open, it makes sense imo, but I would like to see hints of them hiding it. Especially if Satan or even attic Belphie was the one you could go to to learn more about it. If anyone would defy Diavolo for that it'd be them trying to bring Lucifer down with them, or even just Satan rewarding the hunt for knowledge and not understanding the human psyche fully.
Imagine if instead of a paper thin lie about being human we got a Belphie manipulating us by pretending he was locked up because he was against hurting humans and the whole exchange program was a scam? Or at least if he told us things no one else would about Diavolo that were true so we wouldn't trust him and etc. That's the angle I'm going with in my fanfiction at least, the original story is just so lazy and boring imo.
Yeah I'm not a huge fan of how they handled pacts either, especially considering they don't even get MC's soul. It's way too one-sided to the point where I don't believe someone like Satan would ever offer it, even if the first offer was a trick and he'd get your soul or something. I agree on the whole manipulation thing too, like how is it partnership if one side has complete control over the other?
Even just making it so that demons can fight against if they really don't want to do something like harming each other and having it corrupt MC would make it a million times better.
And that's so sweet, thank you! You've made my days a lot brighter too. Not much makes me happier than infodumping and complaining about Obey Me rn lol.
I really liked Satan's line there too, although I did wish he had more a reaction to everything tbh. That whole section felt a bit too easy imo though, like I kept waiting for it to all go to shit or something. I am glad they went back into more story-based chapters too. I hope they keep that trend and expand on it.
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Honeymoon Fades (A CS Fic)
CS oneshot that provides a snippet into their married life after 30 years together. Includes fluff, feels, and cuteness. Short, sweet, and the perfect weekend treat. Find on FF here and AO3 Here.
A/N: Hey all! This is a short drabble based on the song ‘Honeymon Fades’ by Sabrina Carpenter. This story picks up on Emma and Killian when they’re children are all grown and they’ve been together nearly 30 years. Spoiler alert – the cuteness perseveres after all their years together, and in some ways they’re like honeymooners, still as in love and happy as they were just post-wedding. Hope you enjoy the cuteness and thanks so much for reading!
The silence in this house was still a foreign thing to Emma. After so many years of raising her family, and decades of craziness that she wouldn’t trade for anything, quiet moments still felt like a real commodity. They used to be so few and far between, and every time they found them, she and Killian made use of them. They lived a life of constant motion, and they were always go-go-go, but it kept things fresh and interesting. They were never lacking for love and excitement around here, at least they never used to be.
Now, however, things were different. Take this morning for example. It was 9:00 and she was only just rolling out of bed. She was off today from the station, where she was beginning to take a number of steps back. Her brother Neal had been working with her and her Dad for years, deciding he wanted to join the family business, and he was now the newly elected town sheriff. Emma still worked at the station and ran point on many aspects of Storybrooke’s response team, but even with that, there was never enough to do. She ‘worked’ from 9-5 Monday to Friday, mostly just conferring with the townspeople on what needs they had and what the town could do for them. And then the weekends she had off, totally free, never any hiccups. Just two whole days of… well, whatever the hell she wanted.
Despite the fact that this free-weekend thing was normal (it had been about a year since she agreed to the schedule shift), she was still awed by the premise. When the kids were still home, nearly every moment that she wasn’t working was dedicated to them, to their games, and plays and homework and lives. But now their nest was empty. The kids all had their own worlds and agendas, and weekends were becoming a time when Emma and Killian could genuinely relax.
This morning was the perfect example. After waking up bright and early in her husband’s arms, and after their heated exchange of what Killian always called ‘good morning pleasantries’ (code for sex that had no right to be that hot after how long they’d been together), Emma had fallen back asleep while Killian rested only briefly before heading out to go for a sail or run some errand or another. No matter how much quiet they had, her husband was still an early riser. No amount of downtime would change that. But for Emma a lazy morning was a luxury, one that she soaked in and cherished after years of never having them.
As she showered and got dressed, Emma found herself smiling, knowing that she was a lucky woman in every possible way. She was blessed with healthy kids, a network of supportive friends and family, and a true love who was always in her corner. The sun was shining in Storybrooke, and the summer heat was already beginning to climb. She had a whole host of possible paths to wander today. She could go for a hike, or tend to the garden out back. She could drive up the coast and explore the world beyond, or she could take it easy and relax, luxuriating in this happy, stress-free moment that they currently had going. But whatever she did, Emma knew she’d have company for the ride.
Moving downstairs Emma caught the scent of bacon and coffee in the air, she closed her eyes and hummed out a sound of contentment. Spoiled – that was what she was, and as she walked into the kitchen and saw Killian flipping some blueberry pancakes she leaned against the doorway and bit her lip. Damn, nearly thirty years together, and he was still too hot to handle. Standing there, making her breakfast with that mix of salt and pepper in his hair, her pirate was still fit and ready for whatever fight might come their way. There were more laugh lines etched upon his skin, and he might move just a touch slower than he did back in the early days, but the light in his blue eyes that sparked when he caught sight of her still pierced down to her soul, and the sexy grin of his made her heart skip a beat.
“Finally, the lady wakens,” he joked and Emma shook her head and smiled as she kissed him quickly and then moved around him to pour herself a cup of coffee.
“Sounds like someone missed me.”
“You know how I feel about being away from you, Swan.” The growl in his voice sent a thrill of anticipation down her spine. Damn this man and his sexiness. Thirty years wasn’t enough to get used to him, and some days she still felt like a honeymooner as opposed to a couple long settled and established.
“You’re not a fan as I recall,” she teased and she let out a yelp when he swatted at her ass with the hard metal of his hook. She blushed in spite of herself, thinking of all the times that particular appendage had made itself known before. She could tell from his deep chuckle that he read her like a book, and she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Any thoughts on what we should do today, Captain?”
“Whatever my wife wishes, I reckon,” he quipped as he placed their plates on the kitchen counter and he held out her chair, tucking her in like a true gentleman before taking his own seat. They discussed the possibilities as they ate, and he caught her up on some friendly neighborhood gossip that he’d heard down at the market, but when their meal was done and they moved to clear the dishes, Emma noticed a little sadness in Killian’s eyes. Immediately she knew the reason for it.
“You miss the kids, don’t you?”
“Aye, love. How could you tell?”
Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her pirate that his expression was totally transparent. Instead she came to cuddle with him, her arms encircling him as he did the same. This was her favorite spot, tucked in her with her true love. It was always her safest space and the place she felt like things would always be okay. Now though it was Killian who needed that anchor, and she was more than willing to give it to him.
“Because I miss them too,” Emma confessed, knowing it was silly. She saw all of her children nearly every day, and they were all in constant contact. Still it wasn’t the same, and time, as beautiful a gift as it was, was also all too fleeting. Years moved by so quickly, and some days it felt like she blinked and that whole chapter of their lives had flown by.
“It feels like only yesterday the whole house was filled with Hope, Liam and Leia running about, and with Henry coming home any chance he got. Remember the morning we found the little ones all in the mud out back?”
“Which time?” Emma asked, laughing even as she shook in horror.
The sight of them that day was so damn funny – covered and filthy and dripping in liquid dirt. But it had also been a logistical nightmare. They tracked the stuff everywhere, ruining the couch and a carpet, and the magic each kid was capable had created some kind of spell where all the stains were permanent. It was maddening but also so freaking funny, and of course, Killian had been a superhero, wrangling all three of them back outside to get cleaned off on the back porch. In less than a day he’d had the couch and carpet replaced, consulting Regina about the rest of the mess, all while Emma was on a shift at the station, and her cheeks flushed at the memory of the night they shared together when he got home. There were thousands of nights like that in the long arc of their marriage, but that one stuck out. She was especially grateful for everything he did for her and their family, and they’d made some truly lasting memories as a result.
“Or the Halloween they started the prank war with your siblings?”
“Oh my God,” Emma groaned remembering. Her kids at that point were so beyond toilet papering and throwing eggs. They had the benefit of understanding their true love magic to a certain degree and they’d made use of it. She and Regina had spent days unmaking the mess, and the town was still a little whacked out energy wise until after Christmas.
“How about the day Leia decided she wanted to be a vet?” Killian said, laughing straight out this time.
“She brought home six cats, four bunnies, and three dogs. I still never figured out where she found them all.”
Okay that wasn’t exactly true. Leia made a ‘wish’ that she could give all the homeless pets a home, and her magic had crafted its own attempt at a spell. As a result, all of the strays in a ten-mile radius arrived at their house, all of them charmed by her daughter, and cute even if they were most of them worse for wear.
“To be fair she was only trying to help them all. And she had a plan, didn’t she? A special room or space for every last one of them.”
“She was fourteen at that point. She knew there was no way we could keep them all, even if Hope was away at school and Liam was on his way to college soon too.”
“Perhaps, but we kept more than a few.”
Emma nodded, thinking of their two dogs and two cats. The other animals had all found homes either with her parents, Henry, or Belle. Even at the time she’d found it endearing, and look at where they were now. Leia was away at her last year of college, and she’d been accepted early to the university’s veterinary program. Even if that one day was madness, Emma knew it was the beginning of a real vocation, which she wanted each of her children to feel.
“You know what I think will help?” she asked, circling back around to how much they missed their family.
“Rum?” Killian asked, though he was kidding. He’d cut back considerably as time went on, but he loved pretending rum was still the answer to all things. Always with the jokes, this man.
“Maybe a little. I was thinking you, me, and maybe a bit of sailing?”
“You had me at you and me, love.”
Emma laughed at his attempt to blend a movie quote from long long ago into their conversation. Despite his being here for so many years, Killian still delivered anything having to do with pop culture like he was fresh from the Enchanted Forest. It made for many a funny moment, and this was no exception. The humor of it was only compounded by how quickly he sprung into action. No sooner had she spoken then idea than he was moving about, grabbing things they might need, and packing them a picnic lunch for them to enjoy hours from now when they were out on the water. For a moment she watched him, delighting in how adamant he was to spend time with her and get to go make some brand new memories, but before he could get too carried away, she pulled him into her, clutching at his shirt and smiling at him happily.
“I love you, Killian. A little bit more each and every day.”
“For this day and all days,” he agreed, before kissing her sweetly and resting his forehead against hers. In that moment they just enjoyed this, breathing in the peace and calm they’d fought so hard for. And even when they did break apart, and were back in action once more, Emma carried her love for him always, reveling in how magical it was to truly have a happily ever after.
………………….
I hope we stay the same, hey
Honeymoon
Unexpected, this thing that we fell into
Lie, so connected
You came at a time when my heart was selective
Didn't have to choose my love
Was accepted, yeah
Now we're running your luck one on one
You were sent to me like a one of one
And, now we're going I just want no one
Nobody else
I hope we never change
I hope we stay the same
I hope that we can love through the pain
After the honeymoon fades
I hope we never change
I hope we stay the same
I hope we can love through the pain
After the honeymoon fades
After the honeymoon fades, yeah
I remember when we met we was all in each other's bed
And we were spending every second we had
And now that it's official it's hitting a little different
What the hell we're gonna do with these bads, no yeah
And now we're running your luck one on one
You were sent to me like a one of one
And, now we're going I just want no one
Nobody else
I hope we never change
I hope we stay the same
I hope that we can love through the pain
After the honeymoon fades
I hope we never change
I hope we stay the same
I hope we can love through the pain
After the honeymoon fades
After the honeymoon fades
And I hope it tastes the same
Even if it's the best way
Honeymoon fading with you (Fading with you)
Honeymoon fading with you (Fading with you)
Honeymoon fading with you (Fading with you)
Honeymoon fading, fading
Post-Note: So there we have it. Just a happy little dose of future fluff today. I find that writing these kinds of stories always brings me such a warm feeling, and though I know no show can go on forever, I still wish we’d seen more glimpses into how good things would have stayed for CS for years to come. Anyway, my wish for all of you is that this will have brought you some joy today, and that this chapter finds you healthy and well. I appreciate all of you reading and messaging me and leaving comments. It truly means the world, especially because I am mired down in work and stress and worry. I’m hoping to keep posting some chapters in the meantime, but if I get a bit spottier with the frequency, I hope you all will understand. Anyway hope you have a great rest of your weekend and thanks again for joining me on this fluffy little jaunt!
#captain swan#captain swan fic#captain swan ff#cs fic#cs ff#cs#cs fluff#cs family#cs future#captain swan fluff#captain swan future fic#cs happy ending#emma swan#killian jones#cs mixtape#captain swan mixtape#cs kids#honeymoon fades
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