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sanieee · 3 years

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F E R N W E H

Fernweh

(a) An urge to travel even stronger than wonderlust.

Au: Mafia au (kind of)

Summary: Bored of your life as the daughter of a prestigious business man you seek to wander around the world, and that could easily be done if your mother let you have more freedom. During another tedious dance organized by some friends of your father, you meet a handsome stranger with hair red as fire who, between a commotion in the room, has the key to your desires. What will you choose? 8 pairs of eyes are waiting for your response.

Warnings: none

Words: 2.4k

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Click ,clack

'One step, two steps.'

The sound of your heels bounced from wall to wall.

Click,clack

'Lift up the hem of the dress, do not trip.'

Time was on your side, there was no need to hurry.

Click,clack

'Walk with elegance.'

But you never knew what awaited you that night

Click,clack

'Walk with your head up high. Do not disappoint your guests. Do not disappoint your parents...'

The doors to the assembly room opened and you were instantly met with the sound of laughter. The big chandelier was in the center of the room and it shined above everyone, the big windows made the room more spacious and the congregation of people made it more lively, or so it seemed. The dresses of the fine women glowed under the fake light and the attire of the wealthy men were a copy of each other. The only difference was those whose ranks were higher, wearing expensive-looking uniforms with badges and medals hanging on them like a prize for their efforts.

'Lift your dress, do not stumble.'

As you tried to walk through the multitude, faces who you did not recognize greeted and complimented your appearance tonight. With your poor sight, you noticed your father's white tuxedo and your mother's hand full of jewelry clinging on to his arm. You walked towards them,and your mother took you by the arm and you left your father's side.

"You are late, you know?"

"I am not, I recall you telling me to be here at 22:00. And I passed the doors at 21:59."

Your mother rolled her eyes, of course, she never was late to a grand ceremony like this. She then placed her arms on your shoulders and fixed your dress. It was an ultramarine blue, with laced ornaments from the hip and up, exposed shoulders, while the skirt was flowy and light. Your gown was simple, yet, it captured the attention of many people.

"You look great, darling. In no time I should see you accompanied by some lovely gentleman."

You scoffed at her, and she glared at you.

"I do not need a man to tie me down to this city. I am young and ready to explore the world. To see more than walls and fancy structures, I -"

"I do not want your mouth to spat filthy words, now. Please, save them for later, do something useful, or try to socialize so we can have more fellow workers join our company or would like to work with us."

Your mother then left you with your own thoughts so you decided to go towards the main reason why you came, the buffet table. As you stuffed my mouth, as elegant as possible, a young man approached you with a glass of wine on his right hand. His hair was red, which attracted a lot of attention to the younger female audience in the room, not that there were many anyway. You took in every feature on his face, like how his lips were pinkish, soft-looking, and his eyes were a deep chocolate-brown. He was rather charming if you may add.

"Hello, you must be Y/N."

He bowed, and you replicated his actions, nodding at the statement . He had a cute smile, and he was by far the youngest male in the room. He was tall and had a deep voice that could scare a child away, but his soft actions made him look approachable. You then took notice of his badges and medals hanging on his chest, no name tag was visible and the designs were rather unfamiliar. Something about him told you to not let your guard down while you were with him. He screamed danger in any way possible, but you were only more puzzled and wanted to get to know this man as the night progressed.

"Yes, yes I am. And who are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, no worries. My name is Song Mingi."

"Song? Interesting last name I must say."

"Thank you, but let's skip the sweet talk. Would you like to come with me to the balcony?"

Agreeing with the man you just met, you walked over to the balcony where the breeze of night welcomed the both of you. He started to ask personal questions, and you did the same. He was not the son of an important company, as everyone here was filthy rich by heredity or by getting their hands on some dirty money to be in the position they are in, but he was said to be a worker of an important organization who served just like the military. He gave no answer when you asked about his job, but he continued asking away.

"You know, I feel like you are getting to know a lot about me when I know only your name."

He laughed, eyeing you suspiciously. He set the empty glass on the railing of the balcony, leaned on it with his elbow, touching the place where his empty beverage stood and faced you.

"Well, for the most part, you are 20, congratulations, you get to know that we have the same age. Anything else you want to know?"

You simply stared at him for a few seconds, but he spoke before you could.

"No work involved. That is too boring."

"Well...Then..."

You were curious about this man, he was so intriguing, but your social skills were the same as a big fat zero. You wanted to know something personal. You wanted to know why he came so suddenly, like a predator ready to attack his prey. - "What are your near-future goals? Like, tonight, tomorrow morning, and this week."

"Interesting question right there malady. How do I answer that?" - He let his face rest on the back of his hand, the one where his elbow was resting on, and his eyes were lost looking at the moon.

"Huh... Well... I do like adventures. I like thrilling moments and I surely live one almost every day. My goals are to live a moment where my adrenaline goes up, and I get to see the fear in the eyes of a sinner."

"A sinner? Why a sinner? Who are you to choose who is one?"

A sinister smile crept its way to his lips, and at the corners of his eyes rested his pupils, staring down at you in a way you could not describe. Chills ran down your spine, his eyes were hiding a deep secret, you knew, but no more questions came out of your mouth. Your eyes were trying not to make contact with him.

"Aren't we all sinners, darling? That aside, what about you? What are your plans? Any desires to be adventurous?"

You looked up, only to see that he was looking down at you with a smug look, oh the desire you had to whip it out his perfect face. You were about to respond when some noises were heard, like doors being opened in a not so gentle way. You looked to see where the noise came from, but found nothing. When you faced him again, he had gotten up and stood as rigid and his uniform let him be.

He looked intimidating, a sudden fear had conquered over you. He wasn't just anybody, you felt it, you knew it.

"I...would like to be free."

Your voice came almost like a whisper, maybe it was because of the cold, or maybe because you felt like an ant, who knows. He leaned down a bit and stood closer to you.

"Free? Aren't you free, princess?"

You rolled my eyes at the nickname, he was throwing every pet name he could think of and it wouldn't be a surprise for you if he accidentally called you an egg because he ran out ideas. What surprised you however, was how fast he had gotten comfortable with you.

"Free? No, quite the opposite in fact. I'm tied to a reputation I never asked for. Money is the only thing flowing in these people's minds. I am done with this so-called exclusive life. I want to see more than expensive jewelry, wear something that it's not an overpriced dress, or costly outfits, and eat more than exclusive cuisine. I want to explore and see the world. But not through a car window precisely, not through some VR glasses and not through stories of wealthy people who come to my house to eat a good meal."

"Woah there, I thought you had an easy life." - He chuckled, and you couldn't help but smirk to yourself. - "Well, what if I say I will give you a chance to have what you dreamt of?"

You looked at him confused, what was he saying? You wanted to ask him how that was even possible, however, your conversation was cut short after a bloody scream came from the inside of the room. You rushed inside and by the corner of your eye, you could see Mingi walking slowly, not caring about the high pitch screams.

"Mom?! Dad?!"

After a solid 2 minutes, you found your parents, but to your surprise, your father was fist battling a random individual, while your mother was trying to liberate her arm from a man who was clearly there for the jewels on her hands. You ran to her, lifting the stupid dress, almost breaking the heels.

"Mom!" - She turned to you while still gripping on her jewels.

"Mom leave the jewels! They are worth nothing compared to your safety!"

You expected her to listen, to leave the goddam pearls alone, to not give a damn about them because in the end she had enough money to buy ten more pairs. But it was not like that.

"No! These are the only things we've got!"

You stood in the middle of the room, with a blank expression. The only thing we've got. Is she for real now? You looked at the abundance of rings, bracelets and necklaces a very bored man had in a bag. You felt disoriented. Were you really just a doll for them to sit still, look pretty and have a nice image for the company?

You heard laughter come from the behind, you turned around and met face to face with Mingi. He was laughing at your mother's attempts to win against the man, who was clearly not putting up a fight. The chaos around you faded when your eyes met his. He stopped, a smug look on his face once more, and came walking painfully slowly towards you.

"What do you find so amusing about this? "

"How can I not find it amusing? Women trying to save their jewels, men trying to keep a strong façade.... Why are they not trying to save what's really important? The doors are opened and no fire is caused."

You analyzed his words. You knew what he meant, why were they not trying to save themselves? Their lives? You came back to reality after hearing another voice.

"Mingi, I think we got what we needed. Knock it off and let's leave, this place is a total wreck. "

A man who wore the same uniform as Mingi spoke out of nowhere. Again, no name tag, same badgers and he had the same intimidating aura.

He had black hair, his bangs styled to the side, his visuals caught your breath and took it away, he was calm and looked at Mingi after giving you a glance, he started walking lazily towards the balcony where other men were waiting, seven of them were ready to jump from the balcony.

"You either get going alone or you take the girl with you, in not wasting more of my precious time."

You were beyond confused at this point and Mingi smiled at him, then turned around to look at you once again.

"Do you like your life?"

The question caught your eye, and you tried making up a sentence, but the only thing that came out of your mouth was gibberish. The other men were also looking at you, bored expressions and some had smirks on their faces. They clearly found the situation entertaining.

"Y/N! Stop talking with him and help me!"

You looked back at your mother. Never had you ever seen your parents in such a state. The loud cries in the back echoed in the room. You were in trance, but one of the chandeliers fell to the ground prohibiting the proximity to your parents and more screaming could be heard.

"Y/N, I have a proposal."

You faced Mingi once more, but he was at the balcony door this time. Your eyes widening, a feeling of loneliness crept over and you wanted him to stay.

"If you dare to come with me, with us, you'll get to see the world as you've never done before. I promise to take you to places you've never seen before, and corners of the planet no one knows about. "

It was tempting because you had the opportunity to have what you always wanted at the tip of my fingers. Mingi climbed up to the railing in the balcony, and the other men jumped from it. You saw him smile, his eyes telling you that this was your last and only chance to give up what you had and start a new beginning.

A sudden impulse made you walk up to him. Your mother yelled and your father too, they wanted you back in their arms, but it landed on deaf ears. You started to gain more speed and eventually ended up running up to him. You extended your arms, and he caught you in a warm embrace. Before you knew it you were falling with him from the 20th floor. He smiled, and you felt your adrenaline go up, you've never felt so alive before.

"Welcome to an adventure Y/N."

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birdy-bat-writes · 4 years

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Final Conclusions

A/N: So Fish and I came up with this Dad!Constantine concept while talking about this one OC I created and a few OC’s she created. The one I created is named Maya. The premise of her story is that she’s a love interest for Damian and she treats John like a mentor/father figure since he’s teaching her to control her magic. This plot is basically what has sprouted any of the Dad/Uncle/Mentor Constantine content I’ve created. Fish has contributed a lot and I love her so much. The basis for this interaction is that John finds a lot of amusement in the fact that Damian likes Maya and he just hates John so much. Even though it’s based on an OC, I’m going to write it x reader style with the reader having the same powers as my OC. So now that there’s context let’s begin!

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It’s the opening night of the Gotham Academy’s festival of the arts. The night where young artists and musicians show off their talent in the galleries and performances, and two people who never show up to these things- like ever- both happened to be here at the same time for the same reason. You. And it irked them to no end.

Both John and Damian arrived at 6:30 pm on the dot. Damian looked so irritated to see John there. Why is he even there? He doesn’t even like going to these things. But then again, neither did Damian. He decided to put his irritation aside and began to walk into the building with John. He had to admit, John stepped up for the occasion.

John cleaned up, did his hair, shaved and actually wore a jacket that was not his usual beige trench coat, all to attend some crummy high school art show. But he did it anyway because it was your work that was being displayed. The disdain he felt towards these events was replaced with a sense of pride he had in you. He sported a grey blazer and black shirt with matching slacks, that contrasted Damian’s black suit.

“Nice to see you here, Damian.”

“Likewise.” The conversation stayed stagnant for a while as they looked around at the different works displayed. Neither of them walked around much. The silence was broken when you walked up to them, looking elegant as ever in your green dress.

“Hey, guys! I’m so happy you both could come.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Damian said sweetly. And that was a rare sight for John to see. Damian being sweet?!

“Do you want to see my display?” They both excitedly nodded “yes” and followed you to a wall at the end of the hall. You cautiously cut through the crowd and pointed. “Tada!”

“That looks amazing, Y/N. You’re more talented than you know.”

“Not bad, kiddo. It’s the best thing I’ve seen from you since that chicken you managed to turn green.”, John said ruffling your hair. Thank goodness you left it down. If it was done up, it would have taken ages to fix, but since you knew john was coming, you took the precaution. He had a habit of doing that when he was proud of you, and it made your day every time.

“Thank you. I’m just going to check out the ceramic displays, you guys want to come?”

“No thanks, dear.”

“I’ll just wait here.”

“Okay, see you in a bit. I’m so happy you both are here.” You chimed. You had that little gleam in your eye that you always did when you were happy, and Damian didn’t fail to notice. He lingered on it. Just as he did with your smile, and the soft glow on your cheeks. He was regrettably brought out of his love-trance by the sound of John’s voice.

“Does that look like ketchup on paper to you too? Or is it just me?” Damian wanted to roll his eyes and say something snarky, but instead, looked up at the painting john was talking about. It really did just look like a glob of red paint.

“I can’t even tell what that’s supposed to be. If it’s abstract, they did a good job.”

“To be honest, I don’t really get this ‘art’ thing. Half of these canvases look like something a two-year-old could muster.” John said, and Damian sighed in return.

“You have to look beyond the surface. Art is about the emotion behind the paint and pencil.”

“Alright, Picasso, what’s that one about then?” Damian stayed silent. “I thought you were an artist; you don’t get art?”

“I sketch sometimes but that doesn’t make me an artist.”

“Ah, damaged closet-artist.” Damian groaned lowly.

“There isn’t anything in that piece to understand. It’s just paint splatters. Half of these can only be admired for their technical skill; there’s no emotion behind them. If there is one, it’s not one that I understand.

“Whose work do you like then?” Damian gave that one some thought,

“I like the classics, I suppose. The only current artist whose work I’ve liked is Y/N.”

“Interesting, so, what emotion do you get from her work?” John had his trademark devilish grin plastered upon his face. He knew Damian was head over heels for you, and it sure was fun to get a rise out of him with that. Damian was trying not to let his mind wander off to the charcoal sketches he has framed in his room. You drew them for him and left them in his room one day. They were all sketches of Titus, Batcow, Alfred the cat and his personal favorite, a charcoal rendition of a polaroid you took. It was the two of you at the beach with the family, and Damian was smiling. It was rare and reserved just for you, so he couldn’t help but think the emotion he got from it was love. That photo stayed between the two of you, and the drawing wasn’t shown to anyone but him. John doesn’t get the luxury of knowing that. Why did he even ask? Why is he even here?

“Why did you come here?” Damian asked.

“Y/N invited me.”

“You don’t like going to these events. Why’d you say yes?”

“Same reason as you mate, I care about her more than I hate the rest of society.”

Damian gave a light nod that anyone would have missed if they weren’t’ looking for it. “What about you? It’s not like you enjoy school activities and such.” Damian looked a little flustered.

“I wanted to support my friend and classmate. It’s important to her.”

“Right, you wanted to support your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Aye, but you want her to be.” John said with a smirk.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t give me that. Its plain as day that you like her.” Damian scoffed and looked down for a while.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?” He tried to play it off like sarcasm, but that didn’t really go as planned.

“You hate people and yet you love being around her. You’re an artist and can’t understand anyone’s art but hers. You want to protect her from anyone who you think isn’t good enough for her, myself included. The signs are pretty obvious.” Damian looked a little flushed but remained speechless. “And besides, she’s pretty easy to fall in love with, I hear. My home phone gets calls from boys on the daily.”

“What?! From who?!?”

“Hehe, and that’s how I came to that conclusion.”

“Constan-!”

“There you guys are! I’ve been looking for you. Art awards are going to be announced soon. Want to go find a seat?” You had just found the boys and were ready to take them into the auditorium for the Art Awards.

“Sure thing.”, John said cheerily.

John smiled and Damian just returned a cold glare.

***

They were seated next to each other and chose not to complain about it. Instead, opting to tense over the fact that they were nearing the end of the awards ceremony and your name hadn’t yet been called. This meant one of two things: Either you were about to win one of the top cash prizes or you weren’t going to win anything. And the thought of the latter had both John and Damian gripping the arm rests of their seats tight enough to dent them. The anticipation was building in all of you, but it flooded away from you when you turned and looked at the boys. They looked more stressed than you did, and it made you want to laugh. Of course, you stifled it. This is what you liked to call “Chaotic caring energy”. And truth be told, these two were awfully similar for a pair of people who can’t stand each other.

It was down to second place. You had lost hope and accepted you wouldn’t win anything. The boys hadn’t, though. They were literally at the edge of their seats, and you swear you saw Damian grab John’s shoulder at one point. Just then, you heard your name called. First place, Y/N L/N, 8th grade.

“Yes! I’m so proud of you!”

“Well done, N/N! I knew you’d be up there!” They could be heard over the Loud cheering from the rest of the audience. You walked up and received your award and you waved at them from the stage. John looked at you with a genuine smile and adoration in his eyes. He knew you were talented, and he was so proud of you for working so hard for this. You had finally gotten the recognition you deserved and the look in his eyes reflected how happy he was about it. Damian noticed too. John really cared about you. Damian saw it now. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad mentor for you after all.

While leaving the hall, the three of you saw Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim and Alfred waiting by the doors. They congratulated you and showered you with hugs. They had seen the ceremony as well, but they watched it from the auditorium balcony. While you were off showing your plaque to everyone, Damian took an opportunity to say something he felt he needed to say.

“Hey, John?”

“Hm?’

“When you said I want to protect Y/N from people who aren’t good enough… I don’t consider you to be someone I should protect her from. You’re a good mentor.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” They shared a look of agreement. Perhaps they had finally settled a truce. “And of course, I’m a good mentor for her. I’m the master of my craft.” John added smugly.

“I saw you light your tie on fire once.”

“Who said that was an accident?” They shared a chuckle. Meanwhile, Bruce and Alfred were making celebratory dinner plans, and you were standing flabbergasted with the boys because Damian and John were smiling at each other??? They walked up to you and overhearing Bruce’s discussion about dinner, Damian took the liberty of inviting John to join you.

You choked on your saliva, Tim looked beyond concerned and when John said he’d be delighted, everyone freaked. Bruce looked terrified, Dick squinted, and Jason was about to take a picture while Alfred just stared.

“Are they smiling at each other?”

“No, that’s not possible.”

“Um, they’re walking side by side and talking without grimacing.”

Y/N looks like she’s about to pass out. Someone catch her.”

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

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Dense as a Brick Wall - Terra x Fem!Reader

First off YEEEESSSSSSS! I NEED MORE DARK ROAD ASAP! Second, Terra is actually one of my favorite characters of the series so I was excited for this request! I admit I struggled a bit but I hope you like it and I’m sorry it took me so long.

~~~~~

I can officially say today has started off wild, but I mean my version of wild—these keyblade wielders apparently find travelling to different worlds pretty normal. First thing in the morning, the trio of Aqua, Ven, and Terra all show up on my doorstep and insist I hang out with them for the day. When I finally relent, that’s when they break the news that we’re going off-world.

So one insane trip later, we end up in this bright, sunshine world of Destiny Islands. It’s gorgeous with its tropical atmosphere and sparkling beach and it’s a shame I didn’t bring my bathing suit. The trio then takes me to the larger island where I meet way more people than I was prepared for. They all seem friendly enough and accept me pretty quickly; also we’re apparently not the only group to travel from another world.

That’s when the inhabitants—Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Namine—announce an activity they’d come up with for the visitors: a photo scavenger hunt. The groups pair up quickly, leaving the four of us from the Land of Departure.

“So how do you guys wanna split up?” Terra asks.

“Oh, I know,” Aqua hums, wandering towards Namine. Once she returns, she presents four pieces of paper in her grasp. “Whoever draws the two with colored ends are partners. You first,” she says, offering the handful to me.

Tugging on a strip, I find it colored red on the bottom. “Oh. Cool.”

She turns to the man beside me. “Alright. Terra.”

He picks a strip and my insides run with ice; they expect me to go on a scavenger hunt, alone, with the only person I’ve ever fallen so hard for.

I don’t even know where to begin with Terra. He’s the biggest sweetheart and I’d have to be wearing fire-retardant pants if I said I never admired those muscles. I know he gets a lot of flak, but the guy can actually be pretty smart when it comes to strategy and situational awareness, though his social skills could use a little work. So, while I can say this about his physical build, it also unfortunately applies to his empathic understanding: he’s as dense as a brick wall.

I’ve done everything just short of saying, “hey, you know what? I have an enormous crush on you.” Well, that and kiss him. I once even held his hand when we were wandering through town, but I think he mistook it for me trying not to get lost in the crowds. For the love of all that is good in existence, I cannot get him to take a hint! That and my dumb ass is too nervous to straight up confess.

“Hey, are you okay with that?”

Snapping back to the present, I look up at those beautiful blue eyes. Blood rushes into my ears, but I smile anyway. “Yeah. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

He smiles back and I feel my self-awareness melt just a little, until I realize I might get lost staring if I don’t look away.

We’re given a list of things to photograph and a deadline to meet back up on the small island and the teams start to go their separate ways. Only a few steps into our adventure, I look back at Aqua and Ven and my heart stops. A smirk sits upon her lips and pinched between her fingers are the remaining two strips of paper: they were all colored on the end. My brain begins screaming bloody murder.

“Woah, hey!” A large hand beneath my arm pulls me to the side just in time to miss walking into one of those mail collection boxes. Face burning, I glance up at my concerned sort-of-hero. “Are you sure you’re okay? If you’re not feeling well, we can go home.”

For the love of the gods, I cannot tell him what Aqua did, but she’s absolutely going to get it later—regardless of whether or not she can destroy me in a heartbeat. “No no! I’m fine. I just got distracted.”

Dark brows furrow, still concerned. “Would rather be partners with someone else?”

“NO!” Okay, I probably didn’t need to respond quite that quickly…or yell. A laugh escapes me in an attempt to regain my composure. “No, it’s okay. I promise. This is going to be fun.”

A big grin crosses his lips and we set off, ignoring the fact this is a set up—or maybe not; who knows.

There are two lists on the paper Kairi had given me: one of object and one of activities. Things such as the beach, something red, and a statue are on the list of objects, but on the other are things such as walking barefoot in the sand, going down the slide in the park, and shaking a stranger’s hand. The thing about the second list is that there has to be photo evidence of each person to get the points. Trailing through the sand and asking a random guy to shake hands with each of us is easy enough and we’ve been having a lot of fun, but poor Terra kind of got stuck in the slide and we lost a couple hours—but I got the evidence at least.

“You sure you’re okay?” I ask for like the tenth time, stupidly fluttering eyelashes at him.

My partner laughs sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He’s such a good sport but oblivious as always. “I’m just relieved we didn’t break it.”

“Yeah…I was kinda worried we were gonna have to call the fire department or something—or worse, our friends.”

“I really don’t need another story Aqua’s not gonna let me live down,” he sighs. “What else is on the list?”

Pulling the paper from my pocket, I scan over what’s not marked. “Well, there’s not much more we can do before time’s up…so I guess we head back and hope we see a dog, a sign that starts with the letter V, and a rubber duck—where the hell did they think we were gonna see a rubber duck?”

“Does that count?” Out points his finger to the ocean where a giant, inflatable duck peacefully floats along.

“I don’t think it’s made of rubber, but I’m gonna say yes,” I say, using Terra’s GummiPhone to snap a picture of the ridiculous sight.

So off we go towards the smaller island on one of the rental row boats. For a while, we chat and amble about the beach—and I drop more ridiculous hints—until Terra asks, “Hey, wasn’t there something on the list about food?”

“Um. Try a food neither of us has eaten.”

“I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what that is.” From a crooked tree hangs a bright, yellow fruit.

I laugh, following him towards the stairs leading up to the islet. “You wanna just start eating random fruit?”

“Why not?”

The young man scales along the curved tree until he successfully gets his hand on the star-shaped fruit and returns to sit next to me on the tree. The fruit is broken into two and I get a piece. It’s sweet, almost like a candy and super watery.

“I may be regretting my choice,” Terra murmurs around a mouthful.

“What? This is amazing.” I almost drool in my protest.

“Too sweet.”

“Ah, I forget you don’t like sweets.”

Eyeing up his questionable prize, he ventures another bite.

“You two are here ear—” Looking back reveals the Islanders. Both girls gasp and the guys just gape.

“Hey guys,” I greet. “What’s up?” I take another bite.

Riku is the first to break. “You two have no idea what that is, do you?” A glance is shared with no answer. “That’s a paopu.”

When the only response is staring, Kairi hastily explains, “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined!”

“So says the legend,” adds Namine.

Terra’s mouthful comes flying back out while I opt to choke on mine. While I’m busy hacking away, the rest of our friends arrive.

“What’s going on here?” Aqua asks as Sora is patting my back.

“According to these two, trying new foods means sharing destinies,” Riku explains, gesturing to the dropped leftovers.

Ven is very poorly containing his laugh. “You guys ate a paopu fruit?”

“We didn’t know what it was,” Terra retorts. It makes me feel somewhat better that his face is probably just as red as mine.

“I told you about those,” Aqua retorts. “Remember? I based our wayfinders off them.”

I eventually breathe fine again and everyone hangs out to share their pictures and just hang out. Xion and Roxas got the most points and win the game while Terra and I get the most teasing for the paopu and the slide. Still, the symbolic meaning of the fruit plagues my thoughts—it’s a nice thought to have Terra as part of my destiny. I’d probably squeal if it weren’t for my new friends sitting around. In my revelations, I can’t help beaming down at the pictures of my partner.

It’s just as we’re all getting ready to head home that Aqua sighs, “It’s a shame that, even after I went through all the trouble to make sure they were partners and neither of them confessed they liked each other.”

A second passes, and then another, but finally, Terra’s eyes widen as he realizes what I’ve known from the beginning. “You rigged the teams?!”

Ven snarks, “She wasn’t exactly subtle.”

My brain carefully scrutinizes the frantic behavior of the young man. “Wh—Bu—How—Why would you do that?!”

“Didn’t you hear me? So you could tell her how you feel,” she states bluntly.

Arms flail and, had anyone been within close proximity, who knows what kind of damage he’d deal. “How could you do that?! I’ve been dying all day trying to figure out how to tell her!”

The analyzing brain blips. Wait…

“It wasn’t really that much of a secret,” his blonde friend mutters, the flustered not hearing him.

“All so you could get a few laughs picking on me?! And I still don’t even know how to tell her how much I like her!”

A jolt ripples through me and my jaw falls open.

“First of all,” Aqua starts. “I didn’t do it to pick on you. Second, it was Ven’s idea.”

The accused adds, “He’s been driving me nuts over it.”

“And third, I’m pretty sure you just confessed.” A finger points to me.

His olive skin goes visibly pale, outrage dropping to instant horror. Those shocked eyes lock onto me; clearly he’d forgotten in his outburst that I was even here to begin with.

With a strange sense of outward confidence, I close the gap between us. My heart is beating deafeningly in my ears as I approach but he doesn’t move even a little, watching me in stunned silence. Fists take hold of his shirt, pulling him down to my level as I stand on tiptoe.

Raging in my gut are the butterflies that have been teasing me all day. I may be on fire right now, but there’s an ocean just over there—it’s fine. And sure, my partner is in a stupor but that doesn’t make my elation any less real. There are no words for how much I needed this.

Leaning back, there’s a lingering taste of that paopu we’d split earlier. I can’t help the resulting smile though Terra looks absolutely bewildered.

“I’ve been dying to do that for months,” I tell him.

“Perhaps my efforts weren’t in vain after all,” giggles Aqua. She gets a raspberry from me.

Terra, with an incredibly ludicrous question, grabs my attention again. “Did you just kiss me?”

My eyes widen before I start laughing. “You really are as dense as a brick wall.”

The shock leaves his face, replaced with a frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s been flirting with you hardcore for as long as I can remember,” Ven tells him. “Everyone but you picked up on that.”

“R-Really?” This time, he goes a little red.

Slipping a hand into his, I reply, “Really.”

The free hand meets his face. “Ugh, geeze I’m so dumb.”

“That’s okay. You’re still cute.”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me, you know.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Then Aqua gets in another jab. “I think that’s a little unfair, Ven. It’s not like she picked up on his flirting either.”

“Wait, what?!” Eye shoot up to Terra who gives me a smile that I’d die for.

“Guess it’s not just me, huh.”

#kh terra #terra #kingdom hearts terra #terra x reader #novas requests #fem!reader

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writingbakery · 5 years

Text

Happy Halloween, You’re The Only Sugar I Need

[i didn’t have a lot of time to come up with halloween ideas, so have these cute lil hc’s about what it would be like to trick or treat with the bnha babies!💓]

*☆*ﾟ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ

Izuku Midoriya

did someone say couple costumes?

plans his costume out in july, and has it perfect by august

he knows all the best routes and houses like the back of his hand - nothing but full size candy bars for his baby (you💓) duh!

no haunted houses for him, he just wants to hold your hand as you walk through the neighborhood

he’s the most fair when it comes to candy negotiations, offering up two skittles bags for one set of jelly chew jolly ranchers and making sure the butterfingers were evenly divided

since he’s an expert on trick or treating (your words not his, he blushes for a full thirty minutes after you tell him) you’re both home fairly early, only out a little under an hour

which means: halloween jammies, takeout, and all your halloween candy piled up on the table while you watch spooky godmother together <3

and perhaps there’s a heated makeout session that ends with your hands down the front of his onesie ;)

Katsuki Bakugo

he always wants to go as something horrifically extra - he pretends it’s all your idea, but you know he’s been pinterest scrolling it for a solid month

his goal is quantity over quality here; the more candy he has the better, so you’re both hitting every neighborhood till the streetlights flicker on

he also wants to do every “haunted house” he spots along the way, dragging you in to suffer with him

he likes the spook

you’re out the latest, but it’s still fun - mainly because you’d convinced him to piggy back carry you home after

he’s fair but strict in his candy negotiations - he won’t let you cheat him out of a full sized kitkat bar just because you’re adorable his s/o. he requires at least three kisses and two mini crunch bars in exchange

you watch endless slasher films and bad horror classics, and cuddle under the biggest fluffiest blanket you own

somewhere during the “scary movie” series he’s got you pinned, kissing a hot trail up your neck and there goes the movie session ;)

Hanta Sero

hanta 1000% wants to do meme couple costumes, and you’re whipped for his smile, so-

plans his costume out a while back, but procrastinates getting it together until two days before (and yet, it still looks amazing?)

doesn’t really have a route or plan in mind, he just wants to wander around holding hands and kissing every time you see a pumpkin (like punch buggy but sweeter <3)

he’s honestly probably the most confusing with his candy negotiations - “how does a mini snickers and a bag of pretzels equal a york patty, hanta?”

the boy has weird candy tastes but you love him anyways

you’re out a decent amount of time, a little over an hour & change

he wants to watch every cult classic horror film ever, so prepare not to sleep

halfway through he’s too busy smiling with his tongue in your mouth though, so its a win in your book ;)

Hitoshi Shinso

hitoshi always wants to go as some super obscure film or literary pair

he’s not too early in his planning, or too late. he finishes his costume with time to spare but he doesn’t rush, either

he’s not keen on being out too late but he indulges you for a bit, sneaking kisses here and there

he’s not big on candy either, so he ends up giving you most of his basket anyway - although there’s certain things he won’t part with.

“you’re serious? i cant even have one?”

“no. all the reese’s cups are mine, & that’s final.”

you’ll get smooches because he feels bad

you’ll spend the rest of the evening with your head on his chest, listening to him read you Poe snuggled under a blanket with tea.

and halfway through lady ligeria his hands will creep up the back of your sweater, and suddenly you’re doing much more kissing than reading ;)

Yaoyorozu Momo

momo definitely wants to do something elegant and fancy with you for costumes

she gets everything tailored and ready weeks in advance, duh

momo’s house is the one giving out full sized candy bars, so is trick or treating even necessary? yes it is

you spend about an hour giggling and sharing a candy basket, everyone awwing over the pair of you

there’s no candy negotiations because you share <3

you play board games with the charlie brown halloween special in the background

she wins every time that girl’s a menace

“since i’ve won twenty four of our twenty six games, i’ll be claiming my prize now.”

her prize is kissing you senseless on the floor, smiling into each other’s mouths with wandering hands ;)

Tsuyu Asui

dorky costumes? dorky costumes. think dorothy and the tin man, but cute

she plans both your costumes in advance cause she’s just that amazing

you’re out almost as late as possible only because tsu gets excited everytime she sees a decorated house and you’re soft for her

candy negotiations with her are tough; she plays hard to please and you both like too many of the same candies

you end up sharing anyways

halloween movies with tsu are a big mess of funny to scary to animated to wholesome - she loves all of them and you love her, so you’re watching everything

you’re cuddled up in a blanket fort, snuggled into a heap of blankets and it’s so comfortable that you almost fall asleep halfway through poltergeist

until tsuyu starts kissing her way up the sensitive skin of your back, and suddenly kissing is the only thing on your mind ;)

Ojiro Mashirao

he always wants to do a cutesy/romantic couples costume, he’s your prince charming without fail

the two of you work on your costumes together well before halloween - he calls it couple bonding like the cutie he is

you’re not out too late, mostly because you have too many activities planned for when you’re back home

there is no candy negotiation with ojiro; he gives you your favorites and steals your pretzels and m&m’s without a word

you carve pumpkins even though you already have six, make candy apples, and finally snuggle together on the couch to watch some cheesy halloween hallmark specials

he makes you both hot chocolate with plenty of mini marshmallows <3

by the end of the second sappy film you’re licking the chocolate out of his mouth, and he’s only complaining a little

“but (y/n), she’s about to leave it all behind for the lovestruck farmer!”

Eijiro Kirishima

kiri loves halloween, so he’ll gladly be the counterpart to any costume you choose

he’s definitely a procrastinator though, only finishing it the day of

he’s so excited and hyper that you spend nearly two hours trick or treating, being dragged by holding hands with kiri as he marvels at the tiniest of things

he’s the worst at candy negotiations - he’s so soft for you that he’d give you anything you asked, and he’s a sucker for all types of candy so he’s way too easy to please

“sure baby, you can have my crunch bar and my twix for the nerds.”

“eiji those are both full size candy bars-“

“so?”

he wants to watch the scariest of movies because he’s manly, of course, and he promises to protect you from anything too frightening

he ends up curled into your arms, peering at the screen through his fingers and you’re trying really hard not to laugh

distractions come in the form of kisses, though, and soon he’s too busy nipping at the son of your neck to pay attention to the terrifying film ;)

Tamaki Amajiki

tamaki definitely wants to do cheesy pop culture costumes with you - he spends most of his time reading or watching it

his nerves about the whole thing make him finish his costume way too early, but it’s cute

once he’s in costume though, he gains a sort of confidence - he’s somebody who’s not him for a little while, and he boldly holds your hands and kisses your cheek as you wander

tamaki loves candy, so negotiations are difficult - but he loves you a lot more, so he parts with some of his precious stash

you decide on reading scary stories to each other, sitting with your back against his chest in the big armchair, by the fireplace

it’s warm and cozy and you could almost fall asleep like this, until tamaki’s voice wavers as you shift in his lap

the book is quickly forgotten about as you make out softly, and maybe the costume gets a little shredded. oops ;)

Mirio Togata

mirio will literally dress up as anything as long as you match with him

he insists you plan together, takes all of your thoughts into consideration; this is a team effort!

he doesn’t want to be out too late but he can’t help himself, he wants to show you everything

plus he keeps running into people he knows and he wants to show you off

he splits all his candy evenly with you; you’re his baby, he’d give you his kidney if you asked

he’s one for paranormal movies, he gets so wrapped up in the plotlines it’s almost funny

“okay but if i were a ghost, i’d haunt people in the fun way. like, we’d play games or something.”

“you’d make a very nice ghost, babe.”

he gets so caught up in the movies though that he doesn’t even realize when you pounce, tickling him to draw his attention again

it quickly turns from tickles to kisses and kisses to nibbles and suddenly he’s not thinking about ghosts at all ;)

Nejire Hado

the poor baby’s so excited she can’t even choose a costume, so you end up deciding

she’s very involved in the process though, helping out any way she can

trick or treating with nejire is like going with a hyperactive six year old, but it’s adorable. she drags you around for hours

“look! that pumpkins as big as my head! let’s take a picture!”

she’s a candy addict, good luck trying to negotiate any sort of trade. she steals yours when you aren’t looking

you totally notice but you indulge her

you’re watching a movie, making cookies, and playing a board game all at once when you get home

she’s so excited she can’t even sit still, bouncing from activity to activity until you give up and pull her in for a kiss

you get so distracted you forget all about the cookies ;)

“NO! MY PRECIOUS SUGAR PUMPKIN BABIES!”

Uraraka Ochaco

she’s had your costumes planned since last halloween

“but we’ve only been dating four mo-“

“shush and try this on.”

she’s running around the neighborhood with you for hours, isn’t even tired

another big candy thief, shamelessly digging in your basket but she’s cute so you allow it

wants to watch all the sappy halloween movies and compare you guys to the main characters

“that’s so us, oh my god.”

“he’s a baker. and she’s in real estate.”

“it’s us!! im the baker though.”

drinking lots of spiced cider and giving out leftover candy to the few stragglers, she’s got a soft spot for them

lots of cheesy, silly kisses as you cuddle

she’s easily distracted though, kissing down your cheek to your jaw, neck and oops! the movies long forgotten ;)

Denki Kaminari

another meme costumer, but he also wants to look cool. it’s a tricky balance

he keeps putting off getting his costume together, and then he forgets, and then he’s calling you frantic the night before for assistance

he’s a little more relaxed as you walk through the neighborhood, but that’s only because he’s waiting for everyone to discover the pranks he’d set up beforehand

needless to say, trick or treating ends early before he can be murdered

denki’s a candy whore, but he’s willing to make negotiations with you as long as he gets kisses out of it - which you take advantage of to get all his good stuff

you’re curled up together watching nightmare before christmas, a tradition between you because you’d argued for a week straight about whether it was a halloween or christmas movie

the compromise is that you watch it on both holidays

he gets bored after twenty minutes though, restless like always and before you know it he’s kissing wherever he can reach

the movie’s ignored for the rest of the night as the pair of you kiss and giggle and get a little carried away ;)

Mina Ashido

she’s all over the place with her planning but she definitely wants to do something complicated - she loves going all out!

she needs your help to stay on task but your costumes are finished in a decent enough amount of time

first you’re trick or treating, then you’re pulling pranks with denki, then you’re chasing the neighborhood kids around in a silly game of tag - you’re doing so much that you don’t even realize how late it’s gotten

at home she’s still got all that wild excited energy so you make pumpkin pie together despite the hour, making stupid jokes and flicking flour at one another

“if this sticks in my hair you’re dead, (y/n)!”

“love you too, princess.”

somewhere between baking and eating the pie you start making out against the counter, and there’s definitely flour handprints all over the both of you ;)

Mezo Shoji

shoji likes halloween, but he lets you pick out the costumes - he wants you to have a good time!

he’s very helpful throughout the entire process of getting the costumes ready, and you’re done in no time

he lets you drag him all around, using the majority of his arms to carry extra candy baskets - it’s not cheating the system because everyone thinks it’s part of his costume, and there’s six times as much candy now!

he gives the majority of it to you once you’re home again to see you smile - it has been his plan all along to drown you in excess candy, and you’re not complaining

he gets an equal amount of kisses in return

you spend the evening helping the local kids collect as much candy as they can, and shouji makes it his job to escort all the children that are scared up to every house so they don’t miss out

he gets a whole lot more than kisses for that, but who can blame you? your boyfriend was just too sweet for his own good

“i think you’re the only sugar i need, (y/n).”

“you flirt. kiss me again.” ;)

Tokoyami Fumikage

whenever halloween comes around, he goes big. all out. ridiculously detailed, amazing costumes

you help as much as you can, but he’s in his element; he handles most of it himself

his excitement isn’t obvious, but you can see it in the way he slightly pulls you along as you wander. it’s downright adorable

dark shadow is also having the time of his life, popping up to make snarky comments at passrersby and steal candy whenever possible

“god, did she pull that costume off of last years clearance rack?”

“dark shadow, enough.”

he’s not wrong though

candy negotiations are done through dark shadow - your boyfriend would’ve given you all the good stuff without questioning it, and his counterpart can’t have that

you end up sitting outside to watch the stars, tokoyami cuddled into your chest and all it takes is a few well placed kisses to his plumage to have dark shadow sweep you up and take you right inside for some evening fun ;)

[i tried to write as many as i could, i hope you all enjoy bbs! happy halloween 🎃 🧡]

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angelic-holland · 5 years

Text

Arcade // th x fem!reader

Summary: Loving you was a losing game, but Tom would be damned if he ever stopped playing.

Warnings: Smut, angst, fluffy ending

Word Count: 7.2k

A/N: based on the song “Arcade” by Duncan Lawrence, italics between (***) are flashbacks, I attempted to write this sort of from Tom’s point of view.

The roar of the children and other young adults nearly drowned Tom as he watched you dance around after winning a lot of tickets at the skee ball machine. His eyes glimmer with admiration as he watches your hair dance along the sides of your face, one of your small fingers brushing it behind your ear.

You were having one last night out before you and your family went to America for a few weeks, an annual tradition, Tom sometimes went with you, but this year he couldn’t. Work, responsibilities, life got in the way.

He smiles, a toothy, kid in a candy shop smile as he walks up to you, “ready for your big prize?”

You turn around to face him and laugh, grin stretching across your face as you throw your head back, clapping your hands happily as you walked towards the prize room.

“I hope my prize includes you,” you grin, biting your lip as Tom laughs, his hand gently resting on your hip while you search through the glass for your prize, a fist full of tickets that added up to 353.

Tom tried, he really did, to win at the games he played while you were there but you were just so distracting. You didn’t mean to be, encouraging him as he hit the button on the fake slot machine, your hand resting gently on his shoulder, blush spreading to the tips of his ears. His eyes would wander to your side, pressed against his, your foot on the inside of his leg, running up and down his calf, then he wouldn’t pay attention and lose. It was almost like a game, Tom thought, you would distract him, ever so slightly, and then if he won you would wrap your arms tightly around him, sighing into his neck before pulling away. He’d give you the few tickets he won, insisting that he wouldn’t get anything good with them anyways.

And that was better than any stupid plastic toy prize. Your pure excitement.

You picked out a stupid plastic kazoo that somehow was worth 350 tickets and used the other three tickets to get Tom a piece of candy, his favorite.

“Wanna get outta here and I can suck you off in my mom’s shitty ‘98 mom van?” You ask as you walk out of the loud arcade, hands swinging side by side, knuckles brushing every so often, you had no intention of grabbing his hand and placing it in your own, Tom knew this. He so desperately wishes you did however.

His eyes roll in his head as he tilts it back, the long expanse of his neck inviting, “can you not call it your mom’s shitty van in the same sentence as wanting to get me off?”

“What? Are you not getting hard right now?” You whispered into his ear, the back of your hand pressed against the back of his hand.

How easy would it be to grab your hand, slip your fingers in between his, never let go? Tom’s feet faltered as you licked the shell of his ear, sighing before skipping ahead of him and playing the kazoo obnoxiously loud.

“Come on, I know you wanna,” you said in a sing song voice and Tom couldn’t lie, of course he did. He never didn’t want to. But he also wanted to sit at the pier overlooking the water and talk for hours about everything and nothing, just listening to the sound of your voice, inflections as you asked questions, rising as you got excited, raising an octave if it was a really good story. But you weren’t in the mood for the friend part of your arrangement, not right now. And that was okay, because he just wanted to spend time with you, in whatever way that came down to.

Before he knew it he was sprawled out in the backseat of your car, a hand me down from your mother, fake leather seats are worn, tearing in some places, his hand gripped the door handle for dear life as you situated yourself on the expansive floor between the very back of the van and the front seats.

You hands traced down his front to his jeans, one stroking his cock over them while the other worked on opening up his jeans. No matter how many times you did this, you still managed to fumble a little each time. Tom liked to pretend it was because you were nervous because you wanted more than hasty blowjobs and fucks. Deep in his heart, hidden behind years of longing and just recently the excitement of being with you, he knew that wasn’t the case. You have a kind heart, always wanted to please people, your nerves were a result of thinking you weren’t good enough, no matter how many times Tom told you how good you made him feel. Your confidence day to day was strong, unwavering, head held high as you navigate your life. Very few people, if anyone other than Tom knew that you desperately wanted to hold onto something and ground yourself, never sure in anything you did.

His other hand was a calming presence on your hair, fingers running through your pretty locks, brushing them behind your ear so he could see you as you kissed along his hips, tugging his cock out of the confines of his boxers. Your eyes looked up at him, the slightest bit of nervousness overshadowed by lust as you licked your hand, using it to stroke his cock while your tongue dipped out of your mouth to trace along the head down the underside of his cock.

“So good, feels so good,” Tom manages to get out. Because it does, you always made him feel good, and because he knew you were craving the words that slipped out of his mouth, “Good girl.”

You went to work, mouth parted, full lips wrapping around the head of his cock as he watched, he always watched, watched as your pretty lips bobbed up and down his cock, taking as much of him as you could while your hand worked what couldn’t fit into your mouth. He watched as your eyes stared up at him, constantly searching for that validation. And holy shit he wanted to give you the entire fucking world, show you that you were it for him. But for now a stuttered out, “yes, fuck, keep going, please, good girl,” would do.

You whined at his words, eyes slipping shut as one of your hands reached up and rested atop his own, fingers curling to make Tom grip your hair. The closest he would get to holding your hand. His smile faltered for a second at the thought, his heart slowing in his chest before he looked down at you, your eyes wide again as you stared up at him, curiously attempting to understand where he stood while you sucked him off, scared he wasn’t enjoying himself.

You pop off him quick, hand continues to slowly jerk him off, “you okay?”

He nods quickly, “Yeah sorry, could you maybe use your tongue a little more?” He makes up something that could explain the look on his face, almost smacking himself as your face fell before you nodded.

“Course, yeah, lemme make you feel good, okay?”

He nods, smiling again as your tongue traces up and down the veins along his cock, wet and shiny lips sucking as his head as your tongue swipes at the precum pooling on it.

“Good girl,” he sighs and his smile widens as you visibly relax, letting his hand in your hair guide his movement while your hand gently rests atop it, searching for the warmth of human touch.

He couldn’t stop staring as you worked him over with your mouth, taking him further and further until his cock bumped against the back of your throat and you fought against yourself, relaxing your throat to allow him in. He was close, and oh so fucking soon but he couldn’t help it, watching you work, you looked so pretty when you were determined to make him feel fantastic.

Not that you weren’t pretty all the time, if Tom were a poet, he could think of a million ways to describe how beautiful he thought you were. But alas, he was just a boy who was destined for failure, and the only word he could use to describe your beauty was ‘perfect’.

He had a far off look in his eye, thinking about all the time you’ve shared together, since you were little, he wouldn’t lie, he was a little distracted while you tried your hardest to bring him back to reality, to the fact that you were sucking him off, attempting to make him feel the absolute best.

You whine around him, an indication that you wanted more from him, more noises, more enthusiasm.

More more more.

And Tom would be damned if he didn’t give you everything.

His eyes wandered back to you, lips stretched wide as you took him nearly completely in your mouth, hand now resting on his hip just beneath his shirt, rubbing circles into the bone while his hips stuttered, mouth dry as his hand gripped your hair harder.

He was on the edge, he was always on the edge with you. On the edge of orgasm. On the edge of falling in love. He likes to pretend he hasn’t already fallen off that steep and dangerous cliff, like he wasn’t broken and bruised and bleeding at the bottom, crying out for you to save him. Throw him a fucking line, tell him you also stay up at night and dream of a future with him, tell him you yearn for him the same way his heart beats crazy for you.

He moaned your name as he came down your throat, you sucked him down enthusiastically as he strung along whimpers of “y/n, fuck, sucha good girl for me.”

When he came down from his high he peeked through his lashes as you slowly come off his cock, sitting back, your hand slips off of his own and he wishes he lasted even just a little bit longer if that meant he could feel the warmth of your hand on top of his own for just a few more seconds.

“Thanks,” He grins lazily as you tuck him back into his jeans.

You nod, wiping your mouth on the back of your hand before eating up and

“Can I return the favor?” Tom asks as you begin to climb into the front seat.

“Nah, doing the nasty here kinda creeps me out, back to our place?” You ask and Tom nods, climbing into the front seat as well as you start the car.

“Was that, are you thinking of something space cadet?” You joked as Tom sat rather solemnly, chin in his hand, elbow resting on the window, eyes distant as you rested your hand on his thigh.

“I’m okay, just thinking.”

“Oh, okay, penny for your thoughts? Or a kazoo song?” You steady the steering wheel with one hand as you use the other to play a horrible tune on the kazoo.

“No, god, anything but the kazoo,” Tom groans, tossing his head back, you set the kazoo down and put your hand back on his thigh, his hand goes to rest against yours and you almost flinch at his touch, a little too intimate.

You take a deep breath as you pull into the apartment complex, moving your hand from under Tom’s.

You both make the trip upstairs, lust and a hint of something else hung in the air as you unlocked the door to your shared apartment. Three rooms, you, Tom, and Harrison, whenever Tom and you had sex it was always in his room. There was an unspoken agreement ever since the first time it happened, your room was untouchable, cold and empty, like Tom sometimes felt your heart was.

***

“Are we really doing this?” You giggles, hands tracing patterns into Tom’s bare chest as he takes in your naked form, laying underneath him on his bed, as drunk and giggle as he is after a long party to celebrate moving into your new space, freedom from parents and the burden of new responsibilities forgotten for one night.

You were the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, hair spread out underneath you, legs slightly shaking as you wrapped them around his waist.

“Only if you wanna,” Tom replies, arms straining as he held himself above you, cock twitching in his boxers as you rubbed against him.

“I wanna, want you to fuck me,” you moaned as he kisses down your neck, taking in the way your skin felt against his lips. The realization that this might be the first and last time he got to touch you like this was sobering.

“Okay,” Tom nods, “lemme, we need,” he pauses to think, what did they need? He couldn’t quite remember.

“Condom!” You shout loudly, jerking your head up, chin collided with the top of his head. You both groan in pain before Tom rolls off of you, searching his bedside table as you laugh.

“Gotcha,” He says, holding up the silver foil while you sit up, spreading your legs while he pulled his boxers down and off. Your jaw drops as he rolls the condom onto his hard cock.

“What?” He asks, head tilting to the side.

“God I’ve never thought of you like this, but holy fuck you’re huge,” you manage to get out, laughing as he pounced back on top of you.

If he was truly sober your words would’ve startled him, ‘never thought of you like this’. Like what? In a sexual way? A romantic way? You’re about to have sex with him, how do you see him?

His hips pause at the statement however, was he in way too over his head?

“Please,” you whimpered below him, hips rocking against his cock, which would nudge against your entrance, sending you into a flurry of “Please, Tom, pretty please.”

He was way too drunk and way too horny to think about his feelings while you were underneath him, begging, writhing for him.

“Gotcha, I gotcha,” he says, voice soothing as his cock enters you. It’s a feeling he never thought he’d have, your warm walls wrapped around him as you pulled him down, arms around his neck, sloppily kissing him.

You whimper into his mouth, tongues and teeth clashing as he pounds into you, one of his hands steadies himself, the other grips wherever he can get a hand on you, your shoulder, hip, breasts, wow did he love your breasts.

You both were ridiculously close way too soon, a mix of your adrenaline, Tom’s feelings for you and the alcohol coursing through both of your veins. His fingers snake between your bodies, his hips move quickly, chasing his high as his thumb rubs your clit.

“Fuck, Tom,” you cry out as you come. The first time you said his name like that, on the cusp of orgasm, breathy but loud, like your personality, made Tom come with an equally desperate cry of your name. Out of all the ways you said his name, this was his favorite.

***

When you first met, you were in third grade, you were both in a specialized classroom, Tom for his dyslexia and you for your hearing loss. He would never forget the first day you walked into the classroom, pigtails high on your head, your goal for the day was to introduce yourself to someone and focus on the way their words of the other person came out and repeat them back to yourself. It was something that was a less than traditional route to help focus your hearing and strengthen it but your parents didn’t want to give you hearing aids or a cochlear implant unless absolutely necessary.

“Hi, I’m y/n,” you stuck your hand out, arm full of silly band bracelets and Tom looked up at you from his desk curiously.

“I’m Tom,” he said, shaking your hand quickly.

“Tom,” you repeated, testing the word on your mouth, it came out a little fumbled as you worked to put the letters together but you smiled, “Tom,” your voice was more confident that time and Tom smiled back at you.

***

Another way you said his name, the least favorite of all the times, was when a boy broke your heart. It was prom, Tom was at an all boys' school, while you were at your public high school. Tom came to your prom photos to watch and cheer you and the rest of your friends on as you all took photos and you smiled brightly, bouncing over to him with the same wide grin on your face from all those years ago. He could never grow old of that smile. You hugged him tight and his heart pounded so loudly he was afraid you’d hear it.

“Have the best night,” he whispers as you pull away.

“What?” You say, neck craning to hear him.

“Sorry, just, have a good time okay?”

You nod and wave goodbye as Tom watches as Jack Patterson rests his arm around your waist and helped you into the limo.

He figured he’d hear back from you tomorrow morning, you might have a slight hangover, but you’d call him excited to tell him all about the night before.

He didn’t expect a knock on his window at 3am, a broken and hushed, “Tom,” as you stood in the grass, shaking with tears falling onto your light purple dress, as you waited for him to open the window.

His room was the only bedroom on the first floor of his parent’s house, the luxury of being the first child.

“Y/N?” He says, rubbing his eyes and standing up, feet padding over to the window where you stand, bottom lip trembling as your makeup runs down your face.

“Tom,” you choke back a sob.

“Y/N,” he says, body trembling with worry as he unlocks and shoved the window open.

“Tom,” you kept repeating as it was the only thing grounding you as he helped you inside his bedroom.

You all but collapsed in his arms, makeup smudging on his shirt, arms shaky as they held onto his waist, searching for an anchor to reality.

“What the hell happened?” Tom asked as your breathing steadied, you sat on the edge of his bed with him, both of you exhaled shakily for different reasons. Tom was terrified, he had no idea what happened and was scared to find out.

“I, I lost my virginity,” you breath out, Tom’s scared to look at you, but your eyes search the side of his face for some sort of reaction.

“Then why are you crying?” He asks, hand resting between the two of you, itching to take your hand and hold it, comfort you however he can.

“Because, I’m here, Tom,” you choke back another sob, hands covering your mouth as you cry, “I’m here and not in his bed. He, he fucked me and then told me I had to leave.”

Tom’s eyebrows furrowed and his lips downturned, open hand now clenched into a fist.

“He what?”

“He told me that I probably shouldn’t be there when his parents came back, so I had to leave.”

Tom’s silent. After so long of being your friend, your best friend, he knew when you wanted words to comfort you, and when you just wanted him to be there, a presence to keep you steady, make you feel less vulnerable.

He stood up, moving around his room, grabbing a face towel and sneaking into the adjoining bathroom to wet the cloth before kneeling in front of you on the bed. His hand shook as he took the warm washcloth to your face, wiping away your makeup. He attempted to wipe away your tears, he hated seeing you upset like this, setting the washcloth on the ground beside him, using his thumb to wipe a stray tear from your cheek.

You tried to keep your tears to a minimum, deep shaky breaths to steady yourself, “and I already told mom that I was staying over Audrey’s tonight, so if I come home now she’ll know I lied and know what happened and she couldn’t and you were the only person I thought I could trust and-,”

“You can, you can trust me. Okay?”

“Thanks Tom,” you voice cracked, raw from crying, you laughed a little, “who thought this would happen?”

Tom took another shaky breath.

Exhale.

He wanted to give you the fucking world.

And you were here and asking for it, or at least parts of it.

More. More. More.

He stood up, grabbing a T-shirt and sweatpants from his drawers and setting it on the bed next to you, who had started to cry again, body shaking as your hands attempted to tear away your bobby pins that held you hair up.

“Shhh, it’s okay, I gotcha,” he says, sitting on the bed behind you, hands wrapping around your wrists and setting them back on your lap, his hands lingered just a little too long on your wrists before moving back to your hair, working on taking out each bobby pin. He didn’t have a brush so he attempted to run his fingers through your hair, working out each kink and knot careful not to hurt you. You were already hurt enough.

His hands came to rest on your bare shoulders, your body heaving as you tried to calm down.

“I gotchu,” he whispered and you relaxed under his touch, still crying.

“Can I stay here?” Your voice small.

“Always,” Tom nods, fingers tapping against your shoulder as the only sounds in the room are your sobs and his heartbeat.

Thump thump thump, so fucking loud. He was scared even you would hear it.

One of his hands slid to your zipper; tugging it down to right above your hips and he helped pull his shirt over your head, your arms lifting lazily to do part of the work as your dress got pulled off. Any other time he would’ve lost his mind seeing your bare back, body so exposed in front of him. He looked the other way, always the gentleman, as you kicked off your shoes and tugged your dress off the rest of the way, arms shaking as you tugged the sweatpants up your body.

“I can sleep on the floor and you can have the bed,” Tom starts to get off the bed when you turned to him wide eyed and voice frantic.

“Stay.”

He sits back on his heels, trying to think, mind racing, his twin bed would some maneuvering, you would both have to sleep on your sides, but it would work.

“Do you need anything else?” He asks as you climb up into his bed, slipping underneath the sheets and blankets, body curling up to the side.

He would gladly give you whatever else you asked for and more.

More. More. More.

“Stay,” your voice was tired, tired from dancing the night away, tired from giving everything to a boy who left you stranded, tired from walking in heels all the way to Tom’s parents home because you felt safe.

“Forever,” Tom whispered, and he counted on your hearing loss and the fact that you were about to let sleep overcame you, he counted that you didn’t hear him. Even though his heart so desperately wanted you to. You didn’t. Sometimes he thought he could be screaming until his lungs collapsed and you still wouldn’t hear him. It was exhausting. He was exhausted. But not as exhausted as you must’ve felt.

He climbed into bed as well, resting on his side, a few inches between his chest and your back. You tried to cry a little softer, slowly realizing whoever else is home would probably hear you.

“Do you need anything else?” He asks again, voice just loud enough for you to hear and arms awkwardly resting in between the two of you.

Tom can tell you’re thinking for a moment, contemplating how many friendship boundaries you were going to break.

“Hold me,” you whisper, voice now steady.

Tom takes another breath, unsure, because this is the girl he has the biggest fucking crush on, and damn it it was way past a crush at this point, and here he was, a body double for the boy who had sex with her and left her to pick up the pieces of her heart he seemingly broke.

“Please,” you whisper through the silence and Tom can’t help but listen. He scooted closer, chest pressed to your back as he moves his arm under your head, resting his other arm across your stomach.

You immediately relax against his chest, your hand covering his on your stomach while you breath and attempt to sleep, a few stray tears slipping down your cheeks.

“Thank you Tom.”

***

The first time he ever called you a good girl it was by accident, he wasn’t going to lie, before you snuck into his bed late one night, a few days after that drunken one night stand you didn’t bring up again, he was watching porn. And he knew, he knew porn wasn’t what sex in real life was but he didn’t care because ever since that night he’s been in an almost constant state of arousal and he had to relieve tension one way or another.

So when you slipped into his room and sat on his bed in a white lace sheer nightgown, nothing underneath and leaving nothing to the imagination, he almost came in his sweatpants.

“Hi,” you grinned, hand resting on his calf while your other played with your hair.

“Hi,” Tom mumbles sitting up.

“I was thinking, I had a good time the other night. You had a good time the other night. We should uh, do it again.”

“Huh?”

“Oh,” your voice dropped all excitement, lip downturned, did he not enjoy himself? When he sobered up did Tom regret that night?

“Like sex?” Tom asks, voice curious about your intentions, all of your intentions as you sat looking like a fucking angel in front of him.

“Yeah,” you nod, hair falling in your face. Tom instinctively brushed it back behind your ear, hand falling on top of yours on his calf, “just sex,” you say, voice faltering.

Tom wished the tremble in your voice was because you didn’t want it to be just sex, just like he didn’t want it to be just sex. But he knew it was because you were nervous, laying yourself out for him, afraid he’d reject your idea.

“Just sex,” Tom nods, his other hand cupping your cheek to pull you into him, your soft lips kissing his own.

He wished he could kiss the angel in front of him forever, but your hand moved from under his to settle at the back of his neck, fingers running through the bottom of his hair as you sighed into the kiss. Your tongue meeting his as your other hand rested against his chest, pushing him down as their lips broke apart.

And the angel choked him with her halo.

His lips and cheeks red as your hand ran down to his crotch, running your palm over his covered hard on, “condom?” You ask, resting your ass against his thighs.

“Bedside table, top drawer,” Tom manages to get out, and you twist above him, opening up the drawer and grabbing one of the few condoms laying there. You set it in his hand, closing his fist around it while you slide down his legs, kneeling between his spread thighs.

“Wh-,”

“Gonna make you feel good, okay?” You ask, eyes watching for his permission as your hands play with the edge of his sweatpants.

“Please,” he manages to get out, breath already coming out in pants as you pulling his cock of out his sweatpants, fumbling as you work to push his clothes down his legs.

“Sorry,” you say, voice laced with a nervous excitement as you settled between Tom’s bare thighs again.

“All good,” he smiles down at you, crying out as your hand starts to stroke his cock, lips hesitantly wrapping around the head of it.

“Fuck,” he groans as your lips push further down his cock.

You look up at him nervously, wanting to please him, make him feel the absolute best. You didn’t know that anytime Tom spent with you was like he was spinning on the Spin-N-Win, the winning prize if you would have him. You press the button at the right moment and hit the jackpot, heart pounding as your fingers jabs the button, every other hit comes so close, but you lose no matter what. A rigged game set to fail. But the moments leading up to the downfall are what matters. Every time you took his breath away with a simple smile, every time you looked at him like he was the only other person in the world, he felt the absolute best, each day bringing him higher and higher.

He smiled down at you, nervous hand running through your hair, moving it out of your face so he could see you, all of you.

“Good, fuck, feels so good, good girl,” Tom grunts out and you moan around his cock, moving the slightest bit quicker at the praise he gave you, the validation you were doing a good job.

Tom noticed this and kept it in the back of his mind as his cock twitched, the vibrations from your moans sending him so fucking close, “wait, wait, c’mere, lemme get a taste,” he says, voice coming out in pants as you pulled of his cock, smiling softly at him.

“Was that okay?” You ask, face nuzzling into his hand, eyes closed as you waited for his answer.

“Of course, fuck it was amazing, so good I don’t wanna come to soon, lemme make you feel good, okay?” He asks and you nod, shifting from between his legs to lay next to him as he tugs his shirt off, pulling you into the middle of the bed as he settles between your thighs, hands gripping them as he slowly pushes the nightgown up, kissing along your hip, eyes meeting your wet pussy as your hands trembled at your sides.

“This okay?” He asks, making sure you were 100% ready to spin in circles with him.

“Tom,” you mumble, “yes, please,” you cry out as his fingers spread your folds, his breath hot against your heat, tongue poking out to lick through your folds, pausing at your clit.

“Oh fuck,” you groan as his finger pushes inside you, “Tom,” your hands shake as they run through his hair, craving the feeling of him so god damn close to you.

“Gonna make you feel good,” he whispers, lips vibrating against your clit, another finger pushing inside you as your hips buck against him.

“Tom,” your voice is breathy and perfect as you came.

***

Maybe Tom was making it up as you led him back to his room, one hand on his arm, the other playing your kazoo.

This nagging feeling in the back of his mind that tonight would be different. You wouldn’t just have quick sex, disappearing to shower before re-emerging a little later to watch tv or play video games with him and Harrison. You’d fall asleep in his arms, head resting on his chest as you talked about everything, your eyes would droop and you’d fight to stay awake because you craved the time you had with him.

All Tom wanted was for you to hit the button at the right time, jackpot.

“Come on, want my real prize,” you laughed and the way the notes fell from your mouth, an echoing melody bouncing against the four walls of his room made Tom’s heart stop.

He was so fucking in love with you.

“Am I the prize?” Tom asks as you start to tug at his shirt.

“Mhm,” you said.

Tom wished he would always be your prize, but he held on with bated breath, knowing at any second you could trade in your fistful of tickets for an actual jackpot, and what you had with him would be over like that.

Neither of you spoke as you stripped each other, feet easily finding their way back to the bed, Tom kissing down your neck, never leaving a mark, always a gentleman.

He guided you down as his hand found a condom from his bedside drawer.

You laid there, hair framing your face, fingers tracing patterns in his blushed chest as he rolled the condom onto his cock.

His fingers traced the side of your body, your arms around his neck as you pulled him down for more, more kisses, more touch, more everything.

As he slips two fingers into you, mouth groaning, lips wetting the skin of your neck, your legs tighten around his waist.

“Please,” you whimper, “fuck me.”

He nods against your neck and slips his fingers out of you, hand resting against your hip as his cock nudges your entrance.

The room is filled with both of your groans as he bottoms out, hips meeting yours as you yearn for more, whatever he can give you.

It’s silent, no pleading, no praise, just the thick air of admiration Tom tries to show you through the movement of his hips, the tender touch of his hand on your hip, lips lightly pressing into the space between your neck and collarbone, whispering words he knew you never wanted to hear.

You were both on the edge, your clit throbbing as his hand slid between the two of you, thumb running smooth circles around your clit as you cried out for him, giving him part of you as you come with a broken moan of his name.

Your hand cupped his cheek, bringing his eyes to meet your own as his head tilts down and his lips capture yours. He’s amazed he’s lasted this long, eyes boring into yours, tears welling in his eyes and he struggles to blink them away.

“Tom, you okay?” You ask, breathless as your other hand grips his bicep.

And of course you’re checking in on him, making sure that he’s okay, because you can see the tears struggling to stay in his eyes, you can feel the way his hips are stuttering against you. And you’re scared that he’s not okay, that he’s just going through the motions.

He nods, lips tight, afraid of what he would say if he parted them.

“Yeah?” You nod, lips pressed against his cheek, softly kissing along his face, down to his jaw.

“Always,” he sighs, looking down at the angel spread out below him through blurry eyes.

You capture his lips in your own, whining lowly as he pulls his lips away.

His mouth moves faster than his brain can as he comes, “I love you.”

And it’s a barely-there whisper and he counts on you not being able to hear him. He kisses down your neck as he pulls out of you, panting as he comes down from his high. He pauses when he sees you frozen beneath you.

“Tom,” your voice is unsure, head tilting as your hands drop from his body.

He sits up, body sweaty, both of you sort of out of breath as he realizes what he said. Your eyes widen as you understand the implication of what he said.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble, scrambling out from underneath him, naked body grabbing your clothes as you rush out of his room. The only place you can go is your room, which you scramble to, ignoring Tom’s pleas.

“Wait, y/n, please wait!”

You slam your door and collapse on the other side of it. He throws on sweatpants and follows you, hand resting against your closed door, wishing he could bust in and talk to you, talk through what he just said.

But he knew you’d need space, time, to process what he said. So he turned as his back slide down and he sat on the other side of the door. Heart beating loud as he wondered what you were doing. He only saw your initial reaction, wide-eyed and terrified of his confession. He leaned his head against the door, eyes squeezed shut as he attempted to control his breathing. It wasn’t working, they came out in short pants as he felt himself lose the ability to breathe with each thought that raced through his mind. You were feeling much the same, head in your hands, his words repeating over and over in your head, you mouthed them yourself, ‘I love you’, feeling how the words moved across your lips, how each syllable felt gliding across your tongue. You didn’t know this but Tom fell asleep on the other side of your door, an unspoken barrier as tears slipped down his cheeks, eyes heavy as he struggled to stay awake, failing in the end.

You eventually stood up, feet dragging as your head pounds, collapsing on your bed, tears in your eyes because you felt like a complete idiot and an asshole.

Harrison woke up Tom several hours later, confused at his friend’s state, shirtless, tears welled in his eyes as he stood up.

“I’m fine,” Tom said, knowing he was lying, he wasn’t fine. He wasn’t okay because he went and he revealed something he’s known in his heart was true for years, even when he lost his virginity to someone else, even when he tried to date other people, there was one constant. You. His love for you. And he sold his soul to the devil to fall in love with the angel who was too clueless to have a heart to love him back.

***

Tom, hey, it’s y/n, obviously. You hate reading letters and I hate phone calls. You know why. The static, the delay, the muffled voice that I can never understand. So I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding your calls, but you know I never answer the phone for anyone, not even you. So this was the next best thing. A voice memo, I can get my thoughts out and you can listen to them, without the half a dozen awkward ‘what did you say’s from me. I’ve recorded and deleted these about 32 times already. So maybe this time will be the jackpot. Isn’t that what they say? You hit the jackpot on those arcade games every thirty or so tries? Anyways, everything came at such a shit time, I don’t know how else to describe it. Me leaving for vacation the day after. America is really beautiful, it always is when we visit. I’m sorry you couldn’t come this time. We’re at a place called Martha’s Vineyard, it has America’s oldest carousel. And it still works! Can you believe it? Anyways, I rode it and couldn’t help but think of you, and the time we went on the carousel at the arcade, it broke down as we were riding the horses, your hand flung out to hold onto mine as we lurched forward. I always thought it was because you thought I was scared. But I think you were scared. And that’s okay, because you of all people know how vulnerable I am. And how much I appreciate how you’re always by my side through those moments. So I’m sorry, sorry that at your most vulnerable I was an asshole. There’s no better word I can use for my reaction. I guess I acted like that because I didn’t know what to say. That’s still not a good excuse. I still don’t know what to say, I’ve spent this entire vacation thinking about what to say. I was never very good with my words anyways, but I’ve never felt like this before. What ‘this’ is? Haha, I don’t know, I don’t know if it’s what you said, but then again, I’ve never known what it’s like to feel like that, the way you feel about me. And trying to figure out these feelings sucks, no other way to say it. But I want to figure them out with you. That much is clear to me, through the haze of whatever we are, I know that much. I could never stop being your friend, since I met you and repeated every word you said to me the first day in third grade. I never told you but I went home and told my mom I met my best friend, a cute boy with a quiet voice who immediately spoke up when I told him I couldn’t hear him. And hasn’t been that quiet since. She laughed because she knew that childhood friends were just that, meant for childhood. But I knew that what we have is worth more than 18 years. It’s worth a lifetime. Four days and 17 hours until I land at Heathrow. Four days and 17 hours is how much time I’ve got left to reflect on everything, Four days and 17 hours until I see you again. I would love for nothing to change but I know that can’t happen, that train has already left the station. Because I like you, I like you more than a friend likes another friend, more than a best friend likes another best friend. I don’t want to say the other ‘l’ word, because I don’t know what that is supposed to feel like. Maybe it’s the way that my heart is beating so fast in my chest even I can hear it, the girl with ears that barely work. Maybe it’s the way you smile when you give me the tickets you won. Or the way you hugged me so tight and spun me around when I won the jackpot on the Spin-N-Win game, the pirate themed one? ‘Member? Maybe it’s the way you make me feel like I’m the only other person in the world, even with the hustle and bustle of everyone around us, your eyes look at me like I’m the only one who exists. And maybe I get caught up in what other people are doing, but I want you to know that you’re it for me, when I’m with you, nobody else exists. Wow I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out earlier. Save us more time, save us all this, whatever it is. But that’s okay, because we’ve got all the time in the world. Anyways, I can’t wait to talk to you, for real, in person, 4 days and 16 hours now. I would call you, but I don’t want to struggle to understand what you’re saying. I want to hear you loud and clear because everything you say is important to me. I’m pretty sure my phone is running out of storage, there’s a pop up message saying I’ve only got a minute left. And I’ve got so much more than a minute of things to say to you. I’ve got a fucking lifetime Tom. So, thank you for listening to me, if you’re listening to this message, memo, whatever. I like you, like like you, I think I even ‘l’ word you, but you deserve to hear me say it in person. 4 days and 16 hours Tom.

***

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retrovirge · 4 years

Text

Camp Starlight (+ Contest!)

Hey y’all!

So, I had an idea for a contest!!! So basically, here’s how it goes:

Artists can draw any scene from this very story that they so desire, whatever image comes into their head for inspiration. You post it and tag it with #starlightdrabbledraw and leave a link to this post in your own (you dont have to, but it would be preferred!) and boom! You’re done! (I’m holding this on amino too so the winners will be selected from both platforms.)

I’m gonna make it so entries are due October 15th :3 you can totally enter after that, you just won’t be eligible for prizes :))

And uh I’m also gonna be giving out prizes! So here they are!

1st Place

Either: a longer short story (A story that’s anywhere from 2000-4000 words, maybe more), two short stories/extended art drabbles (at the most 1500 words) or four drabbles/art drabbles (under 1000 words) (keep in mind if you choose the longer story it will take me quite a while due to my own personal reasons.)

2nd Place

Either: A short story/extended art drabble (at the most 1500 words) or three drabbles/art drabbles (under 1000 words)

3rd Place

Two drabbles/art drabbles

4th Place

One drabble/art drabble

(Please keep in mind I can’t write all prompts because some give me a lot of writers block, so I may have to ask to change prompts with you if you win. Also, for art drabbles, I will need proper, linked credit to the artist so I can message them and ask if I can repost.)

So yeah, there you go! There will also be honourable mentions and stuff, but yeah! AnYways, onto the story! (Which you can totally just read on your own if you don’t feel like entering the contest ^w^)

⚠️Triggers⚠️

Remus’ innuendos, mentions of fire, mentions of bugs

Word Count - 3132

”Come on, kiddos! Let’s go camping, it’ll be fun!”

Those were the words that Patton had spoken a few nights ago. Roman had mixed feelings about it. Virgil was anxious. Logan was... Quite eager, actually, but didn’t show it. There was so much nature to study out there, he was very much excited. Janus didn’t seem to care, and Remus seemed to be marvelling at all the mischief he could cause while camping.

And that’s how they found themselves in the car a few days later. Roman and Patton loudly singing in the front seat, Remus occasionally butting in and changing the lyrics to ‘more fun ones’ (Patton did not like that very much), with the other three sides covering their ears in the backseat, passing around looks of mutual annoyance.

The car ride felt like forever, but they had eventually pulled up at the campsite. They parked the trailer, pitched the tent (cause there wasn’t enough room for everyone in the trailer), and set up anything else they needed to. And then they went off, deciding to check out the campsite. Patton decided to have everyone split up into groups of two, and allow them to rotate whenever they wanted. After making sure everyone was okay with that, off they went. Logan went with Janus, Roman went with Patton, and Virgil went with Remus.

So what were they all doing? Well, Janus and Logan decided to go through a walk in the forest. Logan was going a little nuts and jotting down notes for any unknown piece of nature he spotted, while Janus was simply admiring everything. Holding leaves in his hands, smelling flowers, stuff like that. He looked over at Logan, sighing as he watched him zip around. “Nerd, come here-“

Logan looked up, a look of confusion spreading over his face. He hopped up from where he was kneeled, walking over to Janus. He raised an eyebrow. “How may I assist you?”

Janus surprised him by simply sNatching his notebook. “Hey-! Janus, you can’t-“

”Shush, Logan. You /don’t work enough/, alright? Why don’t you just live in the moment with me for a bit?” The snake man asked, head tilting to the side as he cocked his eyebrow into a raise.

Logan opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again, letting out a sigh, realizing Janus would not let up if he refused. “...Fine.”

They walked on, Logan’s eyes flickering around curiously as Janus took his time to admire nature. Logan would occasionally glance over with pleading eyes for the notebook, but Jan just shook his head at him, giving a small smile when Logan sighed.

Eventually, they found some animals. Some bugs, some squirrels, even some birds. Logan found himself kneeled down, holding a White-spotted sawyer. Janus on the other hand, took out some bird seed and got a bird onto his hand. They were both silent, growing content with their current actions and habitat.

• • •

Meanwhile, Roman and Patton were off discovering the children’s playgrounds of the campsite. Roman found himself going between sliding down a slide and spinning on a... Spinny thing, while Patton was going between swinging on the swings and sliding down a pole. The pair ignored any weird looks they got from kids, along with other adults that happened to be around. They were just having fun, and they knew that.

Roman let out a loud laugh as he slid down the slide for the umpteenth time, looking to Patton with a grin. “We should go to parks more oFten, Padré! It’s so much fUN!”

Patton responded with a big smile as he swung as high as he could on the swing, a loud laugh escaping him. “I know!! Good golly miss molly, we really do.” He grinned, slowing down the swing a bit before hopping off with a laugh. “I wonder if there are any more parks down here??”

Roman let out a gasp, now on a spinning pole. “Patton, you’re a genius!” He hopped off of his pole, stumbling over to Patton due to being dizzy from the spinning. The moral side tilted his head, smiling at the prince. “We should look around more! I’m not sure how long we’ve been at the park, actually.” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck, then clapped his hands together. “Well, that’s okay! We can change that!” He smiled at the eager nod in agreement he received from Roman.

And then they were off. On an adventure to find another park. Wandering through the campground, skipping and admiring animals and flowers, singing random songs, all in all, just bois bein bois.

Soon, they stumbled upon another park, eyes widening at just how much bigger this one was. The last one had a small playground and some swings, but this one had two climbing areas with slides, one of those circular shaped things where you could hop on and spin it, and last but not least, a swingset for both babies/toddlers and anyone older than that. It made the last playground pale in comparison.

Patton and Roman were of course quick to get to work testing all the playground equipment, the two coming up with a number system to rate the ‘fun-ness’ level of each one. Because why the heck not?

Patton even discovered a cool looking bug, and Roman snapped a picture of it on his phone so they could ask Logan about it later. Patton found the bug kinda creepy, but Roman held it no problem, only letting out a high pitched scream when it flew away. Because let’s be honest, bugs can look kinda scary when they fly away, unless it’s a butterfly.

All in all, they were enjoying themselves, happily playing and discovering and laughing like a group of kids.

• • •

Then you got Virgil and Remus.

The pair had decided to go searching around for anything to do really, Virgil trying to keep Remus’ head out of subjects such as what he could possibly throw in the fire, or how easy it was to set everything aflame. He claimed it was for scientific reasons, but Virgil knew this wasn’t Logan he was with.

So he simply gave Remus a small jar with some dirt, telling him he could get some worms because a few of the sides had mentioned wanting to go fishing at some point. More specifically, Janus. Logan said he might join in, and Roman had said he wanted to watch to see what they would catch. (Janus did not look amused, knowing Roman would probably scare all the fish away.)

Virgil kept a close eye on Remus, wandering around himself. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him what to do, so he just went and bought some firewood. By the time he emerged from the store, Remus was there, jumping up and down and yelling about how he caught a twisty pink earth noodle.

After a bit of chatter, Virgil and Remus wandered back to the campsite, where Virgil tried to get a fire going. However, his fear got the best of him and he chickened out. (But luckily, Janus came back to get something and gladly lit the fire for him, before leaving.)

So now they were simply sat around the fire, roasting hot dogs for dinner. Well... Virgil was. Remus was just throwing them in the fire. After about three hot dogs being thrown in (Virgil telling him “stop it.” every single time-) Virgil looked up with a sigh. “Remus!” He hissed. “Quit throwin’ hot dogs in the fire! They weren’t very cheap and we’re gonna run out!”

Remus just let out a laugh, smirking at Virgil with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I guess if we run out, I’ll just have to use yours then~” He laughed at Virgil’s reaction, aka an obnoxious groan and facepalm. “Oh my g o d, shut up...” Remus just grinned at him. “M a k e m e.”

Virgil stared at him for a few seconds, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He shook his head and looked down at his own cooking hot dog, twisting it in circles slowly. “You’re paying for the next batch if we run out.”

Slowly, the rest of the sides began to make their way back to camp, just in time for the sunset. Remus did in fact have to go buy more hot dogs, and soon the sun was setting, and they were all roasting and or eating hot dogs around the fire, laughing and talking.

Eventually the conversation got to sleeping arrangements. They brought three tents, so that meant two people per tent. After some decision making, they chose the same groups they went off in today. Logan and Janus, Roman and Patton, and Remus and Virgil.

They roasted marshmallows around the fire, most of the sides roasting golden marshmallows, unlike Remus, who completely burnt his marshmallow and ate the s’more in one bite.

After dinner and s’mores, the sun had completely set, and they chose to go on a walk down to the dock that was by the lake. At first, Logan hadn’t wanted to go, but soon after, he was proven very wrong, and he knew damn well he was extremely glad that he was dragged on the walk.

The reason? Upon arriving at the dock, Logan took one look up and any negative thoughts, emotions, and words all just faded away.

Stars.

Hundreds of beautiful stars freckled across the night sky, the light of the moon reflecting in the ocean. He swore he could almost see galaxies among the bright lights, his eyes widening as a shooting star bolted across the sky.

It was truly beautiful.

Logan could sit out all night and admire every star individually, and he knew even then he wouldn’t be able to take in the full beauty of all the stars visible to him, even by morning.

Sitting down at the end of the dock, Logan let his eyes flicker among the stars. He tried to take in the beauty. Take in the light. Truly enjoy the stars. And he was. Well, until...

”Hey- guys?”

Everyone perked their heads up to look at Virgil, who had spoken. He had his eyebrows furrowed and he was looking around. “I... Don’t mean to be a party pooper, but... Could we go back-? It’s... Kinda spooky out here.”

Roman let out a loud groan, making a dramatic noise. “Come o n ! We ju st got here! Look at the stars!” He threw his arms out, flopping down next to Logan. “Look at the beauty our universe holds! Look at mE, for crying out loud!” He pointed at himself, making Logan facepalm.

Virgil sighed. “...Okay. I can just go back myself, then.” He mumbled, crossing his arms and turning to leave, only for Patton to stop him. “Ah, ah ah! You aren’t leaving on your own, us 6 have to stick together! So we’re all going back right now!” He said, making Roman huff. “But- but Patton! We’re adults!! We can stay out here alone!”

“Yes, and I’m well aware of that. But I don’t want you guys to stay out here alone! Something could happen!” He said, making the other groan. “Come on, we’re going.” He began to walk back with Virgil.

Logan had a visible frown on his face as he got up, making Roman tilt his head and go over to him, letting Jan and Remus walk ahead of them. “You good, nerd?”

Logan sighed. “Satisfactory, yes.” He said as they began to slowly walk. Roman frowned. “You’re a bad liar. You can talk to me, y’know?” He said quietly, starting to look around.

Logan was silent, and Roman didn’t push it. He didn’t want to make Logan mad at him, so he simply left it. Until Logan did speak. “...I am simply... Unhappy about leaving the dock. The stars were quite remarkable to look at, and... I’m unsure if they’ll resemble this exact, beautiful state again.” He said quietly, frowning and letting his head bow, quietly watching his feet move forward and drag back with every step he took.

Roman frowned a little, letting out a sigh. “...I see. I’m sorry, Logan.” He said quietly, pushing his hands into his pockets. “That’s quite an understandable reason to be upset, if it makes you feel any better.” He pointed out, making Logan sigh and nod. “Thank you, Roman.” He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “...Well, we are almost back at camp. I suggest we put out the fire and make use of our tents for the night.” He said, receiving a nod in response from Roman.

After arriving back to camp and talking a little more, they did just that. They put out the campfire, confirmed sleeping arrangements a final time, got ready for bed, then ducked into their tents. Everyone fell asleep quite quickly, except for Remus, who kept getting mumbles from an annoyed Virgil saying, “Go to hell to sleep.”

Oh, and Logan. He was laid out in his tent, his glasses next to his sleeping bag as he lay curled up, shivering from the cold and sighing. He could hear Janus’ soft breathing from the sleeping bag next to his, and part of him wanted to wake him up so the nerd wouldn’t be confined to his lonesome, but he wasn’t going to take sleep from Janus for his own comfort.

He eventually did lure off to sleep, soft snores escaping him as he lay curled up in the beanbag, his mind slipping into a dreamless, yet relaxing state.

It was a long night, yet peaceful.

• • •

”Logan- Logan! C’mon, wake up-!”

”Mmh...?”

Logan stirred in his sleeping bag, eyes slowly opening as his head turned to face wherever the whisper-shouting voice was coming from. His eyes fluttered open, and he let out a small gasp as Roman was suddenly there. The prince pressed his fingers to his lips and shushed Logan, whispering to him. “Shh... C’mon.” He carefully left the tent, and Logan was just confused at this point.

He glanced around tiredly, grabbing his glasses and putting them on after rubbing his eyes, turning to look at Janus’ sleeping bag. He was still there. Still fast asleep, unphased by Roman’s sudden appearance.

Logan opened his mouth and then closed it, letting out a sigh. He carefully crawled out of the tent, frowning confusedly when he noticed it was still dark. ...What was Roman planning?

Getting up, he quietly zipped up the tent, then made his way over to Roman. “...What are you doing?” He whispered, a confused frown on his face.

Roman just grinned at him, taking his hand. “You’ll see.” He whispered, taking him out of the camp area containing the tents- where everyone was still sleeping, Logan assumed- turned left, and began to walk.

Logan asked questions all the way to their destination, until they eventually began to near it, and it clicked in Logan’s mind.

They were going to the dock.

”Roman, why...” Logan’s face was full of confusion as he turned his head to look at the prince-like side, who just smiled at Logan. “You said you wanted to see the stars for longer, did you not?” His voice came out in a soft, gentle tone as he guided Logan onto the dock, stopping near the endHe smiled at the nerd, carefully going down and laying on the dock, ignoring the wetness of the wood below him. He gazed at the sky for a few moments, then looked to Logan again. “...Well, are you going to watch the stars with me, or not?” He said, to which Logan shook his head as if he was snapping out of something, then carefully nodded, slowly laying down next to Roman.

They were quiet as they silently laid there, gaze flickering among the pretty stars that rested above their heads, just enjoying the stars and each other’s company.

”Mmm... Logan?”

”Yes, Roman?”

”...Do you know a lot about astrology?”

”...I’d say so, yes.”

”Can... Can you teach me a bit?”

”Why... Certainly, Roman.”

And so Logan began to talk quietly, falling into a ramble. About constellations, about the solar system, things like that. Roman stopped watching the stars, turning to gaze at Logan with fond eyes. He could listen to him talk for hours. Although Logan’s voice may have seemed monotone and lacking most emotion, Roman liked it. Adored it, even. He wasn’t sure why, but Logan’s voice was just beautiful to him. God, Logan was just...

Roman wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, but it happened before he could stop it. Next thing he knew, he was moving closer and closer, until eventually...

His head moved up, and his lips were on Logan’s.

Logan was shocked by it at first, his eyes wide. Roman realized what he was doing and pulled away, letting out a gasp. “Oh- jesus, um- I’m sorry, I didn’t m-mean to do that-“ He started to get up. “I-I can just-“

Logan pulled him back down before he could go, pressing their lips together once again. Roman let out a gasp, freezing for a moment before slowly melting into the feeling, closing his eyes and returning the kiss. “...Hm.”

They stayed like that for god knows how long, just smoochin’ under the stars. They both felt calm, and quite good.

Eventually, they pulled away for air, both panting as they stared at each other. Roman was the one to break the silence. “...W-Wow.” Logan blinked, nodding in agreement. “...Y-Yeah. Wow.”

Roman gazed at him for a few more minutes, eyes slightly wide. He eventually took a small breath and let out a little laugh, Logan responding with a flustered smile. The creative side carefully laid down next to Logan, and they stayed quiet. They could talk about the kiss later, but for now they just wanted to enjoy the stars, and enjoy each other.

Eventually, they fell asleep under the night sky with a small smile occasionally coming up on both of their faces, fingers intertwined which eventually led to the two scooting closer to one another.

You can imagine the fun that pursued when Patton woke up and was unable to find Logan or Roman anywhere.

apologies if this seems rushed ^^;

#starlightdrabbledraw #contest #artcontest #art contest #art-contest #art #writing #writer #writers on tumblr #sanders sides #sanders sides contest #sanders-sides #thomassanders #thomas sanders

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hockeybabestars · 4 years

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New Year, Same Us - Auston Matthews - Eight

a/n: im going out of town for a football game/visiting friends this weekend and i’m not bringing my computer so i thought i would post this early for yall!! thank you to every person who has been keeping up with this story and liking or reblogging! you mean so much to me! i hope yall enjoy the longest chapter of new year same us, to make up for the shortest in chapter seven (yikes!) we’re almost through with this story yall! we have a lil flashback in this chapter! (in italics) and finally have the prompt that started it all! (in bold)

September 18, 2018

Austons P.O.V

“Aus?!” She yelled from her room. “Are you almost ready?”

I had been ready for 20 minutes and was sitting on our couch waiting for her to finish up. “Yeah I’m ready now!” I rolled up my sleeve to get a better look at my watch, “are you almost ready? It would look really bad if my plus one made us late.” I snicker as I heard her heels clack, the light to the hallway going off simultaneously.

I got up from the sofa as she entered, and boy, was I going to have to keep an eye on her tonight. She looked stunning. The light pink dress cinched her curves in all the right places, and her hair was in waves. She was like something out of a dream. She didn’t bat an eye as she went to the kitchen looking for the keys. I came up behind her and dangled them in her face, and before she could snatch them I pulled them away. She reached for them again but I held them behind my head, and suddenly she was all too close to my face. I glanced down at her lips, wanting to kiss them badly but then I quickly diverted back up to her eyes. “You look stunning (Y/N).”

I could feel her breath hitch against my own lips and the minty flavor of her gum hit my nose before she smiled genuinely, her signature smile where her lips tilted a little crooked at the corners, and it made my heart flutter. “Thanks Aus, you don’t look too bad yourself.”

She stepped away and we did a once over of our apartment, making sure we didn’t forget anything. I grinned and opened our front door for her, watching her walk as she went. I locked the door and we went down the hall towards the elevator, “just out of curiosity,” she toyed with a strand of her hair, eyes flicking up to me through long lashes, “how much did your suit cost?” She was smirking at me and I couldn’t resist really. “Wanna bet on it?” The elevator dinged for us to get on and she rolled her eyes, “do I even have a choice?”

“No use fighting at this point babydoll.” I flashed her my signature smirk as the floor indicator ticked down.

“Does that really work on girls?” She played.

“Apparently not on you.” I laughed but deep down I kinda hoped it did.

“It’s because I know you better than you know you.” She stated matter of factly. She did though. That was the scary part. We hit the first level and strolled out, before she added thoughtfully, “did you want it to work on me?”

I felt my cheeks flame, and was thankful she was walking slightly ahead of me, “uhh,” I faltered before gaining my confidence back, “depends on if you wanted it too.”

She stopped for a split second, giving me a chance to catch up before she continued walking, this time leaning into me a little bit, “maybe.”

My heart jumped at that, “Still wanna make that bet?” I opened the car door for her. She thanked me and I hopped in the drivers side.

“Am I betting high or low.” She gave me side eye as she buckled her seat belt and we were off.

“What do you think?” I grinned. There’s no way she gets this. “Do you know your suits? What brand am I even wearing?” I smiled.

I could feel her eyes on me as mine were on the road, and she reached over and ran her finger down the lapel of it, feeling the fabric. I tried to concentrate on the road but she was leaned over the console examining the details of my suit, looking for anything that would give away the designer or price. I needed to think fast, I could tell this would be a long night already and it hadn’t really even begun.

I swatted her hand away, “hey stop it! that’s cheating.” I smiled and looked over at her as we hit a light. She placed her palm flat against my chest as she mocked me, pulling her lower lip into a pout. I could feel my heartbeat pick up and surely she could too.

“Just seeing what I have to work with Aus.” The nickname melted off her tongue like butter and really I only like it when she says it anyway. The light flashed green and I grabbed her hand off my chest, entwining our fingers together and resting them over the middle console. “I’m betting high, what like $7,000? Is that too much for a suit? What is it Gucci? Aren’t you like their poster boy or something?”

I laughed at her accusations and she squeezed my hand a little too hard. “Ow! Jeez woman that hurt. Those are my money makers!”

She swatted at me again, “sorry not sorry. Isn’t like half your closet Gucci or something. I feel like I should know this but I’m really drawing a blank here.”

A smile crept up onto my face. She’s cute when she’s thinking too hard. She always over thinks or over-analyzes everything. It’s like it’s written in her DNA or something.

She looked over at me and I attempted to keep a straight face, “it’s Gucci isn’t it.” I nodded. “$7000 close?”

I kept a tight lip. She turned towards me, “it’s fuckin higher isn’t it!!!” Her voice raised towards the end and I burst out laughing.

“$10,000.” Her jaw dropped, “what do I get since you couldn’t guess it?”

“I can’t believe you spent $10,000 on a suit.” She was in awe, “that’s like a trip to Europe, or a down payment on a car, what are you psycho?”

“Are you really belittling me right now?” I chuckled, “you guessed $7,000 that’s just as high!!!”

“Yeah but-“

“But what? $7000 okay to drop but $10 is too much?” Her face went blank as she tried to process it and I howled as her eyebrows knit together. She was something else.

“I hate you.” She fought to keep the smile off her face.

“Your mouth says otherwise.” She covered her lips with her hands as we pulled up to the venue, she finally pulled them off as we valeted the car. And as we walked into the rustic barn I elbowed her a bit, grinning wildly, “seriously though, what’s my prize since you didn’t guess right?”

She linked our arms as we tried to figure out where we were sitting and smirked at me, “Bragging rights.”

“I bet we could make it a little more interesting.”

“Oh of course you bet huh.”

“You owe me a dance.”

She pouted. “Aus-“

“Nuh-Uh. We’re dancing later, it’s the least you can do.”

I can tell she wanted to press me further but instead she just nodded, “Okay.”

“Wow, I didn’t think that would be this easy. I need to win bets more often.” I knew how much she hated dancing. It was because she had two left feet and literally tripped over herself on any normal day. She didn’t like to embarrass herself. The truth was, she wasn’t a bad dancer at all. She could dance fine by herself, especially after a drink or two. But she was clumsy enough that partner dancing wasn’t really her thing. I always try to get her to at weddings and events but she doesn’t budge. She's stubborn as hell, but it’s why I love her. She doesn’t change for anyone. Not even me. I always ended up finding some random bridesmaid to dance with at these things, but tonight she was mine.

We wandered further into the barn stopping for a few pictures together before the ceremony as Paige snapped away on her phone and a film camera as well. Mitch and Steph found their way to us too and soon enough we had group pictures with the six of us, then guys, girls, and finally as we finished up it was about time to find our seats.

The Tavares wedding was really going to be something. Greenery was everywhere and there was a modern feel to their set up even with the more natural elements. I put a hand on (Y/N)’s lower back and guided her to our seats on the grooms side. We were in the middle back and slid into the refurbished white bench with ease, the rest of our group following suit, filing into the row after us. I wrapped an arm around the back of (Y/N)’s seat as she crossed her ankles, leaning into me while we waited for the ceremony to start. A comfortable silence settled over us and somehow both our free hands found each other on their own accord. Soon enough she was playing with my fingers, clasping and unclasping them, tracing the outline of my hand and holding our palms up to watch our hands align. It was something we had done plenty of times before. Whenever we got bored or were watching Netflix or at family events. It was inevitable that our hands would meet. Her hand was a lot smaller than mine, and we quietly played a game of thumb wars before the loud chattering settled down. I could hear the preacher say to rise, so I gently grabbed her hand in mine and lead her up. She was still leaning into me as we waited for the bride to make her way down the aisle.

John and Aryne chose to say their own vows although short and sweet. It was nice. Being here, celebrating them. (Y/N) was the perfect wedding date. She was classy and reserved when needed but could definitely open up and make conversation with anyone who approached her. And soooo many people approached her. Which was crazy because she was the plus one. But that’s just (Y/N), stealing everyone’s heart the way she stole mine.

It had to be obvious at this point. I thought my incessant flirting and annoying her every chance I got would be enough to give her the hint, but apparently not. I thought that living together was another sign that maybe I was kind of into her but she just took it at face value since it was the most logical option. I think I really realized how I've felt this past May. I mean, it was there all along, but I didn’t admit it to myself until then. She started hooking up with some random guy at college, and when I walked into some kid in our apartment it made my stomach lurch. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that sick in my life.

I had talked to her earlier in the day. We were on a long road trip in the west and I was excited to get back and see her.

It felt like maybe things had been changing between us lately, and I wanted to get back and test the waters a little just to see if she even felt a tiny bit the same. It was easy with her. I missed her like crazy, constantly texting to see what she was up to, and sending snapchat updates of what the boys and I were doing, just because I knew she would send a picture back and I could see that gorgeous face again.

Our flight was delayed because weather in Toronto was pretty bad. And we didn’t end up landing till pretty late. I texted her when we landed at 12 that I would be home soon. I never got a response so I figured she was asleep.

What I didn’t expect, when I came home at 1am on a Saturday, was some random guy going through the cupboards in our kitchen with just his boxers on.

“Uh who are you?” I had a sour taste in my mouth.

The guy looked up from his position on the floor, going through the bottom cabinets and I swear almost shit himself. “Oh my god you’re Auston Matthews.” I frowned. Oh jeez a hockey fan, how rare in this city! He shook his head in disbelief and stood up, walking over to me and put his hand out for me to shake. I took it, begrudgingly. “I’m Reese, it’s really nice to meet you, although I never thought it would be like this.”

I scoffed, but he didn’t seem to notice. He found (Y/N)’s post it notes on the kitchen island and pulled one off handing it to me, “do you think you could sign this for me?”

“What the hell is going on here? Reese I thought-” (Y/N) ‘s voice sounded a little groggy, like she might’ve been sleeping, but when she came out of her room, only clad in black lace underwear and a t-shirt I presumed to be his, my breath caught in my throat. One because she looked damn good. And two because she was wearing his clothes and practically nothing else. I felt a fire in my chest. I swallowed hard and tried to remain neutral.

When she finally realized I was home her eyes went wide. “Oh, uh, hey Aus.”

“(Y/N) you didn’t tell me your roommate was the Auston Matthews.” This guy was still here?

She uncomfortably glanced over at me. Yeah me too. “Uh roommate? Try best friend.” I said smugly.

“I didn't see a reason to bring it up.” She said. Ouch that hurt.

“Sorry Reese bro, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, I really need to get to bed and I’m sure your friend (Y/N) here can fill you in on all the dirty details later. Have a great night.” I walked past them and into my room, shutting the door. Trying to get ready for bed without my head exploding from everything that just happened. I waited until I could hear him leave before I went and knocked on her door.

“What Matthews?” I opened it slightly and peered in, leaning on the door frame and watching her fix her bedding a bit, now in another old t-shirt.

“Matthews huh? Can I come in?” She nodded and crawled under the white comforter patting the spot next to her. I sat down on top of it before rethinking this whole situation. “Actually can we go to my room?” I wasn’t really comfortable that they just fucked in here and wasn’t too keen on sitting in the bed that someone else got to touch her in.

She nodded and as I grabbed her hand, I felt tingles. I didn’t dare to look behind me as I lead her to my room. We crawled under the covers and sat against the headboard.

We stared up at the ceiling a bit before she turned to me. “You’re so dramatic.”

I looked over to her and I could tell she was slightly upset. “But I know that’s not exactly the most fun thing to come home to and I’m sorry.”

“S’okay. Were you ever gonna tell me you were kinda seeing someone?” My jealousy got the best of me, and I couldn’t help but let it seep into my voice a little as I ask.

“No not really, you never tell me when you do...So.” She shrugged, and I tilted my head back a little, groaning.

“You don’t tell people we’re friends either?” It sucked knowing that maybe she was ashamed of me for whatever reason. I always told everyone about her. I loved to talk about her and how proud I am of her for working hard in college and her internship which she officially secured, and just being the amazing, kind hearted person that she is.

“It’s different… I- I don’t tell strangers or people I just met or at least until I have a grasp on their personality. I stopped doing that a long time ago. I can never tell if they want to be friends with me, or have a relationship with me, for me or to get to you.”

“Oh.” It sucks, but it makes sense.

“Oh. Is right. Also I don’t want people to be up either of our asses if they're just clout chasers.” She smiled, shaking her head as I laughed, “Just not how I want to spend my time.”

I sighed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kick him out, that was just weird and I wasn’t expecting you to have company and-“

“Auston. It’s okay. I should’ve warned you in some way, or gone to his place. Maybe this whole thing could’ve been prevented. I’m the one who’s sorry. That situation was pretty awkward.” I don’t want her at some guys place. I want her with me.

I grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. My stomach churning as I did so, “Stop worrying. Don’t be sorry either. We good?” She nodded and entwined our pinky’s. “Always.” And with that she slipped out of the darkness of my room and back down the hallway to hers. And my heart ached with every step.

Maybe I wasn’t doing enough, maybe I just needed to be upfront.

I took a swig of the beer I was drinking and set it back on the table as I watched her converse with Steph, Paige, and Aryne, Probably complementing the bride on her gown and the allure of the wedding.

Pretty soon we were eating steak, mashed potatoes and wedding cake, and my stomach was all too full when the bride and groom shared their first dance. I looked to (Y/N) to see her swooning at John and Aryne adoringly. She was facing the back of her chair, hands resting on the back of it, and chin resting on her hands. “Don’t you just love those two together?” Her nose crinkled. It was really cute.

I stood and held my hand out to her as other couples started to join in on the dance floor. She looked up to me, eyes slightly glazed from her glasses of champagne, but I knew she was at a good level. Sober enough to make good decisions, buzzed enough to have a good time. “Are you gonna dance with me?” My heart felt like it was racing as I waited for her answer.

She took my hand so I took it as a yes. I lead her out to the dance floor, Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran coming on as we stopped in the middle. She wrapped her arms around my neck and my hands settled on her waist, pulling her close. My stomach churned with nerves and a little bit of excitement. I looked down at her, her head on a swivel, looking everywhere but me. Other people are looking at us and her brow knit in confusion. Her hand was burning a hole where it was placed flat against my chest.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I touched her forehead lightly, then bringing my hand back down and wrapping it around her waist securely.

She looked back to me, eyes widening, “It’s nothing.”

“You know you can tell me anything right?” I tried, pulling her back into me as she slowly tried to pull herself away. “That’s what friends are for. And hey, quit trying to leave me!” I laugh, grinning. “Were kind of in the middle of that dance you owe me.”

She smiles back softly but glances around the room again, this time almost self consciously. “It’s just that… I don’t know- I don’t really know how to say it without sounding weird.”

“Are you okay? Is something wrong? You know nothing you say will ever sound weird to me? I’m pretty sure we’ve been through it all.” I leaned my forehead against hers and try to ease her mind but she seems so off. I don’t know what happened because everything seemed normal when we first got here.

She took a breath and pulled back a little looking right at me, “Everyone thinks we’re a couple.” I could see the nerves riddling her features and it made me curious as to why. It’s not what I was expecting, but it made me grin, “I know.”

“You know? It doesn’t bother you?” Her nose scrunched again.

“Should it? Does it bother you? I mean, personally I think I could do worse as far as fake lovers go, but…” She playfully shoved me and we fell right back into place, swaying as the song went on melodically.

“It really doesn’t bother you?” She seemed unsure, but avoided my question nonetheless, looking up at me as if the only answer I could give would be yes. That it does bother me. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I shrugged trying to play it cool, “why would it bother me?”

“I don’t know…” She looked away, back to the surrounding crowd as the song changed. “You’re Auston Matthews.” She huffed. “You can get any girl you want. Wouldn’t people believing that… we’re an item… wouldn’t that get in the way?”

I grabbed her hands in mine, looking down at them. She instinctively clasped them together and my heart warmed as I glanced back up at her. “That’s just the thing.” We had stopped dancing at this point, and I’m pretty sure we were in the way of people trying to dance, but I didn’t mind. “You don’t see me as the Auston Matthews. You never did. You just see me as Auston Matthews, your extremely good looking and talented best friend.” I smirked.

“Way to ruin it.” She laughed.

I gently pulled her closer, “you see me as the dumb kid who broke his arm at your eighth birthday party, and the horrible friend who spilled punch on your prom dress, and the annoying son of bitch who always tries to force you to dance. You never see me as someone who’s untouchable,” I grab her hand and place it over my heart, “you always touch me.” She looked as if she lost her breath, eyes swirling with emotions. She carefully removed the hand that was over my heart and stood still for a second. She looked back up to me meticulously, “let’s get some air yeah?” I let my hand rest on the small of her back and nodded as she lead the way out, one step ahead of me. My heart was pounding in my chest.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the little piece of privacy that we had out here. The air had turned slightly cooler, and I could see her shiver a little, although she would never admit she’s cold. I shrugged my suit jacket off anyway as we walked along the outside of the barn. The sun was starting to go down and the chill in the air picked up. I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders, and used it to pull her in closer to me.

She muttered a thanks and I sucked in a breath. Now or never Matt’s.

But she turned to me sharply, beating me to the punch, “you can’t just say stuff like that you know?”

“Why not?” Her eyes met mine and the wary look on her face told me what I needed to know. I know what she’s thinking. And she means more to me than anyone. She must know that. She has too.

“You could never get in the way of anything (Y/N).” I tucked a lone strand of hair behind her ear as her eyes sparkled and flickered up to mine. “It doesn’t bother me because I don’t want just any girl.” I toe around the subject, hoping she can figure it out before I have to say it outright.

“Well, what do you want Aus?” I want you. Don’t make me say it. Don’t make me ruin a good thing (Y/N). I don’t want to lose us.

My eyes flicker down to her lips. I close my eyes and lean in a little, nudging her nose with my own. Slowly but surely closing the gap between us. I could feel the electricity radiating off her, our lips barely touching before I heard a voice coming from the door. We broke apart, wide eyed, hearts racing, both looking to see who joined us outside.

Kappy looked drunk. And Paige looked like she was dying from laughter. They spotted us and made their way over. I looked back at (Y/N), her cheeks flushed and managing to look anywhere but me, although my arm was still wrapped around her. She leaned into my touch as they approached.

“Youuuuu guyssss.” Kap slurred and Paige just seemed to notice the position we were in.

“Uh Kappy needed some air, but I see you guys did too.” She grabbed his hand and tried to lean him into her for leverage. “We’ll just let you guys have some privacy.”

(Y/N) turned her face into my shoulder as Paige tried to shove Kappy back into the reception. I looked down to her and laughed. She did too, bringing her face out of my shoulder. I would’ve tried to recreate the moment but it seemed like it was lost as she grabbed my hand and tugged me back inside. “C’mon Aus, we should get back.” And I had no choice but to follow.

#auston matthews #auston matthews imagine #new year same us #nysu fic #toronto maple leafs #hbsimagine #hockeybabestars #friends to lovers #friends to more

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jade4813 · 5 years

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Temptation, Chapter 2

Title: Temptation

Rating: NC-17

Synopsis: Iris West is a famous supermodel who has been getting a string of death threats. Barry Allen is the bodyguard hired to protect her. A Westallen AU. Gift for @andie1223 in appreciation of her grand prize-winning contribution to the 2019 Westallen Sock Drive!

Chapters: 2/?

Chapter 1

Once his initial surprise faded, Barry figured Iris was trying to drive him off as Linda had warned she would. He told himself that, as ideas to scare him off went, kissing him wasn’t the most effective – as long as he could remember to remain professional and keep her at a distance.

Which probably meant he should pull away. Or at the very least break off the kiss. He definitely shouldn’t be swallowing a moan as he held her tight against him.

As he tried to remind himself of all the reasons he should stop the kiss, she scraped her teeth against his lower lip and smiled against his mouth. “Not bad,” she murmured.

“Huh?” he murmured, his mind strangely foggy following the kiss. A voice whispered that he should put her down and step back, but he felt himself lean in, instead. He was about to brush his lips against hers again when a voice broke in. “Um…Iris? I don’t mean to interrupt, but, um, they’re about ready to go. Do you want me to touch up your, uh, your lipstick?”

“Hmm?” the woman in his arms hummed in a distracted voice as she melted against him. Then, after a moment, she stiffened in his arms. “Wait, what? Oh…oh right.” As she pulled away, Barry came to his senses and blushed as he put her gently back on her feet. He couldn’t believe he’d lost control of himself like that. She’d initiated the kiss, of course, but it had been incredibly unprofessional for him to reciprocate.

Barry tried to catch a glimpse of Iris’s face, but she turned away quickly. Maybe it was all for the best; he was trying to think of the words to preserve a sense of professionalism between them, but the memory of her mouth against his made it difficult. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost didn’t catch what she was saying.

With a laugh, Iris told her companion, “I suspect the overachiever over here is going to need to get changed for the shoot, anyway.”

As they stepped away, the other woman shot him a confused look over her shoulder. “What do you mean? Stefan’s in wardrobe right now.”

At those words, Iris stopped in her tracks. “He – wait, so he’s not –” She spun on her heel and grabbed Barry by the arm, pulling him aside. “I thought you said you were sent by the agency. You’re not here for the shoot?”

Barry blinked at her in confusion, wondering if his mind was still foggy from their kiss. As he rang a hand across the back of his head, he stammered, “Wh-what? I mean, I was. I met with Linda a little bit ago, and –”

Her eyes widened. “Linda? I thought you were from the modeling – hold on. You’re not…oh, god, she hired another one, didn’t she? I’ve talked to her about this!”

He threw her a lopsided smile. “She mentioned you’d try to drive me off. I wasn’t expecting the kiss, I admit, but I also think you should really rethink your deterrents, if that’s what you had in mind.”

“I – you –” she spluttered.

Before she could finish her thought, the photographer yelled her name. “Iris! You wanna get in position? We don’t have all day!”

Iris glared up at him. “We’ll talk later,” she snapped before racing over to her makeup artist for a quick touch up before returning to the couch.

Iris tried to ignore the bodyguard Linda had apparently hired for her as she turned her attention back to work. However, she found her mind wandering as a tall, generically handsome man joined her at the couch. She was grateful her makeup artist, Kaylee, had mentioned his name was Stefan because she wouldn’t have caught it otherwise.

She was still distracted as she was directed into position, with Stefan kneeling on the couch beside her. The photographer started to snap pictures as he leaned over her, being careful not to block the shot as he lifted her towards him. She wrapped one arm around his neck and tried to relax against him, wanting to hide the initial awkwardness that inevitably came when two strangers had to feign desire. Although she was supposed to be looking at Stefan, she found her gaze wandering toward her mysterious bodyguard instead.

When the photographer barked her name in irritation, she tried to drag her attention back to the task at hand, but it wasn’t long before her mind wandered again. Her distraction was out of character for her; she was normally far too professional to let anything interfere with her work. However, after her third attempt to keep her mind on work failed, the photographer called a halt to the shoot as he shifted position. Finally, he barked at her bodyguard to stand a little to his left, before resuming the shoot.

This time, he directed Stefan to press a warm kiss against the side of her neck while she stared at Barry – and thus the camera – with haughty disdain. For his part, her new bodyguard looked unimpressed by her displeasure, staring at her with a slight smirk on his face. When she glowered at him, he lifted his eyebrows and grinned, his expression slightly challenging.

Linda was determined to get her a bodyguard. Iris was just as determined not to have one, and this stranger seemed to know it. So it would come down to a battle of wills between them – one she was determined not to lose.

When the shoot ended a little more than an hour later, Iris hopped off the couch and looked around for her hired shadow. When he was nowhere to be found, she breathed a sigh of relief. She doubted she was lucky enough that he was gone for good, but perhaps his contract had yet to be signed and he’d decided not to waste his time standing around until he was getting paid to do so. Putting him out of her mind, she raced to wardrobe, eager to wrap up and head home.

Iris was walking out to her car when she saw him, leaning against the fender with casual grace. His face was turned away from her as he talked to someone on the phone, and so she took the opportunity to let her gaze roam over his body, taking him in.

He didn’t fit the typical picture of a bodyguard – lanky and long-limbed as opposed to solid and stocky. But there was a subtle strength about him that was quietly reassuring. He was also far too good-looking for her peace of mind, though his physical attractiveness was less generically obvious then displayed by the men in her line of work. It had less to do with bone structure (though heaven knew he wasn’t entirely lacking in that department) then in the almost sweetness of his smile.

A smile he was directing her way, she realized as she approached. While she’d been wool-gathering, he’d turned her way and caught her silent appraisal. Recognizing her immediate urge to blush and look away, she forced herself to lift her chin in challenge as she obviously – almost offensively – swept her gaze over him again.

He didn’t seem offended by her action, asking mildly as she approached, “Like what you see?”

“Not particularly,” she lied. “I don’t know what Linda told you, but I don’t need a babysitter. What are you doing out here, anyway?”

He straightened. “Well, I got the strangest feeling that you might try to ditch me if you could, since Linda mentioned you have a habit of trying to drive off every bodyguard she’s hired. I figured I’d wait out here and catch you on your way out and save you the trouble. Before you have time to come up with too many inventive ways to drive me off, I was hoping we could talk.”

She snorted. She would have ditched him if she’d realized he was still waiting around, so his decision showed an intelligence she hadn’t necessarily expected. “You say that like I have a choice in the matter.”

He shrugged, moving around the side of the car to stand near her. “You always have a choice, Miss West. More than you probably think. I can try to keep you safe, but I can’t do that without your help.”

“And if I say no?”

He grinned, and her heart skipped a beat. She scowled and sent a silent scold toward her heart, her eyes, her hands, and any other part of her that was tempted to get carried away at the sight of the man in front of her that they were to behave themselves. “I’ll try to convince you to change your mind.”

Hoping she’d sufficiently hidden her body’s response to him, she turned to open her door, tossing her bag inside. “How?” she scoffed. “You planning to tell me all the gory stories of what could happen to me if I don’t listen to you? Trying to scare me into cooperating? Into taking this seriously? It hasn’t worked before. It won’t work now.”

She stilled at the soft touch of his hand against her wrist and looked up at him, shocked by his sudden closeness. “I would never do that,” he promised her in a voice that was surprisingly firm for all its gentleness. “I don’t think you need me to scare you even more to convince you to take this seriously. That isn’t your problem, and if your previous bodyguards thought it was, I can see why you didn’t want to waste your time with them.”

Though part of her knew she should pull away and put some distance between them, she found herself unable to move as she breathed, “No? So what’s my problem?”

His gaze was steady on hers. “You’re scared, and you resent the fact that someone has put you in that position. That’s certainly understandable, but you don’t have to deal with this alone. I can help you. If you let me.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she replied in a measured voice, “You seem to think you know a lot about me after just a few minutes. I don’t even know your name.”

“Don’t forget the kiss,” he teased. “And it’s Barry. Barry Allen.”

Her smile was brittle, but her gaze was thoughtful as she lied, “I’d say it was nice to meet you, but that would be a lie. Anyway, maybe I’d remember the kiss if it was memorable.”

He grinned again, causing her traitorous heart to skip another beat. “I don’t know. It seemed pretty memorable to me. Not that it can happen again, of course. But it’s not every day you get kissed by a beautiful stranger.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” she huffed irritably, nodding towards her car. “But you might as well get in. We can talk, and you can tell me more about myself. Who knows what I’ll learn?”

For a brief moment, as he walked around the car, she considered slamming on the gas and leaving him in the dust. In the end, she didn’t bother, assuming she’d only be delaying the inevitable. Instead, she waited for him to get in the car before pulling away.

They rode in silence for several minutes as Iris navigated traffic. Once she pulled onto the highway, however, she spoke. “So, you came to some pretty interesting conclusions about me. After only a few minutes, no less.” Seeing the quick flash of his smile out of the corner of her eye, she added, “And a kiss. Want to tell me how you did it?”

He kept his eyes on the road, and she smiled when she saw him tense up as she weaved in and out of traffic. “Ah…well, Linda doesn’t think you take the threat seriously, but I think she’s wrong. You took it seriously enough to increase security at your house, according to her. And maybe that’s just prudent forethought, but she also said you switched up your routine. That’s not an easy thing to do. It’s inconvenient. So if you’re taking the trouble, then that suggests you are taking this threat seriously. And that means fear isn’t your problem.” She shifted her grip on the steering wheel as she considered his words, her thoughts interrupted when he cleared his throat. “At least when it comes to your stalker. When it comes to your driving…you do know speed limits exist, right? This isn’t a racetrack. I don’t suppose you’d slow down a little?”

She laughed, pressing a little harder on the gas. It was a petty act of revenge for him bringing up the kiss. “Where’s the fun in that?”

His voice was dry. “I don’t know. Living to the ripe old age of forty?”

Letting off the gas a little, she relaxed back against her seat. “I like speed. What can I say? Anyway, I’m fascinated. What else can you tell me about myself?”

“I’m sorry if I said anything that upset you. I know it may seem intrusive, but it’s my job to observe and make judgments about people based upon their behavior. It’s the only way to know if someone in the crowd is harmless or a threat.”

“I’m not upset. And I never said your assessment was correct.”

He sighed. “You like to be in control.”

“Lots of people like to be in control. You won’t impress me with random guesses.”

“Not everyone kisses a stranger to break the ice so they can act more naturally together for the camera.”

Iris paused, then threw him a quick look. “All right You have me there.” She lapsed into silence as she considered her situation and his offer to help. She hated the intrusion into her private life. She hated feeling like her life wasn’t her own. But the letters did scare her, more than she wanted to admit. Maybe it was worth getting a little help if it put an end to the threat.

“So. If I agree to work with you, what’s the plan? You bring a bunch of people into my home to follow me around everywhere I go? Invading every bit of privacy I have left?”

“Not exactly. My team may work remotely, analyzing the letters to see if they can learn anything about the sender, but you’ll just be working with me. As long as possible, at least. And I’ll try to do everything I can to respect your privacy, but I will need to stay with you at your home. And I will need to accompany you everywhere you go. Just until whoever is sending you those threatening letters is caught. So what do you say? Can we work together on this?”

She sighed. “With an offer like that, how can I refuse?”

#temptation #westallen #barry allen #iris west #fanfiction #my fanfiction #supermodel au #bodyguard au

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ericsonclan · 4 years

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An Unfortunate Splotch

Summary: Sophie and Renata have one of their usual evening hangouts when something unfortunate happens.

Read on A03:

“Oh, you have a Sandshrew figurine?’ Renata asked Sophie who was busy putting away some of her art supplies.

Sophie looked over at her best friend before walking over to stand beside her. “Yeah, I’ve always loved Sandshrew ever since I was a kid. I always thought it looked so cute and cool whenever it attacked.” Sophie held the figurine in her hand with a fond smile. “Sometimes when I was younger, I would pretend to be a Sandshrew and wrap my arms around my legs and just roll on the floor,”

Renata burst out laughing at the story. Sophie tried to defend herself but quickly devolved into a fit of giggles as well.

“Don’t you have a Pokemon figurine in your room too?” Sophie placed her figurine back with care.

“Yeah, of Kecleon, although it’s missing one of its arms from an unfortunate playtime gone wrong,” Renata took a step back, preparing to tell her wild tale. “You see it all started when I was ten years old and-” She was suddenly cut off when the sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house.

“The pizza!” Sophie ran towards her bedroom door, booking it down the hallway. Her footsteps could be heard as they stomped their way down, desperate to get the pizza even a moment faster.

Renata gave a small chuckle. Sophie sure loves her food.

Renata looked around her friend’s room, hoping to find something to entertain herself for the few short minutes she would be gone. Her eyes searched around when she noticed a few photo frames on Sophie’s desk.

There was one on the far right that had her and her two siblings. Tenn stood in the middle making a heart symbol with his hands while Sophie and Minnnie stood on opposite sides of him, each forming a half of a heart. The photo had captured Sophie’s face mid-laugh while Minnie had her usual gentle smile on her face. Renata’s own smile grew when she looked at the picture. She really did love Minnie’s smile.

To the left of the picture frame was another one where Sophie’s bright smile shone through, her arm thrown around Minnie’s shoulder who seemed to be laughing about something her twin had just said. Renata’s eyes wandered some more before landing on the art supplies Sophie had tried to put away in time. A half-done sketch of Prisha laid on the table.

Renata moved away from the desk, bouncing around as she waited for Sophie. She sure is taking a long time for pizza. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed a collection on one of the walls covered with art. Sophie had told her about this before. ‘It’s my most prized possession: all the art that Tenn and Minnie have drawn for me over the years!’ Renata remembered Sophie’s proud warm smile when she told her about it.

Renata was about to take a closer look at one of the drawings when the door creaked open. There in the doorway was Sophie who carried two pizza boxes in her arms. Under both of her arms were the drinks for the two of them. Her toes on her right foot were wrapped around the doorknob, making it obvious to Renata how she had succeeded in carrying everything and opening the door.

“Hey, sowwy, I wanted to grab the dwinks,” Sophie’s words were slightly muffled by the paper plates that she held in her mouth. Renata ran over and grabbed the pizza from Sophie who thanked her before closing the door again. Renata slid on the floor with her socks, landing in the middle of the room and placing down their meal while Sophie walked over and placed down a Fanta where she was planning to sit.

“Here you go,” Sophie pulled the other drink from under her arm and handed it over to Renata. It was Jamaica soda, the brand which Renata swore was the best she had ever tasted. Renata plopped down in her spot, taking a long swig before looking into the pizza boxes.

They had decided to go for their usual order: one large pepperoni pizza and one medium pizza: half cheese and half whatever weird combination that the two had come up with. The one they had landed on today was pineapple and anchovies. Renata snatched up the bizarre pizza and took a large bite from it. “Mmm, this is so delicious,”

Sophie looked suspicious at her friend’s declaration but took a slice anyway in the off chance that it was truly delicious.

“It’s so-” Renata’s next sentence was interrupted by the look on Sophie’s face. It twisted in disgust after she had taken a huge bite.

“Disgusting,” Sophie gave a sad sigh, tossing the piece back and then walking over to her desk, opening up a drawer. “Add it to our list of busts.” Sophie scratched off the idea from their pizza list.

“Every pizza is a learning experience,” Renata leaned on her arms and looked back at Sophie.

“Very true,” Sophie slid over to her spot and sat down. “Now let’s get to the good stuff!” Sophie pushed aside the first pizza box and moved to the second one where piping hot delicious pepperoni pizza awaited. Sophie’s eyes lit up when she saw the pizza. She grabbed up a slice and demolished it in seconds.

Renata chuckled as she snatched up a slice, looking over at Sophie. “Isn’t it dangerous to wear white while eating pizza?” She had a mischievous smile on her lips.

Sophie looked up at her for a moment then down at her outfit. She had gone with one of her more playful, artsy shirts, one she made with tie dye. All the different shades of blue, green and red danced colorfully on the shirt. She had also decided to wear white pants today for some reason.

“Ehh,” Sophie shrugged, stuffing another slice in her mouth. “I like to live dangerously when it comes to food,”

The two continued to talk about random topics while they ate their pizza. It became abundantly clear that eating pizza while talking was a dangerous task since not once but twice Renata had spit up her drink or dropped some of her food at one of Sophie’s jokes.

“Well,” Renata brushed her hands together, knocking away any remaining crumbs off her hands, “I believe you know what time it is,” A serious expression took over her face.

Sophie glanced over, locking eyes with Renata, her own face growing serious as well. “You better watch out, Renata,” A playful smile appeared on Sophie’s lips. “I feel like luck is on my side today,”

“Ha!” Renata jumped up to her feet and walked over to Sophie’s bed which had a deck of Spongebob cards on it. “Go fish doesn’t require luck,” Renata tossed over the cards which Sophie caught with ease. “It takes skill!”

Sophie quickly took out the cards, shuffling them a few times before dealing seven cards to both herself and Renata. The two remained quiet for a few seconds while they checked their hand to see if there were any matches. Renata let out a happy cry, dramatically putting aside a pair of cards. Sophie gave a confident smirk when she also had a match. Refilling their hands, they started the game.

“Do you have… any sevens,” Sophie’s eyes shot up to study Renata’s who had a mischievous smile on her face.

“Go fish!”

Sophie gave a sad sigh, drawing a card from the pile. Renata took a few seconds before starting her turn. Her eyes focused on Sophie, trying to get her to crack and reveal what cards were in her hand.

“Do you have any...” Renata took a sip from her drink, “Nines?”

Sophie grumbled, causing Renata’s smile to grow when she took the nine from Sophie.

“See, skills,” Renata showed off her two pairs with pride.

“Just you watch,” Sophie looked closely at her cards, “Do you have any twos?”

Renata reluctantly gave her card over and just like that they were tied again. The match continued on similarly until it was the final few cards.

Renata hid behind her cards before asking the question that would lose or win her the game. “Do you have any kings?” Sophie’s annoyed groan made Renata jump up. “Yes!” Renata pumped her fist before strolling over to Sophie’s desk, pulling out another piece of paper. Adding a line to her side of the paper, she looked back at her best friend with a cocky smile. “Looks like we’re all tied up again,”

“Ha! Not for long!” Sophie pointed her finger towards Renata. “I’m gonna beat you in the next round.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Renata placed her hands on her hips. Sophie and her stared at each other with competitive expressions when suddenly Sophie’s changed.

“Oh, I need to save a slice for later,” Sophie ran over to the box, picking up a pepperoni slice and her paper plate before placing it on her bed for safekeeping. “Alright,” Sophie played with her cap for a second, “Let’s go.”

The game wasn’t much different from the first one. Each time one of them got a match they would boast to the other only for moments later to feel the same boastfulness on them when the other got a match. It was a close game once again.

This time the question that would win or lose the game belonged to Sophie. Her eyes looked over her card at her best friend who was swaying back and forth with impatience. “Do you have any queens?”

Renata’s face remained blank for a second. “Besides Minnie? Yes, in fact, here she is,” Renata flicked the card towards Sophie who fumbled around to try and catch it only for it to fall to the floor. Renata fell on her back, sighing in defeat.

Sophie gave a hearty chuckle, putting down a point for herself and continuing to laugh all the way over to her bed. She turned sharply on her heel and looked at Renata who was lazily sprawled out on the floor. “Guess that means I’m the champion,” Sophie gave a smug look before sitting down, immediately realizing her mistake when she did so. An awkward splotching sound emitted from her bed. She had landed directly on her slice of pizza. “Noooo!’ Sophie cried out at her fatal mistake.

Renata’s face lit up at her best friend’s blunder. She pointed at Sophie, bursting out laughing, so much so that she had to clutch her sides from how hard she was cackling.

“It’s not funny,” Sophie crossed her arms while glaring at Renata. “I really liked these pants,”

Suddenly the door slammed open. Minnie stood there with a concerned expression on her face.“Sophie! Are you okay?”

Sophie jumped to her feet and clutched her butt, hoping to hide the embarrassing stain. “Minnie, don’t look at me right now!” Sophie’s voice squeaked at the end. She looked at Minnie for a few seconds before a plan formulated in her mind. “I need your pants!”

“What?” Minnie moved further into the room, a confused look covering her face. “Why?”

“No reason, but I need them! Please, just give me your pants!”

Renata leaped up to her feet at the suggestion. “Yeah, take off your pants!”

Minnie’s face took on a blush at the implication her girlfriend had jumped to.

“Renata!” Sophie hissed “No!”

Renata looked back at her friend with a smug look. “Yessss.”

“Why do you need my pants, Sophie? You have more than one pair of pants.”

Minnie’s suggestion made Sophie think about her options and realize how dumb she had been. She sighed in defeat before walking past her sister towards her dresser to get some new jeans. Minnie’s eyes widened when she saw the red stain on Sophie’s pants. “Oh wait, Sophie, did you-”

“What? No!” Sophie waved her hand that held her new jeans. “This is pizza sauce. I sat on a slice of pizza.”

Renata started to giggle again. A small playful smile appeared on Minnie’s face at the news. “How’d that happen?”

“I-” Sophie paused. “I’m going to get changed,” She opened the door and walked into one of the bathrooms to change. Rushing down the stairs, Sophie slipped on the staircase while she struggled to get the white pants to the washer in time before they were completely ruined. After she had set the washer to the right setting she ran back up the stairs, returning in time to overhear Renata telling the tale of what had happened.

“So, that’s how Sophie got a pizza butt!”

“Gee, thanks Renata,” Sophie sat down from across the couple with a sigh.

“Hey, so my gig fell through tonight. If you want you could invite Marlon over and we could all watch a movie?” Minnie suggested with Renata wrapped in her arms.

“Shit, sorry your gig fell through,” Sophie gave a sympathetic look. “But yeah, I’d love that,” Sophie bounced up to her feet, running over to her phone to send a quick text. Marlon immediately responded, sounding excited for a movie night. A happy smile appeared on Sophie's face when she turned to face the others. “He says he’s down for it!”

“Whoo!” Renata lifted her arms above her head. “Movie night and cuddles! There’s nothing better,”

Minnie smiled down at her girlfriend before looking over at her sister who seemed just as excited for movie night. It was sure to be fun.

#twdg #twdg renata #twdg sophie #twdg minnie #twdg minerva #twdg minata #fanfic #sophie renata brotp

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unholyhelbig · 5 years

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Prompt: After being dragged to a carnival by her friends Emily and Jesse, and later dragged to a "real" seer that can reveal your "one true love." It's been revealed that Beca's one true love happens to be a legendary evil/dark being (a person you ship Beca with). Beca thinks its bullish*t, but strange things have been happening ever since the reveal of her supposed one true love. Question now is, will Beca try to escape her fate or embrace it?

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[A/N: anyone up for a part two?? also, sorry I haven’t been posting. Things are… busy.]

Beca kicked the toe of her sneaker into the loosedirt lot. She could practically taste the earth as it mixed with freshly poppedcorn and dripping batter topped with powdered sugar. The scent coated her lungsand as her stomach clenched in hunger, she thought, maybe this wouldn’t be sobad.

Thelights were mesmerizing: twinkling against reflective signs advertising simplering toss games that would win cheap stuffed animals. She wouldn’t admit thatshe wanted the purple tiger. There were greasy carnies that leaned heavilyagainst bar stools that had the leather casing stripped off. They shoutedthings at people walking by- step rightup, if you have what it takes! Think you can win the big prize? Why don’t youtest your luck! Hey shorty, want to test yer’ strength?

Becahad glared at the last guy and he shut right up.

Jessestuck the tip of his tongue out in concentration as he cocked his head andclosed one eye completely. He tossed another ping pong ball and it bouncedright off the water filled milk jugs with a clank. Beca cringed and Emily letout a heavy sigh.

“Toobad, Kid.” The Carney sneered, palming the little white ball. “That was yourlast shot.”

Hefrowned at the swimming fish that tapped against the jars and dug in his jeanspockets for another five dollars. Beca wanted to stop him, maybe tell him thatthese things were rigged and if Emily really wanted a fish this bad, she couldgo to the superstore in the center of town and get a 25-cent goldfish.

“Giveme three more balls.”

“I’mnot even sure if you have two.”

“Whatdid you say?”

Becagrasped at his flannel and kept him from hopping over the counter as Emily letout a small grunt in response, pushing the boy away from the small little boothand the grinning high school dropout. “Alright, buddy, think you’ve had enoughof that game.” Emily said, “Not that important.”

“Yeah,dude, I don’t think Em can take care of a fish anyway. You remember hercactus?”

Emilytook a moment to look offended. “Excuse me, I took very good care of Oscar.”

Jessesnorted and let the tension fall away from his body. They had pushed him farenough away from the stupid little game that he seemed to move onto somethingelse, like the intoxicating scent of carnival food and the set of parents bythe picnic table that struggled to wipe the dripping chocolate from theirchildren’s chin. It was too late to have them out like this, but Beca couldn’thelp and warm at the twinkle in their eyes.

“Yeah,until you overwatered it.”

“he looked thirsty.”

Becatuned the rest of the argument between her friends out and shoved her handsinto her pockets. Her fingers were cold and felt almost numb. She could neverwarm them. The colors of the Ferris Wheel reflected across the food cars andthe metal casing on the boat ride. It went up and down and the metal screeched,probably cold itself.

Shesquinted against the edge of tents, through the screaming kids and exhaustedparents. There was a tent, something small compared to the others. Somethingdarker. It was a deep violet instead of the standard pinstriped red and white. Itsflaps were closed, zipped even, and a neon light up sign of a crystal ball wasbuzzing like incessant mosquitos hovering against stagnant water. Find your one true love. It read in alurid green.

“Ohno, we’ve lost her.”

“I’mjust happy we got this far.”

Becablinked a few times and glared at her friends. They were both stocky andawkward. Jesse’s features were shaded in a deep blue and red each time a newlight cycle moved across the Ferris Wheel, and Emily still peered over at thelittle goldfish that swan in glass jars, turning her attention to Beca.

“No-I just… That place looks interesting.” She lifted her chin towards the littlepurple tent.

“Theone thing that doesn’t have a line?” Jesse said.

“No,no, I like that about it. I think we should check it out. You go get us funnelcake.”

Jessesputtered out something for a few seconds before his own hunger got the best ofhim. The scent of freshly fried dough had won his inner battle and he salutedat Emily before trudging off to stand at the end of a long line. Beca bit hertongue and decided against asking for a diet lemonade. Emily pulled her closeand Beca let out a small grunt. “Let’s go get our palms read, shall we?”

Becawas beginning to regret even making the suggestion as they wandered closer tothe violet tent. And Jesse did make a point, it was the only place in this whole entire carnival that didn’t’ havea line, or even a single soul waiting to see what was behind the sheet offabric. She dragged her feet in the dirt and stilled herself as they stood infront of the opening.

“Youfirst, dude.”

“Noway,” Emily whispered back harshly “This was your idea. Not like they’re goingto tell you that you’re going to die or anything.”

“Ididn’t think they were going to until just now.” Beca bit back, but she steppedinside of the dark tent regardless. She was overtaken immediately by the scentof roses, a dark coolness combating the mid-summer heat. It wasn’t like the othertents. There were only two lights, one hanging from the very center as it swungback and forth, the other situated against the fabric of a table. Beca wasexpecting to see a crystal ball or something. Not just a fold out surface witha patterned cloth over it. The place was empty.

“Oh,they’re not home.” Beca mumbled, “It’s not meant to be.”

Shefelt Emily dig her elbow into her ribs and it kept her from taking a stepbackward. She breathed in another heaping of flowery air before letting hershoulders drop as she glanced towards the table. “Hello?”

Afew beats of silence. “Okay, maybe you’re right. This place seems empty. Nowonder there wasn’t a line-“

“Peopletend not to appreciate my services.”

Becalet out a gasp, while Emily stifled her own screech of fear by pushing herfingers against her lips and stumbling into the center of the room that thetent harvested. Beca instinctively shot her hand out in front of Emily,stiffening her own stance as she took in the stranger.

Hereyes were limey green, illuminated in the lantern that sat on the table, herhair such a jet black that it nearly blended in with the surroundings. She wasdressed casually, as casually as a circus-like this would allow. The womanreminded Beca of a cat, her stare close to half moons as she forced a toothysmile. Her canines were pointed, and it gave Beca chills.

“I’mScarlet, I’m a seer.”

“Oh,”Emily cautiously let her shoulders relax “I’m Emily, and this is Beca. But I’msure you already knew that.”

Scarletchuckled and the sound made her seem less intimidating. It released the tensionin the air “That’s not quite how it works. It’s nice to meet the both of you.Please, sit.”

Becagave Emily an apprehensive look before the three of them settled around thesmall rounded table. That floral scent was ever encompassing now, but it wassoothing. She was sitting up straight in the uncomfortable chairs, none of themmatching the surface in front of them. She sat in one that had peeling yellowpaint, letting her hands rest in front of her.

“You’renot very open to this, are you, Beca?”

Shewondered if it was her stance, or maybe the way her eyes were darkened thesecond they made contact with scarlets. Either way, her skin buzzed with theheat of the carnival and she was pretty sure she could smell her own sweat. Thequestion rubbed her the wrong way.

“No,I just don’t know what any of this is.” She adjusted her stance, lessening theharshness of her voice when Emily snapped her eyes towards her. “Sorry, I just-this is kind of insane.”

Scarletchuckled softly, reaching her hand forward and curling her fingers a few timesas if begging for Beca’s own touch. It was what she did, and the older girlrelented as she finally trusted her enough to grasp it. It was cold compared to the sticky air.

“I’mnot going to tell you you’re going to die or anything, it doesn’t work likethat. I won’t tell you anything you’re not ready to hear.”

Emilynudged her shoulder. “That’s reassuring, right Bec’s?”

Shewouldn’t quite use reassuring as the word. Comforting, maybe, but not enough toquell the uneasy feeling in her stomach. Still, she saw the way the pretty youngwoman flexed her fingers, waiting for Beca to grasp it. She breathed in the incense and finally did.

Thewoman tensed up in a way that made Beca’s stomach drop even more than it had inthe first place. Scarlet’s touch reminded her of the way her doctor used to wrapthat rubber band around her upper arm and tap a vein. It would pinch againsther skin and the painted black nails of the seer did the exact same.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Becacast a paled look at Emily who simply shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile.Maybe this was apart of the theatrics. The reason people tended not to visit a psychicin the middle of a fun fair. Her grasp tightened a little more before shescooted closer to the table, her face contorted into a frown.

“What?What is it?” Emily burst at the seams.

“There’ssomeone in your future. Someone dark and powerful.”

“Like…a businesswoman?” Beca asked carefully.

“Likea queen.”

Shecouldn’t’ help the scoff that moved past her lips. This was the 80’s. As far asshe was concerned, the closest queen was hundreds of miles and an ocean away. Certainly,nowhere near her future. This was a load of chalked up stories, notecards that Scarletprobably kept taped under the table, hidden by a sequin table cloth.

“Beca,listen to me.” Her eyes were suddenly open, emerald and sparkling. She had pulledthe girl closer and the wicked smile on her face was wiped away. She could smellthe pungent odor of her breath, feel it on her cool cheek. “This is no joke. Whenyou meet this woman- you mustn’t let her take control of your soul. Not the onepart of light that you have left. No matter how captivating, how innocent she mayappear- do not let her in. It could destroy us all!”

“Oookay,”She drew out the word after a long round of silence. She took her hands back inthe gentlest way possible, as not to offend the woman. “Thank you for that. Whatever that was. But we should be going. I’m sure our friend is worriedabout us”

Becadidn’t wait for Emily to get her reading, because the open tent was suddenlyfeeling very claustrophobic. Instead, she let the chair scrape against theloose dirt, scrambling for the flap in place of the door. Emily digging throughher bag for some type of compensation before she burst into the open space ofthe fair.

Itwas dark.

TheFerris Wheel had stopped turning, it’s lights shut off completely, loomingstructure shaking as the wind howled, cold and unforgiving. The stands had shutoff their own lights, the scent of greasy food still there, but barely. Litterfloated around in the breeze and the music had given way to crickets and bullfrogs singing their symphony.

“Beca,I am so sorr-“Emily ran straight into her, the air knocking from her lungs asshe cut off her own speech. “What the hell? I swear we weren’t I there for morethan a few minutes.”

Sheglanced around, the moonlight stark and jarring compared to how lively it was oncewas a few moments ago. She stiffened herself. “We should get back to the car. LetJesse know that we made it home.”

Emilyswallowed dryly but quickly agreed as she shoved her hands in her pockets. Becawas careful not to step in any trash, forgotten paper plates, and Styrofoam cups.It gave her some type of odd comfort- knowing that there was, in fact, some lifehere before. Emily walked closer than before but Beca didn’t’ mind. Not whenthe world felt like this: Empty and desolate.

“Whatshe said back there… I’m sorry. I thought it would be fun.”

“Aboutan evil queen popping up in my life? Please, Em, that was fun. You don’t reallybelieve that stuff, do you?”

“Well,you’ve got to admit, the world is too black and white to not have a little grayaround the edges.”

Becascoffed for what seemed to be the second time tonight, maybe even the third.Emily had that childlike wonder in her eyes, even as they walked to the dirtpacked parking lot. Her crimson red firebird was the only thing in the stretchof land. They both drew in simultaneous breaths.

“Whatare you two doing out here?”

Emilystiffened and Beca tightened her grasp around her keys, not turning around, notyet. That voice was a dark and low purr. Something that made her blood flickerwith ice and it wasn’t just the roaching cold. Soft but something completely incontrol.

Shewas short compared to Emily, but everyone was. Her shoulders drawn back and acrew shirt hugging her into the darkness. The girl’s eyes were a crisp bluelike freshly frozen over ice. Waves that broke apart the sheets and created anelectric current. She had a smile that was close to demon-like, even in the hissinglight of the above lamp post. Beca didn’t’ even realize it was buzzing untilnow. Like the second stage of a plague. She had a toothpick shoved between herlips.

“Sorry,we uh- we were caught up in that psychic tent over there.” Beca made a generalmotion towards where they had just come from. “We didn’t’ realize how late itwas. We’re leaving now, though.”

“Yeah?Madame Scarlet right?” The strangers’ voice became somewhat comical as she wavedher hands in the air and scrunched her face up. “First time I met her she saidI would get a dog, well- find one on the railroad tracks.”

“Didyou ever?” Emily asked, piping up. “Find a dog, I mean.”

“No,I’m afraid not. Shockingly enough, I don’t wander around tracks in towns I don’tknow.” She smiled broadly at that, working her hand through locks of fire-filledcurls. It looked almost effortless. The girl moved the toothpick from hermouth. “Anyway, you two be safe. Don’t cheat on Scarlet with any other psychic’salright?”

“Nopromises,” Beca found herself saying, running her thumb against the edge of herkey, but loosening her grip. The girl raked her electric blues up and down herbody, taking in the chills that wracked her body, but she could easily blamethat on the cold. “have a good night.”

“Youtoo.” She placed the toothpick back between her lips, narrowing her eyes beforeturning on her heels and walking back towards the direction she came. Becawatched her every move before she cleared her throat and turned towards her car.

“Whatthe hell was that?”

#Beca Mitchell #Chloe Beale #Emily Junk #Jesse Swanson #carnival au #bechloe fic rec #bechloe au #bechloe fanfiction #Pitch Perfect #pitch perfect fanfiction

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faveficarchive · 5 years

Text

Creative License

By Ella Quince

Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle

Rating: PG-13

Synopsis: A very different take on the Warlord AU.

"Bring in the prisoner," growled the warlord.

Then, while waiting for her orders to be carried out, she paced impatiently in the tight confines of her field tent, stopping only when she heard the approaching sounds of muffled cursing and scuffling boots. By the time the guards had dragged a very noisy young woman into the tent and thrown her to the ground, the warlord had schooled her angular face into an impassive mask. Her body, however, was rigid with tension, adding an aura of menace to her already considerable height. Even her mane of hair, brushed into an ebony wave down her back, seemed to bristle with fury.

After a single glance upward, the prisoner's protests strangled into silence.

With slow deliberation, the warlord took note of the young woman's appearance: plump figure, worn skirt and faded blouse, a homely face framed by long, mousy blonde hair. She looked tired, and a little dusty, but otherwise hadn't suffered any harm at the hands of her captors.

The warlord dismissed the guards with a brusque gesture, her gaze still locked on her newly-won prize. Reaching down, she easily pulled the prisoner up onto her feet. Her calloused hand lingered on the young woman's wrist, then finally dropped away.

"So..." drawled the warlord, taking a polite step back from her captive, "you're Gabrielle, the bard from Potidea."

"Y-yes, that's me," said Gabrielle with a proud lift of her head. Unfortunately, her attempt at bravado was compromised by the slight trembling of her chin.

"I'm Xena... Warrior Princess. I think you've heard of me." The warlord's smile didn't reach the ice-blue of her eyes.

The prisoner nodded reluctantly, then flushed a deep, deep pink. "I...I...can explain."

"I don't want an explanation — I want you to stop."

"Stop? I can't stop! I'm a bard and those stories — "

"Those stories are making it very hard for me to do my job," said Xena, her mouth set in a grim line. "In fact, you're the worst threat I've ever faced."

"Me?" squeaked Gabrielle. She cleared her throat and continued at a more normal pitch. "But I'm... I'm just a wandering bard... you're a mighty—"

"Stop that!" roared Xena. "That's exactly what I'm talking about!" With a weary groan, she dropped down onto her camp bed. "All that 'mighty warrior' stuff — people are starting to take it seriously, for Hera's sake. At least once a month I get a challenge to my 'reputation.' Sometimes, if I'm lucky, that reputation works to my advantage — I've practiced that steely-eyed gaze you describe and it's scared a few combatants away before they even drew their blades."

"Really?" said Gabrielle, breaking into a delighted grin. Animation transformed her plain features into something approaching beauty. "That's great! I've always loved that look of—"

"BUT," cut in the warlord, "most of the time I have to fight them off."

"But you win!"

"Oh, yeah," said Xena with a harsh laugh. "There's nothing like having a few archers in the trees to keep the odds in my favor."

Gabrielle sank down onto a low bench across from the warlord. "You had them... shot?"

"Yes, little bard, I did. In the back, usually, so they wouldn't see the bolt coming."

"But how could you? That's not a fair fight!"

"If it was a fair fight," spat out Xena, "I'd be dead by now, because — your stories to the contrary — I'm not the best warrior in Greece. I'm not the best warrior in this gods-forsaken province. By Hades, I'm not even the best warrior among my own men."

A puzzled look crossed the young woman's face. "Then why do they follow you?"

Xena shrugged. "I'm a good administrator." She colored slightly at Gabrielle's incredulous look. "I can read — which most of them can't — and I'm very organized. I insist on a clean camp, with a decent cook, and I pay them on time. What most warlords don't understand about their armies is that soldiers get tired of life on the road, and little details, like having a comfortable place to take a crap, can forge more loyalty than epic conquests."

"Quality of life issues..." muttered Gabrielle pensively, then shook her head. "Nope, nope, I can't work with that. There's no drama in being a good administrator."

"Speaking of drama," said Xena in a peevish tone. "Every year you make my past bloodier and bloodier. That story about me impaling all those Amazons..." She shuddered. "Gave me the creeps. It's a damn good thing there aren't any Amazons near here or they'd have tracked me down and killed me for that massacre. And Hope and that Dahok demon gave me nightmares for weeks."

"Sorry about that," said Gabrielle contritely. "It's just that audiences expect so much from me now, and it was getting a little boring telling the same old tale about us traveling around Greece saving villagers from petty warlords."

"Is that why you had me drag you behind my horse?" demanded Xena. "Because you thought it was exciting? If I'd really done something like that — and you'd lived, which is highly unlikely — you should have run away from me! Fast! Instead you're still hanging around, business as usual." She shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense at all, dramatic or otherwise."

"I was getting to it!" said Gabrielle hotly. "I drafted this really wrenching reconciliation story, where we worked out all our problems..."

"And?"

"Well, it was too touchy-feely for the tavern crowds, so I shelved it for the next festival, and then never got back to it because I was working on another travel arc."

"To India?" asked Xena.

"Hey, you really do keep up! That's my newest material."

"I've never been to India," said Xena, a trifle wistfully. "Or Chin..."

She drew herself up, assuming a commanding air that was completely at odds with her next words. "In fact, I haven't done any of the things you claim I've done. So, bard, I can't help but wonder — why me?"

Gabrielle remained silent, her expression suddenly blank and unreadable. She really was plain looking, thought Xena, when she wasn't smiling. "Hey, come on, Gabrielle. You owe me."

"All right, all right." The young woman's voice was low, but melodious, as she explained. "A few years ago you rode into Potidea to barter for supplies for your men and...." she took a deep breath, "and you were the most amazing woman I'd ever seen. I wanted to follow you and learn to be a warrior just like you." Her face took on a pinched look. "Only I was too scared. I stayed in Potidea, dreaming, always just dreaming, about the life I could've had if I'd been brave enough to try. After awhile I began to tell other people my fantasies about that life — and they loved them. Sooo... I just kept elaborating on Xena and Gabrielle's adventures together. Travelers assumed I was a bard, talking about my real experiences with the Warrior Princess, and the tips got better and better. The next thing I knew, I could afford to leave Potidea and make a decent living traveling from town to town... and I owe it all you," she finished in a whisper.

"That's...uh...." Xena cleared her throat, "that's very flattering... but I'm not like your warrior princess. I'm not the least bit... dramatic."

Gabrielle smiled, and Xena observed once again that surprising transformation of the bard's features from plain to beautiful. "Actually, I'm not that disappointed. The Xena I've created for my stories would probably be a little too intimidating, unless I was as fearless as the Gabrielle of my stories... which I'm not. In fact, you're a much nicer warlord than I expected."

"That's probably because I'm not a very successful warlord," sighed Xena. "I get by, but not much more than that. And now, because of all those tales of yours, towns are starting to expect my army to help them with problems rather than conquer them."

"Oh, but that's wonderful!"

"Mostly they need a hand with road construction or plumbing; sometimes we save a harvest from the ravages of an early frost."

Gabrielle looked a little crestfallen. "Those quality of life issues again. What is it with people? Everyone insists on being so... mundane. That's why I take a little creative license with my plotlines."

The warlord scowled darkly. "Like implying I've bedded half the warriors in Greece? As if. Just for the record, the ones who aren't sleeping with other men would rather bed a tavern wench who wears homespun linen instead of leather. All this," she waved a hand at her leather and armor, "is equipment. If soldiers thought it was sexy they'd be too distracted to survive their first battle."

"Interesting point. That never occurred to me. I just figured, since you're so beautiful—"

"Which reminds me," said Xena gruffly. "That's another one of those rumors that's making my life difficult. Everyone thinks we're a couple, so they get indignant if I'm too friendly with the locals."

"I didn't start that rumor," said Gabrielle hastily. "It was other bards who just sort of... assumed... and then they took my material and added these... twists to the narrative." She blushed and muttered, "Very inventive really... if you go in for that sort of thing." She peered up from beneath her bangs with a shy look of curiosity. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Go in for...that kind of thing?"

The warlord swallowed hard, then said, "I move around a lot. Makes it kind of difficult to keep a relationship going."

"You haven't answered my question."

"In case you've forgotten," snapped Xena, "I'm the warlord and this is my interrogation. So stop changing the subject — which is you and your infernal stories!"

The bard cringed, her shoulders hunching as if to deflect a blow, but she relaxed a little when she realized that Xena's fuming wasn't going to erupt into violence. "Funny, I never expected you to take much notice of me... or my stories... but if you did, I always hoped that you'd be... pleased." Her voice seemed to choke up for a moment. "Anyway, I'm really sorry I've caused you so much trouble, and I promise to stop now."

Oddly enough, Gabrielle's concession didn't appear to please the warlord.

"But how will you make money?"

"I'll work with some of my other characters, maybe Meg and Joxer."

"You'll starve," predicted Xena dourly.

"Okay, so they're not too popular, but I'll get by. After all, I can't continue with my Xena chronicles now that I know they're hurting you."

"Oh, it's not so bad as all that," said Xena uncomfortably. "Besides, even if you stop, all the other bards will keep on going. The damage has already been done, so I've given up expecting my life to return to normal."

"Then why did you have me abducted?"

Xena shrugged, her glance sliding away to study a shadowed corner of the tent. "Curiosity, I guess. Since we spent so much time together in your stories, I started to wonder what you were really like."

"Oh.... Well, as you can see for yourself, I took a little creative license with Gabrielle, too. I'm not brave and resourceful... or beautiful."

The warlord's gaze stole back to the young woman's face. "I'm not disappointed," said Xena softly. "You have the nicest smile I've ever seen.... and it takes courage to stand up to a warlord, even a battered old has-been like me."

"Is that how you see yourself?" asked Gabrielle, her brows drawing together in consternation. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you're still the most amazing woman I've ever met."

"You need to get around more," said Xena dryly.

The bard just smirked. "I get around plenty, thank you very much... enough to know what I want."

When Gabrielle leaned forward, an emotion resembling panic appeared in the warlord's eyes, but she held her ground. When their lips touched, Xena closed her eyes entirely. And when the kiss deepened, a low moan signaled her surrender to the bard.

"Ouch!" muttered Gabrielle, suddenly breaking away from their embrace. "That armor stuff is sharp."

"Sorry." Xena appeared quite flustered, although whether from the kiss or its abrupt interruption was unclear. "It's been a while since I've done this."

"We'd be more comfortable if you took off the metal parts," said Gabrielle firmly.

"Yes, yes, I suppose we would." But the warlord didn't move. In fact, she barely seemed able to breathe.

"Here," said the bard, her fingers gently tugging at a buckle. "Let me help."

With a mute nod, the warlord allowed herself to be disarmed. The bard fumbled a bit with the unfamiliar fastenings, but both of them were too distracted to notice. And by the time Gabrielle had slipped off Xena's breastplate, arm guards and bracers, they'd built up enough momentum to keep right on going.

"The warrior princess is a little better endowed than I am," confessed Xena, aware that the leathers she was pulling off had hidden her flat chest and bony build.

"That's okay," said Gabrielle, stripping her blouse up over her head. "I have enough wealth for the two of us."

"And so you do," whispered the warlord in awestruck appreciation of the bard's generous figure. The renowned washboard abs were nowhere to be seen, but Xena didn't mourn their absence. When she laid Gabrielle down on the cot and covered the bard's body with her own, Xena felt as if she was sinking into two feather pillows, and it was the most exquisite sensation she'd experienced in years.

Gabrielle's arms circled Xena's neck, drawing her close for yet another burning kiss. When the bard finally let go, they were both rather breathless. "I've always wanted to be ravished by a warlord."

"I could have sworn," murmured Xena, as insistent hands worked their way down her back, "that I was the one being ravished."

"Ravished by a bard...." Gabrielle shook her head. "Nope, no dramatic potential there."

"Speak for yourself," said Xena with an appreciative moan as those sure hands reached their goal.

They didn't bother with coherent conversation beyond that point. So it wasn't until much later, after they had collapsed into a companionable tangle of limbs, that Gabrielle said, "I've been thinking about our problem."

"What problem is that?" asked Xena, nuzzling the bard's hair. By candlelight, it had the reddish highlights she'd always imagined to be Gabrielle's color.

"The problem of all those combat challenges and the need for you to keep a lower profile."

"I can take them on," muttered the warlord, before breaking into a wide yawn. "Kill 'em all."

"Down, tiger," said the bard with an indulgent chuckle. "You don't need to prove anything to me. No, I think the time has come for the Warrior Princess to retire. It would feel... weird making up new stories about Xena. You're too real for me to use as inspiration anymore."

"So what's your plan?" Xena's voice was slurred with drowsiness.

"A spectacular, gore-strewn farewell for the Warrior Princess. Lots of fighting and dismemberment. I can even off a few Amazons for good measure. Maybe work in a crucifixion. Yeah, that would be an awesome way for her to die."

Xena grimaced, encroaching slumber pushed back by her queasy contemplation of the bard's scenario. "You have the most morbid imagination."

"Oh, no — this is going to be an epic love story. I'll kill myself off, too. Trust me, this can work."

"And then what?"

"I suppose I'll create another hero, a woman who does something different. Like fighting bacchae instead of warlords. Yes, that's the ticket! I bet I could dine out for weeks on the opening story alone."

"Yeah... yeah, I suppose you could...." Xena propped herself up on one elbow and studied the bard lying beside her. For two such very different-looking women, they fit together remarkably well on the narrow cot. "You know," she said, with a rather poor attempt at nonchalance, "now that my army isn't doing very much looting and pillaging, the men get kind of bored at night. It would raise morale if I hired a bard to entertain them."

"Really?" Unlike the warlord, Gabrielle managed a quite convincing casual tone, but then she'd had a lot of practice on stage. "Just how long could you use the services of this bard?"

"Well..." The warlord's voice was strained with apprehension, but she stalwartly marched forward. "Morale is very important to a good administrator. I think we'd always need a first-class bard around... one like you."

"Why, Xena, I thought you'd never ask."

Despite Gabrielle's teasing tone, Xena had to wipe a few tears off the bard's cheeks. With a contented sigh, the warlord said, "I was a little worried you'd say no. You don't seem to like happy endings."

"I try to avoid being predictable, but sometimes a cliche is just what a story needs."

"Like happily ever after?" ventured Xena.

"Yeah," said the bard. "Like happily ever after."

And her smile stole Xena's breath away.

#xena #xena warrior princess #xena/gabrielle #xena/gabrielle fanfiction #pg-13 #femslash #fanfiction #author: ella quince

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crimsonblackrose · 5 years

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For the new release of season 3 of Stranger Things Netflix set up a pop up in Hongdae in an old Outback. I’d told a couple friends who hadn’t started the show but had it on their to watch list and they went with me, only to find the line had over a two hour wait and they had dinners to get to. So instead we decided to come back again on the last day. A half hour before they opened.

The line in front of the Stranger Things pop up.

We weren’t the only ones with this plan. One of our friends got there over an hour before it opened and there was already a line, a small one but more people then I had expected. At 12 it opened and we were let in to sign up. The way it went was if you had a Korean phone number hooked up to Kakaotalk you typed your number on a touch screen and then got a number. Then you could leave or take pictures outside and come back when it was your turn. My friend with the best Korean gave them her number and then we took some pictures around outside before heading to the CU across the street to stay somewhere cool and eat more snacks.

She was able to see what place we were in line and how many groups were in front of us via the message she was sent on Kakaotalk. We were number 64 and the wait wasn’t too bad. I liked the way they’d set it up because it meant if you had a long wait you could explore Hongdae a little and come back or go get something to eat.

Eventually it was our turn so we went across the street to go in. We had been given a piece of paper about the pop up, a Stranger Things fan and now that we were allowed inside we were given another paper with a cute map on it and were asked if we knew what to do.

The staff member told us we needed to take 11 pictures. They could be of anything throughout the Stranger Things pop up, inside or outside with at least three of their hashtags, either on Instagram as posts (story was not allowed) or Snapchat or other social media. So we decided we’d start taking pictures and post whenever we had to wait.

The wall when you first enter.

A missing poster for Will Byers from Joyce Byers

A very snarky and not kind missing poster for Barb.

The Byer living room from season 1

Decorations on a coffee table by the Byer living room.

The first room was set up like the Byer’s living room from season one. We sat on the couch and took pictures before moving onto the next room.

Welcome to Palace Arcade

A Stranger Things Monopoly set

A working Stranger Things arcade game!!!!

The second room was set up like Palace Arcade from season 2. They even had working games like Pacman and Space Invaders. And next to these games was the Stranger Things video game that you could play. They’d set it up like an old school arcade game but there were controls sticking out. This was all there was to the first floor. The rest of the first floor was where you went to get photo booth pictures (they had printing options for 2, 4, 6, and 8 which I greatly appreciated) and where you picked up your lucky prize.

Some vines breaking through the stairs.

Soon we got in the line on the stairs to go up.

There was a room on the second floor for posing with either castle Byers or the Mind Flayer. Then we got in line again to go to the top (and last) floor. On this floor was a lot more. Like a fort (and the only air conditioned room) in the Wheeler’s basement that was playing season 3. It was nice to sit in there and cool off because the next room was not air conditioned at all. This room was full of art.

It was really cool to see all the art but the room was sweltering. They even had a TV playing how some of the art was created.

Then in the middle was a space that looked like the school where a demogorgon was breaking through along with a wall of weapons and some sticker-ed desks.

There were two more parts to the top floor. One required 3 pictures to be posted, the other all 11. So we headed towards the 3+ pictures and I grabbed one of the tables on the balcony and fought a little with my overheating phone while my friends hovered around me and fanned my phone. As soon as I got all 11 posted with the hashtags I headed over to the 3+ picture section.

This section was for a free waffle. Eggos are somewhat rare in Korea, I’ve found them once and they’re like the ones in the picture, chocolate chip only.

Who knew there was a Stranger Things Eggo card game? Not me. Am I now intrigued by how you play a Stranger Things Eggo game? Yes definitely.

Next we went to the snowball room to do our lucky draw. Everyone in my group got an eco-bag (a reusable bag stamped with the Stranger Things logo on it). It was a fairly common prize. I also know a friend whose prize was stickers so I was pretty excited when I saw I got something different. (We also got an 11 stamp and a sticker of our choice. I grabbed the Korean title card sticker)

Hi, yes I am very pale.

The prize pick up was downstairs right next to the photobooth so there was some line confusion. But eventually we got in the right line to get our prizes.

I won a grumpy looking Will pin to add to my collection. Pretty happy with it.

There were a lot of other really cool prizes and based off what I’ve heard from other people I’d wonder if the odds of winning any of the cool bigger prizes is a bit unfair. Except while we were waiting in line I did see a lady with the giant Lego set under her arm so I assume it is possible and you just have to be very lucky.

After looking at the prizes we didn’t get we hopped into line to take some pictures at the photo booth and were able to get four copies which I greatly appreciated because it meant we didn’t have to keep the long line waiting too much longer. Prizes and pictures in hand we headed outside to get our final prize. Though we did see something else we hadn’t heard about and were a bit bummed. There was another lucky draw.

This lucky draw though was if you’d come dressed up in cosplay as one of the characters for the show. And if you can tell, no eco-bags in sight. So the chances of something else was pretty high. Oh well.

Since I was the only one in our group who’d finished season 3 before going to the pop up I was insanely pumped up for Scoops Ahoy. I love nautical themes so I was already pretty happy, but free ice cream on an insanely hot day after wandering a non air conditioned building is a wonderful thing. There were no options. Only nice soft serve ice cream.

When I first heard about the Stranger Things pop up I wasn’t particularly excited. Originally everything I read was about the escape room. I didn’t know if I’d be able to go with friends or on my own and an escape room on your own in a language you don’t know just doesn’t sound like fun to me. But it was completely sold out immediately after it opened or maybe even before it opened. So how that was and if I would’ve had fun doing that is a different matter. Walking around taking pictures and posting them on social media was something I was going to do anyway so it was fun to do that and get prizes for doing it. Plus the entire thing was free so it was a great way to spend time with friends. The only thing I’d change is the ability to buy something you didn’t win, but since no money was exchanged I could see how maybe that’d require other permits or something.

Stranger Things pop up For the new release of season 3 of Stranger Things Netflix set up a pop up in Hongdae in an old Outback.

#hongdae #netflix #seoul #south korea #stranger things #stranger things pop up #things to do in hongdae

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swimmingwolf59 · 6 years

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I am He as You are He as You are Me

(A/N) Hey guys, sorry this took so long! My mental health took a turn for the worst yesterday so I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to, but I feel much better today and was able to crank this out for you all! I had a lot of fun writing it – body swapping is one of my absolute favorite tropes EVER!! I wanted to write more honestly, but it felt like it was already getting out of hand, and I wanted to focus on pynch since, you know, pynchweek xD Who knows though, maybe I’ll come back to this universe someday :P

Anyway, hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!! I know technically pynchweek is over soon, but I still have another two entries that’ll be coming your way hopefully soon!

P.S. Cabeswater is a prankster change my fucking mind

It all started when Gansey suggested they go camping.

Instead of wanting to camp in a national park of some kind like a normal person, Gansey wanted to camp in Cabeswater. His logic was that they always wanted to explore it and start trying to make a map, so why not spend a full two days there, submerged in the forest, learning its ways? At the time, everyone had been enthusiastic about the idea.

They might not have been if they’d known what was going to happen.

It started out fine. They spent the day wandering and mapping and getting lost in nature. At one point, Ronan found himself physically lost in nature with Adam; though they were the Greywaren and the Magician respectively, neither of them asked for Cabeswater to help guide them. There was a part of Ronan that enjoyed being lost in the woods with Adam, and it seemed like Adam might feel the same way.

They’d been skirting this…thing between them for some time now. Neither of them liked to mention it directly. They both knew it was happening, and they both played the game, but neither of them had tried to win it. Ronan no longer looked away when Adam caught him staring at him, but he didn’t do anything more either; he was afraid to, afraid that the teasing and smiles that Adam gave him would go away if he did.

But here, right now, in Cabeswater’s warm protection, it felt like anything could happen.

“Aha!” Adam exclaimed suddenly and hurried forward. Once he reached the tree, he slammed his palm on its trunk and turned to Ronan triumphantly. “See? I told you we’d eventually pass this tree more than five times.”

It was a strange tree, but that was what made it so wonderful: it was an oak tree, but somewhere along the way in its growth it had become twisted and convoluted until it grew every which way. One of the trunks had grown completely horizontal for a while before suddenly jarring upwards at a 45-degree angle and then straightening out again. The horizontal bit looked like it made a good bench to sit on, if one was willing to try and climb up to it.

Ronan had bet Adam they wouldn’t pass it more than five times on their lost adventures. The loser had to try and climb the tree.

“You just want to see me fall on my ass, don’t you Parrish?” Ronan scoffed but shirked off his shirt and began climbing the tree.

It was actually quite easy, considering how weird the angles were: there were ridges and cavities bored into the trunks by animals or insects, making perfect handholds for climbing. The only times Ronan got stuck was when the trunk turned in a really acute angle, which forced him to shimmy around to the other side of the trunk so he could climb more safely.

But he made it, and when he did he stood on the flat surface triumphantly. “Ha! Bet you can’t make it up here, Parrish!”

Adam was already at the base of the tree, his hands on the trunk and his eyes gleaming with challenge as he stared up at Ronan. “What do I get if I make it there?”

“…I’ll tell you my deepest, darkest secret,” Ronan said, because Adam looked gorgeous staring up at him like that in his natural forest element and it felt like anything could happen.

Adam hesitated for only a second before taking off his shirt and beginning to eagerly hoist himself up the tree. It wasn’t often that Ronan offered his secrets for such a cheap price, after all, and Adam was a sucker for bargains.

Ronan carelessly draped himself across the tree ledge as he watched Adam climb. This was a prize in itself, really – watching Adam’s muscles move with no clothes to block his imagination. He watched the sweat gleam off of his tan skin and imagined licking it off of him, imagined what it would taste like, imagined what kind of noise Adam would make as he did it, imagined how his breath would stutter under his tongue.

It was dangerous, letting himself think these thoughts when Adam was so close. There was no telling what he might do.

But then again, he knew Adam was an excellent climber. And he knew exactly what he was going to tell him when he made his way up here.

Adam didn’t make Ronan wait long. He dragged himself onto the ledge quicker than Ronan had, pushing Ronan’s legs aside to make room for himself to sit down. He was panting lightly and his skin gleamed even brighter under the light filtering in from the canopy now that he was closer to Ronan. And he smelled wonderful, too, like the crushed needles of a grand fir.

This was dangerous.

“Alright, Lynch,” Adam said when he caught his breath. “What’s the secret?”

He was looking at Ronan in a way that made it impossible to doubt how he felt. They’d been playing this game together all along, and yet neither of them had quite believed they were both playing the same game. Ronan believed it now; looking at Adam like this, so close to him, and smelling that citrusy scent, he could believe anything.

So he sat up, cupped Adam’s cheek in his hand, and kissed him.

When he pulled back, Adam had a small smile on his face. “Oh. That? That’s not a secret – I already knew about that.”

“Asshole,” Ronan growled through a laugh, but didn’t pull away when Adam leaned in to kiss him again.

Suddenly, the light disappeared. It was so abrupt that it made both of them jump and nearly fall backwards out of the tree. The stars started to break through the total darkness, much faster than they would normally, and eventually one burned so bright that it cast a dim light over Ronan and Adam.

Ronan straightened into a defensive posture. “Horror movie setting.”

“Romantic candlelight,” Adam corrected.

They stared at each other. And then they burst out laughing.

“Cabeswater, you little shit,” Ronan gasped. The trees shook around them and it felt like they were laughing, too.

“I feel like Cabeswater’s become more playful lately,” Adam said, leaning forward to kiss his way up Ronan’s jaw. He whispered into Ronan’s ear, “It really does take after you.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ronan growled, a shiver slicing up his spine. He gingerly placed his hands on Adam’s chest, let his fingers splay out across his ribs. “But yeah, next thing we know it’s going to be playing practical jokes on us.”

“Oh God, I can’t even imagine what it’ll come up with,” Adam laughed, but they didn’t waste time on speculating.

Instead, they sat in that tree and kissed and kissed until they had utterly lost all track of time, not that time worked normally in Cabeswater anyway. They kissed until their lips were bruised and they had traced over almost every inch of their bodies with their fingers, touching and probing. In a way, they were doing their own kind of mapping; exploring and worshipping and finding out what touch and where made the other gasp.

And in the background, Cabeswater changed the ambience to fit their moods. It increased and decreased the light when it thought it was necessary, changed the colors around them, blew wind across their fevered skin when it felt like the heat was too much to bear. At one point it sounded like a song whistled through the trees, but Ronan couldn’t catch what song it was before Adam distracted him by biting down on his skin.

It was magical. It was perfect.

But eventually, they parted, knowing their friends would worry if they didn’t find their way back soon. Ronan could hardly breathe; he felt like he’d been underwater for hours.

“We should’ve done that months ago,” Adam said as they caught their breaths and carefully picked their way down from the tree.

Years, Ronan almost said, but he didn’t really want Adam to know just how long he’d been playing their game.

They put on their shirts and walked back to the campsite hand-in-hand, Cabeswater showing them the way now that they both wanted to head back. Ronan’s palm was entirely too sweaty—despite how long they’d spent making out, he was nervous about handholding of all things, Blue would never let him live it down if she found out—and he prayed that Adam couldn’t tell.

That night, they all roasted marshmallows and made s’mores, Ronan teaching Adam how to get it just right since he had never done anything like that before. Gansey told stories about Glendower and Henry told Korean horror stories and Blue talked about the endangered rainforests. Ronan made up stupidly hilarious stories about Declan and Adam made up hilariously stupid stories about Declan until they were all rolling around laughing.

But eventually everyone started to get tired, and they all retired to their tents. Gansey, Blue, and Henry were sharing a tent that was barely big enough to fit the three of them while Ronan and Adam had each brought their own. After the events of today, though, Ronan wondered if he really had to sleep alone.

Poking his head out, and watching Adam struggle to fix a shitty pole on his tent, he barked, “Your tent is actual garbage Parrish, just get the fuck in here.”

“It’s good enough,” Adam protested, like the stubborn asshole he was.

Ronan rolled his eyes. “I’ll make Cabeswater knock it down at night if you don’t get in here.”

Adam glared at him, but after a moment of a locked stare-down he must’ve realized what Ronan’s true reasons for wanting him in his tent were because he threw the poles onto the ground, stalked over to Ronan’s tent, and forced himself inside.

Ronan’s tent was humongous, so there was no reason to lay close to each other, but they pretended that wasn’t true and curled close together anyway. It was too hot to be in their sleeping bags so they slept on top of them, staring at each other in the faint light.

Adam moved first, tossing his leg up over Ronan’s.

It was more or less easy after that; they knocked limbs and shoved each other around until they settled into a comfortable, tangled position. Adam’s legs were hooked around Ronan’s knees and Ronan had his arm thrown around Adam’s waist and his face shoved into his neck. It was still too hot for this behavior, but they pretended that wasn’t true, either.

Instead, Ronan pressed closer to Adam.

This was how it should be.

II.

The next morning, Ronan woke up next to Gansey, not Adam.

Rearing back, he flailed, trying to wrench himself out of his sleeping bag. His body felt weird and disproportionate and he couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten into Gansey’s tent. And actually, why the hell was he in his sleeping bag?! It had been hot as hell when he’d gone to sleep!

But holy shit, had kissing Adam been a dream? Had he kissed Gansey in some fever-induced haze?!

In his panic, Ronan accidentally knocked Gansey in the knee with his foot, causing Gansey to sleepily blink his eyes open. “…Blue?”

…Blue?! He knew Gansey was blind without his glasses or contacts, but holy shit! Wait…Blue? Gansey almost never called Blue Blue.

“I’m not—!” Ronan shouted but stopped because that was not his voice. It had come out higher-pitched and…womanly.

Glancing down warily, things started to click into place: he was wearing some kind of weird nightgown that looked like it had started off its life as a sparkly blue bath curtain. His skin was dark and long hair drooped down into his face from where part of it was clipped up. The nails of the foot he’d kicked Gansey with were covered in neon yellow nail polish.

He was also about five feet tall.

…Oh fuck no.

“Blue, how did you get in my tent? Where’s Ronan?” Gansey asked, and Ronan suddenly realized with growing horror that Gansey wasn’t Gansey either. He had to be…

“…Parrish?” Ugh, he couldn’t get used to talking in Blue’s voice.

Gansey—no, Adam—scrunched his eyebrows together. “Why are you calling me—?”

And then it seemed to occur to him that something was off. He glanced down at himself, blanched, and glanced up at Ronan. “…What the fuck? Blue, I’m—”

“Yeah, I know, I am too. I’m not Sargent by the way,” Ronan growled.

Adam squinted at him. “Lynch?”

“Unfortunately.”

Adam squinted at him some more before he rolled onto his back and started hooting with laughter. It was unsettling watching Gansey’s body laugh so uproariously at someone else’s suffering.

“Shut the fuck up!” Ronan hissed and attempted to kick him. It felt like there was no power behind his tiny limbs. “You’re literally fucking Gansey right now.”

“Yeah, but—” Adam could barely speak through his laughter. “You’re Blue.”

Ronan growled and decided he’d had enough of this, so he threw himself out of the tent. As he stomped outside, he saw Adam climb out of Ronan’s tent. Except, it couldn’t really be Adam, because Adam was currently inside Gansey.

“Bluebird?” was the horrific thing that came out of Adam’s mouth.

Oh God it was Henry.

“…What in the world is going on…?” a familiar voice said as someone else climbed out behind Henry.

…Oh God that was his body climbing out of his tent over there.

Ronan didn’t know how to process any of this. It was unreal; it was somehow stranger than anything else they’d ever faced before. For a while he just stood there, stupefied, as he watched his body slowly approach him. “…Jane?”

“No, that’s Ronan,” Adam said as he finally joined everyone outside the tent. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I think we should figure out who’s in who’s body to avoid any more confusion. I’m Adam.”

“And I’m Henry,” Adam’s body said.

“I’m Gansey, but…” Ronan’s body said as he thumbed at his lip. Ronan decided that he hated watching Gansey’s habits manifesting on his body. “I’m sorry, but am I Ronan right now?”

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Ronan snapped at him.

Gansey shook out his legs. “I’m not used to being this tall.”

Ugh, Ronan was getting a headache watching his own body do stuff.

“Cabeswater, what the fuck?!” Ronan shouted at the sky, already done with this nonsense. “Change us back!”

Nothing happened.

“Cabeswater!” Gansey—no, Adam, fuck this was confusing—shouted. “Change us back!”

Again, nothing happened.

“What the shit?!” Ronan hissed.

“Maybe it’s not listening because we’re not in the bodies of the Greywaren or the Magician,” Adam speculated.

“But it did this to us – shouldn’t it be the only one not confused?”

“Perhaps it wasn’t purposeful,” Gansey said. Ronan did not like looking at his own body talking like an old person. It was just wrong. “Here, I’ll try – Cabeswater, uhh…”

Ronan had to acidly supply him with the Latin. When Gansey stumbled over the pronunciations, but more or less said it, however, Cabeswater still did nothing.

“…We should ask Fox Way about this,” Adam said eventually.

“Great,” Ronan grumbled.

Gansey looked over at him, amused. “You may have to live there for a while, Ronan, considering you’re Jane right now.”

Ronan reared back. “Oh fuck no—”

Just then, Henry, presumably Blue, crawled out of the tent and glanced around at all of them. She stared for a good minute before saying eloquently, “Well this is fucked.”

III.

Of course, the women at 300 Fox Way had known immediately what was happening.

Maura opened the door in a fit of hysterics. “I must say you kids certainly get yourselves into a lot of strange situations!”

“How can you laugh about this?” Blue demanded. She pointed at Ronan. “Ronan’s in my body!!”

Adam snorted. “You have to admit that’s really funny.”

“I don’t think it’s very funny,” Calla hissed, appearing out of nowhere and latching onto Ronan’s shoulder, her hand like a claw. “How dare you inhabit Blue’s precious body, snake.”

“Trust me, I don’t want to fucking be here either,” Ronan growled, attempting to shove her off. A horrible thought occurred to him suddenly and he turned to Blue. “Oh God, you’re not on your period are you?”

Calla smacked him in the back of the head as she withdrew her hand. Blue glared at him, though most of the heat of it was lost in translation to Henry’s face. “No, God, why would you even ask that?”

“I don’t want to fucking deal with that! I already have to deal with having…woman parts.” Ronan shuddered at the thought.

“Oh, poor you,” Blue snapped as she crossed her arms. “I hope my period does start when you’re in my body, just to spite you; then you’d know how awful it is.”

Ronan bared his teeth at her but, before he could say anything, Gansey stepped forward. It went against all laws of nature that Ronan’s body was attempting to mediate conflict. “Ms. Sargent, do you have any ideas on why this has happened or how we can fix it?”

“How many times have I told you to call me Maura – none of that ‘Ms. Sargent’ crap,” Maura snapped. Ronan shuddered as Gansey made his face look remorseful. Fuck Gansey was going to ruin his reputation.

Maura sipped her dubious tea concoction as she settled down on their ratty couch. She seemed entirely unphased considering the situation. “Honestly, I think Cabeswater is just having a little fun. It sees you guys clowning around all the time and wants to seem more like its human companions, so it’s playing around.”

“So Cabeswater’s pulling a prank on us,” Henry said.

Ronan pointed at Adam. “I fucking told you it would!”

“Is there a way we can ask it to stop?” Gansey asked.

“We already tried that, remember?” Adam said. “It didn’t respond to me or Ronan.”

“Just let it have its fun, I’m sure it’ll return you all to normal soon enough,” Maura said, smirking around her tea cup.

Ronan glared at her. “You’re fucking enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I’m mainly looking forward to forcing you to do things as my daughter,” Maura cackled, a gleam of something sinister in her eyes.

Ronan got out of there as fucking fast as he could.

IV.

It turned out that the worst thing Maura made him do was go to school. She insisted he go to school because Blue would and it turned out that Mountainview Shitty High was way worse than Aglionby. Mainly because Gansey and Adam weren’t there, but also because Blue was so short that he couldn’t intimidate people as easily as usual so people kept trying to…talk to him. He even had to go to a guidance counseling meeting that made him want to kill himself. (Honestly, by storming out of there and getting nothing accomplished he was doing Blue a favor.)

The whole experience was horrific.

But at least after it was over, Adam came to walk home with him because Gansey would’ve done that for Blue.

“Parrish, thank God,” Ronan said as he saw him lurking on the sidewalk outside of Mountainshit. “This place is giving me hives.”

“You’ve been here for six hours,” Adam said, a smirk on his face. He was truly doing a poor job of imitating Gansey.

Ronan shot him a horrified look. “God, don’t remind me.”

Adam laughed before glancing around suddenly. It was only then that Ronan realized people were staring at them, leaning their heads together to gossip quietly. He stared at Adam. “Fuck, how do Dick and Sargent usually act in public?”

Adam did a weird little half-shrug. “I don’t know, should we kiss or something? They’re always all over each other now that Blue’s no longer cursed.”

Ronan scoffed and glanced down at the ground. “Man, I can’t kiss you when you look like Gansey… I know short girls with weird outfits are your type, but—”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Adam sighed. “Here, we can just hold hands or whatever – that should be fine, right?”

Ronan swallowed. “Uh, yeah, I guess.”

Adam grabbed his hand and essentially started dragging him off down the sidewalk. And even though they’d just done this last night, it was weird because it was Gansey. Even though he knew Adam was currently occupying his body, it was disconcerting to glance over and see Gansey’s face instead of Adam’s.

Despite all that, though Ronan’s hand was still so fucking sweaty. How goddamn embarrassing.

“This is so fucking weird,” Ronan grumbled, kicking at stray pebbles along the side of the road. The one good thing about dressing like Blue was that she had some killer Doc Martins. “Did you know girls have to sit when they piss? Talk about inconvenient.”

Adam snorted. “Of course I knew that, Lynch, how did you not know that? Do you think everyone has a penis?”

“I wish everyone had a penis.”

Adam shoved him. “It is kind of weird becoming comfortable with someone else’s genitals, though…”

“Please don’t tell me you were admiring Dick’s dick in the bathroom.”

“I wasn’t!” Adam snarled, a blush on his face. “…Though that wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve done to Gansey today…”

Ronan grinned, delighted and intrigued. “What the fuck did you do?”

-five hours earlier-

Adam thought that everyone must know something was off.

He couldn’t be a convincing Gansey. He had spent many nights agonizing and wishing he could be, but he couldn’t pull off the flawless politician’s smile or seeming genuinely interested when schmoozing with people. He was having trouble even pretending that he could do it. Just this morning, he’d lost his dignity because he’d had to dress himself in a hideously bright-colored polo underneath his uniform and put on those…boat shoes. When he’d walked out and Ronan had practically been rolling on the floor from his laughter, he’d sworn and flipped him off before stalking out, a decidedly non-Gansey action.

And his behavior hadn’t much improved once he got to school. Adam had had no idea really how many people Gansey knew and engaged in pleasant conversation with. It was exhausting. Every step he took someone was whooping at him or slapping a hand on his shoulder or asking him about something mundane. It was hard not to act like Adam Parrish—ignore them, flinch when they touched him—and it was even harder to act like Gansey—act interested, have something interesting to say back, know who the fuck these people even were and how Gansey knew them.

It was a disaster.

He at least took comfort from the fact that Gansey was doing no better of a job imitating Ronan. In fact, he was arguably doing worse – he was bad at permanently scowling, and more than once Adam had had to nudge him in the ribs because he’d been walking around with a goofy, utterly non-Ronan smile on his face. Every time he had to swear at someone, he stumbled on his words so much that it almost came out sounding polite. It was endlessly entertaining, and Adam almost hoped they stayed in each other’s bodies long enough just so he could show Ronan how bad of a job Gansey was doing.

He’d be mortified.

“This is incredibly difficult,” Gansey said to Adam as they walked to fourth period. (History, a class Ronan would never be caught dead in, but if Gansey was going to do anything with this opportunity he was going to make Ronan go to school.) He was thumbing his lip, which made Adam realize that maybe he should be doing that, too.

“I know what you mean. I don’t know how you talk to so many people,” Adam grumbled. “Who even are they all?”

Gansey smiled and shrugged. “Mainly people I know from old clubs.”

“You do too many things,” Adam said, and Gansey laughed.

“I feel that way sometimes too.”

“Hey, Lynch!” a disgusting voice sneered. Adam and Gansey looked up to see Kavinsky grinning at them down the hall. “Still following Richard III around like a dumb dog, huh?”

This time, Gansey had no trouble. He glared at Kavinsky, tilted his chin up threateningly, and spat with venom, “Fuck off, dumb shit.”

And it was actually so much like Ronan that Adam acted completely on instinct. He laughed, and then, when Kavinsky had flipped them off and moved on, leaned over to press a chaste kiss to Ronan’s lips.

Except it wasn’t Ronan.

It was Gansey.

Adam reared back, horror flooding his body. Not only had he just kissed Gansey but he had done it in the crowded halls of Aglionby, which meant that at least thirty people had watched him do it. Holy fuck, was he so desperate that he couldn’t help himself, even though he knew that Ronan wasn’t Ronan right now?!

Oh shit oh fuck.

“…I’m very confused,” Gansey said. He looked it, too. “Do you usually do this with Ronan? And did I just get kissed by myself?”

Adam gaped, flustered and at a complete loss for words. He tried to explain himself, but it just came out as a big jumble: “I—I mean, yeah, recently Ronan and I have been…But Gans, I didn’t mean—You just looked—Ronan—”

“…I think I’m going to go find Jane,” Gansey said, slowly inching away. He had on his politician’s smile, which looked like a nightmare on Ronan’s face. “I am happy for you and Ronan though, I truly am! I just don’t see you in that way, Adam, I’m sorry!”

Adam groaned and buried his face in his hands.

VI.

Declan stalled when he saw Ronan at the end of the hall. Declan often stalled in the hall because of his younger brother—either because he was beating someone’s face in or passed out drunk against a locker—but this time he stalled merely because he absolutely could not believe what he was seeing.

Ronan was laughing. Ronan was smiling. He wasn’t slouching or wearing his tie improperly and he honest to God looked like he was flirting. Or trying to. The other boy seemed both charmed and offended by whatever was coming out of Declan’s brother’s mouth, which honestly wasn’t that surprising. But this…this was surprising.

Declan didn’t mean the whole gay thing. He knew Ronan was gay—it had been obvious to him since the time he found a cut out picture of a shirtless Leonardo DiCaprio underneath Ronan’s bed—and it didn’t bother him. A lot of things bothered Declan about his younger brother, but being gay was not one of them. In fact, it was probably the least offensive thing about him.

But for the love of God, did the person of his younger brother’s obvious affections really have to be Henry goddamn Cheng?

VII.

-the present-

“I can’t believe you kissed Gansey because he actually managed to act like me,” Ronan gasped, struggling to breathe through his laughter. “And cursing out K of all people!”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Adam hissed, a blush on his cheeks.

They had made it back to Monmouth before anyone else and were thus lounging around in the main room. Ronan was lying in Main Street of Gansey’s model of Henrietta—Blue’s body was small enough to do it without crushing anything, and Ronan had always wanted to—and Adam was spread out across the couch.

“No, I can’t, you’re so fucking desperate,” Ronan cackled, kicking his legs in the air. “Holy shit.”

Adam threw a notebook at him and nearly took out the library. “I’m never kissing you again.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Ronan snorted. “I think today proved that you need to kiss me every time I say ‘fuck’.”

“I hate you.”

Ronan sarcastically blew him a kiss.

Just then, Blue burst her way into Monmouth. “We need to go back to Cabeswater and make it fix us. Right. Now.”

“Not having a good time as Cheng, Sargent?” Ronan asked, amused.

“No, Henry’s fine! I love him dearly, and it’s kind of fun hanging out with the Vancouver crowd at school and actually getting something accomplished when I protest!” Henry shot her a thumbs-up as he slipped by behind her. “No, the problem is Gansey – he couldn’t control himself at school today and made me kiss. Ronan.”

To his credit, Ronan held it in for about one second. Then he burst out laughing, resuming his limb flailing with how little he could keep his shit together. “Holy fuck, Parrish just told me a similar story! What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Am I the only one who didn’t try to kiss someone today?”

“I haven’t kissed anyone either, though I think Tad Carruthers wanted to,” Henry said. Adam and Ronan both made a noise of disgust. “I also totally bombed that history test, sorry Parrish.”

Adam looked like the world had just ended. “You what?!”

“See what I mean?” Blue shouted, gesturing wildly. “We’re all a disaster! We need to get our own bodies back!”

“I agree,” Gansey said, placing a hand on Blue’s shoulder. “Being Ronan is too exhausting.”

Ronan’s grin was sharp. “Isn’t it hell?”

“Being you, Gans, is too exhausting,” Adam said, standing up from the couch. “Alright, let’s go back to Cabeswater.”

“Maybe if we camp again, Cabeswater will kindly switch us back while we’re sleeping,” Henry suggested.

Everyone mumbled their agreement and grabbed their camping gear that had been tossed haphazardly around Monmouth after the last excursion. When they headed down to the Pig to pack it all up, however, everyone realized there was a problem: Ronan—who was really Gansey—had automatically grabbed for the driver’s side door of the Pig.

“It’d be weird if someone saw anyone but Three driving the Pig,” Henry pointed out.

“Especially if the person driving was Ronan,” Adam added.

Gansey set his jaw but reluctantly handed the keys to Adam. “I dislike this plan.”

“Hey, at least I’m not the one in your body,” Ronan sniped back, but there was a part of him that really, really wished he was. “I call shotgun.”

Gansey’s mouth dropped open. “No.”

“Blue usually does occupy the passenger’s seat now,” Adam pointed out. Ronan pointed at him.

“Just because you’re dating now doesn’t mean you can gang up on me about my car,” Gansey chided, but folded himself into the backseat, smacking his head on the way in. “God, Ronan, how do you stand being so tall?”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Henry shouted. “Lynch and Parrish are an item?!”

“Since when?” Blue screeched. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It literally just happened yesterday,” Adam snapped as he plopped down into the driver’s seat. He was determinedly not looking at anyone.

“Then why does Gansey know?!” Blue demanded.

“Because Parrish fucking kissed him earlier!” Ronan shouted, falling into laughter again.

“God, shut the fuck up,” Adam hissed and jammed the keys in the ignition so hard that the Pig started up without protest.

They were all silent for a moment, and then Henry said, “Oh, because he looks like Lynch right now?”

“It was a confusing time for me,” Gansey said. “I wasn’t sure who Adam was trying to appeal to honestly.”

“Shut up!!” Adam shouted and revved the car forward.

Everyone laughed, but dropped the teasing for now.

As the backseat dissolved into some ridiculous debate, Ronan cranked the window down and leaned his arm out. Just because he could—and because he had the station saved on Gansey’s radio—he switched on his pounding EDM. For once, Adam didn’t turn it off.

Perhaps he was starting to realize how great it was to drive to. Especially in the fucking Pig.

Because he was sitting next to him, Ronan heard the little gasp that escaped Adam as he pushed the Pig onto the freeway. He must’ve been able to feel what gave Ronan chills whenever he thought about driving the Pig: the engine growling under his thighs, the squeal of the tires as he pushed the Camaro as fast as it could go. There was no high like it in the world; not even Kavinsky’s dreamed up drugs could do it.

“Parrish,” Ronan said.

It was all it took for Adam to slam his foot down on the gas. Ronan let out a whoop as Adam shot into the HOV lane and blasted down the freeway, easily pushing the car to 70, 75, 80.

“Adam!” Gansey shouted, but whatever else he was going to say was lost to the wind and the music.

Ronan glanced over at Adam, admired the satisfied grin across his face and the energy thrumming in his eyes. As he was watching, Adam turned and flashed him a grin, one full of wildness and adrenaline and gasoline.

God, how Ronan wished he didn’t look like Gansey right now, because he wanted to kiss him.

“Hey Gansey Boy!” someone shouted from the next lane over. Ronan glared out the window to see Kavinsky’s band of merry fucks all packed into the car next to them. Kavinsky was strangely absent, however—they were in some other shit car, rather than the Mitsubishi—and it was Prokopenko sneering the taunts. “You teaching Lynch how to drive?”

Ronan almost snarled back before he remembered that he had to let Gansey answer.

“Fuck you, you know?” Gansey shouted back.

“Fuck me,” Ronan groaned and put his head in his hands. Adam snickered. “Is that how he’s been all day?”

“Pretty much,” Adam replied. Ronan groaned again. To his surprise, however, Adam leaned over him to say to Kavinsky’s pack, “Lynch would be lucky to learn how to drive like this.”

And to Ronan’s utter delight, pushed the car up to 90 and zoomed past the other car.

“Parrish, I think I might love you,” Ronan said, grinning.

“Gross!” Blue shouted.

Ronan cheerfully sent her the middle finger.

“You heathens are going to wreck my car,” Gansey bemoaned.

Adam just grinned at Ronan and Ronan felt the weight of it in his chest.

Fuck, he was so far gone.

Despite Gansey’s worry, they all made it to Cabeswater in one piece, and in record time if Ronan did say so himself – he was so fucking proud of Adam. As before, they trekked into Cabeswater and set their tents up in the main clearing. No one was as eager to explore this time around—as it felt dangerous to do something vaguely unsafe when none of them could get used to the bodies they were in—so they set up the campfire right away. They roasted marshmallows and made fun of each other for all of the dumb things they’d done in each other’s bodies today and all around them Cabeswater hummed with amusement. Ronan could feel it in his skin, and seeing Cabeswater so happy almost made him willing to forgive it for this.

The outcomes of this adventure had been fucking hilarious, after all.

But they were all ready to go back to their own bodies.

So as the fire went out, they crawled into their respective bodies’ tents, Adam, Ronan, and Blue diving into Gansey’s tent and Gansey and Henry settling into Ronan’s tent. Around them, the forest quieted as Cabeswater created a safe and peaceful setting for their sleep.

“Gansey Boy, it’s a good thing we love each other or this would be very awkward,” Henry could be heard saying from Ronan’s and Adam’s tent.

“What the fuck are they doing in there?” Ronan hissed.

Adam shook his head. “Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Or hopefully not,” Blue joked.

But they were hopeful as they all fell asleep. Ronan was especially hopeful, as right before Adam drifted off, he reached across the small space between them and grabbed Ronan’s hand.

This time, Ronan’s hand was not sweaty.

VIII.

Ronan woke up to Adam’s face and hope shivered down his spine. “…Adam?”

Adam’s eyes slid open slowly. He didn’t seem to be processing anything, as he was always groggy when he first woke up. (Ronan knew this from his time spent at St. Agnes; one time he had witnessed Adam get up, shower, and then come back into the room and tell Ronan he had to take a shower. Ronan had had to tell him—making fun of him all the while, of course—that he had already taken it.) But then his eyes focused. “…Ronan?”

Ronan breathed out a sigh of relief. “Fuck, yes.”

“Oh thank God,” Adam said and pulled him into a searing kiss.

“I told you you wouldn’t be able to never kiss me again,” Ronan snarked when Adam let him pull back for a second to breathe.

“Shut the fuck. Up,” Adam growled.

Turned out that Ronan had a hard time disobeying Adam when he worked his mouth like that.

IX.

Declan approached Ronan on his way to first period the next day (he couldn’t believe he’d been forced to go to school twice in a row). Ronan was immediately defensive – a purposeful visit from Declan was almost never a good thing, and it usually ended in throwing punches. They’d been trying to be better lately, but Ronan was still too easily riled and Declan was still too easily an asshole.

However, this time, Declan completely threw him for a loop. “Ronan, I really must talk to you about your taste in boyfriends—”

Ronan reared back, startled but refusing to show it. “What the fuck do you have against Parrish? And how did you know about that, anyway? Are you spying on me?”

“You’re…dating Parrish?” Declan stammered before breaking into a huge grin, which Ronan honestly found disturbing. “Oh thank God, as long as it’s not Henry Cheng I really don’t care who the fuck you’re dating.”

Ronan reared back again, this time out of offense. “Why the fuck would you think I was dating Henry fucking Cheng?”

“I saw you flirting with him yesterday.” Declan said ‘flirting’ like he would say ‘debauching’.

At that, and to Declan’s obvious confusion, Ronan burst out laughing. He laughed so hard he bent over himself, clutching at his stomach. Holy fuck he couldn’t breathe…!

“Ronan, are you okay?” Declan asked. “You never laugh this much – are you dying?”

“Fucking yeah I am,” Ronan wheezed before sending his older brother a grin. “Don’t worry, Dec – that was just a mistake. Thought he was someone else.”

“What.” Declan seemed even more confused. “How could you mistake Henry Cheng for anyone but—”

“Oh God, would you look at the time? Bye, Dicklan!” Ronan shouted over his brother and ran off to find Adam, ignoring Declan cursing at his back.

Tad Carruthers was walking down the hall when he saw Adam Parrish.

Tad was always on the lookout for Adam Parrish, as he lived off of the occasional glances he could get and thrived off the conversations Adam allowed him to have with him. He had become a pro at scanning the crowd for him, so it was easy to spot his dirty-blonde, wind-blown hair and his freckled face. Looking for Adam had even become something to look forward to every day that Tad went to school.

Usually, Tad approached Adam immediately. But this time, he stopped right in the middle of the hallway and gawked.

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

Sebastian had said he’d seen Ronan Lynch kissing Richard Gansey III yesterday. Atticus had said he’d seen Lynch kissing Henry Cheng yesterday, and apparently these events had taken place mere minutes after each other.

And now Lynch was kissing Adam Parrish?!

…Just how many boys had Ronan Lynch kissed at this school?!

(A/N) Let there be no doubt in your minds that immediately following this Tad went to confront Ronan and made a fool of himself. And probably got his ass kicked ;)

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bigboobshaunt · 5 years

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Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Owain/Brady smut, a commission for an anonymous client

~2k words

Commission info

On Ao3

“’Twas a cold and stormy night when the lonesome hero staggered back through the deep, dark forest, breaching the town’s borders. The pungent blood of his enemies still dripped down his sword, being washed ever slowly by the falling rain, but the man did not concern himself with such trifling matters… he had to report his victory to the townsfolk, and he planned to see it through!”

“Is it time for my part yet?”

“Psst, no, not yet! I’ll signal it to you when it is, don’t worry!”

“Sorry, I forgot… yer stories can be weirdly engrossing sometimes.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, and I’ll even ignore the ‘sometimes’ part… but anyways, as I was saying! Ahem… The hero’s legs grow more and more tired, his muscles suddenly seem to weigh like lead... but he is unflinching in his walk. The deed is done, but his quest is not yet truly over before he notified the person who asked that of him in the first place...”

Conspicuously, Owain pointed his index finger at his lover, who cleared his throat before giving off his clearly rehearsed dialogue. “O brave hero with the dark countenance, is it you I spy in this humble church’s worn down gates? Have ya – I mean – have you returned safely from your task? Are the people of this small town truly safe from the er, Battling Brigands of the Bloodthirsty Beast?”

“Heeeey, you promised you wouldn’t laugh!”

“I promised that only IF ya workshopped the name a lil’ more. Didja forget?”

“I suppose you win this one, but... back to the story… Yes, your holiness, I have vanquished the great evil that assailed all of the honorable and fair people of this town! Never again shall you know fear like this. Never again shall you have to lock your doors at night, send your children away in the night, nor lock up your most prized of possessions… and for that I, too, am thankful. I wish, however, that I could say I was unharmed, but that is not so… Fate seems to have seen fit to brand me with this wound in my stomach, and I am afraid I am not long for this world… but it pains me none to go, knowing you shall sleep safely from now on.”

“Please, brave hero, don’t say things like that! Here… I can nurse you back to health, if you follow me to my chambers. I couldn’t bear to lose a soul as noble as yours, especially after such a great deed! I shall devote my all to you until you are safe from harm, just as you have done for us… and for me.”

Grabbing Brady’s left hand, Owain squeezed it and gently lifted it closer to his lips, placing the softest of kisses on the back of it. “O kind priest… your words touch me deeply, stoking the very fires of my soul which slumber in my chest. I’ll accept your offer on the condition that you allow me to stay here after I get better… I would like to help with rebuilding this church and this town. They should shine brightly, as warmly as its inhabitants and as beautiful as you.”

Though such effusive praise was being given to a fictionalized version of himself, Brady couldn’t help but to give Owain a small smile, added to by the pink coloration that began to show on his cheeks.

Tenderly, Brady let go of Owain’s hand and trailed down Owain’s body, undoing the buttons on his nightshirt with dexterous fingers, trained by years of violin practice.

“Impressed by my physique, I see? You needn’t say a thing – it is only within my obligations as a wandering hero to keep my body in top shape, and ensure that I am always ready for combat… I will once again be in peak condition after you finish patching m-” Owain stopped in the middle of his speech, surprised at the look his partner had given him.

Before he knew it, Brady had bridged the gap between them, and he kissed him voraciously. Feeling the healer’s hands cup his pectorals, Owain moaned into the sudden kiss, trying his best to match Brady’s sudden hunger for him.

“Heh… I’m not sure the hero and the priest would start off like this so soon, but I’m certainly not complaining,” Owain snorted, burying his nose in Brady’s neck, embracing him tightly and taking a whiff of the man’s scent.

“Ya don’t know how impatient the priest can get… waitin’ in an empty church, worryin’ ‘bout the hero… specially if he already had feelings for ‘im before.”

“Even with all of my practice… I can’t match up to your artistic touch. You’re a genius, Brady! Backstory! It’s exactly what this tale needs! A slow burn romance between its title characters… I am sure that I can make it happen...” Owain said, sweetly gazing into Brady’s eyes before they kissed again.

Fondling Owain’s plush chest with one hand, Brady used the other one to untie his own nightshirt, finishing that by pulling down his bottoms and freeing his desperate erection.

“Now then… shall I tell you of how I got said wound? I was there, right in the middle of the brigands’ hideout and I knew I must have been getting closer to their boss’ room. When the heat of battle subsided, and silence reigned, I walked atop the goons’ fallen bodies to reach a-”

Without warning, Brady pushed Owain down onto his back, and with a determined tug, he pulled down his husband’s undergarments, licking his lips at the sight of the exposed cock before him, as though he had just found an oasis after being stranded in a desert for weeks.

Leaning closer, Brady dragged his tongue down Owain’s body, starting at his shapely pecs and making his way down the toned, strong abs before arriving at his lower body. Brady wasted no time before pressing Owain’s well-endowed member against his face, nuzzling its length and giving it quick pecks.

Burying his nose at the base of it, where the cock met the balls, Brady sniffed his lover’s privates deeply, taking in their unique scent, which only served to heighten his own arousal. Taking one of Owain’s balls into his mouth, Brady sucked on it, closing his eyes as he tasted the wonderful, salty taste of the sac, which while he loved, he knew it couldn’t compare to another of Owain’s tastes that he hoped to try that night...

Looking up, he noticed how Owain’s face seemed frozen in surprise, and he knew he had to perform expertly and give his all to satisfy. Diligently, Brady wrapped a hand around the mast of Owain’s cock and pulled down the man’s rather tight foreskin, exposing the previously concealed mushroom head.

Vividly, Brady remembered a saying he had heard, that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach… and though he understood what it meant, he had to disagree. The way to hold their attention was definitely through the tip of his cock.

Drawing the head into his mouth, Brady gave it the most thorough of licks, covering all its surface with his saliva and then sucking on it with gusto. Owain’s cock was another of his favorite tastes, and he was determined to treat both himself and his beloved.

Making a show of it, Brady removed the head from his mouth with an audible pop, before giving the entire length of the member a lick – from Owain’s balls, covered with a dusting of blond fur, to the wide tip, which was perfect for spreading out his ass for the thick shaft to come whenever it entered him.

“Oh, Brady… gods,” Owain let out, cursing under his breath as his husband worked on his shaft with his lips and tongue.

Chuckling at the thought of having managed to get Owain himself lost in his roleplay’s script, Brady gave the slit atop Owain’s cockhead a final, teasing lick before he opened up his mouth to swallow more of its size.

No matter how often they fucked, handling Owain’s girth was never truly easy. Brady could feel tears escape the corners of his eyes as he fought his gag reflex. He was not going to back down now. Not before he showed Owain what he was capable of.

Working Owain’s shaft deeper into his throat, Brady massaged his own aching cock, his hand gliding much more smoothly once his fingers and his member were wet with pre cum. He moaned to the best of his abilities, given Owain’s member was still in his mouth.

Pulling it out almost felt unnatural, like his mouth did not feel right when Owain’s throbbing dick wasn’t in it. Not wanting to go without it much longer, Brady caught his breath and swallowed the wet member once more.

Throwing his head back, Owain grabbed a fistful of Brady’s hair, calling out to a multitude of gods when the man sped up his rhythm for bobbing his head up and down the thick shaft.

Feeling his own release draw near, Brady felt a surge of happiness course through his body as he conquered his own gag reflex, being met with a face-full of Owain’s musky dark blond pubes when he finally managed to deepthroat his beloved.

“Fuck my mouth… please,” Brady whispered when he withdrew the member from his mouth. Forcing himself to say such a naughty line may have been difficult for him in any other context, but it was made easier by how prompt Owain was to comply.

Still holding on to Brady’s gelled, spiky hair, Owain pressed the man’s face against his crotch and bucked into it, being careful not to start too roughly, but slowly building the strength of his thrusts until his balls began to slap against Brady’s chin.

Brady knew he would choke on Owain’s cock and then still thank him, had he been rougher to start with, but the tender approach his husband had, which extended to even something as flagrantly sexual as this, was yet another of Brady’s favorite things about his man.

The way Owain’s cock tasted and the way it twitched inside his mouth, coupled with the rapid nature of the thrusts and the physicality of them, the proximity to Owain’s skin and its scent… Brady could no longer resist and his fast stroking of his own cock lead to his seed splattering onto their sheets.

Pulling himself away from the middle of the swordsman’s muscular thighs, Brady gasped for air and stuck out his tongue, looking up expectantly at Owain as he brought himself closer to the tip of Owain’s cock.

Making a fist around his cock, Owain slapped it softly against Brady’s cheeks, only then noticing the drool that had dripped down the corners of Brady’s mouth.

Pointing his erection towards Brady’s tongue, Owain pleasured himself, feeling how much more sensitive Brady’s blowjob had made his member. He only needed to jerk his cock for a few dozen times before his seed landed on his husband’s tongue and on his face.

Swallowing the plentiful load, Brady used his fingers to find the remaining droplets, which he then licked clean. “So… do ya think I can improvise?”

In lieu of a reply, Owain extended his hand to Brady, pulling him into an impassioned, hungry kiss.

Afterwards, Brady rested his head on Owain’s plump, sweat-covered chest, hearing his beloved’s heartbeats slowing down to a steadier rhythm and feeling as though he was listening to the most calming symphony.

“You caught me… with my guard down this time… next time I’ll be the one who surprises you during roleplay. Mark my words… my love.”

Snorting, Brady sighed contentedly, drifting off to sleep with the most pleasant of smiles upon his lips.

#Owain #Brady #Udobure #FE13 #my writing #first fic of the year - I think I started off pretty well!

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nobodysuspectsthebutterfly · 6 years

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Gosh, I never did post my con report for Ice and Fire Con, did I? Well, 3 weeks past, but hopefully not too late...

4/26, Thursday evening: Arrived in Columbus airport. While packing my big-ass suitcase for the con Wednesday night Thursday morning, I realized my white makeup had somehow disappeared, but I looked up a Party City in a Columbus suburb that had some. (Didn’t have time to go shopping on my way to the Chicago airport.) So, having figured that I could rent a car for the whole weekend for less than the price of a Lyft from the airport to the lodge, I did so, found that shop, bought that makeup, and had a lovely drive to Deer Creek State Park. Approaching the park, I found the name was very accurate, as a deer was crossing the road on the way there, in a very stupid way. “Should I jump the fence? Or go back in the road and wander everywhere? Durhurhur!” Finally he got a clue and I moved on, only for another car to zoom around me like I was standing still. That’s how you get deer through your windshield, son.

But anyway, got to Deer Creek Lodge by 9ish, got my room and registered and all, and started seeing people I’d met last year. Chloe (@liesandarbor) and Emmett (@poorquentyn) and Wendy (@wendynerdwrites) and Jim (@warsofasoiaf) and all, as well as others who I don’t think have tumblrs (or I don’t know them) but are excellent folk. And I heard there was an unofficial party that night, thrown at the cabin of the Chicago boys (who I don’t know actually), same as last year, so I headed down that way. This year the party was in support of one of their fellows who’s getting married, a Stag and Doe party, with raffle tickets and games, so it was extra fun, besides the drinking and all. :)

Picked up a raffle package that included a blue rose flower crown, and had a moment when I met Tara (@ageeksaga) and she thought I was Wendy, lol. I was like, nope, sorry, I’m the other short brunette Jewish fandom fave from tumblr who’s dating a guy named Jim. (And who sometimes wears blue rose flower crowns.) She was tired, it’s hard getting this con ready, I didn’t blame her at all, but lol. :) Also at the party was Michael (@1000eyesandone) and his wife Adrienne, who are awesome people who I met at last year’s con, and ended up hanging around a lot with this year. Anyway, after a night of drinks and meeting people and drinking and chatting and drinking and games and drinking and winning tickets and putting them in the raffle prize choices (there were many cool prizes but only a few that I really wanted so I put most of my tickets in those), they had the raffle, about 1am I think, and I won a prize! Woo, chocolate and popcorn and bath bombs and other relaxing things. And then I was tired so walked back to the lodge with a bunch of other people, did a tiny tumblr update, and collapsed into bed.

4/27, Friday: The con officially opened today, and I got up late but made it to the second half of the ice breaker opening thing. They had the bingo where you’re supposed to find people who meet the qualifications for the bingo square (newbie to @iceandfirecon, newbie to cons in general, prefer direwolves to dragons or vice versa, have a particular fave house, are a shipper - I volunteered a lot for that one, and so on), and also that game where you have a name on your forehead and you have to guess who it is (I was Janos Slynt, joy), and I met some very neat people. Then I went down by the lake (or creek, I guess?) for my picture with a wolf! And here, some more pictures:

Logan is such a good boy. :)

Caught lunch with Wendy and Jim and Michael and Adrienne, then I went to the Q&A panel given by the Ironwood Wolves people, where they talked about the education work they do with their ambassador wolves, and what wolf behavior is like, and all that interesting stuff (watch the video, there’s a sweet sleepy wolf in it). Got some pictures of the lake, went to the History of Westeros meetup for a bit (I have a processing thing with podcasts so I can’t listen to them, but Ashaya and Aziz are the most excellent people), and soon it was time for the @asoiafuniversity meetup panel with me and Emmett.

Alas, we were up against Quiplash in the big conference room, and I don’t think the schedule was that clear unfortunately, so we didn’t have many people showing. (Unlike last year where we got a pretty good crowd!) But for those who did come, we explained what we do, and discussed some meta topics, and it was really nice. Then I caught the end of Quiplash, which is kind of a Cards Against Humanity -type online party game where you write the answers and the audience votes... well, it’s fun, and I got to be in the last answer panel, and even had an answer some people liked. :)

Went over to the vendor room and saw so many gorgeous things, ASOIAF art and statuettes and cloaks and such, but the only thing I bought was butterfly fairy wing earrings. (Which I think takes my number of butterfly earrings up to... 10 maybe? I have a lot.) Then as it was starting to get dark I went back to my room and got ready for Shabbos (had the room key situation arranged with the hotel staff, since my Jim wasn’t at the con), and then... it was time for IaFcon’s first musical!

Inspired by the awesome performance of Tara and Brian last year in D&D’s “You’re Welcome”, this year the crew put on WESTEROS, a tribute/parody of Hamilton. And oh my gosh it was sooo good. You should watch it, honest. (@draganchitsa, I spent half the time thinking of you.) Of course the costumes and casting were excellent, and there were some truly fantastic lines, all telling the KL story from the start of AGOT to the Battle of the Blackwater... Including one last song for the shippers among us, heehee, oh gosh I was covering my face and blushing the whole time. :) :) :)

Then dinner with Wendy and Jim and Emmett, then back to the con room for karaoke. :D As it was Shabbos I didn’t perform myself (didn’t want to deal with not using the mic and stuff), but I sang along with everybody, including when Michael did Head Like a Hole to the music of Call Me Maybe, which was hilarious. ;) That ended about midnight, and I headed back for sleep, as big day Saturday... or should I call it... Weirwood Day!

4/28, Saturday: Got up early(-ish) to get my weirwood tree costume ready. :) My makeup, since I’m not that often a cosplayer (like almost never), took a while (took forever, didn’t get to two panels I wanted to see, thankfully they’re on youtube now), and I had a panel I was actually on at 1pm and I still hadn’t put the bloody tears on at almost 12:30... So I dressed up and wigged up and leafed up, and headed out, got stopped on the way for a picture, got to the panel just a wee bit late... but still, it was an excellent panel, all about the animal symbolism in ASOIAF, lots of discussion of direwolves and how they interrelate to the Stark kids; as well as other houses, dragons, lions, krakens, bears, birds, trout... all that sort of thing. The panel’s up here on youtube if you want to see me as a white-and-red dorkus talking about direwolves. :)

Then there was the tourney, outside, which looked awesome, but it was coooold out and I still wasn’t quite done with my costume, so I went back to my room and had lunch and got finished up (occasionally glancing out the window since my lodge room had a tiny corner of a view of the tourney field), and finally... finally I was ready. :D

Headed toward the con rooms with a big backpack full of art books for my panel (that was going to be after the costume parade, and I so didn’t want to go back and forth), as well as my bag full of ravens. :D On the way, had a selfie with Ashaya (@buskerlenny), who had an excellent Danelle Lothston costume. Made it in time to catch the end of Emmett and Silas’s panel on Lovecraft Mythos and ASOIAF, listening while I checked that my leaves and ravens were all arranged properly. (Next time safety pins maybe?) And soon other cosplayers started coming in, including the lovely older lady who was such a perfect Old Nan last year -- this year she was the Ghost of High Heart, with a weirwood-print dress, and she was delighted to see me. :D She had a photo taken with her sitting and me standing (as a tree) behind her, which I haven’t seen but hope shows up one of these days, it should be so neat.

And then the costume parade! So many amazing costumes, so much fun. While we were waiting to line up, I actually started tearing up (because of my contacts, eyeliner, mascara, god knows), but consensus among those who looked at me that it really didn’t hurt my makeup much and really fit the crying-tree look? so hey. :) Last year in the parade people stopped to do performances, but this year they separated out the performances till after the parade (and the voting only for that), so it moved pretty quickly. But I got a lot of applause for my weirwood, especially when I lifted up my “branches” with the ravens on them. And I heard someone say that if they had been doing voting, I probably would have won, which is really really nice. :D :D :D

Then I sat down for the performances, and oh my gosh. There was a Rohanne vs. Dunk rap battle (with shoutout to Jaime/Brienne lol), a Brienne vs bear fight (set to the Bear and the Maiden Fair of course), Chloe did a parody of Free Fallin’ (with Lyanna and Ashara themes *wince*), and there was Michael as Tom O’Sevens singing Edmure’s Floppy Fish song that had everybody lol’ing... but the room went dead quiet in awe for Septon Meribald’s Broken Man speech. Damn. (And yeah, I cried some more.)

Group photo time!

All these amazing people. :) I’m kind of easy to find, though, lol.

And then there was my and Ashaya’s panel on the history of ASOIAF fanart, also with artists @sanrixian and @palewhiterabbit. It went really well, I think, lots of cool info... I brought my Art of Ice and Fire books, the D&E graphic novels, and some @kallielef and bubug prints (also one of @chaouenmadrid’s sansan books), Ashaya had Draw ‘Em With the Pointy End and another art book... but alas, we were up against the trivia contest in the big conference room, so again not that much of a crowd. (Someone asked me if I was cross-scheduled because Emmett and Wendy and I won trivia last year, idk lol, other people won too.) But anyway, the people who were there for the panel seemed to like it a lot -- not sure if it was filmed, but if it was I’ll put up the video eventually. Or maybe I could write down my mental notes, if you like.

Afterwards, I headed back to my room for dinner, and when Shabbos was over I took a few selfies (including some duckfaces for Kelly Sue DeConnick, whose costume inspired mine), and then washed up. Because party time!

(me and Wendy, at the party - I’m wearing little bird earrings and this tshirt)

I have few mental notes for the Flea Bottom Fete, alas. Just that it was a hell of a lot of fun, tons of great music (having a convo in the hallway, “oh wait this is my song, gotta dance”), people’s party cosplays were hilarious -- I recall Michael’s punk Bloodraven, there was a group of sexy Greyjoys, Tara had party Cersei, a bunch of girls came with a Qarth dress theme, and of course there was stripper RobbWind... and, well, there was a bar. :) (And also someone brought macarons, nom nom nom.)

4/29, Sunday: I had to check out by noon. I had a panel to give at noon. I managed to get packed up, check out, put my suitcase in the car, and make it on time for this panel, coffee’d up and everything. I consider that a grand success. And then in the very excellent panel (on GRRM’s many other works, with me and Aziz and Amin Javadi and one of the con volunteers I didn’t catch his name augh), I managed to actually sell a few people on reading Wild Cards, I think. Truly a success. :D And then the closing ceremonies were lovely -- and the wolf puppy from the photos that were taken Sunday even came, oh my gosh he was so cute... but sigh, alas the con was over for me.

I’d left a note on the Facebook group that I’d rented a car and could take up to 3 people back to the airport for an afternoon flight, and a few girls had contacted me that morning to take me up on the offer. So that was a nice trip. :) Returned the rental easy, caught my short flight easy, and was back in Chicago by Sunday evening to watch Avengers and get dinner with my @jimintomystery. A lovely weekend, full of ASOIAF and friends and fun, I truly hope to do it again next year!

(goddamn, this is long. no wonder I never properly wrote up last year’s con report...)

#asoiaf #ice and fire con #cons #con reports #gpoy as the kids are calling it these days #wolves #weirwoods #cosplay #personal stuff #long post #long post is loooooooooooong #it's behind a cut but gosh it's long #go watch the westeros musical it's awesome

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