[ 🥀 ]

‘ how do you want to be spoiled ? ’ 

he hums as hands reach out , fingers gently running over the man’s jacket before latching onto its lapels , ‘ — spoil me lavishly . ’

𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆  as  she  pulled  open  her  bedroom  door,  an  unimpressed  glare  &  a  quip  already  on  the  tip  of  her  tongue.  “  first,  say  i  was  right. ”  she’d  told  him  before  they’d  even  popped  the  popcorn  that  he  was  going  to  end  up  scared  &  freaked  out,  now  here  they  were.  her  arms  crossed  over  her  chest,  head  tilting  to  the  side. “  i  need  to  hear  the  words  come  out  of  your  mouth. ”

FLASHBACK  !

a sea of hydrangeas — rose to violet to indigo — akin to luxuriant berries eagerly placed upon the tongue (though assuredly the taste of petals would not be as alluring!) surrounded the side court greenery as soon as one swept aside the sliding paper door, dominating it’s lawn and becoming the starting point to a colorfully entrancing maze easily toeing the line of treacherous with sporadic hellebore strategically placed within it’s blooms. yubaba could never see herself tiring of this—oh oh the woman would in those days of anguish and burning tears trailing down her cheeks and she’d claw into the plants with recklessness as that was how her pain stomached itself—  .this vision of which interweaved her soul in stability, brought forth a curve to her painted lips without it’s traditional antagonistic intent toward incurring ire mainly towards the bathhouse employees. some spirits applied.

the koi pond was her point of distraction, her fingers dipped within it’s waters and wriggling to entice those below it’s surface. 

“ a short pause should be fair right? “ as if the witch hadn’t already divided her attention, severing it from the current task to switch to another, turning away from at present duty to play, with child-like excitement overflowing from skin upon a sight she’d seen daily. the open book laid out on the grass with it’s page upon page of gleaming gold written word shifting dark eyed focus for magical study upon lovely aquatic life as if it hadn’t been mere minutes that called their attention towards learning. the two had just begun. his drawn out sigh brought forth a chuckle of not so ingénue intent.

he sighs , but not unkindly . the small smile that follows affirms that . still , his fingers linger on the pages of his own gilded book . eunji sits with his back to a tree trunk , gaze fixated at the woman before him and at the grandeur she’s managed to accomplish even in her youth . 

a beautiful day , a perfect day indeed for practice . he admits he can never be as skilled as the witch before him , but he is trying to at least gain a proper footing . but yubaba , it seems , is adamant on distracting him . again . 

‘ a pause , so soon ? we have yet to accomplish something . ’ eunji points out weakly , fingers already ceasing their insistent tracing over raised runes on his own book . but he is , and will always be , weak to the woman . 

the shift from calm to violence cracks between them like something brittle and inevitable. the stranger jostles, pushes, shifts them both until levi’s pinned between arms and demands.

there’s warmth in proximity. the breath that carries the man’s questions heats his cheek, but levi stills as something cold suddenly weighs down his heart. he drifts, the amicable front his parents trained him into cracking under pressure so something meaner seeps between the split of his usual personality, dragged out by this ghost he’d painted and framed on these walls.

“ask again,” he challenges. fixes his hand over the man’s heart once more to feel it beat rabbit–quick under his palm. “maybe i’ll answer. or maybe i’ll call security. who are you–” the words he repeats lilt and pitch as he mocks, “– to make demands?”

he should be terrified , but he’s far from it if the tightening of his jeans is any indication . roxas swallows , breathing shallow , knows the other can hear how fast his heart seems adamant on beating out off his chest . 

this back and forth pulls emotions that he shouldn’t be having , and it lights him up from the inside , making his skin tingle and his senses zero in on nothing else but the visage encased between his arms . 

and he is torn , entirely torn between the touch and the mocking tone and the feeling of familiarity that flutters between them . there’s a willingness to embrace whatever this is , a desire edged by the thought that it might answer all his questions . and as his control slowly slips from him , he pushes back .

he’s never been a late afternoon person.

dragging the back of his hand over his eyes, bao attempts to rub the bleariness from his vision. it takes a couple of tries until the human girl comes into focus. she’s tiny. he has to tip his chin down to look at her. cute too. and it makes him acutely aware that all he’s got on are boxers (no holes thankfully) and a white shirt that he prays to whatever phase of the moon is rising that there’s no bloodstains.

“hey.” his voice grits rough with lingering sleep. “tinder? or class?” they usually showed up from one or the other with how often he was on the app and how often he missed class.

she takes a second , blinking as she registers what she’s come face - to - face with . she squeaks , covering her face before quickly turning around . ‘ i’m here for class ! ’ even with her face covered and her back to the man , she has her eyes shut , flustered and fumbling . ‘ i’m not— i’m not sure if you even remember me but i’m from professor cane’s class . ’ 

“someone’s popular,“ ollie teases. “you get people paying you compliments all the time?” there’s a slight crook to his mouth as he leans back on his hands, loose pebbles on the sidewalk digging into his palms. the party behind them gets quieter, winding down and ollie checks his watch. 2 am – how long have they been out here? he’s about to offer micah a ride but the air between them tenses. micah’s questions tremble and stutter, bitter and sharp, and oliver rolls his shoulders to ease them off, unwilling to be riled up.

“i’m not jaded enough to think it doesn’t exist. how else can i explain this?“ he waves a hand between them. “you’ve got somebody. sure. but i know i’ll regret it if i don’t even try.“

the bottle’s not even half-empty. oliver’s not drunk, so his words fall steady and honest as he admits, “i haven’t been able to look away from you since you walked in.“

he inhales sharply , turning away quickly and puffing up his cheeks to stop himself from giggling . he doesn’t want to dwell on how he welcomes this easy back and forth despite how tense the conversation is actually going . micah hears oliver move , hears that and nothing else  —  and it’s then he realizes how quiet everything else is . 

he turns back towards the party , they’re a ways a way and his gaze hardens , heart rate starting to pick up because his thoughts drift to kurt . 

and kurt doesn’t know where he is . 

micah starts to debate if he should go back or just .. just leave and deal with him tomorrow . it’s better really , better than dealing with what always happens when going home with a drunk kurt . he turns back to oliver , just in time to catch his admittance . 

he just— he just wishes he doesn’t feel a flood of warmth from what he’s hearing when just seconds ago , kurt's invaded his head . but instead of questioning it , instead of questioning oliver further , instead of prompting for an explanation of what exactly needs to be explained , he asks the first thing he’s wanted since getting here .

rufio wears responsibility like a second skin. it’s hard to pick and peel it off after years of looking after these boys – not when they’ve got a knack of nearly killing themselves on good days, or running their fingers along the threat of expulsion on worse days. their frat’s seen as trouble. as a lost cause, filled with the misfits nobody else wanted and no one expects to graduate.

rufio’s gonna prove them wrong even if it kills him. and with how stupid his boys can be? it’s come pretty close.

but he’s not perfect. rufio’s selfish. he’s got wants, the biggest of which slouches outside in a bent in and beat up truck waiting for him. so he laces up his combat boots and bosses ace to drink water. check his hair in the mirror and asks nibs to make sure zed doesn’t eat every leftover in the fridge. then he’s out the door, down the short, cracked asphalt walk to the curb where he peers into peter’s open window and smiles, wide and white and all teeth.

“hey, pan.“

he’s got a black rabbit’s foot hooked into the loops of his jeans by his hip (for luck), and it sways when he slides into the passenger seat. it’s instinct for him to comb fingers through peter’s hair so he could see his face better. “what’s the plan?”

‘ my baby , ’ he greet with a grin . peter welcomes the touch , leans into it even with a small satisfied sigh just to stop himself from openly gawking . he’s nearly purring with content until he wills himself to pull away , pressing a kiss to rufio’s wrist . plenty of time for more of that once they get to where they should be .  

‘ i promise there actually is a plan , ’ he starts , chuckling as they drive off . ‘ but that’s all i’m saying because it’s s’posed to be a surprise . ’ he tacks his response with quick wink before turning his gaze back out into the road . their frat house is separate from the others , taking a while before they come across others  —  music blasting from somewhere and with students littering font lawns . 

VERSE  :  maybe the night  !

music filters through his aged radio , and peter taps his fingers along the soft beat as he cruises down the highway . the grin on peter’s face refuses to ease up , only growing as he thinks of what tonight brings . only a couple more days until finals and this is something he’s been looking forward for weeks now  —  no studying , no stressing , no nothing but a night with his boy before all hell really breaks lose . 

he stops at a red light , pulling his phone out real quick to shoot rufio a text stating he was nearly at the frat house , as well as mentally going through his checklist to see if he has everything . 

PROMPT  :  i know i’m the one who suggested we watch a scary movie , but now i can’t sleep . can i sleep in your room ?  /  x