#chasing angels

[theoriginalmysteryincorporated]

27, A taunt, with one eyebrow raised and a grin bubbling at your lips. Rachel/Victoria please!

idk how good this is since it’s late and i haven’t played LIS in like 2 years, but hope u like!!

the inspo for this is a lot of the art in my chasing angels tag (ship name for vic/rach)

edit: if u go in that tag, be warned that some of the pics are nsfw

“I love you, you know.” Rachel’s arms were wrapped loosely around Victoria’s neck, her grin as mischievous as ever in the shadows of the girl’s locker room. This particular Vortex Club party was being held at the pool, and most people were out there now, the music blasting and making the ground rumble like thunder.

Rachel had shown up late, as usual, in a pair of ripped shorts and a loose tank top. Despite the venue, she’d brought no swimsuit.

Victoria went over to wag her finger her direction, following Rachel into the locker rooms, and clearing the whole place when other girls heard the “fight”. Everyone knew better than to get in Victoria’s way when she was on a rampage.

Rachel was, at least, kind enough to wait until their audience was gone to start making out with her.

“Please, never say that again.” Vic pulled back, whipping out a box of cigarettes from the shorts she wore over her black bikini bottom and sticking it between her teeth. Before she could find her own lighter, Rachel did the honors, and soon, Vic was puffing smoke into her not-girlfriend’s face.

“I love you.” Rachel lifted an eyebrow, her grin even more visible now, irresistible and warm.

“You can’t keep showing up to these things and upstaging me, Rachel. That isn’t how this works. And you certainly can’t keep showing up late.”

“And how exactly am I upstaging you? I’m not even wearing a bathing suit, and you look gorgeous right now, Vic.”

The way Rachel’s eyes scanned her midriff made Victoria almost believe her.

“Being the only person to show up to a pool party without one has a way of making a person stand out. I could have you removed from the premises for that.”

Rachel’s eyes sparkled as she talked, arms crossed and an amused lilt to her lip. “I can hold my own without your little club, Vicky. You know I only come to these things for you, right?”

For the first time, Victoria looked to be at a loss for words. She pinched her cigarette between two fingers and gave Rachel a quizzical look, then almost shrugged before sucking in another breath of smoke.

“Well, if you would stop hanging out with loser nobodies like Kate Marsh, or those skater burnouts, we could actually be seen together in public.”

Rachel laughed and deftly swiped the cigarette away, holding it down at her side as she stole a quick, giddy kiss from Vic’s lips that they both melted into. She popped it into her own mouth when they untangled themselves, looking all too pleased with herself.

“I kinda like the secret dalliances. The adventure of it all is pretty damn romantic.”

Victoria’s eyes swept across their surroundings, the musty locker room littered with lost, dirty socks and old condoms, clearly disagreeing with one disgusted look.

“You’re crazy.”

“And you’re no fun.”

“I can be some fun. Meet me in my room after this, and I’ll show you just how much.”

Rachel sighed happily, backing away slowly. “Looking forward to it, darling.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Get back out there.”

As Rachel left, Vic pulled out another cigarette and lit it herself, watching the smoke curl away and disappear. She went through two before pulling herself together enough to go back to hosting. Almost everything Rachel ever said was some joke to get a rise out of her, but a part of her did wonder if an ‘I love you’ was something so sacred even Rachel wouldn’t kid about it.

The girl hadn’t pushed it, so she had to assume not. If it were real, she would know, wouldn’t she?

She’d get no hint from Rachel. The rest of the evening she spent pretending Victoria didn’t exist. It was all an act, of course, but Rachel could be too good of an actor sometimes. It was always hard with her, deciding what was the truth and what she pretended.

Maybe this time, alone in her room, Victoria would finally find the courage to ask Rachel if she really meant it.

[ihyhagl]

lyulf’s still a teenager – Lyulf/Elizabeth, PG, 300 WC

               32 days.                32 days until he saw Lizzie again.                Lyulf’s classroom felt like a prison.                “I really need a coffee,” he muttered to himself, cupping his chin with his palm. Organic chemistry could go suck some balls. He surreptitiously snuck his notebook into his backpack and tucked his pencil pouch away. The minute the bell rung, he bolted out the door.

               Biking down the steep street on the far side of campus was becoming his new favorite pastime. As he passed by the shops, he thought about bringing Lizzie to visit them when she came back to the west coast. She’d like a few of them, he surmised, probably the fancy French-sounding boutiques and patisseries the most. They’d take a trip into the city, preferably avoiding the places with bad memories.                Most of all, he wanted to show her that he was serious, that he was dedicated to turning his life around. Lyulf 2.0 if that helped. He grimaced at the cheesiness of the thought.                “You’ve gone soft, Lyulf. What would the boys say if they saw you now?” Chuckling quietly, he turned left and started pedaling faster. Letting go of the handlebars, he stretched, trying to think of Lizzie’s response. She’d probably say that they weren’t with him now so what does it matter? He grinned at its veracity.                He never really knew why he was so drawn to her in the first place. It was just a gut feeling, he guessed, something that extended beyond his supposed rich-girl fetish. If he tried to put it into words he knew he’d fail. In any case, it wasn’t really something to be accurately talked about, was it? In fact, he always thought those who could were strange, because what was affection, really?                32 days.                His excitement really had no control.

[ihyhagl]

in which ethan’s mind almost implodes – Ethan/Dante, PG-15, 600 WC

              Ethan didn’t want to admit it, but he loved the way Dante’s arms wrapped around his waist when he slept. It was warm and the older man smelled good, and most of all, he felt inexplicably safe. It’s not surprising, then, that when the Spaniard wasn’t there Ethan had the most difficulties falling asleep. It was half past four when the taller man gingerly let himself into the room. Sitting up immediately, Ethan rubbed out what little grogginess he had in his eyes and stared accusingly at his lover. Whatever he wanted to say disappeared when he saw what Dante scrabbled together as disguise in his haste to make it back to the apartment safely.

              “What…what are you wearing?” Ethan’s voice faltered as he scanned Dante up and down, brows knitting close in confusion.                The older man shrugged tiredly. “Necessity called.”                “It looks dumb.”                “What was that? Didn’t quite catch it.”                “It’s annoying me. Get rid of it.”                “Come over and make me,” Dante challenged, sticking out his chin petulantly as he leaned against the doorframe. A sly smile made its way onto Ethan’s face. In a fluid swinging motion, he was off the bed and closing the distance between them. He pressed against the taller man, hands tangling themselves in Dante’s shirt collar, as he leaned close enough to catch the faint residuals of the Spaniard’s cologne.                “You heard me. Take. It. Off,” he whispered, tilting his head to look at Dante with hooded eyes.                “What’s in it for me?” Dante’s voice was equally hushed, hands resting comfortably on Ethan’s waist as he returned the weighted stare.                “What do you think?” Ethan teased, biting his lower lip as he slowly drew his lover to the still-warm bed, smooth movements and charming smiles belying his anxiety when all he wanted to do was hang onto Dante and not let go until he knew they were safe.                Sometime later, lying tangled around each other and just on the outskirts of sleep, Ethan shifted to wrap both arms around the older man. He felt Dante’s hand in his hair, compelling him to empty his mind of what remained of his insecurities.                “I thought you were dead. You were so late this time,” he mumbled against the Spaniard’s smooth chest, with the slightest tremble in his voice.                “Sorry for making you worry. It was messy,” Dante pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of the blond’s head and continued running his fingers through his silky hair.                “If you die, I’m gonna kill you.”                A small, throaty laugh. “Does that even make sense?”                Ethan paused, then lifted his head and cupped Dante’s cheeks with still quaking hands. He wet his lips, hesitating.                “You’re all I have,” he whispered, finding Dante’s eyes. He saw them grow wider, matching the smile that the older man now had on his face.                “Someone’s vocal tonight,” joking, the Spaniard covered Ethan’s hands with his own—it was his way of showing appreciation. The blond blushed, catching his allusion, and stuck out his lip.                “Oh,” Dante continued, amused, “I forgot to mention. They might be onto something, so I’ll need to lie low for the time being. Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while.”                Feeling generous, Ethan held down the groan that arose in his throat. It wasn’t so bad. Maybe now Dante will come back at relatively normal times at night. Maybe now they could do normal things, things any two people in a relationship would do. Smiling to himself, he nestled himself into the crook of the older man’s neck.                “I don’t mind. Now go to sleep.”

[ieraus]

a relationship of ten bullets

the first time they meet ethan is all glares and crossed arms if he isn’t hiding behind dark shades and a grimace. he barely speaks five words and dante honestly isn’t quite sure what to make of this ball of barely suppressed anger and grief and ambition, but he’s not one to talk because he knows he’s a greasy motherfucker who fools around all the time just for the fun on it

it’s a company event and dante is at his usual place at the bar, drink in hand and smile dripping off his face, all flashes of white teeth and twinkling eyes as he effortlessly pulls in everyone around him and then he spies ethan sulking in the corner like a petulant child. he doesn’t think any more of it, other than that he just seems like a nuisance, someone on the food chain that will drop off soon enough even if he doesn’t bother anymore with him

it’s only one month later and ethan is suddenly sitting on a throne on top of a pile of closed deals, sales volume rising rapidly--dangerously--and it’s the first time a twinge of concern streaks through the spaniard. he notices that he now watches ethan more than he’d like to. he can’t figure out if the student is an asset or detriment to his case and the more he thinks about it the more frustrated he gets. the more attention the blond gets the more attention he himself gets and the last thing he wants is to have his cover be torn apart by a kid who couldn’t bother to look both ways before he crossed the street

another month later and the blond is now the life of the party. of course when something goes right a million other things go wrong and dante accidentally walks in on a semi-conscious ethan with his shirt half unbuttoned and pooled around his shoulders and it’s hardly risque but his eyes are blown wide and he’s barely responsive. the two guys sitting next--no, on--him scatter with one look at the older man’s scowl. he pulls the 21 year old to his feet, and stumbling, ethan wordlessly wraps his arms slowly around dante’s neck and all but collapses. the spaniard stays over that night

their first time is not until several weeks later and even then it’s still hesitant and dante doesn’t want to force anything because ethan still needs time to figure himself out but at this point the blond was just so overwhelmed and just wanted to feel good and forget about everything for once that he thought nothing of propositioning the older man the moment they walked out of an underground bar. dante obliges. they don’t speak about it the days after. they don’t talk about the times following that either, but they were happy, so happy

they fight, oh they fight, but dante is so incredibly kind and ethan feels like shit afterward and can never stay mad at him for too long, but he’s still scared shitless of letting people in--after all the people closest to him always ends up hurt and even though he doesn’t like to admit it dante has become important enough that ethan doesn’t want to lose him too

but when ethan hurts, he hurts, and those days drag on and his self-destructive tendencies just don’t seem to end and dante’s kind but not that kind and sometimes he just needs to run away too. those times just seem to have become more frequent. he has half a mind to pick up a pack of cigarettes but he doesn’t because he promised ethan--he promised--and the moment this crosses his mind he’s already halfway back to his apartment ready to gather the blond into his arms and whisper all the sweetness in the world into his hair. on those days ethan always falls asleep with his arms around dante’s middle and he has half a mind to fight more often just so he can see the younger man’s face when he wakes up and not just the aloof back he was so used to

dante is so close to closing the case he can taste it on the tip of his tongue but he can also taste ethan there as well and he just can’t bring himself to do the former. the latter though, is a different question

nipping at the heels of a rather heated argument--every other day at this point--ethan’s relocation comes at just the right time and with distance they both slowly fade from each other’s consciousness. dante prides himself on his ability to tie his side up neatly. it’s almost a year later but muscle memory kicks in at first mention of the blond behaving recklessly and he finds himself on the next plane to san francisco, finally ready to pull the younger man out of the dark world that he so recently escaped. after all he was the last link--afterward dante would have no remorse left in whatever he did against the organization

when they see each other again ethan’s warmer but still cool to the touch and it’s so exciting because it’s progress but the days carry on and ethan seems to be slipping away again and dante just doesn’t know what to do. but what shocks him is that he really doesn’t feel quite as bad as he should, as if his mind is already telling him that each stride ethan takes in the opposite direction is one step closer to a better understanding of his own life. ethan was never one to look both ways before crossing the street. this time he makes it across on his own

neozeka i couldn’t write an actual fic but here

[theoriginalmysteryincorporated]

It took me a pretty solid amount of time to come up with that name. I even spent time looking up the meanings of both their names trying to come up with something before I thought Chasing Angels up.

/well im v happy you came up with this this is my favorite thing i love this ship name thank u friend

[ihyhagl]

Ides of May, Chapter 3 – High School AU, PG-13, 2780 WC

                “So, the investigation continued, and Jun and I hung out more and more, and as I came to know her I thought she was actually pretty interesting. And you know, thought that maybe something could actually work between us. For a while, I thought she felt the same.”                 “So what happened?”                 “She got more and more moody, like sometimes I’d come into her homeroom and she’d just be sitting there really still, staring out the window or something.”                 “Did you try talking to her about it? Maybe go to the nurse or a therapist or something?”                 “I tried. But she always dismissed it as her not getting enough sleep and being tired or something. So I thought to just observe her for a bit more, and if things didn’t change, then bring her to a professional.”                 “I see. So you don’t know if she was at risk for suicide or anything, which would explain why you just left her alone like that at the trail.”                 “Yeah, also,” Kain looked up, “Officer Park, do you know if she…”                 “Don’t worry, she’s safe. Er…someone found her there and brought her in.”                 Kain nodded, then folded his hands on the desk, “Okay…okay. As long as she’s okay…um, so what else would you like to know?”                 “Just a minute. Let me summarize. So, you and your friends somehow dug up this information around Chinatown, and you were able to get a longtime family friend to meet with her to tell her himself. You realize that this could be borderline illegal, right?”                 The blond remained silent. Sighing, Officer Park passed a hand over his haggard face.                 “Do you teenagers even know what limits are these days?” he glared at the boy in front of him before his gaze softened, “sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I understand that you were just trying to help someone you like. I get that. Anyway…you mentioned that Sehnsucht had said something to the effect of ‘you got what you wanted’ when he was talking to Ran. Do you believe Ran orchestrated this?”                 Shaking his head, Kain looked the officer dead in the eye.                 “No? Why not?”                 “Because the look on his face was one of surprise…and pure terror too. At that point, none of us knew where Jun was, because she turned off her phone, so we didn’t know if she decided to come later or not. And I think…he was scared that she might have been there. I don’t think he would pull a stunt like that. It’s not…his style. No matter how much attention he craved, he would never resort to something that could actually kill another person.”                 “I see. Nevertheless, he’s someone we’ll have to look further into. And his relationship with his friend is a bit strange as well. Seems like he never forgave Sehnsucht for his mother’s death?”                 “O-oh, really?” Now that was something Kain had never heard about. “I didn’t know…”                  Park exhaled again, twisting his lips to the side for a quick smile, “Well, anyway, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Jaeger.” He rose from his seat, extending a weathered hand.                 “Is…is that it?”                 “Yes, for now. If we have any more questions, we’ll call you in for further interrogation. I’ll see you out,” the Asian man paused, then looked at him gently, “I can bring you to where your friend Jun is, if you’d like…”                 “Y-yeah, please,” Kain rose up eagerly, pushing the chair in behind him as he followed the policeman out, “thank you.”                 “There she is. Take care, you two.”                 Beyond glass, Jun was curled in on herself, head buried into tightly gripped arms. Every now and then a slight tremor would rack her frame; each time Kain could feel his heart tug as well. Silently opening the door and closing it behind him, he carefully picked his way over.                 “Hey, hey Jun, are…are you okay?” he whispered as he fell into the chair beside her. Her head bobbed, rising up slowly. Reaching forward, he softly pushed her hair back, then wiped the streaks of black from her cheeks.                 “Shen…is Shen okay? What about Ran? Was he there too? He was supposed to be…what am I going to do if…if…” She couldn’t continue speaking.                 A sinking feeling. The words that had already formed in Kain’s throat slid back down, fell into a pit of acid and drowned. Despite all of the rough patches they had, they were the only ones she had complete faith in. Was he to always remain in their shadow?                 He really should have expected it.                 They met like two whirlwinds out of sync, crashing together to fuse for a short, destructive period of time before separating and going their different ways again. Yes, they were exactly like two out-of-control whirlwinds, stuck in the delusion of love. He could almost touch their affection, so real, so palpable it had seemed. He could still remember the fleeting, warm touches and the soft smiles and the wordless communication; he could still remember her low yet soft voice, the way her head fit into the crook of his neck, her slender hands.                 Granted, it was only a few hours, but he realized that every novel, every romantic comedy, was right—time seemed to stop. Eternity was only a concept until it hit him in the face.                 “They…they’re okay,” he finally muttered, drawing her to his chest, “they’re all fine. So what about you?” She nodded, held on to herself for mere moments more before finally wrapping still chilled arms around him.                 “Jun, do you believe in the red string?”

[ihyhagl]

Ides of May, Chapter 2 – High School AU, PG, 2175 WC

[ihyhagl]

Ides of May, Chapter 1 – High School AU, PG, 2000 WC