The Art of Denial 2/14 (Fanfiction)
Apr. 2nd, 2013 02:58 pmTitle: The Art of Denial
Author:
write_my_dreams
Pairing: None
Bands: BUCK-TICK, Acid Black Cherry (Yasu), Solo (Kiyoharu). Others later.
Genre: AU, paranormal, horror (sort of)
Warning/Disclaimer: Slight horror warning? Maki and Hisoka belong to me but Atsushi and the other named characters, alas, do not.
Rating: PG
Chapters: 2/14
Summary: After a girl commits suicide in his apartment, Atsushi starts getting headaches and having nightmares on an almost daily basis. Doctors can't figure out why he's having so many headaches and as time goes on Atsushi starts to realize there may be no logical explanation to his problem... but he's unwilling to accept there might be supernatural causes even though all the evidence points to it.
Author's Comment: I had written this last week and just opened the file again today. Realize it wasn't as bad as I thought so I was able to post it. Atsushi's nightmares are just beginning and they'll only get worse as time goes on.
It was late by the time Atsushi returned home. He fumbled for his keys then paused as he realized there was a note stuck to his door. A note in pink stationary with little hearts on the paper. Oh no… was this another attempt from Ayako, his neighbor who was always trying set him up with her daughter? She’d stopped bothering him though after Imai had pretended to be his boyfriend last month. The desire to marry her daughter off must have overridden her shock at seeing him with another man.
Cautiously, Atsushi pulled the note off the door. He frowned as he realized there was no message on it. He turned the note over and saw a name stamped on the back—Maki. She and her older brother, Hisoka, lived above him. Maki was in her last year of high school and often stopped by his apartment to play with his cats and ask him questions about the music industry. Usually she would leave notes on his door asking if she could visit but she’d never left a blank message before. Something felt… wrong about this. Why would Maki go to the trouble of sticking a note to his door, but not write anything? Or was the blank paper a message? Atsushi frowned as he checked the time. It was almost midnight so she might be awake still… or maybe not. He glanced at the note and then at his door. It seemed rude to visit at this time of the night, but he wanted to know why Maki had left the note on his door. It was best to go to her apartment.
Atsushi went upstairs. He frowned as he saw the door was ajar despite the apartment being dark. Had one of them come home late and forgotten to close the door? No… that was out of character for both of them. Hisoka was protective of his sister and wanted her safe. He’d even been suspicious about Maki visiting Atsushi, a single man, but had eventually relaxed. The bad feeling Atsushi had had downstairs came back. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Slowly he stepped closer so he could knock on the door. “Maki? Hisoka? Are you here?” he called.
Silence.
“Maki?” he tried again, a little louder this time. Atsushi didn’t want to be too loud and risk waking up the neighbors but just barging inside… When there was still no answer he cautiously pushed the door open and entered the apartment. “Are you two asleep? You shouldn’t leave your door open...” he trailed off as he saw Maki’s shoes in the entryway. She must be here—but what about her brother? Atsushi laid his hand on the door, hesitating. Something was… pulling him to go inside. Yet at the same time, part of him was screaming that he needed to go back to his apartment. To get inside, lock the doors, and stay far away from Maki and Hisoka’s apartment. But why? The kids were good people.
Still feeling uncertain, Atsushi slipped out of his boots then flipped the lights on so he could see. “Maki?” he left the entryway and approached the living room. There was just enough light from the entryway to illuminate the nightmare inside. Maki was dead. She’d hung herself, but not before curling her hair and putting on makeup. Atsushi clapped his hand over his mouth as his stomach rebelled. Somehow he managed to keep himself from vomiting but couldn’t take his eyes off the once lively girl. Maki… why would she do this to herself? Atsushi’s breathing was ragged and too fast as he dragged his eyes away from her body. Then he realized what was under her: a microphone and what looked like rejection letters. Atsushi stared at the letters. What would crush Maki so much that she would kill herself?
Biting his lip, Atsushi slowly approached the letters. Two were rejection letters from universities and the other two were from talent companies. Maki had mentioned wanting to be a singer, that she had auditions this week… Atsushi picked the letters up. The audition letters were from three days ago while the university letters were from today. “Maki,” Atsushi whispered, backing away and looking at her again. Had the letters crushed her soul so badly that she couldn’t stand to live anymore?
He sensed a presence behind him and spun around. Atsushi dropped the letters, eyes widening as he saw Maki standing nearby. Maki? Quickly he glanced up. Her body still hung from the ceiling but there she was, right in front of him. “Maki…?” Atsushi’s voice cracked. “W-What’s happening? Why are there two of you?” slowly he retreated, tensing as his back connected with a wall.
“I knew you’d sense me. That you would find me here.” Maki adjusted her skirt then looked at the letters he’d dropped. “I was rejected from every university I applied to, I failed my auditions, and Hisoka yelled at me for wasting my money on clothes and audition fees instead of saving for school. I’m useless… a failure. I’ll never amount to anything so the only thing I could do was die.” She spat the last word as if it were a foul curse. Angrily she kicked the letters aside, raising her head to look at Atsushi again. “But then I thought of you… and how you’ve always been so nice to me. So I left the note on your door.”
Atsushi’s heart was beating so loudly she could probably hear it. How could a dead girl be standing in front of him? “Maki… w-what are you? A ghost?” No, that couldn’t be. He didn’t believe in ghosts! Atsushi had never seen or heard one before. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.
Maki smiled sadly. “Yes, Sakurai-san.” She was always too polite to call him by his first name. “I’m a ghost. I left the note on your door so you would help me.”
“Help you?” Atsushi echoed. How could he help her?
“Yes.” Maki stepped closer. “I didn’t realize it when I was alive, but you’re sensitive to us. To ghosts. You felt like you had to come to my apartment, didn’t you?”
Atsushi didn’t trust his voice to speak so managed a shaky nod instead.
“I called you,” Maki replied. “I wanted you here.” The way she looked at him sent chills down his spine. Seeing her body had been terrible… just thinking about it made bile rise in his throat, but he kept it down somehow. The intensity of her stare just made everything worse. “Only you can help me.”
Somehow Atsushi found the strength to edge away from the wall. “I’m not… sensitive to ghosts. I can’t be.” The little voice in his head that had warned him not to come to her apartment was now screaming at him to get out. “Maki, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to help you.” Maybe this was a dream… yes it, was just a dream. He was going to wake up and Maki would be alive and well. He closed his eyes then opened them again, biting his lip so hard it bled as he saw that he was still in the room. Maki’s spirit had disappeared though and all he could see was her body. Atsushi didn’t know what to do. If he took her body down before calling the police they might think he killed her. But leaving her here… Shuddering, Atsushi clapped a hand over his mouth as his stomach rolled again. He had to get out of here before he vomited in their apartment. He left the living room then gasped as he saw Maki standing in front of the door. She looked sad and stretched out one hand in a pleading gesture.
“Don’t leave,” she whispered. “I need you to help me move on. I can’t leave this place! I’ve tried! I can’t get past your apartment before I feel as if I’ve run into a wall. Help me,” she repeated, approaching him. “You always helped me when I was alive. You can help me now.”
Atsushi started violently as he heard the sickening sound of a body hitting the floor behind him. He spun around to see the rope had snapped, dropping Maki’s body to the floor. He couldn’t hold back the nausea anymore. Small, cold hands pulled his hair back from his face as his stomach rebelled against him. Maki’s ghostly hands on him made the nausea even worse. His throat was burning and he felt his skin turning icy as Maki slowly rubbed his back.
“It’s okay… you can help me.”
The sound of feet dragging made him look up and he couldn’t hold back a scream as he saw Maki’s dead body approaching, eyes white and her head still bent from how she’d hung herself. Atsushi wrenched away from her spirit just as the world started spinning. His eyes snapped open and he found himself in bed, sheets twisted around his legs and with a pounding headache. His heart was beating too fast and he felt like he was going to hyperventilate. He was panicking so much he’d scared Bandit and Sphinx off his bed. The cats were giving him reproachful looks. Slowly Atsushi started calming down, clutching his heart and trying to breathe evenly. It was just a dream. No… not quite. It had been a horrible, gruesome nightmare. That was all it was though: a nightmare. Atsushi hadn’t seen Maki or Hisoka lately since he’d been busy with work and assumed the siblings had been busy with their respective lives. That didn’t mean Maki was dead though—Hisoka would have said something and Atsushi would have heard about her death. There were plenty of gossipy old women who lived in the building and thought it was their job to know everyone’s business. The news of his “boyfriend” had spread quickly last time… people had left him alone for the most part at least but it had still been irritating. The gossip had died down and their latest target was a salaryman having an affair with a younger, attractive woman. Atsushi hadn’t heard anything about Maki or Hisoka.
“It was just a nightmare,” he whispered to himself, voice rough from sleeping. Slowly he took a deep breath then looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. Too early for him to get up but that didn’t mean he was going to try to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to think about what horrors he might end up dreaming about if he tried that. Atsushi swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. Immediately he hissed and clutched his head as a wave of dizziness swept over him. Fuck, his head felt like he’d just banged it into a wall. A furry body brushing against his legs made him glance down. Sphinx rubbed against him and meowed, standing up on his hind legs to put his paws on Atsushi’s thighs. He did this when he was hungry—or wanted to be picked up.
“You just want breakfast,” Atsushi muttered. He sighed softly then leaned down to pick up the cat. Sphinx batted at his hair then started purring as Atsushi petted him. The sound made him feel a little better, pulling a smile from him. He always loved listening to his cats purring. It was such a relaxing sound.
Atsushi slowly carried his cat into the kitchen. Every step made his temples throb. How was he going to function at work if his head hurt this badly? He could call in sick if need be, but he wanted to avoid using up his vacation time if at all possible. Also, after that nightmare, Atsushi didn’t feel comfortable spending the day in his apartment. Although his cats would enjoy having him there.
He sighed then set Sphinx down so he could start preparing his cats’ breakfast. Once they were eating he made breakfast for himself, swallowing two aspirin with his coffee in the hopes that it would help the headache.
*
Atsushi felt better when it was time to get ready for work. He’d taken a long, hot bath earlier to help him relax. It helped with the headaches too. Due to the bath and the aspirin, his headache had died down. Atsushi pulled his jacket on then looked at the door. He wasn’t going to find a blank message on his door. He would even stop by Maki and Hisoka’s apartment before he left to prove that it had all been a nightmare.
“I’ll be back later.” Atsushi leaned down to pet his cats then grabbed his back and left the apartment. He couldn’t help but tense as he opened the door. Despite his conviction that it was a dream, a small part of him couldn’t help but worry that it had been true. There was no note on the door though. “Just a dream,” Atsushi whispered to himself. He locked the door and closed it, glancing towards the staircase. Visiting the siblings’ apartment would prove it. Atsushi quickly went up the stairs so check on the apartment. The door was shut and no light was coming through the small window next to it. Unease crept over Atsushi again. Maki and Hisoka should be getting ready to leave for school and work right now. Had they overslept…? Atsushi wondered if he should knock, to make sure they were okay. He stretched his hand towards the door then hesitated as the dream washed over him again. What if…Maki really was dead?
Atsushi pulled his hand back. He was too afraid to knock. If Maki was dead… no, it couldn’t be. Gritting his teeth, Atsushi forced himself to knock on the door. He waited a few moments to see if Maki or Hisoka would come to the door. Nothing. Maybe they’d left already? Or…
“It was just a nightmare,” Atsushi whispered to himself. Slowly he turned away. No one was coming to the door so there was no point in lingering here. It was best to leave and stop by later. Atsushi headed back towards the stairs then paused to look back at the apartment. The window remained dark and the door stayed shut.
Groaning, Atsushi raked his hair back. He could only hope that today would be busy to keep him from dwelling on his nightmare.
Cautiously, Atsushi pulled the note off the door. He frowned as he realized there was no message on it. He turned the note over and saw a name stamped on the back—Maki. She and her older brother, Hisoka, lived above him. Maki was in her last year of high school and often stopped by his apartment to play with his cats and ask him questions about the music industry. Usually she would leave notes on his door asking if she could visit but she’d never left a blank message before. Something felt… wrong about this. Why would Maki go to the trouble of sticking a note to his door, but not write anything? Or was the blank paper a message? Atsushi frowned as he checked the time. It was almost midnight so she might be awake still… or maybe not. He glanced at the note and then at his door. It seemed rude to visit at this time of the night, but he wanted to know why Maki had left the note on his door. It was best to go to her apartment.
Atsushi went upstairs. He frowned as he saw the door was ajar despite the apartment being dark. Had one of them come home late and forgotten to close the door? No… that was out of character for both of them. Hisoka was protective of his sister and wanted her safe. He’d even been suspicious about Maki visiting Atsushi, a single man, but had eventually relaxed. The bad feeling Atsushi had had downstairs came back. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Slowly he stepped closer so he could knock on the door. “Maki? Hisoka? Are you here?” he called.
Silence.
“Maki?” he tried again, a little louder this time. Atsushi didn’t want to be too loud and risk waking up the neighbors but just barging inside… When there was still no answer he cautiously pushed the door open and entered the apartment. “Are you two asleep? You shouldn’t leave your door open...” he trailed off as he saw Maki’s shoes in the entryway. She must be here—but what about her brother? Atsushi laid his hand on the door, hesitating. Something was… pulling him to go inside. Yet at the same time, part of him was screaming that he needed to go back to his apartment. To get inside, lock the doors, and stay far away from Maki and Hisoka’s apartment. But why? The kids were good people.
Still feeling uncertain, Atsushi slipped out of his boots then flipped the lights on so he could see. “Maki?” he left the entryway and approached the living room. There was just enough light from the entryway to illuminate the nightmare inside. Maki was dead. She’d hung herself, but not before curling her hair and putting on makeup. Atsushi clapped his hand over his mouth as his stomach rebelled. Somehow he managed to keep himself from vomiting but couldn’t take his eyes off the once lively girl. Maki… why would she do this to herself? Atsushi’s breathing was ragged and too fast as he dragged his eyes away from her body. Then he realized what was under her: a microphone and what looked like rejection letters. Atsushi stared at the letters. What would crush Maki so much that she would kill herself?
Biting his lip, Atsushi slowly approached the letters. Two were rejection letters from universities and the other two were from talent companies. Maki had mentioned wanting to be a singer, that she had auditions this week… Atsushi picked the letters up. The audition letters were from three days ago while the university letters were from today. “Maki,” Atsushi whispered, backing away and looking at her again. Had the letters crushed her soul so badly that she couldn’t stand to live anymore?
He sensed a presence behind him and spun around. Atsushi dropped the letters, eyes widening as he saw Maki standing nearby. Maki? Quickly he glanced up. Her body still hung from the ceiling but there she was, right in front of him. “Maki…?” Atsushi’s voice cracked. “W-What’s happening? Why are there two of you?” slowly he retreated, tensing as his back connected with a wall.
“I knew you’d sense me. That you would find me here.” Maki adjusted her skirt then looked at the letters he’d dropped. “I was rejected from every university I applied to, I failed my auditions, and Hisoka yelled at me for wasting my money on clothes and audition fees instead of saving for school. I’m useless… a failure. I’ll never amount to anything so the only thing I could do was die.” She spat the last word as if it were a foul curse. Angrily she kicked the letters aside, raising her head to look at Atsushi again. “But then I thought of you… and how you’ve always been so nice to me. So I left the note on your door.”
Atsushi’s heart was beating so loudly she could probably hear it. How could a dead girl be standing in front of him? “Maki… w-what are you? A ghost?” No, that couldn’t be. He didn’t believe in ghosts! Atsushi had never seen or heard one before. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.
Maki smiled sadly. “Yes, Sakurai-san.” She was always too polite to call him by his first name. “I’m a ghost. I left the note on your door so you would help me.”
“Help you?” Atsushi echoed. How could he help her?
“Yes.” Maki stepped closer. “I didn’t realize it when I was alive, but you’re sensitive to us. To ghosts. You felt like you had to come to my apartment, didn’t you?”
Atsushi didn’t trust his voice to speak so managed a shaky nod instead.
“I called you,” Maki replied. “I wanted you here.” The way she looked at him sent chills down his spine. Seeing her body had been terrible… just thinking about it made bile rise in his throat, but he kept it down somehow. The intensity of her stare just made everything worse. “Only you can help me.”
Somehow Atsushi found the strength to edge away from the wall. “I’m not… sensitive to ghosts. I can’t be.” The little voice in his head that had warned him not to come to her apartment was now screaming at him to get out. “Maki, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to help you.” Maybe this was a dream… yes it, was just a dream. He was going to wake up and Maki would be alive and well. He closed his eyes then opened them again, biting his lip so hard it bled as he saw that he was still in the room. Maki’s spirit had disappeared though and all he could see was her body. Atsushi didn’t know what to do. If he took her body down before calling the police they might think he killed her. But leaving her here… Shuddering, Atsushi clapped a hand over his mouth as his stomach rolled again. He had to get out of here before he vomited in their apartment. He left the living room then gasped as he saw Maki standing in front of the door. She looked sad and stretched out one hand in a pleading gesture.
“Don’t leave,” she whispered. “I need you to help me move on. I can’t leave this place! I’ve tried! I can’t get past your apartment before I feel as if I’ve run into a wall. Help me,” she repeated, approaching him. “You always helped me when I was alive. You can help me now.”
Atsushi started violently as he heard the sickening sound of a body hitting the floor behind him. He spun around to see the rope had snapped, dropping Maki’s body to the floor. He couldn’t hold back the nausea anymore. Small, cold hands pulled his hair back from his face as his stomach rebelled against him. Maki’s ghostly hands on him made the nausea even worse. His throat was burning and he felt his skin turning icy as Maki slowly rubbed his back.
“It’s okay… you can help me.”
The sound of feet dragging made him look up and he couldn’t hold back a scream as he saw Maki’s dead body approaching, eyes white and her head still bent from how she’d hung herself. Atsushi wrenched away from her spirit just as the world started spinning. His eyes snapped open and he found himself in bed, sheets twisted around his legs and with a pounding headache. His heart was beating too fast and he felt like he was going to hyperventilate. He was panicking so much he’d scared Bandit and Sphinx off his bed. The cats were giving him reproachful looks. Slowly Atsushi started calming down, clutching his heart and trying to breathe evenly. It was just a dream. No… not quite. It had been a horrible, gruesome nightmare. That was all it was though: a nightmare. Atsushi hadn’t seen Maki or Hisoka lately since he’d been busy with work and assumed the siblings had been busy with their respective lives. That didn’t mean Maki was dead though—Hisoka would have said something and Atsushi would have heard about her death. There were plenty of gossipy old women who lived in the building and thought it was their job to know everyone’s business. The news of his “boyfriend” had spread quickly last time… people had left him alone for the most part at least but it had still been irritating. The gossip had died down and their latest target was a salaryman having an affair with a younger, attractive woman. Atsushi hadn’t heard anything about Maki or Hisoka.
“It was just a nightmare,” he whispered to himself, voice rough from sleeping. Slowly he took a deep breath then looked at the clock. It was five in the morning. Too early for him to get up but that didn’t mean he was going to try to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to think about what horrors he might end up dreaming about if he tried that. Atsushi swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. Immediately he hissed and clutched his head as a wave of dizziness swept over him. Fuck, his head felt like he’d just banged it into a wall. A furry body brushing against his legs made him glance down. Sphinx rubbed against him and meowed, standing up on his hind legs to put his paws on Atsushi’s thighs. He did this when he was hungry—or wanted to be picked up.
“You just want breakfast,” Atsushi muttered. He sighed softly then leaned down to pick up the cat. Sphinx batted at his hair then started purring as Atsushi petted him. The sound made him feel a little better, pulling a smile from him. He always loved listening to his cats purring. It was such a relaxing sound.
Atsushi slowly carried his cat into the kitchen. Every step made his temples throb. How was he going to function at work if his head hurt this badly? He could call in sick if need be, but he wanted to avoid using up his vacation time if at all possible. Also, after that nightmare, Atsushi didn’t feel comfortable spending the day in his apartment. Although his cats would enjoy having him there.
He sighed then set Sphinx down so he could start preparing his cats’ breakfast. Once they were eating he made breakfast for himself, swallowing two aspirin with his coffee in the hopes that it would help the headache.
*
Atsushi felt better when it was time to get ready for work. He’d taken a long, hot bath earlier to help him relax. It helped with the headaches too. Due to the bath and the aspirin, his headache had died down. Atsushi pulled his jacket on then looked at the door. He wasn’t going to find a blank message on his door. He would even stop by Maki and Hisoka’s apartment before he left to prove that it had all been a nightmare.
“I’ll be back later.” Atsushi leaned down to pet his cats then grabbed his back and left the apartment. He couldn’t help but tense as he opened the door. Despite his conviction that it was a dream, a small part of him couldn’t help but worry that it had been true. There was no note on the door though. “Just a dream,” Atsushi whispered to himself. He locked the door and closed it, glancing towards the staircase. Visiting the siblings’ apartment would prove it. Atsushi quickly went up the stairs so check on the apartment. The door was shut and no light was coming through the small window next to it. Unease crept over Atsushi again. Maki and Hisoka should be getting ready to leave for school and work right now. Had they overslept…? Atsushi wondered if he should knock, to make sure they were okay. He stretched his hand towards the door then hesitated as the dream washed over him again. What if…Maki really was dead?
Atsushi pulled his hand back. He was too afraid to knock. If Maki was dead… no, it couldn’t be. Gritting his teeth, Atsushi forced himself to knock on the door. He waited a few moments to see if Maki or Hisoka would come to the door. Nothing. Maybe they’d left already? Or…
“It was just a nightmare,” Atsushi whispered to himself. Slowly he turned away. No one was coming to the door so there was no point in lingering here. It was best to leave and stop by later. Atsushi headed back towards the stairs then paused to look back at the apartment. The window remained dark and the door stayed shut.
Groaning, Atsushi raked his hair back. He could only hope that today would be busy to keep him from dwelling on his nightmare.
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Date: 2013-04-02 04:37 pm (UTC)The nightmare was terrifying! I was scared >.
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Date: 2013-04-02 11:06 pm (UTC)I'm glad it was, I write horror-type scenes so rarely I always worry they'll be cheesy. Unfortunately for Atsushi this nightmare is pretty mild compared to what else he has in store for him. Think his next bad one is in Chapter 5...
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Date: 2013-04-03 05:00 am (UTC)I shouldn't read this fic at night!
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Date: 2013-04-03 07:49 am (UTC)Haha maybe not
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Date: 2013-04-03 03:17 pm (UTC)Awesome :)
I've seen you post the fics but I have no idea who you're writing about. I'll look into who you're writing about sometime this weekend and then read through
Sort of feeling better...
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Date: 2013-04-16 10:42 pm (UTC)I can't wait for chapter three! :)
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Date: 2013-04-17 12:29 am (UTC)especially Chp 14. I feel so evil for being excited to write that chapter as he has his worst nightmares yetYou're right about that!Might take me a while to get to Chapter 3 so we'll see when I can next update
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Date: 2013-04-17 09:59 pm (UTC)How many chapters are there going to be in total?
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Date: 2013-04-18 02:58 am (UTC)Um, I'm still figuring it out but I have 14 chapters outlined. I'm thinking it's somewhere between 15-20 chapters in total.
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Date: 2013-04-18 09:06 pm (UTC)Cool! Quite a long fic then! :D
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Date: 2013-04-19 12:10 am (UTC)But I want it to be a kind of long one to show the psychological effects of constant nightmares
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Date: 2013-04-20 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2013-05-08 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-10 07:25 pm (UTC)Although his new lover might be wanting him to move in soon XD
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Date: 2013-05-14 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2013-06-10 12:11 am (UTC)Thank you :) I'm glad you do! Haha, reading sex scenes is fun but I'd rather read a story with plot and substance than just them fucking. Also, for me personally, sex scenes are annoying to write. That makes me very happy to hear ♥