#Best of luck getting All Mights blessing on the marriage you 2

[softer-ua]

I will never ever ever ever get over how All Might was immediately on board to follow Izuku to different school, like didn’t say a damn thing either. Even tho like 30 minutes prior

Like I know Dekus his successor and he has a responsibility to stay by him but between

his role as a teacher

condoning restraining Katsuki(a child in crisis!!) by placing that medal on him on the international broadcasting of a spectacle that has replaced the Olympics and is stated to influence these kids while careers

and then thrusting him farther into negative lime light(even though it wasn’t anyone but the villains fault) by losing his powers while rescuing him

You’d think he’d recognize that he has some serious responsibility to Katsuki too, like separate from Deku & OFA All Might has unintentionally caught Katsuki into his orbit & as an adult he should be able to not only recognize that but step up to that

I refuse to believe that All Might actually cares about Katsuki as an individual at all, frankly I think he low key seriously dislikes him and originally had no intention of ever seeing him succeed and would have loved an excuse to separate Izuku from him

Don’t agree?

Let me ask you this, do you honestly believe that if it had been Inko hitting Izuku All Might would have looked the other way?

I don’t, I guarantee that All Might would have called in on every favor he could think of and Inko would have been losing custody before the sunset

I think Deku told All Might one too many of Bakugo’s character flaws during their pre UA training sessions and All Might decided he hated him and would never let it go

Izuku venting should have been fine but All Might struggles with maturity and emotional intelligence, he never unpacked his trauma around losing Nana & put her on a pedestal

It left him with a mindset that let him blindly supporting Izukus reckless tendencies for far too long and it was only corrected by the intervention of others like recovery girl

while also had him under the impression that Izuku would just magically understand OFA because obviously it was his closeness to his mentor that made him such a great hero

He never took into consideration that OFA was much stronger now or that not only is Izuku just of a smaller build to begin with but he had less time to train, like we see All Might was already pretty solidly built and involved with Nana in middle school.

Izuku only had time to build up enough strength and stamina so that OFA didn’t immediately kill him and it’s treated like he’s just not as much of a natural as AM when that’s only such a small part of the problem 😩

After the home visits All Might definitely does try harder for Izuku, to be more available to him and after DvsK2 All Mights consideration of Katsuki is slightly more sensitive and nuanced but tbh it’s all still through a lense of ‘remember he’s important to Izuku, if he improves so does Izuku’

What really confirms that for me is that there was zero reason All Might couldn’t have told the class to make an exception and let Katsuki into Izukus hospital room if he woke up

The class has known since before the training camp that they mean a lot to each other & have know each other for like forever(even if it is messy), but everything during and after camp surely renforced it

They know that Bakugo went off alone with Deku at the beginning of the war and stayed with him throughout it until he got stabbed, it’d make sense that upon waking up not dead he’d wanna see the person he sacrificed himself for

Most importantly absolutely everyone knows what a dramatic hassle Bakugo can be, they could have just written it off as a precaution to keep the hospital quiet 💀

There was zero reason that in however long existed between them waiting for Izuku to wake up and All Might delivering the letters All Might couldn’t have filled Bakugo in or at least offered him some kind of personal communication and comfort

He should have felt some obligation to do so after everything, he should have known better.

Yes it was Izukus decision to leave & knowing Izuku it was a safer bet to go along with that plan so that he didn’t do it 100% alone but All Might should have known that cutting Katsuki out completely wasn’t just a tactically bad idea it was a cold and callous one too

Also All Might just generally enjoyed beating the shit out of Bakugo just a wee bit too much, imo, man looks like it was his birthday and Christmas all in one

All Might, the number one hero for decades, repeatedly introducing the back of Bakugo’s skull to the pavement was a conscious choice that he made with joy in his heart, Idc how much you don’t like that take, because there were a dozen other choices he could have made

And that’s how you know Deku is bilnded by his admiration of All Might. Otherwise he may have noticed that All Might, for all his support of Bakugo helping Izuku become a stronger hero doesn’t support Bakugo being in his personal life, or Bakugo being alive in general 💀

Honestly I can see why Katsuki procrastinated ever getting All Might to sign his card, between fanboying, personal guilt, pride, and the fact that he probably has a sneaking suspicion that AM doesn’t like him it makes sense that he never once brought it up over the course of an entire year 🥺💔

#bnha #boku no hero #my hero academia #mha #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou katsuki #kacchan #deku #izuku midoriya #dekubaku #dkbk #deku x kacchan #Best of luck getting All Mights blessing on the marriage you 2 #it’ll be a toss up between All Might want Deku to have all the happiness in the world & him not wanting Bakugo in that world Lmaoo #bnha spoilers #I just can not vibe with or abide people who don’t put child welfare above all else #like I genuinely don’t care about the reasons #I dont care what kinda un healed trauma the adults struggling with or what other moving parts they’re contending with #suck it the fuck up and do right by the child #contrary to popular belief you actually don’t have to know better to do better #you just have to be resolutely committed to not causing more harm #like even within their universes context of child soldiers being the social norm #I mean I love All Might and think he’s a great character with a lot of depth and nuances just like Katsukis #I think how much he cares about Izuku and wants to be there for him is beautiful #I just also think he’s a toxic presence of a mentor #toxic people aren’t exclusively malicious #it can also be good people who haven’t confronted enough of their own demons and done enough self work #sadly that’s no excuse for his behavior

[sketchfanda]

A Little Moxxie Love:Stella's Hubris

Now call her a shallow, sadistic, vapid self absorbed harpy bitch (which she certainly was but few if any would have either the spine or the balls to say that to her face) but if Stella was chocolate, she'd certainly eat herself. Case being the absolute sadist glee and pride she felt in this little master plan of hers, as she sat lounging in the room of the hotel she'd booked tonight for herself and a very special guest. One she would very much take satisfaction and sheer glee in dominating and destroying. Dare she think, she might've been actually getting aroused (not horny, that's the commoner way).

Now why you might be wondering, well I'll try and keep this short, plenty of you are more than familiar and acquainted enough with the ongoing soap opera strife involving Stella, her husband and said husband's Imp boytoy. Suffice to say, and this is an understatement, she was pissed, not to mention sick and tired of the fact that the damn owl, if he had to go cheat, had to do it with an imp of all hell's natives!! Now sure she could just divorce his ass or hell just have him killed but then she had a stroke of genius, so she thought. She'd get payback by finding and banging some Imp's little brains out, thus ensuring the best lay of his measly little life and of course proving herself the more desirable Goetian.

Hey don't look at me like that, you expect me to make any sense of this swan's logic? It made about as much sense as the fact that for some reason their parents thought it'd be a good idea to arrange a marriage between the 2 despite the fact it clearly wasn't working out and that Stolas maybe might have been a closet case? But the point is she that she had gone and made these arrangements to have some imp brought to her at this little secret exclusive hotel for a night of passion. Which she was going to have filmed and photographed for her personal pleasure of course.

Hearing the sounds of the door opening, footsteps and a muffled voice, the fowl woman (pun intended) grinned as she got up from her lounging, looking herself in the mirror with a little narcissistic affection and admiration at the lingerie she got for this occasion. Just because she was going to bang some rando imp didn't mean she couldn't look fabulous after all, stepping into the boudoir as she beheld her lucky prey. Tied up with a burlap sack over his head as she pulled it off revealing it to be Moxxie of all people. Now I know what you're thinking but doubtful she even cared to know which imp Stolas was seeing so it was purely coincidence she got Moxxie snagged because that's how his luck is going here.

The gagged imp was clearly none too pleased, his muffled ranting pausing soon as he laid eyes on her. Going stiff as a board as he began to put the mental gymnastics together as to who she was but not so much the why he was here. Not helping the fact that for as much of an evil bitch energy she was giving off, Stella still did radiate quite a sexual charisma which wasn't helped by the ensemble she was wearing that just screamed made to get a dick hard. Or the rather sadistic twinkling gleam in her eyes as she sensually laughed at his reaction, leaning in close to caress one talon under his chin.

Stella:"Well I do have to rather admit, far as imps go? You're certainly not too hard on the eyes, rather dashing and handsome in way, cute even. Consider yourself a very lucky and blessed little one then because tonight, you have the luxury of sharing my sexual company this evening. We are going, and honestly, why play it polite, fuck and it's going to be fun....for me, I assure you."*The demon swan bitch queen all but reassured her captive beau for the evening, making it clear to him what her intentions were. Undoing her outfit enough to expose some of the more intimate, down right naughty sexy portions of her body before him. Taking delight in his reaction especially when she could the distinct bulge forming in the crotch of his pants. The mere idea she was enticing enough to coax Moxxie into getting an erection a very fine boost to her ego, as well as fuel to her own libido of course.*

With that said of course, the Goetian deviant woman decided she'd had done enough stalling and set to sate her carnal appetite, a nice cold dish of sweet revenge in the form of fucking her own imp boi toy. Running her talon down along to undo his bowtie and unbutton his shirt, licking her beak at the sight of quite a nice body for such a runty imp before she came to stop at the fly of his pants. Undoing it as she knelt down to have herself a better look see at the toy she would be playing with before she found herself getting quite a shock. Eyes shocked wide, beaked mouth agape as before it sprung out and stood quite the impressive length and girth she'd ever witnessed given whaetever prior sexual experience she had before and during her marriage to Stolas.

Stella:"W-well....certainly not a runt where it counts hmm?"*Trying and failing to sound nonchalant and unimpressed and really how could she? Thinking what the absolute fuck, was it possible for any imp to be so big or was Moxxie just some sort of mutant?!!*"W-well let's see if you're experienced enough with it to please someone like me, little man...."*Her bravado clear as day as she nervously grasped and stroked his shaft in her hand, feeling it twitch and pulse with every massage of her feathery palm and fingers. Uusing her free hand to undo the binds and restaints on Moxxie, after all it wouldn't do to not least let her gentleman for the night please her to the best of his abilities if he was tied up.*

If her hubris hadn't already been coming to bite her in her feathered and sexy avian ass, the moment she'd let him loose was pretty much it. She wasn't sure how or why it'd managed to come to play out like this but Moxxie was pretty much dominating her and she found herself loving it. Her brain and body alike becoming hit and overwhelmed with such unreal sensations of mind numbing sexual pleasrure she never thought imaginable and yet she was feeling it. Gripping and biting the sheets for her infernal life as the imp had her currently her pinned down, taking her from behind in the prone bone position.

Their bodies naked and contrasting one another as the imp's crimson red compact form flexed its quite surprisingly built muscles, his pelvis a blur as he thrust and pumped his cock away into the sloppy wet pussy of the snow white swan noblewoman like a jackhammer. His massive golfball sized nutsack smacking her clit as the bed creaked and shook from the intense force of his rutting as Stella could only make what could be described as some bizarre blend of the cries of birds in mating mixed with a porn star as she got railed by a well endowed co-star. The vindictive spiteful bird losing all sense of pride and arrogance, even forgetting what reasons she had for arranging this liaison or the fact she knows she shouldn't be enjoying this. To think a mere imp could give her so much pleasure, someone of her stature and pedigree in high society and what's more, she was loving each and every single damn second of it.

To think her parents could've gone and maybe gotten her this, this absolute unit stallion of an imp as her persona pleasure butler or something instead of marrying her off to a closet case!! She could've been getting laid around the clock and forgotten all about that nonsense about image, class and sophistication!! Fuck it she would gladly forgo trying to get all of Stolas' assets and fortune just to be a sex slave for this stud!! Wait was she really thinking that?

Of course she damn well was as she cried and howled for Moxxie to not stop, to use her as he saw fit and reduce her to his personal sexual plaything!! Make her his pretty little erotic songbird as he continued to fuck her relentlessly, no doubt the imp hitman was driven to try and meet whatever high standards the Goetian woman had unaware that he'd pretty much exceeded them the moment he penetrated her and took control. Her cries of calling him master and daddy in between her whorish, wanton moans as he put her body through a variety of positions she'd likely never experienced past the vanilla basics or whatever sort of sexual education her parents had provided her. Which knowing some nobles was basic as fuck which was pretty ironic given the rumours some extremely rich types were said to get up to behind closed doors according to movies like eyes wide shut but hey Stanley Kubrick was a weird fuck like that.

The Swan demon woman had especially found she rather relished the sort of positions that made her feel degraded, the sort fitting for the bitch in heat that she had been reduced to such as the mating press or doggy style. Even during the shifts where she was on top, such as cowgirl, she felt more like she was simply showing off for her new imp Daddy as she posed erotically for him and flashed her sensual assets before him. Making it known to him that he had her absolute devotion and belonged to him, mind body and soul as the pair went at it with their scandalous rur long into the night. By sunrise Moxxie had made his leave, the lady killing charmer limping slightly, exhuasted yet proud at the job well done at an unexpected mission being accomplished while Stella liad in the remains the demolished bed, smiling in a sexual coma made possible only by such an alpha male.

Some days after this secret liaison, Stolas was pleasantly surprised to find Stella had mailed him the divorce papers with her signature, much to the confusion of him and his brother in law as she didn't even include any terms granting her the majority of assets per the prenup agreement in their marriage. Just 5050 with equal custody shared between them in regards to visitation and parental supervision of Octavia and that was that. Millie meanwhile was quite surprised herself when she answered a knock on her door to find the swan herself on the other side with suitcases in hand. Of course one explanation later of course and the kinky shortstack wife of Moxxie knew her man's natural sexual charisma went and worked its magic once more.

#sketchfanda #sketchfan85 #Sketchfan #helluva boss #moxxie smut #moxxie #moxxie helluva boss #helluva moxxie #stella helluva boss #helluva stella #helluva millie #millie #millie helluva boss #loona #loona helluva boss #loona hellhound #helluva loona

[tokoyamisstuff]

Haimish - Bruno Madrigal x Reader

[hey-mish] - original ger. for 'homey; cozy and unpretentious'

Chapter 1: First Encounter

Summary: You dreaded the day of meeting the man you were promised to - but he was not in the slightest what you expected. Warnings: Slight Angst, Bad Family Dynamics Notes: Bruno is in his 20's/30's in this story whatever fits you better, Fem! Reader, Arranged Marriage AU, Strangers to Lovers Words: ~2900

A/N: Might do a Part 2 or more for this, but y'all know my consistency so this isn't a promise.

Masterlist

Even though you were always sure of your familiy's love and support, the feeling of being their 'black sheep' never ceased.

Nothing you could achieve would ever compare to the greatness of your amazing siblings, who would prime at everything they put their hands on.

You on the other hand could only try to not cause any trouble or disgrace for them - and admittedly, since sometimes felt as if you'd attract bad luck, even that was a hard task for you.

It wasn't like you ever did something particulary wrong - yet your alterity was driving a wedge between you and the rest of your kind ever since you could think of.

And even while trying to give it your best to fit in and not express your true self, they would never know how to handle you. All interactions seemed forced, though they gave it their best to include you in their everyday life.

But today, you were given another chance to make them proud - at least you wanted to see it that way.

From another pespective - one more likely, one that screamed at you from deep inside your brain, no matter how many times you'd shove it back - your parents probably wanted to get rid of the stain on their lineage.

This would be the day you would be given away to the infamous Madrigal family - to marry one of their lowest, as people called him.

Your mother went on rambling for weeks about what great honor it was for you to be chosen out of so many possible spouses, and how everyone owed the Madrigal's for establishing and protecting the village.

But you knew better than that, could see right through her empty lies.

It had been years since the young Bruno was last seen by anyone - being resented by the inhabitants, the young man had chose to isolate himself inside the family estate...

...and on the rare occasion where someone was bold enough to make the travel to ask for their destiny, they'd return infuriated and full of despair by the fate they had been given.

A villain - that's what they called him.

Someone that feasts on the misery of others, who causes mischief for his own entertainment.

Who would want their daughter to marry a person the townsfolk knows only by horrifying tales and descriptions?!

It was as bright as daylight - no one else had asked for his hand. Not even the blessing of having magical children was a temptating enough offer to spend the rest of your life with that freak.

But the greater mystery was: Why had the great matriarch chose you of all people? She could've asked anyone in the town, and they'd give them their daughters - not willingly, though, but their respect for the family would be far greater than the grief for their child.

Maybe because of your many siblings. You were eight in number, so the possibility of you having good genes to bear many children was high as well. And most of them were popular, strong, smart...good preconditions.

Or your mother was simply asked to give them one of her daughters, and obviously she'd abandon her least favourite.

There was no use overthinking it. All you'd gain from this was falling into a bottomless pit of sadness, and you wouldn't have that right now.

After all, tomorrow was your wedding day!

"Let's make the best out of this..." you encouraged yourself, even though your eyes were already glistening with tears.

You were all alone on your stroll to the Casita, since tradition requires bride and groom to become acquainted with each other without anyone else.

Tomorrow on the ceremony however, everyone would attend.

Your family had already sent all of your belongings here a few days ago, so you came empty-handed. Seems like they can't wait to throw you away as fast as possible...

The door opened on it's own as soon as you stepped in front of it, and as soon as you stepped inside, you were sure to hear giggles coming from the upper floor. Must be his sisters, you thought, calming yourself down as you heared their doors creak shut again.

You only knew them from their regular visits at the market, yet never personally asked for their assistance. The way you grew up, you were a pretty self-sufficient person in general. But from your brief interactions, they alwyays seemed very kind.

If they grew up to become such splendid persons, then why was their brother so evil? Not even you had been so wildly different from your siblings, yet-

The sound of a shattering vase had you jumping, but looking into the direction of the sound, there was nothing more than a small, white rat.

"Oh! You scared me, little guy..." Since there was no one to be seen, you though you were still too early, and it wouldn't hurt to pass time as you waited for anyone to show up. Thus decided, you approached the sweet little gnawer, snickering a bit more lighthearted as it actually let you pet it's soft fur.

You wouldn't waste a single thought about what anyone would think of you - no matter their reputation, rats were always one of your favourite kind of animals. "You're so cute! Sorry, I don't have any snacks for you..."

"He already ate."

Only now you saw the silhouette hiding behind one of the pillars, screeching as his words drang to your ear. It was embarassing, honestly, so you quickly tried to regain your composure to not leave a bad first impression.

Oh no - that must be him.

What do you do now? How do you approach someone like him?

A thousand thoughts were racing through your mind at once, especially the worries you had so desperately tried to surpress until now, sending shivers down your spine.

Behind that pillar was a terrible person, who brought disasters to people like it was his second nature - and that man was supposed to marry you.

Just what kind of twisted things would he do to you, just for his own sick entertainment?

You tried to calm yourself, clutching the corny dress your mother had forced upon you, so he wouldn't see the trembling of your hands.

Yes: This man wouldn't be allowed to see your weakness. No way you'd let him enjoy your fear, just like that!

"I-I...good evening." That was all your brain could bring together, and it took everything inside of you to make your voice sound confident.

Finally, the man behind the pillar moved into the light of the entrance hall, and you had to bit your lip to keep any tears from falling. You squeezed your eyes shut, lowering your head to face the ground as you heared the menacing footsteps come closer...

...when you opened your eyes, however, you could only gasp in surprise.

There he stood: A slim, scruffy looking man with wild raven locks, dark circles under his eyes and a three-day-beard. He was standing in front of you with a far too great distance, and seemed jittery beyond belief.

That person right in front of you was not even close to resemble the giant, monstrous looking guy everyone was telling you about.

Quite the opposite even - his eyes showed a vulnerability that made all of your fears disappear into thin air, replacing them with guilt for your prejudices.

The young Madrigal opened his mouth a few times, in an attempt to greet you - yet no sound would escape. Instead, the rat from before climbed onto his shoulder, and the young man would mutter as if to conversate with the animal, saying something like 'not now' and 'I am very busy, don't you see?'

You laughed.

Hopefully he wouldn't misunderstand, but you couldn't help but break out in bright laughter at this endearing sight. It felt like all the weight of those past weeks had been lifted from your heart just like that, in this one moment.

"S-Sorry..." Bruno rubbed the back of his head, before shooing his little animal friends away. "Those guys, huh?"

"It's alright" you still chuckled a little, and the man finally mirrored your smile. His lips cracked in the most tiniest curve as you reached out your hand, and he gladly took it. "I'm Y/N. Nice to finally meet you!"

"I-I'm, well...I'm Bruno." He silently cursed himself for not being able to say more, to compliment you or being polite otherwise...

...but seeing you like this, a person who probably heared the usual stories about him and still being so nice? It didn't make any sense.

Either way, you didn't seem like you were just acting out of fear or sense of duty - your eyes gave it away. They were bright and held a kind of affection he could never before detect with anyone else.

And it was only making him more flustered than he already was.

He was wondering the whole time, about what kind of woman would actually want to associate with him. Well, probably his mother had her fingers into this as well.

But in the end he concluded that the less details he knew about the way your engagement happened, the better.

Because it was eating him alive to think about how you were most likely forced away from your family, obliged to be with him of all people - someone who couldn't give you anything but bad luck.

"It's late already..." Bruno uttered as he noticed you yawning, frantically avoiding any eye contact. "I- uh..."

You already understood, so he didn't need to finish the sentence. Somehow, his shyness was something you already admired about the man. "Yes, that would be nice."

Out of a whim, you hesistantly brought your hand close to his, both of you fondling with each other's fingers awkwardly until intertwining your hands.

This would cause the last of Bruno's composure to practically disappear as his wide eyes switched forth and back between your hands and your face - until he just started running all of a sudden, not letting go off of your hand in the slightest.

"I apologize in advance" the man whispered softly, his grip on your hand not easing as you stood in front of the massive, glowing door. It depictured an hourglass, and over it an image of your fiancé with a stern look on his face - unlike the real deal.

"What the-" Your breath got caught in your throat as the door opened, revealing the last thing you expected to see in this house full of wonders.

Everything in the Casita looked so bright and overall utterly amazing - but Bruno's room was nothing like that. It was kinda gloomy, almost spooky, even...and unbelievable cold.

Needing to pass a wall of sand, you started to caugh from the dust, even though Bruno put his ruana to shield you from the falling sand. You felt his hand hovering over your back, before daring to softly pat it, repeatedly murmuring apologies at your direction.

So this was where you would live from now on...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He never stopped talking under his breath as he went ahead, lending you his hands to assist you ascending those countless stairs.

"Well, living like this will sure keep us fit, right?" You tried to lift up the mood, sadly to no avail since Bruno didn't feel deserving of your kindness in any way - and how you were treating him would only make his guilt skyrocket.

Absentminded as you were you tripped and almost fell, just to be caught by Bruno's hand. His palm was sweating, so he pulled you close, securing you in his grip without second thought.

You on the other hand caught your heart to miss a beat at the sudden proximity, but the shock was enough to make you clutch to the man until you arrived.

Good thing that you weren't afraid of heights - but imagining a small boy living in here ever since his fifth birthday made your guts twist painfully. But then thinking again, he probably seeked out some peace and quiet after everyone asking too much of and then resenting him afterwards.

You don't know what you expected on top of that room, but it was certainly better than what actually awaited you there: Just a plain chain bridge, leading to a dark cave furnished with only the most basic necessities. A few boxes with the little belongings you had were already up here, and you wondered if he had to do it all on his own.

What a sad and lonely life this man must've lived up until now, even within his own family. How familiar, you thought - but no. Your own life was nothing compared to the pain he most likely had to endure.

"I've prepared some things for your arrival" he cheered awkwardly as he lighted a few candles, humbly presenting some flowers and other selfmade decoration. "It's not much, but, well.."

"Thank you very much, Bruno." The man was taken aback as you gifted him your most sweetest smile, before wandering around to inspect your new home.

Your glare got stuck on the makeshift bed - probably older than you were - and anger boiled inside of you at the realization just how neglected he got...

...not only by the village that seemingly misunderstood him completely, but even his own family, not caring for his well-being at all.

No wonder the man is a little weird with all of his circumstances - but a pure soul nonetheless, you were sure of it.

"No worries" he interrupted your pondering, snorting as he tried to bring himself to laugh. "I can sleep on the floor. We're not officially married, so-"

"Nonono, it's alright. Let's- let's just lay down."

You shed off that way too flashy dress, almost a little amused by Bruno giving it his best to convincingly not peek, whistling and busying himself with other things instead.

It needed some convincing for him to sneak under the covers together with you - especially since he detected tears at the rim of your eyes.

If only he knew that it hasn't anything to do with him, but only you missing your home - and being so damn disappointed in his family, as well as your own.

There was so much to process for you, and to be honest: You were glad to not be alone with all your emotions. Your fiancé seemed like a nice guy, and great company at that.

"Bruno?" you spoke with a cracking voice, searching his face in the darkness.

"Y-Yes?" Even though he was laying as far away from you as possible, you could feel his legs twitching. A nervous habit, maybe.

"Why did you agree to marry me?" Now that caught him off guard.

A few minutes went by in complete silence, before you shuffled closer, wanting to make sure he was alright. He winced as your hand gently squeezed his shoulder, but soon got used to the comforting warmth.

"My gift wasn't helping the family, but uh...but I love my family, you know?"

You choked on a sob when you heared his words, wondering how he could be so full of love for people who had apparently wronged him so many times. Because no matter how much you wanted to forgive your parents, you just couldn't.

Maybe Bruno was just a better person than you were.

"D-Did I say something wrong?" The man stiffly shifted besides you, yet your arms wrapped only tighter around him, tears wettening the fabric of his shirt. "That's no-ot it...I'm sorry...it's just been a long day."

Like so many times before, Bruno found himself at loss for words - and his throat felt a little bit tighter every time you'd show him any form of care.

"Well-" he croaked, racking his brain around to find some comforting words, "I'll try my best to make you comfortable, I promise!"

"I know that" you sniveled, and even though you only knew that man for so long, you wholeheartedly believed in his oath. "Thank you, Bruno."

You would drift into sweet sleep way before him, relieving you from your own mind - while Bruno on the other hand would stay wide awake, not daring to move a muscle, afraid to wake you up.

He found himself watching you resting soundly in his arms as he pulled the blanket a little more over your shoulder, anxious about destroying this peaceful moment.

When you hummed approvingly in your sleep, hands running down his sides, he could finally relax a little, releasing a breath he didn't even noticed to be holding.

Determination blossomed in his chest as he watched you in awe, tinted in the dim candle light: He can't mess this up like he always does - he mustn't!

Bruno might not be worthy of your affection, but he'll do whatever it takes to give you a good life. Something you deserved - the first person who approached him without any remorse in what felt like ages.

Because now, with you in his arms, the cave felt somewhat a little like an actual home.

For the first time ever, he wasn't cold anymore. That feeling in his chest was warming him up inside and out.

And that emotion would soon lull him to sleep as well, at least tonight blessing Bruno with some peace of mind.

#Encanto #Bruno Madrigal #Bruno x Reader #Bruno x You #Bruno x Y/N #Bruno / Reader #Bruno / You #Bruno Madrigal x Reader #Bruno Madrigal x You #Bruno Madrigal x Y/N #Bruno Madrigal / Reader #Bruno Madrigal / You #Self Insert

[shangsclaws]

Special Occasion (pt. 2)

pt. 1 | pt.2 | pt. 3

You are cordially invited to Kitana and Liu Kang's wedding! How do some of the kombatants react to you looking good for the occasion?

gifs are not mine!!!

Warnings: a lot of angst at Hanzo’s part, idk why i had to make it so sad omg

Includes: Raiden and Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion)

Raiden

“Come with me, special one. I have something to ask of you...”

Raiden played a rather important role in the ceremony: the thunder god himself would be the one to wed Kitana and Liu Kang. This would mean that he’d be away some days before the ceremony to practice his lines (he insisted his part be perfect)

Seeing you again after days of training, and right in the middle of the proceedings no less, was both a blessing and a curse; you looked beautiful sitting alone in the audience, but how on Earthrealm could he focus on his lines anymore? The poor thunder god, try as he might, would stumble on his words here and then.

You were good to assure him afterwards that everyone thought it was simply because he was nervous about Kitana and Liu Kang. This was certainly good news because no, he refused to tell you the real reason out of sheer embarrassment.

When the proceedings are over, he is constantly clinging to you. The gentle static in his every touch would pleasantly surprise you, and he’d apologize each time he does so. Like his brother Fujin, he can’t help it.

Earthrealm’s protector would not dare to boast about you on someone else’s special day, but even if he wanted to, you two would mostly be found alone and talking among yourselves. Without really meaning to, he was keeping you and your beauty all to himself.

Somewhere in your lengthy conversations about Earthrealm’s romantic endeavours (he had little knowledge on it besides marriage, please tell him more), Raiden will have pulled you over to the empty isle, standing where Liu Kang and Kitana were hours before. No one was there to watch.

Raiden would start to recite the very lines he spoke when he wed the Kahn and her Chosen One. That, in itself, was his proposal to you.

He would end the ‘proceedings’ with tender words of your beauty. If you thought he’d said everything about you before, this wedding only gave the god a bigger romantic vocabulary. Good luck trying to explain every word he misuses.

And, without realizing, you had amassed quite an audience by the time you were done.

Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion)

"Forgive me, sakura..."

Today's event would remind this former wraith of something he thought he'd buried in his past by now. Seeing you in all your beauty brought back wave upon wave of memories tucked away.

Perhaps the most emotional he'd get was the moment he first saw you in your garments, muttering a few admiring words in Japanese and pulling you into a tender embrace. When you both let go, his eyes were glossy only for a second before he turned away to collect himself.

You would get terribly worried for your beloved when he'd brood silently, seeing the sadness in his eyes as he looked around to observe the delightful decorations and fanfare

When you would do what you thought was best to cheer him up, Hanzo smiles with strained cheeks. "Thank you, sakura."

The grandmaster would be holding your hand tightly when Kitana and Liu Kang say their vows. No wonder the poor man insisted you take your seats near the back.

You understood completely where his thoughts helplessly wandered to, and he would be extremely appreciative of that. The grandmaster's thank yous were not entirely through spoken word though. Hanzo would instead express his gratitude for your compassion by keeping a constant and tender hand on you, something Hanzo rarely did on any other day.

Somewhere in a garden nearby, away from the celebrations, he'd finally have the resolve to tell you how beautiful you looked. This, and an apology from the bottom of his heart; today was supposed to be magnificent, not melancholy.

He would pull you slowly into his arms again as he did when he first saw you, muttering those same apologies into your ear.

Deep down, you both understood that you were not the only person he was apologizing to.

fuck

i really wrote this in the middle of a perfectly fine saturday afternoon wtf...im gonna go cry now,, maybe touch the grass later

#why am i like this #mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #mk x reader #hanzo hasashi #scorpion #raiden #scorpion x reader #raiden x reader #ANGST #mk11 #hanzo hasashi x reader

[geekkatsblog]

Reviewing Grey's Anatomy Episodes but this time its Season 17

(To those people on my page who don't watch Grey's Anatomy but are being subjected to this I'm so sorry but I really just like to vent about this show.)

Its season 17 now Yay.

They're dealing with the covid 19 pandemic and I'm sure the writers probably did lots of research to make sure that they had the most accurate representation of the situation in the hospitals and otherwise.

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First we're going to start with the love triangle that is Teddy, Tom and Owen.

Owen

Now this is in no way excusing what he's done in the past for the longest while I've loathed Owen Hunt but..... now I feel sorry for him. He saw he had a problem he went to therapy to get himself right, he was actually a good partner for once and communicated in his relationship, he took his time and didn't jump into marriage spontaneously and then Teddy cheated on him over but dial to be heard by everyone in the operating theater with Owen on their wedding day. (I don't want to sound bad but this might also be karma coming to but him in the ass.) I felt so much 2nd hand embarrassment for him and the pain he had in his face the whole time he pretended not to know about her cheating was just oof. I loved though the end where he drove away for the mean time I really do agree with him taking some time and space before he makes a decision. Most of the times he made a lot of sudden decisions that later came back to bite him.

Teddy

Oh Teddy, she used to be one of my favorite characters from a little after she came to the time she left but now they just carried her character so far down hill that it's hard to keep the same energy I had before, now. Everyone at Grey Sloan is on Owen's side and giving her the cold shoulder and she really wants everyone to mind their own business (I honestly agree though, you're in the middle of a pandemic mind your business and do your job now isn't the time to be shunning coworkers because they cheated.) However when she did explain her side I kinda understood it a bit better. It's still an awful thing to do but I know plenty of people who sabotage their own happiness because they aren't used to it. Hell I do it myself sometimes. But then I was also pissed when she just pretended she did nothing wrong at first. First thing first she acted kinda offended when Owen explained why he hadn't called to cancel the wedding to her. Was it kinda sus? The answer is yes but you literally cheated on him that same day, you needed the extra time sis. Not to mention the several time he hinted to her that he knew and gave her the chance to confess yet she lied through her teeth whenever he hinted at it and flat out lied again when he asked if she had anything to confess. I get the whole sabotage route but God was I happy when Owen got in his truck, drove off and left her.

Tom

I was honestly rooting for Tom in the beginning, despite him being a douche I knew deep down he had a heart somewhere, but I actually started to feel less sorry for him last season when he continued to sleep with Teddy despite knowing her situation which he pointed out to her several times and she still ignored it. I know he loves her but let's be honest, she's going to pick Owen as long as he decides to actually take her back and Tom will be left alone and heart broken with his $100000 worth of boxes in booties and a golf club to measure 6 ft distance between him and everyone else. Honestly I kinda saw a panic attack coming, if they're treating Teddy bad then they're probably treating him even more like crap based on the fact that no one besides Teddy, Catherine and maybe Amelia liked him to begin with. This may also be an unpopular opinion but I actually agree with Catherine for making him resign of chief of all chiefs his head hasn't and probably won't be in the game for a while. At least he still gets to be head of neuro. He bought a whole $100000 dollars in booties alone by mistake during an already tough pandemic between that and everything else going on around him I'm not surprised he broke. What did surprise me was that no one even went near him to help even after the attack was finished. Dislike him or not at least ask him how he's doing geeze.

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Jo and Jackson (Never thought I'd have to put the two of them together in a title.)

Truly the biggest shock of the night besides the trailer for next week which I will freak out about later.

Jo

So Jo has decided that in order for her to feel herself again she has to do the devils tango with someone and because they're in a pandemic and she trusts him she chose Jackson. The night of the appointment to do the deed Jo ends up crying in his mouth. The way she treated him afterwards at first was a little uncalled for in my opinion, I mean she was the one who asked for the favor. But later they talked and it was all cool again. Jo didn't really have that big of a plot this episode so not too much to talk about.

Jackson

Agreed way to quickly to doing the devils tango with Jo if you ask me. Seems a little sus. I really hope they aren't rushing him and Jo into anything give the girl some room to breath and also give Jackson a proper plot he seems to be a plot filler for everyone right now like they have no real purpose for him on the show at the moment. I'm beginning to really think that he was the one who was supposed to die last season. I really do love his and Richard's relationship. Jackson never really had a good father and Webber seems to be filling that spot quite nicely. Him pushing Webber to fight to get better and convince him that his career can be saved was heartwarming. And can we take a moment to talk about Harriet finally appearing from the world of Narnia to bless us with her presence? And boy was she a blessing. That baby that plays Harriet was awesome from her repeating Vic saying she can't be a step mom all to her facial expressions. I hope to see baby Harriet again very soon. But speaking of Vic, did she not know that Jackson was a father? How the hell did she expect to never run into her at some point? Then there's the whole question of what did she even expect of the relationship with Jackson if she never intended to even try to accept being around his daughter? also if she really want to be Robbie Rotten from Lazy town and avoid being around kids, maybe she should call or text first instead of showing up in just a fluffy jacket and nothing else.

___________________________________________

Deluca

Glad to see he finally got the help he needed and is back put tho work. I felt so upset last season when everyone just treated him like crap without trying to help him, but they made up for it a little by trying to help him with the intervention. He was also right about the sex trafficking case and I was so glad to see that he was able to be there as her doctor. Plus he's now also finally in dark blue scrubs it has felt like forever before he got those but I digress. He is now on his way once again to be a kick ass surgeon with the awesome skills hes already showcasing. I just hope he continues to look after himself. Deluca shine like the star you are babe.

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Maggie

Has finally found a man who understands her, he is so nice and kind and caring the whole episode I was mentally yelling go get it hun to the screen. She deserves someone who can take her seriously and understand her awkwardness as well as her tendencies finally she has stepped out of the role of cheerleader and support character and is branching out to something else and I'm here for it. And her yelling at Catherine, to share her piece of mind. I was so proud. Go get it sis.

___________________________________________

Richard

Richard Webber is back in the building, finally the king has returned to himself and already solving problems in day one. At the beginning when he publicly called Catherine a pain in the ass I was so stoked I finally thought that he was done being pushed around by her but then he took her back in the end it also kinda felt like she bought him in order to get him back with the hiring him as the new chief of chiefs but I wish them the best of luck, Webber deserves to be happy. I was also happy to see him and Bailey interacting like friends again. For a while it was awkward between them but now it's like the balance has been restored. Side note, him laughing at Teddy and Owen made me laugh so loudly especially when he asked Teddy if her name was still Altman despite the fact he clearly knew about the phonecall drama, not gonna lie I'd do the same.

___________________________________________

Catherine

Not much there, just her being angry at the pandemic and loss of money, lack of power to save lives as well as trying to win Webber back which she successfully did after firing Koracick and giving Richard his job and finally giving him a heartfelt apology without being petty.

___________________________________________

Bailey

It might just be me but so far despite the fact that it's only been 2 episodes. Bailey seems somewhat better this season. Her guilt over Deluca was definitely warranted but at least she tried to make up for it (and just like Harriet her OCD has decided to rejoin us for a visit from Narnia.) For the past few seasons she's been a slight pain but now she seems more like herself.

Her and Ben are adorable as usual, coming every 12 hours to clap for the doctors just to see her then the cute hand signals they made for each other, between Ben, Link and recently added to the group of awesome partners Winston, I'm beginning to wonder where I can find me one of these super thoughtful understanding handsome men. The two guys that knocked her over as well spraining her ankle really should have to pay or something or at least apologize, they literally just knocked a doctor off her feet and made her wheel chair bound, the chief ro be exact. Her and Webber are on talking terms and well again but she really needs to know how to express concern better. She once told Ben that when she's scared she yells but a lot of things would have gone a lot more smoothly if she'd just reminded him he was a high risk for covid and state her concern for him to begin with instead of barking out orders.

I'm also wondering if shes going to be able to handle the whole Covid situation so well for the whole time, with all the chaos and disorganization with the whole ordeal not to mention the whole fit she had with the germs in the episode. I think it'll be a good storyline now that Grey's seems to be bringing mental awareness back up.

___________________________________________

Link and Amelia

They have now officially reached my list along with Ben and Bailey and a few others that are no longer on the show that have reached the stage of killing the couple goals on this show.

Despite the fact that they're not only raising their own baby but also Bailey, Ellis and Zola yet their relationship is still solid. I'm so proud of my baby Amelia she has come a long way from the woman who didn't even want kids to begin with.

I loved the fact that he wasn't upset over her forgetting his birthday and acted like nothing was wrong, just so she wouldn't feel bad about forgetting. I would have been livid set a reminder on your phone babes. Either way she definitely made up for it later with the whole redoing his birthday thing. Also welcome to the world Scout. Looking forward to seeing them more often.

___________________________________________

Levi

How did it all turn so bad, Nico has turned into such a jerk at this point I'm not even sure I'd be to upset if he left if it wasn't for the fact that I ship the person he was before and Levi so much I'm still hoping that they'll go back to how they were before Nico became a lying hypocrite. At the end I was practically begging Levi to push him away, Nico doesn't deserve it not after the way he treated him and he hasn't even shown a hint of remorse to this day.

___________________________________________

Meredith

The biggest shock of the whole episode. I honestly knew something was going to happen to her from the time she fell asleep and started the dream on the beach. Dreaming of beaches have never been a good sign on Grey's I just thought she was going to collapse from stress because she really had been pushing herself all episode. The thing with Meredith is that she cares so much for her patients and does anything she can to save them, but based on the preview of the next episode and the tests they showed it doesn't seem to be test. And let's just talk about that huge bombshell they dropped by bringing back Derek I never thought I'd see Patrick Dempsey on the show again. By the end of the episode I was already literally shaking in anticipation for the next episode. I know they can't kill Meredith, without her there literally is no Grey's Anatomy. That being said I really hope they don't give her cancer, (I know Patrick is involved with helping a charity for cancer.) And I also really hope she isn't getting alzheimers I just hope it's nothing serious in general. She's been through enough man. I just want this to be a really touching moment where I get to see Merder have some touching moments and it doesn't end up to be Izzie and Denny all over again. I don't think anyone is ready to handle that. I read in a spoiler that there's supposed to be some more visitors arriving on the beach and I'm stoked for it so I really hope it's a real spoiler I'm tired of rewatching the newer seasons to experience some of the old joy.

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Imma need them to give that intern Perez an official recurring contract for the show because he is currently one of the best things to come on that show in years. He's a breath of fresh air.

#greys anatomy #grey s anatomy #grey's anatomy #season 17 #meredith grey #derek shepherd #owen hunt #teddy altman #tom koracick #miranda bailey #richard webber #catherine fox #jackson avery #jo wilson #andrew deluca #amelia shepherd #atticus link #levi schmitt #greys abc #greys spoilers #grey's abc #tv shows #favorite tv shows #tv characters #maggie pierce #grey's spoilers #grey's s17 #episode review #reviews #my opinion

[redmaneroster]

Our Home Away From Home, Away From Home

[1] [2] [x] [4-5] [6] [7] [8-9] [10]

PART 3 – Inhibitions

The Kirin Festival is older than Vale itself. No one knows why they wear fish-scale costumes or set fire to carefully carved wooden statues as they drift into the sea. Why they sing songs of a dead tongue, or why they make the drunk climb a soaked pyramid for honor and – with a touch of modernity – some prizes.

Its mysterious allure is what draws most people. It's the reason why Jaune decides to climb the pyramid himself. He fails miserably. Yang has to carry him off.

Jaune didn't get the memo that participants have to have spare clothes because of course they do, so he's sat drenched in the changing room by the beach, Yang outside with his drying clothes by a heater lamp set up for just this kind of occasion.

They're alone again and it's quiet outside of the distant hum of the festival.

"I called Dad this morning," she says suddenly, leaned beside the tent. "I could hear her in the background." And she goes on, laying out her fears, but during a long pause to process her thoughts a little more, she briefly worries if he's listening.

"Yang. I'm here. I'm listening," he says, clear in that way like a droplet in a cave. Echoing in her mind. Present in all the ways that do not judge.

Then she talks. Talks about her mother coming home. Dancing around her while she reconnects with her dad. Or maybe she's just sleeping with him, and her family isn't going to be whole again. At least, these are her more negative thoughts. She's only willing to forgive her mother from running away if her dad gives her a chance.

She might have earned it then. Might, she emphasizes for Jaune. Raven might well and truly never fit back into her life. Summer – bless her soul – reshaped the gap she left behind. So Yang doesn't know if Tai forgiving Raven might even be enough, but she's willing to hope.

-0-

Everyone gets into a few rides and eats their weight in sugar until they all end up at Junior's club again. Most of them are dancing, except for Ruby and Ren.

When Jaune and Yang dance a little too close to each other, they take a step away. When Sun and Pyrrha dance a little too close beside them, Yang decides to save them both the embarrassment by taking a break.

She doesn't see Jaune taking a swig of his flask. And he doesn't notice that the blush of his cheeks wasn't from the alcohol.

Yang comes back to the table just as Ren – under the influence of alcohol – confesses that Joan has been trying to court him.

Ren and Nora's relationship isn't official. It's tumultuous since she came back to Kuroyuri alone over the Summer to mourn her long lost brother. Ren couldn't bear to go with her. When she came back, they've been… uncertain. Awkward, even.

Joan adds to his confusion because she doesn't criticize his choices or cowardice, she just listens. (It's so eerily familiar that Yang shuts her eyes tight just to give herself time to swallow it). So Joan, in a stroke of luck, is there for him precisely when he needs someone who isn't Nora.

Yang doesn't believe he'll choose her over Nora. It's just a rough patch. As long as neither of them do anything stupid in the meantime, she tells them, then it'll turn up alright once they get their rhythm again.

Ren says nothing.

Ruby's concern in that lack of confidence is burning.

Ren, placating her, says that he's certain things will work out between them again but knows he can't trust his own emotions just yet. Nora mentioned the nuckleavee limping around in the woods (JNPR went there towards the end of freshmen year to kill it but only managed to cripple it as it retreated). He was so blindingly furious at the idea that the beast was still alive that his nails started crackling against his aura.

Calm as he was, Ren wasn't completely put together just yet. "Maybe we're too young to be in love anyway," he says.

"I don't think it's love's fault that it happens too early or too late," Yang says, eyes away. "I think it's our fault for acting when we shouldn't or not acting at all. Or Going too far or…" – she glances at the dance floor – "…not far enough."

Ren is smug when she looks back at them. Nothing is left of Ruby but a cascade of rose petals. Then she zips back to her with the same smug look and a neck of her strawberry sunshine. Little umbrella and all.

Yang admits that she was looking at Jaune, but not for the reasons they think.

Jaune wishes he did more with Pyrrha. Even if he's not hurting over it anymore, he's afraid of making any more mistakes like that.

"He was actually," Ren says. He explains that Jaune spent the Summer alone and he spent some time calling him at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. He confessed about his feelings going haywire and how he wishes he could be happy for the new couple but dangerous parts of his mind told him that he shouldn't have been so passive. Strangely, he was being cryptic and even mentioned a marriage, but that he mumbled that last bit and Ren just shrugged it off.

"That wasn't about Pyrrha, though," Yang says.

"…What?"

"Oh. Oh, shit. I shouldn't have said that." Despite hinting at Jaune's big secret, Yang is a little happy that there was something he was only willing to tell her and not anyone else.

Then the rest of them come back to the booth and Yang pulls Jaune aside before Ren and Ruby can say anything.

She asks him about Joan going after Ren.

He tells her that he knows, but that all his efforts to curb her have failed. She's adamant about pursuing him.

Yang decides to try it herself.

-0-

Everyone's on their way back to the festival when Yang realizes that it's going to be too loud to call. She tells them she'll catch up and sits by a bench in the park. The musty smell of the pond battles against the fresh scent of her still lingering strawberry sunrise.

Joan picks up rather quickly, the sound of her team's movie vanishing in the background. She mouths out apologies to them first before she shuts a window behind her (her dorm is on the ground floor and she slips out through the window as frequently as the door) then sound of crickets chirps through the speaker.

Yang cuts to the chase and mentions Ren.

Joan asks her if she was talking to Jaune. Joan sighs, but she's not dejected, just… amused.

"Jaune likes to forget that we're the same age. That I had a boyfriend before, too. He likes to protect me cause I'm his sister. But I'm as wise as he is… and just as naïve."

Joan lists off Jaune's advice to her.

It's just a phase.

It wouldn't work out.

You're aren't thinking this through.

He's already practically married.

Joan rejects them all.

"I can't help what I feel. I can't dance around love like I'm waiting for an opportunity to strike. We aren't struck by falling stars when the perfect partner comes along. We just find the best we can and make it work out. Maybe Ren isn't for me. Maybe what I have is fleeting and foolish and naïve and stupid. I don't care. I am done waiting for the world to give me the good news. This time around, I'm taking initiative."

They end the call soon after. Yang can't argue with her earnest pursuit if she isn't muscling into it and pushing Nora out of the picture. There was also that chip in her tone that sounded like she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

When Yang exits the park, she finds Jaune waiting by the gate. He stayed back for her.

Fireworks flash over the sky, color splashing over a dark canvas.

Yang only looks at Jaune. Maybe it's Joan being proactive that might have pushed her to stand a little closer. Her fingers twitch. She doesn't know what she wants, but thinks that maybe a little indulgence isn't so bad.

Then he looks at her. But not at her eyes. They're locked at her lips. Without thinking, he pulls out his flask. He takes a swig and tries to go ahead but she grabs him by the wrist.

Perhaps remembering what she did last time she grabbed his arm as he walked away, he covers his mouth with his arm.

She laughs at him. "I'm tired. The party's over. Let's just drop them a line and go home."

"Home…" he whispers before nodding.

-0-

They're sat at the couch because they're waiting on their scrolls. Ruby went missing but they were tasked with staying behind just in case Ruby stumbles into their apartment. Yang isn't too worried. Ruby probably saw Penny and was dragged off during the fireworks.

In the silence, Yang tells Jaune that they spent a lot of time today listening to her problems. Maybe they should talk about his again.

The offer is tempting but he isn't quite ready. He wants to take his mind off it but lately his usual substitutes have been less effective. (Spending time with Yang has been dangerously enticing, and he's starting to wonder if he watered down his whiskey a little too much tonight).

"How about a different substitute?"

She pushes off the couch and tells him to wait right there. He does get up to change his shirt but it's taking so long for Yang to come out that he's starting to worry.

He approaches her door.

She bursts out of it. "Sorry," she says. "It's the only white dress I have." She's wearing the same dress she had at the dance. "It's no wedding gown, but with this on, maybe you'll stop thinking about her."

The idea that he'll think about her instead eludes her for a second before they're both thinking about it and her smiles gets awkward. Worse when he won't say a thing and his eyes have been wide this entire time.

She powers through and plays a song on her scroll. "You said they played something by Ivy Garden at the reception. I'm guessing this is it?"

He nods along as guitar strings rattle off into the room, filling the gaps till the wallpaper turns marble, a band plays on the stage, lavender drapes fall over the frosted glass where moonlight shimmers faintly in the gaps. And she is there, skin a rich chocolate brown, eyes like polished hickory.

Then she takes a step in his direction and her hair is a rich blonde, and her skin is pale and… "Yang? You… You don't have to do this…"

"Hush. You won't talk, so let's not talk. Let's try something else here and see if this works for you."

It works. It works too well.

So they join hands and dance. It's slow and circular, around the center of the living room. She can't bring herself to look him in the eyes. Her head rests against his chest and that somehow makes it worse for him. Especially when she loops her hands around his neck.

He wants so much to ask for more, but can't. His hands are shaking when they're squeezing her hips gently. She notices and pulls her head against his Adam's apple. Her warmth pools over him like a scarf, curling him inwards till his eyes go hazy and his lips hover dangerously over her scalp.

The music stops. The world comes back together, to the present, to their apartment.

Yang hesitates to ask if it worked. When she pulls her head out of his chest, she's surprised to find him breathless. He slowly comes back to his senses.

He takes a step back and immediately reaches for his flask. He downs it but the buzz is missing still, even when he empties it down his throat.

His cheeks don't flare. His thoughts don't cloud. All he has is clarity and it gnaws at the desires within reach. At her.

He almost kisses her, lips quivering, fists balled as his flask clatters to the floor. He clearly isn't sure where to put himself, even if a deep part of him already knows.

Yang decides that she isn't the kind of girl that lets something like this slip by.

She is so warm that her lips feel like she's branding him when they kiss; clamping on the delicate flesh of his lower lip with a desperation he should have seen coming. She'd been holding back, and when he bit back, he knew he was too.

White noise filtered into her ears as she became painfully aware of her own heartbeat. It was erratic, beating off-rhythm and she knows she's afraid. He said he was against this before, and the fear that she might be making a mistake again makes her shudder.

But then she moans when he pulls her in and dips a few degrees till she's curling against him. And she realizes that he isn't pulling away. It beckons him like a siren song, plunging him through the haze of his mind – not knowing that he's already found her – to be captivated, taken completely as if drowning in her.

When he leaves her lips, he presses his forehead to hers. His breath tickles her nose. She edges into him again.

Her kiss, then, is featherlight. Brief and affectionate. She wills herself to pull away; lets him breathe and take it in.

"I don't think this is love," he says.

"I don't think either of us are wise enough to tell the difference," she replies.

The idea that she might be right, that maybe this is okay, snaps something inside of him. She's willing to let him indulge just as long she's doing the same. Maybe he won't hurt her by not falling in love. Maybe this is okay. Maybe… Maybe…

He lets go, leaning back against the couch. He's thinking to himself. Wrestling with rationale.

She wants to comfort him, to tell him it's alright. That won't have to change if they don't need to. So she places a hand on his chest to get his attention, but he's so shocked by the sudden contact that he falls back and grabs onto her dress strap as they collapse onto the couch.

He's lying on the couch now with her bodily over his stomach.

She laughs and so does he, both falling away again into natural diffusion.

He thinks himself safe. The burning tension has withered, but just like before, Yang is unwilling to let things end so anticlimactically.

She gets up and sits on his waist. For a moment he's confused until she falls on him like timberwood. His body – the massive traitor that it is – welcomes her embrace with familiarity.

She laughs between breaths.

There's less heat and more comfort. Less passion and more affection. Indulgence in a way that is almost innocent. For a moment he needs to breathe but she clamps over his mouth. His annoyance spurs her on like it's a game. She's still laughing.

Then he opens his mouth. She slips in a tongue by accident.

They shudder.

They're boiling again, eyes shut to whatever is rumbling between them. His hands travel up her legs. A heat crawls over her skin. Then his fingers tease at the edge of her skirt.

She yelps, pulling away.

Yang realizes, rather succinctly, that she wasn't completely ready.

"Yang?"

"I… Okay, I'm not… I don't know about that yet."

His fingers are still on her legs. They're not even very far up but the places he touches tickle in a way that is electrifying.

He slips out from under her as she sits back against the arm rest of the couch. Her body curled up. Guarded.

An ache settles in his chest. "Yang, I'm so – "

She unfurls. "Don't!" She reaches over and grabs his hands. "Don't… Don't apologize. We wanted this, didn't we? I'm just not mentally prepared to do anything but make out right now."

"You make it sound like there's going to be a second time."

"You forget," she says with a grin, "this is the second time."

"Oh."

"Look, Jaune. I think we've got a good thing going on right now. We're not taking anything from each other, we have fun, and we both know that we needed this."

"You're a little more optimistic about this than I am."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I just hope it means things won't end poorly."

She squeezes his hand. "I don't know what it is that we've got going on right now, so I can't tell you that things won't end well or… not." She scooches closer. "But I'll try my best. Trust me?"

She's so earnest that he banishes doubts long enough to answer. He kisses her instead with the same featherlight comfort she'd given him earlier.

She hums appreciatively. "I think I like it when you say 'yes' this way."

"That a rule now?"

"Maybe. Prepare lip balm. You'll have room now that you won't need that flask anymore."

"I'm not attaching myself to you 24/7. I'm keeping the whiskey."

"I mean, you could attach yourself to me 24/7."

"You can't be serious…"

She slaps his arm, laughing. "I'm not! I'm joking! Lighten up a little."

"Sorry. This is… new to me. It feels like I've skipped a few steps and broken a ton of rules somehow."

"No, I get you, but try not to dissolve into a wet blanket." He pouts. She beams and powers on. "We're two consenting almost-adults here. There's nothing wrong with what we're doing."

"Some people would disagree."

"And some people are wrong and can stuff it." Now that she's calm, she finds that she can still smell the saltwater in his socks. He's probably uncomfortable right now. She stands up. "Now we should both take a bath. This makeup is starting to feel like I'm wearing a mask pressed around my eyes."

"Shouldn't we talk this out a bit more? Lay down some ground rules?"

"In the morning. I'd like to enjoy the prospect of what I can do without having to think about what I can't."

He sighs but warmth bubbles into his chest. "Fine. In the morning."

"Good." She walks up to her door. She stops before she opens it. "Oh, and… don't lock your door."

-0-

It's past midnight when Jaune hears his door open. He tries to squeeze his eyes shut to try to ignore what's coming, but once Yang slips into his sheets and hums happily against his chest, he finds himself painfully aware of the body pressed to his.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Being too close but not close enough."

He chooses not to question it.

She slips up further, breath on his neck. She bites. His aura flares up on instinct and she barely gets to his skin, tasting air instead.

"Uh…" he drones awkwardly.

She buries her face into his chest. "Shut up. I was trying to be hot."

"I think we've had enough excitement for one night."

"Lower your aura."

"Yang, c'mon…"

"Jaune…"

He sighs. "Fine…"

-0-

"So this morning, she sneaks up to me while I'm coming into the hallway and she bites me," Jaune says, pointing at his neck. "Then she hands me this bandage before she runs off."

"That sounds dangerously risqué," Joan comments.

Ruby is burying herself in her hood meanwhile, trying to contain her embarrassment.

"That's cause I bit her lip last night for revenge from last time."

Ruby crawls out of her hood and slaps her cheeks. They're still red but she doesn't care at this point. "Okay, so you aren't together?"

"Nora described it as together but not together-together."

"You and I both know that makes zero sense."

"Exactly. That's what makes it perfect. It makes about as much sense as our relationship."

Joan groans. "I can tell Yang came up with that one. It's one of those rules you two talked about, isn't it?"

He nods. "Hundred-percent."

Yang enters the cafeteria and spots them immediately. "Hey, you," she says with a purr. When she sits down, he kisses her cheek.

Ruby retreats back into her hood, gets up, and walks away. Joan rolls her eyes and follows after her.

"You were right," Jaune says, "this is fun."

"Glad you think so. Cause I'm about to sprinkle a bit of madness your way."

Dread hitches itself like prickled grass on his skin. "Okay… Hit me."

"My uncle's coming to Beacon."

"Uh… That's not so bad. Qrow and I are friends."

"No, you don't understand. He saw us at the park and followed us to the apartment to make sure we got home safe."

"Oh… oh, fuck. How much… how much did he hear?"

"Enough to want to meet with your privately. He told me not to tell you. He'll message you later tonight."

"He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

She winces. "Worse."

"What?"

"Qrow wasn't mad on the phone. He was… embarrassed."

Simultaneously he felt relief and yet more dread. "Oh… oh no…"

#rwby dragonslayer #jaune arc #yang xiao long #jaune x yang #yang x jaune

[jawritter]

Promised

Chapter 2

**Series Warnings!! ** ABO dynamics! Smut, unprotected smut, knotting, claiming, mating, heat, rut, language, overly protective Jensen, age gap! 19-year-old reader, 41-year-old Jensen, virgin reader, loss of virginity, sort of an arranged marriage, hint at possible mob type settings.

Story Description:

In a world where your presentation can be a blessing or a curse, a newly presented Omega will come face to face with the harsh reality of Alphas, Omegas, and pack alliances that are expected to be upheld with the union of your two families…

A/N: Pt.2!!! Please don’t copy my stuff! Feedback is welcomed! If you want to be added to the series tag list, or just my tag list in general let me know! Cross-posted on Wattpad! Hope you enjoy it!! This is my first ABO series so be nice lmao!

Word Count: 2251

Pairing: Jensen x reader, Father x Reader, Alan Ackles x Reader. OFC Sister X Reader

"Y/N! There you are," your dad says, grabbing you in a tight one-armed hug. 

"Hey, squirt! Happy birthday!" your uncle David said, grabbing you in a hug as soon as your father let you go.

Your uncle was an okay guy, or at least you liked him. He was big and loud, usually a cut-up at any event. He knew how to lighten the mood, whereas your father on the other hand was all business all the time. He seriously needed to take some pointers from your uncle...

"I assume your sister has filled you in on who your honorary guest will be tonight," he said, pulling you away from the crowd a little, and taking a drink off the server's tray that was passing while making their way through the crowd.

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest, your stomach fluttered with nerves at the very thought of what was to come for you tonight. 

"Yes, dad," was all you could say, eyeing the crowd like someone might jump out and attack you any minute.

"Don't worry, he's not here yet," your dad said, looking you over to make sure you were what he thought was presentable. 

"When they get here you are to stay close to him until he dismisses you, act like he's already your Alpha because with any luck he will before tomorrow night." 

You nod, not saying anything, trying to mentally prepare yourself for what was expected of you.

"Now you remember the protocol. Walk behind him when in the presents of other Alphas or any formal guest. You are to stand there and look pretty. I know that sounds bad, but that's the shortest version I can describe to you right now because they're going to be here at any moment." your dad said, checking his watch before looking around at the crowd.

"Dad, I'm scared," you tell him, overcome by emotions you feel like your about to start crying. It's easy for all those other Omega women to follow their Alpha around like that because you assume that it's instinct. You though, don't have that instinct.

"Afraid of what hun?" your dad asked, turning his full attention to you for the first time as you take a deep breath to trying to keep the tears from falling. The last thing you needed was to be a crying mess when Jensen and Alan arrived.

"What if he doesn't think I'm pretty enough? I'm don't look like those women he sees in Holywood. I haven't presented yet. I'm not an Omega. What if he rejects me? What if I smell repulsive to him? What if..." 

Your dad stops your stammering before you could get too hysterical.

"Listen to me Y/N, Jensen isn't that kind of a man. I promise you, he's not interested in that mess that is running around Holywood. He's not that kind of person. You look fine. Also, he's not going to reject you, he's not going to be repulsed by you. Don't overthink this, and don't worry. Just do what's expected of you, and everything will be fine. Trust me, I wouldn't put you in danger. Jensen will love you, you will see." your dad said, giving you a side hug. His phone buzzed loudly, and he looked down at it before looking back up at you, a smile on his face.

"It's time," he said, leading you toward the side entrance into his office just off from the garden.

You felt like you wanted to throw up, cry, and run away screaming all at once. Your heart was pounding so hard in your ears that you were afraid you might pass out. Your dad kept a tight grip on your shoulder like he half expected you to run himself.

"Remember, stay close to him, he's expecting you to act like your already his Omega, so I suggest you don't stray too far from him. This is a good opportunity to get to know him a little before you present. Not everyone gets to meet their Alpha beforehand." your dad says, giving you one last warning look before opening his office door.

There you found Alan sitting behind your father's desk, tapping his hand on the desk while looking through his phone. He looked up at your dad and you when he noticed the door open, a smirk crossing his lips when he looked at you before standing with his hand stretched out to your father. 

"Y/D/N! Good to see you again!"

"Alan, It's good to see you again as well," your father greeted the older Alpha like they where old friends. 

"How's business in Dallas lately? I have been meaning to make a trip, but I've been so tied down here with training a new assistant I can't seem to get away!"

You didn't hear Alan's response, you were too distracted by the tall Alpha that walked up behind Alan. He was wearing a black suit, with a white dress shirt. His brown/blonde hair styled perfectly in a side sweep, a well-trimed beard of the same color gracing his strong jaw. His broad shoulders filled the suit perfectly. His piercing green eyes stared at you over his father's shoulders. Light lines surround his eyes that you would only assume that if he were to smile would be more prominent. A light dusting of freckles covered his cheeks and nose. He was devastatingly handsome.

"Ah, Y/D/N, this is my son Jensen, Jensen this is Y/D/N, Y/N’s father, and pack leader of the South East Texas pack."

Jensen gave your father a professional-looking smile before shaking your father's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you in person, Jensen," your dad said. 

Jensen smiled and nodded his head. 

"Nice to meet you as well sir." 

The deep rumble of his voice had you suppressing a shiver. Was it legal for a man to be that damn attractive? You were expecting an old graying man that was repulsive. Not a drop-dead gorgeous Greek God. Here he was though, standing there before you like he had every right to do so. He was so attractive it was damn near rude.

"Jensen this is Y/N, my daughter," your dad said, and Jensen's eyes diverted to you. 

He smiles warmly, reaching out taking your hand in his leaning down just enough to brush his beautiful full, pink lips over the back of your hand before coming up to smile at you. Your skin tingling like mad where his lips touched you, and your heart stopping for a moment.

The two older Alpha's watching the interaction between the two of you with smiles on their faces.

"Nice to finally meet you, Y/N," Jensen said, his green eyes boring into yours like they could see into your very soul. 

You tried your best to return the smile. Hoping you didn't look as stupid as you felt you looked in that moment.

"It's nice to meet you, Alpha," you greeted him formally, bowing your head slightly in submission to him. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

Jensen’s chest rumbled in what you could have sworn was a purr, showing his approval of your way of addressing him.

"Please no formalities, sweetheart. It won't be needed tonight." 

Offering his arm to you before your fathers walked all of you out of the office, and back into the garden for the dinner party. Both older Alpha exchanging a smirk between them like they all knew something you didn't.

----------------------

The rest of the party went off as planned. You greeted guests that approached you, staying as close to Jensen as he seemed to be allowing you too. Following behind him like your father told you unless he offered you his arm. Giving you permission to then walk next to him, which he seemed to do more often than you expected of him.

It did briefly cross your mind that he was trying to keep physical contact between the two of you to see if it would trigger your heat. You shoved the thought down though, keeping a smile on your face as best you could. Even past your nerves and your fluttering stomach. Especially when Jensen would smile in your direction, or pull out your chair when dinner was served.

Even though you were to follow him around all night the two of you never really had a moment alone. Which you expected, though it made conversation between the two of you almost impossible. All night long other Alpha's in the family would go to Jensen, keeping his attention focused on them.  Which you knew was custom in these types of events. Still, you wished you could get to know him a little.

As the night started to come to a close Jensen reached over, offering you his arm one last time before leading you out to the front of the house where there was a sleek black SUV waiting. 

Jensen took a seat on the bench in front of the house with you. Your dad and Alan not too far away at all times, but giving the two of you more distance than you ever expected for the first time tonight.

Jensen looked you over, his strong features calm, never changing, or showing any emotion.

"I'm sorry we didn't really have a chance to talk too much. You know how these formal events go. When really we're lucky to have even met each other before..."

He let his words trail off, looking out over the grounds before bringing his attention back to you. Before you even had a chance to say anything, Jensen leaned in close to you, putting his face very close to the pulse point in your neck and inhaled deeply. 

He was careful not touching you, but he was so close that you could feel his breath fan your skin. A shiver involuntarily ran down your spine.

When he looked back up at you, you could have sworn his eyes turned a slight shade of gold. His eyes raked over you again, and you sat there speechless. Feeling like an idiot for your voice failing you. Swallowing hard you try to keep your emotions under control. Knowing that he, being an Alpha, he could literally smell fear. 

Even though you were drawn to this man in a way you couldn't explain, you also couldn't escape the slight twist in the pit of your stomach that you could only assume was fear. He was an alpha, and not all alphas were not nice. You knew that was a risk you, and any other woman took.

Jensen stood without warning, and you stood next to him. He took your hand in his again. Brushing his lips over the soft skin of the back of your hand, his eyes never leaving yours. Your body shivers again, why do you keep doing that? Where his lips touched your skin it was like an electric current flowed through your body.

You could see Alan and your dad approaching the two of you, and you knew it was time for him to leave. Your heart ached within you. You really didn't want him to leave for some reason.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Alpha," you finally said, bowing your head to him slightly in submission again. 

This time he allowed it... That was a change from earlier... Maybe he didn't like you after all. You were so sure when he scented you that maybe he like you.

"See you soon, Omega," he said, turning on his heels, and leaving you standing there with a shocked expression as he joined his father in the car. Giving you a smirk as he closed the door that literally made your heart stop.

You hadn't yet presented? Why did he call you an Omega?

Your dad escorted you back into the house. You were starting to feel tired. The stress of the party you assumed getting to you.

"Dad, if it's okay I think I'm going to turn in, I'm exhausted, and apparently I failed, because he left without me," you said, looking down at your feet, trying not to cry. 

Your father was going to lose his position in the pack, and it was all because you were a stupid Beta.

"Sometimes it takes a day or two to show whether your heat is triggered or not. Go to bed, rest, tomorrow is a new day, and we will take it as it comes... I said from the beginning that whatever happens was meant to be. If you present as Omega you have a good man waiting for you."

You smiled a little to yourself. 

"Do you think he really liked me, dad?" you asked, thinking back to the Jensen had your skin tingling again where his lips had brushed you.

"I saw him scent you, I'd say he was pleased by what he found. Now don't think about it too much, and go get some rest. I'll clear out the guest and we can all turn in for the night." your dad said before turning on his heels at the foot of the stairs. 

Your mind swimming with thoughts of piercing green eyes and strong calloused hands as you climbed out of the shower, and into an oversized sleeping shirt.

Your dad was right, tomorrow was a new day, and hopefully, you would feel better about all this in the morning. Your mind still swimming with thoughts of Jensen and the uncertainties that surrounded your family as you closed your eyes and drifted off to sleep...

Jensen's words still ringing in your head clear and confusing to you in your current state of exhaustion...

"See you soon Omega...."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catch up! Promised Series Masterlist

Tag List:

@deanwanddamons​ @imabitch4jensen​

Series Tag List:

@onethirstyunicorn​

#alpha!jensen #alpha!jensen x omega!reader #alpha!jensen ackles #alpha jensen omega x reader #Jensen x reader #Jensen x you #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles fanfiction #jensen fic #jensen ackles smut #smut #spn smut #snp fanfiction #dean winchester smut #promised #jawritter #fanfiction

[runefactorynonsense]

Do you have any tips for someone playing RF1 for the first time? Obv there's references like fogu and freyashawk's walkthrough but I was wondering from the standpoint of someone whose played it several times, what are the most helpful hints you can suggest, mostly in re: to the storyline (I'm not as concerned with rushing marriage at this point).

Hello, anon! <3

First of all, I’m glad you’ve seen the two resources you named! They are definitely some of my favorite refreshers and guides; I encourage anyone else playing the game for the first time to look them up :)

Storyline and gameplay wise... I’ve jotted down anything I can think of, and apologize if there’s anything you already know, but hopefully something here is new and helpful to you or someone else!

Your friendship level doesn’t decrease over time.

I mentioned this in a previous ask, but friendship levels don’t decrease in this game if you don’t talk to someone, or if you don’t give someone a gift. They only decrease if you give disliked gifts. So you don’t have to stress about making absolutely sure to talk to anyone and everyone every single day unless you want to. So there’s a lot of time that you can use for your own goals, instead of socialization!

Item hoard + Make your own weapons.

Probably my #1 tip in any Rune Factory game honestly. If you plan to forge your own weapons - and I encourage you to - it can make the final 3 caves a breeze. There are 8 caves, and by the time I make a weapon with materials from 6 (and sometimes 7), I usually don’t need to make anything else afterward.

Take time every so often, go to a certain cave, target a certain monster or set of rocks, and just collect as much as possible from them. (This also helps level grind your actual level or mining/fighting stats, so, win-win.)

This can easily overload your storage, small or large, so I might plan ahead with what you want. For instance, I abuse the line of Wind Magic based weapons, so I need a lot of wind crystals, aero elements, and bird feathers, which means I can sell a lot of the other elements’ items.

If you craft, keep a stock of silver. I may be an outlier, but I always find I run out of silver way too fucking fast. Gold, too. But not as badly as silver gets.

Buy crafting books.

These can be grabbed from Russell in the library, and they rotate, the same books for every individual weekday. Grabbing them all as soon as possible is so useful when trying to raise crafting stats. Some can get as expensive as 25k - 28k, but they’re a worthwhile one time purchase. These can teach you how to raise your tools beyond what Leo can do, which will get you through chores and raise your levels faster- on top of the weapons I already mentioned.

The magic books at the back shelf are also useful, get them, play with them, see which ones you like! (Medication and Cure are lifesavers.)

Have a WATER or NON-MAGIC based weapon ready for later plot events.

I don’t know how much you care about spoilers, especially if you’ve already looked up those other resources- but. When you get to Danaan Cave, be ready to fight with a weapon with no magic ability, or something that is water based. Trust me. It will save you a lot of headaches. (Don’t be like younger me and try to brute force your way with a wind weapon.)

No magic is also a good strategy to have for the final cave, Greed, as well- but anything of significant power, if you level grind, with you having good accessories, can be viable.

Level grind.

Pretend this is Pokemon and get all your starters to at least level 12 before taking on the first gym. Run through any cave to the boss room, all the machines removed so you can enter the boss room at any time afterward- then go back. I like to go through the cave again, and again, until I can get to the boss room without breaking much of a sweat.

If you’re not pressed for time, grow two or three spots of quick growing crops somewhere in the cave that’s easily accessible, especially if you’re using lower quality sleeping bags. (If you’re going to Melody’s bath house to refresh before bosses, however, this can be ignored~)

Level grinding will also put you at a strength where you can more easily figure out if later troubles are because your defense isn’t high enough, or if there’s a magic weakness you’re not exploiting.

And, well, as mentioned, it nets you lots of items. Monsters can drop weapons or crop seeds or even nutritional things/other chemicals sometimes, and it’s nice to grab what you can get!

Upgrade your house.

2,000 lumber and 200,000 gold is a lot, but honest to god it is so worth it. This allows you to make food that actually helps your HP and RP, allows you to make NICE medicines for pennies, allows you to craft weapons and accessories more powerful than anyone should have any right to be. 

And you finally get the blessed, larger storage units, that Ivan had no reason not to give you sooner.

You can easily get half this amount by participating in the summer’s Treasure Hunt Festival (summer 26), so I encourage doing it either year 1 or year 2 if need be~ (A mix of teleport/return, the speed of a Silver Wolf, and angling yourself while running can net you a fast time.) 

Take advantage of the broken item pricing coding to make gold. 

In the first RF game, an item’s price is multiplied by its level, not raised by a fraction based on its level. This can be particularly seen in mining, especially since rocks respawn every time you leave a cave, not once every morning.

Say you go to Toros Cave and mine yourself some rather common, 700 g base price Sapphires. A level 2 sapphire is worth 1,400. Level 3, 2,100. And so on.  Upgrade your hammer, go to Toros, mine rocks in the first few rooms, and that one room where you loop around to the right and find yourself above the machine that spawns the slimes- a good day mining can net you a good haul of higher level sapphire and silver, perfect to stuff your pockets and ruin the local economy with.

I recommend doing that any time you need money. It’s easier, and much faster, than crops. However, using dungeons year round to raise crops to level 10 is also a super viable strategy if you want to use the farming mechanics!

Don’t feel like you have to rush!

Although the 5th cave - Misty Bloom - is landlocked, inaccessible except for in winter, it’s not the end of the world if you miss the chance to beat that cave in your first year! It will slow you down, sure, since you then have to loop the year all the way back around- but hey. You can get your farming level up, which means you won’t waste as much energy when tilling squares to get later cave permits. You can use the time to mine in the first four caves and raise that skill, which will also give you a lot of useful ore to craft with, give to Leo, or sell. You can work on upgrading your house. Or catching monsters to strengthen for either their products or to be cave companions. Or getting to know everyone in town so you can witness their side events. Or maybe you’ll decide to get married in the meantime, iiiiif you don’t have your eye on Lynette.

Or, if you get really tired, you can sleep through days and get to winter asap, it’s your playthrough, do what you feel you need to do! <3 Have fun, figure out what works for you, and so on~

If anyone else has any tips for anon, I’d love to hear them myself, as well! Best of luck, and enjoy the storyline!

#answered ask #kind anon #long post #It feels good to dig out all of this silly knowledge #Hopefully this helps out someone! #Apologies for it being so long-- tagged it *long post* in case anyone has that blacklisted

[theonceoverthinker]

105. ...I really wish I hadn’t wasted the phrase ‘say uncle’ on that fic right about now...

PSA before we begin: I LOVE that so many of you guys reblog my stuff, but i also notice that when you do, you don’t often tag it. PLEASE, I am BEGGING you, going forward, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tag your reblogs as ‘fair game.’ We just got kicked off the Fandometrics’ ship list, and we’re not disappearing from it for any longer than a week without a fight if many of us have anything to say about it. If we want to remain in any place in this big world of fandom that warrants being heard, that list is our best chance. I’m going to keep writing these HC’s and more Fair Game posts as best as I can, but I’m going to need YOUR help! So please, you don’t have to do anything apart from just tagging this (And any other Fair Game content you reblog) as ‘fair game.’ The #CloverDeservedBetter movement is depending on you, and so am I!

Okay! HC Time!

If you recall during my 100 HC celebration post, I said I might do Clover getting blessings from Qrow’s family (For the purposes of this HC, we’re going to define Qrow’s family as Tai, Ruby, and Yang) another time, and right now, I could really use a pick me up, so here we go!

Clover’s pretty sure Qrow’s family likes him (Heck, they may have spent some time traveling together), but that doesn’t mean he’s not nervous about asking them for their blessings. And even if he wasn’t sure of their responses, he wants to do this right. After all, should everything work out, they’ll be his family, too!

So one day while Qrow’s on a mission, Clover sneaks off to Patch. He arrives at the Rose/Xiao Long home, and when he knocks on the door, Tai answers. He’s in good spirits and looks happy to see Clover, not asking about why he’s here, but inviting him to have lunch with him all the same. Clover asks where Ruby and Yang are, and Tai tells him that Yang and Blake are taking a ride in Yang’s motorcycle and Ruby and Weiss are taking Zwei to the local dog park, but predicts that they’ll be back by the end of the day. Clover’s not ecstatic to hear that, fearful that he’ll have to make multiple trips to see everyone, but still decides to take advantage of this alone time with Tai to ask him first.

Over a simple, but tasty lunch, Tai finally asks what brought Clover here. Clover bites his lip, muling over the wording, but it seems to make Tai very suspicious. He starts almost glaring at him, and asking pointed questions, prompting Clover to finally blurt his question out. 

“Will you give me your blessing to ask Qrow to marry me?!” he says, the speed of his words only matched in speed by the racing of his heartbeat.

Tai’s face instantly lightens up.

“You want to marry Qrow?” he asks, grinning from ear to ear. “That’s awesome!”

Despite knowing Tai would probably say yes, Clover can’t help but feel relieved to see him so happy with the idea.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” Tai answers, as if saying ‘no duh.’ “You’re smart, and you’re clean -- what more could I want in a brother-in-law?” 

Clover and Tai laugh, though the entire time, Clover gives him an, albeit lighthearted, look that begs him to take the conversation a bit more seriously.

“And you make Qrow a better man,” Tai continues, settling down. “And from what the girls tell me, he made you a better man.”

“He still does,” Clover confesses, cupping the glass of water in front of him.

Tai puts his hand on Clover’s wrist. “I wasn’t married for long, but from what I’ve gathered, that’s how marriage is supposed to work. Looks like you two are all set.”

Clover nods. “Well, I want to get Ruby and Yang’s blessings too. I just hope I can talk to them before I have to head back home.”

Tai shrugs in a noncommittal fashion. “When it comes to my girls, who knows? But, you can hang out here for as long as you want.”

Though he’s about to accept the offer, Clover never gets the chance, for five loud barks stop him in his tracks along with a cry from a very familiar girl for him to be quiet and that the door’s almost open.

“Well, looks like you’re in luck,” Tai says, likely snickering just as much, if not more at his own pun than the circumstances. “Ruby’s home.”

Can somebody smell Part 2? Because I sure can! Tune in next time, and remember to reblog these with ‘fair game!’ Toodles for now!

Tagging @homokinetic @skybird13 @whipped4qrow @mooksie01 @luck-of-the-caw @xwildangel @solitude-of-stars @magneto-is-neato @o0nashipear0o @unfairgamey @doctorrwby @clover-and-co @megan-atthedisco @wash-my-brain @bisexualdisasterqrow @baelonthebrave @doubledexterity @rwby-things-i-guess @atlas-heartthrob @the-answer-was-bi-klance @compoterie @thuskindlyiboop @oceansquid @transdemion @deltastream21 @mimiori @xya-hunter @delta-altair @genderfluidturtle @roman-torchtwink @subatomictealeaves @drbtinglecannon @saphiralunaris

Want to be tagged in future Fair Game HC’s? Of course, you do! So send me a reply, PM, or ask to be added, and I’ll grant your greatest wish! XD

#fair game #qrow branwen #clover ebi #rwby #taiyang xiao long #lucky charms #luckbirds #luck birds #qrover #fair game hcs #105

[space-------kid]

can’t keep my hands (off you).

Anime/Manga: One Punch Man Pairing: Garou/fem!Reader Additional pairing/characters: platonic Metal Bat/fem!Reader, Zenko, mentions of other heroes such as Saitama, Watchdog Man, etc. Genre: Romance, comedy Warning: Absolute silliness. Language – Garou and reader both ate rainbows for breakfast. Dumbassery. Teeth-rotting fluff, maybe? Reader is hella strong like Saitama. Half-assed spice because you’re good at cockblocking Garou despite being low-key thirsty for him. And LOTS of dumbassery from the reader, most probably. Additional tag: Dream-based fic, canon-divergent, Garou is horny af A/N: This is supposed to be a lengthy one-shot, but I’m a dumbass who can’t keep my word so the supposedly one-shot isn’t a one shot anymore.  Now I have to worry how I should properly divide all those parts (I mean, they’re already divided, but–) 😅 A/N 2: NSFW-ish chapter ahead. Half-assed spice because I don’t know how to properly write one

Contrary to popular belief, Garou drinks “respect women” juice.

Summary:

Your life had its general ups and downs, pros and cons, the good and the bad.

You were admittedly a coward and afraid of being targeted by people for it. Following the advice of your (best) friend you trained hard, like, FUCKING hard, and now you’re blessedly, utterly strong you can take down enemies with just one hit. A good thing, really. Can’t let any bad guy harass you or something.

But-

You were probably cursed with the biggest, baddest of luck. Not only were monsters chasing you, suddenly there was this fucking hot bastard weirdo who kept on calling himself the Hero Hunter. “I’m not a hero, goddamn it!”

i. and ii. | iii. and iv. | v. | vi. | vii. | viii. | [tba]

“i can’t keep my

hands

off…!”

- can’t keep my hands off you/simple plan

ix.

You woke up feeling tired and in someplace you didn’t know.

Still feeling sleepy, you snuggled closer to the warm body under you, letting the steady beat of a heart lull you back into slumber. A contented sigh slipped past your lips when a pair or strong, muscular arms wrapped around your waist and carefully maneuvered you along with them as the person you were sleeping with moved to lie on their side. You could feel yourself between their body and the back of a ratty old couch but you paid the latter no heed.

You were warm and comfortable, and your fight instinct was quiet since you didn’t feel any threat nor malicious intent from the person you were sleeping together with. Sluggishly, you pulled your head back just enough to take a look at the mystery guy through what little light from the moon that filtered through the gaps between metal walls.

Your sleepy gaze was blessed by the image of a peacefully snoozing Garou. He looked… somewhat younger, untroubled, in his sleep. Freed from his constant scrutiny, you took your time fully admiring his face up close and more intimately.

You knew yourself that Garou was a handsome – devastatingly so – young man. You couldn’t even pick which part of his face you liked the most. His eyes with their golden gaze, sharp nose that crinkled when he smiled or laughed, or his lips and how they curled up in a wicked smile?

Feeling bashful about your train of thought, you ducked your head and was met with the wonderful sight of his naked, broad chest.

Naked?

You looked down at your own chest and breathed a sigh of relief when you saw yourself still clothed, albeit with Garou’s long-sleeved turtleneck.

Wait a minute. Why were you in his clothes? Did you-? Or did he-?

Thoroughly embarrassed but too tired to even question why you were wearing Garou’s top, you just shyly buried your face on his neck, still feeling tired and sleepy from whatever your fight instinct had done earlier (or was it yesterday? You had no idea).

As if on cue, Garou’s hands squeezed your waist and nuzzled your hair. He shifted against you and yawned, stirring from his own slumber.

You timidly looked up and saw one of his eyes open, peeking down at you.

“You awake, [Name]?”

You could only nod in response, not trusting yourself to communicate with him verbally at the moment.

“Are you still tired? Were you hurt?”

You shook your head no.

Garou breathed a sigh of relief, moving to lie on his back and pulling you on top of him. He must’ve been half-asleep or something because he sounded as if he was dreaming judging from what he told you next.

“Good. You look so hot in your matching underwear by the way, but even better with my top. Hnn… should wear it more often, and preferably with nothing underneath…”

Face beet red from his words, you half-heartedly pulled yourself away from him, struggling feebly against his hold on you.

“I had to change your clothes for you, don’t want you gettin’ sick or something. You were so hot drenched in monster blood earlier, you know,” he continued sleepily, eyes shut while his arms around you tightened to prevent you from escaping. “Wouldn’t mind getting beaten by you again, just-“ here, one of his hands lazily moved down, palm tracing the curve of your ass and finally found its way to your left thigh and giving it a soft squeeze “-crush my head between these killers, huh…”

Oh, god. Never had you wanted to be struck by lightning in your damn life, and yet you couldn’t deny that his sleepy rambling and lazy ministrations were turning you on.

Fuck on a stick, why were you just accepting the fact right now that you have also harboured a thing for him?

“Um, G-Garou,” you softly called him, gently poking his cheek with your finger. God, he was making you feel one hundred kinds of tingly, but you would damn yourself to hell if you let him continue. “W-Wake up, you p-p-pervert, and s-stop touching m-me lewdly!”

Not one to disappoint you, Garou opened his eyes and stared openly at you, gaze smoldering as his hand remained squeezing your thigh.

“Really? That’s what you’re gonna tell me?” he scoffed at you. The corners of his lips quirked up in a devilish smirk. “Hell no, [Name]. I’ve waited long enough for this and don’t have much patience left any longer.”

With that, Garou sat up and braced you against his chest, your legs straddling him. Both his hands were now on your thighs each, fingers digging greedily on your exposed skin. You bit back a moan when he nudged your forehead with his, making you look up at him. He pressed his open mouth to yours, stifling the surprised squeak that slipped past your lips.

“This is your fault, you know,” he told you between kisses, “beating me up twice and seducing me with these fucking thighs.” Garou kneaded the soft flesh of your thighs roughly, chuckling at the soft moan you let out. “How dare you make me feel horny every damn time I’m around you, little lady. Think I’ll always let you get away with it? Think I’m just teasing you for the fun of it? No, no, no…”

He yanked the collar of his sweater with his teeth and his searching mouth quickly found your neck, nibbling and sucking on your skin hard enough to leave a mark. Your moans and whimpers turned him on even further, egging him on to continue what he was doing.

“Dumbass [Name]… think your fucking blush have no effect on me?” he grumbled against your skin.

“A-Ah, Garou…” you moaned breathlessly, eyes closed tight they hurt. Your hands gripped his shoulders hard enough to hurt, fingernails digging on his skin. Garou let out a pleased hum against your throat, dragging his teeth and tongue on your skin. You were just sleeping next to each other. How the hell did it escalate to this?

But you would be fucking lying if you said you didn’t want this. It might have been a long time coming, even.

Garou was being high-key thirsty for you, that you knew because he was being blatant about it. But he didn’t know that you were low-key having the hots for him.

That didn’t mean, however, that you would let him get to your pants easily.

Garou’s lips found yours again, and he was quick to slip his tongue inside your mouth when you gasped as he slipped one of his hands under his sweater you were wearing. Almost abandoning all common sense, you returned his kisses shyly but just as fervently, carding your fingers through his wild hair. He groaned delightedly against your mouth when you raked your nails against his scalp.

He shifted you on his lap and that was when you felt something poking your inner thigh.

You were loathe to stop this little romp he started, but you would be damned if you were continuing this without a proper label between the two of you, more so marriage prospects!

(Yeah, you were old-fashioned like that.)

You parents would be mortified and proud at the same time. They raised you a prude, for fuck’s sake after all. And Badd teasing you should he see the mark on your neck would just fucking kill you with embarrassment. Also, he might get a tiny bit infuriated should he find out that the one who gave it to you was the infamous Hero Hunter-

Garou let out a startled yelp when you covered his face with your hands and moved to plant your knees on his thighs.

“[Name]-?!”

Face bright red not from being turned on but from sheer mortification (well, you’re still proud of yourself from making him feel pretty excited), you removed your hands from his face and scrambled to get on your feet. You stumbled gracelessly on the wooden floor and tugged the hem of his sweater down to fully cover your still-exposed thighs.

“T-Take– Take your r-raging d-dick elsewhere, Garou!” you screeched at him with pure embarrassment flooding your face.

“I am taking it elsewhere!” he yelled back at you childishly. “I’m taking it to you, idiot!”

“Oh, my god! D-Don’t say it like that!”

“The fuck are you acting like this for, now? Just when we’re getting at the good part…” Garou complained, pouting – actually pouting! – at you. Suddenly, his eyes widened with realization and he stared at you in astonishment. “Don’t tell me… Are you a fuckin’ virgin, [Name]?”

If only the ground could swallow you or you either die from utter humiliation. Before you knew it, you had crossed the short distance between the two of you and shoved your fists weakly against his chest.

“S-S-S-So what if I-I am?!”

Much to your consternation, Garou only laughed uproariously at your confirmation. You shrieked wordlessly at him, weakly hitting his chest as he continued guffawing at you.

“S-Stop laughing, asshole!” you yelled, tears of embarrassment pooling on the corners of your eyes. “W-What’s so b-bad about being a v-virgin?”

Garou, trying his best to contain his laughter, looked at you rather proudly and shrugged. “Nothin’ bad about it, really. I just can’t believe that hot stuff like ya ain’t even gotten laid yet.”

You knew it wasn’t possible, but you could feel your face getting redder and hotter at being called hot by a stupidly, terribly attractive hunk. You asked him for confirmation, slightly hoping that you didn’t mishear, “I-I’m… hot?”

“Lady, I won’t even try to think about getting into your pants if I think you’re not,” he deadpanned, brow raised as if you had said something idiotic. Garou grabbed you by the waist and attempted to pull you back to his lap, but you braced your hands against his chest and opted to stand between his legs. He complained, “I just want you to sit here, dumbass! What now?”

“I don’t want to! Not with t-that- that thing poking my butt!” you protested, still blushing heavily.

“Fucking damn it, woman,” Garou groaned, sounding pained. “I get you’re a virgin and may not want to continue since it’s understandably your first time or something, and I respect that even if I wanna bone you so fuckin’ bad right now. We’ll stop, okay? I’ll stop. I just wanna hold you close! Sit on my thigh or beside me, for fuck’s sake!”

Warmth filled your chest, the wholesome kind, at Garou being respectful and mustering every ounce of self-restraint for you. You heeded him and sat on his right thigh, although mindful of the raging boner he was still sporting. Shyly, you looked at him and saw that he wasn’t even a bit embarrassed about it. Garou returned your stare, golden gaze softening as he planted a kiss on your temple.

“Have I told you already that you’re damn hot?” he asked you quietly, eyes roaming your body earnestly. He placed a hand on one of your thighs and ran his thumb on the exposed skin.

You bit the inside of your cheek when he looked back at your face, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“B-But I’m not-“ you griped, averting your gaze meekly.

“Hell, you are. Covered in monster blood or not.”

You covered your face with your hands in embarrassment.

“S-Stop it. You just wanna continue…”

“I told you already, we don’t have to if you’re not ready,” Garou fussed at you. “Haven’t ya been listening?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Tch. You should be.”

You peeked at him through your fingers and saw the tender way he was looking at you. Huh. What’s with that expression just now?

Garou scooped you in his arms and settled you on the couch. He stood up and repositioned himself on the floor, his back to you.

“Go back to sleep,” he told you.

“Um… what about you?”

He titled his head to look at you, brow raised again. “I’m taking the floor,” he told you. “Not unless you want me up there with you, and I’m tellin’ you: I get to touch you again, and there’s no stopping me anymore. You want that?”

You swooped forward and kissed his cheek thoughtlessly, loving the way his eyes widened at you like a puppy’s and cheeks dusted pink. You shot him a grateful smile and ruffled his messy hair.

“T-Thank you, Garou,” you told him sincerely. “For doing this… and for looking out for me. I… I must’ve passed out earlier, huh? There were lots of monsters around, and, I-I got really scared when… um…”

“You’re looking out for me, too, [Name],” he replied. “You didn’t really have to continue being friends with me after all these, but… you get my drift.”

He had a point, to be honest. But you liked him for who he was, anyway. Liked him as a friend, you meant.

Are you sticking with just friends, though? After what happened, you idiot?  You asked yourself as you laid down on your side, facing Garou. He was facing forward now, shoulders relaxing and his breathing evening out.

You had to admit that you might be harbouring a little crush on the guy despite all the teasing he was raining down on you. Garou might be the Hero Hunter, but he was always so nice – kind – to you. Hell, he might’ve laughed at you for being a virgin, but he had respected you and stopped himself when he caught on your panic earlier.

“I get you’re a virgin and may not want to continue since it’s understandably your first time or something, and I respect that even if I wanna bone you so fuckin ’bad right now. We’ll stop, okay? I’ll stop.”

You couldn’t stop the smile on your face as you closed your eyes, hopefully dreaming of a gentlemanly Garou wooing you in your dreams.

“[Name].”

“Hmm?” you hummed sleepily.

“You better be ready next time, ‘coz you ain’t gonna cockblock me anymore.”

You smacked him hard on the head, telling yourself that he deserved to get knocked out for being such a fucking pervert.

---

to be continued

#garou x reader #platonic metal bat x reader #garou #garou the hero hunter #garou the human monster #metal bat #badd #opm x reader #one punch man #one punch man season 2

[commaless-a2]

@tricktress​ sent a message! (me being not so sneaky) I'd love to hear all your thoughts about luc and yeza and like, veth's feelings about motherhood and womanhood and also like... being married and being a wife in general??? <3

SO MANY FEELINGS, LET ME JUST SAY. i want to preface this entire meta / rambling of my too-deep-insights onto veth and EVERTYTHING, by saying that veth had no intention of marrying, or even finding someone to be with forever before yeza, even if she might’ve wanted to. i keep emphasizing on the fact that veth was a rebellious child and teenager, and even though she doesn’t actively rebel ( in case she gets in trouble often by avoiding the mundane tasks that her family demands her to do ), she rebels in ways where she doesn’t need to purposefully not do anything, and marriage is one of that ー as well as the fact that she didn’t really fit in with the village, in general; being bullied and ostracized would do a number on your capability to genuinely care for someone in the village. in fact, part of the reason why my veth decided to marry yeza was because it’d help her escape from her bad family situation, though of course, she wouldn’t have gone through with it if she hadn’t harboured genuine love for him. 

yeza is her first love, and her first husband  ー the first person that ever showed an interest in her.  she met him during a game of truth of dare when she was around 16 ( she wasn’t invited ー i have interpreted her as just watching them outside of the ring, and having one of the village kids dare yeza to kiss her. ), and honestly, at first, she sort of pitied him! he was a nice guy, but a little bit of a pushover; she felt bad that he was more-or-less forced to kiss her, and she never really would’ve talked to him in any other situation, seeing as 1. she was an outcast and 2. she was more.. active, and yeza was a bookworm who more or less buried his head in a book everywhere he went. however, it was her first kiss, and veth sort of... had a bundle of emotions fall out ー about how she really did want to be loved, and to love, despite the fact that she thinks she might not deserve it. 

their entire friendship was more or less veth bossing him around, teasing him, being the active voice to yeza’s passivity, and though they had a huge difference in opinions and attitudes, eventually, they fell in love ー a bit too quickly than how others would really feel ( a mix of being starved for affection and loved and finding an opportunity in this relationship. ), and veth proposed to yeza when she was 19 ( tired of her family situation, wanting to make the most of it ) and the rest was history: her encouraging him to pursue his dreams and build an apothecary, giving birth to a son who she coined ‘ luc ’, for lucky ( a symbol of her luck ever since she’d been with yeza! ). i will admit that yeza and veth’s relationship might’ve not happened if veth was less sheltered; if she was able to travel out of felderwin and make new connections, but despite yeza being sort of the only option she had in terms of a family, he is very important to her, friend or lover.

even though she was terrified of having a child ー she was deathly afraid of treating her son like her family had treated her, and her way of caring for luc is something we can see as coddling or being over-protective / passive, but eventually, with yeza’s guidance, she mellowed out and decided to give luc a good life, rather than pamper him and cause him to turn out a spoiled child, though the nein can definitely say that luc was blessed with such a good family. 

veth adores luc with all of her heart, subverting that ‘ a child symbolizes the end of freedom ‘ idea, because what the fuck? luc is the beginning of her life, luc is a symbol of yeza and veth’s union, luc is her love and her stars and her moon and her joy! between yeza and veth, veth’s the more fun and casual parent, while yeza is a bit more stern and traditional, which veth doesn’t particularly appreciate. luc got bedtime stories daily when she was still ‘veth brenatto’, spent so much time with them ー veth and yeza both wanted him to get an education ( something they didn’t particularly got; the two of them were self taught ), to have a better life than the two of them ever had. being a mother is something to be proud of, and veth’s dogma on motherhood is that it is a role that protects and nurtures people. she is ashamed of dying; hence her reluctance to be with her family before, her wish to forget that they ever were in her life. so, i suppose you can say veth takes motherhood very, very seriously.

it is the same thing about being a wife. it is a duty that she takes intense care to achieve; to be a wife is to support and to push your other half to do the things they want to do, to be a wife is to be the better half. most of her life she’s constantly heard about being a wife means to be passive to your husband, to be ever obedient and husband-adoring, but that just doesn’t sit right with her. i’d like to say that veth was... rather progressive in felderwin, though she might seen ignorant and prejudiced ( hating goblins, though that’s definitely fading as she spends more time outside the world! calling the kryn cricks until told not to ). 

so, her belief in being a wife is that it is to stand side-by-side with your lover, to support them and be the backbone. it’s more or less the idea of ‘ if i’m going to be a mother/wife, you BEST know that i’ll be the goddamn best mother/wife! ‘ rebellion, to her, is to be kind and take no shit, to go against the grain; to be gentle in a thunderstorm.

about womanhood? veth is quite disconnected from womanhood, in general. she definitely has this disconnect of how a woman is ‘expected to act’ and how she acts herself, which gets better when she goes out in the world! however, she has always been in touch with femininity, which to her is separate from womanhood. she loves dresses, jewellery, flowers. things that are perceived as feminine, she is heavily invested in. perhaps it is a way for her to feel attached to her identity as a woman; that has been constantly undermined by the people she knew.

#hcs. #( OH YOU UNLEASHED A STORM DANI I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS ) #( i think veth deserves to be a feminist icon. if she isn't already #THIS GOT SO LONG AND IT IS VERY WORDY BUT I HOPE THIS EXPLAINS AT LEAST A THIRD OF WHAT I'M FEELING ABOUT ALL OF THIS )

[emmarosewrites]

I’ve brough a suprise - Part 1/2

A long ovedue Ellen and Portia fanfiction.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. didn’t participate in the following story. This story does not necessarily reflect my views or opinions on the characters and places mentioned. If someone is to find this story offensive, please reach out.

I woke up and the urge to puke came right away, I ran to the bathroom  before being even fully awoken.

What is it?

I heard Kerry say in a sleepy voice, surely my sprint woke her up. I couldn't respond. Actually, I couldn't even shut the door before I kneeled in front of the toilet and threw up. So there goes yesterday's dinner - I tought to myself as I flashed the toilet.

Honey, what's going on? Kerry and Bellamy both stood by the door with concerned looks.

Scandal was on a press tour and the girls and I ended up shearing a hotel room. I was looking foward to a slumber party, but we arrived late and tired and fell asleep right away. I stood up and begun cleaning myself.

Nothing, I'm fine.

Bellamy crossed her arms and looked at me with that "you are not fooling me" look. I looked at them holding back a smile. Gosh, they were so sweet and we had gotten close, and I really needed to share this with someone. But even Ellen didn't know and I knew she wouldn't like other people finding out before her.

Porsh, what is it? There was a hint of concern in Bellamy's voice as she walked towards me. She placed a hand on my shoulder - You know you can tell us anything. I sighed.

I think I'm pregnant.

What?! Kerry couldn't believe her ears.

You heard her sayed Bellamy.

Yeah, sure - she looked down, seemed a bit embarrased -  but I mean, how? Did you and Ellen took a treatment or something? If you don't mind me asking.

Well, kind of - I grabbed the sink while sitting down on the toilet cover, feeling a bit dizzy. We were so sure we didn't want kids, but then, this desire came out of nowhere. We tought it was too late, and when we asked the doctor if we could use our frozen embryos they agreed the chances where very slim, but it was up to us to try.

I gagged again and they both ran towards me. Before I knew they were holding my hair while I threw up again.

Come - said Bellamy - clean yourself up and we'll talk in the room.

I did so and seconds later we were sitting in a circle in one of the beds as Kerry carresed reasurrengly my tight. I thanked God for this girlfriends moment, it was actually a relief to have someone else knowing.

You were telling us you froze embryos - said Bellamy

We did - I said. Just in case we changed our minds. We decided to give it a go, once, if it worked, it worked, altough it was virtually impossible.

And yet it did - said Kerry, with a smile in her voice.

Well, it might. I'm not sure. Maybe is placebo. - I said.

Wait - said Bellamy. So you think you might be pregnant but you didn't take any tests

I nodded

And Ellen doesn't know?

I nodded again.

Porsh, you have to take a pregnancy test. You can't walk around being prengant and not know about it, it could be dangerous. Plus if it's not a pregnancy you should go to the E.R. and see what's wrong.

She had a point. And not like I hadn't thought about it before, but the symptoms begun once I left on the trip and I didn't want to take the test without Ellen.

I'm nervous - I spoke - and I think Ellen would like to be there for it.

I'm sure she would. But honey, you were projetile vomiting, you should know  exactly what's going on.

Bellamy what right, but I was just too nervous. We had done the incemination knowing there was a 5% chance, I don't think we ever seriously contemplated the possibility of it working.

Look, here's what we'll do. You take the test, we film it, and then you can show the clip to Ellen as a surprise. She can even use it for her show, you know she dies to show you off.

I smilled. Kerry was right. It was the best solution. I couldn't be "maybe pregnant" for a minute longer.

Ok. Now good luck to us getting the test - I said.

What do you mean? - Kerry looked a bit confused.

Well, if three actresses walk into a drugstore and buy a pregnancy test...we wouldn't exactly go unnoticed. And I don't carry those with me just like I don't carry condoms, I'm gay after all.

They both chuckled.

I might have one - said Bellamy - let me check.

A few minutes later we were all three in the bathroom, waiting fo the test to show the results. One of them was hughing me from each side and rubbing my arms and I think it had just drawn on us how big the whole thing actually was. Kerry's alarm went off.

It's time - she said, taking a deep breath and smiling. I don't know who was more nervous.

You girls do it - I said, bitting my nails.

Oh no, you should do it. You are the mommy to be! it's a once in a lifetime thing - said Bellamy.

The words "mommy to be" didn't help, but she had a point. I slowly moved forward, reaching out to the test. I can't!

C'mon girl! - I don't know if Kerry wanted to cheer me up or if she just couldn't contain herself any longer.

Ok, ok, fine.

The cellphone we placed on the sink was recording everything as I took a deep breath and turned the test arround. Two stripes. Pregnant. We had promissed ourselves to be subtle about this, no one else could know. But as soon as we saw it we all screemed in joy, then I covered my face with my hands and started crying.

Honey, it's ok - Kerry was rubbing my back.

You are going to be a mom and we are going to be aunties! - Bellamy was whiping a tear from her left eye.

Say something to your wife - said Kerry, gesturing towards the phone.

Baby - I said between sobs - I'm pregnant.

They both chuckled and hughed me once again.

The press day went well, Kerry and Bellamy where looking after me the whole time: if I ate, if I was tired or if I made too much of a physical effort. Bless them. I knew then that even if Ellen could be a bit upset that I didn't wait for her to take the test, she was going to be glad that I had those two looking after her wife and her baby, I couldn't thank them enough.

So, that was fun - said Kerry, throwing her purse on her bed when we entered the room. We were pretty messy, I hold it together for Ellen at home because she was a clean freek but these girls allowed my messy side to show.

How are you feeling, Porsh? Bellamy asked.

Good, I think other than morning sickness and missing period I don't have much synthomps, thank God.

Really? - said Kerry - No cravings or anything?

Well... - Now that I thought about it, I did have a few cravings. - I mean, a veggie burger won't hurt...-

They chucked.

Good, we needed to have dinner anyways - said Bellamy with a laugh. Kerry then grabbed the phone.

Hi, I would like to order room service

What are you doing? - I asked - I thought we might go out to grab food or something

Oh no. We all had a long day and you need to rest. We are having a girls night in.

Room service got there pretty fast and before I realized we were eating in bed in a circle much like we had done earlier in the day when they convinced me to take the test.

So...there has to be more to you and Ellen's life than inceminations. - said Kerry with a smirk, before bitting on her burger.

I don't know what you mean. - It's true, I didn't. For a second I tought the naughty face meant that she wanted to know our marital details, but I quicky ruled it out. Why would two straight women want to know what two lesbians did in the room? They would surely find it disgusting.

Yeah. We had kown you for some months now, give us the details! I'm sure that glow doesn't come just from eating your vegetables.

Ok, now Bellamy was smirking. Maybe I was right. I blushed.

You are turning red, you naughty!

I mean...what do you want to know? We have a pretty happy life...in all aspects.

They didn't answer, they just moved closer while keeping their eyes on me, they weren't giving up. I didn't know what to do, I hadn't had a slumber party in ages and I never shared the details of my sex life with anyone. Sure I wanted to, we all need advice, support, shearing or venting sometimes, but I just didn't have that people in my life.

You know marriage...if it's a happy one and you truly like eachother then they get the way around your body and it can be awesome. It kinda sucks to be away from her because I'm not used to this...abstinence.

They laughed, and after some crazy stories they share themselves I just couldn't not tell them about the little farewell party Ellen thew for me because of the days we were going to be away from eachother. They were a bit jealous but in a good way, aparently is not common to be that pleaced with a partner after such a long time.

So, mama to be, you are going to have to cut down a little bit on those wild nights you and your woman have. Bless her, it sounds like a constant blast. But for now it will be plenty of water and sleeping and nothing too crazy in bed. Try to be like a mortal for once.

There goes doctor Kerry - Bellamy said and I laughed

It's true, the woman is prengant!

I gluped. I was. Every time they said it out loud it became more real. What if Ellen wasn't that exited after all? What if she didn't like my pregnant body? They saw my concerned face and rushed to confort me as if they red my mind.

Gosh, I'm being such a baby, hormones started to kick already.

Look, the earlier she knows the better. I heard there was a change in the schedule and we are going back to L.A. before continuing our tour in Seattle, you should tell her then.

She is going to be so exited! - Bellamy clapped quickly, I think she was even more exited herself.

Please film everything - said Kerry - Along with the video we just made when you found out it will make a cute story, you can show it to your kid one day.

#ellen degeneres #ellenandportia #degenerossi #degenerossifanfiction

[ellebabywrites]

Hesitant Love - Park Chanyeol

Type : Oneshot // Angst // Fluff // Smut // Mafia!au

Warnings : Violence // Attempted Assault

Word Count : 6690

Author Note : Here is my Chanyeol Mafia!au/Arranged Marriage request , thank you for being patient , I hope you enjoy my lovelies 💛

A wedding is supposed to be a celebration. A joining of two people in love, to live happily forever as one family. Surrounded by the people you cherish most in this world; to dance and drink and enjoy, together. The happiest day of your life. Supposedly.

Your wedding was nothing but a complete representation of all the fuck ups in your life. It wasn’t out of love, but a business deal, a pay off.

As you walk down the aisle, your father’s grip on your arm is tight as if he’s afraid you’ll run out if he lets go. You’re thankful for the thick veil that’s successfully hiding the grimace painted on your face.

This isn’t a wedding. This isn’t what you wanted for yourself. But thanks to your father, that wasn’t your choice anymore.

It was just a little over a year ago when you’d finally left home and started college, being more excited about the leaving part than school you had to admit. Home was never an easy place to be, your mother left when you were 10 and now it was just your father and yourself. You never felt like the ‘child’ at home, constantly having to carry your father through whatever genius business plan he’d thought up, only for it to fall through and leave a mess; until the very next genius idea he had and the cycle repeats. The bills only got paid because you had worked 2 jobs outside of school. It was a miracle you’d managed to get into College at all to be honest.

Unbeknownst to you, the second you’d moved out and the money was no longer coming in, your father did what every other poor soul in your town did when they were down on their luck and desperate - he ran to get a loan from the one family you never want to be indebted to. The Parks.

When your father showed up at your door a few weeks ago, begging on his hands and knees for your help repaying said debts, you had no choice. They’d kill him if he didn’t pay up. The Parks were the most ruthless Mafia family in the city, they killed and stole and corrupted the likes of anyone and everyone stupid enough to fall into their world. And despite the years of resentment and bitterness you had piled up against your father, you didn’t want to see him hurt. No matter how much he undoubtedly had it coming.

So now here you are, in a church of all places, full of the most dangerous men and women around, all staring at you as you’re sold off to the next in line to the criminal empire - Park Chanyeol.

Your father would be right. If he let go of your arm now you would most definitely sprint right out of there. By the time he did loosen his grip, you were stood face to face with your betrothed at the altar. Through the thick white tulle you could see his hands move to de-veil you and it took all the strength you had to pull your lips into a smile. Chanyeol could see your face was strained from the second the fabric was gone. While you managed to keep a sweet smile for most of the ceremony, your eyes remained distant and sad. Not that he cared very much. Chanyeol didn’t want to get married, but in order for him to take over as head of the family, his father insisted, it made him seem a ‘stronger’ and more ‘put together’ leader, as his father had worded it. So he simply ignored you for the night, focussing on getting it over with so he could leave.

You however, spend the night hyper aware of every single moment. Letting your mind wander to all the things you were giving up for the sake of settling some debts.

As the vows were read you think of all your friends you’ve left behind at college, being forced to leave as your new ‘position’ as a Park would put yourself, and them, in unimaginable danger. As the pair of you kiss and the guests erupt in celebratory cheers, you think about your boyfriend, Minseok, whom you had to break up with just a few days beforehand, how he was supposed to be your ‘everything first’ and how he had promised to marry you right after graduation. At the after party dinner as you sit listening to people you don’t know make speeches with stories you weren’t apart of, you think about the wedding you’d always dreamed of. How it was supposed to be You and Minseok; and your friends would be the ones telling stories about how you both had met in the cafeteria at orientation, or that time you all had a sleepover in the library before exams, or about the time Minseok had first told you he loved you on the group trip to the beach last summer and sent them all into hysterics at the sight of you both all loved up.

It was supposed to be magical, it was supposed to be special, it was supposed to be you and the love of your life committing to each other with all your friends and memories. Not sitting in silence next to your stranger of a husband, who wouldn’t even look at you after you’d left the ceremony. You felt completely alone at your own wedding and you hated it. You hated him. You hated your father for dragging you into this. You hated the entire situation, but it was far too late.

The car journey to your new ‘home’ was spent in silence too, not wanting to engage with Chanyeol at all, and luckily he had the same idea, not sparing you a glance or uttering any words of comfort. But what else did you expect from someone like him?

Only when the car stopped did you look up from your hands. The house, if you could even call it that, was ridiculously huge; much too big for just the two of you, but maybe that would be a blessing. It was a modern mansion and you felt completely awestruck. Chanyeol watched you for a moment as you stared out the window at your new home, he watched as your eyes widened and mouth dropped, noticing the glistening of your lipgloss before he turned away, not wanting his mind to wonder there. Without a word he got out and headed inside. Noticing you were alone in the car, you sighed loudly and mentally prepared yourself for this new life you’d been thrown into.

The inside of the house was just as magnificent as the outside suggested. Marble floors and walls, a staircase that wound its way up the wall of the entrance hall, diamond chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Once again you’re left awestruck. With no sign of Chanyeol and the exhaustion from the day finally catching up to you, you decide to go find somewhere with a bed; ignoring the few members of staff that tried their best not to make eye contact with you.

Finding your room is surprisingly easy considering the sheer number of them, your bags left outside in the hallway are a clear give away though and you’re just thankful that you don’t have to share with Chanyeol. All you wanted was to get out of your suffocating wedding clothes; have a hot shower and crawl into bed, ignoring the world and forgetting the day. After making sure to lock the door, you do just that; letting the sounds of your own muffled sobs soothe you into dreamland.

◇

If it wasn’t obvious enough from your behaviour on the wedding night, the next week or so you spent locked in you room made your feelings exponentially clear. Chanyeol knew you hated him. He knew that this was the last thing you wanted and he knew that it was, partially, his fault. But he didn’t care. If you wanted to lock yourself away then fine, he’d leave you to it. With his father getting ready to hand him the family legacy, he had more important things to worry about than your ‘temper tantrum’, as he’d so fondly started referring to it.

“Are you really just going to ignore her forever?” Jongin, Chanyeol’s best friend, asked him one day. They were sitting out by the pool discussing business, when Jongin had caught a glimpse of you in the kitchen through the window. Sighing in frustration at the mention of you, Chanyeol turned to look the same direction.

“Yeah.” He answered bluntly. Watching as you got a drink out of the fridge and went back up to your room.

Jongin, finding the entire situation truly hilarious, nudges him in the arm and gives a teasing look, “c’mon Yeol, she’s your ‘wife’, you have to make some effort.”

“Why? She hates all of this. She stays out of my way, I stay out of hers. That’s how it is.” As nonchalant as Chanyeol was trying to be about everything, he couldn’t deny that your cold shoulder was starting to get to him. You rarely came out of your room and if you did, you’d avoid him; leaving the room if he was there; ignoring the staffs’ attempts at making you more comfortable; refusing to eat anything but those small packets of trail mix that had been in the cupboard forever. Chanyeol didn’t like feeling like he had to walk on eggshells around you; but god forbid if he’d be the first to crack.

“Yeah because that’s normal in a marriage,” Jongin laughs, watching how Chanyeol’s eyes lingered where you’d been standing in the kitchen moments before, “Hyung, just make an effort, you never know, she might be nice.”

Rolling his eyes at the mere thought of putting in any more effort than he already had, “let’s just get back to work” Chanyeol mumbled and turned back to business.

Jongin’s words stayed in Chanyeol’s mind for days after that discussion. Should he be trying more? Truth be told, he was never interested in the marriage or you, but now you were stuck together and the awkward tension that filled the house was becoming unbearable. He found himself thinking about you a lot more than he’d like to admit. If you were okay up in your room all alone; what your favourite food was; if you were warm enough at night or if you needed more blankets; if you still hated him. When you walked into the kitchen one morning while he was sitting there and you immediately went to avert your eyes and turn away; Chanyeol decided enough was enough.

“We’re going to the store.”

He said coldly, staring you down with his determined eyes, showing there was no room for debate. You stared back at him in shock that he’d actually spoken to you, “get dressed, I’ll wait by the door.” Then he got up and left, leaving you frozen and confused.

Reluctantly, you got dressed and went to meet your husband in the entrance hall. You debated just locking yourself in your room again and avoiding him, but you were all out of trail mix and your body was craving some fresh air.

Chanyeol has no idea what he was doing but thought if he could get you to spend more than a few seconds with him, that was progress.

When you met him at the door he let his eyes linger on you, he knew you were beautiful he just hadn’t seen you properly since the wedding, he caught himself taking mental notes of your features before forcing himself to look away. You’d noticed of course but couldn’t find the words to say anything.

“You look nice.” Chanyeol muttered, not facing you and moving to head out the door, “let’s go.”

The ride to the store is silent, bar the radio singing some old elvis song. It’s one your mother used to sing and you find yourself tapping along to the beat on you leg. Chanyeol notices and discreetly turns up the volume a little.

“Do you like Elvis?” He asks, keeping his eyes on the road.

You don’t want to talk to him about Elvis because that could lead to talking about your mother, about your father, and eventually this mess - so you just hum gently and keep your eyes planted firmly on you lap.

“I like Elvis too.” He says, and for the rest of the short ride Chanyeol sings softly along. His voice is beautiful, you think.

At the store, Chanyeol keeps trying to make small talk with you. It’s weird, you think, he’s never tried to speak to you before and now he’s suddenly interested in everything. Your favourite juice, your favourite meat, your favourite fruit. No matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to hide the small smile that tugs at your lips when he grabs a bunch of the old trail mix you’ve been living off so far and puts them into the cart without a word. Seeing you smile, and seeing you open up  but more as you’ve been talking, Chanyeol feels his confidence build and decides that making an effort may not be the worst thing.

“Ice cream.” He says, looking down at you expectantly, “huh?”, he looks around with furrowed eyebrows before grabbing your hand and pulling you through the aisles.

He feels you tense at his touch but you don’t pull away so he continues, “We need ice cream. We’re going to have a movie night.”

You’re taken back a bit because, did he really want to spend more time with you? And his hand did feel really nice in yours, so would it be that bad?

“Pick something, anything you like,” Chanyeol stops you in front of the huge freezer filled with tubs of ice cream and you don’t even hesitate before reaching for your favourite flavour, strawberry. It makes him smile seeing your eyes light up at something as simple as strawberry ice cream. He puts another couple of tubs into the cart.

The conversation isn’t restricted to the store. On the car ride back Chanyeol asks you a million more questions and for some reason you find yourself answering all of them.

“What movie do you want to watch?” Chanyeol asks as he pulls up to the house.

“I don’t mind, I like anything really.”

He grins and passes you one of the shopping bags.

“How about we watch my favourite film then, hm?”

You expected Chanyeol’s favourite film to be something rough, a horror or thriller maybe, so when he turns on Lilo and Stitch you can’t hide the shock that’s evident on your face. He giggles at your expression and you think it might be the most beautiful sound you’ve ever heard, momentarily knocking you out of your frozen state.

Handing you a spoon and tub of ice cream, he sits down next to you on the sofa, “what? It’s a classic.”

As the movie plays, you realise you don’t mind that Chanyeol is sitting closer and closer to you everytime me shuffled in his seat, you find yourself liking his company, the way he giggles at the film and the way his eyebrows furrow at certain scenes. For the first time since the wedding you want to let your guard down. Maybe this won’t be so bad? Besides you have really started to hate being locked in your room all alone.

After that, your movie nights became a regular thing. It didn’t take too long for the pair of you to go through almost every Disney movie in Chanyeol’s inventory, swiftly moving on to his Studio Ghibli collection, your favourite. As time went on you found yourself more comfortable being around Chanyeol.

You’d engage in, and often initiate, conversations and you’d stopped locking yourself away and bolting out of rooms when he was there. It felt good to feel like things were finally starting to be okay. Chanyeol could see the change in you too. He loved that he was noticing all your little quirks and habits the more comfortable you seemed to get; he thought it was adorable. There was still some tension and awkward silences between the pair of you, but it no longer felt so strained. He liked it. He liked you.

When he felt your head lean against his shoulder one night he didn’t even question it, simply bringing his arm around your shoulders to hold you closer.

“So cute,” he whispered into your hair, placing a kiss on your temple and turning back to the movie.

It was confusing for you though, your feelings were getting all messed up and the line between love and hate were blurring. Every movie night, you’d let yourself get closer and closer to your husband, slowly opening up - only to spend the next night watching him leave the house strapped with weapons and returning covered in blood. Knocking you back to your senses and rebuilding those walls you kept around yourself.

After a while, Chanyeol had to go out more for business, meaning your movie nights got less and less and your anxiety went through the roof. You cared about him, that much you knew, but his world scared you and you hated the thought of being alone just as much as you hated seeing him leave every night.

“You’re leaving again?” You’re standing on the staircase watching Chanyeol and Jongin load their weapons by the door.

“Yeah,” he watched you chew on your bottom lip and avoid his eyes, a nervous tick he’s picked up on, and felt his heart melt a little bit. Chanyeol reached out to cup your cheeks to hold your forehead against his, skinship being a new thing for the two of you.

“We’ll be back tonight. Don’t worry, Jaehyun is here.” And then he turned back to Jongin.

Jaehyun is the bodyguard Chanyeol had hired to stay with you whenever he left for work. The two of you had grown incredibly close over the last month or so, other than Chanyeol, Jaehyun was the only person you’d warmed up to.

“So Y/N, what do you want to do today?” Suddenly appearing next to you, Jaehyun always tried to keep you distracted when he saw you were struggling.

“Hmm, we could check out that new cafe downtown you mentioned? Or maybe we could go to that bookstore you like?” Jaehyun was an expert at diverting your attention away from the violent truth of your lives by now, maybe that’s why you’d opened up to him so quickly, because he was a touch of normality for you.

At the sound of Coffee and Books, you finally turned away from watching your husband arm up, instead nodding at Jaehyun enthusiastically, “let me just go get ready!” You beamed at him before running up the stairs.

Chanyeol watched the exchange curiously, Your mood had changed so quickly, Jaehyun always seemed to know how to do that. It shouldn’t bother him, after all, it was what he’d hired him to do, keep you safe and happy when he couldn’t be there. So why was seeing you so excited to spend the day with Jaehyun making his blood boil?

“Jung.” Chanyeol called, catching his attention, “I want you to update me regularly today. I want to know how she’s doing, if anything happens, if she needs anything. Understood?”

The stoic expression on Chanyeol’s face was frightening. His eyes cold and intimidating as he gave his orders.

“Yes Sir,” was all that needed to be said as Jaehyun bowed respectfully and left the two men to wait for you in another room.

Chanyeol was sure that the lasers he was burning in the back of Jaehyun’s head would be enough to get his frustrations at the boy across. Only getting snapped out of it when Jongin giggled next to him.

“Could you be any more obvious Hyung?”

Not understanding what was so funny, Chanyeol groaned loudly and pushed passed the younger.

“What are you talking about?” His outward denial only made Jongin laugh even more.

“Seriously? Careful Yeol, you’re turning green with jealousy.”

“I am NOT jealous!” He scoffed back. ‘Jealous.’ What did he even have to be jealous about? He was your husband, he had nothing to worry about. But then you came bouncing down the stairs excitedly, not paying the two men a second glance before you asked for your bodyguard.

“Where’s Jaehyun?” Jongin had to laugh again at Chanyeol’s expression. It had turned ice cold as he tried to keep his teeth from clenching too hard.

“He’s in the other room,” he watched your face as you practically ran past him without so much as a goodbye.

“Yeah, definitely not jealous Hyung” Jongin teased.

◇

Chanyeol keeps a close eye on you. He didn’t like how close Jaehyun and you are, he didn’t understand how you had opened up so quickly to him while you’d only just started letting him touch you. But he wasn’t jealous. Not at all. At least that’s what he told himself as he watched you laugh gleefully with the bodyguard or how excited you’d get when the two of you went out. It was starting to frustrate him beyond belief.

To you however, Jaehyun was your safe place. Being conflicted with your feelings for Chanyeol made it difficult and confusing whenever he would leave you alone and you would worry. Truth be told you didn’t know the details about what Chanyeol did exactly when he went out, but he’d always take an abundance of weapons and always come back with new injuries.

He’d started missing movie nights and getting back in the early hours of the morning. It scared you. Somehow you had let Chanyeol into your heart and the thought of losing him was hurting you. Jaehyun understood this. He understood how confusing the entire situation was for you; just a few months ago you were loved up with another man, going to school everyday, surrounded by you friends - and now you hardly ever left the house, never spoke to your old friends, and now your heart was being pulled by some unpredictable Mafia boss-to-be who you previously thought you’d hated. Jaehyun was like a piece of home, he made you feel less alone.

“Jae? Jaehyun!” You were calling out through the hallways, making your way through the house, “Chanyeol have you seen Jaehyun?” You asked, seeing Chanyeol sitting in the kitchen eating cereal.

“I fired him.” Chanyeol doesn’t look up to see your reaction but he can practically feel the anger radiating off you.

“W-what…. why!?”

It was infuriating. Why did you care about him so much?

“Because he wasn’t needed.” Chanyeol’s attitude was grating on you, how could he be so cold?

“I needed him!” You shout, surprising both Chanyeol and yourself with your outburst, but you were upset and he was going to know it.

“You…. ‘needed’ him?” Chanyeol hissed at you. Both of your tempers were rising rapidly and anyone could see this wasn’t going to end well. He was jealous of how upset you were over Jaehyun and you didn’t like how he’d taken away the one person that made you feel normal.

Standing up from his chair, Chanyeol turned to you with a look that, a couple months ago, would have sent you running. His anger was getting the better of him, ears turning red and eyes shooting into you like daggers.

“Yes I needed him!” You had reached your breaking point, no matter how hard Chanyeol glared, you were about to explode, “You have taken everything from me! Everything! My school, my friends, my whole fucking life! Jaehyun made me feel normal! He was the only thing in this whole goddamn mess that didn’t make me feel so shitty Chanyeol, and now you’ve taken him too! I left the love of my life, the man I was going to marry, the man who was supposed to be my everything first; I left him, to be here with you, and you took away my only friend! Why!? Why would you do that Chanyeol!?”

Chanyeol was speechless. He’d never seen you so mad before, he had no idea you were feeling this way. For a split second he let his own feelings take over and went into Mafia mode; staring you down with the deadliest look he could muster, deepening and raising his voice to try and gain back some control of the situation.

“You’re forgetting the part where I saved you and your pathetic excuse of a father from death! The part where my family paid for his business and started him from nothing! I didn’t take everything, you owe me everything!” By this point you were shaking with rage, how dare he act like some sort of martyr when he’d torn your world apart, “I am your husband! Me! So forget about your old love, forget about Jaehyun and get fucking used to it sweetheart.”

“You dont fucking own me!” You snarled back at him as you held your ground glaring back. He wouldn’t see you cry, you wouldn’t give him the pleasure.

Throwing away the last of his cereal, Chanyeol moved around your trembling figure before whispering into your ear, “really love, now we both know that’s not true.”

For the first time in months you find yourself locked away in your room. So many questions ran through your head; why would he do this? Was it jealousy or just his Mafia side coming out? After staring at the ceiling patterns for what seemed like hours, mind spinning in circles trying to make sense of your feelings and the situation, you decide that The Parks’ have taken enough of your life and now you’re going to take it back. Starting with your friends.

Taking the phone you’ve had hidden under the mattress since the wedding, you press the call button and wait.

“Joy? Oh my god Joy!” You scream into the receiver. Joy has been your best friend since you were kids, it broke your heart to leave her behind but in the end, her safety was more important.

“Y/N? Is this really you? Oh my fucking god Y/N I’ve missed you so fucking much!” Hearing her voice for the first time in months made tears flood your eyes, you didn’t realise just how much you had missed till you heard that familiar squeal she always did when she got excited.

“Yes It’s me, I’m so sorry I haven’t called or text even though I’ve missed you like crazy. How is everyone? How’re the girls and Minseok? Is everyone well?” The pair of you babbled on for a few minutes, catching up on everything you had missed since you’d been away.

“Yixing’s throwing a party tonight, will you come? Min will be there,” Joy asked, not even attempting to hide the pleading tone to her voice. It would be a lie to say you didn’t want to go, but could you? Would Chanyeol mind?

“Of course! I’ll get ready now, meet you there in 15?” You decide you don’t care if Chanyeol minds. If just for one more night you could be with your friends, with Minseok, then you could face his wrath once more. Pulling on a simple black dress and heels, you quickly put on some makeup and call a cab. Sneaking out is even easier; Chanyeol must have left to sulk in his room too....not that you cared.

◇

The atmosphere was incredible. The dimmed lighting and smokey rooms packed full of people, all moving and dancing to some early 2000’s R&B album playing over the speakers, half empty red solo cups scattered everywhere and the smell of liquor and weed making your eyes water. It was perfect. Joy had left you on the dance floor with Wendy while she went to get another drink, when you felt those familiar hands wrap around your waist from behind.

“You’re back,” his husky voice mumbled against your neck, “I’ve missed you baby, don’t leave again.” leaning back into his warm embrace, you felt his lips leave a trail of kisses up your neck and you melted.

“Minseokie,” you turn your body in his hold so that you can see him, “I missed you more,” when you lean in to place a kiss on his lips, you’re hit with such a strong smell of alcohol that you almost pull back. Minseok was never a big drinker when you were together, maybe this has been harder on him than you thought.

“Come upstairs with me,” he asks you, though it doesn’t really sound like a question.

Once Minseok pulls you into an empty bedroom, his whole demeanor changes. Expression cold and body language confrontational, you just put it all down to a mixture of the alcohol and missing you.

“What’s wrong Minnie?” you ask timidly. In the whole time you’ve known him you’ve never seen him look this mad and it was starting to scare you; not even Chanyeol looked this aggressive when he was angry.

“You.” He inches closer to your shaking body, making you take a step back with each of his advancements, “You’re what’s wrong Y/N.”

“L-look Minnie if this is about me leaving, you have to know I didn’t have a choice, I never wanted to leave…”

“It’s not about that!” He shouts, cutting off your attempt at an explanation, “it’s about who you left me for. Park Chanyeol. Really Y/N?” He was looking at you with such hate, such disgust, you suddenly wished you’d stayed at home with Chanyeol.

“Do you even know who he is Y/N?” before you could even respond he was cutting you off again, “He’s a mafia, and a Park at that. You left me for some low life thug. Do you know how embarrassing that was for my family? The woman I’ve talked so highly of for over a year, the woman I was going to marry, leaving me for our biggest adversaries”

As the weight of Minseok’s words set in, the shock and confusion must have been evident on your face because the next second he was grabbing you by the shoulders to hold you in place, laughing dryly.

“Yes baby. The Kim’s are one of the greatest crime families in the country and you,” his hand brushed away a stray tear from your cheek, “you my love, have betrayed us.”

The next few moments happened too quickly for you to react. You were completely frozen. Maybe it was the shock from Minseok’s confession, maybe it was the confusion from his sudden personality switch, or maybe it was just whiplash from the way he grabbed a fistful of your hair and threw you onto the bed. His hands roamed your body, his weight keeping you pressed into the mattress while he continued to whisper lewd things into your ear, neck, chest. You feel the material of your dress start to tear and in the next second Minseok had managed to rip it off of your body completely.

“It was supposed to be us Y/N. You were supposed to be all mine, ‘first everything’ you said, remember, tell me, am I still your first everything?” You were clawing desperately at his arms trying to push him off of you, but it was useless. He bit onto your ear harshly making you cry out in pain, “you didn’t let him touch you right Y/N? You’re still all mine right baby?” The voice that once made you feel so safe and loved, now made you want to run hide.

You could feel Minseok’s hands moving to undo his own clothes and you choked out another sob, “please, please Minnie, no, no stop,” but it was futile.

Just as you were about to completely give up, body still frozen in fear and vision blurred from the tears; you hear someone breaking down the door.

The thought of you with someone else is enough to make Chanyeol homicidal, but when he heard your cries from behind the door, he snapped. Breaking down the wooden barrier with his foot, grabbing Minseok by the back of his neck and throwing him to the ground punching the living shit out of him. Chanyeol doesn’t stop. In a blind rage, punching over and over and over again till his fists are covered in blood and Minseok is unconscious.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol enough! That’s enough!” Behind him you’re crying out, begging him to stop but he can’t hear you, too immersed in his assault. Only when he feels your trembling fingers pull the back of his T-shirt does he relent.

“Chanyeol let’s g-go, I want to go, p-please,” your voice was hoarse and face was stained, his heart broke seeing you look like that, it almost made him want to turn around and keep punching, but he didn’t.

“Okay baby, it’s okay, I’ll take you home,” Chanyeol lifts you up bridal style and holds you close into his chest, shielding you from onlookers as he carried you out of the party to his car.

“Jesus fuck Yeol, what happened in there?” Jongin was waiting for the pair of you in the front of Chanyeol’s car, that explains how he found you so fast. One look from Chanyeol and Jongin turns away, instead focusing on driving back to the house as quickly as possible. The whole ride you’re in Chanyeol’s lap, he strokes your hair and whispers reassurances into your temple as you continue to cry into his shoulder. You just couldn’t believe it. Minseok, your sweet, loving Minseok who would never hurt you, had been such a monster just then. He had attacked you, hurt you, if Chanyeol hadn’t have shown up who knows what else would happened. When your tears have slowed down, you reach out and grab onto Chanyeol’s hands, bringing them up to see if he’s hurt. Chanyeol watches in shock and anger as you do so, annoyed that you’d even think about him right now after what you just went through.

“I’m fine Y/N,” he pulls his hands back from you, “I’m worried about you, okay, I’m fine baby.” He notices how you avoid his eyes, your hands still trembling, so he pulls you back into his chest, holding onto you tighter than before until Jongin pulls up outside the house.

Exhaustion starts to set in once the adrenaline had worn off and you suddenly find it very difficult to move, afraid if you were to try to stand your legs would give out. Not that that’s an issue though as Chanyeol continues to carry you all the way up to your room.

“Y/N I’m going to help you get you dressed, is that okay?” He asks, not wanting to overstep any boundaries after what had just happened. When you nod weakly in consent, Chanyeol helps you remove your shoes and dress, the bruises that have started to paint your skin reignite the burning anger and he has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep calm. Once you've changed into a loose top and he has you tucked in, Chanyeol sits beside you on the bed and softly hums along to your favourite Elvis song till you fall asleep.

“God I love you so fucking much,” he confesses once he thinks you’re asleep, “I’m so sorry Y/N, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” playing with the stray hairs around your face, Chanyeol can’t stop the stray tears that run down his cheeks, “fucking hell.”

He stands up to leave but you grab onto his wrist. You don’t want him to go, you don’t want to be alone.

“Stay,” you whisper as he stares back at you with his own watery eyes, unable to turn away from you, so he agrees.

That’s the first night you and Chanyeol sleep in the same bed.

◇

After that night, you and Chanyeol always shared a bed, cuddling up together and finding mutual comfort in the contact. He never once pushed for anything more than cuddling, being careful to respect your boundaries and asking before he initiated anything and while that was nice - you were tired of it.

It felt like he was walking on eggshells around you even after weeks. You’d finally come to terms with your feelings and you wanted him. He was your husband and sleeping next to him every night without that extra level of intimacy was beginning to feel like torture.

It was late, 1am, when you finally worked up the courage to ask for what you needed.

“Yeol… are you awake?” You whisper into the darkness, feeling his even breaths against your back.

“Hmm..” he mumbles in response.

“Yeol… I need you,” You’re feeling nervous, it would be your first time, but you love him and you know this is right.

“What? Is something wrong?” Concern lacing his words as you slowly turn your body to face him.

“No Yeol,” you move his hand that’s resting on your hip up to cup your breast, “I need you”

The look on Chanyeol’s face is beautiful, you think. How his expression morphes from something of confusion to sudden understanding and finally one of nerves and shock.

“A-are you sure?” His big brown eyes staring deep into your soul, looking for any signs of uncertainty, but he finds none; and when you nod up at him, it doesn’t take him long to move his body to lie in between your legs and to start kissing you gently.

“I love you so much,” he whispers in between kisses, planting them everywhere from your lips, down your neck and onto your chest.

“Yeol please, please I need you now,” he doesn’t hesitate. Removing your panties in a flash and stroking his fingers between your folds, making you moan and buck your hips at the new feeling.

“You’re so wet baby, you really needed me this much? You’re so cute,” using his other hand to move your own to his growing erection, Chanyeol leans back down to suck your lip between his own, chewing on it gently and eliciting another string of moans from you. He feels hard in your hand, you can feel every part of him through his boxers and it almost feels natural when you push them off his hips.

“Need you,” you whimper when he pushes a finger inside your heat, the feeling foreign but pleasurable and when he adds a second you’re in euphoria. “Yeol, Y-Yeol,”

His smug face pulls away from the side of your neck to look down into your eyes as his fingers pick up their pace.

“What is it baby? What do you need? Tell me what you need.”

Not trusting yourself to talk without moaning, you move his erection to where his fingers are pushing in and out of you, trying to get the message across.

“You want me to fuck you Y/N?” He whispers, face back to being buried in your neck, sucking and biting on the flesh, marking you as his.

“P-please,” you whimper again and he can’t hold back anymore.

The whole time Chanyeol holds you close to him, both of his hands touching you at all times, on your hips, around your thighs, keeping your bodies pressed together. It’s soft and full of an indescribable kind of love that you’ve never experienced before. Between low moans and whimpers, whispers of how much you love each other are shared; he tells you repeatedly how much you mean to him and how special you are, how you’re safe with him and he’ll always be here for you; and in return you leave purple coloured marks up the column of his neck, so everyone can see that he is just as much yours, as you are his.

It was perfect. After you both come, you keep your bodies tangled together as you drift to sleep, feeling the happiest you’ve felt in months and never wanting to let it go.

#exo #park chanyeol #exo chanyeol #exo mafia au #exo fanfiction #chanyeol x reader #exo scenario #exo reactions #exo imagines #smut #chanyeol smut #chanyeol mafia au #hesitant love #kpop #kpop fanfic #kpop scenario #kpop imagine #kpop reactions #chanyeol fanfic #chanyeol imagine #chanyeol scenario #chanyeol reaction #exo ot9 #exo jongin #exo kai #nct jaehyun #exo minseok #tw

[the-writerly-night-owl]

Master List

Okay so I thought it would be easier for me to write out a master list of all my fics. There are a few that are NSWF content which will be marked with a * next to it. I’m not sure how to tag this but here it goes. This list is long and mostly MC and the LI of choice (I’ll be breaking that down later) but in the meantime enjoy! 

Desire and Decorum 

MC x Ernest 

Like Sand in the Wind

Continuing a Legacy 

Something about a Baby 

Not Exactly an Arranged Marriage  

How it Should have Ended 

A Lot More Desire and Less Decorum* 

All I Need Is You* 

Exactly Where To Be 

What if That’s the Future 

Crashed the Wedding 

Young Love 

Just a Disagreement 

I Will Always Love You 

What If’s and Maybe’s - Links to fanfiction account 

Portrait Perfect *

Only One for You 

A Time for Reminiscing 

Dreaming of the Future 

First Impressions 

Waking Up on Wednesday * 

Carrying On Advice 

Wouldn’t Want It Another Way 

The Wedding Night *

Not Exactly 20 Questions 

Together With You*

A Tale of Two Something New’s 

Not So Silent Night  *

Stolen Moments on the Holiday’s 

Parenting Collection  

A New Member of the Family

A Normal Afternoon at Ledford  

A Good Birth 

Father Daughter Bonding

The Significance of a Garden 

During the Darkest Part of the Night * 

Just a Quick Glimpse 

From Boy to Man

Testament of Time 

Alone At Last *

I’ll Always Have You

A Very Full House 

A More Complete Afternoon 

Sweet Lullaby 

Strengthening Family Bonds 

New Traditions 

Late Nights 

Mr. Chambers x Mr. Konevi (with some minor Annabelle) 

Playing in the Park 

The First Day of Vacation 

Mixture of Pairs

What’s in a Name  Ernest x MC + Mr. Chambers x Annabelle x Yusuf agreement

A Surprise Delivery 

Pressures to be Married Ernest x MC + Mr. Chambers x Annabelle x Yusuf agreement 

Having a Little Fun  Ernest x MC + Mr. Chambers x Annabelle x Yusuf agreement

Siblings Conversations Harry and MC bonding, minor Ernest x MC 

Other 

The Confidential Diary of Carrie Mills -  Part 2   

Start of a Lasting Friendship - Queen Charlotte and Dominique friendship 

Negotiating a Contract - An alternate look at Desire and Decorum 

Quiet Afternoons - Queen Charlotte and Dominique friendship 

Can You Picture It - A modern AU look at Ernest and Clara’s relationship

Something About a Legacy - Part of the future of the Sinclaire family 

Could Not Ask for More - Percival bonding story with Ernest and Clara 

A Very Special Christmas Story - Another Part of the future of the Sinclaire family 

About a Proposal and Blessings - Percival surprises Ernest and some Clara x Ernest bonding 

Tis the Season to have Babies - A bunch of pregnant women are together and Ernest expects nothing 

The Elementalists 

Beckett and MC 

No Asking Required

A Different Kind of Proposal

New Beginnings 

A Wedding Night To Remember * 

That Special Place 

What Might Be

The Book *  

A Puzzle to Figure Out

An Apology and a Dozen Red Roses

Important Question to Ask

Those Three Little Words 

Breakfast Conversations 

Written in the Stars 

The Perfect Distraction

Beneath the Chandelier Light 

The Fun in Moving 

I just Want to Be With You 

A Conversation of Favorites 

How to Not Find the Perfect Christmas Present 

Adding Sunshine to a Horrible Day 

A Sweet Surprise 

The Day Beckett Never Stopped Smiling 

Parenting Collection 

Being a Father

To be a Parent

A Father and His Daughter 

A New Perspective  

The Birth of a Daughter 

Worries and Hopes  

Nothing to Worry About 

Up For a Challenge 

Other  

Sister Bonding  

A Surprise Too Many (an AU) Part: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine 

Seeing the Bigger Picture Beckett x MC with brother sister bonding 

From the Bay Window 

The Freshman Series 

Relationship in London 

The Royal Romance 

The Perfect Girl for Liam and Girl Scout Cookies  Maxwell and Bertrand bonding

Beneath the Light of the Full Moon MC x King Liam 

The Darkness Before the Light MC x King Liam 

A Tale of Two Birthdays MC x King Liam with Olivia and Maxwell bonding

It’s Not Supposed to Go Like That MC x King Liam   

Preparing for an Heir MC x Liam  

Learning a New Skill 

Baking Up Memories MC x Liam with their daughter 

The Best Parts of the Past

Feels Like We’re Making History  

It Lives in the Woods 

Early Morning Kisses: mc x Stacy Green 

Big Sky Country 

Were We Anything 

Endless Summer 

To Be Remembered 

The Bright Side of Boring

The Crown and the Flame 

Constant as the Wind - Kenna and Dom friendship 

Open Heart 

Ethan x MC 

Rainy Day Conversations 

Wishful Thinking 

An Unconventional Meeting 

How a Hospital is Like High School 

Change in the Air  

Is it Worth It 

Where to Go From Here 

Here For You 

For the First Time 

Trying to Begin Again 

The First Time I Saw You 

Nerve Check 

Patience is a Virtue 

More Surprises 

Making the Most of a Desk * 

Finding the Perfect Solution 

What Else is There to Celebrate?  

Feeding the Gossip Train  

The Most Thoughtful Gifts Are Special 

In Flight Romance 

Picture Perfect in Holiday Sweaters 

Others 

Be My Superman - Rafael x MC 

Starting off on the Right Foot - Bryce x MC 

Getting to Know a New Friend - MC and Dr. Banerji friendship 

The Ideal Applicant - Ethan’s thought process choosing MC to be an intern. 

To Freeze That Moment in Time - Naveen point of view 

Friends Stick Together - Clarissa and her girl friends. 

The Haunting of Braidwood Manor 

Good Friends and Hope 

It Lives Beneath 

The Summer They Deserve 

Mother of the Year 

To Make Things Right 

When Shopping is Fun 

Making the Most of the Morning  

How to Prepare for Christmas 

Of Hobbies and the Future 

When Rain is Good Luck 

The Meaning of Family 

It’s the Most Useful Present 

One Planned Surprise and One Unexpected Surprise 

Just Like Clockwork 

Can’t Help but Imagine the Future 

Change in This Season 

Wishful Thinking 

Wake Up Northbridge  

Christmas Shopping Fun 

It’s That Time of Year 

Bloodbound

The More You Know About Someone

To Remember that Special Feeling 

Updated January 13, 2020

#my master list #my ideas #playchoices fanfiction #choices you play #playchoices #choices: stories you play #choices stories you play #choices

[mirummesumaia]

The Tattler Wife’s Tale: I Do... I Do?!!

From when I was a young girl, marriage was a thing for fantasy. Life was all about how a prince charming rode on a white horse (which I am pretty much sure turned like charcoal by now with all this dust pollution!) and came to rescue his princess from the dreaded four wall room where she is living with pretty much all the facilities a human soul can be offered. Marriage was something celestial and a divine ritual. So, from my childhood, like any typical Bengali girl, I fantasized about being married, eagerly waiting for my prince charming, who, rather than riding on a white horse, will at least come on a rent-a-car white Toyota!

By the time, I was ready for marriage, my life went through a roller coaster of reality. My so-called fantasy Toyota white knight already got run over by a public bus called reality somewhere in Dhaka *sigh*. So, when I was told to choose a suitor, I thought “আল্লাহ যা করবে, ভালোর জন্যই করবে” (whatever God wills, will be well for me) and left this grand responsibility upon my mother’s capable hand, who is an expert in that field as my sisters, by the grace of Almighty, is leading a great married life. So, my mother did not waste a second and jumped right into her duty. It is safe to say that she was quite relieved that I finally agreed to get married as my age was leaping by a year every day after my graduation, I think. I don't blame her though, after my father's departure, she was in a very delicate place. Anyway, she did manage to dig out this guy whom I knew from a forgotten past and like bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, we got married.

I must say, unlike any Bengali girl, I did not have to go through a torturous process of choosing the suitor or the suitor choosing me. You got to be all “tall and tanning, young and lovely”, no matter how Godzilla type the husband be. The endless parade of question-answer session, catwalk, general knowledge, medical session, beauty session, kitchen session goes on and after a careful judgment under a microscope, she is rejected mercilessly because the nail of the pinkie of her left foot is slightly tilted for 35 degrees on the right side, bad omen! Exaggeration? Not at all! I have seen this happen in the real.

When I was in class 2-3, I had a lady tutor name Bobby, who was of a dark complexion and had 5 more sisters who were fair. I saw her dragged through numbers of proposals and get rejected because she is not the typical “fair & lovely” type. Fortunately, she got married during my final exams (fun fact: she left her younger sister, Moni madam as my tutor. Soon she also got married. Let’s just say our house was marriage blessed!). You can say that it was in an ancient time, but, honey boo-boo, it is still lurking at present. My own best friend faced such an awkward situation that I was almost certain that she will bang her head open if by any chance that proposal went any further. She faced such weird question which was really weirder than what Priyanka Chopra had on Met Gala this year. For example 1. Do you pray? Don't lie! (like how on earth she will lie about religion), 2. Do you know how to speak in English? (Uh, excuse me, do you think she passed her entire 4 years of studying B.A in English playing ludo star?! Read the bio attentively sir!) Well, my son could have talked in English if he was here (Mother, they took away my voice!), 3. What is your height? Taller than my daughter? Ma (to his daughter), go stand beside her. (and they literally measured her height with their daughter!), 4. My son is a software engineer, earns in the dollar also got his degree from Malaysia in Journalism. (I almost choked myself in tears that how brilliant this guy is and clapped in amazement but we discovered later that he is a freelancer, not an engineer. Disappointment!). etc. I can’t remember the rest because it was too much to take. Yes, such circus still goes on and there are some families which actually behaves as if they have come to purchase a cow for slaughter so they must judge carefully otherwise they might end up with an ox, bad investment!

My own experience was the complete opposite. I went in front of only one and that was a bullseye. My in-laws did not ask me any question which will offend me in any way. Only, Baba asked two questions about religion because he had to as I was sitting like a rock in front of him and everybody was asking him if he needs to know anything about me. Even he passed the blessing money by saying, “it’s a letter, take it!”. He did measure my height though (well, I was going to marry a Khamba!) but he did it in a such cute way, “মা, এদিকে আসো। তোমার সাথে ছবি তুলি। আরে, জুতা লাগতোনা। আমারও জুতা নাই, তোমারও জুতা নাই। আসো” (ma, come here, I want to take a picture with you. Leave the shoes. I don’t have them; you don’t need them either. Come.). He did say that it was for my husband’s elder brother who is in Bahrain. How can you suspect, huh? My luck was quite blessed that I did not go through such a traumatic experience but many are not so lucky. It is time that this trend really needs to change and reshaping. Because wounds heal, scars don't.  

#idoido

[lastbluetardis]

And Babies Make Five and Six (10/16)

Summary: Sometimes the things we want the most stay just out of reach. But after an extra helping of heartache as they try for a third baby, James and Rose are blessed with double the joy.

Trigger warning for infertility for select chapters–this is one of those chapters.

Ten x Rose AU

This chapter: Mature (only mildly), 8200 words

Betaed by the marvelous @chocolatequeennk. This is also for @doctorroseprompts because it’s Doctor x Rose.

AO3 | TSP | FF | Perfectly Matched Series

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | Ch11 | Ch12 | Ch13 | Ch14 | Ch15 | Ch16

When Rose woke up the next morning, she felt relaxed and well-rested. There was a delicious ache between her legs, reminding her of the activities she and James had gotten up to last night after their wonderful dinner out. Her chest felt warm with the memories of holding and being held by her soulmate as they made love for the first time in a long time.

Her belly coiled with the stirrings of desire as she recalled the feel of his fingers and mouth on her, bringing her to pleasure again and again. She’d been so relieved to feel her body responding enthusiastically to his touch; there had been many moments of panic over the last year that maybe her sex drive had withered up.

But now, lying in bed with the memories of their intimacy at the forefront of her mind, Rose wanted nothing more than to roll on top of James and make love with him again. A lazy, morning lovemaking session. They hadn’t done that in months. A throbbing, anticipatory heat settled between her legs. She turned to cuddle into James’s side but was met with cool sheets instead of a warm body.

Her heart fell as she opened her eyes and saw that she was alone in bed. Before she could be overwhelmed with disappointment, she saw an envelope on James’s pillow. Curious, Rose sat up, letting the covers pool at her waist, and she picked up the envelope. A sticky note was attached to the front.

Good morning, my love! I’m just whipping up breakfast. Stay in bed. We’ll eat in there. Haven’t done breakfast in bed in a while.

Rose exhaled in relief, and she then turned her attention to the envelope. James had scrawled the words “My Wife, My Soulmate, My Love, My Rose” across the front of the envelope, and when she turned it over to open it, he’d written “for your eyes only” across the back flap. Smiling to herself, she opened the envelope and pulled out the lone piece of paper.

Things I Love About Our Relationship—Sexy Edition.

Rose’s heart clenched in her chest as she read the title of the list he had made for her. She fondly thought back to the list of non-sexual moments James loved about their relationship that he’d given to her when she was struggling with postpartum depression after Sianin’s birth. That seemed like such a long time ago.

She bit her lip and began to read his list.

1) The intimacy, being as close to you as possible. Holding you. You holding me. Our bodies pressed together. Our breath mingling in the same space. It’s the most intoxicating thing in the world.

2) Knowing this is something only we share together. No one else gets as close to me as you do, and no one gets as close to you as I do. This is something that is ours and ours alone.

3) The beautiful vulnerability of it. Knowing I can trust you with my naked self, and you trust me the same way. It’s so humbling, and I will cherish your trust in me for all time.

4) I love that I can make you feel good. Bringing you pleasure gives me pleasure.

5) It’s so much fun to make love with you. It’s not always this Big Serious Event like in the films we watch (I mean, sometimes it is, and those times are absolutely brilliant), but I love that we can laugh with each other in bed.

Rose smiled against her tears as she read through his list, and she giggled when she reached the end.

(And one more for luck!) 6) The euphemistic Netflix and chill. AKA, Netflix and fucking.

Rose laughed, remembering the conversation she’d had with James in the early stages of their relationship. She’d asked for an evening of Netflix and chill, their version of it, and after he’d popped the popcorn for their movie date, he’d said, “Why do they call it Netflix and chill anyway? Let’s just call it what it is. Netflix and fucking. Because honestly, Rose, if someone says they want to chill, then you should just chill. Why that phrase ever gained popularity, I’ll never know. Too confusing. Too much room for miscommunication or for the lines of consent to get blurred.”

The sound of footsteps and dishes rattling pulled her back to the present. A moment later, James stepped into the room with their breakfast. He’d slipped on his silky black boxers from the night before, but otherwise hadn’t bothered with clothes. His hair was mussed from sleep and her fingers, and she could see splotchy red marks across his neck. It had been a while since Rose had left a mark on him, and she felt a surge of possessiveness as she longed to do it again. They had a whole week to themselves, after all.

James had a broad smile on his face, but it slipped when he caught her gaze. Before Rose could ask what was wrong, she realized tears were still beaded on her eyelashes.

“Rose?” His brow pinched in worry as he rushed up to the bed and set their breakfast tray at the foot of the mattress before he scooted onto the bed beside her. “Everything all right?” He saw his list in her hands and his cheeks flushed pink. “I’m sorry. I thought that would be a good idea. You know, like the list I gave you years ago. And I thought you might like to know why I enjoy sex with you. Because I do. I enjoy it quite a lot and I didn’t mean for that list to upset you, I…”

Rose reached over and pressed her fingertips to his lips to silence him.

“James, I’m not upset,” she said. “These are happy tears.”

James’s shoulders sagged in relief, and a shy smile crossed his face. “All of those things are one-hundred percent true. It was quite hard to narrow it down, you know. And to articulate why I love sex with you. Well. Making love. It’s never just sex with you, Rose.”

A knot in her stomach that Rose hadn’t wanted to acknowledge loosened. She hadn’t lost her sex drive, and James still wanted her. She stretched up to press a kiss to his lips. She pulled back after a few seconds when her growling stomach reminded her of how famished she was, and that food was right in front of her.

“Thank you for this list, James,” she said sincerely, knowing she was going to tape it to the back of her chifforobe door where her other list was hanging.

“You’re welcome. I realized last night that a couple weeks ago, you’d said that you had fears of me being bored with you or our relationship or our sex life. And I need you to know, Rose, that I have never ever, not once, been bored or wanted something or someone else.” His eyes were wide and earnest. “You are my one and only. You are the only person I want to wake up and fall asleep beside. You are the only person I ever want to make love with.”

Rose smiled up at him, and she reached out to rest her hand on his forearm. She stroked his skin gently, enjoying the tickle of his arm hair against her fingertips, and said, “I know, James. I’ve always known, but, well, it was hard sometimes.” Her voice trailed off as she shrugged.

“Yeah,” he murmured.

His quiet agreement made Rose’s heart clench in realization that he’d had the same fears as her.

“This list works in two directions, you know,” Rose said. “Everything you’ve written here about why you love sex with me is why I love sex with you, too. The intimacy. Feeling you deep inside me. Holding you inside me. Knowing you’re feeling good because of me. Knowing that you trust me to experience the ultimate moment of vulnerability and love with you. That you want me to see you like that. I can’t begin to tell you how humbled I feel when you come inside me, James.”

A gentle, pink blush crossed his cheeks as he smiled at her. He reached across and clasped their hands together. His hands were soft and warm, and Rose covered his hand with her other one, holding it tight between her palms.

She aligned their hands so her left hand hovered above his, and she splayed her fingers so her wedding and engagement rings sat beside his wedding band. The platinum metal wove gracefully around his fourth finger, the partner to her wedding band. James leaned over and brushed a kiss to her temple.

Still staring at the outward symbol of their marriage, she drew in a breath and said, “And while we’ve been struggling with it this time ‘round, making love also led to our daughters. And that is one of the best things to come of our intimacy. We made two beautiful, incredible little humans while also showing each other how much we love each other.”

James exhaled and said, “Yeah, that point was the first thing I thought of, honestly. But I was worried about making you sad. I didn’t want to reduce our intimacy to only its ability for reproduction. Because there’s so much more to our lovemaking than just baby-making. Even if we’ve lost sight of that recently.”

Rose nodded, feeling a complicated mixture of sadness and love lodge a lump in her throat. She chose to focus on the latter at the moment.

“So, what did you make us for breakfast? I’m starved. Someone wore me out last night,” she teased.

James giggled high in his throat, sounding so pleased with himself. He gave her fingers a squeeze before extricating his hand. Leaning forward, he grabbed the tray of food at the foot of the bed and hauled it closer.

“We’ve got a variety of options,” he said, grabbing the teapot to pour them a cuppa. He made up their tea to their liking and scooted closer to Rose to wrap his arm around her waist. Her bare torso came into contact with his, making him shiver lightly. His fingers absently stroked the skin of her side as he picked up his fork and stabbed it through the communal pile of eggs.

“Let me focus on eating, then you can ravish me,” Rose said, grabbing his hand at her side.

“Hmm?”

James glanced over at Rose and his mouth went dry when he saw how puckered her nipples were. She met his gaze, and her eyes were darker than they’d been a few minutes ago. His belly swooped deliciously as he realized he was turning her on. Warmth flared through his chest.

Hiding his smirk behind a bite of sausage, James let his hand rest at her hip. He kept his fingers still for a few minutes before he traced a slow line down the seam where her hip met her thigh, delighting in the fact that she was completely naked.

“James!”

“I know, isn’t this breakfast delicious?” he asked innocently, making a loaded forkful of potatoes, eggs, and sausage.

Rose huffed but didn’t say anything else.

He continued to stroke at her hip and thigh for a few more minutes, before he let his hand wander up her side. She sucked in a sharp breath and tensed beside him as his hand moved higher and higher until his fingertips ghosted across the side of her breast.

“Want the last piece of toast?” he murmured into her ear.

“N-no,” she said breathlessly.

“What about the last sausage?” he asked, pivoting his upper body to put him at a better angle to press kisses across her shoulder. The pink marks he’d made on her neck last night were gone, unlike his own, and he very much wanted to make her skin flush red beneath his mouth again.

“No,” she hummed, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. “At least not that sausage.”

“Oh?” he asked, smirking. “Is there a different sausage that would better suit your tastes?”

Rose set her empty teacup on the tray then used her newly-free hand to rest her palm against the front of his boxers where he was beginning to harden. Heat throbbed low in his belly as she caressed him through the silky fabric.

He pivoted his body toward her and he cradled her cheek as he stole a kiss. His lips didn’t linger, and he kissed his way down her jaw as his hand trailed down her throat and to her breasts.

“Is this okay?” he whispered against her neck.

She responded with a slow squeeze. He exhaled shakily as his hips jumped into her touch.

“More than. I wanted to ravish you when I woke up. But I think a tray is in our way.”

James pressed one more kiss to her shoulder, sucking lightly and scraping his teeth against her skin, before he pulled back to get their platter out of their way. He set it on the floor beside the bed, then turned back to Rose. She was reclining on the bed, gloriously naked and so beautiful, and James quickly shimmied out of his boxers before he rolled on top of her and pressed her into the mattress.

oOoOo

Rose’s period came the next morning, and for once, her disappointment wasn’t because it meant she wasn’t pregnant. She was enjoying sex again for the first time in months, and now they had to put the brakes on their newly-rekindled intimacy.

To her surprise, James didn’t share her frustration.

“I didn’t come to Scotland with you so we could shag for seven days straight,” he assured her. “Besides, this is beyond your control. I’m never going to get upset with you for your bodily functions.”

He’d kissed her and shooed her to the shower, able to see that her cramps were already horrid, while he told her he was going into town for a pain reliever.

While out, he also stopped at the cafe for a fancy coffee drink for himself and Rose and an assortment of muffins for them to have for breakfast. When he returned, Rose was just entering the kitchen.

“Ah ah, no need for tea,” he said, holding up the takeaway mugs of coffee in his hand. “Your monthly treat, my love.”

Rose frowned at him.

“But we knew I wasn’t going to get pregnant this month.”

James shrugged. “Well, no, but being on your period still sucks, regardless.” He fiddled with the bag in his hand, wishing his fingers had something to do.

Rose smiled and stepped up to him to take the coffees from him. “Thank you. You’re the best husband.”

He preened, then stepped forward to paw through the bag of muffins, feeling famished. As he peeled the wrapper off the muffin, he contemplated what Rose had said regarding her monthly coffee delivery. She clearly thought he’d brought it to her because of the disappointment in the lack of pregnancy. But that wasn’t the only reason. As he’d said, being on her period was no picnic, and he’d genuinely wanted to bring a coffee to her. She deserved a daily coffee treat, in his opinion, but that wasn’t quite feasible. However, there were other ways he could show his affection. James vowed to take little opportunities to show Rose how loved she was by him, and to show her that he would always want to take care of her.

The rest of their time in Scotland passed by uneventfully. The rain continued endlessly, confining them to the house, but they made the best of it and passed their time playing games, watching movies, reading, and simply talking. They rarely had any more heavy conversations about their feelings, to James’s relief. While he didn’t mind sharing his hurt with Rose, it was exhausting to talk about his depression for too long.

Instead, they focused on the little intimacies of marriage. They made dinner together every night and delighted in being together. For too long, James had felt alone and hesitant with his relationship with Rose, and now he couldn’t seem to stay away from her for more than a few minutes.

“I feel clingy and pathetic,” he’d admitted to her when Rose joined him on the sofa for a Tolkien marathon.

“You’re not,” she assured. “Not unless I’m also clingy and pathetic.” She tucked her arm around his waist and rested her head against his chest before she said, “I understand the feeling, though. It’s like… we were so distant from each other, and now we’re trying to make up for it. I dunno about you, but I’ve missed cuddling with you.”

James agreed, and he tightened his hold around her, relishing having her in his arms.

oOoOo

Rose was subdued on their last day in Scotland, and while James tried not to pressure her to talk, he also didn’t want them lapsing on the progress they’d made. So he surprised her with a picnic; it had finally stopped raining, and James thought a meal by the lake would be a good way for their holiday to come to an end.

“I’m worried about us,” Rose finally admitted as they spread out a thick blanket across the damp ground.

“What about us?” he asked.

He sat down on the blanket then patted the space beside him. He was nervous for her response, and he wanted to just give a blasé remark about how they’d always be all right, but he swallowed it down. Ignoring that there was a problem led them to their current situation, and he would be damned if he made the same mistake twice. If he’d learned anything from their week, it was that he needed to remain completely honest and transparent with Rose, and to not dismiss or internalize how he was feeling.

She lowered herself to the ground and helped him unpack their lunch of turkey sandwiches. Once the food was out, she finally spoke again.

“We’ve come a long way… but it still feels fragile,” she said carefully. “Like any moment we could be bad again, and I’m scared that going home and going back to our everyday lives will spoil it. Like with our anniversary.”

James nodded. He had similar concerns, and it comforted him somewhat that Rose had them, too. He was glad that she didn’t think they were magically fixed, because he felt like there was still quite a bit of healing to be done.

“I could always phone Dad,” James said carefully. “Give ourselves a few more days alone.”

“No,” Rose sighed. “I’d only be postponing this feeling. Besides, I really miss Ainsley and Sianin.”

“I do, too,” he said. “But I feel the same way… I don’t want to break the spell.”

Rose leaned against him as she chewed her food. They ate in silence, watching the sun create gold-tipped ripples across the lake.

“We’ll just have to work on staying good, then,” James said quietly, resting his cheek against the top of her head.

“I never thought I would have to work on my relationship with you,” Rose whispered sadly.

“Hey,” he said gently, tilting her head up. He cradled her jaw in his palm, and slowly caressed her cheek with his thumb. “Relationships take work. So maybe ours never felt like it did, but maybe that’s why things went so wrong. Eh? We trusted things to resolve themselves without work, but obviously that failed. So we need to put in extra work now to make up for the work we’ve been neglecting.”

“We’re gonna be okay, though, right?” she asked, leaning into his touch.

“Do you want us to be okay?”

Rose shook her head. “I want us to be great again.”

James smiled, relieved. “I want that, too. We need to work together and start talking to each other again.” He leaned down a pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’re already okay. Now that we’ve overcome the initial hardship, we can work towards being great.”

Rose smiled up at him and tilted her head back to brush a kiss to his lips.

“I love you, James,” she whispered.

“I love you, too.”

After enjoying their picnic, they took a walk around the lake before heading back to the house.

“You know, whenever we want, this place can become ours,” James said, gesturing vaguely as he cleaned the dishes from their lunch.

“It’s a gorgeous house,” Rose said, “but it feels too big for us. At least at the moment. Besides, do we really want to relocate the girls when they’re already established in school?”

“Sianin’s not,” he pointed out.

“Do you want to move?” Rose asked curiously.

He shrugged. “I love our house. I love this house. It doesn’t matter to me, either way. I was only bringing it up in case you never realized this place is ours as soon as we want it.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that out after listening to your grandmother tell everyone that we were gonna pop out so many kids that we’d need this big of a house,” she said dryly.

James winced. “She never did have much tact.” He bit his lip. “Did those comments ever bother you?”

Rose sighed. “At first? No. Because I figured we’d eventually have another child or two.”

“How many kids did you foresee us having?” he asked. “Just out of curiosity.”

“Dunno. More than two. Anyways, back to your first question. Those comments only really started to bother me after we began trying to get pregnant. And I know that nobody really knew we were trying for a baby, but it still hurt to listen to everyone say with such certainty that more kids were on the way for us.”

James nodded. “Yeah. That upset me, too. I’m sorry, Rose.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said with a shrug.

“I know, but I can still feel sorry that something upset you.” He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She tucked her face into his chest and he absently traced circles against her lower back. “Can I ask you something? You can tell me you don’t want to answer. But… do you think we’ll ever be ready to try again for another baby? And if not… do you think we’ll ever look into other options? We could get fertility treatments, or something.”

“And have me become the next Octomum?” she laughed. “No thanks.”

He stayed quiet, seeing if she would answer his original question.

“I’m not sure, James,” she finally said. “I’m so burnt out. I feel so raw and empty inside, and I honestly don’t think I’m emotionally stable enough to have a baby right now. Don’t get me wrong; if we fell pregnant next month, I would love that child with everything I am. But I fear that it might set you and me back. A baby wouldn’t be a quick fix for us.”

“Yet you and I both thought it would be,” he mused without accusation. “We thought that each month would be the month we’d get pregnant, and that would fix all of our problems.”

“I think it would have seemed to have fixed our problems,” Rose said. “I think we would’ve been caught up in the joy and relief. But we got ourselves into such bad habits, like not communicating and not having alone time. That would’ve carried through. I think we’ve forgotten how to be in love.”

“No we haven’t,” James protested, refusing to believe he’d ever fallen out of love with his wife, or the more terrifying and heartbreaking idea that she’d fallen out of love with him.

Rose reached out and grabbed his hand. “I never stopped loving you,” she said fiercely. “I will never stop loving you. But loving someone and being in love with them are two different things, James.”

He still wanted to vehemently deny what she was saying, but there was a niggling feeling in the back of his head that said he couldn’t argue.

“I never stopped loving you, either,” he whispered, using their joined hands to pull her into his arms. “I… I don’t like the idea that I stopped being in love with you, though. Or furthermore, that I was content with that. I want to be in love with you every single day for the rest of our lives.”

“I want that, too,” she said, nestling her cheek into his chest. “I guess we’ll just have to… woo each other?”

James chuckled. “I suppose we will. Be prepared to be thoroughly wooed, Rose Tyler-McCrimmon. My moves might be a little rusty, but they’re still there.”

Rose giggled against his shirt. “Show me your moves, James.”

“I will when you’re least expecting it,” he promised, kissing the top of her head. “Like the Spanish Inquisition! No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

Rose laughed again, and James smiled in return. He pressed a final kiss to her head and said, “Come. We were already hoping to be on the road by now.”

They cleaned and tidied the house before they grabbed their suitcases and headed to the car. Once the car was packed, they did a final walk-through of the house to make sure all the lights were off and that they hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Can I ask you something?” Rose asked as she watched James lock the front door.

“‘Course,” he said, jiggling the handle to make sure it was locked.

“This house was in your mum’s family, right?” At James’s nod, she asked, “Then why is it called the McCrimmon manor?”

James blinked at Rose in confusion, his brows knitting together. Understanding then dawned on his face.

“Rose, McCrimmon is my mum’s name,” he said softly. Now it was Rose’s turn to stare at him in surprise. “Dad changed his name when they got married. There was no sentiment or pride for my dad in his last name.”

Rose hadn’t been told much about Robert’s father, but she’d gleaned enough information over the years to know he was a drunk, and an angry one at that. Robert had left the house the day he turned eighteen and hadn’t looked back since.

Her heart ached for her father-in-law. Despite all of the pain and heartache life had given to him over the years, he remained one of the kindest, gentlest souls she’d ever known.

It was well past the girls’ bedtime when they pulled into their driveway, and yet the moment they stepped out of the car, the front door opened and Sianin bolted for them.

“Mummy! Daddy!”

She crashed into Rose’s legs, nearly sending them both sprawling on the grass. Rose picked her daughter up, delighting in the way Sianin wrapped her arms and legs as tightly around her as she could. The warmth of her child seeped through her clothes, and Rose buried her nose into Sianin’s silky hair.

“I missed you,” Rose murmured, pressing kisses to Sianin’s neck then cheek. “What are you doing awake, though?”

“Grandad said I could,” Sianin answered. “Just this once.”

“I hope you don’t mind. They really wanted to stay up until you got home.”

Rose looked up and saw Robert standing on the front porch with a drowsy Ainsley perched on his hip. She, obviously, had succumbed to sleep, unlike her sister.

When Ainsley saw them, she tapped Robert’s chest until he set her on her feet. Rose was about to protest, seeing Ainsley’s feet were bare and the night was cold, but her eldest jogged up to James, who swung her up into his arms mere seconds later.

Robert approached them and gathered the suitcases since both of their arms were occupied with their children. Once everyone was inside and out of the chilly night air, Robert gave all four of them a kiss on the cheek and took his leave. James and Rose then moved down the hall to tuck their kids into bed. Ainsley was half-asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and so they didn’t linger. But Sianin was begging for bedtime stories.

Rose squeezed herself onto the edge of the mattress while James sat at the foot of the bed, massaging Sianin’s feet through the blanket as he and Rose took turns reciting stories from memory.

“I like you at home,” Sianin said sleepily as James and Rose told her it was time for her to sleep.

“We like being home,” James answered, standing up from the bed before helping Rose scoot off the mattress. “Go to sleep now, darling. I love you very very much.”

“Love you very very much,” she repeated.

Rose leaned down and tucked the blankets into Sianin’s sides, then kissed her daughter’s forehead.

“Love you very very much, Mummy.”

“I love you, too. Sweet dreams, Sianin.”

“Sweet dreams.”

James and Rose left the room, keeping the door open an inch before they grabbed their suitcases and moved to the bedroom. Too tired to unpack, they freshened up and crawled into bed.

But sleep didn’t come easily. Rose’s restless tossing and turning kept James up. He peeked at the clock when she changed positions yet again—just after midnight. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when she tossed the blankets off herself and stood. She tucked the blankets around him then left their room.

He gave her a few minutes before he went after her. He found her in the kitchen nursing a glass of water as she stared intently out the window. Leaning against the doorframe, he watched her for a minute but she was completely oblivious to him.

“Anything interesting going on outside?” he asked softly, taking a step towards her.

She jumped, then turned to face him.

“James. I didn’t hear you.” She then furrowed her brow. “Did I wake you?”

“Never fell asleep,” he said. “You’ve been restless.”

She frowned and ducked her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said honestly. “D’you want to talk about what’s bothering you? Or would you prefer to be alone?”

A tired smile crossed her face as she pulled a chair up beside her. “You’re pretty good company.”

“I’m honored,” he said dryly.

He sat down beside her and threaded his fingers through hers. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and James could practically hear Rose’s mind working.

Finally, she gave his fingers a squeeze and she said, “I’m not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.”

James frowned. That wasn’t at all what he expected her to say.

“Oh?”

She sighed. “Yeah. I regret accepting the promotion. I feel like all I do is go to meetings and schedule appointments for clients.”

James was silent, not sure what to say.

“I miss photography,” she whispered. “I miss holing up in my office and drawing on my tablet.”

He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles.

“How long have you felt like this?” he asked.

“How long have I been in this new position?” she joked weakly, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

His heart ached for her.

“What do you want to do?” She shrugged and leaned her head against his shoulder. James sensed she’d already come to a conclusion but was nervous to say it. So he tried to gently guide her there. “Can you maybe go back to your old position?”

“No, there aren’t any spots available,” Rose answered.

“Could you do a swapsies? One of them takes your job and you go back to being an artist?”

“No,” Rose said again. “No one on my team has enough experience. Most of them are fresh out of uni.”

James pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth. If that wasn’t the solution Rose had reached… An idea occurred to him. “You could always leave.” Rose shrugged once more, but stayed quiet, and James knew he’d honed in on her true feelings. “You could. Money isn’t an issue.”

“What am I supposed to do, though? Sit around? Become a housewife? Cook and clean for my husband and take care of the kids?”

“Of course not,” James said patiently. “Obviously if that’s what you want to do, then by all means, do it. But make sure you let me take care of the kids, too, eh? I love taking care of them.”

“I know. I love you for that,” Rose answered, tilting her head up so she could look at him.

James smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “You could do anything you wanted. You could take time for yourself. You’ve so rarely had that. I never see you taking photographs or drawing or painting anymore at home. You could get back to it.”

“I want to repaint some rooms in the house,” Rose mused, her voice soft. “We haven’t done anything since we moved. Except the kids’ rooms. Even then, it’s still the same colors as when they were babies.” James nodded, and before he could say anything, Rose continued, “I’ve been wanting to get back to my art. But work would always make me so tired, then when I got home, I wanted to spend time with the kids. And… and I haven’t felt particularly inspired, lately. Whenever I would try, I would end up staring at a blank sheet and feel… empty.”

James frowned and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He should have noticed Rose’s interest in art had disappeared. He should have realized that something was wrong. She hadn’t drawn anything in months. That should have been his first clue that she was struggling emotionally.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“Me too.” Rose heaved a great sigh. “What if the job gets better though? What if I get better at it and figure out how to balance the meetings and delegations to leave time for myself to take assignments? What if I’m quitting too soon?”

James didn’t think that was the case, but he also didn’t want to push Rose into making a decision she wasn’t sure about.

“I think you have one of the best time-management skills of anyone I’ve ever met,” he said carefully. “It’s one of the things I love about you. You know what needs to be done and by what deadline. When the kids were born, you had their feeding and sleeping schedules down to a science and could keep track of how it changed as they grew. Me? I was bumbling around trying to remember the last time we’d fed them or how long they’d been awake.”

“You’re better than you give yourself credit for,” Rose interrupted.

“Just accept my compliment,” James said dryly, pinching her waist lightly. He beamed at her giggle. “Anyway… you took a couple weeks to adapt to the schedule of your new job, but you mastered it. And honestly, Rose… I don’t know what else you can do. Apart from getting there earlier and staying later. Which you already do.”

Rose sighed and James felt her slump against him.

“It feels like I’m failing,” she mumbled. “Like everybody swore I was the perfect person for this job, but now I’m proving I can’t do it.”

“That’s not it at all,” James argued. “I think this job has morphed into something it wasn’t supposed to be. You were supposed to still be able to take about half the number of assignments as before. But how many do you actually have time for?”

“A quarter,” she answered. “In a good week.”

James squeezed her shoulders. “You do your job well. But if it’s not something that brings you enjoyment, then maybe it’s time to find something else. I want you to love what you do, Rose. And you’ve been unhappy for a very long time. Part of it was the struggles we’re going through. But you’ve been unhappy with your work, and that breaks my heart because I know how much you loved what you used to do.”

They dissolved into silence for many long minutes, broken only by the occasional yawn from James. After a particularly long one, Rose squeezed his hand and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you for talking with me,” she murmured, “but you’re tired. Go on to bed.”

“I can sit here with you for a bit longer if you want.”

Rose knew he would, too. But he looked exhausted, and there was no sense in both of them going without sleep. She kissed his cheek again and said, “I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine. I’m going to sleep on the couch tonight, I think. I don’t want to keep you up.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah. Go to bed, love.”

James reluctantly stood, and he leaned down to press soft kisses to her lips. “I love you. Try not to stay up too much longer.”

Rose nodded, then watched him retreat from the kitchen.

She slept fitfully on the sofa that night, hardly able to stay asleep for more than an hour at a time. When the sky outside began to lighten, she heard the floor squeak as someone walked down the hall.

“Rose, love, your alarm went off.” James crouched down beside her on the couch, looking about as well-rested as she felt.

“I’m sorry I kept you up last night,” she said through a yawn, sitting up on the sofa. “And that I left my phone in our room.”

James shook his head and stood. “No need to apologize. How are you feeling?”

“Exhausted. But I think I know what I wanna do.”

oOoOo

Rose met with her boss that afternoon and told Lindsey of her decision to quit. Wanting to ensure a smooth transition to a new manager, Rose decided to stay until the end of April. But the knowledge that the end was in sight took an enormous weight off of her shoulders, and she found herself feeling lighter than she had in months.

With the stress of work dwindling, Rose found herself with more energy and enthusiasm, which she put into her relationship with James. Since returning from Scotland, she was relieved that they hadn’t regressed, but things were still a little stiff and awkward, and they’d yet to be intimate again.

The weekend after they returned to Scotland, Rose awoke early needing the loo. After she relieved her bladder and began going through her normal morning routine, she tried to think of something special she could do for James. They couldn’t go on a date night, not without having planned for child care. Maybe make him a special dinner?

But as she was half way through brushing her teeth, she paused. It was barely six-thirty in the morning. She hadn’t heard the girls moving around yet. It was a Saturday; there was no reason for her to be up and about yet.

She finished cleaning her teeth then walked into their bedroom and crawled back into bed. James was still fast asleep, though he rolled towards her as she settled in beside him. She opened her arm for him and urged him to cuddle up beside her, while also urging him to keep sleeping.

He hummed in his half-sleeping state and nuzzled closer to her chest.

This is nice, she thought. They hadn’t done this in far too long—having a lazy cuddle in bed. Usually they were up and starting their morning and tending to their children as soon as they awoke. Rose hadn’t realized how starved she’d been of non-sexual intimacy with James. Maybe this was step one? Just taking a few minutes to hold each other before starting their day.

After about fifteen minutes, she heard the girls moving around. She kept her ears open—it was amazing how much trouble an almost-four-year-old and a seven-year-old could get into in a short amount of time—but she heard the television turn on and quiet voices, so she figured they were fine for now.

James heard them though, and he let out a soft grunt and arched his back. His forehead knocked into her chin, and he squeaked and glanced up.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she whispered, brushing his hair back from his forehead.

A soft, sleepy smile stole over his lips. He lifted himself up to brush a kiss to her lips.

“Morning,” he murmured against her mouth, and he pressed another kiss to her lips. “Mmm… minty?”

“Yeah, got up and brushed my teeth, then decided I wanted a cuddle,” she answered, rolling onto her side to rest her head beside his on his pillow.

He hummed happily and reached out to slip his leg between hers.

“I like cuddling,” he said, nuzzling into her breasts.

“I never noticed,” she teased lightly.

He snorted into her skin and let out a content sigh. “So what’s on the docket today?”

“Dunno. Get up, get the kids fed… And that’s as far as I got. Your turn.”

“Get a shower,” he added, and he looked up at her expectantly.

She frowned in thought. “Oh, we need a few groceries.”

“Pack up the kids into the car.”

“Oi, that’s cheating. That’s implied with ‘get groceries’!” she protested.

“Nope, your way would have us walking,” he said with that boyish grin she loved.

“Cheater,” she said again. “Okay, pack up the kids after getting groceries.”

“Drive home.”

“Put away the groceries,” she said smugly.

“Damn. Ehm… do we need to run any other errands?” he asked. “Have we got everything ready for Sianin’s birthday party tomorrow?”

“I don’t think there are other errands, and yes, we’ve got everything we need for her party.”

“What’s the weather for the day? Can we do anything outside?”

Rose reached behind him for his phone and opened up the weather app.

“Nah, rainy and cold,” she said. “And Ainsley’s been fighting that cold. Best stay in today.”

“Right. An afternoon of Snakes and Ladders and a moaning Ainsley it is, then,” he concluded.

Rose laughed. “We can introduce them to new games. Or watch a film. Or color. Or do a puzzle. Loads of things to do.”

“And make something for supper. Though that will probably depend on the food we pick up.”

“Yep, and after supper, and bath time, and bedtime…” Rose paused and trailed her fingernails down his chest. “Maybe you and I could retire to our room early? Maybe get in the tub? Have a bit of alone time?”

James shivered and his eyes darkened.

“Yeah,” he rasped. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

Rose leaned down and caught his lips in a kiss. He cradled the back of her head in his palm as he deepened the kiss. The anticipation for potential intimacy that night made the kiss sweeter, and James was about to roll on top of Rose when they heard a shout from the living room.

“I don’t wanna watch this! It’s stupid!”

He laughed and rested his forehead against hers. “I think that’s our cue to get up.”

“I think so,” Rose concluded.

He pecked a parting kiss to her lips before he rolled out of bed.

“I’ll go diffuse the situation while you shower,” he said.

James was able to appease the girls fairly easily, especially once he promised them their breakfast food of choice, and after Rose was out of the shower, he hopped in to prepare for the day.

All day, James and Rose were excited for their evening. They wondered if the night would end with them making love; they hoped it would, but they didn’t want to assume.

But when they got into the tub with a shared glass of wine, there was no hiding how interested they were in making love that night. They soaked in the hot water and teased each other with gentle touches and caresses until they couldn’t bear the tension any longer, and they dried off and headed to bed where they joined together for a mutually satisfying lovemaking session.

“Tonight was brilliant,” James breathed in her ear as he curled into her side.

“Yeah it was,” she said, absently stroking her fingertips the wrong way through his arm hair. “We should do this again sometime.”

“Tomorrow?” he said, half-teasing.

Rose giggled. “Maybe not tomorrow. But soon.”

James hummed in agreement and nuzzled further into her neck. They were quiet for a few minutes before he spoke.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“You said you felt ambivalent about sex because you felt the pressure to conceive. Which makes sense when you were ovulating. But… I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but there was no chance of making a baby outside of your ovulation cycle.”

James trailed off, and after he’d been silent for several long seconds, Rose asked, “So why did I not want to have sex when I wasn’t ovulating?”

He nodded, and kept his face tucked into her hair, knowing she often felt more comfortable sharing with him when he wasn’t staring at her. He traced his fingertips up and down her belly, making circles around her breasts just to watch goosebumps form across her skin.

“Because you were fertile,” Rose finally murmured. “And I wasn’t. I was painfully aware of my body’s shortcomings. Making love outside of my ovulation cycle reminded me of how sparingly fertile I am, and also that you had sperm ready to go while I had nothing.”

James’s heart shattered. He stopped drawing lines across her torso and instead wrapped his arm around her ribs and held her tight.

“That was why you often wanted to focus on me,” James whispered into her skin.

“Yeah. It was hard to get turned on when those thoughts were bouncing around in my head,” Rose said. “And it gutted me every time I saw your face when you realized I didn’t come when we made love. So I tried to get you off in other ways.”

“Can I ask something else?” At her nod, James said, “How many times did you fake your orgasm?”

“Only once,” she answered. “I hated how it made me feel, and I hated the way your face crumpled when you realized it. I’m so sorry I did that to you.”

“I forgive you,” he said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop to think why you didn’t want to make love.”

“I forgive you, too. No more secrets though, right?”

“Right.” He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the top of her breast. “Thank you for telling me all of this.” He kissed her breast again and smirked when he heard her let out a long, low hum. He moved his mouth lower and lower until he could take her nipple into his mouth.

“Wanna go again?” he mumbled around her flesh.

“Yeah.”

They both shuffled until they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Their legs were twined, their front halves smooshed together as they shared lazy kisses as their fingers brushed against any part of each other they could reach.

When the tension grew to be too much, James hiked her thigh over his hip and slid into her slowly, so slowly. He shuddered as he was fully sheathed, and he delighted in her little gasps as he filled her. When she arched her hips against his, he began to move.

They rocked together, grinding rather than thrusting, as they simmered in the love and pleasure they were creating. He held her body close to his, trying to rub his pelvis against hers to give her more friction, as he caught her lips in unhurried kisses.

Their release built gradually and took them both by surprise. Rose went first, with a choked whimper in his ear as her hand clutched at his bum to pull him closer. The sounds of her pleasure sent him over the edge too, and he arched into her as deeply as he could.

They stayed tangled together, holding each other in their intimate embrace long after their orgasms subsided. James traced random patterns onto her backside as Rose’s fingernails lightly scraped up and down his spine.

“I love this position,” he mumbled sleepily. His forehead rested against hers and he nuzzled her nose gently. “It’s one of my favorites.”

Rose breathed out a laugh. “You say that about every position.”

“Well, it’s true. I love all the ways we make love. And my favorite often depends on my mood. When I’m particularly randy, for instance, taking you from behind is one of my favorites.”

“And tonight?”

“Tonight I wanted something soft and tender, and holding you like this certainly fits the bill.” He let out a sated sigh and hugged her tight. “I love you, Rose.”

“I love you, too, James.” They were quiet for a few moments, content to listen to each other breathe, before Rose murmured, “I wonder if you could actually rank your top positions.”

Her tone told him she was mindlessly musing, and didn’t actually expect an answer, but James’s mind kicked into gear.

“Maybe I’ll make you a list,” he said, making his tone mirror one of speculative indifference as he pressed a long kiss to her lips and moved so they could clean up.

When Rose awoke the following morning, a sheet of paper was folded up on James’s pillow. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat up and opened up the paper, grinning at the list she saw. James had written down every single position they’d ever tried over the course of their intimacy. All of them had a number one scrawled beside it.

<-- Ch9 | Ch11 -->

#ficandchips #dwfic #doctorroseprompts #doctor who #ten x rose #ten x rose au #soulmates au #james x rose #perfectly matched series #and babies make five and six #my fic #kid fic #I hope you enjoy the chapter!