#and in the end he didn’t even get the dignity of hearing it from her

[and-to-you-its-just-words]

Once again thinking about Marcus Dunn standing in theatre, looking at Bernie Wolfe and saying “She would tell me, my Bernie” like that’s not one of the most devastating lines I’ve ever heard.

#yes yes yes Bernie and Serena belong together #and it’s awful that Bernie was closeted so long #she shouldn’t have to be in that marriage #BUT #neither should Marcus #he shouldn’t have to be in a relationship where he’s doing all the work because she’s never there (and doesn’t want to be there) #but he LOVES her #I’m never going to shut up about how I wish we got to see more of Bernie and Marcus #it’s fascinates me so #I don’t think Marcus is a bad guy #I’ll say it and mean it #to think he’s been sitting at home late and night and worrying about what is Bernie is doing so far away #but reassuring himself that no she would tell him #because they love each other and even if it’s not the best they’ve known each other for years #they respect each other #their marriage was built on friendship #but he was wrong #and she lied and cheated #and in the end he didn’t even get the dignity of hearing it from her #his Bernie #bernie wolfe #marcus dunn #holby city

[bella-goths-wife]

Yandere Vs reaction to pet reader accidentally killing someone out of anger

Warnings: toxic relationships, mentions of drug use, SA mentions, Valentino, death, description of wounds, forced affection, forced father-daughter relationship, workplace bullying, grooming mentioned, guilt

You were used to your coworkers being assholes to you

You were a fellow working soul yet you were treated nicer and given many more privileges then them, of course they weren’t going to like you

Everyone referred to you as a lost puppy or as a pet

They didn’t even know your name, but know one really knew your name in fairness

They sneered when they saw you enter a room, and if the Vs weren’t accompanying you then they would get physical by tripping you or shoving you around

Angel dust does his best to defend you when he sees this happen, but angel rarely has time to think nevermind look after you

But the rumours were the parts that upset you the most, to here small parts of your life become exaggerated and spread around

They’d also dump their workload on you so you had to do even more stuff while also balancing three very obsessed bosses

But something pushed you over the edge today, something that angered you so much that your power spun out of control

You’d had a certain guy around the tower spread vicious rumours about you lately and you could always hear the whispers following you because of them

“I heard she killed her friends”

“I heard she was a whore who overdosed with her junkie boyfriend”

“I heard that she only gets good treatment because she’s fucking one of the bosses, or all of them by the looks of her”

Many misinformation or misunderstandings spread around by this man would end up being whispered near you

So one day when you were in voxs office alone and this guy walked in, you knew something bad was going to happen

He made a few smart ass comments about your rumoured past but you just rolled your eyes and ignored him

But he pushed it to far when he uttered the words “they really groomed you into their perfect little pet huh?”

You shot him a glare as you questioned what he meant by that

He then went on a long rant about how it wasn’t fair that you got better treatment all because you were willing to throw away your dignity for their enjoyment

With every word he uttered about the luck you supposedly had caused rage to spark in your chest

The cherry on top was when he said “I wonder what your mother would think if she found out what a fucking whore you are and how she must have fucked you up real bad for you to have this little self respect”

One minute he’s standing over you and smirking at you, the next he’s crumpled on the floor covering his ears and screaming in agony

You couldn’t stop using your ability to create loud and excruciating noises directly in his ears, it’s like you’d been completely taken over by the anger you felt

You saw blood pouring out of his ears like a fountain and you couldn’t help but smile and increasing the volume, until he stopped moving except for a few twitches and you saw what looked like brain matter leak from his ears

You had killed him

You just stood in shock and stared at his body while processing this information that you’d killed a man in cold blood

And the Vs saw it all happen from the open door

Vox:

Vox almost felt like a proud dad as he watched you kill someone purposefully for the first time

He came up and patted you on the shoulder with a wide smile, as if you’d just passed some sort of test

He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and rambled on about how you could improve and what you did well, almost like a performance review for a singers night show

What had been a world changing and traumatic experience for you, was purely just entertainment for him

He couldn’t understand your shell shocked expression, you had killed this man while smiling so why were you overreacting so much

But he still walked you back to your room and cleaned the blood off of your body and sitting you on your bed

He went on a long rant about how you shouldn’t feel bad about your murder, he was provoking you and it was clearly all his fault

He said that he understood why you did what you did, and that he was proud of you for your decision

“I started out like you, but you’ll improve over time and get used to it” he had said with a wide grin “soon enough you’ll be just like me”

And the fact that you were seen as in any way comparable to Vox only sent a chill down your spine and doubled your guilt

After that day, you noticed people were much nicer to you and Vox only gave you a ‘told you so’ look

But since becoming aware of the harassment you were subjected to, he did give voxtech employees a strict warning and he broke a few bones to get his point across

He couldn’t have something like a little murder bring his favourite girl down, even if it did prepare you to become his heir one day

Velvette:

Velvette doesn’t really understand the big deal

Your in hell, you fraternise with murderers and worse on a daily basis

You live in a tower filled with the worst of the worst kind of criminals

So why are you overreacting so much over a little murder that could easily be sorted out

She does scold you slightly on doing your own dirty work and doing it on the expensive carpeting

She explained that if you really want someone dead then you should just tell one of them and they’d have their security deal with it

But she did express some pride for you efficient killing and you experiencing your first purposeful murder

She does nothing to comfort you at all, you should be over it already is her thought process

But she does kill more people around you in her own sick away to reassure you that murdering people is okay in her books, she only makes you want to peel your own skin off though because every sight of blood just makes you think about the fact you ended a man’s afterlife

She also makes an example of the man you killed to her employee, harass her pet and her pet will bite back

She makes a few more private examples or your bullies, but she’ll wait until the rumours of the event hits you before she explains

Valentino:

This entire situation is just a joke to this man

His little princesa bites as much as she can bark, and he’s meant to take that seriously?

He does much worse stuff then murder every day and you don’t see him she’ll shocked and crying on the floor do you?

He will actively crack jokes about one of the most traumatic things you’ve ever done in front of you

Every time he does and you get a guilty or shocked expression, he bursts out laughing at the ridiculousness of your reaction

But he would clean up the body for you

He’d either just dump it into the cannibal colonies or he’d just get his workers to get rid of it and clean up the office

But he’d definitely keep a body part of a piece of jewellery from your victims body to taunt you with when he’s bored

He also gave a few extremely rough video sessions to some of the people from him workers that contributed to your harassment

He can’t have his little musical toy become too tired to sing him a soothing tune to calm his ever present temper

Sorry this was so small, work exhausted me today :(

Tag list so far:

@buttercupfangirl @repostingmyfavs @lilyalone @the-faceless-bride

#hazbin spoilers #yandere hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin lucifer #hazbin vaggie #hazbin charlie #hazbin angel dust #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin husk #hazbin hotel #hazbin vox #hazbin adam #yandere vox x reader #vox x reader #hazbin hotel vox #vox #yandere velvette x reader #hazbin velvette #hazbin hotel velvette #yandere valentino #hazbin valentino #hazbin hotel valentino #valentino x reader #yandere alastor x reader #alastor x reader #alastor #charlie morningstar #Charlie Morningstar x reader #carmilla carmine #hazbin hotel rosie

[mavrintarou]

Lord Ushijima Wakatoshi [1]

I tried to do one part... but this got too long. I feel like this is the smuttiest of all Lord series (tell me otherwise - let me know which one you think is the smuttiest lol). If you’re new, welcome to my Lord Haikyuu fandom, I have completed Lord series for Sakusa, Suna, Kita, and the Miya twins, check them out too!

Warning: explicit smut; angst; TW: miscarriage; reader is inexperience

Part two - end

.

Wakatoshi thrust hard one final time before he withdrew and fisted his cock, he groaned as his cum shot thick white spurts all over Y/n’s belly and breasts.

Her eyes shut as her pussy spasm even after his withdrawal, the overstimulating effect he often left her in. Her chest rose with heavy breath as her legs that were pinned to her chest were finally freed from his grip. Y/n didn’t need to open her eyes to hear he was grabbing a towel, as always, he cleaned her up afterward.

Y/n opened her eyes and reached her hand out, indicating for him to give her the towel so she could clean herself up. He ignored her reach and began wiping his essence away.

She didn’t quite understand why he preferred to ejaculate on her, only to wipe it away. Not that she wanted him to cum while he was inside of her.

She lay there with an arm over her eyes while he wiped her down, even between her legs. The first time he did this, she panicked and nearly fought him until he ordered her to remain still with his stern Captain tone.

“We have a mission coming in two days, I need you to prepare – “

“I know, I know…” Y/n cut him off, even though he repeated the same thing every time they had a mission together. Somedays she wondered if she was more his assistant than his second in command.

She rolled over as soon as he set the towel back in the basin, that was her usual cue to leave. She grabbed her yukata and was about to slip it on when she was suddenly on her back once again.

“Who said I was done?”

Y/n’s eyes widened briefly before she quickly blinked them away. Lately, Wakatoshi has been keeping her in his chamber longer than before, not satisfied until he’s had his way with her.

“I’m – I’m sore,” Y/n murmured, cheeks flushing.

Y/n didn’t know the true meaning of soreness until her first night with her Captain. She has gone through the exact training and exercise the rest of her team has endured to earn their current position regardless of her gender and never once has she uttered a complaint, even in the face of soreness.

She knew she was inexperienced and lacked education about sharing a man’s bed since she was essentially raised a boy by her grandfather and spent most of her time in the company of men.

Since the day she rose to second in command, there was never a mission she was not by her captain’s side but the one time that she was assigned to a different mission that he only trusted her to handle… he returned in a state of discomfort.

“What happened to him?” Y/n demanded, being blocked at Captain’s doorway by Shirabu and Ohira.  

Reon avoided Y/n’s eyes, “he… uh – there… he’ll be fine in a couple of… hours. Or days.”

She narrowed her eyes at him before looking at Kenjiro, she knew he would tell her, he was the closest to her on the team. “Tell me Jiro – what’s wrong with Cap?”

Kenjiro looked uncomfortable under her strict gaze before sighing, “he was exposed to some unknown powder during this mission…”

Y/n’s eyes widened, and she made a move to brush past them and see for herself how the captain’s well-being was but they blocked her once more. “Move,” she demanded sternly, never once speaking to them with that tone.

Reon raised his hands in a defense mechanism, “listen, Y/n… you can’t see him right now… for his dignity… and maybe your safety.”

They were speaking in a circle and it was making Y/n frustrated.

“Yes, it is best if you don’t see him within the next… maybe a few days…” Kenjiro added, trying to avoid eye contact.

“If you guys do not get to the point and tell me exactly what is wrong with Cap, I will put you both down.”

Both men’s breath hitched as they straightened their shoulders in reflex. Kenjiro looked at Reon before he nodded. Kenjiro, the team’s medic expert exhaled before speaking, “we believe the unknown drug is a form of an aphrodisiac.” He paused, “since discovering this, Cap… Cap is in pain.”

“Are there no medicine or herbs to help?”

Kenjiro shook his head, “no, it will flush out of his system in time or… with assistance.”

“What kind of assistance?”

“Sexual… he is in a state of sexual desire… that is the only other way to help him is to meet his sexual desires.”

At that exact moment, all three of them jumped when they heard a crash coming within the Captain’s chamber. Both Kenjiro and Reon entered his room finding their captain on the floor naked.

Y/n has seen Wakatoshi topless many times due to tending his wounds but never has she seen him completely naked.

Wakatoshi turned his head, looking at Y/n with hooded dark eyes. “Y/n…” he groaned, a hand reaching out to her. “I need you…”

Kenjiro and Reon struggled to get him back on his feet, dragging him back to his futon.

“Y/n, you should leave – your presence might make it more difficult for –“  Kenjiro is knocked on his feet when Wakatoshi pushes him aside, trying to stand and make his way towards Y/n. “Y/n, leave!”

Reon interfered and wrapped his strong arms around Wakatoshi, “Wakatoshi, you are not in your right mind right now – please go back to the futon!” He was close to pulling the man with the same body size as his back to the futon until Wakatoshi maneuvered, shoving him off– making him fall right on top of Kenjiro, and knocking the wind out of him.

“Jiro!” Y/n ran towards the two but was caught by Wakatoshi in a bear hug. “Cap – get a hold of yourself!” She tried to pull herself free but it was futile when he held on to her tightly. His nose pressed against her exposed collarbone before she felt his hot tongue lick along her neck.

Looking at an unconscious Kenjiro and Reon who is trying to wake him up, a hand grips her jaw forcing her to look into the dark eyes of her captain.

“Only look at me, Y/n.” He growled, before pressing his lips against hers.

Y/n moaned into his mouth before breaking the kiss. “Reon, take Jiro and leave! I’ll handle Wakatoshi from here.” Reon refused, shaking his head but before he could protest, Y/n commanded him. “Go, now!”

Reon lifted the lanky Kenjiro into his arms and tossed him over his shoulder before hurrying out, closing the door behind him.

Immediately, she pushed against him with her might until he let her go. “Wakatoshi… this isn’t like you.” Her captain, whom she had known for years stalked her like she was his prey.

Jiro’s words earlier echo in her ears, meet his sexual desires…

Letting out a frustrated breath, she began to untie her uniform. Each piece of clothing dropped on the ground by her feet until she stood before him naked. She had some knowledge about intimacy between a man and a woman and heard plenty of tips from the men on her team.

She just needed to trick him, get him on the bed so she could knock him out.

Wakatoshi approached her, he looked taller and bigger without his clothing.

Was his shoulders always this broad? She found herself lost in admiration.

“Y/n,” he murmured, reaching to lift her chin so their gaze could meet. “You’re so…” his eyes drop to appreciate her naked form, “beautiful.” His arm snaked around her waist, pressing her against him.

Y/n gasped, feeling the hard ripples of his body pressed against her but what caught her off guard was his cock she has been avoiding was pressing against her abdominal. She pressed her palms against his chest to put space but Wakatoshi was faster, his hands picked her up easily off the ground. Her arms wrapped around his shoulder and legs around his torso. She can feel his rough callus hands supporting her naked bottom.

“Kiss me, Y/n… please…”

He held her higher, making her look down at him. Her cheeks flushed as he gazed at her desperately, pleadingly for her to put him out of his misery. Leaning down, she pressed her mouth against him, meeting his kiss hungrily.

She has kissed one other man but has never kissed them as intensely as now. She couldn’t recognize the lewd moans that were coming from her mouth continuing to meet Wakatoshi’s movement.

“Wai – wait Captain – “ she broke off the kiss, and flinched when she heard him growl in disappointment. His lips move to her jaw, nipping down to her throat. She looked over at the futon to see if she could get him to lie down, then maybe she could take the opportunity and knock him unconscious.

“I need you,” Wakatoshi murmured against her throat. “Need you now, Y/n… please…”

She gently lifted his face, meeting his dilated pupils with her gaze. Her heart raced faster than ever before. Throughout her entire life, she has never been swayed by anything yet at this moment, her heart and mind wanted to give in. She felt an undeniable yearning to yield, to grant him what he sought. “O – okay,” she heard herself say, “just once…” Her heart skipped a beat when his pouty lips curved into a smile, “don’t – don’t make me regret it…”

Wakatoshi muttered something under his breath before moving. Y/n turned her head to see where he was carrying her and frowned when he walked straight to the dresser and set her slightly on the edge. He pulled away and her eyes locked with his thick hard cock that was leaking from the tip. Her belly was smeared of the white milky essence.

Any words she had was lost as she watched him stroke his cock, her jaw dropped unknowingly as she has never seen something so exotic before.

He stepped forward, pressing the tip to her pussy, bit by bit he pushed forward and groaned, “relax for me.”

The tip impaled her entrance, making her tense at the foreign intrusion. “I can’t…” Y/n shook her head, whimpering, “I’ve never done this before… this is weird…”

“Look at me,” she looked up, the tone demanding her as her Captain.

Wakatoshi pressed his lips to hers, his tongue immediately searching to tangle with hers. As soon as she was distracted, he thrust in one go, fully embedded inside of her pussy.

He wrapped an arm around her back to keep her from pushing away from him. He cooed soothing words kissing her mouth as she swore at him about hurting her.

“You’re okay,” he repeated, kissing her tears away. “You can do this, you can take me, Y/n… I know you can otherwise I wouldn’t need you…”

Her fist gently beat against his shoulders, “you’re too… you’re too big…”

Wakatoshi half chuckled and choked a groan as her hot walls throb around his cock. He slowly began moving his hip in shallow thrusts until her wetness has lubricated his cock. As soon as it became easier for his entire length to penetrate her fully, his thrusts fastened. He groaned, pressing his forehead against hers, “you’re too tight… fuck I love it though… you feel so good…” Her soft whimpers gradually turned into moans as he continued to coo assuring affirmation. “You’re doing good… so good… you’re so good for me.” He hooked one of her legs over his arm, widening her legs to accommodate when he thrust inside her again. “You’re taking me so well…”

Y/n followed his gaze and looked down and was mesmerized at his cock pump into her pussy. How is it that seconds ago it was pain she felt, but now it is pleasure? “Cap – “

“My name.”

She peered up at him, biting down on her lip to hold in her lewd moans she never knew she could make.

“My name, Y/n.” He commanded again with a soft tone, “say my name.”

She shook her head, it felt too intimate saying his name while his cock was buried deep inside of her.

He shook his head with a grin, “stubborn woman.” He hooked his other arm underneath her knee, lifting her completely off the dresser. “Wrap your arms around my neck.”

She followed his command and immediately regretted it when he easily lifted her hips and began thrusting into her at the same time. Y/n’s grip tightened around his neck being at his mercy. “Cap – “

“Say my name!” Wakatoshi growled, nipping her ear. When she still refused, he sped his movement along with bouncing her harder on his cock.

“My Lord!”

Wakatoshi's movement halted as he unexpectedly heard her address him in that term. “Ahh… fuck…” he cursed as his cock pulsated. “Y/n… you little tease…” he whispered hotly into her ear. He just came but he was not close to being satisfied.

Y/n’s eyes widen as she quickly leaned back to look at him when he continue to keep rocking her on his cock. “What –“ The rest of her words turned into a moan as he started to bounce her on his cock. “Wait – you just – “

His hot breath teased her ear as he nipped the lobe, “more Y/n… I need more…”

“Wa – Waka – Toshi! Wait – you’re going too – fast!” Her ears were tuning in the lewd sound of their skin slapping together. “’Toshi! Stop – I feel – I feel weird!” Each time his cock filled her for a split second, it sends a pulse to the place she never knew existed. Her lower belly quivered like she was going to explode any second.

“Let go, Y/n – cum for me…” he whispered and commanded, “cum on my cock.”

Her back arched, her toes curled and her head thrown back as her body trembled. Her pussy throbbed and constricted around his cock. Wakatoshi's low groan mixed with hers as he finally stopped thrusting into her.

Her eyes widen feeling something warm shoot inside of her for the second time. Y/n fell limp against him, her head resting against the crook of his neck and shoulder as the last ounce of strength she had depleted.

Wakatoshi was lost in his world, still coming down from his high. His cock was still hard, the drug had not completely worn off even after such intense sex. “Y/n?” he called her name. When she did not respond he lifted her enough to slip his cock out. He heard something spill and glanced down to see a pool of milky essence.

He could feel her steady breath fanning his neck and secure his grip around her bottom, carrying her gently to the futon.

“Just stay.”

Y/n blinked, breaking out of the memories of how their rendezvous had commenced. “No, I want to sleep in my chamber.” She quickly got up but he caught her wrist, gazing at her with a soft expression that she had seen recently and making her heart race.

“Are you okay?” His tone filled with worry. “Shall I escort you back to your chamber?”

She shook her head, brushing his hand off, “I am okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hurried before he could convince her to stay. Each time, it was becoming a challenge to say no to him.

[5 days later]

.

.

It has been a few hours since Y/n finally woke up from days of deep slumber.

All she could recollect from the mission was that they were ambushed. Before heading out, she had an eerie and unsettling feeling about the mission that she had never felt before. Half a day into their mission something did not feel right when her six senses noticed the quietness around them.

Whatever had happened has been blocked out of her memories.

It was evident of her substantial injuries, her right shoulder was bandaged from an arrow piercing, and a stab wound in her left thigh.

Those were expected injuries, however, the one she did not expect and was still wrapping her head around even after the doctor had left her chambers was that she had miscarried.

She was pregnant.

Since the doctor left, her hand had been resting on her abdomen, where her unborn baby is no longer living.

She was foolish to disregard the risk of pregnancy after many nights spent in her captain's bed. He had been careful to withdraw and ejaculate on her body. Y/n was oblivious to the idea that she could still conceive otherwise.  Looking back, she must have conceived from her first night with him. It would be likely that she might have been pregnant prior to them making their intimate meetups a routine. She recalled the peculiar feeling of him cumming continuously inside of her the first night and it was that moment when she was lost in her bliss and pleasure she neglected to take any precautions.

The doctor determined the miscarriage was likely caused by the excessive blood loss she suffered. Her wounds themselves had put her body in shock and if the doctor calculated correctly, Y/n was more than three months along in the pregnancy. “You were still in the risky stages of pregnancy, it is nothing to dwell on as most women face this risk altogether.”

Her hand pressed against her flat belly, recollecting a few days prior when she noticed the slight weight gain but did not put too much thought into it.

“Captain went berserk.” Shirabu quietly informed, “you may not know but after everything, we believe that the ambush was to take you out first and then everyone else. Every one of them targeted you while you were trying to keep Captain safe.”

Y/n pondered, confused as to why she would have been the target but it would make sense strategically if enemies cannot get to the main target, then take out their protector first.

“My guess is that if they took you out first, it would be easier to take out the rest of us.” Shirabu stood up, “but please rest, for the time being, you are ordered to rest. Captain has ordered a checklist for the doctor to sign off before you’re allowed to return.” He kept it to himself, but he was sure the Captain would not let her return to active duty. He knew that Ushijima Wakatoshi would never allow her to lift her sword or wear her uniform after this mission.

“Shirabu,” Y/n called his name quietly, “does he – does he know about –“

Shirabu reached for her hand and squeezed it, “yes, he knows but only a few of us, including me and Reon. Do not fret, no one else won’t know.”

After he left her to rest, Y/n stared out the window and she didn’t notice the tears that slipped from the corner of her eyes.

Wakatoshi needed a moment to absorb Y/n’s report. His breath caught in his throat when the doctor reported to him her injuries and informed him additionally, the news of her miscarriage.  

.

.

“This is precisely why some argue against women serving in the Shiratorizawa Scout regime,” he lamented, shaking his head in disappointment. “This incident alone could potentially lead to her removal as second in command once the report makes it up to the leadership and shame the regime altogether.” Closing his briefcase, he remarked, “the loss of the child has placed a significant mental burden on her. I do not believe she was aware that she was pregnant.” He pushed his specs upward, “even if she isn’t removed from the squad, it’s uncertain whether she’ll fully recover.”

The doctor remained entirely unaware of the identity of the person he was addressing, oblivious to the fact that Ushijima Wakatoshi was, in fact, the father of the unborn child.

Wakatoshi loomed over the diminutive doctor, whose expression swiftly transformed into one of fear. “You will not breathe a word of this outside these walls, do you comprehend?” Wakatoshi cautioned.

The doctor nodded, responding barely audible as he muttered, “un – understood.”

After dismissing him, Wakatoshi sat in his chair in deep thought. Had Y/n really not known she was pregnant all this time? And when did it happen? He had been careful to pull out every time even if he wanted nothing more than to cum inside of her…

“Argh,” he groaned, burying his face into his hands. If Y/n was pregnant, it meant that it must have been from the first time. Memories came flooding back as he remembers the exhilarating feeling when he would watch his cum ooze out every time he thrust back into her. His cock was still hard as a rock even after so many rounds. Y/n would whimper, crying out that she was too full of his cum and he would fuck his cum back into her until they were both sticky with their mixed essence.

“This is all my fault,” he muttered, fingers fisting his hair tightly. She was in this predicament because of him.

Wakatoshi shook his head to shake off the memories, it was not the time to think about the past. He shot up from his seat and headed towards Y/n’s room.

Entering her room with a hushed step, he discovered her seated by the window, her expression devoid of emotion. It was a welcome sight compared to finding her asleep every time he visited.

His gaze shifted to the untouched tray of food and he let out a sigh, remarking gently, “you’ve hardly touched your meal.”

As soon as their eyes met, Wakatoshi swiftly approached her, kneeling by her side and enveloping her in his arms, cradling her delicate form. Aside from tangling their limbs in bed, outside of that, they refrained from touching one another. He whispered softly, his voice filled with concern, “please, tell me. What do you want? What can I do to bring the light back into your eyes?” His words were muffled as he buried his face into her lap, seeking to comfort her.

After a brief pause, he raised his head and gazed into her vacant eyes. Even while kneeling, he remained taller than her as she occupied the chair. Tenderly, he cradled her cheek and gently urged, “Y/n, please, speak to me.”

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his torso, burying her face into his chest.

His embrace grew tender as he enveloped her, holding her tightly. A hitch in his breath accompanied her trembling form and muffled sobs against his yukata.

All he could offer was a tighter grip, a comforting presence in her time of need.

[2 weeks later]

.

.

Reon and Kenjiro did not dare breathe as Wakatoshi was a ticking bomb.  

Many often found him intimidating, though he was truly a gentle giant.

But in this particular moment, gentleness was nowhere to be found.  

Their gaze fixated on the slightly crumpled piece of paper clutched tightly in their Captain’s hand. It was almost certain that this was the official report regarding Y/n’s release from duty. The entire team had just been informed of her release and had come to inquire more information about it from their Captain, only to discover that he was the last to be informed.

Wakatoshi let out a low exhale, his focus still zoned out as he recollected his and Y/n’s last conversation.

“They will remove me.” Y/n said to Wakatoshi, “promise me you’ll pick Reon to replace me.”

Wakatoshi brought their foreheads together, “you’re not getting replaced, I’ll make sure your report only lists your injuries, nothing more.” He was willing to do anything to keep her by his side. He locked eyes with her, gazing into hers. “You are not alone.” His hand tightened behind her nape, “it was my child too, Y/n.” His statement must have caught her off guard as she flinched. “I may not know the pain you’re feeling, the suffering and the grieving but know this Y/n, I am in pain too. I’m suffering too. And I’m grieving for our child too.” His features softened, and he leaned up to kiss her forehead. “I’ll take all responsibility, I am at fault.” Wakatoshi sighed softly, he cupped her face with both hands, “Y/n, if you can give me six months, I will step down as Captain and we can settle down anywhere you would like.”

Y/n frowned and pulled away from his touch. “No, you shouldn’t do that.”

Wakatoshi frowned in return, “why not?”

“You do not need to do that for me, please don’t do that for me.” She pulls away from him completely, standing up and walking away. “It was not your fault at all, Cap. It wasn’t like you forced me, I allowed myself to get involved with you.”

“And it was my carelessness that made you pregnant, therefore, my responsibility.”

“And I am telling you that you do not need to take responsibility for it.” She shot back, “I am tired, please leave me alone.”

Wakatoshi left without uttering another word, and that marked the final exchange and encounter between them. The next day, he was promptly dispatched on a mission, keeping him away for half a week. Upon his return, exhaustion overcame him, and he slumbered for a continuous sixteen hours. When he finally awoke and sought out Y/n, her room was void of any presence. He initially assumed she might have been on break or he had approached at an inopportune moment, only to find her room empty upon his return each subsequent day.

“Captain,” Reon called out quietly, “what…”

“I don’t know, but I will find out,” Wakatoshi promised, exiting his office. He marched straight into his leader’s office without notice and slammed the letter on the desk. “What is this?” his voice is low and quiet.

The individual whom Wakatoshi regarded as a father figure let out a sigh and removed his glasses, setting the stage for a silent and intense gaze-lock between them. “It is exactly what it means, Wakatoshi.” He sighed, lighting up a cigarette, “I did the best I could to have her be discharged instead of dismissed. You know something like that could not have been swept under the rug.” He exhaled a puff of smoke and the frustration he had been carrying on his shoulder. “Y/n is one of a kind and she has shown nothing but loyalty and commitment to the regime. She will be a great loss to us but you both knew the bylaws.” He eyed Wakatoshi, “if it was anyone, you both would have been dismissed with dishonor but because you both are highly valued, I could only save you.”

“Tell me,” Wakatoshi began, his voice cold, “where in the bylaws states that a relationship cannot be established between a man and a woman?”

“That is the thing, you were comrades, you made the mistake and treated her like a woman.” He shook his head, “look, Waka – we are men and we have our needs but you should have found someone else, not someone who is your second-in-command.” He killed his cigarette and released the last puff of smoke.

Wakatoshi’s face hardened, “what happened and what was shared between Y/n and I is no one’s business when there are no laws that state that a man and a woman on the same Corp cannot seek a romantic relationship.” His body towered over his leader, making him slightly cower. “I’d like to see where that is written.”

“It – it may not be written but it’s definitely frowned upon.” He did not understand why Wakatoshi was making a big deal out of it. “Do you feel for this woman, Ushijima?”

“I owe you no explanation, I will be clearing my office and you will see and accept my immediate resignation letter by the end of the night.” Wakatoshi was out the door before his leader could utter a word, still processing his words.

Y/n gazed at her old and long-abandoned family home, realizing it had been over 20 years since she had last set foot inside. Pushing the gates open, she entered the property and took stock of the work that awaited her to bring it back to its former glory.

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The basket in her hand has become slightly heavy filled with vegetables and meat as she shopped. Y/n stared across the market at the textile store, seeing various kimonos on display.

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For years, she wore custom uniforms seven days a week, which left her with little need to have kimonos or yukatas, aside from the ones she wore to bed. The few she owned, she had brought with her, but they were all in black. As she examined the yellow kimono with white floral prints, Y/n found herself strangely drawn to it.

“I thought it was you, Y/n.”

Y/n looked up, her eyes widening as a smile graced her lips. “Chigaya Maru.”

She lost count of how many years it had been since she last saw him, from a little boy to a grown adult. His shoulders were broad and well-built, and she couldn’t help but believe that he had likely assumed the mantle of their family’s longstanding sword-smithing business.

“My mom would be so thrilled to hear you have finally returned home.” His expression softened as he smiled, “we’ve all missed you.”

Maru walked beside Y/n in silence as they made their way back to her house. “Come by the shop tomorrow, I’ll show you the pieces I’ve made.”

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They made it to the front gates, “sounds good, I’ll swing by soon. Have a good night, Maru.” She entered the gates, closing them behind her. She waited until she heard Maru’s footsteps fade before entering her home.

Her home still required cleaning and some additional repairs, but it was now habitable, and being in this familiar setting brought her a comforting sense of reassurance.

She laid down on the new futon she purchased and rolled over towards the window. For the first time in her life, she felt so alone.

It hadn’t occurred to her that her team may have been strangers at one point, but they all became brothers to her and became a family to her.

The captain’s face entered her thoughts, and she tightly shut her eyes, feeling the pain in her heart intensify, the ache of missing him becoming almost unbearable. Did he know of her absence by now?

In such a short amount of time that they were intimately involved, she would have never imagined how challenging it would be now to walk away from someone when they made you feel… loved and wanted. And made you feel like a woman.

Her hand slipped down and in between her legs as the place in between her legs ached.

Ushijima Wakatoshi made her addicted to his touch.

Her fingers slipped in between her yukata as she pressed the aching nub before sliding the pad of her fingers along her slit like how he always did it.

Y/n rolled onto her back and widened her legs, her finger teased her clit, rubbing it in circles. A lewd whimper escaped her lips the moment her finger slipped past her folds. “’Toshi…”

Her fingers were nothing compared to his but she tried to mimic his movements.

She let her mind imagine that they were his, that he was there in between her legs and fingering her with not one, or two but three of his thick fingers, curling them each time they were knuckle deep.

Her other hand caresses her chest until she finds her perky nipple, twisting and tugging it.

Wakatoshi never spared her nipples, always suckling them like how she had seen a mother breastfeed her baby. She had never seen a woman nurse a baby before and couldn’t help but be reminded when Wakatoshi’s lips found hers and suckled hard.

The naive Y/n had thought with the way he was suckling, milk would come out. “Toshi… you’re sucking too hard… I don’t have milk for you.” She blurted out.

He lifted his head, caught off guard by her comment. “Of course, you wouldn’t have milk, you aren’t lactating.” He chuckled at the confused expression, “you are not pregnant, you do not need to fret about lactating.”

“But you keep sucking like…” she blushed, turning her face away.

Wakatoshi gently gripped her chin and turned her face so they were looking at one another, “like what?”

“Like a… baby.”

“Like this?” he takes her nipple back into his mouth and suckles hard. “Do you like it when I do that?”

She nodded her head, “yes… I do.”

Y/n’s fingers easily thrust in and out of her pussy with how wet she has become. “Toshi…” she repeated, calling his name as her fingers fastened until her orgasm erupted. Her hot gummy walls squeezed and trembled around her fingers.

She looks down, seeing her legs spread wide and fingers still inside her pussy. She had never touched herself before yet, here she is, pleasuring herself the way Wakatoshi did. Her head falls back onto her pillow as she imagined how he would have cum all over her abdomen, his groan each time spurts ejaculated from the tip of his thick cock. She remembered the first time he had done so, he smeared it over her skin like it was lotion.

Y/n spread her palm over her abdomen, rubbing it like Wakatoshi had always done so. Her hand paused as she thought about her child who was no longer growing within her.

She found it amusing how overnight, she could change from a woman who would not hesitate to kill on sight to a woman who grieved for the child she did not know. She never knew the latter woman even existed in her. In an instant, she no longer wanted to be part of the Corp, the almost maternal instinct within her took over and the new her wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle no more. It was best she left the Corp and returned home to settle quietly and start a new life.

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[Five months later]

A towel pressed along her forehead, dabbing the sweat she wasn’t even aware of. Maru smiled softly down at her, “don’t strain yourself, Y/n.”

Y/n returned the smile and nodded, “don’t worry, I’m not.” She continued to sharpen the katana.

She was blessed with a job with the Chigaya. They were in need of a sword sharpener and that was a specialty Y/n possessed. The business sales increased drastically within days as many sought to have their sword refined.

“It is a mixture of pressure and light-handed when sharpening,” Y/n informed, showing Maru one afternoon. “You must use the right amount of water along with the pressure to stay consistent and prevent any damage to the sword.”

Maru’s father walks in, carrying a sword carefully in his arms. He set it on a stand, “here is another drop-off.” He sighed, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Y/n. For generations, the family business thrived, but since Y/n had joined the team and taken on the role that had remained vacant for two decades, the business had experienced a remarkable resurgence. The word had spread like wildfire, and Chigaya Swords was not attracting clients from far and wide.

“Thank you, I will get to it shortly here,” Y/n answered with a smile. She does the final wipe-down before sliding the sword she was refining back into its scabbard.

“Y/n,” Maru’s father called her name softly, “where did you learn sword sharpening skills?”

“When my grandfather came for me, I stayed with him while he was still serving in the Corp. Being the only girl, I wasn’t exactly welcomed or liked and the man who was in charge of managing the weapons room, allowed me to help when I would always watch him from his doorway.” She is reminded how she was always pestering the man she called Uncle with questions to the point where he just had her try it out for herself. It wasn’t afterward that he realized that she might be useful to him after all and took her in as his apprentice.

When her Uncle was not welding a sword, he was teaching her how to hold a sword, how to swing, and everything there is to know.

At the age of seventeen, her Uncle encouraged her to join the swordsman tournament within the Corp, the winner would be recognized as a member of the Corp. On the day of the event, she shocked the entire crowd but nothing could be counted against her as there were no rules stating a woman could not participate.

She shocked the crowd a second time in one day when she was the last one standing, winning the tournament.

Y/n turned down the offer to join the Corp, insisting she would become a weapon welder.

For the first time, her grandfather, patted her head, “I am proud of you.”

He was murdered during an abrupt attack on the base. Y/n herself was gravely injured but as soon as her wounds healed, she hunted down the man who was responsible for her grandfather’s death and others.

She returned, bloody and battered but with the head of the Colonel.

Maru’s father affectionately patted her head, evoking memories of her grandfather and uncle, the last two who had done so. “We are deeply thankful to you,” he expressed. “Finding a skilled sword sharpener is no easy task. Not everyone possesses the gift touch to refine a blade as you do.” He looks past Y/n and at Maru, “come, I need your help.”

The two men leave the room that has become Y/n’s sanctuary. She reached to touch the top of her head and smiled. Such a simple gesture but it has always warmed her heart and soul.

Y/n peered out the window, her view obscured by the torrential rain. Rainy days had always made her sword-sharpening sessions feel therapeutic. Her gaze then shifted to the last remaining sword, the one Maru’s father had recently delivered.

She let out a sigh and extended her hand toward the sword.

Just as her hand was about to make contact with it, something jolted her, causing her hand to freeze in mid-air, a mere centimeters away from the sword. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she instantly recognized the handle of the sword.

“Your sword, Lord Ushijima,” Y/n spoke softly, carefully lifting the sword with both hands and offering it to him. “I hope you won’t mind that I completed your sword for you. We both know… Uncle would have been honored to present you with this blade.”

Uncle had just completed the construction of a custom-made sword for Lord Ushijima Wakatoshi, only to succumb to a fatal medical condition shortly thereafter. When Y/n and the others discovered him, he wore a serene smile on his face, having peacefully departed from the world.

“I’ve made some adjustments to the handle,” she said, lifting the sword above her head. “I believe a longer handle will be more fitting for you, especially since you swing with your left hand. This added length will provide both increased flexibility and stability in your swings.”

Y/n’s hands trembled as she gingerly lifted the sword. Among the swords she worked on so far, the Captain’s sword was the only one she knew of that had an additional inch and a half added to the handle.

There was but one way to confirm the sword’s owner. With a gentle pull of the scabbard, she revealed the blade, and as she turned it, her breath caught her throat.

As the final touch before handing the sword to its rightful owner, she meticulously engraved the letterings: Shiratorizawa – Ushijima Wakatoshi

E/n: next part might be shorter or like half of this.

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@queenelleee @mfreedomstuff @erintaro @callmeraider @chaotic-fangirl-blog @wolffmaiden @cloud-lyy

#haikyuu smut #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu angst #haikyuu ushijima #haikyuu ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima wakatoshi smut #ushijima wakatoshi angst #ushijima wakatoshi x y/n #ushijima wakatoshi x read #ushijima x reader #ushijima smut #ushijima x y/n #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima x you

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 4: Under Pressure

From: You Catch More Bees With Honey Series

Pairing: Mob! Bucky x Farmer! Reader

Summary: Bucky’s been weird since that night at the bar, but will a taste of danger at the farm bring him back to his senses?

Word count: 5,468

Content/warnings: Avoidance/masking of feelings, consumption and mention of alcohol, mutual pining, omg Cole is such a jerk, use of pet names, use of y/n, a little angst especially at the end, mentions of bullying, vulnerability

Author’s Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. There was a lot I wanted to include, and so much that made it in here that I hadn’t even intended originally. Happy reading!!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

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The rest of the weekend had been generally uneventful. You worked on the books and finances for the farm while Curtis did chores on Saturday and hung out with a book of your own on Sunday.

Bucky had become scarce. You had hardly seen him since Friday night besides mealtimes. Other than that, he was in his room, outside on the gravel talking to Steve over the phone, or shadowing Curtis to relearn how to do the tasks a sixth time.

You admired his work ethic and dedication to your agreement, but couldn’t help but feel that he was avoiding you. Was it something you said? Was he angry? To be honest, your memory seemed pretty clear. The last thing you remember was being grateful that he was there to help you get rid of Cole, and then waking up in bed to medicine and a glass of water on your nightstand. Not much could’ve happened in that small gap, right?

Wrong. Bucky had been consumed by the thought of you since that night. Every moment he went back to it, the nerves in his fingers burned all the way up to his shoulders with the thought of your touch. His gut felt tingly in a way he hadn’t experienced since he was a young boy daunted with the task of rising to power in his organization.

Was he nervous? No. Bucky Barnes doesn’t get nervous. He just gets pensive. When things seem like they’re getting out of his hands, he takes a step back to make a plan, then muscles his way through until he gets what he wants. He was used to using that same strategy to tamper down every emotion he felt except pride, and was well-practiced at that, so why did it all come crumbling from the simple act of you on his arm? Or was it the fact that he wished you taking his hat and putting it on your head could hold actual meaning? As soon as he identified his feelings, he called Steve.

“Whaddup, Buck? Not much has changed around here since last night, so I assume something has changed on your end?”

Bucky sighed. Why did he call in the first place? The last thing he wanted to do was acknowledge this… ~feeling~ by doing it the dignity of speaking it out loud. That made it real. “Um, no, not really. Just wanted to check in. I’ve got the day off.”

Steve paused on the other side of the line. “Okay….are you sure about that? Because you don’t seem very sure about that. Was everything okay at the bar? You didn’t get into a fight, did you?”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth turned up and he sighed in relief. “Oh, no, yeah, I’m sure. And I definitely did not get in a fight last night, some guy came up and was hitting on Y/N while I was out on the phone with you, so she wanted to head out right after.”

Bucky was satisfied with his well-formulated response until his best friend spoke up again. “Ah, so this is about your feelings for her, right? You were jealous?”

Bucky froze. “Pshhh….uh, no. Definitely not. She was very obviously not interested in him so we left.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Bucky could hear the deadpan in Steve’s voice. “I don’t care whether she was interested in him or not, I care about how her talking to some handsome stranger made you feel.”

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. “Steven, I’m going to be honest with you and I do not want you to say a word of this to anyone, or else.”

Steve poorly hid a smile in his voice. “Okay, Bucket. Floor is yours.”

“First of all, he was not that handsome. Based off her reaction, he was probably a scumbag in a Carhartt jacket that has never seen a day of actual work, but that’s besides the point….Yes…. Seeing her talking to that guy, and talking to her about her ex made me feel…things, but that wasn’t all of it….” The next words came out as a mumble. “She put my hat on her head and her head on my shoulder when I drove her home….andiwisheditwasreal.”

Steve was full-blown laughing now, so much was going on in that statement. Since when did Bucky care about work clothes and people’s worthiness of them? At least he was being honest. “Sorry Buck, missed that last part. Care to repeat?”

“Oh you know exactly what I said.” He spat back.

“Okay, okay. So what are you gonna do about it then? You’ve still got three more weeks out there. From what I can see, you’ve got a few opti-“

“Nothing.” Bucky cut him off. “I’m going to do nothing. I can’t play into her charm anymore. I’m just going to stay away and put my head down and-“

“Bucky stop. Slow down.” Steve cut him off in return to stop the spiral. “Your solution to everything can’t be to ice it out until freezes and shatters. Let’s look at this for a second. You care for her, so why can’t you stay friends? You obviously get along well, and I’m not just saying this from a personal standpoint, I’m saying this from a business standpoint. She very evidently knows how to deal with people and looking at the books, her finances are exceptional considering it’s a relatively small farm operation.”

“Okay, first off, of course I can ice her out. I need to show who’s in charge and this has worked with other associates before. And second off, what are you seeing in her finances?” Bucky huffed.

“Buck, she could buy your house. Somehow she’s invested so well that she doesn’t need our business deal, but she took it anyway. Makes me wonder why. Someone doing something like that doesn’t deserve ice, maybe you should try a little sweetness. I mean, I know you think everyone’s a sucker for that tough exterior of yours.” Steve’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “But you know what they say: you catch more bees with honey…. However, that sting on your face shows you can catch a bee just by standing there, so I’m not sure how fair that analogy is.” Steve let out a hearty chuckle at his own joke as a scowl crawled onto Bucky’s face.

“Ha ha ha, very funny, but we’re doing this my way. I’ll figure it out. I just have to last three more weeks.”

Steve sighed and replied with evident disappointment and a hint of frustration in his voice. “Okay, whatever you say, you’re the boss. I’ll call you later with a new update, Bucket.”

Bucky rolled his eyes in response. “Ugh, why do I still tell you everything when you use it against me like this?”

“That’s platonic love, my friend. Someone’s gotta hold you accountable and know you won’t punch them in the face for it.” And with that, Steve hung up and left Bucky looking up at the clear, blue sky.

Although Steve’s words and accusations stuck in his head, Bucky decided he wanted to muscle through this deal on his own. All he really needed to do was stay away from you and put in the work, and that would make it easier, right? He would simply do what he came here to do, nothing more, nothing less. If only Bucky could hear Steve’s grumble “why does he even tell me about this stuff if he won’t even take my advice?” that was said after every phone call.

You woke up to the first rooster crow on Monday morning. By the time you had gotten dressed and walked down the creaky stairs, you saw your breakfast plate made and sitting on the counter and a mug of coffee that had already cooled down to a more than drinkable temperature.

You peeked in the dishwasher to see a set of dishes had already been placed in there. Bucky must’ve already eaten and gone out for the day. He probably wanted to get a jump start on his work. At least he knew what he was doing.

The real reason he was up and going already that you hadn’t known? He couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned all night thinking about what Steve had said and honestly, he couldn’t bring himself to look at you. Couldn’t bring himself to mess up more in your presence and be saved and comforted by your seemingly bottomless grace. The solution was to do the work in pensive silence, as far from you as possible, so he could mess up and fix it on his own without the thought of your kind, yet penetrating, gaze. He was getting too close for comfort. The only solution was to pull away.

This continued for the next three days. Wake up before you. Make breakfast. Get a jump start on chores. Mess up on chores (as you secretly watched from the tractor, or the hay loft). Fix the mistakes. Carry on with his head down. Come home. Make dinner. Trap himself in his room. Go to bed. Start again.

Some notable moments that you’d caught unbeknownst to him: Bucky’s galoshes getting stuck in the mud of the pig pen, followed by him having to step out of the still-stuck boots, continue to walk to pour the feed in the trough while losing both socks as well, then returning to dig out the boots. At least half a dozen goat head-butts while trying to grab the babies to take them to the separate feeding area. The mommas were not happy with Bucky’s insistence on taking their kids, and they showed him by knocking him repeatedly into the white-painted fences. Bucky responded with an oof and him rubbing the affected area, returning a glower to the seemingly now unbothered mothers. Bucky losing sheep, but not knowing how to command your dog to corral them, thus having to run and herd them himself, surprisingly more efficiently each time it happened, you might add.

You were proud of Bucky for his work ethic. If he had put half this effort into his business dealings, you could see how he rose to the top so quickly. He wasn’t the only one who did research on whom they were dealing with.

He was stubborn and wanted things right, but didn’t let a lack of perfection stop him from completing the tasks. However, at some point, it looked like he was beating himself up. Like he was self-punishing for something you couldn’t quite identify, so you called Curtis to help at the farm so you could figure it out. Come Thursday afternoon, you handed off your chores to him and went back to the house early in hopes of catching Bucky. You were half way through dinner when the front door opened, the mud-covered mob boss in well-fitting farm clothes crossing the threshold.

You looked him up and down, doing your best to hold in a laugh at the disheveled appearance. “Well howdy. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you. Figured you’ve been working so hard, it’s my turn to help you out some.”

Bucky was taken aback by seeing you in the kitchen, not only had he purposely been avoiding you and planned to get in the house before you even considered dinner, but you just looked so relaxed. Something about that stoked an ember in him he’d tried hard to snuff out. You were wearing a t-shirt and your hair was pulled up off your shoulders, almost like any other day, but your features didn’t have their usual determined focus. They were at ease, which was in total juxtaposition with Bucky’s swirl of anxiousness rising in his gut.

Bucky looked at you with wide eyes and pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “Um, I thought you were still out in the field. Saw the tractor turning the hay over.” He swallowed thickly.

You leaned to peek around him. “Ah, yes. That’s Curtis. Called him in today to help me finish up so you and I could talk about a few things. Go ahead and wash up. By the time you’re done, this should all be ready.”

All he could do was nod in response as he slowly made his way up the steps, mind racing with everything you could possibly say. Did you know how he felt? Did he do something wrong? Were you going to cut the deal? He could only hope the warm water would wash his worries away, along with the mud.

Bucky came back down to a homey aroma that wrapped him in comfort. That much was consistent every time he saw you. Your existence provided him a blanket of relief, despite the way he knew he should still be holding onto anticipation for what you might say. You were sitting at the head of the table flanked by Curtis, the both of you reading though some papers.

“Hey, Bucket, just in time.” Curtis greeted him, as Bucky took the seat across from him at the table, flanking your other side. You all started to dig into the food as you set the papers down on the table for Bucky to read them. It was a headline that read: TURNing the Tables: The Road to an Empire.

“What is this?” He looked up from his plate and directly into your eyes for the first time in days.

“Well, we haven’t gotten to talk about this yet, but remember that guy who we ran away from at the bar? This is him.” Bucky’s eyebrows pinched together, he knew the look of disdain on your face made sense, but still felt like he was missing something.

Curtis cleared his throat after taking a sip of tea and spoke up. “Forgot you didn’t grow up with us. Allow me to explain.” He looked to your eyes and you nodded in approval of his continuance. “In school, I was a few years older than Y/N here. Back then, there were a bunch of farmers around town, each with their own little niche, and a lotta nice farm kids who were in our classes. Except Cole. He grew up a little awkward kid, but once he hit puberty, he became the cockiest thing in town. Didn’t even care to know those other kids anymore, just bullied them. It didn’t help that it was around the same time his parents started buying out all the other small farms here, turning their small dairy operation into a much larger-scale distributor. Little too big for their britches, if you ask me.” Curtis mumbled that last part as he rolled his eyes and shoveled another fork full of food into his mouth.

Bucky nodded in acknowledgement, but still harbored some confusion in how this all tied together. “So why was it crazy to run into him at the bar if he’s from around here? And what’s the deal with him making you so uncomfortable. Like, I get it, he’s a prick, but you were running out of there. You hardly budged for me, so there’s no way he can be that intimidating to you.”

Curtis’s eyes narrowed slightly and his brows furrowed at that statement, but he let it go for now. He swallowed down another bite of food and looked at you again. Your mouth was slightly agape, debating the best way to move forward. “I didn’t look like this in high school, or throughout any schooling for that matter, so he didn’t recognize me when we ran into each other at the bar. Frankly, I hardly recognized him. And come to think of it, he didn’t even ask my name Friday night, so that goes to show what a trash bag he really is. But this is a good thing, because I think we’d be in a way bigger mess if he did remember me. It’s a long story, and I think we’ll have to go back even farther.” You took a sip of your water before setting down your silverware and leaning forward on your elbows on the table.

“Like Curtis said, Cole didn’t get along with anyone, especially Jake. In school he’d constantly push him around, so Curtis would come to his defense, even though I probably could’ve taken Cole myself.” You let out a small airy chuckle and Curtis smiled back at you, shaking his head. “But anyway, after every time Cole started a fight and Curtis finished it, he’d look at me with this big, almost mischievous grin. So honestly, I’m glad I didn’t play into getting close to him by personally defending Jake.”

Bucky continued nodding along. You seemed so unproblematic. Why were you in the middle of this? “So he didn’t recognize you at the bar, and again, he’s from around here. What’s the big deal?”

You sighed, having to explain more small-town politics to Bucky, who very evidently didn’t understand the delicate nature of places outside the city. “He’s not really from around here anymore. His farm still is, but it’s one of many now. After school, he went to get some fancy business degree from who knows where. What I’m truly concerned about is what he said to me at the bar. He’s here to squash the one thing Curtis and I, and frankly this town, have left.” Curtis rubbed your shoulder reassuringly and you rubbed your eyes in frustration. Bucky felt that same pang in his lower stomach again, seeing how close you and Curtis were and how that dumb little milk man had you this upset. You looked at Curtis gratefully and continued.

“My mom’s brother and Curtis’s dad’s sister used to run this farm back when Cole still lived here. When they passed, they left it to us, but Curtis’s dad also left the shop, which is why I mostly run things around here. But the thing is, anyone who hasn’t been to town since back then, doesn’t know that. The last name tied to this farm doesn’t apply to either of us.” Oh, so you and Curtis were second cousins? Explains a lot. Bucky hated himself that all he could think was ‘one more man who’s close to you he can check off as not being a threat.’ He really needed to get himself in check. Once he pushed those thoughts back down is when everything finally clicked.

Cole was back in town. He had a history with you. He’s got a bad track record in general. He said he wanted to squash competition. You were that competition. He didn’t know you were that competition. You had no idea where to go from here.

Before Bucky could open his mouth for his next round of clarification questions, there was a knock on the door. The three of you were so enthralled in conversation that no one heard the wheels crunching through the gravel in the driveway. You exchanged glances with the men on either side of you. A random visitor out here wasn’t too out of the ordinary, considering how much the community depended on you, but the conversation topic had you on edge. It was for good reason, because as you opened the door, leaving the screen in place, you were met with a face that had started to haunt your dreams these past few days: Cole.

He was wearing that sickening smile again, looking down at you. “Hiya, Peach. It’s been a minute.” You crossed your arms and looked at the man standing on your porch, a plastic smile glued to your face.

Bucky and Curtis shuffled behind you. Curtis shoved the papers and articles at Bucky to take somewhere else so Cole wouldn’t see them, while he made his way to your shoulder, his large stature holding every intention to intimidate Cole.

“Ah yes, your guard dog Curtis, great to see ya, buddy.” Curtis gave a death glare of acknowledgement, stance unyielding.

“Sorry I didn’t recognize you at the bar, you’ve all changed so much, including your pal, Jakey. He’s the one who so kindly told me my family missed this farm while we were on the rise. As soon as mom and pop gave me the reins, I knew I had to stop over, didn’t realize you were the one running things now.” You did your best to keep your face level.

“So what can I help you with, Cole? Are you lost? Need directions on a map? I’m a whiz at that. Happy to print one out for you.”

If it was even possible, his troubling smirk became wider. “Aren’t you going to invite me in? I’d love to talk business. Maybe over dinner? Smells delicious.”

You scrunched your nose, keeping the fake smile on your face. “Unfortunately, it’s all gone. Maybe next time. How about you and me mosey over to the office. It’s been too long. I’ve got some mints in there. Maybe those can tide you over.”

“Too long, indeed.” He ignored the rest of your statement, but Bucky didn’t. He’d never heard you say something that rude before. Someone like Cole might have been none the wiser, but those were loaded words that he knew you said with intention. How could he blame you, though. The man in the fake work clothes had invited himself in unannounced. Not even Bucky did that to you. The same couldn’t be said for his actions with other associates, but one thing he knew was that you were deserving of all the respect in the world. Respect Cole was not giving you. Cole nodded to the two men and followed you down the hall, not bothering to take off his shoes and add them to the files of boots by the door. Another mark in Bucky’s mind. You closed the door you’d held open behind him after giving a wide-eyed look to your two confidants whose eyes followed the whole thing.

Bucky scrambled to clean up the dinner plates and pack away the leftovers. It was smart of you to not offer Cole anything. He didn’t need any reason to stick around longer than you wanted him to. Bucky knew a thing or two about business dealings with enemies, and he was usually much cooler than this, but the fact he could tell you were freaking out, freaked him out.

He still hadn’t dealt with his emotions for you, and your earnestness not even half an hour ago had made it worse. So he did what he always does when he’s not sure and needs a wall to talk at: he called Steve.

Steve picked up in a surprisingly good mood. “Hey Buck, what can I do ya for.”

“I need to you gather everything you can on Cole Turner.” He frantically spat out. Steve grew serious to mirror his best friend’s tone. “And…” Bucky lowered his phone for a second and looked at Curtis. “What’s Jake’s last name.”

Curtis looked at him skeptically. “Jenson. Jacob Jensen.” Bucky nodded his head in thanks and lifted the phone back up to his ear.

“Did you get that?…Yeah, put our best guys on it. Ok, call me later tonight when you know. Doesn’t matter the time. Bye.”

Bucky lowered the phone and looked at Curtis who had just finished wiping down the counters. Curtis had his arms crossed and was leaned up against the kitchen island, opposite Bucky. “So you wanna tell me who exactly you are? Why you’ve got people who you can seemingly throw commands at for immediate attention? And why you care so much about this little farm that you’re only working at for a month?”

Bucky sighed and put his hands on the counter, pushing his body away from it, hinged at the hips, and hanging his head in between his arms. He stood up and quickly looked at Curtis straight in the eyes. “I think you know. I think you know the answers to all those questions, but I think you should also know, I care enough to be on your side.”

Curtis leaned in towards Bucky, his frame shadowing the mob boss’s in the evening light. For the first time in awhile, Bucky was intimidated. He knew how much Curtis cared for you, and he knew how hard he’d be pummeled if he messed up, whether Bucky used his combat training or not. He mustered up as much confidence as he could to rebuild his demeanor to face your Cousin. “You know I care, and I think all that matters is that I’m using my resources to make sure your cousin’s farm is okay and stays in her hands. You know I’m here to do business, but this is bigger than me and I see that now. I’m someone with power, and not unearned power like that prick in the other room. So I’m someone who uses that power in your best interest. That’s all you need to know right now.”

Curtis nodded in acceptance of Bucky’s answer. He could respect that logic, and the way Bucky held his cards close to his chest, because at the end of the day, at the core of Bucky’s motivations was your well-being. No matter how much he thought he could put a veil over it, Curtis saw through.

“Well, Bucky, I won’t doubt you then, but you better hold true and honest, for your own sake and for hers. And I hope to hear more of your other ‘business ventures’ later down the road, but for now, I think our girl needs us.” Bucky nodded along in agreement.

“I don’t think there’s much else I can do right now while I wait for that intel to get back. You got anything?”

Curtis grinned and gave a small shrug. “I can think of one thing. Go up in that top cabinet above the fridge. We’ve got a bottle of the good stuff. She’s gonna need it once we can get the slime ball to slide outta here.”

Bucky’s shoulder’s bounced with a small laugh as he pulled down the bottle. “Let’s get cracking then.”

It was another half hour before Cole emerged from your office and looked cockily at the two men chatting in your kitchen. You followed closely behind, doing your best to subtly corral him out of the house.

“I hope you’ll consider my offer. Actually, I know you will. Over dinner next time.” He smirked back at you over his shoulder. You escorted him out the door as politely as you could, draining your last bit of energy. You closed and locked the front door, which rarely was so, and peeked through the window until he was gone.

You turned around to look at the two of them as your shoulders slumped. You dragged your feet over to the island where Curtis and Bucky were leaning leisurely, grateful Curtis knew exactly what you needed as he slid the filled shot glass toward you.

You grabbed it and threw it back, slamming it back down on the butcher block counter top as Curtis moved to refill it. “How many do I have to catch up on?”

“Only two.” Curtis replied as he slid the shot glass back over to you again.

“Let’s make it three.” You choked out after you attempted to swallow down the burn of the second shot.

“Bucket, can you please make us some water bottles? I’ve gotta get out of this house. We’re going for a walk.”

“Yeah, okay, Honey. Only on the condition that you put my boots on me for the walk. My hammies are sore from being your little chore boy.” He replied as he reached into the cabinet to grab the bottles.

He smiled to himself when he heard your giggle. He’d normally never complain that openly and ridiculously, but you gave him the reaction he was hoping for. Anything to make sure the life wasn’t totally sucked out of you by Cole.

“Your negotiations are no good here. You put your own boots on and take your own boots off unless you’re married. My house, my rules. But tell ya what, I’ll let you have another shot of this small-batch bourbon with me and Curty boi. That’s more than payment enough.” You winked at him as he handed you the water bottle. The three of you taking the last shot and heading out the door, making your way towards the back of the property.

It was an easy walk through level fields, just long. The three of you fell into easy conversation about anything other than Cole, insisting you’d debrief them tomorrow, so the conversation mainly consisted of teasing Curtis about the new girl and her truck he had to fix last week. The comfortable silences otherwise were filled with the sound of the crickets chirping. You found comfort in the caress of the warm, humid breeze that blew through as you walked towards the hills where the old mines of the property resided.

Once you reached the entrance, you turned around and faced the two large men. “Buck, you’ve been working really hard this week, so I think it’s time I showed you what you’re working toward. Figured it would be a nice change of pace for us to take a look at this tunnel tonight, and we can start scheduling some time in for us to fix up the scaffolding and supports.”

Bucky nodded, looking at you with a grin on his face while Curtis clicked on his flashlight. “I’m honestly curious to see what’s going on in there. I don’t think we’ve ventured in since we were teenagers.” His voice echoed through the mouth of the mine.

You led the way, turning on your own flashlight, scanning the dirt walls and old, wooden supports. “Yeah, it’s been awhile, but I think you could work with this, right, Bucket? This tunnel specifically doesn’t have an outlet like the connecting network in some of the others, so it would be mostly storage. You could probably send some underlings out here to help you out.”

You both laughed as Bucky walked closer to the wall, examining one of the support beams. “Yeah, I mean, I own a construction company, so that shouldn’t be a worry at all.”

That caught Curtis’s attention as he stopped to give a side glance toward Bucky. You continued on ahead unfazed as Bucky kicked the wooden beam in front of him to test its integrity. It crumbled slightly at the toe of his boot. Underwhelmed with the scale of the break, the two men made a move to step forward when they heard a rumbling, followed by the beam Bucky had kicked crashing down in front of them. Pebbles shifted and fell out of the ceiling, followed by larger rocks and before they could blink, the tunnel buckled creating a wall of sand and stone between you and them.

All Bucky could hear was your muffled scream on the other end. I’m okay, just get me out of here. He was going into panic mode, but a plan still was racing though his brain as he made every attempt to mash it together into something coherent. Through the ringing in his ears he heard Curtis yell. “We have to call the police, the fire department, someone to get her out of there. She might not be injured now, but I can’t say the same if there’s a secondary collapse. We need to do something. Now.”

Bucky grabbed him by his collar. “No. No police. It’ll ruin everything.”

Curtis put his hands up in surrender. “Okay then, what do you suppose we do, big guy?”

Bucky paced back and forth, biting his thumbnail with worry. “Gimme a second. I’m figuring it out.” He stopped in his tracks. “Who all knows about the mines?”

“What? What does that ha-“

Bucky cut Curtis off. “Who. All. Knows?”

Curtis shook his head and shrugged. “I-I don’t know, not many people. Me and her, her college roommate, and Jake. That’s it, I think.”

Bucky rapidly reached into the pocket of his jeans and handed Curtis a card from his wallet. “This is my associate Sam. You’re going to call him and tell him those names. We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

Curtis immediately pulled out his phone, trusting the judgement of his new friend. Bucky did the same, calling Steve. It was time to send backup to the farm. He could have his men out here tonight, and your friends by at least the morning, sending his private jet to retrieve them.

He needed you out of that tunnel like he needed to breathe, mostly because if he didn’t get you out of there within a day, you wouldn’t be able to.

Next >

Bonus A/N: so much going on!! What will happen next? Who was the girl whose truck Curtis had to fix??

Thank you so much for reading!! Likes, comments, reblogs, and asks are soooo appreciated. Lmk if you’d like to be added to any of my tag lists. Love you!

Series taglist:

@scuzmunkie

@openup-yourmind

@vicmc624

#bucky barnes #Bucky Barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes x you #Bucky Barnes fluff #Bucky Barnes angst #mob Bucky #mob! bucky x farmer! reader #mob bucky x farmer reader #mafia bucky x farmer reader #mafia! bucky x reader #mafia! bucky x farmer! reader #mafia!bucky #mafia bucky #you catch more bees with honey series #you catch more bees with honey #chapter 4: under pressure #steve rogers #sebastian stan #curtis everett #jake jensen #cole turner #chris evans #mafia bucky x you #mafia bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x y/n #mob bucky x reader #mob bucky x you #mob bucky x y/n #abandoned mines

[yueisyum]

“You don’t get it do you” Valentine’s Day special

College au❤️Jeno x Reader

|| 🧸Basically, you’re trying to help jeno find a fake girlfriend to invite to his parents dinner next week. He’s been telling them that he has a girlfriend and they decide that they want to meet her on Valentine’s Day. Sounds cute right? But he does have a girlfriend, so you make it your mission to save his dignity. But for some reason he’s being really picky with his decision. Your not sure why?

“She literally perfect for you”

“But She’s not you”

Authors note🎈: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! I’m not completely proud of this as a whole, BUT if I add the fact that I only had like a day and a half to do it, it’s not that bad. There so no smut in this, BUT!!! As you know. You can’t just ask 😏. I’m hoping to maybe do something like this for some other members so if you are hoping for a specific member let me know!

[9:32] February 12th

“She’s also a no” jeno says from next to you on his couch. You slouch even more into his chest. “Jeno- this is the 5th girl I showed you. You didn’t even read the profile yet!” You complain.

You and Jeno are currently sitting in his living room looking through [app] profiles of women that had reached out to you. You got together after your run, and he had just got home from practice. You took a shower and told him about your plan to help him find a date for Tuesday. You had gotten closer to him so you can both see your phone screen clearly, and he ended up pulling you into him. Your back pressed against his chest. This would usually look weird to anyone else, considering you two are just friends, it’s natural between you two. It’s normal. Not weird. Not intimate.

“My parents know I wouldn’t date someone with that hair colour” he explains, shrugging it off. His arm that’s around you moves to swipe to the next profile. You slap his hand away and go back. “No no no, she could wear a wig or dye her hair or something” you continue to the profile and looked at the description. It was quiet short. It read:

[hi! I’m Eunchan! Im 22 years old, my birthday is august 4th, 2000. And I love to work out (do yoga) and I work as a creative writer]

You read the profile out loud, and you can feel Jeno shaking his head. “Jeno-“ you begin.

“Yoga? Absolutely not, yoga isn’t working out, it’s expensive stretching” you giggle and roll your eyes. “Jeno, just get her to tell your parents that she lifts weights or something.” You bring your knees up to your chest to make room for his cat as she lays at his feet. he takes a moment to think. “No, I have to get her to wear a wig AND lie to my parents? They would be able to tell she doesn’t lift weights by her build.” You sit up to look at him.

“You are being ridiculo-“

“-realistic” he interrupts and you scoff. You get up from the couch and walk toward the kitchen. “Where are you going!?” He gets up to follow you like a lost puppy. “If we are going to do this all night I’m going to need a drink.” You answer grabbing a glass- two glasses from the cabinet and he looks for some wine. You could faintly hear the kdrama he played from kitchen while he pour the drinks. You lean into the counter and continue looking.

“Oh here! Listen!”

“[hello, my name is minchi-“

“Hello? Who says hello?”

“Jeno shut up and listen..

[hello, my name is minchi, I’m 21 years old. My favorite colour is blue, my favorite smell is mint and I love Naruto]” you look up at him in anticipation. He loves all those things-

“That sounds like a child’s profile, she can’t even describe herself or hobbies proper-“

“Ughhh” you slouch into the counter. Grabbing the glass of wine her poured and took a long sip. He watch you with a smile. “Jeno, the point of finding you a ‘fake girlfriend’ is that it’s not real! It’s one night and she can be anything you want her to be” you explain, making your way back to the couch. Stopping to let another cat walk past you. This is their palace after all. Then take a seat at the sofa. “No they can’t” he mumbles. “Huh?” You look over at him, he’s making his way to you again. “Nothing, but my parent will be able to sniff out a liar, and I don’t want to take my chances with someone who can’t even tell people what she does for a living.” He sits next to you and places his wine on a coster.

You nod in understanding, this must be really important to him, especially since he’s being so picky. “I have an idea!” You turn to him and he gives you his full attention. “How about we pick a couple of girls, and then you can try going on a date with them. Just to see how they can act in person” he looks at you. It almost looks as if he’s examining your features but you shrug it of. “Please? Come on, this is the best way to find out how they can talk with your parents!” You fold your hands together and give him your best puppy eyes. You can’t help but love playing match maker, even if somewhere deep down you feel an unsettling gush of sadness. You push it aside.

He continues to look at you for another moment. And you swear you saw his eyes flicker to your lips once or twice. “Fine. I’ll do it- if your there with me” he leans back at takes his phone out. “What? Why? It would really be considered a date if I’m there” he looks up from his phone to glance at you. “It’s not supposed to be a date, it’s supposed to be an interview” you deadpan at him. “You really are ridiculous” you then pull your phone back up to look through more profiles with him.

•••

It’s currently [1:47] in the morning and you and jeno had ended up in the same position you started in. Except this time you cuddle closer into him and he pulls you as close as possible; complaining that “it’s cold”.

“Ok here, we can add this one too. It says [hi, I’m Hyebin! I work as an interior designer, I love bike rides and jogging. My favorite season is autumn, I also love watching anime and cars, I have a terrible sense of direction and I’m allergic to ca….ts]” your voice was sleepily and almost at a hum. It was music to jeno’s ears. Your head pressed to his chest and your hair smells like rain wood, probably your shampoo.

“What! No, how can you be allergic to cats?”

You laugh at his reaction. “Jen… your allergic to cat, besides, Shes never going to meet your cats, it’ll be fine- you two have everything else in common. I’m adding her” you add the profile and shoot her a text about meeting up tomorrow afternoon for an ‘date’. He didn’t like that you kept calling it that, but he wouldn’t say anything. It began to get quiet. The faint sound of rain hitting the glass. The dimly lit room and the air conditioning was blasting for some reason. The mood felt so cozy and his heart began to race- along with yours.

When you send the text you put your phone down and wiggle to get comfortable under the Blanket he has you two wrapped up in. “You tired?” He asks warping an arm around your frame. “Mm no” you’re already dosing off and he chuckles lightly. “All these girls seem perfect Jen.” You add.

He loved when you’d call him that. It felt so intimate to him. But it wasn’t, it was normal between best friends. Normal. Not weird.

“I don’t like her” he argues, closing his eyes. You can feel him trying to match his breathing with yours. You continue to lull yourself to sleep as jeno begins to rub your back. “She’s literally perfect for you” you whisper. You’re basically asleep now. You mouth open and your body limp, all you weight was on him and he loved it. He loved the feeling you you against him. He loved that fact that you feel safe enough to fall asleep in his arms.

He loved…

You.

“But she’s not you” he replied. He knew you couldn’t hear him, to far gone in sleep to register his words. But he felt a load of weight and worry leave his body when he voiced those words.

They aren’t you.

•••

[6:36pm] February 13th

The next day you met up with Jeno at modern cafe. When you walked through the door your eyes immediately find him. He’s dressed in a buttoned up shirt and slacks. It wasn’t unusual for him to dress like this, but you noticed his hair was given more attention then what your used to. You slide into the booth across from him.

Jeno looked up from his phone to see you smiling at him. Your cheek bones lift and your eyes squint. He can’t help but do the same. “You look nice” he compliments and you smile wider. “Me? Your the one you did your hair all.. fancy” you laugh when he reaches to touch the strains that fall in front if his face.

“Okay! So I’ll be at the table over there..” you begin. “So you know where I am if you need anything. Eunchan is the first to come, she should be here in like five minutes” you show him the texts between you and the other girl he couldn’t care less about. “No, no stay at the booth with me. This isn’t a date remember? It’s just an-“

“-Interview I know, but it’s between you and her. This has nothing to do with me”

It has EVERYTHING to do with you actually.

“I’ll leave…” he threatens, his arms crossing over his chest, and you can see his sleeve stretching to accommodate his arms. “You are such a child! Why can’t you have a 30 minute conversation alone with a women?”

You cross your arms to mimic him, but it only pushes your chest up. And he smirks at you. “If that women is you or my mom, yes. But other then that.. absolutely not” he shakes his head. You narrow your eyes at him, foot taping at the floor as you think. “Fine.” Your tone was sharp. And he can tell your getting frustrated.

How have you not put it together yet!?

[6:58pm]

You quickly slide out of the both and next to him. He watches you move and smiles and you slouch next to him. He absentmindedly leans into you. “You smell good”

It was a simple comment, but it had your heart skipping multiple beats. You clear your throat and sit up. “Thank you… your cologne smells good too…” you don’t look at him, but his eyes are on you. “Just my cologne? Not me?” He chuckles, but when he realizes your eyes are not on his, he followed your line of sight. you nudge him in the arm and squeal. “She’s here! Okay okay, relax!” You take two deep breaths as a beautiful women makes her way towards the table you and Jeno both sit up.

“Hi! You must be Y/n?” She sits down. Her hair was long and light, almost a orange colour, but it looked natural. She was gorgeous, her makeup simple and done to perfection. She sat with confidence and her earrings dangled when she moves her head, you admire her as she greets jeno, missing the words they exchange. She’s so beautiful, prettier then you; you thought. “Hi! Yes I’m y/n and this is Jeno” you gesture toward Gina ms he smiles to her. You can tell she finds him very attractive, and how could you blame her?

“So, I hear your looking for a “girlfriend” for a dinner with your parents?” She asks looking to Jeno. He looks at you then back to her. “Yes, I’m trying to find someone before tomorrow night”

“Valentines day?”

“Yes”

You watch them talk for a couple minutes. The feeling you had been stuffing down seemed to be overflowing.

She is literally perfect. They would look so perfect together. They might even end up getting together for real after the dinner. His parents would probably love her. And Jeno would probably come to you for advice with her all the time. And even if it killed you, you would give it to him because you love him. And if they ever got married- you would be there to cheer him on even if the sight of him placing a ring on another woman would literally kill you. Your best friend Jeno would always talk about how he found the ‘love of his life’ through fake dating. It would be a cute story to tell at parties or celebrations.

The thought of him spending his life with another women made the best of your neck hot. And your head hurt thinking about how he would be an Amazing dad…

Why do you even care!?

Why would him being with another person hurt YOU!? Your his best friend nothing more- But why do you wish it was you sitting across from him? Why do you wish it was you he wanted to bring to meet his parents? Or wishing you could be the one he would put a ring on?

Oh…

Oh

You’ve truly been avoiding it, because you didn’t want to face how he makes you feel… but here you are. Lost in thought- bathing in in your feelings. They’ve always been there, but now they are downing you.

You want him.

Like really want him.

Realizing that your not just attracted to him, but you can truly see a future with him.

Him.

Jeno.

Your best friend jeno…

You find yourself fidgeting with your rings while they talk, your brain feels foggy and you can’t bring yourself to look up. You tried to pay attention but your mind would just build with thought of them being together and you felt as if you would throw up.

But you have done it. You have realized that you love Jeno… now what? What do you do now? Say something? Confront him? Be honest?

“….Well this was fun anyway. I’m glad I had the chance to talk to you. And I wish you good luck with your parents” you lift your head to see the different, darker haired women make her way out of the cafe. You then turn to jeno, who’s looking at you. “What the hell happened I spaced out for two minutes!?”

Actually it’s been almost an hour; he thought,

Fifthy three minutes of you spacing out. Something was definitely wrong. he began to worry when he nudged your foot mid conversation, but you didn’t even flinch. Decided he should end it quickly with Hyebin, giving the second women a random excuse as to why she wouldn’t fit.

“She said she was a terrible lair, can’t have her revealing info, ya’know?” he shrugged and slouched down in his seat. “We should order food” he adds before you can scold him. Hoping food will fix whatever headspace your in right now.

You would never say this out loud, but your glad she’s gone. Her presence made you want to jump out if the nearest window and run home- never to be seen again. “Jeno…” he places down the menu to look at you. “Hm?” You finally turn to him. “Why are you being so difficult? Why won’t you pick a girl? It’s so simple, but you seem to care a lot about it” you ask genuinely. He thinks for a moment and you wait patiently.

“I don’t want just anyone meeting my parents. They mean a lot to me, and I don’t need a random women meeting them” he explains, while continuing to look through the menu. “Oh” you nod. Not wanting to ask him too many questions.

You can’t seem to focus on anything. Not when the only thing going through your mind is Jeno.

‘Jeno’

“Yes?” You turn to him when he responds to what you thought… were your thoughts.

What?

“What?”

“You said my name?” He leans in questionably, trying to find your eyes, but you refuse to look at him. “I did?” You turn away from him, grabbing a menu form the table to act like your looking for food.

“You did… are you feeling okay?” He continues to move his head in Front of yours; so you’ll look at him. When you finally do, your heart stops. He is so handsome so beautiful- no, breathtaking. His eyebrows pinch together, you can tell he’s worried. You don’t want him to be worried about you, not right now. “Yes I’m… No actually I’m not feeling well and I should probably get going. You seem to be doing well without me anyway” You place the menu down on the glossy wooden table in front of you and begin to get up.

You stop when Jeno’s hand wraps around you forearm. “Wait, do you want me to come with you? Is it your stomach? I can make you some ramen” He looks desperate and worried. So you put on your best ‘I’m fine’ face and tug your hand away. Your skin felt tingly where he had touched you, and the thought of him making physical contact with you again gave you butterflies. And you can’t think straight. “Nope, I’ll be fine. Your next runner up should be here in like 15 minutes? She’ll text you” his jaw tightened and his brows knitted.

“I don’t want to do this without you” he grabs at your wrist this time. The tension slowly raising with each respons.

What the heck is going on with you?

“Why? What changes whether I’m here or not?” You try to laugh but you can’t. So you just fake a smile. “Y/n please, don’t go. Your hiding something, I’m not stupid” his voice seemed more stern this time. “I’m fine. Text me after- and let me know how it goes” you smile once more before running of.

“Y/n-“

Jeno won’t chase you. He knows he can’t get you to stay and he wouldn’t want to force you, but it doesn’t stop him from trying to call out for you anyway.

[7:46pm]

•••

When you opened the door to your dorm your faced with your roommate Harim and her boyfriend jaemin. They were watching tv on the couch and you smiled to them before turning to your room.

“You okay y/n?”

Harim, is a nice roommate, really! But sometimes she can be a bit nosey. Not it a bad way, she just wants to know how I’m doing. She’s very empathic or whatever. So when she asked that question; you were scared to answer.

“I’m all good, just a little overwhelmed… need to be alone with my thoughts” you wave too her and jaemin. He gives you a look before smiling back. “Okay! If you need anything we are here”

…

You close the door to the bathroom and turn on the faucet. Then you lean against the counter to examine yourself in the mirror.

This is ridiculous…. Why is this such a big deal to you? The feelings have always been there… but now your freaking out like a child because you decided to address them!? You feel so stupid.

Telling him could possibly ruin Everything. That’s what everyone always says in movies… but now you truly understand the feeling.

‘Fuck this is so stupid.’ You thought.

…

When you finally leave your room, after what felt like hours of you contemplating on whether or not you should tell jeno the truth; you walk into an empty living room. Your roommate and Jaemin must have left. So you find yourself on the couch to relax and watch tv. Searching through shows that don’t involve the main character falling in love with her best friend. You end up watching some cheesy old chick flick that you’ve never seen before. You feel your phone buzz, the vibration affecting the rest of the couch. It was jeno, you pick up the phone and open the text.

You didn’t even realize how late it was again. [12:13] have you really been doing absolutely nothing for almost 6 hours!?

Man child

_____________________________________________

|| Man child -

Hey, interviews are over

|| Man child -

lm omw. I got takeout

- You ||

Alright!

_____________________________________________

You sit up and look around the living room. You’ve never cared wether or not it was clean before he came over before… so why now?

You spring to your feet and begin picking up plates and some cups to put them in the sink. Busying yourself with cleaning the dorm when you hear a pin being entered into your front door and the sound of the handle clicking. “Y/n?”

“In the kitchen!” You yell out to him while place the last cup on the drying rack. You can smell the food before you even see the bag. When jeno spears from behind the corner you shoot him a smile. He grins at you then places the food on the table. He’s wearing sweatpants and a hoodie now. But he looked just as good as he did at the cafe. “Are you feeling better?” He asks turning to you while leaning on the granite counter.

He’s hoping it’s not awkward after that weird conversation at the cafe. He had wondered what had gotten into you. To busy with that thought to care much about the girl across from him.

“Mhm much better” you examine every inch of him. His face, his hair, his hands. And he watches you space out. “So what got you feeling unwell?” He asks, pushing himself off the counter and slowly nearing towards you. “First, how did the interviews go?” You place the towel you were using to dry your hand in the counter

“No, Why did you leave me?” He insists and you give in. With a big sigh you ready yourself to tell him the truth… tell him what he wants to hear*

“Sorry, I was just feeling a little overstimulated, I’m not sure why” yes the hell you did. “But I just needed some time alone” you continue and he listens with a soft smile.

“Don’t apologize pretty... Did you figure out why you were feeling overwhelmed?” He asks, his hand coming to move hair from your face. The action wasn’t supposed to make you feel the way you did. This is normal between you two… not weird… you aren’t supposed to be this affected.

You are so beautiful; he thought. Your in comfortable clothes now, but he thinks you look ten times better then at the cafe. If he didn’t have half a mind, he would kiss you right now.

“Yeah” you unintentionally lean into his palm when he tucks the hair behind you ear. Your eyes close in the process and he freezes. You looked like a cat, feeding into his touch. He caressed your face while smiling down at you.

“Yeah? … What was it?” He ask, taking his chances and taking a step closer. Your thighs touching his, before he wraps his arms around you, bringing you into a warm hug; which you reciprocate.

“You…”

You didn’t mean to say it, but you didn’t really seem to care what left your mouth when he was holding you. You felt safe.

“Me!?” He tries to pull away but you refuse.

“Please don’t let go” you grip tighter around him. Digging your face into his chest. “I was overwhelming you!?” He asks. His hands stay open, no longer loading into you. Jeno just watches you closely, but you won’t move.

“No, I mean.. it wasn’t anything you did”

“What does that mean? Are you upset with me? Is that why you left?”

“No. Jeno please just hold me for a moment” you finally look up at him. Your eyes pleading him to hug you. How could he refuse. His big arms wrap around you, squeezing you into him further. You can hear his heart beating, faster then normal. He continues to look down at you. He watches you stare at him.

“Jeno?”

“Y/n”

“Can I be the one you bring to meet your parents?” He can’t help but beam at the question. He felt giddy and light. He doesn’t care about anything right now, the only thought in is head is you.

“Finally…” he muttered. You feel like his head is moving closer to yours, but maybe that’s just your mind laying tricks on you.

“Finally? What does that mean? Is that a yes or a no?” You punch your eyebrows together and try your best to keep eye contact with him. “You don’t get it do you?”

“Get what?” You are about to pull away to ask another question, but Jenos hands move from your back to your hips and you can feel your body heat up. “Y/n you are quite oblivious” his head is definitely moving closer to yours. His eyes are stationed on your lips and yours on his. “Jeno?” he getting unbelievably closer, you begin to hold your breath, grabbing his forearms for leverage. “Y/n”

“Are you going to kiss me?” You watch his face closely.

“As soon as you say the words princess”

You let out a sigh and lift your hands to hold his face. “‘The words’” you whisper and he didn’t even get the time to laugh, your lips attached to his immediately. One of his hands come to cup you face. His lips are soft and it feels like a movie. I know it’s sounds cheesy, but the moon was so bright through your windows and the sound of wind could be heard from inside the apartment.

[12:59]

He tries pull away but you won’t allow him. Your lips chase his and he smiles into you. “Y/n”

“Yes?” You look up at him when he pulls away completely. “Your going to be my valentine.” You laugh at his seriousness. “Is that a question?”

“No”

He leans in again to peck a your lips

“Please. Let. Me. Take. You. To. The. Bedroom.” He asks between each kiss. “I haven’t even said it yet jeno”

He pulls away. “Said what?”

“That I like you, and I think that there’s definitely something between us” you joke, bitting your lip, and being as dramatic as possible.

“Congrats… You were the last to realize” he laughs when your face drops.

“Wait- are you serious?” He lets another laugh leave him.

“Happy Valentine’s Day y/n”

[1:01am] February 14th

#kpop imagines #nct dream angst #jeno angst #jeno fluff #lee jeno #lee jeno x reader #nct dream x reader #jeno au #nct dream imagines #nct dream au #nct dream fluff #nct imagines #valentine’s day #she’s not you #nct jeno #nct fluff #nct dream #nct scenarios #Nct Valentine’s Day #nct fic #nct x reader #nct fanfic #nct au #lee jeno au

[wonhoscumrag]

Gepard brainrot thought #2

A/N: The way i started typing and didnt stop, im literally just rambling towards the end.

I hope you enjoy

ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

Thinking about Captain Gepard making a speech to the city in Belobog Square in the morning and he makes direct eye contact with you in a crowd of people. He tries to keep a stone face while talking but then you give a not-so-subtle wink at him and he briefly pauses mid-speech but clears his throat to continue.

He avoids looking in your general direction but he can’t help but look back at you again. The next time he does however you jokingly blow a kiss at him. Even from a far distance, you can see the redness that flares up in his cheeks. The guards look at each other in confusion wondering what’s up with their captain but they figure it’s probably the warmth from the heaters and his suit.

At this point, you feel a little guilty so you decide to lay off him. He’s done these things a million times and always does it so flawlessly so it’s kinda funny seeing him lose his composure like this. You decide to think of a way to reassure him from the crowd.

Gepard feels himself start to relax when he looks down at his sheet and sees that he’s almost done with his speech. He gives a quiet sigh of relief before concluding. However he can’t help when his gaze wanders over to you again, he doesn’t mind tho all he expects is to find you making another joking gesture. However, what he finds instead from you is a genuine supportive smile and suddenly his brain goes blank.

The crowd starts to whisper among themselves. In Gepard's POV, all he hears is white noise and the image of the entire crowd is blocked from his vision. All he can see is you and he feels as if he’s been transported to another world where you’re the only two people on the planet.

From the crowd, however, they see the captain of the Silvermane Guards freeze mid-sentence with his mouth halfway open. Your face starts to morph from confusion to panic. You’re looking around alongside the crowd wondering what’s going on. You didn’t do anything distracting this time so what happened? The murmuring among the crowd gets louder and turns into chatter. The guards are looking among themselves just as lost as the crowd. Their captain is usually the cool, calm and collected type of person. It’s hard to believe that a crowd like this would faze him.

In an instant, Gepard is snapped back to earth. The reality of the situation hits him like a (truck). The best thing he can do now is to just read out the last few sentences of his speech and walk away with what’s left of his dignity. “Uh-um and so…” he hears himself stutter into the mic through the speakers. He inwardly cringes at this whole situation and finishes his speech like a true professional.

There’s mixed reception from the citizens. Some clap out of respect and others giggle and gossip. You watch as Gepard calls attention to his guards and they march away back to their stations to do their daily tasks. From behind you, you hear Serval laughing as hard as humanly possible. It was evident she did her best to hold it in the whole time out of courtesy for her younger brother. You turn to face her and try to defend him in some way. “It really wasn’t that funny” you try to speak up over Serval's hysterics. A part of you low-key wants to laugh too but you won’t until you see him again and ask if he’s okay.

You hear footsteps coming from behind you but before you can turn around to see who it is you're pulled into the familiar and comforting arms of the man you love. You hear Serval laugh harder and Molly is trying to calm her down. "Hey, are you doing okay?" your voice sounds muffled by his uniform. It's not rare for the two of you to show physical displays of affection but him making the first move is certainly not common, especially in public.

It's weird, Gepard knows he should care but in all honesty, he can't bring it in himself to feel embarrassed right now. The moment he held you in his arms all his nerves and worries melted away. He raises one of his arms that's wrapped around your waist and moves it to softly stroke your head. He smiles and softly responds "Never better".

#gepard #gepard landau #geppie #gepard hsr #gepard x reader #Gepard Drabble #honkai star rail #fluff #cute

[blue-slxt]

It Was Supposed To Be Us - Chapter 5

🔞Minors Do Not Interact🔞

A/N: We have reached the end of our story! Thank you to everybody that's interacted with this series. Every like, comment, and reblog mean so much to me. I hope you guys enjoy this finale. I'm not great at writing action scenes so forgive me if it's a little mid. All characters are aged up.

Previous Part

Pairing: Neteyam x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Warnings: Mentions of DV, PTSD, Anxiety, Violence, Blood, Smut, P in V, Fingering, Loss of Virginity, Creampie, I think that's it

Word Count: 4.7k

Summary: Neteyam takes care of Ralu.

Sleep seems to elude Neteyam for the night. Every time he closes his eyes, he’s haunted by visions of your beaten face and body. It’s devastating. His stomach twists with nausea and guilt. He tosses and turns trying to get comfortable, but it’s useless. Before long, the sun starts to rise. Neteyam knows his father will be up soon. He’s going to need his support if he was going to pull this off without actually killing Ralu. And, as tempting as that idea sounds in his head, he knows it’s not the smart thing to do. Neteyam sits outside of his family’s home sharpening his knife and waiting for his dad. And almost on cue, Jake appears from inside.

“Neteyam, you’re up early” he says a bit taken aback.

“Couldn’t really sleep” he says continuing his work on his weapon.

Jake lets out a big exhale sitting next to Neteyam on the ground, “Talk to me, boy. Tell me what’s going on.” Jake still wasn’t clear on the details of what all was going on. When he took Neteyam away yesterday, he didn’t speak much on why he did what he did. Jake knows his son well enough to know that he wouldn’t snap like that on somebody for no good reason, but he couldn’t help if he didn’t know the entire situation.

Neteyam drops his knife and uses two fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose while he comes to grips with everything. “He is not a good man.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that yesterday, but what you haven’t said is what makes you feel that way.”

“He…he hurt her, dad…” his words trail off as he finds himself needing to literally bite his tongue to keep the tears at bay. “You should have seen what he did to her…”, one tear slips.

Jake nods solemnly understanding the situation now. “Is she okay? Is she safe right now?”

“Grandmother and Kiri are keeping her in the healing tent.” His jaw clenches in frustration, “I should have been there. A man is supposed to protect his own and I failed.”

“Do not blame yourself. You couldn’t have known this would happen. And son…she isn’t yours.” Jake doesn’t mean it to sound as harsh as it probably comes across.

Neteyam looks his father in the eye, “She is in every way that matters.”

In this moment, Jake doesn’t see just his son, he sees a man doing his best to defend what is precious to him.

“Alright, so what do you want to do?”

…

Neteyam propped himself against a tree deep in the woods while he waited to carry out his plan. Even just with the waiting, he can feel how his blood is beginning to boil. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t nervous. But he wasn’t nervous about his plan failing. He was more worried about controlling his own wrath. As far as Neteyam was concerned, Ralu deserved whatever fate befell him, but his father discouraged him from being the one to deliver that fate. “Let Eywa handle that part.”

Neteyam hears footsteps coming his direction. It was time. He remains in his spot against the tree and watches the figures in the distance grow closer. Jake was leading Ralu to Neteyam. Jake had convinced him that he wanted to apologize for his son and get his side of the story. Jake didn’t truly care for whatever excuse or lie Ralu tried to come up with for what happened to you. Before he agreed to help with this, he had already gone to speak with Mo’at about your condition. He didn’t actually see you out of respect for your privacy and dignity, but Mo’at gave him a very clear picture of your condition. And she confirmed that however you were injured, it definitely was not from “falling in the woods” as you had described to her. He had heard all he needed to.

Once Jake and Ralu reached the clearing, Ralu locked eyes with Neteyam and stopped dead in his tracks. He looks between the two Sully men and suddenly realizes that he’s trapped. He weighs his options on if he should stay or leave. But his own ego and anger cloud his better judgement as he decides to stay and stand his ground.

“Okay, I see what this is” his arrogance is obvious in his tone.

Jake and Neteyam exchange a glance and Jake gives his son a small nod before he walks into the woods a bit. He’s close enough to come running in case anything goes wrong, but his main purpose for standing there was in case Ralu attempted to run.

“Let me guess, this is about your little girlfriend, isn’t it?” Neteyam takes one step towards him, “Don’t you dare even talk about her. Be grateful I even left you a tongue to speak with.”

Ralu smirks at him, a smug display of his amusement. “You may be the son of toruk makto, but you need to learn to keep your hands off other people’s things. That bitch had it coming.” Neteyam had heard enough and lunges for Ralu knocking him over. Ralu kicks Neteyam off and attempts to take a swing at him, but he dodges. Neteyam takes a swipe at Ralu with his knife and manages to make a shallow cut on his outstretched arm. He pulls his arm back to look at the cut.

“That the best you can do?” he taunts.

Neteyam is unphased, “Says the only one bleeding.”

Ralu launches himself at Neteyam and manages to get him into a hold that Neteyam can’t quite maneuver out of. Instead, he flips around the knife still in his hand and cuts across Ralu’s abdomen. It’s not deep enough to cause any serious damage, but it is enough to make him release his hold. This makes him retreat from Neteyam in pain and give him an opening. Neteyam snakes around staying close to the ground and grabs Ralu from behind and wrestles him down to the ground. His legs lock and hold Ralu’s while his arms have him in a headlock and his knife is alarmingly close to his throat.

Ralu struggles against Neteyam’s hold, but with no success. The threat of Neteyam’s knife pressing into his skin makes him finally go still.

“You will never come near her again, do you understand?” Neteyam hisses in his hear. “She is not yours and she will never be yours. And if I ever, ever see you even so much as look at her the wrong way, I will personally see to it that you suffer an excruciating end.”

Ralu scoffs. He doesn’t think Neteyam actually has it in him to follow through on his threat. Neteyam is seeing red as he flips the knife in his hand and jams it through Ralu’s shoulder. He screams out in pain and writhes in Neteyam’s hold. He pulls it out and presses the very tip of his knife into the skin on Ralu’s throat coaxing out a single dribble of blood. “Answer me!” Neteyam was fully prepared to do away with this man for good and deal with whatever fallout came after.

“Neteyam!” Jake calls out to him. When he turns to look at his father, he has a stern look on his face urging him to do the smart thing.

Ralu knows he can’t actually beat Neteyam and he’s ready to end this whole ordeal finding you not to be worth all the trouble. He begrudgingly agrees with a nod of his head.

Once Neteyam is satisfied, he sets him free and watches as he gathers himself to leave. “And do not go to the Tsahik for your injuries. She will not help you.” Neteyam calls out after him.

He falls to the ground catching his breath when Jake comes over to him. He had quickly looked over Ralu as he left and, from what he could see, Neteyam had done what he needed to. He checks in on his son, “You did good, son.”

Neteyam offers his father a small smile and a nod, “Thank you, sir.”

…

“You don’t think anything has happened to him, do you?”

“I already told you, I don’t even know what’s going on. But this is my brother we’re talking about. I’m sure he’s fine. Now, hold still while I check your eye” Kiri tells you while looking over your face. You had been borderline pestering her all day about Neteyam and whatever he was planning to do. Your anxiety had ramped up as the hours dragged on. He had asked you to wait for him inside the tent and you did, but you couldn’t help the worry that still plagued your mind. How long were you meant to wait? Kiri did her best to reassure you, but she didn’t know exactly what was happening either. She had minimal information as she had only partially overheard the conversation between her father and Mo’at. She didn’t know what her brother had planned to do about Ralu, but she trusted that if their dad was with him, he wouldn’t go off the deep end.

She continues inspecting your wounds from the other day and is pleased to see the swelling around your eye going down slowly, but surely. And your body no longer felt like the fire of a hundred suns. It was now more of a dull ache. You still weren’t in ideal condition, but it was leaps and bounds from how you first walked in.

“Thank you, Kiri. For letting me stay here for the night and taking care of me.” You were truly, deeply thankful that she gave you a safe place to recover. Even going so far as to physically stand in the way of danger to make sure you stayed safe.

She grabs ahold of your hands and squeezes them tight. “Mated or not, you are family. We take care of each other.”

You can feel yourself getting choked up so you try to change the subject, “So, how do I look?”

She follows your lead, “Much better than yesterday. I’d say it’ll take another day for the swelling to go completely down, but it’ll still be bruised for roughly another week.” She lets your hair fall back in front of your face. You preferred to keep your eye covered while it heals.

Immediately after, Jake and Neteyam come into the healing tent and Jake bends down to give you a once over. “How are you feeling, baby girl?” “Oh, I’m much better today. Thank you. Kiri has been taking really good care of me. I owe her a lot.”

“Don’t be silly. You never owe me.” She says standing up.

“Is she okay enough to go for a walk?” Neteyam asks her.

“Yes, just take it easy okay? Your wounds physically look better, but don’t push yourself if it still hurts.” Kiri answers from across the tent.

Neteyam holds his hand out to you and you take it. He leads you out of the tent and your eyes subconsciously dart around the area around you. Neteyam can feel your unease and notices the curl of your tail. He gives your hand a reassuring squeeze, “It’s okay. I promise.”

You swallow hard following his lead. You let him lead you through the forest and he helps lift you over large branches in your path that you would normally be able to hop over with ease.

“Neteyam where are you taking me?”

“Oh, like you can’t guess?”

You playfully roll your eyes at him. Of course, he’s taking you to your spot.

It seemed like it had been forever since the two of you came here together like this. Out in the open in broad daylight. No worries about sneaking out under the cover of night.

Neteyam leads you into the center of the clearing and helps you to sit while he kneels in front of you.

“Any particular reason you lead me all the way out here?” you ask genuinely curious. It’s not that you didn’t love being here or being here with him, but why right now?

“Actually, there is. It’s because I couldn’t think of a better place to say this.” He takes a big breath trying to calm his own nerves.

“Listen, we’ve known each other for most of our lives now and ever since the first day I saw you, I knew. I knew that I wanted to be with you forever. I knew I could never live without you again. When we promised to be together, that was the happiest moment of my life. And with everything that’s happened recently, I couldn’t help but feel like I let you down. As soon as I returned, I should have stood my ground and declared my intentions with you, but I didn’t and it caused you to get hurt. I should have protected you.” “Neteyam, you—” he holds his hand up to stop you. He already knows that you would say it wasn’t his fault and that he couldn’t have known what would happen. And even though the logical part of his brain understands that, it still brings no comfort to his still-aching heart.

“I knew I had to do something to make it right. I promised you I would take care of it and I did.” “What did you do?” you’re almost scared to ask.

“Please do not worry about it. Just know that he will never come near you again. You don’t ever have to worry about him.”

His words ring through your head while you process them. Just like that? It was over? You wouldn’t have to be on high alert anymore or live in fear? You were free? He holds your hands and locks eyes with you.

“But I wanted to officially ask you if you’d do me the honor of letting me court you and being my mate.” He smiles at you, but his eyes are scanning your face looking for any little indication that you may reject him. He, of course, finds none.

“Do you really still need to ask?” your expression is overjoyed and Neteyam takes his first real breath since he started talking.

“You couldn’t have honestly thought that I would reject you, did you?”

“W-well, it’s been such a long time and I just wanted to be sure. A-and…” Neteyam starts to ramble just like he always did any time he was flustered or nervous. It was adorable and you can’t hold back the giggles especially when you notice the slight purple color starting to stain his cheeks.

You hold his face in your hands and his words trail off at your touch. “’Teyam, stop talking. The answer is yes. It was always going to be yes.” He captures your lips in a tender kiss and your heart soars. Everything was finally falling into place.

…

Over the next week while you heal your wounds, you and Neteyam find your footing as a new official couple. He courted you just like he said he would, showering you with the most extravagant gifts. Rare beads, intricately woven accessories, beautiful flowers, your favorite foods, you name it. Neteyam probably would gift you the moon itself if you were to ask for it.

It was still difficult some days, though. Even after your physical wounds healed, your mind still stayed vigilant at all times. It would cause you to jump at sudden sounds or touches.

Poor Neteyam looked so forlorn the day he tried to reach out and hold you and your instincts made you flinch away from him without you meaning to. He insisted that he understood why you reacted the way that you did. It still made you feel awful, though. You didn’t want to still be afraid, especially not of the one person you felt safest with. The one person you never had to be scared with.

It took time. A lot of time. Some nights, you still had nightmares about it all. His voice and touch still so vivid in your mind that you would swear he was there in the room hovering over your sleeping body in the middle of the night. Of course, he wasn’t actually there. Only Neteyam resting next to you and who would hold you a little closer to himself when he felt you stir awake from your midnight hauntings. Soft shushes and whispered words of reassurance would calm you back into a state of sleep.

Ralu truly never did dare to even look your way again. You would catch sight of him among the clan and it would make you pause briefly in your steps, but he never gave you so much as a glance. Neteyam never really told you what happened between the two of them, but you settled on the decision that it was probably for the best that you were left out of the loop. If you had to guess, though, it probably had something to do with the new scar he was sporting on his shoulder. In truth, how he did it didn’t really matter. The only thing that mattered was that you were out of the nightmare. You had your person. He was yours and you were his.

…

It was finally time. The day had come when you and Neteyam would finally be mated before Eywa. Your heart thunders in your chest gazing up at him under the glow of the Tree of Souls. His star-like freckles glowed a little brighter accentuating his features.

The ceremony had come and gone fairly quickly. Your union was acknowledged by the Tsahik in front of your families as they cheered and sang prayers for you both. Prayers of a long, happy partnership and many healthy children. After the ceremony, they sent the two of you off to have some privacy for your first night together. It was Neteyam’s idea to come here specifically. And you were so happy you let him choose. The setting was beautiful and buzzing with an energy that made everything feel even more alive and connected.

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t a little nervous. You knew what was expected of mates. But you had never been touched in that way by anybody else. Your biggest fear was that it would hurt. You had tried to experiment a couple days ago in preparation for this night. You hesitantly and carefully tried to push one finger inside of yourself, but panicked at the feeling and cut the experiment short. It was frustrating. You loved Neteyam with your whole being and you wanted him to become one with your being. You wanted him to touch you. You couldn’t stand the thought of the last man who had laid hands on your body being Ralu. But could you really go through with this?

“What is wrong, yawne?” Neteyam asks you knowingly.

“Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?” you try to brush off his question.

“Your tail is doing that thing again. I know something is on your mind. Talk to me, tíyawn.”

You breathe a big sigh, “I think I’m just nervous. Now that we’re mated, I want us to…you know…do what mated people do. But I am nervous that it is going to hurt because I’ve never had anything inside before.” Your head drops in embarrassment and your eyes cautiously look up at Neteyam who is only smirking at you.

“You are too precious”, he says kissing your forehead. “We do not have to do anything that you are not ready for yet. And, when you are ready, I promise to be as gentle as possible.” “But I want to do it now. I want to become one with you.”

Neteyam thinks for a moment before he speaks again, “Here, let’s try this.” He pulls his queue forward and you follow him. “When we make tsaheylu, we’ll be able to completely feel each other and I will know how best to take care of you.”

You nod your head processing his words. The tendrils at the end of your queues dance wildly in front of you. You both bring them closer together until they meet in the middle and hold one another melding the two of you together.

Both of your pupils blow wide open as your minds take in all the new stimuli from not only your own bodies, but each others’ too. You can feel Neteyam’s breathing and heartbeat as if it were your own. Every single sensation he feels is coursing through your body all the way down to the feeling of the ground beneath his feet and the ends of his braids resting on his shoulders. It’s overwhelmingly euphoric.

You make the first move to reach out and touch Neteyam’s face and press your lips to his. He wraps you in his arms kissing you back deeply. You happily open your mouth for his tongue to explore. You both settle down on your knees and he lays you down on your back. Using one of your hands, you push your top up to reveal your breasts. Neteyam’s hand freely roams about your body massaging your soft skin. His fingers trek down your chest and waist and right past your loincloth to rub messy circles on your clit. Your breath hitches in your throat and Neteyam swallows the moan you let out. He breaks the kiss so he can watch your face.

“I’m going to put one inside, okay? Just breathe for me.” You take a big breath and as you release the air, Neteyam pushes one digit into your heat. The feeling is indescribable. It’s not quite uncomfortable, but it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before. When he slowly starts to pull out and push back in, it feels like a lightning strike in your body and you love it.

Now, Neteyam can feel himself getting harder by the minute. Feeling your tight, slippery walls squeeze around his finger has his head spinning thinking about how good it would feel around his dick. It’s even more intensified by the bond you two held, feeling your pleasure radiate through his own body.

Once he feels your body relax more around him, he pushes in a second finger. The stretch is a little more intense, but still not anything you couldn’t handle. Your breath is heavy in your chest as you look up at him. “Neteyam…”

“You are doing so well, tíyawn.” He kisses your lips again and takes advantage of the way your body melts into him to push one final finger into you. He can feel through tsaheylu the dull sting that comes from being stretched like this for the first time. He holds his fingers in place just long enough to let the feeling pass for you before he moves again.

“’Teyam…please…I want it.” Your big doe eyes look up at him pleadingly.

Fuck, you were just too precious for Neteyam to ever deny you anything you wanted. Plus, he was just about at his own limits of his patience. He pulls his fingers from your core and the sudden emptiness makes you wince lightly. He helps to pull your loincloth off and you raise your hips to help him. He pulls the knot on his own loincloth loose to let it fall to the ground.

Your eyes widen seeing him for the first time. He’s big. Too big. There’s no way something like that will fit inside of you. Your nerves are starting to get riled up. Even without tsaheylu, Neteyam can feel your anxiety. One of his hands finds your chin to lead your eyes back up to his. He reassuringly rubs his thumb against your skin, “Slowly, okay? Just focus on me.” You re-steady your breathing and nod your head. You close your eyes when you feel his tip prodding at your soaking entrance. Neteyam pushes his hips forward towards yours and his tip presses on past your folds and right into you. You gasp and grit your teeth trying to push past the feeling.

Neteyam slowly inches himself further into you. You wince and whine at the feeling. “Shhh…just a little more. You’re doing such a good job.” It was as if he was pushing your organs to the side to make room for himself inside of you. It was almost suffocating how full you felt. But his soft voice and the caress of his fingers on your face help strengthen your resolve. Suddenly, he stops moving. “You can look now.” Your eyes lower to find your pelvises pressing together and a small bump poking through your abdomen. The sight normally would’ve horrified you had it not been for the immense pleasure coursing through your veins.

“Are you okay?” Neteyam’s patience is thinning by the second, but what little is left of his better sense urges him to go slow for you and make sure your first time is a good one. But damn if the way you were choking his dick didn’t make it difficult.

You nod up at him letting your body accommodate him. “I’m going to move now.” Your eyes cross at the drag of his tip along the spongey part of your walls as he pulls out and pushes back in. A small whine leaves your lips and your fingers hold on to Neteyam’s shoulders to give you something constant to focus on while you adapt to the new feeling.

Before you know it, the pain starts to dissipate and your chest falls dramatically letting out a breath you hadn’t even recognized you were holding onto. Your body relaxes fully and lets Neteyam in. His hips rock into you a little faster testing the waters and more moans fall from your lips. “’Teyam…” Neteyam feels just about ready to snap hearing how his name drips from your tongue in ecstasy.

He thrusts into you with more force and the sounds it pulls out of you triggers a carnal desire in his brain that his eyes are desperate to see as they roll back listening to you. Nevertheless, he pulls them back into place to find your half-lidded gaze on his face and parted lips calling his name. He’s positive he’s never found you more beautiful than this moment right now. But he craves to see your beautiful expression twist into something sinful. He can’t stop himself anymore from starting to pound into you.

“Ah..A-ah! Ah, Neteyam!” your hands feel around and search the ground around you for something to hold on to as you feel the pressure building in your stomach. Neteyam’s hands find yours and he threads his fingers between yours while he pours all his feelings for you into his thrusts. Both of your eyes look down between you to see the small bump in your stomach disappear with every retreat of his hips and re-emerge with every push forward. The sight is enough to drive you both to your release.

“’T-teyam! Gonna…g-gonna..” you can’t even grasp the words as your orgasm comes to the forefront of your mind.

“Do it. Cum with me.” He’s mere seconds from painting your walls completely white.

Your orgasm hits you like a truck and it’s prolonged by Neteyam continuing to fuck you through his own release deep inside you. His thrusts grow slower and gentler as you both come down from your highs. Your vision starts to refocus and your body goes limp. Neteyam slides out of you and your body tries to remember its original shape before he had made space for himself.

“Are you alright, tíyawn?” the lustful haze of Neteyam’s mind is clearing and his expression is slightly concerned while he checks on you. But your sleepy smile reassures him and you nod your head. “I’m more than okay.” Your hands wrap around his neck and pull him down to kiss you again.

He rolls you both onto your sides and you break the kiss to rest your head against his chest. “Can we do that every day?” a small chuckle rumbles in his chest as he kisses the top of your head.

“We can do it as much as you want, yawne.”

#avatar #avatar the way of water #neteyam #neteyam sully #neteyam x reader #avatar fic #awow #neteyam x na'vi!reader #atwow #atwow neteyam #avatar twow #avatar neteyam #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar smut #awow smut

[spinningwebsandtales]

Imagine Shimazu Finding You On The Roof Of  The Osaka Hotel

Koji Shimazu X FemReader

Rating: T+

Warnings: Mentions of blood, fluff, suggestive themes at the end

Word Count: 1.6k

(A/N:) I maaayyy have gotten carried away with this one. Besides John Shimazu became my favorite character. Yes I know he wasn’t in it much but Hiroyuki Sanada is like my top favorite Japanese actor. So yeah no brainer that I had to write something. This one is also SUPER indulgent for myself. I’m just sharing it with you my fellow readers! So enjoy this piece of my fangirliness and enjoy! Until next time happy reading! ~Countess

The night covering the city of Osaka was soothing and peaceful as you made your way to the rooftop of The Osaka Continental. The various guards you passed by, bowed their heads respectfully as you passed them by. Very few had permission to get this far within the building, but you had permission from the manager personally to go wherever you pleased. Lastly you passed the sumo sized guards who bowed respectfully while opening the doors for you, that’s when you finally found the peace and quiet you sought for. The gentle breeze grabbed the sleeves of your yukata that the Osaka hostesses were required to wear as soon as you stepped out of the door. You breathed in deeply, letting the stress of the evening melt away, fluttering away along with the few cherry blossom petals to the streets below. You couldn’t see the stars due to the city’s lights but the lighting surrounding the building was more than enough to soothe you. Your life hadn’t always been so peaceful, as you were once one of the assassins that this specific hotel housed. An injury had taken you from the game and when the High Table had come to dispose of you, Koji Shimazu had protected you within his hotel and gave you a new purpose in life. You owed the man much, he didn’t have to risk his neck for you but he did anyway. You felt like you could never repay him, no matter how many years you served within his hotel. 

Not long after you had started working, Akira had begun to look up to you and you quickly became a mother figure to the young woman. At times when you caught glimpses of Shimazu he was smiling as he watched you and Akira together. As you watched her grow up, you also found that your feelings for Shimazu had started to change as well. You kept them well hidden as he had already given you so much, you couldn’t bring yourself to ask for more.

You walked over to one of the benches nestled under the low branches of the fully bloomed Sakura, enjoying their sweet scent as you watched the night sky. You could have sworn you could still hear the hustle and bustle of the city even from up so high. While you used this area as your personal getaway for tough moments, you never abused your freedom as it would be disgraceful to your employer. Losing yourself in the memories of you bleeding out in the Osaka’s lobby before the High Table minions. The smaller details were still a little hazy as you were in and out of consciousness that night, but the biggest moment you would never forget was when Shimazu stepped forward. He always carried himself with a strong, quiet, steadfast demeanor. Even when he lowered himself he still had command of the room and kept his dignity. There you laid, staining his meticulously cleaned floor at the feet of assassins when he stepped forward. The Yakuza looking guards at his side on high alert but standing down with just one wave of Shimazu’s hand. You watched, eyes bleary as he came to your side, your blood staining his shoes. What happened next, you would never forget as it shocked you to your core. Shimazu knelt at your side putting his face to the floor. His robes quickly soaking up your life essence while the same blood that leaked from you stained his skin and hair.

‘Please forgive my intrusion upon your business, but please spare her and she will find a new beginning here within my walls,’ he asked still kneeling in your blood.

You opened your mouth to protest, but the look he gave you had you silenced in a second. Here this man was lowering himself on your behalf, your heart skipped a beat as you started blacking out. The last thing you heard was the High Table assassins’ agreement and you were then whisked away and treated.

Now here you were so many years later and you were happier now than you had ever been. You smiled catching a fluttering petal while thinking of all the fond memories you had made since then. Lost in thought you didn’t hear the doors open or the quiet feet of your manager until he finally spoke.

“I had a feeling you’d be up here,” he spoke in Japanese. You had found yourself becoming fluent in the language as you had worked here many years in Osaka. It helped that Shimazu had taken time out personally to teach you as well.

“I needed just a little air before getting back to work,” you replied.

Shimazu nodded at his guards, who retreated giving you both some privacy. He came closer standing beside the small bench before gesturing with his hand.

“May I?”

You nodded, scooting over, “Of course. Who am I to deny a man the right of anything in his hotel?”

Shimazu chuckled while taking a seat. He looked to the same sakura blossoms you had come to view yourself. His rough fingers tracing the petals that hung before his face. You watched him from the corner of your eye, glad that the dark sky was hiding the blush on your cheeks. No matter what he was so handsome, and in his gentle moments you found yourself falling harder for him. Though he hid it well, he knew you were watching him. He didn’t want to seem unprofessional, but when the guards had told him where you slipped off to he couldn’t help but come to find you himself. These moments between you both were so rare that he wanted to take every chance he could to spend time alone with you. Yes he had saved you that day because he couldn’t stand the thought of the High Table doing everything they pleased. But after getting to know you and seeing what kind of person hid underneath your assassin exterior he was more than happy with what laid on the inside. You stayed for a few moments longer, until you knew that it wouldn’t be right to take anymore time away from your duties.

“Back to work,” you stated before starting to rise from the stone bench. Your arm suddenly jerked and you felt pressure around your wrist.

“Please,” Shimazu nodded towards the spot you were occupying, “stay for a little longer.”

You couldn’t deny the boss man what he wanted, but you could feel your cheeks redden further. You nodded wordlessly, retaking your seat. Neither of you spoke until Shimazu turned a little more towards you.

“Do you like working here,” he asked shattering the silence. More petals scattered on the breeze as you looked to him wide eyed.

“Of course I do!” You practically shouted before slapping your hands over your mouth. “Sorry.”

He laughed taking your hands into his, “Don’t apologize. I’m glad you like my hotel.”

“It’s gorgeous, but honestly I can never repay your kindness.”

He sighed looking away. This wasn’t where he wanted the conversation to go. He knew the way you felt about him and he felt the same. He had just hidden his emotions away, afraid of what his other employees would think or if it would upset his daughter. But now he felt those cares scattering along with the sakura petals that found freedom on the Osaka breeze. He released one of your hands to reach up amongst the branches of the tree you both sat under. You heard a snap before Shimazu tucked a few loose strands of hair behind your ear and placed a small twig loaded with light pink blossoms in your hair. You looked up in surprise as he stroked your flaming cheek.

“The sakura come every year but they float away so quickly that you don’t have time to enjoy them for long,” he breathed leaning closer. “I do not wish to waste anymore time dancing around feelings I should have spoken aloud long ago.”

You shivered as his breath caressed your skin, your whole body trembling from his words. You had to be dreaming right?

Shimazu,” you mumbled.

“Koji,” was his simple reply before he gently took your lips. Your whole world exploded as you kissed him back. The sakura blossoms couldn’t touch the colors that danced behind your eyes as you lost yourself in the taste that was Koji Shimazu. He was everything you could have possibly dreamed. Soft and hard. Dark and light. Your mind whirled in thoughts as he pulled you closer. You felt that your life had been leading up to this one precious moment, where Koji kissed you deeply under the lights of his sakura garden. When he finally released you, you both were breathless. He didn’t remove his hand from your cheek as he continued to stroke your skin. Your lip trembled, your dream finally coming true to know what the man you loved thought of you.

“I don’t really want to go back to work now,” you blurted.

Koji looked at you for a few moments before laughing and shaking his head.

“I wasn’t planning on sending you back downstairs to the lobby,” he replied a sudden glint of mirth coming into his dark eyes. “The night is still young and I feel it’s just beginning for the both of us.”

You didn’t know what to say as you were whisked away by the man you found so endearing. The guards bowed as their leader passed by, with you in tow. Like he promised upon the rooftop, beneath the blossoms, you didn’t return to the lobby below for the rest of the evening or until later in the afternoon the next day.

#Koji Shimazu X Reader #Koji Shimazu / Reader #Koji Shimazu #John Wick #John Wick Imagine #Imagine #Not My Gif #My Writing

[whorefordean]

Can I request a jj maybank one with prompt 11 on the unrequited love prompt list??

a/n- <why yes you can> okay so i don’t love this but i did enjoy writing it. hope you enjoy! thanks for the request!! <3

sour devotion

jj maybank x reader

warnings: none i think just angsty

wc: 951

“it’s embarrassing being this devoted to someone who couldn’t even entertain the thought.”

———————————————

you watched as jj threw his head back laughing at something kiara had said. her slender hands had gripped his knee to steady herself, like it was second nature to cling onto jj.

you could feel the jealousy rising under your skin. you had told kiara months ago how you felt about jj. you even went as far as telling her that you might be in love with him. kiara didn’t want to tell you that she also was falling in love with jj.

“kie, please! i can’t breathe,” jj begged as he gasped for air. the joke hadn’t been that funny.

you stood up from your position on john b’s couch. you earned a few looks as you started to pick up your mess and gather your things to leave.

“where are you going?” pope piped up.

“home,” you replied shortly. you didn’t say anything else until jj spoke up.

“what’s wrong? you just got here?” he asked with furrowed brows. you noticed his hand was now sitting on top of kie’s, who still had hers placed on his knee. kiara noticed your gaze. you felt your cheeks heat up, and your throat was starting to burn.

“i’d rather not get into all my problems right now,” you laughed in an attempt to play it cool. you really didn’t feel like a love confession was the best way to end this night. especially knowing you wouldn’t receive one.

“y/n, come one. what’s wro-“ jj started. his mouth snapped shut when you interrupted him.

“jj, i am begging you to drop it,” you snapped at him. everyone in the room stared silently at you, glancing between you and jj.

jj gently moved kie’s hand off his leg and stood up. he approached you cautiously. you let him. jj placed a tentative hand on your shoulder. he watched you with pleading eyes, waiting for you to crack.

“it’s embarrassing being this devoted to someone who would never even entertain the thought,” you sighed out, a small tear escaping your eye.

john b and pope exchanged a look of shock. they weren’t surprised that you were in love with jj. in fact, they knew without you ever telling them. they were just surprised you had finally built up the courage to admit it.

jj shifted uncomfortably. your confession made him queasy. he loved you the same way he loved john b. like a sibling.

“y/n, i’m so sorry if i ever gave you mixed signals, but,” jj removed his hands from your shoulders, “i just don’t see you like that.”

your chest ached. you knew this was coming. you had mentally prepared for it. you played out this exact scenario a thousand times in your head. but it hurt even worse hearing his voice say it out loud.

“i know that, jj. that’s why i didn’t say anything. i know it’s not me you’re in love with,” you said, glancing quickly at kie. jj noticed your eyes shift behind him, and he blushed.

“it’s not like that,” he was quick to rebuttal. you let out a shaky laugh.

“it is like that, jay. i can see how you look at her,” you paused, unsure if you should continue, “ because that’s how i look at you.” you had hoped to save yourself some dignity but it’s obvious that’s no longer an option.

the room fell silent again as you continued shoving your stuff into your bag. you threw your bag over your shoulder and left with a quick “goodbye”. john b and pope watched you leave with pity in their eyes.

it was dark outside, and the only sounds were those of the crickets chirping. you rushed off of john b’s porch, feeling a heavy knot in your chest. you had never felt so humiliated in your life.

it was easy to let things roll off your shoulder most of the time. how are you supposed to continue hanging out with all of your friends when they how you felt about one of them?

you were pulled from your thoughts when the door opened again. jj stepped out of the door. the knot in your chest sunk, forming into a ball of nausea at the thought of being alone with him after what just happened.

you continued walking, ignoring his looming presence catching up to you.

“y/n,” jj started. he paused. you took the opportunity to fill the empty.

“i wasn’t gonna tell you, like ever. i was gonna get over it. i thought it was just a crush. turns out those things grow up really fast,” you told him. he laughed lightly at your comment, but his smile stopped quickly.

“i didn’t mean to make you feel that way. and i didn’t mean to embarrass you. i’m really sorry, y/n,” jj apologized. you groaned.

“you don’t have to be sorry, jj. it’s my fault. i let myself get too attached to the idea of us even when i knew it wasn’t happening. don’t blame yourself for your feelings or lack of,” you told him. you wiped away your tears, forcing yourself to stop.

“i don’t want this to ruin our friendship.”

“i need some time, jj. i don’t know how to navigate this anymore now that you know i have feelings for you. it’s awkward and mortifying that all of our friends are also aware,” you confessed. jj nodded silently. he stepped closer to hug you, and you let him.

“see ya, y/n,” jj mumbled. his words were slurred as his chin rested against your shoulder. you wrapped your arms around him for the last time.

“goodbye, jj.”

#jj maybank #outer banks #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank blurb #jj maybank outer banks #obx #rudy pankow #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank concept

[w8lkers]

★ | freak

carl grimes x fem!reader

note : not my best writing, but i liked the concept :P does not follow the canon.

warnings : the insult “freak”

new outsiders were recently welcomed into the community of alexandria. a group of outsiders, consisting of seven people in total. to carl, one of them was more noticeable than the rest. it was a girl and she also appeared to be missing an eye. that’s what carl assumed anyways, why else would someone wear a bandana over half their face?

he was shocked that her first words to him were “what are you staring at, freak”.

hearing that question almost stunned him into silence. almost.

all he could possibly muster up was an awkward sounding, “um- what?”. by the heat on his face, he could tell that there was an embarrassing amount of red on his face. this was far from his best first impression.

carl avoided her from then on, realising she might’ve needed some space to adjust to alexandria. maybe he could’ve stared at her less… but he couldn’t help but feel a bit offended by their first encounter, it left a sour taste left in his mouth every time he thought about it. it was both a humiliating and upsetting experience for carl. he didn’t mean to stare at her, he just couldn’t help be a little curious. the only person carl ever saw without an eye was the governor, the reason he refused to wear anything other than a bandage over his eye.

as the other members of the group got more acquainted with alexandria, carl was able to learn more about her - not from her directly of course, but from the other members of her group. he learnt her name was y/n. it was a pretty name, he thought so at least. carl also learnt that she lost her mother recently. that information had him awake for a couple nights, unable to sleep at the recurring thoughts of his own mother’s death. carl understood that pain.

he was slowly understanding why she was so hostile to him. when carl lost his mom, it consumed him. every waking minute was spent hearing her screams on a torturous loop in his mind. that kind of loss makes a person angry at the world and hungry for revenge, sometimes people become blinded by it. he knows he’s had his fair share of moments that he wished he could forget.

there was still the question on how to approach y/n. despite her appalling first impression, he was still curious enough to want to talk to her and clearly observing her from afar was the wrong way to go about it. carl went through multiple different scenarios in his mind, all the different ways he could approach her. more sleepless nights burdened carl’s evenings as he spent them debating with himself over what to say.

one day, he became fed up with thinking about it. his lack of sleep was beginning to show through some passive aggressive comments that rick certainly did not appreciate.

carl marched up to y/n, who was sat on the porch of the house her group had been given. unfortunately, his confidence dissipated the moment he met her eye.

“um-.. i-“ he barely got anything out before y/n interrupted him. she blurted out a question, an uncomfortable expression across her face.

“how did you lose your eye?”

it took carl a few seconds to gather his composure. yet again, another interaction with her that has taken an unexpected turn. at least she didn’t call him a freak this time.

“i got shot.” he doesn’t know what else to say, but he purposefully leaves out anymore detail. it wouldn’t be a good look for alexandria if he said he was shot by an.. ex-resident. there’s an awkward pause and the two just staring at each other. carl can tell there’s something else she wants to ask, but he almost doesn’t want to ask in case she insults him again. he’s rather have some of his dignity intact at the end of their interaction.

it takes y/n an almost unbearable amount of silence to ask, “do you have any spare bandages?”

“um.. yeah, but you could go to the infirmary, we have supplies here- i can show you how to get there if you want?” he’s mostly confused by the question and seeing her wrap her arms around herself in an almost defensive manner furthered his confusion.

“nice try. i’m not leaving the house empty, so someone can come and snoop through our stuff.”

some people took longer to trust alexandria, he understood her current mindset. hell, he’d been there himself.

“look, no one here is after you. it’s not as bad as you think it is and the people here aren’t going to hurt you, if you just give this place more of a chance-“ interrupted yet again.

“i’ve heard this speech from almost everyone here, i don’t need to hear it again.” she was annoyed. this wasn’t going as well as carl wanted it to.

“sorry..” carl mumbles, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. he looks back at y/n and she’s still looking at him. it was slightly unnerving, carl had no idea what to expect from her. another insult, or maybe another personal question.

“i can go get you bandages and come back..?” his voice sounded slightly hesitant, though his offer was genuine.

y/n’s eye narrowed slightly in suspicion, yet carl was unphased by it. he expected her to be guarded, the people she arrived with certainly cautioned the people at alexandria about the attitude she developed.

“really?” she sounded unsure, as if she couldn’t tell if he was being serious.

“sure.. yeah.” he has a small, slightly weary smile on his face that looks more like a wince to y/n.

“okay.” y/n looks down at the ground, her voice becoming quieter as she speaks again, “thank you..”

“yep.” carl spins on his heel and walks away from her, quickening the pace of his walk in the direction of the infirmary. he lets out a deep sigh of relief, it wasn’t going as badly as it could, but he still felt slightly on edge.

“here.” carl tosses each item he retrieved from the infirmary to y/n and she catches them, placing them down in her lap.

“thanks.”

“you’re welcome.” carl smiles hesitantly at her.

“cool..” y/n mumbles, looking down at the roll of bandages, a roll of medical tape and a few plasters.

“have you ever put a bandage over.. your eye? i know i struggled the first few times i had to do it.” carl is reluctant to stop talking to her, strangely she was pleasant to be around when she wasn’t insulting him.

“no, i’ll figure it out though.”

“are you sure? i don’t mind helping you-“

“no.”

“i get it, okay? you don’t trust us yet, but we’re good people. i just want to help, whatever’s under there isn’t anything i haven’t seen before.” carl gains a little more confidence in himself and his words, he stands a bit straighter - he’s determined to prove her wrong about alexandria.

y/n spends a few seconds digesting his words. on the one hand, she could be mean and he’d leave her alone, but on the other hand, she knew she needed help. her mother was the one who tied the bandana over her eye once the wound she had healed. she never took it off after that, but the members of her group began lecturing her about ‘appearances’. the bandana was torn, dirty and even seemed to be charred at some parts.

“come inside.”

carl follows her inside the house. the group had clearly started to decorate their home a bit and carl takes note of the photographs on the wall. unfamiliar faces that he couldn’t recall seeing with the group and he knew why.

“so, how did you lose your eye?” carl asks, following y/n into a bathroom.

“i lost it in a fight with a hungry squirrel.” her voice was nonchalant and carl almost thought she was serious for a second.

he chuckles and stands by the bathroom counter, unravelling the bandages, “you’re funny. how’d you lose it?”

“the world is full of rotten people.”

“not alexandria though, there’s good people here.” carl glances over at y/n as she slowly unties the knot holding the bandana in place around her head. she pulls the fabric away from her face and she turns her head slightly to try shield her eye from carl’s vision.

“you really like it here, huh?” y/n almost sounds bitter about it. he could see why. carl was comfortable, he felt safe in alexandria, but y/n was most likely feeling the opposite.

“yeah, it’s nice here..” carl lifts the bandages and wraps it around y/n’s head to measure the length he would need. using a small pair of scissors he cuts the bandage into a strip long enough to wrap around her head, “i like it at least, it takes some time to get used to though.”

“i got stabbed.. that’s how i lost it.” y/n speaks quietly, looking up at carl once she knew she couldn’t avoid it. he needed to put a plaster over eye, he was going to see it, so she might as well tell the truth.

“people don’t think about it as much as you’d think,” carl speaks as he puts a plaster over her eye, he had seen the damage, “my dad tells me the same thing, but it’s hard to believe someone when their eyes keep going from your eye to.. not your eye.”

y/n laughs. it was more of a chuckle, but it still brought a smile to carl’s face. he didn’t comment about it, but instead revelled in the moment for a few seconds. he worked in silence as he helped y/n secure the bandage over her missing eye. he didn’t mind the silence much, at least now that he knew she didn’t hate him.

“i’m sorry i called you a freak.”

carl smiles at her apology. he didn’t expect her to apologise, but he clearly underestimated her, “it’s water under the bridge.”

he was nice, y/n knew that. it almost felt too nice after the experiences she had with strangers before arriving at alexandria.

“there’s still good people left. i know everything inside you is probably telling you not to trust this place, but it’s safe here.” carl pauses for a few minutes, trying to find the right words to say, “a few people might say some wrong thing, but it’s not on purpose. sometimes.. they just don’t know better, but they mean well...”

“okay.”

“i’m carl by the way.”

“i’m y/n.”

“i know.” the words slip out of carl’s mouth before he can stop himself. the last thing he wanted to do was come across as a creep, “sorry- i just overheard janine talking about you.”

“cool.. thanks for the help.”

carl now has a genuine smile on his face, it didn’t look uncomfortable and forced this time. he nods at her and tidies up the the supplies he used, putting them into the cupboard.

“you know.. there’s gonna be a party.. thing? it’s at the end of the week, but alexandria throws them every time there’s new people..” carl pauses and then continues talking, “it’s not really a party, but the last time they had one here was when me and my group arrived. you should go.”

“i’ll think about it.”

she very obviously didn’t trust him yet, but it seemed like she was trying. her behaviour may come across as abrasive and cold, but it was nothing carl hadn’t seen before. eventually she would have to warm up to him, right?

“cool.”

#carl grimes #carl grimes x reader #carl grimes fluff #carl grimes angst #carl grimes fic #carl grimes x fem!reader #carabalism

[ordinaryschmuck]

At Jimmy Pesto’s Pizzeria, Trev puts up a “Closed Indefinitely “ sign up on the window. He then runs away crying.

Across the street, Linda and Teddy are watching the whole thing from inside the restaurant.

Linda: I can’t believe Jimmy Pesto got arrested. Serves the bastard right for helping organize that raid against the mayor’s office. Who hates the mayor? He’s great. Those bunch of freaks, hating the mayor.

Teddy looks to the kitchen window, hearing Bob whistle as he grills.

Teddy: Eh, I bet you’re happy, Bobby! With there being no more Jimmy Pesto and all.

Linda: Oh, don’t even get this guy started. They arrested Jimmy right across from us last night and I haven’t seen Bob happier since the kids were born.

Bob: Oh, come on, Lynn. I like to think that I had a quiet dignity to it.

Linda: You kidding? You and the kids went friggin nuts.

Flashback to last night. Jimmy is being led to a police car just as Bob sticks his head out of his home window.

Bob: Hey, Jimmy! How’s it feel knowing YOU will be out of business first?!

Jimmy just grunts, not acknowledging Bob.

Bob: What’s wrong?! No ZOOM?! Oh, that’s right! You’re too busy ZOOMING yourself to jail!

Louise pushes Bob out of the way.

Louise: Dad, please. Let a pro handle this.

She sticks her head out the window too.

Louise: Hey, Jimmy! If you’re lucky, you’ll be made the cafeteria cook! Your cooking should taste about the same as prison food!

Bob: Haha! THAT’S my little girl!

He scoops Louise up and kisses her cheek. She pretends to hate it.

Bob: I am so PROUD of you! You’re getting ice cream tonight!

Louise: Yes!

Gene: I want ice cream too!

He comes up to the window too.

Gene: Hey, Jimmy! Just a reminder that you got to poop in your jail cell! So get ready for people to see your Italian sausage!

Bob: Yes! Gene! I mean, DON’T ever say that again, but YEAH! You get ice cream too, pal!

Gene: Yeah!

Tina comes up to the window now.

Tina: Hey, Jimmy Pesto…You’re the worst!

Bob: Ha! He IS the worst!

Louise: And you’re a terrible father!

Gene: And LOVER! I assume!

Bob: Gene.

Tina: The best thing you made was Jimmy Jr!

Louise: And that’s not saying much!

Tina: Wait, what?

Bob: Oh, my god, I love my kids! You ALL get ice cream!

The kids: Yay!

Gene: Italian sausage!

Bob: Gene!

Flash forward back to the restaurant.

Bob: Okay, so I might have lost a bit more of my mind than I thought. But who cares? Lynn, it’s Jimmy Pesto! He’s gone for good! The nightmare’s over and we’ve WON!

Linda: Wha? What did we win?

Bob: We won at LIFE!

Linda: Oh, yeah.

Bob: WE’RE the ones with a successful—Well, GOOD business, a happy marriage, and great kids! Meanwhile, JIMMY is sitting his stupid butt in jail, his business is going to drizzle out of business—

Teddy, trying to match Bob’s energy: And his kids are going to be super traumatized!

Bob: What?

Linda: Oh god.

Teddy: Haha! Like, first their parents got divorced, which is a, uh, a thing that scares kids!

Bob: Teddy.

Teddy: And now their dad’s in jail! Never to see him in a normal environment again!

Linda: Aw…

Bob: Teddy, you just—

Teddy: What?

Bob: You’ve ruined the mood.

Teddy: What? No, I didn’t.

Bob: You did.

Linda: Yeah, you did, Hon.

Teddy: I was following your energy!

Bob: That wasn’t the energy.

Teddy: I was following your energy, Bob!

Bob: Celebrating traumatized kids isn’t the energy, Teddy!

Teddy: Bah!

Bob: YOU bah!

Linda: You DO gotta feel a LITTLE bad for the Pesto kids.

Bob: Well, yes, obviously. Because unlike TEDDY—

Teddy: YOUR energy, Bob.

Bob: I DON’T want kids to be traumatized. It’s not their fault that they’re Jimmy’s kids. But for Jimmy himself? SCREW him! It’s the end of an era! The JIMMY era! Now, it’s the start of the BOB era! And it starts with THIS!

He then runs outside.

Bob: Hey, everybody! In celebration of the greatest thing, EVER, Bob’s Burgers is now fifteen percent off of EVERYTHING!

Random Passerby: What’s Bob’s Burgers?

Bob: It’s—My restaurant. It’s right behind me!

Random Passerby: Oh, the across from Jimmy Pesto’s. Hey, do you know when HIS restaurant will open again?

Bob: Oh, my GOD!

#bob's burgers #bob belcher #linda belcher #louise belcher #gene belcher #tina belcher #bob's burgers teddy #bob's burgers trev #jimmy pesto #might have left this get away from me a bit #it's just that after writing one joke #i wanted to write MORE #and this IS based on real events involving Jimmy's VA #still curious of what'll happen to his character #long post #text post

[em-prentiss]

I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back (I have a lot of regrets about that)

------

“You didn’t call. You didn’t text.” Her voice cracks and she shuts up, swallows until the shakiness in her throat disappears. Her whole body is jittery, trembling as she looks at him. Her pulse roars in her ears, drowning out the soft justifications that try to fall from his lips.

Aaron wets his dry lips. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. He steps forward to close the distance between them. Emily looks away. Step back, she tells herself, but she can’t. She’s spent so long craving his presence, and now that he’s here her feet are frozen in place.

Scratch is finally down, but Aaron doesn't come home. Not until Emily runs into him by accident.

Word count: 6.8k

------

He doesn’t call, doesn’t reach out. She tries to be understanding as the days pass by, weeks blurring into months and until it’s almost half a year of radio silence. His old phone number blinks up at her accusingly, but even if it worked she knows she wouldn’t have called. Her dignity wouldn’t allow her that, at least.

It doesn’t stop her from poking around. 

One day the question bubbles out of her throat before she can stop it. “Have you heard from Hotch?” She asks Dave in what she hopes is a casual manner.

Dave looks up. She’s looking down at her case file, bitten lip held hostage between her teeth. Emily feels his gaze on her and reluctantly looks up. “It just—seems weird that he wouldn’t reach out,” she shrugs carelessly, feeling unusually pinned down by his gaze.

She looks back down. “You would think at least he’d tell us he’s okay,” she mumbles softly, and if he didn’t know her as long as he had, he never would’ve heard the bitterness in it.

He feels something in his heart crack at her forcefully nonchalant manner. “Not since Scratch was down.” He had been the one to call and be the bearer of good news, let Aaron know that he could come home now. But he never did. Not to them, anyway.

Emily almost laughs. At least you had that.

“I can give you his phone number,” Dave ventures cautiously.

She scoffs, though her heart races. “No, thanks.” I’ve run after him enough times. If he wants to get back in touch, that’s on him.

****

It’s so hard to stay away. 

He watches her pop up on tv, head high and shoulders back as she delivers profiles to the press. He scours the news for mentions of the BAU and frequents the places around her apartment in hopes that he would see her, even though he knows he doesn’t deserve it. Not after everything she went through for his sake. But he can’t help it, so slinking around like a stalker is his only choice.

So really, it shouldn’t have been surprising when she sees him in the parking lot of the grocery store.

Emily blinks at the silhouette of a large man loading groceries in his trunk. His hair is dark, strong muscles moving easily under his thin gray shirt. Her mind immediately jumps to Aaron, though she’s seen nothing but his back. 

Her heart starts to pound.

It’s not him, she tells herself, desperately trying to ease her racing heart. Move. Go home. You haven’t slept properly in days.

So she tightens her grip on the few bags in her hand—some milk and eggs, just enough for the week because she’ll probably be gone by the end of it—and walks to her car, just a few paces from the man’s.

Her eyes are still drawn to him as she walks closer. She tries to ignore him, but the line of his shoulders is unmistakable; she’s stood behind him so many times, offering backup and protection without second thought. He closes the trunk, turns his head slightly in her direction as he moves to open the door, and Emily could swear her heart stops in her chest. 

She bypasses her car without feeling it. “Aaron?”

He freezes. Her voice is sharp, louder than it should be at this time of night. There’s no hesitation in it, only anger he can hear a mile away.

Aaron turns around. “Em,” he tries to smile but the sight of her makes his heart clench painfully in his chest. It starts to race as she looks at him.

At first she’s shocked, her face frozen and her mouth dropped open as she stares at him, still not quite believing he’s here. He’s close enough to touch; if she’d just extend her hand she’d feel the soft fabric of his t-shirt beneath her fingers, the harder feel of his chest underneath. The shock disappears in an instant, her brows knotting together as the hope climbing her throat is replaced with anger.

“Don’t you Em me,” she hisses, tightly fisting the bags in her hand. She feels her nails cut through the plastic. “Where the hell were you?” She demands, hot tears rising in her eyes. She breathes in deeply and shoves them down, swallows the lump in her throat as her eyes take him in.

He’s the same but he’s not. Gray hairs shine at his temple and fine lines mar his cheeks, the delicate skin next to his eyes. The line of his shoulders is slumped, relaxed, as if in six months he could’ve erased the tension decades on the job had cost him.

“You didn’t call. You didn’t text.” Her voice cracks and she shuts up, swallows until the shakiness in her throat disappears. Her whole body is jittery, trembling as she looks at him. Her pulse roars in her ears, drowning out the soft justifications that try to fall from his lips. 

Aaron wets his dry lips. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. He steps forward to close the distance between them. Emily looks away. Step back, she tells herself, but she can’t. She’s spent so long craving his presence, and now that he’s here her feet are frozen in place.

“You’re sorry,” she scoffs at the lamppost ahead of her. She shakes her head as he inhales sharply. His chest just barely brushes hers; a quick touch, there one second and gone the next.

Aaron swallows. He never liked it when she was angry with him. Her rage is a tangible, physical thing he knows all too well, laying waste to anything that comes near. It blocks him from her, keeps him on the edge until she eventually calms down enough to talk to him again. Or he faces it head on and risks getting singed in the process.

Either way, he can’t back down now.

Her jaw is tight as she looks away from him, lashes fluttering as she blinks rapidly to dispel the tears from her eyes. His heart twists.

“Look at me, please?”

Emily closes her eyes. If it were any other day he’d have found it funny, how she immediately did the opposite of what he had asked. But a tear rolls down beneath her closed lid and instead he wants to punch himself. It catches the street light as it travels down her cheek, drips off her chin. 

Aaron’s throat goes dry. “Please, Emily.” He begs, his voice ragged and torn. 

She opens her eyes and tilts her head back to face him. Brown eyes meet hazel, both of them shiny. “I can explain.”

He really can’t, not in a way that will make her less angry, but he has to say something. He can’t stand it, the accusation in her gaze, the hurt, and knowing he caused it is a hot knife straight through his heart. It makes him wonder if staying away meant anything in the end.

He reaches forward to take the bags from her fist. Emily stares at him as he tugs on the plastic, the warmth of his finger touching hers enough to jolt her into letting go. “Come home with me and I’ll explain,” he whispers.

She wants to rage and scream and pound her fists against his chest. She’s got work tomorrow, she hasn’t slept properly in days, her car is still in the lot. But he’s right there, and she knows if she goes home she won’t sleep anyway, her head clouded with thoughts of him. She shouldn’t drop everything and follow him wherever he asked. But the truth is she’s always done it; it’s instinct by this point. She can’t stop herself even now.

“Fine.” Emily says hoarsely, as if she wasn’t doing this for herself as much as him. She turns on her heel and gets in the car, slamming the passenger door shut behind her. She can hear her loud breaths in the quiet space, Aaron still standing frozen near the trunk. 

He stuffs her bags with his and gets into the car, turning it on and quickly pulling out of the parking lot before Emily can change her mind. As if he can’t reach her if she does, as if she was the one hiding from him this whole time.

It’s silent and awkward and everything they haven’t been in years—a decade, really. The air between them is thick with tension, buzzing with her rage and his anxiety. She can smell his cologne, hear his nervous breaths. Emily picks at her cuticles, her nail instinctively catching on the skin at the tip of her finger. Her heart is jittery, racing, and she wonders if Aaron can hear it. 

Aaron. Is he really here or is this just another one of her dreams? 

But no, he always embraced her tightly in those, held her in his arms as he pressed his lips to her skin, profusely apologizing for his absence. He came to her office, her apartment, peonies in hand and a desperate look in his eye. They always left her aching when she woke up, her heart longing for the comfort he could no longer provide.

She tilts her head the slightest bit and looks at him from the corner of her eye. One of his hands is on the wheel, the other on his thigh as he repeatedly rubs his thumb over his index finger; his tick.

She finds herself talking before she can stop herself. “Did you ever even think of calling?”

Aaron stifles a humorless laugh. “Every goddamn day.” He turns to look at her, her hard stare making his skin itch. He wants it to soften, wants to see the familiar warmth back in her eyes. “You can’t think I’d just want to cut you off, Emily.”

“Well that’s exactly what you did,” she snaps. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Aaron. You..” She shakes her head, still in disbelief even now, “You didn’t even bother to tell us you were okay. Didn’t it occur to you that we’d want to know? That maybe we’d have liked to hear from you, see how Jack’s doing?” Her voice cracks as she says his son’s name.

His breath catches. Aaron digs his nails into his thighs and forces a deep breath through his nose. Now that he’s seen her, seen her hurt right in front of him, he can’t help but wonder if he did more harm than good by staying away.

Emily turns away. She looks out the window, fixes her gaze firmly on the passing streets and digs her nails into her palms. She feels his gaze on her, warm and familiar, but she doesn’t turn back, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes.

“He’s doing good,” Aaron says quietly. He misses you, he doesn’t tell her. He doesn’t understand why he can’t see you anymore and I think he resents me for it.

Emily doesn’t reply. Aaron pulls into the parking lot of an apartment building a few minutes later. The roads are still familiar, places she recognizes just a few blocks from her own home. She waits for him to unbuckle his seatbelt before she finally turns to him, her body jittery with the shock of it all. “All this time,” she grits out slowly, “you were living ten minutes away?”

She shakes her head as she climbs out of the car. “God fucking damn it, Aaron.” She looks around at his building, at the street around them. She passes this road every day on the way to work, and for all she knows he could’ve seen her one day while she was driving past, her head in the clouds as she wondered why he still hasn’t come back home.

This time she can’t stop them. Emily presses her palms into her eyes, feels the hot tears soak her cheeks as she finally lets go. Her body shudders as she tucks her elbows into her chest, trying to make herself smaller, trying to disappear.

Fuck. His heart drops to his feet when he sees her. “Hey, hey,” he shushes as he pulls her into his chest, wraps his arms tightly around her back. His stomach roils with nausea at the sound of her sniffles, her breathless gasps.

“Why?” She cries hoarsely into his neck, her body trembling as he holds her to him. “Why would you do this? I waited for you. God, I waited months and you didn’t even bother-” She cuts off as sobs rack her body.

“I’m sorry,” he rasps. Aaron tightens his grip on her, desperately presses his lips to her hair. “I’m so sorry, Emily.” 

It’s all he can say. He repeats it like a mantra, desperate and pleading against her ear. She doesn’t even hear him, only feels his hand through her hair as she shakes against him, her tears overflowing like a broken dam. He holds her so hard it hurts, as if forcibly trying to press his apology into her skin.

Time blurs as they stand there, outside his apartment building in the dead of night. Her tears slow, her body stiffens, and for a moment he thinks she’ll shove him off her. 

“I waited for you to come home,” Emily clutches his shirt in her fist, briefly worrying she’d tear the fabric from her grip. “Why didn’t you, Aaron?”

God, he wishes someone would just kill him. He takes a shaky breath and swallows against the lump in his throat. “Let’s go inside, Em,” he rubs her back and gently pulls away.

She ducks her head as she wipes her cheeks, as if her tears aren’t staining his shirt. As if she hadn’t cried countless times in his arms after she came back to them, guilt twisting her gut because nothing feels the same.

He tentatively places his hand on her shoulder as he leads her into the building. Emily hates herself for not pulling away. She crosses her arms and looks around at the hallways they pass, taking note of the 206 on his door as he pulls out his key. He opens the door and walks in, turning around and holding it open for her.

Emily forces her feet across the step and into the threshold of his apartment, her eyes instinctively flitting over the space and cataloging it in her memory. It’s similar to his old apartment; plain and basic, Jack’s chaotic presence known in his schoolbag dumped next to the couch, his shoes haphazardly toed off at the edge of the carpet. Schoolwork litters the coffee table, instead of the colorful toys he’d scatter everywhere. Her heart squeezes at this tiny, insignificant difference in his life, the passage of time making her press her palm against her eyes again.

Aaron stands uncertainly, watching her take in the details of his new life. The life he excluded them from. 

She sniffles and he jolts into action, moving to the kitchen to grab her a glass of water. His hands shake as he fills it, his heart racing as he hears her quiet footsteps on the hardwood floor. Aaron sets the glass on the counter and clenches his hands into fists. He exhales roughly and tries to steel himself for the inevitable conversation they’ll have, a conversation he hid himself so he wouldn’t have to confront.

Get it together. She’s here and she’s not going away, not until she gets some answers. He owes it to her, he knows he does; it’s the least he could do for all the pain he’d caused. So he picks up the glass and walks back to the living room.

Her back is turned to him as she observes the pictures on his shelves. Pictures of them; Reid’s birthday, Henry’s baby shower. Her. Her and him and Jack, on Saturdays in the aquarium and afternoons in the park, ice cream in one of her hands and Jack’s jacket slung over her arm. There’s no pictures of him on his own, only in group settings with Rossi's arm around his shoulders, her cheek pressed to his. She tries not to profile what that says about him.

She doesn’t turn around when he stands next to her, keeping her eyes on the pictures. Haley holding a tiny Jack, a serious looking game of chess between Reid and Garcia.

“Here,” he extends the glass to her. Emily doesn’t take it. 

“So you keep our pictures on your shelves, but you don’t call,” she muses, her voice raspy. She raises her brows as she turns to face him. “Even as a profiler I don’t know what that means.” Her bloodshot eyes bore into his, sharp and demanding. 

Aaron sighs. “It means that even though I stayed away, I missed you. But I can’t go back to the BAU. I can’t go back to the way it was.” It’s a half assed answer and he knows it. He shrugs as he sets the glass down. “I…I deserve this.” He whispers. 

The quiet life, the normalcy. Being home for dinner and bidding his son sweet dreams every night. He does deserve it, more than anyone.

“I know you do.” Emily hisses. “No one’s asking you to come back to the BAU. Just come back to us,” her voice breaks and she looks away, refusing to let more tears fall. 

She clears her throat. “You don’t work with us anymore, so what, we’re nothing to you now? We don’t deserve a ‘Hey, I’m doing alright, how about we meet up for dinner?’”

Aaron looks away when she glares at him. His skin feels hot, itchy, as if he were one of the suspects she interrogated. “I couldn’t stay, either,” she reminds him sharply. His gaze snaps to hers. “But I didn’t cut everyone off. I called, I visited when I could. And you? Radio silence.” 

The silence is deafening as she waits for him to say something. He runs a hand through his hair as he blows out a breath, his eyes dropping to the floor. His hair falls into his face softly, hanging over his eyes, no longer neatly parted and held down with gel. Her heart twists again.

His mouth opens and closes, the words stuck in his throat. He tries to force them out, say I couldn’t. I wanted to but I couldn’t live with what he did because of me, but when he opens his mouth again a choked sound leaves him. 

Emily speaks instead. “Do we just…” she shrugs and licks her lips, “mean nothing?”

No. Aaron meets her gaze. The desperate look in his eyes takes her aback. “You mean everything,” he says quietly.

Emily throws her hands out in frustration, “Then why? Explain it to me, Aaron.” She walks closer to him until they’re close enough to touch. “I would’ve understood it for a few weeks, hell even a month. But six months? And it would’ve been longer if I hadn’t seen you tonight,” she crosses her arms.

His tongue darts out to wet his dry lips. His heart starts to slam against his ribcage, so forcefully his ribs ache. Aaron knows this is it; he can’t hide it from her any longer. He heaves a shaky breath. “It was all because of me.” He says, his voice low.

Her brows lift in confusion. “What was?”

“What he did to you.”

Shit. Her whole body freezes, her muscles locking tight with tension. She doesn’t even need to ask to know what he’s talking about. 

Emily swallows hard. “You know about that?” She whispers. Her voice is strangled, desperate. 

Aaron huffs out a pained laugh. “Yes, Emily, I know about that.” He watches her eyes widen, panic settling over her as her shoulders stiffen.

No, no, no. She never wanted him to know. Emily runs a frantic hand through her hair, bile rising in her throat. “How?” She chokes out.

Aaron remembers all too clearly the way his stomach had dropped when Dave called, his relief at Scratch being gone short lived when he told him Emily was in the hospital. When he told him why she was there to begin with.

“I saw you.”

Emily heaves in a breath. “No.” She shakes her head, her lip trembling. “No you didn’t. You didn’t.” She rambles as she steps away from him, her thumb between her teeth as she paces.

Aaron nods even though she’s not looking at him. “I came to visit you in the hospital. I saw you lying there in that bed, bruised and drugged,” his voice shakes as tears finally roll down his face. He can still see her, spidery lashes casting shadows on her bruised cheeks as she slept, her skin gray from dehydration.

“I know that even though they gave you stuff to sleep, you woke up hours later, still thinking you were caught up in the hallucinations,” he chokes out, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Emily stops moving. She sees the splatter of his tears on the floor, so minuscule they could have been rain drops. She looks up at him, her eyes burning as she tries to hold back tears of her own.

“I know that every time you tried to sleep you’d hear his voice in your ear. I know the scent of sage wouldn’t come out of your hair no matter how many times you washed it.”

Sometimes she still hears him. Low and raspy in her head, making a shiver go down her spine. The glint of the mallet when she closes her eyes, the white hot pain that rushed through her whole body. The poles sticking out of her legs.

Aaron watches as her eyes grow shiny again. God, how many times is he going to make her cry in one night? His gut lurches but he knows he can’t stop now, he’ll never say it otherwise. “I know you pretended you were okay, but it took days for the self doubt to fade. You couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.”

He knows. He knows exactly how she felt because he felt it too. And she only went through it because of him.

“Stop.” She whispers, pressing her palms into her eyes. “Stop it, Aaron.”

“I was going to see you, I swear I was, Emily,” Aaron pleads. “But I couldn’t do it.” His voice breaks and he looks away from her. “How…how could I sit there next to you knowing I’d done this?”

Emily licks her dry lips. “You didn’t,” she croaks out. 

He shakes his head and she lurches forward, her hands naturally cupping his face as if she’d done it a hundred times before. “Look at me, Aaron,” she begs. She gently tilts his face toward hers. “Please.”

He can’t. He’s the sole reason it happened; why else would Scratch have kidnapped her, strapped her to a table and drugged her until she was delirious and hallucinating? He knows the pain of it, knows exactly what she went through, and the thought of her going through it after everything she survived makes him want to scream into the void.

He closes his eyes and drops his head on her shoulder, his hot tears soaking her neck. “It’s all my fault, Emily.” He sobs. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps breathlessly, his hands tightly gripping her shirt in his fists. 

“Don’t say that,” she whispers. Her hands are tangled in his hair, holding him close to her just as he’d done for her outside, not even an hour ago. The sobs coming out of him make tears of her own rise in her throat. They spill out of her quietly as she holds him, trying to provide comfort for the both of them. Emily swallows thickly. “It’s not your fault, Aaron, stop saying that. Please.”

“I couldn’t come back,” he garbles, the words flowing from him now that the dam broke. He’d caused her so much pain. The best thing he could do was stay away from her, even if it killed him. “I couldn’t look at you knowing I was the reason it happened.” He gasps into her neck, her skin shiny with his tears. 

“I’m sorry, Emily, I didn’t mean to hurt you-”

She pulls back and holds his face in her palms. “Hey. Stop it,” she says firmly as she wipes the wetness off his cheeks. It’s replaced immediately, his hot tears soaking his skin, all the guilt he’d bottled up overflowing from him now. “You didn’t do this.�� She meets his gaze and tries to smile. “Unless your name is Peter and you didn’t tell me.”

“Don’t fucking joke about this, Emily,” he says hoarsely. Aaron closes his eyes. “He did this because of me,” he whispers.

Emily shakes her head as she pulls his face back into her neck, his chin snug on her shoulder. “No, Aaron,” she soothes, rubbing her palm over his back. “He did this because he’s a psychopath. I set up the bait, I knew the risks. And I’d do it again.”

“You and Jack are safe. That makes it all worth it,” she says as she leans back, wiping away more of his tears. I’d do anything for you, she thinks as she gently combs her fingers through his hair. 

Aaron stiffens. “Don’t say that, please.” He rasps, his hands tightening on her back. 

“Sorry,” she whispers as she rises on her tiptoes and loops her arms around his neck. Her head falls on his shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist. They both breathe a little easier, tension leaking out of Aaron’s shoulders because he finally told her and Emily’s slumping in relief because she finally saw him. 

He breathes her in, feels her relax against him as they slowly rock back and forth. His tears start to slow as she soothingly rubs between his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Aaron mumbles into her skin. He tightens his hold on her to remind himself she’s safe, Scratch is gone.

Emily smiles sadly. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to go through it, too. Guess we’re even now.”

Aaron pulls back to look at her, “Can you stop joking about this?” He scolds quietly.

“Sorry,” Emily huffs. “Coping mechanism, force of habit.” She lets go of him and grabs the glass of water he’d poured for her.

“Drink.” She presses it into his hands. Aaron obliges as she grabs him by the arm and pulls him to the couch. Emily sinks into it with a sigh, accepting the glass when Aaron hands it back half full. She drinks greedily, the water soothing her throat, parched from all her crying.

She places it on the coffee table when she’s done, turning back to find Aaron looking at her. “I didn’t want to stay away,” he whispers. “But I had to, Em.”

“No more of that now,” Emily grabs his hand. “It didn’t happen because of you, okay? It happened because of a deranged psychopath.” She says softly. “You’re not going to put us in danger by coming back and you’re not going to cause us any ‘hurt’,” she tells him, all too familiar with the way his mind works. The corner of his lip tilts upward.

“We just want you back,” Emily runs her fingers over the back of his hand. She squeezes lightly, smiling when he squeezes back.

“I missed you,” he admits softly. He links their fingers together and rubs his thumb over the back of her hand, her skin silky beneath his touch.

“I missed you too,” she whispers. 

He reaches out to tuck some of her hair behind her ear and gently brush the bangs away from her eyes. His gaze travels over her face, taking her in properly for the first time in forever. He looks at her still wet lashes and her reddened eyes, his eyes slipping down her cheeks and lingering too long on her lips. 

Emily stops breathing for a second. 

His hand is still in her hair, tangled loosely in the dark strands. He leans forward and she thinks he’s going to do it, her heart racing as his hand gently cups the curve of her neck. Aaron leans in closer and presses his lips to her forehead.

Emily exhales slowly, shakily as she wraps her arms around his waist, her head slotting into his neck. Her heart still beats wildly in her chest as he kisses her hair again and tightens his hold on her.

“Where’s Jack?” She asks softly, pretending to be unaffected though she’s almost sure he can feel her heart racing.

Aaron says something about Jessica, how Jack spends more nights there than usual, but Emily’s not listening. She’s lost in her thoughts, Aaron’s close proximity and the scent of his cologne trudging up an old—definitely not forgotten—memory. 

He kissed her, once. Before it all went to shit. Before Foyet tore through their lives and Doyle came back to haunt her. 

It was a soft, sweet thing outside his office door, hesitant until she kissed him back. She had dug her hands into his hair, felt his large palms encircle her waist. It held the promise of more, made her smooth her thumb over her lips when she was back in her car, her head still clouded with thoughts of him. She had smiled at him the next day, her cheeks blush pink before he got a call about a strange situation in Canada.

She suddenly aches for it; the feeling of his lips against hers, his hand tangled in her hair as she presses herself into his skin, as close as she possibly could. 

Emily leans back. His hands fall from her body as she shifts away and nervously tucks her legs beneath her. “What?” Aaron asks when she lets out a deep, slow breath, steeling herself. Emily smiles slightly; apparently that’s her tell.

She holds his cheek in one hand and feels the slight stubble under her skin. Aaron swallows as she leans closer to him, her fingers warm on his jaw. “I think we owe it to ourselves to finally do this right,” she whispers. He only sees a sparkle in her eyes before she presses her lips to his.

He immediately slides a hand into her hair, the other gripping her waist tightly. Her lips are just as soft as he remembers, slotting against his and tasting of salt. Emily hums as she feels the warmth of his palm through her shirt, the heat of it traveling to her cheeks. She feels him gently nudge her into his lap, pulling her into him until her knees are on either side of his waist, trapping him.

Aaron pulls back slightly so he can breathe. He settles his hands on Emily’s waist, smiling when her own reach up to play with his hair. “That was bold of you,” he murmurs as he kisses the hard line of her jaw. Her skin is warm and smooth under his lips, smelling faintly of her familiar perfume.

Emily smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. “Not like you haven’t done it before.” She grabs his face and kisses him again, feeling him sigh when she gently grazes his bottom lip with her teeth. In a lot of ways it’s similar to their first; slow and unhurried, only it’s missing the hesitance from both of them. She kisses him until she’s breathless, only pulling back when the need for oxygen overwhelms them both. Emily bites her lip as she cups his jaw, his familiar hazel eyes making heat race through her veins. Her thumb digs into his dimple when he smiles softly at her, a gentle thing that makes her heart beat faster. She inhales sharply. Here goes nothing.

“I love you.”

Whatever he expected her to say, it wasn’t that. His breath hitches. Emily chews on her lip, her hands warm on his chest as she looks at him tentatively, as if he could do anything but reciprocate his love for her. 

Aaron eases her lip from the tight grip of her teeth. He smooths his thumb over her bottom lip, pink and slightly swollen from his kisses. “Again?” He whispers, the sound rough and thick as it leaves him.

Emily relaxes. She smiles at him softly, takes one of his hands off her waist to link their fingers together. “I love you, Aaron.”

He thinks his heart stops. That warm, soft look is finally back in her eyes, her hard glares nowhere to be found. Aaron huffs out a laugh and hugs her tightly. He feels her giggle lightly into his neck, the sound muffled into his skin. 

“I love you too, Em. So much,” he kisses her forehead and closes his eyes, just taking in this moment with her. He feels his heart racing, the weight of her body on top of him. Her hair tickles his cheek and her knees dig into the sides of his waist.

“Promise me you won’t leave again,” she says quietly. 

He laughs lightly. “I think you’ll have to promise that first, Emily,” he squeezes her waist as she looks up at him. “Are you leaving again?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “After all, you’re not coming back to the BAU, who else would run it?” She shrugs lightly, as if that’s the whole reason, as if she hadn’t been aching to come back anyway.

“Well then, I can promise I won’t leave,” he kisses her forehead and pulls her back into him. He can’t get enough of her, the feeling of her skin like a drug to him. He doesn’t think she minds, what with the way she tangles herself around him like a vine, curling into his chest as if she belongs there. She does, he thinks as she burrows into his neck and plays with his fingers idly, listening to him breathe until her eyes start to droop.

“I have to get home,” she sighs heavily, dreading leaving his arms. He wants to protest, but something in his gut tells him they should take it slow.

“Come on, I’ll drive you to your car.”

Emily gets off his lap with a hum, tucking her hair behind her ear as he stands up and holds her hand. “You agreed to that far too quickly,” she arches her brow as he opens the door for her.

The street is deserted when they leave the building, the deep silence of the night permeated by the sounds of their footsteps. Emily doesn’t even know what time it is, doesn’t know how long they spent inside his apartment.

“I just want to do this right.” Aaron kisses her lightly before opening the car door. He places his hands on her waist, lightly thumbs at her skin over her shirt. “After all, you’re not leaving and I’m not leaving, so we should take this slow, right?” He murmurs.

Emily smiles, feeling her heart race as he looks at her tenderly, his dimple casting a shadow on his cheek. “As long as it’s not too slow.” She agrees as she gets into the car.

Aaron laughs. The ride back to the grocery store couldn’t have been more different than the ride from it. His hand is on her thigh, their fingers linked as they catch up softly; she asks about Jack, he asks about the team. She makes him promise to visit the BAU and he readily agrees, not just because he wants to see her name plate on his desk. 

He programs his new number into her phone and hands her the grocery bags he’d stuffed into his trunk.

“Drive safe, sweetheart,” he murmurs against her lips, the edge of her car door digging into his skin as he leans in through the open window. Emily blushes and nods. “You too.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asks hopefully.

Emily smiles regretfully. “If we don’t have a case. But we just came back from one, so,” she shrugs.

Aaron nods. “I’ll call you anyway,” he says, his heart squeezing when she smiles brightly at him. Her smile morphs into a yawn and he laughs. “Bedtime, I think,” he teases. Emily swats at his hand and he grabs it, pulling her close to kiss her again. It still feels surreal, something warm and golden fluttering in his chest when she sighs into his mouth.

“I love you.” He whispers. It’s new on his tongue—for her, at least—and they’re both intoxicated by the sound of it.

“Love you too.” She pecks him lightly before leaning back. Aaron steps back and she pulls out of the parking lot, giving her a small wave as she drives away.

****

It’s no surprise that he doesn’t sleep well. This time, though, it’s because he’s thinking of her like some lovesick teenager while she probably sleeps soundly in her bed—like he should’ve been doing.

She’s awake when he texts her at 8:30—the privileges of walking into work ten minutes before briefings are nonexistent now that she’s Unit Chief—so he gets out of bed and into the shower, agonizing for more than he’d like about what to wear.

He’s never been more glad for Jack being at Jess’ as he picks up coffee for the both of them, snagging a cinnamon roll on instinct because he knows she won’t have eaten breakfast. 

The bullpen is quiet when he walks into the BAU, the team still not there because of the early hour. He sees her through the large window of his former office, affection burning in his chest at the sight of her bent over a stack of files. Only a few agents mill around, none of them paying him any attention as he walks up the stairs. 

He knocks on her door, a grin breaking out on his face when he sees her name on it. “Come in,” she says softly.

Aaron walks in and shuts the door. Emily looks up and beams at him, her eyes sparkling when she sees the coffee in his hands. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he says as he sets the coffee and the cinnamon roll down on her desk, leaning forward to give her a slow kiss. She smiles into it and places her hand over his, unconcerned with anyone seeing them through the window.

Aaron pulls away with a quick kiss to her cheek and sits down, sliding the treats into her hands. “For me?” She asks coyly as she leans forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her hands.

“Ah, no actually, these are for Unit Chief Prentiss, have you seen her?” He teases, jokingly reaching for her cinnamon roll. Emily swats his hand away and rolls her eyes.

She splits half of her roll with him and they talk as they drink their coffee, Emily’s paperwork long forgotten. It feels abnormal, that he’s the one distracting her from her work for a change. He can think of so many nights spent just like this, with her curled in the chairs or the couch, talking on about something that would steal his attention, leaving his paperwork unfinished.

Neither of them notice when the team starts walking into the bullpen, both of them occupied with each other as they make plans for her to see Jack again.

Penelope gasps when she sees the two of them. “Is that Hotch?” She grasps JJ’s shoulder with a tight grip. Tara turns to her curiously, looking around for her previous boss at Penelope’s words.

“About time,” Rossi mutters as he walks past them.

Penelope and JJ shoot off to Emily’s office, grinning when they see Emily laugh. “I don’t think this is their first time getting reacquainted,” JJ nudges her friend with a smirk.

“Sir!” The door to Emily’s office slams open. 

Emily laughs as Aaron grimaces. “You don’t have to call me sir anymore, Garcia.”

She envelops him in a hug, a flutter of blonde hair and sweet smelling perfume. “Oh, we missed you so much, sir, how’s the little Hotchner doing? Are you coming back to us, is the-”

JJ hangs back, instead approaching Emily and not so subtly eyeing the coffee cups and empty bakery box on her desk. She blushes furiously when JJ raises a blonde brow.

Not a word, Emily mouths to her.

JJ mimes zipping her mouth shut. But Emily knows better.

“Hey, is that Hotch?” Reid sticks his head in, quickly followed by Rossi and Luke, Tara trailing in behind them.

Emily stifles a smile into her palm. For the first time in months her heart beats contentedly, and when she meets Aaron’s alarmed gaze over Penelope’s pink cardigan, she gives him a wink.

#hotchniss #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #hotchniss fanfiction #criminal minds

[elisela]

still sterek, 1.7k, au: tattoo parlor & flower shop, established relationship, miscommunication day 6: lonely happy birthday @tripleaxeldiaz!!!

Stiles raps on the wall of his work station as soon as he peels his gloves off, tossing them into the wastebasket by the door. He waits a solid minute for a response, straining to hear past the music playing from the overhead speaker, and sighs when none comes.

“He’s probably out doing deliveries, loser,” Cora says without pausing from where she’s restocking the small vials of colored ink. 

He sighs again, his whole body slumping down in his chair, a physical manifestation of the dread he’s feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Yeah, maybe.”

He’s not sure if it’s his tone or the fact he’s not arguing with her, whatever it is, it makes her stop and peer around at him. “Are you two fighting?”

The chair squeaks as he shifts, planting his feet flat on the floor and pushing, rolling himself back and forth slowly. “Maybe. Yeah.”

Cora’s sigh is explosive and irritated. “Seriously? What now?”

“Well,” he says slowly, chest starting to ache now that he actually has to say the words he’s been worried about out loud, “I asked him to move in with me on Friday and he said yes but I haven’t heard a word from him since Saturday morning, so we’re either fighting or … broken up.” 

He doesn’t look up at her, but he can feel the sudden stillness in the room; even Erica and her client stop the quiet stream of chatter they’d been engaging in. It only lasts as long as it takes for Cora to jerk to her feet, vials of blue ink clattering to the floor and rolling in every direction. He doesn’t even have a chance to stop her before she rips the door open, hinges creaking dangerously, and stomps out.

“She’s pissed,” Erica says, and Stiles closes his eyes and tilts his head back to rest on the top of his chair. 

He can hear when the yelling starts—which means Derek is there and definitely ignoring him, which hurts even though he’d already suspected it—but he can’t make it out what’s being said even if he puts his ear to the wall, and Erica can’t be of any help when she’s with a client. He busies himself instead by picking up the vials scattered on the floor and placing them back in the box before going to check his appointment book even though he knows he doesn’t have any bookings; he’d only come in because it was better than sitting around his lonely apartment.

The flare of hope that sparks in his chest when Cora comes back through the door is quickly smothered when she walks straight up to him and grabs his arm. “We’re still friends, even if you’re not with Derek,” she says; it’s not a question.

He nods because it’s all he can do—there’s a knot in his chest that’s threatening to tear its way out of his throat and he won’t let it, not in the studio. Their relationship may have been lived out in the open, lives intertwined both personally and professionally, but Stiles can give himself the dignity of falling apart in private at the very least.

“I will make his life miserable,” Cora swears before letting him go. “And the second I find out what’s going on with him—”

Stiles tears his gaze from the floor and looks over at her. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No,” she says, and she sounds almost sad. “He didn’t say anything at all.”

--

Despite the three days of radio silence it doesn’t take Derek long at all to show his face after Cora gets involved; Stiles calls his clients for the next day and rebooks them, claiming illness, then leaves before Erica finishes up with the sleeve she’s working on.

His apartment feels too cold, dreary in the same way it has since he woke up Saturday morning with Derek gone, like even the plants in the windowsill miss him. They probably do; Stiles isn’t known for his ability to keep a consistent schedule when it comes to things like watering. He turns a movie on for background noise, lays down on the couch, and ends up falling asleep.

When he wakes up it’s to the sound of a key in the door and footsteps so familiar that for a moment he considers closing his eyes and pretending so he doesn’t have to see Derek gather up all his things. But Derek would know, and Stiles would seem like a coward, so he sits up and lets the blanket pool at his feet just as his probably-ex-boyfriend comes into view. 

He has no intention of saying anything—Derek’s the one with the problem, clearly, and Stiles might not have the heart to make a break-up difficult for him but he’s certainly not going to make it any easier—except Derek looks tired and miserable, eyes red like he’d recently been crying, wearing the hoodie he always said was the most comfortable thing he’d ever worn.

Stiles’ hoodie.

“If Cora told you to come—”

“She didn’t,” Derek interrupts, and then hangs his head when he corrects, “well, she did, but that’s not why—I was going to talk to you, I just—there’s something I need to tell you and I didn’t know how.”

Stiles swallows hard past the lump that’s taken up residence in his throat again. He doesn’t want to hear it, but it will drive him crazy forever if he doesn’t. “I guess I just don’t know why you said yes if you were going to break up with me,” he says. His voice doesn’t break at all, and he’s absurdly relieved he could manage that. Of course, it breaks the second he opens his mouth and says, “It would have hurt less if you hadn’t.”

Derek makes a move like he’s going to reach out, and Stiles frowns when he doesn’t just stop but takes several steps backwards, moving himself further away from the door. “I said yes because I want to,” Derek says, “but there’s something—you need to know something before I do, and I—was scared. About how you’d react.”

He can almost hear the gears in his head turning. There are only two things he can come up with that may cause him to react negatively; one would be a stupidly big coincidence but he supposes it’s possible that sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning Derek had learned he had a child that one of his many exes was keeping from him, and the other—well, the other is just stupid, considering.

Stiles is pretty sure now that he knows which one it is.

“Derek,” he says slowly, “I think—”

“I love you,” Derek says, almost desperately, “and I’d never hurt you but you should know—”

Briefly, he considers banging his head on the table to justify his apparent lack of brain cells, because he really should have thought of this.

“—I’m a werewolf.”

The miscommunication would be almost funny if Stiles’ heart weren’t breaking at the sight of Derek in front of him, clearly bracing himself for the worst-case scenario while trying to appear harmless. 

“Come here,” he says quietly, and sighs when Derek doesn’t budge. “Derek. Please come here.”

Derek glances at the door and around the room before moving, taking himself the long way around the coffee table before sitting at the very edge of the couch, never putting himself in between Stiles and the exit. “I’m not crazy,” he says, sounding defeated, like Stiles is going to try to get him committed at any moment. He doesn’t lift his gaze from the floor. “I can show you.”

There’s so much he wants to say that he doesn’t even know where to begin—like the fact that he’s been friends with Cora for years, for much longer than he’s even known Derek, or the bring up the week he’d “spontaneously” decided to go to his Dad’s place back in Beacon Hills when they were two months into their relationship and he’d freaked out when he’d learned the truth about the Hales. He wants to hit Derek over the head with the unscented laundry soap he’d started using after Cora admitted his old stuff was too strong, or shake him until he realizes that Stiles had started rubbing his cheek against any part of Derek’s body he could get to for a reason. And at first, he can’t say anything at all. The situation may be something they roll their eyes at in the future, but the heartbreak he’d felt at not being able to get ahold of Derek after waking up alone on Saturday morning had been very real, and the fear in Derek’s expression isn’t a joke. 

“Baby,” he says finally, stretching his hand across the couch, fingertips just reaching Derek’s arm, “I know. I’ve known. I’m really—really—upset with you right now,” he adds truthfully, “but if that was the issue … it’s not one. Not really.”

Derek looks like he’s forgotten how to breathe, staring down at Stiles’ hand. “You knew?”

“Cora kicked this dude out of the studio once,” Stiles explains, “back when Erica was new. Said she saw him trying to touch her, and you remember Erica then, she was so quiet—anyway, Cora pulled him off the table, tattoo half-finished, and just went crazy. Threw the guy out the door, kept talking about how she hated people like that … and she was facing the wall the whole time but I caught her face in the mirror and her eyes were … glowing. She told me I was crazy but she looked guilty, almost? So I started paying a little more attention to her which pissed her off, and she told me.”

“I kept waiting for you to tell me,” he adds, looking over at where Derek looks like he’s having an existential crisis, “but you didn’t. So I figured you’d tell me when you were ready and I stopped thinking about it. Clearly should have thought about it a little more and maybe this wouldn’t have happened, but we—we can fix it,” he says, leaning, wrapping his hand around Derek’s arm. “Right?”

“You knew,” Derek says again, “and you—you still—”

“I still,” he agrees, shifting to his knees so he can get himself closer. “I still love you. I still want to spend every second of the day with you.” Derek’s not moving, so he curls himself around his body, blanketing him. “I still want you here, if the answer’s still yes.”

Derek’s arms come around him, so hesitant and careful that it makes Stiles grip him tighter. “It’s still yes.”

also on ao3

#sterek #sterek fic #derek hale #stiles stilinksi #au #eli writes #eli's january otp prompts

[blackwolfstabs]

30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 22

DUALITY

What might've happened before Wayne Bailey woke up around broken glass and hunted his she-devil in disguise.

“Sam!”

Tara’s voice awakened her unconscious mind, faded among the ringing that grew louder and louder.

“Sam!”

Her voice wasn’t as muffled this time, and Sam was able to open her eyes. At first, she didn’t remember where she was or what happened, but when pain radiated through her muscles and stinging filtered beneath her skin—where fresh air seeped between her sliced flesh—it all came flooding back.

Through the blurriness, she could see Wayne’s unconscious body lying where they had landed from falling off the balcony. Broken, shattered glass was littered beneath them, and she could feel where some of the shards had cut through her clothing to stab her. The exposed skin of her arms and torso weren’t immune, feeling those intensify the longer she was lucid. The wooden strip that had collapsed onto her side was still there, promising a bruise to patch her ribs, if it wasn’t there already, while the entire side of her body that she fell on throbbed a deep pain. 

But then, the wood plank was moved, and a soft hand replaced it.

“Sam, can you hear me?” 

Tara.

Sam blinked, her eyes sliding to the corners to find her baby sister’s concerned face, but all she could manage to answer with was a nod. 

Tara hovered over her, unsure of whether or not it was safe to touch her for the fear that she might be more hurt than she looked. Her eyes jumped back and forth from her sister to Wayne, anxious that he would wake up any moment and take his chance to kill them both. “How bad are you hurt? Can you move?” she quizzed.

The other swallowed with a small jerk, the poignant, metallic taste of blood seeping into her taste buds. Tara was right, even though she didn’t say it directly. She had to move, so they could finish this. 

All of the shit done that couldn’t be taken back. All of the insults and threats that couldn’t be wasted on anyone else. All of the torn-up dignity and respect that couldn’t be put back together again. 

All of the lies and schemes that Sam would rip apart herself for the sake of her family and her bloodline…

“Yeah,” she rasped, and moved to prepare herself to get off the floor. Agony rippled beneath the surface of her entire left side, making her hiss as she raised her upper half. The movement had what felt like an invisible knife driving into the side of her head. She bowed it with a grunt, bringing her hand up to hold it.

“Sam…”

“I’m fine, Tara,” she nearly growled. She then lowered her hand to reach across her torso and pull a large piece of glass out from her side that was embedded. A pained whimper forced itself out of her as she threw it aside. She lifted her head and looked up at her sibling. “Are you okay?” Immediately, she was drawn to the large blood stain that painted her stomach.

But Tara nodded anyway, her adrenaline overriding what she knew she’d feel the next morning. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered and took another glance towards the fake detective, “but we gotta go.”

Her older sister silently agreed and pulled her knees in to steady herself. “Fuck…” She clutched the slash Ethan had given her just below where her clavicle and humerus conjoined. Having to balance herself on three limbs, she realized just how shaky and exhausted her body was.

“Are you good?” 

“Yeah.” But she pushed it aside and forced herself to her feet, having to tug a few more shards of glass from her figure along the way.

Meanwhile, Tara was navigating her way through the destruction, careful with her footing but even more careful with her volume. Her eyes studied Bailey’s seemingly lifeless body, circling him in search for what she knew would make his ending swift. “Sam,” she whispered in a hiss, “Where’s his gun?”

“We don’t need his gun.”

Her voice came from farther across the theater, making her look up to find her back turned and staring down at the floor. Her brow hardened as she stepped around the glass to move towards her.

Samantha blinked down at the black eyes and pale face that held her name in its shadow. The cracks and aged material that made up an entire mastermind. The sole object that everyone wanted her to bow down to and muzzle her true intentions for another’s. “He wants a legacy, he’s gonna get one.” 

She picked up her father’s mask, the one she had insisted she would never be seen in. And she wouldn’t be seen in it, because the only person who would tell see her would be dead by the time the sun rose.

Tara stood a few paces away, staring at the way her sister seemed to blend the idea of herself and her unstable bloodline into one. “What are you—?”

“Do me a favor, okay?” Sam interrupted, her voice cool and calm, as if she no longer felt any of the pain that once twisted her tongue. As if something stronger than the passion for pain corrupted her half-blood into a full-blood. She sounded like a killer—the serial killers that always kept a level head and spoke with so much control, it was chilling. Like her father. A purebred wolf.

The spitting image of Billy Loomis, who lived inside of her.

The mastermind’s daughter turned around and paced up to her little sister, who stared at her, gingerly holding the wound in her stomach. She then held her phone out with Detective Bailey’s contact glowing on the screen. “I think it’s your turn to ask the questions,” she said, insinuating the revenge the younger deserved from the humiliating and traumatizing phone call she was forced to endure. The one that served as her ticket into this mess of a franchise. The older Carpenter nodded. “You know what to do.”

Tara blinked down at the phone, before raising her eyes to find a dark streak in Sam’s. She took it, then glanced down at the mask, watching it as her older sister moved past her and towards the stage. “What are you gonna do?”

Samantha stopped with one foot on the first step of the staircase leading up. She turned her head over her shoulder, the blood leaking from her bicep giving her overall appearance a daunting aura that influenced her words.

“I’m gonna handle the rest.”

i had to cut this one short bc i'm running low on time to finish this challenge, but i really wanted to put more into this one! whatever, i hope it still serves well. maybe i'll rewrite it someday??

All my best! Stay frosty ♡ - parker

#scream #scream v #scream vi #sam carpenter #tara carpenter #carpenter sisters #wayne bailey #billy loomis #ghostface #ao3 #ao3 author #ao3 writer #ao3 fanfic #30 day writing challenge #duality

[litgwritersroom]

Hey guys! So my idea that I can’t get out of my head, can be wrote as you prefer but what if MC did leave instead of Meera? I know a lot of us players would have preferred to see that instead of how things turned out. I wanted to see what would be the aftermath of MC leaving because specially Suresh picking Arlo to make MC jealous how would he feel knowing MC left because he decided to go with someone else, or even Eddie… I’m curious. ☺️

I hope this inspire you guys in some way and thank you for all you do and if you do decide to answer this ❣️

look what you made me do

S5 | 2300+ words | @ellegreenwxy

MC is booted from the Villa in a 'shocking' turn of events. Time for some tearful hug's goodbye ... right?

“The girl I’m choosing to couple up with is…Meera.”

A gasp sounded from someone in the group but Hayden couldn’t quite pinpoint who it was. Quite frankly, she didn’t care. She wasn’t even surprised that she was leaving, she couldn’t imagine for the life of her why anyone else would be.

When Hayden had walked into the Villa that first day, she’d been hopeful. She’d honestly thought she might have had a chance at finding love again after having her heart shattered by her ex of nearly three years. Maybe it was a little silly of her to be so optimistic––it was reality television, after all, there was no guarantee she would even leave the Villa with her dignity intact––but she had been. 

Until she saw Suresh.

Laying eyes on her cheating ex-boyfriend when she was supposed to be entering her “summer of love” had felt like a slap to the face. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that she had finally put herself back together and there he was, ready to shatter her all over again. It wasn’t fair that she’d been forced to couple up with him on that first day and stay coupled up with him. It wasn’t fair that all of her embarrassing baggage with him had made everyone else not want to touch her with a ten-foot pole. 

Not a damn thing about it was fair, but that was her luck. That had always been her luck.

She felt eight sets of eyes on her as she stood there in front of the firepit. Alone.

Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her sparkling black dress and she pulled the device out, reading the text aloud to the rest of the group. “Hayden, your time on Love Island has come to an end. Please pack your things and say your goodbyes.”

Even though she’d woken up that morning somehow knowing today was her last day, Hayden had expected to feel…something. Anything, really. Instead, she felt absolutely nothing as she stood there, realization setting in that her time here was well and truly done. Finished. 

Nobody else seemed to quite believe it either, judging by the fact that no one had moved from their seats. Suresh looked furious, Dana appeared to be devastated, and Finn, Eddie, and Kat just looked shocked. It was almost eerily quiet, nothing but the crackling of the firepit to fill the empty air.

“What the hell, Alfie?”

Finally, Suresh’s voice rang out, loud and clear as he got to his feet, looking down at Alfie with nothing but fury flickering in his green eyes. She watched as Alfie started to speak but the words were tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Oh, that’s fucking rich, Suresh.” 

His head whipped around, so quickly she thought he might have hurt his neck. “Hayden––”

“I don’t want to hear shit from you, okay? You had every damn chance to pick me and you didn’t, so why the hell are you punishing Alfie for pursuing the first genuine connection he’s had in the Villa?” she demanded, and he just looked at her, frozen where he stood. But she didn’t stop. 

“I can’t believe I honestly thought you were capable of showing me that you aren’t a total and complete ass. I seriously considered giving you another chance, but no! You decided you wanted to play mind games and pick Arlo to make me jealous. So, not only are you playing me but you’re using another girl to do it.”

He grew paler and paler with every word that left her lips, looking as stunned as if she had reached over and slapped him as hard as she could. 

It hadn’t been hard to work out what he was doing. Suresh had always liked to think he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers, but Hayden had been with him long enough that she could spot when he was playing games from a mile away. This time was certainly no different. 

“Damn, she told you Suresh,” she heard Eddie speak up from where he was still sitting next to Dana, sounding way too smug for her liking. She was already on a roll, may as well keep going…

“Oh, don’t even get me started on you, Eddie.” Hayden turned to look at him, unable to squash the pride she felt when he went nearly as pale as Suresh had gotten, his eyes wide as he took her in.

“You have been sticking your nose into my business ever since I got here. Telling every damn person in this Villa about who I’m snogging, who I’m flirting with––hell, I cannot even talk to someone without you running and tattling to everyone about what I’m doing. It’s like we’re in primary school!”

She heard Alfie stifle a laugh, coughing into his fist in a vain attempt to mask the sound. 

“Honestly, Eddie, you’re a manipulative snake and I feel bad for Dana that she has to be in a couple with you. The way you like to pretend you’re looking out for everyone, when actually you’re just stirring the pot and trying to make everyone else look bad? Trying to make me look bad? You know what, I’m glad that I’m leaving so I don’t have to deal with it anymore.”

With that, she turned on her heels and walked back to the Villa to collect her things.

A few moments later, she heard footsteps on the decking but she didn’t bother turning around to see who was coming after her. She simply made her way upstairs to the bedroom, finding her cupboard and dragging her things out of it. She didn’t bother folding anything up nicely, knowing she’d dump it all in the laundry as soon as she was back home.

Home.

God, she hadn’t thought she would miss it as much as she had. After things ended between her and Suresh, it had been hard to go back to her old life, as dramatic as that sounded. But it had. Heartbreak made your head all fuzzy, made it hard to remember the person you’d been before you had let someone in. She’d become someone different, and it hadn’t felt right to just try and be the person she’d used to be. 

So, she’d moved away from Edinburgh. Found a flat in London, made new friends, got a typical post-breakup haircut. It hadn’t felt like home, though. What she’d built with Suresh had been a home, as much as it pained her to admit that, but London had been more of an…escape. But now, standing at her bedside, throwing her clothes into the sleek metal suitcase, she couldn’t help but think of it as home. 

Maybe this had been what she’d always needed, a way to finally sever the ties that bound her to the life she’d had before. “Hayden…”

Dana’s voice was soft, a little wobbly like she was fighting back the urge to cry. Hayden felt a gentle hand on her arm and she managed a small smile. “I’m okay Dana, honestly,” she assured her, and it was the truth. She wasn’t sad to be leaving. If anything, she was relieved.

“Maybe if you’d put on your grafting boots, you wouldn’t be hitting the road so soon,” Kat said, perching herself on the edge of the bed.

Hayden rolled her eyes as she bunched up a T-shirt and tossed it in. “Listen Kat, I’m going to give you some tough love because out of everyone here, I think you need it most. Finn is a flirt. Choose to believe it or not, that’s your choice. But if tonight showed you anything, it’s that he’s not all in the way that you are.” Kat opened her mouth to speak but Hayden put a hand up to stop her. 

“And before you go off on some tangent about how delusional I am or how I sound like I’m full of shit, how about you hop off your fucking high horse and gain some perspective? You and Finn may have chemistry, but you also clash. You’re too possessive and he’s too flighty. I couldn’t count on both hands the amount of times he’s flirted with me since coupling up with you. So, I would think long and hard about whether or not you want to dump all of your eggs in his basket before you get hurt.”

Kat looked gobsmacked, her mouth hanging open like she was planning on using it to try and catch flies. Finally, she shook her head and hopped up off of the bed. “Whatever babes, your opinion doesn’t matter since you’re leaving anyways,” she said before she sashayed out of the room, leaving Hayden and Dana alone.

The two girls shared a look, and Hayden found herself unable to stifle the giggles that escaped her. “God, good luck with her, girl,” she told Dana, reaching for a bikini to stuff into the suitcase. 

Dana started to say something, although someone in the doorway must have caught her eye, Hayden thought, because she clenched her jaw, her posture going a bit rigid. When Hayden turned and saw who was standing there, she thought the reaction was pretty damn warranted. 

“Suresh,” she said a little cooly, and her ex had the nerve to look sheepish.

“Can we talk Hay? Please?” he asked, and she turned to look at Dana who simply nodded and left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

“What do you want, Suresh?” Hayden asked, folding her arms over her chest. Maybe it made her look a little defensive, but she had every reason to be when he was around. This was the man who had shattered her like some piece of fine china, God forbid she didn’t welcome him with open arms.

“I thought Alfie was going to pick you,” he admitted, stepping further into the room.

“Alfie and I are just friends. He and Meera actually have the potential to be something,” Hayden said, turning her attention back to packing. “Besides, with you in here, I’m too ‘complicated.’” The words had stung a little when she’d first heard them, but she’d learned to let them roll off of her. Even if everyone in the Villa thought she was defined by her ex-boyfriend, she wouldn’t allow herself to be.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and she bit her lip, throwing another bikini into her suitcase.

“Don’t be. I’m ready to leave,” she admitted, gently shrugging her shoulders. 

“Because of me?”

Hayden closed her eyes for a brief moment, forcing herself to take a deep breath, before she shut her suitcase and turned to face him. “Do you know what you did to me?” she asked, and he shifted.

“I cheated––”

“No,” she interrupted. “Do you know what you did to me?” When he didn’t say anything, she continued on. “You broke me, Suresh. You didn’t just break my heart, but you broke me. I couldn’t even live in the same country as you after what happened. I had to move to a completely different city to try and put myself back together.

“I was going to marry you. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you because you were it for me. You were the one. I would have quit my job. I would have moved across the globe to be with you, that was how much I fucking loved you. But I wasn’t enough for you.” He started to argue with her but she pushed ahead, raising her voice slightly. 

“If I had been enough for you, you wouldn’t have done what you did. You always want more than what you have. You’re never going to find someone who can satisfy you and I understand that now. I’m tired of letting myself feel like shit because you got greedy.”

He looked hurt, like he couldn’t believe she would say those things to him. But she was tired of cowering and acting like she was just going to lay down and take whatever the world threw at her. She was done being the meek little girl who let men break her apart. She deserved better than that. 

And being in a place like this? Where her ex was practically attached to her hip? Scaring people away from getting to know her? She’d come here to get away from him, not to have him continue to control her life. So if that meant leaving without finding what she’d come here for, that was fine.

At least she was leaving, knowing she was worth a hell of a lot more than everyone had led her to believe. That was more than she’d had before.

“Bye, Suresh,” she said, pulling her suitcase off of the bed before brushing past him and down the stairs.

The rest of the Islanders were gathered outside the front door of the Villa, ready to send her off. She hugged Dana and Alfie and exchanged pleasantries with Arlo, Finn, and Meera. Kat and Eddie looked as if they’d rather die than talk to her which was perfectly fine. Suresh was nowhere to be seen, probably still reeling from the conversation they’d just had. She didn’t say anything––she doubted there was anything left for her to say––so she simply walked down the drive, dragging her suitcase behind her.

The last time a chapter of her life had closed, she’d been heartbroken. She’d thought that there was no way she could move on and be whole again. And now here she was, closing another chapter, this time with the knowledge that she was coming out on the other side. Despite all of the stupid drama and her past threatening to drag her back down, she was stronger than it all.

That was something to be proud of.

#litg #litg writers room #writers room #ask #ellegreenwxy #litg season 5 #litg ex in the villa #love island the game #litg fanfic

[sweetfirebird]

A Lovely Thing

The third prompt fill for Marianne on Patreon, who donated and asked for Mattin wooing Mil.

The thing is… Mattin would be terrible at this. At least at first.

Content tags: it’s pretty fluffy. Reading A Suitable Consort first would make it make sense to you but like… I’m not a cop. Do what you want.

A Lovely Thing

Mattin looked up from the pile of brittle, ancient correspondence which had recently been uncovered by a member of the Balvaranah and sent to the Great Library to be studied and recorded. The Balvaranah were beat-of-fours but a fairly minor and probably wanted some addition to their family legends, but so far the letters were all from a Hestabarri leader, leaving Mattin to wonder how they’d ended up with the Balvaranah to begin with. 

They weren’t even records of a current—at the time—battle but discussions of tactics of the past. Which was truly not Mattin’s area of expertise, which meant he kept having to go look up terms and ancient place names before he could continue.

He blinked away descriptions of ancient savagery to consider the closed door and the book Elbi had left on his desk before returning to her other duties.

He reached for it with some confusion, then was grateful his strangled gasp was audible only to him. He was out of his chair in the next moment, fragile historical records forgotten as he reached for his bag to shove the book into it. Then he left his office… only to swoop back in after exiting the library and seeing his escort of guards turn toward him, which reminded him of the cloak and gloves back in his office.

With a garbled noise of impatience and no small amount of embarrassment, he tore back out of the library and walked as quickly as he could without running toward the royal apartments, his guards startled but keeping pace easily.

Mattin, red-faced, huffing and puffing, probably looked frightful, and passed his hands over his hair as if that would fix whatever his quick pace through the cold winter air had done to it. A clasp actually popped open and fell into his hand and he sighed heavily—or would have if he hadn’t been too breathless.

Mil was outside the royal apartments, dressed for the weather and the recently passed storm that had left mountains of snow throughout the palace that were still being cleared. He turned toward Mattin with alarm flashing over his face before he seemed to realize it was only Mattin dashing toward him and not an enemy.

“I’m late!” Mattin called out. “I’m so sorry!”

Mil’s worried frown eased away, although it returned when Mattin skidded to a stop in front of him—well, skidded and bumped into Mil’s bulk, which stopped him. Mil pressed his hands to Mattin’s shoulders, skimming a touch over him as if maybe, just possibly, Mattin was injured and hadn’t told him. To others, it might have looked like a touch of pure affection but Mattin had seen him touch Arden that way and knew different.

He smiled despite his heaving chest so Mil would cease his worrying. “I didn’t mean to be late.”

“If you didn’t get lost in your papers and books, you wouldn’t be Sass,” Mil answered, leaving Mattin uncertain as to whether or not he’d just been insulted. But Mil dropped a kiss to his forehead, so he abandoned the question in favor of hiding his face and pretending he couldn’t hear palace guards cooing. Mil told them to fuck off anyway, lightly, more to please Mattin than out of any concern for his own dignity or what was proper.

“It’s fine,” Mattin mumbled, though truthfully he was still wondering what those in the palace thought of him, of this. But that was a question for another day. He had something more important to take care of. If… if this did not work out. If Mattin’s presence was more harmful than helpful, then he would step back no matter what Arden might try to convince him of or how Mil how plead. But if that happened, he still wanted to give Mil what he deserved. So he stepped away from Mil’s pleasing heat to gaze up into Mil’s beautiful face.

“What’s that look?” Mil raised an eyebrow the way Arden did… or maybe the way he did. Mattin had no way of knowing which of them had done it first and it would not matter to them anymore after decades together.

Mattin glanced around them to the guards now standing at a polite distance—although unless he whispered, they would hear every word he said. But that was part of the point, and Arden and Mil hadn’t hesitated to be public with him, so public… semi-public… it must be.

He reached into his bag, leaving the book for the moment to pull out a small cloth bundle, which he handed to Mil while his stomach twisted and turned and flopped around unpleasantly.

Mil’s concerned expression did not go away, but he accepted the present and slowly tugged the cloth away, only to say nothing when he saw the gift inside.

“There was a hair clasp I considered but I wasn’t sure about it.” Mattin forced himself to speak. It all had sounded smoother in his head. He had even gone to sleep peacefully while thinking of it—although that might have had more to do with being pleasantly exhausted and pinned under Arden’s arm with Mil snuffling the back of his neck.

Mattin gestured clumsily at the ring Mil had still not put on or even touched directly. “It, um, should fit.” A few climaxes and even Mil slept heavily. “It’s not jeweled, I know.” Arden could afford that. Mil could probably afford that. Mattin could not. “But I thought that might be a distraction anyway, while you… spar… and things. This is fairly smooth, but the design should match the design in the cuff Arden’s wears.” Arden’s cuff was warm gold, bright in color, but still discreet. “Silver suits you better. At least, I think so. Maybe you wanted gold?”

“Sass.”

Choked. Hesitant.

Mattin glanced to the guards again. “Silver is not soft like gold. So it should take some damage. I did consider that. Perhaps you wanted prettier?”

Mil looked up from the ring. “You don’t think I’d look foolish?”

“Oh.” Mattin swept back toward him with some relief, gently taking the ring from Mil so he could remove one of Mil’s gloves and then slide the ring onto Mil’s finger. It fit perfectly, making Mattin sigh. He tipped his head up so their eyes met. “I think the only thing prettier would be you wearing nothing but jewelry I’ve bought you.”

He whispered it, although his discretion didn’t matter much when Mil growled, “Mattin Arlylian,” and picked him up to kiss him.

Mattin was set back onto the ground after several dizzying moments. At least no one cooed this time.

“I made you sound like Arden.” Mattin didn’t know if that was good or bad, but assumed good, since he’d gotten a kiss.

Mil was staring at his hand, his expression so soft that it would have startled many in the capital who only knew him by his reputation.

Mattin reached out, taking Mil’s hand and unsurprised that it was still warmer than Mattin’s despite Mattin’s gloves.

“Oh yes,” Mil murmured, following where Mattin led as though he wasn’t over twice Mattin’s size and armed and very deadly, “you said you had something you needed to do today and wanted me with you and asked if I was free.”

“Yes.” Mattin was still red-faced, but at least his stomach was settling down. Mil liked the ring. Good. Mattin probably should have sought Arden’s advice before buying it, but, well, he wasn’t sure about Arden’s taste in such things. “That is, I didn’t mean to be late and I’m…” Mattin paused, trying to remember any direction that was not heading back into the royal apartments to take Mil to bed so he could see him wearing only that ring. “You weren’t hoping to do something else?” He stopped abruptly, though Mil was too graceful to bump into him. “I wasn’t too late?”

“Wound up a little more than usual today, Sass?” Mil asked mildly, spinning Mattin around by their joined hands.

The air rushed out of Mattin’s lungs. Then he sucked in a breath and frowned. “What do you mean, ‘more than usual?’”

Mil’s expression went blank, then innocent. “Are we late to something?”

It was a subject change, but since Mattin had been late, he allowed it. He started walking again, nodding absently to the few people they passed and trying not to think of how it looked, him leading Mil, who was in turn being followed by several guards.

“Ah, that is…” Mattin turned and turned again and refused to acknowledge when Mil simply picked him up once to lift him over a particularly large snowdrift. It occurred to him that there might have been better days to do this but he had already begun it, so he pulled Mil into one of the walled palace gardens and then hurried over to an available bench.

They were all available. Most of them were covered in snow. One wasn’t, and that was the one Mattin went to.

He stifled a startled yip when his backside met the freezing stone but managed to smile before Mil could pester him with more questions than an, “You all right?”

“Fine. Fine. I needed a break and it’s nice to sit in the gardens,” Mattin assured him.

Mil looked around—and probably at the distant guards who were more than likely closing off all other entrances to the garden for them—but sat down. He didn’t bother to muffle his, “Fuck me that’s cold!” as he did.

He pulled his cloak tighter around him, then, after a squint at Mattin, pulling Mattin in to wrap him in the cloak as well. Mattin burrowed in next to him while staring stubbornly at barren, snow-covered trees and shrubs.

“Well, it’s nice in the summers,” he admitted, before deflating with a small sigh. “Sorry. I read an account of a… I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“Now, now,” Mil said gamely, “you have something you need to do and you want me with you. I can stand a little cold.”

Mattin huffed and regretted it when the cloud of breath only reminded him of how cold he was.

“You like the outdoors,” he insisted, then growled to himself for being silly. “I’m sorry. I’ve never done this before.”

“You keep saying sorry,” Mil observed quietly. “You done something I don’t know about? Something terrible?”

Mattin shuffled in closer but didn’t look at him. “I… I asked Elbi to get me a book.”

“A book,” Mil echoed, clearly mystified. “I suppose you can never have too many of those?”

Mattin nearly glanced up just to glare at him but changed his mind. He dug the book out from his bag instead, displacing a bag of spiced biscuits, which he quickly handed to Mil as a distraction while he fiddled with the book. Although, of course, the biscuits had also been intended for Mil. Mattin had just also forgotten those until now.

“My favorite,” Mil remarked after crunching one. “Thank you.”

“I know.” Mattin had made several lists of Mil’s favorite things. Which was part of what had started this. But… since he’d begun it….

He opened the book and cleared his throat, grateful his cheeks were already red.

“All that is mine I gave, vows made soft to softer skin. All mine is yours, I prayed, while your fingers pressed within. My heart—” Mattin stopped reading abruptly, flustered. “I picked the wrong one. Sorry. I… sorry.”

“Pressed within?” Mil echoed, loud enough to make Mattin cringe. Mil plucked the book from Mattin’s useless hands and held it up to flip through the pages. “There’s cock in this. I think they’re talking about cock anyway. This is… poetry?”

“I didn’t write it.” Mattin snatched the bag of biscuits off Mil’s lap and ate one. “It’s from two centuries ago but it’s meant to be very romantic. I… I meant to look through it ahead of time but I…”

“Forgot?” Mil finished softly, shutting the book.

Mattin nodded, cold and miserable and now covered in crumbs.

“Poetry,” Mil said again.

Mattin sighed pathetically. “I wanted something different from what Arden recites to you. But I should have looked first.”

“Ah,” Mil answered in a funny voice. “And the garden?”

“You like being outdoors,” Mattin replied, in the tone of someone who generally didn’t go outside much at all.

“Hmm.” Mil kept the book in his lap and reached for the bag of biscuits again to take one. “I like these.”

“I know.” Mattin was too discouraged to sigh again. “As you do not like the ring. I am… I am no good at wooing you, Mil. I’m so sorry.”

“Well now, who says I don’t like it?” Mil huffed, holding his hand out. The silver glinted even in the pale winter sun. “It’s tiny and delicate, and I’ll worry every day that I’ll break it the way I worry someday I’ll do the same to you, but I never said I don’t like it. It’s a lovely thing, Sass, and I’m not one to receive lovely things.”

He watched Mattin nervously tie and untie the strings of the bag. “This is for me as well?” Mil was silent for a moment. “An afternoon outside, with sweets and poetry about fingers pressing in?”

Mattin inched away from him, choosing to die of exposure instead of humiliation. “It was meant to be love poetry.” No wonder Elbi had hurried out of the room without meeting his eye.

Mil’s arm came around him. Then Mil tugged, not just pulling Mattin against him but into his lap. Mattin flailed. The biscuits and book fell to the snow. He tried to reach for them, but then Mil was gently cupping his face and Mattin had no choice but to look at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“You keep saying that.” Mil leaned in closer. His breath was warming. His mouth would probably taste of biscuits. “I think you took time away from your busy days of getting dusty in your beloved library,” Mattin would have objected but Mil kept going, “for me, because you wanted to do something nice for me. With me.” Mil lowered his voice. “I like that. I like that very much indeed. And your fine gifts and your dirty poems.”

At that, Mattin did object, but then Mil kissed him, so it fell to nothing.

A soft kiss but not a light one. Mattin was starting to dizzy again when Mil pulled back. “How about,” Mil began, before groaning a little and kissing Mattin again, “we take this time to go back indoors.” The suggestion was punctuated with another kiss. “Because I’m freezing my balls off so you must be dying. We’ll—I’ll get a fire started. And we can finish your biscuits, if you like, and read more of your naughty poems.”

“Really,” Mattin grumbled and was kissed for it.

“And you can see me wear your ring for you,” Mil finished, a touch out of breath.

Mattin met his eyes. “Just that?” he wondered, because to him that would be a very lovely thing, and was on his feet a moment later while Mil hastily grabbed the bag and the book before scooping Mattin up again to head back to the royal apartments. 

#charity prompt #charity prompts 2023 #a suitable consort (for the king and his husband) #r. cooper #a suitable 'verse