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#and it started snowing when we were halfway up
freebooter4ever · 3 months
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The rain'll let up, they said. It'll be gone by noon, they said.
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giuliettagaltieri · 2 months
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Shower of Gold
Pairing: Dad!Coriolanus Snow x Mom!Reader
Chapter Synopsis: The Mother
Warning: warming up to parenthood
Word Count: 2874
6 of 7
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When Aurelius Hyperion Swansworth-Snow was born, Coriolanus’ world just got a whole lot bigger.
He never thought he could love another the same as he loved you.  But he did.
Little Harper, as you would call him, looked exactly like his father.  The same golden curls and piercing blue eyes.  His cheeks were fat and pink as he babbled.
And just like his father, Little Harper loved you very much.
You have never been without Harper.  To the point that it often puts a strain on the intimate relationship you had with your husband.  But one pointed stare from you would let Coriolanus loosen his possessive hold on your waist, often looking like a kicked puppy as he sulks the entire night, sleeping with his back turned to you.
But with a wet kiss and a chubby hand slapping his cheek awake in the mornings, his brooding dissipates and he gladly accepts his little boy’s affections.
“Good morning, daddy.”  You say as your son claps his hands excitedly.
Coriolanus blinks his eyes as he looks at you, the sleepy fog is yet to leave his head but it does not stop him from seeing just how beautiful you are.  You are still in your sleeping gown, your hair disheveled, and your eyes still droop with sleepiness.  He believes it was at moments like this when he loves you the most.  When his mind is empty and your smiling face is the first thing that enters his head.
“Good morning.”  He drawls and he turns to his son who was nibbling at his deltoid that was the size of the kid’s head.  He looks at the string of saliva that webbed on his arm.  “That’s unsanitary.”
You scoff at your husband, cooing at your baby the next second.  “He just misses his daddy.  Don’t you, Harper?”
Harper looks at you curiously, bringing his chubby fist to his mouth.  You lay your head to Coriolanus’ chest as you coo at him.  Harper was unsure what you were doing but the happiness on your face brought forth a toothless smile from him.
He receives a smooch to his cheek from you and absentmindedly, Coriolanus puts his large hands to your baby’s face.
Your baby’s eyes cross as he keeps his eyes on your husband’s enormous hand.
Before you can ask what he is doing, Coriolanus gently pushes him down to the pillow that supports his back. 
You shriek in mortification, your baby blinks at the ceiling, not quite processing what has happened.  You swat at your husband’s chest as you get up to help your son to sit back up.
“I am so sorry, baby.  Daddy’s such a horrible man, isn’t he?”  You coo to your baby who is yet unsure whether he should be laughing or crying.  “Daddy, you bully!”  You accuse him as you pat your baby’s leg gently.
He only looks at you blankly, making you sigh and lean down to plant a kiss to his awaiting lips.  He always gets so cranky in the early mornings.
“Now, get up.”  You say as you rub his chest.  Coriolanus grunts as he gets out of bed, stretching like a cat as he yawns.  He ruffles Harper’s blonde curls before leaving you to take a shower.
He was already halfway through his coffee when you arrived with Harper now freshly bathed.
Coriolanus looks at Harper as you place him on the high chair. 
“We have a meeting today.”  Coriolanus reminds you as he keeps his eyes trained on his son.
You nod.  “Yes, I studied the report last night.”
“Harper?”  He sips his coffee as he reads the recent reports about the new District 12 mayor.
You chuckle knowingly as you nuzzle your nose against Harper’s.  “Little Harper’s coming with mommy, of course.”  He giggled as his fingers were quick to grab at your clothes.
Coriolanus smiles in his seat after he stole a glance at you.
“One wail and he’s out.”
“Oh, honestly!”  You have taken offense for your boy but Coriolanus challenges you with his own stern gaze.  “So mean.”  You mutter as you start feeding Harper with baby food.
Your husband puts the papers away and starts his breakfast.  “I just did not want you to look unprofessional.” 
“Corio?”
“Hm?”
“Shut up.”
His eyes narrow before he returns to his breakfast.
A scowl was painted on your face the entire breakfast and you refused to talk to him anymore.  Responding with nods and silence to his attempt to start another conversation.
Coriolanus knows that he might have offended you deeply.
“Are you ready?”  He asks as you wipe Harper’s face with the bib.
You respond by getting up and scooping your son in your arms, your chin raised as you carry yourself with elegance.  The baby bag was waiting to be picked up by you in the corner but Coriolanus beats you to it.
He walks ahead of you, the baby bag slung on his shoulder and his briefcase on his other hand.  You quietly follow him, not acknowledging him when he opens the doors for you, one leading out of your mansion and the other to your car.
Coriolanus waits by the backseat, just next to Harper’s car seat.  He had to pick it personally.  It was heavily padded, bulky enough to put you at ease, knowing that your baby will be protected should anything happen.
“I’ll strap him in.”  He offers as he fixes the aviators resting on his nose as he looks past your head.
Coriolanus is a proud man, you understand this is his way of apologizing.
You kiss Harper’s nose and you place him in your husband’s secure hold.
In the meantime, you buckle yourself in the passenger seat.
Coriolanus soon joins you in front and he starts the car after securing his seatbelt.
The silence was loud, had it not been for Harper’s babbles, you would have been tempted to turn the radio on.  You choose to review your itinerary for the day when a warm hand sneaks to your thigh and you feel Coriolanus’ thumb brushing it in a soothing manner.
“Apologize properly.”  You quip.
“Y/N please.”  He says tiredly.
“No.  I want you to say you are sorry.”
He wets his lips with his tongue and his jaw tightens as he keeps his eyes on the road, the leather cladding the wheel creaks under his grip.
When he refuses to do it, you return to your schedule.
“I’m sorry.”
You keep your eyes on the piece of paper attached to your planner and your husband groans as he leans back in his chair, his head resting on the support. 
“I’m sorry for antagonizing our son.”  He squeezes your thigh.  “And for insulting you.  I know you are more than capable in balancing both your duties to Panem and our family.”
Finally, your rouge painted lips spread to a small smile.
“You are forgiven.”  You place your hand over his.  The glint of the rings on your finger easing his anxiousness a bit more.
Harper yaps and Coriolanus grins.  “Yes, I know.  I’m sorry, I’m not stealing mommy.”
You press a knuckle to your lips, not wanting to laugh as your son takes quick offense in being left out.  You try to keep your voice down as you turn to your husband.  “I’ll make time for us later, I promise.”
He brings your hand to his lips to kiss and quickly lets you go as Harper yaps angrily.
The moment you enter the presidential mansion, one you use only for official business, Harper understands that he cannot be fussy anymore.  He was seated on your lap, nibbling on a fruit pacifier as a man talked while pointing at the bright square behind him.  The moving objects greatly entertained the baby on your lap.
Harper recognizes your voice and looks up.  He pulls the pacifier from his mouth when your tone sharpens.  The boy’s blond crinkle together as his lips jut out when the unknown man responds to you with anger.
The other people in the room also seem to be angry at the person standing and Harper leans back on your stomach knowing that his mommy is not alone.  But the man is suddenly pointing at you and to him, the poor innocent boy.  Harper grunts and looks at his father angrily.
“Da!”
Coriolanus, who was leaning to the side with his legs crossed, looked at his son.  He brings a finger to his lips and Harper huffs.
“You are failing to see things objectively.”  Coriolanus says to the man who was starting to sweat under the disapproving eyes of everyone present in the room.  “The Lady did not dismiss your idea because she was biased to infants.  Your idea was dismissed as administering a vaccine to the younger population of Panem without having it thoroughly tested could be catastrophic.  We are talking about large scale mortality.”
The man laughs and Harper presses himself closer to you, disturbed by the behavior.
“Why do you care, Mister President?  They’re just Districts!”
Coriolanus nods, finally understanding the argument of this man.  He had suspicions but he wanted the man to say it. 
“Districts.”  Coriolanus grins sardonically.  “Do you plan to instigate a second rebellion?”
The man is tongue-tied, he makes wild gestures but fails to keep his argument.  “Exaggeration.”  He laughs nervously.
“When their children start dying off, will they not fight back?”  Coriolanus asks.  “And a rebellion does not happen overnight.”  He adds.  “It is because of the piling up missteps made by men like you.”  Harper slams his chubby hand on the desk to show he is on his father’s side.  “Thank you, Harper.  And who will suffer when that happens?”
The man looks at his feet in shame.  The backlash could be severe.  The crops and livestock sent to the Capitol could be poisoned.  The Capitol could be powered down when all the system shuts off.
Countless possibilities and consequences could take place after one wrong decision.
“But I understand that this vaccine is important.”  Coriolanus sighs.  “Send it back to the lab.  Study it further for possible adverse reactions.  I will not give the greenlight until you are able to tell me the mechanism of action of this vaccine without looking at your notes.”
As the men file out of the room, you sit Harper on the hard wood table as you clean up your desk.  “I cannot believe the cabinet let this man reach your office.  He was unprepared.”  You say and Harper continues to chew on his pacifier, the crushed cherries inside needs replacing.
Coriolanus agrees with you and scoops Harper off the table, the little boy draws his arms and chin over his father’s shoulder to check if you are close by.  “Shall we go, my love?”
You nod and you stand on your tippy toes to press a kiss on Harper’s cheek as you lean on Coriolanus for support.
The next event is the annual summit, where Coriolanus is expected to give a speech involving the latest reports and advancements made by Panem’s Capitol based research facility and what plans lie ahead. 
In the ceremony, the Lady Justice was often a symbolic figure that was ever present.  Only this time, a sword seems to have gone missing in the smaller statue that is kept in the Presidential mansion’s reception hall.
“This is a disgrace.”  Your husband tells the staff who were in charge of the events.  “How could something so essential be misplaced?”
Harper was getting fussy in your arms at the sight of his father so agitated.
It seemed rather insignificant but having it missing is a blatant display of disrespect.
Your mind races for possible solutions.
You can talk to the media to cut the view of the Lady Justice.
Or perhaps you can have the entire statue be carried out of the room, no that would cause too much commotion.
And then it hits you.
“Corio.”  You call and he reluctantly heads your way.  “The sword in your office.” 
Harper pulls at Coriolanus’ tie and nibbles.  Your husband gently pulls the fabric, ignoring the wet stain as he processes your words.
“I think it might be the perfect size.”  He rubs his chin.  “I’ll go send someone to get it.”
You put a firm hand on his chest and he pauses.
“Harper and I will come get it.”  You smile at him reassuringly.  “It’s only a few floors up.  And the peacekeepers stationed in your office will let me through and out with no hitches.”
Coriolanus wanted to protest but you were right.
You would be most efficient for the task.
“I can watch Harper.”  He offers but you shake your head.
“Relax for now.  Harper is going to help mommy get the sword.”
Coriolanus smiles tiredly and he presses his forehead against yours, his large hand placed on Harper’s back protectively.
“Da.”  Harper calls and Coriolanus chuckles and snaps his fingers, an Avox places a pair of aviators to his hands, one he previously wore, and he puts it on Harper.  
You often do this when you expect a lot of camera flashes.  You would hate to overwhelm your baby.
“Still can’t believe that’s his first word when he’s such a momma’s boy.”  Your husband says, making you smile affectionately.
You give him one last look before you rush out of the room with Harper in your arms.  Camera flashes from the reporters follow after you.
The guests are already arriving and the main media companies are setting up their equipment.  You have no time to lose.
Harper was such a good kid, not fussing as he clung to you when you rushed to the office of your dear husband.
As expected, the peacekeepers stationed outside the doors let you through without even asking about your business to be in the office.
You easily spot the sword on the side.  It hasn’t been removed from the position you first saw it in back at the inauguration of Coriolanus as President.
“You beauty.”  You smile as you easily grab it from the bracket mounted on the wall.  Harper made an attempt to touch it but you were quick enough to pull it away from him.  “This is dangerous, sweetheart.”  You easily slip it inside the scabbard as you refuse to take any chances for Harper.
The peacekeepers stationed outside the presidential office were oriented about what happened and gladly reopened the door for you and Harper.
People moved out of the way as they saw the sword on your hand and the baby on the other.  You have your chin held high as you enter the hall.  Coriolanus stopped mid sentence while talking to Strabo Plinth at the sight of you.
“Oh, good Heavens!”  Mrs. Plinth exclaims and approaches you with concern.  You looked rather dangerous with the enormous weapon in your hand.  Harper smiles brightly when he sees her and he raises his arms, wanting to be picked up by the woman.  Mrs. Plinth cups her mouth, touched by the little boy’s behavior.  You gladly hand her your son.
Grandmotherhood is a privilege stolen from her.
Mr. Plinth was smiling at you when you approached him and your husband.
“She saves the day.”  He tells Coriolanus who nods with a proud look in his eyes. 
You give Coriolanus the sword and he steps on the ladders to place the sword on the empty hand of the Lady Justice.
“Justice is restored.”  The former President, Maximinius Ravinstill, claps his hand and the rest of the crowd rises from their seats to applaud you and Coriolanus.  Justice was not something that could have easily been lost after the disappearance of a sword but The Lady Justice was an important symbolic figure not just to Corso but to Panem.
That night, you are in your shared bedroom.  You are resting your back on the headboard, your tired back being cushioned by enormously large pillows while your son has fallen asleep from nursing on your ample bosom.
You are humming a soft tune, your feet moving to the melody when Coriolanus enters.  He is yet to change his clothing as he was still in his dress pants and shirt that has a few buttons undone.
“Your grand entrance overshadowed the event.”  He grins as he shows you the paper.  There in the headlines, a picture of you with Harper held on one arm and sword on the other.
“Oh, Corio.”  You frown apologetically.  “I am sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”  He scoffs, the smile remaining on his face.  “Everybody loved it!  They forgave the errors I mentioned as they were so enamored by you.”
You are not certain how to respond but he shows you the photo once more.
“Look at Harper.”  He says excitedly.  “Grandma’am sent a photo of mine when I was still a toddler and he looks exactly just like me.”
You are not certain if Coriolanus was aware of the smitten look on his face but you dare not point it out as you listen to him talk about the photos and Harper.
Coriolanus might act indifferent to his son at times but he cannot deny the fact that Harper has him wrapped around his chubby little finger.
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Quest for Happiness
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theoldsports · 5 months
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Married | Part II
LINK TO PART ONE
Coriolanus Snow x Reader | 5.1K words
FILTHY SMUT 18+ ONLY. oral (m and f receiving), dubcon, alcohol makes consent messy, brutal sex, blackout drunk, bad media coverage, lingerie, exhibitionism (a little), they’re both terrible for each other in the best way possible, possessiveness <3 this one gets a bit dark.
Married, back by popular demand. hope it’s okay. i worked hard, i’m a bit nervous. let me know what you thought. requests always open.
“Not a villain,” Coriolanus scoffed. “A star.”
He inhaled and set his sights towards his next objective. Already leaning in, Coriolanus pulled [Y/N]’s earlobe between his lips tantalizingly. “Now, I seem to recall being promised a blowjob, my Darling.”
[Y/N] sighed. “I had hoped you’d forgotten.”
Coriolanus smirked, inches from her face. “I never forget a promise.” He muttered.
The driver pulled up in front of them with his car and Coriolanus pulled [Y/N] inside. [Y/N] put her head on Coriolanus’ shoulder instead of putting on her seatbelt for the short drive home. She was drunk enough not to care if she was touching him, or if he was touching her. Coriolanus was touching her. He was touching her too much already at her thighs and hips. The pair of them had already broken the touch barrier that evening, but her brain was too loopy to try to push any kind of new/old boundary.
[Y/N] blinked heavily. She was able to tell that Coriolanus was already becoming frustrated with the bulk of tulle that was her black gown. It was funny for an engagement party when she thought about it, since it stood in stark contrast to her crisp white wedding gown. Coriolanus couldn’t seem to figure out how to touch her right under all the fabric as he had then they were standing earlier.
“Is your wedding dress going to be easier to handle?” Coriolanus said into the back of her ear. “This one is starting to get on my nerves.”
“I can’t tell you that. You’re not ‘pposed to see it til you see it at the alter.” She giggled sadly.
Coriolanus frowned. “Ancient superstition,” he said. “I’m not seeing it anyway. You’d be telling me about it. It’s different.”
“Nice try.”
Coriolanus’ frown deepened as he rolled his icy blue ice. “May I ask you something else, then?”
“It depends.” [Y/N] said clearly. Too clearly, really. That was the problem with drunk people, they knew they were drunk, but they tried to prove to everyone around them that they weren’t.
Coriolanus laughed at her expense. She was behaving like a child. He found it equal parts charming and frustrating. “Have you ever given a blowjob before?” He asked too loudly for [Y/N]’s liking.
“Coriolanus!” She gasped, smacking his arm.
“I’m just asking! You don’t have to strike me. Haven’t we had enough of that for one night?”
[Y/N] hated Coriolanus. He made her blood boil. “What does it matter?” She growled.
“I was curious if you had offered because it was a matter of superior ability, or because that was the only thing you had to offer.”
“You’re calling me desperate!”
“I wasn’t specifically, but since we both agree that it’s true…”
“All this was shaping up to be halfway tolerable, and you open your big mouth again. Fuck you!”
“Yeah, I know. You fucking me is what I was aiming for. Yes or no on the blowjob thing? I was assuming you had, if it makes any difference.”
[Y/N] paused. She had given a blowjob. Quite a few, actually. They were very convenient for getting out of a bad situation fast. She didn’t answer. [Y/N] still didn’t have the courage to say that in front of the driver.
“You can say yes. I know you’re not a virgin.” Coriolanus said bluntly.
Coriolanus would know that. Prior to their engagement, it was true that [Y/N] had pulled Coriolanus in for a quick fuck at a University party. She was shocked that he implied he even remembered that for as drunk as she recalled him being. [Y/N] wondered if the two of them would only ever be able to love each other under the influence.
“Can this conversation wait a few moments, we’re almost home.” [Y/N] replied.
“You didn’t have much of a problem back at the party in front of damn near everyone that’s ever known you. Is one driver going to make a difference?”
“FINE!” [Y/N] snapped. “Fine. I have, I give a decent blowie. Happy?”
Coriolanus smiled an uncharacteristically wide grin. The driver coughed slightly and loosened his tie. [Y/N] would have been incredibly embarrassed if she had any dignity left. Coriolanus grinned even wider at his driver’s behavior. His new favorite pass time was seeing how far he was capable of pushing [Y/N] to do whatever he wanted. So far, so good. Her initial resistance before her moment of breaking and behaving even worse than himself is what made this all the more fun.
The driver pulled up in front of the steps to their city apartment. Coriolanus gathered [Y/N]’s long forgotten shoes from the car’s floor. The driver got out to open the door for [Y/N]. Ever the gentleman publicly, Coriolanus ran around the side of the car to get it faster. He helped his fiancée out of the car. A Herculean task when you consider the alcohol in her system and the weight of all the fabric in her ballgown. “Come on, Darling,” he said, yanking her somehow elegantly towards the stairs, “we have business to attend to.”
Coriolanus helped her up the stairs and into their apartment. It was easier than it had been on the way out in those deathtrap heels he had purchased her.
Faintly, [Y/N] heard the door snap shut behind her and the deadbolt click resolutely. She leaned up against the wall. Coriolanus left her field of vision for a moment. When he re-entered her sights, [Y/N] blinked up at him. “Hi.” She said.
Coriolanus smirked at her curiously. “Hello.” He replied.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” [Y/N] started. She took a clumsy step towards Coriolanus and grabbed the lapels of his coat for support once she could reach him. “You’re quite pretty,” she said. Coriolanus began a laugh. “No! Don’t. Don’t do that. I mean, you’re a very attractive man. You are. Too bad that you’re—“
“Don’t finish that sentence,” Coriolanus cut in with a scoff. “Here, let me help you,” he pulled her in closer. His hands moved nimbly down her back to pop open one button after the other on her dress while still allowing her to support herself against his front. For the first time, Coriolanus didn’t care that much if she wrinkled his clothes. When the majority of the buttons were undone, her dress slid down her body and landed in a large heap at her feet. What was left under the dress was [Y/N] in no bra (which Coriolanus had not expected, even under the strapless gown) and alarmingly red lace panties, stockings and garters (also unexpected). “I… Wow,” He said cooly. His eyes raked hungrily down her body. Coriolanus had never seen so much of it at once before. “Is there a bra that goes with this?”
“Mhmm,” [Y/N] nodded shyly.
“Hm, I think I would like to see it sometime. This isn’t half bad, though,” He said. He could Coriolanus’ large hands his hands slid down her chest. His hands held her breasts firmly. His eyes widen watching her nipples pebble under the touch of his thumbs. “Why’d you wear this?”
The lingerie wasn’t the most stunning set he had ever seen—it seemed more practical than anything else— though, he could fix that. Coriolanus felt the crotch of his pants tighten at the prospect, knowing that she was already into wearing such things. He was going to call for a lingerie catalog in the morning and buy all of it.
“It’s most of what I wear. I—I like it.”
“I’ll remember,” Coriolanus nodded. She was confident he would remember. She probably wouldn’t remember saying it, though.
Coriolanus stared down at their hardwood floors. He hated hardwood. It creaked too much and only looked good with an abundance of maintenance. Coriolanus wanted [Y/N] to suck him off as soon as possible and figured that she would probably be appreciative of getting it over with faster, but his mind was racing thinking about the unsightly bruises the hardwood entryway would leave on her knees.
Then the bedroom had the issue of the rug and the rugburn that would give. Further, which bedroom would they go to? Coriolanus hated that [Y/N] insisted on staying in her own room. He would have to fix that. She was clearly just as exciting as he had recalled from childhood, it had merely taken them both a moment to get to that level of vulnerability with each other. Coriolanus decided to lead [Y/N] to his bedroom. He also decided he would insist she kneel on a pillow. He hated the look of bruised knees. It reminded him of the war.
While he pulled her along, he glanced down at her. “The tears at the party, were those real?”
[Y/N] laughed in surprise at the question. “No! Well, maybe twenty percent, if that? Because once I get started, it’s hard to stop.”
“Really?” He replied, leaning her against his open doorway. “You’re sick. I’m rather impressed. That takes a lot of… What’s the word?”
“You said ruthless earlier.”
“Yes, that too, but… It’s brilliant that you can do that at the drop of a hat. Very valuable to you. Scary for me, I’m sure.”
“… Thanks. I’ve been doing it since I was little.” [Y/N] replied dryly. She had never seen Coriolanus’ bedroom before. He had seen hers. Coriolanus thought he could barge in whenever he desired. His own room was previously off limits. [Y/N] figured it wouldn’t have been off limits had she wanted to have sex with him before now.
The room was clean, neat and lacking personal items almost entirely. There was a red rug, a vase of white roses on the nightstand and a small desk for when he took his work to bed with him. The bed, specifically, was enormous. It was piled high with pillow after pillow and the softest white sheets she could imagine. It made the bed she had spent all these weeks in look like a joke.
“Yes, as I recall, you were the fucking… crybaby in school until we were fourteen. And you mean to tell me it was fake?” Coriolanus threw his least favorite pillow on the floor for [Y/N]’s knees with a hushed thump.
“I mean, yes.”
“Why?”
“I like the attention.” [Y/N] said plainly. They both knew she wouldn’t have been so open about it without the alcohol, but boy, did Coriolanus desire this version of her. He saw her in that moment, standing mostly nude in his bedroom. He saw her for the first time for what she was. She was real. [Y/N] was a real person made up of a mess of contradictions. She was a very calculating person. Coriolanus saw that ruthlessness and that icy deadness to her. That was exactly the thing he thought he could love the most about her.
“Freak. What else can you do?”
“I dunno. I just… Do what gets me ahead. Don’t we all, Coriolanus? And, uh, when I see someone I don’t like, instead of saying ‘good to see you’ when they say ‘good to see you,’ I say, ‘yes! To see you!’ And I kind of mumble so it’s not obvious that I’m incapable of saying ‘oh yeah, nice to see you.’ You know I hate pleasantries.”
“Freak,” Coriolanus repeated with a smile. “No pleasantries then, get on your knees.”
[Y/N] walked the few steps towards towards the pillow he had thrown down and sank to her knees on it. She was clumsy when she was drinking, Coriolanus thought. More often than not, she was violently ungraceful more often than not. Coriolanus had rarely seen her be graceful at all. He liked that. He thought he’d moments of clumsiness and carelessness were alluring. [Y/N] looked helpless to him sometimes and he admired that. He wanted to be the thing that held together her broken and unsure nature. He thought of all the things he might have to help her accomplish in their future shared life together.
Coriolanus could see himself reaching easily for things she could not reach in the kitchen. He could see her being unable to lace up her winter boots due to the tightness of her dress, so he would get on his knees and do it for her. If she tripped on the sidewalk, he would pull her to her feet. If [Y/N] was too drunk to get up the stairs, he would carry her. When some strange man dared to look at her the wrong way, Coriolanus would kill him. She seemed so fragile and needy to him. Coriolanus loved that.
He needed her to need him. He wanted to be the only thing she ever need.
She was to be his.
“Stop looking at me,” She said. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Wow, that kind of talk really gets me hard.” Coriolanus walked towards her, undoing his black leather belt and tossing his coat on the floor. She thought about the amount of excess he would afford her if he cared so little for his own possessions to leave them on the floor. [Y/N] thought about her own position on his floor briefly.
“We agreed no pleasantries.”
“Come on, you’re going to be mine for the rest of our lives. At least let me look at you.”
[Y/N] tipped her head down with a frustrated sigh. He stared wolfishly at her as she knelt half-bare on his floor. She couldn’t help but blush at how exposed she felt. [Y/N] felt more on display and exposed in front of one man, the man she was to marry, than she did in front of every guest at the party earlier in the night.
“Don’t look away from me,” Coriolanus said firmly. “Those eyes are too beautiful to look at the ground like that.”
She looked back up at him begrudgingly, her eyes wide with fear, or lust. She had no choice but to watch Coriolanus popped open the button of his trousers open. [Y/N] could see the imprint of his dick against his thigh. He rubbed himself through his pants for a moment. [Y/N] swallowed nervously. Coriolanus was a broad, imposing man. The size of his cock shouldn’t have been surprising, but her eyes bulged all the same.
Coriolanus pulled his cock free of his pants. Logistically, [Y/N] was officially concerned about offering the blowjob. His long cock was what her the rest of her life looked like. She would surely have to get used to it eventually.
Without hesitation, [Y/N]’s mouth fell open as he approached. Her hands instinctually gripped the back of his thighs. Coriolanus, after loosening his tie, buried his hands in her once elegantly styled hair and forced himself down her throat.
Coriolanus moaned through gritted teeth in sync with [Y/N]’s gag when she took him in. There was little chance of taking all of him down her throat at once. Unsurprisingly, Coriolanus fucked hard and fast. Brutally so. [Y/N] hardly had a chance to breathe through her nose. Fortunately, at least, Coriolanus did all the work by maneuvering her face up and down on his length. He regulated the tempo and the pressure. All [Y/N] could do was try to swallow and hollow her cheeks out as best she could. Don’t think, just follow. I’ve got you, echoed in her mind.
Tears ran down her cheeks. Real ones.
“Fuck, that’s good,” Coriolanus grunted after several moments. [Y/N] raised her tongue slightly against him. Through wet eyes, she saw Coriolanus’ eyebrows lift and his forehead crease when she did. That was effective. “[Y/N]!”
The only sounds in the room after that were gagging and heavy breathing. Coriolanus’ breathing, not [Y/N]’s. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to breathe, it felt like. She was really blowing for her life here, she could barely catch an inhale through her nose. [Y/N] felt herself get more and more lightheaded and she did all she could to keep her eyes open.
Quickly, she tapped the back of Coriolanus’ left thigh. It was universal symbol for this isn’t great for me. Coriolanus understood this signal loud and clear. He thought he would keep going, but almost immediately decided he would rather have a wife in one piece instead of a perfect blowjob and slowed his pace significantly. Like a good husband.
He got gratification from slowing down too, because he could see the relieved and grateful gleam in [Y/N]’s expression. Coriolanus had gifted her that relief. He was getting close.
“Swallow.” He choked out. [Y/N] turned her eyes up at him again to confirm his request. Coriolanus’ eyes were tightly shut. [Y/N] had no idea if this had been minutes or near an hour. Her jaw ached. She felt his cock twitch against her tongue as she sucked.
That was the last clear memory [Y/N] had that night. The build up of the alcohol that had been genetically modified to be strong enough to get one drunk faster, the stress, the sweat, the tears, the blowjob, the lightheadedness, the dancing, the fear and the anger all happening on one night culminated into a good old fashion liquor blackout.
She had brief flickers of memory instead of a picture of the night. She was unsure if Coriolanus had finished or not. [Y/N] vaguely remembered Coriolanus unhooking her garters and taking off her stockings. She could feel the clean sheet and duvet over her exhausted body. She swore she could recall Coriolanus’ arm over her her waist and his lips against her ear whispering something. If only she could remember what he said.
The next morning, [Y/N] woke up to the birds and the traffic noise. All of it sounded world-shatteringly loud. She felt sick to her stomach. What was that dreadful taste in her mouth? Her head pounded. Too much posca at her engagement party. Desperately, she wanted a cup of coffee. [Y/N] groped at the covers to drag them over her face to block out the morning light that filtered through the window.
Hold on.
As she pulled the covers over her head, [Y/N] realized these covers did not smell like her. They smelled of roses. That, and something else more metallic that lingered under the palatable rose smell. Coriolanus smelled like that. Coriolanus’ bed.
Buried in the comfortable duvet, she couldn’t bear to crawl out from under it. She was filled with panic. How had she ended up here? She could feel that Coriolanus wasn’t beside her, so where had he ended up? Had they slept together?
Had they slept together?
The phrase and all of its meanings bounced around in her head. Her hand slid down her body. She had no top on. That was a bad sign. Her hand continued further down her body and landed on lace underwear. She exhaled and let her hand flop back down on the bed. From another room, probably the living room, [Y/N] heard the phone ring. She wished it would stop. [Y/N] rose from bed with some difficulty.
It was clear upon standing up that the only thing that would make her feel better was vomiting. She dashed madly for Coriolanus’ en suite bathroom and knelt in front of the toilet, empty the contents of her stomach for a good couple of minutes. The pressure of her headache decreased afterwards, but the terrible taste in her mouth grew. [Y/N] flushed the toilet and stood in front of the mirror. She had never looked this bad in her life.
Dark ringed eyes, leaking leftover makeup and smeared lipstick, a bold hickey on her neck like a seventeen year old. What had she done?
[Y/N] grabbed Coriolanus’ burgundy robe off the back of his bathroom door and cinched it around her waist. She walked back through his bedroom. Her knees burned a bit with each step. Maybe from the heels she had worn the night before. Her eyes landed on the flat pillow on the floor right next to Coriolanus’ belt. This seemed like a bad omen.
Suspiciously, [Y/N] walked into the too bright hallway light. [Y/N] stumbled to her own bathroom and frantically brushed her teeth before facing Coriolanus. It hurt to hold her jaw open to brush her molars, but anything to rid herself of the salty, stale taste that had taken up residence. Finally then, she moved into the living room.
There was Coriolanus smiling on the couch like he was most mornings after some sort of party. His hair lacked product and lay rich and curly against his forehead. Boxer shorts and an open dress shirt with the sleeves pushed up left little up to the imagination about his body. He was so pale that he practically reflected the sunlight from the open window back at her like a mirror. Coriolanus was perfect, even first thing. How annoying.
“What time is it?” [Y/N] croaked hoarsely. Coriolanus nearly knocked his mug of bitter coffee off the end table in surprise as he reached for the remote. He abruptly clicked off the television.
“Eleven. There about,” Coriolanus replied, vocally calmer than his body would betray. He rose from the mauve couch and moved to [Y/N]. He ran his hand down the sleeve of his robe that she wore. “Is this mine?” He asked softly.
“Yes, sorry. It was all I could find. I’ll go swap it for—“
“Please. What is mine, is yours,” Coriolanus interrupted. “It suits you,” he said with a hand running across his own gold CSB monogram on the breast pocket of the robe she wore. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine, I suppose,” but what she really wanted to say was ‘what did we do last night?’ “And you?”
Coriolanus chanced an animalistic smile. “Last night, you said no more pleasantries.”
[Y/N] scanned her brain for a memory of saying that. She did not remember that phrase specifically, but she did catch a lot more glimpses of her night in her mind’s eye. [Y/N]’s strongest images were her mother’s shocked eyes, the empty glasses of posca, Coriolanus with a red handprint on his cheek, and his hard cock at her eye level.
“Coriolanus, what did I do?” [Y/N] asked, realizing exactly what she had done.
“Which part?” Coriolanus asked cautiously, sliding his hands around her waist and pulling her close. Coriolanus wanted her to feel held and ravished for a moment since he knew she would go ballistic at what was on the TV, in the newspaper, and on the lips of everyone in town. She felt like a still from an old moving picture; being held like that.
“How bad?”
“Hm? Oh, your mouth was lovely—“ he tried to expertly redirect with an innuendo.
That assumption of what they had done had been correct. Damn. “No, shut up, stop. The… The TV, the news, the—“
“Do you want to know?”
[Y/N] felt like deflating. It must have been bad. She thought back to how he had turned off the television so fast when she walked in. “I… Will I like what I see?”
“How about we sit down, Darling?”
Coriolanus sat [Y/N] down gently on the middle cushion of the couch and folded his lanky legs into the seat to her right. She looked worried. Coriolanus hated watching other people worry, it was distracting for him and often created too many new problems. He swallowed down the urge to snap at her for pouting like that. He hated pouting too considering how unproductive it was. The blonde man reached his right hand out and used a pointer finger and thumb to tip [Y/N]’s chin up so she was forced to look him in the eye. “Hey,” he said calmly. “Any press is good press.” Coriolanus repeated their mantra from the night prior.
[Y/N] inhaled through her nose. “Any press is good press.” She agreed. Coriolanus nodded and pressed a dutiful kiss to her temple to praise her for that answer. [Y/N] stared at the dark and glassy TV screen. Coriolanus clicked it on.
A fuchsia haired newswoman sat behind a desk with the regular Capitol News studio set up for an morning gossip show. The headline was plastered on a chiron in the lower third of the screen: ‘SNOW HEIR’S GIRL OUT OF CONTROL.’ In the top right hand corner of the frame was a photo of [Y/N] sobbing on her knees in front of Coriolanus’ who wiped her tears. [Y/N] wasn’t able to listen to the grating anchorwoman who was speculating about whether or not Coriolanus should send [Y/N] to rehab.
Coriolanus watched [Y/N] watch herself on TV. He grew uncomfortable when he couldn’t automatically read her expression. He had prepared himself for some tears and a temper tantrum, but neither came.
“What are you thinking about?” Coriolanus asked her. [Y/N] was too still. She didn’t respond quickly. “[Y/N]?” Coriolanus nudged her with his elbow. “What are you thinking about?”
“The headline.” She finally replied.
Coriolanus bit his bottom lip. He kept his voice as level as she had. “Okay. What about the headline?” He asked.
“Well, it isn’t very good, is it?”
“What?”
“It’s too plain.”
Coriolanus narrowed his eyes. “It’s too plain?”
[Y/N] nodded slowly. She finally ripped her eyes away from the television set and looked up at him. “It’s informative, but it’s not eye catching beyond being alarmist,” She replied. [Y/N] pointed at the TV, smiling. “That’s my picture. That’s us up there, Coryo, and that’s the best headline they could come up with? It’s weak.”
Coriolanus couldn’t recall her calling him Coryo before, even when [Y/N] had heard it from friends, family and classmates. She was saying something. He should have been paying better attention, but [Y/N] looked lovely wearing his robe. “Coryo, are you listening to me?”
He wasn’t. Too bad. Coryo. “I got distracted, I’m sorry, Darling. You were saying?”
“I said, please get me a piece of paper and a pencil. I want to work on something better and call in a suggestion for a correction since obviously—Mmph!“
[Y/N] sentence was never finished. Coriolanus leaned in towards her face and slammed his lips against hers hungrily. Habitually, [Y/N] grabbed his biceps as they toppled flat back onto the couch. Coriolanus wasted little time pressing the tip of his tongue against her lips aggressively. He knew he gave into an open-mouthed makeout too easily, but it was so much fun.
Both pulled back after some time for a breath. “Coriolanus…” [Y/N] panted.
“Coryo, please. Nobody calls me that anymore.” He said, staring down at her.
“Coryo, I want a pencil and a piece of paper.”
“You’re crazy. You want to call in a correction on a story about yourself because you want to make it worse. You’re beautiful. I don’t tell you that enough.”
“Then tell me some more after you get me—“
“Not yet,” Coriolanus said. His hands untied her robe like she was a gift box. The best present to come out of this engagement party, certainly. “[Y/N], do you know what you did last night?”
“A few things, at least.”
“Very funny. I mean…” Coriolanus sighed. His hormones raced. He could barely make eye contact with her since his eyes were drawn elsewhere. “I mean, you bulldozed your whole life. You Thirteen’d your life off the map.” he said. She nodded. She shivered at the reality of his statement. [Y/N] had nothing left but ashes. She had burned almost every bridge she had.
Except him.
“Not the part with you,” [Y/N] said. She smiled. She said it to please Coriolanus and it seemed to work. He was much easier to play than she thought he was. “You’re all I’ve got left, Coryo.” That was absolutely true. For better or worse, Coriolanus was inevitable.
“Let me take care of you,” Coriolanus said. “You’re about to be my wife. There’s no one else you need. You’re mine. I’m not going to let you fall through the cracks.” He said.
“Promise you won’t?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Coriolanus said honestly, but he didn’t feel strongly enough to really promise. “Do you like these panties?”
“Yes.”
“Shame. I’ll buy you a new set.” There was a horrible tearing sound and after that, Coriolanus’ mouth was on [Y/N]’s pussy. He licked and sucked for all he was worth.
[Y/N] did not expect Coriolanus to be good at this. All this time, she had disallowed him from touching her because she thought he would be a selfish lover. There was still potential that he was, but fuck, Coriolanus sure was good for this. His long thin nose bumped her clit as he pressed his tongue deeper into her folds and she moaned. Her hands sank into his curls.
“Don’t touch my hair.” Coriolanus said into her cunt.
“No,” She said, pulling on his hair. Coriolanus was irked, but let her do it anyway. He had never felt pleasure from someone tugging his hair like that before. [Y/N] wrapped her legs around his shoulders. Coriolanus used his strong, callused hands to hold her thighs open. He was going to make her cum with only his greedy mouth, like she had for him last night.
Quid pro quo. That was the nature of their whole operation, Coriolanus realized. It was fine by him.
It was still early and Coriolanus had the day off. He was ready to make up for lost time. He was going to make her cum in every room of their home. Coriolanus was addicted to her taste. He was addicted to her mind. All of this felt cloaked in danger; it was too personal for Coriolanus. Oh well.
By day’s end, [Y/N] wouldn’t be able to climb out of bed for a couple of days on her own. Coriolanus’ constant tongue-fucking pulling orgasms from her had turned her brain to mush, but not before she was able to force Coriolanus off and jot down a few headlines of her own while he marked up her neck.
‘GAMEMAKER’S FIANCÉE: FREAK OR FOOL?’
‘CAPITOL’S GOLDEN BOY FALLS FOR BAD GIRL.’
‘ALLEGED CHEATING SCANDAL SHAKES CAPITOL YOUTH.’
‘GAMEMAKER WALKS OUT THE VICTOR AFTER PARTY DISASTER.’
‘’WEDDING IS OFF’ SPECULATES PLINTH FAMILY.’
‘GAMEMAKER’S FIANCÉE LIES, CHEATS AND STEALS THE NIGHT.’
‘SNOW’S FALLING (STANDARDS).’
Half of her ideas dripped as moans while Coriolanus worked on her pussy. She was weak enough to do little more than pull his hair and try to clench around whatever he pushed into her. [Y/N]’s orgasm-addled mind finally comprehended that Coriolanus made her better. He made her more creative, bolder, and free from every burden except him. Finally, willingly, [Y/N] gave Coriolanus the last thing she had to give: Herself.
It felt fucking incredible
TAGLIST:
@badwicht @stelleduarte @cinnamongirl127 @prettyppetty @soulessien @bejeweledreverie @jjstyles @arminsarlerts @chmpgneprblem @co1dmountains @miscellaneousmoonchild @lille999 @pumkinnxsmut @taykorsyogurt @ndycrls @watermelonharry @nananarwhal @ohantonia @catlover420sstuff @justaproudslytherpuff @notarabellasstuff @scarytiger111 @zucchinimalfoy @secretsicanthideanymore @h-l-vlovesvintage @dannydevsbbg @clintsupremacy @lookclosernow @10ava01 @or-was-it-just-a-dream @lucielsstuff @fairyydvst @spencereidbasis @a-mellifluous-life @daenerysqueenofhearts @heavqn @dangelnleif @lapisthelovely
apologies again for the tags that did NOT work.
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runningfrom2am · 4 months
Text
cold nights // part six
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summary: all the stars aligned, and it was you.
pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader
wc: 2.7k
masterlists / nav / requests
tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, r is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.
a/n: i just finished writing s1, and we're halfway through! so in case anyone was wondering, s1 will have 12 parts :) i haven't started s2 yet but i am so excited to!!
series masterlist // playlist
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Days passed, no sign of Coryo. The only reason you know he isn't dead is because Sejanus came and told you he would be alright. That didn't do much to quell your worries.
Selfishly, you were scared you wouldn't get to see him again. You knew you wouldn't, actually. Now you were truly alone. Just you and his blanket, the book he gave you, and the dress your mother made. And Sejanus Plinth, you supposed. None of the surviving tributes would even talk to you- not that you really felt like talking. Just reading. You've read and re-read Romeo and Juliet no less than three times since Coriolanus passed the book through the bars to you the night before you went into the arena.
"I know you asked for this, and it's a little early, but happy birthday." Coryo whispers, smiling as the dark of night encases the two of you into your own little world.
He hands you a small box, wrapped in parcel paper and complete with a ribbon made of some kind of knitting thread. You grin, taking it from his hand and carefully untying the bow, delicately pulling the paper apart where it's taped together so as not to rip it. A copy of Romeo and Juliet. Old, tattered, falling apart; well-loved.
"Oh, Coryo, you didn't have to give me anything. That's too sweet." You grin, immediately flipping through the pages despite the dark preventing you from seeing a single word. "Thank you."
"Of course." He says, watching only you as your eyes flick over the pages. What little light falls from the moon is reflected in your eyes, and he wouldn't dare look away.
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite." You say softly, and at first, he thinks you're talking to yourself until you look up at him. A small, almost shy smile fit perfectly onto your lips.
"You like it?" He asks, the answer obvious even to him.
"I love it."
You were his tribute. Not a friend, certainly not more, but as he reaches through the bars to let his fingers brush over your cheek all rational thought means nothing. He doesn't realize he's staring at your lips until you comment on it.
"Is this why you asked if I have a boyfriend?" You whisper, your natural smile returns, and he's quickly looking anywhere else. Your eyes, your hair, the spot where his fingertips meet your cheekbone just below your hairline. Anywhere else. "Because I know it wasn't on that list of questions."
He's quickly backtracking, dropping his hand. This was wrong and he knew it. "I, uh, Tigris made you some cake. It's not good, but it's the best we could do." He says, redirecting his attention to his bag as he pulls out the small paper bag.
You sit back, blushing furiously. "I'm sure it's delicious." You smile, and it comes across more nervously than you intended.
"Here." He hands it to you, and you gently place the book next to you on the ground so you don't get any crumbs on it. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."
And just like that, he's gone.
You're grateful when you see Sejanus coming back with his bag of food and water. It had become some form of a routine, at this point. The citizens of the Capitol weren't allowed to bring you food anymore, he was the only one who did for you now that Coryo was gone, and now that his tribute had escaped as well.
"Sejanus." You smile, standing up as he gets closer.
"Y/N. Holding up okay?" He asks, a sad look behind his tired eyes. He looked almost as tired as you, you were sure, but you hadn't seen a mirror since you left your house before the reaping.
You sigh. "I'm holding up." You answer simply. Sejanus is the only person you feel comfortable being totally honest with, but at the same time, you don't want to because you know he already feels bad for what you're going through. He's the only one outside this cage who kind of understands. "How about you?"
"I'm alright." He shrugs, reaching into his bag and pulling out a sandwich for you. You could never get sick of these. "I also have salt, if it needs more of that." He hands you a small bag of table salt alongside it.
"Thank you." You grin, tucking the bag into your pocket incase you needed it. "Any news about Coryo?" You ask hopefully, taking a bite. You already feel your starvation-induced nausea fading away.
"Not really. He's recovering, though." Sejanus answers. "Are you ready for the interview tonight?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." You grin. "I was right, I didn't need the book. I already had the whole thing memorized, but it's been so lovely to get to read it again."
"It must be." He nods. "Gives you something to do."
You hum in agreement, looking around at the other tributes. No one is even moving much anymore. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
You look down at your sandwich while you think about how you want to word this. "Is Coryo..." No, that's not it. "I got the feeling that he actually cared for me. Is that true?"
"Coryo has never been one to tell anyone what he's thinking." Sejanus says, entirely unhelpfully. That's not his fault, though. "But if I had to guess, I would say yes."
"I'm just wondering because it's nice to have friends now. Here. At the end." You smile sadly before taking another bite. "And I was worried I had upset him."
"You? No." Sejanus shakes his head. "I don't think you could if you tried."
"Why's that?"
"Well... It's hard to explain. He's always been super focused on school, on the prize, but now, when it matters most, I feel like he's more focused on you and making sure you actually win." He tells you. "But, like I said, he wouldn't talk about it even if I asked him outright."
You nod. "Thank you, Sejanus. For always being honest with me."
"Of course. It's the very least I can do, all things considered."
"Can I ask you for one more favour?" You ask hopefully. "If not I understand, you must be quite busy."
"I have the rest of my life to be busy." He shakes his head. "What do you need?"
"Will you tell Coryo thank you, for me?"
"Yes. Of course." He agrees without hesitation.
"And do you have a pencil and paper?"
Sejanus headed home for a while and then back to the hospital after his visit with you, armed with your note in his pocket to pass on to Coryo. He was hoping he would be awake right now, he had been so on and off the last few days. More grumpy than normal, and Sejanus could tell it was driving him up the wall that he couldn't go see you. But the interviews had already started, so he would get to see you soon- even if it's just through the screen.
"Tigris." He whispers, pulling back the curtain as he sees the familiar girl sitting at his friend's side. She hadn't left her cousin most of the time he'd been bedridden, she was there every time Sejanus checked in.
"Oh, hello." She whispers, smiling at him. "He's still resting, but he's feeling a bit better today I think."
"That's good. I'm glad to hear it." Sejanus agrees, taking the seat next to her. "I went to see Y/N. She's eaten. She doesn't look good, though."
Tigris nods, returning her gaze to her sleeping cousin and pushing his hair away from his eyes. It's not like he needs to see, but she would do it anyway. Just to make sure he wouldn't be annoyed when he woke up. "He's been worrying about her. I can tell."
"She asked me if she did something to upset him. Has he said anything to you?"
"No, nothing." She shakes her head, lip jutting out at the confusing statement. Nothing at all would indicate to her that he was upset with you, but it's entirely possible that stuck in that cage day in and day out you could quickly become paranoid about who you could trust.
"Okay, good. That's what I told her anyway." He tries to be quiet as he speaks, but the whispering wakes his friend anyway.
Coryo's eyes fly open and he gasps, eyes landing on the two of them sitting in front of him.
"Coryo," Tigris says softly, a small, worried smile on her face.
"Y/N?" He asks, his voice husky from sleep. "Is she-"
"She's alive," Tigris promises, gently rubbing his arm, landing her hand on his and squeezing it gently.
"Is she hurt?"
"Not badly." Sejanus shakes his head. "A few decent cuts and bruises, but she'll be okay. I brought her some antibiotics the other day so nothing will get infected." You won't be okay, they both know that, but you certainly wouldn't be dying from the minor injuries you sustained in the rebel bombing.
He nods, slightly, trying to sit up. "How long was I sleeping? What did I miss?"
"Another tribute died from injuries," Sejanus replies. "Everyone is still scared. No one will go see them anymore, I haven't seen any of the other mentors there either. But I've been feeding her. She's okay."
Coryo nods, wincing at the pain in his back as he moves. The burn was bad, but apparently, it was healing well.
"Marcus is still missing. I haven't heard anything about him. They're hunting him but I still think he has a better chance out there than he would tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Coryo asks, rubbing his head with his free hand, Tigris still holding his other one. "They're still going ahead with the games?"
Sejanus just slightly shakes his head, looking away. Coryo knows that that is a yes.
"Oh no... Y/N.... She could've run," He mumbles. "But she saved me."
"I tried to convince her to. I did." Sejanus reminds him. "She wouldn't budge."
All heads turn as Lucky's voice on the TV catches their attention. "And now, our final tribute. I first met this young lady in the zoo not too long ago. From District Twelve, Y/N Y/L/N. Come on out here!"
Lucretius motions for you to step out onto the stage and you do, gently placing the book and the blanket you had brought with you on the floor in a neat pile before joining him.
"Lucretius." You smile. "It's good to see you." You're nervous in front of so many people, the audience in front of you is much larger than the small one you spoke in front of at the reaping, and being in front of a camera without Coryo by your side made you antsy.
"You as well, Darling. Now, I was told you had something you wanted to do for us so I'll just leave you to that. Charm us! Remember, the world is watching." He smiles, gently patting your shoulder before walking just out of view of the cameras. His statement was far from reassuring.
"Uhm..." You stare out at the audience, and suddenly you're scared you've forgotten the entire thing. You had to do well. For Coryo and his prize. He needed this. "I've become aware that not many people know this play." You chuckle, trying to hide your nervousness behind it. "But Romeo and Juliet has always held a special place in my heart and I want to share that with the world, before I go."
You take a deep breath, closing your eyes. You wonder if Coryo is watching. He's not here, you're sure of that, but you do hope he gets to see. And he does.
He stands up as soon as your face first appears on the screen, declining help from both Tigris and Sejanus as he limps over to the TV, cranking up the volume. Your fate depends on this, he knows it, but he can't look past the blue tint under your eyes and the bruises that litter almost every part of your exposed skin. The cuts are what get him the most. Your knuckles are cleaned up, mostly, but red and irritated as you twist your hands together nervously in front of you. Same with the crude black stitches on your upper arm. Irritated, neglected by professionals, but at least it wasn't serious.
"Come on... You can do it." He mumbles mostly to himself, and Tigris reaches up to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder as the three of them watch.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Immediately, he is confused. He expected to be, of course, but he could also tell as soon as you started reciting it, after the first line, your confidence was coming back to you. This play was your safe space.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love; and I'll no longer be a Capulet." You look out at the silent audience as you speak, a smile forming on your lips. They're listening. "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy: Thou art thyself, though not a Montague."
Coryo is wishing you had explained more to him about what this play is about. "What's Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face nor any other part belonging to a man. Oh, be some other name." He should have asked. Why didn't he ask? You told him yourself that you could talk about it for hours. Why didn't he take advantage of that when he had the chance?
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title." A rose. Of course a rose, was this for him? He longed to understand it better as he watched the donations tracker tick up and up toward the thousands.
"Romeo, doff thy name, And for that name, which is no part of thee," You take a deep breath for the first time since you started speaking. "Take all myself."
It was a beat or two before the audience clued in that you were done, and then the cheers started. A standing ovation, people wiping their eyes and clapping for you like you had changed their lives.
"Wow! Now wasn't that something, everyone!" Lucky laughs, coming back into the frame of Coryo's view from the camera. Tigris was in tears. The continual uptick of the donations counter was reassuring to him. As you smiled, cheeks flushing red. "The donations are just flooding in with a record high! That must feel good."
"Thank you, it does." You nod at Lucky, trying to place all your focus on him so you don't get too embarrassed in front of the crowd. At least you knew Coryo would be pleased. If you understood his prize situation as well as you thought you did, this was very good for him. "I just want to make my family and my mentor proud."
"You have a real talent. It's such a shame." The host says to you and you laugh awkwardly.
"Well, everyone loves something. I just loved books."
You continually referring to yourself in the past tense makes Coryo want to puke, looking away from the screen only briefly to take in the other nurses and patients watching too.
"We have just a few moments left, but I need to know, what is that about?"
"Oh! Well, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy." You explain, back to yourself again. "It's about two star-crossed lovers from feuding families. So, what Juliet was talking about, to put it very simply because I could go on and on about this, was that she loved Romeo for who he was- not just his name or his family. It didn't matter to her that they came from different places. She loves him anyway, and if he couldn't let go of his family, she would give up her own life for him."
Coryo's eyes widen. So it was about him. He can't help the tug on his lips that threatens to form a smile.
"Alrighty then, that's very sweet." Lucky replies. "Now, you said it's a tragedy. What is so tragic about a love story?"
"Well," You chuckle nervously. "They both die at the end."
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americaswritings · 5 months
Text
When we stole the night
Warnings: violence, mentions of killing, Coriolanus being himself, his thoughts, mix of book/film elements
Summary: When Coriolanus is send into the arena to get Sejanus he doesn't make it out and has to hide in the tunnels. That is where he finds you, his tribute.
Words: 3.2k
Pairing: Young Coriolanus Snow x reader
Masterlist | Hunger Games Masterlist | Add yourself to my taglist!
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Coriolanus was running.
He was surrounded by darkness, the light in front of him where the peacekeepers secured the gate the only source of light apart from the dim moonshine.
Hundreds of thoughts were running through his head, at the top of them images of killing the boy, but he pushed them away.
Buried the anger and resentment he felt towards Sejanus, who had roped him into this situation just because he felt guilty for Marcus’s death and couldn’t move on from his life at the district.
Fear and the panic of suddenly becoming prey clouded his mind and he could barely think straight as he ran for his life. Something sizzled through the air next to him, so close to his ear that he stumbled in shock and lost his footing for a moment.
But he didn’t dare to look who had thrown the weapon, could only hope that it had been their only one as he tried to find his pace again.
His leg was burning, a pain he tried to ignore but slowed him down drastically as he attempted to catch up with Sejanus, who was at the gate now.
Despite the immediate medical attention Coriolanus had received when he had gotten injured during the bombing attack from the rebels, there had been too little time for the wound to heal and with every step he took he was slowing down.
It was only a matter of time until they got to him.
The adrenaline was pulsing through his veins as he heard Sejanus yell his name. Breaking out of his narrow focus for the gate he looked up just in time to see Coral launch an attack at him. He ducked, stumbling as his bad leg gave in and he almost fell.
Turning, he saw that Sejanus was already halfway through the gate. The boy hesitated and for a moment it looked as if he would come back for him and Coriolanus felt relief flooding his body, but one of the peacekeepers grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him behind the gate before he could.
Then the gate closed. Locking him in the arena with the tributes.
Coriolanus had no time to wrap his head around what had just happened, because he had to dodge another one of the girl‘s attacks. Soon the other two of her little murder gang would have reached him and he would stand no chance again them.
They would kill him.
He would die. In the arena. By the hands of tributes.
Alone.
The Capitol would spin a pretty story about his death like they had done when Clemensia had been in the hospital after the snake bite and no one would ever know the truth about what had happened to him.
Except Sejanus.
But his father would use their money to propitiate the Capitol and effectively silence his son and Tigris and the Grandma'am would never find out why he had never made it home.
He couldn‘t imagine a more undignified death.
So he ran. Not towards the gate, but in the opposite direction, away from his chance at freedom and into the shadows.
Coral and the others had not expected his move and it gave him a head start to make it into the tunnels and disappear.
He knew they would follow him, so he kept running, sliding down rubble, rounding a corner and hiding in a niche. Then he held his breath and waited.
If he was lucky and they didn‘t find him here, he could wait until he was certain they were away far enough and try to make it to the gate.
But Coral and her gang weren‘t the only ones he needed to worry about and he pressed himself farther against the wall when he heard a pair of footsteps approach.
It was Reaper.
Coriolanus waited for him to pass. He wouldn’t try to engage another tribute, not if he could prevent it. Better if less of them knew he was here.
Although it wasn’t like their knowledge would pose any danger to him once he was out. Only one of them would get out of here alive, the rest would take his secret to their graves and he would damn well make sure it was you.
You.
Coriolanus blinked and took a breath. You were here, somewhere.
No, he couldn‘t get to you. It was stupid to try and find you. He needed to get out of here as fast as possible, not waste precious chances to do…what?
See you? Make sure you were okay? There was nothing he could do to help you here and now and his presence only drew more attention towards you.
He thought back to the promise he had given you just last night, to do everything to keep you safe and get you out alive.
It was still true, but although he had felt helpless in his seat watching you fight and run for your life on the screen, he now missed that front row seat. He couldn‘t do anything here for you without risking his own life as well and that had never been on the table before.
And what if the day in the arena had changed you?
What if you would turn on him just like the others had? Tribute rather than friend, lover, whatever this connection between you was.
Just minutes - or had it been an hour already? - had turned him into a killer. He had killed a boy. Bobbin, he remembered his name was.
Had the arena done that to him or had that always been inside of him and it was true that the arena only awoke what was trapped inside everyone?
Shaking his head Coriolanus pushed the thoughts away. He couldn‘t allow himself to go mad. With each minute passing his chances to leave the arena alive and unharmed lowered and he could visibly imagine Dr. Gaul writing him off as she fed her snakes.
No.
He would get out of here, alive. Whatever it took.
Getting up from his crouched position Coriolanus stretched his aching limbs before crawling out of his hiding space. He didn‘t know if it was safe yet, but he couldn‘t wait longer.
He would take the leap of faith.
Every step he took echoed twice as loud through the tunnels and he had to force himself to take even breaths. He hadn‘t realised how far he had run into the tunnels and he felt his hopelessness grow when there was no sight of an exit.
When he rounded another corner he suddenly heard a noise. It was right behind him and as he spun around he could only think of what a waste his death was. What a tragedy.
“Coriolanus?!“
Your voice echoed loudly, even though you had barely more than whispered. He was frozen, his eyes locked on yours as shock faded into relief.
He wouldn‘t die. At least not now.
“What are you doing here?“ your voice rose and you took a step closer, your eyes squinted in the darkness as they searched his face.
His raked over yours and then your body as well. Your clothes were dirt stained and your face was a little bruised but apart from it you seemed unscathed.
He had believed so, but seeing it with his own eyes brought him a different kind of reassurance.
“I uhm“, he stumbled over his words, struggling to retain composure. You looked at him expectantly, your eyes wide and curious.
But Coriolanus hesitated. Could he tell you the truth? Could he still trust you?
When he swallowed and furrowed his brows you grabbed his arm. “Tell me later. We need to find a better hiding spot. I heard you a mile away and if I did, I am sure others did too.“
He nodded, glad that he didn‘t have to explain himself just yet and earn a few more minutes to think of what he could tell you.
Your hand was still wrapped around his arm as you turned and guided him through the dark and it slid downwards, reaching his hand and locking your fingers. Coriolanus wouldn‘t admit it, but the touch relieved his unease a little. It felt good to know you were here and guiding him, that he wasn’t alone anymore.
He didn‘t know if he could still trust you, but he wanted to and despite a warning voice in the back of his head a part of him did.
Only yesterday he had cupped your face and whispered promises in your ear and he refused to believe you weren‘t that girl anymore until you showed him otherwise.
You led him around a few corners until you stopped, climbing through a little opening between the rubble. He watched you disappear in the hole, crouching down to inspect it.
It was small and he was much taller than you, but then your face appeared at the other side and you waved at him with a confident smile. What good of a mentor was he if he hesitated now?
It was a struggle to get inside and he painfully hit his knees, shoulders and head a few times, but at least it would keep larger opponents outside.
And if anyone wanted to get in you would hear them and kill them before they even got the chance to raise their own weapon. It was the perfect hiding spot.
Maybe he could just wait this out, he thought. The other tributes could kill each other while he sat here with you until the rescue team would show up and get you out.
But that was too good a fantasy.
He knew that the Capitol didn‘t have any cameras in the tunnels, so no one would know he was here with you, but his absence wouldn‘t go unnoticed and he doubted they would crown you the victor, if he stayed with you.
None of the other mentors were in the position he was currently in and although Coriolanus couldn‘t find any benefit of his miserable situation he could easily imagine the capitol and his classmates arguing that it was an unfair advantage.
As if he had volunteered to be sent into an arena full of tributes that were out to kill each other, but probably unite over the idea of killing him, someone from the capitol.
And what about you then? Would you stick to his side or abandon him for your own sake?
Or worse, what if you betrayed him?
It would earn you the sympathy of the other tributes for certain, something that could be the defining factor of your survival. But would you be so calculating, so cruel and betray your own mentor?
He watched you slide down next to a wall and you hugged your knees in, probably to keep yourself warm. He wasn’t feeling cold, but he hadn‘t been in here for as long.
Looking up at him standing there you patted the space next to you, letting out a mixture between an amused and bitter laugh as you saw his hesitation. “Come one, I won‘t bite and I swear I don‘t have rabies.“
He grimaced slightly as he thought of Jessup‘s death and how he had hunted you through the arena. It hadn‘t been so long ago and yet it felt like ages considering how much had happened since then.
Deciding it wasn‘t likely that you had waited this long and brought him here only for you to try and kill him now Coriolanus closed the distance and took a seat next to you.
He stretched out his long legs, glad to finally keep the weight off of his bad leg.
“So“, you began and he noticed your gaze on him from the periphery of his vision, “you never told me why you‘re here. I‘m mean, not that I am complaining. It‘s nice to have some company, especially such lovely one, but it‘s a little…unexpected.“
He noted your hint of flirtation with a smile. It made him feel more in control and fuelled his hope that the girl he had said goodbye too wasn’t gone. “For me too“, he stated, turning his head so he could look at you.
He didn‘t know if he could trust you, but here in the arena you were his best chance of survival. And as your mentor he could help you more from the outside, so you had an interest on keeping him alive and get him out of here too.
Besides, he wanted to trust you. And he hoped you had more than your own motifs in mind when it came to his survival.
“Dr. Gaul sent me here.“ He decided to tell you the truth. “Sejanus bribed the peacekeepers to let him in here. He wanted to scatter breadcrumbs or something for Marcus. It‘s a ritual they have in his district.“
He tried to keep his voice neutral, but you knew him well enough by now to hear the hint of dismay in it.
“I think that‘s brave of him“, you said after a moment of silence and when he furrowed his brows he realised you had been testing how you would react to his words.
“But also stupid“, you continued, “I doubt the capitol is going to let anyone see it.“
He sighed. “They don’t. They froze the frame and his father will make sure he won‘t say a word about it.“
“So he got out?“ Coriolanus nodded, the image of the gate closing behind Sejanus back in his head. “He did.“
“But you didn’t.“ He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head against the wall. “How come they sent you? Why not just their thugs?“
“They figured he would just make a run for it, if he saw them. And then they would have a much harder job at containing him and keeping the public from knowing.“
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “And because apparently everyone thinks Sejanus and I are best friends I was the lucky one to get the job.“
When he opened his eyes yours were focused on his face and he realised how close you were sitting. “You‘re not? Friends, I mean.“
He pushed out a breath and pinched the space between his brows. “He lived here for years now, but he still acts and thinks like district.“
He practically spit out the word and you shuffled away from him a little. “I am district, Coriolanus“, you reminded him, trying to hide your hurt but failing. “You think you‘re too good to be friends with us?“
He bit his lip, frustrated at himself for his mistake. This slip-up. He hadn‘t meant it that way. You were different…
You had just been born at the wrong place.
Yeah, the more he thought about it, the more he could see it, you as a part of the capitol. With less mud and stains of course. And a class on etiquette to get the district out of your system. Tigris would make the most enchanting dresses for you and every man and woman would bow their heads when the two of you emerged. A Snow and a victor.
“I didn’t mean it-”, he began, but you shook your head, cutting him off.
“I think I know exactly what you meant.“
Silence settled between you and it felt uncomfortable and heavy.
“You think you‘re better than us. Just because you were born here and not there and you’re wearing that uniform doesn‘t mean your life‘s worth more than ours“, you stated after a while and he swallowed.
“I know.“
Did he?
“Do you?“
“I killed someone today.“
You inhaled and he saw you were staring at his face with undivided attention, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at you. Staring at the wall in front of him he continued. “He was just a boy. Bobbin, I think his name was?“
He dared a glance towards you for confirmation and you nodded. Your face was a carefully composed mask of guardedness and he quickly looked away again.
“I didn‘t want to hurt him, but he attacked me. I didn’t have a choice. I had to kill him.“
Coriolanus wondered how he looked to you now; his red university uniform creased and filthy, hiding in a cave and fighting the tears as he confessed his sins.
“Hey“, you reached out and gently touched his chin to turn his head to you. “You did what you had to do.“
His eyes found yours and he seeked your reassurance, clinging to it like a lifeline.
“It was horrible. But-”, he cleared his throat, preparing himself for his next revelation, “it also made me feel powerful.“
You took a sharp breath, fear and uncertainty dancing across your eyes until you won back your composure.
“We all do things in here that we‘re not proud of.“
He had feared your judgement. Had feared that you would turn your back on him now that he had exposed this dark part of him, but instead there was understanding in your eyes.
And he knew you would never betray him. You could have left but you were still here. Still with him.
“So what‘s your plan now?“
You studied his face, but you looked tired and even though his own exhaustion was wearing him down he thought about offering to stay awake and keep an eye out so you could rest.
“I need to get out of here“, he said simply, because it was the only thing he was sure of. You nodded, but he caught the hint of disappointment on your face.
He should leave now, use the last hours of the night and get out of this hellhole and back to his own, safe walls.
But he couldn‘t bring himself to get up and risk his life again. Not when he finally had a moment to relax after the last hours had been nothing but stressful and not when this could be the last time he saw you.
The last time and the first time you two had for yourselves, without cameras watching you or anyone questioning your connection.
“Yeah, that makes sense“, you agreed, but he heard the strain in your voice. You were exhausted and worn down from the constant fear, the terror and the need to keep one eye open at all times.
“But…that can wait a little.“
You furrowed your brows. “Are you sure? Aren‘t they going to be suspicious, if you don‘t get back soon?“
He shrugged. “I am just going to tell them the truth. That I got attacked and had to hide.“
“And you won‘t get in trouble?“
He was almost touched by your concern, but decided to conceal it with amusement. When you noticed his look you rolled your eyes. “I was just checking, because I need my mentor to get me out of here alive. I can‘t have him rot in chains somewhere.“
“Right”, he nodded with a smile, but quickly grew serious again. “They are the ones who got me here in the first place so I doubt they get to have a say in how or when I make it out.“
“Thank you.“ Your voice was barely above a whisper and he drew you close, his hand gently moving up and down your arm.
Coriolanus couldn‘t do much for you. But he could stay now, pull your body close to his to provide you with warmth and stop your shivers and let you rest.
Even if it was just for a night, he would be there for you.
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mrsmikaelsxn · 10 months
Text
Pride and Pigeons
masterlist
pairing: harry potter x any gender reader
warnings: fluff, kissing
summary: a fluffy imagine of you and harry - requested by anon
a/n: you ask for harry fluff, you shall receive harry fluff :)
song: moon - siggerr
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Sitting on the couch in the common room you glance at the fire as it crackles.
It was the holidays and most people were home. Harry told you he was staying, so you decided to join him. He gave up trying to convince you that you didn't have to stay for him awhile ago.
You look down at the book in your hands and then turn your head to look out the window, getting a wonderful view of the snow falling outside. Hogwarts was so beautiful when it was covered in snow.
Harry walks out of his room and heads down the stairs quietly. He spots you cuddled up under a blanket by the fire with your book and he smiles softly.
He heads over to you and plops down next to you on the couch, places a kiss on your cheek, and puts his head on your lap. You instinctively run one of your hands through his hair, "Good morning, Harry."
"Morning, love," he looks at your eyes scanning the pages. He watches how your facial expressions change ever so slightly as you get to certain points of the novel. "You are so pretty."
You feel your cheeks warm and you look at his grinning face. "Thank you." Flipping the page, you glance back at him, "For the record, I think you're also pretty."
"Why, thank you. What book is that?"
"Pride and Prejudice. One of my favorite classics," you beam.
He furrowed his eyebrows, "Pride and Pigeons?"
You laugh and lightly wack his head with the book. "No you daft dimbo."
"I'm only joking!" Harry laughs and holds his hands up in mock surrender.
"Mhm. Anyway, it's a beautiful book. You should read it some time, I can lend you one of my copies."
"One of your copies? How many do you have?"
You look up and think as you count to yourself. "Nine. I think."
"Nine?! Who needs nine copies of the same book?" Harry looks at you with bewilderment.
"There are just a bunch of different pretty versions," you shrug. "I'll give you one of my favorites, with annotations- which is very generous of me because I don't let people borrow my books."
"Except Hermione."
You nod, "Except Hermione." You look back down to the page and continue reading, but you feel Harry's eyes studying you. You look and meet his adoring gaze, "What?"
"Nothing. You're just so... perfect," he sighs dreamily.
You sigh with a smile and pick up your bookmark. You mark the page you're on and put the book down on the table.
Harry pulls himself up a bit and you reach him halfway down, placing your lips softly on his. You feel him smile against your lips and you run your hand through his hair and put the other on the back of his neck.
You pull away after a bit and he drops back down onto your lap and closes his eyes in bliss. "I love you."
"I love you more."
"I love you m-"
You put your hand over his mouth, effectively shushing him. "Every time we do this we just go back and forth on who loves each other more."
"Yeah," he grins, "you're right."
"When am I not?"
He scoffs, "Would you like me to make a list?"
You gasp and put a hand on your chest, "Why are you calling it a list if nothing is going to be on it?"
"Ha ha, very funny." A moment goes by as you enjoy each other's presence in a comfortable silence. "Question," he says.
"Shoot."
"Did you want to go to hogsmeade with me tomorrow? We can get some butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks and wherever else you want."
"Can we get a pet?!"
"No."
"Oh, please, Harry!" you beg him with your best puppy dog eyes. You learned how to do them from the best, Sirius Black. Who better to learn puppy dog eyes from than a dog himself.
"No," he says but you can see he's starting to give in. As he looks at you pleading he has to do everything he can to hold himself from saying yes.
"Harry. Pretty please? With five cherries, whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, and caramel on top?"
"Treacle tarts on the side?"
"Treacle tarts on the side."
He looks at your pouting mouth and brings his lips to yours for a quick peck. "How can I say no to that?"
You jump up in excitement and accidentally knock Harry onto the floor. "Oh, Harry! I'm sorry!" You pull him up.
He rubs the back of his head, "Thanks."
"I'm going to get a kitten! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"You're most very welcome, darling. A kitten though?"
"Well, I would get a dog but I don't think Snape would be happy if I sent it to chew on his shoes- which I would totally do."
Harry laughs, "I would love to see that."
"Harry! Do you know what this means?!" you bite your lip with exhilaration.
"We're getting a kitten?"
You roll your eyes, "Obviously," you say in your best Snape impression. "It means we are going to be parents!"
"O-oh! Parents!" Harry stutters at the thought of being a parent with you. He would love nothing more than to have kids with you one day.
"I wonder if they sell clothes. If not then I'll make some. Hm, do you think that Molly will know how to knit clothing for a cat."
"Probably."
You walk to Harry and bring him into a tight hug. He rests his head on your shoulder and places a sweet kiss to your neck. "Thank you, Harry."
"If getting a kitten makes you smile at me like that, then I am more than happy to buy you one," he trails his finger up and down your back, enjoying every second of your warm embrace.
"That's very sweet... I think we should name it Harold Jr."
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avenging-fandoms · 1 year
Note
You begin to wear Joel's shirts when your bump gets more noticeable. He just beams with pride and talks to the baby every day.
part 1 sort of Pedro Pascal Masterlist
**this is not canon for the story of 'The Last of Us' but i love thinking of joel and ellie living peacefully and happy. *this is so disgusting fluffy it's so fanon
--
You groan softly as you roll onto your side, Joel nowhere to be found but Ellie was in his spot. This had been happening ever since she found out you were having a baby, if Joel wasn't in bed, she'd be next to you ready to protect you and the baby.
"Ellie.." The clock read 10:37am, breakfast was nearly over. She hummed. "Ellie, get up sweet girl. Let's go eat" Ellie sat up and rubbed her eyes, helping you out of bed.
"You're getting bigger!" She exclaims and you look in the mirror, turning to the side and Ellie smiles as she stood next to you. You rolled up the shirt you slept in, setting it on top of your stomach as Ellie just stared. "I've never seen this before, not in person anyway. What does it feel like?"
You grab her hand and put it on your stomach, pushing a bit and the baby kicks back. "Holy shit!" You laugh and brush her hair out of her face and she softly leans into you. "So you just feel him move in there?"
"Pretty much. And he pushes on my bladder" You complain and she laughs. "Go get ready, Joel's probably with Tommy. I'm not finding him, I'll find some food"
Ellie left the room with a smile and you look back at the mirror, still in awe that this was finally happening. "There's my girl" Joel wiped his hands on his pants and walked over to you, kissing your cheek as he placed his hand on your stomach. "How're you feeling?"
"Like I'm ready to push this kid out" You lean against him and he smiles, pulling your shirt down and hugging you softly as he rubbed your back. "Is it too much to ask you carry me half way to the dining hall? My feet are starting to hurt"
"Anything for you and my son" He smiles, kissing you softly. You lay your head on his chest, Joel rubbing your back.
"Elle?" You shout and she appears quickly in doorway, hand on her back pocket with her pocket knife in it. "Stand down, soldier" You open your arm and she walks in, burying herself in between you and Joel.
"What's this for?" Ellie mumbled into Joel's shirt and you smile, leaning your cheek on her head, closing your eyes.
"Nothing, just wanted a family hug"
-
Joel kept his promise and carried you halfway, and then the other half while taking a snowball fight break as Ellie threw it at Joel's back. Ellie tackled Joel into the snow, and you heard a laugh come from Joel you hadn't heard in years.
He picked you back up again and set you down once you reached the hall. Waffles, coffee and maple syrup filled your nose, and you swear your son did a backflip.
You fixed yourself a plate, Ellie as well and Joel just got a coffee. You and Ellie take in every bite, a glow radiating on your skin. "Feeling better, sweet girl?"
With a mouth full of food, you give him a thumbs up and he laughs, drinking his coffee. You swallowed and took a sip of orange juice, Ellie clinking her fork against her plate.
"Have you guys named him yet?" Ellie looked at you and you looked at Joel. He smiled behind his mug and stood up, sitting in the chair next to you and you turn your body towards Ellie, Joel's hand on the side of your stomach.
"Well, Ellie, Joel and I were thinking.." You looked back at Joel who smiled and looked at Ellie.
"We wanted you to be the one to name him" Joel finished your sentence, and Ellie was an instant mess. She fell into your chest and you smile, wrapping an arm around her back and the other holding her face. You shush her softly and stroke her hair, kissing her forehead. You were waiting for this, the day she let it all out.
"It's okay, sweet girl. I've got you, you're okay" You whisper into her hair, her hand on top of Joel's on your stomach. Joel watched you in adoration, kissing your cheek and Ellie's head.
Ellie picked her head up and wiped her nose with a napkin, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Well.. I can't say I haven't thought of any" You both crack a smile and you rub your leg. She pulled out a piece of paper and you giggle. "What?"
"You carry it around?" You ask, Ellie rolling her lips in between her teeth.
"I look at the names and think about showing him around and using his name option, seeing if it fits" She shrugged and your eyes started to get blurry. "Jackson"
Joel scoffed. You hit his chest. Ellie laughed.
"Uhm, William.. but.. Bill. For short"
Neither of you lifted your eyes. She named a few more, none of them really fitting.
"The last one.. uh.." Ellie started to sniffle again and you rub her leg. "The last name is Samuel. Sam.. for.." Her words trailed off and you looked at Joel who nodded.
"Sam is perfect, Ellie" You both stood up and you held her face, rubbing your thumbs over her cheeks. "Thank you, Ellie. For everything. For changing my life, for changing his. Thank you" She clung herself to your body, Joel standing up and wrapping his arms around the both of you.
Ellie, for the first time in her life, felt like she finally had a family who loved her.
"I.. I love you guys. Thank you" She wiped her eyes, putting her plate in the dirty dishes bin and sliding on her coat.
"Where do you think you're going?" Joel said and you hid a smile as you tucked your lips between your teeth, poking at your waffles.
"Uhm.. Tommy was gonna teach me how to take care of the horses"
"And you didn't ask us, first?" Joel gestured to you and him and you look at him.
"Don't bring me into this! You know I give into her" You angry whisper and bury your face deep in his chest.
"Joel, Yn. May I please go with Tommy to the horses so he can teach me how to take care of them?" Joel sighed, shaking his head.
"I wished you would've asked first, Ellie. You can't just run off"
"Yn? Can I please go?" You cover your ears and Ellie gets closer. "Can I pleaseeeee go?"
"Yes! Go enjoy being a kid!" You uncover your ears and she clapped, running out the door. You sat up and Joel looked at you as you leaned back on the bench, legs on either side of it.
Joel pulled up your shirt, bending down to put his mouth against your stomach, hands holding your back up. "Your mother is a push over, you're going to be so spoiled. “She’s spoiled too, she likes to steal daddy’s shirts” He looked up at you. “She’s lucky she looks delicious in them” Joel whispered and you smacked his head lightly, the both of you laughing.
His thumbs massage your hips and fingers massaging your back as he continues to speak against your stomach, surprisingly no one in the dining hall, not like Joel would care. "I'm so glad you'll be here soon" Joel laid his head on your stomach and he jumps as he feels a kick against his cheek.
"That's what you get for insulting his mother!"
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lovelytsunoda · 1 year
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santa baby // charles leclerc
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summary: it's christmas morning, his mother has the kids, and it's been too long since he and his wife got to enjoy a little bit of quality time, if you get what he's saying
pairing: charles leclerc x wife! reader
warnings: festive smut <3, a few jokes about how y/n's dad really didn't like charles in the beginning, mentions of heaven in a pretty unholy context. charles wants another child which turns into mild breeding
authors note: the christmas collection is almost complete!! this is the last christmas based story, and to close out the series I have one that takes place in new york on new years!
the monaco morning was chilly, a light dusting of snow descending on monte carlo as charles leclerc and his wife lay tangled in bed, christmas tree still twinkling and full of light in the penthouse apartment's main room. they always slept like this, with charles' body draped over hers, his arms tightly clutching her around the midsection, legs tangled together.
they'd married young, just nineteen when they eloped in italy because charles was scared that y/n's father was going to kill him. but her father was a traditional man, who thought that his daughter was destined for more than charles, who came across as a playboy f2 driver at the time.
but they had known each other for years, high school sweethearts, if you will. they got married right before charles started his first season with sauber, and the monegasque boy had promised that he would always support and look after y/n. of course, the shit hit the fan once their respective families realized that they had eloped, but it would take a blind man not to see how madly in love the two young adults had been at the time.
had been, and still were.
“mhm, charles…” she whined, feeling the tip of her husbands warm nose at the back of her neck. she lifted the ferrari drivers hand from around her waist, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “good morning, mon amour.” she said softly, pressing back into the monegasque.
“merry christmas cherie.” charles smiled against her skin, eyes still closed as he pressed a gentle kiss to the nape of her neck.
“I wonder if jolie is awake yet. I forgot how nice it was to wake up in a quiet house.”
the couple had always kept their private life just that: private. their rings weren’t flashy, simple bands that didn’t catch too much attention. and a few months after charles had signed to ferrari, y/n had told him that she was pregnant, something they had tried to hide to the best of their ability.
he had been shocked at first, but the glow in his eyes and grin on his face hadn’t ever gone away. they’d kept the pregnancy a secret as long as possible, but sebastian vettel had eventually figured it out, the same way that the german had figured out that the young lovers were married.
jolie helene leclerc was the apple of charles’ eye. from the moment that jolie was born, the infant had charles wrapped around her pudgy little fingers.
“jolie is fine, mon tresor. she’s with my mom and arthur.”
she laughed, sitting up in bed before looking down at her husband, tapping him gently on the nose. “arthur is why I’m worried. he might be twenty one but he’s still a child. just let me call your mom.” she insisted, getting out of the king sized bed and walking across the room to get her phone, the hemline of her green silk nightdress barely covering her ass.
“babe…” charles whined. “she’s fine, come on. when was the last time that we had the apartment to ourselves?”
charles had a point. the night before, the couple had opened a bottle of red wine and binged the new season of ‘only murders in the building’ before y/n had fallen asleep in the couch, curled up against her husbands side before charles had carried her her back to the bed.
she paused, turning back to her husband. charles rarely ever wore pajamas to bed, but for the holiday season he had humoured his wife with a silk set, the top unbuttoned halfway to show off his impressive muscles, the outline of his dick visible through the silk pants.
it was a sight that used to make her mouth water. not that she didn’t find her husband attractive anymore, it was just that she had other priorities. like raising jolie.
“I suppose you’re right.” her voice was sing-songy as she leaned against the dresser, one of the nightgown straps falling down her shoulder. “what do you suggest we do about it?”
charles grinned, hair messy and cheeks flushed as he got out of bed, meeting his wife in the middle of the room as he pulled her in for a kiss, his hands warm against her skin in the chilled room.
“I can think of a few ideas, ma cherie.” he grinned, slipping his hands up the back of her nightdress. “you’re beautiful.” he hummed, pressing kisses to her neck as she flushed pink under the half light, a smile on her face as she giggled.
charles never failed to sweep her off her feet.
she laughed as charles gripped her ass for support as she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist before he stumbled back towards the bed. they fell to the sheets in a tangle of limbs and giggles, her husband hovering over her as he peppered her exposed skin with kisses, palming her erect nipples through the silk.
“oh, charles.” she moaned lowly as charles drew back, reaching to undo the last few buttons on his silk shirt.
y/n wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning in close and pressing a few gentle kisses to her husbands chest, his rapidly hardening cock becoming increasingly more prominent through his trousers.
she could feel his muscles tensing and undulating underneath her lips as he breathed deeply, a sensation that only added to the want pooling between her legs.
charles sucked in a breath at the feeling of his wife’s lips against his abs. he would never get tired of calling y/n his beautiful wife. he could hardly contain himself, stomach rapidly rising and falling as she continued to kiss him, her fingertips dancing across his skin as she looked up at him, a bright smile on her face and lust in her eyes.
he knew she would never suck him off. it was a sensory thing, she hated the feeling of having any dick in her mouth, not just charles’. but charles was more than okay with that, as he would much rather be on his knees for her than have her on her knees for him.
charles slipped out of the undone shirt, gently pushing her back onto the bed and climbing on top of her, connecting his lips to hers in a fiery kiss as she slipped her hand down the front of his pants, cupping his erection in her delicate hand.
"mon amour," he rasped. "don't feel like you have to. this morning is all about you."
"but what if i want to?" her words came out in a whisper, eyes like oceans staring back at charles.
"you know that i won't stop you, mon amour." his breathing was heavy as y/n used both hands to push charles onto the bed, reversing their earlier position so that she straddled the ferrari driver.
she slid the silk pants down her husband's legs just enough so that she had access to his cock, running her fingers up and down the length.
she might not give blowjobs, but in charles' eyes, his wife did something even better with her hands, lips on his neck as she stroked his length, drawing a deep moan that bordered on a growl from teh back of charles' throat.
"baby..." he whined, his wife's hand warm and comforting as she pumped his dick in her hand, leaning over his body to press feather light kisses to his skin as charles gripped her thigh. "you're too good to me."
"i mean, you were on the nice list this year." she grinned, smiling against charles' chest as she pressed a kiss to his skin, quickening the pace at which she moved her hand up and down his shaft.
"not for much longer, ma cherie. not for too much longer at all." he cursed in french, bucking his hips into her hand as his eyes rolled back. "i wont last much longer like this, darling. I need to be inside you.”
“how do you want me?” she asked innocently, withdrawing the hand she had on charles’ cock and leaning down to kiss him softly, his hands cupping her ass.
“on your stomach, cherie. let me see your curves.”
every nerve ending in her body was on high alert as she laid on the plush mattress, resting the side of her face against the pillow as she moved all of her hair to one side , tingling with the sensation of anticipation, just waiting for charles to caress every inch of her body.
she could hear her husband fumbling with his pants in the background, giggling as she felt him run his hand up her leg. he slowly pushed her nightgown up, pressing kisses to her bare ass and up her lower spine, taking the silk fabric with him as he relished in how after all these years, he could still make y/n leclerc tremble underneath his touch.
“charles, don’t tease, baby.” she murmured, giving in fully to his touch as she bucked her ass back unit her husbands body. “you gave up the right to do that when we had a child.”
charles laughed, running his fingers along her slit as he readied himself behind her. “I’m here baby, don’t move a muscle and let me show you how much I appreciate you.”
he slid in slowly, y/n moaning softly underneath him as she fisted the flannel sheets. “oh, sweet jesus.” she muttered as charles began to slowly thrust into her, his cock reaching all the places that made her shiver.
“you feel like heaven, mon amour.” charles growled. “god, I love you so fucking much.”
“oh, charles!” her moan was so high pitched that it bordered in a whimper. “faster, please, charles.”
charles grinned to himself, picking up the pace as he leaned down to pepper her spine in delicate kisses, loving the way that her back arched under his touch, the curve of her spine as she pressed her hips back, trying to take as much of his cock as she could.
it was like heaven on earth.
“my sweet girl.” the monegasque hummed, the room filled with the sounds of skin on skin, and the moans of the angel underneath him, the sight of his cock sliding in and out of his wife enough to make his eyes roll back in his skull. “oh, you take my cock so well. almost like we were made for each other.”
“you’ve been using that line for five years, amour.” she giggled, a smile on her face before her lips parted in a moan, her arm reaching back so she could clasp her husbands hand in hers.
he grinned slyly “and it still works, doesn’t it? I managed to get a baby out of you.”
“yes, yes.” she moaned, clutching Charles’ hand tightly as she buried her face in the pillow, goose-down swallowing her moans.
charles paused, pressing his chest against her back, gently kissing her cheek as she brushed a few stray strands of sweaty hair away from her face. “y/n, jolie is three years old already. I think it’s time that we maybe…had another one?”
she smiled, turning her head so she could look at her husband. “and you’re asking me now?”
charles chuckled. “can I put another baby in you, mon amour? I want a family with you, a little sibling for jolie.”
as awkward as it was given their position, y/n kissed charles softly. “put another baby in me, lover boy.”
if anything, the sex got more intense after Charles’ confession, his hips and his dick moving at a relentless pace as he slammed in and out of her. and y/n loved every second of it, fingers digging into the sheets as her moans reached a crescendo.
“should I fill you up, darling? yeah, you want me to put another baby in you?” charles grunted, feeling his climax hurtle closer as her walls began to clench around him.
“god, yes charles! give me your cum, put a baby in me!”
they let go around the same time, reducing charles to a groaning, moaning mess as he released his grip on his wife’s hips, rolling their bodies gently over onto their sides so that they were spooning, out of breath and satisfied, charles’ cock still buried inside of her.
“I meant what I said, charles.” she said softly, plying with her husbands fingers. “I want another child. three sounds like a good number, doesn’t it?”
the driver smiled, kissing her cheek. “two little girls and a boy. our own little karting team.”
“in your dreams.” y/n snorted “jolie hasn’t even looked at the go kart in the garage.”
“all in good time, mon amour. all in good time. merry christmas, y/n”
“merry christmas, charles. now, we should get in the shower and get ready otherwise we aren’t making it to your mothers for brunch.”
Tags:
@magnummagnussen @daydreamingleclerc @libraryofloveletters @flannel-cures @sidcrosbyspuck @diorleclerc
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stnexus · 4 months
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a toast to you…!
jason todd x black!fem!reader
minors dni, mature audience, suggestive content
summary: jason and his protective nature throughout the relationship amplifies even more when you’re drunk. his desire is not important when you’re under the influence.
cw: language, suggestive content, pretty much fluff, established relationship, one singular smack on the butt, drinking + intoxication, drunk reader, speaks of consent
names used(?): pretty girl, baby, sweetheart, pretty thing, beautiful girl
wc. 2.3k+
tag + note: literally rewrote this multiple times because i was struggling with the wording and pacing. then halfway through the third time writing it i was like this would make a great nye fic. so i started the process of writing it for the fourth time, while drunk (lmao). but ultimately started slacking. then i came along @fic-over-cannon ’s piece which pushed me to finishing, we were literally on the same wavelength i swear — despite our differences in time frames lmfao. there may be a follow up so let me know if you would like a part two. i really hope you all enjoy! i wish you all a beautiful new year’s eve + day.
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the cold air of the crisp winter night nipped at your smooth brown skin, snow falling in a cast of white flurry all around you. your eyes felt somewhat heavy as your eyelids drooped — eyelashes fluttering just a bit as you took in the scenery. a pretty toothy grin tugged at your glossed lips. with your head tilted upward, you allowed snowflakes to rain down on you from the night sky. letting them drop down in all their graceful glory and melt into your already-cold skin. the tip of your nose boarding along freezing and your cheeks following suit. though, it did not seem to bother you one bit — your trench coat had long been shrugged off and draped across your arm. something you surely would have been reprimanded for during your childhood.
a giggle full of glee fell from your lips, almost like the joy that followed a child's first sight of snow. it was a melody that jason could never get tired of hearing. he listened intently as he sifted through his keys for the house key. finding beauty in such a place as gotham was your specialty, something that your boyfriend had come to adore you for. you were like a missile, seeking out the light in a dark room. your joy had been buried in studying the little things, then pulling them to the forefront for others to observe. it kept jason balanced and kept him at peace within the realm of gotham.
“now, what could you possibly find funny out here?” jason’s amused question broke the daze you had found yourself in, and he tutted at seeing you bask in the winter air with no coat. although a grin fell onto his face as he observed your happy appearance as he pushed the front door of your home open, the keys in the lock jingling and swaying in the process. a gush of warmth radiated from the gap in the door.
“the snow, jay. it’s beautiful.” you spoke with a slight slur to your words, your intoxication evident on your tongue. the pristine white snowflakes had begun to cling to your blonde-colored fulani braids as you looked at your boyfriend. his eyes took in every movement of your drunken state – vigilant at all times. shaking his head, he pushed the front door open, stomping his black dress shoes against the welcome mat at the front door in order to not track snow into the house.
“so are you, pretty girl. now get inside before you catch a cold to go along with that hangover tomorrow.” jason spoke gently as he grabbed at your forearm, pulling you towards him as he walked you over the threshold of your shared home. “i can tell you definitely enjoyed yourself tonight.”
it was never your plan to drink so much tonight. no, that was not the plan at all when you were told about bruce’s new year’s eve party. this had been your second time attending the event, marking two years since you had begun dating jason. as classical music buzzed around the open floor of wayne manor, you had showed up as quiet as a mouse, shaking the hands of those that spoke to both you and jason. your acrylics played at the emerald-green silk of your maxi dress.
it was not until bruce had spoken to you two that you started to loosen up a bit. taking a drink from his hand as he had welcomed you, then deciding to venture off on your own a bit. jason watched you closely as you admired the manor and spoke with those who approached you. a few times you had been offered more to drink and food as well, and you agreed politely.
jason’s eyes had moved from anyone he had conversed with to you during the party. the bulbs of glowing warm lights highlighting your skin with each movement you made, your dress fell perfectly over you. the cherry on top was that any time you passed by, you left a trail of your signature scent behind; it was like a pathway that he could follow to the end of the earth.
to say he had been stuck on you the whole night was an understatement. he was stuck on you daily — this was something more. he was sure you would drive him mad one day, but he did not think it would come so soon. he shifted on his feet just a bit as he watched the man he had been speaking to bid a farewell, his daze starting to send a wave of desire through him as the night progressed. though he began to push his thoughts down as your pretty eyes began to glaze over due to intoxication — peering at him with a gaze full of adoration.
it was almost twisted, really.
the way he knew you held such love for him. no matter what he had come from, no matter where his faults lied in the past. you had always looked to him like he had hung the moon and the stars — which he would gladly do for you with no questions asked. though, as he heard a small giggle leave your pretty lips, he knew it was time to go. he knew you knew your limits, but he also knew you would crash at some point. then it would be a mess as he tried to get your drowsy self to get ready for bed. 
it had been way past midnight, so guests had begun parting ways. jason watched you closely as you rejected a hand pushing another glass your way. your braids swaying just a bit as you shake your head kindly, the ends of your hair brushing across the cloth of your silk emerald-green dress.
the car ride home was filled with the low sound of the radio. one of jason’s hands splayed over your lap while you fumbled around with his fingers, running your hand over his forearm. his other hand was placed securely on the leather covered steering wheel. he already knew what you were hinting at, but a response of refusal had already begun to brew in his thoughts. it diminished the want that he had felt making its way to the forefront earlier, turning it into absolute nothingness.
your laughter filled the car at random times as you complimented jason a few times throughout the ride. your eyes tracing over his face as he drove, a hand reaching out to brush through his hair at times. the scenery flew by beautifully as you both neared your home. decorations that people had left up after christmas lit up the city.
“but jayyy, the snow.” a whine left your lips in protest as you both took in the warmth of the home. you could hear the locks of the front door slid into place, then felt your trench coat being taken from your hands.
“the snow will be there tomorrow, baby. whining definitely won’t work,” he chuckled as his dress shoes thudded against the hardwood floors as he took them off. watching as you stooped down to take off your heels, stumbling a little as you tried to stand once they had been removed. a gentle yet firm hand was wrapped around your upper arm, catching you swiftly as you were pulled up before hitting the floor. a small yelp of surprise falling from your lips. 
“you’ve gotta be careful, sweetheart.” jason spoke almost sternly with a small frown. pulling you towards him and over his shoulder, he landed a smack on your poked out asscheek. a spill of laughter fell from his lips as he listened to your cheeky protests that followed. he guided you both to the kitchen, sitting you on the marble-topped island in the middle of it.
“we already ate at bruce’s though—” a hiccup cut your words short as you watched your boyfriend drift around the kitchen. reaching into the cabinet to pull out a cup, the glass shining in the light of the kitchen. 
“i’m not getting food; i’m getting you some water. we’ve gotta sober you up.” 
“iamsober.” your words slurred together as your feeble attempt to feign a sober response fell flat on its face. a knowing laugh falling from your lips as your boyfriend’s eyebrow lifted in an amused manner as he filled the cup by using the water dispenser on the front of the fridge. 
“nice try,” jason stated as he neared you once more, hand jutting out to give you the cup. “we’re not going anywhere until you finish.”
“what if i said no?” you bit back jokingly, though the rim on the cup fell to your lips as you began to drink.
“well, we’d be here all night. i’d annoy you until you finished it.” he stated with a matter-of-fact tone. 
“i don’t know if you can annoy me, jason. that might be impossible.” a bashful smile covered your face as you downed the last bit of water in the glass. taking the cup from you and sitting it down, jason found himself standing in between your legs, his hands falling down to rub at your covered thighs.
“yeah?” he spoke slowly as he closed in on you, his face mere inches away from your own. the alcohol that lingered on your breath was still clear to him, and even more so as his lips met your own. your tongue swiped over his lip as if you were asking for permission to deepen the kiss. your hands reached up to play at the hairs close to the nape of his neck. subtle moans fell from your lips and were swallowed by jason, his black slacks beginning to tighten slightly in a certain area at your sounds.
“jason, i want you.” you declared as he had begun to pull away, rejection already seeping out through his demeanor. upon hearing your words, jason took into account once more the alcohol on your breath and the way your eyes held on to a dazed look. as if you were floating. your words were coherent at times but still veered off into a cluster of sounds at other times.
his protective ways are prominent in his actions. knowing you had not agreed to him touching you in your drunken state prior to your outing. your drunken words were of no significance to him.
“you’re drunk. not tonight, pretty thing.” he spoke sternly, planting a gentle peck on your lips as he picked you up once more. carrying you to the bathroom connected to your bedroom. his slacks were still tight in one area as he grabbed at washcloths. making sure to help you secure a black bonnet over your braids. he worked to ignore the cute little pout that sat on your drunken lips as he moved to turn on the shower.
standing in front of you, he dropped the straps on the dress from your arms and pulled it past your waist, watching as it fell in a pile at your feet. reaching for the band of your black lacy panties to pull them down.
“not we gettin’ frisky,” you giggled drunkenly once again. 
“we’re definitely not getting frisky,” jason almost choked in response, grabbing at your waist as you used him for leverage to kick the panties off. helping to remove your jewelry, he ushered you into the shower. “get your drunk ass in the shower, pretty girl.”
looking over himself in the almost foggy bathroom mirror, jason unbuttoned the first three buttons of his black-button up. with a bit of tiredness he let out a sigh as he got undressed, ignoring his dilemma in the process. hoping that it would ease its way down so he wouldn’t have to spend time handling it himself.
the warm white comforter splayed over the bed was like a personal safe haven. you had been covered in moisturizer and other essentials by jason. his hands moving quickly to help you get dressed, tightening around you whenever he felt you were about to lose your footing. your pajamas for the night, consisting of one of his shirts and a pair of underwear. the warmth swarming the house left no fear of you getting sick while covered in your usual nighttime attire.
only a pair of dark red pajama pants hung loosely from jason’s hips as he pulled the drawstrings together to tighten the waistband. the bedside lamp and moonlight that streamed through the window were your only sources of light.
“jason…” you hummed briefly as your eyes locked on to him from your position under the comforter. placed on your side of the bed, his side empty right in front of you.
“mhm,” he hummed while briefly letting his gaze fall on you, then back to the jewelry box that he was putting your belongings into. 
“you’re so handsome,” you drowsily confessed once again, your head placed on the pillow below you, eyes following his every move. watching as a lazy smirk graced his lips — a hand coming up to run through his dual-colored hair. his feet carrying him to his side of the bed. 
getting under the covers beside you, jason pulled you close by your waist. setting a kiss on your lips, he let out a hum when you began to kiss back.
“you are absolutely beautiful.” jason complimented quietly. “my beautiful girl.”
“happy new year,” your words fluttered into a muttered mess as you tried to fight your sleep. eyes becoming heavy with sleep as you move your head from the pillow to jason’s bare chest. a subtle laugh left his mouth as he watched your movements and the way you tried to reject the need for sleep as you groaned a bit in frustration. gliding his hand over your side, he tried to coax you into sleeping.
“happy new year to you too,baby.”
it was moments like these that jason found most intimate. the moments where you both stepped into the unknown, like the new year that awaited you. the moments that he got to hold on to you, while you held on to him. as his hand traced over your body and began to soothe you, he listened to how light snores filled the room. reaching with his free hand to turn out the lamp on the nightstand with very little effort.
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orbitariums · 4 months
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home this christmas | carmen berzatto x black reader smut
happy christmas! wrote this in a pinch, hope u love
also, all my steve rogers fic readers— what say i finish up girls on film over winter break? just for shits and giggles. enjoy!
the drive to your family’s heirloom brownstone in brooklyn was almost impossible as you and carmy took turns navigating the snowy roads and the panic attack that was new york traffic during the holidays. it would’ve been absolute agony if you weren’t right by your lover’s side and didn’t have tons of r&b christmas classics blasting through the entire time. at the first hotel, the two of you were too exhausted to even talk to each other, but carmen’s arm still found its way around your waist like something of an unconscious mechanism. you had to smuggle yourself free in the morning. by the morning, the two of you were determined to finish up the four-hour drive and make it home for christmas. 
no time for rest though. the minute you and carmy stepped in, you were bombarded with the sound of luther vandross belting christmas classics. the smell of good cooking — candied yams, sweet potatoes, collard greens, and glazed ham- overwhelmed your senses. any tension that had built up on the road was immediately released the moment you walked in, carmy holding a huge crate of ingredients that he would use to make chicken piccata.
“cuzzo!” squealed janae, your favorite girl cousin, and a recent howard u grad, as she ran up with her arms opened wide like a snow angel etched into the snow. 
“hey boo,” you grinned, basking in the warmth of her hug. you held on for so long— halfway through today’s trip, carmy’s car heat stopped working and the both of you had to opt for multiple blankets and layering up in all the coats and scarves you could find, plus whatever slightly warming object was in the back of his trunk.
“hi baby, hi carmen. merry christmas!,” your mother, hustling over to the sink with a large pot full of hot water cooed out.
“merry christmas, ms. __. so good to see you, can i help you with that?” carmen asked, setting down his crate and heading over to your mother, getting straight to business.
“carmen, you know to call me denise,” your mother nagged, waving her hand at carmen dismissively. “what i keep telling you about that?! you’re family. now leave me alone and ‘gon get started with your little chef shit over there.”
carmen smiled, that deep dimple sinking into his cheek that made you fall in love with him all over again each time you saw it. 
“yes ma'am,” he relented.
“ooh, your man is so fine, yn,” your sister announced as she walked into the kitchen. “and a gentleman, but we been knew that. hey, carmy. it’s good to see you, boy.”
“yeah, good to see you, too. how’s uhh— how’s benny?”
your sister scoffed,
“stupid, as always. and he don’t even cook. hey, yn!”
your sister laughed and pulled you into a hug.
“home sweet home,” you grinned, jumping right into the business of the kitchen. 
the rest of the day was chaos, but the kind you could only ever love. if anything, carmy preferred this chaos to that of his family’s thanksgiving and back home. this chaos felt organized and loving, not to mention hilarious. it took so long to convince your family that carmy could really cook, but once they finally met him just a few months before and he put down a peach pie like never before, they could not shut up about how fine and talented your man was, and how he was one of the good ones.
today, the same routine. this time, watching carmen cook for your family in your family home revved up a stir deep inside of you that would linger on your mind for the entire afternoon. everywhere you turned you couldn’t help but eye him — his big arms, littered with tattoos, flexing as he stirred a pot of mashed potatoes; the way his brow dug into his forehead with concentration as he definitively scattered parsley over the chicken; his tongue darting out to lick the side of his lip when he was focusing deeply on something. 
for the first time in the past 24 hours, you were practically separated from carmy. he was focusing on his dish and tending to the demands of the practically all-female kitchen (no men were allowed, bar for carmy and your aunt’s husband), so he didn’t get to talk to you, doubly engrossed in your christmas dinner duties, much either. though the times that he could sneak away or had to pass by you, he reassured you with a light squeeze around your hips or a hand on the small of your pack as he got by you. unbeknownst to him, it was only feeding the stir that was increasing by the hour between your thighs, and polluting your mind with the most unholy thoughts. 
the air was thick with flour, smoke, and the smell of a grand dinner by the time you all were finished cooking. while you let the food cool, you opened gifts. carmy had something for everyone in the family, even your baby cousins, nieces, and nephews. by the end of the gift opening, everyone had agreed that carmy was their new favorite. 
“merry christmas, baby,” carmy muttered against your lips, pulling you in for the first kiss you had shared for a few hours now. he placed your gift in your lap. 
“merry christmas,” you smiled against his lips, which tasted like sweet wine and marshmallows, as you pulled away. 
“c’mon now, what’d he get you?” your aunt hollered from her seat, clapping her hands together joyfully. 
you grinned, sloughing away the paper, which was wrapped to perfection, just like everything carmy dared touch. you nearly squealed when you saw the box: black and white with big bold letters: chanel. 
“baby, you did not,” you whined, frowning as you looked over at carmen. again that dimple reappeared and it took you everything not to jump his bones. he stroked his hand with his chin in that pensive way of his, his smile sheepish and yet smug.
“open it.”
you opened it slowly as if you were scared. then you practically tore it out of the box when you saw just what it was — the metallic pink chanel bag you had liked just once on instagram, posting it on your story with the caption “need.” you didn’t expect anything to come of that, and yet, here carmy was, going above and beyond to keep up with your expensive and exquisite taste. you couldn’t help but screech in excitement, waving the bag in the air while you stuck your tongue out.
“y’all look what my man got me!”
“my man, my man, my man,” some of your cousins echoed, humored, in the background.
the entire living room practically erupted with noises of affirmation and disbelief from your family. 
“girl, let me hold that for you!” your cousin janae pleaded jokingly. 
you broke out into a little dance on the couch, ending it with another kiss planted on carmy’s lips, pulling away with a loud smacking noise. 
“you really didn’t have to, baby. i love you.”
“i love you. that’s why i did it,” carmy grinned, his eyes boring deep into yours, promising his love to you. 
“i just know that’s right,” your mother called out. 
dinner was active and loud, as always. carmen’s chicken piccata barely lasted, and folks were starting to compare it to your aunt’s famous fried chicken, but carmy shut that down immediately.
“nah, don’t get me in trouble,” he smirked, holding the plate you had made for him. 
there was something so indescribably sexy about watching him just standing there. that he was so easily integrated with your family, so helpful, and charming enough to please your own mother and father had you weak in the knees. not to mention the insane gift. he told you he’d been saving up for a few months ever since he saw you post that, and that only made your heart melt more.
when carmy wasn’t so in his own head, he was a man of true, deep intention. you were the one who brought him back to homeostasis, to equilibrium. his mental state seemed to clear of all the “bad shit” when he laid his head on your chest, on your lap, your hands figuring their way through the ringlets of his curly hair. 
“yeah, don’t get him in trouble,” the aunt in question echoed as she walked past.
“don’t worry aunty, i still like your fried chicken better. sorry baby,” you awarded carmy an apologetic kiss on the lips. “but i stand on my shit.”
“as you should,” carmen nodded, an amused smirk playing on his lips. “you like other things about me better though, yeah?”
that last part came as a low murmur against your ear, his lips just barely brushing against the lobe. the words, in tandem with his warm, familiar breath fanning against your neck, made you squeeze your legs together involuntarily. you could practically taste the wine on his lips and it made you dizzy. the stir that had been brewing inside of you for an entire day now was now changing pace, becoming quicker, more violent. if you didn’t fulfill your needs soon, you’d overflow. 
you smiled to save face in front of your family, squeezing carmen’s hand as if to say “later.” but god, later couldn’t come fast enough.  
the rest of the night you were glued to carmen, practically hip to hip. you sat on his lap while your family talked around the tree, and he made sure his hands caressed your thighs ever so softly, just enough to keep you reeling from his trickling touch. you wanted him to squeeze, wanted him to sink his palms into you and then some. 
it wasn’t until nearly midnight that people started to pile out, and only then did you find it appropriate to head upstairs with carmen, bidding adieu to your family. 
“aww, it was so good to see you yn, and you, carmen. what a blessing you’ve been to this family,” crooned one of your aunts as she also made her way out the door.
“blessed to be here. thank you guys for welcoming me, seriously. i couldn’t be luckier, holy shit. excuse my language,” carmen rambled,
the words spilled out with ease because of the wine and because he genuinely felt this way. his whole life, he’d been blessed with found family, reminding him that sometimes water could be just as thick as blood. and when you came with the package? he’d never let go. 
people began to peeter out late into the night, and by the time everyone was gone, only then was it appropriate for you to bring carmy upstairs to get ready for bed. 
both you and carmy spilled out a few more jokes and goodbyes before you took carmy by the hand and led him upstairs. as you were walking up there, it hit you that it was his first time being in your childhood room. you only ever stayed here when you were visiting, so it still had a very y2k theme to it that you hadn’t changed since high school. a poster of lil kim with her legs spread was plastered on your walls, along with nsync, backstreet boys, and a couple other 90s-2000s classics. you still had a half-used bottle of juicy couture viva perfume on your desk, the bow wrapped prettily around the cap. 
“oh shit, it’s been a while,” you chuckled. 
carmen was taking it all in, looking around with a thoughtful grin etched across his lips.  
“always been a fashion girl, huh?” he prodded you.
“oh forever.”
you sidled up in front of him, so close you could feel him up against you.
“you were amazing today,” you reached up to kiss him as he towered over you, in height and energy. a soft, wet kiss that left carmy wanting more. so much so that he unconsciously wrapped his hands around your waist and pulled you in even closer. 
“yeah?”
“yes. i love watching you with my family. and with the kids, you just…”
“y’know, when i was cooking i kept feeling eyes on the back of my neck. any idea who that could’ve been?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow up as he gazed down at you.
you shook your head knowingly, pulling your bottom lip in between your teeth, returning his gaze tenfold.
“no,” you replied, your voice sweet like honeydew and so, so telling. 
“fuck,” carmy’s gaze seemed to deepen as his lids sunk lower, drinking in the sight of you. “don’t look at me like that, baby.”
he started to pull you closer towards him, back and back and back until you were plopped down on his bed. his legs, wide and bulky, forced you to spread yours over his lap, welcoming his thighs into a straddle. 
“like what?” you asked, your eyes twinkling as you looked down at him and he looked up at you, his hands roaming your thighs freely, like an expanse of land that was entirely his property. 
“like that, like you’re gonna make me do something you’ll regret.”
“regret? how could i ever regret anything you do to me, baby?” you questioned with a very intentional roll of your hips against him. you felt him grow, blossoming against your own crotch, which made you moan quietly.
“if you’re loud enough—” carmy punctuated his words with a kiss against your neck as his hands went to take off your shirt. you lifted your arms up and your shirt came sliding off, your skin exposed to the cool air. “you just might regret it.”
carmy kissed the side of your neck, eliciting a quiet huff of pleasure from your lips. you closed your eyes, allowing yourself to sink into the pleasure. his fingers danced delicately against your bare sides until finally, he rested the whole of his palms against your body, easing them up and down like he was smoothing you out. 
“mm, i’ll be quiet, daddy,” you hummed, arching your back just so, his hand connecting with the small of your back and fitting right in.
“take your pants off,” he commanded quietly, his eyes practically closed as he studied you with heavy lids. the exhaustion certainly didn’t assist the horny daze he was sinking deeper into, tired and full of lustful thoughts that seemed to weigh him down.
“only if you take your clothes off too, carmy,” you whined, but you shimmied out of your pants anyway, watching him with hungry puppy-dog eyes while he did the same, yanking off his shirt, belt, and pants and throwing them halfway across the room.
“and your bra, too,” carmy said softly, his words coming out delicate like petals falling off a flower. he was completely focused on one thing, and it was you— nothing else mattered, nothing else existed. time moved slow when he watched you like this. 
you started unhooking it, then carmy’s hands flung to your clasp to help you, removing it in record time and throwing it across the room. you opened your mouth to make a joke, but you were immediately silenced when his lips attached hungrily to your breast, closing in on the fat surrounding the small of your nipple while the other hand grasped onto the other. 
you whined quietly and started to roll your hips against carmy even more now, grinding deep against his crotch which was covered by his boxers. you could practically feel him poking inside of you, lubricating your pussy even more than it already was. 
“carmy,” you whined. “can feel you.”
“mhm?” he hummed brokenly, his breaths heavy and dysregulated. you were so warm, sharing in each other’s heat, in the still dark of your bedroom. the sheets all done up, practically untouched. he pulled away from your breast, unlatching with a soft pop of his lips. his hand replaced his mouth, feeling the warm trail that his lips left. “can feel you too, sweetheart.”
he let his hand drift down to your crotch, cupping you over your underwear, which had a big wet spot in the center. 
“yeah, that’s what i feel. you’re so fucking wet, honey,” he crooned into your ear, making sure his lips brushed against your earlobe before he traveled down to kiss on your neck some more, sending shivers down your spine that made you buck your hips involuntarily into his hand. carmy chuckled that dark, smug chuckle that made you hate him and want to ride him all the same. the kind that only came out when you were being desperate— when he had control over you and not the other way around. “what’re you doing, baby? go slow, yeah? be patient.”
he made a wreck of you, obliging you anyway by circling a finger against your clit through your panties, feeling the way your slick seemed to pool endlessly at his touch. wanting to feel it on your skin. 
“shut up, carmy, fuck!” you moaned quietly, your arms wrapped around his neck for balance. 
he played with you just a little more, wondering just how far he could take it until your quiet moans turned into pleading whimpers, until he made you start to beg just for his fingers, so that by the time he sat you down on his lap, letting you sink all the way down onto his cock, you had no more voice to beg. that was on his mind, and yet, in his tired, sex-drunk haze, he knew to give you what you wanted now, before you went and turned the whole house into a personal fuckfest. 
still, he couldn’t help but tease just once more. 
“it’s christmas, honey. what’re we doing?”
“i don’t care,” you huffed. “it’s practically tomorrow, it’s like 11:30.”
carmen nearly snorted,
“need it that bad?”
you didn’t reply, and so he asked you again, this time with a kiss of his lips against your neck, sucking and attaching firmly to the sweet, soft skin there, and with his fingers, pulling down your underwear. slick sounds filling the air as it detached from your wet core, a trail of your arousal in between the cloth and your heat. 
“hm?” carmy hummed, letting his fingers dance along your slit, ever so gently and delicately, like they were trailing up your entire being.
“god, y-yes, carmy. need it, need you. please,” you whimpered, muffled as you buried your head into the crook of his neck, lurching into him like you were surrendering, a natural lull you didn’t even realize you gave into every time without fail. full disregard, letting him take over, letting yourself let go. 
“need my fingers inside you, yeah?” carmy panted, finding it hard to control himself.
all he wanted was to be sheathed fully inside of you, whether that meant twisting you open with his fingers, lapping you up with his tongue, or fucking his cum into you as deeply (and quietly) as he could. he obliged, slipping one finger inside with such gleeful ease, feeling the digit get soaked in your arousal. 
you gasped sharply, lurching forward involuntarily. carmy brought you back down with another hand wrapped firm around your waist.
“no no no, stay right there. and answer me, what do you need?” 
“need you carmy, need your fingers, please, another,” you nearly cried out, your voice going up an octave just to beg. perhaps carmen’s favorite sound from your lips, and it didn’t even sound like yourself— it sounded like someone who was forced into impenetrable bliss and didn’t have a vessel to express it, just the voice.
“okay, okay, sweetheart,” he was sweet and giving, so generous, so dazed and yet still so in charge. dipping another finger into your slick, wet heat and burying his fingers to the hilt inside of you, causing you to squeak out. “fuck, gotta be quiet, honey.”
“yes, yes, i’m sorry,” you scrambled to apologize, which only made him want you more. hungry, he grunted, jerking his hips up to feel something, anything. your hands flew to his crotch, palming him over his boxers, but he gently pulled your hand away. 
“don’t worry about me, baby. don’t worry. gonna have you bouncing on my cock in a minute, just wait. wanna make you feel good first,” he assured you, and in your haze, you nodded agreeably, eyes screwed shut with pleasure.
he moved, slowly, so you could feel his fingers sliding against your walls. you threw your head back, a muffled noise of pleasure escaping from your throat. he kept his eyes on you, unblinking, pumping in slow and controlled one, two times, then he picked up the pace, and with it, you got wetter, slicker, soaking his fingers and his thighs. 
your breath caught in your throat, you couldn’t even make any noise. just stilted from the pleasure that you felt, feeling it burn and rev in your stomach— that slow, churning stir back again, working towards completion. all you could hear was your slick as carmy fucked his fingers in and out of you, fast and dangerously deep, hitting every single spot inside of you because his fingers were so thick. carmy’s eyes glanced down for a minute to see his fingers disappearing inside of you like they fucking belonged there, like they were supposed to be inside of you, making you so wet that it was all you could hear. he watched as your arousal painted your mound and spread across your thighs, breathing out heavily in disbelief. he started to fuck his fingers into you faster now, and you whimpered in a pitch he’d never heard from you before. with his other hand, he assisted you in bouncing your hips at the same pace as his fingers. the room was filled with the sounds of squelching as his fingers fucked in and out of you, carrying along your slick with it.
“fuck, you’re so fucking wet. your pussy’s so fucking loud, baby, you must feel so good, huh? feels so good? don’t wanna wake anybody up, do you?” he was delirious, saying whatever came to his mind, his grip on your hip tight and his fingers wrecking you at such a torturous pace. 
“mm-mm, mm-mm,” you cried, rocking your hips against his hands and damn near taking his knuckles— his interjections of “such a pretty wet pussy” and “you’re doing so good for me, you sound so fucking good, baby” brought you to your high, and you rode it out whale bouncing your hips up and down. legs shaking and thighs trembling as you tightened around his fingers, releasing all over him. your voice a muddled mess as you cried out. “fuck, carmy, i’m coming. i’m coming.”
“fuck,” carmen said through gritted teeth, his cock jumping in his boxers. “fuck, you’re so good. you’re so fucking good, yn, that’s it. that’s it sweetheart.”
you whimpered as you came, his fingers still deep inside of you and thrusting while you rode it out/
“i know, i know,” he muttered reassuringly, letting you get yours and then pulling his fingers out softly, resting his head against your rising and falling chest. 
his hands returned to a smooth, kind roam as he let you catch your breath, touching every part of you to comfort you. when you had found your basis again, you sighed lovingly and wrapped your hands around carmen’s neck, pressing your forehead against his and gazing into his eyes. 
a soft smile tugging at your lips, you whispered,
“i love you, bear. wanted to be around you all day, even after spending two days straight with you. still wanted you.”
“i always want you,” he replied without skipping a beat. he lifted his head up to kiss you. “and i love you too. if we can survive a twelve-hour road trip we can survive anything.”
“shit, if we can survive christmas with my family we can survive anything,” you giggled, kissing 
his forehead.
“yeah, i love your family though. mom’s dope. sister’s hilarious. cousins are wildly talented. it fucking runs in the family. i don’t know what runs in my family, maybe… i dunno, bad shit,” he chuckled with a huff, shaking his head. 
“hey,” you pouted. “don’t say that, bear. you’re sweet… attentive… loving… a perfectionist until it kills you, but, that’s valuable. isn’t it?”
you punctuated each word with a kiss, trailing down his neck and around his clavicles.
“fuck,” he breathed out. “don’t start something you can’t finish, now.”
“try me,” you grinned devilishly. 
233 notes · View notes
axelsagewrites · 1 year
Text
Jace Velaryon*Cocky
Pairing: Modern!Frat!Jace x f!reader
Summary: While originally being fast friends Jace ditches the reader to become part of the in crowd at university only to end up right back where he started. TW: Jace being a douche but redeeming himself, swearing, and stoner Heleana ig?
A/N: I saw headcannons for cocky Jace and my mind ran with it so I present cocky Jace.
Word count: 4240
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Masterlist Here
Jace Velaryon was almost a legend at Kingslanding University. All his family were alumni of the school who were always making donations and appearing at university events. One of the student halls was named after his dad’s family, the Velaryon Court, and the Dragonstone library was funded by his grandfather and was engraved with his mother’s maiden name. No one was shocked when he pledged to The Fraternity of the Seven or when he became the youngest captain of the rugby team, a position nearly always held by a Targaryen or Velaryon. His cousins were also on the team and Jace, Aegon, and Aemond were always the talk of the school. The only reason he even went to university was to study business so he could take over the family business after his mother. The company that basically employed half of Westeros. It was no surprise that people wanted to be in with the Velaryon-Targaryen Crowd, but you had quickly learned it was far better to avoid them than share their company.
In first year, you shared quite a few classes with Jace and the other Targs, as everyone called them, and at first, he was nice. Hell, you were even kind of friends. He sat next to you in High Valyrian 101 and freshman English and every class he would text you first to see if you wanted a coffee from the canteen. He would genuinely try in class and attended your study sessions you held in your dorm with friends, and he was always the one who would bring the most snacks for people to share.
It had been his father that had encouraged him to join the family frat but even when he first joined it Jace was a normal guy. He didn’t brag when he made the rugby team or when he got into his frat. Something changed though halfway through freshman year. He stopped showing up to study sessions and instead just asked you to send him your notes. You were fine with it at first, figuring he was just busy with all his new activities. Until you realised his new activities was a girl called Sara Snow who made fun of you and your friends at every opportunity. Jace had known this but clearly, he didn’t care as he sat in class with her tongue halfway down his throat.
It only got worse over time. He basically dropped all of the friends he had made when he started and instead hung out with the senior in crowd who were happy to get a Velaryon in their mix. He stopped eating at the Canteen, turning his nose up at the coffee and insisting on ubering Starbucks to class. He was still passing his classes somehow, but you had stopped replying to his texts asking for notes and realised it was the only thing he still asked you about. The down to earth humble guy had died, and a new frat boy cocky athlete had taken its place.
Unlike Jace you had stuck with your first-year friends and now in senior year you were still best friends with them all. Alysanne, Arra, Lynara and you had formed a strong friendship group whom all shared a mutual hatred of the Targs. Well except for one. Heleana Targaryen was nothing like her brothers or cousins and had joined your group a couple of years ago. At first, she seemed so innocent and shy, but you soon realised she was just a massive stoner who had a special interest in bugs and women.  
The five of you were sat in the canteen eating lunch when Alysanne brought up the upcoming rugby game, “I have to go so you all have to go and we have to look cute.”
You rolled your eyes knowing exactly why she and Arra wanted to go, “You have an unhealthy obsession with Cregan you know?” you said nodding at the pair who were scrolling through Alysanne’s phone looking at outfits. “He’s not gonna see you when he’s mid game,”
“Maybe but,” Alysanne said with a smirk, “He’s been messaging me. So now we have to go support him and I have to look cute for when I not so accidentally bump into him after when he’s all sweaty and glowing from his win,”
“Aren’t they going up against the Dornish Academy? Aren’t they liking the ones who won the whole thing last year? Or was that someone else. Its hard to keep up when they talk about this crap at dinner,” Heleana said. You couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to have to put up with her family all year round.
“Yeah, but this year’s Jace is captain, so they’ll be way better than last year. Marston Waters was such a loser. And a creep,” Despite her obsession with Cregan, Alysanne did genuinely enjoy and followed the rugby team, something you couldn’t understand why. “He actually seems to know what he’s doing,”
“That’s only cause he’s a Valerian. No offence Hel,” you added, and she just shrugged, “If he wasn’t born with that silver spoon up his ass no one would care about him,”
“I mean yeah he can be douche,” Arra jumped in, “But he’s hot and he’s fit, and he can run really fast,”
You gasped in fake surprise, “Don’t tell me you’re falling for a Targ Arra,” you said as you clutched her arm, “Are you ill? Are you dying?”
Arra swotted your hand away as Helena chuckled to herself, “You’re just mad you fancied him in freshman year and he ditched you for Sara Snow,” Arra said.
You hated that she was right and sighed as you took your hand away. He had gone from being so kind to you to pretending he didn’t know you existed. Or maybe he really forgot about you. It didn’t help that Sara smirked at you every time she passed you in the hallway, clutching onto his arm even tighter the whole of first year.
All of this was clearly new information to Heleana since you had sworn them all to secrecy after freshman year. “You used to like my cousin? That’s so gross,”
“Tell me about it,” you muttered before quickly changing the subject, “So how mandatory is it we go with you tomorrow, Aly?”
“Like 100%. He’s invited me to the after party and told me to bring you all,”
“Cregan Stark knows who we are?” Helena asked.
Lynara snorted at her words, “Dude he’s, my cousin. Plus, everyone knows who you are Helena even if you wanna be a stoner loner so bad,” Helena rolled her eyes but couldn’t even argue with her since her last name was all over campus, “Plus Arra and Alysanne went to high school with me and Cregan. No clue how he knows you though,” she said nudging your shoulder.
“He’s probably just seen me hanging around you guys before or something,” you assumed which seemed to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, “Can’t we skip the game and just go to the party?”
Shock and offence plastered Arra and Alysanne’s faces, “Why do you hate me being happy?” Aly asked and you rolled your eyes, “Do you want me to die old and alone and surrounded by 15 cats?”
“Why 15 cats?” you asked, ignoring her question.
“Oh my god will you just please come to the game? If you come, you can be maid of honour and Cregan and mines wedding?” she offered prompted Arra to shout her protests.
You laughed as Arra continued her rant about how she was supposed to be maid of honour before interrupted, “Fine you have a deal. But know. im only doing this to piss her off,”
“You suck,” Arra deadpanned causing you to laugh more, “But as revenge I get to pick your outfit,” you groaned but not wanting to argue allowed it.
Shockingly her outfit choice for the game was fine but it was the outfit for later you worried about. Instead of worrying you tried your best to ignore the sinking feeling whenever your friends brought up the after party and actually tried to enjoy the game to appease Aly.
When the game was over everyone began to rush either on the pitch to talk to the players or out the stadium to get ready for the after party. You and your friends however were stuck trying not to get knocked down by the crowds as Aly swooped in for the kill. You watched her obvious flirting and hair tossing and arm grabbing. Arra was doing the same with a guy from the sulking Dornish team, but her eye lash batting seemed to put a smile on his miserable face. You watched in awe, “How do they do that?” You asked.
Lynara shrugged and tore her eyes off the rugby boys, “Flirt?” she asked, and you nodded, “I don’t know you just like do it,” she said to which you rolled your eyes at her unhelpfulness, “Its hard to explain. You touch their arm, butter them up, act like an idiot while batting your eyes. All the cliches really. Laugh at all their jokes. That kinda thing,”
“What if they’re not funny?”
Helena snorted as Lynara almost face palmed, “This is why your single,” Helena said, and you swotted her in response, “You can’t just talk to a guy about the history of Valyria and expect him to know that means you wanna fuck him,”
“All you do is talk about bugs,” you said as if it was some kind of defence for your own helpless love life. “Is that why you don’t get any?”
“I don’t get any because I don’t want anyone here,” she corrected, “But clearly you do so spill,”
“No, I don’t!” the warm blood rushing into your cheeks did little to convince the pair who started to laugh at your fluster, “This is why I hate rugby,”
“I’m wounded,” a voice said from behind you, and you quickly spun around to see your least favourite Targs standing there. Jace walked to stand in between you and Helena, draping his arm over both your shoulders but you quickly shrugged his sweaty arm off. “If you hate it, why were you cheering for me?” He grinned, not caring about the rejection or the way you wouldn’t even look at his stupid perfect grin.
“We came for my cousin,” Lynara said, and you’d never been so grateful to have a stark on your side.
Jace looked down at Helena, “What about your auntie? You here for him too?”
She snorted, “Please im here to watch the Dornes tackle my brother,” you couldn’t help but laugh as you looked over to where Aegon was getting checked over by the school nurse for concussion. The boy charged into everything blindly and you were shocked he still had any braincells left.
Jace laugh made you stop yours however, but his attention eventually turned back to you, “So if she came for her cousin and she came for her brother. Who were you cheering for?”
Before you could come up with a response or come back Arra and Aly returned with Cregan in tow, “I was just telling Cregan how we turned you into a rugby fan,” Aly grinned as she brought her future husband over.
Jace’s arm returned to your shoulder and a massive grin on his face, “Oh really!” he beamed, “I thought you hated rugby?” he batted his eyelashes like an innocent child, and you did your best not to hit his perfect face.
Shrugging off his arm yet again, and receiving a questioning look for Arra in the process, you scrambled for a response, “I guess its not as bad as I expected,”
Cregan’s smile unlike Jace’s felt genuine and not mocking, “Hopefully we can turn you into a mega fan by the end of the year. Are yous coming tonight? Who can turn down free punch?” and with that your friends committed you to an evening of drinking, fun, and rugby guys much to your dismay.
You tried your best not to ruin Arra’s and Aly’s moods as you all got ready for the celebration, but Lynara was texting you to make sure you were okay. You didn’t know why the whole thing with Jace still bothered you, but it did. And seeing him act so casually flirty and friendly today out of nowhere didn’t help.
Despite it all you stood outside the Fraternity of the Seven with your girls as you waited to get into the party. This was your first official Frat party, so Arra had insisted you looked the part with a tight short black leather skirt, tights, and long sleeve top. Aly’s had done you hair and makeup to match and it had felt good to get ready like this in the dorms. Despite the modesty of the outfit, you felt exposed as the frat boys at the door let yous in and your good mood was soon diminishing.
Aly’s was gone within seconds to join Cregan at the opposite side of the room and Arra was soon to leave as well to join some other guys. Lynara linked her arm with yours and began dragging you to the drinks table. “Beer or punch?” she asked as she grabbed you a cup and filled it with your choice before handing it to you, “You’ll feel better after you drink something,”
“Or I’ve got weed if you prefer,” Helena offered causing Lynara to roll her eyes.
You laughed as you began to drink the cheap alcohol, “Im good but thanks Hel. Im at least going to try and enjoy this,” and you did. You ended up sitting with Baela, who you still struggled to understand how she was related to Hel, and some of her friends.
You were sat on the arm rest of the couch facing the group with your legs resting in Hel’s lap. You did your best to join in conversation, but it was mainly just a couple words here and there not really knowing what to say so to keep your mouth busy you kept sipping your now third drink. As you were laughing at one of Baela’s stories you felt someone’s toned abs lean against your back. “What’s so funny?” Jace asked and you felt your body tense as he draped his arm over your shoulder.
Baela, who was still laughing filled him in on the story and Jace kept up with the conversation, not even acknowledging the position you were both in. Hel gave your foot a squeeze and looked at you as if to ask if you were alright and you nodded, knowing the scene she would cause if you hadn’t. Jace moved his hand to rest on your other shoulder, essentially locking you in place, and you could feel his smirk burning into the back of your head, but you refused to look at him. With Jace behind you you could feel so many eyes on you and you hated to think what they were thinking. Aly looked over and gave you a puzzled look but got distracted by Cregan as quickly as she looked.
At this point your mind was wondering, thinking of what to do or what was happening when Jace interrupted your thoughts, “You want another?” he said as he took your now empty cup from your hand.
“Huh? Oh yeah sure thanks,” you said and for a second it almost felt like freshman Jace getting you coffee again.
“Be back in a beat sweetheart,” and the thought died as quickly as it entered your head.
As soon as he had walked away Lynara had jumped up from her chair, grabbing your arm and pulling you off the couch with Hel following in tow. “Quick lets escape,” Lynara said as she dragged you to the other side of the room. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, im fine I was just like you know,” you said, and she nodded in response, “Isn’t he just gonna come find me?”
“Jace has the attention span of about 10 seconds,” Hel said and for whatever reason it only made you feel worse, “If you want, we can find Aly and Arra and ditch?”
“Nah its fine. I don’t wanna kill their vibe because of freshman stuff,” you said but your eyes were on Jace who was now making his way back to the couch with two cups and a very cutely confused look on his face. It almost made you wanna walk back over but when he looked up and you made eye contact you spun around to face the girls, “Let’s dance or something?”
“You wanna dance?” Lynara said shocked but quickly grabbed your arm dragging you to the dance floor before you could change your mind.
For a few minutes it actually took your mind off it all especially when Arra and Aly’s joined, finally ditching their guys for the evening. You lost track of how long you had been dancing but you were starting to regret not getting another drink, “Im gonna grab a drink be back,” you told Hel who just nodded before continuing her questionable robot dancing.
Once you arrived at the table you quickly poured your drink before deciding to down it and pour another. “Thirsty?” you snapped your head to the side to see Jace who must’ve only just came over. he stood beside you as he poured his own cup, “You wouldn’t have been so thirsty if you had waited for me to get back,”
“Lynara wanted to dance. I got distracted,” The lie slipped easily off your tongue as you began to drink your next drink, to increase the buzz you already had, “I didn’t think you’d mind,”
“I might be a Valerian but even we get offended when girls run away from us,” he said with his cocky grin but this time your buzz made you scoff in return, “What? You think we don’t have feelings?”
you rolled your eyes and briefly debated whether to just walk away but the cheap alcohol had obviously lowered your senses. “No, I think yous are all rich douchebags,” you said and Jace’s jaw slackened as his eyes widened. “Yous are all the same,” you continued despite any logic but you knew your freshman self would be proud, “Your daddy donates a few grand to the school, has your name plastered all over campus, and suddenly you think your mommy’s money somehow makes you the shit,” Jace went to say something but you didn’t stop, “So you ditch all your friends and skip all your classes and pick the bitchiest girls to date. Like seriously yous all chose the same mean girl in a different font its insane. Then you become rugby or football captains and spend all your time partying then take over your family business instead of the people that actually work for it,”
“That’s not fair,” Jace snapped when he could finally get a word in. his face was red, and he looked angrier than he had than during the whole rugby game. “Your barley knows me- “
“No but I do,” you cut him off, “Because you are all the same. And it’s a shame really cause you used to be really cool then you joined this stupid frat and started hanging around with Aegon fucking Targaryen and ditched all your friends to fuck Sara Snow,”
“I didn’t ditch you guys,”
“Im shocked you even remember us,” you snapped, and a silence fell between you both.
You turned back to your drink as Jace stewed in silence, “I didn’t mean to ditch you I just got busy and I-”
“I don’t really care what your excuse is Jace,” you cut him off as you sat your empty cup on the table, “It was fucking hurtful okay? You came to this school normal, and you turned into some Aegon Targaryen 2.0. We weren’t cool enough for you, I get it,” tears began to prick your eyes and threatened to spill but Jace just stood silently with his head hanging down. “I can’t believe I used to like you,” you said, and he suddenly looked up with his eyes wide and a confused look on his face, “Yeah, I know. Trust me to fall for the asshole. I shouldn’t have come tonight,” you said as you started to walk away.
You heard Jace say wait but instead you speed up and pulled out your phone to text Helena that you were leaving because of a sore stomach and began to walk home.
When you were halfway down the street you heard someone running behind you and glanced over your shoulder to see Jace had followed you. You tried to speed up, but he ended up in front of you, “You shouldn’t walk home alone drunk. It’s not safe,”
“Im not drunk,” you said, moving past him.
Jace only followed though, easily keeping pace with you, “Still. I don’t want you to get hurt,”
You snorted, “That’s ironic. What do you just wanna make fun of me? Is that why you were talking to me today? To laugh with your friends about it?”
“Gods you can’t think im that much of an asshole surely?” he asked but you stayed silent, “Look im sorry okay. I shouldn’t have just ditched you it was just like I- “
“You what? You started dating Sara Snow then suddenly I was invisible to you?”
Jace sighed and grabbed your shoulder, forcing you to stop walking despite your protests, “I only started dating her cause you kept rejecting me,”
This baffled you. You felt your head spinning and your whole world being flipped, “I never rejected you? You never even asked me out? What the fuck?”
“Are you serious?” Jace asked and you just shook your head confused. Jace let out a laugh and began to look around, “Oh my gods you’re an idiot,” you went to protest but he cut you off, “I was constantly flirting with you. Like the whole of first year. I got you coffee like every day,”
“Didn’t you get everyone coffee?”
“No!” Jace said and now you were both confused, “I got you coffee and always wanted to hang out and id come to your dorm all the time, but you kept inviting other people with,”
“We were studying!”
“I was trying to flirt with you!” Jace practically yelled as he flung his arms in the air, “I thought you were trying to let me down easy, so I started dating Sara to make you jealous and you didn’t care!”
The weight of it all mixed with the alcohol had hit you like a bag of bricks. “II just wanted you to be happy. I didn’t know,”
“You seriously didn’t know?” Jace had stopped yelling as well and suddenly it was as if his freshman self was standing in front of you. “And if you did know? would it have changed anything?”
It took you a long moment to answer, “I liked you too Jace. I always did. That’s why it hurt when- “
“I know,” Jace stopped you, stepping forward to hold your arms and force you to look at him, “But if you did know. if I had asked you out. Would you have said yes?”
The frat boy was completely gone now. Jace’s eyes bore into yours with a mix of sadness and hope only a puppy could have. His eyes scanned your dumbstruck face for any kind of answer. You didn’t know what to say. Instead, you leaned in without even thinking.
Your lips crashed onto his. It took a moment for Jace to realise what was happening but when he did, he was quick to catch up. His hands slid from your arms to the small of your back to hold you closer. You brought your own arms up to his shoulders holding on to keep your balance as his mouth danced with yours. You couldn’t help but shiver either from the cold or the kiss you couldn’t tell. When you finally broke apart his heavy breath fanned your face, and the heat made your skin tingle.
“I would’ve said yes,” you finally whispered back, and a smile began to tug at Jace’s lips.
He kissed your lips again, this time softer and only for a moment, “I’m sorry for- “
“Being a cocky lil shit?” you chuckled and Jace laughed this time at your insults, “I suppose you deserve to be a bit cocky,”
“Oh really?” Jace asked with a grin as he pulled you in closer, neither of you caring who could see you “Whys that?”
You hummed as your hands moved to his neck to pull his head closer to yours so you could whisper in his ear, “You’re the best kisser at this school,”
“That’s where your wrong love,” Jace corrected you as he moved his hand to your chin to pull your lips close to his so when he spoke, they brushed against yours, “I think you’re thinking of yourself,”
“You wanna have a contest?” You offered and without answering Jace closed the gap yet again. There you were shamelessly making out with the Rugby captain in the middle of the street while a bunch of frat boys started to cheer their captain on from the house. But they didn’t matter. You finally had the real Jace back.
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feelbokkie · 5 months
Text
 Winter dates with SKZ
Feelbokkiemas Day 3
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genre: fluff
pov: 2nd person
description: various winter themed dates that you would go on with skz.
pairing: bf!skz x gn!reader
warnings: swearing, slightly suggestive
word count: 1,276
©feelbokkie (2023) — all rights reserved. reposting/modification of any kind is not tolerated.
☀️Feelbokkie M.list ☀️
🎄12 Days of Feelbokkiemas🎄
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방 찬 (Bang Chan)
Bake and Decorate Cookies Together
to be fair, you took over the baking portion after the first batch got burned
completely Chan's fault, if he just kept his hands to himself, none of this would have happened
while you worked on the new batch, Chan is doing his best to salvage what he can from the burnt cookies
halfway through, he's giving you a back hug while you continue to bake, nestling his face into your neck
clearly, he didn't learn from his mistakes with the first batch
"Channie, stop eating those. we need them to decorate the cookies." "but i want to snack on something...and you told me to keep my hands to myself." "eat the burnt cookies,"
the decorating part goes as smoothly as possible
you reenact the 'do you know the muffin man' scene from shrek
and more frosting ends up on each other than the cookies
and there is more candy in your stomach than on the poor cookie
at this point, you should have just made a desert charcuterie board and called it a day
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이 민 호 (Lee Know)
Overnight in a Cabin
he loves camping so a little overnight in cabin is perfect
cuddling by the fire
going on walks by the frozen lake
go back to cuddle by the fire, yet again
oh what a shame
The two of you spend more time just cuddling up against each other than anything else
"I'm almost convinced that you brought me here just to cuddle." "you can't prove that. now get over here, i'm freezing."
you two find other ways to keep warm
like cooking together and eating hot food
and dancing together in the living room of the cabin
and well, other ways too
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서 창 빈 (Changbin)
Building Snowpeople
this is going to end up way more chaotic than it started off
like all things, it started off innocently
you two were walking back from a date when you slipped and fell into the snow
instead of standing up, you just started making a snow angel
after checking on you, Changbin joined you in making a snow angel
that's when you quickly got up and pelted him right in the face with a snowball
big mistake
"Hey!" "Try to get--oh shit,"
pelts you with a bigger snowball
the two you just keep hitting each other with snowballs, Changbin's getting bigger each time
"Wait, wait, wait! Truce! But I have an idea."
that's how the two of you end up building snow people together
"Look, yours is your height!" "Yeah! But we're taller than yours!"
eventually, you "accidentally" knock his over
cue to Changbin chasing you around with the head of his snow person
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황 현 진 (Hyunjin)
Ice Skating
you'd think that with how gracefully he dances, it's be easy for Hyunjin
you're dead wrong
he's as graceful as a newborn giraffe trying to walk for the first time
it's pitiful really
if you also don't know how to skate, it becomes a game of survival
if you can skate, you're now in charge of a baby giraffe Hyunjin
eventually, he gets the hang of it
he's doing a weird stance like he's squatting and his hands are in front of him in case he falls, but he's moving
if you can skate, you're literally skating circles around him to 1. check on him and 2. pick on him
if you can't skate, good luck. you're on your own now. he's fallen so many times, he's not letting you drag him down with you
slowly but surely, he's getting the hang of it and getting out of the squatting position
except, there is one problem
"Y/n...Y/n...Y/n, how do i stop?"
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한 지 성 (Han)
Watch Holiday Movies Together
perfect date night for when it's too cold to do anything else
or two introverts
maybe just the one introvert
you two can crank up the heater, and order food
cuddle up next to each other
feeding each other snacks
the two of you hardly get up from your position
the whole time you two are cracking jokes with the movies
and just chit chatting the whole time
"wait, shh, this is my favorite part."
"we, personally, I wouldn't let a 12 year old disrespect me like that." "i don't think you would be able to outsmart his traps." "no, no, i'm built different."
and you'd sing along so some of the songs while watching
"~grandpa is gonna sue the pants off of santa...~" "what even is this movie?"
and if the movie is boring? don't worry, you'll find other ways to get through it
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이 용 복 (Felix)
Build a Gingerbread House
separately, you two would have been fine, but together?
it's a disaster
in all honesty, you probably should just bought two kits
it started off well
and that's the problem
you two got cocky after successfully assembling the walls
Sure, you had to sit there and whole the walls together while the walls dried
but they weren't immediately slipping and that was enough to give you a false sense of hope
the two of you have a christmas movie on in the background and are talking about how you should decorate the house while Felix puts some icing on the roof pieces
Felix left for one second after setting the roof pieces on top to get a napkin to clean up his mess
and that's when all hell broke loose
"It's falling, it's falling, Felix it's--"
splat!
"Oh no," "Oh naur," "Hey, hey, hey!"
the roof falls and cracks on impact
you let go of the walls and those fall too
"okay, plan b: we get a hot glue gun--" "I wanted to eat the house though." "...Okay plan c,"
The two of you just end up decorating the pieces of the house and eating them while you finish watching the movie
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김 승 민 (Seungmin)
Going to See the Christmas Lights
tt's more of an impromptu date
the two of you were walking home after spending the day together when you stumble upon a street completely decorated
before walking down the street, the two of you go and find a place to get some hot chocolate to keep you warm as you walk
the two of you just have fun walking hand in hand, drinking your warm beverages, and talking a bit
"wow, imagine their electricity bill" "rich people behavior," "aren't you...you know what, nevermind."
"wow, that house is really pretty" "not as pretty as you... hey, hey don't take off your coat!" "i'm suddenly really hot!"
Seungmin will softly sing christmas song while you two walk
"when we get a place of our own one day, do you want to use color lights or white lights?" "hm...i used to be a color light person but i think we should do white lights." "really? why?" "i dunno. something about it reminds me of the twinkle in your eyes when you smile...ha! i made you blush, minnie." "s-shut up!"
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양 정 인 (I.N)
Decorate your Living Space Together
works out well if you two live together
cute if you two live apart
and two separate dates
either way, Innie is putting you in charge of the decorating
he just doesn't want to mess up anything and will gladly let you be in charge
somehow, accidents still happen
he's clumsy, he can't help it
"Y/n! help!" "what happened--how did you manage to get your whole body tangled in the lights?" "can we talk about this when i'm not in a prison of lights?" "a prism if you will." "i love you, but you're "pushing it." "i'll leave you in there"
"hey, how attached are you to that nutcracker ornament?" "what happened to norman?" "...norman has gone into the light...and the trash." "Jeongin!" "it wasn't my fault!"
it gives you the excuse to go shopping together for new decorations
and make new memories with the new decorations
Buy me a coffee?
Red means that it wouldn't let me tag you (either at all or properly)
Taglist
@puppysmileseungmin @jiisungllvr @its-hannjisung @veedoesntknaur @turtledove824 @lanatheawesome @marked-unknown @kibs-and-bits 
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shy-urban-hobbit · 9 months
Text
For the first time in a long time, Eskel wasn’t the first one back. It wasn’t surprising, apparently Geralt had arrived back a fortnight ago, anxious to be back with Ciri. The child was currently sat at one of the long tables, legs swinging as she drew in the blank journal Vesemir had given her whilst the adults talked amongst themselves. It was to be a welcome home present for her Uncle Eskel and therefore, she was determined to make it the best picture of her entire six years.
“I ran into Lambert a couple of months back.” Eskel said as he finished warming up by the roaring fire in the great hall after his climb up to Kaer Morhen, “He said he’s bringing his Cat with him this year.”
Vesemir nodded, “Meaning he’ll be coming from further South, so we should expect him a little later.”
Ciri looked up at that, “Uncle Lambert has a cat?”
“Hmm? Yes, Aiden.”  Geralt answered, attention still mostly on his brother.
Ciri gave an excited wiggle. Her grandmother had never allowed her to have a pet. The closest she’d come was the cat owned by one of the courtiers; a fat, fluffy thing with a squashed face named Pumpkin (something which had confused Ciri, considering the cat wasn’t orange). She imagined pulling a string for them to chase, sitting petting them whilst Uncle Eskel read to her from one of the storybooks he’d decided wasn’t too grown up for her like he had last winter. Maybe she’d be allowed to have them sleep in her room sometimes. Oh yes, Ciri couldn’t wait!
“Papa, where will Aiden be sleeping?” Ciri had looked all around the Keep and she couldn’t find anything resembling a cat bed. Not even a cushion like the one Pumpkin would spend all day sitting on.
“He usually shares with Lambert.” Geralt said, as he tucked her in, “He’ll have his own room too though. Just incase.”
Ciri blinked. The cat was going to have its own room, “Why?”
“He’s like anybody else. He likes to have his own space sometimes or he gets grumpy. You warm enough?”
She nodded, feeling her eyelids already starting to grow heavy, “Goodnight, Papa.”
“Goodnight, Cub.”
Ciri was perched on one of the kitchen counters, munching on a couple of carrot sticks Eskel had handed to her when a thought struck her, “Uncle Eskel, will Aiden have to catch and eat the rats?”
Eskel laughed loudly and had to pause in his vegetable chopping so he didn’t lose a finger, “You know, I only said that as a joke about your Uncle Lambert’s cooking, right? And no, Cub, there’s more than enough here for Aiden too. Nobody's going to go hungry.”
“Okay.” Ciri nodded and went back to her snack, satisfied with her answer she’d gotten.
 Geralt reported seeing smoke halfway down the mountain. Lambert would be home by tomorrow.
“Will Aiden like me?”
Pumpkin had hissed and scratched at her if she ever tried to pet him or play with him after all. Even though she was nice and never tried to pull his tail or anything like that.
Vesemir ruffled her hair, “He’ll love you, Cub. Just do as you do with everyone else here and take heed if he wants to be left alone, alright? Don’t go chasing him.”
“We were worried you wouldn’t make it.” Geralt said, embracing Lambert in a rough hug, not waiting for the other to shake the snow off his cloak and boots, “Thought we’d have to come down and dig you out. Aiden.” He extended a hand to the stranger, who grasped it tightly.
Ciri stared up at the man stood next to her uncle. The man her papa had called Aiden. He was a little shorter and leaner, but still tall with green eyes and a friendly smile, his curly black hair flecked with snow and tied back from his face.
“You’re not a cat.”
That drew their attention. Aiden cocking his head towards her with an “Eh?” whilst Geralt hissed her name in admonishment.
Ciri crossed her arms, “Papa, you all said Uncle Lambert was bringing a cat back.”
“Geralt, what is she-“
Aiden put a hand on Lambert's forearm, interrupting him,  “I think I see what’s happened.”
He crouched so he was level with the little girl, fighting to keep down his laughter lest she think it was directed at her and not the situation (Eskel had already lost that battle and had retreated to the kitchen), “I’m a Cat in the same way your Uncle Lambert’s a Wolf. That’s my school, see.” He held out his medallion for Ciri to get a good look at.
“There’s other Witcher schools?”
“A year here and she doesn’t know that. What the fuck have you actually been teaching her, old man?”
“Lambert, watch your language!”
Ciri turned big eyes on the group, “So, there’s no cat for me to play with?”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that, Cub. I’m always up for a round of hide and seek, and I bet you’ve found all the best hiding places by now.”
Ciri nodded, it was true. When she wasn’t at lessons with Grandpa Vesemir, she’d had a lot of time to explore.
Aiden gave her an easy grin, “Great.” He dropped his voice to a stage whisper, “You can show me the best places to hide from your Uncle. It’s always funny making him jump.”
Ciri giggled.
“Alright, back to your lessons now Ciri. Let Lambert and Aiden get settled.”
 Ciri took Geralt’s hand, letting him lead her to the library. They may have waited until Ciri was out of earshot, but Geralt heard all too clearly the Cats laughter and Jaskier-worthy exclamations about how she was “Too fucking adorable!”. Geralt smiled down at the little blonde head. Yes, she most definitely was.
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nonclassyparty · 3 months
Text
tins without labels - prologue (j.wy)
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summary: Jung Wooyoung's life was always somehow intertwined with your own. from living in the same neighbourhood as kids to attending the same college; fights, bickering, bruises, teasing comments and tears. Wooyoung and you were never complete strangers but never friends either. Always somewhere in between, growing up with each other but never actually knowing one another. The relationship takes a confusing turn in your third year of college after an injury that places your football career on hold. Lonely, lost and confused, you find yourself at your first college party in the presence of none other than Jung Wooyoung asking him to show you what exactly have you been missing out on. playlist // my main masterlist // moodboard (tba) // click to donate to Palestine
pairing: jung wooyoung x reader warnings: none for this chapter i think! word count: 9.3k taglist: just reply or inbox me if u'd like to be added c: a/n: pls don't say damn when u see that i started another story. listen LISTEEEEEN. i know what u all will say..."bree should u rly be starting another series when u havent finished or started the 4757 bajillion ones that u already posted?" the answer is YES. let me explain myself briefly, this summer has been rly hard for me bc i lost someone who was incredibly important to me and i just can't write...i just can't! everything looks like shit!!! im halfway done with soot and something just isn't letting me continue. i can't write pretty on the outside or literally anything else i've started bc its all simply too sad. writing is draining to begin with despite how much i love and enjoy it but writing angst is k wording my mental health lol! so....i present to you this series, mostly dedicated to myself literally no one asked for this, i just feel like its something i need to write and always wanted to so here i go! it will be a little heartwarming series with lots of humor and coming of age shenanigans and huge chunks of it written from personal experience and i hope u guys read it and like it. i had a lot of fun writing this prologue. (p.s. i literally know jackshit about football/soccer so if by some chance someone that reads this knows their football shit....just let it go pls lmfaoo)
(prologue; when we were kids)
and I couldn't find the words, i couldn't think of what to say and all that I can do is stop and think about the days when all we used to dream about was meeting after school
6 and 8 years old;
Your mom helped you build the snowman.
An entire morning of running around your front yard, laughing and playing in the freshly fallen snow, seeing the air you breathe out in front of you that you pretended was cigarette smoke to make your mom laugh as the cold nipped at your cheeks.
The snowman was almost twice your size (which wasn't a lot, you were a fairly small child) with pebbles stuck in as his eyes and teeth pulled up in a big grin. Your mom found a small bucket in the old shed behind the house which she placed on his head as a makeshift hat and because you didn't have any carrots, there was a small twig stuck at the center of the snowman's face to serve as a long crooked nose.
(The snowman didn't have any arms, a detail that went over your head at the time.)
After admiring the big statue in the farther corner of your front yard for awhile, you finally retreated into the house with your socks wet along with the majority of your hot pink snowsuit. As you kicked off the damp clothes and exchanged them for warm, dry ones and fuzzy socks and then settled in front of the TV in the toasty living room with a mug of cocoa - you couldn't help but feel that it was a happy day.
Which is why when, in the late afternoon, once you looked out of your window to see what once used to be your snowman is now nothing but a big pile of disheveled snow with his plastic hat rolling around the sidewalk and two boys running away down the street with shrill laughter echoing after them, you simply couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Mommy!" You screamed out, running outside your front door in fuzzy socks and your sweater, as dramatic as you were. But you were six and your life still ended and began with coloring books and favorite toys, so a snowman that you made with your mom getting destroyed, surely felt like the end of the world.
Once your mom stepped out after you, about to scold you for walking outside into the cold air with no jacket on, you burst into crocodile tears as you pointed to the spot where your snowman once stood.
"Oh, no." She breathed out with a sigh before grabbing her jacket and slipping into whatever shoes were available by the door (they were your dad's old tennis shoes) and walking across the front yard to collect the small bucket from the sidewalk.
All you could do was stand and watch as you wailed so loudly after your snowman that the entire neighbourhood could hear.
"Honey, it's okay." Your mom tried to soothe you as she walked up the steps to your house, carrying what used to be the snowman's hat. "It's just a snowman, we'll make another one tomorrow!"
But you were inconsolable, bursting out in another wave of loud cries as you stomped your tiny foot and pointed to the house across the street.
"They ruined it! W-Wooyoung ruined it!" You sob, waving towards the boy's house with all the anger a six year old could possibly muster. You knew it was him, recognizing the ugly red jacket he wore this entire winter and his even uglier looking friend, Chanwook.
You weren't friends with Wooyoung. He was older than you and all of his friends were mean. You once tried to play with them when you first moved to the neighbourhood but they didn't want to play with a girl. You cried about that too.
They often teased you. Wooyoung said your crooked teeth made you look ugly!
She sighs again, "And that was very mean of him. But, Y/N, we'll just make another snowman tomorrow."
"But-" You start again, tears still sliding down your face. 
"We'll build him in the backyard where we have a fence, so no-one will be able to touch him." She offers with a smile, hoping you'll finally be consoled enough to walk inside and be safe from the harsh cold.
"But I won't be able to look at him from the window." You tell her quietly, voice going hoarse from the crying and bottom lip already wobbling as another wave of tears began to sunk in. She gives you a sympathetic smile.
"We'll get him a prettier hat and we'll use two long branches to give him arms!" Your mom offers again, trying to butter you up so the tears would stop. "We'll get a carrot for his nose and big pretty rocks for his eyes!" Once she realized it was working, she continued; "And we'll take a picture of you with him so you'll always get to look at him, even when he melts away!"
You peer up at her with a hiccup, finally bribed enough; "A picture?"
She nods, holding the door wider for you to finally walk inside as you inch towards the door, fuzzy socks now soaked, "A picture. We'll send your dad to the mall to develop them."
So, you finally walk inside the warm house again, changing your socks and immediately going to your father's home office to pester him about the camera and just how long will it take for a picture to be developed.
-
"-Y/N, we'll just make another snowman tomorrow!" 
Wooyoung heard your mom tell you as he peers at the exchange from across the street, through his bedroom window, freshly changed into dry clothes after a long hard day of playing outside with Chanwook and now, warming his frozen hands on the radiator.
When Wooyoung saw the snowman parked in the corner of your front yard, just a step away from the sidewalk, he and Chanwook thought it would be funny to ruin it. 
The thing was ugly and had an even uglier bucket at the top of it's head, perfect to kick around the street!
He didn't think too much about it, if he was honest. Just saw a big lump of snow he wanted to kick at until it collapsed, so that's what Wooyoung did. It was just a silly snowman.
Besides, you were already six years old. Far too old to be making a stupid snowman. You should've been going sledding with the rest of the neighborhood kids on the small hill just a couple of minutes away from your street. Wooyoung was mature now, so his mom allowed him to go without a chaperone this year. You were always so childish, no wonder your mom didn't let you go with them. You cried over everything.
But he didn't expect you to cry over the stupid snowman!
It was just a snowman. It would've melted anyway when the weather got warmer! Or gotten ruined by someone else! 
The brief fear of your mom telling Wooyoung's mom about what he'd done struck him. He'd positively get grounded for ruining your dumb snowman if she found out and then the rest of his winter break would be spent inside of the house.
You could always make another snowman. A better one. And since you're such a crybaby, Wooyoung would make sure to tell Chanwook that they won't be touching that one. Leave that ugly snowman alone.
Just so you wouldn't cry anymore.
-
10 and 12 years old;
"It's a shame your mother is dead, maybe if she was still around she would teach you how to act like a girl!" 
Your face flushed in anger as you stared the other boy, Beomseok, his chubby fingers still wrapped around your pencil case which was how the argument started in the first place.
He was in the same class as you and a typical bully. Bigger than the rest of his peers and always using it to his advantage to intimidate and tease them. Today, he took your pencil case and when you asked for him to give it back, he only gave you a gnarly smile and started running around the classroom and eventually out on the halls, screaming taunts at you. It would be a lie to say that you didn't scream some pretty mean stuff back but in your defense, he deserved it.
Now, you both stood as if you're ready to duel as the rest of your classmates and even some upperclassmen gathered to see what the commotion is all about, your fury rising so high that tears spring in your eyes at the mention of your mom as you observe his smug smirk. Obviously, from a very young age, you were bad at managing your anger.
"I hate you!" You scream out, voice high pitched. Then you jump on Beomseok with your full weight, successfully pulling him to the hard hallway floors as your hands curled into tiny fists that started colliding with his face.
And Beomseok, for all his intimidating build, talked an awfully big game just to end up bursting into tears as your fist collided with his nose. He was bad at fighting, you notice, if he could be beat up by a lanky girl almost two times smaller than him.
"I just-" Punch. "-wanted-" Punch. "-my pencil case-" A slap. "-back!"
"Somebody help!" He screams from under you, whining under each attack but his classmates were too busy cheering you on to come to his defense.
Once you start harshly pulling on his hair, two arms wrap themselves under your armpits and pull you off of your classmate. You're standing again and are turned by your shoulders to come face to face with your teacher, screaming at you.
"Is this a proper behavior in school?!" and lots of "Your father will hear about this!"'s and "You're going to the principle's office!" as she started pulling you by your arm down the corridor that was still filled with students.
"Everyone to your classrooms! Now!" Your teacher screams from the top of her lungs as she tugs on you and you follow after her with a frown on your face.
Stupid Beomseok.
-
Wooyoung's stomach hurts from laughing, clapping Chanwook's shoulder who was almost sitting on the floor due to his own fit of pure glee, as he watches Kim Beomseok roll around the floor in pain, clutching his nose. 
There's scratches and bruises already forming on his cheeks, little bit of blood mixed with a lot of big, fat tears. It's hard to feel even slightly bad for Beomseok, when Wooyoung heard how he torments his classmates along with the younger kids during recess. Did it count as bullying if the bully is the one getting bullied?
Maybe he finally got what was coming for him, nobody usually stood up to him and Wooyoung least expected you to be the one to put him in his place.
He deserved it, Wooyoung thinks, after what he said about your mom.
Wooyoung remembers her funeral three years ago, he remembers how much you cried and how you didn't leave your house for a month that summer. He even rung the doorbell to ask if you wanted to come out and play one time which he never did because you were a child and he was much more mature than you, you two had nothing in common. But he felt sad for you.
Your mom was nice, she always brought Wooyoung a chocolate when she'd come for a visit.
 Sadly, they discovered she had cancer when you were only seven and Wooyoung was nine. By the time they discovered it, it was already too far along and your mom passed away on a summer evening while you were outside playing hide and seek. 
Wooyoung remembers feeling so bad how they always made you the seeker that day because you were the youngest kid in the neighbourhood and far too easy to convince that it was simply always your turn to look for the other kids.
Your dad opened the door, smiling sadly at Wooyoung and saying that you weren't feeling well enough to come out and play. Wooyoung didn't try again after that.
The teacher is pulling you by your elbow through the crowd, yelling at the top of her lungs for everyone to head to their classrooms since class should start in a couple of minutes. You silently follow her, face twisted into an angry grimace.
Your hair has fallen out of your ponytail, long strands sticking to your face and Wooyoung is pretty sure that your shirt got ripped during the brawl. 
Wooyoung might've been laughing a bit too loudly because with angry eyes and cheeks flushed, your head whips towards him just as you pass by him.
Wooyoung opens his mouth with a smile, to say something like "Good job, Y/L!" maybe. He doesn't get the chance to.
"What are you laughing at, Jung?" You ask loudly and Wooyoung's laughter immediately dies down.
"Wha-?"
And it's then, that your foot meets Wooyoung's shin in a harsh kick that makes him yowl in pain and makes Chanwook burst into another wave of laughter as his hands grab at Wooyoung who doubles over in pain.
"Y/N!" The teacher screams out again, pulling you back by your shirt and going on another rant, filled with threats of calling your dad to school and something else he can't process at the moment.
Wooyoung is too busy feeling the pain and anger that fills him up as he rubs at the place your sneaker covered foot meet his leg.
"Y/N, you psycho!" He yells after you who is still getting dragged away. You don't even bother to look back at him.
(He still collects your pencil case from the floor and throws it on a desk that a classmate of yours says belongs to you before exiting the classroom and going to his own. Wooyoung tells himself it's for no other reason but just so your dad won't have to buy you a new one. He has enough on his plate already.)
-
14 and 16 years old;
Wooyoung has a girlfriend.
You don't know why that's something that bothers you so much.
Maybe because you don't understand what a girl could possibly see in Jung Wooyoung to willingly let him hold her hand or...God forbid, kiss her. Ew.
That's a lie, maybe even a bad attempt at coping on your part because there's a general consensus in your high school that Jung Wooyoung is good-looking. 
You didn't even think he was ugly when you were younger, when he was pulling on your pigtails and teasing you for playing with dolls. He was cute for an annoying kid back then too with his chubby cheeks and bowl haircut.
He was especially cute now, a recent discovery of yours which you have no one else to thank except puberty. It did wonders on your hormones and it did wonders on Jung Wooyoung too. 
His jawline got sharper the more baby fat he lost and lips grew fuller. His boyish smile was very attractive, even his smile lines were captivating. Wooyoung grew taller as well, not by much compared to the other boys in his grade but he was tall just enough so you'd have to look up to him when you argue but not enough to be intimidated by him.
So, yes, you supposed you'd understand the appeal if it weren't for his stupid mouth and mean words more often than not, directed at you. You threw shots back as well, sometimes even started an argument first if you were feeling particularly annoying but maybe that sums up why you're so bothered.
He started dating Chaeyoung at the beginning of this summer and since you have the fortune (read: misfortune) of living in the house right across the street from Wooyoung's, you were an unlucky witness to most of their dates.
And he was so sweet to her. He'd buy her cheap flowers and ice cream, they'd walk around the neighbourhood holding hands, they'd take Wooyoung's younger brother Kyungmin to the playground in the evenings. Wooyoung would smile a lot at her and Chaeyoung would always smile back.
You even saw them kiss. Just once.
When you were folding laundry in your bedroom, you looked through the window just in time to see their lips connect on Wooyoung's front porch. You quickly looked away, feeling shy and embarrassed, not understanding why you were blushing or feeling so sad all of a sudden.
Why was he so nice to other girls but never to you? You shouldn't think too much about it, the problem isn't you. Chaeyoung wasn't just some other girl but his girlfriend. Of course, he'd treat her special.
Whatever. You scoff as you watch Chaeyoung run to Wooyoung across the quad as you adjust your sports bag over your shoulder. 
She jumps into his arms and you can hear his loud, annoying laughter even to here as his arms wrap around her and he picks her up from the ground.
"What are you doing?" You almost jump out of your skin at the sound of Ryujin's voice as she nosily tries to follow where you were staring at.
Ryujin was the first friend you met since you started high school two weeks ago. She might be the only friend you have for awhile since you haven't really been trying to even get to know your classmates as you were too busy trying out for the girls football team.
You don't remember when you started actively playing football exactly. You always played it for fun with the boys from the neighbourhood (Wooyoung included)  but maybe it was around seventh grade when your dad pestered you into trying out a sport because he didn't know what else to do with you so he packed you up and sent you to a sports camp for two weeks one summer, that you started actually playing.
You went there only caring about your iPad and came back saying you'll be a professional football player.
Your dad doesn't want to say it but you know he thinks it's a fickle dream that will fizzle out with age.
Thankfully, Ryujin shared the same love for the sport as you so for now, you were relieved and content to spend time with her. She was nice.
You didn't need anyone else but maybe it would've been nice if someone who was older, who you were familiar with even if you always fought, would give you a couple of words of useful advice. Regarding the new teachers and subjects and all.
High school was scary.
"Nothing." You answer quickly, turning your back to Wooyoung and his girlfriend and fully facing your new friend.
"Nothing?" Ryujin gives you a suspicious smile, eyes darting over your shoulder once more before she ruffles your hair. You yelp. "Do you have a crush already, Y/N?"
You gently shove her away with a huff, fixing your bangs, "Don't be stupid. These boys are all ugly."
A crush. As if!
She laughs at that, throwing her arm around your shoulder as she directs you both to the field where practice was held, already yapping about her own crush.
-
"Hey, isn't that your neighbour?" Chaeyoung nudges Wooyoung with her elbow, nodding somewhere behind Wooyoung. He cranes his neck to follow the direction before his eyes land on you.
He snorts, "Yeah."
You were standing in the middle of the football field, sweaty and red in the face from all the running, with your hands on your hips as you paid attention to what your coach was yelling towards your teammates across the field.
The school's jersey seemed far too big on your lanky form and your hair was a mess, always slipping out of your ponytail. You were much smaller in build than the rest of the team and it looked funny to Wooyoung.
He didn't expect you to be into sports, let alone a sport like football. In fact, Wooyoung is surprised that you don't burst into tears when you start arguing with the makeshift referee played by another student. It's what usually happens if you spend longer than a minute arguing with Wooyoung.
And then he ends up being the bad guy for making you cry but no one ever mentions that you sometimes provoke him first as well but can't take it when it's dished right back.
Since you're such a crybaby.
He watches with an amused grin as you bare your teeth at the referee, who is really just a senior that thought it would be a fun time but now he has to stand arguing with you. And to Wooyoung's further amusement, the older boy who is almost two heads taller than you, looks like he's about to shit his pants in front of you.
Hm. Maybe not such a crybaby when it's anyone else but Wooyoung.
"I think she has a crush on you."
He turns to look at his girlfriend with a confused look, growing further confused when she smiles teasingly at him.
"Who?" He asks and she gives him a knowing look before nodding in your direction again. Wooyoung splutters out a surprised laugh, "Y/N?"
"Yeah." She nods excitedly, giggling, "She's cute."
Wooyoung scoffs with an eyeroll, "She's a kid."
A kid who might have a small crush on Wooyoung but still, a kid nonetheless.
He'd be stupid to say he didn't notice that you sometimes stare at him a little too much but what the hell is he supposed to do about that. You just started high school, you probably weren't even aware of what you were doing. It was a childish crush because at the end of the day that's what you are - childish.
Chaeyoung giggles again, the sound is soft and sweet, leaning her head against his shoulder. 
"It's kind of sweet." She sighs dreamily and Wooyoung snorts because nothing about you was sweet, "You're her handsome neighbour, the only guy who's always been close to her since she was a kid, she probably starts those childish arguments with you so you'd give her attention and then writes about you in her diary and-"
"Y/N is the last person to have a diary, first of all." Wooyoung interrupts with a snicker before looking down on his girlfriend who is teasing him, "Second of all, you sound ridiculous."
Chaeyoung lifts her head up from where it rested against him and looks at him seriously, her lips pressed together. Then she starts imitating Wooyoung's last sentence in a deeper voice that sounds nothing like him, "You sound ridiculous-ah!"
She squeals when Wooyoung pinches her at the waist lovingly and it turns to tickling her as he presses kisses to her cheeks.
As they continue to exchange kisses between hushed giggles, the conversation about you is forgotten.
-
18 and 20 years old;
From the moment you opened the door to greet your date, you knew that the whole night would be a complete and utter disaster.
Maybe you watched too many teen movies that romanticized prom night so much that even you ended up believing and looking forward to the glorified fantasy of it but boy, were you in for a rude awakening.
Your prom date was a boy from your Calculus class named Eunwoo. 
To be completely honest, you were convinced for the entirety of your senior year that you wouldn't have a date for prom at all because not much has changed since freshman year.
You still had one good friend (two, if you count Ryujin's friend that says she likes hanging out with you) and your focus was always on football. Add schoolwork and keeping up your good grades and you truly didn't have much time left for socializing.
So when Eunwoo pulled you aside after your football practice and asked you if you wanted to go to prom together with a handsome boyish smile on his face, your excitement for that night skyrocketed.
Eunwoo wasn't exactly a friend but he was nice to you during class, maybe you were wrong but his niceness sometimes even bordered flirting. Already, you were daydreaming about a possible boyfriend to spend your last summer with before you start college.
With a date or without one, you spend the bigger portion of your senior year saving up money for prom night or should you say prom preparations.
Makeup was never your strongest suit, in fact, it wasn't a suit of yours at all. You never wore it. You never did your hair either. 
Even on the rare occasion that you went to a high school party, you never wore anything else aside from jeans and T-Shirts. You were an athlete and you committed to the bit entirely, always being ready to sweat and opting for comfort of loose clothes above anything else.
But you wanted to look nice for prom, pretty. Not because of Eunwoo but for yourself. Prom is only once and you wanted to make sure you do it with confidence. 
All your saved up allowance went on the hair and makeup appointment along with your dress that Ryujin helped you pick out. The dress was quite simple in your opinion, a dark red one with a square neckline held up by two thin straps that clung to your curves and flared out at the bottom.
With your hair pinned up in an up-do with two curled strands framing your face and glitter on your eyelids, you thought you looked very pretty, beautiful even. Hell, it was probably the best you looked in your entire eighteen years of life. You could even put up with the painful heels for the sake of it.
Your dad made you pose over the whole house while you waited for your date to pick you up. First a photoshoot on the stairs, then one on the front porch, then a little in front of the living room fireplace. 
He seemed so excited with his camera hanging around his neck as he followed you around the house.
It was one of the moments you wished your mom was here for but nonetheless, it was much fun with your dad only as well. You were happy.
It all went to shit though once you opened the door for Eunwoo and he started laughing in your face.
"Oh my God!" He laughs, almost doubling over at the apparent hilarity of your appearance, "What are you wearing?!"
You laugh nervously, ignoring your father's glance at you from the sheer embarrassment, "What? Is it that bad?"
"No, no." Eunwoo shakes his head, wiping a stray tear that escaped while he was laughing, "It's just not like you, at all."
"Oh." You give him a sour smile, your fragilely built ego shattering completely. "I was just...trying something new I guess..."
He snickers with a headshake before offering you his hand, "Come on, let's go take a photo?"
After a small moment of hesitation, feeling your cheeks burn from the humiliation, you let him grab your hand and step out on the front porch. Eunwoo places a hand around your waist to pull you closer as you both smile at your dad's camera.
A couple of photos later, you both head towards Eunwoo's car as your dad waves you goodbye. You give him a small, almost sad wave back as Eunwoo opens the door for you. You ask him;
"Do I really look funny?"
"No, you look pretty no matter what." He answers, helping you with your dress. "It's just doesn't suit you I guess, it's not like you."
"Ah..." You say staring at the dashboard as you watch him round the car to get into the driver's seat. You glance back at your dad just to see him get back into your house and for a split second, you want to call the whole thing off and go back inside with him.
Of course this doesn't suit you. You were the girl guys dapped up in the hallways, the girl that was always covered in hoodies and sweatpants and never wore makeup. You must look stupid, all dolled up like this. What were you thinking.
Prom celebration is usually held at a hotel not far from your high school. The ballroom is enormous, with vast marble floors and high ceilings illuminated by golden, shimmery lights. It looks straight out a fairytale with colorful dresses worn by pretty princess and handsome princes in their extravagant suits. Only, you don't feel like a princess at all.
Eunwoo and you find your table and you briefly say hi to Ryujin and her date. Ryujin tells you how amazing you look and you give her the first (and possibly, only) genuine smile of the night.
"So," Eunwoo starts the conversation a few minutes after you settle down at your table with drinks, "Did you decide where you're going for college? Any scouts?"
"I'm leaning towards SNU. Their Women's Football Club is really strong and I feel like they actually get proper investments and budget." You tell him and he grins interrupting your next sentence.
"See, this is why I like you. It's hard to find a girl who knows about sports and is so chill about everything."
Your mouth stays parted, the rest of your sentence (which was really just saying that the fact the male football team was hot contributed to your decision as joke) went unsaid as his words registered. Every "compliment" Eunwoo gives you is starting to come off so backhandedly that you're beginning to realize that while he thinks he has you all figured out - he doesn't actually know you at all.
You give him a fake laugh and pray to God it doesn't sound fake enough for him to notice as you take a sip of your drink.
An hour later, your heels are killing you so much that you've completely given up on dancing. You observe Ryujin on the dance floor with her date, still going at it and sigh with the silent question of when it would be your turn. Instead, you're stuck to the sidelines with shoes that feel awful on your feet and a date that can't stop talking about how it's attractive that you're a "girl that actually eats". Eunwoo's compliments are becoming weirder by the second.
"Should I just take you home?" Eunwoo asks with an amused smile as he observes you taking off your heels for the tenth time since you sat back down.
"Ah, would you mind?" You give him an apologetic smile, feeling like a burden and a not-so-much-fun date, "I'm sorry, Eunwoo, this is unfair to you-"
"Nah, I had a fun time." He shakes his head, downing the rest of his drink, "Next time, just be yourself though, yeah?"
The weirdly phrased statement makes you pause. "What do you mean?"
"You know, you don't have to dress like this!" He laughs, playfully playing with the thin strap of your dress. You subtly move away from his touch. "It's not like you at all. I don't know if your friends talked you into it just to fit in but you shouldn't let them push you around like this."
He's so wrong that you can't speak for a moment but even if you could, you feel like trying to explain yourself to him would be far too exhausting and would lead to nowhere. Nor do you want it to lead anywhere anymore, if you were honest.
"Girls like that are so exhausting." He gives a tired sigh. "Outfits and makeup aren't the only thing in the world."
"Girls....like that?"
"You know! Like, the touchy-feely shit. Everything is about color-coordination and nail polishes with them. God forbid their hair is out of place. What a headache!" Eunwoo runs a hand through his hear before giving you an award winning smile. "That's why I'm glad I got to hang out with you! You're real."
"I'm....real?" You ask with a cocked head as your eyes start to narrow. He's too busy thinking that you like what he's saying so he continues.
"Yeah. You know, you keep it real. You're not caught up in that frivolous, girly bullshit. You're so chill, Y/N." He keeps smiling at you like he just gave you the highest form of compliment he possibly could.
But you can't bring yourself to crack a smile even if someone held a barrel of a gun to your temple at the moment. In fact, you feel like throwing up. You should've know from the start, from the moment he was so unreasonably impressed with your lack of makeup at the beginning of the year.
Eunwoo was one of those guys.
"Um," You slide your heels back on and grab your clutch, "You know what, you stay. I'll go."
"Wait, what." His brows raise in half confusion and half surprise as he watches you stand up from your seat.
"Yeah, I'll walk home."
"Wait, Y/N. Why would you walk home? I already said I'd drop you off-"
"No thanks. I don't want to get in a car with a sexist."
"What?!" Eunwoo reels back, "What the fuck are you talking about?! I'm not a sexist! I respect women!"
You huff, turning to him with a glare. "You respect women who are "cool" and "chill" and basically act like men. You should've just taken one of your dudes to prom if these are your opinions. I'm out."
So, that's how you find yourself in your pretty dress sitting in one of the plastic chairs of a convenience store with a popsicle in your mouth as you watch the cars drive by. You were too embarrassed to arrive home so early, you hyped up prom night so much to your dad - you'd rather lie and tell him you had a good time.
If the night couldn't possibly get any shittier, while you eat away at your cherry popsicle feeling undeniably sorry for yourself, you hear a familiar laugh followed by sounds of shoes scuffing against the pavement towards the convenience store.
Of course. Of fucking course, Jung Wooyoung would show up now, when you needed him least.
You try to make yourself seem as small as possible in the plastic chair, hoping he or his two friends wouldn't notice you (which in retrospect was a dumb hope, you were sitting right by the entrance in a fucking prom dress).
Ever since Wooyoung graduated high school two years ago, you only saw him in passing. He'd come home for Christmas holidays or a week or two during the summers and you'd only catch him skunk out of his house and into his dad's car if you were lucky. Unlucky, that is of course.
Maybe you were hoping he wouldn't even recognize you and although it would kind of hurt (as embarrassing as that is to admit), you feel like it would be a better option.
But since you were on a roll tonight, obviously this is just another thing that doesn't go your way.
"Nice dress, Y/L/N." You hear Wooyoung's voice speak, followed by snickers from his idiotic friends and his own attempt at stifling his laughter as they walk past you and into the convenience store, the small bell above the door signaling their entrance.
That ends up being your last straw. 
You don't cause another fight or yell something back after him, no, you don't have the energy to do that tonight. Instead, you feel like you will cry.
Tears are already burning at your eyes and your bottom lip wobbles, you're not even aware that your eyes follow Wooyoung through the display of the store, watching him as he picks up a pack of beer and heads for the cashier.
He got even more painfully handsome than he was when you'd see him every day before he graduated. His hair was double toned, the top of it black and the bottom strands bleached, brushing the nape of his neck.
You think you could even see a tattoo peaking under his shirt as he moves.
Jung Wooyoung was so not your type. Not that you really knew what your type was but all the guys that you found cute in your high school years were athletes, jocks who were organized and dedicated to their routine which in your opinion showcased their maturity, got good grades and were respected by their peers. Wooyoung was really the complete opposite of that so it was hard to explain why you so weirdly hung up over his approval.
He's still laughing about something with his friends, it would hurt so badly if it was about you, as his eyes dart through the display and connect with your own.
Wooyoung does a double take before his big smile slowly slips and dare you say, eyes soften as he looks at you and his lips part as if he wants to say something. 
It could all be in your head though and you're feeling even worse now that he caught you staring at him like a total creep, so you throw your popsicle in the trash and get up with a sigh, slipping back into your heels and deciding to just go home.
-
"Hey, Y/L/N! Wait up, I'll give you a ride home!" Wooyoung calls out after you, the plastic bag swinging back and forth in his hand. 
He can hear Chanwook's hushed objection which Wooyoung chooses to ignore, instead focused on walking closer to you. You couldn't make it far since you were basically limping in your heels.
"No thanks." Wooyoung hears your response and rolls his eyes. He hasn't spoken to you in the last two years at all but he can see that nothing has changed much - you were still too stubborn for your own good.
You didn't even bother to turn back and look at him, instead you hitch your dress further up and continue up the street and away from the convenience store.
"Y/N, come on. Quit being a brat and just wait for me to bring the car around."
"I said no!" You yell over your shoulder and let out a small yelp when you stutter a bit on your feet. To Wooyoung, you resembled Bambi right now.
"I'm trying to help you!" He yells back, still following you, "Just let me drive you back-"
"Wooyoung, seriously, fuck off!" You turn to face him with red cheeks and teary eyes (maybe that's why he's insisting so badly to drive you home, you simply look pathetic), "I don't need your fucking help!"
Wooyoung reels back at your tone and harsh words and then a wave of embarrassment washes over him when he hears Chanwook and Eunhyuk laugh behind him, at the fact that he just got told off by his little neighbour.
The embarrassment is followed up by anger that prickles at his skin like needles, he scoffs and if there's one thing Wooyoung will be - it's petty; "Fine! Limp home in your stupid heels then, see if I give a shit!"
You don't give him a response and Wooyoung doesn't bother to look for it either, instead turns around on his feet and heads towards his car (his dad's car). But not before telling a laughing Chanwook to shut the fuck up.
But once he's in the car with the keys in the ignition, he stares at the steering wheel in obvious contemplation before letting out a small groan, "Fuck."
Wooyoung turns to Chanwook, "Sit in the back, please."
His friend looks at him in surprise and confusion. "What?"
"Just sit in the back, will you? Please." Wooyoung repeats, avoiding Chanwook's eyes but feeling his stumped stare.
"Wooyoung, you cannot be serious." His friend laughs in disbelief as if reading his mind, looking around before giving Wooyoung another incredulous look, "She just told you to fuck off!"
Eunhyuk is quiet in the back which is a huge relief for Wooyoung, he really didn't need to defend himself to his other friend too.
"I can't let her go by foot in the dark, you've seen her! She can barely walk!" Wooyoung says defensively to both of his friends as Chanwook moves to the back with a huff.
"And that's your problem...how?" Chanwook, like the annoying pest he is, asks.
"It's not...." Wooyoung trails off, trying to look for an excuse as to why he was going out of his way to give you a ride home. "But...but her dad would kill me if he knew I saw her and didn't drive her back. It's only right."
Chanwook smacks his lips obnoxiously loud, "Sure."
Wooyoung doesn't even need to turn around to know that his friend is giving him a very bold side eye right now.
Eunhyuk snorts but doesn't say anything else. Wooyoung is thankful for that at least.
"She probably won't even want to get in the car." Chanwook comments quietly as they reach you on the sidewalk. He ends up being ignored.
Wooyoung rolls the window of the old car down so he can talk to you, he has to say you're walking at an impressively slow pace. "Y/N, get in the car."
He hears you groan dramatically from the outside, "Jung, you're not my dad. Stop telling me what to do."
Wooyoung ignores Chanwook and Eunhyuk's snickers in the back once again, he grows even more irritated, "I'll call your fucking dad right now and tell him you're walking home alone this late. How about that?"
You turn to him with your glossy lips twisted into a scowl, "You wouldn't."
Always ready to prove a point or in this case, lie straight out of his ass, Wooyoung makes a show of stopping his car next to the sidewalk and fishing his phone from the pocket of his jacket before opening up his contacts and beginning to scroll. He doesn't even have your dad's number.
But Wooyoung is a professional bullshitter so he keeps pressing random buttons with a straight face and presses the phone to his ear before turning to you with his brows raised-
"Okay, fine!" You exclaim with an angry huff and start rounding his car as your cheeks flush a pretty pink color. Wait, pretty-? You open the door and angrily plop into the passenger's seat with a glare directed towards him, "Fucking snitch."
Wooyoung ignores you, locking his phone without another word and beginning to drive away.
There's an awkward silence in the car, only sounds being made are those of the plastic bags filled with beer that keep rustling in Eunhyuk's lap.
"This isn't the way to our street." You say and Wooyoung might be crazy but you almost sound a little nervous at that. He glances at you before it dawns onto him. Of course, you'd be feeling nervous.
It's nighttime and you're in a car with three dudes older than you who you don't know that well. Wooyoung didn't even bother telling you about his plan before he started driving. A curse runs through his head before he clears his throat,
"I'll just drop these two off at a party nearby and then drive you home." He murmurs, chest constricting a little when he sees you cross your hands over your chest, a gesture which makes you seem smaller.
"Wait, wha-" Chanwook, gosh he was really pissing Wooyoung off tonight, starts from the backseat. "Woo, I thought you were going too-"
"I will." Wooyoung interrupts him with a clenched jaw as he pulls up to the house where the party is held, "I'll drop Y/N off and then come back, it won't take more than fifteen minutes. Now get out- Wait, give me that bag right there."
Eunhyuk hands him one of the plastic bags and Wooyoung fishes through it and pulls out two blueberry ice creams out of it before giving the bag back to Eunhyuk. Which he bought for himself, of course. Not because he saw your popsicle melting on the pavement or anything.
Chanwook watches with a dropped jaw before huffing, Wooyoung hears him murmur, "Doing it for her dad, my ass-" 
"I'll be right back!" Wooyoung announces loudly, far too loudly, and Eunhyuk slams the car door shut so Wooyoung can drive away.
When he pulls away, the silence in the car is almost stifling so Wooyoung offers you the ice cream, "Here."
You look at him like a second head just popped out of his shoulder before looking back through the window and ignoring him completely. Wooyoung lets out a small groan. So stubborn.
"Oh my God, just take it." He says, placing the ice cream on your lap as he continues to drive. He bites back a smile when he sees you stare at the ice cream on your lap for a long second before grasping it and opening the wrapper so you can eat it.
Wooyoung really doesn't know what he's doing right now.
He doesn't know why he bought ice creams for you, he doesn't know why he insisted on getting rid of his friends first before dropping you off home, he has no idea why he keeps glancing at you every couple of seconds from the corner of his eye and he especially doesn't have a clue why he takes the longer route home.
When tomorrow comes and he wakes up hangover from the party and probably in someone else's bed, he'll give himself the same excuse he gave the boys. He wanted to make sure you got home safely because it's the right thing to do. There was nothing else to it.
But in this moment, right now, in the stifling silence and the breeze that flows through the opened window's because the air conditioning isn't working - Wooyoung notices things that he feels embarrassed to notice, or maybe he noticed them before but never allowed himself to appreciate them until tonight.
Like, how nice your bare neck and collarbones look now that your hair is pinned up in soft curls. A thin silver necklace graces your neck. Or how the two curled strands at the front frame your face prettily. Your eyelids are painted with something shimmery which Wooyoung doesn't know the name of and your cheekbones are a soft peach color intentionally placed there beforehand. 
Your glossy lips wrap around the ice cream cone and you bite off a huge chunk. 
"Why are you staring at me?" Wooyoung can decipher the question even through the mouthful of ice cream as you give him a slight glare.
Because you're pretty. Is what he wants to say, honest and bare, but he obviously can't because you're you and he's Wooyoung. "Because you have ice cream on your nose."
His hands tighten against the steering wheel when he sees you quickly look to the side and wipe at your nose self-consciously. You blush a scarlet red from the embarrassment. Great, now he feels like an asshole.
Wooyoung clears his throat, "Why did you look so sad? Back there, in front of the store."
He has no idea why he's trying to make conversation with you. You two never do that, never did. The closest thing to a conversation between Wooyoung and you would be the arguments you'd have in the middle of the school hallway when he'd tease you for your braces.
Those came off as well, by the way, he can see the pearly white teeth perfectly aligned now as you speak. No longer crooked. Maybe he'd like to see them pulled up in a smile but that's borderline wishful thinking now. You smiling at Wooyoung? Yeah, right.
"No reason." You tell him quietly, slumping in your seat as you continue to eat your ice cream. You sigh with an eyeroll, "Just...prom sucked."
Likely thing to happen.
The key is to go to prom with your expectations so low that you can only go up from there but Wooyoung had an inkling feeling that having low expectations wasn't in your nature.
Besides, you were a jock. He remembers even when you were a freshman, you were already running with the popular crowd without even being aware of it, with the athletes and the cheerleaders. Prom night is sort of a pinnacle of the high school experience for people like you.
Guess it's a bummer that you look like you had a shit time.
He hums, "At the end of the day, it's just another Friday night. Nothing special. So even if it sucked, you'll get over it."
Maybe he wasn't the best at giving advice or comforting people.
You side eye him and he pretends not to see it before you quietly add, "I don't usually spend a year worth of allowance on just another Friday night."
Wooyoung cracks a smile, teasing you being a second nature even if you barely spoke since he graduated, "What? Did you expect a prince charming to sweep you off your feet so you two can dance the night away or something? I didn't know you were into that corny shit, Y/L/N."
He hears you scoff, cheeks still red as you roll your eyes, seriously annoyed, "Whatever. Forget I said anything."
Wooyoung's gives a forced snicker just to annoy you before his smile drops again and his eyes flutter shut for a moment out of pure frustration at his own stupidity, internally cursing himself. If shooting yourself in the foot was a person - it would have Jung Wooyoung's photo and name posted under it.
Why can't you just be nice to her?
The air in the car turns even more awkward and Wooyoung shifts uncomfortably in his seat while you continue to eat your ice cream in silence as you stare through the window.
He slows down in front of your house just when you're finishing your ice cream.
You crumple the wrapper in your hand, place the second ice cream on the dashboard and grab the small bag laying on your lap before grabbing the door handle.
"I hope," Wooyoung starts and when you turn to look at him, he's overcome with a sudden coughing fit which is really just awkwardness and the need to fix whatever the fuck he broke a little even more tonight, "Uh, hope you took some good pictures tonight at least because..."
He trails off, feeling like it was his first time flirting with a girl. Wait, what the fuck. He was not flirting with you. Not even a little bit. Wooyoung was simply trying to pay you a compliment. Simple as that. It doesn't have to be anything more. You don't even need to be friends to pay someone a compliment, in fact, Wooyoung is positive that regular archnemeses complimented each other at least once.
Unfortunately, compliments aren't the norm between the two of you, so whatever nice thing he says feels wrong.
Your brows raise.
"You know," He trails off, scratching the back of his neck in an attempt to seem cool and collected. He nonchalantly adds but his side glances might give him away, fortunately you're too much of a ditz to notice, "You look good."
You stare at him for a long moment, seriously it's so long that he almost changes his mind and adds an insult just so you two would be back in those familiar waters of bickering and teasing each other but then your eyebrows fall back down and a scowl overtakes your features.
"Yeah, right." You mumble and Wooyoung almost feels insulted for some reason but then you continue, "Thanks for the ride."
And then you're out of the car and already moving across your front lawn before Wooyoung can snap out of it and remember to turn the car back on.
-
19 and 21 years old;
"10 more minutes! Y/L/N stop arguing with that asshole and get back into your position before you're out of the game completely!" 
Your coach is red in the face from all the shouting and you know what's good for you, so you keep your mouth shut as you run to your spot, thoroughly ignoring the glare your team's captain shoots at you from your right.
The 'asshole' that your coach is referring to is the referee who didn't count a player from the rival team almost breaking your leg by bulldozing into you - as a foul.
"-stole Eunha's position from her and can't even play properly." You hear a snicker behind you and don't even have to turn to know who it's directed at.
Despite it being only your first semester, you haven't made the greatest impression on your teammates (nor did you try all that much to change that impression). 
So for the time being, when there was no rival team, you were the collective enemy in the changing rooms and on the practice field. A freshman who kicked their friend from the spot she had since she started college. A freshman who thought she was better than the rest of her team. A freshman who didn't know how to behave at times. A freshman that made them run extra laps because she was bad at remembering all the new rules at times.
And now, a freshman that was playing badly and fucking up things for the rest of them.
"Y/N!" A hiss from your right is heard and your eyes zero in on your captain, Jihyo, who is staring at you. "Focus."
You swallow harshly and give her a quick now before focusing your gaze to the front.
In high school, you weren't used to losing. You were a winner, it's what you prided yourself in. Failure wasn't an option when it came to football.
But turns out in college, when all the other players are as good as you, winning isn't as easy.
In fact it’s a lot harder than you thought it would be. Nearing the end of the first half the score sheet is still empty and it annoys all of the players and the fans as well. The weirdest thing is how ball is not even on your team's side of the field most of the time; your defenders did not have a very entertaining start of the game in comparison to defenders from Busan, who already look out of breath from all of the attacks to their side. Not to mention that they keep teaming up on you specifically.
You can’t pinpoint what exactly is wrong and why there was no goal to this point; half of you thinks it’s because you didn’t blend well with the team. 
"Run, run, run!" Yeonjin shouts, when Sinb loses the ball and Busan’s midfielders rush to their side.
The spike of adrenaline energizes you and your eyes zero on the ball, running after it. Mina’s figure passes from your left and both of you corner the midfielder, successfully getting the ball to your side. You have it and quickly pass it to Yeonjin, seeing her signal for the ball. You watch her run off when a body collides with your own and the impact is so strong, you lose your balance, falling down.
‘What?’ You ask yourself in disbelief not understanding how you're sprawled across the grass again, slowly standing up. At first you're shell-shocked but now anger fills you to the brim when you see that it's the same girl who intentionally collided with you the first time, watching you with a smug smirk and then you're just  ready to fight.
 You push back at her and get even angrier when the bitch doesn't fall. 
"Are you going to go tattle to mommy?" She asks with a mocking concern and you can’t hear anything; you even forget that you are in the middle of the game because your anger turns your vision red. 
With a loud groan, you launch towards her and grab her by the shirt, screaming to her face that 'she's a cunt'. There are hands around you, pulling you away, trapping you and not letting you go even when you try to break free.
Jihyo's face is in front of you and you can't register what she's saying but you can see her turn red from how pissed off she is. Maybe it's better if you're not listening to her, if you can't hear anyone actually...but then-
"Hey, number nine! You better not fucking cry!"
At first, you think the loud yell came from somewhere on the field. You thought another player from the Busan team was talking shit. And then,
"Number nine! Crybaby!"
There's some laughter in the audience and it's then that you realize the voice is shouting from the fucking bleachers.
A teammate is already pulling you in the opposite direction but your eyes are glued to crowd sitting on the sidelines, the annoying voice insistently yelling. Crybaby. Crybaby. Crybaby.
The worst part is that the voice sounds so painfully familiar, you just can't put your finger on it. Who.
You're about to let it go. You're about to be the bigger person and not act like a total brute on the field, just let it go Y/N. But then-
"Hey, hey crybaby!" You stop in your tracks, head whipping to the direction the voice was coming from and eyes coasting over the bleachers. "What kind of hill did you roll down from that you don't even know how to push someone back properly?!"
Finally, you spot it. Him. In a red hoodie, making sure to stand out in the sea of blue. It's no wonder the voice sounded so eerily familiar, you've heard it screaming at you for the majority of your childhood and a good chunk of your teen years. 
Because he rolled down the same hill as you with only a street separating you.
When he realizes that you've caught onto him, he gives you that smile. That grin that never led to anything good, pearly white teeth gleaming under the lights of the bleachers as he taunts you.
You blood pressure jumps so, you take a deep breath and....scream;
"Jung Wooyoung!"
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runningfrom2am · 5 months
Text
leveling the playing field VIII
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summary: you didn't meet the requirements for the plinth prize, only to find out that you're not just missing out on that- you're missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. your friend wants to help, because maybe you can help each other.
pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader
wc: 3.2k
tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. do they love each other or hate each other? who knows (we do, kind of). abuse, so read with caution!! also a little bit of swearing but that's neither here nor there
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a/n: omg so this is the final part of the first like, section of this story! i probably should have not called them parts bc idk what to do for the second like.. bit. season? maybe?) yeah sure, season two coming soon!! lol
thank you guys so much for being here and reading this and enjoying it as much as i have enjoyed writing it! it truly means so much to me :)
next part
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You hear footsteps and turn around in the seat, hoping desperately that it's Coryo, and you are relieved to see that it finally is. He had been gone for close to an hour. You stand quickly, going to meet him halfway, what you had to tell him couldn't wait. "Coryo," You say quickly, before launching into the full story. "Lucy Gray came back, the others were chasing her and she hid in that vent and she's still in there, they're trying to figure out how to get in. She's stuck."
You follow him back to the desk, his eyes wide now too. "That's good... I think that's good." He's scanning the arena again, as if there's any inch of it he hasn't committed to memory, trying to see if there was any way Dr. Gaul's snakes could reach her in the vent you pointed to.
"No, no it's not good because I don't think there's another way out of that one except the way she came in." You dig into your bag as it hangs at his side, pulling out the notebook that you drew the map in. "Yeah, look- it's pinched off about thirty feet in." You point to the page, holding it out for him to see.
"She just has to wait them out." He insists, pushing your hand down. "Put that away- you shouldn't have that."
Why is he so calm about this? Lucy Gray was trapped, and this time there was nothing either of you could do to help her. "Yeah, but that's not going to work for much longer." You say, watching as the three make a plan to push her farther into the vent and try and get her out from the bottom.
Hurriedly, you close your notebook and put it away so you don't have to look away for long.
"Just a little longer, Lucy Gray..." Coryo mutters to himself and grips onto your hand at his side. At this, you reach across your body and rub his arm with your free hand. His whole future could collapse in a matter of moments if Lucy Gray doesn't survive. Yours could too. But as you watch Coral thrust her weapon up into the pipes that you know Lucy Gray is inside, you flinch, not knowing how much longer Lucy Gray can hold out.
You can't even process what is happening to Treech and the outcries of his mentor and people in the theatre, wondering what happened to him as he collapses with a bloody nose. You knew, so you avoided even looking in their direction as Lucy Gray tumbled from the now shredded vent, landing directly on top of Coral before making a run for it. You're sure Coriolanus isn't even breathing.
You aren't either when every one of the tributes freezing and the wind starts whipping Lucy Gray's hair around her face and her dress around her sides. Everyone watches as a large tank is lowered into the arena and dropped delicately on top of the pile of debris in the center.
"What is that?" You wonder out loud, and Coryo just shakes his head as you look up at him.
"C'mon Lucy Gray, get out of there..."
"Wouldn't it be funny if it was candy?" Lucky jokes and you stifle a laugh.
At this moment, the young girl from District Eight wanders out into the clearing, pale and skinny. "Is it over?" She asks no one in particular, making your smile fade.
"Wovey..." Reaper warns her from where he's kneeling next to the bodies he had covered with the flag.
"Can we go home now?" You clutch your hand back to your chest as she walks toward the tank- you don't know what was in the tank, but you know it wouldn't be good.
"Wovey." He warns again, more stern this time with a slight shake of his head.
The tank starts to splinter, cracking steadily along all sides until it bursts open. You gasp at the amount of snakes that come out. A wave of moving, rainbow destruction crashes over the floor and completely engulfs the little girl in a fraction of a second, as everyone else starts to run.
As Lucy Gray and Coral make a break for the walls, trying to get up to the stands, Reaper seems to just accept his fate. You feel... bad. He could have taken your offer made days before, he could be winning right now. At least he and Wovey didn't suffer.
As Lucy Gray pushes herself backward up the pile of rubble away from the fast moving snakes, Coral starts speaking to her. You can't hear what she's saying, but you can see she's crying- maybe pleading for Lucy Gray's help, maybe just saying her goodbyes to this world. It didn't matter, Lucy Gray was the last one alive as Coral's body got surrounded by the snakes.
Please work. Coriolanus begs the universe, hoping that the cloth he had used to wipe her tears and the one she used to wipe away the dirt from her skin before the interview, which he took from your bag and shoved into slots in the tank would be enough to save her.
"She won!" You grin, shaking Coryo's shoulder as he stands beside you, eyes still locked on Lucy Gray.
That's when she starts to sing, just as the snakes catch up to her. Why aren't they letting her out? It was over.
"Why aren't they getting her out?" You ask him, confused as everyone watches intensely, entranced by her voice.
"I'll be along, when I've finished my song..."
Coryo and you both turn, facing the audience now and all eyes immediately lock on Dr. Gaul. "Dr. Gaul, she won." He says, as if somehow she's missed it- surely she had. Surely she's not watching the same thing you are.
"When I've shut down the band, played out my hand..."
"It's over, let her out!" You shout, attempting to draw her attention.
"Paid all my debts..."
"Why aren't they attacking her?" You hear someone ask, noticing the snakes are almost entirely covering Lucy Gray's shirt now.
"Have no regrets, right here..."
"It must be the singing," Coryo replies, and you look up at him. You don't know that that's true, but you won't ask. "It's calming them."
"In the old therebefore..."
"She can't sing forever."
"Then let her out!" You yell, looking pleadingly up at Dr. Gaul in the stands. "Dr. Gaul!" You demand her attention now, stomping your foot down.
Your blood is boiling when she still won't look at you and the sound of Lucy Gray's voice fills the theatre. "Look at me!" You scream, and clearly, people are getting annoyed at you for interrupting Lucy Gray's song. "Look at me now or let her out!"
She does neither, not until Lucy Gray's song moves everyone else to match your cries for her to be released. Only then does Dr. Gaul look at the two of you, and you drop Coryo's hand.
The doctor sighs, leaning over to her assistant. "Get her out. Now." She says, and cheers erupt in the room previously filled with emotional tears.
"I did it." Coryo says, and you have to lean close to hear it over everyone's delight.
"You did it!" You laugh, throwing your arms over his shoulders. You scream in excitement as he hugs you back, lifting you up and spinning you around as people crowd the two of you. You don't think you've ever been happier.
As he lets you down gently, grabbing your cheeks and pressing a kiss to your forehead, you wonder if your parents are watching. You can't wait to get home, to see your family and let them sing your praises for Coriolanus's success in the games. Well, Lucy Gray's success that the two of you get to reap the rewards of.
Then, he's gone, leaving you to gather your things while he goes to see Tigris. You smile, sighing to yourself as you watch. It's likely your father has already sent the car to collect you, so you should probably get going. You're in dire need of a celebratory bath, anyway.
Last night, you had the best sleep you had gotten in weeks. A full eight hours- a privilege you didn't know you missed so bad. Even when you had to get up for school around six, you felt so well rested you knew you could take on the world.
That was until you walked downstairs for breakfast. "Good morning." You grin, skipping down the last couple of steps only to be met with your father hanging up the phone, storming over to you, and shoving you back onto the staircase.
"Sit down. Listen to me." He spits as you groan, holding your head from where it hit the railing and adjusting yourself so you are sitting properly on the stairs.
"Ow... What did I do?"
"You know what you did, Y/N." He hisses, pacing in front of you. "Un-fucking-believable! They went out on a limb for you, and this is how you repay them? Do you even realize what you have done? To me? To this family?"
The poison.
"Dad, I didn't do anything! I had no say in it! Coryo gave her the compact empty- it wasn't our business what she did with it!" You argue, standing up only to earn yourself a slap across the face.
"You were to give her nothing. You knew that." You hold your cheek while he lectures you, and you just nod.
"Yes, sir." You sniff, rubbing your jaw to soothe the sting of your already burning skin. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me- you will apologize to Dean Highbottom first thing this morning and hope he's smart enough to forgive you. Now, go."
You pull your bag back over your shoulder, avoiding eye contact with your little brother and your mother sat at the table as you walked out the door. It looks like you're walking today.
You make it to your first class, obviously not feeling too excited about the concept of speaking with the Dean. Coryo walks in just a few moments after you, stealing the seat at your side. You can't even look at him.
"Good morning." He whispers, pulling his textbook out of his bag. He's in good spirits it seems, but you know that won't last long. "You left in a hurry after the games yesterday, I was hoping we would celebrate together."
When you don't respond, he furrows his brow. Were you mad at him? Had he done something? "Wow, you're a ray of sunshine this morning, aren't you?" He asks, disguising his hurt as a joke. His intention was to come back to you after speaking with Tigris, he wanted to see if you would like to go for a walk or something and discuss everything. He didn't really have a plan, but he didn't want you to leave his side, not yet. The games had ended all too quickly, and you had yet to even discuss what had happened with the kiss you shared. He couldn't let you slip back into a routine of only seeing each other in class and during breaks, he couldn't bear the mere idea of it.
You slam your pen down on the desk, turning to look at him now. "We are in such deep, deep shit, Coriolanus." You hiss, taking notice of everyone looking at you so you quiet down.
"Your... your cheek." He just mutters, leaning in to look closely at the other side of your face and the maroon bruise that now adorned it. Even under your makeup he could see it. "What happened?" He reaches out to gently brush his hand over your jaw and you flinch away quickly.
You sigh, looking around quickly before leaning in closer to whisper to him. "They know, about the poison. We're done for, enjoy your final moments of freedom." You move away quickly as your professor starts speaking and the world begins to crash down around your best friend.
He sits back, face pale as his stomach turns. How could they know? They must have found the compact on Lucy Gray- it must not have been empty. Or was it the cloths in the tank? Those would be easier to find, probably, but how could they be traced back to you?
"We need to borrow Miss Y/L/N and Mister Snow, please." A peacekeeper says as he knocks on the open door frame, eyes quickly finding the two of you.
"It was nice knowing you." You sigh, quickly gathering your things and making your way down to the door.
He follows quickly behind, and for once, your classmates are silent.
A group of three peacekeepers lead you down a quiet hallway of the school, and stop at an open door gesturing for the two of you to enter.
"Ladies first," Coriolanus says softly, stepping aside for you to enter.
"Oh, so now I'm a lady." You scoff quietly, walking into the large open room, the high biology room, with nothing but a table in the center. The table is adorned only with the compact he had given to Lucy Gray, and two handkerchiefs. One of his, and one of yours. How did they get that?
"Kids." Dean Highbottom greets the two of you as the door slams shut behind you.
You open your mouth to speak, taking a breath and he stops you before you get the chance. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, Y/N, but I don't want to hear it."
"No, I think you do." You protest, "Because my-"
"Your father?" He cuts you off. "What about him? Because I just got off the phone with him this morning, and judging by the state of your face, I would argue that I am in agreement with him."
You swallow, fighting the urge to look down and avoid his gaze. If you had any chance of walking out of here without being in too much trouble, you had to prove that you were not afraid.
"Don't you think that she's been punished enough?" Coryo argues, looking between the two of you.
"Coriolanus." He ignores his plea, tapping the table next to the compact. "How many times did I see your mother pull this from her handbag to check her face? Your pretty, vapid mother, who'd somehow convinced himself that your father would give her freedom and love. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say."
"She wasn't." Coryo protests, referring to the Dean's insinuations about his mother. You look at him, but he won't meet your gaze.
"Only her youth excused her, and, really, she seemed fated to be a child forever. Just like the opposite of your girl, here." He gestures to you. "Eighteen going on thirty-five, and a hard thirty-five, at that. Your songbird, too."
"She gave you the compact?" Coriolanus asks, the sadness of betrayal evident on his features at the idea of Lucy Gray handing it over.
"Oh, don't blame her. The peacekeepers had to wrestle her to get the thing. Naturally, we do a thorough search of the victors when they leave the arena." Dean Highbottom explains, tilting his head as he looks between the two of you. "So smart of her, to poison the water Dill drank and dust it over Treech the way she did. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was watching you, Miss Y/L/N."
You take a sharp breath, making an effort to straighten your posture.
"She claimed that the poison was her idea, that the compact was nothing but a token." He adds.
"It was." You state, though he is likely speaking to Coriolanus.
"Oh, I'm glad to see you got your story straight." Highbottom nods at you, voice dripping in sarcasm. "But I don't believe you. Even if I did, what am I to make of these?" He taps next to the handkerchiefs now next to it. "One of the lab assistants found these in the snake tank last night. Everyone was baffled at first, checking to see if it was one of their own that they had dropped. Until we noticed the initials. Not yours. Your father's. So delicately stitched into the corner..."
You look at Coryo, who is fighting to keep a straight face through his urge to vomit. "Why haven't you made this public?" He asks.
"I know why." You say, crossing your arms and looking the Dean up and down, who just rolls his eyes.
"I was tempted," He ignores you. "Believe me, I was. But the academy, when expelling students, has a tradition of offering them a lifeline. As an alternative to public disgrace, Coriolanus, you may join the peacekeepers by the end of the day."
Coryo's heart drops, as does yours. "The other one, it's hers." He points suddenly to the other cloth, next to his father's. Your jaw drops. How dare he throw you under the bus like that?
"I was getting to that." The Dean sighs as you shoot glares into the side of Coriolanus's head.
"I didn't do that! He took my bag, he took it and put it in the tank- I didn't know anything!" You argue, and he once again raises a hand at you to shut you up.
"Coriolanus, you better hurry. The office closes in twenty minutes, if you run you can make it in time." Highbottom says to your classmate, who just nods and turns for the door. "Oh, and what's that?" He asks, looking up at the skylight. "It's the sound of Snow, falling."
Coriolanus glares at him, pacing quickly out of the door and slamming it behind himself.
You're in shock still over why he would do that to you, but you don't have the time to process it before the Dean is scolding you. "Now, what will happen to you, huh?" He asks, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. "Be honest, did you know?"
"No, sir." You reply, giving a firm shake of your head.
"That's a shame. He really threw you under, huh?" He laughs, mocking you. "After what I saw the other day, I was expecting he would defend you tooth and nail... but no. I mean, he is a Snow, after all."
You don't say a word, just glaring at the man in front of you and waiting for him to tell you your fate.
"Anyway, if it was up to me, you would already be undergoing the necessary procedures to become an Avox. Oh, how I would love to see you without a tongue." He muses, sighing in disappointment. "But I know your father would be embarrassed so I think it best to leave your punishment in his hands, would you agree? Outside, of course, your expulsion."
"You can't expel me!" You shout, fists clenched around the sleeves of your coat.
"Enough of your tantrums, Y/N. You're too old for this. But, alas, you're right. I'm obligated to extend you the olive branch too." He concedes. "You are allowed to graduate under the condition that you work in service for the next ten years. Although keep in mind, your father won't like that."
"Fuck your olive branch! How dare you threaten me like this! I did nothing wrong, we won!" You fire off, practically twitching with anger at this point. "If you won't go public with it, I will! I've got nothing to lose now, the whole country will know what you and my dad are doing! What you're selling! I'll tell everyone! You'll be executed for treason!" You didn't even notice when you started grabbing anything you could reach and launching it in his direction until the peacekeepers were grabbing the back of your arms and dragging you away kicking and screaming. "You'll hang for this!"
You hardly make it to the door before you feel a stab in your neck, and the world fades to black around you.
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americaswritings · 5 months
Text
Voices of Roses and Ruin | Part III
Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of killing, mentions of torture, Coriolanus being himself
Summary: Coriolanus realizes he's still a part of the Capitol's games and that your life is the prize.
Words: around 3k
Pairing: Young Coriolanus Snow x reader
A/N: I never expected this to turn into a story, but here we are! I really hope you enjoy it!! Also I'm halfway through the book now and planning to watch the movie (in English then) again afterwards! I'm so excited!! :)
If you have ideas for Coriolanus oneshots I would love to hear from you (or if you just feel like ranting about the movie, the world of Panem, the characters, Tom Blyth...lol)
Can be read as Lucy Gray x Coriolanus Snow here
Part I | Part II | Masterlist
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All Coriolanus had wanted was to follow you that night.
Seeing you in the arena had been painful. Watching them use his voice to torment you had been worse. And thinking he would never see you again had topped it all.
But watching you walk away from him? That was a new kind of pain.
Everyone left Coriolanus life. First his mother and his little sister. Then his father had followed. All he had left were the Grandma'am and Tigris, but it didn't feel that way with them so far away.
But here he could have you, if he allowed himself it. And God how he wanted to. His days as a peacekeeper were dull and lifeless, but you had brought colour and a flicker of hope into his life.
There had never been the choice between you and the scholarship, but suddenly there was and he didn't know how he could decide between the path he had always firmly believed was his and the girl he had never seen coming.
But there too many reasons holding him back. You belonged to different worlds. That would never change.
It was a cruel kind of knowledge.
Every time he tried to forget about you he awoke sweating. You haunted his dreams.
The look of betrayal on your face as you had realized he would return to the capitol. That even after he had admitted they had used his own voice to manipulate you, he would still go back and pretend it hadn't happened. That he was still the same boy.
He dreamed about your body. About sacred moments of peace and quiet the two of you, the outside world forgotten. About your laugh and the spark in your eyes and that you would fall asleep and wake up in his arms.
He dreamed about every scenario involving your death his brain seemed to come up with. Death in the arena. Death because he had manipulated your chances. Death because he had let you go.
When he heard Tigris voice for the first time since he had been sent to the districts over the phone the relief almost made him cry. He wished he could tell her about his conflicted emotions, but he couldn't risk anyone overhearing him.
Besides, he didn't know if he could ever admit to her the true extent of his feelings. It was embarrassing that of all people he had fallen for a weak girl from the district.
But you were so much more than that to him. It was why it had been so painful to watch you go. Because until that moment some part of him seemed to have hold onto the improbable hope that you would start a life in the capitol together.
As the winner of the games he had assumed it could be possible. That people respected you enough that he could be seen with you and that you wouldn't be forced to return to your life of shreds and dirt.
But you had shown him that this was no future you could ever imagine. And just as you weren’t willing to change for him, he couldn’t do it for you either. Even though you loved each other your love was not enough.
But then why did it hurt so much?
"Everything okay?", he asked Tigris to distract himself from his thoughts. It was another worry that made his heart heavy, the one for his family. Their money was still as tight and with him gone there was not much he could do for them now.
He earned too little, could barely pay for his own foot and housing. Was this how the people in the districts felt? Stuck in a constant loop of worry, fear and work that would never pay off? Unlike them he would never accept such a fate. Unlike them he didn’t belong here.
"We're okay." He heard an edge to Tigris voice, "but there's something you should know about."
His posture stiffened and he gazed around, making sure no one was there. "What is it?"
"Everyone's talking about you and the girl in the capitol." His fingers clenched around the steel. "What are they saying?"
"Never in the history of the games did the gamemakers ever do what they did there with your voice." "He was aware of it, so he waited for her to elaborate. "But why use your voice? The voice of her mentor. Why not someone from her family, someone she cares about?"
To hear Tigris say that you didn't care about him, that he was nothing more than your mentor hurt, but he pushed the anger away. "She doesn't really have family left. And she trusts me. So it makes sense."
"Then why did they only use it on her? Why didn't they try to manipulate anyone else?"
He let out an impatient sigh. "I don't know. They didn't tell me they would do it. But it was our task to make our tributes trust us and I was the only one who succeeded."
"But they didn't, Coryo."
Momentarily he forgot what he was about to say and took in a breath. What was Tigris implying? "It was your task to be a good mentor. Get the people's attention and make them root for her. But making her trust you was your decision."
"Didn't you tell me I should do it?" He sounded tired and accusing and he knew his cousin heard it in his voice. "Yeah, but I didn't expect-", she trailed of and he waited for her to continue, frustrated when he realized she wouldn't.
"She really trusts you, you know that, right?" He was growing more irritated with this conversation by the second. "I think I did a good job, if that's what you're asking."
"My God Coryo, that's not what I mean!" She exhaled loudly at the other side. "We all saw how scared she was for you. For her mentor. For someone from the capitol."
Her words were another reminder how different the two of you were. He hated it.
"We all saw that you care about her too. You kept visiting her. You two talked so much even when the cameras weren't near and everyone who was in the same room saw how terrified you were for her in the arena. And then, against all odds, she wins and you disappear without another word."
She was speaking softer now, probably expecting the defensiveness he felt rising in him. She knew him well. "They gave me a task. I did what I had to. That's all."
Tigris was silent for a moment. "Even if it were true, you did your job a little too well. The people are obsessed with it! With you and her, the idea of a love story between a mentor and their tribute. A Snow and the girl from ashes."
Tigris was speaking slowly, like she was afraid she was overwhelming him with the news and her tone was grave and serious. It was the polar opposite to the hope he felt.
It wasn't the narrative he would have chosen, but a story meant attention and attention meant relevance. If it was true and Tigris was right, they couldn't keep him hidden in the districts much longer.
People wouldn't just accept the two of you together, they would demand it.
His lips curled into a smile. He could have never imaged a better way to get out of here and to convince you to come with him. What reason did you have to say no now?
"Then why do you sound so fearful?"
Tigris took in a deep breath.
"It's the people that love it. You know how they are, always looking for gossip and a good story to keep them entertained enough to forget about their own miserable lives. But-", she paused, "the people are not the capitol. Everyone who's got something to say in Panem hates it. It sends the wrong message, Coryo. That the people from the capitol and the people from the district could be equals. The whole point of the hunger games is to demonstrate supremacy and power. They don't want a girl from a district turning into a star and having a sweet little romance with one of their own."
His smile faded. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and suddenly the room was too small, the walls to high. With each second it was getting harder to breathe. The uniform- he needed to get out of this damn uniform!
"Coryo?"
Tigris voice sounded far away as he struggled between losing himself to his fears and keeping a composed and prideful image.
He had realized the situation he was in was far from ideal before, but having the capitol, the very people he needed to impress as his enemy could- no would destroy his whole life!
And yours too.
The future he had just seen before his eyes ruined by words of love.
"What do you think they'll-", he still couldn't catch his breath. He needed these peoples on his side, not against him. How had he ended up here, so useless and powerless?
No! He needed to keep it together! He would get through this, like he always did. He would find a way to make this work for him or if there was none, he would come up with something else...
He was smart and his name still meant something. Snow always lands on top.
"I don't know what they’ll do." Tigris answered his question without him having to finish it. The worry in her voice did nothing to quieten his own. "But it's only a matter of time until they will have to act. I just- I wanted to warn you, Coryo."
He nodded, more to himself than her. "I will be fine." He had regained his composure and his voice was perfectly emotionless.
"I am worried for you. I think they might try to-"
He would never find out, if Tigris suspicions had been right, because before she could finish her sentence the call cut off.
Had they listened again?
Was he even safe here anymore?
-
Two more days passed before they came for him.
Two days he had spent pondering his choices yet felt no confidence as he stepped in front of the commander. His posture was as straight and effortless as always, so one would have guessed he was secretly far from calm.
He had expected to meet his superior in an official building, something elegant, if that even existed in the districts, but instead he was led to a distant part of a warehouse, where the lights flickered and spider webs hung heavy.
Coriolanus saluted in front of the man, then waited patiently for him to speak. He hoped no one could see past his guard, noticed how fast his heart was beating.
"I was informed about certain rumours circling the streets of the capitol these days. I take it you have heard about them too?"
He gave a short nod, forcing his face to remain blank. The man, who he assumed to be in his late fifties took a step closer. His hair was completely grey, except for one white strand. It gave him an upper look that didn't suit the scenery of the district.
Was he from the capitol? He wasn't dressed like it though; he was wearing the peacekeeper uniform, but something told Coriolanus it was a disguise of his real power. The capitol liked their games.
"So what do you think?"
"I think-", he began, but his voice got interrupted by a painfilled scream. His eyes flickered to the door, but it was locked, either side guarded by a peacekeeper. None of them moved and when he turned back to the commander he simply weaved his hand, urging him to continue.
Coriolanus swallowed, taken off-guard by the noise but pulling himself together. "I think it's just that- rumours. Eventually the public will take an interest in different news."
"Ahh, so you don‘t think such a narrative could have an impact on the political climate both in the districts and the caption? That it could send the wrong image?“
Coriolanus pressed his lips together. “I believe-“, but again a cry disrupted his attempt at an answer. It could not be a coincidence that they had chosen this place to talk to him. It had probably been arranged to shaken his composure and unsettle him. He hated to admit that it worked.
It was probably just a thief, paying for her sins. No one that deserved his attention. Yet it was unnerving, a subtle reminder just how quickly he could manoeuver himself into the same position.
 “Oh don‘t tell me that’s bothering you?” The man in front of him raised his brows. “You should be familiar with the sound of traitors. So what is it you wanted to say?“
Coriolanus straightened his shoulders, but this time the sound was louder, clearer. It was a scream that cut through the air and it was one he knew too well.
No.
“Mr. Snow, what was it you were saying?“
He blinked in irritation and straightened his shoulders when he realized his loss of posture.
“I was saying that the capitol could own it. Make it their own narrative. A tribute developing…an infatuation“, he felt sick, “with her mentor could be-“ Another scream. He felt his composure crumble. The man tilted his head. He was silently laughing about him, Coriolanus was certain about it. “…helpful“, he finished, clearly distracted by the background noises.
They sounded too familiar, had been the sound of his many nightmares and a silent fear crept up his spine.
What if this was real? What if it wasn‘t his mind playing tricks on him, making everything about you? Seeing, hearing you everywhere..
“So you affirm that this- infatuation as you call it is one-sided and you hold no feelings for you tribute?“
Coriolanus lifted his chin. “I merely did my job. I earned the public’s attention and got them interested in the games again. I turned a tribute with no chances into a winner.“
“So you‘re saying the girl doesn‘t mean anything to you?“
He put on a smile that didn‘t reach his eyes. “I assure you and everyone in the capitol that I do not have any connection to the girl beyond the mentorship and that I have no interest or care for her fate now that I completed my task.“
He had always tried to mask the truth or bend it when he felt he needed to, but lying was a different kind of game. One he felt he was losing.
He could tell himself he did this to protect you. But the reality was that he didn’t know if he did.
No, he had to think of his own life now. It was better this way. He had helped save your life once. Now it was time for you to walk your own path.
“Coriolanus!“ He flinched. It was too late to pretend he hadn‘t, everyone had seen it, but he couldn‘t not react when he heard your desperate voice calling his name.
This whole time his instinct had told him that he was right. That the sounds belonged to you and this was more than just a set-up to unnerve him.
It was a trap.
“What is this?“ His voice came out too sharp and he willed himself to remain calm, but it was impossible, if you were here and you were hurt.
“Oh, it should not be of concern for you as you just told us you do not have any interest in the girl‘s fate.“
Had he just said that? In his head it had sounded much more- convincing. But hearing his own words reflected back to him just made him realise how pathetic they sounded.
They could not be farer from the truth.
“As her mentor I would like to know what you are accusing her of“, he tried a different approach, but it was senseless.  
“Oh but Mr. Snow, she is not your tribute anymore. Like you said there is no connection between you and the girl.“
His commander took a step towards him. “Now tell me, which one is the lie?“
Coriolanus swallowed. It took all of him to stand still and keep himself from running after your voice. His body was trembling from the effort. Too long he had been trapped behind a screen, unable to do anything to help you.
But here he could.
Another scream broke the silence. Despite his will he flinched again and closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to stay strong, remain unaffected. But with each sound he felt himself losing control and a hatred took over his instinct.
“I personally believe you have been lying to us for a long time now, Coriolanus. I can see it on your face. But I would like to hear it out of your own mouth.“
Another step closer. Another cry.
“Say it.“
Coriolanus clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists.
“SAY IT!“
His fist connected with the man’s jaw before he could even think about what he was doing. He saw the other two peacekeepers at the door reaching for their weapons, but he was faster and had shot them with his own in an instant.
Without another look at them he ran for the door, following your pleas. His heart was racing as he raced through the corridors and tried to locate where it was coming from.
Hopefully he wasn‘t too late. No, he couldn‘t think like that! Yet the thought of what he might get to see tore at him. He should have acted sooner, he should have- killed these men before they even got the chance to open their mouths. It had been a lost game from the beginning and he was done being their paying piece.
“Coriolanus!“
He had almost made it. Just another room…
Coriolanus pushed it open with so much force that the door crashed against the wall and broke out of its hinges.
Breathing heavily and sweating he came to an abrupt stop and took in the room. It was small, dimly lit, empty. He took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the only thing in the room. It was a table and on it-
A cage with a bird. 
Part IV
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