Tumgik
#but stop taking away tools and information. stop it stop it stop it stop it stop
horatiocomehome · 8 months
Text
Tumblr: we want people to be able to find new blogs to follow so you can find your community!
No not by seeing who people are reblogging from that's not allowed.
No you can't see who people are talking to with prev tags that's not allowed.
No you can't see the icons of the people you're following to know at a glance who's reblogging what and know them better. that's not allowed.
Sorry, did we say "find your community?" we meant "trawl through the endless swamp of the internet so you can reblog funny popular things"
724 notes · View notes
andypantsx3 · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
READY OR KNOT | 1 | TODOROKI SHOUTO x READER
SUMMARY: Todoroki Shouto is so unsettlingly beautiful, you’re certain he has to be an omega. That is, until a chance encounter with a pushy alpha reveals you were incredibly mistaken—and the surprises don’t stop there. Shouto's suddenly mystifying behavior adds another layer of complexity to an already confusing inter-agency investigation. It would be so much easier to figure things out—and suppress your growing feelings—if only Shouto would stop being so strangely attentive to you... TAGS/WARNINGS: pro hero au, fem + afab reader, omegaverse, alpha shouto, beta reader, misunderstandings, courting behavior, slightly case fic-y, undertones of sexual violence (not between main pairing), aged-up characters, eventual smut, 18+ minors please dni! LENGTH: 4.6k, 1st of 7 chapters
Tumblr media
Tetsutetsu’s apartment was exploding with people by the time you made it in from the cold.
Even from outside, you could hear the chatter of dozens of voices, the thumping bass of a distant party playlist. The front door was practically wedged shut by all the bodies blocking it, and you had to suck in a breath as you squeezed yourself through, slithering through what seemed to be every single employee of the Pink Riot agency—a plethora of bulky pro heroes stuffed in among lanky support techs and sleepy-eyed case analysts.
Inside, it stank of warm beer with a slightly sweeter, sharper liquor undertone. Your nose wrinkled. You could only imagine what the scent was like to your alpha and omega coworkers, grateful you had a beta’s dulled sense of smell, and no innate reaction to the physical proximity of other secondary genders. The space was already almost overwhelming as it was, the press of people nearly claustrophobic, although no one else looked like they minded much.
You shoved yourself through the crowd, squeezing through people, somewhat regretting how late you’d gotten here. You hoped there was still something good to drink.
In your defense, you’d gotten bogged down with a bombshell of a new case at the agency, something Mina had pulled you aside to talk about on your way out to the party. She’d meant for you to pick it up Monday, as you couldn’t take any action until a supervising hero had been assigned to you. But it was so unlike any other case you’d been handed in your years at Pink Riot that you’d immediately yanked your coat back off and holed yourself up at your desk, poring over the information in shock.
The case file told you that there was a rogue pro hero harassing and assaulting the omegas in Bunkyo ward—the very ward the Pink Riot agency operated in.
What was more, local authorities suspected someone from the agencies within Bunkyo itself, considering the attacks were exclusively confined to the ward and had so far never deviated. The police had been alerted to the fact that a hero might be involved when one of the omegas who had been attacked last night had escaped, shaken but untouched, and reported their aggressor attempting to strap quirk suppressors on them—tech that was almost exclusively a tool of the heroics trade.
And so all Bunkyo-based agencies had been asked to internally investigate their heroes, with mandatory out-of-agency supervising heroes to be assigned to the cases as well, to ensure everything was above board and no cover ups were being staged. And you, as Mina’s personal friend and therefore the case analyst she trusted most with a sensitive file like this, had been assigned the task.
And it was already almost too mind-boggling for you to bear.
You plowed your way towards the kitchen, eager to chase away the idea of any of your hero coworkers as the perpetrator. You liked and trusted all of the heroes Pink Riot had on call, and hoped so desperately that another agency was at fault here. You couldn’t imagine a single one of them being responsible for something like this. You couldn’t imagine the harasser themself attending this very party.
Once in the kitchen, you discovered that Tetsutetsu had invited more than just the Pink Riot agency itself—he had also apparently invited a plethora of heroes from his former UA days. Sero Hanta and Uraraka Ochako were propped up in the kitchen with Mina and Kirishima, smiling and chatting, while Iida Tenya stood next to them, looking, as usual, like he was on the verge of a hernia. Monoma Neita was skulking in a corner, along with a couple of lower-level heroes you recognized as Tetsu’s Class B friends.
Mina perked up immediately when she caught sight of you, hopping off the counter at Kirishima’s side, beckoning you closer with a hot pink nail.
“You have to taste this disgusting thing Tetsu made,” she told you gleefully, gesturing at something vaguely gelatinous on the stove. You recoiled reflexively, even as Mina ladled a generous portion into a plastic cup for you, passing it over.
You did not like the weight of it in your hand—and the smell of it, even to your duller senses, was not exactly appetizing, more nail polish remover in profile than anything.
“Wow, this looks almost as lovely as the new case file. How generous of you,” you intoned, taking a small, investigative sip. The taste zipped down your spine all the way to your toes, so alcoholic you could almost taste an emergency room visit.
But it figured. Pro heroes in general were a hard bunch to get drunk, their metabolisms fast and their bodies honed to withstand limits a normal person could never. You imagined this was Tetsu’s own invention based on years of personal research.
Mina sloshed her own cup at you, bright-eyed as she normally was, but otherwise looking unruffled. “Tetsu and Eiji already have a bet going which of them can put back more of this, but my bet is on me,” she grinned. “They’re behind a cup already.”
You winced. “Such responsible agency heads I have.”
Mina practically cackled. “You love it.”
You couldn’t help the fond smile that pulled at your mouth, listening to her bright laughter. “I do.”
And it was true, after years at the Pink Riot agency you were spoiled for anywhere else.
Your caseload was broad and interesting, Mina and Kirishima the perfect amount of invested but trusting, always caring about the results you brought in for the safety they brought Bunkyo ward, but never micromanaging you or demanding the impossible. The agency was a little bit smaller than other agencies founded by members of their former class—a mid-sized, fairly-closely knit operation that prioritized action and minimized bureaucracy.
And it was a sort of family operation. Mina was an omega, small and bright and totally beautiful the way so many omegas were, the warmness of her personality like a magnet. And Kirishima was her bonded alpha—fairly friendly and easy-going for one, you thought—but strong, firm in his resolve, and deeply committed.
You liked them, liked their relationship, and liked how their traits translated to their management of their joint agency. You liked how the agency had basically sprung up around them, filled to the brim with good people. And so yeah, Mina was right. You did love it.
“Make sure you unwind,” Mina ordered you, flashing a pink nail in your face. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that it’s been like two hours since I saw you disappear with that case file.”
Your cheeks heated. “Did you know some agency heads like it when their employees do their jobs?”
Mina grinned wickedly, then made a sort of clucking noise. “Did you know that some agency heads are no funsies? I like when my employees do their jobs and still have time for a social life.”
A smile tugged at your mouth. Your social calendar had never been so full as when you started working at Pink Riot, their rosters absolutely packed with outgoing heroes. Someone or other was always throwing a party, organizing a celebratory dinner when an especially big case was closed, or dashing across the floor yelling “drinks on me!” after nailing a particularly notorious villain.
Between the agency and your own friends you thought you were kept rather busy. But the sudden, shifting look of undue interest on Mina’s face told you she thought otherwise.
“When was the last time you went on a date, hmm?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows. “I never catch you smelling like anyone. Looking for anyone here?”
“And who told you you could smell me?” you demanded.
Mina cackled. “It’s not like I can turn my nose off. Plus you smell nice and comforting. Very beta. I wouldn’t stop smelling you even if I could.”
Your ears went hot. Alphas and omegas were always so nosy and inquisitive, a byproduct of being able to smell way too much for your comfort, a fact you and your circle of beta friends never missed a chance to bemoan.
And this was not the first time you’d been told as much, most betas apparently smelling some level of chill and less intrusive than the insistent scents of alphas and omegas. You didn’t exactly understand how something could smell chill, but enough people had said it that you accepted it.
“Well then it’s good I’m not polluting that with other smells,” you said. “Now mind your business.”
Mina’s grin was sharp as she reached over to ladle more of Tetsu’s concoction into your cup, a small revenge. “Fine but keep your options open tonight! I know plenty of nice beta boys I can set you up with—there’s a couple of analysts from Ingenium’s crowd here tonight.”
You nodded, affecting sincerity, although you had absolutely no plan to follow through. You were going to find your agency friends, go ham on some apps, and then head back home just as soon as Mina and Kirishima ended the night the way they usually did—locked mouth to mouth after drinking a little too much, causing a scene.
You waved Mina away, poking your head back out the kitchen door and surveying the rest of the party. Over near the couch, you caught a flash of a couple of your fellow case analysts in conversation with Asui Tsuyu, a beta hero at your agency who you got on well with. Your people exactly.
However, no sooner had you started to push back into the crowd than something slammed into your shoulder, sending you stumbling back into the wall. Your drink splashed right up over your shoulder, cold and biting. You let out a strangled noise, turning your head on impulse and catching a mouthful of hair.
“Oh my god, I am sooo sorry,” a soft voice said. You realized you’d collided with an omega analyst from another Bunkyo agency—a girl you vaguely remembered from a joint case a few years ago. She was small, petite, and delicately pretty in the way of most omegas. And she had also managed to empty nearly the entirety of your cup onto you.
“Shit, shit—I got your shirt wet!” she said, yanking herself back from you. She looked a little glassy-eyed, but genuinely apologetic, and she wiped at your shoulder with her bare hand. Definitely a bit drunk.
“No—it’s fine,” you told her, attempting to duck her hand. “I also didn’t see you!”
The omega girl didn’t look reassured however. She frowned, pausing over you—then suddenly slithered right out of her cardigan, throwing it over your shoulders.
“We’ll hide it like that. Please take it,” she said, her delicate fingers flitting back and forth over your now-covered shoulder, like she still itched to fix something. The cardigan was soft and warm, and even you could tell it smelled good—a soft, powdery, classically omegan scent.
“It’s really fine—” you insisted, immediately shrugging the cardigan back off, though you appreciated the gesture. You glanced down at your shoulder, surveying the damp patch that was slowly soaking closer to your boob. “It’s clear—it will dry in a couple of minutes and no one will be any the wiser. It already stinks like alcohol in here anyway.”
The omega girl hesitated as you handed her sweater back to her. She leaned in to sniff you tentatively. “Are you sure? I really am so sorry. Your mate is going to be so mad, now you can’t really smell you over the vodka unless you get in close—”
You held up a hand, sending her a reassuring smile. “I don’t have a mate, so there’s no problem. I promise.”
You did not add that as a beta, your pool of potential mates was limited to other betas, and that no beta’s sense of smell was enough to get worked up over this. Alphas and omegas tended to forget that not everyone was as sensitive as they were.
She bit her lip, the gesture pretty, but looked somewhat mollified. “You’re sure?” she ventured one last time.
You nodded. “Totally sure. I appreciate the gesture though.”
She nodded, still looking hesitant, and you decided there was only one way to put an end to this.
“Nice to see you, though. Maybe I will catch you around later!” you said, waving her off firmly. You quickly abandoned your now empty cup on a nearby table and turned to head back into the living room. You spotted Tsuyu’s head of dark green hair through the crowd of shoulders, a homing beacon in the dim.
As you charted an unsteady path through the crush of people, you noted several more heroes and analysts from other agencies, including Kaminari Denki and a beaming Midoriya Izuku, crammed into a corner and chatting animatedly to—oh.
Your cheeks flushed. Pro hero Shouto was here.
The other hero stood tall and solemnly handsome across from Midoriya, just as maddeningly gorgeous as always. You, like every other person with working eyeballs, had long nursed a tiny bit of a celebrity crush on him, as he was literally the most beautiful person on earth—a fact evidenced by his now six-year running sweep of Tokyo Beat magazine’s cutest hero award.
In your time at Pink Riot, you’d worked a couple of joint cases with Shouto’s agency and met him a few times in passing. You’d always found him to be a little bit intense, but kind, thoughtful, straightforward, and diligent. He was every bit the reassuring hero the media made him out to be, and even more striking in person. He also always wore scent patches flush at the sides of his neck, concealing what his secondary gender was from prying noses, although you’d always sort of suspected he had to be an omega.
He was tall and solid and strong in the way of most pro heroes. But his features were so finely-wrought, so strangely graceful and elegant for a man, that you would have put significant amounts of money down on his omega status.
Not that it mattered. Betas really only dated betas, and alphas really only omegas, so Shouto’s status wasn’t much to you, regardless of what it was.
You slipped past, averting your eyes, wondering absently if an omega like Todoroki Shouto ever encountered harassment like the victims in your newest case file. Maybe his scent blockers were for this very purpose—hiding his omega status so he didn’t run the risk. You imagined with a face like his, he would be sure to garner migraine-inducing levels of undue interest.
This thought was suddenly arrested, however, when a hand pressed to your chest, shoving you back into the wall you were sidling past.
Your breath wooshed out of your lungs as a strangled “fwuuh” noise escaped you. Your gaze jerked up to find an alpha you somewhat recognized was holding you against the wall, grinning in an incredibly unsettling way.
Fuzzily, you matched his face to one of the techs from the support department, someone you occasionally saw at work functions but never worked directly with. Support interfaced mainly with the heroes, mending their tech, inventing new items, and—if Mina’s complaints were to be believed—running up quite the bill for the agency with their experimentation.
“Can I—help you?” you garbled out, staring the alpha down.
He leaned in, leery, slurring, “What’sa pretty li’l thing like you doin’ here, huh?”
He smelled strongly of Tetsutestu’s horrid concoction, like the alcohol was literally seeping from his pores. You frowned, shifting uncomfortably under his hand. It was large, and too-warm against your shoulder, and the desire to turn and bite it welled up in your mouth.
“Can you get off me?” you asked, grabbing the alpha by the wrist. A support tech though he was, his hold on you was firm, and your grip didn’t dislodge him. He clung to your sweater, his gaze glassy but intense.
He closed his eyes, nose twitching like he was-–ew—like he was scenting you. “Aww come on baby. A li’l omega like you? There’s no need to pr’tend you don’t want this.”
Your brows furrowed, confusion bubbling up inside you. A little omega like you? What the fuck was he talking about? Was he that blasted?
“You have three seconds before I bite you,” you said, certain that would be clear enough, even if he was too drunk to tell you were a beta.
But his hand didn’t move. Instead he laughed, hot and humid and smelling strongly of liquor, and he fumbled with something at his belt.
A hot wave of fear suddenly washed over you, a stab of panic lancing your heart. He wasn’t going to expose himself right here, was he? You pushed back against the wall, feeling entrapped, yanking at his wrist harder to get him off of you.
“I’m not an omega,” you said loudly. “And I’m not interested, now get—”
The alpha’s hand was gone. You blinked, suddenly finding his face missing too, your vision gone entirely gray and strangely…knitted?
“Do not touch her,” a deep voice intoned, and you realized you were staring at a broad back, clad in a handsome gray sweater. You tipped your head back, your gaze fixing on a suspiciously familiar mop of scarlet and white hair.
Shouto. Pro hero Shouto had put himself in between you and the asshole alpha.
A thrill raced down your spine.
“The fuck I won’t,” a snort issued over one of Shouto’s strong shoulders.
There was a small, silent moment where you watched Shouto’s head tilt just the tiniest bit. He didn’t say anything in return—but a sudden, creeping unease slithered over your senses, raising the hair on the back of your neck. An audible hush fell over the people nearest you, though you couldn’t see what exactly was happening, caged between Shouto’s back and the wall.
You could just make out Shouto’s scent patches, perfectly even against his neck like always, and wondered whether they would help—-if the alpha couldn’t smell Shouto was an omega, maybe he thought he would respect his boundaries more?
“Dude—” someone hissed, from somewhere near the alpha, just as Shouto spoke once more.
“You will leave,” he intoned in that deep tone again. His voice was soft, placid—but the feeling of unease grew within you, a strange itch under your skin. You had the sudden urge to flee, but one of Shouto’s hands closed over your wrist, as a cerulean eye caught yours over his shoulder. “You…please stay.”
You could do nothing but nod, your feet practically freezing in place, the desire to obey subsuming your entire brain. What the hell was happening?
As Shouto turned back to face the alpha again, that hunted feeling grew stronger, like there was something in the apartment that you should be very, very wary of. Your throat started to close up, and your breath came a little short.
The room was so suddenly silent that you could hear the nervous shift of the people beyond Shouto, and you caught the sound of the alpha suddenly stumbling back.
“You’re—are you fucking Ordering me?” The alpha asked, but you could hear that he was still backing away.
The question crawled right under your skin along with the unsettled feeling.
An Order. As in, an Alpha Order. From Shouto? Pretty, kind, patient, careful Shouto? Classic omega material Shouto?
Was…using an Order on an alpha, and it was working?
Your head spun with the mismatch between Shouto’s face and the latent command in his tone. It was almost too strange to be contemplated, and yet here it was playing out in front of you.
Shouto, for his part, didn’t bother answering the question. “I believe I asked you to leave,” he said firmly. His voice carried an inflection that sliced through the air like a knife.
“Sorry, Todoroki, he’s super fucking drunk—I’ll get him out of here,” another voice said, one you recognized as a different support tech.
It sounded like he didn’t need to expend the effort, however, as the alpha’s footsteps were already beating a hasty retreat. The other support tech’s footsteps followed, his pace clipped on the hardwood.
As soon as they were out of view, the suffocating feeling all but evaporated. You could almost feel the sigh of relief around the room, and the line of Shouto’s shoulders untensed.
He turned to you slowly, drawing in a deep breath. His normally blank expression had been exchanged for something troubled, his perfect eyebrows knitted in concern, his full mouth pursed up like he’d just let it drop from a snarl.
He blinked down at you for a second, those distinct heterochromatic eyes flicking over you, before you found yourself suddenly crowded back into the corner, your back bumping the wall. Shouto leaned down and gave a delicate sniff at your temple, as if checking your condition.
“Are you alright?” he asked. His voice was still strange, rough with something you couldn’t name.
He was warm where he lingered over you, his shoulders broad enough that they blocked the light and cast falling shadows into the meager space between you. He was near enough that the dip of his sweater collar rasped over your shoulder, sending a swarm of tingles over your skin. You drew in a careful breath, trying to figure out just what the right answer was, coming up with nothing.
Shouto frowned over your lack of a response. His nose pressed right into your hair, and he crowded even closer, like he was trying to find the source of your discomfort—even though he’d just chased that source right through the front door.
“Your scent is difficult to find,” he murmured, his chest expanding and contracting. “It is covered by many things…” He trailed off as he seemed to find it—and then something strange happened—even stranger than the scene with the support tech alpha.
Shouto froze in place, going so unearthly still he might have been transmuted into marble. You heard his breath catch and hold in his lungs, and his fingers came up to grasp your sleeve, clutching you tightly.
You opened your mouth to ask what was wrong when a shudder swept down him, from head to toe. His grip on your wrist tightened for a moment, and a groan bubbled up from somewhere low in his throat.
“Your scent—” he rasped, then cut himself off.
He huffed out a harsh breath instead, stirring your hair, before his face dropped into the cradle of your shoulder. He breathed in, slow, measured, his mouth just barely touching the skin of your throat. You could feel his long, pretty eyelashes flutter against your skin, and the sensation sent shivers down your spine.
Something under your skin shifted in response, then.
To your utter shock, you could feel yourself tilting your head to the side, baring your neck. A strange feeling of malleability settled over you, like your bones had jellified and your muscles had atrophied.
“Shouto—?” you garbled out, unable to articulate any question beyond what the fuck was happening? You knew it had something to do with the way Shouto was most definitely not an omega after all. The thought made your brain fuzz with static.
Pretty, gentle, elegant Todoroki Shouto was an alpha. Kind, placid, beautiful Todoroki Shouto was even some kind of…distressingly strong alpha.
It crossed all the wires in your brain to think of that face possessing that kind of strength. But there was clearly something there. And you were being so weird and embarrassing about it, but you couldn’t have moved, even if you wanted to.
It felt like a short eternity, the time Shouto stood over you like that, his face pressed into your throat, your own throat bared to him. Your heartbeat pounded in your chest, simultaneously hammering a zillion miles a minute, and yet feeling slow, syrupy.
Distantly, you registered the hum of voices in the background, Tetsutetsu trying to rekindle the happy atmosphere. But Shouto was so warm over you, breathing slow and shallow, a tall, strong anchor weighing you against the wall.
It could have been minutes or hours before he finally stepped away. He looked calmer, but a little dazed. You felt the same way, mystified by what had just occurred between you.
His gaze picked over you in some kind of assessment. “You’re well?” he asked carefully. His voice was pitched low.
“Yeah,” you managed, your throat weirdly dry. “Yeah. I—thank you, Shouto.”
Shouto inclined his head in a nod. “You, as well. I don’t usually…I try not to rise to anger. But when alphas try to use their power to—” he cut himself off. His throat bobbed with some emotion you couldn’t name.
“Your scent is….calming to me.”
You nodded. The beta chill thing again, like Mina had said.
“Your friendly neighborhood beta, at your service,” you saluted him, trying to ignore the strange, lingering shiver in your limbs.
A tiny smile quirked the corner of Shouto’s mouth, but his gaze remained fixed on you, almost inhumanly intense.
“That is not quite what I mean,” he said, but did not elaborate. There was something in his voice, in the way he was looking at you that you didn’t understand, but you didn’t know him well enough to try to dig into it.
Instead you just gave him another smile, your face heating as you noticed several people around you were still watching you.
You figured it was probably time to make an escape after that little scene you had just caused, for Shouto’s reputation as well as yours. You didn’t need people thinking Shouto had been scenting you for any reason other than your apparent beta chill pill scent, especially now that people at the party would know he was an alpha.
God, he was an alpha, even with a face like that.
You waved at him, garbling out another, “Well, thanks for the save! I, um, have to be going, but I’ll see you around!” before throwing yourself back through the crowd, your head spinning.
Mina had come out of the kitchen and tried to flag you down as you passed. You waved back at her like you’d misunderstood, quickly fighting your way back to Tetsu’s front door. You felt the weight of dozens of eyes on your back, and the prick of two heterochromatic ones, somehow more certain and weightier than the others. But you didn’t turn around, eager to get out of the crowd, still reeling from what had happened.
You didn’t know how you had been mistaken for an omega by that drunk alpha, and understood even less what had possessed Shouto to sniff you all over like that, embarrassed by how much you had liked it. It most probably had something to do with how inherently non-aggressive beta scents were supposed to be, maybe helping Shouto down from how keyed up he’d been about that other alpha.
But it had still been so embarrassing and strange, the way your head had tipped right back for him, the way your limbs had gone to jelly in his hold. You hoped he’d had a little to drink too or he’d probably realize how weird you were, reacting like that.
Finally, you spilled out of Tetsu’s and into the night, the evening air cool on your heated skin. The phantom touch of Shouto’s mouth still lingered on your throat, warm and disconcerting.
You beelined for home, your head swimming. You wondered just how long it would take you to forget how very strange this evening had been.
2K notes · View notes
zephyrchama · 16 days
Text
"What did Mammon do now?"
The greedy demon was in his underwear, hanging upside down from a rafter in the hallway. He tried to coerce you into letting him down as you walked by, but you knew better than to do so without consulting Lucifer.
"Gambling. The usual." Lucifer had a hand on his forehead, pushing his hair up while jotting something down at his desk.
"Mammon gambles every day," you pointed out. "What'd he really do?"
By the way Lucifer groaned, you knew it was something juicy. "I caught him pilfering one of my rarest records, a gift from Diavolo, to use as collateral in a bet. It's one-of-a-kind. I doubt he even knows what it is, but Mammon always has a knack for finding things of high value."
"His secret sixth sense," you agreed. "What'd you do with his clothes?"
"They make it harder to tie him up tightly. He has a slightly higher chance of wiggling free with clothes on, so I made him strip." Lucifer gestured, Mammon's clothes had been put on some kind of mannequin, tucked away in the space between two bookshelves.
You'd never seen it before. Your jaw dropped into the widest half-smile half-astonished expression possible. It had Mammon's hair and his goofy smile. Even a flashy golden earring. "What is that?"
You practically ran across the room to inspect it. It was dressed properly in Mammon's shirt and tie. There were a lot of seams, more than seemed necessary, perhaps from being repeatedly repaired over years of use. "Lucifer, this is adorable."
"It's a necessary tool for my sanity." He pushed the chair back, standing up to join you.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll give you a demonstration."
Lucifer comically wound up his closed fist. With ballistic force, he struck the figure right in its chest. It flopped back, then sprung back up wildly to receive a fistful of lighter blows from Lucifer.
"You made a Mammon punching bag? Really?" You didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"I didn't make it, Mammon did."
Surprise of the day number two. "Mammon made this? Himself?"
To stop the wobbling, Lucifer grabbed the punching bag's tie, pulling it tight and then smoothing it out. "Cute, right? He thought it might make me go easy on future punishments. It's a very thoughtful gift from my little brother."
"Yeah, I didn't know he could sew. Huh." The two of you stood to admire it before Lucifer returned to his desk. You followed him. "Kind of reminds me of the doll Levi made of me."
Lucifer smiled. "Leviathan made you a doll, did he? How very kind."
"No, he made a doll of me."
Lucifer froze to process this information, frowning.
You continued, "I don't know where he usually keeps it, but I saw it under his desk one time. It's pretty big and detailed. I mentioned it once and offered to lend him a shirt for it, but he got really embarrassed and pushed me out. He's gotta take more pride in his work, it was really impressive."
"I see." Lucifer gritted his teeth. "You know, something I have to do just came up. Let's finish this conversation later." He was quietly seething as he escorted you to the door. Along the way he gave punching-bag Mammon a soft whack to the head.
You realized you forgot to ask if you could untie the real Mammon, but Lucifer had already marched down the hall in the direction of Leviathan's room. Rather than trying to catch up, you decided to go see how the Avatar of Greed was doing.
Tumblr media
750 notes · View notes
redflagshipwriter · 3 months
Text
Hot Ghouls in Your Area
Chapter 1
“A cult?” Jason blew out a bubble and enjoyed the disgusted face that Bruce made.
“Yes.” His voice was tight. Jason could tell that he wanted to turn back to the Batcomputer. “They’re operating in Park Row-”
“Crime Alley.”
Batman sighed and accepted the correction. “I would like to propose a joint operation.” He sounded so tired and not very optimistic.
Jason eyed up his on-again-off-again Father figure and popped his gum, thinking it over. Bruce clearly expected him to say no, fuck off, and take the information himself.
He could. There was nothing wrong with that.
“Sure, old man.” He clapped Bruce on the shoulder and finished screwing together the tool he’d brought in for maintenance. He’d had to fabricate a new part and the Red Hood didn’t exactly have the equipment for that in his two room apartment. “Thursday night alright?”
“They’ve a planned meeting on Wednesday, actually,” Bruce said, frowning slightly at him but looking soft around the eyes with confused hope. “Would that be possible? They seem to gather mid-week.”
Jason let out a sigh. “I can make it work. Ta, old man.” He made sure to toss off an especially insouciant salute as he sauntered away. Sure, he was willing to put a little effort into maintaining their relationship, but he couldn’t be too compliant. If you gave Bruce an hour of your time, he wrote you down on the schedule for an hour every day until one of you fuckin’ died in a warehouse explosion. Something like that.
He wasn’t that trusting, though. Jason took the information that Bruce emailed him and did his own legwork. He wasn’t stubborn enough to bother redoing digital work that Bruce had done or gotten from Babs. That would be a waste of his time, and he valued his time. But he scoped out the cult’s meeting place.
Of all the undignified things, it was a rented room in the community center. Jason found himself sheepishly breaking into the office to check on the reservation and poking around the room itself.
There was nothing special about it. It was a shitty room with shitty paneled walls and cheap, well-trodden grey carpet. It boasted a few too many tables, arranged in a U shape, and a whiteboard pushed up against the wall that hadn’t been cleaned off well enough to erase what he was pretty sure was a reference to their lord and savior, destroyed of worlds.
So. That was a point for Bruce’s cult thing.
He hadn’t really doubted it, if he was honest, given that this had originated in a tip from Zatanna. She had told him as a courtesy that some creep had moved their base of recruiting and operations into Gotham.
Apparently, recruitment was going pretty well. The room could seat like, twenty? Jason counted chairs and left.
He came back on Wednesday at 8pm with the Batman and an attempt at a good attitude. He probably wasn’t going to need any of the weapons on his person. They were going to check in so that this guy knew they had an eye on him and that he would be suspect number one if there was any hint of people or cats being sacrificed.
Bruce fucked off to peer in the windows, like the giant caped creep he was. Jason took the front door, nodded congenially at the old man in the office, and knocked at the room the cultists had reserved.
He could hear Bruce internally curse through the comm. It was silent, of course, but the quality of the silence changed. “Knock knock,” he called, since a literal knock hadn’t done it. He opened the door without waiting. “Just checking in, heard you’re new to town and that you tried to feed Zatanna’s shitty little cousin to the god of Death?”
The room stared at him. A whiteboard marker squeaked to a stop. He idly followed the sound to the board. A …. Huh. that looked like some kind of mystical bullshit.
“You’ve been touched by death,” said the fraud himself, a man in his fifties with a wildly pretentious robe that was wrinkled from the paper bag he’d clearly used to carry it in. He outstretched the hand that didn’t have a blue whiteboard marker in it. “You would be a perfect sacrifice to our Lord.”
“So will it be,” said about half the people there, at the same time a young woman said, “No shit?” in an impressed tone.
Jason rolled his eyes through the helmet, unintimidated by the room of weirdos standing up. The kind of people who gathered at a community center on a Wednesday night were not going to summon the God of Death. Light glinted off the window where Batman was clearly weighing the possibility of breaking glass and swinging in. Jason silently waved him off with a headshake. They weren’t to the point of property damage yet. He took a couple of steps into the room with deliberate swagger. “What a lucky guess,” he drawled. “The Red Hood has had brushes with death? No one but a legitimate prophet could possibly make such a statement.”
“I’m not a prophet,” said the man, and turned back to his white board. “I’m a devote.” He rubbed out a line with the meat of his hand and then hurriedly wrote in ‘The Red Hood’ in a tilted cursive. “The sacrifice!” he shouted, throwing his arms wide and accidentally making a big blue line through his evil little sigil or whatever it was. The elderly lady to Jason’s right opened up her bag, thrust her hand in, and came up with a fistful of -
“Salt?” Jason asked, confused and unimpressed as the silly twit threw her handful of salt at him. “Thanks, I’m better seasoned now,” he snarked. He pulled out a gun easily. “Alright, let’s get serious. I-”
The whiteboard was glowing. The blue letters were glowing green.
“What the fuck?” Jason said. The windows exploded with broken glass as Batman decided now was the time to make his entrance. He barely got to see it before something hooked unpleasantly on his body and soul and twisted it sideways.
The world was green now. Holy shit. Jason spun a circle on uneven ground and gaped. “...Egg on my face,” he said. “I’ve been sacrificed. Consider me embarrassed.” A quick check showed that his comm was useless. It was giving off a steady little eeee of static that kinda sounded like screams. Whimsical. Jason turned it off.
He wasn’t panicking yet. The void wasn’t that freaky. It was weird, sure, but there weren’t any demons or enemies. He flicked the safety off his favorite gun just in case and frowned into the darkness.
It was like he was standing under a spotlight with no light source. There was ambient lighting in all directions, but the world faded into darkness only a few dozen feet away. He took some experimental steps to determine that, yeah, the field of visibility traveled with him.
Well. Time to get moving. Jason walked. There was nothing for the first - hour, he was gonna call it an hour. He got antsy and started jogging. The green stretched on, placid and infinite in a way that was really starting to piss him off. “Hey!” Jason barked into the void. “Anyone there?”
There was an answering electronic whirr. He stopped in his tracks. Jason looked in every direction, including up, and only saw the fucking thing when it was basically on top of him.
The vehicle was probably most equivalent to a spaceship, he decided, as what was probably a 3-man craft at most parked. The top clicked. It opened from the top and someone bounded out. “Hey!” came an annoyed male voice. “What’s the deal, bud?” The stranger landed in front of Jason with crossed arms and a pissy expression. His white hair floated above his head as if he was the little fucking mermaid in the ocean.
Jason scowled, the back of his mind cataloging the other guy’s outfit as pristine and undamaged and his musculature as athletic. “What’s it to you?” he asked, defensive. He didn’t know if it was safe to give information to this guy. “I might be a little lost,” Jason conceded.
“A little lost,” the guy repeated, and then- okay, he flew in a weird little flippy circle, scowling all the while as Jason gaped. “A little lost.” He scoffed. Then he let out a sigh that made his whole body look smaller. He uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair. “This is a weird question,” he said, making it sound more defensive than apologetic. “Did you uh.” He scowled, like the words were distasteful. “Look,” he tried again. “Are you delulu, or did you get caught up as the sacrificial bride? I told Frank to knock that shit off.”
Sacrificial bride. Jason felt his brain go offline for a moment. Say what now.
“Helloooo,” the… was this rando a god of death? He was impatient. He flew way up into Jason’s personal space and snapped his fingers. “Someone just smashed metal trash bins together at my grave to get my attention, basically. No, it’s more like one of those spam pop ups that says there’s hot girls in your area?” He made a gesture at Jason. “Only it’s loud. It’s ringing in my ears, and I had to come track you down. Do you think this is funny?”
“...Sacrificial bride?” Jason finally managed to croak out.
Weirdly, this made the other guy relax immediately. “Just found out, huh,” he said, sounding much more sympathetic. “Yeah, okay, we need to sort out a spiritual divorce immediately. And then you can go home and there will be no more hot girls in my area and I can get back to my ess- my work.”
Jason took a few moments of grief and confusion to accept his apparent status. “We’re married?” he said weakly.
The white haired man looked a little sheepish. “Marriage is probably not quite accurate,” he said, and Jason felt a little bit of relief before the guy continued, “It’s more like you’re my concubine?” He sounded mortified by this. “I didn’t want this!”
“No, no,” Jason said, meaning both that he believed it and that he needed this conversation to change directions immediately. “I- who are you?” He gestured at his– what the fuck was the other side of a concubine relationship? King was the associated word that came up, but that…
“I’m nobody, really,” said the white haired man weakly. “But I may technically be King of ghosts or whatever. The Infinite Realms.” He scratched at his face. “So… yeah.”
They stood in utterly mortified silence for a long moment before he seemed to remember something. “You can call me Danny,” he offered.
“...Call me Jason,” he said.
“Thanks, Jason,” Danny said genially. “So, uh, this is a mess, right?” He started floating away backwards. “I’m going to hunt down my mentor and advisor and get some uh- advice, I guess. Do you wanna come with? Or should I come back and check in once I’ve heard from him?”
Jason weighed up his situation, the conventional wisdom about getting in vehicles with strange men, and wondered how useless his gun was going to be in this situation. Danny had never reacted to it being pointed at him, so his guess was ‘utterly unhelpful’. He put it away. “I’d like a ride, thanks,” he said dryly.
They made some stilted conversation on the ride. Danny was clearly trying to hold back and give him no identifying information. That was fascinating, because it implied that there was something Jason could do from the human world to track Danny down. It was also reassuring because there was no reason to withhold information if he’d planned to keep Jason prisoner, so, ya know, that was a good sign.
Anyway, Jason got a lot of information from Danny.
Danny was a terrible liar and he misspoke like, all the time. Jason was pretty sure he was in the ghost equivalent of school, like college or something. He talked like someone in Jason’s age group would, so he’d probably died very recently. Maybe he had been a college student when he’d died and he just hadn’t given up on that degree yet, honestly. Jason managed to drag the conversation around to education. He got nowhere with asking about literature but he hit the jackpot with science. Danny was still babbling about a telescope when he landed the …ship outside of a wonky clocktower.
Jason took off his safety belt and froze in his tracks when Danny absently stopped him with a cool hand. Jason looked down at that hand.
“You had better stay here,” Danny said. He shook his head slightly. “Clocky doesn’t like everyone.”
He melted into the chair as if he had never wanted to get up. “Alright,” Jason said.
Danny was out of the spaceship by the time that Jason realized something was very wrong with that interaction.
He hadn’t decided to sit down. He hadn’t wanted to sit back down. Did- did he actually think it was reasonable to stay behind, or would he have argued and gone in normally?
‘...I think Danny did something.’ Suspicion swirled in his gut. Jason tried to take the safety belt off and stand up. He couldn’t. It was like his muscles wouldn’t respond to it.
Well, that was pretty fuckin’ evil. His pulse picked up in his throat. It… It was some kind of compulsion? He had to do what Danny told him to do? That was really fucked up. He was starting to feel really unsafe now. He wished he’d hung back with Bruce. He wanted someone to bring him home. And weirdly, he felt betrayed. He hardly trusted Danny, didn’t know the fucker well enough to, but he hadn’t gotten that impression off the guy–
‘It wasn’t him,’ Jason realized. ‘It was the binding ritual. Danny said it wasn’t like a marriage, it’s not equal. That’s why I did what Danny wanted me to do.’
Well. Well then. If Danny didn’t know that Jason had to follow his orders, Jason was most fucking certainly not going to spell it out for him. It was a grim calculation to make, but it seemed the safest. As it was, Danny seemed to want to get rid of him as fast as possible.
So that was it. He’d play along and get Danny to spit him back out into Gotham, a young hot divorcé free on the streets.
821 notes · View notes
norrisleclercf1 · 8 months
Note
Idea for your celebration! First off, congratulations my dude! that's insane! Second, the idea is mafia!Lando and Oscar where the reader is being stalked or something so the boys take it into their hands ;)
A/N: Mafia Oscar AND Lando damn ya'll feeding me
Warnings: Stalking, mention of torture, Lando is a little dark in this
You knew something was off. The way that the hair on the back of your neck was standing, it was clear something was very wrong. The bags in your hands, heading back to your little brownstone in the city. Lando and Oscar would be home, just a little more.
Casting a glance, you notice a man dressed in all black, head down following you. Fixing the bags in your hand you move through the crowd trying to lose the guy. It doesn't work as you turn looking in one of the shop windows and seeing him right behind you.
Without a second thought you drop all your bags leaving them as you make a break for the house. Your quick breaths and pounding feet as you hit your door. Turning you see the man rushing at you, screaming you throw the door open. Crashing into a body you slam the door and fall back.
Filled with panic and terror you shove the person away, unsure who it was. "Don't touch me!" You cry, curling into yourself as you shake. "Bubs? Hey, it's me." Hearing that voice you look up slowly, meeting those eyes. "Lando," You whisper flinging yourself into his arms.
He falls back, but keeps you close and rubs your back trying to comfort you. "What the hell?" Oscar storms in, wearing his suit most likely back from a meeting. "I don't know." Lando answers, pulling you closer.
It took them hours to calm you down, one of Lando's informants letting them know what had happened. "I'm going to find that fucker and rip him to shreds." Lando seethes, Oscar shushing him as you squirm in his arms, fast asleep.
"Breath Lando, I've got my people looking for the freak." Oscar reassures, watching his boyfriend pace back and forth. "I will not breath," Lando hisses stopping at the foot of the bed. "He chased her, he tried to hurt our fucking girl. I want him dead, I want it to be cruel and that he'll be begging for it." Lando bushes off the bed, as a soft knock hits the door.
"What?" Oscar replies, the door opening showing one of their ground people. "We've got him." Oscar and Lando lock eyes, a smirk playing at both their lips. The movement is what wakes you, clinging to Oscar who tries to slide out of bed.
"Don't leave me alone." You whimper, Oscar sighs sliding back into the bed. "Go, I'll stay." Lando nods heading down the multiple stairs and to the basement.
"LET ME GO!" The man screams thrashing in a chair, cuffed to it. "Making demands are we? Well, you'll be quiet enough." The man screams louder as Lando lights a small tool, flames pouring out of it. "Now, let's shut you up."
1K notes · View notes
cupids-chamber · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
♡. WHEN CROWLEY DECIDES that the boy's need a dosage of learning to prepare for the 'future' and sets everyone up in pairs to take care of a fake baby that mimics a real one. @ ; Gender neutral reader / Crack (In some parts) / Fluff ## heartslabyul + pomefiore + octavinelle / scarabia + savanaclaw + diasomnia
Tumblr media
. ACE TRAPPOLA ; “Why does this gremlin look like us?” he asks nonchalantly, waving his hands towards the baby. The child looked way too real to be fake, though Crowley had informed everyone beforehand that the child was in fact fake, and was made to take after its caretakers.. They seemed real.. And you wouldn’t put it past Crowley to kidnap a couple thousand kids, I mean he technically did the same to you.. So it can’t be that uncommon.. Plus it would save him some cash if he actually did that. 
The baby was asleep when it first came into your possession. You swear you saw Ace lose his sanity a tad bit when it first cried, that should have been a red flag.. Alongside his literal meltdown when he was confused as to what he should do, you watched and humored his worries, by putting needless concern and teasing him. You swear you saw him take a breath of pure relief when the child stopped crying and began drinking its milk. 
The child indefinitely had insomnia because it just wouldn’t fucking let you two sleep.. At all.. Ace wanted to commit a crime, he thought it would be peaceful having a month off classes.. And since the child was fake it would all end well, Right? Wrong. The baby was artificially designed to look exactly like the two of you, which was bad because you couldn’t help but grow attached to it.. And that wasn’t the worst part, It acted like a real child.. and functioned like one too. You were now 99% sure Crowley kidnapped a bunch of orphaned newborns and put a sort of disguise spell on it.
The two of you even named the kid.. Well Ace just continued to call it a little gremlin, and you ended up joining him. It was much easier, and well.. The child was a gremlin.. The child was growing fast, and it was torture. It would pull your hair, tamper with Ace’s make-up. Fuck with your supplies and tools, and was genuine hell to work with. But that’s not to say the child was all bad, it was cute. And the three of you grew quite close together. 
When it was time for your Little gremlin to go, the two of you were completely heartbroken. Over the past month, the two of you grew closer together as a pair, hell Ace even confessed. It was sweet, and now you little gremlin had to leave you both. “WE’LL MISS YOU” you yelled as Crowley took the kid away from you both, sure Crowley was an excellent matchmaker for the two of you but what the fuck?!?
. DEUCE SPADE ; Deuce grew up with care and was surprisingly well trained in the art of taking care of a child, the moment the baby was given to you, it started crying. Yet Deice was fully prepared for this event in advance, it was actually a rather adorable sight. However, you didn't get to view the full scene, as Deuce ushered you away to get your supplies for the baby. 
You heard that the Child was supposedly supposed to take after the two of you, yet a part of you doubted the fact but when Deuce pointed out the similarities you began taking notice of it as well.
Was Deuce an expert child specialist, you weren’t quite sure… But he was exceptionally good at taking care of the little demon that was now in both of your possession. The first few hours went by pretty fine, since Deuce was quite skilled in taking care of children.. You were actually quite shocked when he asked you for help, but the scene was worth it. 
The three of you would play together, go on picnics, and do a bunch more fun stuff; which led to the three of you quickly growing attached together, he even gave the little demon with legs a name. Everything about this experience was fun and enjoyable, and you couldn’t help but grow used to it. Though it was quite odd, the little demon seemed to have quite a lot of patience for a child, you don’t think that was normal. You even asked Deuce about it; he then explained to you how throughout his earlier years, he had been a remarkably calm child to deal with..
When it came time for the two of you to give up your precious child, you swore you could see Deuce shed a tear. And you were quite sure that Crowley purposefully, meticulously planned this event; since he handled taking your demon away from you and turning the device off, much slowly, then the others. 
. RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS ; Riddle was not ready for this— One normal school day with peace dear heavens.. Mercy on his soul. (Something yuu should be saying but ok Riddle be dramatic mr mommy issues 🙄) Immediately hands the kid over to you, he does not trust himself. And that’s a lot coming out from Riddle the housewarden of Heartslabyul—Himself..
He’s trying.. He truly is.. He’s putting in his best effort.. But his mother didn’t raise him right and he sure as hell is worried that he’ll make a slight mistake in parenting.. Even if the ordeal is fake.. He is 100% inclined to pretend this is in fact real? Why because that monstrosity of a child looks like the both of you and takes after him mostly and that is creepily burdening, almost like Crowley planned this thoughtfully like a well planned, carefully coordinated villain but that cant be it because he slacks in every other fucking field there is. (And Riddle also wants an A) 
Ever had a nagging housewife of your own? No.. well be prepared to have one, because Riddle expects you to get off that high couch and get your fine ass down on the carpet, you both shall dedicate all your time to the baby that obviously took a lot out of him, like imagine waking up and getting handed your child first thing in the morning? Truly the gift of life is so unbearable. WHY ARE YOU STILL ON THE COUCH.
‘Y/n L/n if you do not come out of the goddamn bathroom and join us for this fucking playdate, I will destroy your fucking phone — sincerely Riddle’
Most definitely sends you paragraphs and paragraphs worth of texts and etc, starts acting like a nagging husband. You can’t even tell what's real or not anymore, bro you have to leave your friends with a “I gotta check on my wife” type of goodbye. (He’s not as controlling as he sounds I swear, you both are having fun but he can be.. extra.)
. TREY CLOVER ; Trey and you had actually recently started acting on both your feelings, not necessarily confessed but the two of you were definitely having this flirting session. Like edging into dating but you both haven’t really decided to make things official yet. And as of current times, Trey was giving you some freshly baked cookies catered to your tastes. He loves expressing his feelings through baked goods, giving you sweets, etc as a means to express himself.. And it was at this moment did Crowley end up announcing his stupid bogus plan and idea.. That he most definitely was serious about.
Trey had always given a responsible vibe to you, he just had this aura that radiated.. well.. you couldn't explain it. But you were quite sure that he'd be good with kids... and you were right. Though he did look kind of nervous and worried, he pulled through quite quickly though. He carried the child with shaky arms, and you could swear he was glaring daggers into Crowley. 
The entire class was filled with baby noises and a bunch load of struggling teenage men's voices. It was a funny sight to any normal civilian, and it would be to you too.. If you weren’t suffering the same fate as all the boys in the class. Trey thankfully got a clean pacifier and shut the thing up..
. CATER DIAMOND ; Cater was well.. Um shocked? Taken aback.. Conflicted.. It was hard to tell.. He seemed to have been going through what appears to be the five stages of literal grief in front of you as if it was normal. You were grateful Crowley handed the ‘thing’ to you and not Cater because you doubt in his state, he’d be able to carry the child let alone take care of it.
The three of you were in Cater’s room, and the child sucked on its pacifier as you sat on the edge of the bed; with the kid on your lap, witnessing Cater’s emotional breakdown live. 
“I’m not ready for kids.. I can’t even take care of myself.. nOw KiDs?!/1!/1/!?1//1//1/??!” he babbled on and on, with light curses, and more. 
You raised your hand and explained “Cater you do know.. That this is a project right?” 
“WHEN DID YOU TWO GET HERE?”
. EPEL FELMIER ; Surprisingly skilled in taking care of the little girl you both were given to by the demon that is Crowley, having mainly female figures in his life has presented Epel with outstanding qualities in taking care of children. It was a shocker really, how he was so considerate and able to tell what the child needed. Contrary to his act and front of being manly and his need to prove himself at any given moment, Epel could be so utterly soft and adorable when it came to children. It also didn’t help that the kid looked exactly like a mixture of you both. 
Epel actually shared multiple stories about his time back home, how some of his grandmother's friends would come over and let him babysit their nephews, children, or even grandchildren. They claimed that he had excellent skills when it came to taking care of children, they also teased him alot, claiming that he’d make a great husband in the future. (But he’ll leave that part out in the stories) 
The stories truly explained why he seemed to be so great at taking care of kids. He even taught you some tricks and tricks on how to calm down a kid, some things that maybe you didn’t even know— which made everything all the more interesting. 
“I say we name her Applejack”
“We changed her diaper—gave her food, hell we even read stories and played with her.. Why isn’t she sleeping!” you exclaimed, exceptionally tired as your 5am alarm to check on the baby went off. You sighed, leaning into the armchair on your third cup of coffee that night, this experience is making you dread the idea of kids as a whole.. Why were they so difficult? “Did you give her her pacifier? Also stop drinking coffee dear, have water instead” Epel hands you a cup of water, as you let out a dramatic sigh and then you went on to explain how she keeps on spitting out her pacifier. 
“Let me try; you go and get some rest… you could use it.. !”
. VIL SCHOENHEIT ; Vil Schoenheit was the partner that Crowley had chosen for you, for what reason.. you do not want to know. All you know is that Crewel was yelling at him afterwards, and you only presume he was against the idea just as much as you.. Vil was smart.. But god forbid you work in a group project with the housewarden of Pomefiore.. And unlike before.. This time it was only the two of you.. With an unknown third party who is a literal child. 
I mean— you predicted this much.. Vil had flawless skills in almost everything you’ve so far seen him doing.. Well except that tiny winy (penis) small little conflict with Neige. Thankfully, no problems have so far appeared (in deez nuts) while the two of you were parenting.. And raising.. This.. ‘thing’... you both didn’t name it, and Vil kept calling it little potato. 
You swear Vil was being ultra sus with his lowkey perfect parenting but then he truly came undone (do you get it.. But like… do you get it?) and you for realzies found him tot’s bragging and flexing to a very tired Epel and Rook about his kid. Which is lowkey for realzies not his kid, but you know.
. ROOK HUNT ; It was your first time witnessing Rook actually grow nervous, and at Crowley's announcement no less… Were you expecting anything out of the ordinary today? Not really.. But where Crowley exists there can never be peace. But it was slightly worth it though, watching Rook have an internal meltdown as he held the ‘fake’ child with care. 
It was hilarious, he was stunned, his month hung open and his face was basically a reenactment of: ‘0’, except he was sweating a shit ton as well.. “Rook, do you need me to take the child for now?” Rook immediately snapped out of his trance on queue as he turned away from you. 
Rook, despite being beyond confused and struggling a shit ton to present himself as a normal parent, refused to let you take any of the major workload. It was sweet, but on the first day you vividly remember wearing a suit and greeting the literal baby as if it was a job interview, like “Yes I’ve come to addition for the role of your father little fake ‘child’”
To be honest you weren't quite sure if you could trust him to be in charge of the child..
. AZUL ASHENGROTTO ; Crowley handed the little infant to Azul… Azul. He’s panicking, he’s nervous; his hands get sweaty and shaky, he’s not used to carrying children.. or more so babies.. even if they’re fake.. ‘It’ still behaves and acts like a child, and not to mention how it looks like the carbon copy of you two, is Crowley trying to traumatize the whole of NRC? ‘Well ‘it's’ quite adorable’. 
You quickly and carefully remove the child from Azuls arms, refusing to give it back to him till he’s completely calmed down, he seems rather… taken aback by the entire thing.. Which rightfully so, imagine your headmaster just randomly handing you a child which he claims is fake, that looks and behaves like your partner? It would’ve traumatized anyone really, you’ve just grown rather immune to Crowley’s bullshit. 
Azul was surprisingly good at taking care of the child when needed, he was well coordinated and thoughtful.. He was very responsible and quickly memorized the necessary rules and actions he must do as a child caretaker, you were quite weirded out by the sheer dedication he had.. But Azul is quite the overachiever so it came as no surprise to you. 
The three of you would huddle together and play games with the child in the evening and then read story books together at night, it was fun.. And you even enjoyed your time with the housewarden, his effort was well appreciated as he handled all your little sea shell’s temper tantrums and meltdowns well. You didn’t have to put much of an effort, really. But you did regardless, since.. Well, the child looked so like you it would be weird not too.. It just felt wrong. 
Before you knew it, you two started acting like a divorce couple (Who obviously are still in love) trying to impress their kids and gain more attention from the other. (Floyd wins this game, he keeps stealing you kid.)
. JADE LEECH ; Jade was amused by Crowley's assignment. Questions as to how Crowley had gotten his hands on so many con children that could perfectly impersonate two different students filled his head; while you remained purely horrified by the fact of partnering up with Jade… ‘Does he even know how to manage a child?.. probably…? I mean Floyd most definitely didn’t live on his own.. He would have probably been in jail if he was living alone’
Contrary to your worries Jade had presented himself as a great help to you, he offered to bring the materials you required and more. He even helped set up his dorm room to be more baby proof, and though Floyd’s visits did often bother you and kid… he worked out solutions and helped everything stay in order. 
Hell he even tried recommending a lot of family games and etc, though you had to most graciously decline his offer for a family hiking trip… for mushrooms… (You also had to decline his offer for mushroom flavored baby food)
. FLOYD LEECH ; Floyd surprisingly was very calm.. I mean the two of you were paired not because Crowley chose so, he just grabbed you and your poor fate was decided.. And then the process of manufacturing the realistic dolls went on for a week, you were 100% sure it wasn’t dolls but in fact real babies with dyed hair or a spell on them of sorts, and Crowley just spent the week planning a heist to kidnap the babies. 
Floyd was a surprisingly good parent, not perfect by any means but only Crowley would imagine that a fancy Schmancy college filled with (mostly) privileged wealthy boys would be able to take care of a bunch of kids (Newborn/infants at that).. Hell you heard some rumors that some people got twins and even quadruplets.. (Which added to your baby heist theory)  
Floyd held the bottle to the little eel’s mouth and watched the ‘thing’ drink (you two haven’t gotten a name for it, so you both just call it little eel or eely), while carefully listening to your baby heist theory; providing nods and a bunch of “uh huhs” and “mhms” in response, as you went in tremendous detail with your little white board. 
Also Floyd most definitely flexes his little demon to Jade and disturbs his time with his kid, “Look at my kid, it’s so incredible” energy.(Soccer mom but dad version vibes)
Tumblr media
© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.
2K notes · View notes
chronicallycouchbound · 9 months
Text
Intelligence Doesn't Equal Morality
Intellect is rooted in ableist systems and stupidity and intelligence are pointless social constructs that don't relate to morals or character.
I try to be a pretty good person, I fight for human rights, I regularly engage in mutual aid, and I care for my community. I try to do the right thing and support causes I care about and make positive changes in the world.
But I also am not very smart. I have several neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as cognitive disabilities. I can’t do simple, basic math, it’s hard for me to remember facts or algorithms, I rely entirely on spellcheck and speech-to-text to write, I failed many classes in high school and I barely passed with a low GPA, I had low pSAT scores and I never took the SATs. I moved around a lot all through school starting in third grade, and I missed a lot of basic fundamentals in learning (like how to do division and multiplication) so when I went to a different school they had already passed it and expected me to know. After my TBI, I could barely read AFTER I was cleared from my “concussion” symptoms because letters and words would flip around and I’d get headaches. Which still happens sometimes.
A lot of people see me as smart because I've learned a lot of academic language and can formulate thoughts into cohesive posts. But I lack a lot of necessary skills and rely on my caretakers to assist me. Things like budgeting and planning are extremely difficult for me. If I need to do simple addition or subtraction, even with a calculator, I quickly get confused and struggle. I forget basic information about myself all the time, let alone other subjects. I'm talking, has to check my ID for my birthday type confused. Doesn't know my name or address or what year it is confused. It happens daily, sometimes multiple times a day. Being able to type out posts like this often takes weeks and many adaptive tools to get there. Focusing is extremely difficult on many fronts, severe chronic pain, ADHD, dissociation, fatigue, migraines, and TBI, are just some of the contributing factors. I struggle daily with many things because of my lack of intellect.
I’m also privileged in the fact that I had some access to education as a homeless youth, that I had some supports in place to help me (towards the end of school), that I was somewhat able-bodied at the time and could walk or bike to and from school when the school system didn’t provide transportation. I was fortunate to have a chance to succeed, and I’m proud that I graduated high school because it was a difficult task for me, and others often aren’t offered that chance or get accommodations. I almost didn’t and I dropped out many times before graduation. I passed on sheer luck and what little privileges I had. 
That all being said, me being stupid (reclaiming it here) doesn't make me a bad person. I don't hurt people because I can't do math. I may mess up things or get confused but it doesn't make me want to harm others.
We often (wrongfully) equate morals with intellect. Being ‘stupid’, ‘dumb’, or an ‘idiot’ doesn’t automatically make someone a bad person. Plenty of evil, awful, and abusive people are extremely intelligent. 
I see this most notably with people advocating for IQ tests to be able to vote. Often from left-leaning people, in hopes it'll make the right (that they view as unintelligent), unable to vote. The reality is, it just hurts some of our most vulnerable members of the community while not actively doing anything to restrict some of the most dangerous members of our community-- those who know what they're doing to harm others and deliberately doing so. My voice matters, and I speak up against injustice and participate in dismantling oppressive systems. Taking away my right to vote won't make the right stop oppressing minorities (which also puts a lot of faith into the two-party voting system, which is a post for another day).
Additionally, legislative measures that discriminate against intellectually disabled people such as IQ tests for voting are also rooted in racism and classism. 
Yes, education can be a vital tool when it comes to addressing discrimination and creating safer communities. But the kind of education that is measured with an IQ test (or any test) isn't the same. Building compassion and caring for others can (and should) happen at any IQ level. We can all practice this, we can all participate.
It harms our communities and stagnates our progress when we equate intelligence with high morals.
1K notes · View notes
devnmon · 7 months
Text
The Staring Contest // D.D.
Tumblr media
Summary: Daryl tries to convince you to rest in bed with him, but when you refuse, he finds another way to try and convince you.
Warnings: suggestive content, 18+ | wc: 2.5k
Tumblr media
Daryl was bent over his bike in the garage of your shared home, tightening a bolt on his bike for what seemed like the 10th time of the day. He hadn’t realized time passed as swiftly as it had, noticing the light from outside had dwindled down to darkness.
There were two things Daryl looked forward to when the day came to an end: relaxing for the night, and falling asleep next to you.
His fatigue from working throughout the hours only sparked one thought: where the hell were you?
All desire to finish tinkering on his bike washed from his muscles. Finding you in the home you two shared was the only thing he could think about now.
His tools clinked together as he shoved them away in a random drawer of the workbench he’d been using, before turning to leave the garage.
It was nighttime, which meant you wouldn’t have watch shifts or be caught up doing anything else around the community for the rest of the night. Daryl wondered what kept you away from him for so long, recalling the very moments you’d search for him endlessly on days you were apart for even more than an hour. He knew in his heart, no matter how long each of you spent separated, that you never stopped thought about him throughout the day. His earth-like scent, and the way your skin littered with goosebumps every time he was in the room was so familiar and safe.
I keep you in the front of my mind, always, you've told him before.
Daryl sauntered into the kitchen, immediately spotting you at the table, nose stuffed in a textbook. His steps were silent as always, which was normal for Daryl. On a day to day basis, he was able to enter a room silently and unnoticed, unless he made it known.
But somehow, you always knew when he was around.
“Hi, Dare,” you spoke, without looking back at him.
"Oh, hey, sunshine. What's gotcha down here this late?"
“Just trying to memorize what we need for the garden, so I can help Maggie tomorrow. Wanna know these by heart so I don't have to keep looking back in here. Ugh... this small text is giving me a headache already…”
You didn't have to turn around to know Daryl was right behind you. His voice drifted, and the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end, sensing him step closer to you.
You gasped lightly at Daryl’s presence surrounding you, his warm breath brushing the back of your neck.
“My girl,” he whispered in your ear, “Smartest in the whole world. D'ya know that's so sexy t'me?”
A chill ran up your spine from his gravel tone of voice. It was intoxicating, almost enough to pull your thoughts away from the very interesting plant content.
“Daryl, you’re distracting me.” you chuckled, still staring down at the textbook in front of you.
“Mm.. why don’tcha drop that book an’ come t’bed with me.. It's late, babe.”
“Cause if I don’t know this information, our crops won’t do as well and-”
Your breath hitched as his hands had traveled up your back, massaging your shoulders, thumbs pressing into your stiff muscles.
“Yer tense..” he picked up the soft sigh you let out, and continued, “Like that?”
You sighed, “Yeah… takes the stress out of memorizing all these facts just a little bit.”
Daryl could feel the heat rushing over your skin in waves, realizing so obviously that he was the cause of it.
“I could help ya take out more’a that tension. Happen t’know a few ways, babe..” he pressed a kiss behind your ear, beard hairs tickling your skin.
“N-No.. no, I can’t. I’ve gotta be at Maggie’s early to help her and.." his hands continued, "Oh god that feels good, keep going..”
In your train of thought, you’d forgotten how firm Daryl’s hands were; how they could always bring you pleasure, no matter how he did it. The paired silence between you two continued for a few minutes with his hands and fingers firmly pressing into your back, until his southern drawl broke the silence, focus breaking once he realized your attention wasn’t pivoting from the book.
“Can’t believe I’m sayin’ this, but I’m gettin’ jealous of yer damn book right 'bout now.”
Finally looking up from the pages beneath your eyes, you chuckled. The obvious boyish smirk on your boyfriend’s face was evident as you turned your head.
“You’re telling me you're getting jealous over some plants? I hate to break it to you, but I’m not sure anything in this world gets to take your place.” You stated, almost turning back to the book for a second, before cupping his cheek to press a soft kiss to his lips.
“You gon’ lose sleep over this? Some silly plants?” He murmured, close enough for you to hear him.
“Hey!” you poked at his chest lightly, “Those silly plants are what’s gonna help Alexandria and Hilltop thrive. It’s not my fault I was blessed with a green thumb. Now, can you please go get some rest? For me?”
He shook his head lightly, scrunching his nose at the idea of not having your full attention. Daryl knew what you were doing for the community was important. He knew that.
But maybe in those end-of-day moments of alone time with you, was when he decided to be selfish.
His intimate time with you was one of his favorite times of day; lips pressed to some part of your body in absolute worship, even if there would be a mark the next morning. Perhaps in favor of a mark being there.
“Nah. Nothin’ better than watchin’ my girl be a genius. Even if I’ll be damn tired t’morrow.” The slight groan in his voice hints towards the fact that he’s probably, definitely been up for way too long hunting and running around Alexandria all day. Straining all those precious muscles of his.
“You’re cute when you're being stubborn. You need to get some rest, too. Can’t have those bags under your pretty eyes.”
“Oh, my eyes’re pretty, now? Saw you avoidin’ em when you kissed me b'fore. Tha’s how I know ya get distracted when ya look at me..”
Of course you got distracted looking at him. He was so perfectly Daryl with that mop of wavy brown hair, piercing eyes that shone as the sea does, and his rugged figure.
“Tell ya what, you win a starin’ contest with me, an’ I’ll go to bed so you can study. But if I win, you gotta drop the books an’ come to bed with me.”
It was then Daryl’s hands left your shoulders, thus your aches returned. He took a seat backwards on a chair across from where you sat you, while you glanced up at him.
“Now Daryl, you’re just being silly. What are we, teenagers?”
Being around you certainly made Daryl feel like a teenager, even in his aged life, which brought a smile to your face.
“If ya don’t wanna see my eyes, jus’ keep starin at that book, I guess.”
You scoffed under your breath, still staring at the book. Only his soft breathing could be heard from across the table. He could’ve sworn you were blushing, but your head was tilted downwards too much to be certain.
“Look at me, sunshine,” he drawled, while you sat too flustered to face him, “C’mon..”
Your eyes trailed up the leather on Daryl's figure, then the tips of his brown hair, the scar across his left cheek, meeting his blues softly. He’d registered the rose tint on the apples of your cheeks immediately afterward.
"Mhm.. So, staring contest?” he lowered his head, making sure you kept eye contact with him.
“I don’t get what the point of this is…” you replied pointedly, shaking your head, a bit amused with the whole thing.
“Point is… ya do this with me or else I’m gonna drag your butt upstairs to bed."
“What’re you gonna do if I refuse?”
You knew Daryl was absolutely capable of carrying you upstairs. There was no doubt about it, he was strong enough to lift you and it wouldn't take much effort on his part.
"When's the last time you weren't workin' yourself overtime for this place, huh? I think you're the one who deserves rest, sunshine." His arms crossed against his chest, muscles practically bulging from under the cloth of his shirt.
"So do you, Daryl. You're just too stubborn to admit it."
The archer sat in silence for a moment, knowing you were right, putting up a stubborn front.
"Fine. I'll participate in your little staring contest. What happens when I win, again?" You both know what'll happen, and Daryl scoffs.
Placing the book down in front of you, your arms rest on the table and he leans in a little further. His scent of pine surrounds your senses, faltering your gaze from him for a minute.
"This ain't gonna work if you don't look at me, sweetheart." It's like you can hear the shit eating grin on his face, and when you look up again, it seemed you were right.
"Let's get this on with, shall we? First one that blinks, loses." You tilt your head in the same fashion as his, lowering your voice a bit.
"Gladly. Ready whenever you are, sunshine." Daryl's drawl had gone from his normal volume to a gravel one. You can tell he tried to throw you off track with it, but nonetheless, the staring contest was on.
Your eyes met his, deep and dark in the lighting. How did everything about him compliment those damn irises of his? Just one glimpse of his gorgeous aura from across the table had you pulling away from your book for more.
"You're infuriating, you know that?" Your nose scrunches as the words come out in almost a whisper, delicate with the way you're letting your thoughts drift from just his eyes.
"Hun, you're not much better. Gorgeous, but stubborn as all hell. Think ya might be more stubborn than me." You hear the chuckle, and it takes almost all of your stamina not to steal a glance at his lips. If you did, there was no way you'd be able to contain your eyelids.
You know exactly what he's doing, playing on the way you melt at his every compliment. But you focus on his eyes and what you can see of him in your peripherals. His broad shoulders are scrunched, eyes studying your face.
"Are you trying to intimidate me? Cause it's not going to work.."
"Dunno, think I have a couple ways. You jus' keep on starin' at me."
You huffed a breath and continued looking into Daryl's eyes. He was intimidating enough that you had to find other things to think about rather than his. Because they were so... tantalizing. Electrifying. A simple glance of his would usually bring you, figuratively yet literally, to your knees. Ones that were met from across courtyards of Alexandria, or from the corner of a room during a community meeting. How you were able to hold off on crumbling under that same look now? You had no clue.
To your concern, you hadn't realized the falling of your mind into such deep thoughts about the archer. Your eyes focused back on the wisp of his eyelashes, before realizing his bottom lip was caught between his teeth. Giving his features a once-over, you peeked at the corner of his mouth twitching upwards.
"Are you smirking?" Your arms folded across the table and inched closer to him.
"What else am I supposed t'do? You're too pretty. Happens when I look at’cha for a long time." His elbows propped up his chin in those rough palms of his, and began inching closer as well.
“Speak for yourself, handsome.” It was almost a whisper, but still the tones of your voice caught him off guard. Daryl’s eyes dropped from yours, swiftly to your lips and back up.
“Wish you’d just let me win so I could kiss ya right now.” His deft fingers tapped on the wooden table now, eyelids heavy with impatience and a sultry gaze being shot your way. You want him to lean towards you, within just the proximity to plant your lips on his, but he sits back in his chair instead.
You whisper, “You make me wanna go back to my books and leave you hanging on this damn contest.”
Daryl shrugs, “Ya blink, ya lose. Them’s the rules.”
“I’m not breaking.. do with that what you will, pretty boy.”
“Mhm..." Daryl chuckled to himself for a moment, then stood from his seat. Whatever composure you were trying to keep from showing while gazing at him only overwhelmed you as he rose from the table. No matter how hard he tried, Daryl came off as intimidating, especially when he stood over you, like he was doing right now.
"We're having a contest here.." you began, "Or does you leaving the table mean you forfeit?"
Daryl's fingers dragged along the table, slowly stepping towards you with the same intimidating glare.
"Nope." He stepped behind you, grabbing your chair with both hands to pull it out from the table.
"Daryl- what're you doing?" You giggled, letting the book of plants fall onto the floor, while you were dragged backwards by Daryl's strength.
"If you're not gonna let me win, I'm just gonna have to take you myself." let go of the chair, and immediately knelt down to grasp your body from your seat.
"Hey!" Daryl's large, warm hands grasped your body, while you wrapped your hands around him in surprise. Upon your hands grasping at him, he got a face full of your chest, which he didn't mind at all.
Grunting at your weight in his arms, you turned to him, spotting the faint blush on his cheeks at the view he was currently getting. You chuckled, getting flustered yourself, but still pressed against him. He began towards the stairs, with you easily grasped in his arms. It was during these rare moments that you realized just how strong Daryl was, how easily he could pick you up and carry you without breaking a sweat.
"This what you're gonna do every time you can't convince me?" Your arms wrapped around his neck now, watching his face while he walked. You pressed a few light kisses to his neck in response.
"Nah, I'll let ya win sometimes. But this, you're gonna wanna be there for." The smirk on his face created a warm feeling inside your chest, one you wanted to give him, too.
Daryl continued up the stairs, down the hall towards the bedroom you shared with him. Your arms wrapped around the nape of Daryl's neck, lips peppering kisses across the expanses of his chest. Once he'd walked to the bedroom door, he kicked it open and made his way towards the bed.
He softly placed you down on the edge of the mattress, waving you to lay back on the bed with his hand. Daryl kicked off his boots, undoing his belt before crawling towards you on the duvet.
In a moment he hovered over you, smirk lingering on his lips like liquor.
"Now, I dare ya, take your eyes off me. See what happens."
You were in for an especially long night.
Tumblr media
A/N: Thanks for reading:) If you enjoyed this fic, please show support by reblogging!
539 notes · View notes
martiniblues · 7 months
Text
what a feeling ; 이민형
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
pairing idol!mark x female!reader
synopsis it’s not easy keeping your relationship with your idol boyfriend a secret, especially when he’s halfway across the country and would do anything to hop on a plane and get you in an instant. but little does he know that you’ve already beat him to that idea.
genre established relationship, a teeny tiny bit of angst, reader uses she!her pronouns and is described in a feminine way, so so so much fluff, mutual comfort, slightly suggestive.
wc 1.6k
song : what a feeling by one direction
Tumblr media
mark: i would do anything in this world to be w you baby :(((
you: i knowwww but these next few weeks will go by so quick!!! we will be back together in no time<33
you quickly turned off your phone and adjusted your outfit for the hundredth time in the bathroom mirror. “i feel like i’m going to puke out my breakfast!” you leaned your back against the sink, facing one of mark’s staff members you had grown to befriend over your time as being mark’s girlfriend.
“it’s going to be fine. i promise you, he’s been doing nothing but talking about how much he misses you and begs his manager every chance he gets to let him fly out to you.” the words made you drop your head to avoid anyone seeing your flushed cheeks.
you and mark had been dating for awhile now, but it was your first time flying out to see him and see him perform outside of your home city.
what if he doesn’t want to see you?
what if he’s too stressed to see you?
“what if-“ you’re quickly cut off with multiple dings chiming from your friend’s phone. she quickly read the notifications and grabbed your arm.
“okay, they’re almost done running this last set, and then they’ll be back here.” she quickly drags you out of the hallway bathroom and into a new room.
a big white table sat against the wall with various foods, makeup, hair tools, and pieces of clothing scattered about. you noticed an oversized black and gray stripped hoodie that belonged to none other than your boyfriend. resisting the urge to grab it to warm your cold body, you hid behind the big white door, listening for any sound of the boys.
your heart began to race once you heard the hoots and hollers from the very familiar voices of mark’s members. talks of dinner and after-rehearsal plans hung in the air with no notice of mark’s voice.
the guys had already been informed of your plan, so when they greeted you with small hugs and smiles, you shouldn’t have been shocked. but there was no sign of your boyfriend anywhere among the eight men in front of you.
reading the puzzled look on your face, johnny answered, “he’s still working on his solo stage. the dumbass insisted he do it again, even though it’s perfect."
“if only he knew she was back here… man, he would forget all about being a perfectionist then.” yuta laughed as he joined johnny next to you.
“can you take me to him? i cant deal with the wait anymore.” you pouted, leaning against the wall, as you felt the wave of clattering butterflies begin to build in your stomach.
without a word, the two boys led you to the side of the stage where you could see mark sitting in a black chair, mic in hand, and body slouched back as he rapped smoothly.
it took everything in you to not run across the stage and pounce on him that instant, but something about the words coming out of his mouth and the vibe he carried in his subtle but sharp moves made you become entranced by him, as he always did to you.
“okay that was good, mark. we can rehearse more tomorrow!” a deep voice came over the speakers as the song stopped, leaving mark exhausted against his chair. your heart broke into a million little pieces, seeing the evident distress and exhaustion stitched in his figure.
“i think it looked perfect.” your mouth moved before your brain, not able to resist your boyfriend anymore. his head quickly snapped to your figure, which emerged into the stage lights only a few feet away from him.
“oh my god…” his voice came out quickly as his face pulled into an expression nothing less than shock, shooting up from his chair and bolting his body to yours.
his body slammed into yours before picking you up and spinning you around as his hands gripped onto you for dear life. “oh my fucking god” he let out again into your neck as you giggled and weaved your hands into his sweaty, messy hair.
“surpise!” you smiled so hard that you felt like your face might get stuck as you pulled back to look at mark, only to find him with the same expression.
“h-how… what? when did-“ his stuttering was quickly cut off by your lips on his. he slowly let your feet touch the ground and arched your body slightly as the kiss deepened quickly due to all the pent-up feelings the two of you shared for each other.
you couldn’t help your smile, teeth clanking slightly, before you pulled back to look at mark once again. “i couldn’t do the distance anymore. i had to see you.” your breathing came out ragged due to mark practically taking your breath away.
“you have no idea how close i was to flying out to you, baby” he said, swaying your bodies slightly, forgetting about the fact that you two were in the middle of a giant stage and had many people observing you.
“beat you to it though,” you sassed before a small ‘whatever’ left your boyfriend’s lips right as his fell onto yours again.
“this is so cute and everything, but can we please go eat?" haechan whined from one of the wings. the words made you two pull back in giggles, lacing your fingers together before following the guys off the stage.
Tumblr media
“see you two lovebirds later!” johnny waved while you and mark got out of his car. “and be safe!” haechan added quickly. before mark was able to slap him for his suggestive comment, the brunette locked his passenger side door swiftly.
after the last few goodbyes, you and mark made way to his airbnb he rented for this multi-day show.
“i can't believe this,” you breathed, swinging your joined hands enthusiastically. “believe what?” 
mark turned his body, quickly switching his hands so that he was still interlocked with you, but was now walking backwards facing you. a dopey smirk grew on his lips as you visibly reddened.
“this. us being here together finally.” you pulled him closer by his forearm, stopping the two of you directly in front of his door. not even reaching for his key, mark leaned down and kissed your lips for the thousandth time that night, but this one held a much greater weight than the rest.
his free hand perched itself on your lower back, warming the cool, exposed skin between your top and jeans. no matter how many times you and mark kissed (and maybe it was the prolonged distance causing this effect), this felt like the very first time.
chills blooming through every pore, heat taking over your body, brain melting into a mark-shaped puddle. he took over every sense, and you did the same to him.
“i love you so fucking much. i don’t think i can take this distance anymore.” he pulled back, lacking breath from your lips moving feverishly with his.
you two stood for a few heavy seconds, just staring at each other. if it weren’t for the dim light perched by the door, you wouldn’t have noticed the way mark’s eyes glossed over and how his lips pulled together into a straight line.
“i don’t think i can either.” you choked out, reaching for him again and pulling his body flush with yours. your hand raked itself in his hair, and the other wrapped its way around his broad shoulders. soft sniffles filled the now silent night, aside from the crickets chirping in the grass.
“i love you too.” you wiped his tears running down his soft cheeks and kissed them quickly before deciding to head inside.
the events following were slow and thoughtful. even if you both didn’t want to face the distance again, you knew it was inevitable.
you and mark were entangled in his bed. his head rested on your chest as he drew random swirls on your forearm while your other arm fell beneath his head. hand scratching his scalp repeatedly.
“i’ve never had this feeling before.” mark spoke into the silence. you moved your hand to tilt his head up level with yours. “what feeling?” you asked, assuming he was on the verge of falling asleep.
“just being beside you right now, holding you in my arms. it has me on fire. i’ve never felt this way about someone before."his eyes searched your face in a way that made you want to duck under the covers, but with his body practically on top of yours, that became undoable.
“me too. you make me feel things i didn’t even know were possible.” your words came out softly, embarrassed to be so vulnerable. "well, you could just say i’m amazing in bed but… i’ll take the more poetic version i guess.” you pushed his head away from you in annoyance at his dirty words.
“not like that, you freak!” the both of you giggled. mark pulled his body up to trap you beneath his arms. before you could even recover, he began littering your face with kisses.
“what a feeling!” he pulled away with a big smile on his face, teeth and all. it made you want to squeeze his cheeks from the sweetness of it all, but you resisted the urge.
“what a feeling!” you echoed, a smile pulling its way on your face in the same fashion as mark’s.
a few more kisses and loving gestures were exchanged before you two eventually fell asleep. consumed with this indescribable feeling rushing through your body, making you fall more and more in love.
if that was even possible.
Tumblr media
© martiniblues | do not copy or translate my work!
note: 1D x nctdream is TOO GOOD. i’m seriously debating on making this a little series w the dreamies (let me know what songs you think of with what member!!!) anyway, love you lots and please leave a like or reblog if you enjoyed!!
814 notes · View notes
thyme-in-a-bubble · 8 months
Text
the downpour
lilac, chapter seven
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
a/n: everybody, calm down! deep breath! because it's happening!!!
summary: “man, I can’t for the life of me remember the last time it thundered, nevertheless this much,” not glancing back at the silent figure leaning against the kitchen counter, you asked him, “can you?”
warnings: lumberjack!frank castle x reader, lumberjack AU, pete castiglione era, past domestic violence, crazy ex trope, slow burn, renovating an inn, real name reveal, kissing, only one bed, rain and thunder
word count: 2400
∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽
previous chapter | series masterlist | next chapter
masterlist | join my taglist
Tumblr media
Gently clamping down on the break, your bike slowly rolled to a stop.
“Pete!” you hopped off before the bicycle had come to a complete standstill, “hi!”
Craning his head out from under the hood of his truck, a faint smile appeared upon the burly man’s lips as he greeted, “hey,” seemingly taken aback by your arrival, riding through the forest just as the sun had nearly set completely.
Glancing to the twisted innards of his vehicle, you exhaled, “oh no, what’s wrong with your car?”
Seizing a dirtied rag that hung over the top, Pete then wiped his grease-covered hands with it, “I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it quite yet,” blinking down at his broad palms as he cleaned the viscous substance off them. 
“Is there like some car illness going around here or something?” you joked as your heel popped out the stand on your bicycle, balancing it before you stepped closer to the lumberjack. 
“What, is yours still at the shop? It’s been months!”
“It’s something about a specific part not being in production anymore so they had a really hard time finding it,” you grumbled, “and then they finally did but it’s coming all the way from Germany and it’s just a whole thing…”
Sliding your fingers into your pockets, exhaling slowly as you let the infuriating car trouble simmer back down, you heard Pete ask, “so, did you just come over here, late at night, to talk about cars?”
“Well, it is my absolute favourite subject ever,” you joked, adding sarcastically, “I know just so much about cars…” blinking up into his dark eyes, you then let the antic fade away, “no, I just finally measured those rooms and it turns out they are both big enough for double beds.”
“Oh, great,” his eyebrows rose softly in recognition. 
“I’m really sorry it took this long,” you averted your gaze, looking to the grass below as your fingers found an old and crumbled shopping list at the very bottom of your jacket’s pocket, “it was so kind of you to offer to make some new furniture for the place, I should have given you all the information needed so much earlier.”
“It's fine, it’s just a few bedframes, some shelves and such, nothing fancy,” he calmed your edgy nervous system, “I’ve gotten plenty done already without knowing all the information, but now that I do, I can finish, so thank you,” dipping his head a little lover to catch your gaze, he then offered graciously, “you wanna take a look? It’s not done yet, but it might give you an idea.” 
“Yeah, sure,” the smile that blossomed on your lips was impossible to hide, following his long stride as he marched into the open shed-like structure just behind where the car was parked. To the immediate right, tall stacks of firewood laid to cure, a dark tarp draped over one of the piles, but the earthy scent your nose picked up on was heavenly and caused a bit of tenseness, you hadn’t noticed haunted your shoulders, to fade away. 
“So, I cut out the side panels, legs and such for the beds since I didn’t know how wide they needed to be,” your vision flickered away from the various tools that hung up on peg boards on one of the walls, and fixated instead on the planks of well-carved wood that Pete presented, lifting one of them a few inches off the work table for you to take a look, “but this is kinda what’s going on so far, still need to sand it a bit more, put a stain on it, of course assemble it, but yeah, I hope this can work.”
“Wow, wait,” you craned down, pushing your wide eyes closer to the unfinished yet beautifully crafted pieces, “you made this?”
“Well, yeah,” he shrugged softly, “I mean, I can change it if you don’t like it–”
“I was fully expecting you just slap a few two-by-fours together and call it a bed,” you interrupted, momentarily tearing your eyes away from the timber to stress, “happily so might I add, but this is like actual furniture…” your fingers ghosted over the smoothed surface, “you’re really good at this.”
“Well, I do work with wood for a living,” he joked, head cocking to the side. 
“Do you sell these kinds of things?”
“No, no,” he glanced down at the way the fingernail on his thumb was absentmindedly digging into the opposing palm, “stuff like this is just a way to keep my hands busy.” 
“Well,” you glanced up into his eyes, “if you wanted to then you could easily make a pretty penny…” a gentle smile accompanied your genuine compliment, his own lips swiftly mirroring the same curve as he let out a wispy exhale. 
Just then, a crack of thunder echoed from somewhere in the distance. Whipping your head around to glance out the wide-open door, it took mere seconds for the abrupt rain to go from a gentle drizzle to a violent downpour. 
“Oh my god,” your feet carried you a few meters, shoulders jumping faintly as another bolt of lightning shot out from the dark clouds above. 
Eyes too glued to the skies, you felt Pete’s touch find your shoulder as he uttered, “we should probably head inside.”
“Yeah,” you nodded slowly, “good idea,” before your feet practically sprinted all the way up to the cabin’s humble porch, like a small child in the middle of the night, scared of whatever shadow monsters you thought to be real. Heading in first, Pete was right on your tail as you held the front door open a moment for him, swiftly slamming it shut behind him as giddiness coursed through your veins, “oh my goodness,” you squealed, curling your toes in your wet shoes, “I had no idea it was gonna rain!” casting your vision out the window, you let out an enchanted gasp as you spotted another thunderous bolt appear, “oh, Pete, look! That was such a close one,” your fingers found the windowsill as you muttered in amazement, “man, I can’t for the life of me remember the last time it thundered, nevertheless this much,” not glancing back at the silent figure leaning against the kitchen counter, you asked him, “can you?”
Not truly present, you then heard him utter, “…Frank.”
“Huh?” you finally glanced back at him, noticing how sober his features suddenly were. 
“My name,” he breathed, noticeably having trouble looking you in the eye, “it’s not Pete, it’s Frank.”
“What?” you blinked, the thrilling weather abruptly forgotten, “what do you mean your name is Frank?”
As you gently inched closer, perplexity muddling your features, he hesitantly shared, “I did some shit, things that some people high up doesn’t want the public to know about, so I get to be Pete while they get to not be humiliated by their own actions.”
Lips slightly parted, a dazed breath escaped your lungs, “I–…” utterly stunned, your eyes fluttered shut as you tried to comprehend the bomb he’d just dropped, “alright… alright…” a headache nearly plagued your cranium from how tensely your eyebrows were knitted together, “I-I don’t know what say,” you squinted back at the man before you, “no one’s ever–… wow… your name is Frank?” he hesitantly offered you a light nod in confirmation, “Frank… Frank…” you heard yourself hazily repeat, tasting the new, and oddly fitting, name on your tongue. 
He didn’t utter a single word as you just stood there, doing your best to digest the staggering information. 
It took a long time for you to hear the rumbling rain again, your whole body frozen as you tried to relearn what was up and what was down. 
You had no idea how long the deafening silence drew out. Could have been a whole week for all you knew. But when your lips eventually parted once more, the breathless words that then spilt out couldn’t help but come straight from your heart. 
“You–… you scare me…” catching his weary gaze, you uttered with glossy eyes, “the way that you make me feel, that scares me so much…” your tainted track record caused your body to feel as if you could faint at any moment, “I didn’t expect–, I certainly didn’t plan for this, any of this, you. I didn’t expect you to–…” the rest of your confession then faded away as the boldness of what soon fluttered out of you took even you by surprise, “can–… can I kiss you?” scarcely drawing breath as you glanced back at him in apprehension, “because I really can’t tell if it’s okay or not, if you–” 
Seizing your fretful face in his hands, Frank promptly drew you in and drowned out the paralyzing worries that fluttered your system as his lips pressed against your own. 
You heard him draw in a deep breath through his nose, as if it was the very first oxygen he had let his lungs have in a whole lifetime. Your shoulders swiftly relaxed, noticeably dropping beneath where his rough palms gently cupped your flush cheeks, not only handling you, but kissing you as if you were made out of glass. 
As you eventually felt him gently draw back, you couldn’t help but dive back in, clutching his shirt and crashing your lips back against his in a kiss so fierce you nearly lost your footing. 
When you finally did part ways, you felt Frank’s broad thumb trace your bottom lip, staring at it a moment before his enchanted eye flicked up to meet yours.
Breathless and absolutely spellbound, gazing back at him, you eventually heard yourself utter barely above a whisper, “…the–, the rain…” you felt his heavy breath fan across your blush, “I should probably wait it out…” the undertaking of letting go of the soft cotton of his shirt seemed an impossible task, “might be dangerous riding home in this weather, especially on the tiny paths I’d have to take, they get so muddy, and it gets too easy to just slip and fall and if it happens at some of the areas that are kind of cliffy, then it could quickly turn into something bad…” you rambled as it felt like his gaze pierced directly into your soul, “and also the lightning? I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna get stuck, that doesn’t sound very nice…”
“Might not be over till morning, though…” he pointed out, “you’re welcome to just sleep here if you want, I mean, nothing like that,�� he reeled back a bit, wincing at the unintentional innuendo, “I wasn’t insinuating–,” but the end of his sentence didn’t get a chance to see the light of day as you raised yourself up onto your tip toes and planted a kiss of not only gratitude against his soft lips. 
The low groan that then rumbled deep within his throat sent a dizzying flutter down your abdomen, all collecting right between your thighs. As your lips consequently parted to let out a foggy whimper, you felt his nature instinctively seize the opportunity and sneak his tongue in to explore your own, intoxicatingly dancing, savouring your taste, as his hands began to wander, attempting to pull your form as close to him as physically possible.
At first, you thought you’d fallen, but then when you felt the cool counter beneath your bottom, you realized that he’d hoisted you up there, slotting himself in between your parted limbs as you held onto the sides of his face, fingers weaving into his scraggly beard. 
Panting, your chin abruptly tilted to the side, denying yourself of anymore before you got too far to be able to stop yourself. Eyes only half open, you felt his bulbous nose stay pressed against your cheek, lingering in your warmth for as long as he could.
“It’s getting late,” you breathed heavily, steadying yourself with a hand on either side of his broad shoulders, “we should probably go to sleep…”
As your neck began to straighten back out, his answer washed over you, sounding just as hazy as you had, “right,” one of his palms absentmindedly brushed the wild hair out of your face as you parted ways, “yeah…” pupils eclipsing the warmth of his eyes, you watched as he drew in on last breath before enclosing his grasp around your waist, helping you back down onto the floor, “you go on and take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“No way,” a breathless chuckle bubbled out of you as you shook your head, “I’ll take the couch, I insist, I can’t put you out like that. I’m shorter than you anyway, so I’ll fit better,” you reached back to grasp the table behind you just in case the room decided to spin out from under you, “and if you give me your bed then I’ll just purposely stay up all night, not even sleep a second. So, if you want me to get some rest, then let me take the couch.”
Gazing back at you, a faint smile then warmed his features, “alright,” the vision not helping in the slightest at settling the butterflies in your stomach. 
“Do you maybe have a shirt or something I could borrow? Just so that I don’t sleep in damp clothes…” 
“Oh yeah,” the tiny task seemingly helped to take the edge off of Frank’s own fuzzy high, “I’ll, uhm…” he turned his back to you and wandered a few paces before he entered the far room, stopping before the tall wooden wardrobe visible from the doorway. Like his shadow, you slowly followed him, stopping just in the opening as you watched him pull out a black, folded-up item of clothing, “here,” he turned and handed the worn t-shirt to you, his touch lingering just a second, fingertips ghosting against the back for your palm. 
“Thank you, Frank,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around it and hugging it close to your chest like a teddy bear. 
“No problem,” your eyes briefly flickered to the bed in the corner of the room, juxtaposing crumbled linen sprawled atop the twisted iron frame made for quite the inviting image, even if you didn’t account for the actual dream that slumbered there every night, “the, uh, the bathroom is right through there, so you can just–, while I find you some blankets and such.”
Tumblr media
© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 
402 notes · View notes
kennarose1108 · 2 months
Text
My World (Negan Smith x Reader !DAUGHTER OF RICK) !PART 4!
Tumblr media
It was the middle of the night and you had left the room while Negan was sleeping to get something to drink as your throat was abnormally dry and you didn't feel like waiting Negan up to escort you just to get a glass of water. You were walking down the hall groggily, a yawn escaping your lips as your gaze was on the floor. But as you turned a corner your gaze fell upon a pair of shoes at the end of the hall. You slowly looked up and furrowed your eyebrows as you saw a unfamiliar woman with a gun in her hand.
You froze in place and stared at her with a look of confusion. She stared back, her eyes wide before he aimed her gun at you. You gasped loudly before she began to shoot. You were able to duck yourself behind the wall at the corner before any real damage was done.
But you fell to the ground and shrieked in pain as you felt a searing pain in your left shoulder. Your hand went up and you immediately felt a wet feeling seeping through your fingers. You turned your head and saw blood staining your shirt and hand crimson red. Your eyes were wide and horrified as you had never bled so much.
But you were quickly brought back to reality as you heard her footsteps walking down the hall and to your direction. You quickly stumbled onto your feet and began running down the hall. When the footsteps stopped the shooting began again. You were ducking and moving erratically as bullets flew by you. You ran past another corner and when you did you saw a bunch of men running past you with guns. You turned your head but when they looked past the corner you watched as their bodies fell to the floor before they could even aim. You screamed and continued running as fast as you could.
As you were running you pushed through a door and continued to run. The sounds of multiple firing behind you went further and further away. Your adrenaline was taking over as you ran and you barely acknowledged where you were going, you were just running... All up until you bumped into somebody. You gasped and stumbled back and the person grabbed your uninjured shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?! Why are you out here?!" The person hisses and you recognized the voice... It was Simon. You stared up at him with wide eyes and you were unable to speak. Simon gently pinched the hole on your shirt where your wound is to examine it. "I'll take you to the infirmary." Simon says as he gently grabs your upper arm and begins pulling you away. You still heard the sound of shooting but it was far away now.
You turned your head, afraid that the shooter would appear behind you. "You're safe. We have men on the shooter as we speak. They should take them down soon." Simon says. He was right. After about another minute or two the sound of gunfire stopped.
Simon pulled you into the infirmary and Dr Carson looked at the two of you. "Get her stitched up." Simon says while forcing me to sit down on the exam table. Dr Carson's eyes widened when he saw me, knowing how serious this was because of who I was. He nodded and quickly began getting out his surgical tools.
"I'll go and inform Negan." Simon says to you. You look at him nervously before nodding. You knew you were in deep shit. Simon then left the room.
After about thirty minutes Dr Carson was finished stitching up your wound. Luckily there was an exit wound so it was a simple procedure. But your shirt was drenched in blood. Dr Carson had to cut some parts of it so he could wrap a bandage around your wounded shoulder but just enough to give him access to the parts of your shoulders he needed to wrap up but enough to keep you covered as well.
"How are you feeling?" Dr Carson asks. "...Woozy." You say. Not to mention it hurt like hell. Once the adrenaline wore off in your body you were left with a searing pain in your shoulder and it was even more agonizing when he stitched it up. Since it was the apocalypse he didn't have drugs on hand to make it any less painful so you had to sit there and deal with the pain.
"That's common. You'll be alright as long as you keep the stitches clean. Here, I'll help you up." Dr Carson says while holding out his hand for you. You take his hand and he helps you off the examination table. "Thank you." You say softly. Just as he was about to respond the door to the infirmary burst open to show Negan in a rage. In a blink of an eye, he was in front of you and grabbing your wrists a little too harshly for your liking.
"What is wrong with you?! Do you have a death wish or something?!" Negan hisses, his face just inches from yours. Your eyes widen, "Negan I-" He interrupts you. "I wake up to the sound of gunfire. You're gone, I get worried and Simon comes to me and tells me you've been shot." Negan says while shaking you a bit. "Do you understand how terrified I was?! I thought you were dead! You're goddamn lucky it was only your shoulder!" Negan shouts.
"Why the hell were you out?! Why didn't you wake me up?!" Negan growls. You stare at him wide-eyed momentarily before speaking up, "I-I... I just wanted some water..." You say in a low tone of voice. "Water? That's it? You got shot for water?" Negan says in a rough and angry tone of voice. You looked down at the ground and frowned. "I'm sorry..." You mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. Negan looks down at you before sighing deeply. He looks off to the side and he seems lost in thought. He then looks back at you before grabbing the back of your head and pulling it to his chest. He sighs against you as he holds you tight.
"I coulda lost you..." He kissed your head and took in your scent, "I've never been so scared in my entire life..." He mutters, just barely enough for you to hear it before he pulls you into a very tight hug. You hug him back but it doesn't take long for your shoulder to throb from the pain of being against something.
You let out a hiss before pulling back and rubbing your shoulder gently. Negan gave you a pitiful but also angry look. "Let's go. I'm bringing you back to bed." Negan says while grabbing your other shoulder and pulling you along with him. You both walked to your room, his hand gently on your shoulder as you walked. You didn't speak, neither did he. There wasn't much to say. He said enough.
When you got back to your bedroom he ushered you inside and got you into bed. "I have to do some damage control... I'm going to have somebody at the door. But I'll be back. I promise." He says. You nodded and he kissed your head before leaving.
You slept. All you did was sleep. Your mind and body were exhausted so all you did... Was sleep. But then you woke up, god knows when to Negan shuffling around the room and gathering things. You sit up and wince as your shoulder doesn't feel any better. Negan hears you rustling around in bed and he turns around and smiles at you. "Hey there darlin'. He says while walking towards you and sitting down on the bed next to you. "How do you feel?" He asks.
"Sore..." You answer while rubbing your shoulder gently. He nodded, "I figured..." He murmured while brushing some of your hair behind your ear. You noticed he was wearing his whole getup and had a gun in his holster and Lucille was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Where are you going...?" You asked. Negan stared at you for a minute before looking away and clicking his tongue. "To see Rick and his people," Negan says. You furrow your eyebrows. "I'm coming." You say. "The hell you are," Negan says right after you finish speaking and he looks at you.
"Why can't I come?" You ask. "Because what we're doing is not pretty sweetheart." He says. Your breathing gets shallow, "...What are you going to do?" You ask in a low tone of voice. He swallows hard and sighs, "The one who shot you and killed a bunch of my men was from Rick's group. I've also gotten intel that Rick has been grouping up with people and teaming up against us. So... I'm just going there to negotiate." Negan says.
"'Negotiate'? What the hell does that mean?" You ask as you feel like you already know what he means. He stares at you. Just fucking stares. "Negan!" You say a bit too loudly. He sighs, "We're going to give them an option. Either they submit to us or we kill them all." Your eyes widened as you process this information.
"Negan... Y-You can't! You'd be killing my family!" You shouted. "I'm your family." He says. "Yes... You are. But my dad and brother are also a part of my family!" You say with anger in your voice. "Well, they shouldn't have screwed me over," Negan says while standing up. "Negan, don't do this... Please. I'm begging you." You say while grabbing his wrist to stop him from leaving.
He stared down at you. You could tell he was conflicted on doing what he thought was right and his love for you.
"Please... I just got them back..." You say just above a whisper. He stared at you for another second before turning his head away and sighing deeply. "I'm sorry." He then pulled his wrist out of your grip and quickly walked to the door. "NEGAN NO!" You screamed while shooting up out of bed but by the time you got to the door he had already slammed it shut and locked it from the outside.
You banged on the door and screamed for him to let you out. You shook the doorknob but nothing worked. Tears rolled down your cheeks in grief and frustration and your body shook with fury.
You tried everything over the last half an hour. You tried to use something in the room to break down the door but all that left you was the person guarding your door to yell at you to quit it. You checked the window and saw you were too high up. You would definitely twist or break your ankle if you dropped down.
But what choice did you have?
You opened the window and sat on the edge of the window. You took deep breaths as you encouraged yourself to do this. You took one last breath before throwing yourself out the window... And just as expected... You twisted your ankle. You let out a cry of pain on impact which most likely alerted the person outside your door, so you had to be quick.
You quickly got to your feet and you began to hurriedly limp yourself to the nearest car. You got into the car and quickly began to hotwire it... When you were a teenager you hung around the wrong crowd and luckily learned to hotwire a car.
When you finally got the car started that's when you noticed the person guarding your door running outside and calling for you. You quickly put the car into drive and got out of there with the person chasing after the car before giving up and running back inside.
You hauled ass over there and by the time you got there, there was gunfire and people dead. Your breath hitched as the gunfire stopped... But the Saviors were still standing.
"No..." You murmured before getting out of the car. The Saviors pointed their guns at you before realizing who you were and lowering their guns. You limped around the town until you see a sight that shook you to your core....
Your father was on his knees, as was Carl... And Negan was about to swing his bat to the back of Carl's head. "NOO!' You shrieked which made Negan stop in place and look at you with a face of horror... You both just stared at each other with looks of horror on your faces. ...How could he? He knew how much Carl meant to you... How much they both meant to you.
But then suddenly a tiger came out of nowhere and killed one of Negan's men. Gunfire arose and you quickly ducked and hid behind a car. Your breathing was heavy and tears pricked your vision.
But now was not the time to cry.
One of the Saviors dropped dead next to you and you let out a scream as blood splattered onto your face. But then you noticed he had a gun... And you remembered your father teaching you how to use a pistol when you grew up. So you grabbed the gun for protection but you didn't dare aim it at anyone.
Gunfire flew past you and almost hit you. You realized this wasn't the best place to hide so you got up and began to quickly limp away but that was when someone grabbed you and lifted you up which made you drop your gun. You screamed, kicked, and flailed around. The person holding you hissed and said, "Stop it!" And you realized it was Negan which made you freak out even more.
You began to punch his arm but he didn't flinch or release his grip on you. He just carried you to a truck, threw you into the back of it, and slammed the door shut. You tried to get out but he locked it... This son of a bitch and locking you out...
The car began to drive and that's when the tears finally fell. You sniffled and cried yourself into a ball... Did you feel weak? Yes. But at least Carl and your father were safe... You hoped.
The car came to a stop and a few of Negan's men came and grabbed you. You continued your screaming, flailing, and spitting while they carried you into a cell. They threw you inside and locked the door. You sat on the floor and continued to cry. Your ankle and shoulder throbbed and your heart ached with grief...
How could he...?
Hours passed and finally, the door opened. You didn't look up, you knew who it was.
The silence was deafening.
Finally he spoke.
"I did what I had to do." He spoke in a low voice. You didn't say a word, you just glared at the ground with tears in your eyes. "Y/N... We have rules... You have to understand that." He says. You wanted to yell and scream but your voice ached and you just didn't have the energy to fight anymore.
He let out a sigh before turning and taking a step and you finally spoke, "I'll never forgive you for this." You say while glaring up at his back.
He turned his head slightly to the side to glance at you from over his shoulder. You could see the pain on his face.
"I can live with that." He says.
He then finally walked out and shut the door, leaving you in darkness with your thoughts...
PART 5?
151 notes · View notes
clownrecess · 10 months
Text
It really pisses me off how often public schools ban stim toys.
Almost everyone stims, it isnt just a neurodivergent thing. Neurotypicals and neurodivergents stim, neurodivergents just do it more and in more obvious ways.
Personally, I need to stim with something physical nearly always. Sure, I stim by rocking, flapping, etc. but most of the time I need something in my hands or my brain blocks everything out and I eventually cry because of how icky I feel. If I can't write a damn tumblr post without taking a break every 15 seconds to fiddle with a tangle or my hoodie strings while I hum noises relating to every word I've already typed just so I can write another sentence, I sure as hell can't sit and listen to an hour of information on something I don't even care about without a stim toy/tool.
This is why I hate the fidget trend so much. Yes, it makes stim toys more available, but it also gets them banned in schools because someone who doesn't even benifit from them cant stop being distracted by them. And then suddenly, everyone "must be distracted by them".
Back when I was still in public school, I used this sensory braclet a lot (I still have it, but I care more about fashion nowadays than I did back then, and it doesnt match with anything, plus it barely helps anymore, so I dont really use it.) that was very clearly a sensory thing. It's orange with silicone prickles all over it. It wasn't a distraction. It was just something I ran my fingers over in class. Well, suddenly its being taken away and nobody will tell me why. Anyone want to guess what happened? Yeah. I had a panic attack a few minutes later (I dont expect much else from that teacher to be honest. One time she threw away my art project because I folded it wrong even though it's been known and on my file since about 1st grade that I have motor issues. And no, she didn't let me retry. I just had to sit there, made to feel terrible because I FOLDED SOMETHING WRONG!).
726 notes · View notes
pommedepersephone · 5 months
Text
You Say Potato, I Say Excellent! Or blocking, accents and legacy of morality tales in ‘The Resurrectionists’ minisode PART II
Alternate title: how Aziraphale’s naivety in this episode was supposed to make you a bit outraged
Tumblr media
I have to shout out to @bowtiepastabitch for their AMAZING historical analysis of this minisode - it prompted me to finish this long ramble that has been drifting in my notes. Anyway, I have a major obsession with the ways blocking and dialogue interplay in Good Omens - you can check out my analysis of the blocking in the flashbacks in S1. But The Resurrectionists is really something special. This got so long I am splitting it into two parts. 
What we see in this minisode is a morality tale - a genre of children’s literature that was extremely popular in the early 1800s where the minisode is taking place. Catch up on the historical background in Part I.
When looking at this minisode, it is really important to look at two complementary narrative tools - Crowley’s accent and the placement of Aziraphale in relation to Crowley. Through the minisode, Crowley switches between his standard English accent and a delightful Scottish accent. But the switching isn’t random!
Scottish lines =  character Demon Crowley, who moves the plot of the story along
English lines = Crowley, the moral guide leading Aziraphale
Additionally, the two of them swap sides in their blocking frequently in this episode. Their standard placement is A/R + C/L but the swap to C/R + A/L is almost the norm in this minisode.
Analyzing Blocking and Dialogue
We open in the graveyard, with Aziraphale and Crowley in their standard placement, observing the statue of Gabriel. But then they notice Elspeth, digging up a corpse. When Aziraphale approaches Elspeth to inform her that her actions are Not Good, he actually ends up swapped with Crowley and finds himself on the left because what he is doing - making moral judgments on the actions of Elspeth with no understanding of what led her here - is doing Good, not good.
Tumblr media
The next scene finds Crowley helping Elspeth cart the corpse away from the graveyard, while the trio debate all the other ways Elspeth could make money - Aziraphale suggests running a bookshop, farming, weaving, giving the standard Good party line about hard work blah blah blah. Aziraphale remains on the left - after all, those supposed options are completely unrealistic, unobtainable professions for someone in Elspeth's socioeconomic position. They aren't remotely helpful suggestions.
Aziraphale only finds himself back on the right when he and Crowley are introduced to Wee Morag, and have some time to listen and observe the reality of their situation.
Then, off we go to complete our journey to sell the body. Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves having a debate about morality, but Aziraphale is again ON THE LEFT as he waxes poetic about the virtues of poverty - doing Good, not good again. What I loved here was you saw the clear purpose between Crowley’s two accents as he switched mid-line -
Tumblr media
Crowley: (SC) Oh, I'm down with wicked! (EN) Anyway, is it wicked? She needed the money. 
Upon reaching the lodging of Mr. Dalrymple, FRCSE, Crowley and Aziraphale take their standard places but this scene has one really important moment that I want to highlight. When they open the barrel to find the rotted corpse, the look on Crowley’s face is so telling. He often finds Aziraphale’s machinations amusing even when they are annoying, but here he looks decidedly disappointed. Aziraphale might have done Good by rendering the body unsellable, but what good did it do? The body is still been un-interred. Elspeth has wasted her energy, and has made a terrible first impression of the surgeon whom she needs to pay her for her services. It looks like Crowley wants to say something, but he stops himself and clenches his jaw. The PATIENCE he is showing to Aziraphale - this is a quality that Crowley has in SPADES but we really see him exercise it here.
After the discussion with Mr. Dalrymple, in which Aziraphale realizes the importance of dissections for educating medical students and thus leading to better care for the living, he asks the right question - why should the poor have to risk death to obtain bodies? But he let's himself get sidetracked by a blatant appeal to his emotions...
Tumblr media
At this point, Aziraphale goes all in on body snatching being Good. Which... it still isn't because it is based on a broken system that disadvantages the poor? FOCUS, angel. He even goes as far as to offer to help Elspeth and Wee Morag in obtaining another corpse but note that again, he is on the LEFT -
Tumblr media
Remember, Wee Morag is deeply conflicted about the morality of body snatching, and instead of explaining anything to her (like, that having your body dissected won't keep you out of heaven would be start) Aziraphale just sort of joins Elspeth in pressuring her to join in - which is pretty awful and coercive, but gee if that isn't just heaven's playbook for doing Good, not good.
So we return to the graveyard, and this is where everything goes sideways. Aziraphale spends basically this entire sequence on the left. First, he notices the ingenuity of the grave guns but fails to acknowledge the travesty of so much energy being spent on protecting wealthy corpses while the poor suffer. Then, the tragedy strikes. After Wee Morag is shot, Aziraphale wastes time justifying saving her, resulting in her dying before he can act. And after all this, after the heart break of seeing her partner die, we see Elspeth come to the logical conclusion. If body snatching is Good, then might as well take Wee Morag off to Mr. Dalrymple, right?
Tumblr media
What shouldn't be overlooked is what takes place when Elspeth gets Wee Morag's body to Mr. Dalrymple. Because while Aziraphale is very clearly illustrating the dangers of black and white morality through religion, Dalrymple is showing that black and white morality through science is just as bad. Dalrymple has unshakable belief in the power of science and knowledge to alleviate human suffering and sees his work at Good. He cares about preventing illness, but ignore his role in perpetuating poverty - an unfortunate side effect of rigid belief systems of all shapes and sizes. He is downright cruel to Elspeth.
Tumblr media
This is already getting real long, so we won't go into the absurdist comedy of the scene in the tomb - suffice to say that the surreal nature of Crowley's bargaining with Elspeth smacks of a fantastic tales of pacts made with the devil. It's delightfully unhinged.
Tumblr media
The one line I think worth pointing out?
"Do I sound like a goat?"
Tumblr media
I think this line is key in the narrative connection between the three minisodes in S2. All three flashbacks show Crowley and Aziraphale engaging in acts of deception, but they all have important differences:
In A Companion to Owls, the two work together, and they manage to pull off the trick and evade punishment.
In Nazi Zombies from Hell, Aziraphale comes up with a plan and Crowley goes along with it, and they barely manage to evade punishment.
In The Resurrectionists, Crowley comes up with a plan and Aziraphale goes along with it, and Crowley is sucked down to hell.
I think it's worth noting just how silly Crowley is in the first two minisodes. Bildad and Scottish Crowley are FUN even when dealing real heavy shit. Just a complete joy to watch. And we never see that level of silly from him again. Whatever happened in hell was clearly really bad since the next time we see him in St. James Park he is asking for holy water. He may have moments, but he is never the same.
Questions, comments, additional thoughts? Lay them on me. I'd love to dig into new lines of inquiry on this minisode because I just love it so much <3
257 notes · View notes
ellaa-writes · 4 months
Text
The Beast Within
Tumblr media
author note: Part 7, part 6 here. 2k words. Kind of a filler chapter but I'm building up for something. Thanks for all the support on the last part and my other fics. Means so much and has given me a boost of confidence to start writing again. Good Dog 3 coming soon! Also part 2 to the Roommate fic. Any ideas or requests are welcomed, Enjoy :) masterlist
summary: Omegas are rare, in a world full of Alphas and Betas. Being a Omega was not only dangerous but they were highly sought after. After living your life has a Beta in disguise, you meet a scary Alpha, but not any normal alpha. But a gaint Apex Alpha who won't stop at anything to make you his.
tags: Alternative Universe. Female Reader, A/b/o dynamics. Mean Konig is back. Roze is a "doctor" in this. Mentions of dead bodies, blood, violence. Reader has had enough and does something drastic. Vomit and other bodily fluids. Not proof read.
Tumblr media
Following around the Russian has been nothing more than annoying. Watching the slimy bastard eat his dinner and fuck his whores. Nothing solid just yet, it's been a nonstop week of tailing him.
Your calls stopped coming in, but he did arrange for a friend to stop by. Make sure you are eating and taking care of yourself. And also for some socialization.
Every time you try to leave the house he gets notified by the guards standing by. Every mean and nasty word you say to them. All logged into a file, a little proud of your fierceness against the Betas.
König was getting restless himself, currently taking a break while Simon stalked Makarov. Keeping him informed on his every move. They needed more evidence, more of a reason to tamp him out other than some gossip.
König avoided checking the security cameras, expecting the house to be a shit storm. On one of his excursions following Makarov he stopped in a jewelry store. Picking out a beautiful diamond necklace, planning on using it as some sort of collar.
It was late enough into the night that you should be in bed. Or asleep somewhere, from the logs it seems you've been using the livingroom as your central station. Anytime one of the Beta guards enter the house you scream and snarl until they leave.
Making notes for himself to start your training soon as he got back. He's hoping just another week, if not two.
On the other hand you have completely lost your mind.
The house in disarray, you pulled open every drawer and cabinet in the house. Throwing the contains on the floor, you weren't internally sure what you were looking for.
The days rolled on and you slowly began losing faith. You stopped contacting König all together, declaring that if he is dead that it was good riddance. You can got back to your normal life.
Maybe you would even get a pay out, some sort of compensation for a lost mate. Those being rare but still happen. Some even being lavished in luxury, true freedom you thought.
After waking from one of your many anger induced naps you found yourself at the dammed wooden door. Willing it to unlock and burst open.
Leaving the dark hallway and finding the tool kit stashed away in the laundry room. You dragged the kit into the living area and towards the direction of the door. Not really sure what the plan is.
You tried every screwdriver you could find to try and pry the lock off the damn thing. Even using a few hammers to bang on the knob it's self. The only progress you made was loosening the knob and creating a bunch of scratches and dents.
A ding and knock echoed through the home. Making you jump back from your work, causing you to hastily stuff the tools back into the box and slide it into a random closet. You nearly ran to the door, peaking through the peep hole.
A brown headed women stood in front of the door, a guard at her left as she waited for you.
Hesitantly you undid every lock and latch, doing them up after getting frustrated at the spies checking in on you.
You swung the door open, staring the women down. She was dressed fairly professional, she carried a small bag at her side whole the guard held a few other larger bags.
"Oh Hi. You must be the Omega." she gave you a bright smile. It warmed up your cold heart, spreading through your bones.
"How are you?" your voice came out almost sheepish. "What are you doing here?" you followed a little more confidently. Standing your ground, wanting answers before you let this strange women into your home, well König home.
"Did he not tell you?" she asked concerned, turning to look at the guard to her side who shook his head no.
"I swear he's always been horrible with communication. I apologize on his behalf you sweet thing." she held the small bag up to your face. "I brought pastries." you could smell the delicious sweetness through the bag.
"You can call me Dr. Roze." you grabbed the bag and stepped to the side. Allowing her in but stopping the guard. "It's ok Angelo. You can leave the bags at the door. Don't want to upset the Omega." the guard froze, looking at you with worry before he dropped the bags on the floor and closed the door behind him.
"Sorry for the sudden intrusion like this." Dr. Roze spoke, looking around at the state of the house. You felt a tad embarrassed, pushing a pile of papers and junk off to the side as you say at the kitchen bar. Pulling out the Danish and muffins.
"Have you been eating? König called concerned you've been neglecting yourself." she turned to you, watching as you chewed and swallowed the treat.
It hit heavy in your stomach, the same feeling of anger and distrust eating it whole.
"You talked to him? He's alive?" you felt a little disappointed. Having convinced yourself he died, but now coming to the realization that he has been ignoring you.
All the days you've cried for him, his touch and scent. You completely lost your appetite, shoving the treats into the trash and slamming in closed.
"Yes dear. As he not keep contact?" she regarded you with concern.
"No." you spat. Suddenly becoming hostile to this strange women. A women who your Alpha would rather talk to than you.
"I think you should leave." you forcibly said. Moving further away from the women. You could feel the anger rising in you.
"I don't think that's a good thing right now. You are in destress and that's not good for the pup." she tried to approach you but you nearly tripped over your feet getting away from her.
You couldn't stop the tears from falling, the way your chest tightened, the way your small breakfast what's to come up. You rush around the other side of the big island and too the guest bathroom. Spilling your stomach into the porcelain sink.
Dr. Roze keeping her distance but following suit. Pulling your hair out of your face as she turns the water on. Letting the cold water drip into the back of your neck.
"Deep breaths now, come on. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Just like that, good omega. Good." she cooed to you. Allowing her to help you.
She managed to calm you down, now sitting in the large tub filled up to your shoulders. You had your knees pulled to your chest, resting your chin on top.
You could hear Dr. Roze cleaning up the house. You also smelt something yummy cooking away. Still unsure how to feel about the situation. You wanted to hate her. Why her. Why not you.
Shaking your head to rid you of those thoughts. Deciding you were done soaking, draining the tub as you dried off and pulled your thickest and fluffiest robe on. You sat on the end of the bed, the bed you haven't laid on since the day König left.
That bastard.
It still smelt like him, the whole room smelt like him. It made your feel warm inside but also made you want to throw up again. After a few long moments you got dressed and made your way back to Dr. Roze.
Stopping before you entered the living area, you could hear her hushed yelling. She must be on the phone, she sounds pretty mad.
Finally emerging, she gave you one of her warm smiles and abruptly hung the phone up.
"Why don't we go for a walk?" she chirped. The idea of going outside, beyond the patios. You jumped at the opportunity, digging out your comfortable shoes from the coat closet and pulling on your favorite sweater.
"Are you sure.... That I can?" you questioned warily. Anytime you tried leaving the place you were marched back in. "Don't worry about it honey." she guided you out of the house, waiting in the hallway for the elevator. You've never been more excited, even though you still don't know this women. She could be leading you to your death but long as it happened out of that penthouse.
"When was the last time you just, you know, walked around." Dr. Roze kept with your pace, which was slow. "The night I met König. Which about about 2 months ago now. Wait 3 actually. Time moves differently when your stuck inside all the time." the weather was a tad chilly but you enjoyed it.
Dr. Roze just hummed beside you, letting you to continue in silence. After a few silence moments you can hear her phone buzzing. But she ignored it the first few times before finally digging it out and answering the call.
You could hear a deep angry voice in the other end. Slowing down and coming to a stop when Dr. Roze hung the phone up.
"I think it's time for us to head back, shall we? Maybe we can try to eat again." she turned to start going towards the way your came from.
"Are you really a Doctor?" you asked as you caught up to her. "Of course dear." she looked at your side ways.
"So what you said was true. That I'm... you know." you trailed off not wanting to say it out loud.
"You didn't know?" she asked, genuinely shocked. "You couldn't smell it? I did soon as you opened the door." she finished nonchalantly.
You just shook your head, your mind when to the lump of cells forming in your womb. Your would be wrapping right now if she had anymore to give.
Dr. Roze's phone never stopped buzzing but you both with ignored it on the walk to the penthouse.
Once inside the lobby waiting for the elevator you turned to Dr. Roze with a fake big smile. "It was really nice meeting you, I wish not see you again." it came out flat, your smile not reaching you eyes.
The doors opened you entered, pushing the close door option. Watching as Dr. Roze stared at you belligerently while the doors slid close.
You marched past the on duty guards, unlocking the door to your home. Slamming it closed behind you.
König knew he shouldn't have trusted that wretched women. Telling him he shouldn't have his doll locked up, under supervision. And then repeatedly violating his commands and than ignoring him.
He watched as his Omega entered the home by herself, disappearing towards the bedroom.
His phone buzzed, Roze, spitting in disgust he brought the device to his ear.
"Speak." he barked, hearing her breathing in the other end.
"You sure know how to pick them." her unamused voice carried through. "She doesn't want to talk to me. Locking herself back in that cage you call a home." she spat back
"I don't need your service anymore, your to incompetent." König was watching the screen, you've been out of sight for some time. Wishing he installed one in the bedroom, but knowing he treasures his privacy as well.
"You can't keep her-" the annoying women started but König cut her off. "I'm not repeating myself. Now make yourself scarces." he was the one to hang up the phone now.
Tossing it to the side, Makarov groaning in the distance. Simon was patiently waiting, keep the bastard alive just enough to get everything they needed from him.
His boots echoed throughout the empty factory, bodies scattered around. The smell of crimson heavy in the air.
"Now back to you." he purred out, his fist connecting to the side of the Russians face. "Do we have an agreement? Or do I have to show you again?" König motioned for Simon but the Russian spoke first.
"No, no! I understand." he said through the blood dripping out of his mouth. Simon grabbed his hair to the scalp, yanking back so he could make eye contact with him. "Where's your manners?" he growled down at the bleeding man.
"I understand my Alpha." Makarov coughed out, his broken face shining in the dim light. The Beast smiled down at him this time "Pack him up dog, make sure he finds his way home." König dismissed them. Watching as Simon dragged the man out of the building.
Finally some peace he thought, until his phone began going off back on the desk. It was his alarm, the one he installed on his desk. Opening up the cameras on the laptop König watched has his little Omega stood at his desk. The door in shambles and a sledge hammer leaning against the frame.
Getting the door open was the hardest part, using the flat head screw driver to pry open the desk was easy. Searching to contents, scattering them around the oak desk. Scanning through documents after documents about things you didn't understand.
You began rummaging around different files, nothing made sense to you. Just a bunch of numbers and dates. Not until you came across a file with pictures, but not just any pictures.
Bodies, all dead. In all stages of decay, some fresh. Some cut open and others still alive, well half alive. Your mouth hung agape as you looked through them all. Why would König have these? Are they evidence? Are they even his?
Who is he?
Tumblr media
Tag list: @plumdreadful @traumaramacenter @kaylp-godly @napalmfairy7 @hisa-plush @ramblingsofachaoticthinker @winters-doll @joyfulfxckery @purebeskar @collete25 @fandomsinthegalaxies @jamieelol @luc1ddreamersatnight @cringeycookies @whiskytoast @kit-williams @lyc0risequin0x
201 notes · View notes
emelinstriker · 5 months
Text
Shockwave ♤ Kiss The Spark
Might be my last TFP X Reader one-shot I'm dropping for now. I've got several other one-shots and even a full book that was in the works, but whenever I'll finish any, I have no idea.
[TL;DR] You really do be worrying your beloved cyclops scientist with the risks you take. And he finds it illogical.
Tumblr media
♤ ~ Comfort ~ ♤
It was a lazy day for the two of you. Megatron was busy leading the Decepticon cause, as usual, and left Shockwave to his tools. Said mech was trying to work on basically recreating a predacon while you were watching him. It did make him a little uncomfortable with how you were basically staring at him, but he would never out right say it.
You were just supposed to be a random human he could study and experiment on after you were kidnapped by Knockout months ago. But now you were the lover of the warship's scientist. Basically his Conjunx Endura, and he did show some affection towards you while feeling some sort of emotion despite having undergone shadowplay. At first it felt like you were treated like a pet, which you technically were in the Decepticon's optic, but it was obvious he was lying to himself over time as you began to worm your way into his spark.
Despite the months of love and care, he slowly started neglecting you due to the cause being his main priority. Sure, he did give you food and your own box corner that felt like a small apartment, but his affection towards you decreased and you were missing it. You were missing the freetime you had and spent simply roaming around the Nevada desert whenever you landed. You wanted to relive that.
"Hey, Shocky?" He didn't bother turning around to face you as he continued working, not answering. But you knew he was listening. "When do you have time to hang out again?" You asked with a hopeful gaze at the back of his helm.
He ceased his movements for a moment, turned his optic toward you and said, "Most likely when I am finished with this project. I do not know how long it will take. It would be most logical of you to simply wait."
You frowned at his response and started to make your way towards the door. "Oh, okay... I'll leave you to it then..." The giant metal doors slid opened for you and closed once you passed the threshold. Shockwave knew you left but didn't bother stopping you as the project took priority. However, that doesn't mean he didn't feel more empty when you were out of the room.
And it finally seemed too much after two agonizing hours of not having you around him. He told himself he would do a quick check-up on you to ensure you were all fine. So, he left the project on his table before making his way to the bridge where he knew Soundwave would possibly still be with you.
Unsurprisingly, he was right. Well, half right. Soundwave was at the bridge, but you were nowhere to be found. Of course there had to be a reason for it, and who would know better than the slender mech himself. "Soundwave," the cyclops started as he approached the other working Decepticon, "where is (Y/N)?"
The TIC ceased his movements before typing away again, revealing groundbridge coordinates on the screen. The coordinates seemed to lead into town, close to a few stores but far away enough for a small groundbridge to go undetected. Soundwave turned his helm towards the mech behind him as he slightly lifted a servo at the screen to point at it. Shockwave gave him a puzzled look- Or at least as puzzled as one could look with a single optic for a faceplate. "Why did you send them there?"
Instead of answering with more movements, Soundwave decided to simply play a voice clip he recorded of you in your own words. "Hey, Sounders, could I maybe go to town? I need to see if I can buy some material for [...]. I know it sounds weird, but hear me out-" The audio abruptly cut of before you could explain any further. And there was information missing, most likely to keep whatever you were planning a secret from the scientist. It seemed illogical for you to be plotting something behind his back however. Thus he didn't question the TIC any further about the audio.
"When will they return?" Soundwave played another clip in response, "I'll call you when I got everything, alright? Shouldn't take more than two hours max."
And as if on cue, a sudden personalized ringtone rang out on the bridge with an image of you on the screen. Their optics glanced at the screen before Soundwave answered the call. You sounded like you were out of breath. And Shockwave was able to feel your anxiety through your bond.
"H-Heya, Sounders!" You dramatically exhaled a large portion of air before continuing in a rather quick way. "Please don't tell Shocky, but I kinda ran into some trouble and am being chased by a gang with weapons. I managed to escape unscathed, but I sadly didn't get some other things." You took another deep breath. "And as much as I wanna grab some extras, I don't think I'd be alive on my way back if I did that. At least I got enough for one."
As both mechs became concerned, Shockwave decided to speak up. "(Y/N), are you in a safe location? Do you require a groundbridge immediately?"
The voice caught you by surprise, but you were also a little relieved to hear him. "I-I'm not far enough from people yet. I'm across the street from the gang right now and they seem to have lost me. But there's an alleyway here." You then proceeded to walk down the dark alley. "I don't think there's a second gang in here so I should be-" You cut yourself off as you looked behind you with wide eyes. The fear you gave off reached the scientist instantly.
"(Y/N)? Are you alright? What happened?" Your sudden silence made them even more worried. The silence wasn't there for long though as harsh winds clashed with your phone, indicating that you were running.
"They found me! I-I can't run any longer! My bags are- are slowing me down! And they want my bags and my money! But I need them! And whAT THE FUCK- WHY?!"
Turns out the alley had a deadend.
The two mechs could faintly hear one guy say something, but it was inaudible. But they could hear one who was closer. "You're right. Why should we just take their belongings if we could have some fun with them as extra?"
While the cyclops was able to feel your hopeless anxiety already, the call managed to catch the sounds of your sniffles. You hiccuped as you whispered into your phone, "I need you, Shockwave." You usually weren't scared of most things- Hell, you made a giant alien robot fall in love with you and managed to befriend others on the warship, deeming them as family! And they wanted to cyberform the earth! But being in this situation, alone, far away from your family, with just some useless things you bought... It scared you.
And this was something that truly angered Shockwave for once. The fact that you used his actual name instead of a nickname told him how trapped you truly felt.
It sent him over the edge.
"Soundwave. Groundbridge to their coordinates. Now", he commanded firmly.
The masked mech, despite being kind of surprised by the taller mech's sudden show of emotions, did as he was told. The scientist didn't waste time in running towards the now open swirly green portal. He didn't even bother transforming and using his holoform.
These humans deserved to suffer.
By his true form's servos.
You were backed up into the deadend when you noticed a familiar green light pop up behind you. Out of instinct you moved aside as the gang stared at it, not knowing if this were special effects to scare them off. That's when you saw Shockwave step out of the portal. He took a moment to take in his surroundings before spotting you next to his pedes, shivering from shock, but still smiling up at him with teary eyes. "H-Hi, hun..."
"Go home, sweetspark. I'll meet you there."
He said. Then he watched as you somewhat clumsily sprinted through the groundbridge, two bags in hand, before he turned back towards the group of humans.
"It would be illogical of me not to dispose of lifeforms that pose a threat to my sparkmate."
What was mercy? In that moment, he couldn't recall.
While waiting, you were next to Soundwave, being comforted by his tendrils as you held onto one like a big teddy bear. Your bags were sitting behind you. Shockwave finally returned a few minutes later, groundbridge closing behind him. His servo and pedes were completely bloody. You also spotted a bit of blood on the rest of his frame- even a tiny bit on the side of his helm. He walked up to your still slightly shaken form. "Did they harm them in any way?" He asked the other mech, who previously ran a scan on you as safety precaution.
Soundwave responded with a simple "Negative" audio as he retracted his tendrils from you, now that your biggest comfort was here. You reluctantly let go of the tendril when a servo gently wrapped itself around you instead, picking you up. The purple mech didn't say another word to the shorter mech and simply walked off, all the while placing you on his shoulder pad. Sure, you were now a little bloody too, but you could just wash your clothes. While Shockwave felt the comforting relief through your bond, he still was upset about your reckless logic.
"You left the ship without my authorization or knowledge." Most would view his monotone yet commanding voice as a sign of pure anger, but you knew that he was actually worried sick.
"B-But I-" "You could have been hurt and I would not have been able to protect you. From now on, you are to stay on the warship if I'm.not accompanying you", he stated firmly, placing you on the table and coldly turning away towards his project.
Now that you were finally back in the lab, he wouldn't need to worry about you being hurt anymore, despite his spark not wanting to shut up about the slight bit of worry. However, due to you still being upset about the previous situation, you couldn't help but tear up again. You honestly didn't mean to make him mad and worried. He could feel it.
"I-I'm so s-sorry", you whispered as you hiccuped. "I-I just w-wanted to make y-you a gift..."
This caught the scientist's attention as his ear fins moved. A gift... for him? You went through the lengths of sneaking out(, despite Soundwave's knowledge of course), going to town alone, and running away from a street gang... just to make him a gift? So, naturally he demanded for an explanation for this stunt you tried to do.
You pulled your bags closer to your body as you sniffled, rummaging through one of them. "I-I bought materials f-for a self-made gift..." You then pulled out some purple fabric from the bag. Almost the same shade of purple as his frame. "I-It was supposed to be a plush toy version... of you..." A small, sheepish smile made its way onto your lips. The tears may have stopped flowing, but you still didn't feel quite comfortable in what you were presenting him. It wasn't even finished, after all. And you weren't even sure if he would like it.
"Giving me a toy version of myself is illogical." For a second, a frown replaced your smile. Thinking he didn't like the idea, you slowly starting lowering your arm in disappointment, wanting to put the fabric away again so he wouldn't have to see it.
"O-Oh, sorry... I thought-" "But, I appreciate the sentiment", Shockwave quickly added as he approached you with his servo. One digit gently trailed up and down your arm in a comforting manner. "You may still continue creating it. I am not stopping you." Him using a gentler, lower tone made you smile again. You wrapped your arms around his digit and lightly cuddled into it, saying a small "Thanks" in return.
You swore your Conjunx's optic was glowing brighter than usual.
You managed to craft a rather big plush version of Shockwave. You were able to wrap both of your arms around it and cuddle with it like a big stuffed animal. It was still severely small in the scientist's optic, but he refused to handle it any less gentle than you when picking it up. It was so much softer than you, which amazed him.
A few days after you finished up the plushie, Shockwave asked you to wait for him in his habsuite.
Turns out he wanted you to touch his spark again. It's been a long time since you've last done so, which was when you became Conjunx Endura just a couple of months ago. And due to the bond mostly being a one-sided receiving one, he wanted to show you how much he appreciated you in his life. And touching his spark was the only way for you to receive his side of the bond.
You're the only one he's ever shown his spark to in such an intimate light. And you could feel how much he adored having you be this close to him, touching the very culmination of his being ever so gently. You even gave his spark some light kisses, making him ex-vent.
Content with your moment together, he gently positioned his servo against your small back, pulling you a little closer down onto his chassis.
He wouldn't trade you for anything, not even his loyalty to Megatron and the Decepticon cause.
[ Masterlist ]
230 notes · View notes
makeitmingi · 4 months
Text
The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 4]
Tumblr media
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy
Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)
Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho
Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?
Word count: 3.2K
You were half asleep on Seonghwa's shoulder, on the way to the restaurant. Jongho was the designated driver for today, going around to pick everyone up before going to the restaurant.
"So, did you have fun last night? Getting to know the owner?" Wooyoung turned around from the passenger seat with a teasing smile. You shot him a weird look while Seonghwa kicked the back of his seat.
"I know you're older, hyung. But I will kick you out if you do that to my car again." Jongho threatened as he drove.
"We're here." He parked the car. You got out, pulling your hood up tiredly. Seonghwa quietly strolled beside you, his arms tucked into his coat pockets.
"Yunho gave me the passcode." You yawned and keyed in the passcode.
"He's not coming?" Seonghwa asked.
"Not this early. He looked tired yesterday and stressed out after trying to help me with the prep. Anyway, it'll be much faster with just 4 of us doing the prep and baking." You shrugged, opening the door.
"What did you guys make yesterday?" Wooyoung tilted his head while Jongho turned the lights on.
"Blackberry apple tuile in the dehydrator, made the shortcrust pastry for the tartlets and marinated the pork medalions for dinner service." You informed. All of you hung your coats up in the small storage room and got to work right away. With aprons on and tools laid out, you all knew what to do immediately.
"State what you're taking on so we can keep track of things." You called out, a sharpie in hand and a piece of paper in front of you.
"I'll get started on the red velvet cake batter so we can get it in the ovens and cooled in time for icing." Jongho said, heading into the walk in with a big bowl to gather ingredients.
"Guess that leaves me on the palmiers first." Wooyoung pulled his sleeves up.
"Shall I do the cheesecake?" Seonghwa asked. You nodded and crossed out the item on the list.
"I'll continue with the tartlets then. Speak up if you need help." You retrieved the base dough from the fridge and the mini tart shells to begin blind baking them.
When Yunho came in, about an hour after you, with Mingi, Hongjoong, Yeosang and San, they were all greeted with the amazing smell of sugar, butter and vanilla filling up the restaurant space.
"Damn, I'm hungry." Mingi said.
"I need them to sign the contracts." Yunho walked in with the manila folder tucked under his arm. The boys, except Hongjoong, curiously followed behind him, wanting to catch a glimpse of the crew that was behind the amazing smells.
"Good morning!" Yunho smiled. All 4 of you turned to the group at the door with acknowledging nods before focusing back on your own tasks in front of you.
"Sorry to interrupt. I have the contracts for all of you to sign." He cleared his throat.
"Sure." You all stopped momentarily to gather.
There was a moment of silence as the 4 of you read through the contract that Yunho gave out. Meanwhile, the other boys with Yunho were staring at you, the way you exuded coolness.
"Here's a pen." Yunho held out the pen to you. You were the first to sign. After that, Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Jongho followed suit.
Just like that, you handed the contracts back to Yunho and broke apart to your own areas of the kitchen.
"Yunho." You stopped the owner in his tracks. You nodded over to the main prep table in the middle and he walked over, tilting his head curiously. The other boys stood behind him. There was a tray that you brought over, with some red-purplish stuff on it. You lifted a piece to Yunho.
"Thank you but what is this?" He bowed his head gratefully but was still confused. You gestured for him to take a bite. He did and his eyes widened with excitement.
"Is this what we made yesterday?!" He beamed.
"Yes. Blackberry, apple tuile with thyme." You said. Yunho held the small piece between his fingers, like it was a piece of gold.
"Wow. I helped make this." He said in awe. You hummed, amused at how stunned Yunho was.
Yunho took your appearance in. You weren't just wearing an apron like yesterday, there were tweezers sticking out of pockets, a timer clipped to your sleeve and two towels hanging on the string.
"I'm (y/n). That's Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Jongho." You suddenly spoke, pointing to each person on your team that was busy.
"I'm Mingi. This is San and Yeosang." The other tall guy introduced. You figured they would be the wait staff.
"Excuse me. Hot tray coming through." Wooyoung said, taking a tray of palmiers out from the oven. The boys shrunk back behind Yunho, jumping out of the way. You turned back to focus on your tartlets, making the custard that will go under the strawberries.
"We'll be out of your way." Yunho quickly said, ushering his friends out. They were disappointed they were not offered any samples of food like Yunho was.
"My cakes are still in the oven but shall I start on the madeleines? We'll put them in once we have oven space." Jongho asked.
"Yes. Are you done with the cheesecakes, Hwa?"
"They're in the oven. I'm open now, do you need help with the tartlet assembly?" He walked over, drying his hands. You nodded and he laid everything out for you.
"Make the gelatin glaze?" You requested. It will be tart shell, with a thin layer of strawberry jam at the bottom, then vanilla custard over the top and a mix of fresh strawberries and basil on the top.
"Last batch of palmiers in." Wooyoung announced.
"Get started on the yuzu loaves please. We need them cooled for the drizzle." You replied. He gave a thumbs up. Meanwhile, San and Mingi have been peeking in, they were both mesmerised by the way you worked with your team. Mingi's parents owned a restaurant but he had never seen people who this way in a kitchen before.
"You two! We need to start setting up before opening." Hongjoong grabbed them by the back of their necks to drag them to the front counter where Yunho was.
"I'll be on coffee." Mingi said.
"I'll help you with that." San raised his hand. Hongjoong would be managing the cashier while Yeosang will serve customers.
"Yunho should float, introduce yourself as the owern." Hongjoong suggested. The others nodded in agreement and Yunho hummed. Soon, the doors will be open and people will be here.
"Sorry to interrupt but we've decided not to serve this first yuzu loaf since it is a little lopsided." You said.
"What she means is, you guys can have it for breakfast before opening." Seonghwa clarified. The 5 boys immediately bowed.
"It smells so good." Mingi said in awe.
"Enjoy." You and Seonghwa went back to the kitchen to continue. The 5 boys crowded the yuzu loaf like vultures, digging into it with forks. They didn't even bother cutting into it to portion out, they went straight for it.
"Oh my god... It's so good." San melted.
"Where did you find these people? This is amazing!" Yeosang said, eyes wide in surprise on the taste.
"Not me, Hongjoong hyung." Yunho chewed his food. Hongjoong smirked proudly. They didn't realise that you were watching them in amusement, especially when they fought over the last piece.
"What are you watching?" Jongho tilted his head when he saw you loitering at the kitchen entrance.
"They're fighting for the last bit of Wooyoung's yuzu loaf. Like seagulls fighting for the last shrimp." You chuckled.
"You look like you're watching television." Wooyoung laughed.
"It feels like I am." You replied. You walked away to continue your task. Once the fresh strawberries were mixed with basil, you spooned them over the custard layer.
"Done. You can jelly glaze them." You told Seonghwa. He nodded and brushed over the gelatin mixture which will make the fruits look shiny and glossy. When each item was done, you put one piece of each item on a plate to bring it out. Most importantly, you wanted Yunho to try them to get his opinion.
"This is a piece of each item. You've had the yuzu loaf. This is lemon poppy seed madeleines, strawberry basil tartlets and palmiers. For the cakes, New York cheesecake and red velvet." You explained.
"The yuzu loaf was super good, by the way." San smiled.
"I'll be sure to tell Wooyoung." You gave a nod. After that, you retreated back to the kitchen.
"Wait, strawberry basil? Like the thing on pizza?" Mingi blinked, realising one of the treats that you had just brought out to them. This time, Yeosang cut up each item.
"Oh my... Okay, this is my new favourite." Hongjoong covered his mouth as he chewed, pointing at the red velvet cake.
"This seashell cake things would go so well with coffee." Yunho said as he took a bite.
"Ah! Okay, let's quickly finish up and clear the counter. We're opening in 30 minutes." Yunho panicked, realising the time. His heart suddenly lurched and his stomach churned uncomfortably, he was getting too nervous and anxious.
"Let's do a final sweep." Yeosang and San grabbed the brooms to clean the floors while Mingi and Hongjoong went around to wipe the tables and chairs.
"I'm going to... get stuff." Yunho said to his friends and walked away. From the corner of your eye, you watched him cross the kitchen and enter the walk in fridge, closing the door behind him.
"Nervous?" Yunho jumped when you appeared. Your arms crossed and your eyebrows raised.
"Yeah... It's finally happening... And I just don't want it to fail." He hung his head down, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Why do you think it will fail?" You cocked your head to the side. The stoic look on your face made Yunho confused on whether you were asking a rhetoric or not.
"It's my first time doing this, clearly I've not been the efficient restaurant owner. I was supposed to do this with my grandmother. This was her dream. And if I waste it, I'll never forgive myself." He shook his head. There was a silence in the walk in fridge until Yunho heard you let out a soft sigh.
"You've said it yourself. This is your first time. It's a learning process and you'll still continue to learn. Your grandmother must have believed in you to give your this opportunity." You said.
"All that you have done, it is not a waste. What is a waste is you panicking here in the walk in when the place hasn't even opened yet."
"You're right..." Yunho nodded.
"Don't scare yourself with the negatives of what can go wrong. Go in with a fresh, open mind, be excited for what can happen and the positives." You advised.
"Thank you, (y/n)! I'll go out now and open." Yunho grinned happily and ran out. You walked out.
"What?" You blinked, seeing the 3 boys staring at you.
"Naughty (y/n). With the boss? On day 1? In the walk in?!" Wooyoung teased with gasps. You rolled your eyes, throwing your tea towel at him as you went back to your station.
"Are you good?" Seonghwa asked softly, coming to stand next to you. You looked up at him and nodded. He pulled you in to gently stroke your head. You all finished up the rest of the cafe confectionaries, getting some extras ready in case they sell out.
"Take a small break everyone. Get a drink, we can observe the cafe opening. Then we'll start cleaning and discuss dinner service." You instructed.
"Okay." The 3 replied, putting all their used dishes together to clean later on. Wooyoung and Jongho went out to get coffee at the front of the house, where Mingi and San were.
"Want a drink that's not coffee? They have ades." You laughed.
"Sure." Seonghwa walked out with you. You were just in time to see Yunho open the doors and flip the sign to open.
You watched with a small smile, Yunho grinned as he greeted the first customer that was already in the queue. There wasn't a large queue but people must have been curious seeing the posters around.
"Here." Jongho handed you a coffee.
"Thank you." You received it and took a sip. The boys went back into the kitchen first while you continued to linger around.
"Sorry, can I make a drink for Seonghwa? He doesn't drink coffee." You asked.
"Of course. Want us to make something?" San offered. You shook your head, grabbing a glass and whatever you needed. You didn't want to break their momentum when orders were already starting to come in from customers. After mixing a drink for Seonghwa, you moved out of their way.
"Here, Hwa. I mixed the tropical fruits and topped it up with soda." You handed the glass to him.
"Thanks." He patted your head and took a sip before continuing his cleaning. There were two sinks so you all just took turns cleaning up. While waiting your turn, you wiped down your station.
"I'm craving a reuben." Seonghwa said.
"Reuben? Nah, monte cristo for me." Wooyoung laughed.
"What's with both of you craving sandwiches all of a sudden?" You scoffed while rolling your eyes.
"Basically they want to make ham and salt beef for our next cooking get together." Jongho spoke, going to keep the leftover ingredients in the walk in.
"It has been so long since we've made those two things... I don't know if I remember how to..." You scratched your head.
"Liar." All 3 boys coughed.
"You know what? You make your own ham and you, make your own salt beef." You glared at them. Wooyoung dried his hands while laughing, coming over to hug your arm.
"My precious (y/n), you've made things so many things more complex than ham and salt beef that you saying you've forgotten how to make it is a joke. You aren't fooling anyone, especially any one of us." Wooyoung pinched your cheeks.
You swatted his hands away and went out to see how the cafe was doing. Most of the tables were filled, with customers enjoying the drinks and food.
"Oh, (y/n)!" Yunho jumped when he turned around and almost bumped into you.
"I didn't think so many people would show up." He said. You hummed, nodding your head as you continued to look around.
"The confectionaries are moving fast. Everyone likes all of them." He blurted out with a big grin. Honestly, Yunho had to urge to hug you and thank you for helping him at the start, in the walk in.
"Told you. Worried for nothing." You looked up at him but your face didn't show that you were teasing or making fun of him for his nerves earlier.
"You were right." He nodded in agreement with a shy smile.
"Umm, excuse me." A customer stood at the counter and you nodded over for Yunho to go. He went to attend to the customer while you went back into the kitchen.
"Ah! I need a break." Mingi complained as he entered after you.
"It's only been an hour." Jongho stated.
"Let's discuss our dinner menu and break for the day." You said as the 3 gathered around you at the kitchen island, ignoring Mingi. But Mingi stuck around, curious to listen in.
"Let's do the pork tenderloin medallions with cherry madeira sauce. I'm not sure how the crowd will be so let's not accompany it with the risotto this time since those are cooked to order. We'll do a parsnip puree as the starch component. Then a roast chicken with gochujang butter under the skin." You said.
"What's the starch for the chicken?" Seonghwa asked.
"We should do mixed roast vegetables. They can sit under the chicken as the trivet and they'll roast in the chicken fat- butter mixture." Wooyoung suggested.
"For seafood, we'll do a cioppino with crusty bread? We got some shellfish and we'll cook that with the monkfish." You said.
"I think we should have a pasta option." Jongho voiced out.
"Let's do miso butter tagliatelle with mixed mushrooms and borttarga." Seonghwa decided. The rest of you nodded then discussed some simple appetisers to make.
"Two desserts. One light, one heavy." You told them,
"I would say we do something simple. Panna cotta with raspberry coolis. Then bukkumi with makgeolli ice cream." Jongho suggested.
"That's a good idea. One western and one korean dessert." Wooyoung agreed. You hummed and wrote it down on the paper. Mingi quietly left the kitchen.
"What's with that look?" Hongjoong asked him when he came out.
"I just listened in on the kitchen team plan tonight's dinner menu. Like wow, I want one of everything they're preparing. It all sounds so good and amazing." Mingi said, star stuck like he had just witnessed greatness or a celebrity.
"Get back to work. There are customers that need service." Yeosang waved everyone back to their stations. Wooyoung came out.
"Yunho? Do you have time for us to quickly discuss the dinner menu before we leave for the afternoon?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm coming." Yunho nodded and left Hongjoong to the cashier as he entered the kitchen. When he entered, he immediately noticed you weren't there. He wanted to ask where you went.
"This is what our team discussed earlier." Jongho handed Yunho the paper where you had been scribbling on earlier with sharpie.
"Sorry, you might need to explain all this to me." He apologised with a sheepish smile.
"Sure." Wooyoung, Jongho and Seonghwa explained all the dishes to him, the components, how they will be cooked, etc. However, Yunho was slightly distracted by where you were.
You were actually standing outside in the cold, taking in some fresh air. After a stint of cooking, you usually wanted to get some fresh air on your own with peace and quiet, away from the busy kitchen. That's why the 3 usually let you be and gave you the space that you wanted, for as long as you needed.
He wondered if you were okay. But if your friends were not worried, Yunho shouldn't be.
"I'm ready. Let's go when you're done." You poked your head in to tell the boys and left without acknowledging Yunho. To be honest, you didn't even see him.
"Thank you for coming in so early. I'll see you all tonight." Yunho bowed to them.
"No problem." Seonghwa smiled.
"See you." Wooyoung said and the 3 bowed before exiting the restaurant. Yunho watched from the window as you waited for them by Jongho's car. Seonghwa wrapped an arm around you.
"I'm tired." You leaned against him, mumbling like a grumpy toddler.
"Yes, let's all get some sleep. We have a long dinner service ahead of us." Seonghwa chuckled and ushered all of you into the car.
~
Series masterlist
151 notes · View notes