#chronically ill reader

[kodiackwrites]

Willy wonka x chronically ill reader, warnings of doctor and sickness talk! (I have chrons & POTS so this is roughly based on those diagnoses but there’s no mention of set issue)

Willy wonka who’s partner is chronically ill but the doctors can’t find any diagnosis or treatment.

Willy wonka who sits by your side through every trip to the doctor, on the bathroom floor during bad nights, taking note of foods and other triggers.

One day in specific, the day was going well you felt decent for the first time in a while, so Willy takes you to walk around town and sight see. But your head started spinning, your legs felt light, and suddenly you couldn’t hold yourself up, usually you’d have crutches for this, but you’d left them at home. And of course Willy would always support you.

One day, things were bad, you couldn’t leave your bed or the ball you were curled into, dearly clutching a giraffe plushy will had bought you. Will had left to grab you water, and rushed back into your room with light weight, not making too much noise, “I’m so sorry honey I’m back, I’m right here.” He said bringing over your water, placing it right by your side, You weakly looked up to meet his eyes, tears fighting to fall down your face. His expression filled with sorrow as he brought a hand to your chin, carefully listing your face to place a kiss on your cheek, before crawling into bed by your side, you looked to your water, seeing a small chocolate, It was in the shape of a heart, with purple and blue streaks throughout, you’d never doubted Will’s choice of sweets, so you took it into your hands, and slowly ate it. Before drinking a bit of water and rolling over into Will’s arms, which he wrapped around you immediately, making sure you were comfortable, and massaging your scalp. Leaving you to drift off to sleep calmly.

You’d wake up with Willy still holding you, he’d never dare leave you in such a state, but you felt, better? For once in so so long, you felt normal, no discomfort, headaches, stomach aches, it was a miracle, you quickly say up and turned Willy, “Did you?” He just smiled, “it worked?” He asked hopefully, you couldn’t find the words to respond, just jumped into his arms, “thank you handsome, so so much.”

(I need this to be real, I’m dying)

#willy wonka x reader #willy wonka #wonka x reader #wonka movie #wonka 2023 #sick reader #chronically ill #chronically ill reader #wonka x sick reader #disabled reader

[boldlyvoid]

I think that Eddie would eat chronically ill!reader out literally whenever bc he'd be like "no baby lay back ive got you all you gotta do is lay there and be pretty" like Does Not care if he gets off

(Not really a request lol but if you wanna expand on it 👀👀)

oh absolutely!!! orgasms are so good for mental health and thus full body health once you get that dopamine and serotonin flowing so he'd be offering to get you off whenever you're feeling down.

cw: chronically ill reader (no exact diagnosis) oral sex (f receiving), lots of praise, use of good girl, baby and princess, hand jobs, titty fucking, cum play

this is my first time writing from this pov let me know what you think

Eddie comes to bed around midnight thinking you're already asleep but finds you reading, not feeling good, just waiting for him to be ready for bed for a cuddle or something... he climbs in beside you and rests his head on your shoulder with his arm thrown around your middle, stealing a glance at the page you were reading with a sigh. "you okay?"

you shake your head, "no... I feel really low and everything hurts."

"baby," he pouts and looks up at you with his big doe eyes, "what do you need? the heating pad? your weighted blanket?"

"I kinda want to get off..." it comes out in a small whisper, you place your book down so you can cup his cheek instead, "can we do something?"

"yeah, baby, of course... you want me to eat you out?" he doesn't even think twice, he simply puts your book on the side table and helps you out of your sleep shorts and panties. your shirt stays on most nights when he goes down on you, he'll play with the hem and grip the shirt instead of your thighs because his grip is strong and you bruise a little too easily. he slips all his rings off and puts them in the dish on his night table and peels off his own shirt. he slips between your legs and kisses the inside of your thighs, "fingers, no fingers? are you okay to stretch your legs out or-

"just don't hyperextend them again," you plead. "but yeah, go for it," you lay back against the pillows more, getting yourself into the most comfortable position.

"you know, I love doing this with you... for you?" he says while lightly rubbing his cheek against your inner thigh, he kisses the side of your knee and then all the way back to your core.

"you're so pretty and soft," he says between kisses, mumbling against your skin, "you're so cute when you're like this; when you just want me to touch you and make you feel better. I would happily spend the rest of my life making you feel better, princess, you know that right?"

you nod along, no matter how many times he does this he still makes you feel breathless with anticipation. "I know, you don't let me forget it."

"good girl," he smirks and leans in more, "ready?"

you nod while reaching forward to push his bangs back, holding them out of the way so he can keep watching you while he eats you out. both pussy lips get a kiss before he parts them with his fingers, using the middle one to ghost over your sensitive clit to tease you.

he feels your hips jolt at the sensation, making him chuckle deep and dark from within, "god, you're so fuckin' hot."

"Please," you beg, gripping his hair tighter, "need you..."

"okay, okay," he teases, his breath hot on your pussy.

he is always soft and sweet at first, with gentle kisses to your clit, he drags his tongue over your cunt and swirls around the wetness you made in anticipation of all this. he slowly but surely gets hungrier, making out with your pussy, he groans against your skin and grinds against the mattress, no doubt hard as a rock already. he kikes your leg up over his shoulder as he tongue fucks you.

"oh my god," you mumble to yourself as your back arches, pushing your core against him more and more. he lets you pull him back up to your clit by his hair, "fing-fingers, please? fuck..."

he hums against you, teasing his index and middle fingers over your hole, gathering up your nectar and pushing inside slowly, knuckle by knuckle until they bottom out. he's done this a million times so he knows what you can take, what you like and what you need. based on moans and the way your body arches and twitches, he knows what's hitting and what isn't. he plays you like an instrument, he follows the notes in order and makes you moan a beautiful song as you reach your orgasm.

and he doesn't pull away, he knows you like the slight overstimulation, you like to feel something intense after hours of feeling empty inside your mind. he sometimes even gets to give you two orgasms in a row like that, only stopping when you rip him back up by his hair.

"okay, okay, holy fuck?" you pant, clutching your chest with your free hand, floating on that fucked out feeling. "it's your turn..."

"I'm fine," he sits on his knees between yours, he pushes his boxers down and grips his cock with the hand that was just two fingers deep inside of you, using your cum to jerk himself off.

"nuh-uh," you sit up and pull your shirt off, showing off your chest, "this is my favourite part."

"you like it when I mark you?" he knows all too well that if he can't be inside you, you're still going to want his cum somehow.

"so much," you lay back down and help him straddle your hips, he doesn't sit on you, he just hovers there while jerking off. he gets to stare down at your tits, and even pushes his cock between them as you hold them tight together.

he holds onto the headboard with one hand and grips one of your tits with the other, paying with the nipple as he thrusts between them again and again. "sweet fuck, you're too good to me, princess. I'm gonna cum."

"cum for me," you whisper up at him, smiling away, loving when he gets like this.

"fuck," he shutters, his hips sputtering as he cums over your boobs and neck, not quite hitting you in the face but enough to make you flinch. he taps his cock against your tit, rubbing his cum into the nipple, "my god, I love you, so much."

you laugh as he gets off you and flops down onto the bed beside you, "I love you too."

he sighs, "give me a sec and then I'll help you to the bathroom."

"take your time," you tease, reaching over to the night table to get a tissue. you clean off your boobs and roll over to cuddle into him. "I'm good."

#ask #eddie munson #chronically ill reader #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem reader #eddie munson smut #stranger things #eddie munson imagines #eddie munson imagine #stranger things imagine #stranger things season 4

[xieni-logs]

hello!! could i request Dan Heng, Blade, Jing Yuan and Gepard with a chronically ill s/o? just some fluff and comfort :)

thank you!! have a lovely day <3

HSR x chronically ill!Reader

includes: Blade, Gepard, Jing Yuan, Dan Heng

a/n: hii!! I’m not sure what type of chronic illness you wanted the reader to have so each character has a different chronically ill reader, I hope that’s ok! blade's was kind of self-indulgent because i got arthritis (though no where as severe as the reader's is depicted) im so sorry if some of the illnesses arent 100% accurate word count: 1.4k (in total)

Blade x Reader with rheumatoid arthritis

: ̗̀➛ you were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in every joint in your body. this meant that the pain in your joints would only get worse with time. of course, you had your good and bad days. on good days, the pain was minimal, to the point you wouldn't feel a thing. but on bad days, the pain in your shoulders made it difficult to carry bags, lift things, and particular bad days made it near impossible to get even changed. somedays, the pain in your hips were uneven and made you limp. Blade didn't really understand it at first; you were fine one day and looked terrible the next. it took him a while but he eventually understood that your arthritis came and went. 

: ̗̀➛ one particular bad day, you could only lay down, feeling uncomfortable in your own body, a constant spike of pain present. breathing felt difficult, and you felt yourself tearing up just trying to sit up. the minutes it takes to even sit up right felt more like hours. sometimes, the pain killers wouldn't work as they should, and unfortunately, this was one of those days. 

: ̗̀➛ Blade enters your room and you quickly turn your head to face him, and immediately regret it due to the pain. he knows it's one of those bad days; your eyes watery, the awkward position you were sitting in, and the look on your face just begging him to make the pain go away. it's difficult for him to comfort you with words so he goes to get some heating pads, food for you to eat, etc... anything he can really. he'll hold you close, minimal movements, letting you lay on him. in the silence between you two, he can't help but wish that at the very least, you could achieve the eternal peace he was chasing after. 

Gepard x Reader with asthma

: ̗̀➛ as the captain of the silvermane guards, he has to keep fit and he’d like you, his lover, to at least do some morning runs with him. he knows that you have asthma, but he didn’t think a morning brisk would do anything awful. as long as you managed your symptoms, it was all fine! there usually arent any problems either, to the point your inhaler was often forgotten at home during these runs.

: ̗̀➛ unfortunately, perhaps you were trying to go faster for Gepard knowing he usually slowed down for you or something but you were definitely pushing yourself more than you could handle. your breaths drew short, not enough oxygen getting to you leaving you lightheaded as you continued to run. Gepard ran a bit in front of you, or at least he did. you watched as the distance between you and him grew farther and farther, and your running got slower until it came to a halt. leaning against a wall, you tried to catch your breath but you honestly couldn’t tell if you were breathing at all. the pain coming from your chest felt like too much, you had a hard time pushing air in and out of your lungs.

: ̗̀➛ Gepard ran back, retracing his steps, when he saw you were no longer with him. he found you hunched over, leaning against a wall, looking like you were hyperventilating. rushing to your side, he quickly recognizes that you were having an asthma attack. scooping you into his arm, he quickly runs back to your home. he may look calm due to the fact he is able to hide his fears, he’s a captain after all, but he’s panicking on the inside. the way home is blurry; you aren’t focused on what’s happening around you, only feeling your chest going up and down yet it didn’t feel like you were breathing. it felt as if there was something blocking your airway, causing everything to feel sort of stuck. Gepard grabs your inhaler and shakes it, before giving it to you. the effects don’t happen immediately which worried Gepard, but you eventually were able to breath, at least a little. he takes you to a hospital to get checked up immediately after. it’s when you’re getting checked does the realization that he came so close to losing you sink in. Gepard is clingier the week after that; holding your hands more (even when he’s working), kissing you almost every chance he gets, holding you before bed, etc… he’ll never forget to bring your inhaler on your morning runs after that.

Jing Yuan x Reader with diabetes

: ̗̀➛ low blood sugar is more than being shaky; no matter how long you’ve been diabetic, you’ll never get used to the god awful feeling of dread that occurs. Jing Yuan cares about your health, and he’s got the books and notes to prove it. usually, diabetes doesn’t get in the way of your life besides watching what you eat, having to keep fit, but it’s manageable.

: ̗̀➛ certain occasions like today, unfortunately, you wake up to a shaky feeling crawling up your body. it was early morning, Jing Yuan slept looking peaceful by your side. you forced yourself up and reached over to the meter as quietly as you could. after loading the strip into the device, you pricked your finger- a feeling you will never like. the number 40 glowed on the screen, glaring at you. you knew you had to wake Jing Yuan up because you really didn’t think you could go anywhere feeling like this. you felt awful nudging him awake, interrupting his sleep. all you have to do is show Jing Yuan the 40 and he’s beelining to the kitchen for some juice. when you finish drinking the juice, Jing Yuan holds; your head on his chest and his arms wrapped around you.

: ̗̀➛ your apologies to Jing Yuan for waking him fall to deaf ears as he’s rebutting everything you’re saying. many “nothing to be sorry about”s and “it’s not your fault”s could be heard. 15 minutes later, you prick your finger and show Jing Yuan a glowing 97. he goes to grab you a sandwich and after you finish eating, you two go back to bed. you lean on his shoulder, his hand cradling the side of your head, his chin laid on the top of your head, the two of you drift back to sleep holding each other.

Dan Heng x Reader with osteoporosis

: ̗̀➛ the path of the Trailblaze was not one without danger and Dan Heng was afraid you’d to be hurt in the crossfire though. you were diagnosed with osteopenia which eventually led to osteoporosis, which meant your bones were brittle. you hated it, this meant you were a liability to the astral express when trailblazing and often had to sit out during anything that had the slightest bit of danger. once, you asked if you could just have March’s shield on you at all times but even that proved ineffective in the long run.

: ̗̀➛ today, the astral express crew was visiting Herta for the Trailblazer to check out the simulated universe. Dan Heng quickly finished off the enemy before rushing to your side. it looked terrible, your arm was bent out of place and you couldn’t find it in yourself to say a thing. when you tried to move, a dreadful grinding sound occurred which made you nauseous. Dan Heng alerted the rest of the express crew before they all brought you to the medical department. thankfully, it wasn’t anything irreversible but throughout the treatment, you couldn’t help but feel like a big burden, getting hurt easily.

: ̗̀➛ once everything is fine and all you needed was time to heal, Dan Heng pulled you into a tight hug, whispering a few “thank god you’re fine”s and a “i was so worried.” usually you’d love his clingier side but it felt like pity. and god, it made you feel awful. no one else on the express would get hurt as easily as you. you push Dan Heng away, feeling terrible that you were such a burden, you quickly brief over how you feel. he grabs your wrist, looking you straight in your eyes, and loudly stated every reason you were not a burden because of your osteoporosis. from how you could take care of yourself to helping the express in ways non-physical like talking your way into less community service when the astral express crashed into a stadium. Dan Heng pulled you into a hug saying one last time, “you aren’t a burden.”

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #chronically ill reader #blade #hsr blade #blade hsr #blade x reader #gepard #gepard hsr #gepard x reader #gepard landau #jing yuan #hsr jing yuan #jing yuan x reader #dan heng #dan heng hsr #dan heng x reader #xieni's requests #this took forever to finish #i accidentally deleted it twice and had to rewrite

[bugs1nmybrain]

First of all, love your writing! I especially love reading your headcanons 😁

Would it be alright to ask for headcanons on how Stein would be with a S/O that’s chronically ill/has a weak immune system? Like winters for them are hell because they know they’re gonna catch a cold come September and coughing fits, doctors visits and medication refills are just apart of their daily routine(may or may not be speaking from experience TTwTT)

🤍⚡️Franken Stein (Soul Eater) x Immuno-compromised Reader 🔩 🩺

I haven't written for Stein in forever!!! I hope I write this with sensitivity! I'll research a bit on it to make sure I write this as accurate as I can.

Warnings: Gender neutral reader, sfw, chronically ill reader, not proofread yet

Mister Doctor man is on the case!

If you don't tell him upfront that you have a weak immune system, he'll notice quick that you seem to be constantly under the weather

Will pry about it, and ask you if this is regular for you

When you tell him that you're chronically ill, it isn't a surprise. He'll help

Stein is proficient in most areas of medical care, so he'll make sure your medications are constantly available to you and even offer to be your personal domestic doctor. You'll tell him it's a conflict of interest as a joke, but he insists

He knows how to make sure you're as comfortable as you can be, making sure you're properly nourished and getting meals that incorporate a proper amount of vitamins

It isn't exactly a cure, but it helps

If you're feel especially sick, he encourages rest. If you need doctors' notes for work or college or the like, he's on it.

He doesn't treat you like you're made of glass or anything because he knows better, but he's definitely vigilant of your symptoms and reminds you to make sure you're taking your medicine and taking it easy if you're having a hard time

Coughing fits don't gross him out and he'll be there to help you feel better however he can

Will hound on treatment regimens

He'll try soooo hard not to ask if he can dissect you

Ofc will remind you to wash your hands regularly, but he knows you're already aware of that. His reminders are more his way of telling you he cares about your wellbeing and that he loves you (don't let him convince you that he doesn't)

If you need someone by your side when you're bedridden, he's there. Even if he has to take off time from work, he will, and don't feel guilty for it. He'll sit beside you and have the silliest conversations with you, whether they are theoretical or just casual talk. If you win him over he'll snuggle, but this man is TALL so get yourself a big bed, okay?

He will try to keep his smoke out of your face so that it doesn't stuff you up

He's here to help you to the best of his abilities. He can only imagine how hard it is, but he's a smart guy. He'll take care to make sure you're as healthy as possible.

#immunocompromised reader #chronically ill reader #professor stein #franken stein #professor stein x reader #professor stein x reader headcanons #franken stein soul eater #franken stein x reader

[imaginethezeldaverse]

Hello! I don't know if you write for the more obscure characters in Botw/Totk but I figured I'd ask just in case ☺️ Could you please write something about Tauro, Purah, Sidon and Zelda dating a Sheikah s/o who's chronically ill/disabled? It'd be great if you could make them specifically have weak bones and be really short too, and they're often upset how people keep babying them because they might fracture or break something. But if you want to keep it more open-ended that's fine too!

Thank you so so much, you're probably my favorite Zelda blog on Tumblr! Your writing and ideas are always like *chefs kiss* 😘! Have a good day and drink lots of water!

Whenever people tell me I'm their favorite anything it literally shocks me because there are SO many fantastic zelda fic blogs on here that I feel are vastly superior - but I thank you nonetheless! 🥰

I'll write for pretty much any character - I just keep romance and nsfw content for adults. So I'd be happy to!

Tauro, as well-mannered and good-natured he is, is amongst the mass where he needs to be reminded that while you are disabled, you aren't incapable of doing normal things. He tries his best to remember that, but his rambunctious and steadfast nature leads him to be righteous and helpful, even when it's not needed. Plus given his height, he always just assumes that people tend to need help to reach things in tall places if he's ever around. He does try his best to be sensitive to your needs and wants, however, tapping his hand to his chest when he catches himself doing too much. Instead, he makes an effort to remind himself to wait for you to ask him should you need anything. Very affectionate, otherwise - he enjoys making you smile and wrapping his big ol' bear arms around you (albeit, he's careful not to actually squeeze you too hard because he does NOT know his own strength) and is very attentive on the days that you specifically don't feel well and your body leaves you in a weaker state than normal.

Purah, being the research fanatic and accomplished scientist that she is, is already aware and well read on your illness. That, however, has never stopped her from being absolutely smitten with you. Where she is boisterous and outlandish, there is a careful resilience to you that she keeps close to her heart. She sees your frustration often with the townsfolk who treat you with unnecessary delicacy, and while she understands the "good-intent", she feels as you do: chronic illness should not beget differential treatment. When you express your frustrations, she's an open ear always. Purah is never one to explain why the people of your community act this way that leans in their favor, but rather why their attitudes should not portray you under a fragile light when you are anything but. She empathizes with you greatly, knowing exactly what it's like for your own people to treat you like you're something you're not (her experiences with de-aging left quite the mark), but she assures you that you've always got her on your side.

“I’ve never much like everyone else…and neither have you,” Purah muses, tapping her recorder in her hand. She lifts her glasses, her crimson eyes blazing in your direction with admiration and sincerity, “I guess that makes us a cut above the rest, now doesn’t it?”

Sidon is about as bubbly with you as you can imagine. That sharp smile completely alight when you're with him. His height difference compared to yours doesn't bother him considering he towers greatly over just about everyone he meets, so as long as you don’t care (which he secretly hopes you don’t!) then all is well. When he learns about your chronic illness, he’s at first admittedly worried, but he sees how much you value your independence and doesn’t push you to do less than anything you’re up for. Sidon, having learned his healing capabilities from Mipha, will actually offer to “bathe” with you whenever you’re not feeling especially strong, letting the softness of his magically imbued water immerse your body and take any pain or pressure off of your form for a while and bring you some ease. You don’t take him up on it often, half because you don’t feel it’s always necessary, and half because you don’t want to impose - though of course Sidon would refute you ever being an imposition upon him. He chooses his words very carefully, making sure to give you the impression that he’s willing to do whatever you need should you need something from him, but without overstepping and making you feel incapable.

“You’ll never be without, my darling,” Sidon whispers, taking your hand, those slit-pupiled eyes softening as he brushes back a lock of your silver-white hair, “But I will never claim to know you better than yourself.”

Zelda has always been a ball of curiosity, that’s one of the things you love about her. She has an awfully curious mind, so when you explain to her about your chronic illness for the first time, she of course asks you a lot of questions. You laugh thinking about back then, how she felt terrible for borderline prying into your life though she wanted to know everything about you at that time. You remember assuring her that it was fine, and it made you incredibly grateful that Impa had introduced you before she stepped down - it allowed you two to get close. The times that you’ve gone to town together, Zelda takes notice of how people tend to treat you akin to porcelain: delicate, fragile, some even giving off the impression that you’re a lost cause because of your Sheikah heritage. Combined with your stature (with Zelda herself being on the shorter side of an average Hylian’s height), it’s enough to infuriate you both. You two tend to bounce off of one another: shes sticks up for you when you feel like someone’s unnecessarily babying you, and you put your two cents in whenever someone is overly cautious and hovering due to her status, even after proving herself beyond capable. Ultimately she too understands your plight of people looking at you differently because of who are you or what they know about you. She recants the days when her father treated her as helpless and small, hyper focused on keeping her in line rather than letting her be her own person. She takes your hand, intertwining fingers with yours and lending you a genuine smile.

“But we are not weak. We are not frail or easily broken. I am not defined entirely by my title,” Zelda kisses the top of your hand before gently covering it with her other in an endearing move, “And you are not defined by your illness.”

#Sorry this took so long! #Also sorry I didn’t give Tauro dialogue - I need to study his character a little more! #I hope I did okay! It always strikes me sourly when people are seen as their illnesses and disabilities before they’re seen as a person #I wanted to articulate that for sure #legend of zelda #legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom #loz: totk #tears of the kingdom #tauro #tauro x reader #purah #purah x reader #sidon #sidon x reader #zelda #zelda x reader #disabled reader #chronically ill reader #totk fanfic #tears of the kingdom fanfiction #totk headcanons

[kaizdreamz]

I know it hurts, I'm here, my love.

chronically ill reader x Dan heng

Very self indulgent — I kind of forced myself to write this at 12am, I didn't want the thought to leave my mind.

I'll add warnings later. I just want this out.

Your joints hurt, your head pounding. Though as the pain washes over you, you tried your best not to worry Dan Heng. Your precious lover, you hated seeing those sympathetic eyes, he wishes he could take the pain away. You both know that'll never happen, this is a curse that you bear and as the time goes on, it may lessen or it may get worse. Nonetheless, it'll never disappear for good.

You laid your head on his chest, one arm wrapped around your frame and the other holding up a book. You had your eyes fixated on something on your phone, your symptoms were bad so times like this were comforting and you were able to get your mind off of the pain for a while. Well, that's what you hoped..

Another rush of pain through your left side, your shoulder and elbow hurting as if you had arthritis. You shifted uncomfortably your head pounded due to your heart rate being erratic. Your lover noticed your uncomfortable shift.

"what's going on, sweetheart?" He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You made a strangled groan as you whined, sitting up after not getting comfortable enough to relax.

He sat up with you, placing his book face down onto the plush mattress. His hand ghosted around your back as you tried shifting your arm, rotating it gently to not hurt the muscle. He saw your painful expression as you sighed, defeated.

"do you need me to get anything?" He asks, you shake your head in response. Your lip quivered, you felt like you were going to cry but you held it in as your lover was right beside you.

He was afraid to hold you, unsure where the pain was focused at. He tried to think of something to give you relief, remembering that he read that warm water or a heating pad helps lessen tension in muscles.

"sweetie, is it okay if I go grab the heating pad from the infirmary?" He caresses your face, pressing his forehead against yours.

You nod, not wanting to speak as it hurt your throat to talk. He gets up, placing his phone in his pocket and yours next to you. He gives you a quick kiss on your head as he left your room quickly, not wanting to leave you by yourself for too long. Your lips quivered again, the pain washing over you in waves. It felt as if your muscles were on fire, your shoulder ached so badly you thought it might fall off.

Tears filled your tired eyes, you wanted this to end. You fall back onto the plush mattress, the pain becoming unbearable. Your body rocked with hiccups from your sobs, you prayed that you'd get better. You prayed and prayed the pain would stop, not even pain killers helped. It hurt so much, it made you question your existence.

As you sobbed, clutching Dan Heng's pillow. It was the only bit of comfort you had, he was your light during the darkest moments. He was the reason you kept fighting. You regret letting him go to the infirmary, you don't know how long you've been sobbing. You felt a gentle hand on your back, rubbing soft circles onto your muscles.

"I'm here, I'm sorry I took so long... I couldn't find it quick enough..." he pants, his hair a mess, he has the heating pad in his hand, the cord wrapped neatly in his fist.

You hiccuped, turning over. "Why do I have to suffer.." you weakly asked. His eyes softened, he plugged the pad in, waiting for it to become warm. "What did I do wrong..?" You asked, nuzzling your face into the plush pillows that felt like concrete against your muscles.

"you did nothing wrong... I'm so sorry," he whispers, pulling you to him, your achy joints hurt so bad but when you're in his arms it felt as if it was bearable. "My sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Life is so unfair to you, I wish I could take it away. I wish I could find a cure for you." He coos, rubbing your shoulder softly, hearing your sobs in his neck made his heartbreak.

"I just wish I was normal," you hiccup'd clutching his shirt in your small fists. He shushes your cries, picking you up with one arm. He shoved blankets and pillows around to support your body. He plops you down gently, kissing your face.

"I love you, you're so strong for going through this. You're so brave, you're so so brave." He whispers, pressing his forehead against your own.

You whine, your head resting against his pillow. He hushes your cries, wiping your tears away with his thumb. Kissing your chapped lips, he leans you towards him, placing the heating pad underneath your back.

"where does it hurt, lovely?" He smiles softly, wanting you to feel better. You cried out as another wash of pain went over your body.

You pointed with your right arm to where it hurt the most. He took mental notes, pressing his lips against your shoulder. It's not much, but he wants to distract you from the pain. Pretending his kisses could heal your achy body, cure your pounding headache, he wants to make you feel as if everything will be okay.

He moves down to your arm, kissing the joint softly, his hand intertwined with your own. Your cries echo'd the room, he rubs your cheek softly. Kissing you wrist, moving to your palm and your knuckles. His lips were soft and warm against the achy joints and muscles.

"I got you, my starlight." He whispers. "It'll be okay, I won't leave you alone..." he promises kissing near the artery in your wrist.

Your eyes are barely open, you were so exhausted you didn't know if it was possible to go to sleep at this point. The pain was so intense, but also numbing... maybe his kisses were working, or maybe the heating pad helped, Either way.

"I love you so so so much." His warm breath against your lips made you hum. Not whine, or groan, just a gentle hum.

Your intertwined hands was enough to let you both know you loved each other, there was no reason to say it back, he knew. He presses a kiss where your heart is, right in the middle of your sternum. Pressing his forehead against it too, "please, just give them relief..." he whispers it was almost too quiet for you to hear.

Your eyes were basically closed, the last thing you see was his fluffy dark hair resting on top of your sweater. He shuffles a bit more, massaging everywhere that could be hurting you. He hums a gentle tune, one he probably heard somewhere on one of his trailblaze missions. His voice always put you to sleep, it was comforting to hear him "sing".

He lays next to you, pulling you gently closer to him. You scooted over, tiredly. He nuzzled your hair, holding your hand on top of your chest, his palm feeling your heart eventually slow to a calm rhythm. He smiled as he kissed your head, you were finally off to sleep. Hopefully not in pain, hopefully no nightmares tonight either.

---

I'm tired. I'll give a proper fic when I feel better, for now though.. here, I guess.

#Chronically ill reader #honkai star rail x you #dan heng x gn reader #Dan heng fluff #Dan heng comfort #honkai star rail #dan heng fic #junesl1ght_ #Comfort fic #Sick fic #hurt/comfort

[fbfh]

hii! could I request headcanons for leo and a reader (gender neutral or female, whatever u prefer) with chronic fatigue? there's barely any fics with cfs rep and he's my comfort character so i thought i'd ask T-T. i adore your writing and it's great to see that the hoo fandom is still alive. thank you sm!!

oh man oh boy I love this one anon. my dearest darlingest anoniest anon. one song that always makes me think of how it feels to be in a relationship with Leo is acolyte by slaughter beach dog. Leo can always tell when your fatigue is getting bad, sometimes before you can. There's this sort of soft way he looks at you when he knows you just need to rest a little. Whatever your needs are, Leo will always be sure to meet them. If you need to lay down and sleep or rest for a while, he'll make sure you're in optimum napping conditions. Need some cuddles? he's already spooning you. Need to be alone? no problem, he's gonna work on some of his prototypes in the garage for a while, just text or call if you need anything. forehead kiss. longing warm gaze.

"I love you, estrella."

punctuated by another kiss, ofc. he always has ibuprofen or other pain killers for when you start to feel achy, and he's better at helping you keep track of your meds than your pill tracker app. Leo's love language is "I invented this for you to make your life easier", like the guy who invented rubber gloves. Leo loves you to the point of invention. he's joked for years that he's going to build you a Jetsons house, so everything is perfectly automated. all you need to do is sit in a chair while you glide down an assembly line and everything will be done for you. sometimes you text him and tell him you're having a jane jetson day. he always comes right over with snacks and tea and anything else you might need. he'll cuddle you for a while, help you out with some housework, do a little meal prep for you. he never, ever makes you feel bad or even neutral about having chronic fatigue. if it ever gets you down, he'll be right there with hugs and kisses and the sweetest, softest, most encouraging words. he tells you how he would hold up the sky for you or crawl out of hell, so helping with laudry and dishes when you're having a bad day is really no problem at all for him. he's happy to do it, happy to know your needs are met, happy to be the one to meet them. if you get any other symptoms like headaches or sore throats, he'll get every home remedy under the sun from his mom and you'll try them out until he finds what will work for you. Leo slowly makes good on his joking promise to make you a jetsons house, and you soon find your place filled with inventions here and there from Leo, little things to make your life easier. and they work. it takes so much stress out of your life knowing that your dish washer can now rinse, wash, dry, and put away your dishes, that your fridge organizes itself and prints out lists of what you're running low on - it can even send them to your phone to automatically order them. you have a roomba that Leo turned into the monster truck of roombas. not only does it vaccuum, but it also sweeps, mops, picks up your floor, can get you stuff from other rooms, and folds laundry. it's also a dehumidifier. you named him mr. butlertron. and Leo loves every motherfucking moment of it. even if all you can do is sit or lay down in the same room as him while he cleans or cooks or works on his projects, it always makes it so much better because you're there. you're there with him, so everything is good. perfect.

#drabbles #leo valdez #leo valdez drabbles #leo valdez fluff #heroes of olympus #heroes of olympus drabbles #heroes of olympus x reader #heroes of olympus fluff #chronic fatigue #chronically ill!reader #chronically ill reader #leo is SO fucking supportive #he just loves being around you

[apocalypse-shuffle]

ERIK STEVENS | KILLMONGER (the mcu)

────────────────────

────────────────────

“Just Thinking” (Erik Stevens x Fem!Reader)

| Erik’s watching you…hard (and not in the sexy way).

| SFW, fluff/angst, chronic pain, someone’s gonna start crying

| picture source: Black Panther (2018) movie

| 1k+ words

Erik is watching you.

To be fair the man nearly never didn’t have his eyes glued to you, but his gaze feels new tonight.

Erik liked to claim that he wasn’t introspective because he was sure of his every move from day one but the look he was hitting you with sure seemed introspective.

You're in your bedroom, Erik having come over after work, getting ready to go to sleep. You’re bouncing around your room getting all your medicine together in one place so you can try to rest a little easier when you get in bed.

Erik’s sitting one his side of the mattress, feet planted firmly onto your carpet as he rests his arms on his legs and tracks you with his eyes.

“Do you remember where I put the stuff for my arms?”

At your question his eyes actually briefly rise to meet yours before he nods to the bathroom.

“In that green bag under the sink,” he murmurs.

You nod and immediately start moving to get it. Your body was always hurting you, that was a factor of life you just had to learn to deal with, but your nightly routine was sacred for a reason.

The pain you felt on a “good day” didn’t compare to the liquid fire in your veins and the way you wouldn’t be able to feel your legs as you walked (if you were even able to) on a bad one. Erik knew how you got too, so whenever you did this he tended to stay out of your way.

Sometimes you felt bad about how you’d often keep him up at night because of how inescapable and overwhelming the pain could get but Erik never complained in real time.

He’d bitch and moan about being tired in the morning while pressing a kiss to your forehead and still waking up early to go for his morning run and make breakfast.

Erik liked to complain but he never complained about you.

You grab the green bag from the cabinet and a pack of alcohol wipes then come back into the room.

He still hasn’t stopped looking.

You make eye contact with him every once in a while as you start measuring things out while you wait for your cold injection to warm up enough that you can inject it into your stomach. He doesn’t not keep your gaze, he just doesn’t respond to the inquiring looks you throw at him. You leave it alone for the time being. If Erik wanted to talk to you he would in his own time, the man didn’t like to keep shit in and let it fester with you if he could help it.

It’s as you’re checking your blood pressure that he finally starts moving. He gets up and holds his hand out to you when you’re about to open the little black carrying case that has your monitor inside.

There’s a question there that you answer by placing it atop his open palm.

When he brings it closer he doesn’t let go of your hand where you’re also holding it and so you offer him your own appendage right then. You can check your pressure just fine by yourself but if he wanted to do this for you you wouldn’t deny him it. At least today.

If it was a bad day and you were in way more pain than usual you tended to get short with him and didn’t like accepting his help. That would probably always be a work in progress since you didn’t like feeling reliant on anyone.

You’re doing pretty well now though. Your pain is reduced to just pin pricks all over your skin and some stiffness in your joints, the medicine taking effect to its best.

Standing in front of you Erik unzips the bag and starts putting everything together with deft fingers. He’s got the whole process over for you in two minutes. You smile and press a kiss to the corner of his mouth with a thank you before putting the case away.

He doesn’t move back to the bed when he’s done with that but he doesn’t try to offer to give you your shot either. You had to take it every two days and never during the duration of your relationship had you once reacted positively to him (or anyone who wasn’t your doctor) wanting to do it for you. Erik always left you to it like you wanted now, no fuss.

He sighs and then he’s finally looking into your eyes. “Do you ever regret any of it?”

Cooled down medicine in your hand you only half turn to give him your attention.

“Hmm?”

He shakes his head.

“Never mind it’s nothing.”

You narrow your eyes at him but let the silence envelop you briefly in favor of readying yourself. An injection wasn’t exactly something you could afford giving partial attention to. You glance up at him, now sitting against the headboard as his eyes bore into you. Hm.

“You gonna say what’s bothering you?”

“I’m just thinking.”

You raise an eyebrow as you attach the needle to the medicine vial and pull on the plunger to extract its contents.

“Let me go buy a lottery ticket then.”

Your delivery is dry but Erik huffs out a laugh anyway. He rubs his hands down his face.

“I’m being serious though. I mean- you don’t regret me moving you around so often?”

You wipe off underneath your stomach with rubbing alcohol as you ponder what he’s not asking you.

“You mean do I regret marrying you when you're so busy and I’m so sick?”

Erik’s lips purse and he looks away from you.

Huh.

“Erik, you’re the Wakandan Ambassador now and I knew that when we got back together. You can’t be here all the time,” you shrug. “Which is fine because I was taking care of myself before you and that hasn’t changed.”

You stop talking as you administer the shot with furrowed brows; Erik doesn’t speak. You ignore both the breaking of skin and the feel of the injection with the ease of practice, pull the needle out and then wipe it clean with another alcohol wipe.

When you look up at your husband he seems to still be thinking so you hum and start cleaning up. Band Aid first, properly dispose of everything used, pack all the medicinal stuff up, and hide it back away in the cabinet. Or the fridge.

“I could help you,” Erik punches out unprompted. He seems pained, voice constricted.

“Erik,” you gasp out as you turn to him. The implications of his words don’t even fully hit you; it's the way his hands are fisted so tight they’re shaking.

“Wakanda, they have resources. They’re the most medically advanced place in the world.”

“Erik please,”

He ignores you.

“They could help you. I could-” he takes a harsh breath and looks up to you. Your stomach flips at the look in his eyes, red and brimming with unshed tears. “All it would take is a fucking week. Baby one damned week and you wouldn’t have to do none of this shit no more and you know what they’re telling me?”

He’s not yelling, though even if he was it wouldn’t really be aimed at you, but his voice carries the weight of a scream. You know it’s only not that because it’s you he’s talking to. Your heart has also dropped out of your body.

“They said no, I couldn’t bring you to Wakanda and I couldn’t bring anything from there to you. I was out voted. I am a prince and I’m still just as useless at helping you as before-”

“Erik stop.”

His blurring form in the bed tenses as he listens and you're almost panting, chest tight. He is too. You can see his chest heaving with the pressure of his words even as a tear rolls down your cheeks. You rub it away with a sigh.

“Babe,” You crawl onto the bed with a small groan that you move right past before you're over him. You plant his face with kisses.

Erik huffs out a laugh, arms circling around your middle, but it’s reluctant.

“Yeah baby?”

He pulls you into his lap and you don’t fight it, smiling and swooping down to press a kiss right in the middle of the crease between his brows. You press two more there until the area smoothes out. You were in a good mood and you did not want to be angry about everything right now.

“I don’t need you to save me.”

“But it’s-”

“Hush,” you hold your index finger up to his mouth and he dutifully quiets. He must be more fucked up about this than you thought. You take your finger away and peck him on the lips. “No buts, alright? Now I’m not saying not to hook me up if you can get access to this treatment, but right now it’s a what if and I can’t bank my life on that.”

He rolls his eyes, “It’s not a what if though.”

“Except at this point it is, E, and the same way I’m not wasting my time on a miracle cure is the same way you shouldn’t be either.”

“Alright I see what you’re saying.” Erik’s nodding but you can tell by the grin on his face he’s got something else in mind. “Or I could steal that shit.”

“And commit treason?”

This time when he laughs it’s full, nearly knocks you from your highly coveted position and everything, and the conversation isn’t done but he’ll drop it for now. Hopefully not becoming a fugitive in the meantime.

NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!! I could’ve gone into more detail with this but I simply did not want to. Also this is not proofread yet.

(I don’t like writing Erik because I don’t think I capture him well at all but I’ve been sitting on a few stories with him and decided fuck it on this one cause it’s cute. I also have a pattern to my updates which means either cute/action/angst had to be next so everything worked out well enough.)

It’s black love day so happy that, I guess! This fic is too old for me to claim I wrote it for today but we can pretend.

#erik stevens #erik killmonger #black!reader #black!y/n #erik stevens x black reader #erik stevens x black!reader #killmonger x black!reader #chronically ill reader #killmonger imagine #killmonger fluff #erik stevens fluff #killmonger x reader #erik stevens x reader #killmonger #the golden jaguar

[flordeamatista]

Glimpse of You

pairing: Beach Bar Owner!Ari Levison x curvy!Reader (any body type)

concept: Your darkness will be drained away by him. Because you gave him air, he'll let you breathe and release.

word count: 1.3k

warnings: Chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety, orgasm pain therapy,poetic smut (f receiving), talking about medication, angst feelings–feeling useless and weak, body worshiping, nicknames : my soul — princess

a/n: I dedicate this to all my love ones suffering from chronic pain. It may not be your struggle exactly, but this man would do anything for you.

Beta by the lovely @lookiamtrying

Thank you to my loves for encouraging me to write this @lfnr-blog-blog-blog and @mrsmischief209

Masterlist

There are times when you need to use a whip to help yourself up, and although you take punches after punches, you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel 

Your body curled even further into itself after a sharp stab. When it creeps into your life and takes away your joy of just being you, you are overtaken by it. Cry like waves into a dark night of pain and no one will understand why you cry. Because of this pain, you know this illness has no cure, just the ability to deal with it. 

Yes, it can make it numb, but you don't want numbness, you want freedom.

The waves of the dark thunder ripple upon your body as you drown in another cry. The bathtub continued to claw at your body, but you couldn't defend yourself. As you float with your head up, breathing heavily from your pain self, the water around you begins to soothe the burn. 

Your hands pushed up against the walls of the tub, trying to crawl to the edge for succor, for salvation. The fire surged its way to your fingers, and the white-hot pain swept over the rest of your body. Your hands gripped the edge of the tub, but the pain spread to your fingers and they dropped. Your body felt like it was boiling, and you screamed into the dark ocean of your torture.

 Cool water washed over your body, causing the burn on your body to rest. The room was ablaze with agony. The pain that accompanied it surged across your body in waves. 

Like a companion, the pain surrounding is so alive, so painful. 

You open your eyes, but the world is blurry. Your gaze is drawn to a face. His face is filled with sorrow as he stares deep into your eyes. There is nothing like his eyes in the world. There is calm and relief in it, and you have seen the world.

Ari's face is swallowed whole in the pain you are in. Your pain is his pain. He wants every drop of pain inhaling in your body to be gone because he only wishes every breath of yours to be painless. Unless he is plying your body with the most beautiful moans. His mission is to free your body. After that first night and that night in his club, he known you for a few months and started running after you.

His words make your mind less painful, and you feel a rush of relief. The pain would be less confusing if it was separate from you. 

“my soul ?'' His words forced their way into your mind, calming you like no other. 

Having weakness in front of him is not what you're used to. Traveling around and teasing him for months, now he sees the weak side of you. An individual suffering from chronic illness cannot be loved in this way because this is when one can be strong for days and then dark for the next.

It's natural to love strength, but do you love me for my own weaknesses, because I have demons of pain of my own?

In managing chronic pain, one must always be prepared for the next flare-up, never quite knowing if the threat has passed or if it is just saving its energy for the next attack. 

There had previously been a wide range of medications prescribed by doctors, including high-strength opiates, anti-inflammatories, and lidocaine injections. Pain was managed with medication, but fatigue, nausea, and concentration problems resulted, making you feel worse.

You even tried a yoga retreat but it only improve your flexibility. You traveled around Europe to be free and live your life to the fullest, but your fullest was Ari that day.

"Princess" he repeated, then you understood. It has a deeper meaning to him now than when he first said it.

He is telling you that he is you.

He lifts you out of the tub and towards his bedroom, he lays you down to ease that pain.

You flew out of your skin and the pain still felt real.

 ''Ari, we don't have to do this,'' you said. ''We don't have to do this for me.''

“I'll take it from you and just need to let go. ''It's my job to make you fly, sweet love ''

Your upper body was tickled and stroked as his lips swayed with each kiss. He gently rubbed your sides while tracing patterns on your thighs after pausing at the hips to brush his thumbs over the lines that nature had so skillfully drawn.

Because he is ready to take your pain, his voice did not carry pain. There was still heat surrounding you, but no fire.

With a blue sparkle in his eye and a playful smirk, he hovered over the fleshy mound, named after the goddess of love. He slowly laved the full length of your folds up to the top, without breaking eye contact. Your pulse quickened, you reached for Ari's hair, threading it through it and gazing at him as your hips rose off the mattress.

He continued to kiss you down. You whipped a sound that echoed down Ari's spine as he teased your little bundle of nerves with his mouth and fingers, reveling even more in the sounds you made and the way your body tensed. 

He is transforming your pain sensitivities into desires for enjoyment.

''Ari,'' you whisper. The voice has not changed, the pain is still there, but you are separate.

You're not sure how your body is even moving right now, your fingers clenched so tightly in the bed sheets that you're about to rip them apart with your nails as you clench around Ari's fingers. Suddenly, your legs shiver, your back arches, and you gasp as the pain goes away. Coming down from the orgasm happens gradually, and you squirm.

You cry a gust of dark wind and rain, tears dripping from the edges of your eyes like railings carrying sorrow and remorse.  With the slightest effort, the arms felt heavy to move, ones that could not bend or lift. 

He relaxed his jaw, allowing his tongue to slide deeper into his mouth, expertly peeling back the thin layers of flesh with the tip before poking inside, like a bird harvesting fruit. The more Ari surrendered to the taste, the more you hummed, driving him insane with vibrations that increased the more Ari lost himself in it. As he penetrated you, fully holding your hips, precision was only at the back of his mind. 

Your darkness will be drained away by him. Because you gave him air, he'll let you breathe and release.

Sensed you were close, Ari sucked again at the swollen little nub, flicking the tongue at its tip, sending you over the edge. You moaned his name as your body uncoil like a spring released from tension. A sigh escapes your lips. You're hot and heavy, and your skin is burning.

For the first time in years, it took several minutes to realize that ecstasy Ari had completely eliminated severe discomfort. The painkiller was cured of agony with pleasure at that moment, and this was the best treatment. 

In spite of the harshest waves, he will hold out to the tide so you can keep growing and blooming

#Into Your Arms AU —Ari Levinson #ari levinson x female reader #beach bar owner!ari levison x curvy!fem!reader #ari levinson x y/n #ari levinson x chronically ill!reader #beach bar owner ari #ari levinson x chronically ill reader #ari levinson fic #ari levinson smut #ari levinson angst #ari levinson fluff #chronically ill reader #ari levinson x poc!reader #ari levinson x plus size reader #ari levinson x you #ari levinson fanfiction #chris evans smut #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x poc!reader #chronically ill reader fanfic #ari levinson x fem!reader #Ari Levinson #the red sea diving resort #cevans x reader #chris evans fanfic #x reader #ari levinson x latina!reader #ari levinson x mexican!reader

[couldntbedamned]

Pairing: Stephen Strange/Reader

Warnings/AO3 Tags: Domestic Fluff, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Hurt/Comfort, Chronic Illness, Reader has a chronic illness, Doctor Stephen, Caretaking, Kamar-Taj (Marvel), Probable Misuse of the Mirror Dimension, Don’t Try This At Home, There are probably Medical Inaccuracies, But it’s about the fluff and comfort, Medicine, Healthy Relationships

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: You’re sick and thanks to a weakened immune system, having a hard time resting and fighting it off. It’s absolutely miserable but lucky for you, Stephen is more than willing to step into the role of caretaker and help you feel better.

Author’s Note: I’m back with another super self-indulgent fic featuring Stephen and a Chronically Ill Reader.

Because when sick and feeling miserable, why not hope for a strong, caring, also kind-of-an-asshole magic doctor to take care of you?

The knock at your door shouldn’t have surprised you.

Of course, Wong would have mentioned your absence to Stephen. Not just because he was your friend and cared about you, but because you were also one of the sorcerers who’d studied under him at Kamar-Taj, and he felt a lovely sort of protectiveness for you. Plus, Wong played dirty; if you were feeling resistant to his advice, he would send in Stephen who could easily sway the odds in the librarian’s favor. It was underhanded, annoying, and you absolutely respected it.

You tried to stand up so you could answer the door, but your overwrought throat had other ideas. A coughing fit started, one so bad you couldn’t even wince through it as your body tried to cough up whatever crud your weakened immune system was generating in its pitiful fight against the “upper respiratory infection” (re: common cold) the urgent care doctor had diagnosed you with. You couldn’t even call for him to come in, instead hastily grabbing your glass of water and sucking it down in an attempt to soothe the raw ache in your throat. Times like this had you almost wanting to take the risk of your immune system attacking you again if it meant a day and night without painful, hacking coughing spells.

He must have gotten tired of waiting because the sound of a portal opening echoed in your living room.

“You didn’t have to stop by,” you croaked out. “Stephen, I’m so gross right now.”

“You certainly look gross,” he agreed. He knew you well enough to know that any attempts to say you looked beautiful would be met with disdain. You hated platitudes - you heard too many of them all too often. They were well-meaning, yes, but annoying.

So, you weren’t even mad at him for agreeing with you. You’d showered, obviously, but your eyes were watery from the pain and your hair was a mess. You were wearing your oldest pajama pants with a well-used handkerchief stuffed in the pocket and a loose, ratty long-sleeved shirt. You looked - and felt - absolutely disgusting.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “Because you sound even worse."

You watched as the Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts melted away and was replaced with Stephen Strange, MD. It was always a fascinating shift to observe. Your Stephen was a healer before he was anything else.

“How long as this been going on?”

You held up five fingers.

“Five days, okay.” He pulled out a pen light and a tongue depressor. There had to be something up with those pockets of his, there just had to be! “Stick out your tongue and say ‘ah’.”

Rolling your eyes, you did as he asked.

“Oh, that’s no fun at all. It’s all kinds of inflamed.” His fingers were gentle as they felt around your neck. He produced a stethoscope. You needed to learn that pocket-expansion spell.

Without prompting you breathed deeply and let him listen to your lungs. Then you breathed normally as he moved the diaphragm to your chest.

“Your lungs actually sound good.”

He checked your ears. “And your ears are draining properly, thank goodness. Have you been to see anyone?”

You nodded. “Urgent care,” you managed.

“Can you do me a favor and please stop talking if you don’t absolutely have to, Darling?” he asked. “There’s no need to make it worse and I know it hurts to speak right now.” He looked around and seized on a notebook and pen. “Here. Write down what you need to say. Do you have the discharge papers from the doctor on-call?”

You scribbled down Kitchen table, and wondered if this was your sign to seriously look into ASL classes.

He left and returned with the papers, reading and muttering to himself. “Benzonatate capsules… those are fucking useless. And… ‘gargle warm salt water and take ibuprofen for pain and fever as needed.’ Are they incompetent there?” He demanded of no one in particular once he was finished. “Did they even bother to read your medical history? When someone with your condition, on the mediction you take, gets sick, treatment has to be aggressive. Your body can’t fight it off on it’s own, otherwise, and you’ll just get worse.” He shook his head. “Do they want you to end up in the hospital with pneumonia?”

He was preaching to the choir. You’d heard this rant before from your care team, your support group, and others. But coming from him? It warmed your heart every time. He never made you feel helpless or unable to take care of yourself, but he had no problem stepping up to advocate for you.

You held up a finger and wrote out, They are a good clinic. I did my research before I walked in.

He nodded reluctantly. You continued to write.

You know why they’re so reluctant to just prescribe more aggressive treatments on a first visit. It sucks, but it can’t be helped. I can’t afford a DSB label in my records.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but wisely refrained. You two had been over this a few different times and ultimately he understood that the final say was, in fact, yours.

“I know,” he said. “I don’t like it, but I do understand.” He’d worked in a lot of emergency care as a medical student, intern, and resident, as well as in MetroGeneral’s walk-in clinic when he wasn’t in a high enough position to finagle his way out of it. He knew the realities of it as well as anyone.

He studied you, no doubt taking in your watery eyes, unhealthy pallor, and all-around miserable body language. Then you gave a loud, hacking, desperate-to-be-productive cough and he cringed. “May I please treat you?” he asked. “It breaks the three-percent of my heart that isn’t a black, iced-over exuse for an organ to see you like this.”

You nodded with an amused snort that thankfully didn’t devolve into another fit. Please! I can’t take another night without sleep.

“I know,” he soothed. “I’ll help you. Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll be back.”

Where else would I go?

He smirked. “Behave.”

While he was gone you moved the many empty cups (all water you’d sucked down like it was elixir) to the kitchen and started loading the dishwasher. You chucked the icky handkerchief in with the laundry to be washed in the hottest water possible and grabbed a fresh one from your bedroom dresser. It was dainty and feminine but you found yourself missing your father’s all-purpose paisley ones and wished you could pilfer one from his dresser drawer. (You’d even return it. Or, you’d do your best to remember to return it. History was not in your favor in that regard.)

Feeling better about the state of your residence, if not your current health, you sat on your sofa and sipped some water. You kept your breathing calm and level as best you could, not wanting to provoke another painful coughing session. Knowing you’d probably be on your way to feeling better than you felt in close to a week, you finally let your body relax.

Stephen wouldn’t be able to magically fix you, you knew, but he would help you get more comfortable and to a point where you could actually rest and start to recover. Most importantly, however, he always asked for your permission before doing so. That alone meant more to you than you could adequately express.

His instinct was always to heal; it was in the core of his being. But he never pushed or browbeat you into accepting, even when you could tell that he really really wanted to. His respect for your autonomy was one of the greatest gifts he could give you.

He stepped through another portal soon enough and he carried an insulated grocery bag and wore a leather messenger bag with a flat bottom. He set the grocery bag on the kitchen counter and brought the messenger bag with him.

Stephen?

He made a gesture and the Mirror Dimension shattered into being around you.

“Now,” he said with a pleased-at-his-own-cleverness smile. “As we’re in the Mirror Dimension, no can legally prove that I’m essentially committing a felony.”

He withdrew a tinted bottle with the screw cap you preferred. “This is an antibiotic. Take one pill once a day, preferably in the morning after breakfast. Speaking of breakfast, you’ll do well to avoid dairy for a couple of hours before and after taking this.”

Got it.

“And finish the entire bottle,” he added.

You saluted before writing Were these gained by legal means?

Stephen affected a dignified look. "Kamar-Taj is not beholden to Earthly legalities and our residents come from all walks of life. If they feel the need to use skills and knowledge previously learned for the betterment of our home, who am I to judge?"

Only slightly sketchy, then.

“I wouldn’t being you something that was neither safe nor effective, I promise. I would never harm a patient, especially one as precious to me as you.”

I know.

He withdrew a bottle from the bag, this one smaller but heavier. It wore the dosage cap like a little hat.

“The good cough syrup. This, you take right before bed. Once you take it, you need to lay down, because it’s strong.” His expression was serious, as it always was when it came to medicine. “I mean it, Darling. No cooking, no lifting heavy items, and definitely no going out and driving after you take a dose. The bottle is spelled to only administer the prescribed dosage in the provided cup, so there’s no risk of pouring too much or taking it before it’s needed again.”

What’s in it?

“An antihistamine and a very low concentration of codeine. I know you’d rather avoid narcotics and I want to agree, but Sweetheart, you need to be able to sleep right now. Your body can’t sustain this.”

Reluctantly, you nodded. Just because you needed to take it, didn’t mean you had to like it.

He pulled out a larger bottle of liquid with another dosing cup. “This isn’t quite the good stuff but it’s suitable for day use and is non-habit forming.” He set it next to the other bottles. “It’s also spelled to only pour the prescribed dosage.”

You smiled, happy at the compromise.

“And last but certainly not least, what is quite literally an ancient Kamar-Taj remedy: throat lozenges crafted by a team of Masters from herbs and honey harvested from our greenhouses and hives. I asked for their recommendation and they insisted I bring you,” he studied the bag. “Very Extraordinary Berry.”

Your eyes were watery again, but it wasn’t from pain.

Thank you so much.

“I love that you value your independence and I know that you’re used to being the care taker in most cases. But it really is my pleasure to help,” he said. “You know I’m not good with words but you’re always telling me I show you much I love you, so hopefully this counts as one of those times.”

You nodded. It's absolutely one of those times.

Stephen stood and checked his watch - a cheap novelty watch that featured Spider-Man and was better suited for a pre-teen. You’d gotten it for him as cheeky little April Fool’s joke but he swore up and down that he loved it and wore it every day.

“It’s close to nine. Why don’t you have a juice bar, take some of the good stuff, and go to bed? I’ll put the groceries away and take care of everything else.”

Bed - with proper sleep! - sounded wonderful.

Okay.

“I brought strawberry and lemon flavors, since you apparently have the palette of my elderly neighbor Estelle.”

Don’t be a hater just because you’re a wuss when it comes to the nirvana that is lemon flavor.

“And I’ll make you Estelle’s recipe for chicken soup.” He pulled out two notecards. “Exactly the way she made it because I’d rather face Dormammu than her ghost haunting me for messing up her pride and joy.”

Oh that sounds good! The instant stuff just doesn’t cut it.

You enjoyed the frozen juice bar more than you’d enjoyed anything since you’d gotten sick. Then you took your dose of “the good stuff” under Stephen’s watchful - but not patronizing - eye. He pushed some water on you and helped you to bed. He even refilled your humidifier and tucked you in.

“Sleep well, Darling. I’ll be here in the morning, okay?”

You nodded. “Love you,” you mouthed.

“I love you, too.”

He left and shut the door behind him. For the first time in days, you were able to sleep peacefully.

Smut Hub Summer Camp Bingo @sagechanoafterdark: Choose Your Trope: Hurt/Comfort

#couldntbedamned fic #stephen strange x reader #doctor strange x Reader #stephen strange x chronically ill reader #doctor strange x chronically ill reader #chronically ill reader #chronic illness #stephen strange #doctor strange #smuthubsummercamp23

[descendantofthesparrow]

Something there - Walter Deville x reader - Oneshot

featuring Chronically ill reader!!! TW! mentions of self harm, death, and blood-drinking. takes place somewhere in the 14-1500s.

=

You let out a slow breath as you stepped into the castle that was known as Carfax Abbey, your grip tight on your lady's maids arm as your parents led the way through the grand hall and into the grand dining room; where the master of the three great families resided for the moment.

Your great-aunt died a few months back, allowing ample time for the master to process the event and select a new bride from the Alexander family. One of which-was you. Behind you were your fellow alexander ‘brides’; all around the same age as you, some just a smidge older. But you were all here for the same reason.

For Master Deville to take his pick of the litter, to pick his new bride of the available girls of the Alexander family. You had only seen him maybe once or twice in your life, unable to go to many of the grand parties he had hosted for the families, or greet him when he came to visit your home. You were different than the others, in a very obvious way. You had been born ill, only able to walk for short periods, constantly short of breath, vision a constant blur, and you were nearly always tired.

Even clutching onto Emma(your lady's maid) was extremely taxing on your body, and you knew you would need to sit down soon. Your parents hoped you would be chosen if only to not see you struggle through your life any longer. They had done their best to make you comfortable, but to see you wheeze, huff, and shake; just to stand, made their hearts ache. They prayed the master would take pity upon their only daughter.

They were told you probably wouldn’t make it to 25, you were barely 23 now, and it was getting harder to wake up as the months went by. They hoped and prayed to whatever god or demons that were listening to give you a chance with the master. They would be happy to grow old and watch you thrive with the master; but first, he would have to choose you.

Of which-today, was the first of several days for the master to make his choice. He wasn’t a man of looks, as you heard from your mother, he preferred for his brides to have something to them; artists, historians, fencers, scientists, writers. Many assumed he would want someone quiet, someone to stand there and look pretty as he stood front and center.

But apparently, that was wrong, his eldest bride-Viktoria, was quite….outspoken, a little bit mean, bloodthirsty, and jealous. You had heard the horror story of when your great aunt was chosen after her great-grandaunt had died, Viktoria had practically tortured her the first few years of the marriage, nearly driving your aunt to madness if the Billington bride hadn’t stepped in.

You just hoped you would be spared of her wrath if you were chosen, but hell-you had heard even those waiting to be picked were bullied by the Klopstock bride.

Your lady's maid had promised to be at your side whenever she could, knowing once the master took you aside to basically interview you, she would be unable to protect you. It only made you feel a bit better.

You blinked back into reality as everyone flooded into the grand dining room, the table pushed to one side with its chairs facing the set of doors that opened into the brilliant gardens that were lovingly tended to by the staff. Emma and your parents quickly shuffled you over to the table, sitting you down and getting you a glass of water.

As you had been ushered in, you had seen a glimpse of the master; standing in the sunlight and surveying every potential bride that came in. His eyes were shrouded by the sun, but you could feel his gaze as you stepped inside, lingering as you were sat down and taken care of.

He studied the dark circles under your eyes, the paleness of your lips, the noticeable flush in your cheeks; he could even smell it, the pain that clung to your bones, the sickness that never truly left you. He felt a small tug in his chest, an ache that told him to talk to you, to listen to you. He ignored it for the moment, knowing he had to examine all the choices before settling on a bride that would hopefully last longer than 100 years.

He waited until the last potential bride stepped in, one he recognized as Carla, and then spoke up “Thank you for coming. All of you, I know for many of you it was quite a journey to travel here�� he made eye contact with your parents, your mother's hand resting on your shoulder, your skin freezing against her warm palm. They nodded back, feeling a bit of hope for you from how he seemed to almost speak directly to you and your family.

The master stepped further into the room, his face finally out of the blinding sunlight, revealing his diamond-cut jaw, crystal blue eyes, and soft-looking black hair. You swallowed a bit, noticing some of the other girls doing the same, he truly matched the stories of his beauty.

You leaned towards your lady's maid, whispering in her ear; “He’s so pretty” she giggled, her nose scrunching slightly as the master's eyes flickered over to you, the corner of his lip quirking a bit; a dimple making itself known for a split moment. You felt yourself flush, knowing he had heard your every word thanks to his supernatural hearing.

The master continued to speak, letting the families know all 7 girls would be staying for the week, to give him enough time to make a proper choice among them. Your mother’s hands clutched your shoulder, your father gave you a reassuring look. You had never been apart from them in all your life, your health didn’t allow you to, but you weren't all that worried; you were sure the master would make sure you were taken care of.

While you weren't a bride, you were a part of the Alexander family, and that alone warranted your protection. You just hoped you wouldn’t have a flare-up, the last one kept you bedridden for nearly two months. You were snapped back to reality as the master clapped his hands, a smirk on his handsome face “Now, I’m sure you’re all hungry, brunch is out in the gardens; please, indulge yourselves.” he gestured behind him, and the glass double doors opened, two butlers waiting on either side, each holding one of the doors.

Your fellow Alexander ‘brides’ all chattered with excitement, some giggling as they passed by the master. You huffed, you had just sat down and now you were going outside again. Your parents and lady’s maid let you try to stand up by yourself, always wanting to give you some sort of independence since your permanent illness would make sure you would never truly be independent. After a couple of attempts, you shook your head with a huffed sigh, your legs nearly paralyzed with pain, your father went to hoist you up; only to be stopped by the master

“Allow me,” he said, looking down at you with a silent question for your permission to carry you. You nodded, flushing as he crouched next to your chair and easily lifted you out of it, your arms going around his neck and Emma fixed your dress before the master walked out into the gardens, some of your fellow ‘brides’ looking excited for you(some looking slighted at the master's clear tilt towards you), giggling amongst each other as the master set you into one of the free chairs, your parents soon sitting on either side of you.

The master announced he had some work to finish up in his study, but you all had the rest of the day to get comfortable in the house and he would see everyone at dinner. With that, he left and everyone burst into chatter, some girls swooning over the master while others muttered to themselves, the two nearest two you; Kalista and Serena(two of your favorite cousins in fact) turning to you with teasing grins.

“it seems the master has already taken a shine to you (n/n)~!” Serena laughed, her teasing light-hearted and sweet, chuckling as you flushed and looked down at your plate, Emma already in the midst of fetching your food. “Quite” Kalista hummed, accepting her plate of food from one of the butlers and grabbing a strawberry “I’ve heard the master does take a bit to warm up to new brides, and yet it seems you’ve caught his eye already. And you’re the one he hasn’t seen in a very long time”

You hummed in agreement; you could account the master's interest in you to you really never being around when he was. Again; thanks to your illness. You could recall maybe two times you were in the same room, once when you were very young and attending your Aunts wedding(your mother's sister, not your great-aunt), you had been the flower girl and spotted the master in the shadows; and just like today, you had thought he was very pretty.

You could recall telling him that as well, beaming up at him with your front tooth missing as he looked a bit flustered at the bluntness and then smiled down at you, almost looking thrown off at you.  “uh, thank you?” he nearly stuttered, as if he was unsure how to respond to such a genuine compliment, likely one he hadn't received in years. You told him he was welcome, and stumbled back off to rejoin the festivities, and only 10 minutes later you were tucked away in a quiet corner, dragged down by sudden fatigue, pain bolting up your legs, and the lack of air entering your lungs.

To this day you swore you heard the master hum down at you, and lay his jacket across your smaller body, the shivers that wracked it slowly stopping as he walked away.

You smiled at the faded memory, by the time you were conscious; the jacket was gone and you were back in your bed, the fire alight in the corner of your room and a bed warmer lay beneath your sheets. But you remembered what it smelled like; faded metal and a grand forest.

You perked up as Emma set a plate in front of you, decorated with fresh fruit, French toast, and eggs. You hummed, rubbing your hands together, huffing as you realized your hands were cold-they were always cold, no matter the weather. As you began to eat, you felt a pair of eyes on the back of your head, you turned just enough see into the castle, seeing the master looking right back down at you from his upstairs study.

He almost looked surprised to see you looking back at him, biting the inside of his cheek as you carefully waved to him with a shy smile. he waved back, just as shy-then seemed to realize he was doing it and turned away, disappearing from the window; likely going back to work.

You hummed to yourself, turning back to your food and digging back in, listening to the conversations around you, some talking about the master, some talking about what they would do if they were chosen, and some talking about how to get the masters approval and become the ~Alexander Bride~.

You had a feeling they wouldn’t be chosen no matter what they did, some of their-plans-sounded very…pushy, and most likely the master could hear them from his study, and had already crossed them off his list.

Then again, he did marry Viktoria.

-

You cursed whoever put you in the upstairs room, one that particularly sat all the way in the back of the halls, leaving you nearly isolated from anyone and the furthest away from the stairs-which were the bane of your existence. “Great, just great” you muttered to yourself as you clung to the wall, attempting to get back to your room after going to the bathroom, huffing and wincing as a raging headache made itself known, along with the usual pain going up your legs.

You could feel your lungs ache with the effort to keep working, and you had a feeling you weren’t going to make it to dinner that night. “lady (y/n)!” you turned, seeing the lady's maid for the Alexander brides, Mrs. Swift, rushing up to your side, her brown hair streaked with grey and pulled back into a bun “oh dear-here, let me help! Oh why they put you all the way in the back will never make sense-come’ come” you smiled and thanked her, shaking your head as she told you it was her job to do so.

“Still, you’re going out of your way, you probably have many things to do” you mumbled, leaning heavily into Mrs. Swift as she practically carried you back to your room, setting you on the bed as soon as you arrived. You went to take off your shoes but Mrs. Swift quickly attended to that before you could even lean down, and you huffed slightly-Emma always let you take care of that, again-just to give you that bit of independence.

"Thank you,” you told Mrs. Swift anyway, smiling at her as she set your shoes by the bed. You looked out the window, seeing the sun was beginning to set “um-could-could you tell” you fiddled with your fingers, biting the inside of your lip, glancing down as Mrs. Swift turned to you “Could you tell the master, I won't be able to make it to dinner? I can hardly walk on my own and Emma was excused for the rest of the day, and-and I don’t wish to be a burden on anyone”

Mrs. Swift frowned, clearly about to say you weren’t a burden when you suddenly felt a presence at the door and you turned, freezing as you saw the master, looking back at you with those ocean eyes of his. “Nonsense” the master huffed, frowning a bit as he stepped further into the room “you shouldn’t be left out, you deserve to be at dinner; just as everyone else will be.” you swallowed harshly, curling in on yourself; preparing to slightly back talk to the master.

“well-i-I can't walk on my own right now, it hurts to” the master looked very concerned at that “and-everything is flaring up-i-I’m afraid I would just be holding everyone back” you ended in a whisper, knowing he could hear every word. The master just shook his head again, turning to Mrs. Swift and speaking in a tone that clearly meant you couldn’t convince him to leave you out for the night.

“Get her ready by dinner time, and then come get me-I’ll escort Ms. (y/n) to dinner myself” you were about to object, about to say he didn’t have to do that for you-that you didn’t want to be a burden, but he just stared you down. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. So you just sighed and nodded, pouting a bit as he nodded back with a smirk and walked out of the room; leaving you with flushed cheeks and…a surprised Mrs. Swift.

“Well that’s a first” she muttered, shaking her head as you asked her what she meant. “nothing my dear, now, let’s select your dress for tonight, something lightweight hm?”

-

You kinda wished your parents were staying the week with you, but alas-they weren’t, such was the same for the rest of the girls, parents came to drop them off-ate brunch, and then they were off, leaving their daughters behind with their maids and the master; hoping for the best.

You could really use a dad hug right about now, nervously sitting at the foot of your bed, dressed in a light cotton gown that was sinched gently to your waist, the emerald green of the tunic dress complimenting the deep brown of your boots.

You played with your fingers as the flickering light of the fireplace danced across your face, the sun having been set a few minutes ago; Mrs. Swift having left to get the master around the same time. You sat up with flushed cheeks as someone knocked on your door. You told them to come in, looking down as the master walked in, looking quite nice in a deep red flowing shirt, a vest overtop it with a long vest like-jacket overtop that, with dark trousers and leather boots.

“you look lovely, Ms. (y/n), are you ready for dinner?” the master complimented, then asked, a smile on his lips as you nodded, allowing him to wander over and pick you up, your legs feeling like pins as you attempted to move them to get situated in his arms. You sighed at the feeling, knowing you had pushed your body too far today and would be either bedridden for the next few days, or carried everywhere.

If the master was the one to carry you though, you weren’t sure if that was such a bad thing. You huffed at the thought, forcing it away as the master walked out of your room, Mrs. Swift closing the door behind him and following him to the grand dining room, where it was set up for a grand dinner, a two wonderfully cooked hogs set in the middle of the table, ready to be carved and served.

“Smells wonderful” you muttered, tucking your chin into your chest as the master chuckled, his voice vibrating in your ear. He set you down near the head of the table and went to talk with his butler, Mr. Fields if you remembered correctly; after a few moments he walked back over to you and told you that everyone would be down soon, he didn’t want to make you a spectacle by arriving last with you.

You smiled, thanking him quietly, you really didn’t like being made the center of attention; especially when it related to something you couldn’t control. Soon the rest of the girls came flooding into the dining room, Serena and Kalista quickly sitting on either side of you, giving you knowing(teasing) grins as you sank into your seat; feeling your ears and cheeks heat up as the master went to stand at the head of the table, only two chairs down.

As soon as everyone was sat, the master clapped his hands together, his gaze running across the 7 girls, all hoping to be chosen to be the Alexander bride. “once again, I thank you all for coming. As you all know, Lady Marian Alexader, passed a few months ago; and as per the contract your ancestors made so many moons ago-I am in need of a new Alexander bride.” The girls all glanced amongst each other, giggling at the prospect of being his bride, but you kept your eyes on him, and he looked back; furrowing his brows as he heard a slight wheeze as you breathed. “of which, over the next week, I will make my selection. Do not be afraid to show who you truly are and what your passions are, I will make my choice this next Monday, eight days after today.”

One day for each potential bride to make their ‘argument’ to the master. There were 7 of you, and starting tomorrow, he would begin his…well, his interviews with each girl. You hoped your current flare-up wouldn’t develop into something more. You sighed to yourself, knowing you probably just jinxed yourself. You jumped slightly, doing your best to cover your surprised cough in your elbow as the Master clapped his hands again.

Serena patted your back, giving you a comforting smile as you looked at her bashfully, knowing you had drawn attention to yourself by coughing in the middle of the master's speech. Some girls-who didn’t know of your many illnesses- glared at you, while the others just gave you smiles like Serena, quietly telling you it was okay and you weren’t embarrassing yourself or them.

The master had looked at you for a long moment, furrowing his brows as he heard your breath continue to wheeze and struggle-just like it had upon your arrival. He cleared his throat quietly, looking back towards the other girls “tonight, we dine together, tomorrow, I dine with one of you-as shall I dine with each of you on each night.” He held out his hands towards the feast laid on the table, the first of many meals of the week “please, eat.”

With that, the table burst into chatter, butlers and maids moving forward to help the girls fill their plates; you were distracted attempting to get some air back in your lungs-not wanting to deal with an asthma attack right now. You smiled as Serena set a few slices of the roasted hog on your plate, along with your favorite sides; smiling brightly as you thanked her.

“Honestly I’m surprised you remembered which part of the hog I liked” you muttered to her, laughing as she gave you a very sister-like ‘duh’ look. “And why would I forget? It’s the part I don’t like” she giggled, stealing one of your roasted carrots and popping it in her mouth, laughing as you sneakily tossed a dried cranberry at her.

While you feasted, you glanced back at the master, seeing his plate only having meat and stuffing, his cup filled with a wine that smelled-different than any you had before. You ignored it, knowing what the master was. A demon-many called him; by those outside the village the castle rested over, but to the families, he was near a savior, one who had protected them from war and famine over the last few centuries. It would make sense for him to have only meat and ‘wine’ as his meal, you never thought vampires would be interested in vegetables or fruits.

By the end of dinner, everyone was sated and antsy for the events to come, glancing between the master and their almost empty plates; wondering what would happen after dessert was served. Which-was about now, a tray full of pastries, tarts, and pies being carried into the room, the girls making their selection of the spread.

Your eyes locked onto the custard pie. Walter caught your gaze and gestured for it to be set on your plate before anyone else could snatch it. Carla looked a bit disappointed but didn’t speak of her loss, happily taking a blueberry tart instead.

You hummed happily as you took a bite of the custard pie, dancing in your seat slightly as the table burst into chatter again, feeling eyes on you as you ate. You looked towards the feeling, seeing the master looking at you over his chalice, his brow perked with interest. You felt your cheeks flush and you looked back down at your plate, puffing your cheeks as Kalista gave you a teasing smirk.

Soon the master announced that you all had the rest of the night free and were free to explore the castle, but you were all warned to avoid the north wing as that was where his other two brides were(along with the currently unoccupied Alexader suite), and he wanted to avoid any…events. You knew he meant the Klopstock bride, Viktoria, you had met the current Billington bride once, when you were younger, and she was quite nice.

Everyone nodded and soon dispersed, leaving you alone at the table with the master and Serena “Do you need help up to your room?” Serena asked, pushing in her chair and pulling yours out, fully willing to carry you back up to your room.

You hummed, nodding slightly, your legs still felt like pins, and it would be agony to walk. Serena nodded back, about to help you stand when the master stepped next to your chair “Allow me, please” he said with a smile, bowing his head as Serena skipped back with a grin directed down at you. “Of course Lord Deville, goodnight (y/n)~” she sang, skipping off to join Kalista in exploring the castle.

You huffed at her, turning back to the master with a rapidly beating heart, clearing your throat in an attempt to get rid of the wheeze coming from your chest. “May I?” he asked again, his arms reaching towards you. “you may” you whispered back, lifting your arms to wrap around his shoulders as his hands curled around your back and knees, easily lifting you and carrying you back to your room, gently setting you back on your bed and stepping back as you got comfortable.

“If you need anything, just call out, there's always someone awake around here.” the master said with a polite bow of his head, smiling softly as you thanked him and waited till he left; letting out a shuddering sigh as his footsteps receded from your room. “oh-my-god” you muttered, patting your heated cheeks.

Nearly for the entirety of dinner-the master had been staring at you. You could count on one hand the times he looked away, but-gods-for the first time in a very long time, you didn’t feel like you were being stared at like an oddity, but out of pure interest. You really count recall the last time you had been looked at like that, other than by your close family or your best friend Grace.

You took a deep breath to regain your senses, shaking your head “Probably heard you wheezing the entire dinner” you grumbled, reaching behind your back and undoing the strings of your dress, slowly and carefully getting undressed; sighing in relief when you were down to your undergarments, that dress was one of your lightest and easiest to wear for your bad days-but still-it was quite tight around the waist area.

“Ms?” you heard Mrs. Swift call out from the other side of the door “Do you need any assistance getting ready for bed?” you looked around, and then down at yourself…yeah-you couldn’t feel your legs and you really didn’t want to sleep in your underwear. “yes please” you called back, sitting up straight as Mrs. Swift stepped in and got straight to work, helping you get changed and setting your dress and undergarments in their proper places.

“Is there anything else you’ll be needing ma’am?” Mrs. Swift asked, her hands clasped in front of her. You nodded slightly, pointing at the fireplace a few feet away from the window and your bed “yes, could-could you possibly have that lit up? I know it was on a few hours ago but” you paused, playing with your fingers “heat helps the flare-ups” Mrs. Swift nodded with a smile and hurried off to gather what she needed to make the fire.

As Mrs. Swift tended to that, you got comfortable in bed, already falling asleep by the time she returned.  She made sure the fire was safe, set your blankets right, and quietly made her way out of your room, jumping slightly as she saw the master just down the hall-his head tilted slightly at your door. “She’s settled for the night master Deville” Mrs. Swift whispered, knowing he could easily hear every word. “She’s as comfortable as she can be”

The master let out a low hum, his eyes trained on your bedroom door. “Good, make sure she is for the rest of her stay” the master muttered, turning on his heel to attend to his duties before he turned in for the night. Mrs. Swift nodded-and returned to her duties, checking up on you every once in a while.

-

The next day was quiet-the master had breakfast with his potential bride of choosing-as he would do for the rest of you; and spent nearly the entire day with her. At one point you adventured off to the library(with Emma and Serena’s help of course), finding the two sitting by the grand window, enjoying a quiet lunch together.

You caught the master's eye when you were on your way out, a thin and well-read book in your hands. The master glanced down at the book and looked pleasantly surprised, a smile crinkling at his eyes-but his attention was diverted back to his present ‘date’ nodding along to the woman's quiet words.

You continued to catch the master's eyes throughout the day, when you were having afternoon tea with Serena and Kalista-seeing him wander in the gardens with his current date, Emmalie-you thought her name was, his eyes looking up to see you, and staying there for a moment before his attention was once again brought back to Emmalie.

Later-you were out in the gardens, giving Emma a chance to rest after practically carrying you around all day(you didn’t want to stay cooped up all week) resting under the shade of a tree, when you felt eyes on you. You looked up, seeing the master looking at you, curiously. You smiled back, waving a bit before going back to the book you had procured from the library.

You heard him walk over to you, his form joining you in the shade “Now that’s a book I haven’t seen in a while, at least to be read by anyone else than I” the master hummed, his head tilted down at you, his eyes almost shining in the shade. You hummed back, carefully folding your finger between the page you had landed on and the cover-closing the book and looking up at the master.

“Well-its one my great aunt, Marian, read to me when I was a babe, I do remember enjoying it, and I very much still do” the master looked pleased, a spark in his eye that wasn’t there a moment before, and hadn’t been there all day oddly enough. “Good, good” the master muttered, glancing over his shoulder “that is one of my favorites as well, a first edition actually-one of the first few prints the author made” you gasped, unable to help the grin on your face as you held the book closer to your chest-a sight that made the master’s shoulders drop a bit, a crinkle coming to his eye.

“That’s amazing” you whispered, looking back down at the book, gently caressing the fine cover. You didn’t see the soft gaze the master was looking down on you with, tilting his head at you curiously. His attention was once again diverted to his date for the day, she was walking out of the manor-clearly looking for him. “well, I have to go” the master muttered, righting his shirt collar-looking down at you again with a smile “I look forward to our day together” you smiled up at him and nodded, telling him the same, watching as he walked away and greeting Emmalie with his arm-leading her off towards the stables.

You hummed, opening the book again and continuing to read-wondering what the master had in store for your ‘date’ day.

-

The next day you were in bed all day, resting your legs from the last two days, they felt almost numb-yet you felt nothing but pain when you tried to move them. So you settled for reading the book you had procured the day before and regaining your strength, thanking whatever gods were listening for not afflicting you with any illness, those always made you feel like you had been run over by an ox.

When Emma came by to make sure you were comfortable and give you dinner, she giggled a bit as she corrected your blankets “What’s so funny?” you asked her, licking your lips free of sauce as you set down a piece of ham. “Nothing nothing” she hummed, looking back at you with a cheeky grin as she checked the fire “just the master was asking about you~”

You felt your cheeks flush, but convinced yourself and Emma that he was being a good host, it was his right to wonder about the whereabouts of one of his guests. “uhuh, keep telling yourself that my lady, but he did seem very concerned, reminded me of your mother when you have a flare-up” she teased, remembering the furrow of the master's brow when he asked where you had been all day-he hadn’t seen you once, unlike the day before.

When she told him you had been bedridden due to your legs, he only looked more worried, only relaxing when she told him you had gone through this exact situation before and had healed within a day or two with proper rest. You attempted to reach out and smack Emma for telling you such lies-huffing as she skipped out of your reach and took your empty cup, going out to get you a refill.

You sighed, leaning back against your pillows, wincing as you pulled up your legs-shocks of pain going up your thighs and surrounding your knees. You froze as someone knocked on your door-couldn’t have been Emma, she had just left- you called for them to come in, feeling your face flush as the master stepped in, leaving the door open behind him as he took you in.

“Good evening,” the master said, his hands placed behind his back, rocking forward for a moment before he stood straight again “I just, wanted to see how you were doing. I hadn’t seen you all day, your lady’s maid-Emma” he quickly said her name as you narrowed your eyes, she had become family in the last five years she had served you, you saw no point to call her by her title. “Said you were bed-ridden. I just-wanted to make sure you were okay.”

You smiled, tilting your head just so-the master almost mimicked you with the motion “I’ll be fine. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before; just need a few days to let my legs rest.” The master looked deep in thought at your words, his eyes turning down to the book in your hands. “Thank you, for checking on me” The master seemed to snap back into reality, nodding at your words.

“Yes, of course. Would-“ he cleared his throat, pointing at the book, your bookmark having made its place at the end for the 4th time now. “would you like to read something else? I have a few suggestions if you would like?” you beamed, nodding; you would love to read anything from his library-especially since you seemed to have similar tastes in literature.

The master nodded, taking a quick step back “I’ll be right back then” with that, he stepped out of your room and closed the door behind him, his steps quickly fading away from your room-it almost sounded like he was running to get to his library. You giggled to yourself, happily admitting to yourself that his current attitude was very-cute.

Emma was the first to return, setting your refilled cup on the nightstand next to your bed and bowing out as you told her to enjoy the rest of her night “I’ll check up on you in a little bit my lady, goodnight” Emma hummed, closing the door behind her. You grabbed your cup, sipping at it while you finished re-reading the book you had borrowed from the masters library, perking up as his now familiar knock echoed from your door. “Come in” you called, smiling as the master pushed open the door, a small stack of books in his hand. You beamed at the sight, and here you thought he would only get you one.

“I couldn’t just pick one” he chuckled, seeming a bit shy as he walked over to your side and set the books down next to your bed, rubbing the back of his neck as he stood tall. “but you should enjoy these, they’re similar to that one” he pointed down at the book in your hands. You hummed, closing the one you had just finished again and setting it aside-picking up the top book from the new stack.

“Thank you, lord Deville; you really didn’t have to do this for me” you hummed, smiling as he shrugged, his hands going behind his back as he leaned forward a bit then stood straight-something you noticed he did when was thinking. “You can just call me Walter, or Walt.” The master-Walter-muttered, almost seeming shy in the way he said it. You giggled a bit, tilting your head “Do the other girls get that privilege?” you teased, feeling a bit brave. Walter just grinned back. “No” and with that, he bowed out, leaving you flustered.

“He did that on purpose.” You muttered to yourself, burying your now very warm face into your new book.

-

The next few days were about the same as before, you were practically stuck in your room; Emma and Mrs. Swift going in and out to make sure you were comfortable, with some visits from Serena and Kalista, the two soon telling you about their days with the master. Upon the seventh day of the week, you were finally up and around-of course having Emma with you so you didn’t hurt yourself. You quickly got dressed upon waking up that fresh spring morning, and then soon found your way outside, basking in the glow of the warm sun.

You felt compelled to take a nap, the grass underneath you so soft and the sun like a wonderful blanket. But you had only woken up a few hours ago-it wasn’t even nine yet-so you settled for reading one of the last few books Walter had given you, leaning against a large tree as a breeze brushed through your hair.

“There you are,” you looked up, seeing Walter walking towards you, a basket in one hand and a blanket in the other, wearing a soft blue tunic over a greyish top. “Feeling better?” you nodded, stretching your legs out to show him. “Good, hungry?” you nodded again, setting aside your book as Walter got down on the ground next to you and set down the basket-full of breakfast foods-and flared out the blanket.

“A picnic?” you hummed, adjusting yourself to sit on the blanket, leaning on your hand as Walter did the same and began to sift through the basket. “I thought it appropriate since you’ve been stuck inside since the third day, question” Walter perked up, suddenly remembering something, looking at you as he handed you a slice of warmed brown bread.

You hummed, biting into it; nodding for him to ask away “Can you ride a horse?” you laughed, bright and slightly surprised at the question but it was valid, you could only walk for short amounts of time, horse riding took a lot of leg strength, but yes-you could ride. Your horse at home was trained to allow you to ride with minimal use of your legs.

“Yes, yes I can.” You giggled, patting Walter’s knee as he flushed a bit, probably thinking the question was a bit personal or pushy. “I love riding actually” Walter looked relieved at that, taking a small breath as you dug into the breakfast he had unfolded, his eyes looming over to the book you had read about halfway through now.

“How are you liking that one?” Walter asked, pointing at the book, chewing on a piece of bread as you picked the aforementioned item up and shook it about, beaming all the while. “I think it’s wonderful; thank you for suggesting it.” Walter smiled, nodding a bit. “You’re welcome, it’s one of my favorites, I have yet to meet its equal.”

You nodded; you could easily say the same. It was a daring tale of true love and adventure, with a dash of sword fighting and humor to put the cherry on top.

The rest of your morning was filled with quiet talking, mostly about the books you had read over the last few days while being bed-ridden, and you asked if there were any more books he would suggest for you to read before you went back home(even if you were chosen, you would return home for a few months to gather your things and get ready for the wedding). He hummed, rubbing his chin. “I do, most if not all the books I gave you so far are from my personal collection, and I do have a wide arrange of books.” Walter chuckled, leaning back on his palm, smiling as you laughed, happy to know that.

“Would you be willing to let me into that collection and take a pick? You have very good taste and I would love to read more” you asked, leaning towards him and nearly squealing as he nodded, tilting his head just so as you silently celebrated. “We can go after we finish up here if you’d like? If you feel up to it” Walter suggested, grinning as you nodded and began to clean up the mess you and Walter had made during breakfast “I’ll get it darling” you froze as the pet name slipped from Walter’s lips, a name he either didn’t realize or care he called you, quickly cleaning up the blanket and putting the leftovers back inside the basket-helping you stand and curling his arm around your waist as you practically rushed him back inside-eager to see the library again.

He chuckled at that, easily holding you to his side as you ventured to the library, soon guiding you to a quiet corner that was brightly lit with a large chair in the corner, hidden from the rest of the library. There was only one bookshelf, filled with books-there were some spaces but you guessed those were the books Walter had already taken out to give you.

You selected two more, carefully watching Walter’s reaction as you did so-happily taking two mid-sized books that his eyes nearly sparked at. Soon you found yourself outside again, under the shade of a large tree, your legs tossed over Walter’s lap as he rested against the trunk, his eyes nearly closed as you read aloud from the book you had been reading before his arrival.

“The Sicilian returned to the other side of the boat. “She would have screamed,” he said. “She was about to cry out. My plan was ideal as all my plans are ideal. It was the moon's ill timing that robbed me of perfection” he scowled unforgivingly at the yellow wedge above them. Then he stared ahead. “There!” the Sicilian pointed. “The cliffs of insanity.” You giggled as you finished the paragraph, this character certainly was a bit daft-no matter how much ‘thought’ he put into his plans or ego he put into his brain.

Walter smiled at the sound, a sound he would like to hear more often. He opened his eyes, looking at you, your eyes glued to the leather-bound book that was decorated with painted gold, your fingers carefully trailing the words on the well-read page.

You continued to read, and Walter let his eyes fall shut again, one of his hands finding your knee that rested across his lap-enjoying your voice as you read one of his favorite books. Many thought his choice of books would be poetry, dramas, tragedies; things similar to that, but he liked adventure-books filled with passion and knowledge beyond his own. And it now was obvious you liked the same, happily reading anything he suggested-you had even picked out another one of his favorites upon your first visit to his library.

His current brides-Viktoria Klopstock, and Vasilica Billington-didn’t find such joy in reading like he did-it was how he escaped the word as a child and teen, so to finally share that with someone…was a bit…relieving, if he must say. He never quite connected to them as a husband should, he honestly never expected to, their marriages were out of convenience and due to the arrangement the three families had made near 200 years ago now.

But he had a feeling-you would be different. Out of the several potential brides that had come to make their deference, you were the only one to catch his eye, and keep it through the week-like that first day, he had almost been unable to focus on his date with Emmalie in favor of watching you.

Walter sniffed, sitting up against the tree trunk, opening his eyes as your legs moved to slide off his lap, watching as you joined him on the trunk and got comfortable. “That position was starting to hurt” you whispered and Walter hummed, holding back a frown. You had been sitting up with your legs across his lap-maybe for only a few minutes-it shouldn’t hurt you to sit like that.

Soon enough, as you continued to read, your shoulder ended up against his, leaning on him as you dove into the tale the book offered you. Walter licked his lips, a question burning at his lips-and he decided to just go for it. “So-” he started, clearing his throat as his voice cracked ever so slightly, you laughed lightly at the sound, turning him with a raised brow “How long have you been affected by all” he gestured to you and then the air-looking unsure of how to word anything. “this?”

You closed the book, leaning forward slightly and looking up to the cloudy sky, the sun still blanketing the grounds with its warmth. “…I don’t remember a day I wasn’t sick” you whispered, which reached Walter’s ear easily. He frowned, tilting his head slightly “you mean, you’ve always had problems with your health?” he asked, just to clarify. You nodded; your leg issues had come later in life-but only due to you not using them as much as you should’ve in your developmental years. But your breathing and basic health had always been weak.

“When I was a child, sometimes the slightest thing would cause me to be Ill for weeks on end, I don’t really remember a time I wasn’t sick.” You muttered, laying your legs flat and huffing, feeling your lungs wheeze with the effort to keep them full of air. “I haven't run since I was five, by that time I could never get enough air to pace myself and my legs were already starting to go awry.”

Walter stared at you, his unbeating heart hurting for you. He knew he could help-if he chose you, if you accepted his proposal-just one drop of his blood would give you the life you had missed out on, your lungs would no longer need air, and your legs would feel brand new. You shook your head, laughing a bit “listen to me, rambling away about my problems. I shouldn’t.”

“I asked” Walter pushed, reaching up and tucking a stray hair behind your ear, smiling softly as you glanced at him. He looked away first, licking his lips and leaning forward a bit before he asked another question “What would you do? If you were chosen? And became one of us?” you blinked, twice, three times, then sighed, a wistful smile on your face.

“I would run as fast as I could” that’s what you really wanted to do. To run, to feel the wind in your hair, your arms pumping at your sides as your feet hit the ground-with no worry that you would be in so much pain the next hour. You said as such to Walter, who stared at you with eyes that were growing softer by the minute. For a moment, you almost thought it was pity-you had seen it all your life-but it wasn’t; you couldn't tell what it was, not yet.

“Good answer” Walter whispered, looking up at the sun and nodding to himself, standing and holding out his hand to you “shall we have some lunch?” you nodded, feeling just a bit lighter getting that not-so-deep secret off your chest-taking his hand and letting him help you up-leaning into his side as he guided you towards the stables.

“Where are we going?” you asked, sitting down as Walter got out a set of horses, one deep black and the other a russet brown. Walter helped you onto the brown one, apparently named Belle. “There's a lake a few miles away from here, I set up another picnic for us there” he patted the basket resting on his horse’s saddle-presumably filled with the picnic he mentioned. “it's quite beautiful at night as well, you can see everything”

You smiled, tilting your head a bit “Another picnic?....I don’t think I’ve spent a night outside in quite a while, me and cold don’t really mix well” Walter paused, shit he hadn’t thought of that. “I’ll make sure to keep you warm then.” he said in response, mentally thanking his past self for packing extra blankets and for there being a fire pit close to where he had planned the picnic. You laughed at his words, flushing a bit “Are you flirting?”

“Why, is it working?” Walter teased, smiling as you giggled, he climbed into his horse and grabbed the reins, turning to look at you over his shoulder “Come along now, before the food gets cold” you hummed, snapping the reins of your horse and it followed Walter. You admired the forest you rode through as Walter led you to the lake on a well-taken path, and soon you arrived at the lake-the sun beaming down on its still surface-the forest surrounding it evergreen and lush, at a small curve-sat a picnic-resting just near a firepit, along with a few books.

“More books?” you gasped, laughing as Walter just shrugged “hey, I like to read just as you.” He shot back, a smile on his lips as you continued to laugh loudly-dropping as you suddenly wheezed and coughed, Belle stopping in her tracks as you doubled over. Walter quickly dismounted, rushing over to you and getting you off of Belle before you fell, a panic in his eyes as you pressed your hand to your chest and struggled to breathe.

“What-what do I do?” Walter nearly yelped, feeling so foolish for not asking Emma how to help you through a breathing attack-and for going so far out from help. You just grabbed his hand, scrunching your nose for a moment as you attempted to regain control of your breathing. The horses rumbled nervously, Belle taking several steps away as Walter held you tight to his chest.

In the minutes that passed-which felt like several panic-filled hours to Walter-you took several deep controlled breaths, closing your eyes as you let yourself fall into Walter’s arms, feeling suddenly very exhausted from the attack. “Did I do that?” Walter asked as everything calmed down. You shook your head, patting his arm as he walked you over to the blanket.

“They come on randomly sometimes-that wasn’t the worst I’ve had-but when I laugh hard-It can cause one, so-I try to control myself usually” you muttered, and Walter felt guilty at being the reason for your laughter. You smiled up at him “Please don’t” you could see the guilt in his eyes and stiff body “it’s not your fault” you tugged him down to sit with you, leaning on his shoulder “I could feel it coming on anyways, this time It just had a trigger.” Walter hummed, looking out onto the lake, drumming his fingers against the blanket.

When he remembered the food, he left your side for a moment, tying the horses to a tree that rested near the lake-letting them rest and get some water, soon returning with the food and the book you had been reading earlier-though this time, he let you eat as he continued where you left off, his voice soothing as you settled down.

“Will you promise not to hurt him” Buttercup whispered. “What was that?” The prince said. “what was that?” Westley said. Buttercup took a step forward and said; “if we surrender, freely and without struggle, if life returns to what it was one dusk ago, will you swear not to hurt this man?” Prince Humperdinck raised his right hand: “I swear on the grave of my soon-to-be-dead father and the soul of my already dead mother that I shall not hurt this man, and if I do, may I not hurt again though I live a thousand years.” Buttercup turned to Westley. “There,” she said “you can’t ask for more than that, and that is the truth”

“The truth,” said Westley, “is that you would rather live with your prince than die with your love.” “I would rather live than die, I admit it” “We were talking about love, madam” There was a long pause. Then buttercup said it: “I can live without love”

There was a sound of pain from beside Walter, and he looked to it, seeing you lying next to him-looking back up with shocked eyes. “She rejects him? after all he did for her?” you asked, having never read this story before. Walter hummed, nodding slightly “She does, I admit when I first read it-I nearly threw the book” Walter chuckled, flipping to the next page-seeing it was the end of the current chapter. “but things get better, I assure you”

You hummed, closing your eyes and letting yourself fall back to that space between sleep and life, Walter’s body heat and the fire he lit as the sun began to dim keeping you warm. Soon a blanket joined you, and Walter continued to read, his hand finding the small of your back as you curled up next to him-enjoying his voice and the tale.

Walter looked up as he noticed the painted skies turning pink that blended with blue and orange. He glanced down beside him, you were asleep-your hand clutching the blanket that covered you-your face shadowed by the flickering fire that kept you warm. He marked his spot on the book and set it to the side, brushing your hair away from your face and whispering he would be back.

Within the blink of an eye, he was gone-and only two blinks later-he returned, with a new basket of food. He set out the meal he had prepared by his personal cook and shook you gently, leaning back on his heels as you slowly woke up, a slow wheezing breath escaping your lips. “Oh,” you whispered, rubbing your eyes as you sat up, seeing the steaming food that sat on the blanket “thank you”

Walter hummed, working on a piece of lamb as you grabbed some bread and meat-about to grab the book again when Walter beat you to it, winking as he opened it when he left off and continued to read, adjusting himself as you leaned against him, reading alongside him as you ate.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Inigo said. “Get his mouth as wide open as you can and tilt his head back a little and we’ll drop it in and see.” Fezzik worked at the dead man’s mouth a while, got it the way Inigo said, tilted the neck perfect the first time, and Inigo knelt directly above the cavity, dropped the pill down, and as it hit the throat he heard, “Couldn’t be me alone, you dastards; well, I beat you each apart, I’ll beat you both together.” “you’re alive!” Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist’s dummy, just his mouth moving. “that is perhaps the most childishly obvious remark I have ever come across, but what can you expect from a strangler. Why won't my arms move?”

“You’ve been dead,” Inigo explained. “And we’re not strangling you,” Fezzik explained, “we were just getting the pill down” “the resurrection pill,” Inigo explained “I bought it from miracle max and it works for sixty minutes” “what happens after sixty minutes? Do I die again? (it wasn’t sixty minutes; he just thought it was. Actually, it was forty; only they had used up one already in conversation, so it was down to thirty-nine.)”

“We don’t know. Probably you just collapse and need tending for a year or however long it takes to get your strength back” “I wish I could remember what it was like when I was dead,” the man in black said. “I’d write it down. I could make a fortune on a book like that. I can't move my legs either” “that will come. It’s suppose to. Max said the tongue and the brain were shoo-ins and probably you’ll be able to move, but slowly.” “the last thing I remember was dying, so I am I on this wall? Are we enemies? Have you got names? I’m the dread pirate Roberts, but you can call me ‘Westly’.”

“Fezzik.” “Inigo Montoya of Spain. Let me tell you what's going on-“ he stopped and shook his head “No’ he said, “there's too much, it would take too long, let me distill it for you; the wedding is at six, which leaves us probably now something over half an hour to get in, steal the girl, and get out; but not before I kill count Rugen.”

“What are our liabilities” “there is but one working castle gate and it is guarded by perhaps a hundred men” “hmmm,” Westly said, not as unhappy as he might have been ordinarily because just then he began to be able to wiggle his toes.”

As Walter read on, the night crawled forward-the stars and moon illuminating the lake. At some point, he found himself lying next to you, the still strong fire -which he had made sure to keep attending to- guiding his eyes to the words on the page, his voice lulling you back to sleep, and for the first time in a long time-you slept under the stars.

Walter looked up at some point, seeing the crescent moon high above-the stars decorating the inky sky around it. He reached towards you gently, shaking you awake “Darling wake up,” he whispered, nodding towards the sky “look” you mumbled for a moment, wondering what he wanted when you saw it; in the sky-were the stars of course- but along that was a paint streak of glowing white and purples, mixing with the stars above and swirling about in the sky.

Walter chuckled at your reaction, bringing you close as you both sat up, his cheek against yours-the warmth of the fire on his skin melting into yours, his arm supporting your back. “one of my favorite times of the night, when the milky way is visible” Walter whispered, barely audible to your ears-but you smiled at his words, following his hand as he pointed out constellations in the sky-you had loved the night since you were child-unable to see it unless it was summer…and even then.

Walter got up for a moment to tend to the fire and soon was settled next to you again, this time his arm was wrapped fully around you, his body, the fire, and the blanket keeping you perfectly warm-though your legs had gone numb a bit ago. “I have a question for you” Walter whispered, and you hummed, leaning into his shoulder as you looked up at the stars. “What is it you want with your life?”

You snorted, turning to him slightly “Going there huh?” Walter hummed, glancing off to the side, a smile on his lips “mm, never mastered small talk” you snorted again, you had noticed-most of your conversations had involved books or delving deeper into yourselves. You licked your lips as you thought of your answer-but…all you could think of was-what you wouldn’t be able to do.

“I…I really never thought of how to answer that…” you muttered, eyes down casting to the lake-staring at the reflection of the moon and stars. Walter turned his head to look at you, watching you intently as you played with your fingers “I’ve been told since I was young that I wouldn’t have a full life, even knowing that we have tripled lives thanks to the contract” Walter hummed, but didn’t interrupt, letting you talk. “so, I suppose I never-thought of what to do…since-it wouldn’t matter in the end-I would be dead before I could do anything. But-“ you huffed, looking back up at the sky, feeling your nose burn and throat ache.

“if-if I could; I would read all there is to read, I would study the stars, I would run through forests, dance till I dropped, laugh in the rain knowing it wouldn’t get me deathly ill-I would live life to its fullest-enjoy every passing moment as if it was my last-which I do try to do but…” you sighed, a tear slipping past your cheek “When you’re reminded every day that, by your own body, that you won't live much longer-that you won’t walk that day, or won't talk-or sleep soundly, or even breathe…it’s hard to do that….you know” you bit your lip, bearing your soul to Walter. “it’s getting harder to wake up now-adays…” Walter jolted a bit at that, his eyes going wide “and-I go to bed each night, wishing everyone goodnight-not knowing if I’ll wake up the next day.” Walter stared, if he had a heart-he was sure it would crack for you.

Walter closed his eyes, took a deep breath, paused for a moment, then sighed. He turned, kneeling in front of you-taking your hands that were freezing at the fingers. You blinked at him, feeling one of his hands wipe away your tears. “if I may” he whispered, his eyes reflecting the stars above “This is a bit-different from how I’ve done it in the past. Usually there's a whole courting stage and a proper announcement and public thing-but” he waved his hand, looking over the grandeur of it all. He looked back into your eyes, tilting your chin up just so. “I have never felt-so connected-with any other bride, potential or otherwise” you furrowed your brows, wondering what he was doing before it hit you.

He was proposing. Holy shit-he was choosing you!? For what reason, you didn’t know-maybe he was pitying you? You didn’t want him to pity you, you had been pitied your whole life-by your parents, Emma, doctors, extended family-everyone. You didn’t want Walter to only see what you lacked-to see your imperfections. “Are you doing this out of pity?” you whispered, and Walter stopped, then furrowed his brows.

“I admit-there was some pity at the start” he whispered, shifting so he sat on his knees “I saw just a frail little thing in my castle-unable to stand on her own-needing help to even walk. But now I see you; your undeniable strength, the courage you have to face the day as if you don’t stare death in his eyes” you could feel the tears returning, unexpecting such words from Walter. “I wish to give you the life you should’ve had, the life you deserve. To run with the wind, to be unafraid to go to sleep, to read every book in the world, and then some-I wish to give you everlasting life, ne’er to face sickness or pain ever again.”

He took your hands at his, holding them to his chest, looking into your weeping eyes. “So I ask you this, Lady (y/n) Alexander. Will you do me the honor, and become my bride? Become Lady Alexander-Deville? i promise you to extend my library, so it will take you a hundred years just to read half, and I will run with you whenever you wish, and spend as many nights with you outside when the moon is bright and the stars shine brighter.”

You sobbed, tucking your chin into your chest, and Walter feared he had scared you off with such a promise and declaration-such things he would make sure to do if you accepted his proposal-he just hoped to whoever was listening; that his powers-his gift to you-would heal you of your physical plights. Finally, after a few moments, you looked back up at him, a bright beaming slime that rivaled the moon looking back at him ”I accept your proposal, Master Deville, thank you” you cried, sobbing into his shoulder as he kissed your hands and held you close, turning you close to the fire to warm you back up, as the blanket at fallen from your shoulders during his proposal.

As the midnight chill began to set into the forest-Walter quickly packed everything up and extinguished the dying fire-picking you up and setting on his horse-getting on behind you and grabbing Bell’s reigns. “what bestows me the honor of riding with you?” you giggled, a flush strong in your cheeks as Walter wrapped his arms around you, the blanket from earlier curled around your shoulders to keep you warm.

“It’s too cold to ride alone, don’t want you getting sick” Walter muttered into your ear-smirking as you giggled again, leaning against his chest as he set back towards the castle. By the time you returned-it was well past midnight, Walter set the horses into their stalls and carried you into the castle-the book the two of you had been reading resting on your stomach as you rested your cheek on Walter’s shoulder-your arms tossed around his neck.

You were nearly asleep when he stepped into your room, setting you on your bed and taking the book from you and setting it on your nightstand-before lighting the fire and closing your windows-taking a slow breath as he looked back at you, your bleary eyes looking back, with a soft smile on your lips “I’ll go fetch Emma, sleep well darling” Walter whispered, leaning over you and kissing your head, grazing your chin with his fingers before he stepped away and out of your room, pausing as you told him to do the same. He smiled at you, nodding a bit “As you wish” with that-he closed the door.

And you had to muffle your scream with a pillow.

-

You thanked the gods for giving you such a miracle when you woke up the next day-feeling refreshed, your legs were still a bit numb but that was normal, but you felt no clog in your nose or tickle at the back of your throat. You hadn’t gotten sick from the previous night. You silently celebrated in your bed-shifting so you sat on the edge, groaning as you stretched and your back popped wonderfully.

You jumped as your door suddenly opened-two woman walking into your room-one was about your height with long golden red hair, wearing a soft purple dress that hung off her shoulders-the other was tall, dark and terrifying, her black eyes trained on you like a hawk. “good morning~!” the redhaired one said, sitting at the end of your bed and leaning towards you, her fangs on full display.

They must’ve been the Billington and Klopstock brides- Viktoria and Vasilica. “uh-hello?” you nearly squeaked, your shoulders arching up as Viktoria stared you down, almost staying in the shadows as Vasilica practically invaded your personal space. “The master told us, everything-so, welcome to the family lady Alexander~” Vasilica sang, her bright and cheery personality a strong opponent of Viktoria, who hadn’t said a word this entire time.

“uh, thank you?” you muttered, you had only accepted the night before-so you wondered when Walter had told them of it. You looked outside then, frowning as you saw the sun was quite high in the sky. “what time is it?” Vasilica hummed, pursing her lips a bit as she looked out the window with you. “just before noon I think-the master wanted to let you sleep in, but we wanted to invite you for brunch, if you would like?” you nodded with a small smile, watching as Vasilica jumped up and beamed “Wonderful~! Let’s go then, the master waits for us outside.” She turned about to walk out of the room when Viktoria stopped her-noticing you hadn’t moved from your spot.

“Something wrong?” Viktoria said quietly, her eyes trained on you. like Walter, she could smell the sickness that clung to you, the pain in your bones; she wondered why the master would pick such a weak bunny like you, instead of the healthier girls of the bunch. You flinched back at her eyes, fiddling with your fingers “uh-my-my legs don’t work as well as others do-it’s hard for me to walk on my own” you whispered, looking down at your legs, which hung limply off the bed and felt numb.

“Oh!” Vasilica said with a shocked face-apparently Walter had neglected to tell them your lack of properly working legs “oh that’s not a big deal, come I’ll carry you!” she took a step forward, her hands reaching towards you, and you were about to ask her if you could get dressed first-when the master, Walter, stepped into the room. “I see you have all met,” he said quietly, leaning on the doorway. Viktoria nodded stiffly as Vasilica beamed. “I’m sure (y/n) wouldn’t mind you carrying her dear, but it think she needs to get dressed first.” Vasilica looked at you, then at Walter, chuckling a bit “i suppose she does” Vasilica muttered with a shy smile, skipping out of the room with Viktoria slowly following her.

Walter grabbed her arm before Viktoria could fully exit, turning to her with dark eyes-eyes you hadn’t seen before; full of warning and death. “let me warn you now Viktoria. Be nice. Or I will have no hesitation in holding another Klopstock wedding after so long.” Viktoria looked shocked, glancing between you and Walter before she sniffed and tore her arm from his grip-storming off after Vasilica.

Walter huffed, turning back to you with a soft smile “Apologies. She gets…cruel, if she acts as such to you, please tell me-you shouldn’t suffer in a place where you should be respected.” You smiled back at him, nodding, biting the inside of your lip as he stepped towards you and took your hand, kissing your knuckles. “I’ll send Emma up to help you get dressed, I’ll be back to escort you to brunch” you nodded again, squeezing his hand a bit as he smiled down at you.

About 10 minutes later-you were dressed and waiting for Walter-reading more of the book as you did; continuing on from the part you had fallen asleep on. “The Count went for the quick kill, the inverse Bonetti. No chance. “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father…prepare to die” Again they crossed, and the Count moved into a Morozzo defense, because the blood was still streaming. Inigo shoved his fist deeper into himself. “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die.” The count retreated around the billiard table. Inigo slipped his own blood. The count continued to retreat, waiting, waiting. “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father; prepare to die.” He dug with his fist and he didn’t want to think what he was touching and pushing and holding into place but for the first time he felt able to try a move, so the six-fingered sword flashed forward-and there was a cut down one side of count Rugen’s cheek-another flash-another cut, parallel, bleeding-“ A knock at your door and you closed the book-marking your place as you sat up straight, smiling as Walter, your now fiancé, stepped in. “ready?” he asked, smiling as he saw the book. You nodded, holding the book to your chest as he walked towards you, one arm cradling your back and shoulders-the other going under your knees; easily lifting you up and carrying you out to the gardens-where brunch was set up.

Walter set you down on the left side of his chair-Viktoria on his right while Vasilica sat on the other end of the table, on your left. “I love your dress” Vasilica complemented, and you smiled, looking down at your blue and silver tunic dress, pulling at your white sleeves before you looked back at her-telling her the same for her purple dress. She beamed, looking towards Walter with a clear emotion in her eyes ‘I like her’ they read.

He smirked back, sipping at his deep red ‘wine’. You leaned back as a plate full of food was set in front of you, smiling at what you saw- French toast, fruits, pastries, meat; your favorites. You turned to see who had set the plate-seeing Emma winking at you, taking her place back with the other handmaidens and Mr. Fields. Similar plates were set in front of Walter and the other brides, though they had more ham included with theirs. “So,” you stared, picking up a piece of toast and ripping off a smaller piece “do any of the other girls know I've been chosen?” Walter shook his head, setting his glass down and grabbing a strawberry.

“Not yet-I’ll be announcing it tonight at the group dinner, Viktoria and Vasilica will be joining us as well. I’ve already sent a letter to your parents telling them the news, they should get it just before they start heading up here.” you nodded, licking your lips free of fruit juice as you grabbed your cup. “And-what’s the plan after tonight?” you asked next, leaning back in your chair as Walter set down his glass and grabbed a small leather-bound book, undoing the leather strip keeping it closed, and setting the pen aside.

“you’ll be heading home with your parents for two months after they arrive, gathering all you wish to bring back over here, then-of course- you’ll come back and move into the Alexander suite, and it’s customary there is a courting period even if I have already proposed, which is four months, and during that we will plan for the wedding.” He snapped the book closed and set it aside, looking towards you with an assuring smile “of course-all of this aligns if your health is steady, I do not mind waiting a bit longer, or even speeding things along if you need to.”

You nodded, smiling as you felt his free hand grab yours under the table-squeezing it lightly. “so, (y/n)” Viktoria spoke up, her voice slow and calculating. Vasilica and Walter glanced at her, both warning her to be nice. “What is it you like to do?” you blinked-not expecting that question. “oh um,” you stuttered, rubbing the back of your neck “i-I like to read? I’ve practically already read half of Walter’s personal library” you laughed, Vasilica beaming at your words. “oh wonderful, I’m-well-I never learned to read-so I’m glad someone other than the master has a use for that library.”

“Going to be expanding it actually” Walter mentioned, Vasilica cooed at the idea and your heart fluttered at the memory of his promise to expand as such to where it would take you 100 years to read half of it. “wonderful, more books and dust” Viktoria muttered, sipping at her ‘wine’. Walter just rolled his eyes, turning back to you with a smile “im sure (y/n) and I will keep the dust away, right darling?” you flushed at the name, but nodded, eyes drawing to the book that rested beside your cup. You really wanted to finish it-you just got to the truly exciting part. Though you were sure Walter had nearly finished it by the time he showed you the stars.

“Anything else? Or are you just a book-worm?” Viktoria asked, a near sneer on her lips. Walter quickly banished it with a glare. You tiled your head, shrugging a bit “I like to ride? Oh and uh-drawings something I dabble in…oh-my brothers are knights and I’ve always liked watching them train and compete” you shrugged again, honestly you liked doing a lot of things-but-once you thought about it-they were hard to describe.

Viktoria just hummed, tilting her head slightly “Due to your… condition, you don’t do much, do you?” you shook your head, not noticing the side-eye Walter was giving Viktoria. “no, not really-just an unfortunate effect to me. I wish I could do more-but I hardly have the energy to get out of bed sometimes.” There it was, there was the pity, in both Vasilica’s and Viktoria’s eyes, though there was much more sympathy in Vasilica’s than Viktoria’s gaze.

“then for your sake, I hope the exchange at the wedding will do your body good” Viktoria hummed, sounding like a compliment yet her eyes told you otherwise. Walter sighed and pinched his nose “play nice” he muttered to Viktoria, and she hummed back with a smirk “always” she said, reaching forward and brushing her hand through Walter’s chin-length locks. He blinked at her, allowing her to do so but turned back to you.

You supposed you would have to get used to being one of 3 brides, which, hopefully, wouldn’t be too hard-you had never expected to be a bride at all. “now,” Walter started, licking his lips “we should probably tell you the darker details of this marriage, and what will happen upon our wedding” Walter reached up, taking your hand, looking into your eyes “as you should know, we are vampires” you nodded “and you should know we consume human blood to sustain ourselves, but we do also eat human food to keep energy and strength.” You nodded again, looking down at their plates, which mostly matched yours. “which means-you will also have to drink blood, human blood.”

You could feel your stomach turn-you knew about their true natures since you were younger-but to now know you would be involved in it-made you a bit queasy. “Does animal blood not work?” Vasilica shook her head at your question “no, I tried, it’s like you drank nothing. it must be human blood” she said, leaning forward on the table, watching as Viktoria took a sip of her ‘wine’, her eyes on you.

Walter turned his attention back to you “now, we mostly have our blood in cups” he lifted his cup of ‘wine’. “but once in a while, we do require fresh prey, so-sometimes, you will need to feed on a live, or freshly dead, human.” You swallowed harshly, licking your lips as your stomach continued to turn.

"Do I get a choice of who I feed on?” you asked quietly, and Walter nodded. You felt a small bit of relief at that, you could make sure your prey wasn’t someone who didn’t deserve it. “I understand this is a lot to take it, and this is why there's such a long period between now and the wedding, to give you time to adjust to the circumstances,” Walter said, bringing your hand to his lips.

You nodded, it would take time for you to get…used to the idea of killing people for food, but you supposed it would get easier with time, or once you were transformed-the guilt would leave you. Only time would tell. “okay, okay I can deal with that” you whispered, smiling as Walter kissed your hand again. “wonderful, now-“ he released your hand-gesturing to your plate “eat, you’ll need your strength”

You did as asked, opening the book to read as you finished your food-the other girls now conversing with Walter as you distracted yourself with the awaited showdown between Inigo and Count Rugen.

-

You sat nearly pin straight as Emma finished pinning your hair, an intricate red crystal necklace being clipped to your neck via Mrs. Swift. “There you go deary,” Mrs. Swift said, resting her hands on your shoulders as you looked into the mirror that sat upon the vanity. You tilted your head to the side, seeing the gold earring that hung from your ears, complimenting the deep red of your gown. You had been told-as was tradition-the Deville brides wore red.  “I’m happy for you my lady, it’s been an honor to serve you,” Emma said, tears in her eyes. You turned to her, taking her hand with a smile.

“Like hell I would give you up easily” you laughed, scrunching your nose as Emma shook her head, sniffing as she squeezed your hand. “you’ve been by my side for the last five years, and have been wonderfully understanding of all my conditions; if anything-I’ll have you visit once in a while. You’ve been my best friend Emma. I won’t let you leave without a fight”

Emma cooed, hugging you tight and pushing her cheek against yours “Thank you, (y/n)” you thanked her back, holding her as tight as you could before another butler knocked at the door, saying everyone was ready. You nodded, grabbing Emma’s hand and using her arm to help you stand.

Mrs. Swift stood on your other side, a butler walking behind you as you made your way to the grand dining room-pausing at the doors, two butlers standing on each side. You could barely hear Walter from the other side of the thick wooden doors. “-as you all know, I took each day of this week to get to know each and every one of you, to help me make my choice of my Alexander bride. I assume, due to who is missing from this table, you know who I have chosen-and please I know, I chose out of her attributes and reasons of my own, not due to any of your faults. Now-may I please announce, my new Bride; Lady (y/n) Alexander."

And with that, the doors opened, and you saw everyone staring at you, Serena and Kalista looking absolutely ecstatic for you-only two looked disappointed-so you counted yourself lucky as not to encounter any nastiness. You noticed Walter holding out his hand to you, and you could feel Emma holding you tight as you help you walk to him. but you took a deep breath and stepped away from her, joining Walter at his side and taking his hand, smiling as he looked pleasantly surprised. “wrap this up though that hurt like a bitch” you whispered into his ear as he tucked you into his side, he laughed gently and nodded.

He quickly turned, and you saw a set of chairs that sat behind a decorated table, one just a bit taller than the other. He guided you to sit next to the taller one, and then stayed at your side, one hand on your shoulder as you sat up straight, smiling at Serena who was struggling to hold her excitement.

Walter continued to talk but you were hardly listening, looking about the room-seeing Vasilica and Viktoria at the head of the long table, Vasilica was beaming and clapping along with the rest of the girls as Walter’s hand squeezed your shoulder gently, while Viktoria politely clapped, her eyes boring into your soul. You looked away first, turning as you saw Walter take a glass full of deep red liquid, Viktoria and Vasilica being handed the same “charge your glasses” Walter said, and everyone raised their drinks into the air, all looking to you and Walter “To (y/n),” he turned to look down at you, smiling as he did, his hand still gently squeezing your shoulder “my new bride”

“To (y/n)!” you looked up at Walter, reaching up and squeezing his hand back, smiling as his smile turned to a wide grin. “May the bridemaidens rejoice” Mr. Fields called out, the girls all calling back with raised glasses to you “The bridemaidens rejoice.”

With that, everyone took a drink and Walter soon took a seat next to you, setting his glass down and leaning towards you. “everything okay?” he asked quietly, tilting his head slightly. You smiled back at him, reaching up to cup his cheek, looking into his bright blue eyes “everything's perfect” you whispered back, taking the chance and pecking his cheek “Thank you Master Deville”

He smiled, taking your hand and kissing your palm before leaning back in his seat, everyone beginning to eat.

-

Time flew by during the two months you returned home, your brothers barely letting you out of their sight. It was a bit-jarring-to see your room practically empty by the time you were set to make the journey back to Deville castle, your bookcase was empty, and all your dresses were packed away-minus the ones you were going to wear on the way to the castle.

To think-in only one week, your life had changed drastically, and soon-in about four months-you wouldn’t be human anymore. And maybe-just maybe-you would be able to run the grounds of the castle without collapsing from pain. You smiled at the thought, holding the book you had read over and over again through the last two months; Walter had let you keep it after seeing how much you loved it-and you might’ve grabbed his face and kissed his cheek heavily at the gesture.

You still giggled at remembering his shocked face-if he had the ability to blush he would’ve.

You turned at a knock on your door, calling for them to come in, smiling as you saw your mother and oldest brother step through-his hair a wild mess thanks to his helmet. “just get back from training?” you teased, reaching up as he rolled his eyes, leaning down to let you ruffle/fix his hair. You pulled back; feeling the grime in his hair “Ewwww did you even wash up before coming to see me? You trying to get me sick?” your brother cackled and rolled his eyes, fake sneezing at you and you screeched, weakly pushing him away.

“Oh you two, stop it” your mother laughed, walking about your room and finishing up packing for you. “the carriage is outside (y/n), he just wanted to say goodbye” your bother snorted, crossing his arms and turning to your mother “Goodbye? I’m going with her, gotta make sure she gets there safe and sound.”

“And to threaten Walter?” you groaned, unable to keep the smile off your face as your bother ruffled your hair, sharply grinning down at you “Of course,” he said, almost dramatically holding his hand to his chest “I have to make sure the master is going to be good to my baby sister” you rolled your eyes at him, slapping his hand away and letting him pick you up, your mother close behind as he walked you out to the carriage. It would be about a week's travel to Deville castle, and you hoped to the gods you wouldn’t catch something on the way.

You waved goodbye to your parents and other brother, who had to stay to finish his current training, Emma sitting at your side while your eldest brother-Justin- rode alongside the carriage. “keep her safe Justin!” your mother called as the carriage set off. He told them he would, turning to face the road as you watched your childhood home disappear behind the trees and hills.

-

When you arrive, Walter was waiting for you, meeting your brother's gaze for a moment before he quickly walked towards the barely stopping carriage-opening the door and bowing his head to you “we meet again, lady (y/n)” Walter said, holding his hands out to you as Emma helped you stand and maneuver yourself into your fiancé’s arms. “hi” you whispered back, feeling your cheeks flush as he stepped away from the carriage-holding you close as Emma stepped out, your brother guiding her.

“lord Deville,” your brother and Emma greeted, Emma bowing her head as Justin held his hand to his chest for a moment. Walter nodded back “Justin, Emma. Pleasure to see you again, now, let’s get (y/n) inside” you rested your chin on Walter’s shoulder as he turned and carried you into the castle, Emma giggled at the sight while Justin huffed a bit, raising his brow at you while you stuck your tongue out at him.

While you settled into the Alexander suite, Justin took Walter aside for a moment, crossing his arms as he leaned against a wall-staring into Walter’s eyes “Lord Deville, while I must thank you for choosing my baby sister, in which I hope is for honorable reasons; do note” he stepped closer, getting into Walter’s face, his lip curling up slightly in a snarl “if you hurt my girl, you will answer directly to me. And whatever crimes I commit against you; I will not care for the consequences. ” Walter smirked, nodding slightly.

“I swear upon my eternal life she will live happily and safely within this castle and as my wife.” Justin held Walter’s stare for a strong moment, then he smiled, patting Walter’s shoulder “good to hear that, now, I must be off-take good care of her-please.” Walter nodded again, watching as Justin made his way to the Alexander suite to say goodbye to you until the wedding.

You perked up as Justin stepped into your new room, nodding at what he saw. “well, I’m going to head back home” he said as he walked towards you, kneeling before you as you sat on your bed, Emma and Mrs. Swift unpacking your clothes and putting them away. You gave Justin a look “you already threatened him didn’t you?” you laughed and Justin grinned, leaning up as you pulled him into a hug “you are such a butt, I’ll miss you”

“I’ll miss you too bug, but not really-see you in four months” he stood, kissing the top of your head, and bowed out, laughing as you chucked a spare shoe at his head-Walter barely dodging it. “oh shit sorry Walter” you gasped, covering your mouth, your shoulders relaxing as he laughed lightly “I was aiming for Justin.”

“I could tell” Walter chuckled, moving to stand in front of you, his hand finding your cheek. “how are you feeling?” you pursed your lips, smiling up at your fiancé. You felt normal, well, as normal as you usually felt, your legs felt fine, and there was no weight in your lungs “good, I didn’t get sick on the way here” you hummed, leaning into Walter’s hand as he rubbed your cheek.

“Good, very good” he muttered, leaning down and kissing your forehead. “Are you hungry at all?” you nodded, you had stopped for lunch before your arrival, but that was several hours ago. “perfect, dinner is ready for the four of us, do you want me to carry you or?” you just grabbed his arms, and he held you steady as you stood “Wonderful, come along then darling.”

-

The next four months went flying by-and you spent it bonding with your future husband and soon-to-be wives-in-law. It was still a bit of an odd concept to be a 3rd bride in a marriage of four, but you were getting used to the idea and wondered how Walter balanced it all. He spent most of his free time with you, Viktoria and Vasilica joining you for breakfast and dinner each day. There were of course days or weeks you wouldn’t leave your room, the usual cold or something else chaining you to the bed.

But that would be alleviated by Walter or Vasilica visiting you; of course, Emma never left your side. Viktoria was-slowly warming up to you, but that never stopped her from the snide comments and the side-eyes as you would read outside or in the library-mostly tucked into the little corner of Walter’s personal library.

You remembered the first time you saw Walter feed on a live human-you didn’t know who they were or where they came from-but you and Emma stumbled into Walter’s study(mostly to see if he wanted to join you for afternoon tea), only to see him draining the blood from a dark-haired woman. Emma gagged a bit-alerting Walter of your presence and he turned, his eyes near black and his mouth dripping with deep red blood, fangs peeking out from his shocked expression.

He gasped your name out, letting the now dead woman drop and wiping his hands on his pants, licking his lips as he glanced between you and the body “you-you weren't supposed to see that” he whispered, he had wanted to keep you protect from sights like this until you were married-when you would be more prepared to see it.

You looked back at Emma, nodding for her to leave and she quickly and happily obeyed, leaving you alone with Walter. He licked his lips nervously, a deeply concerned frown on his face. “who is she?” you asked, nodding to the woman, leaning on the wall as you stepped into the room. Walter glanced down at her, and swallowed harshly “just-just a widow-she volunteered, she wished her life to end anyway.” You nodded, holding out your new book to him, he glanced at it curiously.

“I got a new book; would you like to read it with me during afternoon tea? It’s called sleeping beauty.” Walter smiled, and nodded, happy you hadn’t freaked out like he thought you would-out of all his brides(which at this point, weren’t that many) you were the most…innocent-but you had been faced with death since childhood-it didn’t bother you as much as it did Emma. “of course my darling, let me get cleaned up first-I’ll join you in the gardens in a moment” you nodded with a grin, turning as Mrs. Swift stepped into the room after Walter called her in. he told her to escort you to the gardens and she nodded, doing as told while Mr. Field and a few other butlers got to work cleaning up the mess Walter made.

-

As the date of the wedding drew ever closer-your days became consumed with planning, barely able to catch a break. One moment you would be choosing placements and flowers, the next your dress and the menu, then the décor and seating chart.

It was just-a lot-so much it sent you into a flare-up, forcing you to your bed where you stayed for nearly two weeks, and only two weeks left till the wedding. You sniffed up at the ceiling, Emma patting a cold cloth on your forehead to hopefully lessen your fever. “I cannot wait to never be sick again” you grumbled and Emma nodded in agreement, she never minded taking care of you-but she had to agree that you never having to deal with illness again would be a good break for the both of you. She perked up at a knock on your door and quickly went to see who it was, stepping aside as Walter peered in at her.

“She’s resting master Deville, still a ways to go to get over it, but it's not one that’ll last much longer” Walter sighed in relief, a book in his hand as he walked over to your side, and sat down next to you. “Hello darling” he muttered, taking your warm hand in his, and pressing it to his lips “how are you feeling?”

“like shit” you croaked, voice nearly gone. Walter frowned, curling his arm around you and pulling you up to lean against him, your head in the crook of his neck. “what’s that?” Walter held up the book, and you beamed-it was the one from your first date. “yes please”

Walter chuckled, getting comfortable next to you and opening the book “As you wish, Emma, would you please get some tea and bread for us?” she nodded, skipping out of the room as Walter began to read what was now your favorite story. “The year that buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette.”

-

The day of the wedding got closer and closer, and guests began to arrive as the week came to a close. You happily greeted your parents and brothers upon their arrival. “how has everything been darling?” your father asked, brushing a lock of hair out of your eyes as you all settled in the dining room, the doors leading to the gardens wide open to let the comfortable breeze through.

“wonderful, I got sick two weeks ago due to stress, but otherwise-it’s been wonderful-though Walter hasn’t let me into the library for nearly a month now” you pouted, every time you tried-he, Emma, or Vasilica prevented you, only laughing when you complained or asked why you counted go in. you still had access to the books-but you had to have them delivered to your room instead of freely grabbing them yourself.

“im sure he has a good reason for that” your mother laughed, grabbing your hand and shaking it about before she sat up-she and your family bowed as Walter walked into the room. “lord Deville, once again we thank you for inviting us to your home” he smiled and waved his hand, allowing them to stand fully.

“thank you for coming, and trusting me with (y/n). I trust she’s been telling you all about the last four months” he chuckled, walking over to you and kissing your head. They nodded, Justin raising his brow at Walter who just chuckled at him and leaned down to whisper in your ear “can I borrow you for a moment?” you hummed, but nodded, wondering what he wanted. He quickly scooped your up and bid your family a temporary adieu, walking off with you, and soon you were set down in front of the library.

“I was just talking about the library” you chuckled, almost squeaking as Walter covered your eyes and took your hands “Walter?” “keep them closed” he muttered, backing into the doors and leading you inside.

Your hands gripped his tightly, you had done your best to train your legs to allow you to walk for longer periods of time-but it still hurt to walk most of the time. “Walter?” you asked again, feeling him maneuver himself to stand behind you, his hands on your shoulders “okay, look” he whispered, and you opened your eyes, gasping at what you saw.

He expanded the library, just as promised, now it held nearly twice the amount of books it held before. “oh Walter” you muttered, lifting your hands to your mouth, tears of joy burning at your eyes “its-its”

“You like it?” Walter asked, almost shy in his question, holding your waist with his lips on your shoulder as you looked about the sunlit room. “i-I love it!” you laughed, turning in his grip and cupping his face. “thank you, thank you so much.” You took a brave step, and kissed him, closing your eyes as he let out a surprised hum and easily melted into it, his arms going around your waist and picking you up with ease.

“oh finally” you pulled away with a near squeak, looking over Walter's head to see Viktoria and Vasilica, both smiling(Viktoria had more of a smirk) at the two of you “I was wondering when you two were gonna kiss” Viktoria chuckled, turning on her heel and walking off, Vasilica laughing with a cheeky wave as she walked off in the other direction. Walter shook his head with a fond smile, setting you down and holding you close. “And here I thought Viktoria didn’t like me” you muttered, smiling at Walter as he chuckled and shook his head.

“And I told you she would warm up with time, you have a knack for getting into hardened hearts” Walter joked, kissing your head, tilting his head as you hummed “oh yeah? And what exactly got me into yours?" you teased, trailing your fingers up his chest, holding back a burst of laughter as he told you; completely serious.

"You showed me human kindness and that was your downfall.” You couldn’t help it, you laughed; loudly, your giggles echoing through the stone halls as your family smiled at each other-glad they had ended up making the trip all those months ago to include you in the potential brides.

“You, my good sir, are cheeky” you giggled, taking a few deep breaths as you finished laughing at Walter. He just chuckled, taking your chin and kissing you again, muttering about how he couldn't wait to do that as your husband. “only three days left Walter, be patient.” He hummed, looking very impatient. He kissed you again, holding you as close as he could without squishing you; like he couldn’t get enough of you once he had a taste. You giggled into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck-making sure to properly thank him for the expanded library.

-

You took several deep breaths as you felt Emma pin your necklace around your neck, the gem sitting in the middle of your chest. “Ready?” your father asked, kneeling next to your chair. You took another deep breath and nodded “As I’ll ever be” you muttered, letting Justin pick you up and carry you down to the chapel that was built beneath the castle-the skirt of your dress carefully bunched beneath his arm.

As you got closer to the set of doors that hid the chapel and your soon-to-be husband from you, you could feel your heart race and your palms sweat. You were really doing this; you were really getting married and getting turned into a vampire. You would soon be a blood-drinker, someone who fed on human blood. It was a strong downside to the deal-but-on the other hand.

You would be able to walk on your own, breathe without strain, run for the first time since you were very young, and dance without pain. For all that-it was all too worth what you would have to do to gain it all.

It helped your soon-to-be husband was very, very handsome. You took another deep breath as you were set on your feet, your father on your left side, holding your hand tightly as you clung to his arm. “Ready darling?” your father asked, and you nodded, holding your head high as the doors opened and you began to walk.

Everyone stood from their seats, all eyes on you as you walked towards Walter at the end of the aisle. He glanced over his shoulder at you, and you took a sudden breath; he was dressed in deep red velvet lined with gold, a smile on his face as he watched you walk towards him. soon enough your father handed you over to Walter and you kneeled beside him, eyeing the two silver chalices that sat just in front of you and the minister.

“You look beautiful darling” Walter whispered, curling his pinkie around yours and you smiled, telling him he looked handsome. He grinned back-his fangs fully out-and you thought he looked quite good with them out. You both turned to the dark-cloaked minister as he raised his hands, the altar behind him decorated with yours and Walter’s banners. “We are gathered here this day, to sanctify the union, between our benevolent master, and his new bride; from the Alexander bloodline. Long may they flourish.”

Behind you, everyone from the three great families chanted the words that had been ingrained in you since you had discovered the true nature of your family's power. “May the bridemaidens, rejoice” the minister turned to Walter, who raised his head high-squeezing your pinkie gently. “Master, Do you take (y/n) Alexander to be your bride? To protect and honor her, for all the days of your eternal life?” Walter almost looked proud to say; “I do”.

The minister turned to you, and you took a deep breath as he spoke “And do you, (y/n) Alexander, take the master to love, honor, serve and obey, for all the days of your eternal life?” you glanced at Walter, whose ever blue eyes pierced into your soul, and you thought about the last four months with him. every quiet moment, every kiss on your head, every concerned furrow of his brows when you could cough or wheeze, every time he carried you when you couldn’t walk. His promise to run with you. And so you nodded, turning back to the minister “I do.” You could hear the quiet excited chatter within the crowd, and you could feel the excitement from Vasilica.

*trigger warning for self-harm and blood drinking!*

“May you now exchange blood” you watched as Walter took a dagger, slicing open his wrist and letting it pour into the silver chalice that sat before him. no sooner than the cup filled only a quarter ways-his wound healed, and he took the cup, handing it to you. You took a deep breath as you carefully grabbed the chalice. You closed your eyes then tipped your head back, letting Walter’s blood fill your mouth and go down your throat.

Almost instantly you could feel the change, the power that coursed through you. The weakness you had felt your entire left-disappeared in an instant. The pain in your legs-gone. The heaviness of your lungs-gone. That sickness that never quite left you-gone. You could feel your mouth ache slightly as your new fangs unsheathed themselves, your nails turning black and sharp-along with your fingertips.

You took several, long deep breaths-for once feeling uninhibited from doing so, the wheezing was gone. You opened your eyes, turning to Walter, and he beamed, his hand that somehow found its way to the small of your back rubbing it with his thumb. You turned to the chalice placed in front of you, taking the dagger alongside it and doing the same Walter had-watching as your blood poured into the chalice. And just as his had-your wound healed within a near instant.

You took the cup, handing it off to Walter, who eagerly drank your blood, a low moan rumbling in his chest-some of your blood escaping down the corner of his mouth and trailing down his jaw. He quickly caught it with his finger and sucked it clean, licking his lips a moment afterward. His eyes glowed for a quick moment, and you turned-seeing Viktoria and Vasilica’s doing the same. And the rush of strength and power you had felt upon your turn felt 100x stronger when it washed over you again.

Walter turned to you, and grabbed your hand-and you focused back into reality as the minister continued to speak. “and now, the new lady Deville; will indulge herself in her first blood.” You frowned, wondering if Walter had forgotten to mention something about the ceremony. And that’s when it hit you-the raging hunger-a hunger you had never felt before-a thirst even-for blood. You supposed that’s what made the whole-drinking human blood thing-easier; having the need to drink it. You turned, and if your heart was still beating-it would’ve skipped a beat; for there, at the altar, was a young man looking resigned to his fate-his eyes holding a deep sadness. You turned to Walter, non-verbally asking if the man wanted to die.

He nodded back, leaning towards you to whisper in your ear “a man of no wealth and poor luck-he volunteered in exchange his only child be taken care of.” He was a father…you-you weren’t sure you could kill such a man. Then Walter whispered again “you need not kill him, but simply drink some of his blood until you were satisfied.” You let out a slow breath and nodded, getting to your feet without help-something your mother gasped happily at-something she hadn’t seen you do since you were very very young.

You took the man's lower neck, swallowing as you felt that burning hunger nearly take you over “Forgive me if I go too far” you muttered down at the man, and he smiled kindly, closing his eyes as you bared your fangs-and descended upon his neck.

Everything went fuzzy after that, you could feel the warm liquid of the man's blood fill your mouth and stomach, a new strength filling you with it. It was-delicious, like smooth cream custard. Sweet cherry sauce on a savory tart. French toast drizzled with strawberry glaze. Pastries filled with cinnamon cream.

You pulled away from the man's neck with a gasp, licking your lips clean-using your hands to clean your chin as the man slumped-still alive-but weak. He would need time to recover. You muttered a small thank you to him, and turned back to Walter-his eyes almost dark with a deep lust for you, but lightened with the love he felt at the same time. He held his hand out to you as he stood, and you joined him, easily tucking into his side as the minister spoke again-but you could hardly hear his words, only feeling Walter’s body heat and the blood rushing through your body.

You jolted back to reality as Walter grabbed your left hand, and you looked down to see him sliding a ring on your finger. You had completely forgotten about this part. He kissed your knuckles and then handed you his ring, and you slid it onto his finger, holding his hand tightly as he turned back to the minister.

Soon enough you felt Walter’s fingers under your chin, and you looked up to see him looking at you, his eyes bright as ever, a smirk on his plush lips. He looked at your lips and you easily got the hint-you supposed the minister announced you as man and wife-and it was time to kiss the bride. And with that, Walter kissed you, and you happily accepted it, curling your arms around his back and holding him tight, groaning into the kiss as he licked at your bottom lip. You could just feel his fangs at your lips, and it was likely he could feel yours.

You could hear your parents sob happily, and the crowd soon burst into applause. You opened your eyes slowly as Walter pulled away, giggling as he pecked your lips quickly before he fully pulled back, tugging you into his side as you turned to the crowd. “may we rejoice, in the new Lady Alexander Deville”

“May the bridemaidens rejoice”

-

The reception was a party, everyone was excitedly talking, dining, and dancing; celebrating your marriage with the master. You stood with Walter at the head table, greeting everyone that walked up to you. It felt-odd-to stand on your own so easily after so many years of pain. It did feel every odd to do it, your legs felt unused to doing this; so you reasoned you would have to train them to get used to no longer needing help.

Dancing with Walter was-a bit embarrassing-something he handled wonderfully well as he guided you across the dance floor. you had honestly never learned to dance-so you practically buried yourself in Walter’s side as he led you in a near graceful waltz.  But soon enough you found yourself wandering away from the party-giving the excuse that you needed some time alone due to intense excitement; it took a minute but you finally found yourself on the other side of the castle-facing the forest and stables.

“There you are” you perked up, smiling as you saw your newly-wed husband. He walked over to you and took his spot next to you on the castle wall, his hand finding yours as you fiddled with your new ring. “was wondering where you went, already bored of me?”

“Gonna take me a while to get bored of you” you joked, leaning on his shoulder and letting yourself relax “I’ll get bored of you when I’ll get bored of reading.” Walter let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, holding his free hand to his chest “oh thank goodness, a day never to come.” You laughed, finally freely able to do so without worry of an attack.

You both settled into comfortable silence, taking in the crickets and night birds that settled in the darkened forest, a soft breeze brushing by as the horses quietly ate their hay. “so” Walter muttered, turning his head into yours, his lips pressing against your forehead “you gonna do it?” you frowned, looking up at him confused. He smiled, chuckling a bit “the first thing you wanted to do upon being turned”

You felt a smile grow on your face and you slowly stepped away from Walter, using his arm to lean over and take off your shoes, giggling at the feeling of the grass against your feet. Walter took them from you tilting his head as you took a few tentative steps away from him, glanced back for a moment-

Then you ran-your arms pumping at your sides, the wind in your air, your laughter echoing through the trees. Walter smiled, watching you run with such a fondness he never knew he could feel after becoming a vampire. He dropped your shoes to the floor and took off after you, his laughter joining yours as you raced through the forest, the chatter of the guests blurring into the background as you ran into the night with your husband.

Back at the party, Viktoria smirked into her glass-the sound of Walter’s laughter was a sound she hadn’t heard in quite a while, and while she wished she was the source of it, she found she didn’t mind you being its reason.

-

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, years into decades, and decades into centuries; and in the late 1800’s, the Deville family found themselves moving into a grand manor known as New Carfax Abbey, the fine white stone a strike difference from the strong grey castle you used to live in. “Walter?” you asked quietly, wondering where he was taking you. Upon your arrival, he had quickly told you to close your eyes and let him lead you into the manor. He had bought the manor upon its completion-but it had been months since-something about minor changes being made to the building. “can I open my eyes yet?”

“No, no, not yet” he muttered back, his footsteps echoing loudly as he brought you into a dark room. It almost sounded like a theater with the way they reverberated off the walls. He stopped suddenly, holding your shoulders for a moment as he turned, sounding giddy “Wait here.”

He rushed off, and you heard curtains being pulled, and sunlight suddenly beamed into the room-making you lift your brows and look towards the light-wondering what he was doing. “Walter? Now can I open them?” you saw his shadow move back in front of you, and he took a deep breath, a smile in his voice as he spoke. “All right, now~!”

You opened your eyes, your hands flying up to your mouth as you gasped. It was a library-a huge library, filled with hundreds and thousands of books, two stories high with spiral staircases and ladders to help you reach the books. Tall windows lit the room in natural light, a fireplace resting at the head of the room, and even more books were set upon the mantel. “Walter-i-I can't-even-wow” you spun around, taking in the wonderful sight, walking around Walter as he grinned at your reaction-you were completely speechless, even more so than when he had expanded the library of the original Deville castle.

“you like it?” Walter asked, almost shy, repeating his words from hundreds of years ago; smiling as you leaped into his arms at the nearly rhetorical question. “like it? I love it! Thank you, Walter” you almost sobbed, taking his face and kissing him, your arms around his neck as he lifted you off your feet. He pulled back after a moment, shaking his head in an attempt to not get lost in the moment “I have two more surprises for you” he hummed, setting you down and taking your hand, running with you down to the other end of the library-were you found a kitchenette.

“My own little kitchen?” you laughed, opening the cabinets to see your favorite snacks and pastries packed away; waiting for you to eat them while you read away. “awwww, I love it” you laughed as Walter nodded, happy he had made a good choice “what's the second surprise?” you asked, taking Walter’s hand as he held it out to you, leading you to a slightly dark corner.

He looked around, then pulled at a small notch in the wall, stepping back as the bookcase slid back and to the side “holy shit” you muttered, letting Walter lead you into the room, laughing as he pulled a few curtains opened and revealed a mini-library-around the same size as his study. But you recognized every book in there, it was his and your favorites-with that oh-so-beloved book of yours sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the back bookshelf.

“A secret library?” you teased, turning to Walter and wrapping your arms around his neck, looking over his shoulder to see another fireplace with a chair resting in front of it-perfectly sized for the two of you, either you to be tucked into his side-or sitting on his lap.

“I thought it appropriate” he muttered, closing his eyes and holding you close, taking a deep breath of you and relaxing. “And did Viktoria and Mary get their own little rooms?” you teased, while you absolutely didn’t mind the favoritism Walter showed you, but-they were also his wives and they deserved just as much from him as you did.

He nodded “yes yes, Viktoria has a music room, her harp already moved in; and Mary has her own kitchen, free to bake as she likes” you hummed, you couldn’t wait to see what Mary created-she was a wonderful cook and pastry chef, having made the best Pain Au Chocolat you had ever tasted in your last nearing 500 years of life.

Vasilica had unfortunately died to hunters about 200 years back, Mary being her ‘replacement’. you had Viktoria had actually gotten a bit closer due to Vasilica’s death, and you made sure Viktoria wasn’t cruel to the new Billington bride-just as Vasilica had done for you during that fate-changing week(which shocked you, you hadn’t seen Viktoria until that final day-but that was due to Vasilica interfering and keeping Viktoria away from most of the potential Alexander brides.)

“Good” you muttered, kissing Walter softly then you spun on your heel, giddy as you looked upon the secret library. “so-uh-“ you turned again, about to ask if you could get started but Walter was already holding out his hand, grinning as he prepared to lead you back out to the grand library. You let out a laugh, eagerly following him out-your giddy laughter filling the pristine library.

-end~-

Well-this was a LONNNG boi!!! 61 pages and 19709 words!!!!!!!!!!!! I started this back in early December I think too-so it’s been a long ass minute since I started this XDXD anyways-hope yall enjoyed~ and now onto OUAD Walter version~!!! As promised/planned~ gn!!!!

also sorry for killing off Vasilica!

taglist!

@thetrueghostqueen @littlewierdalien @sessediz

#walter deville x reader #walter deville #the invitation 2022 #chronically ill reader #vampirism #princess bride #mentions of death #impending death #short life span #happy ending #blood drinking #self harm #this is a LONG mf #61 pages #19000+ words

[hetaliaimaginesin2022]

Can we have 2p England helping his S/O through a difficult time with their health? Like an episode where their chronic illness gets worse and its harder for them to move around and take care of themselves (haha this is definingly not a personal request or anything)

Chronic illnesses really are rough to live with, and I sincerely hope things get better for you, even if it's just a little bit for a little while

2p England Looking After A Chronically Ill S/O

Oliver is a total mother hen, especially when your chronic illness flare ups

He becomes even more attentive to you and your needs (if that's even possible) and has no qualms about picking up your split house chores, doing them without a single complaint

He'll also contact a doctor who makes home visits if that's what you need

Similarly, if you require a mobile aid, like a cane, walker, or wheelchair, he has no problems fetching those for you and walking more slowly if you want him to

Even though he's far better with baking oppose to traditional cooking, he'll still try his best to cook or buy you foods that are dense in vitamins and other important nutrients (as well as a few things to sweeten your day up a bit)

If you have trouble eating, he'll be incredibly nervous the entire time, but will make sure you get plenty of fluids

Doesn't mean to, but on days where pain flares up especially bad, he'll lay in bed, holding you with his face buried into your back, crying with or without you

He's just such a big sweetheart that seeing you in pain makes him distressed

If you're uncomfortable with that, he'll politely excuse himself from the room before coming back and holding you once again

Regularly reminds you, both when you're feeling well and unwell, that he'll be there for you regardless of how you're doing or what's going on

#aph imagines #hetalia imagines #2p hetalia imagines #2p england imagines #2p england x reader #2p england x you #sfw #chronically ill reader

[boldlyvoid]

Eddie x chronically ill!Reader where the sex isn’t often but it’s still amazing. they do have the occasional crazy rough sex when they still have some spoons left at the end of the day. but after he has to help them walk to the bathroom to clean up and the pain they feel when they sit back down in bed and the winces and hisses always makes Eddie’s heart hurt. Even though it’s not his fault. They assure him that they love it, it’s fun for them and the orgasms are amazing and the soreness and the added pain after is worth it because more than anything, they love feeling close to him. The aftercare is as good as it can be, that still doesn’t mean they instantly feel better after, the ache in their legs lasts well into the next day and sometimes even sitting is hard for hours after. Even if they didn’t get too crazy, their lower half is just not as strong as most people’s. He loves them endlessly, enough that they go months sometimes without having penetrative sex because it’s just too much for them, and when they do end up doing it, he will dedicate as long as they need to making sure they feel okay with snacks and baths and kisses and words of praise that he loves them and they did so so good. He doesn’t care that their version of a happy and healthy sex life isn’t what people would describe as perfect or desired, it isn’t crazy and everyday, they don’t fuck all over the house, they can’t just have a quickie in the bar bathroom or in his van… but he doesn’t care. Every moment he gets with his lover is enough. What they have is perfect for them.

#don’t mind me #I’m just sad about being chronically ill and how sex both with people and alone is taxing #Eddie munson x reader #chronically ill reader #eddie munson smut #this applies to Steve too when he develops some chronic Illness from all the trauma #me and Steve fibro buddies

[starrynightmovietheatre]

Elise now presents:

Honey, you’re familiar like my mirror years ago

Warnings : mentions of passing out, pain and in general just illness, swearing, please correct me if you see any

Starring: Percy Jackson and chronic pain!reader

Soundtrack: From Eden - Hozier, Black Friday - Tom Odell, Anti-curse - Boygenius, Gilded Lily - The Cults

Enjoy the movie! 🎬

When he found out you were pain almost constantly he immediately called Sally

I mean literally you guys separated and this queen was on IM instantly

“Mum what do I do? I dunno how to help? Mum stop laughing? MUM PLEASE I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.”

She did eventually help him and said the Apollo kids probably have books on chronic pain and other illnesses like it

He read every single one

To the point Will was concerned for Percy’s health

When this boy found out water can help with pain?

FIELD DAY

FIELD DAY

You went down to the beach and did something so you wouldn’t have to do anything to stay a float you could just lie there

Do something

So technical Elise

Anyway

You stayed there almost all day, only getting out for food or when you were going wrinkly

He loves taking care of you

But also knows when to stop?

He’s very for you not pushing yourself and only doing what you can manage but won’t stop you if you think you can do it

If you’re flaring though?

Good lord

Good luck babe xx

Has heat pack galore for you

Will not let you get up

Will bring you food, pillows, blankets

He’s making it a movie date

There. I said it.

My boy is nothing but opportunistic

If you try and power through?

Nuh uh uh ☝️😐

You once didn’t tell him you were in pain and trained with him

You passed out

Shocker to all involved 😐

He thought he did something wrong and hurt you 🙁🙁

Say it’s not his fault rn 🔫

Cause believe me he will be blaming himself for like

Months

If you don’t

Is basically a human heater so if you’re always cold

Not anymore your not xx

Advocates with you, not for you

Huge difference and he recognises that

Helps you get out of that slump of your own health

Y’know what I mean?

That time where you don’t want to take care of yourself cause fuck it we ball but you really don’t ball cause you’re a cube

He helps you realise that your health matters again

Dream man for a chronic illness queen

Looks into your illness so much to the point he comes out with something you didn’t even know

“Oh did you know that POTS can cause hyper vigilance? That could be why you’re so stressed during training.”

He pops these things out then begins to talk about whatever the fuck a goldfish told him about today??

Anyway, you are treated like a queen and he will always look after you x

Director’s note: This wasn’t totally self indulgent noooo who would say that 🤨🤨🤨🤨 no way totally didn’t write this cause I’m off school 🙄🙄

#enjoy the movie ׂׂૢ: ̗̀➛✧.* #percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #chronic illness #chronic pain #chronically ill reader #percy jackson x you #headcanons #percy jackson headcanon

[superhaught]

Incurable Cravings (Chapter Four)

Pairing: Regina George x Reader

Warnings: none really, just angsty

Word Count: 2200, Part 4/?

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Continuation of Incurable Cravings series!

Little author's note: I made a small edit to Chapter 2 to fix a plot hole that I created for myself. Regina and Leighton have been living in separate homes for five years as opposed to the original ten.

Regina and reader begin to navigate their first day at school in light of their newfound relationship. Reader learns more about the history between Janis, Regina and Leighton.

Regina’s family was complex. 

You knew that Ms. George used to be married to Regina’s father. Together, they had twin daughters, Regina and Leighton. You were all around 13 years old when they divorced. The resulting custody arrangement was unusual. Ms. George kept Regina and the house, while Leighton went with their dad and moved to the east coast. You vaguely knew that the father, Henry, got remarried to his college sweetheart, who had an older son from her previous marriage. Ms. George kept her maiden name and changed Regina’s last name to match, and has since also remarried and had Regina’s half-sister, Kylie. Regina’s stepdad, from what you knew, was a high-ranking military official. He didn’t see combat, but he was almost never home. All of them seemed to prefer it that way. 

Regina and her stepdad famously did not get along well, so his frequent absence was appreciated by her. And Ms. George enjoyed being able to maintain her independence. She often referred to herself as a single mom, even though she, objectively, was married.

You hadn’t seen Leighton since she moved away, and based on what Regina had said, she had rarely seen her twin either. You were positive that the distance must be hard on them both. Regina and Leighton had always been each other's' best friend when you were younger. They were practically joined at the hip. You remember that when Leighton moved away, Regina didn’t come to school for almost two weeks and she wouldn’t see anyone.

The divorce, and your small friend group falling apart, all happened within the span of a year. And now, as Regina slept peacefully in your arms, you wondered just how much pain she had been carrying.

It broke your heart. 

In spite of your racing thoughts, you eventually gave in to sleep yourself and were able to get a few hours shuteye before Regina’s alarm was going off and waking you for school. Regina groaned and snoozed the alarm once before turning over and curling up against your chest.

You giggled at how cute she was being and took to kissing her head and playing with her hair for those ten extra minutes. You felt her press a few soft kisses onto your neck and then the alarm went off again.

You reached over her and turned the alarm off and then rubbed your palm over her upper arm. 

The blonde smiled and whispered, “good morning…”

“Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling this morning?”

Regina yawned and stretched her arms out a little before responding, “better than I’ve felt in a while.”

“Good.”

She met your eyes, “am I remembering last night correctly?”

“What do you remember?”

She hesitated for a moment, examining your expression, maybe considering dropping it, “I remember you saying that you love me…”

You nodded your head, “I did, Gina,” you tucked some hair behind her ear, “I said ‘I love you.’”

She nodded back and bit down on her bottom lip. You could see the anxiety mounting in her through her tensing muscles and rapid eye movements.

“I…” she began.

“Shhh…” you leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. 

She melted at the contact and let her hand travel over your shoulder and up the back of your neck to hold you close. Regina held you in that kiss for a long while and then just silently nodded again as she pulled away.

“Thank you…” she whispered. 

And thus, only a fraction of your conversation actually  took place out loud. You never really imagined having a bond like that with someone, not after the years you had lost of growing with Regina and Janis as your closest friends. But right here, in this moment, Regina knew without a shadow of a doubt that you had meant what you said. And you knew that she felt the same way about you in return. 

You both took a minute more to play with each other’s fingers as you held hands in the bed. 

The blonde kissed your hand and whispered, “I wish we had time to enjoy more of each other instead of going to school…” 

“I do too, trust me.” 

“I just want this gorgeous body of yours all to myself, all the time…” 

You smirked, “you are such a temptress… but don’t worry, Gina. I’m all yours.” You kissed her cheek and then her lips again, obliging her when she grazed your lip with her tongue to deepen the kiss. You shared a few more kisses like this before Regina finally forced herself to sit up. 

She looked sore and stiff in her movements. You reached out to gently touch her back after she sat up and you asked, “do you want help getting up?” 

“No, no… I’ll be okay. Thank you baby.” 

You got ready for the day together. Regina happily let you borrow some of her clothes that she reserved for wearing only around the house. No one would likely be able to tell that they were hers, not that it mattered to you. 

Ms. George had fixed you both a quick breakfast and offered you free reign of the pantry to make yourself a lunch. 

Regina, with a little bit of encouragement from you, managed to eat a cup of yogurt with granola. 

“I’m gonna go start the car, you coming?” Regina asked you when she finished eating. 

“Yeah, go ahead, I’ll be right out.” 

Regina nodded and left through the front door of her house. You heard the engine of her Jeep start and you turned to Ms. George, who was scrolling Facebook on her phone while eating her own bowl of yogurt. 

“Ms. George?” 

She looked up at you, “what’s up, sugar?” 

“Do you have Leighton’s phone number?” 

Regina held your hand the whole car ride to school and walked inside with you, only dropping your hand once you were in the presence of others. 

Regina saw Gretchen and Karen waiting for her at her locker so she turned to you and gave you a sweet goodbye with a quick, stolen kiss to your cheek before she split off from you and resumed her normal. 

You realized that the two of you hadn’t discussed this part. You didn’t know how long it would be this secret between the two of you, but you hoped not long. 

But you were greeted with your own smack in the face from reality when you walked up to your locker. Janis stood there, waiting for you. 

You took a deep breath, “hey.” 

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, “hey. I want to try this again.” 

She stepped out of your way as you opened up your locker and she continued when you didn’t really say anything in response, “yesterday, I know I approached you about Regina in the wrong way, and I’m sorry.” 

You grabbed one of your textbooks, “thank you. I forgive you.” 

“But… I’d really like to talk to you about this. I saw you leave that storage closet with her. And I saw you go home with her after school yesterday. And, oh my god, you’re wearing her sweatshirt.” 

Shit. Of course Janis would recognize it.

“And? What exactly do you want to know?” 

“I… well, like what are you guys doing together? Are you hanging out again?” 

“I guess we are… yeah. We’re hanging out.” 

“Why?! Why would you do that?” 

“Janis…” your voice betrayed your sadness and frustration. 

“No seriously, come on! You’re one of the only people who knows the truth about what Regina has put me through! I thought you would be on my side!” 

You pinched the bridge of your nose and inhaled, “Janis, it’s more complicated than sides… and, and I don’t know that I do know the truth!” 

“What do you mean? You were at that party! You were there!” 

“I mean, why does Regina think that something happened between you and Leighton?” 

Janis’ jaw dropped, “what?” 

“What happened between you and Leighton?” 

“What did Regina say?” 

“She didn’t say anything specific, only that you hurt Leighton somehow.” 

“I…” Janis clenched her hands into fists, “that has nothing to do with me and Regina! I don’t even… you knew how I felt about Regina… you don’t really think I deserved what she did, do you?” 

“Janis, no. I don’t think you deserved it. I don’t think any of us deserved anything that happened, Regina included. I think we were kids with a lot of complicated feelings.”

Janis stared at you incredulously. 

“Didn’t you guys make up at the dance last year?” 

“No. We didn’t. She was high on pain medication. She didn’t forgive me and I didn’t forgive her.” 

You sighed, “Look, right now, I know that Regina wants me around and I’m okay with putting things behind me so that I can be there for her. But you don’t have to do that. Just don’t get mad at me for trying.”

She stared at you again. 

You closed your locker door, “you weren’t the only one of us who was in love with her, Janis. You weren’t the only one who lost her, okay?” 

You walked away from Janis for the second time, once again, unsure whether you were making the right choices in navigating this whole thing. You couldn’t exactly tell Janis the whole truth about your relationship, not without consulting Regina about it first. But you knew it wasn’t fair to leave Janis completely in the dark either. 

You sat through your math class unable to pay attention to a single word out of Mrs. Norbury’s mouth because you were so caught up in how complicated this all was. 

On your way out, Mrs. Norbury called you up to her desk and you obliged. 

“Hey, you doing okay?” 

You nodded, “yeah, I’m just having a weird week. I’m sorry for spacing out.” 

She gave you a half smile, “look, I know your grades are going to be fine, that’s not what I’m worried about. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” 

“It’s just friend stuff.” 

“Alright, well, just remember that graduation is right around the corner. You need to make sure that you’re thinking about what you want.” She smiled at you as if what she said wasn’t annoyingly vague. 

“Have you told anyone else about your acceptance letter yet?” She continued. 

“No… still only you and my parents know. I’m not ready to tell anyone else yet.” 

“It’s been a few months now, you’ll have to start telling people eventually.” 

“I know… I just…” 

Mrs. Norbury waited patiently for you to finish. 

“It hasn’t really sunk in for me yet.” 

She raised an eyebrow. You knew she was suspicious of your answer but she let it go, “okay. Well, if you need anything, just let me know.” 

You nodded and left her classroom. Your heart was pounding. 

Until yesterday, there was no one that you were overly concerned to talk to about your college acceptance. But now… you’d have to find a way to tell Regina that in just a few short months, you’d be moving to Boston for college. 

You hustled to your next class and pulled your phone out as you sat down in your seat. You quickly started a new message to the number that Ms. George gave you. 

When you left that class, you checked your phone first thing and you had a text back. 

“Is Regina okay?”

You typed your response as you walked, “Regina is okay, but there’s a lot going on right now and I could use your help. I’m sorry to text you out of the blue like this. Your mom gave me your number.”

“So, you and Regina are friends again?”

“Yes.”

“Janis, too?”

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about… what happened? If you don't mind me asking…”

It took a minute for Leighton to respond. You watched the little bubble that indicated she was typing until her message back finally came through. 

Leighton wrote, “honestly? Looking back, it’s stupid and I’m p sure Regina overreacted.”

Leighton tells you that when you were all kids, Janis confided in her that she had a crush on Regina. Janis begged Leighton not to tell Regina, and Leighton agreed, not seeing any reason to hurt Janis and ruin the friendship between the girls. But sometime later, Regina came to know the truth and talked to Janis and turned her down kindly. Janis was still mortified, but beyond that, she was pissed. Janis assumed that Leighton told Regina and wanted to get back at her for it. Janis knew that Leighton had a big class presentation coming up and she came to school wearing a beautifully pressed, matching white suit jacket and skirt. Janis loaded up her lunch tray with everything that the cafeteria had to offer that would stain and then “bumped” right into Leighton, dumping her entire tray onto Leighton. 

It was petty. It was stupid. It was misinformed. But it made Leighton cry in the bathroom, and that was something Regina couldn’t abide. Regina planned her revenge, and that’s how the spin-the-bottle party happened. Janis embarrassed Leighton, so Regina embarrassed Janis with the best ammo she had in her arsenal.

Next Chapter

#regina george #regina george x reader #regina george fanfiction #regina george fanfic #mean girls #mean girls 2024 #regina george fluff #regina george angst #regina george chronic illness #renee rapp regina george #renee rapp #my fanfiction #my writing #original writing #leighton murray #mean girls au #tslocg au #janis imi'ike #rejanis #rejanis angst #incurable cravings

[idyllicwillowtree]

How Much Love

Genre: Steve Harrington x fem!reader / gn!reader; angst with fluffy ending, hurt/comfort, established relationship

Summary: Steve has a migraine attack but he’s too stubborn to take care of himself.

Word count: 1.4K

Warnings: one curse word, non-descriptive vomiting, migraine symptoms, chronic pain, crying, one use of Y/N, dumb joke, p*rn reference?

Author’s note: I know the migraine thing has been overdone but idc :) I'm pretty sure this could be read as gender neutral but you can lmk if that's not the case

Enjoy!

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Steve knew he shouldn’t have gone to work. The second his eyes opened he knew it was going to be a rough day. The persistent throbbing on the left side of his face and the twist of nausea in his stomach would be enough to convince anyone else that they should take it easy.

Not for Steve though.

He’s done this dance before. The battle in his mind of not wanting to waste one of his precious sick days or if he should stay home and take care of himself so he can make it through the next day. He usually sucked it up and went with the former.

I’ve had worse before, he’d rationalize to himself. I can handle it.

His true motivation for leaving the comfort and warmth of his bed was the date he had planned for you two. Steve went all out with flowers, chocolates, dinner reservation at Enzo’s, and concluding the night snuggled up on his couch watching a rented movie.  

But the customers kept coming. Steve could've sworn they were all there, not to rent a movie, but to exacerbate his migraine attack. Tired mothers bringing in their screaming babies, a group of smelly teenagers, and a boisterous man who was trying to convince Robin that The Godfather was the greatest movie ever made. That’s not even mentioning the flickering fluorescent lights that Keith refuses to change the bulbs in.

Robin began to take notice once Steve kept bumping into the shelves as he put away tapes around the store. She watched as he mustered up enough strength to pick up a stack of returned tapes and mindlessly put The Muppet Babies in the Horror section and something called I Dream of Weenie in the kids section.

  By 4:30, he was absolutely fried.

“Go home, dingus,” Robin ordered.

All Steve could muster was a small grunt from his spot at the register. His forehead was pressed to the cool counter, toned arms wrapped around his head, trying to keep as much noise and light out as possible.

The bell on the door of Family Video was the final nail in the coffin. People have been coming in and out all day but this time the ring pierced through the side of his head like a burning knife, swiftly penetrating his brain and twisting it for good measure. 

Steve’s back stiffened as he sat up too fast, stomach turning when he ran blindly through the store and into the bathroom before emptying out the contents of his stomach. He tried not to think about when the last time the toilet was cleaned as he kept his face in the ceramic bowl, spitting out the rest of the sour bile coating his throat.

Steve barely heard the door creak open through the throbbing in his head and the ringing in his ears, but he did notice the light in the bathroom turn off. “Go away, Robin,” he croaked out. 

The disobedient footsteps continued towards him. He just wanted to be left alone, feeling too vulnerable in this state. He felt embarrassment twist in his chest at the thought of not being able to handle a simple headache.

A cold hand landed on the back of his neck and began to massage lightly. It felt comforting but Steve’s mind was rejecting it, “Robin, I said-”

He finally lifted his heavy head, half opened eyes widened slightly as he met your concerned gaze, only for him to start welling up. Steve’s lip trembled as it failed to keep a sob from escaping.

“Oh baby,” you whispered. “Not feeling good?”

Steve hung his head the best he could with his stiff neck and shook his head in response.

“It’s okay, Stevie. Try not to move your head too much.” 

You squatted next to him on the nasty bathroom floor and gently brought him into your arms. You let him cry into your shirt, gently rubbing soothing circles on his back and neck. Steve knew that crying would only hurt his head more, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t understand the emotions he was feeling yet, but he knew he was relieved to see you show up. Like a superhero, there to heal and protect him from any harm.

“I’m here now, baby. Let’s get you home, okay?”

_______________________________________________

Steve was so out of it he wasn’t sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew he was snuggled in a cocoon of pillows and blankets. He peeled his eyes open and recognized the dark ceiling of his bedroom.

You were puttering around the room, tidying up a little so Steve would have one less thing to worry about. He admired how natural it looked for you, knowing where everything goes and even avoiding the loud creaking spots on the floor. Steve had the sudden urge to reach out but you tucked him in so well he was having trouble slipping his arms out.

His grunt of protest over the blanket entrapment alerted you and you were by his side in an instant.

“What is it baby?” you whispered gently, “you need some water? Or a new ice pack?” 

Only when you removed the cool washcloth from his forehead did he notice the satisfying chill. He must have been practically asleep when you brought him home because he really doesn’t remember anything.

“What time is it?” Steve croaked out.

He leaned into the kiss you pressed gently to his cheek before you answered, “almost midnight.”

“What?!” Steve immediately went to sit up, but in his weakened state you were easily able to push him back down. “We had reservations!”

“I know, Stevie. It was really sweet of you to make plans but nothing we can do about it now,” you tried to reason. “We need to get you feeling better.”

“But I-”

“Stop that,” you demanded, still with a quiet and gentle tone, but it was still enough to cut him off. “Let me take care of you, Stevie. I know you feel bad, but I want to take care of you.”

Steve wasn’t sure if you meant he was feeling bad because he was sick or because of the immense amount of guilt he feels whenever he sees himself as a burden to others. Probably a little of both.

“I just…I was looking forward to tonight,” Steve muttered tiredly. “And this stupid chronic thing just always gets in the way and I don't…I don’t like asking for help.”

Steve wasn’t sure if he was making much sense but your smile showed him you understood. Your expression was soft and comforting as you gently raked your fingers through his hair. “Steve, I love you. All of you. Every single part of you I just adore. It doesn’t matter if those parts are feeling bad or good, I’ll always be here,” you stroked his cheek gently with the back of your hand, his eyes fluttering shut at the feeling. “I like caring for you Steve. It makes me feel good. So don’t worry about burdening me or anything like that, okay?”

Steve felt his lip tremble again but managed to gulp down his sobs this time. He whispered a quiet, “thank you” before fully relaxing. He lazily pursed his lips, silently asking for affection, which you happily fulfilled. You moved in close and kissed his lips as a way to let him know you will support him during this tough time.

Once you were leaned back you said, “now, on a scale from one to ten, how bad does it hurt?”

“Mm…Eleven.”

“No, it’s Y/N.”

Silence engulfed the negative space until a curious Steve peeled one eye open, only to see your shit-eating grin. He knew you’d be frozen like that until he laughed, but your expression was usually funnier than the joke.

He puffed out a laugh through his nose before shutting his eyes again. “That was horrible,” he said.

“Maybe, but at least I got you to smile,” you said smugly.

“Mm you sure did,” he praised you lightly. “Now c’mere. Cuddling is the best medicine.”

It’s called ‘chronic pain’ for a reason. Sure you can dull the pain with medications and treatments but it’ll always be there. Sometimes all you have to do is deal with it and ride it out,  but it makes it so much easier when there’s someone there who loves and supports you. 

Love may not be able to cure all kinds of pain but Steve thinks your love comes pretty close.

thank you for reading!

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#stranger things #steve harrington x reader #robin buckley #canon divergent #steve x reader #steve harrington x y/n #fanfiction #netflix #80s #established relationship #migraine #chronic illness #chronic pain #concussion #steve harrington #steve pov #hurt/comfort #fluff #angst #Spotify