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shera-dnd · 2 years

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TOOK US A LITTLE BUT IT'S HERE!

The next installment on the Tales of the Troll Lands, following the disaster trio as they begin their journey to discover what caused the dragon attack in the first place.

This time featuring a brand new party member AND an incredible illustration by @midnightechoes who did an astounding job bringing our girl Talem to life

And if you'd like to get a fic idea written out by me consider donating to my kofi, and if we reach this month's goal your fic too may have incredible art just like this

anyways enjoy the read

It was a calm night in a small human town on the borders of the troll lands. The sun had just set, and the people went about their business. Shops closed, bars opened, some made their way home to call it a day, some went off to enjoy their nights.

And in the church at the center of town a priestess went about her cleaning duties.

The life of clergy wasn’t exactly glamorous. It was a lot of busy work and not a lot of recognition.

Not like Aurea minded, she did this for the pleasure of helping others. Though it would be nice if she could do more.

She could still help people here, but could she really make that much of a difference while stuck in this small isolated town?

The Gods had gifted her with magic, shouldn’t she be out there saving people in need?

How selfish of her.

She should just focus on her tasks, and care for the people she can care for.

Her dreams of adventure could wait.

Nearly an hour had passed by the time the head priest returned to congratulate her on her hard work. He was a kind old man, happy to serve the people just like she was.

With her nightly tasks done she was ready to head home when she heard a loud thumping against the temple’s door, like someone was trying to knock it down with a battering ram. She froze, unsure of what to do, and for a moment there was silence, before a loud booming voice called.

“Is anyone there? I was told I could find a healer here.”

Oh. It was a troll… Why would a troll need a healer?

The head priest wasted no time opening the doors for them.

The figure behind it stood easily over 10ft tall, though they were downright scrawny for their size. They had blue skin, short white hair, and a pair of small tusks protruding from their mouth. They wore only a simple vest and pants, not bothering with shoes, or any protection from the colder weather.

And they seemed perfectly fine.

“What is it you need, my child?” The head priest asked.

“My name is Talum,” he introduced himself with a bow that nearly had him knocking his forehead to the arch of the door, “me and my party are traveling north and wanted to request the services of a healer to accompany us.”

Party?

As in an adventuring party?

“My child, I don’t think–”

“I’d be happy to accompany you,” Aurea interrupted without a thought, “though I’m not sure of what service I can be to your kind.”

Talum waved off her worries, “we’re expecting plenty of burn wounds in the future, so you’ll be plenty useful… oh! And properly compensated. We do not expect you to work for free.”

Compensation was the last thing on her mind if she was being honest.

Sure money is nice, but the chance to truly go out there and make a difference in the world?

She just couldn’t let that opportunity pass her by.

The head priest loudly cleared his throat and looked wearily her way, “are you sure about this? You’ve never left the city walls before, and I’m certain this journey will be arduous.”

“I’m certain,” she answered, coming over to him and taking his hands, “please trust me. I know I can do this, and I’m certain this is where I’m needed most.”

The man looked ready to argue, but some puppy dog eyes were more than enough to get him to agree.

Talum chuckled at the sight, “very well then! Consider yourself hired. We’ll be departing tomorrow night, so you’ll have all day to pack up and get ready.”

“Of course,” she happily answered, before realizing something odd about his plan, “wait. We’ll be leaving at night?”

~~~

Right.

They were trolls…

Blessed by the goddess of the moon with great night vision. They were active exclusively at night, which meant she also had to be active at night. They didn’t like fire, so no torches either. She would have to make do with an enchanted lantern that generated no heat.

Aurea shuddered as the cold winds blew past her, and she pulled her cloak closer to cover her chest.

Behind her Cendis chuckled.

“Need some warming up, big girl?”

Cendis was a fire giant. Somehow even taller than her troll companions by a good 5ft at the very least. Her eyes glowed red in the night, and small embers pulsed within the red braids of her hair, illuminating the ashen skin of her face and the black scales of her cloak.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Aurea insisted, though she wouldn’t mind a little more warmth, “wouldn’t want to make our friends uncomfortable.”

“Oh please,” Cendis scoffed, “hey Talem, quit being a little bitch, and let me make some fire for our friend.”

Talem, the leader of the group turned to look at her.

She was Talum’s twin, though she was somehow much larger than him. She was built like a stone wall, and her muscles would already be terrifying on someone of human size, let alone a troll. Her tusks and her hair were also considerably longer than Talum’s - he liked keeping both trimmed and well cared for.

Then there was the most standout trait about her. Something Aurea constantly tried not to look at, and had yet to bring attention to.

Talem was missing her left arm. All that was left was a burned stump right below the shoulder.

“Are you fucking serious?” Talem asked, sounding more annoyed than angry, but still carrying far more antagonism than Aurea was comfortable with.

“Come on,” Cendis insisted, “what’s the worst that could happen? She’s our healer, if we fuck up she can just patch you back up in no time. Right, big girl?”

“R-Right,” she stammered out, partially because of the cold and partially out of surprise of being brought into this conversation.

“See?”

“Ugh, fine,” Talem waved off, “just don’t do anything stupid.”

“When have I ever?” Cendis joked, though from Talum’s look it was clear this wasn’t a question that should be answered.

This set the unfortunate pace that the next few days followed.

Aurea would struggle to adapt to her new conditions, Talem would act dismissive, and one of the other two would come to her defense.

The friction between them only became worse once she realized Talem was the clear leader of the group. They were all friends - all except Aurea of course - but Talem was the one in charge.

Which did beg the question.

Why?

She was the boss, in theory she was the one who decided to hire Aurea. She was the one who went out of her way to get a healer.

Then why did she seem to resent her presence so much?

At least she still had the company of the other two. Cendis especially seemed the most welcoming and accommodating. So Aurea grew to trust her, and one night when Talem left camp to go hunting, she found herself asking her companion the reason for their leader’s behavior.

“It’s because she’s an idiot,” Cendis answered matter of factly, lounging back next to her tent.

“I don’t think that’s fair to her,” Aurea tried to defend, sitting by the campfire.

“No, she’s right,” Talum nodded in agreement, though it was hard to hear him since he was sitting so far away from the flame, “my sister is an idiot.”

Those weren’t the most helpful of answers,so she pressed on. “I’m sure there has to be more to it than that.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Cendis surrendered, “she’s proud, hard headed, and an idiot.”

Aurea sighed, “fine, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I’m serious,” the giant insisted, “look Talem is easily the nicest, most clever person I know, but the moment her pride is on the line she turns into a huge pain in the ass.”

“What?” That didn’t make sense to her, “she hired me, how am I a threat to her pride?”

Talum flinched, “so about that… Cendis only told her we were hiring a healer well after I talked to you about it.”

“Oh yeah,” Cendis chuckled, “and I had to threaten to slice her other arm off if she didn’t accept that we were hiring you.”

Aurea looked utterly appalled by the implication. Cendis didn’t seem to understand that.

“What?” She shrugged, “It would grow back.”

She sputtered, trying to find a way to argue that point, but soon decided it was best to just leave that be and focus on the main topic at hand.

“Okay, but why all the subterfuge? Why did you have to hide it from her that you were gonna have a healer?”

“Because needing you is the same as admitting things have changed, and to do so is admitting defeat,” this time Talum answered, walking closer to their campfire so he may speak to her eye to eye, “and every time something has to change to accomodate for you, she’s reminded of that defeat.”

Right. That. So that’s why they hired her in the first place. The one thing she had been refusing to address this entire time.

Aurea shrunk into herself, and pulled her cloak closer around her.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come into this journey…

No.

She said she wanted to help more people, and Talem clearly needed help, even if she was being a stubborn, proud idiot about it. She just had to find a way to get through to her.

She stood up again and met Talum’s eyes. “How do I get her to get over it then? I need her to know I’m not leaving this group, and that I’m not some burden she has to bitterly accept!”

Cendis chuckled heartily at that and answered, “oh, I know just the way.”

~~~

Days passed, and Aurea held her new trick close to her chest, waiting for the perfect moment to use it. The perfect moment to gain Talem’s respect, and regain some control over her adventuring life.

…Either that or ruin it entirely, get kicked off the party for good, and have to trek two weeks back through the forests again, all on her own.

But no good plan ever came without risks.

And speaking of plans…

Talem was going over the maps of the coming marshlands surrounding the black dragon’s abandoned lair.

There was a well worn trail snaking its way through the sparse patches of solid ground in these lands. It would make for a winding journey, but a safe and dry one.

Though that didn’t seem like Talem’s plan.

“The water around here should be barely knee height,” she pointed out, gesturing at the map, “we can easily save a day of travel by cutting through here.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Aurea blurted out without even realizing what she was saying.

“Look it’s not that bad, it’s shallow water,” Talem argued, sounding as if she already knew this was gonna be a problem.

“That’s waist height for me!” She almost yelled this time, “I’m not walking through waist high, murky swamp water, in the middle of the night!”

“What? Do you want me to carry you around then, princess?” Talem spat with a cruel laugh.

“What I want is for you to actually take me in consideration for once!” She jumped up, staring the sitting troll right in her eyes, “I’m as much a part of this group as you, and I demand to be treated with respect.”

“Respect!? Do you know how considerate I’ve been this entire time!?” Talem shouted back, pushing herself up as well, “letting you keep a fire every night, slowing down our march to keep up with your pace, stopping early so you could get used to traveling at night. I’ve done nothing but be welcome towards you, and all you do is complain!”

“I’m the one complaining!? You can’t do a single favor without acting like it’s some great, tragic sacrifice!” The shouting was exaggerated, meant to escalate things, but oh was it cathartic. Maybe she was faking it less than she thought, “maybe if you were such a great planner, you would have considered my needs before hiring me!”

Talem growled, “well, maybe I shouldn’t have hired you in the first place!”

At that Talum decided to intervene, rising up to his sister eye level, “hey, hey, maybe we should all just calm down and talk things out later.”

“No!” Aurea shouted, making Talum step back in surprise, “I am not just going to stand here and take this any longer! Talem! I challenge you to a troll’s duel!”

There was a beat of silence.

Talum stunned in shock that she would use her secret weapon now, Cendis looking almost giddy to watch this unfold, and Talem utterly confused for but a moment before shooting her two other companions a murderous glare.

Cendis only replied with a shrug, which did nothing to calm her temper.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Talem asked, baffled, before turning back to Aurea, “you’re kidding. I could pin you down with one foot.”

Aurea was unaffected by the boast, standing firm against the troll - even though she was barely half her size - “if you’re so sure, then you have no reason to deny my challenge.”

“Alright, big girl,” she said, cracking her neck, “I’ll bite. A troll’s duel it is.”

With a quick command they began to move their maps aside to free up space for their clash.

A troll’s duel. A battle not to the death or to first blood, but to submission.

All weapons were allowed, though most preferred to fight with their bare hands and grapple their opponents to the ground. This was not an option for Aurea, so instead she would fight with her grandpa’s greatsword.

“Are you both ready?” Cendis asked, taking the role of their judge.

“Last chance to ditch,” Talem taunted.

“Ready.” Was all the answer she gave her.

“Tch, ready,” Talem echoed.

“Very well. Begin! ”

Aurea rushed in and stuck by Talem’s right side. It would be easy to focus the left, use the missing arm to her advantage, but that would only undermine her plan. She had to prove to Talem that she was more than just a reminder of her failure, and she couldn’t do so by pressing on her left side.

The troll swung with her right arm, her claws raking dirt and tossing it towards Aurea, who was forced to step back. She barely recovered her footing when a massive fist came crashing towards her head.

Aurea lunged to the side, and the ground shook with the impact of that fist.

Okay, maybe she underestimated Talem’s strength just a little bit.

Another swing came her way, but this time she managed to roll under it, getting right next to Talem’s leg.

She swung her sword to the back of the troll’s knee… but hesitated. Talem could regenerate, but she had never harmed someone before, she wasn’t sure if she could.

Her opponent cared very little for her moral dilemma and simply backhanded her hard enough to send her flying into the treeline.

With a loud crack, she hit a tree trunk shoulder first.

“Ready to give up?” Talem asked.

Aurea looked at her arm. Dislocated. Well that wasn’t good.

She pushed her arm back into place, and whispered a quick prayer to heal her muscles.

A feeling like warm, soothing, water washed over her shoulder and she gave it a feel stretches to try it out.

Good as new.

“In your dreams.”

Talem growled and rushed towards her, but Aurea was prepared. The tree toppled under her blow, but the human was left safe and sound.

“Are you gonna start fighting back, or are you just gonna waste everyone’s time again?” Came another taunt.

“I’ll fight back when you start taking this fight seriously!” She shot back.

There was another growl and another blow, “I’m trying not to kill you, you idiot.”

“Well then stop,” Aurea shouted, “I’m your opponent! Treat me as such!”

“Fine!” She shouted and the rumble she heard was not of a growl, but of thunder. Talem’s eyes glowing an unnatural blue.

Now for every swing of Talem’s fist there came a strike of lightning, and as fast as Aurea was, she couldn’t dodge lightning.

It seared her skin and made her muscles twitch with every hit, but she kept her prayer strong, healing her body faster than Talem could harm it.

She just had to keep it steady. Look for an opening. Wait for the perfect moment, for when Talem’s rage reached its peak.

Gods above what was she doing?

Fighting a massive troll, imbued with the power of the storms, in some random forest, in the middle of the night.

Why did she think this was a good idea?

Talem lifted her fist again, crackling with energy.

That was it. It was now or never. Even in her rage, there was no way she would fall for this trick a second time.

This time when lighting struck, she was ready, her blade was lifted up into the air, the metal attracting the electricity. The sword heated up in her hands and an arc formed between it and Talem’s body. It was a terrifying amount of power contained in the small space between them.

And then she swung her sword.

The arc shot back, sending Talem flying backwards and burning a pair of trees next to her.

There was a quick prayer. A wish for good luck. Pleading that her plan would go exactly as she wanted.

The trees cracked and toppled, one landing perfectly over Talem.

Aurea couldn’t believe it.

Sure, her prayers of healing were always answered. She was a channel to the gods’ benevolence.

But to have something so small, so silly, so selfish, be answered. It was a sign that this is what the gods wanted her to be doing.

She rushed over as fast as her tired legs would let her and placed a single foot on the troll’s chest, the tip of her blade coming to rest under her chin.

“Ready to give up?” Aurea echoed.

“In your dreams,” Talem shot back, but with her good arm caught under a tree she could not push herself free of Aurea’s foot.

“And that’s three!” Cendis declared loudly, “Aurea is the victor of this troll’s duel!”

She let out a breath she had been holding and took her foot off of Talem.

“Oh you lucky little shit!” Talem shouted as she continued to struggle her way out.

“Luck or not the victory is still mine,” Aurea challenged again.

“She does have a point, you know,” Cendis commented, lifting the tree off of her friend.

“Seriously?” She asked as she sat up, earning herself only a glowing red glare from the giant, “okay, okay,” she grumbled before turning to face Aurea, “I’m sorry for mistreating you all this time.”

“And?” Talum added.

“And you're not a burden to this team.”

“And?” Cendis added again.

“And I’ve been a hard headed jackass this whole time,” she snarled, “are you happy now?”

Aurea couldn’t help but giggle a little at that, “actually I was already happy with just the apology, but since you’re feeling so kind, maybe you could be the one to carry me through all those waters.”

Talem glared at her and for a moment that blue spark returned to her eyes, but it soon relented.

“Fine, I guess you deserve that much,” she sighed, and pushed herself up to her feet, “but I’m gonna want a rematch later.”

Aurea simply smiled.

“Any time you want.”

#fanfic #tales of the troll lands #trolls #dnd trolls #disaster troll trio #troll lore

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russilton · 2 years

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holy fuck. Read the snippet from omega George and holy fuck. We need the whole story! Also, I like how you incorporated George's actual tastes in food in this, sounded very real. Will you consider (given what Lewis said in VF interview) adding to the fic George's reaction to AD 2021? I know they're a year apart but I think it would be a great addendum omega George going berserk over alpha Lewis being robbed of his title and causing chaos --- maybe Lewis himself having to go and stop him?

This is actually a major plot point of the fic! I discussed it a little here but I’ll use this as a chance to expand on it.

When I set out to write a gewis a/b/o fic it mostly came from the fact I kept complaining about how most omegaverse fic will skip or fade to black ruts, if they’re mentioned at all, which is fair enough but I have a thing for slightly desperate tops. After I complained enough my partner told me why don’t I put up or shut up (but a lot more lovingly). On top of that @polycedes amazing fic chasing happiness introduced me to the concept of panic heats being triggered by stress, which makes absolute hormonal sense and now I’m obsessed with it, and wanted to consider the other side, stress induced Ruts.

So, mash all that together, and throw in some “author writing to compensate for pain” and AD 21 is the perfect opportunity for a potential stress induce Rut, particularly if you conveniently drop a heat for George in that would have Lewis running a little hot. I would pose that perhaps it’s around Brazil 21 that George ends up with an out of sync heat, he’s had a rough year with all the signing stress and it catches him by surprise. He and Lewis have been getting close, and Lewis is the only alpha he trusts that way, so he asks Lewis to help him through the heat so it’s a shorter affair and he can be back in the car in time to race. Some point in George’s heat there’s some silly but loving confessions they come out the other side in something tentatively together. Lewis is a happy alpha with a partner he loves, he drives the race of his life riding the adrenaline and happy hormones. This also contributes to his next two incredible wins, but behind that he’s starting to circle a pre rut thanks to spending a heat with George. Alphas have a little more ability to pick and choose when their ruts happen, but they can only put it off so long. Lewis is trying to push it to the end of the season, he’s tense but determined, everything is a little on edge, the underlying hunger makes him a better driver but he doesn’t like how much it’s sitting on the edge of his mind. There’s lots of cuddles with George who knows Lewis needs at least a little let off steam.

By the time AD happens he’s right on that edge, figuring that at least when the race is over he can go home and ride out his rut in his own bed (maybe with George) whether he wins or looses. But then you know what happens, adrenaline keeps him from falling right into it but then as the podium ends he feels his grip slipping, and begs the team to get him away from the track any omegas or beta’s since while he’ll still have some control, any compatible scents are going to make it worse. George hasn’t been able to get close to Lewis after the race in all the chaos, and he doesn’t want to push Lewis and make it about him but he’s a little hurt when Bono sends him back to his hotel and tells him he can talk to Lewis tomorrow. Lewis is already on a private plane to Monaco by the time George wakes up and Bono explains that Lewis went into a stress induced rut and wouldn’t even let Peter or Angela near him because he was so worried. George ends up calling Lewis and through some conversation and coaxing convinces Lewis to let him come to Monaco and have someone look after him for once, rather than always being the one to look after George. Lots of dirty, sweaty, loving rut sex follows and George marvels over Lewis and being able to the the one he shares this with.

#britcedes #gewis #4463 #omega verse 2021 au #lewisgeorge #mark’s fic tag #tw: a/b/o #anonymous #asks

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solartranslations · 2 years

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AF2 Common 12/15: Intelligence’s Strategy

The sailors of Intelligence also specialize in conducting background checks…

~*Scene: Felicita’s Room*~

Felicita: *Zzz*

Gli Amanti: Good evening, Ojou-san

Gli Amanti: You aren’t aware of it, but someone is making a move

Gli Amanti: Be cautious, my host

Gli Amanti: The Tarocco is a difficult thing. It requires compensation. That has not changed

Gli Amanti: But as for what will it accept it return

Gli Amanti: Do you have a guess, my host?

~*Scene: Harbor Street*~

Passenger Ship Crew: I’ll need to check your tickets. What is the purpose of your trip?

Orso: Nordia for tourism

Nino: The lord and lady are going for their honeymoon

Passenger Ship Crew: I see! Then I hope they enjoy their trip

(*smile) Nino: Yes, thank you

~*Flashback: SS Arcana*~

Dante: Intelligence will be conducting a top secret mission. The five of us will be pursuing Vir and Teo

Dante: We’ll meet up at the harbor inn, Ricola, tomorrow morning

Felicita: [Jolly has ordered for me to leave the Swords serie and head for Nordia]

Felicita: [So I’ll be part of a top secret mission with Intelligence for the first time]

Felicita: [I know we can’t trust Vir. But why do we need to go out of our way to pursue him…?]

Felicita: [Perhaps it was this mission that Gli Amanti was hinting about in my dreams…]

~*End Flashback*~

Liberta: Should we be worried about them taking this long

Liberta: Ah, is it because our disguises are weird?

Felicita: Huh?

Dante: Don’t worry, Ojou-san. We won’t be caught so easily with these disguises

Dante: As long as we act the part of course

Liberta: Yeah, you’re right

Dante: That’s directed at you, Liberta

Liberta: Huh! Why me!

(*smile) Felicita: *laugh*

Liberta: Not you too, Ojou

Dante: Looks like they’re ready for us. Let’s go, you two

~*Scene: Passenger Ship Hallway*~

Liberta: Be careful of the stairs, Ojou-sama. Here, take my hand…

Felicita: Uh…

Dante: What are you doing!

(*bonk)

Liberta: Oww!

Felicita: …

Dante: Didn’t I remind you? We’re supposed to be undercover. So don’t do anything that would make you stand out

Nino: You really are reckless, Liberta. You don’t change whatever Dante says

Orso: Yeah, you really don’t

Liberta: Hey, we haven’t gone on a cruise in a while. It’d be weird if we weren’t excited!

Felicita: …

Felicita: Does Intelligence always do this?

Liberta: When we need to. But we don’t usually get disguises like this

Nino: Our current target knows what we look like, so he’ll be on to us if we show up dressed as usual. That’s why we needed the disguises

Liberta: How do I look? Sharp, right? I almost never wear a fancy suit like this!

Felicita: Yeah. You look like a totally different person. Very mature

Orso: That may be true, but it feels weird

Nino: You should loosen your tie a bit. It’ll be more your style

Liberta: Then I’d just look like my regular self. I’m going for a Luca-like butler look today

Dante: You do look the part, but it could use some work. Your usual self is still showing through

(*serious) Liberta: Not at all. I do believe you are imaging things, my lord

Orso: Yeah, it’s slipping

Nino: Yup, clear as day

Liberta: Hey! Orso, Nino! Did you really have to say that!

Felicita: It definitely shows that you’re trying. And Luca’s my attendant, not a butler…

Felicita: It’s nice seeing you in a different suit too, Dante. The scarf looks good on you

Dante: I-it does? Haha, it’s embarrassing hearing it from you, Ojou-san

Felicita: The hair is what stands out the most though…

Dante: Well, I have to cover my most distinctive trait to be properly disguised. Might take a few points off my coolness factor though…just kidding!

Felicita: …*sigh*

Liberta: Ugh…but why does Ojou have to be…

Orso: It’s what works. It makes more sense for her to be a young wife than Dante-san’s daughter

Liberta: Okay, but couldn’t she have been mine instead of Dante’s?

Nino: There’s no way you can pull off being a little rich boy so just give it up

Liberta: Tch

Dante: “The dame of Dante” Hm, I like the sound of it!

Liberta: That shouldn’t matter!

Orso: Liberta, even if that’s not your role, you’re still with Ojou-san. You’re playing her attendant, aren’t you?

Liberta: R-right. I got this! …I mean, I am at your service

Dante: At this rate, it’ll take some time before you can become a proper butler

Liberta: As if! Damn it…I’m a butler, I’m a butler. I’m a high class butler like Luca…

Felicita: Liberta…I already said Luca’s my attendant, not a butler…

Dante: Alright everyone, we’re about to get started. Are you ready?

Orso: Dan…I mean, sir. Has there been any movement from Vir’s side?

Dante: Yes. They’ve begun talking. They shouldn’t leave the dining room for the time being

Dante: We should use this chance to get close and listen in

Liberta: Alright! Time to show Vir what Intelligence is made of!

Dante: We’re not low on spirit at least. Let’s just hope it doesn’t blow our cover…

~*Scene: Passenger Ship Dining Room*~

Liberta: What are they saying? They’re talking so quietly it’s hard to hear…I’m getting closer

Dante: If we get any closer, we risk exposure

Liberta: Don’t worry. I’ll just sneak over by pretending to get food

Dante: Wait, Liberta!

Vir: Have you gotten used to your powers?

Teo: Of course I have. I’m good at this stuff

Vir: As expected. You got used to the Stone quickly as well. You’re so reliable, Teo

Teo: No need for flattery!

Liberta: I can hear them talking from here. Hehe, perfect

Dante: Perfect how? What kind of attendant would ignore his master?

Felicita: You’re supposed to be our attendant, aren’t you?

Liberta: Uwah!? Ojou and Dante…

(*glare) Dante: Huh? What did you just say?

Liberta: I mean, sir and madam…

(*smile) Felicita: Right

Teo: Hey, Vir. Should we really have taken a slow ship like this? I thought we were in a hurry

Vir: It will be fine. Do I look like the type who doesn’t think things through?

Vir: We still have the other two in Regalo. It will naturally take some time before we can reconvene

Vir: And we are still missing...the most important piece

Teo: Alright. If you say so Vir, I trust you

Vir: *laugh* I’m glad to hear it

Liberta: Powers and pieces…I don’t get any of it

Dante: …Powers

Liberta: But I do get this much…

Felicita: Liberta?

Liberta: There’s something about them…especially Vir, that says they aren’t to be messed with

Liberta: And the “powers” they’re talking about… That might mean Arcana powers

Felicita: !

Liberta: I’m just guessing. But it’s possible, right? The same thing happened with Ash

Felicita: Yeah…we don’t know for sure. So we need more information

Liberta: Right. We don’t know what they’re planning, so we need figure it out

Felicita: Yeah

Dante: We should get back to our seats before Vir notices

Felicita: Right

Liberta: A contract…? Ugh, if only I could get closer…

Dante: Hey, Liberta. Hurry up

Liberta: Huh? Uwah!?

(*bump) Liberta: Oww…ah, my apologies!

Teo: What’s up with him? He’s a mess

Vir: …Ah, truly

Felicita: Are you okay…? Can you make it back?

Liberta: Oj…I mean, madam, I am so sorry! Your consideration is most appreciated!

Felicita: It’s fine

Liberta: …That was close. Good thing they didn’t notice. Thanks, Ojou

Felicita: Yeah

Dante: I can’t believe you…Don’t scare me like that

Liberta: S-sorry…I panicked when you called me like that

Liberta: But my coordination with Ojou was perfect! I’m really getting the hang of this butler thing

Dante: You call that perfect? Liberta…

Liberta: Huh? Dante?

Dante: Get it together!!

(*whack) Liberta: Ah, ow…

Felicita: You’re making us stand out…

~*Scene: Passenger Ship Hallway*~

Teo: What are you thinking about?

Vir: Oh, I was just thinking how strange those other passengers from earlier were

Vir: Perhaps I should try a disguise as well. The masquerade will begin in Nordia soon, after all

Teo: Me too! Buy me a mask, Vir!

Vir: *laugh*…Of course. I’ll be sure to find the flashiest one there is

~*End of Scene*~

(Continue to Common Event December 20 (Liberta Route))

(Continue to Dante Chapter 3)

(Back to Directory)

#common #arcana famiglia #arcana famiglia 2 #december 20 #solar translations #psp game #translation #releases #....yeah I don't know how Vir wouldn't have caught on to them

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2hlawfirm · 10 months

Text

Who is Not Covered by Workers’ Compensation in California?

Employee rights in California Labor Code encompass a range of protections and benefits for workers. It addresses minimum wage regulations, overtime pay, lunch and rest intervals, and workplace harassment and discrimination. Employees are also entitled to inspect their personnel files, obtain precise paycheck statements, and demand leave for a range of causes, notably personal or health concerns under the labor code. These rules have the objective of offering equal opportunity, secure workplaces, and fair competition for workers across the state.

What does workers’ compensation cover in California, and who can be excluded from coverage?

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault policy that provides financial and health care perks to employees who get injured at work. Employers in California are obliged to carry compensation coverage to protect the staff, including Deputy Sheriffs.

Workers’ compensation pays for medical bills, rehab expenses, and disability benefits for workers who are unable to work while recovering. Additionally, it provides death payments to the heirs of employees who pass away as a result of occurrences at work.

While Certain individuals are not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits in California. This includes independent contractors, volunteers, and some domestic workers. Business owners and executives are able to opt out of insurance coverage. Employees who sustain injuries outside the scope of their work place as a consequence of intoxication, or wrongful behaviour issues, might not get reimbursement. It is critical to understand these exclusions in order to guarantee that people who qualify under California’s workers’ compensation standards receive the necessary coverage and benefits.

The three big workers’ compensation benefits that can be employing family members

Protection for Family Members: Workers’ compensation laws ensure that family members employed in the family business are eligible for benefits in case of work-related injuries or illnesses. This coverage safeguards their well-being and provides financial support during recovery.

Compliance with Legal Requirements: California law mandates that employers, including family businesses, must carry workers’ compensation insurance to cover their employees. Employing family members is no exception, and having proper coverage ensures compliance with legal obligations.

Streamlined Claim Process: By having workers’ compensation coverage in place, the claim process for family members becomes more straightforward. In the event of a work-related injury, family employees can file for benefits without complications, enabling them to focus on their recovery.

Why should you get services from our law firm?

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Conclusion

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#Workers’Compensation #PersonalInjuryAttorney #attorney #lawyers #lawsuit

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shurisneakers · 3 years

Text

harmless (vii)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, existential crisis, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, lil bit of angst, clint barton being a lil shit

Word count: 3.4k

A/N: hey shoutout to @ugherik for suggesting a spin on the “A PLATYPUS!??!“ [perry puts his hat on] “PERRY THE PLATYPUS!???” thing. i used it in here, it’s a really small part and probably missable but i tried!! also i like the next chapter better than this one, i just wanted to put this here so it doesn’t seem abrupt <3333

here’s

my ko-fi

if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

Bucky can’t stop staring at the mirror.

He wishes it was for narcissistic purposes. He had enough reason for it to be. His age may be a hundred but he had the youthful exuberance of a very drained sixty year old.

But no, it wasn’t because of the steel cut jawline or thousand gigawatt smile.

After last week’s mini-spiral, he does what almost half the videos on TikTok warn him not to do.

He got a haircut.

Everyone’s reaction stopped him from following it up with an ear piercing, but he can’t confidently say he didn’t at least consider it once. Maybe a neck tattoo.

He pulls at a lock of hair. It’s not even longer than his finger.

What did he do-

“It’s just a haircut, man,” he says to no one in particular, almost like he’s trying to reassure himself.

He runs his hands through his hair. It takes lesser time than he was used to.

Steve had told him he looked good. But then again, Steve wore a fugly costume 90% of the time, what did he know?

Clint acknowledged it and didn’t outright call him ugly, which he supposed was a compliment. Wanda simply smiled at him.

“FRIDAY?” he reaches out.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes?” comes the automated reply.

“How are you?” It took him some getting used to her, given that she was constantly listening to everything, and in general seemed to go against the universal idea of privacy.

But his therapist told him he needed to form friendships.

She didn’t mention it had to be human ones.

“As good as ever. Is there anything I can help you with?”

He wants to ask her what she thinks of his hair until he realises fashion advice from a faceless AI is a new low for him. Maybe ‘Do you think I should crawl into a pit and die?’ would be more appropriate.

“Never mind,” he dismisses instead. “Any messages for today?”

“A reminder to buy a harder bed because you can’t keep sleeping on the floor.” Ah, that was on Sam’s recommendation three months ago, but he wasn’t going to stop any time soon. “And a text from a contact named Nuisance saying to meet them at the attached location in thirty minutes.”

“Where is the location?”

“The local sports centre.”

“Isn’t that closed today?”

If he had to go out in public looking like this, maybe he could wear a cap and sunglasses and no one would recognise him. Unfortunately, as he was reminded several times before by anyone with an iota of common sense, it was a stupid disguise.

Beanie it was, then. Bare minimum.

“It is, yes.” Fewer citizens to worry about.

“Okay.” He hesitates in front of the mirror again, adjusting the hat on his head. “Thank you, FRIDAY.”

“You’re welcome, Sergeant.”

He stares at the little tuft of hair at the front that refused to stay down no matter how much he shoved it back.

“Come on, man,” he exhales in slight despair. “Whatever.”

____

The lock of the door leading to the pool is easy enough to pick. He can see how you got in without a hitch even though it was closed.

The deck around the pool was absolutely drenched in water. No one was using it, there was no reason for water to splash out unless it was deliberately kept like this.

He catches sight of you easily, being that you’re the only two people there. You were standing at the end of the hall, head ducked as you scrolled through your phone.

The door closes behind him with a soft thud.

You don’t look up from your mobile when you start talking, “What do you think 6 year olds like?”

Because James Barnes, carbon dated to 1917 and therefore certified young person, would definitely know the answer to this question.

“I don’t know. Lego?”

“Just how much money do you think a teacher makes-”

You stopped mid-sentence, finally lifting your head to catch his eye. He stares back at you, steps faltering when you don’t move.

"Who are you?" you squinted.

What

"It's me," Bucky says, tugging off the dumb beanie and using it to gesture vaguely towards himself. Fuck, he shouldn’t have worn it, it was ridiculous anyway-

"You sound like him..." You narrow your eyes. “You don't look like him.”

Great

He rolls his eyes before putting on a mock scowl. Can't have Bucky Barnes without a sense of eternal disgruntlement.

"Oh hey, that is you." You grin. "You got a haircut."

“I did.” He suddenly feels the awkwardness increase. His fingers fidget with the beanie.

“Nice.” You nod in acknowledgement.

He wants to hit himself at the words that just spill out before he could think about it. “You hate it.”

“I never said that,” you snort. “And since when does my opinion matter?”

“It doesn’t.” But now he wants to know what you think since he didn’t trust anyone else to tell him honestly.

“Must cut down on time in the shower, huh?”

It did.

He shrugs. He shoves the beanie into his back pocket.

“Was it a crisis haircut?” How did you kno- “Are you going to get bangs next time?”

“Shut up,” he says lamely, a dull burn in his cheeks.

“I know a place where you can get hair dye for cheap. Not technically FDA approved, but I think purple streaks are a good place to start-”

“What are we doing here?” he interrupts, sighing.

“Skinny dipping. Take off your shirt, Barnes.”

“Funny,” he says dryly, eyeing your shoes when you straighten up.

Ice skates.

“Fine, pants then.” You don’t make any effort to move from your end so he does, walking closer to you.

“What are those for?” He doesn’t hide the annoyance from his voice when he points at your feet.

“Oh, these?” You look down at them. “Yeah, I’m going to freeze the pool.”

That seems... mild compared to the shit show you wanted to do last time.

“For?” He halts where he is.

“’M gonna take my friends ice skating.”

“Is that all?” He wants to make a comment about the fact that you have friends but bites it back.

“Today is just a trial run. Tomorrow I’m gonna go freeze the East River.” There it is.

“The East River is not your personal ice skating rink.”

“Not yet it isn’t.” You lift up a middle finger.

It was too early for you to flip him off, even by your standards.

He raises an eyebrow.

Your face scrunches in confusion. You follow his gaze to your finger. “Oh yeah, no, that’s a freeze ring.”

Only then he notices a ring around the finger. From where he was standing he could make out the blue stone that adorned it.

“Joy.” He rolls up the sleeves of his black bomber jacket. “Let’s get this done with, then.”

“No no, wait.” You hold up your hand and he complies, having nothing to lose anyway. You pull out your phone and press a few buttons before shoving it back into your bag and tossing it aside.

The soft sounds of a piano start playing from a boombox near the corner of the room. A child starts singing following a series of knocks.

His eyebrows furrow. “What the fuck is this?”

“The Frozen soundtrack.” You beam at him. “I thought it was fitting.”

He doesn’t know what that is and at this point, he’s too afraid to ask. He can vaguely make out the lyrics being about a snowman but he isn’t too concerned.

He takes one step forward. You immediately point your fist at the ground in front of him, forcing him to jump back when a blast hits right in front of his shoes. Suddenly he gets why the floor is covered in water.

It sounds like a series of cracks as the water starts freezing over, a layer of ice now separating him and you.

"You ready?” The mischief was woven in your voice as the blasts continued throughout the deck, effectively turning the entire floor into ice.

Bucky takes a step tentatively forward. Not bad. He takes another. Okay.

The third one is when shit starts to hit the fan. His hands shoot out to hold onto his balance when his footing slips from beneath him.

His Nike sneakers aren’t used to snow. They’re used to well manicured lawns and pavement trips to Starbucks and marble floors of the compound. Not swimming pool decks covered in ice.

He can hear you singing in the distance and every time he looks up you’re a little further away, making sure every inch of space is frozen.

It takes him a while to get over the initial fear of breaking his skull and just move forward swiftly with short steps. A goddamn penguin is what he looked like.

“There you go, you’re getting it,” you chirp as you whiz past him. He reaches out to grab at you, only to miss by an inch. He staggers, arms flapping wildly to regain his stability.

He hears crackling beside him. He gets a second or two to watch ice crystals spread through the water before turning it completely solid. You step onto the now frozen pool, testing your weight with one leg before cautiously getting on.

A triumphant smile emerges on your face. “Awesome.”

He manages to press himself against the wall as a form of support.

There is no point to this whole thing. He knows this. It’s been well over 6 weeks and there is genuinely no point to this.

He realises it again when he moves from side to side, body erupting into a waddle.

Why is he doing this. He doesn’t get paid extra. He doesn’t get any kind of compensation. All he gets is more wisecracking geniuses, embarrassment and the mortifying ordeal of getting caught imitating a penguin.

The song changes to a woman singing about doing something for the first time, forcing him to pay attention to it. He hears something about ball room and balls and tunes right back out.

Bucky manages to find his way to the actual pool since that’s where you’re twirling around, opting to land on his mental arm in case things go wrong. He takes a sliding step forward, followed by another. Maybe he can do this.

“If a 200 pound super soldier can stand on this, I suppose it’s strong enough,” you muse, watching him slip and slide as he tries to invent makeshift ice skating.

Unfortunately, his method doesn’t have any brakes, so while he’s too busy trying to move forward, there’s no way to actually stop. He finds this out very soon when he almost launches himself off the edge of the pool.

Something yanks him backwards and back onto the ice.

“Honestly, this is utterly useless since you can’t really do anything but it’s the most fun I’ve had all week,” you admit when he goes sliding towards the middle, arms flailing.

“You had to pick fuckin’ ice of all things.” He thinks that maybe he’s getting a hang of this. He can definitely move faster than what he was doing like, 10 minutes ago. It’s not like you were going anywhere, anyway.

“I like to keep things spicy.”

He stays where he is to glare at you. You mouth the words to the song, watching his every move whenever it interested you.

Okay, change of plan; a temporary distraction till he figures out how to actually get the ring from you. He settles on skating towards the edge of the rink slowly, taking a step off, slipping almost immediately when his foot comes in contact with the deck.

“Where are you going?” you yell over the music initially but immediately break into song when it ends in a crescendo.

He takes a knee, lifting his metal arm up before driving it into the ground. It shatters magnificently, leaving small shards of ice at his disposal.

He picks up one of them, waiting for you to complete your dumb twirl. He takes aim, and-

“Ouch, what the fuck?” You stop your off key singing to rub your shoulder where the ice hit you.

He wordlessly picks up another piece to throw at you, hitting you squarely in the leg.

“Stop that!”

He may not be able to move as fast but he can definitely throw.

“Give me the ring,” he commands, stretching his arm behind his back before releasing another piece to hit your forearm.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” There’s nowhere you can skate to avoid his stupidly good marksmanship.

“You gotta do what you gotta do.” He shrugs, breaking another patch of ice to replenish his ammo. “Hand over the ring.”

“Over my dead body,” you shriek when a particularly big piece lands next to your feet. You knew he missed that shot on purpose.

“I feel like I’m finally acting my age,” he says casually, finding your darting about in order to avoid him more fun than he initially thought. “Can’t throw pebbles at meddling kids so this is the next best option. Thanks.”

“If you acted your age you’d be in a casket, Barnes,” you hissed, finding that skating in zig zags helped your cause, but not by much. “I’d be- you bitch- I’d be more than happy to help you get there.”

You raise your arm, ready to send another blast to freeze the water that was starting to melt around him, hopefully, keep him where he was if it froze around him.

He flinches. You notice immediately, hand dropping slightly when you realise what it looked like.

“I’m not gonna freeze you,” you say, softer than you intended. From what you knew, he had enough and more experience with that and you weren’t going to contribute to it.

He swallows thickly, giving himself a little shake of his head as if to jolt him out of his train of thought.

Another piece of ice hits you in the leg. You let out a string of curses at him.

“The more ice you make, the more I have to throw at you, Y/N.” He waits for you to regain your balance when you nearly take a stumble.

“Shut up, you’re so immature.”

“Remind me whose plan this was again?” No point waiting for you to regain your balance when you fall over only a few seconds later.

He gathers a few shards in his beanie, tucking it into his belt like a little makeshift rucksack just in case before venturing out on the main rink again.

It’s more difficult for you to stand without railings to guide you, giving him enough and more time to make his way towards you, staggering and skidding.

Both of you looked ridiculous.

“Stay away, fiend.”

“Ring first.” He holds his hand out in front of you. He even considered pulling you up if you just made things easier.

Next thing he knows he’s on his ass on the ice beside you.

“I hate you,” he groans, watching as you inch away from him on your knees.

He doesn’t really have any other options so he shoves aside the humiliation and gets on his knees, using his arms to drag him along the ice.

“For the love of Christ, none of us are winning here. Just give me the ring.”

The bitch from the soundtrack sings about letting it go but he won’t.

“Never,” you shout, sliding away from him as fast as possible.

You make use of the fact that the top layer of ice is starting to melt, using the ring to freeze it again. His knees and fingers get stuck as the water freezes over but he has super strength. It barely takes him a second to free himself.

“Great,” he huffs, just settling down on the ice, ignoring the sting of cold that was spreading through his limbs. Running after you wasn’t going to work; he needed a way to get the ring.

“You won last time, I’m not letting you win again.”

“Are we seriously keeping score?” He watches as you scramble towards the edge.

“No one likes a loser, Bucky.” You use the pool stair railings to pull yourself up.

“Explain why you have friends then.” He can’t help himself this time.

“Hardy har har.” You roll your eyes.

He doesn’t make an effort to move. Instead, when you take a step back into the rink, he raises his arm and pummels it into the ice, just to annoy you.

The ground damn near shakes, pushing you dangerously towards losing your balance again.

“Are you crazy?” Your arm shoots out in front of you to keep you from falling headfirst.

“No.” He does it again. This time there’s a crack in the ice. “I’m just very tired.”

“If the ice breaks we’re both gonna be underwater, you moron!”

“Fine by me.” He shrugs. “Freeze it again. I’ll just find different ways to ruin it for you.”

You glare at him. He raises his arm above his head again.

“Fine! Fine, stop.” You eye him as he lowers his arm.

He reaches for his stash of ice pieces from earlier, throwing one at your shoulder again.

“Boy, I swear if you don’t stop doing that-” you duck when another one comes at you. You had no idea he could be this annoying.

It suddenly hits him, like a lightbulb going off in his brain. He wipes his hands off on his jacket, getting on all fours before slowly managing to pick himself up again.

He looks at you, tilting his head slightly like he was studying you.

“What?” you ask suspiciously, eyeing as he starts inching closer towards you. “What are you thinking?”

It’s like watching a newborn deer stumble its way through the world, albeit more gracefully, until he starts picking up speed. The motherfucker was going to mow you down.

The skates are useful but not so much when an extremely determined bumbling oaf is barrelling towards you, his speed beginning to match yours even without equipment.

You don’t know why you’re running, you don’t know why he’s chasing after you but when you see the end of the pool you take a sharp left only to have him knock right into you, sending you both sprawling.

You land half on top of him, breaking your fall but it doesn’t stop the very loud groan that escapes your mouth. He’s already in the process of sitting up straight, giving you less time to analyse what just happened.

“What the fuck was that for?” you speak through gritted teeth. “Fuckin’ acting like the both of us have free healthcare.”

“You refused to give up.”

“So your plan was to tackle me like a quarterback?” You threw your hands up.

“One part of it.” He drags himself to the edge, away from you.

“There's more to your monkey brained plan?” He doesn’t look at you. The ice around the pool has more or less melted, letting him gain proper footing on the floor before he stands up.

“Oh, yeah.” He turns to you. “The other’s a trick I stole from Stark.”

Bucky holds up the ring. Your jaw slightly drops, eyes searching your finger for the now missing piece of tech.

“Suppose that’s two points for me?”

You’re impressed. You also want to stab him. So you do the next best thing.

“When I imagined you holding a ring in front of me, the circumstances were very different,” you comment.

“Bye, Y/N.” He spins on his heel, not even giving you a second’s worth of reaction. You found it amusing.

He heads towards the door, clothes all wet. He empties out melted ice water from his beanie before stuffing it into his pocket. Just when he’s about to leave, you remember something.

Do you mean it genuinely or just because it has an effect on him?

“Just for the record, Barnes, about your hair-” you call out, earning his attention from over his shoulder. “I think you look really good either way.”

The world may never know.

You swear you can see the corners of his lips quirk upwards before he turns around again.

He slips on a block of ice, cursing and clenching on to the door to keep him upright, quickly yanking it open and leaving before he has a chance to embarrass himself further.

Smooth.

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #harmless fic #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

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emmyhem · 3 years

Text

always (l.r.h) part two

a/n: hi everybody! here is always part two, this is actually one of my favorite writings and one that I was looking forward to writing and posting a lot. it’s another angsty piece but with a sappy happy ending :) also it’s unedited but what else is new. i’ll probably post again tomorrow either a bestfriend!calum piece or a roomate!luke piece that are titled in my masterlist. i hope everyone enjoys and is having a wonderful day. i definitely am after that livestream today. (i would say that i didn’t cry because of how good and happy they all looked but that would be a lie) anyway i hope you enjoy and as always my messages are always open to chat or whatever and feedback and comments are always appreciated. thank you - emmy <33

pairing: luke hemmings x fem!reader

summary: it’s time for you decide whether or not luke’s mistake is worth losing the love of your life.

warning(s): mentions of alcohol, cursing, angst (but with a happy ending), self doubt, insecurity, mention of throwing up

word count: 2.9k

pt. 1

The longer you watched the window the more you were convinced mother nature was taunting you. The rain droplets that cascaded down the glass mirroring the tears that hadn’t stopped falling since you left Luke speechless in the driveway. It had to be for your benefit, I mean it was Los Angeles. California was in a drought for god’s sake.

Despite the fact that nature was mocking you, you couldn’t dare pull your eyes away. The alternative was to face the endless voicemails waiting for you on your phone that glowed dimly beside you. You knew you would have to hear them eventually but right now you knew that even a breath, let alone full sentences from Luke would break you in every sense of the word. You feared the sound almost as much as the content behind it.

You weren’t ready to be okay, you needed to wallow in your pain for a bit longer. As bad as that sounds you knew it was the only way you could convince yourself to let him back in, to forgive him. It was also the only way you could forgive yourself. Your body needed to feel how tortured you were without him, how much you needed his affection, his love, and him. Not his money.

Part of you knew deep down that Luke didn’t mean what he said, the part that awakened the butterflies that had taken permanent residence in your stomach since he had entered your life. The part that caused all your senses to align when Luke kissed you the night you finally understood what it meant to love someone with everything you have. The same part that was clawing at your heart right now as your mind replayed the look of pure devastation that was painted on Luke’s pretty features as you drove away from him. That part was itching for you to run to him, to cuddle into his embrace and say “I forgive you. I’ll never leave you again. Love me?”

But, it was the other part of you that was causing the problems right now, the part that snuck up on you each time you felt secure in yourself and tore it all down in seconds. The part that told you there was no way you were good enough for your boyfriend when you stared at your reflection in the mirror for even a second too long. The part that Luke was typically the one to silence when it overwhelmed you in a crowded room, with just a tender kiss to the forehead, or squeeze of your hand. The same part that constantly craved for Luke to be proud of you the way you were of him in anything he decided to pursue. That part was completely shattered last week when, whether intentionally or not he showed you that not only was he not proud, but also felt burdened by your lack of brilliance.

“Y/n,” your friend called, breaking you from your self-loathing thoughts as she approached your brittle body, enveloped in every single fuzzy blanket you could get your hands on.

“Hi.” you croaked, pulling your stinging eyes from where they had settled on a particularly large rain droplet that had stolen your interest as you wondered how much more water it could withstand before it burst from its flawless embodiment and shattered to the sill below. You wondered the same about Luke, how much more of your insecurity and emotional baggage would it take for him to burst. How much more of your mediocrity could he compensate for before you began to strip him of his excellence?

“Have you talked to him yet?” she inquired, eyes going soft as she looked at you with sympathy.

“No.” you groaned, pulling yourself up. “Do I have to?”

She shook her head, dismissing you. “You know that you’re welcome here as long as you want, but anyone could tell that you’re completely miserable without him, even if he is being an epic prick.”

You sniffled and wrapped your arms around your best friend.

“Am I an idiot for wanting to forgive him?” you spoke into her hair.

She returned the embrace and settled next to you in the bed, “I think if he really is sorry then you’re incredibly strong for it. And you’re never an idiot, that would be your blonde haired beau.”

You laughed softly at her innocent dig, the giggle catching slightly in your throat as it had only been releasing pathetic pleas, and broken sobs for the past few days.

Y/f/n handed you your phone, the photo of Luke and Petunia sitting by the pool being almost completely covered by all the missed call notifications that had taken over your lock screen.

“I think you should at least hear what he has to say babe, for your sake if not for his.”

You let out a heavy sigh and accepted the phone, wrapping your favorite blanket around your shoulders and dragging your feet to the bathroom for some privacy.

You took a seat in the empty bathtub throwing the blanket across your body. You reasoned it was the perfect place to listen to the messages because as soon as Luke’s voice flooded the room you would be completely submerged in him and you didn’t trust your legs to hold you up.

You clicked the most recent voicemail, time stamped from 1:28 am last night. As you selected the speaker option you allowed your eyes to fall closed and without noticing or trying you held your breath.

“Y/n,”

Only one word in you could immediately tell two things without a trace of doubt. One, he’d been crying, and two he was drunk. If you had to guess you would say tequila, it had always been his favorite and he had a bad habit of nursing his wounds in the liquor cabinet. It shattered your heart to think of him broken, and vulnerable and as he continued to speak you found yourself wrapping your arms around your body for comfort.

“I miss you and I’m sorry. I-” his voice cut off as a sob played through your phone. You released a matching one while squeezing your eyes tighter, a shaky hand bringing your phone closer as if it would bring him as well.

As he continued, your mind began to paint a vivid picture. You saw him sitting on the kitchen floor, an old ratty sweatshirt struggling to keep him warm, damp tear stains spoiling the sleeves. There was a half empty bottle to his side and the tip of his nose was red as it peeked out from the hood. You shook your head in an attempt to rid yourself of the image that felt like your personal nightmare.

“I-I can’t live without you, really I don’t think I can. I need you and I love you. I love you so much. Just please come home to me, please baby.” he spoke through gasps of breath that caused worry to spread across your body.

You paused the message as a dull ache creeped up from the bottom of your stomach and to your throat which was tightening by the second. You tossed your phone onto the blanket which you had kicked off as your body heated up, and sprung out of the tub landing firmly in front of the toilet. Gathering your hair into a makeshift ponytail in your hand you hunched over and retched into the bowl. Y/f/n burst through the door as you gagged and coughed repeatedly, she took your hair from you and rubbed soothing circles on your back as you tried to focus your breathing through your nose. This wasn’t the first time you had cried yourself into throwing up during your stay so she knew what to do to calm you down and settle your stomach.

As you finished the glass of water she had poured from the sink while you brushed your teeth she held your car keys out to you.

“Please go see him. I can’t see you like this anymore.”

You nodded accepting the keys reluctantly and made your way to your car.

Once outside you noted that the rain had started coming down harder, it seemed fitting as your situation reached its climax. By the time you got into the car your hair was wet and stringy, dripping onto Luke’s shirt that you had been wearing since the night you left. You quickly tied it back and drove away, hoping the sound of the rain could calm your nerves before you got back to your house.

When you got there the sun was setting and the rain was still falling steadily, you grabbed a jacket from the back seat and held it over your head as you ran to the house. The jacket didn’t give you much protection from the water and you were soaked by the time you reached the door. Taking one big breath, in through your nose, and out from your mouth as you had been repeating the whole ride there, you raised your quivering hand and knocked three times.

Expecting it to take a few minutes for him to reach the door you were shocked when it swung open in just a few seconds. Your heart sunk as you took in Luke’s appearance, although you were sure you looked just as bad if not worse. Deep dark circles sat beneath his bloodshot eyes, his stubble had grown in a bit longer than he typically liked it and his lips were chapped and bitten down. Guilt panged in your chest, how awful of a girlfriend were you to let it get to this point? The thought made you question if he would even want you here.

Apparently the time apart had completely fucked with your ability to read Luke’s face because even frozen in shock, his eyes began to fade into that special soft color of blue they only got to around you. He felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from his chest and just as it had been since the moment you left the only word running through his head was “y/n.”

He didn’t see your messy, wet hair or the ratty tshirt that swallowed your figure. He didn’t see your eyes puffy from crying or your bitten down nails that you were bringing back up to your mouth in that moment as your nerves got the best of you. All he saw was y/n. His y/n. You came home to him and as far as he was concerned you looked like an angel. Warm, sweet, and perfect. So fucking perfect.

Your eyes ran over his face anxiously, waiting for him to say something, or invite you in, or even slam the door in your face. Anything. After a minute of silence you gathered up the courage to speak first.

“Sorry I never called you bac-'' your words were knocked from your mouth when Luke took a step forward and wrapped you up into the tightest hug you’d ever experienced. Your limbs fit together perfectly, and the second your bodies met you felt recharged, as if everything was in place once again. And Luke felt like for the first time in a week he could breathe.

“I don’t deserve you.” he sighed as you pressed your nose into his chest deeply breathing in the smell you could only describe as home. “Thank you for coming back to me, I don’t work without you.”

From your position in his arms you could see the mess splayed on the floor behind him. It was just as you had pictured it earlier, a thin blanket and scratchy throw pillow were scattered on the floor in front of the sink, a bottle lying on it’s side just next to them. Guilt inched up your spine when your eyes made contact with a framed picture of the two of you on top of the blanket.

“I’m sorry.” you sobbed into his chest, your hands clawing at the material of his sweatshirt.

He pulled back quickly, keeping his hands on either sides of your waist, “No baby, why’re you sorry. This is all my fault, I was awful. You...you’re perfect.” he pressed as you shook your head in distress, unable to stop your tears.

“N-no I stayed away for so long, even when I knew I wa-wanted to forgive you. I was embarrassed and...and selfish.” you struggled to speak over your tears while Luke looked down at you sad and confused.

“What’re you talking about, love?”

You sniffed and dropped your hands from Luke’s chest, “I j-just wanted you to be proud of me.” the end of your sentence was nearly lost in your sobs but Luke understood. And in that moment he regretted going into music instead of engineering, or science, or whatever would’ve helped him to invent a time machine so he could go back and beat the shit out of whoever or whatever had possessed him last week.

His hands moved to cup your cheeks, his thumb tracing lightly over your bottom lip.

“I am proud of you baby.”

He leaned in slowly, and hesitantly, almost as if he was testing the waters, like this was new. As if he hadn’t kissed you thousands of times before. You looked up at him through your lashes littered with unshed tears and nodded your head slowly. He still had so much left to say, you still had so much left to say but you both had been needing this for as long as you’d lost it. He pressed his lips to yours gently, afraid that even one wrong move and you would decide that you had made the wrong choice in coming back. He wouldn’t survive that, he couldn’t lose you twice.

As he went to pull away you snaked a hand around the back of his neck pulling him back towards you. This time when your lips collided his body sagged into it, both arms wrapping around your back and lifting you up to the tips of your toes. Your eyes drifted shut and you reveled in the feeling of him pressed up against you like this. When the kiss broke you kept your faces close enough that your noses were touching, and opened your eyes to see Luke’s still closed, his eyebrows furrowed as he pressed his forehead to you.

“You’re what I’m most proud of.” he exhaled, his eyelids still shut lightly. “My greatest achievement is getting you to love me and I can’t believe I almost blew it.”

You brought a hand to his face and stroked his cheek lightly, the feeling of his overgrown stubble foreign to your fingers.

“It would take a lot more to get rid of me.” you assured. “I think m’too in love with you.”

He opened his eyes, locking them with your own, and spoke firmly but with a softness that was and would always be reserved for only you.

“I want to make it clear that you do not in any way leech.” he dragged the last word out, laced in disgust as if it were hard for him to say. “I lucked out. I actually just seem to keep lucking out, my job, my life, and you.” He placed a hand across your jaw and tilted your chin up before continuing. “I completely lucked out with you. I have lots of money, more than I need actually and it makes me feel fucking incredible that I can take care of you. That’s all I wanna do for the rest of my life.”

Your mouth broke into a smile hearing him verbally commit to a lifetime with you.

“But, with that being said I know you don’t need me-”

“I do need you.” you interrupted.

Luke threw his head back at your words, a toothy grin overtaking his face before he pressed a chaste peck to your forehead.

“Y’know what? You’re too fucking cute. I meant financially baby, m’trying to apologize here.”

You nodded for him to continue, struggling to contain your own beaming smile.

“Anything you decide to do occupationally or otherwise could never, ever let me down. You’re physically incapable of it. I’d be a lucky guy if you let me stick around for it all and I promise to never forget that again. I’m sorry I did in the first place.” he took a deep breath before finishing his rant. “M’only able to give you the world if you let me. Let me?”

You answered his question by attaching your lips once again, desire and need radiating off of the place where your lips met. As your taste buds reacquainted themselves with Luke’s mouth you wondered how you had gone even a day without him.

Luke felt like he was flying and he couldn’t wrap his head around how anyone in the world could live without, seeing you, knowing you, and kissing you. He also knew that he would do anything to ensure that he never had to go a day without you for the rest of his life.

“How long does it take to get an engagement ring sized?” he wondered to himself.

If he could’ve read your mind he would’ve seen white gowns, tiered cakes, and little blue eyed, curly haired monsters running amuck.

“I want everything with you, the whole world.” you affirmed when you pulled apart for air.

“Yea?” he responded.

You hummed against his lips, “Always.”

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buckyownsmylife · 3 years

Text

daddy issues - chapter xiv

The one where Ransom doesn’t feel ready to become a father, but he should have thought about it before sleeping with a complete stranger.

When Ransom’s latest one night stand lets him know that he’s going to become a father, he finds himself looking for the qualities he never believed to have so he can become the parent he never got to witness as a child.

for general warnings and author’s notes, please go to the fic’s masterlist.

A/N for this chapter: this chapter’s coming to you unedited because I am honestly emotionally exhausted and the only reason I even got this done is because “playing” with these two makes me happy. So yeah, I’m officially stretching the story a bit more (next chapter is the one I’ve been referring to for a while) and after it we’ll be pretty close to the end!

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Ransom had been a weird mixture of nervous and excited ever since he picked me up from work after visiting his grandfather. I knew they had a good relationship - from what I gathered, it was the only truly peaceful relationship he kept with his entire family - so I didn’t understand what the anxiety was about until he admitted, almost blurting out, “He asked me to visit the publishing house with him tomorrow.”

It was impossible to contain my smile. “That’s great, honey! He really does trust you, huh?” But Ransom didn’t even nod, just kept looking at me with eyes filled with a heavy emotion I couldn’t name, so I tried to occupy myself with other stuff.

“What time are you leaving? Do you want me to book a car to take me to university or will you still be able to give you a ride?” When he didn’t immediately answer me, I raised my gaze from the pile of essays in my hands to check on him, and the moment our eyes met, he seemed to snap out of whatever it was that was keeping him immobilized.

“No, I should be able to take you. Don’t worry about it.” I wasn’t worried, but I knew Ransom enough by now to be aware that he wouldn’t relent, not wanting me to go to my workplace without him, so I just smiled.

“Okay, babe.” The petname escaped my lips so easily, I froze when my own ears processed it, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could still see Ransom’s frame paralyzed where I had left him, so I just focused on my work and pretended like nothing different had happened.

“I should be up in a minute.” I tried to act as nonchalant as possible. I didn’t look at him again, but I saw him nod from my peripheral vision before turning around and leaving towards the staircase, allowing me to breathe deeply again. What the hell was going on with me?

Ransom’s P.O.V.

She never came to bed when she did decide to call it a night. Well, she did stop by my bedroom, but chose to remain by the threshold until I caught sight of her figure, and when our eyes met, she smiled and wished me a good night.

I sighed when I realized that I was going to have to sleep alone. I didn’t like that, I didn’t want it. But there was nothing I could really do about it. She wasn’t my girlfriend, she was just the mother of my baby. At least to her own eyes.

Having her so close and then seeing her pull away was tearing at my heart, which is why when I got up in the morning to find her in the kitchen, breakfast already made while a packet waited next to my plate, I felt like I would physically melt.

“What is this?” I asked, already reaching out for it. I opened and checked to find a few sandwiches - homemade - before she could confirm what my eyes were seeing, but I was still struggling to process.

“I-I fixed you a lunch bag. I don’t know how long it’s going to be with your grandpa, didn’t want you to starve.” I just stared at her, unblinking, while this warm feeling spread over my chest, even turning me on.

Because I understood what this was. I understood what she meant by this. This was her, recognizing she had taken two steps back yesterday, and compensating with a gesture that moved us even closer to where I hoped to take us.

My heartbeat picked up at the realization that she did want something more. She did, she just needed time to adjust. And I could give her that - I could keep giving her that, just as long as we kept moving forward.

“It’s okay if you don’t want it.” I’d taken too long to answer, she had approached me quickly to snatch the bag from my grasp. “It’s stupid anyway.” I stopped her, both hands on her waist before she could fully turn around.

“No, give me it!” I know it sounded whiney, but I didn’t want to risk being without my lunch bag. Once it was in the safety of my hands, I put it to the side for just enough time to cradle her face and force her to take in what I had to say. “Don’t you ever say anything you did for me is stupid. I’m not used to having people do things for me because they thing I’d like or need them. This means everything to me.”

The soft smile she gave me, the way her eyes looked up at me from under her eyelashes had me feeling like I was on a rollercoaster and the fall had just begun. I suppose, in many ways, it already had.

The little gesture didn’t leave my mind the entire day. I caught myself smiling at nothing, becoming easily distracted while Harlan tried to explain something about the presses to me, but every time I ran a hand over my face and apologized, he just gave me a knowing smile.

I didn’t even feel embarrassed about it. I was almost proud, really. I had spent an entire life having to pay for what I needed - and I did it, unashamedly so. And now there was this incredible woman who wanted to take care of me. I could barely believe it.

I couldn’t believe that this woman that I didn’t even know a few months ago was now everything I thought of, everything I wanted in life.

Everything was going well, too well. I should have known it was only a matter of time until something ruined it.

I first noticed it because Harlan’s face suddenly fell when he raised his gaze to meet mine, instead settling on something over my shoulder. When I turned around, I quickly understood why.

It was my mom, and by the way she marched in our direction, she clearly wasn’t here to do anything cheerful.

“Was I supposed to know about you having a baby through my own father?” I cringed, even visibly flinched at the knowledge that she now knew about my kid. “Have you no respect for your mother?”

My snicker said everything she needed to know, and when she raised a finger to shake it on my face, it took Harlan to control us both. “Okay, alright, that’s it. This is still my place of work, an extension of my house, I won’t have you two disrespecting it’s sanctity.”

I huffed, adjusting my coat as I turned my back on her to focus on my grandfather again. He was the reason why I was there, and the only reason why I didn’t just leave upon seeing my mother.

“Now, Linda, if Ransom didn’t tell you about something this important in his life, there must be a reason for it. What do you think it is?” My mother turned her face from her own father, seeming particularly interested on her own high heel shoes now. We both knew she wouldn’t relent, so with a sigh, Harlan met my eyes, silently asking me to be the bigger person here - I knew.

“How about this, I’ve been meaning to have you all for dinner for a while, it’s been a long time since the family gathered for anything other than a holiday. Is Friday good for both of you? You can bring the girl, if you want.” That last part was directed to me specifically, making my eyes widen. I could only imagine what she would say if I suggested a family dinner with my entire family, especially considering everything I had told her about them - and why I wasn’t excited to tell them about the baby in the slightest.

“I’ll see, but she might be busy.” My mother snickered, making me narrow my eyes at her, thinking about a very important reassurance I needed to get before I even considering attending that dinner. “If I do end up bringing her, I don’t want to see any of you all treating her as anything less than a princess, is that understood?”

Of course, Harlan knew I was speaking more to my mother than to him, and that I expected the message to be extended to the rest of the family before Friday rolled around, but seeing as my mother was still brushing her already perfectly clean skirt, he was the one to answer.

“Of course, Ransom. We’re all excited to meet her, she’s a welcome guest in my house.” The warning was there for the both of us. And even though it was my mother that would need to keep that in mind, I already knew I was the one who would end up leaving the only place outside my house where I felt safe because as long as she was there, there was no way I’d feel okay.

#my series #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale reader #ransom drysdale reader insert #ransom drysdale reader inserts #ransom drysdale fanfiction #ransom drysdale writings #ransom drysdale series

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softluci · 3 years

Text

trendy [hcs]

someone (@yourlocalsinnamonroll hi again!) sent me a request a Long time ago asking me to do more gen z headcanons, and i have been working on this on and off for Months. this is something that i’ve had on my mind for a long time, and it most definitely can be associated with/attributed to gen z.

this isn’t sfw so Minors DNI, but for a fleeting, wonderful period of time, there was a trend on tiktok that went, “buss it, buss it…” are you familiar? that should be enough of a summary, right?

anyway, once again, for my peace of mind, minors dni, and reader is g/n as usual, enjoy!

[a/n: so because this is so long, this part is going to be, like, the actual headcanons, and then the backstory i have for this will be right here]

lucifer

“intrigued,” would be the best word to describe how he was feeling. it didn’t cover the full spectrum of emotions that washed over him, but it was definitely a start. he started forming coherent thoughts after the fifth loop, but that's his business🤨

for one, he was upset. you mean to tell him that you could dance like this the entire time, and you—first of all, you never offered to do it for him, or on him, and you know his obsession for you would increase tenfold he has an appreciation for dancing of any and all kinds. you were depriving him, and for what reason, exactly? have you never been acquainted with shame before?

second of all, not only were you keeping this crucial information from him, but you told everyone, at the same time. why can't he ever have anything for himself? he should relax— it's not too big of a deal, he's not too hurt because he'd have you to himself soon enough.

well, really, right now. he is suddenly in dire need of entertainment, you understand. he just called you to tell you to come to his room, and he would be a liar if he said he didn’t like how nervous you sounded.

mammon

can everyone, like, get out of hell for a few minutes? he needs to be alone. the video is on its nth loop. he's laying face down on his bed, trying to recover from the siege you just put him under—how dare you?

you're supposed to be his—his cinnamon apple, his human, his everything—and you sent this to the group chat? is nothing sacred? is nothing in this world for him alone? what is wrong with you, genuinely? most importantly, why haven’t you ever even offered to dance with him?

really, he's hurt. betrayal of this magnitude is bound to sting, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

now, the pain of your treason aside, that was very easily the best thing he’s seen in a decade. before he collapsed face-first onto his bed, he was watching very intently, for at least two full minutes. he was actually so invested that questions didn’t form in his mind until, like, the tenth loop—but that was neither here nor there. now that he was recovering from the bomb you dropped, he had half a mind to go to your room and interrogate you among other things.

unfortunately for you, he really only operates with half of his mind anyway, so he was already out the door. however, you have nothing to be afraid of. as we know, mammon is a man easily crumbled. all you have to do to disarm him is ask him if he liked it.

levi

he knew.

he didn’t know, like, exactly what was going to happen after he helped you trick out your d.d.d, but he knew it was gonna be fucking Something.

he didn't even get through the video, actually—the beat dropped, so did you, and, suddenly, his phone was across the room. his face was a deep crimson, and his thoughts were barely coherent, but he was already out of his bedroom.

simply put, he knew his brothers. he knew at least two of them would be on their way to you soon enough, but they wouldn't get there before him. he knew what he was going to do before his thoughts were fully formed. he'd get there, he'd bring you back to his room, he'd hide out with you in one of his cursed games—he would help you. if the two of you went slow enough playing it, everyone would have calmed down by the time you got back, right? right.

was he being a bit dramatic? of course not! you would be safest with him, tucked away from his brothers until he was certain they wouldn't try anything. you know them, you know how they get, right? he'd never do anything like that unless you wanted him to. you are his best friend, and, really, he owes you this safety. this is at least twelve percent his fault.

satan

oh. oh, wow.

now, how many times did he watch that video? he doesn't know, he wasn't counting. he wouldn't tell you even if he was. he needs to maintain some kind of dignity here—not that there was anything undignified about being attracted to you, of course. it was just, well, you know—he was better than his brothers.

in general, not when it came to you, but, even still. he's at a level of self control that they can't even conceive. now, have you been slowly, but surely, ebbing away at his centuries of hard work? yes. did this video put something of a dent in his poise? yes.

but, in all honesty, it was fine. satan was smarter than all of his brothers, more patient—you know, better. he knew exactly how he would go about this.

he wouldn't talk to you about this tonight, tomorrow, or the next day. he would play a waiting game, lure you into a false sense of security—and then, when you think you can trust him, when you think he's forgotten or just wants to show you mercy—then. he would come for you then. just wait for him.

asmo

miffed. he was miffed. like, arms crossed, tapping his foot on the floor, shaking his head—miffed. once he was done staring at his screen for five minutes, he had about seven bones to pick with you.

first of all, why didn't you come to him if you wanted to do your makeup and pick an outfit to film in? he's not saying you looked bad—believe him, he was staring for a reason—but you would've looked so much better if you let him style you. second of all, you had the absolute gall to make something like this and not invite him to join you? you're a villain. no, really—

but what really got him—what really drove him up a wall—was the fact that you never even hinted at the fact that you could dance like that. why did you keep such crucial information from him? he wasn’t even gonna think about the fact that you had yet to do it on him, it would be too much for him to process at once—your audacity would become palpable. he should really calm down, getting this upset is bad for his skin.

now that he’s thinking about it, you were wearing a full face of makeup. it hasn’t been that long since you sent the video, you’re probably still wearing it, right? well, he wouldn’t be a good friend if he didn’t help you take it off! he knows he was a bit peeved a few minutes ago, but, well, that was a few minutes ago! now, as he reflected on his initial reaction to your video, he was in a forgiving mood. he was already on his way to your room to help you with undressing unwinding, and, admittedly, to tease you a little a lot—he thinks you’re cute when you’re flustered.

beel

he was more confused than anything, honestly. he wasn’t feeling jealous or betrayed like his brothers, nor was he feeling possessive at all. he was just confused, for a few reasons.

first was the fact that everyone in the group chat was yelling at him. all he did was send an emoji of a fork and a knife, and everyone was on his ass all of a sudden, like he was the one who sent the video. he was the only person with their priorities straight, and there was lucifer, trying to scold him via text message, which only furthered his confusion. he was an adult, and he was fully allowed to have an appreciation for the finer things in life, up to and including your dancing skills.

he was careful to relay his message in a private chat, not thinking too much of it. he would’ve given anything to see your reaction, but he wasn’t cruel enough to go to your room minutes after you sent it. he could easily do it tomorrow.

this, of course, brings him to his second point of confusion. he really doesn’t get why you decided to do this on camera instead of on his face on top of him, but, like, to each their own. he’s content with the fact that he even got to see it, but he feels like he should still let you know the offer is there.

belphie

first of all, you're already here, but for the sake of malice—go to hell. he was about to go to sleep, you absolute heathen. second of all, because he lost time he could've spent sleeping, you're going to have to take some responsibility and atone—immediately. he had a (correct) feeling that you wouldn’t be willing to come up to the attic, and he wasn’t willing to compensate for that by going to your room.

this was, while a bit annoying, perfectly fine. it was late, it was a school night, you were undoubtedly going to sleep within the next hour or two. he would know once you did, such is the nature of the avatar of sloth, and then, he would pay you a visit while you were dreaming. nothing to be nervous about, don’t worry, he just had a few questions.

the first question being, why, exactly, didn’t you just unsend the video when it was so clearly sent on accident? that’s not to say he didn’t enjoy watching it repeatedly, but he was quite curious. whatever—it’s not like everyone is going to know it was an accident, anyway, and he’s glad no one told you about that messaging feature. he uses it on lucifer all the time, but that is neither here nor there.

the second question being, now, given that it is so clear that he is a bottom, why did you never—

#G O D #this took me so fucking long #this is the price i pay . for having no brain #now i can focus on the other creations in my dumb little drafts #like god intended #anyway here go the tags #obey me #obey me scenarios #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie

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herstarburststories · 3 years

Text

you and me and the devil makes three.

Pairings: Dean Winchester x reader, Demon!Dean Winchester x reader, past Lisa x Dean

Summary: Dean is a demon, he will take whatever he wants.

A/N: This got darker than I expected. I wanna make it clear I don't condone or engage with Dean's acts on this. This is my submission for @jawritter 's Make Me Cry Challenge. Congrats, honey! Hope you like it. Dividers by talesmanic and gif credit here

Prompt: I guess I should have been more like her.

Warnings: non consensual kissing, language, UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR, non con (kissing and touching but no sex), dirty talk

Dean Winchester was a dreamer.

In the rawest way of the word, the meaning in the dust-collecting dictionaries and not the idealistic form. His eyelids shut close and, just like magic, Dean’s head was as haunted as the home he swore he’d never come back to in Kansas. The ghosts of the past, not ever so very friendly, coming to greet him at least three times per week. Sometimes they were happy films he could never starre in real life, his mom singing or a picnic with a lover saying that they needed to hurry up to get their kid at the baseball. The nightmares were sleepy visions of flesh and blood, mostly about his time underneath, Sam hurting, or his father spilling out his worst fears at his face.

Maybe it was how the eldest Winchester’s brain compensated for the lack of bedtime tales and docile affairs growing up. The own way that his brittle soul discovered and molded not to let him collapse, or to always keep him on red alert.

Good and bad deals are mostly a matter of which side you are betting your money on, really.

Because yeah, Dean did wake up feeling like he had shut his forest eyes briefly for twenty minutes instead of hours when he dreamed, but he also had never spent so long trapped in a better place. The green eyed hunter didn’t know which one was worse: the good dreams or the horrific ones. After all, he had went through all the atrocity and made it out alive, but the engulfed craving for light-hearted scenarios was suffocating. The hunter could never have it all. Trust him, he tried. Then, which is more agonizing: to have everything you ever wanted for a couple hours and have every scrap of it taken from you, or to undergo the calamity that accompanied your breaking point?

Dean didn’t know, he didn’t even know what to tell Sam when he wondered what his brother had dreamt about to wake up sweating and screaming, all the light and stupid apple pie desires and the sharp brutality crawling out of the back of his mind. He made a joke, Megan Fox really liked knives, man. He kept it in, shoved down a good amount of alcohol, and mocked the worry of doing the lawn. Ready for another day.

But now he was a demon, and apparently whatever he was made of - sulfur, cruelty, and black eyes under garden ones - wasn't worthy quiet reliefs in the middle of the night, or even frightening figments of memory. He became his worst dreams and all the dreams slipped beyond his reaches because of that. Demons, those unholy creatures, didn’t get the human peculiarities. You know what? Fine by him.

Who needed dreams when you don't need sleep, anyway? Even better: who needed dreams when you don't care about what you gotta do to put your greedy hands on the prize you had been eyeing for years?

Dean Winchester was finally free. Free for the first time since he was a four years little boy who watched his mother burning with a terrorized expression, ironically mimicking the one Mary wore on the ceiling. His dad’s shouting for him to grab Sammy and run, take your little brother and run, echoing through years and years. There was never time for Dean, for his grief or his questions or whatever the child frozen in time under his rib cage could come up with. They said, stupid psychologists with their fancy degrees and malicious bartenders with a unfriendly grun under the counter who learned a little too much, everybody said that when someone was so traumatized as a kid, that person would tend to get frozen at that age. Therefore, how tremendously alleviating was to kill any reminiscing emotion of the whiny child he used to be.

The kind of freedom that no traveler longed for; when one’s ruined and damaged enough not to care, and just take and take and take like hunger itself. Dean was an evil thing now, what else could he do but act on the figments of the worst intentions?

And feel so fucking good when doing that.

‘’Where do you think he's going?’’ Your eyes raked over the street, darting between the asphalt under Baby’s wheels and Sam’s weary features.

‘’I don't know.’’ He sighed, attempting to organize his thoughts. Even as a demon, his brother wouldn’t just run miles and miles away by himself for no apparent reason. There had to be something you and Sam were missing out, some unseen clue or a hidden meaning. ‘’What the localizator says?’’

At least you had managed to put a tracker in his boots during your last encounter. Whatever Dean was thinking of starting there, you and Sam wouldn’t let him.

‘’Still Cicero, Indiana.’’ You sighed. Sammy furrowed his eyebrows, a long forgotten memory rising. ‘’What?’’

‘’We had a case there once years ago.’’ He explained, opting not to elaborate. Your and Dean’s relationship was troubled enough with his new self. Sam didn’t want to blow it up completely. His brother would need you once he came back to himself. The look on your face, though, reported how you weren’t buying his cheap excuses. The long haired hunter sighed. ‘’Did Dean ever tell you about that?’’

‘’No.’’

He stepped on the accelerator.

To find the woman was excruciatingly easy. The freckled demon couldn't believe he opened his computer many times and gave up before today. He glanced through the glass window and there she was, standing in all her glory with a body that seemed to forget how to grow old. Her tan skin still glowing, as appetizing as ever. Brown eyes shining so bright, tiny hands that always seemed to know where he wanted to be touched. She was laughing like there was no tomorrow, holding a glass of wine with one hand and her cellphone with the other, while her dark hair was falling so perfectly over her shoulder, like waves against the rocks in the sea.

Dean can’t wait to smell her again, to taste her, to prove her. His fingers were tingling, begging to touch what was his as he hopped off the car, walking towards the porch. He had been gone for a long time, but now he was back.

He will destroy that quintessential, sequin woman so good.

The Winchester buckled in front of the white door, graced with the sound of the female giggle. Thin walls, he thought, those will be useful to make sure the neighbors know who’s back home. Her steps on the wood floor growing closer and closer as he heard a goodbye, probably aimed at whoever she was on the phone with. It was almost like the caramel skinned woman knew that whoever was on her doorstep wasn’t gonna be a hustled visitor. Or so the demon’s arranged mind said.

‘’Hey, Lis.’’ Dean’s voice lacked any cherishment as she opened the door, who would know that the absence of a soul wouldn't be gelid, just dry? As for her, Lisa’s face was drained of love. For all she was aware of, he was a stranger who knew her name. The male let out a chuckle empty of joy. She really didn’t remember, huh? ‘’Whoa. Cass really fucked up your head, huh? At least he did one thing right.’’

‘’Excuse me?’’ The man with dirty blonde hair and perfect teeth smelled like alcohol. She wasn’t having any of this tonight. ‘’Listen, I don’t know who you are and--’’

‘’Don’t worry.’’ He tranquilized her, although the lopsided grin on his lips held anything but good intentions. ‘’I’ll make you remember. I have a spell. You won’t believe how much you missed me.’’

The mocking laugh that left her lips utterly aggravated him. ‘’I don’t know you. Please leave or I’ll call the police.’’

Dean didn’t need a crowd for that part, a bratty woman in need of a firm hand should get a particular lesson.

‘’You always liked a little cat and mouse.’’

Speaking of, the demon pushed the door wide open without any effort. Lisa jumped at the sudden move, every instinct inside her deciding that man was a threat and not some harmless wasted guy. Her body was quickly erect, thinking about ways to run and get help, but Dean swiftly pushed her to him and kicked the door closed-- her small figure collided to his chest.

Human savagery was cut in urban ways, molded to civilize the animalistic instincts. Imagine meat. A dead animal on a silver plate, and we couldn’t wait to chew every inch of it. We couldn’t wait to eat it, put that dead thing inside us and hope it’ll be enough to control the predatory hungry. Humans will always be animals, but so will be their rests that constructed the demons.

Dean may not be a hunter anymore, but he’s still a predator who can't wait to taste his prey. He could small it, the fear in Lisa’s sweat making his mouth water. How much she tried to fight against him and scream other names when his was the only one he wanted her to need tonight. The resistance of a poor human barely made the monster shiver.

He closed his hands around her arms, throwing her against the wall like someone tossed an old toy away. There was no space for delicaly. In that moment, Dean Winchester was a tiger, a lion, the big bad wolf attacking the omega. Lis winced, her back hurting as her fibers. She couldn’t believe this was happening, that man was about to do something so terrible and disgusting to her in her own house, the place she was supposed to feel warm and safe. Why did he seem to know her? Why did he say she was gonna remember? Was he crazy, hallucinating, or drugged? Why was he so satisfied with how frightened her tiny body looked? How could she use all that information to somehow push him away?

‘’Let me go!’’ She demanded, her legs kicking the demon with ferocity. ‘’What’s wrong with you? LET ME GO NOW!’’

The brunette’s skilled body moved itself desperately, and the act of resistance only brought a hysterical laugh out of Dean. The wrong kind of goosebumps washed her skin, she had to run away for her life. This man was mad.

‘’FIRE! FIRE!’’ Lisa started to scream. Well-aware that people were most likely to come around and help a woman screaming if she said fire. ‘’THERE’S A FIRE. SOMEONE HELP ME!’’

One of his hands went to her neck, wrapping his fingers around it to shut her up. That was rubbing him off the wrong way. Lisa Braeden used to beg for his touch, how dared her not to want him anymore? Now that he was better, stronger, and thicker.

The brown eyed girl went quiet, probably scared by his brutal behavior. Dean smiled, a blood stained grin that carried mischief and pervertment. He licked the tears savoring the salty horror coming from her. Just like the day he was a vampire who almost gave in to drinking every drop of her luptuos blood. She may not remember but he did and he couldn't wait to get inside her, those tight walls squeezing his hard cock.

‘’You’re gonna do as I say, Lis. And I won't hurt you… Much.’’ He risped, crooked nose stroking her wet cheek. She whined. ‘’Don’t worry, honey. You loved it. Bet you’ll scream so much once I fuck you good.’’

‘’Please, don’t do it.’’ She begged as he coaxed his body against his. That man was stronger than her, she had no other choice but to plead to his human side. If only she knew.

‘’Begging already?’’ Dean lifted his head, smirking at her. Lisa just wanted to cry and close her eyes until everything was done. How could someone do that? ‘’I told you, don’t worry. I’m gonna make a lil’ spell that will give your memories back and you’ll remember everything. And then we’re gonna have so much fun, Lis.’’

His last murmur was finished with a kiss. A harsh, ruthless kiss. Actually, she wasn’t even sure if she could call it a kiss; teeth against each other, his vicious mouth pressed to her weakened lips, his tongue invading her like a robber and showing an unrequited dominance.

‘’Dean!’’ Your voice resonated stridently, louder than the door Sam had stormed open. You couldn’t believe what your eyes witnessed. ‘’Stop it!’’

Dean groaned, as if you and Sam were stepping on his territory. He simply turned his head to you two, not pulling away from Lisa. You couldn’t see her face, your boyfriend’s large shoulder and tall body covering her up. His eyes were still green, which set the scene in an even more atrocious light.

Your thoughts were racing. How could he come to her, crave her so badly that he drove away miles and miles as a demon? He was supposed not to feel a thing. You prepared yourself for a cold man, not an obsessive one. Apparently, a heart hidden under the black smoke. Choose if it's a gift or Pandora's box. Sam told you their history. Of course he would want that and not you. Dean never left Lisa because he fell out of love for her, he was ripped out from her life. You were so pissed at yourself; how could you picture playing the woman in his veins? How stupid were you? He may be a demon guided by wants and not emotions, but what was love but an amount of outrageous desires laced up with some pretty words and flavored with dependency?

‘’Y/N and Sammy--’’

Love was the wrong word here. Anyway. Go head and unwrap it.

‘’Please help me!’’ Lisa’s voice came to life once more through her quiet cry. Dean hardened the hold around her throat, making her cough a little.

Suddenly, your body is frozen. That, whatever that is, whatever he’s doing to Lisa. It wasn’t love. She didn’t want it. When his frame moved to face you and Sam, you caught a glimpse of her face. She was petrified, her delicate features contorted in wrath and fear and beg for help.

‘’Quiet.’’ Dean howled, glancing at her rapidly before his eyes fell on you and Sam again. ‘’You two are such killjoys. I told you to let me go.’’

You couldn’t believe what you were witnessing. You wanted to puke your guts out.

‘’And what? Kill your ex? Or do something even worse to her?’’ You elicited with disgust.

‘’She’ll come around eventually. Just playing hard to get. You know how frisky women are.’’ The corner of his lips curved into a barbaric grim, one of his hands touching Lisa’s cheek. The victim winced at the touch. ‘’Besides, I’m not just gonna take her. I’ll make her remember and she’ll want me.’’ He shrugged, unbothered by the horrified looks of everyone in the room. ‘’Are you really worried about Lis, Y/N? Or are you just jealous that I didn’t go for you?’’

‘’Enough, Dean.’’ Sam groaned, holding the gun up. It felt oily. ‘’Let her go. And come with us.’’

The demon tossed the brunette away with a simple sleight of hand, pulling his sleeves up with a marred beam. His eyes switched from starry green to black, showing his true facette. It was a peculiar relief. It wasn’t Dean. It wasn’t Dean. It wasn’t Dean.

Yet, Dean’s gruff voice said in a twisted playful tone:

‘’Come get me, Sammy.’’

Dean Winchester was cured. For most people, to heal is to let go or to learn with things. In the doctor’s case, healing is leaving a bruise to cover up a wound. Everyone believed the war started and ended, and that was it. But when something so ravaging is gone, you gotta deal with the trauma.

He was a trauma. Cured from a sickness, drowning in sorrow and waves of woe. All the worst things Dean ever did, he knew now, weren’t to himself or to the monster he so proudly killed. His unspoken acts were against the people he cared about.

The hunter never thought his hands, his bruised and tough hands could ever hurt Lis. The woman who was his lifeline when Sam died, who allowed him to be a father and live in his dreamland of suburban life. All she ever did was to love him, and what did she get for it?

He was disgusted with himself. What almost did to her was enough to hunt him and make him sure he was going back to hell, very deserving this time. Threating to do that to a woman, and enjoy it… Dean couldn’t bear driving into memories. He was selfishly glad he didn’t remember about that, only Sam’s explanation was enough: he went to Lisa, he kissed her without her consent, and Sam and you stopped him going any further. Would his unscrupulous, demon self go ahead? He was too scared to wonder, even though his brother said that he apparently had a spell to make Lis remember and wasn’t planning on just taking her. A forced kiss was disgusting enough. He just wished Sam had put a bullet in his black eyes right there.

You walked in the bathroom that you once shared with the eldest Winchester

She was everything he ever wanted, all the suburban dreams and acceptance of hunter reality without being in it. Lisa loved him completely and you could only love him sideways-- you never wanted to be a mom, or to have a family or live in a suburb. Those were valid goals, just not yours. You thought you and Dean were on the same page about it, but this other side, not only the pervert demon but the domestic man, hadn’t been shown to you until a couple days ago. Sam had cured his brother, his dirty nature washed away with holy water, but you couldn’t help the bruises that came from the dog days. Lisa had her memory erased by Cass again, you didn’t have the same unfair luxury.

‘’Dean.’’ You said, making him look up at you. Bags under his eyes and wrinkles more evident than ever. ‘’We need to talk.’’

He sighed and wiped his face. ‘’Y/N, I don’t want to talk right now.’’

‘’You never do.’’ You scoffed, gaining an incredulous glance from him. ‘’I know that what happened was disgusting and sick and the worst thing you could ever do, but we need to talk.’’

He took a deep breath. ‘’What do you wanna talk about?’’

‘’You went to her.’’ You stated as a lawyer in front of a jury. Dean furrowed.

‘’What?’’

‘’Lisa. You went to her.’’ When the arrow hit someone so damaged, it was like an animal with his teeth there that wouldn't let go. Yeah, his human soul wasn't the same brittle glass as before but it lingered in his demon self in the shape of delusion, and it was distorted by whatever he was made of, violence and darkness, and turned into something disgusting. ‘’You love her.’’

‘’Love?’’ The word burned his tongue, Dean didn’t think he had the right to ever use it again. ‘’I was a demon, Y/N. I didn’t love or feel anything. What I did--’’

‘’You didn’t do anything.’’ You interrupted, loyal as a soldier.

‘’I forced a kiss on her and wanted to bring her memories back to have sex with her. That’s disgusting and I did half of that.’’ He pointed out aggitadly, plump lips moving fast and voice deeper. ‘’It wasn’t love. Leaving her years back was love.’’

You didn’t miss how Dean didn’t even dare to say her name. ‘’So you don’t think about her? Not even once?’’

He scoffed humourless. ‘’Are you kidding me?’’

‘’I guess I should have been more like her.’’ You hugged yourself, glancing at the wall. You didn’t want to cry in front of him. Not again, not for another woman. That wasn’t even your cicatrix to ache.

‘’Y/N, what the fuck are you talking about?’’ The fully green eyed man raised to his feet, glancing at you with disbelief. He couldn’t face how messed up it was. ‘’I can’t believe you are jealous of what happened. I thought I was the broken one here.’’

‘’I’m not her.’’ You two shared it, the glance that only two women who were hurt by the same man could. You both understood that when he got inside you, it was like the syringe in an eutanasia. Once you were happy because you loved him, now you were scared and not so sure this was what you wanted. ‘’I’m not her and you knew it. When you became just instincts and selfish and did whatever you wanted, you didn’t come to me. You came to her.’’

‘’I hurt her.’’

The next words fly out of your mouth, as weak and totaled as you felt: ‘’Why didn’t you hurt me?’’

‘’This is the most unhealthy shit we ever went through.’’ Dean’s right. You have her expression mesmerized on your brain. Dean was the man on top of her, teaching her how to hate. How to fear. You can’t trust yourself. ‘’I can’t believe you.’’

‘’Neither can I.’’ You were so sick. How ravaged and annihilated one had to be to wish to be a demon's object of obsession? To get jealous that another woman almost died in the arms of a beast that cried his blood out once he came back to being a man and saw what he had done? ‘’I hate it. I hate feeling like this. I was there and I saw how scared of you she was, how all she wanted was to push you away and run because she was so disgusted--’’

‘’Stop.’’ He groaned, but it came out more like a whine than anything. ‘’It wasn’t me. I would never hurt Lis. I would never force her to do anything! I--’’

You gave him a sad smile. ‘’You love her.’’

‘’I love you.’’ Dean approached you, fumbling in despair to fix yet another thing his hands destroyed. If Rome was built in ruins, he was a kingdom. You pulled away before his tough hands landed on you.

‘’But you love her too.’’ The hunter stopped on his spot, unable to answer. ‘’I ruined myself for you, Dean. I can’t-- I won’t do that again. You are right. This is unhealthy. The fact that you’ve been pining for her for so long, pushing down those feelings to the point they are twisted into something so cruel and disgusting. You need help.’’ What kind of ugly you have to have inside you for a monster to love you? And, even worse, what kind of sickness you have trapped, written in your blood to want it to be spilled out in his name? ‘’You really are venom. If this is how you love, it’s scary as fuck.’’ When you loved a broken man, you were never sure if his shattered pieces would glisten or cut your hand once the light came in. Here’s your answer. His parts crawled inside you through pulled up scars, scraping your insides to make into ruins, but you never liked Rome much. You had to be better than that. ‘’Goodbye, Dean.’’

He couldn’t bring himself to go after your steps.

Once again, it’s the kind of freedom no traveler wants. When you lost it all and didn't have any person or place to cling to, when you had to leave because you were becoming the girl you swore you’d never leave, when you walked away willingly without a map.

Still, it was all you had. You’d make a good use of it. You’d be okay. No more ugly emotions or sentiments that made you unrecognizable. No more knives that cut both ways, or situations so complicated you weren’t sure where your morals could rely on.

You’d be okay, healthy, and happy.

You’d be okay.

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jaefluenza · 4 years

Text

Make It Up | L.Taeyong

Genre: single parent!au, suggestive content, fluff with a little bit of angst

Pairing: CEO!Taeyong x Secretary!reader

Word count: 11,2k words

Summary: Spending a lot of time with your boss’ daughter was probably a bad decision for you. Before you even realize that you dipped your feet in the water, your body was already drowning. Will you able to escape the maze between your feelings and professionalism?

singledad!ty is a dream periodt

“Do you want me to bring you coffee, sir?” You asked him calmly. During an intense meeting like this, no one could approach him just to offer him a drink, except you.

“Yes, please. Oh, and this meeting will not be finished until we solve the problem. So, I want you to pick taehee up from her daycare.” He ordered.

“Yes, sir.” You bow politely to your boss before proceeding to leave the room. You sneak a glance at Johnny on your way out, cringing along with him as you cheer on him and the rest of the team with your body language.

You work in a game development company as the main secretary of the CEO, Lee Taeyong. The company stocks were expected to be increased by the end of the month. But someone decided to be a dick and spread some false rumors about one of the game made by the developing team. So the stockholders were complaining against the CEO and now he’s as angry as a hungry lion.

The sound of your heels clicking could be heard all over the hall. You walk at a fast pace in your pencil skirt to the parking lot. Mr. Lee never trusts his daughter to anyone except you, not even his personal driver. You don’t understand why you’re the only woman he could trust his daughter to, even though he has a girlfriend. You spend a lot of time with Lee Taehee, the true heir of your company, more than your family.

You smiled in satisfaction when you reach the luxury daycare. You lock your boss’ car as you walk into the huge lobby. You greeted the receptionist, smiling politely. “Hello, ms. Y/n. I’ll bring Lee Taehee for you.” The woman greeted you back before calling the teacher from the toddler’s class to bring Taehee.

A minute later, a joyful kid runs towards you. You smile and squat down to welcome her in a hug. “Our beautiful Taehee!” You greeted. “Hi, Y/n!” She inhaled your sweet scent before pulling away. “Where’s daddy?” She asked.

“Well, daddy’s got a meeting and he couldn’t pick you up. He said sorry though,” You explained.

You can feel your heart melted when she pouts, “Uh, did he told you to buy me ice cream though?”

You laughed as you took her arms and bow politely to the staff before walking her out to the car. “Of course, let’s go get ice cream!”

After helping her to put on the seat belts, you start the engine and goes to the little princess’ favorite ice cream parlor.

“Actually, daddy promised to take me and kkoma to the pet park. But I don’t think he’s available tonight.” The little girl pouts. You always feel sad for Taehee. With her dad always got drown in work, she plays alone most of the time. Taeyong never hires a nanny or a babysitter into the big penthouse because he could never trust any stranger to be in the house. You’ve been working for almost two years that he could finally trust his daughter to you.

“It’s okay. I can play with you. You’re gonna show me the book you bought last week, right?” You comforted her before you wipe some ice cream leftovers around her lips. Taehee’s eyes lit in happiness after knowing she’ll have someone to play with tonight. “Really? Yeah, let’s play with the new toys daddy bought me yesterday, too!”

Your phone rings continuously as you unlock the big penthouse in the middle of the frenetic Seoul city. You told Taehee to go into her bedroom while you answer the call. “Good evening, Mr. Lee. What can I help you?”

“You forgot to hand me the rest of the schedule. Well, what am I supposed to do tomorrow? No meetings, right?” He chuckled. You feel relieved when you heard his relaxed tone as an indication that he’s no longer angry like he has been since this morning. “Oh, yeah, I’m very sorry, sir. Well, you got no more team meetings tomorrow. You only need to meet some of our directorates and that’s all.”

You heard Taeyong groans over the phone, “Urgh, those old men again, huh?” You chuckled before you reply, “Actually, you missed a very very important schedule for tonight, boss.”

He furrowed his eyebrow upon hearing your words. “What- Oh shit. Yeah, my god, I’m a terrible dad. Yeah, please tell her I’m sorry and I promise I will take her tomorrow evening.”

You smiled before you reply with a nod, “Already did that.”

“And please be with her for tonight, I will stay in Jennie’s apartment. I need some kind of stress relief.” Taeyong said nonchalantly. You frown because you know he can’t see you. “Alright, good night, boss.”

You sigh, feeling terribly sad for Taehee. For you, Taeyong’s girlfriend is being really selfish. She never wants to stay at the penthouse because she can’t do chores or cook. She barely voluntarily spends any time with Taehee, and she bluntly told Taeyong that she doesn’t really like kids. You can’t believe that your boss chose that kind of girl to be his future second wife but then again, it’s none of your business.

“Y/n? Are you finished with the call? I’m shivering..” Taehee called from her bathroom. You mentally facepalmed yourself as you rushed into her bathroom. “I’m sorry! I’ll bring your squishy ducks!”

“Taehee, I’m staying with you tonight. Daddy said he won’t be able to go home tonight. He said he’s really sorry that he couldn’t take you and kkoma to the pet park and that he promised he will bring you tomorrow evening.”

Taehee sighs, “Another promise... It’s okay, as long as you’re here, I’ll be fine.” You feel a motherly happy feeling when she said that and something inside of you melted from the warmth feeling. “That’s my pretty girl. Come on, show me what daddy bought you yesterday.”

You open your eyes slowly at the ray of the morning sunshine. You look back at Taehee who’s still sleeping soundly in your arms. You gently untangled her hands away from you before pulling up the blanket to cover her more. You get out of bed to prepare breakfast until you stop in your track because of a picture on Taehee’s little study desk.

You recognize your boss’ writing under the picture: “Mommy.” You look longer at the picture, noticing how much resemblance this woman has with Taehee. “She has her nose and lips.” You mumbled. In a brief time, you remembered what Taehee told you about her mother.

“Daddy told me that mommy has gone to heaven. I never got to see her face, but this is the only picture I got from grandma. She said mommy died when she delivered me into this world. I don’t even know what that means.”

You glance back at the sleeping toddler, feeling sorry for her to not having a mom at such a young age. Your boss never tells you anything about his private life but spending a lot of time with his daughter makes you know everything because you know how little kids don’t lie, right?

You put the picture back on the study desk before leaving the bedroom to cook breakfast. You remember Taehee wanting to eat some soup yesterday so you decided to cook a chicken soup for her and also you. You were chopping some onions when you heard the door getting unlocked. You furrowed your eyebrow at how he got home early in the morning.

“Good morning, boss. Did you have breakfast?” You greeted him as he lets himself fall on the couch in the living room. “Hey, and nope. Give me a bowl of whatever of that thing you just cook, please.”

You simply nod even though you badly want to ask him why he didn’t have breakfast at her home but you know exactly what the answer is. “Why don’t you go to her room, sir? She’s still sleeping, I guess.” You suggested. Taeyong nods in agreement before walking wearily to his daughter’s room.

Taeyong crept into the cute kiddy room before jumping down on the bed to wake his little monster up. “Good morning, my princess. It’s time to wake up!” He coos as he cuddles into taehee’s little arms. “Hm,” Taehee groans cutely at his dad who bothers her in her sleep before opening her eyes slowly, “Hi, daddy.”

Taeyong showered the smaller one with kisses, smiling at how she reacts cutely to the kisses. “Where’s Y/n? Did she went home?” Taehee asked before wriggling out of her dad’s arms. “No, she’s cooking. Let’s bath you up before we have breakfast.”

You finished cooking the soup at the same time when your boss has his daughter in his arms, walking together to the kitchen with growling stomachs. “Wow, chicken soup! Thanks, Y/n! you’re the best!” Taehee claps her little hands when she saw the meals you put on her high chair. You nod happily as you see Taeyong digging his food already. “At this point, I may be applicable to be your housemaid, boss.” You smile teasingly. He laughs it off, “Don’t worry, I’ll raise your salary.” He smirked. Oh, that goddamn smirk, you thought.

“No, sir. I’m just joking.” You laugh along with him, before taehee speaks up nonchalantly. “I think, at this point, you may be applicable to be my mom.” She copied your word while chewing on the chicken innocently. You glance awkwardly at your boss who chocked on his soup. You bring him a glass of water before laughing awkwardly.

“Taehee, you can’t just say things like that to Y/n.” Taeyong scold his cute daughter gently. Taehee nods as she grins on you. “Excuse me, sir. I think I have to go home. I will meet you in your office.” You bowed politely to both your boss and the smaller boss. “Bye, taehee.” You wave her goodbye and she waved back. Gosh, that was so awkward.

“Why can’t we just compensate them with free diamonds or a new special customized weapon? Why do we have to lose millions of stocks just because of some morons?” Taeyong groans with his hands folded in his chest.

His directorial advisor sighs, “No, we can’t just do that, Mr. Lee. The developing team may be able to do that by noon but our directorates will not tolerate that kind of compensation. It’s not fair to our in-app purchasers. And people will just spread more rumors for us to give them more free diamonds and weapons.”

You knocked before you enter the room with CEO Lee’s prepared meeting suits and his proposal papers.

“Excuse me, Mr. Lee. Our directorates are coming in ten minutes. We should be getting ready for your proposal.

Taeyong nods, thanking you mentally for saving him from the frustrating conversation.

You bowed to the middle-aged man before trailing behind your boss to the meeting room.

Being alone with your boss after the awkward conversation with his daughter this morning is killing you softly.

You distract yourself by organizing some papers and preparing drinks on the table. You feel a pair of eyes on you as you pass around the room.

Taeyong cleared his throat before speaking up to you, “Uhm, I remembered you didn’t have breakfast with us earlier, have you eat?” He asked.

You glance at him awkwardly, “Y-yeah, I.. have, thank you for worrying.”

“You don’t have to be all formal and polite to me you know. We’re almost at the same age.”

You smile, “It’s alright, Mr. Lee. You are my boss and this is office hours, also I’m two years younger than you, so this should be my preferable manner to you, sir.”

“Well, that’s understandable. Uh, and about our conversation this morning. You didn’t wholeheartedly take her words, right?” He asked.

Ah, those awkward goosebumps are coming back.

“Of course, no, Mr. Lee.” You fake a smile.

“Good, then, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around Taehee and I. Afterall, you spend a lot of time with her more than Jennie and I did these past few years.”

You only nod, not wanting to continue the conversation.

You thanked the directorates for coming in a great timing just so you can immediately leave the room. You walked wearily towards your table beside Johnny’s before leaning your head onto the table.

“What’s with the frown, Miss Secretary?” Johnny glance at your table beside him with a teasing smirk.

“Shut up, John. You don’t know what I’ve been through.”

“Tell me, maybe this wise oppa can give you the right answer for every question you have.”

You rolled your eyes before turning into him, “Taehee literally just asked me to be her mom this morning.”

Johnny didn’t show any expected reaction, which makes you furrowed your eyebrow.

“Aren’t you her mom already? You practically live at his penthouse more than his girlfriend does.”

You hit his arms playfully before protesting, “Shut your mouth! You and the developing team are the only people who knew I helped Mr. Lee’s daughter, okay? Don’t be a big mouth..”

Johnny laughs quietly, “Yes, ma’am.”

You keep thinking about Johnny’s words earlier. Every staff in the daycare know how you act motherly towards taehee. Some of her friends’ mom even called you taehee’s mom before you clarified that you’re only her dad’s assistant.

You remember bringing Taehee to your family’s Thanksgiving dinner because Taeyong decided to go to a romantic dinner with his glorious girlfriend instead of spending time with his daughter. Your family loves Taehee, even allowed Taehee to call them family names. You remember Taehee being very happy that night, “this year’s thanksgiving is better than any thanksgiving year with my grandpops and dad.”

Your concern is, does taehee really think of you as her mother, just because you spend time with her more than her future mother did? You don’t exactly think so, but the situation tells you otherwise.

Your thoughts were interrupted by your alarm, reminding you about the meeting. You immediately move from the snack bar, and leave to assist your boss after the meeting.

“How’s the meeting, boss? Did it went well?” You greeted.

He smiled in satisfaction before nodding at you, “Yeah, I managed to convince them about the compensation. We made a great deal. Well, I don’t have any working schedule left, right? Let’s take taehee and kkoma to the pet park.” He suggested cheerfully.

You smile along with him, feeling glad that everything went well. “Alright, sir. I’ll have Mr. Han ready with the car. Have fun, sir.” You bowed politely.

He stopped in his track before he turns back to you, “No, you’re coming with us.”

Your jaw drops. Is he seriously asking you to go with him and his daughter, on a private trip? “Why am I coming with you, Mr. Lee? Perhaps, Miss Kim is not available?” You asked.

“I haven’t asked her yet. I just thought that Taehee would be happy if you tag along.” He explained with a smile. “Well, if you have another plan for today, it’s okay.”

You nod immediately. “No, I’m completely free, Mr. Lee.”

“Aye, you can drop the formalities. It’s past office hours. You can be comfortable around me and Taehee. Just call me Taeyong.”

“Taehee!” You greeted Taehee as she ran to hug you. So, Taeyong and you decided to pick Taehee up from the daycare before getting kkoma the poodle in the penthouse. She looks at her dad with sparkly eyes, “Is she coming with us?” She asked excitedly. Taeyong nods, smiling at his daughter who seems to like being with his assistant more than him. “Thank you, daddy!” She pulls away from you to hug her daddy’s legs. Taeyong smiled even wilder, before lifting his daughter to give her kisses.

“Now, it’s time for you to get in the car and put the seat belts on.”

You watch as Taeyong puts his daughter on the car seat. You get on the passenger seat in front, putting your own seat belts, listening to the father and daughter playing around.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Fifteen minutes later in the parking lot, Taeyong and you are debating about who’s going up to get kkoma. You insisted to go up so Taehee declared that you win the debate and the three of you laughed.

“I’ll be back with kkoma.” You smiled before closing the car door.

“Bye, Y/n!” Taehee waved at you.

You went to the penthouse, walking towards the only front door on that floor, before stopping upon seeing someone standing in front of the door.

You immediately bow, “Good afternoon, Miss Kim.”

Jennie looks at you with a furrowed eyebrow, “What are you doing here? Where’s your boss? Why are you alone?”

You felt sweaty before trying to explain calmly. “I’m here to get kkoma. Mr. Lee and his daughter are going to the pet park.”

She tilts her head, seems to be astonished by your explanation. “Don’t go in. I’ll get the dog instead.” You bowed politely before she unlocked the door and walk into the house. “Urgh, why didn’t he tell me.” She mumbled.

You were about to leave when you remember that you left your things in the car, and his girlfriend probably doesn’t know where the car is parked. So, you wait until Jennie comes out with kkoma. You noticed that she only brought the dog without the leash.

“Uh, Miss Kim? I’m sorry but you forgot the leash.”

Her jaw drop cockily. “Are you seriously telling me to get a dog’s leash?”

You stutter, “I’m sorry, Miss Kim, but you told me not to go into the house.”

She rolled her eyes in a sassy manner, before walking back into the house, groaning angrily. You bit your lip, trying not to laugh at the situation.

You walk behind your boss’ girlfriend. You were about to lead her to the car but she stopped walking. “You can leave now, I’ll call him.”

You bowed before explaining that you left your things in the car.

She glares at you, “What? Did you come here with him? No way, did you also go to the daycare with him?”

You only nod, not wanting to explain more. She just groans and leaves you in front of the elevator.

Taeyong saw you from an angle and he felt somehow relieved after worrying about what possibly took you so long until he saw his girlfriend. He lifted his eyebrow before getting out of the car to greet his girfriend.

“Jennie, what are you doing here? Why are you holding kkoma?” He asked, glancing at you with a disoriented look. You just bit your lip awkwardly.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you have a date with your daughter? Did you possibly think I wouldn’t want to join? Of course, I would. Why did you bring her? It’s past office hours.” She ranted.

“I’m sorry, okay. Let’s just go. Taehee’s very excited if she comes along.”

Jennie gets in the car immediately, greeting Taehee with a made-up smile and an awkward sentence of, “Hi, did you eat?”

Taeyong looks at you, “Aren’t you going with us?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Mr. Lee. I think I can’t join you to the pet park. Let me get my things in the back seat.”

Taeyong was about to speak when Taehee opened the window and scream out. “No! Y/n, you said you’re going with us!”

You cringed at how the situation become before glancing at Jennie who’s signaling you to leave immediately.

“Taehee, Y/n said she got something important came up and-”

“No! If Y/n is not coming, then let’s not go. Daddy, this is not what I want!”

Taeyong sighed heavily before opening the back seat door beside his daughter. “Let’s go, Y/n. I know you leave far from here and you didn’t bring your car. Just go with us, I’ll drive you home after we leave the pet park.”

You can’t disobey your boss and after looking at Taehee’s pleading eyes, you decided that you can’t win over the boss’ daughter. You get in the car as Taehee immediately hugs your hand, feeling glad that you finally agreed to join.

Jennie glares at her boyfriend angrily. Taeyong mouths, “What? This is my daughter’s day, not ours.”

You let Taehee out of her car seat and let her play with Jennie and kkoma. Taeyong walks with you behind them, as he smiles in satisfaction upon seeing two of his favorite people get along well. “I’m happy Jennie could play with Taehee like that. I think, going to the pet park today is the best decision I have ever made.”

You agree to what he said, but there’s a part inside of you that feels a little bit heavy upon seeing the strange pair hanging out together. You only smile as you watch Taehee running around chasing kkoma in the field. Jennie gives up running. Well, she’s wearing a 10 cm heels, of course, she can’t run freely like the little toddler.

Taeyong approaches his girlfriend, starting to talk to her and laughing around instead of playing with his daughter. You keep on watching the little girl running around until you heard her crying loudly.

“Taehee!” You scream as you run towards Taehee who just fell into the ground.

Jennie and Taeyong quickly take a look at the screams, and soon Jennie was left with nothing but kkoma’s leash and a groan.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay, Taehee.” You look at Taehee’s injured knee and you sighed. You managed a smile and told her to only look at you, not the wound. Fortunately, she’s being a good girl.

“Taehee! Daddy’s here. It’s okay, baby girl.”

Taehee was about to cry at the sight of her dad, but as soon as kkoma sit beside her and sympathetically stay in her side, she becomes calm and her sobbing starts to stop.

“Mr. Lee, can you get me the aid kit in your car?” You asked calmly. He nodded and immediately runs off to his car. You glance at Jennie who’s only looking with her phone in her hand, probably not knowing what to do.

A minute later, she tried to walk across to you and Taehee, looking like a tired marathon player when she was only walking.

“I’m sorry but I can’t squat down, I’m wearing a skirt.” She said cockily, which makes you want to puke on the spot.

I’m also wearing a skirt, duh. You thought.

Another minute has passed, and Taehee stops crying and starts to play with kkoma beside her, you tried to cover the wound with your hand, as you saw Taeyong walking closer with the aid kit.

“There you go.” Taeyong watches as you treat his daughter’s wound, feeling embarrassed with his girlfriend only watching and fanning herself.

“Let’s go. We need to talk.” He drags his girlfriend to a spot where no one could see them.

“What are you doing? Did you seriously just stand there, wearing a shade, while my daughter is injured?”

Jennie’s jaw drops, “I’m wearing a skirt, Taeyong! I can’t squat down, are you looking down on me now? Oh, you think I don’t care about your daughter, huh?”

“I was not thinking about that but now I’m kind of convinced that you actually don’t,” He paused, before sighing in disappointment. “really care about my daughter.”

Jennie blinked before reaching out for his hand, asking for forgiveness. “I’m sorry, Taeyong. I just.. I just didn’t know what to do. It’s not like I don’t care about Taehee, really.”

“If you love me, you should have known what to do when one of my favorite people, my child, is injured. You should’ve known that Taehee is important to me, Jen.”

Taeyong decided to bring Jennie home by ordering a taxi for her. He knows that she’s probably not going to talk to him for a few days but he’s trying not to care.

He sighed heavily before going back to the field where you treated taehee’s wound. He smiled softly when he saw you and his daughter laughing together, amazed at how capable you are to make his daughter stop crying.

“Hey, baby!” He carries his daughter and lifts her up, playing with her as he loves to hear her giggles.

You smiled upon the view of the daddy and daughter moment, until you notice the absence of his girlfriend. “Mr. Lee, may I ask but where’s Miss Kim?”

He turns at you after giving his daughter a kiss, “Well, She went home. She’s not used to outdoor activities like this. I’m sorry that she didn’t know what to help earlier. Also, like what I said earlier, please drop the formalities when we’re outside the office like this.” You only nod at him, smiling politely at him.

“Daddy, I’m hungry!” Taehee shouts while rubbing her tummy cutely. “Alright! What do you want to eat, baby?”

So you ended up at an Italian restaurant with the father and daughter. Since Taehee wants to eat pasta, you ordered a creamy fusilli carbonara for her, while Taeyong ordered some dishes for you and him.

“Since we’re eating informally like this, can I ask something that I’ve been curious about?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“So, you said you can’t trust your daughter with anyone in her daily life, when you actually could send her to your parents. Why wouldn’t you do that?” You asked him carefully.

He sighs while looking at Taehee who’s playing with the napkin on the table. “I did. There was one time when I sent Taehee to my parents, but as a matter of fact, I’m not that close to my parents and my brothers. I was taught about business since I was in elementary school, so I always have this little thought that there isn’t any real love in my house except from my mother. My brothers’ thirst for money and power disgust me as much as I hate living in my own house.”

You look into his eyes deeply, feeling moved that he’s voluntarily opening up to you. “Too much information, right? Well, the point is I don’t find it comfortable to put my daughter in my parents’ house because she will be lonely there. Besides, my parents didn’t fancy my late wife. We were together without my parents’ permission so it was difficult for me and her until we had Taehee.”

You nod understandingly, feeling so warm inside. “It must be hard for you, Taeyong. It’s a good thing that you endured all of the hard times for Taehee, and now, as you can see, she grew up as a happy kid.”

Taeyong stutters, glancing at how your hand unconsciously reaches for his hand. “Y/n...” You looked at your hand on his, before your eyes widen in embarrassment. You immediately brush your hand away from his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

He smiled softly, “It’s alright. Thank you for understanding my situation. A lot of my friends say that I’m not being a good father for not spending lot of times with my daughter, but they don’t understand how hard it is to manage a company and taking care of a toddler at the same time, cause they have a wife.”

“Of course, they wouldn’t know. Well, I’ll always be available for Taehee. She’s a sweet baby, I love being near her. I’m always ready whenever you need my help.”

Taeyong never sees someone this dedicated to his daughter except you. He stares in amusement when he saw you feed his daughter delicately. He also noticed how much Taehee feels comfortable around you. This is why he trusted you so much with his daughter. But one thing that bothers his insides like butterflies are flying inside his stomach is your motherly feelings towards Taehee, the one he couldn’t find in anyone besides his late wife, especially Jennie. He finds it odd.

After the pet park ‘date’ with your boss, everything went back to normal, except your relationship with Taeyong. He kept wanting you to be very comfortable around him past office hours. He finds you as a friend, and a literal mom for Taehee. You picked her up from the daycare, it becomes your new routine. Sometimes, when Taeyong has to stay up in the office, you’d bring Taehee to your house and let her play with your twin nephews. Taehee really adores you, and his father weren’t so oblivious about that.

“Hey, Taehee said she wants to visit your nephews tonight, is that possible?” Taeyong asked with a visible pair of eye bags under his eyes. He looks so tired and uneven.

“Yeah, sure. Don’t worry, I’ll pick her up.” You smiled at him. “Mr. Lee, are you alright? You look tired...”

He gives you a soft smile as he replies, “Well, just a few problems with the diva. You know that. By the way, I won’t be able to come home tonight so can she stays in your place tonight? I’m so sorry...”

You nod, “That’s nothing to apologize for.”

His face lit up in delight upon seeing you agreed to help. “Alright, since I’ll be away for a moment, you can’t use my car. I’ll have Jaehyun to drive you and Taehee around, alright?”

So, you ended up waiting for Mr. Jung in front of the office lobby. You were replying to a message from your aunt when a beep from an expensive car chimes in front of you. “Hey, Y/n.”

You smile and bow to Mr. Jung. He’s a childhood friend of Taeyong, and he’s the closest uncle Taehee has among all of her father’s friends. “Good afternoon, Mr. Jung. Thank you for picking me up.”

“Aye, drop the formalities and just get in.”

“Y/n! I miss you already!” You open your arms widely as the little princess runs towards you.

“Be careful, honey, or you’ll fall.” You uttered gently.

Jaehyun smiles softly behind the both of you as he plays with his car keys, examining you and his friend’s daughter. Jennie could never, he thought.

“Hey, is that uncle Jae?” She lets go of the hug and goes towards the cheeky man. “Yeah, he came with me to pick you up. Say hello to him, please?” Taehee only sighed before waving to Jaehyun weakly, clearly missing his dad more. “Where’s daddy?” She asked while pouting.

Jaehyun scoffs, “Hey, why aren’t you excited to meet me? Aren’t I the coolest uncle you have in the city?” Taehee shakes her head lightly, her head hurts upon seeing the overconfident man. “Let’s go, Y/n. I’m hungry.” She takes your hand and drags you softly to the car, knowing which car to go to for its eccentric color. “Hey, wait for me! Ugh, she really takes after her dad.”

You spoon the rice and pull a nice trick into feeding little Taehee. After five spoons and she nearly finishes her meal, Jaehyun wants to try to do a trick while feeding her. “Let me try,” he said. You nod and give the meal to him, while Taehee focused on her iPad. “Hey, taehee.. look at me. Here goes the airplane~”

The spoon ended up in front of her mouth, but Taehee keeps an unamused face as she eats the food. “What was that, uncle Jae? You’re so lame,” she shakes her head as she continues to focus on her videos. You hold your laugh, but people around the three of you laugh at the silly scene. Jaehyun covered his face in embarrassment, before whining to Taehee playfully. “Oh, taehee, can you at least work with me? Pretty pwease~” Taehee can’t help but leaves her iPad and laughs along with you. “Uncle Jae is so funny, and ugly hahaha,” she clapped happily while chewing on the meat.

Night comes, and you stay in Taeyong’s apartment again since he said he’s going to come home late and you haven’t cleaned up your apartment so you didn’t bring Taehee to your place. After putting her to sleep, you sit quietly on the couch with a snack you bought earlier to keep you up while waiting for your boss to come home. Thirty minutes later, you found yourself flinching at the sound of the door opened by the owner of the penthouse. You quickly tidy up the room and stand up to greet him, but when you do, you were met by a pair of lethargic eyes. “Mr. Lee..” you went up to him before helping him to walk properly.

Jaehyun groans behind him. “It is so tiring to bring him up here, even though they got a rich and pretentious ass elevator here. Today is the most tiring day of my life, and now I still gotta drive you home.” He complained. “Mr. Jung, you might want to rest a little bit. I’ll help Mr. Lee to change and stuff.” You said to him while assisting your boss to his bedroom. After helping him changing his shirt, you walked out of the room for him to change the rest of his clothes.

“Today is rougher for him, he... uh.. he caught his girlfriend cheating on him with his close business partner. I was lucky enough to catch him quickly earlier before he drinks his ninth bottle for the night. He’s a mess right now.” Jaehyun explained.

You sighed, “That’s so horrible. I don’t think I should leave him alone with Taehee. I’ll stay to make him some hangover soup tomorrow. Thank you for taking care of him, please have a good rest.” Jaehyun nodded before leaving the penthouse, sighing in relief that he finally gets to rest at home.

You knocked on his door, “Mr. Lee? Are you ready to sleep? I’ll help you clean your face.” There is no answer from him, so you decided to come in. Taeyong sits on the edge of his bed, his upper half body leaning on his hands, covering his face while small sobs could be heard. You gulped before approaching him. You say nothing but instead, sitting beside him and pulling him into your body, hugging him tightly. “I gave her everything, whatever she wanted, and she chose that bastard,” Taeyong mumbled and you only listen. “I accepted her even though she didn’t get along well with my daughter, but... that was.. man, that was terrible. This hurts more than when I lost taehee’s mom.” He sobs and you, once again, only listen.

“Y/n... can you take care of me tonight?” He asked before pulling away from your arms. You blink in confusion, “How can I do so?” you asked while stuttering. He says nothing but leans down to you, putting his lips on you gently. You close your eyes and reply to the kiss, enjoying the moment he savor you with his tongue. Taeyong’s drunken limb starts to roam around your body, and he found his hand near the hem of your shirt, before pulling away to catch a breath. “Can I?” He asked while panting. You only nodded, before letting him raise your shirt gently as he gives wet kisses around your neck, and you only moan softly.

Later on, you found yourself asleep next to him, hands and legs tangled up with each other. You smiled at the sight of your naked bodies pressed against each other, before falling asleep hearing the sound of his soft breath.

The next morning, you woke up at the sound of your alarm ringing and you know right away that it’s already six in the morning. You try to untangle your arms but the man you called boss won’t let you go. “Mr. Lee, I have to wake up,” you mumble softly. He only groans, “Urgh, five more minutes. My head hurts.” You smiled and put your free hand on his head, running your hand through his hair. “That’s why I need to wake up first, I’ll cook some hangover soup.”

A minute later, he let go of you with kisses and you only giggle to his touch. Taeyong pulls the blanket to cover himself more as he gets some more sleep as you wear his shirt and leave to the kitchen.

After cooking the breakfast with love, you went to Taehee’s room to wake her up, and to your surprise, she was already awake. You greeted her with a tight hug, before carrying her up to give her drink. “Y/n, you smell like daddy.” She mumbled. You chuckled awkwardly before putting her on her high chair, “Really? Maybe it’s because daddy lent me his blanket last night.”

To your surprise, Taehee sighed in relief while putting her hand on her chest cutely, “Finally daddy treat you right, I’m always upset whenever he let you sleep in my room. You know how small my bed is and he only gets to sleep on that big bed alone. But now I’m happy that you get to sleep on that big bed too!” You laughed wholeheartedly at her cute remarks while at the same time feeling relieved that she didn’t find it weird that you’re sleeping with her dad. “Oh, he lent you his shirt as well!”

After the little princess finished the breakfast, you let her take a shower by herself since she insisted that she’s now able to clean herself. By that, you also have time to wash the dishes while you wait for her. You were busy humming like a chirping bird while cleaning the dirty dishes when you felt hands surrounding your waist.

Taeyong leaned his head on your shoulder, before kissing your shoulder blades gently.

“You look good on my shirt.” He mumbled against your skin and you can feel heat surrounding your body. “But you definitely look good without any shirt on.”

You blink in nervousness, “I thought you wouldn’t remember yesterday’s event, since you were heavily drunk.” You feel him shaking his head, “Of course I would, the moment I got to taste your beautiful lips, that was when I sobered up.”

You blushed madly, at the thought of him fully sober when he did things to you last night. “The soup’s on the table, have it before it’s cold.” You stuttered. “No, I prefer you for breakfast.” Taeyong continues to tease you while caressing his thumb against your waist, until a loud cute voice comes from the sub room bathroom, indicating that the little princess has just finished her bath and needs her bathrobe soon.

You let go of Taeyong with a giggle, caressing his cheeks softly, “Your daughter needs me more than you do. Now finish your soup so your head will stop ringing.” He smiled and nodded at you.

“It’s weekend! What should we do today?” You asked taehee as you dry her hair with a towel. “Hm, what about coloring? And also, let’s have watermelon before lunch since it’s summer.” You nod, “such a perfect plan! I’ll inform your dad right away.”

So, you stayed another day in his house, but one thing, he hasn’t made it official yet. You convinced yourself not to expect anything from him but his affection to you convinced you otherwise. But time passes and Taeyong treats you the way he does to you that particular night. He remains professional during office hours but when you stayed at the penthouse for Taehee, he’d get super affectionate with you.

Taeyong hasn’t heard about Jennie nor he wanted to look for her. He let himself forget about her and relies on you, his lovely secretary, instead. He took you on several dates, but he hasn’t confirmed the real thing yet. You wait patiently for the right time he would confess to you, but reality slaps you so hard for you to wake up.

Today, which is Friday, you took a day off to help your family move, and Taeyong gladly let you go with a careful hug, avoiding being caught by the workers. Until you received a call from Jaehyun informing you that Taehee got injured while running around with her friends. It went so bad that she got a cast wrapped around her little arm.

You drove as soon as possible to the hospital, with flowers and a cute teddy bear in your arms, you run towards the room Jaehyun told you. You smiled as soon as you spotted Jaehyun in the hallway, greeting him in a hurry. “Where is she? I brought her-”

Jaehyun cuts you off, “Uh, Y/n. I don’t think you should come in right now, I think they’re busy.” He stuttered so much that you find it suspicious when he covers the door with his body. “What happen?” You asked. Jaehyun blinked before he sighed, “No, Y/n, I think you deserve to know.” He caress your shoulder gently before walking away from the door.

That was when you felt thunder wakes you up loudly, as the clear image of your boss and his ex-girlfriend leans against each other in front of the sleeping toddler, lips brushed against each other. You dropped the flowers and the plushie bear, tears dropping heavily down your cheeks.

“Y/n... are you.. are you alright?” Jaehyun asked you before putting your head up to him, distracting your stormy mind. “No, I... I, have to go.” You leave him and the things you brought for taehee as you run out wiping your tears harshly.

How can you be proud that he touched you so many times you thought he loved you or something. Reality hurts, and now you’re awakened with false hope. You weren’t disappointed with him, but you. How can you dream about being together with him, when in reality he was far away from you to reach him. He only has her in his mind, since she was the one suitable enough to match his class. You downgraded yourself to the point of your big decision today.

Monday comes, and you determined yourself to come to work, and to submit the resignation paper yourself to him. You couldn’t let personal feelings go through your work, so you decided to quit this job and find another one that’ll be easier for you to forget him. The only one who knew about it was Johnny. He tried to make you think about it twice but in the end, he respected your determined decision.

“Good morning, Mr. Lee, do you want to have some coffee?” You greet him formally, leaving him uptight about the awkward tension. “Oh, no, I’m okay. Please do continue your work. Oh, and Y/n, are you okay? You look unusually under the weather.” He asked. “I’m okay, thanks for asking. By the way, Mr. Lee, I’m here to submit a paper.”

He narrowed his eyes, “What paper?” You slowly put the white envelope on his table. “What is this?” His voice changed into a stern one, as he takes the envelope with doubt. “My resignation letter. Please put your signature under the stated letter, so I could apply for another-”

“Wait, no, are you gonna quit? I mean, why?”

“-job at the end of the month.” You finished your words without letting him cutting in.

“Why? Why are you quitting? Your work has been perfect and you never make a mistake, why in the world should you quit?” He is now standing up while putting his fist on the table.

“I made a mistake, and it’s a big fatal mistake.” You uttered. “What? What did you do? Tell me and we can work it out.”

“I made a big mistake by putting my heart and expectations on my own employer without realizing that it would damage my work value and now I will be no longer able to work properly under this company without having my own personal feelings intervene my work so... I chose to quit, and please respect my decision, Mr. Lee.” You try so hard to hold your tears not to come out but you have limits so, you decided to bow and leave the room quietly.

“Y/n, you’re okay-” Johnny passes by but you have no intentions to stop walking so you leave him behind and go forward to the nearest toilet. Now I have 2 weeks to work under his presence, so I gotta withstand everything, you thought.

“No, mom. I will not stay in the company. Besides, it’s a chance for me to try out new things out there. And if I can’t get a new career, I’ve got enough experience and value to apply as a secretary.” You explained to your mother.

“I know you can’t work under his company anymore, but what about his daughter? What about that child, huh?” Your mother’s words hit different, and now you fall into a deep silence. “Mom, I’m sure he can take care of her by himself and that she won’t be needing me that much. Besides, him choosing her shows that he didn’t actually need me to babysit his daughter.”

“Since when do you become this selfish? Are you even my daughter? You said you were the only one she knew and trusted, not even his rich and pretty girlfriend.” Your mother retorted back, and you just groaned in annoyance. “Did you just call her pretty?”

“Did you just roll your eyes on me?” She flicked your head with one hand while the other hand stays kneading the dough. “I’m sorry,” you apologized.

“I’m just telling you that Taehee has become my grandchild too, just like the twins, and the thought of her being lonely like she used to be is terrifying for me. I’m sure despite the pain you felt for her father, you’re feeling the same too. Are you sure to leave her alone as if you never knew her?”

You sighed, I don’t know what to do with that, mom.

And that is true, even though you continue working for the rest of your work hours before your resignation without Taeyong asking you to take care of his daughter, you still think about her. You think of how she might need you since her little hand was cast but there’s nothing you could do about it.

Jaehyun still communicates with you about her condition without her father knowing, so you feel grateful that at least you’d know what’s up with her.

On the day before your farewell, Taeyong got himself wasted on the bar, as much as Jaehyun could reminisce to the day when his best friend was wasted over a breakup. He only sighed upon seeing his drunk friend before paying the bills for him.

“I don’t know a well human being like you could be this wasted, of course, after knowing that spoiled little bitch.” Jaehyun muttered. Taeyong turns to look at him, “you called her what?” He mumbled.

“Yeah, Jennie, the spoiled little bitch, who cheated on you with your best partner.”

“Don’t call my girlfriend that unless you want a punch from me.” Taeyong balled his hand into a fist until his knuckles turn white. “Try to punch me with that weak ass punch, you idiot. Please reflect on what you’ve done.”

Jaehyun holds himself not to order a liquor since he’ll be driving his best friend back to his penthouse, and he praised himself for being a perfect bestie. “Dude, do you even know why Y/n quit her job?”

“No, I don’t understand why she would be that stupid to quit after I paid her million dollars every month.”

Jaehyun closed his eyes, trying hard not to punch his best friend into oblivion, “What an idiot, you slept with her, several times. Took her on a date and make her live with high expectations around you, and in the end, you chose that bitch who cheated on you? I can’t believe you didn’t consider yourself as a jerk by now.”

Taeyong sighed under the influence of alcohol, “Everyone makes mistake, and deserve a second chance. She promised me to get better, and who I am to reject her, a god?”

“I know you’re trying to be saint about it, but don’t let it makes you blind. For this time, please think of your daughter, and consider who has been next to you, and would she break her promise again? You have a lot of things to make sure, bud.”

After bringing Taeyong home, Jaehyun drove again to the hospital, where he asked his girlfriend, Chaeyoung, to stay with the poor little toddler. As soon as he opened the door, a crying baby and a frowning face of his girlfriend was the first thing he saw. “She won’t fall asleep,” she complained.

“Is she still looking for Y/n?” Jaehyun asked and Chaeyoung only nodded.

You rushed towards the hospital as soon as he called you desperately, looking for help. And it mesmerized both him and Chaeyoung that you managed to get her to sleep in only ten minutes.

After jaehyun and his girlfriend left, you caressed taehee’s back gently before you fall asleep next to her. You made sure to text your mom to bring taehee breakfast tomorrow so she’ll get to eat as much as possible.

The next day, you were awakened by the sounds of Taehee crying, and the first thing you saw was Taeyong with his angry-looking girlfriend. “No, just go daddy! I don’t need you! I have Y/n over here and I don’t wanna be with aunt Jennie!” She whines and you only shushed her with soothing words, and she managed to stop.

“Alright, we’re leaving. Y/n, uh... I’m sorry for keeping you busy with her.” Taeyong scratched the nape of his head before leaving with the girl.

After the pair leave, you managed to calm the wailing toddler down, and luckily she was fast enough to stop crying. “Taehee, why wouldn’t you want to be with aunt Jennie?” You asked carefully, while caressing your hand gently on her head as she cuddles into your side. “I don’t like her. She takes daddy from me, and daddy doesn’t care about it either. My arm is hurting every night, but daddy is busy working or playing with aunt Jennie, I hate it.” Taehee pauses as she sniffs, “Maybe daddy hates me.”

You let out a heavy sigh of your mouth as you get a little bit too emotional about the little poor girl. “No, Taehee, daddy loves you so much, but sometimes, he just doesn’t know how to show it.” You wipe her tears gently and make her look up to you. “He really loves you, he prepared a lot of things for your future. And as much as you need his love, daddy needs it too. Daddy needs aunt Jennie as much as you need him. You’re a good baby, Taehee. You’ve been supporting your daddy and he only needs to know that.”

“Does he look happier when he’s with her?” You were tongue-tied when she gives you the sharp but sad question. You don’t know the answer, because to be honest, you’ve been thinking of the same thing too. “I think he’s happier with me, and with you! He’s so happy when the three of us are together. Y/n, why won’t you be my mom?”

You blinked, startled by her sudden request. “Taehee, I am only being a helper-“

She starts to cry again, “Do you hate me too? Do you not want to be with me?” You quickly make her stop by rejecting her remarks. “No, Taehee, I want to be with you. We spent a lot of time together. I love you, baby, and you should never doubt that. Now enough talking about adult stuff, your arm will hurt more if we keep stressing about it. How about watching paw patrols while waiting for my mom to come here with your breakfast?”

Her eyes immediately lit up in delight upon hearing that her ‘grandmother’ will come with food. “Grandma cooked for me?! Yaay! Finally... urgh, The food here sucks.”

“Wait, I think I left my wallet on the sofa,” Taeyong mumbled as he roamed around his body to check every pocket he has in his clothes. “There’s no way I’d walk back again, we’re already in the basement.”

Taeyong sighs, “Alright, just go to the car first,” he handed in the car keys before running back to his daughter’s ward. He was about to open the door when he overheard the conversation going on between his daughter and you. “Does he look happier when he’s with her?” Taeyong furrowed his eyebrow while waiting for your answer, but then he heard nothing from you.

“I think he’s happier with me, and with you! He’s so happy when the three of us are together.” The words quickly ring repetitively in his head, which makes him question the same thing, does he look happier when he’s with you, and his daughter?

He walks back to the parking lot, hands empty without his wallet, but a brand new decision. He goes to the car with no emotion drawn on his face, but so many things in his head.

“Where are we heading to? This isn’t the right way to the coex. Are you.. taking me home?”

“Yeah, I didn’t manage to get my wallet back so let’s just eat ramen in your house.”

Jennie narrowed her eyes suspiciously before Taeyong shuts down all of her thoughts with a glare.

“This is weird. I don’t like instant noodles, and you cooked for me right in my own house, are you gonna break up with me?” She joked. But then Taeyong nodded, after slurping his last ramen. “Yeah, after all, I do realize that I’m not exactly happy when I’m with you.”

Jennie loses her smile and she makes sure that she hears wrong from him. “Wait a minute, no, you’re only joking, right? No, yong, not cool. Not funny, you need to learn another joke.”

“No, I’m not joking. You never let me do whatever makes me happy. You always had me listen to you every time, like a puppet. And the most important thing, you never, let alone love my daughter, you never have any interest in her. How could I be with someone like that? You should’ve dated any single man without any kids, like that man you cheated me on with, Kim Jongin.”

Jennie lets out her tears fall like he hurts her intentionally. “I thought we talked about that, yong. You said you forgive me for that.”

“No, Jen. This is not working out anymore. We can’t work it out anymore.” Taeyong was already standing up, ready to leave the house when Jennie pulls his hand back tightly, preventing him to leave. “No, yong. I promise I will make things right, please. Please-”

Taeyong holds her hand for the last time, giving her the best of his smiles, along with his sad glaze over his eyes. “I’m so sorry for being a jerk, Jen. But you really need to meet someone else other than me. Someone who will love you fully for you. Someone who will not ask too much from you, like me. I appreciate all of our times together but we can’t be together, so, goodbye.”

A week after your resignation, you spend your time resting in your apartment. Taehee was discharged from the hospital and now she can move as much as she wants so you no longer stays with her. You never heard of Taeyong or his little daughter, the last time you heard of him was from Johnny, where he said Taeyong got himself drown in work more than usual. You, on the other hand, are the opposites of him.

You spend your days mostly laying on your bed, sometimes splattered on your sofa, stuck with Netflix and tubs of ice cream. Even though you weren’t really adjusted by only lying around sluggishly at home, the feeling of emptiness without your work and Taehee make you feel like doing nothing would be the best option.

You know very well that the moment you lay your application forms on any company mailboxes, acceptances will come to you like a waterfall. No doubt, you have the experience of working in a big and reputable technology company, and your educational background is no joke. But lately, you have no interest in working and trying out new things, like you used to be. It’s like you’ve changed into another person, and you, of course, find it weird.

Like now, in front of your full body mirror, you started to question your whole being the moment you grabbed your old party dress. “Seriously, who are you? You never go into clubs or bars in the past few years, and now you want to get drown in alcohol? That is so not you, Y/n.” You talked to yourself like a madwoman.

“Urgh, fuck it. I’ll get wasted tonight,” you mumbled.

You engulfed your ninth bottle on the bar chair, eyes getting heavy every second as you put down the empty bottle. You were about to order more bottles when a stranger sits next to you. “I’ll pay her bills. Hey, miss. Even though you’re quite a hot mess right now, your look still being an eye-catcher.”

You narrowed your already blurry eyes at the unfamiliar man. “Uh, I’m sorry. I don’t drink with strangers.” You were about to leave when he holds your wrist tightly. “Where are you going? I’m paying your bills, at least chat with me here.”

You brushed his hand aside weakly, “No, I’ll pay-”

“Let go of her, you trash.” With a sudden force, you were pulled behind someone’s back. At one moment, you quickly notice the man in front of you from his hair color, and especially his peculiar scent. Lee Taeyong?

“I’ll pay her bills. Please be quick.” He brings you along to the cashier and as you watch his back under the influence, you can’t help but adore his familiar figure. “Those back... and those arms, used to hold me every night.”

“Let’s go, Y/n. Oh wow, your cheeks are so red.” He chuckles as he helped you standing properly by holding both of your upper arms. “Really? It’s because Mr. Lee is really handsome tonight,” you mumble sweetly. Taeyong chuckles louder when he heard the compliment out of your own mouth, knowing very well that you won’t exactly say that kind of thing when you’re sober. “No, you’re just really drunk, right now.” He noticed your skimpy dress before taking off his coat to cover your revealing outfit. “Let’s go.”

“Mr. Lee, why are you so perfect that It’s so hard to get on your side?” You mumble in your drunk state, while Taeyong only listens bitterly on his driver seat. “The harder I tried to chase you, you’ll be ahead further, away from me. You’re too far for me, Mr. Lee. I’m scared, about the fact that even though you’re not someone I can reach so easily, it’s hard for me to erase you from my mind.”

Taeyong was about to say something when you continue talking, “You and taehee, has become a part of my life that I can’t just erase so easily. Huh, am I too drunk? Am I dreaming?” You let out a heavy sigh as a drop of tear rolls on your cheek. “Can I actually say these things to you? Whatever, It hurts.”

This time, in his sober state, Taeyong fully understands that you truly had something special for him. Only now that he realizes that the only person he needed all this time was you. The only missing piece to his and taehee’s life was you. He no longer questions why you decided to leave your job. And finally, he understands what Jaehyun meant and he knows what to do.

“No, don’t go. I hate being drunk alone,” you mumble as you put your hand weakly in his, preventing him from leaving. “But, Y/n...”

“Please, I promise I won’t get wasted and be a trouble for you. Just this one night, please.” Taeyong sighs as he leads you back to your bed. “Alright, now let’s change your clothes first.”

He tries so hard not to touch you like he used to do when you sleep in his place. He smiles softly when he sees you shift around in your sleep. When he finished putting your pajamas on, he quickly covers you with a blanket before heading out of your room to check on his daughter. “Hey, Jae. Thanks for taking care of taehee, is she asleep?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, you’re gonna sleep there tonight, huh? Don’t worry, Taehee’s already sleeping with Chae in my bedroom. Take care of her, she deserves it. I’m always ready to help you, bro.”

Taeyong laughs when he hears his best friend yawns from the other side. “Alright, thank you so much. And also, I want you to arrange the whole thing we talked about yesterday. Please?”

“Dude, if only I can take back what I said earlier about always being ready to help you, I will. But no, alright, I’ll take care of it by tomorrow. You owe me a lot, dude.”

“I sure do, thank you a lot Jae.”

After hanging up the call, he goes back to your room, only to see you curled up against your pillow, snoring softly like a little baby. He lays down next to you, eyes wide awake while admiring your sleeping figure. “Why only now that I realize, that you were meant for me? I don’t deserve you, Y/n.”

Later on, he fell asleep with his body hugging yours, spooning you cozily and the warm fuzzy feeling makes you feel loved even in your dream.

“Good morning.” A familiar voice greets you the moment you open your eyes. “Oh, it’s Mr. Lee. Why would I hear him, especially on my bed? Oh, and now I can see him. Wow, hallucinations are either real these days.” You rub your eyes to get a better view, but he’s too good to be true. Taeyong stays still with a remaining smile on his face. “Am I still drunk? Ah, my head hurts.” You stretch out your hand to touch his face, and your eyes widen as you feel his cheeks against your palm.

“Mr. Lee?! Wait, you’re real?” You jolts up in shock as he chuckles sweetly. “You’re funny, Y/n. Yeah, I’m real. You’re the one who asked me to stay last night,” he muttered.

Distracted by his raspy morning voice, you think hard about how he ended up on your bed. But you were too drunk to remember everything. His face turns serious when he speaks up, “Don’t ever get drunk like yesterday, someone almost put something in your drink and I can’t even imagine what could’ve happened if I didn’t come sooner.”

You sat on the bar chair as he cooks some hangover soup for you, still confused about what just happened last night. Taeyong smiles upon seeing your puzzled expression. “So one of my business partner were having a celebration in the same bar last night, and he recognized you drinking alone on the bar, he only remembers you as my secretary so he contacted me and I thanked him a lot for that. If I was a little bit late, you could’ve been dragged to anywhere by that bastard.”

“Mr. Lee, we didn’t do anything last night, right?” You asked him bluntly, before covering your mouth out of embarrassment. Shit, I shouldn’t ask him that.

“Haha, no. You only asked me for cuddles. No more than that.” He put the soup on the counter before sitting down next to you. “Eat it before it cools down.” He gives you his sweet smiles as he pats the top of your head gently. You nod before you spoon the warm broth.

“Mr. Lee, is she okay with you being here?” you asked carefully. “Who? Taehee? Uh, I asked Jaehyun to take care of her last night, and I just checked up on her and she just ate her breakfast.”

You smiles bitterly, “That’s good, but I mean Miss Kim, does she know that you’re here?”

Taeyong sighed before licking his lip nervously. “Uhm, I broke up with her, Y/n.”

You tilt your head, how come I never know that...

“I realized that I’m never happy whenever I’m around her, and she was one of the reasons why I can’t spend more time with my daughter, so... I decided to call it off with her.”

“Ah, I’m sorry for you, Mr. Lee.” you bowed politely to him, feeling sorry that he had to end his 3 years relationship. “It’s alright. I’m okay, why would I be with someone who doesn’t cherish my daughter as much as I do, right?”

Seeing you staying still as you stare at nowhere, he takes it as a chance to give you a little bit of clarity. “Y/n, would you listen to what I’m gonna say?”

You turn your vision to him, and right at both of his brown orbs, you decide to listen without any expectations. “What is it?” You muttered. He closes his eyes while you set yours on him still. He gives out a small soothing smile as he speaks up, “What I did to you was unforgivable and shameful. I am very sorry for that. I regret hurting you and not realizing it. While being with her, I was blinded by greed and fraud. And maybe that’s why I couldn’t see what’s in front of me. My true tendency, my happiness.”

You were taken aback as you expected none of those words to come out of his mouth. His eyes wander to yours, looking for any answer from them. “Y/n, do you still love me? Do I... deserve a precious second chance from you?”

You gulped down in nervousness, “If I say I do, will I lose you again, Mr. Lee?”

His lips pull themselves up into a smile automatically at the sounds of your question, “I promise you no promises, Y/n. But I’ll hold onto you forever. Let’s not let go of each other.” He took your hand gently before putting a kiss on your delicate palm. “Don’t let go of me again, yong.”

He nodded as he leaned down to press his lips into yours, and you close your eyes along to the kiss.

Hours later, he brought you to a place where his daughter, along with Jaehyun and Chaeyoung have waited for you both. You feel your tears of happiness flowing like a river when the little girl holds the banner with a growing smile on her face, there written, ‘Will you be my mom?’

“Yes, honey. Yes,” you muttered as you hugged her tightly, before Taeyong joined the hug as well. “Well, our mission here is accomplished, so now please excuse me and my love to go on a nice date, Mr. Lee.”

“Haha, thanks Jae, I owe you a lot.”

little sequel

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son-fuori-di-me · 3 years

Text

"I had no idea I could change someone's life."

One Shot. Word Count | Around 3300. Description | <French female pov> you're visiting Rome for the first time, and you casually meet Damiano David the day before the Circo Massimo concert. The conversation takes a unexpected path.

Content | Real talk. No romantic development. * Expect French idioms and italian approximations from automatic translators

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"Bordel, c'est immense !" ("Holy cow, that's big !") I said, looking at the Circo Massimo.

It was my first time in Rome. Knowing Italy a bit, I expected a hell lot of sun, a delicious bunch of ice cream for each meal, and tons of pretty things to snap with my phone. Well, that was the plan for my first two days there. Cause Saturday would be a very different day. Saturday would be Måneskin day.

I've been waiting for so long to do this trip. And what a blast it has been for now. Took only a bag, my external battery, some makeup and my favourite clothes to finally discover this astonishing city. This was my first solo trip. I've always travelled with my family or my ex, but never on my own. For once, I could decide what I wanted to see, what I wanted to eat, when to take a break. And as there are plenty of things to see in Rome, i wanted to enjoy every second of my trip. I could focus my last day there solely to the Måneskin concert happening that Saturday night. But as I didn't want to leave anything to chance, I decided to precisely organize my last day, so I could visit a bit more - a get a last fantastic meal before the concert.

I got myself a gold pit ticket. I guessed that would mean I had a special queue. So on Friday night, as I was back from a late tour in town, I decided to watch more closely the Circo, to check for the entrances, and see how I could sharpen my organization and schedule for the next day.

"J'espère que je vais pas avoir à poireauter toute la journée, avec la chaleur qu'il va faire." ("I hope won't have to hang around here all day tomorrow, the weather's gonna be hot as hell")

It was almost 10 pm. I was getting closer to the Circo, trying to read the boards, but all was written in italian and didn't seem to concern the concert. And a year fangirling over Måneskin clearly wasn't enough to become fluent. I saw no sign mentioning "gold pit". So I decided I would ask around, with Google translate ready in my phone in case I couldn't find anyone speaking English.

I saw a guy sit on a bench, smoking. He was dressed in an ugly dark sweater, with the hood over a cap. He was either a drug dealer or a hobbo. My instinct as a girl living in Paris got the uphand and I decided to ignore the guy and try to find a woman instead, or maybe a group of locals, to get me the information I wanted. Unfortunately, after a good 20 minutes walking around and asking people, no one could tell me how to make sure I find the right queue for the concert. I was about to give up and head back to my airbnb and I saw a silhouette still sitting on a bench, near the Circo. It was the same guy from earlier. "Bon, je tente, s'il est trop chelou, je me barre." ("Well, might as well take the risk, if he's too much a weirdo, I clear off quickly.")

"Scusi, do you speak English ?" i said, getting closer to the guy, but still from a good distance in case it turned wrong.

"Pretty good. You need something ?" He was searching something in his pockets and reached his pack of cigarettes. His voice was deep, but gentle. He did look funny but didn't sound dangerous - i still didn't get too close as I hate the smell of smoke.

"Do you know well il Circo Massimo ? I'm going to a concert here tomorrow and I want to make sure I find the right queue, but they haven't installed any sign yet". I asked, showing the structure of the stage behind me.

"Cute accent, where are you from ?" he answered, completely ignoring my question.

"Well, I'm French. So, do you know il Circo ?" I preferred to quickly repeat my question to let him know I wasn't interested in whatever he was trying to.

"Ah, Bonjour ! I speak a little French !" He said, now reaching for his lighter.

"Yeeaaaah cool, but how about the Circo ? I'd like to be here early enough, but I don't know wh-" I froze as he lighted up his cigarette. It was brief, but with the spark, I saw his face for a second.

"Hm ? You don't know what ?" He asked, with a smirky voice.

"Mais naaaan ?" ("Dont tell me -") I let out that typical French astonished sound without thinking. "You gotta be kidding me !"

He laughed as I was getting a little closer, staring at him. With one hand, he was putting his lighter back in his pocket, with the other, he lifted a bit his cap. It was him. It was Damiano.

I felt my spine shiver with that uncomfortable sensation of being around someone famous. As a journalist, I had my lot of interviews, so I knew there's no point in changing behavior around such people. But I still was flabbergasted to see him.

"Sorry, I didn't recognize you. Well, gotta say you're not dressed in your best outfit !" I chose the strategy of sass, to hide how impressed I actually was.

"That's my favourite sweater you're seeing me in, and I'm smoking hot in it" He said with a smirk, getting into the sassy game.

"Time off before the big day ?" I asked, completely forgotting about my initial request and switching to my interview mindset when I'm super focused about the conversation. "Shouldn't you be having a great night of sleep, to recharge your batteries ?"

"I don't feel like going to bed" He said, having no idea how the conversation would soon turn. Fortunately for him, I wasn't working in the music media industry. "That's quite a stage we're gonna play on."

I didn't know why he was talking to me about all of this. I didn't dare to ask him either. I just enjoyed the moment.

"Well, the Eurovision song contest was bigger, wasn't it ?"

"Hm, don't tell me about it, I still don't know how I managed that."

He suddenly had a strange tone in his voice. It didn't sound like the radiant and confident Damiano you see on Instagram stories or on TV interviews. I remembered where I heard him like that. In the 2019 documentary "This is Måneskin", the making of Il Ballo Della Vita album, in the sequence he's arguing with Vic on a train, as he tells her how anxious he can be get sometimes.

"Well, you did, didn't you ?" I put on a more serious voice. "And you had a ton more of pressure, representing your whole country ? So how a concert here in your home town could be worst than performing in front of all of Europe - not to say the whole world ?"

He was still smoking, listening in silence.

"Or maybe it isn't about how big the performance is but about performing in itself ? Why are you performing ? Why are you putting on a show ? All those fancy clothes and that makeup, who is it for ? For people to love you ? Or for you to love yourself ?"

Mais qu'est-ce que je branle ? Il va se barrer dans deux secondes, là c'est sûr (What the fuck am I doing ? He's leaving any second now.) I got a bit too excited about being able to share a few words with him. What's gotten onto me ? Well, let's go then.

"What is it you're running after ? Or running from maybe ? Some complex to compensate ? With all that smudge and confidence, that wouldn't surprise me."

He sat back on the bench. As he inhaled a deep breath of smoke, I saw a smile on his face. But I also saw his hand holding the cigarette shaking.

"Are you a psychiatrist or something ?" He simply said, as if he was trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

I hesitated to tell him the truth. I was sure he would walk away the second he would know my actual job. Et puis merde, autant tout dire. (Well, fuck, might as well be honest.)

"Nope, I'm a journalist." I admited, as he looked right back at me with a surprised look. "Pretty much the same. We get appoitments with random people, listen to their life, observe their body language, and tell them our whole opinion about all of it, which might very well shape how they perceive themselves from now on."

"Only difference is that you don't have to keep anything secret. Right the contrary."

There. This was it. He was gonna leave now, for sure.

"Before you go, did I hit any truth ? Don't worry, I'm not in the music media industry, I won't write anything from our conversation." I hoped this information would save me a few more seconds with him.

He didn't answer right away. He didn't leave either. He kept looking at me, still smoking his second cigarette in a row now.

"Whatever it is you write about, I guess you must be good at it" he finally replied. "Cause you did score a few points."

Another short silence broke. As a fan, I was obsessed with his music, lyrics, and attitude. But catching a glimpse of what lied behind the glamour definitly caught my interest. I wanted to know more.

"Why are you here ?" I slightly deepened my voice, getting back to my interview tone, and kept on going with this as if that was usual business for me. "It's half past 10. You play on Rome's largest stage tomorrow. You surely better should be in bed, or be about to, before the big day."

In that moment, I had the upper-hand in the conversation. He was sat on the bench, I was on my feet in front of him, and therefore above him. Not the best approach to get someone's trust for an interview, but with a personnality like Damiano's, you gotta put your own show.

"I actually don't sleep much before big events like these" He finally answered, accepting his condition as an interviewee. "I don't sleep much at all."

"You're tend to insomnia ?"

"Not really, I just got used to 4-5 hours of sleep, that's it."

"Even during tours ? Cause this all sold-out European tour for Teatro d'Ira must have been exhausting".

"You have no idea, bellezza."

"So tell me." From there, I decided to change my strategy and sat on the ground, still in front of him, but giving him the upper-hand, to put on a more trustful atmosphere. "How are you doing ? And I don't mean, like casual 'yay, fine', I mean : how are you doing ?"

I still have no idea of my tactical move of giving him more space to express himself worked, or if he understood right away where I was leading him, but in the end, he still didn't seem bothered by this conversation we were having. In fact, it looked like he was enjoying it.

"I'm... content, I'd say." He paused, and I didn't interrupt him with another question this time. "I know I'm going through the life I wanted. The music, the tours, the praise. It's all I could have ever asked for."

D'accord, très bien, mais ? (Okey, very good, but ?) I stayed silent, but I couldn't help anticipating what he was saying.

"But surprisingly, sometimes it's still... unfulfilling. Like I can never be satisfied".

Repressing some Hamilton's lyrics from my mind, I innocently pretend I didn't fully understand what he meant - another journalistic technique, to get someone to repeat themselves with other words in order to get them deeper into their reflexion.

"What do you mean, "never be satisfied" ? You're on top of Spotify chart list, your albums are now platinum successes, you're winning awards. How is this not satisfying ?"

"It's just... What are all those things for ? Money ? Fame ? Yeah, I like those but..."

"Typical Capricorn" I muttered, to slide in the conversation that I actually knew pretty well my subject - my subject being him. He chuckled.

"Damn really ? Let me guess ? Aries ?"

"Pisces+Taurus, actually. So what, you don't like being famous ?" Getting back quickly into more questions - another technique to keep control over the rhythm of an interview.

"It's not that I dislike it. It's just... not always as fun as I thought it would be."

"What part of the job ? The writing and composing ?"

"No, that's the best part." He reached for a third cigarette. It was almost 11 pm now. "Vic, Thomas and Ethan. Måneskin. They're the best thing that ever happened to me".

"Then what, you feel like a fraud ?"

"Hell, no ! I'm exactly where I should be." He claimed, with a light pride tone.

"So, if you're proud of what you create, and if you love the people you create that with, then what is the matter ? If life is about getting the Bare Necessities, it seems like you got it all." Hitting with a universal - and musical - reference. Shoud do the trick.

"Hahaha ! Lo stretto indispensabile, si ! But life isn't that easy." He said laughing, as I felt he started to let go of the tension. "In real life, you get judged all the time, and people try to dismantle you, and spread rumors."

"I didn't think you'd be one to listen to people's comments about you".

"I'm not. I stopped giving credits to those. But it's still here, you know ?"

"From what I see, you're keeping it real, with lots of wisdom. I can't quite grasp what seem to bother you."

He paused, looking at his feet for a few seconds.

"I'm afraid it won't last." He finally confessed. "I'm afraid it all ends as quickly as it all started. I'm afraid people get bored. I'm afraid I become a caricature of myself. I'm afraid I can't write new songs. I'm afraid to be a shooting star, you see ? Very bright, but gone in a flash."

"Like, to be an Icare ? Or may I say "Ykaaar" like on your Instagram ?"

He chuckled again.

"Huh, I'm that obvious ?"

"Yeah, even a bit over-the-top, if I may dare say so."

"Well, I've always related so much with this mythological figure. I mean what's wrong with aiming for the Sun ?" He said, pointing a hand to the dark sky above us. From his attitude, I could tell he was way more relaxed than in the beginning. He even took his cap and hood off, so I could now see his face more clearly. His eyes were glittering. "Burning your wings... What's that morale supposed to teach us ? Be modest ? Be moderate ? Che noia !" (How boring !)

"Well don't be !" I felt almost like scolding him. "There's nothing wrong with seeking big dreams. As there's nothing wrong with this feeling of being outrun by your life. Savour the moment. Every second of it. It's because you can't know how long it may last that it tastes so good, so thrilling ! And you actually already are ten steps ahead ! Writing songs like ´Torna a casa' or ´Coraline' at, what, 19-20 years old ? You're the real deal, dude. And even if later on, you get blank page anxiety or write just good-enough songs, it's okey. You got plenty of time to make mistakes. Take the leap of faith. Failing and being a failure aren't the same. You learn, you grow from it. It's okey to doubt yourself, but please, don't ever doubt all the love and support you get."

I paused, hoping I didn't do too far and missed my point. But in a way, I could also feel I got it right. He was looking at the Circo, his eyes even more sparkling than before.

"I..." He got up, standing on the bench, looking as tall as a statue from my perspective. He came down and took a few steps. I got on my feet, starting to feel concerned about what I just said.

"I didn't know I needed to hear that." He finally confided. "I always wanna reach perfection. I'm aware I can be authoritative, sometimes even harsh, on the band. I can't accept to be a failure. But love and support, that, I can't get enough of."

I didn't respond. There was nothing to add. This instant felt like an hour. The wind was slightly blowing through the length of the Circo in front of us. His hair reflected the gentle light of the moon, only showing her first quarter. He broke the tranquility of the moment, turning and taking a few steps in my direction.

"Grazie mille" he said, his arms opened, calling for a hug.

"But, you're very welcome" I said approaching him, softly putting my arms on his back as he put his over my shoulders. The second before his face disappeared from my vision, i noticed a tear on his cheek.

"You've completed reset my mind. I feel like I can start all over again. I was anguished, trapped by my anxiety. But it's all gone now. You've changed me. Thank you, thank you so much" He affirmed full of hope, his voice shivering.

"Wow, well. I had no idea I could change someone's life." I answered, trying to hide how moved I myself was from the conversation.

------

It was almost midnight now. We kept talking for a while, comparing life in Rome and Paris, exchanging what was our best concert experiences. But he still needed to get back home to rest before the concert, and I didn't want to arrive too late at my airbnb - even if I could have spent the whole night talking with him. Yet, to enjoy our last few minutes together, he offered to walk me back to where I was staying. It was just a 15 minutes walk, along the Tevere river bank.

"So tell me." he asked with a smirk. "How does the Bare Necessities go in French ?" He started to muffle the melody.

"Oh no, you don't expect me to actually sing it ?"

"Hehe, you got me into a therapy session, so I can get a little song from you, no ?"

"Damn, you. This is blackmail !" But drunk on the moment, I took a deep breath.

"Il en faut peeeeeeu pour être heureux, ("Look for the baaaaare necessities,") vraiment très peu pour être heureux, ("the simple bare necessities") il faut se satisfaire du nécessaire !" ("Forget about your worries and your strife")"

I started dancing along, if I had to be ridiculous, might as well utterly be. But he actually followed my lead, clicking his fingers.

"In fondo, baaaasta il minimo, ("I mean the baaaaare necessities") sapessi quanto è facile ("Old Mother Nature's recipes") Trovar quel po' che occorre per campar ! ("That brings the bare necessities of life !")

We kept on singing Disney songs for a few minutes as we walked at a slow pace - I was shocked he never saw Tarzan and immediately made him promise to watch it as i told him Phil Collins recorded all the songs in five languages, including Italian. When we finally reached my destination, we exchanged a last timid hug as farewell.

"Well, I'll see you on stage tomorrow." I told him as I crossed the street.

"And I'll look for you in the crowd !" He shouted with the brightest smile on his perfect face.

** the end **

#maneskin #damiano david #maneskin imagine #damiano david x reader #maneskin x reader #my writing

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lifedistractions · 3 years

Text

“Dude! Look out! They’re behind you!” And just like that, Garrett watched his friend get clobbered and eaten by a horde of zombies. Blood splattering everywhere while limbs were ripped to shreds. Garrett winced and looked over to his now drunk friend on the couch. “Sorry man.”

“Hmmm?”

Jonah sat there hardly watching. His clouded mind had filled with images of a happier time. When Amy was crushing skulls on level 15 and he was just sitting back enjoying the show. She was so hardcore when she was deep into a game. Nothing could distract her. Her focus was impressive. And her determination to kill was hot.

Garrett had invited Jonah over for beers and some Resident Evil thinking his buddy needed an escape from his life. Amy was now gone a full day and he had been pretty quiet, which was not unusual for most under the circumstances. But for Jonah, not even trying to over compensate and talk more to give the appearance he was fine, was just weird. Clearly losing the love of his life was the worst thing to happen to the guy. Rejection was brutal, but Jonah just looked broken.

“Wanna mother beer?” Jonah slurred our.

“Nah, I’m good.” Garrett replied. “Maybe we call it a night, what do ya say?” Garrett turned off the game.

“Okay.” Jonah moved to get up off the couch but faltered. “Whoa, spinny-spin.” He shook his head and tried to rise again with no success. “Nope.”

Garrett watched sympathetically as his friend struggled. “Why don’t you stay put for the night. I’ll get you a blanket.”

“You sure? I don’t wanna overstay my welcome. I tend to do that.” Jonah was already putting his feet up on the couch and lying down.

“Yeah, it’s fine. You get some rest. It will all be better tomorrow.” Then added under his breath “mixed with a raging hangover, you’ll forget all about your love life, trust me.”

Jonah lifted his head and agreed. “Better is good. Thanks Garrett, you’re a real friend. My best friend. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.” Jonah winked and shut his eyes.

Garrett considered his declaration. For all the time he’d known Jonah he was always resistant to any full on, out loud agreement that they were best friends. But they were. And his best friend needed him. For the first time he felt a true sense of loyalty. His best friend deserved much better. He had always been there for him even when Garrett shut him out multiple times. Maybe it was the beer or the comfort level in the air that allowed him to feel this much compassion. Whatever it was, Garrett breathed out effortlessly, “Did I ever tell you about my accident?”

Jonah wasn’t moving and said nothing in acknowledgment. If he was sleeping Garrett didn’t bother to check. “I was seventeen. I was in the car with my dad. He was driving. We were just talking and enjoying the day. We had just come from Footlocker because he was treating me to a new pair of kicks, that he could barely afford. And then out of nowhere a moving truck jackknifed us. He was killed. I survived, obviously. But I couldn’t walk anymore. I think that’s why I love sneakers so much. They remind me of my dad. So yeah, now you know.” He looked over at Jonah who was surprisingly not sleeping at all. He hadn’t noticed his friend sit up and watch him silently, listening to his very personal story. Garrett immediately felt his ears warm at the potentially embarrassing conversation that would follow.

Jonah broke his gaze and looked down in silent camaraderie and said, “Thank you.”

#jonah simms #superstore #jonah x amy #amy sosa #fanfic #jonah and amy #simmosa #garrett mcneil

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cockroachmotherfucker10 · 3 years

Text

Today is Christmas, and I know for many of you, that means a lot of food anxiety. I’m here to tell you that it is OKAY to eat! Your body likes homeostasis, so one day of eating whatever you want is not going to drastically affect your weight, if at all.

Even if it did affect your weight, that’s okay!!! We are all surviving this shitty year together, and a lot of us have gained weight, and it doesn’t matter, because gaining weight is natural (especially during times as stressful as these!) and does not change your inherent self-worth.

Calories are energy--you deserve the energy to get through 2020, and you deserve to have fun and bond with your loved ones over some good food!! Plus, eating helps your brain produce those sweet sweet neurotransmitters you need!

That being said, I know a lot of you are still going to struggle today. If that’s you, read on, because I’m gonna give you lovely cockroaches a holiday present (or a just-for-fun present, if you don’t celebrate any winter holidays).

[Image description: a cartoon gift box wrapped in blue paper and a white ribbon]

Well? Are you gonna open it??

[Image description: the same cartoon gift box wrapped in blue paper and a white ribbon. There is white text on the box that says, “All of your calories are on me today.”]

That means that your calorie count for today is added onto mine instead. I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious, so trust me when I say that I wouldn’t tempt any potential supernatural forces with this offer if I wasn’t 100% dead serious. I’m not scared of having more calories on Christmas than I usually do, and I don’t want any of y’all to be scared about it either!

And I know, guys, I know--it’s a really really shitty present, since calories aren’t your enemy. You NEED calories to survive and have the energy to laugh and sing and run and dance, so you only get to use this shitty present ONCE. You are also free to turn it down.

In the future, we’re all gonna continue working on our ED fears and getting through them together. It is hard and necessary work. But just for today (or whichever day you first see this post), you get this gift as an easy out, so go ham!!! Ana has no power today!!!

In exchange for my shitty present, I would love it if you don’t weigh yourself tomorrow. (You and I both know that any significant changes are just food and water weight, and are not worth making yourself anxious over.) But even if you do, don’t worry, you still keep the present.

I love you all! Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope this post gives you the peace of mind you need to enjoy your day. Eat some treats!!! You deserve them, and I promise, you do not need to compensate for anything you eat today. You are gonna be okay. Enjoy yourself. :)

-Mod Lia

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whatgaviiformes · 3 years

Text

10. Music Makers - Part 6 / Scenes from Gordon’s Bedside

Chapter Summary: Virgil and Gordon and music

You are Here - Final Section

Chapter A/N: In honor of 10 chapters of this concept, the plan is to give you a hell of a chapter 10 with a few moments in time strung together. I decided to go ahead and share what I have with you instead of waiting. Once the chapter has been shared in full over tumblr, I will post the full piece at Ao3 and FF.net. It may or may not make sense to remain as chapter 10 or be it’s own thing. Do share if you have an opinion. :-)

Adding also - this is the final bit. Thank you all so much for the reblogs and the likes, and the tags. The support has been wonderful and I am so humbled. I hope you have enjoyed. I am posting the last bit here, and tomorrow sometimes I’ll probably post the FF and Ao3 links for the story in full, but for now, this is for you tumblr. Thank you.

Part Notes: A thank you to @gumnut-logic for the read through because I needed another set of eyes on what is a complicated set of boys below. It’s been a whirlwind of a day.

For tunes this time - Green Onions.

***

Music Makers - Part 6/The Conclusion

“You want to do what?!”

“I want to use your accident as a simulation for training.” John continues to layer cream cheese onto his toasted bagel as he speaks, but Gordon has stopped his knife mid-spread, the heaping dollop of hazelnut hovering dangerously on the dull edge.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” John says, his countenance severe as green eyes stare piercingly to meet Gordon’s shocked expression.

“O-kay” Gordon says slowly, placing his breakfast down onto his plate and pushing the breakfast meal aside. “Why exactly?”

The hydrofoil had exploded before anyone could ever have anticipated the destruction; there had been no time. The only way to use his accident for a rescue simulation was to admit what really happened. And while Gordon was grateful for what John had risked by hacking confidential WASP files to discover the cause of the accident, no good could from clueing in Scott and Virgil to the knowledge that it was sabotage, that someone – they still don’t know who - had tried to murder him and had succeeded for seven others. He planned to take the knowledge to his grave and has asked John to do the same. Which is why it was strange for their Thursday morning to start with such a suggestion.

The four of them had been running sims for weeks. There was nothing that would beat live testing the equipment and they had done test drives of the pods and ships, but running mission scenarios was different. Before they introduced International Rescue to the world, they needed to be able to trust each other completely, to know how to work the problem.

Scott had naturally taken to the role of commander, his instincts well in tune with countering the details of John’s “missions.” Since it was all simulations, Virgil would often challenge Scott’s decisions, walk through the equipment they would have at their disposal, and offer additional suggestions. Brains and Jeff had started to create practice rescues as well, so John got the practice he needed to best support communications.

Overtime, the rescues became more complex. They were all experts in their fields, so it was natural for them to lean into the rescues that met their niches, but when they went live that wouldn’t always be the case. Just yesterday, Gordon had given his family a crash course on how to best avoid getting the bends in a deep sea rescue, and Gordon has learned more about functioning in zero gravity than he hopes he will ever truly need.

Sometimes John and Brains would program the mission to have an urgency to it, sometimes it was a mission of precision. And they’d failed. A lot. A lot less lately as they started to get into the groove, but they always worked the problem until they solved it.

Even knowing what he did about the bomb that had been placed deep in the hydrofoil’s engine, Gordon’s knew his accident was…unsolvable.

“But how are we supposed to solve for the impossible, John?” John doesn’t answer; he just looks at Gordon patiently, pointedly. Waiting. “Oh my God, you want to give them a Kobayashi Maru!”

John nods. “Yes.”

“No, I don’t like it,” Gordon says, shaking his head.

“Look, we will do everything we can, and we will still lose people. Scott and Virgil—” the and you goes unsaid “—need to understand that! They’re getting too complacent, and they need to understand the stakes. We can’t save everyone.”

“We understand the stakes,” he argues, but John is shaking his head vehemently.

“No. You don’t. You all have shown you’re going to be a hell of a team, honestly,” he says. “But it’s all been puzzling through the situations, how to use the pods. I need a way for it to feel real, and I can’t use the avalanche, so —"

“Don’t you DARE.”

“I’m just trying to find something—"

“John, stop.” Gordon says, grasping at the redhead’s shoulders and gently shaking him. “I need you to turn off rescue work here. How can you even think to do that to Virgil? What exactly are you trying to prove? I didn’t think you would be so cruel.”

Gordon can’t fathom what would possess John to pressure his brothers – Virgil who, he clearly has mis-understood, and Scott, who after two months MIA, had been returned to his family with an honorable discharge and a pair of haunted eyes and agitated reflexes that were mere phantoms to what they imagine he went through captured behind enemy lines. If training in the Air Force was anything like WASP, Gordon knew just why and how Scott closed himself off from feeling at times.

John pales. “I’m not—”

“What is Virgil supposed to think if you give them the avalanche and they can’t solve it?” Gordon feels heat flush up his neck. “What if they can solve it? I don’t even know what’s worse, but I won’t let you do it! I won’t!”

“I know. Look, I know, Gordon. You haven’t let me finish; I said I am not going to use to avalanche,” he says, urging Gordon to understand. He knows how difficult this is. He’s been going through it in his head for days before mustering the courage to ask Gordon. “Just let me start over.”

“Fine. But get to the point.”

“Tell me - when is the last time any of you used someone’s name on a rescue simulation?”

The question takes him by surprise. He knows they receive the victim’s name in the scenario briefing, but he can’t remember a time when they used names. The simulations were life-like enough that they could role play if they need to, yeah, but the point was to practice with the equipment. But then, they had been exceeding expectations there lately.

“How about the last mission? Do you remember the victim’s name? How about his age?”

Gordon stares blankly at his brother. He thinks it started with a B, perhaps. Brandon? Bradley?

“It was Randy, and he was 8. Virgil geared up with the Jaws of Life, moved the cross beam to save him, and got him out of the fire to safety. You don’t even know why the boy froze, do you? It was because he was scared. Randy was deaf and he didn’t hear a thing Virgil said. Virgil can’t do ASL in the exo-suit, and for the entire simulation he faced away from him. Virgil may have gotten him out, but he didn’t give him very much trust in International Rescue.”

“Yeah, but he would still be alive if it were a real situation.”

“Gordon, the situation was never about the fire. It hasn’t been about learning the equipment for weeks. Please. I am not trying to be heartless. I just… don’t know how else to make it feel real to them. And I am worried.”

“So, what? You’re trying to make a point about their compassion, and yet you’re showing them none? I don’t want any part of it,” he growls. “And you make your own no-win scenario. Leave mine out of it.” Gordon slides his chair back and storms off.

After a few seconds, John too retreats to his room, after wrapping up the two uneaten bagels for later. He has a lot to think about.

***

Gordon finds Virgil in Thunderbird 2’s hangar, checking her over for the test flight they are planning to undertake after simulations today. His dark hair is swept underneath a large headset that could appear to have a safety function to protect his ear drums, but no, Gordon knows they are his older brother’s preferred set of sound blocking, bass pumping, wireless headphones.

He'd bought them for him himself, as a thank you after one of his more difficult nights, and he knew from experience how immersive the sounds were through the speakers. There was no one else around other than Gordon, which Virgil had yet to realize, and so it was a sign of just how focused Virgil was in his work.

Gordon steps further into the hangar and observes the adoration Virgil puts into his careful touches as he checks the green supply ship. Over the past year and a half, Virgil has channeled all of his creativity and ingenuity into her build. Thunderbird 2 was what Virgil needed, his special project to distract him from the burdens of Gordon’s injuries as he healed.

He sits down on a crate and closes his eyes. Virgil had sacrificed so much for him. If anything, the simulations had shown just how eager Virgil was, and John didn’t know their brother well enough if he felt Virgil was forgetting the stakes. Virgil knew the stakes better than anyone. The idea for International Rescue had been born from loss after all. A loss that Virgil was a breath away from being part of.

How can he possibly blame him for his excitement to share Thunderbird 2 with the world? For getting lost in the details? The problem was the simulations would always be awkward for him. He compensated for his lack of acting skills by leaning into what he knew well, which was his patience, knowledge of machines, and an innate talent for challenging Scott.

Gordon didn’t need a simulation for him to have the upmost faith in Virgil’s compassion. John hadn’t been here to know how tenderly Virgil cared for him while he was healing and so he couldn’t see what Gordon could: that when it was real and when it mattered, Virgil’s heart would only be focused on the people they were trying to save.

A no-win scenario would break him.

When he opens his eyes again, Virgil is still oblivious to his presence, but he’s abandoned his wrench and with his hands free has started to dance, his head bopping, energized with the beat that only he can hear. A shimmy and a spin and he finally catches sight of Gordon, who laughs with the scene. Virgil is so in his element today, and the joy Gordon feels is so counter to his anger from earlier that morning.

“Hey!” Virgil calls, a little louder than he realizes with the headphones still around his ears, but he removes them as he realizes and walks over. “How long have you been there?”

“Not long. Whatcha listening to?” Gordon can hear the pulse from the speakers.

“R&B Soul.” Virgil pulls the headphones off his neck and sets them around Gordon’s ears. The cool blues bassline vibrates through his bones and he too rocks his body with the music for a couple seconds.

“S’cool. I like it,” he says, before relinquishing the headphones back to his brother.

Virgil accepts them back, his eyes suspiciously bright as he places them around his neck once more. “Sorry,” he says chuckling lightly at himself. “It’s just – you’re dancing.”

“I know. Who would’ve thought?” He grins devilishly as he attempts a pirouette and fails.

“I did.”

“Yeah, yeah you did.” Gordon goes quiet a moment, whispering, “Thank you.”

“You really don’t need to keep thanking me, Gordon.”

“Yeah, I really do.”

***

After dinner, Scott finds Gordon sitting on the edge of the pool, swinging his feet in the chlorinated water. It’s wild to think that after all this time, Thunderbird 1 is waiting below for her first mission.

“You skipped simulations today.”

He grunts. “I know. How did it go?” He knows Scott will assume he skipped for his health.

“Well we need an astronaut, that’s for sure.” A space mission. That’s… different. “We could use you tomorrow if you’re up for it. We still haven’t been able to launch correctly and it’s John’s program so he’s not talking.”

“I am not a space guy, Scott.”

“Yeah, but three of us are better than two,” he urges. “We’ll figure it out.”

***

Mayday! Mayday! Impact imminent.

He can’t get the sounds of John’s pained voice out of his head, panicked calls for help that they have been trying for hours to reach.

Over and over.

Until finally, they did reach Thunderbird 5, and after so many times hearing his brother die, John had programmed for them to see it.

“We’re too late; run it again,” Scott had said, pale. “Okay, how do we improve our launch speed this time?”

Then for another three hours, they kept trying to tick off time, to get there faster, until their time plateaued and yet they still were unable to save their sibling.

The mechanical voice – All systems offline. And the screams for help fade to nothing, and Virgil knows what to expect. It’s been torture. Virgil collapses in front of the too white, too pale, too dead figure and screams for it to stop, ripping off the virtual headset.

His knees are weak, but he dashes to John all the same – he needs to see him, to feel him alive. But John’s expression stops him in his tracks.

“It’s not solvable.”

John shakes his head, his expression tight. “No.”

Betrayal flashes through Virgil’s eyes.

“What the hell, John!” Scott shouts and Virgil jumps at the volume. He puts his hand on Virgil’s trembling shoulder. “How long were going to do this for?”

“I-I didn’t think you’d keep running it that long!”

“Of course we were going to keep running it, John – you’re our brother. We would never give up on you. God dammit!”

“I’m sorry, look, Gordon was right-”

“Gordon knows? Is that why he’s been skipping? I thought he was hurt.”

“No, no. Well not really, but–”

Scott eyes flash, and he leaves the training room in a flurry of angry curse words. Virgil cringes as the door slams.

“Virgil, I mean it,” John pleads. “I am so sorry. I didn’t think you’d stay in there. I really didn’t.”

His fingers twitch, as he starts to feel life back in them again, his heart suppressing the vision of red hair caked with blood and unseeing green eyes. John is not the most tactile of people, but despite being quite tall among the Tracy family, his shoulders slump and he seems so small.

John is still his younger brother, though, and he’s upset, and they both could use the hug Virgil had been wanting. He covers the rest of the distance to John and envelops him in his arms.

“Damn you,” he whispers into red hair, and yet he never wants to let him go.

***

Scott is livid. Gordon is absent. John is remorseful. Alan is unaware, lucky kid.

Virgil feels sick. He taps on his watch and calls for Gordon. “Where are you?”

Through the communicator, the aquanaut responds that he’s on the beach by the dock and invites him to join if he wants. Virgil wants. He needs to get out of the villa. Maybe get some fresh air as the sun ducks beyond the horizon.

After a few moments gathering himself, he begins the trek down. In his left hand he carries a guitar, in his right he holds his shoes, as he steps carefully over the granules of sand towards his brother.

Gordon is already strumming on the ukulele when he approaches.

“Did you know?”

“I had an idea,” Gordon admits. “I didn’t agree with it.”

Virgil hums, plopping down next to him on the large beach blanket he’s laid out along the sand. Virgil likes the guitar, and it’s a lot more portable than a baby grand piano. But also, there’s just something powerful about a beach bonfire with the sound of plucked strings.

It's easy for Virgil to fall into chords that complement Gordon’s melodies, and they aren’t playing anything in particular, but it’s seamless when Gordon passes the harmony to Virgil. The ukulele transitions to the accompanying chords, and Virgil smiles thankfully, nodding as he picks up one of many underdeveloped melodies in his head. Virgil fingers fly along the frets, and it's apparent in his loosening posture when he starts releasing the tension in his shoulders.

Gordon places his uke in his lap after some time and leans back into blanket, content to listen to his brother’s playing.

The gentle notes drift with the tossing of wind currents, until suddenly Virgil rounds out a melody with a sigh.

“I think we need to talk.”

Gordon nods and offers to call John and Scott if Virgil will start working on the bonfire.

John was keen for the invite, knowing he would need to be called on before his apology for the error would be accepted, but Scott had taken some talking to. After he left, he’d gone for a run along the bluffs and had settled a bit away. He finally agreed to come join with Gordon’s persuasion, but he would be a while yet.

Virgil has the fire roaring and Gordon has stepped away to talk to Scott by the time John arrives, picnic basket and roasting skewers in hand. Virgil turns from stroking the fire and accepts the picnic basket, peeking inside.

Marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers. Hell yeah.

When Scott approaches, Virgil is playing a tune on the guitar, and Gordon and John both have their skewers extended over the flame, marshmallows browning in the heat.

He is disgusted by the angry shriek of the alarms that sound in his ears at the sight of John, but he swallows down the memory, as he joins his brothers around the fire.

They are not sure what to say to each other, the smoke rising between them and drifting into the night sky, but Virgil’s music is soothing against the tense air, and it’s obvious who is still struggling to the most to meet each other’s gaze.

Gordon shrugs and picks up his ukulele to join Virgil’s song.

A lightly browned marshmallow enters Scott’s field of vision, and he follows it to meet his brother’s apologetic eyes.

“Thanks.” Scott nods, taking the treat. He’s not one for sweets as much as his siblings are, and he can’t remember the last time he had an actual all out s’more. But John knows that, knows Scott’s preference, and has quelled his instinct to stick his skewer in the fire itself to burn it black the way he likes it.

He's furious with him, but he still feels warm at the thought.

“Okay, let’s talk.”

John starts. He explains about the simulations, the number of missions he’s designed to try to get them to focus on the nuances of the people they were to be saving (even many of these are new even to Gordon), and how he was so desperate to get them to feel something. How after days of trying, and days of running worse and worse scenarios in his head, he felt he needed to do something drastic to create a no-win scenario that would challenge them beyond how they had before.

“I’m so sorry, Scott. Virgil,” John finishes. “I knew it would be rough, I just didn’t think you’d be in there that long, repeating it on a loop like that. It must have been torture.”

“It was,” Virgil admits.

“We needed to save you, idiot,” Scott says at the same time.

John is quiet, nodding. “Too real?”

It’s Scott who says yes. “Okay, so how were you involved?”

Gordon frowns at him. “I wasn’t.”

“He knew what I was trying to do. But didn’t agree with it. He didn’t know exactly what I programmed.”

“Be glad,” Virgil tells him. It’s awkward, after hearing John’s explanation, describing to John and Gordon exactly how the program had made them feel, the desperation, the awful loop of the same terrible result over and over.

“Well thanks for the nightmare fuel, I guess,” Gordon says. His brown eyes are dark, thankful that the secret of his accident is still safe, but so torn at how seriously John had taken his words to make something up. “Wait, is that something that could happen?”

“Anything can happen. That’s been the whole point.”

“Well, not if we have a say in it,” Scott proclaims. “We are Tracys. Never give up, remember?”

“But John’s right too. The reality is we can’t save everyone,” Virgil adds with a nod in John’s direction. He doesn’t agree with the methods and will have nightmares for days, but he understands how this whole mess started.

Gordon strokes the fire, adding, “Not going to stop us from trying, though. Hand me another marshmallow, Virgil, please.” Virgil does so, and Gordon squishes it slightly, before promptly tossing it in John’s surprised face. “Don’t be stupid next time.”

The marshmallow hits the center of John’s forehead, leaving a trail of sticky sugar there before it drops silently to the sand. Virgil smiles down at the guitar, suppressing his giggle with a series of notes, while Scott’s laughter is carried into the sky with the rising smoke, and John himself snorts at his own predicament.

Gordon wipes his hands on his shorts to clean off the remains of the marshmallow on his fingertips, before he picks up his instrument as well and joins Virgil in his song, just as he will for years to come, as they both will, and just as the four of them – and eventually five – will come to know each other’s steps as naturally as they know their own.

#Gavii Scribit #scenes from gordon's bedside #chapter 10 music makers #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #thunderbirds fanfiction #Thunderbirds are go

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