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parvulous-writings · 3 years

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Not so Wyld morning // Bill S Preston + Ted Logan x M!Reader

Request: can you write a fluff oneshot with bill (s preston) x ted logan x m! reader with like. a sleepy morning between the three?

Requested by: @mlmpunisher

Summary: Starts off as the request, and then goes off on a trip to the Circle K. I may or may not have gotten carried away.

Warnings: a brief joke about kidnapping/death.

Words: 3.5K

Notes: I’ve been waiting for an idea/request for these two. They’re my comfort idiots. My love for them... Let’s just say I watch the movies a fair amount, eh? My requests are currently open! My pinned post (found here) contains both a list of characters I write for, and a masterlist! Original character list - please request for these too!

Not my gif

You, Bill and Ted were spread rather haphazardly over Bill’s bed. Legs crossed over one another, hands on chests or in faces. You were all tangled together, not that any of you really cared about that at that moment. You had all fallen asleep during a study session- you had been desperately trying to tutor your boyfriends Bill and Ted, so that they didn’t fail their history class and completely flunk out of school- mostly because Ted’s father, Captain Logan, was threatening to send the taller boy away to an Alaskan military school to whip him into shape should he fail the semester. That was now an all too real threat to the three of you, none of you wanted to get pulled apart from one another. You had been trying to quiz them on the philosophies of the great Athenian thinker Socrates (whom both young men insisted on pronouncing So-Crates no matter how many times you corrected them) when you passed out one by one. First Ted- who was up against the headboard, and whose head had slumped forward when you had gotten onto the fifth or sixth question. Then Bill, draped over Ted’s legs, after leaning back to protest about how the quiz was starting to become “A total drag,” around the tenth question. He had promptly passed out whilst you were telling him it was for their own good- you weren’t all that surprised when you were interrupted by a rather loud snore coming from the curly-haired Bill.You hadn’t bothered to try and wake either of them- not only would they both be rather irritable if you woke them up too early, but it was nearly one o’clock in the morning at that point, so you figured that perhaps they were both subconsciously onto something. You had taken the range and array of textbooks off of the bed, creating a little more space for you to somehow work yourself between them and get more comfortable to get some sleep of your own. After some shuffling, and a few murmurs from both Bill and Ted, you had found the perfect position, where you had promptly fallen asleep with them.

You were the first to wake up. Ted had taken your arm in both of his in your sleep, cuddling it as if it were a teddy bear. Bill’s legs had somehow tangled with yours, and he had ended up nuzzled into the side of your chest, not that you minded all that much. Though Ted was the more affectionate of your boyfriends in public, Bill could be just as affectionate as him in private. You tried not to move at first, not wanting to disturb them- they could both be as bad as each other when it came to being woken up too early (too early was counted as anything before they woke up by themselves). So, for what you had gauged to be about twenty minutes or so, you just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. There were no thoughts of any importance that drifted through your mind at this point, not until you had finally grown restless enough to carefully push yourself up onto one elbow to check the time on Bill’s alarm clock- which he rarely actually used as anything more than just a normal clock. It had just gone half past ten, and you felt your eyes go wide- that was much later than you had anticipated. Thankfully it was a weekend, though briefly your brain had tricked itself into thinking it was mid-week, causing even more of a jolt in your chest. You would have to get up soon to make your way back home; it was bad enough that you had spent the night out without letting your parents know that you’d be out past eleven o’clock. Every moment past nine in the morning that you spent away from them, the angrier they would get with you. With this thought in mind you tried to push yourself up a little bit more, fully prepared to undertake the rather massive task of trying to begrudgingly untangle yourself from the two men you held dear, but you were quickly brought back down again by an unseen hand. Your head landed on Ted’s stomach, and you glanced over to him, seeing him peering back at you through tired eyes and a rather messy head of hair. He gave you a rather dopey smile, and you realised he was the one to pull you back; mostly prompted by the fact that Bill was giving another round of freight-train like snores. Ted’s head fell back again when you didn’t struggle against his protests of getting out of bed, and he gave a yawn before beginning to speak. “Morning, chief.” He mumbled, voice still raspy with the last dregs of sleep his body was trying to cling onto. “I don’t get why you call me that.” You replied in a whisper, trying not to wake Bill. “Surely I should be the one calling you that- given your dad’s job and everything...” “Eh,” Was Ted’s simple reply, accompanied with a rather lazy shrug. It was about a minute before the only other boy awake in the room started to speak again. “I mean, it does kind of suit you, doesn’t it? You keep me and Bill in order...” He prompted, glancing over to you with that same goofy smile, before his gaze moved back to the ceiling. “For the most part, I guess.” You smiled back at him, taking his hand and draping his arm across you, so you could play absently with his fingers. Ted never minded that.

The pair of you fell into a comfortable silence, which was disturbed only briefly, and rather inconsistently, by Bill’s snores. You weren’t sure how long you laid there for this time, but the rather delightful monotonous repetition was ultimately interrupted by a quiet groan of protest from the blonde haired boy at the end of the bed. He rolled onto his front, trying to cover his eyes- he had fallen asleep rather inconveniently where the light peaked through the blinds in the early morning. “Someone close the blinds,” He complained, trying to turn away from them but ultimately failing. “Bill...” You chuckled lightly, nudging him to get his attention. “They are closed. The light is coming through the gap.” Your words were only met with a groan from Bill, and a stifled laugh from Ted. “You should get it fixed, dude.” The taller boy jested, nudging the boy again, and Bill responded with a half-hearted swipe at Ted’s foot. “Shut up, Ted.” Of course, he didn’t mean this in an inherently horrid way, despite his gruff tone. He loved both you and Ted deeply, more than he could love anything else- or at least that was what he thought. Ted thought very much the same thing- though that was no surprise. More often than not, it was like the two shared the exact same brain. If they were not thinking of the exact same plan down to the detail when it came to schemes, they were at the very least agreed on the end result. Most of the time this wasn’t too much of a problem for you- usually you were at the butt end of whatever shenanigan they were plotting- but there were times when you did get a little bit overwhelmed by the pair of them. More often than not, the times where you got overwhelmed involved a very particular phone-booth, with some rather unique properties. Unless you were in it’s presence you tried not to think about it- the amount of times you had been put through mind-bending situations already made your head spin to even consider again. They’d predict something, it would happen immediately after said prediction, then they would turn to one another and proclaim a quick “Excellent!” before reminding one another that they would need to remember that later. You were still a little bit confused by it- especially when they sprung something random on you-but you thought you were slowly starting to understand, even though the concept of time travel didn’t seem quite real.

You broke your train of thought upon feeling a sudden weight on your chest. Though you wanted to crane your neck to see who it was, you didn’t really need to, you knew it was Bill. You did it anyway- your eyes being met with the golden curls of Bill’s hair. “Bill, love, I’m going to have to get up soon.” You warned him, as your movement would definitely affect him more than Ted. “No.” He replied simply. From his tone, you could tell he didn’t overly want to debate it. “But I stayed over without letting my parents-” “You’re fine, you’re safe, what do they have to complain about?” He grumbled, shuffling so that his chin was on your stomach, his arms wrapped around your middle. His deep green eyes met yours, before flitting briefly to Ted, giving you both a smile. “C’mon, dude. It won’t hurt to have a little longer with us, right?” He asked, and you moved your hand to quickly brush a stray curl from his brow. “Maybe he should go soon- like, just to check in.” Ted piped up, ever in your corner. “Cause you know what happens if he gets in trouble. He won’t get to see us for like... A week. That is most heinous, and you know it.” At this rather right line of reasoning, Bill groaned, burying his face into the fabric of your shirt. “Shut up, Ted.” This was quite muffled, and of course still not completely serious. You laughed softly, “Okay- what about this? One hour. Like this.Then, we can ask Missy to drive us back to my place, and I can let my parents know I’m fine, and you two haven’t like... Murdered me, or something.” You joked, and you can feel Ted nod enthusiastically underneath you. “Yeah, that’s a good idea!” He agreed, and you could hear the smile that was in no doubt plastered onto his face. “Then we can all head down to the Circle K afterwards, right?” “Sure we can, Ted.” You agreed, reaching up behind you to clumsily pat his cheek. “Only if he isn’t in trouble, remember?” Bill pitched in, shuffling to get comfortable again. “What about half an hour? If we want to head to Circle K, obviously.” You all consider this new plan for a moment, before each of you gave a curt nod, in unison.

So there you all stayed- you nearly even fell asleep again before you felt Bill roll off of you. He then took your arm and helped you up, and Ted quickly rolled off of the bed to grab his sneakers. Bill chucked yours at you, before going to get his shoes as well. Ted was the first downstairs- “Hey, Missy?” He called out, and he was quickly met with the young woman’s reply. “Yeah? What’s up, Ted?” She asked, giving a warm smile. “We were hoping that you could drive us to (Y/N)’s house?” He asked, briefly wringing his hands, as he eagerly awaited her response. “Sure thing!” She nodded cheerily, “Let me just finish making these drinks, and I’ll be right with you. You guys go out to the car.” She nodded over to the door leading to the garage. As you and Bill started down the stairs, Ted eagerly gestured for you both to follow him. It didn’t take Missy very long to finish making the drinks she was preparing, and you all piled into the car. “So- did you all sleep well?” The blonde woman asked, glancing back at you and Bill in the back of the car- Ted had a fascination with sitting in the front seat. Ted and Bill nodded individually; you were the one to verbally reply. “Yeah, I think we all got a fairly good night sleep.” You give an almost awkward smile. Though, at one point, both of your boyfriends had had some form of crush on her- despite her being quite a few years older than all of you- you hadn’t entirely understood why. You never really mentioned it though. “Good to hear,” She replied, still wearing that joyful smile. “Hey, Bill- you might need to use the spare key today, the one behind the plant, if you’re staying out late with the boys.” She took a turning as she spoke, keeping her eyes on the road. “Me and your dad are going out for dinner tonight.” “Okay, Missy- I mean, mom.” Bill replied, quickly correcting himself on his mistake. “Just stop on the corner here,” He told her, gesturing to the side of the road a five minute walk from your house. “Are you sure?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder as she spoke. “I can take you all the way, if you-” “No, it’s alright, thanks, Missy.” You interrupt quickly, leaning forward. “Here is fine.” She shrugged, but begrudgingly pulled over.

“Thanks, Missy!” Ted called after the now fleeting car, giving a wave as well, before jogging to catch up with you and Bill, who had already started to cross the road to get to your street. “I’ll quickly grab some money whilst we’re there,” You told the pair of them, and they nodded. “I was thinking we could get some slushies.” Ted suggested, giving a wide smile. “Blue and red?” Bill added, giving a smile of his own, and Ted nodded energetically. “Our tongues’ll end up as purple, you two know that, right?” You teased with a grin, glancing over your shoulder as Bill laughed heartily. It took Ted a moment longer to get the joke, but he started laughing even harder than Bill when it clicked with him. “Oh well,” Bill shrugged, a rather mischievous smile. You fell into silence again as you jogged up your driveway, almost wrenching open the door and calling out a hasty “Hey!” to announce your presence to the household and those within it. You quickly made your way to your room, as Bill and Ted quietly entered your home after you, choosing to stay in the hallway- even though they had visited and stayed over at your house many times before. They were both silently hoping that they were making their will to leave relatively soon clear. Your father came into the living room, glancing to the two boys standing awkwardly in the hallway. “Bill, Ted.” He greeted, calmly. Bill mouthed a silent ‘Hi’, whilst Ted just waved. Neither of them wanted to anger your parents- Ted, because he knew how authority figures could be, he’d had experience with his own father, and Bill just didn’t want you to be punished and kept away from them. You came back through as quickly as you could, palming some of your loose change in your hand, making sure you would have enough for a slushie for yourself, and for your boyfriends if they hadn’t brought any money with them- which was more than likely. “Going out again?” Your father asked you, wanting to make some sort of conversation. You nodded, glancing to him and giving a smile. “Yeah, heading out to Circle K with Bill and Ted.” You told him. He was a lot more relaxed with the rules than your mother- whom you currently assumed to be out for lunch with one of her friends. “Did your study session go well, then?” “Yeah- we went over Socrates again. We all passed out- that’s why I didn’t come home or call last night.” Your father laughed gently, he understood. “I figured as much. Your mother was saying that you could have been kidnapped- but I kept saying you’re a smart kid, you’d know what to do if that were a risk. Plus, I don’t think there’s anyone in San Dimas who would want to kidnap you.” “Even if they did want to steal him away, we’d take whoever it is on,” Bill stated, confidently- nudging Ted. “Yeah, we would!” The taller boy confirmed with a nod. You giggled and shook your head at the pair. Even your father chuckled gently at them. “Good to know my son is in safe hands.” Though your father was aware that these two weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed of San Dimas, he wasn’t about to take away some of your only company. Your mother had brought it up to him before, but he usually elected to ignore the comments. “Anyway- get going, before your mother gets back. If she sees you going off with these to again without checking in properly she’ll have a fit.” He gestured to the door, “Just be back by eleven tonight, alright?” “We’ll have him back by then!” Ted told him, opening the door and striding out, followed closely by Bill, and then you. Your father gave a wave, before heading back into your family home.

There were few words on the journey to the local orange ringed store, you only started to speak again when you had each purchased your chosen flavour of slushie. Bill with strawberry, Ted with blue raspberry, and you with another blue raspberry. You all took a seat on the curb, and you decided to fill the silence with one of the first thoughts that came to your head mid-sip. “So, are you two ready for the end-of-semester presentation Mr Ryan is going to assign?” You asked, and both of your boyfriends looked rather shocked. “What? He’s done it with every other year-group, and we’re not exactly different, specification wise....” You pointed out, and Ted groaned. “I suck at presentations.” He complained, “Plus neither of us can remember anything that Mr Ryan has taught us!” He exclaimed, gesturing rather wildly with his slushie. “I mean, even with your help, dude, I don’t think we’re going to do all that well.” You were about to speak, but Bill was the one to step in first. “We gotta try, man,” He placed an affectionate hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “If we don’t, it’s even more likely that you’re going to be sent off to that heinous school in Alaska.” Ted considered this, then nodded. Bill was right. “I’ll do everything I can to help my boys remember all they can,” You told them, a fond smile on your face which they quickly returned. They loved being referred to as your boys, they couldn’t even deny it- you could see it in their eyes. Bill leant over and pressed a very brief kiss to your cheek- though not before checking the parking lot was clear, empty of onlookers- and Ted reached across Bill’s legs to grab your hand, squeezing your palm to show some affection; you were too far away for a kiss from him, and he didn’t overly want to get up whilst his slushie was still rather full. He took a sip from the plastic straw in his beverage, before clearing his throat. “So..” He began, starting to grin wider than usual. “Who wants to make purple?” He nudged Bill, who then quickly looked to you, wearing the same grin as your other boyfriend. You started to laugh- of course this had been something that neither of them had forgotten.

Without another word exchanged between you, you leant to close the gap between you and Bill, letting lips and tongue tangle in a passionate display of affection. Ted stared on adoringly, not overly minding that Bill was the first to get your attention and affection- though now he had finished off the majority of his drink he scuttled round to your other side, carefully taking your jaw in his hand when you eventually pulled away from Bill to catch your breath. Your break didn’t last for too long, since Ted pulled you gently so your already kiss swollen lips met his equally soft ones. Bill couldn’t help the warm and love-filled smile that spread over his face, before he just had to press a kiss to your cheek, and then reach over to Ted’s cheek to make sure he wasn’t left out. You all separated after a minute or so, and you wiped your lip carefully, wearing the same wide and almost goofy smile as the other two. Your lips, and tongue, as predicted, had turned a rather strange shade of purple. “I think we should get another snack,” Ted suggested, “Cause I’m hungry, and then we can get the colour off of our tongues,” He grinned, and Bill considered the preposition. “I guess some food wouldn’t hurt...” He agreed, “Marshmallows?” He suggested, which was replied to with a nod from both you and Ted. “I’ll get them then,” Bill smiled at you both, searching his pocket for some spare change as he got to his feet; marshmallows were a fair bit cheaper than slushies, and he could afford them with what he had to hand. Whilst he went back into the Circle K, you shuffled closer to Ted, smiling lightly as he drew you closer with an arm around your shoulder. That morning had certainly been most excellent, as most of the time with your boyfriends always was- it was something that you always looked forward to; spending time with them, making memories that would forever make you smile.

#bill and ted #bill and ted's excellent adventure #bill and ted's bogus journey #bill s preston esquire #bill s preston #ted logan #ted theodore logan #alex winter #young keanu #80s/90s keanu #keanu reeves #ted logan x reader #bill preston #bill s preston x reader #bill and ted x reader

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yanderenightmare · 3 years

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yandere bully ! BAKUGO KATSUKI

goodiebag WARNINGS: yandere, heavy dubcon, bordering on noncon, profanity, manipulation

TIP-JAR

PART ONE

SEVEN MINUTES IN HELL - PART TWO

TRUST ME

It's safe to say that Bakugo had gotten used to a certain lifestyle.

Being top three in all years in the Hero-course, girls fawning, falling at his feet left and right, drooling, begging him to fuck them.

Or… begging him to take them out on a date.

But let’s be honest… no girls want to date him, they just want to ride his dick once a week. They just want to know what it feels like to be taken by a real man before halting, limping back to their clueless vanilla-boyfriends, all made up of soft smiles and warm hugs and nothing like Bakugo and how he spanks their girlfriend’s ass until blood leaks from popped veins and his name comes falling from their lips like tearful prayer.

Nowadays though, he’d had to kick more girls to the curb than he could count on both his hands without as much as getting his dick wet from the girl he’d picked for himself, the star that was once so bright and shining like a wild sunflower before he forced himself into her life.

She seemed to have wilted, as she wouldn’t even spare him a second glance until he forced it from her.

Or… that was unfair. She was perfect, doing everything he asked, but… it wasn’t really willingly, now was it?

All he needed was ask, but he knew she didn’t try to make him happy because she wanted to, she didn’t try and make him laugh because she wanted to, it didn’t come naturally as it did with others, she did it because she was scared shitless of what he would do if she didn’t.

It made him so unbelievable angry to see her laugh with others. Wrathful, vengeful even, when she buckled over and nearly fell, rolling on the floor in the pit of her humor, crying with how painfully she was wheezing. So furious because he couldn’t even blame her. He couldn’t blame her for preferring other people over him, other smiling laughing idiotic people, pleasant people as opposed to him and his aura of grumpiness.

Some insouciantly greedy, almost evil, part of him whispered to him those times he saw her smile that genuine angel-bright smile, never with him, that perhaps if he simply took her, took her away, tucked her away more so than what he had already, that perhaps she’d have no choice but to share that light with his darkness, because supernova’s like her need things to shine for, they crave lighting people up, they’re just so fucking eager to please, and if he were the only one around to absorb all which she had to give, then she’d have no choice but to share.

It shouldn’t have been legal for him to demand more of her.

She did everything he asked.

She worked out with him, pushing herself to limits and extents she didn’t even know existed, almost until she barfed, almost until she collapsed, then praising his teaching-methods instead of admitting it was too much.

She watches his movies, where she would contort the scary imagery of whatever horror or action movie Bakugo would put on the screen into the finest goriest comedy, cough up her lungs at the guts and brains leaking from sliced abdomens or cracked skulls, burry her face in his shoulder as she cried out laughter, instead of jumping into his arms like the scared little lamb she was supposed to be, begging him to turn it off and giving him an opportunity to slide his hand up her shirt.

She studied with him, again gushing about what an amazing tutor he is instead of being honest by letting him know what an absolutely aggressive jerk he is, saying words she’d regret and have to find a way of apologising for, making it up to him in so many ways Bakugo lusted for, fantasised about when he laid next to her at night.

She joined him with his friends, let him sleep in her bed, she even ate what and when he told her eat, dressed how he wanted her to dress, changed if he didn’t approve, cheered like his own personal perfect cheerleader at his battles, being probably the loudest person in the bleachers, making all the boys jealous of him, doing everything and more, and still, still it just wasn’t what he wanted, wasn’t what he needed.

And no, what he needed wasn’t her pussy served on a platter.

What he needed was leverage. He needed reassurance, he needed her trapped, locked down, glued to him. He needed to know, to believe, to trust that he had her not just for now, but for as long as he wanted, forever.

And having her in the most primal shameless way, showing her what he could give her, show her that he isn’t just a god on the battlefield but has those same godlike skills when it comes to making her see stars was how he intended to make her need him.

Granted, he’s never actually made love like how she’d probably want to, but he’s fucked plenty of sluts to have confidence in saying that he knows the female body like the back of his hand.

If he could just feel her melt beneath him, just make her unravel, wrap her around his pinky, just once and he would know, she wasn’t leaving him anytime soon, she wasn’t ever going to leave him, not unless she wanted her pretty pictures leaked.

Not that he would ever let anyone see her like that, that was just for him, but he doubted she would think too much of what he was willing to do or not. That’s the beauty of threats, they don’t need to be true for the outcome to be fruitful.

Though, he really wished it didn’t come to that.

No, once she gets a taste of what it feels like to be taken care of the way he would take care of her, when she wakes up from what fever-dream he’s given her with a mouthful of honey and the newfound realisation that with him is where she belongs, where she’s always belonged, where she’ll always belong.

Or...

Perhaps it was about the sex.

He had been good, loyal, patient, understanding, boyfriendly.

She wasn’t the only one making sacrifices.

It’s unfair of him to hold that against her, and he knows that… most of the time… but no one can blame him for forgetting it when he sees her sitting next to him in that short school-skirt, so in-reach, so grabbable, with his bed taunting them from right behind his back, how easy it would be to just pick her up and throw her down on it, watch her bounce while looking up at him in a giggling fit.

He can’t be expected to focus on doing algebra with that in his mind, he can’t be expected to tutor her when she looks at him with that apologetically hopeless clueless expression, laughing that nervous laugh that every time warns him about how completely lost she is to what he’s talking about.

Granted, it was him who told her he would be tutoring her, because god and every teacher along with him knew she needed it, what with how she daydreams or pranks each and every class away like the ditzy klutz she is.

“I… I- I don’t know?” Was her answer to yet another equation he’d poured out from between his grit teeth.

Plan A revolved around her wanting to repay the favor, give him a little present for helping her out. Tit for tat, eye for an eye, sort of thing. And usually she would, give him a little something in return, a chaste kiss to his cheek, a frisky make-out session that always ended just a bit too early, never fully what he wanted.

Plan B was to tire her out, creating an opening for him to suggest that they do something that requires less thinking. She usually gets distracted, sometimes she’ll even initiate it in hopes he’d let her off the hook with studying, she’d pout her lips, look at him with those large pretty puppy-dog eyes, coax him into cuddling, but she’d always fall asleep just a minute later.

Plan C was a spin off plan B. Where in hopes of making her the bad guy, he would be sweet, he has been sweet, offering his help to tutor her, she would grow tired like she always does, only this time he wouldn't allow her to rest, therefor causing her to snap, resulting in her saying something she’d regret, again resulting in her apologising, something he could mold into her owing him a favour, something that would end up with having her splayed out on the sheets of his bed, ready for the taking.

He just needed an opportunity to hold something against her, an excuse, a favor to cash in, he needed her backed up into a corner.

Plan C wasn’t working though, unfortunately.

She never grew fed up with him, she never said anything foul.

He was stupid to think that an opportunity like that would arise. She isn't like him after all. In fact, she’s the farthest thing from him.

Well, time for plan D then. Another spin off plan B.

Don’t hold it against him, but he’d been spouting bullshit for the last three minutes in hopes of making her frustrate over herself, where the former plan had evolved into something a bit more crucial.

But, she’s insanely tolerant, reminding him of Kirishima’s sturdy quirk, though he had to admit finding her unfaltering confidence and dedication way more mind-blowingly impressive.

He had been chipping at that composure of hers for the last two hours without breaching the surface.

But there was still hope.

Everyone has a breaking point after all, and he could sense she was getting fed up. Fed up with his tone, fed up of him treating her like a moron, fed up with him.

It would only take one last blow now and she’d break.

Or so he thought.

He had impressive amounts of patience, but he was also nearing his breaking point and finally after one more of her soft-natured laughs, he was the one that had enough, he didn’t want to wait any longer.

And plan E was looking way more opportune by the minute.

“You think it’s funny that you’re an idiot?”

Her eyes widened and turned instantly glossy at his harsh words, looking like a kicked-puppy, before it contorted into an expression of something akin to anger but not truly as vicious.

Yet, obviously taking offence, huffing as she got up to leave, proving how she too was done with playing their little fantasy, uncaring, or rather forgetting, that she wouldn’t be going anywhere without his permission.

“I think so too, I think it’s fucking hilarious.” He mocked, hand gripping her shirt and pulling her back between him and the desk.

Already she was pushing at him, as he leaned in closer gripping her hips and gliding her onto his desk, wanting to feel her thighs and legs cradle around his torso.

“But, you know what I find even funnier?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but she was given no room to let her protest out as he raised his voice in warning.

“What I bet you laugh your ass off at behind my back?!”

Her annoyance turned ashen, faltering into that meek fearful look he didn’t realise until know that he’d missed.

“Is how much of an idiot I am.”

Her brows scrunched, hands placed on the thick stiff muscles of his arms as she felt him start to rub circles into her midriff where his fingers where digging into her soft flesh through her shirt.

“I’ve been so fucking patient.” It was barely above a whisper, almost sounding broken, like a cry or a plead or an apology, but then his face split into a snarl as he leered at her, teeth flashed at her face making her jump slightly where she sat planted on the desk. “So fucking patient with you that it’s ridiculous.”

His nose touched hers where she slightly bowed her head. His eyes were blood-shot, or perhaps it was just how they always looked. She wouldn’t know as she made it her unrelenting mission to never look directly at him.

But now she couldn’t escape his stare, the stare she’d feared so much, pushed tight up against her, so tight she smelled his breath when she inhaled, so tight she felt the thin hairs on her upper lip dance as he huffed out his own growling breaths.

“And no, I’m not talking about math.”

Her hands had moved to his chest as he hunched further and further over her, pressuring her to lie down on the desk.

“Please, Baku-” She tried, adding slightly more pressure to her hold on him, but honestly... no amount of her strength would be able to fend him off, especially with the mood he was in.

“No!” He cut her off with a growl, finally forcing her down on her back underneath him, as he palmed the doughy flesh of where her hips connected to her ass, greedy and so very hungry, still keeping a firm hold on her with a thumb hooked on her hip, keeping her in place. “No more please, and I told you it’s fucking Katsuki.”

She flinched as he spit the correction in her face, feeling something bulging slot and rub itself up against where her skirt had hiked up and exposed her thin panties.

“No more pleas, no more excuses, no more teasing, no more jokes.”

He spotted a tear dripping down her cheek, escaping with how hard she was squeezing her eyes shut to avoid his gaze.

She whimpered before she spoke. “I- I’ve do- done every- everything you- you asked.” She blubbered, her hands removed from their insignificant standoff with his chest and shot up to cover her face as she began crying, wiping at them as they fell, pathetic and broken and so pretty his balls hurt with how much he wanted to bury himself inside her no doubt tight cunt.

Desperate now, he bumped his erection into her heat. Trying to steal her focus away from the action by gripping her chin between his rough finger-pads, his lips brushing up her jawline, inhaling her perfume, the scent making another pleasurable shiver spring to his cock, again humping into her.

“So, what’s one more thing?”

Her heart would have sunk by his words if it weren’t for the building intensity that spiked it to beat faster, hammering in her chest as she felt what she now had no doubt was him pushing into the scared place found between her thighs.

She could feel her panic bubble up where she was pushed against the cold wooden desk, with her boyfriend’s unwanted heat radiated and seeping through her clothes to tickle her skin.

She didn’t want this. She wasn’t sure if she ever would want this.

Bakugo had told her so many times that this was something she needed, everyone needed, but as her heart kept pumping so profusely in her chest, as though it were some blaring alarm, she wasn’t at all sure if she liked the way the stubble on his shaved chin scratched as it rode up her neck when he planted soft open-mouthed wet kisses there, she wasn’t sure if she at all wanted his large calloused wandering hands to stroke and tamper with her soft skin as he pulled her shirt out of her skirt to touch and feel up her stomach and squeeze the soft flesh of her tits, and the more and more his threatening clothed cock continued in rubbing desperately against her own teased sex she fell short of understanding just what it was she didn’t want, if it was the intimacy or just him.

Her panic built like bile in her throat, wanting to burst, which it did.

“I’m not ready- I don’t- can’t we just…”

He captured her chin between his thumb and index finger, lips coming to shut her up, cut off whatever protesting excuses she was about to splutter out.

She tried getting her words out, trying ever so timidly to shake from the kiss, yet however which way she tried turning her head, Bakugo simply followed to deepen it, turning more bruisingly passionate by the second.

Her hands were kept unsurely in their delicate touching on his chest, again in her fear of souring the mood she only barely pushed at him to get off, whereas his hands grasped and groped up her thighs, feeling her soft flesh up like dough, squeezing and kneading and just touching her, all of her, despite her small hums of discomforted surprise.

Large encompassing hands took a break from their pioneering and easily pried her smaller ones off his chest, interlocking his fingers with hers and pushing them down to her sides where they wouldn’t get in the way.

The kiss then turned rough, hungry as he yet again rocked himself into her, a rugged groan escaping from deep within his throat as her struggles met him with her own type of delicious friction, kissing his sensitive bulge with little caution.

He was so sensitive from having to have held back his primal urges for so long, especially after being teased daily by the soft grabbable little mouse he slept next to throughout every night without being allowed to do more than simply hold her, being teased with her ass slotted against his crotch as they spooned.

If she wasn’t careful with her movement he might just become a pathetic mess and cum in his pants with how pent up he was.

His other hand made to slip under her skirt to feel up the lace of her panties, wanting nothing more but to slip his finger inside her no doubt tight little hole and work her up until she’d be dripping drenching his hand with wetness, wanting to hear those panicked whimpers turn into ones of pleasure instead, but she was making it impossible with all her troublesome wiggling.

His fingers forgot their quest between her thighs in favor of picking her up and moving her to the bed instead.

She tried pushing, but it was so weak that he could pretend to not feel it.

He wouldn’t be stopping unless she flat out screamed at him, and even then, she’d have to be brutally clear or else he’d take it for screams of pleasure.

He made sure the fall was soft, placing her down on her butt first before his hand cusped the back of her head as he pushed her down onto her back with him hovering on top, deep kisses aiding his quest in pressing her and keeping her beneath him.

She jostled under the entrapment of his weight when his digits stroked up over her panties, rubbing and dipping into the warm tender skin found beneath.

Her hands pushed at him then, only a little, though it should have been enough to get her message across, but as she realized it wouldn’t she turned her head to the side, freeing her lips from his attacking ones and allowing her to speak her protest, or… more whine than speak.

“Katsuki…”

He shushed at her from where he was nuzzling in her neck, seeming almost lovesick like a frenzied pup as he began to lightly hump into the mattress, his teeth nibbling at the thin skin of her throat.

“Don’t worry… I’ll make you feel good.” It was a drawled-out mumble, but it told her of how he had no intention of stopping.

“But-” She tried, but was quickly made to shut up as her chin was once again captured and dragged to make her look up at him, his lips again pressing into her, seizing all words.

Soon his antagonizing finger hooked under her underwear, rough-textured fingertips quickly making their way to rub over the sensitive lips found at their disposal.

Her struggles grew then, her chest jutting forward to try and lift him off her, to allow her to speak, but it was as though he was glued to her, his fingers nearly marking their presence into her cheeks as his wet mouth and even wetter tongue continued exploring the insides of her mouth.

She whimpered at the feel of his fingers pushing through her folds, gliding up and down the slit. Jolting once too violently, Katsuki laid all his weight down onto her, trapping her there completely, quenching the harshness of her struggles and subduing them to what felt like she was trying to meet his desperate humping.

“Trust me.”

He should have whispered it, he should have tried making it sound less aggressive as he cuddled with the lips of her pussy, sticking one finger inside her warmth, followed by her squealing in surprise against his lips.

Her fingernails marked their presence into his skin as she held onto his arm, still not allowed to protest, still only barely allowed to breath.

He couldn’t help but growl at the feel of how tight she was, or… at the feel of how unprepared she was.

She whimpered as it was no doubt uncomfortable being skewered onto his thick finger without being at all wet, but he was determined to make that change.

His thumb pushed into her clit, starting to rub slow carful circles into the hooded and hidden pearl, wanting it to pucker out to meet him. And soon, at the hands of his experienced fingers, and perhaps encouraged by her virginal thrill of having something touch her for the first time, his wishes were met.

The finger buried inside her began squishing in wetness, allowing him to add another one at the expense of her gasping against him, her hands relenting slightly in their need to push him off, a soft uncertain hum simmering against his lips, making him smirk, gloat and bloom with cocky bliss.

Working her tightness with his digits, coating them in slick, he began curling them, feeling the waves of her tensing and melting beneath him. Parting them, scissoring them inside of her plushie walls, his thumb rubbing tight patterns into her bead.

Encouraged by her struggles subsiding he began pumping the digits in and out, feeling her wetness coat his hand. The actions finally earning him a moan, a sweet trembling breathy moan, one that got right to his head as his grin widened against her lips.

“You see?” He asked, lips still barely detaching from her, breathing the words into her. “You were just scared…”

Their eyes locked and he was happy to see her orbs large and glossy yet cotton-flavored and blissful as she looked up at him.

“You don’t need to be scared with me, just let me do this for you, trust me…”

He kissed her softly now, no brutality or forcefulness, but lightly and sweetly and tenderly, so much so she almost forgot it was Bakugo.

“I’ll make you feel good.”

But it was Bakugo.

It was Bakugo.

Bakugo who’d forced her into a relationship.

Bakugo: her self-proclaimed boyfriend, her self-proclaimed roommate, her tutor, her guard-dog, her warden.

Bakugo, who was now persuading her into giving him her virginity.

She was about to answer, but as though he precepted her growing trepidation he met it all with a sharp hooking of his fingers, making her arch her back up into him, her knees trembling where they were pushed up over his thigh next to his hips.

“Just relax…”

An open-mouthed uncontrolled moan escaped her then. “Katsuki~”

She felt her hips buck back into his hand, letting him know that he had her completely wrapped around his finger, just as figuratively as it was literal.

“That’s right…” He spoke softly, maintaining the aura of safety, wanting to keep her exactly like that, all soft and sweet and vulnerable for him. “You just focus on me, babe.”

He placed a tender kiss to her jaw, contrasted with how he now rubbed vigorously onto her swollen bud, feeling her tremble, quake at his hands.

He knew he had her right where he wanted her, chasing that high he was giving her, her legs instinctively wrapping themselves around his torso, reminding him of his own arousal, but he couldn’t pay himself any mind.

Right now all he needed to worry about was sealing the deal.

An excited jumpy hitched breath left her lips, precious as it was sweet, chest rising above the bed and pressing against his own in such a soft expression of gratitude, just as her legs squeezed tightly around his waist, keeping him close, pussy clenching around his fingers so tight he could only dream of what it would feel like wrapped around his cock, as her eyelids started to flutter, squishing to a close, but not before he saw her eyes cross, reaching towards the light, a light he ignited for her.

She was left a panting mess, her walls fluttering around his digits, happily sucking on them as she spilled.

But she wasn’t left blissed out for long as she hurriedly scurried back to herself, hands covering her face as she hung her head in embarrassment, feeling that dreadful feeling wash over her, that draining shame feeling like death’s embrace.

“I’m sorry.” She squealed, words muffled beneath the cover of her hands.

His brows scrunched as he perceived her, trying to spot her face from beneath what shield she’d made with her hands.

“I- I made a mess…”

It sounded as though she were about to cry, so ashamed her body began to shake, her thighs pressed together, hiding where she cocooned herself in the bed in front of him.

His hand trailed soft fingers up her forearm to wrap around her wrist, gently prying her hand away from her face.

He sighed, heart clenching at the sight of her glossy shameful eyes.

“You’re so fucking adorable…”

There was a slight chuckle attached to the statement, his lips kissing her temple before they brushed against the shell of her ear.

“Why don’t you make a mess on my tongue next?”

The question left her shell-choked, her lip quivering at the promise of his mouth kissing her down there in the same manor he kissed her lips: brutally, passionately, with teeth.

“M-Mn-No…” She spoke bashfully, still anxious.

Too cute for her own good.

His hand, the one soaked with her essence, ascended to his face, his fingers disappearing into his mouth, lips enclosing around them as he sucked the juices clean off, giving a groan at her taste as well as her shocked but curious expression, smirking once he let his finger go with a kiss.

His hands moved front and centre, beginning to tamper with the buttons to her uniform.

“You’re safe with me.” He repeated, knowing it was something she needed to hear, especially as he began opening button after button, revealing her precious pearly-white bralette, where under was found glory in the shape of soft warm pillows. “Trust me.”

He shoved her shirt off her shoulders, bringing it out of her reach, not allowing her the freedom of covering herself if she were to change her mind and snatch it back from his hands.

She hummed in unease as though to ask if he had to go any further, to which he answered by kissing her forehead, a gesture that made a shiver run up her spine, unsure if it was of pleasure or something more eerie.

His finger running, dancing around to her back, tickling the skin where her bra was held together.

He felt her tense up, but ignored it and continued in his quest, pinching the clasp and taking hold of the straps to pull the annoying thing off, leaving her bare and beautiful.

Taking a second to admire her as her nipples perked at once at the hands of her embarrassment, he held back the urge to pinch, forcing himself to be soft, soft and sweet and safe, something he needed to remind himself of.

Hands moving carefully to hold one of the mounds, a careful squeeze followed by a careful rub of the nipple between his thumb and index finger.

“Lay back down.” His voice was so warm, so warm it left her perplexed, unable to tell that the words shaped a demand as he placed one large hot hand in the space between her breasts, adding slight pressure to ease her back down into the bed, all the while her curious yet terror-wide watery eyes looked up at him, falling prey to his dominant crimson ones.

His head followed hers, lips pressing one soft kiss to her wet ones.

There is something about being bare in front of someone fully dressed. Something so dominating, something so frightening. But, surely the fact that he looked at her as though she were the world made everything safer, surely it evened the scales, surely… she wasn’t completely powerless.

“Let me prove just how much I love you.”

He could feel how terribly fast her heart was beating as he kissed down her neck, over her collar bone, careful to not bite too harshly, giving into simply nibbling or grazing his teeth, fighting the urge to mark her up so prettily.

Mouth moving to suck at the exposed sensitive skin of her tits, forgetting himself as he made to grind the protruding nib between his teeth, being met with a squeal from the girl beneath him, her hands instinctively pushing at his shoulders.

But again, her racing heartbeat and impulsive struggles were subdued, Bakugo making to squeeze her cheeks between his fingers, squishing her plump bloated reddened lips together, whispering upon them as he leaned in close.

“Don’t worry, babe, you know I won’t hurt you.”

She nodded, but still he felt her shiver, heard the tremor in her breathing, the soft sniffles she couldn’t keep at bay, just as pathetic as they were adorable and mouthwatering for him to hear.

Once he reassured himself she wasn’t about to roll out of bed and stagger towards the bathroom, running like a spooked hare, he placed a chaste kiss to the side of her mouth before peppering a dozen more down her neck, over the nipples he’d played with, going further down and lower and lower until he was all the way down to kissing the space found just beneath her bellybutton, his ears shifting to listen to how the bed creaked upon her shuffling, yet those anxious movements where seized when his hefty arms wrapped beneath her thighs, pulling her all snug and personal, lining her up perfectly with his face, all for him to see what gorgeous mess he’d made of her, all glistening and blushed with arousal.

He couldn’t wait any longer to give her a taste, feel her melt on his tongue, hear her moan as he buried his face into her.

He flicked a light kitty-lick over her budding clit, felt her quake in his arms, looking up yet still down at her where he couldn’t quite place what emotion terrorised her face the most, whether it was mostly anxiety, discomfort, shame, embarrassment or pleasure.

It didn’t discourage him though as he made the same movement again, only now twirling his warm textured tongue around the pearl, swirling around it, circling it like a shark, before his entire mouth enclosed it, devoured it, sucked on it, his tongue placed flat on top of it as he dragged it over the sensitivity again and again, sucking fervently, feeling her panic at the intrusive pleasure, yet being held steady in his arms with no way of getting away.

He let up, letting go with a wet pop before running his tongue deeply down the slit, plunging into her weeping hole where it wormed its way inside.

She wiggled as his nose bumped into her ravaged clit, all sensitive with tender swelling.

She was all shaky breaths, no sound too loud, no sound too brazen or wanton.

He needed to change that.

He planned to go slow, but had wanted it to be a surprise, and so, instead of lightly grazing his teeth over the silken bud he gave into biting down on it, gnawing it lightly between the rows of his teeth.

She shrieked, hands pushed with force against his head to get him off as she climbed higher up on the bed, away from him, yet the movement was soon stilled, or rather reversed with the strength of Bakugo’s arms coiled around her thighs, dragging her back to meet his hungry mouth.

“Don’t move.”

Carmine eyes stared up at her from down in between herself, and she felt her knees go weak as they shook at the terrifying growl that accompanied his threat.

“Just… trust me.”

She didn’t.

She didn’t trust him, she feared him, feared his marred and mauled hands, those scars running up over the great juicy muscles of his arms, those deadly arms themselves, capable of both withstanding and giving destruction, proof that he can and has survived far greater than what she could ever hope, proof that she was no match, no equal.

She didn’t trust him, she feared him, feared how his thumb now rubbed over her clit, creating such godsend friction that had her unraveling, melting into his mouth, and that mouth itself, that tongue, those teeth, how they devoured her for everything she was worth.

She didn’t trust him, but she found... falling suited her, and chasing the fires had unknowingly become a feeling she rather cherished than feared, a little less like dying, and more like... coming home.

By the time she came to, reeled back into reality, yet still remaining far away, succumbed by bliss, her eyes were opium-blown as she blinked dumbly, not realizing how Bakugo had placed himself on her side, eyes full of awe as he watched her, leg tangled with legs, heart to heart, hand held lazily on her hip, drawing small patterns up and down her side, watching her flushed face drowse into the pillow until those pretty chaste eyes met his again.

His boxers were sticky.

She’d been too busy, too distracted with the feeling of his lips and tongue and teeth abusing what found between her legs to notice how he’d been humping the mattress while eating her out as though he were starved and crazed and feral with lust. And even though she felt him groan and growl, the reverberations that tremored at the roughness of his gruff timber was enough to make her eyes cross and forget, even forgive them from ever happening.

“How about making a mess on my cock next time?”

His hand stroked her cheek after pulling the covers up to drape her naked body that now had begun to shiver in the crash of coming down. The thoughtful action a stark contrast to his cocky suggestive tone, eyes glinting wickedly at the little lamb he’d lured into and onto his wolf fangs, still tasting her essence on his tongue, watching as those skittish brows erupted into that beautiful panic that somehow resembled hope as she looked at him wide-eyed, smitten with plead and all things soft.

“I’m joking…”

He gave a smile, soft but in a different way, admiring what was his.

“Or, not really… but whenever you want, whenever you’re ready.”

The thumb stroked over her cheek once again, before his lips pressed a long firm kiss to her forehead, hinting for her to nuzzle into his neck, where his smell had become like ritual, something she wasn’t meant to go on without for too long.

She thought she’d made it clear she wasn’t ready for any of this. What makes the next step any different? Still, with the defeatist thought, she did like the defeatist she was, timid hands coming to hold onto Bakugo’s fire-hot skin, slotting herself tight against his body.

She didn’t trust him, but she trusted his love, she trusted his lust, she trusted he would never let her go, and that perhaps those arms of his weren’t too bad. Perhaps if she thought of how safe she was she could more or less forget or rather forgive that they were there to keep her trapped, perhaps if she spent enough time believing she was kept safe by him, then she’d forget all the reason as to why being trapped with him was the farthest thing from safe.

TIP-JAR

PART ONE

2K notes · View notes

hugespace · 3 years

Note

Therapy helps rhett realize that all of those "I'm dead" UFC moves were actually just a way to fulfill his need for physical intimacy at a time in his life where he didn't feel it was acceptable to ask for it, especially from another man. Now that they're both adults and completely different people than they were in college, rhett decides it's time to explain it all to link and let him know that he actually misses that physical contact with him.

It took me a really long while, but I finally finished this one! I really loved that prompt, so thank you so much for giving it to me, lovely Anon. I was initially going to write it as a platonic/romantic friendship kinda story, but it seems I'm determined to write a hundred different first kiss + feelings realisation scenarios, I simply enjoy those way too much.

*** 2,5K ***

Let me hold you

He’s done it again.

Not so long ago, Rhett promised himself not to bring it up in front of cameras or a microphone unless he talks it out with Link, privately.

Especially not as a joke.

And he’s failed already, he scolds himself short after the Ear Biscuits episode is recorded and they’re both out of the room, heading back towards their office.

He thinks he could have just omitted it, shouldn’t have mentioned anything. It simply wasn’t necessary to mull over it again, even with the topic of the episode revolving around their college experience. It wasn’t a big deal, he said it himself, countless times. Every time they talked about it on the show.

So, every time.

There’s never been a conversation in private about that incident or anything that preluded it, never in the absence of people to entertain, never not around at least one recording device. Because why would there be? It wasn’t a big deal. A funny story, s’all.

He’s also never been able to just let things go, though, and thanks to that inability, the lore of wrestling and the “I’m dead” move had to live on. It was an innocent story, a funny albeit embarrassing one – their unofficial brand after all, an easy misunderstanding and a fun little anecdote, not his carefully curated version of what happened, nor a watered-down one, not just a part of the entire story devoid of any feelings associated with it, not a big deal-! And most of all, not… true. Not true.

Rhett isn’t sure if Link has been consciously going along with that wordlessly agreed upon version of what their UFC phase looked like, repressing the truth behind it, or… simply never realised what it meant for Rhett and genuinely thought of it as a humorous yet insignificant part of their friendship in the past.

Most likely the third option, he has to assume. After all, why would Link attach any meaning to it? It’s not like anything actually ever happened, not outside of Rhett’s mind at least. Frankly, he himself went decades without understanding his own motivations, more than once confused by why the memories of wrestling with his friend and laying on top of him felt both shameful and deeply comforting. Why even long after they grew up, stopped being kids, and as a result retired all their UFC moves, the only way he could describe what he felt thinking about that time was longing.

Until therapy happened.

Just like with many different things in his life:

There was something in the darkness, and then therapy shone a light on it.

It was like there were countless situations he navigated solely on instinct, without paying much thought to the reasons behind why he acted a certain way, and once therapy equipped him with the ability to do so, he unearthed an entire deep layer of feelings and emotions that were always there. Just hidden, even from himself.

The wrestling being one of those things.

So, he thinks Link doesn’t know.

And he’s finally determined to change that.

Why now, when he’s had so many chances to talk to Link over the years ever since he started being more in touch with himself? He doesn’t really have an answer; it’s just that after talking about it with such levity again, after repeatedly making a joke out of it, it feels like he might explode if he doesn’t say anything, doesn’t confess to Link what it was really like. And most of all, it feels like the yearning has become stronger lately, and the conversation yet again playing it all off as them being young and silly only ignited it, made the flame inside of Rhett burn brighter, threatening to make his heart combust.

“I need to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind.” Rhett says easily once they’re in the office. It’s not an unsure statement or a nervous plea with words tumbling out of his mouth before he can lose his cool and change his mind. It would have been all that and more a couple of years ago, sure.

But he’s a different man now. He’s not afraid to tell the person who’s been with him for almost the entirety of his life what he feels.

Link, however. He does look unsure, a bit alarmed even, when he looks at Rhett and responds.

“Sure-? What is it? Do you wanna talk now?”

It’s just like him to worry. Run a hundred different scenarios in his head, most of them negative, trying to prepare himself for every possible outcome of a serious conversation before it even began. It’s an anxious survival instinct that makes Link resilient to even the worst that life has to offer and able to face it all head on. But right now, it’s nothing scary. Rhett doesn’t want his friend to be worried, so he quickly says as much.

“Don’t worry, s’not bad. Just something we talked about on the podcast today.” The blonde sits down on the couch and pats the cushion next to him, hoping he appears to be as calm as he truly feels inside and that it might dissolve some of Link’s concern, still written all over his face.

The other man takes his place on the sofa and looks at him expectingly.

“Right. So-“ Rhett’s calmness doesn’t completely evaporate once Link gives him his full attention, but it’s suddenly laced with some nerves. “About the wrestling. You know, in college. And before that. And- Especially about my ‘I’m dead’ move. I’ve been thinking about it, and-“

“Rhett, I swear, if you made me sit down for a talk only to tell me you’d like to make it a part of our conflict resolution again, then ha-ha. Very funny. I’d like to go get myself some coffee now.” Link cuts him off with an unamused look in his eyes and almost makes a move to stand up.

Rhett is quicker though and grabs the brunette’s arm before he can really move, effectively making him stay in place.

“What? No. That’s not what I’m saying. Like, at all. I-“ He realises he’s still holding onto Link’s arm and instinctively wants to retract his hand, but that same feeling that led him to initiating this conversation in the first place makes him reconsider. “I’ve been thinking about what it all meant and why I did that, especially when we fought or you were angry with me, and-“

“Because we were young.” Link quickly answers what wasn’t even a question. “We had too much energy and neither of us really wanted to hurt the other by punching him or- or fighting in earnest. What else would it mean.”

“Link can you let me talk? I’m trying to say something important.” Rhett squeezes Link’s forearm. “So, as I was saying. I mostly did it when you were angry or I was feeling unsure, and I didn’t realise it back then, but- But I know now, that I just… needed reassurance. You know, physical contact.” He explains, looking straight into Link’s eyes and trying to interpret his reaction before it comes.

When nothing happens, and the brunette just stares back at him with a furrowed brow, he feels compelled to continue and elaborate.

“Like when people… hug after an argument-?” His brain almost challenges him to make a different comparison, presenting a parallel between laying half-naked on top of your best friend and another activity people often partake in to make up after a fight. But that’s not- It’s not what he’s trying to say. It’s not like that.

The face in front of him frowns in confusion, blue eyes squinting and mouth opening and closing again, only letting out a puff of air and no sound at first.

When Link finally responds, his voice is unsure, like he suspects that he’s not understanding something right. “Are you trying to tell me you wanted to hug me when we bickered, so you pushed me to the floor and laid on me till I was even angrier, instead…?”

That’s not fully what Rhett meant, but it’s close enough, so he nods.

“What the crap, Rhett-? You're not making any sense.”

“Okay, listen…” He decides to go for a different approach. “We still don’t hug after arguments. We never hug hello. I think I could count on my fingers how many times we’ve actually hugged each other as adults, outside of the show!”

“Yeah! That’s just not what we do! We’ve never done those things, it’s just not a part of our relationship- I still don’t know what you wanna tell me here Rhett.” Link throws his hands in the air in a gesture of resignation.

“I want it to be a thing we do, okay?! I always did, but I was afraid to ask for it so I just took what you could give me without talking about it. Can’t have actual intimacy? Make up a UFC thing so I can be close to you! Can’t hold you when I’ve made you mad? Better lay on top of you till you give up and have no choice but stop!” Rhett pauses to finally take a breath.

“That time that guy saw us- I’m sure you remember I stormed off right after-? I panicked, it was like him seeing us and thinking there was something else happening almost made feel like it was something else, and since I started it, it also felt like I wanted it to be something else. I got so angry at myself for even trying and I never did it again. I’m sure you remember that, too!” Words flow out of Rhett in a hurried and increasingly loud cascade, while Link’s eyes grow bigger and comprehension dawns on his face.

“I know how stupid it sounds. But you know how I was. We were well into our thirties when I still refused to get close to you. And it’s not that I didn’t want to, it was the opposite – I wanted it a lot, man.”

„But I thought...?” Link seems to be turning a thought over in his head. “I thought you just never liked it. That the wrestling thing was about you… asserting dominance. That’s what it felt like at least. Like you trying to act like an older brother or somethin’.”

“No- It was me wanting to be close to you and not knowing how to ask for it. My very convoluted way of expressing love, you could call it. And I’m sorry it took me-“

“What changed-? I mean, what made you wanna talk about it?” There’s urgency in Link’s voice when he cuts Rhett off.

“I… I realised I miss it. I told you, we still don’t really hug or get intimate, however that sounds, and I’m not gonna just topple you and pin you to the ground again. We’re too old for that. For once, I don’t think either my back or your shoulders would survive if we started wrestling every time I wanted to be affectionate. But also- We’re over forty, Link. What does it say about me if I can’t just ask a person I love and have loved for almost four decades to hold me when I need it and would resort to, well, aggression-? That’s not how it should work.”

Link ponders Rhett’s words for a few beats before opening his mouth again, only to let three breathy words escape. “You love me-?”

It seems like the wrong thing to focus on, Rhett just opened up to say he not only craves physical intimacy now, but also struggled with that same need when they were younger so badly, he had to invent an entire intricate system allowing him to be closer, and Link questions the one thing he knows already. Because of course he knows, Rhett’s said as much dozens of times, of course he loves him. But it appears he has to say it anyway, judging from the weird look in Link’s eyes.

“I do, of course I lo-“ The blonde begins, yet he doesn’t get a chance to finish and ask whether Link heard the other part of his confession at all, because at once, his mouth isn’t free to keep talking and there’s no air left in his lungs as the man who was just sitting right next to him plunges forward and collides with him, lips first.

Oh. Rhett manages to form one more coherent thought despite being startled and entirely taken aback. Link misunderstood. That’s why he got hung up on the love confession. That’s not what Rhett meant, that’s not what he was trying to say, it’s not like that-

He feels like he should clear things up as quickly as possible. Logically, he should be panicking, racking his brain for a way to straighten things up, to explain to Link that it wasn’t what he was trying to say without making things worse, without ruining everything and making his best friend feel miserable and embarrassed, until…

Until Rhett realises his body went rogue and started responding without his conscious decision, his lips are moving against the other man’s, one of his hands is cupping Link’s face, while the other strayed away and is caressing his back. And it feels like his heart is trying to break out of the ribcage with how hard it’s pounding in his chest, along with his stomach doing wild summersaults. And he’s not panicking, not at all. And it’s not a misunderstanding, how could it, when he loves Link with his entire soul, with his whole being- And exactly like that, it hits him. Starting this conversation, he thought he already understood everything, but he didn’t– there was still that last puzzle piece missing.

They come up for air, panting from the intensity of that first kiss, foreheads flush with each other. Rhett finishes the sentence he began before Link’s move changed everything. “Of course I love you.” He means it now, he means it exactly like Link took it and can’t comprehend how he didn’t think of it before, but it’s perfectly obvious now.

So he hugs Link. He encircles the man’s body with his long arms, squeezes, and holds him, feels his friend snuggle into him, nuzzle his face into the crook of his neck and breathe deeply, holding Rhett's larger body in return.

All he needed was ask for the closeness.

He asked, and he got it.

He got all he wanted and so much more.

So, so much.

#rhink fic #anonymous prompt #my writing

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clockworklozenges · 3 years

Text

So, a good five or so years back, I played in one of the best worst DnD games I have ever been in. The DM had bought the Libris Mortis book, which, if you were unaware, was a 3.5 splatbook adding in a lot of undead stuff, including some monsters and undead player races and stuff. Wanting to try it out, me and my gaming group decided to play things from it, our then DM deciding to run a completely homebrewed session. This proved to be a...

Terrible Idea™

(for the uninitiated, never homebrew something you do not fully understand unless it's just cosmetic. If you want to make all elves worship the god of garlic bread, Ultimo-Metatron-Omega, go ahead, but unless you know how the game works, don't make mechanical changes). So we all picked stuff from the books-one player played a skeleton Sorcerer who in life was a tribal shaman, but an attempt at healing went wrong, turning him undead as his life energy was replaced with negative energy, explaining why most of his spells were necromancy and suchlike.

Another player played Krug, an antipaladin in very spiky full plate. He was a zombie made by a necromancer of a paladin who was fighting him, but his allies killed his would-be master before he could assert control, and not wanting to just off him, his allies just...yeeted his body into a portal and hoped it'd re-kill him. It did not kill him hard enough. It did, however, explain his stats which...oof. He had already got debuffs to some stats due to being a zombie, and rolled abysmally. Fortunately for the player, he played mostly to socialise, so didn't much care.

I played... Count Nox Feratu, the Campire. As in, a vampire with a very camp German accent, which I did not break for the whole time I was playing him. To the point where "ach, nein, I haf bin heet! Heal me, meine freunde!" was par for the course. My overly camp vamp was a wizard, but due to level adjustment was a bit of a shoddy one. For backstory, he'd been ousted from his clan for ineptitude, and had sworn revenge. I was going for a swordmage build but never got there. All his spells were utility or just necromancy spells.

Our last player played...sigh...Damien Bloodmoon, cleric of Nerull, God of murder and undeath. He was one of the clerics from the book's murder Domain, meaning that he got buffs to damage. He was a vicious arse both in character and out of it, and was so dripping with edge compared to the paladin with the same IQ as a horse after its trip to the glue factory, the shaman who thought killing fixed people and the Campire that if you gave him a pat on the back you'd have finely diced your hand into a red mist. Not going too outlandish with his backstory of wanting to dominate the world as his undead thralls, Damien F***ing Bloodmoon had only taken spells which either charmed live people, dealt negative energy damage or messed with ability drain and suchlike, which he used with aplomb on townsfolk on our way to our objective. He was also, importantly, playing an elf of some sort, I forget which kind. Meaning that of the party, only one was alive.

So, just as an aside, for those of you that haven't played 3.5e DnD or have only played 5e, in Libris Mortis, undeath was gone over in detail, and had a litany of pros and cons. For one thing, undead had only the HP they had-folks like Damien F***ing Bloodmoon could be 'dying', and had some time to be stabilised before meeting the reckoning of Papa John and dying proper. Undead did not, it was just how much you had and if you ran out, poof, you're dust, bones and fertiliser again. You were also harmed by positive energy, so healing spells hurt you, as did potions of healing. However, undead were kind of hardy - poison immunity, some had resistance to non-magical melee damage, stuff that drained your ability scores and levels didn't work on them, some crits wouldn't do extra damage, and the best part- negative energy healed undead. Meaning all the spells our party had which damaged others like the living Damien Bloodmoon were curative ones for us. Keep this in mind.

So, we began our quest, learning of a necromancer a nearby town was plagued by. After using our skills (to whit: Damien Bloodmoon charming and drawing the life force out of random villagers and the only potion seller in the town whilst we went shopping. Krug got a snazzy hat, which we put on top of his helmet, and we chatted to townsfolk as I looked alive enough to pass as human and the shaman had a fake beard and toupee that people were too awkward to point out was fake so went along with it) we learn that the necromancer has a base of operations in the cemetery. "Oh ja, zo original, dahlink. Ve vill need to educate zis guy on vhat is chic and vhat is just shabby!"

So we head there and the nightmare begins. Damien Leads the charge, using all of his knowledge to deduce that the shambling horde moving towards us were stronger-than-your-average-bear undead, and he was right. These were powerful armoured zombie mages of some sort, casting ability draining spells, negative energy ray spells and even having auras of negative energy that dealt damage on a failed Fortitude save. Even their punch and quarterstaves did negative energy damage as well as the usual bludgeoning or unarmed. However...only one of us was really in danger and the DM's face fell when the squishy casters walked up and began shanking their super-special homebrew zombie wizards, being healed by the damage of their attacks as we cut them down.

Like I said, one of the benefits of undeath is that negative energy actually heals you. So the strikes of the magic staves and punches that hit us did some basic damage. Which was then immediately healed by the negative energy their weapon strikes and spells were doing.

However, you'll recall that Damien Bloodmoon was an elf. And not dead. Being a Cleric of a death god doesn't mean that you have the abilities of an undead. That meant that even with the DM being merciful, by the end of the first fight he was covered in blood, mud and withered away to just above half his original strength and constitution. More were patrolling, so we had to run. But that posed a problem.

Remember Krug had heavy armour? And recall his awful stats? He in fact, hadn't got enough strength to wear the armour he'd been given for backstory. He didn't, according to the DM, have enough to remove his own armour. And we attempted to, but also failed our checks according to the DM. And Damien Bloodmoon refused to help, simply blaming Krug and his player. Krug's player thought it was hilarious, and Krug only had enough Intelligence and Wisdom to say his own name, so saw no problem. And Krug, Nox Feratu and Shaman realised that there really...wasn't a problem.

For us, at least.

We slogged through three combats dragging Krug and wading through the mud with him. His speed was so slow that for every step he took, we took about ten. The DM was confused and infuriated that his encounters weren't working, but refused to change them. So we had fun role-playing. Or at least three of us did.

Damien Bloodmoon refused to roleplay, and none of his ranged spells could affect the zombie mages. When he went into melee, he came out wounded as all hell. He went down twice, and it was only the healing supplies of the shaman that saved him.

All the while, he was... Let's say not best pleased. Damien Bloodmoon was getting increasingly wounded, exasperated and longing for the sweet embrace of death as reprieve from the humiliation. His player was getting increasingly redder and rage-filled as time passed. Each fight ended with our characters stronger than ever and his a bloody pulp on the floor, with poor in-character knowledge (and terrible rolls) preventing him from realising why.

Eventually, we reached the final boss, pausing only to paint Krug's armour in contact poison just in case, and to find a stick to help the now-partially-crippled Damien Bloodmoon, cleric of death and murder, walk after being beaten up by angry zombie wizards for hours. And it had, indeed, been hours. Among us, only Damien had a bonus to strength, and we had two swords, a mace and a staff between the four of us. Meaning it was re-death by a thousand cuts for the enemy and a slog and a half for us.

We reach the necromancer and, having taken so long due to dragging the oblivious Krug with us, his big ritual is complete- he raises a fist-sized black onyx egg aloft, crackles with arcane power and causes the bones around him to coalesce into one massive creature - an undead, giant-sized rust monster, radiating an Aura of pure negative energy. Krug opened his arms wide, eager for the metal-eating monster cockroach to free him from his poison-painted metal prison. It ignores him as he's still very far away. Me and the others have our weapons and armour devoured.

Our DM was very much a stickler for note-taking. So because Damien Bloodmoon hadn't written 'clothes' on his sheet, his armour being eaten by the monster left him naked and afraid.

It became clear that the DM had done another f***y-wucky. See, the Aura of negative energy healed me and the Sorcerer by more than its other attacks did. So whilst Damien Bloodmoon was naked, soaked in mud and bleeding to death almost crushed to a pulp in the fetal position, rocking backwards and forwards as his player seethed with hatred, the Shaman and the Campire set about beating the thing to death with our bear hands and a stick.

The session ended once we killed the necromancer, or rather when Krug walked up to him, closed his arms and just crushed the noodle-armed bad guy to death with the weight of his ridiculous armour and poisoned him with its paintwork.

We never revisited the game afterwards. We were told later on that the DM wanted us to use the non-undead races. But at no point had he said as much, even when we asked him about our characters and the restrictions on them. We also learned a valuable lesson. DM for the players who are there, not the ones who you have an idealised mental image of. Tailor your game, otherwise you'll get a sitcom featuring a camp nosferatu, a shaman with no healing, a paladin who could barely move and a Cleric of murder who was ironically the only one at risk of actually dying.

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everybody-loves-purdy · 3 years

Note

Bramble and Squilf are so bad for each other. But I don’t get how that’s abusing Please explain

Have you read Squirrelflight’s Hope? If not then to get a full understanding of this I would highly recommending doing so so you can fully have context for a majority of what makes Bramblestar abusive.

Before I give a quick explanation I would also highly recommended watching “Bramblestar is Worse” by Moonkitti since that will explain the whole thing a lot better and in a lot more detail than I can achieve here.

Ok so basically, in Squirrelflight’s Hope Bramblestar’s behaviour towards Squirrelflight is straight up abusive, to the point where it even recontextualises some of their past arguments and interactions from what many people previously saw them as. To give a quick summary in Squirrelflight’s Hope Bramblestar and Squirrelflight disagree on how to resolve a land dispute and they argue - a lot. The fact that the are arguing isn’t the issue itself (even though it does really make the book drag, they argue for 4 pages straight at one point iirc), the issue is how Bramblestar behaves. And before I begin I just want to say it’s been a while since I have last read this book - it is not my intention to get anything wrong so if I do I promise it’s not intentional and I would appreciate knowing so I can make an edit.

He gaslights her- in Squirrelflight’s Hope he is constantly forcing her to question her judgement, he tells her that the Sisters are bad (despite not actually knowing them while Squirrel does) and tells her that she is a disloyal clan cat and that she has bad judgement. Due to this Squirrelflight begins to question herself more and more as the book goes on. To the point where she questions whether she belongs in ThunderClan anymore.

He exerts authority over her in a way that is inappropriate on both a personal and professional level- He forces her to run every single decision she makes by him, no matter how small or trivial. If she doesn’t comply he threatens her with demotion. She literally has no freedom to perform any of her usual duties. She wants to send out a hunting patrol? Bramblestar has to know and he has to approve who she wants to send. This isn’t normal. The point of a deputy is to do all this stuff so the leader doesn’t have to. Deputies should never need to do this unless it’s a battle patrol or something. He is punishing her. He even tells her at one point not to speak during a gathering iirc. That’s her right. Every clan cat should have the right to speak at a gathering. He takes that away from her.

He ostracises her - For a large period in the book he will not speak to her at all, no matter how hard Squirrelflight tries to engage in conversation with him, he will only talk to her when he’s giving her orders. This isn’t some little spat where he just won’t talk to her for an hour or two. This goes on for days. At one point he even refuses to speak up in her defence when the other Clans begin calling her a traitor at a gathering . He just watches. She is his deputy, she is his wife. Even if you are arguing with your spouse I assume you wouldn’t just stand there and watch as your rivals publicly ridicule and attack her. This isn’t normal.

He emotionally manipulates her - Early on in the book Squirrelflight expresses an interest in having more kits and poses the question to Bramblestar. Once she realises he doesn’t want anymore she decides to drop it and not press it further even though it does upset her (she tries not to let this show). In the book Bramblestar keeps bringing up kits in emotionally charged situations as a way of manipulating her, as well as bringing up other things like her supposed disloyalty and love for the sisters over her clan as a way to manipulate her.

Also there’s the entire scene where Squirrelflight is trying to get a dying cat some treatment, Bramblestar refuses to allow this dying cat to receive treatment by physically forcing himself between the dying cat and Leafpool, and then has the audacity to ask Squirrelflight “Why are you doing this to me?”

Also right at the end of the book he says “We should never let things get so bad” as his way of apologising as if he wasn’t the one actively continuing and escalating this dispute the entire book and purposely making Squirrelflight doubt herself more and more and feel worthless. All she wants to do is solve things with her husband. He doesn’t let her. Yes what she did to get him so angry with her in the first place was wrong (sneaking out to investigate some potential land for SkyClan behind his back since he was being very dismissive of her opinions), but she didn’t deserve this. There were points in this book I was scared for Squirrelflight. I was scared about what Bramblestar might do to her next. How he might decide to punish her next. What he was doing to her was abusive.

#so yeah watch that video for a more in depth analysis #Bramblestar #Squirrelflight #abuse tw #long post #I’m sorry for any poor writing quality it’s midnight here and I can’t go into as much detail as I would like because of time

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jungshookz · 3 years

Note

omg cee for a holiday drabble request can we get some shy!jungkook who’s had yn in his class all semester and is partnered up with her for a final project and he’s like !!!!!!!! AAAA!!!!!!!!!

➺ pairing; jeon jungkook x reader

➺ genre; sfw!! university!au!! fluff!! jungkook is shy!! y/n is friendly!! pocky sticks and goldfish crackers are exchanged!!

➺ wordcount; 4.9k

➺ what to expect; if he thought the back of your head was pretty... did that mean that he thought the rest of you was pretty as well?

»»————-　❅　————-««

jungkook doesn’t like to say that he hates people because saying that makes him sound obnoxious and a little overdramatic, but if given the choice, he would 100% choose to be alone

and he doesn’t think that it’s a problem that he prefers his own company over the company of other people

it’s literally just a personal preference!

he likes to keep to himself mainly because he.,.,

well

to be honest, he just doesn’t like talking to people?? which he thinks is a pretty valid reason to roam campus as a lone wolf

it just takes so much effort maintaining a conversation and at the end of the day, he’s just here to learn and get his degree, you know?

and it’s not like he flat-out refuses to talk to people like a weirdo

he can talk to people, he just chooses not to initiate or engage in any type of conversation whatsoever unless he really has to

and don’t even get him started on those damn ice breakers that professors make everyone do at the beginning of every semester

it’s why he always sits in the very back of the auditorium where all the quiet people are

because quiet people understand each other and quiet people will nevER turn to start talking to each other when the professor tells the class to share two truths and a lie about yourself to the person sitting next to you!

there’s just a mutual understanding that everyone in the back of the room will sit in silence and keep to themselves all semester long which is very pleasant

not to mention, he hates having to deal with ‘semester friends’ aka the one friend that you make for the sake and convenience of having someone you know in the same class as you

you guys really don’t have that much in common and you can tell that they’re in a completely different social circle than you are (aka when you inevitably do a social media handle exchange you see that they have more than a thousand followers and you can immediately tell they were super popular in high school which intimidates you and your puny 250 follower count but you can’t back out of this friendship now without looking like a jerk) but the person is friendly enough that you can get along and kind of keep a conversation going

and then once the semester ends the two of you promise to keep in touch next semester even though both parties are fully intending to not stay in touch at all

and then when next semester rolls around no one makes any effort to reach out and be like hey, should we get coffee this week?? because you have conflicting schedules that would take so much reshuffling just to accommodate this acquaintance that you really don’t care that much about so then you end up hitting them with an ooh, i can’t make it this week! what about next week??

and then it just turns into a cycle of ugh, i’m swamped this week! next week? and can’t, sorry! next week?

and then you’ll see each other at the library one day and it’ll be a little bit awkward because you’ll do that awkward half-hug and your voice will go up like ten octaves when you greet them with that overly polite heyyyyyy!

and more promises will be made to get coffee and hang out soon even though everyone knows absolutely no coffee will be gotten

the point is: in the four years that jungkook’s been a university student, not onCe has he made a steady friend and not once has he been remotely interested in making a steady friend

and he doesn’t think that’s sad or anything - again, he prefers it that way!

...but you just had to come along and completely throw his plans out of whack, didn’t you??

unsurprisingly, you were the one who spoke to him at the beginning of the semester but he didn’t think too much of it because it wasn’t like the conversation the two of you had was very riveting

“hi, i’m sorry-” jungkook looks up from his notebook when you twist around in your seat to face him, “this is psychology 400, right? i lost a copy of my schedule and i think this is the lecture hall i’m supposed to be in but i can’t remember if it said auditorium 200 or 201-”

“yeah, you’re in the right place.” jungkook interrupts, offering you a stiff smile before looking back down at his planner

he was in the middle of compiling a grocery list for himself and now he doesn’t remember what that one thing he needed was…

…

ah!

chocolate pocky sticks

there we go

jungkook clicks his pen before tucking it back into his pencil case and shutting his planner

and… yeah!

that was the first conversation the two of you ever had

he doesn’t think he can really count it as a conversation because it lasted less than three seconds

the first exchange the two of you ever had?

the second exchange he had with you was actually the next class that same week

he was genuinely surprised that you sat in the same spot again because usually when someone realises that he isn’t willing to be their semester-friend, they move to another section of the auditorium the next time

but no

there you were in all your glory

“when’s the first assignment due?”

jungkook’s eyes flicker up from his laptop first before he looks up at you

“uh, in two weeks...?” he trails off, pulling up the calendar app on his screen before nodding affirmatively, “yeah, in two weeks. september sixteenth at midnight.”

“okay, sweet! and that’s a... thursday?”

“wednesday.”

“ah, okay. got it. thanks!

“mhm.”

the weird thing was the fact that you never pulled out the “i don’t think i ever got your name! i’m ___” card because you just seemed like a very ‘i wanna be your friend!!!!!’ person

and he doesn’t know how you made him do it but one day he found himself asking for your name which he didn’t think he’d ever do

(admittedly, he was a little klutzy in doing so because he’d never willingly introduced himself to someone and asked for their name all in one go before)

“are you eating goldfish crackers and... chocolate chips?” jungkook blurts out, leaning forward a little to peer into the little snack box you’re holding in your hand

you pause and look down into the container before twisting around to look at him, “mhm! you know, you wouldn’t think the combination would work, but it totally does,” you smile, holding your box up, “wanna try?”

jungkook immediately shakes his head, “oh, no, that’s oka-”

“no, c’mon-” you pluck out a cracker and a chocolate chip and set your box down on your lap, “hold your hand out!”

jungkook hesitates for a second before holding his hand out and letting you plop the treats in his palm, “and you... eat them together?”

“uh-huh!” you nod, popping a cracker into your mouth before gesturing for him to eat, “don’t worry - if you don’t like it, i promise i won’t cry.”

jungkook brings his palm up and tosses them back into his mouth

...

huh

that’s actually... not half-bad?

“see? what’d i tell you?” you beam, giving your box a little shake, “good, right?”

“yeah, i mean, i would never think to put the two together...” jungkook trails off, dusting the crumbs off his hands, “oh, um, by the way-” he clears his throat before swallowing nervously, “i, uh, i’m jungkook. by the way. yeah.”

“jungkook?” you say out loud, jungkook nodding in confirmation, “i will try to remember that. i’m pretty bad with names, so if i end up calling you, like, robert next week, don’t hate me.”

“i will try not to hold it against you if you call me robert next week,” jungkook laughs lightly before reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, “and you... um, your name is...?”

“i’m y/n! by the way.” you tease lightly, the apples of jungkook’s cheeks turning a little pink, “it’s nice to meet you! ...even though we met, like, a month ago.”

“touché.”

“jungkook, you dog-” you gasp lightly, and for a second jungkook’s heart drops to his stomach because he thinks he’s said something wrong- “at least take me out to dinner first before touchéing me.”

jungkook immediately snorts and shakes his head lightly as you giggle to yourself

with that being said, even after that exchange he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay friends with you or not

yeah, you were nice and kind of charming in your own way, but...

(he couldn’t come up with a reason as to why he shouldn’t be friends with you, so that train of thought is still chug-chug-chugging along.)

»»————-　❅　————-««

“are those pocky sticks?”

jungkook stops typing, his eyes flickering up from his screen to see you looking at him with a soft little smile, your arms folded over the top of your seat and your chin propped up on them

he looks down at the open package of pocky sticks sitting on top of his backpack next to him before looking over at you and nodding, “uh, yeah. do you... want one?”

“are they the chocolate ones?”

“obviously.” jungkook snorts, pulling one out of the plastic bag before holding it out for you, “nothing beats the original flavour.”

you pluck it from his fingers, inspecting it for a second before biting into it with a crisp snap!, “i personally like the strawberry ones better-”

“what??” jungkook gawks, “i mean, yeah, the strawberry ones are fine, but the chocolate ones-”

“the strawberry ones have a thicker coating! the chocolate coating is so thin and barely-there!” you hold the bottom half of your pocky out so that jungkook can look at the cross-section of it, “see?? barely any chocolate-”

“you don’t know what you’re talking about!” jungkook scoffs playfully, slapping his laptop shut before crossing his arms on his desk and leaning forward, “chocolate pocky sticks are clearly superior to the strawberry ones-”

“alright, robert, whatever helps you sleep at night-”

“wha-” jungkook gawks in mock offence, too distracted by the fact that you like the strawberry pocky sticks over the classic chocolate ones to notice the feeling of his heart skipping a beat at the sound of your laugh

strawberry over chocolate

...

ridiculous!

»»————-　❅　————-««

now, jungkook isn’t particularly sure when it was that he started to notice how twinkly your eyes were or how sweet your voice sounded or how pretty your smile was or how nice your hair smelled

it kind of just dawned on him one morning??

he was just staring at the back of your head and found himself wondering how it was possible for the back of one’s head to be so pretty (you had your hair down that day and it just looked so soft and clean)

and then he thought to himself how weird it was that he just called the back of your head pretty

and then he thought to himself that if he thought the back of your head was pretty... did that mean that he thought the rest of you was pretty as well?

and then he thought to himself that yes, i suppose i would consider y/n to be pretty if i was ever asked for a list of people i considered to be pretty

and then he realized that oh, god. do i think that y/n’s pretty because i like y/n?!

and now it’s december meaning that it’s almost the end of the semester and he still hasn’t done anything about his crush on you because he?? literally has no idea how to handle it

his plan was to just ask you for your instagram and if you wanted to keep hanging out next semester and hope that it didn’t turn into a can’t what about next week can’t what about next week situation

and the fact that you guys are working together for the final project certainly doesn’t help with him suppressing his feelings at all

because you two have gone from spending time like three times a week in class to five or six times a week in and out of class

it was at the beginning of november that he discovered that you both had an hour and a half break after this class

so you guys usually go for lunch together (obviously, you were the one who asked first) and then go your separate ways

and then it was the second week of november that jungkook started walking you to your next class even though hiS next class is located at the opposite end of campus

he just????

literally has no idea how any of this happened

one minute he’s perfectly fine with being alone and the next minute he finds himself glancing towards the door every three seconds waiting for you to walk in because the best part of his morning is seeing you

because every time you walk in and see him in his usual spot your entire face lights up and your pace quickens and he just thinks it’s really cute how excited you are to see him even though you guys literally see each other so often

he always looks forward to hearing about what you did over the weekend even though he usually doesn’t care less about what anyone did over their weekend

he always looks forward to you bringing out your little snack box and offering him a couple pieces of whatever you have (you brought these sesame-glazed cashews the other day and they were really good)

he always looks forward to sharing his pocky sticks with you even though he’s usually very greedy with his pocky sticks

last week he let you eat like half the box and he wasn’t even mad

and yeah, he finds himself tossing a couple of the strawberry pocky sticks into his basket whenever he goes grocery shopping, but that doesn’t mean anything!

...

right???

»»————-　❅　————-««

jungkook glances back towards the door as he taps his foot against the ground anxiously before checking his phone for the time or any texts from you

where are you??

he booked one of the conference rooms in the library so that you guys could work on your project in peace

it’s much more quiet working here than in the general studying area because there’s always that one person who’s sniffling and coughing like a maniac

and you can speak at a normal volume in here which is good

you guys agreed to work on the project together at the end of the day and then you’d grab dinner together

and jungkook hasn’t been classifying these hangout working sessions as dates or anything but for some reason, this feels like a study date AND a dinner date rolled into one which is why his hands are so clammy right now

and on top of thAT he actually has a christmas present that he’s planning to give you but now he’s wondering if it’s too late to back out

you’re already like twenty minutes late

did you forget about him??

did you purposely bail on him??

is this your way of telling him that this friendship is over???

maybe he can text you and tell you that he had to go home because he has food poisoning or something

...but the image of him hunched over the toilet probably isn’t a very attractive one

is there like a.,., like a sexy way to talk about food poisoning?

jungkook paces back and forth as he looks down at his phone, typing a message to you and then immediately deleting it and retyping

hey! i’m gonna have to reschedule. i had a funky ass burrito for lu-

okay so there’s definitely no way to make food poisoning sound sexy

maybe he can come up with a... cool excuse of some kind?

hey! can we reschedule? i have to save a baby from a burning building because i’m also a firefigh-

nope

he’s terrified of heights and also he hates babies so that excuse would never work

hey! let’s reschedule! i have feelings for you and it’s overwhelming me and also i feel like maybe you kind of bailed on m-

“hey!”

jungkook jumps in his seat before whipping around to look at the door, feeling a sense of relief washing over him when he sees that it’s you

okay

well noW he knows that you didn’t forget about him and that you definitely didn’t bail on him

“he-” his voice gives out halfway and he clears his throat quickly, “hey! i was, uh, i was wondering when you’d show up.”

“i know, sorry i’m late-” you smile sheepishly, shutting the door behind you with a gentle click, “it’s for a good reason, though! i got us hot chocolates!”

you raise the takeout tray in your hand before setting it down on the table, “i was going to get you a peppermint mocha because ‘tis the season and all of that, but i didn’t know if you would like it or not so hot chocolate was the safer option.”

“i like hot chocolate!” jungkook coughs, “peppermint mochas- i mean, i would’ve been fine with a peppermint mocha too, but i- i still appreciate the hot chocolate-” he rambles, nervously flipping his pen back and forth in between his fingers, “i mean, i, like, what i’m trying to say is that i would like anything you brought for me, you know?”

okay

he’s spiralling

whY is this happening to him??

jungkook doesn’t know if he’s ever been this nervous for anything before

he wasn’t even this nervous when he had to do a solo presentation in front of two hundred people in his history course last semester and thaT was terrifying

“alright, well, i’ll definitely keep that in mind for next time!” you chirp, pulling out one of the wheely chairs before plopping down and turning to face him, “what else do we have to do for our report?”

jungkook feels his heart skip a beat when your knee bumps against his

oh god

okay

he has to get it together

just relax!

“oh, uh-” he turns to look through the checklist on his notebook, “we have to write up the conclusion... and also the annotated bibliography.”

“annotated bibliography?” you huff, scrolling through yours guys’ twenty page report, “oh, god... that’s going to take forever- we used, like, thirty different sources...”

“i told you not to go crazy with the scholarly articles...” jungkook teases lightly before taking a sip of his hot chocolate

ooH

there’s whipped cream on this as well!

“i just thought that it would make us look smarter if we used more sources-” you grumble, pushing your bottom lip out in a pathetic little pout, “and now we have to go through and annotate every single one...”

“hey, if it motivates you to work faster, i’ll get you an extra order of onion rings for dinner tonight.” jungkook hums, smiling fondly when you gasp excitedly and turn to face him

one thing that he’s learned about you is the fact that you are verY food motivated

one time you told him that you would be willing to rob a bank for a pack of oreos

...and he wholeheartedly believes that.

»»————-　❅　————-««

you try your hardest to hold back a grin when you notice that jungkook still hasn’t moved his leg from yours

the side of your thigh has been pressed right up against his for a good twenty minutes now and it seems like he doesn’t mind it at all

if anything, it’s safe to say that he’s comfortable being this close to you

that must mean that he likes you back, right?

because you know for a fact that he isn’t normally a touchy-feely person and you were fully expecting him to pull back the moment your leg touched his

this is!!!!

exciting!!!!

you don’t know when you started liking jungkook but the details really aren’t that important

you just know that you like him now and you’re like 80% sure that maybe he might?? like you back??

if he didn’t like you, why would he be willing to get coffee with you during your breaks and walk you to class?

you were actually a little put off by him the first time you spoke to him mainly because he seemed like he didn’t really want to talk to you

and usually you don’t do well with people who don’t want to talk to you because.,., you personally think you’re a greaT person to talk to and if the same vibes aren’t reciprocated then you immediately hightail it out of there

and you were actually going to switch seats the next class but it was pretty cozy in the back of the auditorium and you liked that your seat was near the exit so that you could be the first one out without getting trampled over by everyone else

so you figured you’d just swallow your pride and try to work it out with mr. pretty boy (yes, part of the reason as to why you stayed was because of how handsome he is.,., you’re only human!!!)

and it looks like it worked out in your favour because here you are!! hanging out with him outside of class!!

with that being said, you haven’t really thought about what your next move is going to be because you’re..., not entirely sure how to ask him out without potentially freaking him out or something

because if on the off-chance that he tells you that he actually doesn’t like you back after you ask him out with full confidence,,..,

ugh

you don’t even want to think about how awkward that’s going to be

and you don’t even knoW how you’d play it off casually without letting your disappointment show (“oh! well, that’s- pft- that’s totally fine, it’s whatever- like, i’m so... like, i’m so cool. it’s totally fine! dates are- dates are so overrated, anyway- romance is so lame-”)

you were thinking of maybe asking him out after the final project because if he says no then you’ll never have to see him again!

that’s the beautiful part of being on such a big campus

it’s fine

you’ll figure something out

just focus on this damn bibliography and try not to think about how good jungkook smells and how pretty his hands look when he’s typing

»»————-　❅　————-««

it’s about an hour and a half into the session that jungkook suddenly remembers that he has a present for you

he turns his head slightly to look at you

there’s a divot in between your brows as your fingers practically fly across your keyboard

wow

you must really want those onion rings

jungkook glances down at his backpack before pressing his lips together tightly

when would be a good time to give it to you without it being like.,,. awkward?

maybe after you guys are done?

or during dinner?

or after dinner?

or after he drives you hom-

“i have a present for you, by the way-!” jungkook blurts out a little louder than intended, shattering the serene silence of the atmosphere

okay never mind

“you do??” you ask, jungkook nodding quickly

“i... yeah. a christmas present! for you.” he clears his throat, leaning down to pull the neatly wrapped package out of his backpack, “it’s just a little something, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“aw, that’s so nice of you... i didn’t know we were doing presents otherwise i totally would’ve gotten something for you...” you trail off, pursing your lips in disappointment

damnit

you weRE going to get jungkook something but you didn’t know if he’d find it weird or anything

and now you must look like a complete jerk!

“oh my god, don’t even worry about it-” jungkook flicks his wrist to dismiss your concerns, “you can count the hot chocolate as your gift to me! plus, you splurged on a venti just for me-”

“i did splurge on a venti just for you...” you joke along, instantly feeling a little better about the situation, “and i usually only treat people to tiny little talls!”

(for the record, you’re definitely going to get him a proper present over the weekend)

“also, it’s totally fine if you don’t like it-” jungkook swallows thickly when you start to rip open the packaging, “i can return it and get you something else-”

!!!!!!!!

“oH MY GOD i love it!” you exclaim, feeling your serotonin levels shoot straight through the ceiling when you pull out a heart shaped snack box, “i don’t even know what to say, this is literally the greatest present i’ve ever received in my entire life-”

“oh, thank god-” jungkook flops back in his seat before placing his hand on his chest, “i was worried that maybe you wouldn’t like it because you already have a pretty extensive collection of snack boxes- oh, and!” he perks up, spinning around to pull something else out of his bag, “i also got you a box of strawberry pocky sticks even though i still think your opinion about them being better than the chocolate flavour is very wrong.”

wow

he really knows the way to your heart :’)

“i don’t even know what to say, kook...” you smile, “thank you so much...”

jungkook beams, giving himself a mental pat on the back for a job well done, “ah, don’t worry about it. i’m just glad that you like your gifts...”

...

okay, you don’t have a gift for him so this is the next best thing

“can i-” you pause, trying to think of how to handle this, “can i- sorry, can you just close your eyes for a second?” you clear your throat

you’re suddenly feeling a lot more confident about jungkook’s feelings towards you than you were half an hour ago

(aka you are now 98% sure that he likes you back and if you’re wrong about this assumption then you’re definitely going to regret the thing that you’re about to do)

“close my eyes?” jungkook snorts, “why?”

“it’ll make sense in a second. just close them!”

“this is the part of our friendship where you kill me, isn’t it?” he jokes, setting his laptop aside before turning his chair so he can fully face you

ha hA

very funny

“if i was planning to kill you, i would’ve poisoned your precious pocky sticks a long time ago-” you laugh lightly, wiping your clammy hands on your jeans before turning to face him as well

“speaking of pocky sticks, have you ever tried the cookies and creme flavoured ones?” jungkook hums, jolting in surprise when he feels you place your hands on his knees, “because i was thinking we could just buy a bunch of flavours and try them toge-”

smak!

jungkook’s eyes immediately pop open the moment he feels you kiss his cheek, his entire face going beet red and his mouth going dry

you smile innocently as you pull back, jungkook trying his best to noT melt into a giant puddle of goo

you-

you just...

you kissed his cheek?

you kissed him?

maybe it was an accident??

maybe there was a bug on his cheek and you were just trying to kill it with your mouth

“you- i- heh-” he reaches up to scratch the back of his head, quickly averting his gaze when he notices you looking directly at him, “um, why... uh, what did you do that for?”

“to say thank you...” you shrug, biting back a smile, “and i guess it’s me trying to tell you that i... i like you too, by the way.”

jungkook feels his heart stop beating in his chest and his fingers dig into his thigh

too?

you like him?

too????

jungkook blinks owlishly at you, “you like me... too? r-really?”

“of course i do.” you hum, admiring your brand new snack box before looking back at him, “how could i not?”

(judging by his reaction, you are now 100% sure that jungkook likes you back so you now have nothing to worry about.)

“but how’d you know that i even liked you in the first place?” jungkook asks dumbly, still a little dazed from that kiss on the cheek

he can’t even think about how his body is going to react when he eventually gets to kiss you properly

“i mean...” you let out a little laugh before tilting your head slightly, “if the in-between class coffee runs and the walking me to class even though we both know it’d make you late for your class didn’t give it away, the fact that you let me eat half a box of pocky sticks without slicing my hands off certainly did.”

yeah

that’s fair

“you make a good point.” jungkook nods slowly, “touché-”

“-”

“-!” jungkook holds a finger out before the corners of his mouth tug up in a wide grin, “and i will definitely be taking you out to dinner first before even thinking about touchéing you. don’t worry.”

christmas with cee 2020 masterlist

🎁what would you like from ceenta this year? 🎁

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pretty-face-breaker · 3 years

Text

Need to Ruin Him

c.w. aftermath of torture, cleaning up wounds, bad caretaking, intimidation, manhandling, torture by rubbing brine solution into welts, sadism, begging

—

The spring mattress creaked as Emir clattered on top of it.

“Take off-...” Pavel stopped, shooting a second look at his bare back, and audibly snorted. “Never mind, just… lie down and I’ll get things to make you look better.”

Emir whined as he tried to curl in on himself although the loosely tucked bedsheet stopped his arms from getting far. Breathing deep, he took in a whiff of wool and the smell of decay from the old sheets. He could see the almost invisible black speckling against the green, this close up and through his tears.

He wasn’t certain whether the shock of the whip-marks had worn off. He had only the vague understanding that his back hurt. There was dampness in his hair, the crooks of his body, and on his face but those quickly dried in salty tracks. Hardly there anymore.

“Bet that’s the last time you’ll do that,” Pavel mumbled. He could see the residue of his crying, the swollen eyes when he turned his head.

The General had spared no part of the exposed skin, it seemed.

Emir didn’t respond for a few moments as the quiet clutters of Pavel grouping equipment together filled the silence. Then, he lifted his head and the shift in breathing got the man’s attention. But all the abused boy was doing was pulling the corner of a pillow under his chin before he collapsed again.

Pavel raked his eyes up and down the body, once. Inhaled slowly before turning to stack the peroxide next to the rubber bandage seal. He remembered this one had been produced with a rubber cover so it wouldn’t disintegrate as easily as the paper ones had and recalled how the camp had looked on as the supply trucks had filled in with the equipment during daily drills.

He had jokingly saluted one of the drivers who had turned and smiled. A bright row of pearly whites had peaked beneath the moustache before he had gone ahead and returned the gesture. The image of the ideal worker had been complete.

Pavel had thought about that man for the rest of the week, inspired by the strength in the smile.

Spinning on his heel, he returned to where Emir lay half-conscious. “Hey, Suleiman. Look at me.”

There was a groan and shift. “Don’ call me that,” Emir protested weakly, although his voice was strained with pain and struggle to recognize where the two were. The view didn’t look like the flat one out of his bed with only an iron window and darkness.

The mattress dipped as he sat. “I’ll call you Edward, if I really want to.” Pavel encouragingly drove the heel of his hand into the boy’s lower back so he jerked and cried out feebly. The faded softness of that pretty little cry made Pavel’s heart race a little and he grinned against his better control. “Sit up or I do that again.”

Seeing no way out of moving, Emir sighed and winced his way to sitting, facing away from the blond man and his amalgamation of terrible-smelling instruments. Whatever chemicals those were, antiseptic, sterile bandages, they hardly smelled anything close to home. The word home and ‘стерильный’ met his mind at the same time when he threw a glance down to Pavel’s medical tray.

“Sterile,” he read. His throat scratched and the word broke in two.

Pavel had been tearing open the rubberized protector of the bandages when he stopped with a little smirk. “Yeah. Although, you don’t usually need reading abilities here unless someone sneaks in one of those raunchy magazines.”

Emir returned a mechanical smile as the rubber tore open until Pavel winked at him and it was then that he raised his eyebrows and broke into a heartier chuckle. Realizing that he had paid the cheap joke with laughter made him clench his jaw in annoyance.

It was never his intention to get amicable with the enemy but he supposed this one was patching him up which made it easier.

The bandages were out of the sleeve now - a roll of brown gauze, pin, and two sterile cotton pads. He did notice another thing though, and that was the unsealed opaque jar sitting next to all the bottles. Being close enough, he could almost catch a salty scent sharp in the air.

A hand quickly covered the top when Emir glanced up. Only slightly taller than him, Pavel’s cheeky smile had transformed into something crooked and cornering. “No peeking now,” he teased. Then, the tone quickly dropped to threatening, traced with amusement.

“Turn around and don’t make so much noise that people have to come up from an early lunch.”

Emir’s fingers were tightening around the sheets nervously but he didn’t want to give Pavel another reason to make him feel wave upon wave of the same agony he’d gone through minutes before. He exhaled softly and turned to lock eyes with the window, hoping he’d come across as ignorant enough of the jar.

But what did he care whether he knew? All the better for that sadistic fuck.

Emir didn’t expect the initial sting as Pavel dipped the cloth into the murky solution and lathered it across his back without warning. Fingers digging hard into the sheets, he squeaked and darkened instantly after, the noise being involuntary. A rumbling laugh made him shiver.

“Don’t worry,” Pavel eased him with his usual mockery of lightness. “This’ll do the trick for all those nasty welts, trust me.” Then, pressed the cloth deeper into one particular stripe that had sliced through him and rendered him speechless, killing the yell on his tongue as General Levkin had brought the leather down.

The yell was alive now and ripped through his teeth. He was too fucking tired to try to choke them back and what harm was it really? Pavel seemed pleased with the pitch of his wrecked voice and he could alleviate the burning that was eating through his back each time the rag switched directions.

He wasn’t cleaning, he was scrubbing him.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. “Argh-... Can you p-please go a bit easier?” He despised Pavel right now, for the pain before, the pain to come, and for rendering him to beg and refresh the dried tear tracks. Blinking quickly, Emir hoped he had caught the tears before they slipped.

“How else am I supposed to disinfect you? You’re not the first to get whipped.” Pavel’s lilt coiled around his back and legs.

“Just please-... a little- agh!”

Emir dropped his chin into his collarbone and squeezed. The strain on his neck was awful. The brine's stench was awful and so sharp in his nose, he swore something would start bleeding soon. At one particularly brutal dig, he gasped and arched away. Pavel’s hand shot to his shoulder and yanked him back in an instant.

“Stay still, you little shit,” he snarled.

Emir feebly whispered back. “It hurts.”

Pavel wanted to break into a cackle and tell him that of course it hurt and call him a whole assortment of insults for not realising he was doing it on purpose. Though, amidst the torment, he saw the way his light brown shoulders shook from how hard he gripped the mattress.

It was a satisfying sight, how hard he was trying to be quiet and then the next moment when he gave up and let his whimpers seep through teeth. A tug of war between his pride and just letting it happen.

“Plea-... mercy,” Emir gasped at last.

Pavel was mid-assault on another open welt when he stopped and let his wrist ease off, dropping finally. He choked out relief but the aftershocks of the salt still must have felt like fire.

Not once during the whipping had he even given the impression that he would beg for it. Not once, and Pavel had been fully confident that the little soldier would wait it out like he did everything with a dormant tongue. Looking at Emir now, he knew that just a little more would have him sobbing and begging in that sweet, wrecked voice-

Mercy, mercy, mercy

“Have mercy, please, God, m-mercy,” Emir hissed again. His arms shook as he held back a ruined sob. “I don’t deserve this.”

Pavel had stopped now. He was clouded with thoughts that weighed down his hands which were eager for another spin. He didn’t know what he was waiting for, whether for Emir to collect himself - if he could - or to have the thrill to hurt again, to push him over the edge.

The need to ruin him never came while he was thinking. It left him with dull annoyance as he realized he wanted to leave Emir alone, no longer bloodthirsty. It wracked his brain, the longer he debated just continuing.

He did deserve it and Pavel was entitled to do it.

Besides, Emir would probably look beautiful.

But he didn’t. He dropped the rag, saying nothing, and grabbed the alcohol bottle that was actually medically approved for use unlike his masterfully crafted brine solution. Dabbing some liquid onto a fresh cloth, he applied it gently to the welts but still got that thrill of joy when Emir flinched away.

“Alcohol,” he corrected quietly. “Not brine.”

Shivering from the cold and not the pain, Emir nodded weakly and straightened back into his spot. Another moment passed before Pavel was back to work and dabbing away at the redness until he felt the smell of antiseptic was strong enough and switched to the pads. Only two were available. One went on the worst laceration.

The second, on the one he had created by accident.

Emir was still shivering.

He unrolled the gauze and began wrapping it around the boy’s ribcage until the width of all fifteen feet trickled away. The roll felt so much lighter in his hand when he was finished applying it and pulling the end tight. He flicked it to the end of the bed, liking the little thunk it made at the metal footboard.

“Done.” Pavel pushed the tray away from him and Emir gathered up the strength to move.

“Thank-…” Then, a laboured swallow. “Thank you.”

He didn’t respond. Emir looked beyond exhaustion. All he did was push his head gently down onto the pillow and let the rest of his limbs take their natural place for comfort.

He sat there for a long time, watching Emir’s chest rise and fall in even breaths, the sharp stench of alcohol and brine lingering in his nose for almost an hour.

Tagging: @straight-to-the-pain @heathenville @quirkykayleetam @yet-another-heathen @undertheburrow @lektricfergus

Ask if you’d like to be added/removed!

#whump #whump writing #whump drabble #torture #caretaking #whumper as caretaker #bad caretaker #sadistic whumper #begging #manhandling #wartime whump #military whump #ussr #aftermath of torture

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amarriageoftrueminds · 3 years

Note

i feel like it's been so long since civil war at this point s*mb*ckies have forgotten that sam really never fully understood why steve even bothered with bucky and treated him like a lost cause that steve was foolish to try and save, pretty much the only other people besides steve who have ever extended any real compassion to him were t'challa and shuri

Anon, you’re so right!

It's an absolute injustice to the potential of Sam's character as a trained healer of both bodies and minds not to have him see what Bucky truly is.

I didn't mind Sam saying 'he's not the kind you save, he's the kind you stop' (or words to that effect) in CATWS.

After the freeway fight but before he'd ever had a chance to read Bucky's casefiles.

But years later?

When he's been with Steve, hunting Bucky around the globe, and, y'know, would've been in a position to see Hydra torture chambers up close in person (and note the lack of revenge-corpses put there by Bucky, proving his current non-violence!)

Put also in a position to read Bucky's horrifying medical history, (which Sam would understand best, of anyone on Team Cap!) and to hear stories from Steve about the person Bucky is, and from Natasha about how life under Russian brainwashers is...

To have Sam then act as if Bucky is a write-off, still, is just shonky characterisation.

(Doing things like, for example, being a dick to Bucky because the Winter Soldier just punched him; when Bucky was being electrocuted, screaming for Zemo to stop.

Sam’s expertise should have him being neutral to Bucky, at least.

But instead he’s saying, eg. ‘oh and just like that we’re supposed to be cool?’ Yes, Sam, just like that!

It’s supposed to be his specific area of expertise, above anybody else’s, to be able to distinguish between the Soldier and the victim screaming in agony.

Even if he personally doesn’t get along with Bucky, and doesn’t intend to help him with counseling like he did (stranger) Steve, if Sam is in character, he wouldn’t be treating Bucky as untrustworthy or criminal; simply because he would know, as a professional counselor, that he’s not.

It makes you question why the writers think Sam is even there, if he doesn’t believe in the possibility of Bucky’s innocence?

His purported background should mean he’s there because he can professionally recognise that innocence, and because his morals tell him that helping Bucky is therefore the right thing to do.

Not because Steve thinks it’s right and Sam’s merely going along with it.

The show had Sam strenuously objecting to going around with Zemo, because he’s a bad guy, and he acts the same about Bucky in the films.

So why would he be friends with Steve at all, if he believes Steve is friends with bad guys? Why would he help Steve look for Bucky for two years, if he still sees Bucky as indistinguishable from the Soldier?

It just doesn’t make sense.

Here’s an analogy: Robotics is Tony’s whole thing, so imagine if he ignored a robot or couldn’t recognise it as one.

That would be bizarre, right?

Never mind whether Tony liked that specific robot, or intended to help fix it. Robotics is his main skill, so at the very least he would be able to spot a robot when he sees one, if he’s written IC.

Sam being mean to Bucky right out of the gate, before they’ve even spoken to each other, (telling him ‘I hate you’ within a couple of hours of meeting him), as if he believes Bucky is a bad person, is a failure of Sam’s specific stated skill set; comparable to Tony not being able to recognise a robot.

It would be fine if Sam was a naturally unfriendly person with no expertise with counseling POWs or veterans; but it’s not fine if he is gregarious and kind and is supposed to have that specific innocence-recognising expertise.)

So: it’s OOC.

Bad writing.

It makes it seem as if Sam being a Pararescue and a Counsellor was only tell and not show; because he's only shown giving bad advice, unless it's to a famous man whom he obviously admires and wants to impress. And doesn’t care about a veteran POW friend of a friend?

As a V.A. counselor of ex-POW and people with PTSD, if Sam were as good as his job as we're expected to believe (oh dear, we've got another Peggy Carter situation here) he should've been the person most likely, after Steve, to be able to see Bucky's innocence, and subsequently treat him neutrally and/or well.

(Actually: Cap Quartet, Sam and Nat should've got it in a way no one else could, albeit for very different reasons.)

We see this neutral/benign treatment of Bucky from T’Challa, who isn’t an expert recogniser & rescuer of POW veterans, isn’t Steve’s friend, hasn’t dedicated two years of his life to rescuing Bucky, and isn’t as well-informed about Bucky as Sam is.

(And then the writing has Sam giving T’Challa attitude, too, for no damn reason?! Why are they writing Sam like this??

It seems like they’ve just gone ‘well they were in a fight with him 5 mins ago so Sam must automatically hate them, right?’ without knowing that it contradicts Sam’s personality & backstory.

But hey, who gives a shit so long as it’s funny, right?)

Yet as soon as Bucky allegedly shows up planting a bomb at the UN (even though he's a sniper, not a demo expert, ffs! not to mention 50 lbs heavier and twice the width/height of the guy in the video!) Suddenly everyone, Sam included, (and Nat!) is trying to dissuade Steve from going to stop his childhood friend being shot in the head... 'while resisting arrest.' For a black man not to have empathy for that, at least, beggars belief. Sam could recognise the Accords would be abused but not recognise the injustice of this? BS!

And no one ever seems to point out that it was Sam who decided to tell Tony where Steve and Bucky were, when Tony had just been doing his damndest to fight them -- as if Sam would just turn around and trust the rich white guy who shot him out of sheer spite like half an hour ago??

(Again, it’s Sam shown being friendly and bending over backwards for a famous white man, even when it’s most illogical, just because the creators like Tony.)

I wonder how Sam felt when he saw how beat up Steve was, when he came to the Raft, because of him telling Tony where to go? (Or rather the writers, stupidly, having him tell Tony.)

I bet they'd never write him apologising to Bucky for costing him an arm?

So... yeah.

Even after FATWS, when you realise Sam didn't actually welcome Bucky to visit him...

(And only allowed him a- not even a bed, just a couch!- to sleep on because he was jockeyed into it, and his sister and nephews had already met Bucky and warmed to him. And then gave Bucky the same dangerous shitty victim-blaming advice they put in the mouth of that Annabelle Lecter.)

...Bucky is still in a situation where only Steve, T'Challa, Shuri, and Ayo, have ever showed him any real compassion.

(Although you can tell the FATWS writers think what they’ve written is Sam and Zemo being compassionate).

After co-headlining an entire series?

It's fucking heart breaking.

#long post #anti s*mbucky #hey nonny #toAyourQ #sam meta #bucky meta #fatws meta #anti sam's writing #antisambucky #mcu meta #tfatws #dat's me #🤞🏼 the dumb tagging system doesn't have this turn up in the main tag since it's clearly marked ANTI dumb site #I could've been happily shipping sambuca by now if they'd just done their damn jobs #they had a new ship handed to them on a gold platter and fucked it up #I don't consider myself anti-sambuca; more anti this-version-of-sam being treated as if he's treated bucky well in canon when he hasn't #(altho you can tell the people writing him think he has)#write sam wilson properly! don't make him a counselor and then say he's unable to recognise veteran POW innocence!#he's a wise man with a big heart! not a celebrity sycophant!#it's exasperating how people take any criticism of sam's writing as criticism of sam #and then call it racism #the same way that people dismiss (valid) criticism of peggy as misogyny #sam's the kernel of a great character well-played by mackie #but it's a case of tell then show (the opposite) all over again #when you're left going 'huh... wait a minute... sam's supposed to be a great guy but that thing he did/said/thought wasn't great??'#honestly fuck marvel and the low quality people they choose to hire fuck spellman #different assholes same shit coming out of them

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sleepynobie · 3 years

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seelie | childe x reader

(A/N: It's been a while since the last time I write so it takes time to get the feel back but yeah, I'm obsessed with this game so enjoy!)

This isn't what Childe expects on his first hangout with you after being busy for a while.

A sigh escapes his lips as he starts to reminiscing the first time he hung out with you. It all began when Childe happened to meet you during his free time and he decided to invite you to have lunch together. Well, you were suspicious of him at first because you thought he had an ulterior motive. But then when he said he's going to pay for the meal, that thought quickly dissipates as you agree to have lunch with him. That doesn't mean you didn't have your guard up as you didn't fully trust him. But eventually after hundreds of free meals, you begin to loosen up to him.

To conclude, you start to see him as a friend that he doesn't even need to bribe you with a free meal (but he still pays for it anyway), and as much as he doesn't want to admit, he begins to fall for you. So, when he suddenly gets busy with his work and unable to hang out with you, he realises how much he misses hanging out with you. That's why he's so excited about today's hangout.

But then out of nowhere, this so-called 'seelie' appears and steals your attention away from him. For God sake, the entire conversation of this lunch has been about it to the point he starts to get sick of it. Besides, is that really a seelie? Why would this Ulman guy just leave it on your care when he only met you for the first time? Unless he actually knows you and has an ulterior motive?! And what baffles him is how you casually accept it just because it's cute?! Anyway, he'll need to keep an eye on the seelie and start researching about Ulman-

"Aww, isn't (seelie's name) just the cutest?" Childe snaps out of his thought when he notices that your seelie approaches him and tries to gain his attention.

He frowns for a moment and has his guard up because he's still suspicious of your seelie which makes it flinch and flies back to you. But at the same time, he also doesn't miss the opportunity to flirt with you as he smiles at you "Hmm... I think you're the cutest one instead of that, (Name)"

A slight blush starts to appear as you get flustered for a moment. But then you notice how he doesn't call your seelie with its name that you frown at him "It's (seelie's name), call it properly"

"Okay, okay" Childe replies nonchalantly before pouting while looking at your seelie "You know, I'm still not convinced if (seelie's name) is really a seelie and not dangerous at all"

You sigh "Come on Childe, aren't you being overly suspicious? I've been with (seelie's name) for a while and it has been a great companion and comfort whenever I'm down"

"It's not overly suspicious. I'm being cautious for your sake, (Name)" He says in defence before turning his attention to Paimon who has been focusing on eating her food throughout the conversation "and what about Paimon?"

Paimon stops and looks at you with an expectant look as you look at her before replying to him.

"She's an emergency food"

"What?! Paimon is not an emergency food!"

"Ouch. Rest in peace, Paimon" He says and looks at her with pity which makes her look annoyed.

"I'm kidding. Of course, she has been a great companion too" You say before grinning at Paimon which she huffs in response and complains at how you're being mean to her.

"Anyway, I don't trust (seelie's name) alright?" Childe says "It might have been an act to let your guard down so when you're completely defenceless, it definitely uses the opportunity to attack you-"

"Okay, that's just ridiculous" You object before looking at your seelie and patting it "I just can't imagine (seelie's name) is secretly an assassin"

He sighs exasperatedly and starts to feel irked about not only how you're defending your seelie so much, but also the fact that you don't care about how he's trying to look out for you "(Name), just because it's cute, doesn't mean it's completely harmless"

"Well, I have to disagree because (seelie's name) is the proof that it's cute and harmless"

"How do you know it's harmless?"

"Then, how do you know it's harmful?"

"I'm just saying it's highly possible that (seelie's name) is waiting for the right timing to hurt you. Have you learned anything from our first meeting, (Name)?"

"But (seelie's name) is different from you!" You exclaim as your anger has been building up and finally bursts out "You don't even take the time to get to know it and yet you're already assuming that it's dangerous. Did you even notice that it tried to be friend with you?"

Childe looks taken aback at your sudden outburst whereas Paimon and your seelie look terrified. Meanwhile, you try to calm yourself down as you take a deep breath before explaining calmly "To be honest, I was so excited to introduce (seelie's name) to you because I thought you two can be friends so it can remember you. I didn't tell you this but (seelie's name) can detect treasures and now enemies if they're nearby. So, I was thinking if it remembers you, maybe it can let me know if you're nearby"

You start to look slightly embarrassed at how you're basically confessing your feelings but you prefer to be honest about it so you continue "As much as I don't want to admit, I miss hanging out with you alright because you're the only that I can banter with. The more we get to know each other, the more I realise how we're like on the same frequency even though ironically we're enemies. But we've decided to not drag our background into this if we're friends right? So, I'm not going to associate with Fatui"

Childe who has been listening to you, starts to feel guilty and ashamed at how his jealousy takes over his consideration to befriend your seelie. But then, when you begin talking about your feelings about him, that catches him off guard because he never expects you to feel that way.

"Besides, people normally don't try to rebuild their trust to someone because they've been betrayed once and that was me before. But ever since I met your brother and how persistent you were in trying to spend time with me, I got to learn more about you and I just decided to give you a second chance" You say before smiling "Since we're friends now, shouldn't you try to trust me that (seelie's name) is not dangerous? Even if it ends up dangerous, it doesn't hurt you anyway because it's completely my fault for not listening to you-"

You suddenly stop explaining and look surprised when you look at him because Childe's face reddens out of the blue. He quickly looks away when he meets you in the eye which makes you look confused but also thinks that it's cute since you never see this side of him.

"Woah, Childe's face looks like the Jueyun chili" Paimon suddenly says as she has been watching you two because she's too afraid to say anything. That ruins the moment as you stifle a laugh before eventually laughing when you can't hold it anymore. Childe who was feeling guilty, then touched and overwhelmed due to your confession, and now embarrassed because Paimon just had to say that. But thanks to her, the serious atmosphere tones down and he feels a little calmer before looking at you.

"Well umm... I'll start with an apology because like you said, I was being inconsiderate to (seelie's name)" He says and looks at your seelie apologetically before returning his attention to you "Honestly, I was also the same as you because I looked forward to hanging out with you again because I realised how much I miss spending time with you during my free time. It's the only time when I feel like I'm being who I am and how it feels like to hang out with your friends"

Suddenly, he starts to feel embarrassed at what he's going to say as he can't help but look away from you while resting his cheek on his palm "But I just felt disappointed when you only talked about (seelie's name) and care so much about it. I guess I just felt unfair since it takes your attention away from me"

There's an awkward silence for a moment because you still try to understand what he just said while the silence makes Childe even feel more embarrassing.

"So... you're saying that you're jealous of (seelie's name)?" You finally reply and Childe is feeling called out because that's basically what it is.

".... Yeah.." He responds almost inaudible.

"Oh" You merely say for a moment before smirking "You want me to dote on you?"

"That line sounds familiar.." Paimon says to herself while a blush comes up to Childe's face because he gets caught off guard. Again.

"So that's why he likes to flirt huh" You thought to yourself as you find it fun to do before Childe calms himself down by clearing his throat and changes the topic.

"Anyway, it's settled now. Although, I don't think (seelie's name) wants to approach me again"

"I think it will open up to you if you approach it first" You smile and he blushes slightly before trusting your words as he raises his hand forward to try to pat it. Your seelie looks unsure for a moment but you reassure it that Childe doesn't mean anything bad and it trusts you. It lets Childe touch its head and he looks surprised at how soft and squishy it is, similarly to a slime.

"See? How can you say that it's dangerous" You sigh "You're overreacting, like a child"

"Can you stop using my name as a pun?" He starts to look irked which startles your seelie and he quickly apologises to it.

"Aww you two are finally friends" You smile proudly and give a pat to your seelie and to Childe which irks him even more.

"Now, you're treating me like a kid"

"But you want attention right? I give you attention" You smirk mischievously.

He frowns at you and grabs your hand to get it off from his head before he leans closer to you with a smirk "Maybe you can give me something else instead"

You start blushing but you know that he's being a flirt again so this time, you're not gonna back down. Your seelie starts to panic as it thinks that you're gonna fight again but thanks to Paimon, the tension breaks again.

"Are you guys going to kiss or something?"

The two of you blush furiously and immediately say no to her.

"How do you even know about kissing?" You sweatdrop.

"Anyway, I hope we can be friends, (seelie's name)" Childe smiles at your seelie and it looks excited as it suddenly extends its ears before twirling around. You smile happily as you watch the two of them bonding together and thankfully the hangout ends well.

Bonus

"You don't really need to pay for the meal, you know?" Childe sighs since he wants to pay for the meal but you quickly take over to pay.

"It's okay, I mean I almost ruined our hangout so" You grin.

"I thought we're going to get a free meal" Paimon sighs in disappointment "Free meals taste better"

"Paimon..." Your expression immediately changes to the one where you're going to scold her.

Childe chuckles before smiling "I'll treat you guys next time alright?"

"Yes please!" Paimon replies excitedly while you just sweatdrop at her before sighing.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head back to the bank so I'll see you guys again when I see you" He says and pats your seelie which makes you look happy at how they get along.

"Okay" You nod "But before you go, let me tell you something"

"What is it?" He looks confused.

"I said that (seelie's name) is the cutest but just today, I found that you're cuter than (seelie's name)" You smile innocently while Childe looks flustered at the sudden flirt and he's not used to it.

"I still think you're the cutest" He merely replies before turning around to leave "Anyway, I'm going so see ya"

"Alright see ya" You wave your hand before laughing in enjoyment at how you like making Childe get flustered. Now he can relate to how you feel when he flirts with you.

#childe #genshin tartagalia #tartagalia #genshin ajax #childe x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact fanfic #genshin childe

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slasherhaven · 3 years

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Hi!! Love your blog <3

Could you write how the slashers would react to their newest victim (and future S/O) succumbing to Stockholm syndrome?

The Slasher with a victim (future S/O) that succumbs to Stockholm Syndrome

Thomas Hewitt

Thomas is confused but slowly accepts it. When you first start showing signs of...affection? Tommy is just confused. At first he just thinks it’s a trick to get him to let you go but you continue, you’re kind, you try to speak to him, you seem to want him around, and you oddly submissive, agreeing to do what the family asked of you. But your trust and affection seemed mostly focused on Thomas. He didn’t understand your change of heart but he accepted it, it couldn’t be a bad thing to you have around, to have you love him.

Luda May encourages it. As long as you you follow the rules, continue to prove you can be trusted, and continue to grow close to Thomas, she is happy with this. She’ll be the one mostly in charge of your ‘rules’. This mostly includes how much freedom around the house. At first you need constant supervision, usually from Thomas which encourages you both to keep growing closer, but eventually you’ll be allowed to move around the house as you wish. But only once you prove that you aren’t going to run, that your change of heart is real.

Michael Myers

Had already formed an obsession with you. Michael isn’t known for holding any victims captive, so this is a first for both of you. Something about you just told him that he had to have you, so he did and kept you in the house he grew up in. Of course, at first, you had fought and begged he let you do, but he just had to keep you around for some reason. Then your behaviour started to change. No arguing, more submission, staring, and the only time you begged was for him to not leave. Apparently, you didn’t like being left along for a long time.

Is under no illusions about what is really going on. He knows that you aren’t actually falling in love with him, this was Stockholm syndrome. He just doesn’t care. Either way, he gets your submission, you stop fighting him, and he gets what he wants. You, just without the hassle.

Jason Voorhees

Likely formed some sort of obsession with you and wants to protect you. Among your group of friends, you stood out to him. He just felt the need to protect you, to keep you tucked away in the safety of his cabin. So, that’s exactly what he did. He snatched you up and took you home. At first you were scared and upset, begging to be let go, promising now to say anything. He didn’t like it but he understood it. He was just giving it time, hoping you would come around.

He’s cautious but accepting of your change. He notices your gradual change. How you calm down, becoming less nervous and more comfortable around him, even seeming to want to be around him. At first he is cautious, just wanting to make sure that this isn’t a trick or something, but he’d gradually accept your change, happily doing so. He much prefers having you move about the cabin and be around him because you want to be rather than because you’re scared.

Brahms Heelshire

Just thinks he’s getting what he wants. He doesn’t realise it’s Stockholm syndrome, he doesn’t even consider it as a possibility. He just thinks that you’ve finally come around to loving him and taking care of him, since that’s all he ever wanted you to do. That’s what he told you that you had to do.

Takes advantage of it. Brahms sees how you’ve become submissive to him and takes full advantage of it. By now you’ll be following his ‘rules’ like they’re your religion and doing so without complaint. Not only will you allow physical affection, you will initiate it and desire it as well. You’d never say no to him, and that’s exactly what he wants from you. The way he sees it, you’ve just become the perfect nanny.

Bo Sinclair

Finds it humorous. When he realises what’s happening, that you’re showing signs of Stockholm syndrome and that he is your main attachment, he is just amused. Well, this should be interesting. He’s definitely going to mess around with it, see what he can get you to go, even tease you about falling for him.

Knows that it’s Stockholm syndrome but doesn’t care. He’s well aware of what is going on here, he simply doesn’t care for your reasoning. He doesn’t care that the feeling aren’t real, that doesn’t matter to him. As long as you’re obedient and do as he says, he’s all good with it.

Vincent Sinclair

Is just confused. He doesn’t understand why you stopped crying and struggling, or why you started asking him to stay with you. You wanted him to be around, you wanted to be closer to him whenever Bo was in the room. He just couldn’t understand why. He had just as much a part in your friends’ death as Bo, so why weren’t you as afraid of him?

Doesn’t mind unless you become a threat to the town. When it became clear that you were being completely sincere about your newfound feelings (even though Bo was completely aware you were suffering from Stockholm syndrome), the brothers decided to keep you around. Bo made it clear that you were Vincent’s responsibility and he was alright with that, since you seemed so okay with that.

Lester Sinclair

He had felt guilty and showed you kindness. The twins were holding you for longer than usual and you were just so scared, crying and pleading to be let go, promising that you would tell anyone about Ambrose. It made Lester feel bad for you. So, he would come and give you food and drink, make sure you were as comfortable as you could be given the situation, he would give you company even though he was sure that you wouldn’t want that from him. But when you started to look forward to his visits, speak more to him, the two of you becoming friendly.

Is worried about your attachment to him but it saves your life. He knew it wasn’t normal for somebody being held hostage to become so friendly with one of their captures, he knew that is should be a cause for concern. But he liked your company, he liked you, and even his brothers thought your friendliness and attachment to him was sincere. It saved your life because Lester managed to convince Bo to let you live, to let you live with him, more specifically. You would still be under close watch but it should slowly ease up, at least with Lester.

Bubba Sawyer

Has no concept of Stockholm syndrome. When you start ‘warming up’ to him, that’s all he thinks it is. He thinks you’re starting to like him and he likes you, so he doesn’t see the problem. He’s excited to have a new friend.

Kind of treats you like a pet. Drayton had been very strict about you being Bubba’s responsibility if he wanted to keep you. Like a parent would tell a child when they ask for a pet. So, it makes sense that Bubba would take that seriously. He would take care of you, bringing you food and drink, new clothes, keeping you in his room until the family trusts you enough to move through the house freely.

Billy Lenz

Thinks you’ve just warmed up to him. Billy just knows that you’ve stopped seeming upset and seem more comfortable. He honestly just thinks you’ve started to like him. You had been his favourite, it’s why he kept you instead of killing you. Only, you hadn’t seemed too happy about it at the time. So, this was just you calming down and starting to like him...right?

Realises he can get away with a lot more now. You have stopped flinching away from him whenever he gets too close so he tries to initiate more physical contact, thrilled when you allow it. Even more thrilled when you seek it out.

Asa Emory (The Collector)

It was possibly intentional. If you manage to be exposed to Asa enough to form any sort of attachment to him, he’s probably on purpose. He had probably taken a liking to you, decided to keep you, the Stockholm syndrome was just a bonus.

Will play with you because of it. He’ll keep you locked up in one of the suites in the hotel, provide food and water, new clothes that he wants you to wear. He loves your submission and obedience to him, he loves that you’ve developed some sort of reliance on him. He loves messing with you, seeing what he can get you to do. Could he walk you around the hotel and show you his collection and still have you crave his attention once he gets you back to your room?

Jesse Cromeans (Chromeskull)

Knows exactly what is happening. As soon as you start showing signs of Stockholm syndrome, Jesse is invested in seeing where this goes. He’s going to push you, tease you, test just how deep in you are. Apparently, you’re pretty far gone because you’re stilling hanging on to him. Still seeking his attention and even his affection, taking whatever he will give you.

Will still take advantage of it. He knows that’s happening but that won’t stop him from using it against you. He’s not going to kill you though, this is much more fun. He likes your submission but he wants to see if he can get you to fully seek him out, not quite as subtly as you already do. He wants to know if he can come back from a kill, take a seat, and have you place yourself on his lap as if on instinct.

Otis Driftwood

As soon as he realises what’s going on, he’s smirking. He doesn’t care that this is Stockholm syndrome, he’s done worse than take advantage of somebody who isn’t completely mentally stable. And, hey, right now you seem to enjoy his attention quite a bit. He will push you to your limit before drawing you back in with gentleness, something he isn’t familiar with but knows will wash away all the stuff that might push you away from him completely.

Might just have to keep you around, for as long as this continues at least. It’s fun, he’s going to keep playing with you. The only thing is that once you snap, unable to take it anymore even with the Stockholm syndrome, you wouldn’t be of much use to him.

Baby Firefly

Oh...this is going to be fun. She’s excited about your behaviour. You want to please her and she’s more than happy to let you, presenting you to the family, telling them that she’s keeping you.

Treats you a little like a toy. To her, you’re an object. All you seem to want is to please her and all she wants is to let you. She’ll dress you up how she wants, have you do as she says, the praise and affection you get being your reward that keeps you around.

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horrorxweasley · 3 years

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(Part 2) The girl Mafia George x Fem! Y/N Series

Warnings: Swearing! (message if I missed any)

Word Count: 2K

Summary: George Weasley is a renowned Mafia boss who took over from his Father Arthur once he retired, to carry on the Triple W mafia legacy. The only mafia known to be able to keep the Death Eaters (their rival mafia) at bay. However there is one item that they stole from the Triple W’s which George is determined to get back…his mothers necklace, the family heirloom. Y/N Greyback has been forced to comply with the Death Eaters wishes as her family are high up members. What happens when George and Y/N meet? And what happens when they fall in love?

Series Masterlist

George couldn’t get the mystery girl from last night out of his head. Was it truly his mother’s necklace that he saw lying on her neck? It couldn’t have been, one of his men would have seen her enter Diagon if it was, either that or they would have already caught her roaming the streets. He didn’t recall seeing a dark mark tattoo on her left forearm, so she couldn’t have been a part of Riddle’s crew. Unless of course, they had gotten smarter and realised that them all having the same tattoo was a big give away. George couldn’t focus, he was sat in the Leaky cauldron, attempting to each his breakfast but continuing to get lost in thought.

Soon, George felt his pocket buzz, indicating that he had gotten a message on the phones that him, Fred and Ron had all gotten in order to keep in touch. He flipped it open seeing a text from both of his brothers, the usual update saying that ‘No one has yet been caught or seen trying to leave or enter Diagon’. The members stationed all round the boarder of the town were doing an excellent job, George had full trust in them that they had all been keeping an extremely close eye out for any suspicious or unusual behaviour.

George had well forgotten about his breakfast an morning coffee, trying to figure out any more ways he can ensure that Diagon was free from any Death Eater bastards. Being a mafia boss didn’t come naturally to George, so it was at times like these he struggled most, his mind racing with unreliable memories of the girl from last night and the necklace she was wearing. Hitting the table in frustration, George places his head in his hands and sighed.

He wasn’t one to confront a lady, but when it came to his mother’s necklace, he really had no choice, he had to find out where she was staying, who she was, and if she was in fact a Death Eater.

Y/N woke up the next day satisfied with what she had managed to achieve last night. She didn’t know much of George Weasley’s appearance other than the fact that he was tall and ginger. Which suited exactly the description of the man she had bumped into last night. Another thing she hadn’t expected was for him to be so handsome.

In all honesty Y/N felt it was cruel what she had been sent to do. She hated knowing that she would essentially be leading George to his death. Y/N has never agreed with the rulings that Riddle made, she felt that what he was preaching for was extremely prejudice, he wanted to get rid of every poor family so that “the rich could thrive”, Y/N’s heart deep down was set on truly helping those who weren’t as well off as the others.

Thoughts of going behind her family’s back and instead helping George take away all power from Riddle had become extremely prominent in her mind. She knew what she had to do, she had to find George Weasley again, whilst under cover so that the Death Eaters that are currently staying within Diagon don’t report back that they had seen her with George Weasley, the very man they’re trying to kill.

Her mind was set, she was going to purposely seek out George Weasley tonight and tell him everything her family and the rest of the Death eaters wish to do to him, and Triple W. Along with their plans to get rid of all poor people in England.

George had long since given up on his breakfast, and was now making his way back to the old fashioned bar in which Triple W held all of their meetings. As he walked through the building in which the HQ as it were, was located, he could hear a slight murmuring of voices coming from the bar room. Them most likely being the voices of other Triple W members catching up like they normally would, before a meeting began.

George walked into the smoke filled room, heading straight to the back where his seat sat in the centre, almost as if it were a throne looking for a king. He stood in front of his chair, clearing his throat as he looked round the room gaining the attention of the men and women before him.

“As many of you may know, we have had our first night with members scattered round the boarders of this town, and so far there has been no sign of anyone attempting to leave or exit Diagon”

Triple W members began to whisper their frustrations at the lack of Death Eaters being caught.

“Now I know this may seem bad news for right now as we haven’t caught any of those bastards quite yet, BUT, we also need to look on the bright side of things. This also may well mean that we are also, so far safe from any spies getting information of our whereabouts. This meeting is only a short one tonight boys…and ladies, so unless anyone has anymore questions or information they wish to put forward, you are all welcome to go back home, or stay and enjoy a drink”

George stepped away from where he was standing and went over to his brothers.

“So really no further info or suspicions for any Death Eaters, coming in or out, isn’t that suspicious I mean surely they would have sent someone by now” Ron says clearly not convinced that no information has been passed down.

“I was thinking that too y’know” Fred added

“Look, I agree, I surely think that if they were really serious about taking us down they would’ve sent a spy, but they haven’t. There is no doubt in my mind that they are dead set on killing each and every one of us, so this could be their tactic. Let us believe that no one is coming, therefore they wait until we eventually let out guards down, so they have easy access and a higher chance of getting to us”

“You’re not gonna let that happen though Georgie, surely” Fred said

“No of course not, all I’m saying is that this could be their plan, we’re not going to give up to easily just because we get bored due to there being no action, alright so just sit tight because we could be like this for months”

Fred and Ron’s faces both changed into realisation that that could indeed be true.

“Now, I’m gonna head back to the leaky cauldron to relax, keep me posted if any of the guys near you see anything”

With that, George walked out the room, into the streets and made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, smiling at locals as they passed. Once at the pub he sat down right in the corner, only ordering a glass of water, picking up the local newspaper, ignoring once again the thoughts of who the mystery girl truly was that he had bumped into last night.

He felt a tad bit guilty for not telling Fred or Ron about how he had briefly spoken to a woman, about his age, wearing a necklace that looked suspiciously like the one that was stolen from their mother years ago. Before they were born.

George didn’t know much about the exact origins of his mothers necklace. The basic story he knew was that, his family used to be extremely poor, living off of pennies, barely getting by. Having 5 children at the time wouldn’t have helped either, more mouths to feed, less money to do so. That was until his Father got a massive promotion and therefore a raise in wage at his job. As a treat his Father bought his Mother a beautiful, diamond necklace to remember and symbolise that no matter how much they were struggling, that they were always going to find a way to get past it. Thus it became the most price possession to the Weasley family, becoming their heirloom. You can only imagine the hurt that George’s mother felt when she came back to their house one evening, to find the windows smashed and her necklace gone.

George was too young at the time to understand fully, the impact that the loss of that necklace had on his mother and father, and what it meant to them. But as he grew, and his father created Triple W in order to track down the people who stole it.

Y/N had gotten dressed, in a smart but casual outfit. She didn’t have any desire to be immediately spotted today so she had taken off the diamond necklace and placed it in her bag. She decided that she would try and seek out George today, as she wasn’t expected to have a meeting with another under cover Death Eater until tomorrow, to update them on her progress.

Y/N had decided to make her way down stairs to the pub area of the Leaky Cauldron. As she made her way down the stairs she couldn’t help but notice a fiery red colour sitting in the corner, in her peripheral vision.

She turned her head only to see the one and only George Weasley, sat with a glass of what looked like water, his head stuck in the local newspaper ‘the Daily Prophet’. Even though he had the paper up at eye level and was scanning it back and forth, his furrowed eyebrows and blank expression told her that he wasn’t really reading the newspaper, and that something else was on his mind.

Y/N reckoned it must have something to do with the people she has been forced to work for her whole life. She tentatively began to walk toward the ginger man. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, what is his reaction going to be when she tells him that she actually works for the people he is dedicating his life to defeating and that she is actually in possession of his mother’s extremely expensive and extremely valuable diamond necklace. Her hearing began to focus only on the beating noise of her heart and the noise of her shoes hitting the ground with every step as she walked closer and closer to George’s table.

She could feel the tension rising as if he already knew she was there and who she was. She had caught herself momentarily holding her breath, making her feel light headed and even more anxious at the confrontation she was about to engage in. To say she was scared of George was an understatement, she knew nothing about George or his character. For all she knew he could freak out and kidnap her away to wherever they had their meetings, and torture her for answers. At least, that’s what Riddle would do if the roles were reversed. The only thing that was helping motivate her feet to move closer and closer towards him, was the tiny speck of hope, that he was different to the people she had grown up around.

Her feet came to a halt after what felt like forever, she looked at the man in front of her with a some what calm expression. Y/N cleared her throat gaining the attention of George, who put his newspaper down on the table in front of him, meeting her eyes with his dark hazel coloured ones. Y/N smiled weakly at her before speaking.

“H-hi”

“Hello, you’re that lady that I bumped into last night aren’t you? I’m awfully sorry about that by the way, I hope I didn’t hurt you” he replied, she could hear the genuine concern for her safety which put her mind more at ease, maybe he was nice, maybe he wasn’t the type of mafia boss to torture people.

“Yeah I am, and I’m the one who should be sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going”

“No need it’s all good, what can I do for you?” He smiled

Y/N gulped down any nerves she felt, in order to stop her voice from trembling, she was terrified, not only of George’s possible reaction, but also of Riddle and any other Death Eaters that might see her with him, betraying him.

“We need to talk”

Taglist: @amourtentiaa @love-peachh @pens-and-roses @rosietoesy @comfortwriting @famdomhideout @dracofknmalfoy @pandaxnienke @georgeweasleysbabe @le-weasley-simp @skarlettmikaelson @gaycatlord-stuff @midgardianweasley @writing-wh0re (MESSAGE/ASK IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED)

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Digimon Savers Commentary Episode 23 - Once More to the Digital World! Insekimon’s Rampage!

In this episode, political pressures force the DATS team to return to the Digital World with Kurata as their commander, and they fight Gotsumon. Meanwhile, Ikuto sorts out his confused feelings about the human-Digimon conflict.

It’s abundantly clear here that the recaps only cover events directly related to the plot, because there’s no mention of any of the adorable domestic family bonding that was obviously the best part of last episode.

The episode opens on a short scene of Ikuto sitting in Masaru’s bedroom, gazing out at the Anime Sads Rain outside. He flashes back to SaberLeomon telling him that, since he’s a human, he can’t understand the Digimon’s suffering. It seems like that genuinely got to him and that he doesn’t have the self-assurance to be able to assert to himself that he obviously understands the Digimon’s suffering just as much as any Digimon.

Falcomon is also there, worrying about his friend.

Man this is an extremely early opening for once. Completing the series of shots of the trio in a destroyed city, here’s Masaru getting ready to punch a thing, as ever!

Masaru: “I don’t get why the Digiegg disappeared.”

At DATS HQ, the crew are very explicitly aware of this having happened to SaberLeomon’s egg and yet commenting on it like its just a weird mystery and not something really horrific, actually.

(What I may not have made clear in last episode’s commentary is that the in-story narrative is definitely going with the fact that they don’t realise they killed SaberLeomon, rather than that they’re fully aware they did and just don’t care. Which is definitely better than them having some actual genuine moral dissonance about this. It’s just still weird to me that they’d somehow miss what it means for his egg to have disintegrated, especially given what they’ve been told by Mercurimon and Ikuto about the massacre.)

Tohma: “That’s not the only mystery around here.”

Tohma’s referring to the strange mechanical Digimon that showed up to help them against SaberLeomon. Kinda surprised he hasn’t pieced together that these two mysteries are connected. Unless he has, and he’s just keeping quiet about it because it’s only conjecture.

I wonder if another part of the reason the writers never picked up on the fact that everyone should be thoroughly horrified at having killed SaberLeomon is because they were primarily thinking about presenting this like a plot-driven mystery, rather than a character-driven source of drama and tension. Which is definitely the wrong choice in my opinion, but I’m just trying to present possible mindsets to explain the writers’ uncharacteristic major misstep here.

Satsuma enters the room followed by a row of armoured, helmeted soldiers carrying some big sci-fi guns. Anyone who was paying close attention to the silhouettes in a certain flashback will already know what a very Bad Thing this is, but DATS didn’t see that flashback, so they can’t be blamed. Kurata brings up the rear, still acting all casual and friendly.

Kurata: “Word has it that the transportation equipment is fixed.”

Masaru: “I didn’t hear about this!”

Agumon: “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Yoshino: “We can’t have you breaking it again when we finally got it fixed!”

Yoshino’s got an extremely good point there. Not telling Masaru about this until he needed to know was definitely the safest approach. I am amused that this is a precaution they took.

Satsuma explains that they’re going to be accompanied by Kurata and those troops to the Digital World, by order of the Ministry of Confidentiality. We shift into a chronologically-earlier scene of how this came about.

Monster Appears

The Government Knew

These are some front-page headlines, complete with photos of SaberLeomon, that have found their way to Governor Hashiba’s desk. I imagine there were probably also plenty of news reports about the Digimon army from the previous episode, but perhaps this time is the first point at which the government’s knowledge and involvement in all this has also been leaked. Hashiba, who is a politician and a public figure, and whose job it’s meant to be to keep this sort of stuff confidential, is almost certainly in a lot of hot water right now.

Hashiba: “DATS will go at once to the Digital World and defeat Mercurimon, who is the cause behind all of this disorder!”

They’re still assuming that it’s all Mercurimon’s fault. Satsuma, too, who’s here being given this order by Hashiba, doesn’t try to counter it. Tohma never reported back about the whole massacre thing they learned of in episode 18, so Satsuma still has no reason to assume there’s more nuance to this than just Mercurimon Is Evil. Everyone on the human world side has no idea that Mercurimon actually opposed the attacks in the previous two episodes; they’re assuming everything was done on his orders.

Satsuma’s only protest to this order is that, thanks to evolution levels, Mercurimon is too powerful for them to simply go and fight, and they need time to come up with a strategy.

Hashiba: “There’s no time for that! We’ve already fallen into a state of warfare!”

If Hashiba was thinking primarily about the war itself, he ought to understand that taking time to devise a proper strategy is the best approach. He’s being impatient less because of the war and more because right now the public is blaming him for the war, and he can’t have that. He is a politician, after all.

Kurata: “In that case… Why don’t we consider discussing peace negotiations?”

Kurata, of all people, is the first person to explicitly suggest simply negotiating with Mercurimon. That sure is a thing.

He butts into this conversation while leaning casually against the door of the office, and Satsuma asks him what he’s doing here, meaning that Kurata apparently invited himself to this meeting that he wasn’t meant to be a part of. Hashiba doesn’t seem to mind.

Hashiba: “The other party is a Digimon. Do you really believe talking will get through to it?”

The Ministry of Confidentiality is evidently not very well-educated in basic facts about Digimon, such as, you know, the fact that they’re people and not just big scary monsters.

Kurata: “You shouldn’t be so prejudiced.”

Ha. Ahem. Listen to me having a totally coincidental and definitely not faked bout of coughing over here. These sure are some words that Kurata said.

Kurata: “Mercurimon is very intelligent, and it’s quite likely that he can be persuaded through reason.”

Still, note how Kurata cites Mercurimon’s “intelligence” as an argument for why he might listen, like he’s some kind of very intelligent wild animal like a dolphin or a chimp, instead of simply pointing out that Digimon are people. That’s quite telling.

Kurata is also not trying to make any kind of argument that these recent attacks might not have been on Mercurimon’s orders at all. He’s still presenting Mercurimon as explicitly the bad guy, just one who might listen to reason.

Kurata: “No-one will be hurt if we settle this through peaceful negotiation. You, Governor Hashiba, will not have to take the blame for war, and we’ll be able to come around to an easy solution. Mmm, it’s all full of benefits as far as I can tell.”

It is very clear that Kurata is deliberately appealing to Hashiba’s self-interests here. He works for the Ministry of Confidentiality as well and probably spends a lot of time advising Hashiba on Digimon matters, which is to say that he’s very much learned how to pull the governor’s strings while letting Hashiba feel like he’s still the one calling the shots. We’re getting just a little glimpse of that here, but this can’t be the only time he’s done so.

(Those times in previous episodes that Hashiba waltzed up to DATS and made an official decision that didn’t have properly justified motives behind it? Those were all Kurata’s doing, is what I’m saying.)

Hashiba: “Since you’ve argued to that extent, I’ll leave you in charge.”

In doing this, not only has Kurata got himself a ticket onto DATS’s next Digital World trip to confront Mercurimon, he’s also got himself put in charge of it. Offering to be the big hero who’s willing to negotiate (and therefore, most importantly, get Hashiba out of trouble) really worked to butter the governor up.

Satsuma is still here in the office for this exchange, watching Kurata’s smarminess and looking unconvinced. He clearly knows something’s up, but he doesn’t know what exactly, and he doesn’t have the authority to be able to protest.

Kurata: “Well! I didn’t think *I’d* get personally involved in this business!”

Back in the present at DATS HQ, Kurata is still being all humble. He definitely just found himself getting accidentally swept into this after making a casual suggestion and certainly wasn’t planning on getting involved at all.

Kurata: “But as it’s come to this, I will be your commander from now on.”

He’s not very good at flawlessly keeping up the act, though, since he sure looks like he’s relishing the thought of getting to boss these people around for someone who’s supposedly so humble.

Tohma: “Captain!”

Satsuma: “This is an order from the Ministry of Confidentiality.”

Tohma is the first one to actively protest; clearly he can also tell that Something Is Up. Satsuma isn’t allowed to express his own distaste about this idea, but his reluctance is clear in the fact that all he can do is reiterate that this is an order, with no actual vouching for Kurata anywhere.

Masaru: “Gimme a break! Why do we have to be ordered around by someone who isn’t even in DATS?”

Agumon: “That’s right! You’ve never even fought a Digimon before!”

Masaru also has problems with this, though I imagine his are less about him having remotely picked up on any of the suspicious political powerplays going on, and more about him simply taking issue at the idea of following orders from some guy who has nothing to do with any of this and whom he doesn’t even respect.

(That said, given that Masaru doesn’t respect Kurata despite the latter being his dad’s former assistant, that still says something about Masaru’s judgement of people. He probably couldn’t articulate why he doesn’t like this guy, but he does not like this guy.)

Kurata sneezes as Agumon gets close to him. He’s still doing that. Totally allergies, definitely not passive-aggression.

Kurata: “Don’t try to blame this on me. Besides, I’m not necessarily doing this because I *want* to.”

Yep, totally not Kurata’s fault or idea at all.

Kurata: “The Digimon on the other side have completely made us their enemies. We don’t know when they’ll come to attack us…”

He’s not even passing the buck onto Hashiba here, but rather blaming the Digimon for him having totally no choice but to get wrapped up in this. Us humans, we’re such victims of these unpredictable violent monsters, you see.

Masaru brushes Kurata’s words aside and strides past him towards the Digital Dive machine.

Masaru: “That’s why I’m telling you to leave it all to us. Mercurimon’s not the type of guy you can persuade through talking in the first place. The only thing that can get through to him are the fists of a passionate man!”

Oh, Masaru. He actually means this, too – the idea that his fists can get through to Mercurimon. It’s not talking, because Masaru’s never much for talking, but he is nonetheless seeing the fight that he intends to have with Mercurimon as an effort to communicate with him. Effectively, Masaru is also advocating for the idea of negotiating with Mercurimon, entirely of his own volition! He just has a rather different method for it in mind, and certainly doesn’t trust Kurata with any of this.

Lalamon: “It sounds like you’re eager to go to the Digital World, but not to follow Kurata-san’s orders.”

Yep, that’s about the size of it, Lalamon.

Meanwhile, Tohma has been looking concerned, and now he calls out for Masaru to wait.

Tohma: “It’s too soon. I’ll have to re-adjust the pattern buffer to transfer this large number of people. Please give us one more day.”

Based on Tohma’s behaviour, this is an excuse and not actually the truth. Apparently they were supposed to head off right now, but because of the unexpected Kurata intrusion, Tohma wants to buy himself a little more time to try and figure out what Kurata is up to before he blindly goes along with it.

There’s a brief silent exchange between Kurata and Tohma at this: Kurata’s initial response is to scowl in frustration; Tohma narrows his eyes threateningly; and then Kurata catches himself and puts on the friendly-and-humble act as he acquiesces. It’s a fun subtle little moment of power-play between these two. Kurata hates that Tohma just took some of his control away from him, but he’s forced to accept that he’s currently not in a position to act like he’s the one controlling everything and so has to relent. And Tohma knows full well that that’s what he’s doing with this move.

Kurata: “Doctor Tohma. I foresee great things from you. Please take care of it.”

Kurata leaves Tohma with this as he walks out, which actually seems to wrong-foot Tohma a little bit (Gaomon notes that he’s gone pale). Tohma is not used to people here praising him in a way that’s about his academic intellect and talent, and was probably especially not expecting it from Kurata of all people. There’s almost something subtly threatening about it, and I think he can tell.

(This is all some very-clearly-deliberate foreshadowing of things to come.)

Tohma: “Captain. Could there be another motive behind the Digital Dive?”

Satsuma: “I don’t know what his true motives may be, but that does not change the fact that our mission… is to stop the fighting between our world and the Digital World. Don’t forget that.”

So, before anyone tries to complain that DATS are being really dumb to just let Kurata waltz into the Digital World like this, please be reassured that at least Satsuma and Tohma are both extremely suspicious of Kurata and not buying his act one bit. They unfortunately just don’t really have a choice but to obey Hashiba’s orders and go along with this. Kurata has talked his way onto this mission, and all DATS can do now is try and make sure it goes the way they want regardless.

That said, Tohma specifically is in the best position to potentially figure out what Kurata’s motive is, because he’s not only deeply suspicious of Kurata but also was there when Mercurimon told them about the massacre of Digimon, which Satsuma still doesn’t know about. Yet, the fact that Tohma chose not to inform Satsuma of that fact says a lot about how much he’s willing to think about or confront it himself, so perhaps it’s no surprise he’s not able to join the dots there. It is unfortunate, but very human.

Since Tohma bought them an extra day, Masaru has the evening meal at his house to tell his family – and Ikuto and Falcomon, who are still staying there – about the mission tomorrow.

Masaru: “It might be difficult for you, but we can’t leave Mercurimon alone when there’s the possibility he’ll attack our world again.”

Look at Masaru understanding that Mercurimon is important to Ikuto and therefore that Ikuto might be conflicted at the idea of him and Masaru having to fight each other. He’s so good.

Perhaps a lot of the reason why Masaru was the first person to genuinely propose some form of “negotiation” with Mercurimon was because of how much he’s been bonding with and understanding Ikuto. Ikuto sees Mercurimon as someone worthy of respect, and so Masaru buys into that too and can also see Mercurimon that way rather than as a warmongering evil villain. And that’s with Masaru having not even been present for most of Mercurimon talking about the massacre in episode 18.

(I suppose that really the first person to propose negotiating with Mercurimon was Yushima, since that’s what he actually went and did in episode 18. But he’s unfortunately not here right now to put that stance across more firmly. Kurata’s lucky that he isn’t; it’d have been interesting to see what Yushima’s take on this whole Kurata situation would have been if he were here.)

Sayuri: “Oh, my.”

Chika: “You’re going into danger again?”

Aww, these two. They know that what Masaru’s doing is important, but they still can’t help but worry about him.

Ikuto: “Mercurimon really hates that humans come into Digital World. That’s why… You’ll push him into war!”

Mercurimon does hate humans coming to the Digital World, but I don’t know if that’d actually push him into outright war against the human world, given how desperate he is to avoid Digimon casualties. Maybe Ikuto’s being influenced by believing that the recent army attack was Mercurimon’s doing when it wasn’t.

Ikuto: “I go, too! To Mercurimon!”

Masaru’s talk of communicating-with-fists to Mercurimon is one thing, but Ikuto going to talk to him would make even more sense. If Mercurimon would listen to anyone – any human, that is – it’d be his surrogate kid.

Agumon: “But if you’re gonna go, who will you side with?”

However, this question gives Ikuto second thoughts, because he doesn’t know. He’s still loyal to Digimon, but he knows he’s a human now, and he knows that there’s people in the human world who are good. Who should he side with?

Yet, Agumon, who’s still a child and is seeing this in a rather simplistic way – probably not helped by having his aniki nominally present this as a fight – is approaching this problem completely wrong by acting like Ikuto has to pick a side. Ikuto’s also too young to properly see the flaw in that straight away, so this question just stumps him.

Masaru: “If you can’t make a decision, stay here. You’ll just make it harder on yourself.”

Masaru is so good, worrying about Ikuto’s feelings and the emotional turmoil this might cause him. It’s also very appropriately Masaru, since he’s always got so much conviction and self-assurance in his actions, that he wouldn’t want Ikuto going and doing something major like this if he’s not sure of himself.

We interrupt this serious discussion of Ikuto’s inner conflict with these two utterly adorable dorks sleeping in a ridiculous heap together. What absolute cuties.

Please also appreciate the “AGU” pillow that Agumon has. They wouldn’t sell those in stores, which means that Sayuri must have made it for him, and of course she would. She’s such a sweetheart.

While we’re here in Masaru’s room, let me go off on a quick tangent and finish a thought I brought up in episode 2 but couldn’t continue at the time because the deal with Masaru’s dad hadn’t been fully established back then. Masaru’s room is really surprisingly tidy for someone like him. So I headcanon that the only reason for this is that one of the things he remembers his dad telling him when he was around was to keep his room tidy, and Masaru very determinedly stuck to that, because his dad means everything to him. Yes.

Ikuto and Falcomon are on a futon on Masaru’s bedroom floor, but Ikuto can’t sleep. He’s still thinking about Agumon’s question of who he’d “side with”.

Falcomon notices he’s still awake and tries to talk to him, but Ikuto just brushes him off and hides under his blanket. Ikutooo, talk to your friend, he wants to help you.

(In the background, quietly enough that it’s not even subbed, Agumon can be very faintly heard mumbling about Sayuri’s fried eggs in his sleep. He still has the happiest dreams.)

Over in the Digital World, Mercurimon is lost in thought, remembering Suguru. He probably tried not to think about Suguru much after the massacre, which he believed was Suguru betraying him, but recent events have put the man back on his mind.

Mercurimon: “There wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation in his soul. When I felt that same Digisoul hit me, my beliefs wavered. I’ve begun to wonder if not all humans were evil.”

Masaru’s Digisoul from when he punched Mercurimon in episode 18 reminded Mercurimon of Suguru’s very similar Digisoul, which in turn reminded him of the kind of man he’d believed Suguru was before the apparent “betrayal”. He was too wrapped up in his fury back in that episode to dwell on it too much then, but now he’s had plenty of time to reflect on what he’s been reminded of. He’d spent all these years furiously thinking of Suguru as a liar and a traitor, but, perhaps not, after all? Maybe he really was the person Mercurimon believed in, and maybe other humans could be that as well?

(Of course, he ought to know not all humans are evil, purely because of Ikuto. But it seems he places Ikuto in a different category from the rest of humanity in his mind, perhaps because he was raised by Digimon and so it’s different, or perhaps out of simple irrational bias.)

Gotsumon: “Humans and Digimon are *not* meant to interact with one another!”

That’s pretty difficult to achieve, though, don’t you think, when it’s an inescapable law of nature that Digimon are influenced by human emotions? Sounds more to me like the two species are inextricably linked, no matter what any individual might believe about this.

Mercurimon isn’t so sure about what Gotsumon’s insisting any more.

(And also, something I’ve been meaning to point out at some point: his design looks like he’s wearing a wolf mask over a human-like face, but the wolf eyes are a part of his actual face, because we see them emote on many occasions. He must have some really weird anatomy going on there.)

Gotsumon: “So many years, I have served you, Mercurimon-sama. That is because I, too, earnestly wish for peace in the Digital World!”

Not entirely convinced about how loyal Gotsumon is claiming he is, given he defected to SaberLeomon for a little while there and is only back because SaberLeomon died, and also given he was secretly plotting to kill Mercurimon’s surrogate kid this whole time. Feels more to me like Gotsumon was just here because Mercurimon happened to be the nearest authority figure for him to suck up to, to try and make himself feel more important than he really is.

Suddenly, Mercurimon’s eyes widen, and he stands up. The humans have arrived in the Digital World, and like last time, he can sense it. (Somehow. Guess that’s just one of those Ultimate-level perks.)

Mercurimon: “An evil shadow is surrounding them. A shadow of deep hatred that intends to bury us alive.”

Not entirely sure how he can also sense this, but… he’s not wrong. It’s a very distinct contrast with the last time humans were here, in which Mercurimon was largely unbothered and willing to leave them be unless they confronted him directly. This time, he knows that this is not okay.

Gotsumon, for once actually being a loyal follower and having his priorities in order, rushes off to do his part to confront the threat before Mercurimon even asks him to.

Gotsumon: “You are the only one who can protect the Digital World from the humans, Mercurimon-sama! Please don’t forget that!”

How the script has been flipped. It’s now being presented very much like the Digimon, and Mercurimon in particular, are the good guys in this whole situation. Which they are.

Now that they know where Mercurimon lives, the Digital Dive this time put the DATS crew plus Kurata and his troops right on the outside of Infinity Ice Ridge, to save them the time getting there.

Kurata: “I see the scenery hasn’t changed…”

Kurata has, of course, been here before. During the expedition, at the very least.

Soldier: “There is no sign of a Digimon within one kilometre of this area!”

Kurata: “That’s wonderful.”

For having come the Digital World, Kurata sure prefers there to be as few Digimon around as possible.

Tohma narrows his eyes as Kurata leads the group further in. He is still Not Convinced by any of this.

Sayuri: “Ikuto-kun! Fal-chan!”

Let’s take a moment to appreciate how Sayuri’s started calling Falcomon “Fal-chan”, just like “Agu-chan”.

Sayuri’s calling to them because she made them food, but Falcomon shows up alone to tell her that Ikuto isn’t hungry. We know that’s a sure sign that this kid’s not okay.

Falcomon leaves Sayuri and approaches Ikuto, who’s curled up in Masaru’s room, like he’s trying to hide from the world.

Falcomon: “Could you be scared of seeing Mercurimon again?”

Ikuto: “Mercurimon doesn’t forgive traitors… He won’t forgive me.”

That is so completely not true. Mercurimon loves Ikuto like a son first and foremost, and not a single thing Ikuto has done has constituted “betraying” Digimon, anyway. That asshole Gotsumon’s words about how Ikuto doesn’t belong in the Digital World, how every Digimon agrees that this is true, how all Ikuto does is bring disaster – he’s still taken that to heart far too heartbreakingly much. Though it probably also doesn’t help that Mercurimon is rather strict and detached as parent figures go, such that Ikuto may not realise just how much the big wolf-man loves him and might assume he’ll approach this like a ruler rather than like a father.

Falcomon: “That’s not true! You’re important to Mercurimon…”

Falcomon knows what’s up! He’s been paying enough attention to the way Mercurimon acts around Ikuto to know, even if Ikuto hasn’t.

Ikuto: “But I’m human.”

This seems to make Falcomon unsure what to counter with. Come on, Falcomon, learning that Ikuto’s human didn’t change a single thing about how you felt about him – you know it won’t for Mercurimon either, surely?

…These two don’t realise that Mercurimon has always known about Ikuto being human, do they. They think he’d take the revelation as some huge betrayal, rather than something he’s always loved Ikuto in spite of.

Ikuto: “My body… human… But my heart… Digimon…”

Aww, that’s such a good way to put it. He is still a Digimon at heart, despite his human body. The fact that he’s able to express that rather than feeling like he deserves to have no connection with Digimon at all just because he’s physically human is a pretty big step forward, really!

Masaru: “Just you wait, Mercurimon! My fists will send along the message of my soul to you!”

Back in the Digital World, despite the ridiculous way he’s putting this, Masaru is still very distinctly thinking of this upcoming fight as communication, and I love it. It’s exactly the kind of thing he did when he met Agumon and they befriended each other through fighting! And Masaru doesn’t even know that his fists have already imparted some of his soul to Mercurimon, in that they’ve made Mercurimon remember Suguru and begin to doubt his hatred. There is real meaning and substance to this philosophy that Masaru is beginning to express here.

Yoshino: “That’s just a fancy way of saying ‘punch his lights out’, isn’t it?”

Lalamon: “Yep.”

Masaru: “You don’t get it, do you? Stuff like words is useless between men.”

Yoshino and Lalamon don’t get it, but it’s not because they’re women like one could read Masaru’s response as being about. They just haven’t managed to see through the Masaru-ese and realise that he genuinely is talking about communication. Here, Masaru is presenting “men” as people who understand this concept of communicating through fighting without the need for words, which doesn’t actually have a thing to do with gender even though he and Mercurimon both happen to be male.

Gotsumon shows up on his Yanmamon to demand that the humans leave at once. Kurata responds using a megaphone, which is honestly a practical thing to do when they’re yelling at each other from relatively long distances, but which mostly comes across as pretentious when none of the other characters ever needed to use one.

Kurata: “We’ve come to talk! We request an audience with Mercurimon-san!”

Gotsumon: “I won’t! I won’t fall for that! You plan to catch him off-guard and leave Mercurimon-sama for dead, right?!”

Usually Gotsumon judges humans far too negatively, but not here.

And then, even though this is the episode in which we finally fight Gotsumon himself, he first summons a Zudomon, another random dialogue-less Perfect-level he’s found a way to boss around somehow. Though I guess it is very in Gotsumon’s MO to do this, this is… kind of blatant padding for episode time. Apparently this episode didn’t quite have enough story to fill the whole runtime, so we’re going to spend longer on fights than necessary.

(This is another reason why it’s a shame nobody reacted to accidentally murdering SaberLeomon like they should have. Ikuto’s reaction and further conflict over that would have taken up a fair bit more time, sure – but it’s extra time that they had to spare! We could have cut out the extraneous fighting from this episode and spent it on Ikuto accepting the idea that his new friends genuinely didn’t mean to murder a Digimon and are still on his side!)

Here is Kurata’s body language as soon as he finds himself faced with a large, hostile Digimon, even though he has his own troops and the DATS team to deal with the threat. This man is just really terrified of Digimon, though he usually manages to hide it.

Masaru: “Looks like we really can’t get there that easily!”

…Says Masaru, with a huge grin on his face. Of course he was hoping he’d get to fight some more.

He and Agumon rush straight in, much to Yoshino and Tohma’s eternal exasperation. Zudomon swipes its hammer at them, and they narrowly avoid being impaled by the icicles it produces, then land in a heap in a nearby snowdrift. Yeah, sometimes the rushing-straight-in tactic does not work.

Meanwhile, Kurata and his men are running for cover around a corner. You’d think they’d be helping to fight, but, well, all they have are those big weird guns? They don’t even have any Digimon, right, so it makes sense that they’d just stay back and leave this to DATS, whose job this is?

(Still, if they’re apparently no use at fighting Digimon, it kinda begs the question of why those soldiers are even here, now, doesn’t it, hmm.)

Kurata very helpfully instructs DATS to handle this, through his megaphone, while still hiding around the corner. Agumon is flailing around with his head stuck in the snow. Yoshino is Extremely Done with all this nonsense.

A brief cutaway to the Daimons’ house shows Ikuto at least having come downstairs, but he’s just sitting dejectedly in the living room, paying no attention to the comedy show Chika’s laughing at. (Though I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s only half down to his mood – he probably doesn’t get the human-culture humour of it.) Sayuri notices and looks worried.

(Chika’s comedy show that she’s finding hilarious appears to be pretty slapstick in nature, which explains a lot about episode 10.)

We cut back to the Digital World, and you can tell this episode’s padding for time because they didn’t take advantage of the cutaway to have Gaomon evolve offscreen. MachGaogamon flies at Zudomon, but gets hit and crashes into a cliff.

Kurata: [through his megaphone] “What are you doing? You’re losing!”

Yoshino: “Oh, shut up.”

I so appreciate Yoshino being so very Done with Kurata’s smarmy hypocritical bullshit, acting like he has the right to boss them around while hiding and providing zero help.

Lilamon and MachGaogamon then proceed to take out Zudomon easily with one attack each, making this a very uninteresting fight that had very little reason to be here.

So, back to the actual main adversary for this episode, Gotsumon.

Tohma: “Gotsumon! You’re not strong enough to take us on your own! Let us pass!”

Tohma knows his evolution levels: Gotsumon is a Child-level and stands absolutely zero chance in hell against Perfects.

Gotsumon: “I wonder about that! Let me show you… my true form!”

With this, Gotsumon rises into the air… and starts evolving. Apparently that’s a thing he can just do, at will, without a Digisoul?

It’s very rare to see Digimon evolve without some kind of human intervention in any Digimon series, so I’m not entirely clear on what the worldbuilding on this usually is. But I gather, based on the fact that the higher-levelled Digimon tend to seem older and wiser as characters, that non-human-influenced evolution is generally a thing that happens over time as Digimon age and get naturally stronger. It also generally seems like this type of evolution is permanent, in that the higher form becomes their natural form and they don’t need to revert between battles like the human-partnered Digimon do.

But then, Gotsumon has always seemed emotionally more mature than other Child-levels like Falcomon, so it’s quite likely he is older. That and him calling this Perfect-level form he’s about to evolve into his “true form” makes me suspect that he is supposed to be naturally Perfect-level at this point in his life. Apparently, I guess, Digimon can willingly choose to revert to a lower evolution level than their current natural one if they want to, and if they do so they can evolve back into their “true” form whenever they feel like it.

We’re kept in suspense about Gotsumon’s evolution as we cut back to the Daimons’ house again. Sayuri enters Masaru’s room to find Ikuto and Falcomon nowhere to be seen, except for a black feather fluttering down outside on the balcony. They’re on the roof, gazing up at the sky. Sayuri climbs up there to sit with them (an impressive feat when she’s wearing a skirt) like it’s no big deal.

Sayuri: “Whenever Masaru was worried about something, he’d always come up here and look at the sky, too.”

Aww, little Masaru! Much as Masaru likes to appear to be someone who’s always confident and together, he must have had plenty of reason to feel worried and sad about things when he was smaller, thanks to the whole missing dad situation. Imagine a younger Masaru climbing up onto the roof to try and escape from the world and stare at the sky and wonder why his dad hasn’t come back. Poor kid.

Sayuri: “You two… are very alike.”

She’s noticed! Of course she has.

Sayuri: “Want to talk about it?”

Sayuri is clearly so used to climbing up here because she’s done it many times before to talk to Masaru in those moments when he felt lonely and down. And now she’s doing the same for Ikuto, even though he’s not even her own child. She’s so good.

And now for the dramatic reveal of Gotsumon’s evolved form: Insekimon!

Yoshino: “…He just changed colour.”

I love that these Digimon writers have the self-awareness and cheek to poke fun at Digimon’s tendency to do this. I love it.

Insekimon’s new paint job does come with some extra perks, though. Inseki means “meteor”, so now he has space powers, and he can levitate.

You’d think that this would mean he’d have wanted to be Perfect-level the whole time, because the levitation is certainly more convenient for getting around than having to ride someone else. He doesn’t even have the argument that his Child form is conveniently smaller like it would be for most Digimon, not when both forms of his are exactly the same size.

Given all this, the only reason I can think of for why Gotsumon liked to be Gotsumon all the time even when his true identity was technically Insekimon is that he wanted people to underestimate him. He’s very good at buttering up “stronger” Digimon and getting them to do what he wants, and perhaps part of why that works so well for him is that these other Digimon assume, oh, he’s just a Child-level, there’s no way he’s actually in charge, I’m really the one calling the shots here. I don’t know if his tactics would work so well if these other Digimon knew he equalled them in strength and wondered why he couldn’t just go and do all this fighting himself.

There’s kind of a parallel to be made with Kurata here, with the way he’s been buttering up authority figures and now we’re seeing him hiding behind and bossing around “stronger” people rather than taking the risk of getting personally involved himself. But Gotsumon isn’t quite as bad as Kurata, given that he’s finally willing to put himself on the front line here. It seems like he feels things are getting desperate enough for him to need to.

As Insekimon’s busy showing off his powers and gloating, Masaru catches him off-guard by leaping off the cliff he was thrown up onto earlier and punching the meteor-man in the face. A pretty well-aimed leap, considering that this target isn’t huge like most of them.

RiseGreymon goes in to attack, but Insekimon vanishes, and then all three DATS Digimon are hit by something unseen. He’s not teleporting or literally invisible, he’s doing the moving-too-fast-to-see thing.

On the Daimons’ roof, Ikuto has implicitly got done telling Sayuri about the whole human-Digimon situation he’s caught in the middle of.

Ikuto: “What should I do?”

Sayuri: “I’m sorry. I don’t know. Because you’re the only one who understands the feelings of both the humans and the Digimon, Ikuto-kun.”

Sayuri is so good! I love that she’s able to recognise that, even though Ikuto was turning to her for advice because she’s An Adult, this isn’t something it’s actually her place to have an opinion on. Ikuto is in the perfect position to understand and empathise with both sides of this conflict, more than anyone else, and having that pointed out to him is exactly what he needed.

Sayuri: “What do you want to do?”

And then Sayuri is also the first person to make it clear to Ikuto that he has the right to choose. He doesn’t have to feel like he’s betraying one side by being too much of the other and therefore he has no business getting involved at all, because he understands both. This is his choice to make.

Back in the fight in the Digital World, the DATS crew are trying to figure out how to slow Insekimon down. Lilamon has an attack called Un Deux Pollen that could paralyse him, but the problem is hitting him with it in the first place.

Tohma: “If we could at least detect his position…”

Masaru: “That’s right! When he punches, he should be within reach!”

Look at Masaru doing a strategy again! He needed to be prompted towards it by the others’ discussion, but he can do this kind of thing from time to time. It’s also a very appropriately straightforwardly Masaru way of looking at it, which might be why he’s the one who picked up on this idea before the others did.

RiseGreymon hears this and braces himself as Insekimon zooms invisibly at him. He’s knocked back by an invisible impact in his stomach, and then… literally five seconds later (I counted), Insekimon becomes visible, still exactly there where the impact was. That’s, uh, not how you portray someone moving so fast they can’t be seen? And it’s also not how you attack if you have the ability to move that fast – you don’t just stay there and make yourself visible, you zoom right out of the way as soon as you’re done attacking.

The correct way to portray this would be to have Insekimon’s attack and RiseGreymon’s counterattack both happen so fast that we can’t see Insekimon until after RiseGreymon has already hit him. RiseGreymon needs to be blindly swiping at where he expects to be hit in order for this to work at all.

Regardless, RiseGreymon grabs Insekimon after he’s just hung there stupidly in front of his opponent’s stomach. We’re supposed to see this result as Masaru’s strategy having worked and not Insekimon having been a huge moron, so let’s go with that for the purposes of the characters’ reactions.

Masaru: “All right!”

Yoshino: “Unbelievable.”

Tohma: “You’re using too much brute force.”

Tohma is still not very happy with acknowledging that sometimes Masaru’s straightforward brute-force strategies are actually the best approach to take.

Lilamon showers Insekimon with her paralysing pollen while he’s there in RiseGreymon’s hand, and then RiseGreymon flings him into the air and he’s unable to dodge a Winning Knuckle from MachGaogamon. Unfortunately, Winning Knuckle is still refusing to live up to its name any longer, so all this results in is the stock shounen trope of “Did we get him?” *smoke clears* NOPE. Insekimon is still standing, and still moving, so all that the whole direct-counterattack and pollen strategy achieved was… nothing, apparently?

Insekimon rises into the air to charge one of his space-themed attacks of summoning meteors from a black hole, and it’s while he’s busy doing that and not dodging that RiseGreymon blasts him with an attack that charges faster than his to end the fight. The way it’s presented, it feels entirely like this single hit would have been enough to defeat Insekimon alone and that the Winning Knuckle had nothing to do with it.

So that’s how DATS end up winning – because Insekimon was stupid enough to forgo the advantage of his speed and leave himself open while charging up a huge attack. Not because of any of the actually-somewhat-interesting (if badly portrayed by the animation) strategising they did to try and work around the advantage he had. Why?

In short, this fight is very badly choreographed, and next to the completely extraneous Zudomon fight we had beforehand, really smacks of trying to pad time in the episode. It’s a shame.

Insekimon: “Mercurimon-sama!”

I do like that these are Insekimon’s final words as he disintegrates into an egg. It’s like he’s calling out to Mercurimon as the last line of defence to protect the Digital World once he’s gone.

And, yes, he leaves behind an egg, because that’s what’s supposed to happen.

In the human world, Ikuto’s now heading towards the main control room at DATS HQ to ask to be sent to the Digital World.

Falcomon: “Are you sure about this, Ikuto?”

Ikuto: “Yeah. I want to stop the fight.”

Sayuri’s chat with him on the roof was enough for him to figure out and be willing to act on how he feels about all this. Agumon was wrong when he implied this ever had to be about Ikuto picking sides. He can be on both sides at once and simply wish for humans and Digimon to stop fighting. He knows now that humans aren’t all evil; he knows Mercurimon’s not a bad guy either. Neither side needs to fight the other, in theory, but Ikuto’s the only one right now who can properly see this.

A little bit later, the DATS team has made it to Mercurimon’s throne room, which is still a mess of rubble after their big fight last time. Kurata and his goons kind of hang back in the corridor. For the sake of this making any amount of sense, we really need to pretend that the corridor is a lot more in shadow than it appears to be and so Mercurimon can’t properly see them from his throne. The only other explanation is that he’s so focused on Masaru that he doesn’t really pay attention to the bonus humans who tagged along this time, except that doesn’t really make too much sense when Mercurimon explicitly sensed something much darker and more evil with them this time. He can’t see them, okay. Shush.

Anyway, Masaru steps forward.

Masaru: “Stay back, everyone. We’ll solve this with a man-to-man fight!”

Yoshino: “Wait, you were being serious?”

Of course he was being serious, Yoshino! Masaru is always being 100% serious when it comes to fighting and manliness. Really, you should expect that from him by now.

Masaru: “Mercurimon! I’ve come to finish this!”

Mercurimon: “Is that you, Daimon Masaru?”

Masaru: “Yeah! No need for any more words! The answer will show itself through our fists!”

Masaru’s generally wording this in a very fighty-sounding way, but you can still pick up on how he’s thinking of this as a negotiation. When he says “answer”, he isn’t talking about “which of us is strongest”.

(Masaru knows perfectly well how outclassed he is by Mercurimon’s strength, as much as he may hate to admit it; if he were approaching this as a fight that he needed to win, he’d be a lot less eager and more subtly stressed about this.)

Masaru: “That’s being a man!”

Mercurimon: “Hmph. You can’t fight what’s in your blood, is it? We may have been destined to meet like this.”

Hah. Mercurimon knows exactly where Masaru gets this from. It must feel appropriate for him to be about to “fight” the son now after having fought and bonded with the father in a similar way.

As the two rush at each other and are about to exchange fists, Ikuto appears and yells for them to stop. He shows up, panting, at a side entrance to the throne room; maybe there’s a shortcut through Mercurimon’s palace that he knew about that helped him get here more quickly.

Ikuto wasn’t there for any of Masaru’s talk about this fight being his way of negotiating (and probably wouldn’t have realised that’s what Masaru meant even if he had been), so he’s seeing this entirely as a straightforward warlike fight between two people he cares about and doesn’t want it to happen.

Overall thoughts

This one’s another episode that’s a bit of a transitional get-from-A-to-B sort of affair, and it has a few issues, but there’s still plenty of things to like about it.

I enjoy the political powerplays going on in the early parts. There's a clear sense that Kurata is deliberately pulling Hashiba's strings to get himself assigned to this. Meanwhile, Satsuma and Tohma clearly know Kurata is not to be trusted, but they aren't sure exactly why not and don't have the authority or the evidence to protest this even though they can tell it's Bad. Plus the juicy foreshadowing of future interactions between Tohma and Kurata is fun.

Though other even better things could have been done with it if certain events of last episode had been handled differently, Ikuto’s character arc still continues to be solid here. He’s experienced enough in the human world by now that he has all the pieces he needs to realise what he wants to do, but he still isn’t able to put them together and figure it out on his own without Sayuri there to help him and tell him that it’s his choice. Sayuri is good.

I also can’t help but appreciate that this is the first episode in which Masaru begins to vocally advocate a principle of fighting in order to communicate with people! That is not just empty nonsense; he really means this, and this is going to keep being a running theme with his character for the rest of the series. I really enjoy Mercurimon’s moment of doubt and wondering if he was wrong to think Suguru betrayed him, too. Masaru has already got through to him by punching him, a little!

The fight with Insekimon (and the fillery Zudomon) is unfortunately kind of largely there to pad out time and has some very silly badly-choreographed bits. At least there are interesting lore implications with Gotsumon's "true form" being Insekimon. And given how Gotsumon’s been the most explicit actual villain up until now, what with spending most of his time trying to murder Ikuto, it is an unexpected turnaround that in the end he’s defeated as something of a “hero”, actually having his priorities straight for once and fighting to protect the Digital World.

---

[Dub comparison]

#digimon #digimon savers #masaru daimon #ikuto noguchi #gotsumon #mercurimon #akihiro kurata #governor hashiba #sayuri daimon #rentarou satsuma #tohma h norstein

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deannaroxannewrites · 3 years

Text

Tropetember Day 2: Coffee Shop / Tattoo Parlor / Flower Shop / Other Retail AU

Coffee and other ways to heal the soul.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x GN!Reader

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Rating: General Audiences

TW: Valhalla arc (mentioned), coffee, NCIS cameo

AN: Day 2 of @tropetember. I was really struggling with the coffee shop AU but once I got going, really got way too into it and could probably pad this out into a short series. Is that something people would be interested in?

Also, not really sure if I managed to capture Spencer but remember this is an AU and that's my excuse!

Enjoy!

Find this story on Ao3 here.

Word Count: 2.4k

One of the biggest advantages of owning one of the few coffee shops in Quantico that wasn't part of a massive chain, was the constant stream of senior FBI and Navy personnel desperate for high quality, well made coffee. It had become such a lucrative venture in fact that you could afford to hire enough staff to rarely even have to be behind the counter at all.

The surge in popularity has even allowed you to convert one of the spare upstairs rooms into a meeting room. In hindsight, you should have converted more because once your regulars found out about it, there had been outright war between the Navy and FBI to try and get meetings booked in. A couple of your regulars had even managed to get both institutions to hardwire connections so they could host even more briefings and meetings in the friendly, comfortable space.

Today's winners were a Unit from the FBI, who had booked it out for a whole day. Aaron Hotchner, the BAU chief, came in most mornings and was a real sweetheart. You'd been trying to get him to drink something other than his normal americano since his return from Afghanistan a few months ago, but had not been successful so far. You were excited to meet the rest of the legendary team. He always spoke fondly of them when he bought extra coffees to boost morale.

With that in mind, you quickly throw together the pastries and beverages he'd preordered for the start of their session and head in to do a quick check that everything was ready.

Like any meeting room, there was a large table in the center but you'd made sure to surround it with comfy and artfully mismatched chairs. The floor was a deep walnut colour and matched the numerous floating shelves which were covered in plants and books. The place was homey and extended the cosy chic look you had been trying to achieve throughout the shop.

After a little bit of organising, including making sure the FBI cables were accessible and tidying any of the Navy’s equipment, you head downstairs to the main space.

Charlotte and Jessica were behind the tills this morning, making quick work of the line and exuding friendly helpfulness out of every pore. They were both grad students and you were already dreading them graduating. Their natural effervescence would be impossible to replace.

To pass the time until your booking arrives, you catch up with NCIS Agent McGee who is on the coffee run, trying not to hold him up too long in case he ends up getting in more trouble with his big bad boss. Apparently Agent DiNozzo had knocked over Gibbs coffee but McGee had then slipped in it and done some minor damage to some of the equipment. He told you he much preferred coffee run to door knocking duty round a 6 block radius like DiNozzo.

As you wrap it up, a group of people enter the shop, led by a woman in colourful clothes and a sunshine demeanour. It's not until you see Agent Hotchner's suited and booted presence bringing up the rear that you realise this is the infamous BAU.

Donning your friendliest persona, you politely excuse yourself from McGee and head to greet them, calling Aaron's name across the way.

The profilers seem surprised by your use of their bosses name but quickly shake it off as introductions are made. You receive hand shakes off most of them with the exception of Penelope, who gives you a hug because of course she does, and Dr Spencer Reid who gives you a shy wave and looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.

It didn't take a profiler to see the physical distance between the genius and the rest of the group. He was always a step away from the nearest person and automatically avoided any physical contact from them.

How strange.

Brushing it off you lead them upstairs and get them settled, letting them know that they're welcome to come and go in the shop as need and that all their drinks would be added to the discounted tab and left them too it, all the while trying not to puzzle over the handsome loner and his cute sweater vest.

-----

If there was one thing Spencer Reid hated more than anything, it was team building.

Normally, back before everything happened, he would just grit his teeth and bear it. That's been a lot harder after finding out that Emily was alive.

Processing the joy at her being alive and the rage at being led to believe she was dead in the first place, particularly by the people he trusted the most, was not easy. He was trying to forgive them. He was trying to let it go, to accept the damage but move forward.

It was still a work in progress.

That's why, when Hotch announced a team building/meeting day, he had momentarily considered resigning. Though there was no longer outright hostility between himself and Jennifer, things weren’t exactly comfortable between himself and half of the team. The only bright side to this whole endeavour was the location. No coffee shop lasted long in Quantico unless the coffee was actually good. It was a small mercy.

He followed the rest of the team into the coffee shop, eyeing the surroundings and taking note of the other visitors. As the rest of the team joked about, he stayed back, simply waving at the nice owner of the shop when Hotch introduced them.

They appeared to be about his age which was very impressive considering the success of the café. And there were a couple of sci-fi references hidden in the décor that he would have loved to ask about, but he doubted they’d appreciate him going off about Star Trek this early in the morning. Instead he just gave a tight-lipped smile and followed the team upstairs.

Spencer tried his best to concentrate throughout the morning but to say he was relieved when they were left to their own devices for lunch would be an understatement.

-----

After a productive morning in the office, you wander back out to the main part of the shop to check on things. The lunch rush can be unforgiving but the girls seem to have it in hand. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Tuesday lunchtime.

What you didn’t expect to see was Spencer Reid hidden away at one of the back tables with a ginormous book in front of him, a small scowl on his face and the rest of his team nowhere in sight.

You agonise silently with yourself for a few moments before you decide to head over. You figure if he doesn’t want company he’ll let you know but you feel drawn to him. It was strange. Maybe it was just your instinctive need to collect strays.

You smile gently at him when you reach his table, indicating the seat opposite him in question. He gives a quick nod but doesn’t fully look at you.

“Everything ok?” you ask.

He takes a moment and seems to be considering his options. He looks at you with a little tilt of his head, likely questioning your motives.

Finally, he seems to decide you have no sinister intention and quietly replies “I just wish things could go back to how they were”.

You had heard about the events involving the BAU in the last year or so. It had been a hot topic of gossip in the shop numerous times. Aaron also occasionally talked about his guilt at what he put his team through when he stopped by, needing a friend to talk to. It’s the first time, however, that you think in depth about how faking a close friend's death likely affected the team members who were unaware.

This isn’t to say you didn’t care or didn’t think that it must have been terrible for them. You did, but had agreed with the justification that it was for Agent Prentiss’ safety, that finding out she was alive would make up for it. It’s apparent in the sadness of Dr Reid’s expression that that isn’t the case.

“Can I touch you?”

His eyes shoot up in surprise and he hesitantly nods. You gently grasp his hands, wrapping your fingers around his.

“I can’t even imagine,” you begin slowly, “how difficult this must be. But if you ever need to talk to someone, you’re always welcome here”

He gives a short, sharp nod and squeezes your fingers which you take to mean thank you.

“Also, this is totally not my place but, a therapist, one outside the Bureau? Might not be such a bad idea?” You give a sardonic grin and admit ” It worked for me”

After you give his hands another quick squeeze, you leave him to ponder your statement and head back to your office. Paperwork doesn’t do it self after all.

You hope Spencer manages to find some support though and decide that if he wants it, you’d be more than willing to help him.

---------------

It was a few weeks before Spencer Reid showed up in the coffee shop again.

It was early evening and you only had a few people in. You’d opted to close up tonight to ensure Jessica, who had been on the afternoon shift, had time to work on her assignment for class. She’d been complaining about it for the last few days.

The sound of the front door opening distracts you from your thoughts and you glance up to see who has entered. When you realise who it is you can’t help but smile.

“Fancy seeing you here Dr Reid” you say in greeting. He gives you a small smile in return.

“Well, it’s good coffee and, erm, the company’s good?”

You understand the question implicit in that comment and glance around at the few remaining patrons. They all have a beverage and it’s a quiet night so you can afford to take a step out behind the counter between orders.

“Sure, let me make us both a drink and then I’m all yours.”

You take his order (how much sugar?!?!) and get you both sorted out and settled into a small booth. You look at him, taking in the nervous expression on his face and let him settle in and start the conversation.

“I, erm, I took your advice”.

“That’s good. Are you finding it’s helping? Having someone outside of work to talk things through with?”

He nods his head.

“One of the things she pointed out was that so much of my life is wrapped up in work, that when things go wrong I don't have an external support system. Not that I didn't know that already but, someone else pointing it out made me realise how much if an impact it has.”

You bob your head thoughtfully, acknowledging his comment but not forcing him to say more.

“She suggested I try to find people outside of work to talk to. I was... I was wondering if you could be one?”

His nerves seem to have failed him slightly as he can’t look you in the eye, but you give him a big grin. Of course you want to spend time with this lovely man.

“I’d love to” you say, which gets him to look up and give you a smile in response.

You spend nearly an hour, with occasional breaks to serve customers, chatting to him before it becomes necessary to close up. He starts gathering his things but you’ve been enjoying his company so much you can’t bear to let him go. Instead, you check if he’s in a rush and, after confirming he has nothing else planned, invite him to hang around and grab something to eat from the diner down the street.

By the end of the night, you’re glad the diner is 24hr. You completely lose track of time, fascinated by the sheer amount of information he can provide and the passion with which he infodumps. It’s extremely endearing.

“I had a lovely time tonight” you tell him as you walk towards your apartment. You don’t live too far from the coffee shop and he had very gallantly offered to walk you home. “I’d love to do it again some time?”

He smiles and nods in agreement before asking for your phone number.

“I don't really like technology that much so I don’t have a smartphone and I don’t really check it that much and prefer speaking to texting…”

“Spence” you say, a little laugh in your voice as you interrupt. “Whatever works best for you. I’m not going to suddenly vanish on you, promise.”

You seem to have hit his worries a little too closely as he sways a little awkwardly, gaze wandering down to his feet.

“Can I hug you?” you check. His answer is to wrap his arms around you and you gently sway the both of you side to side.

He lets go and turns to head back out into the night as you call out “If you’re ever missing me, I know a place you can get great coffee. I can get you a good discount.” A laugh stutters from his lips and he wishes you a good night.

Leaning against your door you sigh happily to yourself. It’s always a good feeling making a new friend.

--------------

It had been over a year since the last time the BAU had booked (and managed to attend the booking). In that time, you’d converted another room upstairs into a meeting room, as well as setting up a shared work/study space in a room out the back.

You grin as you see them all enter, fascinated by the way this family of agents interact with each other. There’s even a tall, handsome genius who stands within the group, laughing and joking along with the rest.

Spencer greets you with a gentle kiss to your lips and it causes uproar from his colleagues. You don’t react much, you just turn to them and shrug.

“Do you know how many germs are passed in a handshake? It’s much safer to kiss.”

Your genius just laughs and wraps an arm around you, guiding the whole group upstairs, his friends playfully demanding details the whole way.

#Trope: Coffee Shop AU #Criminal Minds #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #tropetember #fanfiction #unbeta'd

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