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#glad to finally have gotten these out of my head
dira333 · 3 days
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The Soulmate Theory - Todoroki Shouto x Reader
I welcome you to my probably last-ever Soulmate fic. As much as I love reading this trope, it's gotten harder and harder to write. I hope you like it. This is for @shoulmate
Trope: You share your Soulmate's pain.
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Soulmates used to be a thing. 
A long, long time ago, way before the first ever Quirk was documented, Soulmate bonds were just as common as Quirks are nowadays.
Your grandmother used to be fascinated by it, told you stories about her grandmother who was convinced she shared a soulmate bond even though not one case had been documented in the last hundred years before her.
It’s only natural, you’d say, that you didn’t realize you had one. After all, why would you think that?
-
Pain has always been part of your life.
Your wrists hurt and your legs hurt and your back hurts and your stomach hurts… all the time. The doctors cannot find anything, some even accuse you of pretending for attention. You’d gladly trade all that attention against a pain-free day.
Your Quirk’s Telekinesis and you’re so glad about it, because how else would you be able to move that pen and write that notes when your hands hurt like this?
You’re getting better at it too, threading a needle or picking up the last grain of rice with your thoughts alone. 
-
A dull ache has settled behind your left eye after what has been the most intense pain flare you’ve ever had. All you want to do is rest. 
But your mind is reeling, craving an outlet for all the thoughts inside your head.
Your restless eyes find some fabric in the corner of the room. Soon enough a few needles are working their magic, a creation coming to life before your eyes.
You might not be able to walk around most days, but at least you can still create outfits you’d love to flaunt in.
-
Years later
-
“Can you take over my student?” Kameko asks, “He wants a completely new costume.”
“What year?”
“First year. And his old one wasn’t even destroyed.”
“So? Maybe he found something out about himself.”
She huffs. “Please? I still have to finish Amajiki’s new design and you know how anxious he gets.”
“Yeah, no problem. Can you take another first year off my plate then? His name is Midoriya and he ripped it in half, it seems.”
“Oh yeah, give it to me.”
Someone clears their throat. You look up from your work into a set of heterochromatic eyes, one blue, one grey.
“Yes?” You ask. “How can I help you?”
“I’m here for my new Costume.”
“Are you Midoriya?” You point at the green fabric on your desk, or rather what’s left of the costume.”
“No, I’m Todoroki Shouto.”
“Ah,” Kameko doesn’t even look guilty at being caught. “You’re with her then. Do you need the think tank?” She points at the cubicle where you can go and plan outfits.
Todoroki looks like he isn’t quite sure, so you carefully slide off your chair and shuffle over.
“Come, come,” you wave at him, “It’s never wrong to brainstorm.”
“Are you hurt?” He asks and has the decency not to point at how you clearly favor your left leg. 
“Not more than usual,” you try to joke and though he looks a little confused, he doesn’t ask more questions.
.
Todoroki is a quiet individual. He’s not shy, that you perceive immediately, but he makes sure to check if he’s allowed to speak before he opens his mouth.
He’s also insanely pretty, the red, rough skin over his left eye giving him even more appeal. But he’s also one year younger than you, so you keep those thoughts locked away in the back of your head.
“If you want to change the design, we can do that, no problem.” You remind him when you’ve finally found something he seems almost happy with.
“I don’t want to cause you more work.”
“If you don’t cause me any work I’d have nothing to do,” you joke and he looks at you quietly for a while. You wonder if he’s ruminating over your joke or waiting for you to talk on and sadly, you’re more than likely to ramble in a confusing silence.
You gesture, somehow now talking about the importance of fresh orange juice for the human body, a topic you didn’t even know you could talk about beforehand when your hand connects harshly with the door behind you. Your wrist catches the doorknob and the pain is immediate, sharp and cool, like you’d imagine being stabbed with an icicle would feel like.
Todoroki hisses behind you and you’d compliment him on the empathy if it wouldn’t hurt like that.
When you turn, hand pressed against your chest, he’s cradling his own hand before dropping it. “Musclespasm,” he explains quietly, offering you a hand that is covered in ice. “Do you want me to cool it? It helps.”
-
“I’d like to add some more details to my costume,” Todoroki approaches you with a Bento Box in hand.
You nod, unable to speak for a moment as you focus your Quirk on a particularly tough seam.
“No problem, as I said. What’s it about?”
“Could we use the think tank?”
You turn to check but it’s clearly occupied.
“Sadly not. Is it more complicated then?” You nod at the Bento Box. “Do you think it will keep us occupied during lunch break?”
“No, this is…” Todoroki hesitates for a second before holding it out to you. “It’s just something I wanted to give you. My sister made these.”
 You open it with curious fingers to reveal twelve perfectly shaped cookies.
“That’s lovely, but why me?”
His cheeks turn pink and his lips curl into an adorable pout before he eventually talks.
“I mentioned that I was pleased with the changes and she told me to say thank you.”
“Aww,” you coo. “Your older sister then?”
“Yes,” the pout exaggerates, “I would have said thank you without her intervening.”
“Of course you’d have.” - “But my cookies didn’t turn out good.”
You both speak at the same time, or rather you accidentally interrupted him and he still talked on.
You stare at him now, mouth agape as you process his words.
“You made cookies for me?”
“Yes,” Todoroki nods, “I wanted to say thank you.”
“It’s my job.”
“I still want to say thank you.”
“Next time,” you joke, not quite realizing what you’re saying until it has left your lips and your brain has caught on, “just bring me the Cookies you made. It’s the thought that counts.”
He stares at you with wide eyes for what feels like eternity before a soft pink blush blooms on his cheeks.
You hide your own face in the box of Cookies, hope that he won’t hear the thunderous beating of your heart over the noise of you eating one.
They’re delicious. Of course they are.
-
You don’t know how or when or even why, but clearly, there’s a friendship growing between you and Todoroki Shouto. He’s stopped claiming he’s only dropping in for new additions to his costumes and in turn you’ve tried quite a few of his food creations, each one of them worse than the last.
But he’s cute and honest and real about it and you couldn’t do better if you tried anyway.
Your pain, however, doesn’t stop just because you’ve found work you enjoy or friends to spend your time with.
There are days where you cannot get out of bed. Days where strong painkillers allow you to get to school only for everything to go past you because those painkillers leave you loopy and tired, falling asleep over some costume in the early afternoon hours.
At least you’re not in the Hero Course, you think on the worst days, because you’ve seen the bruises Training leaves on Shouto’s arms and legs.
That’s before you realize that Training is the least of all his problems.
-
Third Year
“How are you?” You ask, because what else do you ask your Crush Slash Good Friend you haven’t seen in months?
Shouto’s got new scars, he’s grown, and he’s fought in a war while you were bedridden from pain, your mother scared out of her depths that you’d die in an attack, unable to move.
But you survived and so did he and if you can believe what you’ve heard on the news, he’s found out some things about his family too.
“Tired,” he admits, dragging a hand through his hair, “I missed you.”
You wonder how hard it was for him to admit that. 
 “Think tank?” You ask, slipping off your chair when he nods.
The last few days have been painless and even though you’re anxious about what’s to come after that, you can’t help but enjoy it.
When the door closes after him, you realize just how small that cubicle really is. 
Or maybe it’s just that Shouto doesn’t step away like he used to do, staying so close to you that you could count every single one of his long lashes if you wanted to.
“Can I hug you?” He asks and you nod, unable to say anything, even less when he pulls you in.
He’s tall and strong, cool on one side and warm on the other and your face nuzzles into his neck like it was meant to be like that anyway.
You don’t speak for a while, just hold each other in the semi-privacy this room provides.
“I want to take care of you,” Shouto whispers at some point. “Can I?”
Somehow it doesn’t surprise anyone that you two end up dating.
-
Your third year is almost painless.
Sure, there are frequent days where you’re sore for no reason whatsoever, but that is nothing against the blinding pain that had tied you to a bed for weeks before. 
Sometimes, Shouto pouts about that. He thinks it’s his job as your boyfriend to look after you and what good is he for if you don’t need looking after?
His friends tell you that he’s less reckless now - as if he’d ever been - making sure to keep himself safe because you need him.
You’ve met his sister, one of his older brothers and his mother, all of them nice, though maybe a bit distanced. 
Emotional vulnerability doesn’t seem to come easy to them.
Shouto, however, likes to talk about his feelings in depth. And he wants to know how you’re feeling too, listening with wide eyes as you explain.
Should it be weird that you’re dating someone younger than you? If so, you’re doing it wrong. 
-
The first(?) hint
“Do we need anything from the store?” You ask, phone crammed between your ear and shoulder as you grab your stuff from the passenger seat.
“I was going to get the groceries,” Shouto huffs on the other side of the call and you can see it, how he pouts at the thought that you’re doing it instead of him.
“I was already on my way. You can do the laundry.”
“I hate doing the laundry,” he groans and you giggle. “I know. I’m going to help you with it, don’t worry.”
“I could cook,” he offers and you giggle again, opening the door to step out. “As much as I love you, Shouto, I don’t love your cooking.”
“Fine,” he says, sounding exactly like a child that didn’t get its way, “But we do face-masks while doing the laundry.”
“Of course. I’ll call you back later, okay? I need both hands for shopping.”
“Sure. I’ll buy you more headphones in the meantime.”
There are a few more teasing remarks, a last “I love you” and then you shove your phone back in your purse and turn to where you think the shopping carts are located.
You don’t see the step in front of you before it’s too late and then you’re tumbling through the air. It happens slowly and then all at once and you’re not really sure what hurt first and what hurts the most. 
For a moment you’re just lying there, face down on the pavement, trying not to puke, collecting your thoughts as if they scattered on your floor just like your open purse.
Your phone starts ringing and that seems the most manageable task so you pick it up from right in front of you and press it against your ear.
“Yes?” You ask.
“Love, are you okay?” Shouto sounds worried.
“No, I just tripped and fell,” you pick your head up from the asphalt and squint at your stuff in front of you, “in the middle of the parking lot.”
“Just after you hung up I felt a lot of pain and I just… I knew it was you.” 
-
It keeps happening after that.
It doesn’t help that you’re clumsy, but maybe that’s for the best now, as you try and figure out this weird coincidence.
If you hurt yourself, Shouto feels the pain.
If Shouto hurts himself, you feel the pain. 
It’s only after he almost gets buried by a collapsing building that you actually tell a Doctor. Or rather Midoriya unloads all the Data he has collected on the poor, unassuming Recovery Girl.
The most likely answer, as strange as it might sound, is the Soulmate Theory.
“Since you’re the first documented case in hundreds of years we don’t have anything to prove this theory. But I’m quite positive that more cases will follow.”
You blink back at her, not quite understanding. Shouto’s left hand, one of the few places of his that are not covered in bandages, squeezes yours.
“You know what that means, right?” He asks.
“Yeah. We’re most definitely never going to break up.”
His eyes widen in a way you’ve grown familiar with. No matter how long you’ve been dating, you still seem to be able to surprise him.
“No,” he presses out weakly, “I meant… That all the pain you went through as a child and teenager, that was me. It’s my fault.”
You lean down to press a kiss to the little spot above his eyebrows that has come away unscathed.
“I’m not saying it was nice, but if I could take at least a little bit of the pain you went through, I’d say it was worth it.”
-
You’re pretty sure Shouto would disagree, but in your eyes Soulmates are not quite as fancy as they’re made out to be.
After all, you found him on your own, didn’t you?
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topazy · 20 hours
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Tomorrow's promise
Pairing: Daryl Dixon × OC, Rick Grimes × sister OC
Warnings: Swearing
Chapter: 3.09
While ducking behind a crate of wood, you use the scope on your rifle. You keep watch for any signs of an attack while waiting on your brothers, Daryl and Hershel, returning to the prison. Somehow Andrea had managed to arrange a sit-down between the governor and Rick, something you were highly against.
“Any sign of my brother yet?”
Hearing Merle’s voice, you roll your eyes and say, “No, not yet.”
“Hmm.” He leans against the fence, making himself an easy target. “Listen, girly, what happened before—kidnapping you and all—it was strictly business.”
“What’s done is done.”
“You’re a lot more snapper than Rick; anybody ever tell you that? I bet Shane did. Yeah, I remember that judgmental deputy well. I never would have pictured you two together. Oh well, at least we are all one big happy family now, right?”
You glance up at him, and it annoys you how amused he is. You got the impression that Merle thrived on chaos and was just trying to get under your skin. “You know, if my brother hadn’t gone back looking for you in Atlanta, I would never have found him again. I guess I’m lucky T-dog dropped the keys.”
“You really are something else.” Merle snorts out a laugh. “I noticed you’re the only one who didn’t protest about me staying. I guess that means all is forgiven.”
“No, I still think you’re an asshole, but Daryl wouldn’t leave you behind.” You go back to looking through the scope for any movements, “but for this to work, we all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet.”
“I’m on whatever side my baby brother is, and fortunately for you, it’s Rick’s side. You didn’t seem surprised when we swooped in and saved your brother's ass from walkers.”
“I knew Daryl would come back because he’s one of us.”
“Yeah, I see that.”
A few beats of silence pass before you speak again. Merle had already gotten into a few altercations with Glenn. “You do anything that hurts.“
“Yeah, yeah,” he says sarcastically. “If I hurt your brother, son, or precious little friends, you’ll point that rifle right at me.”
“You do anything to hurt Daryl, and I’ll pull the trigger.”
“Well, ain’t I glad to know my brother has a guard dog?”
“Shh!” Seeing a vehicle approaching, you point your gun in its direction, ready to fire if it’s an enemy, but thankfully, it’s your people returning. “They’re back.”
Something was going on between Rick, Daryl, and Hershel; they were keeping a secret from the rest of you. Your issue wasn’t with being kept out of the loop per se, but you didn’t like the atmosphere it was causing. Both Daryl and Rick were avoiding you, and Hershel constantly looks like he’s about to start crying.
Rick told you the governor was gearing up for war, but you knew he was holding back.
“You want to go for a nap?” You kiss Jace’s cheek multiple times before placing him in the travel cot. Michonne, Carl, and Rick got on their last run. “Sleep tight, baby.”
Having a cot meant you got to sleep better during the night; instead of worrying, he’d somehow crawl out of the cell. They had also brought back a few toys and clothes for him and Judith to share. Knowing he had something other kids had before the world went to shit made you feel better, more hopeful that one day he would have a better chance.
You go to the cellblock where all the supplies are kept and start separating ammunition into different piles. Glenn has come up with the idea of hiding a few boxes of bullets outside, so if anyone got pinned down, they wouldn’t run low. You lift your head and smile when Daryl walks into the room and says, “Hey.”
“Hi.”
It gnaws on you that Daryl avoids making eye contact with him. “Did you do it?”
He looks almost alarmed by the question, “W-what?”
“Michonne’s idea? Putting down barbed wire will slow down any vehicle. I’ve got a few ideas I want to pick her brain about later.”
Daryl gulps it down nervously.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah… no.” He finally lifts his head to look up at you, and he seems to be torn. “I… fuck, I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
“Is this about the governor?"
Sighing, he sits down beside you and holds his head with his hand. “The governor offered to make a deal with Rick; we hand over Michonne, and he’ll leave us alone.”
“But my brother wouldn’t do that,” you say, looking over Daryl’s shoulder at the doorway at the same time Rick walks in. “Tell him you wouldn’t do that.”
“Lily.”
Your stomach drops upon seeing the look on your brother's face; he had actually considered it. “Tell him, Rick, tell me you wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t hand a woman over to that man!”
“Keep your voice down.”
“There is no difference between Merle snatching me and Glenn off the street and handing us over to the governor than there is you doing it. Is this what the three of you have been whispering about? Trying to figure out the best way to do it without the rest of us noticing? That man terrorized me and Glenn.”
You glare at your brother as he comes and sits down on the opposite side of you. “I’m not going to do it... I did consider it. But we can't, and I can’t. It’s not who we are.”
You shake your head in disgust. Rick knew exactly what the governor had done to you, and whatever he had planned for Michonne would be a thousand times worse. Tears of anger begin to form.
“Don’t, don’t do that,” Rick sighs. “I’m going to tell Michonne the truth. About the deal, about... how I thought about it.”
“How could you even think about it?” The difference between people like us and people like them is that we protect our own.”
“That’s exactly what I was trying to do. If I had to choose between saving a person I barely know and my family, I’d always choose my family.”
“Siblings, huh? I can’t live with them; I can’t live without them. But at the end of the day, you’d do anything for them.”
Daryl shakes his head when his brother sits at the table with a smug look on his face. “Shut up, Merle,” you say. “I’m going to check on Judith.”
Looking around the prison yard, panic starts to set in. You notice your brother and run to him. “Rick, Rick!”
Seeing you panicked, he runs over and meets you halfway. “What’s going on?”
“Somethings wrong; I can’t find Michonne or Daryl.”
“I know,” he says, looking down at the ground. “Merle went through with it; he took Michonne, and Daryl’s gone after him to bring her back.”
“He’s gone out there alone.”
He nods.
You rub at your face and say, “Damn it. If the governor finds them, he will kill all three of them.”
“Daryl is a survivor. He and Michonne will be coming back through those gates in no time.”
Tears start to build up. “You really think so?”
“Absolutely, both of them have better chances of surviving out there than either of us.” Rick was right; they would be fine. “I just want to say, before... I wasn’t thinking clearly. I would never have turned her over. I was just grasping at any chance I could to try and save the lives of my people, but you’re right, Michonne is one of us now.”
“I shouldn’t be so quick to judge when it’s not me in the position to make that choice. Hell, I’ve done a lot of questionable things.”
Rick hugs you tightly, and you squeal a little when you feel the pressure against the flesh that had been grazed by the bullet. “From now on, there is only one secret we keep: that night on the farm, and that’s it.”
“Agreed.”
When you start to walk back towards the prison, a hint of a smirk appears on Rick’s face. He puts his arm around your shoulder and says, “I need to ask you something, and I need a completely honest answer.”
“Okay?”
“For a while there, I was hearing things and seeing things that weren’t there. So I need you to tell me, did I really see you kissing Daryl with a dead possum at your feet, or did I imagine that?”
“Let’s go find the others.”
Your brother stands in front of the remaining members of your group in the courtyard while you sit around a picnic table. He looks stressed, scared of how the others will react. Admittedly, you were horrified when Daryl told you, but you don’t believe him; Rick or Hershel would have actually gone through with it.
“When I met with the governor, he offered me a deal. He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne.” Rick’s jaw wobbles slightly as he talks; he was struggling to hold it together. “And I was going to do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal, and Daryl went to stop him, but I don’t know if it’s too late. I was wrong not to tell you. And I’m sorry. What I said last year—that first night after the farm—it can’t be like that. It can’t. What we do, what we’re willing to do, who we are—it’s not my call. It can’t be. I couldn’t sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We’re the reason we’re still here—not me, all of us. How we live, how we die—it ain’t up to me. I ain’t your governor. We chose to go. We chose to stay. We stick together.”
Nobody knows what to say.
“We vote. We can stay or fight, or we pack up stuff and leave.”
“I’m proud of you, Rick.”
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bellatrixobsessed1 · 2 days
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I Am Blackened Bones (Part 12)
It is the perfect day for some meditation if Aang did say so. There is still dew on the grass and raindrops from last night’s rainfall still tucked into the leaves of the ferns. Last night had been a good one for all of them. He and Katara had finally gotten a full night of sleep and the spirit had seemed perfectly content to sleep in the rain, knowing that she wouldn’t break into a blaze. Once or twice, he caught her messing around in a puddle. She had brought Katara a particularly large warm that she had retrieved from the puddle. Katara hadn’t appreciated the gift nearly as much as Toph did. 
Does Aang feel bad for Katara? Yeah. But the spirit did make a friend in Toph in giving her a new means to prank Sokka.
This morning the sun is high and glinting off of the remaining raindrops and the spirit has been freshly dunked. She is now sitting, not very still, in front of him. That might be difficult—she does not like to sit still. 
Aang smiles. “I’m so glad that you’re finally letting me give this a try.” He is glad and terrified to an equal degree. The spirit looks up at him with innocent, trusting eyes. He is so scared; it would be so easy to break that trust even if that is exactly what he is trying to avoid. 
The spirit doesn’t seem to be nervous at all. Had they left it to burn, he imagines that it would be burning a low and easy natural orange. “I’m going to be doing most of the work. All you have to do is sit still and…I guess just let me in,” he gently taps her head,  “when you sense my presence.”
The tilt of her head can mean either that she is very confused or that she understands perfectly. If he remembers correctly, a tilt to the right means that she gets it and a tilt to the left means that she is completely lost. It could also mean that she is entirely uninterested. But the intensity of her stare tells him that she is both invested and aware of what he has just told her. 
“Okay. Well then, here we go.” He takes her hand. Without its outline of fire it is rather cool. Cool like the damp wood of the banyans and mangroves. It has the same texture too. It is heavier than usual he notices—heavy with retained water. That might just be a good thing, if this journey into her mind doesn’t work, she might just be waterlogged enough to be free of fire for a while. 
He closes his eyes. That is where he will start; he will focus on the spirit’s hand. Cool, heavy, rough to the touch. A little swollen, he realizes with his deepening focus. Maybe she has too much water. It doesn’t seem to bother her though. The fire has burned away mosses and lichens that might have grown upon her woodsy arms. But he feels chunks of hardened lava in the spaces where fungi probably would grow. 
And then her hands begin to grow lighter. Lighter has he retreats further from her physical form and closer to her soul. 
Aang’s mind is empty for a blink. The space he awakens when he opens his mind’s eye is mostly dark. Dark save for a vivid orange glow quite far off in the distance. The glow that can only be the fire spirit. 
His heart leaps. Why is she so far away!?
He opens his mouth to call out for her but he has no name to call out. And so he runs. He dashes towards that brilliant blaze and to his relief, it does not get further as he wanders closer. In fact, the fire only grows larger and larger still until he realize that he hadn’t been looking at the fire spirit at all but at the start of a burning labyrinth. 
He swallows hard but the fire doesn’t move. Not that it isn’t still unpleasant. He is already dripping with sweat. The labyrinth crackles and shifts. It doesn’t make any sense; usually these kinds of blocks are in place to keep intruders out and prevent those who have successfully breached from reaching sensitive secrets. But the Fire Spirit had very eagerly welcomed him in…
Unless he had misread the tilting of her head.
“Hey!” He calls out into the blaze. “Hey, where are you!?”
He takes his first step into the furnace. What he finds is not a mischievous spirit but burning books spat from torched shelves. Rows upon rows of bookshelves that make up the walls of this burning labyrinth. There are hour glasses too, towering ones positioned one per every five shelves. They have golden sand with blue flakes and golden dragons to perch upon them. Cautiously he takes the first coroner. He leaps nearly out of his britches upon coming face to face with a massive komodo rhino sculpture. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay. This is fine.”
He bunches his fists and plunges further into the maze. Turn after turn, left right, right, left, straight, straight, straight…
He has gone straight for so long. 
Maybe he had chosen wrong. 
Maybe this will go on forever…
He doesn’t know for how long he has been wandering, traversing this endless hall, passing what very well could be the same burning portrait over and over again. Long enough for him to start considering a retreat. But if he does and the Fire Spirit is here he could leave her trapped within her own mind and so he stops. He turns to look at the burnt photograph. A pointless thing to do, really, it is burnt far beyond comprehension. All but for the bottom right corner. There are no discernible objects depicted in the paint but there is lettering; ‘to welcome a new candle; born 85 AG’.
Any hopes he had of finding a clue in the portrait deflate, and he with that hope. There have been ten thousands of people who were born in the Fire Nation in 85 AG.
He keeps walking. Walking until he passes a burning doll on the floor. Walking until he comes to a door, large and red and embellished with a Fire Nation insignia. He grits his teeth and pushes it open; what other choice does he have?
He can leave. 
He could certainly do that…
But what kind of person would he be if he did that?
The door closes behind him. 
He nearly screams when he sees that he is back where he had first started. It was maddening that first time and it is maddening the second time. And the third time. He is on his fourth time. This time instead of doing a pattern of left straight left he tries a pattern of right straight right. 
“Come on, where are you?” He whispers more to himself. 
The longer he wanders the more oppressive the place becomes. The furnace has become a complete inferno and it seems to tilt and close in on him with every step, coaxing him to flee. To let go and retreat back to the safety of his own mind and body. To the safety of the physical world.
He hates energybending. 
It isn’t natural. 
There are so many opportunities for things to go wrong and he has a feeling that he is about to come upon several of them. 
“Please! If you can hear me, come out! I’m trying to help you!” 
He swears that he sees a silhouette in the blaze. A small shadow peeking out from behind a burning pillar. He hasn’t passed pillars yet. He releases a breath, at least this is new. Maybe he is getting somewhere. 
Maybe that is why he can see the silhouette. 
Why he can feel something watching him from within the blaze. His stomach absolutely squirms. He really ought to leave. Surely Katara would understand. The Spirit can probably find her own way out, it is her mind after all. 
“Please!” He tries again. And then once more, very quietly. Posture slumped with defeat and exhaustion he makes another right. The presence grows stronger. Another step. Stronger. Another step. Stronger. Another step…
It throws itself from the fire and Aang screams. And the Fire Spirit screams. He lands upon his rear. And the Fire Spirit slinks back. He quickly gets to his feet and gathers himself. “No. No wait!” He tries not to raise his voice. “You wanted me to come here, remember? We’re trying to help put the fire out.” 
The Spirit takes another step back. 
“It’s me, the Avatar. I promised Katara…”
The spirit halts. 
“I promised her that I would help you remember? Can you help me, help you put all of this fire out?”
.oOo.
Her head hurts. It hurts so terribly. More than it ever has. Sounds have no meaning. Shapes have no meaning. Nothing has meaning. In this place there is so much of everything; every color, every word, every scent, and mathematical equation. This place is so full of everything that it has nothing at all. 
Memories…her own, someone else’s? Her own and someone else's? It doesn't matter, they pass so rapidly and so in sync that she can’t begin to decipher them. She isn’t even aware that she is seeing memories. She isn’t aware that she is hearing every word that she has ever—never?—heard. Every word that she has or hasn’t spoken. Every word that has or hasn’t been spoken to her. All at once. 
She clutches her hands to her head. 
There is one phrase; 20 to 55 inches. 4 tons. Black or white komodo rhino. 59 inches. 7 tons. White or black komodo rhino. 39 inches. 7 tons. Greater one horned komodo rhino. 60 inches. 10,000 pounds. Caldera ash komodo rhino.
Finally.
Finally there is a pulse of relief. It lasts for the span of time that it takes to listen and repeat that mantra. 20 to 55 inches. 4 tons. Black or white komodo rhino. 59 inches. 7 tons. White or black komodo rhino. 39 inches. 7 tons. Greater one horned komodo rhino. 60 inches. 10,000 pounds. Caldera ash komodo rhino.
And she latches to it once again.
Just like old times. 
Yes. 
She remembers. 
Old times. 
There was a time before all of this. 
But what was it? 
What was it?
“Remember?” The word cuts through her mantra. It is so close to her. She tries to block it out. “Remember?” 
She doesn’t. Or does she? She remembers something but perhaps it is not the thing that she is supposed to be remembering. Who is she? What is she? “Remember?” NO! No she doesn’t and it is driving her mad! She has already been driven mad! She is burning, burning, burning. And she can’t remember a thing.
Another word stands out amongst the colorful chaos, and fire, and the other words. “Katara.” It isn’t just a word. It is a concept. No, a name. A name that she can tether to one of the memories that leap from the pages of burning books into her field of vision. This one hangs in the air in front of her. 
But it isn’t the Katara that she knows. 
This Katara hurts her. 
This Katara trapes her beneath ice and she can’t breathe. 
But then her Katara holds her. She remembers that. That memory is true. 
“Remember?” It is the Avatar’s voice she realizes. 
And yes. She thinks that she is starting to remember. 
“I promised her that I would help you remember? Can you help me, help you put all of this fire out?” He tells her gently. She listens to him as intently as she can and, at last, the other voices begin to quiet. One by one they taper off. The memories and their images return to their respective book pages and the shapes begin to right themselves. The mathematical equations retreat back to wherever mathematical equations dwell.
There is only one sound left. One that too is beginning to taper off, “20 to 55 inches. 4 tons. Black or white komodo rhino. 59 inches. 7 tons. White or black komodo rhino. 39 inches. 7 tons. Greater one horned komodo rhino. 60 inches. 10,000 pounds. Caldera ash komodo rhino.”
“What?” The Avatar asks. 
But those are the only words that she knows how to shape. “Remember.” She says although it lacks meaning. Really she is saying it just to say it. While the way his lips have moved to make that sequence of sounds is fresh in her mind. “What?” She repeats, trying to move her mouth the way that he does. “What? Remember? What, remember? Remember what?” It doesn’t sound exactly the same on her tongue. She is probably pronouncing it wrong. 
So she says once more the one thing that she does know how to say. “20 to 55 inches. 4 tons…”
“I don’t understand.” The Avatar sounds as though he is on the verge of tears. 
“I don’t understand.” She mimics with just as much distress. She doesn’t realize just how befitting it is of her to say. 
The Avatar rubs his hands over his face. 
“Come on, let's get you out of here.” The Avatar suggests. 
But she doesn’t move. She doesn’t want to leave. She wants to understand. She thinks that she is so close. 
“We can try again but I think that we both need to come a little more prepared.” The Avatar says.
The spirit shakes her head. “No.”
“No?” The Avatar asks. 
“No.” She says again.
“No as in you don’t want to do this again? Or…”
“Now.” 
This time he is the one doing the repeating. “Now?” 
And the Fire Spirit takes his hand and she leads him to a door. It isn’t too far from where they stand. But The Avatar is in distress.
“Oh no! No, no! I’ve already been here, this is back to where I started.” 
She supposes that she can’t blame him for not having seen the door. It is affixed to the floor and she is the key. Her body fits perfectly into the keyhole and she nestles herself into it. Things are less painful when she awakens again.
“Where are we?” 
They are back in the dark place. She hasn’t been here in a long time. He hasn’t been here once. But she doesn’t know how to form the word ‘dark’ or the word ‘place’. And she can’t answer his next question either. 
“What are we supposed to do here? I don’t know…” 
She follows the Avatar’s gaze. 
Follows it right into the darkness.
Follows it right to where the darkness becomes blue.
She and the Avatar creep closer. Closer to the figure bathing in blue. 
The Fire Spirit is close enough now.
She sees the girl and her heart sears a violent orange. 
The spirit creeps closer. And closer still. And with a smaller proximity, she realizes that she is staring at a woman, not a girl. But the woman is small. Small and lanky and bruised. Her eyes are hollow. She is as dull as the fire spirit is vivid. As dreary as the fire spirit is bright.
The Fire Spirit peers at the Avatar with a question burning in her mind. She doesn’t know how to ask. The words are there but she isn’t sure how to move her mouth to form the words. She has no sand nor dirt to convey the question. 
Who is she? The spirit thinks.
“Who is she?” The woman speaks.
The spirit jumps and the woman flinches. 
The Avatar’s mouth falls agape. 
And her body bursts into flames. The spirit screeches and the woman cries. The spirit has very few words but here in this place it doesn’t matter because the woman likes to say what the spirit thinks; “help me, Avatar.”
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mhaccunoval · 11 months
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are these anything.
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sysig · 2 months
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Size difference.png (Patreon)
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#Doodles#SCII#Helix#ZEX#Crackship#Teisel#Meme#I am on a roll with these lol#I knew adding Teisel to my list was only a matter of time#I am a weakwilled individual with one fatal flaw#Anyway (lol)#ZEX really has his work cut out for him with Teisel haha - it's very fortunate he's so determined and enjoys a challenge 'cause otherwise!#Teisel is hard to pin down - I mean Other Than That lol - he's an interesting guy :0#Rough around the edges and a family man ♪ And if I get to draw long hair and big muscles then all the better hehe#And he has a cute nose! He has the bridge of the nose thing that I like so much!! Yes!!#As for the rest of him - hm! I've only had passing thoughts up to this point and getting into his head is...Something lol#It's well done to be certain it definitely Makes Me Feel it's just hard to ascribe a name to that Feeling just yet#Needs a bit more time to tumble smooth I suppose lol#One thing I know I like because it makes me sad - lol - is ZEX projecting some of his feelings about DAX onto Teisel - unexpected!#It's extremely interesting how despite his deep abiding love and fascination with Otherness he's gotten increasingly homesick#Finding things charming about humans that remind him of VUX! You can tell he's a bit desperate for the familiar :'0#So isolated from even himself ah 💔 Hang in there ZEX!#At least he has some fun distractions hehe ♪ New things to learn and consider! Teisel keeps throwing him curveballs!#Both of them circling each other like ''? Isn't it your turn?'' lol#They both come off as aggressive in their own way and then swing-and-a-miss lol#And then there's how Teisel frames him as far as age goes - or really how everyone does pffft#It is So funny to me every time anyone refer to ZEX as ''old'' now that his age has been more or less established - at least pointed at#The fact that he might not even be in his human-equivalent 50s what is this who this lol he's not old! And Max /definitely/ isn't haha#He is the slightest itty-bittiest willowiest little twink y'ever did see pfft#I have been waiting to use that meme template for someone for ages I am so glad that I finally got the chance ♪
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kittyhazelnut · 1 year
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guess who finally gets to do their teacher evaluation on their shitty clinical professor? :D
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Ever see a depiction of St. George and the Dragon? It's pretty fair to say if you've seen one, you've seen them all: Georgie on a horse stabbing a flailing dragon creature, princess piously kneeling in the background, vague landscape alluding to the homeland of the artist's patron.
The most varied part is the dragons. No one had a real definition for the thing, it seemed. For your pleasure and entertainment, I have ranked some medieval depictions based on how impressive George's feat seems once you see the dragon.
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Paolo Uccello, 1456
This is a terrifying beast. The hell is that. Uccello was one of the first experimenters with perspective, so the thing also looks surreal, like it's taking place on Mars, or a Windows 95 screensaver. I would not want to fight that, I would not want to be tied to that. (Sometimes the princess is tied to the dragon for some reason.) 10/10
Horse thoughts: Maybe if I look at the ground it will be gone when I look up
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Unknown artist, c. 1505
This is a rare change of form for the dragon; it's the only one I've seen actually flying (or at least falling with style). It doesn't look particularly deterred by the spear through its throat, either. Also, George looks appropriately nervous. On the other hand, it hasn't got teeth, it seems to be fuzzy rather than having scaly armor, and George is bolstered by his army of Henry VII and his children, most of whom definitely didn't actually die in infancy. Still, wouldn't want to fight it, wouldn't want my pet sheep near it. (Sometimes the princess has a pet sheep for some reason.) 9/10
Horse thoughts: I am so glad I wore my mightiest feather helmet for this
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Raphael, 1505
We are coming to Dragons With Problems. This guy looks about comparable in size to George, and does have wings, but doesn't seem to be using these things to his advantage (and has he only got one wing?) And how does he deal with the neck? He does have a comically small head, but holding it up with such a twisty neck seems complicated at best. But most egregiously, he is doing the shitty superheroine pose where he is somehow simultaneously showcasing his chest and his butt, with its unnecessarily defined butthole (more on this later) (regrettably). 8/10 bc it's Raphael
Horse thoughts: AM I THE BESTEST BOI? AM I DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB? WE R DRAGON SLAYING BUDDIEZ
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The Beauchamp Hours, c. 1401
We had a spirited debate about this one at work. Again, the dragon has gotten smaller, and this one hasn't got even one wing. He's basically a crocodile. So the debate became: would you want to fight a crocodile if you had a horse and a pointy stick? Would the horse trample the animal, who can't get on its hind legs, or freak out and throw its rider? Would the pointy stick be enough to pierce the croc's thick hide? In this case, George seems to be controlling his horse and putting his pointy stick in the dragon's weak spot, so we can be impressed by his skill and strategy. However, his hat is dumb. 7/10
Horse thoughts: Dehhhh
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Book of Hours, c. 1480
Here we have the same kind of croco-dragon, but George's focus on his strategy has gone out the window. He's flailing around, not even looking at his target, he's about to lose his pointy stick, he hasn't got a hand on the reins, and his sword seems to only be poking the invisible dragon over his shoulder. All he's got going for him is that his hat is slightly less dumb. 6/10
Horse thoughts: Yay, new friend! Come play with me, new fr- what is happening
Final dragons put behind this Read More for your safety:
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Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1432
I'm thinking this guy is at least semi-aquatic. Webbed feet, wings that seem more like fins, bipedal but top-heavy, jaws that seem more for scooping than biting. Maybe she's crawled up here from the nearby body of water to lay her eggs, and this is all a big misunderstanding. Moreover, George's dagged sleeves seem entirely impractical for the situation. 5/10
Horse thoughts: i got my hed stuk in a jar and now it is this way forever
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Unknown artist, c. 15th century
I hate this. I hate everything about it. Why has it got human eyes and teeth. Why is its nose melting. Why has it got a dick on its face and balls under its chin. The fin/wings are back but they look even more useless. Also, George is shifty as hell, schlumped over in his saddle with his bowler hat thing over his eyes. The baby dragon at the bottom eating some hapless would-be rescuer is kind of metal. 4/10 at least the thing is gonna die
Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Crack
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Book of Hours, c. 1450
Remember what I said about the buttholes? First, sorry. Second, yeah, we're back to that. I'll admit this one is less about the danger from the dragon itself than the very specific choices the artist has made. They didn't need to do that. It's a lizard. They don't even have. And it's like they had an orifice budget and they skipped an exit wound for the spear to focus. Elsewhere. It's so detailed. And George had an even dumber hat. 2/10 take it away
Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Weed
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Book of Hours, c. 1415
This is just bullying. There isn't even a princess. That is clearly an infant. Look at that smug look on George's face as he swings his sword that's bigger than the whole little guy. This is the equivalent of when DJT Jr. hunted those sleeping endangered sheep. 1/10
Horse thoughts: ....yikes
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And this is the previous one, but now the baby dragon is cute. He's chubby. He's got toe beans. He's Puff the Magic Dragon. His eyes have already gone white, implying that George is just kicking its corpse around for funsies. What's the difference between the dragon and the lamb in the background? That the dragon is dead, like our innocence. This George is truly deserving of the dumbest hat of all. 0/10 plus one more butthole for the road
Horse thoughts: Perhaps it is we who are the buttholes.
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miniimight · 8 months
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❝ CAN YOU STOP PUTTING EVERYTHING ON THE TOP SHELVES?! ❞ you finally talk to him after a little argument ( height difference )
with deku, bakugou, rody
IZUKU
he tried to look nonchalant as he responded with a questioning hum. yeah, he was putting stuff on the top shelves. "hmm, what?"
you crossed your arms and glared at him. "you heard me."
he turned to you with the picture of innocence plastered on his face. "i don't know what you mean, i just put things where i put them. it just happens that they're high up."
you raised an accusatory eyebrow.
"for you, anyway." he mumbled, turning back to make his sandwich.
"exactly!" you exclaimed. "for me! you know i can't reach things up there and you do it on purpose!" you found your face was hot as you explained it.
you knew exactly why—you both had gotten into a little fight and you weren't talking to him for a while. this was the first time you had spoken since the argument, and even though you were yelling at him, your voice was music to his ears.
a small smile spread on his face despite his efforts to feign innocence. "on purpose?"
"yes!"
he paused, walking towards you. his disregard for space led to you being crammed against the counter behind you. he leaned over you and asked, "what it is that you need, love?"
your cheeks heated and you cast your gaze to the floor. "the box up there..." you murmured. he stretched to reach it and you flattened your palms against his chest. "izuku! you're squishing me—!"
he chuckled and brought the box down to the counter before kissing your forehead. "i'm glad we're talking again."
BAKUGO
"what was that?" he asked you, a knowing smirk on his face.
you huffed, already on top the counter trying (and failing) to reach the stupid box you needed. "i said stop putting shit on the top shelves. you know i can't reach it."
he shrugged, turning his attention back to his phone. "i dunno what you're talkin' about, princess."
you glared and pointed to the box. "you don't even use it?!"
"aw, don't jump the gun on me now, babe. you know i like to switch things up a lil' bit." he grinned, taking so much joy in your visible frustration. he was just happy you were speaking with him again.
you rolled your eyes, electing to ignore him as you tried your best not to fall off the surface or pull the cabinet down with you.
bakugo eyed you carefully as he threw away the thought of you begging for his help, reluctantly decided your immediate safety was more important. "'kay, that's enough." he walked over, his hands on your hips steadying your wobbly movement. "you'll hurt yourself, y/n. come down."
"i want that stupid box..." you pouted.
he rolled his eyes, his arms now circling around you as he lifted you off the counter. you gasped and curled your legs towards your body, clutching his wrists.
"oh, relax, you know i won't drop ya." he grumbled and set you down next to him. he easily plucked the box from its high perch, handing it to you.
"happy now?" he pinched your cheek. "stubborn brat. could've broken a bone or somethin'."
RODY
"what, having trouble sweetheart?" he snickered.
your face heated and you huffed. "rody... just get it for me, please."
"hmmm..." he pretended he was thinking hard. "i think... no."
you looked at him incredulously. "no? you put it up there!"
"i so did not." he turned up his nose, though pino was smiling and nodding her head.
you narrowed your eyes at him. "you're sabotaging me into breaking your silent treatment."
"whaaaat?" he exaggerated confusion. he held his head and pointed at himself dumbly. "me?"
"you're impossible." you rolled your eyes, moving to climb onto the counter.
"in any case, my plan worked wonderfully," his signature smirk graced his lips as he laughed softly, leaning against the wall to survey your distress.
your fingers just about brushed the side of the box before pino crashed into it, sending it further back and completely out of your reach. you swiveled to glare at the little pink bird. "pino!"
she bashfully twirled in the air before happily fluttering away.
rody's laughter filled your ears and you groaned, resting your head against the shelf. you heard shuffling—when you looked up, rody and his stupid smug smirk was beside you, easily bringing the box down.
"now we both look stupid, yeah?" he pressed a fat kiss on your cheek and softened when you laughed brightly.
© miniimight ! thanks for reading <3
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tacticaldiary · 10 months
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It All Comes Crashing Down
Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
She presses the metal radio against her lips and mumbles her final words, hoping that although he has not spoken, he would hear.
"I love you, Simon.
A/N: The classic 'bomb my location' fic you've all been waiting for! This has been sitting in my drafts for weeks, so I'm glad I finally got it out- I'm thinking about a part 2 where she wakes up and it's some extra fluff, maybe?
Masterlist
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She takes a shaky breath in as her hands grip her rifle tighter, but when she speaks her voice is as steady and firm as ever.
"Bomb my location."
The words are acrid on her tongue, but they feel right to her heart. Her mind is in disarray, trying to piece together any other solution that won't have her ending up under dead under pounds of rubble, but she knows deep down that there's no other way out of this.
An entire enemy organisation eliminated at the expense of one soldier.
It was a win-win for everyone but her.
And that was alright. She's made her peace with it, made it the moment she signed her name on those documents giving her life away to the tang of blood and the scent of gunsmoke.
"Level the building." She continues, wincing at another hail of fire that rains upon her. Heavy footsteps and orders barked in Russian move around her location. Steadily being surrounded, there was little hope for a smooth extraction or escape anyway. "Have Soap blow the charges, Captain. Then send in the airship and raze this hellhole to the ground."
"Like hell we're doing that." Gaz's voice comes through her comms, frustrated. "We're not leaving her, Price." They must have rendezvoused successfully, because Gaz doesn't speak through the comms, rather it sounds as if he's turning away his head to speak to the man directly.
It brings a small smile to her face despite the circumstances. Her boys would get out of this, at least.
Simon. Her mind flashes to her Simon and she thanks whoever's above that they had split up before everything went to shit.
It had been fine at first. She was setting the charges they needed to bring the building down while he fetched the intel from somewhere else, and really, she should have been suspicious when it all went smoothly.
She'd planted the last charge before the enemy started closing in.
Like rats, they seemed to emerge out of nowhere shooting her down and pinning her until she had no choice but to slip away and barricade herself in one of the nearby rooms. The entrance and exits were likely swarmed with people and here she sat, in the heart of it all.
Unreachable, untouchable.
She sort of tunes out the muted conversation on the other end, lets the ringing on her head take over. Loud angry cursing, yelling in distinctive Scottish, the harsh rasp of her Captain telling everyone to calm down...it all floats through her mind.
Everyone but Ghost.
She doesn't hear his voice...but he was alive, wasn't he? She'd seen him slip out of the building through the window in front of her, so she knows he must have gotten out. The thought makes her gut curl up, brings her back to the present.
"Negative, Sergeant." Price's voice cuts through her thoughts, much louder than the others. "We're mapping out a route to come get you-"
"Price, it'll be suicide." Perhaps it's the way her voice softens and quiets, the gentle way she talks so different from the harsh way she's spoken earlier. It's as if she's accepted it, is content to lay down and allow herself to be swallowed by the dirt she came from. "I'm one soldier. Don't make yourself visit more than one coffin."
"I'm going to-"
"Set off the charges."
There's a beat of silence, painstaking silence where nobody speaks. Even the gunfire outside the room she's barricaded in seems to fade out for a moment.
"Copy."
A death sentence coming from the man she considered family.
It cracks a smile out of her. She squeezes her eyes shut, lets her head fall against the blood spattered wall behind her.
"Make sure my replacement's just as much a pain in the ass to you, alright?" If the way her voice breaks at the end of her last sentence is noticed, it's not brought up. "Simon's gotta have someone to push around, yeah?"
"There's no replacing you."
There's arguing. Soap and Gaz are yelling, and it's startling because she's never heard either of them shout the way they are, at their Captain nonetheless.
It's comforting to know she was cared for, even if she's about to die.
A sudden bang on her door makes her jump. Muffled Russian filters through the old wood. Someone ramming at it with something, trying to break it down.
But it doesn't really matter, does it? She'll be going out on her own terms even if they find her now.
Ghost...Simon. Where was he? If there was one thing that'd settle her mind right now it'd be hearing that gravelly voice, even if it was merely yelling at her, telling her how stupid it was to suggest what she has.
A desperation claws at her chest, deep down. She wants Simon, wants to spend the night in his bed again, wants to hug him, feel his skin, wants to see those rare smiles of his one more time.
Just once.
Just one more time before she-
"Charges setting off in 5-"
How cruel was the world?
She hopes Simon knows that she didn't mean to leave him. That she wanted him to go on without her, to not fall into the void of 'what-if's.' It wasn't his fault.
Her eyes burn but she refuses to let out the helpless sob clawing its way up her throat. She wants...she wants so much. Wants to do so much more, wants to live, and breathe and smile and laugh and experience and live. Simon. She wants to tell him so much more.
If she could go back in time and fill their silences with all the words she wants him to know right now, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
It's an impulsive decision, how her hand shoots up to grab at her radio frantically. Switching it to the private line between just the two of them, she presses the metal against her lips and mumbles her final words, hoping that although he has not spoken, he would hear.
"I love you, Simon."
The ground crumbles beneath her, the world turns to black.
                                  · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Slipping out of the small shed, he tucks the papers into his vest. For a multi-national organisation, they sure were stupid as hell when hiding their intel.
Scanning the grounds for any movement, Ghost moves out, keeping to the shadows until he reaches the edge of the field that morphed into the woods farther down.
"Intel secured, moving to rendezvous point now." He says into his comms. He frowns when he doesn't get an answer back, grabbing his radio and speaking again, casting a glance back into the foliage in the distance where he knows the others have staked their place to operate from.
Price, Gaz, and Soap were operating remotely, dealing with drones and distant detonation devices, whereas the other two had infiltrated the building separately.
Plant the charges and secure the intel. Simple tasks made difficult when they both realised that the intel wasn't in the building, but instead in the shed attached to the side of the complex instead. Splitting up had been the most logical thing to do, even when Ghost had refused at first.
"It'll be fine. Quick and easy, right?" She'd told him with a grin. "Get that intel before I'm out of the building and maybe I'll give you an extra treat when we get back." Ghost had rolled his eyes at her suggestive wink.
"Does anyone copy?" He says into the object. He's met with nothing but muffled crackling and garbled speech, tinny and indecipherable. Ghost scowls at the machine, ripping it off of his vest and turning it over. It crackles and pops with bursts of sound but nothing cohesive enough to interpret
"I-...ou...Simon"
"Fucking thing's busted." He mumbles to himself, shoving the item back into his vest, his hand brushing against the folder of intel he's successfully recovered from the shed attached to the main building.
He can spot one of the convoy vehicles near the edge of the woods, but he doesn't let his guard down even as he crosses the field towards it.
Ghost barely takes a step through the dead grass before the building behind him goes up in an explosion that makes even him unsteady with the force of it. Flames lick up the east side of the massive structure and Ghost takes a second to watch as it crumbles in on itself sending up clouds of dust and debris.
Good fucking riddance.
He's looking forward to getting the hell out of this place once he rendezvous with everyone else. This mission had stretched on for far longer than it should have, the elusive bastards slipping away through their fingers time and time again with dirty, underhanded tactics.
The foliage grows thicker as he steps into the woods, rifle at the ready. A click of a safety had him raising his weapon and spinning around immediately.
When he sees a very familiar mohawk, however, he lowers his weapon instantly. "Blue!" He says loudly, bringing up a hand to half Soap. "Just me, Johnny."
Soap follows suit and lowers his weapon, his shoulders visibly relaxing the tiniest bit. "Welcome back." He says, but something about his voice makes Ghost uneasy. "Price and...and the others are prepping exfil." He gestures towards the clearing.
"Everyone else made it back?" He asks as they push through the meager trees and into the open space where soldiers are rushing around tying up loose ends.
"Aye." Soap chokes out.
Ghost would question it, but he's too busy doing a sweep of the clearing, putting names to faces. Price and Gaz were there, going back and forth over something. It strikes him a little odd how furious Gaz looks, Price looking so resigned but he pushes it away in favour of catching a glimpse of the person he's more inclined to spot.
"We tried what we could, but she was pinned down." Soap breaks the silence, misinterpreting the reason behind his silent staring at Gaz and Price. "We didn't...Laswell's insisting immediate evac, but Gaz wants to at least find a body to bury." A bitter laugh that makes Ghost's stomach drop like a stone.
"What?"
Soap rakes a bloody hand through his hair, shakes his head, and continues on like he's in some sort of shock. "I don't want to. I think she'd rather us leave her buried there than dig out bits and pieces and bury her again." His voice cracks.
Bury...?
There's only one woman in their team.
There's only one person he hasn't accounted for in the clearing.
There's only one person he hasn't reached on his comms before they broke.
The world spins, his mind screams and falls silent, a crescendo of noise and denial. The ground shifts beneath his feet, rocking him into a state that makes him feel like he's walking on string.
"MacTavish." His words are so calm and even, it's eerie. "Is my girl still in the building?" He feels detached from himself, perhaps a way to distance himself from the pain of the implied.
Soap looks at him for a long moment, then croaks out one, broken word.
"Was."
And it all comes crashing down.
He's been through torture before. Had his skin marred, his fingernails torn off, been hung from his ribs but nothing, nothing has ever come close to the way his heart twists.
Nothing had ever made him panic in a way that has his throat closing up.
"Christ." Johnny breathes, and it's a sound that drags him back from the brink of something horrible. Soap's eyes are fixed on the empty spot on his vest that holds his radio on normal days, horrified. "You didn't bloody know." He states.
Wasting time answering is useless. Talking, speaking breathing is useless because not a moment later Ghost is sprinting towards the rubble.
The rubble that he had just watched fallen. The building he'd stood there and watched fall down, had felt pride and relief in seeing.
His gear digs into him, the air thickens with smoke and dust but he doesn't stop. Vaguely he hears people yelling after him, hears Price and Gaz and Soap and every other motherfucker who stood by and detonated the charges. Friend or foe it didn't matter to him right now. If someone dared to get in his way he'd mow them all down, grind them into nothing and keep going.
They blew the charges.
The airship would be here any minute to finish the job.
No, he'd get to her by then. Ghost slams down into the ground somewhere near where they split off. He'd find her by then, and he'd bring her back, bring her to medical and she'd be fine in a week or two.
There was no other fucking option.
The debris rakes off the fabric of his gloves, splits the skin on his fingertips as he hauls and pushes and pulls and digs through stone and metal and wood, leaving evidence of his efforts in the form of his own blood behind.
She had to be okay.
Not her. Not like his mother, not like his brother, not like his nephew.
Not her.
He digs, calls out her name until his voice is hoarse, pulls away piece after piece of rubble until his fingers are torn to shreds.
Just as he hears the sounds of incoming aircraft, he spots something that makes the knot in his chest slam against his ribcage in pure and utter terror.
It's been a while since Simon has felt fear this pure.
Hair that he's familiar with, strands that he's gripped and gently soothes his fingers through peek out from under the piece of metal he's just lifted.
Unable to breathe, his attempts at moving the earth increase tenfold. He picks off stone after stone, brick after brick until more of her body is uncovered. Still, unmoving, bleeding. Once he's gotten her top half free, he hesitates for one horrible moment because what if he looks down to see a still chest?
Steeling himself, he bites the bullet and curls an arm around her waist, pulling her out of the debris.
The relief that slams into him when he feels her shallow, breaths against his palm is almost enough to send him to his knees.
"I've got you, love." He mumbles, half to himself as he adjusts her in his arms. She's dead weight, pulse barely there but present.
Cuts and bruises, Ghost can name at least five lacerations and countless other places she's bleeding from, a broken arm, leg, and who knows what kind of internal bleeding.
Alive.
But still alive.
And that was enough because like hell Ghost was going to let the one good thing in his life slip through his fingers ever again. He'd drag whoever he needed to her aid, he'd go to hell and back just to make sure she got to open her eyes again.
With limps that ache and a heart that's heavy, he quickly moves them out of the rubble, just in time to see two aircraft circling their location. They hadn't dropped any explosives yet, which a far part of Simon's brain thinks might be Price's doing.
Uncaring of whoever was watching, because frankly everyone could fuck off right now and it would be preferable, Ghost presses his lips to her hair as he moves into the clearing with her.
"Medic!" He barks out. "Right fucking now!"
He ignores Gaz's strangled gasp, ignores the way the entire team approaches them and tries to help. Ghost is a little concerned that if he let the adrenaline that's pumping through his veins go, he might just collapse as well, and that was unacceptable at the moment.
A weak hand grasps at the front of his vest, his eyes snapping immediately to her at the movement.
"S...'mon?" She says, words so faint he barely hears them?
"I'm here." He confirms, pressing his face to her hair harder. "I've got you, darling." He whispers. "I've got you."
It soothes her, because she nods against him and lets herself relax. It's only then that Simon notices she's holding something in her good hand in a deathly tight grip.
Upon closer inspection, it's a radio.
"I-...ou...Simon"
Fucking hell. His grip on her tightens.
She'd been trying to contact him in what she thought were her last moments, and he'd never have known because his fucking radio was broken.
It doesn't matter, he tells himself, chants it over and over again in his mind. He's got her again, and like hell is he ever letting go now.
When the medics bring out a stretcher, Price has to talk him into letting her go down into him, practically ordering him to let the bloody medics do their jobs. He doesn't stray far, however, keeping a hand on her at all times. Sat next to where they were working on her in the helicopter back, never once do his eyes stray from her unconscious form.
She wakes up once or twice, whines, and fights against the medic's hands with a panic-induced haze. Every time Simon is there, holding her hand, muttering rough, soothing praise and assurances.
It calms her down immediately, the trust in those far away pain-addled eyes when they meet his is enough to make his heart twist.
Simon stays with her the entire time, and then takes residence in a seat next to her hospital bed on base, ready for when she wakes up.
Hell would freeze over before Simon would ever let them be apart again.
If that makes him selfish, then so be it.
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(12/08/2023)
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vixstarria · 5 months
Text
A night at the inn (part 2)
Smut galore!
Part 1 here - it's the build-up to this, but not required reading if you're just after some smut
Astarion x Tav x Halsin, Astarion x F!Reader x Halsin
18+, smut, threesome, porn no plot, dirty talk, oral sex, PIV, various kinks in passing, soft dom Astarion, Astarion being a little shit
Approx. 2,700 words (what the hell, how did that happen)
“Is it company or privacy you desire?” 
You and Astarion, who had been lying on top of you, one of your legs wrapped around his hips, turned your heads towards the druid, who paused in the doorway.  
Astarion turned back to you to give you a wicked look, as though to say it was your call, before untangling himself from you, with a final slow teasing roll of his hips.    
“It seems... Astarion desires a show…" You followed him with your gaze as he got up to pour himself more wine, searching for any signs of apprehension or anything that resembled a slipping mask. You saw no such thing. “...And I desire to indulge him,” you added, turning to look at the druid.  
“Only a show?” Halsin frowned, but stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. “I am more than happy to accommodate that, only I thought you of all people would like to take part,” he added, looking at Astarion.  
“It’s... complicated,” said Astarion, sliding back onto the bed and letting you lean back against him. “Darling, would you care to explain our current arrangement to our friend?” he asked, trailing a finger down your neck, sending a tinging shiver down your spine.  
“Astarion has been taking a break from anything below the waist, for himself...” 
“Say no more, I understand,” said Halsin.  
Astarion raised his glass and nodded towards Halsin, glad to not need to explain himself any further, before taking a sip.  
"And you?” Halsin asked, his voice a low and sensual rumble, his eyes piercing through you. Now that the smaller details were out of the way, you suddenly realised just what you had gotten yourself into, and you found yourself at a rare loss for words.  
You’ve done this before, but never in such fine company. And never with the added complication of having to take anyone’s feelings into consideration. 
Astarion’s fingers slid further down, below your collarbone, and slipped beneath the fabric of your blouse, circling down to one of your breasts. 
“You are not taking any ‘breaks'?” Halsin continued, approaching the bed, breaking eye contact briefly to follow the motions of Astarion's hand, as he started to roll and pinch one of your nipples, before looking back into your eyes, quizzically.  
You'd hardly started, and already you felt utterly exposed, a heat growing beneath your stomach. You were completely overwhelmed. Articulating anything was impossible.  
“Darling..?” Astarion said, softly, when you did not reply. “Are you with us?” 
“No breaks, only insatiable cravings,” you managed, wetting your lips. You tilted your head back to look into Astarion’s wine-coloured eyes. “I think I need you to take control,” you murmured. 
“Oh? Getting timid all of a sudden?” he set his wine down to brush your lower lip with his thumb. “You want me to tell him how to scratch your itch? Make sure he does it right?”   
“I trust you,” you nodded, swallowing.  
Astarion breathed a quick soundless laugh and gave you a brief but tender kiss.  
“Very well...” he lifted his gaze to regard Halsin. “Her sweet lips are mine, but you can have free reign over the rest of her, unless she says otherwise,” said Astarion. “My love you will speak up if there is anything you don’t enjoy?” he asked, lifting your chin to make you look at him. “I can’t make every decision for you, pet.”  
You nodded. Halsin took it as a cue to finally break the distance between you. He started by lifting your leg to unlace your boots. 
“What do you want to see?” he asked Astarion. 
“Hmm,” he deliberated. “I think... No, I know she wants to be fucked senseless. Don’t you, pet? Tell us.” he urged with a devilish grin, his eyes still locked on yours, as you managed a weak ‘mmhmm’. “Let’s see that.”   
Halsin pulled off your boots and before you knew what was happening, one of your feet was in his mouth. You gasped as you felt his tongue swirling between your toes. 
“I knew he was absolutely feral!” laughed Astarion. “No no, let him do it,” he added as you squirmed. “But you are completely overdressed for all this, love.”  
Astarion pulled your blouse off over your head, exposing your breasts, and began to undo the lacing on your pants. Halsin attempted to pull them off but they got stuck around your knees. For the first time since you've met him, you saw exasperation on the druid's face, as he struggled. 
“I would outlaw clothing if I could,” he growled.  
This seemed to amuse Astarion to no end, as he fell back onto the bed, pulling you with him. You somehow ended up being flipped onto your stomach and into Astarion's arms by Halsin, in his fight with your trousers. You giggled as he finally managed to pull them off.  
”Are all your dirty dreams coming true, darling?” Astarion whispered to you, kissing your neck below your ear. 
You felt Halsin's bulk lower himself onto you, holding himself up over you and Astarion with his arms to either of your sides. He left hot, open-mouthed kisses down your back, starting from the opposite side of your neck. You were caught between the coolness of Astarion's skin and the heat that was radiating from Halsin's body.  
“This is impossible,” Halsin groaned as he realised that you were still in your smallclothes. Having run out of patience he resorted to simply tearing them off you in a swift and deliberate motion.  
You let out an involuntary squeal as Astarion wedged a knee between your legs and used it to spread them apart for the druid. 
“Be a good girl now and don't cause any more trouble,” he purred. You hummed your assent and lifted your hips up, your face buried in Astarion's neck. 
Halsin's tongue plunged into you, lapping up your wetness, making you let out a moan.  
Astarion tangled his fingers into your hair at the back of your head, near the roots, and pulled on it to lift your head up. 
“I want to see your face while his tongue is in you,” he whispered. “He’s being good to you, isn’t he?” You held Astarion's gaze as Halsin continued to lick between your legs. You tried and failed to stifle another moan and arched your back further, as he dipped lower to tease your clit with his tongue. Astarion moved his hand to caress your face, before parting your lips with his thumb. You caught it in your mouth. “Yes, I can tell he is... But you want more, don’t you?” You sucked on his thumb and nodded with a whimper, looking into his eyes. “Don’t be shy... Tell us what you want...” You grazed Astarion's thumb with your teeth and giggled, shaking your head. You knew he wouldn’t let it slide though.  
“You brat,” he smiled, his eyes narrowing, before looking past your shoulder and raising his voice. “Don’t give her anything unless she asks for it, nicely. In fact, you should stop what you’re doing now.”  
To your dismay, the druid lifted his head from you. 
“It would be my pleasure to help teach her manners,” he said. He stroked your wet slit with his fingers in place of his tongue, but it was only a tease that made you crave more.  
“Beg him,” Astarion said, grinning, pulling your hair to turn your head sideways, so you could take in a view of the druid over your shoulder. 
You shot daggers at Astarion with your eyes. You were glad he was enjoying himself so much, but this man, who had been flicking his tongue over your asshole just seconds prior, was supposed to adhere to your authority at tomorrow morning’s itinerary discussion meeting.   
“Please...” you managed.  
“Please what?” smirked Astarion.  
“I may have a hunch about what she wants,” said Halsin, slipping a single finger in, shallowly, just one phalange deep, and sliding it in and out of you, teasingly. “Is this it?” 
“No, no, she needs to say it herself,” interjected Astarion.  
“I want more...” you moaned. 
“More?” Halsin slipped a second finger in, keeping it agonisingly shallow. 
“Your cock! I want your cock deep in me... Please...” you were too frustrated to care anymore.  
“Good girl...” purred Astarion. “I’m going to remember this, you know,” he added with a smirk. “Next time you get too sassy with me, I’ll just recall our fearless leader begging for dick.” 
“Listen here, you-” you started, exasperated, but were cut off by him pulling you into a deep kiss. He trailed his hand down your stomach until his fingers reached your slit, dipping in. You moaned into his mouth as he began to gently roll your swollen clit between his fingers the way he knew you liked.  
You heard Halsin discarding his own clothes behind you, and were about to turn to look back, but Astarion held your chin.  
“Ah-ah, no peeking! Let’s keep it a surprise.” He looked over your shoulder. “A very... big... surprise.” 
You felt Halsin start to work his way in with his cock, in slow, rolling thrusts, gradually filling you, inch by inch. You were completely soaked, and stretched to accommodate him, but gods he felt huge. Exactly as big as you would expect by looking at the sheer size of the druid himself. 
You whimpered as he filled you completely and began his deliberate, rhythmic thrusts.  
“More than what you’d bargained for, darling?” Astarion whispered in your ear, continuing to rub your clit. “But you’re taking it so well, my good girl...” All you could do was whimper and moan, as he continued to stroke you and whisper obscenities to you. “That huge cock, all for you...” 
“She’s starting to quiver around me already,” groaned Halsin.  
“Is she now?” Astarion removing his fingers from your clit. “Do we need to talk about manners again? You don’t want to be rude to our friend by coming so soon and all by yourself, do you?”  
“I’ll be good, just don’t stop, please” you whimpered. You could not handle another interruption. 
“You have some catching up to do,” Astarion directed at Halsin.  
Halsin’s thrusts sped up to an infernal pace, as Astarion pulled on your hair again to lick and nip at your exposed neck, running his tongue over your fresh puncture wounds, where it still felt so sweet for you.  
“I’ll be generous, I know how much you want it,” Astarion rasped in your ear. “I want it too.” 
He resumed rubbing circles around your clit and you found yourself falling to pieces, a mewling mess. 
“Don’t get shy now... That’s it... Let us hear how much you like it,” Astarion continued, hoarsely. 
You felt the first ripples of your climax coming on, your moans mounting louder and deeper with each wave.  
“Fuck her through her orgasm. She likes that,” Astarion threw over your shoulder.  
Halsin’s thrusts somehow got even harder then, and you screamed into Astarion’s neck as your pleasure completely overtook you. The sound of skin slapping on skin had already been loud enough to hear halfway across the inn, if anyone in the adjacent rooms had been sleeping through that, they were awake now.  
Halsin’s penis slipped out of you and you collapsed, melting into Astarion’s embrace, no longer able to keep yourself up.  
“Still enjoying yourself, my sweet?” he whispered only loud enough for you to hear. “Do you want more?” 
“Gods, yes,” you answered.  
“We’re not done yet,” he said louder, with a grin, as Halsin pulled you off the vampire by your waist, flipping you onto your back on the bed.
You spread your legs as Halsin settled between them, sitting up. He couldn’t have been far himself, as he entered you again, with quick, needful thrusts, lifting one of your legs onto his shoulder. Your breasts bounced with every thrust, and you raised your hands to hold them, pinching your own nipples. 
“What a sight you are...” purred Astarion, off to your side. “Let us enjoy the view better.”  
You let go of your breasts and raised yourself on your elbows, eager to enjoy a view yourself as you watched Halsin’s cock ram you, slick with your wetness.  
Suddenly you were distracted by Astarion unlacing his pants to release his pulsing cock. Unable to contain his need any longer, he began to stroke himself. You couldn’t look away. 
“Can I have it in my mouth..? Please..?” you implored.  
There had to be a delicate balance to your pleading.  
You knew he didn’t want to feel pressured. Not even by your need and desperation.  
You also knew how he wanted to be wanted. He loved to hear you beg. He revelled in it. In the knowledge that he had such a grasp on your arousal. He would often tease you relentlessly. Usually, he would allow you to find your release eventually, whether with his fingers or tongue, or just from grinding against him. A few times, you pleasured yourself for him, while he watched. But sometimes, it was just a ‘no’ despite the teasing he had initiated himself. Being in control was another thing he revelled in.  
“Desperate, are we?” he breathed. 
“Astarion, please... Anything... Just a taste.” 
He lifted your chin, angling your face toward him. 
“Just the tip, with your tongue. I’ll take all your treats away if you get too greedy.” 
You hadn’t done this since before your talk about wanting something real together. Your heart just about leapt into your throat.  
He continued to stroke himself as you swirled your tongue around the swollen head of his penis, licking up his precum, looking into his eyes.
“I’ve missed this too, my sweet” he murmured as he watched you through his eyelashes, his voice thick. 
Halsin was being a complete menace, rubbing your clit and licking the arch of your foot, and you started to get carried away, close to climaxing again, and wrapped your mouth around the tip of Astarion’s cock. 
“Ah-ah! Make sure she behaves,” Astarion said to Halsin. 
Halsin pinched your clit, just enough to make you jump and distract you. You moaned and continued with just your tongue, as Halsin pounded into you.  
“Shall I go easy on her?” Halsin asked.  
“Absolutely not,” said Astarion. “Just a little longer, love. You can hold out longer for me, can’t you?” he asked you, stroking your cheek with his hand.   
This was becoming impossible. Between Halsin’s incessant thrusts and stroking of your clit, and your added arousal from finally being able to taste Astarion, you were losing your mind. But you did not want to come before he did.  
“I can’t!” you gasped between strokes with your tongue. “I can’t...’ 
Halsin took some mercy on you then, pausing the circles he had been drawing around your clit, as everything else continued. 
Astarion was breathing harder, stroking himself faster.  
“You can come for us now... Come for me...” he rasped. 
Two more firm strokes of Halsin’s thumb, and you came undone again, your walls clenching around Halsin, your legs shaking, just as Astarion’s cum filled your mouth, some of it spilling and leaking down your chin and the corner of your mouth. You were completely spent, as you swallowed what you could. You barely even registered Halsin pulling out his cock to spill his own seed all over your chest and stomach. 
Astarion knelt down next to you, trying to regain his breath, and pressed his forehead against yours briefly, before drawing you into a kiss, tasting himself on your tongue. You felt his lips breaking into a smile as you kissed.  
A short while later you lounged on the bed, your head on Astarion’s stomach as he played with your hair, your legs thrown across Halsin’s lap. Halsin was fiddling with his herbs and pipes again.  
“Care for more catnip?” he asked Astarion. 
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Astarion rolled his eyes. “But yes. ...Only to prove that it’s not going to do anything this time!” 
Sure enough, a minute later Astarion once again sat with a ditsy expression, on the verge of breaking out into inane giggling. 
“Gods, I’m not sure I can handle him like this again,” you sighed, shooting Halsin a reproachful look. 
“This is a beautiful, glorious thing - he is embracing the opportunity to get reacquainted with nature,” the druid shrugged. 
“Tell us about the bear you fucked again,” Astarion tittered.  
~~~
Part 3
AO3
Hope you enjoyed, check out my other work
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pioneergirlsie · 1 year
Text
Frickin’ Watermelon
Simon “Ghost” Riley x Reader
Summary: The 141 finds out about your skincare routine, and you wonder if one of your teammates might benefit from having one also.
A/N: This is my debut piece for the CoD fandom. I fell fast and hard for MW, and I thought this piece up while scrubbing my face one night, trying to keep the acne at bay. I hope you enjoy!
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As a sniper, you have to keep your face out of sight. You prefer face paint, camouflaging yourself to blend in. You’d gotten quite good as quickly painting yourself and heading out for whatever mission was next.
Unfortunately, on this mission, they decide rather last minute to use your sniping skills, simply shrugging when you asked for face paint. They hand you a balaclava, which would do the job fine.
You slip it on, slightly peeved that you couldn’t use your paint. There is a reason you wear paint. The longer you wear that face covering, the more you feel like you were going to choke on your own breath. It is hot and humid, and the balaclava gathers sweat and oil and dirt and hot breath, keeping them all close to your face.
Wiping the sweat from your forehead, you force yourself to take a few deep breaths, lifting the mask a bit to let some fresh air in from time to time.
You spend several miserable days out on that mission. The final morning when you pull on the balaclava, it rubs painfully against some recently developed acne.
Mercifully, the mission ends successfully, and you return to base. After a quick shower to degrime from your time in the field, all you want to do was fall into bed, but that acne is just getting worse.
Half asleep, you reach for your bottle of face wash. It was watermelon-scented pink gel that works wonders for you. You scrub your face with it, put on some moisturizer, and stumble your way to bed.
—————————————————————————
“What do you even need face wash for? Isn’t water good enough for the princess?”
You might have hit Soap for his teasing if you hadn’t detected a hint of genuine curiosity in the question.
“There’s no way water is going to cut through all the grime on your ugly mug,” you tease back. “For a guy called Soap, you should use some a little more often.”
“Ouch,” Soap says with a grin.
After a long day of training, you, Soap, Ghost, and a few other members of the 141 have gathered to just relax. You don’t know how the conversation turned to your skincare routine, but here you are. These boys are oddly fascinated with the care you give to your personal hygiene.
“I’m honestly surprised you guys don’t get acne more often. That one mission a few weeks back, I had to wear a mask the whole time I was in the field, and I broke out so bad,” you said. “It was awful!”
You caught Ghost’s eyes after that remark. *He* wore a mask all the time. But it was different for him. The mask was part of him at this point. It was freeing, somehow, in a way you couldn’t quite grasp; for you, it was smothering.
If you got that bad of acne from a couple days with your face covered, you had to wonder: did Ghost ever break out?
“You know, if you ever want to try it, I can give you a full rundown of the routine. Face wash, moisturizer, the whole works,” you said, directing your comment to Soap. Then, meeting Ghost’s eyes, you added, “You can’t miss the face wash. Bottle of pink gel in with my stuff.”
Soap snorts, and Ghost doesn’t say a word. You didn’t want to straight-out say that he could use your wash if he wanted to. After all, “skin care” didn’t have the manliest connotations. His eyes reveal nothing of his thoughts on the matter.
“Pink? I suppose it smells all fancy, too?” Soap laughs.
“Well, of course! Nothing too girly, though. Just some light, fresh watermelon scent,” you reply.
“Ah yes, watermelon! The manliest of all scents,” Soap says.
This time, you do hit him.
—————————————————————————
After a few days away on a mission, you are glad to be back on base. It hadn’t been a bad time out in the field, but it had been boring. You guess that’s better than things going horribly wrong, but you’d like at least a little fun while you’re out.
After a hot shower, you move to the sink to wash your face. You reach for your bottle of pink face wash. As you lift it, you realize it feels slightly lighter than it had before you left. You level the bottle, looking at how much is left. It’s not much emptier, but it’s definitely less than you thought you’d had before this mission.
But maybe you just were misremembering. After all, the bottle was exactly where you’d left it. You liked to display it in the corner with the cute watermelon decal facing outward, and that’s precisely how it had been.
With a shake of your head, you dismissed the thought and washed your face.
—————————————————————————
Your strides were quick as you made your way toward Price’s office. He’d asked to see you, and while it wasn’t urgent, you liked to make a good impression by being as punctual as possible.
In your haste, you nearly bump into Ghost, who’s turning the corner.
“Oh! Sorry!” you exclaim as you check up, barely keeping from smacking into him.
He nods at you as he continues on. As he passed, you swear you catch the scent of watermelon. You whip around, watching him walk away, but saying nothing before continuing to Price’s office.
—————————————————————————
You clutch the brown paper bag in your hand as you make your way to your lieutenant’s room. After slowly watching your face wash deplete seemingly on its own for several more days and catching a few more whiffs of watermelon whenever you were near Simon Riley, you were fairly confident you knew where it was going.
You didn’t want the man to have to keep using your face wash forever, though, so you’d gotten him a bottle of his own. Unfortunately, the stuff only came in the cute bottle with the watermelon decal, so you also bought a plain opaque bottle to put the pink gel in. You couldn’t resist adding a label with a skull and crossbones on it that read “Poison” just for fun.
The rest of the contents of the bag were some more intense acne treatments for breakouts and stubborn spots along with wipes for the black paint he used around his eyes and moisturizer. You’d also written a note with detailed instructions on how and when and what order in which to use the products.
You were just going to set the bag outside his door and maybe knock and run. The moment you bent to set it down, however, the door swung open to reveal Ghost.
His eyes met yours, then traveled down to the bag in your hand.
“What’s that?” he asked.
You blushed. Why did he have to catch you?
“It’s… um… for you,” you finally blurt and shove the bag at him.
Ghost gives you a suspicious look. He takes it and opens it before you can run. His eyes quickly scan the contents, and he pulls out the “Poison” bottle of face wash. He meets your eyes again. His eyes are nearly unreadable, but you catch a hint of curiosity there.
“Face wash,” you explain. “I thought maybe you’d like your own. And I put in some extra stuff, too. And instructions. If you want. Or if you… don’t.”
*Why* had you thought this was a good idea?
Ghost stares at you for a few more seconds, making you wish the floor would open up and swallow you. Finally, he breaks the silence.
“It was the frickin’ watermelon, wasn’t it?”
You blink. “What?”
“That day we met in the hall. You smelled it, didn’t you?”
“I… I thought I did,” you admit.
“You did a whole three-sixty after I passed,” he accuses. “Shoulda stopped using it then.”
“No!” you quickly say. “No, I’d hoped you’d use it. If you needed to. Or wanted to, even. I didn’t know if you’d really take me up on it.”
Neither of you speak for a moment. He stands there, face wash and bag still in hand.
“I can show you how to use the rest of the stuff if you want,” you suddenly offer.
Ghost gives you a sharp look.
“I mean, I’d do it on my face and explain it. You wouldn’t have to take off your mask or anything. I just thought…” you trail off.
You’ve stared down armed enemies before and not been this nervous. Now you are practically oozing awkwardness. The confident soldier was reduced to a bundle of nerves over a discussion about skin care.
“You wrote instructions, yeah?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
He hesitates a moment, shifting the bottle in his hand.
“Better run through it once so I can keep it all straight.”
You give him a bright smile, immediately turning on your heel and making your way to your sink where you keep all of your products. You look around carefully before entering with Ghost, making sure no prying eyes spotted you. Locking the door behind you, you arranged all of your bottles and containers, beginning the lesson.
Ghost listened intently as you explained what each product did and how to best use them, giving a nod here and here. You demonstrated and gave tips, like dabbing the face with the washcloth and towel instead of scrubbing it to avoid further irritation. You went through each step, making sure to take your time.
“And then you take about this much moisturizer,” you say, dabbing a bit on your finger and spreading it. “And you spread it evenly. If you have dry patches, you can give those a little more. But after that, you’re done!”
You turn and give him a smile.
“Thanks,” he says after a moment. “Thanks for… this.” He holds up the bag. “And for this.” He gestures vaguely, probably meaning your little lesson.
“Of course,” you say. “Can’t have my favorite LT going without proper skincare, can we?”
You both stand there a moment more. The silence is not uncomfortable. There’s something there, something unsaid, but you don’t mind. This is enough.
It takes you a moment to realize, but his eyes are smiling back at you.
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bet-on-me-13 · 5 months
Text
Ellie wasn't born a Halfa
So! Jason just found something weird. Or rather. Someone.
A little girl, no more than 6 or 7, crying behind a dumpster in an alleyway. Now, as unfortunate as it is, this isn't that strange a sight in Gotham. Kids are always running away from home, getting lost, being left homeless after a mugging gone wrong, but this time was different.
Because the kid was glowing.
When he found her hiding behind the Dumpster, a medical gown being the only thing she had to protect herself from thr frigid Gotham Winter, he didn't hesitate to give her his Jacket and take her to his nearest safe house.
(Actually it took a little while to convince her to accept the Jacket, and even longer to get her to agree to being taken to his safe house, but they got there in the end.)
When he had finally gotten her set up in a side room of the Warehouse, with the most comfortable bed and thickest Blankets he could find, he tried asking what had happened.
"Daddy lied." She said. "He said he loved me, but then he made another kid and said he didn't care about me."
And, once again, it was unfortunately not that uncommon to see runaway kids from neglectful homes, but the way she said it raised some flags in his head.
"...and, how did you end up in Gotham?"
"I ran. He said I was a spare, and that scared me."
Well, that was even more horrible than he had anticipated. What kind of monster tells their kid that they're a spare?!
"And, I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject but why are you glowing?"
She just buried her face in the Blankets and shook her head.
"Alright then, that's fine. You can tell me when you're ready, or even not tell me at all, I'll accept either or".
For the next few weeks, Jason juggled running his newly created criminal empire and raking care of the kid. He still hadn't gotten a name out of her, but she said to call her "Dp" instead. 'It's the best I'm gonna get', he thought.
It was only after a few more weeks, right before he was about to begin his Plan of confronting Bruce about the Joker still being alive, that she approached him and agreed to tell him everything. He was actually really glad that she finally seemed to trust him enough to tell him.
"Okay Dp, you can start wherever you want."
"...well, I guess I should start with my name..." She started, "...or rather, my lack of one..."
"What?" Asked Jason in a soft voice.
"I, I don't have a name." She explained, "Daddy never gave me one. He just called me DP-2."
"...what do you mean by two?" Asked Jason.
"It-It's my Experiment Number." She said, stuttering a little, "I'm not a normal person, I'm a Clone. I was made to be daddy's perfect child, but I was just the test run. He said that I wasn't needed after he made DP-3, and that all I was good for was spare parts."
Jason felt his throat dry up. Dp was a Clone? Of who? Who made her? What right did that guy have to reject her?! Who in their right mind would make a Clone and then reject the Clone?! How dare he!
The Pits perked up
He felt the Pits rising a little, but managed to push them down. Dp needed support, not the Pits.
"It's Okay kid." He said, holding her had reassuringly. "It's perfectly okay to be different. I accept you as you are, and I'm sure as hell not gonna abandon you that easily. Or, ever really. You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not."
She giggled, and hugged him. A thoughtful look crossed her face, and she pulled away.
"There is one other thing...you know how I glow sometimes?" She asked.
The Pits felt a sense of dread
Jason felt like he wasn't going to like this. "Yeah?"
"Well, when I said I was meant to be a Clone, I never mentioned who of." She explained slowly. "He's a kid named Danny, and when he was 14, he had an accident where he died and came back as a Half Undead."
No...
Jason really wasn't liking where this was going.
"When Da-Vlad tried to make me, he realized that those powers couldn't be cloned..." She paused here, seemingly gathering the courage to continue. "...they needed to be added afterwards."
NO.
He didn't. He had better not have, for his own Fucking Sake, he had better not have done what Jason thinks he did.
"So one day, he took he down to the Lab, and he put me in a big machine." He voice broke a little. "He locked me in there, and then I think...that I died..."
...
For once, Jason felt completely in tune with the Pits. He was going to Kill that guy.
...
Sorry if this feels a little rushed, I kept going back to add or change parts of it.
Basically, Vlad realized that you can't Clone a Halfa. So, he made a workaround. He just stuck his first Viable Clone into a Portal, and let the machine Kill her. When he realized that it worked, he knew he had no use for Ellie anymore aside from spare parts.
And he told her as much, Vlad is a fucking asshole.
Ellie, of course, got scared and ran away. She ended up in Gotham, and was adopted by Jason right at the start of his Criminal Career.
When Jason finally hears about the rest of his kids' Backstory, he decides that Batman can wait his turn. He needs to go Kill that Vlad Bastard.
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onlyhuis · 20 days
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do not disturb
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member — junhui x f reader genre — smut, a little humor, college au word count — 2.6k synopsis — everybody on campus knows that jun and his innocent little girlfriend are too shy for pda... or are they? warnings — description of female anatomy, semi-public sex (private room in a library), oral (m receiving), messy blowjob, throat fucking, cum in mouth, kinda mean hard dom!jun, degradation, name calling (slut, bitch), reader wears a skirt, brief cameo from hoshi & chan as their group project partners hehe notes — requested by @jaemlonfz — this was very fun to write lmao! thanks to my lovely @onlymingyus for reading over for me. this was a bit crazier than what i normally write but i always write fluffy sex so it was fun to return to the wild stuff for once. if you enjoyed this please let me know in a reblog or an ask! :)
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“so, just finish your guys’ section of the slides and text the group chat when you’re done, ‘kay?”
jun smiles at chan and you nod, hunched over the table writing notes in your planner.
“great… i think we're done here, then.” soonyoung grins, leaning back in his chair to stretch. “you guys got any fun plans for the weekend?”
jun looks at his watch, then glances at you. “yeah… not really. we actually gotta head out,” he says with a sigh. “reserved one of the rooms upstairs to study for our calc final on monday.”
you hum, giving the other two a pained look, as if you wish you could stay longer.
“man, that sucks.” 
chan nods in agreement with him. “yeah. well, good luck. see you guys tuesday?”
you nod and turn to leave with jun trailing behind you, waving over your shoulder as you both head towards the elevator.
“y’know, i thought this would be a lot worse,” soonyoung says after the doors shut and you and jun disappear inside, shoving a folder full of loose papers into his bag. “i thought they’d be, like, more into pda.”
chan shakes his head as he closes his laptop. “nah, they’re too shy. everybody knows they’ve been dating forever, but i don’t think i’ve ever seen them do more than hold hands. they’d probably explode if they even thought about anything else.”
“yeah, you’re right.” soonyoung shrugs and slings his backpack over his shoulder.
chan stands up, swiping his hand across the table to brush away the eraser shavings from their study session with a sigh. “i’m just glad the semester’s almost over and we don’t have to worry about this anymore.” 
“ugh, i know. we could’ve gotten stuck with jihoon the perfectionist,” soonyoung grumbles. 
“or jeonghan… i don’t think i’ve seen him come to class once after the first day.”
“she said attendance was optional though, i don’t blame him.”
chan pushes his chair in. “anyway… hey, speaking of jeonghan, are you going to sig pi’s party tonight? heard he was gonna bring the keg.”
“hell yeah.” he gestures to his backpack as they walk out the library entrance. “it’s friday, i’m gonna ignore this all weekend and do it all the night before." 
chan laughs. “same. but i'm sure the other two will have theirs done by the end of the day.”
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“mm, harder, jun— fuck!”
you whine as jun slams his hips into you, your back pressed against the whiteboard on the wall and your leg wrapped around his waist. he groans and buries his head in your chest, scraping his teeth over your skin where your breasts spill out of your tank top.
“dirty little slut,” he rasps, voice low and rough as his hands tighten around your hips for leverage. “so needy, you can’t go ten fucking minutes without having my cock inside you, hm? wanted me to fuck you right there on the table, in front of everybody in the library? in front of chan and soonyoung?”
you whimper and squeeze his bicep, remembering from just minutes ago when he'd buried his fingers in your aching pussy as soon as the elevator doors clicked shut, pressing your lips messily against his in a pathetic clash of tongues and teeth.
you already knew today wasn't going to be a very productive day as soon as you felt his hand on your thigh under the table. to anyone else you just looked studious and focused on the group project. you weren't known for being especially outgoing, so no one batted an eye when you barely spoke more than a few words the entire meeting.
but only jun knew how unceremoniously quiet you were being today, keeping your mouth firmly shut and struggling not to let out a whiny moan as his fingers smoothed over your soft skin, inching higher up beneath your skirt. only jun could feel the burning warmth radiating between your legs, tracing his fingers gently, teasingly, over your pussy.
it took mere minutes before your panties were soaked through completely, and you finally had to kick jun's leg under the table and get him to make some excuse to get you both out of there. it wasn't technically a lie; he really did have a study room reserved and you really did have calculus homework to review before your final, but it wasn't as urgent as he had made it seem to your group partners.
what was urgent, on the other hand, was your throbbing pussy and how desperately you needed him. but luckily for you he was equally as desperate and immediately gave you what you needed as soon as you'd locked yourselves in the reserved room.
with every snap of his hips his glasses slip further and further down his nose, little beads of sweat trickling down his temple from the force.
his hands slide down your sides and settle below your ass, and before you know it suddenly your back isn't against the wall anymore and he's lifting you up, dropping you on the rectangular wooden table behind you. you yelp and wrap your arms around his neck for balance, but he doesn't seem to notice or care as he grips the backs of your thighs, his cock still nestled inside you as he turns around and sets you down in one fluid motion.
he not-so-gently lays your back against the table, his hands on your hips keeping you flush against him and wrapping your legs around his waist. once he's satisfied with the change he leans over you and cups your cheek with one hand, pulling you into him to meet your lips in a sloppy, heated kiss.
he starts to pick up the pace again, slowly pulling his hips back before pushing into you, building up each thrust harder, deeper, rougher. your back slides against the smooth surface of the table but his hand on your jaw keeps your head from moving too much, making sure your gaze is fixed on him and only him.
“you wanna cum, angel?” he breathes against your mouth, his lips hot and slick with saliva as your walls squeeze tighter around him. “have you earned it?”
you whimper and try to lean your head back but his grip is firm, not letting you move.
he lets out a low noise like a growl that seems almost disappointed, but you know he's enjoying this just as much as you are. “eyes on me, sweetheart. don't make me ask again.”
“p-please,” you gasp, and he rewards your answer with a pointed thrust. “please, jun, so c-close—”
he grins and swoops down to cut you off with a kiss, clearly pleased.
“cum all over this fucking table like the needy little bitch you are.”
you gasp and clench around him with another moan, nails digging into his back as you feel yourself beginning to crest over the edge.
your eyelids flutter and your head lolls back but jun doesn't comment on it, never faltering his pace and letting you ride out the waves. he's all bark and no bite, and as soon as you give the indication that you're cumming it's like a switch is flipped in his brain and all he can think about is how to make it better, stronger, more intense and pleasurable for you.
his hand shifts to the back of your head, his fingers gently digging into your scalp to support your neck as he keeps you propped up against the table. he revels in the way your body trembles for him, because of him, your lips gone slack against his mouth and unable to even return his kisses as he continues to slam his cock into you.
his thrusts start to grow shallower as you tighten around him until he's forced to bring himself to a stop. you let out a whimper as he lays you gently down flat against the table, giving you a second to rest though his cock stays buried inside you, still hard and throbbing.
the reprieve doesn't last long though, because as soon as you've recovered enough to lift yourself back up onto your elbows he pulls you closer with a barely audible groan of your name. he kisses you greedily, swallowing your moans and replacing them with some of his own, his hand on the back of your neck keeping you pressed against him as he hovers over you. 
he breaks away for air, his breathing labored and his lips swollen from kissing you so hard. he finally pulls out of you and you let out a low whine at the loss, your thighs trembling as he steps backwards.
with a gentle but firm hand he pulls you onto the floor, dropping you onto your knees. he pulls out one of the chairs from the table and sinks down into it, leaning back against the back of the chair and spreading his legs wide.
before he even has to ask you crawl across the floor over to him, kneeling between his legs with a whimper. he lets out a breathy laugh, sighing as he pats his thigh for you to come closer. 
“you got yours, sweetheart, now return the favor.” he glances down at you and the look in his eyes sends a shiver down your spine, the corner of his mouth turned up in an expectant smirk. “you want me to cum in your mouth or in your pussy?”
you hum but don't even bother with a reply, both of you already knowing what you'll pick. you settle on the floor, placing your hands on his thighs and sliding up his legs. with a sigh he weaves his fingers into your hair encouragingly.
you wrap your lips around his tip and immediately moan at the familiar feeling of the weight on your tongue. you slowly take him deeper until you gag, tears already beginning to form in your eyes before you pull off of him teasingly. you open your mouth wider and run your tongue along the veins on the underside of his cock, taking your time to let your saliva coat his length. you can still taste yourself on him, the salty bitterness of your juices from when you came around him earlier.
you guide him back into your mouth and start to bob your head, letting out a whine the deeper you take him. spit leaks from the corners of your mouth, dripping down his shaft and pooling at the base of his cock.
you can barely fit half his length down your throat, but still you move your head up and down so enthusiastically, your hands twisting and jerking the area where your lips can't reach.
if jun wasn't so distracted at how good your mouth feels he might have laughed. his sweet, innocent girlfriend sucking him off in the library, with the most adorable look on your face as you struggle to take his cock, your nose all scrunched up in concentration. your skirt lays fanned out across your lap, stopping short just above your knees as you sit on the floor.
you swirl your tongue around his tip and lift your eyes to meet his, warmth flooding your chest when you see how truly fucked-out his expression is. you move your hands, trailing your fingers down to cup his balls as you press your other hand flat against his stomach for leverage.
the noises coming out of your mouth are almost enough to convince him that you're getting off on this more than he is, if he couldn't feel it getting harder and harder to hold off his own orgasm. he slows down for just a second to wipe away a tear with his thumb before he grabs your hands and places them on his thighs.
“you know what to do, angel,” jun groans softly and you look up at him and nod, tapping your fingers against his leg.
once you've given the signal he works his fingers into your hair and pulls you down hard, grabbing the back of your head and fucking your throat without mercy.
you let out a muffled gasp in surprise but quickly become accustomed to his rough thrusts. you struggle to relax your jaw, moaning and drooling around his cock but your whimpering only spurs him on more as he bucks his hips into your mouth.
he groans out continuous praises, his voice suddenly growing hushed as if he's afraid someone might hear, though your combined moans when he was fucking you earlier were by far louder than he is now. 
despite jun's incredible stamina you can feel the tension building in his muscles, his thighs strained as he snaps up into your mouth, and you moan around his length to try and get him closer to the edge. tears continue to stream down your face as you hollow your cheeks, even now still trying to take him deeper. 
“fuck, baby— so fucking good… just—” he grunts, falling silent for a moment before he releases into your mouth with a long, low whine.
you squeeze jun's thighs to ground yourself as he floods your mouth with cum, feeling his cock jump and twitch against your lips with each rope he pumps onto your tongue.
your jaw aches and your legs are wobbly as jun carefully pulls you to your feet, setting you on his lap with a soft groan. he rubs his palm soothingly over your thigh, slipping just under the hem of your skirt.
he glances at the table, where your panties lie discarded on the floor next to your backpacks. jun wraps one arm around your waist to keep you secure on his lap and leans down to pick them up.
“you need these back, or can i keep them?” he asks as he holds them up in front of you, a hint of mischievousness in his tone but his voice softer now.
you grin and shake your head, and he leans forward to kiss your cheek as he balls them up and shoves them into his cardigan pocket before pulling your tank top back up over your breasts.
“good. now, wanna go home?”
the elevator ride back down to the lobby is decidedly calmer. you let out a whine when jun squeezes a handful of your ass, letting his hand linger on your cheek for just a second too long before the bell dings and the shiny silver doors slide open. you tug your skirt down as far as it'll go as you walk towards the exit, and even though jun's standing behind you and you can't see his face, you know he's wearing the subtlest of smirks.
you breathe a little sigh of relief once you finally get outside of the building and into the spring sunshine, standing in the parking lot waiting next to the passenger side door of jun's car for him to unlock it.
the relief doesn't last long, of course, when jun puts his hand back on your thigh as he pulls the car into reverse and backs out of the lot.
and by the time you get back to his tiny apartment, it doesn't take long for the rest of your clothes to end up on his floor and you bouncing on his lap. the biggest relief isn't your orgasms, or even his: it's the privacy. because now you know you won't be disturbed.
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mistiell · 8 months
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The one request that’s bouncing around my head is Astarion dealing with a sick mc like fever chills and no sense of balance because of vitiligo
Hope you enjoy <3 WC: 1.3k
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You feel like shit. Total and utter shit.
What started as a sore throat has evolved into a fever and chills, along with an absolutely skull splitting migraine. The sheets twist uncomfortably as you turn onto your back, clinging to your sweat slicked skin. You can’t bring yourself to kick them off. Not when the ache in your bones makes it feel like they’re breaking.
The sun has been up for nearly an hour, now. If you don’t come out soon, one of your companions will come get you. A strangled whimper forces it’s way out of your throat as you force yourself up, curling in on yourself and dropping your face into your hands.
After trying to decide between attempting to take a breath through your sufficiently stuffed nose or through your mouth, you choose the latter. Which you realize is a terrible mistake when it suddenly feels like a thousand tiny knives are skinning the inside of your throat. It makes you cough, which makes it a million times worse, which makes you cough even more.
It’s a good minute until you can finally breathe again; throat raw, beads of tears drying on your lashes. You’re sure you’re a sorry sight. It makes you glad no one is here to see you in all your disease ridden glory.
“Sweet Hells, are you hacking up a lung in here–?” Not even all the way inside your tent yet, Astarion stops immediately after he lays eyes on you. The disgust is immediately replaced by a hesitant sort of concern, brows just barely creasing, “Oh dear.”
“Do I look that bad?” He grimaces at the way your voice grates, gaze flitting over various parts of you before he meets your eyes again.
“You look dreadful.” You think it’s meant to be playful, but he looks and sounds just a little too concerned for it to land that way.
You snort anyway, rubbing at your sweaty forehead, “Thanks.”
He hovers there, uncharacteristically quiet as he glances outside before sighing and coming the rest of the way inside. He’s still in his regular clothes, which makes you think the others haven’t started getting their armour on yet. Thank gods.
He sits down in front of you on your bedroll, knees barely a hair’s width from yours as he cradles the nape of your neck in a gentle hand and presses the inside of his wrist to your forehead. Eyes fluttering shut, a small sigh of relief escapes you when his blessedly cool skin meets yours. You barely think about it as you place a sluggish hand over it to keep him there.
“You’re nice and cool.” You sound listless.
“And you’re about as hot as the hells.” He sighs. You can hear the frown in his voice, “This has gotten out of hand.”
Peeling your eyes open, you blink at him in confusion, “What?”
He lets his wrist fall but keeps a kind hold on your neck, looking deadly serious.
“I know how much you love flattery, but you should know you really don’t have to go to such lengths to get me to wax poetic about your eternal beauty.” It seems like he can’t help the smile that cracks that through the act he’s putting on, “I truly appreciate the effort, but a simple, ‘Astarion, my dearest love, tell me I’m pretty.’ would do just fine.”
A giggle bubbles up from your throat, and you list forward to hide your face in his shoulder as you rasp weakly, “I do not sound like that.”
He hums, giving your nape a gentle squeeze before stroking a little line behind your ear with his thumb. You can feel his teasing smile against the side of your head, “Thankfully not. Should you ever call me your dearest love, I fear I may just drop dead a second time.”
Your laughter dies down, and you’re left with an astronomical wave of fatigue. He wraps his free arm around you when you slump further into him.
“Darling?” He jostles you a little bit. Again, he attempts a joke. Again, he’s too worried for it to come out right, “Don’t go dying on me now. With all we’ve been through, it would be such a waste.”
You huff a small, breathy puff of laughter, turning your face so the bridge of your nose rests against the side of his neck, “I won’t.”
He eases his hand up and down the length of your spine. You barely register it when he turns his head just enough to nose at your temple briefly.
“You should lay back down.” His voice is softer now. The feeling of his breath ghosting over the shell of your ear makes you shiver. Although, that could also be the fever.
You sigh, pulling yourself away from his shoulder. The movement sends the world tilting over and over in one direction. Breath hitching, you feel yourself sway as your eyes squeeze shut.
“What’s wrong?” He sounds a little alarmed as you drop your head into your hands.
“Vertigo.” You breathe. Everything keeps spinning behind your eyelids.
You can hear him shift before his hands find one of your forearms and your shoulder blades, guiding you to lay back.
“I have to–.”
He cuts you off, suddenly stern, “The only thing you have to do right now is rest.”
“But the others–.” You try again. It’s in vain.
Scoffing, he turns his nose up. “The others can shove it, as far as I’m concerned.”
You huff, ready to argue until you open your eyes and notice the anxious quirk of his brows. Instead, you sigh, sluggishly placing you hand over his, “Fine.”
You just barely manage to hear the small breath of relief that escapes him as he turns his hand to give yours a squeeze. He leans forward to press his lips to your forehead before pulling away, “I’ll be right back.”
You only nod.
He comes back five minutes later with a small bowl of water, a cloth, and two slices of bread balanced carefully in his arms.
“You don’t have to eat it yet.” Is all he says as he sets the plate down a little ways away. After wetting the cloth, he rings it out into the bowl and folds it in half before laying it over your forehead. You sigh as it cools your skin. It only lasts a few moments before your skin has warmed it again.
He tries again, then again, before huffing; frustrated.
“I’m sorry.” You croak, and he tuts, shaking his head.
“Don’t apologize, darling. It’s not you.” He sighs, looking properly perturbed now.
“Maybe Shadowheart–.”
“I asked. There’s nothing she can do.” It comes out bitterly, but you know it’s only because he’s worried.
You suddenly have an idea, but first you have to ask, “Can you get sick?”
Looking confused, he shakes his head, “No, I can’t. But, what-?” Pulling back the covers, you open your arms. It clicks, and he chuckles as he climbs in beside you, “Plan to use me as an ice pack, do you?”
“That’s the plan.” It comes out more deadpan than you mean it to. It makes him laugh a little harder, and you can feel the vibrations as your head settles over his chest. Having him next to you is like a balm in more ways than one.
Eyes heavy, you sigh as his hand trails idly along the length of your bicep. You guess he can hear your breathing and heart rate slowing when he whispers, “Sleep, my love.”
And who are you to deny him when he asks so nicely?
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alotofpockets · 2 months
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Meeting again | Part 1 - Part 2 | Leah Williamson x Reader
Where you take your son to Leah's book signing and you reconnect with your high school friend/crush.
Happy birthday to our blonde pookie!
Woso masterlist | Words: 2.7k
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You were doing some work around the house when your ex called. “Hey Ryan, what’s up?” You say as you turn off the vacuum. “Hi y/n, I’m so sorry. I know that it’s my day, but I’m going to be stuck at work until late. Is there any way you can pick up Liam from school and take him to that book signing from Leah?” The two of you had gotten a divorce many years ago, when you had finally come to terms with your sexuality. Ryan had always been understanding, and now you were still friends, and co-parented your son Liam together. “Oh yeah, don’t worry, I can do that.” You could hear the relief in his voice. “Thank you so much, I owe you one. He has a half day, so he should be done at school in about an hour. I packed his Arsenal jersey and scarf, he wanted to wear them to the signing. Thank you again, I have to go. Send me pictures of the signing?”  Your kid would always be your number one priority, so you hung up the phone and got ready.
“Hey bud, your dad is stuck at work, so I’m going to take you to Waterstones later, is that okay?” The boy greeted you with a hug. “Yes, of course, you’ll get to see Leah again!” Back in high school you and Leah were very close, there was even some gossip about the two of you dating, but when you got wind of that you shut those rumours down quickly by starting a relationship with Ryan, a relationship that drove a wedge between your friendship with Leah. Your love for the women’s game continued to grow though, and you have supported Arsenal all your life, just like Leah. Liam fell in love with it too, and you often found yourself amongst the crowd of Arsenal WFC and Lionesses matches together. Liam was a smart kid, and after finding you looking at TikTok videos of Leah, he started asking questions. “Watch it, or we’re not going.” You said with a fake seriousness. Liam knew full well that it was an empty threat as you loved messing with him. 
You decided to make it a special day for your son, by taking him out for lunch before heading over to Waterstones. It was to no surprise to you that he wanted to go to his favourite restaurant. “Smile for your dad.” The boy looked up from his plate with a big grin on his face. Proudly wearing his Williamson jersey and his Arsenal scarf. 
The line at Waterstones was long, but you bought the book and joined the line together. You could tell he was excited just by the way his eyes lit up, and his smile was constantly present on his face. His excitement made you glad that you were able to join him on this occasion, but it didn’t trump your nerves of seeing Leah again. Of course, you had seen her play, but you were always just a person in the crowd, and now you were going to be face to face with the girl you’ve had a crush on since you were fifteen. 
Never in your life had you been so nervous to see someone from your past, but you set it aside for your son, this was his moment. Plus Leah would probably not even remember you, right? You were a nobody, and she was the England captain and the Arsenal co-captain. 
When it was your turn, Liam walked up to the signing table, while you stood back to take pictures. “Hi, what’s your name?” You heard the blonde ask your son. “I’m Liam, it’s very nice to meet you. My mom is a big fan of yours as well.” The sneaky little bastard, you thought as your eyes met Leah’s. Her eyes showed instant recognition. ‘Yours?’ she mouthed your way, and you answered with a nod. “It’s very nice to meet you too Liam, want to come over to this side for a picture?” Leah signed the book, and wrote something on one of the cards laying to the side as Liam made his way around the table. “I see you’re repping my jersey! You know what would go great with that?” He shook his head. “This new cap, would you like one?” Liam looked over to you with hopeful eyes, “Can I mom?” You smiled at the interaction between Leah and your son, “Yeah, of course.” He turned back to Leah, “Thank you so much!” The two posed for a picture. “Any time Liam. Here is your signed book, and could you please give this card to your mom?” He grinned big when he saw a written phone number on the back of the card. “Thank you Leah!”
“Mom! I got you her number, you have to call her!” You look at the card that Liam handed you ‘Would love to catch up, send me a text if you’re up for it :)’ along with her cell. You looked between the card and Leah, who shot you a smile before returning to the next person in line. “Please tell me you’re going to send her a text, please!” Liam was tired of always seeing you admire Leah from afar, and now that you had a real shot to reconnect with her, he wanted you to take it. Plus how cool would it be if his mom would go out with the Leah Williamson? You pocket the card, “Maybe later, you little snitch. I thought we had a deal.” You say playfully as you put your arm around his shoulder. Quite frankly it scared you a little to send her a text. “Let’s head home.”
When you got home you put Leah’s number in your phone and stared at the message screen forever, trying to decide what to text her. You really wanted to reconnect with her, but you also didn’t want to overcompensate, and ruin any chance you had. You settled on something simple, letting her make the next move.
You: Hi Leah, it’s y/n. It was good seeing you today, catching up sounds nice.
You hadn’t expected to get a message back from her so soon.
Leah: So glad we ran into each other. Talk about the details later?
The message notification was staring back at you, your heart was beating out of your chest simply from her message. You quickly put your phone away, without opening her message when Liam walks in. “Mom, you know that I want you to be happy right?” You nod, “Of course, I know that kiddo. What makes you say that?” He shrugs, “I just don’t want you to hold back because of me.” You shake your head, “You’re too smart. I love you, kiddo.” He hugs your side, “I love you too, mom.” 
The two of you were hanging out at home, when Ryan called again. “Hey, thank you for sending me those pictures. They really made my day, glad to see him so happy.” You notice the exhaustion behind his words, “Yeah of course, I don’t want you to miss out on stuff because of your job.” Liam was so important to the both of you, but your divorce had led to missing some things here and there, that you always tried to minimise together. “Speaking of work, I should be done around eight. You know I hate to ask, but-” You interrupted him, “You don’t have to ask, of course. Pick him up whenever you are done, okay?” You heard the relief in his voice, “Thank you. Can I talk to him for a moment?” You walk over to Liam and hand him the phone, “It’s your dad.” After handing him your phone, you give him some space to talk to his dad. 
You continued vacuuming since you weren’t done when you had to pick up Liam from school. So, you didn’t hear the interaction with Ryan, or when the call was over, and definitely not when you got another phone call. Liam looked at the contact and smirked to himself. When he realised you didn’t hear the phone call, he picked up himself. “Hi Leah, it’s Liam.” The girl had not expected your son to pick up, but she went with it anyway. “Hey Liam! How did you like the book signing?” He told her how much he enjoyed it before Leah continued with her questions. “I was looking for your mom, is she around?” If it were a video call, Leah would have seen the mischievous look in Liam’s eyes, but since it was a voice call he could hide behind the screen. “She is a little busy right now, but she said she wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight if you had time.” Leah knew she should’ve questioned it more, but she wanted to see you so badly, that she set up dinner plans with your son. 
Just ten minutes before Leah said she would be there Liam came walking up to you. “Hey mom, so I kind of invited Leah over for dinner tonight.” Never in your life had you turned around so quickly, “You did what?” You could not believe what your son had just told you. “She will be here in-” His sentence was interrupted by the doorbell. “Now.” He said with a big smile. You were frozen in place, Leah Williamson was at your door, and you were in sweats and a tank top, your hair a mess from the house work you had been doing for the past hour. “Are you going to let her in?” You turned to Liam, “You are going to be in so much trouble later.” Again, Liam knew there was no actual threat behind your words, because that’s not how you parented.
On your way to the door, you tried to quickly fix your hair. You open the door, “Oh hi Ryan, you’re here early.” He smiles back at you, “Yeah our last meeting got cancelled, sorry I didn’t let you know.” You shake your head, “No, no it’s okay. Liam, your dad is here!” The boy came running into his dad’s arms. “You’re here!” The bond between them was amazing, he truthly loved the both of you equally. “Have you had something to eat yet?” Liam shakes his head, “How does McDonald’s sound?” You grab Liam’s bag, and give him a quick kiss on his cheek, before waving the both of them off. 
As soon as you closed the door, you ran up the stairs to quickly get changed, and look more presentable. You had just finished doing your hair when your doorbell rang again. This time it was Leah standing on the other side of the door. “Hi Leah, come in.” She looked so beautiful in her simple white t-shirt and a pair of green cargo pants. “Hey y/n, thank you. No Liam?” She questioned when you walked her further into the house. “He wanted to be here but his dad came to pick him up a little bit ago. I’m sorry to say that McDonald’s has been picked over dinner with you.” You joke, hoping to make the moment a bit lighter. Hearing Leah’s laugh brought you back to those days where you would sit on the grass, and make fun of the boys on the football team. 
“So, Liam is a big fan of football then?” Leah started awkwardly. You loved talking about him, so you just started talking. “Yeah, I started taking him to matches when he was still a little baby. He loved it ever since, I can’t go to an Arsenal match without him nowadays. A gooner from the start, just like you.” Leah blushed slightly. “So, you’ve been coming to our matches all this time?” Now it was your turn to blush. “Maybe.” The both of you laugh. “Ryan surprisingly never got into football, so it’s been something I get to share with Liam.” The name you mentioned caught Leah’s attention. “Wait Ryan is Liam’s dad? You actually married high school Ryan?” You realised that bringing his name up was probably a mistake since he is what drove the two of you apart. “Oh yeah, high school Ryan indeed. Liam’s dad indeed, and I did marry him. We haven’t been married for like five years though.” 
Leah’s ears perk up at that. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” You shrug your shoulders, “It’s all good, it was time I finally figured out my sexuality. We’re still friends, and he's great with Liam. Anyways, how have you been?” The two of you start talking and catching up, and somehow even though more than a decade had passed and you had lived such different lives, it felt like you had never not known each other. 
You walk into the kitchen together, still talking, when the both of you start getting hungry. That is when you realise that you had to go to the grocery store today, and didn’t have much in the house. “So, confession time. I didn’t actually know you were coming over until Liam told me about ten minutes before you arrived.” Leah laughed, “I had a feeling the invite wasn’t extended by you, but I didn’t want the opportunity to go to waste.” You blush at her words. “I am very happy that you are here, don’t get me wrong. I was just not prepared. It was Ryan’s day with the kid, but he got stuck at work so I didn’t have a chance to go to the grocery store like I had originally planned. Let’s see, I have Potato Smileys, and literally nothing else. I am so sorry.” Leah did not care what you would eat one bit, she was just happy to be there with you. “Good thing I love Potato Smileys then!”
You shared a laugh at the situation and decided to make the best of it. While the Potato smileys were in the oven, you set the table with some condiments to go along with them. As you were waiting for the Smileys to cook, you and Leah fell back into conversation. You were reminiscing over old times, and shared stories from the past years since. It was easy talking to her, it really felt like no time had passed.
Once you were done with dinner, you moved to the living room where you each found a comfortable place on the couch to continue catching. Before you realised it, hours had passed by. Leah looked at her watch, and noticed the time first. “Oh it’s late, I hadn’t realised so much time had passed.” You glance at the clock yourself, “Wow, yeah it is. I’m really glad you came over tonight, catching up with you has been great.” Leah smiled in return, “Yes it was, I’ve missed this. I hope we can hang out again soon!” You walk her to the door, “For sure! Liam and I will be at the match Sunday, maybe we can do something after? If you don’t mind him tagging along of course.” Her smile grew big, “I would love that, and for Liam to tag along always!”
As you said goodbye, and Leah got into her car you couldn’t help but feel hopeful for what the future might hold. Just having Leah back into your life in whatever way possible made you extremely happy. Tonight had been so nice, and you really wanted to see Leah again soon, Sunday didn’t feel soon enough. So, you decided to send her a message. You felt less nervous sending this message than the one this afternoon, but still there were some nerves.
You: Would you maybe want to grab a coffee sometime this week? I’d love to meet up sooner than Sunday.
As you were getting ready to go to bed, your phone dinged with a new message.
Leah: I know a great spot! Are you free tomorrow?
You smiled at the text, Leah proposing tomorrow had to mean she wanted to see you again soon too, right? You quickly let her know you’re free, before sending her a goodnight message and calling it a night. Though, your mind kept you up for a while longer, not wanting to let go of today just yet.
Continue reading part 2!
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thefatedthoughtofyou · 8 months
Text
In Which Steve Gains a Little Weight and Eddie May or May Not Have a Staring Problem { hint: he absolutely does. but who wouldn't? }
Chubby!Steve lovers rise up! He is a blessing upon our houses. 😌
Eddie's been staring at him. For months. Steve had actually had to snap his fingers at Eddie once, right in front of his face. To get his attention. And Eddie had flinched and flailed back dramatically, making it seem like Steve was the offending party when Eddie had been the one staring. He was always staring.
Steve never used to mind people staring. He knew he looked good. Not in a self centered way. Just... people told him he looked good. And he didn't really have reason to argue. Girls definitely liked him. So it just seemed... like a fact. To him.
But lately Steve hadn't been feeling attractive. At least not as attractive. He'd gained a bit of weight. With the gates closed for good and Hawkins back to normal. He'd finally let himself relax. And he'd been eating more, his appetite from before all the anxiety and stress and fighting for his life, and the kids lives, finally coming back.
He still swam a bit. Went for runs every morning. But he was filling out. His thighs were thicker. His stomach softer. He'd heard his mother call one of his cousins "pudgy" when he was young and now everytime he looked in the mirror the word rang in his head like a bell.
He was pudgy. Less defined, soft around the edges. And Eddie kept. Fucking. Staring.
~°~
Steve was laying on one of the lounge chairs by the pool. Eddie was floating in the water, eyes closed, arms moving gently at his sides, keeping him afloat. Steve tugged his shirt down, again, and tried to get comfortable.
It was just him and Eddie today. Robin had to work. And the kids were in school. Steve was just glad Eddie had gotten in the water. So he would stop looking at him. Cuz he'd been doing it again. His eyes locked on Steve, roaming over him, looking at god knows what.
Steve knows what. Wraps his arms around his middle and feels what he knows Eddie has been staring at. Skinny as a rat Eddie Munson who can eat whole fucking pizzas and just... nothing. Steve ate whole pizzas too, that wasn't the issue. It was just, Steve's pizza seemed to settle on his hips now more than it used too.
He hears Eddie make a choking sound and watches him flail and sink beneath the water, popping up a moment later, coughing, and dragging Steve out of his thoughts.
"You good man?" Steve calls, letting his hands fall away from his body. Eddie keeps coughing but gives Steve a thumbs up, then wipes at his face, rubbing at his nose as he stands looking like a wet kitten in the middle of the pool. He clears his throat loudly, shakes his head, coughs once more, and then ducks back under water just to bounce back up, his face toward the sky, the water moving his hair out of his face.
Steve had walked to the edge of the pool, watching Eddie cough. He sits himself on the edge, feet dangling in the water to cool himself off. He could take his shirt off. It would be cooler. But he can't. Doesn't want to. Not in front of Eddie.
He watches Eddie lower himself shoulders deep in the water and then look up at Steve, he smiles, soflty.
"I fell asleep." He says, to belatedly explain his nearly chocking to death. Steve rolls his eyes, snorts, and shakes his head.
"Of course you did." Steve sighs.
"Hey it's not my fault. If you had some nice floaties around here like the goblins have been asking for I wouldn't have almost died." Eddie retorts.
And Steve is about to argue, he wants too, opens his mouth to do it and everything. But he catches the way Eddie is looking at him again and the words die in his mouth. His arms wrapping around his soft middle as he tries to hide, he sits up a bit straighter. Eddie swims toward him, eyes lingering.
"You gonna swim?" Eddie asks, soflty.
"Naw. Don't think so. I'm not that warm." Steve shrugs, kicks his feet in the water a bit as Eddie moves closer.
"You're sweating." Eddie says, pointing out the obvious. Steve glares at him a bit, nothing too harsh, and wipes at his forhead with the back of his arm.
"I'm good. Just my feet in is nice." He kicks water at Eddie, he doesn't even dodge it, just lets it hit him as he keeps swimming forward.
He nods at Steve, swims up next to him, rests his arms on the side of the pool and his chin on his arms, looking up at Steve until Steve turns and looks directly at him. Eddie quickly looks away then. Steve looks away too.
Looks away from the pale skin of Eddie's shoulders. Away from the way Eddie's arms flex as he shifts a bit to get more comfortable. Away from that look in his eyes.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Eddie asks out of nowhere.
"What?" Steve asks, leaning away from Eddie a little faster than he'd meant too. Eddie tracks the movement, Steve sees him do it.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Eddie repeats.
"No I heard you. It's just-" he pauses, shakes his head. His heart beating a little faster.
"Why would you ask that? You don't make me uncomfortable. I like having you here. If that's... is that what you mean?" Steve asks, stammering a bit. Not really sure what Eddie wants from him. Eddie shakes his head though, slowly. Once.
"No I mean... you've just seemed... different. Lately. Like... you're trying to sink into yourself. Make yourself smaller. Or something." Eddie shrugs, shakes his head like he doesn't think he made sense. But Steve's heart pounds with just how much sense he made. Hit the nail right on the head, actually, in the scary way he has.
"I-" he considers lying. Saying everything's fine. But it's not. And if he says it is, Eddie will think he's done something wrong. And he hasn't. Not really. Eddie's eyes widen, he lifts his head, then stands, leans his hip agaisnt the wall of the pool instead.
"Yes?" Eddie teases, bumping Steve's knee with the back of his hand. Steve huffs a laugh and takes a deep breath.
"I am. Trying to make myself smaller. Like, in the figurative sense. Cuz I'm like, I've gained weight. And I don't... I don't know. I guess I'm just... uncomfortable with that? Not because of you." Steve says, watches Eddie smile at him. For some fucking reason.
"Literal sense. And why does that make you uncomfortable? Not getting as many chicks? Are the ladies of Hawkins really so shallow?" Eddie asks, brushing past his correction and partly mocking Steve, like he knows that's not the issue. And Steve is so thankful, just that small amount of mocking makes him feel a little better. Like he's being silly maybe, about the whole thing.
"Well. Yes. They are. Some of them. But I don't know. It was just a thing. At first. A thing I noticed in the mirror getting out of the shower. Or after swimming. Or trying to fit into some of my old jeans. Just a thing. Just a difference I noticed is all." He shrugs, eyes on the water.
"You're not the only one." Eddie mutters, teeth pulling at his bottom lip.
"What?" Steve asks, he hadn't been paying attention, the words a muddy sound on the peripherals of his hearing. Eddie shakes his head, waves him off.
"Nothin. Don't worry about it." He pushes his hand through the water at his side before looking back to Steve.
"Bodies change man. It happens. Nothin' wrong with it." He shrugs again, lowers himself back to his shoulders and looks up at Steve, his hair a dark cloud in the water around him. Steve sighs, feels silly and stupid for what he's about to say.
"Yeah. Sure. But I used to be hot." He says, matter of factly. Eddie snorts.
"You are hot. Way hotter now than when we were in school." Eddie says, like he can't believe what he's hearing, but also.... Eddie thinks he's hot? Steve watches him for a moment, he's got his face tilted to the sky, leaning back to dunk his hair in the cool water, his pale neck on display as he sighs at the cooless on his head.
"You think I'm hot?" Steve asks, has to, can't not. He'd said it so easily, like it should be obvious.
Eddie's eyes go wide as his head snaps back in Steve's direction.
"What?" His voice cracks. He hasn't blinked.
"You said you think I'm hot." Steve says, he can feel his own cheeks flush. But he can see Eddie's doing it. They had already been tinted pink from the early morning sun, but they were rushing quickly toward red.
"No. I didn't- that's not-"
"You said you thought I was hot when we were in school." Steve repeats, feeling a tad bit giddy as he watches the flush rush down Eddie's neck as well.
"That's- that's not... what I meant." Eddie huffs, petulant, but he crosses his arms over his chest, guarding himself.
"But it's what you said." Steve teases, keeping his face as straight as possible. Eddie huffs again.
"Well I clearly didn't mean to say that outloud okay?" He shakes his head, sinks a little in the water before bobbing back up. Steve just looks at him. Tries to give him the look that Eddie had been giving him, for the last few months.
He doesn't know if it works. But Eddie groans loudly and ducks under the water. Steve laughs as a stream of bubbles reach the surfface, he can hear Eddie screaming under the water. When he surfaces again, his face is still a very nice shade of pink, Steve wants to touch it, to feel the heat of it beneath his fingers.
"I'm sorry okay. I have been making you uncomfortable. I've been staring. I know I have, okay? It's just hard not too. When you walk around looking like that!" Eddie waves his hand frantically in Steve's direction, even as he takes a few steps away from him.
"Like what?" Steve's brow furrows, he looks down at himself, his shirt is a little tight around his stomach, his swim trunks a bit snug around the hips, and his thighs are practically squeezed into them. What was Eddie seeing that he wasn't. He looks back to see Eddie staring again, but his eyes are on Steve's face this time.
Steve watches several emotions pass over Eddie's face as he watches him. He seems to settle on determined and takes a step back in Steve's direction. Then another. He stops just out of reach. Sets his shoulders.
"You're fucking beautiful Steve. I don't- I don't know how you can't see that." He shrugs, like he's helpless, his eyes wide and honest. Steve swallows hard, glances down at himself again and then back to Eddie.
"I'm-?"
"Gorgeous. Like.... fucking ethereal. I could fucking look you all day. Fuck, I mean I basically do. You're like a goddamn peice of art." Eddie's voice is so raw, it catches in his throat. His arms wrapped around himself tight, like he's afraid Steve will be mad at him for some reason. Steve shakes his head, once, trying not to cry. He smiles at Eddie, all watery eyed and goofy, and tugs his shirt over his head before throwing himself into the water. And then throwing himself at Eddie, who catches him easily.
His hands are warm on Steve's sides, warm and so so gentle, like he's not sure he's allowed to touch. He just stares at Steve, throat bobbing as Steve moves his fingers over Eddie faces, tracing his features.
"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself." Steve says, smiles wide when a laugh bursts out of Eddie. Steve presses closer, chest to chest, arms snaking around Eddie's neck, fingers tangling in his hair.
"Can I kiss you?" Eddie whispers, his lashes fluttering as his eyes dart around Steve's face. Steve's chest burns, and pounds, as Eddie's fingers press harder into his hips.
"Yes. Yeah." Steve breathes, nodding, almost frantic. Eddie smiles, leans in a bit, and then sways away with a grimace.
"What? What's wrong?" Steve asks, suddenly feeling a bit sick to his stomach. Eddie squints at him, shakes his head, closes his eyes with another grimace.
"Full disclosure. I've never actually...like... fully kissed someone... before. So I might not- I mean I don't know what I'm doing." Eddie opens one eye, peaking at Steve to see his reaction around his wincing, scrunched up features. Steve's heart flutters, he smiles and scratches his nails gently against Eddie's scalp, Eddie leans into it like a cat.
"That's okay. I know what I'm doing." Steve assures him, Eddie's eyes go wide for a split second and then Steve is kissing him. A small noise startles out of Eddie when their lips meet and Steve could listen to that all day, it's like music. He pulls back after a genlte press, he can feel Eddie's hands trembling against his hips.
"That okay?" Steve asks, Eddie nods enthusiastically and presses back in, another gentle press of lips before Steve pulls back again, eyes moving over Eddie's face and the soft way he's looking at him.
"You really think I'm beautiful? Hot. Like this?" Steve asks, rolling his eyes at himself, his hand moving to his stomach and then away again. Eddie's eyes follow the movement, the way Steve nearly flinches away from his own touch.
"Fuck yes." Eddie says, he sounds breathless. And then Steve is gasping as Eddie leans down, licks a hot stipe across Steve's stomach, and then sinks his teeth into the soft, fleshy, skin of his hip, right above his swim shorts.
"Eddie! Jesus!" Steve squaks, trying to push Eddie away and pull him closer all at once.
Eddie perks back up, pulls Steve close, and presses his laughter into Steve's neck. And then his teeth are on Steve's skin, and he's gasping again, hands grabbing at Eddie's shoulders. Eddie's tongue soothes over the bite and then he's looking at Steve again.
"You're beautiful. Like this, or any other way. Okay? Always." Eddie says, moving his hands over Steve's sides, giving his love handles a hard, possessive, squeeze. Steve laughs, Eddie's antics tickling, he squirms, toward Eddie, into his waiting arms.
"Okay. If you say so." Steve sighs into Eddie's shoulder. Eddie's hand moves up, over Steve's back and into his hair.
"I do say. You're beautiful. Thin, or chubby, or scarred, or fat, or whatever else you might be in the future. You're beautiful." He pauses, pulls back so he can see Steve's face.
"And I'll tell you that whenever you need to hear it okay? For as long you're mine." Eddie's whispering, speaking so softly into the space between them.
"That sounds nice." Steve says, his throat tight, and burning, tears clouding his vision. Eddie chuckles, his chest vibrating against Steve's.
"Which part?" He asks, moving one finger across Steve's forhead, tucking a loose strand of hair away. Steve sniffles, shakes his head and tries not to cry.
"Being yours." He says, his lips trembling as he returns the bright smile across from him. Eddie nods, Steve nods back. They meet in the middle, another sweet press of lips, Eddie's fingers dig into Steve's soft skin and pull him close, like he's trying to climb inside him.
"Mine." Eddie sighs, Steve breathes the word in like he needs it to live. His own fingers dig into Eddie's back, tugging him closer, smiling against Eddie's lips as he sighs,
"Yours." back into Eddie's mouth.
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