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matthew-gray-gubler-lover · 5 days

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A picture-Perfect Hello.

Spencer Reid picture-perfect.

Spencer Reid had no idea when he came home from a long case that his new neighbor would be the love of his life. And together they would create the picture-perfect life.

A four-part series.

Warning Contains spoilers for Season 13 as well as Season 12. Post prison Spencer Reid.

Ages 18 and over. Contains oral sex. Penetrative sex. Reader on birth control pills.

Spencer came home from a long case. A six Day one to be exact. He was surprised to see a pile of boxes sitting in the hallway in front of an apartment building that he assumed was still to be empty when he came back home. It's not that he didn't want new neighbors. He just didn't expect there to be any, given that that apartment has been vacant for the past seven months.

he was So exhausted from the trip back home that he really just wanted to go to sleep. But he knows that that would be rude not to even try to offer Any help to his new neighbor. So he unlocked his door and put his satchel inside. Going over to the refrigerator to grab something to drink, leaving the front door open So he could see if the new neighbor passed by. After a few minutes, he decided to shut the front door and go stand out in the hall. He made it to the front of his sofa before he saw a pile of boxes walking by his door.

"Oh, here, let me help you" he said, running out of his door.

" Oh my gosh, thank you so much that this so kind of you." He heard a woman's voice coming from behind the pile of boxes.

" Sure, no problem. Let me just grab these" he said, pulling two boxes off the top of the pile.

Spencer couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the woman that was behind the box. a Brunette with Short hair. And blue eyes.

" Hello" he managed to get out. " My name is Spencer, Spencer Reid. I live in this apartment right here". He told her, using his thumb to point back at the door.

" Hello my name is y/n It's so nice to meet you. I didn't know if anybody lived in this apartment. I've been moving in for the past two days and I haven't seen you."

" I was at work. I.. I'm, I'm an FBI agent, so I wasn't home for six days."

" Ohh wow. An FBI agent? That must be really exciting."

" It can be. It has its moments that it's exciting. Yes, I, you know, I I definitely enjoy the work that I do, putting away the bad guys and all that. Definitely rewarding, yes. Kind of tiring though as well if I'm being honest. But still, it's.. it's really nice work." Spencer began to ramble.

" Would you like to come in and put those boxes down?"

" Boxes? Ohh yes yes. But I would love to put the boxes down" Spencer answered, not even realizing anymore that he was holding boxes.

" Just try to find a place to put them down at. I'm sorry I haven't really officially moved in yet. I'm staying with a friend of mine while I get everything out of my dirtbag ex boyfriend's apartment." She explained to Spencer she was waving her finger around the room with her other hand on her hip.

"Oh, sure, no problem. It it's going to take some time to move in. I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

" Oh, don't be. He was a lousy piece of crap that wasn't even any good in bed. I mean, it is seriously Exhausting having to fake orgasms all the time. It would have been nice if I could have had a real one during the two years we were together." She huffed out angrily.

Spencer's face must have lost all color or the opposite turned as red as a strawberry when she was saying this. As she stopped right in her tracks and they started apologizing.

" Oh my God, I am so sorry. I don't know why I said that. I mean, I just met you like what, 5 minutes ago if that. And here I am already talking like this. Please forgive me. I understand if you don't want to help me bring in any more boxes and if you want to pretend that I don't even live here, I completely understand. Have a tendency to over share my feelings when I'm angry and Needless to say, I'm angry."

" no need to apologize. I understand you being angry and you know, I hear a lot of stuff being an FBI agent. Plus I do have three women on our team, so, you know, I I hear things."

"Wow. Three women on your team. That's impressive. I just assumed that the FBI thought that that was men's work. You know? Good to see that we're making a little progress in the world."

" Ohh no. The FBI is full of women. You really have made a lot of progress in the work world. You know, it's been statistically proven that women are more effective at catching serial killers than men in some cases." He Explained to her.

" Really? well. I guess if you piss us off enough, we'll hunt you down."

" I guess you could say that, yes. Uh, there's three agents that I work with that are women. And then there's our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia. She's wonderful as well."

" Well, that's good. Got to get rid of those bad guys, right? And bad ladies, I'm sure as well."

"Yep" He said, rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels. Kind of uncomfortable now that the conversation has ended.

" So do you have more boxes you need me to help you bring in or?" He asked, waving his hands around nervously.

" Yes, I do. I have five more boxes out in the car."

" OK, well here let me help you with that."

"So does you being an agent mean that I'm not going to see you much? Because that would be really sad. I think you're really cute. And you obviously are smart."

"OH no. I'm home when I can be most of the time. And if I'm not home or out on a case, I spent a lot of time on a jet too. You know, going to the crime scenes. It's a lot easier for me when it's local because then I get to come back home. It gets a little tiring having to be in hotels all the time. Sometimes it's really nice to just come home to the comfort of your own apartment and bed, you know?"

"It is."

After Spencer helped her bring in the rest of her boxes, she went over to a box marked kitchen and pulled out a coffee pot.

" Would you like some coffee? I love coffee and I can't live without it." Asked, holding up her pink coffee maker.

" Really. I love coffee too. Yes, I.. I.. I would love some. My friends always put me down. Well, my my coworkers. But they're like my friends. Actually. They're like my family. They make fun of me sometimes for loving coffee so much."

" Why would they Make fun of you for that?. Oh well. Between you and me, we could probably empty out the entire state of coffee beans."

" Yeah, we probably could." He said with a big grin on his face.

" So how long have you lived here?" She asked him.

" 14 years."

"Wow, 14 years. That's amazing. Must be really nice here. Well, for the amount of time that you hear, I guess you couldn't really judge."

" Well, I've been here long enough, yeah, to know that. That's. It really is nice. Yeah, but you're right, the amount of time that I'm actually here for. Really can't judge, but sometimes I am here for a week at a time."

She walks into the kitchen and plugs in the coffee pot.

" I know exactly where my coffee beans are. They're in that box over there marked coffee."

" Spencer Looks over at the box. "Ohh here let me get it for you."

" Thank you. You're such a gentleman. I mean, not only helping me move in, but also helping me make coffee. You'll find mugs in that same box, by the way."

When Spencer opens the box, he sees 5 bags of coffee and seven mugs.

" Ohh wow my friend Penelope. She would love your mugs. She's the queen of coffee mugs. Although in her case sometimes it's also hot tea, so mugs in general."

" I think I'd really get along with this, Penelope."

" She is wonderful." Spencer tells her where the chuckle.

Spencer hands her a bag of coffee, a pack of coffee filters and two mugs. A pink mug with a rainbow on it and a black mug that says I love coffee.

" I think this will be my favorite mug" he told her, holding up the one that says I love coffee.

" Well then, we will make that your special mug for when you come over, and that is if you want to ever come back."

" I want to come back. I I look forward to it."

Spencer Reid being a man of science, never really believed in love at first sight. But there's something about her he feels that he could spend the rest of his life with, even though he's only known her for about an hour tops at this point.

"You know, if you come back tomorrow, I have been known to make some pretty good muffins. By then I should be able to find my baking stuff. But that is only if you would like to. I understand. If you don't want to, it's. Completely understandable."

" No, not at all. I would love to come over. Muffins sound really good. Muffins and coffee? That's. That's really good. Yeah." He said with a chuckle, so happy that she would like for him to come back.

" OK then uh 8:00 be OK?"

" That'd be great. I don't start teaching until 10:00, so. 8:00 would be good."

" I thought you were an FBI agent".

"Ohh. Well, yeah, I ...I am. I am an FBI agent. But I also teach sometimes because I'm not Fully on the team at the moment, but that's a that's a long story for. Another time so". Spencer said nervously. What was she going to think if she asked him why he wasn't on the team full time? What if she doesn't like that he was in prison even though he didn't really commit the crime he was arrested for?

" OK, well, another time it is."

" So I can be here at 8:00." Spencer asked, wringing his hands.

" Unless 7:30 would be better for you."

" 7:30 would be great. That would be great. That would give me half hour more to be able to get ready to go and teach my class."

" OK, 7:30 it is. I should already be started by the muffins, by then"

" Great" Spencer said.

" Do you take your coffee?"

"Black with sugar." Spencer answered, placing the two Mugs next to the coffee maker that was just about done.

" Black with sugar, You got it."

There was a little bit of awkward silence as the coffee finished brewing. Before y/n Poured 2 mugs of it, adding the sugar into both mugs and going over to the refrigerator to get some Creamer.

" I know it's strange. I already have Creamer in my refrigerator, but says I said I've been moving in for a few days, so I don't really know why I have Creamer in my refrigerator. Didn't even have my coffee maker yet, but I'm a weird one. "

" Not at all. " Spencer said.

After the coffees had been made, the two of them sat down at her little kitchen table.

" You know, this table was actually left behind from the previous renter. I don't know why, but hey, I was happy to have it. " y/n said.

" Yes, well left behind furniture is always good. Unfortunately, nothing came with my apartment. "

" Wow. Usually somebody leaves something behind. " she says taking a sip of coffee.

" So can I ask what you do? Or do you not have a job yet in between jobs?"

" Ohh yes, I'm a Blogger."

" Spencer said, not really knowing what that was.

"Do you know what that is?" She asked him. Putting down her mug.

"No, not really. I'm sorry."

"No problem. I have a blog. It's a computer thing. It's on the Internet. It's a page Where I show you how to do things like highlight your hair and things I used to do. I also show a lot of cooking things, like how to make the muffins I'm going to make tomorrow, along with other things that I make."

" Oh, so you teach people how to do things via the Internet?"

" Yes, exactly."

" Ohh like life's important things like faking orgasms." He said with a chuckle as he took his first sip of coffee.

y/n Almost spit her coffee out at his response.

" Yes, exactly. I I really did do one of those. It was my most popular video to date, actually." She told him, laughing.

" Well, at least you're helping people with the important things in the world. Ohh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I really need to be getting to work. Umm, so I can come back tomorrow, right?"

"Absolutely. I look forward to it."

After Spencer went to teach another class, knowing that people really weren't going to be paying him any attention anyway. He was just kind of going through the motions. His mind, even though he was trying to teach about serial killers, just kept going back to His beautiful new neighbor and how he couldn't wait to get back to her apartment tomorrow.

Once class was over and he stopped at the grocery store to pick up something for him to eat for dinner. He went back home. He was so tempted to knock on his neighbor's door to see how she was doing. Or really just to see her face again. To ask her if she would like to come over and share his dinner, but he didn't want to be too forward, she said. I'll see you tomorrow morning, so tomorrow morning it would be.

He ate his dinner, took his shower, got in his pajamas, brushed his teeth and went to bed. Unfortunately though, for Spencer, sleep did not come easily to him. He just kept thinking about the beautiful woman next door. But was she doing? Was she sleeping? Was she lying awake, thinking about him, The way he was laying awake? Thinking about her?

He really needs to stop these Thoughts that are running through his head and try to get some sleep morning would come soon enough and he would be at her front door again, tapping on the wood, waiting to get inside.

Eventually, morning came and he did just the thing that he said he was going to do, ran out his front door before smoothening out any wrinkles that may be on his sweater. Before knocking lightly on her wooden front door.

" I'm coming, he heard being shouted from The other side of the door. He waited for a few seconds before he heard the deadbolt on lock the door opening, revealing the woman that he's awaiting all night to see. Wearing a light pink tank top and a purple apron. That had some baking flour stuck to it.

In all honesty, she was so beautiful and the fact that she was making muffins for him, it took all he had not to drop to one knee right now and ask her to marry him. It wasn't just because she would serve him muffins. It was because no one was willing to make anything like this for Spencer and his entire life. And even though he had only met this woman one day prior, he knew he was in love with her. He knew that this was the woman that he was destined to spend the rest of his life with.

" Hi, come on in. I'm so sorry I had to run to the store. So I'm a little bit later making the muffins and I thought I was going to be. I didn't have any flower. I forgot that I threw it at my ex when he told me that he didn't need my cooking anymore. It was juvenile, I know. But it was in the heat of the moment. So I just threw it at him."

" Oh, wow. OK, no problem. Take your time. If if you don't have the time to make the muffins right now, it's OK. I can come back tomorrow."

" Ohh no no, she cut him off. I have the flour, I'm just measuring it out now."

"OK, sure, can I help you make the muffins? I've never really baked anything before."

" Really. You would like to help me make muffins? OH my gosh yes. Thank you so much. I would love for you to do that. You know my boyfriend Will, my ex sorry-ass boyfriend never would have offered to help cook with me. He thought that cooking and baking was stupid and that it was just. Useless hobby."

" Well, that's not nice. Baking is a wonderful hobby. Cooking. We all need to eat to survive, right? So he didn't have any right to pick on you for that. I'm so sorry that he was like that to you. I promise I will never be that way to you. I mean, not that we're a couple. You know, I'm not presuming that you would want to be in a relationship with me. I'm just saying if it should ever come to that, I wouldn't be that kind of boyfriend. I'd be loving and supportive and help you with anything that you wanted." He began rambling.

" That would be wonderful, you know, if we ended up being together and cooked together, married one day. Just think. We would tell our children how we met and they would think it was so sweet."

Now Spencer's mind was really racing again. She's considering a life with him. She's actually thinking about a life with him and having children with him and telling them about how they met one day.

" Spencer?" He heard her saying.

"yes?" he answered.

" Would you like to come into the kitchen and help me?"

"Oh, Oh my gosh. Yes, yes, I would love to. OK, umm, So what do you need me to do?"

" Well, unfortunately I don't have a spare apron. And if you're planning on wearing this Sweater. You may not want to mess with the flour, but you can wash off the blueberries for me.

"Oh yes, of course." Spencer said, opening up the pints of blueberries and pouring them into a pink strainer to wash them off.

" I'm so sorry that you have to wait longer for the muffins because I forgot to get flour.

" It's OK. I'm actually happy that it happened because now I get to be a part of the muffin making process." Her as he finished straining the rest of the water off of the blueberries.

" That's so sweet, you can take and dump them into the bowl right there with the sugar."

The two of them stood side-by-side preparing muffin batter.

Before placing the batter into baking cups and putting them in the oven. y/n Pouring some coffee for them while they wait.

" So how did you sleep last night?" She asked, putting the two mugs of coffee down.

How did I sleep? OH my gosh how can I tell her that I couldn't sleep? Because all I could think about was her. How much I wanted to come back over here and see her. How I know she's the love of my life. How can I tell her that without her thinking that I'm crazy? Spencer thought to himself.

" I slept rather well, thank you." He told her he feels so bad about lying to her, but how can he tell her about his true feelings without scaring her away?

Once the muffins were done and they started eating them, it was the most delicious blueberry muffin Spencer had ever had.

" These are incredible" he told her before stuffing and other piece into his mouth.

" Thank you so much. I'm so glad that you like them. You know, I also make coffee cakes and strudels and stuff like that, so, you know, I could keep feeding you if you're interested."

If Spencer could have his way, he would make breakfast with her every day for the rest of his life.

" I would like that. he told her with a smile.

The next two weeks went on like this, meeting every day. Went to teach, unfortunately his teacher. Come to an end and he was forced to go back to the station.

" I'm back on FBI time now, so I may be gone for a little while. I'll let you know if I have a case. That way you don't start making something for me and I'm not here to get it." Told her, looking down at his thumbs that he was twiddling.

" OK, well, I'm going to miss you if you have a case, but I have a lot of muffins leftover. Would your team like some?" She asked him.

" I I think they would, yes, they're amazing. And if they don't want them, well, I'll gladly eat them."

" OK, great. I'll pack some up for you."

Spencer reluctantly left her apartment to go to the station, carrying with him a large basket of blueberry muffins. They placed them on the table of the round table room.

Luke came into the room and saw the basket of muffins along with Spencer sitting in his usual chair.

" Hey, welcome back Reid" Luke said to him.

" Hey, Luke. Thanks. It's nice to be back."

" Muffins. Are those for anybody or are they just for you?" Luke asked.

" There For anyone. My new neighbor Likes to bake, so she sent me to work with some muffins for you guys."

" She Ohh. I'm I'm not prying just is she someone that You might be interested in. I'm. I'm not meaning to pry. I just. I worry about you. You know, you go back to your apartment all by yourself and you don't really get any visitors. It would just be nice for you to have someone."

" I really like her, Luke. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how to tell her. You know, I know that I'm the age that I am, but I don't have much experience with women. The only girlfriend long term that I really had got murdered in front of me. So I don't know how to talk to women." Spencer said sadly.

" Well reid. I can honestly tell you if a woman is willing to make you muffin's. And allow you into her apartment, I'm assuming."

" She did. I helped her move in."

" Then yes, she likes you." Luke told him before taking a bite of muffin.

" Really?" Spencer asked.

" Yes, really. And if she makes muffins like this my God man, go back home now and ask her to marry you. These are delicious."

Unfortunately for Spencer, he was going to have to wait to see his ladylove again. he had to go away on a case. The next three months' time continued to go this way. He would be home for a day or two enjoying the baked Goods with Her before having to go away on another case. They really didn't get to spend much time together anymore. They were both afraid that the feelings that they had for each other would fizzle away. But maybe, just maybe, people were right. Time apart does make the heart grow fonder. It left them both wondering though. Feel this way about each other. They're just neighbors, and they've never even kissed. Just enjoying talking about things over coffee and baked goods that Spencer often helped make. He really enjoyed the baking process and the fact that it gave him more time to spend with y/n but all of that changed quickly after Spencer finally had some time off since he was teaching again. So she invited him to come over and watch a movie. That was for the best, considering that Spencer really didn't have any movies that weren't foreign films.

"She picked (your favorite movie) To watch She Thought that Spencer would really enjoy it.

" I can't believe you've never seen this movie. I've seen it about 1000 times and can say just about every line with it". She told him.

" Well, I haven't seen very many movies that aren't in foreign languages, so this will be a fun to experience for me."

That night was a turning point in their relationship. As they sat on the sofa together, they realized neither one of them was really interested in the movie. They were more interested in each other. They've been away from each other for too long, and tonight was the night they were finally going to kiss.

However, Spencer Reid being amazing at everything was also in the world's greatest kisser. We've got turned on so much by the kissing that it wasn't long before Spencer was asking against her lips. "Can we take this to the bedroom?"

y/n Moaned a Yes, against his lips.

If Spencer picked her up off the couch and carried her into her bedroom, he knew exactly where it was. Not because he's been to her apartment so many times, but because the layout of her apartment was exactly the same as his own. Before he knew it, he was peeling off her clothes and kissing her passionately.

Shouldn't she was doing the same to him with the same urgency.

However, before Spencer removed her underwear. He asked if it was OK for him to do so.

y/n Couldn't get the word "yes" out fast enough. As soon as she was bare to him, he looked up into her eyes to make sure that She was OK with what he was about to do.

She panted out a yes before he licked right up her center. Causing her to moan out his name. Something that, if he was being honest with himself, was something that he was dying to hear over the past 3 1/2 months.

He took his time with her, loving the way that her fingers felt running through his hair. After he gave her two mind-blowing orgasms, he couldn't wait anymore. He needed to be inside of her.

"Do you have any protection?" He asked her, praying to the gods, anyone of them that she would have something.

"I'm on the pill and I'm clean". She panted out

the smile on his face, almost taking up his entire face at this point.

"Good" he panted out. Before slowly pushing inside of her. They both moaned out at the feeling. Something that they were both longing for, for so long. As he slowly moved inside of her, his fingers intertwining with hers.

The only sounds in the apartment at this point was the sounds of their moans and lips smacking.

" Where do you want me?" Spencer asked y/n Feeling that he was close told him.

" Inside, inside Spencer, I want to feel all of you."

And be more thrilled at these words. They both orgasm together and it was like pure heaven.

Spencer helped her ride out her high, and as he did, he couldn't help but stare into her eyes, seeing how beautiful she is.

Spencer eventually had to pull out. So sad for both of them since they both waited for so long. Both of them hoping that it would happen again.

They laid in her bed. Spencer's arms, holding her tightly to his body.

" Are you sorry that it happened?" Spencer asked sadly. As y/n Hasn't said anything since they orgasmed.

" No, not at all. Are you?" She asked with full of worry.

" No, absolutely not. I was worried that you were going to be sorry. I mean, it's been silence for a little bit." Spencer said with a gulp.

" No, I'm so happy that it happened. I waited for so long, you know, Honestly, I wanted you from the very first time I saw you, but I didn't want you to think that I was Trashy." She told him, running her hand up and down his bare chest.

" I would never think that, and honestly, I was the same way about you." Spencer told her with a smile.

"Who would have ever thought that me walking by with a stack of boxes would have led to this? that just a simple hello would have led to where we are today."

" I know. I guess you could say it was a picture-Perfect Hello." Spencer said before kissing her again.

Thank you so much for reading. Comments will be greatly appreciated and I look forward to writing the rest of this story. there should be another chapter out by the summer.

@thebloomingeagle

#spencer reid #doctor spencer reid #dr spencer reid #criminal minds #mgg #dr reid #reid #spencer reid smut #criminal minds smut #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler smut #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler imagine

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smellingofpoetry · 7 months

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Hey ! I saw that you wanted some requests to try and write more and I think it's a great idea ! So here I am to give you a prompt : "I was so scared. Please don't do this again." Let your creativity speak ! 😘

Characters: Reader, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: angst

Word count: 522

A/N: Hi! It has been so long since the last time I posted anything. A few days ago, though, I asked you to send me some requests to help me get back on track with my writing. This one was one of those I've received. I couldn't post it until now because it was a busy week between work and my brother visiting me, but finally, I can post. I'm so excited about it and I hope you guys like this story. Let me know what you think. ❤ All errors are mine.

Y/N stormed out of the abandoned house without saying a word. Dean glanced toward his little brother quizzically. Sam sighed, bending on his knees to start gathering all their stuff.

“You should go talk to her. I’ll come down as soon as I’m done here –”. Or never, he thought, not wanting to get caught in the middle of whatever was going to happen.

Dean glanced one last time at Sam before going down the stairs and out the door. He found her pacing back and forth, arms crossed at her chest.

“Are you alright?” he tried, not knowing what he was walking into, not for sure.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Y/N asked, stopping midway in the dusty alley and facing him.

“Excuse me?” he could already feel the adrenaline mixed with a few shades of anger wanting to take over.

“You just died in there!”

“Not my first time.”

“Could you take this seriously?”

Dean widened his arms, not knowing what was her problem. “We closed the case, and I’m back, so I don’t see where the problem is.”

“You don’t see –” Y/N half laughed at his comment, pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to keep the calm even though she was already feeling it slip away. “You died in there.”

“You already said that.”

“And you don’t seem to be fazed by that.”

“I did what I had to do to protect you and Sam.”

“None of us asked you to.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Don’t you have any regard for your life, like at all?”

Dean frowned at her question like he could really have a choice when he had to choose between him and them. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t matter, not when it came to the people I – ” he stopped, catching himself in time “– care about.”

Y/N could feel her wall starting to crumble and her eyes filling with hot tears. “I was so scared in there. I went in the other room for two minutes,” Y/N said, feeling her voice crack. “Two damn minutes.” She pointed it out like that could make her feel better. “And when I came back, you were gone, and I wish that begging you to, please, don’t do this again would work, but it won’t because you decided that you don’t matter." She said, resigned.

“Y/N –”

“Hearing you say that you don’t matter when you do – to me, you do – it broke my heart,” she said with a sad smile and teary eyes. “And I’m this close to giving up, and I know that’s not fair to tell you this, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Y/N glanced behind Dean’s back, watching Sam sadly smile at her, probably witnessing the whole argument between her and his big brother. She sighed before turning around and walking toward the car. She took hold of the handle, opening the passenger’s door when she felt Dean’s hand on the window glass, stopping her movement.

“Just –” he whispered in her ear. “– just – don’t give up on me. Not yet, please.”

#dean winchester #supernatural #spn #ask #request #dean winchester fic #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #supernatural fic #supernatural fanfiction #spn fic #spn fanfiction #sam winchester #reader

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welcometololaland · 7 months

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Love Game (aka the tennis au) turns one!

Going to have to beg you to bear with me for a moment while I have a little breakdown about the fact that this fic has just turned 1 year old. As is customary for me, I am actually late to the celebration (it was 2 days ago), but I still I'm here and I'm still crying and I'm still just as much in love with tennis disaster TK Strand and cool, calm and collected Carlos Reyes as I ever was.

This is not my most popular fic by a long shot, nor is it my best writing, but it is the one I love the most. It's the fic I poured my whole heart and soul into and couldn't stop obsessing about. It's the fic I never wanted to stop writing, the one that still keeps me up at night, pretty much the only fic of mine I re-read for my own enjoyment. I loved every moment of creating the Tarlos tennis AU, and even though The Ring-In eclipses it in popularity, I hope that Love Game is my legacy.

If you haven't read the tennis AU it is here for you:

Love Game (original - 142k)

Match Point (sequel - 21k)

Love in Slow Motion (tennis AU prompt fill - 33k)

I'd also like to give the following thank you shout outs 1 year after the fact (these are all in a/n but to repeat) to @rmd-writes for being my beta reader and head cheerleader, @dustratcentral for continuing to support me in the most unhinged way, @queen-saltyfries for helping me with all the tweets and just being a general legend and to @paperstorm for pre-reading and supporting the vision.

ALSO - I have to give a shoutout to the following creations that have been inspired by the tennis au and give me SO MUCH LIFE on a regular basis. Seriously. Y'all are amazing. You have my heart. I owe you my non-existent firstborn child (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE message me if I haven't picked any creations up - it has been a fair bit of time since I saw some of them and I promise I haven't intentionally excluded anyone, my memory just sucks).

Please go and support these creators on their page!!!

This incredible anniversary post by @heartstringsduet

The Tarlos Sports AU creation by @watmalik

A LOVE GAME GIF!!! by @guardian-angle22

The sweetest, loveliest net kiss by @fitzherbertssmolder

TENNIS CARLOS WITH A BEARD by a twitter user but I don't think they have a tumblr :( if they do please let me know!

another amazing creation by the above user.

you guys are so incredible and i thank you so much for sharing your talent with me!

and finally, thank you to everyone who has supported love game over the years in the comments, reblogs, asks, likes etc. that whole fic is for you!

(@sheholdsthemoon i swear you sent me a LG inspired art but i couldn't find it anywhere - please let me know if you ended up posting it!)

#love game #love game appreciation post #love game turns one!#tennis au #tennis au turns one #tennis au anniversary #love game anniversary

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errihaienx · 1 year

Note

Hola! can you plz do an atsumu fluff? if u're freeee tysm in advance. have a nice day <3<3<3

i had fun writing this and i'm sorry it kinda turned into a suggestive one , but i think this is fluff! i swear ?? lol i'm sorryyyy (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

quick disclaimer: these scenarios don't affect the original plot of the series. any information or events that contradict the original plot are purely fictional. (i do not own any of the characters) + Suggestive themes at the end (I did not proofread this , please read the a/n at the end!)

post-timeskip : ATSUMU X Reader situation: Atsumu demands for a kiss that leads to something..

ATSUMU is a loud and clingy boyfriend. Currently whining about you not giving him a kiss before his training, he keeps on bugging you.

"Can you get your hands off me even for a bit 'tsumu! i'm doing the dishes!" you hissed, ignoring you he clung to you more.

he kissed your neck and whined again

"ya are such a meannie! all ya do is to nag me, don't ya even love me anymore?"

annoyed, you faced him and he gave you this sheepish smile. you sighed and wiped your hands on his shirt, expecting to earn a protest. he then held your hand helping you to fully dry your hands with his already wet clothes.

"You're extra clingy now 'tsumu…" you mumbled

thinking that maybe he did something wrong and that is why he's acting like this

"I'm always like this baby, what are ya talking about hmmm"

you gave him a quick peck before facing the chores you delayed because of him.

"Not facing me again, i did not have my kiss earlier today and ya are ignoring me again! am I gonna die?! What did I do?!?" Atsumu dramatically stated.

you rolled your eyes though he couldn't see you can't help but to smile, you've been together for years now and he never changed. Atsumu always tries his best to treat you what you deserve.

"Babeeeeeee are ya seriously ignoring me? what did I do?!?! Is it because I forgot to shower last night before I cuddle ya up? come on, I still smell good!" Atsumu wailed

actually the reason why you're not giving him the hundred percent of your attention is simply just because you're washing the dishes but your dramatic and overreacting boyfriend made it like it's a big deal.

but since he opened up the topic about him not showering before clinging to you a night ago, you decided to use that as an excuse.

"yeah, shower now and I'll give you what you want" you simply replied.

while wiping your hand, you looked at him and saw him with his eyebrows furrowed and irritated. You raised an eyebrow warning him, and the defeated atsumu rushed to shower.

Atsumu often shower for fifteen minutes, but your tired eyes couldn't seem to wait for him and dozed off.

minutes later he finished and he ended up seeing you prettily 'sleeping'

"I'm done babe, ya can now stop the act and gimme my hugs"

his sudden talking made your senses awake but you ignored him. trying to chase the rest you've been waiting for.

"I did not have my kiss this morning and you claimed that you're just asleep so I let it slide. will you also use that excuse again huh?" Atsumu, with his serious voice made your system go wild

yes there's no doubt that atsumu is playful and a goofball but what you don't understand is he can change his demeanor very quick, sometimes it scares you but it is actually….kind of sexy..

lost in your thoughts you haven't uttered a single word, which made you nervous. something's gonna happen, for sure.

"I see, so that's how it is… lemme have you by crook then.."

shocked, you faced him as fast as you can but he's now looking at you with his hypnotizing brown orbs intently. you couldn't see his sparkling full of love eyes, at this very moment his eyes reflects desire.

"I'm t-trying to-"

You didn't have the chance to finish your sentence as his large physique towers you.

This is a draft, but I decided to post it now because I'm working on something that takes a lot of time to do and I still want to post an update for you guys! This was sitting on my drafts for days now, and actually I'm not really satisfied with this work so I was hesitant to post this. The next update will be about HQ Captains again. And hopefully after that I already finished what I'm currently writing now, please bare with me!

#atsumu x reader #atsumu x you #atsumu fluff #atsumu imagines #atsumu scenarios #atsumu miya #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #miya atsumu #atsumu #haikyuu hcs #atsumu hcs #atsumu headcanons

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onecornerface · 5 months

Text

the time I trolled 4chan as a fake flat earther for six hours in 2012

In July 2012, I got on 4chan and pretended to be a flat earther. I passionately argued for flat earth theory for six hours with almost no break. I kept a single thread going the whole time, getting over 400 replies. I’m not sure if I still have a PDF of the thread, but I do have some quotes from people who responded to me. Looking back over this a decade later, I am proud.

[CW: Slurs]

"There's no way you're actually this dumb. There's just no way."

"the flat earth society is one of the best trolls i've ever seen, in all those days of /b/"

"I tried some scientific research on this topic a while ago. I ordered a pizza, got two because the first was not what I ordered. I let the first dry out under a light bulb. Eventually, after a couple weeks, living creatures started populating Planet Pizza, after a while orbiting their home planet. This is proof, that the earth is flat. tl;dr Earth is a pizza, probably on a bigger pizza which probably is in a room with an even bigger pizza."

"Sir your thesis contradicts climate, you don't know what refraction is, you can't explain day and night, ebb and flow and you're also paranoid and/or outright stupid since you believe in conspiracy theory."

"You are a stupid faggot, and the whole of society would be better if you stopped breathing it's air. ...unless, of course, you're a troll. In that case, I'll award you an 8/10."

"I however, HAVE BEEN TO SPACE. Twice. I assure you, having orbited the planet many times, it is indeed a sphere. OP is an idiot, his only defense against me is 'omg gimme proof' which I can, and once given, 'u r part of the illuminatee' Ugh. Ignorant dumb ass piece of shit."

"Damn OP 9/10"

"If we dealt with this on a daily basis i would kill myself."

"Yes my jimmies are rustled, because I hate ignorant, inbred fucks like OP. Go die in a hole. Oh wait, you couldn't, you'd be scared of just falling through into space."

"10/10 OP good trolling, keeping in character and sounding legit"

"9/10 OP. My jimmies will be rustled for the whole rest of the day after reading this tripe."

"[S]ome eyebrows must be raised in the direction of the /b/ros still continuing to argue about this. Better standard should be expected from you guys, but taking away nothing from OP. Excellent work."

"If you're not a failtroll you are, by far, one of the most deluded and idiotic people I've ever seen post on /b/, which is a tremendous feat."

"9/10 for commitment"

"love this thread op 10/10 for still being here." (This was three hours in.)

">Focuses on the obscurely worded >Ignores every other point >Provides no answers About what I was expecting."

"Go hung yourself, please Humanity doesn't need such stupid people like you are"

"I'd believe someone who says the earth is flat compared to someone who claims otherwise and can't grammar correctly."

"I haven't laughed so hard at something on /b/ for a long time."

"OP, I'm not gonna bother asking you anything. I just wanted to let you know this is the best thread I have seen as long as I can remember. You truly are amazing. Good fucking job."

"nice arguments though i am in awe of your reckless faggotry and ignorance and skills of producing believable logical fallacies."

(Four hours in) "I can't believe this thread is still going. OP is the most successful troll of all time."

">Earth is flat >Every other celestial body is round >mfw 1/10"

"Great thread. You are not a troll, I saw you other times here and I knew personally a man from this society."

"holy shit 0 of fucking 10"

"Billiard balls are also flat. Isn't it obvious that they sprites?"

"10/10 OP wins"

">almost 5 hours of this shit 10/10"

"Big respect OP. OP is alpha as fuck"

"but seriously, OP is the man destroying everyone with his devasting arguments for hours huge respect man if i would suck a cock then I'd suck yours and I'd propably come before you do"

"3/10. Painfully obvious troll, yet impressive to see so many anons actually failing to make a compelling argument."

"Willy Wonka travelled around the world in 80 days, and ended up back where he started, just in time for tea. You can't explain that."

"Did you ever wonder what happened to Amelia earhart? She flew too far. Gov't shot her down past the ice wall. They obviously couldnt have her come back from that trip, she would tell everyone"

"I myself subscribe to modern rational empiricism, in accordance to which OP's arguments are absolute bullshit. And yet the attempts to challenge his unfalsifiable beliefs have proven mostly futile. A great majority of those posting in this thread have no idea why they should believe the earth is round."

"There has to be trolling here, I seriously can't believe what I am reading."

"this is beyond epic"

"I'm starting to enjoy this so i'm upping you from a 2/10 to an 8 but it ends now."

"OP is now argueing since 6 hours. This is the longest discussion I've ever seen in my life. Of ALL discussions, not only 4chan."

"arguments presented thus far by flatty: >did you personally do the experiment? no? then the results are invalid >here's my evidence; as demonstrated in this experiment someone else did also >oh; you did the experiment itself and it basically shows that the earth is round? >there's probably crazy gravity or some shit; hell if i know or >just because we can't explain every one of these phenomena and a spherical model can doesn't mean we're wrong. i'm serious you guys also >pictures lie and you should never believe them; despite mind boggling quality and quantity available for universal use online"

"Explain how we can have fat asses and tennis balls but a flat fucking earth."

"9/10 OP, well done!"

#flat earth #4chan

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d-dalladalla · 2 years

Note

Hiiiiiii! :) I'm going through a Red Velvet phase at the moment and I'm seriously in love with all of them. Mostly Irene and Seulgi. There's just something about cold and distant women that does something to me 🥴💦. Especially when they're older.

Can I please request a gip!Irene x innocent!reader scenario? 🥺 Irene is cold, distant and mean towards the reader even though the reader just tries to get her attention. Eventually Irene says something hurtful and the reader tries to move on to gip!Seulgi. Irene eventually gets so possessive over the reader when she hears Seulgi talk about her (the reader) to her friends and its insinuated that they slept together. With jealous smut, pleaseeee? 🥺

Btw, I'm notified whenever you post something and I like your posts almost instantly, so I think if you looked hard enough you'd probably know who I am 🤣🙈. I hope you don't get burnout from all these requests though. It would be devastating if you stopped posting, you're literally one of the few blogs that does gip scenarios for female idols 😔.

Thank u so much bestie <3!!!! I'm not getting burnout, thank god the requests are so good that it's kinda impossible to get burnout lol. Also I legit smile whenever i see the anon asked thing it's like the best thing ever :)

And it's was kinda hard finding a lot of female reader fics and I've found more now but i wanted to add my own so others can enjoy !! Also, I can't remember the author (I'll post it if i can find it) but someone wrote a jennie / chaeyoung x fem reader fic where Chae kept rejecting the reader who eventually got with Jennie and it's genuinely the best thing I've ever read!

You had been infatuated with Irene the moment you saw her, being introduced through Seulgi and immediately trying to get on her good side. She was a sweetheart, she just wasn't very open about it you learned later, she was shy and introverted.

You hadn't felt this way about anyone ever, she was just so perfect that it hurt. But no matter what you did, you had tried everything. Genuine compliments constantly to her face, about how pretty she was, or how nice her laugh is, or how she always makes you laugh...nothing from her.

You opted to show your love with gifts, bringing her flowers, and chocolates, paying for her meals whenever the two of you were out...nothing.

You were sure that this gift would win her over, you had found out from Sooyoung that she was talking about how pretty the flowers were at this little cafe in a flower shop they had been to the previous day so you sped down there, and paid the very hefty price.

You let yourself into their dorm, Seungwan and Yeri giving you soft smiles as they knew what was coming, Sooyoung remaining quiet as she watched Seulgi watch you. Sooyoung always sensed Seulgi's feelings for you, her smile was different when you were around, she was more herself.

Seulgi leant against the kitchen island as she watched you approach Irene's room at the bottom of the corridor, you nervously shuffled as you knocked on her door. You really wanted this to be it, you liked her so so much and you really couldn't take another rejection.

Irene opened the door, she was in the sweatpants you bought her months ago, my god they left you broke for a month, so your smile got wider seeing she actually liked your gifts.

"Yes? what is it I'm busy right now," her tone was cold but you tried to convince yourself that that's just how she spoke, she didn't mean for her words to come out as cold.

"Hi! Jo-Joohyun! I got these for you!" you beamed, holding the bouquet out to her as she peered down at them, taking in the beautiful display and recognising them from yesterday.

"Right...thanks y/n," she took them hesitantly and set them down on the table just out of your sight beside her door. She looked back to you, her expression quizzical as you stood there.

"That it?" she shook her head as she spoke, you could feel that bubble in your throat start to rise and bite back a breath.

"Actually, I-I was wondering if you would maybe l-like to go out tonight? l-like a date?" you tried to sound confident but it came out like a plead.

"No, y/n," she hushed out, she looked so annoyed as she raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, "Just- just leave me alone okay? I really don't like you, you're fucking weird, okay?" she closed the door in your face and you, fortunately, didn't hear the gasps coming from her bandmates.

They tried to make themselves look busy, going on their phones, straight up leaving the room or staring at the wall as you walked back into the living room and out the door.

Seulgi didn't know what to do, she kept looking between Irene's door and the front door you just closed. She was so angry, she wanted to yell, scream, hit, anything. She wanted you to herself, but she hated the way Irene treated you. You were so much more than what Irene thought of you. You needed to be treated right and she was going to be the one to do it.

a month later

Irene tried her best to avoid you, she regretted what she said, she really did. But she would rather be caught dead than admit she was wrong. She was just stressed, she had so much going on and was overwhelmed you just unfortunately pushed her over the edge.

Her whole avoiding plan was going well, You hadn't been to the dorm since, the girls being especially quiet when Irene would join them to eat or watch a movie. They wanted to scream at her for breaking your heart but she was their leader.

What Irene didn't mean to do was eavesdrop on the girls' conversations, she wanted to know why they were so distant lately, so she left her bedroom, closing the door silently and sneaking to the end of the corridor and loitering there as she listened in on the girls.

She could sort of gather what they were talking about, you, they were talking about you. Well, more speciality Seulgi was and the girls were chiming in every now and again.

"When was this?!?" Yeri gasped, Irene could tell that something big had been dropped and from Yeri's surprised tone, she wanted to know if you were okay.

"two days ago, why?" Seulgi answered back, her voice was louder to Irene so she must have been just around the corner. She could hear the shuffling on the couch and now Yeri's voice was louder, she must've gotten closer to listen to Seulgi.

"Was it good?" Yeri teased and Irene's tried her best to not assume things, you surely didn't hook up with Seulgi. You were in love with her, for years and there was no way you would've moved on so quickly, right?

"I mean..." Seulgi's voice trailed off, the girls giggling and egging her on to continue the story, a roar of 'go on's.

"Okay! fine, yes she was very good." Seulgi laughed out, there was some shuffling and Irene took a step back in order to not be caught listening in.

"I'm gonna hit her up again, you have no idea how tight she was oh my godd," the girls erupted into giggles and begged for more details as Seulgi shushed them.

Irene could feel her entire body heat up, you just moved on? just like that, huh? she was going to show you that you don't just move on from Irene. She liked you but she knew how hard it was to date idols, you would just be heartbroken and so would she. She snuck back into her room, got her car keys and stormed out of her room and past the girls who immediately went silent, Irene slamming the front door behind her.

She doesn't know what she was thinking, she stood outside your front door and knocked, she didn't really think this through, you were probably going to slam the door in her face as soon as you saw her, she was about to walk away when you opened the door.

It was late, she forgot that so judging from your state, she probably just woke you up. You stood in a tiny tank top and as her eyes trailed down your body she saw you were wearing boxers and she knew from doing the group's laundry that they were Seulgi's.

"I-Irene? what are you-" she cut you off as she came forward and crashed her lips against yours, kicking the door closed behind her and pushing you down against your couch.

You didn't kiss back, you were so confused and this was just so overwhelming, but she didn't give you time to think it through, grabbing at your shirt and pulling it up to bunch up at the top of your chest. Groping your tit with her right hand as her left one started to peel off those fucking boxers.

You started to kiss back, this was everything you had dreamt of but why now? what happened to make her want you too? you really didn't care about what the reason was right now.

You groaned whenever she let her fingers glide through your folds, teasing your entrance with her fingertips, dipping in and pulling out over and over again until she plunged them in, mumbling into your neck about how tight you were.

You didn't have time to enjoy the feeling of her long fingers inside you before she pulled down her sweatpants along with her boxers and lined herself up.

Pushing her tip in and groaning, biting down on your neck as your brought your legs up to lock her in place, arms splayed on her back as you dug your nails in. It felt like she was never going to end, inch by inch and it just kept going. But when she did fully push in you had never felt so full. She began to thrust, using her hands to slam your hips to meet her own thrusts.

Mouthing at your neck, she saw the marks Seulgi had left and she was going to cover you in her own. She was going to show Seulgi you were hers. You belonged to her and only her.

The couch under you beginning to scratch the floorboards with each thrust, your downstairs neighbours were gonna be so mad. She pounded into you, her precum begging to spill into you and leak out onto the couch cushions. You could barely get a moan out, resulting in gasps and half moans as you felt your high coming.

She sensed it too and started to pick up her pace, groaning as you clenched down on her cock, releasing and leaking down your thighs. Her orgasm followed yours as she emptied into you, thank god for birth control.

She didn't pull out, letting herself relax on top of you and leaving one last bruising kiss on your lips as you both caught your breath.

"I'm sorry for being a dick," she mumbled against your neck, "I didn't mean it, I was- I was scared of losing you in the end." she hesitated. You let your hand meet her hair, stroking and playing her her hair as you thought of an answer.

"I want to go out, with you, tomorrow," she interrupted your thoughts, relaxing further into your touch.

"You better give me the best first date ever," you chuckled out but she sensed the seriousness in your tone and her mind was racing with all the ways she was going to spoil you

#this is long as hell oh god #also i realised i use american words instead of british #idk y #now i feel bad for Seulgi #I wrote it why did i make myself sad #also i'm so tired so thank god for Grammarly for fixing this for me

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teaberrii · 2 years

Text

Chapter 5: The Friendship Date (My Worst Enemy is a Cat)

Human by day. Cat by night. That’s how Scaramouche lived until you came back into his life.

Scaramouche/You

Notes: Cross-posted on Ao3. If you want me to add you to the tag list, visit the tag list post for the blog. If your user is not on the tag list, you won't be notified.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Why couldn't he take his eyes off you? You were just dressed in a different outfit. That's it.

Maybe it was the high-waisted plaid pants. Maybe it was the tank top that revealed a little of your midriff when you lifted your arms. Maybe it was the baseball cap… that was the same as his.

Whatever it was, Scaramouche couldn't take his eyes off you, and he hated himself for it. You looked over at him, and he suddenly didn't know where to look.

“Time to board the bus!”

As everyone formed a line, you lowered your hat and peeked at Scaramouche standing in the line next to yours. He was talking with a friend, but you noticed that you were wearing the same baseball cap as him. It was also the first time you saw him wearing light colours and something other than his school uniform. It was silly, but you wished you could see it more often.

When he sees you wearing a high-waisted black skirt and a dark red shirt that reveals your shoulders. Scaramouche almost lost it. Where are all these feelings coming from? It's just an outfit, for goodness sake. But it's so flattering on you that he's forced to look away, or you'd see him blushing.

“Sorry. Did you wait long?” you ask.

Scaramouche gathers his emotions and opens the passenger door for you. "It doesn't matter. Get in." He feels you staring at him, and it's starting to make him anxious. Then, he hears you chuckle softly. Finally, he forces himself to look at you. "What's so funny?"

“You’re acting like this is your first date or something.” You smile. “Oh, sorry, I mean friendship date.”

Well, you’re half right. While he’s been on dates before, he never bothered putting in much effort. "Because I'm taking this seriously." Whoa. Hold up. Did your heart just flutter? Of course, it didn't help that he said it with a straight face. "...Are you going to get in?" You look away and get into his car.

On the road, Scaramouche glances at you and asks, “...How was your time abroad?”

You have a lot of answers to that, all of which require a story. And, right now, you don’t feel comfortable sharing. “It was fine,” you finally answer. Though, it's a lie. But he doesn't have to know that. You glance at him. “What about you? Didn’t you get into the best university in the country?”

Scaramouche smiles. “Jealous?”

You give him a deadpan look. “Oh, definitely.” Then, he hears you mutter how childish he is.

Scaramouche slowly brings the car to a stop at a red light. “It was fine. A very typical university experience.”

“Did you finally let loose?” you ask, half-jokingly. “You were always so uptight.”

“I should be asking you that question. Away on your own… I wouldn’t be surprised if you turned into a different person.”

You look at him. “Well, did I?”

Scaramouche looks away from you. Of course, you're different. But, somehow, his feelings never changed. Because while you may have matured in your personality and physical appearance, he still sees you as the same girl he fell in love with so many years ago.

Before picking up speed, the car slowly inches forward. Then, Scaramouche says, "Do you want me to be honest?"

Oh, great. He'll probably tell you how you gained weight, your face looks puffy, or something that takes a jab at your intelligence, and you're just not here for it.

"Actually, I'd rather not hear it." Scaramouche glances at you. Are you sure? Well, fine. The compliments can come later. "Hey, you didn't answer my question."

“What? Are you curious if I turned into a frat boy who parties all day?”

You look at him up and down. “If you did, you cleaned up well.”

"Double major. Honours program. Part of the debate club who went to nationals and the student union vice president for two years."

Scaramouche is expecting you to counter with your own accomplishments. Knowing you, he wouldn’t be surprised if you’d outdone him. So, your initial silence takes him a little by surprise.

Finally, you ask, "Should I congratulate you?"

He senses the heavy sarcasm. So, just to play around a little, Scaramouche asks, “What about a kiss on the cheek?” Wait. What did he just say? He smirks. “Why are you so surprised? A kiss on the cheek can mean many things. Congratulating someone, for example.”

You scoff. “Why don't I give you a gold star instead?”

“It’s also a gesture to indicate friendship. And… we are friends now, aren’t we? Starting today.”

"We've always been friends." The words were out before you could stop them. You want to kick yourself when you see the look on his face.

“Really? Well, that’s news to me! Because… if I remember correctly, you said I was your worst enemy at one point.”

“We’re not friends,” you said flatly.

“Ouch.” Scaramouche put a hand over his heart. Then, he stopped walking. “If we’re not friends, why should I bother walking you home?” For a smart girl, you sure were dense. He sighed and hurried to catch up with you. There was no way he would leave you alone, especially when it was late. He'd bumped into you in the school library, and both of you were the last to leave. " ...Hey, what do you think of me?”

The question took you off guard. “Uh, why are you asking?”

Scaramouche put his hands behind his head. “Just curious. I mean… I am popular with the girls.”

You give him a deadpan look. “Are you expecting me to stroke your ego? You can go find someone else for that.”

Suddenly, he grabbed your wrist. You glared at him. “Just answer my question.”

Your silence was eating him alive. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest until you said, “You’re a little annoying. Too narcissistic and egotistic. In other words, you have all the qualities of someone I hate.” Scaramouche’s jaw almost dropped.

“I did not say you were my worst enemy,” you say.

"You know, maybe I should think of that as an accomplishment." He smirks. "It's not every day you get that kind of title." You roll your eyes. "But now you say that we've always been friends."

“...Drop it.”

You have no idea if he ever considered you as a friend. But the truth is, you always had since the day you met him. He was arguably fun to be around if, most of the time, all you did was bicker with him. You couldn't imagine your life being as fun as it was without him. Maybe you should've stuck around for university. Then, maybe, you wouldn't be so broken.

You and Scaramouche arrive at the aquarium just in time for lunch. As soon as you enter, your stomach growls, and you blush out of embarrassment. “Hungry?” You quickly look to your left and see Scaramouche smiling.

“A bit,” you mutter.

Then, he takes your hand and leads you to a restaurant nearby. When the waiter greets you and checks around for a free table, you glance at your hand still in his. Then, slowly, you pull your hand away and look up at him. "I can just grab something from—"

"I want to eat with you." How he's looking at you makes you forget your surroundings. That is until the waiter speaks up and ushers you and Scaramouche to an empty table for two. Once you open the menu, he asks, "Do you want to share something?" You aren't sure why you imagined sharing a milkshake, and the thought makes you shake your head a little. Scaramouche raises a brow. What are you thinking about? "Do you like calamari?"

“Yeah, sure.”

That dish is the first to arrive. Before you can eat one yourself, Scaramouche has one on his fork and holding it in front of you. “Say ahh.”

When you see his smile, you feel your cheeks grow warm. “What are you doing?”

He looks genuinely confused. "What do you think?" You take the fork from him and eat it yourself. Then, with a deadpan look, he takes his empty fork back.

After lunch, you and Scaramouche enter the exhibits in silence. You try to focus on your surroundings as you walk, but all you feel is his hand occasionally brushing against yours. Is he doing it on purpose?

Scaramouche glances at you, trying to gauge your reaction to his hand on yours. Should he continue teasing you? Or just go in for the kill? Should he just boldly confess?

Do it. Just get it over with! Scaramouche can hear the evil cat's voice inside his head. Grab her and kiss her! DO IT.

No. Just keep giving her hints. She’ll get turned off if you come off too strong. Patience is key. Scaramouche takes a breath. The voices are driving him insane.

“Hey.” Scaramouche looks up and sees you standing in front of a tank. He walks over. “That one looks like you.”

Scaramouche frowns. “Did you really just point to the ugliest fish in the tank?”

“I don’t think it’s ugly. It’s unique-looking.”

That sounds worse. "...Are you implying that I'm"—he does air quotations as he says—"'unique-looking?"

Will you please say something instead of just staring at him? It’s making his heart race with anxiety. Then, you smile. “I said it looks like you because it’s frowning. Like you were back in school”—you pinch his cheek to his surprise—“and even right now.”

As you walk away, Scaramouche sighs and looks at the fish in the tank. “Should I be thanking you?” Then, he follows you. Eventually, you walk into a large, open room. You’re standing in front of a giant tank when Scaramouche walks up beside you. You take out your phone and snap a few photos. “Hey, I found one that looks like you.”

You look at where he’s pointing and see a fish that looks surprised. “Why that one?”

Scaramouche smirks. “That was you when I kept beating you.”

“Hilarious.”

But, before you can walk away, Scaramouche gently grabs your arm and pulls you back. “Let’s take a photo together.”

“Here?”

“Where else?” Then, he awkwardly scratches the back of his head. “...Unless you don’t want to.”

"No, I do." The words were out before you could stop them. You want to kick yourself a second time.

Soon, you and Scaramouche are standing next to each other as someone is about to take your photo. Then, the person looks at you. “Can you stand closer to him?”

You awkwardly move closer. Then, you feel Scaramouche’s hands on your shoulders and hear his voice near your ear. “Relax.”

“Ooh, that one turned out pretty good! Can both of you look at the camera now?”

Once the person leaves, you and Scaramouche look through the photos. But when you see the one where he’s whispering in your ear, you’re surprised at how gentle he’s looking at you. There’s a warmth in his eyes that you’d never seen. Then, you look at yourself and see the genuine surprise on your face.

“See. The fish I told you about looks just like that.”

You turn to him with a deadpan look, not expecting to see him so close. It feels like an eternity that you're staring into his eyes. Then, you see his gaze lower to your lips. He looks back, and he leans closer… and closer…

Your eyes widen when you feel someone bump into you from behind. You quickly turn around and see a young child. He's holding a half-melted ice cream cone. "Sorry," he says. Then, he runs off.

Your heart is racing when you hear the kid's parents apologize to you. You give them a small smile and nod, and they quickly follow after their son. Was Scaramouche about to kiss you? And… were you just going to let it happen?

“Hey.” You look up at him. Scaramouche isn't looking at you as he says, “...We should get going.”

Was he really going to kiss you? He got caught up in the moment. But you didn't stop him or pull away. So… that was a good sign, right? Still, maybe he shouldn't have acted too impulsively. Think, Scaramouche. Think next—

He stops. Then, he looks over his shoulder and sees you holding his hand.

Chapter Six

Tag list: @suoshiii @feverish-dove @126dvtn @one-offmind @sweet-almonds @pooonyo @n8mareee @killuixz @w9vyy @124eve @mxrossweisse @genderfluid-insomniac @goodthingimsam

#genshin scaramouche #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x y/n #scaramouche #scaramouche fluff #scara x reader #scara x you #genshin impact fanfic #genshin fanfiction #genshin impact #genshin fanfic

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leviasu · 2 years

Note

levi and satan with a fem s/o who is kinda obsessed with sanrio or just cute things in general, and also she keep chanting "ruru" or "toaruru" the whole day out of boredom ｡◕‿◕｡

I have a few works up ahead but I couldn't stop myself once I saw that you requested SANRIO...(/pos) I love sanrio so much ahhhhh you don't understand.. (note at the end of post) n also I got carried away with Levi’s part, so sorry 😭

Sanrio Lover S/O (+ cute things/Fem!MC)

Leviathan

“Toaruru...” “Ruuuuruuuu..” “toaru..” -

Gaahhhh what were you doing to Him?! First you were wearing your cute (favourite character here) hoodie! and now you're making cute little sounds that Levi can't handle because of how cute it is?!?! Would it be rude to ask you what is you're chanting? Even worse, would it make you stop?! I don't think Leviachan’s MC meter can take it anymore ..

Okay, okay... In all seriousness, Levi finds it cute, really cute. especially when He heard it for the first time... He firstly thought you were just chanting the Subtitles of what you're currently watching or playing out loud, until it had hit Him that it was only out of plain boredom or you might’ve explained it to Him instead.

Don't get me wrong, He genuinely finds it cute but it could be a little distracting when He's playing games. But since now He knows that you're doing it out of boredom He gets you a spare controller, indicating He wants you to Join Him with His game! Or He might give you manga instead, but in all honesty He'd choose the game. Your intimacy level with eachother in the game needs a few more levels until you both unlock marriage anyway.

Or if it's a single player/online game, Even though this’ll make it hard to concentrate- He wants to hold you. So... Inorder to do so, He'll catch your attention firstly by making a few small clicks and “pssst”s. if His attempts work, He'll gesture you to sit on His lap while you watch Him play games. (He won't deny that He'll be red as a tomato when you sit on His lap. and will even get more redder when you stare at him to the point where it'll even rival the colour red itself. So... Keep your eyes locked on the screen for His sake of not overheating...)

He'll also love hearing you ramble about your interests and love with cute things! Levi would often ramble aswell about His interests, and He doesn't mind when you do it aswell, Infact, He loves hearing all about it!

He'll often see you scrolling through your DDD looking at cute and sanrio themed items while doing so, He couldn't help but see that you couldn't help but see a cute product on sale on Akuzon, making you slightly frown due to the price but later on kept scrolling.

You then proceeded to get an Akuzon package on your bed, seeing the same product that was decorated in your phone screen.

Since Levi is a huge Akuzon connoisseur, He'll often buy you Cutesy/sanrio figures, accessories, treats even going as Far as getting you a Hoodie of your favourite character everytime He's on the Site. Even if Lucifer scolds Him sometimes due to the sudden rise in Akuzon Boxes in the House of Lamentation. your happy face makes up for it, It fuels Him even more to do so! (he'll tone it down if you tell Him too, but He'll still sneak in a Teacup-themed choco box...)

But, Let's not forget His talent for sewing too, He puts it to good use as He sews you little plushes of anything cute and your favourite characters, clothes... His favourite thing was sewing you both a pair of Matching Lolita and Ouji style-outfits of His and Yours’ favourite colour combined. His Devilgram icon changed along with yours, matching with the cosplay that you both did together.

Image just in case you don't know the concept of Lolita / Ouji style.

But overall, He loves you so much !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~➢

Satan

Another day in the house of Lamentation, pure peace and quiet. Something that Satan thought vanished long ago, and Now... What’s better than living life, pure bliss reading one of His Favourite Novels while a cat is resting on His head, and being in the same room with His Cute Significant O-

“Ruruuuu.....”

What the

He's in shock, the cat is in shock. The woman on the front cover of the Novel is shocked

Okay, enough fussing around. But Satan wouldn't deny He got caught Off-guard at the Sudden noise that you made, He couldn't keep it to Himself and asked you, after a couple seconds of brief context. He offers to let you lay next to Him while He reads the book aloud, or.. you both could dress up the Cat laying in between you both?

Satan would find your traits and interests a Charming thing about you, He absolutely adores seeing you show Him cute decor or items of your liking! He especially liked it when you showed Him Sanrio, His favourite characters are the Cat ones obviously, but In all favour... he adores choco-cat alot.

He would argue with people that say books are boring, but you're an exception. If you're bored and continue chanting the same words that Satan is familiar with, He'd try to give you a book, or an E-book of your liking! But... If he has free time, you both are gonna explore His Go-to spots to have Fun, and most importantly... For you to know more about Him!

Also did I mention Satan absolutely love the way you put on cute little accessories when going out? You just look so cute...!!! You both were once at a Cat-Cafe for a date and to soothe your Boredom. Yet He suprisingly didn't pay attention to the cats. Instead He paid all His attention towards you instead.

He'd buy you both matching cat ears, no buts! You guys will be wearing them together, while aiding the Cat Satan snuck into the House of Lamentation. You're now officially a mom of a cute cat, and you're now the wife of the adoptive -father of the cat.

GODDDD I am in a Extra good mood today. I had so much fun writing this... Especially because I love Sanrio and Levi and Satan, Alot. But then i’m quite sorry if this doesn't match... Some few parts of the Request(?) or overall just missing a few things. I really just free-styled(???) this without thinking much since I was having too much fun. 😭 (But I'll try to add a few more things when I'm gonna edit posts. <3 )

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p---ink · 3 years

Text

If I Only Knew Your Name

Author's Note: Hello :) I've finally gotten around to posting this one, and i've got to say...this is my favorite piece thus far...which is saying a lot since I literally hated it a few days ago (@cocoamoonmalfoy I don't hate it anymore, friend. You were right). Nevertheless I'm in love with it. Think of this Loki as a variant of him and Tom Hiddleston though, because he is kind of soft in this :( Also take a drink every time I say love or soft. You'll get fucked up. Also, also, Loki being the God of Mischief in this is kind of ambiguous. Up to your decision if he is or not.

Summary: After she's convinced him that fate wants them together for the night, Loki agrees to humor the girl by playing the role of her true love. Only after their night of passion does he realize that all he wants is to be by her side for the rest of his years. But there are a few problems: he doesn't know her name, and she's gone before he can ask.

Pairings: Loki x black!brown!reader

Warnings: Fluff (no seriously you might die of gushiness and cringe), a smidgeon of angst, and a smidgeon of smut. There are also small mentions of serpents.

Playlist here

Disclaimer: I made the header, but not the gif and pictures. I'm not sure who the pictures and borders belong too, but the gif was made by @illluminate-my-heart

If you asked him to explain how he always felt her before he saw her, he wouldn’t be able to.

It wasn’t in the sense that she was looming over him in the physical way; it was more like her presence took up whatever space she occupied and there was no corner to escape to. She didn’t even have to say a word to achieve this.

She hadn't said a word to him, when they briefly shared a space on the bus earlier that morning. Sitting opposite of him, he couldn't help but focus on the subtle hum that occupied her throat, and the gentle pats she gave her thighs. They calmed him amidst the chaos that was their city’s public transit. The soft lilt of her hum may have been what drew him in, but the dim glint in her eyes is what made him stay.

Though the melody in her tune contained delight, he knew better than to trust its persuasion. The pained far-away gaze she held as she focused on the world outside passing her by, looked almost identical to the one he saw in his mirror every morning.

When their line of sight connected for a second, it was then that he realized how pretty she was. But her stop came.

Their paths crossed yet again that same morning. Hunched over as he surveyed the sugary treats, the sweet scent he inhaled couldn't have come from the raspberry danishes he was eyeing. The smell of jasmine mixed with her body's chemistry wafted through the air on a gentle breeze as she passed him by. He managed to catch a glimpse of her through a glare on the pastry display. She tossed him a quick bewildered expression over her shoulder, before the jingle of the shop's bells reached his ears.

Opportunity passed him, before he even knew opportunity was there.

There was no humming like there was on the bus, nor any scents like the ones in the bakery that could alert him of her presence. This time it was just a feeling. Perhaps from now knowing the difference between a room with her in it, and the feelings he failed to experience in a room with her absence .

They connected immediately upon her entrance. And this time he didn't fold. Still no words were said to him, as she granted him the gifts of her scrutinising stare, from across the room.

They were among the few to occupy the bar, the night still far too young for a crowd. But even if there was one, Loki knew that he'd be able to seek her out of it.

Three times now it was that he saw her today. Three times that he saw her see him.

His heart stuttered at seeing the pretty stranger smile his way. He managed to return the gesture, before his eyes fell back down to his drink. He took a sip of it, and stood, eyes climbing back up to connect with hers, but she was gone. Her nasty habit of disappearing was not lost on him.

Falling back into his seat, he felt disappointment sinking in when he came up with nothing, after scanning the side of the room she was just on.

"Are you following me?" His head whipped towards the sound. There she now sat on the other side of him.

Face softening as excitement swept over his chest, Loki said "No."

"Then this is fate."

"I'm sorry?" The glimmer in his eyes matched the twinkle in her own. He was too busy focusing on that, to process what her mouth was saying.

"It's fate." She repeated, "This is our third and ½ time crossing paths today."

"And ½?"

"Yes! I saw you struggling to lose a cat, while I was on an afternoon jog." Embarrassment flooded his cheeks at her recount. The man was quick to adorn a snake around his neck, but cats were his bane. "You hadn't seen me, which is why I don't fully count it."

"I see." And as if just remembering, his brows threaded together as he asked, "And what's this about fate?” before following his question with a sip of bourbon, eyes never leaving hers in fear that she’d disappear again.

"Fate wants us to be in love tonight."

Loki nearly choked on his drink. "I beg your pardon?" He asked, reaching for a napkin to clean his chin.

"It's clear that this is the workings of the universe. You're probably my soulmate."

She must lack sense. He kept that thought to himself. A pretty woman she was, but her rationale was poorly developed. And it was such a shame. Still, he humoured her. "Oh? And have you always imagined uniting with your soulmate in a bar?"

"Of course not. It goes without saying that I don't believe you're actually my soulmate; but you will be excellent practice for the real thing."

"Ouch." He says, mostly feigning hurt. "Where would you meet the real one?"

Her elbow slid against the bar's ledge, as it supported the weight of her chin. "Hmm." She hummed, pretending to really think about it. "Maybe we'd accidentally bump our shopping carts in a grocery store. They’d notice that the sudden crash gave me a fright, and offer to pay for my groceries as a form of apology. Or perhaps we'd both reach for the same book on a shelf," she held a hand out in front of her as she imagined the scene, "our fingers would briefly touch and we'd see the sparks go off in each other's eyes. Mayhaps we debate about the same work of art in a museum. They will say something to contrast my own opinion, but we'll lose our words when we finally realize that we were saying the same thing all along."

She definitely lacks sense. "You have quite the active imagination." He told her, but she prattled on as if she hadn't noticed the gibe disguised compliment.

"No. No." She said, wagging her finger, "My life's love and I will meet on a park's bench. We won't notice each other at first encounter, because we'll be too busy admiring the sunset. It's like poetry the whole thing, really. Because of course the sunset has to be symbolic of something."

She hesitated, as she thought. "Ah" She finally realized, "two worlds colliding, just like my lover and I; I will be the day, and they the night. But we'll meet and create something so beautiful. Something that by normal circumstance shouldn't make sense, but just does."

She had a way with words. They flowed from her tongue so sweetly that Loki found himself invested in her fantasy. Still very skeptical, but invested. "How will you two notice each other?"

She looks at him again and tells him that "we'll both spout some quote from an old poem about the horizon. Then, our necks will snap to the direction that the words came from, And we'll notice each other for the first time."

"What will you say?" He asks, nearly on the edge of his seat.

"They will be the first to speak. They'll introduce themselves. Then they'll say it's nice to meet me. Then they'll say something cheesy like, "I've been searching for you, for a lifetime."

Now she was losing him. "And they'll know this, how? Solely by gazing into your eyes? That's a bit shallow don't you think?"

"Yes a bit, but that's how love at first sight works, Stranger." She stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in their world. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

Loki, unable to contain his distaste any longer, scoffs. "Love at first sight doesn't exist." He informs her. "What you describe is called infatuation."

"But Stranger, this is love at first sight!" The word love was very dramatic. She said it with her chest, smiling as it fluttered past her lips. Her eyes were glazed over with dreams. Dreams that almost made him gag.

"This isn't some chance encounter at a bar, or some dude I'll meet on tinder. This is the one that will make the frogs make sense. It's the one that most people never have the chance to meet. They'll be the one that was made perfectly for me. Of course our first encounter will be magical. Because I'll just know that they're the one, and they'll know I am too. It will happen at once. "

As he shakes his head, as if to free himself from her nonsensical logic, Loki says, "Okay okay. When your life's love, as you call them, turns to you and says "I've been searching for you for what feels like a lifetime”—"

“—For a lifetime." She corrects.

"What did I say?"

“For what feels like a lifetime.'" She mocked.

"The details don't matter."

"They do! ”

““I've been searching for you, for a lifetime” When they say this to you, what will you say?"

"I'll say your search ends here. Then I'll say my name. Then our lives together will finally begin."

"What? No happily ever after?" His smirk is teasing, but he means for it to be endearing.

"Save your disappointment, Stranger. We both know you don't believe in those."

Hands barely lifting from the bar as he defends his chest, Loki confesses, "Guilty. But I'm surprised that you don't. You've found your true love, at this park, watching this sunset, and you fall in love in an instant. And you're telling me that your happy ending isn't immediate."

"Yes, that's precisely what I'm telling you. That's not how love works."

"Enlighten me on how love works, Stranger." His body turned to hers, as he gave her his full attention now.

She did the same, knees falling between his as she swivelled on her stool, "Okay it's a cycle of both heartbreak and happiness, just like life is leading up to that point. Doesn't stop just because you find your partner. But I will say that if they’re the right ones they will make it easier."

He carefully studied her face as he asked, "Heartbreak?"

"Yes. They will break my heart." She said this as if it was set in stone.

"But I thought they were your true love. They're the ones that make the others make sense. They're the ones you've kissed frog after frog over, in order to find."

"And that gives them the purchase to hurt me even more. But it's through that, you experience happiness and joy. Then you can truly appreciate them. We're going to experience trials and tribulations. We'll change a thousand times over the course of being together. But we'll steadily grow with each other, never apart. I'll always choose them, and they'll always choose me, even when it feels like our love is waning. We'll remember why we fell in love in the first place. And we'll fall in love, over and over again until we die. Then hopefully I'll find them in the next lifetime to start the process over again."

It was a moment before he spoke again, as he mulled her words over. "That doesn't quite sound like the fantasy you painted earlier." It sounds quite nice.

"It's how I truly feel. My fantasy just gets me through the day."

He believed her, when her head dropped and the sound of music left her voice. It had been the second time since meeting that he found her relatable.

She had long abandoned his eyes, focusing solely on picking at the chipped yellow paint on her nails.

Loki had already decided that this fate business was all a guise. She just wanted a distraction, and he was the easiest person she thought to seek it from.

It hurt him to think like this. To imagine his purpose only being to serve another. But something about The Stranger made his heart ache. Something about The Stranger made him feel that her heart ached the same.

"If I'm to play the part of your lover" He couldn’t help but smile at the way she perked up at his words, "Then our introductions are in order. I’m—"

She all but shouted, “—No!"

"No?"

"Don't tell me your name! It’ll ruin the magic. I want you to be exactly who I think you to be in my head."

"And something as simple as a name could ruin that?"

"No, I guess. Not necessarily. But names form attachments. They encourage hope. They invite what-if's. Years from now when I look across the table at another, finding myself content, I will think of you, Tom—because you just look like a Tom," she rambled that last bit to herself, " and wonder if you could have made me happier."

"You have quite the active imagination, Stranger." He repeated once more.

“I heard you the first time! I just mean to say that when I recall this memory decades from now...I only want it to be a good one. And yes, I may long for this night and you, just the same as I would if I knew your name. But if you give me that name Dearest Stranger, I'll have no choice but to seek you out after it all ends."

"Fair enough, I suppose." He agreed, not thinking very much of her conditions. "Then what should I call you? I very well cannot go on calling you, Stranger."

"What would you call your life's love?"

"What would you want me to call them?"

"You can call me Mrs. Darcy."

"You will never hear me utter those words."

Her laugh was airy and light as it escaped her. He felt himself growing warm at the sound. "It was worth a try." She confessed. "Call me beautiful. My Flower. Darling.. I don't know, call me whatever the hell fits in the moment."

"Very well then, Darling." He returned a flirty grin that matched her coy one, "And what will you call me?"

"Must I do all of the work, Stranger?" She had taken the liberty to take a sip of his drink.

"This is your idea, afterall." He stated, eyes following her movements.

"Can I call you...My Love?" She asked, her eyes flitting up to meet his.

Dangerously fluid it was, the way the words rolled off her tongue. His skin all of a sudden felt like it didn't quite fit right, as it prickled and grew warm; and he was suddenly very aware of every strand of hair on his head, as they gently poked at his scalp. "If you wish." He managed, voice coming out a lot lower, a lot shakier than he intended. But if Darling noticed, she didn't let on to the fact.

Clearing his throat, he finally began again, "So. We've now fallen in love. We've now introduced ourselves to each other. Where do our lives begin from here?"

"I'm glad you asked!"

"Okay." Loki started, as he scanned his surroundings slowly. "My curiosity is piqued. What could we possibly be doing here?"

Here, was a small store a few minutes walking distance away from the bar. Not quite small enough to be considered a convenience store, but entirely too small to compare the size to that of a chain like Walmart or even a Whole Foods Market.

"Well I have to prove that you're my soulmate."

"What?" He feigned, grasping his chest, as if to say I do beg your pardon in a posh British way. "I thought you already fell in love with me."

"I did. But see my love, I fall very easily. I need to know if this is true love, or my heart getting me into more trouble."

"And how does this farmer's market come into play? Surely you cannot mean to recreate your little trolley experiment? It will not be authentic." He informed her, as she grabbed a cart.

"No, I have something else in mind." She told him, pulling it over to him. "Just do your shopping as normal."

And though he sighed, he did as she wished. But what he didn't expect was for her to remain glued to his side while he caroused back and forth between the aisles, filling his cart with a week's worth of groceries. It felt odd to have someone breathing down your neck while you shopped, grimacing and sneering at some of the things you enjoyed eating. Seriously, what the hell was her issue? Why was she glaring at his avocados?

Loki slowly picked up a cluster of green onions glancing at her from the side, before finally asking, “Do you not like anything I pick?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You keep scowling at my groceries!”

And then she smiled a smile so big, he would have thought it was adorable if he didn’t find it so terrifying. “I’m just fucking with you.”

He found her odd.

“Shouldn’t we be getting to know each other?” She asked, breaking his thoughts.

And he replied, “What would you like to know?”

“Got any siblings? DUI’s? Ooo what’s your favourite colour?”

“Two siblings, no DUI”s, and green.” Loki told her, knocking a box of penne pasta into the buggy.

A few seconds of silence went by before she asked, “Well aren’t you gonna ask me what my favourite colour is?”

“It’s obviously—” The next aisle over, a glass shattered causing a lady to yell out “Clean up on Aisle three”, at the same time that Loki was guessing The Stranger’s favourite colour. But she heard him all the same.

“How’d you know that?” She asked, wearing her confusion.

“Your purse, phone case, and anklet is that color. Also one of your fingernails, and the scrunchie you had on your wrist this morning. And finally you gravitate to that colour packaging on every aisle.” He absentmindedly confessed, as he examined a tiny jar of bay leaves.

“Oh.” She said, her brows furrowing as she averted her gaze.

His eyes widened as he realized people don’t normally pay that much attention to others. At least they don’t call it out.. “I’m sorry. That must seem so odd. It’s just that I'm very observant sometimes.”

“No, it's fine! It’s just, you ruined my pickup line, that's all.”

“My apologies. Go on, say it.”

“No, it's too late. The moment has passed.”

“Please! Humor me.” Please distract me from my embarrassment.

“Okay.” She hesitantly started. “...I was gonna say that my favourite color is whatever color your eyes are at the moment. So...it’d be emerald right now. But earlier in the bar I’d have said cyan. And on the bus they were seafoam green. Because it depends on the light, and what you’re wearing.”

And then it was his turn to be flustered. He cleared his throat and said, “Sorry for ruining your moment.”

“No big deal.” She informed him, pursing her lips and letting silence finally befall them.

Loki’s cheeks threatened to deepen in shade. Apparently the stranger had been watching him, no, was studying him, too. Long enough to decide on the shade of green his eyes were throughout different moments of the day. She wasn’t as out of touch or in the clouds as he previously thought.

He found her oddly charming.

It stayed quiet for the remainder of his shopping.

“I’m finished.” He finally stated, after tossing the last item in. It didn't take long to shop, since the market's selection wasn't a lot to choose from.

He tried to see what she saw as she surveyed the cart's contents, but all he came up with was how unhealthy organic wheat thins really were. “You’re finished?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“But where are your guilty pleasures?"

He pointed to them, wearing a face as if to question her sanity, "Can you not see the grapes and nuts?" They were at the forefront of the cart, as visible as day. She saw him put them in!

"You call these sweets?"

"Nature's candy. Plus the other stuff is just as good as poisonous. I'd never put it in my body"

"You were at a bakery this morning!" She cried, questioning his sanity as well.

"I just wanted to admire the rows of pastries. I like the many colors and textures."

"So you go in there to look and not buy?"

"We're not on that! What does my grocery list tell you?"

She touched reality again and confessed "I was actually thinking about that as you were doing your shopping. You see my logic was that if you had a lot of sugary items in your cart, you were a secretly sweet person. Salty: mean. Bland: boring. Savoury: sexy. You get the idea? But then I thought that none of that made sense, so we're at a loss and this was a bust."

"Really? And you couldn't have told me that sooner? I’m not in need of any of this, I’ve already done my shopping for the week." Loki looked back down at his cart, and stood awkwardly for a moment before he decided to start putting the items back.

"Wait? You're gonna put all of this back."

"Wouldn't not doing so make a service worker's job harder?” He asked, shoving his tomato paste back into its place. “My laziness will not contribute to that. I'm not a mon—“ He stopped mid-word when he noticed she had trouble containing a mischievous smirk. “Do not tell me that was your little test."

"Then I will tell you that you passed it."

Loki rolled his eyes at himself for falling for it, but continued reshelving his groceries. He halted, and so did she when their attention was called to a scene playing out in front of them. A stockier gentlemen, followed by a skinny shorter one whirred passed them to the front of the store, bits of their heated discussion carrying through the air.

"It's only two more hours until we close. You're seriously going to leave me here with all of this? Come on Jace, I need you. Who's going to man the registers and do restocks in between customers while I work on schedules?"

"I'm sorry Larry. I've already been here for twelve hours. I'm exhausted, and my babysitter has school in the—“

“—You think I don't have it hard. I have to be right back here, bright and early to unload a truck. Not to mention the owner is stopping by at 11. Dude, I'm all alone here. Everyone else has bailed on me"

"I wonder why." Loki heard the stranger mutter under her breath.

"I can't stay, I'm sorry."

"If you leave, I'll have no choice but to fire you."

His brows furrowed as he thought, Seriously, Larry?

"Seriously Larry?” "Are you serious Larry?!" The Stranger whispered at the same time that Jace cried.

"I wasn't even supposed to come in today! I missed my daughter's birthday last week to be here. That's how much I need the money."

"You're leaving me with no choice man. Make your decision."

And as he did this, the stranger turned back to Loki, face contorted in disgust as if to say Can you believe this shit? Clearly this was bothering her too.

"Fuck this." Jace finally said.

Loki watched his clammy fingers fumbling to find the magnet on his shirt, before ripping it off and placing it on the conveyor belt. He barely gave the automatic doors enough time to open, before he was storming out of them.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked The Stranger, when her feet began to carry her into view.

"I'll be back." She told him, just before she approached the dick. "Larry." He heard her state, as if she personally knew the man. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, not that it was very well concealed in the first place, but that's such a bullshit reason to fire someone."

"Ma'am, this isn't any of your concern."

"It became my concern, when you broadcasted it for all to see."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have full right to fire that employee. He was 20 minutes late this morning, and was a no-call no-show once since he started working here two years ago."

"Two years? He's been here for two years and was a no-call no-show, once? Did he give you a reason? I'm sure his reason for being late this morning was because he wasn't even on the schedule today."

Loki listened to Larry say nothing back to her retort.

"God forbid he has a life going on outside of this place! He can't dedicate himself entirely to this store. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with people who do that, but it seems that even you haven't. Seeing as you were about to pin all of the work you're supposed to do onto him, while you went to perform the "oh-so-tedious" task of creating a schedule safely tucked in the back, conveniently away from all of the chaos."

Her silver tongue, whipped through the air so fast, Loki imagined how greedy her lungs were right now.

Larry ignored her, turning his back as he straightened the end-caps behind his register. "He missed his daughter's birthday, for fucksake Larry!"

"Are you going to buy something?" He asked.

"You should feel bad!" She countered.

"I don't. And I also don't have to take this. Get out."

"What?"

"Are you hard of hearing? Leave. You're not welcome here." He could tell The Stranger didn't like that. Not that he did eith—

"Fine!" She shouted, then Loki saw an entire boxful of snickers fly into the air like confetti. "I would say have Jace clean this up, but it looks like this mess is all for you."

He chuckled to himself, head tilting to the side as he surveyed the spectacle transpiring before him. Oh no. She's adorable.

When Larry began personally escorting her out, after she grabbed another handful of candy, (this time kinder joy eggs) and launched them into the air as hard as she could, Loki's feet began moving on their own.

"Leave—" CRASH!

He saw their shoulders violently shoot upwards, heads snapping to the direction of where the sound came from, as their eyes landed on the mess that had just spawned onto the ground beside them. Cereal boxes exploded from the weight landing on them. Shards of shattered glass fusing with pickles, tomato sauce, peanut butter slowly decorating the floor. Marbles of candy clicking and rolling everywhere, landing near their feet. There was a plethora of different messes going on right now. Newly bruised bananas, crushed bread, spilled milk—oh no Larry was about to cry.

Then they turned their heads to the opposite direction of the mess, in search of the cause. Just in time to see Loki appearing from behind a few remaining shelves on the other side, hands gripping his cart. Bewildered look of expression plastered on his face. His brows were furrowed, and his lips folded in on each other as if to be in casual reflection, instead of horror over the disaster before him.

"Clean up on aisle— one, two," he whispered the numbers to himself before he told Larry,, "all of them."

“Aren’t you the one who didn’t want to make a service worker’s job harder? My friend, I'm afraid you just made his job hell!” She teased.

"I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't behaving like such an ass. Also, his grip on your arm, even I wouldn't grab a lady like that."

She ignored him, eyes lighting up as she exclaimed, ”Gosh I've never seen someone's face turn so red! He looked like an angry red cock!"

He ignored her, eyes clouding over as he sighed, “They had these fascinating little shrink-wrapped rice balls with seaweed faces. I've not seen them anywhere else." He said solemnly, realising that he’d probably never see them again.

"Clean up on aisle...all of them" she said in the best impression she could of him. "That was simply brilliant!" She beamed, grasping his sleeve as they strolled the strip of stores. He could just barely contain the curl of his lip at the compliment. Then when the weight of what he just did settled in, his smile diminished completely.

"I think I may have been rash. Maybe Larry didn't deserve that. Not to mention I probably just made a lot of innocent people suffer, just to piss off one person. You don’t know me, but this isn’t unlike me. I’ve tried to change recently, but I just made things worse. Just like I always do.”

It was then that the girl stopped joking and finally acknowledged his words. She said this when she thought them over carefully:

"I won't tell you to not show remorse for your actions; in fact you should, it means you're at least half-way decent. But I will say you're not all bad. Yes, the store owner will probably lose a pretty penny repairing the damages and hiring someone to clean it up. But at least when Jace, and the other people who walked out on Larry hear about it tomorrow, it will bring a smile to their faces. You did something they wished they could. And most importantly, you defended me.” She joked, but when Loki didn’t laugh, she kept going.

“Maybe Larry didn't deserve that. But we know at least a small part of him did. And that small part will think twice in the future before he behaves like an ass. Who knows if he even gets fired…well he will unless he comes up with a good excuse on why everyone quit on him—I’m getting off topic! This doesn't mean you should smash the windows of every person who slightly does you wrong. No never that. But your intent was good. And you meant good. And though your consequences weren’t all good, some of it was. So you take care with how you speak of yourself.”

“When I was a bad person I thought I was good. I thought that the things I did were good. So the whole intent over consequences philosophy doesn’t hold weight.”

“Did you really think you were doing the right things when you were a “bad” person?”

Loki had to really think about that. Sure, maybe he had to lie to himself a little and say that him being selfish was for the greater good, but he knew it really wasn’t.

“I’m not saying consequences don’t matter. They do. But sometimes we do good things that turn out to have bad consequences. Sometimes bad things we do, turn out good for everyone else. The world isn’t all black and white. So yes you did a bad thing back there. But you were an ass to an ass who was an ass to everyone else around him. And if he get’s fired tomorrow, there’s a chance that the one who replaces him won’t be an ass!”

“Okay fine! I suppose that makes me feel a little better.” It actually made him feel a lot better, but he wasn’t gonna just tell her that. ”It’s really a shame though." He expressed, after a moment of comfortable silence. "They were much closer to my apartment than Harris Teeters."

"When he gets fired in the morning, we—you'll be able to go back." She promised him. Loki didn't have much time to focus on her correction, because they pulled to a stop as she said, "We're here!"

It was a storefront nestled away in between a tea cafe and floral shop.

The Nook was sprawled across the glass in white letters, and the two words were separated by dark green double doors. A forest green awning, that matched the entrance, sheltered the warm yellow light that the shop emitted; and red and yellow potted flowers, that Loki imagined came from next door, were placed all around the store.

"You do like to read, don't you?" she asked, pulling him into the quaint little place.

"There's hardly a moment in my free time where there isn't a book in my hand."

"Good. I'm going to figure out which one is your favorite." She told him, spinning on her soles as she capered her way over to the non-fiction section, Loki in tow behind her.

Immediately she pulled out a self-help book titled, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. "It's this one isn't it?" A small smile pulled at her lips, as glee filled her eyes.

"No." He simply stated. He had read the book. But it wasn't his favourite...that might have been in part to it not working.

"I know it's this. You've just barely passed for human, and were it not for your very convincing fleshy vessel, I'd think you were an alien of some sorts." A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson was in her hands. "Why not read a book that sums up all of human knowledge?"

Air passed through his nose, and a grin glued itself to his face, but again he said no. But she was damn good at figuring out the books he had read so far.

She traveled to the medical section, while Loki kept a small distance and occupied himself with a potential book of interest. He could hear her dropping books and whispering "I'm sorry’s" to those she disturbed during her intense search.

Coming back before he knew it, she placed Atlas of Human Anatomy, by Frank H. Netter, on top of the book in his hand. That same playful expression on her face, as he read the title. "And again, I call back my argument about you being alien. This time, with the fact that you study our movements carefully to mimic how you think humans behave."

"Au contraire, my dear. I happen to be very well-versed in anatomy." He told her, eyes leaving their spot from the cover, to read her instead. "On anatomy, below anatomy, behind anatomy, one could say I'm an expert."

This time a mischievous smirk grew on his face, as he watched her roll her eyes and try to suppress her own grin.

Instead of acknowledging his quip though, the girl stole the book from his hands to replace it back into its home, before spinning off again. "Do you enjoy the classics, my love?" She said over her shoulders as she began walking away.

He quickly put the book in his hands down, and followed her when she showed no sign of slowing. "Classics, the criminally undervalued, and all those in between."

Going to the very small classics section that was settled in the back of the store, she pulled every classic she could think of him enjoying. "You just look like you've stepped out of an Edgar Allan Poe tale." She told him, caressing the spines of books as she floated past the shelves. "Tell me my love," She suddenly stopped, and turned to him, peering at him through a hole on the other side of the bookcase. "Is there a beating heart, thumping beneath your floorboards?"

"The only heart I wish to possess is your own, my darling." He confessed. And after a beat, she broke out into giggles.

"I can imagine that sounded much better in your head." She told him, as he rejoined her on the side she stood on.

"Can you fault me for trying?"

"I can only commend you for it. At least you made me laugh."

That is enough.

He watched her, and concluded that she was really trying hard with her guesses this time. Thumb caressing the bottom of her chin, she turned back and forth between the columns as she thought carefully about the next title she was to pull. Finally, nimble fingers landed on Dracula by Bram Stoker.

"Might I ask, why all of your suggestions feature a male author?"

"Because like them, you were written by a man."

Her back, and the backs of her arms, pressed gently against the shelves, as he advanced towards her. He could still make out that faint scent of jasmine—no, they were orchids and berries that he smelled before, on her neck. Instead of hums however, a sharp inhale was the sound that escaped her. Ending her torture, though it would begin his own, he reached a hand over her head, and passed her his favorite book, before ridding himself of closeness to her.

"What does this say about me?" He asked. And though he wasn't as close, the small aisle still deemed him very close, which he decided he liked.

He didn't miss the slow decline of her collarbone, as her breathing steadied. How could he? The apex of her neck glistened due to her dewy skin. It was delicious. Looking down, he could almost see her trying to overcome her fluster as she stammered the title aloud. "Frank—Frankenstein."

"Yes. And it was written by a woman. Just like me."

It didn't take long for her to find her wit again. She straightened herself out and stated, "This book, and that statement, tells me you have daddy issues."

His mouth and eyebrows quirked as he shrugged and said ”You're not wr—"

“—And you have some issues with self-acceptance. You often feel like a social pariah. Unworthy of love. And like me, you also want to find—or in Frankenstein's monster's case, create your other half. Only to lose hope when you feel you'll never have them."

Loki didn’t like that. Didn’t like that she could read him without a stutter, based on a fucking book. ”And what of you, darling? Who is your favorite author?” He asked her, tone dry.

"I'm trying to prove if you're my soulmate, not the other way around."

"If I have to submit myself to your games, it's only fair that you participate in them as well."

"Fine. Take your time guess—."

“—In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." Loki took a step closer and asked, "Or would you prefer the movie's adaptation?...you have bewitched me body and soul. And I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."

And then a part of him was about to tell her that her favorite book made her predictable which rendered her painfully ordinary just to hurt her pride like she had hurt his. But when she asked, "You've memorized them?" His words fell short. She looked at him as if he was the most interesting book in the entire store. Amazed by his intelligence. By him.

He recomposed himself.

"I'm partial to Austen. I even partake in my fair share of Christie, and I absolutely devour the words of Angelou." He began to quote Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" when the girl's silence answered him, carefully selecting an excerpt from the poem that he thought suited her well.

"Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,

They say they still can't see.

I say,"

"It's in the arch of my back," His fingers trailed the arch in her back.

"The sun of my smile," He said, other hand going to frame her chin.

"The ride of my breasts," That same hand, fell down her chest, just short of her breasts

"The grace of your style." He said, bending the words of the poem, as it "suddenly" became about her.

"You're a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman, that's—"

“—Not the words of the poem." She said, finally breaking herself free of his spell. "And I'm not surprised you know I like Austen: I did ask you to call me Mrs. Darcy earlier this evening."

"The points do not stem from guessing your favorite author correctly. Should I not be rewarded from listening and remembering small details about you?"

"Nope. That wasn't the point of the game. You've just proved to have an excellent memory so remembering one little detail that I said earlier in the evening is like child's play to you.” She rushed out, before he could even blink

Then after slipping from beneath his cage she said, ”And besides, I do love Pride and Prejudice. But it is not my favorite book: so since I couldn't guess yours, and you couldn't guess mine, let's call this a draw." And he watched, stunned, as she bounded the corner. It wasn’t long before he heard a gust of wind entering the store, and the sound of the door clanking shut behind it.

A smile found his lips: he admired her cheekiness. Still, he was a sore loser.

He found her, waiting for him outside of the shop. He took long strides towards her telling her this, "Unless you provide your favorite book, I will take that win."

But when she didn't respond, he turned his attention to what she was focusing on, instead.

Just across the street, through the window of a bridal boutique, he could see a bride-to-be adorned in a dress.

Red fiery hair, and alabaster skin, she was tall, and thin, and beautiful. His darling was beguiled by her. Her eyes glossy with...tears?

Did she know her? Did she not? Was she her old lover's new dame? Was she herself, the old lover? He couldn't tell. All that he knew was that his darling was shattered by the sight of her.

He panicked. All the light, all the spark she had, not one minute ago, was gone.

He encased her hand in his own. "Look!" He beamed, trying his hardest to emanate the happiness she was so good at imitating. "An authentic looking diner. I've never experienced one of those. Would you mind if we took a detour in our plans?"

She hadn't moved. Eyes focused on the dazzling beauty from across the street. Her expression was the complete opposite of his darling's: a smile reached her ears, white teeth visible from even their position. She did a sashay for her company, swaying to and fro in the glittery gown as her delight lit up the street there were on.

His Darling, wasn't going to move. Not on her own.

Loki switched places with her to shield her from both oncoming traffic, and the view of the bride, as he walked her further down the strip, not stopping until they were met with the neon lights of the diner.

When he was done fiddling with their table's jukebox, he turned to her and asked, "Which do you prefer: Strawberry or Vanilla?" but when she said nothing, he continued his rambling "They even have a concoction made of chocolate and boysenberry...what in—Banana pudd—peach cobbler milkshake?!" He was disgusted. Still he could garner no reaction from her.

She sulked on her side of the booth, shoulders slumped, hands folded in her lap...eyes holding a dim glint, as all the remaining bit of light slowly leaked from them.

He peered across the table at her. He didn't know where to start. Obviously, his strategy of deflecting was not working. His darling was far too encapsulated by her own thoughts. Lost to the world.

The whole ordeal made him really consider how he had come to know her. He didn't know her. He didn't know why the bride had shaken her so. What he did know, however, was that he didn't like to see her this way. Didn't like whoever the bride was, for doing this to her.

“Darling…” His hand inched towards hers, holding it like he would an injured dove. “Please say something.”

He had just met her. Had his first conversation with her, not three hours ago. Why did his heart ache to see her like this?

"You know," she started, ignoring the way Loki's attention lit up at her voice; it had been about thirty minutes since she last spoke a word to him. "I don't usually entertain the idea of a soulmate. I know that the world doesn't work like that. I know that better than anyone." She confessed.

“But when I saw you more than once today, I thought it could be a nice idea. I thought that for a second, by choosing a stranger that I'd have no strings attached to by the morning, I could experience what it felt like to be loved without the consequences that the real thing brings. I don't want to be soured by who you really are- or no, rather who I turn you into." She corrected.

“I just want one person, who I can paint perfection onto. Who will remember me as perfect too. I need someone who won't have the chance to ignite regret within me."

Who you really are. He tried not to focus on that jab, especially after she caught it herself. But Loki knew she was wrong to correct herself.

And did she always blame herself for the ruins of her past? Did she have the right to? Were they more alike than he thought?

When he finally did speak, after several beats of mulling her words over, it wasn't to address the last part of her confession. Instead he said, "I believe soulmates exist."

"Stranger—"

“—I do. I just think that you have to work for them, and most people are not willing to do so. Most people settle for the first person that they can tolerate out of fear of being alone, and their fear is what makes it harder for the rest of us to find our beloved. It's because of this that, and to steal your words from earlier, most never have the chance to meet their destined."

And then he improvised, further selling the idea of being her lover, ”But we're the lucky ones, my darling. We've found ours."

She blinked away the tears, and offered a weak smile. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better, Stranger—"

"I wasn't trying to make you feel better...that's not what I'd do to make you feel better."

As the piano notes of Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face finally faded, the sound of a celtic fiddles filled the diner's air to replace it. "Ah. Just in time." Loki sighed in relief, turning the music on the jukebox up, then standing from his seat in the booth. With an outstretched hand beckoning towards her, he stood before her expectantly.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, turning her head from side to side, as people began to stare at the now standing, cloaked in black stranger.

"Dance with me."

"Sit down!" She begged him, reaching from his arm, but he snatched it away before she could. "This place is full of people!"

"No it's not." He said after looking around to try to see what she saw. "It's just you and I."

And after a moment of eyeing him like he was mad, she said "No—"

—♪Come on Eileen ♪ "Come on Eileen!" He belted alongside the singer, in the most obnoxiously terrible voice he could muster. She cowered at the call of his strangled bird cry. Cringed at the sight of his hip and body rolls. Winced at the—

♪Come on Eileen♪ "Come on Eileen!" He howled again, but again she hissed no. Loki guessed that he would have to dance by himself.

♪Poor old Johnny Ray

Sounded sad upon the radio

Moved a million hearts in mono

Our mothers cried

Sang along, who'd blame them? ♪ He waved his arms and hands violently, his body contorting into the most ridiculous positions he could display.

♪You're grown (you're grown up)

So grown (so grown up)

Now I must say more than ever

(Come on Eileen)♪ Loki promenade along the walkway, stealing table seven's ketchup bottle to fashion it into a microphone as he cried out,

♪Toora loora toora loo rye ay♪ like his life depended on it,

♪And we can sing just like our fathers♪ His hips thrusted in rhythm to the beat of the song.

♪Come on Eileen, (oh I swear) what he means

At this moment, you mean everything

You in that dress, my thoughts I confess

Verge on dirty, ah, come on Eileen♪ He had stolen a dance from the more than willing waitress as she was passing by him.

♪Come on Eileen♪ He twirled, and spun her about the aisles, dipping her before abandoning her in an empty booth.

♪These people round here♪ In a break from his dancing, he stole a fry from an unsuspecting man. Had he seen the gesture, Loki was sure he would have tried to pummel him, so he scurried away before he could notice.

Wear beatdown eyes sunk in smoke dried face

So resigned to what their fate is

But not us (no never)

No not us (no never)

We are far too young and clever

♪Toora loora, toora loo rye ay♪ Loki had found another partner: an older man to lasso.

♪ Eileen, I'll hum this tune forever

Come on Eileen, oh I swear (what he means)

Ah come on let's take off everything♪ They paraded around the room, seducing the female and male patrons with their terrible moves.

Pretty red dress, Eileen, tell him yes

Ah come on let's, ah, come on Eileen

That pretty red dress, Eileen, tell him yes.♪ The older gent held out as long as he could, dancing with Loki until his hips gave out.

Ah, come on let's, ah come on Eileen, please♪ The tempo declined. He finally made it back to the part of the room his darling sat on. Now on his knees, the turn of the chorus in tow, he asked his Eileen, once more for a dance.

♪Come on Eileen, too loo rye ay

Come on Eileen, too loo rye ay♪ And though she looked as if she was about to decline, she smiled and slowly stood to her feet.

♪Now you have grown, and now you have shown

Oh, Eileen♪ Her slow rise, encouraged Loki's own as he stood to his feet as well.

Said♪ Turning, and swaying her hips against his, the people that were previously surrounding them disappeared.

Come on Eileen, too loo rye ay (show how you feel) ♪ "show how you feel" he sang in her ear, as their dancing picked up with the music.

Come on Eileen, too loo rye ay

Now I must say more than ever♪ They span around in circles, dizzying themselves.

Things round here change

♪I said, toora loora, toora loo rye ay ♪ And as the fiddles swelled, and the beat picked up again, Loki, jumped onto a table, and reached for her ha—

"Ow, ow, ow—" He winced, as she nursed the cut above his eyebrow.

"You're a grown man. You should've known that the weight of that table couldn't support you."

"I was too in the moment to think rationally—Ow!" He cried, squeezing her hand.

"This is a record for the amount of places I've been kicked out of in one night."

He sadly begged, "Please accept my apology."

"Apology? That was hilarious, my love!" She beamed at him, as she finished up her work on his bruise, tossing the bloody tissue in a nearby bin.

He didn't even try to contain his smile, upon hearing her endearment for him, return. "So I've succeeded in lifting your spirits?"

"Yes. And thank you for it."

"Never thank me for doing something that I'm supposed to do. As your soulmate, your happiness is my own."

"Still" She began, eyes drifting towards the now empty boutique behind her. "I'm sorry for being so melodramatic."

Loki gently caught her chin, and reeled it back to focus on him instead. "Be as dramatic as you wish. I'm quite the drama queen myself." And laughed, when she began to.

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked a few moments later, dropping her hand into the water beside them. They were sitting on a fountain that was in the center of all of the places they had been to.

"A few times." He answered. Not even surprised by the question. It was expected. As whimsical as she was, she was also a tad predictable. "I'm not like you, in that I don't fall easily. But when I am smitten with someone, I'm quite pitiful."

"Yea?" Her hand slinked from side to side creating ripples in the waves. "What kind of person could make you pitiful?"

The same kind that you are...where did that come from? "Ask the few men and women that have."

"I would love to. Do they all have something in common?"

"Yes, in one way or another. I suppose I do have a type."

"Do I have anything in common with them?"

No. "No."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed, as she bought her hands up, and pushed herself off of the fountain. She began walking off, Loki following behind.

"If given a proper chance, could you see yourself falling in love with me?" she asked, after an uncomfortable beat of silence.

Yes. "If I knew more of you, maybe." I want to know more of you. Then he reasked her question, "Could you see yourself falling in love with me?"

"Absolutely. Next question."

What about me makes her say absolutely? "What about me makes you say “'absolutely'?"

"Tall, brooding, handsome, raven-haired stranger, who shows no interest in anyone or anything around him? I'm always attracted to people who don't want me."

Who says I don't want you? "Well beyond the physical there's not much to want of me."

"There's plenty."

"Like?"

"You're standing here with me now. Why?"

"Give yourself credit, you make a convincing argument."

"That's not it. You made the decision on your own."

"I thought you were pretty. Maybe I'm doing this, because I thought it would better my chances of taking you home tonight."

Scoffing, she said, "S'not that either. Stop pussy footing around the real answer, and just admit it."

"Fine. I thought you looked sad."

"You did?" She stopped to survey him for a moment, before continuing the walk. "So you care about other people than yourself...and he says what's to like?"

"Please. I call back to the fact that you're pretty."

"Is Jace also pretty?"

"Didn't do it for Jace, again that was for you."

"You had a cartful of groceries that you were more than willing to put up for people you didn't know. Was that for me too?"

"Maybe it was." She looked at him exasperatedly. "Okay. It was no benefit to me to just leave it there ."

"It was an inconvenience to put them all up. Most people would have left it."

"Why does it fascinate you, so? The task took little to no effort to perform. It was miniscule."

"That's just my point. It was very small but you did it. It wouldn't have made much of a difference to leave it there, but it would have made you feel guilty. There's no question that bigger things that could have a lasting effect on those around you, would harm your conscience."

"Okay. But my good intent completely erased itself, when I destroyed the store."

"We've been over this, before. No it hasn't. At least not completely. And why are you trying to convince me that you're not good?"

"Because, I'm not good. That’s a fact. I have the past to prove it.” He looked at her indignantly. He hoped that was the end of it, but he underestimated how woefully insufferable and detrimentally stubborn she could be.

"Are you proud of your past?"

"No?"

"Do you regret it?"

"Yes."

"Have you changed?"

"Ye—"

"And you want to do better?"

"Again yes. But no amount of doing "better" will undo all of the bad."

"You're right...but that doesn't mean you can't still be good now. It's not too late to fix your mistakes."

"I can't fix everything."

"It's amazing that you even want to. We can never fix everything. What matters is that you try." And then she furthered, before he could speak. "And so you're a good person who's capable of change. You're smart. You're attentive and you're not afraid of making a complete ass of yourself to make those around you feel better. And I can imagine had I been given the time, I'd have so much more to say. So what's not to fall in love with?"

Loki fixed his lips to argue with her again, but closed them shut when he realized she'd just argue him into silence. A feat that couldn't be achieved by many.

He knew of some of these things himself, what she was saying made sense...he'd just never heard someone else besides himself say it. Never even heard himself say those things the way she did. And another difference between him and her, is that she didn't have to convince herself that he was good. She just knew it.

She was dangerous, if she could make him feel things this fast.

"Why've you never succeeded in love?" Loki thought to ask, after moments of walking in silence.

Her movement slowed just a little as she hesitantly replied "I was always too much." Then she asked, "And you?"

"I was never enough."

She stopped them both in their tracks, turned to him, and sported the biggest smile that he would have found terrifying, if it wasn't so adorable. "You realize we're perfect for each other right?" She asked, grasping both of his hands in hers.

He shook his head and smirked, about to wave off the declaration, but had no time to comment.

"I'm going to tell you what your future lover should" Her tone grew serious, as did her grip. "You will always be more than enough."

And as her words sank in, and he stared back down at her eyes , his hands reflexively squeezed hers tighter as he replied, "And I could never have my fill of you."

He didn't know how long he stood there, holding her hands, smiling, and gazing at her. But however long it was, it couldn't have been long enough.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're here?"

"It's fine, lover. Don't worry too much."

"What are we doing here? What kind of museum is this? Do you mean to replicate your other—"

“—You ask a lot of questions. Just take a gander around the room. I want to watch how you interact with the art." And with that, she walked off and did the same.

Loki tried to follow her example. He truly did. But of all the priceless vases, sculptures, and paintings that tried to seduce him, it could never hold his attention.

She was already the captor of that.

She could never stray too far, without him closing off the distance.

And it seemed she knew it too. Seemed she struggled to(o). He knew she tried her hardest to focus on the creative expressions before them, but her eyes would drift to him, studying him when she felt he wasn't looking...but he was always looking. He was always gazing.

If she was clumsy in nature, he wouldn't have noticed it, because never did Loki think a creature could move so gracefully.

He imagined that if she sang, whatever tune it could be, would be beautiful. Didn't matter if her voice was terrible, he would think it was the prettiest sound.

Her eyes were the most magnificent shade in their color. Of all the colors if he was concerned.

Her measurements were the perfect combination. Just right.

Her height was right for his. Just perfect.

But he supposed that it didn't matter what she looked like. What he liked was her.

Seemed every piece he found her in front of, intrigued him too. Seemed every room she pranced to, he needed to explore as well.

It felt like she was dancing around the room, practically floating from piece to piece, as Loki danced with her, chased after her.

She was currently studying a Krisi Malakoff installation, crouching as she admired the subtle details in the paper figurines.

Then she glided to a Kara Walker, enamoured by the haunting silhouettes and their gothic elements.

The Kumi Yamashita shadows were what really fascinated her however. Loki knew this, because of how her eyes lit up at the illusions.

When she was done with her fill of art, she silently led him to a room where he later found she would perform another test.

As she turned to him, catching him mid-gaze, she said, "Pick one." In reference to the paintings on the wall.

There were only two, so it wouldn't take a lot of brainpower to decide which one he liked. But he knew it mattered to her which one he chose.

One was of a woman castrating a man with the help of another assisting her. The other was of a girl shrouded in pearls, her skin almost transparent as it contrasted with the jewels.

"I'm not the biggest fan of gore. I think if you're going to kill someone it should be clean and efficient." He said, not thinking of whether or not his answer would shock her. "But I know if I say I dislike this one, you'll accuse me of being scared of women who exact revenge on men who have wronged them—which I'm not by the way, since the girl performing the crime is a victim of assault. And if I say I do like this one," He said in reference to the lady in pearls. "I'm a misogynist since the woman in the painting represents the same thing her pearls do: an object, to be admired and sought after. It seems I'm destined to fail either way, because one choice goes against my true feelings, and the other goes against yours…"

"You have to choose one."

"Well then the answer is obvious. I'll choose the third work of art in the room, which is you."

She burst out into laughter, before saying, "That was so cheesy!"

“Fine. I lied: I’m a huge fan of gore. And the girl in the painting is justified, so I’ll choose that one. However, my first answer, is that not what your lover would say?"

"No. They'd choose us."

It was his turn to laugh now. "And exactly how is your answer, not worse than mine?."

"I figure if you get to be cheesy, so do I"

The art was long forgotten, and the other was the only thing they wanted to admire.

"Do you know what I find odd?"

"What do you find odd, my love?"

"All night, we have been playing the role of hopelessly in love romantics, yet we have not yet kissed each other."

"How bizarre?”

"Very bizarre, actually.” He said, closing the distance once more. "How do you suppose we fix that?" He whispered.

"If you want to kiss me you should have just said so." She dared.

A fond smile painted his lips, as he towered over her, and pulled her in.

He watched her close her eyes. Inviting his touch. Falling into his hand, as his palm caressed the side of her face, and his fingers on bits of her neck. He bowed his head, and leaned in.

But before he could place his lips onto hers, "Hey! What the hell are you doing in here?"

And like a deer caught in headlights—or flashlights, Loki stared at the beam of whatever light in horror.

She grabbed his hand, and tugged him along violently, as they sprinted further into the gallery. Ducking and weaving past art that wasn't on display yet, they pushed until they reached the back of the building.

Stumbling through the emergency exit, they kept running until they were far enough from the gallery to take a break.

Swallowing gulpfulls of air, hands resting on his knees, Loki breathed "I thought...I thought you said you knew the curator?"

"Well I didn't say he knew me." She exhaled, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she too struggled to breathe.

Loki, brows now furrowed, looked at her as if she was mad...but then he started to laugh. It began small, starting in his throat, before he felt it in his chest, then down to his stomach. A deep hearty vibration shook through his whole body, as he remained doubled over in glee. And once he started, so did she.

Their sounds echoed through the night, bringing on a mass of light through the shine of their teeth, and the blissful energy they radiated.

Eventually he stopped and straightened himself out. He looked over at her, this time not even bothering to hide his ogle.

"You're amazing." He confessed. "You're simply amazing."

Then he closed in on her, barely giving her time to stand straight, and took the kiss he didn't get the chance to have earlier.

Lips pressed against hers, so softly, it barely constituted a touch. But then his chaste embrace escalated, when his tongue swiped against her lip, before sliding into her mouth.

Kissing her was akin to walking into the warm embrace of your home after facing winter's harsh weather. That icy burn in his cheeks slowly melted away as a comfortable heat replaced it. His cold fingertips began to sear, when her hot neck thawed them out, as he cradled her face. The taste of her sweeter than any guilty pleasures he could ever hope to have, because she was now his pleasure. And he wasn’t guilty about it.

Reluctantly pulling away, he whispered against her, "Where does the night take us from here?"

And he thanked that she said, "Take me home with you."

Pushing the key into the lock, and twisting the door open, he welcomed her in first.

He watched her curious eyes take in his space. And after a moment of slow pacing around his living room she said, "I should have known your home would be as dark as you."

"You don't like it?" Looking around his own room, as if he had not done so a thousand times before, he focused on all of the dark interior and really drank it in. Black walls, and mostly dark green furniture, with hints of gold accents flooded his apartment.

But it wasn't as if he was all dark. His house was teeming with life. His pet snake and the many plants he owned told him so.

"Who says I don't like it?" She asked, as she craned her neck to admire the golden snake bookend at the top of his bookcase. The intricate designs, down to its fangs and scales, captivated her the same way it did him.

He watched her crouch lower to examine the book nook on the shelf below it. The warm glow illuminating her face, as she stared at it in awe. It was a replica of a library, with never ending book shelves, dark tile floors, and a table in the middle with papers, textbooks, and pencils sprawled about it. The bookshelves had green vines and plants going down the sides, and some of the books even had titles scrawled with gold ink.

Three tiny versions of him were spread throughout the room. One was climbing the elephant ladder in search of a title. One sitting against the shelves, head buried in a book. Another at the only table scribbling on paper. That one even had glasses adorned on the tip of his nose. "You made this?” she asked, fingers grazing the black head of the Loki reading his book.

"Yes?" His confirmation came out more like a question, slight panic in his voice as he did. Did she think it odd?

"It's wonderful! Could you sho—" She hurriedly cut herself off. "...I mean it's wonderful."

Her back was to him, so he couldn't read her face. But he liked to think it mirrored his own: disappointed by the conditions she had set earlier tonight, that would hinder him from showing her how to make her own shelf-insert. That would hinder him from making one for her. Or better yet, that kept her from sharing his. But he knew that he was wrong. This is what she wanted.

She had pretended to busy herself with a book on one of his shelves. Ignoring the heavy weight of the tension in the room. Both from awkwardness, and sexual frustration.

But he would not. He would give into one of those feelings.

She'd seen the wall in front of her grow dark with his shadow, and then heard the creaking of wood behind her, before she felt his hands on her stomach. Before she felt his lips on her skin.

Loki kissed at her neck and shoulders, pulling the back of her body flush against the front of his.

His warm wet kisses slowly trailed down the side of her face and neckline, and his fingers clutched her hips.

She felt sneaky, long digits climbing up her body, lightly brushing her breasts, before stopping on the strap of her dress, hooking underneath the string, and letting it fall loosely around her arm. Then they traveled to the other shoulder and did the same.

Again, he was pressing her body impossibly closer into his, as his hands freed her from the confines of her dress. Lips hungrily kissed at more bits of exposed skin, her soft sighs spurring him on.

Her hand instinctively found its way to his neck, as she pressed him closer, warning him not to stop.

And he held her arm and kissed that too, but failed to heed her warning. Instead, he found her chin, turned it, and kissed her lips.

She twisted her body into his, in order to deepen their connection.

Their noses bumped. Their fingers grew hungry, clenching, and pulling at the other, desperately trying to feel skin. Their tongues delved deeper. Mouths opened wider. Bodies drew closer. Lips pushed rougher. She mirrored whatever action he did, and that's how he knew she loved this feeling as much as he.

Loki dropped beneath her, lips working extra hard to stay connected to hers, as he gripped the globes beneath her ass, and spread them apart to wrap her legs around his waist.

He eventually had to let go of her lips. Didn't matter how well he knew his condo, because he was too focused on her to feel his way around successfully without knocking into shit.

"So sorry." He breathed, when he bumped her into the corner of a wall.

"S'okay." She assured, a soft laugh hidden in her words.

When he finally made it to the bed, he gently placed her down and resumed his measures against her lips.

Her fingers found his hair when he hovered over her, and he thought it was heaven the way they moved against his scalp. The same way her soft tongue moved against his.

His hands weren't sure what pace to set as they roamed her body. He wanted to be inside of her already. Wanted to feel her wrapped around him. But then he also wanted this to last.

"Slow." was all she uttered into their kiss, "Enjoy me." and that was all it took for his body to obey.

He felt her hands working the buttons of his shirt, pulling the material down his shoulders once she was done.

She reached between them again, unzipping his pants, pulling them as far she could, before pushing down what she couldn't with her feet.

It was her that broke their kiss first. His blown pupils focused on her swollen lips as she gasped for air.

"I see you." She finally said.

Loki's eyebrows furrowed at the comment. "I see you too."

"No." Hand cupping his jaw, she said it slower. "I see you."

And it was then that he understood what she meant. She saw him. "You see me?” He asked.

“Yes.” She clarified. “And you see me?”

He was practically already naked, but he felt so much more bare when he confirmed, "And I see you.” And he really had.

He had seen her that morning. Connected with her then too. Wanted her since she first claimed him as her love.

Had she really seen him? Did she connect with him too? Want him, too?

She had to. He, a liar, could tell when someone was deceiving him.

She had seen him. And the realization of being seen, and wanted… and accepted. That, made him ache.

But she wasn't done. She tucked a raven-lock behind his ear, and told him, "You're so beautiful." Her hand caressed the shell of his ear where his hair now lay, dropping to his naked chest and placing itself over his heart. "You're so beautiful." She repeated, gazing into his sea of green. Tears threatened to well up in his eyes. But he stuffed them down, as he told her,

"You're beautiful, too."

Her smile was light. And he found himself mimicking that too.

"Feel me." She commanded, dragging her palms over parts of his body that always went unnoticed in throes of passion.

He did as she told him, hands touching her softly. Why'd he feel that she would break? Why'd he feel like his touch would taint her?

She found his shaky hand, and brought it to her lips. "You're deserving." She said before placing a kiss to his knuckles. "You're worthy." She furthered, planting another. "Love me." She begged, pressing two more.

And how could he refuse?

Loki, hurriedly abandoned the rest of his clothes, and took his time in removing the rest of hers, deciding that he would kiss her the way he longed to be kissed.

He kissed her hands, and each of her fingers. He kissed her arms, and the crooks of them too. Her stomach became littered in his kisses. Her legs littered in them until his lips were almost blue.

His kisses on her nipples, turned into licking, that turned into sucking, that turned into nipping when her back began arching into his touch.

He kissed—ravaged the lips between her legs, tonguing them with as much fervor as he would the ones on her face, greedily lapping up all of her nectar, and devouring her broken cries.

And he thought, why wouldn't she be just as fair as him? As she began pushing him, climbing on top of him, and kissing him just as he had kissed her before.

She kissed his hands, and each of his fingers. Kissed his arms, and the crooks of them too. His abs became littered in her kisses. His legs littered in them until her lips were almost blue.

She kissed the tip of his cock, in the midst of her measures. She licked the crown, and sucked the shaft too.

She touched him as if he would break. Her fingers were so light on his skin, that even though he was watching her intently, he thought her touch was imaginary.

But Loki didn't assure her that she wouldn't break him like she assured him; he too was sure that he would shatter under her delicate care.

He was spiralling towards the ground, and he was sure she wouldn't be there to catch him.

And that was okay. He was just happy to be along for the ride.

She placed her thighs on the sides of his. Using him to take her pleasure. The velvety warm feel of her folds, as they gently massaged and coated his length was torment.

Slow? He could go slow; Loki lived for sensuality. But the way she looked on top of him right now, eyes more deadly than the viper's in the next room over, the way she touched him, the way she felt, it was all so cruel. The way she sounded. So cruel. Her pace? Oh so fucking cruel.

His hands burned from the feel of her smooth and supple brown skin, but he still managed to lift her from on top of him and replace her position.

Her hands instinctively grabbed, and held on to him for dear life. Her legs did the same. And it was a good thing she did too...

He dragged himself through her slick—agonisingly slow just to prove that he could. The weight of his length, and the feel of him grazing her sex made her jolt, which made him smirk to know that he had at least some of the same power over her, that she had over him.

His eyes dared to hold her own while he drove himself into her—agonisingly slow just to prove that he could. The whine she let out, as he stretched her almost made him feral. But he contained himself. The words enjoy me, on repeat in his mind.

Thrusting into her—agonisingly slow, just to prove to himself that he could, was the most difficult challenge. Now inside of her, now a part of her, and feeling the way she felt, he could hardly compose himself. She had a grip so tight, he couldn’t escape it if he wanted. What he wanted was to stay like this.

Soft gasps escaped her, escaped him, as their moans mixed together like harmony.

Her cries did not bounce off the walls, or threaten to shatter his eardrums (though he wouldn't mind her voice being the last he ever heard), instead they bled into his skin, into his memory. Her labored pants and whines would forever lull him to completion.

She writhed beneath him, back curving off the bed, as her chest glued itself to him. Though he wasn't complaining, he'd never be too close to her, never have my fill of you.

As her face contorted into pleasure, tears welled in her eyes, and her head fell back, Loki took advantage of its new angle, kissing and licking at her exposed throat. Taste buds memorising the feel of her cells.

Then he wrapped his legs around hers, tangling the limbs like vines. Tongue around her tongue, locking them together indefinitely. And as his fingers clasped around her own, Loki took her and took her, until he couldn't take her anymore.

Kissing her until his jaw ached, and his lips went numb, was a pain that he could endure; stopping his measures against her was far more torturous.

He did stop, however, when her lips started to give out, and her hands dropped from his face.

He rolled from on top of her, skin sticky and hot with her sweat mixed with his. Her cum, mixed with his. He hoped her essence that seeped out would stain his sheets forever.

Warmth escaped him as he slid out of both of her hugs: the one from between her arms, and the other from between her legs.

Not touching her, was not an option however, and he immediately went to that, as she tried focusing on breathing steadier with the new loss of his weight from her chest.

The backs of his nails and knuckles swayed gently across her naked torso. Switching between this, and letting the pads of his fingers drag delicately down her body, he explored as much of her as he could. Every ridge of his fingertips, touching every curve of her.

"How do you feel?" He whispered hoarsely. Throat and mouth dry, from using all of the moisture in his lips, to transfer to hers.

"Sore" she whispered back, a light smile decorating her face and her eyes fluttering shut as sleep began to set in.

His cheeks reddened as he smiled back at her. "No. I mean about the entire night?"

She decided to answer his question with "How did you feel about it?" after turning her back to him to sleep on her side instead. He told himself that he imagined how awake she suddenly sounded.

"I don't know how to feel about it." He lied, before truthfully answering, "I've never felt so vulnerable with someone before."

"Mmm?" she hummed, while he switched his patterns to her back. "Well that's the beauty behind all of this stranger:" she yawned. Then she continued, so many moments later that he thought she'd fallen asleep before she could finish her sentence, "you don't have to worry about vulnerability with me...because after tonight...you'll never see me again."

Immediately upon hearing it, his drawings against her skin stopped.

Moments passed, and he could hear her light snores as they passed through her nose.

The moonlight bathed her skin, and her side rose and fell into the mattress.

Confident that she now belonged to her dreams , Loki confessed to her sleeping person, "then I never want this night to end." before linking his arms under hers, and holding her as tight as he could.

There was a faint voice that broke through his sleep. “Loki.” It called. “Wake up. Wake up, my love.” They pleaded gently, nudging his sleeping body.

The black faded away, as his blurry vision slowly created her face and form. Her lips contained a hidden smile, and her eyes held mock contempt. “Are you just gonna sleep your morning away?” She asked, as she divorced the curtains, and gleams of sunlight floated into the room, crowing her, and kissing her skin.

And in his stretch he revealed, “I was enjoying a dream.”

“Can you please tell me what dream has captivated you so?” Climbing into their bed, she propped her elbow up to better peer at his still tired face.

“It was of the first day we met.” Her eyes drifted away from his as she recalled the day as well.

Breathy air passed through her lips, as a dreamy smile decorated them. “I still get embarrassed when you bring this up.”

“What about something so beautiful, could embarrass you?”

“Do you not remember how childish I was? Spewing on about soulmates and love at first sight.”

“You were not childish. You were instead magical.”

She rolled her eyes and asked, “What part of the dream were you on before I interrupted?”

“The part after our first time lying together.”

“Of course you were.” She teased. “ You were not remembering the first time you saw my face, or kissed my lips, you were dreaming about the first time you fucked me.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Did you not hear me say after?”

“Oh. You mean when you convinced me to stay?”

“Yes.” He fondly smiled. “I had not slept the entire night, cause I feared you would leave before I awoke. I remember you slipping away from my embrace, and into your little dress, before trying to slip out of the door.”

Then she took over. Recalling it as if it was yesterday. “You snuck up from behind, and wrapped your arms around me before I could even touch the handle.”

“And then I said to you, “even if soulmates don't exist, I want you to be mine.” and I begged you to fall in love with me.”

“And then I dropped my hand from the door.”

“And then you turned in my arms.”

“And then we kissed. And soon we’d fall in love.” She finished, just before placing her lips on his in recreation of the one they shared all those years ago.

“No darling.” He began to correct, holding onto her waist. “Now that I recall, it happened earlier in the day for me.”

“Yeah?” This surprised her. “When then?”

“When I first saw your face. I didn't know it then, but my heart belonged to you. And you could do anything you wanted to it.”

“Thought you didn’t believe in love at first sight?”

“I didn’t. I thought once you were in it, love comes at you full force...but that was wrong. It starts small, and it grows without you even realizing what’s happened. But by then it's too late.”

“Loki…” she caressed his cheeks with the backs of her fingers.

“You changed my life, you know. I've heard so many people say that before. But the words never reigned true until I met you. Some days I could not look at myself. Others I forced a look in the mirror, to see the man who had caused pain to countless others.”

“If it wasn't me, I know it would have been someone else.”

“No it wouldn't have been. It will have always been you. No other could even begin to compare to your soul. To your love. To you. And I couldn't even begin to love someone else like I do you.”

She looked at him and smiled as bright as the sun. It was never leaving. Never ending how beautiful she was. “You’re going to have to try.”

His forehead creased as the words settled in, and her touch fell from his face. But he could only watch her as she slipped out of bed and disappeared down the hall.

Sunlight assaulted the back of his eyelids, as it peeked through a sliver in his curtains. Pulling his pillow closer, he tried to escape the bright beams of—

His eyes flew open, sleep completely evading him.

When he realized the cushion wasn't her, he flung his covers back, stumbled out of his bed, and scrambled to his wardrobe for something to make himself decent.

Cold seeped into his body through the bottom of his feet, when he padded the floors of his condo in search of her.

He started to call out her name, but remembered that he didn't know it.

Who was he kidding? He knew she wasn't there. He would have felt her.

It took a moment to collect himself. This is what we agreed upon. This is what she wanted.

But Loki thought that he would have felt so much better if he had the chance to say goodbye. Would have felt so much better if he got to kiss her before she left. Felt much better if he got the chance to have one more conversation with her…

He'd tell her to stay a little longer. He'd ask her to come back to his bed. He'd beg her to never leave.

This time yesterday, he didn't even know her. Now he was convinced that he needed her? How can you want someone when they don't even know your name?

It was all a game last night. Every part of it was supposed to be fake...at what point had he stopped pretending?

This is okay. This will be okay. He just needed time to get over the magic of their night. Once a week has passed, she would be as good as a blur.

But oh no. More than a week has passed now, and he still sees her smile when he closes his eyes.

In his best efforts, he did try to let her memory go. But she just kept popping up in his head, like the pesky little fairy she was.

Before they met, he seldom took the bus. Only had that morning, because his car was undergoing repairs. Since that day, he was always in that same seat he was the day he first saw her.

Frequent stops at the bakery too. But it wasn't to admire the pastries.

Even found himself carefully scanning the block she mentioned going for afternoon jogs on, though it meant crossing paths with that devil cat.

At least the bar they met at served more than one purpose. He searched for her at the bottom of every drink.

He went back to that bookstore. Back to that diner. Back to that museum. None remembered her. But how could they forget?

It was when he thought of leaving his number, at every place they had been to, in case anyone did recognise her, that he remembered, this was what she wanted.

If he had found her, and risked ruining what they had, she’d hate him for it.

So he had to forget her.

He decided that he was never gonna see her again. Never gonna search for her.

He decided to stop.

Stop riding the bus. Stop visiting the bakery. Stop going to that bar. Or that farmer’s market. Or that bookshop. That Diner. Museum.

But he couldn't really stop looking for her. At least not subconsciously.

It was the middle of spring when he found it.

With the city behind him, Loki’s bench was surrounded by flowers, and overlooked a trail. He thought it pretty. So everyday he sat on that bench. Every sunrise. Every sunset. Every morning when night met day. Every evening when day met night. He was there. In search of his Day.

Of course he entertained the idea that he’d meet her on that bench, but he didn’t hold out hope. This park was one of many in their city. The chances of meeting her there were slim.

But he did imagine meeting someone there. Of the many joggers on the trail maybe there would be one for him.

If there was one thing Loki realized since meeting his darling, it was that he lacked someone to call his home. He didn’t care if said home was shitty, he just wanted one. He’d probably never meet someone to make him feel as good as she did, but that was okay. Most people didn’t.

As he sat down on the bench, he admired the strokes of purples, pinks and oranges that painted the sky.

It was still spring, so Loki had his umbrella accompanying him now. The bench was always wet, and the smell of freshly cut grass always invaded his senses. Spring carried the sweet smell of orchids, and jasmine though, so he didn’t mind.

When rain wasn’t in the forecast, the park was packed. Couples thought it the perfect time to have their picnics in the grass.

He was surprised to have seen two proposals that April. He wondered if it possible to block people in real life.

As he sat down on the bench, he admired the strokes of purples, pinks and oranges that painted the sky.

Summer was here. Bright green leaves clung to the trees, and as hot as it was out, Loki still sat there, cloaked in black, admiring the sunset.

There were lots of bugs. He hated bugs. But still they weren’t going to chase him away from his bench.

Acorns and ants lay beside him, and he read to them. He read to the pigeons and to the squirrels, and to the occasional lizards, too.

Kids were out for the season. Their colourful chalk stained the trails. He watched joggers stampede all over the pastel rainbows and hopscotch boxes. It made him sad when a particular smiley face got destroyed.

Dogs barking over the smell of the hotdog stand that was parked behind the bench made it hard for him to read, but summer would be over soon.

As he sat down on the bench, he admired the strokes of purples, pinks and oranges that painted the sky.

Auburn, burgundy, and brown leaves littered the bench. Broken twigs, and crushed red berries too. Finally Autumn. The month of new beginnings.

And new beginnings there finally were. Loki no longer went to the park in search of his darling. Instead, he went because he was used to it. He liked it.

Her face was finally a blur in his mind now. And soon it would be completely forgotten.

But that was okay, too. In his mind she was only there to teach him a lesson. A lesson on how to forgive himself. On how to love himself. On how to look at himself in the mirror, and like what he saw.

As he sat down on the bench, like he had time and time before, since meeting her…he admired the strokes of lavenders, fuschias and tangerines that painted the sky.

It was the most beautiful transition from day to night that he’d seen in a long time. So beautiful, it brought to mind that quote she told him all of those nights ago.

“Two worlds colliding.” “…worlds colliding.” He and a stranger spoke together. And when his head snapped to the direction that the music came from, his eyes caught theirs immediately.

Their emotions danced with the others. Mouths fell open and closed, in a seemingly never ending cycle. His body was paralysed, even though he practiced how he would kiss her when he saw her again, a thousand times. Practiced what’d he say, when she was finally his.

“I-” She started to stutter out…

So that’s what her voice sounded like. How he could even forget in the first place, he didn’t know.

Reading her now, on this bench Loki was much like she, at a loss of words. Her face read confusion, guilt…joy? And after moments of stumbling over her words she carefully said, “I didn’t expect to see you here, Strange—”

“Loki.” He corrected. “My name is Loki. And it is so nice to meet you.” There you are. Just like you practiced. Though her poem rang true now. He had been searching for her, even before he met her. And he was just in the middle of telling himself a lie before she showed back up again.

Continuing, finally continuing, Loki added “Though Darling, my flower and Beautiful are all befitting for you, please tell me your name so that we can properly fall in love with each other, because my darling, i’ve been searching for you for a lifetime.”

And as he sang this, he watched worry, and confusion, and guilt fade away from her beautiful face, as joy bled into every corner of her eyes. And she replied, “Well your search ends here…My name is, ”

#Loki x reader #loki x black!reader #loki smut #loki angst #loki fluff #marvel smut #marvel imagines #loki imagine #mcu smut #mcu imagines

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live-the-fangirl-life · 3 years

Text

It’s the Thought that Counts

Aelin Galathynius x Rowan Whitethorn - Birthday Oneshot

All Rowan wants to do is throw a surprise party for his girlfriend, but that becomes increasingly difficult as every possible thing that could go wrong—goes wrong.

I wrote this for my birthday on the fifth, but I couldn't wait until then to post it, Enjoy!

Masterlist | Read on Ao3

Warnings: Language, Light NSFW

4476 words

*******

“Are you serious?”

If Rowan’s hair wasn’t already silver, it would’ve been by the end of the day from all the stress this was putting him through.

Looking into the open cake box in Fenrys’ hands, he just stared at the inscription atop what was supposed to be a birthday cake for Aelin.

“What? What’s wrong?” Fenrys tried to lean over the lid of the box but it was tall enough to block his view.

“Did you even look at it before you left the store? Before you paid for it?” It took all of Rowan’s self-control not to scream. How many more things could go wrong today?

Fenrys shifted uneasily, noticing Rowan’s slipping control. “Uh, no. I was already running late, and you said to get back here as soon as possible to help finish setting up.”

All Rowan could do was let out a long, slow breath.

“This. Says. Alien.”

The blonde man holding the cake snorted, “what?”

“The cake says ‘Happy Birthday, Alien’”

“Seriously?” Fenrys was quick to put the box down on a nearby table so he could stand next to Rowan and look at it. “Shit. They even put little green Martians on it.”

All Rowan wanted to do was throw a surprise party for his girlfriend.

Was that really too much to ask? Apparently, so.

A couple of months ago Aelin had mentioned how she’d always wanted a surprise party, but of course, you cant ask for a surprise party because then it’s no longer a surprise.

Rowan took the hint and decided to plan something special for her birthday. He even got all their friends to help, and if everything had gone to plan then it would have been a perfect day.

Too bad he couldn’t catch a break.

Rowan had made a list of everything they needed to do, buy, and plan. It was an extensive list because he knew that a party for Aelin had to be perfect. Not because she had impossibly high standards—well, she did, but that wasn’t why it had to be perfect—it was because he loved her and wanted to show her how much he appreciated her on her birthday.

And he thought it would be the icing on the cake—pun intended—to have all their friends involved too. That’s why he was making calls to all of them about what they each needed to do for the party.

First, he got Lorcan and Elide to pick up the golden balloon arch that was going to be at the entrance of the park he’d reserved for the day. By the time he got on the phone with Lorcan, Rowan was already exasperated from having to deal with the city planning office in order to reserve the particular park and gazebo.

“Lorcan, I need you in charge of the—” Rowan broke off, hearing a loud crackling from the other end of the phone.

“You’re cutting off, wha— you say?” Lorcan’s voice was halting as the call cut in-and-out

“I was saying, I need you to cover the balloons.”

“Ba—”

“The balloon canopy.”

“The bo—, ca—”

“Yeah, we need a golden balloon canopy.”

“Okay, fine. I— got the— boun— ca—”

“Shit. Can you hear me?” Rowan pulled his phone away to check his service. It was fine from his end, it must be Lorcan’s phone being spotty.

When Rowan put the phone back to his ear, he could hear rustling and the sound of a car door opening and closing, and then the connection cleared.

“Yeah, man. I heard you. But, are you sure Aelin wants that?” Lorcan sounded skeptical.

“What? Yeah, of course, it’ll be great.” Rowan was already getting impatient, knowing he had a few more errands to run before he could relax.

“Whatever. She’s your girlfriend, and it’s your credit card.”

Rolling his eyes, Rowan muttered, “Thank you for your generous help, Lorcan.” then heard someone scolding Lorcan and grinned before saying loud enough for the other person to hear, “Thank you, Elide!”

Rowan hung up and mentally checked off the balloons. What was next?

***

“Aedion, please, I need you to keep Aelin busy for the day.”

Aedion and Lysandra had come over to Rowan and Aelin’s apartment for dinner, and Rowan had dragged Aedion into the kitchen to talk about that weekend’s plan.

Taking a sip of his beer, Aedion raised an eyebrow at him, “Won’t she wonder why her boyfriend is avoiding her on her birthday?”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “I won’t be avoiding her. You will very adamantly request to take your cousin to lunch for her birthday, and who am I to get in the way of family?”

Aedion snorted but nodded. “Yeah, okay. Lys and I can take her out.”

“No, Lys can’t be there.”

“What?” Aedion looked at him bewildered. “Why not?”

Rowan sighed. “Because if Lysandra is there with you, then Aelin will wonder why I’m not there with her. If it’s just you and Aelin, then she won’t think it’s weird that I’m gone. Besides,” Rowan took another sip of beer, “I’ll need Lys’ help during the day to set up that slideshow.”

“Right.”

The slideshow Rowan had asked Aedion and Lysandra to make using pictures of Aelin that would play during the party. The one that Aedion wasn’t going to tell Rowan hadn’t been started yet. “Yeah, okay. I’ll invite Aelin to come get lunch with me.”

“Perfect.”

One more thing off Rowan’s list.

***

The morning of the party Rowan asked Fenrys to go pick up Aelin’s cake. It was supposed to be a chocolate and hazelnut cake with the top decorated with kingsflame blossoms and say, “Happy Birthday Aelin.”

Rowan was distracted with setting up decorations and directing their friends to put away the things they brought. Dorian and Manon were in charge of getting the alcohol. Chaol and Yrene were bringing deserts because when it came to Aelin there could never be enough sweets. Fenrys helped Rowan bring out the rest of the food, before being sent off to pick up the cake.

Rowan did a quick scan, mentally checking off everyone. Besides the people he could see, he knew Lysandra was in the gazebo finishing up the slideshow, Aedion was out distracting Aelin, and Elide and Lorcan would be here any minute with the balloons.

Letting out a breath, Rowan smiled. Things seemed to be coming together.

Busy showing Dorian where the coolers for the drinks were, he was too distracted to do more than wave a ‘hello’ to Lorcan and Elide as Lorcan’s truck pulled up to the park. Rowan decided they were smart enough to figure out how to set up a balloon arch—or at least Elide could read the directions to a grumbling Lorcan, so Rowan spent the next half hour with other parts of the setup.

After he finished hanging up the screen they were going to use for the picture slideshow, Rowan went to check on the balloons.

He made it two steps out of the large gazebo and stopped in his tracks.

“What the fuck is this?” Rowan exclaimed, gaping at the large monstrosity in front of him.

Instead of looking at a beautiful, arched balloon canopy, he was looking at a massive, inflatable, child’s bouncy castle.

“What do you mean ‘what the fuck is this?’” Lorcan asked, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead and stepping around the side of the castle. “This is what you asked for.”

“This is not what I asked for.” Rowan could feel his mouth still hanging open and quickly shut it.

Elide looked at Rowan in confusion. “Rowan, you did ask for this. I mean, I definitely thought it was weird that Aelin would want a blow-up bounce house for her birthday, but when Lor asked if you were sure, you insisted it was right.”

Rowan tried to remember that particular conversation. He had so many details in his head and too many people in charge of different things.

“Shit.” The phone call was coming back to Rowan to now. “We kept getting cut off. Shit,” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair making it all stand up on end. He swung around towards Lorcan who looked at him with raised brows. “What did you think I was asking you to get?”

Lorcan slowly looked between the bouncy house and Rowan. “You asked me to get a Bounce Castle.”

For fucks sake.

“I asked you to get a Balloon Canopy.”

Elide’s mouth opened in an ‘O’ and Lorcan said nothing until a moment later he was laughing, bent over at the waist.

“You wanted balloons, and now Galathynius has a bounce castle.” He managed between breaths, ignoring Rowan’s fuming look. It took Elide elbowing him in the side to get him to stop laughing.

“I don’t have time for this. Fix this.” Rowan waved his arms around at the massive blow-up castle, and then he turned around to find something he could actually focus on, trying his best to ignore the increasingly greying clouds in the sky.

“You still paying?” Lorcan called after him.

He let out a string of curses. “Yes.”

Rowan just barely heard the sound of air being let out of the castle as he walked away.

***

A shriek drew Rowan’s attention away from the chairs he was unfolding. He turned towards the gazebo to see Lysandra throw a small ice bucket, mostly filled with water at this point, at the screen Rowan had set up earlier.

The screen that was on fire.

Running in to help, Rowan saw that the candles placed around it had been lit—why the hell would someone already light them? The wind must’ve blown the screen too close causing it to catch fire.

He reached Lysandra just as she threw another bucket of icy water on the screen, dousing the rest of the flames.

“Are you okay?” He looked over Lysandra, but she just seemed shocked and irritated.

“I’m fine.” She gave him a reassuring nod before scowling at the destroyed screen. “This, though, is pretty much dead.” she sighed and closed her laptop she was using to work on the slideshow. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be showing pictures today, Rowan.”

He rubbed at his face. Fine. Okay. He could deal with this. They had a children’s bounce house and no slideshow. That was fine. As long as nothing else went wrong, he could deal with it.

As if in response to his thought, the day began to dim as clouds moved to cover the sun. If Rowan didn’t look at the heavy clouds, they would disappear.

That was when Fenrys came back with the cake.

***

“Alien?! I can’t give my girlfriend a birthday cake that’s calling her an Alien!”

Fenrys almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous Rowan looked with his hair sticking up and face all red, but he knew this was just the latest in a list of ‘things gone wrong’ and was worried that if he laughed then he wouldn’t live to see the birthday girl.

“Maybe she’ll find it funny,” Fenrys suggested.

Rowan slowly turned toward him with an almost crazed look in his eye. “Funny? You think Aelin will find all this,” he waved his hands at the deflating bounce house, charred hanging screen, and the horribly incorrect cake, “Funny?”

“...Maybe?” Honestly, Fenrys thought Aelin would find it all hilarious but decided to keep his mouth shut. He knew how much work and energy Rowan put into this party, and he worried for his friend’s mental state as he counted all the things that had already gone wrong.

Rowan just dropped his head in his hands and groaned.

***

As soon as Rowan unpacked the last of the food, he heard a boom of thunder.

“This is not happening.” He muttered to himself, refusing to look at what was surely the worst thing that could happen that day.

A moment later he heard the unmistakable sound of hard, fast rain. The yelps from his friends broke him out of his haze and he turned to see everyone rush into the covered gazebo, careful to keep close to the center where they could stay dry.

Everyone besides Yrene, who had been helping Rowan with the food, were varying levels of soaked. And all the decorations they’d been holding were either stuck outside taking the worst of the rain or dragged inside to drip water onto the floor.

Rowan didn’t say anything, he just grabbed the beer bottle out of Aedion’s hand and took a long swig.

***

Looking around, Rowan surveyed the damage. Where a nice balloon canopy should’ve been positioned, a large, deflated, child’s bounce castle stood in its place; the screen he was going to use to show a slideshow of Aelin was burnt to a crisp; the rain pouring down was soaking the park and wrecking everything brought in from the cars, and the perfect cake for his girlfriend was ruined by calling her Alien.

But at least all their friends showed up.

That was the one good thing to come out of this disaster of a party. Even if they were all dripping wet and shivering from their walks from their cars to the covered gazebo in the middle of the park.

Dorian walked up to where Rowan and Aedion were talking about the cousin’s lunch. He took a sip of his drink and asked them, “So, what time is Aelin is getting here?”

Rowan and Aedion both turned towards each other.

“What time did you—”

“When did you say—”

They both froze.

Rowan slowly blinked. “Aedion, you did tell Aelin what time to come tonight, right?”

Aedion shook his head, wincing, “No, man. I was taking her out to lunch. You were supposed to find a reason to get her to the park.”

A dull roaring started in Rowan’s head. He thought over everything he had on his list.

Rent out gazebo: Check.

Delegate decorations: unsuccessful, but Check.

Order cake: again, unsuccessful, but Check.

Get friends to show up: Check.

Buy Aelin’s present: Check

Invite Aelin…

“Fuck. Shit. Fuck me. No, no, no, no, no… Gods damn it!”

Before anyone could another word, Rowan pulled his keys from his pocket and sprinted into the rain towards his car.

***

Aelin loved her birthday.

Usually.

She loved celebrating with her friends and laughing about the stupid gag gift they bought her. She loved making a wish on her candles and she even loved the awkward minute of listening to people sing happy birthday.

Last year, Rowan had woken her up to a particularly amazing round of birthday sex. Which turned into another round in the kitchen and then another one in the shower. He had also spent the day last year doing her favorite things and ending the night with a wonderful dinner at her favorite restaurant.

Which was why she had been so excited to see what this birthday would bring.

Her morning began exactly how she hoped: with Rowan’s tongue between her legs. He’d woken her up slowly, lazily, until she was squirming on the sheets with her hand fisted in his hair.

She’d hoped their morning tumble was the start of a very satisfying day, but soon afterward Rowan left saying he had to make a work call and she should get ready for her lunch with Aedion.

As much as she loved her cousin, all Aelin really wanted to do was stay inside with Rowan all day, clothing-optional. Actually, clothing-nonexistent.

But she did want to see Aedion, and apparently, Rowan’s work call was pressing enough that he practically ran out the door.

Lunch was nice. She hadn’t had one-on-one time with Aedion in a while, but she couldn’t help but notice how antsy he seemed.

“What aren’t you telling me?” She asked him after the waiter took their set down their drinks.

Her cousin choked on the sip he’d taken, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” He sputtered. “I’m not not telling you anything.”

“Uh huh.”

He rolled his eyes. “There’s nothing Ae, don’t sweat it.”

“It looks like you’re the one sweating Aedion.” Leaning back in her chair she smirked and crossed her arms. “Did you get me something you’re worried I won’t like?” she joked.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, exactly! Lysandra picked it out but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

Aelin rolled her eyes at her cousin. “Please, if Lys picked out whatever it is, then I’m sure I’ll love it.” Her smirk turned into a genuine smile. “But, it’s from you so I know I’ll like it.”

He laughed but she thought he still looked a bit anxious. Deciding not to worry about whatever else had him fidgety, she let it go.

When she got back to her and Rowan’s apartment, she expected he would be there. He wasn’t.

Aelin didn’t think a work call would take the two hours she’d been out with Aedion, so she hoped Rowan would be back soon. She hadn’t talked about plans today because last year he had been so eager to take the lead.

So she waited.

And waited.

Three hours later she was irate, hurt, and confused. How could he just up and disappear on her birthday? If he was busy—if something came up that he needed to deal with—he should’ve just told her. She still would be upset, but she’d have understood.

But he hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t called or texted. Rowan hadn’t given her any explanation as to why she was alone now on her birthday.

Aelin walked into the kitchen and was about to pour herself a glass of wine when she heard loud noises from the hall outside her apartment door. It sounded like heavy, stampeding footsteps.

And then Rowan was bursting into their apartment.

He was breathing heavily, soaking wet, and looking at her with such an apologetic expression that she momentarily forgot why she was angry.

“Aelin,” he panted, trying to get a breath, “I am so sorry.”

Right. That was why she was angry.

She crossed her arms over her chest and took in his disheveled appearance, trying desperately to understand why he was so out of sorts.

“What happened to you?”

Rowan loosed a long, heavy breath and stepped closer to her. “Aelin, gods, I’m an idiot.”

“Yes, you are.” She agreed. “But, explain to me why.”

Rowan took another step towards her and she let him.

“I had a whole thing planned— I still do, kind of, but it’s basically ruined at this point—” Rowan started talking faster and Aelin struggled to keep up. “I planned an amazing surprise party for you, I spent weeks getting things organized. I had all our friends come out to help, they’re all still out at the park—I rented out the park—they’d better all still be there, anyway.”

He took a breath and Aelin’s anger slowly started to fade, but then she remembered sitting alone in her apartment for three hours and stared at him until he continued his explanation.

“There were supposed to be balloons, golden ones! And photos of you, and a cake, but all of it got ruined.” Rowan ran an angry hand through his hair. “Lorcan thought I asked him for a bounce castle— a bounce castle! Then the screen caught on fire, and then there was a mess up with the cake that you don’t even want to know about.”

He finally looked back at her, pleadingly, hoping she could understand how sorry he was. “But the worst part, which was one-hundred-percent my fault, was that I forgot to invite you to your own party.”

Aelin was wide-eyed by the end of his speech. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Rowan grabbed her hand and looked down at her with sorry eyes. “Please, forgive me.”

“Forgive you?”

His face crumpled and he leaned to press it into her shoulder. She heard him grumble, “Fuck. I ruined your birthday, I’m so sorry.”

Aelin pulled away to hold his face between her hands. She waited until his eyes opened to say, “Rowan, you planned that whole thing? For me?”

His brow furrowed as if he couldn’t understand why she would ask that. “Of course, I did. I know how much you wanted a surprise party, but—”

“But nothing.” She cut him off pressing her mouth firmly against his. Rowan was too surprised at her reaction to reciprocate, but she pulled back just as fast.

“Okay, yes, not inviting me to my own party was a bad move,” He winced. “But, everything else you did was amazing.” When he still looked skeptically at her she continued, “the rest of that stuff; the weather, the cake, the fire, Lorcan’s bad judgment—none of that was your fault.”

Rowan finally cracked a smile at the last bit.

“So,” he searched her face for any clues, “you’re not upset?”

Aelin laughed at pulled Rowan down for another kiss. This time, he eagerly returned it and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other moved so his hand could hold the back of her head. They stood wrapped up in each other for a minute, deepening the kiss before they both pulled back for air.

“I’m not mad. I was, before when I thought you’d ditched me on my birthday. But I’m not anymore now that I know you spent the day trying to make me happy."

Aelin pulled back further to give him a stern look. “But I will be angry if you don’t bring me to this party right now.”

He pulled her back into him and let out a relieved laugh.

“Let’s get the birthday girl to her party.”

***

The drive from their apartment to the park was filled with Rowan telling Aelin about everything that had gone wrong. His fingers intertwined with her over the middle console and she listened as he told her about the crazy day.

“Why someone would light the candles so early in the day is beyond me.” He grumbled and Aelin chuckled at the bitterness in his tone.

“I’m sure the slideshow would’ve been great.” She perked up. “Oh my gods, that was why Aedion was so weird at lunch.”

Rowan glanced side longed at her. “He was weird?”

“Yeah, real fidgety, wouldn’t always look me in the eye. He said it was because he was worried I wouldn’t like my present, but I knew that was a load of bullshit.” She laughed, remembering how relived his face had been when she offered that excuse.

Rowan rolled his eyes but watched as the sky began to clear.

“Good, the rains finally stopping. I told the others to finish putting up decorations if the weather cleared.”

“There’s more?” Aelin questioned, thinking of everything he’d already told her about.

“A bit. I gave Fen a list of stuff to buy, but knowing him, he picked up some things that I didn’t tell him to. So, who knows what we’ll see when we get there.” He groaned thinking about it, but Aelin just laughed.

“It’s a couple of decorations, Ro. I’m sure they’ve got it handled.”

When they finally pulled into the parking lot nearest the gazebo, Aelin and Rowan didn’t get out of the cart immediately. They watched the scene in front of them in bewilderment

Lorcan was throwing a rope over a tree branch—Aelin assumed it was because he was the tallest—tying one end to the trunk and the other end was attached to a large pinata.

“Is that…?” She was so confused about what was happening.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Fen?” Rowan seethed.

“Fen did that? Why would Fenrys buy an Alien pinata?” Aelin suddenly had more questions than answers.

Rowan rubbed his hands down his face, muffling his curses.

“Don’t ask.”

Aelin watched as Aedion picked up the stick and took a couple of practice swings.

“What? They’re gonna start without us?” Aelin pulled Rowan’s hand off his face and made him look at her. “Hey. I know this didn’t go like you’d planned, but it's still pretty great, and everyone is here and having a good time. And there’s cake, right?”

“There’s cake.”

Rowan refrained from reminding her that all the guests had trekked in and out of the rain that afternoon setting up and half the supplies were ruined or nonexistent. Apparently, she could see all that in his face though so Aelin leaned over and kissed him.

“Let’s go, come on.”

At some point during their conversation, Lysandra had found the blindfold and tied it around Aedion’s head. The rest of the group, minus Manon and Dorian who had snuck off somewhere she didn’t want to think about too much, stood around as Fenrys cheered and Aedion swung.

He missed the first time, but as he prepped himself to swing again, Aelin and Rowan climbed out of the car and walked toward the group.

“Aelin!” Fenrys called, eyes going wide as he called her name.

Everyone else whipped around to face her and Rowan and yell “Surprise!”

Unfortunately, Aedion still had a stick in his hands; and he quickly turned, it nailed Fenrys in the head.

Rowan stood there gaping as Fenrys let out a loud sound between a yelp and a groan, before falling to the ground, knocked out.

“Shit! Who’d I hit?” Aedion asked as he ripped off the blindfold, and tuned to see what—or, who—exactly he had swung at.

Mostly in shock, a little bit in amusement, everyone watched as Fenrys slowly groaned, lifted his head only to wince and bring his hand up to hold it, and opened his eyes.

“…Surprise”

***

“You know, this may be my most memorable birthday.” Aelin was perched on Rowan’s lap, eating a piece of the outer space-themed cake.

Her boyfriend groaned and pressed his face into her shoulder.

“I’ll take it. Memorable is better than disastrous.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

After Fenrys woke up, Yrene came over to check on him and make sure he was going to be alright. She didn’t think he had a concussion, but she put Aedion in charge of watching him. His punishment, apparently. They were currently at another table with Lysandra, Lorcan, and Elide.

Aelin looked over to the other end of the gazebo and watched as Chaol and Yrene sat with Dorian and Manon, the latter was trying her best to pretend she was interested in the conversation. By the heated looks she and Dorian were giving each other, Aelin didn’t think those two would be sticking around too long.

Turning back to Rowan, Aelin smiled.

“Thank you, Buzzard. I love it.” She grinned as he rolled his eyes, but he tightened his grip on her and pulled her face down to his.

“Happy Birthday, Fireheart.”

*****

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219 notes · View notes

galaxxiwrites · 3 years

Note

Hi I just want to say thank you for making this blog and I hope you have lots fun! Seriously it’s a blessing to have another final fantasy 14 blog. May I ask for wedding day headcanons for G'raha tia, Aymeric de Borel, and Haurchefant.

Anon??? I love you??? I'm so s o f t aaaah (｀；ω；´) Thank you!! I'm having tons of fun and I'm so happy for all the people who have requested from me, liked my posts and reblogged my stuff. It all means so much to me!! Now without further ado, some Eternal Bond hcs~ :D

warnings: Shadowbringers spoilers!

Ceremony of Eternal Bonding (ft. G'Raha Tia, Aymeric & Haurchefant)

G'raha Tia

Crystal Tower wedding, nothing can change my mind.

It was thanks to the Crystal Tower that he met so many wonderful people, including his hero and the love of his life, so it was only natural for him to be wed there.

Raha will stress about every little detail, after all he wants it to be perfect for you, because he doesn't want you to regret ever saying yes to becoming his mate.

He's actually more stressed about this than you are

There was a bit of regret though, as he wanted to at least invite the people of Crystarium, especially Lyna.

You reassured him that you would visit the First and tell them of your marriage, and he softly thanked you.

For the train wreck he was during the wedding preparations, he was surprisingly level headed during the wedding.

The ones invited are the Scions, the Sons of St. Coinach, and Garlond Ironworks. You even reserved a seat for Papalymo and Minfillia, knowing that they would have wanted to be here as well.

Lots of teasing from his fellow Sharlayan disciples, especially Krile and Y'shtola.

Waiting for the wedding to happen felt so much longer than the two centuries he endured in the First. He wanted to see you so bad, even though you were with him a mere few hours ago.

When the music finally began, his heart raced so much that he thought it would jump out of his chest. It was finally happening, you were finally gonna walk down that aisle and he was finally gonna see you in your wedding dress. He was finally going to be bonded to you for life.

Tears rolled down his cheeks without him realizing as he saw you standing at the entrance, a bouquet of red roses in hand as you walked down the aisle. You were so beautiful, so enchanting, so...breathtaking. He was at a loss of words, and he knows that even the dictionary would not help him describe how heavenly you looked.

He tried to compose himself again as he waited at the other end of the aisle, but the tears wouldn't stop overflowing.

You approached him, and through teary eyes he saw a feint smile underneath your veil. You wiped away some of his tears with your gloves, not saying a word but he knew you were encouraging him nontheless.

The Moogle priest gave his blessings, and finally, he can say the words he's been waiting his whole life to say.

"I do."

Everyone has been trying hard to get used to calling him G'raha Nunh, after the wedding, but seeing the flustered feline made it so hard for them to ever call him such.

Aymeric de Borel

Your marriage with Aymeric is held in the Ishgardian Cathedral, witness by the Ishgardians en masse.

The church was decorated in beautiful blues and whites, and despite its cooling colors gave the people of Ishgard a warm sensation in their hearts.

The wedding planning takes a while almost a whole year actually, as the both of you had your owns works to attend to. Between saving the realm of Eorzea as it's Warrior of Light and representing Ishgard as it's Speaker of House of Lords, there was only so much time in a day you could both dedicate wedding planning to.

You both agree to be wed on Starlight Eve, since it's the time when both of your schedules are at it's most relaxed.

At the front row of cathedral benches was a sign that said "Reserved," with the Borel's family steward sitting beside the images of Aymeric's adoptive parents.

Expect to be spoiled by the Eorzean Alliance with gifts. Although the respective leaders couldn't be there physically, the both of you could feel their hearts conveyed through the gifts.

Surprisingly, you also received a gift from Estinien. It was a simple greeting card, congratulating the two of you for finding happiness with each other.

The both of you weren't ones for superstitions, however Tataru had banned Aymeric from meeting you ever since the Bachelorette party the Scions held for you the night before the wedding.

So when Aymeric finally saw you across the aisle in your wedding gown dyed dragoon blue and golden linings, his jaw dropped.

He looked at you with so much love in his eyes, as if he was falling for you again for the first time, as you slowly made your way down the aisle with Thancred, who stood in as your paternal figure.

Tears were shed left and right. Many were from the elderly Ishgardian residents as they see their former Lord Commander be wed to the savior of the World.

When you finally arrived beside him, he gently grasped both of your hands in his and gave them a kiss.

The ceremony itself felt it went by in a flash, and before you knew it, you were both giving wedding vows.

"In sickness and in health, I promise to dedicate my everything to you forevermore, (y/n). I love you."

Haurchefant Greystone

FLOWER CROWNS ON YOU AND HAURCHEFANT.

Haurchefant never expected himself to be wed, what with him simply being a bastard son of the noble Fortemps family.

So when it came to planning the wedding, Haurchefant was 100% hands on.

The wedding would be held at Camp Dragonhead, attended only by your closest companions and immediate family.

...Or so he had hoped. However, only his Father and Francel were his only attendees. Ironically, it was he who cheered you up when you saw his brothers absent.

Francel was actually more excited about Haurchefant's wedding than the latter himself. Of course, he wanted to give grandiose gifts to his dearest comrade and savior, but Haurchefant would not have any of it. Francel's presence alone was enough for Haurchefant.

And so the ceremony of eternal bonding was celebrated within the walls of Camp Dragonhead. As if blessed by Halone herself, the weather that day was the fairest Central Coerthas had experienced in a while.

Haurchefant's smile that day as he stood beside you in front of the priest was the biggest smile and most relaxed he's ever worn in a long while.

When you were announced man and wife, he cupped your face in his hands and peppered your face with long, loving kisses.

Admittedly, Haurchefant was more excited for his life after the wedding. Being able to wake up every morning you, having lazy mornings and warm breakfasts, being welcomed home by a woman so overflowing with love for him...such was all the bliss he asked for.

"My beloved (y/n), thank you for choosing me. It means the world to me."

#ffxiv #ffxiv aymeric #ffxiv haurchefant #ffxiv g'raha tia #g'raha tia #g'raha x reader #aymeric de borel #aymeric x reader #haurchefant x reader #haurchefant greystone #thank you for the request!

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chosonore · 3 years

Text

part one | oblivion

oblivion [noun. the state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening around one]

pairing: kamo noritoshi/f!reader

summary: your relationship with noritoshi was like a game of cat and mouse; no matter how hard you tried to escape from him, he would always find his way back to you.

wordcount: 3.9k

content/warnings: friends to enemies to lovers, language, noritoshi is kind of a dick but i promise it gets better so please don’t lose faith in him, we’re not strictly following the manga timeline bc while i am reading it, i do have a goldfish brain, lowercase intended

a/n: hello, here’s the first installment of my sanguine series! it’s the prequel of this drabble (nsfw) i wrote the other week while i was working on the outline of the fic. it’s a little slow burn because i wanted to spend some more time exploring their relationship and the groundwork for it, so yeah. i’ll try to update it regularly, but since i’ve only planned five parts for sanguine, it might take a while bc i want to take my time with it. if you want to stay updated with the series, i’ll post the masterlist to it shortly! i do hope you enjoy it though :) and stay safe, everybody! [tagging @sukirichi the sukuna to my yuuji, who just gets spammed when i start rambling about my aus but always screams with me (´• ω •`)]

masterlist - next

"y/n!" you look up to see miwa storming towards you, thrusting a book in your direction. "could you- could you please give this to noritoshi? i borrowed this book from him like a week ago and if i don't return this anytime soon, i think he's gonna kill me."

scowling at her, you look at the book in disdain. you wanted to avoid crossing paths with noritoshi as much as possible and miwa was well aware that you didn't like hi-

"please," miwa pleaded again, taking your hands and placing the book in it. "i'm really scared of him. he always looks like he's going to shoot me soon. even todo is pretty nice if you don't interrupt his takada-chan time!"

you sighed in annoyance, you just couldn't say no. ever since coming to the kyoto metropolitan curse tech, miwa and you had been pretty close because you strongly disliked the other students. most of them were arrogant and stuck-up, thinking they were better than the other; the two that belonged to the three clans were even worse. on your first day here you'd promptly gotten into a fight with mai, disliking how haughty she was and trying to prove everyone that she was better than them. much to your chagrin, the fight ended in a tie.

"fine, but you owe me some mango," miwa's face lit up in relief and she gave you a thumbs up before dashing to her room, most likely to escape noritoshi's wrath. you inspected the book. was it even worth returning it? maybe you could just throw it in the trash. if noritoshi ever found out, he'd kill miwa first and then you. you let out another sigh before making your way towards the training grounds. he most likely was outside to practice, either with one of the guys or alone. as you were nearing the training grounds, you could already hear the sound of arrows whistling and the dull thuds of them hitting the target. it was hard to spot him through all the trees; you weren't entirely sure where he was. your ears perked up when you heard him release another arrow until you realized that it was heading your way. this bastard. fortunately, you were able to slash the arrow clean in the middle, angrily pointing your sword in his direction. you still couldn't see him anywhere.

"you fucking idiot! you could've killed me," you snarled, stomping deeper into the forest. an amused laugh echoed through the trees.

"you're acting like i can't control my arrows. it's not my fault you let your guard down," noritoshi retorted smugly, lowering his bow as he saw you approaching. you were fuming, hurling the book at him. how dare he? you watched with satisfaction as it hit him square in the chest - who was caught off guard now, huh? he deserved it anyways.

"miwa asked me to return your book," you curtly explained and turned back around to leave but apparently, noritoshi had other plans. instead of saying anything else, he just followed you which unsettled you even more.

"stop following me."

"who said i was following you? i'm just going back to the dorms. i'm sorry you can't handle me being near you."

you whirled around, sword pointing dangerously close to his neck. he smirked at you triumphantly, it was just too easy to get a rouse out of you. "another word and i'll cut you, seriously. you're pissing me off," you gritted your teeth, hating that you always fell for his stupid games. he knew you all to well, what made you angry, what made you happy, what motivated you. once upon a time, you'd thought the same about him; until he changed so rapidly, so unlike your expectations. you were worlds apart and yet you'd reserved an ounce of hope that he wouldn't turn out to be as arrogant as the clan heads. swift as the wind, noritoshi grabbed your wrist, dragging it upwards and towards him until he could lean down to you. your heartbeat sped up - holy shit why was he so close to you - and you froze in shock.

"i'd like to see you try, princess," he whispered in your ear, the grip on your wrist tightening. "you wouldn't dare to."

the first time you met noritoshi, he was sitting outside in the garden with his mum. both seemed to have a good time. noritoshi's hair was tousled from the soft summer breeze and he had a soft smile on his face, happily munching away on the snacks that were displayed on the table. while he looked friendly enough, you were wary of meeting and talking to him because you felt kind of queasy around the kamo family. you couldn’t quite place a finger on the feeling, the older members of the family intimidating you to no end. much to your dismay, you felt like you had to be watchful - your parents worked for the kamo family, so naturally the apartment you lived in was close to the estate. you avoided any run ins with the adults, they weren’t exactly friendly to you. noritoshi’s mum had befriended your mum and they spent a lot of time together when possible. and yet you’d never met noritoshi before, seeing how busy he was with his various classes.

the fit that you threw, not wanting to tag along with your mum, was long forgotten when you’d spotted the jar of cookies on the table. before your mum could react, you pulled your hand away from hers and quickly ran towards it. “hello miss!” you greeted enthusiastically, your eyes shining at the sight of the sweets. “my name is y/n! i’m here with my mum and i uhm… could i have some of the cookies? please?” when your mum finally caught up to you, she scolded you quietly and greeted the other two, taking a seat beside noritoshi’s mum. you pouted, immediately climbing on her lap as you refused to sit next to the boy. his mum handed you a cookie which you happily took and thanked her politely. noritoshi was curiously eyeing you; it wasn’t often that he saw other children around his age and he didn’t have any friends to play with. his everyday life revolved around reading books, studying, taking archery classes and sometimes spending time with his mum. noritoshi barely even knew what fun was - he’d only ever felt at peace when he was around his mum.

“y/n, sweetie, why don’t you go and play with noritoshi?” your mum prompted but you immediately shook your head, hiding your face in her chest. she simply laughed and shook her head, brushing your hair back softly. “come on, noritoshi is really nice. you can be his friend one day, right? didn’t i tell you that friends are important?”

you frowned. then huffed. when she worded it like this, there was no way you could refuse. the cartoon that you religiously watched featured a group of friends that went on adventures and helped each other out. you’d told your mum that you wanted to be like that too! begrudgingly, you slid off her lap and trudged towards noritoshi who looked at you with big eyes. you held your hand out, waiting for him to shake it. “my name is y/n. uhm… nice to meet you,” you shyly whispered, eyes darting away from him.

it took a while until noritoshi reacted, shaking your hand gently and answering: “hello y/n, i’m noritoshi.”

much to your surprise, noritoshi was actually fun to be around with. he showed you his collection of books, the bow that he was practicing with and you often played the card game you’d received for your birthday together. he was smart and witty, often explaining you things that he’d read in a book but he was also attentive when he listened to you ramble about the other kids in school or when you told him about the cartoon that you were watching. for you, noritoshi was becoming your best friend - for noritoshi, you were his first friend. he cherished you and how unabashedly true to yourself you were. spending time with you was something he looked forward to; you always made him laugh and you didn’t care whether he lived up to the kamo family name or not. to you, he was simply noritoshi. you were like a fresh breeze of air in his life.

noritoshi didn't quite understand why the elders were always so hard on him, so strict and unrelenting. they expected only the best results from him and didn't show any understanding when he exhausted. he didn't enjoy practice anymore, the lessons becoming a chore and burden on his mind. but whenever he saw your face light up at his newly acquired skills, he thought it was worth the trouble. you came to visit him everyday after school, never skipping a day. sometimes he questioned why you weren't visiting your friends from school but you shook your head, poking his chest indignantly. "you're my best friend, 'toshi. of course i'd want to spend more time with you." noritoshi was glad you always chose him, without fail.

even though your parents had always warned you to be careful around noritoshi because his family was strict and didn't like outside influences distracting the heir, you never really strayed from his side. noritoshi didn't have any other friends, who would keep him company or listen to his troubles then? you didn't understand why your parents were suddenly going back on their word. they'd always told you that family and friends were important. you couldn't pinpoint your feelings for him - but your parents saw it. it was obvious; the stars in your eyes when you looked at him, the slight blush on your cheeks when he complimented you and how happy you were when you got to spend time with him. the more time you spent with him, the more they were worried for you.

"'toshi!" you yelled in excitement as you ran towards him, waving wildly. he dropped his bow and turned to you, a soft smile gracing his lips as he opened his arms to hug you. you squeezed him tightly. two weeks you hadn't seen him due to a school trip after which you got sick and weren't able to leave the house. you'd missed him a lot and you were excited to show him the souvenirs you brought him.

"look, i bought you an omamori!" you handed him the small object, then pointing on your bag to show him the one you'd bought for yourself. "i got myself a matching one too! my teacher said it wards off evil spirits and brings you luck." noritoshi's smile was bright, so bright. he was happy you thought of him and were always kind to him. your eyes widened as he leaned in to kiss your cheek before thanking you. the two of you were blushing, neither saying a word but not minding what had just happened.

the day noritoshi's mother left the estate was the day you were slowly starting to lose him. noritoshi grew more forlorn and didn't seem to easily find joy in anything anymore. the departure left a deep, deep gap in his heart. it had shocked him deep to the core when she left him. him. why couldn't she stay? why did she leave him when she was the only person who protected him, loved him? she did say that she was hindering his growth but who was she to decide that? he didn't want to become stronger, didn't want to protect other people like she'd told him to. he wanted to stay with her. "'toshi? 'toshi!" a concerned voice broke through his trance, pulling him back into reality. "i asked you a question! you weren't even listening to me."

you were pouting at him, tugging at his sleeve impatiently. noritoshi apologized, patting your head to soothe your temper. "what do you want to do in the future? mum said it's important to work towards your dreams!" you asked him curiously, grasping his hand to hold it. the gesture filled him with indescribable warmth, drawing him in like a moth to the flames. "my mum said i have a special power, i can heal people! i want to become a doctor in the future, so i can help everyone that got hurt," you explained to him so earnestly that he felt bad for the lie he was about to tell. noritoshi didn't have big dreams or ambitions just yet. he didn't even know what would be suitable to him - he was strictly following orders, never allowed to think for himself.

but when he looked at you, he only had one wish. "i think… i think i want to help people, protect them. especially those that i love."

with each year passing, you noticed that noritoshi was putting more and more distance between the two of you. at first you'd brushed it off as the stress of his training and number of classes he was attending. but as you spent less and less time together, the weight of the situation didn’t escape you. he was easily irritable, cold and arrogant, often rude towards employees of the kamo estate. every now and then when you’d scold him for being an asshole, he’d simply scoff at you and haughtily ask you how it was any of your business. you sighed, tossing and turning in your bed as you thought about how much noritoshi had changed. it kept you up at night, just thinking about how he wasn’t your ‘toshi anymore. you didn’t know this person. ‘toshi was always gentle and kind, he tended to overthink many things and sometimes he was a little bit of a crybaby but you still loved him regardless. you sneaked out of your room, finally mustering up enough courage to ask your mother for advice. the thought of her discovering your blooming crush on noritoshi was scaring you. your parents were wary around the kamos despite working from them - even more so ever since noritoshi’s mother left and the elders had free reign over her son.

“noritoshi! noritoshi, stop walking away from me! hey, i’m talking to you!” you yelled frustrated as you were trying to keep up with him. noritoshi was crossing the garden in long strides, it was nearly impossible to stop him as you couldn’t catch up to him. you lunged forward, getting hold of his sleeve and tugged him back harshly. noritoshi yanked his arm out of your grip, glaring at you annoyed.

“what do you want from me? i have better things to do than to quibble with you,” he hissed irritated. you couldn’t believe him, he had the nerve to dismiss you like this when he was in the wrong?

“you know exactly what i want from you! you can’t just go around and talk to people like you did before just because they’re not from a reputable family! noritoshi, you’re not any better than them just because your last name is kamo.”

as much as noritoshi scared you, you stood your ground. you knew he didn’t take you serious, not with the amused look he gave you. in the past month or two, noritoshi was suddenly hit by a growth spurt - you barely reached his shoulder now and he took advantage of that to mock you, often treating you like an armrest. he pat your head condescendingly, pouting at you in fake regret. “aw, did i hurt your feelings? did i make itty bitty little y/n sad?” he mocked you, before abruptly grabbing your cheeks to make you look at him. “i don’t care what you think of me, cry all you want. i strongly suggest you hold that sharp tongue of yours if you know what’s good. know your place.”

tears filled your eyes; noritoshi had never talked to you this way. what has gotten into him? your heart broke in pieces, unable to take the pain any longer. you were no longer his equal but below him, much like everyone else.

“mum?” you cautiously knocked at the door of her study, waiting for her response. your mother was most likely still awake and dealing with paperwork like she usually did. upon hearing the affirmative noise she made, you flitted inside, closing the door behind you so your father didn’t catch any wind of this. it was already embarrassing enough and you were sure your mother could offer you better advice. you gingerly took a seat on the armchair, grabbing a pillow and hugging it close to your body. how were you going to approach this? hey mum, i have a crush on noritoshi and he’s weird to me now and i don’t know why? uh yeah mum, i caught feelings for the guy you warned me about and now i look like a fool crawling up to you like this?

“it’s about noritoshi, isn’t it?” your mother interrupted your stream of thought, spinning her swivel chair towards you.

“huh? oh no it isn’t, why would it be? i have-”

“y/n.”

“ugh okay fine, maybe it is about him,” you sighed defeated, of course she would look right through you. she always seemed to know what you were thinking, even when you hadn’t confided in her before. “but promise me you won’t judge me!” the look in your mother’s eyes told you that she was going to judge you regardless but you knew she meant well - she simply wanted the best for you.

“i- i just don’t understand why he’s been such a pain in the ass lately. and he’s been treating everyone like dirt too, including me! mum, he’s becoming someone else and i… i don’t know what to do,” you sniffled inconsolably, wiping at your eyes with the sleeves of your sweater. she wasn’t supposed to see you getting emotional. “he’s always busy and when we do get to see each other, he doesn’t want to spend time with me. what if he doesn’t like me anymore? and i don’t like how he’s treating you! it’s the same issue with the elders, they don’t know any human decency at all!”

your mother motioned you to scoot over a little and sat next to you, wrapping her arms around you and patting your back to console you. while she meant well, it accomplished the opposite - you broke down in tears, unable to stop your sobs. “i just want my ‘toshi back,” you whimpered upset, burying your face in the pillow to muffle the sound of you crying. “i know you didn’t like that i became good friends with him but i couldn’t help it and i just really like him and- you weren’t supposed to find that out.”

“sweetheart, i know you love noritoshi,” she handed you a tissue. “you let a lot more on than you were aware of; dad and me always knew you were in love with him.” as if on cue, your sobbing stopped and you just looked at her in disbelief. she knew. she knew. you wanted the earth to swallow you whole. “i think it was always pretty obvious, to be honest. you always looked at him as if he was your entire world and no matter what happened, you were always by his side. i know it’s hard to accept when a dear friend is changing but sometimes you just have to, right? both of you are still growing, there’s no way of telling how your personalities change.”

“but i don’t want him to change like this,” you protested stubbornly, glaring at her. she was talking about it as if it was a matter of simply discarding a bad apple in the trash. it wasn’t easy and it made you anxious. you grew up together, shared secrets and memories. he was the person you’d always looked up to.

“y/n.” your mother sounded stern but you didn’t back down, not yet. “is it really worth it? if a person is changing so rapidly and you’re not getting through to them, you’ll have to let it go. there’s only so much you can do. people grow apart sometimes, it’s only natural. you have to let go of them, temporarily, so you both can heal and grow. y/n, i know you’re being stubborn about this but you’ll have to let him figure things out on his own. fate has curious ways to bring people back together.”

when the time came, noritoshi left to attend the kyoto metropolitan curse tech school without telling you a word. you were disappointed, apparently you weren’t worth saying goodbye to. whatever his reason was, it must’ve been pretty important. important enough to forget the promise that you’d always stay in contact. you wondered whether he'd change again, for the better maybe? maybe you would reconcile when you could finally attend the school as well and train together. you were excited to show him your sword skills, having received your family's heirloom, an elegant steel blue sword. though your skills probably weren’t up to par with the other students, you still wanted to show them off, show him what you’d learned in the year that you spent apart.

noritoshi had changed but not for the better. holy shit, did he get on your nerves. the first time he'd practiced with you, you realized that he had mutated into an insufferable know-it-all. he would give you backhanded compliments or make snide remarks about your posture, how you were supposed to hold your sword, how inefficient your fighting style was. sometimes you wished you could just beat him for once and have him shut up. there was no denying though, noritoshi was way too strong and you had a long way to go. judging from the reactions of the others, barely anyone had beat him either.

and just like that, your feelings for him were buried. you’d taken your mother’s advice to heart, keeping conversations and interactions with him to a minimum but somehow noritoshi always found his way to you. he was everywhere and a quarrel was inevitable. noritoshi got under your skin and he knew how to push your buttons. why he chose to pick on you was beyond your comprehension; he didn’t pay much attention to the other students nor was he particularly liked by them. just how much was he going to get on everyone else’s nerves? out of all the second years, todo aoi was the most amicable; you had the (dis)pleasure to run into him on your first day and for some reason, he took a liking to you. while he was loud and boisterous, mostly doing whatever he wanted, you couldn’t deny that he was a good friend. even though he didn’t care about anyone as much as he cared about takada-chan. at one point, he’d looked at you in sympathy when he caught you staring at noritoshi, patting your shoulder (too forceful): “i’m sorry, y/n, i’m so sorry.”

you still didn’t know what he meant by that.

ps.: todo knows and he’s kinda judging you for your taste in men

#jujutsu kaisen #kamo noritoshi #noritoshi #noritoshi x reader #kamo noritoshi x reader #noritoshi kamo #noritoshi kamo x reader #noritoshi x you #kamo noritoshi x you #noritoshi kamo x you #noritoshi kamo imagines #kamo noritoshi imagines #jujutsu kaisen imagines #noritoshi imagines #fic: sanguine #writing #my writing has gotten SO incredibly rusty i literally only know how to write academic papers anymore bc that's all i do in my everyday life #it makes me speechless to see all the love on my previous sukuna fic and i'm so glad people are enjoying it #hey if you're lurking in the tags thank you for reading i really appreciate it! pls stay hydrated

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lazarettta · 3 years

Text

Misthios VII

Pairing (Mother Miranda x Spartan!Reader)

Rating (M)

Word Count (4.6k)

Warning (probably language right now)

You and Miranda are finally moving on to having that long chat that's separated you both for centuries.

The Queen's eyes fluttered open, finally waking with the morning rays of the sun peaking over the mountain. Her balcony doors were wide open to let the cool night breeze into her personal chambers while the two fireplaces burned well into the night. It was a combination of warm and cool that her majesty enjoyed greatly as it helped her with sleep.

Of course, sharing her bed with you also aided with her troubles with sleep for the past few months since your arrival to the region. Wonderful in all the ways she could never have imagined; a warrior and a lover, the two things that made her life easier—and the lives of her enemies that much worse.

It had been well past dinner time when you returned to the castle along with the squadron of soldiers you'd gone with including a Captain of the military who was leading the raid. Part of your armor had been slashed and torn, stained with blood and whatever else you encountered outside of the castle walls.

But when Miranda stood in the doorway of her private bath watching as you stripped of your amour—she witnessed no open wounds for her to tend to or fret over, but blood stained your skin anyway. Even though she knew that she should have the moment she noticed: Miranda never questioned why you'd always have a new scar every other day or why your shirts had the evidence of a stab wound taking place right above your hip, including a blood stain, but all you could do was smile when asked about it.

“ Is everything alright, your majesty?”

Miranda blinked, her mind coming back to reality now finding herself sitting up in her bed currently being blinded by the morning sun. The Queen sighed heavily, looking down at your sleeping form—as always you were on your back with one arm tucked beneath one of the pillows behind your head and the other was being used as Miranda's pillow for most of the night. As always.

Like herself, you were bare as the day you were born...your entire torso shamelessly revealed for her roaming insatiable eyes...and she smirked when a particularly cool breeze swept through the room. She watched the goosebumps rise under your exposed skin, including your nipples making Miranda hum softly.

“ Y-your majesty?”

Miranda, suddenly remembering just what, or rather who, had bothered her before and looked towards the girl, pleased when she saw that her eyes were on the floor.

“ Everything is more than alright, girl, however you may leave... I'll be out shortly.”

A hand curling around her waist brought Miranda's gaze from the closing double doors where the meek girl disappeared through and back to you. Your eyes were still closed but you were starting to wake up, stretching like a feline and again Miranda's eyes were drawn to your chest.

“ Carved by the Gods,” she mumbled, the tips of her nails tracing your firm abdomen with no particular pattern, simply enjoying the light marks she was leaving behind around your belly button, knowing how much you enjoyed when she did that as well.

You saw the thoughtful look on Miranda's face when you opened your eyes but you couldn't stop the giant yawn from escaping, “Morning,”

Miranda smiled down at you, enjoying the way the sun made your skin glow but you weren't fooled by that smile—you were used to Miranda's smiles and this was one of her worries. The sort of smile where she wanted to reassure you while scolding you at the same time. You pulled away slightly, and sat up a bit so you could give her your full attention. When the monarch remained silent, simply staring at you, all you could do was raise an eyebrow...waiting.

Miranda scoffed at the action, shaking her head, “It's ironic isn't it, how we the others tales...but we do not truly know each other, do we?”

You shrugged, smirking at her—refusing to hint at the nerves beginning to crawl up your spine, “Pretty sure we know each other inside and out, your highness.”

Miranda gave you a look, clearly unimpressed, “Yes, beneath that charm and nonchalance...is something quite fascinating, isn't there? And...it seems that your truth only comes to light during battle.”

“ Pardon?” you sat up a little more now, eyebrows furrowed—unsure where Miranda was going with this but you no doubt that it probably wasn't going to be good for you. Especially since you're naked and vulnerable but not defenseless.

“ Captain Ake came to me last night after I left you to your bath, he seemed quite concerned with something...and quite frankly, I'm curious myself.” Miranda's hand had stopped tracing patterns on your stomach, but her hand still lingered...and the moment her index finger traced over the raised skin right next to your belly button, the brand new one, you knew you fucked up.

“ About what?�� You mumbled not daring to look down at her hand, and her eyes burned into yours—playing dumb would only get you so far—probably the dungeons if you were lucky. You knew exactly what Ake was concerned with though you weren't sure if he actually saw you take a sword through your gut as it was so dark and everything happened within a blink or two.

“ What I am going to say next may sound crazy, however, Captain Ake is one of my most loyal subject in this castle, and quite sane...he claims to have witnessed you being impaled,” Miranda exhaled slowly, “By the enemy...and somehow managed to walk away from it, unharmed. Would you mind telling me what happened, my dear?”

You stared at her for a second, “And...you believed him? Could I have really been stabbed by a sword and do what I did last night? Do you know how insane you sound?”

“ Watch your tongue! You're still addressing your Queen, warrior.”

“ I'm sorry, but you seriously don't believe that shit do you?”

“ I've been noticing a few things myself, (Y/n)...and I would really like some answers myself.”

“ Right. I'll take that as my signal to leave, your majesty. Thanks for letting me sleep here last night.”

Miranda's eyes narrowed slightly, reaching out to grab your wrist to prevent you from running from her, “(Y/n), do not run from me...I'm only trying to understand! You can trust me, this I promise you, I'm not going to hurt you.”

You wanted to believe her, but you had to learn the hard way that trust was nothing but a word—a word that can be broken over and over. You were too stupid to learn in the past but you weren't about to do the same thing now. Pushing the covers aside you threw some mundane excuse over your shoulder but before you could actually get to the edge of the bed, you were pulled back and pushed back into your previous position. It didn't actually hurt but it wasn't gentle either but you were pretty sure that it was Miranda that moved you, but you hadn't actually felt or seen her move a muscle.

“ W...how? Miranda?!”

Miranda smiled shyly at your bewildered expression—a very rare expression from the Queen but like yourself, she was feeling quite vulnerable, “You're not alone, (Y/n)...and neither am I.”

“ Neither....are you?” Miranda chuckled at your expression and your inability to put two and two together. When you tried to sit back up, Miranda's shy smile morphed into something more amused and predatory because you realized that you couldn't move—and Miranda still hadn't moved an inch.

“ Ah, now do I have your full attention?”

The closer you got to Miranda's home the more treacherous the path became and you'd lost sight of the woman flying low above the trees ten minutes ago—or what you thought to be ten minutes, you weren't sure. Your eyes were glued to the ground, keeping a firm but relaxed grip on the reign of your stallion, Bruce, whispering gently to him. Alcina called him a gentle giant and she wasn't exaggerating. The path was narrow and very unkempt but you wouldn't expect Miranda to make things easy, especially access to her private home.

There was a point that you weren't even sure you and Bruce were actually going to make it across but there was no way you could've turned the massive horse around either, forward was the only way and you weren't ashamed to admit that your heart was pounding hard enough to crack bones. The moment you cleared the trees, Miranda's home finally came into view—and you were not disappointed. It was a simple two story cabin practically etched into the mountain and you wanted to know how the hell she managed to get this place on the sliver of rock.

You'd brought Bruce to a stop just as Miranda appeared and landed gracefully on her porch even with her heels on (you caught a glimpse of them earlier when she started flying). From her porch alone, Miranda had a perfect view of everything . The village, the manor sitting on the waterfall, the factory and of course the castle. There was a light blanket of fog obscuring most of the view, but it was still breathtaking all the same.

You dismounted Bruce easily, gently guiding him to the post next to Miranda's porch. You fed him a few sugar cubes, gingerly untangling part of his dark mane and pulling free a few twigs and leaves.

“Further up the path I have there's a stable for him, we can take him later.”

You turned to look at Miranda, finding her standing in the door looking at you, her expression unreadable and you were too tired to try and decipher it. You double checked the post before steeling your nerves and joining her on her porch, it was roomier than it actually looked and you spotted a hammock on the other corner—not the usual netted sort, it looked like a quilt and quite comfortable too.

You followed Miranda inside, shutting out the cold—the interior of Miranda's home had you stock still at the front door with your hand still on the door knob. The space was open, having the living room and the eating area open with no barrier, and you could easily see the kitchen from where you stood. It was...cozy and warm.

“Surprised?” Miranda's voice brought your eyes to where she was, now half way up the stairs behind the kitchen wall, she wore a soft smile, the front of her robes already opened (you didn't even realize the fucking thing even had a zipper), revealing the slacks and blouse she wore underneath, “Did you expect me to live in a cave?”

“I expected you to at least have a TV.”

Miranda smirked but it didn't reach her eyes, “Are you going to stand there bitching about the lack of media corruption or do you want that shower?”

Your hand finally relaxed off of the door knob, the light throbbing resulting in just how hard you were holding the poor thing. You kicked off your boots at the door—they were covered in mud, snow and probably horse shit at some point, they were filthy. And the last thing you wanted to do was dirty up Miranda's wood floors.

She waited until you were on the stairs to continue up herself while slipping her robe from her shoulders and casually throwing it over her arm as if it were just a towel. “There are only three rooms on this floor. My own, the guest room and the bathroom.”

You raised an eyebrow, “One bathroom?”

“I don't exactly keep guests, dear.”

“So then why the extra bedroom?” you were being a shit, you knew it, but you couldn't help it—Miranda made it easy for you to tease her sometimes (all the time). You wanted to be more bothered over how easy it was for you to fall back into old habits with this woman.

“The longer you stand there being an idiot, the colder your water gets.”

You raised your hands slightly, moving past her towards the door she pointed to, flipping on the light—it was roomier than you expected it to be, dark and a bit modern but Miranda somehow still managed to keep it grand and medieval. The floor was made of stone, there was a grand shower with a curved glass door and next to it was a bear claw of a tub, melded into the floor like it was a hot spring. Across the floor was a single sink and a mirror, and next to it a door where you assumed you'd find the towels and toiletries. Just past the tub, was the toilet though there was a half wall there to offer some privacy and you spotted your backpack sitting on top of it neatly and that finally gave you pause.

“Figured you didn't want to walk around naked or wearing any of my clothes.”

You hadn't even noticed that you had actually walked into the bathroom, admiring it's simple yet beautiful décor or that Miranda followed you in until the shower sprung to life next to you.

She smiled at you apologetically, not having meant to startle you—but seeing you so easily bothered helped put her at ease. Miranda was good at hiding it, but she was quite nervous. Having you so near and so far from her at the same time in the comfort of her own home, her sanctuary—none of the other Lord's knew where she lived, they probably thought she lived in a cave or a nest or something. You were Miranda's first house guest since she arrived in this village.

She closed the shower door, watching you open your backpack—checking through it, and she couldn't stop the small smile from forming after you smirked, realizing that you were still without your weapons. But you didn't make a comment on it, instead beginning to pull out the things that you needed—until you realized that she was still in the room as well.

You raised an eyebrow at Miranda, and her smile only grew but the blonde simply shrugged her wings and tucked her wings tighter to her back as she exited the room, “I'll be downstairs when you're finished...”

“Miranda—”

She paused and you froze, fuck, why did you do that? You hadn't meant to call out to her, but your mouth was faster than your brain sometimes and now she was looking at you expectantly and all you could do was stare at her like a jackass. There was so much, too much, that you wanted to say but where could you even start? Why were you getting this courage in the fucking bathroom of all places?

“Downstairs.” She reminded you gently when the silence stretched too long—you had panicked and she saw that, and instead of jumping on you like the predator you knew that she was fully capable of being—she left you alone to your thoughts and the hot water steaming the room, calling your name. It was a welcome distraction even if it wouldn't be a forever one.

“Being immortal really is overrated.”

Miranda didn't go downstairs immediately, instead making a beeline for her bedroom and closed the door behind her but left it ajar enough for her to still hear you in the bathroom. Miranda carefully hung up her 'Mother Miranda' robe and began stripping out of the clothes she's been wearing for the past two days along with her rings; finally taking off the crown of Mother and just becoming Miranda with every stitch of clothing she removed from her flawless skin.

Standing naked in front of her full-length mirror, Miranda whispered a delicate but very familiar spell she's known since she was a small child and she winced quietly as her wings folded back into her body for the next six or seven hours. The spell wasn't forever but Miranda often used it when she was home to avoid breaking her things as she often did if she let her wings remain as they were, they often got restless if she stayed home and still too long so she just opted for putting them away to save herself the trouble. And money.

When the last two smaller ones on her lower back finally retreated into her skin, Miranda rolled her shoulders to pop out the kinks. She got dressed in a pair of washed out pants and a v-neck shirt, and at the last minute Miranda threw on her dark wool cardigan before heading back downstairs but not before pausing outside of the bathroom door. She heard you humming over the shower and though she didn't recognize the song, it still made her smile.

Suddenly feeling like a creeper, Miranda moved away from the door and went downstairs to start on the coffee she was craving earlier. She got her fireplace going but that all took less than ten minutes and now she found herself back in her kitchen, pulling ingredients from her refrigerator to give her something to do besides fret.

“ You shouldn't be so comfortable with your champion, in public.” Fritjof complained for the thousandth time in her ear—he was one of her primary advisors, having been employed by her late husband, the former King. He was always a bit of an annoyance, but he often proved himself useful and unwittingly saved his own life time to time from Miranda's ire.

“ I was only congratulating her on another victorious raid on a neighboring kingdom that thought it wise to steal from us, or have you forgotten that little fact, Fritjof?”

He frowned, not liking her tone but he quickly corrected his features knowing that they were still in the halls on their way to the Queen's study, but there were still eyes on them, “I...yes, but it sends the wrong message when you send a blood wolf to handle this kingdoms affairs instead of your loyal officers! You make us all look weak!”

Miranda stopped walking, and whirled around on Fritjof, her coat wrapping around her leather clad legs as she did so, and the frail man jumped back a step, knowing that he overstepped a line severely, “A-apologies—”

“ You will apologize with your tongue!” Miranda hissed, “Though I'm sure (Y/n) would rather have your head for all the times you've questioned her loyalty to this kingdom! We're coming up on eight years, Fritjof, and (Y/n) has helped this kingdom prosper more than you ever could've in your twenty years with my late husband.” Miranda sneered dangerously, edging closer to him and the terrified man could only back up into the table, knocking over a vase but Miranda paid it no mind, “One more word about this and I will have you removed. Permanently.”

Fritjof swallowed harshly, beads of sweat forming at his hairline and rolling down his face, and Miranda's sneer deepened in disgust, “Please, your highness, I'm only looking out for the future of the kingdom! It—it needs an heir and a King! The other kingdoms will never recognize your power without either—” his words were cut off when Miranda struck him down, a single line of blood staining a portrait on the wall behind him. Miranda struck faster than he could react and Fritjof cried out in pain, alerting the guards who came running but stopped when they saw their Sovereign standing over the slimy advisor holding part of his face, blood starting to seep through his fingers.

“ For every brilliant woman, there's always a stupid man thing to be found.” Miranda stepped over his pathetic body and continued on her way, rolling her shoulders back when her back began to twinge in response to her high and irritated emotions, and she needed release. “Get him out of my sight and find my champion; send her to me when you do.”

“ Yes, my Queen.” They both replied, one of them roughly hauling Fritjof to his feet and pushing him forward, but not before the man could cast one last glance at Miranda's retreating back until he was shoved forward. “Move!”

The cabin was filled with the aroma of sweet bread and coffee and your stomach was growling something vicious halfway down the stairs after you put your back in the guest room. Miranda had her back to you and you took the moment to stop at the bottom of the stairs to just observe her. The very first thing you noticed was that her wings were gone and she was more relaxed—it probably had a lot to do with her being in her own home, and it was starting to make more sense why she wanted to be in the comfort of her own home for this conversation. Though her argument for privacy was valid as well.

Your eyes flickered around the open space, spotting something tucked in the corner of the living room and scoffed without meaning to and alerting Miranda of your presence, if she wasn't already. She turned from her task of fixing you both something to eat to watch you walk across the room to where the object of your interest lay with a carefully crafted expression.

“Didn't take you for owning a rifle.”

“It's ten years old, I believe.” Miranda hummed quietly, dusting off her hands before taking down a couple of plates from the cabinet above the stove. You looked at her when she didn't elaborate, really curious now.

“It's in pretty good condition, really beautiful...where did you get it?” you checked the clip and saw that there were exactly ten rounds in there. When Miranda didn't answer you immediately, you found her watching you.

“It's not mine.” Miranda set the plates at the small eating table that could easily seat two other people, “I took it from a witch hunter as he was so kind to come all this way to visit. He tried to kill me in my sleep like a coward. He intrudes upon my home and couldn't be bothered to give me an honorable death. The audacity of men certainly hasn't changed over the years.”

Her tone was not lost on you and you knew that the witch hunter was long dead. You traced the steel design grip, impressed at the detail—and distracted.

“Oh, so now you hate men?” Ah... and once again your mouth was faster than your brain could process, and just like that her eyes were on your back—you felt it.

“I've always hated men, (Y/n). I...” she sighed harshly, her eyes turning into a glare, “Stop doing that, you don't have the entire story so if you're done being an ass and running from this conversation—I would really like to clear the air between us so we can move on from this.”

“You mean your truth that you want me to hear so badly?” You chuckled though it lacked any amusement. You set the rifle down, finally giving her your full attention then sighed heavily—a sudden exhaustion falling over you, “Would it really matter at this point, Miranda? It happened centuries ago...we both moved on, why do you want to drudge this back up?”

“Why don't you?” Miranda moved around the table, the coffee and snack forgotten in the moment, but she didn't try to approach you, “I'm not the only one who was in the wrong, (Y/n).”

“Do you think I cared about your status when I found out the woman I loved married a man behind my back and didn't even fucking tell me! I had to find out in the middle of that stupid ball you wanted to throw so bad after we invaded those rebellion villages. I gave you everything and you betrayed me . I crossed lines for you, Miranda. I thought that would warrant enough decency to be honest with me. I-”

You stopped, your face was hot and you exhaled heavily—doing your best not to sniffle, you hated that you were the type to fucking cry when your emotions bubbled to the surface too fast. Especially when the topic is something you've buried long deep in the dark corners of your mind with no hope for daylight again. You just never thought you'd bump into your past like this. And it's been years since you've had to deal with anything on a personal level after your last child passed away fifty years ago at the tender age of eighty-six.

Miranda saw the emotions playing across your face with a frown but otherwise her own emotions were carefully hidden, she was always better at that than you were, and inched closer, “(Y/n)...”

“We've both obviously lived with this hurt and came out fine,” you cut her off, not looking at her but instead at your bare toes with your hands back in your pockets, “What's closure gonna do besides bring up old hurt?”

“No, that's not it at all, I just...” Miranda coughed lightly and cleared her throat,—your question was valid as she's asked herself this many times before, asking herself why she didn't just let you go in the forest—she could've let you go and saved you both from this reopened wound. But she didn't because she couldn't and Miranda wouldn't apologize for it. Because she's always been a selfish woman, and one of her most selfish needs—even when she first laid eyes on you—she knew that you were hers. That never changed, time could never take that away from her.

“This life is long and lonely, (Y/n)...and I've made many mistakes, most I will never have a chance to atone for...and when I saw you,” Miranda looked into your eyes and bit her bottom lip, you weren't even looking at her anymore, “I've lost so much in this life, and I refused to lose you a second time. The first time I was...I was corrupted with greed and power, but I was stupid and it cost me everything too, (Y/n).”

You looked up, surprised by her words, “He took your kingdom from you, didn't he?”

“ You!” Miranda moved closer, though you hardly noticed because you were focused on her eyes that were duller than they were down in the village but just as clear, bright and brimming with tears, “He took you from me. He took us away from each other, (Y/n). I'm not innocent in it either, I...I could've done something about it, but I didn't and it was the biggest mistake I could've made in my entire existence. And I think about it more than I care to admit, I think about you...wondering what sort of life we could've shared together had I made better choices. I'm...I'm sorry, (Y/n).”

Miranda was close enough to touch you now, and this time she didn't hesitate nor did you pull away when both of her hands cupped your cheeks, making you shiver. “Miranda...”

Miranda's hands tightened on your face, obviously thinking you were about to argue again but you were tired of arguing with her, over this...before she could speak, you took Miranda by surprise and pulled her into a tight embrace, both of your arms around her waist and you caught her when her entire body sagged in your arms. You had no idea what was going to happen after this, but that little piece of you that longed for the closure you never got...began to grow.

“I'll stay.”

#resident evil miranda x reader #resident evil village #resident evil 8 #mother miranda x reader #mother miranda #assassins creed odyssey

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