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sofiamantegafan110 · 9 months

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NEW X-MEN EPISODE 11 (SEASON FINALE!)

EPISODE 11- THE TIES THAT BIND

WE OPEN UP IN A DARK ROOM AS A SHADOW ANNOUNCES THAT AFTER SO LONG, IT IS FINALLY TIME. WITH THE BLOOD OF THE DESCENDANT, THE MASTER WILL AWAKEN AGAIN. ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE PRECISION. THE SHADOW LOOMS OVER A PICTURE THAT WE LATER SEE IS TAKEN FROM SOFIA’S INSTAGRAM. IT FEATURES CLARICE AND SOFIA AT THE MALL WITH A CIRCLE DRAWN AROUND CLARICE’S FACE. WE THEN ZOOM IN ON THE PICTURE OF CLARICE BEFORE ZOOMING OUT TO SEE CLARICE PLAYING CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY WITH THE OTHERS.

SHADOW: SOON, CHILD… SOON…

CUE INTRO AND CREDITS

IN THE LOUNGE, THE NEW MUTANTS ARE TREATING THEMSELVES TO A NICE DAY OFF. JULIAN, CESSILY, SOFIA, AND CLARICE ARE PLAYING CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY WHILE SANTO IS GETTING HIS ASS WHUPPED BY ROXY IN SUPER SMASH BROS, LAURA AND SOORAYA ARE MEDITATING ON THE COUCH, AND JAY IS STRUMMING HIS GUITAR. JULIAN, SOFIA, AND CESSILY HAND THEIR CARDS TO CLARICE WHO LOOKS AT THEM.

CLARICE: OKAY. AS A REMINDER, THE PROMPT IS “___, THAT’S HOW I WANT TO DIE.” LET’S SEE, FIRST UP IS “SUCKING PERIOD CLUMPS THROUGH A BOBA STRAW.” THAT’S INTERESTING. “BECOMING A BLUEBERRY.” DIDN’T THAT HAPPEN TO THAT GIRL IN THAT MOVIE? “THE INCREDIBLE GARY, HE’LL SUCK YOUR NIPPLES.” FUNNY, BUT I DON’T THINK THAT’LL WIN EVERY TIME. AND…

CLARICE LOOKS AT THE LAST CARD AND BURSTS OUT LAUGHING. SHE THEN PLACES THE CLEAR WINNER CARD ON THE TABLE FOR THEM ALL TO SEE THAT IT READS “DANIEL RADCLIFFE’S DELICIOUS ASSHOLE.” SOFIA PUMPS HER FIST IN VICTORY WHILE CESSILY ACCUSES CLARICE OF FAVORITISM. JULIAN SIGHS AND SAYS THAT HOPEFULLY, THEY’LL HAVE SOME TIME TO PERFECT THEIR SKILLS DURING PARENT’S WEEK. AFTER ALL, THEY’RE NOT REALLY EXPECTING ANYONE.

ROXY: WAIT. NONE OF YOU ARE EXCITED FOR PARENT’S WEEK? DON’T YOU HAVE FOLKS COMING TO SEE YOU?

CESSILY: MY PARENTS AREN’T… THEY’RE NOT COMING.

SOFIA: NEITHER IS MY FATHER. HE’S CLEARLY SHOWN NO INTEREST IN ME.

JAY: MY MA SAID SHE HAD TO TAKE A RAINCHECK. PLUS, IT WOULD BE WEIRD TO HAVE TO GREET ALL MY SIBLINGS.

JULIAN: MY ‘RENTS ARE SKIING IN THE ALPS. NO BIG.

SANTO: SAME AS JAY.

LAURA: AND LOGAN IS TOO BUSY TRAVELING.

SOFIA: WHAT ABOUT YOU, CLARICE?

CLARICE: I… I DUNNO. I BARELY REMEMBER MY BIRTH PARENTS. THEY DIED WHEN I WAS YOUNG, AND I WAS IN FOSTER CARE BEFORE I TURNED TWELVE. SO AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, YOU GUYS ARE THE FAMILY THAT I GET TO SPEND TIME WITH NOW.

CESSILY FEELS BAD FOR CLARICE AND TELLS HER THAT MAYBE SOMEDAY, SHE’LL LEARN WHO HER PARENTS WERE. CLARICE THANKS HER AND GIVES AN UNEASY SMILE AS JULIAN DEALS OUT THE CARDS FOR THE NEXT ROUND.

MEANWHILE, ANGEL SITS IN DR. MCCOY’S OFFICE, ASKING MARTHA HOW HER DAY WENT. ALTHOUGH MARTHA DOESN’T REALLY RESPOND, ANGEL SEEMS TO CONVERSE WITH HER ANYWAYS. BEAST SAYS THAT HE’S GLAD THEY’RE MAKING FRIENDS, BUT NOW, HE NEEDS TO RUN SOME TESTS ON MARTHA. HOPEFULLY, HE CAN MAKE A NEW BODY FOR MARTHA BY THE END OF THE SEMESTER, AND ANGEL NEEDS TO BE ASSIGNED TO A SQUAD. BEFORE ANGEL CAN SAY ANYTHING, A NATIVE AMERICAN MAN ENTERS. HE INTRODUCES HIMSELF AS JAMES PROUDSTAR, ANGEL’S NEW ADVISOR.

LATER, DANI AND SCOTT WATCH AS PARENTS ARRIVE, AND DANI COMMENTS ON THE LOW TURNOUT. SCOTT AGREES, SAYING THAT IT’S HARD WHEN YOU’RE A MUTANT, AND YOU CAN’T EXPECT A LOT FROM YOUR BIRTH PARENTS. LAURIE HUGS HER MOM WITH A SMILE, INTRODUCING CLARICE AND SOFIA. GAIL COLLINS SMILES AT THE GIRLS AS THEY HOLD HANDS, AND SMILES MORE WHEN LAURIE INTRODUCES JOSH AS HER BOYFRIEND. GAIL LAUGHS THEN, SAYING THAT LAURIE’S BEEN TELLING HER A LOT ABOUT HIM, CAUSING JOSH TO CHUCKLE.

CLARICE TELLS LAURIE THAT IT’S NICE TO HAVE FAMILY WHO LIVE NEARBY, BUT LAURIE SAYS THAT IT HAS ITS DOWNSIDES TOO. AFTER ALL, SHE ENDS UP SEEING HER MOM NEARLY EVERY WEEK. BEFORE CLARICE CAN MAKE A SNARKY COMMENT, XUAN WALKS UP TO HER, SAYING THAT THERE’S SOMEONE WHO REQUESTED TO SEE HER SPECIFICALLY. CLARICE LOOKS OVER AT SOFIA, NERVOUS, BEFORE FOLLOWING XUAN. SHE THEN SEES A WRINKLED OLD MAN IN A WHEELCHAIR, WHEELING OVER TO HER. SHE LOOKS CONFUSED AND ASKS WHO HE IS, BUT PAUSES WHEN HE OPENS HIS EYES, REVEALING A SIMILAR SHADE OF GREEN WITHOUT ANY PUPILS OR IRISES.

MAN: SWEET CLARICE. MY NAME IS FREDRICK SLADE. AND I AM YOUR GRANDFATHER.

MEANWHILE, SOFIA IS BEING ASKED A QUESTION BY GAIL, BUT PAUSES WHEN SHE LOOKS AT SOMEONE BEHIND HER, A BLACK MAN IN HIS LATE 50’S DRESSED NEATLY IN A DAPPER SUIT. SHE APOLOGIZES FOR BEING RUDE, BUT SHE SEES SOMEONE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. AN OLD FRIEND.

SHE RUNS UP AND HUGS HER FATHER’S FORMER ASSISTANT DEREK, WHO SMILES WHEN HE SEES HER, SPINNING HER AROUND HAPPILY. SOFIA STATES HOW GLAD SHE IS TO SEE HIM, AND DEREK TELLS HER THAT HE WOULDN’T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD. HE THEN SAYS THAT HE HAS A SURPRISE FOR HER. HE CALLED SOFIA’S FATHER AND HE SHOULD BE ARRIVING THE NEXT DAY, WHICH BRINGS SOFIA TO HAPPY TEARS.

MEANWHILE, CLARICE ASKS FREDRICK IF HE REALLY IS HER GRANDFATHER, WHY DIDN’T HE LOOK FOR HER? FREDRICK TELLS HER THAT HE TRIED, BUT IT WAS HARD TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH OF THE RED TAPE. HE EXPLAINS THAT HE LOVED AND RAISED CLARICE’S FATHER FOR SOME TIME, CARING FOR HIM FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE. BUT ONCE HER FATHER MARRIED HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART, HE DECIDED TO PUT HIS PAST BEHIND HIM AND START A NEW LIFE WITH HIS FAMILY. HE MOVED TO HER MOTHER’S HOMETOWN OF THE BAHAMAS, WHICH IS WHERE CLARICE WAS BORN. WHAT WAS INTERESTING WAS THAT THEIR BLOODLINE MOSTLY CONTAINED PEOPLE OF THE MUTANT GENE. FREDRICK WAS A MUTANT, SO HE WAS SURPRISED WHEN THE MUTANT GENE SKIPPED A GENERATION, ONLY TO BE GIVEN TO CLARICE.

FREDRICK SAYS THAT HE TRIED TO PROVIDE FOR HIS SON AND CLARICE AS BEST HE COULD FROM FAR AWAY, BUT HIS EFFORTS WERE ALL FOR NOTHING. CLARICE’S PARENTS WERE KILLED IN A CAR CRASH DURING A GETAWAY IN NORTH CAROLINA, AND BEFORE FREDRICK COULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP CLARICE, SHE WAS PUT UP FOR ADOPTION. AND NOW, HE’S FINALLY FOUND HER.

CLARICE: WOW. I MEAN, THIS IS A LOT TO UNPACK HERE. BUT SINCE YOU’RE HERE, ANY CHANCE YOU COULD TELL ME ABOUT MY PARENTS? I DON’T REMEMBER A LOT ABOUT THEM.

FREDRICK: I’VE TOLD YOU ALL I CAN AT THIS TIME. BUT IF YOU MEET ME AT MY HOUSE TOMORROW AND YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I WILL BE PLEASED TO ANSWER THEM.

CLARICE NODS AND TELLS HIM THAT SHE IS GLAD TO SEE HIM. FREDRICK SMILES AND THEN WRITES DOWN HIS ADDRESS FOR CLARICE BEFORE WHEELING AWAY, CLARICE WATCHING IN INTRIGUE.

MEANWHILE, ANGEL FOLLOWS WARPATH ACROSS THE HALLWAY, ASKING ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING SQUADS. JAMES TELLS HER THAT IT’S USEFUL TO LEARN HOW TO USE HER POWERS WHILE WORKING TOGETHER WITH FELLOW STUDENTS. AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PALADINS HAVE BEEN EXPECTING A FINAL MEMBER. WITH THAT, HE OPENS THE DOOR IN FRONT OF HIM, REVEALING SEVEN TEENS. THE FIRST ONE IS A BLUE-SKINNED GUY WITH WHITE HAIR IN A FLOPPY MOHAWK WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY CHATTING WITH TWO SLUG-LIKE CREATURES. BESIDE HIM IS A DARK-SKINNED BOY WITH GLASSES WHO IS DEEPLY ENGROSSED IN HIS BOOK, AND HE SITS NEXT TO A JAPANESE GIRL WITH SHORT BLUE HAIR AND METAL GAUNTLETS ON HER ARMS. AT LEAST ONE MEMBER OF THE TEAM HAS APPEARED BEFORE; THE PIGTAILED BLONDE FROM THE CHEER SQUAD, WHO IS SITTING NEXT TO A SCRAWNY BOY WITH A VERY AVIAN FACE AND A SULLEN-LOOKING GIRL WITH MAGENTA HAIR WHO IS PULLING OUT ONE OF THE MANY BONES STICKING OUT OF HER BODY.

THE BOY WITH THE BLUE SKIN STEPS UP FIRST. HE SAYS THAT HIS NAME IS JAPHETH, AND HE’S THE GROUP’S LEADER. IN THE FIELD, HE GOES BY THE CODE-NAME MAGGOT, WHICH IS EMPHASIZED BY THE TWO SLUGS PERCHED ON HIS ARM, WHO HE INTRODUCES AS EANY AND MEANY, HIS DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. THEY GIVE HIM ENERGY FROM WHATEVER THEY FEED ON, BUT IF YOU GET TO KNOW THEM, THEY’RE AS HARMLESS AS A KITTEN. ANGEL NODS, UNSURE HOW TO PROCESS THIS.

THE JAPANESE GIRL SPEEDS UP TO HER NEXT. SHE INTRODUCES HERSELF AS NORIKO ASHIDA, OR HER ALIAS, SURGE. ANGEL WATCHES WITH INTEREST AS NORI’S GAUNTLETS BUZZ WITH ELECTRICITY, AND SHE TELLS HER THAT SHE’S ALSO ABLE TO MOVE AT FAST SPEEDS. ANGEL NODS AND NORI COMMENTS THAT SHE LIKES HER.

NORI: THIS HERE IS DAVID ALLEYENE, AKA MY BOYFRIEND. DON’T TOUCH.

DAVID: MY ACTUAL CODENAME IS PRODIGY, SINCE I’M ABLE TO ABSORB SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE FROM OTHER PEOPLE. FOR EXAMPLE, NORI SPEAKS JAPANESE, SO IF I’M IN A ROOM WITH HER, I CAN SPEAK JAPANESE FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME.

ANGEL NODS AS THE BLONDE GIRL STRETCHES UP TO HER. SHE INTRODUCES HERSELF AS ANDREA MARGULIES, AKA RUBBERMAID, AND STATES HER EXCITEMENT ABOUT A NEW TEAMMATE JOINING THEM. ANGEL IMMEDIATELY GUESSES THAT SHE’S ABLE TO STRETCH HER BODY, AND ANDREA NODS HAPPILY. JAMES TELLS HER THAT ANDREA IS DEFINITELY THE PEPPY GIRL OF THE TEAM, WHICH ANGEL COMMENTS IS OBVIOUS.

THE PINK HAIRED GIRL LOOKS UP BRIEFLY AND INTRODUCES HERSELF AS SARAH, BUT HER CODENAME IS MARROW. JAMES COMMENTS THAT SARAH IS AN INTERESTING CASE. SHE’S ABLE TO PULL BONES FROM HER BODY AND USE THEM AS WEAPONS. TO DEMONSTRATE, SARAH PULLS A SHARP BONE FROM HER ARM LIKE A SWORD, HOLDING IT IN FRONT OF ANGEL.

ANGEL: DOESN’T IT HURT?

SARAH: WELL, THEY GROW BACK. AND I GUESS I KINDA LIKE THE PAIN.

ANGEL: HEH. EMO ALERT.

THE FINAL MEMBER OF THE GROUP INTRODUCES HIMSELF AS BARNELL BOHUSK. ANGEL SNORTS A LITTLE AT HIS NAME, AND THEN ASKS WHAT HIS CODENAME IS. HE ANSWERS WITH BEAK. JAMES TELLS HER THAT BARNELL HAS YET TO DISCOVER HIS POWERS. SO FAR, HE KNOWS THAT HE’S ABLE TO FLY, BUT ONLY MOMENTARILY, AND HE CERTAINLY HAS BIRD-LIKE FEATURES. THE REST, HE’S TRYING TO FIGURE OUT AS HE GOES. ANGEL LOOKS AROUND AND SAYS THAT SHE COULD GET USED TO THIS.

LATER, SENSUAL MUSIC PLAYS AS SOFIA AND CLARICE MAKE OUT IN SOFIA’S ROOM. THEY’RE BOTH IN T-SHIRTS AND UNDERWEAR AND ARE CURRENTLY ON SOFIA’S BED. CLARICE TELLS HER THAT SHE’S BEEN THINKING OF SOMETHING, BUT SOFIA TELLS HER LESS THINKING AND MORE KISSING. CLARICE SAYS THAT SHE’S JUST GLAD THAT SHE HAS SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY GIVE HER INFORMATION ON HER PARENTS. ALL HER LIFE, SHE’S LIVED WITH THE BURDEN OF NOT KNOWING WHO THEY ARE.

SOFIA: THAT’S GREAT, CLARICE. BUT I WAS THINKING… COULD YOU STAY WITH ME AND DEREK WHILE WE WAIT FOR MY FATHER?

CLARICE: SOFIA. I’M SORRY. FRED TOLD ME TO MEET HIM AT HIS PLACE IN THE MORNING SO HE COULD TELL ME MORE THINGS ABOUT MY PARENTS.

SOFIA: OH.

SOFIA MOVES OFF CLARICE AND SITS ON THE EDGE OF THE BED WITH A SAD EXPRESSION WHILE CLARICE KNOWS THAT SHE MADE A WRONG MOVE.

CLARICE: POLLIWOG…

SOFIA: NO PET NAMES WHILE I’M POUTING.

CLARICE: I JUST DON’T GET WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. YOU’RE DAD HAS ALWAYS DISAPPOINTED YOU. WHY IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT?

SOFIA: BECAUSE DEREK IS VOUCHING FOR HIM. AND DEREK IS A GOOD MAN. HE’S BEEN MORE OF A FATHER TO ME THAN MY OWN FATHER EVER HAS. IF HE CAN VOUCH FOR HIM, I WILL TOO.

CLARICE SIGHS, TELLING SOFIA THAT SHE’S SORRY. TO HER, FAMILY HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN F-WORD. AND NOW, SHE HAS A CHANCE TO KNOW WHO HER FAMILY REALLY WAS. SOFIA TELLS HER THAT SHE THOUGHT CLARICE ALREADY HAD A FAMILY HERE. CLARICE HUGS HER AND STANDS UP.

CLARICE: LOOK, BABE. I GOTTA USE THE BATHROOM. WHEN I GET BACK, YOU’D BETTER STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS. AND BE WEARING LESS CLOTHES.

SOFIA GIVES CLARICE A FLIRTY SMILE AS SHE HEADS TOWARD THE BATHROOM, BUT ONCE SHE’S GONE, SOFIA’S SMILE TURNS INTO A WORRIED FROWN.

THE NEXT MORNING, CLARICE GETS DRESSED AND LOOKS OUTSIDE THE WINDOW TO SEE DEREK AND SOFIA WAIT OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL. SHE SIGHS AND READS THE PAPER WITH FREDRICK’S ADDRESS ON IT BEFORE BLINKING AWAY. SHE APPEARS IN FRONT OF A HUGE MANSION AND LOOKS IMPRESSED. FREDRICK QUICKLY WHEELS OUT, SAYING THAT HE KNEW SHE’D COME. CLARICE LAUGHS AND SAYS THAT THERE’S NO PLACE SHE’D RATHER BE. FREDRICK THEN LEADS HER INTO THE MANOR AND INTO A DARK ROOM AS HE BEGINS TO TALK.

FREDRICK: YESTERDAY, I TOLD YOU WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PARENTS. NOW, I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR. LONG AGO, OUR ANCESTOR EMERGED ON EARTH. HE WAS THE FIRST MUTANT; EN SABAH NUR, ALSO KNOWN AS APOCALYPSE. HE BELIEVED THAT MUTANTS WOULD RULE THE WORLD WITH OUR SUPERIOR ABILITIES, AS WE WERE THOSE WHO WERE FIT TO SURVIVE. AS TIME PASSED, EN SABAH NUR BRED CHILDREN WHO WOULD STAND BY HIS SIDE, AND SOON, WE BECAME KNOWN AS CLAN AKKABA. WHEN THE TIME WOULD COME, WE WOULD BE HIS HIGH SCIONS OF POWER. THOSE WHO WOULD ENFORCE HIS AUTHORITY. BUT ONE DAY, OUR ANCESTOR WAS FELLED BY A GROUP OF RADICALS WHO CALLED THEMSELVES… THE X-MEN.

AS FREDRICK TALKS, TORCHES LIGHT UP IN THE ROOM, REVEALING TAPESTRIES OF APOCALYPSE’S CONQUEST AND CLARICE BACKS AWAY IN UNCERTAINTY. TWO ROBED FIGURES WALK INTO THE ROOM BEHIND HER AND LOCK THE DOOR.

FREDRICK: WITH THE FALL OF APOCALYPSE, OUR CLAN BEGAN TO DIE OFF OR DENY THEIR HERITAGE. SOON, I WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT. BUT THEN, I RECEIVED A PROPHECY. ONE THAT FORETOLD THE RISE OF OUR MASTER WITH THE SACRIFICE OF THE LATEST GENERATION OF APOCALYPSE, ON THE EXACT YEAR OF 2023.

CLARICE: WHAT?

ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE HOODED FIGURES GRAB CLARICE AND HOLD HER DOWN ON A SLAB, TYING HER HANDS AND FEET. FREDRICK THEN STANDS OUT OF HIS WHEELCHAIR WITH A SMILE.

FREDRICK: THAT IS WHY I SOUGHT YOU OUT, CLARICE. YOUR NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FAMILY LED YOU HERE. YOUR FATHER WAS FOOLISH. HE DENIED HIS BIRTHRIGHT AND THOUGHT HE COULD HAVE A NORMAL LIFE. HE SHOULD’VE KNOWN BETTER. WHICH IS WHY I ARRANGED THE CAR ACCIDENT THAT KILLED HIM AND YOUR MOTHER.

CLARICE: YOU TWISTED FUCK!

FREDRICK: AND NOW, YOUR SACRIFICE WILL ALLOW OUR MASTER TO RISE ONCE MORE. AND THEN, ONLY THE FIT WILL TRULY SURVIVE.

MEANWHILE, DEREK AND SOFIA LOOK UP AND SEE A BLACK LIMO PULL UP TO THE DRIVEWAY. A WELL-DRESSED MAN STEPS OUT AND GREETS THEM BOTH AND SOFIA SMILES AT THE SIGHT OF HER FATHER. SHE TELLS HIM THAT SHE’S GLAD TO SEE HIM, AND HE TELLS HER THAT SHE LOOKS WELL. THIS PLACE OBVIOUSLY AGREES WITH HER.

DEREK THEN SPEAKS UP AND MR. BARRETT TELLS HIM THAT IT’S NEVER TRULY BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT HIM. GOOD HELP TRULY IS HARD TO FIND. HE THEN BEGINS TO SAY SOMETHING ELSE, BUT SOFIA ASKS HIM WHY THIS IS SO CONCERNING. UNLESS… HE ONLY CAME TO GET DEREK BACK!

THE WIND SPEED PICKS UP AS SOFIA RISES UP IN THE AIR. MR. BARRETT COMMANDS HER TO STOP AND DEREK TELLS HER THAT SHE’S GOT IT ALL WRONG. SOFIA CALLS DEREK A LIAR AND SAYS THAT SHE WAS SO FOOLISH FOR ASSUMING HER FATHER WOULD ACTUALLY COME TO SEE HER WITHOUT A CATCH. SHE CAN’T BELIEVE HE ONLY ACCEPTED TO SEE HIS ONLY CHILD BECAUSE DEREK WOULD AGREE TO WORK WITH HIM. AS SHE GETS MORE ANGRY, THE FEROCITY OF THE WIND INCREASES, AND SOFIA SUDDENLY HEARS SOMETHING ON THE WIND. SHE ANNOUNCES THAT SHE NEEDS TO FIND CLARICE AND SAYS THAT SHE DOESN’T CARE WHAT HER FATHER AND DEREK DO. SHE HAS NO NEED FOR THEM ANYMORE. SOFIA FLIES OFF IN ANGER AS DEREK IS THEN FORCED TO EXPLAIN TO MR. BARRETT THAT SOFIA HAS A GIRLFRIEND.

MEANWHILE, CLARICE IS BOUND AND GAGGED AS FREDRICK TELLS HER THAT HER BONDS PREVENT HER FROM TELEPORTING. SHE SHOULD BE GLAD. AFTER ALL, SHE’S FINALLY FULFILLING HER PURPOSE. SUDDENLY, THE DOORS ARE BLOWN DOWN AS SOFIA FLIES IN. SHE SLAMS THE HOODED FIGURES AGAINST THE GROUND AND FREES CLARICE FROM HER BONDS, UNLEASHING A POWERFUL WIND TO DESTROY THE TAPESTRIES ON THE WALLS. CLARICE THEN WALKS UP TO FREDRICK IN ANGER, AND HE TELLS HER THAT SHE CAN’T ATTACK HIM. HE’S THE ONLY FAMILY SHE HAS LEFT.

CLARICE: YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY! FAMILY DOESN’T SACRIFICE EACH OTHER BECAUSE OF SOME FUCKED-UP EVIL CULT THING! I ALREADY HAVE A FAMILY, AND SHE CAME TO ME WHEN I NEEDED HER THE MOST! YOU AREN’T MY FAMILY! IN FACT… YOU’RE NOT EVEN WORTH IT. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT.

FREDRICK IMMEDIATELY SPRINTS OUT THE ROOM AND CLARICE SMIRKS. SHE THEN LOOKS OVER AND SEES SOFIA FALL TO HER KNEES ON THE GROUND AND START TO SOB. CLARICE IMMEDIATELY RUNS OVER TO HER AND PUTS AN ARM AROUND HER, ASKING WHAT HAPPENED.

SOFIA: I WAS SO STUPID, CLARICE. MY FATHER DIDN’T COME FOR ME. HE ONLY CAME TO GET DEREK BACK.

CLARICE: OH POLLIWOG. I’M SO SORRY.

SOFIA: I… I HAVE NO FAMILY LEFT. I PUSHED DEREK AWAY. I WAS UNFAIR TO HIM AND HE’LL NEVER FORGIVE ME. I’M ALONE.

CLARICE WATCHES HER SADLY BEFORE HOLDING HER TIGHTLY. ‘A THOUSAND YEARS’ BY CHRISTINA PERRI PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND.

CLARICE: HEY… OF COURSE YOU HAVE FAMILY. I’M YOUR FAMILY. AND SO IS LAURA, AND SANTO, AND CESS, AND YEAH, EVEN JULIAN. YOU HAVE A FAMILY AT XAVIER’S. AND YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT YOU. LIKE YOUR FOLLOWERS.

SOFIA: I WANTED TO CALL THEM THE SOFIA SQUADRON.

CLARICE: SEE? YOU’RE A LOVABLE AND BEAUTIFUL PERSON. YOUR DAD… HE DOESN’T CARE. HE NEVER HAS. BECAUSE HE’S NOT A PART OF YOUR FAMILY. HIS OPINION SHOULDN’T MATTER. YOU HAVE ME, AND THE NEW MUTANTS, AND EVERYONE AT XAVIER’S. AND I KNOW THAT IF DEREK CARES ABOUT YOU TOO, THEN HE’LL BE RIGHT THERE WAITING FOR YOU. AND… SHIT, I’M BAD AT THIS.

SOFIA KISSES HER AND CLARICE WIPES AWAY HER TEARS.

SOFIA: I THOUGHT YOU TOLD IT FINE. LET’S GO.

LATER, SOFIA AND CLARICE WALK BACK TO THE SCHOOL, ASSURING SOME WORRIED STUDENTS THAT THEY’RE OKAY. SOFIA THEN LOOKS OVER AND NOTICES DEREK TALKING TO CESSILY. HE LOOKS OVER AT HER AND SHE SMILES.

CLARICE: GO.

SOFIA GIVES CLARICE A QUICK KISS BEFORE RUNNING OVER TO GIVE DEREK A HUG. THEY BOTH SMILE AND LAUGH WHILE CLARICE WIPES AWAY SOME TEARS IN HER EYES. SOFIA THEN PULLS AWAY AND GESTURES FOR CLARICE TO COME OVER. SHE JOINS THEM AND SOFIA INTRODUCES HER GIRLFRIEND TO DEREK, WHO SMILES.

LATER, CLARICE SITS IN DANI’S OFFICE, TELLING HER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED. DANI NODS, A BIT WORRIED, AS SHE TELLS CLARICE THAT THE X-MEN HAVE DEALT WITH APOCALYPSE BEFORE. HE’S A VERY POWERFUL FOE, ONE THAT NEARLY TOOK THEM ALL OUT. IF CLARICE IS TRULY RELATED TO HIM, THEN SHE SHOULD KEEP THIS A SECRET. IF ANYONE FINDS OUT, SHE’LL HAVE A HUGE TARGET ON HER BACK. LORD ONLY KNOWS HOW JULIAN WOULD REACT. CLARICE NODS.

MEANWHILE, DEREK AND SOFIA SIT IN SOFIA’S ROOM, TALKING. DEREK LAUGHS AS SOFIA TALKS ABOUT HER GROUP AND THEIR ANTICS, AND HE SAYS THAT IT SEEMS LIKE SHE’S IN A GOOD PLACE. SHE HAS FRIENDS HER OWN AGE, AND PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT HER. SOFIA SMILES AND TELLS HIM THAT SHE’S GLAD HE STAYED. SHE TRULY REGRETS WHAT SHE SAID TO HIM.

DEREK: SOFIA, I KNOW YOU WERE ANGRY. I KNOW I SHOULD’VE TOLD YOU WHAT YOUR DAD’S TRUE MOTIVE WAS. BUT FUCK HIM. YOU HAVE YOUR FRIENDS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. AND I HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN. YOU HAVE A BIG HEART, AND I TRULY BELIEVE THAT I COULD BE A GOOD FATHER TO YOU. SORRY IF THAT SOUNDS WEIRD, BUT…

SOFIA: IT’S FINE. I’VE ALWAYS SEEN YOU AS A GOOD FATHER FIGURE. EVEN BEFORE XAVIER’S, YOU TOOK CARE OF ME. PROVIDED FOR ME. I’M GLAD YOU’RE HERE. AND I HOPE YOU CAN VISIT SOME OTHER TIME.

DEREK: NO PROBLEM. IF YOU EVER NEED ME, I WILL COME RUNNING.

DEREK AND SOFIA HUG AND DEREK TELLS HER THAT HE HAS TO GO. BUT HE HAS A PRESENT FOR HER. SHE GIVES HIM ONE LAST HUG AND HE WALKS AWAY. SOFIA THEN LOOKS OVER AT A BOX COVERED IN WRAPPING PAPER. ON IT IS A NOTE THAT HAS HER NAME ON IT. SHE OPENS IT AND SMILES WHEN SHE FINDS AN IPOD INSIDE. SHE TURNS IT ON AND SEES THAT THERE’S ALREADY A PLAYLIST, ONE THAT IS SIMPLY CALLED ‘SOFIA.’ SHE THEN TAPS ON IT AND PLAYS THE FIRST SONG, ‘FATHER AND SON’ BY CAT STEVENS.

AS THE SONG PLAYS, WE CUT TO MULTIPLE SCENES. SOFIA SMILES AND LOOKS OUTSIDE HER WINDOW WHILE DEREK WAVES GOODBYE TO HER FROM OUTSIDE. JULIAN, SANTO, LAURA, AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM LAUGH AND HAVE A FUN NIGHT OUT AS LAURA RESTS HER HEAD ON HER BOYFRIEND’S SHOULDER. CESSILY AND ROXY LIE DOWN IN ROXY’S BED TOGETHER AND CESSILY KISSES HER GIRLFRIEND COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BLUE. ROXY JUST GRINS AND KISSES HER BACK. JAY STRUMS HIS GUITAR IN HIS ROOM AND LOOKS OVER AT HIS PICTURE OF JULIA. HE SMILES AND PLACES A NEW ONE BESIDE IT; A GROUP PICTURE OF HIM AND THE OTHER NEW MUTANTS.

XUAN AND DANI CUDDLE BESIDE A WARM FIRE AS DANI WRITES AN EMAIL ON HER LAPTOP. THE SUBJECT READS ‘NEW MUTANTS REUNION’. JOSH AND LAURIE JOKE AND TALK WHILE HAVING DINNER WITH LAURIE’S MOM WHILE MARTHA’S BRAIN REMAINS IN ITS TANK IN BEAST’S LAB. ANGEL HAS FOUND SOME NEW FRIENDS IN SURGE AND MARROW AND MEGAN IS IN THE LOUNGE, HANGING OUT WITH CALLIE, ANDREA, ALANI, AND THE CUCKOOS. MONET SITS IN HER ROOM, LOOKING AT A PICTURE OF HER WITH HER FAMILY, A LOOK OF WORRY ON HER FACE.

AS THE SONG, AND SEASON ONE CONCLUDE, WE SEE CLARICE OUTSIDE IN THE COURTYARD. SHE SMILES WHEN SHE SEES DEREK WALK AWAY AND THEN LOOKS OUT AT THE NIGHT SKY. A MIX OF WORRY AND CONCERN IS SHOWN ON HER FACE AS SHE PLACES A HAND TO HER HEART, UNSURE OF WHERE HER FUTURE LIES, AND HOW HER NEW PREDICAMENT COULD AFFECT THAT.

#new x men #clarice ferguson #sofia mantega #laura kinney #julian keller #cessily kincaid #santo vaccarro #jay guthrie #dani moonstar

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sinner-as-saint · 4 years

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Let Me Love You.

CEO!Bucky Barnes x Reader AU.

Run-through: Things happened between you and your boss over a weekend recently; while on a business trip. Boundaries were crossed, lines were blurred – rather salaciously. Following this; you decide to resign from your dream job because you couldn’t handle the guilt of having been so unethical. So vulnerable and open. Neither could you handle his burning stare at work, nor the craving of being under him each time you looked at him. So you decide to leave before you ruin your own career and further. But then, your boss shows up at your doorstep – determined to make you realize that this isn’t so bad after all…

Themes: smut, fluff, ceo!bucky (because I miss him)

You felt awful as you stepped into your apartment.

Sighing as you looked around; thinking about how the job you just quit had paid for this lavish home you owned currently. Removing your shoes by the door, dropping your bag and keys beside them you lazily crossed your spacious living room and stepped into the main balcony.

Given you were high up, the view you had of the city was to die for. The sun was going down, and usually you loved sunsets but you couldn’t appreciate this one as much as you wanted to. You were stressed; now jobless.

You thought back to the past week you had just hustled through. Monday was weird; he avoided you like the plague. Tuesday was the same, except you caught him staring in your direction while in a rather important meeting. Wednesday, he still didn’t say a word – except for his usual demands which being his PA you had to meet. Thursday he didn’t come to work; which then gave you more time to think about everything which happened recently, allowing you more time to feel guilty and weird.

And today, given it was Friday he was the busiest he’s been all week. Yet despite that, he managed to send you looks which spoke volumes even in crowded rooms. And you couldn’t take it anymore. You believed you were someone who wouldn’t be able to mix work and pleasure and find a healthy balance, so for the sake of your own peace of mind; you produced a resignation letter and placed it on his desk when he wasn’t in his office. And you left for the day.

You knew he always lingered at his office for a while longer on Fridays. So you were sure that by now he must have found your letter. You wondered if he felt just as awkward and weird as you did, and if so, then he’d accept your resignation without any hesitation.

You sighed one more time, taking in the cool air and the orange-pinkish sky. You walked back inside and decided that soaking in warm water and essential oils would make you feel a little better. So that’s what you went for.

Thoughts of him filled your head as you soaked in the warm bath water. Your boss. James Buchanan Barnes; powerful name for an equally powerful man. He was the kind of person you couldn’t forget even if you tried. Respect, fame, wealth, authority, power; he had it all.

And recently, just a week ago, he had taken over you as well…

-Flashback-

Friday morning you came to work and found out that you would be accompanying your boss on a short business trip. You didn’t make a fuss, even if it meant sacrificing your days off. The paycheck you received each month made up perfectly well for it.

Paris for weekend, to attend a business conference didn’t sound so bad after all.

“Sir, I’ve just been notified that you’ve cancelled the hotel reservations?” you questioned while scrolling through your mails. While you were just a little confused by this, the man in front of you was clearly not.

Sat across you on the dark seat; well-groomed as always – dark suit, perfect hair, perfect face, strong jaw and strong built. He looked like he could be on a magazine cover. Pure, drop dead gorgeous male. Many of your friends often asked you how you kept your calm and composure around him, and how could you not want to jump his bones all the time. To which you answered; you didn’t see your handsome boss in that light.

But oh did you lie.

You were human. And you did find your boss to be super attractive just like the rest of the world did. But did you do anything about it? No. Firstly, that would be highly unprofessional. Secondly, he was way out of your league. Still, it was hard being around a man this handsome. Knowing he was single and available made it worse.

“I did.” he answered, just as confidently as he did everything else. “It’s just one night, Y/N. We’ll stay at my penthouse.” He stated.

You nodded and replied back to your assistant who had initially emailed you about this sudden change. ‘We’ll stay at my penthouse’…

You had shared residence before. Once you spent the night at his mansion because of work load. Then another time you two shared a cabin while on a trip. Once you shared a hotel room because separate rooms weren’t available. But this, today seemed a little different. And you couldn’t place a finger on what it was.

It didn’t rub you the wrong way or anything. He just seemed so cheery, which was unlike the normally slightly grumpy man. But then again, who were you to question his decisions? So you went along.

You two landed in Paris on Saturday morning. The conference was to be held on the same evening, followed by a formal party of some sort, then the two of you would be making your way back home by Sunday evening. Quite a tame weekend… until it wasn’t.

Throughout the whole conference, you felt a pair of eyes staring at you from across the room. Meanwhile you were talking to an acquaintance – legal advisor of one of the many businessmen who were attending the same conference as your boss. Steve was a friend of a friend but you two were currently bonding more and more due to work.

And little did you know, that Bucky hated it.

He was watching. He’s always watching you. Not in a creepy manner, in a protective way. As a woman, you were somewhat oblivious to the effect you had on people when you entered a room. You never noticed it, but your boss did.

Bucky knew how every man turned their heads to look at you. How every woman envied you. And it was never about what you wore, or how you did your hair. It was always about how you carried yourself, how you walked so confidently, how you were always polite and proper. And so beautiful.

As much as he liked showing you off, Bucky hated it when he wasn’t the only one who had all your attention. Like right now. He clenched his jaw as he studied how this man approached you. Blonde hair, tall and muscular – Bucky hated him immediately. He hated him a little more after he saw how the guy hugged you; a lingering hug which Bucky never got. Then he hated him a little more when he saw how you dragged your hands down the guy’s arm, refusing to let go of him.

You never touched him like that. Bucky asked someone close by and he was told that the guy you were talking to was someone named Steve Rogers, and he was a lawyer and an acquaintance of yours.

Hmm.

He tried to look away but he couldn’t. Bucky envied the guy talking to you. He didn’t like how close he was standing to you. He didn’t like how he kept his hands at your elbows so gently, caging you, keeping you to himself. He hated it.

Then he asked you about it on the elevator, as you two made your way up to his penthouse to get changed and ready for the party later.

“You know Rogers?” he asked out of nowhere. His tone just as serious and cold as always.

“Yes. He’s… a friend.” You smiled innocently, thinking back to how you and Steve had successfully broken the ice earlier.

Silence.

You each took a room inside his lavish penthouse apartment. You immediately loved the place. You had about two hours before the party so there was no need to rush. You took your time, yet your mind couldn’t help but drift towards how your boss has been acting in the past hours. First he was all cheery and warm, and now he’s back to his grumpy self.

Oh well.

You stepped out of your room just in time, your boss was waiting by the foyer dressed in a signature, all black, 3-piece suit. He looked devilishly handsome.

“You look lovely, Y/N.” He said softly as you walked towards him. You couldn’t help but smile and tried to hide your face by looking down at the marble floor. Before you could recover from his rare compliment, he reached for your hand and walked the two of your towards the elevator again.

You noticed it then. The shift between the two of you.

The party was amazing. Lovely people, lovely music, nice conversations; what more does one need? Then again, you could still feel a pair of eyes on you. At some point, you dared to look up and you made eye contact with your boss.

He was staring with an unreadable expression on his face. You shook it off and went back to the conversation you were currently part of, but you could tell he hadn’t stopped staring at you.

You two met on the elevator again after the party, on your way up for the night.

“You and Rogers seem close.” He pointed out.

You were surprised at the tone he used – that of disgust and anger. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

He scoffed, then turned to you. “Is something going on between you two?” Same tone as before.

Your eyes widened. “No. No, what makes you say that?” part of you wondered why the hell was he so suddenly interested in your personal life.

“Just asking.”

You couldn’t help it. “Are you alright, Mr. Barnes? You haven’t been yourself in the past-,”

He cut you off abruptly. By backing you into the corner of the elevator, the cold metal pressing against your back as his warm hand held you gently at your waist.

“Am I alright?” he mocked in that authoritative voice of his. “No, Miss Y/N. I’m not alright.” He confessed. “I’m not alright with you being so close to me, yet not being able to touch you. I’m not alright with seeing other men making you smile,” he inched his face closer you yours, “making you laugh, dance with you, touch you like I can’t. I hate it.”

His warm breath fanned your face. And as the metal cage got higher and higher, your heartbeat increased in the same tempo. Racing. Rushing. Your thoughts were a mess. Your body was tingling, he was so close. Too close. And you could feel yourself giving into him already.

And you did eventually.

“Then what’s stopping you?” you asked in a whisper, and you heard his little chuckle under his breath. This could be a wrong idea, but it felt right. You looked up into his piercing stormy blue eyes and you saw it; the hunger, the desire, the need.

You were sure yours mirrored the same emotions. Bucky pulled away just for a second, to press the key to stop the elevator from moving upwards any further. Then he turned to you again. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered against your parted lips, barely touching them with his own but the proximity was enough to make you lightheaded.

You nodded quickly and his mouth was on yours immediately. His lips moved against yours perfectly. He slipped his tongue past your lips and stroked the top of your mouth, driving you crazy. His kiss was just how you imagined it would be; hot, passionate, and exciting.

Your hands found their way into his hair and your fingers ran through his soft locks. He pushed his muscular body into yours even more and you gasped as you felt how close he actually was. His body heat wrapping around you.

His hands slowly reached up and slid the straps of your satin gown down your shoulders, letting it fall and bunch around your waist. He had been wanting to do that all night, especially since he saw you dancing with that guy Steve.

Bucky smirked at the sight of the flimsy, lacy lingerie you had on; which he was sure he could tear off your body in less than a second. And he did, allowing the thin material to fall to the floor. He gently touched you wherever he could; letting his hands linger at your breasts and taking his sweet time; caressing and kissing your skin. His lips trailing down your neck; kissing, licking and biting.

His mouth didn’t leave your skin as his hands slipped in between your legs with ease; caressing your inner thighs as he went. His hand slipped into your underwear with no shame, his knuckles gently stroked your wet folds; making you shiver at his touch. He chuckled upon feeling just how aroused you were. “So perfect…” he whispered.

He ran his fingers up and down your folds, gathering and smearing your arousal around as he went. You whimpered quietly against him; your gown barely covered your body. But Bucky was nowhere near complaining. In fact, he had been thinking about what you looked like under that dress since the first time he saw you this evening.

His hand gently wrapped around your throat. He gave it a little squeeze and an involuntary, playful smile formed on your face. His smirk grew, and so did the fire in him. “Like it when I choke you, huh doll?” he spoke, dragging the tip of his nose along your jaw as his other hand slipped under your skirt and rubbed your clothed core. He couldn’t take it any longer. “I need to have you.” he growled. “Now.”

He pushed his two fingers past your entrance with ease and moaned right in your ear as he felt your wet and warm walls immediately welcoming him in. He curled his fingers inside of you, hitting all the right spots which made you weak in the knees. You bucked your hips against his hand involuntarily, and he chuckled as you moaned out loud while he touched you.

Feeling more confident than earlier, you quickly unbuttoned his pants, palming him through his underwear and feeling his erection. You smirked to yourself as he grunted the moment you touched him.

“I want you…” you mumbled breathlessly. All your worries and overthinking left behind, you wanted him bad. And that’s all you could think of at the moment.

Bucky smirked. He lowered his pants and underwear, then he hurried in pulling down your underwear, letting it all fall and pool around your ankles. You stepped out of it and Bucky picked you up by your thighs and kissed you deeply while holding you between him and the metal surface tightly.

Your legs wrapped around his waist and your arms held on to him tightly. His cock briefly brushed against your wet folds in the process and you whimpered through the kiss. Bucky needed to be in you already, all he wanted was to hear you scream his name as you cum around him. So he wasted no time in aligning his throbbing tip to your dripping wet entrance.

He pushed himself into you; stretching you out. His nails digging into your skin as he held you by your hips, and yours scratching at his shoulders as he filled you up; making you whine and moan as he went. You were both gasping by the time he filled you up entirely. His body didn’t feel as foreign as you expected. You two fit perfectly.

Bucky started rocking in and out of you, without wasting any time. You felt all of him; your walls clenched around his thick cock as he started out with slow strokes and then gradually sped up into you. You felt all of him, the bumpy and the velvety skin of his length. He was perfect as he stroked your walls with his pulsating cock. You were a moaning mess in no time.

His strong arms supported you up by grabbing you at the curve of your ass; holding you against him, as he sped up into you; showing you how much he missed you. He pushed his head into the crook of your neck and swore under his breath, all while occasionally mumbling how much he loves you and how good you feel wrapped around him.

He fucked you relentlessly; earning more and more moans out of you each time his cock stroked your walls. Your hand slid into his hair and you tugged on it each time he pushed into you. You soon felt the familiar pressure forming; pressing inside you as the familiar warmth spread all over your body. You moaned wantonly.

Bucky nibbled at the skin under your ear and you lost all control you had left. Your thoughts became cloudy and all you could focus on was how his body brought you immense pleasure; your mind a foggy mess. Your clit rubbed against his pelvic bone each time he buried himself completely in you, and he soon quickened his pace; earning even more moans and mewls from you.

He pounded into you as fast as he could, your back slamming into the wall with each thrust; it hurt just a little. Your body moved along with his like a rag doll. And you never complained once. You could hear the wet sounds that he caused and the sounds of your skin clapping against each other – it was all too sinful.

He moaned right into your ear and the sound sent shivers down your back like it always did no matter where he took you. Your legs started to shake around him as he quickened his pace; pounding into you relentlessly. The pleasure built nicely as he took you higher… and higher… and higher. Until you couldn’t hold back anymore. So, you came undone around his cock; screaming his name in the process.

And that was one of the many times he made you cum around him that night…

-End of flashback-

Fuck…

You shivered in the warm water at the thought of him deep inside you; how perfect he felt, and how you never wanted to leave that bed with him in it. But then, you thought about how wrong that was; how you shouldn’t have gotten so intimate and personal with your boss. It was wrong, and unethical and a terrible mistake. But it felt good…

Stepping out of your bathroom, wrapped in a soft robe, you felt chills all over your body. Not because of the temperature, but because it felt as though you suddenly weren’t alone in your home. You panicked for a moment. Your heart racing, your thoughts racing faster.

Then you sensed it.

Sensed him.

He was here.

“Miss Y/N.” He spoke in that damn voice which could make you drop to your knees in less than a second.

Yet you managed to maintain your composure as you slowly turned around to face him. Realization hit you a little late, and you gasped under your breath when you finally saw him standing in the middle of your bedroom. Your initial reaction was to hug your robe tighter around your body.

He looked flawless and powerful as always. Hands shoved in his pockets; accentuating his broad shoulders. That gorgeous smirk on his face. Flawless hair. Flawless face. Bucky smirked. “Oh don’t hide from me. I’ve seen it all, haven’t I?” he teased so effortlessly.

You felt your face getting hotter under his intense gaze. “How did you… how-,”

He cut off your rambling. “I own the building, doll.” he answered like it was the most obvious thing ever.

Right. Of course he owns your apartment building. He also owns half the city.

There was an air of arrogance around him at all times. And you tried so hard to hate it, but you couldn’t. It suited him; the arrogance, the power, the authority. And he sure knew how and when to use it.

You cleared your throat as you kept your eyes focused on the ground, rather than look into his stormy blues ones because they were a new weakness of yours. “You shouldn’t be here.” You mumbled, not hating that he was here.

He scoffed. “Oh?” he raised an eyebrow at you and took a few steps towards you. You were surprisingly not hysterical about the fact that this handsome man found his way into your home out of nowhere. He walked over to you, grabbed you by the waist and pulled you into him.

You had no other choice but to look up into his ocean blue eyes and you could feel yourself melting already. He pulled you closer and leaned in, gently kissing along your jaw repeatedly. You closed your eyes and tried your hardest not to sigh in pleasure or moan as you felt the softness of his lips and the roughness of his stubble altogether.

“I’ve missed you.” he whispered against your skin, stopping for a moment and kissed you at the corner of your mouth. His arms circled around you, holding you close to him. Your arms circled around him as well, slowly. You realized you had missed him as well. His warmth, his voice, his mouth. All of him.

And just like that, he took over your very being again. One touch of his lips and you were under his spell with no intention of making it out anytime soon. “I missed you too…” you whispered breathlessly as he kissed your lips gently.

But those few words from you triggered something in him. An irritation he had carried inside since he saw that letter of yours on his desk. Overflowing emotions he couldn’t handle; due to which he was here in the first place.

“Yeah?” he whispered through the kiss, then slide his hand into your hair and tugged on it to pull your face away from his. He clenched his jaw as he looked down at you. He was conflicted, should he be mad that you even dared to think you could just leave him, or should he just fuck some sense into you? “Yet you dared to leave me your resignation with no warning?” Oh. “Huh? Is that how it is now, you think you get to decide everything?”

Oh. So he was mad.

“I didn’t mean-,”

He kept going. “Shut up, babygirl.” He spoke softly. “Now you listen to me,” he inched closer, gently biting your lower lip, “You’re not leaving me. You’re not resigning. You’re not going anywhere.” He stated, then pulled away to look at you again.

There was a fire in his deep blue eyes. “We can’t keep doing this.” You tried to come up with something. An excuse. You were looking for an excuse.

“Why not?”

“It’s wrong.”

He scoffed and then smirked again. “Is it? Does being with me feel so wrong to you now, huh?” he cooed, knowing it was only a matter of another minute or two before you give into him. “That wasn’t the case this past weekend, was it?” He moved the two of you backwards, towards your bed in the middle of the room.

You knew you wouldn’t be able to resist him for too long now. But you still tried, in vain. You sighed loudly, wrapped in his strong embrace. “You’re my boss.”

He chuckled. “I know that.”

“Exactly.”

“What?” he questioned, already untying your robe as he stopped at the end of your bed.

“You know what. How are we supposed to be professional at work if we’re sleeping together?” you asked.

He smirked looking down at you. “Then let’s not be professional.”

You sighed again. “It’s-,”

He cut you off with a kiss again, sliding your robe down your shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. “Shh.” And just like that, you melted under his touch. “It’s okay babygirl, let me take care of you.”

He pushed you down on your bed and held your stare as he undressed himself; smirking as he watched how you grew more and more desperate with each item of clothing he took off. He hovered on top of you in no time.

Bucky lowered his face; pressing his forehead onto yours gently, while he pushed his erected cock past your tight entrance. You moaned out loud as he did. He grunted once he filled you up entirely, and he gave you a couple of seconds to adjust.

“Fuck…”

You were so full of his thick cock that even forming a proper thought seemed impossible at the moment. You shuddered as you felt all of him. His lips found yours again, attempting to get you to stay quiet while he rolled his hips against yours.

He removed himself and pushed himself back into you, and watched in awe how you struggled to adjust to his size. He lowered his face again, and leaned into your ear. You heard him panting and swearing under his breath as he rocked into you. Your nails sank into his skin, around his shoulders; which you held onto for dear life as he pounded into you.

“Thought you could just leave me, huh? Thought I would let you?” he mumbled right in your ear as he fucked you relentlessly. “You thought I would let you go? Let someone else touch you, pleasure you, fuck you like this? Did you babygirl?” he growled. “Answer me!”

You whined, throwing your head back and moaning at how good he felt. “No… please I didn’t-” you were breathless. You tried matching his thrusts but were unable to; so you simply let go. Your body moved against his like a rag doll.

He growled at how your walls clenched around him. “What? You didn’t what? You didn’t think I’d come back looking for you? You thought I would just let you go because you asked for it?” he accidentally let out a moan, followed by swear words. “You think you make the rules here, doll?”

He reached up and grabbed your jaw, forcing you to look at him. His blue eyes were wild and fierce; staring deep into your soul. His gaze made you tremble in pleasure. He looked so powerful. Broad and strong, hovering above you, his cock buried deep in you. Looking down at you like he owned you.

He kissed you, bit your skin, kissed your open mouth while he rammed into you; and you never complained once. Given his size, he stretched you out completely. And it did hurt, but the pleasure compensated for the pain.

Your legs trembled as you lifted them up to wrap them around his waist. This allowed him to thrust deeper into you, and in the haze he was in, he managed to mumble right in your ear about how good you felt. He was relentless, as though each moan, each mewl which left your lips only encouraged him to get more and more rough.

At some point, right when your walls started clenching around him and when you were just about to come undone; he removed himself from you and flipped you onto your stomach and pulled you onto your knees by your hips. He kissed the back of your neck and pushed himself inside you again. You felt his hard body press against the curve of your ass as he filled you up again.

You moaned out loud at the new sensation of him rocking into you from behind. Bucky’s hand found its way to your front and he pressed the palm of his hand against your lower abdomen. He liked the thrill each time he felt himself thrusting deep within you.

His hand travelled all the way to your throat and he bent down to whisper in your ear, “Can you feel me deep within you?” he boasted as he gently squeezed the side of your throat. But hard enough to make you lose your mind.

“Please…” You could only moan and whimper in response while he kept pounding into you incessantly. You felt him quicken his pace as he chased his own orgasm. And finally he let you, and you came undone all around him – moaning his name out loud.

You woke up an hour later, the sky was darker and you felt a lot better than you had all week. You turned to your side and found your handsome boss passed out next to you. A smile formed on your face involuntarily.

“Don’t just look, you can touch too.” His gruff voice spoke up a second later, his eyes still closed. You chuckled and snuggled closer to him.

“So what now?” you asked, wrapping an arm around his bare torso. His body heat was something you were quickly getting used to.

He took a deep breath, smiled and lazily reached over to place a kiss on your forehead. “Now you let me love you.”

#ceo!bucky #bucky barnes #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x you #marvel au

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ptersparkers · 4 years

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hotbox

summary: you’re high out of your mind for the first time and rafe’s surprised by your sudden and explicit confession.

warnings: smut, y’all.

notes: the rafe in this/all my fics isn’t canon and i just love drew but i feel weird writing for a real person ok. also let me emphasize (again) that i am NOT excusing his behavior by writing my stories with him. this is my imagination in it, there’s literally nothing canon about his character. okay bye happy reading.

writing this is pure wish fulfillment. BYEEEEEEE.

For the better half of six months, Rafe Cameron had been lucky enough to call you his girlfriend.

Rafe could remember the exact moment a mutual friend had introduced the two of you. Topper, his best friend since the beginning of freshman year, put together a welcoming party for his new apartment that he leased at the beginning of senior year of college. You were a starting junior at the time and knew Topper because he was a teaching assistant in your introductory economics class, and the unlikely friendship between the widely popular frat boy and the bookish wine drinker was born.

You were sitting on the couch’s arm rest when he arrived and Rafe hadn’t taken notice of you in favor of congratulating Topper on the new place, setting a bottle of wine as a warming gift. Engrossed in a conversation, you didn’t notice Topper introducing his best friend to everyone he didn’t know at the party until Rafe greeted your counterpart and looked at you.

You smiled at him and stuck your hand out for him to shake. Rafe could vividly remember how soft they were and how you hadn’t broken eye contact with him when he returned the favor. Neither of you spoke to one another for the rest of the night aside from small talk when you offered to help Topper clean up the living room when the majority of the guests began to leave. Rafe decided to forego a ride from a friend in favor of helping you pick up wine glasses and paper plates from the floor and bookshelves.

What started as an innocent introduction became a case of pining; Rafe saw you everywhere he went after that party and swore the universe had an agenda. You would enter the library as he was leaving. Whenever he’d stop by the coffee shop on campus, you’d be chatting with a friend at a table by the window. Rafe would see you walk past his advisor’s office whenever he appeared early for his appointment. He concluded that it wasn’t just a coincidence and he knew he had to say something to you sooner rather than later.

Constantly seeing you started the fluttering feeling in his stomach and the smile he couldn’t seem to wipe off his face. It was a coincidence that you bumped into Rafe and Topper in the mess hall one evening and spent two hours in the same spot, laughing about a conversation Rafe couldn’t remember. All he could recall was feeling like he had nothing to worry about for the first time.

Topper was the one to give Rafe your phone number after noticing how long he’d spend staring at you and picked up how innocuously shy Rafe would act when asking if you were coming to one of their frat parties. Rafe always knew the answer was no, because he learned you weren’t the party type, but that didn’t stop him from wishing he’d have a reason to see you. Topper wasn’t shy about putting your number in his phone and Rafe put it to good use an hour later.

Rafe didn’t go to the frat party at the biggest house on the property. Instead, he chose to stay sober and drive to your dorm hall to pick you up, heading to a local spot to pick up food before driving to the edge of a cliff’s edge for a peaceful night underneath the beacon of stars that seemed brighter, truly, for the first time.

He knew he was in deep when he chose to decline alcohol-driven nights to listen to your favorite songs in your dorm room. Rafe knew you’d never force him to separate himself from things he loved to do, which made it easy for him to choose waking up next to you in the morning sun over waking up slouched over a couch in a room he wasn’t familiar with.

When he gained the courage to make a move, and when you said yes to being his girlfriend, there was no shortage of tenderness on both ends as Rafe became accustomed to having you pressed against his tall frame. You’d steal his clothes and he’d love the scent of your perfume on them when you gave it back. You’d support him through tough finals and he’d be your study partner until late into the night. He’d take you on dates until you two forgot what time it was and he lived to see when you were too happy to realize you should head back to your dorm hall.

It was circumstantial, this relationship, but neither you nor Rafe would change a thing.

The both of you were invited to go to a local bar just outside of the city by mutual friends to celebrate the end of finals week. You and Rafe hadn't seen much of one another due to conflicting schedules and reached an understanding that there wasn’t going to be much time to spend together until the semester was over, and you both jumped at the chance to let loose and forget the horrors of testing.

One of your friends, Violet, had been smoking a joint by the time you got to her apartment to get ready, and because the stress of finals was over, you decided to let loose and enjoy the first night of freedom by smoking to celebrate. You weren’t quite sure how fast it happened due to the lack of experience when it came to smoking, but time passed and it felt like the clouds had landed on the ground specifically for you to walk on. Violet had texted Rafe on your behalf to let him know the state of you were in before hopping into an Uber to the bar.

Rafe arrived first and saw the place wasn’t as packed as the bars back in the city and appreciated the stillness. Pool tables were situated in every corner and he could see his friends throwing darts as he grabbed a drink from the bartender who gave him a friendly smile before leaving to help another customer. Rafe didn’t know what to expect from you tonight. The only other time you had been high was a few months prior, and even then you were quite tame after taking a single hit from Topper.

“Baby!” you said louder than usual when you saw his frame from afar. Rafe turned around and grinned widely at the sight of you sauntering to him, his arms reaching out to pull you in an embrace as he lifted your frame off of the ground. He let you greet the rest of the party before settling his arm around your waist, your head leaning on him. JJ, one of your mutual friends, helped you regain your balance when you accidentally bumped into a stool chair.

“You havin’ fun?” he asked. Rafe chuckled at the state of your red eyes and kissed your temple when you nodded shyly.

“I feel really good right now,” you said. “Violet thought it would be better if I wore flat shoes.” You pointed at your white Converse high tops. “I came wearing heels but I think she had a better idea.”

“Thanks, Vi,” he said, looking up at the girl who you had walked in with. She gave Rafe a friendly nod and resumed talking to JJ, her long term boyfriend.

“I literally feel like I could die happy,” you said, aimlessly looking around, not focusing on one thing or the other.

“We definitely don’t want that tonight,” Rafe said. “Better keep you close just in case.” He maneuvered himself so that his back was resting on the bar and your body was resting in his chest, your head on the fabric of his shirt, nuzzled as if you were in the comfort of your own bed. Rafe grinned at you and stroked the side of your head, watching the rest of the party interact with one another.

“Hey, man,” JJ said, nodding Rafe in acknowledgement. “You gonna get a drink, Y/N?” JJ noticed the lack of alcohol by you and Rafe, but you shook your head the same time Violet did.

“She’s pretty high,” said Violet, who had been pressed against JJ’s side. His grip on her waist tightened when she laughed at your state of being, watching as you dug yourself a spot on Rafe’s chest. “I think she shouldn’t be crossfaded tonight, at least.”

“That’s why you’re the smart one in this relationship,” JJ said before pressing a quick kiss to Violet’s lips. “Kelce, Pope, and John B. are on their way. I think they should be about ten minutes?”

“Don’t worry, man,” Rafe said. “I’m gonna keep Y/N company and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself.” Violet and JJ leave the two of you in favor to start a conversation with Topper and his girlfriend Maddie, whom you met during an economics class and became food friends with, would periodically check up on you throughout the night.

For the duration of the evening, you don’t leave Rafe’s side very often. When he’s talking to your mutual friends, who come to understand that you’re incredibly high and are experiencing this for the first time, they stick to playfully teasing you including you in the conversation when you’re turning in, accommodating when you zone out.

Rafe can’t help but think how adorable you look with glossy eyes and the tip of your nose a fair shade of pink. Your cheeks are tinted red and your lips are wet from constantly licking him. He squeezes your hip when you silently beg for attention and periodically presses kisses to your temple, leaving you in a state of bliss.

By now, your arms were wrapped loosely around him and he swayed the both of you back and forth to the song you didn’t know the name of. You looked between him and the exposed chest from four open buttons on his shirt and he looked down at you with the corners of his mouth lifted into an amused grin.

“You’ve been so clingy all night, baby,” he said, giving your hips a squeeze. “You okay?”

“Mhm,” you mumbled. You could feel your tongue in your dry mouth and licked your lips. “Just enjoying this feeling.”

“Of being high?” he asked. You nodded.

“God, I don’t know why I didn’t do this before,” you replied. “I feel so good. Maybe it’s because finals are over or maybe I just really like being high.” Rafe laughed and leaned down to press a kiss to your temple and you could feel his warm mouth on your skin. When he leaned back to look at you, he could see that your eyes were trained on him and your mouth parted slightly.

“You okay, baby? What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking,” you began, but paused. He could see your eyes were trying hard to focus on his facial features and he brought his hand up to your jaw and used the pad of his thumb to stroke your cheek.

“Yeah? What are you thinking of, pretty girl?” You licked your lips once more and your gaze flickered from his chest to his eyes.

“I’m thinking about how much I want you to eat my pussy in the back of your car.”

Rafe’s eyes widened and he didn’t hide the fact that he was taken by surprise. Out of the time the two of you had been dating, things didn’t go farther than kissing or grinding against one another in the bedroom, and Rafe never wanted to pressure you into doing something you were uncomfortable with. As far as he knew, you were comfortable with the amount of sexual activity that had taken place, which is why he was so surprised when you openly expressed your desire.

“W-What?” he asked, choking on his words. He looked around to see if any of your friends were paying attention but they were too busy engrossed in a conversation or were incredibly drunk themselves. You were running your hands over his chest and touching his jeans to the point where he was aware of how close your fingertips are to his member and had to shift himself so that his friends can’t see what you’re up to.

“I need your mouth so badly,” you whined, a pout forming on your lips as you do. Rafe looked at you and he swore his cock had hardened by the desperation in your glossy eyes and wordlessly took your hand in his and pulled you out of the bar and into the near barren parking lot with the exception of a few cars. Where he parked was barely lit, off to the side of the gigantic light that illuminated the open space. He unlocked his car and pushed you gently into the backseat until you looked situated enough. Rafe squatted outside of the backdoor as your legs dangled out the side and you've managed to take your jean shorts off so that it’s pooling at your legs.

“Babe,” he said. “You sure?”

“I need your fucking mouth on my pussy,” you whine, reaching down to put your hand over your clothed entrance to move your panties aside. Rafe watched as you worked your already glistening slit, your hands delicately moving as you looked at him, a silent message that he can only interpret as you silently begging for his mouth.

Rafe wasted no time giving you what you want other than to take your panties off completely and throw them into the front seat. His tongue flattened against your core and you let out a loud and obscene moan, but neither of you cared to check if anyone was in the dark parking lot or not. His hands were on both of your thighs and he could hear your breaths become increasingly shallow as his tongue worked wonders, moving like he needed to lap up every last drop if he wanted to live to see another day.

He would feel your legs shaking and did his best to keep a hold on you, his arm on your body to hold you down as you squirmed and bucked your hips. Your legs could spread only so wide in the confinements of the car, but that didn’t stop you from trying to spread them wider for easier access. Rafe moaned against your body and you shuddered at the feeling of his vibration being sent up your body, your ears ringing with pleasure.

Your boyfriend could feel your hands wander to the back of his head and didn’t mind you tugging on his roots. It encouraged him to move his tongue faster and harder as he felt you pull his hair and moan with approval. The tip of his tongue darted in and out of your entrance and you screamed in euphoria, mumbling about how you were going to release any second.

Rafe prepared by lapping your core with his tongue like he needed this. His chin was covered in your slick and his head was moving with the rhythm of his tongue, listening as you told him you were coming and felt your legs tremble beneath him. White pearls escaped your core and Rafe was quick to catch them with his tongue, enjoying the feeling of you sliding down his throat. As you were coming down from your high, and as Rafe was cleaning the mess he made, you reached for his hand and put it where his mouth was.

“Y/N?” he asked timidly, looking up at you. “Are you sure you want this?”

You knew him too well. You knew Rafe would ask you if you were comfortable with doing anything before he made his move and he would reassure you that you had nothing to worry about when you were with him. Before deciding to smoke a few blunts upon coming to the bar tonight, you had considered asking Rafe to experience this euphoria with you in full without him holding back. But because finals rolled around, you thought it was best to wait until it was over, and your current state heightened your preexisting feelings.

He mistook your silence as a sign to stop, so he pulls his hand away.

“We can stop if you want,” he said. You shook your vigorously and put his hand back to your entrance.

“Rafe, I’ve wanted this for so long,” you said, grinding your hips against the palm of his hand. “I’ve been so shy about asking you to fuck me but I’ve been thinking about your cock so much that I can’t focus.” Rafe’s eyes widened at the sudden confession. “I just want you to use me until you’re done with me.”

Rafe choked.

“Baby-”

“Do it,” you said forcefully. “I want you to use me.”

Rafe’s jaw has gone slack and all of his fantasies with you came rushing to the front of his mind. He looked at you and you nodded, telling him you trust him not to hurt you because you knew that’s what he was thinking about.

“Baby, I’ll never be done with you.”

His hands started to tease your entrance slowly, and when you whined and begged for him to move faster, he placed a harsh and prominent slap on your pussy that made you jump in surprise. Rafe waited for your reaction and upon seeing the dirty smile on your face, he did it again.

“So fucking wet for me, huh? Baby wants my fingers?” he taunted.

“I want them inside of me,” you moaned. Rafe’s heart was still beating fast and he tried to slow his heart rate when he heard how vocally expressive you are, not used to the idea of you being open sexually. But he embraced your confidence and promised himself to give you what you wanted and what you could handle.

“I can’t say no to you, can I?”

Rafe’s got you sat up properly in the car, your back against the rest as he moved his arm to move his fingers against your clit, which made your eyes close shut. He covered his fingers in your slick from the previous time you came and put his middle finger inside of you, relishing in the feeling of you moaning with your head tilted back against the headrest.

As you emit high-pitched moans, all Rafe could think about was how lucky he was to have someone who trusted him. You were willing to drop your panties in a public parking lot, and moaned so loudly that he wa’s sure the patrons in the bar heard you over the loud music. His eyes looked at you in adoration as he added another finger and pumped his hand faster while you moaned louder. Rafe didn’t bother fixing himself because he knew his cock was hard by the sight of your legs spread for him and your mouth begging him to make you come.

He used this moment to unzip his jeans and push them down far enough to palm himself through his boxers. His half-hardened member was aching and he desperately wanted to pull himself out, but he stuck with focusing on making you orgasm for the second time before pleasuring himself until his vision grew hazy.

“I’m gonna,” you said, not bothering to finish your sentence. Rafe couldn’t say anything and when you let out the moan that signaled what was about to come, you held onto his wrist as he kept his fingers inserted inside of you and he felt your come drip onto his fingers, smirking at the way you were holding his fingers in place for him. He moved his hand from your core and brought them up to your lips with a smirk. You didn’t have to be told twice and he watched as you welcomed his long digits into your mouth, your tongue working to lap yourself from his hand.

Rafe stood there with his mouth opened slightly and his heart beating faster. You moved yourself onto your knees and pulled your top of your head and discarded your bra, leaving you completely naked while Rafe was still fully clothed. Your hand reached out for his boxers and Rafe looked down at you.

“Babe,” he said. “It’s okay.”

“Rafe,” you deadpanned. “I want you to feel good too. I want to take care of you. Can I do that?”

When Rafe nodded, you pulled him out of his boxers and bit your lip at his already impressive size for being half hard. You looked at Rafe and saw as his eyebrow creased when you stroked him slowly, allowing yourself to bask in his glory before moving your body down the car seat to put your mouth around his head.

Rafe had received blowjobs in the past, but the combination of being semi-public and realizing the girl he loves was willing to make him feel good for the sake of seeing him happy made his mind race a million miles per hour. You pushed his jeans down with his boxers for more access and, slowly, your mouth began to take him farther into your throat.

His hips bucked voluntarily and he cursed himself for taking it too far with you until he saw your body inch forward to take more of him into your mouth until the entirety of his cock disappeared into your mouth. He groaned and knew you were okay with him being rough with you, and reached his hand out to place it on the back of your head. Rafe was unapologetic when he moved his hips to fuck your mouth, caressing your body until his fingers reach your entrance once more.

When you felt him delicately put his fingers into you once more, collecting the remnants of come, you moaned against his cock and it sent shivers down your boyfriend’s spine. It taunted him to reach his orgasm quicker and when you look up at him through your lashes, he gives little to no warning before moving your head down to the base of his cock as he releases into your mouth.

Your dirty smile was apparent, trying to accommodate to the surprise. When you were able to take him out of your mouth, a string of spit connects his tip with your tongue and you stroke him to keep him hard.

“My love,” he whispered to himself, eyes shut and head tilted back. You watched him as he tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving as he fumbled with the buttons. His cock was still standing, erect and proud, when he remembered he had an extra joint and a lighter in the glove compartment.

You watched as Rafe pulled it out of the messy box and you licked your lips as you made room for him in the backseat. The both of you were completely naked and your leg swung over his lap, making yourself at home by sitting directly on his still-hardened cock. Rafe watched as you ground your bare pussy over him and did his best not to be too distracted as he lit the joint, grinning when he successfully lit the piece and brought it to your mouth to take the first hit.

Your lips lingered around the joint for a moment before releasing, a faint cloud of white smoke filling the space of the car. Rafe realized the door was still open and reached over to slam it shut before you passed the joint to him. You watched as his lips enveloped the joint and he puffed in the opposite direction, and the both of you can feel the atmosphere change. Rafe was bucking his hips to meet your movements as you moved down onto him, and he moved his lips to your neck, leaving a trail of wet and sloppy kisses on your skin. You were too busy enjoying yourself to realize the both of you had passed the joint back and forth so quickly upon seeing it crumble.

Rafe took the remnants and smoked what he could before you hastily put your mouth on his. You were taken by surprise and released the smoke into your mouth, and you kept yourself from shaking at the sheer pleasure. His mouth moved against yours in what you can describe as wonder; Rafe’s hands roamed your body while his tongue explored every corner of your mouth. When you felt his mouth move your breasts and his whimpers at the feeling of you on his cock, you looked at him.

“Rafe,” you moaned. Rafe’s attention moved from your breasts to your gaze and he could feel your hand moving his cock to your entrance. He moaned loudly when you moved your body to sink down on him completely and he recalled that your core was coated with two previous orgasms.

He could barely believe that you, who he thought was too shy to talk about taking it farther in the bedroom, was bouncing on his cock like you’d done it before. Your hands were planted on his shoulders and he could feel as your ass dug itself into his lap before lifting yourself up just to press yourself back down on him. His hands found their way to your ass cheeks and he gave them a harsh slap simultaneously, your head falling to his chest as you winced, followed by a pornographic moan.

Your hips moved like clockwork and he tried to match your pace, lifting his hips up to meet your pussy. The sound of skin against skin, and the smell of the joint made Rafe’s mind think this was what Heaven was, and he would be damned if he didn’t get to experience Heaven with you.

Rafe could tell you were getting tired of the heavy lifting and took the liberty to hold your body with his arm behind your back. He lifted you above him only slightly before he lifted his hips up and down repeatedly to drill his cock into you hard and fast, causing you to moan directly into his ear. He let curses leave his mouth and you said his name like a prayer when you felt himself in you fully, the sound of your wetness coating his cock.

Your third orgasm, his second, was approaching. He pulled your hair back to give himself access to your neck and didn’t bother to be gentle; his mouth left marks on your neck and you encouraged him by begging for his mouth on your skin.

“You gonna come soon, baby?” you asked after regaining your breath, teasing him when you saw his eyes wired shut and his jaw clenched. Rafe’s eyes snapped open and his hand attached itself to your jaw, jerking your head to look into his eyes directly. You laughed seductively and left your mouth hung open when you felt Rafe slow his motions, thrusting into your particularly hard at your choice of words.

“Do you enjoy using me to get yourself off?” he asked in between thrusts. You were barely able to answer and he tightened his grip. “Answer me.”

“Yes,” you struggled to say, looking him directly in the eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he grunted. “Where do you want it, tits or mouth?” You shook your head.

“Inside of me,” you said. “You have to come inside of me, okay? I don’t want to get your car dirty.”

“Fuck,” he said, his voice cracking.

“Baby, I need it so badly,” you coaxed. “All I’ve wanted is your come inside of me and we can’t ruin your car, okay? Can you do that for me, please? Come inside of me?”

Rafe didn’t utter another word. You bit your lip and smiled when you felt his come coat your walls and pushed yourself onto his cock when he let out a loud, deep, and vocal moan in your ear. His chest was pressed against yours and neither of you cared about the heat generated between the two of you. He kept your body close as he orgasmed for the second time and you followed soon after.

He left delicate kisses on your shoulder and you moved your body to ride him slowly, and both of you can feel the cum dripping out of your pussy and onto his cock. Rafe took this opportunity to put his hands back on your ass cheeks and guided you up and down, using your come as lubrication. He could hear the wet sounds and watched you from the rearview mirror as your body moved against him one more time, and he promised the both of he was going to make you come one last time.

The both of you could tell the final round wouldn’t last very long, but neither of you cared. Rafe reached up to press his lips messily against yours and moved your bodies as if they were in sync the entire time. His thrusts were getting sloppy and he could tell your body was getting tired of moving in the same position, which coaxed him to thrust his hips up into you, ignoring the numbing feeling to hear you moan over and over again until you come on his cock, again for the fourth time.

He released inside of you once more and allowed you to calm down to catch your breath. You were the first to move off of him and both of you witnessed the white, creamy mess you had made. Rafe reached down to your pussy once more and used the pads of his fingers to move it in circles against your clit and you moaned in ecstasy until it became too much, and he pulled his hand away before finding a tissue box to clean the both of you up.

The windows are foggy and both of your hand prints are visible. You open the car door to let fresh, cold air enter the space and sigh in relief as he works to clean the mess. When he discards the tissues to the floor of the backseat, promising himself he’d put it in the trash later, Rafe pulls you towards his chest and you lay your head on the free space as he strokes the back of your head and kisses your temple over and over again.

“Didn’t expect that tonight,” Rafe said after regaining his breath with a laugh.

“Me either,” you replied. “I think you fucked the high out of my system.” Rafe chuckled and kissed your forehead, letting his lips linger for a brief moment before pulling away.

“I didn’t know you were thinking about this,” he said, motioning their naked bodies. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me.”

You lifted your head and used your hands to cup his jaw and the pads of your thumbs stroked the apples of his cheeks. You nodded slowly and leaned to press a kiss to his lips. It was a short kiss, but Rafe grined when you lean back to look at him.

“You’ll always be my number one, okay?” Rafe noded. “I feel safe with you. I always will.”

“Let’s go back to my place and sleep, yeah?”

***

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little-mad · 3 years

Text

Downsides of Thievery Pt. 10

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

What was going on around Gavin was essentially up to his imagination due to the fact that Rael wouldn’t move his damn hands. While he wasn’t really eager to encounter any more alteons, Gavin was beginning to feel claustrophobic with parts of Rael’s body surrounding him on all sides.

After the interaction with the guard at the entrance, Gavin heard Rael exchange a few more brief greetings as he made his way through the palace. It was bizarre, being so near to other people but being unnoticed or otherwise unacknowledged.

Gavin found it kind of odd that no one had even commented on the weird way Rael’s hands were situated. Surely at least some of them had noticed, right? So why didn’t they mention it? Maybe minding one’s own business was a big staple of alteon culture or something…

The din of voices, rummaging around, and clanging dishes that had been present ever since entering the building began to fade. Only once everything had fallen silent did Rael speak up. “I’m going to remove my hand now,” he stated.

Before Gavin could get the chance to try to prepare himself, he suddenly found himself bombarded with light. “Ah, god,” he complained as he blinked away the spots in his eyes.

Once his vision had recovered from the initial assault, Gavin carefully opened his eyes all the way. The sight he was met with took his breath away. Sure it may have just been a hallway, but it was the most stunning hallway he had ever been in!

The walls were made of smooth gray stone that rose up into arches in the ceiling. Banners of a rich blue color, decorated with a complex emblem hung from the walls on either side. Floor candelabras that looked to be made out of some kind of dark metal stood every few feet along the sides of the hallway--it was impressive how well candles managed to light the area.

The centerpiece of the room was the tall door that Rael stood directly in front of. The thing was made of dark wood that had been carved with intricate designs. It looked as though it would weigh a ton, even to someone Rael’s size.

Gavin had been in a lot of fancy places in his day--it had usually been while he was breaking and entering, but that was besides the point. The point was, none of those places matched the grandiose nature this literal castle possessed. “Think of all the riches I could find here…” Gavin’s thief brain was kicking in and he very nearly smacked himself as a result. “Yeah, like I haven’t gotten in enough trouble for stealing from alteons,” the more rational section of his mind countered.

“Hey, are you listening?” Gavin was abruptly jerked out of his own mental argument by the sound of Rael’s voice, which he only now realized had been going off in the background for the past few seconds.

“Uh--sorry, what did you say?” Gavin asked sheepishly as he leaned back to look up at the alteon’s face.

Rael blew out an impatient sigh. “I said, this door leads to the central part of the palace,” he summarized. “I also said that I’m going to keep you uncovered from now on.”

Gavin wasn’t really sure whether to be pleased or upset by this news. On one hand, he was eager to not be stuck in the oppressive dark. However, on the other hand, being out in the open meant getting ogled at by giants. Plus there was the risk of someone snatching him again… “No one's gonna try and grab me, are they?” He voiced his concern.

Rael’s expression softened so slightly Gavin barely even managed to detect it. “No, the palace is the most secure location in the world, you’ll be fine,” the dark haired giant assured him.

Satisfied with the response, Gavin gave a nod. He relaxed just a bit. Despite the many ups and downs they’d had together, Gavin trusted Rael’s judgement as well as his ability to protect him. Though the giant had managed to handle the Kaydin situation with words rather than violence, Gavin didn’t doubt that the guy would kick ass in a fight--if the definition in the guy’s biceps were anything to go by anyways.

To be honest, Rael would have preferred to keep Gavin hidden until the moment he delivered him to the Emperor. However, he knew that while the servants he’d passed by already had known better than to intrude upon a soldier’s business, most of the people in the central part of the palace would have no qualms in doing so. If he were to walk in, clearly hiding something, he would no doubt get stopped at least several times. At least with Gavin on display, everyone would instantly know the situation. Of course that may not prevent them from interfering, but Rael could only hope for minimal interaction.

After a quick glance downwards to ensure his passenger was secure, Rael pulled open the large door that separated the servant’s section from the rest of the palace.

The decor and architecture in this area, while similar to that of the previous section, was far grander and more extravagant. Rael didn’t even have to look to know Gavin was stunned by the sight. He took a small bit of pride in knowing the human was impressed by alteon craftsmanship.

The room they were in was the front entryway, it was where most visitors would first enter the palace. A handful of guards dotted the room, and of course, as soon as they all spotted Gavin, their eyes were glued to the little man.

Rael could feel Gavin fidgeting nervously in his hand, and honestly, the feeling was somewhat mutual. While Rael wasn’t the focus of anyone’s stares, he was still getting far more attention than he would prefer. Imagining what they could all be thinking about him made Rael feel sick to his stomach.

“Just...try to ignore them,” he advised himself as he began to walk further into the entryway. Avoiding making eye contact with anyone, he made his way towards the grand staircase that was the focal point of the room.

After ascending the steps, Rael was met with the enormous doors that would lead into the throne room. Rather than going through them, he made a right down the hallway that would take him to the Emperor’s office. The throne room was only used for official, large scale events. The Emperor was far more likely to be working in his office at this hour.

Unfortunately, there was no shortage of people milling around, and while so far everyone had refrained from approaching Rael, that streak was about to come to an end. “Ah, so this must be the human who attempted to rob Lady Elyth,” remarked a woman he recognized as being one of the Emperor’s scribes.

The scribe stood in front of Rael, effectively blocking his path. He sighed internally. Despite having no actual title, the Emperor’s scribes were well respected around the palace, and as close servants of the Emperor, soldiers like Rael were expected to defer to them. This meant he would be forced to humor this woman.

“Yes, I’m on my way to bring him to the Emperor now,” Rael stated, hoping the scribe would want to avoid getting in the way of Imperial orders.

Rael had to fight the urge to look down when he felt Gavin inching backwards on his palm. The little guy seemed to be trying to put some distance between himself at the unfamiliar alteon that was currently staring at him.

The woman gave a nod of understanding but still didn’t move. “This one certainly appears younger than the other ones I’ve seen,” she commented as she leaned in for a closer look.

Rather than jerking backwards as he reflexively wanted to, Rael remained still. He glanced down to see that Gavin had retreated all the way towards his chest. It was evident he was trying to keep a calm expression on his face, but it was easy to tell the man was highly uncomfortable. “Just hang in there,” Rael thought, wishing he could mentally send the message to the human.

Finally, after several long moments of ogling, the scribe pulled back and straightened up. “The Emperor is currently meeting with one of his advisors in his office, so you’ll have to wait until he’s finished” she informed him. “Anyways, enjoy the rest of your day, soldier.”

“And you as well, miss,” Rael replied. He waited until the woman had walked past him and out of sight before he started forward once again.

Gavin let out a deep sigh of relief, but otherwise kept quiet, which was for the best considering there were still guards about. Rael didn’t fail to notice that the human hadn’t moved away from his body. Even through his clothes, Rael could feel the slight movements that brushed against his chest. Were he not a man of fortitude, he may have reacted to the ticklish sensation.

After turning a corner, Rael made it to the more secluded area of the palace that housed the Emperor’s personal office. He was surprised to find the small sitting area outside the office completely vacant. Typically, there was at least one guard stationed outside the door so long as the Emperor was inside.

Rael furrowed his brows. Had the scribe not confirmed that the Emperor was indeed in his office, he might have suspected the ruler was elsewhere. But, since Rael couldn’t risk potentially barging in on a private meeting, he wouldn’t be able to check to be certain. “We’re going to have to wait,” he told Gavin in a low voice.

“Okay, yeah..good,” the human replied, not bothering to hide his relief at getting to postpone his impending judgement.

Being sure to keep Gavin steady, Rael took a seat on the stone bench across from the door to the Emperor’s office. It was only once he was seated that he realized how cramped the hand that was holding Gavin was. For quite awhile now he’d been making a concentrated effort to keep the appendage still so as to not accidentally exacerbate the human’s injuries.

“I’m going to set you down beside me, alright?” Rael waited for Gavin’s nod of confirmation before carefully relocating him onto the bench. Once the human was safely settled on his own two feet, Rael gratefully shook out his aching hand.

“Nothing like a giant castle to make a guy feel small,” Gavin remarked with a nervous chuckle as he sat down.

Rael glanced down at the human thoughtfully. Sometimes he forgot that in Gavin’s eyes, humans weren’t unusually tiny and weak creatures. To him, humans were normal sized--therefore he perceived alteons as giants. It was strange for Rael to imagine, because he couldn’t help but see Gavin as anything but tiny. “It’s quite large even to us alteons, if that’s any consolation,” he said honestly. “Anyone unfamiliar with the layout is bound to get lost.”

It had taken a good few weeks after beginning work at the palace for Rael to get a hang of navigating the expansive property. The winding hallways and innumerable doors made the place a virtual maze. He could only imagine how daunting it must be for someone of Gavin’s size. It would be effortless for the little guy to get hopelessly lost.

Just then, Rael’s attention was drawn to the office door, which had begun opening. The person who exited was familiar--he was a fellow member of the Imperial Guard. Rael quickly realized that he must have been the one who was meant to be on duty outside the office, though that didn’t explain what he’d been doing inside the room.

“Rael, there you are,” Ashryn greeted as he swiftly shut the door behind him before Rael could even get a glimpse inside the office. “I was wondering when you would arrive.”

Ashryn was tall and well muscled. His skin was a touch lighter than Rael’s and his braided hair was of a chestnut brown color. Judging by his broad shoulders and sharp jawline, the guy would undoubtedly make for an intimidating adversary.

“The Emperor just asked me for some insight on a few matters,” Ashryn explained, gesturing back towards the office. Rael suppressed a look of confusion. He had never really heard of a guard of Ashryn’s rank being asked for input from the Emperor himself. “But enough about that,” Ashryn declared, interrupting Rael’s contemplation. “I’m eager to meet this human criminal.” In an instant his gaze was upon Gavin. A sly smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and there was a glint in those pale green eyes of his that Rael didn’t like in the slightest.

#g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #my writing #oc: gavin stone #oc: rael

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vampiresuns · 3 years

Text

Interlude 1: Do Not Stand Over My Grave And Weep, Part 2

⟡ PART 2: FRIENDS ARE THE FAMILY YOU CHOOSE ⟡

2.2k words. In which Anatole’s friends start uncovering the mystery of his death and sudden reappearance.

CW: Death and discussions of it.

What to catch up with Anatole’s Apprentice series? You can do that here.

He had met him at University. He had been his friend since he was 18 years old. Anatole and Medea had been Leonore’s first lasting friends, the first people who outside of his family, had taught him permanence was not entrapment. They had filled his life with growth and laughter; he had suffered their woes, he had celebrated their triumphs, he had followed them into Vesuvia despite his original wish to travel the world.

He still travelled, but he always came back to them. Medea and Anatole weren’t just friends: they were family now. When Leonore closed his eyes he could see them holding hands and jumping into the water one summer evening in Prakra. He could see Medea using his thigh as a pillow under a tree. He could see Anatole dancing. He could see Medea and Anatole dressed to the nines for their new Court jobs.

He would know them anywhere. He would know them by the way their steps sounded alone.

It took Leonore some moments to remember where he was, Octavia gently nudging him. Sabine, who he didn’t realise had gone, announced themselves again, saying they had lost Anatole’s doppelgänger in the crowd.

Only it hadn’t been a doppelgänger. Leonore knew his best friend, he knew Anatole when he saw him.

“No,” he said at last. “No, that’s him. That’s him, Octavia. That was him, and I need to find him.”

“Leonore, wait! Anatole’s dead.”

They began bickering about it, Octavia trying to stop Leonore from head diving into a wild goose chase, not realising Selasi, the Baker, was listening to them.

“Excuse me, forgive me for overhearing, but are you talking about Anatole Radošević? The magician from Moonstone and Jasmine?”

“Yes! His aunt owned that shop,” Leonore said, jumping to talk to Selasi, who inspected him with a careful eye.

“I don’t know what prank you’re playing, but he’s alive as can be. I opened a little after the plague subsided and he and Asra have been getting bread from me for three years, almost. They’re attached at the hip, so if you know Asra—“

Leonore leaped to shake his hand. “I do know, Asra! Thank you, thank you so much.”

Selasi tried to tell him Asra wasn’t around, that he was on a journey, but that he could tell him where to find Anatole if he promised he was a friend, but Leonore sprinted towards the shop without letting him finish. Sabine set off to follow Leonore as Octavia called to both of them, which left her standing alone with Selasi. She made some apologies, and Selasi told her not to worry.

“Where did you say you knew him?”

“Leonore went to University with him,” she said, thinking the least she could do was to assure the man they were Anatole’s friends, not some random people with weird motivations. “I know him through his cousin.”

The baker hummed. “I didn’t know Anatole had any family besides his late Aunt and Asra.”

Something about the way he said it, the casual certainty of it, gave Octavia a chill. She thanked him, and tried to catch up with Sabine and Leonore, not wanting to say anything Selasi might not know. She risked him stopping them, or worse, telling Anatole, which she didn’t think would be a good idea. Octavia just had a bad feeling about it: she didn’t expect people to just know who Anatole was, or had been, that could be conceited. Anatole himself hated being anticipated by his job, wanting to have the opportunity to present himself and do the best he could do.

Yet from there to the sureness Selasi had had when he said he didn’t know Anatole had any family besides Paris and Asra? It was weird. The Radošević-Cassano weren’t meant to be separated; if Octavia knew anything about them from Milenko, it was that they were very close knit. The only people in their families that Octavia could think of as not being regarded ever, were Matilda and Krešmir, Vlad’s and Valerius’ late parents, who hadn’t even raised the siblings. All she knew about them was that they were neglectful and Matilda had the idle ennui of someone who was too used to having everything, and was used to using cruelty for fun.

Milenko had only talked about them a couple of times, and she had never heard the Consul even mention them, let alone Vlad, Anatole’s father. One way or another, the Cassano didn’t detach themselves from their family, nor did the Radošević, and Anatole had only ever been extremely proud of the people who had raised him. That had been their way since the days of Cassano Arianamenzi, the first of them, and she could testify that legacy had not washed away with time. If anything, it had become stronger. So why would Anatole not speak of it?

Unless he didn’t remember them. She had read about such a thing once, doing research for one of her most early plays. A shiver went down her back, making her hug her arms around herself and walk faster.

When Octavia reached the Moonstone Leonore and Sabine were talking to a tall man who seemed to guard the shop. None of them had seen him before, but he seemed to know them; he called them ‘people from before’.

“You used to give Anatole clementines, which he doesn’t like—” he said. He was tall, covered in a cloak, and had moss green eyes, though they were barely visible.

“He says they taste fake,” Leonore completed.

“So he gave them to me, before— it doesn’t matter. You won’t find him here.”

The only thing stranger than the stranger was that none of them could remember him as they tried to piece their afternoon together. However, Octavia had heard Selasi say Anatole was occupied in the Palace, and perhaps they could try their luck there.

“Then let’s go,” Leonore said, already standing up. “Maybe Medea knows something we don’t.”

Medea Pryce was the daughter of two archaeologists and the granddaughter of another one. Both her father’s and her mother’s family had settled in Vesuvia some generations ago because its cultural diversity and rich history was good for the archaeological craft. Anatole wasn’t the first Radošević-Cassano she had met — her Grandmother was acquainted with Bastiste Cassano, one of the Cassano elders, and thus with Consul Valerius, whom Batiste called her spoiled grandnephew. Medea’s parents, on the other hand, were acquainted with Atanasie Radošević and Aurora Tesfaye, uncle and mother of Anatole’s cousin Milenko.

So when she met him at University, which she had begun in Prakra, just as he had done, the surname called to her immediately. Discovering they would course the exact same program, even if they had different aspirations and goals, another pleasant surprise. It would be nice to have someone to know, as Medea liked making friends.

What a friend she had made of him and Leonore, who shared housing with them. Anatole was one of those people who had the energy of a handsome stranger one shared enlightening conversation with, yet then never saw again. Debonair and hopeful, he was passionate and inspiring, a devoted friend and nothing if not extraordinary. He had his shortcomings, like everyone, but that wasn’t the way one measured their friends.

Seasons came and time passed. They both studied and apprenticed in Balkovia for six months, and then they moved on into Vesuvia, Leonore following them, to their surprise. They laughed and hurt, they fell in love with their own people, they held each other, and Medea and Anatole drafted their plans for the future. It would be a great future, they were sure of it. Anatole’s self-introductory speech for the Vesuvian Court was a gem, Medea believed it so. They liked to fantasise about one day becoming Consul and Head of Staff, with all the things they thought they could help with, working together for the people of their City.

No matter the crashes and reality checks, the hardships or how many times Medea had seen Anatole stand up to the Count and the new Courtiers, they held hands through it and continued onwards: The World and it’s calling of completion met its perfect match in Anatole’s Ace of Swords coloured Strength.

Then the Plague came and Anatole died, and Medea was left with all their plans, and no one to implement them with.

After his death, things only got worse. She could tell something was going on with the Consul, but she wasn’t close enough to him to know what. She was somewhat closer to Councilwoman Cassiopeia, but she didn’t seem to know what was going on with her cousin either. The Courtiers hadn’t done anything of value for the City in three years, and all that Valerius ever seemed to do was to keep it afloat. The Court was destroyed, and with the Countess as lost as they all were, Medea didn’t know where they would end.

When she heard the Countess had found a new advisor she was thrilled. Fresh air was what the Court needed, and by the first weeks of this advisor around the Countess, it was clear they were doing her good, even if she had heard the advisor had had a rocky introduction with the Court. It seemed like it, because she knew from first hand experience that the Consul had come in furious to his office, refusing to speak to anyone, except to Cassiopeia, whom Medea was sure forced him to speak rather than him wilfully giving her any information.

He had only said something about something in poor taste, and how had he let the Countess know he would not tolerate it, but he didn’t say anything else.

Her turn to meet the advisor came the next morning. It happened by accident, when she was delivering some documents to the Council of Vesuvia. Meet was a lax word for it, ‘seeing’ him, was much more appropiate: with his light golden blond hair, and bespoke clothes. The same unmistakable black eyes and the scar across the bridge of his nose. The same stride, the same height, the same face, the same looks.

Her friend, her own dearest Aelius Anatole had walked into the Consul’s office seeking for an explanation about the way he had been received in Court. From there on, the morning was mayhem, absolute mayhem, and only now that Medea was sitting alone she could finally process it.

“Anatole” had introduced himself fully, his name the right name, but the Consul wouldn’t hear it, immediately throwing himself at the throat of the “second-rate witch” for daring to use that name. Anatole continued to insist that was his name. The more the argument extended, it was clear to everyone involved that that was Anatole, even to the headstrong Consul — his panicked eyes gave him away.

Medea knew her friend, her friend had always had a presence, even if he wasn’t always aware of it. He still had it, he still stood in the same way the Consul did, he still turned his eyebrows in the same way, and the way he spoke.

What he spoke of, too.

The breaking point came when the Consul grabbed him from the shoulders, demanding to know what he wanted from him. Then, Medea saw him do something he hadn’t done in years: she heard the Consul speak Balkovian in public. Medea’s grasp with the language was enough to know he asked two things, two crucial things, that anyone who wasn’t Anatole couldn’t answer.

Anatole answered the first one, something about a sword’s name, in his perfectly native Balkovian, looking pale and sickly-greenish. Cassiopeia tried to interject, but the Consul wouldn’t listen to anyone. Then the Consul asked his second question, something about ‘what was the tree’, or ‘what was the name of the tree’, and nothing else. Medea wasn’t sure.

Anatole replied both of the questions: His first reply being ‘grapevine’, followed by a choked up ‘cult of Dionysus’; the second reply was ‘a beech tree’, looking like he was about to vomit after the words left his mouth.

“Valeriy?” He said, as the Consul looked at him in horror, still holding him by the shoulders. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

Anatole did pass out, and the Consul, blushing cherry red as he realised the whole scene had been in front of half the Court office at his care, yelled at them to know what the hell were they doing, if not call for someone to take this boy to a bed. After it, the Consul stormed off, Cassiopeia power-walking behind him as she demanded an explanation from her cousin, an explanation the Consul refused to give, waving dismissively at her.

“Don’t you wave like that at me, Valeriy, unlike you, I know my own damn nephew when I see him.”

“Don’t call me that here.”

“Valeriy Radošević, I will call you however I damn please! Come back here!”

Medea didn’t stay to watch the rest. The Court was in unrest, it was so much that it had stirred the four other weirdos into watching and making the oddest commentary for anyone to hear. Medea didn’t need an in with them to know they knew something they all didn’t, and simply thought of the Court Staff too inconsequential for them to spare them half a thought.

As if possessed by a thunderbolt, Medea stood up from where she was sitting as she ruminated. She needed answers, and she needed to talk about this to someone. She had an idea: if anyone she was close enough knew a considerable amount of death and ghosts, it was Amparo Cassano, but first she needed to talk to Leonore. They had supported each other in these 4 years Anatole had been dead, or presumed as much. Anything she did, it would be with Leonore.

As she turned around after grabbing her coat, Leonore was calling her name.

“Sabine is waiting for us at our place, they wanted to ask some questions first so I ran here. Octavia is trying to find Amparo, or anyone really. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Good,” she said, as she grabbed his arm and began walking out of the Palace, “so do I, but not here. The Courtiers are around, and they cannot be trusted.”

#the arcana #my writing #the arcana oc #apprentice anatole #anatole's apprentice rewrites #aelius anatole #selasi the baker #leonore #medea #octavia rei #sabine rei #the radosevic-cassano #beautiful powerful and stubborn as a ram #consul valerius

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shoot-the-oneshot · 3 years

Text

LONG SHOT

Requested by @spookyboogyuniverse

Could you wright a story about Nestor Oceteva when the M.C. and the Cartel where trying to find Alvarez but Bishop and Miguel didn’t have any leads so Nestor Calls in a favor from an old friend witch is the reader she used to be a sniper in the Marines in the war in Afghanistan Nestor meet her when she came back from deployment they dated for a wile but they broke up after he became head of security for Miguel because he grew distant from her and pushed her away. When she gets the call from Nestor telling her who she needs to find she drops everything and goes to help find Alvarez because Alvarez saved her life when she was in a dark place and she never had a father figure and Alvarez is her papa in her eyes bye Nestor does know that the reader knows Alvarez or that the M.C. is her family because of Alvarez?

Nestor Oceteva x reader

Miguel and bishop have gotten nowhere, no leads nothing, at this point they would take a guess at Alvarez’s location. Nestor watched them go back and forth and coming up with nothing since he was taken. They all knew the longer it takes to find him the worse the out come would get. And the ticking of the clock a reminder of it. It wasn’t until Angel brought up her name that Nestor practically choked on air.

“What about Y/n she’s living with him right where is she?”

“Y/n didn’t do this.” Bishop knew how much you looked up to Alvarez, you seamlessly fell into the club when Alvarez introduced you. He took you in when you left the military, bishop knew there was more to it than just some obligation but he would never say and details. You must not know and he would hate to be the one to tell you.

“But she could find him right? He always talked about her skill set whatever they were she can use them right?” Angel didn’t know much about you despite you hanging around all the time. You were close to the club but very tight lipped about your time in the military.

“She’s a sniper.”

Nestor didn’t know he said that out loud until all eyes were on him. You both went through boot camp together and hit it off. Practically attached at the hip for years until he left to work for Miguel, he relives your fight everynight.

“Nestor! What are you doing?”

You had followed him to your shared bedroom only to see him packing a bag.

“I got a job lined up it’s perfect for us I’m already discharged you just have to get out and we can move and finally start our lives together!” Nestor rushed out while throwing clothes in bags he didn’t notice you haven’t said anything until you pulled your bag away from him and he was left with a handfuls of your shirts.

“It’s not the job with the cartel right?”

He’s never heard you speak so softly, almost as is you were afraid of anyone hearing you say the words. You made your dislike for the cartel very known when he got approached with it. At his silence you had your answer.

“You know how I feel about them!”

“I know but it’s worth it.”

“No, you decided it was worth more than me.”

At this point packing has been forgotten and the energy in the room had shifted. Staring into your watering eyes he tried to get closer to comfort you, stoping in his steps when you shook your head. You’ve never turned down his touch before no matter what war you were fighting you always came to him. He didn’t know how to handle it when you didn’t.

“I thought we already started our lives together, I guess I was wrong.”

Those were the last words you spoke to him and he still hears them clear as day.

“You know Y/n?”

Miguel asked looking to his bodyguard.

“We were in the marines together.” Was his vague explanation.

“Can she help us find Alvarez, Nestor?”

At his nod Miguel told him to call you.

“She will help, but not if it comes from me.”

Looks like bishop is the one that has to tell you after all.

You dropped everything when bishop called you figured it was about Alvarez since he hasn’t been home for a few days. Walking up the steps leading to a large house Angel brings you up to the office where bishop is.

Taking a look around the room only recognizing the MC, until you look at the man standing behind the desk. His hair is much longer and tied back into braids but you’d know him anywhere, Nestor. Not giving him a second glance you looked to the el presidente. “Why am I here bishop.”

Looking between the two ex marines feeling the tension between them, Nestor didn’t give up any information but anyone with eyes could see there was something between you two. With a sigh he started to explain everything with Alvarez.

“You got a phone I can use Pablo Escobar?”

Miguel quickly held out a phone when he noticed you were referring to him. Dialing the number you reached across the desk grabbing his computer too and sitting at the table with the Mayans and as far away from Nestor as possible.

“All knowing oracle at your service”

“Hey Garcia, it’s Y/n.” She gasp over the line squealing.

“Y/n! Are you finally calling to tell me how your date with Ried?” Nestor knew you probably dated after him but he wasn’t ready to hear it. You smiled internally when he tensed, wanting to make him hurt just a bit at picking a job over you.

“Later I promise but I need help tracking someone down.”

“Oh I don’t think I’m allowed to do that Y/n I’m sorry.”

“It’s Alvarez.”

After you’re declaration the line is silent, until she sighs and asked for more information to start looking at. You met Garcia at a PTSD meeting. Alvarez thought it would help you, she was there after she got shot. Thankfully you stayed in touch it never hurts having friends in the FBI. telling you she will call you back when she has something you look to bishop and ask him to drive you home so you can pick up your gear. You snapped when Miguel offers to have one of his men pick it up.

“You and your men better not even think of coming close to me or my gear!”

It’s an hour after you stormed out that Garcia calls and tells you where Alvarez is being held and you quickly text Bishop and tell him to meet you a mile away.

Rolling your eyes as you see Nestor and Miguel there as well. Your rifle strung across your back. “Here’s the plan I pick off the guards outside and everyone else waits till I give the go ahead to go inside, copy?”

When everyone agrees you look to the Mayans new prospect. “Come on I need a spotter.”

“I’ll do it.”

You were hoping you wouldn’t have to speak to him but of course he just has to say something. “No!”

“Actually I would be more comfortable having one of my men up there just to be sure you don’t shoot me in the back.” Miguel stated as if you’d care.

“I’m not a coward I’d shoot you in the face if anything. Come on prospect.” Just as you were about to storm off bishop pulled you back nodding to Nestor. Groaning you wave your hand motioning for him to follow you up the hill while the others got in their position.

“I didn’t know you were in town.”

If he thinks you’re going to talk to him he must’ve forgotten who you were.

“Are you not going to talk to me?”

“Are you not going to talk to me princesa?”

Nestor had his arms wrapped around you from behind leaving soft kisses on your neck knowing he was on your bad side. Giving him a huff and turning your head away. One of his hands disappeared from your waist as he sets a bag of gummy worms in front of you. Giving him a smile before diving for the sour treat, moving to straddle his lap the bag held between you both. “You’re forgiven.” You winked. What’s a stolen candy when he’s already stolen your heart.

“Y/n, Y/n!”

“What!” You growled, spinning to face him. With everything else that’s changed about him his eyes are still the same.

“You know I never meant to hurt you.”

“The only reason I’m here is for Alvarez, don’t forget that.” You sighed turning back around to finish the hike to the sniper perch.

Quietly setting down your bag you throw the range finder binoculars knowing he would catch them. The peak of the hill gives a great view of the warehouse. Nestor laying down next you, rattling off windage and distance, while you screw on the silencer is when Nestor speaks up again.

“Just like old times right.”

“If it’s not about the mission dont talk.”

Clicking the safety off you count six guards. Taking a deep breath and lowering your heartrate for a better shot you pick off the two in the back the four left none the wiser.

Finishing off the guards you switch to the thermal scope and call bishop. “Five inside two on the west side, two east and one in the middle possibly Alvarez. Move in.”

Watching the Mayans and the Cartel storm the building while you scan the perimeter for any surprises. Nestor answering your phone when it rings and putting it on speaker. “We got him he’s okay, we will meet you both back at Miguel’s.”

Packing up your rifle and extra gear before making the trek back not waiting for your Mexican shadow, who quickly catches up.

“Are you going to tell me how you know Alvarez or should I just ask him?”

Nestor asked once he started driving back, you huff and continued looking out the window.

“He’s Miguel’s new advisor he’ll tell me if I ask.”

“He won’t tell you anything and you shouldn’t ask it’s not your place.”

“Anymore” He mumbled, glaring at him from the corner of your eye. “What?”

“You mean it’s not my place anymore.”

“Yeah Nestor that’s what I mean.” You sighed, running a hair through your hair. Nestor was always the one you told everything to no matter how bad it felt weird not telling him almost.

“After you left I stayed in the marines and got deployed, got a new spotter. We were practically twins, at least that’s what everybody called us. After a few months the bad guys caught on that we had snipers and set IEDs where they thought we would go. One day when we went out. He bet that he could get to the perch before me, he won.”

Nestor was quiet, your shaky breathing being the only noice beside the low radio in the background. “He accidentally hit a tripwire....the blast was big enough to throw me out a window, that was my last deployment and Alvarez served with my sergeant so when I got out he introduced us He has helped me work through some stuff since then he’s been a father figure for me. Does that answer your question?”

Nestor knew you didn’t want him to say he was sorry you’ve always hated when people said that but before he could say anything he pulled up to the house and you jumped out of the car. “Al!” You yelled almost knocking the doctor over that was looking at his wounds. His chuckle rumbling through your body at how tightly you hugged him. Pulling back he grabs a leaf out of your hair. “I see you were apart of my rescue mission.”

“She was the one that found you.” Nestor said from his spot at the doorway silently watching your interaction, that was the first time he’s seen you smile in years. Alvarez raised his eyebrows looking between you and Nestor knowing the history between you both, rolling your eyes showing your displeasure. “I even worked with him for you so try not to get taken again because I’m not doing that again.” You whispered, taking a seat next to him while the doctor continued. “You know I don’t think you’ve gotten closure between you two.”

“So?”

“So, you should talk to him.” He suggested with that knowing look all fathers seem to have. And you know he’s right. Walking over to Nestor stopping once your shoulder to shoulder next to each other. “Coffee, tomorrow morning don’t be late.” Were your parting words as you walked out the door not seeing Nestors gaze following you nor hear him whisper.

“I won’t princesa.”

#nestor oceteva x reader #nestor oceteva imagine #mayans x reader #mayans mc imagine #angel reyes x reader #ez reyes x you #miguel galindo imagine #Alvarez imagine #Nestor imagine #soa imagine #Nestor Oceteva x you

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cindersnightmare · 3 years

Text

slow dancing in the dark (kaider au)

part ten

summary: cinder is the palace mechanic and kai is the prince of the eastern commonwealth. even though they could never be together, they start a secret relationship.

(sorry this took 20 million years to write sdjmgfnsjdfk)

***

the following week after the emperor’s death, the palace was chaos. a funeral had passed, preparations for the upcoming coronation and ball were being worked on at every moment, and the search for a cure was in more demand than ever. no one wanted to see another beloved leader die to the horrible disease.

the city was a mix of grief, worry, and excitement. as much as the commonwealth loved kai, they worried he wouldn’t be a good leader at such a young age, and they didn’t want to see him crack under the pressure. they were hoping the ball would be a break from the darkness. they wanted a night of fun to forget all of the tragedy that their country had been through.

kai was a nervous wreck, of course, and was terrified of the upcoming events. all he wanted to do was lay in bed for days and block out any responsibilities. unfortunately, that was a luxury he couldn’t have. he was going to be emperor in the next few days, whether he was ready or not, and nothing could change that.

while everyone was planning the coronation and ball, kai was coming up with a secret plan. he had to make sure cinder would be able to come to the palace without getting caught by her retched family, and that would require some help. so he ended up telling torin he wanted to bring his “friend” to the ball for his healing and comfort. although his advisor was weary of letting an employee be the special guest, he allowed it once he saw kai’s puppy eyes.

he had his stylist get cinder’s outfit and store it in his bedroom. he hoped she would like it, but he knew she would pick cargo pants over a dress any day. cinder was going to have to tell adri that she was needed at the palace late so she could stay and get ready. everything was coming together, and kai really hoped it would work. it was the one thing he was looking forward to. if everything went well, then they had a chance to really being together, and he wanted that more than anything.

***

after another day of dreadful meetings, kai was drained. all he could think about was how he was somehow on the same level as these older, powerful leaders, and he would be discussing serious topics and problems with them continuously now. it was weird thinking about how just years go, he was a curious kid, trying to listen and sit it on his dad’s meetings with the same people.

it was getting late, and he didn’t want to feel sad anymore, so he threw on a hoodie and snuck out of the palace. even though he got a stern yelling from torin last time he did this, he didn’t really care, he needed to see cinder.

as excited as he was, he was still filled with dread at seeing the phoenix tower apartments. he hated cinder living there. the image of her sad bedroom and the stories of adri’s abuse haunted him, and his patience was the only thing keeping him from taking her away from all of it.

kai sent a comm to cinder before walking into the lobby, not wanting to freak her out this time. he also didn’t want to risk waking the step monster.

hey, i’m outside your building. can you sneak down here?

a few moments went by before his portscreen chimed with a response.

you’re clinically insane...i’m coming down.

her message made him laugh as he waited by the front doors. he saw cinder in the lobby, wearing his hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. kai smiled at the sight. she opened the door and waved him inside, ushering for him to move quickly. he walked towards her and glanced around, seeing the office man sleeping at the front desk again.

“are you crazy?” cinder whispered. grabbing his hand and leading him to the back staircase.

“according to your comm, yes.” he laughed, not even questioning where she was taking him as they stepped down into a dark room. she flicked on a small light and the metal of tools and work tables dimly gleamed back at them. “is this your secret hideout?”

cinder shrugged, “you could say that.” after she spoke, they faced each other, their smiles softening. it had been a while since they saw each other in person. the past week had been a mess, and they had both been missing each other like crazy, hoping for an opportunity to communicate without using their portscreens. “what brings you here at two in the morning?”

kai thought of where he was an hour ago, alone in his bed, feeling something missing. his heart ached and he wanted to bring it home. “i just needed you, that’s all.” he spoke with a gentle smile.

she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into an embrace. a sigh of content left his lips, and while he felt lighter already, nothing could stop the weight of grief and uncertainty sitting on his chest. “you’ve got me, kai. always.” cinder whispered.

his fingers wove themselves into her hair, holding her close. he started to think of the ball, of dancing with her in front of everyone, all eyes on them. an idea popped in his head and he began to grin. “cinder?”

“hm?”

“do you know how to dance?”

cinder’s face fell, looking scared and embarrassed in an instant. “oh my stars, i don’t know how to dance.” her eyes were wide with panic as she spoke.

kai laughed and put one hand on her waist, the other grabbing hers and holding it. “it’s okay, i’ll teach you.” he almost laughed at her expression, but he refrained, instead focusing on getting her in the correct position. “you don’t have to be nervous.” he teased.

“i’m worried i’ll crush your foot with my metal one.” she frowned, looking at the floor.

kai let out a little laugh. “you won’t. now come on, dance with me.”

he started to guide her, stepping back and forth, taking it slow. it was proving difficult to dance in a crowded, dim basement but they were making it work. she stumbled a little and he helped her get back into it. she still seemed nervous, like she was sure she wasn’t good enough. but as they kept going, she eased into it, starting to memorize the steps and follow kai smoothly.

“see? it’s not so bad.” kai whispered as he brought her body closer to his.

“because you’re doing most of the work.” she giggled, resting her head on his chest, listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat. she wondered how many times kai had to dress up, pick a dancing partner, and waltz across the palace floor all night. probably hundreds, and he would do it a thousand times more in his reign. she hoped everything would work out and he wouldn’t have to pick another partner ever again.

he rested his head on hers, trying to get as close as possible without messing up their progress. he knew they wouldn’t be able to dance like this at the ball, it would be far too inappropriate, so he took advantage of the moment. as he held her, his heart rushed with warmth, replacing the dark emotions that burdened him all week. “cinder?”

“yeah?” she picked her head up and looked at him. her beautiful brown eyes met his, that small yet alluring smile appearing, and he swore he saw heaven.

his breath caught in his throat, the words resting on the tip of his tongue. every time he looked at her, he knew, but he didn’t say it. before everything started changing, he was afraid that he would lose her, that saying what he felt would make it all too difficult. but now they had this great scheme to stay together forever, to eventually walk down the aisle, to rule a country together. he allowed himself to be truthful and certain now.

“i love you.”

the words filled the silent air as cinder’s eyes widened. he wondered if she ever heard that sentence before. the dancing stopped and she froze, looking shocked. kai hoped he didn’t scare her, knowing he had done enough of that with his marriage and ball proposals.

slowly, she seemed to come back to earth, and that smile reappeared. “i love you, too.”

her voice captured him and he brought her back to him, kissing her passionately. it was like their bond had intensified, like a string that couldn’t break, something that would be with them for the rest of their lives.

once they separated and let air slip between them, cinder laughed. “what?” kai asked.

she shook her head, “we’re crazy. absolutely insane.”

he nodded, “yeah, you’re right, but we’re gonna make it work.”

***

get it...? they slow danced in the dark!!! :))))

next part is going to be the ball!

taglist: @strawberry-seraph @duskietapp @winterrhayle @stylampa @wwwwyamd @whyiask @i-swear-im-google @phobidawg @plain-jane-mclain @princesspri222 @marialovesdean @maradovan @moon-swoon @nodrianbcyes @janisarkisian @cyborg-martyr-wolf-monarch @cinderswrench @cindersassasin @cerenoya @idkchatie @half-heaven @dawniebb @scxundress @queen-of-self-love @quietintrovertt @invisiblebobs @lavenderbloo @healing-winston-pratt @hearing-in-color @horton-hears-a-who @cosmicnovaflare @a-salting-the-world @angstycatthatlikestea @poptart-boy @grad-school-fool @gatorademachinegun @girlfriendisthemoon @honey-harper-official @coralsclato @bookishfangirl14 @bakergirl13 @addies-invisible-life @f-r-o-p @disco-funk-and-soul09 @lani-sleeps @daydreaming-optimist @the-sunflowerstar @mistydacat @salt-warrior @love-and-anarchy-au

(let me know if u want to be added or taken off <3

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one-leaf-grimoire · 3 years

Text

"the knight who pierced the king's heart"

Chapter 3

Summary: Julius wonders if going on this date is a good idea, only for Lisa to almost immediately try and bail.

Warnings: They are both big idiots oops

Pairing: Julius x Lisa

Link to full work on AO3

“Please, Marx, just trust me-”

“Julius! I’m not going to allow you to run off and skip your meetings!” Marx balled up his fists and for a brief moment, Julius feared for his life. His advisor was already livid about his disappearance last night, which did not go unnoticed by Augustus. Julius explained it away as he was feeling sick, but another excuse wasn’t going to get him past Marx. “Not without a really, REALLY good reason, at the very least.”

“Oh, well- I have a reason-” Julius glanced nervously at the clock in his office. If I don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to miss lunch time! “Er- um…” Any good excuse was evading him, so he just blurted out something slightly stupid: the truth. “I’m going on a date.”

Marx’s jaw dropped, and Julius immediately regretted his decision. “WHAT?!” He dropped the paperwork in his hand out of shock, and it scattered all over the tile floor. “You’re kidding!!!! It’s been ages-”

“Don’t remind me-” Julius cut in, trying to reveal as little information about the date as possible. “I’m going to be late to meet her if I don’t-”

“BY ALL MEANS- go!” Marx was suddenly behind him, pushing him out the door. “This is great news! It’s about time you got married and produced an heir!”

“Heir?! Married?!” Julius had thought about it, sure, but he didn’t expect Marx of all people to start bothering him about it now. “It’s much too early to start talking about that stuff-”

“Whatever! It’s still a good sign.” Marx smiled to himself as he finally released Julius. “Go- I’ll make an excuse. But let me know about your plans ahead of time in the future so I can plan your schedule, alright?”

Julius nodded, and couldn’t help but grin to himself. “Thank you… I’ll be back by the evening.”

“You better be!”

Julius quickly ran to his room to change, glad to discard all his finery. His crown was carelessly thrown onto his bed, replaced by a wide-brimmed hat that covered most of his hair. When combined with his usual bandana, it worked as a great upgrade to his “disguise.” She’s not going to be tipsy this time, Julius thought to himself, his heart pounding as the nerves started to set in. So it’s more likely that she’ll figure me out… she did kiss my hand that day, after all. But maybe that’s for the best… I don’t want to keep tricking her or anything like that.

With that, he set off, slipping out of the castle unseen as usual for what he hoped would be a fun afternoon.

As he walked through the busy streets as fast as he could, Julius couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to what Marx mentioned.

Marriage… and an heir.

Julius really hadn’t worried much about either of those subjects before. Back before he was king, when he was still just a knight, he had dreamed about settling down after retirement and having a family with someone. But of course, plans changed; his injury, his father and uncle’s deaths, and his ascent to the throne threw him off course. The position he took over was the one that oversaw the army and foreign policy, and the kingdom was on the brink of war at the time. Now, 5 long years later, they were at peace, and Julius finally found himself without much to do.

I guess… maybe this would be a good time to figure that all out after all.

He was never a fan of the dynastic aspect of things. Julius wasn’t supposed to take the throne at all, but of course things changed and the royal line shifted. But he didn’t really feel too possessive over the future of his line. One of his cousins would take over when he died or retired, and Julius was fine with that.

But still… maybe it would be nice to have kids.

Maybe it was all a weird delusion. After all, no one could predict the future. It might be silly to imagine this whole future from just two meetings with another person, but Julius didn’t stop himself.

Anyway… what was so special about her?

Why do I even like Lisa?

The truth was, Julius had been infatuated before he even saw her face. The way she fought in that tournament let her determination shine through, and when she took off her helmet, and kissed his hand-

Julius could acutely remember how it felt last night, with her holding onto him, her cheek pressed close against his chest. It had been a long, long time since another person was so close to him. Just the memory was enough to dust his ears in red.

So… is it all physical?

No…

It must not be all physical. Because, somehow, from just those two meetings, Lisa was able to make him think about a future, and imagine her there too.

Or… maybe I’m just being silly.

Julius suddenly halted, letting a few people brush by him in the crowd.

Lisa… she’s so young. She just started her career as a knight. If we get closer… it might hurt her…

However, a moment later, he started walking again, his steps more confident.

No… that’s silly. I’m the King, I’d be able to protect her! All I know is that I like her, for whatever reason, and I’m not going to let that go!

For now, all Julius had to worry about was making a good impression and figuring out a way to let Lisa know exactly what she was getting into.

“...hello?”

Julius half expected Lisa to have forgotten about their “date,” but to his pleasant surprise she was already standing outside, dressed casually with her arm still in her cast. She blinked at the sound of his voice, turning to see him. Her eyes immediately widened, and to his relief, she smiled.

“Oh! So I didn’t dream you up!”

“Ah, yeah, no you didn’t…” Julius laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m glad you remembered.”

“Me too!” Lisa stepped a little closer, and despite her smile, Julius could pick up on a distinct apprehension in her stance. She’s nervous too… probably more nervous than I am. For good reason, too; it was quite risky to meet up with a mysterious man, even for a lunch date. “I woke up this morning and all I could think of was I have a date today! I’m glad you’re just as handsome as I dreamed~”

AHHHHHH

Julius gulped, his heart jolting around every which way in his chest. She’s still just as bold as ever- “Thank you… you’re just as lovely. So-” He averted his eyes and looked around under the brim of his hat, which he was surprised didn’t hinder her opinion of him today. “Where would you like to go?” It had been a while since he had been on a date, but he assumed it was the gentlemanly thing to do to let her take the lead.

“Hmm… I was thinking that we should just get something from the market then go somewhere quiet.”

Somewhere quiet? Alright… Julius nodded, then turned to lead her off. “Sounds like a plan… this way, right?”

“Yeah!”

Julius didn’t want to overstep boundaries, but it turned out he didn’t have to; Lisa immediately slipped her right hand into his left. Ah! Ok, that must be a good sign… He glanced down at her as they walked, seeing her staring ahead, still looking as happy as could be. So far so good… now I just have to figure out how to go about the rest of this.

Before he knew it, they had finished up their trip to the market, and Lisa was dragging him towards the outskirts of town. Julius didn’t object, following with ease as he carried both of their lunches in his free hand. “This way!” she said, glancing back at him. “There’s a hill on the edge of town… it has a great view!”

Sure enough, she let go of his hand to race up the hill, lively despite her one useless arm. Once at the top, Lisa turned to look down at Julius, her grin faltering when she saw him still at the bottom. “Come on! I can’t wait up here forever.”

“... oh, right.” Julius quickly snapped out of it and climbed after her. I started staring… I have to be careful about that.

But how could he not stare at her? She demanded the attention of all those around her with every movement she made. Julius didn’t understand her yet, but he could see that she was the type of person who breathed life into everyone she crossed paths with.

Even him.

“You’re right, the view is great up here.” Julius finally sat down, letting out a sigh as his back came to rest against the trunk of a tree.

“I know right?” Lisa quickly sat next to him, reaching towards the lunch bag. “I bring dates up here all the time.”

“All the time?” Julius repeated, his heart sinking again. I mean… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s pretty, I’m sure she has a lot of admirers. I’m probably nothing more than a fun way to pass the time-

“No. I lied.” Lisa laughed nervously, awkwardly digging through her bag. “I don’t really get asked on dates much… not even this time! I asked you didn’t I?” She licked her lips as she pulled the sandwich out. “I do still come up here a lot, though… just by myself.”

Something changed in her voice. Julius stared at her, not exactly sure what to say.

Oh… so… I guess she’s also…

Lisa stared at her sandwich in her hand for a moment. Then, with a soft breath, she let it drop back down into the bag.

“Last night… I feel like I embarrassed both of us. I don’t know why you were there, or why I recognized you, I don’t even know your name now!” She let out a sigh, and to Julius’s dismay, she stood up. “I guess the reason I wanted to meet you today was to apologize. Sorry about all that… but you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Finally, she turned to look down at him, a sad smile on her face.

“Thank you… goodbye.”

Without another word, Lisa turned back around and started to walk off down the hill.

For a moment, Julius didn’t move. He wasn’t sure he was even processing what happened. His eyes were glued on the back of her head, as her hair bounced around her with every step. Maybe that image was what made him snap out of it and finally jump back to his feet.

“Wait!”

Lisa paused, glancing over her shoulder at the man behind her. Julius gulped, his arm halfway outstretched dramatically. He didn’t really know what to say; he just started talking.

“My name… my name is Julius.”

No change could be seen in her expression. Julius started to sweat. Should I say my last name too? I thought she would have put two and two together…

“...I saw you at the jousting tournament.”

His hand dropped back to his side as he continued to speak. He only had one goal in his mind, one desperate goal to keep her here just a little longer. The realization that she was about to leave, possibly forever, was finally dawning on him, and the emotion pounding from his heart had just one name:

Fear.

“You broke your arm, yet you kept pushing forward. I-I couldn’t help but admire that… and then…”

Here he was again, spewing out the dumbest thing he could: the truth. Yet, for the second time today, it was working. Lisa’s eyes finally widened a little, her body turning back to face him fully. Julius sucked in a breath through his nose before continuing.

“Then… you took off your helmet, and I saw that you aren’t just brave and strong… you’re beautiful too.”

Lisa blinked, shock starting to register on her face with each passing word. Julius couldn’t tell if she was pleased or not, and his next words caught in his throat. He stood there for a moment, his mouth open, unsure if he should continue.

“... I should be the one apologizing. It was weird and selfish of me, but I ended up at a party where I didn’t belong, because I wanted to see you again-” For some reason, Julius felt himself laugh weakly at the thought. “So… I’m sorry. But, if you have the time… I’d still like to have lunch with you.”

For a long, long time, Lisa just stared up at him, a light blush on her cheeks from the unexpected confession. Julius held his breath, feeling a bit dizzy. But somehow, he was still smiling.

And then, miraculously, she smiled back, closing her eyes for a brief minute.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

She opened her eyes again, and Julius swore that they were sparkling. “I finally get my hilltop date, with an admirer, no less! How could I refuse?”

Julius let out a sigh of relief, his nervousness shifting into a more pensive kind.

She’s staying… just a little longer… that’s all I need!

“My name is Lisa… but you probably already knew that.”

“Yeah, I did…”

#julius novachrono #julius novachrono x oc #julius novachrono x reader #oc: lisa #bc oc #knight au #marx francios #black clover #tkwptkh #julisa #automation

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let-it-raines · 4 years

Note

Prompt: this was supposed to be a low key first date, but now I’ve gone and injured myself (hiking?) so will you please take me to the hospital?

on ao3 | here |

word count: ~ 4800

-/-

When Emma agreed to go on a date with David’s friend from the office, she figured it would be to a mediocre restaurant where the lighting was a little too dim and the price a little too expensive for the food that was a little too small. That’s how the past few of her dates have gone, besides the one guy who took her to McDonalds. She didn’t know what to think of that. At first, she thought it was a little weird, but she didn’t really mind since sometimes she does want to clog her arteries with their fries. Then, though, she found out that he was testing to see if she was “uptight” and she ended that. Anyone who tests a woman on a date, no matter their reasons, is an asshole.

She is tired of dealing with assholes.

A part of her thinks Killian Jones may be one.

She’s met him a few times, but it’s never been anything significant. It’s been a “hello” at a barbecue, a “how are you” as they pass at a bar, a nod from across the street when they happen to be in downtown Boston at the same time. That’s not exactly a small place, but they frequent the same bars because she goes where David goes and David goes where the rest of the financial advisors in his office go. So, they do end up around each other, and she’s observed him from afar. He nearly always has a smile on his face as he charms a woman, usually a tall brunette that looks a hell of a lot like Ruby, and she’s gathered that he’s funny enough to make them all laugh. That, or they all fake it because he’s attractive and makes good money and they want to get into his pants. If she saw him at a bar and had never heard of him before, she’d probably want the same.

But she’s not at a bar or at that classic mediocre restaurant. She’s waiting in her car in the parking lot of World’s End, a park outside the city where you can do anything from horseback riding to skiing to kayaking to hiking. She’s in a pair of black running shorts, a tank top that’s knotted at the small of her back, and her worn-out running shoes that she doesn’t actually use to run. She’s already rubbed herself down with sunscreen, has her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she’s got her largest water bottle filled with ice water. She’s totally going to have to pee halfway through this hike, and that’s going to make a great impression.

Emma doesn’t really care about impressing Killian Jones, though. She only agreed to this date because David (mostly Mary Margaret who has bugged her about it at every training session and every dinner they’ve shared) has been trying to set them up for months now. It was getting to the point where Emma was pretty sure she was going to walk into her gym or her apartment and the man was going to be sitting there. To keep that creepy as hell thing from happening, she’s here now, getting ready to sweat her ass off on her day off from training and helping other people train. She always works Saturdays, and she can’t believe she’s using a free day for this.

An SUV pulls up next to her, so she flips her mirror down to make sure her makeup or hair isn’t out of place. It’s not, and when she flips her mirror up, she sees Killian Jones just outside her car window, smirk already stretched across his lips.

“Hello there, Swan,” he greets as she steps outside. “You look lovely.”

She glances him up and down, taking in the fitted gym shorts, gray t-shirt and similarly worn sneakers. He’s got a Sox cap on, but if she had to guess, he probably spent a long time fixing up his hair before this. “Same to you.”

Silence falls between them, and Emma shuffles her feet. She’s not exactly great at small talk, always feeling like it’s stupid to have to talk about the weather when there’s nothing else to talk about, but Killian quickly nods his head toward the trail entrance. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Emma bites her tongue at her stupid-ass answer, and iron fills her mouth.

She’s starting to wish she was at a mediocre restaurant instead. At least then she’d get food.

“So, David told me you’re a personal trainer, so I know you already spend a lot of time exercising. I figured you wouldn’t mind this, though. It’ll only be around five miles. I didn’t plan on it being so bloody hot, though.”

“Well, if all else fails, we can jump into the water to cool off.”

“You make a good point, love.”

Killian guides the small talk – thank God – as they work their way up the trail. He tells her that he got into being a financial advisor because he screwed up in university by getting a degree in finance despite hating it. He’s good with numbers, though, even better with people, and most of his job is about convincing people to trust him. It was the only job he was qualified to have after graduation that wouldn’t require more overpriced schooling, and since he wanted to stay in the country, he had to take whatever was given to him. Six years later, he doesn’t love his job, but he doesn’t hate it.

“So, you came to America to go to a big, fancy, stuck-up Ivy League school, picked a major that you hate, and now you con people into letting you handle their money?”

“It’s not a con.”

Emma pinches her brows together. “Sure.”

“Well, half of your job is convincing people they need help reaching their fitness goals when they could do it on their own.”

“I’m going to go ahead and guess you have never had a personal trainer if that’s all you think we do.”

His forehead wrinkles when his brows lift, and he holds his hands out. “Do I look like I need one?”

Cocky asshole.

Emma hums, pretends to study him, before gently reaching over and patting his stomach. It’s firm, but she doesn’t have to admit that. “I would say there’s definitely some room for improvement there.”

His head tilts back with laughter, his blue eyes closing, and he shakes his head and starts jogging ahead of her. “Hope you can keep up, Swan,” he jokes, his speed getting faster and faster, and Emma quickly runs after him. She’s not a runner. She hates it more than she hates black coffee – which is a hell of a lot – so she only does it if Ruby forces her to do it or if she has to do it with a client. She’s more of a Pilates, cycling, boxing, anything-other-than-running kind of girl. Killian is obviously a runner from the way he moves with ease, his stride nearly perfect, and she knows he’s going slow on purpose to allow her time to catch up.

“You’re an asshole,” she yells out, laughing despite herself, as she gets a little closer to him. The bastard starts full-out sprinting, and she’s left catching her breath as she runs after him. Yep, running is definitely still a bitch, and the other people on the trail are staring at the two of them as Emma chases after Killian. She nearly calls him a “fucking bastard” out loud before she remembers there are children around. That would have been extra shitty on her part, especially since she already called him an asshole.

“Catch me if you can,” he teases, glancing back to look at her, bright smile on his face, and yep, he is a full-out runner. He can speak without gasping for breath, and she’s struggling.

She still hasn’t caught up.

Emma sucks in a deep breath, clutches her water bottle in her hand, and sprints as fast as she can, adrenaline pumping through her veins and her heart pounding. She’s almost there, Killian just out of her range, and it happens before she can stop it.

A rock catches underneath her shoe, twisting her ankle into an unnatural position, and she starts falling to the side before she can stop herself. Emma tries to catch herself, sticking her arm out to keep her face from hitting the ground, and while she does manage that, she knows her arm is going to be a killer tomorrow.

Not as much as her ankle.

“Shit,” she hisses out, rocking backward and reaching for her ankle, but it stings and aches and any possible bad word out there, it does. “Shit, shit, shiiiiit.”

Tears fill her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. It has to be a sprain and only a sprain, but she’s not stupid or stubborn enough to try to get up on her own. Emma gently lays her foot down, not moving her ankle if she can help it, and shakes out her right arm as she looks up to see Killian slowly coming to a stop in front of her, squatting down until they’re almost eye level.

“Are you okay?” he gasps, scanning her face as if that’s what she hurt.

“Oh, I’m just dandy,” Emma mocks. She’d really like to punch him in the face, right across those pretty teeth. This is his fault. He shouldn’t have started running. He’s not even sweeting. She hates him. “This is the best I’ve ever been.”

“I’m so sorry, love.”

“Not your fault,” she says, even though two seconds ago she was blaming him. She still kind of is, but her ankle is throbbing so much that she can’t think straight. “I’m just…I’m not a runner, and I wasn’t looking where I was going. That rock jumped out at me.”

“Accidents happen to all of us.” He scratches behind his ear and then points to a slash on his cheek. “Fell flat on my face during a run. Ten stitches.”

“What that sounds like to me is that neither of us should be running.”

Killian chuckles, lines appearing around his eyes. “Possibly. Do you think you can stand?”

“I’m thinking I can get up but – ” She attempts to flex her ankle, but she might as well be setting herself on fire “ – I don’t know if I can put weight on it.”

Killian nods, reaching down to gently run his fingers over her already swelling ankle. She hisses, and he backs away before standing and leaning down to help her up. Begrudgingly, she takes his hand, and she does manage to get up. When she attempts putting weight down on it, she knows that’s not going to work. She’s going to have to go to the freaking hospital to make sure the damn thing isn’t broken.

“So, good news,” he says, wrapping his arm around her waist while she holds onto his shoulder, “you can stand…a bit. Bad news, we’re a solid two miles away from the cars because we ran a little further than I realized.”

“Can you leave me here and then drive your car through these tiny trails?”

“I’m thinking I’ll get fined for destroying the park.”

“It may be worth it.”

Killian chuckles and starts slowly moving. Emma basically has to hop with him, but she does it, the two of them gingerly moving forward. “I can see if we can get someone who works at the park to bring us a golf cart. Would you like that?”

“No,” she lies, and maybe she’s a little more stubborn than she thought.

“You sure? I know you’re fit, but I don’t think anyone should hop on one leg for two miles when we can get help. I’m guessing you won’t let me carry you on my back.”

Emma curses under her breath and encourages him to keep moving forward. She distracts herself by asking Killian if he’s been to a Sox game yet this season. He’s gone to several with some of his friends, David included, and that starts an entire conversation about David and his weird habits. Talking about a man who is like a brother definitely takes any possible romance out of the date, but then again, so does a trip to the hospital.

It’s a good thing she didn’t have any expectations for this.

Emma makes it a mile before it hurts too much to keep going, and they stop at a bench as Killian googles a number to call to ask if they can get a golf cart up here. They can, but it’ll be at least thirty minutes, so they stay sitting down, Emma’s leg elevated in Killian’s lap as they sit in silence while people walk by enjoying their hikes.

She used to be one of them.

“So, this will probably be the last time you take a woman hiking on a first date?” she jokes, adjusting her ponytail so she has something to do with her hands.

“What? Do you not want to do this again?”

Emma’s hands still. “You want to do this again? With me?”

“Possibly.” He shrugs, but quickly stills so as not to twist her leg. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, this has been an absolutely minging date.”

“Thanks?”

“No, no,” Killian laughs, holding his hand up. “You’ve been wonderful, love. I’ve honestly enjoyed myself, but when you get a woman injured because you’re a bloody competitive arsehole, it doesn’t usually go down well. Dave is never going to let me live it down.”

“Oh, is that why it’s bad? Because David is going to take the piss out of you for it?”

“Definitely. It has nothing to do with you.”

Emma scoffs and leans back, the sun shining down on her face. It was boiling at the beginning of the date, but now she’s sweated so much the heat almost feels comfortable. She’s got to look great right now. She doesn’t even want to check to see if her mascara has run. “Good to know. Besides, you probably only agreed to go out with me to shut David up, right? You spend eight hours, five days a week with him. That’s a lot of time for him to talk.”

Brows pinch together as his eyes narrow. “What makes you think David had to convince me to do this?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you already have a roster of women lining up to date you? From what I’ve heard, there’s a line to your apartment door.”

Killian scoffs and tilts his head back, the sunshine hitting across his stubble and lightening it before it returns to a deep brown. His jaw clenches with a visible pulse, and Emma knows she’s fucked up.

She knows, she knows, she knows.

And she doesn’t know how to fix it. She knows she went into this with a shitty attitude about the date and about Killian, and even though she can be a prickly ass sometimes, she never wants to make someone else feel bad.

She was stupid to assume Killian had the same feelings about this date as she did.

Emma is not used to people actually wanting to be with her.

“I’m no stranger to women as I’m sure you aren’t to men, love, but that doesn’t mean I only asked you here to check off a mark on a list. I was the one who brought it up with David to see if you were interested, not the other way around.”

“Killian, I – ”

“It’s fine.” He waves her away, and she knows it’s not.

The seconds tick by but it feels like hours, and by the time the golf cart arrives to take them to their cars, Emma is convinced she can walk again out of the sheer determination to get away from this awkwardness. Killian talks to the man driving the cart, Graham she thinks, as he drives them off the trail. It’s the only conversation they have until they’re in the parking lot where Emma realizes she’s going to have to ride in his car with him to the hospital. She knew that, logically, but looking at her Bug and then Killian’s SUV, all she can think about is how much she wants to be alone right now.

This is the worst date she’s ever been on, and Neal used to count stealing food from convenience stores as dates.

(Okay, so maybe every date with Neal counts as the worst date she’s ever been on since he royally fucked up her life with them.)

Killian helps her into the backseat of his car so she can keep elevating her leg, and then he closes the door and gets in the front. He turns his radio on, some eighties classics playing through the speaker, and Emma pulls her phone out of her sports bra to text Ruby.

Emma Swan: Fell on my hike, on the way to the hospital to have my ankle checked out. I also insulted Killian, and I’m pretty sure he wanted to leave me on the hiking trail.

Ruby Lucas: What the hell?

Emma Swan: I’ll tell you about it when I get home.

Ruby Lucas: Do I need to meet you at the hospital? I’m going out with Mulan tonight, but since she has to be at work early, I’ll be home around midnight.

Emma Swan: I think the only thing that could make this worse is if he knows I’ve texted my roommate to come and save me.

Ruby Lucas: Well, if things getter better, just know it is possible to have sex with a messed-up ankle.

Emma snickers, and she catches Killian glancing in the review mirror. She bites her tongue and looks down, wondering when the hell this day is going to be over.

-/-

The wait in the emergency room is over an hour…if no one else comes in. That was the caveat the nurse told her, and she gets it. She’s not an emergency. She’s not having a heart attack. She’s just got a sprained (hopefully) ankle.

Looking back, they should have gone to an urgent care.

And she does mean “they” because Killian is still sitting next to her.

“So, what, are you a gentleman or something? Waiting for me like this.”

“I’m always a gentleman, love.”

Emma doesn’t believe that for a second, but she’s not going to argue with him. She’s already done a great job mucking things up, and she imagines David is going to have a field day with her.

She imagines Killian thinks she’s the worst.

“I’m sorry for being so awful,” Emma blurts out, and Killian’s shoulder brushes against hers as he turns to face her. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were some kind of man whore or whatever insulting term I implied. I just…I mean…I am obviously a great date, a great person, a great everything. I’m charming the pants off you.”

Killian scoffs and leans back, his arms going over his head before falling to his lap. She catches a glance at angry red scars on his left hand and forearm that she never noticed before. She wonders why he didn’t share the story behind those when he was talking about the scar on his face. It can’t have been from the same accident. No running accident is that bad. “This is not the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

“How is that possible?”

“Three years ago, I’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. I was gutted, and I basically had to be dragged out. I was set up with this girl, we went to dinner at Yvonne’s, and there, sitting one table over, was my ex and her husband, who I had just found out about. I didn’t want to tell my new date this, so I tried to pay attention to her. I obviously did a shit job of it because she got so frustrated with me, she poured her soup on my lap and left.”

“Was the soup still hot?”

“No,” he laughs, winking at her. “It was cold, so I’m all still functional down there if that’s what you were worried about.”

“Shut up.” Emma sinks down a little lower in her seat, trying not to laugh or blush, but she knows she fails at both. “So, even after I’ve injured myself and insulted you, I still don’t get the number one spot?”

“I’m afraid you don’t, but you can feel free to give it another go.”

Emma pushes herself back up and twists to look at him, narrowing her eyes to try to figure him out. “Like, right now or on another date? Is that still up for grabs? Because no offense, but if you’re still willing to go on another date with me, I think you might have also fallen and hit your head.”

Killian shrugs. “Or I’m just as much as a wanker as you are and am willing to give you another chance.”

He cannot be serious. That seems ridiculous and ill-advised, but she sees no lie in his eyes. Has she found the craziest man in all of Boston?

There are a lot of them, and she didn’t expect it to be him. A wolf in sheep’s clothing or something else like that.

She also didn’t expect herself to want to give this another shot. Maybe it’s for her ego, but Emma’s going to try not to think about that now.

“I’m pretty sure you’re messing with me because I don’t know how we’re ever going to get past this, but if we were to go on another date, I get to pick the venue.”

“Please tell me it’s not going to be Yvonne’s.”

“Damn, you’ve ruined my plan.” He huffs and Emma nudges him with her elbow. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to walk properly again, but what do you say? You want to go to a Sox game? If we end up hating each other, we can be distracted by the game. Or we can flat out move to empty seats to avoid each other.”

“I like this plan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I think we should get seats at the top and have you walk there.”

Emma groans and elbows him again, a little harder than necessary. “Okay, so I’m buying the tickets then.”

“That was my plan all along.”

“Emma Swan,” the nurse at reception calls out, “we can take you back now.”

-/-

It’s just a sprain. A bad one but a sprain.

She’s supposed to ice it, elevate it, and rest for a few weeks. She curses at that because it means she’s going to have to be sitting during her job, which she hates, and she’s also going to have to do rehab on it. Plus, she was about to hit a record with her cycling classes, and that’s going to be delayed.

But it’s not broken, and she’s been given crutches to help her out for the first few days. She walks out on them – no one ever tells you how much they hurt your armpits – to see Killian standing, waiting for her, soft smile on his lips.

“How are you feeling?”

“Amazing,” she lies.

“David and Mary Margaret have gone and gotten your car,” Killian explains, not missing a beat, and steps to walk next to her, “and have returned it to your apartment. Mary Margaret wanted to rush here, but they’re going to that show tonight.”

“I’m sure David had to restrain her.”

“Oh, he did. I couldn’t see it, but I could imagine it from the way they talked.”

“I don’t even need to hear their argument to imagine it. Thanks for getting that taken care of.”

“No problem.”

Slowly but surely, they get to Killian’s car. She insisted he didn’t need to pull it around – he probably did – but by the time they get there, she’s having a hard time not sweating. The heat is still miserable. The air-conditioning in his car is amazing, though, and Emma nods off as he drives her to her apartment.

“I was worried the entire way here you wouldn’t have an elevator in the building.”

“I’ve got one. Don’t worry. Ruby and I moved about six months ago because we were tired of living in an old building that had a slight egg smell that never went away, so if this had happened six months ago, I’d be out of luck.”

“Small blessings, I guess.” He presses the button to turn off his engine. “Do you need help getting inside or…”

Emma rolls her eyes. “I don’t, but do you want to come in and get delivery? I feel like it’s the least I can do for you.”

“As long as it’s not soup, I’d love that.”

-/-

Emma manages not to insult Killian for the rest of the night. There are times when she thinks she takes it too far, her natural sarcasm coming out, but Killian gives as good as he gets. He never misses a beat, is constantly challenging her, and he puts away half a large pizza with as much ease as she does.

She can never tell her clients this is how she eats.

Really, sitting on her couch, her ankle wrapped in ice and set, she has a better time than she has on any of the dates she’s gone on in the past year. Killian’s never seen The Umbrella Academy, so she puts it on and they watch it, a bowl of popcorn with all the fixings between them.

She really can’t tell her clients this is how she eats.

At some point, the sun now set and the outside world darkened, her eyes get heavy and she drifts off, hushed conversation and laughter in the background. She recognizes those voices, and opens her eyes to see Ruby and Killian talking, but then she’s nodding off to sleep again, the world’s edges blurring. She still feels soft lips and harsh stubble brush against her forehead before everything bleeds into darkness.

-/-

“I cannot believe you screwed that one up.”

“What?” Emma asks, blinking her eyes open. Her neck is killing her, but that’s only momentary distraction from the way her ankle is throbbing.

“I can’t believe you screwed your date up,” Ruby says, and now Emma recognizes that it’s Ruby talking to her. “I mean, he was hot, Emma. So, so hot. Like, I would sleep with him even if he was the biggest asshole in the world.”

“Can you get me some more ice?” Emma groans, groggy.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ruby gets up and walks into the kitchen, and Emma tries sitting up and opening up her eyes a little more. She doesn’t know what time it is, so she fumbles around for her phone, the bright screen opening up to tell her it’s seven in the morning. She’s also got a slew of texts from David and Mary Margaret, her boss at the gym, Elsa, and one Killian Jones.

The first text is a link. It’s two tickets to a Red Sox game two weeks from now, and the seats aren’t in the upper deck.

Killian Jones: Can I count on seeing you there? You know, to redeem yourself.

Emma Swan: I thought I said I’d buy the tickets.

The bubbles pop up immediately despite Killian having sent his message at two in the morning.

Killian Jones: Didn’t want to chance that you’d run away.

Emma Swan: Is that supposed to be funny?

Killian Jones: Absolutely.

Emma laughs and the corners of her lips tug up. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t anywhere near the worst date she’d ever been on even if it did leave her sore in all the wrong places.

Emma Swan: I’ll be there.

“What are you smiling about?” Ruby asks as she comes in with a newly filled ice pack.

“I didn’t screw the date up as badly as I thought, I guess.” Emma shrugs and lifts her ankle as Ruby wraps it up. “I think it goes down as one of the most interesting first dates in existence, though.”

“And you didn’t even sleep with him, so that’s saying something.”

Emma tosses a pillow at Ruby and sinks into the couch, her heartbeat going a little faster than normal.

Killian Jones: If you get hit by a fly ball, I think that may be it for us. I can’t have you be injured on two dates in a row.

-/-

She doesn’t get hit by a fly ball.

She doesn’t get injured at all.

And in all of the other dates they go on, no one sprains an ankle or gets it by a fly ball or breaks an arm. They’ve got a pretty good track record of good dates, but as Killian likes to say, you never forget your first.

#shireness-says #cs prompts #cs fic #cs ff #cs fanfic #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captain swan fanfic #captain swan #a real kick in the (hiking) boot

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yatorihell · 3 years

Text

In The Darkness Chapter 73 - Tenjin’s Will

Noragami x Harry Potter AU

Words: 2,403

Summary: Tenjin’s will reveals a vital secret.

Also available on Yatorihell AO3

The wedding was fast approaching. They had set up the marquee outside the Burrow, prepared the house and the food, and organised all of their outfits for the big day. Kazuma had recovered enough that he was up and walking, the bandages removed and only a half-hidden scar behind his ear to show for his bravery. His glasses had fallen from his pocket during the attack, leaving him somewhat blind and relying on an old pair of glasses Kofuku had found in the kitchen drawer for the time being.

It seemed strange that in the midst of the chaos there was a celebration, but it was a welcome one. Teacher-student formalities had been brushed aside, and it let strange to not have to call Kofuku ‘Madame’ anymore. It would be a hard habit to break.

But before any celebration, there was business to attend to.

Kofuku rushed upstairs to the rooms Hiyori and Yato and Yukine had been given. She popped her head around Yato’s and Yukine’s door after a sharp knock.

“Come downstairs, someone needs to talk to you,” Kofuku said. She disappeared before Yato could ask who, but he heard her muffled voice across the hall telling Hiyori the same thing.

Yato and Yukine exchanged looks and made their way downstairs, meeting Hiyori on the landing. Kofuku gestured to the open door across the hall, Daigo clinging to her legs as he usually did, and they filed in.

In the sitting room was a man they didn’t recognise. He wore a dark suit, robes and hat which he took off upon their entry. His hair was dark and short, the same colour as his eyes as they took in the three teenagers before him. Yato felt a chill run through him when he smiled, like an unfounded, imperceptible hostility directed towards him.

“Good evening,” the man said. “I take it you are the beneficiaries?”

Yato, Hiyori and Yukine exchanged looks.

“You mean… like, heirs?” Yukine asked.

“Yes, of a sort,” the man replied. He sat down and placed his hat on the table between the two sofas. Yato, Hiyori and Yukine sat opposite him.

“I am Mitsurugi, Advisor to the Minister of Magic Amaterasu. I am here today for the reading of Headmaster Tenjin’s will.”

Yato, Hiyori and Yukine looked at each other again, but their confusion went unnoticed. Yato watched, trying to place where else he’d seen him from, as Mitsurugi produced a small scroll from his pocket and began to read.

“The Last Will and Testament of Tenjin Sugawara no Michizane.”

The three of them straightened themselves, hands clasped in laps and over knees.

“To Mister Yukine, I leave my Deluminator in the hope it leads the way in the darkest of nights.”

Mitsurugi produced a silver oblong object, similar to a cigarette lighter, and passed it across the table. Yukine flicked open the cap and the lights in the room were sucked into the object with a click. He flicked it open again and they watched as the light returned to their lamps.

“To Miss Hiyori,” Mitsuguri straightened the scroll. “I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the hope she finds it entertaining and enlightening.”

A copy of an aged book was dropped into Hiyori’s hands, the cover shimmering with gilded lettering and the edges yellowed from age and pipe smoke. It smelt exactly like the headmaster’s office, and an unexpected lump formed in Yato’s throat.

“And to Mister Yato, I leave the first Snitch he caught at Hogwarts.”

Mitsurugi held out a golden Snitch in the palm of his hand, the wings concealed within its spherical body. Yato gently took it and rolled it in his palm, confused. He didn’t know how Tenjin could have such a thing saved away for him. Surely they just used the same one every match?

After a beat of expectant silence, Yukine spoke. “Is that all?”

“Not quite,” Mitsurugi said, but he was already rolling the scroll back up and tucking it away. His face had taken on a bitter look. “Tenjin left another object, meant for Yato.”

Another beat of silence before Yato’s curiosity got the better of him. “What is it?”

“The Sword of Godric Gryffindor.”

Yato paused. Beside him Hiyori and Yukine tensed, unsure if it was a bad joke. He could not see a ruby-hilted sword in the room, nor did it look like it was concealed on Mitsuguri’s person. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “So where is it?”

“Unfortunately, that sword was not Tenjin’s to give,” Mitsurugi abruptly stood and placed his hat back on his head. “As it is such an artefact of historical importance, it will be kept in its rightful place in Hogwarts.”

Mitsuguri looked back down at the three sat on the sofa. “My condolences for your loss.”

He tipped his hat and walked out of the door without a glance.

Yato looked at Hiyori and Yukine. “Anyone else get a weird vibe from him?”

“Like a basket full of spiders,” Hiyori said. So it wasn’t just him that noticed.

Hiyori and Yukine followed as Yato stood up, clutching their bequests as they filtered out of the sitting room. Kofuku seemed to be waiting for them by the open front door, having shown the Advisor out. They could hear Daigo clattering with a tea set loudly from the kitchen, followed by a shattering teacup and a soft 'uh oh', but Kofuku didn't seem to hear.

“Why is the Minister of Magic sending her minions to my house?” Kofuku asked as the three emerged. Her eyes fell on the items in their hands, and her eyebrow quirked.

Daikoku’s footsteps approached from outside, and a second later he was at the porch. He placed his hands on Kofuku’s shoulders, dwarfing her with a curious look at the items in their hands.

“Tenjin’s will,” Yato replied. He lifted the Snitch between his forefinger and thumb. “He left me this, and the Sword of Gryffindor – not that I’ll ever get it.”

Kofuku pursed her lips. Yato could sense the change in her mood instantly, as such was Kofuku’s rarely seen temper he had not yet been at the mercy of – yet.

“Well, I’m sure he had a reason to leave these things to you. You three were good students to him,” Kofuku said. She turned quickly and brushed past Daikoku into the kitchen.

Daikoku gave them an apologetic look and followed after her. A few moments later they could hear his voice lowly talking, and Yato felt a stab of guilt that they, Tenjin’s oldest and closest friends, seemed to have received nothing.

Yato started up the stairs, closely followed by an equally guilty Yukine and Hiyori. They pushed their way into the small single room on the second floor where Hiyori slept and shut the door quietly.

“I wonder why Tenjin left these to us,” Yukine mused, finally feeling free to talk. He flicked the Deluminator open and shut. It did nothing as the only light source in the room was the sun filtering through the window. “And more importantly, why would Tenjin try to give you the sword?”

Yukine dropped to the floor opposite the bed, back against the wall and legs splayed across the floor. Hiyori picked her way over his legs to stand the window, arms folded around the book Tenjin gifted her.

Yato shrugged. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He could honestly say he had no idea that Tenjin would have left them anything in his will, or why Kofuku and Daikoku weren’t included. But Yato couldn’t help but think it may have been his way in helping them even in death. “Maybe he thought it would help destroy the horcruxes?”

Yukine hummed in response, but Hiyori shook her head absentmindedly.

“No,” Hiyori answered. “Horcruxes can only be destroyed in certain ways.”

Yato and Yukine looked at her. Hiyori glanced at them and shied away, realising that she had put her foot in it.

“How do you know how to destroy horcruxes?” Yukine asked curiously.

Hiyori licked her lips and looked at Yato. There was a crease in his brow, and she could see now that there was no pretending that she didn’t know something.

“I was going to tell you, after the wedding,” Hiyori started.

“Tell us what?” Yato pressed.

Hiyori’s eyes fell on her suitcase, half-empty and holding only a few objects she’d brought from home. She placed the book in the windowsill and shuffled around inside her suitcase, pulling mismatched socks and a small clutch bag from inside. Hiyori turned back, holding another book to her chest. Yukine pulled himself back up and leant against the wall, letting Hiyori sidestep him to sit on the bed beside Yato.

“In Professor Tenjin’s office, when we went up there after…” Hiyori trailed off. She dropped the book to her lap to break away from the memory of Professor Tenjin’s office being cleared of his belongings. “There was a book on the desk that caught my eye: Secrets of the Darkest Art. It was taken off the library shelves years ago…”

Yato and Yukine looked on, agape that Hiyori had smuggled a book out of Hogwarts. A restricted Dark Arts book.

Hiyori continued, looking guilty. “It looked like Professor Tenjin was researching how to destroy horcruxes. I wanted to give you an answer to that question rather than another thing to worry about.”

“I can’t believe you stole a book,” Yukine said, shaking his head.

“I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it!” Hiyori shot back. “I don’t think Professor Tenjin would be angry – it’s not like we’re using it to make a Horcrux. It looked like he was trying to find a way to break the curses on them.”

“Does it say anything about how to destroy them?” Yato craned his neck as Hiyori opened the heavy leather binding. The pages were thin and inked in small black lettering, decorations and diagrams on every page of snakes, creatures and dark marks.

“It does,” Hiyori answered. She turned the fragile pages on the tips of her fingers, scanning the pages for the chapter she was on. “It warns Dark Wizards how strong the horcrux enchantments have to be. To break them, you have to use something very powerful so that the Horcrux can’t repair itself.”

Hiyori stopped on a page and lay the book flat on her lap so Yato and Yukine could see the inscription beneath a diagram of a horcrux. They cocked their heads and squinted, but Hiyori summarised for them.

“The soul fragment needs a vessel to live. If your body is destroyed your soul would live on, but it works the other way for a horcrux – if it’s the vessel is destroyed it won’t be able to survive.”

“So, we have to focus on destroying the vessel, not the soul?” Yato asked. His eyes roamed the page for clues, taking note of a hand-drawn symbol; a circle enclosed in a triangle with a vertical line dividing it.

“Yes,” Hiyori said. She gently closed the book and folded her hands across it. “But sometimes, the soul can latch onto fragments, so only a few things can completely destroy a horcrux.”

“Like?” Yukine prompted.

Hiyori frowned. “The only thing really mentioned here is Basilisk venom. It's fatal and there’s only one antidote which is incredibly rare-,”

“Phoenix tears,” Yato and Hiyori said in unison. They exchanged looks and a smile quirked at Hiyori’s lips.

“Good, I’ve been trying to think of a use for all the Basilisk venom we have,” Yukine said dryly. “Maybe Madame Kofuku has some downstairs.”

“I wouldn’t put it past that woman,” Yato murmured. “At least we know of one thing that can definitely kill them.”

There was a moment's silence as they came down from the joy of the revelation. They may have found one way to kill them, but Basilisk venom was near impossible to come by.

Yato’s thoughts drifted back to Grimmauld Place. He wanted to go back there to collect the horcruxes, but Kofuku told him they would be safer there under lock, key, spell and enchantment. She was probably right – no one knew of Grimmauld Place except the Order. Still, they had no idea how the ring horcrux was destroyed. Sakura was the one to do it, and Professor Tenjin either didn’t know how or didn’t divulge that information to him.

“Do you think the Sword of Gryffindor can destroy horcruxes?” Yukine asked. “It would make sense since Professor Tenjin left it to you.”

“It doesn’t mention it anywhere in here,” Hiyori tapped the book twice with a finger. “This book may be just as old as Godric Gryffindor, so if it did, it would say.”

“Is there anything else about the sword that would’ve helped us?” Yato asked, dropping back on his elbows.

“The Sword of Gryffindor was made by goblins a thousand years ago,” Hiyori recited a passage that had enraptured her in her first year at Hogwarts, when they learnt about the founders and Hogwarts’ history. “Created by Ragnuk the First, goblin-made items such as the Sword of Gryffindor absorb what makes them stronger…”

The realisation clicked within a second of uttering the final passage. Hiyori whipped her head around to Yato, fingers curling into the rough leather of the book. “You killed the Basilisk with the sword, so maybe…”

“The blade has Basilisk venom within it to kill horcruxes,” Yato finished, eyes were shining. Tenjin knew the true nature of the sword – he knew it would help them defeat the Sorcerer.

“That’s why Tenjin left it to you,” Hiyori said softly.

Yukine rolled his eyes at the pair and huffed. It was already lunchtime and he could smell bacon wafting up the stairs. “Well, it’s no use to use now if its locked in Hogwarts. Unless….”

“We are not stealing the Sword of Gryffindor,” Hiyori cut in.

Yato and Yukine exchanged knowing looks that suggested that maybe they would have to. Yukine and Hiyori, after all, were still technically seventh-year students at Hogwarts, whether they decided to go back or not. It wouldn’t be too hard…

“I mean it!” Hiyori exclaimed. “We will find a way to get it without raiding Hogwarts.”

Yato, however, had a feeling that they may have to break a few rules if they wanted to defeat the Sorcerer.

#noragami aragoto #noragami #yato #yukine #hiyori #kofuku #daikoku #hp au #harry potter au #in the darkness

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365days365movies · 3 years

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February 2, 2021: Pretty Woman (1990)

ALL RISE FOR THE KING AND QUEEN OF ROMANCIA!

First, we bow to the Actor King of Romancia, Richard Gere. Gere is a DYNAMO of romantic movies, having starred in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman, Sommersby, Autumn in New York, Chicago, Shall We Dance?, Runaway Bride, and of course, Pretty Woman. He was crowned king of this fictionation both because of his film prowess, and because DUDE HAS DATED A LOT OF FAMOUS PEOPLE GODDAMN

Second, we bow to the Actress Queen of Romancia, Julia Roberts.

Roberts’ resume is equally romantic, including films such as Notting Hill, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Eat Pray Love, Steel Magnolias, Mystic Pizza, Runaway Bride, and of course, Pretty Woman. She was crowned queen of this fictionation because, I mean...it’s Julia Roberts, man. Who else was gonna be queen, Meg Ryan? She’s too busy ruling the Holy Romance Empire.

Yes. Yes, I will be visiting the Holy Romance Empire soon.

Anyway, one of the advisors to this great land was the now sadly passed Garry Marshall, a seasoned romantic movie director, responsible for The Princess Diaries (and its terrible sequel), Beaches, Runaway Bride (shit, should I watch this one?), and those bad holiday romance movies from the late 2000′s. You know, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day? Yeah, that’s the guy.

Marshall was appointed an advisor of Romancia because of his role as director of the film...you know.

Enough navel-gazing; let’s get into Pretty Woman, shall we? I, for one, am looking forward to venturing further into the land of Romancia! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

We start at a party where...George Costanza?

Huh! Phil Stuckey (Jason Alexander), a lawyer and kind of an asshole, is romancing women at a party, held on the behalf of Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), a businessman from New York. However, he’s currently in California away from his unhappy girlfriend back east, who’s feeling a tad neglected by the constantly busy Edward.

Meanwhile, on a less-than-great side of town lives Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), a prostitute working the mean streets of Hollywood. Making her way to the red-light district, she enters the Blue Banana Club (which is...a name, that’s for sure), where she finds her roommate Kit De Luca (Laura San Giacomo). Laura’s unfortunately spent their rent on drugs, during the height of the cocaine epidemic in Hollywood.

The two meet each other on the street, where Edward’s lost, and struggling with Phil’s stick-shift Lotus Espirit. She offers to give him directions for money, and he reluctantly accepts. She gets in, and guides him back to his hotel. As he struggles to drive, she displays her knowledge of cars from back home. He then offers to drive the car for him, and also shows her prowess as a driver. Which...is pretty neat.

He asks how much she makes in her profession, as the two roll up to his hotel. As they begin to part ways, he asks her instead to accompany him into the hotel. She’s about as charmed and gawky as I would be going into a sick-ass hotel like that. The elevator in it has a FUCKING SOFA INSIDE, YES PLEASE

Edward’s a little embarrassed by her gawking, but they quickly get past it. Edward’s graveyard-still complacency is contrasted by her manic pixie energy. Not that she’s a manic pixie dream girl...I think. It’s more of a “rock-and-balloon” relationship deal. When Vivian busts out the condoms (she’s a “safety-girl”), Edward instead says he wants to “talk.”

During this talk, it’s revealed that his girlfriend has officially broken up with him, leaving him conspicuously single. He asks if she can stay the entire night, and she agrees for a price, to which he gladly agrees. They spend the night getting to know each other, although Edward is doing business during much of it. And she’s watching TV, and it gives off these kinda weird daddy-daughter vibes (not kink-shaming, mind you), and it’s...mildly uncomfortable.

This quickly progresses into her beginning to seduce him, and the two presumably have sex. We cut away just before anything happens, though. Afterwards, Edward takes a shower, as Vivian falls asleep, taking her wig off for the first time.

The next morning, Edward talks to Phil about an upcoming business purchase, when Vivian walks into the room. He’s ordered breakfast for them. ALL OF THE BREAKFAST. Seriously, everything on the menu. Motherfucker, do you KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE ROOM SERVICE IS? WE GET IT YOU’RE RICH

He reveals just how rich he is, noting that he buys companies on the brink of failure, and then sells pieces of the companies he buys. Vivian equates this to a chop-shop, which seems extremely accurate. On another call, Phil tells him that it would be better if he had a date. And it looks like...he already has one.

Yeah, Phil “hires” Vivian to be his girlfriend for a week. For $3000, she accepts, and I feel just a little icky. And yet...I dunno, we’ll see. He’s doing this purely to avoid romantic attachment, which is a little weird, but understandable? Maybe?

At this point, we get one of the most iconic scenes in the film, as the uptight women at a Rodeo Drive store tell her to leave, like assholes. They’ll get their comeuppance, though. OHHHHHH, THEY’LL get it. This compounds when the hotel manager, Barnard “Barney” Thompson (Héctor Elizondo), questions her presence there. And while it seems that he’s going to kick her out, he actually helps her out with an outfit.

Meanwhile, Edward’s business deal begins to go somewhat south, until Edward takes advantage of GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION. Anyway, Vivian goes to a local department store, where Barney’s friend Bridget (Elinor Donahue) helps her out with a cocktail dress. When she heads back, Barney acts like a bro once again and teaches her proper etiquette, Emily Post style.

Edward heads back to the hotel, where Vivian is waiting for him. And she looks cuuuuuuuuuuute. Edward thinks so, too, and they head to the corporate dinner. There waitselderly businessman James Morse (Ralph Bellamy), and his grandson David (Alex Hyde-White). We get a taste of just how vicious of a businessman Edward is, and Vivian makes a much better impression on the Morses than Edward does. Also, Eddie’s kind of a sociopath, huh? Or, at least, he has some sociopathic tendencies. I dunno his pure emotionlessness is rubbing me a weird way.

After the dinner goes VIOLENTLY south, the two begin to relate to each other a bit more. He notes that he prefers not to bring emotion into business, although he apparently does like Mr. Morse. He also notes that his father died a month ago, but it doesn’t appear to affect him much. Still he heads downstairs to get some air. Later, Vivian gets the bellhop, Dennis (Patrick Richwood) to help her find him, and she does. He’s playing piano like a GODDAMN MANIAC HOLY SHIT! Just like, “Don’t mind me, I’m just playing an operetta to PUT THE KNIFE FEELINGS TO SLEEP IAMTHEZODIACKILLER.” This manic performance is followed by the two just...fuckin’ on the piano. They just FUCK IN THE LOUNGE RIGHT ON THAT PIANO JESUS CHRIST GUYS

The next morning, post-musex, they go to get outfits together, in which Gere buys a massive set of outfits, and we get the first makeover montage this month! He also flashes even more sociopathic flair with a clothing store owner, goddamn. And that’s...when we get the song.

youtube

I mean, we had to get this song in here at some point, right? She also engages in the most iconically HUGE moment of the film. You know what I’m talking about, and it’s beautifully cathartic, my Lord.

Meanwhile, at work, Edward’s starting to...lose it, I guess? As Phil’s encouraging him to close in on Morse for the kill, Edward’s beginning to grow a heart. And may I note that he’s been in this relationship for TWO DAYS. Jesus, buddy, you’ve really never had a meaningful relationship, huh? They eventually go to a polo match for business reasons, here Phil finally meets Vivian. Vivian also notices that none of the high-society people here seem like, well...friends.

Turns out that David Morse is one of the polo players, and Vivian starts to speak with him. Phil, meanwhile, notices this, and suspects her of being a corporate spy. And Edward, like an ABSOLUTE ASSHOLE, tells her that Vivian’s a prostitute. Phil LITERALLY IMMEDIATELY GOES AFTER HER, and solicits her like a fucking CREEP.

This obviously very much upsets her, and she chews Edward out back at the hotel. And the argument that follows IMMEDIATELY puts me on Vivian’s side, because Edward’s being a sociopathic douchenozzle. Goddamn. She rightfully wants to leave, and he just lets her. And here’s the real kicker; she doesn’t take the money.

And that’s when Edward sincerely apologizes to her, as best as he can. And yeah, he’s a little sociopathic, but I can see that the dude is trying? The two make up, and once again open up to each other. Edward starts to realize, in turn, that he legitimately has feelings for her. And we head into the third act of the film.

The next day, Edward leaves work early to go on a date with Vivian, and Phil asks if the date is with “the hooker.” And Edwards flashes him a look that’s just...knifey. I’m still not convinced he isn’t the Zodiac Killer. He takes her to an opera in San Francisco, before which we get this scene.

Adorable. God, I love Vivian. Also Dennis and Barney are the best, and they’re super fucking invested, and I am HERE for it. Their date to the opera is...sublime. Understand, my girlfriend and I watched this entire film together, and we’re both in love with Vivian and the opera after it. Imma take her to the opera on a date one of these days, I swear it.

That night, they play chess together, and Edward actually takes the following day off. He also actually sleeps in a bed for once, instead of going to work. And this is when my girlfriend the following phrase:

Is he sculpting her, or is she sculpting him?

OK, that fantastic question is one of the reasons we’re together, but also a very interesting point. Lemme explain here. This is very much a Pygmalion story in a few ways. While not a straight adaptation by any means, this film is definitely taking a few ideas from the Pygmalion trope. See, if you don’t know, Pygmalion’s a Greek myth about a sculptor who falls in love with his statue. It’s been adapted multiple times throughout the history of the arts, but the most prominent version of this was the stage musical My Fair Lady, famously adapted into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1964.

And again, a lot of adaptations of that, too. While Pretty Woman isn’t explicitly an adaptation of either work, the themes are still present in the work. So, yeah, it’s a good point. In this version, she’s changing him as much as he’s changing her. The sculpture is sculpting the sculptor. Which is cool.

And then, as we had that cute little revelation, Vivian tells Edward that she loves him. And OH FUCK. It’s the last day. And when he says he doesn’t want this to be the last of them together, she takes it as romantic. But when he essentially proposes making her a beck-and-call girl, putting her up in an apartment and hooking her up with dresses...she’s understandably not interested. She says that, as a little girl, she dreamed of a white knight that would sweep her off her feet and take her away. But Edward isn’t that knight.

Have I mentioned how much I love Vivian? Because Vivian’s fuckin’ fantastic, Jesus Christ.

Edward decides to leave, and says that he’s done all he can at this point. He leaves, and she’s shattered. Kit, meanwhile, comes to visit her at the hotel, and she admits that she’s fallen in love with him. While Kit’s initially worried about it, she says that they could maybe settle down and buy some diamonds and a horse. I also love Kit.

Meanwhile, at the meeting with Mr. Morse, Edward turns the tables on Phil and his yes-men, and asks to speak with Mr. Morse alone. Phil’s gobsmacked by this, but agrees. Once they’re alone, Edward admits that he no longer wishes to buy his company and destroy it. Instead, he wants to help him rebuild his company. And Morse agrees, telling Edward that he’s proud of him.

Phil, EXTREMELY irritated by this, and decided to make his way to talk to Edward at the hotel. And that’s when he finds Vivian. FUUUUUUUUCK. As expected, Phil tries to r*pe her, and that’s when Edward shows up, and BEATS THE FUCK OUT OF HIM.

Edward tells Phil off, calling him an EVEN BIGGER sociopath than he is, and kicks him out. Friendship ended with Phil. Now Vivian is his best friend. But despite this, Vivian still realizes that their relationship, at least the one she wants, seems impossible. Conceding, and on his way back to New York now, Edward pays her, and tells her to call him if she ever needs anything.

But he asks her to stay one more night with him, not because of money...BUT BECAUSE OF LOVE. And she replies that she can’t...and they part ways. Vivian goes to say goodbye to Barney, who still rules. He calls a cab for her, and says that she can visit them anytime. My girlfriend says that she would leave me for Barney, and I agree. I agree so much, because she deserves the best, and the best is Barney, and I could never BE Barney.

I could never be Barney.

It’s over now, as the song in the background says, and Edward laments his lost relationship as the thunder rolls in. Vivian decides to finally go to San Francisco, and finish high school, inspired by Edward’s love and faith for her. She passes that faith onto Kit as she says goodbye. Fuuuuuuck, man, this goodbye hurts as well.

Edward goes to the lobby, and talks to Barney one last time. AND BARNEY TELLS EDWARD WHERE VIVIAN WENT, LIKE A GODDAMN CHAMPION. WHY CAN’T I BE AS PERFECT AS BARNEY????

He makes his way to her apartment, and buys flowers from a woman with a Cockney accent, WHICH IS A MY FAIR LADY REFERNCE! HOLY SHIT! He arrives in a white limo at her place, overcomes his fear of heights and climbs a fire escape in a metaphorical tower to rescue his princess.

THAT’S HOLLYWOOD, BABY! And it’s Pretty Woman as well. That was a very heartwarming film, and I’m very glad that I watched it! Is it perfect? Ehhhhhhhh, see you at the Review.

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yugyummygot7reactions · 4 years

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Behind the Curtain - Epilogue

| Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Epilogue |

Story Complete!

Characters: Got7 x You

Genre: None?/Idk

Warning(s): Death

Word Count: 1,258

“Mark,” you stood up, “Bam Bam,” you fixed your pants, “and Yugyeom.” You took a gun from your former partner put it right between Jaebeom’s eyes. You heard the agency spread the word on who to save while you quickly removed the safety from the weapon. “I’m glad I was able to let you cum one last time before the end.” You smirked. “I’m not even that cruel to deny someone release before their death.”

You pulled the trigger.

The rooms felt too quiet. The calm was almost too much to handle. The building that once held the strongest gang was now a shell. It had been a week since the raid happened, and it would be 2 days more before the new government run gang would move in. Being here, waiting for the new regiment to arrive, was harder than you imagined. Knowing that this place would never quite be the same or have the same kind of comradery that you grew to find comforting was still sinking in. You wandered up to the top floor, the one that once held the office of Im Jaebeom…The office that was now yours. The clean-up crew came by the day after the raid and you demanded they leave the office alone. They took the papers they needed, but everything else, even the blood stains, remained the same as the day of the raid. You needed them as a reminder of what it took to get here. The sacrifice and the sorrow. Your debrief had been a lot to take in at first. The ones you saved were being interrogated, you wanted their help with the new gang, but the agency would ultimately determine their fate. The other four men were gone. JB was killed by your own hands. Jackson was gunned down in a 10 to 1 fight, and you were told he lasted longer than anyone could have imagined. Jinyoung took his own life with a poisonous concoction that was still unidentified, and Youngjae tried to surrender, but was drowned while being tortured and interrogated later that night. As gang members, they were all good at their jobs and not terrible to work for, but as people, they had dark sides that were hard to look past. You still had to wonder if there was the possibility to save any of them. Could they have been rehabilitated? You would now never know. After spending the next 2 days wandering the building, setting up your office, and working through your tensions in the training room, you were ready to face the three men you saved. To explain what happened, to ask them to officially join you if the agency would agree. If you were being honest though, you were nervous about what would happen now. Would they accept your betrayal and join you? Or would they suffer the same fate as their other partners? You sat at your new desk, the blood stain on the carpet still very visible. As a knock on the door came, your breath hitched. It was time to put on a show. Time to be the gang leader you were trained to be. “Come in.” You said, turning your chair around so that those entering couldn’t see your face right away. “You can leave them here and wait outside.” You directed to the agency member who had also entered the room. “Who are you?” You heard Yugyeom’s voice fill the room. “What is going on here?” “My dear Yugyeom,” you started as you turned the chair around, earning wide-eyed looks from two out of the three men before you. “This is the new gang.” You smiled as you leaned forward and interlaced your fingers, “And if you’ll have me, I’ll be your new boss.” You smiled as you took in the faces of all three men. Yugyeom looked angry, Bam Bam looked surprised, and Mark looked like he didn’t care. “Are you the reason we’re alive?” Bam Bam asked tentatively. “I am.” You replied shortly, smiling at the younger man. “Did we actually get to know anything about you or was it all a lie?” Yugyeom asked, his teeth clenched. “My backstory was fake, but my skills, and the other bits of me you picked up on were all true. I am still the same person you knew before the raid, except I am actually a high level undercover agent for the government who was sent to infiltrate your gang and take control. Minor details really.” You scanned their eyes and noticed Mark was still unfazed. “Any comments, Mark? Questions?” “If you think I was dumb enough to not know what was going on from the time you became an advisor, you underestimate me.” “If you knew,” Bam Bam asked the elder, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” “I did.” Mark smirked, “In my own way.” You laughed at his response. He always liked to play games. “If Jaebeom wasn’t smart enough to find my clues and hints before it was too late, that was his fault.” Mark scoffed, “I figured if he couldn’t figure it out, maybe it was time for new leadership.” “Like yourself?” Yugyeom spit out. “Nope,” Mark answered smugly, “I was actually gearing for Youngjae, but Y/N works. She was able to keep her cover until the end and she was smart enough to gain enough trust to learn to run this gang without seeming too ambitious. She is a perfect fit.” “So you’ll join the agency? Be under my command in the new gang?” You asked him. “My loyalty goes first to myself and second to the leader who earns my respect. You have earned more than my respect, so I will join you as head of surveillance again if your agency will have me.” The younger two boys stood confounded. “You’ll join her? Just like that?” Yugyeom asked, shocked. Mark shrugged and moved over to the couch across the room and sat down. “And you two?” You asked, leaning back in the chair now. “Will you join us or suffer the same fate as the others?” “Where are the others?” Bam Bam asked, looking around nervously. “Gone.” You said plainly. “You killed them?” Yugyeom’s anger was rising now. “Me? Technically only one. The agency got two. One killed himself.” “You killed one of them?” Yugyeom was about to pounce on you when he saw the blood. “Whose blood is that?” He asked, angry tears welling in his eyes. “Whose office was this before mine…?” You asked, playing dumb, waiting for it to sink in. “I’ll join you.” Bam Bam said confidently. “If you were able to take on JB and win, you are a good fit for this position. I also still weirdly trust you.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve always liked you Y/N, and this is weird and it’s going to take a while to sink in, but I’m with you.” He walked over and joined Mark on the couch. “I won’t join you,” Yugyeom said firmly, standing his ground. “If you won’t join me, you’ll join your former leader in death.” You firmly said, sad to see that the youngest member who was once so scared of dying was now facing death head on. “I know.” He said, tears streaming down his face as he shook where he stood. “Well boys,” You said as you stood up, “It is time for a new era in the G7 gang.” “Are you sure you won’t join us?” You asked one more time, sympathy leaking into your voice. Yugyeom nodded once. “Mark?” You asked and gestured towards a gun on a nearby table. He stood up and walked over to the gun, checking that it was loaded before raising it up. A gunfire rang through the office again and blood began to immediately mix with Jaebeom’s on the floor. “You know, Y/N,” Mark said as he and the other boys approached your now nearly lifeless body, “Not all of us are as innocent as we seem.”

_______________________________________________________________________

Hello My Lovelies!!!

It’s done! Was this what you were expecting?? I’d love to know what y’all think!

Until Next time!

~LoLo

#behind the curtain #yugyummygot7reactions #got7 #got7 smut #kpop #kpop smut

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baeklooming-day · 4 years

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Carmin | Chanyeol

Parts 1 | 2 | 3

Summary: When in the middle of your messy student life you end up becoming the right hand of a powerful mafia leader, it gets even messier when it puts you in an arranged marriage with one of the family’s sons.

Genre: mafia!au, arranged marriage!au, fluffish later

Word count: 1.6k

Warnings: violence

53. Do you think I’m scared of a woman?

A/N: I haven’t written for so long, idk what that will be. Take it as a weird Valentine gift from me to y’all. I will make it all in two or three parts, this is the first one, and PLEASE leave me your thoughts on this ;_;

“Listen, I’mma run to do that one important thing right now, alright?” You quickly slid your phone back into your leather camel bag, not waiting for a reply.

“You’re starting to disappear always more and more lately” Sohlhee whined. “What’s with our plans for later? What’s with that Chanel sale you insisted on going to so bad?” She paused for a moment. “Are you going somewhere with Chanyeol again?”

You gave her an apologetic look. “You know, I need to stop a little. My wallet doesn’t really approve.” You told her, knowing that it was a lame excuse but still hoping that it would stop her from questioning you any further. “And I’m not going anywhere with Chanyeol, I told you that I meet him only when I must do so.”

“Will you be back for lunch?”

“I don’t know.”

“Dinner?” She looked at you. “We wanted to prepare something delicious in our dorms like earlier. You know that without you it’s not the same.”

You knew. You knew that it probably wasn’t the same. But right now you couldn’t do much to help it.

“I don’t know.”

When you finally made yourself on your way to your destination, your phone started to squeal like crazy, letting you know about the incoming messages.

So much about getting that mocha from Starbucks on my way.

You started to almost run, even though you needed only around 20 minutes by train to arrive at Kabukicho from Nishi-Waseda district, but the always incoming messages (which you didn’t even open) kept your phone buzzing without an end and caused you to almost trip on your own shoe laces which managed to untie themselves whilst you were running to the train station.

“Damn you, damn everyone in this family” You mumbled to yourself, finally looking at your phone.

Nearly 25 unopened messages, every each of them screaming at you only one sentence in big letters ‘GOLDEN GAI NOW’, which you were able to read from the multiple bubbles that appeared on your screen.

You unlocked your phone and quickly typed a reply.

‘I’ll be there in twenty.’

Sliding your phone back into your bag, you got on the train and positioned yourself right by the door, so you would be able to quickly exit and run where you needed to be as soon as they open to let everyone out.

You watched the view from the window as the train was dashing forward. Sometimes you asked yourself, what kind of luck did you have to find yourself in a wrong place at a wrong hour, because it took only one time at night when you ended up leaving the Shinjuku station through the wrong exit, leading you right into Kabukicho where you ran into some of them. And later, you started to run into them much more frequently than you liked, And even later, before you knew it, you were pulled into their world completely.

You also wondered how that was even possible for you alone to become a part of a literal mafia family, just like that, because maybe the universe wanted it like that.

Or maybe because you really ended up in a wrong place at a wrong hour back in the day.

Or more like back in the night.

In moments like this you usually started to slowly lose yourself in your thoughts, but this time before you could do that, the doors opened and pulled you back to reality.

You secured your leather camel bag on your shoulder and ran out of the train, straight to the exit.

It better be really important, you thought.

A few moments later you found yourself in one of the narrow alleys in Golden Gai, looking at a young man with dyed blonde bangs, who’s arms were held tightly by two of your men, blocking him completely from moving.

“So you’re telling me that using and totally violating a very young girl wasn’t a big deal?” You calmly asked the young man.

He looked up at you and let out a laugh. “Don’t you understand Japanese?”

You tilted your head to the left. “Don’t you understand what consequences you just brought upon yourself?”

The man scoffed. “Really, how low are y’all? Making a big deal because one little bitch got her face broken.” He laughed again, then gave you a superior look. “You better be quiet. Do you think I’m scared of a woman?”

Before he knew it, you swiftly pulled a long, silver knife from your bag and aimed it at his throat. “Do you think I’m scared of an excuse of a man?” Without breaking eye contact with the young man, you asked the two who held him on the ground. “What are his orders?”

“Your お父さま otoosama said that whichever method you choose to eliminate this problem is alright with him.” They answered.

“わかる Wakaru.” You said to the young man again. “Before you hurt her so much that she’s almost unrecognizable now, you failed to remember one thing. That she’s a Ishikawa. She wanted to be a model, you know. Now she’ll never be a model. You took her dreams, now I’ll take yours.”

SLICE!

The man fell on the ground, hot blood oozing from his slit throat, making a carmin pool next to his body.

“Tell him that the problem has been eliminated.” You said.

“You will tell him yourself. He wishes to see you right now.”

You rolled your eyes.

Forgive me Sohlhee, I think I won’t make it to dinner.

“石川さま Ishikawa-sama.”

You entered a big office room, stopping midway and waiting for the person sitting in a black chair behind the chestnut wooden desk to look at you.

Lately, you’ve been visiting this room way too often for your liking.

“I’ve told you already like a zillion times” The mentioned person looked up at you almost immediately. “You can just call me otoosan.”

You rolled your eyes. “Because Mr Ishikawa makes you feel older than being called dad?”

Frankly, it just felt weird to you. Even when it’s already been years of being practically a part of the family, nonetheless it felt like yesterday when you got lost in the district of red lights.

Life left you without your family when you were much younger, but very luckily for you, you were already really mature for your age and cleverer than anyone could ever imagine. So you were able to get yourself to the position where you were now.

Education has been always your priority number one. So you worked very hard just to be accepted to the university of your dreams, 早稲田大学 Waseda Daigaku.

Until now, you managed to deal with both your studying and your new family’s business just fine.

Until you became your otoosan’s right hand.

You have always been an incredibly clever child, but right now when you became even cleverer, he claimed that your brains would be more than a perfect weapon in the family’s affairs, as his right hand and a rightful advisor.

“I don’t understand why you don’t want to take our family name, too” Mr Ishikawa gave you a sign to sit. “Because now, you are my daughter.”

“An adopted daughter.” You corrected. “Anyway, you wanted to see me, is that right?”

“Yes, I need to tell you very big news, Y/N.” He paused. “You will be getting married.”

You sat there quiet for a while, when you finally came back to reality again.

“What?” You asked. You thought this to be too ridiculous right in that moment.

“I’m telling you, that you will be getting married, my child.” Mr Ishikawa just continued explaining to you that ridiculous information totally relaxed, just as if it was a common conversation about buying milk on your way home or something like that. “This marriage will be more beneficial in the future than you imagine.”

You just sat there, looking at your otoosan as if he went completely crazy. “You aren’t joking?” The question marks must’ve been visible in your eyes. “Getting married? Now you’re telling me who I must marry? And who would that be?”

“Chanyeol.” Mr Ishikawa answered right away.

If your jaw could drop to the floor, it probably would now.

“You are sick.” You told him. “I won’t marry Chanyeol. Never. If this is even real, because I really hope that you are joking.”

“This is real, Y/N. More than that-” Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened, revealing a very tall boy in a black suit. “Oh, Chanyeol, you’re here.”

“I came as soon as I could” Chanyeol replied. You didn’t miss the way he looked at you, with that one look you already started to put the puzzle together. But you decided to be quiet. For now.

Mr Ishikawa looked at the two with pride which he wasn’t even trying to mask. “You will be a beautiful wife and husband.”

With that, your suspects have been confirmed.

Chanyeol must have know this long before you, because he wasn’t showing any signs of a surprise.

“He knew before me?” You felt your jaw dropping again, pointing your finger at the tall boy next to you.

Mr Ishikawa completely ignored you and started telling you all the reasons and times for preparation, and blah, blah, blah...

You just weren’t listening.

When you were finally dismissed, you didn’t wait too long to pull Chanyeol into an empty corridor where you could freely scream at him without witnesses.

“You knew this!” You shouted. “First of all, you can’t marry me. Because legally seeing, we are now one family. And that makes us cousins. So we can’t do that.”

Chanyeol smiled at you. But you really didn’t like the way he smiled. “Yes, but we are both adopted. And even if we weren’t, you would still be my third cousin. So, legally seeing, I could still marry you.” Without giving you a chance to say more, he walked past you, leaving you alone, completely mad.

You wondered, why wasn’t he even trying to protest?

A/N: thank you for reading! <3

#exo #exo scenarios #chanyeol #chanyeol scenario #chanyeol scenarios #chanyeol imagine #chanyeol fanfiction #chanyeol fanfic #chanyeol imagines #chanyeol x reader #chanyeol fluff #chanyeol angst #chanyeol x y/n #exo scenario #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #exo mafia au

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sooty-writing · 4 years

Text

Sweet Tea, Sweet Husband (Seteth x Byleth)

Mornings at the monastery were rarely quiet. What would be peaceful hours in a small village were some of the more rambunctious times of the day. Some students of the Officers Academy were naturally early risers, often going to train or to get an early meal. Yells from the training grounds would rouse even the heaviest of sleepers on a bad day. On the third floor, the Archbishop and her husband were the two lucky souls in the monastery to be far enough from the chaos to not hear it.

Seteth groaned, burying himself under the covers of his shared bed. It was Sunday morning, the day he chose to sleep in. Ever since his wife took the position of Archbishop, much of their time together was strictly work related. While there were the smiles in passing and moments of affection during private meetings in one of their offices, truly personal matters had been reduced to the few minutes they had before heading to bed. He pulled the blankets up to his chin, resettling to his position at Byleth’s side. One arm rested on the curve of her waist while the other acted as a pillow for her. Despite his head still being in a haze, he still smiled at her sleeping form.

A light snore came from Byleth instead of her normally silent breath. Seteth hummed, almost chuckling from the small sound. Living the majority of her life as a mercenary had conditioned her to be at the ready with the snap of a twig. Only when she was truly in a deep sleep did she snore. Her year as a professor helped her relax her into being able to attain such a state in the first place. A small part of him hoped that with them now married, he helped in a way as well.

From behind the curtains, thin streams of sunlight tried shining on the pair. Seteth squinted as one hit his eyes, encouraging him to snuggle closer into Byleth’s shoulder. He let out a grumble at the few students that did cause a ruckus on the floor below, noting to reprimand them later if he could. At the moment, though, that didn’t matter. Sleep almost caught him again before his wife turned to her back, letting out one more snore, slightly louder than before.

As much as he enjoyed the sound, he knew at this rate, it’d only get worse. In the meantime, though, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to prepare a cup of tea. With his mind set, Seteth carefully uncovered himself from the comfort of their bed. A rug from a Great Wolf Byleth had killed not too long ago saved the man from early morning chills. The woman was a terrifying force, but here he was, picking out her favorite morning tea before she awoke.

Inside of a small cabinet was their stash of Four Spice and Sweet Apple Blend teas, with different tea sets for each season of the year. The beginning of the Great Tree Moon marked the start of Spring as well, bringing in the menagerie of colors in the gardens and fields. Taking out the corresponding tea set, Seteth began heating up a pot of water over a small burner. All the while, Byleth’s snoring had calmed, coming down to slow breaths. Her arms were strewn about the mattress, taking over her husband’s side. One arm was casted over his pillow, dragging it out of order. Blankets twisted to fit her form with each toss and turn, most of it piling on top of her. Her mint hair covered the right side of her face and part of the other eye.

Seteth chuckled at the state she put herself in. One wouldn’t expect the woman to be so chaotic while sleeping, taking over a bed fit for a king. Once again, she demonstrates how different she was to his past expectations. Each day he lived with her, he learned one more thing about her to add to that list. She wasn’t the stoic mercenary many perceived her to be so long ago;at least, not anymore. How much of it was her own growth or the merging of souls with the Goddess, he wasn’t sure. Now, it didn’t matter, not when she was peacefully sleeping, and alive.

The saint was broken away from his musing at the sound of rapidly popping of bubbles. Blowing out the flame below, he poured the water into the cups, allowing them to steep in the meantime. The water settled, gradually turning into different earthly tones in each cup. Satisfied, Seteth put the finishing touches to the table. With the small vase of freshly picked flowers and plate of scones from the snack basket, everything was set.

On the bed, Byleth patted the spot her husband usually slept on. Rather than feeling the muscular body of him, her hand slightly bounced off of the pillow she was previously hugging. Noticing she was finally roused from her sleep, Seteth smiled, walking over to her side. She responded to his kiss on her head with a groan, pulling the covers over her head.

He chuckled, peeling back the blankets.“Byleth, the later you take to wake, the colder the tea will be.”

“One more minute, will you allow me that?” she groaned.

“One minute for you is twenty for the rest for us. I regret to inform you, no, I will not.”

Reluctantly, his wife pushed back her thick pile of blankets, shivering from the early morning air. It doesn’t seem the world has transitioned into the new season as quickly as she wanted it to. Taking one of the lighter blankets from the top, she wrapped herself as she dragged her feet towards the table. The scent of sweet apples warmed her chest, a comforting wave softly spreading throughout her body.

Seteth pulled her chair out for her, pecking the crown of her head once again before sitting himself. Morning light streamed into their room, brighter than earlier, but not blindingly so. The Archbishop let out a content sigh after taking her first sip, relaxing into the chair as the tea cleared the lingering drowsiness. On the other side, Seteth offered her a couple scones, holding a small plate out to her. She gave him a grateful hum, placing it down next to her tea.

“It’s quite peaceful today. Perhaps you would like to join Flayn in her afternoon fishing?” Seteth asked her, sipping his tea.

“If she’s willing to not sit out there until dinner. As much as I love her, at the rate she was at last week, the pond will be out of fish by the end of the year. And that’s being generous,” she held back a laugh, hiding her smile behind her cup.

“Oh, it surely isn’t to that degree! She’s simply enthusiastic in her activities.”

“Seteth, my dear, she’s able to out do me on some days,” Byleth took a bite of her snone, crossing her ankles.

The Advisor rolled his shoulders back, readjusting his posture from a slight slump,“well, it’s to be expected when she has you as an instructor.”

Byleth chortled, covering her mouth with her hand. Seteth let out a wheeze, a smile spreading wide. Looking at her in the morning normally warmed to his heart, but the soft joy she shared in small moments brought on a deeper feeling. In the time he had gotten to know the former mercenary, the same feeling bubbled up. At first, he was distant towards her, but still kept a watchful eye on her. His sister trusting this woman with such a position as professor when she likely only had a basic education concerned him greatly. Why was she chosen, out of the other residents in Garreg Mach, let alone all of Fodlan? She was known for her brutality in battle, if the rumors were true. The Ashen Demon showed no emotion no matter the circumstance. Along with that, besides combat, what substantial information could she bring?

Her growth as a person, as well as her students showcased some of his concerns, but proved the opposite was true for others. Despite not knowing too much in the typical subjects she took to them quickly. Often she was seen checking out books multiple times a week from the library. Her seminars were informative, and she made sure to spend as much individualized time with her peers and students as possible. On her days off, she would bond with people over meals or tea (such as they’re doing now), or tend to the plants in the garden. Any fish she caught went to the stray dogs and cats around the monastery grounds. She may not have known her past too well, but in retrospect, it wasn’t her fault. Her father raised her to not know of his own past, and made dates unimportant unless related to work. The monastery was the first place she could call “home” since she was a small child.

“Seteth? Are you listening?”

“Huh? Oh, my apologies. I let my thoughts wander for a moment. Could you repeat what you said?” Seteth’s vision focused on Byleth’s face after a few blinks. Her face wrinkled with worry for a moment before softening.

The Archbishop shook her head, setting their empty plates into a pile in the middle, “it’s nothing important. Just my own random ideas, we can talk about it later.”

“Are you sure, my dear?” he asked, collecting the dirty dishes and walking them over the washing bin, “you’re aware I enjoy listening to whatever you have to say.”

“I am perfectly aware, I just think that Flayn would like to be included in. You know, family plans,” Byleth finished off the last of the tea before passing the pot to Seteth.

“‘Family plans’? As in a vacation?” he paused his scrubbing, looking back over his shoulder to his wife. Over by the bed, she fixed the piled up blankets into their proper spread.

Looking at him with a raised brow, she said, “yeah? Something like that. I just thought we could all use a break. Our last one was in the Great Tree Moon. Take a weekend off to look around town. It’s been a while since we did that.”

“That… would be wonderful. Though, we would need to prepare for it. Meetings with His Highness and his advisors begin this week, leaving us with less time for other parts of work,” his eyebrows scrunched together, “there is also the discussion about-”

“Seteth, you’re rambling again.”

“Ah- my apologies. As you were saying, yes, Flayn should be included in this conversation. Shall we meet over lunch this afternoon?” he mused, drying his hands.

“Sounds like a date. But not really. It’d be weird to have Flayn with us for a date. How about it’s just us for dinner, then?” Byleth wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist as he approached her, earning a smile in return.

“Yes,” Seteth gently kissed her forehead, resting his hands on her hips, “I like that plan.”

“Perfect. Saves me the trouble from dragging you from your work.” she laughed while lightly slapping his arm a few times.

“That would not be necessary,” he cleared his throat, cheeks tinting pink, “but I do appreciate you looking out for my well being all the same.”

His wife smiled, leaning back to get a better look at him, “I’m just doing my job. Now, help me find my headpiece, would you? I lost it last night.”

“How did- nevermind, let me assist you,” Seteth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Letting go of her, he made sure to push in the chairs.

“Thank you dear, you’re too sweet.” She chuckled, readjusting her wrinkled night clothes. One of these days, she should get something to keep them straight.

“It is my duty as a loving husband. Know that I am always ready to help you however you need me, ” he reaffirmed, his back turned to her while searching for his robes. While not looking, he felt the gentle touch of his wife running up and down his back.

“I know,” Byleth smiled, leaving a kiss on the cheek, ”and that’s why I love you.”

Walking away without receiving affection in return, she began checking under the various pieces of furniture littered around the room. Seteth huffed, letting a content smile grace his lips. Through it all, Byleth stood by his side without hesitation. Even before he started trusting her after his daughter’s kidnapping, she trusted he wasn’t the enemy. It extended to after the five years she was gone, not once did she question his judgement or feelings without reason. She reigned him in from the chaos of war and the worry of losing family members. All he wished was to repay her kindness in any way possible- and he will keep to that promise, no matter what. For he loved her, more than she could imagine.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #feth #fe3h #seteth #byleth #setethxbyleth #setleth

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