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buckysegan · 2 months

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"When you're in love, my how they fly."

Summary: John finds a different source of comfort when he returns from his leave in London. John x She. Word Count: 1.8k A/N: The ideas for this have been in my head since I watched the episode and I needed to share them. No Beta edits. Curvy FMC implied. Angst all around.

She wished that she could be surprised by the empty space she found as her hand moved to reach for the Major she had fallen asleep with. It was cold to, the space where he had been as if he had been gone a while now but it didn't take her eyes long to find where he'd wondered too. Eyes flicked across to the only other bunk in the room, the one that until yesterday, Buck had slept in. Now it held her John, sifting through the locker of things that he'd likely have to take back in the morning.

She had known something was wrong the second another nurse had come flying onto the ward to say that Bucky was back early. Whilst she might not have known him long, she knew how much he'd needed that rest and there was only one person that would drag him back to base quickly.

Hearing the news he was back, the med bay was the first place she had looked. She hadn't been on yesterday when the boys had landed back and whislt she knew there were few of them she had been almost certain that Buck Clevan would have been one of them. He was Gale, he was the steady guiding light for most of them, for her Bucky, he had to come home.

If Buck wasn't here though? That meant he wasn't hurt and if he wasn't hurt? Pausing she took a slow swallow to clear the lump at her throat, hands reaching to check her curls were still pinned in place like the rush of emotions would have suddenly dishevelled her some how. No, no, no. She needed to find John. There wasn't a chance he would be letting out the emotions no doubt tearing through him out in front of the boys. That wasn't Bucky and right now he wasn't Bucky, he was John Egan and his heart was slowly breaking.

The walk to the hanger was a lone one, cold too given her nurses uniform and she prayed he was there or she was going to be even colder on her walk back. She was lucky though, the sight of the jeep allowing a wave of relief to roll over her, it could have been Kenny doing some work but she knew it was John, the hatch of the plane down, the silhouette in the pilots seat, it was her John.

"Bucky?" She called quietly, there wasn't a chance in hell she'd have been able to pull herself through the hatch. All the times she had been up before John had lifted her in and out despite her claims that she was too heavy. Now all she could do was hope he could hear her from her under plane. "John it's me."

The whispered 'fuck' hit her first and were she not so worried about him she might have laughed, but all she could do was press her lips together in concern, biting at the lower as she listened to the clambering of her pilot moving down the meet her, the scowl on his face a clear indication that he wasn't happy.

"What are you doing here?" There was a sway to his step as he landed in front of her and a slur to his words but he was no less beautiful, even with pain etched into his face. Before she could even muster up an answer he seemed to note the slight shiver you had developed, his scowl deepening. "You're going to catch a chill, baby." Baby. He used the word so softly, with such fondness despite the fact he had never touched her.

'You're too good for a man like me baby.' That was what he had always claimed despite being the best she had ever met. Like right now, as the warmth of his sheep skin wrapped around her and the smell of him hit her nose. Major John Egan had won her heart a long time ago now, in the nights they had stayed up talking when he had eventually returned from the local pub, before Buck had gotten here. It was in those hours she had realised falling for this man had been an inevitability the second she had locked her eyes with his blue ones.

Still staring up at him trying to figure out the level of his hurt, Bucky sighed at her given she still hadn't answered him. "Did you walk out here? What on gods earth were you thinkin'?"

"They said you were back and I...I wanted to find you. To check on you, we should get you back to base John." The concern laced in her words was obvious as Bucky let his gaze soften ever so slightly. It was too much of an effort to resist her anyway. "You didn't need to come, I'm fine but lets get you back before you freeze and Monroe has your ass for being away from the hospital for this long." Bucky groaned and she couldn't help but groan back at him in return. Of course he was going to try and take care of her, like he'd take care of everyone else, even if the heart break he felt was written all over his face.

"I'll deal with him Bucky I just...let me help, I heard and I'm, I'm so sorry John." Who had been the brave soul to tell him she didn't know because her voice cracked just trying to get through her condolences. The look on his face would have been enough to break anyone though, she could see it, every inch of him was covered in his pain.

He mustn't have wanted her pity though, because he was quick to sling his arms over her shoulder, offer her what she knew was a fake smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't even feel it." Then he kissed her. It wasn't the sweet kiss that she had always imagined him capable of, it was a desperate kiss, one that begged her not to make him talk about it, one that needed her to feel something other than pain.

That was how she had ended up here, wrapped up in white sheets, memories of where his lips had trailed over her skin still tingling, the laughs they had shared as he pulled her into the jeep without letting go of her now cemented in her head. The quiet certainties that he had offered her as he checked that she was sure whilst sneaking her into the bunk with him now felt like they were a life time ago. The man that had managed to find a few restful hours of sleep in her arms was gone now.

Watching him where he sat on Buck's bunk, she wondered what she could give him right now, what he needed. But always her Bucky, it didn't take long for him to glance her way, like he could sense her gaze on him, shifting in his seat as he put down the letters he had been sifting through. "I need to get this sent back to Marge." She had never met her, but she had heard plenty to know Bucky was fond of her. "They wanted to take it this morning, but I feel like if I let them ship his locker, then I'm saying he's really gone you know?"

Moving from the bed with sheets still tucked around her, all she could do was wrap herself around his side, chin resting on his shoulder so that she could see the contents he was looking at. "Maybe you wait, till you do the next mission, when you come back maybe then you'll know what to do?" How he would ever begin to let his best friend go, she didn't know. Over the course of the weeks that they had been here she had watched them, seen just how close the two boys were, how anyone was meant to just accept that was gone? Her heart hurt at the thought.

"You fly today right?" Bucky gave her a nod. She had wanted to ask last night, when they had been fighting sleep, but she'd had her suspicions then. Before the sun had even begun to rise, someone would come for him again and he would lead another mission. The wait for him to return would start all over again only this time he'd know he was taking her heart with him.

He was still so quiet as he ruffled through some of the things, the odd huff leaving him but none of the usual bravado, none of the jokes or the charm that make him Bucky. "Come lay with me. I'll take care of this whilst you're gone, I promise." She offered him, because none of this could be doing him any good. All it could do was hurt him even more. Despite his size that always managed to make her feel small unlike most of the other pilots around here, when she tugged on his shoulders he came willingly, following her back to his bunk. Bucky tucked himself into her like she was the only thing that might keep him afloat, arms wrapped around her tight, legs locked in together. Were he not so desperate just to commit her fact to memory he would have laid his head out on her chest but instead they laid nose to nose. "I think I feel it baby." His words were so quiet, she might have thought she was making them up had she not been so locked in on him.

"Blue skies, smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies, do I see." Letting the hum leave her lips she traced the bridge of his nose, the tears in her eyes matching his. "Bluebirds singing a song, Nothing but bluebirds all day long." They laid like that for hours it seemed, her lulling his tears with her soft hums, her finger alternating between cheeks to wipe his tears. "Never saw the sun shining so bright. Never saw things going so right. Noticing the days hurrying by."

As the sun began to rise, they both knew that he had to move, had to be ready so that no one came looking for him only to find her in there. She offered him a soft kiss with each piece of his uniform he slipped into place. She smoothed out his hair. "Come home to me, John Egan." She made him promise he'd come home to her as he left her with his last kiss and he promised her that he would try. Now he'd had her once, there was no point in hiding he planned on keeping her if he could anyway.

He'd be the first to take off, she knew that. Her hair had been pinned again and her uniform put back in place. She had found reason to be with the ground crew as they all watched the fleet take off, eyes on her, as if Kenny and the other boys knew why she was here today. What she would give to have him here to comfort her now.

"When you're in love, my how they fly."

#masters of the air #mota #john egan x reader #john egan #callum turner

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mci-writing · 6 months

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Can I request a senku x fem reader where she goes with the group to the cave instead of magma and her and senku end up cuddling for warmth and senku is all flustered by it.

Gonna slight change this up a little, anon. I kinda sat on this knowing I wanted to write something like it, but never knowing where to take it,,, BUT it's cold outside and season 3 is up to the infiltration arc so Imma have a little bit of fall fun 🥹

Lowkey has the same reader from Bandages in mind tbh but I also like the idea of Senkuu calling his s/o Dragonfruit so-

If you’ve got a couple dollars to spare, here’s my kofi (I am a struggling college student 😳)

By Night in Caves (Ishigami Senkuu x Fem!Reader)

A figure shivers as a sharp wind blows past them. The leaves starting to change shades and the cold breeze in the air are enough indication of the fall season. While most people would probably be snuggled up in their homes under a nice quilt or a huge blanket, (Y/n) was out with Senkuu and searching for God knows what. She could probably ask him what day it was and he'd know to a T, but she'd have to wait until after their current expedition.

She did bring the Stone World equivalent of a light jacket, but the night air was starting to make it a little useless the longer they were out and about. Senkuu isn’t showing it, but she can just tell the air’s starting to get to him too.

It’s just the two of them at the moment, the rest of their ragtag group splitting off to other areas to find what they’re looking for. While Senkuu would typically go off with one of the other generals, Gen was really persistent that he go with (Y/n). It was beyond her understanding why, but she wouldn’t complain about spending alone time with her close friend again.

“Hey, Leek,” She lightly tugs on his sleeve as his crimson eyes stare far ahead, her own (e/c) eyes staring off towards a cave in the near distance. She points towards it once she feels his eyes on her, “Think we should check in for the night? I’m more than positive the others have too with how dark it’s gotten.”

“Think you’re just getting cold, Dragonfruit,” He hums in response, staring at the cave as he thinks it over. He grins at the sight of the many sticks and twigs around the area, tugging (Y/n) along with him as he starts walking in that direction, “I’m sure it won’t hurt to start a fire for a bit though.”

He’s super eager to get there, picking up various rocks, twigs, leaves, and sticks as they get closer. She attempts to help, but he’s moving faster than she can think. It’s almost a little unnerving… Kind of like he thinks this cave will benefit him in some way or something…

“Wait, is the thing we’re looking for in a cave?” (Y/n) asks, turning to Senkuu just as he gets the fire up and running at the edge of the cavern’s opening. He stands and backs away from it, holding his hands out towards it for a little bit before slowly backing away from it.

The fire is a reasonable size, big enough to ward off any animals and let anyone know they’re location if they’re passing by. Senkuu, however, is moving further into the cave. His flashlight is on, catching the twinkles of a few minerals and gems a little further inside. There’s a glint in his ruby eyes, made devious by the smirk on his face, “You can stay by the fire if you want, but I’m gonna scope this area out for a bit.”

She stares at him with a straight face, narrowing her eyes at him as he starts getting more and more visibly excited. She normally wouldn’t mind him doing his science thing to his hearts content, but it’s starting to get late and she really doesn’t want to sit by the fire by herself…

And almost like a gift from God (or a curse from Satan), it starts to rain. And it rains hard.

The fire is out almost immediately and Senkuu freezes in his tracks at the sound. The crack of his neck can be heard as he quickly turns his head towards where (Y/n) is sitting, who has visibly tensed up like a cat at the sudden change of weather. The first clap of thunder has her jumping ten feet in the air, landing a ways away from the cave’s opening and further along inside. She bumps into Senkuu as she lands, the two stumbling to the ground together.

“Well, that’s great,” Senkuu grumbles as he lays on the hard ground, sitting up a little to glare at the cave’s entrance. (Y/n) is more than glad, but she won’t admit to praying on his downfall out loud.

“Maybe it’s for the best… It was getting pretty late,” She settles for, sitting up and glancing around the cave. She then looks down at him, giving him a teasing smirk, “We’ll just have to snuggle for warmth, Leek. Stark naked~”

He’s quiet after that, his face turned far enough away from hers that she can’t read it. After a moment, he looks up at her with the most deadpanned expression he can muster. He doesn’t even humor her with a grin or an inch of a smile, moving his focus to thinking as he stares hard at the rain outside, “We could be here a few hours. While the cave hasn’t hit relatively low temperatures yet, we may actually need to huddle for warmth throughout the night to keep body temperature between us. We shouldn’t need to take our clothes off since we didn’t get wet or anything and we definitely can’t start another fire with all the wet materials outside-”

He continues to ramble off plausible game plans and (Y/n) is unable to keep up after awhile. She rests her chin in her palm, sighing as she lets him finish his little analysis. While he does that, she gets close to him and rests her head on his shoulder before pushing into his space. She gets comfortable, burying her face in his neck and leaning her weight into his body so the two of them fall back to the ground.

(Y/n) wraps her arms around his waist, snuggling into his hold until her body is flush against his. Senkuu’s thinking stops as one of his arms wraps around her out of instinct and pull her closer to his body. A soft flush warms and fills his cheeks as he holds her close, hand pressed flat against her back while his other arm lays out to his side. He looks down at her, hoping the small change in his breathing isn’t obvious as he takes in how close she is.

“Turn your brain off, Senkuu. You said we could be here for hours, right?” (E/c) orbs glance up at him through her eye lashes, a soft pout dancing along her lips, “I’m heading to sleep, so you should too…”

He watches as her breathing begins to soften, reminding him of fond memories in the old world from sleepovers past. He shouldn’t get so worked up, they’ve been closer than this before, but he can’t help but focus on every part of her he’s been struggling to ignore as of late. Things like this keep him from getting jealous of the others, because deep down he knows no one could ever be as comfortable with her as he is.

Even so, he’s still left only admiring her from afar. He’s lucky most of their comrades have picked up on his feelings for her, but he’s got a long way to go before he’s even close to ready to admit his feelings…

Yet… He can revel in moments like this for now, with her in his arms in rare private moments like this. He’s glad the mentalist set this up for him, regardless of the protests from Chrome and the proud look on Ukyo’s face. She doesn’t have to know he wasn’t actually looking for anything, he’ll just wake up before her and grab a few resources from the cave to use as a small diversion. For now, he’ll take advantage of his situation…

He plants a soft kiss on the top of her head, letting himself fall asleep after.

#ishigami senku #ishigami senkuu #ishigami senku x reader #ishigami senkuu x reader #senku x reader #Senkuu x reader #this is almost nothing like the request whoops #I couldn’t think of a way to make the ask productive towards the goal from that time #and I couldn’t imagine them getting stuck in that kind of situation again regardless of Senkuu’s bad luck 😅#I couldn’t see Senkuu being overtly flustered either just bc of how he is but I can see him as a sneaky bastard wanting to be with his girl #and by girl I mean close bestie he has deep feelings for that he keeps hidden #just imagine them as mutually pining idiots that know it’s a bad time to pursue something #but they kiss from time to time between stone wars and soyuz #yes this is the same reader from bandages 🤭

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quitealotofsodapop · 30 days

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more Cicada Lily au details:

Sequel to this LMK AU post where Bai He is raised by Tang and Pigsy alongside MK.

Going by MK's rough size as a babu (a little awkward cus Lego designs) when he showed up at Pigsy's, we can assume he's like at least two or three years old.

Then again it's also likely that he's *just been "born" aka sculpted* so no matter what his apparent physical age is, he has the mental age of a newborn.

Add in some monkey-demon traits, and Pigsy and Tang have their hands full with a super-mobile baby who likes to shove whatever he can find into his mouth.

Now onto Bai He...

*A couple of years later...*

LBD: (*manifests a baby*) "Take this child. And protect her until she comes to an acceptable age. Once I return to this world, I will require a suitable host."

Macaque, just revived: "Huh!? What!? Why!? Where did this baby come from!?"

LBD: "See to it."

Macaque: (*is now suddenly alive on earth holding a newborn baby human(?) and a skeleton key*) "UHHH..."

Baby!Bai He: *starts crying*

Macaque pretty much panics and tries to find *somewhere* the little cub can stay and be safe away from LBD (cus he sure as hell ain't releasing the bone demon anytime soon).

He then senses *The Monk*.

Well more specifically, he senses the Tang Monk's soul resting inside the body of a nerdy, very tired-looking, man struggling to wrangle a fussy toddler into a winter jacket. The shadow monkey snickers to himself, guess the "Great" Monk didn't escape the cycle of rebirth after all- hey he's actually pretty good at taking care of his kid...

Macaque watches the Not-Monk and his cub carefully over the next day or so. He quickly learns that the Pig has reincarnated as well, and is the Not-Monk's mate. And that they're adoring and protective parents to their messy (possibly demonic) adopted cub.

Macaque makes a tough decision that he knows Wukong would mock him for if he knew.

He puts his trust in the Tang Monk he so despised in his previous life.

So on a rainy nighy, as Tang was trying to make it home from University - Macaque strategically places LBD's sacrificial host inside a box where he knew she'd be found.

Macaque doesn't just let Tang find the baby out of selfishness/lack of options though; the Golden Cicada has the pure opposite magical energy from LBD. The protective holy magic acting as a smokescreen in case dark forces sought the child out.

Tang rushes home that very night holding a soaked newborn. Lots of Deja Vu occurs over the next couple of weeks as the couple have to make a bunch of phone calls to CPS and file adoption paperwork. Xiaotian/"MK" bounces around happily the whole time, glad that his wish for a baby sibling had been granted.

Macaque watches on for the next dozen or so years, telling himself that he's just "keeping an eye on things". Even as he transforms himself into a friendly street cat to give the little girl company.

Wukong and Macaque collide into eachother at some point and their visits to their respective wards gets awkward fast.

#cicada lily au #lmk aus #freenoodlesshipping #freenoodles #lmk tang #six eared macaque #lego monkie kid #lmk #liu er mihou #lmk lbd #lmk mk #qi xiaotian

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differenteagletragedy · 4 months

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Our Life Swap AU, my dearest love. Takes place on MC's 21st birthday. Featuring a Cove appearance!

Baxter watched you as you danced with Terri -- well, it was more laughing with the occasional movement rather than dancing at this point, but he understood dancing was what the two of you were going for. The smile that hadn't left his face all night widened as you excitedly threw an arm around Miranda when she approached your little group, looking at her like you hadn't seen her for years even though all she'd done was make a quick trip to the bathroom.

It was your 21st birthday, and you were drunk for the first time. And it was adorable.

To celebrate, he'd made plans for you and your friends to meet up at the little hole-in-the-wall bar on the shopping street. Normally his party planning skewed a little grander, but this venue had been decided on years ago -- when you were kids but old enough to understand the concept of a 21st birthday, you'd made a pact that you'd both celebrate yours there so you'd be home, together, and close to the ice cream stand.

You'd taken him for his birthday in May, and the same company met you then, too. He'd opted not to drink much then, just ordering a couple of cocktails to feel fancy, but you went a different route.

"I still don't understand why you're not dating yet."

Baxter was pulled out of his thoughts by Cove's comment -- one he'd made countless times over the years.

"I don't know what you mean," he said with a smirk, knowing exactly what Cove meant.

Besides you, Cove was Baxter's best friend. They'd met that summer when you were 13, when the elder Mr. Ward decided to take an investment opportunity by going into business with the elder Mr. Holden's already successful but somewhat small shop. They were incredibly different, but they each had things they admired about the other and a bond was formed then.

Cove was the only person Baxter had ever told about his feelings for you.

"Well, maybe calm down with the longing stares if you want to keep pretending you're not in love," Cove suggested.

Baxter wasn't sure how to look at you without longing for you, so instead he just turned his attention to the man next to him. But, as always, it wasn't long until you were pulled back to him.

"BAXTER," you said as you, Terri and Miranda approached the bar where he and Cove were standing. You threw your arms around his waist and snuggled yourself against him, pressing your face against his chest, and he felt you breathe deeply. He brought his arms around you to hold you against him, placing a quick kiss on your head.

Ignoring Terri and Miranda's groans at the display of affection, he asked, "Having fun?"

"Yeah, but I'd have more fun if you danced with me too."'

"This isn't exactly my style of dancing, darling," he laughed. "I'm actually not sure that what you were doing could be called dancing at all."

"Hey," Terri protested. "If you think you can do any better, I'd like to see you try!"

"Terri, he's won dancing competitions and you were literally just bouncing up and down," Miranda pointed out.

Terri argued against this and Miranda started joking around with her. If Baxter had been paying more attention, he would have noted that this was more of the blatant flirting they'd been doing for years now. He would have shot a glance at Cove to communicate something like, "You're going to talk about my feelings being obvious when these two are acting like this?"

But you hadn't moved away from him, and he was becoming more aware of the warmth of your body pressed against his and less aware of everything else in the world.

He'd had one drink when you'd arrived at your request, but then stopped so he could properly attend to you that night. He wouldn't take advantage of you, not ever, but he did appreciate the closeness, and he began idly stroking your back. Against his chest again he felt your soft hum of approval.

He then felt more hums, and it took him a few seconds to realize you were trying to talk.

"You probably need a little more air for that," he laughed, gently turning your chin so that your cheek was pressed against him instead of your entire face.

"I still wanna dance," you said.

Without waiting for his reply, you started moving backwards, still latched onto him. Ever the graceful one, he didn't stumble, instead shuffling along with you as you backed towards the place where you'd just been dancing with Miranda and Terri.

"Clingy, are we?" he asked, not making a move to change that.

"Shut up," you told him, and somehow you managed to nuzzle yourself even closer to him. He smiled, then you started swaying.

You stood there together like that, holding each other tightly enough that maybe it would have hurt a little if you both didn't secretly want it so much, and danced. It wasn't his style of dancing, that was true. There was no fancy footwork, no footwork at all, really.

It was the kind of clumsy dancing you'd done when you were little kids after he'd shown you one of his old black and white movies and you'd wanted to pretend to be in one of your own. The kind that you'd done at your fifth grade Valentine's Day dance, not sure what to do in the dimmed down lights in your school's decorated gym but knowing that you wanted to do it together.

Memories flooded his mind of all those little dances you'd done over the years, the sloppy ones like this and the more elaborate ones after he'd started ballroom dancing and convinced you to be his partner for practice, despite the fact that you didn't know anything about it.

He treasured every one.

After a while, you said, "I wanna go get ice cream now."

Your group of five closed out your tab at the bar, and only when it became necessary -- or actually a little bit after -- did you untangle yourself from Baxter. He held a hand on your back to steady you as he paid, and when it was time to leave and make your way down the street he linked your arm through his.

After you'd all acquired your treats from the ice cream stand, you started walking back to the old neighborhood. You and Baxter were both staying with your parents for the summer -- his parents had moved out of town after he'd graduated high school and he much preferred spending his college holidays with you than with them. Cove had parked his car there and had given rides to Terri and Miranda.

"Did you have a good birthday?" Cove asked, nudging the arm that wasn't in Baxter's grasp.

"Yeah," you answered, nudging him back. "It's not over yet though."

"What's the plan after this?" Miranda said, pointing out that it was getting late and they still had the drive back to the city.

"Baxter has to keep entertaining me," you said, giving his arm a squeeze.

"Have I not done enough?" he asked, pretending to be indignant but always thrilled to be spending more time with you.

Instead of answering, you held your ice cream up to his mouth so he could take a bite. It wasn't a big deal, you always shared, but when he offered you his ice cream sandwich and, instead off taking a bite, you licked up the side of it, gathering the melting bits on your tongue and smiling triumphantly at him, he actually shuddered.

Cove snorted.

When you got back to your parents' house, you stood out front for a minute, saying your goodbyes and making plans to make plans to hang out again. Cove got Terri and Miranda safely seated in his car, then with another smile at you and Baxter, he left.

"So," Baxter said. "What now?"

Looking at you now, he saw that you were starting to get tired. You gave him a sleepy smile, a bit of ice cream on the corner of your mouth. Without thinking, he wiped it off with his thumb and then put his thumb in his own mouth, licking it clean.

You made a noise then, and while he couldn't be positive about what it meant he knew that he'd very much like to hear it again.

"I believe it may be time for sleep," he said, pushing the thought out of his head. "Do you agree?"

"Tuck me in and tell me a story."

He unlocked the door as quietly as possible, noting the house lights were off. Once you'd been ushered in, he locked the door behind him, then took your hand and walked you up the stairs. After he flicked on the light of your bedroom, you promptly went and threw yourself on your bed.

With a chuckle, he closed the door and quickly took your shoes off for you. He pulled up a chair, prepared to tell you a story, but you grunted in protest.

"Use your words," he suggested, but instead, you rolled over, making more space on the bed, and patted the spot next to you.

This gave him pause. It would hardly be the first time you shared a bed over the years, but as you'd gotten older it had gotten harder to be that close to you while still trying to hide his feelings. It wasn't that he wanted to share them, and he certainly wouldn't tonight, but it was almost painful, how much he wanted you. Seeing you laid out before him, brushing up against him in the night as his best friend and nothing more was too difficult.

"It's my birthday," you whined, patting the spot again.

How could he argue with that?

Slipping off his shoes, he climbed in the bed next to you. When you whined again and started squirming, he understood the wordless request and pulled the blankets out from under you both then covered you up.

Much like you had earlier at the bar, you wrapped yourself up in him then. He smiled as he let you get situated -- you put one arm around his waist and then gripped his hip, pulling him closer. Your other hand you tucked by your own chest, but he felt you splay your fingers across his ribs there. You brought one leg closer to lay flat against him, and you threw the other around his own leg. When you were done, he moved his own limbs to comfortably fit around you.

He couldn't help but notice that it was like you wanted every possible part of your bodies to be touching. Which was fine by him -- it was definitely a sentiment he shared.

"Story," you said, and he felt your breath hot against his neck.

Making up silly outlandish stories for you was something he'd done so many times before that he really didn't have to think about it, so he didn't. Weaving some nonsensical tale was almost as easy as breathing at this point, so instead of focusing on his words he focused on how you felt next to him.

In your arms, whether it was a hug or a dance or the occasional cuddle, was where he felt best. He felt warm and cozy and safe and seen and appreciated. He felt loved, and he felt love. He was well traveled, and he'd seen so many beautiful places, but by far, this was his favorite place to be.

When he felt your breathing get steadier and your touch soften, he paused his story, and when you didn't complain, he knew you were asleep. He let out a shaky breath and let himself sink further into you.

Baxter had always had trouble sleeping, and for as long as he could remember, the only way he could coax himself into sleep was by daydreaming. He'd picture himself somewhere nice, in some beautiful situation, and most nights he'd be able to drift off this way. But almost every night, you were front and center in those daydreams.

Now that you were here with him, he took the chance to look at you as best he could. He saw the top of your pretty head, your shoulders bare in your birthday outfit. He saw your back slightly curved by the way you'd attached yourself to him, and your hips under the blankets. He started fantasizing.

Not about anything lewd -- he did allow his thoughts to drift there on rare occasions, but not tonight. Tonight he thought about what it would be like to be with you like this always. He imagined his only bed being one he shared with you, a place where he could hold you like this as much as he wanted, and that he was confident enough to tell you how deeply he was in love with you, and you loved him back just as intensely.

As he thought about all of this, he felt sleep start to take him. Before it could, he willed himself to remember this exact moment and the sheer perfection of it.

He knew that the next morning, he'd be left without your warmth. He wanted to hold onto it for as long as he could.

#our life beginnings and always #our life baxter ward #baxter ward #our life #baxter x reader #baxter x you #baxter x mc #baxter ward x you #baxter ward x reader #baxter ward x mc #our life swap au

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simping4villains · 10 months

Text

Here’s a part 2 of the Shigaraki oneshot I posted awhile back (since some of y’all were asking for it). I do have both parts posted on both my wattpadd and ao3 account under the same username (along with many other fics). I think i’m going to keep the story going, so check there for more regular updates! <3

~~~~~

Warning: Sexual content

It had been a couple of weeks since that night in Tomura's apartment. You'd been avoiding him, not responding to his texts and dodging his calls, but he started threatening to stop by your apartment or the elementary school you taught at to check on you, so you finally agreed to see him.

He asked you to meet up with him at the South entrance of the mall where you'd first met. He was wearing the same black hoodie he'd worn on that day. Originally, you had thought he was just introverted and anxious, but now you realized that he probably wore it in an attempt to hide his identity. He didn't want to be recognized in public and have the heroes called in.

God, what an idiot you'd been. You were too naive, too trusting. Now you were in too deep.

"Y/n," he smiled when he saw you. "I wasn't sure you'd come."

Neither were you.

"Of course. I'm sorry if it feels like i've been ignoring you lately, i've just been so busy with my students," you lied. "It's almost winter break."

Tomura had never shown any signs that he'd be violent toward you, but you still weren't sure what he was truly capable of. You'd tried to do research on him and his villain group, but the media didn't have a ton of information. It seemed like he hadn't had any sort of life before the league—not one that you could find, at least.

"It's alright," he said, though you weren't sure if he really believed you or not.

"So, what are we doing? Your text was pretty cryptic."

"I was thinking we could grab a drink and talk."

You were confused. You'd never known Tomura to have much of a taste for alcohol. "Um, I'm not so sure there are any bars in the mall."

"That's okay, I know a place." He turned and started walking down the sidewalk, glancing at you over his shoulder. "Come on."

Alarms were going off on your head. He wasn't giving you enough information. You didn't like not knowing where he was taking you. Then again, you weren't sure how he would react if you refused to follow him. What choice did you have but to play along?

He led you to a bus stop, which only made you feel even more unsettled. When the bud arrived, you took note that it was headed for the Kamino Ward. It wasn't a place you were very familiar with.

Walking through the streets, you tried to guess which bar Tomura was bringing you to, but he kept passing them by. Eventually, the streets became less lively and more deserted. Many of the buildings looked abandoned, including the one that he finally stopped in front of.

"Well, here it is."

"I don't understand, is it like a speak easy or something?"

He gave an amused laugh. "I guess you could say that."

He slipped through the boards that covered the busted door, urging you to follow him. Against your better judgment, you did. The room inside was battered and covered in dust.

"There's nothing here."

"It's downstairs."

You started to feel nauseous. Had his plan been to just kill you all along? Did he not think he could let you live now that you knew who he was?

"Tomura, it's getting late, maybe I should get going. I promised my aunt that I'd stop by tonight. I don't want her to worry."

It was another lie, but he didn't have to know that. You wanted him to think you had places to be, people who would notice if you didn't show up, didn't answer their texts and calls. Your aunt had met Tomura before, so she'd probably give his name to the police if you went missing.

Then again, what had the police been able to do to stop him up to this point?

His smile dropped. You'd never seen him look so hurt. "I knew it. You really are afraid of me."

"Tomura, that's not it at all."

"Then just trust me. Please. Don't leave yet."

You nodded. "Okay."

What else could you say? What else could you do? If he thought you were a flight risk, that might only cause him to kill you sooner.

The two of you crossed the room to a door, which he opened to reveal a closet. You braced for an impact, thinking maybe he would use your confusion as a means to distract you while he knocked you out. Instead, he reached out to the back wall of the closet and pushed it forward, revealing it to be a hidden door. Beyond it was a set of stairs that led to the basement. As soon as he revealed this secret entrance, he pulled a hand out of his pocket and put it over his face. It was part of his villain costume—you remembered the chills it gave you when you'd first seen it on that special news report.

You followed him down and were surprised to find that there really was a bar in the basement of this abandoned building. There were a few people in the room, but the person who caught your attention was the man standing behind the counter, polishing a glass. His body appeared to be made of smoke or something. He looked up at the two of you as you entered.

"Ah, young master Shigaraki, you've returned."

A man sitting at the bar in a skin-tight suit turned toward the two of you. "Yeah, and it looks like he brought a friend. Who the hell is this, boss?!"

The girl sitting beside him, who couldn't have been more than 17, tilted her head and smiled. "Is she a new recruit?"

Tomura shifted awkwardly. You could feel the way he tensed with embarrassment. "This is Y/n. We've been seeing each other for a while now and I thought it was time for her to meet you."

"The boss has a girlfriend? Get it, boss!"

The girl hopped off of the stool she'd been perched on, running over to circle around you and size you up. "What a cutie! I wonder what your blood tastes like?"

Tomura wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you against him in a protective manner. "Maybe this was a mistake."

The girl laughed. "Oh, don't worry, boss! We're going to be best friends." She beamed at you. "My name's Toga."

The man in the suit hopped up to join you all. "And I'm Jin. But my villain name is Twice because I can duplicate myself and make copies of other people! I don't know if i'm the real deal or just a clone!"

"Don't overwhelm her," Tomura warned, his eyes narrowing at them between the fingers of the hand he wore.

"Oh, no, we wouldn't want to scare her off," one of the other members piped up from the corner of the room, his tone sarcastic. "God knows how hard it is for you to get a date."

You hadn't noticed him before, which seemed shocking now that your gaze met his. His body was covered in what looked like burn scars and even from across the room you could tell he had the most piercing blue eyes you'd ever seen. His demeanor was fairly casual, but still conveyed that he wasn't someone you'd want to mess with. He was a bit terrifying.

Any embarrassment Tomura felt was quickly melting into rage. It seemed he and this other league member didn't get along too well. Despite whatever internal conflict you were facing, you couldn't help but feel bad for him in that moment. Your hand brushed the one he had on your waist, just long enough for him to understand that it had been on purpose and that you'd intended for it to comfort him.

"Just ignore him," Tomura mumbled. "It's what the rest of us do."

"So, what's your quirk?" Toga asked, trying to shift the attention away from the other man.

Twice cut you off before you could answer. "Are you going to join the league? You totally should!"

You looked between Toga and Twice. You had been ready for Tomura to kill you, but nothing could have prepared you for this. "Oh, I—"

"No," Tomura snapped. "She's just here to better understand our cause."

You could feel the silent rage radiating off of him. In his eyes, these two had crossed a line by inviting you to be a part of the league. If it was something you'd decided for yourself, he would have welcomed you with open arms, but he wanted to protect you, and he knew that you would be safest if the heroes never found out about you.

The man in the corner scoffed. "Of course she isn't joining the league. Look at her. She probably couldn't keep up with us."

Tomura's fingers dug into your hip. He was trying to hold himself back, to keep his composure. If this man had been insulting him, he could've just ignored it, or even come back with his own sarcastic retort, but when it came to you—well, it was harder for him to brush it off.

"Y/n," the man behind the bar called. "Come and sit. Would you like some tea? I've always got it ready for master Shigaraki."

"Tea would be lovely," you smiled, glad for someone to diffuse the sudden tension.

You took a seat at the bar, trying to ignore whatever lecture Tomura was giving Twice and Toga about the way they'd ambushed you. You wondered whether or not the other man would get a lecture too. He didn't seem like someone who would really listen. . . or care.

"Sorry about them," the man said as he pushed a cup of tea across the bar to you. "Some of the newer members are so full of charisma. And Dabi, well, he's. . ."

"It's alright. I'm sure they mean well," you replied, forcing a smile. "I didn't catch your name."

"It's Kurogiri."

"Kurogiri," you repeated. "How did you end up becoming a bar tender for the league of villains?"

He laughed. "I am not just a mere bartender. It is my job to keep Tomura Shigaraki safe. I am his sworn protector."

"I didn't think the leader of the league of villains would need protecting."

"There are plenty of people who want to see his downfall—heroes and villains alike. Most don't agree with his mission."

You were about to ask what his mission was when you felt three fingers gripping your shoulder, telling you that Tomura wanted to leave.

"Kurogiri, I'll be in my room if you need me. Come on, Y/n."

He led you through the bar and down a hallway, stopping at the very last door. His room at the league's hideout was smaller than the one in his apartment, and somehow even less decorated. It was very reminiscent of a college dorm, though he had a full-size bed. On his desk you noticed he had a photo strip of the two of you that you'd taken on one of your very first dates. Besides this, his desk was almost completely bare.

"I'm sorry about them," he said as he took a seat on the bed, removing the hand from his face and setting it on the nightstand. "Maybe bringing you here was a mistake after all." His fingers found their way to his neck, mindlessly scratching lines in familiar tracks.

You moved to sit beside him, gently pulling his hand away from his reddening skin to hold it palm-up in your lap. "Toga and Twice seemed nice."

"I just thought maybe if you met everyone then you would see that we aren't as bad as the heroes make us out to be. You'd see that you don't have to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afrai—"

"Stop," he said, his eyes pinching shut like the words pained him to hear. "I feel like you can barely look at me now. You think I wouldn't hesitate to kill you, that your death would be just as meaningless to me as those who have died as collateral—a small sacrifice for my cause."

You didn't know what to say. You had hoped you'd been convincing enough, but Tomura had seen through it. He could tell things had changed between you. Your heart was racing now, wondering what he would do.

He turned to you, his eyes soft and pleading. "I would never do anything to hurt you, y/n—and I would gladly kill anyone who tried. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you."

You swallowed, searching his eyes for any sign of deception, but ultimately decided that this was the truth. He didn't bring you here to kill you, he just wanted you to understand him.

"Kurogiri mentioned that a lot of people don't agree with your 'mission.' What is it you're doing?"

"I want to destroy the world that we live in. You don't know what's going on, so you don't understand how wretched it really is. From the ashes, I'll build a new world—similar to what you believe ours to be."

You had never seen this side of him before. He sounded so. . . evil. "But why do you have to destroy things first? Why can't you just try to make things better?"

He shook his head, pulling his hand away from you. "Society is too far gone. There is no 'making things better' as it stands. We need a fresh start, and I can give it to us."

You nodded slowly, processing everything he was saying. "And what would this new world of yours look like?"

"No more heroes who are only after the pay and praise of a job well done. Just people. People allowed to live their lives without being forced to worship these corrupt imposters."

You thought of your mother, who had been a hero and had died saving others. Had she really been so bad? Had she done it for the wrong reasons? You'd be lying if you said there was never a time where you thought her sense of justice had been selfish. Because of it you had grown up without a mother, without a father, isolated from the rest of the world, discouraged from using and training your quirk. You often wondered how different your life might look now if she had picked a different, more sensible career path.

He continued when you didn't respond. "No one is born a villain, they're created—they're spit out and shunned by this cruel world one too many times. I just want to live in a world where everyone is equal, where no one is treated differently for their quirks."

"Well, I guess. . . I guess that doesn't seem so bad."

He smiled and rested his forehead against yours, bringing a hand up to cup your jaw. "I don't want to live in that world without you by my side. I really do love you."

You held your breath and closed your eyes, weighing everything that he'd said. The man you'd spent the past few months with, Tomu, was sweet, shy, caring. Tomura Shigaraki, the leader of the league of villains, had a reputation for being something else entirely—cold, ambitious, and merciless. Before, you couldn't have believed they really were the same person. Yet sitting here, listen to him speak, it all came together. And you hated yourself because, despite it all. . .

"I love you," you whispered, as if you were ashamed to say the words too loud, afraid that might somehow make them more real.

He pressed his lips to yours, winding his hand into your hair, always careful to keep at least one finger away from you. He'd missed you those past few weeks. He was worried he had lost you. He wanted you to know how much you meant to him—how much he needed you. He had been a mess without you, barely eating or sleeping. He would have fallen apart completely if you'd left. He needed you to know that.

"I thought i'd lost you," he whispered between kisses, his voice like a plea, begging you to keep proving him wrong.

Honestly, you'd thought he'd lost you, too. You had every intention of ending your relationship by avoiding him. Maybe it wasn't fair to do it that way given how long you'd been together, but after learning who he really was, you worried that if you met up with him to end things then he might overreact and become violent. You couldn't have predicted that seeing him would instead make you change your mind.

"I'm still here," you told him, feeling ashamed of yourself. What would Aunt Marci think if she knew you were in love with a villain?

He pulled you onto his lap so that you straddled him, wrapping his arms around your waist so you were caged to his chest. "Are you sure tou don't hate me?" He asked. "You aren't only here telling me the things I want to hear because you're afraid of me?"

You frowned. "I wish that were the case. It would make this all a lot easier."

"You don't want to want to be with me, right? To love me?"

"Right," you agreed, your voice barely audible. You were worried how he might react knowing you were so apprehensive.

His expression didn't change. He didn't erupt into a fit of anger. He brushed the tips of his fingers through your hair before ghosting them along your jaw. "Then i'll just have to keep giving you reasons to want me."

Your lips met again and you melted in his arms. He ran a hand up the back of your shirt, pressing four fingers into your back so that he held you closer. You gasped at his touch and he took the opportunity to catch your bottom lip between his teeth, lightly tugging at it. It was all a painful reminder that, despite everything, you still burned for him.

You were so weak.

He guided you back on the bed, spreading himself over you and bending to trail feather-light kisses along your neck. "I want to prove that you don't have to be afraid of me," he whispered, his breath tickling your skin.

"How are you going to do that?"

His teeth grazed along your neck. "I'll show you how gentle I can be."

"Tomura, I've already seen that side of you."

He lifted his head from your neck to meet your gaze. He was smirking. God, he was so beautiful. "Not like this."

You didn't even realize he'd grabbed your shirt until it disintegrated around you, flitting away from your body and leaving you feeling vulnerable beneath him, guarded only by the thin lace bra you wore.

He ran his fingers along the edge of it, humming to himself. "Pretty. I don't want to ruin it."

You frowned. "You know, I really wish you wouldn't ruin any of my clothes."

That made him laugh. He thought you were cute when you were mad. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it upset you so much. I just like giving you reasons to wear mine instead."

"I don't have a problem with wearing yours, I just don't want to have to keep spending money on clothes that actually fit me just for you to make them disappear in seconds."

"That's fair." He pressed his lips to your chest before trailing soft kisses down your stomach, stopping at the waistband of your jeans. "But it really is so much quicker to decay them," he said as he fiddled with your belt and zipper.

You lifted your hips to help him guide your pants off of your legs. You were surprised when he dragged your panties along with them, exposing you to him. He ran the tips of his fingers down your thighs before settling between your legs. Your breath hitched at the sight alone.

He wove his arms under your legs so that he could grip your hips, pulling you closer to him. Your heart raced as you felt his breath against your core.

"Are you gonna make it?" He asked. "You're looking a bit flustered."

"Will you quit teasing me?"

He flashed a devilishly playful smile. "I'm not teasing you. I fully intend to give you everything you want. It's not my fault if you lack patience."

He placed a gentle kiss on your clit, the rough cracks of his lips creating enough friction to make your toes curl, but it was the soft warmth of his tongue against you that finally drew a moan from your throat. He hummed his satisfaction, which only added to the sensations as he continued exploring your heat with his mouth.

"Tomura, fuck. . ."

Your hand moved to grip his hair, needing something to ground you in reality as pleasure overtook your body and clouded your mind. His tongue moved faster against your clit, rushing you closer to your orgasm. It wasn't long before you completely fell apart, pulling at his hair and crying out his name. Once you'd gotten past the peak of your climax, he moved to lay next to you. He propped himself up on his elbow and lazily ran a few fingers through your hair.

"I'm surprised," you said.

"What do you mean?"

"No games."

"I told you."

"Maybe you aren't so evil after all," you joked.

He laughed, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you closer. "Don't tell the others."

"I dunno, you might have to buy my silence," you teased.

"What's your price?"

You snaked a hand behind his neck and pulled him into a kiss, hooking your leg over his hip at the same time so you could press his body against yours. He smirked against your lips, chuckling to himself.

You broke away from him. "What?"

"Was that your answer?"

You avoided the question, instead tugging at his shirt. "This isn't fair. I'm practically naked."

"So that's a yes?"

"Will you just shut up and take your clothes off?"

He clicked his tongue, shaking his head at you. "So impatient. We'll have to work on that."

Despite his chastisement, he listened. He pulled his clothes off and threw them next to yours on the floor before reaching behind you to unhook your bra. His hands covered your breasts, careful as always to keep at least one finger off of you. Then, he leaned into your chest and replaced one of your hands with his mouth, sucking bruises on your skin and flicking his tongue against your nipple.

You bit your lip, trying to contain a moan, not wanting to seem anymore desperate, but it just became a whimper in your throat. You felt him smile against your chest and move his free hand down to between your legs. You were so wet that he slid two fingers in you like it was nothing. He scissored them back and forth, stretching you out as he continued toying with your nipples. You couldn't contain yourself any longer. You tugged at his hair as you moaned his name.

"What is it, baby?" He asked.

You grabbed at his hip, trying to pull him closer to you.

"You want something?"

"Stop teasing me. You said no games."

He feigned a sudden realization. "Ohh, you want me in here?" He thrusted his fingers deeper into you, making sure to curl them over your g-spot and drag another moan from your throat.

"Fuck. Yes."

He kissed your forehead. "Of course, baby."

With the hand that was on your chest, he steadied himself on the bed, and with the other he lined his tip up with your entrance. There were no games. He didn't tease you, he didn't make you beg, he just eased himself in until you were completely filled. You arched against him and dug your nails into his shoulders, loving the feeling of him stretching you out.

"Am I good to move?" He asked after a moment, gently brushing his nose against yours.

You nodded.

He slowly pulled his hips back before sinking into you again, repeating the motion over and over until he found a good rhythm.

His movements were different this time. Before, he had seemed desperate, slamming into you at a rough pace. Now, his stokes were slow, controlled, passionate—like he was using his body to show you all of the things he couldn't say out loud. He was begging you to stay, to love him, to give him a chance to be the person you'd originally thought he was.

And despite all of the alarms going off in your head, you knew you would.

You could feel the knot building once more in the pit of your stomach. He was pushing you closer to the edge with each languid movement, and you could tell by his breathing that he was getting closer too.

At one point he paused and grabbed one of the pillows from the bed, lifting your hips and setting you back down on it. The new angle that it provided was absolutely euphoric. He reached deeper than before, rolling his hips so that he hit all of the right spots.

"Tomura," you moaned.

"Does that feel good, baby?"

"Yes."

"Are you close?"

You nodded.

"You wanna cum with me?"

"Please," you begged.

"I gonna count you down, alright?"

"Okay."

"Five."

He moved his hand between you.

"Four."

He started drawing quick circles over your clit with his thumb.

"Three."

You could feel your pleasure coiling tighter and tighter.

"T-fuck-two."

You dug your nails into his skin, arching against him.

"One."

You both fell apart, panting and moaning as you let your pleasure wash over you. He caught your lips in a sloppy kiss before moving down your neck, trying to cover every inch of your skin. He wanted you to understand how much he loved you—how much he worshipped you. He wouldn't let you go so easily.

The two of you cleaned up and Tomura gave you another sweatshirt to borrow since he'd decayed your shirt. There was no bathroom attached to his room, so you had to go down the hall. You hadn't taken more than two steps on your way back to his room when you heard a mocking voice.

"Ohhh, Tooomura," He said in a tone meant to mimic your own. "God, it's fucking pathetic."

You turned to see the man from before—the one who'd been a jerk to you in the bar—leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Your cheeks felt hot—a combination of rage and embarrassment. Had he been listening in on you two?

"It's Dabi, right?" You asked. "Look, I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but will you just leave me the hell alone?"

He kicked off of the wall, closing the distance between you and getting in your face. "My problem is you. I've got big plans for my future and the league can help me see them through, but not if you're here. You're too much of a distraction. You'll just end up making Shigaraki soft—him and the rest of the league."

"I'm not trying to be a distraction," you insisted.

"Oh, please," he scoffed. "It's only a matter of time before you brainwash Shigaraki into thinking that what we're doing is pointless. Love is like a fucking poison."

He shoved past you and disappeared down the hallway. You must've seemed off when you got back to Tomura's room because a look of concern quickly spread across his face.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fine," you replied, clenching and unclenching your fists as you kept your gaze trained on the floor. You were trying to keep your anger from bubbling over and causing you to do something stupid. How could Dabi think you were bad for Tomu? You wouldn't make him soft. You wouldn't make him give up on the world he was trying to create—a world where everyone was equal. Why would you?

"Are you sure?"

You finally looked up at him. Your determination was radiating off of you as you announced: "I want to join the league."

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gemini-sensei · 6 months

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This idea came to mind with @sensei-venus's newest post about alpha!Eli and beta!Demetri.

So what if when alpha!Miguel comes along everything is fine and cool. He's a cool alpha. He isn't as headstrong as some alphas at their school and he gets bullied for being geeky and stuff, so they all get along.

Then another new student comes along: omega!Reader.

And alphas are all over her vying for her attention. What's wrong with this is she's extremely meek and shy but the alphas trying to get her attention don't realize that. They just think she's a pretty, chubby omega who needs and alpha to look out for her. She needs someone strong and muscley and tough just because she's an omega. They basically see her as fresh meat or as a prize for the taking.

One day it's really bad and alpha!Miguel, alpha!Eli and beta!Demetri witness her on the verge of tears. They almost don't smell her distressed scent over all the alpha musk their classmates are letting out. It's what pushes Miguel to finally fight back - not that he hadn't been defending himself before against bully alphas, but this is different. Reader cant speak up for herself and even if she tried, she'd get overpowered by the alphas.

So Miguel speaks up, though it's more like a growl.

"Hey! Can't you see you're upsetting her?! Give her some space!" He pushes his way through the crowd, breaking it up.

Calm, cool and sarcastic Demetri is doing his best to help, calling the alphas "meat for brains" and doing what he can, which includes pitting their attention onto him. He out wits a few jocky alphas while Miguel almost starts a fist fight, all so Reader can slip away and shy, quiet alpha!Eli can get her away from the turmoil.

When they find Miguel and Demetri later on, they're sporting a black eye and busted lip respectively. Reader feels so bad about it, thinking it's her fault, but Miguel assures her that any respectable alpha would have taken the brunt of a beating for her.

"Speka for yourself, alpha," Demetri wines as he touches his bloody lip.

Reader doesn't accept this though. She stutters nervously, so remorseful. "At-at least let m-me clean y-you u-up."

She keeps a little first aid kit in her bag and they sit down somewhere quiet to patch them up. Eli helps her by handing her alcohol wipes and opening band aids, quietly admiring her as she works.

In fact they're all admiring her as she shakily helps them. The while tike, to ease her nerves, Miguel pumps out a relaxing and protective scent and he's not even aware he's doing it. His instincts are just going along with the adrenaline rush, so his body is responding to the clearly anxious omega in front of them.

When it's over, they thank her and she thanks them. She's about the scurry away when Miguel makes an offer.

"Ya know, you can always hang out with us. Most other alphas don't bother us, only occasionally," he tells her trying to make it seem appealing. After all, his and Eli's alpha scents will naturally ward off other alphas a good 8/10 times. If she's hanging around them, it'll rub off on her and they won't bother her as much wither. "We could keep them away from you."

"Y-you'll get hurt a-again," she said, shaking her head. "Be-because of m-me. And I-I don't want that to ha-happen..."

She's about to leave when Demetri stops her, gently catching her wrist. "No they won't. I mean, maybe, but it won't be your fault. And it isn't such a bad idea... I mean, it works for me."

Reader is shocked they want her around. She just got them beat up after all. Still, their kindness and friendship are very heartwarming, so she accepts. She hadn't yet made any friends at the school, so why not start with two alphas and a beta?

They have no idea what they've all just signed up for, unaware that Reader was the missing piece of their little pack. They just don't know how much they're going to fall for her, truly.

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nejiverse · 1 year

Text

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

[Hayakawa Family Series]

In which a photo album picture re-jogs Y/n’s memories. Pregnant! Fem! Reader

cw: none, maybe a teensy bit suggestive if you squint, also they weren’t dating yet in the flashback

1.2k words

"Oh! Oh! I remember this, this was when we were 17, I let Aki cut my hair", Y/n laughed even though it wasn't that funny cause she spent the day after bawling her eyes out reason being he didn't cut it the way she wanted it.

She flipped the page and immediately after that, Denji and Power erupted into a fit of laughter, the latter holding her stomach.

It was a picture of Aki who was submerged into a small stream, he looked quite displeased.

"My papers flew into the stream and he tried getting it...you can see how that turned out".

"THAT'S HILARIOUS", Denji said through his laughter, wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye dramatically.

Though, from Y/n's perspective, his little act of kindness was extremely considerate and it'll forever remain in the back of her memories.

{Flashback}

The young girl let out a sigh. A sigh that if anyone else were to hear it escape from her mouth, it'd be a cause for concern with how fed up she sounded.

Y/n hung her head low as she dragged her feet behind her.

"All Aki's hard work...", she rubbed her brows as if to ward off the headache that couldn't necessarily be classified as a headache. She was just really frustrated.

As she muttered to herself, she felt a hand tug her back by the loose strap on her school bag.

"What about my hard work?", as the saying goes, speak of the devil and he shall appear. As the sixteen year old turned around to be face to face with her perpetrator, she did a double take when she realised it was Aki.

"A—ah it's nothing!", she blurted, waving her hands in front of her face. When Y/n realised the very thing she was trying to hide from the ravenette was in her hand and right in his line of vision, she hastily placed her hands behind her back.

Albeit it being too late, she still thought it was worth a try anyway.

"I'm not stupid y'know", Aki rolled his eyes. He tried to move behind her but she merely followed his steps to avoid him from doing so.

"Y/n...what're you hiding?", Aki furrowed his brows each time she would follow his movement.

"Nothing".

"Then let me see your hands".

She tucked the sheet of paper under her shirt, the paper being held by the band of her school skirt.

She showed her open palms to him with a nervous smile.

"See? Nothing", she reassured him.

"Alright then..", he'd simply catch her out. His reflexes were way more swift that hers.

He first of all acted as if he had forgotten about the whole ordeal but before she could even catch on, Aki— with one foul swoop— swiped the paper from behind her, inspecting it.

"Aki!", she called out, trying to grab for the sheet but the boy held it up high, reading the contents of the page in the process while she still tried to get it back.

"You really don't need to see that, it isn't important", you'd be too disappointed she thought.

Aki tilted his head down at her in confusion. "Why're you hiding this?", he asked.

Y/n stopped trying and let her arms fall down to his chest, her hands in tight fists.

"Im really sorry", she felt like all his efforts had went to waste. "You spent so much time helping me study and I still didn't do good enough", she got a D.

After she took the math exam, she felt really confident that she'd get a higher mark but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"Don't apologise. I'm really proud of you, Y/n", it was better than her previous results, she always failed the subject but this time she actually passed it. She looked up from his chest and to his lips which were graced with a small smile. He explained that she's her own person and that her best differed from other people's best.

She appreciated Aki's sentimental words, which was unlike him. Of course though, it was a given that she had to tease him about it now.

"Are you flirting with me", she nudged his side with a snicker.

"This is what I get for being nice to you", he huffed, shoving the paper lightly into her chest. Y/n didn't get a hold on it before Aki let go, causing the sheet to fly away with the drift of the wind.

"I was just teasing!", she chuckled as she tried to follow the sheet.

Before she could even get a hold of it, the piece of paper found residence in the nearby stream.

Y/n blinked at the sheet before letting out a groan, her whole body comically drooping.

Y/n slowly turned around when she heard a small laugh from behind her.

"I guess that's what you get for 'just teasing' huh", he voiced, making Y/n grumble under her breath.

Aki made his way over to the stream and opted to use the large rocks embedded in the stream to reach for the sheet.

The male skillfully made his way onto the first rock, then the next, and the one after that too, then he slowly leaned down to pick up the sheet as to not fall.

Too bad though. He ended up slipping on his way back and fell back into the stream.

Y/n erupted into hysterical laughter as she watched Aki's face contort into one of exasperation.

"Say cheese!", she laughed and took a picture of him. That's what he gets for mocking her.

She went out to help him and as she extended a hand out to him, he took it and pulled her into the stream along with him.

Aki wiped the splashes of water off his eyes and when his vision was finally clear, he saw Y/n straddling him with her hands at either side of his head.

Aki's eyes widened as a small coat of pink tinted the apple of his cheeks.

Y/n let out a small chuckle and sat upright on his stomach.

"You know...if you wanted to do this with me you could've just asked", Y/n joked in a sultry voice.

"Get off your high horse..and me", Aki muttered as he used his hand to cover his hot face.

Y/n had long had feelings for Aki before this incident but the male himself? It was the beginning of his gradually growing love for the girl.

{end of flashback}

"He was such a tsundere", Y/n laughed at the memory.

"I thought we established never to show this picture to anyone else", Aki creeped up behind her, startling her a bit.

"Don't worry, our lips are sealed", Denji zipped his lips and Power did the same. He pretended to lock his lips with a key and passed it to Power as she imitated his gesture.

"Sure they are", Aki sighed because he knew every Devil Hunter and their mother would hear about it.

Hayakawa family series masterlist :)

A/N: You can say Aki's got W Rizz 🥱

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blackopals-world · 1 year

Note

Could I request Vil, Malleus, Ruggie and Jamil with a Fem!Yuu who is a seamstress that is really, really good at sewing, knitting, embroidery, and other forms of textile design.

If you're to busy to do this request, I completely understand.

Love your profile picture btw, it's so cute!

~Sure I got time~

Tailor-Made

Seamstress!Yuu x Vil , Ruggie, Malleus, and Jamil

(NRC is a mixed school with boys and girls.)

Crewel stepped over the scattered bolts of fabric as he tried to get to the bed. The room was a mess as always with sketchbook paper littering that girl's desk. Said girl was in a deep burrowing in layers and layers of loose fabric, pillows and discarded ribbons.

"My dear pup, I don't know how you will manage to get to class when you can't even wake yourself up." Crewel said to his ward as he pinched her cheek.

The girl grunted and tried to pull away before mumbling in her sleep."Five more minutes."

Crewel stared at her incredulously as he pulled harder.

"Five minutes, soon you will have no minutes! The carriage will be here soon and you're room is a mess, your hair is matted, and your not ready for school!" Crewel was rather upset.

If he had it his way she'd be shipped off to an all girls school in France but she chose NRC for some reason. Sure, it wasn't a bad school and he could look out for her, but the boys there where characters. Why did she want to transfer there?

After prodding her, Yuu eventually shook herself awake and prepared for the big day. Her stuff was packed and her familiar Grim was at her side.

"The carriage is here!"Crewel called up the stairs. The girl came running down with her hair combed and uniform tidy.

Crewel sighed fondly over the girl. She had grown so much from when she was just little pup. Her mother would be so proud.

Divya, was an extraordinary woman. He misses her dearly but her daughter was still his treasure.

"Divus? I'm leaving."Yuu looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Oh right," He said pushing his feelings down as he kissed her forehead "Be good pup. I'll see you there."

"See ya, Da- Divus!" She panicked before rushing out the door.

With that she entered her coffin and had Grim stay at home until she the entrance ceremony was over. When she awoke it was time to stand before the magic mirror.

Her soul resonated with one dorm one made for her: Pomefiore

She stood up a little straighter when she heard it. Part of her had doubts but now she knew. Her smile was wide as she saw her guardian smiling at her as though there was no doubt. She was just like him and Divya, people who understood beauty and perfection.

Vil

Being a housewarden meant keeping his students in line. That meant also keeping students from fighting. The girls were currently dealing with a problem. One he had to take control on.

The new girl had caused a mess involving dye. Vil would have to punish her by making her clean. Though he couldn't help but do it half-heartedly.

She was rather meek about the whole ordeal and apologized over and over. She had done it with the best intentions of adding a color to her list of fabrics and it just got everywhere.

He couldn't deny that it was a rather nice shade of lavender. Still, he could see this becoming a problem. He chose to give her a room where she could do her dyeing hobby in peace. They had a room for such things anyways even if it was abandoned.

Form that day he rarely saw her. When he did she was scurrying around campus gathing materials or with friends.

He found out why from the girls. Yuu was working on something big and they were helping. They were bubbly and giddy as can be when he asked but they never told what I was. They did say something about the upcoming ball and cheaking on her. His curiosity peeked, he entered the sewing room.

The room wasn't dusty like before but the smell of old wood lingered mixed with perfume and paint. Yuu stood in the center with glasses perched on her nose and measuring tape around her neck. She was placing pins on the hem of a gown. Her eyes focused on getting it just right. She nodded before pulling out her pen and using her unique magic [Let's Stick Together] causing the pieces of fabric to fuse together.

She fingers danced across the waterfalls of handspun lace as she pulled, cut, and sowed the gown. It was the same color that drew Vil's eyes.

He looked around as the seamstress focused and became taking note of other objects in the room. Mannequins were lined up in rows. Each had a suit or dress that was meticulously crafted but some were bare. Each were designed beautifully. The moment he touched the silk of one the suits his eyes caught sight of a silhouette.

In the corner of the room was a mannequin covered by linen.

Vil eyed the unaware girl and heard the 'click clack' of her hands weaving lace designs.

He lifted the blanket and he was more then just enraptured.

The suit was quite grand, vintage but new.

When Vil saw it he felt a pull in his chest. One you'd get if you saw something perfect for you while browsing and you are over taken by such a need and desire for it.

He wanted this suit. The ball was in ta few weeks and had a outfit planned but he needed this suit. Only this one would be worthy of him.

His eyes went back to the girl who finally looked up.

"VIL-SAMA!" She shouted her glasses falling off her face but still attached to the chain around her neck.

"I see you've been working very hard." Vil praised her with a pat on the head. Yuu wrinkled her nose blushing at the remark.

"What are you doing here?" She asked dumbfounded.

"I wanted to check on you. There is so much silk and satin here you'd think it was my closet." Vil mused.

"Oh, this? A few of the girls are paying me to make their gowns for the ball and a few boys too. I've been making them in pairs." Yuu said showing off her latest gown to be finished.

"I see, what about that one?" Vil pointed to the suit that was hidden away.

"Oh, not that one. It wasn't really made for anyone." Yuu shook her head as she pulled the cover back over it. "It's not worth looking at."

Vil felt a sting in his chest. How could he say that about something so stunning, something she made with her own hands.

"You seemed to work very hard on it. "Vil said keeping calm.

"Yeah, I guess. It's not very good though. I think I made it to match some kind of prince aesthetic but messed up. Besides what good is it if no one would wear it." Yuu sounded upset with herself "It's better sometimes to stick with what you know people like. People like handmade clothes. Something made for them, not for me."

Vil wanted to argue with her but he couldn't. She was right in some aspects. Only some.

"I'd like to commission you. Make me a suit just like this one here. Fix a few things. Change the materials on the undershirt and skirt to silk." He ordered her.

Yuu agreed reluctantly. She was sure Vil would think her design was cheap and while looking fancy at first, its commodity won't last.

Still, Vil didn't let her slack on his suit and came in regularly to check on her. Almost everyday he came to watch her and advise her on styles. He even modeled a few things she was working on. Sometimes when she was having bad days he'd just sit with her until it was over. When he needed her, she'd rush over to the shoot to fix whatever the problem was. Sometimes the stylist on set just didn't get it right. They were quite the duo. It was clear from the nickname Vil gave her. Ube.

There were only three other girls in the dorm and they noticed Vil hanging around. Soon enough they were giggling amongst each other as they helped the seamstress with her work.

One girl in particular who had become Rook's little spy as of late made it no hint that the ball's theme had them going in pairs. She also made it no hint that Vil would be behind if he didn't find a partner.

"So tragic it is! Almost every girl is already taken and so are the guys." Belladona said throwing her hands up as she spoke.

"Is this you asking me to go with you." Vil had seen this tactic before.

"Of course not, Rook is taking me. You're so busy I doubt you realized that a certain girl hasn't been asked." Belladona was Yuu's closest female friend. After the dye incident, they began forming a friendship. All the girls loved the hardworking seamstress. They just didn't want her to miss out.

Vil got the message and berated himself for not thinking of this. Almost immediately he went to visit Yuu who had finished the last of her commissions just in time with a few days to spare.

"Vil! You're here! Look I'm finally done!"She showed off the finished lineup of outfits with pride.

Vil didn't looked happy though. He knew the owners of each of the set. He felt something missing.

"You're missing one" he said simply.

Yuu looked around for a second before shrugging.

"What do you mean? Yours is right here." She asked.

"I meant yours. You aren't going to make your own dress for the ball?" Vil asked knowing how much pride she had in her work.

"I didn't think I'd have time to. I had a design but with all the orders..." She fell silent "It's fine Vil, it's just a party. I'm happy to see everyone else shine."

"What good is it to say that? How can you see everyone else shine when you aren't even there." Vil has been annoyed by this women for too long.

"Vil?" Yuu asked feeling the temperature shift

"I am so sick of your self depreciating martyr complex! It's either, my work isn't good enough or putting everyone else before yourself. Can't you just admit that you are a talented person, that your hard work means something? Why can't you just see yourself like I do? Someone who's talented, beautiful, and caring. Why is that so hard?" Vil poured his heart. He didn't knownhe was holding this back. Every thought he had at the back of his mind was rushing out. "I'm sorry. It's just...I wish you'd care about yourself more. I want you to be happy."

Yuu knew Vil cared but she was dumbstruck at how much he cared. They had never put it into words.

"I'm sorry. I guess I never...thought you felt that way." Yuu said "I doubt I'll be able to go now anyways. I only have three days left to make one."

"Then allow me to help." Vil didn't know much of dress making but he had seen Yuu do it enough to get an idea.

Thankfully Belladona, Dory, and Aza came in to help as well. The dress was finished in record time.

Yuu loved it. I was better then she imagined.

"Well then, all it needs now is a suit to match." Vil said rolling the mannequin that wore his suit to stand next to it. "It looks best like this."

Jamil

Jamil knew it was cold but he was only going to be out for a few minutes before returning to his dorm. It was not that long a walk. Beside he had a jacket on.

"Jamil! Wait!" Yuu called out to him, her basket of yarn bouncing on her arm. "It's cold out!"

"I'll be fine." He said waving goodbye.

"No, don't. Put this on first!" Yuu wrapped a big scarf around Jamil's neck.

The chunky knitted scraf was only the beginning as a hat and mittens were added on. All he needed now was an obnoxiously cute knitted sweater to top off the look. Granted it was a rather comfortable scarf.

Still Yuu was a bit of a mother hen. Something fostered by being the tailor of the Pomefiore dorm. Having the fix clothes all the time.

Jamil had been a recipient of that treatment after getting a few rips and tears. One he got a rip in his PE uniform while dismounting his broom she immediately mended it with her unique magic.

He had seen her use it a few times to punish her rowdy friends by fusing their hands to walls or statues to keep them from moving.

Jamil didn't know whether to be thankful or annoyed by the mother hen. But time told that he began to rely on her help. After an incident involving a carnivorous plant in the greenhouse he managed to ruin his uniform jacket and didn't have time to fix it. He left it in her care.

"Don't worry I'll give it back to you before classes tomorrow." She said brightly before scurrying off like she always does.

Jamil couldn't believe what he got back the next day. It was his jacket but it was beautifully embroidered with gold.

"You didn't need to go that far." He said trying not to look bashful.

"Oh, I guess i can just cut out the thread." She responded a bit disappointed.

"Absolutely not! You made this for me! It mine!" Jamil yelled pulling the jacket on and keeping away from her.

"Aww, Jamil~ I knew you'd love it!" She cheered as she tired to hug him.

This was something special just for him. He doesn't like his things taken away. When others saw him in wearing it they were envious. So much envy that everyone wanted one. Embroidered uniforms were the new trend after all.

Actually, Jamil felt something vaugly familiar about this. He went to the trophy hall to check his suspensions. Inside a glass case was a uniform from a former student that was kept.

"Divya Khatri"

She was first place in many art competitions. Their were even a few pictures hanging in classrooms that were her's.

What Jamil was looking for was the similar style in the embroidery but now all he could see was the last name.

"Khatri"

I guess we all have something we want to live up to.

Ruggie

There is no such thing as wasted material. Every leftover scrap of cloth is useful.

Ruggie would often drop off old clothes he wanted tailored or recycled. Yuu didn't ask where he got it but she was able to make such cute outfits for the hyena. It saves money on material and they can dye the clothes however they want.

It was around Christmas when he asked Yuu to help make clothes tosent back home to his family. A few babies were born recently in the neighborhood and he wanted to send something.

Yuu agreed immediately and began knitting something for the children.

She might have gone too far because she ended up with a lot more clothes then she realized. She remembered that Ruggie's community is pretty big so a few extras for the bigger kids would be useful.

By the time Ruggie came to check on her she was working on something bigger. A quilt, you can't welcome a cub into the world without a quilt. It's something they need all their lives.

Ruggie had to pull her out of her sewing haze with a shake.

"I don't think you'll finish in time." Riggie said nuzzling her cheek.

Yuu pouted, a bit disappointed but understood.

"Don't be sad, why don't you come visit and we can work on it there." Ruggie chimed trying to maker her feel better. "I'm sure the kids would like to thank you in person."

"Really? I'll ask Divus and we'll go as soon as break starts!" With this she immediately started rexting her guardian.

"I've always wondered. Why do you call your dad by his first name?" Ruggie asked tilting his head makingnhis ear wiggle a little

"Divus isn't my dad. He just raised me after my my mom..." She didn't say the rest but you know the rest.

"It's okay, I understand. We have more in common then I thought. We orphans gotta stick together!" Ruggie said going back to nuzzling his giggly friend.

It's a good thing Divus didn't see that.

During the break Yuu spent time finishing the quilt with Ruggie's grandmother. Divius supervised the visit of course before they left to go home.

Malleus

Malleus liked watching Yuu work. Specifically watching her use the loom. It was calming to listen to the calming clacking of the wood knocking against the frame.

Even more he liked the spinning wheel when she was making yarn. The monotonous sound was calming and familiar.

"OW!" Yuu yelped as she pulled her hand way from the silver needle. A small drop of ruby blood fell staining the white yarn.

Immediately Malleus was at her side holding her injured hand.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked "Do you feel faint?"

"I'm fine, I just need a band-aid. Rook will probably know any minute now and tattel to Vil again." Yuu sighed, she would be banned from the work shop until it heals.

Whatever compelled his sweet little lizard brain to lick the wound was beyond her. But it worked whatever it was supposed to do because the pin prick healed.

"Unhand her Roi du Dragon!"Rook shouted as he appeared out of the great blue yonder AGAIN!

Yuu isn't even surprised. He was doing it on purpose.

After that happened Yuu wanted to apologize for her vice warden's behavior AGAIN. She made him a embroidered handkerchief.

Mellues was very proud of his handkerchief and thanked her for it buy gifting her a pouch of jewels from his hoard. How thoughtful.

Only for him to come back with puppydog eyes with the scorched handkerchief in hand.

"I'm sorry, your precious gift was ruined." He was clearly upset.

"Don't worry, let me take a look at it." Yuu comforted him as she gently took the cloth.

It had a few singed holes in the fabric. Yuu made a 'tsk' sound as she examined.

"It was an accident." He said as if he asking for forgiveness.

"It's no problem. I could just fuse the fabric and re embroidery it or...I can just not" She said thoughtfully.

"Not?" Malleus asked.

"Well I can't unburn it. It's burnt. I can remake it but it won't be the same handkerchief I gave you. I can however stich around the holes and fuse it, preventing it from unraveling. With a bit of tlc I can make it better without distorting the original design." Yuu explained taking the cloth over to her desk.

Malleus agreed readily as he watched Yuu save his handkerchief.

Halfway through Divus called asking what she wanted for dinner.

"You are very close to the professor. Are you two related?" Malleus asked after she hung up.

"He's my guardian. Raised me since I was 4 and I learned everything I know from him and mom." Yuu answered.

"Oh, he's your father. I had no idea." The dragon said a bit surprised.

"No, not my dad. He was there for me when mom died. They dropped me off in front of his house when no one else could claim me. He was barely an adult back then, like 20." Yuu said in a clipped tone "He had enough to deal with without a kid being dropped in his lap. He probably sees me more as a sister then a daughter."

"Did he say that?" Mallues asked seeing the hurt in her eyes.

Yuu had spent her life blaming herself for Divus not being free.

'Of course not. I just assumed-" Yuu started but stoped "Let's just finish this first."

Crewel

Yuu rushed home that evening since it was the weekend. After greeting the dogs she cornered Divus in the kitchen wearing that dalmatian apron she had made him when she was 9. It had red ruffles and she made one for herself with pink ruffles to match. She had out grown it a long time ago.

"I'm home, Divus." She said peeking into the pot only to receive a slap on the hand with a spoon.

"Not yet pup, I don't want you sneaking bites before I'm finished." Crewel said sternly as he ordered her to help instead of being a nuisance.

Yuu got started on the salad like always as she huffed like a tired puppy.

"Did you have a good day at school?" Crewel asked checking on the potroast.

"Yeah, Malleus needed help fixing his handkerchief." Yuu said cutting up the lettuce.

"I'm not sure about you hanging around him. He's polite but he's still dangerous even if he doesn't mean to be." Divus was more worried about Yuu dating then the potentially dangerous dragon.

"Dad! Please don't, I can hang around boys and keep myself safe." Yuu whined.

Divus didn't say anything at first.

"Dad?"He whispered under his breath a smile creasing his lips.

"I meant Divus!" Yuu blushed.

Crewel turned down the heat on the burner before turning to face Yuu.

"Yuu, don't force yourself. You call whatever make you feel comfortable. I've been wanting to talk about this with you. I've raised you since you were little. You're as good as a daughter as one that was my flesh and blood. You're my little girl." Crewel said reaching over hugging.

"Thanks...dad." Yuu held back tears as she hugged him back.

Over dinner the two talked about the normal event of the day.

"Hey, dad? Can we talk about mom?" Yuu asked, he knew Divus never liked talking about her. It hurt him alot.

"She was my best friend. She was older then me when we went to NRC. She was brilliant artist too....."

Crewel talked on and on about his memories of Divya. He never mentioned how she died, he focused on her life. Sharing the good time just like she would have wanted.

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baka-bakeneko · 4 months

Text

Stomping Ground - River Ward x Fem! V Reader

tags: NSFW, MDNI, established relationship River Ward, Johnny Silverhand: Resident Cockblock™, non-canon background of River/Panam/Joss/Saul, pregnancy talk, br33ding kink/mention/actions, in heat mention/action, cumplay, mating press, wrap it before you tap it psa, double orgasm, doggy style, cervix mention, pillow talk, creampie

wc:

synopsis: Panam tells you something about boyfriend River you're sure you'd never noticed before.

a/n: y'all ever watch reservation dogs? i got this idea from that because the man mentioned with that line looked like riv...also, absolutely feral feminine urge to climb through my television to sex this man

There was a clear and definitive space you carved out for River in your life. It wasn't necessarily prominent at first, but you realized it slowly over time.

Not that the man didn't want to meet your "friends", moreso accomplices, and your handler; he definitely did, but knowing River's do good bleeding heart, you knew he'd try to get you out of it as soon as possible.

However, you began to notice the lines starting to blur a bit more. River started picking you up at your apartment to take you back to his place (even though you'd practically moved into the trailer with him).

Judy and Rogue were starting to mention your time spent outside of Night City, how the ever beating sun in the desert was doing wonders for your sickly complexion.

Obviously, Johnny wasn't any different. The individualist that was not on the River Hype Train.

"He's still a bootlicker, V. You're sleeping with a corrupt puppy."

His bitching and moaning was relatively drowned out, though, by someone who shared similar stomping ground with River.

Panam.

It wasn't often you hung out with her, she usually only called to ask for something, but when you two were together, she was the most herself about your relationship.

That saying that Panam was her normal cool demeanor version of gushy about you being infatuated with the ex-cop.

You'd asked her if she knew him, and she repeated the stomping ground. There was once a time, she mentioned, that her and Joss could see each other on opposite sides of the fence.

She never dwelled on it, only mentioned that little River had the longest braids. That she'd sit on a hill and admire how his sister brushed his hair back with her fingers and braided it almost all day.

Panam scoffed by the fire then, taking a swig of her tequila then offered you the bottle. She leaned over to nudge your shoulder, still staring at the bright orange flames dancing before you two.

"All I know is that Saul used to say boys of the Pomo tribe," Panam hiccuped halfway through her sentence. "can impregnate you with a single gaze."

You practically wasted the alcohol you swigged, the clear liquid dribbling from your mouth at Panam's statement. Of course, it was meant as a warning to young Panam and probably a lot of young Aldecado girls.

But it was funny and vulgar to imagine that sentiment still standing true. And that sent a shock straight to your core.

Because you hadn't seen that gaze of River's yet.

Or maybe you'd been ignoring it.

You woke up the next morning after driving through the desert back to River's. Climbing into bed with him the night before, Panam's stories about him weighed in your heart.

Reaching an arm out to pull River close, you realized he'd already gotten up. You sat up, tossing the bedsheet away and kneeled on the bed to stretch.

River had offered yet another one of his shirts to you, this one a Night City Police Academy heather grey. The sides were cut off, hardly holding your breasts back and revealing your bare ribs.

"Good morning beautiful," River chimed, brunting his door open by his hip with two cups of coffee in hand.

You sat down heavily, the bedsheets puffing around your ass before settling. "Good morning yourself."

You reached out for the coffee cup River offered you, taking in his standard pajama attire. With an approving hum, you brought the coffee cup to your lips and sipped.

"You read my mind," you praised, shutting your eyes to revel in the warm liquid traveling down inside.

River spared a breath from his nose, doing the same as you straightened up again. You took another quick sip then set it on the windowsill, turning to River.

And there it was.

That had to be it.

Because your chest tightened in the same way you knew something good was about to happen. And your body was certainly open to it.

"Hard pass!" Johnny screeched in, crossing his arms before your face like a no-bone referee. "Not while I'm around!"

Your loving gaze to River was directed as frustration to Johnny S. Cricket. "Shut up, I'm steering this one."

"Babies and Johnny don't freakin' mix, V!"

You grit your teeth and muttered from the corner of your mouth. "Panam didn't mean it literally. Take the backseat."

Johnny buzzed around the room in soft glitches. "Oh hell no! You think I'm gonna let you play house when we had a deal? I'm not sitting by while you piss away our chances, V, for a freakin' meter maid!"

Your sultry smile turned sickened, actively reaching up your neck to yank Johnny's relic out and deal with consequences later. "Last chance, Johnny. Otherwise, I'll reset us both."

Johnny blew a harsh raspberry at you, zipping to your side to whisper in your ear. "Fine, but don't cry to me when I don't take the reigns to change a goddamn diaper."

Then he shut up and disappeared.

And River's glare was still there. Still baring into and lighting a new type of flame under your skin. Keeping your chest tightening and your breath quickening.

It was a subtle glare, one that you were sure he'd given to the back of your head before. One eyebrow barely cocked, his molten brown eye softened a single degree. And maybe it was something about him always looking so hardened, but this look was softer by an nth.

His lips were absolutely kissable, curved into a smirk. And how could this single glare make you want him so badly?

And how long could he keep this single glare up? Because there was work to be done.

You felt yourself turning into a bitch in heat by that glare, sitting up straighter and angling your body at him. Knees inched apart minutely, but enough for River to notice.

His interest piqued with a minute tilt of his chin; he blindly reached to his side and set his coffee cup on his nightstand.

You kept his gaze, feeling every breath tearing through your burning chest. And you needed to be naked.

River's glare willed it to be. His hands found his waist and shared a staggering breath out, his cock slowly rising to attention behind his pajamas.

You reached for the hem of his shirt, your arms crossing over your head to reveal the presence of your mostly naked body. His tongue tempted out, his eyes never leaving yours though you knew he'd raked your body in admiration.

You copied his motion, licking at your lips as your breathing raced to soft pants.

River gulped, breaking contact from you first to force his bedroom door closed. He locked it, holding his hands to the plywood while he bowed his head in effort to stay level.

His massive shoulders shuddered, his back rippling in war with himself. Still, he turned around to you, hooking you onto his glare again.

And it was as if the spell was never broken. Your nipples hardened to the cool of the room, to River's silent will.

"Show me your pussy, baby," he gruffed, his voice a new bass of desire.

When you'd normally flinch, you were obedient to River's order. Your breath hitched, spreading your knees further and peeling your panties to the side.

River's eyes never left yours, but braced his knee onto the bed. He peeled down at a hip of his pajamas, freeing his leaking cock to meet you.

Another chill wracked your body, your cunt pulsing at the thought of his length stretching you. Every thought of River impregnating you made you dizzy in eager want.

He swiped at the tip of his cock, gathering his precum before reaching out to stroke your pussy. His eyes kept yours, watching as you slowly crumbled in his touch.

When he was satisfied, River flossed the front of your panties against your clit, earning a whimper from behind your lips.

He leaned in, nudging his nose against yours with a heavy breath against your lips. Your chin tilted in his direction, tempted to kiss him, but his hands tearing your panties in half halted you.

River's hands grabbed at the backs of your knees, pulling your legs over his thighs as he readied his cock before your aired sex.

Your heels planted on the bed, hips angling ready to take him. Your breathing faltered, your chest rising and falling in cascades.

River grinned deviantly before your lips, reaching to shrug his pants further. His hands resumed behind your knees, instantly folding you down on the bed.

Your knees met your breasts, leaving your ass to be caressed by his thobbing length. Your eyes cut to River's cockhead rubbing between your wet lips, prodding against your thrumming clit.

Turning to River again, his gaze was unmatched. The silent will for you to beg for him. Your bottom lip twitched, a soft moan leaving you.

He took your sound personally, feeling it fuel the burning and gnawing within him. River pulled his cock back and forward again, earning a few more noises before angling his hips to catch at your entrance.

Then he was sinking into you. And you cried out at the instant relief. His cock drove into you, molding your walls around him.

You edged up to gain more of River faster, his body folding over yours breaking a sweat.

"River," you mewled, feeling his hips lay flush to your pussy.

Your hands went for his face, your legs folding and your foot twitching at the middle of River's thick back.

He barely let you settle, raising up with his calves to start a skin-slapping, heavy pace. The noises that he rang out of you carried through the room, no doubt disturbing the peace of the house.

River gripped a bit tighter at your knees, slowing his pace to catch his breath. His balls rested against the apple of your ass, hitting right at your deepest spot.

You simpered, taking heaping breaths to steady your heat. Your pussy convulsed helplessly, unable to stabilize your heightened sensitivities.

River ignored giving you any external stimulation, only kept your eyes on his. He angled further, fucking into you steadier with slower strokes while you whimpered and pleaded softly for River to make you cum.

River huffed down at you, his breaths a melodic chant to keep him stable. Your face scrunched at the gaining fire from your pussy to your stomach before you blindly gripped at River's hip and halted him for you to throb around him.

You came hard on him, squeezing his cock heartily in your soft, hot walls. River's name was on your lips, drooling out your praise while you wetted his hips and balls.

"I-I'm not done with you yet," River panted, dropping your legs after pulling out.

He gripped your hip to roll you onto your stomach, pulled you onto your knees with your ass on display before him.

River sank his cock back into you, earning a keen mew. You spread your knees further, regaining your energy while still spasming on his cock.

You purred out a 'baby' for River's ego; he folded over you, let you run your hand along the back of his shaved head.

His cock speared harsher into you, halting his hips tighter with each pump. Even without saying anything about it, you knew what he was doing.

River's tip abused at your cervix, earning a few squeaks from you until he circled his arm around your waist and pressed at your stomach.

A new flush of arousal gained with his internal friction, pressing onto you as his other hand played at your nipples.

You arched into River, melting into his touch as his lips peppered and sucked at your neck. Your hips backed up into River, whimpering softly with each thrust until you were quaking.

Your knees slowly gave way, your body heating to give way to another orgasm. This one brought River along with you.

He gasped into your neck, held you obsessively close and hilted his cockhead directly against your cervix. You felt your pussy drown in River's essence, warming every fiber of your being.

"I want your baby," you simmered, turning to kiss River's temple, his cheek, his lips.

His cock continued to twitch, emptying everything he had into you. He growled, nipped at your ear.

"You don't know how badly I'd want you to," River whispered, taking your skin in with a soft suck.

He tenderly marked your neck, ran his lips to your shoulder as he canted his hips softly into you.

"I so badly," he thrusted into you with each syllable. "want that."

You rode every thrust into the mattress, gripping the sheets and the back of River's neck. He moaned into your neck, baring his teeth to bite as he hugged you.

Time froze in that instance, the two of you holding on as River's essence gushed around his cock and out of you.

When he was finished, River slowly pulled out, trailing kisses along your back, between your shoulders and down to your hips.

He rocked your hips in his hold, tracing his nose along your skin before resting on his back next to you.

"Come here," he crooned, his voice so soft and welcoming.

His arm braced behind his head, leaving his side open. You nuzzled into his side, glancing up as he tucked his chin down to look at you.

And that look was still plastered on his face. You couldn't help but giggle then, feeling River's hand trace along your spine.

"What's so funny?" River asked, turning his lips to kiss your forehead.

"Panam told me about you, when you were younger," you began, grabbing hold of River's hand to thread your fingers through.

River's brows raised before chuckling. "What'd she say?"

You tilted your head up to look at River. "That you used to have the longest hair that Joss would braid."

He smiled, kissed your forehead.

"I did, down the middle of my back through my teens."

You rested your cheek on his shoulder. "I wish I could have seen it."

River hummed. "What else?"

You couldn't hide your smile then. "That Saul used to warn all the Aldecado girls about you."

River's smile grew with a scoff. "You're bullshitting me."

"No, I'm serious," you giggled, sitting up to look River in the eye. "Said Pomo boys can impregnate you with a single gaze."

River reddened from his neck to his cheeks, his ears bitten crimson. Your grin was contagious, he couldn't help but match it.

You climbed onto River's lap, bracing your hands to his stomach. "And I almost didn't believe it, but you're doing it again."

River laughed harder then, holding your hips as he did so. "If I was doing it, and I'm not saying I am, what're my chances I could do it?"

That's when you blushed, turning away to your shoulder. "I'm not seeing you couldn't, you're on the right track so far."

River's hands roamed up your sides, then around to fold you against him. "I can keep trying, if you want."

You rested on your chin, staring at River as that gaze came back again. "I don't want you to ever stop."

River traced his hands in parallel lines down your back, circling your shoulders. "Good, because I want at least three."

You smiled against him, ignoring the Johnny alarm bell that you probably had limited time. You wanted to live in this little reality you two curated for a while longer.

"And we can all live on my stomping grounds," River soothed, tilting his head down to rest on yours. "With our own little slice of life."

#fanfic #fan work #river ward cyberpunk #cyberpunk #river ward x v #river ward romance #cyberpunk2077 #v cyberpunk #river ward

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this-world-of-beautiful-monsters · 4 months

Note

prompt: spider takes the bullet, not neteyam. quaritch will do anything to get his son back, anything. he'll even work with augustine's recom.

(warnings for discussions of past torture and character death, although really an astonishingly gen ending to this magnificent journey)

ao3

"They won't help you," he says. "You know that, right?"

Augustine stares at him, face studiously blank the way it used to get during long board meetings. He can see her tail twitching, though, ears flickering like she's trying to ward off a nonexistent fly.

Behind her, farther down the bloodstained rock, Mo'at'ite hisses, knuckles white around her bow (that bow, that fuckingbow, but Quaritch won't look at it, anymore than he'll look at the body at Augustine's feet). She and Sully both have their weapons drawn, but Quaritch isn't the slow target he was in the AMP anymore and Augustine's standing tall, fucking up their sightlines.

"Kiri," Sully says, voice taut. "You gotta get out of the way, babygirl--"

Quaritch barks a laugh, the ragged kind that comes when you're teetering on the edge of hysteria. "Babygirl? You shitting me?" He shakes his head. "Come the fuck on, doc. The Augustine I know would've put out her cigarette on any man who tried that shit with her."

"She isn't Grace," Sully says hoarsely. "Kiri, stand down now. That's an order."

Quaritch doesn't even dignify that shit with a response, just rolls his eyes (easier to avoid looking at the ground, at the body). Augustine doesn't seem particularly moved either, her fingers flexing as she adjusts her stance.

She could kill him, Quaritch knows, without any help from her so-called mommy and daddy. He can feel the power crackling in the air around her, buzzing around her fists, blood-metallic on his tongue. It makes his kuru ache, same way it had in the woods--back then, he'd been too focused on Spider Spider Spider to really pay attention.

He knows better, now. He'd seen what she'd done to Lyle after Sully's voice has crackled over the line, sharp and cold and still shaking ever so slightly: your boy's dead, one of your dumb fucking grunts shot him. Let my daughters go, or you're next. Sully's always been a shit liar, but it was the panicked look at Lyle's face that made it impossible to deny.

Fucking Lyle. He's lucky the way Augustine turned his brain to slurry when she did, before Quaritch could get his hands on him. Lucky he doesn't have to fucking stand here and not look at the thing on the ground, the thing, the body--

"You think they'll even let you bury him?" he asks. "The locals won't stand to have this shit in their holy grounds--they'll probably give him back to Spellman so he can get dumped in a fucking crematorium. You'll never see your Monkey Boy again."

The pipsqueak with the eyebrows, tail lashing. "Don't you talk to her--" he growls, but Augustine cuts him off.

"I'll never see him either way." Her voice is hoarse--Quaritch remembers the way she screamed on the ship, like something had been torn loose in her and would never be put right. He knows that feeling.

"Kiri," the older boy says, the one Lyle had screamed something about trying to shoot instead as his blood ran out of his eyes. "Kir, please, come on--"

"We've got his memories," Quaritch cuts him off fast, can't let her get swayed by her fake family now. "At Bridgehead, we--we scanned them. Got a copy." If they're still there; they better be still there. The kid had thrown a shitfit in the scanner like every time before, but he'd still gone into the revamped Soul Drive with the rest of them.

"You hurt him." There's blood dripping from the tips of her fingers; he wonders if Sully and the rest have realized it's not hers.

"I did," Quaritch admits, because he doesn't have any time to fuck around. "Whatever you want to call me, whatever I've done, you're right. But I want him back, you understand? I mean it, you know I do."

She does. He can feel this fucking eyes of hers burn into him, bright with whatever wacky upgrades she got from her own trip through the other side, flaying him deeply enough she can see Spider Socorro's name written on her heart, same way it's written on hers. Kid's always had that fucking way about him.

"I want him back and none of these assholes will help, none of them could if they fucking wanted to, but I can." Quaritch takes a step forward and the Sullys tense, knuckles white on their weapons. "And you--you've got the know-how, you're the egghead I need in my corner. You brought yourself back, didn't you?"

"She didn't--" Sully whines.

"Didn't she?" Quaritch doesn't bother looking at him, keeps his eyes firmly on Augustine as he holds out a hand. She looks at it, then at him, those little flashy lights twinkling across her skin like she's rebooting. Remembering.

"I offered you a chance to make amends and work on this moon together, once." She knows what he's talking about, he can see it. "You told me to go stick my dick in a woodchipper, and you were right. But I don't care about that anymore, I don't give a fuck about this stupid mudball we're on or the stupid mud ball we're from, I just want my son."

His gaze flicks to her family, just for a second, then back to her. "They don't see anything about you except the meatsuit, same way those RDA pukes did with me. And they don't see anything about--" His breath catches, twists, "him, except that he's a big fucking mistake, and they'll do everything they can to forget he ever existed."

Silence. Her jaw works and he wonders if she wishes she had a cigarette right now--seeing her without one feels more jarring than the baby face or the blue skin.

"Kiri," the little girl whines, reaching out before the Metkayina girl carefully tugs her back. "Kiri, please."

Augustine's hair rustles with a wind that doesn't exist and her fists curls tight at her side, fingers trembling. Quaritch wonders if she's going to burn him like she burned Lyle, or maybe just call up something big and toothy to rip him apart.

And she might have, if Sully hadn't decided to lunge across the island in a few big, stupid strides, clapping his hand down her shoulder. "Kiri," he gasps, tugging her back. "Come on--"

Her eyes flare (panic anger fear, quick and smashed-up the way it always came with her) and she whirls, queue crackling, palms raised high. Sully goes staggering backward with a yelp, clutching his bleeding nose, and Mo'at'ite lunges to catch him before his head hits the rock. Augustine watches him topple, stunned still, gaping in horror.

Then she moves. Turns and scoops the...body up from the ground, cradling it (him) carefully to her chest even as she hustles down the rock. No vocalization, but her banshee swoops down from the sky, landing with a whomp of wings next to Cupcake, and she's hauling the body (Spider) onto the saddle before Quaritch's got his first leg up Cupcake's side.

"Kir!" Pipsqueak yells, rushing to their side, frantic. "Kir, wait, don't--"

She holds out a hand and he jerks to a half, from his own volition or hers it's hard to say. "Look after them," she says, and then Quaritch is fitting his own queue home, not that Cupcake needs more encouragement to go go go as they soar into the sky.

They go swoop out over the smoldering sea, Augustine's hair--Spider's hair--whipped gently by the wind. Quaritch glances over his shoulder to see the Sullys vanishing, a scatter of blue dots rapidly fading from view.

"They won't follow us," Augustine calls flatly. "Their ikran won't listen until we're out of range." She shoots him a cold look, hand resting on his son's spine--Quaritch doubts he's getting near that body any time soon, but that doesn't matter, he'll make it not matter. "Lead the way, Ranger Rick."

"Yes, ma'am," he says, just to be an asshole, tossing off a snide salute before leaning into the next turn. She bares her teeth the way the kid used and follows, banshees swerving together to meet the rising sun.

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waltwhitmansbeard · 11 months

Text

y'all had to have seen this coming after the most recent 4sd

Vax can't keep up with Keyleth's schedule these days, but honestly, he doesn't even try. Ever since he and Vex left Syngorn, he's had so little time to stop moving, stop running, stop thinking, and he's more than content to spend these day being the Voice of the Tempest's trophy boyfriend, the new guy in town who helps out when he can and tries his best to stay out of everyone's way. Zephrah thrives under Keyleth's leadership, though she'd like nothing more than to give her father all the credit, and Vax isn't going to insert himself into a well-oiled machine when he isn't needed.

So most of his days are spent walking around, talking to their neighbors, joining the Blades on their exercises, using his god-given wings to help patch roofs and harvest fruit from the tallest branches in the orchard. It doesn't take long for him to learn everyone's names, calling out to familiar faces as he passes them by. This, he comes to realize, is community, family, home, and he knows that there is nowhere on Exandria he'd want to spend the rest of his days.

On a spring morning, when the cherry trees are in full bloom and the whistling winds have just lost that winter bite, he strides happily through the center of Zephrah, hands in his pockets, having just seen Keyleth off through a tree to a meeting with the Tal'dorei Council in Emon. He nods his hellos to the Zephrans starting their days, stopping to help an elderly air genasi man wrangle his three ornery goats, and turns down a little path he hasn't visited in a while. Within a few seconds, he's greeted by a half-strangled "NO—" and then a mischievous giggling. He turns toward the source, and there, in the front garden of a garden so small and picturesque it looks like it belongs on a postage stamp, is a frazzled-looking halfling woman, her sandy blonde hair falling out of a bun on the crown of her head and her apron askew. Her hands are on her hips as she glares up at the dogwood in front of her.

Vax follows her eyeline and spies a cherubic face peeking out between the green leaves and white blooms of the dogwood. "Is everything okay?"

She sighs. "My son, he's—he'll climb anything taller than he is, which, at four, is basically everything." She sucks in a deep breath, then hollers, "ORYM, DO NOT CLIMB DOWN ON YOUR OWN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The giggling continues. "I'm tall!"

The woman pinches the bridge of her nose with a long sigh, and Vax bites back a laugh. "Here, why don't you let me." It's nothing to whip out the Deathwalker's Ward's wings—he's glad he thought to wear it today, usually he doesn't unless he knows he'll be using it—and flies up the side of the tree. He pulls back the branches to spy a tiny halfing boy, who might come up to Vax's knee on his tiptoes, and meets the boy's grin with his own. "You made it pretty far up here, little man."

Orym nods, then sticks a thumb toward his own chest. "Good climber."

"Yeah you are." The branches are hell on the wings, but Vax manages to poke inside, just enough to reach a hand out toward the little boy. "How'd you like to go really high?"

Orym's eyes widen, and oh, Vax could get used to this, the wild wonder of children. It seems that Orym has only now noticed the feathery black wings protruding from Vax's back, and he nods eagerly, putting both of his hands into Vax's. Vax slowly extracts him from the branches of the tree, and then murmurs, "Can you hang on really tight?"

The little boy obediently wraps his arms around Vax's neck, and hell, he might be little, but the kid's got one hell of a grip. Vax calls down, "We'll be down in a minute!" And then he shoots up, climbing ten, twenty, fifty feet above the ground. Orym's delight is a breathless cackle in his ear, and Vax wants this, the joy and the discovery and the little hands clutching tight.

He only lingers up for a few moments, just long enough for Orym to see his hometown from an impossible angle, before gently swooping back down toward his mother. He lands and takes Orym by the ankle, delivering him giggling and upside-down to the woman. "I believe this is yours?"

She takes her son by the waist and sets him on her shoulders. "Thank you."

Orym tugs on the point of his mother's ear. "Did ya see, Mama? We went up!"

"I did." She pats his leg. "But no more up without permission, alright dear?"

"Yes, Mama," he replies obediently, but Vax knows that look of mischief in Orym's face, has seen it in his sister's far too many times to believe he won't be getting himself into all manner of predicaments for years to come.

Vax reaches up to ruffle the boy's hair, and then says, "Feet on the ground, little man." To the mother, he smiles and says, "Let me know if you need him extracted again. I'm happy to be on kid-retrieval duty."

"Thank you," she repeats, and then Vax watches her return to her cottage, Orym happily chattering in her ear about how thrilling it was to really fly. When the door is closed behind them and Vax is alone on this little path, he knows more clearly than ever before what he wants from this one wild, precious life—and he'll wait as long as it takes for Keyleth to be ready for it, too.

#critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #vaxleth #vaxleth fic #orym of the air ashari #my fic

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startrekfangirl2233-writes · 1 year

Text

I Wanted to Be

A Ron 'Slider' Kerner Imagine

Description: Kids, family, all of those things that people always talk about as being the be-all, end-all, goal? Those things have never been on Ron Kerner's list. All he wants to do is fly. What happens when an old friend's little sister calls him for help?

Everything changes.

Warnings: Dead-beat dad, Mentioned Pregnancy, Mentioned Childbirth, Tooth Rotting Fluff

Word Count: 2939

A/N: This is another Discord fueled thought. @mayhemmanaged and I were talking about how we thought that Jake was either Ice's son or Slider's. I had a sudden urge to explore that thought and here we are!

AO3: Cross-posted Here!

My Masterlist

Texans have a saying or cautionary tale for nearly everything. Everything, it seems, except what you can tell your best friend's little sister when her no-good husband runs away from her and the baby she's carrying. When she'd called him, sobbing, he hadn't known what to do. What can you tell a twenty-five year old nine month pregnant woman you haven't seen in close to a decade? In the case of one Ron Kerner, mostly known as Slider nowadays, you don't say a word. Instead, you get emergency leave and hop onto the nearest transport home.

The tiny town of Cistern is exactly as he remembers it, hot, dry, and dusty. The sole bus trundles through town just as he pulls into the solitary gas station and steps out. It feels weird being back here. As much as Cistern hasn't changed, he knows he has. A quick stop at the pump station for fuel that sloshes sluggishly into the near empty tank of the truck he'd rented in Austin, and he's off again. Driving west a ways and then north until the only things he sees are scrub and the odd glimpse of cattle.

The turn-off to the Petersen ranch looks just like he remembers it, though the sign says Seresin now. Was that the name of the idiot who ran away? In all honesty, Ron can't be pressed to remember. All that matters is the girl waiting on the porch when the truck rattles to a stop. She looks the same as he remembers. Little Rebecca Petersen, not so little and decidedly not a Petersen anymore, but god does she not remind him still of the little thing that used to run around behind him and Danny, all knees, toothy grin and covered in freckles.

That grin, at least, is exactly the same. So is the teasing tone as she greets him as he walks up the front stairs. "Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in! If it isn't Ron Kerner, the big-shot Naval Aviator. What brings you back to sleepy old Cistern?"

"You know what." He can't help the sober turn to his voice as he hugs her gingerly, not sure of where to put his arms, not when the bulge of her belly is in the way. God, doesn't he wish he'd never said those words as soon as they left his mouth, though. Because that smile is gone, like the sun hidden by the clouds.

"You're here because of Brian." Her voice is tired, so tired that Ron can't help trying to make the girl he promised he'd protect smile again.

"Naw, Becks. I'm here for you and this little thing. Only in part for him."

It's words that he didn't know were true until 3 days later when he's standing in the maternity ward of the hospital and being handed a tiny squalling infant with a shock of honey hair and the tightest grip he's ever felt. The newly named Jacob Daniel Seresin seems to be just as enamored of Ron as Ron is of him. Say what you will about the little guy's deadbeat dad, but he made an awfully cute baby.

That instant shock of attachment stays with Ron for a long time afterward. He looks forward to receiving the letters Rebecca sends monthly, filled with polaroids of small Jake as he grows bigger and bigger. He can track every milestone on that little body from how he grows to the first tooth that comes painfully into that little mouth.

But he does not actually see the boy or his mama again for nearly five years. Things have changed considerably over that time. Ron's raked in another promotion, making him a full lieutenant. Ice met a girl and made her his wife, and to top it all off, they're both in Texas again. So on the first long weekend he gets, Ron hops into the old Ford truck he'd put together when he turned sixteen and drives straight up to Cistern.

This time, he drives up to the Seresin house to hear giggling and gets out of his truck just in time to catch a little boy in just a pair of shorts as he goes running past. It's the light dusting of freckles and toothy grin that he'd recognize anywhere which clues him into exactly who he's holding.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm your Uncle Ron. Dunno if you remember me." His voice is gruff as he turns the giggling brat upside down like he's looking for a way to turn a little robot off. Through giggles, he's gratified to hear the boy introduce himself as Jake. This time, the Rebecca he sees in the kitchen of the ranch house she grew up in and where she's raising her son is more like the happy teenager he'd left behind when he enlisted with her big brother. It still irks him that he couldn't protect Daniel. But he's going to protect Rebecca and Daniel's namesake as fiercely as he can.

"Hey, Becks. Y'missing something? I caught this little gremlin running around out there. Is this what you're looking for?" He can't resist tickling the bare tummy of the boy in his arms just to hear the musical giggles.

"Mama, Uncle Sly's here!" The piping voice of the little boy standing there all of two feet tall wearing just shorts is enough to crack even the crustiest aviator's stone heart. Rebecca's boy is a dusty, golden skinned marvel with his sun-bleached blonde hair and huge slightly gap-toothed grin. It feels like home, this place. That weekend, Ron spends more time out on a ranch than he has in years. Rebecca may have managed to keep the ranch going, but who's going to teach Jake everything he needs to know when his daddy isn't around? Anyways, that's Ron's rationale.

Soon after that, though, he's given orders. He's shipped all over the world, flying for the Navy. It seems like his star is on the rise, and while he's Lieutenant Commander and Captain Kerner in short order, he still stays Uncle Sly for one little boy who turns into a teenager back in Cistern seemingly overnight. Ron does his best to show up for all of the kid’s biggest milestones, but even he can’t hop onto a helo every time Jake has a baseball game or wins an award at school. Those weeks, Ron does his best to call and talk to the kid as much as he can.

He talks to Rebecca on the phone enough to know that the kid's struggling with something, something he won't talk to his Mama about. So the next time Ron's home, he heads to Cistern, as always with gifts in hand for the boy he loves like he is his own. Unlike prior snatched moments, Seresin Ranch is crackling with a tension Ron's never felt before. Jake's on the front porch, and Ron's suddenly struck by how grown up the boy seems, especially with how tall he is and the new manly breadth of his shoulders.

"Hey, Kiddo." As he tugs the kid into a hug, Ron can feel some tension leave those still small shoulders.

"Uncle Sly." Something's not right. Jake's not smiling today, not at all.

"What is it, kid?" A sudden jolt of fear rushes through Ron. "Where's your mom, kid?'

"She's in there, Uncle Sly, in the kitchen. With a man who's claiming to be my dad." The rage that burns in his chest is unlike any other that Ron's ever felt before. Sure enough, when he stalks into the kitchen, it's to see the one man he'd never wanted to see menacing Rebecca ever again.

"Brian." That one word is all it takes for Rebecca's shoulders to relax. Fifteen years have not treated Brian Seresin well. Not at all. His hair is graying and greasy, he's got a paunch and he's obviously drunk off his feet if the way he lists back and forth is any indication. "What are you doing back in Cistern?"

Ron's quick to gather Rebecca back behind him, knowing that Brian Seresin would never be bold enough to try to get to her, not through him, anyway. Jake’s followed him in, as always his shadow

"Wanted my woman back, Kerner. And my kid." He sniffs, wiping away yellow-tinged mucus on the leg of the dirtiest jeans that Ron's ever seen. "S'not fair, y'know? That you got to keep her and the brat while I was off. D'she treat y'well? She's great in bed, ain't she?"

It takes every fiber in his being to not deck the man for what he's saying about Rebecca. Thankfully Jake's holding his ma, otherwise he'd have launched himself at the fool to get his share of the beat down. It’s at that moment that Sly is glad they’d sent lawyers after Brian Seresin after Jake was born because it means he doesn’t have a claim on Rebecca or Jake anymore. They have the denial of parental rights and a divorce agreement to prove it. It doesn't take much more than a quirked eyebrow to get the man to spill the entire sordid tale. How he'd lost a lot of money and wanted to claim what he believed he was owed from Seresin Ranch.

"Call Sheriff Weatherby, Becks." When Ron finally speaks, the calm in his voice surprises even him. He sounds Ice-cold, which he guesses is what you get for spending the better part of a decade flying with the same person. "We've got an intruder on Seresin Ranch."

It doesn't surprise him in the slightest that it's Jake who picks up the landline and dials up Sheriff Weatherby, not at all. It's hours later, once one Brian Seresin has been carted away and Rebecca is asleep, that Ron finds Jake again. The kid's sitting in an old tire swing Ron had set up years ago, rocking idly while staring up into the endless expanse of stars in the sky above.

"So, that's him, huh? My pops, the man who walked out before I was even born?" He sounds so torn up about it, this gangly teen boy who loves his Mama to distraction and who would do anything to protect her. That's something they have in common.

"Yeah, kid." Ron doesn't try to hide the anger in his face, not now.

"Why did he come back? Why didn't he just stay away?" Ron's hand is gentle on the kid's back as he tries to think for a response.

"I dunno, kid. I wish he had never come back. Your Mama isn't the type to cry. But every time I've heard her cry it has been because of that man." The rage building in his chest causes a near imperceptible shake in his hands.

"Why didn't you ever marry Mama, Uncle Sly? You love her, I know you do. Then you can come home to us more often, can't you?" That one innocent observation is enough to have his entire world reeling. What would it be like? Having Becks to come home to? To have this kid, her son, as his own? Is he so easy to read that a teenager can tell what his most closely guarded secret is?

"I dunno kid. But enough about me. What's eating at you?" Ron's a little scared of the answer he's going to get.

"I want to fly, Uncle Sly. Like you do, like Uncle Daniel did." Jake's green eyes are all Rebecca's, all Daniel's and Ron can see the boy he loved like a brother in Jake's face. "D-d'you think I can do it?"

"It's dangerous, kid. But yeah. If there was anyone who could do it, it'd be you. You’ve got your mom’s determination and all of her support, too. Just don’t forget that you’ve got people who love you waiting for you, and you’ll be all set."

Those are obviously words Jake holds close to his heart. Because, before Ron's hit Vice-Admiral, Jake's already at the academy. He's taking Annapolis by storm, making his Mama and his dad, because thanks to the kid's prodding it's Ron and Rebecca Kerner now, incredibly proud. Ron's happy to find he has to wipe away tears when he sees his son, his son, get his wings a few short years later. Then there's another Kerner's star on the rise. His son’s.

He keeps a finger on the pulse of every deployment, every test, and beams with pride to see Jake graduate from Top Gun. That pride sits warm in his chest even as he gets a call from the one California number he'd memorized that he could never forget.

"Mr. Iceman! How're you doing?" The relationship between pilot and RIO hasn't changed over the past years. Neither of them flies anymore, but the bonds they built over 30 years ago haven't changed.

"It's about your kid, Sly." Ron can hear the hoarseness creeping into Ice's tone even now.

"What's going on, Tom?" After a life's service to the US Navy, Rear Admiral Ron 'Slider' Kerner isn't surprised to hear that Jake's been selected for a special detachment. The dad in him, though? He's terrified shitless. Nearly 30 years of loving that boy doesn’t feel like enough all of a sudden, not when Jake's going to be sent on a mission so dangerous that talking about it feels like a jinx. Even the heads up from the COMPACFLT doesn't help.

It's a tense few weeks in Texas. Ron terrorizes the base in Corpus Christi, his mind in Miramar with his son while his body is in Texas. Rebecca is equally distraught. Then Ron gets another call that fills him with sadness all over again. It is Sarah calling, "Hey Ron. Just wanted to tell you that he's gone. Tom's gone. The cancer. It came back with a vengeance. The doctors couldn't do anything. He passed away this morning."

During the entirety of the service, Ron can't help but feel like he would've given anything to see his best friend again one more time before he died. It's sad reconnecting with the rest of their 1986 cohort at the bar later. It’s even worse seeing his son stand somberly kitted out in his own whites across the way from him. He doesn’t, can’t go near him, mainly because nobody knows that Jake is Rear Admiral Kerner’s kid. But he can't help but feel like Tom would've wanted him to hug his boy instead. So that's what Rear Admiral Ron Kerner does. He hugs his son, tight, as many times as he can before he leaves. He watches from the docks as the carrier departs and waits with bated breath.

Rebecca channels her nerves into baking. She fills the house they rent off base with pastries, cookies, cakes and pies, most of which are Jake's favorites. Then it’s a waiting game. Ron calls in every favor he has in order to get more information on the mission Jake’s on, really for anything he can get. As it turns out, there is very little information that even an admiral can get. So all he can do is hold Rebecca close and pray. It’s frankly the longest three days of his life. He’s more tense than he was even during the Leyte Gulf incident, which feels like a world, a lifetime ago. That first call from Jake they get has his knees weak. The relief coursing through his system is too good to be true. So’s the first look he gets of his son when the carrier docks two days later.

The milling crowd of families lets out a roar of excitement when the first of the ship’s crew sets foot on shore. Ron wraps an arm around Rebecca, and keeps an eagle eye on the waves of departing sailors looking for aviator green flight suits. The crowd clears piece by piece and they still haven’t seen their boy or any of the aviators. They’re some of the only people waiting, and Ron can feel Rebecca’s tremors as she clutches at her necklace and rears up onto her tiptoes every once in a while. She sags against his chest and that’s when Ron finally sees their golden boy. He looks exhausted, but he’s safe, he’s home. Rebecca runs right for him first, and Ron can’t help his grin when he sees how tall Jake is in comparison to his Mama. The kid’s not shy about his love for Rebecca either. He introduces her to the aviators and then Ron’s being beckoned forward.

“And this is my pop, Admiral Kerner.” He’s got a shit-eating grin on his face and god if that doesn’t remind Ron of Daniel again.

“Hey, kid.” Ron can’t help the fond grin on his face or the amusement when he sees Jake’s squadron rise into salutes the minute they hear his title. There’s a face in his squadron that Ron didn’t think he’d ever see again. There’s also somebody nearby who he hasn’t seen in decades.

“Baby Goose. Mav.” Ron’s nod is slight.

“Hey Sly. A kid huh?” Ron can’t resist smiling as he hugs the shorter man.

“Yeah, Mav. I had to catch up.” Watching Becks fawn over Jake again is everything he’s ever wanted.

“He’s a good one, you know, Sly?” As Ron stands shoulder to shoulder with Pete Mitchell again, watching their boys realize that they’re closer than they ever could have known, Ron knows one thing. He may have never intended to be a dad, but standing at the docks thirty years later, he knows he wouldn't have wanted to do anything else.

Taglist:

@mayhemmanaged, @desert-fern, @cassiemitchell, @dakotakazansky, @sarahsmi13s, @roosters-girl

I DO NOT CONSENT TO HAVE MY WORK POSTED, TRANSLATED, OR PUBLISHED ON ANY SITES OTHER THAN HERE OR ON AO3 BY ME. IF YOU SEE MY WORKS ANYWHERE OTHER THAN HERE OR AO3, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN POSTED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND I WILL BE WORKING TO TAKE THEM DOWN.

#star writes #top gun fanfic #top gun fanfiction #ron slider kerner #ron slider kerner x oc #slider x oc #ron kerner x oc #the one where slider is jake's dad #exploring slider a bit more

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maraschinomerry · 11 months

Note

hi lovely, adore your writing <3 i was wondering if i could get a lucy x fem!reader where lucy thinks she’s jealous of the reader cause she always thinks the readers so pretty and it’s just a lot of pining and everyone’s trying to make lucy realise she’s in love, and then one day she sees someone flirting with r and is like oh i’m not jealous i’m gay and just a lot of fluff and things thank yoy so much <3333

Chance Encounters

Pairings: Lucy Carlyle x fem!reader

Content: oblivious flirting, pining, self-esteem issues, kissing

A/N: what a way to get back into writing, this is one of my longest fics yet! Thanks for being so patient with me, hope you enjoy it 💙

Word count: 3.8k

Taglist: @neewtmas @marinalor @ettadear @honey-with-tea (let me know if you want adding or removing!)

Lucy flopped into her seat with a stack of books and a dejected huff. "Do Fittes have a secret beauty quota for new hires or something?"

Lockwood and George both began speaking at the same time from the other side of the table - Lockwood to assure her that she'd be a shoe-in if that were the case, George to protest that Kipps would never have been hired.

The team were in the British Archives researching a particularly tough case, when Kipps and his crew strolled in with their newest member. If Lucy had thought Kat was pretty, this new girl was on a whole other level. Girls like that always got the best jobs, the most attention from boys, all the perks. It just wasn't fair.

You kept close, tucked behind Kipps' shoulder, as your team strode with far more confidence than you through the maze of shelves. You'd only joined Fittes a week ago and were still getting used to all the rules, both written and unwritten. Kat had at least warned you in advance about the odds of running into Lockwood & Co, how fierce the rivalry was between their leader and yours.

"Ah, Tony," Kipps said ahead of you, and you almost ran into him with how little you'd been concentrating.

Whatever you'd been expecting the members of the infamous agency to be like, this wasn't it. The one scowling most intensely at your colleague must be Lockwood, not the older man you'd pictured but a thin, smartly dressed teenager with bags under his eyes almost as dark as his hair. He was only accompanied by two other people, a curly haired boy who was only visible down to his glasses over the top of an enormous stack of books, and a pretty brunette girl who hadn't taken her eyes off you from the moment you walked in. Her gaze was unwavering and unreadable, and you had to resist the urge to squirm.

You tuned back in. Kipps was speaking again. "Allow me to introduce (name), one of the most prestigious agents the country has to offer." It would have been embarrassing enough had he just called you prestigious, but the way he emphasised it made you wonder if it was some kind of dig at them. You tried to shrink further behind him, cheeks growing warm.

"I'm Lucy Carlyle," the girl suddenly blurted. Her eyes widened as though she was surprised by her own actions. The boys also looked at her, a little stunned. "I mean," she fumbled, "obviously just call me Lucy. This is Lockwood and George."

Learning her name finally made it click where you'd heard of the other agency. "Oh, you solved the Annabel Ward case! I remember seeing it on the news, you're amazing!"

Kipps elbowed you without subtlety, but you didn't miss the way Lucy's face changed. It was only brief, but there was a flicker of pride and something like awe.

"I was going to say the same to you!" Clearly she hadn't noticed Kipps' reaction, nor the unusual look her boss was shooting her. "I'd give anything to have been there when you fought that Rawbones, it sounded so impressive."

"Well," Lockwood chipped in at last, "when you get fed up of Kipps you know where to find us to exchange stories and advice." The flash of a glare he shot your boss was sharp as a rapier, but he smiled warmly at you.

You returned the smile. "Either way, I'm sure we'll run into each other again." Lucy met your eyes again, but where before she'd stared intensely, now she quickly averted her gaze. Odd. Kipps led you away before you could address the matter further.

—

Nearly two months went by without so much as a glimpse of Lockwood & Co. Part of you wondered whether Kipps was intentionally avoiding them, but you knew that was irrational - even he couldn't predict their movements all the time.

This proved true one Saturday afternoon, when you were sent on a last-minute errand to Satchell's. Your team was out of flares, Kat had said, and Fittes wouldn't get an official restock until Monday. Armed with your rapier, a wad of petty cash, and firm instructions not to return empty handed, you hailed a cab across town. It was a pleasant enough day, but you didn't much feel like walking. Best to get the supplies and get back to whichever task Kipps no doubt had lined up for you next.

Kipps wasn't a bad team leader, not by any stretch of the imagination. He was fair, mucking in on tasks and never asking anyone to do something he wouldn't be willing to do himself, and caring enough to always check in after a case. Nonetheless, it was clear this rivalry with the other agency had had an impact on him and made him so desperate to push himself, and by extension his team, to higher and higher standards. Frankly, it was a little exhausting.

You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn't realise you were running on autopilot until you reached for the handle to Satchell's door and another hand came to rest over yours. A streak of blue appeared in the corner of your eye, and you looked up to see a familiar brunette.

"Lucy, hi!"

The other girl jumped a little. "Oh, (name) I'm so sorry, I was in my own world there." You waved the apology away with your free hand, glancing briefly at the other under hers. She noticed, following your gaze, and quickly snatched hers back with a nervous chuckle. No longer at risk of accidentally smacking her with the door, you opened it and gestured for her to go ahead. She stepped in, reaching back to hold it open from within for you.

Inside was a maze of weaponry. Shelves upon shelves of neat packaging stamped with the Satchell's logo; you recognised many of them, of course, salt bombs and Greek fire and lavender water, but there didn't seem to be much logic to how they were laid out. Turning one corner brought you face to face with floor-to-ceiling silver-glass. Where did you start?

You'd frozen on the spot, and Lucy was a little way ahead of you before she faltered. She must have realised you were no longer behind her.

"Everything okay?"

You nodded unconvincingly. "Fine, I just… haven't actually been in here before."

"Oh, it's easy enough to find your way around once you know. They sort of organise by intensity so you can't get someone popping in the door and making off with an armful of bomb flares." You both giggled at the thought. "But, um, I can show you around a bit if you know what you're looking for?"

You felt your smile ignite, but she continued hurriedly without noticing. "Only if you want, I mean, the staff are super helpful here and they probably know more than me. Not that you can't figure it out on your own, you seem like one of those cool independent types so-"

Finally, you cut her off with a gentle hand on her arm. She stopped talking instantly, like you'd managed to find a secret 'off' switch, and actually looked as though she'd short-circuited entirely. Cautiously, shyly, you slid your hand down and through until your arm was linked with hers. 'Off' no longer pressed, she sprung back to life with a fierce blush.

As Lucy led you round the shop, she chatted away about the different types of defences on offer. She’d taken you to the flares you were looking for first, of course, but when you made no move to leave she took you along to gather her own supplies. She’d seemed so jittery at first, you almost worried she was uncomfortable having you there, but the more she spoke about her experience making her own salt bombs and the run-in she had with a bunch of ghostly monks and a bomb flare, the more confident she became. Something about seeing her so in her element helped you to relax as well. It broke the ice.

“So what’s it like at Lockwood and Co?” you asked eventually. You’d been curious about the other agency ever since that first meeting - nothing about them had been expected, and you wondered if maybe the impression Kipps had given was more biased than you thought.

Lucy glanced at you, arm deep in a shelf stocked to the brim with vials of lavender water (they stock from the back, she’d advised, so the fresh ones are the hardest to reach). She hadn’t expected the question, but the answer came naturally. “Great, actually. I came to London hoping to get in with one of the big agencies like Fittes, but I didn’t have any of the right papers so I ended up there as sort of a last resort. It was difficult to get used to at first, they’re not exactly by-the-book as you’ve probably heard from Kipps, but now I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Lockwood and George are like family.”

The final part hit you like a ton of bricks. That was what you’d felt missing in your team. They were all good people and had quickly grown to be your friends, but they didn’t feel like family. Fittes didn’t feel like home. And here was this girl, who before today had barely had a full conversation with you, guiding you round the shop like it was nothing and telling you how this funny little agency was just that. Home. A weight you didn’t even realise you’d been carrying shifted, working its way up from the pit in your stomach to your chest where it settled, resolute yet comforting.

You realised you were now the one staring when Lucy waved a fistful of vials at you. “I think that’s me sorted,” she nodded to the smartly dressed man at the till. You picked up your basket of flares from the ground, wrapping your other hand around the wad of cash in your pocket, and followed her lead.

—

The rosy hues of evening were beginning to drift across the sky when the two of you emerged onto the high street. You hadn’t realised how long it had been; Kipps would be wondering where you were. The weight in your chest and the smile on your face told you that you didn’t much care. Now that the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees it was much more pleasant, and a gentle breeze ruffled your hair, carrying a soft floral scent. There were no flowers nearby, and you wondered whether it came from the girl beside you. It was lovely, whatever it was.

“Thanks again Lucy, I’d still be lost in the first set of shelves if it wasn’t for you.” The laugh that got from her was as fresh as the breeze, and you couldn’t help but smile wider. It gave you the courage to continue and ask, “Could I walk you home?”

Lucy frowned, and you worried it was too forward. You’ve only met her twice, for goodness sake. “Isn’t Fittes the other way? I don’t want to drag you all the way across town for no reason.”

That was hopeful - she wasn’t concerned about your intentions but for your wellbeing. “I don’t really want to head back just yet,” you admitted. “Besides, you’ve got more bags than me, the least I can do is give you a hand after all your help in there.” She tried to protest, but you held out a hand and with some reluctance she handed one over until you had two each. “There’s something I need to ask Lockwood too, so…”

This was turning out to be a day full of surprises, because you couldn’t possibly have predicted what Lucy said next. “Oh, he’s single, if that’s what you want to know.”

All the breath in your chest rushed out at once, the weight pressing hard on your lungs. “What?”

Your shock was mirrored on her face. “I just… after you were both talking about meeting again in the Archives… and since he’s a bit of a charmer and you’re gorgeous, I figured-” The words died in her her throat as the blush returned, this time reaching up to the tip of her ears and down past the collar of her playsuit.

You fought to keep your smile from breaking into a full-blown grin. The poor girl looked like she wanted nothing more than for the pavement to open up and swallow her whole, and while it was so tempting to tease her a little and see how far that blush could spread you resisted. Plenty of time for that, if you’d read things right. For now, you gave a light chuckle. “Thanks, but I don’t think I’ve been charmed by him.” You tried your best to give the right amount of emphasis on the fact it wasn’t by him, but it didn’t seem to help. Maybe you’d misunderstood. You hoped not. Maybe she was just embarrassed and not thinking about it properly. At any rate, she didn’t shy away when you tucked in close for the walk back.

—

Lucy paced anxiously through the library. George was curled in one of the armchairs with a comic; you and Lockwood were away in the living room, discussing goodness knows what. She hadn’t dared to ask any further on the walk home. She’d eventually plucked up the nerve to talk to you again after what she’d said (why on earth had she said it in the first place, she wondered) and found you to be so easy to talk to. You’d told her about life at Fittes, she’d told you about life in Portland Row. It sounded fun, chaotic at times but in a good way.

“Will you please sit down before you wear a hole in the carpet,” George groaned. Lucy sighed dramatically, but obeyed and slumped into the other chair. The lamplight cast unusual shadows across her face - it was well into the evening now, curfew had descended, so clearly whatever you had to discuss was of vital importance or you’d have gone back to Fittes by now.

“What do you think they’re talking about?”

George didn’t look up. “I really couldn’t say, I don’t know her well enough.”

“Exactly, and Lockwood doesn’t know her very well either, so if she is trying to ask him out then-”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” George interrupted, dropping his comic with uncharacteristic urgency. “You really think that’s why she’s here?” He studied Lucy for a moment - the way she kept glancing at the door like she expected them to walk in hand in hand, the way her index finger tapped rapidly where her hand rested on the arm of the chair, the way her lip wasn’t curled with disgust or outrage but quivering with upset. “Oh my god, you’re jealous!”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Obviously I’m jealous, George. I know what it’s like with girls like her, they’re always one step ahead or one move beyond me. Just because they’re pretty it means they get everything.”

George’s comic was thoroughly neglected now, this was far more interesting. He had his suspicions about why she was reacting like this, but knew her well enough that he couldn’t just come out and say them or she’d deny it. She had to realise for herself. “Riiight, you’re jealous that she gets Lockwood and you don’t.”

Her nose wrinkled, the first confirmation of his theory. “Ew, no. He’s like my brother. I just don’t think it’s fair, is all. She’s been so sweet all day but as soon as there’s a better option I fade into the background again.”

Second and third confirmation: Lucy thought you were sweet (and he remembered she’d said pretty before, a fourth point on the tally) and, whether she realised it or not, had just called herself an option. George was getting more certain by the minute. God, as much as it hurt seeing her think so low of herself, he had to admit it was amusing trying to make her see that perhaps the ‘better option’ was the person you’d gushed over and pointedly said you hoped to see again and whose arm you’d been hanging off the whole afternoon, not the person you’d barely said five words to. “Got it, so you’re just jealous on principle, not of her specifically.”

“Right!” she said confidently.

“And it's nothing to do with you having feelings?”

“Right,” she said less confidently.

George didn’t say another word, just pushed himself up from the armchair and left the room.

Five minutes later, he returned with Lockwood in tow. The taller boy didn’t fully enter the library, just leaned round the door with an excitable twinkle in his eye.

“Ah, Luce, I was just about to give (name) a demonstration of the training area, if you want to come and help? I’m not sure her mind’s really on training at the moment.” He raised an eyebrow suggestively, but Lucy only looked more disappointed than ever.

George grumbled under his breath, low enough that Lucy wouldn’t hear. “Is that your best attempt at acting coy?”

“Coy?” Lockwood hissed back. “I thought I was helping her realise that (name)’s crush isn’t on me, it’s on h-” A sharp elbow in his side cut him off. He returned to normal volume. “Anyway, she’s also going to stay over tonight, if you’re okay sharing your bed? Or I can always put her in-”

Lucy shot up. “No, no, I can share.” Her gaze flickered to George, who gave her a triumphantly smug grin. “And don’t worry about the training, I’ll go with her.” Lockwood matched the other boy’s grin, and ducked out again.

George made his way back to the armchair, Lucy’s eyes following him the whole way. Her expression was a conflicted mess - irritation at proving him right, amazement at her newly discovered feelings, worry and hope all blended together.

“So you were jealous that she might like Lockwood, but not for the reason you thought?” he asked gently. It wasn’t you she was jealous of, seeming to get his attention, but him for getting yours.

She shook her head, tears beginning to well as her lower lip wobbled. “Okay fine, you win, I have feelings! Still doesn’t change the fact she went straight for him. She doesn't like me the way… the way I like her.”

There was no more amusement to be had from this, and it broke George’s heart to see one of his closest friends so upset. He stood and pulled her into a hug, feeling her sniffle into his shoulder. “You know it was you she was talking to when she said about running into us again, right?” Lucy pulled back and looked at him incredulously, puffy cheeks bearing the telltale streaks of tears. She reached up and wiped them away vigorously with her cuffs. “And when Lockwood said she’s too distracted to train it’s not because she’s flirting with him, it’s because she didn’t shut up about you the whole time she was asking to join the agency.” Immediately, Lucy stopped scrubbing at her face. In fact, she stopped crying all together.

“She what?”

“Something about you showing her how much she was missing having a family, and she wants to be part of yours. And she has a bag of flares which technically she’s now stolen from Kipps to sweeten the deal, if you’ll have her. Lockwood said it’s your call.”

Lucy’s frantic rubbing resumed, trying to erase any evidence of her crying even as she hastily made her way to the door. George called after her, “Does this mean you finally acknowledge that I’m always right?” He laughed at the chain of expletives he got in response.

—

You were alone in the basement, admiring the collection of rapiers and trying not to overthink what was taking Lockwood so long, when Lucy came barrelling down the stairs. She skidded to a halt in front of you, breathing heavily and as flushed as she had been earlier.

“You were flirting with me?!” she gasped.

“I… yes?”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“That’s generally how flirting works, love.” Her face grew redder at the pet name. “You only just realised?”

She cast her eyes upwards. “George helped. I thought you were just being nice to get to Lockwood.”

“I told you it wasn’t him I was charmed by.” You wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. She folded willingly into you, burying her incredibly warm face in the front of your blouse. The heat sparked something in your chest.

“You didn’t say it like that!” she whined.

“Well you know what I just realised?”

“What?”

“How cute you are when you’re flustered.”

“Really?” Her hands ran slowly down your back, coming to rest on your waist, and her eyes met yours before gliding down to your lips.

“No, of course not - I realised in the Archives.”

She smiled shyly, melting your heart even more. “I can’t believe you think I’m cute.”

You dragged her even closer, reaching up to boop her nose which made her scrunch her whole face up in the most adorable way. Your hand continued to the back of her neck, gently bringing her face towards yours. Perhaps you could make her even more flustered.

Lucy had other ideas. Her hands on your waist gripped tightly as she bounced up to meet you, lips soft and sweet yet firm and passionate. Her intensity took your breath away, and you felt your knees buckle. She held you strong, backing you up against the wall for support. You gasped a little into the kiss, trying to regain some air, and she did the same when your hand wound its way into her hair. When you both ran out of ways to breathe, you broke apart, but her hand found yours and yours never left her waist.

“Kipps is going to be absolutely fuming when he hears about all this,” she murmured with a grin.

“Oh trust me, I can’t wait to tell him myself. I quit, I’ve joined a better agency, and I get to be with one of the most amazing agents - one of the most amazing people - I've ever met.”

“I could say the same.” She puffed up her chest, pulled a face and lowered her voice in a silly impression of your now-former boss. “Allow me to introduce (name), one of the most prestigious agents in the country and my girlfriend… if you want to be?” Her voice returned to normal and she bit her lip nervously.

“There’s nothing I’d want more,” you smiled as you leant in to kiss her again.

#lockwood & co x reader #lucy carlyle x reader #lucy carlyle #fem!reader #save lockwood and co #lockwood & co fic

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fox-sama97 · 1 year

Text

Ignore at Your Own Risk Chapter 2 is out!

Here's a snippet!

---------

The Justice League was silent after the boy left. Tense seconds passed as they cycled through powers and technology to scan for an intruder.

They found nothing. No sign that he was there, no sign that he'd ever been there. No sign how he'd got there.

He'd breached a space station, defended by magical wards, technological scanners, and the most powerful people on the planet, and they had no idea how he'd done it. It was unacceptable.

It was terrifying.

Zatanna, the tail coats of her stage magician outfit swaying, carefully walked over to Constantine. Wary, and with a spell on her tongue, she examined him.

The man was still slumped over, barely staying in his seat, trench coat nearly falling off his shoulders. His eyes, while more alert than before, were still unfocused. His aura was constrained.

Normally a vibrant gold roiling around him, tinged in red as it reached out towards the demons who held parts of his soul. But now, it was pressed against his skin so tightly she could barely see where his flesh ended and his aura began, toxic green chains criss crossing his body from the bright red handprint on his face.

The red mark was shifting. Skin twisting and writhing, lines rising and carving themselves into his flesh as the Soul Contract wrote itself onto his being, displaying who owned him for all as the chains sprouted more chains in an infinite fractal pattern, digging deeper and deeper, binding him ever more.

Zatanna hovered her hand over it, not daring to actually touch it, "Mih laeh," she muttered, trying to heal him. It was the most she could do right now. If they were to have any hope of breaking the contract, her and the rest of Justice League Dark would have to examine it in more detail later.

But the moment her magic reached out, the mark flared a darker red, Constantine letting out a brief cry of pain, before Zatanna felt her magic backfire, a sting of pain running up her fingers and making them go numb. She quickly snatched her hand back, eyes wide as the chains writhed like serpents.

"This will be even harder than I thought," she breathed, slowly massaging the feeling back into her fingers as she watched the mark lighten and continue its stomach turning work.

"Will it be possible to break it," she heard, nearly jumping as she turned around. She hadn't heard Batman approaching, Superman right behind him.

They both looked tense, more tense than the rest of the Justice League. Though the rest hadn't had their secrets identities so blatantly called out for everyone to hear.

"Doubtful, especially with the protections already in place. Soul contracts, Soul Magic in general, are a tricky subject, more Constantine's specialty than mine. He might have been able to weasel someone out of one, but, we all see how well that worked out for him," she paused, the three of them looking back towards him, the writhing of the mark seeming to move faster, almost overlapping itself in reality, like five separate images, all different but distinct in ways their mind desperately struggled to understand. They quickly turned away, unable to watch for long.

"Maybe, once it's settled, and with the entire Justice League Dark working on it, we could figure out enough of the contract to find a loophole for him to squeeze through. It would probably take weeks though, and I can't make any guarantees how much of him will be left in the end," Zatanna said, seeing the impotent anger building in Batman and Superman. Neither of them were magically inclined, so she could empathize with how useless much of the League probably felt now.

"But," she paused, hating suggesting it with how strong she'd felt, she'd seen, the boy was, but needing to anyway, "there is another way. We can bargain with the contract holder. I doubt they'll want to, but defeating them might work. It's how they said they earned at least some of Constatine's contracts, so it's possible we could win it off him."

The entire Justice League went into an uproar, shouting and talking over each other, many clamoring to fight the boy who'd so easily breached their headquarters and hurt one of their own.

A single, incredibly loud clap rang out, silencing everyone as Superman slowly lowered his hands.

"Do you think we can win?" He asked calmly, belying the fire she could see in his eyes and the downturn of his mouth.

She hesitated. This wasn't her specialty, but any information that they might be able to get out of Constantine right now would be worse than useless, actively harmful even.

"We have to try."

"We can," Batman said, determination clear in his voice and the hard line of his mouth. "The…boy came when the two strongest members of the Justice League Dark weren't here. Wonder Woman is in Themyscira and Captain Marvel is currently dealing with a villain in Fawcett City. With how easily he was able to enter, and his display of power claiming Constantine during a meeting, I don't imagine that was a coincidence."

Zatanna could see hope and determination burning through everyone's auras, catching like fire as it leaped between them.

"We will need to update them on the situation as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll start searching for any information there is about him. If he's made an appearance before, I'll find him." Batman said, turning to exit the room, cloak flaring behind him, as Superman brought up his League Communicator.

The Justice League had a plan, they had hope, and that's all they needed. They'd saved the world under worse circumstances, they could save a teammate in these.

Zatanna wasn't so sure. Most of them weren't magical like her, they couldn't feel his power or see his aura like her.

She'd seen him appear, the same as everyone else, but unlike them she'd been nearly blinded by the flash of power.

When her senses had recovered she'd seen the boy there, snuffing out the magic in Constantine like a candle. His aura had looked like magic in its rawest, purest form but contained somehow. Tightly leashed in a way that she wasn't sure she'd ever have the willpower for. She wasn't sure anyone could. It was like looking through a blizzard to see him, white aura given depth with the occasional flashes of more colors than she had a name for. It felt like the bone shaking vibration of standing beside a calving glacier.

It felt inevitable.

And for a brief moment, as he'd made the mark on Constantine's face, she'd seen his aura look back at her, thorns of green branching out over his head, eyes forming like the void between stars, mouth a hungry abyss ready to swallow her whole.

She didn't think the Justice League could win this. But she would try, it's what they always did. Right?

#danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #dc #batman #dark danny #john constantine #read on ao3 #Ignore at Your Own Risk fic #body horror #eldritch #ao3 #ao3 fic

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