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#still from the episode: The Uninvited

saintobio · 7 months

Text

sincerely yours. (8)

↳ gojou satoru/reader

when a twist of fate led their marriage to the path of a quintessential tragic romance, two past lovers go through another series of experiences on love, heartbreak, identity, illness, and trauma along the road to a happily ever after.

genre. heavy angst, amnesia, modern au, 18+

tags/warnings. profanity, mentions of cheating, implied suicide attempt, toxic relationship, explicit smut

series masterlist -> episode nine

9:21 AM.

Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of your index finger drumming a slow and steady cadence against the table was nearly in perfect synchronization to the tick tock of the clock above the wall behind you. An icy, uninviting atmosphere was the best way to describe the current situation inside the conference room at this time of the morning, with the gelid detachment between the boss and her employees as you built a wall—an impenetrable wall—around yourself to keep the inner turmoil you had in your head.

So, you listened. You succumbed to silence as a result.

“I’d like to present this new idea that we, along with the ecommerce team, have come up with to increase engagement on our website.” Even as the marketing manager started to speak, you remained frigid. “We did go through some feedback that people have been posting online and they’re mostly saying that the current web theme is too plain and that they’re hoping to see a more engaging website, so we would love to propose some ideas that could improve Hearte’s overall online presence. We know that keeping the brand’s look consistent is very important, especially now that Hearte is still establishing its own name in the fashion industry, and we have currently done a phenomenal job with our brand style. However, as the online website is our visual storefront, not only is its functionality critical, but we also have to ensure that the web design is in line with our aesthetics.”

9:26 AM.

You leaned back on your chair with your arms crossed, looking up to speak to the manager from across the conference room. “Let’s keep the unnecessary introduction short and just go straight to the point,” you strictly announced, receiving curious eyes in return as it was their first time seeing you becoming all stern and unamused. Such an odd sight to see from a boss who used to have the brightest of sunshines reflecting on her smile. “What’s the proposal?”

The marketing manager cleared her throat and moved her presentation onto the next slide. “Yes, Ms. Y/N. So… uh, based on the data that you can see on the screen, our online sales increased by 15% for the past two weeks, but we still have about 10% of shoppers abandoning their shopping carts. Earlier this week, we set up email campaigns and social reminders to decrease our abandonment rate and urge shoppers to return to their carts. While working with the IT team, we did some A/B testing to determine which version would drive our business metrics. We’ve also reached out to The Society Management and added Kendall Jenner to our PR list so that possibly, in the future, we can get her as a model for our landing page and attract the western market,” she continuously explained in a manner to convince you of how much effort their department was doing to increase Hearte’s sales, “But what we believe could bring a tremendous improvement on our website engagement is by introducing style guides. This will capture the interest of the audience now that they can mix and match some outfits based on their own style, and—”

9:32 AM.

Sigh.

“Ms. Ono, I have to be honest, but I expected more from you,” you cut her off by leaving a frank comment on her presentation, “Fashion brands have been doing style guides for years. You make it sound like it’s unique, but it’s nothing new. How sure are we that it will actually bring a dramatic improvement on our website engagement? I doubt most of them would even browse through it.”

“Well, uh…” The marketing manager faltered, glancing at the head of the social media team for some help, which she didn’t end up receiving. “I think it’ll work the way we want it to as long as we introduce engaging copies that make buyers fall in love with the designs.”

“You think?” You criticized her word of choice. “Ms. Ono, I gave you enough time to brainstorm with your team, so the moment you step inside of this conference room, you should have prepared whatever strategy you had in mind. I don’t settle for ambitious words like ‘I think’ or ‘I believe’. I want to hear a proposal that’s original, unique, and captivating. I want you to be a hundred percent sure that you know what you’re doing before you waste everyone’s time like this. Do you understand? Am I being clear? I want a proposal that would definitely get us somewhere and not just by assuming we will.”

Were you being too harsh? They said that the fashion industry in itself was harsh, so what was so surprising about seeing you being strict, candid, and business-like? This was the nature of your job. This was normal.

9:47 AM.

Very timidly did Nobara raise her hand beside you to chime in on the discussion. “I know I’m not in the position to make suggestions, but…” She pressed something on her laptop before carefully sliding it to your side of the table, showing you what appears to be a classic early 2000s ‘dress-up game’ with a base model and a selection of outfits that were inspired by your designs. “I just wanted to show you this, Ms. Y/N. I do agree with Ms. Ono’s idea to introduce style guides, but maybe we can do it in an interactive way. I know the dress-up game idea may look childish and unsophisticated, but I was kinda hoping that we can just make certain adjustments so that it could match Hearte’s classy and simplistic style. We can have base models in different body types and skin tones to show our brand’s diversity, then we can have shoppers try dressing them up using the outfits on our current collection. That allows them to easily visualize how the pieces would look on a certain skin tone and body type.”

The way everyone else in that conference table looked at Nobara was very obvious that they were expecting you to reprimand her for even having the guts to offer such a farcical idea. What does she know? They were probably thinking that. You’re just an intern. You knew they were saying that in their minds. On the other hand, you surprisingly liked her proposal and enjoyed the unique idea of introducing it to the website because her proposal actually did make sense. People would be curious, people would try it out by interacting with the website, and that means the engagement would rise up.

“I like that idea. We can go with that,” you said, sliding the laptop back to her while nodding at the marketing and social media managers, “I need the team to discuss Nobara’s idea further and polish it thoroughly before we can start adding it onto the website. Make adjustments as needed and ensure that everything is still in line with our brand. If you notice any flaws with this proposal, you can flag them with me and I’ll review them.”

9:54 AM.

Just as you were about to wrap up the meeting, a certain someone entered the conference room in haste—panting out of breath with her long, wavy hair and creased red pants. “I’m so sorry, I’m late.”

Her casualness made you clench your jaws tightly, fueling the fire to your already terrible day. You could no longer stop yourself from unleashing your rage as you looked up at her with a critical squint. “Ms. Hirai, what time’s it?”

“It’s ten, I know. I’m so sorry,” she repeated her apologies and paid an apologetic bow to everyone in the meeting room, “I’m sorry, everyone. I was caught up in heavy traffic today.”

You let out a silent scoff and ignored her compunctious act. “How long are we gonna keep using that excuse, really?” you questioned her, earning the intrigued eyes of your employees who were all sensing the sudden tension between you and your best friend, “As the fashion merchandiser and my second-in-command, you should’ve been here in this meeting with me, but where were you? You anticipated that there would be heavy traffic, yet you couldn’t be responsible enough in coming to work early knowing that we have a meeting? Or was it because you’re too busy doing other things so you’re no longer interested in showing up to work on time?”

Akemi shook her head, contritely. “It’s… It’s not like that.”

“Not like what?” Your icy stare bored into her. No trace of compassion was present in your eyes. “I’m sure you’re living a very blissful life outside of work and I’m glad you are, but is that also why you don’t bother with anything else anymore?”

“Y/N—”

“Miss Y/N,” you corrected, “I’m your boss, so treat me like one.”

Wide, chocolate brown eyes greeted you in response. It was clear that she was at a loss of words and could only repeat her meaningless apologies a thousand times. “I’m really sorry, Ms. Y/N. It won’t happen again.”

“You didn’t even let me know that you’ll be coming in late,” you continued and ignored the pitiful expression on her face, focusing on her swollen red lips and her dewy, rosy cheeks. She must have had a really good morning to look like a cherry blossom on a spring day. Was she so preoccupied being all lovey dovey with your ex-husband this morning? Did she sleep comfortably on the same marital bed you used to share with him? Your jaw tensed visibly. “You’re just coming in whenever you want. You don’t respect people’s time. You don’t respect my rules. You don’t respect me.”

Yes, you were overreacting by taking things too personally and it was the reason why you got up from your seat and bolted out of the conference room upon realizing your unusual outburst. You could hear the clicking sound of your stiletto echoing across the corridor as you stomped towards your office, swinging the glass door open and heading straight towards the ceiling-to-floor window to have some peace of mind. Peace? How ridiculous. How could you find peace? You couldn’t even grasp the fact that your best friend was acting like everything was normal. You couldn’t understand why she was rubbing her relationship to your face as if she wasn’t just a placeholder to somebody’s ex wife.

“Y/N?” Akemi’s voice cut you out of your toxic trail of thoughts—your mouth thinning with displeasure while you didn’t bother turning around to meet her gaze. Breathe. You had to breathe and think rationally. “I…I understand you’re really angry right now, but I was hoping we can have this much needed talk.”

You could feel her reaching for your hand at the height of your frustration and your defensive instinct led you to angrily swing your arm away, accidentally hitting her cheek as you pivoted on your heel to face her. It took two seconds for your eyes to shift from glaring in frustration to widening in surprise after seeing the small cut your diamond ring left on her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, no, it’s fine,” she insisted with her palm pressed onto the right side of her face. “I deserved it.”

Good lord. What was happening to you? Despite having all these unspoken rage and unresolved conflicts between the two of you, you would still drop everything and be concerned for her. You would still let your walls collapse. You were the villain that couldn’t stick to being a villain. Why? Why did you feel this way? Was it because you knew she wasn’t technically doing anything wrong? Or was it because you were just projecting your personal frustrations onto her? Was betrayal really the issue here? Or was it the huge possibility that she could in fact be Gojou’s one true love? You had thought of this before, but the same questions in your head never stopped. And never did they stop from invading your headspace as you made your way towards the small fridge to grab an ice pack that you soon offered to Akemi, leading her to one of the couches while finally coming into your senses.

Yet there was silence and nothing but awkward silence when you two sat at a safe distance from each other.

“I’m shameless.” She was the first one to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. “I know you’re thinking that and I do agree with you. I really am shameless to even look you in the eye right now.”

You sighed and looked away, only to keep yourself from the furnace of pain that you had been bottling inside. “Stop. You’re making me seem like a villain right now. I’m tired of seeing myself this way.”

She closed her legs and sat humbly, reaching forward to squeeze your hand. “You’re not. You’re not a villain and you never were,” said the same woman you accidentally smacked a few minutes ago, “I understand why you would feel a certain way towards me. I’d even understand if you hate me so much that you wanna murder me. I’m your best friend and I know about your history with Satoru, yet here I am seeing your ex-husband behind your back. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t plan it. I truly didn’t. Even though you’re not together anymore and I’m technically not homewrecking anyone, I’m still putting us—you and I—in a really awkward position. You didn’t deserve any of that and I’m very sorry.”

At least, she was self-aware. But looking at the brighter side of things, you were getting calmer now that you were hearing her side of the story, though that didn’t stop you from feeling any less horrible. “I don’t really care who you date,” you claimed, adamantly, “And I most definitely do not care who Satoru chooses to date. We’ve been divorced for three years.”

“It’s still not right that I’m seeing him.” She let her guilt speak up for her.

And you let your resentment speak for you. “Then, why him of all people?”

“It’s…”

“Complicated?”

“Y-Yeah…”

You decided to keep a straight face. “How did this happen?”

Akemi looked as if you had just forced her to be on the hot seat because of the apathy on your visage. “It was a drunken mistake at first and we kinda just…”

“I’m not asking about when you two started fucking,” you replied, bluntly. Something you had never done before in your usual sophisticated vocabulary. “I’m asking when you realized you have feelings for him. When did you fall in love with him?”

She had trouble finding the right answer. “It just happened. I d-don’t really know. Whenever you asked me to look after him, I guess the bond he and I developed from that made me see him in a different light.”

You disregarded the pain in your chest and let the volcano explode on its own, because her answer only meant that she was already growing feelings for your ex-husband at the same time you were confiding to her about him. That was the worst part of it all.

“Why do you like him?” you questioned further, “Despite knowing what happened while I was married to him, why did you still end up falling in love with him? If that’s so hard to answer, then don’t think about us or me or our friendship. Just think about the decisions you made for yourself. Why are you with Satoru?”

Her gaze found the floor. Hesitance. Guilt. Shame. Those emotions were all dancing in her eyes in a complete roundabout. While she took a moment to fully reassess her decision, you weren’t sure if you deserved to still feel hurt when she gave you an honest answer. “When I met Satoru, I didn’t meet the toxic, cheating ex-husband that he was known for,” she said, slowly, “I met a man who holds such a high respect for his ex-wife, adores his son like his greatest gift of all, and values his marriage more than anything else in this world. I met a vulnerable man who isn’t afraid to open his heart to strangers. A man who gave me emotional support even when he’s the one who needed it the most. I… It’s hard to explain, but…”

Was there really anything left to say? Her point was clear, and your silence while she was speaking was more so because you were trying not to let the tiny pricks in your heart affect you further than it already did. The fullness of her voice and the way her eyes shined when she talked about him were enough to tell you that your best friend had truly fallen in love and you would be cruel to take that away from her. Even from him. They would not have been involved in such an intimate relationship if there had been no attraction between them to begin with, so then… Why did it feel like you were being cheated on? She was no Sera, and he was not the Satoru that only used you for his corporate ambitions. It was just Akemi and Satoru—they were each other’s right person at the right time. The only thing blocking their path to a loving relationship was you.

You. The irrational and spiteful ex-wife. The ex-wife who always played the ‘victim card’. The selfish ex-wife who wanted all the good things to only come her way.

Well, god be damned, because you were beginning to confuse yourself with the version of you that wasn’t even remotely like you at all. She was just a mirrored image of yourself that you thought people perceived.

“You can do what you want.” The moment you spoke again, you were already creating a huge wall between you and your best friend, making sure that there were boundaries that none of you should ever cross now that she had chosen to be with someone you had sincerely loved in the past. It may sound like you were letting go, but truth be told, you just didn’t think that you even had the option to hold onto anything. Satoru wasn’t yours and you weren’t his anymore. You were two individuals living separate lives. “If you wanna be with him, that’s your choice. I don’t plan on intervening. It just… just really surprised me that you didn’t have the decency to tell me at all.”

Akemi nodded, apologetically desperate. “I understand how you’re feeling and I’m sorry. I really, truly am sorry, Y/N.” Her voice and her countenance did show the genuineness in her plea to be forgiven, but you were too numb to feel anything else. “I hope we can stay friends despite everything.”

How could you even stay friends in a situation like this?

First option was to keep pretending that their relationship wasn’t bothering you. Second option was to focus on your own relationship with Toji to the point where everything else just didn’t matter anymore.

Yeah, you thought. You could certainly choose the latter.

“Our friendship isn’t my top priority at the moment,” was your straightforward response to her, “I wanna focus on my son and his relationship with his father. That’s all.”

Any regular person would have thought: ‘Wow, Y/N. You handled that well.’ ‘You’re so mature.’ ‘You’re a lot calmer than we expected.’ The thing was, you really did think that you had been way too calm about it. In spite of the scene you caused at the conference room, or the dramatic exchange you had with Akemi in your office, you still handled it much better than one would think. In TV shows or movies, the ex-wife would have dragged the best friend to the ground, slapped her face, pulled her hair, started a nasty catfight, and called her all the terrible labels you could think of. Look, part of you wanted to do that. And the other part of you—the sympathetic, altruistic part of you—thought you shouldn’t do that. You would only look pathetic.

Of all the negative things Satoru had made you feel over the course of your failure of a marriage, this aftermath was probably the toughest.

You just weren't in the right state of mind to justify why.

You also couldn’t justify why you had been looking for unhealthy ways to cope with stress and anxiety. If anyone from your family saw you standing at the smoking area near the parking lot right now, they would have given you an earful of how you must be out of your mind for even putting a cigarette stick between your lips. How exactly could tobacco be good for you? You would say, first of all, that nicotine does in fact cause pleasant feelings to distract you from unpleasant ones. You couldn’t find any other way to relax your mind any faster than one cigarette stick could. Besides, staying in the office and seeing Akemi around was getting too suffocating and you couldn’t afford to have your negative mood lingering in your mind for the rest of the day. One stick wouldn’t hurt. Another one wouldn’t, too. And another one should be fine, right?

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The irony. You didn’t even have the time to recoil before the main cause of your stress showed up in front of you, frowning after he snatched the cigarette stick out of your lips. He was quick to throw it to the ground, stomp on it like he would do with your heart, and give you a questioning look that made you scoff at the ridiculousness of this situation. This could be a dream for heaven’s sake. Or a hallucination. There was no way Satoru Gojou would be standing right in front of you just as you were thinking about him.

“Since when have you been doing this?” he questioned again, holding your wrist this time to make you realize that his presence or this interaction wasn’t just a figment of your imagination. It would have been better that way, but the reality was, Satoru was there and he wasn’t the least bit pleased. “I know you’re mad at me and this isn’t the right time for me to chew you out like this, but…” he paused, taking your cigarette pack. “I can’t believe you’re fucking smoking right now, Y/N. Did you get this habit from Toji?”

Okay. Gojou could be way out-of-line sometimes, but this was the apex of it.

“Don’t bring Toji into this,” you snapped back, shooting him a glare that could easily kill. “What are you doing here?”

You could see how deep his inhale was just by the loudness of his sigh after it. His face showed a combination of yearning, regret, frustration, and pity as if he was deciding which emotion should dominate him more. But among the multitude of emotions that were drowning him right now like a tidal wave, he looked all the more exhausted. Whether it was dealing with you, trying to make amends with you, or simply being around you—you could tell that he wanted to drop his constant need to care for you because it was beginning to tire him out.

He didn’t really answer your question, and instead, asked one of his own. “Are you smoking because of stress?” he asked, trying to mask the sympathy in his eyes. “It’s bad for you. Set a good example for Sachiro.”

You’re bad for me, you wanted to say. Why did it even matter to him, anyway? You were nothing more than just a mother to his child. Anything outside that role was completely not his business anymore. The fact that he was even within the vicinity of your office was ridiculous, because you were already having a bad day and his presence was adding further into it. “Don’t you dare talk about setting a good example to my son like you’re so righteous yourself.”

“Y/N, come on.” He reached for your hand once more as if trying to show how much he cared or how worried he was with what you were doing to yourself because of him. “I don’t want you to—”

“Keep your fucking distance, Gojou. You’re not in the place to give a damn about me anymore,” you raged, withdrawing your wrist and breathing heavily as you tried to keep yourself from further exploding. You would have. You were so close to cursing him off, but you saw the flash of pure shock in his eyes, and that was how you realized what you just did. All these violent reactions, these unusual outbursts—these were not you. This was not the meek, soft-spoken ex-wife that he was once married to.

“Toru?”

Unfortunately, Gojou no longer had enough attention span to listen when he looked away, only to turn to his new woman with a genuinely worried expression painted on his face as soon as he saw her coming out of the building with a hand on her cheek. You realized that he was actually here to pick her up and was doing everything that a caring boyfriend would; checking every inch of her face to see how bad she was hurt and asking her what happened and whether she was okay. You didn’t know how to react the moment he turned back to you with his tired, yet passively accusatory eyes. “Did something happen?”

You knew that his question actually translated to: ‘Did you slap her?’ With your thorough knowledge about his acquired trauma from physical violence, you felt the sudden need to clear your name, but you didn’t know if you should be grateful that it was already your best friend who did the part in doing such. “Nothing happened. It was an accident.” Her tone was almost begging before she started tugging his arm. “Let’s just go, please.”

Satoru didn’t want to let it go, but decided that it was best to just leave it be as he glanced at you with a slightly detached gaze. “I’ll see you in a couple of days,” he reminded, referring to the dreaded New York trip together with Sachiro.

A conflicted look from him and an apologetic gaze from her. That was all that you received before they got inside the car and left you alone and miserable in that parking lot. You watched his car fade into view with her on the passenger seat and him probably holding her hand as he drove through the street. Just when you thought you could actually stomach the sight of him and her together, it would be a big fat lie to say that it didn’t sting. It stung worse than the times he ran after Sera than to stay behind with you. Worse than when he used to treat you like a mistress rather than a wife.

You must be going crazy, indeed. Who in their right mind would cry over her ex-husband in the middle of the parking lot? Why would you even shed tears when you were the one who wanted him to find someone else and move on? This was becoming a never-ending loop because you were letting yourself be affected by it. It shouldn’t be that way. Never.

“Toji.” You were doing your hardest to conceal the weakness in your voice as you pressed your phone into your right ear. “I-I need you… right now. Please.”

“Hey, I was just about to pick-up Sachi from daycare. Is everything okay?”

Wiping your eyes, you looked at the dull skies wondering if the universe was trying to reflect all these emotions running inside of you. “Yeah… Can you come soon?”

He didn’t really hesitate to answer, quickly understanding that he had to drop everything else right now and be with you. “Alright, I’ll be there.”

Satoru was conflicted, but he didn’t know what exactly made him feel that way. Was it because he saw you smoking in the parking lot? Or was it because he could tell that you gave Akemi a tongue-lashing after catching her half-naked at the penthouse a few days ago? Either way, both options were not very you. And he couldn’t understand why you were slowly starting to look less and less like the person he knew, which was confusing on his part because you had been adamant on telling him to forget about you. You were rigid on your decision to not let him enter your life as your husband for the second time around. He told you he still loved you, but you said you loved another. He told you he wanted to work things out and make your family complete again, but you said you were already doing that with someone else. Gojou knew his hands weren’t clean and the reason you may be acting that way was because out of all the women he could have been with, it had to be Akemi Hirai. Your best friend. Your confidante. Your business partner. She was a territory he shouldn’t have crossed, yet he did.

But, at the same time, she was the only person who had been there for him during his lowest. She was the company he needed when his heart was the loneliest. He couldn’t even remember the amount of times she came to his aid when he was crying over his memories of you, memories that he could no longer hold onto. Akemi brought peace to his heart, and if there was anyone else he could be with, it would be her.

It was becoming more and more clear to him how he felt about her.

Although, voicing that out loud was a different story. Keeping it in his thoughts was for the best because he didn’t want to lead Akemi on. She didn’t deserve that nor did she deserve to feel like a substitute for someone else. He wanted to be a hundred percent sure about being with her before he could fully confess his real feelings for her. It could still develop through time, perhaps far better and more passionate than what he was sharing with her right now, but until then, settling for what they had at this moment in time was for the better. What was important was that both parties were clear about diving into this relationship.

He wasn’t ready for commitment and she understood that. She was willing to wait for him. She was helping him move on in the least painful way. Where else could he meet such a person like her?

She was gentle, motherly, sensitive, and intuitive. She was classy and sophisticated. She knew how to dress nicely. Her nails were always clean and pretty. Her smile was very charming. Her laugh, endearing. She was the perfect woman anyone could have.

“Why’d you suddenly want to go to the mall?” she asked, intertwining their hands together as she looked up at him with her beautiful doe eyes. Her question made him cut out of his trance, remembering that they were strolling around the galleria.

He touched the small wound on her cheek as if stroking it could make it heal faster. “Nothing,” he said. “Just a last minute idea.”

Truthfully, Gojou wasn’t sure why he had brought her there. All he knew was that he had a lot going on in his mind while he was driving through the city and the next thing he knew, he was already pulling up at the galleria out of his natural instinct. But since they were already there, he might as well buy her a little something. Anything. And then his eyes caught sight of Chanel as if the high-end boutique was pulling his feet with such gravity that it led him to go inside the store while hand-in-hand with the woman next to him.

“Mr. Gojou, how are you?”

Right. The staff knew him so well, especially for the amount of times he had been there with his ex-wife when you two were still married.

“Are you looking for anything specific?” One of the familiar ladies that used to assist you approached him with a lingering stare towards Akemi. “Perhaps for your…?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, can you… uh,” he turned towards the rack of tweed sets, “Do you have any new collections?”

“Yes, absolutely,” said another lady, “Right this way, sir.”

It was easy to notice how the staff were exchanging glances at the sight of Satoru and Akemi together, but his mind was far too distracted by the nostalgia of being in that place alone to even care about his surroundings. All he did was look back at Akemi and encourage her to try out the newest collections that they had, thinking that she was oblivious about what was going through his head. “You go and pick whatever you like.”

Although she was clearly not used to it, Akemi did eventually try on some of the outfits he specifically had chosen for her. They were Chanel’s signature tweed sets that he always found to be very elegant, and he definitely wasn’t wrong that they would suit her when she came out of the dressing room to show him how the clothes wrapped her small frame perfectly.

He could see your smile through her face, your excitement when you tried the outfits on, and the shine in your eyes when you looked at yourself in the mirror. Except, Gojou had to remind himself that you weren’t her. That his mind was just messing with him.

No, this was wrong. Why was he thinking about you while he was with her?

He had to have some sort of distraction. Something so tangible that all of his senses would go numb.

The one way he was able to overcome that dilemma was by sharing yet another steamy exchange with Akemi later that night. He couldn’t remember who initiated first, but it must have been the equal desire that they had for each other when they dove straight into a heated makeout session the moment they stepped inside his bedroom. One thing led to another. First he was kissing her lips, then her collarbones, then her inner thighs—devouring her completely with his lust-driven actions, doing the most by pleasuring her body using his own.

She was a giver just as she was a receiver. Not that he didn’t expect her to be so experienced when it came to sex, but she definitely knew what she was doing without any guidance from him. Perhaps he just wasn’t used to it anymore. Perhaps he had just forgotten how it felt to have sex with someone who didn’t rely on him to initiate the next steps they should do. Fuck, he couldn’t even remember the last time someone stared at his eyes while putting his hardened member inside her mouth the way she did. She knew her power over him while at his most vulnerable state, ruining his masculine ego and destroying it with her own feminine pride.

And in the midst of their intimate session, Gojou was zoning out while he was sliding a condom across his shaft, ready to enter her from the back. His mind was giving him a flash of memory, not a distant but recent one from two days ago.

“I still can’t believe you did that, Mom. You’re being ridiculous.”

His mother wasn’t exactly showing the slightest hint of regret on her face despite knowing full well that sending the custody claim almost made you lose your mind. She was keeping a straight face as she sat on the barstool next to him, taking a sip of wine from her glass while he, on his own, was downing a glass of scotch. “She had it coming.”

Satoru sighed his frustration away. “Don’t do that again or today’s the last time you’ll ever see me.”

“What are you talking about?” His mother frowned. “Who was there for you when you were trying to end your own life because of the lies she told you, huh? You’re feeling bad for her now, but did she feel bad for you back then? You missed three years of your son’s life because she was being too spiteful towards you.”

He had never met someone more stubborn than his own mother, but maybe this was a clear sign for Satoru to realize where he must have acquired that one similar trait of his. After all, people always made it seem that he was more like his dad even though he despised being compared to his father. To say that his mother was a complete angel was a lie. But neither was he. “Whatever, just don’t… Just leave Y/N alone. She’s still the mother of my child and I don’t want us to keep fighting. At least, for Sachi’s sake.”

His mother finished her glass of wine before turning the stool towards his direction. There was a minute of silence that passed between them before she spoke again. “I just don’t want you to get back with her, darling. You two are toxic together.”

Funny, because he could say the same thing for her and his father. “Well, it’s not gonna happen now. Y/N’s gonna hate me forever.”

“What, ‘cause she rejected you again?”

“No,” he countered, shaking his head and chugging all the remaining liquor on his glass. “She knows about the thing I have with Akemi now.”

Her mouth fell open, gasping as she did so. “Y-You… and Akemi? Are you together?”

Satoru expected this reaction from her, but didn’t think she would actually be more fixated on his new relationship than the effect it would bring on her ex-daughter-in-law. “It’s not something to be proud of, Mom.”

“Well, I’m proud of you,” she still stressed that fact, “It’s nice to hear that you’re finally moving on, Satoru. Y/N is not good for you, but I know Akemi will be. I like her and I know she’ll make you a lot happier than Y/N ever did.”

“You’re still awake?” Gojou let out a yawn as he felt the heaviness of his eyelids telling him that it was time to sleep. He tried checking the time on his phone, but realized that he still had the photo of you and Sachiro as his lockscreen. He wasn’t planning on changing it anytime soon, but considering that Akemi saw it, he was expecting that she would have something to say, yet nothing came out of her mouth. She simply stayed silent while laying on his chest, letting him touch the slope of her naked back as she slightly raised her head to meet his eyes. He had already closed his phone and placed it back on the nightstand. “What, did I not tire you enough?”

“Shut up.” She hid her reddened cheeks and smiled on the crook of his neck. Her hand was placed on his chest, fingers tracing his collarbones. “No, I’m just thinking about how you’re gonna manage New York and all.”

Satoru’s breathing was still for a few seconds, keeping his eyes glued on the ceiling as he held her on your marital bed. “You’re scared that the infamous cheater is gonna cheat on you or something?” he joked, a distasteful one, but still meant to ease whatever was burdening her mind. “Not gonna happen even if we’re in an open relationship.”

“That’s not it,” Akemi quickly replied, denying his claims, “I’m more like hoping that you’ll be patient with her. She gets angry a lot these days and we know we’re the main cause of it, so please. Please don’t try to argue with her, okay? If she says hurtful things, learn to understand her.”

He wrapped his arms tighter around her smaller frame. Gojou was certain that he was about to doze off soon now that he had closed his eyes and let the exhaustion pull him into a good night’s sleep. “I won’t,” he spoke his words slowly, drifting off to dreamland, “I won’t make her angry.”

“Okay.” He felt her lips kissing his jaw just before the both of them gradually matched the calmness of each other’s chest. One heart, one soul, two bodies. “Good night, ‘Toru.”

…

In the middle of his sleep, he mumbled, “Good night, Y/N.”

On the other side of the city, you woke up in the middle of your slumber, facing the handsome face of your fiancé, Toji Zen’in, who had already drifted off to dreamland while holding you in his muscular arms. No wonder people were jealous of you for having such a refined man like him in your bed every night you go to sleep. The thing was, you had no reason to feel discontented with your life since you already had everything. You were wealthier than the average person, you ran a business that you were passionate about, you had an adorable son who meant the world to you, and you had Toji. There was nothing else you could ask for. And if by remembering Sera’s words back then, you would be selfish to ask for anything more because others didn’t even have half the fortune you had.

So, in that sense, you should be happy.

You had to be happy.

You were happy, right?

“Go to sleep,” whispered a half-awake Toji, stirring from his sleep as he held your waist tighter like you were his comfort pillow. “You alright?”

Sighing inwardly, you traced the scar on his lips. “You’re so gorgeous.”

His lazy, boyish smile came into view. “I know that,” he joked, closing his eyes as if succumbing into a few more minutes of sleep. “Don’t tell me you’re turned on right now ‘cause I can go all night. Doggy. Missionary. Cowboy. Reverse cowboy.”

Were you? Maybe a little. And maybe you had to have a distraction from your ‘source of happiness’.

“That’s very naughty of you, Mr. Zen’in,” you replied, cheeks heating up from his vulgar words. Your hand was finding its way to his toned chest, while his were traveling to the curves of your waist and hips. You could feel him angling his body to make sure he had access to slide your underwear just a little above your knee, gliding his hand along your thigh before letting his fingers touch your sensitive bud. “T-Toji—”

A smirk appeared on his lips. “Hm? I thought you wanted this?”

You nodded, taking a deep breath. “Y-Yeah, I…” There was no use holding back from moaning because his fingers knew how to move perfectly well, playing with your clit in circular motions before sliding two of them into your entrance. “...Fuck.”

“Feel good?” His hot breath tickled your neck, moving his mouth from your collarbones down to the valley between your breasts. “Wish you knew how delicious you are.”

Another moan, much louder this time around, escaped your lips when he attached his mouth onto your breast, sucking the round mass with his tongue doing God’s work. You were so high into sexual desire that your back arched on its own, dominated by the pleasing sensation all over your body. You could barely even respond to him when he started asking why your mood had been so down when he picked you up after work or why you still wouldn’t tell him whatever happened back there.

“It’s nothing,” you replied, disregarding the painful encounter you’ve had with your ex-husband and your best friend. “...Just work stuff.”

As you closed your eyes, you could feel Satoru’s fingers entering deep inside of you, deep enough to have reached your g-spot and have you moaning wildly. It felt unreal. It felt goddamn out of this world. But since Satoru was familiar with every inch of your body, his touch alone could easily send you to seventh heaven. He was heavenly. He was saintly. That mesmerizing gaze of his paired with his sky blue eyes and messy white hair. His beautiful, beautiful face, watching you beg for him to do more. More. More…

“Satoru…”

The intense feeling suddenly stopped, awakening you back to your senses as you opened your eyes and saw the dark, animalistic gaze of Toji Zen’in. “What’d you say?” he asked in a deep voice.

Out of panic, you slightly pulled away and shook your head. “N-Nothing. What did I say?”

“I thought I heard you say his…” he trailed off, pulling his fingers out of you and instead, placing a tight grip on your hip. “Did you?”

“No, no. Not at all.” Your voice came in a hushed tone, looking at his eyes intently. “Why would I do that?”

He let out an exasperated sigh, falling back into the bed with one arm under his head. “Don’t play games with me, Y/N.”

Desperation led you to climb on top of him, sitting on his crotch before encasing your lips with his soft ones. “I’m not,” you mumbled, kissing him again. “I never did. I promise.”

Yet, despite your attempts at inviting him for an open-mouthed kiss, he had already lost the interest to engage in sexual activities with you. He didn’t say anything nor tried to argue about the shit that you said, but he did stay silent for a couple of minutes, simply holding you on top of him without another word to utter. It scared you to think what was going through Toji’s mind, but this was also all your fault. Why, in the first place, did you even let your mind imagine that white-haired toxic ex-husband of yours when you had Toji Zen’in in front you?

Perhaps in this relationship, you were the toxic one.

You were the poison that could kill the life out of the man who only wanted to love and heal you.

“Toji, I’m sorry…”

He held his breath. “Should I be concerned that you’re going on a trip with him?”

“No, it’s…” Pulling away, you gave him a look of combined sincerity and denial. “We’re just gonna fix Sachiro’s papers, you know that. We won’t even be staying in the same room.”

Fixing Sachiro’s papers. Dealing with his dual citizenship. Changing his last name to Gojou. Solidifying your son’s identity as the son of Satoru Gojou. That’s all there is to it. All the technical matters.

“Is he staying at a hotel or are you letting him stay at your apartment in Manhattan?” he asked, although there was no hint of suspicion in his voice. Or at least, he must be good at hiding it.

You chose to be honest. “I have to let him stay at my apartment,” was your answer, leaning your head on his shoulder. “Only because Sachi wants his dad around all the time. We’re just trying our best to co-parent.”

Toji’s dry humor took over. “You sure you’re not gonna let him fuck you senseless?” His tone was laced with resentment. “And then you’ll come home to me crying about how he got you pregnant for the second time. You’d better kiss our marriage goodbye if that happens.”

“What kind of person do you think I am?” you retorted, annoyed by his word of choice as if you were a cheating scumbag. “If he’s gonna get someone pregnant, that won’t be me.”

His eyes sparked with curiosity. “What do you mean?”

Deciding between telling and not telling, you figured that the latter would only cause more drama to bounce back at you like a boomerang. “He’s with Akemi.”

It looked like Toji didn’t hear it right. “Akemi? How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know what kinda relationship they have, okay?” you snapped, no longer wanting to keep up with this topic further. “I just caught them. They said they’re seeing each other, but it’s complicated or whatever—I don’t really give a damn. But he’s with her is all I know.”

Toji went silent for a few minutes, unable to determine whether he should find the situation pitiful or humorous. One thing for sure though, was that he found it unbelievable. “That son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath, smiling in disbelief, “So this is what’s ruining your mood these days, huh?”

Your eyebrows furrowed in response. “It’s not.”

“Your ex-husband slept with your best friend. Yeah, I’d be mad, too.” His comment wasn’t really meant to irk you, but he successfully did so. Minus the intention. “Getting mad is understandable, getting jealous is questionable. Which one are you?”

Fuck it. “I said I’m not jealous. Will you stop now?” You sunk yourself under the covers, turning your back on Toji. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Now that he knew and you saw his reaction, you wondered what it would be like if Gen and Ian knew. Or if your dad knew. What would they think of Satoru? What would they think of Akemi? No, nevermind that. What would they think of you? Another fool in a deck of cards? Another game that was played with?

You didn’t want to know.

Ideally, you and Satoru really shouldn’t have gone to this New York trip together as if your family was still intact, because as much as you wished that that was true, you were far from that. You were only playing house for the sake of your son, but that also meant putting you in a painfully awkward situation together as ex-spouses. He had a girlfriend back home and you had a loving and loyal fiancé who proved the whole word that he was loyal to you. And although your respective partners were supporting the whole co-parenting situation, you knew by yourselves that this was nowhere to near to being comfortable for them, too.

“Everything okay?” You heard the familiar voice of your past, only to see his dull, blue eyes taking a peek at you.

“Yeah,” you replied, almost inaudibly. You just boarded the plane while Satoru was talking to the pilot, and found your spot on one of the beds in his private jet. It took a few minutes for him to get to where you were now. “Why?”

He shrugged, eyeing a sleepy Sachiro next to you. “Just wanna make sure you and Sachi are comfortable.”

You didn’t know what else to say, so you just looked back at your peaceful son who was hugging his elmo plush like the cute angel he was. Even though he was growing so fast, you could still remember how he was just as small as a puppy in your arms when he was first born. The memory of it caused you to press your lips on his forehead, caressing his soft, white hair. At some point while observing the scene, your son’s father thought it would be a good idea to slide the blanket further up your shoulders, acting as though he was only doing it to keep Sachiro warm. And later, he sat on the reclined airplane seat, drinking the coffee that was served to him by the stewardess.

It was crazy.

Crazy that Toji could be lying next to you and you would feel nothing. But Gojou was meters away from you and your mind was on a never-ending race.

Just before noon, the airplane landed safely at JFK airport and Satoru’s driver took you straight to Central Park Towers, treated like a V.I.P. by security just because your ex-husband was Japan’s third richest person and second most influential businessman. At times like these, you would almost forget the power Satoru held even before he was the chairman. You two were almost royalty. Now that he was leading the Gojou Group, his reputation only grew more despite the scandal of your broken marriage. He knew not to share his relationship publicly anymore nor did he expose Sachiro to any of his social media. It was a mutual decision for you to keep your son away from the spotlight knowing the scrutiny and the lack of privacy that would enter your lives once again—all the unnecessary noise, the unwanted comments, the unruly attention. Besides, for safety reasons, Sachiro had to be hidden from the public since he would become the sole heir to his father’s conglomerate, inheriting his parents combined assets that could one day make him the richest and most sought after bachelor in Japan.

“Mamaaa!” A lively Sachi came running to you as soon as he entered the lobby of the apartment suites, his father following him behind.

“Careful, baby!” you said, standing at the lobby while talking to your housekeeper, “You might trip.”

Satoru decided to carry his son after noticing your worried expression and immediately walked towards you. He was all smiles as he looked at Sachiro’s cheerful blue eyes. “He seems a little excited, isn’t he?”

“He lived here for almost three years,” you answered, signaling a quick ‘thank you’ to your housekeeper before guiding your boys to the elevator. “He must’ve missed the place. Did you, Sachi?”

“Yes, mama~”

It was a little bittersweet for your ex-husband, though. Especially the moment he stepped inside the apartment, looking at every corner and realizing that it was the same place you had lived in back when he was suffering from emotional distress on the other side of the world. This apartment was where his own child grew up in and he had no idea he had even existen then. Not only did that make you a terrible ex-wife, but it also made you a heartless mother. You had separated them and now you were taking him to the place where you had his son hidden from him.

That wasn’t your intention. That was never your intention.

“I’m glad you chose a nice place,” he complimented, acting as casual as possible. “Does your father own this place or?”

“Gen loaned it to me,” you said, holding Sachiro’s hand while letting Satoru follow you closely. You stopped at one of the guest rooms and urged the tall man to feel at home. “You can stay here for the meantime.”

“I don’t wanna make things uncomfortable for Akemi.” He looked away, avoiding your eyes. “I can just stay at a hotel—”

“Dada!” His mini-me tugged at his hand along with yours. You already knew that those puppy eyes would look back at the both of you. “Sachi wants Dada to stay.”

Frankly, you weren’t upset a while ago, but since he had to bring up Akemi and make it seem like her feelings were his priority, you lost all the will to be kind. Was their relationship that deep for him to act like such a loyal, righteous partner? Where was that same loyalty when he married you? “Do whatever.”

Noticing the tension between his parents, Sachiro’s eyes started to well up with tears and that was all it took for you two to completely focus your attention back to your 3-year old.

“Sachi…” Satoru tried to reach for his son, but you (spitefully) beat him to it.

“It’s okay, my baby. Don’t cry,” you comforted your son, picking him up and carrying him in your arms, “Daddy will still visit you every day even if he's staying at a hotel.”

Satoru, as guilty as ever, shook his head and wiped his son’s eyes. “No. I’ll stay here for Sachi, okay? Don’t cry anymore.”

It felt like hours sitting on that enormous sofa, staring at the television screen even though your mind was miles away. You had already texted Toji good night and reassured him that everything was fine, but you still couldn’t stop thinking about what he was doing back home. Sachiro had fallen asleep almost half an hour ago, and how you wished you could also enjoy your slumber while snuggling under those heated blankets, but how could you? How could you be comfortable in the presence of an ex-husband who was coming out of his room, freshly showered in his low-waisted sweatpants and tight-fitting black shirt? Not to mention how he was obviously flexing his arms while drying his mop of messy, white hair with a towel. Ridiculous. A little seductive, but definitely ridiculous.

“Still up?” His sky blue eyes met yours as soon as he looked up.

You adjusted your position on the sofa and leaned on the corner, pulling a small cushion to place above your thighs. “Can’t sleep.”

And the night went on just like that. You, sitting on the couch. Him, sitting on the other end as if going near you might suffocate him. It didn’t help that the silence was beginning to be too uncomfortable. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking of. Perhaps Akemi? Perhaps you? You doubted the latter.

“I think…” You cleared your throat to escape from the awkward tension. “I think I’m gonna go for a night swim. You can go to sleep next to Sachi tonight, just make sure not to wake him up.”

Satoru’s curious gaze trailed on you as you got up and tightened your robe. “It’s a little too late at night to go for a swim, no?”

You couldn’t even face him as you responded. “I need to clear my mind off some things.” And by things, you meant him and this whole mess of a situation that you had put yourselves together. Two divorcees staying in the same living space wasn’t exactly a brilliant idea to begin with.

“Want me to join you?” asked Satoru, and he himself could not believe he asked that question. He may have asked it out of his innate care for you, probably worried for no damn reason. What he didn’t realize was how wrong his suggestion was, especially that you two were dating other people now.

If only you were such a cruel person, how ironic would it be if you allowed Satoru Gojou to join you for a quick night swim?

How ironic would it be for you to feel each other’s warmth under the crystal pool, getting carried away by the romantic lights that lit the city?

How ironic would it be if the intense sexual tension ended with you doing things under the sheets, completely disregarding the fact that the both of you had respective partners who were overthinking this exact NYC trip?

How ironic would it be if, for once in your life, you became the cheater?

Thankfully, you didn’t have the mindset of a cheating person.

However, it was Satoru who took back his initial offer. “Never mind. Forget I even asked that,” he muttered, sounding annoyed more so to himself rather than at you.

You offered a nonchalant shrug. “Okay.”

And as you were heading to the poolside, you could sense Gojou’s presence behind even though he just very clearly rejected the idea of going on a swim with you. He was still the same confusing man that you married before. Only now, he was ten times worse. “Wait, Y/N.”

“What?” You turned around, annoyed at his push-and-pull behavior. At this point, you didn’t really care what he was thinking of anymore. All you did was to take off your robe, leaving yourself with only your underwear on before you slowly got down on the pool.

Gojou, on the other hand, was ridding himself of his shirt and sweatpants to join you in the pool with just his boxers on. What even was this situation? You two had that same question in your head despite swimming at the edge of the pool to stare at the cityscape. “I only asked to join you because I wanted to talk. That’s all.”

You wanted to laugh at how he was clearing his intentions to you.

“Why do you sound defensive around me?” He couldn’t see it, but you were rolling your eyes as you leaned against the pool coping. “I never knew Akemi would be the jealous type.”

Satoru looked surprised by your claim, seeming as though he didn’t recognize the kind of person you were anymore. You were never this unreasonably sarcastic nor acidic with your words during your marriage even at the height of his affair with Sera, yet you had just become the worst version of yourself. “She isn’t,” he muttered, finding his spot next to you, “But I don’t wanna give her a reason to be.”

You huffed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You make it sound like I’m gonna make a move on you or something.”

“I never said that.”

“You were thinking about it.”

“Says who?”

What is it about Satoru Gojou that makes him so irritating? Was it the way he talks? The way he thinks he’s always right? The way he acts like he’s such a clean person?

“Please,” you retorted, bitterly. “Toji isn’t comfortable having you around me, either. Just so you know.”

“Can we just—” There. His last string of patience finally snapped and his true colors came to show when he grabbed your wrist and made you face him. The spiteful Satoru. He was back, even just for a second. “Y/N, I’m not trying to argue with you here. I’m trying to talk to you like a civilized person. You’re the mother of my child and I respect you. I’d still care for you and will always protect you, but I want you to at least act like a fucking person around me. You’re a grown woman.”

Wasn’t it bad that he, of all people, was basically telling you to grow up? Memories of your marriage and all the back-and-forth arguments that you had with him flashed before your eyes. He should be the last one to say such a thing. “You’re the one who’s been crossing the fucking line with me since day one, Gojou. Don’t tell me to—”

“And do you wish I had just killed myself for you to forgive me?!” The ridges of his neck became prominent, making his anger much visible now. He was staring down at you intensely, backing you against the edge of the pool, trapping you in between his arms. “I’d have probably done that. But you…You did unforgivable things to me and look how easy it was for me to forgive you.”

You looked away, not trying to have this conversation again. Not trying to have your guilt eat your heart out. Maybe your behavior really had become too much and it was about time you take a step back and realize how ridiculous you had been acting because no way was this man trying to make a better point than you.

“I slept with Akemi, I know. She’s your best friend, I fucking know. But I never did that to get back at you,” his voice bore so much authority in them. “I begged on my knees just to be with you again. Swallowed my pride just for you to be my wife again!” His breathing became ragged. “But you chose to move on. You said you love Toji. You said you’d be happier without me, so why don’t I deserve to be happy without you?”

The inability to speak wasn’t because you were at a loss of words. The problem was choosing the right ones. Words that wouldn’t put you in a disadvantageous position. Words that wouldn’t make you look like an unreasonable person.

“You wished me well when you first found out about Akemi and I. You said you don’t care who I choose to date even if that choice is her,” he said, much calmer this time. He was placing his forehead against yours, body pressed against each other. “If that was true, then why are you still so angry with me?”

Your heart raced as you locked eyes with him. His eyes were the same kind of blue that reflected off of the surface of the pool. Anyone could easily get lost in it, but you knew where to place yourself in order not to. “I’m… not angry…”

“Baby, you and I both know that’s not true,” he said with a serious gaze, lifting your chin with his hand.

But you swatted it away, averting your eyes. “Don’t call me baby. You’re being ridiculous.”

With a loud sigh, Gojou gave up and simply placed his forehead on your shoulder, letting you feel the weight of his head and the warmth of his breath. “If you were still my wife, I’d have kissed you right now,” he declared, breathing heavily as if stopping with all of his will to do what he just said. “I’d touch every inch of you, tell you how much I love you, carry you back into that room, and make more beautiful babies with you…”

“Satoru,” you warned just as he pulled away, smiling despite the sorrow in his eyes.

“…But I won’t do that. I’m not gonna do that,” he claimed and sounded like he was convincing himself rather than clearing it up. ��Akemi doesn’t deserve a partner who can’t move on from his ex-wife, so I’m doing my best to forget about you.”

Your breathing took a halt. You weren’t sure where those tiny pricks in your heart came from. Toji needed the same. He deserved a wife who wasn’t pining for her ex-husband. Satoru was just being true.

“Then, forget about me,” you gave a barely audible reply.

Gojou pulled away and kept his distance now, showing that he was indeed trying to stick to his words. “I will.”

Why did it hurt when it shouldn’t have?

“Good.”

He looked at you with eyes that carried a million emotions. But what was most visible was him seeing the light, probably realizing that he truly was doing the right thing and that he was proud of himself for being able to resist you. Because then, that only meant he was only a few steps away from the path of moving on. That if he could let you go, then he could live a better life.

It only made sense why he pulled that little stunt back there—being close enough to you was probably his way of differentiating how his body reacted to you versus how it reacted to Akemi. And now that he was able to determine whatever difference that might be, it would be easier for him to know what exactly to avoid.

After all, you two would be spending the rest of your lives as a present mom and dad to Sachiro. Co-parenting was your only connection and the only way to make that work without falling for each other was to rid yourselves of any kind of attraction towards one another.

Good for him.

“Let’s be good parents, Y/N.” Satoru looked at you from across the pool. “Let’s set a good example for Sachi and show that divorced parents can still be good parents. Let’s not be toxic to each other, especially not in front of him.” His words were coming from his personal experience and as you knew the whole history behind the mess within his family, you were truthfully considerate of his words. His traumatic experiences were what shaped him to become the problematic man you once married, and he was doing his best not to let his own son be the same. “I’ll provide Sachiro with everything he needs and I’ll always be present in his life, so please let me have as much time with him as possible. I’m making up for the three years I lost with him.”

You nodded. “I don’t have a problem with that.

As the established relationship you had with Gojou became more professional and strictly transactional, the distance between you two also grew more and more. There was no longer any space for love and intimacy. There was only familiarity and acquaintanceship.

“Go to sleep soon,” he said without sending another glance your way, climbing out of the pool and reaching for his clothes, “We have a long day tomorrow.”

#gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x y/n #gojo satoru angst #gojo angst #jjk angst

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that-basic-simp · 2 months

Text

Mama

Mizu x Fem!Reader CW: None WC: 1.1K A/N: Not really a fan of the "mommy" kink, but something about Mizu saying "mama" in episode 5 always and still gets to me.

Her hot breath tickled against my earlobe as she rested her head on my shoulder. A smile could be heard as she looked down at the baby that was swaddled up in the same cloth she had when she was young.

"How ya doing, mama?"

A shiver went down my spine as she said that. She has only ever really called me that after I gave birth to the baby. I was afraid she would leave once she found out, but she understood the situation. As she was in a similar one when she was a baby. And she didn't want me to suffer with raising a baby alone, even if she wasn't the best when it came to kids.

"I-I'm doing fine, Mizu," I said.

"Did that get ya?" she snickered darkly, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"You know how it makes me. Especially when you say it like that."

"Like what? Like this, mama?" she lowered her voice, tucking her head into the crook of my neck, lacing the skin with her soft, sweet, and gentle kissing.

"M-Mizu," I breathed out.

"Go lie down. I can take care of her."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Ringo should be back soon so he can help me entertain her."

"She needs to be put down for a nap though."

"Then the three of us can sleep together."

"Are you sure? You don't need to train today? Taigen isn't going to show up uninvited and prompt you for a duel?"

"He's with Akemi today. Besides, that man is on a losing streak."

"Shouldn't that drive him to want to get back at you?"

"Not as big as his sex drive right now," Mizu said.

I shook my head, "Of course."

"Come on," she tugged at my waist. "Let's get you to bed."

I walked into the shared bedroom we had and I sat down, rocking our little one to sleep. Of course it wasn't blood related to Mizu, but that wasn't stopping her from helping me with the parental duties.

"Ah, she's getting fussy," I sighed.

"Here, let me hold her."

I carefully handed her to Mizu and she cradled the baby close to her. While she was rocking the baby, her body started to sway while she began to sing a lullaby. This was another rare moment for us. When Mizu actually sang. It was a bit rocky at the beginning, but after some time of humming and thinking she was singing alone, she got better at it. And it was enough to not only put the baby to sleep, but me to sleep. Finding myself swaying here and there, I laid down and Mizu carefully placed the baby in between the two of us. Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Sleep well, Y/N."

Blinking my eyes open, I found Mizu and the baby were gone from the bedroom. Yawning, I sat up and stretched, getting up and walking into the kitchen. Ringo was here and he was making something while Mizu held the baby in her lap. The baby was reaching up, grabbing at Mizu's face here and there. I chuckled and walked over to her, sitting beside Mizu.

"A-Am I doing this right?"

"Doing what right?"

"This whole parenting thing?" Mizu asked. "I-I'm not really great with kids. People in general."

"I think you're learning, Mizu. You're doing well for someone who was practically shunned your entire life."

"I-I just don't want her to be like me," she said, taking note that the baby had blue eyes like herself.

"But she is loved by her mothers," I smiled at Mizu. "Even if she is more like you than you think."

"I just don't want her to be made fun of for being a half-breed."

"And if she is, I know her mother, well, her father will come after those kids and teach them a lesson."

A small smile crept onto Mizu's face, which the little one stood up in her lap and grabbed at her mouth.

"A-A little help here."

I chuckled and reached over, grabbing the baby and putting her in my lap. She grabbed at Mizu, in which she offered her hand to the little one. Grabbing onto Mizu's hand, she held it tightly in her small hand.

"Baby's do have a strong grip for as young as they are," Mizu said.

"They just want to make sure their parents don't leave them. These are their crucial years along with their childhood."

"Do you think we're going to be alright?" Mizu turned towards me.

"I don't know if I am going to be honest. But," I turned and faced Mizu. "There's no one else I'd rather do this with."

"There's someone better. A man. A man would have been better."

"But no man would want their child to be impure, as they would say. A half-breed. They'd leave the child at a brothel and hope that the women there will take her in. Or worse, they'd kill the baby. And all life should be cherished and taken care of."

"Even a monster's life?"

"You know how I feel about that word. You're not a monster, Mizu," I reached over and placed my hand on her cheek, caressing her soft skin. "You're simply Mizu. Nothing more and nothing less than the person I fell in love with."

A smile crawled onto her face as I leaned towards her, placing my forehead against hers. Pulling away, Ringo handed me a small bowl that had a white mixture in it. Making sure the baby was calm and the mixture wasn't too hot, I placed the bowl against her bottom lip, but she was squirming.

"Here," Mizu reached over and grabbed the baby, setting her down in her lap. "I'll keep her steady."

"Thank you, Mizu."

"Of course, Y/N."

After we finished feeding her, Ringo watched after for a bit while Mizu and I were outside, sitting together in the back yard of the house. My hand was resting on hers and my head was resting on her shoulder. Her head was leaning against mine and she'd occasionally turn and look down at me, making sure I was still awake. Smiling, she loosened her body and sank down a bit in posture. Getting an idea, I turned and laid down, resting my head on her lap, looking up at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting a better look at you, Mizu."

"Isn't there an angle that makes me look less appealing?" she asked.

"No. They all make you look attractive. Especially when I am under you."

Some blush crawled onto her cheeks as she turned away from me, to avoid my gaze. I giggled, closing my eyes and turning to where my face was in her stomach.

#mizu x reader #bes mizu #mizu #mizu blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai

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blondieeu · 5 months

Text

winter nights. satoru g.

an uninvited guest showed up that night.

intruder is what they’re normally called but you knew who the person was too well to even call it that.

you didn’t bother to open your door all the way because of how hard it was snowing. the cold air nipping at your nose and your pretty brown skin.

the weather man said it was supposed to snow around 2 inches and counting, and you were pretty prone to getting sick easily—“daddy!”

A smaller voice exclaimed from behind you and the sound of tiny bare feet padding against the wooden floors all came together as you watched a smaller body being scooped up by the man in the door.

Mia, that was her name. She was 6 this coming february and her favorite color is pastel purple.

having her when you were freshly 19 you could argue was one of your best decisions you could've had.

Consequences did however come with the decision but you'd do it all again to have her.

You watched the white haired man slide his dress shoes off and kick the door closed like he still lived there and bring her farther into the house.

"How's my sweet girl?"

He coo'd at her, kissing her forehead and the girl looked up at him with stars in her eyes.

you could hear her ramble on and on about what she did at school, what mommy made for dinner, all the stars she drew, her wanting to watch the princess and the frog for the billionth time.

“mommy made me a tent!”

He took off his shades and set them onto the deep brown coffee table that matched the house's theme without even looking to see if he made it, knowing he did, since he used to live there.

"Oh now did she?"

He challenged her, walking away with her straight towards her room like he lived there, probably considering her bedtime being 7:20p and her still being up at 9:00p.

You sighed when he kicked the door closed once again, hearing giggles and laughing coming from the room as you started off into your kitchen down the hallway.

Opening the fridge you took out leftovers of the dinner you made a couple hours ago, Cajun chicken pasta.

Throwing it into the microwave to heat as you waited, your pretty white nails tapping against the marble counters as you listened to the faint 'vrrrrrrr' and let it soothe you.

"You know you didn't have to do that for me." A low voice came from behind you and before you could turn to tell him off for scaring you he put a finger on his lips.

"She's asleep?"

He nodded, already knowing you were referring to Mia. He smiled a bit, opening the microwave before it hit '00:01' and taking out the meal.

He grabbed a fork out of the spoon and fork drawer, like he lived there, and followed you into the living room plopping down next to you on the couch and starting to watch whatever bullshit show was on the TV while he fucked up that pasta.

tonight it was some episode of 'Lucifer' with the British man as the lead roll, you guys loved him. you could remember being pregnant with your baby and watching this show every night.

"You were away."

you started, not looking at him but not exactly watching the TV, just blank. He stopped eating and sat it on the glass coffee table, sitting up and leaning his forearms on his knees.

"I know..You know how my job goes, m’ sorry baby."

He looked like he wanted to say something else and even though you felt bad you couldn't help but be a little pissed at him, what about his family? his kid?

"What else are you gonna miss, Satoru?"

You asked, no expression readable on your face but he looked a little sad when you said that, his eyebrows furrowing when he quickly looked at you.

"I took some time off."

Your ears perked. Satoru Gojo, your ex boyfriend of 6 1/2 years and now baby daddy, took some time off his job!? What a shocker!

"Got 3 days off."

He added, a cocky sigh accompanied the end as he messed with his watch—like he ever really knows what time it is anyway.

"Why? You made your point on how strict they are so why now?"

"Because I wanted to spend more time with my family."

oh.

You didn't say anything else, watching his snow white hair bounce as the two of you got up, you following him straight into the kitchen, like he lived there. you sat at one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and watched as he washed his dish.

"So you're gonna just be staying here?"

You asked, spinning in the chair slightly.

"If you'll let me y/n, whatever you want. It's all up to you"

He muttered, his words almost sounding irritated since you kept nagging him.

"What about that lady you've got at home, you should spend time with her too Satoru."

. . .

He paused, his right arm momentarily stopped scrubbing the dishes as he took in a real deep sigh.

"My daughter always comes first, as well as her mother. You know that y/n."

He retorted back, finishing washing his dish and starting to wash all the other dishes in the sink as well. It went silent for a while.

Except the light bickering it wasn't awkward or angry, it was just a moment to cool down so the two of you didn't say anything you didn't mean or would regret on a later date.

Serena was her name, his girlfriend I mean. They haven't been dating for very long, maybe 4 months not that you're counting but you didn't really like her and it wasn't because you were jealous or anything, she just seemed too expensive.

"Mia has a parent teacher conference on Thursday."

You broke the silence when he finished washing the dishes, drying his hands off with the towel that rested near the sink.

"I'll be there."

he put the dish away in the cabinet. finally turning towards the kitchen island where you sat and pressed his palms on it, giving it some of his weight.

with a heavy sigh you put your hand in your palm and stared back at him. taking all of him in since you saw him a couple of days ago.

his haircut he got and never stopped getting since you said it looked good on him, the small freckles he had that no one noticed—there were 17 on them on his face, the matching promise ring he had on his finger from like what 2 years ago??

“i miss you satoru.”

his eyes softened and he started around the island, eventually coming to you. you spun the bar stool to face him and he came between your parted legs.

he didn’t say anything.

you didn’t say anything.

his fingers were innocent at your knees, but eventually grew tainted while they traveled up them. his fingers gliding up your pretty brown skin and under your pajama shorts, grabbing at your ass when he pulled you off of the bar stool and onto the counter.

it was a fast action and it almost had you winded when your hands found the back of his neck, feeling that familiar haircut design with your initial on it.

satoru fixed himself between your legs, his face close to yours. he grabbed your hand and put it on his chest.

“you feel that?”

his heart was beating a-million-miles-a-fucking-hour and he looked flushed but his eyes were only on yours. like you were the only woman to ever exist.

you nodded slowly at his question, taking your other hand off his shoulder and using it to prop yourself up from the counter as extra support.

“that’s how i feel about you.. don’t fuckin’ ask me about another woman when this is how i feel about only you. ain no other woman gonna get me like this you hear?”

you could never forget those icy blue eyes.

bloundieeu xx

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cloveroctobers · 6 months

Text

OCTOBER PROMPTS 🦇 — 11. Evan “Buck” Buckley

A/N: my man, my man, my man!! Hopefully we get to see you soon and I can actually get the nerve to finish season six—I only have maybe 4 episodes left? Then I’ll dive into 9-1-1 lone star while we wait. Regardless I thought this would be funny and a little creepy to write so here we are! Enjoy 😉

Synopsis: Buck loves the new house you live in together and although you’re not crazy about it…you decide to pull a prank on your boyfriend to liven up the place that perhaps leads to you opening doors for a uninvited guest?

PROMPTS ARE FROM HERE & HERE & I’m using: A buys a crappy sound machine and plants it in the house. While it plays ghost noises and spooky sounds, A hopes they can convince B that the place is haunted. + “Come on, if there was ever a time for me to be superstitious it’s definitely now.”

*GIF BELONGS TO: @911edit

<- read my previous anthology prompt here.

꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎ ꩜

“BABE!” Buck yelled into your ear after pulling the headphone away.

You flinch as you stand up straight from the kitchen island and away from your overnight oats, “Yes?” You press with raised brows.

Buck waves his hands around, “you don’t hear that?”

“Hear what?” You question, pausing the podcast and resting your headphones to lay around your neck, “I didn’t even know you were home.”

Buck immediately frowns, “don’t tell me that. That means anybody could be hiding in here and you wouldn’t even know because of those stupid things.”

“You bought them for me.”

“Yeah to use at the gym and keep those meathead douchebags away while I’m not around.” Buck explained which made you smirk with a roll of your eyes.

“Listen,” Buck said again as you moved around the modern kitchen (that you hated) to place the now empty bowl and spoon into the sink.

Placing a hand on your hip you glance around the new open floor plan home that you and Buck moved into together. The modern contemporary home was such a contrast from the outside to the inside with its exterior being too boxy for your liking but you enjoyed the black exterior and the courtyard and pool. The inside was much lighter, from white to cream walls, along with the high ceilings which made the home feel bigger and instantly sold Buck who believed this would be your forever home.

You on the other hand were not convinced but nobody could ever say you weren’t open to trying new experiences. It’s only been four months settling in and there were still some things you wanted to change like: mainly the wall colors but Buck was convinced furniture and decor could replace that urge.

Sighing you say, “I don’t hear anything Ev,” you tap the sink on, “maybe you should lay down? Was it a rough day?”

“No, it was a breeze.” Buck fanned his hand along before resting them both flat against the White Island counter, “…maybe it’s a bird or something?”

“Well what exactly did it sound like?”

“Like scratching. Kinda like Pearla when she tries to sneak into our room at night,” Buck answers before glancing around, “matter of fact, where is she?”

“At the groomers. She won’t be ready until after four,” you inform Buck of the whereabouts of your old English sheepdog.

Buck dips his head, looking at his watch, “it’s 3:42.”

“Shoot! time does really get away from me,” you widen your eyes as you quickly finish washing the dishes before spinning around to shove it into the dishwasher.

Buck nods his head, “I’ll drive.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Buck shrugs his shoulders, “it’s a nice crisp day and…I don’t want you having any accidents considering your hearing isn’t the best right now.” He playfully lifts the headphones from your neck to place down while you roll your eyes again.

You lean towards him smug, “ah, I see what this is…you’re scared to stay here by yourself because of this imaginary noise you’re hearing.”

“I’m not! And i don’t think it’s in my head.” Buck defended while you went over to the couch to shove your hoodie back over your gym attire.

“Uh huh,” you say as Buck scoffs ready to plead his case as you lock up the home behind you.

The next time Buck hears the noise is around 3am when you’re both tucked away at the back of the home in bed. It’s not a pleasant sound as his eyes snap open to the darkness of the room, the moaning and creaking almost sounds like a mixture of a whale and the cracking of a ship that meets the bottom of the ocean. Buck knows he should stop clicking on random things on YouTube before bed that leads him down a deep dive but this isn’t the first time he’s hearing that groaning sound.

It was brief before on his day off while you were at work and he was lounging on the couch watching some twisted documentary about Russ McKamey. Buck tried to brush it off as something that was on screen since it stopped when he paused the television but he couldn’t hear it while watching again. Was this truly in his head? He started to think but here he was— technically—the third time hearing the noise for much longer.

When he peaks over at you with your back to him, he lightly grips your shoulder and leans over to see that you’re still fast asleep and sits up in bed. By the edge of the bed, he spots Pearla on the floor with her fluffy ears perked up and Buck nods his head.

“You hear it too, girl? I know I’m not going crazy!” Buck whisper-yells to the dog who’s definitely more alert than you are.

Buck’s crawling out of bed with Pearla at his ankles, taking a deep inhale he opens the bedroom door to peak down the left of the hallway towards the front of the new home and only sees darkness. Pausing for a moment he listens for the noise again but the home is eerily quiet.

Buck stands there for at least two minutes before he considers closing the door but the creaking starts up again, sending Pearla flying out of the room barking as she tries to locate the noise first.

“Pearla!” Buck yells for the dog who disappears down the hallway and out of sight.

He blows a whistle with his fingers to get her attention, stepping into the hallway now but Pearla is nowhere to be seen. When he glances over his shoulder back in your direction, you’re still in fact sound asleep. Usually you’re the light sleeper out of the pair but somehow in this early morning, you’re having a grand time in dreamland.

Reaching for the doorknob, Buck slowly pulls the door closed with a soft click and begins taking the path to the main areas of the home. Pass the three bedrooms and the half bath on the left, Buck scans the dining room, kitchen, and living room to find it all empty. Confusion is written all over Buck’s face as he stands in the center of the home, hands on his hips as he’s searching but…for what?

The groaning picks up again just as a touch goes to his hips. Buck yelps, whipping around to face you who’s actually holding their composure. Buck holds onto his chest ready to let out a exhale but the look you cast behind your shoulder then back to meet Buck’s island water eyes you say, “the house is haunted.”

“What?” Buck let’s out a full exhale, trying to calm his heart rate.

You swallow, hands still holding onto Buck’s hips, “I hear it too.”

He tightens his jaw, ears picking up on the noise but now it’s the loudest it’s ever been, making you grip your very sensitive ears.

“Wait here,” Buck suggests, hands flexing as he picks up a fire poker that was left leaning against the industrial bookcase from his old apartment, “it sounds like it’s coming from the laundry room.”

You huff, feet slapping against the floor as you latch right onto the back of his shirt, “hell no! You’re not leaving me behind in this sketchy house.”

“Ohhh,” Buck sing songs, “now it’s sketchy but when I said it’s been weird lately you tell me I need a nap.”

You hiss, “be quiet, we’re supposed to be stealthy when sneaking up on a ghost.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had experience with the paranormal.” Buck looks back at you with a frown before slowly leading the way back towards the bedrooms.

“I’ve seen ghost whisperer you know?”

“…am i supposed to know what that is?”

“It’s a show Maddie and I are currently binge watching, now ssh!” Your attempt to silence the man was met but Buck used this silence to steady his heartbeat.

If this house was truly haunted then it was going to be hard to explain this to the insurance company when he’s done tearing up the place.

And we all know Buck’s not afraid of some action. His arm goes out to shield you as you both slide up against the wall opposite of the door that leads into the small laundry room. Buck couldn’t hear Pearla’s barking anymore and she did go in the opposite direction so he hoped whatever this is, didn’t harm your beloved dog.

“On my count,” Buck signals peering at you shortly to make sure you understood where he was going with this, “three…two…”

Of course he didn’t say “one” as he pushed the door back, revealing the very normal looking laundry room. Everything appeared in tack as Buck stepped into the room, hand reaching out to shove some clothes on the rack aside and then checking the cabinets above the washer and dryer.

“Huh,” Buck hummed before pulling the appliances open to find them both empty, “nothing.”

When he turns to face you, you’re hugging yourself but your brows are still furrowed in disbelief. He reaches to flick the light off and steps towards you to exit the room but a screeching noise picks up yet again. Instead of it sounding like it’s in the laundry room, it’s appears as if it’s coming from back towards the front of the home.

“No freaking way!” Buck yells, bringing the fire poker up like a bat as he runs down the hallway.

You scream at his back, “stop running towards danger you idiot!”

Buck ignores you, following the sound right to the pantry door, which is closed shut. He wastes no time, pulling the door back to reveal a gray and white Pearla fleeing from the room with a whine. Buck almost recoils at how loud the sound is coming from the pantry but steps in anyway, looking around the spacious storage room until the door shuts right behind him.

He tries the knob but to no avail, he turns back to the dark room, dropping down into a push up motion to check underneath the shelves. The thirty year old was just waiting to see something further unusual but got back to his feet just to be shoved towards the shelves.

Buck steadies his hands out in front of himself, catching himself against the shelves but not without the goods crashing onto the floor. He spins back around as the cracking noise picks up, almost making his teeth ache at the sound but that doesn’t stop him from swinging the fire poker wildly in the air. He’s not sure when the poker breaks one of the shelves but he spots a flash of red way at the top behind a acrylic container.

Panting Buck begins latching and crawling up on the shelves and swipes a hand across the top shelf, knocking the contents onto the floor to spot some sort of machine that suddenly shoots a weak steam of fog his way, followed by the creaking sound. Buck presses on top of it which sends out that screeching sound that makes Buck slip at the upsetting noise.

He’s shouting your name once he aims his footing right, landing back on it but not without the machine slipping right towards his face and knocking Buck off balance.

“I’m just glad it’s not broken,” you say for what felt like the thirteenth time as you hold the door open; ten am later that morning, leading your boyfriend back into your shared home that Buck secretly didn’t want to come back to.

The bandage on his bruised and cut up nose was prominent but Buck still sported a small smile on his face. “See what happens when you try to prank me. Now you have to tell everyone that I did in fact fight a ghost.”

The pantry door was jammed by the time you got to Buck, hearing him calling your name and Pearla barking for your attention. It wasn’t something it commonly did but you just deemed it as your anxiety getting the best of you, struggling to get it open. You were in on a bet with Chimney and Hen since Eddie (surprisingly) and Bobby didn’t want to participate—that you could convince Buck that your new home was haunted.

However you weren’t expecting for him to go investigating and get smacked in the face with the crap ghost machine you purchased off eBay. You were just happy that you weren’t the cause of Buck almost breaking his nose (you didn’t intend for the machine to slide off the shelf) but everything else you’ll take responsibility for.

“Sit,” you ordered Buck by his arms who laughed at you going into your nurturing role, “you know they’ll never believe that right?”

Buck kicks his feet up along the couch with a sigh, “but it could be a plot twist x2 with there actually being some haunted vibes going on. I mean…you did set me up.”

You pout as stood in the kitchen, “it was supposed to be all in good fun but then you had to go Rambo—being Buck. Did I mention how sorry I am?”

Buck laughs, “it’s just a scratch,” as Pearla jumps up beside him to rest her head in his lap, “it’ll heal and I can take a joke but just know…you did start a prank war for the rest of this fall season. You have no idea what you just unleashed.”

You didn’t like how Buck was rubbing his hands together in wicked joy but you’ll learn to deal with it.

“Yeah that’s what Maddie said,” you mumbled as you pulled open the fridge, “so before you come up with those ideas…I can make you your favorite breakfast.”

Buck grins, “that’ll be nice but I’d prefer a cuddle first.”

“Is your head hurting?”

Buck lolls his head, “I told you babe, I feel fine. Now get over here.”

You make a cross motion as you cautiously step over to Buck who shakes his head at you with a grin. Once you’re close enough, he reaches for your sweatshirt to yank you to his other side since Pearla made her claim on his left.

“Now that I know I’m not going crazy anymore, I can really enjoy this house with my two favorite people.” Buck curls a arm around you and rests the other along the back of the couch after patting Pearla’s head.

Resting your head against Buck’s chest you sink into the comfort each other. However that doesn’t last long with the sound of glass shattering from the mirror that once hung on the wall above the wooden chest that contained the record player on top of it.

The silence is almost deafening now as the both of you watch the pieces of the mirror decorate the floor.

Buck says, “Come on, if there was ever a time to be superstitious it’s definitely now.”

You knew a broken mirror was not a good sign and Buck started to feel like it wasn’t really all in his head as the flashes of what happened earlier this morning played back in his head. It couldn’t just be the trash machine you bought whenever and Buck really wasn’t that clumsy to trip over his feet so what gives?

Spookiness can be fun but Buck could always sense when things didn’t exactly feel right anymore? He believed in the full moon, mercury in retrograde and he strongly believed in when things weren’t just a good scare.

“So you agree, we should go house hunting?”

Again? Buck hated the process when he was on his own but with you it felt nice, like there was a definite future to look forward to.

“Yeah,” Buck states, “I think I’m done ghost hunting for awhile.”

“Hell yeah you are.” You respond, keeping your eyes towards the area just in case you saw something else that didn’t sit right with you; while reaching for your phone.

The both of you didn’t bother to debate over where you would be escaping to for the night as you searched your contacts for your realtor and fast.

꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎꩜⌖ㄨ࿔⚡︎ ꩜

Continue with my fall anthology prompts here.

#queued #911 #911 fox #911 abc #911 fanfic #evan buckley #evan buckley x reader #fall prompts #Maddie Buckley #chimney han #Eddie diaz #henrietta wilson #bobby nash #evan buck buckley #howard han #oliver stark

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they-them-that · 5 months

Text

The Complex Misogyny Enacted by Queer Men

Call outs: James Somerton, Trixie Mattel, Katya, Le'Ron Readus, The Roundtable, Rupaul, Karl Lagerfeld, Dolce and Gabana

With the James Somerton scandal, although I only watched some of his videos in passing, it has definitely made me make sure to be more vigilant about the content I consume and how they source.

I also want to address James' misogyny, something that tragically isn't unique to him. The "straight girl" scapegoat many queer men target has bothered me for a long time. They try to frame it in a way that is "punching up" at the privileged but their problem is entirely against them being women. Trixie Mattel has a habit of complaining about "straight" girls that has put me off, especially when her complaints are incredibly presumptuous and small minded. We wouldn't know random women's sexuality yet we choose to assume they're straight so we can openly ridicule them. Even if these women are straight, the problems queer men levy towards them doesn't so much call out any discriminatory behavior as it is shaming women for what they think is "shrill", "annoying", or just for sharing a space with them.

I recall an episode of UNHhhh where Trixie and Katya said how straight people are guests in queer spaces and in the same way, they can be "uninvited". Even though they use a gender neutral term here, we know that the bulk of straight people who attend queer events are women. In the same way that queer spaces are a safe space for gay men, it's also a safe space for women who want to avoid sexual advancements and sexual violence. Gay men overlook women's issues and needs when they find their presence inconvenient despite women posing little threat to them.

I've also seen the way queer men target queer women when they feel like they've been benefiting more than them. James Somerton, La'Ron Readus, and Tom from The Roundtable have all argued how the ratio of wlw representation in media compared to mlm is due to favouritism towards wlw relationships. This is a pure assumption, at the point they made this argument, we never heard of a canon mlm relationship being shot down by TV or movies and the accusers provided no examples of such, just that wlw representation has been making a breakthrough at the time thanks to the vehement pushing of its writers and show creators. It has nothing to do with preferences for wlw relationships as these studios have tried to stop it and still push back against it to "appeal to a broad audience". It just so happens that the queer creatives who have made waves for representation wanted to represent queer femmes, most identifying closely with sapphic experiences. To underestimate the amount of discrimination these queer creators got for getting wlw representation out there by assuming they have some type of privilege over queer CIS men is grossly ignorant. Although mlm representation is important, it's upsetting to see queer men look at wlw representation and respond with jealousy, unknowing of how queerness already centralizes them. RuPaul's Drag Race, for example, was only allowed for CIS men before trans women were recognized as legitimate drag performers, many of the "CIS" contestants turning out to be trans women. Drag kings still have not made any appearances on the show and are still overlooked and undervalued in the Drag community.

Even though queer men cry for their turn when it comes to something like queer representation in the media (even though it exists, they just have a problem with women having more than them), they don't bat an eye in the way queer men dominate places like the fashion industry that heavily discriminate against women (Karl Lagerfeld and Dolce and Gabana being infamously misogynistic). They also wince at gay shipping culture and mlm representation when it's created by women, accusing them of fetishism, something I've been guilty of in the past. Although, there's an understandable desire for mlm content that is also written by queer men and discomfort about women being voyeurs in gay fiction, we're also assuming these women aren't queer themselves or that they even identify as women. Love Simon's author, Becky Albertalli was forced to come out as bisexual after years of scrutiny for being a "straight woman profiting off of queer romance".

"I legitimately didn't realize. I'm thirty-seven years old. I've been happily married to a guy for almost ten years. I have two kids and a cat. I've never kissed a girl. I never even realized I wanted to. But if I rewind further, I'm pretty sure I've had crushes on boys and girls for most of my life. I just didn't realize the girl crushes were crushes."

There is an oversight on how many people divulge in queer fiction in order to explore their sexuality and gender long before they even consider that they could be queer themselves (I know that was my experience). But even with straight women, many of them are actually drawn to gay fiction because it subtracts women from the equation. Female characters are subject to sexist tropes and many of their romances are imbalanced and toxic. Gay fiction has been a way for women to enjoy romance without feeling the weight of patriarchy through femme-presenting characters.

All this to say that misogyny is still fervent in the queer community and queer men do not get a pass on how they talk about and treat women. I noticed that the most privileged of the queer community, that being White CIS gay men, are the ones who act the most entitled in the queer spaces they enter, not the "straight" women they constantly antagonize. Queer men still struggle with what all men struggle with and that's acknowledging their privileges. Even if they swear their problem with women is because of their sexuality, it really ends up coming down to their gender.

#james somerton #trixie and katya #trixie mattel #katya zamolodchikova #rupaul's drag race #karl lagerfeld #dolce & gabbana #mysogyny #feminism #queer issues #lgbtq

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matthewkniesys · 11 months

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late night driving - luke hughes

summary: bad weeks at uni mean good boyfriends trying to cheer you up. and luke was the very best boyfriend so of course you two went driving and got ice cream and watched the sunset to cheer you up.

a/n: this is a little fic i wrote from an anons request for luke hughes x zegras sister sneaking out to get ice cream. this takes place once they've started dating but in secret. its purely fluff and its just super cute!! hope you like it 🫶

pairing: luke hughes x zegras sister!reader

warnings: some swearing and talk of anxiety

Honestly, saying you had a shitty week felt like an understatement. You'd been back to Uni for a few weeks and you already felt like you were drowning. You'd been late to class 3 times this week, it rained and you fell into a puddle, one of your profs is horrible, you'd been so anxious everyday and to top everything off, between you and Luke being busy you hadn't gotten to see each other all week.

But it was finally Friday night and you were so excited to curl up on the couch, do nothing but watch shitty sitcoms and not move for hours. You made instant ramen, grabbed a blanket that still smelled like Luke from when he was at your dorm last weekend, and settled in. Your roommate was going out for the night so you had the whole room to yourself.

Your peace was interrupted 5 episodes into your binge. At this point it was 7 o'clock. It was too early for your roommate to be back but too late for someone uninvited to show up. And you sure as hell hadn't invited anyone.

You got off the couch, extremely pissed at the fact that anyone would dare interrupt your quiet Friday night. You feel a little different after you open the door though.

"Hey babe." Says a familiar voice when you open the door.

"Oh my god Luke. How did you know I needed you tonight?" You ask, jumping into your boyfriends arms.

"I always know...plus I could kinda guess from the very aggressive texts you've been sending me all week."

You laugh. "Yeah well my week has been less than perfect that's for sure." You lead Luke into your dorm and the two of you have a seat on your bed.

"Babe, tell me about it. Why was your week so bad?"

"I just- it was one bad event after another. Over and over again. I couldn't catch a break. From falling into a puddle to having coffee spilt on me to having a really shitty professor it felt like nothing was going right. And then I was just so anxious every single day. And I haven't felt this anxious in so long and I just didn't know how to deal with it." You take a deep breath. It feels good to let your feelings out to someone you trust.

Luke rubs your back. "I'm so sorry your week so shitty babe. I'm also sorry I couldn't have been there for you. I should've been I was just bu-"

You cut your boyfriend off. "You don't have to apologise Luke. I get it. Life is busy and you don't always have time."

"But I always want to have time for you. You are so important to me." You sit in silence for a few moments and then it's Luke who speaks first.

"Wanna go grab some ice cream? We could maybe even still have time to catch the sunset."

You smile. Luke always knows what you need. "Yeah, I'd love that." But also where does Jack think you are? He doesn't know we're dating yet and I know he's a little bit overprotective."

"Yeah, um I kinda snuck out. And he's probably blowing up my phone right now but I don't care. I'm an adult and I wanted to come see you." You smile up at Luke while he gets off the bed. You never thought you'd start falling in love with him this fast but yet here you were.

Luke grabs your hand and the two of you run down the hallway out to Luke's car. You hop into the passenger seat and Luke gets in and starts the car. As he's pulling away, he places a gentle hand on your thigh. You look over at him to see he has a content and peaceful smile on his face as he drives. It overbearing to think you have this kind of effect on him.

Luke parks at the curb and hand in hand, you walk into the ice cream shop. It's a cute little retro diner type place that just opened up a few weeks ago.

Luke, being the boring boy he is, orders plain vanilla while you get your favourite. Luke pays and you return to his car.

"Do you wanna go to the overpass and watch the sunset?"

Luke knows that, that's what you want to do so you just smile. On the drive you play music and Luke hums along while you go full out, pretending you're in a music video. He laughs, not quite sure how he was able to land an amazing person like you.

You arrive just in time. The sky is full of oranges, pinks and reds. Luke helps you up onto the hood of his car and two of you cuddle up, eat your ice cream and watch the setting sun.

When the sky is fully dark you get back in and start driving. You assume Luke will drop you back off at your dorm but all of a sudden you realise he's driving the wrong way.

"Luke are you trying to kidnap me? Where are we going?"

He picks up your hand from where it's resting on the console and kisses it.

"I have no clue babe, but I do know I'm not ready to end this night yet so let's keep driving and see where we end up, okay."

You Look at Luke with all the love in the world in your eyes.

"Okay."

thanks for reading🫶requests are always open!!

taglist: @woodruff-edwards @nicohischierz @makarhughes @cobrakaisb @huggy-hischier94 @boldysswld@cole-mcward48@kashee-h@kjohnson-91 @jackhues @corneliaskates @imma-mirrorball @hvghes @emptyflowerpots

join my taglist

#luke hughes #luke hughes x zegras!sister #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes imagine #jack hughes #nhl imagine #new jersey devils #nhl fic #claire tries writing <3

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multifandumbmeg · 1 month

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Can I say something potentially controversial? I haven't been in this fandom long enough to feel out the prevailing opinions so here's a take:

Idk why people hate on [redacted, not trying to start shit] when John B is right there.

I'm so (not) sorry but like- as someone that was and is so fucking lucky to have grown up with an absolutely ride or die tightknit friend group like the OBX kids, FUCK JOHN B.

Why? Because he's the only one that never checks in on JJ. He makes faces when JJ eats ROTTEN FOOD in his house like "wow ur so gross lol" like he doesn't know that boy LITERALLY DOES NOT HAVE FOOD AT HOME. He straight up ignores JJ in one episode when he actually tells him, "can we eat first? I haven't eaten in two days" like?!?? He disappears and leaves all his friends hanging when he finds [spoiler, iykyk]. He causes discord by bringing Sarah in where she was EXPRESSLY UNINVITED instead of talking it through with Kie first. He ignores Sarah's warning about the Nassau house and nearly gets them both killed. Meanwhile:

Pope expresses concern over JJ's situation multiple times, by hugging him, apologizing, and checking in. He's a kid and he doesn't know what to do, but he clearly does what he can and worries about JJ. He goes along with the group's schemes even when it jeapordizes his whole future and the life his parents are trying so hard to set up for him. He talks through emotions with Kie when theyre friends and does his best not to hold all the mixed signals against her after dating. And while I don't think he's right for it, he also criticizes Kiara for not being there wholeass when John B's dad disappeared, which shows he was. He's always getting into conflicts with and hurting his parents for John B's schemes.

Kiara not only comforts JJ, she's also the ONLY one to confront his dad (despite the danger). She offers to go in with him when he has to talk to his dad. She makes the connection between his reckless behavior and his fucked up childhood. She also checks in on John B numerous times in the first season because she knows he's avoiding and suppressing the trauma of his dad being most likely dead. She also calls ALL the boys out consistently, but usually with a lot of tact and kindness for acting out on the feelings they're avoiding.

Obviously JJ self-sacrifices for his friends all the time. Taking the fall for Pope, risking his future committing crimes to help his friends, and often risking his life for them, or making deals others wouldn't to get them out of a pinch quick. He also tries to call John B out for risking his and everyone else's lives on the incredibly slim chance his father is still alive and trying to leave a trail of bread crumbs early on. In fact, he seems to be the most realistic and honest about Big John when he's talking to John B, and the others criticize him for his lack of tact, but he's the only one who seems to realize feeding into delusions isn't a kind thing to do in the long run. He goes in INSTANTLY when he finds out Pope got jumped, he goes feral when Kiara gets kidnapped (long before he realizes there's any chance of dating her), runs headlong back into a fight with 4 or 5 guys when Raefe insults her, loses his job publicly defending John B from murder accusations etc etc etc...and let's not forget after getting beat half to death by his dad, emotionally trainwrecked because no matter what he does he seems to lose, he blows the money on what? A car? A boat? His shitty house with no food? NO. He orders a bunch of shit he can enjoy with his friends and spends the whole evening setting up fucking christmas lights in the trees despite the amount of evident pain he's in just so they can all be happy and have something TOGETHER. And I'm just gonna stop there because the list literally drags on like crazy, he does everything for his friends, especially John B.

And what has John B done for his friends?

Hmmmmm well there's that one time he stops JJ from starting a shootout with the entire sheriff's department and going down swinging by turning himself in.

Now on the other hand, he repeatedly manipulates his friends into doing things they don't want to or shouldn't do, often at the risk of their lives. He basically spends all of season 2 on a revenge quest, culminating in him not even considering that he should comfort his girlfriend when her father dies in front of them. Repeats what other people say about JJ being "just like his dad" despite knowing both his circumstances and that it's a trigger for him. There's that one time he goes home for the gun to kill Ward and basically ATTACKS all his friends to get through without talking about it?? And never apologizes?? Isn't ever concerned about Pope's scholarship, or in any way sensitive to the fact that he's BLACK and so much of what they get into involves his own generational trauma?! Is told several times Kiara's on the verge of being sent away to a Troubled Teen camp and straight up never once acknowledges or comments about that at all? Shows up to confront Topper and Sarah at Kiara's parents' party, knowing full well she's on thin ice and her parents DO NOT like any of them right now, including having just had a blowout with JJ, who insists on staying out of it.

Honestly, he got real tired of [same spoiler] by the end of season 3, so I'm hoping now they're dead in season 4 he's finally gonna wake up and start looking after his friends more because up to this point? Dude lacks empathy to a criminal degree and has a mad case of toxic main character syndrome.

Just like...as someone who was considered "the glue" to my own group of extremely troubled youths, all of us traumatized to fuck, this dude is failing with flying colors. Please look outside yourself and your romantic relationship some fraction of the time.

#obx #outer banks #John b hater club #Longass rant

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xmortuarykittyx · 8 months

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Ever Unlocked

Part 7: Birthdays and… Balloons?

Part 6: As Does the Sun Shine

pairing: Officer!Leon Kennedy x Coroner’s Assistant!Reader

warnings: mention of female and male anatomy, dark thoughts, again this is a slow burn book so Leon won’t be dark this early on and the smuttier parts will be more later on as their relationship starts to become more, i really want this to be played out as a book rather than just a few parts <3

Coffee, now cold, sitting in the plastic cup on Leon's desk. He'd forced down about one third of it, before he couldn't withstand the bitterness. His eyes closed tight as he took his last sip, forcing the black coffee down his throat with a repressed gag. Was the illusion of fitting in really worth the vile taste that bit at his taste buds? His fingers placed the cup back down, a soft thud coming from the wooden desk as the paper cup met its surface. How did anyone drink this? His nose scrunched at the memory of the earthy flavor. A steamed bean that tasted as a strong as it smelt, nauseating. His eyes moved from his cubicle, looking to the other officers. Some were kicked back, black boots atop their desk as their arms folded behind their heads, chatting mindlessly about whatever thought slid across their mind. Leon hadn't truly gotten too close to most of his colleagues, yet. He did, however, like Lieutenant Branagh. The man was always so stern, but Leon found a way into his more kind moments. Weaseled his way into the Lieutenant's close circle of officers.

His eyelids drooped, falling back to the pile of papers before him, feeling the overbearing weight of the files before him. He couldn't focus, his mind was already wavering from one thing to another and soon all the inked words looked like blurs. His fingers dug into his eyes, wiping away the imaginary film that blocked his pupils from distinguishing letter from letter. He pressed his lips together, his body ached for something, he wasn't sure what it wanted but he couldn't just sit here anymore. Standing up, his hand brushing down the blue material of his uniform shirt, straightening out the still, slightly, stiff fabric. He hadn't worn this one in as much as he had the others, it was still crisp. It was even a bit itchy as Leon bit back a groan.

A mere stroll, he was simply trying to stretch his legs. The dull ache in his legs needed to be coaxed out as he passed by the same dark oak door. His eyes on the plaque that hung, face level, in front of him. 'Coroner's Office'. He'd been growing familiar with the office, the cold feeling it gave off as he heard shuffling on the other side of the door. He didn't want to seem clingy, despite his already near adhesive behavior towards her. He was like a piece of gum that didn't want to be scraped from her shoe. He clung to any piece of her his sticky mind could reach, be it a look here or there, an offer to take her to work or pick her up coffee, an uninvited trip to her apartment and a soft touch after his hand slammed a mug into the back of her head.

He wondered if she remembered, did she know he was there and she was just too nervous to say anything? Surly not, he wondered if, without his direction, she already assumed it was a dream. If not, he'd slide in her comfort show, one that showed home invasions often, he had sat down to watch a few episodes after their talk that night, her little ramble about how she always came home on weekends and binged the seasons she'd seen already, far too many times. He liked to watch her ramble, going on about a detective who was brainy and wise, how much she thought the character was similar to him and then to if he ever wanted to go higher into the criminal justice system. He could listen to her prattle for ages and never become tired of hearing her voice. He was an addict for her, Leon never thought himself the kind to be over come by an addiction. He didn't smoke cigarettes and maybe sometimes he over indulged into the bottle on occasion, but to say he was addicted, that would mean he needed a substance. His substance was her.

"You gonna day dream all day, Kennedy?", he heard a mellow voice from behind him, breaking his thoughts away from the girl just on the other side of the door. "You know, you still have reports to turn in.", Lieutenant Marvin Branagh, the African American man stood behind him as Leon tilted his head to look behind him. "Yes, Lieutenant. I was just stretching my legs before i finished them up, sir.", always the good boy, always the yes man. Leon made sure he gave respect where it was due and Branagh deserved respect for how well he treated the officers in RPD. "I'm just pulling your leg, you've got plenty of time.", the man laughed, placing his hand on his khaki clad hip. "I was looking for you. I wanted to invite you to my little girl's birthday. She's turning 5, I'm inviting the whole precinct.", Leon could see how much Marvin was excited for this birthday party. "The sun's shining for once and i think my little girl wants to have a pool party. Bring yourself and a plus one...", Branagh's eyes narrowed, a knowing smirk crossing his lips. "Maybe that little assistant girl?", Leon's cheeks lit up as his lips turned down. "Why would you assume-", he started to raise his hand to wave off what the Lieutenant suggested. "Don't act like you haven't brought her to work and taken her home the past two days. I know what you're doing, I was young once.", Marvin knew Leon was trying to charm the girl. "Bring her, it's tomorrow at 3pm. Bring a swimsuit and an appetite. My wife makes the best potato salad and i'm going to throw some meat onto the grill.", with that and another knowing look, Marvin walked away from the younger officer. "I better see her there.", he called over his shoulder, voice bounding off the walls and echoing. Leon winced, silently praying she hadn't heard the Lieutenant through the door.

"A birthday party, for Lieutenant Branagh's daughter?", she looked up at Leon, tapping a file onto her desk, her other hand holding a paper clip ready to slide it onto the papers once they fell into place. "I'd love to go with you.", her eyes crinkled as the corner of her mouth quirked up. A shocked breath fell from Leon's lips, it's not like he truly expected a no, but she hadn't been too familiar with the other officers. He knew she was shy and even a little anxious, she didn't even order for herself at the coffee place this morning. Leon noticed she was fidgeting and seemed a little more nervous than in the car and opted to order for her.

"Maybe we can stop by and pick her up a gift and some balloons. I know i loved balloons when i was a kid.", she slid her chair back, placing the file into an open file cabinet, before pushing it closed and twisting the key to lock it back. Upon hearing his silence, she turned to look over her shoulder, "So, that's a no to balloons?", she asked, wondering if his lack of answer was due to the floating, helium filled rubber. "We'll definitely get balloons, so long as i don't have to fill them up.", his head was slightly tilted, giving him an extra air of innocence. "Ballons it is then.", she chuckled, looking at his slightly obvious stare. "You gonna blink any time soon?", she was bold, for once. Leaning onto her elbow as she slid her chair back to its respective spot.

He didn't want to blink, not for a second as he watched her slide, the slight bump over the rolling mat that was placed under her desk made her breasts bounce slightly, causing his eyes to divert to the movement. Her breasts looked so soft, the shirt cut off the rest of his view. Her valley between her mounds tempted him to bury his head between them, pressing kisses to the flesh. Yeah... sorry-", he shook his head, eyes flickering up to the window, golden rays of sunshine bounced into the room. "It looks like a pretty day today, I hope it stays that way for tomorrow.", he cleared his throat, hand pulling at the collar of his shirt. "I'm sure it will.", she glanced over to where he was looking, small particles of dust flew through the rays of sunshine, causing a peaceful look to takeover the usually dark office.

"It's a pool party, did i mention that?", his voice broke the calm silence. Her eyes snapping up to him, her hands reaching for the next file. "No, but that sounds great.", great to her, he got to see her in a bathing suit and his dick nearly twitched to life at the thought. He got to see her in a, hopefully, sexy, yet modest bathing suit. Although, so did all the other officers who'd be there. That thought, in and of itself, made him sick. Who were they to look at what was his? He liked that she stayed away in the office, away from his coworkers, but what when other officers realized just how sweet and naive- pretty, she was? Would she like all that attention on her very womanly figure or would she be shy and try to cover herself up? "Yeah, sounds great to me too.", he hummed, his lips pushed together as he gazed back at the window.

"I can pick you up for the party?", a few moments later, it seemed he was always the one to break the silence, but he had to hear her more. "Are you sure, Leon?", she squinted her eyes, he was always picking her up, it felt like she didn't even need a car anymore. "I'm sure, i've been to the Lieutenant's home before, i know the way and it saves you the chance of getting lost on the way. It's on the outskirts of Raccoon.", he moved back over, stepping to the side and sitting in the chair his butt has become so close with. The red upholstery welcomed his back like an old friend. "Only if you're sure.", she gave him a look of uncertainty; she felt bad he was always going out of his way to do things for her or come see her. "I can give you some gas money.", she had a soft twinkle in her eyes when she looked back up at him. His hand waved her off, dismissively, before she even finished the word 'gas'. "No, i'm offering to take you.", he really put some effort behind saying 'offering', "if you really want to pay me back for taking you... let me come by your place again. I really enjoyed our little tea party.", a smirk pulled at his lips, slightly teasing her about their first night together- their only night together that she was aware of.

"How about-", she leaned over the desk; his eyes getting a clear shot down her shirt before he looked back up at those doe eyes of hers. "after that party, you and i go back to mine and we can have a movie night? We can order pizza in and maybe even get a few beers- if you drink that is.", she offered, leaning back in her chair as it squeaked with her weight. Leon's finger pressed to his clef chin, eyes dancing as he hummed. "Let me see...", he looked down at his watch, which had nothing to do with anything. "i've got a pretty busy schedule...", his tone was playful but muted. She couldn't help but laugh, even if she got turned down, his overtly dramatic show was just too cute. "but-", he lifted his finger, then pointed it at her. "I think I can make some time to spend with a pretty girl like you.", it was his turn to be bold. Her cheeks nearly felt like he'd struck a match near them, her eyes as wide as saucers as she stared at him. He called her a pretty girl, she thought he'd said it before it this time. With his very obvious flirting, it made her feel warm and tingly. "Well... I think we have a movie date-", the word date slipped her lips before she even registered the underlying intention to the word. Mentally, he was kicking his feet in joy, screaming that she was finally his, well... as much of his as a first date goes. He wanted to do it better, some place fancy and escort her to a nice restaurant, maybe take her to the botanical gardens but this would do. They'd have plenty of time for those nicer dates later. He'd be in her home once more, this time in a welcomed way.

"Oh, Leon.", she spoke up softly. "I had this really weird dream.", she shuffled, her hands going under her butt to keep her skirt down as she adjusted herself in the office chair. He could sense she was nervous to talk about this 'dream.' he had a feeling he knew what was coming next and he could feel his pulse start to quicken. "Oh, really? Do you want to tell me about it?", he leaned into her, his head now passing the edge of her desk. "Unless, of course, you're not comfortable. I just-", he was going to tell her that it's okay- "No, it was about you.", maybe, her inviting him to come back over had subconsciously struck a nerve in her. "You were in my kitchen and-", she bit back her next words, her lip pulled between her teeth. "It's so silly, i don't even know why i'm telling you.", she felt ashamed to have dreamt something like this and to tell him at that. She felt foolish. "It's okay.", his voice was calm, feigning ignorance as he knew what she was about to say and he could see the guilt she felt from thinking it was him, to which it was, but she didn't need to know that. Her hands played with her skirt seam as she looked up at him. "You were just there and i came home to you in my kitchen. You... grabbed me and it scared me, really bad.", she couldn't even look at him, her eyes zeroed in on a pencil holder.

"I'd never hurt you, bunny.", there's that nickname, that nickname made from her naive, idiotic nature. To her it sounded so reassuring and kind, understanding even. To anyone who knew the boiling thoughts that rose to his mind at any slight moment, it sounded like a lie, a manipulation used to bring her comfort in a trying time that he, himself, had caused her. "I'd never, ever, hurt you, bunny.", his head tilted, almost like he was hurt that she would think such thing.

Maybe, just maybe, he was too good at this. That pretty, sweet boy was a wolf in sheep clothing, comforting his prey. "I know.", she let out a sigh mixed with a scoff, "maybe i need to lay off that stupid crime show.", she let out a airy laugh, her eyes finally meeting his. "I trust you, Leon.", oh, what a mistake she had made, those words nearly knocked Leon into an orgasmic state of mind. She trusted him. How, she would come to regret that decision. Her trust lay in the open palm of a man who was slowly changing, his frontal lobe near a rework. He'd never been this way before, but his body was slowly cresting that thin line between love and obsession, that clarity and delusion.

"You won't regret it, my sweet little bunny."

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dercolaris · 7 months

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Arkham Asylum Soap

Woohoo, I'm back! Today there is a relaxed, hopefully funny story for you. It's based on this small video here: https://youtu.be/rFWb7DG7zTc?si=12amI4CKDI1e8-IY

Main characters: Scarecrow, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy.

Enjoy!

The teaspoon clinked against the white porcelain of the coffee mug a few times as the former psychiatrist's blue eyes looked relaxed through the window in front of him. On the weekends, the therapy rooms - formerly interrogation rooms - were rarely used by the few psychologists present and were therefore open to inmates for various leisure activities, at least if they were not stuck in the hated solitary confinement again. Jonathan took a sip of his black coffee. Normally no one ever strayed into these rooms, as it was widely known that they could be observed through the one-sided mirror in the equally open adjoining room.

This information still seemed not to have reached Jervis Tetch, despite his frequent visits to Arkham Asylum. The Mad Hatter sat in the therapy room, extremely concentrated while gluing a pair of googly eyes onto a stone. The blonde-haired man gave the stone a few scraps of a discarded washcloth that he had probably been allowed to take with him when he worked in the laundry department of the asylum. The stone was soon joined by a plastic fork and a plastic cup, both of which were equally lovingly prepared with googly eyes and fabric hair.

Before the wayward show in the therapy room could begin, there was a sudden knock on the door to the room of the uninvited viewer. Jonathan didn't even look up, just murmured quietly: "Can I do something for you, Edward?" The Riddler raised an eyebrow and looked reproachfully at his cellmate. He spoke condemningly: “I know that especially you are sitting here in Arkham for a very good reason, but watching another inmate through a one-sided mirror like a psycho while drinking a coffee in peace and quiet is something that is a little too much for me, Jon. This is unreasonably creepy even by your low standards.”

The former psychiatrist shrugged his shoulders and absently stirred his hot drink again. He finally replied calmly: "Perhaps you would sit with me for a moment, Edward, before you judge. You'll probably understand why I don't want to miss this special opportunity." The Riddler snorted softly, then sat down sceptically next to Jonathan and looked confused through the window. He asked quietly: “And what exactly should we observe here now? Is Tetch going to tap dance or something?”

Scarecrow smiled a little: “No, something much better is about to happen. Just be patient for a moment.” Before Edward could reply, Harley Quinn suddenly poked her head into the observation room. The Clown took a look into the therapy room and held her breath for a moment. She looked at Jonathan, who only nodded meaningfully. The woman disappeared for a moment, but then returned with a chair and sat down next to the two men present. Harley squealed excitedly: “Don’t tell me he already started. I definitely didn’t want to miss the answer to the cliff hanger in the last episode!”

Jonathan shook his head slowly and took another sip of his coffee. Edward was about to ask more questions when Jervis suddenly picked up the stone and the plastic fork in the therapy room. Harley sat down tensely and whispered seriously: "Here we go, hush everyone!" The Mad Hatter cleared his throat and began to speak for the plastic fork in a mock dark voice: "Maddison, you still haven't answered my question. How am I supposed to plan our future if you stay away from me?”

The Riddler blinked in confusion and whispered barely audibly to Scarecrow: "What the hell is that idiot doing?" The former psychiatrist replied with a grin: "He's living out his fantasy and subconsciously letting the rest of us participate in it." "That's already episode six," added Harley Quinn nervously, "Maddison is totally indecisive and Francisco just doesn't know if he can trust her. He asked her in the fourth episode if she would like to marry him.” Edward was literally speechless by so much madness.

Jervis, on the other hand, seemed to be just getting started with his performance. The little man now moved the stone back and forth, squeaking in a loud female-like voice: “Francisco, please understand – love. This love, it's so heavy on my heart and I feel torn inside." The Riddler rolled his eyes a little, then murmured dryly to himself: "It's supposed to be hard to be torn when you're a fucking stone." “Show some fucking respect for Maddison, asshole,” a distorted voice suddenly growled behind him.

Two-Face sat down with a chair next to the tinkerer and took a bite of a donut with relish. Edward slowly couldn't believe his cellmates anymore. Was this cheesy soap opera well known to all the inmates or what? The Riddler cursed under his breath. Now he himself began to describe this madness as an entertainment medium. The plastic fork came back into use in the therapy room: “But why? I gave you everything. Everything you've ever wanted. What is tearing you apart, my love? Just tell me.”

Next to Jonathan, Harley Quinn repeated almost breathlessly: “He really gave her everything.” There was a dramatic pause. At that moment, Jervis turned the stone painfully slowly around and then continued in the squeaky voice: "It's not that easy, Francisco." The entire viewers room held its breath for a moment - even Edward was suddenly carried away by the drama behind the glass. The plastic fork moved a little closer to the ‘back’ of the stone as the Mad Hatter asked loudly: "Why isn't it easy, Maddison? Tell me why you can’t bind your heart to me. I don’t understand it anymore.”

Poison Ivy suddenly appeared behind Harley, casually supporting herself on her partner's shoulders. The Harlequin, on the other hand, chewed nervously on her fingernails and stared with wide eyes at the spectacle behind the window. Finally, the stone turned slowly back to the fork and uttered more words: “Francisco, I can no longer bind my heart to you. There is – someone else in my life.” The group in the other room reacted with shock to this unexpected information. Harley Quinn in particular, near tears, whispered: “No, Maddison. Why? You were such a perfect couple with Francisco!”

Harvey also commented on this unexpected plot twist: "She actually cheated on Francisco?" His other side growled in a distorted voice: "He should stab that cunt straight in the heart." Harvey calmed his other half down quietly: "We'll just have to wait and see who the other one actually is. Maybe she has a good reason to dump him." "I don't fucking care," Two-Face continued his dialogue with himself, "whoever symbolically drives a knife into a partner's heart with such a decision deserves a cold, sharp blade in the chest in return."

The plastic fork couldn't respond at all for a long time because of the shock. He finally stammered, audibly devastated: "I can't and don't want to believe that, Maddison." "But it's true," the stone commented in a dramatic voice, "My heart belongs ..." The answer took a long time. During this new pause, no one in the next room dared to breathe. Even Edward was caught in the act, casually grabbing Jonathan's coffee mug out of his hands and taking a long sip of the hot drink.

The former psychiatrist cleared his throat at this insolence, but was immediately forced to calm down by Harley. Maddison took another deep breath and finally spoke up: “Your brother Orlando.” The plastic fork slumped forward a little and stood now sideways on the table. Francisco's deep voice stammered again: “No, Maddison. That… No. And that with my own brother too?” Jervis suddenly took the plastic cup from under the table and placed it next to the stone. He shouted confidently: “I can simply offer her more than you, brother. I was always the better of the two of us!”

Ivy clicked her tongue contemptuously and spoke bitterly: “Men. Even in this situation, all they think about is who is better. This macho behaviour was supposed to drive Maddison straight into the arms of Angelina.” Harley began to cry loudly and sniffed into a tissue. She sobbed, completely distraught: “Francisco didn’t deserve this. How unfair!” Two-Face suddenly pulled a bread knife out of his pocket and said angrily: “I’m going to stab that bitch and the shitty son of a bitch! Our brave guy doesn't deserve this! For Francisco!”

At this moment, three villains stood up at the same time. Edward and Jonathan tried their best to held Harvey back with all their might, as he waved his knives around wildly, trying to put his plan into action. Harley had lost herself in an uncontrollable fit of tears. Ivy shook her head very slowly at the sight, then commented calmly on the situation: "Do I really want to imagine that this all started with a madman that putted googly eyes on a fork, a cup and a stone?"

#batman #dc #jonathan crane #edward nygma #jervis tetch #riddler #mad hatter #scriddler #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #harvey dent #riddlecrow #two face #poison ivy #pamela isley #scarecrow

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carefulfears · 1 year

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Yes! It’s especially insane with Phoebe bc like the show goes out of it’s way to explicitly show how fucked up she was idk how people forget it

yep yep yep!! it's quite literally the entire point of the episode. but i still see people all the time like...calling mulder stupid for "trusting" her and making jokes about the way he behaves around her and it's just like...please don't piss me off. same exact thing with diana.

fire is one of my favorite episodes though i think it's such an interesting look at mulder's character and example of the ways that he views and interacts with people close to him

because he understands and acknowledges from the very beginning that phoebe's just there to fuck with him, that she made the trip from boston to DC to bring him in on the investigation for no reason other than knowing that it will scare him

he knows what she’s doing, and he still agrees to help her

his only concession being that scully not be involved

noting that he's not going to "put her through" phoebe's games

this is something that we've seen him do before, with his former partner jerry earlier in season one, who broke into his office and stole his work.

it's clear throughout ghost in the machine that mulder isn't comfortable working with him, but helps him anyway because jerry asked him to

and builds him up when jerry is feeling insecure

he infamously does it again with diana, always affording her the benefit of the doubt and defending her

and with his parents, consistently coming whenever they call, despite all of their lies and neglect

(side note from pulling ghost in the machine caps but his ties in this ep are soooo classic baby spooky i miss s1 soooo much)

anyway, this is the dynamic that fire circles around, and the only time in the episode that mulder pushes back against phoebe is when he cracks this joke about having a "refined technique" with women who cheat

which he apologizes for instantly, recognizing that it upset her

fire is also one of the best portrayals of the true sign of a toxic/abusive relationship: not realizing anything is wrong with it until you tell your best friend

i see criticism of this episode sometimes that interprets it as glorifying phoebe, portraying her as sexy and her behavior as righteous, but i disagree.

i don't think that you can base the episode's stance on phoebe on mulder's behavior, he's responding to her through a very warped and controlled lens. just because he views her in a positive light, doesn't mean that we should as the audience.

whereas, scully is immediately wary of phoebe and critical of her, even before knowing the context for her actions.

this shot is my favorite lmao. she is contemplating murder. she is wondering if she could get away with it.

her lil passive aggressive "bye bitch" finger wave

her "mmmmyeah sure sherlock"

her watchful eye as she hangs in the doorway while mulder and phoebe meet with the arson specialist

she literally sits at his desk in his chair and waits for him just to make this sherlock holmes joke 😭😭😭 they are BEST friends

now, this is when she finds out the true history with phoebe, and the reason behind her visit. and it's when mulder tells her that she's off the case.

and from that point, scully starts investigating the murders herself, consulting her own sources to put together her own theories

while these two do absolutely fuck all

she shows up uninvited at the event in boston, having SOLVED THE CASE HER-FUCKING-SELF

and she's the only one who gives a fuck when mulder gets hurt

while phoebe shakes hands and schmoozes at the party

sweetie pie making sure her partner gets some water and some rest

now, dana 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

after making sure mulder is okay (and getting a peek at him shirtless) she shows him the evidence that she found, telling him that she just "didn't know a whole lot about arson" so took the opportunity to do some research "for my own edification, of course" GIRLLLLL

and they identify the groundskeeper as the murderer based on the information that she gathered

the face of a woman who single-handedly solved a string of serial murders to get her best friend's bitch of an ex away from him. she is truly an inspiration to us all.

and she has 1 more sherlock holmes joke in her.

so, anyway, mulder is visibly uncomfortable around phoebe from the start, and this is something that scully picks up on immediately, even before being told any information about phoebe or her motives

and this is an ongoing theme from the very beginning, as mulder is generally unaggressive and compassionate to a fault, leaving scully feeling a responsibility to be conscious and wary of their surroundings.

scully isn't being jealous towards phoebe, just like she isn't "taking things personally" with diana. she understands this about mulder and how exploitable it is, and she's fiercely protective of both him and the kindhearted qualities that leave him vulnerable to these situations

anyway TLDR let me see any of you call either of them stupid again

#i'm still all over the place maybe i'll do a real post on this ep soon #and why i love it #but i just wanted to chat about it for a sec #because i do love it #a lot of y'all just drive me crazy when you talk about it #THANKS FOR THE ASK!! <3 #asks #fire #remember when mulder’s mom hit him and he didn’t flinch #children weaned on poison etc etc #kae meta

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genlosstse-au-factory · 5 months

Text

Boo! pilot episode. pt. 1

[It opens on a shot of an ominous imposing abandoned mall during a thunder storm as a shipping truck drives up to it. A large sign identifies the name of the mall to be ShowMall, although the sign is falling apart like the rest of the mall.]

[A mailman exits the truck, struggling to haul a metal crate in his arms. The mailman knocks on the main door. There's no response, but mailman hears a crash from within the dark mall. He hesitantly enters the mall, still holding the crate.]

[Wide shot of the interior of the mall looking down the mailman from an upper balcony.]

[The mailman sets down the metal crate with a loud clank and wipes sweat from his forehead. A clatter and a shadowy figure rushes by on an upper balcony. The mailman looks at the higher floors for the source of the noise. He calls out.]

MAILMAN: (almost hushed) Hello?

[Another noise and the mailman looks directly at the source but no one is there on the second floor balcony. Thunder crashes and lighting strikes suddenly revealing that there is someone standing there. The figure has a skeletal face and a very uninviting smile on his face and is gone in a second. The mailman screams and runs out of the mall.]

[The shipping truck screeches away as the title card appears above the mall. Boxed In]

#genloss au #genloss cartoon au #pt. 1 pilot

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marierg · 1 year

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Bad Batch Hemlock Analysis

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!

WARNING: Talk of sociopaths, serial killers, and death!

Do not Read under the cut if you haven't watched!!!!!!!

Alright Homies hang in there with me cause I'm dusting off my old Investigatory skills for this one. I will start off with I had to watch these episodes twice just to be sure of a few things and then went back and re watched a few of the other ones and let me tell you, we got some interesting clues here.

I will give this small bit of my background for reference. Before working in the medical field I earned my way through college by working for Law Enforcement and other Public Safety Departments for the metropolitan county that I resided in. Additionally a lot of my family are Law Enforcement, specifically Prosecutorial Investigators. During my service time I worked undercover flushing out and apprehending child traffickers & killers among others. This is a civilian version of how we used to work up files.

Below I will include a work up for Hemlock and what we can extrapolate.

Royce Hemlock:

Caucasian Male, mid 40's to maybe 50 years old

Occupation: Scientist, head of the Imperial Advanced Science Division.

The first thing we can analyze is that the writers gave us the set up within Hemlock's first appearance, he's the stereotypical profile of a Sociopathic Killer. Most Sociopaths become serial killers around 30 yeas of age but sometimes as early as their teens. Most are Caucasian males, are we getting the picture...

Sociopathic tendencies and behaviors:

Superficial charm and good intelligence

Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking

Absence of nervousness or neurotic manifestations

Unreliability- still hasn't delivered results to the emperor

Untruthfulness and insincerity- he lies as easily as breathing

Lack of remorse and shame

Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior- Apologizes because he knows its the social norm, not because he is sorry.

Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience

Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love

General poverty in major affective reactions- In other words his reaction (with few exceptions) is the calm flat affect. He doesn't respond to the threat at the compound with panic but annoyance and possibly feeling inconvenienced. His gaze is dissociative and blank.

Specific loss of insight- His ego is so inflated that he can't see past the work he does to acknowledge the danger in the room, he will never believe himself to be in danger if he fails.

Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations- He barely acknowledges Tarkin and the others in the room, never calls his collogues on Tantis by name. They just exist in his world.

Fantastic and uninviting behavior with alcohol and sometimes without- the anger that sometimes slips past the facade

Suicide threats rarely carried out

Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated

Failure to follow any life plan

Facts and theory: For being a by all accounts a brilliant scientist he was expelled from the Republic Science Corp for, "Unorthodox experimentation." I will tell you now that for the Republic to have charged and expelled a Scientist it would have a) taken time to build a case and b) like any serial killer that means that Hemlock was at this for a good while.

We can also gather that Hemlock must have been at least somewhat successful at his work. At some point the Emperor (then chancellor) took notice of him and the experiments and saw an opportunity (and fellow sociopath). What is truly unknown at this point is if the the Emperor knew about Hemlock before, during, or after his prosecution and expulsion. However what we can gather is that soon after his expulsion the Emperor ushered him into his hidden science division and out of sight to keep working.

Victims: For the Republic to have prosecuted him there would have had to be complaints which led (I would put hard credits) to victims and bodies. another question that this raises is whether or not Hemlock was betrayed by his former collogues and or that he brought in former coworkers and scientists by recruitment or force. We have seen examples of the kind of leverage pulling by using families against imperials before in Rogue one.

Hemlock shows no regard for sentient life whatsoever. we've seen this first hand, but we are also seeing a behavior that is long past set in stone. What this means is that prior to his expulsion he was doing these experiments in plain or partial sight. This means that he was keeping records off the republic files, but probably still within the facilities, he would have to lie or falsify docs regularly to continue gathering data.

In the real health care world there is a reason that Doctors cannot download or access files except at certain terminals to prevent sensitive data transfer. Somehow Hemlock would have found a way around the safety firewalls and data trackers in the system to gather his data, but it would have still left a trail to follow. When confronted Hemlock probably would have had to have had some type of false or cover research study to try to explain things away, especially if they searched his files. Again he lies as easily as breathing, his work is the only thing that matters.

Along that line of thought is the reflection of his affect towards others, he has ever shown two emotions and one of them extreme anger. While normally controlled and clinically detached Hemlock has reacted with extreme anger when his work has been threatened, not his life but his work. He reflects all of his self importance onto his scientific achievements and when someone or something comes between his reaction is anger and (possibly) violence. Another question is how many of his subjects suffered in extreme because of how the experiments were failing. This is a particularly concerning thought with regards to Crosshair, remember what Emerie was telling him about cooperating? This means that it's happened before and witnessed by Dr. Karr.

Another Tactic that Hemlock has employed often and to great effect is emotional manipulation. This man understands finding the chink in the armor and how to twist that to perfection. We saw this with the single minded search and recovery of Omega in order to get Nala Se to work again. Hemlock doesn't care that he's traumatizing a child or even if he ends up killing her. "She will suffer your consequences."

We see this again as Hemlock throws Tech's goggles at Hunter's feet. Not just the physical action but also using Tech's name in such a cold manner in an attempt to push Hunter to act in anger. Thankfully the Sarge kept his head... unfortunately Omega did not. Which is not to say we didn't expect that, she has been through far too much for a kid her age and by god she tried to save her family. Honestly I'm proud of that lil fiesty sweet Bean.

Weaknesses: While most sociopaths feel themselves too intelligent to be found out they can at times be sloppy. In some cases killers will keep trophies of their victims, in others the body is disposed of in similar manners or with ritual. One case from the eighties (if I recall correctly) had the killer injecting insulin to kill the victims but made the mistake of doing it in front of family members and not disposing of the evidence in a more careful manner. When later questioned the family remembers that the victim was given medication but that they weren't diabetic. Perfect example of plain sight and no questions.

My best guess is that is how Hemlock was found out the first time, he left small but important clues for the investigators to follow. Eventually all of the small pieces would have built the frame of this puzzle to start to build the bigger picture.

Now this does present the Batch with an advantage, Hemlock is so over confident that he may not expect an attack. His base is remote, shielded within a mountain and guarded by (probably) brainwashed commandos. His certainty that he can't be followed, tracked, found, or even betrayed is a weakness that could be exploited by the Boys and also by Omega if she can gather help.

Advantages that the Boys have are friends with special skills: Phee (who would want retribution for Tech), Rex and Co, Cham Syndula and the fighters of Ryloth, the Wookies! Point is that if their friends would likely come to the aid of a rescue. More so these particular allies are specialized in insurgency and Spec Ops (Gregor I'm lookin' at your Kataran armored butt). I would also place cold hard credits on a few of the refugees on Pabu having been former freedom fighters.

Possible Clues that we can gather from this work up:

A.) The fight isn't over yet and if we jail break it's gonna be a one shot all or nothing. There is going to be a need for scouting, extreme air support, ground transport, and other necessary egress for the injured and experimented on clones. There is going to need to be help from the inside in order to infiltrate, which is where I foresee Dr. Kerr coming into play.

B.) Hemlock is a dead man, whether by the hand of the empire (ala Rampart) or at the hands of the clones (poetic justice) this man cannot be allowed to survive.

C.) I don't think that Tech is dead and I shall explain. When Hemlock threw the goggles he was playing Hunter, he also said that Tarkin wanted to question them personally. Now knowing Tarkin from Rebels and a New Hope we know he likes to keep prisoners alive for information. Tarkin could have killed Leia the minute that Alderaan was toast but he knew the value of the knowledge she held, he's a cagey character that way. I believe that Tech is alive and that is how the Imps got to Sid.

I know it's a longshot in the dark here but keep in mind this is Clone Force 99. Genetically modified to be stronger, tougher, faster. Crosshair survived an Ion engine and 32 days on a platform with nothing but his wits. Hunter has survived being shot by Cad Bane. Tech has previously WALKED AND FOUGHT on a broken Femur!!!!!! So yeah there's a chance!

@wild-karrde and @rain-on-kamino Girls lemme know what you think!

#the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch #tech tbb #Tech LIVES #dr hemlock #Hemlock needs to Die!#in a slow and painfull manner

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cynthia39100 · 2 months

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Merlin rewatch -- S1E9: Excalibur

Merlin

I feel like this is the episode where Merlin's relationship with Arthur was formally acknowledged by other people. There was Gwen teasing him for being proud of Arthur (they were so cute together). And there was Uther leaving Arthur to his care (what happened to "he's just a servant"? Maybe he was still emotional from the heart-to-heart with Gaius). That scene with the two was lovely. Merlin was weirdly friendly when Uther walked in uninvited. He was probably too pleased with himself for making Excalibur to be scared of the King. And Uther for the first time looked him in the eyes, properly acknowledging his place in Arthur's life. Really nice.

It's also the point where the dragon lost part of his faith in Merlin, it seemed, where the dragon stopped revealing all his knowledge willingly. Merlin did try his best to cover Excalibur though… And he was honest. The dragon wouldn't know what happened if Merlin didn't confess.

<- Prev Next -> [other episodes]

#merlin rewatch 2024 #bbc merlin #rewatch: excalibur #merlin #kilgharrah #uther pendragon

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miitarashi · 9 months

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You know what😳

A reader who, due to trauma, really dislikes being touched by anyone, and Tintin knows this. She suddenly has a nervous breakdown. How could Tintin help her, calm her down? 👀👀👀👀

(PLS PLS I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO READ WHAT YOU WRITE 🛐 and also a fact about the reader - even though she doesn't like to be touched, she herself can touch anyone, she could hug Tintin at the end 🥹👉👈 I just I like to create traumatized characters and then comfort them 🥰🔪)

OH- BRO I LOVED IT SO MUCH??? YOU'RE SO CREATIVE!

Warning: i end up writing too much so,it's long, because of the context. Sorry for it,i was hyped by the idea 😅. There's trauma mentioned and a scence of a man being a jerk and trighen of trauma so,please be aware.

I'll do my best to make the proper justice for this delicious idea 😌👌🏽

[Name] = Reader (Female)

Prompt: Tintin helps you in a breakdown.

You and Tintin are friends for a long while by now.

The circunstances of your first encounter wasn't so...good to say the least. Since you was one of the victim from the culprit of the case in his hand at the time. He didn't know exactly what happened and by the way you answered his questions,he only guessed enough to not disturb you more about it.

After sending the man to jail and solving the case,Tintin keeped contact mostly by worry in the begin and little by little as you open up your relationship grow and soon,he let you accompany him on his adventures, more in terms of looking for clues than in real action for obvious reasons.

In the meantime, it was readily apparent that Tintin was very...touchy. Whenever he spoke to someone, in the middle of the dialogue there would be some kind of light touch on the shoulder or arm maybe to emphasize his words or something. At first,it was a little problem for you. Precisely because he was touchy, sometimes without noticing, Tintin ended up touching or holding your arm and shoulders to get attention or just instinctively, moving away soon after noticing your reaction of discomfort apologizing whenever his hand instinctively approached you.

But, after some time, he got used to respecting your space so that he could feel comfortable around him. Even if for other people's eyes he was doing the least, for you, it had a greater value mainly because he had to hold back and avoid something he is used to doing.

However, because he is almost always too busy in his numerous adventures, in your mind, it was better to keep those feelings in order not to disturb him, apart from your problem with touch.

Being observant, Tintin noticed your reactions to people unaware of this problem when he was around you. Few, rarely, these interactions yielded mild reactions to your trauma. His first action was trying to hold you,but in the same instant he back away knowing that this only would increase the problem so he guide you for a place with less people and keeped company.

It was the first time you had a breakdown in front of him. You felt so bad afterwards,not even just because of what happened,but rather by the fact that it happened in front of him suddenly. As soon it ended, you said sorry, ashamed and he clearly said right away that it wasn't necessary and assured you it wasn't a problem for him, however, you still felt bad and tried to avoid it with your all.

Months after this episode, you finally found time to visit your friends in Brussels. Wandering the streets with a smile beaming with happiness, excited to meet Tintin and Haddock again, you was distracted enough to not notice a person approaching from behind just a few steps away from Tintin's apartment.

"hey! Looks like someone's happy huh?" - the sudden voice startled you.

With a small nod and smile,you keep looking foward and walking,but this man was still coming along uninvited.

"What's wrong? Come on,what about giving some attention for me? I just wanna talk" - again,he insisted and you shaked you head while walking a bit faster.

"Hey hey,wait a moment!" - suddenly,you felt a hand grabbing firmily your arms while the other hand already get on your waist.

"Such a cutie like this shouldn't playing hard to get-"

Your whole body trembled,the sensation feeling like dread disgust and fear spreading through you like a plague ,your breath catch on your throat and in a fast motion,you pushed him away and run the rest of the steps to the place,entering and going straight to his door.

You didn't knocked,not even cared for it as you open it wide and rush in closing the door resting your back against it finally safe inside of your friend's apartament. Tintin,who was sitted on the couch,get stratled by your sudden entrance leaving the newspaper aside and quickly get up focusing his gaze on your body language.

"[Name]? What happened? Is-" - after three to four steps closer,noticing him getting near,you cringy in place instantily.

He freeze. You was trembling,breathing heavy and shaky,tears threating to fall down your cheeks,the sensation still lingering on your arm and waist,the disgust growing deep within.

A breakdown. In front of him,but worst than the last time. Tintin was conflicted for a brief moment,the first thought being to touch you to bring comfort but it soon faded away by new ideas while looking at you sitting on the floor slowly and hugging yourself.

He give one more step closer,you cringe. He stopped. Five steps away was the limit. He didn't said much,only turn his back walking to the dranwer near grabbing something and then walking back keeping the five steps distance and sitting in front of you.

"[Name]...you don't need to tell me,just...point at it. I would never hurt you,don't forget it ok?" - after saying it,he pull a deck of cards with various words spreading them on the floor for you.

"Can i ask you the reason?" - his voice was lower,like he was afraid to scare away a little animal,keeping a calm tone.

Through the corner of your eye,you see the cards. He's voice was always calming,you stare get fixed on the floor for a moment,tears already falling down as you slowly adjust yourself sitting while hugging your knees letting your arms in a way that you could hide your face there.

He didn't moved,waiting patiently to not frighten you even more. You wanted to talk,to tell him what was wrong,to be heard but as soon you tried a tight knot formed on your throat and more tears poured down your face.

"[Name]...can you...point at the cards for me? Just nod if you can" - you lifted your head,keeping your eyes on the floor,looking at the cards. A slight nod.

"Great. Now,do you want to talk about it?" - one arm reach a bit shaky,your index finger pointing for the "No" card.

"There you go" - he praised,relieved.

"Do you want something? A cup of water perharps?" - again,your finger pointed "Yes".

"Ok,wait a second" - He get up and walked away.

You embrance your knees,gaze still on the cards. You was comunicating,not only keeping your thoughts for your own without the need of your voice for it. He was undestanding you,being patient and caring on this situation,your heart was gradually slowing down along with your breath.

He came back,put the glass just close enough for you to grab it together with a box of tissues while he goes back for his original position. After drinking and drying some of the tears,he asked in the same calm tone:

"Do you want anything more?"

"Yes" - you pointed for the card.

"Want me to give you more space?"

"No" - the card.

"Is something from me?"

"Yes"

"What is it?" - you finally look up to him,getting him slightly by surprise but receiving an encouraging smile in the same act.

Your eyes goes back for the cards,searching for the right ones and gauthering your thoughts better. Slowly,you point out.

"Me" "Want" - you stopped for a moment,hesitant and he noticed.

"Don't worry,i'll help you in any way. Take your time" - with a small nod,he speak giving the last push for you.

The knot on your throat wasn't there anymore,but using the cards sounds better for this request. Your hand moved forward pointing again.

"I" "Want" "Hug" "You".

His eyes open wide a bit in surprise,looking up to you in a silent ask with his eyes,trying to make sure that this is really what you wanted and in response,you crawl closer to him. Tintin stayed still,letting you have the lead on this,watching you coming closer and slowly wrapping your arms around his shoulders. His warmth passing a good sensation of comfort more than you thought it would.

You feel at ease almost instantily when his arms embrance you back,you had forgot how good this type of hug feels and now was the best moment to feel it again.

"Want me to carry to the couch? I'll not let you go,i promise" - you nod and with a more happy smile,Tintin carefully take you in his arms.

Lifting you up and in a few steps,he reach the sofa,placing you down before sitting right next to you,keeping an arm on your back and the other on your upper back making a light caress.

"...i'm sorry..." - you speak in a weak voice,head resting against his shoulder.

"For?"

"All of this...for my problems and-"

"[Name]" - he cut you in a gentle manner.

"Don't feel bad or sorry for something that you can't control. I'm happy to help,and mostly,for trusting on me. You can always count with me,ok?"

You agree with a light moviment of your head and put it back on his shoulder,enjoying the touch,the caress on your back and hair. Your breath begin to slow down,eyes closing at the atmosphere being so at ease just by his touchs.

By him. Because of him.

"...Thank you...Tintin..."

He hear your weak voice,sounding sleepy and chuckle quietly whispering back:

"Your welcome,[Name]"

___________________________________________

A/N: i honestly have some doubts about this one,but i really did my best here so i hope you like it dear unknow person! The idea was simply perfect and i really hope that i made justice for it. Oh,and don't worry,Haddock punched the guy after,its canon 😌👌🏽. Thank you again for the request! Bye bye!

#the adventures of tintin #tintin #tintin movie #tintin x reader #tintin 2011 #tintin movie 2011 #the adventures of tintin 2011

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