#thanks gloves for helping my laziness and get me more hours of sleep | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

userholland · 3 years

Text

all for her [4]

pairing: bartender!dad!tom x female!reader

summary: a single-dad bartender, a supportive best friend and their continuous, unrequited love noticed by his optimistic daughter. is it possible to break a heart they never knew they had?

word count: 10.2k!

a/n: it’s been more than a month... again... but i really hope you guys enjoy the bow to tie this series together. i do apologize this was more dad!tom than it was bartender!tom... i wish i got to spend so much more time on it with school going on, but i’m really proud of it!!! and i’m so grateful and happy for all the feedback i’ve gotten on it. thank y’all so much and your support means so much for my love for writing! if you want a epilogue, please let me know!

— masterlist ☆彡

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

There was something about the morning that was so peaceful. The warm light of the sun peered through the curtains and trailed onto the duvet and part of your arm, moving across your body until it beamed in your tired eyes. Your hair had a musty smell from the rain last night, not having the energy to shower after what happened. You ran your hand over Tom’s side of the bed, the cotton sheets soft against your palm until you pressed your weight onto it to lift yourself up.

The cracks in your back echoed the room, running your fingers through your hair to push it out of your face before putting it up to not be overwhelmed by the smell. As you stretched the rest of your body, you slid over the sheets until your toes hit the cold wooden floor. You got a jolt up your spine before grabbing Tom’s grey sweatshirt on the back of his desk chair, quickly slipping it over your body to warm up from the chilliness of the fall. You could tell winter was upon you, excited to get a light blanket of snow soon.

When you walked over to the dresser, your hands held on each of the drawer handles about to pull until you took a second look at the picture set on the top. A small smile painted on your lips, reminiscing the fond memory like the picture was moving in real life. It was Summer’s first snowfall and despite her name, she loved the winter.

You bought her a big, pink coat with gloves dangled by end of the sleeves that paired with a knitted hat that covered her ears. The three of you were stood outside of the apartment and propped the camera on a window seal as the big flurries fell. With Summer on Tom’s shoulders, you stood close to him and wore his denim jacket and black beanie. Tom liked to keep it, remembering it was one of the first times his life felt whole again since he was gifted with Summer.

After brisking through Tom’s top drawer, not believing how he didn’t organize his socks, you found white, crew socks and slipped them on before walking to the door and carefully turned the doorknob. The sounds of chirping birds could be heard from behind the windows in the living room and no honking cars to wake up the neighborhood, as if everything had fallen back into it’s perfect place.

Summer’s door was cracked open, enough that when you peaked in, you could see her and Tom snuggled on her twin bed. It made Tom look bigger than he was, seeing the pink duvet covering them and his arms were wrapped around her. You were happy to see them together, better than having to walk past an empty room again and Tom asleep on the couch.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

She sobbed when she got home, relieved to be home and she missed Tom so much. Her arms were tight around his neck and her legs were squeezing around his waist, so it was almost impossible for him to put her down. With her head tucked in his shoulder, the somber cries she whimpered broke his heart as they walked into the apartment. At first they sat on the couch and he ran his hand over her damp hair till it air-dried, forgetting that it was in the middle of the night and all of you needed to go to bed.

“Daddy, can you sleep with me? Please.” Summer asked, her voice so innocent and tired.

“Of course. Of course…” Tom trailed, kissing her temple and rubbing her back. His tears wouldn’t stop either, trailing down his cheeks as he continued to embrace her while they sat together.

They were parted for a month, but it felt like years to them.

“I’m gonna warm up some clothes for her and give her bath, okay?” You put your hand on Tom’s shoulder, rubbing it as he nodded in response.

Summer instantly attached to you when you pulled her away from Tom, uncoiling her arms from his touch and she held you like she was hanging in mid-air. You carried her to the bathroom, closing the door behind the two of you. After wrapping her casted arm in saran wrap and a plastic bag, you helped her get in the bath then shampooed her hair gently and gave her rag to wash up.

She was getting older now, wanting to already be more independent, but you wanted to make sure she didn’t drown if she fell asleep or hit her head on the side of the tub. With her small eyes heavy and body like jello, you were careful with her as she yawned every two minutes. Her sniffling made your heart tremble, but you’re relieved that she just had your number and was able to call. You admired how smart she was and couldn’t believe she was growing up so fast.

After warming her favorite pajamas in the dryer, you helped her change in her bedroom and combed through her wet hair with a comb. She was sat on the bed, but her eyes kept fluttering at the relaxing feeling of the brush massaging against her scalp. Putting some fuzzy socks on her feet, you tucked her into bed. The whole time, Tom had to stay in the living room trying to compose himself, his hands pressed against his temples and his head down.

You carefully closed Summer’s door, but not all the way, just so the hall light didn’t peak in. When you walked over and saw Tom, you slowly approached him and squated down to be face to face with him. Tom had his hands on his face, still unable to process everything that happened. His clothes were soaked and his hair was wet, but you still ran your hands through it to comfort him.

“Hey… she’s okay. She’s already asleep.” You reassured him, placing your hand on his knee.

Tom lifted his head, his eyes were red around the waterline and the whites of them were bloodshot. Your thumb gently ran on his tinted cheek, sealing your lips as you waited for him to say anything.

“I don’t know what to do.” He sniffed, running his hand over his wet curls, slicking them back.

Your eyes glossed, “What do you mean? Tom, she’s back home.”

Tom sniffled, his wrist against his nose to rub off his tears and his hand trembling, “Yeah, but, w-what if this isn’t enough? What if she… is taken again? What happens then?” His breath shaky, already overwhelmed.

Your heart kept breaking, seeing him fall even more apart. “You got her, she’s here now. There’s nothing else you need to do other than go in there because all she wants right now is her dad. Okay?” You softly told him, running your hand along his knee.

“I just can’t lose her again.”

You shook your head, “No, no, You won’t. You won’t and I’ll tell you that a thousand times more. You love her and no matter what happens, you’re gonna find a way. We’re gonna find a way.”

Tom nodded, your foreheads gently pressed together before you cupped his cheek, your lips trembling as they planted a light kiss on his nose and trailed to his lips. You felt Tom’s hand place on the back of your hair, raking his fingers through it as you nuzzled your face into his neck with your arms wrapped around him. Both of you sniffled, complete messes, but you had to pull yourselves together for Summer and be there for her now that she was home.

“Get changed then get some sleep, okay?” You told him, getting back on your feet and reaching a hand out to him. After he lifted up on his feet, you playfully pushed his back as he started walking away. A sigh of relief left your lips as you plopped on the couch, taking some time to come down from the adrenaline as well. It could be compared to the end of a classic symphony, when the cymbals rhythmic banging and high notes of the violins all come to a halt followed by the final boom of the drums. It was all over.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

The warm sunshine beamed against the pale yellow walls of Summer’s room when you peaked in. You glared at the two of them in their still slumber, not wanting to disturb them this early so you carefully closed the door. You held the doorknob to the left, slowly letting it go until you heard the click of the the bolt.

Tom wasn’t able to tell you the conversation last night between him and Maggie, but it didn’t feel important since he was able to have Summer back. While you spited her and wanted to hate her, you didn’t want to butt your life into his past. You knew that if it really bothered Tom, he would tell you, but all that mattered was that your girl was home and you both couldn’t have been happier about it.

An hour later, Tom appeared from the bedroom with Summer on his hip. With her head rested on his shoulder and a pout on her lips, you chuckled as you admired their mirrored, tired expressions.

“The resemblance is uncanny.” You jeered, leaning with your back toward the counter with a cup of tea in your hands.

Tom’s lazy smile was angelic, a half-grin on his lips before he pressed a soft kiss against your temple.

“Good morning, babe.” He said in a groggy tone.

“Morning.” You grinned, smiling and running your hand gently over the top of Summer’s hair, “She must be exhausted. We’re you both able to sleep at all last night?”

“Yeah, but I think she can skip school today. I’ll call in a few minutes... I wanna stay here for the rest of the day with her or at least, until I have work.” Tom said at a whisper, setting Summer on the couch and she stirred in her light sleep. He placed the blanket on the arm of the sofa over her body, tucking it between her and the couch to keep her warm.

“I think that’s great. It was a long night for her.” You sighed as Tom walked back over to you, “God, I can’t get her voice out of my head when I heard her on the phone... When she asked for us to come pick her up, I panicked and I just-”

“You did the right thing, babe. I got it all taken care of… well, at least a bit right now… Crap, I almost forget, I have to make sure her follow up appointment for her arm is next Wednesday.” Tom comforted you, rubbing your shoulders before his hands cupped your face. He left another kiss on the center of your forehead before he sat at the kitchen table. You set a cup of tea infront of him and he wrapped his hand around the mug handle, bringing it to his lips and the strong scent of lemon waking him up.

You placed your cup on the counter, wrapping your arms around Tom’s neck from behind, still stood while he relaxed his back against the chair.

“Is your dad gonna call later?” You asked him, kissing the top of his head and laying your cheek against his hair.

He nodded as he took another sip, “Yeah, we’re gonna talk about the lawyer stuff. Maybe I can ask him what I can do about… Summer and dealing with custody.” Tom said, a bit unsure with a furrowed brow.

His hand gently came up, rubbing your forearm as you still had your arms around him. His thumb smoothly ran over your soft skin as you leaned your head down, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

“We’ll figure it all out.” You whispered against his ear, “And if all else fails, we’ll move to Europe and change our identities.”

Tom’s chuckle erupted, his smile gleaming as he bought the palm of your hand up to kiss.

“You know, I need your jokes sometimes. Just to realize how much you hold me down.” Tom jeered, but meant what he said.

As you unwound your arms from him, your hand ran across his shoulders before you looked down at him and tilted his chin up. Everything about him was taken with time, his eyes were a beautiful shade of brown and the features in his face were carved in perfectly. You loved the crinkles by his eyes when he smiled wide or laughed hard, remembering it was one of the reasons you loved to make him laugh.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower. Ready to be back in dad mode?” You grinned, rubbing his back.

“As much as I can be.”

With that, you turned around and his eyes followed you down the hall. From the way you stood on your tippy toes to reach the top shelf for linens and how you put your tongue between your lips, he could list a million different reasons to be in love with you. He couldn’t have found a fatal flaw other than being too nice when it wasn’t necessary. You had so much love to give and Tom had known that since you were kids, thinking about the times you left animal crackers by the weeping willow by the playground at school. You’d hope the fun-shaped crackers would give it some nutrients, making it not be sad anymore and Tom, only nine years old, didn’t have the heart to tell you that squirrels would steal them.

That attitude hadn’t changed as you got older, always seeing you pull through your worst and most stressful times. Especially throughout college, Tom had tried to be as much as he could to be your best friend without letting his feelings shift platonic affection. He didn’t expect you to stay around much when Summer appeared on his doorstep, wondering if you would push away from the sudden commitment he took on. But, he laid down one day and realized it wasn’t like you to keep your distance when something this drastic happened. What he didn’t know is that you were all in from the start. Since the day you met until right here and right now, you weren’t leaving each other no matter what or who tried to come between you.

As Tom finished his tea and you were in the shower, Summer slowly stirred out of her sleep and got up from the couch. In her matching, lavender pajamas, she pushed her hair out of her face before walking up to Tom. He chuckled at her lazy daze, but he opened his arms and she crawled into them to sit on his lap.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He chuckled, kissing her temple repeatedly.

“Good morning, daddy.” She mumbled and wiped her eyes with the back of her non-casted hand.

“What are we feeling this morning? Cereal? Pancakes? Maybe that oatmeal you like, the cinnamon and apples flavor?” Tom asked her, wanting to spoil her with anything he could.

“Can I have pears with cinnamon, please?” Summer asked, looking into her father’s eyes.

Tom lifted her as he stood up, “Of course, you can. Whatever your little heart desires.” He smiled, placing her in the chair and kissing the top of her messy hair.

When he walked over to the fruit bowl by the corner of the kitchen counter, Summer shifted to sitting on her knees with her elbows against the table so she could watch Tom make her breakfast.

“Daddy?” She asked, her voice so benevolent.

“Yes?” Tom replied with his back still toward her.

“Do I have to go back there? To the lady’s house? Because… I don’t wanna go back there. That lady was mean and I didn’t like her.” She summarized, tracing her short and tiny fingers along the wood of the kitchen table.

Tom turned around, pausing his chopping and he didn’t know what to say in the first few seconds.

“You never have to go back there unless you want to, okay? I promise you. We keep our promises, remember?” Tom reminded her with a soft tone.

“You promised I didn’t have to stay there, but you left me there.” She pouted, not making eye contact with him.

A chill ran up his spine, this conversation worrying him since the day he dropped her off and made that unforeseen promise. The first promise he didn’t know he would break. He didn’t want to lie to her, but even with the sake of that being for Maggie’s benefit, he still knew he lied. Tom presumed Summer would forget that he promised not to leave her there, remembering how assured she was it was just a weekend, but it had been a month and Tom wondered what went through her mind now.

“I know, sweetheart… but, I promise. You’re here for good.” Tom walked back over and she finally looked up at him, her eyes glassy.

“Okay, daddy.” She muttered, but he had to hug her. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to second guess everything and get too comfortable before something worse could happen.

“I love you, kid.” Tom said, kissing the top of her head again.

After Tom gave Summer her breakfast, she could barely keep her head up to bring the fork to her mouth. He knew she was overtired from the night before, so he brought her back to the couch to rest and leave on some cartoons at a low volume. He laid down too, of course, her on top of him and her head was against his chest. Oddly, she laid flat against him and she was stiff as a board, her hair in her face and her mouth slightly gapped. A few times she’d twitch in her sleep and it made Tom nervous, thinking something was wrong, but it was his heightened protectiveness and he knew he couldn’t keep remaining on edge about her being taken away again. It was hard to not think that now, but Tom knew once she got used to the feeling of home again, everything will go back to normal. Blood or not, she was his daughter and he was her father and no one could take that away from them.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

A few hours pass and Tom expected a call from his dad any second so, he suggested that you and Summer go out for a bit to avoid the conversation. After she got dressed and you put on her jacket, the two of you got your shoes on by the door. Summer sat on the ground, grabbing the black and white converses off the shoe rack and carefully used the bunny ears technique on her laces.

“Loop… loop and pull.” She mumbled, pulling at the thread coils.

As you slipped on your sneakers, Tom walked out from the bathroom and smiled at Summer sat, her face contorting as she concentrated on the knot.

“Daddy, look, I did it!”

“Good job, kid!” He chuckled, helping her on her feet, “So, did you and Y/N find out what you’re gonna do?”

“We’re gonna see the duckies!” She giggled and you nodded to her statement.

“Ah, sounds like fun. I wish I could come, but maybe this weekend. We can go after your doctor’s appointment.” Tom proposed and Summer nodded frantically, her hair bouncing and moving around.

You grinned, “Alright, we’re gonna go. You need anything while we’re out?”

Tom’s eyes gleamed at the sight of your smile, “No, I’m good.”

“Okay, We’ll see you soon.” You grin, giving him a light kiss.

Summer giggled to herself before she grabbed your hand, leading the way out the door. Tom chuckled before he shut the door behind you and he sighed, starting to feel the pieces fall back together. Throughout the time Summer was away, he didn’t realize in the moment how you stayed. It was just that simple and even imagining the future, he saw your face. Everything between you two had lead up to this moment and he knew it in his heart that there was a reason for something bringing the both of you together. He wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual or he’d let too many movies get to his head, but somehow fate seemed in his favor. He wished he could have changed some things to please others with the bridges he’s burnt through his life and with his family, but he wouldn’t change his entire life if it didn’t have you or Summer in it.

As you strolled to the park, you couldn’t stop smiling as you talked to Summer. She went on about how she wanted to make Christmas cookies already and how many people had signed her cast, almost no room to even squeeze in another. She was an extrovert by heart, just like her dad and how charismatic he could be once he opens up. You held her hand when you crossed streets and you followed her close when you wondered around the market to get the bread to feed the ducks. After checking out, you two walked to your favorite park, the one she missed so much, to the bench you always sat at that was a few feet away from the pond.

“That one’s name is… Marty.” She said, squatting by the edge of the grass.

You were sat in the grass with your legs crossed, “And that one’s name?” You pointed to the duck with a white tail.

“...Allen.” She giggled, tossing another piece of bread in the water.

You chuckled, “And which one is your favorite?”

“I like Dorothy and Duke because they’re a couple.” She said as she ripped up another piece of bread.

“How do you know they’re together?”

“Because they kiss sometimes. They love each other, just like you and daddy.” Summer replied, looking at the bread as she bunched it up and threw it in the water.

A heat rose to your cheeks, “I guess you’re right.” You chuckled a bit as you watched her keep throwing the bread, watching the ducks swoop it up with their beaks as they passed by.

She turned to you, “Y/N.”

“Summer.” You smiled.

“Are you and my daddy gonna get married? You guys kiss now and people who get married kiss too.” She said in her explanation of what love was to her.

“Well… We’re together now, but we’re not getting married.” You tried to explain in a soft tone, wanting her to understand.

“But, I want you to be my mommy.” She squinted her eyes looking toward you because the sun was in her eyes, her nose scrunched as well.

You sighed, “I’m your best friend and I’m always gonna be here for you.” You could promise her that much, but you didn’t want to say what you really thought, not wanting her to get an permanent image in her head.

She pouted, but didn’t respond at first. It’s like she was gathering her thoughts together before saying what was on her mind.

“I hate that lady I stayed with. She was mean and didn’t tell me bedtime stories.” She mumbled as she sat with you, gently pulling at the grass.

You nodded, “You don’t hate her.”

“I did! She was mean. She’s not my mommy. She’s like the evil queen in Snow White.” She protested, her eyes widening as her voice emphasized.

“Summer, she’s your mom.” You sighed.

“Cinderella’s mommy was mean.” She pointed out.

It almost made you chuckle at how persistent she was, but nevertheless, you told her, “Well, you don’t have to see her until you want to, okay? Your dad isn’t gonna let that happen again, neither will I.”

Summer got up, pushing her hands against the grass before she moved closer to you. She rested her head against your shoulder as she coiled her arm around yours, holding you tight as the two of you watched the ducks float by, some of them swimming alongside their ducklings. The light breeze kept you cool, blowing your hair out of your face, and the kids laughing as they ran around.

Meanwhile, Tom was pacing the kitchen with his phone practically glued to his ear. His dad told him about his options, laying out the routes they could take for this settlement to be as easy as it could be without there being any loopholes. With Tom’s bruises healing, he still had to go to follow up appointments for his concussion and his dad thinks it’s enough to let Tom be heard by the judge.

His court appearance was coming up, but Tom’s dad would come with him to make sure everything went as they were planning. It was nice to feel connected to his dad again, maybe not under these circumstances, but he felt supported again and maybe he was all this time. Tom’s anger had masked that his dad did genuinely care for him, it was his stepmom’s doing that wedged them apart and Tom was still trying to figure out how to deal with her, but he wanted to maintain his relationship with his dad as well as try to mend the shifty one with his mom.

“So, we’ll meet at the courthouse on the 20th, 10a.m.” Tom stated.

His dad nodded, “Sounds good to me.”

Tom chuckled, “Thanks so much… for everything.”

“I’m your dad, you don’t have to thank me. If you did, it would be your first words.” His dad jeered, sitting back in his office chair.

“Yeah…” Tom trailed, “Hey, are you guys doing… anything big for Thanksgiving?”

His dad was surprised, his eyebrows raised as he replied, “Uh, yeah. Have a few friends over, maybe your uncle Ted and Aunt Lorriane. There’s always room for more.” His dad smiled.

“Well, I was thinking that, maybe, me and Y/N came come… and Summer, of course.” Tom gulped, tucking his hand under his other arm as he leaned against the counter.

“Yeah, we’d love to have you. Of course, we’d love to have you.” His dad was surprised by how open-minded Tom was becoming.

“I think it would be great after… all this. You know? And I want you guys to meet Y/N.” Tom shrugged.

“We’d love that too… how are things with her after everything?” Tom’s dad followed up, smiling to himself.

Tom bit his bottom lip, “She’s been so… supportive. It’s crazy how supportive she’s been… I don’t think I could have gotten through all of this without her. She’s always been there for Summer and… I think I want her in my life forever.” He chuckled, finally admitting it out loud and even surprising himself.

Tom’s dad chuckled, “You sound pretty serious.”

“I really am… I’m gushing, but I don’t think I could have gotten through any of this if I didn’t have her.” Tom trailed, tracing his finger along the table.

“Well it’s nice to have someone have your back through something tough like this and she’s a nice girl… and Summer is comfortable with her?”

“Yeah, they’re actually hanging out at the park right now.”

His dad smiled to himself for a few seconds, turning in his chair to face his desk, “I remember when your mom and I met, it was the year before you were born.

Tom arched his eyebrow, “Wow, you guys got married that… fast?”

“Yeah, yeah. I took the morning train to this internship I had in Massachusetts. When I had to get home, she worked at the ticketing booth for a few weeks, but I thought she was cute so… instead of getting one of those reusable cards, I just went to her every night for the train back home. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I kept asking for a ticket that went the opposite way of where I actually lived.”

“Sappy.” Tom chuckled, surprised and not knowing this. He realized he never really asked since his parents had been separated more years than they were together.

“Once I told her, we went on a few dates, I got a card and… we got married six months later, I think. Then, we had you less than a year later.”

“But, didn’t you guys… miss out on just being in your twenties?” Tom replied, biting the inside of his cheek.

His dad shrugged, the memories all surging in at once, “Well, we knew we loved each other… at the time. We would have rather gotten married then and figured out if we were meant to be than to not do it at all, I guess… and we got a great kid out of it.”

A smile curled up on Tom’s lips, surprised by how his dad felt about his mom or at least how they used to feel about one another. He always imagined that they lived an ordinary lives, pretending that they used to be in love when they don’t talk unless it’s through Tom. He knew there was probably more to their story, but from what he just heard now, Tom believed that there’s a reason for you in his life more than co-parenting or being his best friend. There’s a reason why you’re still together throughout all this. Why it took so long to realize that he loved you more than “just platonic”. You had faith in each other.

“I’m sure your mom remembers it more than me, but we had fun.” His dad added, clicking his pen.

“Yeah, I should probably call her soon. I don’t even know where she is.”

“Paris… I talked to her the other day about the whole… well, your situation and I didn’t want to say anything but, she was thinking of surprising you... She wanted to take time off because of what I told her..” Tom’s dad spilled.

Tom felt his face heart up from the sudden announcement, “Well, that’s mom.”

“She’ll be excited to know everything’s going okay, I’m sure.”

Tom smiled, “Yeah… everything’s perfect.”

After the lengthy conversation Tom had with his dad, they eventually hung up and there was a silence that fell in the apartment. Instead of feeling the loneliness he did for those few weeks, he was anticipated for you two to come home and all three of you could have dinner, maybe talk about what your plans were for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There was so much he looked forward to now, even more so now that he was assured that you were the one for him, but he was scared that there was some chance he wasn’t the one for you. It’s not like favors worked for him through life, so it was easy to be skeptical about this, but all that mattered was the risk of taking a shot and trying not to let the universe get to him.

His wandering thoughts paused when the front door unlocked, already seeing Summer slipping through and she practically jumped into Tom’s arms while he was still sat down. She crawled on top of him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, his arms wrapped around her as well.

“How was the park?” He chuckled, glancing at you coming in.

You set your purse and Summer’s backpack on the wall hooks, “Good, saw the duckies and even some turtles… and we named each one of them.” You grinned, walking over and leaning against the counter.

“You should have come, daddy! There were so many!” Summer giggled, her loose tooth crooked on the front, bottom teeth.

“Ah, well, they’ll be there tomorrow and the day after that and even the day after that. We can go next week too, kid.” He grinned and she hugged him tight, leaning on him and their faces pressed together. Tom felt the instant warmth Summer radiated, even if it was cold outside.

“Promise?” She asked.

“Pinky swear.” He said, holding out his hand with his fingers tucked into his hand with just his pinky out.

She held hers out, carefully wrapping it around his and he chuckled, giving her a quick eskimo kiss before Summer crawled off of him.

“Hey, why don’t you wash your hands… make sure you don’t get water in the cast. Then, we can have an early dinner in front of the TV. How does that sound?” Tom suggested and you nodded in agreement.

“Okay, daddy.” Summer nodded back, her eyes sparkling and she took off into the bathroom. You two heard her take the stool out, the wood shifting against the tiled bathroom before the sink turned on.

Tom turned to you as he got up, a warm smile painted on his lips as he stood toe to toe with you.

“Why are you smiling so much? Good news, I assume.” You grinned, crossing your arms and leaning more against the counter.

“I can’t smile at my beautiful and lovely girlfriend?” Tom swooned.

As you wrapped your arms around his neck, he ran his hands down your side before placing them on your hips. You couldn’t hide your smile either, leaning in without thinking twice about it and brushing your nose against his. As your lips pressed together, slowly and tenderly, his hands slid into the back pockets of your jeans to pull you closer. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, nothing too harsh, but you could feel his warmth curling around you, squeezing your body gently and feeling this instant sense of complete comfortable.

You giggled against his lips, pulling away and he slightly tilted his head, moving your stray hair behind your ear to see your face. The two of you didn’t need words when every piece seemed to be falling back into place.

“Okay, my hands are clean!” Summer yelled from the bathroom, making you two break your kiss with more laughter. She ran from the bathroom and into the kitchen, running up to Tom and leaning on his leg.

Tom smiled as he leaned down, wrapping his arm around Summer’s torso and pulled her up as if she weighed like nothing. Her giggles sent him happiness, ever since she was a baby and could only wrap her hand around his finger. She sat on his hip, coiled around her dad like adhesive and you couldn’t help but grin and rub her back.

“Can we have mac and cheese?” She asked Tom.

“You can have whatever your little heart desires, kid.” Tom kissed her temple, setting her back down.

“Really?”

“Really, really.” Tom promised, his hand tickling her stomach and a warm burst of laugh left her mouth.

Her sneakers touched the floor, watching her run to the cabinet with the pots and pans. As you watched them collect what they needed to start dinner, their voices seemed to fade away, like they were in another room and a wall stood tall between. A muffling to their tones as they stood in front of the stove, but you leaned by the kitchen door frame with your arms crossed. You were happy, more than over the moon to see Summer back where she belonged, but how long would it be until another conflict arose? What if Tom couldn’t claim custody… would he crumble again and you would have to help him pick up the pieces all over again? If he wasn’t her biological father, where did that leave you? You wanted what was best for the both of them, but you didn’t want it to lead to arguments and more confusion for her if she couldn’t even stand her own mother.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

Tossing and turning, the mattress creaked beneath you while trying to fall asleep. Your brows furrowed, trying to settle your head into the pillow but it was like trying to slumber on a rocky sea. You laid your back flat once you gave up, staring at the ceiling with the strip of light from the streetlight outside. It’s like you could hear anything from a five-mile radius, suddenly you picked up on the tiniest sound and it was like someone poking your neck with a needle. Trying to drown out the noises, you heard the deadbolt unlock from the creak you left in the door. You felt frozen, hearing the keys drop on the table by the door.

Tom sighed, a long breath passing his lips as he run his hands through soft, brown curls. The clock on the wall told 2:45 a.m., not expecting to stay out this late, but he was making such good tips that it would have been silly to leave. As he entered the bedroom, his tired brown eyes laid on you, under the covers. His hand dug into his back pocket, pulling out the wad of dollar bills and placing them on the dresser.

You still closed your eyes, hearing his belt buckle unclip and the dressers open, his hands rummaging through some of his clothes. You wondered if you should say something, anything, knowing your mind was filled to the brim with thoughts, enough that it couldn’t let you go to sleep.

The weight lifted off Tom’s sore feet, his body sinking into the bed as he carefully shifted himself under the covers, trying not to wake you. With your back turned to him, Tom got comfortable and warm with the duvet insulating him, moving his hands under his head. Silence fell in the room, nothing but the crickets chirping in the night.

You slowly turned on your other side, facing Tom with your face snug against your pillow. Seeing him made you forget all of those heavy thoughts, the ones about him and your future, but you couldn’t just make it go away from the sight of his pretty eyes.

“Hey, sorry, did I wake you?” His voice groggy.

“No, I’ve been up for a while..” You trailed, your hands by your chest.

“What’s keeping you up?”

Tom turned on his side, his hand against his head as his elbow pushed into the pillow.

You sighed, “You know I love you, right?” You sealed your lips, trying to keep eye contact with him.

He chuckled, crinkles by the sides of his eyes, “I love you too… What’s going on?”

Tom’s fingers moved your hair from your forehead, his hand planting to your cheek and his thumb brushing against your cheek, “What’s going through your head, babe?” He asked, his voice always comforting.

You placed your hand on top of his, moving your intertwined hands to your chest, “Whatever happens with Summer, I want you to know that… I’m there for you. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but… I’m not her mom. I’m her best-friend… but, I don’t know if I can be a mom.” You trailed, squeezing his hand.

“But, you’re practically-”

“I’m not. At the end of the day, I’ve helped you.. I’ve done everything I can for her. But, you’re her father. Even if the papers don’t say it, deep down and full-heartedly, you’re her father, but… she has a mom.”

Tom gave your hand a squeeze, “You want me to keep Maggie in Summer’s life?... No, no way. She didn’t care for her until now and it was all because she was selfish.”

“Exactly. I know you don’t see it now but, she needs to have some connection to her mom. If it doesn’t work out that way then… that’s fair. I think things just got off the wrong foot the more I think about it. I mean, what if I’m not enough and-”

“Hey, hey… you are enough. You’re more than enough.” Tom said, his tone soft.

You barely grimaced, still holding his hand as if he was slipping through your fingers. Suddenly, everything went quiet and it was just the two of you in your own little world. His hand securely locked yours and was against your chest, feeling your heart pound for the first few seconds until it went back to its steady beat.

“One day at a time. You and me.” Tom promised.

You replied with a nod and Tom kissed the center of your forehead, trailing to your nose before you shifted closer to him and curled up to embrace the warmness between your bodies. His arm moved behind your neck and around your shoulder, like being in a safety net.

For a few minutes, his fingers slowly carded through the back of your hair, a relaxing comfort as you fell into a deep sleep with knowing you were protected in his arms. Tom stayed up longer than he should have, watching the red-lit minutes change on the clock by his bedside, but he wanted to make sure you were asleep because you needed the rest. A few times, you’d nuzzle your face against his chest, shifting your arms around him and he adjusted his grip around you with the shift of your position.

“I love you.” He whispered, even though he knew you were asleep.

It wasn’t so scary to say out loud anymore. He was so happy about it, he lazily smiled while his eyes began to feel heavy and they fluttered as he also fell asleep right next to you. For once, his world truly was at peace and looking up. The grin on his face lost the tension on the corners of his mouth, light snores between the two of you. Until, he suddenly jolted out of his slumber when there was a light touch on his back shoulder.

Tom shot his head up, a quick breath through his nose before his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He saw Summer standing by his bed, her hair in a bun with her fly-aways highlighted from the streetlight coming in from the window behind her. Just like her dad, she had the same exhausted look on her small face and all she wanted was to be with him. As much as she thought she wanted to be on her own, her thinking six was practically grown, Summer couldn’t deny she was a daddy’s girl.

“Daddy…” She whispered.

“W-What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Tom cleared his throat, carefully leaning over to the other side of the bed.

“Can I sleep with you and Y/N? I had a bad dream...” Summer maintained her whisper.

“Of course… hop in. Get between us.”

Summer pulled herself up, crawling over Tom as he pulled down the covers between the two of you. Your sleep was deep enough that you didn’t budge but, Summer still slid in carefully and faced toward Tom. He wrapped his arm around her, facing her and you and he realized how long it had passed since that’d done this. He knew his days of checking for monsters in the closet and under the bed would run up soon, as well as walking her up to school and holding her hand. The more he thought about how much he cared about her, the less the paternity test meant to him. It couldn’t erase all the memories they’ve made and the hardships they faced. Moments like this were the reason he was her father, not some test.

Of course, he was filled with anxieties and dread that she would push away if he told her the truth, but he couldn’t worry about that now because she was and will always be his family. He’d rather him than a deadbeat be her father, happy to protect her from the evil and bad and there to sing her a lullaby if the night seemed to dark and mysterious, filled with make believe beings that she thought were so real or even holding her hand tight as she stepped over cracks on the sidewalk. Happy, sad, angry, sick, anything, Tom wanted to be there for every moment and even when she has her own family.

The thought of her growing up in the blink of an eye could make him tear up when she fit so perfectly in his arms, so small and delicate and more than ready to see the world even though Tom thought the world wasn’t ready fo her.

“Daddy, too tight.” She warned, her voice muffled in his chest.

“Sorry.” He chuckled, kissing the top of her head.

A few hours later, the sun slowly rose over the horizon and shined through the windows by each side of the bed. The birds chirped, some landing on the fire escape outside, while the cars drove on the street below along with occasional dogs barking from passing one another.

As you moved your face against the pillow, your eyes fluttered open as a small smile curled up on your tired face. Waking up to the sight of Summer asleep on top of Tom was something you could get used to. You reached out, running your hand over her back before pushing her hair out of her face. Her cheek was against his chest, making her lips a bit pursed and eyebrows rested. You leaned your head against Tom’s shoulder, nuzzling your face into his neck and giving him a light kiss on the start of his jaw.

After a few minutes, Tom stirred out of his sleep, comfortable when he woke up next to his two girls. You lifted your head to look at him, smiling with both of you sharing lazy glances.

“Good morning… How’d you sleep?” You asked him, low enough to not wake Summer.

“Perfect.” Tom grinned, leaning in to kiss your forehead.

The morning went by quickly and the next moment, the three of you were in the car and driving to Summer’s school. Tom’s knuckles were practically snow white from how tight he was gripping the stirring wheel and his back straight against the seat as if he were being tailed by someone but the roads were mostly empty.

His jaw clenched, a nervousness building up in his gut the closer he got to the school. When Tom eventually stopped at a red light, you cautiously placed your hand on his leg, “Why are you so anxious, baby?” You asked, watching him place his hand on top of yours.

“I’m not, just tired.” He faked a grin, giving your hand a light squeeze.

You tilted your head, “Really?”

Tom’s eyes moved to the rearview mirror, glancing at Summer with her headphones on, flattening the top of her hair, as she played with her iPad.

He turned to you, “Just like having her back is all.”

But you knew he was scared about having to let her go for a few hours. It may have felt overreactive, but Tom thought if it could happen once, the idea of a second time easily creeped its way up in his head.

Your eyes glossed, “Nothing bad is gonna happen, okay? Trust me, I don’t think we’ll let anyone take our girl unless they kill us over it… not to be completely dramatic.” You joked, just to see him smile.

Even though you felt like a bit of a broken record, but you didn’t blame him for worrying. What Maggie did was unforgivable, leaving Tom with an anxiety in his chest like no other, but all you could do was be there for him and remind him that abandonment wasn’t around the corner. You had to keep him hopeful, almost making Tom himself feel guilty for constantly being on his toes, but he knew you were his anchor to keep him from drifting away to drown in his own doubts.

“Thanks.” He said, glancing down at your hands.

When you got to school, you waited in the car while Tom walked Summer to the front door. Some of the parents wondered where he went, but they passed by with their friendly greetings before the two of them got to the sidewalk.

Tom kneeled down, “You have your lunch?”

“Yes.” Summer nodded.

“Water? Books? Everything you need?” He fixed the collar of her t-shirt.

“Yes, daddy.” She giggled, thinking he was acting silly.

He cracked a smile, “Okay. I’ll see you after school and maybe you can show me the duckies.”

Summer nodded with excitement, giving Tom a quick hug and his hand held hers for a few seconds until it slipped through his fingers. She ran up to the teacher escorting the kids in as he got back on his feet, his eyes not leaving her till Summer turned back around by the door frame and gave a quick wave.

Just seeing that reminded him of living in the moment now is what was important. Not the past, not the future, just being there to see her beautiful smile.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

The courthouse’s walls felt like they were closing in even though the ceilings were high and the halls were grand. Well-dressed people passed by with their phones glued to their ears and others pressed tissues to their eyes, holding them to catch their tears and mascara. Sounds of heels clicked against the granite floors, loudly echoing as they sauntered by you and Tom.

“Hey, it’s gonna go okay. There’s no way they won’t give you any compensation.” You reassured him, adjusting his black tie and laying it flat against his white button up.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just kind of loud in here… and hot.” Tom looked down, rubbing the back of his neck.

You knew it was because his dad wasn’t here yet. It meant a lot to him, even if he didn’t want to admit it, but if there was some chance of it happening, you had to keep him cheery. You moved your hands down the front of his suit jacket, brushing off anything, but you looked back into his eyes.

“Hey… Tommy, look at me.” You softly asked. It was something you said to him often, trying to remind him that you were there completely. He just needed a bit of a reminder sometimes that he didn’t have to be alone in everything.

Tom glanced up at you, those brown eyes glimmering. Your glance shifted to the light bruise faded under his eye along with the scar by his cheek, almost gone but you knew it left more than a scar for him. It was just a reminder of the hardest and most confusing time of his life, maybe, but this was all you assumed. He never knew what was going through Tom’s head as equally as knowing just from the look on his face or in his eyes. Just like right now.

“It’s gonna be fine and you don’t even need to say much. That’s why we have lawyers.” You grinned, a giggle following and he cracked a smile back.

“I love you, you know that?” He asked.

You stood close to him, your heads angled at one another, “I love you too.”

Before you could say something else, you both Tom’s dad’s voice which made you turn around to the hall behind you. His dad walked up with his lawyer, obviously both of them close from how they smiled and chuckled from their conversation. Tom said his dad knew him for a long time, even helping with the separation of his parents a few years ago. Tom thought if his dad trusted this guy enough, so could he.

“Hey son, you look good.” His dad smiled, giving you and Tom quick hugs before both of you shook hands with the lawyer.

“Y/N, this is Joseph, Tom’s lawyer today.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Make sure you keep him sane.” You jeered.

“He’ll be fine.” Joseph grinned, patting Tom’s shoulder.

Tom sealed his lips, then the corners of his mouth lifting up to quickly smile. You grinned back, rubbing his back before kissing his cheek.

“We’ll be waiting out here.” Tom’s dad told him.

It wasn’t easy watching him go in without you even though you’d just spent a few minutes calming him down. You didn’t think this wouldn’t fall through, still grateful he wasn’t more hurt from this, but you didn’t know what would come after this. His fingers slipped away from yours, your stomach dropped and goosebumps ran over your skin as if a chill suddenly blew in. Hiding your distress, all you could do was sit on the bench and wait for him.

“He’ll be okay in there. There’s no question.” His dad assured you, seeing the same details in his face as Tom does like the crinkles by his eyes or the freckles along his nose.

“Thanks. I don’t know why I’m nervous.” You shrugged, crossing your leg over the other.

“You guys have been through a lot. But, this should make things smooth over for a bit while you get back on your feet.”

You nodded, “I was scared because he’s the most stable person I know, but after these past weeks? I had never seen him fall apart so quickly.”

“Well, he told me you helped him throughout that.”

You chuckled, “We help each other. I don’t know what I’d do without him either.”

“That just shows you guys care about each other. Won’t leave each other hanging… You need that right now more than anything.” Tom’s dad spoke from his experiences with his past marriage, happy to hear that his son was not only being supportive, but also being supported by someone who obviously loved him.

You sniffled, “We really do… I’ve been having to take him to his… concussion appointments and they put him in this big machine and make him do all these tests and…” You nodded, “I was already thinking of what the next step was if something bad happened. I mean, luckily, everything has been fine… I guess it’s just assuming something else can hit us while we’re already down… but, I’m okay because I know we have each other’s backs.”

He wasn’t sure to impose, but his dad still reached out for your shoulder and gave a comforting rub. You appreciated it although you didn’t know Tom’s dad that well, you can see where he got his kindness and confidence from clear as day, just even the tone of his voice was similar that you knew Tom always admired his father despite their parted relationship recently.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

After an hour or two, most of your time was spent people watching and observing them from where you sat, feeling like you couldn’t do much else. You tried not to pick at your nails or shake your leg, but you felt like you were itching out of your own skin from what was going on behind that thick door. A few times you thought it was opening, making you turn your head constantly at any noise from that way.

Finally, Tom walked out, his lawyer by his side, and his smile was bright which made you reflect one right back.

“I got the compensation.” He chuckled in relief, his arms around wrapping around you and lifting you off your feet.

Tears filled both your eyes, the small accomplishment feeling like a weight slowly being taken off your chest and giving you more hope for whatever came next.

Tom placed you back on your feet, leaning over to bear hug his dad and they shared a few chuckles.

“How much was it?” His dad asked.

“A little over $9,000. Enough to pay for some bills, Summer’s school, savings.” Tom trailed, wiping his tears with the side of his hand.

His dad grinned, “I’d say that’s a call for a little celebration for you two.”

“I agree.” Tom turned to you.

“Well, we’ll leave you two to have some fun. Y/N, it was nice to see you.” His dad grinned, giving you a quick embrace with your head on his shoulder.

“You too.”

“See you later, dad.” Tom gave a pat on his dad’s shoulder, nodding to the lawyer before the two of them walked away.

Your arm was wrapped around Tom’s waist tight as he kissed your temple, pulling you even closer. His smile painted on his lips and pressed another soft kiss to your cheek. You ran your hand over his chest, looking up at his caramel brown eyes.

“Since I’ve come into a bit of money, I think we should go on a date.” Tom grinned, biting his bottom lip to conceal how big his smile was.

You blushed, “You think?”

“Well, I mean, we should go on a date. You, me, a nice restaurant and maybe ice cream or whatever your sweet tooth is craving after.” He smiled.

“What about Summer?”

“I can cover it. My mom is gonna watch her while she’s in town. She’s said she has a lot of grandma time to make up for.” Tom chuckled and put his arm around you, pulling you closer to him.

“Well, as long as she’s willing to do it… I’m all in.” You giggled as you nuzzled your head against his shoulder.

“Thank God, I was scared that we were moving too fast.” He jeered back, kissing the top of your head once more.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

After the drama had digested over the past few days, you could see how everything fell into place. At least, for a bit of time until the rent bill came up in your emails again. While you hadn’t spent much time at your apartment, it was seen as storage for your clothes when you’d been at Tom’s for the past two months with Summer. Even though you had been dating for that same amount of time, you didn’t know how to bring it up without feeling like you were rushing things.

Yes, you’d known each other than most couples you were friends with, but you had never been so scared to take the next step and actually moving in together. The thought of finally clashing your lives together and attempt to start another life made your heart skip a beat. These feelings couldn’t be ignored by how strong they were, probably building up after all these years, but you knew Tom had a responsibility of Summer and starting to adoption process.

You were nervous to bring the question up to Tom, wondering how it would pan out and not wanting to assume the worst would happen when you knew in the back of your head that you loved one another more than anything in the world, but nothing has come perfect to you.

As you turned the key in the lock, you pushed open the door, but the lights were all out. You furrowed your eyebrows before your hand searched the wall, finding the switch and flicking it on only to see a few decorations put up.

You froze when you saw red, yellow and white roses scattered around in vases along with plastic, white and pink balloons hanging around the ceiling and settled on the couch and chairs. At first, you wondered if you forget about an anniversary or birthday, but Tom walked out with Summer trailing him.

“Shoot… I didn’t know you were coming home early.” Tom chuckled while Summer ran up to you, wrapping her arms around your leg.

“What’s with the party decorations?” You smiled, glancing around.

Tom sighed, a light smile still on his face before he took your hand, guiding you over to the center of the living room. Heat rose to your cheeks, wondering what he was up to, but Summer stood by his side and she looked up at you with glassy eyes.

“Do you remember when we were younger... and you said the only way you’d want to be proposed to is in a rose garden?”

Your heart dropped, losing the feeling in your whole body as your smile faded, “...Possibly...”

Tom slowly got on one knee while reaching into his pocket, keeping eye contact with you as he lowered to the ground and the tears welled up in your eyes, thinking this was easily a dream.

“Well, I couldn’t find a close rose garden but, I hope this could suffice.” Tom smiled, his cheeks tinted pink.

Summer stood next to Tom, watching him open the small, black velvet box. The ring sat perfectly in the center of it, gleaming from the light coming down and you let out a relieved sigh with a smile on your lips. You quickly wiped your eyes, your bottom lip beginning to quiver as Tom took a deep breath to say his next words.

“I don’t want another few years to go by before I notice that… I was dumb for not doing something and that I love you so much. I want you to be in my life and I want to officially make our own… together forever. I want to love you everyday and a little bit after that.” He chuckled, a few tears trailing his cheeks, “So, Y/N, will you marry me?”

You sealed your lips, not able to hide your smile, but you turned to Summer.

“What do you think, Summer?” You jeered at her, both of you sharing smiles.

“Y/N, I want you to be my mommy.” She said sweetly.

You turned to Tom, beaming at him, both of your eyes filled with tears still, “That sounds great to me.”

He chuckled, gently taking the ring and slipping it on your finger before you practically pulled him up to his feet to embrace him. The tightness of the hug didn’t give you much air, but you didn’t care. Tom ran his fingers through the back of your hair, light laughs coming from the both of you and Summer tried to coil her arms around the both of you from how low she was.

The world finally was complete.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜

tags/taglist: @felicityparkers @dhtomholland @duskholland @sinisterspidey@itstaskeen @tomhollandsgirlfriend @bi-writes @infinite-imagination @honeyspidey @hollandcrush @sunsetholland @pparkersbitch @namoreno @calltothewild @spideyspeaches @veryholland @osterfieldshollandgirl @slutforsebstan @bi-lmg @sunshinepeterparkr @annathesillyfriend @madmadmilk @antigoneidk @hollandcreep @wierdflowerpower @heavenlyholland @determined-overthinker @white-wolf1940 @thexplosivegirl

#tom holland fic #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland x female!reader #tom holland series #tom holland fluff #dad!tom #bartender!tom

378 notes · View notes

thesolferino · 3 years

Text

Pretty Girl

⤷ georgenotfound x f!reader.

⤷ genre: fluff literal pure disgusting fluff

⤷ word count: 2k

⤷ requested: yes, by this lovely anon

⤷ note: happy valentine’s, everyone <3

— summary: you decide to spend valentine’s day the best way you can think of - watching cheesy romcoms and sleeping on your boyfriend’s lap.

If George is anything in this world, he’s a homebody. Your homebody, you’d always correct him, whenever he started defending himself for rather laying on your bed and rocking from side to side like a lazy cat, scrolling through his phone while you made dinner and shouted at him for not helping from the kitchen instead of going out for movies or to the mall - your homebody, but a homebody nonetheless.

Luckily for him, you didn’t mind - crowds weren’t really your thing, and living in London made it impossible to avoid those, so you happily agreed to stay inside with him, as long as he agreed to washing the dishes. True to his homebody status, the two of you agreed to spend Valentines together at your place, watching shitty romcoms and cuddling, because doing cheesy couple activities gets a little boring after 17, and you’re more than fine hanging off your boyfriend and sleeping on him like a sloth in the warmth of your home compared to the cold wind that brutally swept aside everything in its way outside.

That’s why you jumped from your place on the couch when you heard the doorbell ring, fixing your hair a little when you passed by the mirror before opening the door, George’s smiling face greeting you, half covered by a thick scarf that he seemed to try and wrap around his whole head and his hair covered with a woolen beanie too. He held a box of chocolates in one, and a far-too-large bouquet of flowers in another glove-covered hand, ready to step in.

You immediately stepped aside, letting him in.

“Happy Valentine’s, baby.” he said, offering you the gifts which you gladly accepted with a loud “aww”, unwrapping the scarf around his neck so you could press a soft, thankful kiss to his lips while he took the beanie off as well. You walked over to the living room to set the gifts down as he took off his boots and jacket.

“It’s actually so cold outside, like, this is crazy. It’s not snowing but it should be, I almost got blown away!” you heard him shout from the entrance, making his way to the living room where you sat on the couch, Netflix already pulled up, scrolling through the movies section. You chuckled at his complaints, side eyeing him as he walked into the room.

“If you got blown away I’d never forgive you for ditching me on Valentine’s.” you said, gaze returning to the TV as he plopped down on your couch with a loud exhale, basking in the warmth of the gracious heating inside your house, a stark difference from the cold he stomped through.

“What do you mean you wouldn’t forgive me? How would that be my fault?” he complained, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and you leaned into him, head lightly resting on his right shoulder as you continued scrolling.

“That would mean you just didn’t try hard enough for me.” you argued, and you heard a chuckle escape him at your absurd claim, seeing him shake his head.

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I? That means I tried more than hard enough.” he said, fingers lightly rubbing up and down your shoulder. You nodded, stifling a giggle.

“You wanna watch the Titanic?” you asked, finger hovering over the OK button on your remote, waiting for him to read the description of the movie that played next to the trailer, even though both of you knew well enough what the movie was about.

“Didn’t you say you find it boring, though?” he said, gaze flickering between you and the screen.

“Yeah, but it’s cheesy, stupid and romantic. Perfect for Valentine’s, eh?”

“Just like you.” he murmured under his breath, a grin stretching out on his face at the dumb joke, carefully watching you to check if you heard. And you, of course, heard and immediately looked up at him with an offended look.

“Excuse you?!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” he laughed, pulling you in closer, hoping you’d forgive him as you continued glaring up at him the longer he laughed.

“I know you think you look very scary and mad right now, but you just look like a… cute puppy, or something, trying very, very hard to look angry and intimidating.” he said, and your facade deflated, now looking just mildly irritated as you huffed and turned your gaze back to the TV screen.

“This is so not fair.”

“I’m sorry love, but you’re too cute to be scary in the slightest.”

“I’m not! Tremble before my wrath!” you shouted, hearing him giggle in response.

“Oh, you’re right, I’m so scared, please spare me!” he played along and you laughed, pressing your face into his shoulder right before pressing play and adjusting yourself on the couch, ready to fall asleep somewhere in the middle, considering the movie was three and a half hours long and there was no way in hell you were making it through the whole thing.

Barely five minutes had passed when you were already shifting in your seat, inspecting the box of chocolates he bought thoroughly. You decided to reach out and busy yourself with reading the packaging and maybe opening it, instead of following the rather slow pace of the movie.

Only when you grabbed the box had you actually realised it was painted gold, the Ferrero Rocher logo printed on it and you shook it, as if expecting for there not to be any chocolates inside.

“Damn, Ferrero Rocher? Alright, rich boy, goddamn!” you said and he laughed loudly in response, gaze switching from the TV over to you.

“Gotta spend all the YouTube money on something.” he replied.

“Maybe your Minecraft obsession is good for something after all.” you muttered, carefully opening the box and you heard a whine of protest come from him.

“Hey!”

You ripped the box open, inspecting the gold wrapped candies before carefully picking up one of them, slowly unwrapping it and then holding it up to George’s mouth, expectantly looking up at him from below his shoulder. He opened his mouth and you plopped it inside, and he immediately started chewing, almost pleasantly surprised noises rumbling from his chest.

“This is actually really good, I forgot how good these were.” he mumbled while he still chewed, nodding his head as he searched for your eyes, almost as if looking for confirmation.

“What, you were gonna get me shitty candy on purpose?” you said, unwrapping another candy for yourself and munching down on it, tossing the wrapper to the other side of the couch, assuring yourself that you’d just clean it up tomorrow.

“How do you manage to spin everything I say into something bad?” he complained again while you giggled, knowing exactly how to get him annoyed. “I obviously knew they were good, that’s why I got you the crazy expensive ones!”

“I know, I’m just playing, Georgie.” you weakly hit his arm, and then continue, much quieter: “Thanks for getting me this stuff - I love you, you know that?”

You see the corners of his mouth lift upwards and he pulls you in closer, hand snaking up from your shoulder into your hair, tucking a strand behind your ear gently. “Yeah, I do. I love you too, baby.”

The atmosphere quiets into a comfortable silence, and his fingers still lightly comb through your hair, his gentle touch paired with the quietness of the movie making your eyelids fall heavier and heavier. He notices when you let out quite a big yawn, and his fingers untangle themselves from your hair, hand pulling at your arm to push you away from his shoulder. You’re quite confused as to what he’s doing, but as soon as you’re off his shoulder, he pulls your head back down into his lap. You adjust your head on his thigh with a smile as he softly pulls a few strands of hair away from your face, his left hand now slowly scratching at your scalp instead of his right.

As soon as you face the TV your eyes burn, and you’re forced to close them as exhaustion washes over you. You fought the sleep that crept up on you and harshly pulled you towards itself the best you could, and maybe you would’ve actually made it through the movie if George’s hands didn’t feel so nice and soft buried in your hair.

One second you were watching Jack dine with Rose and her fiance in first class with tired, weary eyes and the other you were peeling your eyes open slowly, tiredly blinking away, trying to get your blurry vision to finally focus on something other than the ceiling. That something happened to be your boyfriend’s face that finally came into your line of sight, his warm, chocolate eyes peering down at yours, paired with one of the biggest lovesick grins you’d ever seen him wear. His hand still threaded itself through your hair carefully, wrapping tiny strands around his pointer finger before letting them go, going back to running it through and brushing over your scalp. You couldn’t help but shyly giggle at the way he stared at you, the light of the TV reflecting in his already shiny eyes.

“Hi.” you greeted, voice hoarser than expected. He laughed in response, eyes trailing over every inch of your face.

“Hi.” he repeated. A beat of silence passed with him still staring down at you, and you staring back, a blush creeping it’s way up your neck to your cheeks.

“What?” you whined, rocking your head side to side in his lap. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” he asked, playing dumb, grin only growing wider the more he spoke.

“Like… I dunno.” you responded, cheeks fiery. “Did you turn me around from the TV so you could stare while I slept, you creep?”

“No, you turned around in your sleep. I couldn’t help it. You look so pretty.” he said, head cocking to the side as if to get another look at your face from a different angle, and your hands shot up to cover your face, heating up even more than before. His free hand immediately flew to yours, trying to push them away gently.

“No, stop, I wanna see!” he argued, trying to push them down as you persisted, giggling, burying your face in his leg as he started laughing as well.

“Stop it, George!” you say, pulling your hands off just to try and slap his away, grinning up at him, cheeks flaming.

“See, that’s better.” he mused, looking at your uncovered face again. “You look so peaceful, and... pretty when you sleep, you know that?”

“No I don’t, babe. I’m asleep, I can’t really see.” you roll your eyes and he laughs, hand darting back to your hair immediately as that lovesick look drowns his eyes again.

“Well then you’ll just have to trust me.” he responds. His gaze returns back to the TV and you switch places, now being your turn to stare up at his features while he pays attention to the movie.

“I can’t believe I still make you that flustered, even after all this time.” he laughs after a few seconds of silence, and you can’t help but laugh along.

“I can’t help it! You’re so- you’re so cheesy, like, I can’t…” you argue back, and he laughs, looking back at you again.

“You love it.” he says, then turns his head back to the TV. “Pretty girl.”

You let out a surprised whine, hands shooting up to cup your cheeks again, and he lets out a loud laugh at your reaction. “Shut up George, I swear!”

“I’m telling the truth! Why are you attacking me for telling the truth?”

“Enough! I can’t take this, my heart is going to burst, and then you’ll be responsible for my heart attack.”

“That’s not how heart attacks work-”

“Oh yeah, smartass? Well, explain to me how-”

Safe to say, you definitely enjoyed your Valentine’s.

#georgenotfound imagine #georgenotfound x reader #georgenotfound x you #georgenotfound x y/n #mcyt x reader #mcyt imagine #dream x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #dream team x reader #georgenotfound fanfic #georgenotfound fluff #mcyt fanfic

671 notes · View notes

teabunnypaws · 3 years

Text

Welp.

I did it.

What makes it WORSE? The fact that while writing one Hawks x Reader fic, I got distracted and wrote a WHOLE ASS DIFFERENT FIC. I don’t really have a beta reader, so I edited it as best I could and just..be gentle with me yall. This is my first fic in 10 years oof. This is my first time writing in this POV so have mercy haha, I know it gets kinda messy toward the end but hopefully it’s not awful.

Unconditional Love (Hawks x Reader)

Summary: You (bunny themed pro-hero) and Hawks have found balance and understanding in your busy lives. Sometimes the greatest show of love is saying nothing and doing everything.

Word#: 4088

Tags: fluff, cuddling with no pants, fluff and MORE FLUFF, pet names (honeybun, baby bun, toasty bun), mentions of getting a tan, Hero Reader with Bunny Quirk, (If more tags are needed, just lemme know this is my first time posting like this so oof)

Txt: Baby?

Txt: Loooovebiiiird~

Txt: I miss you 💕

You smiled as you sent the text message, comfortable in bed, your teeth biting softly at the corner of your lip. Your long ears gave a small flick as you basked in the cool of the bedroom. It was lit only with dim fairy lights, the sound of the standing fan nearby rumbling through the air, soothing you further as you cuddled up in your sleep shirt. It had been a long day, and you had just gotten back from a grueling two week deployment. Your shoulders hurt, your calves were killing you...which was saying something considering your quirk.

Unlike Rumi, you were built for speed rather than punishing power...but there were days where even you were pushed to your limits and this had been one of them. After a quick small meal and a hot shower, you could finally unwind for the weekend, a gentle smile on your face as you glanced over to Keigo's pillow next to you.

You had come home with your heavy duffel on your shoulder to be met by a bright eyed and apologetic Keigo in the doorway. He helped it off your shoulder and peppered you in kisses as he gathered you to him, fully decked out in his hero gear, visor pushed up into his hair.

You basked in the warmth of his body around you, the softness of his wings as they brushed against the part of your back exposed by your costume. The sensation of their silkiness against your skin made you shiver a bit, your tail giving a small wiggle of delight. His hands were also so warm, soft in pliant leather that rested on your hips, fingertips brushing softly inward as though he wanted to pet your tail. It was one of your favorite things about him, how he always savored you like that.

"Sorry honeybun, I gotta fly. Duty calls y'know? He had murmured against your lips, his eyes worried and gentle as he regarded you. But instead of what he had seen before with others who had been in his arms, the hurt and sadness, your eyes met his with a gaze that held one thing that never failed to take his breath away: understanding. Your hands slid up to cup his cheeks, pulling him down for a kiss, your lips met softly, sweetly.

His eyes fluttered closed and his shoulders relaxed, arms and wings tightening about you just a moment as he soaked you in. A soft sigh pulled from you both as you parted, a small smirk curling your lips as you reached up and carefully pulled his visor down settling it in place.

"Stay safe out there hotshot."

The smile that lit up his face rivaled the sun and his wings ruffled in his joy. "You got it baby bun." He gave you a playful wink and that trademark beautiful smile "I'll be back soon~" and out he had gone, leaving you to unpack and settle in.

You weren't expecting a reply right away, As Keigo or rather..Hawks, tended to be busy with his patrol. Not that you minded. Both of you were pro heroes and even though you were nowhere near as busy as he was, there were times where you both had to bid each other goodbye for the sake of duty.

Sometimes weeks at a time.

You didn't bother to tell him where you were when you had to leave. He *knew* where you were thanks to the feather you wore around your neck pressing to your skin. Not only did it let him know where you were but, it gave Hawks the feeling of your resting heartbeat, the hum of happiness in your chest as he began to reply.

It was a bond unlike most had ever seen. The two of you tied at the hip, but at the same time, never impeding the work the other did...even if it meant being apart for long stints.

Apart, but never alone~

Your eyes sparkled when you saw his reply:

Lovebird: I miss you too baby bun~

Txt: Come cuddle me?

There was a pause then...a rather long one. One long enough for you to pull up your emails and flip through before his message popped up on the top of your screen.

Lovebird: I'll be there as soon as I'm done ok? Keep the bed warm for me~

Txt: Fiiiiiine~

And you of course attached a picture of yourself pouting in the low light of the room. Your hair strewn softly about your pillows, ears lowered and bottom lip poked out. To put the cherry on top you were wearing your favorite sleep shirt: an oversized Hawks merchandise shirt the same color as his wings of course; the feather keepsake he gave you resting on its chain and settled about your heart.

There was no text message as a reply, the feather giving all the answer you needed. It shifted and moved to brush against the curve of your cheek and you smiled, gathering it to your lips and murmuring softly against the vane. "Love you…" Your eyes closed, the gentle fluffiness brushing against your lips, and you could almost feel his thumb against them.

It would be a good five hours before you heard the slight rustle of the balcony window and the familiar sound of your boyfriend clambering through. You shifted, rolling over and regarding him in the low light of the room as he stood, looking over to you with gentle loving eyes.

"Hey (y/n), I'm home honeybun…" His voice was still cheerful, relieved to be home but low with his exhaustion. He didn't look too worse for wear, no huge chunks of missing feathers or anything like that, but that tiredness hung heavy on his frame like a wet coat.

"Welcome home…" you replied, shifting on your side to watch him with a small sleepy blink. Hawks sighed, giving a small smile before pulling his visor off and placing it on the bedside table, his work phone was tugged from his pocket, plugged in and plopped next to it haphazardly.

His boots and socks were the next to go, the crimson winged hero too tired to put any sort of effort into stripping out of his work clothes in any sort of sexy manner, but to you?

He was gorgeous.

The slight flex of his shoulders as he hovered his feathers out of the way to wriggle his coat off was downright sinful, your eyes watching as he dropped it on the floor. The next off was his shirt, tugged off over his head, yet another tired sigh coming as he let it join his coat. One hand coming to smooth his hair back as sharp teeth found the end of one gloved fingertip biting and pulling the leather to remove it and let it drop, soon to be joined by its mate on the ever growing pile. The buckle of his pants came undone and you would have offered to help him with that if he didn't look so drained. Plus...you were still tired and sore yourself.

And just like that...Hawks was gone. Shed and discarded on the floor and put aside for the time being.

Left in his boxers, Keigo flopped face down onto the bed with a fluff of red as his feathers settled back into place. He pushed an exhausted groan into his pillow, not noticing that his dramatic belly flop had made you bounce slightly.

"Hey, we just got this mattress..don't go breaking it just yet." You teased.

"Baby bun..if I wasn't so exhausted I'd show you how I'd really break this mattress and you know it." Came the smothered reply and he laughed softly, gently rolling over to face you with his arms out. "C'mere…" his eyes were honeyed amber, warm and so inviting, even in the low light of the room.

It took less than a second for you to slot yourself firmly between those strong arms, nosing under his jawline while Keigo buried his face in your hair and took a deep breath. One wing draped over you, dropping you both into relative darkness and you hummed in contentment. His exhaling sigh came with slacked shoulders, his hand rubbing quick circles in the small of your back, just above your tail.

You pressed a smile to his neck and murmured softly "Slower please?" Your hand slid up his back in a lazy methodical way as a demonstration. "Like that?" You asked, loving the way his muscles felt below your touch. It was like a musician destringing an overtaut violin bow, another sigh heaved from his frame and he hummed lowly as he seemed to revel in being asked to relax his quickened pace.

"Sure thing babe….whatever you want.." he murmured, his hand shifting to a slow easy pace. Keigo smiled as he trailed his fingertips up and down your back, admiring the lines of your frame, and the softness of your skin under his merchandise. "Y'know...I love seeing you in that...wearin’ my colors...my name on you.." He said softly. "Looks even better on you than before…."

"Oh yeah? Why's that hm?" You asked, nosing gently under his jawline. Your nose twitched as an unfamiliar cologne hit it...a smell that you weren't used to being on him, but nonetheless it was sublime. Woodsy and warm, slightly sweet and undeniably Keigo.

"Probably because you're so tan now...heh, I knew you said you were running around outside a lot and you weren't kidding." He leaned back and grinned at you. "My little toasty bun, I'm gonna eat you all up~" Keigo growled playfully, biting gently along your shoulder in a few places with a soft noise in the back of his throat.

"Ah! Keigo~" you squealed and squirmed, laughing against his neck. "Yeah I'm a toasty bun, and you smell nice. New cologne?" You asked, nuzzling eagerly back into the crook of his neck. Hm..no not there..

A slight tip of your face where you could feel the soft brush of his facial hair against the bridge of your nose, the smell much stronger there. You hummed your delight, rubbing back and forth, the slight scratch of his hair soothing you, allowing your ears to tip back.

"Nah, new face wash. Rumi got it for me..I wasn't sure if I liked it, but if it gets *this* reaction, I think I might just have a winner on my hands." He said with a playful waggle of his brows, earning a laugh from you against his neck.

"Yeah I'd say so." You hummed, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips, settling your foreheads together. You simply paused there...soaking it all in, his presence, the softness of his breath against your lips, the feel of those cool slightly calloused hands brushing against your skin and hiking the back of your shirt as they went.

"Lovebird?"

"Hm?" Keigo replied, peeling open one eye to regard you with a small smile. "What's up (y/n)?"

"I love you." You said softly, giving a small peck of your lips to his, earning yourself a grin. As he began to open his mouth to reply, your own grin flicked over your face as you began your assault.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.." Again and again, you murmured the phrase, each time punctuating it with a small quick kiss on a different part of his face. You could feel his shoulders shake with laughter, his head tipping to try and return the assault, but at the moment, you had him on the ropes.

All he could do was accept your love and laugh as again and again, it was peppered into his skin with gentle affection and insistent whispers. "I love you. I love you. I love youuuu~" You cooed, the last one given with a veritable rain of kisses leaning up over him, pausing to linger the last one at his lips, allowing you to look into his eyes.

So beautiful they were...like melted honey as they met your own. His breaths came in soft little puffs, quickly warming hands settled against you and he chuckled. "Well that was quite a statement. Allow me to retort~" A wicked grin crossed his face and he used a bit of leverage to roll you halfway under him, not being able to hold back a laugh as your squeal of delight filled the air.

His kisses had no words, but none were needed as he peppered them all over your face and neck, your hands clutching about his neck and shoulders as giggles pulled from you nonstop.

Oh that sound.

That beautiful...beautiful sound. All for him. One of the few reasons why this hero gig was worth it; to come home and settle next to you. What made it even better was that he could feel it. Every rippling vibration seeping into him through the feather you wore and he pushed up on his hands, looking down at you.

All the genuine joy, all the happiness, it was for him, caused by him. Keigo...not Hawks...this precious adoration reserved for who he was...and not who he allowed others to see him as.

It nearly brought him to tears.

You took a moment to breathe, your giggles dying down, tiny tears pricking the corners of your eyes as you looked up at him with sheer adoration in your gaze. Your hair was messy and spread over the pillow below you, your hands slipping off him to rest gently against the mattress.

Your shirt had shifted during the assault, slipping slightly down one shoulder, bearing the soft plane of skin to him and the sight of you made his heart ache in the best way. A sweet twisting fullness that left him nearly breathless as he watched you, his wings relaxing softly along with his shoulders.

Confused at his unusual silence, you looked up at him, giving a small quirk of a shy smile, feeling your cheeks warm. “What?” You asked, your voice soft and flustered. “Keigooo….What?” You insisted when your initial question got no reply, but instead a warm, loving smile.

"You're beautiful babybun...y'know that?" Keigo murmured, the feather around your neck lifting to trail its tip against your lips. "And it's a goddamn shame I'm so fucking exhausted." He laughed breathlessly, his eyes low and hungry in the dim light. A playful smile curled your lips at that and you pressed a kiss to the tip of his feather.

"That makes it a double shame then because trust me hot shot, you’re not the only one who’s dead on their feet. Soooo to me, that means we just have to get some sleep and who knows~" You grinned up at him then, a hand coming to brush against the afterfeather and up to where it attached to your necklace. You relished in the full body shiver he gave, his eyes fluttering closed, his teeth sinking slightly into the corner of his mouth.

"We might just be in shape to handle some…."

"Morning exercise?" Keigo offered, smoldering topazine eyes locked onto yours, his voice low and sultry. His wings were lifted high, flared slightly to subtly show off his plumage as his instincts demanded.

"Mhmmm~" you purred in return, letting your hand slip from the feather to gather him to you, giving a giggle at the small noise he made at being pulled out of his display and rolled back onto his side. His wings gave a quick flap, adjusting to keep himself from laying on them, and he give a low chuckle.

“Well in that case, let’s get some sleep..You know me (y/n), I love to help you stretch those beautiful legs of yours~” Keigo teased, his hands sliding down the soft curve of your exposed thigh to your knee and back up.

You hummed softly in your delight as you shifted, rolling over onto your side to stretch your arms out comfortably. It always confused you honestly, how romantic shows and movies would have people cuddling to sleep facing one another. The first time you’d tried that with Keigo, your arm had gone horribly numb and you couldn’t sleep worth a damn.

This though? Your back snug against his strong chest with his arm draped over you at juuust the right spot, one found through MUCH trial and error and many complaints about his forearm digging into your ribs. This was perfect...and you sighed comfortably, your ears lowering as you heard Keigo shift, slipping his arm through the slot in the special pillow you’d asked support to make for you. This way his arm didn’t go numb and you got to have a nice pillow to sleep on.

Despite being heroes, you both were still human and there were limits to what you could tolerate. Comfort was a necessity when it came to your lives, and needless to say, you two had cuddling down to an -art-.

“And can I also say that I’m not a religious man by any stretch of the word, but I thank whatever deity is listening that you hate wearing sleep pants?” Keigo continued, a little huffing laugh coming from you as you wiggled your tail against his stomach earning a laugh from him as he scooted back just a bit to avoid the attack.

“H-hey! I’m just being honest!” He whined, and you smirked over your shoulder at him as you grabbed the small remote on the bed and tapped it, turning the lights off and dropping the both of you into darkness.

“I know you are Keigo~ That’s one of the things I love about you..” You murmured softly, feeling him tense just a little before he smiled and hummed his agreement into your hair.

“Yeah? What else do you love about me?” he asked, his voice soft next to your ear.

“Hmmm well one of them is poking me in the butt.” You snickered, earning an embarrassed huff from him.

“Well that guy has a mind of his own, I’m not apologizing. He knows quality when he sees it.” Keigo snarked, smiling into your hair.

“Oh does he?” You smirked as you closed your eyes. “I love your heart...your laugh. How you absolutely suck at making pancakes.” The offended scoff that followed only made your smirk curl to a smile.

“I love how you complete me…I’d go on, but we did say we needed some sleep and if I don’t stop there we’ll be here until the sun comes up.” You sighed softly and you didn’t miss the slight tightening of his arm and wing around you.

“Aw honeybun, you’re gonna make me all sappy…” He pressed a kiss to the side of your neck, his eyes closing as he lingered there. “We complete each other y’know? You’re my missing piece...what made all this shit mean something again..” A deep breath and a sigh against your skin and he shifted, getting a bit more comfortable. “Sleep tight (y/n), I love you…”

“G’night Keigo..I love you too..”

Taking a deep breath, you sighed it out, Keigo’s warmth and his soft breathing against your ear combined with the steady hum of the fan and the quiet murmur of the city outside your window was your lullaby, pulling you comfortably into a deep sleep. The smile on your face never slipped away as you rested there...after all...you had some morning exercise to look forward to with your best partner~

Love...trust...

It was what held your relationship together through all of the nonsense that was going on in your lives. You knew of course about the league of villains, about what he had to do. Those big ears of yours weren’t just for show...and you still remember the fear on his face when you had told him about what you had known.

You had been on your patrol, (h/n) and Hawks, him in the air, you along the ground, but the two of you had settled on the roof of an abandoned warehouse for a break as the sun began to dip past the buildings. Moving to sit on the edge of the roof, you sighed and laid back on it, letting the wind ruffle your hair and the fur of your ears before you broke the silence.

“Hey Hawks?” “What’s up (h/n)?” “I’ve got a hypothetical for you.”

“Ooohoho? I do love a good hypothetical~ hit me.”

“So! Hypothetically, if someone finds out that someone they love is going deep undercover and having to do something that is diametrically opposed to what they stand for in order to protect the greater good. What do you think that someone would do?”

Your eyes had met and Hawks had an absolutely unreadable expression on his face, the fear in those topazine eyes and how he had frozen to the spot was something you had never seen before. Just like that, the roles had been reversed. The predator had become prey. He had been trembling and you of course had noticed, but your face had stayed calm.

“Well, seems like cat’s got your tongue Feathers, so….I’ll give my answer first and you can say yours.” You hummed, shifting to sit up and letting your legs dangle over the edge of the roof and you kicked them slightly, your ears perked as you admired the sunset which was quickly drenching the city in twilight.

“I think, that person...if they truly understood their loved one, would know what they have to do is important...and just because they might have to do something bad, doesn’t mean they like it..or that it changes who they are at their heart.” You mused, your fingers coming up to trail your fingers against the feather around your neck.

“And of course, they would understand that their loved one COULDN’T say anything because...well that kinda defeats the whole purpose of being undercover right?” You looked over your shoulder at him giving a sweet smile and a tilt of your head as you picked up the feather and held it gently to your pulse point.

“So of course, that person would never say anything...because that would only hurt their loved one and they would just do their best to be there for them and support them when they come back home. What do you think Hawks?”

Hawks continued to stare and then swallowed the dry lump in his throat as he tried to process just what the fuck you just said. You...you knew...how the FUCK did you find out?! His mind was rushing, trying to think of something to say, something to DO...what could he do?! Did Endeavor know that you knew?!

What took him off guard the most though, was the calmness that you looked at him with. Those (e/c) eyes of yours weren’t angry...weren’t betrayed.

Understanding and love...

That was all they held.

The feather at your throat, right over where the blood rushed, held such a poignant meaning to him that it nearly brought him to his knees. You knew how dangerous his feathers could be, how if he had to, he could end your life with a thought...and also...your heartbeat. It was calm. No indication of fear, of lying...which meant that you really weren’t going to say anything.

His tight posture slowly dropped and he gave a breathless laugh, his wings giving a slight shake as he adjusted them, his hands slipping into his pockets as he walked to stand next to you on the edge.

“That’s ah...one hell of a hypothetical there honeybun, but yeah...I think you answered it in a shot.” He chuckled, giving a slight scratch at his chin scruff, looking down at you and his shoulders lowering slightly.

“Yeah? Guess I’m getting better at them!” You giggled, lifting the feather to kiss the center of it before letting it dangle down as you stood and began to stretch yourself out. “I think that’s enough of a break hm? Wanna get back to patrolling?”

“Heh, sure thing~” His voice was the same happy go lucky chirp as always, but those eyes, you could see the relief in them as plainly as his wings. He now had a silent supporter, one who would be there no matter how much blood ended up on his hands and that was something he had never thought he would ever have:

Unconditional love.

#hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #hawks x you #keigo x you #bhna #mha x reader #bnha x reader #Tea Drabbles #hawks fluff #hawks x reader fluff #I highkey wanna see about working with a hawks VA to record this #just for SHEER SELF INDULGENCE

132 notes · View notes

dinosaurtsukki · 3 years

Text

[ malt whiskey on ice ]

pairing: chuuya nakahara x gn!reader (there’s an error in the header but i’m too lazy to edit it now i’m sorry)

word count: 2k words

@ah-kaashi: dinooo im having chuuya brainrot hours right now ಥ⌣ಥ can i request a short fic of chuuya meeting bartender!reader at a bar and eventually starts pining for them? and he only goes to the bar to see them (ahh my heart) he probably would confess to the reader whilst drunk, thanks to his low alcohol tolerance :"

summary: chuuya has a crush on the cute bartender and tries to ask her out. unfortunately, drinking alcohol calms his nerves way too much

a/n: i’m--- i’ll just have a really long list of works under ‘chuuya nakahara’ at this point. also ahhh i hope you like this kei and sorry it took too long but i had so much fun writin this !!

“chuuya-san!”

chuuya could never get tired of hearing your bright, cheery voice greeting him as soon as he entered the bar, especially after a long and hard day. he smiles at you, fold his coat and leaves it on the counter beside him along with his hat.

“a good evening to you too, y/n,” he says.

“having your usual?” you asked, already getting out a glass.

“yes please.”

chuuya knows it’s rude to stare, but he can’t help but do so as you prepare his drink. the fact that your humming easily puts a smile on his face reminds chuuya how much he has fallen for you.

“here you go,” you serve his drink up with a warm smile. “malt whiskey with ice.”

“expect some refills as usual later in the night,” chuuya joked.

“as long as i get to make sure you’re still able to drive home,” you chuckled. the bar was less than half-full tonight, something that chuuya was very much thankful for. you were an amazing bartender and you always interacted with your customers. chuuya was even amazed at how you could hold a conversation with anyone and remember all the stories that people would tell you.

but sometimes, he kind of wanted you all to himself.

chuuya had been mulling that thought over for quite a long time: asking you out on an actual date instead of coming here every single night and looking at you longingly from across the counter. he did think he had a bit of a chance and you looked like you genuinely enjoyed talking to him and seeing him. but you were like that with everybody too.

“so, what’s been going on with you lately? finally finish that mission you’ve been stressing out on?” you asked while drying glasses behind the counter. chuuya smiled, dragging a gloved finger through the rim of his glass.

“well, if you’d really like to know...”

...

“you look like you’ve seen better days.”

“huh?” chuuya blinked out of his thoughts to see the new bartender regarding him with a concerned expression.

“you’ve been staring at your drink for the past... ten minutes...give or take,” you explained. “people do tend to stare at their drinks quite a bit but when it hits ten minutes that’s kind of raises an alarm for me,” you chuckled. “the ice even melted in your drink. want me to fix you a fresh one?”

“ah, no. but thanks for the offer though,” chuuya smiled. “shame to waste good alcohol.”

“i hear you,” you shrugged with a smile. “so, wanna tell me what’s been going on?” you asked. “bartenders do make good listeners.”

chuuya raised an eyebrow up at you as he thought about what you said. “um, it’s kind of a long story and i don’t think i’m ready to get into it now,” he confessed.

“that’s fair,” you nodded your head. chuuya was grateful to you for giving him some space. actually, now that he thought about it, he was grateful to you for always greeting him with a smile and asking how he was, even when he came in with the sourest of moods. he knew it wasn’t easy to be a bartender, especially one whose clients were from the mafia.

“how about you though?” chuuya asked. “um, anything special happen to you recently?”

you looked genuinely surprised at the question which made chuuya think that people never really asked about you. “you know, no one’s ever really asked me that,” you chuckled. “but... it’s nice. thanks, nakahara-san.”

chuuya doesn’t know why, but his stomach was practically doing backflips when you said that. have you always looked this cute when you laughed? how come chuuya never noticed that?

“please,” he says. “you can call me chuuya.”

...

“you never chicken out of anything. come on, you can do this,” chuuya grits his teeth, remembering not to accidentally crush the bouquet in his hands. right after finishing his mission early, he headed to the nearest flower shop to buy some flowers for you. as much as he wanted to give you red roses, he thought it would be a bit too much and didn’t want to accidentally scare you. instead, he settled on some pink peonies that he dearly hoped you would like.

chuuya decided on going to the bar before your shift just to give himself some time to relax. except, when he sits down on the counter, the bartender, an old man who chuuya knows very well, eyes the bouquet in his hands and flashes chuuya a knowing smile.

“do you think they’ll say yes?” chuuya asks, very aware at how nervous he sounds.

“i think it’ll be very interesting,” the bartender says. chuuya groans at how ambiguous that sounds.

“can i have my regular? please?” he asks. the bartender raises an eyebrow at him. “it’s just for the nerves,” chuuya reasons.

he was right in thinking that the alcohol would help with his nerves. except, it works a bit too much.

...

you always give your reflection a once-over before leaving for your shift at the bartender. the bartender’s uniform isn’t exactly your nicest outfit but you try your best to spruce things up by putting on some lip tint and brushing your hair. you’re not even sure if chuuya will be coming in, he is a busy man, but you apply your lip tint carefully in the mirror and wish for luck.

when you finally leave the employee’s changing room to start your shift, your heart jumps up in your chest when you recognize the familiar hat. except, when you come closer, you find that chuuya is slumped over the counter with an empty glass and a bouquet of flowers at his side.

the sight of the flowers brings a lump in your throat but you push that aside momentarily as you tap on chuuya’s shoulder to check on him.

“chuuya-san?”

“hrrrmmm,” he groans but doesn’t move an inch. you tap him on the shoulder again and call out his name, much louder this time, until chuuya finally raises his head.

his cheeks are flushed pink, no doubt from the alcohol, and his eyes clearly look as if he’s straining to focus as he squints at you. it’s unbelievably cute and you let out a chuckle.

“it’s not like you to get wasted on a thursday evening,” you smile before your gaze lands on the bouquet of flowers again. “i... see you were planning to ask someone out.”

“huh? yeah,” chuuya drawls, nodding his head slowly. “s’pposed to ask this person out... was waiting for them.”

“and then you ended up drinking too much,” you sigh. “i mean, i keep telling you your alcohol tolerance isn’t that great.”

“wanted to be less nervous,” chuuya whines slightly as his head drops back again. you reach your hand out to hold him back from pitching forward and slamming his face onto the table.

“oh my god, let’s get you sobered up at least before you meet them,” you sigh. it was a thursday night and no one else was at the bar. it probably wouldn’t hurt to step out for a while, wouldn’t it?

you’re practically dragging chuuya behind you to the employee’s room and sitting him on the couch you have there. except, once he sits down he immediately flops on the couch and curls up on his side. you’ve rarely seen the mafia executive look as vulnerable as this with his hat barely even on his head, his red locks framing his sleeping face, and his curled hands under his cheek. chuuya looks just like a little kid and you smile to yourself as you brush a lock of hair out of his face.

you already knew he was a mafia executive when you first met him here, at the bar, and was understandably quite scared of him at first. ‘he’s just a paying customer, like everyone else,’ you reminded yourself before putting on a winning smile to serve him.

little did you know, you were going to absolutely fall for him. chuuya was always kind and courteous, even tipping more than generously whenever he came in. but what struck you about him was that no matter what, even if he was having the worst of days, he would always ask how you are. as a bartender, you were used to being the one listening instead of being listened to. the fact that chuuya always asked about you and even remembered your ramblings made you smile.

part of you wondered if you had a chance with someone like chuuya. ‘but i guess not,’ you thought sadly, gently laying the bouquet of flowers on the side table. as soon as you did, chuuya shot up from the couch.

“ch-chuuya-san!” you yelped slightly in surprise.

“flowers... where are they?” he slurred, blinking around at his surroundings.

“here,” you smiled, placing the bouquet on his lap. “that person’s lucky, you know? to receive flowers from you.”

“yeah...” chuuya smiled. “y/n sure is.” and before you could fully process what he said, chuuya flopped back down on the couch.

“wait, what?” you squeaked. you turned to chuuya and shook him awake. “did you just say y/n?”

“yeah... you know them? works here, always smiley, looks hella cute,” chuuya chuckled before looking at you with the tiniest pout on his lips. “do you think they’d go out with me?”

you’re astounded and let out a small laugh. “i... i think they would chuuya. just ask them, alright?”

“alright,” chuuya nods and yawns before curling up on the couch again. you, on the other hand, are beside yourself with giddiness and it’s taking you all of your self-control not to wake him up. instead, you leave a glass of water and some headache medicine that you keep in your bag and return to your shift.

...

chuuya wakes up a few hours later with one of the worst headaches he’s ever had and his mouth feeling like sandpaper. also, he has no idea where he is.

he sits up, blinking at his surroundings as he struggles to remember what happened before he practically blacked out. ‘i was in the bar. i got a drink, and then...’

chuuya’s gaze lands on you, curled up on a nearby chair with your jacket draped across your torso and suddenly he remembers what exactly he was doing at the bar in the first place. “shit, shit, shit,” chuuya curses and sits up. he actually got blackout drunk before even getting the chance to talk to you and now you had to take care of him. chuuya hated to admit that his alcohol tolerance was low and now it seems he’s suffering the consequences for it.

his luck takes a turn for the worst when the noise stirs you awake.

“chuuya-san? you’re awake,” you yawn sleepily.

“fuck, i... blacked out, didn’t i? y/n, i’m so sorry it must have been so troubling for you,” chuuya immediately apologizes.

“it’s alright--”

“like, i came in before your shift and i thought drinking would settle my nerves a bit before asking you out and--” chuuya abruptly stops when he realizes what he accidentally blurted out loud. the look on your face says it all though.

“i... “ he starts and stops again. then, he realizes that the flowers he bought are still on the table. so, he picks it up and hands them to you. “i, i really like you, y/n. if you don’t hate me after all this, would you consider going out with me?”

there’s a smile on your face when you take the flowers for him and chuuya takes it as a good sign. and then you say, “you know, you said a lot of things while you were drunk.”

chuuya feels his face flush and lets out a groan. “oh god, like what?”

“we can talk about it if you like,” you shrug. “i’m... i’m free on saturdays, after my five pm shift.”

chuuya feels his heart leap in his chest and says “i’m free this saturday too,” a bit too enthusiastically, earning another laugh from you. he’s still feeling that euphoria when you stand up and plant a kiss on his cheek.

“also, you’re really cute when you’re drunk.”

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

taglist (check out my post for details on being part of my taglist): @waitforitillwritemywayout @atsumusdomain @laure-chan @goodfoodxoxoxo @guardianangelswings @ah-kaashi @amberalisa @whootwhoot @liz-multifandom-hotel @kac-chowsballs @violentfarewll

#bungou stray dogs #bsd x reader #chuuya nakahara #chuuya nakahara x reader #chuuya x reader #chuuya #bungou stray dogs fluff #bsd fluff #bungou stray dogs one-shot #bsd one-shot #bungou stray dogs fanfic #bsd fanfic #bungou stray dogs writing #bsd writing

230 notes · View notes

zuffer-weird-girl · 4 years

Text

Soulmate AU

Before you meet your soulmate you have to deal with a chibi version of them before actually meeting them. So can he handle it?

Kai's point of view since you guys wanted

Reader's view

Soulmates... a mere distraction and useless thing that appeared on the humanity. Seing thise with disgusting little versions of other persons on their shoulder or just howering over their head just gave him the nerves.

Ever since he turned 18, he tried to not think about it much... his chibi didn't appeared, and probably never would... Pops and Kurono always gave him as younger the bullshit of "be patient" or "Those things take time."

He didn't believed that neither want it. He didn't needed a stupid sick person to distract him from his mission... that's what he told himself.

One day, working he heard a crash and immediately sighed in annoyance. It wasn't a good day for him and he wasn't on the mood to atture anyone. Almost throwing his pen down, he got up with a grunt and went in search of where the noise went only to find the living room in complete chaos as Mimic, Nemoto and Setsuno holded weapons while looking at the ground.

"What the hell..?" He muttered before Setsuno shouted an "THERE! KILL IT!" before the three man started to stab, shot the ground as little squeak's echoed in the room.

He was about to scold everyone on that room before he almost shouted when he felt the reason of their misbehaviour bump into his leg. Looking down, glove already discarded, he saw a what was supposed to be a tiny creature, eyes shinning a vibrant (E/c) color while looking up at him while adjusting their (H/c) hair.

"What the-?" He cringed and hissed when the creature hugged his ankle and went to kill it before a elder hand grabbed on his wrist. The owner demanding that everyone excluding Chisaki left the room.

"Pops with all due respect-"

"My boy, after years you're really going to kill your soulmate?" The elder spoke with a frown as Chisaki tried to not widen his eyes. Pops crouched down and gently cupped the chibi in his hands and brought up for him and Kai to see more closely.

"My, isn't that one of prettiest chibis I saw?" The elder chuckled as the chibi blushed and squeaked happily at the man's commentary as Kai narrowed his eyes at the little thing. "Don't you agree my boy?" The elder asked as Kai glared one more time at the chibi before scoffing and storming out of the room.

The chibi tilted their head as Pops chuckled, letting the pretty thing down on the ground to follow Kai.

He sighed before widening his amber eyes at hearing the squeaking following him. He turned around and send a dark glare at the chibi who only smiled lovingly at him.

"Shoo. Be gone." He tried to shove them with his foot by all in vain since the chibi attached to his ankle and squeaked happily as he cringed. "GET OFF!"

Kurono appeared on the halls before snorting at the scene before commenting.

"Found your soulmate?"

"Shut up and help me get rid of this!" Kai glared at his friend who made a thoughtful expression before smirking and denying, hlgetting out and leaving Kai with the lovely chibi on his ankle.

He groaned as he tried to work and the chibi continued walking, playing or even squeaking to get his attention. The chibi wouldn't just leave him alone and always followed or tried to cuddle one part of his body and was getting already on his nerves.

His pacience broke when the chibi accidentally let a bit of his pen fall and he slammed his hands on his desk. Making the chibi squeak, but this time in fear.

"Get. Out. Of my office." He growled the words between his teeth, glaring at the chibi as hives slowly started to appear on his skin "I don't want to even hear your stupid squeaking or see your disgusting face again. Out."

The chibi stayed silent as Kai continued glaring at it before he let out a confused and quite shock noise when tears started to roll down their round cheeks as the chibi jumped from his desk and ran out of his office.

"Well... at least some peace." He sighed before taking his seat again. Getting back to work despite a feeling of guilt starting to grow on the back of his head.

It had been more than six hours since he last saw his chibi soulmate ever since he... blow off. Walking around the halls he couldn't help but sometimes look behind him sometimes to check if the chibi was following him... but it wasn't.

Frowning a bit he shook his head before an idea popped into his mind. Getting his phone out and start his research about the chibis.

Reading more and more about them he saw that his soulmate was actually a quite patient one... normally chibis when ignored by only half an hour they ran away from the person and never heard of again.... but it has been days since he had tried to ignore their existence, and his soulmate was still there, happily following him like a puppy.

Reading ore and more his heart dropped subconsciously when he saw that chibis were extremely fragile creatures. One hit and they might end up the actual person on a very bad and dangerous way. His worry and guilt were too overbearing as he got up and decided to look for the chibi around the house... just to prevent a death.

Yeah... it was only because of that. Je didn't wanted the yakusa to have a bad reputation if one person died becaus of a chibi.... because he was an asshole to them.

Although it reached around the night hours. And still hadn't found the damn chibi. Kurono noticed his distress and he admited the whole story so he could help him.

Kai was almost losing his mind, already admitting that he missed his chibi soulmate, not hearing their annoying squeak was torture now.

"Relax dude, we're going to find-"

"Is my fault. I shouldn't have growled at it." He admited begrudgingly, as Kurono tried his best to not just nod in agreement to not make his friend more stressed than he was.

The two walked towards the kitchen to get a drink before Kai almost felt his breath being ripped out of his chest when he saw the damn brat, sitting on the kitchen counter nibbling on a fruit, not aware of the presence of the two males on the room.

"There it is." Hati smirked as Kai let out a relieved sigh, hesitantly walking towards the chibi as Kurono went to bed.

"You brat, where were you?" He hadn't meant for his tone to be harsh, but immediately cringed when the chibi let out a terrified squeak and hidded behind the basquet of fruitsm

He did deserve that.

Sighing, he got a chair to sit down as he watched like a hawks the shaken chibi as he frowned.

"Apologies." He said nonchantly bit noticed it wasn't enough for the chibi to even poke their head out to look at him. "... I never expected to have a soulmate. I was always barely on my own... and as you cam see I am not the best person to be around of." He looked at the door frame a bit, the corner of his eyes spotting the chibi slowly getting out "Whenever I'm around, the fun ends. That's how always has been since the old man took me in. I... guess that I just think that I'm not suitable to have someone... I would just let them down anyway." He flinched and tensed at feeling something on his hand, only to look down at the chibi hugging his hand and looking up at him before squeaking a smile.

"... even despite of what I did to you, you forgive me that easy?" He arched one eyebrow at the another squeak. His smirk was hidded thanks by his mask as he awkwardly rubbed their chubby cheek with his thumb.

"Brat." He whispered as the chibi squeaked again as he allowed himself to finally be relieved on that day.

Ever since them, he put the brat, as he decided to call, on his shoulder since they seemed like to enjoy snuggle up on the purple feathers of his jacket. Everyone who dared to aproach or even try to touch it, Chisaki immediatly would overhaul them on the spot.

The brat, when the both were alone would always squeak loudly whenever he was wearing his mask. Grumpily he would take it off just to stop hearing the squeaking only for the chibi to kiss his cheek or even lips and ran away from him.

"Why you little-"

Rappa almost stepped on the chibi once, and no one believed that Kai actually shouted and cursed the man... no one even knew that Chisaki knew much cursed words as Kendo himself.

One day, opening the door of Eri's room he called the girl who shakily stood up before both of them widened their eyes when hearing a squeak and the chibi just popping out of Chisaki's jacket and waving at Eri.

"....u-uh...."

"Don't comment and just go Eri."

He really didn't know whether he should ignore it or just want the floor to swallow him after that.

Loosening his tie around is neck he found the chibi on the middle of his bed crying. Anger and concern immediately ran up to his veins as he looked around for any signs fro someone else that could have hitted you or other thing.

Then he remember something, chibis usually reflected what their actual versions were feeling at the moment and for the first time he felt empathy... slowly taking a seat he saw the tiny drops of water espace their eyes.

His gloved hand grabbed them, making them squeak as he apologised. Lowering his mask he glared at the chibi a bit before hesitantly and awkwardly peeking them.

Immediatly the humor of the chibi changed as they let out inumerous squeaks amd hugged his bare face and peppered it with tiny smooches as he grunted.

"I regret my decision already..." he growled as the chibi squeaked even more.

"They sound like they hadn't sleep in ages." Kurono commented with a laugh at seing Kai's soulmate almost drooling on his shoulder as Kai stared blankly at them.

"They're just a lazy brat." He murmured nonchantly before returning his gaze at his front as the chibi let out a cute yawn. "You know the deal, give them the product and leave, or else shoot."

"Got it." They went to turn on a alleyway before Kai let out a grunt when his chibi yanked on his pierced ear and started to squeak loudly and jump on his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Kurono commented as Kai grabbed the chibi on his gloved hand and glared at them.

"What's wrong with-" the chibi bited on his gloved hand and jumped on the floor and stomped out as Kai stared in horror as Kurono was froze in shock "they never did this before."

"Go after them. I will slow down the business." Kai nodded ass he ran after his chibi, ready to give them an hour of lecture for daring to pinch their small teeth on his hand.

"Get THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME-!" he shoved past the people as he ran after his soulmate that despite being little it was fast."GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT!"

The chibi stopped amd looked at him with a smile, poiting at the entrance of a market, squeaking and jumping before entering the place.

"You want to get killed you little-?!" He groaned and stormed in the market looking at the ground desperatly... he was already panicking again before he spotted the little shit turning on a aisle.

"For God's sake brat dont you-?!" He stopped on his tracks when he saw his chibi on the arms of another one. A small version of himself as it hugged lovingly his brat while he could even feel hearts emitting out of them.

"I see..." he muttered in shock to himself before gasping quietly when he heard another's voice, something like "goldie" before they stopped behind his chibi self.

He locked gaze with the familiar (E/c) beautiful eyes. His actual soulmate... was standing there, right in front of him...

They started to slowly take steps towards him and he subsconciously did the same...

He could feel his brat smilling up at him... as his own and only future love of his life giggled when he arched an eyebrow at then before laughing.

Exactly like he suspected...

He couldn't help but smile at the angel in front of him, knowing that for the first time on his life. Soulmates were actually a blessing since he finally found his brat.

#bnha villains #bnha #bnha characters #bnha x reader #bnha imagine #chisaki kai #chisaki kai x reader #overhaul x reader #overhaul #fanfic overhaul #my writing #zuffer writings

483 notes · View notes

ineffablebooklover · 3 years

Note

Oh goodness, I'm terrible at writing prompts, hmm......

Are you familiar with D&D/Pathfinder/tabletop RPG's in general? I'd love to see The Crows rolling up characters and playing a one-shot. I can't decide if I'd rather Kaz or Jesper be the GM. Both sound horribly great. 😆

Otherwise, in a very un-original but beloved AU, I'd love to see HP Drarry and Romione + SoC Kanej, Wesper, and Helnik in some kind of Coffee Shop setting (I owned my own shop for the better part of a decade, so I love those).

And Matthias always being alive, please, if you do either of these. ;)

And I don't care about fic length; whatever you feel inspired to do!

💜

The Crow Cafe Coffee Shop AU~ with the Crows, Ronmione, and Drarry

authors note: I got a bit carried away with the idea, and I added some plot. There’s going to be multiple parts to this (yay!) so I guess keep in tune!

Part 1. Kaz’s Crow Cafe

There is a cafe, down some streets in Downtown Ketterdam’s Stave, run by a boy and his friends. There, you can find stories, romance, and most importantly, a decent cup of coffee.

“Not for my coffee, you podge,” Kaz scoffed, slapping away Jesper’s offer of sugar with a glove-clad hand. “I’m just saying sugar prices are getting higher. We need to compensate for this fact.”

Kaz waited for questions, looking around the table. No one said anything. Kaz looked directly at Jesper, who sighed, taking back the sugar and dumping it in his own coffee.

“And how do you want us to do that?”

It was a chilly Saturday morning in early-September, and Kaz was giving his Saturday morning pre-opening briefing.

“Kaz, people come here for the low coffee prices. We can’t hike the prices really high,” Inej added. Jesper nodded, grabbing another packet of sugar.

Kaz sighed. “I know. I’m working on it. Just thought I’d let you two know.”

“Don't mind if I do,” Jesper cut in, pouring the sugar in his overly-caffeinated drink, “but shouldn’t good old Mr. Haskell be thinking about this instead of us?”

Kaz sipped his coffee, shrugging. “‘Old Mr. Haskell’, as you say Jesper, is old and inert.” Kaz sent a glance Inej’s way. “He won’t be doing much about it.”

Jesper just chugged his coffee, bouncing up and ready to start the day.

“Jesper, was it wise to take in that much sugar and caffeine?” Inej inquired as Jesper bounced around the shop.

“Probably, not,” Jesper grinned, flipping the sign to ‘Open’ as a few early-risers started to form a line in front of the Cafe.

A girl with tied back light brown hair entered the cafe first, a stack of textbooks and notebooks in her arms. She ordered a coffee and a pastry, and started working at a table.

She was followed by a tall, burly, blond male who Kaz was sure he’d seen before. Trailing him was Nina, a girl Kaz knew from previous jobs he had done with her to help keep up the profits. Next to the composed blond dude, Nina looked dead tired.

“Why do we even have to get up this early?” Nina whined.

“I have to do things later today and Sunday, this is a good time to work on the project,” the blond replied.

Nina groaned. “Good for you. I was going to get my beauty sleep.”

“Well you get to have a beautiful coffee instead,” Jesper said cheerfully. “Good morning, Nina! What will it be for you and your…” Jesper looked the blonde up and down. “...this hunk of a man, here?”

Nina smirked tiredly. “Yeah, that’s my hunk of a man to you,” she pointed a lazy finger at Jesper.

The blond huffed. “So impudent and improper. My name is Matthias. I will have a black coffee.”

Jesper typed it into his screen quickly. “And no cream, no sugar, nothing sweet?”

Matthias shook his head.

“Anyways, I’ll have a mocha, like 10 shots of coffee and lots of creamer,” Nina cut in.

Jespers slender fingers flew across the board. “Okay so that’s one coffee as bitter as Kaz’s soul, and a mocha with 4 shots of espresso and half of it basically milk. Is that all for today?”

Nina scanned the pastry rack and ordered two chocolate chip muffins. The two sat down, getting stuff out for a project.

Meanwhile, Inej bounced around in her athletic wear, preparing coffees. She finished one for the girl named Hermione, grabbed the apple strudel she wanted, and headed over.

“Hermione?”

Hermione turned, and greeted Inej with a smile. “Thank you. I’ll take those.”

Inej noticed the bigger table Hermione had chosen, and tilted her head. “Are you waiting for someone?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes, my friends. They’re supposed to be here in about an hour, I’m just catching up on studying before they come. Is that alright with…” Hermione stared into the distance, where Kaz stood ominously staring at Inej.

“Oh he… he’s alright.,” Inej lifted a hand to wave at Kaz, who noticed and looked away. “That’s Kaz for you,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Pardon?” Hermione asked.

Inej just laughed nervously, brushing it off. “Enjoy your breakfast!” Inej went back to making coffee behind the counter watching Jesper chat up customers left and right. Inej was glad for his enthusiasm so early in the morning, she never liked taking Saturday morning shifts at 6AM, especially if they had meetings at 5:45.

“How’s it going Jesper?” Inej asked while preparing another cup. Jesper nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Holy- oh Inej. Oh Inej don’t sneak up on me like that. Besides that, I’m doing fine!”

Inej nodded and disappeared behind towers of cups and spouts of coffee. She prepared Nina’s things and brought it over. The two seemed to be arguing.

“I’m just saying- ooh, food!” Nina gasped, sitting up straight for the first time that morning. Inej smiled, placing the coffee and muffins down on the table. Matthias just watched her, arms crossed.

“Enjoy the food,” Inej smiled, then went back to the counter.

Kaz watched her silently from the side, then, noticing the line, straightened his gloves and walked over to help make coffee. They went through orders silently, Inej doing all of the walking, but they enjoyed each other's company. Inej and Kaz would work on an order or two, Kaz would place his finished ones on a counter for Inej to take. While Inej was gone, Kaz would get started on the next thing, and so on.

Eventually, Kaz went into the back and disappeared for a while, leaving Inej with the coffee work.

By this time, Hermione’s friends had come, and their study group looked like they were having a great time, though only ⅓ of them seemed to actually be doing any studying.

By 8, Inej and Jesper switched spots. Inej found that Jesper still loved people-watching, even behind the counter. Or... was he looking for someone?

Her suspicions were correct when a boy walked in, with ruddy, orange-brown curls. Jesper leaned into her, pointing him out. “I think he’s starting to be a consistent customer. At least on weekends. Have you seen him around school?”

Inej had in fact seen him around school. His name was Wylan and he was in Kaz’s math class, and in her Art and Gym class. During lunch, he was usually just drawing something or doing math homework by himself.

Inej nodded, then went back to a customer, leaving Jesper to speculate by himself.

When the boy with golden-brown curls stepped up, she asked what he wanted.

He looked up at the board for less than a second, then back to Inej. “I’ll have an iced coffee. With the cream.” Inej nodded and punched it into the computer.

“Your name?” She asked.

“Wylan,” Wylan smiled. Inej pretended to punch it in as if she hadn’t already.

“And… if you want, the Crow Cafe is thinking of starting a sort of rewards club for regular members. There’s more info up on the board, but all we need is your number,” Inej added effortlessly.

Wylan looked up at the board and back to Inej. “Uh… sure,” he said tentatively. He gave her his number and she pretended to type it in, instead writing it down on a piece of paper after he left the counter. She then looked up at the board to confirm her suspicions. There was nothing about a rewards club. So he can’t read, and yet he still pretends…

She tucked that information away, smirking as she slid the paper into Jesper’s back pocket.

Everything was going pretty smoothly (besides Nina and Matthias’ constant bickering) until the door opened and in walked the most pretentiously blond man Inej and seen, with an even blonder son.

_end of part 1_ thanks for reading, and for the commission!

next commission: Sleeping Beauty AU :)

16 notes · View notes

suituuup · 3 years

Photo

pieces - chapter eight

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca didn’t expect to see her again dancing in a strip club, out of all places.

rated: E (drug use and emotional abuse in early chapters)

ao3 link

Chapter seven was published yesterday, in case you missed it! I was too lazy to make a tumblr post.

The term rollercoaster didn’t seem strong enough to describe the last six weeks of Chloe’s life.

Seeing Beca again. Leaving Marco. Getting clean. Finding out she was pregnant.

She felt like she needed to stop and take a minute to remind herself to breathe, but the weight pressing on her chest prevented her from sucking enough oxygen into her lungs.

“You’re…” Beca blinked twice in slow succession. “...pregnant. With a baby.” She grimaced in the next beat, releasing a breath. “Sorry, I-- I wasn’t expecting that.”

Chloe couldn't blame her for being shocked. She swallowed thickly and cleared the lump from her throat. “I made an appointment for an abortion. Tomorrow.”

Tears sprang up into her eyes before she could stop them, and she lifted a hand to her mouth to muffle the sob itching to come out.

“I’m sorry,” she croaked out, shaking her head.

“Chlo…” Beca murmured, setting a hand over Chloe’s back and the other one on Chloe’s. “You don’t need to apologize. What you’re going through is incredibly hard, and… if an abortion is what you feel is the best option, then that’s what you should do.”

Chloe had always wanted to have kids one day, but this was the worst possible timing. She didn’t have a place to raise that baby, or a job, not to mention that she was a recovering addict.

She nodded along to Beca’s words, as though attempting to convince herself further.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Beca asked. “To the appointment?”

Chloe hesitated. “I don’t want you to miss work because of me.”

“You’re more important than work,” Beca argued softly as her thumb stroked Chloe’s knuckles back and forth. “And I don’t think you should be doing this on your own, you know? But I don’t want to overstep either, so it’s completely up to you.”

Chloe sniffled, reaching up to wipe her tears away. “I… I think I’d like it if you could be there.”

“Done,” Beca instantly said, nodding firmly. She cleared her throat following a few beats of silence. “So um, is there anything you should do for your recovery? Now that you’re out of rehab, I mean.”

“The therapist there recommended one in the city, I need to call and book an appointment. I’m going to my first NA meeting in two days. Otherwise, I’ve been told having a routine could really help? Like go for a morning walk, do some yoga, cook, clean… that sort of stuff. But all I want to do right now is crash for a few hours.”

Beca nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let me know if I can do anything to make things easier on you, okay?”

Chloe managed a small smile despite how heavy her heart felt. “I’m already so grateful for what you’re doing for me, Bec.”

“It’s what friends do. Help each other out.”

Chloe ended up sleeping for four hours straight. She had never felt so exhausted in her life, and she guessed it was a mix of the physical and emotional toll of pregnancy and rehab finally hitting her. She didn’t eat much for dinner and mostly pushed her food around in her plate, knowing most of it would come back up as it had for the last few days.

She and Beca got to the clinic ten minutes before Chloe’s appointment that next morning, and after filling out the paperwork, they were led into an exam room, where Chloe was asked to change into a paper gown. She sat down on the edge of the bed once she was changed, her eyes sweeping over the many baby pictures lining the wall.

Her attention shifted to the door when it opened, a middle-aged woman stepping inside.

“Hello, Chloe,” she greeted with a soft, reassuring smile. “I’m Dr. Harris.”

“Hi,” Chloe returned quietly. “This is my friend Beca.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Dr. Harris said as she approached. “I was told you’re here to terminate your pregnancy?”

“I-- yes.”

“Okay. As one of the nurses probably told you over the phone, I need to check how far along you are first so we can figure out if a procedure is required,” she explained, setting her chart down and snapping on a pair of gloves. “When was your last period?”

“I-- I’m not sure.”

She used to take the pill. But when you’re fortunate if you remember to eat one meal a day, it’s also easy to forget to renew your birth control prescription. That was just another detail among the many in her life that seemingly had ceased to have consequences or meaning the further she slipped down that rabbit hole.

“Okay, that’s alright. Can you lie down please, and put your feet in the stirrups? I need to do a vaginal ultrasound so we can see better.”

Chloe nodded, scooting back and lifting her feet. She reached for Beca’s hand as nerves sprouted in her belly, immensely grateful for her presence.

“This might not be the most comfortable feeling, but I’ll try to be as gentle as possible,” Dr. Harris said as she placed a condom over the wand before slowly inserting it. She tapped a few keys on the ultrasound machine, gently moving the wand around until a clear image popped up on the screen. It was another minute before she spoke again. “Okay… given the size of the embryo, you’re about seven weeks along, Chloe.”

Chloe puffed out a breath as a kaleidoscope of emotions swept through her. This was her baby, up there on the screen, and the sight of it suddenly made her question everything and ask something that she would regret shortly after. “Can I-- can I listen to the heartbeat?”

The doctor glanced at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Chloe confirmed. “I’m sure.”

Nodding, Dr. Harris pushed another key, and the most beautiful sound filled the room a second later. A steady, strong woosh woosh. Tears sprang to Chloe’s eyes, and she felt a squeeze to her hand as she attempted not to let them fall. Her own heart constricted in her chest, so hard it was nearly painful.

“Turn if off, please,” she croaked out, shaking her head as her lids slammed shut, those tears sliding down her cheeks and curling around her chin.

The doctor shut off the machine and withdrew the wand a few seconds later. “You can put your legs down, Chloe.”

Chloe nodded and straightened, taking the tissue Beca offered her and blowing her nose with it.

Dr. Harris watched on, her eyes soft. “You still have some time before making a decision.”

“Did it look healthy?” She found herself asking, then figured she should explain. “I just got out of rehab. I did cocaine and drank a fair amount of alcohol on a daily basis up until four weeks ago. And I was given um...” Chloe scratched her forehead as she raked her brain for the medication name. “Gabapentin for the first two weeks of rehab to help with withdrawal.”

Dr. Harris’ features remained professional as she nodded slowly. “The heartbeat is strong, and I didn’t catch anything abnormal. The risk of miscarriage is more present than for other pregnancies as the drugs crossed through the placenta when you were still using, and that up to twelve weeks. Problems could occur during and after the pregnancy. But the baby could also be perfectly healthy, since you stopped in the early stages of pregnancy. It’s hard to tell.”

Chloe’s mind swam with all these possible scenarios, and she didn’t know whether to listen to her brain or her gut feeling. “How-- how much time do I have to decide?”

Dr. Harris slipped her hands into the pockets of her lab coat. “Abortion is legal up to 25 weeks in New York state. Up to ten weeks, you can take a pill, past that a surgical procedure is needed.”

Chloe sniffled, swiping the back of her hand under her runny nose. “Okay. Thank you.”

Dr. Harris cast them both a tight-lipped smile. “Of course. I’ll leave informational pamphlets at the desk for you to read, as well as my phone number should you have any questions.”

“Thanks,” Beca said as the doctor walked out, then focused back on Chloe, reaching out to brush her hair back behind her ear. “I’ll give you a few minutes to get dressed? I can go get those pamphlets in the meantime.”

Chloe nodded, her insides caving in as soon as the door clicked shut behind Beca. She gripped the edges of the exam cot hard, her nails digging into the leather and her breathing turning chopped as a mix of panic and sadness unleashed within her.

It all seemed unfair, but she knew her own recklessness was the root of the situation she found herself in.

She eventually managed to calm herself down enough to get dressed, meeting Beca by the desk ten minutes later. The walk home was silent, and Chloe was grateful Beca didn’t push her to talk. She didn’t even know how to process her own thoughts, let alone speaking them aloud.

A few days passed. Chloe slept a lot, and tried to keep herself busy the rest of the time. One hour each morning consisted of hugging the toilet while she puked her guts out, and the rest of her day was spent craving that warm embrace of the rush cocaine once brought her.

The temptation was there. She knew there was a store on the corner of Beca’s street that sold booze, and she knew there was enough change in the bowl by the front door to afford at least a couple beers.

Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to. Not after seeing that tiny blob on that screen and listening to its heartbeat, because the biggest part of her wanted this. She knew it deep down, but she couldn’t silence those same voices that had been making her life hell for the past four years, telling her that she was bound to fail at this like she did with everything else.

Chloe woke up that Saturday morning to a churning stomach. Scrambling out of bed, she stumbled to the bathroom across the hall and made it just in time to empty the contents of her stomach into the ceramic bowl.

She slumped back against the wall afterwards, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she reached out to flush the toilet with the other. Chloe glanced up when Beca appeared around the corner, a sympathetic smile curving her lips as she stepped closer and handed Chloe a steaming mug.

“Ginger tea. I read it helps with morning sickness.”

Chloe accepted it with a quiet thank you. She cradled the mug between her palms, her head tilting back against the tile behind her as she exhaled. “You can sit, if you want.”

Beca nodded and lowered herself next to her in the tight space, their thighs and shoulders touching. “Do you… want to talk?”

Chloe sucked in a sharp breath. “I feel… lost,” she croaked out, her head rolling to the side to look at Beca. “Before the appointment, I was so sure terminating the pregnancy was the wise option, but then I saw it on that screen and heard its heartbeat and…”

“You realized the wise decision is maybe not what you want?” Beca supplied when Chloe trailed off.

“I’ve always wanted to be a mom,” Chloe whispered before she broke eye-contact, focusing on the mug she held in her hands as she blinked away the tears filling her eyes. “But it’s crazy to even consider it, right? I don’t have a job, I don’t have my own place, and I’m still battling with my own mind because I crave something. All day, every day since my last hit.”

“But you didn’t cave,” Beca pointed out softly. “I know it’s only been four days since you got out of rehab, but you didn’t cave, and that’s already an accomplishment of its own.”

“I just… I don’t want to harm this baby more than I’ve possibly already done,” Chloe admitted quietly.

Beca nodded, and reached out to take one of Chloe’s hands, tugging it into her lap gently. “If keeping this baby is what you want to do, those things you’re worried about have solutions. You may not have a place of your own, but I’m not kicking you out. Even with a baby. This is home for you as long as you want or need it. A job shouldn’t be too difficult to find. Maybe it won’t be the greatest one on earth to start with, but it will be something to get your head back in the game,” she paused, tilting her head to the side and seeking Chloe’s gaze. “And what you just said? About not caving because of the baby? I can’t think of a better proof of your ability to be a great mom. You’re already putting that baby before your own needs, and I can’t even fathom how great and out of control those can become, and I think that’s admirable. And for what it’s worth, I think you should trust what your gut tells you. I listened to my brain instead of my heart once, and ended up making one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

Chloe let Beca’s words resonate within her, basking in the temporary peace they brought her. There was no doubt about where her gut feeling lay on this.

“I feel like I’m turning your life upside down,” she whispered after a while, sniffling. “You’ve done so much for me already, I don’t want to keep abusing from your generosity, or jeopardize your relationship with Sarah.”

“You’re not abusing anything, Chlo. I promise,” Beca murmured with a squeeze to her hand. A stretch of silence settled between them, until Beca spoke again. “You still have time to think about it. Just know that whatever you decide to do, I’ll support it.”

Over the next week, Chloe found herself picturing what it would be like, caring and nurturing for that baby and raising them. For the first time in five years, cocaine wasn’t the first thing she thought about when she woke up, or the last thing on her mind before going to sleep.

For the first time in five years, it felt like she had purpose, in trying her best to be the mom her child deserved. That meant staying clean, leaving those demons behind where they belonged, and getting her life back together one day at a time, for that innocent being that came to light in the darkest time of her life.

She woke up earlier than usual that morning, and headed to the bathroom to pee, pausing as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. A soft gasp escaped as she lifted her shirt and ran her palm over the barely perceptible swell in her lower belly. It wasn’t there yesterday, and Chloe felt tears pool in her eyes.

Happy ones.

“Hey there, little one,” she croaked out, her heart swelling against her ribcage as she rubbed slow circles over her skin. “We’ll be okay, won’t we?”

She puffed out a long breath, a watery smile breaking through.

One day at a time.

#bechloe #bechloe fanfic #chloe beale #beca mitchell

64 notes · View notes

starlightrows · 3 years

Text

The Perfect Day

Pairing: Paz Viszla x reader

Word Count: 2k

Tags: Dangerously high levels of fluff!

Summary: Paz goes out of the way to make your birthday special!

AN: Second time posting this, the original got deleted by mistake! This was created to celebrate my birthday! Loosely inspired by @maybege soulmate!paz!

Your nose twitches at the sweet smell of cocoa and coffee as you begin the pull towards wakefulness. The heavy blankets and duvet that keep you warm is being pulled back, and you can feel gentle breath being puffed onto your cheeks. He places gentle pressure on your forehead, again on your temple trailing down to the apple of your cheek to the tip of your nose. By the time he reaches your lips you can’t contain your sleepy smile. His laugh is deep and hearty between gentle kisses, coaxing you into opening your eyes.

“Good morning birthday girl,” he smiles. You squeeze your eyes shut and push your face up to his to nuzzle your nose against his, feeling extra cuddly from his wake up kisses.

“Good morning,” you reply

“Made you breakfast,” he says, you open your eyes and sit up with him.

“Oh! Thank you honey,” He brings a bread tray forward, loaded with a massive plate of what you correctly assume to be savory waffles, a bowl of fruit, and two cups of coffee. He sits on the bed cross legged in front of you, placing the tray between you.

You excitedly dig, enjoying the crispy exterior of the waffles and rich chocolate laced into the coffee. He sits back enjoying his coffee, and the fruits of his labor.

“Paz, there is so much of this. How early did you get up to pull all this off?” You ask, because even with both of you eating there is a lot of food.

“Not as early as you think, this is turning out to be more of a birthday brunch than a breakfast” he smiles sheepishly. You glance at the clock on his dresser. He’s right, it’s a quarter past 11. He let you sleep in well past your normal lazy day wake up time.

“I figured if I was going to make your favorite breakfast anyway, I might as well make a lot so we can save some for the next few days,” he explains

You can’t help but smile, it was a thoughtful gesture, but if he didn’t put them away soon you’d sit there and eat the whole platter full!

When the bunch was finished, you helped him take the dishes downstairs, despite his protests.

“It’s your day love, is there anything you’d like to do?” He asks while washing the utensils you’d used to eat.

“Well with all the fresh snow on the ground, I was thinking we could pull out the snow shoes and do a hike. We could try the lookout loop again,” you reply, peeking out the massive front window at the snowy driveway and dense forest just outside the cabin. While the ground may be covered in a thick blanket of snow, the sky is free of heavy cloud cover “it’s pretty clear out today, hopefully we’ll be able to see the valley this time,”

“Yeah, sounds great. I can pack the hiking bag if you want to go pull the snow shoes out from the equipment closet,” he tosses a tea towel over his shoulder. You nod and slammer off to find the snow shoes.

Half an hour later, you and Paz are sitting on the bench under the covered back porch wearing snow pants, lightweight thermal jackets, beanies and gloves; strapping the snowshoe attachments to your heavy snow boots. Paz carries the big hiking bag that houses your emergency supplies and water for the wintertime hike, while you carry the smaller bag that has snacks and a blanket for the look out point.

He gives you a hand up, and lets you lead the way to start out the hike. You’d done this hike together many times before, once you started moving you almost didn’t need to think about it. He fell in step just behind you and the two of you shared easy, fun conversation as you hiked the familiar path up the mountain. Air was still and cold, but you felt amazing, kept warm by your insulating layers and the movement of your body. This hike was beautiful as it is in the summer months, but winter was its own kind of beauty.

The last mile or so to reach the lookout point was the hardest part, Paz’s long strides made it somewhat easier for him and you laughed as he passed you on the uphill climb. Just like he always did. He welcomed you at the top with a gentle hand, leading you to the lookout point. This place was special to the two of you. You’d come up here dozens of times together, he’d proposed to you on this spot, and a year later you’d gotten married at the top of this mountain.

“You were right,” he said, directing your attention out over the valley. It was pristine and perfect. The valley was like a bowl, fully surrounded on all sides by steep snow capped mountains. The lake in the center was a deep dark inky black, without so much as a ripple on the water. The lack of breeze in the chilled air made everything still. It was absolutely gorgeous and exactly what you had been hoping for.

Paz helped ease the pack off your back, and fished the blanket out from the bottom. He did his best to dust off one of the massive boulders you often sat on when coming up here, and spread the blanket out over it.

You sat together on the blanket enjoying crisp apples, sour gummy worms, salty jerky and of course passing a thermos full of cocoa back and forth. The only acceptable lunch for a day hike you claimed.

Before long you and Paz packed up your blanket and small amount of trash back into the bag, and triple checked to make sure everything was just the way you had found it. Together you set off back down the mountain, leading for home.

As the two of you neared the edge of the forest, Paz reached out and snagged your arm.

“Shhh, look!” He whispered pointing through the trees towards the cabin. You followed his gaze and the direction of his finger. Your eyes went wide, and your jaw slacked in elated shock.

Through the trees you could see it, a massive bull moose, leisurely strolling through your backyard about 30 yards away from where you and Paz stood. You had to cover your mouth to suppress your giddiness. Moose are your favorite animal, and one of the more rare animals to see on this side of the mountain. This was the biggest one you’d ever seen, and certainly the closest you’d ever been to one.

Of course you were well aware of how dangerous they are, so being protected from its view by the trees at this comfortable distance was the best and safest scenario for you. But this was also the coolest, most exciting thing that had ever happened to you! Eventually the Moose trotted along and disappeared into the trees on the opposite side of the property. You shared a look with Paz.

“Oh my god! That was a little intense,” you said following him towards the house

“I know. I’ve never seen one that close in my life. I almost wish we’d had a camera,” he replied.

You sat together on the back porch once more, removing your snowshoes, and kicking the remaining snow off the bottom of your boots. Once inside both of you stripped out of your snow pants and coats, leaving you in base layers and socks. You hung up the heavy gear in the entryway closet, and collected the extra bits that could go in the wash like socks.

Paz approaches you leaned down a bit and kissed the top of your head.

“If you let me rinse off real quick, you can take a bath while I work on dinner,” he offers

You hum at the attention of his kisses, “How can I say no to that. Its a deal babe,”

True to his word, Paz jumps in for a very quick shower just to get the sweat off of his body. He emerges from the bathroom with wet hair and warm skin. He gives you one more lingering kiss before letting you run off to draw a fancy bath for yourself.

Meanwhile he busies himself in the kitchen to make sure he’s got enough time to finish dinner, that he had secretly already started that morning, as well as the dessert he had planned.

By the time you’re coming back downstairs looking very cozy in an oversized knit sweater and leggings, dinner is on the table and dessert is just going into the oven. The table is set for the two of you with your favorite meal, and a nice candle in the middle. You sidle up to him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“This is so romantic, you did all this for me?” You gaze lovingly at the beautiful dinner awaiting you.

“Of course,” he wraps his arms around you too, giving you a loving squeeze. He pulls away, and invites you to sit. The food is delicious, perfectly cooked just the way you like it. As you finish a timer goes off back in the kitchen.

You look past him into the kitchen, then turn your eyes back to him. “Paz?”

He grins mischievously, and gets up to pull dessert from the oven. It’s a small chocolate cake, and from the looks of it he’s attempted to make a lava cake with a gooey fudgy center. He turns it out onto a dish, and pulls the mold up and off it. He looks rather proud of himself. He sticks a single delicate white candle in the middle and deftly lights it. He sits it down in front of you with the warmest most genuine smile.

“Happy birthday baby,” he says “Don’t forget to make a wish,”

You giggle and give him a gentle smile, “I don’t know what more I could possibly wish for,” He grins at you. You do know what to wish for. You wish to be this happy every day. To feel this loved and cherished every moment for the rest of your days. You wish he would feel the same love and devotion coming from you. And you blow out the candle.

He produces two spoons and you share the dessert, finding its rich spongey cake to be without a shadow of a doubt the best dessert you’ve ever had. And you make sure to tell him that.

“I must be the most spoiled woman in the world. Breakfast, dinner and dessert! Will you at least let me help you do the dishes?” You ask when the plate has been all but licked clean of his chocolatey confection.

“Not a chance. You’re gonna go pick a movie,” he tells you, taking the plates into the kitchen to be washed. You laugh and shake your head, but acquiesce.

He joins you in the living room, and tumbles onto the couch pulling you on top of him to snuggle. In the end you choose an old favorite movie of yours, one that still makes you laugh despite the obviously terrible jokes. You’re half heartedly paying attention, more just basking in the warmth of Paz’s chest and the nostalgia of the film. Paz is not paying attention to the movie at all. He’s stroking your hair, and memorizing every detail of your face looking so blissful and content. Despite having been married for two years now, and together for two more, he could still spend an eternity studying your face and find something new or cute or amusing.

Your gaze drifted up to meet Paz, and your smile seemed to melt into a wider sleepier smile as you exhaled deeply.

“Good birthday?” He asks

“Mhm...” you nod “Perfect,”

#star wars #the mandalorian #paz viszla #paz viszla x reader #Paz vizsla #paz vizsla x reader #I don’t know how you’re supposed to spell Vizsla

50 notes · View notes

darkisrising · 3 years

Text

Five Times, by DarkIsRising,pt5

Previous parts here on ao3

Five Times Din and Luke Met (and one time they never parted)

Somehow it’s Boba Fett of all beings that gets Luke in touch with Grogu’s dad again.

Fett doesn’t want to help him, of course. Not after all the bad blood that’s been spilled between them, especially with the sarlacc pit thing from a few years back, and there’s a lot of the holocomm where the blue flicker of Fett’s image is silent with his arms crossed while Luke has to practically crawl on his belly to get him to take the call, let alone listen to Luke, let alone relent enough to give Luke a name.

Just a name.

“Come on, Fett, that’s all I’m asking for.”

“Wow, Skywalker. You really fucked up this time, didn’t you?”

And Luke has to agree that yes, he did indeed fuck up though in his defense he was riding high on the Force at the time, but that’s not something that’s likely to sway Fett one way of the other so he goes the meek route, saying quietly: “I really did. Will you help me?”

Fett’s helmet tilts to the side, like maybe he’s finally considering it, and Luke is a deft enough swordsman these days to press an advantage when he sees one.

“Not even for my sake. For his son’s.”

Fett’s sigh is loud enough to be picked up on his voice modulator on Tatooine, travel through the shared holocomm connection—in one end of the outer rim and out the other—to finally make itself heard in the communications room on Yavin IV’s moon.

“Din Djarin,” comes the terse reply before the connection is abruptly cut off from Fett’s end.

Which isn’t much to go on, considering all he knows is his name and that he’s a Mandalorian, but it is a start.

As it turns out, it’s more than enough because not only is Din Djarin a Mandalorian, he’s the Mandalorian.

“I didn’t realize you came from royalty,” Luke says to Grogu not a little bit stunned as they wait for someone to find the Mand'alor and patch their comm through.

After that it’s a lot of back and forth to strategize a time when he’s able to fly over between all the things he’s gotta do as a king trying to reunify his home sector.

The ship that finally settles down in front of the temple is more of a junker than Luke would expect from a king. The paint is peeling, some of the stabilizer flaps are slow to retract, and there’s a groan when the ramp extends that makes the spacerhead in Luke itch to grab some oil and go to town on those hinges.

Instead Luke stays where he is and when he spots the shine of pure, silver beskar coming down the ramp he falls into a bow which he’s only mastered thanks to extensive holocomming with Leia as she berated him over his pisspoor form while he yelled back that he grew up a farmer for druk’s sake when was he supposed to learn this sithspit king-greeting nonsense?

“You don’t have to do that,” comes a soft voice and Luke looks up in time to see that Grogu has raced ahead with his arms raised to be picked up. In a clean motion that speaks of a body honed for movement he sweeps down and takes Grogu in his arms. “Hey, kid. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

Luke intends to make himself scarce for this reunion which has been a long time coming, but is stopped when the Mand’alor starts asking Luke questions about Grogu’s training, about how he spends his days, what he’s been eating, how he’s been sleeping, if he’s been behaving…

“He’s been a joy to have here, Lord Djarin,” Luke says and it earns him a long, silent look.

“I think you can call me Din, all things considered,” he says before setting Grogu down so that he can dig into his belt’s pouch. “Anyway, I brought presents.”

Grogu’s face turns incandescent when he sees the silver ball that Din plucks from his hip. The sound he makes is nothing short of pure elation and Luke has to laugh alongside the gentle chuckle that comes through Din’s helmet.

“Ah, yes. The famous silver ball,” Luke grins. “I hear Grogu thinking about it all the time, I’m happy he’s finally reunited with it.”

Grogu insists on dragging Din around to show his father his favorite places around the Temple’s grounds, and his enthusiasm is catching. Luke trails along, offering commentary that this is the boulder Grogu had managed to lift through the Force two weeks ago, there was the meadow where he’d been able to deflect his first training droid bolt with Luke’s lightsaber, here is the lake where they’ve been watching the tadpoles gradually grow legs. Settling on a log to watch as Grogu chases a pair frogs along the lake’s muddy shoreline, Luke can feel the weight of Din’s thoughts even if he can’t see their exact shape.

“And you don’t worry about that?” Din asks, voice so withdrawn it could almost be mistaken for shy. “All these attachments he’s got going on? The ball and, well, me? You don’t think it’ll get in the way of his training?”

Luke can only shrug.

“I guess it could, but seeing as I talk to my sister and my brother-in-law nearly every other day it would be awfully hypocritical of me to stop Grogu from forming attachments, himself.”

Din is silent at that, considering, as Luke continues on: “I’ve read some of what the Jedi used to believe, and honestly I have no idea if they had the right idea or not. Their way led to the fall of one of their own who in turn brought down the entire Order. Would things have been different if he’d been allowed to love more freely?” He breaks off to watch Grogu, now bored with the frogs, float the silver ball through the air in a lazy curling pattern.

The last afternoon sun catches at the smooth surface and turns the ball gold along the edges.

“I’d like to think it would. So I’m not planning on holding myself away from that sort of love on the off chance that it might actually be the thing that maintains balance in the Force, and I could hardly hold my student to a different standard. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“I see,” Din says and the simple words lay between them in a complicated tangle. “Well, if that's the way of it, then, here: I brought you something, too,” he says at last and reaches back to his belt.

Years of politeness pressed into him by Aunt Beru at the moisture farm have Luke saying “You didn't have to do that” before Din has so much as taken his hand out of his belt’s pouch, which is just as well since the moment he gets a look at what’s in Din’s hand his heart stutters to a halt in his chest so that it can jump into his throat.

“No,” Luke says, eyes wide, while a cold, dawning understanding creeps across his skin and he can only stare at the bounty puck that glints silver in Din’s gloved palm.

“Oh, no,” Luke whispers sickly “What—”

No, no, no. Oh, sweet Force no.

His voice, Luke realizes. He should have known him from his voice. Even if the beskar is different, his voice is still very much the same.

“I can bring you in warm...” Din is saying and Luke can’t hear the rest because he’s blushing so hard now that the blood is landing in his ears, making a high-pitched, tinny whine that drowns out the words he knows by heart because he’s spent the better part of the last few years thinking about them with his hand on his cock.

“You really didn't recognize me?” Din asks when Luke’s hands come up to cover his face, for all the good it does to hide him from the Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian.

Mando.

Din.

Luke laughs helplessly. Horrified. “I wasn't myself on the cruiser,” he whispers at last.

“Yeah no kidding. I didn't realize who you were until you'd left.” Din has clearly had longer to sit with this revelation because he sounds amused, fond even, while Luke is still reeling. “I don’t think I've ever seen you that serious, not even when you were in carbonite.”

“I wasn’t myself,” is all Luke can say again. Din takes pity on him and lets Luke breathe through the worst of it without saying a word, his helmet turned toward Grogu while Luke sorts through the shattered mess this has broken him into.

“You've changed,” Luke says when he starts to feel whole enough to think in such things as words and sentences.

“I’m still tired,” Din says with a huffing laugh.

“Maybe.” Luke feels braver now. He raises his face to look at Din and in the beskar reflection of Din’s helmet Luke can see his cheeks are now only slightly pink. “But not nearly so lonely.”

“Ah. Yeah.” Din concedes with a nod. “I was different, back then. Grogu changed me, I think”

“Yeah,” Luke nods along with him. “Yeah, I think he did.”

Sensing that they are watching him, Grogu toddles back to Din and lifts his arms to be picked up. This time when he gets close enough, Grogu’s hands come to the sides of Din’s helmet. It isn’t a demand, more of a wide-eyed question, and Din doesn’t need the Force to sense what is being asked of him.

Luke hadn’t known, before, that Grogu had never seen Din’s face until that moment on Gideon’s cruiser. He hadn’t known how much that act of quite literally laying himself bare for Grogu had cost Din. Luke knows it now, from all the times he’s seen the flashes of Din go by in Grogu’s memories and he realizes it now, with a rekindling of his blush, from the memory that Din hadn’t removed his helmet in that hour they two had spent in a water-stained room on Tatooine.

“Let me leave the two of you alone,” Luke offers, clambering to his feet, gaze averted.

“It’s okay,” Din says. “You've seen it already.”

“Oh. I mean,” he stammers, staring at the green foliage, the insects that are curling through the dappled oranges of sunset, the ripples of water that skim the surface of the lake... really at anything but Din. “Yeah, I have, but--”

“Unless you'd rather I keep it on.” Din’s voice is different now. Softer, for having taken his helmet off, and the sound of it does something to Luke. It makes him shiver, this transformation from hard-shelled warrior to someone far more human. “Some people have a thing for it and I know how much you liked it on before.”

His eyes are nearly black in the fading day’s light when Luke snaps his face around to meet them. They harbor a glint that Luke stares at suspiciously. “You're teasing me aren't you?”

Somewhere among the rugged stubble on his cheeks and the dark lines of his mustache a smile quirks at the corner of Din’s mouth. “Yeah. I am.”

Luke’s heart beats triple time as he stares at Din’s mouth before letting his gaze skim along the vulnerable curves of Din’s face. Luke’s fingers yearn to stretch the space between them until he can trace the kindness of Din’s expression. He wants so badly to run his fingertips through the fall of Din’s hair where it sticks to the sweaty skin of his forehead.

“Because if you would want to do—you know—that again.” Luke is very aware that there is a child present that is taking in what they are saying with big, green ears and huge, shining eyes. “With or without the helmet. If you’d like to do that again. I would be...you know, I'd like that.”

“Yeah,” Din smiles, and this time it is a true smile, one that stretches across his face, casting a glow that Luke can’t help but reflect back with a hopeful, happy, probably somewhat idiotic grin of his own. “I'd like that too.”

#dinluke #dinluke fic #darkisrising fic

38 notes · View notes

ezrasarm · 4 years

Note

For the requests 23. “Shh, it was just a bad dream. Just a dream, okay? None of it was real.” From the prompt list? Doesn't have to be the exact quote I just like the concept. Any character you want!

The Weight Of It All

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader

Word count: 2.3K

Warnings: Angst (oops 🤭), mentions of violence and death, my failed attempt at redeeming it with fluff, severe lack of proofreading because I’m lazy

A/N: This was meant to be mindless fluff and cuddles and then whatever this is happened and I wound up accidentally incorporating @wille-zarr’s request too (I don’t know how this keeps happening). A huge thank you to @chaotic-noceur for beta reading most of this bad boy and of course for providing moral support, ideas and probably my favourite line in the whole damn thing and to @din-damn-djarin not only for providing the prompt (or at least one of them) but also for providing ideas for her own request cause I know that kinda takes the magic out of it.

gif by @lucy-sky

Din noticed something had shifted recently. You had been distant. More withdrawn. You thought you were being discrete but he had heard you rattling around the old ship in the early hours of the morning to quell your busy mind. You had been losing sleep, there was no question of that. But over what was still a mystery to him. He kept his inquiries to himself for the most part. Opting to observe your new habits and see what he could extrapolate on his own. He didn’t want to hit a nerve by asking you the wrong question.

Travelling alone for so long before he met you meant he wasn’t well versed in this kind of interaction. The kind that involved prying into another’s mind and picking apart their thought processes to try and understand their emotions. It all seemed too complicated. He knew how uncomfortable it could be when others tried to do it to him. Yet when you asked, it came so naturally. Like you could sense just when he was ready to broach those heavy topics that had been weighing on his mind for too long.

As little as he expressed it, it always made him feel better once he got it out in the open. It was small things. A simple “You alright?” Or “What’s on your mind?”. Just a reminder that someone- you- were there. He wished he could do the same for you. Say a few words and make all your worries and problems disappear but he didn’t know how. The words never sounded right coming out of his mouth. And the longer he danced around the subject trying to figure it out, the longer you suffered on your own.

It was sudden when a jolt ran through the ship. Din had only excused himself for a few moments to go and check on the kid, leaving you at the controls. Lately, it was like the little green creature could sense your weariness and it was making him restless too. He kept acting up when you tried to put him to bed. Wailing when either of you left the room for more than ten seconds. It was as though he thought you were never going to come back. When a second jolt shuddered through the hull causing the entire ship to begin quaking violently Din was sure you were under siege or had entered some kind of asteroid field. He came scrambling up the ladder and into the cockpit as fast as he could but when he got there he found no such thing.

It was like muscle memory had taken over entirely as he flicked switches and pressed buttons frantically to get the craft back under control. His heart was pounding in his ears from the sudden kick of adrenaline when he turned to ask what the hell had just happened. There was actually a hint of anger that had swirled amongst his panic. He couldn’t believe you would be so irresponsible as to put all of you at risk- the child at risk- yourself at risk. But when his gaze fell on you, out cold in the captain’s seat, all those thoughts sublimated. There was a brief moment that he thought you had hurt yourself. That you’d hit your head in all the commotion and got a concussion. But when he was finally able to turn his full attention to you, he quickly came to the realization that that was not the case at all. You were asleep. For what he was sure was the first time in a long time. It suddenly dawned on him just how deprived you had to have been.

As mesmerizing as the view was, the Razor Crest’s cockpit was not a quiet place. He himself had troubles nodding off there if he willed it upon himself. He thought about how overwhelming the exhaustion must have been for you to fall asleep in the middle of all that and now all he could do was curse himself for not knowing what it was that kept you up at night. He considered moving you to his own bed where it was warmer and quiet and you could rest more comfortably but he also knew he couldn’t live with himself if he were the one to disturb your much-needed repose. Instead, he opted for tucking a spare blanket over your crumpled form and sitting himself down in the copilot’s seat to avoid a repeat offence of the crest’s most recent blunders.

Rolling his head against the headrest Din had just flicked the ship into autopilot and leaned back to try and get a moment of shut-eye for himself. He let his half-lidded gaze fall on your peaceful features, the soft curve of the junction between your neck and shoulder and the slight parting of your lips as your jaw hung open lazily. He focused on the subtle rise and fall to your chest as you breathed in and out each breath. He thought he was just on the edge of sleep when you shot upright. A sudden gasp escaped you as your eyes flung wide open. It was like your head had been held underwater for far too long by some invisible force and this was your first fighting breath for air. “Din,” you sputtered out in your terror, blinded by the sting of tears in your eyes. He didn’t have time to notice it was his name that slipped off your tongue subconsciously as you grasped for any semblance of safety you could get before he was kneeled in front of you, gloved hands gripping either side of your face, brushing the hair out of your line of sight so the only place your gaze could land was on him.

“Shh, it was just a bad dream.” He hushes in an attempt to soothe you despite his heart hammering against his ribcage. “Just a dream, okay? I’m right here.” He repeats quietly, raking his gloved fingers through your hair in an action that he wasn’t sure was more comforting to you or himself. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He hummed through the static of his modulator when your stuttering breaths finally began to settle, resting the cool beskar of his helmet against your worried brow in what he hoped was an act of reassurance. He was just getting ready to open his mouth and ask what was troubling you when you beat him to it.

“I can’t make it stop.” You whispered through a shuddering breath, still clutched to the fabric that was peeking out from beneath his beskar for dear life when he pulled back to study your face. It suddenly dawned on him that it wasn’t that you couldn’t sleep. It’s that you were avoiding it. “Every time I close my eyes I see him and I-” Another sob cuts you off but Din’s mind is already racing with the possibilities. Questions of who this man was- what he had done to you- when he had even gotten the chance, were all swirling around his head twisting into a blind rage he didn’t know how to exert.

“Who?” He asks, disliking the way the urgency in his voice made you flinch slightly as a glint of a tear breached your waterline.

“The man on Jakku.” His heart dropped at that. He hadn’t even considered it. Last month the two of you had been on the desert planet for what was meant to be a simple job. Things went south and before you knew it a man was dead at your feet, a blaster trembling in your hand. Din had admired you for it. He had sung you praise over the way you handled it with such composure. But that didn’t help the fact that every time you let your eyes slip shut you were met with the cold dead gaze of your victim staring back at you. It hadn’t even occurred to him the kind mental toll it would take on you.

“You did what you had to-”

“I’m a killer, Din.” He didn’t miss the disdain laced in your voice at the mention of the word and he couldn’t help but wonder if you held that same contempt for him given the way he made his living.

“He didn’t give you any options, cyare.” He tries to reason with you but you’re too caught up in your own flurry of emotions for his words to reach you.

“He could have had a life- a wife to go home to- a family who depended on him-”

“And he was trying to kill yours!” He pleaded. It was the loudest you had ever heard him raise his voice before. He had regretted it the moment the words passed his lips but he needed you to hear him, to listen, to understand you weren’t in the wrong.

“I know, Din!” You cried back, your volume matching his own before he can even stammer out an apology. “I know.” You whispered once again. “But I’m not… like you.” There were so many things you admired about the man you loved and the way his dedication to his religion had shaped him. You adored his selflessness to do what was right for his people and to carry their name with honor and dignity. You cherished his devotion to provide for you and protect you by any means necessary with a reverence you weren’t sure he truly grasped and you understood that killing was a part of that. You would never ask him to stop but you knew you could never justify ending someone’s life in the way he did with such ease. “I wasn’t taught how to take a life and treat it like it means nothing.” The words held no malice and rationally he knew you meant no offence in saying them but they stung him just the same.

“Is that how little you think of me?” A soft croak to his voice that contradicted the empty visor gazing up at you unshakably.

“Din, that’s not what I meant.” You sighed. You could see the hint of a nod in understanding but it did nothing to quell the guilt swirling in your stomach. “I just… how do you make it go away?” You ask after a few more moments of deafening silence, your words weak and tired as you looked as they left your mouth. At that he lets out a heavy breath, rolls back on his heels and pushes himself into a standing position. For a heartbeat you think he might leave you here, alone to the thoughts you’d been so frantically trying to avoid but instead he takes your hands in his and pulls you up before turning the two of you around and dragging you down by the hips to sit on his lap. You don’t say anything for a while, too scared you’ll screw up like you did just a minute ago.

“After my first kill, I threw up.” He speaks eventually, securing his arms a little tighter around your waist. He had never told anyone that before. While he had been embarrassed by it for so long and feared what it implied about him as a member of his faith now he looked back on it with a kind of pride he hadn’t taken the time to fully consider before. “It was a rabbit. I had to snap its neck.” He explained, his voice now even but not empty of emotion. “I can still hear the bones cracking to this day.” He says. “These things don’t just go away, cyare. They stay with us. They keep us grounded.” Din explains just as his buir had when he had asked a very similar question as a child. He hated that he didn’t know how to protect you from this. From your own mind. He wished he could have shielded you from the whole ordeal in the first place but he couldn’t deny how much mandokar he saw in you now despite it. Your worries now only proved as more evidence of that. “I wish I could tell you it gets easier.” He says, brushing a stray strand of hair out of your face. “But I don’t think you would like the person you had become if it did.” He says with a hint of certitude to his voice that manages to assuage your grief more than you had been able to in the months since the incident had occurred. If nothing else now you were sure you weren’t alone. That the very feeling you thought set you apart most from your mandalorian turned out to be the one that coalesced you the most.

“Din?” You murmur wrapping an arm over his shoulder as you nuzzle your face into his neck and inhale a heavy breath of a scent you can only define as him.

“Mhmm?” He hums in return, his fingertips running up and down your spine gently when he tilts his head down to look at you.

With the way you were being crushed under the weight of your own guilt you couldn’t believe the amount of strength it took for him to carry not only his own burden but some of yours too. You don’t even know how to begin thanking him. So that’s where you start. With a quiet whisper of a ‘thank you’ and a kiss pressed to his shoulder. “I don’t know how you live with this everyday.” You mumble against the thick fabric, your voice still fragile as your eyes slip shut and you grip onto him just a little bit tighter.

“It helps having you here with me.” He goes to say, dipping his forehead to press against yours only to realize your breaths had evened out to a gentle snore and you had finally drifted off to what he hoped was a restful sleep.

•••

Cyare - my love

Buir - parental figure

Mandokar - the *right stuff*, the epitome of Mando virtue - a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life

Masterlist

Taglist: @agirllovespasta @chaoticspaceidiot @engineeredfiction @pedropascalito @dreamgirl-67 @wickedfrsgrl @hillarymurray4 @din-damn-djarin @yespolkadotkitty @wille-zarr @chaotic-noceur @oloreaa @this-cat-is-dea @marydjarin @roxypeanut @opheliaelysia @cryptkeepersoul

#din djarin #the mandalorian #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #oneshot #and once again i apologize for the authors note from hell

229 notes · View notes

lit-in-thy-heart · 3 years

Note

I'm so excited you've jouned in!!! 💕

You owe Merwaine some happiness after your VERY angsty episode analyses so I would love those two and Sleepy hug please!! 😍

@little-ligi i hope this makes up for the angst!!! thank you for sending a prompt and have merlin and gwaine falling asleep together when with the knights and arthur on a trip thing (unspecified) between s4 and s5 💕

once again, under the cut because this is the longest one yet...

Rearranging his cloak so it provided greater coverage from the brisk wind, Gwaine glanced over at the group who were gradually drifting off amongst the fallen foliage. Despite the undiluted thoughts that inevitably streamed through his head when on watch, Gwaine relished the uninterrupted opportunity to softly observe Merlin without having the eyes of the other knights on him. If he had an apple for every time one of them – usually Percival or Arthur, despite Elyan’s quiet requests for them to shut up – had called him out for supposedly undressing Merlin with his eyes, he would certainly have a bushel of them by now. Granted, Gwaine sometimes did have the habit of mentally undressing Merlin with his eyes when he looked at him, but more often than not the knight was simply gazing in wonder at how such a beautiful being had chosen to devote his life to Gwaine of all people.

Merlin had been out of his sight for the past couple of hours, having accompanied Elyan to retrieve firewood, but Gwaine knew that they were both exchanging new spells that they’d learnt over the past few weeks. Elyan had told Gwaine about his magic before Gwaine had even had his suspicions about Merlin confirmed. Or, rather, Gwaine had stumbled in on Elyan, when the call of nature had echoed in his head on the night they had first met, and had witnessed him throwing all five of Gwaine’s knives without touching a single one. Gwaine had been more bothered by the fact that he hadn’t even noticed that his knives were missing than by the fact that Elyan was a sorcerer. And then, several weeks later, after Merlin had confessed to Gwaine on the night they had found themselves in bed together after an evening in the tavern, Gwaine had told both Elyan and Merlin to meet him in the Darkling Woods, greeted them with the statement that they both had magic, and had left them to it. Although he forced his unwavering support onto Merlin at every given opportunity, Gwaine knew the value of having someone close who knew precisely the struggles being faced, and he was grateful that Merlin had that in Elyan, and vice versa.

With a smile, Gwaine’s gaze slid over to Merlin, cocooned in a blanket and laughing at some remark that Elyan had sleepily murmured, and he settled himself against a tree trunk, moving his eyes back to the space in front of him as he withdrew his sword and positioned it across torso, the point of the blade hovering dangerously close to his neck. It was probably best that he was keeping watch alone, so he wouldn’t get distracted by talking to someone – but it also meant that there was nobody to check him when his attention slid, as it always did, to Merlin. He squinted up at the sky, seeking out the moon. At least he wasn’t expected to keep watch all night. Not that there was much need. Perhaps it was somewhat of an invincibility complex but, ever since donning the cloak bearing Camelot’s emblem, Gwaine had felt untouchable. Almost. The cloak hadn’t made Lancelot untouchable. Setting his jaw, Gwaine took a deep breath and focused on the lazy wave of the leaves opposite, on the stars splattered across the deep canvas of the sky like a bloodstain, on the soft melody of the wind.

‘Come on, now, Gwaine, you know full well how hot you look when you hold a sword like that.’

Perhaps Gwaine, who had not noticed Merlin – Merlin, of all people – approach, had not been the best choice for watch. He looked up with the smile that always graced his lips whenever the warlock was near, eyes dropping with Merlin’s body as he settled himself next to him. ‘I am by no means opposed to making out right here, right now.’

To satiate his desire, Merlin scattered a trail of kisses along his hairline. ‘I don’t think the others would appreciate it.’

‘Mm, you’re probably right there,’ Gwaine murmured, his fingers tracing Merlin’s face. ‘And you should sleep.’

‘I’m okay.’

Gwaine’s hands found the shadowed purple beneath Merlin’s eyes and he fixed him with a look. ‘I know that you haven’t slept properly for the past two weeks. I can see it written all over your face.’

Scowling, Merlin pushed his hand away. ‘Well that’s rude.’

‘But not a lie.’

Expression softening, Merlin wrapped the blanket tighter around his body.‘That’s because you’ve been on night patrol for the past two weeks and haven’t slept next to me.’

‘I don’t enjoy it.’

‘No, but at least you get to talk to Elyan. I’m left alone with the ceiling and my thoughts, and you know how much I hate that.’ Realising how he sounded, Merlin leaned closer into Gwaine. ‘I’m not trying to guilt-trip you. I know full well there’s nothing you can do about it.’

Just as Merlin knew that, Gwaine knew full well that he shouldn’t do what his arm had already started to do but, noticing Merlin’s poorly-concealed shivers, he set down his sword and drew Merlin in so the warlock was resting his head in Gwaine’s chest. Then, kissing the top of his head, Gwaine pushed him away as swiftly as he’d pulled him in. ‘Go to bed, love. If you fall asleep here then your neck will not be thanking you in the morning.’

Looking up, Merlin held his gaze for several moments. With a sigh, he lifted his head and kissed Gwaine on the mouth before reluctantly standing and stumbling back to the makeshift camp. Gwaine watched as he settled himself at a slight distance from the other knights and Arthur, his back turned. The flickering embers cast subtle shadows across Merlin’s back and Gwaine’s gaze remained turned towards him for several moments more before he forced his eyes to travel away from the warlock’s form. Gwaine didn’t need to see it to know how it moulded to his palms when they were alone.

When around other people, Merlin always seemed to skirt around Gwaine, always leaving at least several inches between their bodies, as if afraid of causing Gwaine to shatter as a mirage if he made even the slightest contact with his skin. Gwaine had started wearing gloves more frequently in the hopes that Merlin would be more liberal in brushing against him then, but it had all been to no avail. Then Gwaine had continued to wear gloves anyway, just so that his bare hands wouldn’t have the nerves numbed by grazing surfaces before they reached out for Merlin’s skin. The result was a warm tingle that, to some, would be more of a scald, but Gwaine savoured every moment that his skin was set alight by Merlin. Having a particular skill with fire spells also helped him not feel the agony of burning so much, too.

When they were alone, though, Merlin was the one to remove Gwaine’s gloves and, every time his fingers skimmed the bones in Gwaine’s hand, the knight had to focus so as not to release skittering flames in Merlin’s direction. There seemed to be a ritual with Merlin when they were alone. The warlock would gently draw the gloves from Gwaine’s skin, toss them to one side, and then dedicate a substantial amount of time to tracing the marks on the knight’s hands, no matter how many times his fingers had already followed the cellular paths that day.

First, he always looked for new scalds or burns, disregarding Gwaine’s protests that they didn’t hurt in the same way that their ancestors had when he had first started learning magic, skimming his fingers over the marks as if the touch formed a mental note to treat them at a later date. After assessing the damage, Merlin’s lips always trailed behind his touch, silently reassuring each of Gwaine’s imperfections that they were so wonderfully loved and successfully sending shivers up Gwaine’s spine. Though those shivers always were abruptly severed when Merlin’s touch made its way to the thick scar just below the fold of skin between his right thumb and forefinger. Merlin had never once pushed him for more information about his childhood amongst bandits, but there was always a part of Gwaine that worried Merlin would one day get sick of the sight of the small branded letter, not quite concealed by the path the knife had taken so long ago, and would abandon him to the abyss he had been lost in before meeting the warlock.

But that hadn’t happened yet.

After studying Gwaine’s hands, Merlin then moved to stripping him of his knighthood and it was a death that Gwaine would gladly watch again and again if it was at Merlin’s hands. The chainmail was cast aside, the cloak thrown over a chair, and the sword noisily skimmed the floor until Gwaine was stood in only a shirt and his trousers, equal to Merlin. The only armour Gwaine had ever wanted covering him, since that day at the tavern, was Merlin’s hands. Arthur hadn’t really given him an opportunity to turn down the knighthood and, even if he had, there was always the possibility – in Gwaine’s mind, at least – that Arthur would have been offended enough to maintain his banishment, and then Gwaine never would have seen Merlin again. Being a knight did have its advantages, though: Gwaine never went hungry, nor did he have to sleep with one eye open, and he had been getting into fewer and fewer brawls over the years. Though that last one was perceived as more of an advantage in Leon’s eyes, who had always been the one to drag him out of any frays and then let him cool off in the cells on the odd occasion. Even when that had happened, though, Merlin had always slipped in and spent the night with Gwaine, heating his body up to unnatural temperatures to keep Gwaine warm. The first few times that had happened, Gwaine had been terrified that Merlin would spontaneously combust, but Merlin had frequently assured him that such a trick was not possible.

So they would stand there, facing one another in silence, Gwaine’s materialistic armour strewn across the room, and then Gwaine would take Merlin gently in his hands, tracing segments of the form he knew so well, and then their souls would fuse together with their lips.

When the stars had shifted substantially, Gwaine hauled himself from his position and shook out his legs in the vain attempt to rid himself of the cramp in his limbs, slowly advancing towards Leon’s form. He gently prodded him awake, instinctively lunging backwards as the reflexive swipe came from the blankets, and held out his arms to receive said blankets when a thickened voice quietly called out his name.

Turning around, Gwaine could just make out Merlin’s hands stretching out in a half-hearted wave in the heavy darkness and, telling Leon to forget about the blankets, picked his way through the sleeping knights, guided by the dropping syllables of his name. By the time he reached Merlin, the warlock’s hands had fallen to the ground and, smiling fondly, Gwaine hastily stripped down to his gambeson and slid into the nest Merlin had made.

There were significantly more blankets than Merlin should have had – not that Gwaine was complaining – and Merlin drowsily pushed several layers towards him, turning around to face Gwaine. His eyes flickered in the darkness as his hand fell against Gwaine’s chest and, from the point where Merlin touched him, the knight could feel a comforting heat pushing into him like a blade. Gwaine realised he probably should have tied back his hair so Merlin didn’t accidentally try to eat it in his sleep, but he was too comfortable to do that. With a smile, Gwaine encircled the warlock with his arms and rested his mouth against Merlin’s forehead as his eyes closed.

‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you, too,’ Merlin murmured.

Gwaine frowned, one eye cracking open. ‘You were asleep. You couldn’t have missed me.’

There was a pause. ‘You know I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I couldn’t sleep properly without you next to me, right?’

‘I did not.’ Gwaine waited until he felt five of Merlin’s exhalations drape themselves around his throat before speaking again. ‘Whatever did you do before I came into your life?’

‘Had a decent night’s sleep, because I wasn’t aware of your existence and consequently didn’t have to constantly worry about preserving it.’ Merlin shifted against him, hands crawling under Gwaine’s shirt and settling themselves on his stomach. ‘It’s so strange to think that we didn’t even know that the other existed. That we had no idea that one day we would be right here, in this moment.’

Merlin, when tired, always became philosophical. And usually when Gwaine was tired he couldn’t make head or tail of what his significant other was saying, but perhaps the cool night air had cleared his head more than ale usually did. ‘I think I prefer it that way,’ Gwaine murmured. ‘If we’d known that the other was out there, then I think we would have spent all our lives searching. We would have pinned our entire existence on the other person and that’s...That just doesn’t feel right. Not that I’m saying I don’t love you.’

‘No, no, I know...I know what you mean,’ yawned Merlin, pushing his head into Gwaine’s chest.

Tightening his arms around Merlin, Gwaine listened to the rhythm of the warlock’s breathing pattern, trying to match his own to it, and gently kissed the top of his head. There was a slight mumble, and something that might have resembled an ‘I love you’ and Gwaine murmured it back, just in case. It had been too long since the two of them had drifted off together, wrapped in one another’s beings, and Gwaine would forever bind himself to the soft form that was quite literally touching his heart.

#so compared to moee recent ones this does seem quite fluffy...#thanks again for the prompt!!!#tbh i'm surprised the knights didn't huddle together for warmth when sleeping more often #it can get fucking cold #merlin #gwaine #merwaine #hug prompts #lit writes #bbc merlin #*more

21 notes · View notes