#that's it. that's the one and only excuse I have for this very special edition. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

betasquads · 7 months

Text

JEALOUSY, Niko Omilana

———————————

—————————————

Summary: In which your boyfriend Niko Omilana gets visibly upset and jealous at how close you we're being with your work partner, Sharky.

Warnings: does kissing count as a warning?

A/N: lmk if you guys want a part two !

also this isn't checked so excuse me if there's any common mistakes, it was rushed.

You met your boyfriend Niko through Sharky, and you couldn't be more grateful. You had immediately hit it off even though the vibe between you two wasn't the best in the beginning.

No one had thought that you, a complete different aesthetic would hit it off with someone like Niko.

Even Sharky himself could feel his blood boil everytime at the mention of you two together since he was confident that when he introduced you to the beta squad was that no one would come close to you.

It's not like you were a terrible person or anything like that. You were just your own person. A really known person who would show up on youtube to give up your own mindset about dating and how miserable it makes you. You weren't just babbling words for fame or attention, you went through a relationship that made you hate the idea of dating or falling in love.

You always promised to yourself to never date infront of millions of watchers, but of course, it was immediately changed once you had met Niko. He was a fearless individual with a strong personality and that was what drew you in.

You kept your relationship private, until Niko sneaked a kiss on your lips not knowing that there was paparazzi lingering around.

You simply didn't care and never really replied to what the media said, until it started becoming really annoying.

Of course, the internet wouldn't leave you alone, what'd you expect? So the only message that you gave to the world was simply, 'I was wrong about all the things I've said, because not every man that you meet is like the rest.'

But Sharky always felt deeply hurt after it was announced that you and Niko were officially together. It wasn't even Niko's fault, Sharky always kept these feelings locked away for the sake of your happiness with your passion of telling the world about your point of view and experience with falling in love.

If he knew that he couldn't have you now, he'll wait. Even if it was for years. Plus that didn't really stop him from flirting or observing from afar.

Niko would catch the way he looks at you, but of course you being oblivious, all you did was laugh whenever Sharky treated you extra special. You always thought it was because you've been friends way before fame hit for both of you, but you were completely wrong.

Niko would always be furious, but since he really didn't have proof for everything, he decides to keep his mouth shut.

"Today on beta squad, we're doing our very own edition of would i lie to you." Right after Chunkz makes the announcement, everyone including you start cheering in excitement.

Niko snakes an arm around your waist as he laughs in excitement and you turn to look up at him with butterflies swarming in your stomach. No matter how long the relationship you two have been together, you always felt this fuzzy feeling that always hit you and made you dizzy, the same exact warmth she had when she first met Niko.

They had thought it'd be a great idea to invite you for a video, just like how it is all the time. So you easily accepted, being really happy to be around them, especially Niko.

"On team one, on my right hand side, we have Nikolas Omilana, y/n y/l/n, and Sharky!" Niko was a little annoyed that out of all the people sharky had to be on their team, but irregardless, he was going to make sure that Sharky doesn't get too close.

"On my left hand side, we got Yung Filly, Aj shabeel, and King kenny!"

"They're all terrible liars, especially the gyall right there." Filly points at you and you just shrug, knowing that you had a tactic to work with.

"Let's start with this team first." Chunkz points at your team and Sharky was the first to start.

"You can do this." You whisper to Sharky and Niko obviously looking at you, felt his jaw tense.

He couldn't careless if this was Aj, Chunkz, Kenny, or even Filly, because he could clearly tell who liked you in a friendly way and he definitely knew Sharky liked you more than a friend.

"I got circumcised by a random Somali man." Sharky says and immediately everyone started to laugh, including you.

"Yeah, my mom knew at the age of 9." He nods with a straight face.

"So your mom let a random man touch your dick?" Niko who was supposed to be on your team, says to Sharky.

"Ay that's cheating! He's making it obvious that it is a lie." Aj points at Niko.

You nudge Niko playfully with your elbow and give him a look like you were telling him to behave and he just sends you a wholesome grin.

"Just a quick question. Any mandem over here seen his sausage? Or maybe the gyall over the–" Filly questions with a genuine hope that someone did see it, but Kenny immediately slaps the back of his neck to shut him up.

Niko's stomach turned at the statement even though it was clearly a joke, but it made him physically sick. He looks over to you, worried that it made you uncomfortable.

You on the other hand laugh it off for the sake of the video since you knew that's the humor that you had to take whenever you were filming with them, otherwise you being uncomfortable would've been seen as too dramatic among the fans. So, you just send a nod and a smile to Niko.

Chunkz agrees at Filly's question of him being circumcised and everyone let's out 'woo's' and 'ooh's' and he clarifies that it needs to be done because his religion said so for purification.

—

After a while the other team come into conclusion that it was false. Sharky shakes his in disapproval and shows them the side where it says true, and they all sigh and even let out yells of disapproval.

You on the other hand, wrap your arms around Sharky's shoulders as you both jumped into union and excitement.

Despite the grin on Niko's face, he was pissed. Seeing your cheeks a little flushed and your smile reaching your ears made him question himself. Do you laugh like this with him? Does he make you feel that happy?

All the thoughts swarm in his head and his stomach drops every second at the thoughts coming and he tries to push them off by focusing on it being Filly's turn.

—

It was currently the last round and both teams were tied. Your team decided to pick you for it since you knew how to get the other team confused. The other team picked Filly since he was the guest. If both teams tie again, you were going to keep going until one team wins.

You sigh deeply and grab your card, "I was expelled in 11th grade because my history teacher accused me of hitting her." You say with a straight face, but once you've seen Filly's face who was currently trying to hold in his laugh, you bite your lip to stiffen in your laughter.

"She's lying innit because she's laughing over there." Filly tells his teammates.

"I'm sorry, im sorry– but I can surely tell you that i am telling you the truth." You genuinely say but Aj was shaking his head as he was narrowing his eyes at you.

Kenny squints his eyes at you, "Tell us the story of what happened."

"So basically, I used to speak a lot during sessions and no matter how many times she's told me to shut up, yeah? I never did shut up and uh," You pause for second, trying to remember what had happened.

"She paused, she's thinking about how to fake the story." Kenny says and everyone yells as if they've caught the fact that you were 'faking' it.

"Ay, leave her alone. Let her continue." Sharky responds to them. Niko sends an annoyed look at Sharky, not caring if the camera caught it.

"Anyway, she was really mean for no reason and only had one way to expel me, and that is to lie. And let me just tell you something, yeah? She had to cry infront of the school administration to convince them that I did hit her. There's not much to say since the statement is direct and has no other explanation, but she hated the entire class and especially me." You explain and the opposed team starts laughing.

"Ay, she's good at waffling, but definitely a terrible liar." Aj speaks to the camera.

Niko began laughing at how your face was flushed in embarrassment, "Cold, cold. How do you feel being laughed at, baby?" He whispers in your ears but makes sure that everyone hears and rests his hand on your hips and makes sure his eyes meets Sharky who was already looking at him. You bite your bottom lip at how he presses his front against your back, forgetting for a moment that the camera was on.

"Take your hands off of her, Omilana. Not infront of the pizza shaped kid right across of you and the possibility of thousands of kids watching you." The host, Chunkz, warns Niko and he raises his hands up in surrender but sends you a glance that was far from innocent, and he tries to make sure that Sharky was looking at the entire interaction.

"Is that it?" Aj questions and you just simply nod.

"Bruva I can't lie, I have a deep feeling that she's told all of us this story before." Kenny says and you try not to wince, because you did indeed tell them before when you all hung out.

You just keep your straight face on at his statement, but inside, you could feel yourself screaming. You always took these challenges seriously.

"I'm not convinced that such teacher would do that." Filly shakes his head and you notice Aj nodding at his words. You internally beg that they would make it a lie.

They whisper to each other until Kenny grabs the stick that had lie and true, "We all think it's a lie." they come into conclusion and you could feel yourself grin.

"Alright, y/n, go ahead and reveal your answer." Chunkz announces loudly.

"It is..."

You show the side of the one that says 'true', "The truth!" You began laughing at their reaction, too lost to even notice the way Niko was looking at you.

He admired the way you were grinning from ear to ear and the way your cheeks were flushed and two strands of your hair on each side were laying on your face. What made him furious is the fact that Sharky was doing the exact same thing, admiring and taking in each feature of your face.

You pull both Niko and Sharky into a side hug as you jumped in excitement, "We could win this!" You say in joy.

"That's impossible! How could a teacher do that? Can't she get fired for that?" Aj yells, surprised.

"Maybe because she lied and she's the teacher which they would believe over the student, idiot." Kenny replies with a bland tone which erupted everyone's laugh.

"That is mad." Filly shakes his head.

You nod at Filly, "Go on."

"I once got locked in a car for two days." He states and you immediately grip Sharky's arm to contain your laughter since he was closer to you.

Niko just stares angrily at how touchy you were being this entire video. Hugging Sharky whenever you got something right or he did, constantly gripping his arms each time you wanted to laugh.

"That's impossible, ain't it?" You question.

"Just tell them the story, Filly." Chunkz says teasingly, clearly enjoying this.

"So uhm– so uh yeah. So–" He stutters.

"We caught him, we caught him!" Sharky says so loud that you laugh and shake your head.

"Let him speak you schmuck." Niko says a little aggressive, but no one picks up on it except for Sharky.

"I was around 7 and we had just got back from my first day of school and my mom took her groceries up to our house and left me in the car."

You couldn't take it seriously as you began laughing, "So you were in the car for two days? And she didn't drive you to school the next day?" You question, and everyone on your team and Chunkz let's out an 'ooooh' since you've picked up on something.

"We already know our choice. It's a lie." Sharky holds up the stick and Filly sighs.

"I'm sorry I did you both wrong, but yes, it is a lie." He says to both Kenny and Aj, disappointed.

Immediately on your left hand you felt someone pick you up for the victory, Sharky. He spinned you even though you feel a little uncomfortable about it, but you shrug it off.

Once he puts you down you turn to Niko and throw your arms around his neck and plant kisses all across his neck where camera can't see you doing this gesture. For some reason you could sense something off since you didn't feel the energy being returned. You just guessed that he was probably a little exhausted or tired.

"This confirms that this team had just won, congratulations to team one!" The host announces and the other team attacks each other and started blaming the other on why they lost.

"There's one important message that Filly and y/n have to say." Chunkz says a bit too serious.

You walk next to Filly and in union, you both say, "Play the trailer." The rest cheer and the camera was now off, everyone leaving to do their thing.

You run to Niko since his presence was the only thing that mattered to you. You see the way he was on his phone, not acknowledging your presence like he always does whenever you filmed with them.

You didn't think much of it and you wrap one of your hands around his neck, tiptoe–ing since he was tall. He always goes down a little for you, but for some weird reason, he doesn't.

You still reach to him after you struggle and your mouth finds his and you hear him let out a sharp sigh and his phone shutting off once your lips meets his. He places his phone inside his pocket and one hand wraps the front of you neck and the other grips your hip to deepen the kiss.

He kisses you like he's been longing to do so, but as if something comes into his senses, he takes his lips off of you and wipes his lips.

You're very confused by the action, but you immediately felt like there was somewhere to be, "I'll go to the lavatory and meet you outside." He just let's out a hum as his eyes were deeply focused on something in his phone.

You just chose to ignore it, not having anytime to start this since you both had somewhere special to be tonight. You and Niko don't live in the same apartment since you live with your best friend and so does he, so you barely find time to spend time together. You both had an idea of going out for dinner and just spending quality time for fun.

Before you took another step you see Sharky in the corner of your eye, coming to talk to you. Not wanting to be rude, you stood and waited until he made his way to you.

"Great game, they fans are going to love you even more for this." He smiles at you and you chuckle, flattered at this compliment.

"I'm so glad I had a chance to spend time with all of you." You send an appreciative friendly smile, but in Niko's eyes who was watching the entire interaction, was now sure it was far from friendly.

After that he definitely knew that he wasn't overlooking this. He had a huge feeling that you felt the same towards Sharky, and that just made him upset and furious.

So he gets up and walks up to the rest except Sharky to say his goodbyes and he leaves you all alone.

—

You hum to a song that came in your mind as you wash your hands thoroughly, drying them with tissues you had in your bag.

You get out with the widest smile, just for it to disappear when you see that Niko wasn't in the place where he was seated in the last time.

Confused, you walk to the rest of the boys who were all talking together about a conversation you weren't interested in, "Have you guys seen where Niko is?"

"Oh y/n you're still here? And what what do you mean by where Niko is? We thought you left with him?" Chunkz says, genuinely confused and even a little worried.

You furrow your eyebrows, "What? Left with him? No– I was in the lavatory for 10 minutes and now he's gone."

"This pussio just lied to us." Aj remarks jokingly, but there was a bit of a tone that indicated he was pissed that his best friend would do that.

"If this is a prank then seriously I have no time for this." You say with a bland tone and a fake smile, crossing your arms.

"Wallahi he left. He told us you were waiting in the car and that he had to leave." Chunkz was now completely confused on why Niko would abandon you, his girlfriend. Your fake smile immediately dropped.

You raise your eyebrows, surprised that Niko would even think of doing that. "Are you serious right now?" You said it more like a statement instead of a question since you knew that Chunkz was indeed telling the truth. Everyone's eyes are wide at the fact that Niko had just left you like that. You were also shocked.

You slightly scoff at how disrespected you just felt at the moment. You even felt embarrassed since you had no idea how you were going to get to your apartment or even get to him.

"I could drive you home if you'd like?" You hear Sharky offer.

"No I don't wanna tire you. Aj you live with him right? Can you drive me there or are you staying here for a while?" Your voice wavers as you speak, but you tried to keep a stern face.

Aj looks at you concerned and so does the rest, "That's so low, even for Niko." Filly remarks and unexpectedly he gets up and hugs you, almost squeezing you almost to death.

You hear the rest laugh at how soft Filly was, "Ay you crushing the poor gyall!" Chunkz remarks but that doesn't stop him from joining in the hug aswell.

"Jokes aside though, you good y/n?" Kenny asks with a genuine hope that you were truly fine.

You nod and chuckle, "Mhm, I'm fine. I can assure you that I'm completely fine." But deep down, you knew you weren't.

"I'm sorry y/n, I would love to do anything for you but i have to finish something up. If that's okay, you could stay for a little and I could drive you?" Aj asks with a little suggestive tone and everyone was practically begging you to stay with how they looked at you.

"As much as I don't wanna miss out on the opportunity to spend more time with you guys, I really want answers from Niko–"

"So does that mean I could drive you?" Sharky immediately speaks and you roll your eyes and nod with a chuckle.

"Alright let's go."

—

Sharky offered to stay at his car and wait for you and you say that it was alright if you could get a cab as a way to your apartment but he kept on insisting and you couldn't say no.

Now you could feel the anger rising as you walked to his apartment, entering the apartment with your spare key, angry with how Niko had just left you there. How did he even dare to do such thing?

When you storm towards the living room, you see Niko laid out on the couch, doing some work on his laptop.

"Seriously? You left me there? Did you forget about me?" You speak so loud you were sure that the neighbors might've heard, but you couldn't careless. You just wanted an apology in any sort of way.

He lazily shrugs and keeps his eye on the screen, and you could pinpoint the anger from the way he clenched his jaw at your voice.

You could feel your heart shatter at his action because he's never been like this. "Niko what–" You take a pause since you could feel the tears almost appearing from the way your voice cracked, and you most definitely didn't want to let him see you cry.

Once he's heard the voice crack, he immediately looks up with a hint of worry in his eyes, but it quickly disappears once he's seen that you weren't crying, immediately looking back down.

"What is this? What are you doing? Why are you acting like this? " The last sentence clearly sounded desperate.

When you didn't receive an answer, you shut the laptop aggressively and take it from him, setting it aside.

"I want to have a real conversation. Not a one sided one." You say, silently pleading for him to look at you or say anything. But he doesn't even acknowledge you, he just looks at the floor with a clenched jaw.

"Niko, you're hurting me. Where is all of this coming from? Look at me or just say anything, please." You could feel your heart beating rapidly at his silence treatment, not wanting this relationship to go any wrong. Words spilled out from your mouth like it was nothing, it was as if your heart longed for any response and therefore it formed the words automatically.

He scoffs disrespectfully at you, despite the way his heart hurt at the mention of you telling him that he was hurting you, "Sharky."

"What? Sharky? What about him?" You immediately respond, clinging on to whatever words he was going to say.

Truth to be told, you couldn't bare the thought of him leaving you. You were attached and in love with him to say the least.

"I really don't get how you can't see how he's basically flirting with you 24/7. I'm tired of it, and im extremely tired of you acting like you can't see it either. My girlfriend's surely not an idiot, is she?" His last sentence seemed a bit harsh, by the way he winced and cringed at his own words.

His eyes finally met yours and you could pinpoint the change in them. There was no warmth in them or the love he had for you like he always had whenever he looked at you, and you could confirm that you could feel the anxiety and fear kicking in.

"No, no, no. Sharky– Sharky will always be my friend. He does not like me and I assure you that I don't like him either." You say with your voice wavering and you shake your head as speak.

You grab Niko's hand, desperately trying to send him the message. What made it even worse, is the cold look he sent you. It seemed as if he was bored of this conversation and that he didn't want to even speak or continue.

He chuckles coldly at you, "You look really pathetic trying to convince me that theres nothing seriously going on between you and Sharky."

Your eyebrows furrow deeply and your mouth is slightly open at his words that stung you, "Because there's isn't anything going on." You say aggressively, feeling like you were talking to a crackhead who couldn't get his thoughts straight.

He rolls his eyes and slightly chuckles in a mocking manner, "Never knew that my own girlfriend is pathetic at thinking I wouldn't catch on."

Your mouth is open slightly at his harsh words that just kept coming more and more," What are you saying? I would never do such thing. Niko please–" He takes his hands off of yours and gets up from where he was seated.

He seems to be going to his bedroom, but before you could even go in to try and convince him, bam. The door was shut right infront of your face.

You were a taken aback by this, confusion and mostly hurt that he'd think of you doing something like that. You could feel your cheeks becoming stung by tears, looking around the shared apartment.

"Niko, I swear to God if you don't come out and apologize. We're over." Your voice was louder than you had thought, dead silence at the other side of the door. You let out a frustrated cry at his stubbornness when he doesn't get out.

Now tears fell like they've been held in for too long and You knew Aj was probably on his way so it was probably better if you just left, even though each step you took towards the door completely hurt you.

The plans you had for tonight with him was spending time with him just dining out and continuing the rest of the night in his room for since you both had been busy for weeks.

But now the only thing you were looking forward was how you were going to move on after this. Was it just confirmed that the both of you were done for?

You didn't understand what he was trying to do, it was as if he was trying to find an excuse to just leave you heartbroken and miserable.

You open the door a little too quick, while you walk faster by each second that passed by.

It was getting hard to breath. Your cries were heard through the halls, your brain telling you to suck it in. Your crying was getting loud as you felt a panic attack was close, you didn't feel good at all.

Your hand made its way to your mouth to stop yourself from crying even louder, the other pushing the elevator button.

Come run after me, Niko. Please come I really need you. You silently beg inside your head. You wait for the elevator, tears still finding its way out.

But you knew he wasn't going to come, it was his plan all along to push you away, at least that's what you had thought. You just needed to leave, you felt like the walls were starting to close on you.

And now the world was going to see you as the pathetic, stupid, 'y/n y/l/n who thought she could ever have a healthy relationship.'

—————————————

511 notes · View notes

mixiury · 5 months

Text

Always remembering you - Genshin x GN reader

Characters: Wanderer, Itto, Kaveh, Neuvillette

Summary: You have to leave for a long period of time. What do they do after it? (Basically them missing you)

A/N: I am alive!! Sorry for not posting in a while. Honestly I haven't been very motivated to write but I randomly got this idea so I hope yall like it! (I edited some parts and typos I noticed so hopefully now it is better :)

Wanderer has no need for things as transitory and insignificant as the attention of others— specially if it comes from an human being— so what makes you believe that you would be an exception?

It's been decades since he last sought companionship after all. The only reason why he asked you to accompany him is to complete the tasks Nahida assigned him. It is just easier for you to do all the hard work instead of him. Don't try to read between the lines.

Yes. Of course it was necessary to stop in the middle of Sumeru's forest to contemplate the surroundings for the past hour. It is part of his job to ensure that there are no potential dangers near the city.

Actually, the fact that the path you were taking was blocked by a tree that mysteriously collapsed in front of you due to a strong blown of wind has nothing to do with him. Why would you think he did that in the first place? You're imagining things.

The only reason he's holding your hand right now is so you don't get lost or delay him by this absurdly long new path he's chosen. Yes, it's clearly the only option you two have, so don't complain and keep walking.

But if you need a moment to rest he won't refuse. And if at any point you decide to lean your head on his shoulder, he won't push you away either. Just don't get used to this, he only allows it because he knows how fragile human bodies are and he prefers to avoid Nahida's scolding for leaving you in the middle of nowhere.

And if you still have doubts, that's right, the fact that all these things happen after not being able to talk to you all week is totally a coincidence.

Itto, on the other hand, doesn't seem to know the word discretion.

What do you mean you have another important commission to do? But didn't you just finished one yesterday? How about you join him in a beetle tournament instead? Or maybe you can spend time with the gang? Come on, he knows you can't refuse this unique opportunity!

Hmm? That you always spend time with them..? But this time is different! This time they will do something so different and so incredible that you just can't loose! Trust him. Arataki Itto always keep his word!

And it is just that it seems like the entire universe is sending you signals to spend time with him. From Itto posters that mysteriously appear on paper airplanes to his name in the alphabet soup you eat.

But if all that is not enough to convince you that it is the destiny the one putting you together, somehow you both end up meeting multiple times a day. No matter where you look, he will be there.

Do you have to collect different flowers from Inazuma for your commission? It turns out that floristry is one of his hidden talents! Do you have to give them to someone? How curious! He was just talking to that same person! Are you saying he is brothering them? Of course not! He would never do that... On purpose.

There's no point in questioning him, somehow he always has an excuse- (although it doesn't mean they make sense). It's only until you look up at the sky and see fireworks with Itto's face, his signature, and the words "I miss you" that he finally tells you the truth behind all the coincidences that has happened during the day.

However, the moment does not last long, because shortly afterwards different guards come running to capture Itto for alleged harassment and "illegal use" of fireworks without authorization. Complete defamation if you ask him.

At the end, you and Kuki have to visit him in jail and take care of all the paperwork for the damage him and the gang caused. But hey, at least that means his plan worked?

Kaveh directly doesn't seems able to function properly.

Don't get him wrong, he knows better than anyone how hard it must be for you to be so busy. After all, he has found himself in the same situation as you multiple times in the past.

It's just that he had never noticed the influence you have on his life until that moment, where instead of having breakfast together at the same place as always he finds himself eating preheated noodles from the microwave.

For the first time in a long time he's having trouble concentrating on his work, unable to finish the commission he's been putting off for the last week— not so surprisingly— the same amount of time since you traveled to Fontaine.

Because every time he looks at the paper on the desk he can't stop his hand from drawing sketches of you, his mind clouded with questions about your safety and how you are doing.

Kaveh doesn't really know how to control that feeling so he does the only thing he knows in situations like this; Overwork himself. Going from basically doing nothing all week to creating almost a month's worth of work in a few days.

Of course, it doesn't take much for his friends to notice, trying to reason with him more than once. However, if there is something to recognize from Kaveh it is his stubbornness, reassuring them that everything is completely under control.

It's only until he ends up falling asleep during a conversation with Tighnari that he decides to take action into his own hands, sending you a letter telling you about the situation because your boyfriend can barely stay awake during the day and has been living of coffee.

And despite his reproaches towards Tighnari, he can't help but feel glad the moment you return to Sumeru a few days earlier than anticipated, updating you on every little detail that happened while you were gone and sleeping for almost a full day no long after. He may thank Tighnari later.

Unlike the others, Neuvillette feels totally fine after you left.

Of course he notice your absence and perhaps your name has appeared in his mind more than three times in the day but that's all. There is no need to worry about it, Take all the time you need.

He continues with his routine as always. He is also a very busy person so he doesn't think a lot of it. He's just walking around in the same place where you met because he's taking a short break. Nothing more than that.

In fact, you might even be able to see him ordering at the same coffee shop where you had your first date, sitting at the same table he sat at back then. But that isn't related to this situation, so please continue what you are doing.

But if you notice how Fontaine has fallen into heavy rain this last month, he will just reassure you that it's completely normal. Probably is just the weather that hasn't been stable lately. Nothing to worry about. Everything is under control as it always has been.

Yet, even if he manages to fool himself, all the melusines notice the way his gaze wanders from the documents on his desk to the empty seat next to him. His eyes shining every moment he hears the door of his office open just to met with the disappointment in them when he realizes it's not you on the other side.

Because despite his attempts to distract himself, it's simply impossible when every place he goes has some memory of you. He knows you won't be away for long so why does he feel like something is missing when you're not around?

Melusines try to talk with him, even requesting help to Furina, but it doesn't seems to be an end of the countless rains that has been occurring since you left.

He will just continue denying his feelings over and over, completely oblivious of them and the attempts of others to cheer him up.

It's hard for Neuvillette to understand the reason for his the emptiness he feels, but when he sees you once again he can't help but notice the great sense of relief that comes with you, immediately asking you how you are doing and making sure you feel welcome.

Maybe with the pass of the time he will be able to come in terms with his feelings but for now all he wants to do is to spend more time with you.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x reader #itto x reader #kaveh x reader #neuvillette x reader #not proofread #Sorry xD #Genshin Impact #genshin impact x you #genshin x you

275 notes · View notes

wardenparker · 3 months

Text

Hummingbird Has Landed, ch 2

Marcus Pike x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

After the debacle of his failed engagement and relocating to Washington to take charge of his task force, newly minted Special Agent Marcus Pike is ready to get back out into the dating pool once more. A slew of bad dates has him feeling a little down, and he takes an old friend up on an invitation to get away and get his head on straight. Imagine his surprise when he finds not only fresh air, but his soulmate as well - hiding in plain sight but in the unlikeliest of places.

Rating: Mature, but this blog is always 18+ Word Count: 12.6k Warnings: *Blanket warnings for this series: occasional mention of American politics, pregnant character, food/alcohol consumption, mentions of clothing/regulated dressing for occasions, mentions of therapy because we believe in self care here, reader is in a previous relationship, love triangle* Mentions of sick loved ones, mutual pining, personal guilt, relationship turmoil. Summary: After only knowing Marcus for a brief time, you can already feel emotions beginning to build. Will that spell trouble for the relationship you've worked so hard to build with Sam, or will something else altogether begun to sow seeds of doubt? Notes: Once again I'm afraid I have to ask forgiveness in the edit of this chapter. I went away for a few days this week and ever since my chronic illness has been utterly kicking my ass. Hopefully I didn't miss too many errors here.

Game night will probably go down in the year's history as one of the best and most fun times that Marcus has had in a long time. He had laughed until his stomach hurt, his abs aching the next week for at least three days. He's gotten an open invitation back, but he doesn't know if that was a good thing, if he's honest with himself. His attraction to you is something that he's got to get ahold of if he's going to socialize with you more. It seems like everything about you just makes the heavens sing and the sun shine. It's crazy and he hates that, considering you are very happy in a relationship.

Eastern Market is his usual haunt on the weekend, preferring it to a generic grocery store, and he’s lost in thought enough that he doesn’t notice a familiar face at the florist’s stand across the way as he’s walking through the stalls. "Some peaches will be good." Marcus decides, looking through some of the fruits that have been trucked in from warmer states. "Peach smoothies." He decides, walking towards the gorgeous plump peaches on display.

If you were any other person in the world, it would be you who bumped into him and not the Secret Service agent contractually obligated to come along on your errands. As it is, when Agent Bailey defends you from being bumped into by the familiar figure of Marcus Pike, you’re the one who apologizes. “Oh! I’m so sorry, excuse u—Marcus?”

“Oh, hi!” Marcus shakes his head, reaching out and taking your arm. “I am so sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” He apologizes. “Was focused on getting some peaches and didn’t notice anything or anyone, obviously.” He flushes slightly, feeling that pull towards you and hating that he looks like a jerk, or maybe just thoughtless, in front of you. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

"Not at all." The flowers in your hands and the canvas shopping bags on your arm aren't harmed either, and you find yourself smiling much more brightly than you were even a second ago. "No harm done to me or to Agent Bailey, not to worry. Is it errand day for you, too?"

“Trying to eat healthier.” Marcus admits, slightly upset by the prospect but he figures that just comes with getting older. “Figured the produce here would be better than in a grocery store. Are these for the inn?” He asks, looking at the flowers in your hands and immediately reaches for them. “Let me help.”

"I thought my apartment could use some brightening up." He's seen the organized chaos that you live in and you're not embarrassed by it by any means, but there is a small sting to buying your own flowers just a few days before Valentine's Day. Sam isn't a flowers guy and that's perfectly fine, but you're definitely a flowers girl. When Marcus scoops them up without a second thought and stays by your side, you can feel your cheeks heat up. "I, um—thank you.

“Of course.” He huffs, as if newly made acquaintances should always scoop up flowers from you. “You chose brilliantly. They are gorgeous. Have you already paid for them?”

"Yes, so don't even try." It's just a playful warning that comes with a waggle of your finger, but you really have a feeling that he would try to pay for them if you hadn't.

He grumbles at that slightly. “Well, okay.” It’s almost pathetic that he takes note of what kind of flowers you like and he smirks. “So which flower is your favorite in this?” He asks.

"These," you point out a geometrically fascinating flower with petals that seem to spiral endlessly. "They're called camellias. We called them Winter Roses when I was growing up, but I've always loved them." The intimacy of the question goes straight over your head, just excited to have something pretty to split amongst the small vases in your little space.

“Camellias.” Marcus repeats the flower, filing away the information even though he shouldn’t use it. “They are beautiful.”

"Not everyone has them, so I tend to get my flowers here just to make sure they're in the mix." Barely aware that you're standing in the middle of a bustling market with people trying to move all around you, you have to shake away the warmth settling in you that is definitely not due to any kind of attraction. Nope. Not even a little. Not at all. "You, um..." you gesture to the next stall, where he was originally headed when the collision happened. "Peaches?"

“Peaches? Oh right, peaches.” Marcus laughs at himself and shakes his head. “Yeah, sorry, I’m – I forgot.” He snorts. “I was thinking about fresh peach smoothies.”

"Ooooo, that sounds incredible." All of a sudden it's the best idea you've heard all day, and you grin mischievously. "It's not exactly standard, but the next time you're craving a sweet after having Indian take out? Make a peach smoothie. It's got that same vibe as a mango lassi but it's slightly sweeter, and it's the most refreshing thing ever."

“I was actually thinking about having Indian tonight.” Marcus admits with a grin. “To reward myself for eating healthier.”

"Best reward in the world." You agree easily. "I told myself I was going to cook tonight and make sure there were leftovers for another day this week, but I am teetering dangerously close to just calling for take-out as well."

"Well..." Marcus almost doesn't offer, because of the fact that you have a boyfriend, but he is truly meaning this as a friendly offer. "If we went to have Indian together, it wouldn't be as bad as ordering it as take out, would it?" He ventures, raising his brows in offer.

You should say no, You should absolutely say no. Not because the invitation is improper in any way — after all, he's a friend. But because of the way your heart bumps and skips at the offer like you hope he means it as more. He doesn't, and that is a good thing. In fact, Marcus and Sam got along fairly well at game night. But you can't help the way your cheeks burn pleasantly. "DuPont Circle?" You ask, confirming that he means he was intending to order from the same place you were. When he nods, you do too. "That sounds really nice."

"This way..." He's immensely happy you are agreeing to come to eat with him. "We can order the samosas and pakoras and not feel any guilt what so ever." He tells you, grinning at you.

"No guilt, but definitely extra time at the gym." His smile is dangerous, but apparently your self-preservation instincts aren't nearly as good as you think they are, because the only alarm bell going off in your head is the one that says Don't Let It Become a Date! which you just brush off. Surely that won't even be a possibility. It can't, because you and Sam have a good thing going. "Although, you're not masochistic enough to have my little brother as your biweekly gym buddy, so your trips are probably far less traumatic than mine," you offer with a laugh.

"Nope." Marcus chuckles. "I just torture myself by running around the Mall during my lunchbreaks instead of spending it in museums or at the food trucks." He snorts. "I just get to smell them just off the Mall."

"Have you lived in DC for three years without doing any of the food trucks out on the Mall?" That might be the most appalling thing you've ever heard in your life, and you nearly drop the peach that you had just picked up to add to your basket.

"Oh no." He laughs at that. "First six months I was here, I fucking lived off food trucks." He admits. "I was undercover and my contact checked in with me through the food trucks."

"Oh, thank God." The both of you laugh as you wipe imaginary sweat of your forehead as though it had made you nervous. "If you had never had Julia's Empanadas, I might have had to drag you down to the Mall right now."

"Then I wouldn't have room for Indian." Marcus groans, rolling his eyes at the thought of how many empanadas he would try to fit in his stomach if you went to Julia's Empanadas. "And I'm really craving Indian."

"I am too." Although, now you're going to be thinking about empanadas for ages. Maybe you'll have to try making some. "How has your week been?" Making small talk is easy with him, as you poke through the fruit bins to find peaches, apples, and pears to snack on this week.

"It's been alright." He shrugs slightly. "Depositions for a few upcoming cases. So I've had to revisit case files and work with the district attorney's office to make sure that there aren't any surprises."

"Paperwork and meetings," you nod in understanding. "I get that. Being my own boss is a hell of a lot more paperwork and meetings than I ever thought it would be."

"Ordering supplies, creating events to drum up interest. Balancing budgets." He nods. "I can imagine that it feels like it's hard to get a free moment for yourself."

The way you nod is tired but proud. Every ounce of hard work that you put into that inn is worthwhile, and you do it with straight shoulders and as much determination as you can possibly summon. "Today is my first day off in...two or three weeks? It's...a lot. But it's so worthwhile. And it means that Syd has her place, too. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"So how did you come to have the inn?" Marcus has been curious about that. "Was it always your dream? Or something you fell into?'

"I really, really liked throwing parties when I was younger." That's the easy way to start, as you both move to the line to pay for your bundles of fruit at this particular stall. "That grew up into loving to have guests over all the time. And then dreaming about running a hotel. So I took my sociology and history double major and got a job a hotel in Philly after college, putting myself through a hospitality degree while I started learning the ropes. It was a lot of years of working my way up, but eventually I got hired as the manager for the Inn at Jones Point under the old owners. They were struggling to keep up with new technology and losing clients because of it, and then..." Your eyes flick up to Marcus, almost apologizing for telling him the whole story. "We found out the reason Anita was having so much trouble learning the new technology was early-onset dementia alongside a sizeable brain tumor. I bought the inn from them when they made the decision that a comfortable end to her life was the most important thing they could do. Michael – Anita's husband – he comes around once a week for dinner and to check up on the place now that she's gone. He likes to keep an eye on it for her."

“That’s….” Marcus softens so much at the background story. “Beautiful. You are maintaining their legacy while adapting it to the new realities of time. Weathering time.”

"That farmhouse has been standing since the 1700s. We're just part of its legacy, not the other way around." The pair of you step up to be next in line, with Agent Bailey standing mere feet away managing to look imposing and nonchalant all at once. "The best part is that it could give Sydney her restaurant, and Juan a way to find himself in all the event planning. We didn't know what a team we'd be until we got going and now it's...it's just amazing."

“That’s incredible, and the fact that the place runs so smoothly is a testament to your hard work.” Marcus praises. He’s read some of the reviews and they are all positive, even the ones that had events beyond your control.

“That’s very kind of you.” Kind is an operative word for Marcus. As are sweet, funny, intelli— Nope, stop it, you’re getting dreamy again. Even the momentary distraction of having to pay for fruit is a welcome one if it gets your mind off that track.

Ouch. Kind is such a word that lands him in the friend zone. Which is where he has to be with you, but it still hurts. No longer edgy or cool like he was when he was in his old band. “What else do you need to get?” He asks, swinging his head around at the options available.

“I’m almost done actually.” It didn’t escape you that he flinched slightly when you were trying to be grateful and at least a little complimentary, and suddenly your stomach flips in fear that he might not like spending time with you are much as it seems. Or that you’d done something wrong. “I just wanted to get some fresh bread. But…I don’t know how much more you have to do.”

“Nothing.” He promises, shooting you a grin. “The least I can do is carrying things. Since you are saving me from a night of trying to cook.”

“Never learned to cook or just never got good at it?” There is a difference, after all, and it isn’t about want. Some people find cooking to be an incredible challenge. He gives you a look when you take your parcel of fruit from the vendor and accepts it on your behalf with thanks. Like a damn gentleman, you think with a pant in your chest.

“Never really had the time or the inclination.” He admits. “It’s hard to be enthusiastic about cooking for one, you know what I mean?”

“But that’s when you get to experiment!” Maybe it’s years of being friends with Sydney, whose world revolves around her tastebuds, but cooking has always been an outlet for you. It’s one of the only things you dislike about your apartment —the teeny tiny kitchen. “You can test out new things and weird combinations, and if it’s not great then the only person who knows is you. But if it’s awesome?” You grin up at him like you’re unveiling some kind of ultimate secret. “You become a rockstar at the next office potluck.”

Marcus chuckles. “I’m a rockstar anyway.” He jokes. “I’m the one who brings in the pizza and Chinese for the late nights in the office.”

“Okay, actually, that does count for a lot.” Walking in the direction of the bakery where you get all of your sweet treats and fresh bread, you readjust your shopping bag on your arm and try to glance around the place to survey your surroundings the way Agent Bailey has been teaching you. A comprehensive knowledge of your surroundings, she calls it. “I can’t really cook for my staff much when they have Sydney’s kitchen nearby, but I leave baked goods in the break room from time to time as a thank you. They work so hard.”

“There’s nothing better than snagging a muffin or a cookie when you’re rushing around.” Marcus agrees wisely.

“Or a slice of pizza.” It sounds like he works hard to keep his team in good spirits the same way you do, and you have to commend that in someone who works in such a dour field. Even art crimes — being less violent in nature, according to what you looked up the other night out of sheer curiosity — can’t possible be all sunshine and roses.

“Exactly.” He nods. “Sometimes we have all night surveillance or going through the evidence when something is time sensitive. My teams work better when they are well fed, and know how much they are appreciated.” He shrugs slightly, “everyone could benefit from know that every now and again.”

"Sometimes the weddings we run are just...they're insane. Or last year we had an entire family reunion take over the grounds for four very long days. I can't imagine it's half as stressful as what you deal with but the days can be really long and busy in their own right." For what it's worth, at least, you do love your job. And it's obvious that Marcus feels just as passionately about what he does.

“Oof.” He winces. “I bet the staff wanted to break out a bottle of bubbly when they were checked out.” Marcus jokes, chuckling slightly. “Yeah a lot of people don’t understand that when you love your job, the long hours are worth it.”

"Yeah." A tinge of regret breaks your smile, barely twitching in the corner of your mouth, and you barely nod. He can't possibly know what kind of a nerve he's hit — hell, you barely know yourself and you're the one feeling it. It just...it stings.

“Did I say something wrong?” He asks, immediately concerned when your smile seems almost sad.

"No." You reassure him much too quickly, and flinch in your own right when he looks skeptical. "It's just...not everyone thinks what I do is as worthwhile as, say, something like what you do. A—and that makes sense. Running an inn and upholding the law are—they're not the same. I'm not saying they are. It's just...that important to me. That's all."

“Whoever believes that is wrong.” Marcus insists wholeheartedly. “Running an inn is absolutely crucial. Maybe not to everyone, but to the people who need a little escape, a retreat to relax and revive themselves, your inn is a haven to them.” He is speaking passionately because he believes it. “When I’m out of town on a case, I hope that I can book a little inn. Something more personable than a Holiday Inn, so when I come back, it’s like a little slice of home.”

“I appreciate that. Really. It’s—I guess it’s a sore spot at the moment and I didn’t realize it. That’s all.” And you are absolutely not going to allow yourself to indulge in the image of Marcus coming back to the inn for you. Your place is not his ‘ little slice of home’. Even if you’re wondering what the would feel like if it was real.

“Well, you can always gripe and complain if you need to.” He promises.

“No, that’s—that’s not it.” It’s a little embarrassing, if you’re honest, but that’s only because you’re fighting being attracted to the man beside you. Otherwise you would just be chatting to a friend. “I just…don’t get to spend as much time with Sam as he would like. That’s all. Because we both have busy jobs.”

Marcus winces. “With the job he has, it would be hard unless you didn’t work.” He murmurs quietly. “But what counts is that you make the time you do have together special.”

“That’s what I said. Making the most of our time it’s what is most important.” The topic had come up again in conversation when you and Sam had talked about next steps — through the odd avenue of discussing your commute. His house to the inn isn’t a prohibitive drive, but it will warrant either having a lot of work done on your car or getting an upgrade. Right now you have no commute whatsoever, so you’re barely using your car outside of town.

“My favorite thing to do with my ex-wife was to curl up and watch a movie.” He admits. “Or work on a crossword together.”

“Those…” You laugh quietly, almost self-consciously, and shrug with the air of someone who is just about to give up. “Are the things I do with my good friend Agent Bailey, here. Though she kicks my ass at the Times Sunday crossword every single week.”

He rolls his eyes at himself. “I know it’s an old person’s activity, but I was normally exhausted from the academy.”

“Don’t you dare besmirch the Times Crossword.” A waggles finger and disapproving tsk seems to amuse him and it makes you smile, too. “That’s a mandatory topic of conversation at my mother’s dinner table.”

“Your mother enjoys the Times Crossword?” He asks, grinning at you. “She would get along with my parents. They have two subscriptions just so they can each do their own.”

“I’m keeping that in mind for Dad’s birthday this year.” It’s a brilliant idea. They would love to make a competition of it. It would be the highlight of their week.

“My parents got it as a wedding present and they enjoyed it so much, they kept it.” He tells you, smiling fondly at the memory of the two of them arguing playfully over their crosswords.

“That’s incredibly sweet.” There is a crowd at the bakery, as to be expected, so you and Marcus step into line to wait your turn. “I love the idea of being able to share small things with your partner. They’re every bit as important as the grand gestures, if not more.”

“Sometimes the smaller gestures are the most meaningful.” He admits with a grin. “I love cherry Danishes, and so did my ex. We would find these combo boxes of assorted and she would get the cherry one.”

“Giving up your favorite Danish flavor is not small.” An attempt at lightening the already light and sweet conversation is maybe…just trying to keep your own mind off of things. But that somehow doesn’t keep you from admitting the truth before you can stop yourself. “I have yet to meet the man I would give up my lemon poppyseed muffin for.”

“That’s only because you’ve never traded for a raspberry crumble muffin.” Marcus vows, smirking at the way you look stingy, even though he knows for a fact you aren’t.

“You’re on, Pike.” The smirk on his lips spreads to yours as effortlessly as breathing. “But lemon poppyseed is pretty impossible to unseat.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever had a raspberry crumble then.” He huffs, looking offended at the idea. “But I don’t think this place has them. I get them from a little bakery near the Bureau. I’ll have to bring you one.”

“I’ll get you a lemon poppyseed from the coffeeshop I go to in Old Town.” Even as its coming out of your mouth you know it sounds like flirting, but the fact is that you just feel so naturally comfortable with him. There is nothing flirtatious about muffins, you tell yourself. Nothing at all. “We can compare notes.”

“That sounds like a plan to me.” Marcus is extremely happy that you would like to make plans with him, any plans. Even if it’s just a friendly wager. “I’ll get the raspberry crumble. I say we each get two. And if you like the other one so much, you have to give up both.”

“Deal.” You put your hand out to him, willing to make a friendly bet on almost anything. That’s gotten you and your brother in trouble before, but this is harmless.

Marcus grins as he takes your hand, imagining that lightning bolts are shooting up his hand. Winking, he laughs, “just don’t be disappointed when you break that little rule of yours for me.” He boasts.

“We’ll see.” The tone of the thing really tries for teasing, but you end up so taken aback by the electricity in shaking his hand that you fluster — which is only compounded when you end up next in line and completely forget the word for ‘sourdough’ in the process.

“I, uh, I want-“ you seem completely out of it, and the bored looking boy behind the counter seems to be getting annoyed with you. “Can we have just a second?” Marcus asks, pulling you back and allowing another couple to go ahead of the two of you. “I’ve completely forgotten what I wanted.” He takes the blame, not wanting to embarrass you.

“Bread?” You manage to supply, feeling like a world class idiot for clamming up on something so routine. If being around him is going to be this big of a problem, you need to get yourself in order.

“Yeah, bread.” He nods, wrinkling his nose slightly. “What’s that type that I like?”

At this point he could mean him or he could mean you, or he could even just be speaking in theoreticals, but you have you head in straight enough again to blow out a breath and remember yourself. “Sourdough. I forgot the damn word for sourdough.”

“Thats it.” He snaps his fingers and looks back at the boy. “Could we get some sourdough bread?”

“Sure.” The kid looks at the both of you like you’ve gone insane but turns around to bag a loaf of freshly baked bread without a second thought for his strange customers.

Marcus pays for the bread, even with you huffing beside him and guides you towards the clearing. “That wasn’t that bad.”

“Only because you saved me from sputtering like an idiot.” It’s beside the point that he is also the reason you were sputtering in the first place. That doesn’t matter. It’s the fact that you couldn’t keep it together that bothers you. “Thanks for that.”

“Not at all.” He waves off your thanks. “Everyone has those moments.” He promises, smiling at you.

There is such a moment of relief when you exhale again that you have to make light of it or else you’re in danger of feeling far more grateful than is probably necessary, and that makes your chest ache in a dull and insistent kind of way. “That’s either very sweet of you or a complete placation, but either way I appreciate it.”

“No placation, I promise.” He crosses his finger over his heart and smiles at you. “Anywhere else?”

“That was the last thing for me.” Even though you have plans to have dinner with him that night you still can’t help feeling a little disappointed that the impromptu shopping trip has come to an end. “Unless you needed something else?”

“Well…” Marcus looks around, not wanting to let you leave just yet. “Maybe I could find a plant to kill?” He asks. “Something to brighten up my place?”

"Bit of a black thumb?" The excuse to not say goodbye yet is welcome, and you end up smiling more broadly than you mean to. "Let's see what we can do about that."

“More that I forget to set up someone to water my plants when I go out of town and they die miserable, thirsty deaths while I’m away.” He flashes you a guilty grin. “I’m a murderer.”

“Very rude of you to do to your plants.” The wholesome, straight-faced nod that you cry for cracks on a giggle, though, and you nod in the direction of an entirely different florist stand than the one you were at before. “What you need is a succulent.”

“That sounds a little dirty.” Marcus admits, not even realizes how flirtatious that sounds.

It does. And you didn’t mean for it to. You were just talking about the type of plant he could get. But then there’s that grin on his face and it’s so fucking puckish and * handsome* that you practically groan about how unfair the whole damn thing is. “Whoops?” You offer, obviously not apologetic in the least.

He snorts and winks at you again. “I don’t mind. Sometimes being a little dirty is a good thing.” It’s borderline inappropriate, so Marcus doesn’t say anything else.

“Sometimes it’s the fun of an otherwise boring day.” But since you’re genuinely afraid you might say too much if you go ahead with this line of thought, and since Agent Bailey is steadily avoiding your eyes like an older sister trying not to bear witness to your trouble making, you clear your throat and change the subject. “I think I snake plant would work for you. They’re really easy to care for and great for beginners or busy people.”

Marcus takes your lead and nods seriously. “I’ll take some advice. Any advice.” He shrugs slightly. “I wish I had the time for pets, but I don’t and it’s wrong to do that to them.”

“If I could have a dog, I would have a little corgi or a Yorkie in a heartbeat.” It comes with an almost wistful sigh, but you feel the same way he does. It would be cruel to the animal you’re supposed to be taking care of. “But since I have no concept of work-life balance? I have plants.”

“I’ll start with plants.” Marcus huffs. “If I can keep one alive? Maybe I’ll move on to cats? They are low maintenance.”

“Cats are fantastic. Sydney and Anna Leigh always had a couple when we were growing up and they can’t be the sweetest animals in the world.” There is a florist that specializes in succulents and potted plants further into the market and you head that way, chatting as you go. “I just always said I would want my kids to grow up with a puppy.”

“Puppy, a swing set in the yard and dinner together.” Marcus adds wistfully, having his own version of that same dream. “Every kid needs a puppy pal.”

“That’s exactly what I said.” And the knot in your stomach tells you that that isn’t a coincidence — that the future you’ve dreamt about probably lines up with the one he wants in so many different ways.

“We had my dog for nearly twenty years.” Marcus tells you. “He was my best friend and the best soul I’ve ever met.”

“I got Alex instead of a dog,” you giggle, silliness tinging the edge of his sweet nostalgia. “My little brother.”

“Isn’t a younger brother the same thing?” He asks with a grin.

“Very much so. And Alex is as much Golden Retriever as he is human.” If he were here, he’d give you so much grief for that comparison, but you stand by it. “What kind of dog did you have?”

Marcus chuckles. “A golden retriever.” He tells you without skipping a beat. “I’ve got a picture of him, wanna see?”

“Absolutely!” They say you’re either a kid person or a dog person, but you’re definitely both. Anything cute and squishy is right up your alley.

Digging out his wallet, it might be a little old fashioned to carry a physical photo of the favorite family pet, but he likes looking at it sometimes. He’s holding his dog, Hansel, in the picture. The white around the dog’s snout indicative of the older age of the golden retriever. “Here he is. Hansel.”

“What an angel!” If you could jump right through the photo and squeeze his beautiful face you would — the only problem is that you don’t know if you mean young Marcus or the dog.

“Wasn’t he?” Marcus hums happily. “He slept in my room growing up. Hated me leaving for college, although I hated being apart from him too.”

"How could you possibly leave that face? Look at him!" Yeah, it's definitely the dog that you're talking about. At least right now.

“Yeah.” He smiles down at the photo, unable to resist brushing his thumb over the canine face with happy memories flooding through him. “He was the best.”

"So would you want another Golden Retriever?" Looking between him and the photo, you think you might be able to guess the answer yourself. "Or will no other Golden ever live up to him?"

“Probably not.” Marcus shrugs. “He was from a litter of puppies at the shelter. It was just a coincidence that he was a pure Golden.” He frowns slightly. “I would want to adopt. It’s the best way to give a loving home to an animal.”

"Adopting is the only way." On that, you can firmly agree. But you point to the florist stand up ahead and touch his arm gently in an unconscious moment of casual comfort. "First, let's get you a plant to adopt."

“Yes, I would prefer adopted over nursery grown.” Marcus jokes, trying to ignore how easy it is to be with you. You can just be a friend. It’s possible and it’s possible he’s lying to himself.

"Wild, orphaned plants wandering the lonely roads with all their belongings tied up in a little bandana on a stick," you tease, conjuring the image of a cartoon orphan as best you can. To the girl behind the counter, you turn your full attention and the best conspiratorial smile you can conjure. "We're looking for something he'll have trouble killing," you confide with a chuckle. "Something like a snake plant, maybe? Or if you have a better recommendation we're all ears."

“It’s best to start them out with a plant before having pets or kids, isn’t it?” She asks with a grin, eyeing Marcus in amusement. “But he seems like the trustworthy type to me.”

"A fine, upstanding citizen if ever I saw one." The smirk you offer her is playful, and you glance up at Marcus beside you. "Plus, I'll be keeping an eye on the situation. For the good of the adoptee, of course."

“Of course.” She nods seriously, even though there is a definitely shaking to her voice, like she’s holding back laughter. “Let me show you the best options for a recovering black thumb.”

It's several minutes of back and forth with the florist who parries your playful banter well, and you end up leaving her stand with not just a lovely potted snake plant for Marcus, but an identical one for your apartment as well. "I had to!" You coo, when Marcus laughs at the little plant that you're cradling like a newborn. "It's so precious! And they're twins! I couldn't just leave it abandoned."

“Well, we have to name them.” Marcus decides. “Twin names.” He grins at you, “what do you think?”

"Luke and Leia," you joke right away, because that will always be the first pair of twins you think of in any situation. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum? Oh, do the creepy girls from The Shining have names?"

Considering The Shining was his first foray into horror when he was younger, it was also one of his favorites. "No, they were just called Grady Daughters one and two." He tells you. "But..." He whips out his phone. "They are Lisa and Louise Burns, in real life."

“So are the plants Grady and Burns, or Lisa and Louise?” Either way they’re exceedingly silly choices, and you’re going for it.

“Either one works for me.” Marcus laughs. “It depends on if the plants are male or female.” He jokes.

“I think we probably get to pick,” you joke right back, making a show of rolling your eyes at him even though you’re laughing.

“Hmmmmm.” He pretends to take a closer look at his plant. “I’m going to surprise you.” He decides. “My plant is female.”

“Oh, that’s no surprise to me.” The smirk you shoot back at him is probably the lightest and most carefree you r felt in ages, and just for the moment you’re not going to second guess it. You’re just going to revel in the moment. “All my plants are female.”

He snickers with you and then tilts his head. “Lisa or Louise for you?” He asks, before he answers. “I bet you want the name Louise. You’ll pretend it’s for Thelma and Louise.”

“I—how—” Staring at him in utter confusion does not help matters one bit, but you still don’t have any clue as to how he could possibly have guessed that about you after only having met you two whole times. “So?” You ask after a second, realizing you’re laughing with the absurdity.

You have the most beautiful laughs Marcus has ever heard, and he loves that he caused it. There’s a flash of guilt that comes with the thought and he decides to reel it back into the scope of reality. You are becoming a friend, nothing more. “Who wouldn’t?” He asks, still chuckling. “They were the greatest female duo in modern cinema. In my opinion.”

“They line up against Idgie and Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes.” You’ll stand by that pairing until the day you die, but the way warmth is spreading through your chest and your fingers ache dully from wanting to reach out for him is a special, damning sort of agony. “And I will die on that hill.”

“I had completely forgotten about Idgie and Ruth.” He admits, hanging his head in shame. “Forgive me.”

“Just this once.” There is still a teasing grin on your face when your phone goes off in your pocket. Sam’s name splashed across your caller ID and guilt crawls through your veins immediately. “I’m sorry,” you apologize, glancing up at Marcus. “Just give me one second.”

Marcus catches a glimpse of the name and it’s like he’s doused with cold water. “Of course.” He murmurs politely, turning towards a little book stand to give you some privacy, beating himself up for flirting with another man’s significant other.

“Hey honey.” The second you pick up the phone with a plant in your other arm and your groceries weighing on your shoulder, that is the second you feel most self-conscious.

“Hey,” Sam’s voice comes over the line and he has a straightforward attitude, jumping into the reason for his call. “I’ve had a dinner invite tonight, some potential donors.” He tells you. “Can you make it?”

“I—” It’s not like it’s an unusual request. If he has a work event tonight then the best possible person he can have at his side is you. The idea of having dinner with Marcus had been so uplifting, and now cancelling on him makes you feel awful. But this is your boyfriend. “Yeah. Yeah, I can make it. Where and when? Is there a dress code?”

Sam rattles off the address and dress code. “Thanks honey, I knew I could count on you.” He tells you before he murmurs to someone else. “Hey, I’ve got to go, I love you.” The line clicks off immediately.

“I love you too.” It’s said to the silence, and you look down at your phone for a moment before pocketing it again. Marcus has stepped away to give you privacy, and you shift your weight from one foot to the other before walking back over to him. “I’m really sorry,” you murmur, actually looking as apologetic as you feel. “Can we postpone dinner tonight?”

“Oh….yeah, of course.” He hates the way the feels rejected, but you have priorities, ones that aren’t him. “That’s no problem at all.” He nods quickly and looks around. “Well, we should probably get your things to your car, right?”

“I—I’m really sorry.” Repeating it just makes you feel worse. But both of you feel worse, unbeknownst to you, and you walk in the direction of your car with Agent Bailey her usual two steps behind. “Something came up.”

“Not a problem at all.” Marcus promises you, plastering on a smile as you turn to him at your car. “I understand. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of things come up.”

"It was really nice to run into you today." There is no word of a lie or even exaggeration in that, and you take your flowers from Marcus's arms carefully, loading it into the backseat with your other bags and Louise the snake plant.

“Yeah, it was nice seeing you. Marcus holds up his plant. “Thanks for the help.” He hums. “Hopefully I won’t kill Thelma.”

"If you do, try to make it as spectacular as possible." Offering him a half smile, you realize that you just wish you could give him a big hug, but that would be totally out of line. So instead all you can think to do is shift your weight awkwardly again before opening your car door. "I'll see you around, Marcus."

“See ya.” He nods and turns around to walk to his car. He doesn’t turn around, knowing that it would look weird if he did.

Once you’re in the car with Agent Bailey and focused on getting back home to put everything away and make a cup of coffee before you have to start getting ready for the night, you sigh softly and sit back in your seat. You can feel the curiosity of the Secret Service agent beside you and you wonder if you look as guilty as you. “That was a nice surprise.”

“Yes.” Agent Bailey hums. “Special Agent Pike was quite a surprise.”

“He’s nice,” you defend, very aware that you’re defending yourself and not him.

“He’s very nice.” She agrees. “And exactly who he says he is.” Of course a background check had been done on the agent, which she was glad of now that he had popped back up on radar. Not quite sure what to make of the interaction at the market, it’s also not her place to judge it.

"Well, that's a comfort." The drive back to Alexandria won't take long, but you twist your hands around the steering wheel a few times before pulling out into traffic. "Unfortunately, tonight will be the opposite," you tell her with a dramatic sigh that cushions the blow of having to attend an impromptu event. "Sam asked me to come to a dinner party tonight. Last minute invitation, I guess somebody had a seat they needed filled and asked him."

“I see.” Now she has to find out where you are going to be, who is on the guest least and it means overtime tonight. She doesn’t sigh, but she wants to, much preferring to go to small Indian restaurant over some political function. “I’m sure it will be a lovely evening.”

"I know you have to vet everything." The process seems exhausting, but you would never question the agent's ability to get her job done. "It's a private party at Arthur Connesby's house. The aerospace tech guy? Apparently it's a party for his wife, but everybody invited are Sam's constituents. I have a feeling they're going to spend the night trying to pitch their own interests to him, but if nothing else they might donate to his next campaign if they feel like they got to be friendly with him." It sounds like it will be a fairly boring night of overly rich old men feeling self-important, but Sam asked you to be there and that's why you're going.

“Noted.” The agent is immediately firing off a text to her support team, letting them know about the change of plans tonight.

"I know it's not what we had in mind." The night has gone from staying home and watching a movie and maybe playing cards, to dinner out, to an entire party. It's a lot of jumps in not much time. "And I appreciate you being flexible. Truly."

“It’s my job to protect you no matter what.” She reminds you softly. She enjoys you, has gotten to know you and thinks you are lovely, but you are Hummingbird to her. The First Daughter of the President of the United States and her assignment. She would guard you regardless of what you were doing because it’s her job.

"Right." You nod slightly, eyes cast back out on the road, and try not to slump even a little as you drive. It's not necessary to be everyone's best friend. You know that on a practical level. Right now your energy is better served focusing on the night ahead. "Well, I can still be grateful. So thank you. For...being professional. An very good at your job."

She knows that you are disappointed, but one of the cardinal rules of the secret service is to not be emotionally attached to your assignment. It would be too difficult to make life or death decisions. “Protecting you has been my pleasure.” She promises.

"I appreciate that." For better or for worse, the Secret Service will be a part of your life for the rest of your life. So if you can't be friends, at least you can appreciate each other. For now, though, you ought to focus. A party with your boyfriend's constituents is no place to have your mind wander.

The dinner party is exactly what you imagined it would be. Self important people, boasting about how important they are as they fawn over ‘more’ important people. Or the people who could give them access to the power they wished to have. Sam was in his element, smiling and shaking hands. Listening to ideas with a feigned interest that comes naturally to politicians.

He's charismatic enough to keep their attention but has enough of his own heart left that he does seem to care about issues being brought to him. Unfortunately for these folks, they're talking about a whole lot of things that just one man can't change on their behalf. So all he can really do is listen and express interest in whatever plight it is they have.

You have found yourself in the rather unfortunate position of being inundated by the significant others of these men, and when the party turns to mingling after dinner they somehow manage to whisk you away to the garden where you aren't sure if they're planning on trying to get you to dance with various people, or maybe join their country clubs, You really can't tell which.

“You must tell me, how is living in the White House?” One asks you, under the impression that you are still living with your mother.

“I understand it’s very comfortable.” It’s almost a relief that these women seem not to know a thing about you beside who your mother is. Your greatest fear about the whole thing was being hounded through every day of your life — so far that hasn’t been the case. But it’s been barely more than a month. There’s time. “However, I chose not to reside there.”

“Oh, what a shame.” She hums, wondering why you wouldn’t want to call the most famous house in America home. “I hear that it’s haunted.”

“That is what they say.” And according to your little sister, it’s absolutely true. But an upscale party of relatively stuffy guests like this doesn’t seem like the place to spout tales of your sister taking her homework to the Lincoln bedroom. “And it’s certainly very beautiful.”

“I would love to take a tour sometime.” She tells you, hoping that you might offer to set it up for her. An intimate tour would be amazing.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” You aren’t the sort of person who would exchange favors, so the thought that this could mean a donation for Sam’s campaign in the near future. Instead, you just know it would be something nice. “I can have something put together for you if you like?”

“That would be lovely!” She exclaimed, sending you a warm smile. “You know, you and the congressman make a beautiful couple. Possibly even presidential one day.” It’s a fishing expedition, feeling you out for your thoughts on a possible run.

"Possibly." And two weeks ago, you might have beamed at that implication. At the idea of Sam moving through his career with such gusto and motivation that he makes it all the way to the White House. But seeing what your father contends with as First Gentleman, the idea of being First Lady sounds overwhelming to you. It's even less likely that you would end up in politics yourself. "Sam takes his work very seriously, and he has high hopes for the future of our country."

“And what about you?” She asks. “You made waves, positive ones in my opinion, during your mother’s campaign about your stance on soulmates.”

"I don't have any political ambitions for myself." Of that, you can absolutely assure her. "While I'm more than happy to support the people around me, I'm very happy with my own career."

“At least until Congressman Chase makes an honest woman out of you.” She hums. “Then it’s so hard to balance your own career while supporting the ambitions of your husband.” There’s a rueful chuckle on her part. “Believe me, I know.”

"I won't be giving up my career." This is always a topic of conversation amongst significant others, you've found, and a topic that your father has contended with on multiple occasions. As your mother's career grew, he became a stay-at-home-dad and raised three kids. Because it was something he wanted to do, not because it was forced on him. And that has always been the key to you. "I own a business. So it's essentially my first child already."

“Oh?” Her brows wing up in surprise. “My apologies. I must have misunderstood.” Her eyes slide past you. “Excuse me, I must go catch Mrs. Jackson before she leaves.” She cuts off the conversation and hustles away.

It's a bit on and definitely abrupt, but the conversation wasn't very enjoyable to begin with so you smile politely and just let it roll off your back. Whatever she 'misunderstood' doesn't really concern you. Some gossip article must have speculated on the next steps of your relationship with Sam and you try not to let that kind of nonsense get to you.

“Having fun?” Sam comes up to you, his hand slipping around your waist and he presses a kiss to your cheek. “You look amazing, especially since it was so last minute.”

"You always like this dress." The first time you wore it was the nominating party after the Democratic National Convention, and then again to a fundraiser in Chicago. That was the night you met Sam, and he had remarked even then that the dress was particularly beautiful. It seemed like the logical choice for tonight based on that alone. "It's a nice party." The food was predictable but tasty, and the drinks are flowing, just like the way you expected the night to go. "Do we think there will be birthday cake?" You ask conspiratorially, looking up at him beside you with a smirk. "Is that something people still do for fancy fiftieth birthdays?"

“Cake is universal.” Sam snorts and nods. “I have it on good authority the cake is a chocolate raspberry mascarpone cream cake.” He tells you, knowing it will be an idea you carry back to Sydney.

"I know exactly what Saturday's dessert special is going to be." Somehow your best friend will turn a classic cake into something elegant and thoughtful, and you know the entire restaurant will go nuts for it. They always do, when Sydney gets to show off. "Are you having a good night? I know you had high hopes for networking tonight."

“It’s going well.” He hums happily and beams at you. “How about you? Working the other side for me?” He teases playfully, aware you don’t usually like campaigning.

"Nothing that will get me in trouble with my Mom's staff." Not that he would ever ask you to do anything like that. Sam doesn't go in for most of the entitled bullshit that other politicians do. "One request for a White House tour that I'll put through the appropriate channels. Nothing too odd."

“Interesting.” Sam looks thoughtful. “Who asked for that?”

"Shelly D'Amario." The wife of District Attorney-turned-Superior Court Judge Raymond D'Amario was one of the few people you had recognized from press coverage of events supporting your mother's campaign. Her husband's politics were lined up with most moderate Democrats, and he tended to hand down verdicts with thoughtful conclusions at the end of each case. He's one of those people you wouldn't have minded at all sitting at this dinner party with, but unfortunately the Judge was not able to attend.

“Oh.” Sam nods. “I was at another dinner with her and the judge just the other night.” He tells you. “Picking his brain about Constitutional law.”

“She was very nice.” Though instinct takes over, and you chew on your bottom lip for a second before going on. “Did you guys talk…about me at all? About us, I mean? At your dinner?”

“Well, naturally you came up.” Sam admits with a slight frown, wondering if Shelly had somehow insulted you. “Not everyone is dating the daughter of the current sitting President. But I didn’t share any private details about you.” He promises. “Or your family.”

“I know you wouldn’t do that.” If he was the sort of person who went around sharing personal details with anyone and everyone, you wouldn’t have been able to trust him. Especially not under the condition you met in. Campaigns are cutthroat. “She just…said something that kind of confused me, that’s all.”

“What confused you?” He asks, trying to recall the exact details of the dinner with the judge and his wife.

Without wanting to imply that he might have said anything, you still glance around you to make sure that Agent Bailey is the only one close enough by to overhear you. “She seemed to be under the impression that I would be quitting my job if we ever have a family. And when I said that wasn’t the case, she said she must have ‘misunderstood’ something and walked away immediately.”

Understand dawns in his eyes and Sam shifts slightly. “Well, that’s not something we’ve talked about just yet.” He reminds you. “That’s a conversation we need to have.”

"Right." You couldn't agree more. "Which is why I was confused that she seemed to have heard an opinion about it somewhere before. But it was probably just some gossip article."

He hesitates and then decides to come clean, you don’t like liars. “I might have voice my hopes for our future.” He admits. “It’s not so unexpected, is it?” He asks. “I’ll be spending a lot of time at different events and I will want you by my side.”

"Sam..." There's disappointment in your voice that you don't bother to hide. Of course he's absolutely entitled to talk about hopes, as he puts it, but you can't believe that he would ever think you would give up the inn. "I own the place, honey. It's not like taking a smaller role in an office or shifting to part time somewhere."

“Yes, you own it.” Sam stresses. “But you can have someone else manage it.”

"But I don't want to have someone else manage it." It's really like you can't believe your ears. Sam has never voiced anything like this before within the dynamic of your relationship and he knows very well how proud you are of your work at the inn and how much it means to you.

By the set of your jaw and the frown on your face, Sam knows that he can’t argue the point right now. He shakes his head, smiling at you and taking your hand. “You’re right. I—I wasn’t thinking about how much you love your inn.” He admits softly. “Let’s just forget about it, hm?”

"O—okay." There he is again. Your understanding, supportive Sam smiling at you and taking the stress out of the situation. The man you started dating almost a year ago. Dependable. "Okay."

“Good.” He pats your hand gently and leans in to kiss you softly. “But I do still want to talk about moving in together.”

"After our date on Tuesday?" The Valentine's night you had settled on together is dinner at a small, family-owned restaurant in his hometown followed by a fundraiser screening of short films made by local high schoolers looking to update their school's resources with the proceeds. Community-oriented is the theme of the night.

“That sounds appropriate.” He agrees with a nod. “For now, let’s just enjoy the rest of the evening.” He looks towards your secret service agent. “Will you be allowed to come to my place tonight?”

"I think that can be arranged." The invitation means you'll be sleeping over at his place twice this week, which is definitely more than you've been able to do lately and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe you just need to refocus yourself. And stop thinking about Marcus, for fuck's sake. You slip your arm around Sam's waist and lean into his side. "I just have to let Bailey know. Her relief agent will have to be told to go to your place instead of mine."

"Of course." Even though it irritates him, he nods. Understanding that you cannot help it right now. After your mother's term, perhaps you will decline protection.

"I know it isn't perfect." He's bristled about lack of privacy before, and though you can't say that you really blame him? There's nothing you can do about it. Secret Service protect for the President's immediate family is mandatory. And hell, you have a Secret Service agent in your apartment every night. At least when you stay with Sam, your agent usually stays in the living room or their car like a stakeout. It's typically left up to them. But still, you do understand the objection. "I'm sorry. It is what it is."

"I know." He sighs softly, hating that the evening has been sidetracked from what he imagined. "I understand. I just don't like them be so close when we are alone." He admits.

"I know." The last five minutes have become increasingly uncomfortable, but you still stick close to Sam and continue smiling, aware that eyes at the party might be on you just like they are anytime you go anywhere outside of your little haven at the inn. "But better that, than someone breaking into your house."

He doesn't point out that he has a security system and his townhouse is in a gate community. There's no point and it would just further cause an discussion that is best left for the relative privacy of his bedroom - with a secret service agent parked outside in his living room. He sighs. "Shall we get more wine?" He asks, trying to change the subject.

"Sure." There are people starting to dance to the music being piped through outdoor speakers, but you're not really in a dancing mood. There's too much swirling around in your mind to be light on your feet. "Wine sounds like a good plan."

Sam leads you over to the bar, ever the gentleman and stands beside you to look at the drink selections. "They have a nice pinot grigio." He murmurs softly.

"Is that what you want too?" The bar is open, of course, but the catering company has allowed the bartender to put out a small and discreet tip jar for the reasonably large party tonight, and you have a few more bills in your purse that you're happy to add to the jar.

"I think I'm going to stick with the pinot noir." He tells you, holding up his almost empty glass.

You order both glasses without hesitation and tip the very pleasant bartender, handing Sam his glass after it's put on the bar top. Just something nice to get the night back on track. At least as far as the two of you go.

"So I think that we should drink our wine and then dance." Sam suggests. It would be a good visual and romantic as a bonus. He's not calculating, but he does understand that optics are important in politics. It's a good opportunity to romance you and look good for the discreet photographers that are roaming around.

"And at some point, eat cake." Trying to lighten the mood a little is really your go-to for diffusing tension in any situation, and the air around the two of you feels a little thick, so you offer him a big smile instead of getting serious again.

"Eating cake is always a good way to spend a night." Sam agrees, smiling back at you.

"Morning." You haul yourself into the restaurant's kitchen the next morning when you arrive bright and early for your eight-a.m. start time looking vaguely less drowsy than usual. The other member of your Secret Service detail — Agent Sisson — has music taste more in line with yours and you'd listened to Duran Duran on your way back to town this morning. That and a cup of strong coffee means that you're feeling okay but definitely in need of breakfast.

“Wellllllll,” Sydney’s grin is bright as she eyes you. “I see the walk of shame has taken on a festive air.” She teases, laughing as she moves over to pour you a cup of coffee. “I take it last night went well?”

“I have enough time to go upstairs and change before work,” you grumble, though you’re smiling and accept the cup of coffee gratefully. “Usual boring party, but I bring you home a new cake flavor combination to try, and it was nice to see Sam.”

She snorts. “Nice to see Sam.” She mimics. “It’s like you ran into him in the store.” She huffs at you. “This is your boyfriend. The man you love.”

“And that’s why it’s nice to see him more than just one measly night a week.” Given that you have a few minutes, you hop up on a stool at the counter beside her work station and groan in appreciation at the slice of sweet Italian brioche and carefully cut piece of frittata she plates up for you without hesitation. “Oh my god, thank you. All I’ve had so far is coffee. We overslept and both had to run out to get to work on time.”

“Overslept…” she rolls her eyes and rubs her stomach. “I wish I could remember what that was like.” She grumbles. “This one is giving me heartburn all the time and keeping my sleep short.”

“They just really want to make sure you remember they’re there,” you tease, picking up a forkful of frittata and not even caring what’s inside. Everything Syd makes it incredible. “Twenty-seven whole more weeks of this, Mama. Get excited!”

“I am, I promise. But the kid can let me sleep in a little, right?” She huffs playfully. “So how was the dinner? You came back from the market in a hurry so I didn’t get to talk to you. Did you forget about this or was it last minute?”

“It was last minute. He got a spontaneous invitation to a potential supporter’s wife’s birthday party.” Oh my god, spinach and artichoke frittata, so fucking good. “She got the gift of bragging rights that a Congressman and the First Daughter came to her party, and a very nice bottle of champagne.”

“Sounds like a ton of fun.” Sydney likes hobnobbing even less than you do, preferring to be on the service side of fancy events. “So you ate mildly bland catered food and drank way too much wine?”

“Exactly. Which is why this tastes even more incredible than usual.” You point at your plate even while scooping up another bite. “So did you and Juanito ever decide what you’re doing tomorrow? I know you scheduled yourself for the dinner rush, but you’ve got to do something.”

“My husband is amazing.” She promises, beaming in delight. “He actually got us reservations at St. Regis for the Valentine’s Day Afternoon Tea.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet! It’s so utterly romantic I could barf.” The momentary flash of jealousy is nothing, and you’re genuinely happy that they’ll be able to get out and do something. They work so incredibly hard and never complain for a second. “It’s perfect, Syd. I want a full report.”

“I’m excited.” She admits, biting her lip and fiddling with her practical silicone wedding band that she wears in the kitchen. “I’ve also been promised a very relaxing massage and a few orgasms.”

“All things which you deserve very much.” You raise your coffee cup in salute to her and grin.

“At the very least.” She huffs, her own grin one of pure happiness. “I am growing Badillo’s baby.” She reminds you, as if it isn’t common knowledge at this point. She’s so proud of being with her soulmate and she cock her head at you curiously. “Have you given any more thought to that tattoo?” She pries gently.

“Yes and no…” It’s much more yes than no, if you’re honest with yourself, but the fact is that it’s probably not good to think about it as much as you have. It’s like a never-ending loop in your mind and you absolutely can’t shake it. “I just don’t know what good it would do to bring it up. Or who I would even bring it up to.”

“You know who you should bring it up to.” She huffs.

“Who?” You challenge, feeling like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place without doing so much as being awake this morning. “My boyfriend of almost a year who asked me to move in with him and wants to start planning our future? Or the guy I barely know who invited me to dinner yesterday when I ran into him at Eastern Market and looked so hurt when I had to ask him to reschedule that I still feel like I kicked the world’s cutest puppy?” Clearly it’s been on your mind, and Syd is really the one person you can talk to about any of it. But admitting that you’ve been thinking about Marcus feels like cheating and you have always despised cheaters deeply. Being cheated on will do that to a person.

“You ran into Marcus?” Her eyes widen with the new information and she immediately sets down her spoon and walks around the counter to hug you. “Oh honey, talk to me. What happened?” She asks softly. While she might be pushing you to at least ask if you might be soulmates, she doesn’t want you to be upset.

“It wasn’t a big deal…we ran into each other and we finished our shopping together.” It’s such a relief to have a space to talk about it, and yet you know you’re blowing it out of proportion in your head. It was just a coincidence that you ran into him. Not fate. “We were both talking about wanting Indian for dinner so he asked if I wanted to go to the restaurant with him. We were just going to hang out. Then Sam called.”

“And of course you said yes to Sam.” Sydney doesn’t exactly approve of the way Sam seems to think that you wait for his call and will drop everything to accommodate him, but she doesn’t say anything. “How did Marcus take the change of plans?”

“He said he understood and that it was fine.” Which is, technically, what happened. So when you shift your eyes away from hers, Sydney makes a noise and you cave. “He seemed disappointed,” you admit, throwing up your hands. “But I’m probably just projecting that.”

“Anyone would be disappointed to not spend time with you.” Sydney defends immediately, always the best cheerleader for you. “Maybe text him and reschedule?” She suggests. “Friends have dinner, it’s not cheating. You aren’t going out on a date.”

“I know it’s not cheating.” Syd knows better than anyone why you hate liars and cheaters. “I texted him on my way in this morning to reschedule, but I don’t…I don’t know if he’ll respond. He was probably just being polite asking in the first place.”

“I doubt that.” Sydney had seen the covert looks that each one of them had given the other when they weren’t looking during game night. Both of them were curious and she is interested to know about that hummingbird tattoo, it’s not common, despite what you might say.

“Then it’s because I’m best friends with his friend’s soulmate,” you reason instead.

“No, it’s because Juan said that Marcus was trying to be polite but that he was interested in you.” Sydney tells you.

You feel the blood drain from your face shamefully fast, and your eyes dart up to meet your best friend’s. “He said that?”

“Yes.” She isn’t going to lie to you, Juan had told her that. “But, he also said that Marcus respects relationships and he’s not the type of man to make a move on you if you’re in a relationship.” She knows how you feel about that kind of thing and she agrees with you.

“Well…I mean…that’s good? Isn’t it? That just means he’s respectful.” Still , you find yourself sitting on the idea that Marcus likes you and being halfway between mortified and grinning. It feels ultimately childish and yet like your chest is filling full of something very much like joy.

“According to Juan, Marcus Pike is the best man, the best person that he’s ever known.” Sydney acknowledges with a nod, deciding not to comment on your giddy expression. “Even though he was busy with training at the academy, he was always helping with housework or running errands to take care of things.” She shrugs. “His ex-wife was a med student. So I guess she’s a doctor now.”

“It’s just a coincidence.” This mantra of yours is going to get old quick, but you have a partner. A long term one, even. One that until a week or so ago, you had thought you had a future with. Now that resolve is waning and you don’t really know how you started to question yourself so easily.

Sensing that you’ve dug your heels in, she backs off, giving a small shrug. “I’m sure it is.” She hums. “So what are your Valentine’s Day plans with Sam?” She asks. “Did he plan something romantic?”

“We’re going to dinner and then a community fundraiser in his district.” It doesn’t sound romantic, you will admit that, but anything too luxurious you did can be perceived in a very wrong way by the general public if it gets out. A Congressman and the First Daughter going to a spa getaway or the symphony would be seen as being out of touch with the people. “He…wants to talk about the future.”

“And you don’t sound like it’s a conversation that you are eager to have.” She sits down, her own herbal tea in front of her and she frowns slightly.

“I’m…not sure, honestly.” Without hesitation and without filter, the explanation about your conversation with Judge D’Amario’s wife and what Sam said at dinner with them comes tumbling out of your mouth and you can’t help but cringe to yourself when you get it all out in the open air. “Am I overreacting? Please tell me I’m overreacting.”

Sydney winces and gives you a small shrug. “He has known from the beginning that you aren’t the type to want to be a typical politician’s spouse and give up your career.” She reminds you. “Remember that night out in Alexandria? Where we were bar hopping? I had a very frank conversation with him about that.”

“You did?” Your forehead scrunches as you take a sip of coffee. “Then why would he think I would be willing to have someone else manage the inn?”

“I don’t know if I can answer that.” She admits quietly. “But I think he gave them his true ideal. You quitting and being by his side for all his accomplishments.”

“It’s not that I’m not proud of him.” Some would argue that that is what it signals, but you and Sydney are not those types of people. “He’s doing such good work, and I do want to have kids and a house and all that domestic stuff. I just…I don’t want to give up working. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life standing behind a podium waving politely. I’m—I want to be me, not an extension of my partner.”

“I know that.” She reaches out and takes your hand. “But does Sam? Really? I think that he can convince you that it’s what you want.” She huffs. “I know he’s a good guy, but is he the right guy?”

“Not everybody finds perfect,” you remind her quietly, knowing that that is exactly what she has with Juan. Their version of perfect is about support, respect, and unending silliness, and you’ve always craved the same. But there aren’t many men in the world like Juan. Not many at all.

“That doesn’t mean you need to settle.” She tells you, squeezing your hand gently. “If you are happy, I’m happy. All I want is for you to be happy.”

“To be honest?” Closing your eyes for a second to swallow a sigh, the best you can do is shake your head. “I didn’t think I was settling. But now I can’t help but wonder…”

“Then you owe it to yourself, and to Sam, to make sure before you commit any further.” She suggests, knowing that you would feel horrible about divorcing later on.

“How?” It’s an honest question, since the situation is tangled up in guesses and implied maybes. “Break up with Sam because Marcus might be my soulmate? What happens if I’m wrong and I regret the whole thing? Sam would never take me back and I would deserve it.”

“Ask Marcus to show you the tattoo.” She hums. “That’s not cheating. It would be no different than seeing him in swimming trunks.”

“If he ever responds to me.” Which you sort of doubt. You sort of did just drop plans with him the second your boyfriend called. But you are the kind of person who makes your relationship a priority. You always have been.

“And if he doesn’t….” She shrugs. “You just deal with that.” She frowns. “But I would be upset if you had done the same to me.”

“I’m not saying he doesn’t have a right to be upset with me.” Marcus has a right to feel however he feels. He’s human, after all. “This whole thing is just so out of left field. Especially after spending all of last year talking about freedom of affection and being happy with a partner who isn’t your soulmate.”

“Except you had never potentially met your soulmate.” She pauses and shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter, if you don’t want to pursue it, don’t. Juan won’t say anything and I’ll just encourage him to hang out with Marcus on a guys night.”

“I don’t know,” you admit honestly, poking at the remains of your breakfast with a frown. “First let’s see if he speaks to me again. I gotta go change my clothes for work.” A heavy blanket of tension works on you that wasn’t there when you came home, and you drag yourself off the stool with a swallowed sigh. “Thanks for breakfast, honey.”

“I’m sorry.” She murmurs, wishing for a moment that Juan hadn’t run into Marcus. Hadn’t mentioned a tattoo that was throwing you into a spin. “I’m here whenever you need.”

“Thank you.” Coming around the counter, you wrap your arms around her tightly and inhale, trying to remember your yoga and let the stress roll off your shoulders and not carry it into the work day. “And I’m always here for you. No matter what.”

“I know.” She grins into your shoulder. “You’re my best friend, bitch.” She teases. “I will go to war for you, bury bodies and not even think twice.”

"No hesitation." You link your pinkies together, the same way you have since you were little kids. "I really have to go change now. But thanks for listening to me ramble and fret."

“Anytime.” She scoffs, waving away your thanks. “You’ve listened to me plenty.” Lately it’s been about being a good mother and not completely wrecking Baby Badillo, but she understands the need to just vent. You’re there for one another, both of you, through thick and thin.

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @haylzcyon @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide @elegantduckturtle @becsworld @julesonrecord @its-nebuleuse @itsrubberbisquit @mikeyswifie @guelyury @lizzie-cakes @for-a-longlongtime @vabeachazn @purplerain04 @weho2kcmo @madnessofadaydreamer

HHL: @haileymorelikestupid @anoverwhelmingdin @storiesofthefandomlovers

My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal character fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfic #Marcus Pike #Marcus Pike x you #Marcus Pike x reader #Marcus Pike x female reader #Marcus Pike x f!reader #The Mentalist #soulmate au #First Daughter reader #Juan Badillo #Graceland #Juan Badillo x f!OC #Juan Badillo x OC #love triangle

160 notes · View notes

sihtricfedaraaahvicius · 5 months

Text

Only him

Note: lowkey written with @tinumiel while I was trying to wrap up the next Lighthouse chapter, but then this happened (bless those red sweatpants of him)

Warnings: 18+!! pwp, smut.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

summary: when you simped over a fictional man, Sihtric had to remind you who you belonged to.

wordcount: 1k

Masterlist

You sat on Sihtric's couch, wearing his oversized hoodie and your thigh high socks. Your cheeks were still warm, your hair still messy and your legs still slightly trembling.

You hadn't seen your boyfriend in a few days and, as per usual, he had been insanely horny after the workout he had done just before you rang his doorbell. He opened the door while he was wearing his red sweatpants with white socks, nothing more and nothing less. You had giggled at the pleasant sight, and before you knew it, Sihtric had pulled you inside and slammed the door shut behind you.

He immediately picked you up in his strong arms and his lips found yours in no time, capturing you in an eager, impatient and hungry kiss. He had carried you into his kitchen, where he sat you down on his table and he quickly took off your jacket. His big hands had moved up your thighs, underneath your skirt, and with one swift move he managed to pull down your panties. He had grabbed your legs, pulled you off the table and turned you around, bending you over as he smoothly dropped his sweatpants down to his ankles. What followed was a hard, quick, but good fuck. And you had only barely recovered, sipping some water, when Sihtric already couldn't keep his hands nor lips off you again.

'I've missed you,' he rasped in your ear as you were pressed back against his kitchen counter.

'I've missed you too,' you giggled and put your empty glass in the sink while Sihtric dragged his lips down your neck.

'Yeah?' he husked, 'how much?'

'Too much,' you smiled and pulled his red sweatpants down again.

'Show me how much,' Sihtric chuckled as he bent you over the kitchen counter, to have his way with you once again.

And after that you ended up sitting on his couch, wearing his oversized hoodie and your thigh high socks, looking rather dishevelled. Your boyfriend sunk down on the couch next to you and pulled you in his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around you while he nuzzled your neck.

'What do you want to watch, princess?' he hummed.

'Hmm. Lord of the Rings.'

'Lord of the Rings? Really? Again?' Sihtric sighed.

'The extended edition.'

'Babe-'

'All of them.'

'That's like ten hours!'

'And?' you frowned.

Sihtric opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and grabbed the remote.

'Fine,' he sighed.

'You're the best, sweetheart,' you taunted and kissed his cheek.

'Yeah, yeah,' Sihtric chuckled and switched on the first movie.

It didn't take long before you were completely captivated by your favourite movie, and then your favourite character appeared; Aragorn.

'This fucking guy,' Sihtric muttered.

'Excuse me?' you snapped your head up to him.

'Nothing.'

'You did not just cuss out Aragorn? The Aragorn?'

'And what if I did? Hm?' Sihtric provoked, 'then what?'

'How very dare you?' you hissed.

'What, baby?' Sihtric hissed back, 'what now? Your fictional boyfriend is going to jump out of the TV and slaughter me?' he chuckled, 'what's so special about him anyway?' he asked and rolled his eyes.

'He's just Aragorn!' you yelled, 'look at him! His eyes, that face, his hair,' you sighed, dreamy.

'What about my eyes?' Sihtric asked and ran his hand up your thigh, 'hm? Or my face?'

'Yes, yes, very pretty,' you said inattentively as you stared at the screen.

'Yeah?' Sihtric grabbed your chin and forced you to look up at him, 'what about my hair?' he said and squeezed your inner thigh, 'or have you forgotten how tightly you hold on to my hair whenever I take you?'

A soft moan left your lips as you gazed up at your boyfriend. And with one swift move he had you flipped over on your stomach, on the couch. He pushed his sweater up your back, exposing your bare ass and he gave you a firm spank. You gasped at the slap and then giggled.

'Would your Aragorn do that, princess?' Sihtric almost snarled and shoved his red sweatpants down again, 'would he spank you exactly the way you like it, like I do?'

'M-maybe,' you taunted, and squealed when Sihtric tore down your soaked panties.

'Maybe,' he scoffed and lined himself up from behind, above you, 'I don't think so,' he said and smoothly pushed his hard cock inside your wet folds again.

'Ah, fuck,' you mumbled and closed your eyes as you smiled, 'hm.'

'Do you think your ranger would fuck you into this couch as good as I do, huh?' he asked while he placed his hand on the back of your neck, keeping you firmly pressed down while he pounded into you with no remorse.

Sure, Sihtric would let you simp over a fictional character, but over his dead body he would allow you to fantasise about any of them. So he was sure to remind you right now that you belonged to him, and that it would only ever be his cock you'd be taking. He fucked you faster and deeper, then wrapped his hand around your throat as he held your waist firmly with his other.

'You think a man like that would be willing to choke you the way you like it?' Sihtric growled in your ear with ragged breaths, 'the way you need it? Hm?' he lightly squeezed your throat and grazed your ear with his teeth, 'I don't fucking think so, baby girl. Only I can do that. Only I know exactly what you like.'

You mumbled incoherently into the pillow your face was pressed onto while tears of pleasure rolled down your cheeks.

'That man could never handle my bratty princess,' Sihtric rasped, 'you think he could growl the filth in your ear you so desperately need to hear while getting wrecked?'

Once again, nothing but moans and whimpers left your mouth.

'No!' Sihtric growled while he rutted against you, 'only I can do that. Only I am allowed to do that.'

He fucked into you until you both neared your climax, and just when you were about to finish, Sihtric grabbed your hair and forced you to look up at him while he continued to fuck you from behind.

'And only I get to see that pretty face of yours when you cum,' Sihtric hissed as you clenched around his cock and came with a violent scream of his name.

taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylasthegrim @andakth @chompchompluke @willowbrookesblog @lady-targaryens-world @skyofficialxx @elle4404 @alexagirlie @sweetxime @solango @gemini-mama @cheyennep3107 @little-diable @jennifer0305 @drwstarkeyy @mrsarnasdelicious @verenahx @urmomsgirlfriend1 @moonchildrenandflowercrowns @foxyanon @djarinsgirl27 @sigtryggrswifey @liandav @diiickbrainn @sihtricsafin @lexwolfhale

#sihtric x reader #sihtric x you #sihtric kjartansson #the last kingdom #sihtric #tlk #sihtric fic #the last kingdom fic #modern!sihtric

170 notes · View notes

strawberrystepmom · 8 months

Text

old flame, same glow

pairing: sex worker toji fushiguro x f!reader

word count: 6.1k

about: old feelings spur you on a wild journey of paying for sex with your high school crush but you find out in the process that maybe those feelings aren't as long forgotten as you thought.

contents: nsfw - mdni. no curses au, reader and toji are similar in age (i imagine reader to be late 20s/early 30s and toji to be early/mid 30s), oral sex (f receiving), lots and lots and lots of pining from reader, reader is very pathetic it's very sad but she's my most special meow meow.

notes: this is a repost of the sex worker toji au on my old blog - full and final, with pretty extensive edits to make it flow better. i was personally asked to repost and who am i to say no? be warned tho, for being a fic about sex work this is surprisingly sexless and for that i apologize but i wanted to focus more on the feelings rather than the smut.

thank you for your support and for reading and i hope you enjoy it!!!

dividers are thanks to @/saradika

“Is it because I’ll never be him?”

The words your now ex-fiance spit at you during that fateful last fight echo in your mind as you splash cool water over your face, the strap of your purse sagging over your shoulder. A sigh escapes as the droplets run down your nose and lips.

Him. Toji. The man became a constant issue in your relationship that never seemed to reach resolution the moment you admitted to a one-sided crush you had on him years and years ago, long before your fiance entered the picture. You hadn’t spoken to him since before his first marriage and only knew about his life through social media and occasionally running into each other at the grocery store but your ex took exception after a single cursory glance through Fushiguro’s photo sharing app feed, each picture one of him with his shirt either lifted at the bottom or so tight you can make out each and every divot of his defined core.

Exhaling out of your mouth, droplets go flying against the surface of the bathroom mirror and you fight the urge to scream or cry or maybe both looking at your soggy reflection. You’ve never felt more pathetic in your life and now the outside matches the inside.

The memory couldn’t have surfaced at a worse time and it forced you to excuse yourself from the polite man sitting across from you in a crowded restaurant, shifting through the too small gaps between tables and refusing to make eye contact with anyone else currently sitting in the restaurant as he watched you retreat.

He was introduced to you by a coworker who spent most of the week wondering why you haven’t put yourself back out there after a year of single life, but you regret saying yes. Not because you don’t enjoy his company - he’s smart, quick witted, and handsome which are all things regularly you’d be enchanted by.

Truthfully, you know it’s because he isn’t him either.

Digging your phone out of the pocket of your dress, you sigh and open your most recent conversation thread. The bold letters of his name stare back at you, an F in a circle above his last name. Fushiguro.

Free later?

Toji texted you earlier today, while you were still at work, and you opted to ignore him in preparation for tonight. The intention was to clear your mind of distractions or any entanglements you may have lingering, even those with almost unimaginably broad shoulders and green eyes that twinkle mischievously with every salacious wink and smirk he tosses your direction but you didn’t realize you’d fail your mission before 9 pm.

The sun has only barely set and here you stand in the bathroom of one of the nicest restaurants on this side of the city planning to meet up with your high school crush to pay him for sex.

Perhaps pathetic is too light of a word for how you feel but you don’t make eye contact with yourself in the mirror for long enough to think about it, gaze darting back down to the backlit screen in your palms.

Your thumbs begin to work before your mind can catch them and you stop yourself, brows furrowed as you press down to highlight the text and delete it altogether. Rubbing your free hand over your face, you sigh and glance down at the text bubble indicating he’s typing on the screen.

You know I can see you typing and deleting?

A knock on the bathroom door makes you yelp as you look over the message, dropping your phone in the still damp porcelain sink with a clatter while uttering low curses under your breath. You hear your name from the other side of the door and in your rush to grab and dry off your phone, you slip the droplet covered device back into your pocket and rush toward the door to see the waitress assigned to your table standing there.

“Uh, he asked me to come let you know that he paid the tab and you can go.”

Panic rises in your chest and your stomach turns as you gaze around her shoulder and look around the restaurant, spotting the table you were just sitting at with its unoccupied chairs.

“Fuck,” you spit before gnawing on your lower lip and the waitress watches you as one would witness a slow motion car crash - incredulously, as if this is something she has never seen before. Part of you wonders if she hasn’t ever seen a woman struggling this close to her, the youthful round of her cheeks convincing you she can’t be old enough to have a lot of life under her belt.

You shoot her an apologetic glance and she nods curtly.

“I’m sorry you had to do this,” your voice is muffled by your own shoulder while you dig through the purse and pinch out a banknote with enough zeroes to make her happy. You think it’s a 10,000 yen note but you can’t be certain and the embarrassment of the evening is carrying your feet toward the door too quickly to verify.

The door spits you out into a balmy evening but you don’t notice, filling your lungs to the brim with fresh air that feels restorative despite the heat. Patting around your body, you ground yourself with the knowledge that your phone is in your pocket. Pulling it out, you click your tongue at the new notification alert on the left side of your screen and exit your conversation with Toji to look at it.

The number isn’t saved in your phone but the words make you hiss as you look over them, shame making your face heat in a way that a warm summer night cannot even begin to replicate.

Hope dating gets simpler for you. Have a good night.

Sighing, you dawdle for a moment wondering how to respond, shifting your weight from foot to foot. People pass you on the street and you worry they’re going to start to wonder why you’ve been standing in front of the restaurant door for so long, dejectedly staring at the glowing screen in your palms.

Taking a few steps, you begin to walk in the direction of the train station and exit out of the conversation with your date, opening Toji’s contact info and holding down on his number until you hear your phone dialing him.

“Was wondering when you’d get back to me,” he doesn’t hesitate to speak as soon as he picks up the phone and you feel a flurry of butterflies erupt in your gut the moment you hear him. This is so bad, you contemplate with the click of each of your steps. So so bad. “Where you at?”

Humiliated, you dare to feel almost a little comforted by how happy he sounds to hear from you. You’re certain that this is how he sounds with all of his clients, everyone who hires him for a good time, but you want to believe so badly it’s just for you. The lilt at the end of his sentences that you know mean he’s smirking, one corner of his mouth turned up.

“Do you want to hear the truth or to hear a carefully made up lie?”

He chuckles on the other end of the phone and you wish you could listen to no other sound for the rest of your life.

“Tell me the truth. You’ve never been a great liar.”

A deep exhale deflates your posture and your gaze snaps to your feet as you make your way off to the farthest part of the sidewalk, your voice lowering to keep some shred of your dignity intact. It’s bad enough you’re venting your frustration to the man you pay for sex, you don’t want to think about how mortifying it would be to have a stranger overhear your woes.

“Well, I was on a date and got walked out on so now I’m heading toward the train station.”

A sympathetic hum and shuffling come from the other end of the line, Toji absentmindedly flicking the lighter he keeps in his pocket while you speak. The silence, no matter how momentary, makes you feel awkward and your brain leaps to overcompensate.

“Did you still want to meet? I don’t have a ton of cash but I do have time.”

Another chuckle. You hate that you feel like it’s directed at you rather than to be shared with you and the hot flush of embarrassment makes you reach for your sleeve with your free hand uncomfortably. It was too hot to wear this dress. It was a stupid idea to even come out but his voice keeps your rapt attention, his next words making you genuinely smile for the first time in hours.

“I can’t make you pay full price after getting walked out on. Come over, we’ll work it out.”

Thanking your lucky stars, you shut your eyes tightly and use every ounce of willpower inside of you to keep yourself from crying. Moisture pools at your lashline and you choose to ignore it, relaxing your jaw as you respond.

“You mean it?”

He hums affirmatively and you feel the butterflies in your stomach travel further south at the sound.

“Wouldn’t offer if I didn’t. See you in thirty.”

The call drops from the other end, your phone beeping to signify the ending but you can’t keep a giddy smile from creeping across your face as you press your phone against your chest and open your eyes. Looking up at the twinkling stars above, embarrassment gives way to something you haven’t felt in so long outside of these meetings with Toji that you wonder if you’re about to have a heart attack or something equally disturbing - the familiar flush of affectionate love.

The unimpressed gaze of your coworker follows you all the way to your desk as you make your way through the rows of desktops on Monday morning. You shrink beneath the weight of it, the wool of your pencil skirt suddenly itching more than it ever has while brushing against your legs with each step.

She must have heard about how well your date went.

The text message sent from the man still sits, unanswered, in your phone. Shame sits like a brick in your stomach and you keep your head down, even as you sit and the hydraulics of your chair squish beneath you with a “whoosh”. Bouncing back up, you refuse to make eye contact as you get settled, logging in.

“I am never setting you up again,” she spits in a hushed whisper as soon as you sit down next to her, pulling her can of coffee away from you and setting it on the opposite side of her keyboard.

“If you weren’t ready you should have just said so.”

It’s not like you can defend yourself. You weren’t and remain unready to see anyone else yet it didn’t stop you from immediately stuffing bills in Toji’s hand, legs still shaking while he helped you button your pants and sealed your goodbye with a wink and a kiss on the forehead.

This time, though, was the first time the two of you kissed outside of sex and you’re still reeling. Head fuzzy as you recall the way his scar felt brushing against you for more than immediate sexual gratification. Soft lips, firm flesh, warmth. You swear you feel a ghost of the kiss itself as you sit, surrounded by buzzing overhead fluorescent lights.

The two of you have had sex a dozen times now, once a month your usual schedule, but this time felt different. Maybe it’s the fact that you paid less than usual, maybe it’s the tender way he placed kisses from the underside of your breast clear down to your mound, watching your every move with those glimmering peridot eyes.

“Are you going to say anything?”

The accusatory voice of your coworker interrupts your reverie and you blink before turning in your direction with your head bowed. Words stick in your throat and you aren’t able to swallow so you mumble a simple “sorry” with nothing further. She scoffs and turns back toward her computer, typing loudly to indicate her annoyance as you click around your desktop.

“He walked out on me, to be fair,” you finally come up with after falling short on a near infinite amount of apologies in your head and she turns once again to stare at you. Her gaze burns and you shift in your seat, the same shame you felt at the restaurant weighing your limbs and keeping you pinned in place.

“He left because you were in the bathroom for 15 minutes with no explanation.”

She scoffs and shakes her head, typing away for a moment before turning toward you again, still unfinished with her thorough lecture about the wrongs you’ve committed. Your body still feels heavy, frozen with embarrassment of your own making, but you manage to sigh and fold your arms over your chest unenthusiastically.

“I was hoping you’d at least tell me you had an accident or something.”

Without thinking, you laugh the hardest you have in awhile and several heads peek above their desktops to glance at your unusual display. They probably think you’re losing your mind and if you were to be frank with yourself, you aren’t convinced that isn’t exactly what’s happening.

You are fantasizing during work about a man you pay to have sex with, pretending you’re anything more than a client with a little cash to blow and he’s a man with a lot of free time and a natural gift for cunnilingus.

Hiccuping, your laughter subsides and your unimpressed coworkers return to their tasks, the one sitting next to you still eyeing in a way that is borderline venomous at this point. You don't blame her, though. You fucked up and can't bring yourself to own up to it when your head is too wrapped up in remembering every peak of Toji's arms wrapped around you.

How the fuck did this happen?

She says nothing further, instead turning to her computer and leaving you to sit staring at the blinking cursor on the screen in front of you. You can unpack every single choice you've made since 16 right now and it still wouldn't lend any clarity as to why you are willing to fuck up every relationship around you for the sake of sleeping with a man who you mean nothing to.

Of course, you don't know that, but it's a safe enough assumption given the dynamic itself.

You swallow thickly, pride sliding down your throat like something you may choke on, and turn your chair toward your coworker.

"I handled it poorly and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry I embarrassed you."

She scoffs, dipping her head low.

"The only person who should be embarrassed here is you."

Accepting the criticism, the truth, you plaster a smile across your face and nod once. Any argument you may have tied together at another point in your life dies and you instead turn back to your work, looking at the little clock on the bottom corner of your screen.

9:15 am.

So many hours left for shame to simmer between your ribs, a molten pool of your own failure to swim around in until you drown.

The lewd pop of Toji releasing your clit from between his lips and your panting are the soundtrack playing through his otherwise quiet apartment. Darkness envelopes both of you, so insatiable by the time you made it back here there wasn’t time to turn on the overhead lights.

I need to stop, you think in the afterglow of another orgasm delivered by the impressively skilled mouth of the man whose green eyes are fixed on your face. You take in the sight of him, chin and lips soaked from your last release that drenched him.

“Never seen ya do that before,” Toji remarks from between your thighs. Your muscles twitch on either side of his face and you giggle weakly, tired from being thoroughly fucked and devoured. He places a kiss on your inner thigh, eyes fluttering shut briefly as he does so.

You want to reach out and stroke his cheek, softening with every ounce of care he gives; the way his thumbs assuredly massage the outside of your thighs. It’s all so…tender. It feels like it's meant for a lover, someone you wanna fall asleep beside and rise with in the morning.

Something meant for you and someone else.

If you weren’t so tired you’d already be gone. Instead you groan softly as he rubs a final pair of circles on your skin and sits up, wiping his face across his bicep. He stands and he feels you looking at him, scoping out every nude sculpted inch of him. How is it fair that he not only fucks like a god but looks like one too?

Truly, some people get all the luck.

“Somethin’ on your mind?”

Shrugging flippantly, you let yourself melt into the comfort of his bedding, getting too used to feeling it beneath you at this point. You've increased your visits from once a month to once a week, twice if you're particularly stressed, and he certainly will never turn down a chance to make some good money.

"How many clients do you have?"

The question leaves your lips before you can really think about the implication of what you're asking but he chuckles, pulling a pair of athletic shorts and nothing else over his softening cock. You can still make out the print of it clear as day and it makes your face heat, looking away and feigning interest in the peeling skin around your unkempt cuticles.

"I'm sorry, that was intrusive," you clarify, gaze flicking up from your nail beds to where he fills two glasses of water from a pitcher on the bedside table. You dare to indulge yourself by continuing to look at him rather than away, his hair falling in his face.

For the briefest moment, you think you'd like to be the person to brush it off his forehead forever but he turns to you with a smirk and holds out a glass of water before you can go any further into the delusional fantasies your mind keeps providing to you without asking.

"Why are you asking?" He drinks after asking, finishing his glass in one gulp and setting it back down next to the pitcher. You take the glass extended in your direction, sipping to try and wash down the lump in your throat before it can fully form. "You like me or something?"

Immediately you shoot up, hauling the blanket over your naked form ready to explain away your questioning and he sits down on the edge of the bed with a smile, reaching out and grabbing your covered thigh with one of his hands.

"I was just kidding, don't get jumpy."

Fighting the urge to fidget, you stay sitting up and sip from the water cautiously again, small mouthfuls at a time to keep from feeling overwhelmed. You're so anxious despite having cum so many times you truly lost track and Toji wishes he didn't find it so amusing that after all these years you still manage to be as neurotic as he remembers.

You were a good girl back then, scared of getting caught running around with the delinquent, but you still puffed each time he'd hold the cigarette to your lips. You still tagged along when he would skip class.

He wondered what happened to you when the two of you lost touch. Figured you'd ended up married with a kid or two like him, waiting for the next day and getting through it to the best of your ability.

He was shocked when you messaged him from your social media profile, the photos displayed on your page less than interesting. You standing in front of a shrine on vacation, you smiling next to your family on your grandma's birthday, you looking lonely with a smile that never reached your eyes in photo after photo.

The rest is history, as they say, and you rush to fill the silence.

"Curiosity got the best of me, that's all."

"Five."

You look up, reaching across the bed to slide the water onto the table beside it and he keeps his gaze fixed on you.

"Four occasionals, one regular."

Eyes widening at his words, you point to yourself.

"I'm your regular?"

He hums and nods and you take a moment to process the information for what it is. A surprise, certainly, and you can't quite figure out how you feel about knowing he sees four other women even if it is just occasionally. Logic smacks you in the face as you realize you hardly have the right to feel jealous over him doing his job but you let that feeling turn in your head for a moment, wondering what he'd do if you admitted how you felt to him.

Would he stop seeing his other clients? Would he let you take their occasional spots, making sure he's making the same amount of money regardless if it's all coming from you?

"My occasionals don't live in the city so we only meet up when they're in town."

Why he feels the need to explain himself is as lost on him as it is you, your head tilted to the side in confusion. Can he tell this is what you need to hear to quell your own wandering mind or is he simply indulging you to ensure that his regular stays a regular? You hate to think the worst of him, knowing he's a good man beneath the antics he has always managed to get wrapped up in, but the ever shifting boundaries between the two of you get less and less comfortable with every session.

"How about you?" He asks while you slide your knees up and tuck them into your chest, his hand falling to the side in the process. "You paying anyone else for sex?"

Giggling, you shake your head. It's embarrassing to even be asked, your desperation as apparent as your skin itself, but you feel like if there's anyone you can joke about it with it's the man whose face is still sticky with your release.

"Nope, one is plenty. I'm not rich, you know."

He quirks a brow and crawls onto the bed, making his way to hover above you with a smirk and that same hair hanging over his eyes the way you always seem to see it in your daydreams.

Without thinking, you reach up and brush it off of his forehead, your fingers gliding across the sweat slicked skin of his face. You look at him for a moment, the way he looms above you, and your stomach turns.

This is too much. Your fingers tremble gently as you trace them over the bridge of his nose while dragging them off of his face, hand flopping down at your side while you struggle to shift from beneath him to get out of the bed.

"You alright?"

You nod and he backs away, sitting across the bed rather than lingering over the top of you. Sliding your legs off of the bed, you stand and feel him looking at your back as you bend and scramble to grab your clothes.

"Yeah, just realized it's super late."

Hurriedly pulling your pants up over your legs, you stop when you realize he hasn’t stopped staring at you since the moment you left his bed. His gaze burns and you wither beneath it, burning out like a shooting star as you stand still as a statue.

“Just stay,” he offers as if it isn’t the most self destructive option you could possibly choose. Stay and what? Chew on your nails the entire night until the sun finally rises and you can blissfully leave? Watch morning cast a warm glow over his sleeping body while birds chirp outside?

A persistent echo of the word idiot dances through your head as you briefly consider his suggestion, wondering if it would truly be so terrible to bury your head against his side and sleep soundly for the first time in months.

You can’t do this. The night feels suffocating, like it’s smothering you rather than enveloping you gently, and you pull your pants all the way up and fasten them while throwing your shirt over your head and pulling it on in a surprisingly fluid motion.

“I gotta go. Thank you for everything.”

Bustling out of his apartment, Toji watches your back head toward the door and can’t help but feel as if that was your final goodbye, gone in a flash the same way you returned to him.

Hey stranger, what's up?

The latest in a series of ignored messages pops onto your screen before you can close out the notification, today marking 21 days since the fateful night you cried in the back of an overpriced car the entire way back to your apartment leaving Toji’s behind you.

The messages are all the same - nonchalant and non committal, unspoken business proposals - but you scroll up through them anyway with a broken sniffle. How you’re still managing to cry over this three weeks later is beyond your own understanding but your fingers reach out to brush the screen of your phone regardless, just as they did the smooth skin of his forehead that fateful night.

Life has been normal without him, you reason. You go to work, keep your head down, come home and fall asleep in front of the TV. You’ve been too depressed to even masturbate but you’ve tried, crying through the measly two orgasms you’ve managed to pull out of yourself halfheartedly.

Part of you wishes you’d just die and end this misery once and for all, the other wants to die thinking of how someone would feel looking at your browser history. “Green eyed guy big dick”, “big dick DILF” , “toji big dick”, the terms thay would haunt you enough you worry they’d emblazon them on your headstone if you were to perish.

It’s dramatic, sure, your world has imploded in on itself more than once already but this hurts with the intensity of three broken engagements. Your heart feels like it could give out at any moment and it nearly does when your phone begins to vibrate and ring. Dropping it to the floor below, you sniffle again and feel another round of sobs bubble up in your throat at the name on the screen.

Toji Fushiguro. Clear as day.

You let it ring and ring until you know your voicemail will pick up and you’ll delete it. Fuck, you should really delete his number as a whole but even that feels too permanent.

How did it hurt less when you left your old apartment with an empty ring finger and a few boxes full of your meager belongings than it does to ignore a man you paid for sex?

Truthfully, you know it was never about the sex and you were treading in deep dangerous waters from the start.

You love him.

You loved him back in high school when he was a bad influence, you loved him when you’d open your hidden photos folder to stare at pictures you screen captured from his social media as soon as your fiancé rolled over to fall asleep, you loved him hovering above you with moonlight illuminating every shadow of his face.

This is the worst thing that has ever happened to you and through a flood of hot tears, you close out the open adult website on your phone and pull up a search tab, typing the words that will lead you to listings for apartments for rent as far away from here as you can possibly get.

Your time here is done and you know it, the ding echoing from your phone letting you know you have a voicemail almost sounding exactly like a timer would but you look at the notification anyway.

It's curious he left you a voicemail but you watch as your screen loads from the browser to the one unopened message in your mailbox. Taking a deep breath, you press play and hear his voice drifting through the speakers.

"Hey, uhh...I dunno what I did to piss you off but maybe we should talk about it. I'll be at the usual spot tonight if you wanna meet. Hope to see ya."

It ends as unceremoniously as it started and you cry harder, rewinding to start it over again. Listening to his voice, you trace your fingers along the screen of your phone a final time before deciding to take him up on his offer.

Closure will only help this process, you think, ending it all and closing this chapter for good.

“Look who it is.”

You recognize the voice coming from behind you but refuse to turn in your chair to greet its owner, instead sipping from your cocktail before tossing your napkin down unceremoniously.

This isn’t your first time at this less than reputable establishment but you hope it will be your last, ready to get away from the shit in this city you wished you would’ve left behind a long time ago. Him included.

“Toji,” you toss from over your shoulder and the man himself enters your peripheral vision. Refusing to give him the smug satisfaction of turning to look at him, you simply nod and begin to tear the napkin you tossed down into little pieces. You’ve always loved how easy it is to transform things with your hands, from whole to broken and back again. It reminds you of yourself in a strange way.

“I could make some time for you,” Toji sucks his teeth and you roll your eyes at the sound. “If you want.”

A shake of your head is all you offer as you continue to throw bits of paper in front of you, a small pile of bits, all that remains of what once was whole. The metaphor dies as you think about it and you sit quietly as he settles in beside you.

“What would it cost me this time?”

Toji shrugs, the already clinging fabric of his short sleeved shirt gripping him tighter with the motion. You swallow thickly seeing the muscles move from the corner of your eye. He’s gorgeous and you hate it, reminding yourself that loneliness is what led you in his direction in the first place. Or at least you’re still trying to convince yourself of that.

You wish you could have stuck to your guns when you promised yourself you’d stop seeing him.

“I can make a deal for my favorite even if she has been avoiding me lately.”

A laugh escapes before you can stop it and you turn to look at him, taking in the deep jade color of his eyes and the dark lashes that frame them.

What point did you start looking for the mischievous little sparkle that lives inside of those irises? What point did this become more than transactional?

You always have and it never was.

You sigh, tipping your head back to look at the dim modern-attempt-at-vintage overhead lighting and he sweeps his large hand across the bartop to sweep your bits of napkin into his palm.

“No charge, actually.”

Making a show of considering his offer, you squirm uncomfortably at the boundary that has been firmly broken by it. He has given you discounts, sure, but to offer a completely free no strings attached session is almost more than you can reasonably deny. You have been suffering in his absence, self imposed exile keeping you locked inside of your apartment when you aren’t at work. You aren’t dating, you aren’t fucking, you’re just trying to exist as simply as possible.

Even the most upright girl needs to have a little fun sometimes, though, you think. Especially since this will be the last time before you go and leave him to his life. You have no place in his world and he no place in yours, two paths that intersected briefly but have to diverge eventually the most the two of you will ever be.

Despite your better judgment, you look at him with a bittersweet smile and he finds the look puzzling. There’s still the ever present softness you hold for him deep in that gaze but there’s something else he hasn’t seen before.

His heavy stare makes you interrupt with a question.

“What did I do to deserve a free one?”

He shrugs, dropping your bits of napkin into your drained lowball glass where they soak up what’s left of the water. The cycle into something new begins again.

“Feelin’ generous. You in or not?”

Dragging it out for a moment longer, you wonder if you should tell him this will be the last time. You’ve known him for such a long time there’s an element of obligation but you shrug it off and rise from the barstool, smoothing down the fabric of your pants.

“Fuck it. Let’s go.”

Toji doesn’t bother to hide his smug half smile, tossing down a few bills to cover your drink.

“You didn’t have to do that,” you start and he cuts you off as the two of you walk so close your shoulders brush. “Told you I’m feelin’ generous, quit making me regret it.”

He’s teasing but you flinch a bit at his words despite yourself.

What if he regrets this? What if it hasn’t been as mutually beneficial as you originally thought, you’re just another face with disposable income that wants to see what it feels like to fuck a man with reckless abandon? Isn’t this why you walked away in the first place?

The what ifs will drive you crazy if you keep it up so you let the cool night air clear your mind, gasping as he pushes you against the driver side door of your car.

“Toji,” you warn but his hands glide up your sides and you lift your chin to expose your neck, his lips and teeth easily finding the column of your throat. The vibrations of your voice feel good against his mouth and you yelp as he scrapes at your skin using his front teeth. “Someone could see us.”

He scoffs and lifts his face away from your neck, lips mere inches away from yours.

“Would that be so bad?” You nod emphatically and he rolls his eyes, dark brows knit together as he considers what you’re saying. “Ashamed to be seen with me?” Your shoulders slump and he presses his lips against yours so quickly you wonder if you imagined it and you sigh. “No, I’m not. Just would rather people not know I’m paying some dude I used to go to high school with to fuck me.”

There’s too much truth to your words for him to argue so he simply leans in against, pressing his lips against yours for a moment longer than he previously did. You feel the corner of his lip rise, a little smirk, and you wonder what’s on his mind.

“Don’t seem so ashamed when you’re screamin’ about how you can feel me in your….” he feigns thought for a moment and you feel your face heat, knowing what he’s about to say next. “What is it you always say? Ah, yeah…tummy.” His lips press against yours again and you kiss him back this time, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and wrapping his dark hair around your fingers. The two of you separate before the dry humping starts, catching your breath as you wipe remnants of chapstick and saliva from your lips.

“Get your ass in the car before I change my mind, Fushiguro.”

He smiles at the sound of his name on your pretty lips. There’s no going back now and he knows it as he squeezes your ass once before rounding your car to enter the passenger side. A glance up at the night sky allows you a moment to clear your mind before you enter the vehicle yourself, shutting the door behind you as you fire up the engine.

Something new begins again, the night revealing thing you know to be true.

You love him too much for this to be the last time.

#toji fushiguro x reader #fushiguro toji x reader #kendall writes

314 notes · View notes

house-of-kolchek · 11 months

Text

Dress (18+)

Leon Kennedy x Reader

gif is not mine but I'm still obsessed with it.

@chaosandbubbles I take your Taylor Swift prompt and raise you: "But what if it was angsty?"

Pls be nice I wrote this and did not edit it :')

Word Count: 3.3k

“Leon.”

He turned, clearing his throat, eyes searching for the familiar face belonging to that voice. You greeted him with a smile, your eyes bright as they found his. Leon grinned back, taking a few steps towards you, and stopping to look you up and down.

“You look great!” He reached a hand out, offering assistance in getting up to the stairs. A perfect gentleman.

Your ears burned, your cheeks growing pink, and you hoped that either your makeup, your hair, or the dim lighting of the hall would be enough to hide it from the man as you hooked your arm around his, allowing him to lead you into the party.

Leon himself was dressed very well, just toeing the line of appropriate for a work event. He was in a fully black suit, rather than the usual navy and white set he sported in the white house. His silky button down was open, showing off the skin of his collarbones, leading down to the first hints of his chest.

It wasn’t anything you hadn’t seen before, but it still had you practically buzzing.

“New dress?” Leon whispered as you made your way into the crowded banquet hall. The interior was lit in a dark wood, creating a warm, inviting aura. “I haven’t seen that one in the rotation before.”

You nodded, deciding against elaborating any further. The woman at the shop had complimented your appearance when you tried it on the week before, noting that it was just perfect for the occasion. The slit along the side rode up to your mid-thigh, exposing the strength in your legs and the flash of the complimentary heel you’d chosen. The dress made you feel strong. You would even dare to say it made you feel sexy.

Leon’s gaze hadn’t left yours, and you found yourself stuck in it. You’d found yourself caught in looks like this more recently. The softness in his gaze, the flicker of movement in his focus that was so quick you’d convince yourself you’d only imagined it. His looks like those made you feel special, like you were the only thing he was seeing.

And at the same time, his arm broke away from yours.

Your smile barely faltered, and you stayed put as Leon travelled throughout the room. In all technicalities, this was a work event, and so you found yourself seated at a random table with some other agents you recognized.

Taking a seat beside Ingrid, you greeted her with a smile, blushing as she raved over your dress. Idle conversation passed between the group, and you remained generally silent, listening in and chuckling at all the right moments. It was quiet enough and only slightly boring.

“What’s this whole gala celebration for, anyways?” one coworker of yours - Beth - asked. Her cheeks were rosy, clearly having been through a few drinks at that point. Ingrid pushed a glass of water in her direction.

“To recognize the accomplishments and importance of all the DSO agents,” she recited, remaining fairly monotone. You couldn’t help the snicker building in the back of the throat. Even Ingrid thought this was stupid - and that was saying something.

That itchy feeling of being watched washed over you suddenly, and you drifted away from the conversation. Lifting your head, you swerved back and forth until the offending pair of eyes were found.

Leon was standing in another group, all while his eyes remained focused on you. It was clear he was ignoring every word, as his lips twitched, and he flicked his fingers to the side in one of the ‘secret gestures’ you’d come up with over the years. Nodding your head, you watched his grin widen before he excused himself from the conversation.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive at your table with a drink in either hand. You took your designated cocktail from him, offering your thanks and stealing a sip of his whiskey. Leon rolled his eyes, moving to elbow you softly in the side, though you dodged away at the last minute. As you turned to face him again, you noticed his eyes flicker back up, from where they had been studying… something.

You raised a playful brow, willing the onslaught of heat to stay away from your face. It didn’t listen.

“How many of those have you had?” you asked, walking with Leon across the room. The conversations were starting to exhaust you, and you hadn’t even been present for an hour. You took a generous sip of your drink, allowing the gentle burn of the alcohol to warm your throat.

“This is only my second, mom,” he teased. You raised your hand up in surrender, before poking him in the side. It was easy, poking fun at each other and sharing those closer, tender moments that others wouldn’t even dream of.

As the night dragged on, Leon drifted between your side and a few feet away. You lost count of the mindless conversations, the bored jokes from the other employees who didn’t want to be there either. You had only made it through your second drink, glancing over to notice that your friend was on the tail end of his fourth.

He seemed a bit more loose - as loose as Leon Kennedy could get at least. Some of the smiles, the laughs he shared with other guests seemed even genuine. It was a pleasant sight to see, one that others didn’t get very often. Genuine, carefree smiles like that were even an uncommon occurrence with you.

You hummed as Leon’s hand found your back, gently interrupting your conversation. It drifted lower as he settled beside you, forcing some of the breath from your lungs. In that moment, you wondered if he knew the reactions he elicited from you, if it was a game, a sign, or if he was just innocent and clueless.

You didn’t get the chance to find out, as another man in a suit bumped into Leon’s arm, sending the last few sips of his drink spilling out of his glass, and straight onto your dress.

“Hey!” Leon snapped, turning to reprimand the offender as you muttered a silent curse, taking in the darkening amber stain against the pale fabric of your dress. Leon was quick to notice the stain as well, letting out a curse of his own as he searched for a napkin.

“Shit - I’m sorry.” Your name fell from his lips, his focus on removing the stain until you rested a palm on his shoulder.

“It’s fine, Leon. I can just get it dry cleaned,” you soothed, and he stopped his ministrations, though there was still a furrow in his brow. You glanced around the room, taking in the thinning crowd. “I think I’m ready to take off anyways. Are you good to drive?”

Leon paused for a moment, and you could see the gears turn in his head as he contemplated his level of sobriety.

“Probably not,” he admitted, letting out a weak chuckle. At least he was honest. You shook your head, bidding your coworker a quick goodbye and making your way towards the exit doors.

“C’mon, you can crash at mine.”

Leon followed behind you, muttering a quiet thanks as you lead him to your vehicle. It wasn’t the first time you’d let him sober up at your place overnight, though it was nice to see that he wasn’t overly drunk. He still seemed to have his wits about him.

Though he did seem particularly fond of staring at you while you drove.

“What is it?” You sent a glance to him from the corner of your eye. His gaze finally flickered away, towards the oncoming road as his lips pursed together. He seemed to be deeply in thought, and you glanced towards him a few more times before you stopped anticipating an answer.

You weren’t too far from your house, anyways.

“I’m really sorry about your dress,” he said again, and a quick glance confirmed he was looking at you again. You sighed.

“I promise, it’s okay.”

Leon was quiet, but his brows were twitching and there was a small frown on his face, as if he was truly upset about something. After a moment, you let out another breath. Maybe it was the way he’d been staring at you through the car ride, or at the gala. Maybe it was the little bit of alcohol in your own system. Or maybe it was just this build up of feelings you felt towards your friend of many years. The man who’d kept you sane, been alongside you at every achievement and fall.

“I only got this dress for you anyways.”

As soon as the words came out of your mouth, you begged God to return them. The silence felt loud, your clipped breathing turning into what felt like a scream.

“What do you mean?” Leon asked, his voice was low, growing raspy. Conveniently, you’d just arrived at your home, and you pulled the car into the driveway before you could meet his eye.

Were you really about to admit your feelings for the man? In the car, clad in a stained dress that you’d bought purely in hopes of silently catching his attention?

“You’re my best friend…” your words were tight, the rest of them dying on your tongue as you met his gaze. He was looking so intently at you, blinking slowly, his own mouth moving as if he were running a list of thoughts through his head.

And maybe he understood the words unsaid, because the next thing you knew, he was kissing you.

…

Leon had seen your room before. Many times, even. In the years you’d known each other, grown closer, Leon had seen nearly every aspect of your life. He’d seen your hungover mornings, your nightmares and your raging bedhead as you searched for coffee. He’d seen you fall apart and pick up the pieces to put yourself back together. Leon had spent many nights on your couch, even in your bed - on opposite ends with at least two pillows stuffed between you two.

But Leon had never been in your bed like this before. Not with a lusty look in his eyes and his shirt split open to the last button. He propped himself on his elbows, watching as you kicked your heels to the corner of your room. By the time you’d made it to the foot of the bed, he was sitting up, gathering the skirt of your dress and bunching it upwards as he wrapped his arms around your lower back.

“God, this dress. It’s driving me fucking crazy,” he whispered against your jaw. You had no time to be concerned by the slur between each word as his mouth found yours, capturing your lips in the messiest, sexiest kiss you’d ever received.

Your hands flew around his neck, streaking up into his hair. He hissed between your lips as you tangled your fingers between the darkening strands, scratching against his scalp and tugging at the ends. His teeth tugged on your bottom lip, his tongue briefly meeting yours before his kisses fell back to the corner of your jaw.

Leon pulled you forward, and you all but fell into his lap, the unexpected motion causing you to tug particularly hard at his hair. His head snapped back, but he made no indication of any pain. He merely groaned, tilting his head before he moved to suck a harsh mark into the side of your throat.

“Fuuuuck,” you breathed, letting your hands slide down over his shoulders, resting against his biceps. You felt them flex as his hands slid further up your back, dragging the fabric of your dress with it.

“Arms up,” he growled, and you listened. There was a brief loss of contact as the dress was pulled over your head, and as your arms fell back down to his shoulders, you couldn’t keep the blush from dusting across your cheeks. You opened your eyes, waiting to see Leon’s reaction.

But his gaze wasn’t on your breasts, your panties, or even the exposed skin of your stomach. His eyes were on yours, a little bit glossy and heavy with lust, but they held that glimmer; the softness that had been skipping your heartbeats for months, years.

You heard the fabric pile to the floor, and Leon’s warm hands rested on either side of your ribcage. And then he leaned forward to kiss you - gentle and warm compared to the searing ones he’d been offering to you all evening.

And only after that did his attention finally fall to your chest. His gaze darkened again, growing even hungrier than before as he wrapped one arm around you, using the other to brace the weight as he spun you to land on your back against the sheets. He leaned back, finally shedding the button down and offering you a moment to just look at him, clad in nothing but messy hair and a pair of black dress pants.

Your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him back to the bed.

Leon fell over you, supporting his weight on his forearms as his lips attached to your collarbone. He left a mark just under the bone, trailing his lips downwards until he reached your breast. He ran his tongue flat against one perked nipple, tweaking it with his fingers before giving the other the same treatment. One of your hands returned to his hair, the other reaching under his arm to run your fingers along the strong muscles in his back.

He dropped his hips, grinding his core against yours and drawing a gasp from your lips. Your sounds only seemed to spur him on, as he repeated the motion, his lips faltering on your breast as a ragged moan cut through his throat. Instinctively, you drew him closer, meeting his hips, and digging his face further into your skin.

With a growl, Leon bit down on the spot just above your breast. You whined, throwing your head back into the sheets. His hand traced down the length of your abdomen, teasing at the skin of your waist, the line of your panties, until finally, two fingers circled your clit through the fabric. You let out a long breath as his tongue prodded against your skin, your senses catching as he pushed the fabric of your underwear aside to trace along your entrance.

“You’re such a tease,” you murmured against his cheek as he leaned up to kiss you again. You felt his grin on your jaw as one finger curled into you, wasting no time in prodding against that rough spot within you. You rolled against his hand, your clit brushing against the heel of his palm as he snuck another finger in, twisting and curling them together until you were panting, breaths hitching in your throat.

Leon’s breathy laugh warmed your throat, as his lips traced and sucked deep marks into your skin. Your grip fell to his shoulders, digging your nails in which each curl of his fingers. Your hips jerked to meet his hand, driving yourself further into a pleasure-seeking daze.

You muttered his name, and Leon tilted his head up to look at you. The lighting was dim, but you could still see the glassy, dazed look in his eyes. His gaze flickered across your face, landing on your parted lips, before his thumb curled against your clit, and you threw your head back as your release washed over you.

Leon looked absolutely drunk on you, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, his hand stuttering in its movements before finally pulling away from your core. With a whine, you curled further into him, brushing the top of your thigh against the front of his pants. He groaned, his teeth sinking into the corner of his lip as you traced your hands from his shoulders, down along his solid chest. You traced the ridges of his abs, your stomach twisting again at the hard edges in his muscles - you’d seen Leon shirtless countless times before, but never had you been able to appreciate his dips and curves in his kind of way.

His patience seemed to fall apart at the seams, because the next thing you knew he was bucking against your thigh, digging his face into the junction of your neck and shoulder. He reached for his belt, freeing the buckle with a surprising swiftness and shimmying straight out of his pants.

“Can I?” he breathed against your neck. He was already prodding against your entrance, running the tip along your folds, your clit. With a gasp, you nodded, and he groaned. “Use your words, baby.”

Baby.

“Fuck- Just do it already!” you whined, and he wasted no more time in entering you.

Leon started with shallow thrusts, inching in deeper until he finally went flush against you. With a long exhale, he stalled for a moment, allowing you to adjust to the intrusion, and based on the scrunch in his brows, to hold himself back from the edge he was teetering on. And then he fell over you, caging you in between his forearms, and his hips started moving again.

Your senses were full - almost too full - because it was Leon. It was Leon and he was looking at you like the rest of the world meant nothing, and his lips were brushing against your shoulder and he was with you in the most intimate way.

And you let out a breath in his ear that sounded a lot like a confession.

—

When you opened your eyes, your senses felt like they were fuzzy. It took a moment to fully recollect the events from the night before. A stain on your dress, Leon unable to drive home, the sight of his clothes falling to the floor.

An arm tightened around your waist, bare and incredibly warm.

You felt Leon’s steady breaths against your hair, his nose digging between the strands. One of his legs was tangled between yours, and his also bare chest was flush against your back. He was still asleep, muttering incoherent gibberish under his breath as he seemed to snuggle further into your form. And it felt amazing.

You stayed unmoving and quiet in that position for a long few moments, your mind going over and over the night before, until Leon’s breath stuttered as he fell out of his slumber.

Your eyes were still closed when Leon shifted, a quiet grunt catching in his throat as he stretched. With your back to him, you could only hear the sharp intake of breath, feel the way his fingers brushed against your arm.

You heard the silent “Fuck,” under his breath.

There was something in that word, something with more substance. It was strained and low as if he was fighting against something. It sounded like that time he approached the president, laced with guilt over the bad news he was about to share. It reminded you of the time he’d really fucked up. Admitting to you how he’d thrown himself needlessly into a firefight, almost losing his life in the process. That guilt in his voice had your heart plummeting into your stomach. So you didn’t open your eyes. You didn’t move, regulating your breathing to the best of your ability.

Leon sucked in a breath, gently detangling his arms and legs from your own, and snapping the threads of your heart with them. You felt the soft structure of a pillow against your back as his warmth left the bed, and the sheets fell flat beside you. There was a flurry of steps around the room, another whispered curse. A short rustling of clothes and the ring of his belt.

Another long, pensive breath.

You stayed firm. You didn’t open your eyes until you heard the soft click of your bedroom door shutting.

And you didn’t hear from Leon for six weeks.

@obsessedwithtoomanythings hi I love you

#leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #resident evil

644 notes · View notes

fleurriee · 1 year

Text

— stupid voice, stupid heart ; neteyam sully

pairing ; neteyam sully x fem!reader

synopsis ; there was something about neteyam's voice that always seemed to grind your gears - the more you heard it, the more you felt your ears bleed. but then things change unexpectedly, and suddenly, you start to... enjoy it?

word count ; 6.5k

themes ; slight angst, fluff, enemies to lovers

warnings ; really bad enemies to lovers let’s be honest, brief mention of tearing someone apart, scenes of hunting/killing animals/fish.

author’s note ; this is the best i can do with enemies to lovers, if this even counts as one? it is quite fast paced but each cut is a time jump & they have always secretly liked one another so i’m using that as my excuse. this hasn’t been edited either fyi. requested.

main masterlist request a fic!

You and Neteyam had never gotten along.

No one ever really understood what it was about the two of you - despite being somewhat close when you were both young, hanging out with Neteyam’s siblings as a group, you couldn’t seem to stand one another now. Whenever you were in the boy’s presence, whenever his voice sounded throughout the area, whenever he did pretty much anything, an irritating shiver travelled down your spine until you did just about anything to steer clear from him.

You yourself weren’t entirely sure what tore the two of you apart around two years ago, it was just something that happened naturally. What you do remember, however, was your aching crush on the Na’vi, one that seemed to plague your every thought, keeping you awake at night. You never admitted it to anyone - you barely managed to admit it to yourself - deciding to take that secret with you to the grave, until you were nothing but specks of what was once a soul, back in the loving arms of Ewya.

You’d gotten along, but Neteyam ruined everything. One day, very out of the blue, he’d stop talking to you. You remember not thinking much of it, and when you went to speak to him later that same day, he’d snapped and told you to leave him alone. A lot of emotions filtered through you for days after that instance - heartache, confusion, anger. After that, you decided to listen to him.

Now, you can barely stand the sound of his voice. Every time it reverberates through your ears, filtering in through your entire nervous system, you’re sure you can hear yourself vibrating with resentment, preferring to rather have your ears bleed that hear it for another second.

When you woke up that morning, bright and early and ready to start the day by helping out one of your closest friends - Kiri - you hadn’t thought of the boy once. Your mind had been cleanly wiped of any memory of him, any thoughts and feelings, almost like you were starting afresh.

The night before, after bidding goodnight to most of the clan around you, Kiri had asked you to help her and her grandmother, Mo’at, the Tsahik, collect some herbs throughout the forest that would help in healing ailments. Of course you accepted - you were pretty sure you’d do anything for that girl. Plus, you wanted to do your best when it came to helping and providing for the clan. You enjoyed foraging, but it wasn’t your speciality, which was actually weaving. Something you always enjoyed was collecting feathers, beads, flowers and the like to weave clothes, baskets, anything you could possibly think of. That was your particular way of providing for the clan, but when given the opportunity to do more, you weren’t going to pass it up.

However, on your way there, your ears couldn’t help but pick up on something. It scratched at your brain, feeling yourself grit your teeth in disdain before your eyes wandered subconsciously over in that particular direction. Upon disappointment, you only found him, standing both tall and proud in front of a group of hunters, addressing them all with a loud, authoritative voice. “So, now that we’re all here...”

Despite his voice trailing off from your senses, not taking in anymore of his words, you couldn’t tear your gaze away from him - away from his lean figure, from his attentive eyes, from his perked up ears. You hated that he still had this effect on you, and you hated him.

After everything thing you’d been through together - even if you were only young at the time - you’d have thought he had a good reason to rip himself away from you entirely, but for the life of you, no matter how long you thought about it, you simply couldn’t think of a viable explanation. This fact only fuelled the fire in your anger towards him more, which was helpful to you, as it stopped that other side of your head continuing to yearn for him despite the way he treated you so carelessly. You couldn’t let that side of your heart win - you wouldn’t.

So, you learned to detest his voice, with its sultry tones and perceptive words. Admittedly, it took a while, as every time you heard it your heart would flutter on its own. But, you’d trained it to stop, trained your mind to think the opposite. And, now here the two of you were, hating one another for a reason you were completely oblivious to.

You hadn’t realised you’d been staring in his direction, too busy focused on your own swarming thoughts to notice you were well on your way to bumping into someone. When you did, the both of you gasped in surprise at the sudden contact, not having expected it so early in the morning. It was Na’eng, a forager in the clan who went out collecting fruits for everyone to eat. She’d dropped her basket in shock, the fruits tumbling out and cascading across the floor.

“Oh, Na’eng, I’m so sorry,” you began to apologise profusely, bending lower and aiding her in collecting them all back up again.

Once they were all back in their rightful place, the elder woman smiled reassuringly at you. “It’s okay, t’was an accident.” She patted you gently on the shoulder, somehow clearly away of your unfocused mind before she carried on walking in her original direction.

Your eyes quickly scanned the area around you, a breath of relief falling through your parted lips at the realisation that you hadn’t caused much of a scene, barely another of Na’vi looking over in your direction. Yet, your head had a mind of its own - turning back to look over towards Neteyam, only to find him already looking at you.

The two of you would always keep your distance from one another, barely making eye contact if you could help. So, this sudden form of communication rendered you practically speechless. It’d been too long since he’d really looked at you, and no amount of self training, of self-restraint, could stop your heart from skipping a beat, and from the yearning of more, more, more.

He’s completely expressionless, unbelievably impossible to read anything along his features that you have no idea what he’s thinking. Before you can fall further down the rabbit whole centred solely around him, you shake your head slightly, wishing those thoughts away, not wanting it to become dangerous. You paint a scowl upon your face, pretending you’d been annoyed at him this entire time, narrowing your eyes straight towards him.

The hunters before him begin to notice his distraction, looking back and forth between the two of you and snickering to themselves. This seems to bring Neteyam back to reality, swallowing a thick lump down his throat and continuing on his motivational speech.

He doesn’t look back over to you after that, like he’s repeating a mantra in his mind to not give in. You stay there for a few more seconds, mentally arguing with yourself on such a stupid predicament you had managed to find yourself in.

Gritting your teeth, grinding your jaw together, you ignore everything about it, about his aura that just screams for your attention. You make sure to keep your gaze concentrated, relentless to not move it away, continuing on your path to the Tsahik’s tent.

You had assumed this was going to be a good day, spending it with Kiri, foraging in the lush forests. Now, your mind is elsewhere.

Stupid Neteyam.

You eyes never blinked once.

Hidden within the depths of the bushes, fauna and plants engulfing you whole, you kept your position firm. Your feet stayed planted, not moving a single inch as they gripped against the earth beneath them; your breathing stilled, chest unmoving as you held your breath to become invisible; your figure hunched over, out of sight from the Yerik (Hexapede) just a short distance in front of you.

The creature was completely unaware of your presence, its head bunched low as it chomped down on the lush grass underneath, not a care in the world. You hadn’t been planning on hunting like this today - you’d actually been out collecting more feathers for your collection back at home, and you’d obviously taken a weapon out with you in case you ran into any danger. Stumbling upon the Yerik, you were hesitant to kill it, simply because you weren’t exactly the best at hunting. You had tried - Ewya had you tried - but it wasn’t your speciality, so you’d left that profession to those that were good at it, and stayed in your own skillset.

But, you couldn’t deny the opportunity. It didn’t know you were there, didn’t know you were lurking about the forest in complete peacefulness and euphoria, enjoying a few scraps of time alone. You and the creature were one - stuck in your own worlds, unaware of the dangers just around the corner.

Sucking in a sharp breath, forcing your stomach to become flat, back straight, you pulled the string of your bow back, closing one eye and concentrating the pointed end of your arrow directly on the Yerik’s body. Still, it didn’t move. All was silent, all was waiting, all was expecting.

However, what you weren’t expecting was a voice.

“Lo’ak!”

You’d jumped in terror, the Yerik’s head turning up sharply in surprise as it assessed the area. It didn’t bother staying long - it wasn’t going to stick around longer than it needed to now that it knew something else was close. Not wanting to give up, you attempted to shoot the area at it anyway, watching as it ran away in desperation. The panic and startle coursing through both your own and the creature’s system caused the arrow to fly straight past it, landing uselessly within the dirt and shaking at the impact.

A growl of frustration bubbles up in the back of your throat, letting it out loud and clear to show off your annoyance and exasperation. The one time that you’d been bold enough to attempt to hunt down an animal, and it gets ripped from your grasp so carelessly. Maybe you should’ve known better than to try it again, already knowing it was a long shot, but giving in to curiosity regardless.

You hissed, baring your fangs in anger as you sharply turned around, wanting to rip whoever ruined your chance at finally being able to prove yourself apart until they were nothing but a bloody mess thrown across the earth.

Stepping out, finally emerging through the dense foliage and into a small clearing situated in front of you, stood Neteyam. His eyes were narrowed in thought, in suspicion, steps hesitant as he moved closer until he was fully in the sun, stopping not too far away. You noticed how his eyes moved from your figure, down to the bow now laying limply in your hand, to the arrow in the near distance stuck in the ground.

For a brief moment, you felt embarrassed - embarrassed for having Neteyam seen what you were previously doing, and witnessing your failure. Albeit it was his fault anyway, but still, it was beginning to eat away at you. Then that feeling subsided, and something else came to the front - pure, blind, raging anger.

Of course it was Neteyam. Of course, out of all people that could’ve been the one to stumble upon your little secret, to chase away the chance at feeling proud of yourself, Ewya had willed it to be him. You would never, in all your life, curse out the Great Mother, but you were close, slowly being pushed further and further to the edge with every encounter you had with the Na’vi.

“You skxawng!” You shouted at him, eyes glaring directly at his figure as you watched him flinch just slightly at the rise in your tone of voice. But, you wouldn’t let that stop you - he needed to know how much you resented him. Carelessly, you threw you arm behind you, towards where your arrow lay alone, with no victory on its pointed end. “I completely missed that because of you!”

He doesn’t say anything at first, and for a second, you wondered if maybe you’d gone too harsh on him. Sure, it was his fault, but he didn’t know you were there, did he? That soft part of your heart was close to winning over, but then his eyes followed where your hand had gestured. “Were you practicing?”

The way he’d spoken to you, so gentle and hesitant, almost through you completely off-guard. You hadn’t heard him like this in what felt like so long, you’d forgotten how much you missed it, how much you ached for it. You’d been used to harsh glares and careless words - this was surprising.

But, you couldn’t show that on your face, instead steeling your features to remain composed, to remain angered. With a huff of distress, you shook your head, both out of disdain to him, and to rid your thoughts of him. Ewya, everything was just him, him, him, no matter the context. “I was trying to, until you stupidly called out for Lo’ak.” Running a hand over your face, you turned around, making your way back to your arrow, wrenching it from the ground and gripping it tightly. You didn’t bother looking at Neteyam when you continued speaking, remembering your short encounter you had with Lo’ak earlier. “He’s not even here - he’s down by the water.”

You expected Neteyam to just leave the conversation there, to walk away without another word and head down to the water in search for his brother. Instead, he didn’t move - his eyes stayed trained on your figure; even though you couldn’t see it, you could feel it. Willing yourself in your mind to stay rooted in your anger, to not let your curiosity win over, you intently inspected your bow, like it might’ve had a mark on it. But, it’d completely missed its target, and the only thing lingering on the wood was more dirt.

Silence was enveloping the two of you, and you had never felt more award in your life, not until Neteyam voiced his thoughts, ones he was clearly busy thinking over beforehand. “I could help, if you needed me to?”

Neteyam’s words came out more of a question than an offer, rushed as if he was worried he wouldn’t say them if he didn’t force them out. Your head shot up to him, eyes blown wide as you watched his tongue swipe along his lips in worry, in hesitancy. You had to repeat his words over again in your head several times in order to fully comprehend what he’d said, too scared to assume that maybe that hopeful part of your brain had made them up within your mind. But, as your eyes never moved from his own, looking deep into his golden brown hues, you knew you hadn’t imagined it.

But, why would he do that? Why would he offer himself up to teach you how to hunt a creature properly? Was it some kind of trick? If you accepted his offer, would he just laugh in your face, before walking away from you, telling the whole clan how unbelievably gullible and naïve you were?

You didn’t want to speak - you wanted the earth to wrap your in its arms, forcing you down into the ground until it was like you were never there in the first place. Neteyam continued to stare right back at you, eager and awaiting an answer. Blinking a few times in utter confusion, you cleared your throat, hoping it sounded steady and not as shaky as you felt. “Why would you help me?”

At your words, the cocky side of Neteyam emerged forwards once more, shrugging his shoulders as he let a sly smirk pull at his lips. “Well, I like to think I’m a pretty good teacher, and you look like you need the practice.”

You had half a mind to snap back at him for his words, so close to just telling him to get lost and leave you alone like he’d ask you to that first time. Yet, once again, that softer side, that side just full of Neteyam, wins over without you wanting it to. You don’t want to agree, and yet you do, both reasons being just because of him. A part of you said to decline, to tell him that you were fine on your own, despite being clearly not. And, the other part of you tried to reason with yourself, reminding you that he’d already seen the outcome to your pathetic attempt, so where was the harm?

The harm was simply him. He’d already broken your heart once - if you let him in again and allowed yourself to spend more time than necessary with him, would you just be running round in circles, chasing your own tail?

Your heart continued to pound against its restricted cage, each bump an echo of your wants and desires, and in the end, you let them win. It was obvious you were setting yourself up for failure, but you couldn’t stop yourself from mumbling out a begrudging fine, watching as his eyes widen in incredulity at your response. It confuses you - why did he offer if he hadn’t been expecting you to accept?

This whole interaction was baffling, to both yourself and to Neteyam. And yet, the both of you couldn’t help but lean more towards it, despite the rational sides of you telling you this wasn’t going to turn out how you expected it to.

Curse Neteyam and his stupid voice.

Your lessons with Neteyam had been going... well.

At the beginning of them all, you were almost completely sure you were going to claw each other’s eyes out with the arrows just based on your past resentment towards each other, sure that it would be a much better option that spending time with Neteyam. Shockingly, however, nothing like that ever seemed to happen.

It seemed that the more time you spent with Neteyam Sully, eldest son of Jake and Neytiri, someone you used to hold so closely to your heart before it teared it all to shreds, the more they seemed to get along. It was awkward at first, neither of you quite knowing what to say to one another in a situation neither of you thought you’d find yourselves in. But, with more practice, came less awkward tension.

Neteyam’s guiding words were understanding of your predicament, sympathising that hunting simply wasn’t one of your strong points, and emphasising that that was okay, not everyone could be good at everything, and you’d made a jibing comment that he was good at everything. He’d heard you loud and clear, but he never said anything about it.

Lessons continued on, the two of you meeting at the edge of Hometree and walking in silence to a small clearing that held an embankment of water, not too deep but enough that homed a few fish. People of the clan would see you walking away together, their shocked facial expressions clearly evident of that, but no one ever said anything. Perhaps they were too scared to say anything, too happy with a normal semblance of a relationship that didn’t constantly involve glaring and hissing and insults. Either way, you were glad for the ignorance.

But, that didn’t happen as often anymore, like it was something of the past. Sure, you had your moments, but a lot of them turned into jokes, teases. It confused you to no end, too, how your relationship could change so suddenly like you were the closest you’d been when you were kids for your entire life. You had some understanding as to why you were so willingly to change with Neteyam - you still cared for him the way you did all that time ago, albeit unwillingly. So, what was Neteyam’s reason?

Your thoughts were previously clouded over, only focusing on that one fish you directed you eyes at. Once again, you were in the same area as all the other times, arm drawn back to pull the string of your bow taut, finger gripping it tightly and awaiting a good moment to let it go. Looking for an opening, you followed the reptilian intensely, watching as it swam this way and that, knowing it was almost reaching its end.

Since that first time Neteyam had seen you shamelessly attempt at hunting an animal down, you had decorated your weapons. Your bow, so intricately carved by your own knife, patterns weaving together in no particular way, had added a few new feathers onto it, but not too many to obstruct your line of sight when looking down at a target. Your arrows, too, were decorated, beaded strings you had weaved yourself hanging limply, swaying side by side with their random colours as it awaited your next instruction.

Originally, your mind had been solely focused one the task at hand, until your mind decided to tease you by reminding you of the lingering presence just steps away from your own figure. Neteyam was standing close behind, the feel of his eyes aimed directly at you, watching your every move, spotting things you were doing well or things you could do better to improve your skill. He’d always tell you on the walk back what his thoughts had been, watching your stance and your demeanour, making sure you always know that you’re definitely improving.

You appreciated the feedback every time, willing yourself not to blush at his compliments. You would try to remind yourself you were supposed to be resenting him, but it seemed that feeling was beginning to dwindle away, and you couldn’t deny that you didn’t completely hate that idea.

The feel of his eyes are intense, now the only thing you can clearly think of. Shrinking in on yourself, shivers appear as goose bumps along your flesh until you’re sure it’s noticeable. Ewya, you hope not - you don’t want Neteyam to know how much he’s beginning to effect you (or, rather, how much he’s secretly always effected you).

These thoughts and these sensations had dragged your mind willingly away from the task presented so clearly in front of you, the fish finally slowing down in its movements, ready for its inevitable end. You were distracted - shock, horror - so much so, that Neteyam noticed how your eyes were glazed over with whatever was currently plaguing your mind, pointed arrow - once ready and sharp - falling limp and unprepared. Without realising he was even moving behind you, Neteyam stepped closer to you, bringing his hand up and gently prodding his finger against the side of your waist, silently telling you to shoot.

You suck in a sharp breath at the unexpected contact, the brief connection filling you with a warmth that enveloped the coldness you were previously feeling from the shivers. It was only a short moment of contact, but you learnt that you enjoyed it a lot, wondering if it was going to happen any more, and hoping it would.

Pulling the string taut once more, you hold your breath, eyes trained on the fish, tried from swimming so fast, and let the arrow fly. From your previous times, you hadn’t managed to hit anything direct on - your first couple of lessons had involved just shooting the arrow to a specific spot Neteyam had made, before tying a woven rope against a low hanging branch and telling you to shoot the moving target. That had been quite difficult for you at first, but after several tries and many pep talks from Neteyam (ones you can admit you relish in, despite being used to hating them), you eventually started hitting them.

Today was your first try at hitting an actual creature - Neteyam had made sure you started off small before moving to anything that could be considered too strenuous for you - so, when your arrow directly hit the fish, running its sharp edge straight through its body and ending its life there, you couldn’t quite believe what you were witnessing.

A shocked laugh tumbled past your lips, disbelief coursing through your veins, your arms slowly falling down to your sides as you struggled to tear your eyes away from the scene in front of you. Maybe this whole thing would’ve been considered stupid - pathetic - to anyone else, especially when those much younger than her could probably do this in their sleep, but you didn’t care. This was something you’d been struggling with for your life, spending time here and there in secret to practice on your own but always coming up to no avail. Now, with only several lessons from Neteyam Sully, the one guy you were sure you’d hate for the rest of your life, and you were improving faster than ever.

Neteyam was changing too many things too quickly in your life - your skills, your feelings - but, you weren’t mad at him for it.

“She shoots, and she scores!” Neteyam sings loudly, raising his arms in the air with one of the brightest smiles you’ve witnessed upon his features.

Your laugh subsides into silent chuckles, eyes narrowing in teasing confusion and shaking your head. “What in Ewya’s name was that?” Small laughs were bubbling up in your throat again, despite trying to keep them swallowed down.

Walking from behind you, Neteyam makes his way down the slight embankment, bending down to collect the fish that was now your victory. All the while, the smile never leaves his lips. “What was what?”

“That,” you emphasise, pointing at him to accentuate his previous words, and the way he’d spoken them. “That whole she shoots and she scores?”

He stands back up, plucking your decorated arrow from the lifelessly body of the fish, letting it hang limply in his hands. You notice how since Neteyam spoke up, your focus had only been on him, and no longer on your prideful moment. “What? You didn’t like it?” he questioned, a teasing, smug smirk lifting the corners of his lips. That annoyed you - that cockiness - but it was no longer an angry annoyance, more so an adoring one. You hated how adorable he was.

Finally finding enough willpower to wrench your gaze away from his, feeling too small and vulnerable under his gaze, you shake your head in disbelief at where your conversation was slowly beginning to turn. You chuckled to yourself, biting your lips to stop too much from slipping at and showing too many of your emotions on your sleeve. “Just don’t take up singing professionally.”

Gasping mockingly in shock, he finds his mouth turning up into a cheesy smile when you laugh loudly at his response to your jab at his singing. Your heart had never felt so full, and suddenly you can’t believe you had spent so long ignoring one another when you could’ve been together like this. You felt so happy, so elevated, and yet so stupid that you let Neteyam slip away from you so easily. It was still unknown to yourself why he left the way he did in the first place, but maybe it was something stupid in of itself, if he was being so easily carefree with you now. It would bug you, but if your relationship continued to improve the way it was now, you’d eventually be comfortable enough to ask him in the end.

With the fish still firm in his hands, he jokingly shoves it in the direction of your face, laughing wildly as he watches your reaction. “Say sorry - say you’re sorry!”

You fling your hands around, dropping your bow on the floor with little to no care, desperate to stop the assault happening to you. Not only did the fish stink, but it was dead, and whilst you were happy to prepare and eat it, that didn’t mean you were happy to have it shoved so closely to your face. “Neteyam!” you reprimanded him, pushed against his hands. “Stop it! Stop it!”

Eventually giving in to your pleas, he stops his joking attack on you, but the fish stands within his grasp. You look down at it, awaiting the next onslaught of fighting, but when nothing happens, you look back up, only to find Neteyam staring directly at you already. Your heart flutters and stutters and skips several beats until you’re sure there’s no more air available for you to breathe.

You hate this, and yet you love it at the same time.

Curse you and your stupid heart.

Neither you nor Neteyam had spoken about the change in your relationship, both of your too secretly scared in acknowledging it and possibly making things worse between you. You were finally happy when in a vicinity together, able to hold a conversation, to laugh together, to tease one another, that it always made you worry whenever someone said something bluntly about the whole situation.

But, that hadn’t happened in a while now, the change in your relationship finally seeming somewhat being considered normal through the clan. Jake and Neytiri were happy to see their eldest son so unbelievably happy - not that he wasn’t happy before, but something about it this time was different. They remembered how the two of you were when you were younger, how much you got along, and couldn’t help but reminisce about all those times in the past. Kiri was over the moon, too, knowing you could now spend even more time with her and her family in their tent without having to worry about whether Neteyam might possibly turn up. Lo’ak was glad to have you ‘back’, too, missing the times when you were younger, spent full of mischievous plots against others in the clan, enjoying the time to cause a ruckus like you used to. And, Tuk... well, Tuk was Tuk, and she never really understood why she struggled to see you and Neteyam at one time considering no one would ever tell her.

The day before, Kiri had invited you round her family tent’s for tonight's meal, one Neytiri had been preparing earlier in the day with Tuk, taking her out hunting and teaching her the clan’s ways. You had been completely ecstatic, unable to accept the offer quick enough, already excited at the prospect of being with everyone you loved dearly without a worry on your mind.

There was a bit of hesitance on your part, however, one you wouldn’t admit because you knew the entire Sully family would kick you down for thinking such a thing just for a split second. You didn’t want to intrude - you’d be the only non-Sully there for dinner - but Kiri had asked you especially with her big, round, pleading eyes, knowing you were finally back on friendly terms with Neteyam that it was the perfect opportunity to get everyone together again.

A small part of you wondered, too, whether Kiri knew whatever was beginning to happen between you and Neteyam was a little more than friendly. You hoped she didn’t - not only because you were a little scared to admit them to yourself, but because you and Neteyam had only just started to get back to normal again, and you were desperate not to ruin that even a smidge.

At the thought of the male Na’vi, a blush rose against your face, already picturing your flushing face with its darker blue hues, and you hoped no one noticed. You could only imagine how weird it looked when you were walking alone and a blushing mess. But, that was the effect Neteyam Sully had on you.

Turning the corner, the Sully tent was now fully in your view, stopping in front of the opening to give yourself some bearings. Your heart thumped wildly in your chest and you reprimanded yourself for it - you were being stupid for getting so worked up and nervous about this dinner. It was Neteyam’s fault, but the thought made you smile, regardless.

Just moments away from opening the tent and making your way through the entrance, taking a deep breath to steel your emotions, random noises filtered through the gap. You stopped in your actions, pausing to listen more intently to whatever was happening inside. It sounded somewhat similar to a Banshee, but you knew there wasn’t going to be a real one inside the tent. The suspicions were only confirmed when a small giggle reached your ears after the Banshee-like noises - Tuk.

A smile was already firmly on your lips as you walked through the entrance, finding Neteyam sat down on the floor, cross-legged, situated directly in front of a giggling Tuk, his tail high and obviously happy at being able to make his little sister laugh.

“Y/n!” Tuk yelled out in excitement, jumping up and away from Neteyam, running to you until her little arms were wrapped firmly around your leg.

Your smile only grew wider at the sight of the younger girl’s enthusiasm. Bending down, you wrapped her up tightly in your hold, pressing several loving kisses against her face as she laughed at the ticklish sensation. “Hi, Tuk, Tuk!”

Swaying her back and forth, basking in the warmth of her embrace, you head leant against her own, eyes trailing over to Neteyam. He was standing up now, ears perked up and tail swishing side to side. The blush from before came back in full swing when you took the sight of him, and how happy he seemed just to see you.

You were so entranced within the world of you and Neteyam, eyes starting solely into one another's, you jumped slightly in surprise at the sound of Tuk’s enthusiastic yell. “Neteyam was showing me what a Banshee sounds like!”

With a smirk on your face, you turned back to the Na’vi. “Oh, is that what that was?” You wouldn’t tell him that before you’d entered their tent, you were able to guess the animal noises - there was no point giving him a bigger head than he already had.

You watched as he opened his mouth, clearly ready to give a quip back, one you were hoping was somewhat appropriate due to Tuk’s presence, when the rest of the Sully family started to trill in behind you. Jake and Neytiri were the first to walk past you, giving you small nods and smiling in your direction. Kiri was next, her hands holding onto a basket full of meats and fruits, Lo’ak trailing behind her, patting you on the shoulder before teasingly patting your cheek.

Now that everyone had turned up, you placed Tuk gently back on the ground as everyone started to sit around on the floor as a family. You felt awkward, out of place, and whilst you tried to will those sudden emotions away, you couldn’t help but start to feel consumed by them. Looking around, you tried to find an open spot on the floor, wanting to feel calm and at ease as you had before the feeling of being an intruder deciphered within you. Neytiri had placed everything on the wooden board in front of her, starting to dish out the food to her family when your eyes trailed over Neteyam, Tuk on one side of him as she happily swayed from side to side on her back bone, but his eyes were already set on observing you.

With a minute nod of his head, he motioned to the space on the other side of him, a permanent smile pressed against his lips. Your heart picked up in its speed, making your way over and perching yourself down next to him, your legs touching, your breathing faltering until you were sure you were moments away from your last moments on Pandora. There was a little snicker somewhere in front of you, and you look up to find Kiri smirking over at you and her older brother. The blush coating your cheeks was definitely obvious now.

Once everyone was given a portion of the meal, you start to dig in, savouring each and every taste Neytiri had wound into the food with all her love. You were sure you’d never eaten something so beautiful before, instantly realising all this time you had been missing her food from when you were younger.

Tuk is the first to speak up, already knowing her father is going to start asking each of them about their days, so she takes the initiative. “Neteyam was just showing me what a Banshee sounds like!” she exclaimed happily, everyone turning to the aforementioned boy as he hung his head low, chuckling to himself. “But, I wasn’t sure if it sounded right because y/n didn’t recognise it.”

Each of you snicker at Tuk’s babbling, loving the unknown teasing that the youngest Sully was giving her older brother. Suddenly, Neteyam places his food down, ensuring it doesn’t get in the way, and beginning to make the same noises again, this time a little quieter now the rest of his family were present and tickling Tuk as her laughs pierced through the air. She’s rolling around the floor in a fit of giggles, pleading for Neteyam to stop in his attack.

With everyone around you laughing along with the young girl, you find your mind wandering away from you, looking down at your food in your hands. How was it that his voice was something that used to irritate and annoy you to know end, wanting to claw your ears apart until you had nothing less, and now all you wanted was to hear it over and over again?

You bite your lip in thought, desperate to hide the growing smile from the all-encompassing thoughts in your head, fangs pointed in anticipation, when you feel something brush against the small of your back. Thankfully, your able to hide your surprise, feeling the loving caresses of something soft and comforting - looking over, you see that it’s Neteyam’s tail.

Your head snaps over to him, watching as he gives you subtle looks from the corner of his eyes, not quite bold enough to face you head-on after such domestic actions. There’s a look of adoration all over his features, a soft smile that only gets brighter the longer you stare at him and the longer your own smile stays rooted on your lips. Somehow, his joyfulness and satisfaction increases tenfold when your tail subconsciously mirrors his own, rubbing smoothly against his back in circles.

The both of you are blushing messes now, trying to anchor your minds back to your foods, remembering his entire family are present. But, your emotions are clearly worn on your sleeves, out in the open for all to see, the love you both ignored when you were younger and have now allowed to grow when you were older adamant to push through your stubbornness.

This was all Neteyam’s fault.

Stupid Neteyam - with his stupid voice, and your stupid hearts.

taglist ;

@bakugouswaif @andraga12

#𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐑’s work ── ✎#neteyam #neteyam sully #avatar #avatar 2 #neteyam fluff #neteyam smut #neteyam x reader #neteyam sully x reader #neteyam x you #neteyam sully x you #neteyam x female reader #neteyam x fem reader

794 notes · View notes

magnusbae · 3 months

Note

If you're interested, here's a prompt from the ones who just shared:

"Then why did you do it?" "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

No rush hehe I hope you get rest and have fun writing this!

Now, see, I could have taken this as an open prompt and went with something else, but I know you like dreamling and so I was good.

Thanks for the prompt dear! 💖 Also special thanks goes to @cuubism for actually going through it 🌻🌻🌻 any mistakes are me ignoring her wisdom or straight up forgetting to edit it. one of the two.

Dreamling - some flavor of hurt/comfort(?) 'you dare?' kind of situation going on there, 1,394w

▾▾▾

“I cannot fathom why—”

Dream halts mid-sentence, his outrage rendering him speechless for a precious moment in which Hob tries, fruitlessly, to come up with a way to placate him, to explain in a way that will somehow pass as acceptable to Dream. The betrayal is tangible in the air, so charged that Hob’s hair actually stands on end as if from static. It feels like standing at your front door, still safe but seeing the hurricane on the horizon, knowing that this false safety can and will change in moments. Hob cannot think of a single thing.

“You.” Dream grits his teeth so tightly that they scrape loudly, the sound of it making Hob’s own teeth ache uncomfortably. “Know.” Dream says each word as if it takes a great burden to even use human speech and not simply burn a hole in Hob’s mind. Given Dream’s past record, which Hob had recently learnt of, perhaps it does. “You know I do not ask.”

“I know.” Hob winces.

There’s no denying that he knew. Knew full well that asking Dream’s sibling for help was a guaranteed way to not only outrage him, but also land Hob a very creative punishment and the end of their long friendship.

He knew that, and did it anyway.

Would again, if he had to.

He will not apologize for that.

Dream seems to come to the same conclusion, cheeks reddening in a surprising display of humanity, of lack of control over his appearance. The darkness that creeps into his eyes is distinctly not human. Hob shudders but fixes his eyes on Dream’s, refusing to avert his eyes like a reprimanded youth. He did what he did, and he’s not sorry.

''Then.” To Hob’s surprise, Dream seems to level himself, to school the darkness out of his eyes and ask with a calm that is somehow more unnerving than his rage. “Why did you do it?" There is a finality to this question, like a judge asking for one last confession to tip the scale one way or another. There will be judgment at the end of it, Hob knows.

“Because…” he sucks in a breath, there’s a ball of nerves in his stomach and frustration, surprising him with its intensity, it feels almost like anger.

Why is he here, searching for excuses for something he believes in wholeheartedly? He doesn’t want to learn firsthand of Dream’s notorious pettiness but he’s not here to play these sort of games.

The outraged huff is stuck in his throat— he didn’t even realize he had raised his voice this much, not until the ring of it strains his ears. He is practically shouting. And he doesn’t care.

''BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.''

There’s anger in it, frustration, a measure of desperation.

“I bloody love you more than I fear you, that’s why.” His own cheeks burn, itch, tingle with the indignation of it all. “Because I’m a besotted fool who would make a pact with the devil if I had to, if it meant helping you.” He gestures curtly at Dream, then spreads his arm in an exaggerated motion of question. “Why else? Seriously, why else?!” He stops at that, breathing harshly. This is not how he had imagined, not even close. Fuck it. And fuck Lucifer, too. And Dream’s all too pleased sibling, on top.

Through his outburst Hob had stopped paying attention to Dream’s face, only his eyes, latching onto them as if they were his anchor in this universe, the only constant thing, in life, in this.

When he finally looks, really looks, he realizes with a start that Dream’s cheeks are no longer red with anger, that his eyebrows are not as tightly knitted, that his pale lips form a small and lax ‘o’.

His friend looks taken aback, pacified and…surprised.

Like he couldn’t fathom this being the reason for Hob’s supposed betrayal of trust. Like this was the last rationale he had expected to hear, like he, an Endless being of incomprehensible wisdom, is unable to conceive this simple truth. Like he’s at a loss now.

Like he’s a bloody idiot. Hob shakes his head in amazement, his own anger evaporating as quickly as it came. Yet again he wonders how it is possible to be all knowing and yet so blind, so oblivious to such a simple truth, one Hob didn’t even try too hard to hide, really.

“I know you didn’t want me to,” he softens his voice, speaking more quietly “but I really didn’t have a choice. If I could do this on my own, you know I would have, I’d do worse for you.” He smiles at Dream, he doesn’t even try to sound self-deprecating, it’s the honest truth. He would.

His hand drops by his side and he awaits then, for his judgment.

“You love, me?”

Hob doesn't know how to respond to such a simple question other than–

“I do.”

There’s nothing else to add to that, he said it all, he did it all, even Dream must understand this is no passing fancy. One does not risk their immortal soul for something insignificant. Especially not Hob. One does it when it means everything. And in this case, it did. Dream did.

Dream seems to again, come to the same conclusion.

He wilts, shoulders sagging. He looks both much older and much younger at the same time, like this knowledge has stricken him, hurt him.

“You shouldn’t” is all he says.

“But I do.” Hob answers in return.

“I see that.” Dream’s voice is a whisper carried by the breeze, gentle, endless, aching. He looks torn in that moment, the judge whose scales no longer measure in any understandable manner. He casts his gaze down.

“Just let me,” Hob says. He did not come here demanding boons, nor love, only to help Dream. “Forgive my impudent human inclinations to save what I love, and let us continue as we were. Friends. “

“Friends…” Dream repeats after him, as if in disbelief.

Dream opens his mouth to say more—to accept or refuse, Hob doesn’t know—but in that exact moment Matthew half-crashes, half-lands on Dream’s shoulder, a flutter of black feathers and barely muffled curses.

“Boss! Oh for fuck’s sake— I mean cracker’s sake— I mean what the hell— I mean you’re fine—you’re actually okay, I was sure that this time you’re like legit—” he notices Hob then, and cawing loudly he curses again “You actually did it you son of a bitch— you really did!” His wings open excitedly, brushing against Dream’s face, covering it up.

“Matthew.”

“Uh-” Matthew folds his wings immediately.

Hob looks at Dream then, the moment is decidedly broken but he has to know if he’d see him again, he can’t just go on not knowing, it’ll drive him insane. “Dream—” he starts, but Dream speaks over him.

“We will discuss this—” Dream’s lips tighten, eyes flicking to Matthew and then back at Hob. “At a later time.” He concludes rather curtly, seemingly deciding that addressing exactly what they will be discussing is not something he wants his Raven to be privy to.

“Right…” Hob murmurs, not speaking further of the topic either. It’s one thing to break Dream’s boundaries over life and death, another entirely over his own impatience and need to know. Dream wanting to see him again at all is already a damn good sign, and Hob will take it, gladly.

“I’ll see you later then, Dream” He uses the name even while not being sure he is still permitted to, that he did not lose the privilege. Dream tilts his head but doesn’t object, instead he nods once and disappears in a swirl of golden sand.

“Show off…” Hob murmurs into the empty air, shaking his head in disbelief. There’s a good feeling in his gut, he should probably be worried but he has a feeling that things will work out, that it all will be just fine. He can’t explain it, but he has learnt to trust his gut over the years. After all, it once led him to believe that he would never die.

It was right then, and it’ll be right now too. He and Dream will figure it out and will be better for it. Just like the other time, just like always.

#Dreamling #Dreamling fic #The sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #dream #hob #buns.w #buns.all #carnelianmeluha #msg #It probably could have been rewritten but given the fact that it was meant to be only 20 minutes long writing and ended up being hours #i think this is as far as it goes :')#Something within me perished typing out in caplocks but i wished to stay true to the original prompt SO.#I only saw that you did specify the ship in a later message now lmao see I had forbidden myself from looking through the prompts #so I don't start picking and choosing what I felt more like #So I only read them as I actually did them--- and still chosen to be good xD

108 notes · View notes

upside-garden-of-dreams · 25 days

Text

Funny Coincidence? [Bang Chan x Reader]

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none at all ~

Geneal information: Reader is hinted to be female, but overall I kept them pretty gender neutral. Excuse any typos and mistakes, English isn't my native language

*looks at camera* Arien, this is for you ~🩷 Heavily inspired in a situation that happened irl with my friend and her reason to get that husky family Enjoy your read~ 🐺🖤

Christopher could not keep his eyes away from the pastel colored box, silliness coloring his smile and bubbling in his chest.

Their little beady eyes stared up at him in the cutest way, tiny fuzzy faces adding to their adorableness. Not to mention the minuscule clothes and accessories that only worsened the cute aggression felt in that moment.

Sylvanian Families - Husky Family

He couldn't control the giggles caught in his throat, letting them out into the air while kicking his legs from the emotion.

A mom dressed in a tiny pastel pink dress

A dad doning the smallest set of blue shirt and pants

And three adorable baby huskies swaddles in different pastel colored blankies

Your boyfriend remembers the stars in your eyes and the gasp that left you when you locked your gaze on that particular set of miniature animals weeks back.

How could he? That child-like joy looked beautiful on you!

Chris remembers how you clinged to his arm and dragged him into the toy store, begging and listing off the reasons why you "absolutely needed" that set.

You yolted with excitement when the shopkeep announced it was their last box of that particular set, growing anxious at the prospect of getting your hands over the husky family.

"If I may ask and know, what is so special of this set that you "must" have it?"

Words failed you and slipped off your tongue without any sense as a stuttered excuse was conjured by your brain, "Childhood pet! Yep, and it's a limited edition, too!" You held the small box close to your chest while making your way to the register, "C-C'mon, there's no way I'll let this opportinuty go... It's the last set!"

A heavy blush covered your cheeks, even tinting the tips of your ears, after his curiosity reached you.

You might think those small, fuzzy animals are the cutest ever, but your flushed face right then and there was his opinion on cutest ever.

So, that day you went home with new figurines to display on your desk and with the sweetest, biggest smile on your lips.

Later on, BangChan did his research and found out the husky family wasn't really a limited set, or at least that's what Calico Critter forums said. Needless to say, that curiosity from earlier resurfaced.

What was the real reason you were desperate to get them?

It wasn't until today that it dawned on him.

You had made plans to spend some time together at your apartment, watch some movies, play some games, and enjoy your favorite snacks.

Once his eyes landed on your desk, he matched two and two together.

You had run out the room to refill your drink. This left him all alone in your personal paradise, filled with trinkets and decorations that showed your unique and colorful self.

From soft PomPomPurin plushies to anime figurines and posters on your walls, with photo frames of you with your friends, family and boyfriend scattered here and there.

Your very own WolfChan plush stood right beside the husky family, with a polaroid of your 2nd anniversary date and one of his photocards situated in between your collectibles.

The spark went off in his brain

Huskies do look a lot like wolves, after all

"Is that supposed to be...us?" Chris mused to himself, a smile growing on his lips.

Love exploded in his chest, emotions running a mile a minute, leaving his brain completely melted at just how utterly adorable you were.

His heart skipped a beat, "So, does that mean... [Name] wants a family? With me?!"

That's how we end up with Chan kicking his legs in excitement as giggles erupt from his lips, face burried in one of your plushies to muffle the sound and hide his goofy fanboy smile.

At the sound of your footsteps approaching, he quickly stood up, rearranged Purin properly on your bed, and took deep breaths to calm down, appear as if nothing had happened.

As soon as you stepped in, his arms were around you, bringing you close to him, "Hey~"

Careful, not wanting to spill your drink, you hugged him back, "Hey there~ Missed me much?"

Chris shrugged, "Eh, kinda," As much as he wanted to appear nonchalant, the roll of his chuckle betrayed him.

While you knew him to be a cheery, funny guy, something about his demeanor felt off.

"What's up? Saw a funny tiktok or something?" You inquired.

He shook his head, "No, no, I just-... Just wondering~"

You took this as your queue to separate slightly and look up at him, taking the opportunity to set your glass down on a stable surface.

"Oh? Can I know about what, luv?" You asked.

More giggles came to the surface as he looked at you, carressing the small of your back with his thumb from where his arms remained loosely on your waist.

Confused, but with his excitement being contagious, a smile formed on your lips as you waited for his answer.

Pink dusted his cheeks, love and eagerness shining in his eyes, "Should we get started making the husky babies?"

You tilted your head slightly, not fully understanding his suggestive tone.

"Wha-OH!" You exclaimed once you followed his gaze to your desk, or rather, to the box containing your Calico Critters.

"Oh my god, Christopher!" That adorable blush from the day you acquired the set returned to your face, hands going up to cover your cheeks.

Laughter filled the air as the leader of Stray Kids brought you back to his chest, showing his teasing ment no harm or pressure, it was simply a silly joke. A joke to demonstrate he understood now the reason why you wanted that specific family of dogs.

All you could do was groan as more laughter spilled from him.

"It's okay, babe! If anything, I think that's quite cute, and I agree with your vision," He reassured, hand going up to pat your head.

At the mention of cute, you peeked up at him slightly, indirectly inquiring an explanation.

Christ pointed at the box, "It's us! It totally is us!" His glee was akin to that of a small child, "Well, us in a future, 'cus we agreed that kids aren't in the picture just yet."

You snorted silently, hitting his chest without force in your hand, "You dork."

He feighend offence, "Me?! You're the one who thought of us with that set! You're the bigger dork here!"

You resorted to further burrying your face into his chest with a small giggle, embarrassment dissipating.

Well, the "secret" was out, but at last he reacted the best way possible!

Even if you couldn't see, Chan smiled down at you and placed a kiss to the top of your head. "Really, it's very adorable. You don't know what you did to my heart."

You remained like that for a while longer, enjoying the close proximity and warmth of his embrace.

Slowly, you turned towards your decorated desk and reached for the Sylvanians. You held it our for both of you to look at closely.

"It's us."

"It really is us."

You looked at Chan and he looked at you, both sharing a sweet smile as he brought your foreheads together.

"You're so silly," he said.

"And you love silly old me~," you said with triumph.

"Yeah, I do," overwhelming love was evident in his voice.

It was only natural for your lips to find each other after, longing to demostrate the mutual adoration that gives life to your relationship.

[ END ]

Hehehehe 😈🤭💖 I personally really enjoyed writing this piece, since I wrote it with a target in mind, one of my dearest friends in life! Hope it was to your liking~! Fee freeto like, reblog, and comment~

#writing in dreams #idol imagines #stray kids #christopher bang #bang chan #stray kids x reader #bang chan x reader #christopher bang x reader #kpop imagines

67 notes · View notes

icearts · 3 months

Text

A couple things about Sonic Prime that disappointed me

1. Shadow was in almost the entire trailer, but showed up for 3 out of the 7 episodes

2. An action scene that lasted for three episodes. It got redundant

3. There was an entire plot point where Sonic was dying from the prism energy being taken from him. This took 3 minutes of screen time and the risk felt minimal if it was there at all

4. No consequences = no stakes (literally there was no issue or "sacrifice" that came out of repairing the prism. Idk what i was hoping for, but the fact that everything was so easily fixed kinda hurt my feelings because it made the entirety of season 2 seem completely pointless and dumb)

5. Shadow was super protective of Sonic in the first episode, but never showed that same "Would kill and die for you in a seconds notice" energy he had in that first episode

6. The chaos emerald is mentioned again but never used as a plot point. Chekov's Gun is fake, apparently

7. It's said that Sonic can't exist in the Shatterspace without prism energy, but Shadow never had it in the first place. There is no provided explanation as to why this makes sense. The closest thing was "shadow wasn't there during the blast" but that only explains why he doesn't have the energy, not why he doesn't need it to live like Sonic does (I assume the others have at least a signature of it too which is why they cloned and Shadow didn't. Again this is unexplained in Prime. What does the prism energy even do for/to the supporting cast)

8. Why are there only 7 episodes? Why do they take up so much time in one place?

9. Rouge and Shadow only had one line of dialogue (this isn't a genuine critique I just wanted to see my favorite duo be a duo)

10. Sonic's Prism "Super Form" doesn't come back. Shadow doesn't get anything like that either. Another dud Chekov Gun. Why is this dumb little anecdotal metaphorical firearm never firing

I really loved the new season, and it was great and super fun, but those critiques really ruined some things because those were all things I thought would be a guarantee because of the trailer and because of how the other seasons were.

Why would they even bother to mention the chaos emerald, and this weird void thing if it wasn't going to be essential to the plot other than being an excuse to sideline Shadow. They could have just as easily said that chaos energy is neutralized in cyberspace because it's not connected to the world/chaos/master emerald. That works too!

Plus, why was Shadow sidelined so much? What's the reason? Why wasn't he allowed to use chaos energy and go apeshit? Why couldn't he take off his inhibitor rings in a desperate situation to protect Sonic and be able to teleport into shatterspaces even at the expense of his health?

I know it's a TV-Y7 show. It honestly did not need to be, but I'm sure it was a Netflix mandate to make sure their animation is all meant for kids and only kids, but they really ended up nerfing themselves by alienating their more passionate audience which would be teenagers and adults. Just make it TV PG that would've allowed you to work with higher stakes and a higher budget (oh wait that's what Netflix's intention was nevermind).

If you wanna see me make a list of things I genuinely liked, feel free to ask or comment that. I might do so anyway. I feel like the internet is too negative and critiques of shows tend to do too much of that, so sorry for contributing to that culture, but I really needed to get that disappointment out because it bothered me quite a bit. Feel free to disagree too, or say "bro it's a kids show. It's not that deep. Stop having passion and emotions for your special interests you dumb fuck" I get it. Anyways, good show, good season, highly recommend, it's very fun and enjoyable especially if you're a fan of Sonic

Last minute edit: I only saw the season once and my sense of media literacy isn't by any means perfect, and also, to clarify, most of my concern isn't quite "these plot points are 1000% absent and terrible" and more "I thought the distribution between the action scene in episodes 4-7 and the rest of the season's story was very poor and made the content I was more excited for seem watered down/unplanned/super easily resolved". Again the part of the show where Sonic almost dies because of the prism energy withdrawal was about 3 minutes long. Why did it feel so low-stakes?? I love action scenes. They're great, but when you dedicate over 30 minutes to one long fight scene, it becomes less interesting and there's still MORE OF THE SHOW TO GET THROUGH so those parts got super rushed

#sonic #sonic prime season 3 #sonic prime #sonic prime spoilers #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sth #breaking news: some random guy on the internet rants for an hour complaining about a kids show. never before seen live on television

82 notes · View notes

obsessivevoidkitten · 1 year

Text

Committed to Hell

Yandere Male Demon x Gender Neutral Reader (CW: Noncon, drugging, religious themes/imagery, reader dies but the story takes place in their afterlife, murder, blood, cock sucking, stalking, abduction, general yandere themes, dacryphilia) Word Count: 2.8k (Wow, okay, so this is a very special post, it is in celebration and thanks for getting me to 2.5k followers, and it is also for Halloween. I have been working on this ALL day. This post has a story with a new demon lord OC, AND, for the first time ever, and there is an audio component of the yandere OC speaking to YOU! I had to upload the audio in a separate post which can be found nowhere because I deleted it. I hope you all enjoy this food, your Halloween Feast, thank you all so much for following me. Please excuse any mistakes as this was not beta read.) (The music in the background of the audio is Horror Drone 1, music by audionautix.com. The voice of Ledlam, the demon, was provided by me, artwork by @solariahalsey in exchange for writing. Edit: Art was removed due to being NSFW and I didn’t want to get in trouble and audio was removed because it was cringe and only got 100 likes.)

One late night you had come home from work and exited your car to step into the chilly air. Two hooded figures leapt from the shadows, putting a rag of what could only be chloroform over your face before quickly taking your keys, stuffing you into your own car, and driving away. When you woke from your forcefully induced slumber you struggled to recollect the proceedings of the following night, all you knew was that you had been on your way home and now you were on some kind of stone slab in a large room. The walls were adorned with complex runes and sigils that had been painted with something red and suspicious, the room was dimly illuminated by torches along the walls, and an ominous chanting could be heard coming from an adjoining room. Your limbs were bound with rope and tied to four posts on the cold hard stone block you were trapped on. You thrashed and tried to yell, but your mouth was gagged and your muffled screams of terror only served to let your captors know you were awake. They stopped their chanting, their unholy prayer to a significant demonic deity, and suddenly a set of heavy wooden doors burst open and a few dozen cultists filed in silently and sat in pews laid out before the stone altar. One cultist, who you assumed was their leader as he was dressed in more intricate robes, stood before the altar and looked down upon you before turning to face his flock. “Fellow worshipers of Ledlam, Shepherd of the Shadows, we assemble here today in the house of worship to fulfill the will of our lord.” The cult leader turned back to you, now holding a ceremonial athame. Your eyes fixated on it and tears rolled down your face as you redoubled your yells and struggles. “We now commit this lucky chosen soul to the service of Ledlam.” And in one smooth motion he had cut your throat, your blood pooling into grooves carved into the altar, dark magic sizzled and popped as the cultist chanted and the arcane symbols were filled with your blood. Your life quickly drained away. Now you were in hell, through no fault of your own, in the home of Demon Lord Ledlam. Unbeknownst to you, Ledlam had been watching you for nearly a year. He had used his powers to peer into the mortal realm and find someone suitable to his tastes, that someone had been you. From the moment he first laid his eyes upon you he knew that, on this very Halloween, you would be sent to him. It was the only date that the veils between Earth, Heaven, and Hell all thinned a bit and those using the right magic rituals and using significant power could bend the rules a bit. And so it was that upon your death your soul had been funneled here by the ritual of his followers and by the gravity of his abilities. Otherwise you would have either walked the veil before reincarnation or you would have ascended into Heaven. Now you were confused and in an old style castle. Hell was a lot like feudal Earth had been, society was just often more violent. There were many different territories in Hell and Ledlam was the demon lord who ruled over the largest piece. You could see from the windows outside that you were no longer on Earth, the sky was an angry crimson red, crashes of thunder echoed periodically as flashes of black lightning danced across the tumultuous sky. Understandably you were shaking. Anyone would be scared in Hell, but your soul, your very essence, was not for such a place as this. Under normal circumstances only an impure soul would be here. The effect was that you felt much more uncomfortable here than others would, a creeping sense of unease that permeated every pore of your being. Ledlam, however, was beyond excited. He was putting the finishing touches on a feast in honor of you being here with him. He had all favorite foods, well, as close as he could get to your favorite foods with the type of flora and fauna that were available in Hell, he had his horns polished to make a good impression on you, and he even had the dining hall décor changed to match your favorite colors. You could hear the stomp of his footsteps approach the room you were in as his great hoofed feet hit the hard surface of the floor. Not knowing what it was you ducked behind a chair in a desperate bid to hide from whatever monster could possibly call this place home. What you saw turned your stomach, a beast straight out of a nightmare. A colossal demon, well over 7 feet tall, opened the door and stepped into the room. He had sharp shiny horns protruding from his head of black and red hair, his legs were covered in thick white fur and his feet were mighty hooves, his body was all muscle, and his nails sharp and black. An upside down cross was tattooed on the back of his hand and a spaded tail could be seen moving behind him. The demon was naked except for a bird skull necklace and a loincloth, which was mostly useless, as his large cock and balls swung quite visibly and pendulously below it. His four yellow eyes glowed in the darkness of the poorly lit room, scanning for any sign of your presence and finding you almost instantly. “(Y/N)! There you are, come on, your food will get cold!” He spoke with a deep booming voice, one that echoed unnaturally. Ledlam approached you and grabbed your arm, completely apathetic to your resistance and only silently enjoying your terror. He dragged you into the dining hall and set you down at a small table opposite of him with a large plate of food between you two, evidently for you both to share. You just looked down at your lap silently and awkwardly. Your demon captor just stared at you with unblinking eyes as he smirked at your fear. It was so delicious. You flinched at that wicked voice when he spoke again. “How rude of me, in my excitement I forgot to introduce myself, I am Ledlam, lord of this territory.” He reached across the table, put his hand under your chin, and lifted your head up, your eyes threatening to cry just from the pure fear you were experiencing from him and your situation as a whole. “You need to look at me when we are having a conversation, okay (Y/N)” At this you nodded obediently, too scared to speak, but your acknowledgement seemed to please him as you forced yourself to look at his frightening visage. Ledlam reveled in your fear, he couldn’t help it, he did not meet too many human souls up in his castle and the few times he ventured out the souls were long since hardened and immune to the simple sight of a demon scaring them, even a frightening one with his violent reputation. Your fear was just so cute and pure. He could not help but enjoy it. “Leaving your Earth body behind takes a lot of energy, you need to eat, my little human. You cannot really die in Hell, but you can still suffer.” As he finished speaking he held something to your lips that looked similar to a dish you had enjoyed while living. A little mini quiche. You managed to speak in a small trembling voice, “N-no that’s okay I’m n-” “I was NOT asking. Open your mouth!” Not daring to disobey him, you blushed as you opened your mouth and took a bite of mini quiche that he fed to you. You chewed slowly and took a nibble of food from the plate intermittently to keep Ledlam appeased. “Such a perfect little human, that is why I had you brought here, you will be a wonderful mate!” Ledlam could not wait to hold you and kiss you and make you writhe in pure pleasure, he had been alone for untold millennia. None of the demons born of hell nor the humans sentenced here were what he sought. He wanted you. A sweet, kind, pure being. Unspoiled by the ravages of Hell, who he would protect and keep safe. Though you could not speak after hearing what he wanted you here for, your surprise covered your face. “Don’t worry, I know you are scared, my angel, but I will keep you safe.” At these words you started sobbing. You wanted to be home, safe and curled up in your bed. Instead you had been killed and had your soul dragged into hell. It wasn’t fair. As much as Ledlam loved seeing your face streaked with tears he did not want you to be too upset. The demon lord left his seat and tried to pick you up, but for the first time since you wound up in Hell you found the will to run. You ducked under his arms and ran straight out of the dining hall, running frantically, luckily the way out was pretty direct and you wasted no time rushing out the door. It appeared there were no guards or anyone else around and you rushed towards the forest surrounding Ledlam’s castle. Just as the sky was like an angry wound flashing with dark lightning so too was the forest completely alien. Flora with purple, red, and black foliage, strange animal noises, and grass and soil that just somehow seemed… off… But you could hear Ledlam shouting for you so you proceeded into the cover of the trees anyway. It was not a fun experience for you, some of the bushes lashed at you leaving wounds on your legs, you were getting bitten by any number of horrible insects, and just to make matters absolutely as bad as possible it began to rain. Blood. It was raining blood. To say you were miserable would have been a grave understatement. At least the blood rains dispersed all the insects. You trudged through the forest, trying to put as much distance between Ledlam and yourself as you possibly could. It felt like you had been running for hours, your entire body ached, and this rain was making your skin itch. You found a little cave at the base of a cliff and decided to take shelter until the weather was a bit more favorable. But it was only minutes before you heard the booming voice of your pursuer nearby. “I KNOW you are close (Y/N), did you REALLY think that you could escape from me? This is my kingdom, my playground.” The demonic voice was slowly getting louder, you hid a bit deeper in the cave behind a boulder. “Are you in heeeere my little angel?” “I can smell your wonderful scent even through the blood rain darling~” Now you could hear his hooves against the ground, drawing ever nearer. “I love a good hunt every now and then too little dove, but my patience is wearing oh so very thin. Wouldn’t you rather get out of this scary cave and go back home to bounce on my cock?” Suddenly you saw four glowing eyes peering at you in the darkness. “Ah, there you are darling... mmm… I was going to wait until I got you nice and comfy back at home before mating, but seeing you covered in all this warm blood… mmm… it is really doing something to me. I really don’t think I have any choice other than to take you right here~” You did not know how he could see you so well, but you backed up until your back was against the rough wall of the cave. As he stepped towards you he uttered some kind of spell that illuminated the cave in a soft light for your benefit, you could now see that his uncut cock was fully erect bobbing excitedly with each step that he took. For what felt like the hundredth time today warm tears began streaming down your cheeks. Ledlam smirked, you just looked so irresistible like that. He continued his approach and stopped when his precum leaking dick was just in front of your lips. His intent was obvious. “Pl-please… I don’t want t-” “Suck. If you don’t get it nice and lubed up then what we do next will hurt quite a bit my little angel~” This wasn’t true, he did not and would not actually harm his sweetie, and his cock made enough natural lube so he did not need your saliva. But ingesting his precum would actually help to relax and arouse you and he relished the fear his threat got from you. Your lip quivered before you reluctantly opened your lips and he slid just a little more than the tip of his prick into your wet mouth. You stroked his dick as you sloppily sucked on it. His skin was extremely warm and his precum was strangely heady. Ledlam knew it would take a minute or so before his precum changed your demeanor any, so he had a bit of time to enjoy your clumsy nervous sucking. The demon ran his fingers through your blood drenched hair gently as you continued your task. Such rains were exceedingly rare, to have been drenched by one before completing his unholy union with you was surely a sign it was meant to be. You licked up and down the shaft, trying to get as much spit on his massive tool as possible, he caressed your face gingerly, careful not to hurt you with his sharp nails as he used his thumb to wipe away your gorgeous tears. The drug-like effect of his fluid was starting to become apparent. You slowly stopped crying and your muscles relaxed considerably, relieving all the tension that had been stressing your soul since your death. You found yourself more into pleasuring him as you gradually became more aroused. Nervous sucking and a desire to lube him up to ease future pain were replaced by eager licking and a need to swallow more of his precum. “Mmm, so good and obedient for me (Y/N), but I think we are ready to do something else little angel.” You looked up at him with a flushed face, desperation and confusion obvious on your face, all your previous fear completely melted away. Ledlam peeled off your wet clothing, easily slicing through it with his sharp nails. He leaned you over against a large stone and then kneeled behind you, his rough hands exploring your legs and thighs. Unable to stretch you with his fingers with his large nails he instead opted to use his tongue. It slid into you effortlessly. You moaned in desperate pleasure as he moaned at the taste of you. His serpent-like tongue thoroughly massaged and stretched your entrance, he licked, stretched, and kissed it until you started sobbing again, but this time in needy agony, yearning for more than just his tongue and mouth. “Shhh, I’ll take care of it darling.” Your demon lover turned you around. You draped your arms over his broad shoulders, dizzy with a need that you didn’t understand. Strong calloused hands gripped your waist. Ledlam pulled you into his lap and allowed you to nuzzle your head into his neck as he slowly lowered you and the tip of his cock teased your hole, smearing thick precum into it, before he finally sat you down on it. You moaned, literally drunk with pleasure. Ledlam took you to the base, moving you up and down on him, your stomach bulging from the enormity of his shaft each time you were forced back down, though there was no trace of pain or even discomfort. Seeing you utterly fucked out of your mind as he bounced you in his lap was even better than seeing your eyes wet and full of tears. You leaned against him, nuzzling lovingly against his chest, as he started plunging into you just a bit faster, his weighty nuts smacking your ass with each sinful thrust. Pleasure mounted in both of you until it could be held back no longer and you both came at the same moment, as he filled you up with potent demonic seed the ritual was complete and your soul was irreversibly bound to his. If there was any doubt as to who owned you it was certainly gone now. You were Ledlam’s angel from now and into the fathomless depths of eternity. You were too exhausted from the sex to stand, and too drunk off his cum to think, so Ledlam pressed a kiss to your lips before picking you up and carrying you all the way home.

#yandere teratophilia #yandere terato #yandere exo #yandere exophilia #yandere monster #yandere demon #male yandere x gn reader #gender neutral reader #demon x reader #yandere audio #yandere asmr #yandere speaking #my OCs #my oc ledlam #yandere x reader #Happy Halloween 2022 #thanks for following #Merry Hexmas

868 notes · View notes

honoviadakai · 4 months

Text

What the Diaboys smell like: Sakamaki brother edition

(CW for Laito’s section, mentions of sex/sexual themes and blood for all the brothers)

Shu:

Top notes: clean linen, violin rosin, spruce wood

Bottom notes: blood, old books, cheap body spray

Shu always smells like clean, freshly pressed, linen sheets

Not because he does the laundry, that’s Reiji’s job

He sleeps in his bed for days or even weeks on end if he can get away with it

So he tends to smells a lot like his clean bed sheets because of how often he takes depression naps

While he’s the least active member of the Sakamaki family, he still has hobbies

His is music, specifically the violin 🎻

Now if you’re a musician then you’re familiar with the maintenance required for keeping your instruments in tip top playing shape

Violins need rosin in order to properly “grip” the strings and create the right amount of friction necessary to play music

And if you’ve never smelled rosin before, it’s usually a bit piny

It’s not really that strong of a smell, but given how old he is and that playing the violin is one of the few things he’s willing to do over an over again

The smell is now apart of him

Specifically his hands

Boy do his hands smell like a pine tree 🌲 💀

He also smells a bit like spruce wood

There’s 2 reasons for this

Reason 1 is because violins are typically made of spruce and therefore, smell as such

Now reason 2…

Shu met Edgar when he was just a child and one of the activities he did in his short time with the boy was to help him with his chores

Specifically, he helped Edgar cut fire wood

The area they lived in was very abundant in spruce trees so Shu grew to love this smell

However…after the fire…he began to hate that smell…

But he could never bring himself to purge himself of that smell

Instead, all of his violins from then on were specially crafted with the wood of spruce trees that grew in the area that Edgar and his family used to live in

He even chops the wood himself to give to the violin crafters

It’s his way of remembering his first friend…

On a far less somber note!

Let’s circle back to the fact that he’s a lazy ass!

His personal hygiene is not great

The only reason he does it at all is because Reiji will nag his ears off if he smells even a little bit funky

So he does buy perfume once every 6 months

…I say perfume because he goes to a store that sells both men and women’s fragrances…

This man is so lazy that the moment he sets foot in that store, he reaches for the first box that’s available for purchase…

He doesn’t even look at what he grabs!

He has bought women’s perfume for himself on multiple occasions and no, he’s not gonna return it!

It’s too much work for this mf!

So for the next 6 months he’s just gonna smell like Victor and Rolf Flowerbomb and we all just gotta accept it

He also just naturally smells like old books

Part of it is cuz his mom use to make him study till steam started coming out of his ears

Sometimes he’d even have to study so much that he’d actually just fall asleep at his desk, using the book he was reading as a pillow

For this reason he enjoys sleeping in libraries

They’re quiet and they smell nice

The smell also reminds him of his mother

They may not have always gotten along, but he did love her

So he sleeps in libraries so he can smell a scent that’s similar to his mother’s and have it permeate his being

It’s his way of remembering his mother

Now a smell that never leaves him is that of his victims blood

He’s been alive longer than he cares to remember, so he’s had more than his fair share of “meals”

And he’s not exactly a clean eater…

Sometimes the blood of a sacrificial bride will stain his expensive silk shirts

He doesn’t bother cleaning them right away, so the smell of their blood always lingers for weeks, even months sometimes

But unlike the triplets, he’s able to hide the smell and even has a good excuse as to why the smell is sometimes strong on him

He likes rare steak 🥩

Rare steak is a bit bloody

Literally every time he says that to a human they just laugh and tell him what a messy eater he is

If only they knew just how true that statement was…

Reiji:

Top notes: tea(depends on what he’s feeling that day), old books, expensive cologne

Bottom notes: detergent, mystery chemicals/poisons, blood

Reiji is pinnacle of refined gentleman should be…at least on the surface

All of his clothes are meticulously washed and pressed before the start of a new day(night?)

So he always has the light scent of whatever detergent he used on his clothes

He also buys the most expensive cologne in the human world that peeks his interest

Right now it’s Frederic Malle The Night Eau de Parfum (estimated at around $2,125.50 USD)

Honestly he doesn’t even buy it cuz it smells nice…he just likes flexing on Shu 💀

But it does smell nice and it adds to his “prim and proper gentleman” aesthetic

Something else that adds to this aesthetic is that his natural scent is that of tea and old books

Both stem from the fact that the few times he got his mother’s full, undivided attention…was when they had tea time together…and talked about the books they had read in the past month…

Yes, he was responsible for her death, but it’s something that he deeply regrets even if he won’t admit it to anyone…not even himself

Something else he won’t admit is that this is why he often reads and drinks tea at the same time

It reminds him of the few happy memories he has of his mother, so he unconsciously has his tea while reading to remember his mother and make himself happy

He also subconsciously picks out tea and books he thinks his mother would have enjoyed

The smells then linger on his body, so it’s almost as if his mother is with him as he goes about his day

Now he’s also a brilliant man

He dabbles in chemistry and specializes in creating poisons and drugs that could incapacitate even some of the mightiest of monsters he’s come across

The smell of those chemicals he works with tend to linger

It’s never to a noticeable degree…but humans who linger too close for too long tend to notice that he smells…odd…like chemicals…

It’s simple enough for him to dismiss

He’s part of the school’s chemistry team, obviously he’s gonna smell like chemicals 🙄

So humans tend to take that answer at face value and not give it a second thought

His brothers all know better though…he’s making a new neurotoxin…and they know better than to get close, least they end up his next Guinea pig…

And of course…he’s a vampire…the smell of blood sticks to him like glue…

Unlike his brothers though, the smell of blood is weak on him

He’s not a messy eater like his brothers are

And he also will clean his clothes much sooner than his brothers would

So while he will have the faintest smell of blood on him, he can hide it with a few good spritz of his expensive cologne

Laito:

Top notes: blood, sauvage mens fragrance, fish(in a bad way)

Bottom notes: the perfume of whatever woman he was with last, vanilla, Cordelia’s favorite perfume

Oh boy…this one…

Buckle up…this one’s a doozy…

So let’s start with the fact that he always has a fishy smell to him…

….

Listen, there’s no easy way to say this but this man answers booty calls like it’s his full time job

Did you really think he wasn’t gonna smell like a man whore? Cuz he does

It’s such a prominent smell that he literally can’t lie to anyone about it

If he answered a booty call 15 minutes ago and just quietly walked into a room, everyone knows

He’s not even gonna hide it

He’s proud of himself so he’s not gonna bother coming up with a lie or using fragrances to cover up the smell

But if he does use cologne…

His favorite is Dior Sauvage Parfum

He likes how it smells and he thinks Johnny Depp is a pretty good actor for a human

Also some girls and guys like it so it also helps him score

Why would he not stock up on this fragrance?

Especially when he needs something to help cover up the sex and blood smell

Like the other triplets, the smell of blood is STRONG on him

He’s the only one that gets away with it though

He claims he likes having periods sex with women and the smell just sticks with him

He’s not even lying, that is in fact a kink of his

….but he is lying…

Sorta

While it is possible he a bloody horizontal tango session with a human female earlier, it’s also possible he found time to drain a human of blood sometime before going back to class too

Hell, it might have actually been a female classmate that he banged and killed cuz he was too hungry to wait

But no one can prove it was him cuz he was smart enough to burn the body till not even her ashes remained…

And if he did get his clothes stained, he won’t even bother going back to interacting with humans

Humans shriek too much at the sight of blood and while he does find it entertaining sometimes, he doesn’t wanna deal with humans asking him a million questions over a meal he just had

So if he is clean of blood and he smells heavily of his favorite cologne….he probably just ate…

….for your safety, mind your business and do not ask him questions…

Also if he smells like Bethany’s favorite perfume, no he doesn’t

You can’t prove shit!

You didn’t hear this from me…but he does like nuzzling up to his lates plaything and smelling like them, he’ll even take a article of clothing of theirs sometimes

It’s his weird way of feeling love and giving love back to his prey

He smells like them, they smell like him, romantic right!?

….

He got that idea from Cordelia….

Whenever she and Laito had…playtime…together 🤢 she’d always make sure she smelled like him and he smelled like her…

“That’s what lovers do after all”

Even though she’s dead, he still sprays her favorite perfume on himself….

It’s his way of showing his father, uncle and even his brothers that even if she’s gone…her love permeates his body and only his body…

He does this less and less once he gets a lover who truly loves him

The “Smelling like Cordelia” bit I mean

Cuz now he just wants to smell like his lover! 🥰

He also kinda smells like vanilla

He really like Macaroons

Like he’ll eat 5 boxes in one sitting if left to his own devices

Eating so many leaves him smelling like sweet vanilla

It’s kinda funny tbh

He’s a big scary vampire

But he’s got a bit of a sweet tooth

And it leaves him with the faintest sweetness in his natural scent

Even his own scent is proof that beneath the twistedness he exudes, he’s a bit of a sweetheart

Kanato:

Top notes: sugar, blood, wax polish

Bottom notes: strawberry pound cake body spray from bath & body works, lavender scented detergent, vanilla

So remember how I said Laito was a doozy…

Kanato is on a whole different level….

So of all the Sakamaki brothers

Not even just the triplets…

He violently smells like blood…

So much so that the brothers have to lie and say Kanato has a medical condition where he gets constant nosebleeds and that’s why he often smells like he just arrived from a crime scene

To be fair…

Look at him…

Just…look at him…

He looks anemic…and he’s abnormally small for someone who’s supposed to be 17 years older

So humans will 100% believe it when given that explanation

….UNTIL HE FUCKS UP AND DOES SOMETHING THAT NORMAL HUMANS CANT/WONT DO

For example!

For a guy who’s been labeled as “anemic” by his brothers…he sure does have quite a lot of energy…

He’s so energetic that he punched a classmate in the ribs for calling him a shrimp…

And said ribs broke…

And his hand is fine…and he tries to bite the already injured student….

On the neck….

…..this is why he’s the least “human passing” of his brothers…

That and he smells like a blood bank!

He’s the messiest eater of his brothers and he won’t wash his clothes!

Reiji has to play the waiting game, steal his clothes and then DEEP CLEAN all his clothes!!

You know what else he smells like? Sugar

Like, a metric fuck ton of sugar

I don’t think vampires can get diabetes, but Kanato is definitely limit testing his body

Like he smells so much like sugar it’s almost kinda gross

Especially when the bloody smell mixes with the sugar smell

It’s such a weird dichotomy of smells but that’s what Kanato smells like

Bloody sugar

And wax finish…

…did I mention taxidermy is a very bloody hobby and that he smells like blood yet…?

Cuz it’s true…

He spends hours making new “toys” and he doesn’t always clean himself, his tools or the room he was working in when he’s done…

He does like to wax his human “dolls” when he’s done and the wax smell juat kinda sticks to him but it doesn’t do much to cover up that he smells like the walking embodiment of death sometimes….

Weirdly enough, he does try to cover it up sometimes

Key word here being try…

Cuz he’s not good at it…

One of his favorite human stores is Bath & Body Works

I’m dead serious

Walk past one and you’ll immediately understand why it’s his favorite place to buy personal hygiene products from

His favorite product is their strawberry pound cake body spray

He LOVES how it smells and wants the entirety of his natural scent to just be that smell

Hasn’t worked yet but he’s trying

Reiji also washes Kanato’s clothes with Lavender scented detergent

He heard lavender has calming effects and wanted to use it on him to make him less chaotic

…..

It hasn’t worked yet…but Kanato likes it so he allows Reiji to continue using the lavender detergent

His sweat and saliva also naturally smells like vanilla….

Do with that information what you will 💅

Ayato:

Top notes: blood, sweat, axe body spray

Bottom notes: takoyaki, musky oak wood, bat musk

Ah yes

The youngest triplet

Let’s get this out the way

He smells like blood

MF eats like he doesn’t know what a napkin is 🤦🏻

He at least has the decency to give Reiji his bloody clothes as soon as he can

Ofc Reiji also has to clean his face cuz…ya know…he’s covered in blood…

The triplets are something else sometimes man…

He at least tries to cover up the smell…with Axe body spray…

And if I’m being honest, I think he uses it to cover up the smell of his sweat…not the fresh blood that was on him after drinking his fill…

His priorities are a little scud…don’t mind him…

But yeah, he’s a sweaty guy after playing several games of basketball and he masks it with Axe body spray 🤦🏻

What a dweeb(affectionate)

He also faintly smells of takoyaki 🐙

What can I say, it’s his favorite food

He eats it every time he has the opportunity to do so

So the smell is just apart of him now

Hope you like takoyaki 😌

He also smells a Leta’s like musky oak wood

I’ll get to the musky part in a bit, but there’s quite a bit of oak trees near the lake his mother nearly drowned him in

He hangs out there a lot tbh

He and his brothers use to play around there a lot

In a way he’s hoping the good memories of him and his brothers will overshadow his awful memories of his mother

Hasn’t worked yet but he’s hopeful

Now onto the muskiness

So Ayato has the muskiest/sweatiest smell out of all his brothers

Reiji hypothesizes it’s because he’s the most active out of the 6 of them

And that’s partially true

But it’s also cuz he’s the brother who interacts the most with their familiars

And most of their familiars are bats! 🦇

You ever smell a bat???

They’re musky af!

He mostly hangs around them cuz they’re good listeners

Sometimes he just needs somewhere to vent, ya know?

They’re also great spies

If he takes a great liking towards a sacrificial bride, he’ll send his familiars out and have them report back where they are and what they’re doing at all times

So if he smells an awful lot of bats lately…

It’s because he’s been spying his crush prey

You didn’t hear that from me though 😌

Subaru:

Top notes: roses, silver, Christa’s favorite perfume

Bottom notes: blood, silver polish, sandalwood

We’ve finally made it to the youngest Sakamaki son!

He’s got a surprisingly delicate natural scent

Which is so weird given how he is

He’s also the second most active brother out of the 6 of them

So you’d expect him to smell musky/sweaty right?

Well he doesn’t

Reiji theories that it’s cuz he’s the youngest and therefore has the most amount of stamina out of all of them

So he requires triple the amount of physical activity that Ayato normally does to even start breaking a sweat

And because of that, his natural scent is delicate and sweet

Yes, he smells of blood sometimes

Buts it’s only very prominent after he’s had his fill

The the third cleanest eater of his brothers and he tried to get clean as quickly as possible so the smell of blood doesn’t send him off the rails

The main thing he smells like is roses 🌹

Is that really a surprise to anyone?

Look at how many roses are around the compound

I’d be more surprised if he didn’t smell like roses

It’s so ingrained into his being that I’m positive that even if you were to bathe him in the harshest of chemicals, the rose smell would never leave

He also smells of Christa’s favorite perfume

He has a habit of spraying the key around his neck with her perfume when he’s feeling extra sad and lonely

The smell remains him of the good memories of his childhood…when Christa was able to hold herself together long enough to give Subaru a big hug and tell her she loved him like she meant it

He sometimes brings her new bottles of her favorite perfume when he visits her

She deserves a nice gift every now and then

He also smells of silver and silver polish

He tends to hold onto the knife his mother gave him so hard when he sleeps that the smell of silver is practically burned into his skin now

He also cleans and polishes the knife daily…

His mother gave him that knife in pristine condition..so he will maintain it in good condition…

It’s also hard to deal a killing blow with a dull knife…

So he takes care of it as best he can, just like he promised his mother he would…

He surprisingly smells of sandalwood

There’s quite a lot of sandalwood trees near the manor actually

Quick fun fact about sandalwood!

They not only smell really good, they’re very easy to carve

Subaru actually picked up wood carving at some point in his childhood

He doesn’t do it often but he is quite talented at it!

He tends to mostly carve little statues of animals

His favorite animals to carve are rabbits

He will never willingly say that out loud though

So you didn’t hear it from me 👀

Sometimes he gifts some of his carvings to his mother

Sometimes he leaves carvings in his brothers rooms as surprise gifts when they do something nice for him for once

And if he REALLY likes a sacrificial bride that’s staying with them, they get a wooden rabbit that looks extra cute

If he manages to establish a romantic relationship with them he might actually give them a new carving every month or so cuz cuz he loves them so much

Hopefully they don’t mind him smelling more and more like sandalwood when that becomes his full time hobby 😉

#diabolik lovers #sakamaki brothers #shu sakamaki #reiji sakamaki #laito sakamaki #kanato sakamaki #ayato sakamaki #subaru sakamaki

91 notes · View notes