#yeah - i added a thousand whole words to this

[tommarvoloriddlesdiary]

not me updating this post (it's more likely than you'd think)

-

Dust and debris spread like a fine mist through the air. 

Harry can see the storefront across from him. The window’s glass has large looping letters, their outline gilded and just catching what little light shines through the smoke clouds, but he can hardly make out the words. He feels so dizzy.

What’s going on?

At first the world is straight, if a little blurry, and then it is not. He’s tilting—no, falling—Harry is falling; he’s been pushed, shoved? The culprit is running off somewhere into the smog, and he catches himself with his hand on the brick behind him. He thinks it must hurt but can’t really feel it. 

There’s definitely something going on here, Harry nods almost to encourage himself. And he’s sure of it because, even though it‘s painful to look at (now that he’s seen it - he can’t stop staring), spellfire is sparking up and down the alley. Probably a fight, but who’s fighting? And - what’s that?

A large chunk of rubble, he realises. Then he corrects himself—chunks. 

Oh. 

They make an impressive line through all this dust and whatnot to the point where things actually seem visible. And now that he’s sort of able to see and mostly paying attention, Harry’s noticing that the chunks aren’t coming from nearby buildings; they aren’t falling from the sky.

He watches, brows raised, as the ground a bit off in the distance breaks, cracks, and almost crumbles out of itself. The massive stone tears straight up and away, shooting at harrowing speeds towards—something, Harry’s certain. Their mass is being used as projectiles. 

Woah, he thinks and hopes he says it out loud because whoever’s doing that needs to hear this, now that’s wicked. The magical strength required to do that must be enormous, but judging by their wavering and almost wild flinging energy, it lacks in any refinement or skill. Whoever is doing that is desperate. Scared. So, not wicked, probably.

Harry’s tempted to find the poor bastard and give them a pat on the back, maybe take them out for a pint. Hell, he could use one right about now. He’s feeling pretty desperate and—well, maybe not scared—but definitely confused, too. 

Which brings him back to: What’s going on?

Waking up in the middle of an ongoing fight is what Harry had been expecting; what he hadn’t been expecting is waking up in the middle of what looks like Diagon Alley if he squints a bit and tilts his head to the left.

Deciding he’s overstayed his wall welcome, Harry straightens up, cautiously keeping his hand on the brick for steadying. He dusts himself off rather pointlessly and gives his Auror robes a quick pat down. No wand. 

That’s a problem. Nothing he can’t work around, but it’s a problem long term. Thankfully, he isn’t out of practice with wandless spellwork, but it vastly limits what he can do to lend a hand with whatever the hell is going on here. 

And he’ll really have to lend a hand and get out of here as quickly as possible. Ron is no doubt losing his mind with worry, and they still have to take care of some rouge wizards reaping havoc on a small wizarding community in Alfriston. If Harry really is in Diagon, he’s a long way away from there, so time is of the essence. 

Seriously, what happened anyway? What did that wizard throw at him?

It occurs to Harry then that he should probably give more attention to the wizards currently throwing things at him because one of those large pieces of rubble abruptly interrupts his train of thought and sightline. He gathers whatever magic he can and prepares to apparate away from its path, but—

Nothing. 

He tries again. And again. It’s getting closer. 

Then on his fourth attempt he feels something grating against his skin and realises—anti-apparition wards. 

Something is not only going on… but is very wrong. 

Harry’s eyes widen, and he ducks, rolling out of the way and further into the street. The world continues rolling even when he stops, vertigo crashing over him all too suddenly and forcing him to catch his breath; Merlin, Harry feels like he’s dying. 

He only gets this way after portkey travel or long-distance flooing—how he got here does not agree with him at all. And watching as that stone impacts the shop window he stared at earlier, Harry startles at another simple revelation. 

He can’t hear. 

He takes a deep breath and coughs, tries again until he feels calmer and doesn’t choke with every lung full. He can hear, but it isn’t anything substantial, only a low-volume, high-pitched ringing noise that echoes around in his head. He feels nearly delirious. And a bit like he’s going to be sick. 

Mindlessly, Harry steps back and out of the way of a nasty-looking violet spell, its shade almost neon. He takes a moment to assess his body more carefully.

Fingers, toes—check. All limbs, head is on straight, joints are bending the right way—he’s perfectly fine. He doesn’t feel any major injuries but forces a pitifully weak healing charm from within - out. He’s shit at wandless healing even though everyone swears otherwise, so it doesn’t ease up the nausea, but it does fix his hearing. 

He almost wishes it hadn’t.

Screaming louder than banshee cries, whizzing spells, explosions echoing, the dull droning of the wards, buildings breaking, shouts, crying, pleading—the world is so much louder than Harry is expecting, and he flinches, holds his hands against his ears at the onslaught. 

It takes some time, more than he wants to tolerate, and a few more close calls with ugly spells, but when Harry finally gets his bearings, he jumps into the fray. 

It’s hardly a thought to magic away most of the debris in the air, and with it gone, he takes in his surroundings. His head whips back and forth, taking stock of what’s newly visible. Harry’s unsure where to begin and who to ask for an explanation of what is even happening. He can’t spot any familiar Aurors, but there are definitely people scattered about in uniforms…

Harry nearly pauses at that. Yes, there are definitely people dressed in uniforms. Ones that are dark and black and flow like ink and look eerily familiar, and others that look strikingly like Sirius’s old—

“HELP!”

Harry’s eyes unerringly find the source of that scream—a young woman clutching a child. 

Their backs are up against the broken remains of a side alley, and her body is trying to cover the kid, hide them, to the best of her ability. A wizard in dark robes blocks their only way out, wand held stiffly in a tight grip - it’s pointed straight at them. 

Harry’s already moving, but his eyes squint, disoriented as he catches the unmistakable glimmer of silver reflecting off sunlight from the side of the wizard’s face. And this does make him pause. It makes him pause just long enough to feel and humour the stomach-swooping horror of recognition—of wrongness—that sight causes. 

It’s certainly a good thing that Harry has gotten to be so proficient at pushing down and sealing away horrors of all types and that he continues to be fast on his feet, quick on the draw. Helpful, too, that his wandless stupefy is still in top form. 

The wizard crumples to the ground, and Harry’s assist goes unnoticed in all the chaos. Yet the woman finds his eyes anyway, obviously having noticed him earlier, maybe even calling out for Harry specifically. She peers up at him, relieved and overwhelmingly grateful, but stares for a beat too long. 

And Harry, long used to prolonged stares, gives her no mind. He quickly comes over to help escort her and the child somewhere safer. She mutters something as he lifts the mute kid into his arms, their eyes wide and blinking. Harry balances them mostly on his left - his right hand holding their back steady, but he wants to keep it free to cast just in case. 

“What was that?” Harry asks while waiting for the kid to get comfortable and finish tightly wrapping their arms around his neck. He releases his hold on their back once they settle, and he takes a gentle but resolute hold on the woman to help guide her out of the alley and any direct fire. 

She’s shaking violently, but when she repeats herself, her voice is more confident—louder. “I- I didn’t know you had become an Auror, James. I thought you only g-graduated this summer?” She asks.

For a moment, only a moment, all of Harry’s battle-hardened instincts fall away. 

He feels his shoulders drop from their tense hold, and he—he just can’t believe what he’s heard. She doesn’t look anywhere close to his parents’ ages had they still been alive, even by wixen ageing standards. Really, she looks much closer to Harry’s age, maybe a couple of years older, give or take. They had probably gone to Hogwarts together for a while, so then why—

Why does she think he’s his father? James, she called Harry, like they are friendly. Like they know each other. 

Shock. Harry can excuse this as shock. He sorely wants to, but that feeling of wrongness is rearing its ugly head once again. 

So he decides not to say anything at all. Harry stays quiet and focused. He stuns anyone suspicious they come across and brings them both to a mostly unharmed shop out of the way with a blessedly working floo connection in a warded office in the back. 

The kid gives him a big hug before they leave, still mute, still blinking with wide eyes, and the woman turns to Harry, puts one hand on his arm, squeezes him once and says, “Stay safe, James.”

He watches them leave.

Breathe, Harry, he tells himself. And it almost works because he can hear the wet gasp and feel his chest move up and down with it. Yet he remains breathless, his mind whirring and unable to catch a thought long enough to actually think—until his feet start moving.

Harry exits the building and, with a clarity he doesn’t truly feel, rounds the corner. He’s confident that Twilfitt and Tattings should be just here, only a few feet away. When he arrives at the distinct shop front, still standing on what Harry can only guess is unadulterated rich-pureblood spite, the store looks nothing like the clothing shop he’s seen hundreds of times before. 

Unsettled but always willing to take a gamble, Harry sticks to the edges of the alley and makes his way further up Diagon, closer to Horizont. He avoids bouncing spells and crumpled bodies and casts when he has to all the way until he spots the familiar sign of Ollivanders. 

With careful hesitation and a churning deep in his gut, Harry tries something with no small amount of hysteria. He holds up his hand right before the shattered glass of Ollivanders’s main window and says:

“Accio Harry Potter’s wand.”

Harry stands there foolishly for a moment, lingering. Nothing happens. 

A short laugh rushes out of him; vicious relief nearly causes his head to sway, but he can’t help it. For a breathtaking moment, he had almost convinced himself that he’d felt something like a tingle, like a response from his magic that something was about to happen. 

Shock, Harry reminds himself. She was just in shock. 

He shakes his head to clear it of whatever madness had briefly held him and readies to shoulder open the door and commandeer a temporary wand. Even an incompatible wand will be better than nothing if he continues lending a hand to the Aurors on the scene. But before he can even take a step, his eyes catch movement in the darkness of the shop. And—Oh, that’s coming straight at me. 

“Whoa!” Harry ducks and turns to watch as a wand takes an arching turn and bounds straight towards him again. But this time, Harry is ready; he catches it with a smart thwack to the flat of his palm. 

The immediate warmth and pure magic radiating from this wand floods his veins unlike any other—but that’s a lie. It’s exactly like one other. One other wand from when Harry was eleven. His very first wand. 

He looks at the fine holly wood in his hand, feels the blazing heat of what is no doubt a phoenix feather core, and the familiar curves and juts of its crafted exterior, and conjures no happiness at the sight of his old friend. Harry feels dread take hold of his very being, leaving him cold and wrung dry. 

“Tempus,” Harry mutters, and like delicate clockwork, the spell casts flawlessly and more naturally than any spell Harry has cast in ages. The time of day and month are troubling enough, but the year really causes its own upending. 

1978.

Harry takes a deep, steadying breath in. He locks all the terrible and horrible things he’s feeling away in a small corner of his mind, shoving it all into a cupboard under the stairs. And he takes a deep, steadying breath out. 

He nods once to himself and holds his wand in a textbook grip. Logic and Auror instinct, but more prevalent, war instinct, sinks its familiar claws into the still healing scars of his mind. 

He leaves Ollivanders and makes his way carefully up Diagon Alley, distantly acknowledging that he hasn’t done as good a job as he’s hoping at concealing his anxieties. His casting is too accurate and decidedly not as innocent as it’s been. He trades stupefy for spells that may lean a little darker than any Auror really should be using.

He can’t say he has the element of surprise on his side. Still, the terrorists attacking the alley aren’t exactly looking out for an Auror dressed like Harry, so he has a precious few moments of them treating him like a civilian before realising their grave error. 

But, by then, Harry has blasted them halfway across the alley. They’re face down on the cobblestones or missing a limb or two by the time their ah-ha moment of ‘civilians don’t normally fight like that’ echoes in the quiet of their unconscious minds.

As Harry gets closer to the heart of the battle, picking off black-robed wizards one by one and gathering appreciative and perplexed looks from Aurors, he realises that faces are beginning to gain an awful familiarity. He wants to hex himself—of course faces are starting to look familiar. He knows an ungodly amount of wixen who fought in the First War. He’s heard numerous stories of their bravery and seen photographs of them, after all, and Harry really should have known that seeing them would be inevitable, even now—even when he isn’t ready.

But he hasn’t ever travelled this far back in time, so can anyone blame him for being caught by surprise?

Because—there she is.

She’s fresh out of Hogwarts. Classes must’ve only ended a month or so ago. And she’s standing at the heart of the battle. The August sun lends an unfairly clear day to the gruesome attack and shines on the brilliant auburn of her hair, all tied back and away from her face like a flaming whip. Gods, there she is.

Harry is shocked still, eyes locked on the sight of Lily Potter.

And he pays for it with a gnarly gash to the side of his ribs.

Gasping out, he quickly breaks from his trance and curses his inability to stay focused. Harry fires back with his own cutting spell; of course, the much nastier sectumsempra won’t be nearly as easy to bounce back from, but Harry just can’t muster up the fucks to give at the moment. 

Mum—Lily—is the one who stops his next assailant, though Harry doubts she even notices her assistance. It turns out she’s the one ripping stone out of the earth and flinging it at anything silver and moving. And, Merlin, it’s nearly charming. He’s going to throw up.

It takes a blue spell, its colour vibrant and just off enough for Harry to connect that it isn’t anything friendly, barely missing her, for him to decide enough is enough.

Harry centres himself and pulls at his magic. He aims his wand at the ground beneath his feet and chants until small spikes start erupting around them like saplings from the cobblestone. He doesn’t stop until they grow taller and taller until they tower over every head and every thatched roof, and until all the ruined pathways around Diagon Alley have become impractical and claustrophobic. 

Startled cries come from every direction; Harry thinks he hears bones snapping from those who can’t thread the needle before the spikes grow too close, like a dense forest. No one is spared of his sudden anger…

…no one except for Lily Potter, who stands in a small circle of safety. The spikes around her have curved inward, lending shelter. When Harry finally catches her gaze—oh no, oh no, oh no—he finds that her arms are raised. Almost like Harry’s a robber, and this is all just some kind of hold-up. He feels the urge to laugh die as quickly as it comes.

Not a soul moves, but Harry isn’t one for inaction. He lifts his wand and casts a sonorus; he speaks, “If you are a follower of-“ Harry mindfully avoids His name, unaware if the taboo has been enacted, “the Dark Lord, I believe you’ve caused well enough damage today. Leave.”

It’s silent for a long moment. And then, suddenly, the sharp snap of the anti-apparition wards shattering is all Harry hears. He can almost feel the rain of its magic falling down all around them, preceding the sounds of loud pop-pop-pops from the Death Eaters tucking tails and running away. 

Harry is a little shocked that simply demanding they leave works. Then again, turning all of Diagon Alley’s streets into some giant’s version of an Iron Maiden in the heat of his anger is probably something to be wary of. When the last pop fades, and all is quiet once more, Harry transfigures the cobblestones back. Once again, marvelling at the easy control with his holly wand.

It dawns on Harry, now that the battle is cleared up as best as he can manage, that he has no way of returning to his time and nothing to immediately keep that thought from taking hold and consuming him whole. He stands, mind racing and paralysed, as multiple hesitant thanks, thank you so much, you saved us, are whispered his way. And he could really do without the reminder of how irreparably fucked he’s just made the timeline, but, you’re welcome, he supposes. 

Then, through the whirlwind of his breakdown, he feels two gentle hands on his arms, pulling him out of the dark and into the eye of the storm.  

“Excuse me?” Harry looks up at green, sage and fresh like a vegetable garden, like summer’s grass on a quidditch field, like sprigs of thyme on a holiday roast surrounded by family; he looks up at the eyes of Lily Potter and startles at the sound of her voice.

Is this what she really sounds like? Harry remembers her voice clear as day from—well, it’s nothing he wants to think about now. But he doesn’t remember it sounding like this. So bright and so…

“So young…” Harry mindlessly replies. And Lily Potter’s answering frown is enough to leave him sorry for the rest of his miserable life.

She turns her careful attention to Harry’s bleeding shoulder, and he finally realises she’s trying to heal him. He doesn’t mention that he isn’t too worried about it and that the gash on his ribs is way worse because she starts speaking again, and all Harry wants to do is shut up and listen to her voice forever.

“Speak for yourself, firecracker,” she says. “You look about my age and handled yourself better than any of these Aurors.”

Firecracker? Harry mutters soundlessly. He’s bewildered at the idea of his mother giving him a nickname like that, his mother giving him a nickname at all. Something screaming and rotting and twisting in his soul mourns the loss of it until now.

“This doesn’t look as bad as I’d thought. Do you feel any intense pain? Any sharp shooting down your arm or back?” She asks.

Harry shakes his head slowly and in a daze. She hums, doubting, “Well, even if it doesn’t hurt too badly, let’s get you to St Mungo’s and patch you up—“

Harry steps back and out of her gentle hands, shaking his head with much more clarity. “No. No doctors. I can heal it myself well enough.”

Lily’s eyes widen, and something on his face must scream that he’s planning on making his great escape—it doesn’t matter where as long as it isn’t here in front of her of all people—because she suddenly grabs his wrist tight enough to bruise. “Wait! I’ll listen! I won’t force you to see a healer, but please,” she grips him even tighter, “we haven’t had a… a victory like this… in a long, long time.” 

Her eyes pry into him; they search and search, and she must find something because she steadies her panic and softly demands that he - “Don’t go.”

Harry can only stare, horrified, at his own mother standing before him, young and alive and begging him not to go.

He’s saved from answering as they’re interrupted by a loud shout, “LILY!” 

A man full-on tackles Lily Potter with force strong enough to pull Harry with them, but madly, all Harry can think is that - Mum has quite the grip.

And now that he’s so close, Harry quickly deduces that the new link to their growing chain is none other than James Potter.

Harry’s eyes blink slowly; a bone-weary exhaustion takes staunch hold of him as he listens to his father ask after his mother’s well-being. Finally, Lily speaks over him firm and unyielding, “James. I am fine. Where on earth have you been?” 

“I was dealing with some Death Eaters towards the mouth of Knockturn—but that doesn’t matter! What matters is that you promised to stay by me, and in less than two shakes of a fairy’s wings, you were nowhere to be seen.”

Lily scoffs, “I cannot believe you are blaming me right now when you are clearly the one who wandered off first! We agreed to stay near the centre, and, oh wow! Would you look at that? That’s exactly where you found me, isn’t it?”

Harry cannot believe he’s watching his parents have their first domestic argument, and he isn’t even technically born yet. This is cruel and unusual. Wait, are they even married? 

“Okay. Agree to disagree,” James nods. Lily’s got that look on her face that Hermione sometimes gets with Ron, like he’d better say the right thing in the next four seconds, or he’ll get a nasty left hook to the face. Harry feels his stomach drop right out of him at the thought of never seeing Ron and Hermione ever again. Oh god. And then, James continues, “We are both at fault.”

James’ eyes stray towards Harry, looking long and hard at his face. He finds Lily’s tight grip next and asks, “Who’s tall, pale, and ready to be sick standing beside you here?”

“What?” Lily asks, and her eyes fall on Harry, too. Her mouth parts in a horror Harry feels immensely. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry; I promise I didn’t forget about you. It’s just that James is so distracting, and oh merlin, I haven’t even introduced myself—“

“Lily, take a deep breath. And maybe let the man go?”

“James, you have no idea what happened. But you would if you’d have been here.”

Harry clears his throat, “Um,” James and Lily both turn and give him their full attention. Oh, that’s awful. How does Harry simultaneously feel like the youngest and oldest person here? He’s clueless about what to say next but settles on, “Um… I’m Harry.”

“Harry,” James and Lily say it together. Perfect unison. Lily’s eyes are wide, but her smile is wider, and James looks extremely confused and nearly half as put out. His brows furrow until they almost touch, and he comments, “My grandfather’s name was Harry.” He frowns and corrects himself, “Well, his name was Henry, but we all called him Harry.”

Oh. Should Harry have given them a fake name?

“James…” Lily murmurs. She isn’t quiet enough for Harry to miss her following words, “He looks a bit like he could be your brother, doesn’t he? Even a bit like Charlus?” James silently and slowly nods, his eyes still locked on Harry.

“What did you say your surname was again, Harry?” James asks with all the subtlety of a hippogriff, like he’s trying to be slick. 

And Harry, no stranger to risky bets, replies, “I didn’t. But it’s Potter. Harry Potter.”

The silence that follows is the loudest he’s heard yet. Wasn’t he nearly deaf earlier?

Until—“Lily. You got a good grip on him, yeah?” James asks.

“Of course,” she nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

James grins. “Hold on tighter, then.”

The sudden gathering of magic in the air has Harry’s hair standing on end. He knows what’s coming but doesn’t truly process it until he catches sight of James’ wand out, and by then, it’s too late.

They apparate out of Diagon Alley.

#eventual #harrymort #tomarrymort #tomarry #pov: harry #my fic #4.2k words #yeah - i added a thousand whole words to this #unnamed fic #surprise again #it's time travel and the first wizarding world - two of my favourite vices (still) #i told you this might change drastically and no one believed me #i didn't give this a final glance before posting so if there are any mistakes - no there aren't 😭

[kaciidubs]

24 to 25 [Merry Christmas] | 8 Days of SKZcember

Prompt: meeting each other's family for the first time over the holidays

❣ Summary: There was a first for everything, and Christmas in Australia was definitely one of them. ❣  ❣ Word Count: 2.07k ❣ Warnings: Fluff, comfort, Chris is a doting boyfriend, slight humor, the whole Bang family is here ❣  ❣ Female! Reader [No use of Y/N] | You/Your pronouns ❣  ❣ Additional Tags: Chan is referred to as Chris, Channie, and Baby, Reader is referred to as Baby, and Love, unedited, this was meant to be short, not over 2k words ❣ Stray Kids Masterlist ❣ General Masterlist ❣ SKZcember 2023

Having family living in a different part of the world often meant having to visit whenever time off would allow; however, having a boyfriend in the industry whose family also lived in a different part of the world apart from your family meant those visits were even rarer.

“...and once again, we would like to thank you for flying with us this Christmas eve.”

Toying with your fingers subconsciously, you glanced out of the window of the plane at the vast expanse of land thousands of meters below, your stomach doing flips in the meantime.

“Baby?”

A soft touch brought you out of your thoughts, turning your head to see Chris’s hand covering yours with a gentle squeeze added for good measure.

“If you’re nervous about the landing just close your eyes - you can even close the blind if you want?”

Your heart fluttered and you had to stop yourself from swooning at how cute he was, squeezing his hand back with a small smile, “It’s not the landing that I’m nervous about, Channie - well, not entirely nervous about.” Looking down at your entwined hands, you deflated slightly in your seat, “I’m just worried they won’t… like me, you know?”

You were both currently on your way to Australia to visit Chris’ family for the holiday; the decision being made after a long winded debate and heavy consideration over you not wanting to take the opportunity away from his visiting home, and him not wanting you to sacrifice seeing your family just for him - the resolution resulting in two plane tickets and the promise of the next vacation dedicated to your hometown.

Chris scoffed your name lovingly, “You’re worried over that? You know my mom adores you, and my dad asks about you whenever he calls - and you already know how Hannah is, you guys basically talk everyday! Hell, even Lucas brings your name up, you know how rare that is?”

“Hannah doesn’t count cause I’ve already met her - but your mom, dad, and Lucas? We’ve only ever talked over the phone, it’s different from meeting in person - what if I’m not what they expected?”

“Love, look at me.”

Looking at him with a soft pout, he gave you a comforting smile, eyes shining with a fondness you’d fallen for time and time again.

“My family is going to love you, because I love you, okay? They’ve heard me talk about you so much that my mom actually started threatening me to bring you to visit!” When you cracked a smile at his confession, he felt a wave of relief wash over him, “Everything’s going to be fine, yeah?”

Giving him a small nod, you watched as he pressed a small kiss to your knuckles just as the seatbelt light turned on and the plane prepared for its final descent.

It wasn’t long until the plane touched down and you were both following the line of passengers toward baggage claim and car rentals, Chris claiming that having more than one car would be best this time around.

“Alright,” he clapped his hands, seat belt buckled and car running, “Hannah knows we’re on our way - apparently Dad’s busy grilling and Mom’s running around trying to make sure the house is in order.”

“And your brother?”

“Waiting to catch Mom’s reaction when we walk through the door, I’m sure.”

The time between the car pulling out of the rental lot and rolling down the familiar streets of Chris’ childhood neighborhood seemed too short to be true, and you found yourself fidgeting with the strap of your seatbelt as you looked through the window.

“Baby, you’re doing it again.”

Huffing out a short laugh, you shook your head, “I’m just excited - nervous, but excited. Don’t act like you wouldn’t be doing the same thing if you were meeting my parents!”

He puffed out his cheeks, “I wouldn’t!”

“Chris, you practiced talking on the phone for ten minutes before we video called my family for the first time.”

His silence was enough for you to laugh harder, cooing at the blush tinting his ears as he pulled the car into the driveway.

It didn’t take long for the two of you to gather your bags - or, rather, for Chris to gather the suitcases like the gentleman he was while you handled closing the trunk after - and make your way up the short path to the front door.

He looked at you with a glittering smile, tilting his head toward the entrance, “Ready?”

Taking a deep breath, you tried your best to quell the butterflies in your stomach and nodded, signaling him to ring the doorbell.

The sound of muffled barking soon followed suit, Berry readily alerting the home of their potential guests.

“Coming!”

No less than a second later, the door swung open to reveal a bright eyed Hannah, a wide smile stretching her lips as she practically flung herself into your arms with an excited squeal of your name.

“You made it! Oh my god, hi! Welcome to Australia!”

You hugged her back with a laugh, “Thank you! It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“I’m here too, you know.” Chris muttered, though the smile on his face betrayed any attempts of annoyance he tried conveying. “Your older brother? The person you grew up with?”

“Exactly, I grew up with you which means I’ve seen enough.”

“Hey!”

Breaking from the hug, she led you both into the house as she went to find the rest of the family, leaving you and Chris in the foyer with a very excited, yet curious Berry.

Your boyfriend wasted no time in crouching down, baby voice in full effect, “Hi, Berry! Berry! Hi! I missed you! I missed you so much!”

The king charles spaniel jumped onto his arms, panting happily before falling back down with a series of excited barks and tail wags, then turning her attention to you with similar gusto. 

Bending down, you offered your hand for her to sniff with a small smile, “Hi, Berry, it’s nice to meet you! Chris talked about you so much, part of me thought this trip was just to see you and no one else.” When her curious sniffing stopped, she ducked her head under your hand for you to pet her, which you graciously accepted, “Oh, aren’t you the cutest? You’re the best girl, aren’t you?”

The sound of footsteps broke you from your puppy praise break and you stood just in time to see his mom rushing around the corner with a bright smile on her face, “Oh my goodness!”

Taking the initiative, Chris stepped forward with an equally wide smile, an air of sheepishness surrounding him as if he were a teenager bringing home their first partner. “Hi, mom.”

She wasted no time in pulling him into a hug, holding him in her arms as much as she could despite how grown he had become - the epitome of a mother’s hug, always ready to cradle their child no matter how much they’ve changed.

Your heart swelled at the display, catching a few murmurs of how much she missed him and how big he’d gotten until she pulled away to look in your direction.

“I feel like I’ve heard so much about you already that I don’t even need an introduction,” she laughed, letting her son out of her arms to stand next to you, “but I’ll let him tell me anyways, I know he’s been practicing this moment.”

“Mom, really?”

“That’s hilarious,” Lucas snickered from the sidelines, which gave you the chance to notice him holding his phone, most likely recording for future memories.

Huffing lightly, Chris took your hand in his and you squeezed in earnest, watching him relax considerably. “Mom, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend,” he turned to you, a warm smile on his lips, “and this is my mom, the person responsible for giving me life.”

“And your good looks,” she teased, stepping forward to bring you into a hug similar to the one she gave him; welcoming, comforting, accepting. “It’s so nice to finally meet you - pictures do not do you justice!”

You could feel yourself melt in her embrace, your previous nervousness vanishing into thin air, “It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Bang.”

“Oh, please, it’s an honor finally meeting the person who’s responsible for my son being this happy,” holding you at arms length, she gazed at you with sparkling eyes, “I’m so happy you’re here.”

Just as you went to give another complement, the smell of grilled meat wafted through the air and Chris all but floated off of the ground; a weary sigh escaping him as he eagerly looked toward what you could only assume to be the kitchen.

“I missed dad’s grilling so much.”

“Good, cause he’s been at it all day,” Hannah shrugged, looking at you with a smirk, “He made one of everything - I’d like to think of it as pregaming Christmas dinner.”

Their mom let you go and headed through the hall, “I’ll go help with setting the table - Chris, your room is all set if you want to drop off your suitcases and give her a quick tour, other than that I’ll call when dinner’s ready.”

He gave her a short hum in response, sharing a quick hug with Lucas and a brief introduction between the two of you before guiding you to his old room - or, better known as the room you’ll be sharing for the next few days.

“If the bed’s too small, I can always camp out on the floor, you know.”

You scoffed out a laugh as you danced your fingers along the carefully laid out blanket, “You say that as if we don’t practically sleep under each other already - this is perfect, baby.”

You couldn’t help but take in the details of his old room, scanning over the posters and pictures that decorated the walls, and spotting the board of medals that laid propped against the floor - not that it was hard to miss considering the wide array it held. Before you could get entranced by any more trinkets and hidden gems, his hand gently grabbed yours and he pulled you into his space, trapping you in his arms with a careful gaze.

“How are you feeling so far? If you’re tired from the flight I can always ask my dad to save you a plate for later, he’ll understand and-”

“Baby, I’m okay!” Wrapping your arms around his waist, you smiled up at him, “I’m not tired, and I’m not worried anymore - meeting your mom made me realize I had nothing to be scared about, and just from smelling your dad’s food I know we’re going to get along just fine!” You narrowed your eyes slightly, tilting your head with a soft pout, “Are you okay? Not that I hate the sudden check in, but you seem stressed, Chris.”

Heaving a deep sigh, he ultimately relaxed in your arms, a tired smile falling on his lips, “I’m okay- more than okay, actually, I’m just…” He stared at you, brown eyes warm with love, “I guess I’m just excited over having you here with me, with my family - I want to make sure everything’s perfect and I’m not pushing you into things too soon.”

Cooing at his sentiment, you laid your head on his chest, surrounding yourself in his scent and warmth. “Channie, you’re not pushing me into anything, you hear me? I’m happy we decided to come here, and even if we haven't been here long, I already feel more than welcome.”

His hold on you tightened a bit more as he rested his cheek on the top of your head, grounding himself in the moment until his mother’s voice floated through the hall.

“Chris! Food’s ready!”

“Well,” pulling away from him, you shot him a teasing smile, “ready for your first family dinner featuring your extremely brave girlfriend?”

He chuckled at your antics, “My brave girl, for sure - I was born ready for this.”

As you led the way out of his room, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he snuck a glance at the screen to see a text from your mom; your family’s flight still on schedule to land tomorrow morning.

Biting back his grin, he sent a quick text in return before grabbing your hand and guiding you toward the dining room.

“Dad, there’s someone I’d like you to meet!”

✧. ┊Tagged lovelies: @goblinracha, @having-an-internal-crisis-rn, @midnightfrog625, @anyhow-everything, @bangchanbabygirlx, @sweetracha, @j-onedrabbles, @happilydeepestwonderland, @nightimescapes, @caitlyn98s, @ch4nn13luv, @ihrtlix, @sometimesleeknows, @jeonjungkookenthusiast1997, @maximumkillshot, @y-ur--i, @acker-night, @dreamescapeswriting, @specialstay, @broken-glowsticks, @s00buwu, @dancerachaslut, @junglyric, @tinyelfperson, @jj-stay, @katsukis1wife, @inlovewithmusician, @keen-li, @armystay89, @main-character0, @vampcharxter, @ddyskz, @prettymiye0n, @bbgnyx, @ivyisnotokay

✧. ┊If your username is in bold italics that means tumblr won't let me tag you. If you’d like to be added to the taglist, fill out this form!

#skz fluff #stray kids fluff #bang chan fluff #bangchan fluff #bang chan x reader #bangchan x reader

[xuchiya]

cyber sex [k. hongjoong]

₊˚.༄ || filth valentines m.list || hongjoong || seonghwa || yunho || yeosang || san || mingi || wooyoung || jongho || ₊˚.༄

₊˚.༄ I wanna get freaky on camera I love when we get freaky on camera ₊˚.༄

it was those times you earned something after working hard; not those times where you had a long day or done a lot on your to-do list, more than what you wrote down.

after a long time at your office, long hand striking on 11 indicating close to midnight. you toss your bag on your bed, unclamping your hair free, shaking to loosen the tangled hair as you settle down on your computer chair.

"looks like february filth fest is starting ..." you smirk as you scroll down your feed to see posts of different users. you giggle, looking at the video of lip syncing yet sensual, touching their bare parts. then suddenly a thought of your boyfriend who was across the globe for his runaway party.

your smirk got bigger as you stood up rushing towards your wardrobe to pull out his favorite lingerie that he bought on your birthday.

after placing them, you apply a little makeup to emphasize your lips and eyes until you open the camera of your laptop, setting your phone to the side to record your reflection from the laptop.

(adding a little red light in the background.)

the music starts and so do your hands, mouthing those lyrics that you were meaning to tell them to hongjoong for a while. your fingers hook themselves on the strap of your bra; slowly dropping them.

your cleavage was very prominent when you squished them with your arms; give it a little shake, hands on them before mouthing the words, "i wanna get freaky on camera .." then you remove your bra, exposing your breast on the camera.

"i love when we get freaky on camera ..." you grope your boobs, while looking at the camera as if looking straight at hongjoong. running your hands around your chest then letting them crawl up on your neck. after feeling satisfied with your performance, you sent the video to him.

hongjoong almost drop his phone at the event; adding to the fact his heart soar when you casually jiggle your chest just like that. his eyes following every move of your hands, your chest glistening with your makeup highlights. his pants were once comfortable to be in, free and soft but now, it was as if those thoughts were just mere words form in his head when he saw you getting sensual.

"i see you have been ... busy, baby." you bit your lip, one hand running down your folds while the other pinching your erected nipples, position in front of your laptop camera. facetime with hongjoong.

you whimper, "i miss you that's why ..." arousal leaking out of you as hongjoong position his phone, lowered just above his hips; his whole upper body can still be seen. his dick can be seen pressing uncomfortably inside his dress pants.

"yeah? you do? spread those legs baby." you place both of your legs each on the armrest of your chair; exposing yourself more on the camera. you can hear hongjoong groaning, "fuck i can't wait to get home. and taste that pussy."

"oh hongjoong~" your fingers rub shamelessly on your sensitive buds, rapidly caressing them. hongjoong palm his hard; jerking them on his pants before undoing his belt then his zipper.

when hongjoong knew he can't hide his erection; mostly on the thousands of paparazzi, he has to go. and now he's back inside his hotel room, aroused by your intimacy.

"spread those lips for me." two fingers spread your folds open, hearing honjoong hiss made you aroused and turn on even more. he loves it when you do that, all stretching out just for him.

honjoong had his dick in his hand jerking it as he watches you messes yourself with the dildo you bought for yourself. he had love to see you fall apart on the silicon, yet he knew how you go dumb underneath him when it's his dick ramming inside.

"faster~ yeah that's it." you swiftly entered the dildo in and out of your hole, squelching sounds every time it comes back in. your hips jerking everytime the tip hits your pelvis, making your eyes rolled at the back of your head in pleasure; thinking that the one hitting those spot where hongjoong.

hongjoong groans, breath hitching in his throat when he hears your cries— whimpers he know so much. his throat erupted in dark chuckles, “are you gonna cum? But i want to see you squirt. Squirt those juices on my dick, come on baby.”

  Your body jerks at the amount of pleasure, yelping as you arch your back; hand continuing to abuse your pussy-hole with the dildo. You felt that familiar coil in your stomach, making you bit your lip, “oh hongjoong~ i’m cumming fuck fuck!”

  As expected in hongjoong, he stare as your cunt spurt out juices, a long string of “fuck” left your lips as you used the dildo to grind on your pulsing pussy. your body relaxes after a minute before you chuckle, “did i do great?”

  hongjoong nodded, still had his hard on his palm, your tongue glaze on those veiny cock of his. He may be towered by his members but that monster underneath those clothes says otherwise.

    “Yes baby but i haven’ cum yet … can you help me?” you nodded, sitting properly this time. You know how to get him done, he loves when you ruin and ride the dildo like how you ruin and ride him. 

   Placing the dildo flat on the seat, you turn around so your back is exposed to him as you ride the dildo. Sitting on your knees, you sheathed yourself down, gripping the backrest tightly; you were still sensitive from your first orgasm.

  You slowly bounce yourself on the dildo, turning your head over your shoulders, “so good hongjoong~fucking me this good.” hongjoong’s threw back as his hand speed up, mouth agape. Broken whimpers left his lips when he can feel the coil knotting.

he loves when you talk dirty whenever you were riding him. it always had his head on the clouds.

"fuck baby you're so hot riding that--shit i'm gonna cum baby!" hongjoong panted, eyes watching as you pick up your pace.

   His last straw was when he saw you jerk up, pulling out the dildo then another gush of your juices spurts out of your pussy, again “fuck baby~!” Hot loads of his cum covered his hand including his dress pants but he didn’t give one fuck about it. His chest rose watching you clean up, a smirk on his lips, “i’ll see you tomorrow baby.”

   You blew him a kiss not before throwing your lingerie on the camera before ending the call.

taglist: @vantediary

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez hard thoughts #ateez smut #ateez hard hours #ateez fanfic #hongjoong ateez #hongjoong x reader #ateez hongjoong #kim hongjoong #hongjoong #kim hongjoong x reader #kim hongjoong smut #hongjoong smut #ateez au

[gojo-mochi]

Content: Fem!Reader Virgin!Reader. Escort!Zoro. Blood Play, Biting (Lots of Biting), Zoro being cat-like, Virgin deflowering, Dacryphilia, P/V, Oral (Fem Receiving) ,Creampie, Bruising and Marking.

A/N: Cough,,,,, Anyway… Ahah First part of the event!! Woo!! *dodging Tomatoes* IM SORRY IT TOOK THIS LONG. I PROMMY ILL TRY TO BE BETTER

Word Count:10k

"There's no off switch on a Tiger…"

You nervously paced around the room as you dialed the number on your phone. You just went with your gut instinct and chose the guy at the top of the list. It's not like you didn’t skim through the whole booklet; this ‘Zoro’ guy just looked the most appealing to you. The light green hair and the scowl etched on his handsome face were something that you couldn’t get out of your head. His description doesn’t seem that bad either… I mean, they did say that he has a “Soft heart on the inside,” so surely that means he’s not a bad guy, right?

You look at your phone and heave out a shaky sigh as you press the call button, holding it up to your ear as it rings. 

Beeeeeep…

Beeeeeep..

…Click

“...Hello? What ya want?” 

A tired and gruff-sounding voice spoke through the other line. He gave out a yawn when you paused in your reply with another; “Hello? You there?” Your face was already heating up from embarrassment, “Ye-yes, I’m here! Sorry, it seems like I woke you up…” You paced faster around the room, trying to calm down the shakiness in your voice. He lets out another yawn, grumbling out a “Tis fine… so what did ya want?” 

You almost tripped on your feet as you trip over your words on the phone, “Well, I-uh-saw your ads in this booklet, Zoro, right? Anyway, I wanted to see if you were free tonight to….um..”

“To fuck you, yeah? That's the ad you saw, right?” He finished your sentence for you, with the sound of rustling in the background, indicating that he had gotten up from wherever he was sleeping. “Yeah, I’m free. Which hotel are you at? Oh, and give me the room number too.” Your heart was beating rapidly now, it was all happening so fast, the guy was just so casually saying yes to sleeping with you without any details.

“Wa-wait, I have something to say first-” You sucked in a breath, “I-I’m still a virgin so-it would be nice if you were gentle with me..?” You trail off at the end, unsure of what else to say or add, the voice on the other line went quiet for a bit, you thought that the call got disconnected and went to check when you heard a soft snort and a cough. Like the man was trying to hide the fact that he was laughing. You huff out in displeasure, “Sorry, sorry, tis just was you were really cute with the way you were asking me.” 

You chewed on your bottom lips as your chest started to pound again, but this time for a different reason. The man sounded a lot nicer than before, with the sleepiness waving away from his voice. “I’m staying at the Thousand Sunny Hotel and room 257, also is there anything else I need to do to…prepare at all?” You heard a silent pause again with the same snort as before,but this time the man did not care to hide that he was outright chuckling at your question. “Wow… you really are a virgin, huh? Thought you were fooling me, to be honest.” 

You gasped, shocked that he would think you were lying about this. “Don’t worry, girlie, I’ll take care of you.” You had no reply to that, not with the way your stomach was tying itself in knots as his voice seemed to go down an octave deeper and the nickname sent pangs of heat near your core as well. “I’ll be there in about 20 minutes. Be a good girl and wait for me, yeah?” You nod at his question before remembering that you’re on the phone and he can’t see you. “Yea-yeah! I’ll be good!” You cringe internally at how you replied so obediently back. He ends the call with another chuckle, softer this time, you flopped down on the bed. Staring at your phone screen, replaying what just happened in your head over and over again. 

‘Holy shit, I’m actually doing this, I’m going to have sex with someone I don’t even know.” You were a mixture of nerves and excitement, rolling on the bed, giggling like a schoolgirl over how hot the guy sounded over the line. There was his picture on the booklet, but attaching it to his voice too? Oh, man, it just made him instantly ten times hotter in your mind. You look at the clock, ticking down the time until your escort comes. You were too excited to just lay in bed until he arrived. Though you did stop in your tracks when his voice rang in your head, “Be a good girl…”

You weren’t even sure what that meant… how do you be a ‘good girl’ for him? Stay and wait on the bed until he comes? Try to doll up somehow? Your mind starts to wander downward into more raunchy ideas. The idea of him walking in on you preparing yourself open with your fingers made your legs start to shake. You jumped back down on the bed and screamed into the pillow, emotions too high and foreign for you to fully express. You push your face into the pillow for a while, waiting for your racing heartbeat to fully calm down, only to shoot up again once you see that 15 minutes have passed on the clock sitting right on the nightstand. 

Your breath hitches in your throat, you grabbed the pillow you were face planting in and clutched it close to your chest. Eagerly looking at the door with wide eyes, you squeezed the pillow to your thumping chest as you imagined the sound of a ticking clock in your head. Slowly counting down until your man comes knocking on your door. Time seems to crawl slowly toward you, moving at a snail’s pace. 

.

.

.

Ok, you were too scared to look at the clock before, but you felt like a lot of time had passed and there was still no sign of Zoro. You finally decide to check your phone in case you somehow missed any notifications, you scroll through your messages only to find some messages from the friend that recommended this service. 

Bestie: Heyyyyy, how's it going? You get dicked down yet? 👀

You: No, he told me he was coming over like 30 minutes ago I think…

Bestie: Oh?  Maybe he’s just stuck in traffic or something.

You: I hope so…

You chewed on your bottom lips as you checked the time again, sighing out, you went to scroll on various apps, hoping to keep your mind occupied. You got lost in the void that is social media apps for quite a while, only barely snapping out of it once you scrolled past the 40th cat video on tiktok. You took another look at the time, now it has been close to an hour passing since your call with Zoro.

Hot tears began to drip down on your face from the embarrassment you started feeling. ‘He must think this is so funny…’ You even started to doubt if this whole escort service was even real in the first place, did your friend set you up? You wipe away your tears with a small sniffle, sensing anger slowly boiling up in the pits of your stomach, replacing the embarrassment and sadness. You dial the number once again to give Zoro a piece of your mind. 

The dial tone only rings once before Zoro's gruff voice once again enters your ear. “Hey-” “What the fuck is wrong with you!” You screamed into the phone, cutting him off before he could spew any bullshit excuse to you. You tried hard not to make your voice wobble, forcing it to be steady with all the tears still streaming down your face. “Oy-What’s the hell your problem, woman?” Zoro sounded annoyed, which made you even more angry. “What's your problem?! Did you think it was funny to do this kind of shit?” Your voice cracked at the end, you barely heard Zoro’s reply as you broke into sniffles and choked sobs. “Wh-what the hell are you on about?” He growled out, only to mutter a soft “Shit..” when you whimpered at the harsh tone.

“Listen, just tell me what’s wrong alright? I can’t help ya, if all you do is cry. Shit, I'd rather just have you yelling at me again.” His voice takes on a more soothing tone to try to calm you down. You hated how it was instantly working on you. You wipe away at the snot and tears on your face, wincing at the smeared makeup on your sleeves now. “Just drop the act already. It's been over an hour and you’re not coming, I know that-” “It's been over an hour?! Fuck, if they didn’t change the stupid street names, I would had been there by now.” Zoro grumbled some more obscenities into the phone as you heard his pace quicken. 

The gears in your mind grinded to a halt for a moment, listening to Zoro curse out once more; “Damn it, how many streets are named after this Roger guy anyway?” He was still walking around on Gol D Roger’s Street? You stayed silent to listen some more and quickly gathered that this guy was really bad at directions, considering he somehow ended at the same street sign again for the fifth time. You giggled, causing Zoro’s attention to turn on you. “You’re laughing now? God, women are so weird sometimes... So, is everything ok now?” 

You giggled some more and snorted at his last comment. “Yeah, I think I know what happened now, you’re lost aren’t you?” The pregnant pause on the other end was the only answer you needed to start laughing out right. “It's not my fault that the stupid construction workers keep changing where they post the damn street sign!” You heard the sound of a metal pang and another growl. Zoro was probably kicking the poor street sign. You stopped your laughing fit to help the poor street sign from getting even more abused.

“I thought you ghosted me or something to be honest…” You whispered, emotions still stirring inside your stomach. Your honesty stunlocked Zoro for a bit, you were on the verge of apologizing when his voice came out in a whisper too. “Don’t apologize, I should have called you and told you I was coming late, I can admit that was my fault at least.” “Why didn’t you?” You hugged your knees close to your chest, rocking on your heels as you strained to hear Zoro’s voice now that he was speaking quietly. “...I didn’t think of it until now, shit, listen I understand if you want to pick someone else now so-” “No!” 

Your cheeks heated up at how fast you said that, clearing your throat you spoke again; “I-I mean, it would be a waste for both of us, since you've been walking around for an hour, I don’t mind still spending the night with you.” Now it was Zoro’s turn to chuckle; “Alright, since you want me that badly.” You almost regret sticking with him now, almost. “I just need to find out where the hotel is from here and I promise this time, I’ll be there soon, ok girlie?” You couldn't help but smile at the nickname he gave you.

“How about I try to lead you to the hotel, so you won’t get lost again?” You ignored his words stating that he wasn’t lost. “I know that Roger’s Street isn’t that far from the hotel, I think I know the way to get here from there.” Zoro lets out an affirmative grunt waiting for your directions. You spent the next 20 minutes trying to lead this dense meat head to the hotel. When you told him to take a right and he said that the right takes him to a wall, you argued that he took a left not a right like you said. 

This happened for quite a while until he finally saw the bright neon Lion Head that the hotel had on top of its sign. You wanted to stay in the call to make extra sure that he wouldn’t get lost on the way up to your room to be honest but Zoro argued back that he was fine now. You weren’t quite sure you believed that after the ordeal you went through. The phone call ends and your phone screen fades to black, giving you the first look at yourself in a while. 

Your makeup was smeared all over your face, lipstick half gone, mascara running black streaks down your face, not to mention your red nose and puffy eyes completing this whole messy look.  You rolled off the bed cursing to yourself. Zoro was coming up to your room soon and you looked like a fucking wreck. You silently prayed that he would somehow get lost on his way up to your floor somehow as you entered the bathroom, splashing your face with cold water and rubbing harshly at your skin. 

You let out a squeaked and jumped when you heard banging at the door. ‘Maybe it's room service or the hotel staff…?’ You hoped it was, grabbing a towel and wiping away whatever makeup you can on it, the poor towel could only do so much though. You tentatively walked over to the door and looked through the peephole to find a burly green-haired man on the other side, his arms were crossed and you didn’t know if he was intentionally flexing or not because the veins in his forearms and biceps looked delicious.

You sucked in a nervous breath as you unlocked the door, opening it just a bit to peek at Zoro, saying a quiet “Hello…” you stepped back as he approached the doorway, hiding half of your face in the towel. Zoro was very tall and very very buff, only wearing a white tank top that was straining to keep his pecs covered and black joggers which you can faintly see his dick outline in. He fully stepped inside the room and the door behind him shut closed with a click. He locked the door himself, before turning away to stare down at you with a lopsided grin. 

You bunch up the towel more, hiding your face in the fluffy stained cotton. Zoro took one step towards you, making you almost bump into his chest. “I come all this way and you won’t even show me your cute face, girlie? I feel wounded.” He emphasizes the last word by clutching a fist over his heart with a mocking hurt expression. The tips of your ears go red at his teasing, you try to push him away with a hand but he didn’t even budge when you tried a second push with all of strength. 

Your hand pressed firmly on his left pec, you grunt seeing how he doesn’t even feel your weak attempt at shoving. You, however, felt a lot, hand squeezing lightly on Zoro’s pec, since he wasn’t actively flexing, it was not quite squishy but not firm either. You start to knead on it like a curious kitten for an unknown amount of time only broken out of your spell when Zoro grabbed both of your wrists. You didn’t even realize that your second hand also joined in the fun some time ago.

“Is this what you really gonna pay me for all night?” Zoro tilts his head at you with a bigger smirk plastered on his handsome face this time. You just now noticed that he really does have a scar going over his left eye. Zoro continues on as your voice is stuck in your throat. “Thought you were gonna have me take your virginity tonight, girlie? Hmm? Gonna let me be your first fuck and spread that cunt of yours with my cock right?” His crude words made you gape like a fish out of water.

He pulls your wrist up to his neckline. “Hold on to me, ok sweetheart?” Your mind was already melting from touching him and now he changed nicknames on you too. You nod and wrap your arms around his neck. “Good girl, good listener. I like that.” He purred leaning in near your ear as his arms hoisted up your legs, instantly wrapping around his waist on instinct. He goes to hold your ass with one hand, giving it a good slap making you squeak out his name, while his other arm holds your back. 

He lifted you with such ease, swiftly carrying you to the edge of the bed where he gives your ass one last squeeze then gently sets you down. Your towel had fallen off when he picked you up so you tried to hide your face with your hands this time but Zoro was quick enough to react by pinning your wrists above your head. “Aht Aht, I want to see your pretty face, hide from me again and I’ll be forced to do something about it.” He lets go of your wrist to part your thighs apart, kneading at the plump skin the exact same way you were kneading on him earlier. 

You were scared to ask what he meant by “Do something about it” but all thoughts went out the window when Zoro started to pull down your shorts, his fingers easily dipping into the waistband and sliding down your thigh all in one swoop. Your shorts were already gone past your knees by the time you realized what was happening. “Zo-zoro!” You squealed, hands clambering to stop him but it was too late. Your shorts were pulled off one leg with ease and then discarded behind Zoro as he got it off the other. 

You didn’t know what kind of undies to wear to a night like this, deciding between lacey or a thong or something else for hours in the morning. In the end, you just went with plain white cotton panties, afraid of being mocked for wearing something frilly or too sexy. Despite Zoro only having one eye left, his intense stare sent chills down your spine. Eyeing up your panties like it was his prey, he was even licking his lips as well. 

You whimpered, shrinking down on yourself as you tried to close your thighs and hide away from Zoro. Zoro’s clicked his teeth at you, making your cheeks heat up in further shame, he let you close your thighs but his rough and calloused hands went back to groping them, he rested his chin on the edge of your knees. Looking up at you with the same intense fire, you gulped nervously, wanting to just go and hide under the covers. 

But you can’t run away now, not when you were this far and especially not when a handsome man is on his knees for you like this. The silence felt like forever between you two, Zoro was testing you, seeing if you break and give in all on your own, but you held firm, whether it was due to fear or your own stubbornness you don’t know. You jumped when his chuckle broke stillness in the room; “Stubborn girlie, huh? While I do like that, I can’t exactly continue my job here if you keep your legs closed forever.” He pats your thighs twice with a smirk. 

Your struggle to come up with a retort of some kind but only another whimper left your lips as Zoro’s fingers digs a little deeper in your thigh as he hoists himself back up face you. One hand traveling up right after to gently lift your chin up, fingers tracing the outline of your jaw. “Just give me the word, girlie, and I’ll give you the world.” His words came out more gentle than you thought it would but with an underlying tone that he meant what he promised.  Zoro looked like a tiger in waiting, calm and collected but ready to pounce at a moment’s notice on any innocent prey that fell into its path. 

And you were that prey, trapped in his sights, caged in by one strong arm on your stomach, his other hand still on your chin, making sure you can’t look away. Though yes, you were trapped, Zoro did not make another move, the hand on your stomach lightly tracing small circles on your skin. He was still waiting for your answer, you knew that you could just stop now and he would let you leave without a fight but you wanted more, more of him, more of the man you barely know, an escort who’s job it was to fuck to you until you were satisfed.

So why were you still hesitating? You signed up for this, you made all the preparations beforehand and now here you are, right where you wanted to be. Zoro tilts his head to the side a bit just like a curious cat, his gold earrings dangle together as he does. You steel your resolve once more, ready to give your answer to Zoro, in the form of an action not words. You press your lips hungrily against Zoro’s, tongue coming out to swipe at his bottom lip. Tasting mint on your tongue at the first swipe, you groan quietly, tugging onto Zoro’s tight tank top as a silent plea for more. 

You felt Zoro lips quirk up into a smirk at your actions, making your cheeks burn a bit but all thoughts of quitting went out the window when his tongue invaded your mouth. The wet muscle took over your mouth quite easily, leaving you gasping in the small moment when he let you have air. Your body jolts and moans when Zoro’s bulky hand squeezes at your chest. Massaging the soft mounds gingerly, letting your body fall apart into his hands. 

You were like putty being shaped and molded into whatever shape Zoro wanted you to be, so needy and pliant. He parts away from your lips for a few moments, causing you to let you a high pitch whine at the loss of contact. “Tch, already so needy, girlie? Bet your pussy already soaked down there, where did the cute and shy virgin act go, huh?” He squeezed at your chest a bit harder as he uttered those words. 

You sucked in your bottom lip, feeling shame at his words, though your body betrayed you by pressing in closer to Zoro's body, hands clawing unabashedly at his chest. A low growl came from Zoro and then you were laying flat on your back with Zoro sucking harshly on your neck. You quickly grasped onto his shoulders to anchor yourself. “I knew you were secretly a slut, hahh, so fucking needy, looking at me with those eyes, can’t even keep your hands off of me can you?” He grunts out, licking a long strip down to your collarbone as you arch your back off the bed, accidentally grinding against Zoro’s bulge. He backs away just enough to get rid of his tank top, offering you a full view of his glistening abs. 

“Fuck girlie, I bet you want me to stick my cock in you right now, huh? Breed you like the slut you are. Fuck that virgin cunt of yours until you’re begging me to stop. Mmm, maybe you won’t even ask me to stop and I’ll just have to fuck you all night and day.” He nibbled on your collarbone, leaving a path of purple splotches and bite marks, getting annoyed at how your shirt was stopping him from going further, letting out another louder growl. “Arms up.” He commanded, his own hand already pulling the hem of your shirt halfway up your stomach from impatience. You followed blindly, mind spinning from the harsh words he was spewing but you can’t say he was exactly wrong about it. 

He took your shirt off in a frenzy, pulling the garment up and over your head arms and throwing it to the side. Hand palming at your sides, his lone eye staring down at you, lips parting to show off his fangs. “You've been keeping this all to yourself for this long?” Hands expertly unclasping your bra and feeling your bra from your skin, uselessly thrown to the side as well.  He grasped on to your chest, the callous pads on this thumb coming to rub harshly on your nubs. He doesn’t leave time for you to answer this question, as he dips his head to latch on the other side.

The tongue that was just moments ago mapping out the inside of your mouth was now, flicking so deliciously on your nipple. Your nails dig into his shoulders, trying to ground yourself back to reality but Zoro’s seem keen on making you go dumb on his tongue already. His free hand was pinching and pulling on your other nipple, the quick pain switched with the white hot pleasure of his tongue and mouth slurping on you. His other hand was roaming on your skin, gripping on your waist with enough force to leave bruises in the morning. 

“Nnagh-hahh-Zo-Zorooooo~!” 

The amount of drool Zoro left on your chest was already seeping down your side and now to the bed. Not that the both of you cared about it. You took a small glance down and the image you saw almost made you cum. Zoro's eyes were closed shut, small beads of sweat on his forehead, making his mossy hair stick to his skin, he was intensely focused on working his tongue on you. It was a vulgar sight, watching his tongue flick in and out of his mouth in such quick successions. He must have felt you staring at him, because he opened his one eye and took one look at your face and smirked. 

“Enjoying the view, sweetheart?” 

You gulped down the spit that you didn't know was pooling in your mouth as you were watching him. Giving a shy nod in return, too afraid to use your voice. He chuckled deeply, pressing kisses down your stomach, hands giving you one last tight squeeze. You let out a small laugh, as you continued watching Zoro, he was giving small kisses and licks on your bare skin. He really was like a big tiger, the way his rough tongue felt on your skin. His eye flickered on you when you snorted at the image of Zoro with cat ears on, eyebrow raising up in question. 

You smiled at him, finally feeling your anxiety and embarrassment wash away bit by bit. Feeling brave enough to run your hand through his hair, it was a bit coarse and sweaty but nicer than you imagined it to be. You swear you could feel and hear Zoro purring at your touch, a low rumble coming from the back of his throat as you gently tug on his hair and scrape your nails against his scalp. He closed his eyes again, enjoying the sensation for a moment, nuzzling his face on your stomach causing you to giggle once again.

Zoro let out a content sigh on your skin, arms dragging down your side slowly, to dip his fingers in your panties. He nips at your skin to get your attention, “Yur’ ok with going further right?” his voice coming out a bit hoarse. You nod but Zoro shakes his head; “I need to hear your cute voice, girlie, tell me what you want me to do to you.” He nipped at you once again, making you whimper at the sharp pain from his fangs. “I want…” You own tongue felt heavy on your cheek as you tried to say what you truly wanted. “I want your cock in me, please Zoro, I need you in me so badly.” 

Zoro growled heavily, “Fuck girlie… yur’ makin’ me lose my mind here.” He pulls down your panties, letting out a groan seeing a sting of your arousal being connected to the base of your panties. “I can’t just shove my cock in you just yet, even though yur’ already this wet, gotta prep you first.” He slaps your pussy, making you sit up straight with a yell. “Zoro!” Now he was snorting out a laugh, you close your thighs and scoot away from him but his grip on your thighs was tight. “Sorry, sorry..” 

He didn't really sound apologetic but you decided you didn't care anymore once his rough tongue was on your pussy. He was also a messy eater on your pussy as well, spitting on it and watching his spit mix in with your juices before diving right back in. One hand secretly going down to pull down his gym shorts and boxer. Kicking it off of him with a lack of grace. More focus on having his tongue gulping down your juices. 

The slurping noises that echoed in the hotel room made your head spin wildly. Zoro’s nose bumping into your clit, as his tongue works its way between your folds and inside your hole. He never stayed in one spot for too long, always moving his head up and down or side to side. The juices cover the entire half of his face as he does so. Your thighs were shaking so much in his tight grip as you never felt this kind of pleasure before. “Nnaghh, fu-fuck me-I-Zorooooo-Mmmahhh!”  You just kept on babbling, hands white knuckled on the hotel sheets, back arching everytime Zoro gave your throbbing clit some attention. It wasn't enough though, the small amount of attention from his nose or swipes from his tongue wasn't enough to push you over the edge.

You were going delirious at this point and Zoro wasn’t even trying to tease you. He was just simply lost in your arousal, enjoying himself too much. You knew this by the way he was rutting himself on the bed, making the frame shake slightly with each thrust. You weakly yank at his hair, whimpering out a small “Zoroooo…” in hopes that he would get your desperation. It took a couple of tries until he understood what you wanted, letting go of your thigh, with one hand coming under his chin to slip a finger in.

He groaned seeing how easily his finger slides in your sloppy cunt, adding in a second just as easily. The stretch of his fingers still burned a bit at first but once Zoro’s lips found your clit again, you found yourself arching off the bed with Zoro’s free hand pushing on your stomach to hold you down. You gush all over Zoro’s face and chin which ended up in him making more obscene noises as he slurps up every drop he could. Fingers still scissoring themselves inside of your walls, adding a third finger once you calmed down from your orgasm. 

“Still here with me, girlie?” Zoro’s voice rasped out, looking up at you from between your thighs, face slick and shiny. 

You could swear that his pupils turned into cat-like slits for a second there. You swallow some dry spit down to speak, knowing that Zoro wanted another vocal answer from you. “M’ goo-good. Do-don’t stop.” He growled at you; “Never said I was gonna stop, girlie. Not after seeing how much this slutty cunt is taking in my fingers so well. You think you were going to leave without my cock stuffed in her first?” You whimpered out when he started biting down on your hips and inner thighs. Marking his place on your skin with vigor, speeding up his fingers, angling his wrist just right so he could hit you in the sweet spot. 

He knew you were close again when your eyes began fluttering close and that cute little mouth of yours turned into a ‘o’. If this wasn’t a job, he would have stopped his fingers as soon as you were close enough, and made you beg him to make you cum. But he prided himself on being a good escort, at least enough to compete with a curly blonde, so instead he planned to make you cum as much as possible tonight. His tongue slipped its way in your sloppy hole as well, slurping up all the cream that was still pouring out. 

He was fighting really hard not to get drunk off of your pussy and focus on your pleasure right now, but with your moans and whimpers and the way your body kept cutely twitching off the bed, he might break soon. This time his free arm was well prepared to soothe you as you reached your second orgasm of the night, bucking your hips into Zoro’s awaiting mouth, as his fingers slipped out to rub at your throbbing clit. 

“Mmahh! Zo-fuuuuuck-Zoro!”

“Let it all go, girlie, hahhh, doin’ so good, like the cute slut you are.”

Tears pricked at the corner of your eyes, chest heaving heavily, your mind buzzed so loudly in rhythm with your racing heartbeat. You scarcely register your ankles being hoisted up over Zoro’s shoulder and the weight of his fat cock slapping against your cunt. His hand goes to tightly grip around your neck, leaving you gasping for air. “Look at me, can’t be fucked that dumb yet, your pussy still crying out for me. Can’t you hear her?” He emphasizes this by shoving his fingers back in, making your cunt squelch lewdly with each thrust. 

Sqelch “Ngghhh” Shlick Shlick “Fw-ahhh!”

“Zo-Zoroooo.” You pathetically whine out, your hands pushing at his bicep to get away from your sensitive core. He lets you push him away, slipping his fingers out easily to only then shove them at your lips, growling out the command “Open.” You eagerly obeyed, parting your lips and licking at his digits with vigor you didn't know you had. Tasting your own slick on his fingers, eyes fluttering close as you automatically sucked his fingers clean of yourself. “So good f’r me aren’t cha?” His low timber voice purrs out. 

“So obedient, girlie, hmm? You like being told what to do?” 

You turn your face away, trying to hide it away from his staring and teasing words. Zoro was having none of that though, wrenching your face back to meet with his by seizing hold of your chin and forcing you to turn back. “I want you to either look at me or look at when my cock finally sinks in you, understood?” He didn’t wait for an answer from you, forcing your head up and down into a nod with his own hand. “Good girl~” His tone verges between mocking and praiseful.

Ending his praise with another deep kiss, his teeth nipping at your bottom lip, making you mewl out in slight pain,  parting your lips enough for his tongue to slip in. His hand slips up to tug at your hair, as he utterly devours your lips and mouth. Leaving you no room or control to do as you please, your body surrendering itself to his whims. He leans back to observe your reaction, licking his lips at the sight with another strange growl emitting from his throat.

Your face flushed, eyes glossed over with desire, and lips still parted to let out small puffs of breaths. His grip still on the back of your head, stopped you from cowering away from his gaze, the feeling of a carnal desire coming off from Zoro. He presses his mouth to your neck hard, biting his canines in enough to the point of pain, soothing it with hot kisses afterwards. Gently petting your hair as you cried out and squirmed underneath him. “Hahhh.. fuck…I forgot the damn condom.” 

He gets off of you and looks around for his discarded shorts and rummage around the pockets to find a roll of condoms. Tearing one off and opening with his mouth, pulling out the rubber and aligning himself between your thighs once again, rolling the condom on his cock, hissing softly as it covers his sensitive tip. At this point, you caught your breath again, looking up at Zoro, hand motioning him to come closer. “Tch, so needy.” He rolled his eyes but his tone and demeanor was sort of gentle as he grabbed your hand and kissed it. Hovering his body right over yours, finally prepared, interlacing your fingers together as he goes to kiss your hand again. 

“Ready?” 

You look into his eye, in the man that you chose to take your virginity tonight. Tracing the outline of his pecs with your other hands as you squeezed the one that was interlaced with him. “I’m ready.” Your voice was wavering a little but maintained eye contact with Zoro all the way. He gives you what seems to be a genuine smile in return, kissing your hand one last time and bending down to engulf your lips in a passionate kiss. 

Pushing his hips forward as his thick cock tries to push itself past your folds. The tip barely made it inside, already making you gasp out and dig your nails in his shoulder and squeezed his hand holding yours tightly. “Shh, Shh, you’re doing so good… relax..” Zoro’s voice rasps out, sweat forming on his forehead as he tries to control himself from slamming all the way into you. Waiting for you to give a signal to go again, his lone eye watching every single movement from you. Looking for any sign of pain or discomfort.

You continue to squeeze his hand tightly, blinking away some tears as you steady yourself, feeling ready for more, you murmured a soft “Deeper, please…” Zoro groans out this time, his heart beating faster at how cute and needy you sounded, his cock twitching to go all the way in but he was a good escort. Taking his sweet time to make sure you were all stretched out and snug on his cock before he could ruin you. 

Inching deeper in your tight pussy bit by bit until he bottomed out. You felt like it reached all the way to your throat with all long and thick it was, catching your breath as you breathed out a shaky sigh. Grasping tightly to Zoro’s hand; “Deep breaths girlie, thats it, you’re doing so good, haaaah, fuck you’re so tight, clenching on me so hard already.” He uses his free hand to caress your cheek gently as lewd praises spill out from his lips. “Was your pussy always this slutty? Hmm, or do you like my cock that much? Heh, It’s going to be hard to fuck other guys when you can only think of me huh?”

“Just sh-shut up and fuck me already.” You faintly hiss out, getting a bit annoyed. “You talk too much, I paid you to use that mouth for something other than just talking, you know.” Zoro lets out a hearty laugh at that, showing off all his teeth once again, a dark gleam in his eye. His hand goes down to squeeze harshly at your chest then down further to press on below your navel right above where his cock was buried. Slowly pulling his cock out till only the tip was still inside; “Sorry could you repeat that? Didn’t quite hear you?”

“Zoro-aa-hah-AH!” You eyes flew wide open, arching your back off the bed as Zoro slams his whole length into you once more. Keeping the rhythm going, plunging in and out at a painfully slow pace, but it was enough to make you roll your eyes. Your hand lost its strength and was gradually slipping from Zoro’s but he grabbed you by the wrist and plop one of your fingers in his mouth, sensually rolling his tongue around the digit making you lose more sense until he abruptly bit down on it.   

Enough to draw blood and make your whole body jolt from the pain only to be hit with a wave of pleasure as his cock found its way to your sweet spot. Zoro sucking on your wounded finger, tongue roughly licking at the bite mark, lapping at the blood and indents. It felt weird, a painful kind of sting with each lap of his tongue that made you crave for more each time it was gone. Or maybe you were losing your mind with how his cock was still ramming it way into your cervix.

 “Ngaah-Hahh-Zorooo-fuck!” Moans and whimpers spill from your lips as your body surrenders itself to Zoro fully, his fangs making various bite marks on your arm now, his cock stretching you out fully, his hand pressing down on your stomach each time his cock reaches that area. You wanted so desperately to say that you wanted Zoro to go faster, however only drool and nonsensical babble came out of your mouth.  Your babbles mixed in with the sounds of Zoro’s grunts and growls as he started licking away at all the bloodied bite marks he made on your arm. 

His cat-like tongue sweeping and swirling on the bruises, small beads of blood dripping out of the wound quickly whisked away by the wet muscle. The corners of his lips and teeth were now stained red, not that Zoro cared heck he might have even loved the fact that he looked like a carnivore right now. Eating away at his prey bit by bit, devouring every aspect of your body, every whimper or moan from your lips, every twitch and shiver of your body, all caused by him. 

When Zoro gets down to your shoulder, you tilt your head to the side to meet his gaze. Pleading with your teary eyes for him to go harder, faster, anything from the agonizing sluggish pace he kept at currently. Zoro growls softly at your weeping face, wiping away your tears with his fingers, smudging some blood on your cheek in the process. “What's wrong, girlie?” he sounded genuine but with the way his lips were quirked up in a smirk he probably wasn't all that sincere. Especially how his hips  suddenly sputter to a complete stop halfway in. His cock twitching slightly inside of you, as you cried out some more tears. 

Clawing your nails into his biceps, lips out in a full pout as you barely manage blubber out some words; “Mo-more” “Zorooo” and “Please”. Your pitiful attempts at pleading were enough to make Zoro waver a little, actually being genuine this time when he leaned down to capture your lips in a passionate kiss. You taste the copper tang from your own blood on your tongue as Zoro tilts your chin up to gain more access to your mouth. His other hand roaming to give some attention to your throbbing clit some much needed attention. 

You attempt to buck your hips up but with Zoro’s weight still pressing down on you it is a near impossible task. You only managed to make yourself seem more pitiful, as pitiful whines bubbled up from your throat, your thighs shaking and tensing around Zoro’s waist. “Seems like I got carried about with the biting again…” He murmured out quietly, after parting from your lips. You sent him a weak glare, slapping his bicep making him chuckle out in return. You slap him again. He returns the slap by giving you one on your clit. 

Pressing his tongue inside your mouth when you yelp at the sting of it, taking this moment to push his cock all the way in again. His thumb rubbing at your clit in small circles as Zoro starts to increase his pace. Along with increasing the force of his thrust, the slapping sound when your skin colliding with each other echoed so loudly in the hotel room, making your ear burn with embarrassment. Your cries and pleads were back to being swallowed up by Zoro’s tongue. He would let out occasional growls or heavy pants in between the small instances when he allowed you to breathe in air again. You felt your core tightening with white-hot pleasure, black spots appearing in your vision as you squeezed your eyes shut. 

Legs trembling and your pussy clenching down on Zoro’s length, making him increase his pace on both his thrusts and his thumb ministrations. “C’mon cum for me girlie, mmmf-fuck, cum for me.” he grunted out, slamming his hip in a particularly  mean thrust. That combined with his thick-voiced command was the final straw that pushed you over. Your eyes rolling to the back of your head, as your body spasms and thrash around the searing and burning amount of pleasure that you never felt before was almost too much for you to handle. 

Luckily Zoro wasn’t that mean, combing his hair through your hair as he ease you into it, softly speaking praises into the shell of your ear as his other arm placed itself on your back. Pushing you forward into a half bear hug, your body colliding with Zoro’s tightly, his arm pressing your chest against his, mixing your heart beats together. When your breathing lowers down to low pants and your body settles to small twitches here and there, only then does Zoro bring his arm back and slowly pull out. 

His own breathing low and heavy, his chest slowly rising and falling with each parted sigh. Sweat dripped from his forehead and glistened on his chest. He removes the condom with a groan, wrapping his hand around the base, looking down at you with a cloudy gaze. You wearily blink your eyes back open to ogle at the sight before his voice rings out to you. You strained your ears to listen to his request. “--you don’t mind if I cum on you right?” he was already stroking his cock as he was asking you for permission. Who were you to say no to this hunking beast of a man?

Still catching your breath, you nod at him, parting your legs out more and leaning your head back to watch Zoro jerk himself off right above you. The thick veins on his hand almost matched the ones on his pulsing cock. Your hole was clenching around nothing as you kept on leering at this sight, the smell of sweat and sin in the air, Zoro’s eye half-lidded staring down at you, his lips wet and smeared with your blood still. Low and rugged pants coming up from his throat as he squeezed your chest with his other hand, increasing the pressure on both hands as he soon reached his own climax. Spattering his cum across your chest in short spurts, a loud mix of a growl and a grunt escaped his lips as well. 

After a short pause, he wipes off some sweat from his face, a wide smirk plastered on his face. “Well? How was that for your first time, eh girlie? I think I deserve a 5-star rating.” He moved around until he was sitting by your side now, gently caressing your face with the hand he used to just jerk off with. You felt the sticky residue he was leaving your cheek. “Ugh! Zoro, don't use that hand to touch my face right now!” You smack his hand away with a grimace, propping yourself on your elbows. Hissing out in pain when the bite that Zoro left on there starts to bleed out a bit again. You send a glare Zoro’s way, he rubs the back of neck as he looks away from your glare, muttering out a “Whoops..” You smack him on the arm again; “I think you deserve a 1-star rating instead.” Zoro flinched at the smack but you knew that was mostly because of your words and not because your attack did any damage to him. You ran your fingers over the indentations of Zoro’s fangs in your skin, the small sting that came with each run thru sent shivers down your spine. You then hear and feel the bed creaking from beside you as Zoro sags his head down on your shoulder.

His arm loosely wrapping around your waist, his cheek nuzzling delicately against yours. This must be Zoro’s way of apologizing you thought silently, holding back a grin. You took some pity on the man and patted his head a bit just like a cat. He makes a small noise, akin to a real purr, your mind must be playing tricks on you or something. He plants mushy kisses on your cheek, descending down to your shoulder. Licking at any bruises or marks he left there as well, then going even further down to your arm. Stopping at every wound and kissing and licking at it.

Running his bristly tongue over the indents, it wasn’t soothing as you thought it would be, the prickle of pain with each lap of his tongue followed by a gentle kiss made your mind roll though. Maybe you liked feeling a bit of pain with pleasure? This was something new to you, as Zoro continues his apology, already halfway down your arm which was now covered in spit along with the bite marks and blood spots. Another shiver went down your spine as Zoro’s tongue pressed deeply into a particularly deep wound. The jolt of pain that came from it made you moan out a bit. 

Causing Zoro to stop mid-lick and look up at you with a curious glint in his eye. His lips curled up at the side; “Oh? What was that a moan, hmm, sweetheart?” “N-no…” You looked away from him, about to tug your arm away when his tongue came out again on the same spot. Pressing much harsher this time on the bite mark. You couldn’t hold back the throaty moan, closing your eyes instead and feeling the heat of shame light up your cheeks and ears. Zoro chuckles; “You should have told me that you liked this sort of thing, I would have marked you up much more.” Your cheeks burn a bit more at the comment, desire stirring up once again in your chest. 

“I didn’t really know I was into this sort of thing, alright? It’s all new to me… Anyway, are-are you going to leave now that we’re done?” Your voice cracked a bit at the end, as your mood instantly dampened the thought of Zoro leaving you. He raised up an eyebrow at you; “Leaving? You want to kick me out that badly?” His tone is light as he flicks your forehead with a finger. Kissing it right after to ease the small sting of pain. “And we’re not done yet. It seems like you want more, don’t cha?” He hums out, kissing the shell of your ear, his hand meeting in the middle of your thighs. 

Your body parting them open easily so his finger could slip in your pussy, plunging in out with the slick and wetness making lewd noises come out. You just started to grind your hips up when Zoro pulled his finger out and licked away the slick. Moving to the edge of the bed and beckoning you forward, patting his thigh with both hands. “Cm’ere.’ His cock was sitting up prettily between his muscular thighs, your heartbeat felt like it was skyrocketing as you slowly made your way over to him. His hands came to grab onto your waist as you threw your legs over the side of his thighs. 

His fingers digging in your soft flesh when he realizes something. “Shit…forget about the condoms again. Hold-” “Ah! Zoro, wait-” Your bend forward, throwing your arms around his neck, stopping him from getting up. “Can we skip the condom this time.. Please?” Your heart was pounding at this request but you really wanted to feel Zoro fully this time. “Shit, girlie. I’m not opposed to fucking raw but are you really sure about this?” He looks at you with his steel eye searching for any sign that you weren’t 100% sure about it, making you gulp nervously at the intensity of it. But you didn’t back down; not shying away from his gaze you answered back. “I am sure, I…I want to feel everything this time. I can handle it.” 

He stares at you for a couple more moments, a wide toothy smile taking over his face. His fangs seem sharper now for some reason as well. “Already getting addicted to my cock huh? I knew that you wouldn’t just be satisfied after one round. Mmm..you better be prepared, cause I’m not holding back this time..” He ends his statement by immediately biting down hard on your shoulder, puncturing his fangs in and drawing blood. His hands anchored itself on your waist, making sure you can’t squirm away. A choked whine leaves your lips, the searing pain of the bite makes your pussy quiver with need.

Zoro releases his fang from your shoulder, switching to sucking and lapping up the blood spilling out, his hands loosening its hold on you to swipe at you needy cunt. His fingers quickly drenched in your arousal, plunging in and scissoring his fingers. The feeling was nice but it wasn't enough for you. Tugging at Zoro’s hair with a whimper, blinking down at him thru your teary lashes. The sight made his cock jump up even more. He gulped down some of your blood and held it in his mouth so when he went in for the kiss, you could have a taste also.

Now, regardless if you actually wanted to drink down some of your blood was irrelevant as Zoro also took this time to spear you with his length. Bullying it up all the up to your cervix, done easily as your slick was still plentiful, nasty ‘plaps’ echoed loudly each time your hips slapped against each other. The unexpected thrusting made you moan, opening your mouth to let in the metallic liquid and Zoro’s saccharine tongue to wash over your taste buds. Almost choking on your own blood from how rough Zoro was bouncing you on his lap. 

‘Plaps’ ‘Plaps’ ‘Plaps’  “Zo-Zoro-Slow-Mmhh! Nggh!!”  ‘Plaps’ ‘Plaps’  

Your pleads were taken away when Zoro bit down on your bottom lips cruelly. Drawing more blood out and licking and sucking at it sweetly the next moment. His muscular thighs spread apart as he kept on bouncing you up and down on his cock. His hands kneaded at the soft flesh of your ass, sometimes gripping so hard that his handprints were about to be imprinted on the skin. A quick slap on your ass, made you cry out, tilting your head back as tears fell down your cheek beautifully. 

A pitiful sniffle and whimper is all you could muster when Zoro grabs you by the chin to pull you back in. His fingers pressing on your tear-ridden cheeks to open your mouth for his greedy tongue. “Tongue out.” He growls, giving you another smack on the ass. You loll out your tongue quite obscenely, eyes half-lid and wet with tears. Zoro rewards your quick obedience by sucking on your tongue, his hand withdrawing from both sets of cheeks, going to wrap around your waist and under you. Planting his feet firmly on the ground so he could stand up with you still on his cock with ease. 

His muscle only twitches slightly as he picks you up, his mouth never once leaving yours. Your tongue being abused by his lips and teeth, going as far as to bite down on it. His own rough tongue coming to trail over the wound, going deeper in your throat later on as his cock was also still buried deep in your core. The bounce with each step he took, jostled his cock even more inside of you. Your legs wrapped around his waist to keep steady, even with his iron grip on your skin you were scared of slipping off. Not that Zoro would ever let you fall off, moving forward with you until your back reached the wall. 

Right where he wanted you, trapped between the hotel wall and a muscular wall of abs. With one last flick of his tongue on yours, he parts from your mouth, a nasty strand of salvia connected you two for a small moment. You suck in much needed air into your lungs, your chest heaving up and down and your thighs clenching together the moment Zoro bucks his hips up into you. A loud moan ripped itself from your throat. “Zorooooooo!” You whined out, more moans coming out from you. Your back hitting the wall with each thrust upwards of his hips, the pictures on the wall bouncing along with you. Almost falling off with how hard Zoro was fucking you. 

“O-Oh-hnggg-Zoro! Fu-Fuck!”

“You better quiet down or do you want the room next door to hear how much of a slut you are right now?” 

Zoro’s tutted at you but with the smirk on his face and how he kept thrusting into you without a care. The thumping on the wall grows louder in tandem with your moans and pants. A photo frame came crashing down on the ground but neither of you noticed it. Zoro grunts out near your ear, his tan skin flushed a delicious pink, he leans his head down a bit to bite down on your neck. Your nails stab into his shoulders, knuckles whites, your eyes and stomach squeezing as hot pleasure washes over you. Zoro gives you more bites, on your neck, collarbone, and shoulder. Never once losing the harsh pace he was giving you. 

‘Plaps’ ‘Thrust’ ‘Thrust’ “Hahhhhhh” ‘Plaps’ ‘Plaps’

“Fuck….. I think I'm the one getting addicted to this pussy of yours, girlie.” Zoro sighs out, the flush on his face getting pinker. His mind was getting hazy as his cock drags itself along your walls, without the condom you both felt everything so much more. His thick throbbing veins rubbing against your walls with each push and pull, his fat tip hitting your spot so sweetly. The way you were clenching down on him, your juices spilling out so much, almost making his cock slip out if he wasn’t careful. “Ha-ahhhhhh, sweetheart… fu-fuck.” His hands press in a bit on your hips, pressing his forehead against your. “L-let me cum in you? Nghhhh.. Please let me mark you on the inside as well.” 

You didn't expect Zoro to plead for it, his eye glazed over with lust, licking his teeth clean of your blood while staring at you. His hot breath coming out in short and husky pants, you turn this man into a mess and you loved it. “I-I’m close too.. Let’s cum together.. Please.” You press your legs closer around his back, pulling him closer to you as you clenched down on his cock. Zoro pushes you against the wall even more, one arm grabbing the back of your head as he crashes his lips into yours. A growl emitting from his throat as his abs starts to tense up from the build up of his own release. 

HIs hips going at a extra hard pace now, you could swear that the entire hotel room was shaking from how hard he was fucking you. “C’mon sweetheart, Ha-ahh, give it to me..” Another growl came out of Zoro as he nipped at your bloodied and swollen lips. His hand tugging at your locks, hot puffs of air coming out from both of you. Your body shakes and clenches down even harder than your last orgasm. Grinding your whole body against Zoro’s as your back arch off the wall and collide with his chest. Zoro releasing his own thick rope of cum into you soon after, the sensation of his cream spilling itself hotly inside you, mixing in with your own juices, made you see stars in your vision. 

Zoro begins backing away from the wall, arms still wrapped around you as your body twitches as you calm down from your orgasm. Your head flopping down on Zoro's shoulder, your breath stuttering out, your body completely spent and tired. With no energy to even continue wrapping your legs around his waist, your legs dangle on the side now, but Zoro held you tight. Pacing his way over to the bed, you heard some shuffling and felt your body being moved about all over the place but soon you succumbed to sleep. Your eyes flutter closed as the last thing you see and hear is Zoro above you, murmuring out. “Sleep well, girlie…”

------

The morning lights filter through the curtains, landing directly on your face. You groan out, shifting your body the other way to get away from the light. The sound of quiet grunting can be heard once you settle back in again. You laid there for a short while, straining your ears to try to figure out what the noises could be and where it was coming from. Eventually your curiosity got the better of you and you decided to sit up fully and blink open your eyes to look around. Rubbing sleep from them with a yawn as your vision clears. 

What you found was Zoro on the ground doing one-handed push ups. Only wearing a pair of boxers as sweat trickles down his broad back. He soon stops as he notices you staring at him, giving him what you think was a wink as he stands up and stretches his arms backwards. “Mornin’ sweetheart. Took you long enough to wake up.” He steps over to the edge of the bed, looming over you. A hand coming down to pat you on the head twice, fluffing up your bed-head even more. “I still expect to get that 5-stars review, you know?” He chuckles out, seeing you try to pat down some hair that was sticking up. 

You only noticed now when Zoro went to the bathroom, that you got clothes on, the simple t-shirt and shorts that you packed before you came here. Zoro must have put them on you while you passed out after last night’s… activities. Speaking of that... You start to flush a rosy pink, as the memories of last night came flooding back. The bite marks on your skin pulsing with a mild ache, your thighs move with a new kind of soreness you never felt before. You flop back on the bed, grabbing a pillow to hug to your chest with a grumble. 

Zoro walked out of the bathroom back in his normal clothes, snorting softly at the sight before him. Bending down to your level and giving you a quick peck on the forehead as he brushes your hair back. “Don’t be mad at me alright? You asked for it last night, heh, practically begged for it.” He teases out, making you grumble and pout cutely, still leaning into the warmth of his hand. His hand goes down to cup your cheek, giving you a sweeter kiss on your lips that lasts for a while. But when he parts away from you, it felt like it wasn’t enough, making your heart ache a bit. 

“It’s a bit past noon.” He sighs out, his tone low. “I have places to be.” You swallowed back a lump in your throat. You knew that this was only a one night thing, he was an escort after all not your lover or anything like that. Still you couldn’t shake the feeling of sorrow in your heart watching Zoro get up to leave. Only giving him a small nod as you bury yourself back into the bed, clutching the pillow even tighter to your chest to try dull the ache there. You heard another sigh from Zoro and some rustling of paper. You peek over to find Zoro scribbling something down on the hotel notepad. Ripping the page off and giving it to you. “This is my personal phone number, since I know no other guy will be able to satisfy you like I did. Call me whenever you need me again or whatever.” He mumbled out the last part almost shyly. His head turned away from you but you can see the tips of his ears were pink. 

You take the paper, your heart leaping up to your throat in joy. Zoro doesn’t turn back to you as he walks away, too embarrassed to show you his blushing face so he just waves a goodbye and gives you a small; “Later, Y/N”. The door shuts behind him and now you’re left alone in the room once more. Your first thought was, ‘I wonder if Zoro is gonna get lost on his way to his next appointment again.’ and your second was, ‘Is it too soon if I call him again tomorrow…?’ 

Taglist: @baka-tsuki @malxoxo @saenora

#₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎ softy writes #softy spice #one piece smut #one piece zoro #zoro x reader #zoro smut #one piece x reader

[yelena-bellova]

Twenty Years Later: Joel Miller x F!Reader - Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: Almost

Plot: Joel, Ellie and Y/n work their way across Wyoming in a desperate search for Tommy.

Word Count: 12.6k

Warnings: tlou ep.6 spoilers, language, death, loss of a child, angry outburst, trauma, anxiety attacks, 16+

A/N: SURPRISE! One day ahead of where I thought I’d be, swooping in for a dose of bedtime angst 🌙

As always, I have to put that this series is 16+ and I will not be adding anyone to the taglist if your age/range is not specified in your bio. Gotta look out for younger eyes 👀

This chapter and the one that will follow are the chapters. They’re the culmination of this whole frickin’ journey. It’s been so fun to eead your theories about Joel and Rosebud’s breakup, and now you’ll have (some of) your answers. I hope it lives up to what you imagined, or maybe even surprises you. Above all, I hope y’all enjoy 😘

—————

December 2023. Somewhere in Wyoming.

Fuck the philosophers of the pre-Cordyceps world.

Time healed nothing.

If anything, time made pain worse. Because, with enough time to study its victim, the pain could evolve. It could morph into anger, bitterness…much like Cordyceps, it could consume its host until they were shrouded in so many layers of hurt, they became unrecognizable.

Time healed absolutely nothing.

Marlon returned to his cabin, hanging the two rabbits he’d killed on the hook outside the door. The little warmth the home managed to retain welcomed him in, but the inside had changed since he’d been gone.

“Who the hell are you?”

Y/n sat adjacent to Florence, Marlon’s wife, blowing on a spoonful of soup. “A deep admirer of your wife’s cooking,” she answered.

Marlon stood confused at the door, slowly removing his jacket.

“And the gun.”

The old man turned to see another stranger, this one a man, emerging from the kitchen. He had a pistol drawn on Marlon.

“And you?”

Joel shook his head, carefully moving towards Marlon, “Just someone passin’ through. Take the gun out, two fingers only, put it outta reach.”

Marlon obeyed, dangling his pistol off his fingers and setting it on an end table. All the while, Y/n sipped her soup.

Marlon looked to Florence, “Why didn’t you shoot them?”

She nodded across the room, “The gun’s all the way over there. They didn’t hurt me by the way.”

“Yeah, I got eyes,” Marlon walked to his chair, he’d already deemed Joel as a very minor, if at all, threat.

“He won’t shoot you,” Y/n interjected, not once looking up from her bowl, “He threatens everyone he meets.”

Joel’s hardened stare landed on Y/n’s face, her casualty was greatly undermining him.

“You made ‘em soup?” Marlon gestured to Y/n’s meal, along with Joel’s untouched bowl that sat on the coffee table.

“Yeah, I did,” Florence answered, “It’s cold out.”

Y/n reached across and touched the woman’s arm, “And it’s lovely, Florence. Thank you.”

Joel sighed in exasperation, “We’re lookin’ for my brother.”

Marlon scoffed and removed his baseball cap, “Well, I ain’t seen him.”

“I haven’t told you what he looks like,” Joel replied.

“He look anything like you?” Marlon asked.

“A bit.”

Marlon shrugged, “Then I ain’t seen him.”

“They’ve got a girl with them,” Florence nodded up the stairs.

“Can I come down now?” Ellie called from above, overlooking the ground floor.

Joel and Y/n answered at the same time.

“No.”

“Yeah.”

Their eyes flicked to one another, Joel’s frustrated, Y/n’s calm. She was done playing the gunslinging traveler when unnecessary.

Ellie, always siding with whichever of them gave her what she wanted, bounded down the stairs.

“Ellie,” Joel reprimanded, as if it would do anything to stop her…

“Ooh-wa,” Marlon chuckled, looking to his wife and Y/n.

“What did I just say?” Joel said as Ellie joined him.

“Joel, come on,” she replied, aiming her handgun at the couple, “They’re like, a thousand.”

Marlon ran his eyes over Ellie, “Who’s this little psycho?”

“Never mind her,” Joel leaned forward, pushing his map across the table to Marlon, “I need you to tell us where we are.”

“If you got a map, why’re you lost?” Marlon asked.

“Must’ve missed all the street signs in the enormous fucking forest,” Ellie shot back.

“Ho-ly,” Marlon smiled to his wife, the two of them sharing a laugh.

Joel glanced over to Ellie, she was mirroring his posture, his tone…she was trying so damn hard to be like him. “We’re somewhere here,” he pointed to a spot on the map, “Exactly where? And your answer better be the same as your wife’s.”

Marlon’s eyes flicked to Florence, “You tell ‘em the truth?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Are you tellin’ me the truth?”

“Yeah.”

Marlon leaned forward and pressed a finger to a spot on the map. It wasn’t the answer Joel was looking for.

“Well,” he holstered his gun, “You found a great place to hide, I guess.”

“Hide?” Marlon chuckled deeply as Joel settled on his couch, “Came here before you and your wife were born, sonny. Get the hell away from everybody.”

“Not his wife,” Y/n was quick to reply before taking another spoonful. It had been three fucking months of assumptions and both Joel and her were exhausted by them.

Florence turned to Y/n, “I didn’t want to.”

“Eh,” Marlon waved his wife off and looked to Joel, “Listen, I didn’t mean to upset you about your brother but if you’ve come this far, then you know what’s out there. You seen Cody?”

“Yeah, got close enough,” Ellie answered from the arm of the couch, “It’s crawling with Infected.

“Yeah, Laramie,” Marlon listed off, “And Wind River Reservation. Anywhere people used to be. You can’t go there no more.”

Y/n set her soup aside and leaned forward on her elbows, deciding it was finally time to take the conversation seriously. “So you’ve never heard the name Tommy Miller?”

“Nope,” Marlon answered.

“What about the Fireflies?” Ellie asked.

Florence nodded, “We get those in the summer.”

“Not the bugs,” Ellie replied, thoroughly put out, “The people.”

“There are firefly people?”

Y/n joined the joke and gestured down the length of her body, “In the flesh.”

Marlon, Florence and Y/n shared a laugh, Joel couldn’t tell whether he was more annoyed or disappointed.

“You got any advice on the best way west?”

“Yeah,” Marlon leaned forward, “Go east,” he ran a finger along a stretch of water on the map, “But you never go past the river here. Ever.”

“What’s past the river?” Ellie asked.

“Death,” Florence answered, “We never seen who’s out there, but we see the bodies they leave behind. Some Infected, some not,” she turned to Joel, “If your brother’s west of the river, he’s gone.”

Joel and Y/n’s eyes met across the table, both trying to conceal their worry under Ellie’s ever-present gaze, but knowing they could share it with each other.

“You’re not gonna scare us,” Ellie said, confidently.

Florence nodded towards Joel and Y/n, “Scared them.”

They quickly buried their anxieties under blind determination. Whatever lay across the bank, it didn’t matter. They had to believe that Tommy was both alive and well on the other side.

Filing out of the cabin, Joel and Y/n marched ahead of Ellie.

“You don’t seriously believe them,” Ellie half-stated, half-asked.

“They’ve lived here a long time,” Joel replied, trudging through the snow. He could feel his heartbeat speeding up.

Y/n turned around to see why she couldn’t hear Ellie’s footsteps following theirs. The girl was unhooking one of Marlon’s rabbits, “El, come on, don’t steal their food.”

Ellie was undeterred as she swung the game over her shoulder, “They don’t know anything. Never heard of the Fireflies.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t have out here,” Y/n stretched her arms out around her to the snowy expanse, “Doesn’t mean you have to steal t-“

Y/n’s words faded in Joel’s ear, a steady ring filling the space. It was happening again.

Joel stumbled forward, resting a weak hand on a piece of the cabin’s fence, his breathing became labored. His thoughts began to spin with worst case scenarios in all their various forms that could become reality, if what lay on the other side of the river was real. Every nightmare his mind drummed up ended with Y/n or Ellie d-

“Joel,” Y/n called, she was the first of them to notice. She walked to meet him, “Joel.”

“Joel?” Ellie echoed, she’d had yet to witness one of his episodes, “Joel, are you okay?”

“Shut up,” he said, verbally waving Ellie off.

“Holy shit, are you dying?” Ellie continued.

Joel shook his head and shut his eyes, trying to block them out, “I’m okay.”

Y/n wasn’t so convinced, she laid a firm grip onto Joel’s shoulder. “Joel, c’mon.”

“Okay, but are you okay?” Ellie asked again.

“I’m fine,” Joel insisted, wishing desperately that Y/n would remove her hand, but not possessing the strength to shove it off, “I’m fine.”

“No, no, but are you?” Ellie wouldn’t stop, why couldn’t she stop? “Because just a reminder, that if you’re dead, we’re fucked.”

Y/n’s gaze darted to the girl, “Ellie-“

That was enough to bring Joel back to Earth.

“I said I’m fine,” he pushed, contradicting his words with his palm pressed to his chest. “It’s just the…cold air all of a sudden.”

Y/n let her hand slide off his shoulder, wholly aware that he was lying. The episodes had been occurring more and more over the last few weeks, they seemed to be getting worse the closer they got to wherever Tommy was or wasn’t.

Joel refused to ever tell her what triggered them, hell, he had barely figured it out himself. What he did know was that he couldn’t deal with what lay at the core of them all. That would have required an honesty he hadn’t possessed in twenty years.

“All right, uh,” Ellie was the first of the three to bounce back, “So let’s go find Tommy and the Fireflies. It’s gonna be easy,” she slid between the fence and called back to them, “All we have to do is cross the river of death.”

Joel and Y/n were left on their own, the former waiting to catch his breath, the latter waiting on an explanation.

“Would it have killed you to back me up in there?” Joel asked, his usual sour mood replacing the small glimpse of vulnerability.

“Yeah,” Y/n’s watched him bury the lsat thirty seconds, denying her an answer once again, “‘Cause that’s our biggest problem.”

She slid through the fence after Ellie, leaving Joel to bring up the rear of their group.

The last three months had been trying, but not in the ways Joel and Y/n might have thought at the beginning of their quest. They could only stay silent with each other for so long before they had to talk, and they’d reached a place where they weren’t at each other’s throats any more. While the snow had frozen the earth, their anger had melted…

Leaving all the underlying emotions to fill the vacant space.

The physical distance they kept hadn’t changed, but the unspoken chasm between them was beginning to cave in on itself. With each passing day, it was growing harder and harder for Joel and Y/n to pretend like they didn’t need each other.

In every one of Joel’s attacks, his guilt slammed into him like a tidal wave, threatening to drown the life out of him. So many people he’d let down and when he opened his eyes, he was staring into the face of one of them. One look at Y/n caused everything he’d told himself about her over the years to follow the undertow out to sea.

Y/n, in all her righteous rage, was beginning to do the impossible…she was starting to understand why Joel had done what he’d done to her. She’d spent twenty years cursing his name, a constant boil in her stomach that bubbled whenever she thought of him, but there’d always been a voice in her head reminding her of the ‘why.’ All of Joel’s actions from Outbreak Day on had been driven by a deep pain inside him. That inkling was starting to spread through Y/n’s mind, the dye well on its way to consuming the whole brain.

In a perfect world, they’d have come to one another, humbly, and talked it through. Instead, they held their grudge, with its dying flame, as the barricade between them, hoping that it sparked once more.

—————————

In the fall, fires had been a luxury, but as winter rolled in, they became necessary to make it through the night.

Y/n and Joel sat on opposite sides of it, Joel adding another layer of duct tape to his boot and Y/n stitching up a busted seam in her leather gloves. It was the apocalypse’s version of domesticities.

Ellie was above them, having scaled a rock to get a good look at the stars. A green glimpse of the Aurora Borealis waved through the midnight blue sky.

Joel whistled for her eventually, “Come down from there. You’re gonna break your neck.”

Ellie reluctantly returned to the ground, choosing to sit close to Y/n and watch her mend her glove. The two of them had grown closer over the past three months. Joel would never let his guard down wholly for Ellie, but Y/n was more comfortable letting the girl see her as she was.

“Ahh,” Ellie said, spotting the flask Joel was taking a swig from, “Can I have some?”

“No,” Y/n and Joel said in perfect harmony.

“What? Just to warm up,” Ellie clarified, “C’mon.”

Joel’s eyes flicked to Y/n, who knew she couldn’t hold old world rules to their situation. Her gaze falling back to her handiwork served as Joel’s answer.

Ellie took the flask, made sure to give a little ‘cheers’ to Joel and took a drink. She grimaced as it ran down her throat, “Yep,” she strained, “Still gross.”

Ellie held out the flask to Y/n, who shook her head. The thought of being anywhere near where Joel’s lips had been unsettled her.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Ellie started after a short stretch of silence, “Let’s say we find the Fireflies, it all works, they draw my blood and put it through some of their fancy machines and make a cure.”

Joel’s brows furrowed in confusion, “Okay.”

“Then what?” Ellie asked, “Like, what do we do?”

“Oh, it’s ‘we?’” Joel replied.

“Yeah, the end of this partnership comes as soon as we get to the base,” Y/n pointed between herself and Joel.

Ellie nearly rolled her eyes, “Okay, fine. Whatever, you. Separately. You can do anything you want,” she looked to Joel first, “Where are you going? What are you doing?”

Joel glanced at the sky, to admit his true answer would kill another piece of the remnants of his heart. “It’s never been an option,” he cleared his throat, “Maybe…”

For a split second, he saw it all again. His old house. Tommy in the kitchen, raiding their fridge. Sarah at the table, doing homework.

And Y/n, somewhere in the middle of it all, laughing and looking to Joel with a softness that both uplifted and settled him.

“An old farmhouse,” he lied, “Some land…a ranch.”

Y/n stared down at her needlework, knowing that each word was a lie.

“Cool,” Ellie replied, oblivious to the history surrounding her, “What kind?”

“Sheep,” Joel answered, it was the first animal he could think of, “I would raise sheep.”

“Sheep,” Ellie repeated under her breath.

“They’re quiet,” Joel continued, his stare falling on Ellie, “Do what they’re told.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Ellie got the hint, “So just you and a buncha sheep. Romantic. Is there…” her eyes swung between Joel and Y/n, “Room for anyone else in the pens with you?”

The assumptions made by strangers that Y/n and Joel were a couple were enjoyable compared to Ellie’s constant attempts to push them together. They were getting more frequent and less subtle.

“I go back to work after this, El,” Y/n said, finishing up her last loop, “Doubtful I’ll be getting back to Boston any time soon, so I’ll probably stay at the camp out here.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Ellie shook her head, “I asked what you wanted to do. Out of anything, anything in the world.”

Y/n stopped her stitching, staring down at the needle, wondering if she poked herself hard enough, if she’d be able to draw blood. Would she be able to feel the prick? Or was she just numb enough that physical pain couldn’t touch her?

Joel had noticed that Y/n was beginning to slow down more. On the move, she was as fast as ever, but in the quiet moments between, there’d be times where the world was in motion, and she was perfectly still. It was like she was somewhere deep, deep in her mind, waiting for whatever hold had come over her to break and allow her to return to reality.

Y/n swallowed thickly, her past life flickering before her eyes like a movie montage. Sharing a beer with Tommy while watching a Cowboys game. Painting Sarah’s nails for her with a color the girl had stolen from Y/n’s bathroom. Laying in bed with Joel, deep in the pillows and listening to him sing softly over his guitar…

Her dreams were dead.

“I want to work,” she answered, it wasn’t a total lie, “Help people. If I stop for too long…then what the hell am I doing?”

Joel wished he didn’t recognize the underlying sentiment, that if she stopped moving at an inhuman pace, the grief would consume her. But he did, because it was the same way he lived his life.

Y/n clipped the thread with her teeth, beginning to tie a knot, “And what about you? What are you gonna do after you save the world?”

Ellie gave a small smile as Y/n nudged her with her shoulder. She turned her gaze to the sky, specifically the very visible moon. “It’s probably because I grew up in the QZ. Behind you, there’s ocean and ahead of you there’s a wall,” her smile grew the longer she stared at the stars, “Nowhere else to look but up. I read everything I could in the school library. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell…” Ellie sat forward with enthusiasm, “But you know who my favorite is?”

“Sally Ride,” Joel and Y/n both answered, it wasn’t hard to guess.

“Sally fuckin’ Ride,” Ellie slapped her knees, enunciating her point, “Best astronaut name ever!”

Whatever levity had come over their campsite faded quickly, Y/n watched as Ellie’s passion turned to sobering…grief? Guilt? She was hard to read sometimes, the innocence of youth and the scars of rushed adulthood creating something entirely new.

“It’ll work, right?” Ellie asked, “The vaccine?”

“It’s a little late to start wonderin’,” Joel responded, his hands folded over his stomach.

Ellie looked down at her lap, unable to look either Y/n or Joel in the eye. “I tried…with Sam.”

“Tried what?” Y/n asked.

“I knew he was infected,” Ellie confessed, “I rubbed some of my blood into his bite. I know,” she hurried, trying to stop Joel’s anxious admonishment before it came, “I know, it was stupid, but I…” she looked back down at her lap, “I wanted to save him.”

Y/n diverted her gaze to the fire, feeling the warmth of it deep in her belly. Not a day had gone by where she hadn’t thought about Henry or Sam. It had taken her a full day after their deaths to even be able to speak. The sorrow in Henry’s eyes before pulling the trigger on his own life haunted her. The pain of understanding still lingered in her chest, coming out to play every once in a while and remind her that no matter what she did, no matter how hard she worked to be a good person…she couldn’t erase what she had done.

“Well, I reckon it’s a lot more complicated than that,” Joel plainly answered, “Marlene, she’s a lotta things, but…she’s no fool. If she says they can do it, they can do it.”

Ellie absorbed his answer before turning to Y/n, waiting for her reassurance.

Y/n pulled herself out of her grief, barely quirking the corners of her lips up. “It’ll work,” she replied.

Ellie seemed to accept both their responses, letting silence fill the space again until she decided it was time to end her day. “How’re we splitting up the watches?”

Joel sighed, Y/n’s gaze already waiting for him when he looked up at her.

“We’ll do ‘em both,” he answered, “Get some sleep. Dream of…” he capped the flask and exchanged it for his rifle, “Sheep ranches on the moon.”

Ellie nodded, grabbing her sleeping bag and walking to the deeper part of their hideout, “I will.”

Y/n fitted her repaired glove back on her hand, tucking them under her armpits for extra warmth. This was the hardest part of each of the day/ When it was just Joel, her and the unmentionable divide between them.

Joel tried to distract himself, gazing up at the moon and focusing on tracing the constellations around it. But the self-discipline he tried so desperately to maintain concerning Y/n was slipping, his eyes using some uncontrollable part of his mind to drift over to her.

Y/n was struggling to keep up her stoic decorum, the urge to let her and Joel’s conversations warm growing stronger and stronger. It was natural in their mutual isolations to wish for someone to talk to. But with him in front of her, the figurehead of the past she wanted so desperately to go back to…she craved a piece of a memory, any memory, that only he could give her. A short hit of dopamine to get her through the next day.

“So, Tommy,” she began, it was the only part of their past she could safely return to.

“What about him?” Joel asked.

“Is he…” Y/n chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to phrase the question right, “Is he still…Tommy?”

Joel sighed, the memories of two decades ago mixing with the last version of his brother he’d seen. “He’s still a pain in the ass, if that’s what you’re askin’.”

Y/n gave a very small smile, “But he’s still him?”

Whatever she was looking for, Joel couldn’t give her. None of them were like they’d been twenty years ago, except maybe her. She had managed to keep her humanity intact. He was darkness in both their eyes. As rough as he’d been on her at the beginning of their journey, now, he didn’t want to shatter her illusion about perhaps the one person left on the planet she loved.

“Yeah,” he replied, “He’s still him.”

Y/n nodded, deciding not to ask anything else and let the moment stay pleasant. “I can take first watch,” she volunteered.

“No, you go ahead,” Joel shook his head, “I’ll wake you up.”

“Okay,” Y/n replied, too tired to fight him. She grabbed her own rifle before unrolling her sleeping bag on her side of the fire, stretching out under it and using her arm as a pillow.

Joel kept his eyes off of her until the even rhythm of her breaths told him she was asleep. Then, and only then, did he let himself watch her, trying to combat the various fears that filled his head. She was there, in front of him, alive and well.

But how long could he keep her like that?

—————————

Even in his sleep, Joel couldn’t find rest.

A barrage of images, flashes of colors and echoes of screams, played through his mind. When he startled awake, like every morning past, all he could feel was an overwhelming sense of loss.

The gun was gone.

This was it. His grand failure.

He bolted upright only to find Ellie, a few feet away, standing guard with his rifle.

“Still mumbling in your sleep,” she stated, “I woke up early. You and Y/n,” she glanced over at her still-sleeping guardian, “Were passed out, so I took second watch.”

“You gotta wake one of us up if that happens,” Joel snapped, quickly getting to his feet and crossing the distance between him and Y/n, “You can’t do things like this.”

“But I can,” Ellie smiled, “‘Cause I just did.”

Joel crouched down, shaking Y/n’s arm lightly in an effort not to startle her, “Hey.”

All credit to him for trying, Y/n still woke with a gasp. It was her basic programming.

“We’re fine, we’re fine,” Joel was quick to reassure her as she rolled onto her back.

Y/n scrunched her eyes, blinking the sleep away from them, and sat up. It was daylight. Joel hadn’t woken her up for her watch, again.

“My fault,” he accepted the blame she was getting ready to place on him before continuing his conversation with Ellie, “We’re responsible for you, okay?”

“Then don’t fall asleep,” Ellie challanged, “I was quiet, I checked my six, I looked for tracks, I found the high ground and I kept watch,” she explained as Joel approached her, “Like you taught me to. What can I say, man? I’m a natural.”

Y/n scoffed as she unzipped her sleeping bag, “And you’re not cocky about it at all.”

Joel held out a demanding hand, taking the rifle from Ellie, but accepting that she’d done the job right. “You wake us up next time,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Ellie replied, smugness evident in her tone and on her face.

Without another word, Y/n and Joel collected the few things they’d unpacked, smothered what remained of the fire, and the three of them resumed their hike to an unknown destination.

—————————

Even if they’d have been warned in graphic detail what lay over the River of Death, it wouldn’t have changed Joel and Y/n’s minds. The only way to Tommy was to risk their lives crossing, and they did so with very little hesitation.

Ellie, bless her soul, had found plenty of ways to keep herself entertained on the way, including trying to teach herself how to whistle and requesting hunting training. Joel still wouldn’t budge on the latter.

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Ellie started at some point in their hike, “And I think I figured out what happened between you two.”

Joel and Y/n tensed up as they walked alongside one another, Ellie’s cleverness worked against them most of the time.

“Obviously, you two were a thing way back when in Texas,” she explained, adding a twang to the state’s name, “And then at some point, you guys break up. The ‘why’ was what was tripping me up, until I realized, boom…there was somebody else.”

Y/n forcefully exhaled, wondering whether the theory was more preferable to the truth.

“Now, I can’t quite figure out which one of you would’ve slipped up,” Ellie continued, “But even if you didn’t cheat with them, there was someone who got in between you enough to equal a big fight, throwing things at one another, screaming how much you loved each other and eventually ending with you swearing never to speak again. Which is why you two were ready to kill each other when you met in the QZ.”

Joel was near reaching his boiling point, fighting the pull to spin around to Ellie, wave a finger in her face and explain exactly how the situation had gone down. But the reality of those words finally escaping his lips and taking up space in the world was an unbearable thought.

Y/n was near breaking too, feeling the cracks in her chest begin to spread. She needed off the topic if she was going to be able to take a breath. “What the hell kind of stories were you checking out in between astronaut books?”

“Whatever,” Ellie brushed it off, “I know I’m right.”

Thankfully, she let the subject go as soon as they closed in on an old, out-of-usage dam. The water still gushed through it and into the river.

“Dam,” Ellie punned.

“You’re no Will Livingston,” Joel remarked.

“Yeah, yeah, but who is?” Ellie smiled, “So that made electricity?”

“Yeah,” Joel answered, predicting Ellie’s next question, “Don’t ask me, I don’t have a clue.”

He resumed their walk, Y/n and Ellie trailing behind.

“You know, you could have just made something up,” Ellie said, “I would’ve believed you.”

The three of them hiked a half hour more before coming up on another side of the river, or perhaps, an entirely separate one.

“Look at that river,” Ellie remarked, “It’s crazy blue.”

Y/n and Joel were hardly paying attention, both in their own separate thought bubbles. Any time the subject of their past relationship was brought up, it reset the clock on their comfort with each other and took at least an hour to warm back up to one another.

“Hey,” Ellie spoke up, “What if this…is the River of Death?”

The adults stopped in their tracks, the thought hadn’t dawned on them after the victory of crossing the first body of water. Joel whipped out their map, Y/n came to join him and the two of them examined it carefully.

“Fuck,” Y/n mumbled under her breath, pressing a hand to her temple.

“We don’t know it yet,” Joel quickly said, walking ahead a few steps to get a better view of their surroundings. Y/n followed closely, with Ellie on their heels.

A noise on the hill above them caught Y/n’s ear, her eyes lifting from the map to see a group of riders coming straight for them.

“Joel,” she shook his arm forcefully, bringing his attention upwards.

At the first glimpse, Joel grabbed Ellie’s free hand, Y/n taking the other, and they bolted for the forest. There were enough riders to circle them in, aiming their rifles at them and cutting off any escape route they could have found. They were fucked.

“Get behind me,” Joel told Ellie and Y/n, only the youngest of the two listened to him. The three of them held their hands up, “We ain’t lookin’ for any trouble, we’re just passin’ through.”

“Drop the guns,” one of the riders ordered.

Slowly, Y/n and Joel slipped their rifles off of their shoulders and placed them on the ground.

“You,” the same guy nodded to Ellie, “Take five steps back.”

“We can talk through this,” Y/n said, her voice gained strength the moment Ellie was addressed.

“How about you shut the fuck up?”

“Okay,” Joel spoke quickly, his hand instinctively flinching towards Y/n’s as she was threatened, “Easy,” he looked behind to Ellie and said with a low voice, “You’ll be okay.”

Ellie backed up reluctantly, her eyes darting between the riders, Y/n and Joel.

“You been near any Infected?”

“There’s no Infected out here,” Joel answered the man.

“The hell there ain’t,” the rider replied, whistling immediately after. One of them walked a dog, a German Shepherd, forward. He was barking wildly. “Last chance for a bullet. If you’ve been infected, he will smell it, and he will rip you up.”

Y/n and Joel’s blood ran cold.

The dog came forward, sniffing from Joel’s boots up to his torso, and deeming him safe. He went through the same motions with Y/n before walking back to its keeper. Joel and Y/n felt the same hesitant relief, could they really make it out of this?

“Like I said,” Joel said, “We’ll just move on.”

But life wasn’t that merciful to them. “Now her,” the rider nodded back to Ellie.

Y/n turned to face the girl, Ellie’s eyes widened with childlike fear. There was nothing Y/n could do to help. The second she raised her pistol, she’d be dead. They’d know they were hiding something and they’d shoot Ellie too. But if she stayed perfectly still, resting all of her hope on a blind theory, maybe…just maybe…

Joel wasn’t thinking hardly as rationally as his ex. His ears began to ring, his heart began to race, all his senses blinding him with terror as the dog approached. He was helpless again, his hands tied behind his back as he watched someone he cared about die a slow, meaningless de-

Ellie giggled.

Y/n huffed a sigh of relief at the sound, her and Joel turning to see the dog licking Ellie’s face. She fell back onto the snow, laughing and scratching the animal’s neck. When she smiled up at them, Joel and Y/n felt the oxygen return to their lungs.

The rider whistled for the dog to return, “You just bought yourself ten more seconds. What are you doin’ out here?”

It took Joel a few of those seconds to come back to his surroundings, “We’re just lookin’ for my brother. That’s all, nothin’ more.”

“Ho!”

The rider to the left of the one threatening them nudged her horse forward, stopping a few feet closer to Joel and Y/n. “What’re your names?”

“Joel,” he answered.

“Y/n.”

The woman looked them over, her bandana covering all but her eyes. “I can take you to your brother,” she finally said.

Joel’s lips parted in shock, instantly tilting his head to gaze over at Y/n, who wore the same surprise. Tommy was alive.

The woman called back to one of the riders, ordering them to go retrieve the two extra horses they’d left to graze. They were brought back, saddled and all, and Joel, Y/n and Ellie were directed to get on them.

Y/n jumped on one first, her and Joel both helping Ellie onto the rear of the saddle.

“You hold on and you don’t let go, alright?” Y/n said, wrapping the reins of the bridle around her fist. It had been a long time since she’d ridden.

“Mm-hmm,” Ellie hummed, locking her arms around Y/n’s middle.

Joel promptly mounted his own horse, nudging his them closer to ride alongside Y/n and Ellie.

“Let’s move out,” the woman called to the group.

They rode about fifteen minutes, galloping further west. In the distance, a building could barely be made out. The closer they got, the more Y/n and Joel could tell it was a fort. The party slowed as they approached the gate, two riders getting off their horses to help open it up. Joel and Y/n followed without question, despite having a dozen.

Y/n’s breath caught at the sight inside the walls.

It was a town. A proper fucking town.

Unlike the QZ, the place they were looked whole, kept up. The buildings weren’t crumbling, they stood firmly planted in the ground. All around them, people were strolling, not running. Children were screaming in play, not in fear. There were even snowmen lining the outside of one of the storefronts.

Y/n wanted to look back at Joel, to make sure he was seeing it too. She instead kept her eyes forward, scanning over her surroundings in awe.

Joel was entirely confused, but otherwise occupied by checking each and every face they passed to see if it was Tommy. Eventually, the sounds of construction instinctively brought his attention to the side of a building where two men were hard at work. The second silhouette, a tall, thin, dark haired man, didn’t require an extra second of examination. Joel knew it was his brother.

“Tommy,” he shouted.

Y/n followed Joel’s line of vision and let out a hushed gasp.

Tommy looked up from his work, scanning the group for the familiar voice. His eyes fell on his brother, shock freezing him for a few seconds before he began to climb down the scaling.

Joel slid off his horse, his steps quickening as relief flooded his body. Tommy strode towards him, the two of them meeting in a solid, long overdue, embrace.

Tommy laughed into Joel’s shoulder before pulling back to get a good look at him, “What the fuck you doin’ here?”

Joel took a breath, taking in their surroundings, “I came here to save you.”

Tommy’s brows furrowed while Joel exploded into a fit of laughter, the two of them pulling each other back in.

Y/n wound her leg over her horse, dropping to the ground and handing Ellie the reins. She kept her distance as she watched the brothers reunite, a sharp pain running through her chest she hadn’t felt in two decades. But when Tommy opened his eyes, gazing over Joel’s shoulder, he straightened up.

Tommy looked between his brother and Y/n, dumbfounded by the sight of them in the same vicinity. He broke away from Joel, walking the distance before matching Y/n’s quickened jog, and lifted the woman into his arms.

As soon as Tommy embraced her, Y/n’s long-held tears began to fall.

“What the hell?” Tommy asked, his mouth muffled against Y/n’s coat.

Y/n was too overwhelmed to explain anything.

“I tried,” Tommy rushed out, having held onto those two words for twenty years, “I tried to find you, I couldn’t.”

“I know,” Y/n sniffled, “I know.”

Cleared of any wrongdoing in her eyes, Tommy held Y/n a little tighter and pulled her off her feet. She laughed as she cried, digging her face into the denim of Tommy’s jacket.

If Joel had thought he could handle the reunion, he’d been wrong. The sight of his brother and his ex, so thrilled to be in each other’s presence again, split him. It was the first time in three months he’d seen Y/n genuinely happy, so full of joy she was brought to tears.

Joel could feel his own eyes growing wet.

Tommy set Y/n back on the ground, keeping an arm around her shoulders and looking to Joel. When Y/n and Joel’s gazes met, there was no trying to hide any of what they were feeling. It was a heavy moment, but a joyous one, and they had to sit with it.

“Y’all must be starving,” Tommy said, “Let’s head to the mess hall, give us some time to talk.”

The rest of the riders trailed off, leaving Joel, Y/n, Ellie, Tommy and the dark skinned woman who had led brought them there. Y/n and Joel remained on foot with Tommy, though Y/n kept a hand on Ellie’s reins all the way to the mess hall.

Inside, the woman Tommy introduced as Maria, made special effort to get Joel, Ellie and Y/n hot plates of food. Weeks of mostly rabbit had them shoveling their meals into their mouths, none of them even asked what they’d been served.

“There’s more if you need it,” Maria offered, her and Tommy sitting across from the threesome.

Joel looked up from his plate, “Thank you, ma’am. It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper meal.”

“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had a proper meal,” Ellie interjected in between bites, “This is fuckin’ amazing.”

Y/n took her eyes off her plate to shoot Ellie a raised eyebrow.

Joel’s southern upbringing turned him white with shock, he quickly looked up to Maria. “Sorry. Ellie, let’s mind our manners.”

Tommy smiled at his brother, it all sounded very familiar…

Ellie looked across the room, spotting a girl watching her from behind a wooden beam. She glared back at her curious stare, “What?”

Y/n pressed a finger to her temple, “Ellie…”

“What’s wrong with you?” Joel asked.

“What about her manners?” Ellie replied.

“She was just curious,” Maria cut in, “Kids around here don’t usually look or talk like you.”

“Right…” Ellie was unimpressed, “Well…maybe I’ll teach them. And I want my gun back.”

“They also aren’t armed,” Marie replied, the group had been forced to check their guns at the front door.

“You know what?” Tommy jumped in, “Uh, I think maybe y’all got a little off on the wrong foot.”

Ellie gestured to the woman, “She was gonna have her guys kill us.”

“Well, we gotta be real careful about who we let into this place,” Tommy explained, “But it’s all bark. We’re just tryna scare off those who might wanna try us is all.”

“Well,” Ellie returned to her plate, “You’ve got a couple of 90-year olds shitting themselves out there.”

Joel and Y/n’s heads turned at the same time, “Ellie.”

“They say that you leave dead bodies laying around?” Ellie continued her tirade.

“Those are the people that tried us,” Maria said.

“A bad reputation doesn’t mean you’re bad,” Tommy stated.

“Not always at least,” Maria added, staring right at Joel.

The tension at the table was palpable, Joel, Y/n and Ellie all wating for Maria’s glare to soften. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Ma’am,” Joel’s voice firmed up, while still retaining its southern pleasantness, “We’re grateful for your hospitality and all,” he looked expectantly to Tommy, “But it’d be nice to have a moment here, maybe just for family.”

Family, and whatever Y/n and Ellie were.

Tommy was half holding his breath as he leaned forward, “Well, um,” he took his wife’s hand, “Maria is family, actually.”

Y/n nearly had the wind knocked out of her, thankful she didn’t have a piece of food in her mouth.

“Oh, shit!” Ellie put together the pieces, “Congrats.”

Joel couldn’t take his eyes off of their clasped palms, painfully transfixed by the bands around their fourth fingers.

“Yeah,” Y/n added, quickly trying to adjust to the idea of Tommy as a husband, “Congratulations.”

“Joel,” Ellie lowered her voice, “Say congrats.”

It was going to take a hell of a lot more time for Joel to absorb the news. “Congrats,” he attempted.

It wasn’t that it was awkward, it was that the ever present dagger in Joel’s heart suddenly twisted.

“Well, how ‘bout a tour?” Tommy suggested, eager to exchange the tension for some fresh air.

“Great idea,” Y/n replied, wiping her mouth off and rising before anyone else. There was a pit of anxiety slowly and steadily building in her stomach and she needed to walk it off.

They were quick to find out that the heart of the town looked even nicer than the edge.

“We settled here about seven years ago,” Maria told the group, “Just a handful of us back then,” she pointed down the middle of the town, “That section was already a gated community, so we built the rest of the wall out from there. Stopped most of the raiding parties, but we still find pockets of them.”

Joel, Y/n and Ellie stayed in a horizontal line behind Maria and Tommy, the foreign environment causing them to want to stick closer together. Unwittingly, Ellie was once again being made the barrier between Joel and Y/n.

“And you said Infected?” Joel asked.

“Yeah, but usually smaller colonies,” Tommy answered, “Wandered off from the cities. All this open country out here…” he looked back to his brother, “It’s a turkey shoot. I still got my 700, but I found a variable power scope. Sub-MOA. Can headshot those fuckers from a half-mile out.”

Ellie’s ears perked up, “Can you teach me how?”

“No, he can’t,” Joel was quick to shoot down the idea.

“How do you keep off the radar?” Y/n asked, “I mean, using all these resources, how has FEDRA not tracked you guys down?”

“Carefully,” Maria answered, “Being in the middle of nowhere helps. Not advertising what we have, staying off the radio.”

Tommy snuck a look to Joel, who had come up alongside him. There was the answer he’d been waiting three months for.

“House of worship,” Maria continued to talk through the buildings, “Multifaith. School. Laundry. Old bank works as the jail, not that we’ve needed it.”

Joel’s eyes drew upwards to the electrical lines, “And you draw power from the dam?”

“Got that workin’ a couple years ago,” Maria answered, “After that, sewage, plumbing, water heaters…lights.”

“This place actually fuckin’ works,” Ellie remarked as she walked, leaving Joel and Y/n behind.

If Y/n thought she’d gotten a taste of normality back at Bill and Frank’s house, this felt like some sort of starvation induced hallucination. Except there was food in her belly and ice cold air in her lungs, it was all real.

Tommy and Maria led them towards the agricultural section of town, rows of greenhouses and animal pens lining their way.

“Hey, Joel, look,” Ellie pointed to the heard of sheep ahead of them, “Baaah,” she laughed before turning to Maria, “So are you, like, in charge?”

“No one person’s in charge,” Maria responded, “I’m on the council, democratically elected, serving 300 people, including children. Everyone pitches in. We rotate patrols, food prep, repairs, hunting, harvesting.”

“Everything you see in our town,” Tommy gestured around them, “Greenhouses, livestock, all shared. Collective ownership.”

”So, uh,” Joel figured, “Communism.”

Tommy was quick to scoff, “Nah. Nah, it ain’t like that.”

“It is that, literally,” Maria turned to her husband, “This is a commune. We’re communists.”

Tommy stopped short as the realization hit him, Joel and Y/n trailing behind purely to watch his full reaction.

“Easy there, soldier,” Y/n smirked, patting him on the shoulder while Joel matched her expression.

Rejoining Maria and Ellie, where Ellie was petting one of the horses poking their heads out of the stables, Maria changed subjects.

“Well, I’m sure they’d like a shower, some new clothes,” she addressed Tommy, “We can put them in the empty house across the street from us.”

“Yeah,” Tommy nodded, looking to Joel and Y/n, “It’s a decent place. Pretty much untouched since ‘03, but it’s the heat goin’ in it. Could do worse.”

“Oh, trust me,” Ellie spoke up, “We have been.”

“We’ve been doin’ fine,” Joel defended them, nervously rubbing his hands together. He needed to talk to his brother, just them.

Y/n was absentmindedly tapping her foot, matching Joel’s energy. The town itself was lovely, and Joel was bearable, but there was something about the combination of the two that was making her feel uneasy.

“Well,” Maria picked up on the mood, “I’ll take Ellie over there if you three wanna catch up?”

“Uh,” Y/n raised her hand quickly, “I’d actually love to join you.”

Tommy started to speak up, he was more than curious as to how Y/n and Joel had reunited. One look at the readiness in Joel’s eyes to be without her ceased his tongue from moving.

Ellie, however, had started to require both Joel and Y/n’s presence with her. Without one, she was restless. “Joel…”

“You’ll be fine,” Joel reassured her as he and Tommy walked off. He managed not to seek out Y/n’s eyes, it felt like the first time in days he’d had any control.

Y/n expected that parting from Joel would give her instant relief, but even when Maria led her and Ellie to their lodging, it didn’t come. In fact, the more distance they put between each other, the deeper Y/n could feel the anxiety within her. She was miserable with him and unsettled without him.

The house Maria assigned them was lovely, modest yet welcoming. Y/n nearly felt her heart break walking in, feeling the warmth of the air flood her body. It was like stepping back in time, a piece of seemingly meaningless history preserved perfectly.

“I’ll leave some clothes on the bed for you,” Maria told Ellie, pointing up the stairs, “First door on the left. There should be a towel and soap already there.”

Ellie looked expectantly to Y/n.

“I’ve got a few things to grab over at my place,” Maria said, “Maybe Y/n could help me?”

“Go,” Y/n nodded to the girl, “I’ll be back.”

Ellie filed upstairs, leaving Y/n and Maria to themselves. Maria made sure to lock the door on her way out, handing Y/n the key after.

“There’s only one, so don’t lose it,” she noted, leading Y/n across the street to her and Tommy’s house. The house felt much the same as the other one did, a few differences in designs, but nothing spectacular.

Maria began to rifle through a closet near the downstairs bathroom while Y/n meandered through the living room.

“Y’know, Tommy told me about you,” Maria called from across the room, “I’ve only heard your name once or twice. Every other time, he just referred to you as Rosebud.”

The nickname sent a sickening pain through Y/n’s stomach. “Oh, yeah,” she tried to play it off nonchalantly, “He gave me that nickname the night I met him and…”

“Joel?” Maria finished, popping her head out to try and get a read on Y/n’s reaction. She had a lot of feelings regarding her husband’s brother.

All Y/n felt capable of doing was nodding, blindly feeling around for the chair closest to her. She wandered the room, her eyes drifting to the fireplace before scanning her way up and-

Her heart stopped.

Sat on the mantle was a chalkboard, two names and two dates written across it.

Kevin - 4/3/00 - 9/29/03

Sarah - 7/20/89 - 9/27/03

Negative emotions always tended to stay right below the surface, regardless of the cliches about burying them. They were easily accessible under the right conditions, and if the wound was deep enough, it didn’t take much to trigger them. Y/n was already on the edge, teetering between holding onto the last bit of anger that had fueled her the past twenty years and collapsing under the weight of her grief.

Sarah’s name decided her fate.

And she crumbled.

—————————

“Those things I did, Tommy, those things you judge me for…I did those things to keep us alive.”

“We did those things,” Tommy pushed back, “And they weren’t “things’,” we murdered people. And I don’t judge you for it, we survived the only way we knew how…but there were other ways. We just weren’t any good at ‘em,” he paused, preparing himself for Joel’s reaction, “But I do judge you for what you did to Y/n.”

Joel sighed, he couldn’t take it. He physically could not handle discussing that day with Tommy.

“Joel, you l-“

“I know what I did,” Joel’s voice rose, he held up a hand more to calm himself than anything else.

“And now, twenty years later, here she is,” Tommy gestured to the door as if Y/n was right outside, “Do you even know where she’s been? What she’s been through? ‘Cause I don’t! And I’d have liked to know.”

Joel’s anxiety was beginning to bubble in his stomach, the vines climbing up his throat, ready to choke the life out of him.

“Have the two of you even talked about it?” Tommy asked calmly, his own emotions on the verge of showing.

Joel gripped the bar counter so hard, he thought he might snap the wood. He rolled the cold glass in his palm, trying to hold onto anything he could, as if it could save him from being sucked back into the vortex that was the past…

—————————

September 28th, 2003. Austin, Texas.

Cordyceps.

It was the only word people were capable of saying.

Cordyceps.

One little strand of fungi had taken out the entire world.

Joel, Y/n and Tommy ended up quarantined at a triage clinic. It was deemed one of the only “safe zones” for non-infected citizens. Dozens and dozens of people, crammed into a tiny building, practically sleeping on one another.

Joel had yet to string more than two words together since Sarah’s death. He was nearly unreachable. It was tragic enough for a parent to lose a child, it was another thing to cradle your daughter as she bleeds out in your arms.

Y/n felt like she was moving through cement, unable to fully comprehend what was going on around them. Her grief was overwhelming her, leaving her no more than twenty minute interludes between fits of wailing. But with Joel completely decommissioned, she was forced to rise to the occasion and take charge of their situation.

She returned from another attempt to reach her parent’s house, her cell phone getting no reception. She’d also tried the pay phone and Joel and Tommy’s phones. Nothing.

Y/n settled beside Joel in their corner of their hallway, it was nearly empty on account of it being the middle of the day. Most people took their walks around then. Tommy had volunteered to go out on patrol with a couple other veterans that were there.

“I still can’t get through,” Y/n started, hugging her knees to her chest, “Tried my parents, Annie, Jason…” she thought of her siblings, “Nothing.”

Joel didn’t even acknowledge her presence, he just kept staring down the hall.

“I have to get up there, Joel,” Y/n finally said, the thought had been keeping her awake all night, “I have to find them, make sure they’re okay.”

Many people assume that grief is but one emotion; sorrow. A deep sea of pain that you are thrown into without a floatiation device. But those who have never experienced it know not of the vastness of grief. There is anger, there is frustration, there is betrayal, there is jealousy…all of which can change you into an entirely different person.

And Joel was slipping away by the second.

“Joel, I have to go,” Y/n spelled it out in simpler terms for him.

Nothing.

“And I can’t go alone…” Y/n continued, worried that he had completely shut down. She rolled onto her knees, taking one of Joel’s cheek into her palm, “Joel, I need you.”

Joel stared forward, motionless.

Y/n was flying blind, unsure of how much was too much talking or how little she was supposed to be acknowledging Sarah’s death. But the world was, quite literally, falling apart. She couldn’t navigate the wreckage on her own.

“Joel,” she whispered, “I know it hurts-“

“Don’t,” Joel turned to her, the speed of it causing Y/n to pull her hand back, “Don’t.”

Y/n’s eyebrows came down in confusion, “Don’t what?”

“Don’t you act like you know what I’m feelin’,” he snapped, tears filling his eyes.

Of all the reactions, Y/n couldn’t have ever predicted this one.

“Joel, I was there too,” she replied, keeping her tone gentle, “I was-“

Joel pointed his finger at Y/n, their faces inches apart. “I’m her father,” he gritted through his teeth, “You were a bystander. They are not the same.”

Y/n inched back, bracing her body with her hands. He’d never so much as raised his voice at her.

As much as she wanted to let him grieve, she couldn’t let him descend into hostility. She wasn’t sure if her tactic would hurt him further or allow him to see the truth, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Joel…” she began, he was back staring numbly at the wall again. Y/n drew a shaky breath, the memory was so fresh in her mind, she could still hear Sarah’s voice. “She called me mom.”

If there was one thing about Joel’s reaction to his daughter’s death, it was the sheer delirium it threw his brain into. Much like Cordyceps, it was ripping through every cell of his body, changing the fundamentals of every inch. Whatever reaction he may have had to the news of Sarah’s decision had been poisoned by what he was allowing her loss to do to him.

He locked his hands together, gripping them so hard his knuckles turned white. Shutting his eyes, he let his head drop between his arms and took a shallow breath. “No, she didn’t.”

Y/n was afraid his mind was slipping away from her. “Joel, she did,” she continued, trying to push past the lump in her throat, “I went upstairs to bed a-and she called out for me.”

“She didn’t,” Joel repeated, his hands practically shaking with rage.

“Joel,” Y/n began, reaching up to touch his arm.

“NO!”

Joel jumped to his feet, his shout echoing in the empty room. He’d scared Y/n enough for her to fall back against the wall.

“She didn’t fuckin’ say it,” Joel aimed his finger at his girlfriend again, “You weren’t her damn mother.”

Y/n stared up at him with tears in her eyes.

“Doesn’t matter if you wanted to be,” Joel kept going, “Doesn’t matter if you tried. You weren’t. You were some fuckin’ woman livin’ in her house.”

Y/n got to her feet, trying ever so hard to be patient with Joel’s grief. But she wasn’t going to allow him to take her last normal moment she’d had with Sarah away from her.

“You weren’t there,” she argued back, “It happened, whether or not you want to believe it,” Y/n pointed a finger at her own chest, “She chose me.”

“You’re fuckin’ lyin’,” Joel growled, spinning away from Y/n and putting his hands to his hips. He couldn’t look at her.

Y/n was entirely lost, praying that Tommy returned soon. She couldn’t manage Joel in this state on her own.

Joel couldn’t see straight, let alone think straight. Only one thing seemed to ring true in his mind; Y/n was lying. She was a liar. She was lying about his dead daughter. What kind of monster would lie about a dead child?

Like a snowball rolling down a mountain, Joel’s delirious realization began to make sense, leaving him with only one course of action.

“I’m done.”

Y/n could barely register the sudden shift, from anger to calm. “What?”

Joel turned back to her, sweeping his hand through the air, “I’m done. We’re done.”

The air thickened suddenly, the stakes of his statement as important as the next breath Y/n drew.

“Joel-“

“No,” he shook his head quickly, “This is over. I’m not gonna stay with you when you’re lyin’ about my child-“

Y/n took an urgent step forward, reaching out for his arm, “Joel-“

“You don’t get to try and make yourself feel better about her now that she’s g-“ Joel choked on the word, flipping back to grief for a mere second, “Oh, God…”

Y/n was on the verge of panic, he was completely out of his mind. “Joel,” she urged, “Don’t do this. Take a breath and-“

Just like that, he was engorged in rage again. “Don’t. Don’t fuckin’ touch me, don’t even fuckin’ look at me.”

“Joel,” Y/n cried, her tears streaming down her face, “I love you. I’m here and I love you.”

Through the haze of insanity, Joel could feel her words. They wrapped around him, cradling him close to the warmth of her chest. He could almost feel something again, something pure and safe…it nearly pulled him back to shore.

Nearly.

Joel crossed the space between them, lowering his voice to a growl, “Well, I don’t love you.”

If there was an exact moment to point to as to when Y/n’s heart shattered, it was then. The force of Sarah’s death weighed so heavily on her chest, she was convinced she was in the midst of a heart attack. But when two tragedies occurred, so close together, it was always the second one that broke a person beyond repair. The second is unexpected, pushing you into a new level of grief you didn’t think you could feel. That was the one that could drive you to madness.

Snot and tears mixing across her lips, Y/n shook her head. “You don’t mean that,” she mumbled.

“I do,” Joel replied, his voice so full of confidence, “You’re a fuckin’ liar.”

Y/n felt like she was drowning, kicking and flailing under the waters, trying to find some way to make Joel believe her. To pull him out of his delusions.

The two lovers stood in the hall of the clinic, squaring off in a battle neither one of them knew how to fight. Their heartbreak was manifesting in completely opposite ways.

Scanning her face once more, to remember in the years to come, Joel turned on his heel and walked away from Y/n.

“W-wait,” she trembled, quickly following after him, “Where are you going?”

“To find Tommy,” Joel said, his fists curled at his sides as he marched through the clinic.

“Joel, stop,” Y/n begged, trying to keep up with his pace, “Joel!”

Joel made his way outside, where the clinic was still accepting injured civilians. All around them was tragedy, while one was unfolding between them.

“Joel,” Y/n called again, six feet behind him, the grief in her bones slowing her down, “Joel, you can’t go out there. Tommy said-“

“Don’t tell me what my own brother said,” Joel practically shouted, refusing to look back at her. He needed a quick escape.

Scanning the makeshift parking lot around them, he spotted an F1-50. He stalked towards it as if it were prey.

“Joel,” Y/n called in between her sobs, she was more terrified for him than anything else.

Once he got to the truck’s door, Joel slammed his fist without hesitation through the glass window.

“Joel!” Y/n cried, watching the blood begin to trickle down his knuckles.

Joel reached through the shattered window, felt around for the lock/unlock button on the door and clicked it. He threw the door open and got inside, the glass on the seat cutting through his jeans and into his thighs.

Y/n surged forward, Joel’s absolute insanity was becoming real. He was actually leaving her. She took hold of the door handle, “Joel, don’t. Don’t,” she hyperventilated, “I can’t do this without you. I can’t. I can’t.”

Her pleas began to crack the ice around his heart, just enough for him to allow another gust of icy wind through his chest. He became indifferent to her cries.

Joel slammed the door shut, the force of it pulling Y/n forward.

“Joel, don’t do this,” she sobbed, clinging to the side of the truck, “I love you. I love you. We can get through this. We can get through this.”

Joel felt around for the keys, finding them conveniently left in the ignition. He switched the truck on.

Y/n’s chest heaved, her window for reasoning with him closing. “No, Joel. Don’t do this! I love you, please, don’t do this.”

Joel’s body trembled, some sane part of him knowing that was he was doing was inhumane. But grief’s noose tightened around his throat, reminding him that the sicker state of mind was where he belonged now. His heart was nothing more than a liability now.

He pressed down on the gas pedal.

“No,” Y/n yelled as the truck shifted, she was practically tripping in the dirt trying to move with it, “Joel, don’t! Don’t do this to me! Please! Don’t do this to me!”

Joel ignored her cries, turning the truck towards the open road.

“Don’t do this,” Y/n shouted, her voice straining and fluctuating with her tears. If he didn’t stop soon, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the truck. “Joel!”

The final cry did it, Joel couldn’t handle any more. He pressed down further on the pedal, jolting the truck forward.

Y/n was able to catch one last look at him, a final glimpse at the man she loved with her whole heart, leaving her as if she was nothing more than a dead body already. When her hand slipped from the truck, Joel having sped up to escape her, she knew he was forever lost to her.

She stopped running, screaming into the cloud of dirt he’d left, “JOEL!”

Y/n watched him steer the truck out of the clinic’s lot, pulling onto the dirt alongside the road and driving off. Her wet eyes followed the blur until it was completley out of sight.

That was when she fell apart.

She dropped to the ground, screeching like a wounded animal, clutching the ground underneath her fingers. She screamed loud enough for a clinic staff member to rush out, reaching out to help her. Y/n wrenched out of their loving grip, shrieking for them not to touch her. She didn’t want their oxygen masks, their sedatives or their counseling.

Sarah was gone. Joel had abandoned her. If this was death coming to collect her, she would go willingly into its embrace.

—————————

December 2023. Jackson, Wyoming.

Y/n dropped to her knees in the middle of Maria and Tommy’s living room, clutching her stomach.

“I think I found everything,” Maria announced, walking out from the closet and spotting Y/n. She rushed across the room, kneeling down beside her.

Silent sobs turned to violent ones, shaking Y/n’s body with a force she hadn’t felt in twenty years. Unlike that fateful day, Y/n allowed Maria’s caring arms to wrap around her as she wept.

“I’m sorry,” the kind woman said, pressing close to Y/n’s ear.

There was nothing anyone could say to put any of the pieces back together. Every part of Y/n’s grief over Sarah’s death, Joel’s abandonment, the choices she’d had to make after she was left on her own…it was all coming to the surface after three months of repression. The physicality of her sobs exhausted her less than the act of holding herself together in front of Ellie and Joel.

Five minutes or a half hour, Y/n wasn’t sure how long she spent on the floor, Maria cradling her as if she were a child. At some point, the tears stopped and she was once again aware of her surroundings.

“Tommy told me all about you,” Maria said, still holding Y/n, “About your family. How good you were with Sarah.”

Y/n sniffled, fighting the urge to gaze back up at the girl’s chalk-written name. It would only send her back into tears.

“It doesn’t matter what happened between you and Joel,” Maria continued, clearly she knew a lot more than perhaps she should have, “You helped raise that girl. Far as I’m concerned, you should feel a mother’s grief.”

A mumbled cry bubbled from Y/n’s lips. Every day she felt the loss of Sarah like that of a lost limb, the phantom pain constantly pulling at her body.

—————————

“I’m gonna be a father.”

Tommy’s words paralyzed Joel, he physically lost the sensation of his heartbeat, his breath…it all stopped, allowing grief and bitterness to fill the hollowness within him.

“To be honest, I’m scared to death,” Tommy lifted his glass to his lips, “But I don’t know, uh…” he smiled, “I feel like I’d be a good dad.”

Joel wanted to scream, he wanted to punch a hole through the fucking wall to counter the pain of the universe’s cruel slap.

“Guess we’ll find out,” he replied, reaching for the bottle of whiskey and refilling his glass.

“‘I guess we’ll find out?’” Tommy repeated, practically indignant as he looked to his big brother, “That’s all you got?”

Joel settled against the bar, keeping a firm stare on Tommy, “What else am I supposed to say?”

Tommy got to his feet, exhausted by bearing the brunt of Joel’s grief. “Just because life stopped for you,” he said, “Doesn’t mean it has to stop for me.”

Much like after losing Sarah, Joel was acting purely on emotion. The world had ripped away everything from him, and here Tommy was, with everything he’d almost had.

“We’ll grab some supplies and be out of your hair in the mornin’,” Joel bit out, turning from his brother and grabbing his jacket. He burst outside into the cold air.

—————————

“I, uh,” Y/n sniffled, trying to collect herself, “I should get back to Ellie.”

“Don’t worry,” Maria said softly, “I’ll take care of her. You take a moment to yourself.”

Y/n practically scoffed at the idea, she hadn’t had a second to herself in three months. But the tension within her was so great, she didn’t have the will to fight Maria on the offer.

“Thank you,” she laid a hand on Maria’s arm, letting the woman help her to her feet.

Y/n stumbled out into the cold, trying to absorb the sound of the children’s playful screams, the crunch of the snow under her boots, the feel of her breath slamming back into her face each time she exhaled…she’d had anxiety attacks before. Taking stock of your surroundings was supposed to help.

Except she was too far gone for coping strategies, she needed alcohol and she needed someone to talk to. Someone who understood.

On their way in, Maria had led them past a bar, and Y/n felt like a bloodhound, tracing her way back through the crowds to find it. The world may have changed, but she knew she’d find exactly who she needed at the counter with a thing of whiskey in his hand…

—————————

Joel stumbled out into the snow, leaning up against a metal lightpost. His breath was catching, his heart pounding out of his chest, the tinnitus flooding his ears once again…

Once upon a time, Tommy’s life had been his. He’d had his daughter, so bright and beautiful. A home that they’d made their own, despite the wounds that had led them there. And Y/n, his Y/n, the missing piece of his and Sarah’s life, a ring nearly on her finger…

And as much as he wanted to blame Cordyceps for losing all of it, he was hardly faultless.

He’d had twenty years of guilt soaked isolation, trying to convince himself that what his grief riddled self had thought was truth. Y/n had to have lied for him to continue on with life, because he couldn’t face the alternate. He couldn’t believe that he had abandoned her for no good reason…

It was a conclusion he’d come to weeks ago, the more time he spent with her reminding her of who she really was.

Across the way, there were families gathered around the Christmas tree. Joel’s eyes mindlessly drifted over them, catching on one woman’s silhouette. Her head of curls, the weightlessness of her voice…in his panicked state, it was Sarah.

He took clunky steps forward, chasing the illusion that his daughter was standing in front of him. He wanted, needed to believe it to be true. There had been some terrible mistake, they’d abandoned her body too soon and by the grace of God, she was-

A small child ran up to the woman, revealing her true face.

Joel stopped, his heartbreak pulling him back to reality. This was how far his mind could take him under the worst circumstances. He was convincing himself that his daughter was still alive and twenty years prior, he’d convinced himself that the love of his life was a liar.

It was grief that stood every chance at breaking him.

—————————

Y/n crossed through the middle of town, spotting the Christmas tree and the surrounding crowd singing and chattering around it. She couldn’t handle the sight, ducking into the bar as quick as she could.

Tommy turned around, glaring at the door, ready to rip into Joel further. “Oh,” he muttered, putting away his anger at the sight of Y/n, “Thought you were Joel.”

“I’m thankful you’re not,” Y/n remarked, walking to the counter and spotting the open whiskey bottle. He was everywhere she looked.

She reached over the counter and grabbed a glass, filling it a little over halfway, “You two not getting along?”

Tommy sighed, rolling his glass in his palm. “Complicated,” he answered, “But I’m preachin’ to the choir, aren’t I?”

Y/n bristled, lifting the glass to her lips and letting the burn of her throat force her into feeling something.

“Maria’s pregnant,” Tommy blurted out.

Y/n’s arm fell to the bar, the glass hitting it hard. To say she was shocked would have been a gross understatement.

Tommy smiled up at her, “That so hard to believe?”

“Well, you gotta cut me a little slack here,” Y/n replied, dazed, “The last time I knew you, there was a new girl every week. I was kinda half-convinced you already had a kid.”

Tommy chuckled, he’d missed her so much. He considered Y/n another loss from Cordyceps, though it chose his brother’s grief as its medium.

“I…” Y/n pulled out the barstool next to him and sat down, her mouth still agape, “How do you feel about it?”

“Good,” he nodded, “I think. Maria’s already been a mom before, but…I really do think I could be a good dad.”

Y/n rested her hand on Tommy’s wrist, drawing his eyes to her. “You’ll make a great dad,” she said, proud and with a smile. It was the first good look at him she’d gotten. Though he sported a few more wrinkles and scars, a mustache now hanging over his upper lip, his eyes still held the same sparkle.

Tommy beamed back at her, laying his hand over hers. The warmth shared between siblings still flowed between them.

“So that’s why…” Y/n glanced at the door, absentmindedly pointing outside.

“Yep,” Tommy turned back to his whiskey.

“Oh,” Y/n murmured, so caught up in the beauty of the news that she hadn’t thought about how Joel might have reacted.

“Can I ask you somethin’?” Tommy asked.

Y/n shook her head with a small smirk, “C’mon, it’s been twenty years but you don’t have to be formal.”

It wasn’t formality, it was handling gasoline near a wildfire.

“How the hell are you two doin’ this?” Tommy asked, setting down his glass to give the topic his full attention.

In her anxious state, Y/n hadn’t stopped to think that Tommy would bring up the very thing she was running from.

“There were…” Y/n cleared her throat, “A lot of threats the first few days. Lots of hate. Mostly from me. But we had to…come to some sort of truce if we were going to get through this.”

“Joel told me you’re with the kid,” Tommy cut in, “She’s not yours?”

Y/n snorted, “No. But she’s…” she paused, unprepared to unpack what Ellie meant to her, “She wasn’t going with Joel unless I came with. So really, she’s to blame for all this.”

Tommy chuckled, taking a quick sip before repeating the same question he’d asked Joel, “You two talked about what happened yet?”

Y/n shrugged, feeling the weight of twenty years in her shoulders, “What’s there to talk about?”

“I think there’s everything to fuckin’ talk about,” Tommy replied.

The seat was suddenly digging into her thighs and there were electric currents in her legs. Y/n slid off the barstool, trying to take slow steps around the bar counter to deescalate her body’s nervous energy.

“How long did it take him to tell you what happened?” Y/n asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Ah, the full story?” Tommy said, shaking his head slightly, “All I heard when I got back from patrol was you two had broken up. I finally got it all pieced together after about two years. Gave him hell for it too.”

Y/n’s smile was filled with frustration, she threw back the last of her whiskey.

“I looked for you,” Tommy said, reiterating what he’d said at the gate, “I mean, I combed every fuckin’ inch of that place tryin’ to find you. I wasn’t gonna leave you.”

“I know,” Y/n replied, slipping behind the counter to pour herself another glass, “I figured that out at some point. That you wouldn’t have gone along with that…”

Tommy watched Y/n’s face carefully, a new emotion covering the expanse every few seconds.

“You don’t actually believe what he said, do you?”

Y/n poured a shot of a random liquor, “Why shouldn’t I believe him?”

“C’mon,” Tommy turned to her, “He was out of his mind with grief, we all were. He wasn’t thinkin’ straight.”

“I’m sorry,” Y/n raised a hand to her head, “Are you defending him?”

“Hell no,” Tommy gave a firm shake of his head, “I’m tryin’ to make you understand that he lied. He was lying. He didn’t stop lovin’ you, he-“

“Stop,” Y/n forcefully set the bottle down on the counter, some of it spilling out the top, “Stop. I don’t want to hear it.”

Tommy settled down in his seat, unaware he’d lifted off it while talking.

“You have no idea what I went through after he left,” Y/n struggled, her voice threatening to cease up, “What I had to do…” she sniffled, unable to hide the tears, “And then he came back. He fucking came back, and I haven’t been able to escape him for three months.”

Staying silent and still, Tommy allowed her the space to purge everything out of her system.

“And now we’re here,” Y/n gestured around them, her voice growing watery, “And it’s so fucking beautiful, I could cry. Look at me, I am,” she paused, squirming under the pressure of the sob building within her, “And it’s killing me. It’s killing me. To be here, to see you, to see all that…”

Y/n ran a hand through her hair, leaning against the counter. All that they could have had.

“I can’t,” Y/n held up a shaking hand, “I can’t…be near him right now. Because all I see is her, is us…and it’s fucking breaking me.”

Tommy looked down at his glass, wondering whether or not he was about to push too far. “That doesn’t sound like hate to me.”

Y/n’s bottom lip trembled, she knew exactly what it was. And she’d have rather died than admit it.

“Well, it needs to be,” she whispered.

——————

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#joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fanfic #joel miller fic #the last of us imagine #the last of us fic #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fanfic #twenty years later

[milksuu]

Hello! What do you think about a scenario where Aphelios and reader meet in OSU or another game?

Like reader creates maps and uses songs that aphelios actually likes and so he ends up being the player that she always sees on her stat map charts with almost always being top 1. And one of them gets curious so they reach out on the app/netsite and they get to know each other?? Like kinda how they met and how their relationship would evolve over time. I'm not good with words but yeah!

❥ prompt: You were a revered OSU! map creator. He was a map farming legend. Especially your maps. He was always at the top of the stat charts. Praised or scrutinized, he was the daily hot topic in the /osu subforums. His username was the only thing you knew about him : m00ncake. You had no idea he would end up being Aphelios from the band Heartsteel. That's until he showed up at your job by accident, and you connecting the dots. Oh, did you forget to mention you worked at a maid café? ❥ content/warnings: fluffy fluff, mild hurt/comfort, minor angst (?) ❥ characters/pairings: Heartsteel!aphelios / f!reader

This was it. Your magnum opus! Once your song map hit the platform, thousands of players immediately clicked to dominate it. It wasn't going to be easy for them. You'd taken special care of making it more challenging than your previous maps....especially for one certain player.

m00ncake had a history of over-taking any map within the first try. After every song, there he was: placed at number one. With astronomical stats that would take days of practice for any top streamer to compete with. It's what made the whole scene that much more competitive.

But every gamer had their weakness. And you made this map specifically to exploit m00ncake. You had analyzed his replays. Over and over again. In the darkness of your room, till the desktop screen stung your eyes dry.

He was exceptionally good with rhythm, timing, and anything technical. If you could throw him off, even a little, you'd consider that a flawless victory. This time around you would delay the kick sliders, just by a fraction, before the uptick. The rhythm theoretically the same, but the minuscule margin of delay would throw any muscle memory built up from your previous maps alone.

You waited with baited breath. m00ncake played and finished your map. The stats were posted. Yet again, he proved to be the legend he was considered to be. Despite your best efforts. With the numbers alone, there was no way another player could possibly over-take him.

A few moments later, you received a direct message:

m00ncake: nice song. also fun map. can i ask a question?

You heart thumped inside your chest. Gulping, you allowed your fingers to type back:

mcreader: oh, thanks! and sure, go ahead. m00ncake: did you purposefully slow down the kick slider at certain parts? if you did, it was actually pretty challenging for me. i'm usually on auto-pilot so that kind of threw me off. haha

After that message, your friendship blossomed. Frequently messaging each other on the platform, to then adding each other on Discord. Whenever you posted a new map, m00ncake would call you, and have you listen to his insane key-board clicking sounds. The most intense ASMR one could experience, really.

It was always great to get feedback from him after he would finish. Being the professional OSU! player that he was, it was nice to get insight on possible map formations, songs, to just general technical suggestions. To no surprise, you both enjoyed the same style of music. It explained why his play history consisted of mostly your maps. Even your least popular ones.

But he never spoke. Not even a whisper. And you never pressed it. If he was just generally shy with speaking, you could understand. You didn't mind doing all of the talking, and him replying with short text, emojies or tts.

mcreader: i found a great song for a new map. but i have work now, so i'll probably do it later tonight. maybe post it if im not too sleepy. m00ncake: sounds good. i'm excited to play it when it comes out. i'm usually up at night so if you need some company, let me know. have a good day at work. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

mcreader: will do! and tysm! have a good day too! ttyl! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

You pressed your phone to your lips. m00ncake was always so sweet, supportive, and always a treat to talk to (Well, text to). You just wished you knew his name. Or anything more about him, really. He was always very secretive. It made you wonder why.

When you made it to work, you dressed and fitted into your maid outfit along with the rest of the girls coming in for shift. You heard giggles and whispers, "Hey, did you see that guy that's at that one table? He looks just like Aphelios from Heartsteel!" Another girl wiggled excitedly, nodding her head. "Totally. But it's so hard to tell. He's got his mask on and has his hoodie up. No, there's no way it's not him. As a die-hard fan, I can tell!"

"That's enough, girls." The manager clapped her hands at attention. "Everyone already has their table assignments. And there will be no switching. Whether we have a special customer or not, we always provide excellence in our service. Understood?"

After learning your table assignments, you were ready for your shift. And looked like you were assigned the very table everyone seemed to want. Whines erupted around you. "How come she get's to serve Apehlios? I bet she doesn't even know who Heartsteel is." The mass of complaints silenced as the manager clapped her hands once more.

They were right. You weren't too knowledgeable on the up and coming band. But if they were right, then that made you all the more nervous. It wasn't everyday you served someone of musical prestige. You usually served single college guys, the occasional cute couple, or a group of high-school girls on a fun after school date.

"Welcome back, Master! It's an honor to serve you again today." You sang your rehearsed spiel at the customers table. 'Masters' were always treated as if they had come home from a long journey. "I'm glad you're back safely. You must be tired after being away from home so very long. Please, let me recharge you by taking your food and drink order."

What on earth? You almost broke character. You watched as the young man had his phone out, playing OSU! in the most casual way imaginable. He rolled his blood-moon eyes to acknowledge you, expression veiled. He placed his phone on the table, but his fingers continued to tap his screen while he scanned the heart-shaped menu.

D-Did he memorize the whole song!? The whole scene was out of this world. So distracted by this detail, you almost didn't realize he was trying to communicate. You looked down. He pointed and tapped a finger at his order. A lavender latte and dessert combo.

"Wonderful choice, Master. I'll let the fairy's know right away. Your dessert and drink will be out shortly."

You scurried away with the order. When you returned with a tray, you sought to investigate your customer a little more. It was customary to draw art on the latte foam. You smiled sweetly, drawing the shape of a rabbit. "I'm so happy you returned home, Master. I was so worried because it had been so long. Once I heard you were coming back, I couldn't help but be excited for today. The day when we would finally see each other again."

Honestly, you were just trying to ramble and waste time. He never bothered reacting to your whole gimmick. That gave you security to scan your eyes over his phone screen. Your breath hitched. His username...his username...his username...

m00ncake

You practically squirted the whole bottle of chocolate sauce on the table. Recovering with an innocent laugh, and wiped the table dry, and ran away to take cover in the employee's only section. You pulled out your phone and opened Discord:

mcreader: hey! super weird question, but um, what're you doing rn??????? m00ncake: ...me? just out and about. having something to eat. why ( ° - °) ??????? mcreader: i was just wondering, and im sorry if this is random but...is....is your name aphelios by chance?

After pressing send, you peeked around the corner. You watched as the young man tapped on his phone. After a pause, his eyes snapped wide. Panicked, he looked around the space. As if trying to find a proper response to your question.

It is you, you pressed your lips firmly together. You went back to his table and took his wrist, encouraging him to follow you. "Oh! Master, let me guide you to the restroom." You announced loudly, leading him away. You dragged him into the dressing room. Since next shift wasn't for a few more hours, no one would bother walking in.

"m00ncake, Aphelios--whoever you are. What're you doing here?" How embarrassing. If you ever decided to meet in person, you didn't want it to be like this. With you and your silly frilly outfit and cringey maid character (even though you did enjoy it). But this was way over the top than you imagined!

Aphelio's backed up slowly against a locker. He didn't say a word. Blinking wildly at your question. You pulled out your phone, revealing your Discord and OSU! conversations with him.

"You see this? That's you! And now I know that it's you...you're m00ncake...and Aphelio's from Heartsteel...and I-I'm..."

Why? Why? Why? Why couldn't he have been anyone else than a supposed famous idol star? Why couldn't he have been some normal guy with an obsession with online rhythm games? Someone weirdly normal, like you.

So why....why did you have to like someone so out of your league?

Girlish talk and laughter bounced outside the changing room door. Fearing the worst, you dragged you and Aphelio's into your clothing locker. You made shushing gestures to your lips, which was ironic, since you knew at this point he never said a word.

A couple of girls walked in, laughing to one another. "Wow, I can't believe I lost one of my hair ties. Thanks for letting me borrow yours." The other then replied, "No problem! I always keep spares in my bag. Hey, look. Whose headphones are these?"

In the frantic mess of your actions, Aphelio's lost his headphones. The pair continued to laugh and talk, wondering exactly where the headset even came from. You shifted your gaze upwards. And your heart squeezed horribly inside your chest.

Aphelio's had his eyes half-lided, almost closed. Breathing laboriously through his mask. He looked as if he was in pain. Flinching whenever one of the girls giggled too loudly, or the other raised their voice in excitement. In the condensed space, he had no room to move his arms and cover his ears.

Your eyes widened at the realization. This...this is all my fault. Carefully, you squeezed your arms up, cupping his ears in your hands. In this angle, your cheek condensed into his chest. You felt the erratic thumping of his heart. Slowly, it settled to a steady rhythm. The heaves of his chest dissipating to normal breaths.

When the girls finally left, you uncovered his ears, both slipping out of the locker. You picked up his headphones, adjusting them against his ears. You then fitted the hoodie over his head, wearing a sad smile, "I'm so sorry. About all that. About everything, really. Can...can you forget about today? And don't worry about paying for your meal. I'll cover it."

You didn't let him type or gesture a single word to you. Resuming character, you escorted him out of the maid café, with a take-home box in hand for his troubles.

Your shift dragged on. You didn't bother sending any messages to m00ncake. Or actually, Apehlios, you should say. And no messages came from him, either. Good...it's better this way. The two of you living in two separate worlds.

When end of shift came, the sky had darkened. With your dress bag slung over your shoulder, you left the café. When you stepped onto the sidewalk, someone familiar stood at the side.

"A-Aphelios, why did you..." before you finished, he messaged you on Discord. You opened the message:

m00ncake: i didn't want to forget about today. in fact, do you want to ride the train together?

You paused. A smile then formed across your lips. With a nod, you placed yourself at his side. In a comfortable silence, the two of you walked shoulder to shoulder. Your phone buzzed. Another ping:

m00ncake: i shouldn't probably say this but, i actually have a thing for girls in maid outfits. you can shove me in a locker and call me master anytime. (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

You blushed furiously, grabbing his arm and shaking it with a whine. Thinking maybe, just maybe, two totally different notes could be part of the same song.

an: omfg what a cute idea this was! honestly, im not versed in rhythm games, but i tried my best. maybe i went overboard too. thanks so much for the request @timetoeatthebread-blog!

#heartsteel #heartsteel x reader #aphelios #aphelios x reader #league of legends #LoL #league imagines #x reader #reader insert #reqs open

[aakariiiii]

I kept tellin’ her to piss off ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

features: Draken x fem!reader

contains: Draken and reader are arguing in front of all toman members

a/n: yaaayayy my 3rd story since i’ve gotten back!!!! uts draken this time since iys been a while since i’ve written a fic ab him (mostly cuz last time was bad n i keep making him ooc n its so annoying ugh) but yeah i hope u guys enjoy this and i hope i see some requests in my inbox soon!!!!.!.!

____________________________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a fighting with my boyfriend during a Toman meeting. Never.

So why is it that we are currently yelling at each other, caught in a storm of emotions, while hundreds of eyes glare at both our faces?

“Well, you started it, Ken,” I argue, my body filled with heat as anger curled inside of my guts, burning. Or maybe it’s sadness, because the sight of her arm hooked around his stung, a pang of hurt I couldn’t shake.

“Haa? Are you fucking serious right now? I started it? Entertain me, dumbass,” he yells bewilderingly as a bulging vein appears out of his forehead.

“You know damn well what you did,” I whisper as my emotions threatened to spill over, but I fought to keep them at bay.

Whispers and piercing gazes felt like relentless spotlights, each adding weight to the already burdened air. To make it worse, being surrounded by an audience with menacing curiosity felt suffocating.

A chilly whisper of the passing wind delicately teased my senses, I found solace in its fleeting touch. I could feel Draken’s unbearable yet contradictingly reassuring presence creep up near me. A callous but soft grip embraced my wrist and pulled me out and away from the intrusive crowd, pumping a sense of relief within me. The hushed whispers and murmurs faded away into nothingness as Draken pulled me further away.

As if a thousand feathers took flight from my shoulders, carrying with them the burden that had settled there, I had felt much more comforted.

So why is it that unbidden tears raced down my cheeks, tracing an unexpected river of emotion, painting the canvas of my face with the silent tales my heart refused to voice. The tails that would carve unwanted scars from the truth unveiling within Draken’s awaited words.

Surely, he didn’t cheat right? is what I’d like to tell myself but his arm hooked around hers tells me otherwise.

A despondent sob escaped my mouth shattering the fragile silence as my feet came to a halt, and his grip released my pale wrist.

“Y/n, look at me,” he breathed, his voice tangled with a mess of melancholy.

I shake my head as my sobs continue to dash out of my mouth and my hands involuntarily start rubbing at the tears cascading down my cheeks.

But then I feel the touch of his benignly crude fingers tilt my chin so that his eyes can meet mine. His eyes, black as night, contrarily exuded a soothing presence, urging trust with their serene and comforting gaze.

“Y/n—I swear it’s ain’t what you think. I’d never cheat on you, dumbass. Promise—she was buggin’ me the whole day and I kept tellin’ her to piss off. I was so ready to punch the hell outta her tell I reminded myself that she’s a woman—I swear. I have never talked to her after that day, y/n. You gotta trust me, because both you ‘nd I know that I’m not the typa person to do that kinda shit,” he exhaled, arms falling down to my waist.

I didn’t know how to react, deep within me, I knew Draken would never do that to me. He’d never do that, so why did I not go and ask him about it instead of pulling the shitty move I did by going around his team members and sparking up unwanted conversations with them, while Draken was watching me. He must have felt awful.

I curse at myself as I bring my head to his solid, toned chest, wrapping my arms around his torso.

“I’m so—so sorry, Ken,” I sniffled.

“I do trust you—I just didn’t know how to react after I saw her arm wrapped around yours—I’m so sorry for trying to get back at you the way I did earlier,” I mumble in a muffled matter as my head is buried into his chest.

“I didn’t know you get easily jealous, babe” a teasing chuckle echoed through Draken’s body as he ruffled my hair.

“Oh, shut it! Of course I’d get jealous over you!”

“Of course I’d get jealous when I like you this much,” I mumble, flustered as heat spread into the apples of my cheek.

And with that, he broke our warm embrace to pull me into a kiss that blazed with the fervor of our shared affection, each touch a spark igniting an inferno of love between us.

“I’m joking, babe. I love you so much” he said while pulling away.

____________________________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

#tokyorevengers #baji keisuke #tokyo revengers x reader fluff #toman #chifuyu matsuno #sano manjiro x reader #mikey x reader #tokyo revengers sfw #tokyorev x reader #baji x reader #draken tokrev #draken x y/n #draken fluff #draken toman #draken tokyo revengers #draken #ken ryuuguji fluff #ken ryuuguji x you #ken ryuuguji x reader #kenchin #ken ryuguji

[astronicht]

Replying to a comment on this ask reply about evil in the North in LOTR (but it was too long to actually put in a comment ,)

@warrioreowynofrohan I'm so glad evil is in the north in The Silmarillion!! I have also been promised that the story of the creation of the world is also in there, since Frodo fell asleep during Tom Bombadil’s early medieval cosmology lesson. I really, really want to know what happens in Elf Creation, because Tolkien did not write a book about it academically but CLEARLY had at least a few opinions about early medieval ideas of where the world came from, which he possibly just put in Middle Earth, if he had them fleshed out enough. This makes me nuts bc CS Lewis, meanwhile, wrote a whole-ass book called The Discarded Image about his idea* of the medieval vision of the cosmos (like where is outer space, where are the planets, where’s heaven, etc, including How It All Got Made) and also per the word of a thesis supervisor back in the day who was super into this stuff, worked symbolism of the planets in the medieval cosmos into one of his fictional works.

*bc the rest is under cut: if you want a more accurate read for medieval and Renaissance cosmology, the textbook is Planets, Stars, and Orbs by Edward Grant. I would not recommend TDI for historical accuracy

Lewis brushes over early medieval ideas only briefly (early medieval anything is actually not usually included in medieval academia on a theme; it’s sort of a weird zone from ca. 600-1100 AD, and Grant doesn't cover it either). But while the book is interesting on some points, it's pretty misleading, and CS Lewis's one solid error was presenting all of medieval cosmology as a Single Idea, which it also very much was not. People did not magically stop arguing about how the world got made and what it looked like for one thousand years, and modern scholarship has looked at that. But he was reading all the same texts as Tolkien, and this weird oversight that has bothered me for years, and for YEARS i have been wondering if Tolkien thought something else. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t! WHY did he put the seven stars (the five visible planets plus the sun and moon) on Aragorn’s sword PLUS the sun and moon, throwing off the count entirely?? Maybe he did not actually give a shit). I look forward to finding out, and probably suffering for it.

RE: Gollum! Your actual question! Honestly at the moment (aka at the end of Fellowship), Gollum seems like such a thoroughly Grendel figure that I almost get worried I’m being lured into a 1:1 comparison, when Tolkien seems to enjoy making a bunch of different references within each character. Strider is King Arthur, Strider is that guy in that saga nicknamed Strider, Strider is another guy with a sword situation in another saga(??) (I have not read enough Norse sagas). Gollum, though, is associated with the underground and with water; he has his dark low pool; Grendel lives in a low dark pool (with his mum). Even being cast out by a matriarch maaaaybe suggests something of Grendel’s Mother, who is just as much a main character, or perhaps more so; she’s the final boss of the Grendel bit of Beowulf, after all. So in conclusion: yeah I see your point! I'd be curious to figure out what else is being folded in. However, assuming the Grendel similarities are on purpose, congrats to Tolkien for the only good Beowulf adaptation ever.

#astro lotr #i was trying to find the passage i was referencing in cs lewis but im sorry i read that in 2019 in a pizza parlor and i am late for work #always think critically of your sources especially if they are me!! etc etc

[zzprompto]

☆ under the stars

leon kennedy x ftm reader [he / him]

sypnosis : leon and [name] are staying in a lakeside resort with some colleagues as a reward. the two end up taking a dip in the lake and feelings are shared. (meant to be viewed as romantic)

the lowercase is intentional !

- no outbreak au + non-sexual nudity included.

leon, [name] and a few colleagues at the police station were all invited to a lakeside resort, all thanks to their hard work.

the area was beautiful. the lake, the trees surrounding them, the cabin they'd be staying in too - everything was perfect. the resort was definitely a reward for all that hard work. both [name] and leon were estatic that they got chosen to go.

everyone was off exploring the resort. most of leon and [name]'s colleagues were inside, checking out the rooms they'd be staying in. some were outside, but they ended up going inside after it started going dark.

however, [name] and leon were the last two outside. they were standing around, taking in the scenery with smiles on their faces. it was a truly breathtaking sight the whole resort, you wouldn't be able to find it anywhere in the city. it was beautiful.

"this place really has it all, huh?" leon whispered, looking up at the sky with a smile on his face. there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of stars that were twinkling in the sky as leon looked up. it was almost as if they were painting a picture, sending some kind of message throughout the universe for people to interpret in their own ways.

"yeah," [name] agreed, having a smile of his own on his lips. he also looked up, copying leon. "nothing beats it here, being away from the city once in a while. i mean, you can't top a view like that." [name] says, hinting at the starry night sky.

leon hums in agreement. he stares up at the sky for a few more seconds before looking down at his friend. he smiles at the other man still too, unable to take his eyes off of [name], like how he wasn't able to take his eyes off of the stars.

"do you want to go take a swim in the lake?" leon asked, wanting to see if [name] would agree and actually go with him. this question totally wasn't an excuse for something. definitely not.

[name] looked at leon and he raised an eyebrow. he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at his friend. "i didn't pack anything suitable for swimming." he said in response.

"neither did i.. but it's fine! it's dark.. and the water will go above our waists. it's not like we'll be looking down there.." leon mumbled, letting out a nervous chuckle as he finished speaking. nothing that came out of his mouth made him sound any better. it all made him sound worse.

[name] was a little skeptical of leon's suggestions, but he decided that there was no harm in trying. it was only them outside anymore. nobody else would see them anyway.

the man sighed and he shook his head at leon's words. "fine. we can go into the lake naked, you perv." [name] added with a small laugh before he started making his way to the lake.

leon was a little caught off-guard by the sudden name calling. he froze a bit before he registered what his friend had actually called him. his whole body started to heat up a little before he called out back to [name]. "hey, i am not a pervert!" he yelled, running after his friend. all leon got in response was a laugh from his friend.

once the two were by the edge of the lake, [name] turned to face leon. he had a teasing smile on his face as he looked at the other man. "don't look at me whilst i'm getting undressed, okay? i know you're going to want to take a peek anyway." he said before he turned around, starting to remove his articles of clothing.

leon's whole body warmed up once more. he didn't think [name] would get straight to it. he thought there would be a little hesitation before the other got undressed, but no! there was no hesitation!

"yeah right.." leon muttered as he turned around, trying not to stare at his friend's back. he started taking off his own clothes, still a little flustered by the whole idea of getting into the lake with [name], naked. [name] was just his friend though, so he shouldn't be feeling this nervous. but, leon was feeling very nervous. it was as if he was back in highschool, handing someone a love letter. but, he wasn't. he was simply going to go swimming with his best friend. there was nothing to be nervous about.

leon then heard a sudden splash of the water, so he turned to look at the lake. it was just [name] who just happened to be fully undressed and already in the water, not worrying like leon was in that moment.

"you're taking too long leon, hurry up! this was your idea in the first place!" [name] called out, swimming further into the lake as he waited for leon.

as soon as [name] said that, leon removed his last items of clothing. he almost stumbled into the water out of sheer excitement, but luckily he didn't. he got in normally, swimming all the way over to [name].

leon swam infront of [name], smiling at his friend. his eyes caught notice of the scars that adorned [name]'s chest. they were prominent, and almost illuminated by the moonlight. leon thought that they were beautiful, that they could even rival the starry night sky that enveloped the two in that very moment.

"you're staring." [name] whispered softly, a small chuckle escaping his lips soon after. leon immediately felt ten times more embarrassed than he had before. just why did he have to get caught staring?

"you know.." [name] mumbled, looking down at his own chest. leon was now interested with what [name] was going to say next. "when i first got these, i used to hate them." he admitted.

leon was surprised, shocked even. he was about to rival [name]'s statement to say something about how they're something that should be cherised, but he decided to stay quiet. this wasn't his story to tell, it was [name]'s.

"i felt.. weird. disgusted even." [name] continued, a small frown forming on his lips as he spoke and remembered the events after he got his top surgery. "i didn't feel like a real man because i believed 'no man has scars like these'. but i realised that wasn't true, so i grew to love them. they make me, me. and i'm a man at the end of the day." [name] hummed, his frown being replaced with a smile.

"yeah.. they're perfect. just like you." leon whispered in response, not realising what he had just slipped out.

[name] looked up, meeting leon's eyes. a small smirk played on his lips as he raised an eyebrow at his friend. "you think i'm perfect? that's.. sweet. i think you're perfect too." he replied.

leon's eyes widened as he heard what [name] had just said. he opened his mouth, a few stutters escaping but no coherent words or sentences. he couldn't believe he had just said that. he looks away from [name], closing his mouth as he smiled to himself nervously and awkwardly.

[name] swam a little closer to leon, their chests almost touching. he then put a finger under leon's chin, making the other man look him directly in the eyes once again.

"why are you getting so embarrassed for?" [name] asked. "there's no need. you spoke your mind, and i spoke mine in return." he smiled at the blonde.

the pair were so close to eachother now. their breaths were mixing, their scents intertwining and their eyes twinkling as they stared at eachother - rivaling the stars that shone in the sky.

before one of them registered it, their lips were already touching. there was no warning to it, only the collision of their lips. it was perfect, just like everything else about the place.

leon pulled back after a few seconds, looking at [name] with a nervous smile. that wasn't what he was expecting to get out of this trip, but he didn't mind it at all. in fact, it was the best thing about the whole trip.

"i didn't know that you-" leon started before he was cut off by [name] pressing their lips together once again. leon shut his eyes tightly and he just let [name] lead the way. he let himself get kissed over, and over, and over again. if it was [name], he wouldn't mind it one bit.

this time, [name] pulled away and he smiled at leon. "yes, i do like you. a lot. i think we've established that now." [name] chuckled, moving his arms to wrap around leon. leon did the same to [name].

"well, i like you a lot too. i'm glad that's out of the way." leon hummed, leaning into [name] once again to get a kiss. however, [name] pulled back playfully, wanting to keep leon on his toes.

"don't get too ahead of yourself." he laughed, still smiling at leon. "i just wanted to know what this makes us, then we can get back to kissing." [name] explained, and leon nodded in response.

leon thought for a moment, holding [name] a little tighter than before. "boyfriends. only if that's what you want though." he grinned, albeit a little nervously.

"i wouldn't of kissed you if that wasn't what i wanted." [name] mumbled before he leaned in to kiss leon once more.

the two kept kissing in the moonlight for quite a while. they held eachother tightly and closely, not wanting to let go of the other. everything about it was just perfect. the two of them couldn't stop thinking about how perfect everything was between them.

after a few more kisses, [name] pulled away. he was breathing a little heavily, but he quickly managed to regain his breathing to it's normal state.

"i'm getting cold now. last one out of the lake doesn't get any kisses." [name] grinned before let go of leon. he then splashed the other man before he swam back to shore to grab all of his clothes.

"wha- hey! that's not fair and it doesn't make any sense?!" leon yelled, wiping the water out of his face. "the other person wouldn't be getting any kisses too, you idiot!" he says before he also starts swimming back to shore. and, yet again, all [name] can do was laugh.

everything was perfect, if it wasn't obvious. the scenery, the confession and the kisses. the two wouldn't of had it any other way under the moonlight.

- author's note: hope you guys enjoyed <3 this is written with re2 leon in mind ! re2 leon my beloved <3

- navigation : masterlist : request

#zzprompto #leon kennedy #leon kennedy x ftm reader #leon kennedy x male reader #leon kennedy x reader #resident evil #resident evil fanfiction #gay #trans #transgender #ftm #x reader #x male reader #x ftm reader #mlm #foryou #lgbtqia

[formulapai]

KNEW IT!

an Alex Albon fluff scenario 🧡

scenario: when Alex appears in his famous “best friend” ’s live stream while shirtless, internet breaks, and so does the twitch quartet’s group chat.

warning: curse words, semi-nudity (Alex is shirtless), 18+ jokes

pai’s words: all my love to lily but I just HAD to write this with him..

“NOOOOOOO, why did I do that ?”

Screaming in agony, Y/N and their thousands of viewers watch the character fall while the other players keep on running around. It was a dumb move really, they had to wait for the inclined platform to move closer but they didn’t wait enough and jumped right in the void, effectively losing the game. As much as Fall Guys is fun, especially for the viewers, the young adult is becoming more and more frustrated.

It started as a dumb bet made on twitter(X), as usual. And it’s not going well.

“No, guys, I SWEAR I can finish first, just wait ! Oh, thanks a lot user ynfanacc for the subscription, it means a lot !”

Smiling and talking with their chat, they are waiting for a new game to load so they can prove their worth and finally win. As a pretty popular streamer, they livestream pretty much everything, from random reacts to indie games, while not forgetting formula one related stuffs. This is mainly what makes them as known as they are, the way they can do anything and still make it entertaining and interesting.

Added to that, of course, is their close friendship with Alex, the Williams’ driver. Inseparable since their childhood, the two of them went through everything together and the whole world know this, the lingering questions about the real nature of their relationship hanging in the air. Officially, they are strictly best friends, bullying each other on social medias and celebrating together no matter what. Only themselves know what is happening behind closed doors, or well, that was true only seconds ago.

“Hey, babe, d’you know where my phone is ?”

It all happens in slow motion, Y/N spinning right towards the voice, the chat going wild, a very bare-chested, only-wearing-briefs Alex on full display in their live. The streamer doesn’t know how the pilot didn’t realize they were live, as they had been shouting and very clearly speaking with people for the past hour. Still, it’s now done and they have to react quickly, spinning back towards their computer, they hurriedly logs off without uttering a word while the man behind them curses and apologizes.

“Oh shit, fuck, I didn’t notice you were live, I’m so sorry babe I swear I didn’t know”

Sighing, Y/N stares at their black screen before getting up from their chair and walking towards Alex, slapping his chest slightly before leaning against it.

“-You’re so dumb.

-I know, I know, I’m sorry love, I really am.

-Well, what do we do now ? Jump right inside the storm and announce it or just ignore it and wait ?

-I mean, I’m pretty sure all internet is now aware of what happened so..

-Yeah, I’ll make an insta story. Dumbass.”

The man follows his lover towards their bedroom like a lost puppy, sitting on the bed next to them while they open the app up. In the corner of the room, under one of his shirt laying on the floor, he sees something light up and soon realizes it’s his phone, getting up to snatch it before laying back down next to his partner. As much as he expected his fans, and theirs, to be in shambles, he didn’t expect the 50+ messages from his three friends in their group chat. Snorting, he opens the chat and scroll quickly through what he’s missed before replying.

perceval: talk about a soft launch eh..

landon’t: BRO I KNEW IT!!!!! WTF

georgia: I’m so betrayed rn I don’t even know what to say

landon’t: ALBONO GOT GAMESSSSS

perceval: never wanted to see this much of Alex, someone pass me the bleach asap

georgia: you could’ve at least put some pants on, bro

landon’t: boi was busy BUSY 😏😏😏

georgia: ew

perceval: ew

me: ew

georgia: ALEXWTF

perceval: he’s here!! the traitor is here !! the filthy, lying sneak is here !!

me: you guys are just dramatic

landon’t: YOU HID YOUR RELATIONSHIP WTH MAN WE TRUSTED YOU

me: well… ily guys (ew) but I can’t say I trust your big blabbermouths with secrets like this

georgia: tf

peceval: tf

landon’t: tf

Snickering, the young man lets his phone fall on the bed and turns to his other half, still focused on making the perfect insta story about the situation. That was one of the things he deeply loved about them, while they may seem chaotic, explosive for those who don’t know them, they truly are meticulous and thoughtful, careful with every little things they do, every little things they say. They’re pure and sincere, a kind soul with only good intentions, and that’s everything Alex needs. His friends may act surprised, they all knew that deep down, the two souls were tied from the very beginning, and it was only a matter of time until they realized.

After some minutes, the other huffs and finally turns their phone towards the man laying down, showing him their hard work. If it were up to him, a simple sentence or two with would have been enough, he doesn’t really care about people’s opinion and whatsoever, but he knows they do, so he carefully takes the phone and look at the screen. It’s actually pretty simple considering how long it took, a picture of the two of them and a text. He smiles his usual broad smile at them and nods, taking the opportunity to kiss their cheek, despite their halfhearted complain.

#alex albon #alex albon imagine #f1 fluff #f1 x reader #f1 imagine

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

tulip

A/N: listen, I just wanted the vibes, I didn't feel like fleshing out a whole and complete story, just stuck to the nice images floating up in my brain noggin.

summary: "...that we all just wanna be happy, want each other to be happy, so that’s just what we should do, be happy together..."

warnings: Steve Harrington x reader x Eddie Munson, just vibes without a plot, kinda love triangle, polyamory, kissing (so many sloppy, messy kisses), allusion to masturbation, unprotected sex, threesome, dirty talk, praise, fingering, oral sex, blowjob, handjob, tiny bit of impact play, penetrative sex, tiny bit of size kink (it's canon, Steve is fat af), let's be honest it's mostly just a bunch of cuddlefucking, reader being blind with love, Eddie being a chaotic little bean and Steve being the "grown-up" in the dynamic

word count: 3681

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

masterlist | join my taglist

Running up to greet your neighbour, like clockwork, your stomach was filled with thousands of butterflies, “Eddie! When did you get back?”

Pulling you into a hug, he lifted you a few inches off the grass, and beamed into your hair, “not that long ago.”

“We missed you here,” you hummed, closing your eyes, and breathing in his familiar scent.

Pulling back, he kept one of his hands on your shoulder, huge grin still plastered on his face.

“So,” it was still summer, why did his rings still feel so cool against your skin? “are you like some big-time rock star now?”

“Nah,” his thumb played with the strap of your tank top, “it was just a few small dive bars across Indiana. Not exactly CBGB,” he loosened his grip, ghosting his fingers down your arm before disappearing completely, assuring that your body was completely covered in goosebumps if you weren’t already, “but what about you? How was your summer?”

“Oh, nothing crazy,” you sucked in a sharp breath of air at the loss of contact, “mostly just worked a lot…”

Gliding his vision over your form as you crossed your arms, he bit his lip in an effort not to smirk at what he asked next, “and how’s Steve?”

“Steve?” your eyes grew wide, “h-how would I know?”

“News travel fast here in Hawkins,” he breathed out, leaning back against the picnic table behind him, then added with a sly grin, never taking his eyes off you, “also we are next-door neighbours and the walls on a trailer are not very thick…”

“Oh my god…” your hands shot up to cover the tomato that was now your face, “oh my god!”

“I had no idea you could make those noises…” he kept going, clearly having a field day with this.

“Eddie, please,” you groaned into your palms.

“Yes?” he grinned.

“Don’t… you-,” you pealed your hands off your face and stared determinately up at the clouds, not daring to look at him for even a second, “can you just pretend you didn’t hear any of it?”

“I don’t know if I can do that, sweetheart,” the dungeon master clasped his hands together, interlocking the fingers, making his metal rings clang together, “and I am really fucking good at playing pretend.”

Taking a deep breath, you winced slightly, “please don’t say stuff like that…”

“Why? Because you’ll stick your big strong boyfriend on me?” then added in a voice dripping in sarcasm, “ohh, so scared. What’s he gonna do? Style my hair?”

You already had your suspicions that you still weren’t over your agonising and ancient crush on your next-door neighbour, but this just confirmed your theory in the most mortifying of ways.

Finally backing off, he stopped snickering and asked, “so how did it happen anyways? You and him.”

“Why do you all of a sudden wanna braid each other's hair and talk about boys?” you finally looked at him.

“You’ve just never had a boyfriend like that before, colour me curious.”

“Yeah, well if you look past all the hairspray and the charm, he might just surprise you,” he certainly had surprised you. Sure, you’d known him for years, gone to the same school, but he’d always just been the popular boy in your eyes and nothing more, honestly thought he was kind of a dick at first, but then the two of you happened to have the same summer job and everything changed. To say that he wooed you was an understatement. To be quite frank, he’d given you a summer romance worthy of being transcribed into a book with Fabio on the cover. He had made you fall in love with him. Just, until now, you had assumed that those feeling would have somehow cancelled out the long-festering ones you had for Eddie, but alas, seems that wasn’t how it worked.

Still whining softly, you came down from your self-induced euphoric high.

Yep, you were still very much in love with him alright! Damn it. Why couldn’t it just be simple and clean, one person at a time, but no! Clearly not! The sight of his figure now occupying your bedroom window’s view once more had driven you over the edge and had been enough of a spark to give you one of the best orgasms you’d had on your own in a long time.

“Well, that was… wow,” someone uttered, and you ripped your wet fingers out from your underwear and sat straight up in the bed, jumping at the sight of your boyfriend standing in the doorway, mouth agape.

“How long have you been standing there?” did you hear me moan out a different name than yours?

“Long enough,” he breathed out, the raging hard-on in his slacks being clear as day, “although, now I really wish I had been here just a little sooner. Could have given you the real deal to drool over instead of being stuck using your memory,” he crept closer.

“Who says that I'm done?” you tried to filter out your still active spank bank.

Situating yourself at the foot of the bed, kneeling, he stared down at you, parts of his perfect hair flopped forward, sheltering his dark eyes. Reaching out, caressing your glowing cheek, he skimmed the pad of his thumb over your lips and you kissed it softly.

“The stamina on you, babe. It’s enough for a whole football team to have fun with and you’d probably still ask for seconds,” finding his zipper, you tugged on it, getting one layer closer. Slipping his thumb inside your mouth, letting your tongue explore the familiar digit, he muttered, “you drive me fucking crazy…”

Practically drooling over the way Eddie’s fingers moved over the strings of his guitar, you sat close enough to see every single vein pop out, straining against the difficult riff. Practically laying down on his messy bed, his eyes were locked on the instrument itself, seemingly unaware of your hungry eyes, properly thinking you were still reading the magazine in your lap.

“So… what’s the new trend this fall?” he glanced up at you and you tried your best to act quick, avert your gaze, and look back down at the colourful pages.

“Um,” you scrambled your brain for some answer that wasn’t just about how hot he looked right now. Those hands… fuck. Those skilful fucking hands… The first thing your eyes caught sight of was a puffy, purple dress, so that’s what you blurted out, completely flustered, “purple.”

“Hm, interesting,” he plucked away at the strings, then suggested, “you know, if you want to, I could drive you to the mall.”

“Why? You hate the mall.”

“But I don’t hate you,” he stated, looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom.

Exhaling deeply, “I don’t hate you either Eddie…”

“Oh, I am very aware of how much you don’t hate me,” he ripped his eyes away from the ceiling to flash you a knowing smirk. His song suddenly stopped, as he sat up straight, fixated on something on your face, “wait, just-, you have a little-,“ and two of his fingers plucked a hair away that unbeknownst to you had stuck to your lip, “there,” he let out a sigh of relief and tucked that and a few more hairs behind your ear, “that was fucking killing me and I just couldn’t stop myself from fixing it.”

One second, he was just sitting there, guitar in lap, a hand in your hair, innocently playing with it, but what happened next felt like being struck by lightning. Suddenly, his lips pressed against yours and he kissed you. Eddie kissed you. It was much softer, gentler than you’d imagined he would kiss you, especially for the first time. You’d always thought it would be all or nothing with him every time, but no, surprisingly, the cocky bastard wasn’t like that.

Pulling back, he swiped his thumb over your cheek and looked at you dreamily.

“Fuck…” you breathed out, desperately wanting to go dive back in for more, but then thoughts of Steve found you and your head slumped down, “fuck.”

“I gotta know, how long has it been?”

“What?” you looked up at him in utter shock.

“What, you didn’t think I knew? Honey, you aren’t that subtle at hiding your feelings.”

“I-… Eddie…”

Taking a deep breath, he looked you over once more, and guessed quietly, “you still like him, huh?”

“Yeah… but I-“

“Like I said, not subtle at hiding your feelings,” he cut you off, scooting further away from you on the mattress, “It’s okay. All I want for you is to be happy and if that means Steve, then that’s fine by me.”

“Eddie…”

“It’s fine,” he rushed out, “I’m fine, promise.”

“Do you like him?” Steve asked hesitantly, looking down at your comparatively small hand, how it was engulfed in his.

“Yeah… I never really stopped…”

Eddie had been your first serious crush. He was your neighbour. He was funny and sweet and kind. He had just kissed you! Of course, you liked him.

“Do you-… do you still like me?”

“Yeah,” you breathed out, never doubting it for a moment, “I never stopped.”

“So, you like him… but also me?”

“Yeah,” you nodded slowly.

“Okay… okay,” you could see the gears turning.

“…okay?”

“I’ll be back later,” he let go of your hand and got up, “I need to go talk to him.”

“You, what?”

Stopping in his tracks, he spun around, rushed to you, and bent down to give you a kiss. Raising a hand to touch his forearm, you let out a shaky sigh against his lips.

Pulling back, he took a deep breath, then stated quietly, “I love you,” then turned back to his determent mission, “wait for me to get back, okay? Wait right here,” and vanished out the door.

“Good morning!” a singsongy voice woke you from your slumber.

“Munson, it’s like 2 am.”

“So, what, you want me to wake her with an ominous good evening? Uh! I should remember that for my next campaign, that could be creepy as fuck.”

Blinking your eyes open, you squinted up at not just the man who had promised his return, but also an unexpected visitor.

“Hey,” you gave a soft smile.

“Hey, babe,” Steve breathed out, sitting on the bed beside you, while Eddie hovered in the background of your still sleepy eye line.

Slowly sitting up, you took a moment to look from one to the other, inspecting if there was any danger at play, but all you saw were just bright smiles. “So, I’m guessing you two didn’t kill each other?”

“No,” Steve informed you, stroking your hair, properly taking care of some of your sleep-induced frizz. He then looked back at Eddie, “we just had a long talk…”

“Yeah…” he agreed slowly.

Why did they look so buddy-buddy all of a sudden, “…talk?”

“Yep,” Steve nodded.

“Turns out,” Eddie joined you on the bed, “we’ve got more in common than you might think,” he fiddled with his rings, spinning one of them around his finger.

“Really?” you hugged your knees to your chest.

“Mhm,” Steve hummed, “just to save you from a long-winded description of every little thing we talked about, the important takeaway is that we both care about you a lot and want you to be happy. We want to make you happy. So then we came up with an idea-“

“Well,” Eddie interjected, “I came up with it, I suggested it.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s not the important part-“

“But I did, I just think she deserves to know that-”

“And now she does!”

“So, um,” you sat there and carefully observed the looks they shoot at each other, “what is this idea?”

“Yeah, it’s, um…” Steve started, “that we all just wanna be happy, want each other to be happy, so that’s just what we should do, be happy together.”

Furrowing your brow, you breathed out a tiny chuckle, “do you mean-“

“That we all just bang?” Eddie interjected with a grin, “that’s one word for it, sure.”

“Seriously?”

“What? Do you not want to?” Steve’s hand came to rest on your knee.

“No, that’s not what I was saying, it’s just a pretty serious thing, so I, um, I can’t really tell if this is all just some elaborate joke or am I dreaming right now? I’m totally dreaming!” leaning forward, Eddie reached under the duvet and pinched you, “ow! Hey!”

Doing a double take at the stink eye he received from Steve, Eddie clarified, “see, not a dream.”

“You could have just told me.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t,” he smiled, obviously taking it as an excuse to touch you.

“So,” Steve gathered your attention back up, “if you’re in, then we are as well.”

“Both of you?” you searched their eyes.

“Yes,” they both chimed.

“Really?” you jumped slightly in your seat, making the blanket fall from your body.

“Yeah, really,” Eddie confirmed.

And with that, you tackled them both in a big hug, giggling as their backs hit the mattress. Closing your eyes, you felt kisses begin to bloom on each side of your face. Turning your head, you first caught the lips of Steve, then turned to kiss Eddie, whose fingers were already tangled in your hair.

Soon, the kissing and cuddling turned into more. You were now sprawled out, your back leaning against Steve’s warm chest, and with Eddie's head between your legs, eagerly pushing your blue, floral nightgown up well above your hips.

“Jesus fuck, if only you knew the amount of times I’ve dreamt about this,” he nibbled at your thighs.

Gliding a hand down to palm your left breast, Steve kissed your neck, effectively starting a fight with your eyelids to make them stay open and actually experience the glorious sight in front of you and not just feel it. “He doesn’t even know the half of it yet, I’m telling you, man, once you start, you can’t ever stop, she’s like a drug…”

“Then it’s a good thing you don’t mind illicit substances, do you, Eddie?” you grinned, watching closely as his face greeted your clothed cunt with a blissful peck over the small soaked spot, then promptly hooked his fingers into the sides of your light underwear and tugged them down, tossing them over his shoulder.

“Drugs? Me?” he joked dramatically, “well, I would never. I have never done anything illegal in my entire life! I am just as innocent as a little baby,” his eyes locked with yours as he ran his palm back up your leg until it met your bare core. When you let out a genuine laugh, he exclaimed, “oh, fuck, remind me to make you laugh one day when I’m inside of you, please, holy fuck would it feel incredible.”

“Well, I’m not gonna stop you if you wanna get I clearer picture-“ your giggle became more breathy as he sank his long middle finger into you, groaning at the way your joy made your walls clench down around him.

“Fuck,” he dove in head first, not being able to wait any longer, needing a taste. Growling something incoherent against your clit, your jaw hung loose, and you found one of Steve’s arms for support, digging your nails into it, surely leaving a few crescent marks in its wake.

Feeling Steve’s knuckles gently tilt your chin up in his direction, he kissed you, swallowing your moans on his tongue. Gradually rotating your upper body to face him more, it didn’t take long for Eddie to peak up, notice your twisted form, and then swiftly flip your hips around, detaching himself just for that moment before going back in.

Pulling your knees up under you, you felt Eddie's hands wrap around your hips. No, it wasn’t just his hands. He was basically hugging you, pulling your hips up and closer to his face.

Moving your sloppy kisses away from Steve’s sweet lips, with one hand he pulled his t-shirt over his head, and you started trailing your messy pecks down his neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen, and soon your nose was pressed into his happy trail, smiling as he tugged the rest of his layers off for you.

Smiling so hard that your face almost hurt, you wrapped your fingers around the thick length presented in front of your grin, but before you could do anything more, you felt two of Eddie’s fingers curl inside you, making your eyes roll and your back arch.

“Stick out your tongue baby,” you felt one of Steve’s hands run through your hair and the other join your right one at the base of his cock. Tapping his heavy dick on your outspread tongue, he sucked in a sharp breath, “Yeah, that’s my girl.”

Pulling away, you suddenly lost the toe-curling contact of Eddie's tongue and fingers. Getting back up, he just stared for a while, completely hypnotised, and leisurely took his dark clothes off.

As you began to swallow Steve whole, you felt a sharp whack hit your glimmering pussy and then a pair of hands yank your ass back up into position. “Fuck, you’re so wet,” Eddie moved in close, tapping the leaking head of his cock teasingly against your screaming clit. “Just begging for me to come in a play… would be so easy to just-” and he sank into you, causing you to moan filthily around Steve’s length. “Jesus fuck, yes!”

This was something straight out of a dream. They were both inside you, filling you up. Holy shit, the fact that this was actually real life made you feel like you were gonna pass out in the best way.

Rings digging into your skin, Eddie used your hips at first to fuck himself on you, effectively pulling your lips from Steve and letting your blissful sounds run free.

Blinking up at Steve, he reached down to cradle your face, moving close to kiss your cheek sweetly, “you like that, huh? You like the way Eddie feels inside of you?”

Sliding one hand down to palm your boobs, somewhat stopping the way Eddie's thrusts made them jiggle wildly, you whimpered, “y-yes.”

“Yeah, you do? Are you gonna cum?” he nuzzled his nose against yours, “cream all over his big dick, huh?”

As Eddie’s palm came down on your ass, all you did was nod and screw your eyes shut.

“There you go, there you go, baby, that’s it,” Steve smiled at your bliss.

Letting out a shaky breath, your knees didn’t just threaten to give out, but actually did when Eddie pulled out of your still quivering cunt. Flopping down on the mattress, the boys didn’t leave you lying there long before hugging you close and pulling you further up the bed, keeping you safe and warm in between them.

Keeping your eyes closed, you felt Steve’s stomach against your spine, making his breaths deliberately clear for you to copy.

“You good, Y/n?” Eddie scooted closer to you, kissing your nose.

“Yeah, I’m perfect,” you smiled, resting a hand on his chest, “just really r-… re-…”

“…Relaxed?” he suggested the word out brain was too fogged up to recall.

“Yes, relaxed…”

Lazily grinding into your backside, it almost felt accidental that Steve slipped inside of you at the moment he did, not that you were complaining, they gave you enough time and cuddles to coax your body back to them, making you starved for more.

Dipping his head down, Eddie buried his face in your tits, capturing one of the hard nipples between his teeth. You could feel him fucking his fist, being pressed all the way up against you, occasionally nudging the tip up against your sensitive clit.

“God, you’re so fucking cute!” Eddie squealed and nipped your boob.

“Being such a good girl for us,” Steve groaned in your ear, causing the hair on the back of your neck to stand up.

“Making all those gorgeous sounds,” Eddie chimed in, “you’d think you were the musician.”

Letting out a meek giggle, “you know I can’t sing for shit,” unintentionally clenching down on Steve’s cock in the process.

“Shit, you’re fucking choking me, baby,” he gasped, snaking his arms around your waist, hugging you tighter.

“Shut up,” Eddie jumped slightly, quickly forgetting about the comfort of your boobs, “shut up! I said I wanted to feel that!” his genuine eagerness and childlike jealousy only made your giggle evolve into an actual laugh, almost stopping Steve’s ramming completely.

“No, seriously dude, if you keep making her laugh like that, I’m gonna cum,” Steve pleaded.

One hand found Eddie’s face and you brought it down, first giving him a slow, soft kiss in a successful attempt at silencing the comment that was about to fly off his tongue, then when his mind was effectively melted, you reached down your other hand to help his feverish jerking, all the while still giving him the most tranquil of make outs.

Keeping his own fingers around the base, you stroked the rest of his length, rubbing the tip up against you, gathering more of your arousal and soaking his dick even more.

Feeling the high grow, you saw the edge of the cliff right there, you could taste it, you were so close. Steve’s size had long ago stopped being a surprise to you, but at this moment, this very moment, holy fuck did he stretch you out in the best fucking way, successfully making you see stars. Big dipper, little dipper, Orion's belt! All of the constellations, clear as day.

Trembling in between them, your head bowed down low, curling in on yourself as you cried out in pleasure.

Feeling in that exact moment Steve cum as well, he buried his face in the crook of your neck and filled you up, pumping against your throbbing walls.

It didn’t take long either for Eddie to follow suit, panting, you opened your eyes just in time to look down and see him paint your messy cunt his hot load.

© 2022 thyme-in-a-bubble 

#lea’s writing #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #steddie x fem!reader #steddie smut #steddie x reader smut #steddie x you #steddie x reader #stranger things smut #steddie x y/n #eddie munson hc #eddie munson headcanons #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington hc #steve harrington headcanon #eddie munson fluff #steddie x reader fluff #steddie x reader imagine #eddie munson headcanon

[alyssaforevermore]

Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season two, part one

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee @lanxsee @livingdeadblondequeen @sweetz1919 @moonmark98 @sarahbaker2010 @ririi-3 @ryoujoking (if you've requested a tag and aren't here, I cannot tag you sadly)

Masterlist

It had been hours since you’d all fled the CDC. You kept replaying everything in your mind, from Lori and Shane to Jacqui staying behind. Things had never felt more bleak than they did right now.

“Looks complicated.” Andrea spoke, sitting at the table in the RV.

Shane sat across from her, cleaning his gun. “The trick is getting all these pieces back together the same way. I could clean yours. Show you how.”

Andrea smiled, handing him her gun.

 “Oh yeah.” Shane smiled. “It’s a sweet piece.” 

“It was a gift from my father.” Andrea responded. 

You stared at Shane, your eyes narrowing as you tuned out Andrea. Seeing him carry on like normal, as if he’d done nothing wrong, made your blood boil. As if he didn’t know you knew; as if he didn’t know you saw it.

“Oh jeez.” Dale’s voice caught your attention. “Do you see a way through?”

You stood up, heading to the front of the RV. Dale was in the driver's seat while Glenn sat in the passenger’s seat. Ahead of you were hundreds of cars, abandoned throughout the highway. Many cars’ doors were open, the occupants probably having fled in a hurry.

Glenn frowned. “Maybe we should just go back? There’s an interstate bypass-“

Dale shook his head. “We can’t spare the fuel.”

You pointed to a narrow open space. “Can we get through there?”

As the words left your lips, smoke began leaking out of the front of the RV.

“Didn’t I say it?” Dale shook his head. “I said it a thousand times.”

Shane appeared at your side. “Is there a problem, Dale?”

Dale stopped the RV. “Oh, just a small problem of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-“ he paused, looking around. “Okay, that was dumb.”

“Is it the hose again?” You asked.

“Most likely.”

You all piled off the RV, meeting with the others who had driven behind you.

“Think you can find a radiator hose here?” Shane questioned.

“Definitely.” Dale nodded.

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff we can find.” Daryl pointed out.

You nodded. “We can siphon some fuel from these cars, for starters.” 

“Maybe find some water.” Carol added.

Glenn nodded. “Or food.”

“This is a graveyard.” Lori spoke up. “I just don’t know how to feel about this.”

You let out a low sigh. “Now’s not the time to have a conscience. We’re tired, thirsty and hungry. They’re dead.”

Everyone stared at you for a moment, the coldness of your words catching them off guard. Not Daryl, though. You knew he was probably thinking the same thing anyways.

“We should split up, cover more ground.” He mumbled, walking away from the group.

Before anyone could respond, you jogged off to catch up to him. 

“Have you given any more thought to sticking around?” You asked, your voice hushed.

“I’m here, ain’t I?” He huffed.

“You are, for now at least.” You responded.

He stopped for a moment. “Do you really care if I go?”

You looked in his eyes, a half smile forming across your lips. “Of course I do. You’re one of the only people I can stand these days.”

Daryl fought himself, trying not to smile but ultimately failing. There was a lightness between the two of you that you’d never felt before. When you were with him, everything that was bothering you seemed to fade away.

Your eyes shifted to the car next to you. “Think there’s anything good in there?”

Daryl turned, reaching for the door handle. “Only one way to find out.”

You pulled out your knife, prepared for any unwelcome surprises. You nodded for Daryl to open the door, and he did just that. Thankfully, the car was free of any dead.

Placing your knife back in its place on your hip, you climbed inside the car. You opened the glovebox, finding a few granola bars inside.

“Can you pass me the bag?” You asked, and Daryl compiled before opening the backseat.

Next, you opened the center console letting out a small chuckle.

“Anything good?” Daryl asked, looking over.

You picked up a small handgun, holding it up. “Not exactly where I expected to find one of these.”

“Any rounds?”

You checked the gun, finding all six rounds. “It’s fully loaded. Doesn’t look like there’s any extra bullets though.”

You peered out the window, your smiling fading as your face went pale. Daryl took notice, looking up as well. There were dozens of walkers headed your way, coming from the direction you’d left the RV in earlier.

“Shit.” Daryl huffed, climbing out of the car.

You followed suit, both of you closing the doors quietly as you crouched down. Somewhere behind you, you heard the panicked mumbling of one of your friends. You and Daryl both rushed over, still crouched to avoid bringing any attention to you.

A few rows of cars over, you found T-Dog who was bleeding from a large cut on his arm. You and Daryl quickly took out the walkers surrounding him, with Daryl tossing one over T-Dog and whispering for him to be quiet. Daryl grabbed a body from one of the cars as you laid down, him tossing it over you. Then, he used one of the walkers you’d just killed to cover himself.

Seconds later, the walkers had caught up to you, slowly making their way through the space the three of you were in. You could feel your heart racing, unsure if Daryl’s strategy would work. Closing your eyes, all you could hear was the shuffling feet of the dead. Thoughts of your friends and family filled your head, beginning to worry if they’d managed to hide in time too. You tried to tell yourself that you hadn’t heard screams, but no amount of rationalization was helping.

Finally the footsteps subsided and you opened your eyes. Daryl threw the corpse off of himself, rushing over to help T-Dog. You did the same, putting pressure on the cloth Daryl placed over his cut. 

“It’s bad.” T-Dog gasped.

You shook your head. “You’ll be okay, we just have to get you back to the RV.”

As the words left your mouth, screams filled the air. They were coming from the direction of the RV. You looked at Daryl, fear present across your face.

“I got him, go.” Daryl assured you.

Not wasting another moment, you stood up and raced towards the RV, the newfound gun still in your hand. When you arrived, you quickly noticed Sophia sliding down the hill and into the ditch with two walkers following her. Rick was close behind, chasing them into the woods with a rifle in hand.

Carol pulled herself out from under one of the cars, running towards the highway barrier. She was sobbing, barely able to get her panicked words out as everyone gathered around her.

“Lori, there’s two walkers after my baby.” She cried, placing her hand over her mouth.

Lori held her, looking over at you. You didn’t know what to say, your body frozen in its place. Rick was already well out of view and you knew that if you went after them, you’d just get lost at this point.

All you could do now was pray they both made it back safely.

…

“You sure this is the spot?” Daryl asked, looking into a small hole by the creek.

“I left her right here,” Rick nodded. “I drew the walkers way off that direction up the creek.”

Rick had made it back to the group a bit earlier, Sophia never having returned. He led a few of you to where he’d left her, believing she’d stayed there while Rick dealt with the walkers. 

“Without a paddle– seems where we’ve landed.” Daryl responded.

“She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she’d just taken off and ran back to the group. I told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder.” Rick pointed in the direction you all came from.

“Assuming she knows her left from right.” Shane sighed.

“Shane, she understood me fine.” Rick argued. 

Shane shook his head. “The kid’s tired and scared, man. She had a close call with two walkers. You gotta wonder how much of what you said stuck.”

“I’ve got clear prints right here.” Daryl spoke, pointing to the ground leading up from the creek. “She did what you said, headed back to the highway.”

“What the hell happened from here to there?” You whispered.

Rick shook his head. “Maybe she got nervous, hid somewhere else along the way.”

“Let’s spread out, make our way back.” Daryl said.

 Shane nodded, helping Rick up the hill. “Hey, we’re gonna find her.”

Rick nodded, walking past Shane.

Shane held his hand out for you. You stared at him for a moment before finally relenting and taking his hand, allowing him to pull you up. The two of you caught up with the others, Daryl kneeling down.

“She was doing fine until right here.” Daryl spoke. “All she had to do was keep going, but she veered off that way.”

“Why would she do that?” Glenn asked.

“Maybe she saw something that scared her, made her run off.” Shane suggested.

“A walker?”

Daryl shook his head. “I don’t see any other footprints.”

“What do we do then? All of us press on?” Shane asked.

“No, it’s better if you and Glenn go back to the highway.” Rick spoke. “People are going to start panicking. Let them know we’re on her trail doing everything we can, but most of all keep everyone calm.”

Shane nodded. “I’ll keep ‘em busy scavenging cars.”

Shane waved for Glenn to follow him, and Rick turned to you. “You should go back with them. It’s probably safer there, and it’s getting dark.”

You shook your head. “I’d rather stick with you and Daryl.”

Rick nodded and Daryl began to lead you further into the woods. It was a while before you noticed the footprints slowly disappearing.

“The tracks are gone.” Rick sighed.

“No, they’re faint but they ain’t gone.” Daryl responded. “She came through here.”

“How can you tell?” You asked. “All I see is dirt and grass.”

“You want a lesson in tracking or you wanna find that little girl?” Daryl asked, his eyes still focused on the ground.

Daryl continued to lead you both further, before rustling in the bushes caught your attention. He signaled for three of you two split off, using Rick as a distraction while Daryl shot a lone walker. Daryl joined you both at the walker, removing his bolt and calling out for Sophia.

Rick knelt down, pulling out gloves and placing them on his hands. He then held up the walker’s hand, inspecting it closely.

“What are you looking for?” Daryl asked.

“Skin under the fingernails.” Rick responded, dropping the hand and inspecting the walker’s teeth. “He fed recently, there’s flesh between his teeth.”

“What kind of flesh?” You asked.

Rick sighed, pulling out his knife. “There’s only one way to find out.”

He ripped open the walker’s shirt, positioning his knife on its stomach. Daryl shook his head, placing a hand on Rick’s shoulder.

“Here, I’ll do it.” He spoke, pulling out his own knife. “How many kills have you skinned and gutted in your life, anyway? Mine is sharper.”

Daryl stabbed the knife into the walker’s stomach, cutting towards himself. 

“I’m going to be sick.” You mumbled, placing a hand over your mouth.

Daryl stabbed the walker several more times, cutting into a new layer each time. “Now comes the bad part.” He spoke before reaching his hands inside. He began to feel around, scooping out bits as he went along.

“Yeah,” Daryl mumbled. “Hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there.” He scooped out the stomach, tossing it on the ground for Rick to cut open. After searching it for a few seconds, Daryl was able to pull out a piece of skull.

You let out a sigh of relief. 

“The gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch.” Daryl spoke, tossing the skull aside.

“At least we know.” Rick responded, standing up.

…

The sun was quickly disappearing as you finally made it back to the highway. Carol stood at the barrier, her face falling when she saw the three of you without Sophia.

“The trail went cold.” Rick spoke. “We’ll go back out there at first light.”

“You can’t leave my daughter out there on her own, to spend the night alone in the woods.” Carol cried.

“Out in the dark’s no good.” Daryl responded. “We’d just be tripping over ourselves. More people getting lost.”

Carol shook her head. “She’s only twelve! She can’t be out there on her own. You didn’t find anything?”

“I know this is hard, but I’m asking you not to panic.” Rick spoke calmly. “We know she was out there.”

You nodded. “We tracked her for a while. There was nothing to tell us that anything happened to her.”

“We have to make this an organized effort.” Rick began. “Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I’ve asked him to oversee this.”

Carol eyed Daryl, her eyes narrowing in on a spot on his pants. “Is-Is that blood?”

“We took down a walker.” Rick explained.

“Oh my god.” Carol shook her head.

“There was no sign it was anywhere near Sophia, I promise.”

“How can you know that?” Andrea asked.

You and Rick both looked at Daryl, not wanting to explain your methods. “We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure.” He spoke plainly. 

Carol took a deep breath, sitting down on the barrier. Lori sat next to her, placing a hand on her back. Carol’s face turned to anger as she looked over at Rick.

“How could you just leave her out there to begin with?” She asked, her voice shaking. “How could you just leave her?”

Rick’s face fell. “Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them away. It was her best chance.”

“He didn’t have a choice, Carol.” Shane defended.

“How is she supposed to find her way back on her own? She’s just a child. She’s just a child.” Carol began to cry again.

“It was my only option. The only choice I could make.”

“I’m sure nobody doubts that.” Shane spoke.

Carol shook her head. “My baby got left in the woods.”

Rick stood up, noticing everyone staring right at him. Hell, even you were staring at him. You knew he did what he could, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you could’ve done more. Maybe if you’d risked getting lost too, you could’ve found her and at least kept her safe.

You watched as Rick turned away, slowly walking off on his own.

------

AN: Here we are with the first part of season two! I'm trying to keep chapters at a more reasonable length moving forward. Hopefully this one was okay. Please remember to like/reblog if you enjoyed. The tag list is still open! <3

#daryl dixon; unearthed #twd #twd fanfiction #twd fanfic #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x reader

[theworldofotps]

Secret Santa

Pairing: Finn Balor x Reader Word Count: 1,825 Description: Finn doesn't have a gift for the Secret Santa, so the rest of The Judgment Day help him out.

So excited to write some festive pieces! Thank you so much @new-zealand-chic for helping me create this idea, like you ran the ball with most of it. I truly hope that it's as good as you imagined. --------- Tag list: @omg-im-such-a-masochist @melissahausen​ @new-zealand-chic @writtingrose​ @99hook @sjwrites22​ @sassymox @mrsacklesevansmgk @xladyxfatex @biforrollynch @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @demonqueen29​ @itsicantbelievethis666​ @lilred91​ @rebellious-desires @claymorexpunisher @letsgivethisonemoreshot @ava-valerie​ @shortyiceheart​ @serpantscorpio8497​ @thatpanpal @thatnerdwriter @wrestlersownmyheart​ @vebner37​ @auburnwrites​ @aews-four-pillars​ @seeingstarks​ @whenimakeitshine1234​ @legit9thlunaticwarrior​ @blaquekitty @ironshamelessyouth​ @unoficialy-married-to-ace-austin​ @ripleyswhore @moonrosekk @xbreezymeadowsx @elevennbloom @melblacc @alliwant456  @mcreignsera

If you wanna be added to the list lemme know. -------- “Okay here we go guys it’s time to pick your Secret Santa. You have three days to shop because this is a last minute idea.”

Becky smiles as she holds out a bag to the Judgment Day containing slips of papers with the name of coworkers participating in the activity. Rhea gasped sitting up quickly and reached into the bag first pulling out a name and glanced at it. “Ohh this is going to be a fun person to shop for.” She smirked, pocketing the name as the rest of the members grabbed their slips as well. Finn looked down at his paper reading over it and sighing quietly; he hadn’t picked who he was hoping for. Becky watched him closely and smiled innocently as the others chatted excitedly amongst themselves.

“You okay there Fergy?” “Yeah, I was just hoping for someone a bit easier to shop for.” “Nah don’t listen to him he’s pissy because he didn’t get y/n.”

Damian smirked as he walked over patting his friend on the back, the group teasing him as his cheeks flushed red.  “Shut up.”

He shook his head ducking out of the room with a chuckle as they made kiss faces at him. 

“Children, the whole lot of them.” ‘Alright, it’s time to find out who has y/n’s name.”

Walking down the hallway he decided to head for the catering area first, there was bound to be plenty of people in there who were also involved. “Chad hey quick question, I know you wanted to do the secret Santa thing you don’t happen to have y/n do you?”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to reveal who we have.” Chad chuckled looking at him and watched as Finn did his best to remain unbothered. Nearly everyone in the locker rooms knew how bad he had it for her.  “Yes I know but I just was curious.”

“Well actually I did have her but I switched with Kofi because he got himself so he has her name now.”

“Fuck okay thanks man.”

Finn quickly made his way off to find Kofi not noticing Chad sending a text to Kofi letting him know what was going on. When Finn finally spotted Kofi he was disappointed to find out he had also switched with someone else. 

And so began the long task of Finn chasing all the leads that he got of who had Y/n’s name. The next three days he sent out what seemed like a thousand text messages and phone calls, dropping by locker rooms if they weren’t answering. It was driving him crazy going after all these leads. So, when he was told that Natayla had her name, he stopped her as soon as she stepped in the arena for Raw. “Nattie, please I’m begging do you have Y/n’s name for the Secret Santa?” “Oh yes I do, why?” “Would you be willing to trade with me and in exchange you can have Bayley.” “Well I already got her gift so..”

Natayla smiled at him watching as the light practically went out in his eyes she tapped her chin with the paper.

“I suppose I would be willing to trade, Bayley would like this gift better anyway but you have to do something for me first.”

“What? I’ll do anything.”

“You have to do a Christmas Tiktok dance with me and we need to be dressed up.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes I am, I think it would be so much fun and people would enjoy it.”

“What costume?”

“You’ll be dressed up as a gingerbread man and I’ll be dressed up as an elf.”

Finn stared at her and looked at the ceiling groaning as he thought.

“How bad do you want this Finn?”

Natayla waved the paper around in front of his face, she could see he was about to cave in. Finn thought for a moment longer than nodded his head holding his hand out.

“Okay yes deal just tell me when and I’ll be there.”

“Perfect here you go.”

Finn thanks her, taking the paper and rushes towards The Judgment Day locker room. Pushing the door open he grins waving the paper back and forth excitedly.

“I finally got it! I have y/n’s name for Secret Santa!”

He cheered as his friends gathered around and looked at the paper in his hand, Damian chuckled, slapping him on the back.

“Well done mate and all you had to do was harass the entire company rosters to achieve it.”

“I didn’t harass anyone.”

“You literally kept calling Liv at three in the morning yesterday to try and find out if she still had it. She texted me about it a little while ago and you owe her a coffee for her trouble.”

Rhea shrugged as she sat back down on the sofa and looked up at him sipping her bottle of water.

“So what are you giving her?”

“I don’t know yet I have to shop.”

“You better figure it out man, the gift exchange is tonight.”

Dom grinned watching as their friend slowly sank into a chair looking between them all.

“I thought Becky said we had three days.”

“She did, you spent nearly every moment since we got the names looking so you have exactly two hours to figure out what to get her.”

“What the fuck am I going to do?”

“We can help you out, we just need to find a store and fast.”

Rhea smiled, tossing the rental keys to Damian as the group rushed out to the rover and piled in. Finn sat in the passenger seat nervously bouncing his knee as he watched out the window, the group couldn’t help but whisper when he wasn’t paying attention. Damian reached over grabbing Finn’s knee.

“Stop bouncing that damn leg, it’s driving me nuts.”

“Sorry I’m just nervous. I didn't even think of getting a gift while I was waiting for replies.”

“No worries man, we got you.”

The group says as they arrive at the shops then make their way inside, they decide to split up so they weren’t all caught in a large group. 

“Do you have a general idea of what you want to get for her?”

“No, I mean I want to get her something special because I think she’s really special but also I don’t know what she already has.”

Rhea groans and grabs his arm leading him into a shop. It was best to let her lead since she hung out with y/n more than Finn was able to. What Rhea thought was going to be a simple easy time turned out to be frustrating as hell because Finn kept shooting down everything she suggested. 

“Come on mate.” Rhea groaned. “We've been here an hour, the party is in forty minutes!”

“There’s nothing here that works for her.”

“Finn Finn we found it!”

Dom called as he rushed into the shop with Damian trailing behind him a bag in his hand. 

“What did you find?”

“Trust us she’s gonna love it, now come on we need to get back we won’t have much time.”

The group get back in the rental and head off back to the arena with Damian clutching the bag in his hand. Finn was worried that it wouldn’t be something fit enough for Y/n and the whole ride he begged Damian to tell him what it was. 

“Just wait and see.”

He smirked as he drove them the rest of the way and the group made their way inside. Becky met them in the hallway and lead them to the catering area where their coworkers and friends were. 

“Okay everyone, find the person you have the name of and give them their gift, enjoy yourselves!”

Becky smiled as music softly played throughout the room, Finn turned to Damian and shifted on his feet.

“What’s in the bag Damian.”

“My gift for Rhea, that's who I had.”

He says pulling out a leather vest with a rhinestone fire skull and spikes on the back of it. Rhea cheered, grabbing the vest and slipping it on while thanking her friend earnestly.

“You said you found one for y/n!”

“Technically I didn’t say that we just said we found a gift she would like we didn’t say we bought one. However, I have the perfect idea.”

Pulling a large purple bow out of the bag he slaps it on Finn’s chest while Rhea puts a pair of deer antlers on his head. A twig of mistletoe hanging from it, Dom snaps a picture before Rhea shoves Finn into someone. “Woah, hello Finn.” Feeling his face heat up he turns looking into a pair of the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen on a person before. “Hello y/n I'm so sorry for bumping into you.” “That's alright no harm done, so who did you have for Secret Santa?”

“He started out with Bayley.” Rhea said smirking from where she was leaning against the wall, Damian chuckled as they practically threw their friend under the bus. “But he spent so much time trying to get the actual person he wanted that he forgot to buy a gift.” Damian wiggled his eyebrows at his friend who stared at them but also the amused smile on y/n’s face.

“So, y/n, congratulations your Secret Santa gift this year is none other than Finn Balor.” Dom called as the three of them quickly rushed off leaving the pair alone, Finn wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

“You’re my present this year? How delightful I was wondering why you had a big purple bow on your shirt. You know what’s funny?”

She asked, stepping closer to him with a smile on her face as Finn couldn’t help but softly smile back.

“What?”

“I got your name this year, I got a pack of legos as a joke but seeing as there's some mistletoe on your head. I think that we can exchange a much better gift, don't you think?” Finn’s gaze flicked down to where her tongue slipped out to wet her bottom lip, his eyes darkening as he smirked.  

“I definitely think we could love.” With his heart racing Finn cupped her cheeks pulling her close before pressing his lips to hers in a kiss that rocked his world. Ignoring the cheering of their coworkers Y/n smiled into the kiss her eyes closed as the two of them let the noise fade out. When they finally parted goofy grins on both their faces Finn’s eyes searched hers.

“What do you say we go find somewhere and talk maybe over a drink?”

“I say, what are we doing still standing here lets go.”

Hand in hand the two laugh as they quickly leave the room ignoring the hoots and whistles of their friends. 

“Wear protection Finn!”

Was the last thing he heard Rhea shout before the door closed behind them and he pulled her in for another kiss.

#finn bálor #finn balor x reader #finn balor fanfiction #festive fics

[mxtantrights]

famous dc!au (dick's version)

TRACK THIRTEEN: THINK I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU / WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG

"Hi." you say.

Dick smiles, "Hi."

He goes to say something but the crowd is a bit too loud for any of his words to be made out by you. He laughs sheepishly and points behind him, towards something. You nod you head, not really knowing what he was pointing at.

Then he's taking your hand and leading you through the sudden flood of people. You can't help to look down at your intertwined fingers and you feet keep following after him.

You walk and walk together, until you reach a closed door. Dick opens it and leads you inside first. Then he walks in and closes it behind him.

As soon as the door clicks shut the noise outside is muted considerably. Dick smiles at you again.

"Hi." he says.

You chuckle to yourself, "You already said that. So have I."

"Did we? It was kinda hard to hear out there. What are all those people here for anyways?" Dick jokes.

"Some guy wrote a song." you add on.

Dick laughs at first. And you do too. But you find that his laughter dies a bit too soon. You wonder if you came off as mean or passive. It was an amazing song, he should be applauded. Maybe he's sensitive about his work.

"I'm sorry, that was-" you begin.

But Dick cuts you off, "It's okay. I know you were just teasing, but it is why I brought you here."

You look around the room, "You brought me to this room to talk about the song?"

"Yeah, I needed somewhere private to tell you this." he says.

This was it. You think to yourself this is when he cuts you loose. He's going to tell you that he's with Zantana and the song is about her and that he doesn't like you in that way. God you probably looked like one sick puppy dog to him.

God you feel pathetic. Maybe you should just tell him yourself. Get a clean break. If it is the end, you want to be in charge of your own destiny.

"Listen can I go first?" you ask.

Dick stops and nods his head once.

"I want you to know that when I first met you, it was strictly professional. I mean yes I thought you were attractive and really kind, but I saw you as my boss. And then the lines became blurred- but not in a bad way. I liked it."

"Liked?" Dick asks.

"I mean, well it's changed. I've changed. I have strong feelings for you. Stronger than like." you explain.

Dick just looks at you. Your mind is racing a thousand thoughts per second. Why wasn't he saying anything? Did he think that lowly of you? Why isn't he saying anything? Did you make a mistake? Should you have never said anything?

"I think I'm falling for you..." Dick trails off.

Your eyes widen.

Oh.

That's not what you were expecting. At all.

"The song is about you. You're my comet. It's your laugh at the beginning." he goes further.

You can't help the smile on your face. You knew it. You knew that laugh was familiar, you knew you weren't delusional in thinking that. You his your smile behind your hand.

"Is that-I mean I didn't clear that with you first, I realize that might come off as a invasion of privacy and-" Dick rambles.

You remove your hand from your mouth.

"Dick." you say.

"And I don't want to put you in a uncomfortable position. I never wanted to do that, that's why I was kinds hoping you wouldn't take the job because then I could ask you out. Which in hindsight-"

"Hindsight sucks. I'm glad you told me now." you cut him off again.

"You are?" he asks.

You nod your head vigorously, "I mean tonight I promised myself I would tell you that I had these feelings for you. And if it ended badly I would have left Hollywood altogether."

"You would have left? I'm sorry I feel like I keep asking you questions." Dick speaks.

"It's okay. And yeah. I mean the first video you offered the job for was my last option. You're the whole reason I stayed in Hollywood."

"And I could have been the reason you left." he added.

"Well, it didn't turn out that way did it." you asked rhetorically.

"No, no it didn't." he smiles, widely.

"I wanna go out on a date with you." you say quickly.

Dick laughs, "I was just about to ask you out."

"Oh good, I can't take too much suspense. I have all this tension in my shoulders." you explain with a sigh.

Dick takes a tentative step towards you, and you then take a step towards him. You two do this until you two meet in the middle. Dick cups the side of your face.

"It's you." he says.

"Me?" you ask.

What was he talking about? You were confused about where this conversation was going. You had no clue what he was talking about.

"The greatest sight I've ever seen. You asked, when we first met. And I know I said the jellyfish at the aquarium were one of the greatest, but I was lying. It's you." he explains.

You can feel the heat move all the way through your body. From your cheek sand your fingertips to your knees and your belly. You can't help the Cheshire smile that grows on your mouth.

"Wow." you whisper.

"That's what I said." he says.

-

You put the mail down on the counter. Today was fairly eventful. The kids at the art center age you a run for your money. Who knew that kids could take better pictures than adults? I mean, you knew but you really couldn't expect how good they would be.

"How was work?"

You smile, "It was good handsome. How was work for you?"

Dick comes from your bedroom. He was no doubt still lounging in bed and getting work done. The graphics of the next music video were something he wanted to be fully immersed in. He wanted to direct his own music video this time around.

He sighs, "Good but my muse left me all alone."

You laugh, "I have to work in order to maintain your lifestyle."

Dick drastically sighs, "This would be a lot easier if you let me just spoil you."

"Noooo, not happening. We just started dating." you answer.

"So what you're waiting for the six month mark to ask for my Amex?" Dick jokes.

You almost choke on your own spit. You take off you shoe and throw it his way. You knew he would dodge it anyways, but you didn't really throw it at him.

"You practically live in my house, you know?" you ask.

"I know, I figure I should get used to it because my place is just not as homely." he says.

"Is that the word you'd use? Hmm. Interesting." you joke.

Dick doesn't want to talk anymore. He rushes over to you and envelopes you in a hug. You can hear him sniff at your head. The first time he did it had you confused for hours but now it's like water running, or the blue sky. You expect it.

He pulls away and pecks your lips.

"Welcome home, eighth wonder of the world."

You snicker at his name choice, "You've got to work on the nickname."

"I've got forever to work on it. Don't worry."

#Dick Grayson x reader #famous dc! au (dick's version) #dc x reader #dc imagine #dc fanfic #Dick Grayson imagine #Dick Grayson fanfic #Dick Grayson #dc

[slasheru]

Slasher U 1-Year State of the Union / Unholy Census!

Holy fucking shit we're coming along towards the 1-year anniversary of the release of the Slasher U Act 1 alpha!! We've come SO FUCKING FAR. Sawyer wasn't even a romanceable option back in the day! As of April 27th, it'll be Slasher U's first ever anniversary!

Mostly, I am SO FUCKING GRATEFUL that you all came along on the adventure to make my weird horny dating RPG a smash fucking hit!! Taking narrative seriously in dating/adult games was kind of my entire M.O (is?? mods??) and I am SO GRATEFUL Y'ALL UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO HERE lmao

THE BIG NUMBERS

As of 11:21 AM EST on 3/23/24, Slasher U: Act 1 has sold 6,100 copies across Steam & itch.io (Not including the copies sold as part of Games for Gaza that weren't redeemed/downloaded, so this only counts people who actually downloaded or bought the game!). This is obviously BEYOND MY WILDEST FUCKING DREAMS AND I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH HOLY SHIT. I didn't even realize it until I added it all together. (On top of this, we sold several fucking tens of thousands of games for Games for Gaza!! Hell yeah!)

For my fellow solo devs out there, this comes to Slasher U making a total of about $6,000 + $2,000 net USD through sales (the former) and crowdfunding (the latter, for Slasher U: Act 2) over the last 11ish months!! The game started off being free for the first 6ish months, then went to $6.69 for the Beta (with dong! whoa!!), and now at its full size, stands at a good ol' $14.99 for 15 hours of primo datin' sim!

This is objectively the most money I've ever made off of anything I've developed in my entire life, and paid my whole ass rent for the entire year, so THANK YOU HOLY SHIT. According to Steam, most indie games barely break $1k in total, so I am AGOG. FUCKING AGOG. THANK YOU FOR LIKING MY GAME AND LETTING ME MAKE MORE VIA NOT DYING FROM CAPITALISM

The average review score, across 89 reviews on itch.io, remains 4.9 out of 5 stars, and we're rocking a 93% Positive on Steam!!

THE UNHOLY CENSUS

The best part of Slasher U is, as I always say, THE STUDENT DISEMBODY!! Slasher U will always be a place where everything is gay and trans as fuck (although I'm also proud of writing my cishet storylines too :V /lh)! I knew y'all were gay (hello fellow gays) but I did not realize the QUEER FUCKING FORCE THE STUDENT DISEMBODY IS

Here's the demographics of Slasher U players as taken from Tumblr polls (that's a skewed sample size of about 280, so grain of salt here for the homo website for queers):

92.6% of you ID as queer (see below for the breakdown!) | 7.4% of you ID as straight

This fictional horror movie campus is: 48.5% bi/pan, 16.2% gay/mlm, 10.3% lesbian/wlw, 10.3% ace (oo tie!), 7.4% queer but not defined as above, and 7.4% straight!

61.9% of you ID as trans/not cis | 23.8% of you ID as cis | 14.3% of you ID as neither trans nor cis

46.8% of you are between 22-26 | 32.3% of you are between 18-21 | 16.1% of you are between 27-32 | 4.8% of you are between 32-45 | 0% of you are older than 45 (sample size I am guessing lol)

For 14.6% of you, Slasher U was the very first dating sim you've ever played (!). For 3.8% of you, Slasher U was the first indie game you've ever played (holy fucking shit!!! this is an actual absolute honor)

76.7% of you instinctively Road Runner away from Melyssa at the fountain in Act 1 | 23.3% let the Melyssa tsunami arrive at you

--

A FINAL WORD (FOR NOW) ON MAKIN' VIDJEE GAEMS

You should totally do it.

No, okay, but for real, I started working in games professionally in 2009 (yeah yeah i'm old. i am 32 and i am dying and they're coming for me in the corpse wagon etc) and I burned out in 2016 and came back two years ago with THIS THING and I can tell you RIGHT FUCKIN' NOW that, if you have ever wanted to make a game and the big guys aren't gonna do it, grab yourself and/or some friends and fuckin' make a video game. I have worked for a bunch of AA and mobile companies and I can tell you right the fuck now that this is the most fulfilling experience I have ever had writing a video game. I taught myself programming logic to make this thing! And sound design! I fucking learned to animate sprite sheets!! YOU CAN ALSO DO IT given the time and energy (pace yourself don't die)! And there won't be any execs around to tell you your weird niche game won't sell!! BECAUSE IT FUCKING WILL

Anyway, my entire career as a game designer, nobody let me write shit for them. You don't need permission to make stuff or write stuff. If you write it, they will fuckin' come, Field of Dreams style (also don't forget to tell everyone you made stuff and share it around. super key here. lmao). Turns out writing is all about sharing yourself with people, and who knows, you might just find that a fuckton of people ACTUALLY relate to you. (And that you're a pretty good writer. Which you knew. Yes, you. I am mixing metaphors and pointing to myself AND you now.)

xoxoxoxooxoxox,

Professor Plutonium

#slasher u #indie games #game dev

[wttcsms]

hopeless, breathless, burning slow, masterlist ; rin itoshi

in the middle of trying to embrace the new “real and messy model” facade your publicist keeps pushing upon you in order to get you into the good graces of the masses, you might take it a step too far. in your defense, nothing is more real than still hopelessly pining after a boy who has 1) already broken your heart more than once! and 2) definitely does not like you the way you like him. the messy side of things? he’s also your friend with benefits. except, you’re pretty sure the two of you aren’t friends, so he’s technically your ex with benefits. yeah, how’s that for “real and messy”?

COMING SOON! pairing rin itoshi x f!reader content contains/will contain timeskip/pro athlete!rin x nepo-baby/model!reader, strangers with a history, second chance (more like fourth chance) romance, almost high school sweethearts (y’all have been doing this situationship shit for years lmao), fwb to lovers, rin AND you are both ass at feelings, eventual smut, jealous&protective!rin, depictions of panic attacks, mentions of dead parent, more to be added  word count tbd... (estimated to be ~50k, subject to change)

one / two / three / four

track list !  side a: honeymoon avenue, ariana grande / death by a thousand cuts, taylor swift / mirrorball, taylor swift / a lucid dream, verite / worth it for the feeling, rebecca black / if i weren’t me, katherine li / damage you still do, mikayla pasterfield / things i wish you said, sabrina carpenter / monster, lady gaga / fake smile, ariana grande / delicate, taylor swift side b: shameless, camila cabello / good looking, suki waterhouse / heartless, the weeknd / die for you, the weeknd / congratulations, mac miller / search & rescue, drake / kiss it better, rihanna / as it was, harry styles / nothing’s gonna hurt you baby, cigarettes after sex / afterglow, taylor swift / daylight, taylor swift 

author’s notes 

[apr. 10, 2023] hello!!! starting towards the end of the month/early may, i plan on having the final drafts of both of the first acts completed 🤭 this originally started as a one shot with the basic premise of “5 times rin itoshi breaks your heart + the 1 time he gives you his” but i had so much fun writing the one shot that it grew into a monster entirely of its own accord & i gave in and made some adjustments in order to better suit it :) now it’s a multipart fic! spoiler: rin still breaks your heart. several times. </3 but while writing the original one shot, i realized that rin’s heart had been yours/the reader’s the whole entire time!!! so, this fic explores you & him maturing + realizing how to properly communicate your feelings. i think the whole point is that it doesn’t matter if you love someone if they can’t feel it. 

#rin itoshi x reader #rin itoshi x you #itoshi rin x reader #itoshi rin x you #rin itoshi smut #itoshi rin smut #bllk x reader #blue lock x reader #bllk imagines #one shot #drabble #lemon #fluff #angst #series: hopeless breathless burning slow