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#you changed my life and made me into a warmer person...
chrisbangs · 7 months
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231003 ♡ Happy Birthday Bang Chan!
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luvf4ngz · 21 days
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Til Death Do We Part Brings Us Together
grim reaper! jason todd
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Description: Your constant close calls with death first captures the attention of the Grim Reaper, then his heart, and lastly, his devotions.
Contents: Female Reader, Mentions Of Death/Dying, References to Greek Mythology, Possessiveness, You Watch Pretty Woman and Read Pride & Prejudice Together Bc Yeah, Mentions Of Isolation But It’s Okay I Promise, Jason Is Lowkey Lonely And Desperate, Reader Has A Death Wish? Maybe?, Praise Kink, SO MUCH PRAISE, Unprotected Sex, Religious Symbolisms, Sacrilege?, Nipple Play, Jason Calls You Princess, Obviously???, Vaginal Fingering, Oral Sex, (Female Receiving), He’s So In Love, Jason Todd Is Touch Starved, Devotion, Jason Is A Munch, Overstimulation, Vaginal Sex, Yes Greek Gods Wear Boxers, Enthusiastic Consent, “Will it fit?” I’m Sorry Okay, Size Kink, Jason Todd Has A Big Dick, Gentle Dom Jason Todd, Intimate Sex, Slow Sex, Soft Sex, Aftercare, Cuddling
Word Count: 6081
Author’s Note: Jason is loosely based off of Thanatos from Greek Mythology/Hades (the game). It was kind of hard infusing his personality with the literal personification of Death, but I hope I did a good job! Also some details are completely made up or changed for the purpose of the fics, like how dying works in Greek Mythos. Please don’t come for me, I’m just trying to be horny on the internet. Without furthermore, please enjoy :)
Actually one more thing I have a Thanatos/Death playlist and I adore it to bits, please listen if you want.
Thank you @toruslvt for beta-reading!
He’ll do anything for his most devout follower, he’ll worship you twice as much as you ever could him. 
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"Yet another brush with death." You heard a husky voice beside you, making you turn your head to look at the figure sheepishly. 
Whether you’re extremely unlucky or just unfathomably reckless, he’s not sure. All he knows is that your soul has been on the edge of being his over and over again - whether it was narrowly missing a car or falling into a river or even just choking on a bone. You always seem to make it out of those situations just fine, which has thoroughly caught his attention. 
 "You should really be more careful, you know." He looked at you and sighed. 
“I am! Or at least I try to be...” You murmur timidly, scratching the back of your neck. “It’s uh, it’s nice to see you again.” You give him a small smile, turning your body to face him. 
As always, he’s in his dark cloak, the hood lifted to conceal some of his hair, casting a shadow over his face. The gold accents adorning his body glint due to the faint sunlight casting through your kitchen window, the same sunlight making his tan skin glow, making him look otherworldly - which he was. 
He raised his eyebrow, “Is it now? Most people are terrified to see me.” He muttered, smirking a bit,
“I guess I’m used to you now.” Your grin gets a bit larger, warmer. “You don’t have your scythe.” You point out.
He lets out a slight chuckle at your observation, “Such a keen eye. I figured I wouldn’t need it, and I was right. What was it this time?”
Your face heats with embarrassment at the question. “I slipped.” You confess, pointing to the puddle of water on the ground. “Almost cracked my head open, I guess. But! I turned my body in time, so I’m fine.”
“Yes, that would explain your wet clothes.” His eyes trail down your body, catching slightly where your nipples peek out against the damp fabric, before looking back up to your face.
He clears his throat, “Haven’t you learned your lesson by now? It’s not even lunch time yet and you were on the brink of death. Aren’t you afraid of dying?” He scolds you.
“I mean, not really.” 
A pause of silence.
“What? You’re joking, right? How can you be so cavalier about this?”
“I don’t know, it doesn't seem so bad. It’s a natural part of life. Should I be scared?” 
“What kind of question is that?!” He raises his voice slightly, eyebrows scrunched as he looks at you. “Of course, you should be. Dying isn’t fun. You’ll be dead, trapped in the underworld for the rest of eternity. You should be trying to preserve your life while you still have it.”
“I am, though. I’m not saying I don’t like being alive, I’m just saying, when it happens, it’ll happen. There’s no use being so pre-cautious and anxious all the time.”
He lets out a huff, “You are… certainly a strange one.”
“In any case, I’d like to think my soul will go to Elysium. I'm a pretty good person, so I think the afterlife won’t be too awful for me.” You continue on, carefree.
"That isn't my point, though. Even if you're guaranteed a place in Elysium, you should still be more vigilant.”
“Why should I be? My end is already predetermined, isn’t it? Don’t the fates know when my time is up?”
“Well… yes, but-”
“Wait, then how come you visit me before I actually die?” You interrupt him, a realization suddenly taking place. “Near death experiences shouldn't summon you right?”
He hesitates a bit, caught. "You’re correct… I visit you on my own accord.”
“Why?” You tilt your head cutely, an innocent and puzzled look in your eyes.
“You’ve just caught my attention, is all.” He looks away. “I like to keep track of you, the Fates are wrong sometimes, and you basically have a death wish so I just… I like to make sure you’re okay.”
You smile slightly at his words, “You don’t want me to die?”
“Of course, I don’t. I like- I like to watch you. You’re interesting to me.” He chooses his words carefully.
“I am?” Your eyes brighten a bit at his words.
He turns back to you and nods, his hood shifting a bit with his movement, revealing a bit more of his hair. The white streak catches your attention. 
“I have to confess it’s… cute the amount of trouble you manage to get yourself into. It’s entertaining to see what you get up to, how you treat others, what you desire out of life.” His eyes move to look into yours. “Your mentality is quite unique, as well. You see dying as natural and not something to be feared, but I think you've accepted it to an… abnormal degree." He paused. "...You're the first person in a very long time to not express fear of me.”
“Why would anyone be afraid? You're only doing your job... and you're quite nice." 
He laughs, the deep rumble of his voice goes straight to your knees. "I think you're the first person to ever call the God of Death ‘nice’. You wouldn't believe the amount of people that fear me, even before their time is up. It's... exhausting, really. I can always hear their prayers, their cries, their pleads.”
"I mean I can’t blame them, I just can't share the same sentiment, especially with all the conversations that we've had."
He smiles at you, “You really are like a breath of fresh air. It’s nice to know that someone doesn’t hate me.” He pauses again, a soft look in his eyes. “But you should still be careful. You're not made of rubber after all. Don’t let me take you earlier than I should.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad, though.”
“What?” In such a short time, you’ve shocked him again.
“I wouldn’t mind dying knowing that you'll be the one waiting for me.” You say it so casually, continuing to smile at him, as if it wasn’t the sweetest thing anyone’s ever uttered to him. His heart beats a little faster as he stares down at you, stupefied. 
“You can’t mean that.” He replies after a while. 
“Why wouldn’t I?”
He’s speechless, dumb-founded. How could he possibly begin to explain that the idea of anyone liking him enough to allow him to take them from this world so happily was absurd?
“What?” You ask, noticing his sudden silence. “Why’s that so strange? I like talking to you, and when I’m in the afterlife you would keep me company, right?”
He lets out a breath and smiles a bit, the whites of his teeth peeking out behind the pink of his lips. “I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sound appealing.”
“Good.” You smile a little wider, your eyes crinkling as it makes his heart begin to race now. 
“I-I should get going, there’s uh- souls I need to get to.” He stutters out.
“Yeah, that sounds important. I should clean up with water. I’ll see you around uh… Mister Grim Reaper, sir.”
He lets out an amused huff. “Jason. Just call me Jason.”
“Will do.” You jokingly salute him, and it makes him let out another chortle. 
“Alright, farewell then.” He nods, before blinking out of your kitchen. 
You stare at the space he used to occupy for a bit, still smiling softly, before leaving to get a mop - and maybe a change of clothes.
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“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be here?” You ask him, raising an eyebrow as you stare at him from the couch. 
“Yes.” He replies simply, his eyes and attention focus on the movie playing on your TV.
His visits have been more and more frequent lately, ever since the conversation the both of you shared in your kitchen. Now, Death, who prefers the name Jason, shows up even if you didn’t go through another life-threatening event. 
And right in this moment, Jason is standing in front of your couch, entirely enraptured by Pretty Woman, of all things. 
“Don’t you have to do your duty? I’m sure there’s a lot of lost, wandering souls right now.” You try again, concerned. 
“What? You don’t want me here?”
“I didn’t say that!” You put your hands up in defense. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble or something. Won’t Hades or the Fates or… whoever your superior is get angry?”
“Probably.” He shrugs. “But what are they going to do? Kill me?” He casts you a glance from the corner of his eyes, before going back to the movie. “Besides, souls can’t leave the mortal body without me being there. They’ll just rest for a bit, I can always come get them after.”
“I guess that’s fine then.” You sigh out. “Could you at least sit down?” 
Jason lets out a nod, before moving to the couch, taking a seat beside you but still keeping his distance. 
He watches the rest of the movie in silence beside you, enjoying your company. His eyes flick over to admire you a few times, taking in your immersed gaze and noticing the way you’re clutching a plushie so close to you (cute). When you sniffle, when a few tears trail down your face, when your parted lips form a pout at the ending, his heart pumps hard in his chest. 
This was a much better use of his time. 
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“You have so many books.” Jason states, his figure crouched so that he could properly read all the titles. His hood is off, fully revealing his soft, dark hair - the white streak a beautiful contrast. 
“Who’s the observant one, now?” You chuckle from your place on the bed, eyes not leaving the novel in your hands. 
He rolls his eyes, “What are you reading?”
“Pride and Prejudice.” You hum softly, eyes still scanning the page. 
“What’s that about?” Jason asks, walking away from the bookshelf and towards you. 
“Uh, it’s a little complicated.” You murmur, “But basically it’s two people learning to get over their, well, pride and prejudices to fall in love.” 
He lets out a hum, “Read it to me?” 
“Oh my Gods, you’re so lucky, I just got to the best part.” Your eyes watch him as he lays down beside you on your bed, the fabric of his black cloak pooling around his body. 
“Elizabeth was surprised, but said not a word. After a silence of several minutes, he came towards her in an agitated manner, and thus began: ‘In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’ Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression.” 
Jason turned to his side in order to get a better view of you. He watches how your eyes practically light up as you read, a smile gracing your face. He can’t help but think how pretty you look like this. 
“She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement; and the avowal of all that he felt, and had long felt for her, immediately followed. UGH, it’s so romantic!” You yell out, clutching the book to your chest and rolling back and forth slightly, making him let out a chuckle at your antics. “I mean at this point in the book I still hate Darcy but Gods, the way it’s written is just so good!” 
He falls silent for a bit, his gaze affectionate as he watches you. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
You stop your giddy reactions, looking at him curiously. “Yeah, what is it?”
“Do you remember when you said you wanted to be with me in the afterlife?”
“Hm? Yeah, why?”
He took a deep breath. "Let's say... let's just pretend for a moment, that when you die... I don't guide you to the afterlife. Instead, I take you somewhere else with me."
You sit up slightly, pushing yourself up on your arms, turning your body to face him. “Where would we go?” You set your book aside on the nightstand. 
“To… my home. I have a residence on the outskirts of Tartarus. You would be safe there, I can make sure that nothing would bother you.” He sits up fully, grabbing and holding your hands gently. “Please, I want you to stay with me. I get so lonely, and I just- I like being around you.” His tone is soft, pleading and sincere as he confesses his desires to you.
You smile back at him, eyes crinkling softly in that way that he’s come to adore. “I’d like that.”
“Really?” He gasps out, face mirroring yours as a bright smile overtakes his features.
“Mhm,” You hum, “It’ll take some time, though.”
He shakes his head, hands gripping yours a bit tighter, “I would wait the entire rest of eternity for you, if I had to.”
“Well, I’ll be sure to not make you wait that long.” You giggle out.
“I’d hope not. I want to have you with me, I want to keep you around until the end of time itself.” 
“I think that’s the most romantic thing anyones ever said to me, Jay.” Your tone is light, teasing. 
“There’s a catch though,” He pauses, hesitant to see your reactions. “You won’t be able to leave the house or see anyone else. I can’t risk you getting found. B-but I get you anything you need, I can make you happy.”
“That sounds just fine to me.” 
His eyes glisten in happiness, a bright shine in them. “Then... it's settled. I will take you to my home, and you will stay with me… forever.” His glances down to your lips for a second, before quickly looking back into your eyes. 
You notice the movement, heart beating a bit faster.
“Could I kiss you?” He whispers, his voice low and warm. 
“Yeah,” You mumble back.
He leans in closer, hands releasing yours as one places itself on the small of your back, pulling you closer to his body as the other gently grips your chin. He leans down, tilting your head up until he feels the soft press of his lips to yours. Warmth floods his body as he feels electricity in the air, and he feels his heart pound behind his ribcage when your own arms wrap around his neck.
Your touch, your taste, was addicting. You were tender and sweet, and Jason never wanted this moment to end. He groans when he feels your hand begin to play with his hair, and he presses himself closer to you, both hands moving to grip your waist. 
His grip tightened on you as your kiss intensified, his body started to tremble as it filled with a desire so deep that it was all-consuming. 
Eventually you break apart from him, needing air. He dismays at having to pull away, but allows you to do so.
"If that's what's waiting for me at the end of my life, maybe I do want to die sooner…” You joke, breathless.
He groans again, “Don’t… don’t say that. Don’t tempt me, I can’t take it.” He presses his forehead to yours, both of your breaths mingling together.
You giggle, pulling him in by the back of his neck to kiss him again. He relents easily, his heart skipping when you hum softly against his lips, the desire in his body igniting higher and higher. 
Eventually, he’s the one to pull away, his breath tickling you as he trails his nose against your neck. He can feel the soft tremor in your breath as your body shivers against his. “Can we go further?” He murmurs into the skin.
“Yeah, I want more.” You nod.
“Good, I do too. I want all of you.” He begins to press his lips to your neck, lightly leaving kisses and bites that you have squirming and gasping. 
“You have me.”
“You don’t understand.” He shakes his head. “You... you don't know how much I've been longing for you. Your presence alone gives me joy. Having you touch me… it makes my heart pound and my body melt. The way you talk, the sounds you make... it’s perfect. I want to touch you. I want to hold you. I want to know everything about you. I want all of you.”
“You can have that too…” You sighed out. 
“You drive me crazy.” He groans, leaning close again to kiss you deeply, caressing the sides of your body. He wasn't holding back anymore. He couldn't. He wanted you so much that it ached in his bones. His hands started sliding slowly but surely, caressing your back and waist. He couldn't get enough of you, and your body’s twitching and the sound of your heavy breaths was such a thrilling sensation that he was consumed by it entirely.
“Jason…” You pant out his name as you experimentally grind your body against his, whining when you feel his hard cock rub against your clothed cunt, your hands holding him tighter. 
The sound drove him crazy with arousal, his body wracked with longing. You felt so good and he couldn't help but lean into you more, allowing you to press against him over and over and over. The feeling of heat was flooding his entire being, his cock throbbing beneath his cloak.
He worships the feeling of you grinding against him for a few more moments, his breath coming out in husky pants before he rolls you onto your back, hovering above you. 
"Just be a good girl and let me do all the work, now." His voice is husky, needy, as he leaned down and kissed your neck again, his breath hot and his body trembling with anticipation. 
You whine again, rubbing your thighs together to relieve the sudden ache between them. Your eagerness spurs him on, he presses a peck to your cheek before sitting back on his knees to gaze down at you. 
“Gods, you’re gorgeous.” He mutters, his hand slips up your shirt a little, and he shivers at the instant warmth of your skin. “Can I take this off?”
You nod rapidly, quickly pulling off your top and tossing it aside, revealing yourself to him.
Jason responds by leaning down to litter kisses over your body, a flush on his cheeks. His lips are soft and reverent almost as they softly touch your heated skin. He takes your nipple into his mouth sucking slightly, as a hand comes up to tweak and roll the other one. 
“Jay…” You call out his name, your back arching slightly,  and he never wants to stop hearing your voice. 
“I got you, princess.”
He lowers his mouth, trailing down your body until he reaches the hem of your bottoms. “Can I take this off, too?” 
“Do anything you want, Jay.” You breathe out, head dizzy with your need.
“You sure?” He asks, fingers hooking into both your pajama pants and underwear, dragging them down your body, uncovering inch after inch of your naked body. 
You look like a dream under him, eyes blown with lust, lips parted, body bare for him as you nod. He sets your clothes aside, going back to relishing you. 
You look away softly from embarrassment, “You take off your clothes, too…”
Your shyness got to him and he could help but laugh softly. You were so cute. He took a step back and off the bed, pulling off his cloak. He could feel your eyes watching his every movement, could feel your eyes rake his form as you settled on the bed. 
His gold adornments drop to the floor with a ‘clunk’, quickly followed by his black trousers. 
“You’re so beautiful.” You softly praise. You can’t help but to stare at him, eyes lingering on every sculpted muscle or coloured scar of his frame. 
He couldn't help but feel like you were the beautiful one. The way your eyes traveled over his body made his heart beat fast. He felt like he was on top of the world, knowing you admired him.
He climbs back onto the bed, taking his place between your legs as he lays on his stomach. His hands come to grip around your thighs, pulling you closer to him. 
“Oh.” You gasp slightly at the intimate position, gulping as your blood pumps faster through your veins. 
He slides a hand down towards your cunt, already slick for him. A thumb parts your swollen lips as he gently glides it up and down, before pressing it against your sensitive bud. 
“Ah-” You moan oh so sweetly for him, hips twitching as he starts rubbing your pretty clit. Your body was so responsive to him, and it makes a grin break onto his face. 
He brings his thumb away, making you frown before replacing it with his mouth, lips wrapped around the nub. 
“W-wait!” You cry out, hands flying into his hair as you do your best to not buck into his face. He smirked around you, starting to suck despite your call. Your reaction only added fuel to the fire burning inside him, your writhing body and shaky gasps were too much for him to handle. 
“It’s okay, sweetheart, just let yourself feel good.” He mumbles into your cunt before going back to sucking and lapping at you. He holds you close to his face, his grip firm to keep you as still as he could. 
He groans as you tug at his roots, the sound vibrating around your needy clit. Your desperate moans and whispers drove him crazy. He liked how fast you were breathing, how much you were moving. You were a squirming, twitching mess underneath him as the sensation became too overwhelming.
“Jason, oh my Gods.” You gasp.
“I’m your only God, now, right? Just me…” His hand moves to your fluttering hole, slowly pressing two fingers inside you. They slip in easily with how wet you are, dripping your desire down his wrists. He feels you clamp down on them, slick walls sucking him in further.
“Jason, Jay!” His name slips from your lips like a chant, a prayer wrapped in shallow breaths. 
“Keep saying my name just like that, pretty girl.” He loves the way you make it sound, loves the way you say it. Not Grip Reaper. Not Death. Just Jason. Your Jason. 
“Oh, Jay…” You breathe out his name like you’re struggling to even think.
“You’re such a sensitive thing, aren’t you?” He coos, starting to move his fingers in and out of you. He smirks when you squeal as he curls his fingers up, pressing against that soft, vulnerable spot inside you. His arm moves to keep you down, pinning your hips to the bed as he goes back to tasting you.
“N-not there!”
“Why not? Doesn’t it feel good?”
“It’s too much!” You’re breathless, barely able to gasp out replies as he keeps abusing that spot inside you. 
“Do you want me to stop?” Jason slows his pace, fingers dragging painfully slow against your aching, slick walls, making you let out a needy mewl, clenching on him. 
“No! P-please don’t.” You pout, softly tugging at his head to turn his attention fully on you. 
“Say my name. Tell me what you want.”
You hesitate a bit, pondering your words. “Make me feel good, Jason. Make me cum.” Your tone is so soft and pleading, it’s the best worship he’s ever heard. 
The only prayers he’s ever heard were cries for his absence, beseeching his very being and purpose, but with you - he’s found a new one. You want him, you want him closer, you want him to make you feel bliss. He can do that. He’ll do anything for his most devout follower, he’ll worship you twice as much as you ever could him. 
He dives back down with a fervor, thick fingers working you quickly, the soft squelches increasing in volume and frequency. His tongue traces your clit, sucking and rolling and indulging in the way you writhe and whimper below him. 
He keeps going as you squirm uncontrollably, as your body tenses further and further, as your eyes glaze over and your heart pounds. Your nerves are frayed and begging for relief as the soft warmth of his tongue doesn’t let up. Your grip on his hair tightens, making him grunt low and husky into you. 
“Jason, m’gonna… can I please-?” You can barely make out full sentences, head fuzzy and blood searing as the dam inside you threatens to break. 
“You don’t have to ask, just do it.’ He murmurs; his cock throbs in his garments, waiting for you to release on his tongue. 
The feeling overtakes you, making you choke out a shaky cry as you climax. Your thighs squeezes his head, fingers buried deep into his dark locks as you tremble. You’re lightheaded and breathless and euphoria has settled in every inch of your veins. 
Jason removes his fingers, gripping your thigh as his mouth slots against your leaking cunt as he engulfs his tongue into your taste. He greedily laps up your slick, moaning as it blooms over his tongue - more sweet and addictive than even ambrosia. 
Your cries are so adorable as he continues to seek out every last drop of cum from you, your body pliant and weak below him as you keen and mew. 
“J-Jay…” You stutter out his name as your body twitches, sensitivity kicking in. 
“Yes, love?” He barely pauses to utter out those words, mind set on devouring you whole. 
“C-can’t!” He frowns, giving you one last lick before pulling himself away from you.
His eyes are filled with a feral like need, mouth smeared and shiny with the aftermath of your arousal. “Did that feel good?” He husks out, “You looked so divine, cumming.’
You’re panting hard under him, mind dizzy as you process his words, nodding in reply.
“I want to make you feel that way for the rest of eternity, you’ll let me right? You’ll stay with me?” Now that he’s had you, he doesn’t think he can survive on his own anymore. 
“Y-yeah, Jay.” You nod again, voice small. 
He raises himself up, licking you off his hand before he crawls over your body again. His legs slot between yours, tangling the both of you together. He leans down, sighing out in satisfaction as your damp, warm skin presses into his. 
His lips brush over yours, silently asking for permission to kiss you again. You accept him willingly, hands drifting to hang loose around his neck as you push your lips to his.
He groans, hand gripping your waist and the other running through your hair as he explores your mouth. You can taste yourself on him, spit mixing together as he groans into your lips. 
He pulls back, both your breaths lingering in the small space between your faces. He trails his nose down to the sensitive skin of your neck, teeth dragging lightly across the flesh. 
“I want all of you, so bad.” He groans. “I’ll do anything for you. Can you tell me I’m yours?”
He so desperately wants to belong to you - to know that one day you’ll accompany him in the deepest pits of Tartarus - that you’ll never let him be alone again. 
“You want to be mine?” Your tone is puzzled, words ending in a lilt. 
“Please.”
You smile, hands coming to hold his face, thumbs gently caressing his cheeks. “Who knew the God of Death would be so needy?” You tease.
“You try being alone and hated since the dawn of existence.” He sighs, melting into your touch. His eyes close, leaning into your palms. 
You giggle a bit. “We can be each other's.” Your lips break out into a grin as you bring his face down to yours, pressing pecks all over. 
He relishes your kisses, letting out a deep, happy sigh. His cock is still painfully hard, straining against his boxers, but he tries to ignore it. He opens his eyes and brushes your stray hair behind your ears, slightly damp with your sweat. 
“Jay,” You murmur his name, pulling back to look at him, “I want more.”
“More? You want me to eat you out again?” His mouth salivates at the thought of having your taste on his tongue again. He’ll do anything you ask. 
You shake your head, thumbs rubbing along his cheekbones, “I want you to fuck me, Jay.”  
“You do? Are you sure?” He whispers. 
His breath hitches as you nod, blinking up at him with those pretty eyes of yours. 
“I wanna feel you, Jay. J-just go slow, I’m still sensitive.”
“You’re sensitive?” He huffs out an amused breath, smiling softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you. I’ll make sure of it.”
You try to press your thighs together, getting excited by his promises and husky tone. He feels your legs shift around his, smirking as he takes in your desperate body language. 
He shifts back again, tugging his boxers down. Your eyes trail to his now exposed cock, standing proud and flushed and daunting. 
He’s…. big. 
Your jaw drops a little as you take him in, your mind reeling with thoughts of “Will it fit?”.
“Hm? Don’t worry. I said I was going to take care of you.” Jason murmurs, voice adoring. He positions himself back between your legs, hands lifting your legs to encourage them to wrap around his waist. You willingly follow his guidance. 
His hands come to hold your hips steady, hips canting forwards to rub the head of his cock through your folds. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” You reply softly, hands drifting to lay on top of his, gently grabbing his wrists. 
He pushes inside of you, pace steady and measured as he tries his best to let you adapt to him.
“Ohmyfuck…” You slur, words mushing together as you feel him stretch you out. You grip him a bit tighter. 
“Just relax, pretty girl.” He mutters, thumbs rubbing circles into your skin to calm you down. He continues pushing himself inside you, making you feel every ridge and detail and inch. It’s slow and deliberate; he’s savoring watching the way your cunt sucks him in, the way your head tilts back, how shallow and quick your breaths have gotten. “Can you feel it? Am I too big for you?” He teases, eyes shining with both mischief and affection. He pushes forwards again. 
Your pussy flutters around the girth of him, slick pouring out with every second, making the process that much smoother. 
You try to take deep breaths, groaning softly as you feel the way he bullies into you, nestling deep inside. 
“S’it in yet?” You hiccup.
He chuckles softly, you were just so endearing. He was taking his time, enjoying the feeling of you. “It’s not even halfway yet, baby.” He coos. 
“S-still?” Your eyes widen a bit, as he laughs again.
“Just lay down and take it, princess. I’ll do everything, don’t think about a thing.” He leans down and silences your whimpers with a kiss. His lips lock onto yours as he swallows your moans, moving his hips until he feels you flushed against him. 
He pulls back, body once more shadowing over yours. His eyes drift down to where the two of you connect. “Look at that, she took me all in. I told you that you didn’t need to fret, love.” 
“A-ah, it’s so deep…” You mumble. 
“Isn’t it?” He grins. 
He starts to move back and forth, instantly groaning at the intoxicating sensation of you wrapped warm and snug around his pulsing cock. 
He keeps his pace slow, staying true to his promise. He doesn’t mind though, he’s just relishing in every little detail of you, burning the memory of how you look, feel, and sound into his mind - a treasure for eons to come. 
You’re moaning uncontrollably, hands moving to grip at his biceps, nails digging slightly into the skin. He grunts, liking the shark twang of pain that shoots through his body. 
He can feel you clamping around him desperately, like your body needed more. You’re so wet and sloppy, he can feel your slick smearing on his thighs with every thrust. 
“Feels s’good, baby.” He groans, and immediately he feels you clench on him again. “Did you like that?” He grins. 
“Uh-huh,” You nod dumbly, eyes unfocused as whines spill from your throat. 
“My pretty girl likes it when I praise her, huh?” The next words flow from him easily, he’s venerated you so much in his mind already that the flattery comes easy. He wants you to know exactly what you make him feel. “You’re so fucking perfect for me, you’re everything I’ve ever wanted.” 
Everytime he bottoms out you can feel him in your throat.
“J-Jay…”
Your bodies blend together, waves of pleasure overtaking you both with each long stroke. You can feel every inch and vein and crevice of him pushing against your sensitive walls. 
He continues speaking. “You make me fall apart so easily, my love. I want to give you my everything. I’ll be at your disposal from now on, you can do whatever you want with my body, as long as you stay by my side.” His tone is deep, dripping with lust. “Your pretty pussy takes me so well, it’s like you were made for my cock, yeah?”
A shiver of arousal runs through your body at his speech, lower body getting hotter. You feel like you’re surrounded by lava, melting and wound tight all at once. 
“Your body is so beautiful, I don't want anyone else to touch you; I want you only for myself.” His hands lift your hips up a little, his cock pressing inside even deeper than before, making you let out a yelp. 
He’s hitting every good spot inside you, knocking the breath from your lungs even with his sensual pace. You feel constant spurts of warmth pouring out of you, and you notice just how soaked the mattress is beneath your shivering body. 
“Are you enjoying yourself, love?”
“S-so much, Jay,” You whine out, clutching him harder. 
“Good, I want to be the only one that can make you feel like this.”  
Each rock of his hips gets you higher and higher, dangling on the edge of release. The glide of him is so smooth and sweet as he drags against you.
“M’gonna cum, Jay.” You sigh out, voice high and whiny.
“Good girl, go on and soak my cock. Show me just how much you’re enjoying this.” 
A few more more moments and you’re letting go, gripping his biceps hard as elation sinks deep into your bones. A sob of his name escapes your parted lips, body tingly and twitchy as endorphins rush through your veins. He groans as he feels your slick walls convulse around him. His grip on your waist tightens momentarily as he pulls out, his cum instantly spilling onto your stomach. Relief floods his system as he pants hard, chest heaving as he catches his breath. 
The both of you bask in the afterglow of your climaxes, the soft sound of breathing drifting on the heated air. Jason thinks you look divine with your hair spread on the bed, his seed marking your skin as sweat glistens your body. You think the view of him above you, satisfaction prominent on his face, is just as sacred. 
When Jason’s body settles he gently slides out of you, smiling apologetically at your small wince. He goes to your bathroom, having memorized the layout of your house from all the times he’s visited you. He returns with a damp towel, mournfully wiping his traces off of you. He throws the rag into your laundry basket, crawling beside you in bed and pulling you into his chest.
“How ya doing, princess?” He whispers into your hair.
You give him a small, happy hum in return, scooting yourself even closer into him. 
"You're so soft," He mumbles, nuzzling into you. "This is where I want us to stay, for eternity. Nothing else, forever."
“That sounds perfect, Jay.” You reply, yawning slightly. 
Jason’s smile grows even wider, his arms tightening around you. He looks down at you with an adoring gaze, your warm and tender body slotting perfectly against his. "There is nothing, and no one in this world that I want more than you, my dearest."
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Thank you so much for reading! A comment or reblog is much appreciated. Have a great day <3
- sumi ☆ミ
ミ☆ masterlist
requested tags: @a-deadbeat-fucking-valentine @in-som-niyah
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ecoamerica · 24 days
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youtube
Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared
The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!
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abramswife · 10 days
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HALF OF ME (i)
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SUMMARY: Despite appearances, you’d learnt Soldier Boy was, actually, capable of being a good man. Somehow, you’d wormed yourself into his good books, and had the rarest privilege of seeing him without the suit, the drugs, the ego, the everything. Just as things were going good, his heart somehow getting even warmer for you, the world separates you in the cruelest way.
PAIRING: Soldier Boy x Fem!Reader
WORD COUNT: 3573
WARNINGS: MINORS DNI. Sexism (set in the 1980’s), typical Soldier Boy behaviour, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, questionable morals (peer pressuring drug use), sexual content, eludes to smut, Soldier Boy may be a bit OOC at times, gore.
SERIES MASTERLIST / MAIN MASTERLIST
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Becoming a world famous supe was never something you’d ever wanted. Sure, you’d grown up with their photos on your bedroom walls, your father telling you stories of when the first ever supe came to be, insisting he fought alongside the Soldier Boy in the war
The people around you seemed to idolise them. These… mostly regular people in tight suits, pretending to be better than everyone else.
You knew better. You knew enough. Enough to know supes were dirty, and corrupt, and definitely not the heroes they presented themselves to be. That their hands were more blood than they were skin anymore.
And, frankly, you wanted nothing to do with Vought or Payback — or whatever the fuck those shitty, useless superhero teams were called. (Seriously, what did they actually do? Except sit in their pretty tower and take the peoples’ taxes?)
Your father, however, had different ideas.
So, at 18, you woke up in the hospital, after an ugly head collision, with superpowers you’d never had before. A miracle, the doctors called it, a supe whose extraordinary powers had been hidden for her whole life. When you got home, you forced the truth out of your father. Compound V, he called it, a new chemical made by Vought.
No one was born a supe, he admitted, it all came from a liquid in a vial. The truth hurt you, as much as it didn’t really surprise you. Chosen by God, my ass.
This wasn’t supposed to be your life.
But it’s certainly what it turned out to be.
Payback were as shitty, if not more, than you’d originally thought. Each of them had… many flaws. Soldier Boy, obviously, was the worst. If the Devil reincarnated himself, he’d look and act like Soldier Boy.
Simply talking to the man made you want to shoot yourself.
Well… it did at one point.
Two years down the line, things had changed. Soldier Boy was still insufferable, sexist, arrogant, and a major asshole. But… he wasn’t so much a dick directly to you, as he used to be. In fact, if you didn’t know better, you’d say he was actually somewhat nice to you. As much as his macho heart could manage, anyway.
You noticed it the first time when he saved your life on a mission. He’d grabbed your waist when a grenade clinked at your feet, whirling you around and to the ground, squashing you against his firm chest, using his shield to protect you both from the hot blast. He’d shrugged it off as nothing; as something any leader would do for his team. Then you watched him hit Gunpowder about for not following his order to a T, and realised… maybe he did treat you different.
It was undeniable these days.
You were the only person on Payback that Soldier Boy could remotely tolerate.
“You need’a be more careful.” Despite the hard look on his face, Soldier Boy was staring down at you, as a Vought doctor wrapped clean bandages tightly around your midsection. It was a bullet to the wound; which, with being a supe, wouldn’t be too bad, but you didn’t heal inhumanely fast like he did. “You’re fuckin’ useless when you’re hurt.”
You rolled your eyes. “Thanks for your concern, Soldier Boy.”
His eyes narrowed into a harsh glare. “Ben.” He corrected you, for what was probably the 50th time. Each time he did, he got more annoyed with you. “How many times do I have to say it? Is there a brain in that pretty head’a’yours?“
You grunted, spinning on the bed and hanging your legs off the side of it. “Thanks for the compliment.” Ben rolled his eyes at your sarcasm, not offering a hand as you groaned in discomfort and got to your feet. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be healed up by the time we set off for Nicaragua, if that’s what you’re worried ‘bout.”
Ben just grunted, displeased. “Ain’t happenin’.” He immediately shot that idea down. “We leave for Nicaragua next week. You ain’t comin’. Sit this one out.”
You stared, expecting a joke. Clearly, he wasn’t. “Seriously?” You groaned, unhappy. What was it with this guy? “I’ll be fine. It’s a silly little bullet.”
“I was holdin’ your fuckin’ guts in your body.” He walked away, reminding you of just how bad your injury actually had been. He had, indeed, practically been keeping your guts inside of you as you bled out. “You ain’t going. You’re stayin’ here.” You chased after him, pulling your shirt on as you left the infirmary.
“Ben—“
He whirled around to face you. “I said, you’re fucking staying.” He growled, glaring down at you. God, were you glad you were on his side. This man was terrifying. Six feet of pure muscle, strength and violence. “You’re better off here, using that face of yours to get some PR.”
“And, what? The others will back you up?” You scoffed, grabbing his wrist as he went to walk away again. His expression went cold at your touch, but you didn’t flinch. As much as he tried to scare you, Ben wouldn’t raise a hand at you… probably. You had faith in the man. “They can’t fight for shit, Ben. Gunpowder hasn’t even discovered his own dick yet. You think you’re gonna have your back covered out there?”
He ripped his wrist away harshly. “I don’t need my back covered.”
“Everyone needs their back covered.” You argued. “Even you.”
He chuckled, sarcastic and dry. “You worried ‘bout me, princess?” You gave him a ‘seriously?’ look, as he took a step closer, mouth curled into that ever-infuriating smirk. “I’d perform better if you sent me off with a taste of that—“
“Ben.” You interrupted him, unimpressed. You rolled his eyes at his predictable behaviour. “I’m not gonna fuck morale into you.”
“Shame.” His eyes flicked up and down, tracing the curves of your body. “Bet you’d be a firecracker.” He walked away again, and you threw your hands up, groaning. Ben chuckled as he turned the corner. “Think it over, sweetheart.”
“You’ve got a hand.” You called back to him. “Use it!”
Conversations like that were very common with Ben.
It’d be a normal conversation (as normal as it gets with him) — and then he’d start talking about fucking you against the nearest surface, and all pleasantries went down the drain. Seriously, he thought 80% with his dick, and 20% with his actual brain.
And that was being kind.
But, beneath all of his macho assholery, was his genuine worry. You knew he wasn’t letting you accompany the rest of the team to Nicaragua because of your injury, despite how minor it was, and that he was worried you’d injure yourself further.
He was just… shit it showing it.
Poor bastard wouldn’t know emotion if it slapped him in the face.
━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━
“I am not wearing this.”
Okay… scratch all of that. Maybe Ben was just a dickhead.
He lounged back in his chair, grinning lazily, legs spread like he owned the place. He probably thought he did. “Why not?” He took a sip of his whiskey, ice clinking against the sides, eyes never leaving you from over the rim of the glass.
You held up the fabric. “Seriously?”
It was basically a scrap of fabric, with how much it covered up. You didn’t shy away from showing skin. You quite liked short skirts and pushing the line. Because, as a supe, there was a line. Vought liked it when you showed skin — apparently it made your ratings go up with the male fans, no shocker. But, too much skin on display, the male fans started calling you a whore, and the ratings shot back down.
It was a bit like a balancing game, trying to find the perfect amount of skin to make the boys ogle but also respect you. An impossible feat, truthfully.
And this? This was definitely classed as too much.
“I don’t see the issue.” His smirk said otherwise.
“My tits are not gonna stay in this, Ben!”
His smirk just grew. “Again, I don’t see the issue.”
You groaned and put the dress down. “No. I’ll get my own dress. I am not wearing that.” You tell him, arms folding across your chest. You didn’t miss the way he checked out your tits, and the way the placement of your arms accentuated them.
He rolled his eyes, obviously not happy with your decision. Leaning towards, elbows on his knees, Ben’s eyes took you in. “Why?” His head cocked to the side. “You’d look hot. It’d make your ass look great.”
“That’s not a compliment.” You grumbled, pushing a hand through your hair. Ben made a small grunt of disagreement, but didn’t say anything otherwise. “Listen, there’s a certain line. Alright? If I wear that, every guy out there will be callin’ me a whore. Okay? Imma find something else.”
He hummed and sat back. “I think you should wear that one.” Sighing heavily, you just rolled your eyes at his persistence. “All those assholes will be blowin’ their pants just lookin’ at you, sweetheart.”
“Again, not a compliment.”
Ben stared at you, and silently took another sip of his whiskey. He always seemed to think these crude, rather sexist and inappropriate remarks were compliments. Like commenting on your body. Or saying you’d be a freak in bed. Which were obviously not actually compliments.
You rolled your eyes, rubbing your forehead. “I’ll find another dress, Ben.” You told him, definitive. There was no way he was going to convince you to wear that dress.
“What a disappointment.” He grinned, lopsided. “I was lookin’ forward to seein’ you in that dress.”
“Again,” you deadpanned as he checked you out once more, “you have a hand… use it.”
Ben just smirked, and sipped his whiskey again.
━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━
You wore the fucking dress.
The asshole always won. Always.
He looked so fucking pleased, as you walked into his after-party, wearing the dress he’d picked out for you. His smugness was clear, brushing through the crowd with ease to come to you.
Ben hummed, eyes dilating as he stared you down. His eyes lingered on your tits, as they always did. “You look…” he hesitated, trying to think of a compliment that wasn’t degrading, and failed, “fuckin’ hot. If you weren’t such a bitch, I’d bend you over right here.”
Your face pulled together in disgust, looking at him with your lips pressed together “… gross.”
He chuckled. “Drink?” He offered. “I got your favourite.”
And there he goes again.
Being nice.
It did your damn head in.
Accepting his offer, you shivered as his large hand landed on the small of your back, guiding you through the crowd. They all seemed to part like the Red Sea as he came through, a fact that amused you greatly.
Seriously. These women looked at him like he was Jesus reincarnated, when he’d totally call them in a whore in bed.
Ben silently reached out for your favourite alcoholic drink, pouring it into a glass. His eyes scanned over the room, smirking at a few of the women ogling, sending them rushing to their friends and squealing. He merely chuckled and handed you the full glass.
“Thanks.” You murmured, taking it from him. Your eyes stared up at him for a moment, curious, before looking away again.
What was it with him? How could be such an egotistical one minute, and then be nice and respectful the next? It was like a guessing game, trying to figure out what mood he was in.
He grabbed your wrist, his grip firm, but not enough to hurt you. “Come with me.” He guided you through the crowd once again, to the doors in the back. As he pushed through into the room, he flashed you a cocky grin over his shoulder. Dickhead.
This room was far quieter. You noticed, immediately, the only people present were supes and celebrities, not the random civilians that’d been granted a pity invite — or the women Ben thought were hot. This was the main party. There were drugs covering every table, with various big names passed out on the chairs, blazed.
Ben lead you to the corner, where he’d obviously already been busy, if the half-snorted lines of cocaine proved anything.
Silently, he offered you a line, which you gratefully accepted.
You didn’t do drugs before you joined Payback. In fact, you’d avoided them, promising yourself you’d never become that type of person. But it was the norm within Vought. Every supe spent their nights filling their bodies to the brim with various drugs, poisoning themselves. So, you started smoking weed to fit in.
Then Ben found out you only did weed, and decided it wasn’t enough. With enough pressure, he’d gotten you onto any other substance he could convince you to try.
It made you more attractive, in his eyes, as you spiralled into addiction like him.
In fact, it got him rock hard, to snort lines or share a joint with you. It was so fucking hot, watching your eyes glass over as you got higher with every hit, with every line. God, it turned him on so bad.
You snorted your third line of the night, when Ben suddenly pushed you back into your chair. Bewildered, you stared at him, as he snatched up a baggie of the white powder. Your heart leapt to your throat, the moment he moved aside the slit in your dress, revealing the bare skin of your thigh. All breath left your lungs, watching him pour some of the powder onto your thigh.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
He was about to do a line off you.
He glanced at you through his lashes, smirking at the shocked and flushed expression you wore. He used his pocket knife to cut the lines, mindful of the sharp blade against your soft skin.
God, this was hot. He found it hot. You found it hot. It’d be a damn miracle if you ended the night with your clothes on at this point.
Your skin tingled as he sniffed up the first line, of his hands roughly gripping the top of your thigh to steady you, his other holding a rolled up $100 bill. He groaned in pleasure, body physically shuddering, head shaking, as the drug made his body run hot.
He did the next line, the grip on your thigh becoming tighter as his pupils began to blow up.
Was it getting hot in here? Or was it just you?
Maybe it was the cocaine in your systems, maybe it was the fact Ben was just… so damn hot, but you couldn’t stop yourself from grabbing his hair and forcing his head up as he snorted the final line off your thigh.
He looked up at you, pupils blown, lips parted. Holy shit. This man was sculpted like a fucking God. Your body shivered. “You finally takin’ my offer, sweetheart?” He chuckled, shaking off the immediate effects of the cocaine, raising himself up to your level.
“Fuck me.” You whispered, breathless, practically begging him.
His eyes went dark, almost black, with lust. The smirk on his lips made you squeeze your legs together. “Don’t need to ask me twice.”
━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━
You understood the hype now. You understood why women bent their knees the moment Ben uttered a word to them.
Holy shit, did this man have talent.
Your legs were still twitching, the space in between your legs throbbing and tingling with how many times you’d come on his fingers, his tongue and cock. You’d counted four, before your vision had gone white.
Jesus, he had stamina. A glance at the clock on the wall confirmed it’d been just over five hours since you’d first fell into Ben’s bed. That super strength was better for more than just fighting, after all. This man should be advertised for his abilities. No shocker he was an American sex symbol.
He’d just fucked your brains out.
And now, he was staring at you with admiration, laid on his side, in the same bed he’d just railed you in. “You feelin’ okay?” He murmured, genuinely concerned.
“Yeah.” You rolled over to face him, a jolt of discomfort and pain in your hips and thighs. You might have to hold back on… doing anything for the next few days, however. “You didn’t break anything.” You joked, soft and breathy.
He chuckled quietly, hand sliding around your waist and dragging you closer to him. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waitin’ to do that.” He whispered, uncharacteristically soft and gentle.
“To fuck me senseless?”
He smirked. “Mm, I have dreamt of that.” Your eyes narrowed in mild disgust at the image of him having wet dreams about you, swatting his chest. He grinned and caught your hand. “No… I meant how long I’ve waited to have you. You’re fuckin’ perfect. Not just your body. Everything about you is so sexy.”
Your brows furrowed, squeezing his hand, and then worming your fingers out of his. “What do you mean?” You asked softly.
He seemed to struggle for a moment. He wet his tongue with his lips, making your body tingle again. Jesus. “Let’s get dinner.”
What.
“Me and you.” Ben smiled, tracing the curves of your body with a featherlight touch. “Real fancy. I’ll pay.” Was he… asking you on a date right now? The Soldier Boy, asking you on a date? Instead of fucking you and tossing you out?
“You’re serious?” You asked softly, surprised. When he nodded, you grinned, biting your lip to contain it. “Okay, Ben. Let’s get dinner.”
His eyes lit up. Ducking his head down, his lips touched yours, gentle and affectionate. His kiss spoke so many words; his hands gently cradling your body, as he kissed you like you were made of glass. The touch was intimate and loving, widely different to the one he’d used when he’d been on top of you.
No, this was completely different. This was him being vulnerable. This was him showing you just how he felt, without the words.
He smiled against your lips and pulled back, just enough to speak, but his words were still brushing yours. “Yeah?” He whispered, in response to your agreement.
“Yeah.” You stared at him with big eyes.
He grinned, almost boyish in its nature. He stared at you in adoration, seeming to be collecting the words on the tip of his tongue.
You giggled under his stare. You sat up, pulling him with you, grabbing the blanket that he had draped over his headboard. It was fluffy and warm, and smelt like his cologne, and you didn’t hesitate to wrap it around your shoulders, cocooning yourself.
If possible, his gaze softened even more. “You’re adorable.”
Quietly, you laughed. “You sure you wanna do this, Ben?” You stared back at him. Ben was nothing if not a womaniser. Settling down was nothing like him. “Get serious with me, I mean.”
“You’re the only one I’d ever want to.”
Your brows pulled together, confused. “Why?”
Ben soothed a hand through your hair, green eyes drinking in the perfections and imperfections on your face. “You’re the only one I trust.” His voice was gravelly, still heavy with the effects of your recent endeavours. His hand travelled through your hair, and then came down to cup your cheek.
Wrapped up in his fluffy blanket, your head rested on the wooden headboard. “I trust you, too.” You whispered, tilting your head into his palm. His skin was rough, painted with callouses and scars. Every scar on his body had a story. And you’d spend the rest of your life learning every single one.
Despite himself, he smiled at you, thumb tracing the curve of your cheekbone. “I’d kill for you. You know that?” His words made you shiver. Ben killing people wasn’t exactly new… or surprising. But doing it for you? God, it made your stomach heat up — and other parts. “These assholes don’t hold a candle to you, doll. Countess? That whore is— is repulsive compared to you.”
You laughed softly, rolling your eyes affectionately. “Ben.” You scolded quietly, though not with an ounce of anger.
The supe just smirked, chuckling deep in his throat. “You want me to drop that bullshit PR relationship I have with her? I’ll do it. In a fucking heartbeat. I’ll be with you, publicly, if you want me.”
“You’d ruin your reputation for me?” Now that — that meant something. Ben could say anything and everything; he was a master manipulator. He could get anything he wanted with that smile and his suave words. But, if there was one thing he would always prioritise, it was his reputation. He’d do anything to be the alpha male. Anything.
“I’d do anything for you.” He grabbed your hand within his much larger one, guiding it to his chest. He pressed your palm over his heart, allowing you to feel his heartbeat. “I’ll do anything for you, to be with you.” You felt the steady rhythm of his heart. He wasn’t lying. That, or he was a great fucking liar. “I’m never leaving your side. I’m yours.”
Your eyes searched deep within his. “Always?”
Ben smiled. “Always.” He leant forward, gently pressing his lips against yours in a tender kiss.
Three months later, Soldier Boy died in a nuclear meltdown.
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A/N: jesus christ this took me so long to write 😭 but i’m so happy with how this first chap turned out. it’s gonna get so much more fun to write we get to the action 👀 pls lmk if there’s any mistakes, as i will go back n fix them !!! hope you enjoyed <3
banners by @cafekitsune
TAGLIST: @onlyangel-444 @deans-spinster-witch @fumolemon @anundyingfidelity
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gatitties · 8 months
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Hi :D
I was wondering if you would make a tokyo revengers scenarios about bonten Mikey,Koko, Sanzu and Rindou if they had a S/O who showed love through touch? Pretty please!!!
^_^
(Ps love ur work <3)
─Bonten!Mikey, Koko, Sanzu & Rindou x reader
─Summary: you are a person of physical touch as a sign of affection, that's all!
─Warnings: slight mention of drugs, maybe a little angst with sanzu¿
aww ty and sure! this is so cute 🫣
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"Not now."
Mikey's firm voice made you step back with a grimace, you had tried to wrap your arms around his waist in an attempt at a hug, but he wasn't such a fan of physical affection, at least not during a meeting with his executives, he would always be more emotional in private.
His eyes glanced at your hunched figure in the side chair. You stopped paying attention to the meeting, doodling on the paper on the table with a pout, Mikey rolled his eyes at your silent complaints, you were a spoiled brat, that's for sure.
You looked up from the paper when you felt a slightly warmer part of your thigh, you exchanged glances with him who had something similar to a hidden smile, his hand rested on you so that you would stop the childish attitude when he couldn't get your hugs now, you settled yourself enough to last another hour listening to the boys even though you had nothing to do with it, you were only there because you were hoping to bury your face in mikey's chest.
"You're too impatient."
"You also get impatient if you don't have your taiyakis when you order them."
You pressed your arms over his abdomen, once out of the public eye you were really clingy considering you couldn't show your affection all the time, Mikey didn't care much, he would let you be on top of him as long as you didn't bother him too much, you usually fall asleep while he finishes some things at his desk and on the nights he can't sleep ─almost all of them─ he caresses your head while you imprison him with your body in a strange hold worthy of wrestling.
He is not a lover of physical contact but at the same time he enjoys it, sometimes he ends up lost in his deepest thoughts, his nightmares, his life decisions, all the shit he has behind him and everything he is doing now, how he came at this point in his life… he always thinks that he should just disappear, erase everything he did or try to change it even though he knows it's too late, but then he feels your arms on his shoulders, your body resting next to his.
"Hey, it's not worth it if I'm the only one who hugs you, you have to do it too!"
His body moved only because you were the one who placed his hands on your waist, he sighed, recognizing your scent as he approached your body, resting his head on the curve of your shoulder, at least, these small moments brought him back to earth, back in your arms, away from all those dark thoughts about his life, whether past or future, he was able to find some comfort in your way of showing affection.
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Kokonoi is a busy man, being in one of the most wanted mafias in Japan also doesn't leave him room for a schedule with many vacations or breaks, but you always seem to know when to show up to be on top of him like a tick, wanting to just stay in touch for pure pleasure and what could he do? Despite not being the most interested in love in a physical way, it wasn't that bad.
"Oh, there you are, I knew you had a break."
"Are you looking at my schedules? That's harassment, honey."
"Oh… then I'll just look for another person to give all my love and affection to since you don't want it."
You smiled shamelessly pretending to be angry at his accusations, Koko denied seeing your silly game, he approached you knowing what you had come to do just now that he had a small pause, when you felt his hands on your shoulders you immediately turned around with the widest smile, crushing him in a hug.
"I've missed you."
"It's only been two hours since the previous break."
"Too much time! You were supposed to have a day off and you promised me we would cuddle all day and do nothing else."
He sighed, knowing that he had promised but that due to some problems he couldn't keep his promise, he patted you as he watched as Mochizuki and Ran approached the room to resume the matter they were handling, a grimace on your face from the sudden lack of contact, you knew that Koko didn't like that honeyed side of him to be seen and you respected it because he had a 'tough guy' image to maintain for Bonten.
It was unusual for you to show your affection when he was with the other executives, but you didn't mind, because when you blended into the busy streets pretending to be normal people with an average life, you could hold his hand again while pressing your palm against his several times like a heart pumping blood, it was your demonstration so that Kokonoi knew that you were there, that you would always be there despite everything, he will respond by tightening his grip a couple of times.
"Welcome back, Koko."
Despite the sleep that creeps through your body, you manage to stay awake until he arrives after a long day. Koko can only smile as he shakes his head when sees that as soon as he opens the door of the house you are waiting for him with open arms waiting for a hug. On the way back, knowing that you are more asleep than awake, he takes the opportunity to take you to bed, letting you hug a pillow with his aroma while he ends the day with a hot shower, lying on the bed immediately, waiting for you to get rid of the pillow to surround him with your arms.
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Sanzu loves every time your skin is in contact with his, every caress, every hug… he doesn't care about the public, they can watch how you like to show your love for him, at the same time he likes to show that no one should get involved with you.
"Sit here."
He will always ask you to sit next to him, you like to have your arms intertwined, your head resting on his shoulder while you both dissociate from the reality in which you are thanks to the mutual touch, while the conversation becomes a dull noise, all the people at the brothel disappeared from your vision and you only focused on your partner.
While you were enjoying just spending time like that with Sanzu, he was on another kind of trip, not especially tranquility, that is, perhaps self-induced tranquility due to the last pill he had taken, at this moment the whole scene was distant, the muffled voices came and went just like his thoughts, but what he liked most was seeing your face deformed due to the optical effect of the drugs and the heat that your body gave off against his.
Of course, you didn't notice his state until you saw that he was laughing a lot as he leaned his head against yours, almost letting his full weight put you in an uncomfortable position. You enjoyed that Sanzu was just as clingy as you, but you wanted him to do it by his own act and not by consuming narcotics.
"Hey, hey, focus, I'm going to take you home and we're going to get you back to normal."
"But I'm normal now, I'm enjoying your company and your hugs!"
His giggle and his grip on you made you frown, as much as you didn't like it you removed his hands from your waist, standing up as you tried to keep his hands from snaking back up your body to trap you in your seat, you had had many arguments with Sanzu because of this, you had tried to get him to leave that world but you were not his psychologist, at least you asked him not to do it when he was with you.
"Come on, let's go, thanks for everything."
You said goodbye to the Haitani brothers, who had been the ones who planned the night in one of their brothels, dragging Sanzu with a frown, he was muttering apologies here and there while trying to kiss you on the cheeks, and no matter how much you loved that loving side, you felt that he was not sincere, you ended up sleeping on the couch, refusing to hug him in that state.
"Honey… love… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
And the next morning you woke up with a Sanzu curled up next to you ─almost falling off the couch─ murmuring into your shoulder that he would make up for his mistakes, which usually ends with him spending a day exclusively with you smothering him to death with affection so he'll forget consuming things dangerous to his health again.
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He lives for your displays of affection like a puppy looking for pets, he doesn't care about the people in front of you two, they don't even have to worry that you have your hands on him all the time, and if someone dares to comment that you're too clingy, they will just get a beating afterwards.
"Then we'll do this and…" Takeomi's voice trailed off until he was silent, watching with expressionlessness as Rindou whispered to you "Can you at least pretend to be interested in what we're talking about?"
"I could, but lying is bad Takeomi."
The older one rubbed his temples, not knowing why the hell he was trying that with the youngest of the Haitani, knowing that he wouldn't get his attention now that you were there, he continued with his talk, at least the others were listening, anyway Ran got the information so he can give it to Rin later.
Rindou put his arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to his side as your arm went around his back, your head rested on his chest. You sighed dreamily like in a cheesy movie, but you couldn't help it. You loved showing your affection through tact and that Rin didn't find it excessive or annoying simply made you more clingy.
When you can't be in the boring meetings with him, he will be counting the hours he has left until he can see you again, burying his face in your stomach while he hugs you like a child seeking comfort, it is impossible to resist your caresses, your hands. They are warm compared to his which are colder, you already have to endure a lot at work, all you want is to get home where you can have infinite love without interruptions.
"I'm home!"
The smile quickly disappears when there is no answer, you are not home yet and he has to hold on until you return, he settles for lying in your bed and enjoying the smell you left on the pillow, he gets very impatient and moves to the living room where he can see the entrance directly, waiting like a puppy for you to return.
As soon as you walk through the door you already feel Rin's eyes on you, you let out a giggle as you see how his face lights up, despite being tired, you have enough energy to squeeze and lift Rindou in a welcoming hug, he lets you take a shower before you both end up on the couch arguing about what movie to watch, your bodies not separating at any time during that entire time.
"Ugh- hey, I can't feel my arms, can we change positions?"
"But I'm comfortable."
You laugh when you see his expression, since you were practically on top of him, crushing him, changing positions so that you were both comfortable, although the night would surely end with both of you sleeping on the floor.
602 notes · View notes
hollyhomburg · 7 months
Text
Before I Leave You (Pt.60)
(Omegaverse au, Mafia au, Bts x Reader)
Summary: Life changes come in many many forms; courting gifts, leaving jobs, and...Murder
Tags: Slow burn getting warmer, Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, Trans! Tae, Transphobia, gender thoughts, workplace discrimination, flashbacks, murder, the word 'r*pe' is used to describe what Geumjae did to her but there are no graphic depictions of it, allusions to physical abuse, graphic violence, there is a brief moment where someone not in the pack touches the m/c's ass without her consent, blood, briefly implied suicidal actions- but it's nothing like what you haven't seen before.
W/c: 12.6k
A/n: i'll be attending my cousin's wedding at the time this is posted so! give me lots of love when you read it cuz i'm so nervous~ i've never been around so many fancy people before <3
Previous part ~ Masterlist
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You dab at the skin under your eyes carefully. You know they must look red and puffy. Tae’s careful instruction to treat your skin well as all good baby pups should has somehow stuck.
Even here. Even now.
“Do people like always loose it with you? Like when they walk in, do they all cry?”
Your therapist (yes, your therapist) across the narrow room is the opposite of threatening; soft face, pulled back hair, neutral clothing that might just as well be out of a country living catalog.
You don’t know where Jin found her, what little medical booklet he perused like a take-out menu, or how much her services cost per hour. Those kinds of details were not for delicate little pups like yourself to worry over in his opinion.
Most of the time, you're glad not to have to worry about things like this. But right now you're chomping at the bit. Weighting your odds. The other unknowns hover before you. One sticks out. One you're most concerned about.
Is she trustworthy?
Nothing about Dr. Rima seems outwardly threatening, yet you curl in on yourself. She smiles, scrawling something on the top of her notepad before she answers, and something taught in you ticks tighter.
“You’re correct in assuming that most people I meet cry in the first few minutes when they meet me, but you are the first person to cry on my threshold. Most of the time people wait until they’re at least in the chair.”
That has a smile tugging at your lips, albeit unwillingly. Your smile is like a leashed wild animal, with too many teeth when you feel threatened. Contained for now.
If you got up and walked out right now, would she call someone to restrain you? Will you be committed if you tell the truth? Or are you just misinterpreting the stakes?
You are here of your own volition. Even if it was a condition that Jin and Namjoon weren't willing to budge on after the events of last week. It's not like the pack is having you put in a mental institution or something, although they did come with you today. For moral support.
The waiting room was stuffy and yellow, one of those little waterfall mirrors in the corner that you’d watched in a fog sat between Yoongi and Jimin while Jin filled out the necessary paperwork. His pen hovering over the small boxes every few seconds. He'd taken the afternoon off of work to make sure he was there, just to fill out paperwork.
Are you on any medications? Do you have a history with substance abuse disorders? Do you have any intent to harm yourself or others?
Sending glares to anyone who dared to come too close, Jimin had looked and smelled threatening. You're not sure he’d have let you go into an isolated location with her if she’d been an alpha. Jin too had looked close to snapping.
yoongi was the only one who looked somewhat calm, althoug his hand was tightly laced with yours (and a little sweaty)
It’s a wonder that the rest of your pack had agreed to stay home for this. This was just one of several concessions you’d made after what the pack has politely begun referring to as 'sad pup time' during your more vulnerable moments, and blatantly 'your breakdown' during less fragile ones.
But sweet words or not. The facts remain; You are here in this chair after a nearly tearful departure.
You’d met the therapist in the doorway, shaking in your boots, and upon being separated from your pack with the promise that they’d be just downstairs in the lobby, you’d followed her inside.
Yoongi had made a noise in his throat, making you turn back. Dr.Rima turned to watch as he’d pulled you in for a last-minute hug, ducking down to your level. “One hour, okay? We’ll be just downstairs. Text me if you need me.”
His eyes were heavy-looking at the stranger. Unwilling to let you go just yet. A little stalwart, a little standoffish.
“Take good care of her please. She’s very precious to us.”
Precious.
That much was evident by the nearly three-page document that both your pack alpha and omega sent through once Namjoon and Jin had selected Dr. Rima as your therapist. Dr. Rima has quite a bit of experience dealing with overprotective pack alphas and pack omegas. Let alone a pack alpha and pack omega who have such a clinical background.
Yes, you must be well taken care of. At least on paper.
She’s already itching a little, to get her hands on all the others. Packmates and their names are written out, as a part of all intake files. Large packs aren't so common anymore. Her eyes fix on one name; Min Yoongi (beta, mate) unemployed.
The big windows help it feel not so small, on the second floor, the trees block out most of the view of the park below. A small voice that sounds like Hobi whispers that it’s a shame she doesn’t have any plants in here, they'd do so well with all of this natural light.
Your knees clack together a little, moving listlessly, the anxiety in your body begging to be released somewhere.
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Why don’t we start with why you wanted to come in today.”
You avoid her eye contact, looking instead at the tops of the trees, you don’t know why they haven’t changed color yet, all of the trees on your street are half bare already. She has a smooth inoffensive scent, but you’re mated to a beta so you know what to expect when it comes to the relaxing effects, the subtle haze at the edge of your vision. It must come in handy, having the biological upper hand, when it comes to patients in distress.
If therapists are rare, beta therapists must be even rarer.
You can practically hear Jin, “Nothing but the best for my pup.” There is a part of your brain that won’t ever turn off, appraising everything around you. The designer pumps that she wears. The knickknacks on her desks, there are no photos of any packs that she might call her own, just a pink calendar in the corner.
Your breath goes just a little bit rapid, just a little, hitching when you think of it.
“Did Jin tell you anything?”
“He didn’t. Although my secretary did inform me that he filled out the paperwork for you.” The air in the therapist’s office is cold. Cold enough that it has you wrapping your sweater sleeves over your knuckles.
Your cheeks heat “My pack they- get a bit- protective.” Your fingers circle your wrist. You’re glad that Hobi convinced you to take one of his sweatshirts. He'd had a strange look on his face while he zipped it up, and you'd had to worry and wonder about it the whole morning. You'd worried more once he texted, just after he must have gotten to work.
“I have kind of a history of self-destructive behavior and I- I kind fell into bad habits a few days ago and blew up. It was all kind of triggered by this like- thing that happened with me and my other packmate.” It’s surprisingly easy to tell the truth.
You’re a right side better than you have been the last few weeks, now. A little bit more present, less foggy. The doctor just looks at her screen and not at you. What is it with her asking questions that make you not want to lie? Why does it feel like you should anyway?
Dr. Rima reads between the lines, what you're trying to say without saying it. “Is there a possibility of you hurting yourself again?” She clicks at the screen a little rapidly.
“No.”
The truth is you have no idea. It seems best to lie in this situation. But you consider it; one of your packmates making the call that you are too much to handle, that you need more help than they can offer. You imagine what it would be like to be in inpatient care. Grippy socks and group therapy and probably observed mealtimes. Maybe Iv's and feeding tubes if it came to that. Away from the pack and away from Yoongi.
He’s just downstairs, but that feels too far. There was no way that he was going to let you do this alone, you wouldn't be surprised if he never left the waiting room.
It’s just a therapy session. The very thing that you once refused. But now that you're here you might as well heal, you might as well work to stop this endless train of brief highs and endless lows. you'll give it a go, why not? What do you have to lose?
And yet, the texts from Hobi remain unanswered:
Ho-🐝 (9:48): Hey, I’m really proud of you.
Ho-🐝 (9:48): I’m really happy I get to be your packmate. In case you ever worry.
Ho-🐝 (9:49): And your best friend too &lt;3
Ho-🐝 (9:51): Just so you knowwww
The pack has kept you substantially plied with little solutions since your breakdown last week. They haven’t let you rot like usual. They’ve kept your days full of little activities; nothing too extravagant or tiring. Letting you rest when you need to and encouraging you to get outside of your comfort zone when it’s clear you’re giving in.
It comes down to that more often than not; giving in or not giving in.
Not giving in looks like trips back to the beach with Hobi. Like going to the salon with Tae and shopping with Jimin. Or another workout class with Jungkook where you’d spent more of the time lounging on the yoga mat than actually moving your body. But you'd still tenuously agreed to sign up for more classes under the encouragement of Wonho and Jungkook.
And now twice a week, you’ve got a mat to call your own during any classes, in the back, if you decide you want it. Your callender hasn't felt so full in years, it feels strange, to have something to do during the weeks that isn't just scraping the bottom of the barrel and doing house chores. Strange in a good way.
Not all of the pack's solutions aren’t silly but sometimes, silly is a good way to push out the dark.
The morning after your breakdown; you'd watched your pack work, fighting back a flush. Sitting at the kitchen bar stool while Yoongi applied painter’s tape to the floor, not intent on keeping back paint this time, but marking it off for you.
You’re a little bit more determined this morning although your first night without nightmares in a little over a month had kept you in higher spirits. You feel more well-rested than you have in ages.
“You don’t need to- I promise- I’m not going-“ but your requests had fallen on deaf ears. Worry building until Jungkook stood up fast grinning up at you, pupils wide brown pools from getting scented stupid this morning.
(Scented stupid, you'd been scented by the pack too, had struggled a little against it, too shy as Namjoon dragged his throat along yours, squirming until yoongi held you down a little, checking with you each few seconds that you wanted that, that your squirming was really just needing to feel a firm touch, a dominant one.
You will go nowhere until your pack have had their right to you, scenting you up, making your scent gland tender and swollen under their teeths and tongues.
It felt so much better to be made to handle it, each of the pack, even hobi, hovering over you to scent you with their wrists and throats. until you smelled so claimed by them that you couldn't breathe without smelling it- Pack.
Jungkook had pouted until he'd gotten the same treatment, although the omegaspace haze had lasted longer on him than it had on you.
He stands up so fast that his hair fluffs. Catching himself on your leg with a giggle before he topples over. grinning up at you before pressing a sleepy sloppy kiss to your knee and then another to your lips,
“No pup zone!" Omega Space Jungkook can get a little bit ridiculous even at the best of times. He's got a case of the morning omegaspace zoomies as he giggles and nips at your nose. You playfully push at his chest. He doesn't budge.
"Your whole face is a no-pup zone." The dissatisfied pur-chirp he'd let out had sounded half hurt, half encouraged.
Namjoon had eased your discomfort. Pulling you from the stool to lean back against his chest, fingers drumming out a rhythm on your legs as Jungkook huffes into your throat.
Having this failsafe- this rule, does not mean that they think you’re going to fail, these are guard rails to keep you on track. Namjoon looks down at you, his full bottom lip tucked a little, not a pout but close. “This is the easiest solution, if you don’t go near it then maybe, maybe it helps.”
His fingers drum against your skin again, and you lean back into him. Uneasy but willing to let him soothe you.
So yes, you’ve been banned from the kitchen, banned from crossing that line that runs from the edge of the coffee stand and just in front of Tae's library room, to the island and over to the fridge. Unless there is someone else close by. You are not allowed here without supervision.
It’s a simple solution, limiting you from the place that you use to hurt yourself. Never mind the fact that there are dozens if not hundreds of other possible avenues you could use. Your creativity knows no bounds when it comes to pain, but you quiet that part of yourself when the desire for hurt gets loud.
You can’t say it hasn’t helped. But then again, the pack has kept you so busy since your breakdown that you haven't had any time to think of hurting yourself let alone put any plans into action.
Across from you, Dr. Rima waits expectantly.
"It was kind of triggered by this thing that happened."
The tip of her pen bobs a little as she writes. “Could you describe the event to me? Or is that something you're not ready to talk about?" You nod and she waits patiently. It takes you a breath to answer.
“A little less than a month ago one of my packmates and I found a dead body."
You feel a little vindicated at her inhale of breath. Wide eyes that say yes- that is something traumatic, yes, it's fair that it kinda triggered you into a more fragile state.
"It dredged up a lot of feelings about my past. Before that, I was kind of starting to feel s-safe which I haven't like, ever been able to feel."
“And your packmate?"
There is new treacherous wetness balancing on your waterline. “Hobi’s a lot stronger than me, his past and mine are really similar but he just- handles his better. A lot of the time it feels like I learn from him even though he’d tell you the opposite is true. He’s my best friend." Your voice goes quiet, "I love my mate more than I love anyone else, but sometimes- Hobi just- gets me you know?" You go a little misty-eyed. Hands tightening on Hobi's sweatshirt.
“Yet he’s not the one sitting in my chair right now.”
You close your eyes, "he's not."
“For what it’s worth- you can have more than one best friend.” Dr. Rima writes as quickly as she can, taking it down. “How long have you been romantically involved with him? Who came first, your mate or him?”
You jolt forward, “Oh no- we’re not- Hobi and I aren't-" You take a deep breath to clarify. "Everyone else in the pack is together but Hobi and I are just friends. We all have our like… little units?”
"Primary partners." Dr. Rima offers.
"Yeah, that." But even that doesn't really cover it, because while Jin and Namjoon are JinandNamjoon and Jimin and Tae are JiminandTae. Jungkook is everyone's problem (in the best of ways) and you and Tae are something else too. The pack's girls the rest of them would say.
(You and Hobi are, well, YouandHobi.)
It sounds weird to say it once it comes out of your mouth. It makes an odd choked feeling lodge in your throat. Too much hope and too much shame for hoping blooming in your chest.
“I don’t know if I want to talk about him.”
She folds her hands over her knees, setting her pen down. Dr. Rima has chubby hands, disproportionate to her body. They look like they'd be soft.
She reminds you of your mom a little bit.
“That’s okay, we can talk about whatever you want. What you want and need is going to be the focus of our sessions. You’re the pilot here. I’m just here to help you interpret your thoughts and feelings.”
She folds her hands over themselves, setting her pen aside, “Why don’t we talk about the last time you remember feeling safe.”
"Physically or mentally?"
"Either, you can choose."
The rest of the session passes frightfully quickly. You can’t say that you don’t cry again. When you finally talk about Geumjae, her smile quickly dissipates. You talk and talk and talk until your throat is raw. Until you’ve depleted the whole box of her tissues. She shows you she's got more hidden under her desk when you apologize, her secret stash gets a laugh out of you.
“The fact that your pack omega filled out your paperwork isn’t the most unusual, but his preference for daily meetings or every other day is a little bit on the nose for a pack omega, I’m wondering if you share his preference.”
“He’s just overprotective.” She eyes you like Jin has good reason to be. You don’t blush this time, a little more comfortable with Dr. Rima than you were at the beginning of this. “I think maybe more than once a week but not every day.”
“How does Monday- Friday sound?”
~-~
When you walk to the door with Dr. Rima Yoongi stands abruptly from his chair.
You can tell by the shiny edge to his to his scent that he doesn't want to stay here any longer than necessary. He gets the information about your next appointment and then tugs you out the door.
Jins got his legs crossed, fancy leather shoes glinting in the sunlight by the windows. The lobby is buzzing with people coming and going. This building isn't just a therapy office but a collection of other businesses with a few shops and restaurants on the ground floor as well. He looks up and double-takes when he spots you, not standing from his chair, but he opens his arms and you fold yourself along his side, conscious of the other eyes but this.
This you need.
You press your face along the column of Jin's neck, breathing his cream scent in deep.
“Oh pup.”
Your red-rimmed eyes are too obvious and you sniffle wetly, “It was okay, I like Dr. Rima.” He laces your hands together and resists the urge to pester you with questions. Yoongi's hand is still tangled in the hood of your (Hobi's) sweatshirt. Your therapy sessions should be yours and only yours. Yoongi and Jin do not have Dr. patient confidentiality.
And yet the need to know if that helped burns through them. They won't have to wonder for long.
By the coffee stand, Jimin waves and he returns to you when the barista hands over a bag of sweets and a quad of cups. Jin continues scrawling something out for another second before he’s standing and pulling you in for another chaste scent mark.
“Let’s go home.” It's somewhere between an order and a request. But no one disobeys.
On the drive back (37 minutes total) you're a little quiet. You let the sounds of the others be your buffer. You look down at your phone and stare at Hobi’s texts. You respond with just a little heart emoji when you finally still can’t figure out a good response and you're close to home.
Home is its usual conflagration of moving bits and pieces. Each of your packmates is like a shiny cog in a pretty clock, tick tick tick tocking along. Tae and Namjoon are at the table looking through some of the pack’s bills, the pastries and coffee cups litter the table with little piles of powdered sugar and cinnamon. jimin bought enough for the whole pack.
You look at them a little too long, although not because you don't want to eat them. It’s been a while, a few weeks since you’ve made something like that, but every single one of the pastries is something you know how to make. You don’t know why you keep looking at them.
Tae smiles at you, still in the doorway. and it makes you feel a little less like you want to burst into tears. Her voice speaks of the quiet time you have in the library (the tenderness of having someone else do your makeup, another person combing your hair). You hope you'll get some dedicated one-on-one time with her soon.
"Hey little lovely, How was it?"
"She put me through the wringer but I think she got some suds out."
She and Namjoon giggle and you smile small. and you can tell that Namjoon wants to ask you more but he doesn't after a pointed look from your mate. There are footsteps in the hall and before you can move to take off your shoes Hobi is standing in the archway.
Yoongi efficiently strips you of Hobi's sweatshirt with a frustrated huff. It's Kind of like he’s trying to peel away the sadness (your clothes are soaked with your sour scent, rainy and unhappy. Regardless of Jin’s scent mark, you kind of stink).
You might have overheard their words just before you got into the car. Jin's hissed admonishment. “A lot of people cry during therapy Minnie, she’s not in trouble, can’t you smell it?”
Your scent is mellow underneath the memory of your distress, going sweeter by the second. Yoongi wants all memories of your sad scent banished from the house. Hobi stands at the door to the hallway, shifting back and forth, his eyes a little warmer than usual, hands shaking a little bit.
You’ve caught him looking at you a lot since the night he ran away, in the quiet moments when he thinks you’re not noticing. Eyes a shade warmer than usual, a sweetened franticness to his scent. Nervousness and happiness mix like blueberries and whipped cream.
When he pulls up beside you during movie nights and sits thigh to thigh with you. When his hands intertwine with yours over his knee or sometimes or when he pulls your legs sideways across his lap. He looks at you like that when he's doing the small things and he's looking at you like that right now.
You know how love starts, that it starts with the small things.
Hobi resists the urge to open his arms. would you come to him? Would you fold your body along his front so that he could feel your heartbeat? Pressing again and again to the opposite side of his chest with every thump?
He doesn’t say hey, but he does step a little closer. Fingers reaching out. The pad of his index finger slides down the meat of your pinky till it reaches the ball of your wrist. His own special hello.
Your breath hitches, just barely, almost imperceptible if it wasn’t for how close he stands.
A look behind you says Yoongi hasn’t made himself scarce, instead fussing with the pack's coats. Now that it’s getting colder, they don’t all fit by the door. You look behind Hobi and find Namjoon watching the three of you, he raises a singular eyebrow.
“How was it? Bad?” Hobi asks, breaking the silence and the tension, drawing your attention back to him. The next breath you let out is a lot less heavy, and your eyelashes flutter as he steps closer. Hobi smells good, a little earthy, mellowing out his usual sweetness. Sweet for an alpha.
“It was kind of hard, I kinda wanted to run away for a bit at the beginning." You can't keep meeting his eyes with how intensely he's looking at you and they flutter down to his hands. "I almost did.”
"I'm glad you didn't pup." Jin comments, full of reproach, the mirror to you and Hobi as he leans down to press a kiss to Namjoon's forehead. Shucking off his lapelled jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his button-down shirt.
“If you’d have called me, I’d have picked you up. We could still like- run away, if you're down.”
But the house is starting to heat up, and Jin and Yoongi are starting to cook. The light is still honey-yellow happy. And you tip your cheek into his arm. He finally- finally lets his arms settle around your waist.
“Nah, not yet.” You drag out the syllable all playful, and something forbidden stirs in Hobi’s gut. “Jin’s making my favorite tonight. not until later?”
Hobi goes silent, pulls back, biting his lips, eyes flickering from your eyes down. and-
You laugh and Hobi blushes. “Just spit it out.”
Everyone’s been a little bit touchier with you since that night (a little more overbearing too). You won’t immediately chalk Hobi's touchyness up to what you're all thinking. But the affection makes your scent gland feel tender. Zinging when Yoongi steps up behind you and nuzzles into it, huffing again.
Friends can hug each other after therapy right? Hobi swallows thickly and you feel it against your collar bone as he pulls back and steps away from you. “I ugh- got you a present?”
You brighten up instantly, and Hobi's anxiety increases tenfold. A bit of casual mischievousness on the edge of your lips that always have Hobi feeling like he’s being teased even though he knows he isn’t.
“Oh? A present? You’ve never gotten me a present before!”
He kicks at imaginary dust bunnies, fighting back what he knows is a noticeable flush. “I ugh- still owe you, from the car you know and honestly it's not even like a big gift it's like- so small in comparison and-”
Yoongi huffs and continues to disrobe you. Pulling your sweater over your head when he’s not satisfied that your unhappy scent has dissipated. Muttering something like. “hopeless alpha” under his breath. Your tank top pulls up, inches of your hip and skin on display. It's nothing that Hobi hasn't seen before and yet the blush reignites. The sunshine to your morning glory.
“I guess you're right.” But it doesn’t feel like it. Hobi doesn’t owe you anything for that, not when it was so easy to give. Not when you’ve gotten so many late-night drives from that gift.
Hoseok got the idea for your courting gift, one morning while watching you say goodbye to Namjoon:
The pack alpha has always been a fan of goodbye kisses, good morning, and goodnight kisses too. The particular kiss that morning had ‘I’ll miss you’ written all over it. It was so pretty in the way that you lingered, arms around Namjoon’s neck. His hand is underneath your shirt on the small of your back. Such a small touch and yet so gently possessive that it had Hobi aching to see it.
Hobi is unfortunately prone to jealousy and it turns the back of his neck hot. Makes his hands feel oddly tender. He's distracted by the visual, the task of packing up his work bag forgotten. Hoseok’s shift at the flower shop doesn’t start for another few hours, and he’s waiting, watching, an unhappy voyeur.
You and Namjoon have quite the height difference, if he was in between the two of you he’d be the perfect middle ground. That’s just another stupid thought, another stupid thought in the countless number of stupid thoughts that he’s had. (I like my alphas a little pathetic, and nothing's more pathetic than an alpha pining after an omega.)
He grumbles.
Yoongi prattles on, more awake than all of them as he outlines what you have to do today to make progress on the house- which is to go find a place that sells cheaper tile than the ones you first thought of using in the bathroom on the first floor. And maybe change it up a little.
The bathrooms escaped the renovations somehow, and a few nights ago- Jimin had admitted how much they actually use it even though it’s not the pack's primary bathroom anymore. Now that it’s not in use, they’re more willing to part with it for a few days for some very necessary re-styling. it toes the line from vintage to old a little too hard. The yellow is a little…yellow.
Yoongi wants to go light and airy with the color scheme, like he did with the upstairs bathroom and it's seafoam and brown tones. But like with most of the house, your vote is for colorful. “How about a light blue-” Yoongi continues to argue while you kiss Namjoon a little senseless in the doorway, at least Namjoon seems properly dazed, chasing your lips when you pull apart.
“No- we don’t have a room that’s magenta yet!”
This starts the same argument as always; “We can’t make every room in this house pink for Tae.”
But goodbyes take precedence, and when you turn back and smile at Hobi he flushes, shy to be caught looking. He moves, stepping around you and Namjoon to put his water bottle into his bag when you shout, “Stop, Seokie!”
Seokie is a new nickname, one that Jin only uses in the quietest of moments that you've somehow adopted when you don't want to call him Hobi. Hobi always thought that if you’d use any other nickname with him- you’d use daisy (he might want you and yoongi to share that pet name). But he’s a good pup and stops what he’s doing. Every atom in his body every electron no longer circulates neutrons but circulates you instead. Pulled in by your gravity.
You’ve moved so suddenly that you’ve spilled a bit of your coffee onto the floor. Maybe kissing Namjoon has left you feeling a little dizzy too. Yoongi just sighs fondly and wipes it up. Jimin looks up from his phone, smiling when he sees.
“You’ve got a rainbow on your cheek.”
It’s a trick of the light, early morning sunshine refracted through the mottled window just right to cast a single rainbow on the wall and on Hobi when he steps in front of it.
You cup his cheek, finger skimming across where the rainbow sits.
"Pretty."
Hobi feels hot all over.
At Tae’s call of, “If I have to do my eyeliner one more time I’m going to scream!” You giggle and dart away from him. Going to tend to Tae with a soft reply of "I've got you baby."
Hoseok is left, blushing in the morning light. Staying still like you might come by and cup his cheek again, Like a flower staying still in the hope of pollination.
Hobi is left, wanting to scream and somehow demand you back, both would be fair. His plight isn't missed by his packmates, who lean in like a set of jackals, grinning ear to ear at hobi's flustered predicament.
She's going to send him into rut if she's not careful Jin thinks, but doesn't say. instead he teases, “You’ve got to leave in the next ten-minute Hobi.”
Only then does Hoseok move- released from his spell and finally losing the rainbow on his cheeks though they might as well have stayed with how happy and warm he feels. How absolutely incandescent the love is glowing in his chest. A full spectrum of feelings, longing for you to come back.
He almost trips over noodle, darting after you with his tail raised high, catching himself on the edge of the couch at the last second, one shoe on and one off, his water bottle falling and spilling in the process.
yoongi sighs, and stoops to wipe it up. Jimin giggles and pulls Hobi up by his hips, the alpha's fingers feel hot where they've touched him, scalding. “What’s wrong, omega got your tongue?” yoongi returns to his breakfast, throwing the wad of soggy paper towels into the trash.
Jungkook laughs, “It’s more like he wants an omega to have his tongue in her-“
“You guys are gross,” He pushes at Jimin’s shoulder finally moving right. Yoongi hides his smile in a mouthful of Captain Crunch.
Hobi doesn’t think about the rainbows again until his next afternoon shift. When the low angle of the autumn sun cuts through the windows and catches the suncatchers that they hang in the doorway of the flower shop and cast more rainbows- dozens of them really across him and the flower.
He remembers when you came to visit, how you'd lingered over them, looked at them a second longer than you looked at the plants.
It’s a bit of a kitschy display. Other polished stones and nick nacks sitting on the deep shelf along with some smaller potted plants. A little tray of rose-quartz stones falsely advertises themselves as ‘heat reducers.’
The colors start to blend, and the rainbows sway softly in the light, gentle and pretty. He snaps a photo and thinks about sending it to you, but doesn’t.
The store is blissfully empty of Hobi's coworkers when he selects three of them. It's quiet when he packages them in tissue paper, one with a huge pink stained-glass moon at the top, another with three tiers. Each of them is delicate and pretty in their own right. No one’s bought a single one of them in the last three months anyway. They'll hardly be missed. Hobi gives himself a fat employee discount.
Hobi is unfortunately bad at hiding things, especially when he's nervous. Luckily the pack alpha doesn’t have it in him to tease. Namjoon had in fact been only too encouraging and given him a pep talk just this morning about courting and courting presents.
“The worst that can happen is that she doesn’t like it- and then you just have to try again which you were already planning on doing anyway.” Namjoon is quite simply the best at courting. It doesn't matter which subgender; alphas, beta’s, and omegas have all fallen under his touch. At least Hoseok has the opportunity to learn from a professional. Somehow the thought that you'd compare him to namjoon doesn't cross his mind.
Hoseok isn’t good at the romantic gestures that courting necessitates. He’s more of the ‘there when you need him’ kind of lover. Ready to make the small changes to make his loved ones' lives more manageable. Ready with his car keys for adventures. Those parts are easy, this is out of his depth.
Especially when it comes to you. Even After the love confessions, (are confessions still confessions if they’re so internal?) Hobi feels mostly unmoored. About to shatter upon unknown shores.
God, crushes are so frustrating (in the best kind of way, the way that keeps you sighing and daydreaming, the kind of way that makes you look in the mirror a little longer).
Tae helped him half an hour before she started on the pack's paperwork. They'd spent an hour deciding which places were best to hang them to get the greatest number of rainbows. She had even fussed with his hair a little to make it lie right. Having him hop up on the couch so she could see Hobi's face from your angle.
Hobi wanted to make sure there were at least one or two rainbows when he shows you. But when he leads you to the sunroom, his hands over your eyes (the same position you found yourself in when Namjoon surprised you with the nesting pod) there are more of them than there were when he set them up, whole constellations swaying softly.
The suncatchers are pretty and twinkly sparkly in the golden hour light, and your lips part in a simple show of awe when Hobi tells you you can open your eyes. It's so bright, they send dozens of little rainbows across the walls and your nesting pod. Over the white couch and the fig in the corner.
It’s very very pretty. and when you turn back to look a thim, Hobi once again has a rainbow on his cheek.
Your eyes twinkle, but you don't say anything. you stay quiet for long enough that Hobi gets nervous. his anxiety makes him talk fast. “I hung them here- but you can put them wherever you want- in the kitchen or upstairs or I can get you more for any places you want to put them- or- or- ”
You just about tackle him, arms looping around his neck resting your weight in his arms that instinctively grip around your waist. Hobi teeters, unsteady with such a heavy heart, toppling both of you onto the couch as you cry. "I love it!"
You’re sprawled not lying across him but his hand goes out to support the way you cling and rub your face into his chest, a happy little chirp slipping past your lips.
The wild thing in Hobi’s chest settles, settles, and curls around you. Tight and protective like a vice. You pull back, and your smile is just as bright.
Hobi sags, and rests his neck back against the couch, "Good- thank fucking god- I was so fucking nervous-" You fiddle with the buttons on his flannel, it's one of Yoongi's. It seems fitting that you steal his clothes and he steals Yoongi's.
"What brought all this on?"
Hobi doesn't have a good answer, in the quiet with the rainbows, or at least an answer he's ready for. He doesn't say that this is a courting present, and he doesn't need to because instead of answering your question- he replies with one of his own.
“Wanna go for a drive later?” he asks, voice tremulous like he thinks you might refuse him. You’ve never said no to him before, never said not tonight only not right now. Do you treasure our little talks the same way I do?
“Sure, after dinner? like I said? Just-" You lean back against his chest, and Hobi’s hands go tight tight tight around your waist. Holding you close. Clingy. He does not slip his hand under your shirt to cup the side of your hip the way that Namjoon might, but the thought crosses his mind.
Hobi is a good alpha, he won't cross that line until you tell him it's okay. Until then a thin layer of fabric separates his skin from yours. You're still warm to the couch.
“Sit and watch them with me?” You ask quietly. Almost shy, like you think he’d refuse you. He nods and the two of you sit on the couch to look at the rainbows together.
Eventually, Noodle finds the two of you, meowing and hopping up to stretch out along your thighs. Worming his way between the two of you.
The rainbows don't last forever, but Hobi sits with you until they fade.
~-~
Tae’s library is just like every public library:
Tall windows, wide quiet shelves with room for the stories to breathe. A colorful young adult section and an even more colorful kid’s section. A bit aways from the tables and computers so that any over-excited pups don’t disturb the adults. Big deep beanbags for small children to cuddle up to while they ponder fairy tales and adventures only a plastic-covered book away.
Tae’s long plaid skirt barely makes a whisper along the ground. The colder weather has allowed her to live all of her cottage core fantasies, her dark academia aesthetic truly flourishing. Her shirt is a little translucent today, and the fading summer tan of her skin pokes through it in spots where her tank top doesn't hide. Pretty long earrings dangle and clink in the quiet while she works on her shelving.
Wearing her chosen clothing items at work has been a bit of a work in progress.
Most of Tae’s coworkers approve of her transition in that overly willing-to-be-an-ally way that middle-aged women who generally consider themselves progressive outside of closed doors all do. And the ones that don’t approve have swallowed their words with lingering sour eyes and raised upper lips after the general receptiveness to Tae’s social transition.
It's hard to know who's genuine with it, who just doesn't want to cause a fuss, and who just doesn't give a shit. But most of the time her outfits get one or two compliments and thats it. Tae would rather them say nothing than anything negitive.
Tae likes the quiet of the library at this time of day, the silence gives her enough room to let her imagination wander. Tae likes to file away books in mid-morning, when there are fewer people around and her humming is less likely to disturb any of the library’s patrons. She sings to the stories and they sing back, tempting her with every well-worded title and delicately chaste summary.
But she doesn’t just think about stories or the book she's writing (her book is currently giving her hell on the 30th chapter) No. Today- there is a much more interesting love story blooming in her head, in the pack's den too.
She’s been thinking about you all morning (Tae thinks about you almost every morning) there are even little poems scrawled on the edge of her newspaper. Lines that are you and a bit of Hobi too.
I wished that I might be your hair clip / to know what it feels like / to be pressed against the nape of your neck/ To be your suntan/ perched on the edge/ of what you show everyone and what you show no one/ To be the bearer of every freckle/ like the sky holds the stars/ To hold and never let go/ Like birds hold sunshine / and flowers hold songs.
Everyone had noticed of course, how much time you and Hobi have been spending together.
The pack had even talked about it during a quiet moment without you and Hobi. Yoongi’s lack of communication regarding you and Hobi. “I don’t know anything” he’d unsuccessfully lied, and nearly been heaved up and wrestled to the couch as a result. But Jungkook’s puppy eyes had unsuccessfully endeared him.
Yoongi has kept Hobi's secret, but it's kind of hard not to notice. Tae isn't a fool. Tae is a much better liar than Yoongi is- because when you'd come to her after your late-night drive to gush with her about Hobi and the rainbows over makeup. She hadn't said anything about what she knows.
Tae couldn’t tell you how many times she’d noticed little touches, Hobi’s hand lingering on the small of your back, grabbing your waist when he moved behind you in the bathroom. When he take the greatest care to set out his sweatshirts in the morning and even asks Jungkook to make sure they’re clean. They’re practically not even his sweatshirts anymore with the amount you’ve been wearing them.
Tae isn’t an idiot, she knows that Hobi’s finally realized it. While she doesn’t trust herself to play matchmaker given how poorly the first time she pointed out Hobi’s attraction went. that doesn’t mean she’s not going to park herself firmly on the edge of her fantasy land with a box of popcorn.
If they were gonna get married, would Hobi wear a red tux or black or grey? Her brain is already thinking of wedding dresses. One of these days she’s really going to have to make a Pinterest board. Hobi would probably want to do sunflowers, and that might clash with the red unless it was a fall wedding- ooh, and what about pearl details and daisies? a beach wedding might be a little too on the nose for you.
Tae is so absorbed with her shelving and her daydreaming that she doesn’t notice the sound of small shoes on the carpeted floor. Nor does she notice the light-up flash of tiny iorn man sneakers. Her musings are easily interrupted by a small tug on her skirt, shy almost. She startles a little, looking down at the sudden touch.
The little pup's thumb is wet from where it was clearly placed behind their bucked teeth. He's got wide brown eyes and soft-looking hair, Tae can't stop the smile that comes to her lips.
“I wanted to read a book but I couldn’t reach, can you help me? Please?”
Tae’s heart swells as she leans down to the pup's level. “Of course, I can! Why don’t you show me what one you wanted,” diligently Tae follows the little one a few isles over, tugged along by their insistent pulling as he tells her about the pretty cover.
The little pup turns back, furrowing his bushy brows up at Tae, “are you a princess?” he asks. Tae almost has to laugh, a bright happy gender euphoric feeling filling her chest, that feeling of I could be filling her.
She makes her whisper just a little more hushed, playing along, “Don’t tell anyone okay? It's a secret.” The little pup nods, eyes darting around like there are dragons that would threaten her.
“What gave me away?”
“Princesses wear long skirts!” the pup says cheerfully, like it makes the most sense in the world. He's a little too loud and Tae winces. He finally finds the shelve with the story. The spine glimmers pink and gold and Tae is unsurprised to find the illustrated copy of Cinderella. Not the Disney or PJ version, but the Brothers Grimm version.
Tae cringes at the pair of doves on the cover.
Tae doesn’t say that the little pup is too small to read a book so big, or that there is one with more pictures much more appropriate away from the young adult section. The child can’t be more than 6 years old.
But still, Tae retrieves it and delivers it to their waiting arms. The little one clutches it to his chest, thanks Tae, and then promptly plops themselves onto the carpeted floor right there.
He opens the first page, huffs, and then looks up at her imploringly.
“I just realized I can’t read.”
He pouts and Tae melts. Tae wonders where the pup's mother is, but really, there certainly can't be much harm in this. This isn't the first time Tae has been guilted into reading a story to a pup while their parents work or make use of the library's computers.
"Just the first page.” She intones, caution for the child’s hopes in her voice, she presses her skirt under her knees and sits on the scratchy carpet. The pup curls close to see the pictures. Resting his tiny chubby cheek in the billow of Tae’s big puffy sleeve.
Tae's chest is all tight as she reads. The pup is very well-behaved, he pauses, and asks questions in a soft voice only when Tae gives him space to respond. Tae easily ommits the parts that aren't appropriate. but tae finds herself watching the pup a little bit more as the minutes stretch.
In a few years with your own little ones around, will Tae become the defacto bedtime story reader? Will she do this with the pack's pups one day? Will she be the one to take that bright little light in their eyes that imagines things as greater and more and cultivate it? Her cheeks feel warm at the prospect, heart beating like a hummingbird's wings in excitement.
Your pups and Jin's pups too- they're gonna be so loved. Tae's gonna be the best mom to them, The best alpha too.
One page turns into two and then three. In this quiet corner with only Tae’s voice as ruler and god, the little pup hinges on every word. Until there’s another voice close by. An adult not wishing to be loud, a whispered name.
“Jae?”
Tae smiles up at the woman at the end of the aisle of books. Her smile turns sweeter when Jae hops up and runs to press his face into her jeaned thighs. Tae remembers how that felt, how every scent besides Tae’s own omega mother felt overwhelming and icky.
Tae stands with a crack of her knees and makes to hand over the book, “This makes a great bedtime story until about chapter 8, that one you might want to skip until he’s a little older.”
The woman makes to smile, but it only goes so far. Tae watches in perfect detail, everything in slow motion, as her eyes flicker down to Tae’s Addams apple.
She drags her child close by their wrist quicker than Tae can blink. Tae sees the moment that the child realizes this touch isn’t gentle, wide eyes going fear-stricken as he's tugged behind her back. And then it's all downhill from there.
I'll spare you the more vile bits.
But the saddest moment of the argument that follows (Which involves not one but three of Tae's co-workers to calm down the hysterical woman whose screeches echo around the quiet library) is when the pup tries to get his mother's attention. "Mom, I liked that she was reading to me."
"He" the certified Karen hisses, moving in a way that makes the pup flinch back. "-should know better than to corrupt a pup with such- such-" her eyes dart down and up, and Tae's skin burns. "Disgusting behavior."
The misgendering doesn't even sting. What does hurt is the eyes peering in. She isn't being quiet and it's causing many of the library's patrons' attention is diverted. Tae's coworkers have put themselves between Tae and the woman. But there still aren't enough people (enough packmates) in between her and the verbal tirade.
An hour later, after the woman has left after threatening to call the police, Tae talks with his boss and his boss’s boss. The room behind the front desk is glass, and he knows that the door doesn’t keep the sound of their raised voice out.
“I wasn’t harassing her child; I was just helping him find a book for Christ sake!”
The worst part is that this isn’t the first time that this has happened. No- since Tae came out there have been two other complaints leveled against her from bigoted patrons. Both right at the beginning before she got the hang of presenting how she wanted to.
At least those confrontations weren’t face-to-face. At least those complaints didn’t end with someone threatening to call the police and a pup cowering, tugged along too roughly out the door.
The little pup had glanced back at Tae, mouth in pout, eyes swimming with tears.
Even if the woman felt righteous in her anger, the least she could have done was not yell in front of the pup. Tae promises herself right then and there, that she'll never raise her voice in front of the pack's pups, not in anger.
The book has stayed on the counter at the front. Pink and gold and treacherous. Tae hopes that if anything, the pup finds it and reads the ending one day. Stories have a way of finding us, even when the world makes us let them go.
Now in the back room behind the check-out counter. Tae’s boss levels her with an expectant look, the kind that people give when they don’t want to be transphobic not really- it’s just so hard for them not to, so learned. Tae is the nail that sticks up. It’s bullshit really. Tae can tell it's bullshit before she opens her mouth.
“Really? He asked for Cinderella?”
“Yes.” Tae’s biting tone is an alpha’s tone, not a man’s, and yet she knows how it sounds.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m not lying.” Is Tae supposed to only help some children find the books they want? Is she supposed to look at them and make her best guess if they’ve got homophobic parents and skip them over? It’s not her fault that the sweet sweet pup’s parent was a bigot.
“I can’t help but feel like- you’ve got a personal agenda-“
"Charlie-" the district manager cautions.
Tae can’t stop herself from snapping, alpha anger sparking with the intent to burn. “Little boys should be allowed to read Cinderella if they want to” Rats and all. Her hands are shaking, and it isn’t missed by them. The room smells thick with Tae’s spicy cinnamon anger.
The district manager sets her hand on Tae's shoulder, and her anger ebbs just a little. “I think maybe you should go home a little early today, just to cool off. We can talk about it more tomorrow.”
Tae doesn’t want to go home early, Tae doesn’t want to go home at all as she packs up her books. Her bag lighter than usual, absent of the stories that she wants to take home. For once there aren’t any that she wants to read.
She walks to the train station because Jimin won’t be off work for another 2 hours and that’s when he’d usually pick her up, the last three days he’s gotten her flowers too; white roses the first day, pink the second, and red the third. She sends him a text.
Tae <3 (1:48): I left work early today, you don’t have to pick me up, I’ll get an Uber home.
Mini-alpha (1:49):!!!!!
Mini-alpha (1:49): What happened? Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up? I can leave now.
Tae sighs, looking down at her phone while she waits for the crosswalk light to come on. Red still, green in a few seconds, she only has to wait. She can practically feel Jimin's nervous energy through the phone. it's a wonder he doesn't immediately call her.
It makes her soft. It isn't in Jimin's nature to give any of his lovers any space but he always makes an effort when it comes to her.
Tae <3 (1:53): No. It’s fine. I’ll talk to you when you get home.
Tae doesn’t want to talk to Jimin about transphobia again. At least not yet. It’s too much energy. It’s not that Tae doesn’t want to make what happened during Namjoon’s rut better. It’s not that she doesn’t want to talk about it- it’s just that there’s nothing to talk about, the explanation of his actions are such a burden for Tae to bear. And Tae trusts that Jimin’s heart is in the right place even if he makes mistakes. And even telling Jimin off, yelling at him, wouldn’t change it.
Either one day Tae will not have to deal with bigoted parents, either one day she’ll pass and won’t have to worry, or she'll always be in this awkward middle ground.
Trans people are like toupees, you only notice them when there’s something off, something a little misplaced about them. Tae fears that most of all. Femininity, as much as she wants it, as much as it's hers to take, what if it won't ever fit right? What if she never passes?
Tae loves her job at the library, it’s the perfect mix of boring and safe and easy even if it doesn’t pay enough. But even as she's gained things like skirts and puffy sleeves, she's exchanged them for days like today. Really, the library was her favorite place before today and now, every step away from it makes her feel a little lighter. She's not even angry anymore, just exhausted mentally.
Tae decides to walk home at least she’s in her most conservative channel flats, they could use a little bit more wear and love and Tae’s thoughts are still too sharp. She dulls them to a palatable edge that all falls apart when she gets home.
You’re there, thank fucking god you’re always there when she gets home. You’ll always be Tae’s comfort person.
Tae opens the door with a creek and push of cold air, you're saying something to Yoongi turning with a toss of your hair, eyes brightening when you see her before you've even said her name.
You look a little healthier today, with a little bit more of a rosy glow to your cheeks and a healthy brightness to your eyes, not all glassy.
"Tae! You're home early!"
Tae will never stop being proud of how hard you try, and will never stop being a bit envious either because Tae-
Tae looks at you and wilts, bag flopping onto the floor, and predictably burst into tears.
"Oh- oh Tae."
"Baby girl-"
You and Yoongi are just about the best security blanket a packmate could ask for. You're so good as you pull her down to your level so you can kiss away her tears, maneuvering her like a perfect team onto the couch. Yoongi's strong hands slide off her shoes. Yoongi's fingers digging into her sore heel as you kiss away her every tear.
A substantial amount of babying and a Sos packmate in distress text later, and Tae is reclining across a freshly fluffed nest, the muscles in her body relaxed. The blisters on the back of her feet are bandaged and kissed. Every inch of her body is too.
You don't talk about it until after the pack's facemasks are finished, and hobi's clear coat has dried over the tiny nail sticker that you left. a small bumblebee.
Your skin smells sweet after a long long bath full of fancy bath bombs. Jinnie had also rubbed oil onto her freshly shaven legs. You helped, dragging it along oh so carefully to not nick her skin. Ending each pass with a kiss to her ankle and then upper thigh.
Tae’s head is in your lap now, cheek pressed against your (slightly chubbier) thighs. Her sniffles the background music as Tae gives her final recap of what happened.
Your nose gets a wrinkle in it when you go cross. "There's so much meanness to the world, I hate how people have to add to it."
Jimin’s anger leaves an undercurrent in the air, dragging the other alphas along, Hobi’s hands are strong where they dig into Tae’s shoulders, belly down in the nest while you play with her hair, braiding it back and forth. The attention makes her feel a little tingly.
“Do you know what her name was? Did you get a look at her car-“ Jimin asks, nearly barking. The library has cameras. Jimin knows it does.
Jin sets a hand on the back of his neck, a scruff threatening. “Down pup. Tae doesn’t need you to track them down.” Jimin’s teeth look particularly sharp in the light. For a face so soft he has quite the mouth on him.
“They made her sad,” he growls, but it's softer, more pointed as he crouches over her.
Namjoon’s quiet voice unlocks the whole world's worries, massaging gently down the column of Tae’s delicate neck, rough hands, worn tender touching her regardless. Namjoon is rarely ever so pointed, but it's logical, from an alpha's perspective, Tae knows what he hints.
"I think that if your bosses aren't going to protect you from people like that, then I want you to leave your job." Jin gives him a look like, 'Now you know where I'm coming from' but Tae's the important packmate right now.
Tae rolls Namjoon's words around her tongue, her hand loosely twined with his. Namjoon has the steadiest hands out of everyone in the pack and a few minutes ago he repurposed his surgery skills to do her nails. Took off the chipped red and re-did them because Namjoon knows she feels best when her claws are polished. He checks them now. Tapping them lightly to not smudge them.
It's a girl's night, the first girl's night you've ever had with the whole pack. Tae's face is still glossy from the face mask.
“I don’t think I want to quit; I don’t think that would help at all that’s not going to like- solve the world and all its issues.”
“No, but- if it’s making you more sad than happy. Then maybe it’s worth considering.”
Tae knows Namjoon’s not saying that she doesn’t make enough to affect the pack's finances, but that's still the truth. Hobi pulls himself along her other side and you watch him with heavy-lidded eyes.
Hobi presses a kiss to Tae's temple, “All you want to do is write every day anyways, and we just want you to be happy,” 6 heads nod their agreement.
Hobi isn't wrong; The last four weekends in a row Tae has woken up several hours earlier than the pack would usually stir from morning cuddles, just to get a few hours of uninterrupted writing done. She’s also spent nearly every night in her library room, staying up late after the pack has retired upstairs until one of you comes down and wrangles her upstairs. The pack's prettiest alpha needs her beauty sleep.
But is it enough to count on? Is it worth quitting her job over?
You duck down low, kissing the same spot Hobi did, your lips touching just a Tae away. a heavy breath wooshes out of her chest. "Yeah why wouldn't we want you to quit? If you're always here then I can always do this."
Your kiss is gentle, and it tastes like belonging more than Tae would ever be able to write, to describe. A love that makes you feel like you belong is a rare thing. And Tae's hand goes up to tangle in your hair, keeping you there for just a shared breath longer.
The next breath tastes a bit like freedom. It's scary to be free.
(But Tae leaves her 2 weeks' notice on her boss’s desk before the end of the next work day, and she doesn't feel bad about it one bit).
~-~
(1 year prior)
Maybe the truth is that the reason why you don’t feel you deserve agency is because you know what your agency looks like. The choices you’re willing to make when it comes down to it.
The secrets you tell and the lies you have buried deep in your pocket like one of Hobi’s found things. Something you can’t get rid of and cast back into the ocean. No matter how hard you try. There is something about murder that sticks, that stays no matter how many times you try to wash your hands of it.
It's not guilt, because you don't feel guilty for what you had to do.
Being backed into a corner can make someone do a whole hell of alot of monstrous things. And back then Life was monotonous. Back then there was Anguish without change.
Your life went like this: Go home. Get beaten. Get hurt. Get Raped. Wake up. Meet up with Hyejin. Make poison. Make pastries. Go to the Don’s house. Feed it to them. Listen to Moonbyul tell you to wait. Go home. Get beaten again and again. Get raped every night. On and on and on.
Clean up your blood from the tiles. Clean it from the carpet. Hydrogen peroxide and not bleach. Cover the bruises up with color corrector first before you put concealer over them.
Smile and tell everyone that your husband and you are perfectly happy. There will be a pup on the way soon enough, I'm so lucky to have someone who supports me, and I'm so lucky to have a love like this.
Go home. Get beaten. Get hurt. Get Raped. Go to sleep and don't cry because then he'll beat you for keeping him awake.
In the darkness that curls around you. Blood going tacky between your legs, you start to dream of wicked sweet things.
What you've been through would be enough to make anyone go crazy, Enough to make anyone consider drastic action. Enough to make anyone consider murder.
Enough for you to slide a pair of small syringes off of Moonbyul’s night desk and a small packet of arsenic too. You know how to make a simple syrup. You know how to mix in arsenic to it, how to make it liquid soluble without breathing it in.
You make it in the fine china and break it after so that you can throw it out without worrying. You get a beating for it but you hardly feel it when Geumjae drags you across the floor by your hair. It hardly breaks your heart when he steps on your ribcage with the intent to break bones because you know what you have to do.
After, with your own blood on your teeth, you make sure to leave it in the bottom of the trash, and ask the cleaning staff not to take it out yet. They're supposed to find it.
You don't care if you die, you just want to make sure the necessary villains are punished. When it comes to blame the person who is most to blame is you anyway. You are simply numb to pain, numb to your own anguish. Numb to the idea of your own death too. Geumjae's already killed you in every way that matters.
Cut off a wolf's head and it still has the power to bite; give a girl an enemy and she'll do dangerous things.
Your meetings with the Don and beta always go the same; gossip, and greetings. Sometimes when you come bearing bruises, they tell you to wait just a little longer.
Go home. Get beaten. Get hurt. Get Raped. Wake up. Just give it time for his temper to settle. Once you're mated it will get better.
Even Moonbyul and Hyejin tell you that planning the perfect crime takes time. That you'll be saved if you only wait. Help is coming.
Bullshit.
You’re tired of waiting for him to kill you, you're tired of waiting to die. You're smarter than all of them because you know exactly how to get everything you want and you're willing to do anything to get it.
The next time Moonbyul and Hyejin take you to the Don and Beta’s house under the guise of afternoon tea, you are prepared for war and dressed with revenge in mind. Your white dress knotted at the shoulders falling in a heavenly sheet, like an avenging angel, neither pious nor sinful.
You are a force of nature and nature does not ask when it takes lives.
What’s worse; the people that enable the abusers or the abusers themselves? Who is more to blame for the pain caused?
You are no longer hiding and you won't let them hide this time. The bruise on your cheek is purple and mottled, the rings of bruises on your wrists from his hands while he held you down.
When you smiled at Geumjae over breakfast this morning, there was only one thought in your mind.
You’re next.
Your agency looks like this; elegantly done hair your skirt a little short for fall. A basket of arsenic-backed goods in a basket as is usual. Fluffy pink cupcakes with the perfect Swiss meringue buttercream in little spirals.
A gentle smile at the beta when she opens her doors for you, letting the monster in, because you’ve been over enough times that she trusts you. You suppose that's your doing too, you've fooled her into thinking you're just another idiot girl who decided to marry rich and didn't bother to consider the strings attached. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, you bare your teeth when you smile.
Hyejin has helped on that front; over the past few months, she has taught you exactly the kind of conversation that the beta likes- the useless conversations about family drama, the small little bits that you let through about your husband’s opinion on which pup is marrying whom, which alpha is good or bad for the packs near dozen omega pups that aren’t mated yet. Which alphas are likely to be a liability? This kind of gossip is all information and strategy.
You might have lied in your call to her and told her you were fearful of one of the younger ones- and a conversation you’d happened to witness on a street corner, a shadowy figure that looked a little too severe not to be the authorities. Of course, these kinds of things have to be handled with discretion and ginseng tea.
The Don does not bother to turn down the TV when you walk in, sitting vulnerable in his recliner with his feet up. It doesn’t appear that he has any sort of inclination or plans to interact with you when you sit here at his kitchen table and talk. Instead, he lounges and watches his sports, loud because his hearing is so bad, nearly deafening.
It’s good. hopefully anyone nearby will not overhear.
You hope that if this goes south before you have a chance to confess that they find the letter you wrote at home; the one that says your husband is the one that put you up to this.
You know that the pack’s retribution will be swift, that any sort of alibi he has will be null and void with the evidence you’ve been leaving. A little trail of breadcrumbs that leads right into a pretty little grave for your husband. Even if you won't be around to see it.
You're already a friend of pain. You already find comfort in it. If they kill you (which they will) then at least it will finally be over.
You wait until the moment you know is coming, when the Don looks over his shoulder at you and comands “Be a dear and bring me one.”
You put one of your artfully created confections on a pretty gold-rimed plate and walk to his side, you lean over to put it in his lap as he indicates. the same way he does every time you come over with sweets.
The lingering hand on your ass is hardly abnormal. behind you the beta's tea cup clinks as she sets her tea down and says nothing. even though you know she notices.
He’s so busy coping a feel he doesn’t notice your other hand, going to the syringe duck taped to your thigh.
It happens quicker than the Don can blink. The most powerful man in the underworld can't be bothered to protect his life for a pretty little piece of ass. You smile down at him, and his hand squeezes the round apple of your behind.
His hand is still on your ass when you whip your arm around with as much force as you can and drive the syringe and plunger into his neck.
You must have hit something in his neck because he barely has a second to splutter before he’s going still and quiet. Mouth falling horrifyingly slack. His breath rattles and his eyes dart as his whole body is paralyzed near instantly, in the time it takes for his blood to circulate.
Two paces, swing, plunge.
The beta barely has a second to scream or stand to attack you. You are so much younger than they are. Your body might be fragile and frail but It’s still stronger than hers. Her brief scream is easily drowned out by the scratch of the TV.
She ends up on the floor, the icing on the cupcakes sticky as she falls into half of them, tossed onto the floor by your brief tussle as you straddle her struggling form. Her pushing gets weaker and weaker and she sobs.
It doesn’t surprise you when you see the black tracery of a dying mating mark itching up her skin.
One thing that the family had always been oh so careful of was to talk only in their mother tongue around you. Secrets are best kept when they’re spoken in foreign tongues. It was a way to isolate you. To make them speak English for you to understand felt like a beholden request. At one point It was a point of insecurity for you, always left out of the loop, always relying on your husband to keep you in the know.
You bend over her as her pushing gets weaker and weaker, the arsenic doing its job, causing numbness and the tingling of extremities before it causes paralysis and then coma and death. Your hair falls in a sheet over the beta’s face.
You’ve studied much over the last few months. Enough that you lean in close over her and speak your words in perfect Korean.
“You look so angry,” you croon softly, dragging a finger down her cheek. Spittle froths at her mouth as she breathes heavily. “You shouldn’t- if you want someone to blame you only need to look in the mirror.”
You lean in close until your lips brush her ear, “it's your fault you see- you're the one who lied" you mimic her voice, making it scratchy, "'just wait a little longer, it will be better for the family if you stay quiet." you laugh, "as if that where true, the only person it benefits is you. You where ready to let him hurt me and kill me if i just stayed quiet."
You wipe away a bit of spit from her lower lip, "You always told me how it was your duty to protect the family- but you only serve yourself. If you'd have done something, if you'd have helped me I wouldn't have had to do this. You just wanted me to shut up and die quietly.”
You switch back to English, “Well now it’s your turn.”
You watch her tongue go numb, paralyzed, but the poison hasn’t advanced far enough for her not to speak.
“Fucking- worthless bitch.”
You laugh and stand brushing some crumbs from your skirt. She’s already too weak to move, to shout, or fight you. You watch the light start to leave her eyes, winking out so slowly, like a dying star. But she still looks so pissed.
“You don’t have a right to be angry, you killed me first. You can’t blame me for fighting back.”
She gives her last breath and the TV plays on. Your shoe ticks her hand, her fingers twitching weakly. You watch as she gasps her last breath, a small smile on your face.
You sit at the table and turn the TV down. You wait a few minutes, but it quickly becomes an hour. You have yourself a nice little treat while you watch, turning the channel to a food network while you eat.
You really are a fantastic cook. The crumb on this batch is so nice you don’t even taste the metallic tang of poison. You eat through one, and then another, until the whole basket is empty.
Before you know it there is a concerned knock at the door. The lock clicks and turns when you answer it.
When Moonbyul opens the door, you laugh at the expression on her face. Licking the frosting from your lips. Even that is delicious.
She takes in their bodies, crumpled on the floor the frosting on your cheeks. The evidence. Both of them dying. A violence you cannot undo.
Her voice is somber. “Oh Pup, what have you done?”
~-~
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Come tell me what you liked about this chapter!
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Notes:
this chapter is a very classic bily chapter, in the fact that there is a fuck ton of fluff and then bang the mafia bits just take you out. we needed to get back into the mafia bits of the story sooner rather than later though 💀
i felt like i was going a little too over the top with certain bits of puptalk in this chapter, but i really wanted to use it to show that like yeah- the pack has been treating her alot more gently since her breakdown, they've been babbying the fuck out of her, even if we don't get to see it :(
Hobi's texts are so???? Fucking cute?? He's so hopeless my god he wants to make her feel loved without actually saying it and i hope you read them and just go "oh, you're an idiot."
I have this whole elaborate backstory to how wonho's gym works with monthly subscriptions to classes where people can decide how many classes they want to take a week, ie gym dues for facilities and then discounted classes on top if they pay for it before hand, with several tiers.
this chapter almost feels clerical- this is definitely more of a set up chapter- where i needed to check off a lot of boxes, like hobi's courting present- before we go any further into the story. things are going to start amping up in terms of stakes pretty quickly.
That one part, where hobi is kinda malfunctioning after the m/c touches his cheek and everyone teases him feels the most representative of the pack as a whole. like that part where they're all replying- feels very real. i struggle a little to capture a sense of domesticity in concise ways, but i think this part is very tidy.
That little touch with hobi- where he touches her wrist and her finger, that touch has so much weight to it, i personally think the whole pack was tasting the sexual tension on the air, can you guys feel it too or is it all in my head?
idk why yoongi calling tae babygirl makes me so flustered but it does 🥵
i really wanted to work calling tae mommy into the chapter someway but tbh this chapter felt complex enough without it.
there is like- one plot hole in this whole story, and that is in the first chapter of the story when yoongi gets a call the person on the other line says "grandfather is dying." implying that his death wasn't instantaneous like this is shown to be. however, in my mind- the injections don't actually kill the don and beta but plunge them into a coma that they never wake up from- is this an actual possibility with arsenic poisoning- NO IT ISN'T lol, you're just going to have to suspend your disbelief for me.
the m/c has always been the person who killed the don and the beta- i've known this since like...maybe the 4th chapter? it wasn't in the og og plan for the story but almost everything in bily has been hammered out since then. and tbh you already knew she killed them just not that it was this violent! does this count as a secret???? idk! maybe!!!
she's a little murder baby just like minnie <3
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itoshiexx · 10 months
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mi vida
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synopsis: sae never thought someone could become his life, but that changed when you came.
pairing: itoshi sae x gn!reader | words: 749 | warnings: established relationship, fluff
notes: welcome back to "things i wrote on a whim when my boss wasn't at the office"!! apparently i write a lot better in english without much planning, so yeah. this idea came to me based on a personal experience, since i call my boyfriend "minha vida" (which is the same for "mi vida"/"my life" in portuguese) and i never really thought i could consider someone to be my life before him.
i really really hope you like it, and i wanna thank you all so much for all the love you've given to Unworthy (but chosen), every note and follower made me super happy! &lt;3
and also, i'm so sorry if my description of the spanish culture is not accurate and for any english mistakes!
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during his time in spain, sae learned a lot of things. mainly, how to improve his soccer career even more, striving to become the best in the world after already being the best in his country. 
he was a genius, of course, so it wasn’t really hard to learn the language or get acquainted with the city of madrid, which was a lot warmer than japan — in many ways. however, it was really fucking hard to get used to the customs of the spanish people and its culture, considering it was so different from the japanese. they were extremely welcome, and sae was anything but. if anything, he was even more closed than typical japanese people. 
in spain, people were always greeting each other with a kiss on each cheek, showing off bright smiles and making conversation with strangers. friends talked loudly among each other, giving hugs and always touching somehow. the concept of personal space? totally nonexistent. in short, it was weird. 
but nothing was weirder than couples. 
the concept of love was already foreign to sae. he didn’t understand how a feeling could envelop one so much and make it forget about the rest of the world. he didn’t know how such an abstract thing, with no sense of logic whatsoever, could be so overwhelming to the point of taking one’s life completely, until all you could see, think and feel was your significant other.
most of all, he couldn’t fathom how someone could become your life. 
“te amo, mi vida,” was what he used to hear an old couple say to each other. they were the owners of sae’s favorite restaurant, a small little place in the suburbs of Madrid, and always treated him with a kindness he didn’t deemed himself worthy of. 
at first, he wasn’t able to comprehend what the sentence meant. he could barely write it on google translate to try to get its meaning, and he didn’t really care enough. though, as the time went by and sae became more fond of the couple, he eventually gathered the courage to ask the woman about it. and he was very surprised to hear the answer. 
“it means ‘i love you, my life’,” she said, smiling from ear to ear and handing a glass of salted kombucha tea to sae. it was one of the reasons he adored the place so much — it was the only restaurant he found that served his favorite drink. 
the older itoshi could only stare, dumbfounded, and mumble, “…why?”
the woman laughed at the boy’s naiveté. “why, you ask? because that’s what he is to me.” 
sae only stared in silence, too stunned to speak.
“i… i don’t understand,” he confessed. it sounded silly, and kind of pathetic, but at that moment he didn’t really care. the woman gave another smile, this time an understanding countenance, and placed her wrinkly hand on his shoulder. 
“you will understand one day, boy. and when your person comes, make sure to bring them here, right? i’d like to meet them!” 
the soccer player wanted to tell her that it would never happen. that the itoshi sae had no time for foolish things like love, and he most certainly would never love someone so much to the point of seeing them as his life. his life was soccer, and his goal was to become the best in the world. 
there was nothing else. 
oh, how he bit his tongue. 
it was at the age of twenty two when he entered the restaurant once again, and this time, not alone. you were walking by his side, with your hand intertwined in his, chatting excitedly while he just listened. a small smile was on his face, and his features were impossibly soft, in a way they only got around you. 
you, who were light in the darkness, who were comfort after a long day of practice, who was the one he loved most. you, who was the definition of home in every sense of the word. the only one that could make his heart swell so much it made it hard to breathe. 
he pulled your chair for you to sit like a true gentleman, and sat right next to you, always in need to touch you somehow. a hand was placed on your thigh while the other one opened the menu. and he turned to you, voice gentle like you could break:
“so, what would you like, mi vida?”
you, who was his life.
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© 2023 itoshiexx. do not plagarise, translate, or repost any of my work on here or other sites.
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pocketsizedq · 7 months
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Son
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Trevor wasn’t one to take many things serious with his some what childish personality. He never thought he would have something more important to him than hockey that all changed when he met you.
Fast-Foward to now you have a tiny little boy together and he wouldn’t change it for the world.
Trevor slowly rubs his eyes waking up to the sounds of little Ezra cries who was now nearly a four weeks old.
He looked down at you while you were snuggled into his chest sound asleep. You haven’t been able to get much sleep now with little Ezra being in the picture, but you won’t change it for the world.
Trevor carefully got out of bed trying his bed not to wake you. He stretches alittle bit before making his way to Ezra’s cot that was in the bedroom.
Ezra was all red in the face with tears rolling down his face when Trevor finally made his way over gently picking up the little boy holding him in his arms.
Trevor feels the little baby snuggle his face into the crook of his neck as he tries his best to comfort the little Zegras.
“Daddy’s got you little man” He softly said to the now just sniffling boy.
He gently wipes the tears going down his son’s face with his thumb kissing his head.
Trevor carefully carrying the little baby in his arms left the bedroom to go get him a bottle as it was about feeding time for him.
He opened the fridge grabbing out a small bag of breast milk pouring it into a bottle then putting it in the bottle warmer.
As the bottle was warming it, Trevor started thinking about how lucky he is that he is able to do what he loves then come home to a beautiful girlfriend and an adorable baby.
When the timer goes off, He gets the bottle out the warmer dropping alittle bit on the back of his hand making sure it wasn’t too hot for the baby.
Trevor slowly makes his way to the very comfortable lazy boy recliner where he gets comfortable making sure Ezra is laying comfortably in his arm close to his board chest.
He cradles the small boy bring the bottle to his lip letting him start to eat.
“when you get older me and your (nonrelated) uncle Jack are going to teach you hockey” He says calmly looking into the little blue eyes that he inherited from him.
Trevor heart felt so warm and was filled with so much overall love for the baby in his arms. He made a vow to himself that no matter what life brings to him he would always be there for you and Ezra.
It felt like a dream to know he was dad now with someone who he loves so much and cares for deeply. It was also scary to know that for the next 18 years this little baby will depend on you guys.
Trevor noticed that Ezra was done eating he set the bottle down grabbing the burp cloth from the side table putting it on his shoulder gently moving the little boy to his shoulder gently burping him.
He starts to gently pat the little baby’s back making sure he doesn’t hurt him.
Ezra lets out a big burp which make Trevor chuckle loudly jokely saying “you definitely are my son”
Trevor starts to slowly recline in the recliner letting the little boy rest on his bare chest as he knew skin to skin was very important for the little boy.
He watched as the little boy he held in his arms let out a big yawn slowly shutting his little blue eyes while he carefully start to rub his back.
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sunshine-theseus · 4 months
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Inside and Out | Aitana Bonmati x Reader
Words: 1.7k Summary: you weren't a cheerful or outgoing person but Aitana has plans to change that. - I'm back! sorry for delays Warnings: apologies, once again probably poor Spanish. request for - @realsociadadferminofan
People were often afraid of me upon first glance. You come to expect it when you’re covered in tattoos and rather buff, my resting face rather unhappy. It doesn’t mean it hurt any less when I try to talk to someone, and they went running for the hills. So I became the person everyone expected me to be; grumpy and lonely.
Until her.
Aitana was the epitome of sunshine. Smiling and full of life, welcoming people wherever she went. That’s exactly how she greeted me on my first day as Barcelona’s fitness coach. No one else bothered to approach me until Jonatan introduced us but as soon as Aitana saw me, she had her hand out for me to shake and asking how I’m doing, smiling brightly up at me.
I tried to keep up the ‘dark and broody’ demeaner for as long as I could around her, but she made it so hard. Every day before training she’d come in with that same smile, like sun beaming through the clouds, and would start up a conversation. In the beginning I replied with brief answers to get her to leave as soon as possible. Once I realised she wasn’t giving up anytime soon, I warmed up to it. Even going as far as looking forward to the daily meeting.
“Bon día!” She comes bounding into the gym, at exactly 9am as usual (after she learnt I love routine).
Other people mill around us, but we don’t notice as we begin to talk, occasionally attracting their eyes when we laugh too loud.
“Joder! Voy a llegar tarde al entrenamiento.” I’m left to smile affectionately as the Catalan makes a run for the locker room to get ready. (fuck! I’m going to be late to training).
I quickly make the decision I need to ask her out, fawning over her from a distance was not working out like I’d hoped. Completely ditching the gym plan I was scheming; I begin to make a list of things I know she likes. Instantly removing football off the list, I eventually land on a picnic at a lookout. The sunsets have been spilling pockets of warmer colours and casting a golden glow upon the city, I want to see that with her.
When the time for Barcelona Femení to walk through the gym doors comes, I grow nervous. Making a plan was all well and good but executing it was much harder than it seemed.
Making sure everyone has enough water and had a good lunch, it’s hard to keep my eyes off Aitana. Her sleeves are rolled up after spending time in the sun and her shorts are similarly so. The muscles that are normally so softly defined, prominently flexing as she makes her way over to some weights and begins lifting.
“If you keep staring she’s going to think you’re insane.” Claudia whispers in my ear as I help her fix her stance.
“Shut up, I’m not staring. Just… making sure she’s doing the right thing.” The younger girl chuckles and continues her reps while I try desperately to distract myself.
It continued to prove harder than expected. Every bicep curl, lunge, bicycle rep, my eyes drifted to her. The way beads of sweat dripped down her face and over the divots and hills of muscle that never seemed to stop flexing. The way her head tilted back as she chugged water. The laugh that echoed through the gym when Keira tried to speak Spanish or told an English joke she didn’t quite understand but found funny none the less.
The last of which did spark a jealousy deep in the pit of my stomach that I had to push down as I helped the other girls. Eventually I had to excuse myself to “take a call”, rushing to my car to bang my head against the wheel to try and knock some sense back into myself.
Jona, coming back from his late lunch with his wife and kid, knocks on my window in concern. I jump in surprise as he questions me.
“Estás bien? Qué ocurre?” the muffled voice is comforting none the less. (are you okay? What’s wrong?)
“Estoy enamorado pero tengo miedo de decir cualquier cosa. Y no puedo pensar en nada más” I groan and slump back in my driver’s seat. (I’m in love but I’m afraid to say anything. And I can’t think of anything else)
“Ahhh Aitana.” A smile spreads across his face and I flush red.
“How do you know?”
“She broke your dark and broody appearance. Only someone in love would allow their disguise to stripped away.”
“Well what about her? How does she feel?”
“Hard to tell. She’s always such a kind soul. But she’s never been so adamant in getting close to someone, so the chances are high. She risks being late every day to talk to you.”
“Qué? She shouldn’t do that.”
“But she’ll continue to.” The coach leaves with a smile and a skip in his step as he goes to overlook the team I’m currently supposed to be training.
I wipe the sweat off my palms, check my forehead in the rearview mirror to make sure there isn’t a mark from the wheel, and make my way back inside. I take to my usual spot in the corner, arms crossed, displaying the muscles that tend to scare away most, and yell orders across the room. If Aitana was risking her work for me, I’d simply stop allowing it. No more lingering conversations, no more daily meetings at 9am. No more anything. Back to my old self, for her.
That plan didn’t last long.
~~~~~
“Bon día!” the Catalan makes her usual cheerful entrance at exactly 9am, but I don’t even look up at her as I reply with a simple “morning.”
“Estás bien?”
“Mmhm.” I can picture the frown that adorns her face. Eyebrows pinched together and the corners of her mouth downturned, an expression that should never appear on such a ray of sunshine.
“Talk to me. What’s wrong?” Aitana pulls out the chair parallel from me and sits.
“I’m busy, you’ll be late.” There’s a pregnant pause and I can almost hear the cogs turning in her head. I hadn’t been this blunt toward her since we first met.
“I always make it to training on time, even when our conversations last longer than normal. You haven’t had a problem with it before.” It’s hard to fight her when she’s right.
“But I will be late today if you don’t talk to me. In fact I’ll miss all of training, sitting in this chair, waiting for you. I’ll always wait for you mi quiera.” I pause and let out a sigh, leaning back in my chair and finally looking into the chocolate brown eyes in front of me.
“There’s this girl… she’s so amazing and kind and she made me lower my guard when no one else could. She didn’t stop until I crumbed. She’s always there for me. I really like her Ai, but I don’t know if she likes me back.” Another silence follows but I watch as the stoic expression blooms into a toothy grin.
“Sí, she likes you very much.”
“Would she like to go on a date with me?”
“Sí.”
Despite the simplicity of the conversation in comparison to how I’d originally planned it, I feel myself grow giddy, a word I do not use lightly for myself.
“I’ll pick you up at 5pm? Nothing too fancy.” Aitana nods and bids me goodbye, heading to training as I try and fail to focus on today’s session plan once again.
-
As promised, I pull up to Aitana’s small apartment building at exactly 5pm, finding her waiting out front. A peach linen singlet and white denim shorts adorn her body, black sandals comfortably on her feet.
“Hola! You look cute.” She’s confident in her statement as she slips into my passenger seat.
“Thank you. You look beautiful, as always.” I barely catch the dusting of blush that brightens her cheeks momentarily.
“Where are we going mi quiera?”
“It’s a surprise.” I lean my arm on the centre consol, simply a comfort measure, but Aitana slips her arm beside it and fixes her hand in mine.
“Everything is a surprise with you.” I simply hum in content and continue the drive.
I try to distract her any time we approach a sign with the name on it, pointing out things that weren’t there or cracking jokes only she would laugh at now she understands my humour.
“Mirador Sirriá?! This is like the best lookout in Barcelona! I’ve heard the sunsets are so pretty from here, but I’ve never seen with my own eyes.” She rambles as I find a spot to park. It’s relatively deserted for how popular it is, but I can’t complain.
“The best sunset for the best girl.” I tease as I hop around to her side to open the door.
“That was cheesy.” Aitana giggles as she follows me to the boot, grabbing the picnic blanket and basket of snacks for us to enjoy.
“A picnic? Aye you have a way to my heart.” She helps me lay down the blanket and takes a seat.
“No tenía ya una camina hacia tu corazón?” I let out a fake gasp as I set the food down in front of us. (I didn’t already have a way to your heart?)
We begin to eat and talk, laughing until our bellies ache as the sun sets behind the Barcelona skyline. The air starts to feel fresh and the orange hue that casts down on us makes Aitana seem ethereal.
“Hermosa.” I whisper and she turns her head. Her eyes seem to glow in the light.
I tuck a hair that flies into her face behind her ear and cup her cheek.
“You’re so beautiful, inside and out. I would still be an angsty, cruel, unhappy fitness instructor you all hated if you didn’t force me out of my shell. Thank you.” I barely finish my sentence before her lips are on mine. It’s a feverish kiss but still full of love and adoration.
My other hand grabs her waist as both hers fist my shirt. We don’t stop until air is no longer travelling to our lungs.
“I couldn’t let the grumpy, unhappy trainer stay that way. You’re too beautiful not to feel loved, inside and out.” I bump my nose against Aitana’s and smile one of the biggest smiles I ever have.
“Te amo.”
“Te amo.”
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lichenes · 1 month
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Fuck the police
I've just watched "Perdrix" and I'm in love with that fucking loser of a man. Go crazy, go stupid Pierre, good for you. Oh yes the fanfic- If you guys want more works with him lmk!! Pierre Perdrix x gn!reader CW: Pierre being in love with youuu, love at first sight, not much happens tbh, SFW wc: 509
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Pierre lived a quiet life. He felt as though he was nothing special, sure, he was the captain of his precinct and he gained that title purely by hard work and dedication but something seemed to be missing from his idyllic existence. Someone to share it with, aside from his family.
To say he was suprised when he saw a fresh face would be an understatement. During his daily patrol of the streets he spotted a person looking to be his junior, appearing lost. As any good policeman would, he approached you. "Hello ma'am, Captain Perdrix, is everything okay?"
Pierre didn't even have to attempt to look harmless as his demeanor gave away his peacefulness. "Yes yes I'm perfectly fine. I just moved here so I'm still finding my bearings." He smiled at your statement.
"Okay, if you need anything you can find me at the uh..." he looked deeply into your eyes, nervous. "...you know, the- the police station." He gulped, suddenly aware of his own sweating hands. You looked puzzled at his anxiety ridden demeanor. "I'm gonna... go back to work." You chuckled. "You do that officer!" You waved at him as you were walking away.
Pierre's cheeks suddenly got warmer and his hands went into his pockets. God damnit.
After a while of consideration Pierre decided that the best course of action would be to start accidentally running into you. What would soon turn out, in his mind, to be the greatest fiasco of his life started innocently.
You adored the local coffee shop which Pierre frequented himself. The blissful energy eminating from the place reminded you of your own home. Fate itself gave him the opportunity to start a conversation with you and he would absolutely take it.
You were sitting at the small table, barely being able to keep the glass with you favourite beverage on in due to its size. Pierre entered the coffee shop and made a beeline for you disregarding the barista's greeting. "Hey, I uh..." he paused for a second. "Is this seat taken?"
You smiled politely and shook your head no. Relieved he sat down not sure where to put his hands. "So... why did you move into our little corner of heaven?" He visibly cringed at his attempt at erudition. You giggled. "Ah Mr. Perdrix you're so easy to read." He slouched in his seat afraid he might've cause you any offence.
"I'd invite you to coffee but it seems like we're already here." You said confidently, picking up his straightening posture, visibly beaming at your words. Pierre was grateful for your straightforwardness. His relationships didn't last long so he didn't expect anything out of this one but he was hoping it would turn out otherwise.
Getting to know eachother, he started noticing your little quirks which made him fall in love with you even more. No, he didn't want to call it love yet. He preferred crush, infatuation everything but love. Pierre made himself believe that he wasn't destined for long term relationships. But... maybe you'd change his mind?
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masterlist
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onskepa · 9 months
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Hello, could i get a neteyam x human!fem!reader where on pandora she get tanned and her skin is falling off and neteyam things she is going to die but she assures him
Ooooooooooooooooooohhh!!! I can tell you from personal experience, it was weirdly satisfying peeling the skin. Thanks for requesting! hope you enjoy!
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Tsawke
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Pandora wasn't like earth where it had major change of the climate. Drastic change for a new season. Pandora do have different climates and each of their own spot.
Where the green lands of the forest na'vi live, there are days in the year where it does get colder and/or warmer. But nothing too drastic to consider a new season. Now the sun was blazing across the forest, brining warmth more than usual.
Wasn't that hot, but was warm.
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And that is where sweet Tsawke would take the opportunity to sun bathe. She loves the sun and all its bright glory. The warmth, the light, and the life it brings. Of course no disrespect to Eywa. But in terms of science, she knows the sun plays a big part of keeping things alive.
Every day, every hour, Tsawke would take every chance she can get to go outside and enjoy the sun. No chores, no exploration, just herself and her sun.
Rare she can have a day to herself, but when it comes, she never lets it go to waste. Like now.
From when the sun rose Tsawke climbed to the clearest cliff with the lovely view of the floating mountains. It was a perfect place to sun bathe.
A little too perfect.
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Following day neteyam went to visit his dearest at the human post. Going in and saying the usually morning greetings he was close to reach Tsawke's door when spider stood in front of the door preventing neteyam from entering.
"hey bro! um, why not come tomorrow?" spider says a tad bit nervously.
Neteyam tilted his head a bit, feeling curious as to why spider would block him from seeing his beloved.
"is she sick? has something happened to her?"
"yes! she is sick and she doesn't want you to go in. Human sickness isn't a pretty sight believe me" spider speaks quickly. Hopping for his blue friend to leave.
Hearing that only made neteyam worry. Humans are fragile and despite the technology to protect them, death isn't a 100% preventable.
"all the more reasons to see her! move spider!" neteyam says, now feeling the urge to help Tsawke at her weakest point. But he also doesn't want to push spider like that.
Spider still doesn't move, determine to keep neteyam away. "Sorry neteyam but Tsawke told me not to let you in. She doesn't want you to see her right now. Just wait for tomorrow" spider tries to ease neteyam but it seems it falls on deaf ears.
"either you move or I will pick you up like a baby" neteyam threatens, and he was serious. Spider was willing to help his fellow sister but DAMN....his pride.
"its ok spider, let him in" Tsawke small voice was heard from the small gap of the door she opened.
Spider nods and left as neteyam gets close to the door.
"Tsawke? what is wrong? spider told me you are sick" he speaks, clear worry in his eyes.
A soft giggle escaped the girls lips, "I'm alright nete, it's just I didn't wanted you to see me like this..."
"like what Yawne?" he urges.
With a sigh, Tsawke opens the door wide so he can go in. The room was dark and a bit colder than usual. Turning on the lights neteyam gets a good look at his beloved human.
He freaked out.
"oh my Eywa what happened?! are you hurt?! does it hurt?! are you feeling alright!? should I take you to my grandmother!?" so many questions in a panicked voice as neteyam tries to understand what he is seeing.
Tsawke's skin was peeling off in pieces. She giggled, amused seeing neteyam's worrying fit.
"I'm alright nete, really. It is just yesterday I spend too much time under the sun. You can say my skin was....over cooked" she smiles as she explains in the simplest form.
"over cooked? Is that what happens to humans?" neteyam asks.
Tsawke nods, "yes, like the animals that need to shed, we humans also need to shed. It doesn't hurt I swear. I just didn't wanted you to see me like thinking worrying it might degust you..". She rubs her arms softly, suddenly feeling insecure about her body in front of neteyam.
His gaze softens and he gets closer. "Yawne...I could never be disgusted with you. I find it interesting. Humans are very different from us na'vi and I enjoy it every time you show me something different. So please Tswake, don't shut me out because of this. I love you, all bits of you. Even if you are 'shedding' as you say".
His words have a power of some sort. It soothes Tsawke greatly. "thank you nete, it means a lot" she smiles brightly.
Neteyam smiles as he gets closer for a hug but she backs away. "yes it doesn't hurt but that doesn't mean I can take physical contact at the moment".
He pouts cutely, shoulders slumped down slightly, ears pinned down and tail stops moving. He looked like a cat that way.
"haha, its ok neteyam tomorrow you can hug me all you want. But for now, why not enjoy some music?" she suggest. Satisfied with the answer, neteyam sits close to her but not too close and they pick a song and sing along to it. Enjoying each other's presence.
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And that is all for this one! Hope you all enjoyed it! until next time!
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Tsawke = sun
Yawne = Beloved
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genderqueerdykes · 3 months
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I'm coming up on 4 months on T and I'm just so... happy. even people who have no idea I'm transitioning have noticed how happy I look. I'm agender and just trying to get my exterior in alignment with my soul, if that makes sense lol. I've got boy tummy and my voice is notably deeper in ways I can't help and like – it's so weird, but T is clearly right for me. I look better than I have in ages, feel better than I have in ages, and somehow my ass fits my hips finally??? I enjoy taking selfies again. I love looking in the mirror again. idk what's going on but I'm grateful and it's magical and worth all of the mood swings and bacne 🙏🏾🥰 I just can't wait for the warmer months to sneak back around so I can fully embrace and show off my new happier self and stuff, it feels so weird looking forward to life like that
flat chest and a fat ass 😭 my transmasc dreams are coming true
(crying sobbing rolling on the floor) i am so happy for you holy shit, that's like the best thing i could've heard all day. just 4 months and you already feel so much more like yourself! that's incredible, you made the right choice! i'm glad you decided to go ahead and try testosterone, it's definitely the right choice for you judging by how happy you sound!
i'm glad you get to grow into yourself! especially being an agender person on testosterone, i think you're so badass. thank you so much for stopping by to let us know how you feel, i'm so happy that you are feeling yourself & loving where your transition & HRT is taking you. you deserve that & even more trans joy from here on out. i hope you continue to see changes that make you wake up and love who you see in the mirror! take care of yourself, you're a beautiful soul!
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heartfullofleeches · 2 years
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Yandere Male Naga x GN! Reader
3k words. Warning for light gore.
(An: Please don’t apologize for sending asks. You aren’t invading my inbox, I love each and every message I get no matter how many one person sends. Take care and I hope you enjoy it. ) 
Ever since you were young, you had a love for the slithery inhabitants of earth. Frogs to newts; the more you learned about reptiles and their amphibian family, the more fascinated you became. Now onto the later years of young adulthood, you were studying to become a herpetologist and live out childhood dreams. Unfortunately, outside of school there weren’t many people to talk to about your love of said animals and you had barely any friends outside that department on top of that. With very few choices of ways to make new ones, you opted for the easiest route of searching online.
You browsed various pet forums; most of your interactions being answering questions the curios folk had and commenting on pictures of cute pets. It was a nice way to past the time and you managed to make a couple acquaintances in the process. As much as you enjoyed each individually, none were quite like your longest chat partner.
With on a hike on a natural trail not far from your apartment, you spotted a snake slithering through a nearby creek. It was the beginning of the warmer months of the year, and at the point where they were starting to get more active. Keeping your distance, you snap a quick photo of it before continuing on you way. You honestly forgot about it, until you found it while scrolling through your camera roll the next day. You decide to post it online, just for the hell of it. A few replies thrown your way and you were content. You thought it’d even there – till you received a message in your inbox later that day.
“What a cute little guy. Is his friend as cute as he?~”
Another message comes your way the second you read the first.
“Ha, that was in poor taste of me. Please don’t block me.. I’ve seen you around this site and thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to send you a message.”
Though a bit of a flirt, you and the stranger got along quite well. You talked about reptiles and the like; most of your conversations ending on snakes, and your studies as well. Overtime, other aspects of life began to blend into your texts. Other interests, how living in your respective areas was, and just life in general. His name is Morgan, from what he claimed; your first real friend in a long while. 
Eventually, you both work up the courage to exchange pictures of each other. It was slightly difficult to see his face clearly, but you could make out the general shadow and his lips quirked in a mischievous grin. “If you think I’m a fake I’ll gladly send more.” He joked. He had deep brown eyes, hints of yellow bordering like off gems in the darkness of his room. Must be some kind of filter – you concluded. You send one back after, met with instant praise. 
“Ah, I knew you’d be stunning. You’re so cute I could just eat you up!” 
Time continues further and you continue speaking. You give him your number; his changing ever so often, buy you never went a day without a response. One night, as you getting ready for bed; you received a frantic message from him.
“Y/n! Are you awake?”
“Yea, I’m still up. Is everything ok?”
“Something attacked one of my cameras just now, but I was able to get the footage from it. Check it out.”
As told, he sends you a clip from a surveillance camera. It was pointed downwards towards a grass covered trail; footage grayscale. Morgan told you he lived near a forest, but this was far beyond than that. It was closer to a jungle; vegetation covered every area and trees dominating the landscape. He put cameras throughout it to capture footage of the wildlife within, and the instances like the one now on your screen.
In the distance, the camera recorded the end of something  slithering off the man-made path and into the trees; just barely catching its shadow. From the lack how far it was, it was hard to make anything out other than it was big. Just the corner of what you saw was nearly the width of a cow. You could vaguely detail a lighter shade of color on its underside, not much else to be seen.
Silence lingers as the footage remains still – then a crack. The tree holding camera topples over, somehow leaving it in tact and pointed at the sky. You hear the sound of something shuffling through the grass, a large shadow looming over view. It’s hard to tell what the thing is as its body coils around itself, you leaning in to try and determine what it is. It suddenly lungs at the camera, the last thing you see before it shuts off being what looks like a pair of fangs longer than any you’d ever seen. 
“What… was that?.”
“I know! I’ve wanted to tell you about it for so long, but I feared you wouldn’t believe me.”
“There’s a legend in my town about a beast in the forest. Larger than any man or animal; ten times stronger than the toughest of either species. Some say it’s even a hybrid of both. I think this is proof it exists!”
You start to believe it’s a prank. “Are you sure?”
“Positive! I wouldn’t bother you with this if I didn’t have more proof to show.”
He sends his proof; all rather damming – or the work of someone who knew their way around scene design.  A closer picture of trail the creature left showed just how massive it was; plowed through the earth like a bulldozer with a girth of around twelve yards. There were pieces of what looked like a snakes shedding shattered through the broken land, big enough for you to wrap yourself in twice over. The most chilling photo was that of the tree, a handprint wedged into the wood topped with thin claw marks. Upon a second look at the video, you swear the jaws holding the fangs seem too human like to be anything but. Hollow and cheeks stretched far beyond possible, but human nonetheless.
“This is crazy! Have you told anyone else about it?”
“I don’t trust a soul but you, my dear. Someone might alert the presses before its time. I need more proof if I want the world to believe me.”
“Is what you have already not enough?”
“The world is full of skeptics, Y/n. You can never have enough evidence! Plus someone might get better stuff than what I have if I wait. I plan on to taking a close up photo of it, but even I know it’s not wise to go alone.”
“Who will you go with?”
“That’s where you come in, love.”
“Me?.. What do you mean?”
“I want you to come! Think about it. You’ll be one of the first people to document a never before seen creature. That’s must mean something in your field.  Regardless of that, the thought alone must be exciting, no?”
You think over his offer, unsure as to what you should say. He did have a point on both accounts. Before you can reply, he sends yet another message.
“Plus… we can finally meet in person. It’s rather embarrassing, but I’ve wanted that for a while now”
“Alright. Alright. I’ll help you.”
“Yay! I look forward to it, my little mouse.” 
“Are you calling that because you plan to use me as bait?”
-
After discussing things further, you get the location of his town and make plans to meet  A quiet place with few towns folk keen on speaking with you..  Unfortunately, Morgan is unable to meet on the night you get in, but he promises to see you soon. As apology, - and because you spoke of it before, he gives you directions to where you’d stay for your visit. An RV on the outskirts of town; key tucked under the welcome mat just for you. A gift from a relative moving out of state – as he told. 
The interior was spacious; kept tidy and sectioned off between bedding and other activities. You knew Morgan had turned the van into a mini research lab, but you hasn’t expected all this much. Tables stacked with notebooks and books on animal behavior; a computer opened with various camera views of the forest beyond. A map was pinned to a board on the wall, thread connects to tacks spread across a makeshift drawing of the woods – detailing the creature’s travel patterns. 
Setting your belongings aside, you suppose he wouldn’t mind if you looked through what he had down. You pick up one of the journals, getting comfortable on the bed before you read. Opening the book at random, you note that some pages had been torn from the spine. 
“Day 1,
It’s my first night out here. The quietness of the forest is pretty relaxing. I tried asking around town to see of anyone could inform me about the stories more with no luck. I’ll head out first thing tomorrow.”
“Day 2,
No luck with my search. When I got back, I noticed tire tracks in the dirt. Not like the van had moved itself, but as if it were pushed to the side. There were strands of black hair by one of the tires. None of us have dark hair.”
“Day 13, 
I finally saw it. At least its tail. From appearance, it seems to be a speckled king snake, but the species isn’t native to the area, nor are they that huge. If I had to guess, it was longer than the van. 
“Day,
I found it’s cave. It was sleeping, so I was able to put a tracker on it, but it woke up. It saw me-"
You close the book, chills running through you. You understood the dangers of coming out here, but this was something else entirely. Who was this “us” he mentioned anyway? You place the book where it came from, focusing the rest of your energy on getting comfortable within the sheets. The trip so far had you pretty tired and you needed your rest. You send Morgan a final message before you shut your eyes  - the distance sound of a photos chime unheard by your ears.
-
You’re awoken by a powerful force slamming against the side of the RV, rattling its walls with you along with it. Startled by the distance, you sit up, looking around for the source. The night still hung high in the sky; the shadow of the moon raining over the window. Upon second glance, the shadow is not that of a celestial being but of a indescribable form pressed against the glass. It drags thin nails along the pale, webbing between its fingers translucent from the light of the moon. You stare in silent terror, mind blank except for trying to process what you just witnessed. It eventually remembers it has a body; you rushing for the door – safety the last thought in your head. 
The monster vanished as quickly as it arrived, leaving you dumbfounded in the doorway. The cold air slaps you in the face, waking you from your trance the creature had over you. You sit at the steps, body trembling from the encounter. Against the voice in your head's demands, you stay put. As terrified as you were, you just had to know more, but you’d have to wait.
-
You climb back in bed, unable to sleep for the rest of the night. By the time morning had crept in, you still hadn’t gotten a response from Morgan. You were starting to get antsy. Leaving without him was the only thing you didn’t want to do, but your patience was run thin. The mystery of the unknown had you completely entangled; a grip that refused to let go.
By the time noon rolled around, you finally gave in and decided to go without him. You carefully unlinked the map from the wall, tracing the thread's lines with a pen. As you gathered things for the journey, oddities began appearing. Some of the journals were written in a different handwriting. Clothes of various sizes tucked in corners. Had your brain not been hopped up on adrenaline, you would have taken the clears signs of warning and ran. Instead, you ignore and hike towards the groove of trees.
The trees block out the sun in an instance, the holes of which it’s ray poke through just barely enough for you to see. Map in hand, you navigate through the thick forest with relative easy. According to the map; marked with bold marker, the beast’s home was directly in the heart of the woods – damn near a straight path from where you were. You come across the tree from in the video, trunk split clean in half. The ration part of your brain makes you dig your heels into the dirt, but the determined part keeps you going.
Time treks on, and so do you – eventually finding the cave where the beast lie. Any warmth in the air was snuffed; dragged in by the abyss of its entrance. Water dampened the earth below like a miniature moat, your foot falling almost ankle deep as you step by. You pull out a flashlight from the bag you had taken; light reflecting on the shine of the cave's walls. Your footsteps echo no matter how quietly you attempt to walk, dread hitting like a hammer with each step.
As you reach the end of the cave, you somehow almost miss the sleeping mass in the corner. Gigantic; wide – blackish-brown scales blending with background of the cave. Yellow scales mixed and hid under the darker ones; leaving it identifiable as a king snake as the journal had foretold. A snake known for its deadly constriction. From the way it was collided around itself, you couldn’t see its face and that was probably for the better. If it woke up now, it had the capabilities to swallow you whole if it didn’t crush you to death first. 
You pull out your phone, snapping a few pictures of the creature while you could. The flashlight helps you get a clearer shot of it, but your phone was too small to catch its full size. You take a couple steps back for a better angle, tripping over an unseen force. It cracks under your heel, causing you to freeze. You had come very little debris in the cave, so you hadn’t bothered to check the further you went. You look down to see what it was, almost dropping your phone and light in the process. 
A human skull rests at your feet; completely stripped of muscle and skin. Its broken jaw lies under your shoe, panic rising up your leg. Looking around the cave, there’s more remains littered about; most by or crushed by the snake’s tail. As you become more aware of your surroundings your other senses kick in; a faint coppery scent masked by the smell of murky water. You needed to get out of here. Fast. You turn your flashlight back on the snake, heart squeezing in your chest as you do so. It was moving.
It had been from the start.
Small, twitching movements that now delved into the unraveling of its body as it stirred. Its upper torso begins to rise, scales declining into human skin the further it rose on its spine. Yellow freckles lined its shoulders, skin ashened. Clawed fingers wipe gore from its mouth as it turns to face you; forked tongue clearing blood from it extended fangs. It’s other arm cradles a broken corpse, bites of flesh torn from its neck and limbs bent an unnatural way. Familiar eyes smile warmly as you, the body collapsing to the floor unharmoniously as it spreads its arms towards you. The irises were thinner now; piercing. 
As if matters could get more terror inducing, it opens its mouth once more. Not to lash out at you, but it greet you with warmth; tongue fluent in human language.
“Y/n! What a surprise to see you, my love~ Had I known you were coming I would’ve cleaned up more.”
It laughs. A deep rumbling cackle that mocks the shocked look on your face. You can’t process it. You had seen the videos and pictures. You felt its presence last night. You had heard his voice before.
“M….morgan?” 
His face melts into a soft expression. “Yes, my beloved? I know this must all be a shock to you, but I assure you I am he.”
He pulls out a phone, the device looking like a child’s tool in his hands.
“The internet is a fantastic place, don’t you agree? I’ve never gotten this much food so quickly in all my years! As wonderful as that is, never did I think that I’d find my mate there as well.”
You shiver as he licks his lips. “Mate?”
“Yes darling.” He’s on you before you even blink, wrapping his tail around you only to keep you still. It’s only when you struggle that his hold tightens; not enough to hurt, but to render you motionless. An act of tough love. His hands snake around your upper body, face pressing against your neck. The slender muscle of his tongue kisses your skin; a cavernous purr leaving his lips as he takes in your scent.
“As you may know, snakes don’t mate for life, but I tend to stick our from the crowd. I’ve longed for another to hold for ages, and you’ve been the only perfect candidate. Such an adorable passion you have for your field of work, and a cute face on top of that. Oh, your scent alone soothes me greatly, my precious mouse.”
Morgan nozzles your cheek, sapping your warmth against his rough skin. Now that he had you, he’d never let go. You manage to wiggle one arm free, attempting to distance yourself much to his disappointment. 
“I’m… flattered, but there’s no way I can stay here. I have a life outside and there’s things I need to-"
He squeezes you to his chest, cutting off your sentence.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Y/n. I’ve done my research, I’ll take such good care of you you’ll never think of another again. I had that van fixed really well for you, did you not like it? Those researchers were so messy, but I made sure they did a good job before they expired.” 
You gulp, not enjoying his choice of words. You’re forced to look up at him; persistence and obsession swirling in his eyes.
“Do you need more? I can get rid of someone in town and you can have a nice home – the whole town if you so wish. Anything for you, so long as you be a good mate and stay by my side.” 
His fingers course up the end of your spine; voice dropping to a whisper. “I’ve even studied human pleasure, if intimacy is what you truly crave.”
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prince-liest · 1 month
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Terrified by missionary anon here and oh my god I LOVE the way you reworked the ending of the last chapter!!! It had me squealing!! I was just a tiny bitty sceptical at first but at this point I can safely say I trust u with my life. Which makes sense considering ur occupation but u know what I mean
Also!!! I had a shower thought and I doubt there’s a better person to ask than you because your descriptions are always spot on. I think we can all agree that Vox smells good, but I was wondering what do you think Alastor smells like? 🧐 I vote for that rancid smell of rotten meat, with a hint of lacquer, like an antique shop, very coffin-esque. But I rly want to hear ur thoughts on this!!!
Ayyy, I'm so glad that you liked it! >:D I feel like a couple of years ago I would have been a lot more hesitant to just change my mind like this on something (and admittedly I did feel bad about it initially this time) but I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty comfortable going, "Bro, listen - bro, just trust me." about my own writing, ehehe. I'm pleased it's working out! >:)
Also, you've made a terrible mistake in asking me this question because I've recently become very interested in fragrances but I'm also a gourmand snob and have a very sensitive nose when it comes to food products and cannot stand the smell of things rotting, so I would just categorically refuse to imagine that any character I enjoy smells like rotting meat, klxjchfg.
Anyway, if I had to pick a style of fragrance or cologne for him for when he was alive, I feel like he'd go for something woody but warm. Those kinds of scents tend to be masculine and have a nature-y freshness to them that a guy who buries bodies in the woods would probably get a kick out of. And then add something like amber and musk to undercut the scent to make it feel warmer in a way that I think makes people read the wearer as a safer and more comforting presence, which is delightfully misleading.
As for what he'd wear in hell... Tsokovat's Inexcusable Evil, lmfao, no contest. The name is perfect, he'd think it was hilarious, and I've seen so many people say that it genuinely just smells unpleasantly like dousing yourself in fucking blood. Most people's reviews for this stuff call it really uncomfortable but compelling. Tell me Alastor would not think that this wouldn't be the most amusing perfume ever to force on the people in his presence.
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pagesfromthevoid · 1 year
Text
Cowboy Like Me | d.d. | Bonus II
Din Djarin x princess!reader
Word Count: 2.5k
Warnings: nada
Author’s Note: I just want them to live in that damn cabin on Nevarro okay? We’ll get there. I swear. But also?? Bo Katan yall.
Series Masterlist | Talk to Me!
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The Heiress
Bo Katan Kryze sat on her throne, staring blankly out the window of her once grand palace. Kalevala, the once beautiful and thriving planet of her people, was dreary and wet —both from the oceans and the rains that seemed to never stop. It had been a long time since she’d stepped foot in her childhood home; she had spent the last several years as a mercenary, leading her fleet through the galaxy on odd jobs for hire. 
“Milady,” the footman droid announced suddenly, drawing her attention from the windows. “The Princess of Senex —she has landed on the runway.”
Bo Katan’s brow furrowed as she slowly stood, lifting her helmet into her arms. “Is she alone?”
Rumors had been swirling around the Outer Rim —the death of Leox of Senex, an engagement to a “former” general of the Imperial fleet and a runaway princess. But Bo Katan had not heard much else regarding the Princess of Senex since her fleet —long gone by now, having abandoned her —got the call for the bounty. 
“There is one person on her ship, but she is coming in alone,” the droid confirmed, as footsteps echoed through the grand but empty halls of her home. 
Bo Katan stood tall as the Princess of Senex made her way into the throne room. It had been many years since the once ruler of Mandalore had seen the young woman; long enough for her to almost not recognize the princess as she stopped at the entryway. They were both much younger the last time they had interacted.
“I want to be a warrior,” the young princess exclaimed as Bo Katan removed her helmet. “I want to learn to fight.”
“Princesses do not fight,” Calisto of Senex corrected, giving her daughter a cold, almost callous look. “Lady Bo Katan is not a princess, therefore the rules do not apply to her.”
“Lady Kryze is a queen,” the child corrected, earning a pinch from her mother that caused her to cry out. 
Bo Katan watched Calisto with a wary, distrusting gaze. “Anyone can learn to fight. Princesses especially should learn.”
“Do not –,”
The doors of the meeting room opening interrupted whatever scolding Calisto had planned, however. Leox of Senex stepped into the room finally, holding several holotablets. His presence was a welcome change from his wife’s —warmer, brighter. He had a smile on his face. And as soon as he was in the room, Calisto left without a word —disinterested in what was happening. Leox did not seem bothered by her departure; though neither did their child. 
“I do apologize for keeping you waiting, Lady Kryze. I was finalizing the plans.”
Bo Katan simply nodded, glancing down at the child. “It is no concern, Senator. What you’re doing for me is more than I could ask for.”
Leox simply shook his head though, looking down at his daughter with a soft smile. “I hope you do not mind my daughter being here; she is learning diplomacy and I find the best way of doing so is being involved.”
“Of course; learn by doing. I don’t mind at all.”
The holotablet turned on, showing a map of her fallen planet of Mandalore. Bo Katan stared at it for a long time, noting the crystalized wasteland that had taken over everything. 
“What happened?” The little girl asked, reaching up to point at a rather worse for wear image of the planet.
“The Empire destroyed my home,” Bo Katan explained, eyes not tearing from the images she was seeing. “Your father thinks your scientists here can break through the crystallization and find enough life to bring it back, though.”
“If he can’t, one day, I will,” the child promised, looking up at Bo Katan with a determination that no child her age should show.
“Perhaps we should teach you to fight then.”
Leox had laughed, shaking his head, before they continued their meeting.
“I sent a distress signal to you,” the princess announced when Bo Katan motioned her forward. “So it seems it fell on deaf ears.”
“If you sent it here, then it did,” Bo Katan offered as an explanation. “But it does not seem like you need my help anymore.”
The princess still held herself with that royal posture –one that Bo Katan was certain her mother probably beat into her –but she did not look like the princess she met all those years ago. Instead of a gown, she wore a practical and utilitarian outfit, complete with a blaster one hip and a knife holstered on the other. There was a fierce determination in her eyes, one that told Bo that she had been through much more than any Inner Rim princess would ever see in their lives. Bo Katan couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in seeing how far the young princess had come since they first met.
Gone was the naivety of youth, replaced with a hardened edge that only came from bloodshed and battle; through loss and pain.
“It’s been a long time,” Bo Katan continued, stepping away from the throne to meet the princess in the middle. “What brings you to me now?”
“Can’t a princess come visit a queen without a need?”
“Not you,” Bo Katan countered, giving her a knowing look. “Not when I received an invitation to your engagement celebration. Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon by now?”
The princess pursed her lips, as if trying to keep herself from smiling. Bo Katan’s brow furrowed in confusion –what could she be smiling about? Was she not married to Silas Credence, a former Imperial general? A man decades older than her?
“I suppose the news has not been spread this far then,” she hummed, looking up at Bo once more. “Who do you think I am married to, Lady Kryze?”
“Imperial scum,” she offered up, narrowing her eyes.
“Then you would be incorrect,” the princess replied, a prideful smile taking over her grin. “My mother wanted that –but the engagement did not take. Marrying a dead man would be a scandal in and of itself.”
“What do you mean –Credence is alive, isn’t he?” 
The two stared at each other for several moments before the princess shook her head. “No, he’s no longer alive.”
“What happened?” Bo Katan demanded, stepping closer to the young woman in front of her.
“I killed him,” she explained simply, meeting Bo’s eyes cautiously. “With the knife given to me by my actual fiance.”
“The more you speak, the more cryptic you’re becoming,” Bo pointed out, frowning deeply. Footsteps suddenly echoed through the hallway, announcing the presence of another being. Bo tore her gaze from the princess, looking past her now. “Tell me you’re lying.”
The princess unsheathed the knife at her side, holding it out to the fallen leader of Mandalore. Bo Katan lifted it into her hands, looking over the signet that was pressed in the blade. 
Clan Mudhorn.
“Bo Katan Kryze, it is me. Din Djarin.”
Bo’s eyes shifted between the princess and Din Djarin, then to the knife. “That is certainly one way to become a Mandalorian. Did you send her in first because you knew I’d prefer speaking to her over you?”
“I did, actually.”
Bo Katan gave him a narrowed eyed glare before turning back to the princess. “Is it too late to tell you shouldn’t marry him?”
“I wouldn’t listen even if it wasn’t,” she replied simply, looking up at Din as he stopped behind her. 
Bo Katan let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. After several moments allowing her to process everything, she returned to her throne. Nothing she said would change what had been done, and truthfully, Din Djarin wasn’t the worst person the princess could have found herself married to. Though she was certainly curious as to how they had found themselves together –not that she would ask any time soon.
“What do you want?” Bo Katan finally asked as she sat back down, looking out the window once more.
“I need your help,” Din started, “I must bathe in the Living Waters of Mandalore to be redeemed. If you still intend to reclaim the planet –,”
“There are no intentions to reclaim Mandalore,” she interrupted, looking back at him with a deep frown. “I have no people. My fleet abandoned me when I lost the Darksaber.”
The princess looked between the two, brow furrowed. “What is the Darksaber?”
Bo glanced at her, frowning. “You haven’t told her?”
“Told me what?”
“By all intents and purposes, Din Djarin is the rightful ruler of Mandalore.”
There was a heavy silence that fell between the three of them. Din’s stance had tensed, and the princess was simply staring up at him with wide, confused eyes. Bo Katan found the scene entirely too entertaining, if she was honest with herself. She did not know Din Djarin especially well; their interactions had been brief and clipped, if anything. But she did know the princess well enough. And she knew that the princess was probably less than thrilled about finding out about the Darksaber through Bo instead of Din himself.
“And without the Darksaber,” Bo pressed on, cocking her head to the side in amusement. “No Mandalorian will follow me.”
“I do not want it,” Din argued, taking it off his belt and holding it out to Bo. “Take it.”
“That’s not how it works and you know that.”
“How does it work?” The princess all but demanded, looking between the two Mandalorians with a deep set frown on her face.
“It must be won through combat. I must beat him in order to possess it once more.”
“But I cannot just yield and hand it over, apparently.”
“So let me..let me understand this entirely,” the princess finally huffed, putting her hands on her head. Her sleeves slipped down over her arms, and Bo Katan caught a glimpse of a scar that traced up her forearm. The once ruler wondered, briefly, where such a scar had come from. The princess turned to Din now, pointing at him. “You have…one, broken your Creed because of me but did not tell me. Two, have a child who is Force sensitive but did not tell me. And three, are in possession of a weapon that makes you the ruler of a planet…but did not tell me.”
“In my defense –,”
“Din, you have none. There is no defense. You failed to tell me very important details –,”
“It sounds like this is a lover’s quarrel. I am going to have to ask you to take it anywhere but my home,” Bo Katan interrupted, looking between the two. “Please leave me alone. I am…not interested in being involved in any of this. Not anymore.”
The two stopped their bickering —well, the princess stopped her bickering —and turned to Bo, who was waving them out of her home. The footman droid started to usher them out, and finally, Bo Katan glanced up as the princess gave Din a weak shove and a dirty look, no doubt scolding him for withholding details from her. 
*****
“I didn’t think it was relevant,” Din pointed out once they boarded the Crest once more. 
She had stopped talking to him once they were out of Bo’s sight. Her arms crossed over her chest in defiance as she ignored his help onto the ship, her gaze anywhere but him. 
Did he omit details? Yes, he did. But did he do it purposely? Not exactly. Truthfully, he hadn’t considered the consequences of not telling her he held the Darksaber. He didn’t want to think of them; he didn’t even want the weapon. It meant nothing to him or his people, therefore it didn’t need to be brought up. 
And regarding Grogu —well, he simply assumed she knew. The kid often used his abilities to get what he wanted. Din just figured the child had used them in front of her before, and she was well educated. She had to know of the Jedi and the Force. There wasn’t a reason for him to assume otherwise. 
Though, in hindsight, he should be telling his wife things. Even if they felt irrelevant. 
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, sitting in the pilot’s seat. 
Grogu climbed into her lap, reaching up to tug at the scarf that hung loosely around her neck. Even if she was frustrated with Din, she didn’t take it out on the kid; she smiled down at him, poking his belly gently to greet him. She had mentioned earlier that week, when the Armorer exiled him, that she didn’t like it when her parents argued in front of her. She refused to do so in front of Grogu.
“Did your dad forget to tell me that you’re a Jedi in training?” She teased, lifting Grogu into the air. Her gaze remained focused on the child instead of looking at Din. “And that he was technically king of an entire planet?”
He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the grin that was forming under his helmet. Even if she was frustrated with him –and she was; there was no doubt about that –she was trying to make light of it the best she could. 
“He did,” she continued, still ignoring Din. “He did forget to tell me. Isn’t that just silly of him, Grogu?” The child giggled in her arms, babbling in response as if he was trying to talk back to her. “Exactly, little one. He should have told me –we’re already married, what am I going to do? Run away?”
Her teasing tone had flattened some, and she finally looked at Din as she rested Grogu back in her lap. The child cooed some, standing up to move into Din’s lap next. 
“I should have told you,” he conceded, turning to take the child into his arms now. “I didn’t…I wasn’t thinking, truthfully. The Darksaber means nothing to my people, so it didn’t seem important enough to bring up. I am not the ruler of Mandalore and I do not want to be.”
“Then what do you want to be, Din?” She asked, pulling one of her legs into her chest, resting her chin on it. 
“I just…I want to be a Mandalorian once more. I want to take care of my clan. That’s all I want and all I’ll ever want.”
She hummed a bit in response before pushing herself out of her seat to stand over him. Her hands rested on either side of his helmet, holding him in place as he looked up at her.
“You’ve already gotten half of that then,” she reassured, pressing her forehead against his gently. “Now we just need to get you to Mandalore to get the rest.”
———
Taglist (CLOSED): @r4iner @sgt-morgan @mingeniee @darling1darling @teriolan-blog @venusfalling @double—take @sunshine96 @lovelessprick @mxtokko @ellesvoid @waddafaknik @c-ms1ut @kokoirne @sl-ut @munsons-queen @intense-sneezing @geekrenaissance @dilf-din @tizylish @ruleroftides @aheadfullofsteverogers
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Note
the guys with an s/o who can never admit that they love him and runs away, but they finally somehow settle in with each other after years of rejection and being apart. Like Forrest Gump’s relationship with Jenny
Now I am a Jenny hater. So I will not make the s/o as bad as she was. I’ll make them more like a free spirit. Someone who doesn’t want to be tied down but they decided to once they’ve had their fill of the world.
Baki Head Canons
Free spirit s/o (gender neutral) with Jack Hanma, Jun Guevara, and Biscuit Oliva
Jack Hanma
He adores you and it’s why he let you run free. He knew you were someone who never wanted to be tied down but he couldn’t help but long for you to be his
You two have known each other since you were children. Sharing a bond like no other, your mothers believed the two of you were going to get married to each other when you both reached adulthood. If only they knew of your desire to see the world and his desire to get stronger was what was keeping the two of you apart
You both always somehow met up with each other along both of your travels. Instantly recognizing the other from a far. Jack believes you two are soul mates but you tell him that he is your twin flame. Someone you can only be with once you both are healed from your traumas
Whenever you meet up, it always ends up with you being in each other’s beds. And then you two share stories with each other. It’s a level of intimacy Jack would never have with anyone else and he doesn’t ask you if you do this with anyone else. His heart cannot handle the thought of you being with other people like this. To his relief you tell him you don’t. You’re just traveling to see the world. Love can come later. Yet Jack was madly in love with you. He didn’t want anyone else but you and he would wait until you’re ready
Jack is alright with only being a bed warmer for you from time to time. So long as he’s the one beside you touching your skin. He wishes you would return even an ounce of what he felt for you, that you would always come to him whenever you’re feeling lonely. He knows it’s selfish but he’s so in love with you
So when you tell him that you’re getting older and that you’re debating settling down, he asks if you want to settle with him. He confesses his love for you and you accept him
“You’re the one thing in my life that has never went wrong so I was afraid to tell you how I feel about you but I can’t hold it in any longer. I love you. So please… settle with me.”
Biscuit Oliva
Oliva enjoys the chase. He enjoys how unattainable you are. You’re like a free bird that always flies out of his reach whenever he gets too close. Oliva is a hunter and he enjoys your game of hunt and prey
You enjoy his attention and devotion to you. Although you have many suitors, Oliva is your favorite. He showers you with dazzling jewels and fancy clothes. He’s the kind of man who you would be set for life with, it’s why you always made sure to keep his interest in you piqued. He always caved into you whenever you sing his praises
He calls you his song bird. A beautiful bird he wished would only sing for him
Oliva notices a change in your demeanor one day when you’re a little quieter on your biweekly visit with him. He asks you what’s on your mind
You tell him how you’re thinking of settling down. You’re getting tired of running all the time. You crave some stability
Oliva is over the moon. He asks you if you want to settle for him. How he will give you the world.
“I will turn this world upside down, just for you. Whatever you want, I will do everything in my power to give it to you. I will make you the happiest person in the world. All you have to do is say yes to me.”
Your fate is sealed the moment the you utter yes. You didn’t think he’d jump the gun this fast but you were grateful for it. Grateful that you would live a cushy life for the rest of your days with a man who adored everything about you
Jun Guevara
You were a vagabond. A wanderer that he has encountered many times in his travels over the sea. A beautiful, wild soul no one seemed to be able to tame. He wanted to be the one to catch you
You two were always in a dance with one another, one that was always in perfect rhythm. You were a missing piece to him. His soul mate
You never accepted any of his advances because you were a tease. It drove him wild but it’s what he loved most about you. He loves to chase you
He never stops trying to seduce you whenever he sees you. Never stops dancing with you or trying to kiss you. You enjoy his attention. He’s an extremely attractive man after all and you’ve always been a sucker for bad boys
You ask him one day why he doesn’t try to tie you down. Why he hasn’t tried to trap you yet and his words to you is what allows you to finally be in his arms
“I love keeping you wild, meu amor. It’s a part of your charm I never want to take away. I just wonder if you’d allow me to be wild with you.”
The two do you begin to travel together and for once in your life, you finally have some small piece of stability
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lonelywhalien22 · 1 year
Text
pretty lies - part nine (finale)
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pairing: vernon x reader
rating/genre: enemies to lovers, slow burn, ANGSTY fluff, band au
summary: supporting your friend mingyu becomes way more than you ever could have bargained for when you become involved with one of his bandmates
warnings: cussing, vernon has issues in this story but please remember this is a work of fiction, mingyu stans don’t hate me but mingyu and reader are just friends
*credit: the lyrics referenced in this chapter are not mine, they are from the actual song black eye by vernon. and if you really wanna nerd out with me, listen to the band live session version he released, as that is what i imagined specifically while writing this part - trust me, it hits different.*
word count: 6.4k
prev. chapt. | series masterlist
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~One year later~
“Ok, I think that’s enough for today,” you said to yourself, wiping the back of your hand across your brow as you stood up from your crouched position. You glanced around your apartment, trying to find your glass of water as you caught your breath.
Your living room was full of cardboard boxes, some of them taped shut with short descriptions scribbled hastily on the outside while others were still open, various items thrown inside haphazardly. It was spring once again, but instead of the seasonal cleaning you loved to indulge in at the first sign of sunny skies and warmer temperatures, you were moving out.
When you’d first been contacted about a competitive job offer a few months ago, you had immediately dismissed the idea. Though the hiring manager had been highly impressed with your skillset, the work would be notably different from what you were used to doing at your old job, and you doubted whether you could handle the requirements of the role. Your hesitation only became stronger when you were informed that you’d also have to relocate to take on the position.
What about my family? Mingyu and the rest of my friends? The life I have here? You’d spent weeks pondering the possible scenarios and all the things that would change if you took the offer, and you’d almost talked yourself into declining it. That was until you realized how much had already changed. 
It had been nine months since the guys had left to go work on their recording with Woozi. You still remembered the final hugs you’d given to Jay and Mingyu at the airport before they’d gone through security, a certain third person having not yet arrived. You still wondered to this day if he’d purposely chosen to show up as late as possible or if it was you who had come extra early to avoid having to interact. Perhaps it was both.
You and Mingyu had facetimed pretty regularly for the first month that they were gone. Sometimes you’d even see Jay in the background during your video chats as well, the two of you exchanging greetings and asking how the other was doing. By the time the second month had come around however, the distance made it hard to always remember to keep in touch. Eventually you all became busier and busier, your lives naturally moving in different directions. No matter how much time passed though, Mingyu always made sure to at the very least share the bigger updates with you:
~
“Why’s it taking so long to finish recording? I thought you guys would have been back by now,” you asked during one of your monthly catch ups. It had been four months at this point since they’d left. 
“Yeah me too. Woozi wanted it out sooner but his team advised against it. They thought it’d be best to let some time pass between the competition and the release so there would be less of a chance of his image getting tarnished with all the drama from the fight.” Mingyu skirted over that last part quickly, knowing that it was still a sore subject for you. “But in a weird way it works out well - with the extra time, we’re gonna be able to write some more stuff and put together a whole EP.”
“What is that? Like five or six songs? That’s so amazing, I can’t wait to hear them!” 
“You know, you could always get a sneak peak if you flew out here for a few days,” Mingyu offered once again. He’d been trying to get you to come for weeks now. “Nikki’s already seen me twice since we left!”
“She’s your girlfriend, of course she has. And you know I don’t have the time anyways - my boss would never let me take off for that long.” It was true that your job was a pain in the ass, but you and Mingyu both knew you had other reasons for not coming to visit in person.
“Just promise you’ll come see us perform when the EP is released.”
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
~
Now in the present, when you really thought about it, you realized that there wasn’t much tying you to the place in which you currently resided. Watching Mingyu and the guys for so long had given you a taste of all the possibilities life had to offer, and you were tired of limiting yourself to what you currently knew when it wasn’t really doing you any favors anyways. The job offer had just been the final push you needed, and at last you felt ready and excited to pursue your own little sort of adventure. Even if it wasn’t as glamorous as flying across the country to work with world-renowned producers, it was yours and yours alone.
You pushed the boxes you’d been working on packing up to a corner of the room, ready to call it a day, when you heard your phone ring from somewhere in your apartment. Taking a few moments to find it amongst all the disarray, you managed to answer right before it went to voicemail.
“Hey, what time did you say your flight was landing?” It was Mingyu. You could hear lots of commotion in the background wherever he was, voices and instruments faintly reaching your ears.
“Should be around eleven in the morning.” With the career change you had several weeks of cherished personal time before you began your new job. Besides the time you’d need to relocate, you were finally able to take a few days to visit Mingyu and see what the band had been working on for yourself.
“Shit, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to meet you at the airport. We’re putting the final touches on some stuff and won’t be done until around one.” You could hear the regret in his voice, but all you could do was chuckle in response.
“I’m gonna get there Thursday and I’ll be staying all the way through the weekend. Trust me, you’re not missing much. Airports suck anyways.”
“I know, but still. We’re all looking forward to seeing you. It’s been way too long.”
You couldn’t help but wonder who was included in that “we,” but there was no way you were gonna ask.
“Well, that’ll all be fixed very soon,” you said instead, glancing over at your half packed suitcase.
“I’ll see if Nikki can meet you at the airport instead since she’s also visiting,” Mingyu offered. You squealed in excitement. Since the guys had left, you and Mingyu’s girlfriend had become pretty close, unsurprisingly. What had at first seemed like an obligatory relationship born out of a common bond had over time blossomed into a true friendship. She was definitely going to be someone you missed hanging out with when you moved.
“You should have started with that option,” you joked as you tried to figure out how many pairs of socks you needed to pack and where on earth you’d put them. “Tell her I need someone to show me around when I get there.”
“She’ll be glad to hear that,” Mingyu said happily before he was interrupted by someone on his end. “Y/n, I gotta go. But we’ll see you soon, ok?” he finished quickly.
“See you soon.”
—————
When your flight landed, it only took you a handful of minutes to find Nikki, the brunette jumping up and down excitedly as soon as she caught sight of you in baggage claim.
“Hey -” you greeted, letting out a slight “oof” as she gave you a big hug before immediately taking the bags you’d been carrying out of your hands.
“I’m so excited you’re here! How was the flight?”
“Good, just glad there weren’t any delays,” you said as you took a deep breath. You couldn’t believe you were really here, about to see the guys in person again after nearly a year.
“I know you’re probably hungry, but do you think you’d be good with just some snacks for now?” Nikki asked. “I tried talking him out of it but Mingyu’s insisting on everyone meeting up for lunch after they finish for today.”
“That’s fine,” you said as you began looking around for some place where you could buy some fruit or a salad, craving something fresh after being forced to eat airplane food. Nikki noticed the look in your eye, the way in which you immediately distracted yourself at the mention of the lunch. It was something that only she could have picked up on besides Mingyu, the two of them knowing the most about your past with a certain someone.
“In case you were wondering, he will be there,” she said softly, following behind you as you picked out a snack from a nearby stall and found your wallet to pay. “I just thought you’d wanna know.”
You let out a sigh. 
“I appreciate that, but I’m fine. It’s been months,” you said simply.
Nikki only stared back at you, her brow raised slightly as she tried to keep herself from calling you out on your bullshit.
“Really. I am,” you insisted. “Is it gonna be awkward at first? Yeah, probably. But this was bound to happen at some point. Let’s hope he doesn’t hate me and everything should be fine,” you said jokingly at the end, hoping she’d believe you then.
“Ok…” Nikki said. She piped up again after a few beats. “You know y/n, he’s changed - since being out here.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s not the same person he was the night of the Battle of the Bands competition.”
“Nikki,” you said with a warning tone, not liking where this was going.
“I’m not telling you to get back with him or anything,” her hands raised themselves innocently into the air. “I just don’t want you to let the way things ended between you two a year ago get in the way of you having a good time while you’re here,” she said gently.
“Thank you for that, but for the last time, I promise I am fine. Now - no more guy talk. Wasn’t there some thrift store you wanted to show me?” You brought up her weakness for clothes in an effort to change the subject once and for all.
“Say less,” Nikki said eagerly as she ushered you out of the airport and the two of you caught a ride to the hotel.
—————
“Y/n!”
Mingyu immediately pulled you into a hug that was even stronger than Nikki’s from earlier when he saw you. You couldn’t help the toothy smile that emerged on your face.
“Hey Mingyu,” you said simply. You really had missed your friend so much.
“Let her breathe,” Nikki chided playfully.
“Yeah, leave some hugs for the rest of us,” Jay said, arms open wide as you gave him a hug next.
“It’s so great to see you guys. I missed everyone so much.”
It was a little after one, and you and Nikki had finally met up with the guys to have a late lunch at a spot near the studio where they were recording. It was a bright and sunny day so you all had elected to eat at the patio seating out front. There was just one person missing though.
“Vernon’s running a little late but he’ll be here,” Mingyu said, seeing the question in your eyes. “He just had to finish going over some edits.”
Some things never change, you thought before you could stop yourself. You wondered if they were just covering for him with empty promises - if he’d somehow manage to avoid you for this entire trip.
You all finally sat down at a circular table outside. Mingyu and Nikki were to your right and Jay was to your left, leaving one last spot for Vernon just across from you.
“So what’s this I hear about you moving? And a new job? Congrats!” Jay started once a waitress had brought you all drinks. The four of you immediately began to catch up, most of the focus on you.
“I still can’t believe you’re gonna be gone,” Mingyu whined.
“I’m not dying, just moving. And now you know how I felt when you guys left,” you said playfully. “Who could have predicted we’d be spread all over the place like this?” 
As you continued to chat, you couldn’t help but reminisce about where you all had been just a year ago - struggling to get by and constantly putting in overtime to make things work with the band, your day jobs, and your personal lives. And now look at you all, on your way to better things. It made you feel so proud when you really thought about it.
“I’m really sorry I’m late you guys.”
You all looked up at the interruption, seeing Vernon approach the table in a bit of disarray. He was clad in a simple white tee and light wash denim jeans, an unbuttoned light blue collared shirt layered over his tee. As he sat down, his hand came up to brush some hair out of his face, but a few stray strands fell onto his forehead anyways.
“Was it the sound engineer guy again?” Mingyu asked him knowingly with a smirk. Vernon laughed in response.
“Yeah - he went on a rant about compression techniques this time.”
“I told you to stop asking him questions,” Jay threw in, “you’re too curious for your own good sometimes man.”
“I know, I can’t help it, but anyways - ”
He looked over at you, a polite smile on his face as he scooted up his chair.
“Hi y/n.”
“Hi Vernon,” you said curtly with a tight-lipped smile. You looked down at the menu in your hands, eyes skimming over the entrees again even though you already knew what you wanted to order.
“So,” Nikki started, clearing her throat in the lingering silence. “What did you all work on today?”
“Just rehearsing the songs from the EP in preparation for the showcase,” Mingyu responded, the two of them tag-teaming on moving the conversation along.
“Vern’s been instrumental in helping us craft some amazing songs,” Jay propped the man up with a pat to his back.
“It’s all thanks to Woozi really,” Vernon brushed off shyly, but Mingyu shook his head adamantly.
“Don’t sell yourself short bro, you’ve done some great work on this.”
“I can’t wait to hear it,” Nikki piled on another compliment.
“Thanks guys.” Vernon let out a cheeky smile, looking down at his lap for a moment before fiddling with the menu on the table to distract himself, his cheeks burning.
You hadn’t really taken Nikki seriously at first when she’d said so earlier, but she was right - something was different about Vernon. He seemed lighter somehow. And it was quickly becoming apparent to you that the guys had grown much closer after working on music together for the last nine months. You could see it immediately in the way they interacted with each other, the three of them trading jokes and stories easily as you all waited for the waitress to come back.
“What’s that you mentioned about a showcase?” you asked.
“We’re putting on a performance the day after the EP is released,” Jay explained. “Woozi and Seventeen are gonna make an appearance as well, so we’ll likely be performing in front of thousands.”
“That’s incredible,” you said with a stunned expression.
“It’s part of the reason I wanted you to come this weekend specifically,” Mingyu said. “I’m not sure the timing would have lined up so nicely if you didn’t already happen to be moving -”
Nikki nudged Mingyu, cutting him off with a stern look, but it was too late.
“Wait, you’re moving?”
You looked back over at Vernon, his brow furrowing as he looked at you with a crestfallen expression. No one had told him?
“Yeah,” you said nervously, glancing over at him for a second before looking away again. You reached for your glass of lemonade, taking a sip so you didn’t have to say anything else, another awkward silence filling the table.
“So, what can I get you all,” the waitress finally appeared, ready to take your orders.
You’d never felt more thankful for a distraction.
—————
The rest of lunch had gone as smoothly as it could have considering the circumstances, with everyone mainly focused on their food. Mingyu, Jay and Nikki did most of the talking, sharing more stories from their time away from home as you politely listened along, soaking up just how much you had missed and throwing in a question or two from time to time. You tried your best to keep from looking at Vernon, which wasn’t really all that hard considering he stayed quiet for the rest of the meal. When his name came up in the conversation he’d always give a smile or a nod, laughing along at Mingyu’s ridiculous exaggerations, but besides that he gave no input.
“Well this was fun,” you said as you all walked out of the restaurant. “I guess we can hang out more tomorrow when you guys are finished with work again?”
“Actually…we were wondering if you’d come with us to the studio,” Mingyu suggested. “We wanna show you what we’ve been working on.”
“Really? Now?” you said in surprise. “Are you sure?” You’d assumed you wouldn’t be able to hear any of the actual songs until the official release of the EP.
Jay nodded before adding on, “As of today, the mastering is done so the songs are officially finished.” You noticed how he looked over at Vernon briefly, the man’s face a little red with eyes averted and hands tucked in his pockets quietly, before he continued. “We all agreed awhile ago that we wanted you to be the first outside of the production team to listen to it, as a thank you for all of your support.”
You felt honored, nearly tearing up at their words. It was such a kind gesture that you didn’t bother worrying too much about the fact that you’d have to spend even more time around Vernon. Like Nikki had said earlier, you didn’t want your history with him to stop you from sharing in such a precious moment.
“You guys…this is really sweet…”
“We know. Now come on,” Mingyu ushered you towards him eagerly.
You looked back at Nikki in confusion as she kept her place on the sidewalk.
“Go on,” she said with a smile. “The guys insisted you had to hear it first. Alone.” She said that last part with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I’ll be waiting for you back at the hotel.”
—————
“Wow,” was the first word that left your mouth when you and the guys arrived at the studio.
The main area was bigger than the living room of your old apartment, a bunch of fancy recording equipment with hundreds of knobs and dials against one wall to your right. Comfy couches and chairs adorned the wall that was directly across, with plush carpets and decorative little knickknacks accenting the space. The recording booth was its own room, separated from everything else by a shiny sleek glass. When you peeked inside you saw a plethora of instruments and mic stands, and you even recognized Vernon’s guitar sitting in one corner.
“Crazy, right?” Mingyu urged you on with an elbow to your arm before he plopped himself into one of the chairs near the control booth. Vernon and Jay had already seated themselves. 
“Sit down!” Mingyu said, patting the last empty chair, which was beside him but also just so happened to be next to Vernon. You knew it was just by chance and that Mingyu would never set you up like that purposely, but that didn’t stop the nervousness that bubbled in your stomach.
“No way am I sitting that close to the controls,” you tried joking as an excuse. “I’m scared I’ll break something.” 
You backed up towards the couch against the opposite wall, planning to sit there instead, but the devastated look on Mingyu’s face made you stop in your tracks. Unable to take anymore of his expression, you glanced over at Vernon on instinct and your heart fell even more when you saw the way he immediately looked down at his lap, scratching the back of his head despondently.
Fuck. Was I that obvious? you thought, immediately feeling stupid for making things awkward.
“I can switch with Jay if - ” Vernon started, but you quickly cut him off.  
“No! No it’s fine,” you said, shaking your head before taking a step forward. “I’ll just - ” you didn’t bother finishing that sentence because what were you supposed to say exactly? No, it’s fine, I’ll just sit down next to my ex instead of making you all switch chairs because I still feel weird about breaking up with him? That would have been even more embarrassing. Maybe Nikki was right - you weren’t as over your past with Vernon as you’d thought.
You finished making your way to the final seat at the booth and promptly sat down, folding your hands in your lap as you tried to muster up some semblance of poise.
“Show me what you guys have been working on.” 
Mingyu looked at you seriously for a moment, making sure you were really ok first. Once you gave him a genuine smile and elbowed him playfully, he released a breath, the anticipation growing on his face again.
“Jay, can you play the first track?” he asked.
“Sure thing man.” The bassist clicked away on a nearby monitor before sitting back, sound beginning to flow from the speakers.
For the next half hour or so, you listened to several of the songs the guys had spent months crafting, worries quickly melting away as you couldn’t help but absorb yourself completely into the music. At the end of each one you immediately gushed over the melody, production elements, or other details, Mingyu and Jay eagerly offering in-depth input on more of the behind-the-scenes process. Vernon also chimed in from time to time, slowly becoming more comfortable as he gave insight on lyrical choices or even helped to elaborate upon your comments when you struggled to articulate in technical terms what it was you’d noticed in each song - “We added some more reverb here in the bridge,” “Woozi had them redo the mixing so many times on this song so they could capture Jay’s pedaling,” “That bit you’re hearing is a layer of syncopation over the main melody.” It was hard not to notice the passion in his voice. It exuded from him every time he spoke - an unbridled joy you had never seen before. You found it endearing, a smile slowly growing on your face the more you watched him.
The fourth track was the official recording of Visions. The four of you stayed completely quiet throughout the entirety of this song, fully absorbing Vernon’s raw vocals and the way they glided over the rich instrumental. Goosebumps covered your skin by the end.
“Vernon…that was beautiful.”
You were the first to interrupt the silence that filled the space afterwards, unable to stop yourself from looking directly at him. Despite everything that had happened, Visions would always make you feel something that was hard to put into words. You two didn’t have to still be together for you to regard that song with incredible care and awe.
“Thank you…that means a lot,” Vernon said, holding your gaze timidly for a moment before looking down, rubbing his hands across his jeans. He hoped you couldn’t see in his eyes how much your words still meant to him, after all this time.
“Thank you for trusting us with it,” Jay added in, Mingyu nodding along. 
No more words had to be said, the group of you sitting comfortably in the silence for a little longer before Mingyu quietly spoke up again.
“There’s just one more song left,” he said, eyebrows beginning to wiggle mischievously.
“There is?” you asked, curiosity peaked at the thought of even more music to listen to. But Vernon’s head jerked back up in panic at Mingyu’s words.
“N-No. There’s not,” he said abruptly, eyes wide as he quickly shook his head in denial. He looked legitimately scared.
“We discussed this already and you said you’d do it. I really think it’s best you stick to your word,” Mingyu said to Vernon, getting up from his chair and patting him on the back before walking towards the door. “Y/n. You good?”
“Yes…?” you said, appreciating his checking in before he seemingly left you alone with your ex.
“No - Mingyu wait -” Vernon said.
“You got this bro.”
“Rarely do I say it, but for once I’d have to agree with Mingyu here,” Jay said as he also got up and retreated towards the studio door. “Plus he stole my guitar pics and won’t give them back unless I agree to this plan so…”
The two bandmates exited the room, the door closing with a sort of finality as you and Vernon were left alone together in the studio.
What is happening right now? Why the hell would I tell Mingyu I was ok with this? Your mind went into overdrive as you fully processed the situation you’d so easily gotten yourself into, and yet, there was another part of you with so many questions that you found yourself glued to your seat.
If it was any consolation, Vernon looked just as unnerved as you.
“I’m sorry. I swear I had no idea they were gonna do this, I promise,” he said as he glanced over at you, immediately feeling the need to explain. 
This wasn’t how he’d imagined sharing this last song with you. If he was being honest, he’d never been able to figure out how to go about it, or if he should even try at all. So now that you were right here, sitting beside him again after a whole year had passed, he felt himself panicking. When all he heard was your silence in response, he continued to ramble on nervously.
“You can totally leave if you want. I won’t stop you.” It may have sounded like a cruel suggestion, but to Vernon it would actually have been so much easier if you did - if you left him again just like you had at that bench by the river a year ago. That way he wouldn’t have to reopen an old wound - wouldn’t have to rub salt in something he wasn’t entirely sure had healed. He could just continue to live in denial, never again having to confront the pain that had been so much of his existence or the hurt from his past with you.
“Why did you decide to record Visions? After everything that happened?” Vernon finally heard you ask instead. 
It was something that had tormented you nearly every day since your breakup, the question coming to you randomly late at night or when, against your better judgement, you’d listen to certain songs you knew would make you think of him. If you’d been in his shoes you didn’t think you could have done it, and so in this moment you found yourself desperate for an answer.
“I almost didn’t,” Vernon admitted, the confession spilling from his lips rather effortlessly once he’d recovered from his surprise. “But every time I tried to convince myself not to, I would think about the times I’d gotten to perform it on stage…” He looked forward, focusing on the recording booth before continuing. “I didn’t have the words for it then, but now I realize that it was healing - getting to share that song with others. And I think deep down there was a part of me that was tired of hurting myself as a way to cope with the things that had happened to me. So when you still asked me to record it, even after the way things ended, I couldn’t ignore that.” He looked over at you again, repeating your words from a year ago: “It’s like you said, I was tired of hiding in silence. So thank you - for encouraging me. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
You weren’t sure what you thought you’d hear, but you certainly hadn’t expected something so…introspective.
“I’m glad. That it was healing for you.” 
His words were their own kind of salve, freeing you from a self-inflicted purgatory you hadn’t realized you were in until that very moment. 
“Sometimes I worried that maybe you hated me for it,” you acknowledged the last bit of fear you’d been holding in your heart.
“I can’t deny that I wasn’t upset at times, but I’ve never once hated you,” Vernon said earnestly. “Not even the first night we met - and not after you told me goodbye either.” He desperately needed you to know that.
You let his words seep into your heart, the look in his eyes telling you that he truly meant it, before you finally moved on. Once and for all.
“So,” you said with a deep exhale, suddenly finding it hard to hold his gaze. “What’s this last song? The one the guys want you to play for me?”
“Right. The song…” Vernon began with an anxious gulp - he’d almost forgotten why the two of you were in this situation to begin with. He mulled it over in his head for a second, trying to find the right words to explain what the song meant and why he’d written it, but eventually he realized that defeated the purpose. The song existed for this precisely - because he had always struggled to adequately articulate his feelings in any other way. So instead of stumbling over his words for any longer, he leaned over the control booth and pressed play:
Running 'round the whole city for someone
To look me in my eyes and tell me pretty lies
Teardrops keep blurring up my sight
And right now I'm driving in my car
Going so fast, baby, so fast, baby
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Don't leave me in the dark
You said you won't be far
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I can't stand the quiet
Is anyone out there?
Is anyone out there?
I'm on my worst behavior
Don't stop me now
I fucking hate this world
So show me a way out
Wake me up from this nightmare, please
I can't stand this reality
I'm on my worst behavior
How you like me now?
Put a muzzle on me
I'll spit in your mouth
Wake me up from this nightmarе, please
I'm scarred and bruisеd with a black eyed face
Woke up on the highway
I didn't go home last night
What you know 'bout me?
I ain't got nothing
So why you keep coming to me?
With your innocent eyes, you smile so bright
Stop wasting your sunshine on me
'Cause I can't tell if it's real or a lie
Solitude
I got a couple friends
Just me, myself, and I
We play with fireworks all night
I'm okay
I'll just let it burn everything around me
'Cause you can't save me from my sadness
No, don't save me
I'm on my worst behavior
Don't stop me now
I fucking hate this world
So show me a way out
Wake me up from this nightmare, please
I can't stand this reality
I'm on my worst behavior
How you like me now?
Put a muzzle on me
I'll spit in your mouth
Wake me up from this nightmare, please
I'm scarred and bruised with a black eyed face
Turn on the radio all the way up
'Til your eardrums explode
Let's dance all night long
But if you come too close
I might just burn you whole
Turn my back and shut the door
Knock, knock
Is there anybody out there?
You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Vernon as the song filled the studio, body frozen in your seat even after it was finished. So many lyrics had stood out to you:
pretty lies
tears blurring up my sight
don’t leave me in the dark
you said you won’t be far
I can’t stand the quiet
on my worst behavior
didn't go home last night
what you know 'bout me?
your innocent eyes, you smile so bright
stop wasting your sunshine on me
can't tell if it's real or a lie
just let it burn everything around me
you can't save me from my sadness
black eyed face
“Y/n? Are you ok?” Vernon asked, turning his chair to face you fully as he saw your expression. He was terrified of what your reaction would be.
“I’m not sure…” you said honestly, finally looking over at him. “Are you ok?”
“I am, I promise. This is something I started writing around the time I joined the band. Right before I met you,” he tried to explain.
“But clearly that’s not when you wrote all of it - black eyed face? ” The more you went over the bits of lyrics you could remember, the more you saw parts of your relationship and his time with the band sprinkled all over it. You didn’t really know how to feel.
“You're right - I added different parts at different times until it all came together. It was my way of coping with what I was going through at the time…and eventually that included pieces of you too - pieces of us.”
“Pretty lies? Wasting my sunshine on you? Is that really all you remember when you think of our relationship? The painful parts?” you asked quietly, a little afraid to hear his answer.
“No, of course not,” Vernon looked at you gently. He wished he could hold your hand in that moment but he held himself back.
“Then I don’t understand. Why write this -”
“Because I love you,” Vernon said finally, his stomach dropping at the confession. He couldn’t bear the thought of you misinterpreting his words any longer. “I love you and I’m sorry for how things ended. For what I put you through. This song was my way of acknowledging that - not by attacking our relationship, but by putting myself back in that negative headspace and being open for once about the fact that I still had things to work through. When it was too late to be better for you or for the guys, I had to find a reason to be better for myself. And so I wrote this song as a reminder.”
You heard everything he said, but you could only focus on one thing.
“You love me?” you couldn’t help but ask, feeling strangely emotional for someone who had supposedly moved on.
“I mean…yeah. I’m not sure the feeling will ever go away,” Vernon’s face turned red as he decided to be completely honest with you.
“I…”
“You don’t have to say anything. I’m not asking you to take me back - it’s just something I want you to know.”
Just then you heard a noise on the other side of the door, the two of you looking over just in time to see Mingyu peek his head into the room.
“Sooo…the song’s good isn’t it???” the man blurted out, brows once again wiggling. “I was thinking we could call it Pretty Lies.”
You rolled your eyes playfully, ready to tell him to knock it off, but someone else beat you to it.
“Leave them alone!” you heard Nikki say, dragging him back by the collar of his shirt. You thought she was at the hotel, but apparently even she couldn’t stay away for long.
“What? I just wanna -” but the door promptly shut, blocking out Mingyu’s antics. 
The two of them really were made for each other, you thought with a bit of admiration. You and Vernon couldn’t help but begin to laugh.
“I guess that means it’s time to wrap it up,” you started, standing as you gathered your belongings. Vernon followed suit, still facing you.
“Just so you know - the label doesn’t know about this song,” Vernon said. “And regardless of what Mingyu wants, I’m not sharing it unless you’re comfortable. The EP is great as is.”
“You’re right that it’s great,” you started, “but it’d be even better with this song. It’s really, really, good Vernon,” you said honestly. You couldn’t deny that, even if it had been a little surreal to listen to in the beginning.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” you said, walking towards him and reaching out for a hug. He was the only person you hadn’t given one to since arriving, though this one felt notably different from the others, the familiarity of his touch sparking something in you. 
Vernon held on to you tightly, his head instinctively tucking into that familiar spot on the side of your neck while you rubbed his back softly, neither of you letting go.
“We’re gonna miss you. I’m gonna miss you,” he admitted once you two had lessened your hold enough to look at each other, the thought finally dawning on him that whenever he did finally return home, you wouldn’t be there waiting for him.
“I know. I will too,” you said wistfully. “But this doesn’t have to be goodbye forever, you know?”
You stood up on your tip toes then and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. It wasn’t one of fiery passion, nor was it one loaded with secrecy or shame or hurt. And to Vernon, it was his absolute favorite of any of the kisses you two had ever shared. When you looked up at him, you could barely hold in your laughter, his face morphing into the perfect mixture of bliss and confusion.
“But how? You’re moving,” Vernon couldn’t help but ask despite the happiness he felt.
“Slowly. We can visit each other. With my new job I’ve got more flexibility, and you’re all gonna be famous soon anyways,” you only half-joked. “Even when you guys finally do come home, I have a feeling you won’t be there for long…”
He looked down bashfully at that but you placed a hand to his face, angling it back towards you as you looked at him seriously again.
“Vernon. I want us to explore this - the way we are now. If you want to.”
“I do,” Vernon said confidently.
“Then we’ll figure it out,” you said assuredly. “I trust this. I trust us. Ok?”
“Ok.”
—————
When you and Vernon finally left the studio, you found Mingyu, Jay, and Nikki all waiting for you out in the lobby with bated breath. Nikki let out a near shriek when she saw that the two of you were holding hands.
“You guys have my blessing to include the final song,” you said immediately, deciding not to keep them in suspense for any longer.
“Oh thank god,” Mingyu immediately blurted out. “If I’m being honest it’s my favorite and I really wanna make it the single -” Nikki smacked Mingyu’s arm. 
“Ow! What was that for?” 
“‘Gyu would you please think before you speak???”
“What are you talking about??? You screamed before I said anything and have been gushing about double dates for the last five minutes.” 
The two of them continued bickering playfully.
“What they’re trying to say is - we’re really thankful we get to share the song,” Jay translated. “And we’re happy for you guys.”
“I am too,” you chuckled lightly. “Although now that I think about it, I have one request - can you call it Black Eye instead of Pretty Lies?”
The guys all looked at each other for less than a second before speaking in unison.
“Deal!”
—————
It was the day of the showcase. You stood in the crowd once again, just a speck in a sea of thousands of fans as you watched the guys perform. It brought you back to the best parts of old times, sitting around on Jay’s beaten up couch when all they could have hoped for were a hundred people to show up if they were lucky. But now you got to see them on their biggest stage yet, Mingyu happily tapping away at the drums, his head of hair moving all over the place as he kept the beat going. Jay was his usual chill self, just vibing out on the bass contentedly. And then there was Vernon, looking a little shy as the opening chords of Black Eye began to ring out from the strings of his guitar for the first time live. It reminded you of when you’d seen him take the mic at the first gig the guys had ever performed at together, except that now there was a distinct sense of determination in his eyes despite the trepidation that you couldn’t help but admire - the sight awakening a long lost feeling of butterflies in your stomach. He caught you looking at him, gazing at you fondly for one last time before leaning into the mic and beginning to sing.
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a/n: if you made it all the way here to the end, I just wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you who took the time to read this story! if you've got feels, feel free to share them with me here or reblog the ml if you're so inclined. please take care <3
taglist: @twogyuu @yourfavoritefreakyhan
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