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captn-trex · 22 days ago

Text

oldest trick in the book

Hardcase x F!Reader

word count: 3.4k

description: you've been secretly pranking hardcase as payback for a prank he pulled on you, but this time he catches you in the act

warnings/tags: friends to lovers I suppose, hardcase is a smug little shit at the beginning & a little bit adhd-coded, reader is described as shy/anxious and potentially also neurodivergent in some way but I wasn't writing it to be like that on purpose am I telling on myself? I feel like this is very cheesy lol

a/n: alright. I wouldn’t say this is my best work but I just needed to get it out of my system. this definitely took a more sweet turn than I was anticipating, probably because I didn't plan it at all and just pulled it outta my ass. I blame @ghostymarni making me thirst for this man to a concerning degree

masterlist | join my taglist | read on ao3

Perhaps if anyone knew what you were doing, they’d think it was weird, and honestly, maybe it was.

You tiptoed into the barracks, your footfalls light and ear reaching out in search of any noises. You knew there shouldn’t be anyone in here at this time, but it didn’t stop you being cautious. After all, that was how you had kept this operation going so long.

Not entirely sure which bunk was the one you were searching for, you tried to look for any identifying items. A pack of smokes? He didn’t seem the type. Hairbands? Definitely not, that one most likely belonged to Tup. A pile of laundry? Could well be his. Among other things, you knew Hardcase could be messy, something you had picked up on in your time studying him, figuring out his daily routine. It was much the same as the other clones, naturally, but in watching him you’d realised just how different from them he was.

As strange as this all sounded, you didn’t start it. At least, that was how you rationalised what you were doing.

Hardcase was a known prankster aboard the Resolute. Him and a few of his brothers, namely Fives, filled their spare time by terrorising the rest of the crew, and you were not immune. You had been burned by them on several occasions, and the most recent was a tipping point for you.

That time, it had been just Hardcase, and he had made you look a fool in front of your employees. You were the head technician aboard the venator, and standing in front of your team, giving a briefing without being privy to the ‘kick me’ sign stuck to your back, was not something you had been pleased about. It was especially irritating as you were still relatively new in the role at the time, and to have your leadership put into question, being a little shy to begin with, did more damage to your confidence that Hardcase probably realised.

So, you had been pranking Hardcase back. They weren’t so much proper pranks as harmless inconveniences for him, but in any case, it was a satisfying form of payback. Most of the time you’d steal his things only for them to ‘turn up’ in the strangest of places, none where you could be implicated, and other times you arranged little situations designed to embarrass him.

The only problem with that was that he refused to be embarrassed, and honestly you admired him for it. His ability to brush off jokes at his expense was commendable, and made you feel like a spiteful cynic for reacting in the way you had to his admittedly innocent prank. Though, you were having too much fun with it now to stop. You knew you were safe from him suspecting you, considering he probably just saw you as the quiet ship tech who he liked to bother when he was back on the Resolute, and he was yet to mention it if he did.

So here you were, rifling through the drawers beside his bunk for something you could steal or use to your advantage. You opened the final draw and your lips curled into a grin as you saw the only item inside: his music player and headphones. You had stolen them before, and remember him being particularly irritated about it, more so than at your other exploits.

You were so caught up in your glee at finding the player again that you didn’t register that someone had entered the room. The pile of dirty blacks should’ve been a clue really, but when someone cleared their throat and you whipped around, finding Hardcase himself with just a towel slung around his waist, you couldn't help but gawk.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his suspicion as obvious as his amusement at your flustered state.

Your hands were behind your back to hide the almost stolen item, your eyes fighting to keep away from his bare chest and failing miserably. You had no idea that his tattoos stretched down his chest, and the way they dipped beneath the edge of the already dangerously low towel had your mind reeling.

“Nothing, just a— it's a routine check” you finally peeped out, trying to sound casual. You had never been good at lying, and you could tell that much was obvious to Hardcase by the way his lips twisted in a smirk.

You quickly darted for the door, the offending item still behind you back to not get caught. You knew the jig was going to be up soon enough, but you didn't feel like answering for your crimes while he was only wearing a towel and you couldn't keep your eyes on his. Unfortunately, Hardcase had other ideas.

He reached out, blocking the exit and causing a small startled yelp to fall from your lips. Your eyes trailed along the toned arm that stopped you from leaving, lingering on the tattoo that circled his bicep, and finally making your way up to his face.

“A routine check?” he spoke, smirking broadly at you, “mesh'la, we both know that's well beneath you”

“Well, I like to know what's going on aboard my ship” your voice was wavering and you internally cursed yourself for letting him get to you like this.

He leaned in a little, his voice dropping fractionally, “you need to know what's going on in my bunk specifically?”

Hardcase had always had fun toying with you, even outside of the pranks. When he'd seek you out during his moments of respite and natter away, telling you a great many things about his most recent deployment, he'd always find a way to gently push your boundaries, not enough to make you uncomfortable, but just enough to get you flustered. It was low hanging fruit really, with you being so shy it was so easy to make you blush, as you knew you were now.

“I— it wasn't just— I was—” you shut your mouth, just looking up at him not knowing how to explain yourself without some kind of confrontation.

Hardcase stared back, his gaze appraising and amused. He nodded behind you, “what have you got there?”

Your eyes went wide, “nothing! It's like I said, just doing some checks”

You knew you were bright red, betraying your lies even further than your shaky and stuttering voice, and you had to look away from him. He took the opportunity to quickly reach around you, taking back his property and holding it above his head so you couldn't seize it again, even though you tried to. He was much taller than you, it was helpless.

“Ah, my player, you know this has gone missing be—” his eyes thinned as he looked back at you.

You rocked back onto your heels and clasped your hands together, looking up at him innocently. You knew you were caught now.

“…Before” he finished the thought and his eyes widened, “you're the one who's been stealing from me?”

You were surprised to see that he was grinning as he said it, and it only unnerved you more.

“No! I don't do that sort of—” you tried to argue your case, but he wasn't having it.

“And yet here you are… stealing”

You looked away, your face aflame, and uncertain of how to get out of this situation. Before you could figure it out, you felt his hand on your chin, tipping your face back his way.

“I must admit, I'm impressed” He said as he looked down at you with a thoughtful expression.

“Impressed?” you practically squeaked, unsure what direction this was going in.

“Mhm” he hummed as he ran his thumb over your chin, “I didn't realise you were so… devious”

You didn't say anything, but one side of your mouth quirked up on instinct. His gaze flicked down to watch it happen and then he peered back into your eyes, mischief swirling within his own.

“You know, you owe Jesse an apology” Hardcase said, towering over you even more as he stepped into your space, and you frowned a little, not understanding his words. “I called him a thief and said he was stealing my stuff, started watching him more closely”

You were entirely captivated by him, hanging on his every word, and it was as much a shock to you as it was amusing to him. He was still holding your chin and with his proximity to you now, your head was tipped back to look up at him.

He gripped you tighter with a calculating smirk, “Only… you were the little thief I should’ve had my eye on”

You gulped, the deep baritone timbre he was employing evidently having its intended effect, and rendering you speechless.

“Better watch your back, mesh'la”

You didn't know what that word meant, he’d said it to you before, but that was no comfort as he left your space and went back over to his bunk, placing down the items you had tried to steal. Still rooted in your place and watching him, he hooked his thumbs into his towel, and smirked at you once again when he noticed you standing there.

“you're not gonna try steal my towel too, are you?”

At that point you scrambled from the barracks and back to your own quarters, too embarrassed to do anything dignified.

It had been so long since Hardcase had caught you in the act, that you'd forgotten just how long it had been.

You'd kept your eye on him ever since, and watched out for incoming pranks every moment of every day, but nothing had happened. Hardcase went on like he hadn't even caught you that day, continuing to throw small adulations your way as he passed you by in the corridor, occasionally sitting by you in the mess hall, coming to irritate you when you were working late. Though, unfortunately for you, it wasn't so irritating anymore. Maybe it never had been.

While you were weary of incoming tricks, his presence was such a simple joy that you didn't mind it at all. It was often soothing in a particularly strange way. You didn't speak an awful lot, but Hardcase would fill the silences with stories of his time in deployment, telling you about the tricks that him and his brothers had got up to. The friendship between you worked well because of it. He didn't mind that you were quiet, and in fact seemed to respect you more for it.

You were working in your office, sat on the floor with a cup of caf balanced dangerously on your knee as you tinkered with your malfunctioning datapad. You would be sat at your desk, but the mess that was atop it made doing any sort if work difficult. Besides, you preferred working on the floor, it made the work feel less tedious.

The door slid open and Hardcase strolled in, as if the office were his own, and he walked over to your position with a grin on his face. Without a word he sat down opposite you, cross legged to mirror your posture, his knees almost touching yours as he grabbed the mug of caf from your knee and took a sip. He placed it down on the floor as you eyed him suspiciously.

This behaviour wasn't abnormal for him, and you didn't mind it, but you were still suspicious of any incoming pranks. Your eyes roved his body, looking for anything unusual, but you found nothing. His expression was amused, watching you evaluate him.

“What?” you asked, giving him an uneasy look.

“What?” he asked back.

You narrowed your eyes at him. He wasn't usually bugging you at this time of day, usually he came by during the evening, but right now it was early in the morning. You had gotten up before everyone else to finish up a personal project; fixing your datapad. It had been on the fritz for a few days and it was starting to affect your workflow.

“Why are you awake?” you asked, looking back down to your datapad and flipping the tool in your hand to access a new angle.

You saw him shrug in your peripheral, “why not”

“As good a reason as any, I suppose” you muttered, your focus more drawn to your work than him.

He began tapping his foot gently, watching you as you worked. It was more of a comforting rhythm than a distraction, but you noticed it all the same. Then it stopped, as if he'd been thinking and come to a conclusion.

“Tell me something mesh'la” he spoke quietly, and your gaze snapped up to his, “have you been watching your back like I suggested?”

You frowned, suddenly very unnerved, “yeah, I suppose so”

“You've been watching me? making sure I'm not up to anything” he asked, the hint of a smirk lifting one side of his lips.

You were hesitant, but you answered, “yeah”

He hummed, nodding a little, “and what have you noticed?”

“Nothing”

“Nothing? Mesh'la, I'm hurt” he pouted, his hand rested over his heart, mockingly upset.

You huffed, unimpressed, “stop saying that, I don't know what it means”

In a distinctly agitated manner, you continued on tinkering with your device. Hardcase tipped his head so that he entered your field of view, trying to gain your attention.

“Come on, humour me”

Your eyes flicked up once again, and the look he was giving you made your stomach flip. His smile seemed genuine, so you put down your datapad and tool, clasping your hands together in your lap and giving him your undivided attention.

“I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary” you said honestly, looking for an indication of what he might have done in his reaction.

His eyes narrowed a little, sending you an almost puzzled look, “then what is the ordinary?”

“I don't know…” you trailed off, the response somewhat of a default, but Hardcase looked strangely interested, “I don't need to tell you what you do ordinarily”

He chuckles, “maybe not, but go on anyway”

“Okay…” you gave him a strange look, not understanding why he wanted you to report your findings about his everyday routine. You thought for a moment, looking down to your fiddling hands, “well, you… you’re always more excitable right before meal times, just because you have more energy then. You use your music player when you've been around your brothers for a long time and they're being loud. You sometimes shy away from things if you've said you're going to do them, but otherwise you're impulsive. Uh— not that that’s a bad thing. You're… more focused than your brothers give you credit for, at least, when you are focused it's—”

You halted when you looked up, Hardcase’s expression was so tender that you were startled into silence for a moment.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you asked hesitantly, your body recoiling unsurely.

“You already knew all that stuff about me before I said to watch your back?” his voice was quiet, quieter than usual, and everything about his demeanour made you put your guard up further.

“Yeah, I mean I—” you stopped, eyes widening as the credit dropped, “wait…”

Hardcase’s lips lifted into an amused smile, though it was no less genuine.

“This was the trick, wasn't it?” you gestured vaguely in the space between you, “getting me to watch out all the time?”

He huffed a small laugh as his grin grew, “maybe, I figured you might torture yourself trying to figure out where it was coming from, so I just let you get on with it”

You shook your head in disbelief of your own foolishness, a light scoff passing your lips as you looked back down to get on with fixing your datapad. You really should have thought of that, but the more you let your mind dwell on it, the more you realised it was the perfect prank for someone as anxious as you.

You heard your name called before you could pick up your datapad once more, letting your eyes wander back to the man before you.

“I don't—” he paused, mouth twisting as if holding himself back before he found the right words, “I didn't know you… knew all that stuff”

“Well, it's just— no one pays attention to me, so it's easy to move around unnoticed” you shrugged nonchalantly, “it was pretty easy to figure you out”

“My brothers haven't figured out half the stuff you just said” he pointed out, his smile bordering on a smirk.

You scoffed quietly, “they're just not paying attention then”

“And you are?”

“I—” you then realised what he was really saying, what he had been saying, or trying to imply. You had to look down with the way a rosy tint spread across your cheeks, mumbling a reply, “I don't know, maybe”

Hardcase leaned forwards, resting an elbow against his knee as he tapped your chin gently, urging you to glance up at him once more. He was a lot closer than he had been, his face only a few inches from yours now, but you didn't back away.

“I did notice you, for the record” he said gingerly, his tone far more reverent than you were prepared for, and your insides constricted at the sound.

You waited for him to continue, make himself clear; you didn’t want to misinterpret what he was saying. Looking between his eyes to try and search for his meaning yourself, he let a small smile lift one side of his mouth to give you a more subdued version of his usual lopsided grin.

“I noticed you watching me, I just didn't know why”

You tilted your head to the side, “why didn't you say anything?”

“Didn't want to get my hopes up” Hardcase shrugged.

A frown creased your brow as you tried to understand, “I don't— um…what?”

He chuckled, the sound so warm and inviting that your heart skipped a beat, “I guess I hoped you were watching me because you were… interested in me, or something”

As his eyes darted to the side, his hand curling around the back of his neck in a sheepish manner, you saw the way his cheeks bloomed with colour, his eyes a little wide as if he'd said something he shouldn't have. You had never seen him act so bashful, and something about it made your stomach erupt into butterflies.

“And if I was?”

“What?” his eyes snapped back to yours, growing even wider.

“Interested in you” you clarified.

Hardcase's mouth hung open slightly, and you couldn't help but let a gentle smile curve your lips at his almost shocked expression.

“You are?” he was now grinning, his voice a whisper of disbelief.

You nodded tentatively, and his hands reached forward to grab you. A squeak left you at the sudden motion, and you had been pulled into his lap before you could even comprehend what's going on. His grin was enough already, but the steadfast grip he had on you made any self-discipline you had crumble into nothing.

“Mesh'la…” he whispered the foreign word as his eyes trailed the lines of your features, his fingers gently brushing across your cheekbone and resting his palm against you.

You offered a fake pout, and he chuckled, running the pad of his thumb over your bottom lip, “sorry, can't help it”

He didn't seem very apologetic at all, and as much as it drew a laugh from you, it made your intrigue grow. The words were almost on your lips, to ask what the word meant, but Hardcase got there first.

His lips captured yours with an eagerness and fervour that made your heart implode, beating against your chest and his as his arms snaked around your waist and pulled you flush against him. It was good really, that he held you so tightly and kept you rooted in place, otherwise you may have melted into a puddle as his ardour thawed any of the apprehension within you.

You pulled away, unable to hold yourself back from asking, “what does it mean?”

“what?” he blinked at you, his expression almost worried at your sudden departure from his lips.

“Mesh'la” you clarified.

“Oh” he broke out into a grin, rubbing his nose against yours as he chuckled lowly, “I'm not telling”

You huffed with a frown but he just smiled broadly at you, his eyes shining with the usual lick of mischief. Of course he was still going to find a way to toy with you, even now. You shook your head and brought your lips back to his with a fond smile, and he melted against you, a blissful hum sounding in his throat and rumbling through his chest.

taglist: @darthnihila @cdblake1565 @heidnspeak @burningnerdchild @orangez3st

#trex writings #star wars #the clone wars #clone troopers #clones #star wars the clone wars #tcw #clone trooper hardcase #tcw hardcase #clone wars hardcase #501st #clone wars 501st #501st legion #501st battalion #501st shenanigans #hardcase x reader #hardcase x f!reader #divider by saradika

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cjlouwho · 2 months ago

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I 100% agree with you that that was lazy writing. What was the point of deliberately picking someone the audience (and the 118) were familiar with to be Buck's LI when they could have picked some random. What was the point in delving into Tommy's history and his feelings, what was the point of showing him head over heels for Buck in the last ep, of getting a gift for their 6 month anniversary only to say "oh well, I figured we wouldn't last, so I'm gonna get out now before you break my heart". Why let him get that involved if Tommy's ideology was to never allow himself to move forward in the relationship because ultimately he thought it wouldn't last? It's whiplash for the audience after you saw how INVESTED Tommy was in the last ep! And how exactly is this Buck getting off the hamster wheel? This relationship has ended pretty much exactly like all his others - he gets invested, they leave! They had so much potential as a couple - seeing what it's like for two fire-fighters to date knowing they're both in risky jobs, maybe Buck having to meet/deal with Tommy's homophobic father, getting to explore a "new" character's back story instead of rehashing the same story lines from the mains as well as seeing more of how Buck deals with being in a same sex relationship. All wasted.

And since they referenced Glee, if the plan is for it to echo the Kurt/Blaine relationship in that show where they broke up so they could "explore" before getting back together, by doing so they ruined that relationship so much that by the end it wasn't satisfying that they WERE endgame - they weren't the couple we fell in love with. (And also, way to reinforce the negative stereotype of "you can't ever be long term with your first". I should let my sister, my cousin and my aunt know even though they've all been married for years to their husbands - all their first.) Even if they do decide to bring Tommy back down the line, would it even be the same relationship we fell in love with? Would we even trust the writers to stick with it and treat it well? Or if they did a final episode reunion so Buck doesn't end the series alone, how is that satisfying for the audience?

I have been watching 911 since it started, and I have always been part of the general audience up until S7 where I joined the fandom because I thought Buck/Tommy were adorable. It's the first time in years I've become invested in a couple on a show. It's the first time in years that I've dipped my toes back into a fandom. Like you, this ship inspired me to write fic again. I have a bunch of wip's waiting to be posted on ao3 and I honestly don't know if I'll finish them now. And if they have broken them up for Buddie to get together I think I'll stop watching. And not just because I never saw them as a romantic couple (I only ever saw a deep friendship) but because logistically I don't see it working. Besides the fact that I think that while they work as friends, they probably wouldn't gel as a couple, two people on the same team in a relationship? That will screw up the 118 dynamic, especially as this show looooves relationship drama. If they get in a fight, or worse, break up, then what? How would that work within the 118, unless someone transfers out, but then it's bye bye the 118 we love. And not to mention, in the only 4 months I have been in this fandom I have seen some VILE crap from the buddies, and from what I understand it they've been like that for years. And the show runners know about it, so if they go with Buddie, congratulations, you've rewarded toxic behaviour and given them a license to be worse (look at them already, going in the bucktommy tags and gloating).

I told myself after Glee ended and they royally screwed everything up that I wouldn't watch another Ryan Murphy show because he has a history of doing that sort of thing. When 911 came along I was cautious, but it looked like it would be different - more grown up if you will, especially since Ryan Murphy hasn't really been involved since season 1. I should have just gone with my gut. I just hope that, knowing these last two eps were filmed weeks before they aired, the showrunners see how popular they were and realise crap, we've made a BIG mistake. (Everyone should flood instagram and especially Facebook, whoch is more GA than most social media platforms, with RESPECTFUL comments about how devastated they are, and who knows, it might make them consider bringing Tommy back sometime in 8b - I believe they're still writing the back half of the season.)

Side note, I feel really sorry for Lou. Yeah he's going back to SWAT, and I love him in that (even though his character can be a dick sometimes) but he's said in interviews how he's tired of always being cast as "the muscle" due to his size and he seemed genuinely happy to get this role, which was exactly what he was looking for - the sweet, caring, romantic love interest role where he could show some depth, and they screwed him over (sounds like he even thought Buck and Tommy were doing well and wasn't expecting the break up until the end).

(Apologies for the long rant. But what you've been saying really resonated with me and I needed to share your sentiments.)

#I have nothing to add #this could have been written by me it’s literally my thoughts #bucktommy #911 #tommy kinard

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bleedingwidow · 1 month ago

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glee multi bot release - 14/11

Quinn Fabray - opposites attract fempunk!reader

It was stupid! And so stereotypical. Opposites attract? Really? Individuals with nothing in common wouldn’t get along. It’s common sense. That’s what Quinn believed. Until about three weeks ago, that is.

The first glimpse she got of you the new girl, she was frankly appalled. The whole punk look you had going on — your messy hair, your dark makeup, your piercings? The way you spoke, too, gosh, it was.. disgraceful. Disgraceful, and so, so so hot.

Not that she’d admit that. Ever.

Santana Lopez - hot co-worker! fem!reader

It was hard for Santana to not notice you. Hell, it was hard for anyone to not notice you. She was sure any and every guy that came to the Spotlight Diner on one of your shifts was drawn to how the back of your little red skirt with the sewn on apron would tip up when you’d bend to pick up stacks of plates, and how when you’d stand back up the customer service-friendly grin that appeared as you bared your teeth matched the same pearly colour on your name tag that read your stupidly pretty name.

Santana couldn’t get any more lesbian.

Brittany Pierce - family line fem!reader

Why does family have to be so hard?

For you, at least. It wasn’t a complicated thing for Brittany. She was okay, her family was okay. They loved her, smart or dumb, straight or bisexual. It just didn’t seem the same with you, and she hated not being able to do something about it.

It’s not nice to watch your girlfriend get put down for something she can’t control; something that makes her, her. By your family, too? All because you like the same gender? It enraged Brittany, but she wasn’t a violent person, nor was she mean. Confrontational, maybe, when it’s necessary, but you insisted on not getting involved, which she’d respect.

Quinn Fabray - not a peep fem!reader

This feels so unnatural. This little love affair Quinn has going on. She’s supposed to be with Finn, she is with Finn; she’s supposed to be faithful. Then again, she doesn’t have a great track record of staying loyal. She couldn’t help it. She couldn’t control her feelings (and overwhelming hormones), it wasn’t a switch she could flick off. She wanted. She wanted that quiet Glee nerd. She wanted her.

She wanted you, and she always got what she wanted.

more in bot intros!!

it’d been a bit since my last bit release and i really just can’t contain myself.. i hate to keep people waiting !! (if anyone IS waiting..) also, a big thank you for 100k interactions!! woaaah huge number. <33

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kedsandtubesocks · 10 months ago

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you, my golden hour

Rancher!Javier Peña x Cowgirl!Reader

summary: 1997. as a fallen rodeo star, you can handle anything - except maybe your city’s hometown hero

warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY MDNI, Post Season 3 Javi works on his family’s ranch AU, unspecified age gap (only age mention is reader can drink and Javi is older), major pining & yearning, emotional hurt & comfort, light angst with tender fluff, reader has a backstory and family, no physical description of reader but gendered language is used and reader can ride a horse, use of pet/nicknames, mention/description of rodeo accident, themes of dealing with burnout, small texas town toxicity, light Spanish use, reader & javi having insecurities they bond/heal over, bar scene with alcohol consumption, spicy moments with allusions to smut, intense makeout where Javi gets handsy, soft!Javi, dreamy & protective!Javi

word count: 10.2k (I’m sorry)

a/n: the second installment of ‘let’s rodeo’ and my love letter to Javi & Texas, the heart of this series - this fic is near & dear to me and I just appreciate getting the chance to write this, so to @lowlights @ahauntedcowboy & @perotovar for giving me the courage to post this know I’m so grateful… and to you reading this thank you, so dearly appreciate you too ♡

You haven’t thought of Javier Peña in years.

Older than you, he was handsome and had a smile that rivaled the Texas Friday night lights. He eventually hooked up with the number one town sweetheart who was even rumored to have won a local state beauty contest.

By the time you heard of their engagement, you already had started your plans for the circuits, for the road. You didn’t mourn or even feel heartbroken over the news.

Even after that, the rodeo consumed you. It kept you in a tornado like whirl for years until that fateful day it spat you out.

When that ride stopped, Javier Peña came back into your mind with a strange fog-like entrance.

While still on bed rest, the news on the TV had been showing a small special on the War on Drugs and the lull of it filled the room.

Your grandmother was the one who brought him up.

“That’s what Chucho’s son is involved in.”

“Wait, Javier Peña’s into drugs?” You asked a bit confused even without the pain killers.

“No. He’s going after the people who sell drugs.” She clarified.

Oh.

“He also didn’t get married either. Do you remember?” She had added.

You did. You heard he left the little Miss Homecoming Queen at the altar. Quite a scandal that made him the talk of the town for a while.

Then he became a big shot drug enforcer who took down one of the largest drug cartels in history and he again became the talk of the town.

It’s been a few years since your accident and now Javier Peña is back home.

Now driving into the Peña ranch you feel both so young, yet so aged at the same time, like you’re stuck between two realities.

Your sister bounces out of the truck with uncontainable glee and you’re grateful she’s excited.

Chucho Peña comes to greet everyone. His classic cream cowboy hat and gentle smile are all a beautiful welcome. It’s also adorable seeing your grandpa reunite with his old friend.

Señor Peña’s kind eyes eventually land on you with a sweet twinkle.

“It’s good to see you, mija.”

You’ve always adored Chucho Peña.

His son on the other hand…

You never knew Javier enough to fully know him. Even with his dad and your grandpa being pals, the years between you and Javier didn’t help. He existed outside your orbit, a figure almost out of reach.

“And that son of yours!?” Your grandpa of course perks up asking about him.

“Ah sí Javi’s here, just out in the stables.” Chucho explains casually.

The last time you physically saw Javier Peña he was walking out of the bank. You’d been waiting in your family truck when he stepped out. By that point, a small bit of shadow was forming against his jaw and upper lip as his facial hair began to grow thick. He was a young man on the verge of stepping into the threshold of being grown.

Now before you he’s a fully grown man.

For a minute you think the man in the barn is someone else because it doesn’t seem like Javier.

Yet when he turns, you see his eyes.

Rich soil of the earth stunning eyes and you know it’s him.

His body has filled out and his shoulders even look broader. He sports a similar mustache like his father’s and it adds to his older appearance. There’s a weathered weariness on his face evident in the wrinkles carved out by his eyes and on his forehead.

The button up shirt he’s wearing allows a peek at his chest and his skin shines with sweat from the Texas sun already shining its warmth.

He’s breathtakingly stunning and you can’t take your eyes off him.

He warmly greets your grandpa with a wide smile that touches his eyes and brightens his face. He’s still that charming young man you saw, a brilliant comet out of your galaxy.

But then his gaze lands on you and his eyes narrow. A conflicting recognition and confusion swirl in his eyes. He knows you, seems to remember you, but not fully.

His dad clarifies your name and you deflate a bit. Then Javier’s eyes go wide and his eyebrows shoot into his hairline.

So, he does remember you.

“Oh, yeah. Good to see you.” He nods fully realizing who you are.

“Guess the horse must be for you then?” Javier adds and your heart sinks a bit.

A grimace tugs on your face but you try recovering quickly.

“No mijo,” Chucho thankfully answers quick and gentle. “I told you, it’s for her hermanita.”

You grin small and tight in agreement.

“Oh…yeah of course.” He nods.

Your little sister immediately jumps in bright and eager to share her excitement. Thankfully the focus effortlessly shifts to her and the reason why you’re all here.

The horse is beautiful, playful and eager for attention. This first meeting already feels good. Of course, everyone holds their breaths when your sister goes for the ride.

And it couldn’t have gone more smoothly.

You even exhale relieved.

“You seemed nervous.” A smooth warm voice comes out besides you.

As you lean against the ring’s fence you discover Javier Peña moving to rest beside you.

“Just like the first day of school kinda nerves. Want to make sure everything goes smoothly.” You answer as your sister effortlessly trots around the ring with ease.

“Yeah, I bet. They already seem to be clicking.” Javier notes genuine and you’re grateful too.

Your grandfather now calls out to you.

Both you and Javier turn towards where the older men stand close to each other like conspiring headaches.

“To celebrate, we’re having dinner here!” Your grandpa cheers happily and a dread drop kicks your heart.

Immediately you stammer out panicked about how you all can’t impose.

“No pasa nada, mija.” Senor Peña gently reassures you saying not to worry. “Besides, you’re all more than welcome here. It’s been a while since Javi and I had guests.”

You don’t miss the unashamed hum Javier makes.

“And grandma?” You reply, trying to reach for more excuses not to stay.

“She can walk.” Your sister teases suddenly and you give her a sharp look.

“Will you go pick her up, please?” Your grandpa gives you his best pleading face before simply throwing the truck keys to you

Stubborn old man.

“Hijo,” Señor Peña calls out again, but this time to his son. “You should go too.”

Shit.

“No Pop, it’s okay!” Javi politely declines and you want to second that.

“Aye,” His dad chides and then he pointedly gives Javier a look that screams - Don’t be rude, go with her.

Damn.

The walk to the truck is quiet, awkward as hell, feels like two parents shoving their kids together to play nice.

Heading into the main part of town, silence fills most of the drive. You're also mentally kicking yourself for not getting the radio fixed last week like you should’ve.

“So uh, your grandma…still volunteering at the women’s shelter?” Until Javier offers a small branch of conversation.

“Yup.” You nod.

“Oh good, that’s good.” He replies.

But silence returns.

“So, you taking a break from the rodeo then? Pop used to tell me about you all the time.” Javier comments light, casual.

You feel like a cat with its hairs standing up. But even with that sensation, knowing Señor Peña spoke so fondly of you does simmer the sting.

“Sort of.” You decide to rip this off like a bandaid, get it over with now. “Had a bad accident a while back. Still haven’t decided if I wanna return.”

It’s been two years since you’ve been home.

“Oh…” Javier’s voice drops, the same way everyone does when you tell them.

“I’m sorry.” Except you’re surprise at how sincerely soft his voice is. “I thought I heard something about it. I should’ve fucking remembered… Sorry.”

He apologizes again, surprising you once more as genuine repentance floats off his voice.

You thank him understandingly. After all, it's one of the better responses you’ve been given. But you don’t want to dig into this, especially with him, so you quickly change the conversation.

“So how long are you here for? I’m sure there must be other drug cartels waiting for you to take them down.” You offer casual.

Not only had he taken down Pablo Escobar a while back, you briefly heard of his very recent grand move against the other cartel in Columbia.

He’s impressive, the town’s hero and golden boy.

“Uh actually, I’m retired. Gonna take a step back for a bit.” Javier answers just as polite and calm as you had answered him.

Oh. You hadn’t heard that. Or maybe you did and forgot.

You now feel like the foolish one and genuinely congratulate him.

“It takes a lot to decide when to step away. Besides, you deserve a break after all you did.” You mean those words.

After all, they were the same comforting words his father told you when you came back home.

A pause fills the truck and you worry you’ve maybe overstepped.

“I…yeah.” Javier breathes out. “Thanks. Appreciate that.”

Your heart flutters at how small and genuine he sounds.

“So…how about them Dallas Cowboys, huh?” Javier offers light and for some reason you laugh.

It’s not much, but it feels like a lifeline.

When you arrive to pick up your grandmother she gasps so giddy when she sees the surprise guest with you. Her excitement lights up the drive while she talks about her day taking full advantage of having Javier listening to her.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re back home safe Javi!” She gushes and then says your name.

You’re already panicking.

“With so many of your friends living out of town, maybe you’ll get to spend more time back in the city with Javier!?” She offers to you brightly and absolute horror seizes your heart.

Shooting a petrified face at her you silently plead for this discussion to die.

Javier in the back seat weakly laughs. Because of course Javier, ever the gentleman, had your grams sitting up front.

“Oh don’t give me that look.” Your grandma playfully teases back at you. “At least go rent a movie with him.”

The thought crosses your mind about turning around and dropping her back off.

“Did you know,” Javier innocently jumps in. “The first ever blockbuster was opened in Dallas?”

Your grandma coos in awe as if he’s just explained a miracle.

“See! Now you have to go with him to one!” She urges.

A horrified indignant noise escapes you. While behind you, Javier snickers even more and you’re tempted to drop him off on the side of the road to let the coyotes feast on him.

The minute you arrive at the Peña’s home you can’t get out of the truck fast enough.

Dinner fortunately goes smooth and you’re surprised at how eased the rest of the time unfolds. You do hate how many times your eyes flicker towards Javier like if you’re still trying to soak him in.

Then, from across the table, Javier’s gaze flickers to you fast catching you staring red handed. Your heart transforms into a jackrabbit, petrified and thumping fast, almost making you flee right then and there.

Until your grandpa addresses you. His warm eyes dance with a surprise in his gaze.

“We’ve decided to have some of your sister's training here.”

Your heart now skips over itself.

Your gramps and sister both explain the plan hatched while you were on the road. In order to get used to competing in different spaces, your sister decided to train here at the Peña’s.

You’re hesitant, but understand the logic. You’re even impressed. But you can’t pinpoint why you’re so nervous about this.

Señor Peña now calls to you, sensing your hesitation, and tenderly grins.

“Don’t worry mija,” his kind eyes crinkle with understanding. “It’s no trouble at all.”

His reassurance is grace and you smile back relieved while thanking him deeply.

“Seems like you’re the boss here.” Javier suddenly joins in with a casual tone and you freeze.

“Well yeah, that’s my coach you’re talking to.” Your sister proudly declares.

“Coach?” Javier’s voice perks up curious.

“Yeah.” You answer with a small smile. “That’s me.”

“Been barking orders at me all these years so why not put her in charge.” Your sister innocently adds and in pure sobbing annoyance you want to shove her face into her plate.

Thankfully everyone laughs, illuminating the room.

But you’re faced with a new reality. You’re going to be here more, seeing Javier Peña more.

And you don’t know how you feel about that yet.

The Peña ranch in the morning sits tranquil and the peace gives you the focus on training.

You’re surprised at how good your sister and the mare already bond. You explain a few drills and have your sister run a few repetitions of them.

“You sound like a tough one.” Javier’s voice surprises you and you almost jump over the fence.

Glancing back, he approaches you with two thermoses.

“Pop and I thought you might need an extra pick me up.” He offers and you can’t help but greedily grab at it.

“Tell your dad thanks and that he’s a saint.”

Javier snorts at your reply.

Now your focus returns to your sister. You recommend a type of turning drill vividly remember doing yourself. Your sister playfully salutes you and begins.

“How she looking, coach?” Him calling you ‘coach’ draws a dangerous electricity that snaps up your spine.

“Don’t call me coach.” You dryly tell him trying to keep yourself composed.

“Well isn’t that what you are?” He teases casually.

Your face scrunches up annoyed while his eyes crinkle amused.

“Don’t you have things to do, Javier Peña?” You sigh, already exhausted of this man.

“Javi…you can just call me Javi, coach.”

You’re tempted to childishly scoot away from him. Younger you would have never imagined he was this annoying.

“Don’t call me coach.” You dully repeat.

“Okay, coach.”

Now you contemplate just shoving him away.

But all the annoyance washes away when commotion hits. The horse makes a disgruntled whinny and immediately both you and Javier whip your attention towards the ring. Your sister calmly stays on the saddle, gently soothing down her companion.

After asking if she’s good, her eased thumbs up reassures you. She does a few trots to calm everyone down. You even exhale relieved.

“You lost in thought?” Javier comments.

“Yeah.” You answer him with a mutter. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

You almost don’t tell him. But you surprise yourself and do.

You explain the type of pace that comes with training in barrel racing. There’s a pattern and method to it all. You don’t realize you’ve rambled until you blink and realize Javier stares so directly at you. His eyebrows furrow slightly as if he’s focused hard listening to your words.

Embarrassed, you’re about to stammer out an apology when Javier whistles low.

“You know your fucking shit.” He nods appreciatively and hearing his pride ignites something dangerous in your chest.

Another surprise sharp whistle comes. Out from the barn, a further ways away, Chucho stands staring out. He even waves at you and you wave back.

“You gonna work today, hijo?” He calls out.

Javier curses under his breath.

“Busted.” You joke and now he’s the one side eying you.

“Please you’re the one slacking off here!” Your baby sister suddenly complains loud and cheeky “You’re not getting paid by the hour, coach!”

“Guess we’re both in trouble.” Javier snickers.

You roll your eyes but quickly sneer at your smiling sister.

“Alright then. See ya later…bandita.” Javier already walks away by the time you hear his goodbye.

But it hits you.

He thankfully stopped calling you coach. But now, what replaced it…

Little Bandit.

The nickname rips through you with a barbed fierceness you’re not prepared for.

The rest of the month follows this same routine.

On training days Javier shows up with something for you to drink. Once he even came with a few goods from the bakery across town.

No matter what, he watches practice with you for as long as he can before getting called back to the ranch.

During these moments together, he asks about how the turns are made or why you correct your sister when you do. It’s friendly. You actually start enjoying his company especially when your grandfather so eagerly leaves to hang out with Chucho instead.

The greetings and thanks are always the same.

“Thanks, Peña.”

“Javi,” he patiently corrects you everytime.

You can’t bring yourself to call him that just yet.

At the start of the new month everyone sleeps in and arrives later to the Peña’s ranch.

This time you’ve brought more barrels. Thankfully you can move them with the help of your sister. Suddenly besides you, boots clamor onto the truck and rapidly you snap your attention to the source of the sound.

Javier Peña smoothly climbs up to help you with the rest of the barrels.

He’s in a striking soft purple button up shirt. Sweat already shines against his bare arms. Thick worn in working gloves cover his hands. His hair seems a bit curlier today and he wears aviator sunglasses that suit his face.

Effortlessly Javier grabs onto one and lifts it by himself.

You’re stunned. Even your sister stops and stares just as surprised.

Javier is strong. Doesn’t seem like the muscular type but he’s built and radiates a type of seasoned strength of a well grown man, a rancher man.

His arms firmly hold the barrel, sturdy and toned, and you can’t look away.

“Where d’ya want me to put it?” Javier yells and you trip out of your thoughts to dumbly point where the barrel needs to be placed.

Your grandfather whistles proudly seeing Javier.

“If this rancher thing doesn’t work out for you Jav, you got the makings of a fine rodeo man.” Your grandpa teases.

Javier chuckles, with his eyes averted a bit bashful.

“Could add him to the team.” Your grandpa notes with a twinkling gleam of something mischievous.

You reply a dry no as you move to get off the truck.

In a flash, Javier jogs over and immediately reaches his hand out to help you get down. Placing your hand in his, Javier helps you down and you thank him.

He’s wearing gloves. This shouldn’t feel so significant. Yet the way he firmly holds your hand makes your heart sprout wings.

Even back on the solid dirt ground your legs don’t feel as if they’re under you.

Javier doesn’t stick around after that and you’re allowed to focus.

It’s later in the day, later than the usual practice times, and the Texas sun beats down with a fierceness. You call for more water breaks to keep everyone hydrated.

During a break, a rustling catches your attention. There towards the barn, Javi moves in and around the place.

You just catch the smallest glimpse of him with a hammer in his hand as he heads into the smaller enclosure. Curiosity gets the best of you.

Grabbing another water bottle you justify it as wanting to be polite, but curiosity gnaws at you.

The clang of hammering approaches louder and louder until you spot him in a goat pen. He hammers in a reinforced slab, probably fixing a hole. His back to you allows a glorious full sight of his broad shoulders at work.

He even switches to a drill and watching him casually use power tools, you never thought you’d find this so attractive.

One of the goats nearby makes a blep of a noise at your appearance and you almost want to shush them.

Javier glances over his shoulders spotting you.

“Hey there, bandita. Qué pasó?” he nods at you as the nickname flares up your heart.

“Just…knew how hot it was getting and gramps told me just to check up on you.” You lie waving the water bottle.

Javier turns to face you and you’re greeted with the sight of his full sweaty glory. You should be turned off seeing how bad his shirt sticks to him, how he smells of hay and dirt, but it’s incredibly hot.

The hard work of his day evident on every inch of him brews a dark cloud of desire in you.

“Oh well, tell your gramps thanks.” He replies snagging the water bottle from you.

His plus lips, the glorious sight of his thick slick neck, and the movement of the sweat just covering him as he drinks from the water bottle…

Getting this weak over the sight of him just drinking a water bottler you now think is the lowest you can go. You wonder about walking down by the river nearby and just jumping in to cool down.

From a distance, your sister yells out for you.

“Duty calls.” Javier smirks. With a sheepish smile you shrug then wave a quick goodbye.

You practically run out of that barn like a fleeing field mouse.

Later that night, alone in your room, your fingers slip under your sheets to slide under your sleep shorts. You imagine licking the sweat off Javier’s neck, picture his thick strong fingers, that fix up barns, hoist up barrels, and wonder how thick they would feel inside you.

You fall into desire’s blissful sticky release.

When you shower the next morning, you rationalize that those thoughts of Javier simply come from needing to scratch an itch.

Besides, you couldn’t get tangled with Javier. He’s older. He’s Laredo’s golden boy. He doesn’t go after broken cowgirls like you.

In the shower you turn the heat up more. A part of you hopes it will scorch off the building desire in your heart.

The morning is muggy, a soupy cloudy early day begging you to curl back into bed. Soft chirping echoes of the mockingbirds fill the air. You opted for earlier practices this week so your sister could prepare for a trip with her friends coming up. You agreed, wanting her to still enjoy moments outside of this.

“You out here all alone, bandita?” Javier.

He breaks the morning’s stillness. Holding his routine two drinks, he approaches you bundled up in a nice jacket that flatters him.

Thanking him, you greedily grab the drink and savor its warmth.

You explain that your sister is free roaming around the ranch this morning and it’s why you’re all alone. You stare at the empty riding area where the dirt sits holy and untouched.

“Do you miss it?” Javier asks. His voice is quietly probing, gentle as the morning mist.

That question holds a million answers all tied up in a messy knot.

“Sometimes.” You answer truthfully because you did. You missed the adrenaline, the wind blowing past you, speeding around a barrel so fast it was like you were out running the wind.

“Can I ask…” Javier and his soft, kind voice presses on. “What happened?”

Might as well. You’re now sort of friends with Javier even though the word feels sticky in your heart.

“You know that saying about how you just gotta get back on the horse? Well it's easier said than done.” You mutter.

It happened during a ride in Arizona. You’ve fallen and wrecked before. But this one just felt different. You took a barrel close and then everything slipped away. You remember being on the saddle, remember feeling your body float. Then the world went dark.

You woke up to a nasty concussion, a broken arm, and a couple of rowdy scrapes. You don’t remember your foot getting caught in the stirrup, but that’s what had happened.

“Holy fuck...” Javier breathes out, the weight of your words hang in his. “Shit I’m sorry.”

You thank him earnestly and reassure him it’s fine, just unfortunate shit like that happens. Everyone knew how dangerous the sport could get. The rodeo was a rough ride and every cowboy knew that.

But for you, you just couldn’t shake it off.

“I’m glad you made it out.” Sincerity blooms in his voice and your lips tug grateful at how considerate he is as you thank him again.

“You haven’t gone back?” Now he dances on a tight line.

“Nope. I tried after getting the clearance from the doctors but… it just didn’t go well.” You truthfully tell him.

You didn’t want to ride anymore, didn’t want to face everyone or the pressure of the race or the terror swallowing you whole. It felt as if you were burnt dry and exhausted from the inside out.

Your grandma gently embraced you and held you for what felt like hours.

“Then don’t go. You don’t have to do anything that makes you this worried and sick. Nothing is worth you being this scared, not even the damn rodeo.” She told you tenderly and with the most profoundly kind smile. You cried out of relief.

“It’s brave,” Javier says so firmly understanding. “Making a decision like that is really fucking brave, hard as fuck too.”

You gently grin and thank him again while blinking away a few tears.

“Same goes for you too.” You tell him.

From your gramps, who had gotten the full story from Chucho, you learned more about what happened with Javier and his final days in Columbia.

“I don’t know much but, what you did was brave too.” Your voice comes out softer than you expected.

He barks a laugh now. It’s dry, bitter, and can catch fire.

“Doesn't feel like it.”

You understand maybe more than he even knows. So you think about maybe what you would’ve told yourself.

“You did what was right.” You begin. “Everyone else might judge you or say shit but it doesn't matter. You’re not meant to please everyone or do what everyone expects you to do. And if that’s seen as a bad thing then…I don’t know, fuck them and fuck that.”

You say it so simply Javier busts out laughing. It’s a true blue laugh, so sweet it crinkles his beautiful dirt road eyes.

You’ve never seen him laugh like this before. And he’s beautiful.

You join in snickering as well but try to ignore the butterflies suddenly nesting in your stomach.

He’s really such a dream. A carved out Texas man so seasoned from the world, yet he still stays so kind and devoted to his family.

You get why many in the town, especially the girls during your time in high school, are all over him. Now you’re afraid you might’ve fallen into the same pit traps they did.

You’re falling under the spell of Javier Peña.

“So you’re really not going back to catching drug dealers and what not?” You ask when the laughter settles.

“I could’ve.” Javi answers. “Damn DEA would’ve taken me back. But…I just couldn’t see a future with it anymore.”

“And now here I am.” He says with a boyish soft grin.

“Now here you are”. You repeat with a nod.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” You truthfully tell him. You knew his dad worried about him. But the quiet truth is that you’re grateful for this time getting to know him now.

His eyes soften and your heat bursts.

“Thanks, glad I’m here. Glad you’re here too, bandita.” Then he softly nudges you. It’s playfully, friendly but it’s his words that almost take you out by the knees.

“Anyway, the government’s dumb. They don't deserve you.” You nod and Javier snorts amused.

“Guess I should listen to a cowgirl like you.” He teases.

You shrug. “Some people say I’m not one anymore.”

Especially because you didn’t ride anymore.

“Fuck them and fuck that.” He repeats your words and your lips twitch with a bubbling giggle.

Right now, it feels like you and him are two lonely birds sitting on a wire. Yet there’s something comforting about it, knowing it’s with him.

Then it dawns on you. You enjoy spending time with him. You know there’s desire already trickling in for him. But now he’s becoming someone precious to you.

You can’t even deny that anymore.

“Thanks, Javi.”

You don’t miss the way his eyebrows shoot up high.

Thunder roars suddenly clashing into the air interrupting the moment.

The dark clouds now loom on the horizon and coat the morning in an impending murkiness.

“Guess a storm’s coming in.” Javi mumbles.

Thankfully your sister rides back in quick and Javi decides to do some final things around the ranch before the storm rolls in. Before the rain comes, you and your sister pack up quickly. But it’s too late.

The rain pours down in a blink, almost like a hole in the sky popped to let a faucet drain out. The wind even picks up dangerously quick. It’s chaotic trying to wrangle the hose back to the stables but you and your sister manage.

“Come inside!” Gramps yells from the Peña’s porch and you and your sister scurry to the shaded sanctuary.

“You coming in?” Your sister asks while drying herself off with a towel. You don’t move from your spot by the steps.

“I’ll be in a bit.” You reassure her. She glares suspiciously and you shoo her away.

Javi hasn’t come back yet.

Noises clang out from the barn. A poisonous worry erupts through you and immediately you rush back out into the rain.

Inside the barn Javi tries yanking up a barn ladder that’s fallen over. It’s sturdy, wooden, and stuck in a hard position.

You move to help. Without any words or having to explain anything you both, as a team, work to yank the ladder out. Patiently and slowly the ladder gets moved to a spot the wind won’t knock it over.

The rush of it all has you breathing heavy.

“Thanks bandita.”

You breathlessly laugh and turn to maybe make a joke about now becoming a ranch hand and stealing his job. But all words, all thoughts, die instantly.

Having to work together to push the ladder, you now notice how close you are to him.

The sight of Javi soaked to the bone from the rain is corruptible. His clothes stick to him showing off his thick frame and shoulders. His drenched hair now seems darker with the curls more pounced.

He’s also heavily breathing too.

Now his lips, how soft and wet they look, have you hypnotized.

The pattering rain pours down hard on the roof, the only noise in the barn. You notice a shift in Javier. His eyes ever so slightly soften, almost hazing over. You might just be imaging it, but his face gradually seems to lean closer. Or maybe, you’re the one leaning towards him.

You’re possessed with an ache to kiss him, to see how the rain tastes on his lips.

It’s just you and him, soaked to the bone. You probably look like a drenched mess of a creature, but you’ve never wanted someone this much.

“Aye!”

Chucho suddenly shouts out from outside the barn and your heart stops.

Like a skittish roadrunner, you scramble away fast from Javier and just in time. His dad walks in from the other side of the barn holding an umbrella with an extra in his hand.

“You kids okay?” He calls out.

Both you and Javi yell back, quickly moving towards the elder Peña.

“You two look like a couple of soaked barn cats.” Chucho teases.

You weakly laugh and thank him for the umbrella.

Javi grumbles at his dad while he grabs the umbrella to open it up. Ever chivalrous, Javier holds it above you and him. Yet the entire walk to the house is quiet.

Fuck. Did you ruin this tentative whatever was forming between you and him? Or were you just imagining things?

You stay quiet the rest of the time waiting out the storm.

“You okay?” Your sister, keen as always, notices.

You lie with a smile saying the weather’s getting to you. When in reality, it’s a man that has.

Because you can’t stop thinking about Javier Peña now.

The rain stays for the rest of the week and everyone takes the schedule changes with stride. Your sister even heads out earlier on her trip earlier during a lighter drizzle.

By Saturday night the storm settles down.

Your closest friend from high school, now back in town for the month, even calls your home phone begging you to take advantage of the better weather.

“Look, before I go back to Florida let’s enjoy a nice night out, yeah? Maybe play some pool?” She pleads.

It’s how you now find yourself at the bar. You haven’t gotten dressed up in a while and you’re reminded of how nice it feels.

As much as you jokingly fussed about going out, being with your best friend laughing at the bar is lovely.

Ricky, one of the bartenders, actually was in the same grade as you two and it’s nice reminiscing, snickering over a nice drink.

“So how’s it been hanging out with Mr. Hero of the town himself?” Your friend smirks.

You make an unamused face at her while Ricky perks up.

“Wait, who are you hanging out with?” He whispers excitedly.

“Javier Peña.” Excitedly, she spills and you roll your eyes when Ricky gasps.

“You’ve fallen for the guy half the county is in love with!?” He hisses. You hate it, but it’s true and tastes soberly cold.

“Okay but practically all of our class was and maybe still is in love with him.” Your best friend adds.

“Well y’all do remember, he left Lorraine Wilson at the altar right?” Ricky reminds everyone and your mouth turns acidic.

“Oh fuck you’re right.” Your friend whispers.

“Might be bad news.” Ricky tensely tells you.

You want to hiss that he’s not like that. He’s kind, a bit annoying, but with a good heart.

“Shit, speak of the devil and he shall appear.” Ricky says in a low awed tone.

Worried you whip around to see what caught his attention. Absolute horror drowns you.

Javi and another man step into the bar and you want to run.

Your best friend squeals excited beside you, but you can’t comprehend what she says. Javier has stolen your attention.

Ricky called him the devil and he does seem like an angel dipped in temptation.

The sleek blazer he wears is dressed down by his nice button up shirt and jeans. His hair is styled nice, seeming so soft and begging for someone’s fingers to run through it. A buzz swarms in your head seeing him outside the ranch looking this gorgeous.

That’s when he spots you. For a split moment you two see each other. His eyes widen and before anyone can react you whip back towards the bar.

“Looks like you’re about to fall outta your seat.” Ricky snickers and you death glare at him.

“Okay,” your friend nudges you. “The guy he’s with, I think that’s David Martinez. He was in Peña’s class right? He’s so hot now, what the fuck?” She breathes out.

You almost toast to that because you felt the same about Javier.

So you keep your head down, enjoy your drink and maybe wonder about suggesting that game of pool your best friend advertised.

“Would you two beauties be alright with a bit of company?” A sweet male voice comes out and immediately draws the attention to him.

Behind you stands Javier Peña and his friend.

David has always been kind to your family and his mom even worked with your grandma at the shelter. You appreciate that Javi still hangs out with him.

“Yes of course. We’d love some company, right?” Your friend brightly asks you and you smile polite.

Your heart however rages like it’s a wild bucking bronco trying to break free.

The guys buy a round of drinks. Everyone laughs reminiscing about that one famous senior prank where the class managed to get two cows into the school.

The atmosphere is friendly, light. But your eyes constantly flicker nervously to Javi. You can’t stop staring at him, can’t stop thinking about him. Now here he is a Texas dream, or maybe your nightmare.

You turn back to take another sip and in that shift, your best friend turns to direct all her attention to David who moves to sit beside her.

But now Javier smoothly slides into the barstool next to you.

“Nice to see you outside the ranch.” His voice comes out smooth and rich.

You agree. But the air turns awkward, as if neither of you know how to tackle this new situation.

Suddenly heels clicking fast arrive. Standing to the side is a girl you recognize from your sister’s class that just graduated high school.

“Hi,” she smiles, staring at Javi with obvious hearts in her eyes.

He politely but cautiously greets her back.

“I was, um, wondering if you wanted to maybe dance with me?” She’s bold. You can at least appreciate that.

“My friends all dared me to ask you since it’s, ya know, you.” She gushes and giggles.

“Uh, appreciate the thought but I’ll have to pass, sorry.” He turns her down gently.

As if she finally realizes you even existed her eyes blink to you.

“Oh hey!” She recognizes you as an older sister to one of her classmates. And then for something else.

“Yeah didn’t you like, used to be a rodeo cowgirl or something and then something happened so now you’re not doing anything anymore?”

She’s being underlyingly mean. Her misleading chipper tone, vapid smile, are all soaked in venom meant to shake you or even scare Javi away from you.

But you’re used to it by now. You’re about to comment how she shouldn’t even be here.

Javier however speaks first and fast.

“Hey,” Javier’s voice jumps shockingly sharply, almost reprimanding. Your eyes go wide at how fast he reacts. He even glares at the girl.

Besides you, your best friend immediately turns around.

“Oh hey!” She greets the young newcomer. “Weren’t you that girl caught buying weed only for the cops to figure out you were actually buying oregano?”

Her cheerful tone makes you bust out a snort because yeah, she’s right.

The girl’s face falls absolutely mortified.

“Now get the fuck out of here.” Your dear friend finishes sweet but the undercurrent of her voice looms threatening. The disgraced girl rushes away before she can even reply.

You wheeze into your hand and fondly lean against your dearest sweet friend.

“If she or any of her little punk ass friends try anything again, I’ll shove my heel so far up their asses.” She reassures.

“Don’t worry,” Ricky now jumps in. “I’m definitely telling our bouncer those little shits managed to sneak in.”

Gratitude carves out an ocean in you and you’re thankful for those who understand.

David whistles appreciatively and your friend, with a reassuring squeeze to your shoulder, returns to her discussion with him.

You feel Javier’s eyes burning on you.

“Does shit like that happen often?” His concerned and low voice floats out among the music.

You shrug.

“Back when I first came back it did, but it's dying down.”

You were supposed to be a big rodeo star. You even had an official big name brand sponsorship lined up. But, after the accident, not returning to the rodeo painted you a failure in the eyes of the town.

Especially compared to its bright shining star you sit beside.

Suddenly a warmth slides over your hand resting on the bar. Javier squeezes your hand gently, a reassuring comfort.

“I’m sorry.” He mutters deeply sad. “S’fucking awful.”

You thank him, even make a dry joke about small town bullshit which earns you a small dry chuckle.

“The shit I got after Lorraine…” he sighs and now you find his hand doesn’t leave yours. You don’t want it to.

“I get it. Shit’s brutal.” He finishes, a steeled hardness lingering in his tone.

Now your hand squeezes his.

His eyes, gleaming tiger’s eyes gemstones, flicker up to you and you smile softly.

Javi’s hand feels so lovely. It's rough, a bit callous but cozy. Just like him.

“Hey!” Your best friend suddenly cheers. “Let’s dance!”

She interrupts the moment but you can’t blame her. A hesitant scrunched up reaction tugs at your face though.

“It’s a slow dance.” You waver.

“That’s the best kind! Come on!” She urges and you spot her hand already intertwining with the guy’s.

“You go,” you urge with a beaming grin. “I wanna finish my drink.”

“Aw, come on now bandita,” now Javi slides off his seat.

Standing up straight, he extends his hand out to you.

“You gotta at least get one dance in.” He smirks.

It’s just one dance and you don’t know if you’ll ever get another chance to dance with him. That thought alone outweighs the hesitation. Placing your hand in his, Javier leads you out to the dance floor.

Javi maintains a polite distance from you. Yet the faintest scent of his cologne floats off him, a siren’s song pure of temptation. His hand keeps yours in its protective hold while he gently guides you to the beat of the music.

Being this close to him clouds your focus in a tantalizing haze begging you to get lost in. But you can’t. You can’t even stare into his eyes. So your focus flickers out to the rest of the bar.

David and your best friend dance close, already getting cozy with each other. Then your eyes move to the door.

The bar’s bouncer sternly starts throwing the three girls out and the one you recognize stares at you with disgusted hatred.

You snort.

“What?” Javi mutters, his voice silky against the low music.

You nudge your head towards the bar’s entrance and Javi follows your gaze.

“Oh hey.” He comments, noticing the scene.

“Good riddance. Poor girl must be pissed seeing you dance with someone me though.” You mutter a bit gleeful at the thought.

“Wait, what?” Javi sounds insulted.

“Uh yeah,” you reply, confused. “I mean, it’s kinda funny. You’re Mr. hometown hero here with the town’s nobody.”

“No.” Javier snaps fast. “Anyone who says or believes that’s a pinché cabrón.”

They’re a fucking asshole and the way he speaks with a conviction refuses to allow any doubt to refute him.

“And besides…I’m not a hero.” That’s when Javi’s voice drops, transforming into a whisper tangled among the slow country ballad playing.

“I’m not that golden bullshit guy everyone thinks I am.” His voice contains a stinging rawness you recognize.

Now you’re the one snapping back at him.

“Yeah you are. You’re good, Javi.” You begin firm.

“You’re noble and kind. Brave.” The words flow from your heart and you don’t even stop them. “You’ve worked hard to help people. I’m sure there’s shit you regret and you might not think you’re good because of it, but you are.”

He stays silent. Only the tune of the slow jam settles between you and him. You’re worried you’ve maybe said something to upset him.

Then Javier exhales your name and it has never sounded so tender.

Your throat tightens and when you finally look at him, you’re greeted by a galaxy.

The lights of the bar dance in his dark road eyes that stare directly at you as if the rest of the bar has melted away. Javi’s hand gingerly against your back now slides down gently. In that same motion, he slowly begins drawing you to him.

You don’t resist and catch his eyes flickering to your lips.

A sudden clamoring collision erupts and startled, you clutch onto Javi.

The cause of the commotion is a man who tripped into some chairs. He effortlessly laughs it off. The group he’s with helps him up and you’re thankful it’s not a bar fight.

You sigh relaxed.

That’s when you notice Javier shifted to draw you closer to him. In an almost protective hold, he has you now close against his broad chest. His cologne smells divine, makes your mouth water.

Like a bolt of electricity striking you, you’re galvanized and scramble immediately out of his hold.

“Wait, bandita, what’s wrong? You okay?” He’s so concerned and you dare not look at him.

“Just need some air.” You reply moving away from Javi towards the door leading to the small patio outside.

Your best friend swiftly rushes to you.

“Hey, you okay?!”

You rapidly reassure her that you’re fine and just need air. You even joke about not being able to handle your drinks anymore.

“That fucker didn’t try anything, right?” She asks low and deadly.

You shake your head and squeeze her hand. It’s enough for her to let you leave. Your body operates on autopilot until you stumble into the night air.

It feels like you’re resurfacing. You move to lean against the railing and simply gather yourself.

You feel possessed again needing to kiss him.

And it’s not just that. You want all of him all the time now and it’s infesting you. You’re barely keeping your head above water or maybe you’re this far gone under the waves.

For a moment you think it might be drizzling again. Until you blink and realize the water against your eyes are tears threatening to spill.

You’re so afraid of how badly you want Javier, and how badly it might shatter right before your eyes.

Someone says your name cautiously.

Embarrassed, you turn towards the door.

Javi stands a few steps away from you. His handsome face crumbles instantly seeing you. Quickly he rushes to your side, as if on instinct wanting to help, until he stops.

“Bandita, are you okay!? Fuck… did I do this?” He stammers out worried.

“Did I overstep?” His voice is wrecked. He’s so apologetic already.

You shake your head trying to pathetically dab away the tears. Unable to look at Javier, your attention stays on the dark stretch of parking lot.

“I promise it’s not you. It’s me.” Maybe it will always just be you.

“Querida…”

Darling…he’s never called you that.

“Whatever it is, please let me help.” His voice pleads unbearably tender and you want to cry even more.

He really is so good, too good.

“I just…I just can’t take it...” you begin with a watery cough.

You finally look at him. The furrowed brows, his worried soaked eyes, concern paints him so young. You’re reminded of the young man you saw walking out of a bank all those years ago and how a piece of him stands before you now.

“I like you so much Javi.” Through the heartache, you finally admit it out loud. “Maybe even more than I wanna admit and I don't know if I can’t keep fighting it.”

His face scrunches up and his eyes rapidly scan over you.

“Fight it?” He mutters out. “Why fight it?”

Now you stare at him a bit confused. You have nothing to lose now. So you hold your heart out to him. You reveal it all…the fears and worries sprouting in your heart like uncomfortably cacti about how he deserves someone just as refined and established as him, that he'll eventually get bored of someone like you.

All your words come out hollow, especially thinking about how he can have anyone he wants.

Javier, suddenly in the middle of your ramble, interrupts, upset, snapping your name fiercely that any other words you want to say vanish.

“You’re the only one in this town who actually understands, who maybe even really fucking sees me.” He growls.

Your heart even jumps hearing how determined and raised his voice got.

“You…” Javi now chokes out and suddenly runs a hand over his face. Then his hands go to his hips. His eyes fall to the floor as if he’s taking a moment to gather himself.

“Fuck… you don’t even know what you do to me, how much you fucking mean to me.” Javier breathes and the words get caught in your ribs.

“Whenever you’re not around I can’t stand it. I just wanna be with you….all the damn time.” He coughs out as if he can’t even believe his words.

Those earth pool eyes of his flicker to you.

Under the watch of the clouded Texas deep night sky, it’s just you and him.

You don't know who moves first. Instead it feels like two magnets finally flinging together so fast the collision knocks you awake.

Because in a blink Javi’s hand holds face while his other yanks at your hips. Then he kisses you.

It’s all encompassing.

Immediately your hands scramble to claw at him, begging to get him as close as possible.

His mustache scrapes beautifully against your lips. You taste the beer lingering on his tongue and he’s divine. The wall of the bar suddenly hits your back.

Now you’re flush against him, fully pinned under all of Javier, and you moan. His tongue with hungered finesse licks into your mouth. One hand stays firmly holding your face while his other runs across your body trying to map you out.

His hips rut against yours and you go dizzy with aching raw need.

“Mi pretty bebita, so good to me.” He whispers out thick and heavy. You whine wanting him more, wanting him inside you every way possible. Everything feels molten.

Javi playfully bites your bottom lip and your knees almost buckle. Your mind simply chants for him.

A clash of teeth, a burning heat devours you while you chase every taste of Javier that he gives. It’s an unleashing of something raw and aching, as if finally you can breathe against him while something inside you whispers yes, yes you and I are here and you don’t want to ever leave.

A sudden droplet plops onto your head. You ignore it especially when your tongue swipes against Javi’s and he groans out the most heavenly noise.

A few more large obvious water drops come.

You and Javi freeze, halting mid make out like a paused VHS tape.

Then the rain arrives.

“Shit!” Javi coughs out immediately pulling away. He quickly shrugs off his blazer and drapes it over you, a makeshift umbrella.

Filled by the most buoyant bliss, you laugh.

Javier snorts, shaking his head but he must sense it too, all of it amongst the rain.

And it’s beautiful.

“I’m surprised you don’t wear this as much.” Javier comments as he picks up your Stetson cowboy hat.

He’s shirtless, only wearing his jeans. You’re treated to his bare broad shoulders and wonderfully sweet ass in his jeans. It’s an utterly devastating combo.

Sitting on your bed waiting to settle in for the night with him, you shrug.

You didn’t expect him to be so curious and constantly snooping around anytime he’s in your bedroom. Then again, you still can’t believe he’s even in your bedroom.

Sneaking away that the first weekend after the bar didn’t last long though.

Your grandma caught him a few Sunday mornings later trying to sneak out and she ran to you screaming excitedly when she could start planning the wedding. You still haven’t recovered from that.

Even with the blessings from both sides, including Chucho and your gramps, you still wanted to just enjoy being with Javi in these intimate carved out spaces.

His presence already is crystallizing here. His wallet and packs of nicotine gum clutter the night stand. His extra pair of sunglasses sit beside yours on the dresser. His faded worn Texas A&M University t-shirt is tossed by the bed and his boots are by the door. You treasure it all.

Javi, now standing in front of you, places the cowboy hat on top of your head.

The familiar presence of wearing it is like greeting an old friend. You bashfully grin at your handsome rancher. Javier’s eyes gloss over you, taking in the sight. His hand moves to tenderly hold your face.

“You look good, like a true damn cowgirl.” He mutters and your heart flutters against its cage.

“Know you can ride like one now too,” his voice dips with a magnetic undertone as his words hold the heavily sexual double meaning.

You playfully smack his shoulder and he smirks.

“I’m still surprised you don’t call me cowgirl instead of bandita.” You note gently.

“Do you mind that I call you that?” One of his eyebrows lifts up curiously.

No, you didn’t mind at all. You were just curious and you even tell him that.

Javi snorts and his thumb now strokes your cheek.

“The way Pop used to talk about you and how you’d race made you sound like some wild bandit trying to outrun outlaws or something.”

You snort now and your fondness for Chucho Peña triples.

“And then,” Javier continues. “When I met you, I knew I was fucked.”

Now your face scrunches up confused and you ask why. A small charming grin tugs his lips.

“Cause the minute I saw you glaring at me in the barn you stole every fucking inch of me.”

Javi’s thumb now moves to run over your lip and desire bubbles in you. You kiss his thumb, delicate and reverent.

“My pretty little bandit.” His voice is low, a fond rumble in his chest that you want to drown in as much as you can.

You think of all the awards you’ve won, the tournaments you’ve faced. Yet they all seem to fall so short to those words, to this man you so endlessly adore.

In your cowboy hat, you yank Javi close and kiss him. Quickly you and him both tumble into your bed sheets, melting against each other in pure bliss.

In the afterglow, you snatch up the cowboy hat again and now place it on Javi’s head. Your gruff rancher's face twists into a grumpy frown and you grin giddy.

“You look good, a classic Texas man.” You compliment him, almost mirroring the words he told you.

His face scrunches up more.

“Always thought I looked stupid wearing these.” He huffs taking off the Stetson.

“Everybody looks good in a cowboy hat.” You reply truthfully and place the hat back on him.

“Especially you.” You add letting your hand slide across his bare chest. The sight of him in the cowboy hat, your cowboy hat, flickers to life the simmering heat from earlier. He’s already so beautiful and now a cowboy hat on, shirtless, with the dimming post sex glow radiating from him, he’s personified sin.

“Cowboy hat doing it for ya, huh?” Javi’s little cocky smirk has you glaring playfully at him.

“Shut up.” You huff but then swiftly kiss him. Soon enough you become one again with the man taking root in your heart.

Early the next morning, when he thinks you’re asleep, Javier’s fingertips trace over your face with butterfly wing delicateness.

“So fuckin’ crazy about you, baby.” He whispers to your unknowing sleeping form. You feel your heart blossom, a morning bloom wanting to keep him tangled in your soul for as long as he’ll stay.

You think again of two lonely birds on the wire, maybe not so lonely anymore.

With a soft kiss goodbye against your forehead Javi heads out and you soak molten in his words.

You end up not seeing him for a few days. Over the phone he explains, annoyed, of having to run around trying to find a specific fence wire and how it’s kept him away.

Even with how much you miss him, it does allow you space.

Earlier this month, you decided on a new training schedule. Each week would alternate between practice at the Peña’s ranch and yours.

Currently practice is at your family’s ranch.

“Next time you talk to that boyfriend of yours, tell him to get tacos from that place he got us lunch from last time.” Your sister yells as she finishes up a few drills around the ring.

You roll your eyes. “He isn’t a food delivery service.”

She simply shrugs.

The day is winding down. Early evening approaches and the Texas sun starts to bathe everything in a golden glaze straight out of a George Strait song.

“You know…I’m happy for you.” As you and her start putting everything away for the day, your sister casually drops that line.

“About what?” You smirk.

“You and Javi.” She clarifies. Her face is messy with sweat but she beams bright. “You deserve someone like him.”

Your sister, always so kind, maybe too kind for a world this harsh sometimes.

“What? Someone who always manages to steal the last biscuit or flirts with grandma more and more everyday?” You tease and your little sister snickers.

“Well yeah. But what I mean is…you deserve someone who sees how great you are.”

Her words crash into you with a tidal wave of emotions. Her attention rests with her horse, getting in a few final brushes before she turns in for the day.

“I know you… think you’re some sort of failure or that you’re not good. But you are. You’re actually the fucking best.” She says so simply. “And I’m happy Javi sees it too.”

Tears clog your eyes and dry out your throat.

“You sound like a bad hallmark card.” You laugh watery but the gratitude flows out.

Your sister glares then throws the grooming brush at you. You laugh harder when she misses and once she’s out of the stable you playfully shove her.

“You heading back?” She notices your slow pace that hangs back.

You reassure her you’ll be home in a minute and just need a few minutes to yourself. With an understanding nod she walks back to the house.

Now alone you head to the very last stable and head to your ace. You miss your old companion and seeing this sweet creature nudge his muzzle against your hand conjures a sad nostalgic tug in your heart.

Grabbing the saddle, and untangling the reign, you head out to the ring.

You’ve been talking about your old rodeo days with Javi a lot recently. You ask him about Columbia as well. In the sacred soft space of pillow talk. you and him gently unravel more memories, more secrets to each other. It’s made you nostalgic, even a bit wistful.

Plus, you haven’t done this in a while. You frequently rode at a leisurely place along the trails by the river from time to time. But getting into the ring is still so sacred.

With your horse all set, you hoist yourself up and onto the saddle.

Just a few laps is all you do. You focus on the sound of the dirt under the hooves, the light breeze on your face, the feel of riding again.

Then, after gaining more confidence, you speed up.

It’s not even close to the speeds you used to hit, but it’s quick. You even make a lap around the ring going this speed.

One rotation, one good lap and you’re soaring.

It’s nothing. It’s not even an attempt to get back into the rhythm of racing. But it’s a ride and home in its own way.

You slow down, let the horse trot out of his groove to calm down. The entire time, your chest feels so light.

Your eyes glance out and then your heart drops.

Javi, with his flat out jaw dropped, stares at you as if you’ve spouted wings. You didn’t even hear him approach.

He breathes out your name.

Scrambling, a bit embarrassed, you quickly dismount, and after guiding the horse to the side you rush towards him.

You’re about to apologize for not noticing him when Javier ends up speaking first.

“You’re incredible.” He exhales in awe and it knocks the wind from you.

He must see whatever emotion colors your face because he repeats himself again firmer.

“You’re amazing, bandita.”

You weakly laugh thanking him.

“Does that mean-”

“Nah,” you gently cut him off and explain how you just enjoy a ride like that from time to time.

“It’s like just taking a casual drive type thing.” You shrug.

Suddenly Javi’s hand moves to rest on your arm leaning against the fence. He rubs so soft and comfortingly.

“Thank you,” he says gently. “For letting me know you.”

You want him to know every inch of you. The same way you want to know Javier in every way that you can. You want to carve out a home in your heart for him.

The hand that was on your arm moves to your cheek tilting your face towards his. He wears his classic aviator sunglasses you’ve grown fond of stealing from him.

He’s so gorgeous. It’s like the Texas sun was made to bask Javi in its glow. He’s a modern Helios, beautifully crafted with his deep earthy eyes and golden face.

“Proud of you, mi bandita.” He mutters with words soaked in adoration.

You swallow hard and let the truth sink into you.

“Thank you Javi… I’m proud of you too.” You earnestly tell him.

He snorts bashfully and you think you might be doomed to think about this man forever now, but it’s alright.

There’s something foreign in your chest growing so bright you feel as if you’ve swallowed a sun and maybe you have. Because Javier is bright, so unexpectedly warm.

A man crafted right out of the Texas golden magic hour.

And as Javi leans forward to kiss you so tenderly, you step forward into the sun, into his kaleidoscopic glow and it’s beautiful.

#hi hello howdy I’m so sorry this got so long but know Javi and I are baking you cowboy cookies as we speak #if you read thank you so much and know it really means the world to me #let’s rodeo fic series #rancher!javier Peña #Javier Peña x reader #javier pena x reader #javier peña x f!reader #javier pena fanfiction #narcos fanfiction #Javi P 🤎

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the-kingshound · 7 months ago

Note

Warning inane ramble incoming, it’ll probably be annoying I apologize. (*_ _)人 I spent the last several days reading every post here. I managed to convince myself to start liking some (sorry about that I’m sure it was annoying to get all those notifications) I have this weird thing where I get nervous about liking older posts cuz I mean it’s been a long time and it’s unprompted so that’s weird right? It feels weird like I’m doing something wrong or I’m being annoying, I considered reblogging too but somehow that felt worse? Sorry I am not good with social rules they confuse me both on and offline Idk my brain is wrong and I’m just a nervous socially anxious snail. (＞﹏＜)

Anyways just wanted to gush about how much I love it here and I’m never leaving (´꒳`) ♡ First and foremost Yniol has a special place in my heart they will forever be my favorite bestie (*＾ω＾)人(＾ω＾*), yes I am biased as my partner is grey and though they don’t play IFs they were thrilled to learn about your character! Also your writing is just phenomenal, your fans are fun and creative, your characters give such warm and positive energy I love them so much they’re perfect, the inclusivity is such chefs kiss ( ´ з `) 🤌🏻✨, the angst is delicious, the fluff is so sweet and comforting, the spice is ... very blush-worthy (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄). This has been a journey I laughed, I cried, I giggled, and I blushed and I have enjoyed every bit of it from pasta discourse to Moldien cult wars to Arthur bunnies, I’ve had the most wonderful time. Now my mind is gonna be filled with Arthurian stuff for months my maladaptive daydreaming is having the time of its life I have a road trip next week and I’m so looking forward to just staring out a window for 6+hours while my Hound's just alternating daydream adventures with the cast o(≧▽≦)o. Also speaking of your amazingly wonderful, sweet, and supportive cast I have decided my (though I love them all) favorite poly pairings are Arthur/Morien and whole crew polycule I’d sell my soul for those but I 100% understand why you can’t really do that. I don’t think I have the endurance in me to code a single poly no matter how much I wish it so the fact you’re doing any let alone several is just god tier you are awe inspiring.

Alas I have rambled far far to much I wish I could be more eloquent in expressing just how much I enjoyed experiencing all of this but for now this is the best I can do (╥ω╥). Thank you for sharing your wonderful work it’s truly a gift to experience. ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧ I wish you wealth, health, and all the best in all your creative endeavors. -🐌

No, please please do not apologize. You made my entire week <3 This ask is straight up going into the folder where i keep my motivation to write and to be just a little proud of my work, thank you so so much for sending it.

For anyone having the same thoughts about liking or reblogging old posts: please do it. When I see the notifications, get very giddy and pleased, and I hope you are enjoying the food. Liking, and especially reblogging things, even more so if you add tags and reactons, not only fills me with glee but it also reminds me of old asks that I want to reblog again for new followers. So yeah, I love it, please feel free to go on a liking/reblogging spree!

You are so relatable for the maladaptive daydreaming (this game was absolutely born out of my own mental movies), I wish I could speed up the writing and editing for the next update so you can read it while you travel but I'm afraid it's a lost cause (I have been working on things, even now, but I am currently rewriting like half of it and while it is way better it takes sooo much time and energy). Knowing my characters and story are in someone's thoughts it the best kind of reward I need. I will never likely monetise this game, so this is the thing I wish to leave people with, and I hope the characters can be comforting and keep you company <3

You have no idea how much I would love to write the full polycule... maybe one day :,) But don't lose hope for the Arthur/Morien poly yet, as I decided to cancel the Gwyar/Morien poly and now I have a potentially free slot. In any case, awww, please know that this ask made me so happy today and will be in my thoughts as tkh is in yours.

Please have a lovely day and a lovely week and also a very lovely trip! Thank you again so so much!!

#lovely adorable anons #also never apologize for sening asks in anon i understand #i do the same #(anxiety)#love you!!#anon love

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dovithedarklord · 1 year ago

Text

Stucked - Part 2

You're trapped in a game and a new threat is lurking.

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Pairing: John "Soap" MacTavish x reader

Tags: Mentions of death, Mentions of blood and gore, Blood and Violence, Sexual Scenes, Alternate Universe, No use of Y/N, Not Beta Read, AFAB Reader

Trigger Warning: Contains violence, blood and smut, and some dubcon. Please, keep that in mind!

⚠️MDNI⚠️

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Author's Note

I watch too many horror movies, so I thought I write a part two for this small story.

I have some more ideas for this, so I might write a few other parts for this.

Have fun! :D

Part 1

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You raise the glass to your mouth with slow movements, and as you take a sip of the whiskey resting in it, you can barely register how the liquid is burning down your throat. Because it's much more interesting to study the man in front of you, laughing with peaceful glee, who, although exudes the role of the innocent host with every pore, he cannot deceive you anymore.

The more you think about it, the more certain you are that you weren't imagining it when Johnny deviated from the script a few hours ago and whispered something in your ear that he shouldn't have done according to your experiences so far. Although the events of the previous night could have served as a warning sign, you’re now sure that something has changed. Somehow, the thread of the story slowly drifted away from the usual path and began to flow in a direction where you have no idea what will welcome you at the end. But one thing is clear. That you won't let this satanic place screw with you. You will fight and outsmart it, even if you have to try a thousand times over.

"Oh, this house is so beautiful, Johnny! I envy you so much that you managed to buy it!" Pam blabbers excitedly, and the warmth of the alcohol permeates her voice, which makes all her enthusiasm fall out much more loudly from her red lips. If she knew that this man was looking for an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of kilometers from civilization, so that he could indulge in his bloody hobby in peace, she wouldn't be nearly so cheerful.

"The credit is not mine, one of my friends found it." Johnny notes modestly, and a wide smile appears on his mouth, which you know is his only sincere moment during the entire evening. Whoever this friend was, whom he had referred to so many times during dinners, he hadn't paid his respects so far. And you know that in a game like this, every word the characters utter has weight, each one could be a vague hint to another clue. But you haven't been able to figure out the identity of this unknown friend just yet, and it occurs to you that maybe this little detail is what’s missing to make the picture complete. But you don't have time for that now. You have more important things to do.

The key hidden in your pocket almost burns the skin of your thigh, and every single nerve of yours tenses in anticipation, waiting for the story to reach the point where you can finally jump into action and move forward to discover what this little trinket opens. Because you're convinced that if Johnny hadn't distracted you earlier, you wouldn't have died, and would found something vastly valuable. And now you're not going to let anything hold you back before you expose what's behind the door.

Rebecca's phone rings, and she excuses herself with her usual panicked stuttering, only to rush out the door into the embrace of the dark night. And this means good news, because it seems that despite the oddities, everything continues as it should. And for the first time, you're glad that this nerve-wracking, repetitive drama is happening once again, because it gives you a chance to regain control. At least you hope so.

And you fix your eyes on the man silently, who is deep into a lively conversation with Pam, because the alcohol is almost gone from the bottle, and it's time for him to leave. And you follow his every move with unmoving attention, in case you find something that might indicate that he will deviate from the script again. Of course, you know that when he takes on his less likable persona and tries to kill you with one of his many creative methods, he becomes frighteningly unpredictable. But until you get there, he's like a tame lamb. As far as appearances go.

"What's the time?" Pam suddenly asks, and you snap out of your sinister thoughts to look at her in bewilderement, because this dialogue should happen much later. Normally she decides she had enough of the night's fun only when Johnny has long since retired to his room. "Jesus, it's that late? I better go get some sleep if I don't want to look like a corpse tomorrow morning!" She yawns, after checking the time on her phone's screen, and you've seen every single movement with which she stands up and stretches out her tired muscles a dozen times, but still, as she throws you a last "good night" and sets off towards the path leading upstairs, your chest fills with icy shock.

Because this way something that has never happened before takes place, and after the disappearance of your two companions, you’re left alone with the man, who waves goodbye to the girl, only to turn all his stressful attention to you a second later. And you just stare at the long-empty stairs, frozen in surprise, as if the steps could answer what the hell is going on here.

"What's wrong, Bunny?" He inquires, and you carefully shift your gaze to him, as the dread slowly crawls under your skin to envelope your conciseness. Although the game initially lulled you into a false sense of calm with how slyly it followed the main storyline again, but now everything continues to change yet again. And due to the rampage of the doubts that arise in your head, you're unable to put the broken pieces of your sanity together and figure out what should you do now that you’re stuck with the enemy who you know is just waiting to gut you like the prey you are.

"I…" You stammer nervously, and your tongue rolls in your mouth with such clumsiness, as if the leaden heaviness creeping into you from terror would paralyze it as well. And it's probably the case, because for a few torturous seconds, you only gape at him with the elegance of fish, before your body is able to recollect itself enough to form coherent sentences. "I just thought she would stay a little bit longer." You hesitate, forcing lightness into your tone, and your mind tries to gather the facade of calmness with desperate speed, because when you see that characteristic, almost pitying shadow pass over the man's face, you know you have fallen into a trap.

"The driver needs the rest too." Johnny remarks simply, and although there is still a remnant of the friendly smile at the corner of his mouth, the cold glint moving into his eyes kills all warmth from his expression. And you know that look all too well to realize you have to flee as soon as possible, because it's usually the last thing you see before he takes your life with his own hands.

Your body moves almost instinctively, and you spring up from the festive table so suddenly, that your chair cries out with a loud creak as it slides backward on the floor from your momentum. You grab the plates stacked on the middle of the table with shaking hands, and you concentrate with every fiber of your being so that your behavior does not encourage the man sitting on the other side to do anything rash. But he just cocks his head to the side lazily and watches you with interest, and even though your eyes are strictly trained on the crumpled napkins, which you hastily pile on top of the cutlery, you can feel his penetrating gaze burning the sensitive skin of your face.

"I’ll clear the table." You declare, and you don't give him time to object, because you’re already heading towards the kitchen to get away from him as fast as possible, since every cell of yours can feel that the storm is approaching, which will strike if you stay next to him. "I'll wash these up! You can go to bed!" You throw it back over your shoulder, and you're unable to expel the desperate quaver that settles in your voice, because you know that you fled from him like a chased animal, and you only dare to hope that he doesn't attach more importance to it. Because even though he seems like a very real person, he's just a fictional character and doesn't have enough self-awareness to properly evaluate your behavior. Or that's what you try to calm yourself down with.

And as you step into the embrace of the empty kitchen, with a soft sigh, you blow out the air that has been trapped in your chest, straining painfully against your ribs until now. You stumble to the counter, and it's almost a strange miracle that nothing falls out of your hands, even though you're gripping the goddamn cheap china with such force that your palms start to ache. You quietly slip the plates into the sink and anxiously peer back behind your shoulders as they land clattering on the metal. Because every little misstep can alarm the enemy, and now you need a minute of precious solitude to work out what the hell is going on.

But nothing else comes from the living room except the warm light of the crackling fire in the fireplace and the motionless silence. A few more nerve-racking moments pass, until your paranoid mind finally calms down and you believe that you don't have to be afraid of Johnny coming after you just yet. And when you’re finally able to tear your frightened eyes away from the door, you turn back to the sink, trying to muffle your panicked panting. You feel the nervous breakdown slowly creeping up on you, and wild dizziness moves into your head, as you realize that last night set in motion a series of events that will slowly tear apart the fragile certainty in which you have navigated yourself somewhat confidently until now. Because even though this place is cursed, it has consistently followed its rules so far, and you have been able to progress in it despite the many pain-filled miseries you had to suffer through. But now something went very wrong, and none of the thoughts running through your head can find an answer to what could have been the little mistake that started this avalanche.

Resting your palm on the cold stone of the counter, you try to pull your mind back from the edge of hysteria, and your fingers grip the cool marble with desperate strength, as hovering on the verge of crying, you try to fight the calmness back into your body with a few pitiful breaths. Because even though every single nerve cell of yours screams and strains against consciousness, you cannot allow yourself to panic now. This is exactly what the game wants. For you to get confused, make a mistake, and die, over and over again, until one day you dive so deep into this nightmare that you won't want to leave because you won't even remember what's waiting outside. It may be trying new ways to crush you, but you must not let it win. That would mean your fall and possible eternal torment.

You need time.

You open the faucet quickly, and as the lukewarm water caresses your fingers, you feel that confidence slowly returning to your battered brain. If you pretend to clean up after the party like a helpful guest, you hopefully drag out this ridiculous task just long enough for Johnny to get tired of waiting and leave. You need him to disappear, because as long as he's out there lurking, you have no chance to investigate further. And you must not forget that your number one priority is to find clues. And no mean tactics can dissuade you from this. Not even when despair seeps into your bones like a contagious disease.

As you slowly get to work, you mechanically start listing the steps you need to take in your head. You have to go back upstairs and get into the room that the lock hides from you. You have to be on the lookout because you're not sure if it was Johnny and Pam's steamy moment or your own attempt to open the lock that invited the masked killer. Maybe the death flag was activated because you weren't fast enough. Every time you take too long to get to the next safe spot, you die because your clumsiness gives one of your attackers enough time to find you. As if the game would punish your failure with this. But even if you're quick, you can't be completely sure that he won't show up again, so you have to be prepared to defend yourself. If you don't manage to open the lock in two tries, you have to hide and see what happens, so that…

Out of nowhere, the distinctive, woody scent hits your nose, breaking you out of your planning in an instant, but you’re unable to react in time, because when you feel the burning heat of the body snuggling up to you, your hand holding the sponge freezes with the distress of a trapped animal. You forget to breathe from the stunned shock creeping into you, as you see huge hands spread out on the counter from the corner of your eye, blocking your way of escape, as if he knew that your first instinctive thought would be to run. But even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to act fast enough, because the moment the man's hard muscles press against your back, you know you have no chance of fleeing, and this painful realization short-circuits your brain.

"My hardworkin" wee Bunny... Ye left so soon." Johnny murmurs, and you feel his deep voice resonating through his chest, because suddenly all your nerves can only focus on the tense proximity with which he presses himself up to you. "Ye didnae just want to run away from me, did ye?"

Anyone would think that it's just kind, friendly interest, but your ears can sense the dangerous edge behind his words, with which he tries to force out the reason you left him alone in the living room so unexpectedly. The soft gurgling of the water echoes in your head like a deafening noise and drums on the metal like an ominous melody, deepening the raw fear moving inside you. What is he doing here anyway? Why didn't he go to sleep already?

"No... I just... " You stutter softly, and even to yourself the whimper that comes out of your mouth seems pathetically weak, but you’re unable to pull yourself together because the panic is awakening with too much force. "I didn't want you to be left with the cleaning after you've already thrown the dinner together." You finally bring yourself to speak, and you hastily swallow the terror rising in your throat, which leads the bitter taste of stomach acid in your mouth.

And you don't like the low, malicious chuckle that sounds next to your ear, because every single hair on your back stands up as you feel the air fanning over your neck in small waves from his amusement. You don’t dare to move, because the danger is too close, and you're afraid that every reckless act will lead to your death in the next moment. And even though you know that you'll get back into the car and start all over again, you can't get rid of the doubt in the back of your head that tells you, from now on you can't be sure about that either…

"It's okay, this will do too." He hums casually, as if giving himself permission to engage in what was born in his twisted mind. And you frown in confusion, because you’re unable to understand what is that he wants to achieve with this. If he wanted to kill you, he would have done it already, and although he's no stranger to playing with you before the main event, he has never resorted to such tricks before. This is different now, this is some threatening new twist that you’re not prepared for.

"What do you mean?" The instinctive question bursts out of you, because the uneasiness arising in your mind creeps onto your tongue much sooner than you could suppress your curiosity. And for a moment it seems as if he might hesitate, because for a few agonizing seconds, nothing happens. But before you can feel the relief that maybe he’ill stop playing this horrible game, you feel the light touch of his nose caressing the sensitive skin behind your ear, and it makes your heart jump in fear.

"I love yer scent." He breathes, and the moan that escapes from his mouth sounds almost longing, when he buries his face in your neck and takes a deep inhale of your hair. And you can only hope that you imagine the shiver that runs through his body. "So sweet. Full of fear." He grumbles, and goosebumps rise reflexively on your back, as you feel the burning touch of his lips on your skin, which makes you light-headed for a moment, and the world starts spinning with you from confused panic.

"Johnny, what the…" You gasp and try to make eye contact through the glass of the window in front of you, but you regret it soon enough. Because when the gaze of his reflection flashes on you, you see nothing but darkness in them, as if the deepest recesses of hell have moved in those beautiful, vivid eyes. In the yellowish light filtering in from behind, he looks like an inhumane shadow as his strong figure towers over you, and you feel pitifully small in the embrace of his body swelling with strength. He would be able to break all your bones with one light movement, like a twig dried in the summer sun. You know, because he already did. Not just once.

And this is enough for the first wild desire to escape to wake up in your body, and when you try to break away from his suffocating proximity with a frightened step, he only presses himself even closer to you, and you involuntarily hiss as the sharp edge of the kitchen counter bites into your stomach. And the horrified realization strikes you, that the hardness that slowly pushes against your lower back is not the product of your imagination.

"Shh, calm down." He coos, with an almost condescending edge in his voice, as if he would want to soothe a terrified child, but you can see the twist of a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth, which makes him look more like a predator that has found its prey. "We're just playin' a little. Ye need to relax too." He states, and you don't like the way a wolfish grin creeps onto his face, enjoying the way your eyes slowly open wide with terror.

Before would be able to register it, one of his hands begins its lazy exploration, and as his long fingers travel along the bare skin of your arm, you shiver from the feigned tenderness with which he touches you. Like a gentle lover trying to ingrain the fine lines of your body onto his memory, but you know him better than that. You know what kind of bloodlust lurks behind that handsome face, you know what kind of beast nests in his chest, which can burst out at any moment and tear your throat open to paint his teeth crimson with your flesh.

"Stop it..." You finally find your voice, and although the wavers from the fear that crawls into your stomach, it rings just loud enough to draw his attention to the fact that you might have started to defy him. But even this little courage fades away when you feel his large palm slide onto your stomach, and as his fingers teasingly caress the top of your pants, the plate you've been clutching falls out of your hand with a reflexive movement, so you can grab his thick wrist in alarm before he could move forward with whatever he wanted to do. The porcelain breaks into a thousand pieces with a deafening clatter, splitting the deceptive silence of the night in two. And for a moment, time freezes, the rustle of the wind blowing outside falls silent, and the shining of golden light reflected in the window fades. As though the continuity of the game would break for a minute. As if you've disrupted something important with your rejection.

"Stop what?" He tilts his head to the side, and although you see a completely innocent expression appear in the dim reflection for a moment, you can make out the disgusting vileness that shines in his eyes. "I'm not doin' anythin' you wouldn't need, bonnie." He says, as if he honestly wouldn't understand what he did wrong by appearing in this godforsaken kitchen.

You're about to open your mouth to protest further, but his free hand finds your neck with such suddenness that all the fleeting sounds of your defiance boil onto your throat at the warning squeeze of his fingers. And even though he doesn't cause pain, it's just enough of a threat to drive the spark of resistance out of your limbs by forcing them into automatic obedience. Because a whole new kind of worry takes over you when he closes every millimeter of the already miniscule distance between the two of you, as though he would try to merge into one with your paralyzed body, and because of the helpless shock, you allow him to continue with this sick game as he pleases.

His hand, which wanders over your stomach, crawls under your jeans with nerve-wracking sluggishness, and you cringe at the roughness of his palm, which only elicits a lustful growl from him. He smooths his mouth on your neck with a wet kiss, and you’re unable to tear your eyes away from the scene unfolding in the window, as if you were just watching a movie, and you wouldn't even experience first-hand how his tongue slowly traces the faint line of the vein running under your skin, in which your desperately racing pulse continues to pump fear into your body. But as you feel his hand suddenly move lower, and his fingers skim along your clit hidden in your underwear, then you tense up with an instinctive shock and try to pull away from him a second later.

He must really enjoy your thrashing, because he thrusts his hips forward with a grunt full of pleasure, and as his cock presses against you, the throaty moans escaping from his mouth burn your skin along with his hot breath. And as his fingers start to write small circles on the sensitive bundle of nerves, and he begins to grind himself against you through your clothes with feverish movements, like a fucking, horny dog, then the anger flares up inside you along with the heat that awakens between your thighs. Because this dirty, perverted scumbag isn't going to distract you from getting out of here with this damn stunt. No matter how troubling it is when the first suffocating wave of lust rushes through your treacherous body.

"Stop, you motherfucker!" An angry cry breaks out of you, and your hand finds a piece of the broken plate in the sink, and you grab it with such speed to stab it into the man's arm emerging from your pants like a venomous snake. He lets go with a painful roar, and this gives you just enough opportunity to break free from his arms and back away from him with hasty steps, fixing your eyes sparkling with poison on him.

However, his surprise doesn't last long, because he pulls out the piece of porcelain pierced in his hand amid colorful curses, only to throw it on the floor, shaking off the angry red drops of blood slowly emerging from the tiny cut. The whole ordeal doesn't seem to be more than a passing inconvenience to him, because the next moment he has that godawful smirk on his face again, which makes your stomach shrink to the size of a tennis ball. But you don't give up, you look for the knife, which is lying on the counter in the exact same way as usual, and grabbing it, you raise it in front of you angrily. This is the first time that you try to fight instead of running away, and the adrenaline rushes through your body with a force that you have never experienced before in your life.

"Look at ye, how brave ye have become!" He exclaims amusedly, and as he takes a few slow, menacing steps towards you, like a big cat ready to attack, you hastily move to the other side of the table in the middle of the kitchen, hoping that this is enough of a barrier between the two of you. "You've let me play with ye so willingly so far... But it's okay. I like how fiery ye are!" He continues his rambling, and you can feel the patronizing edge in his voice, as if it would amuse him and fill him with pity at the same time that you think you finally have a chance to hurt him. And your brain is too busy with your escape, slowly dragging you out of the kitchen, to understand what an impossible statement is hidden in his words. Because then you would have to face the fact that he's not as unaware as you thought.

"Shut up." You snap at him with clenched teeth, and you focus on him with every nerve because you're afraid that if you lose sight of him even for a minute, he'll throw himself at you and you'll lose all your chances of survival. Even though the logical side of you knows that it would be easier to let him kill you and start this horror again. But the pulsation of fury is too strong in you to yield to the deceptive lure of the simpler path.

"I wanted to taste yer pussy. But I think I'll have to settle for yer blood for now." He taunts cruelly, and now you know that this whole wicked game was just another tool to torture you. Because he always wants the same thing, no matter what cunning methods he uses. He wants to enjoy the sight of your lifeless body. "Maybe next time." He promises, and he charges towards you so suddenly that you just blindly swing your hand clutching the knife at him, and even you yourself are surprised when you succeed in slicing the strong line of his chin in the heat of the moment.

He hisses as fresh blood gushes out in the wake of your attack, and you gain just enough advantage to start running like a frightened doe, bolting desperately from the kitchen's threshold. You run across the living room, out of breath, and from the stress hormones raging in your body, you almost tear the front door open to stumble into the cool night. In your panic-stricken brain, it occurs to you that this will be a bad idea, but you have no other option, you have to trust that the darkness of the forest will hide you from the madman, whose pounding footsteps can be heard behind you, as you rush forward in the thicket and get swallowed up by the tangled cavalcade of trees.

Your pulse thumping on your eardrums joins in as the background noise for your sprint, and your lungs start to burn slowly, as the cold air gnaws at your trachea in the middle of your rush. The leaves crunch under your sneakers, and you don't even realize how the branches dig into your face and tear at your hair, because you have only one goal in front of your eyes: To get as far away from Johnny as possible.

But your escape attempt is short lived, because two hands reach out from behind one of the trees so swiftly that you don't have time to dodge it. They loop around your waist with a vise-like grip, and your mouth opens to a frightened scream, but when you try to free yourself from the shackles of your attacker, you almost feel your ribs crack, as the strong arms wrap around you tighter, pressing you to a massive body with deadly determination.

You glance back in terror, and when you see the skull-like mask, it's too late. One of his hands lets go of you, and even if you had a momentary chance to get away, it immediately disappears when the hunting knife sinks into your stomach. You let out a startled whimper as the agonizing pressure builds when he slowly twists the blade inside you, and you feel the warm, red liquid bubbling out of the torn flesh.

You fall to the ground like a rag doll as your attacker releases you from his grip, and you sprawle out in the mud coughing up blood as the pain shoots through your every nerve. And through the blur of the ever-increasing blood loss, you only dimly perceive how a familiar figure appears next to the masked man, but even hovering on the edge of unconsciousness, you recognize Johnny's cheerful laugh, with which he pats the other killer on the shoulder.

"I almost got her!" Johnny laments, and with your weak and foggy brain, you can't comprehend the inscrutable emotion in his voice. "Never mind. Next time, it'll be different!"

And when the darkness envelopes you in its weightless embrace, you have the last fleeting thought that this game is taking more and more fatal turns.

~ ° ~

Gasping in alarm, your eyes open in the back seat of the car, and you smooth away the cold sweat from your forehead with shaking hands, as you realize that you're back at the beginning of the game once again. Surrounded by the chatter of your two companions, you try to overcome your disorientation, because dizziness invades your head in a way you've never experienced before, as if you've brought a little of the horror of your previous death with you when you restarted this misery.

And when the dull pain in your stomach hits you, you pull up the thin material of your T-shirt in fear, and your brain goes blank for a fleeting moment when you see what is waiting for you there. A palm-sized black spot spreads across the soft blanket of healthy skin, and you're pretty sure it's not just your imagination playing tricks on you when you recognize a skull slowly taking shape in it. Like a carving of a cruel reminder, so you don’t forget who ended your life this time.

It doesn't make any sense... you've died twenty-four times, yet this is the first time something strange appears on you, as though the game would try to convey something. As if your killer had marked you with his signature... But why?

But you don't have time to ponder on this any longer, because the car stops, and you pull your shirt down in panic to cover the new sign, before it catches the eyes of the two girls and they start asking questions. You could explain yourself, but at this point, you're not entirely sure if it wouldn't start something with another set of fatal consequences.

The girls hop out of the car in the middle of their excited conversation, but you stay put, trying to overcome hyperventilation and regain some semblance of your composure. You need to be more careful, you made no progress yesterday, and if this continues, you will never get out of here. And you can't allow that. Never.

However, when the door opens and Johnny's cheerful figure appears on the doorstep, you know that nothing is going to be all right. Because behind him, a tall figure, whom you have never seen before, slowly emerges from the house. The light of the autumn sun shines golden on his dark blond hair, and although his face is half covered by a black medical mask, you still recognize the threat in the unfamiliar man. Because as those dark eyes settle on you, as you hesitantly step out of the car, every single fiber in your body screams at the same time: RUN!

But you know you can't run away. You're forced to go further in this hellscape because that is the only way to get out. And whoever this new stranger is, he won't stop you. No matter what happens.

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differentpostrebel · 4 months ago

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Lost and Found: A Pirates Promise

Chapter 14: A Dangerous Alliance

A/N: Welcome Back guys! We have a new chapter happening now!. Sanji isnt in this chapter but Y/N and Nami both mention him to save them!. As always, the chapters are linked down below. Thank you so much for the follows as well as tagging along for the journey.

Y/N is an established pirate and a formidable warrior, with the third highest bounty in the Straw Hat crew. She's not just another member; her strength and skills have earned her a respected spot among the crew.

Sanji, our favorite lovesick cook, falls head over heels for Y/N almost immediately. True to his nature, he tries every trick in the book to catch her attention, from cooking her favorite meals to showering her with compliments. On the other hand, Y/N may have a small crush on Sanji, but she’s cautious and focused on her goals as a pirate.

As the story progresses, that small crush gradually blossoms into something more profound, but their journey together won't be easy. With the chaos of the New World looming, the dangers they face will test their bond and loyalty to each other. Will their love be strong enough to survive the trials ahead, or will the perils of their pirate life tear them apart?

Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster filled with angst, action, and a dash of romance. I'm thrilled to take you on this adventure with Y/N, Sanji, and the rest of the Straw Hat crew!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 (here)

Word Count: 3.7K

Sanij x Reader, Sanji x Y/N, OP x Reader

Y/N POV..

I glanced once more at the sleeping children, their faces so peaceful despite everything they had been through. My heart tugged painfully at the sight of them, knowing the torment they had endured.

"I hope the others hurry soon," Nami said, her voice tinged with worry.

"You're right," I agreed, glancing at her and Chopper. "And since you two aren’t in your correct bodies yet, this might turn into a disaster if we’re not careful."

Nami suddenly looked around, her eyes narrowing. "Wait, did Usopp also knock out Brownbeard?"

The three of us turned to see Brownbeard slumped over, fast asleep.

"Maybe so," Chopper said, his voice a mix of relief and caution. "But at least we’re safe for now."

I nodded, though the unease in my chest remained. I could only hope that the others would return soon and that this strange situation would be resolved before things took a turn for the worse.

Laws POV…

"I need to do something to protect Y/N." Just the thought of her being in any danger made me worry. I couldn't afford to let anything happen to her.

"Oh my, did you hear?" Caesar's voice cut through my thoughts, his tone dripping with sadistic glee. "Looks like three of them are already dead!" He smiled, clearly relishing the news.

"I heard," Monet chuckled softly, her eyes glinting with amusement. "What a disappointment. The Strawhats are supposed to be part of the Worst Generation, along with Law. Not only is the government watching them, but so is Blackbeard."

Monet flipped through the newspaper she was holding, the pages rustling in the eerie silence of the lab. "The papers are going on and on about them, saying how they’re back in action. I assumed they'd be a lot stronger, given their status. But my interest has been piqued. This Y/N, she's a formidable pirate, and her skills on the battlefield are not to be messed with."

Monet's eyes narrowed as she continued, her voice taking on a more sinister edge. "If I were to capture her, I’d break her spirit first, make her realize how powerless she is. A mind as sharp as hers could be useful, but only if properly tamed. And if not... well, she’d make a lovely little pet, don’t you think?" She smirked, as if the thought of degrading Y/N amused her.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides, my temper barely in check. "What are you trying to say, Monet?" I spoke, my voice cold and distant, trying to mask the anger simmering beneath the surface.

"Well, you know them, don't you?" Monet continued, unfazed by my tone. "I understand you crossed paths with them twice—two years ago back in Sabaody, and again at Marineford."

"Huh, is that true?" Caesar chimed in, his curiosity piqued as he turned to me.

I stayed silent, refusing to give them the satisfaction of a response. My mind was elsewhere, focused on one thing: keeping Y/N safe from these monsters. I wouldn’t let them lay a hand on her, no matter what.

Caesar suddenly cocked his gun and pointed it at me, his face twisted in rage. "You traitor! Did you summon them?" he demanded, his voice trembling with anger.

My stance remained unfazed, not even a flicker of fear crossing my face. "How many times are we going to go over this? If I had known they were here, I would have told you. Besides, locking them in an ordinary cell wasn’t going to work with them," I said, my tone cold and matter-of-fact. "Let's talk about your negligence. I wasn’t able to drive the Navy out thanks to you. If this operation were exposed, it would be just as bad for me as it is for you."

Caesar's grip on the gun tightened, but I didn’t flinch. "Listen," I continued, "you said that you were able to make the children come back without lifting a finger. Mind telling me what that’s about?"

A twisted smile spread across Caesar's face as he eagerly explained, "Ahh, yes. That’s because I’ve been giving them drugged candy! It’s sweet, fizzy, and a highly addictive drug as well." His voice was filled with pride, as if he were boasting about some grand achievement.

"You're one sick bastard. You remind me of someone," I said, disgust evident in my tone. Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel, grabbing my blade, and made my way to the door.

"Where are you going? Aren’t you going to fight the Navy?" Monet asked, her eyes narrowing as she watched me.

I paused, not bothering to turn back. "You can call me if you need me," I replied coolly, before walking out, my mind already racing with thoughts of Y/N and how I would protect her from whatever was coming next.

Y/N POV…

"I really hope Zoro is doing alright out there," Nami said, her voice laced with worry.

"I'm sure he's fine, Nami," I replied, slowly unzipping my coat as the hidden area we were in started to get a bit stuffy. "It's Zoro we're talking about. I'm sure they already found the samurai and are on their way back."

"Yeah, Y/N's right. Besides, Sanji and Brook are with him. They won't let him get lost either," Chopper chimed in, trying to reassure her.

Just then, the ground beneath us shook violently, causing us all to lose our balance. "What the hell was that?" I exclaimed, trying to steady myself.

"What's going on?" Nami shouted, instinctively covering herself.

"We're under attack!" Chopper yelled, his eyes wide with panic.

"Damn it! Who's attacking?" I said, quickly getting my sword ready. "Chopper, can you see anyone? How many enemies are there?" Nami asked frantically.

"There's no one out here!" Chopper responded, scanning the area with a mixture of confusion and fear.

"But that's impossible!" I said, my grip tightening on my sword.

Suddenly, Brownbeard woke up, groggy and disoriented. "What's going on? Is it the master, Law? No, we’re in the mountains, so it must be them."

"Who's 'them'?" I demanded, pointing my sword at his face, the blade just inches from his skin.

"I demand you tell us, or else you're going to pay!" Nami threatened as she fumbled with Franky's lasers, trying to arm herself.

"Nami... I don’t think that’s how it works," I said, casting her a glance as she struggled with the unfamiliar weapon.

Brownbeard coughed, barely fazed by the sword at his throat. "You're wasting your time trying to look for them. We don't even know what they look like, but once they get paid, they can take on any assassination without fail."

"You're kidding," I said, my blood running cold at the thought of such dangerous adversaries.

"They are the Yeti Cool Brothers! They come from a snowy region," Brownbeard explained, his voice trembling slightly. "They must be here to rescue me, which means you’re on their hit list too," he added with a dark chuckle.

Before we could react, two massive figures emerged from the shadows of the cave, their cold, menacing presence sending a shiver down my spine. One of them held a gun, pointing it directly at Brownbeard. "How the hell did they manage to get in?" I muttered, quickly preparing to strike.

"Just so you know, Brownbeard, you’re on our hit list too," one of the Yeti Cool Brothers said with a sinister grin.

"You’ve come to kill me too? But the master—" Brownbeard stammered, fear evident in his eyes.

The Yeti Cool Brother cocked his gun and played a message from a transponder snail, which confirmed that Brownbeard was also a target. Brownbeard trembled, tears welling up as he pleaded, "No, I’m begging you! Don’t do it!"

"We’ve got to do something, guys," I whispered urgently. But before we could act, a shot rang out, silencing Brownbeard.

"That’ll shut you up," said the Yeti, as debris rained down around us.

From above, a voice called out, "Hey! Don’t shoot so recklessly—the cave could collapse and kill those brats."

"Shit, there’s another one!" I exclaimed, raising my sword, ready to defend.

"Brownbeard!" Chopper yelled as the giant collapsed, unconscious.

"It looks like we’ve got company—Captain Luffy is heading back," one of the Yeti said.

"Luffy!" I shouted, hope briefly flickering in my chest. But just then, Nami screamed, her voice filled with panic.

"Someone help me!" Nami yelled, struggling in Franky's body.

"Nami!" I cried out, swinging my sword at the Yeti holding her. The Yeti winced in pain, dropping Nami.

"Nami, you okay?" I asked, turning towards her.

But before I could react, a massive hand smacked me into the cave wall. I bounced off with a thud, coughing up blood. "Ughh," I groaned, trying to steady myself.

"Oh no, Y/N!" Chopper yelled, rushing towards me.

I struggled to get up, but the same hand slammed me into the ground, hard enough to make my head spin. "No! Y/N!" Nami cried out in desperation.

The Yeti grabbed both Nami and me, lifting us through the open roof. "Chopper, go find Luffy!" I managed to yell through gritted teeth. "Quickly!"

I fought to break free, but the Yeti’s grip tightened around me, squeezing the breath from my lungs. "It seems you still have some fight in you," one of them sneered.

I continued to struggle, but it was no use. My strength was fading, and I could barely breathe. I noticed Nami to my left, also fighting desperately to escape.

"The master says he wants these two alive," one of the Yeti brothers said. "The robot with Vegapunk’s lasers and the Princess."

"Ugh, I’m really starting to regret that title King gave me," I muttered, trying to make light of the situation, but the Yeti only tightened their grip, making it even harder to breathe. I gasped for air, but it felt like I was drowning.

"In that case, let’s take our time and enjoy this hunt," one of them said, both of them laughing as I felt my consciousness slipping away. The cool air brushed against my face as everything went dark.

Laws POV…

I needed to find Y/N before it was too late. Stepping out of Caesar’s lab into the biting cold snow, my mind raced with anxiety. The chilling wind stung my face, but I barely felt it—my thoughts were consumed by the urgent need to locate her.

Suddenly, two of Caesar’s workers appeared, trying to block my path. “Law? Where do you think you’re going? You know you can’t be out when the Navy is around,” one of them said, their tone laced with authority.

“I don’t have time for this!” I snapped, my patience wearing thin.

In an instant, I activated my Devil Fruit powers. “Room!” I declared, creating a blue orb that encapsulated the two men. With a swift motion, I drew my sword and sliced through the air. Their bodies fell to the ground, severed cleanly, and I barely spared them a second glance. “I don’t give a damn,” I muttered, the frustration in my voice clear.

Ignoring the fallen workers, I pushed forward into the snowy expanse,The cold was nothing compared to the fear gripping me—fear for Y/N's safety and the growing realization that I might be too late.

Y/N Pov…

“Y/N... Y/N... wake up!"

I groaned as my eyes slowly fluttered open. My surroundings were dim and unfamiliar, and I realized I was suspended in the air. "Why am I so high up?" I muttered, struggling to make sense of the situation. I turned my head to my left and saw Nami, also dangling, her arms and wrists bound by chains.

"Nami!" I called out, trying to move but finding myself shackled as well. "What the—"

“Perverts, what do you want from us!” Nami shouted, her voice filled with frustration and anger. “Keep your filthy paws to yourselves, you hear me!”

"Nami?" I said, still feeling weak and disoriented. As I noticed the cold around me, I realized my coat was missing. "Hey, what the—what did you do to my coat?" I yelled, my anger rising as I realized they had damaged it.

No response came from the Yeti Cool Brothers. The silence only heightened my anxiety.

“Listen,” Nami said, trying to regain composure, “I understand that you guys think I’m cute and voluptuous, and maybe you wanted me all to yourselves, but—”

“Nami,” I interrupted, glancing at her, “I don’t think—”

“He sounds… different?” said one of the Yetis, his tone tinged with curiosity. “Whatever he’s into... it’s cool with me,” added the second Yeti brother, clearly amused.

Nami continued to yell, her voice echoing through the cavern. I seized the opportunity to work on my chains, my thoughts racing as I struggled to use the power of my bracelet. “If I can just… connect my right hand to my left wrist,” I murmured, trying to maneuver my hands in the limited space.

I fumbled with the bracelet, my fingers trembling with both cold and urgency. Just as I felt a cold metal touch my skin, I heard the ominous sound of a gun being cocked beside me. “Oh no, Nami!” I shouted, my voice laced with panic.

“Hey! Keep your voices down, noisy prisoners are not cool,” one of the Yetis warned, his voice dripping with disdain.

Desperate, I focused all my energy on making the bracelet’s power surge through my wrists. With a surge of relief, I felt the metal chains start to give way. “Yes!” I muttered under my breath, trying to keep my excitement subdued.

“What was that?” the Yeti asked, his attention suddenly drawn to the sound.

I glanced up to see him pointing his gun in my direction, his expression darkening with suspicion. My heart pounded as I tried to back away from the gun while still dangling precariously about 100 feet in the air. The chains rattled loudly, making my attempts to move even more difficult.

The second Yeti was distracted by the commotion, his attention shifting momentarily. This was my chance. I finally managed to fully free my wrists from the chains. Now, I needed to act quickly. I reached for the remaining chains binding my arms, but the gun-wielding Yeti was already turning back towards me, his finger poised on the trigger.

"Stay calm," I whispered to myself, struggling to keep my movements controlled and silent. "I need to get out of here and help Nami."

The Yetis now turned their attention to Nami, their grins widening. "These bullets are filled with poison gas," one of them sneered. "Our targets never see it coming. As for your friends, they'll definitely come. We've set up traps to lure them here."

"This is bad," I muttered, continuing to struggle against the chains. My wrists were sore from the effort, but I refused to give up. I turned toward Nami, and our eyes met, both of us realizing the dire situation we were in. We began to yell for help in unison, our voices echoing off the cavern walls.

"LUFFY, SANJI, HELP!!!"

"Pipe down!" the Yeti snapped, swinging his fist at me. The force of the blow sent me crashing into the cold, hard rock behind me, my body slamming against the unforgiving surface. Pain shot through my ribs as I tried to catch my breath, and blood began to drip from my forehead and mouth.

"Y/N!" Nami cried out, her voice thick with fear. "Leave her alone!"

"Nami, don't…" I struggled to say, my vision blurring as I tried to stay conscious. Just then, a familiar scream from above broke through the chaos, a wave of relief washing over me.

"Luffy!" Nami and I both looked up, spotting the familiar figure plummeting from the sky. Relief surged through me at the sight of our captain, his arms spread wide and a confident smile on his face.

"Luffy!" I shouted, a smile finally breaking through the pain.

"Y/N! Nami!" Luffy called back, his grin unwavering as he descended. But then I noticed something odd—why was Franky in Chopper’s Monster Point? My mind raced, trying to piece it together.

Just as Luffy and Franky were about to reach us, the Yetis reacted. "Be careful, you guys! They're both hiding!" Nami warned, but it was too late. Luffy and Franky missed their mark, both continuing to plummet past us and towards the bottom of the cavern.

"Are those spikes?" Luffy exclaimed in alarm.

"Oh no, Luffy!" I shouted, my heart racing as I saw the sharp spikes below. But Luffy quickly regained his composure, "Armament Hardening, Gomu Gomu Gatling!" he yelled, his fists rapidly destroying the spike-filled cavern. The Yetis, however, were swift, dodging each of his attacks with ease.

"This is going to be much harder than we thought," I muttered, watching as Luffy tried every possible way to knock them down.

Luffy then pulled out one last trick. He used his Gomu Gomu Balloon, inhaling the incoming bullets and then launching them back at the Yetis with Gomu Gomu Salut.

"Yeah! Way to go, Luffy!" Nami and I both cheered, but our celebration was cut short as we noticed Franky acting strangely.

"Wait, Franky, what are you..." I began, but before I could finish, Franky, still in Chopper’s Monster Point, started attacking Luffy.

"Franky! Lay off!" Nami yelled in frustration.

"Watch out! The top of the mountain is falling! Luffy, Franky, watch out!" Nami screamed as the mountain's peak began to crumble.

"Franky, look behind you! He's gonna shoot!" I shouted, but Franky, with surprising strength, grabbed the falling mountain top and hurled it at one of the Yetis, striking him down.

"Franky did something actually useful," Nami and I said in shock, exchanging surprised glances.

But our relief was short-lived as Franky, still in Chopper's body, continued his assault on Luffy, forcing Luffy to use Third Gear to knock him out.

"We spoke too soon, I see," I sighed, slowly shaking my head as Franky was finally subdued.

Just then, one of the Yetis grabbed Nami, yanking me along with them as we struggled to break free. "Let us go!" we yelled, our voices filled with desperation. "Help! Luffy, help us!" Nami cried out.

"Damn, where is he taking us!" I exclaimed, trying to free myself from the Yeti's grip as we were dragged higher and higher.

The Yeti finally stopped, and I continued to struggle, but Nami suddenly froze, her eyes wide. "Nami, what are you doing? We gotta—" I started, but she interrupted me.

"Law is here!" Nami exclaimed, her voice a mix of surprise and hope.

"Wait, Law?!" I said, completely in disbelief.

"Ahh, Trafalgar Law, good, just in time. Straw Hat Luffy should be right behind me," the Yeti growled, tightening his grip on me.

"Law, what are you doing here?!" I questioned, still trying to break free.

"Quiet, you!" the Yeti hissed, constricting my air flow again. I gasped, the pain intensifying as I struggled to breathe.

"Y/N!" Nami shouted in concern.

I gritted my teeth, the anger building inside me. "Bastard!" I spat out, feeling the world start to fade.

"Room," Law's calm voice cut through the chaos. With a swift motion, he pulled out his sword and sliced the Yeti clean in half. The grip on me vanished as Nami and I suddenly found ourselves falling through the air.

"Ahhh!" we both screamed, the ground rushing up to meet us. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact, when suddenly, I felt someone cushion my fall.

"Seems like you’ve got a talent for falling right into my arms," Law joked, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he sets me down.

I opened my eyes, seeing Law smirking down at me. My cheeks flushed slightly, but before I could respond, I heard a muffled thud next to us.

Nami, who wasn’t as lucky, had landed face-first into the snow. "Ouch!" she groaned, struggling to pull herself out of the deep snowbank.

"Nice landing, Nami," Law commented dryly, unable to resist a smirk as she wiped the snow off her face.

"Law!" Nami yelled, glaring at him, but there was no denying the relief in her voice.

"Don't mention it," Law replied, his tone a mix of sarcasm and genuine care as he set me down gently beside her.

"Wait, change me back, you perv!" Nami demanded, still tied up.

"Nami, Y/N!" Luffy shouted as he finally reached us.

"Oh, it’s you! Thanks for saving Nami and Y/N, buddy!" Luffy said cheerfully to Law.

"Here’s the thing, Straw Hat," Law said, turning around with a serious expression. "I came here because there's something I want to discuss with you."

Luffy bit through Nami's chains, freeing her, and then did the same for me. I began to stretch my arms, finally regaining my mobility.

"Y/N! You're back! You're bleeding and bruised!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes wide with concern.

"Hmmm?" I tried to peek at my back but noticed my sword was missing. "Wait, where’s my sword?!" I said, panic rising.

"Damn, I must have dropped it back in the cave when these bastards took us," I added, frustration evident in my voice.

"Forget about the sword for now," Law said calmly. "You landed on Punk Hazard by accident, but there’s an important key here that could throw the New World into total chaos. You see, there are only two ways to survive in the New World: fighting with or against the Four Emperors."

"And you don't strike me as the type to work under someone," Law continued, his gaze steady.

"Yup, that’s right!" Luffy chimed in with a grin.

"Well then, you can work with me..." Law said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused.

"How so?" Luffy added, his curiosity piqued.

"Us two will work together to take down one of the Four Emperors," Law explained. "I’ve got a good plan."

"So, are you in?" Law asked, his eyes gleaming with determination.

.Law coming in saving the day once again!. Dont worry guys Sanji will be back again in the next chapters. Our favorite lovesick cook is dealing with finding that Samurai. Thank you guys so much for following along!. Thank you guys for liking, and following! If you guys want to be on my tag list feel free to let me know. Next chapter will be uploaded tonight!.

#black leg sanji #one piece #onepiece x reader #sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji #monkey d luffy #one piece sanji #sanji x y/n #sanji #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #trafalgar one piece #trafalgar op #law x y/n #strawhat pirates #one piece nami #straw hat crew

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shammers86 · 3 months ago

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Alright here goes. Buddie and BuckTommy.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m very very neutral on BuckTommy. I am happy Buck is bisexual. I just don’t see what fans of BuckTommy sees and that’s ok. But I am gonna tag it anti BuckTommy because my God I don’t want any hate. That being said, I am and always will be a Buddie shipper.

I also just finished my rewatch of season 5 and gasp, I found out that BuckTaylor wasn’t as bad as I thought it was then. EddieAna was *checks notes* just boring. Anyways, let’s get thoughts written down about what I expect the first three episodes will bring Eddie and Buck.

The first time I read this paragraph, I rubbed my hands together in glee because of angst. When was the last time Buck and Eddie were apart where Buck doesn’t see or have time for Eddie?

If you say season 5, I would say no. Even when Eddie left the 118, Buck was still in touch with Eddie. He had dinner with him and yes, Buck also imploded without Eddie there, they were still Buck and Eddie in 5B.

I think season 3 and the lawsuit was the last time where Eddie couldn’t reach out to Buck. And it seems like maybe this could be the case here. It would great to see Eddie and Buck figure out why they are miserable if they can’t see each other.

Onto BuckTommy. It seems like not much time has passed and this means… Buck and Tommy are still getting to know each other.

However, the word comfortable doesn’t sit right with me. Yes they are a couple but getting comfortable is like when you cat finally gets comfortable in a new setting and starts doing cats things.

Buck, by his definition, is a settler. When his life is in upheaval, like Maddie and Chim leaving and Eddie leaving the 118, he doubles down and settles. It’s those pesky abandonment issues rearing up again.

I think the same is true here. This time, his surrogate dad isn’t there and an asshole takes his place and causing Buck’s world view of the 118 to go sideways. Bobby, for the most part, has been the most consistent things throughout the years for Buck. So replacing Bobby with Gerrard is going to make Buck’s issue more prevalent than they were in season 6 and 7.

We also have the emotional upheaval of Chris leaving. I say this because if there has also been one consistent thing in the past 6 years is that Chris is always there. They have their own special relationship outside of Buck and Eddie. Chris leaving also affects Buck, not as much as Eddie but still makes him feel enough to settle.

Getting comfortable means Buck is going to be like well, these other aspects suck and maybe this could go somewhere.

And then there is Eddie. The Eddie of it all. Buck has always lost it when something happens to Eddie. This time, it isn’t Taylor but a man. A man that by all means friends with Eddie first.

It will interesting to see how Buck juggles Tommy and Eddie and if he realizes that he pulled away from Eddie unintentionally. Mirroring the lawsuit maybe. I do think Eddie is going to be a sore point in the BuckTommy relationship and it should be.

Buck’s entire coming out was centered around Eddie. Tommy was Eddie’s friends, Buck felt bad about lying to Eddie and came out intentionally to Eddie. Then they partied together like it was 1995. Then Eddie blew up his own life and Buck was there to see it happen.

The other thing that could come between Buck and Tommy is Gerrard. I don’t know if Tommy is gonna be like keep your head down, don’t make waves, which I think might be the case. This would make Buck very unhappy and act out a little more. And Eddie can’t really be the emotional support he would need because well.. Eddie is suffering too.

Anyways, the question was about BuckTommy and Tim went oh hey here’s how Eddie is gonna be affected! Tim is Eddieblr. He loves him just as much even if he did come up with than damn doppelgänger story line.

And now it’s time to delve into my favorite character, one Mr. Eddie Diaz.

Oh Eddie, my beautiful, guilt ridden mess of a man. How are you going to be dealing with all of this? First and foremost, his son, his good luck charm decided to leave with his parents. Who should have asked if Eddie needed help too instead of absconding with their grandson.

Yes Eddie is gonna be reeling from this. He has lived most of his adult life for his son, not for himself. Season 5 kinda dipped into this and started him on this journey but he never really dealt with… you guessed it the Shannon of it all.

I’m kinda excited to see Eddie figuring who he is without Chris around. We love the Diaz boys but Eddie deserves to be like “Who am I without these people? If I wasn’t a father, what would my life look like?”

I also think it’s important for Eddie to this out without Buck. He leans on Buck a lot especially when he’s in emotional turmoil. And he can’t hide behind his son either.

Buck having less time for him means Eddie is flailing around and it also seems like the mustache is part of this self discovery.

Maybe he follows Chim and Hen’s lead with Gerrard but then realizes Buck needs the backup. I want to see Eddie really pushing the boundaries with Gerrard after a few weeks when he starts going after Buck.

Petty, jealous Eddie is one of my favorite things about him. And I do see this side of him coming out around Buck and Tommy. It will entertaining to watch.

I do hope that eventually we do have Chris ready to start talking things through with Eddie and that his dad isn’t this perfect man but a man who has repressed so many emotions in his life.

That being said, the above quote about figuring out who the hell he is with everything stripped away is very queer coded and I hope we finally see the Eddie we know is there come out and shine.

To summarize, I don’t think BuckTommy will last and I think we may have some hints as to why Eddie could be feeling jealous of Tommy and not any other love interests Buck has had.

One can only hope.

#911 spoilers #911 abc #eddie diaz #evan buckley #anti bucktommy #just to be safe #Buddie

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bucketsofmonsters · 4 months ago

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Where the Light Enters - Part 5

cw: unreliable narrator, hurt/comfort, slow burn, eventual sex, enemies to lovers, past childhood sexual assault, past sex trafficking, referenced noncon, past nonconsensual body modification, happy ending, the tags look scary but this is mainly a story about recovery

Cole/Female Inquisitor

word count: 4k

ao3 link

Masterlist

With their spat mostly over, Rosemary was back to dragging Cole along with her on their missions.

She was still pouting, of course, but in her defense he was the only person she could show her anger to. She had a lot of pouting pent up and she’d jump at any excuse to use it.

Cole didn’t mind. He could clearly tell it was being done good-naturedly and watched her huff and puff with the closest thing to amusement Cole could muster shining in his eyes.

One time he blurted out, “The inside doesn’t match the outside. You’re happy.” His voice was tinged with what she might confuse for glee if she didn’t know him better than that.

He showed up ready to head out with her after she hadn’t so much as told him they were leaving and she didn’t address it, preparing to head out alongside him.

They were off to meet some mage who had sent them a letter. At least she thought the mage had sent a letter, she hadn’t been fully paying attention.

Her name was Vivienne. She was sure of that much.

She wasn’t sure of a lot of things about this new mage, but she knew one distinct pro that she had. She was not Solas.

She wasn’t sure who to bring in the attempt to recruit her. They were going to a fancy party so she assumed this Vivienne was higher class, but that didn’t tell her much.

So she did the safe thing. She grabbed her two other mages. At the very least, she’d gathered that there was a tumultuous relationship between mages and non mages so they probably wouldn’t hurt on that front.

But Josephine had made it incredibly clear that Vivienne wanted to speak with her and only her, so when they arrived at a massive house that sprawled over a lush landscape with masked party goers drifting in and out of the doors, she allowed the doorman to lead her to the room she needed to be in and she planted all three of them outside it.

She said, as clearly as she could, “Stay here. Listen for me, if you hear anything that sounds even slightly awry come inside but otherwise, just stay.”

And then she went inside, all alone.

The woman inside turned immediately to greet her.

The room was meticulously furnished, all done in shades of silver and light blue. They matched Vivienne’s clothes perfectly, like the house was built around her.

Vivienne had an elaborate dress on, covered in beads and embroidery and a thousand other things that gave her a headache to look at. The set of fabric horns atop her head matched it perfectly. The smile she wore was meticulously practiced, perfectly polite.

“Inquisitor,” she said, and gave her a gracious nod.

Rosemary smiled, a mirror of the one Vivienne had given her. “Madame Vivienne. I’ve heard you’re interested in aiding the Inquisition.”

“I am,” she said, and her voice exuded both elegance and snobbishness at once. Rosemary thought maybe that was the most honest part of her. “I admire your cause and I think you could use my expertise.”

“Of course we could.”

Before she could get another word out, Cole was standing between them.

Vivienne reeled back. “Who is this?” she demanded. “I asked for a private meeting.”

He looked at the door, and once more she could get no read on his emotions. He was such a mystery to her, it was endlessly frustrating. “Their thoughts were too loud,” he announced to them, “and it was tiring to make eyes brush past, calm, unconcerned. I don’t need to make her forget. You can see me.”

He was mostly addressing Rosemary as he spoke, and she wondered what was wrong with him. He almost seemed overwhelmed, eyes a little cloudier than what she was accustomed to seeing from him.

Vivienne’s eyes roved over him. “Eyes brush… What are you, young man? Are you some sort of spy? Where were you hiding?”

Rosemary was ready to agree with her as quickly as she could. She was beginning to see that it was certainly a better assumption than the alternative.

He turned to Vivienne, his gaze curious. “You’re both lying, layers and layers and layers, the real words buried too deep to mean anything. You can’t speak that way. Nothing gets said.”

She evaluated him coldly, worry lines creasing her otherwise flawless face. “Are you in my head? Inquisitor, tell me you did not bring a demon into my home.”

Rosemary said “I did not,” at the exact time that Cole said, “I’m a spirit.”

She seemed taken aback by their insolence. “But you did bring him?”

Before she got the chance to respond, Vivienne was speaking again.

“He should be put to death.”

“What?” Rosemary asked, reeling back a little.

“You heard me. I will not work with an organization that works with demons.”

Cole seemed hurt by the word demon more than he was concerned with the demand that he be put to death. He repeated once more, “I am a spirit.”

She scoffed. “If the Inquisition believes that is enough to make this creature docile it must be staffed entirely by fools.”

“Well maybe if you joined,” Rosemary said softly. “We would have a better head on our shoulders.”

Her tone was softer than it should have been, a little out of place in the argument that had begun brewing. It had to be to fight down the bile that had begun rising in her.

This never used to happen. She never used to react emotionally to things like this but even as she put on a calm face, she felt the beginnings of anger curl in her.

It was this horrible creature. He’d done something to her, somehow shoved her back towards humanity.

All of this would have been so much easier if she’d just been able to slit his throat back when they’d met.

“Have him killed,” Madame Vivienne insisted.

If only she knew that if that was a choice, the spirit would have been dead long ago.

As she went to speak, to respond with something, anything, to smooth this all over, the door flew open and Solas and Dorian walked in, clearly looking desperately for Cole.

Vivienne took one look at them with their staffs on their backs and then turned her nose up at the pair of them. “You have mages in your employ too, alongside a demon, with seemingly no safeguards. My advice is clearly needed.”

Dorian groaned. “And what safeguards do you think mages should be constrained under? You know, in Tevinter, mages would never allow themselves to be subjugated like you are.”

“In Tevinter,” Vivienne retorted, “corruption runs rampant. Here we are not quite so barbaric.”

He scoffed, “Barbaric is what you do to misbehaving mages.”

“Better than allowing them to become possessed by demons like this,” she said, gesturing over at Cole as she spoke, “with no consequences. The templars are not always correct, but your idea of circles is ineffectual at best.”

“Cole is no demon,” Solas decided to chime in, cutting off the venom that was clearly about to exit Dorian's mouth. “He is a spirit, and he deserves the same respect as you or I. He is no threat to mages.”

Vivienne laughed, a high, condescending thing. “No threat? You’re a fool, you all are.”

Rosemary wondered quietly if it were even possible to have picked a worse team for this mission.

“I assure you, the only fool here,” Solas practically hissed. “Is you.”

“I’m sure the people will be glad to know that the ones trying to protect us from the fade have a pet demon running around, unchecked, with their mages. Do the templars know about this, Inquisitor? It seems like something they would very much be interested in.”

“The templars are wrong,” Cole snapped, and it was more emotion than she’d ever heard from him before. “The ones who remember you are people are not templars for it. They say you can’t be a templar and be kind. Cullen had to leave.”

“What is the mad demon blathering about now? Words like this, against your allies? You treat this demon like a pup and yet you have not even properly taught him to heel.”

“They have trained me,” Cole insisted. “I move silent, shrouded, but together. We move as one when the knife sinks in.”

“Tell me you have not armed this thing,” she said, sounding more and more outraged by the second. “I demand you have it taken care of.”

Solas reeled back. “Taken care of? Tell me that does not mean what I think it does. You cannot be entertaining this nonsense.”

“Solas,” Rosemary said, fighting to keep her voice measured, “We need her.”

“We do not need someone who lacks humanity like this. Your soul is lined with rot, Madame de Fer, and I am no longer left wondering how you could thrive in those wretched circles.”

Solas grabbed Cole’s arm and attempted to pull him out of the room. Cole fought against it, planting his feet.

“She’s afraid,” he said, tugging against Solas’s hold. “Seeing me causes the hurt. I would not hurt her. I only harmed mages when I didn’t know, when I thought taking them away was the same as helping.”

Vivienne’s eyes widened and Rosemary suddenly wished Solas could pull harder.

Vivienne showed few signs of being ill composed, still carrying herself with the same carefully considered weight she always did. The only sign that something was wrong lay in her breaths, how they had started to come just barely quicker. It was hardly enough to notice, at least to most people who weren’t focused on reading every little tell every other person displayed.

“He admits it,” she said, and her tone was haughty. “He admits he’s hurt mages. Will you still do nothing?”

“He hasn’t hurt anyone,” she insisted, wishing with all her might that she could scream that she wished she could have killed him. That yes, spirits were manipulative, he’d manipulated her into letting him stay and then manipulated her once again, without her so much as realizing, into having her emotions bubble back up to the surface.

“They did that themself,” Cole said, and she wished they were alone and she could snap at him that this most certainly was not the time to be rooting around in her head. “They wanted to see the air again. You let them with me and they remembered what it was like to be restless.”

She shot Solas a pointed look, incapable of tamping it down any longer. “Please remove yourself and Cole from the premises. You too, Dorian. Your presence is no longer necessary.”

Dorian moved towards the door, where Solas still had his hand firmly gripping around Cole’s forearm.

“Does he really hurt mages?” Dorian asked as he headed for the door, and Rosemary didn’t know what the truth was.

“He does not,” she said with confidence. “He is kept on a short leash. It was let out today when it should not have been, and now he is being removed. The consequences of this will be discussed.”

Solas managed to pull Cole out the door. He’d mostly stopped fighting it, just staring at her from below that stupid hat with those massive eyes that peered right through her.

She sighed, desperately attempting to adjust her plan to the disaster that had unfolded.

Vivienne let out a laugh devoid of any humor, one that seemed to announce how absurd all of that had been and how above it all she felt.

“Well,” she said. “You most certainly have developed a fascinating little army, haven’t you.”

She shrugged. “The templars are our army. Them, I chose. Solas and Cole I was strongarmed into keeping. I am not the all encompassing ruler the rumors make me out to be.”

Vivinne evaluated her carefully. “No?”

“Absolutely not.” And then, in the name of salvaging this relationship and collecting the mage that she had heard was the strongest in the land, she did one of the only things she could rarely bring herself to do. She told the truth.

“I have no love for mages. I was victimized by unrestrained mages, you know. I didn’t always look like this.”

Vivienne scoffed a little. “What, young and beautiful?”

She nodded and fought the urge to throw up. “It was an awful thing. Blood magic, I believe you call it here. They twisted me up, molded me into what they wanted me to look like. Men, mages, whoever you’d like to blame it on. I know how dangerous they are and if I had my way, we’d have our own circle to prevent anything like that happening here. I chose the templars. I understand every word you say. I know templars could never incite cruelty like that, could never live up to the wretched actions a mage, unrestrained, is capable of. I have no love for mages and I respect your thoughts on the subject. I think you could be a guiding force for us, even if I have been pushed into housing a spirit in order to learn the enemy’s mind.”

Most of it, of course, was nonsense. Most of everything she said was nonsense.

In all honesty, she couldn’t have cared less about mages, and what those mages had done to her was far from the worst thing that had happened to her. She would have taken in every rebel mage and allowed them to learn every bit of blood magic they wanted if she thought it would keep her safer than she would have been without them.

But there was enough truth shining through, enough of a sliver of vulnerability, that she could see it shift something in Vivienne.

“I am sorry to hear that, my dear. In a proper circle, that never would have been allowed to happen. It is good to hear someone speaking sense.”

“Will you join us?” she asked gently, trying to not push too much. “I only want what is best for Thedas and I think we need you.”

“I will. And tell your spirit that if he comes sniffing around me he will be put down.”

She nodded, and as she did it felt almost like a bow. “Of course. There’s nothing else I’d like more.”

She left Madame de Fer’s mansion feeling exhausted.

Dorian, Cole, and Solas were all waiting just outside the grounds. She nodded at them and the two mages looked incredibly displeased, Solas raising his hands to rub at his temples as Dorian rolled his eyes.

Cole’s head perked up when she approached, blurting out words as he pulled them from her mind. “The truth shines through like sun through leaves, but it burns. It hurts even when you say it doesn’t, the face in the mirror being wrong. They say it’s a mercy, that no one ever touched the you that was. You wonder what she would think of the girl they formed.”

Solas and Dorian glanced between the two of them, trying to decipher the words.

She was too tired to try and spin them into anything.

And then an arrow landed between her feet and she was back in action, her exhaustion falling away.

Solas had a protective spell around them in an instant as Dorain positioned himself to attack and Cole stood absolutely still, not making so much as an attempt to draw his weapons.

“It meant to miss,” he said. “Sent between the heels to announce her way.”

As he spoke a blonde elf with short, choppy hair emerged from behind a bush, bow in hand, positioned perfectly so no one from the mansion could spy her from a window.

“The Red Jenny’s send their regards,” she said with a smile. “We want to know why you people claim to want to help and yet you keep going to the richy riches of the world instead of talking to the little people. We could do you more good. Could tell you what the actual people living here need too.”

It had been too long of a day for this. She could not bring herself to pretend to care about the ‘little people’ or whatever else this weird girl who had shot at her was talking about.

But manpower was manpower, and at least she didn’t need to grovel to get this one to stay, so she said, “Sure, come along, join the Inquisition. I’m sure we could find a place for you.”

The girl seemed confused by how smoothly this was going. “What, just like that? Now I’m a member of your little army?”

“If you want to be, sure. And I’m sure Josephine, she’s one of my advisors, would love to hear what the people of Thedas think.”

She was, in fact, not sure Josephine would care about this at all, but she was looking for anyone she could pawn this incredibly irritating girl off to.

The girl puffed out her chest a little, a smug sense of pride painting itself across her face. It wasn’t that far from what she’d seen in Vivienne, to be honest. She just hadn’t trained any display of real emotion out of herself the way Vivienne had.

“Brilliant. My name's Sera, by the way.”

She heard Solas do his incessant long-suffering sigh next to her and wanted to shake him by the shoulders and ask what he wanted her to do and if he cared about winning this fight at all.

Instead she just listened as he said, “You do have a fondness for strays, don’t you?” and forced out a bashful smile.

Then, hiding her level of malice as deep as she could, hoping Cole wouldn’t just blurt it out, she said, “You always tell me I don’t consider elves enough. Here you go Solas, this one’s for you.”

Sera scoffed. “Yeah right, I’m not an elf. Not really.”

Solas shot her an exasperated look as she smiled at him, sickly sweet. “Something for you two to discuss. Now I have important things to do, surely you can show our new recruit to Skyhold.”

Solas might well kill her in her sleep at this point, no matter how many smiles she threw his way. He’d never really fallen prey to them anyways, even before she’d begun antagonizing him as subtly as she could.

It made her a little afraid to see that she was getting bolder. She could feel it in the way she talked to people, more willing to antagonize, honest laughs and sighs escaping more.

She blamed Cole once again. He was ruining her perfect training.

Solas left with Sera, despite his obvious disdain for her. Dorian wandered off too, clearly in no hurry to spend more time with the Inquisitor who had unceremoniously thrown him out and had recruited both someone he hated and a spirit who may or may not have hurt mages.

She considered asking Cole about what he’d meant when he’d said that before realizing she didn’t care.

As they wandered into Skyhold, Bull tried to flag her down, waving at her from across the courtyard.

Cole’s head darted around as she began to resign herself to having to go over there.

His presence disappeared from her side and she realized he’d completely abandoned her.

It was fair. He could probably hear all of the things she’d thought and said to Vivienne. In his position, she would have abandoned her too.

Varric’s voice cut through her thoughts from behind her, shouting, “Hey, Rosie, come train with me. It’s been too long since you picked up anything resembling a bow.”

She saw Cole lurking behind him, staring out at her, and considered being upset at him for revealing anything to Varric.

But then again, she was exhausted and she wasn’t sure how much of Bull she could stomach right now, so she shrugged in Iron Bull’s direction and ran over to meet Varric.

He thrusted a bow in her hand and she sighed at the realization that despite it being a ploy from Cole, she would not be getting out of training.

Varric gave her a pat on the back. “Cole said you needed to unwind a little.”

“He did not say that,” she said, knowing the spirit far better than that by now.

“No,” Varric said with a laugh, “he did not. But he said something and I gleaned at least that much from it. Why, was I wrong?”

“The truth makes things worse,” Cole said. “Starts to unravel knots you thought were tied. I unravel them too, that’s what happens when I can see through them. Vivienne was right. Dead things can’t unravel knots. The string pulls tight. Things don’t count when they’re lies. They can’t hurt when they don’t happen to her. If they can’t count, why do you cry?”

She looked down at the bow, refusing to acknowledge what Cole had said. “You were right that I haven’t picked a bow in ages.”

Varric, always her favorite, chose to ignore Cole too. “Well, it’s never too late to learn. How about it Cole, you want to be the target?”

His eyes lit up as much as they ever did, shining a bit, at least the bits of them that she could see behind his hair and hat. “Yes please.”

It was a shame she wasn’t a better shot, she thought as he disappeared and then reappeared beside the targets. This whole problem could be solved right now.

“I could not,” he said, speaking at exactly his normal volume from across the range, and she could barely hear him. She wondered if he knew he could change how loud his voice was. “I told you, I am too slippery for you.”

She notched an arrow and fired it at him as quickly as she could.

It went nowhere near him. He disappeared and reappeared anyway, making it land even further from him. It almost felt like he was taunting her.

When it became apparent how truly awful of a shot she was, he started doing what she could only call teasing her, disappearing as she released the bowstring and appearing barely to the left or right of her shot.

It should have been aggravating. She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t.

Once more he disappeared, though an arrow had not been fired. She also couldn’t tell where he’d gone, seemingly leaving the range entirely.

A bit of shade encompassed her and she turned around to find herself under the brim of his hat.

He looked like the cat who got the canary, inexcusably proud of himself.

“You like me,” he whispered, a fondness in his eyes that made her sick.

“Shut up.”

He shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his face, and then disappeared. She realized too late, as the remaining wisps of green curled around her, that he’d taken her bow with her, Varric laughing at her side.

#dai cole #cole dai #cole dragon age #dragon age cole #dragon age inquisition #dai #colemance #where the light enters #Rosie's so desperate to recruit Viv because she can sense that Viv has the strongest subclass

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aritsukemo · 1 month ago

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Our Home | Prologue - The New Assignment! | AssClass

Summary: After another dead end in their current assignment, three assassin siblings are given a new assignment. One more deadly and much more interesting than any mission they've experienced!

Warnings: Reader is referred to with genderfluid pronouns throughout this story, but for this chapter, they're mainly referenced/called using he/him pronouns. That said, any references towards their gender is left purposefully vague as for all to enjoy! Torture scene ahead so possible gore ahead! ( Reader uses their gun as a torture weapon and their captive is shot numerous times ). Codenames are thrown around a lot in this. ( None of the main characters shown this chapter go by their actual names ).

A/N: Hey ya'll! Sorry I went off the radar for a bit..I got sick, heh- 😅 I'm still recovering plus my Thanksgiving break is filled to the brim with me working so anything new after this probably won't come til closer to Thanksgiving Day ( if at all ). On a more positive note, me transferring this old, mainly abandoned fanfic has got me wanting to rewatch Assassination Classroom. Maybe if I get the motivation, I'll actually continue this, who knows..

Tagging: @nursedflowers ( Because I love their commentary ) + Anyone who wants to be tagged! <3

Next Chapter

Third Person Pov, on the 57th floor of Mirai Hotel

"Oh you're so funny, Mr. Kobayashi! Who knew you could be such a charmer?" A small giggle slips past the woman's cherry red lips as they gently curve upwards. The businessman who's arm she hangs on seemed completely enthralled as his eyes darted from her glossed lips to her chocolate brown hair that was pinned up by a jeweled hairpin.

"Please, call me Takashi." He says as he brings one of his hands to his hair. The callous skin of his fingers sliding through his sliver locks with ease. The woman nods her head, her smile widening only to drop at the sight of the man's sudden frown.

"What's wrong?" She asks, but he doesn't respond. She stares at him for a moment, waiting for his response but when he continues to remain silent, she follows his gaze and looks behind them to see her bodyguard dressed down in a black suit and matching sunglasses.

"Does he bother you?" She whispers, her cool voice sliding into his ear which manages to recapture his attention and makes him finally pull his eyes away from the boy to look at her.

"Huh?" He blurts out rather dumbfoundedly.

"Does my bodyguard's presence bother you?" She repeats, her eyes narrowing a bit as she keeps steady eye contact with him. Takashi stiffens. The woman notices and moves her hand to touch his tense shoulders where she gives him a gentle squeeze and a golden smile that deserves one hundred awards.

"Don't be so nervous. I was simply asking a question," She cooed. Her hands begin to trail upwards, her cold fingertips tickling the skin of his neck as they slide up until they reach his face where they cup the plump of his cheeks.

"How about we go somewhere? Although this hotel is nice, I'd much prefer to go somewhere more..romantic," She leans against him, her breast jiggling a little as they collide with his chest which doesn't go unnoticed by the older male, "Do you know of any place like that?"

He gulps, trying his best to smile off the butterflies in his stomach. Alas, all he managed to do was present her an awkward smile, "Oh, uh.. I- I know a few places.."

With a mental smirk forming in her head, the woman pulls away, her award-winning smile stretching in glee as she claps her hands, "Excellent! Then let's not waste any time," She moves to stand a little behind him, her smooth, soft hand touching his back and giving him a gentle push. He looks back at her, beginning to raise his eyebrow as she gives him another push.

"Go on ahead without me and I'll join you in a bit. I need to send him off," She gestures towards her bodyguard, "What I plan to do with you..heh, let's just say it's not something a kid like him should see."

At her comment the wealthy man's entire face flushes, his mind creating all types of scenarios as he nods dumbly and turns, walking away without any further compliants.

"Don't have too much fun without me!" As the man boards the elevator at the end of the hall, one of his last sights is her side profile. Her sparkling eye, a polished, perfectly stretched smile, a cherry blush painting her porcelain skin, and her hand waving goodbye to him. It's a shame the doors closed before he could wave back..

As soon as those steel doors closed and that waste of space was out of her sights, the woman saw no reason in keeping up her act. As quick as a snap of a finger, her apple colored lips twist into a rotten frown and her smooth skin is wrinkled by her eyebrows as they scrunch to form a deep v. It was like watching a beautiful butterfly transform into an ugly slug.

..But in her bodyguard's eyes, she seemed pretty much the same.

"Alright, listen up brat. You needa' scram," She snapped, her voice once soft and tender now grating like a knife scratching against a chalkboard, "I originally hired ya' ass because I thought you were decent enough to do ya' job and stay in the background but I seemed to be wrong."

"Now, if I see you hangin' around me anymore, I'll make sure yer never able to find a job in this country again."

And with that final warning leaving her lips, she resets. Her pretty mask returns and she smiles at the boy. Although to him, her smile seemed rather oily, "Now, a very wealthy man..whatever his name was..is waiting for me right now so I musn't waste anymore time on you," And without so much as a goodbye, she turns on her heel and walks off in the direction of the elevator, completely unaware of her now fired bodyguard's earpiece buzzing to life.

"Shifting to plan b, you must secure the target's location before pursing any further actions. She's is approximately five meters away and is increasing the distance between you two every fifteen hundred milliseconds."

"I will disable the elevator shortly after she boards it. Based on my calculations, she will end up on the seventeenth floor in roughly five minutes and fifteen seconds and counting. I trust that you'll be able to descend forty floors in that time."

Oh they'll manage. As he was continuously being fed information, the bodyguard decided that the obvious way down was to take the stairs. Running the opposite way the woman went and taking a sharp left, he wasted no time in grabbing the knob, twisting it, and opening the sliver door that led to the winding staircase. And without so much as a second thought, they jump over the railing and begin their freefall down.

..What? Surprised? Running down all those steps would take too much time and energy. Plus, as long as he doesn't die, this way down should be fine.

Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven.. Second by second he passes by floors until he finally catches a glimpse at the steel plating that reads '20'. He waits for another second to pass before he decides to act, reaching his arms out and grabbing onto the railing.

After let himself dangle for a moment, the bodyguard tightens their grip on the railing, they swing forward then back then forward again, steadily building up momentum until his body eventually swings back enough to flip completely and he's able to swing over the railing, landing silently in front of the door that reads the number '17'. Perfect.

"As expected, you arrived early. The target will be arriving on the floor in another three minutes and thirty-nine seconds and counting. All the necessary cameras have been disabled and I've already gained access to all of the vacant deluxe rooms on this floor. When the target steps on the floor, the closest room will be '128' however, rooms '131', '133', and '134' can also be used if the situation calls for it."

Opening the door and walking down the hall, the bodyguard leans against a dim corner that gives him the perfect view of the elevator. He then leans back, crosses his arms, and waits.

About two minutes pass and the dinging of the elevator signals to the entire floor that a new visitor has arrived. One that seemed rather confused by her destination.

"What the hell," She mumbles under her breath, her hand coming up to click the floor button that reads '1', mumbling a slew of curses under her breath when nothing happens.

"Damnit.. Whatever. I'll just take the stairs," Stepping off the elevator, the woman walks right past her now fired bodyguard as if she never noticed him standing in the corner at all. She walks without a care in the world, her hips swishing left then right then left in a rhythm as she passes each room, completely unaware of the eyes that watch her.

When he's gained a comfortable distance away, the bodyguard straightens his posture and follows after her. His steps slow. Left foot then right foot, then left again, making sure to walk just behind her. His hips begin to sway left then right then left in a rhythm and just like that he's made her presence his own, going completely under her radar with ease.

And just as his unsuspecting prey passes the room with the golden plating that read '134', he strikes. Like a hungry viper ready to feast, he quickens his pace in an instant and closes the distance. Arms snake around her neck and right under chest where they latch on with a tight grip. Her eyes widen but that's the only thing she can manage to do before her body gives in and falls limp. She can't panic, move, or speak. It's like some imaginary poison has entered her system and has managed to immobilize her entire being. What's more is that it spreads to her consciousness, wrapping it's toxin around in a suffocating embrace and causing her to finally slip into complete unconsciousness..

Softness floods the senses, wrapping around the body and threathening to swallow it whole in it's comforting embrace. At the same time, discomfort cages the body, suspending it and robbing it of that comfort. As eyelids twitch and flutter open, dark brown eyes are immediately met with a blurred sight due to it's tears acting as a semi-transparent wall that impairs their view. As the senses flood in slowly, there's a quick realization that the softness felt was beneath in the form of silk sheets. Furthermore, as the body stirs, a stinging pain quickly takes over, rooting from the arms and legs.

..Wait, are these..ropes?

"Are you awake, Ms. Aiko?" A voice calls. One that tingles the senses from the familiarity of it and in a way, helps finally ground the woman. Fluttering her eyelids and blinking away the teary wall that blurs her vision, she cranes her head slowly to the side and the sight she's met with sends a chill down her spine.

Sitting in front of the large windows that align the walls and provide the only source of light through a crack in the black curtains sits a shadowed figure who's eyes gleam in the moonlight and stare down her tied up figure with eyes of a hungry predator that's ready to consume it's meal at any given moment.

"Wh.. Who are you?" She squeaks out, voice shakier than an unstable bridge ready to give out which she takes note of and in turn, bites her lip in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"Shouldn't you be worried about other, more important things, miss?" The figure asks cooly as they cross their legs over the other and clasps their hands together, "I have some questions for you. Answer them honestly and—"

"I don't care—!" With a squeeze of a finger her words die in her throat as a gun briefly shatters the silence of the room. On instinct, the woman's eyes slam shut and her mind shoots to the worst case scenario. However as the silence returns and nothing seems to happen, her eyes crack open and she looks up, her heart skipping a beat when she does. A bullet had slammed into the delicate woodwork of the headboard just inches above her head, cracking it's beautiful form and making her heart drop.

"You shouldn't interrupt others. It's rude," The figure scolds, but their words fall upon deaf ears. The woman seemed more interested in the fact that she was almost shot in the head rather than the person who almost shot her in the head, if her refusing to look away from the hole in the headboard was any indicator of that.

"As I was saying, I have a few questions for you. Answer them honestly and you won't have much to worry about," The figure holds up two fingers, their other hand continuing to keep their gun pointed at her and their finger on the trigger, ready to shoot at any given moment.

"I'm only giving you two more chances. Interrupt me again or refuse to answer and..well you understand, right? Nod your head if yes," Finally, the woman forces her eyes away from the bullet-pierced bedpost. She looks over, ignoring the clammy feeling she gets when she locks eyes with the figure, and nods her head.

"Good.. For the past month, you've been kidnapping children and selling them off to someone. I need you to tell me who that is."

"Huh?" The noise the woman lets out is rather exasperated but she quickly closes her mouth when the figure's eyes narrow. There's her opportunity, she thinks. Although risky, a small chance to get out of this situation is better than having none.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She begins, her voice softening as her lips begin to stretch into a sheepish smile in the darkness, "I feel a tad bit insulted that you would assume I would do something so degrading--"

"I have photo evidence that says otherwise," And just like that, the thread of opportunity snaps, "Embezzlement, first degree murder, aggravated assualt, extortion, the list goes on.." With each crime that leaves their lips, the woman's smile gets smaller and smaller until it was nowhere to be found, "I have enough evidence of your crimes to get you life in prison. However, if you comply and answer my questions honestly, I'll convince the police to reduce your sentence to.." A pause, "..Half that long."

"Are you..threatening me?" As the words leave her lips, her teeth clench and grind, "Are yer' seriously threatenin' me? Do you have any idea who I am? With one phone call I could ruin yer' entire life! I--!"

"If you don't have a name, it would help to describe their attributes, mannerisms, and or any ticks they may have. If you can't give me that, describe their voice and dialects--"

"I'm not givin' you shit!" The woman shouts, "'Little brat thinks they can command me? Do you know what I'm capable of, I can—" With another squeeze of a finger, white hot flashes obscure her vision and a sharp, blood-curlding scream forces it's way out of her throat. Crimson drips from her shattered kneecap, the red liquid pooling out and staining the expensive bedding below.

Good thing these walls are soundproof.

Amidst her shrieks of pain, the figure seems completely unfazed. As if having done this countless times and as if her screams were some sort of familiar tune, they don't jump or tense up. They simply sit there and wait for her screeching to die down, silently hoping that she doesn't pass out like the last one did.

But it's no worry really. Although a bit inconvenient, they'll admit, they have ways of waking her if something like that does occur.

Lucky enough for them, that doesn't seem to be the case. Although big, clumpy tears roll down her cheeks and her body trembles violently, she's remains awake. A little out of it, yes, but conscious nonetheless.

"That was strike two," The figure's voice rings out, speaking a tad bit louder so that their voice could hopefully be heard over the ringing that's probably going on in the woman's ears from the pain of being shot, but also remaining calm enough not to come off as aggressive, "I'll ask you one more time.."

"Who is the person you've abducted kids for and what do they plan to do with them?

"Oh, you're done?" As the bodyguard enters an alleyway that's a few blocks from Mirai Hotel, a bouncy, almost honeyed voice is what he's greeted with, "You took longer than usual. Did you get anything useful out of her?"

"No, I did not," He answers simply only for a groan to be heard immediately after. As the person steps forward into the light, revealing a girl who's hoodie serves to conceal the majority of her appearance aside from her fringed bangs which poke out and covers her forehead.

"Damn, so another dead end? And here I thought you took so long because you were gathering intel or something.." She grumbles, her lips beginning to form into a pout.

"Without the necessary distraction from you, it took longer to get her in a secluded area where I could make my move," The bodyguard speaks, crossing his arms.

"Don't blame everything on me. I did my part and distracted that perv' she was with and even managed to get him to leave the hotel. Plus, even if things didn't go exactly as planned, you still managed just fine," Despite her words, the bodyguard didn't seem all that happy with her straying from the plan. Although to others, his face seemed relatively neutral.

"Stop glaring at me like that," The girl said, waving her hand in a carefree manner, "You're alive aren't you? I don't know why you're getting so worked up."

"..Moving on from that, why are the higher ups making us of all people play detective and investigate the abductions? Shouldn't the police be doing this?" She asks.

"I don't know."

"Would it kill you to be give more than a one-shot answer every once in a while?"

"( Assassin Codename ), are you there? Did you succeed in gathering intel on the kidnapped children?" A familiar voice rings in the bodyguard's— er, assassin's ear, successfully pulling him away from the conversation at hand.

Bringing a hand up to signal to the girl to be quiet, the assassin brings his other hand up to hold down on the small button on his earpiece, "I couldn't get anything useful out of her."

A sigh is heard, "I thought so.. Someone will be arriving shortly to pick up both you and Inari. They will be escorting you to Rei's office."

"Does it involve another assignment?" He asks which immediately catches the other assassin's attention and causes her to look at ( Assassin Codename ) with a rather exasperated expression.

"Another assignment? We literally just finished one! I know we're the higher ups' favorites, but would it hurt them to give us a break before putting us on another exhausting mission?" She asks, waving her hands around in all types of directions to better show her distress.

"Why are you complaining? You barely did anything," ( Assassin Name ) says flatly.

"How can you say that? I'll have you know I was working very hard.." As Inari begins her rant of all the things she has done to help out, and occassionally slipping in the times she's helped in past operations, ( Assassin name ) eventually tunes her out. As a black car slowly pulls to a stop in front of the alleyway, the assassin turns on his heel and walks off. Promptly ignoring the curses that are thrown at him as Inari follows after them.

"This is ridiculous! What kind of scenarios ran through my seniors' minds to make them think that we would be compatible enough to work together?" The male grumbled as he took another once over at the information on the papers he was given.

"Oh c'mon, don't get so angry, Kazu'," The pink-haired hitman drawled, walking over to his counterpart's desk which had the nameplate that read 'Kazuhiko Rei' standing tall in the center front.

With a lazy smile on his face, he swings his arms around the hazel-eyed male, "You get to work with your best buddy and the world's greatest hitman! You should be jumping with joy!"

With a scoff, the suited agent pushes him off with a forceful roll of his shoulder which causes the younger male to chuckle.

"As always, your arrogance knows no bounds, Ryūji."

As if he had been shot in the heart, Ryūji clutches his chest and staggers back. His expression morphing into one of faux agony as his brows knit together and his hand comes up to fall dramatically over his forehead.

"I can't believe you can be so cruel to me! Help me out here, Rina!" At the call of her codename, the girl sitting on the lush couch pauses, her hands stilling above the keys of her laptop as she looks over, her lips stretching into a smile.

"Well logically speaking, I can't provide an accurate estimate since I don't know the details of this assignment yet. However, I can give you my educated guess based on your compatibility in past operations you've had together as well as the statistics of your own individual skill sets," She said, already beginning to type the numbers into her computer when Rei signals to her to stop.

"That won't be needed, Rina. Please, do not insult your own intelligence by humoring this fool any longer," He says.

Retracting her hands from the keyboard, Rina eyes fall closed as she nods her head, "Very well then."

"Huh.. Why do I feel betrayed all of a sudden?" Ryūji asks no one in particular.

With a sudden burst pulling everyone in the room away from the conversation, the doors to Rei's office swing open and Inari comes running in, her straight-faced colleague walking in shortly after her.

"We're here!" Inari says in a sort of sing-songy voice, getting a mixture of different greetings as a response. Initially her smile widens, but as her eyes fall on Ryūji, who was now splayed out on the couch parallel to the one Rina sat on, her mouth falls open slightly and her eyes widen as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Ryūji?" As she nears him, the hitman stretches his arm out, his hand balled into a fist as he waits for her to reciprocate the action.

"Long time no see, kid," He says and her smile quickly returns. Balling up her hand, Inari eagerly fists bumps with the pink-haired hitman and in response to that, he laughs and throws his arm around her shoulders, pulling her down so that he could ruffle her hair.

"Why are you here?" ( Assassin Codename ) questions.

"First time seeing me in three years and that's what you ask me? And here I thought you'd be running into my arms," He jokes, but the assassin doesn't laugh nor roll his eyes. He doesn't react much at all really.

"The government has, for some odd reason, hired Ryūji to work alongside us on this operation," Rei says, his deep, mellow voice capturing everyone's attention.

"Us?" Inari repeats, "You're going to be involved too? What, are aliens taking over the world or something?" She jokes. Her brow raising when she spots Ryūji making a face at her comment.

"I'll explain the details in a moment. Firstly, would either of you like some tea? I've just restocked yesterday," Rei asks, sliding his chair back so that he can stand up and walk out from behind his desk.

( Assassin Codename ) walks over to the couch where Rina types who knows what into her laptop and sits down, "I'll have ( Tea of Choice )," He says, as the long haired girl beside her halts and glances up at Rei.

"May I have a refill?" She asks, having long finished her chamomile tea before the other two arrived. Rei nods his head, "Of course."

"Peppermint for me!" Inari exclaims which gains a few sideways looks from her two partners in crime.

"What?" She inquires as Rei walks out of the room to fetch the tea.

"It's nothing really," Rina says, "..but I thought you would've grown out of this phase by now.."

Inari brow quirks up, a vein flexing on the corner of her face, "Like that flowery bullshit taste any better."

"It does taste better. Research shows that—"

"—My research shows that it tastes like watered-down grass," Inari interrupts.

As the two began bickering, Ryūji pouts. Not due to their pointless argument, but because of the blonde-headed agent who walked out a few moments ago.

"How come he didn't ask me if I wanted anything?" He asks which only catches ( Assassin Codenames )'s attention, the other two being too indulged in their dispute to hear him.

"You don't like tea," They answer simply and like some moody teenager, Ryūji's pout deepens, a small 'hmph' slipping from his lips as he crosses his arms.

"Yeah but he could've still offered me some."

"Hey, ( Assassin Codename )!" Inari calls, "You have taste. Set Rina straight already so that we can move on from this."

"Both teas possess a distasteful flavor. I'm not partial to either."

"Ugh! You're hopeless!" Inari shouts. Rina looks at her with an almost disappointed look.

"It was immature of you to try and drag a third party into our conversation in order to win an argument," She scolds, using an almost motherly tone. Inari rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah whatever.." As that grumbled comment leaves her lips, Inari chooses to plop down on the small space left on the couch that Ryūji was laying on. Shortly after doing so, the doors to the office open and Rei comes rolling in with a small cart.

As the light smell of different teas fill the air, Rei hands ( Assassin Codename ) and Inari their cups of tea before grabbing the gaudy-looking teapot and pouring Rina some chamomile tea in her matching teacup. He then wheels the cart over to a corner before walking back over to his desk and sitting down.

"So.. Don't keep us in suspense, what's this new assignment about?" Inari says after a while.

"Yes," Rei clasps his hands together, his eyes narrowing, "We're all aware about the incident that happened two months ago? The one involving our moon being turned into a permanent crescent seemingly in an instant?"

"How could we forget?" Inari said, leaning back against the couch, "Those stick in the mud higher ups of ours have been losing their shit over it ever since."

"Well a week or so after that happened, we captured an alien-like being who we have reason to believe is responsible for that incident. Unfortunately, we're having trouble with destroying it."

"Are these details relevant to the assignment?" ( Assassin Codename ) cuts in. Rei nods his head.

"Yes, you see, about a month ago the creature made the odd request to teach a class of poor-preforming students at Kunugigaoka Junior High."

"And our superiors agreed to this arrangement?" Rina asks, her brows beginning to knit together, "Having civilians come in such close contact with this creature will increase the difficulty of killing the creature and tremendously decrease our success rate. And, that's not counting the possible causalities that could happen."

"I understand your concerns. I myself was skeptical of the idea of allowing the fiend around defenseless children, however the creature has sworn not to bring any harm to the students and is completely fine with them attacking as they see fit. Plus, government officials will be there to oversee everything so in that aspect, we have nothing to worry about."

"But what's stopping it from attacking them? You said it yourself that even with the government's advanced technology and resources they were unable to defeat it so what's preventing it from doing whatever it wishes to?" She retorts.

"We don't understand it's reasoning behind this nor can we one hundred percent guarantee the kids' safety but regardless, we don't have much of a choice. You see, when the creature proposed this idea it also made the proclamation that it will blow up the earth within a year's time."

"So they're panicking.." Inari mumbles, referring to her superiors, "Heh.. How pathetic," She sneers, "..But I guess it's not all bad. Think if we take it's head they'll actually pay us for our efforts?"

"Actually, they will. If we manage to succeed, they're agreeing to pay us a rather hefty sum of money—ten billion yen, to be precise," Rei explains causing everyone, aside from a certain monotonous someone, to gape in shock.

"You serious?" Inari is the one to break the silence, her gaze seeming almost skeptical as she awaits for him to answer.

"Am I one to joke about something like this?" Rei asks only for Ryūji to follow up with, "Yeah, is he one to joke at all?"

Rei continues, "We would, of course, split the ten billion among ourselves, but I'm sure none of you mind having two billion yen to keep for yourself. If you do, I can divide Ryūji's share among you three."

"Hey, how come I'm gettin' a pay cut and we haven't even got the ten billion yet?"

Ignoring him, Rei focuses his attention on the three assassins' before him, "So, do you believe you all can handle this task? As you already know, there is no room for failure."

"Not like we have much of a choice," Inari says, "And even if I did, I wouldn't want to leave the fate of my future to a buncha' punks."

"That's rich coming from you, Inari," Rina quips. She then turns to look at ( Assassin Codename ) who seemed more or less unfazed by the entire situation as he sipped his tea.

"What do you think would be the right course of action, ( Assassin Codename )?" Rina asks and suddenly everyone's eyes are on him, not that he cares.

Slowly, he lowers the teacup from his mouth, "Isn't it obvious?" He asks, and as if everything revolved around him in this moment, the atmosphere seems to completely change.

Upon first glance, it goes unnoticed, but as the assassin looks up, his gaze sharper than any dagger he may have hidden and more dangerous than any murderous fiend or wild animal, the bloodlust that exudes them becomes all the more apparent.

"I'll make short work of it."

A whistle of amusement breaks the silence before it even has the time to begin, "Well then it's settled! Team Pink is in business!" Ryūji cheers. Inari following up with a similar noise of glee.

Rei lets out a long sigh, his hand coming up to prop his head up, "I can already feel a headache coming on.."

Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx

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