#(and pretend like everything is normal and peaceful and safe)
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eskawrites · 2 years ago
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tlou au????? pls tell me more 🥺
listen this is 1000% the show's fault bc i'm unbelievably hyped for it, and also stranger things zombie apocalypse just works, this is not an original thought, but it is an incredibly gay one because....nancy with guns fighting off zombie hoards. need i say more?
the answer is no but i'll say more anyway
Nancy Wheeler hasn't let herself get close to anyone since her best friend Barb turned right in front of her eyes. She hadn't been hiding the bite, but Nancy refused to leave her side even though Barb begged her to go.
She shot her at the very last second, after Barb had grabbed her, nails cutting into her skin, but just before she could dig her teeth into Nancy's shoulder. She hesitated until the last possible moment, and sometimes, she wishes she'd hesitated just a little longer
she and Mike live in a QZ somewhere, Chicago or Indianapolis probably, but one day Mike gets caught somewhere he's not supposed to be, and Nancy gets there in time to save his skin before the military can lock him up or worse. She's about to lecture him into next week and drag him back home when he stops, refusing to leave, telling her, "you don't understand, Nance--you've got to see this."
turns out he and his friends have been harboring a girl who snuck in through the city walls. she's deadly thin, hardly speaks a word of English, and she looks up at Nancy with such a painful mix of fear and hope that Nancy feels herself cave.
"Fine," she says. "We'll take her home. But if anyone sees her--"
(someone sees her)
Cue shenanigans. El turns out to be a surprisingly good fighter, and she saves the kids' skins a couple times, but they eventually have to flee the city because FEDRA's out looking for them at this point
the thing is, there are rumors of a city that's rebuilding--far from FEDRA's influence, away from the cults and rebellions that litter the rest of the country. Jackson is just...a town. Where people can live and protect each other and try to regain some semblance of normalcy, of life, in this awful world. Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas insist on trying to find it. Nancy is sure it's a hoax.
and basically they're lingering outside the city for a few days, avoiding FEDRA troops, Nancy desperately trying to come up with a plan for how she's going to take care of four kids in the infected-ridden countryside, when Steve and Robin come looking for them.
(Steve, who was there the night Barb was infected, but who ran as soon as they realized what happened. He left, and Nancy was alone when she watched Barb turn, when she killed her, and while she doesn't know what she would've done if he'd stayed, she certainly isn't fond of him after that)
(she's not fond of his apparent new girlfriend, either, but the kids seem to like her well enough. And, well, they snuck out of the city to bring them food and supplies because Dustin radioed them. So maybe they're not as bad as Nancy has been thinking)
anyway cue shenanigans part 2. Like ex-military school Max and Robin, and Steve trying to Get the Girl, only for Robin to laugh at him every time Nancy tells him to fuck off, and everyone slowly realizing that whatever weird cult or community El is from was Fucked Up.
eventually they realize they have to do something, and nothing is really tying any of them to the QZ, so they set out to find...somewhere. they meet friendly encampments and cities crawling with hunters in equal measure. they run into infected hordes and military caravans and places that are completely empty except for the bodies littering the ground. there are close calls and peaceful nights and an entire world to explore--and even though it's broken, it's still holding on. there are still some bright spots to cherish. Nancy finds them more and more as she and Robin grow closer
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lovelookspretty · 25 days ago
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routledge!reader x rafe, after big john comes back and finds out that both of his kids are dating the camerons, he gets mad, especially at his daughter, cause he thought that she wasn't thinking straight. After a few days, he throws a stupid comment about rafe when they were with the rest of the pogues and reader just snaps at him. pure angst now 🥰 she realises that he's never been a good father, only caring about treasures and yells that she wishes he never came back. Then goes to rafe, crying, for comfort 💕 (i love angst im sorry.)
hold me close
rafe cameron x routledge!reader
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warnings: angst, swearing, a kiss, pretty safe !!
authors note: OKAY ik thats trevor n not rafe but erm, we’ll pretend bc that pic is what gives the energy for this oneshot. anyway hii, hope u guys enjoy this one. feel free to send any requests guys! n thank u for 1k followers yesterday. ilyasm <33
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you sit in the backyard, the soft hum of cicadas filling the warm night air. the pogues are just behind you, laughing and talking in a huddle. it feels good to see them like this again—normal, for once, after everything.
after the chaos of the last year, of treasure hunts, betrayals, and close calls. you’ve always tried to stay out of it, letting john b and the others chase after the gold while you lived your life. but eventually, you couldn’t stay on the sidelines, not when rafe got involved, not when it became a matter of life and death.
it’s been hard, being stuck between two sides, torn between your brother and your boyfriend. but tonight, you just want peace.
you glance over at your dad, sitting a little ways away from the group, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin on his face. big john routledge—alive, after these three years. you still can’t believe it sometimes.
he looks different, a little more worn, a little rougher around the edges, but the way he carries himself hasn’t changed. he’s still larger than life, still full of stories, still your dad. and god, you missed him.
he catches your eye, and for a moment, it’s like nothing has changed. like you’re just a kid again, sitting with your dad, listening to him talk about his crazy ideas, his wild adventures.
“you know,” he starts, leaning forward, “i remember that time you and john b tried to catch that fish out by the dock, and you both fell in. i swear, i thought i was gonna have to drag you two out myself,” he says, chuckling to himself, shaking his head like the memory is some long-lost treasure of its own.
you smile, even though it feels a little bittersweet. “yeah,” you murmur under your breath.
you pull at a piece of grass by your feet, your fingers absentmindedly tearing at it. you’ve waited so long for this moment—for him to come back, for your family to feel whole again.
but now that he’s here, you don’t know what to do with it. you can’t shake the feeling that something’s changed, that he’s not just the dad you remember, but something else entirely. still, you can’t help but feel like the little girl who always looked up to him, who wanted nothing more than to make him proud.
“i never thought we’d see you again,” you mumble, your voice low, barely above a whisper. you don’t look up from the grass, your fingers still picking at the blades, but you can feel his gaze on you.
“i never thought i’d be back either,” he admits quietly. “but i couldn’t stop thinking about you two. every day out there . . . i thought about coming home.”
you scoff softly, a bitter smile pulling at your lips, even though you don’t mean for it to. “but you didn’t,” you say, barely above a whisper. “you didn’t come back for three years.”
he shifts in his seat, his fingers tapping against the arm of the chair. “it wasn’t that simple, y/n,” he says. “i was trying to protect you. there are dangerous people out there, people who want what we’re after. i couldn’t come back until i knew it was safe.”
you nod, but it’s a hollow gesture. you’ve heard it all before from other people—the excuses, the treasure, the danger. it always comes back to that.
you glance at your friends, laughing and sharing stories with each other. you’ve spent so long trying to push this life aside, to live outside of the mess of treasure hunts and betrayals. but it always pulls you back in.
“yeah, you always did put the treasure first,” you murmur as you face forward again. you’re not even sure if you mean to say it out loud. it’s more to yourself, just a thought that’s been living in the back of your mind for too long.
“don’t do that.” he leans forward, his voice soft, almost pleading. “i did it for you and john b,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “for our family. i wanted us to have something—something big, something that would change everything.”
“yeah, but we didn’t need that,” you say, your voice small, but firm. you’re still pulling at the grass, twisting it around your fingers. “we just needed you.”
he doesn’t say anything for a moment. it’s like he’s trying to figure out what to say, but there’s nothing that can fix the years of distance. nothing that can make up for what you lost when he left.
there’s a long silence, and for a moment, you think maybe this is as close as you’ll ever get to understanding each other. you don’t want to fight tonight. you just want to sit with him, to pretend that things could go back to how they were before.
“so,” he starts again, his tone shifting back to playful, like he’s trying to lighten the mood, “you and john b teaming up with the others to chase down treasure? guess it runs in the family.”
you laugh, but it’s a little forced. “yeah, well, i tried to stay out of it. but . . .”
“but what?” he presses, leaning forward with a smirk. “got a little taste of adventure, didn’t you?”
you glance up at the marsh, a faint smile on your lips. “something like that,” you mutter.
but you don’t mention rafe, don’t mention how he’s become a part of this tangled mess, how hard it’s been being caught between him and your family. you’ve already told your dad the day you reunited a few days ago in barbados. didn’t end well that time either. you don’t want to ruin the moment, don’t want to start another fight.
but, as if the universe is reading your mind, your dad shifts the conversation in a way that makes your stomach drop. “just promise me,” he says, suddenly serious, “you won’t let that rafe cameron kid get too close. he’s no good, y/n.”
the words hit you like a slap, and for a moment, you just sit there, staring at him. it takes you a second to process what he’s said, to even understand the casual way he’s dismissed rafe, like it’s nothing. like he’s nothing.
“and i hear john b’s with sarah now, too?” his tone shifts, bitter and disapproving. “so now both of my kids are wrapped up with the camerons. hell of a choice you both made.”
you freeze, your stomach tightening. there it is. you knew it was coming, but it still hits you like a punch to the gut. it’s not the first time he’s made a comment about rafe, and you thought you were doing the right thing confessing what’s changed since you last saw him, but now he’s dragging john b into it, and that makes it worse. so much worse.
“dad,” you start, trying to keep your voice steady, but there’s an edge to it, a warning. “don’t.”
he shakes his head like you’ve said something ridiculous. “no, i am gonna say something. sarah, rafe, they’re cameron’s kids. ward cameron’s kids. you’re smart enough to know better than to get mixed up with people like him. they’re bad news. always have been.”
“yeah, but they’re not like him,” you snap, your voice sharper than you intended. “sarah’s not ward. rafe’s not ward. they’re not their father.”
he just laughs, but there’s no humor in it. it’s harsh. “you really believe that?” he asks, shaking his head again. “they’re camerons. it’s in their blood. you think you’re any safer with rafe than you were without me here? because i’m telling you right now, you’re not.”
you stand up, your hands balled into fists at your sides. you’ve heard enough. for days now, you’ve listened to him make little digs about rafe, about the camerons, and you’ve kept your mouth shut. but tonight, it’s too much. you can’t keep it in anymore.
“three years, dad. three years you were gone, chasing your stupid treasure, while we were stuck here. john b and i had to figure it out on our own. so don’t stand there and act like you have any right to tell me who i should or shouldn’t be with.”
big john looks at you, stunned, like he’s seeing you for the first time. but you’re not done. there’s too much you’ve kept bottled up, and now it’s all spilling out.
“you care more about that gold than you ever did about us,” you say. “you care more about treasure than you do about being a father. you don’t know anything.”
big john’s face hardens, his jaw clenching as he stares at you. “i know enough,” he says, his voice cold. “i know who the camerons are.”
“yeah?” you snap, your voice breaking. “well, maybe if you’d been here, you’d actually know something about me too.”
you turn on your heel, ready to storm off, but the moment you move, you notice it.
the pogues are silent now, all of them watching. sarah, jj, pope, kie—they’re still, their conversations dropped as they stand there, wide-eyed and uneasy. john b, though, he’s just sitting there with his can of beer held low in his hands, lips pressed together. you can tell he’s heard it all before. he’s not going to step in because he knows you need to let it out.
you’re just done with it. you take a step forward, ready to leave this backyard and the suffocating tension behind. but something stops you, a feeling gnawing at your chest, pulling you back. you hesitate, turning just enough to glance at your dad over your shoulder.
he’s still staring at you, his expression set like stone, as if he’s waiting for you to say more, to take it all back, maybe. but you won’t. not now.
your voice wavers, but it’s steady enough. “i wish you never came back.”
his face doesn’t move, but something flickers in his eyes. you don’t wait for him to respond. you turn away for good this time and walk out, leaving the backyard behind.
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before you know it, you’re at rafe’s house, your knuckles rapping against the door almost frantically. you pace, glancing down at your phone, watching as the notifications keep coming—texts from john b, a few from kie, and even jj. they're all asking the same thing: ‘ where are you? ’ or ‘ are you okay? ’
you drag your hand down your face, trying to ignore the tightness in your chest. before you can get lost in your thoughts, the door swings open, and there he is.
rafe stands in the doorway, his expression unreadable. he leans against the doorframe for a second, his lips slightly parted, taking you in. you know he’s already pieced together what’s happened from the voice messages you left on the way over. not that he’s the type to acknowledge it with some grand gesture or comforting words.
he doesn’t say anything, but he steps aside without much ceremony. you slip past him and leave your phone in the foyer, tossing it carelessly on the side table as you pass, the pinging of messages finally fading into the background.
you make your way down the hallway, not even sure where you’re going, but your feet carry you to the living room. rafe follows close behind, his presence looming, but not overbearing. his eyes are trained on you, watching as you take in the dimly lit room. there’s a bottle of whiskey sitting on the coffee table, a glass next to it, already finished. it’s so rafe—quiet, controlled chaos.
you stop, your breath shaky, your chest tight, and before you can hold it back, everything comes spilling out.
“he doesn’t get it, rafe. he just doesn’t fucking get anything,” you start, your voice louder than you intend. you turn to face him, your hands gesturing wildly as you try to make sense of the mess of emotions coursing through you. “i mean, he’s been gone for years, and he comes back, and suddenly he thinks he can just . . . control everything? like he gets to have an opinion about my life after everything he’s done. he doesn't even know me anymore.”
rafes eyes are fixed on you, and he’s listening, letting you get it out. his jaw twitches slightly, but he stays silent, just watching as you unravel in front of him.
“and it’s like . . . it’s like no matter what i do, no matter how hard i try, it’s never enough! not for him, not for john b, not for anyone!” your voice cracks, and you press your palms against your temples, trying to hold yourself together, but the tears are already brimming, threatening to spill over. “i didn’t ask for any of this. i didn’t ask to be stuck in the middle of all this shit with my family and you and . . . god, it’s too much.”
you turn away from him, your breath coming out in shallow gasps now as you try to steady yourself. but it’s no use. you’re falling apart, and it feels like the weight of everything is finally crushing you.
before you can say another word, rafe steps forward, his arms sliding around you in one swift motion. “alright, alright, c’mere,” he murmurs, his voice soft but firm. “c’mon.”
you collapse into him, burying your face into his chest, the tears coming freely now. he holds you tight, his chin resting lightly against the top of your head as his hand rubs slow circles on your back.
rafe’s not one for words, and you don’t expect him to be, but this—this is enough. the steady rise and fall of his chest, the way his arms keep you grounded, it’s enough to make the world stop spinning for just a moment.
you don’t say anything else. neither does he. the silence stretches on, but it’s not uncomfortable. for once, you feel like you can breathe.
even though he’s holding you, his mind seems elsewhere—his jaw clenched, muscles rigid beneath the surface. it’s not hard to guess where his thoughts have drifted, especially after everything you told him in those voice messages.
you can tell he’s upset. not just because you’re upset, but because of what your dad said—about him, about his family. his body is stiff as he holds you, and you know him well enough to see the silent anger simmering just beneath the surface. his eyes aren’t on you; they’re somewhere distant, staring past you as if he’s imagining your father’s words in his head.
“i’m sorry about what he said, rafe,” you whisper into his chest, feeling the way his breathing shifts, more shallow now, controlled. “he said something about sarah and john b, too.”
he doesn’t respond right away, but you feel his hand pause against your back, fingers pressing a little harder. for a moment, it feels like he might pull away, but instead, he just tightens his grip on you. his silence speaks volumes. rafe is the type to internalize everything, to let it fester until it boils over, but you can feel it now—the tension thrumming through his entire body.
“doesn’t matter,” he finally mutters, though you can tell by the way his voice is low, that it does. “it’s nothing i haven’t heard before.”
you pull back slightly, just enough to look up at him, and his eyes flick down to meet yours. they’re darker than usual, clouded with frustration, but he still tries to soften his expression for you.
“he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” you say quietly. “he doesn’t know you.”
for a moment, neither of you speaks. rafe’s hand resumes its slow, steady motion against your back, though the tension hasn’t fully left his body. you can feel the war going on inside him—the part of him that’s angry, defensive, but also the part that’s trying to be here for you, to let go of his own frustration long enough to comfort you.
“fuck him,” rafe mutters after a long silence, his voice barely above a whisper. “he doesn’t get to talk about you like that. or me.”
there’s a dangerous edge to his voice now, but you know it’s not directed at you. he’s angry, not just at your dad, but at the situation—the impossible mess you’ve both found yourselves in, caught between your family and his.
“i don’t care what he thinks,” you murmur, holding onto him tighter. “i’m here with you. that’s all that matters.”
he doesn’t respond, but his hand moves to the back of your neck, his fingers curling gently into your hair as he exhales, long and slow, like he’s finally letting go of whatever was eating at him.
for the first time tonight, the room feels quiet as the two of you stand there, wrapped in each other’s arms.
you’re gazing up into his eyes, searching for something—comfort, understanding, maybe a little reassurance. your hands find their way up his shoulders, one resting gently on his collarbone while the other slides higher, rubbing the area around his ear and jaw.
“you know that i love you,” you murmur, your voice soft but steady, as if the confession can dissolve the tension still hanging in the air.
rafe stares down at you, and in that moment, you can see everything in his eyes. he’s never loved anyone more than he loves you—the way you stood your ground against your own dad tonight, defending yourself and defending him and his family. it’s a vulnerable space, one he doesn’t often let himself occupy, but with you, it feels different.
he nods, pressing his lips together as if trying to hold back a flood of emotion. then, with a sudden urgency, he leans down and kisses you deeply. the taste of whiskey lingers on his lips. it’s a kiss that speaks of everything unspoken.
but just as quickly as it begins, he pulls away and presses a soft kiss to your cheek. you close your eyes into the gesture, feeling the warmth of his lips linger against your skin.
rafe goes back to resting his chin on your head, his breath steady as he holds you close again. you breathe in his familiar scent, a mix of sea salt and something distinctly rafe, and let the silence wrap around you like a comforting blanket.
in this moment, nothing else matters. not the fights, not your dad’s harsh words, not the stupid tangled web of family and expectations.
just you and him, together, holding onto each other for as long as you can.
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whateveriwant · 11 months ago
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I know you already did the 141 boys when their wife gives birth (which was fantastic btw) but maybe if they missed the birth because of a mission or whatever else your brilliant mind can think of!
Don't give me compliments because then I'll follow you home like a cat and you'll never get rid of me 😖
Price
(This goes for all the men, really) but he's absolutely gutted to not be with you as you're giving birth
Honestly, if he had the choice, he would've rather lobbed off his own arm than miss such a momentous occasion in both your lives
It’s nothing less than the literal fate of the world that's keeping him from you, and he makes sure to reiterate that over and over again
The only thing that gives Price a bit of peace of mind when leaving you at a time like this is knowing you have a strong support system to help you through it
And boy oh boy does he put those friends and family members to use by having them constantly text him with every update imaginable
What time your water breaks, how far apart your contractions are, how much you've dilated, so on and so on. He wants to know it all
While he has to remain focused during the bulk of the mission, when he's able to, he's whipping out his phone to scroll through the literal hundreds of messages that await him
The updates are so plentiful and detailed that if he tries hard enough, he can almost pretend like he was right there beside you all along
And once he gets to the pictures of you holding your little one for the first time, well… he's not afraid to admit that he sheds a manly tear or two at the sight
Soap
He kicked up quite the storm at work when he realized he was going to be missing the birth of his child
He did everything in his power to try to get out of the mission – to try to get back to you – but, ultimately, he had no other choice than to go
But he's not just going to go gently into the night. No, he has a few tricks up his sleeve to make it as if he's still there with you in some capacity
Like Price, Soap takes comfort in leaving you with a huge support system to help while he's away
And also similarly, he's recruiting your loved ones (more so their phones) into letting him video chat with you whenever he gets the opportunity
(Does that mean he snuck his unauthorized smartphone into the middle of a battlefield? …. Yes. Yes, he did. .……....… Don't tell Price)
You'll be in the midst of a call with him and a bullet will fly right by his head and embed itself in the wall behind him
Of course, this has you incredibly concerned, worrying over how you're distracting him when he should be focused on his mission
But he assures you there's no need to fret, dear. He's perfectly safe and everything’s completely fine
(Oh, and just disregard that sound in the background, hun. No, it wasn't a bomb. Heavens, no! It was a… a… piano falling out a window)
Gaz
Even when he's away on mission during normal circumstances, he's calling home all the time to check in with you
But given your current state, now he's checking in twice as much as he usually does
Expect a minimum of three calls a day just to ensure things are still all hunky dory on your end
It's during one of these calls that your water breaks, and as you fly into a state of panic, forgetting everything you're supposed to do, Gaz has to calmly walk you through the steps of what you'd planned
He's able to talk you down and make sure you get yourself to the hospital in one piece, but then after that call, weirdly, you don't hear from him again
It's not until several hours later when you've already delivered your child that you're awoken by the feeling of someone beside your bed
You look to see who it is and it's none other than Gaz himself – still dressed in his full gear, covered in all sorts of dirt and grime, a hushed apology pouring from his mouth
He's so sorry he couldn't get there quick enough, beautiful. He left as soon as he could once he'd pulled a few strings with Price
But you don't even care about the excuse because you're quickly enveloping him in a hug. With tears in your eyes, you assure him it's alright. He's here now, and that's all that matters to you
Ghost
When he was informed he was being shipped off to a remote location less than a month before your due date, he was livid
No phone, no radio, no communication of any kind with the outside world and he was supposed to be okay with that? He very much wasn't
The higher-ups had to really hammer home the whole “safety of the world” thing to convince Ghost to go, and even when he did, he did so grudgingly
He finds that as he sits in this shoddy shack halfway across the planet from you, all he can do is keep a mental tally of everything he’s missing
Going with you to your final check ups, helping you pack your hospital bag, holding your hand as you begin to push, etc. etc. etc.
But what about things he might not know about? What if something's gone wrong while he's been away?
He can't let himself think on it too much because he'll end up putting his fist through the drywall, and he needs at least one good hand to hold his child with when he meets them for the first time
Seven weeks, four days, and nine hours after he shipped out, Ghost is on a plane back home
He doesn't stop to talk to anyone when he touches down at base (not even to report to his superiors). He just gets into his car and books it, not letting off the gas until he's parked outside your home again
And when he finally reaches the front door, an unexpected tremor passing through him as he grabs for the handle, he closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath, and walks inside, beginning the next chapter of his life
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siddyyyyyyyy · 7 days ago
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By the Fireplace
BRUCE WAYNE X READER
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MDNI wc: 1.2K summary: Finally snapping the sexual tension between you and your best friend. warnings: alcohol comsumption, dry humping a/n: It's not perfect but it's also nearing midnight so i don't care. Enjoy!!
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It‘s been a relaxing evening so far, hanging out with your long time best friend in his lounge by the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in hand, and some deep talk. Bruce will never openly admit it, but he feels like you are the only one who understands him. While being slightly drunk, it‘s easier to relax and shut his mind off. Especially sitting beside you on the comfortable couch; he wants to stay like that forever.
The shared comfortable silence almost makes him fall asleep, but his mind can‘t seem to find complete peace beside you. Even when his head is leaning against the top of your head, he can‘t seem to fully relax yet.
You feel almost the same. You do feel relaxed, safe even, but something keeps stirring inside of you when you are so close to him. Ignoring it and taking another sip of your drink, you watch the fireplace crackle contentedly in front of you.
Bruce sighs out beside you, indicating his tiredness after talking about everything and nothing for hours.
»Want a refill?«
He leans off of you for the first time in probably half an hour and reaches for the whiskey bottle by the coffee table. You shrug and sit up more, letting him fill your glass with the dark liquid.
His movements are slightly disoriented, but he manages to get all the liquid into your glass, and then get more for himself. With a low hum, Bruce sips on his drink, eventually leaning back on the couch. His once perfectly put together appearance became more dishevelled, some strands of hair sticking out in different directions while his tie is resting somewhere in the room; long forgotten.
You also take another quick sip, already used to the bitterness and set it aside for now.
»So… I think it‘s time to go, isn‘t it?«
The time on your phone shows that it‘s well past one am, but Bruce thinks otherwise. A small whine leaves him, completely uncharacteristic normally, but very on point in his drunken state.
»C‘mon, you‘ve only been here for what… two hours?«
He sways on his spot as he leans up and turns to face you fully.
It‘s not exactly true, you‘ve been in his living room for six hours by now, talking nonsense with each other. Gossiping, mostly.
But with your intoxicated brains it‘s hard to tell anymore. So, logically, you sigh out and give in. How could you resist your best of bestest friend anyway?
»A few more minutes, then...«
And that‘s how easily you can make him smile again. It‘s crooked and his eyes are mostly unfocused, but he is satisfied with your easy compliance. And tonight, he seems to be bolder with his actions.
»C‘mere… please,« sighing out, he opens his arms and almost tackles you down with his hug, »such a good friend.« He mumbles against your shoulder, basically squeezing you tight with his arms. If it wouldn‘t been the alcohol, you would‘ve pushed him away by now and pretend to find the physical affection cringe. Not that he does it a lot, only rarely when he is sure you are both absolutely alone.
A second after, you hug him back and sigh out in relaxation. You both melt together into one not too long after, refusing to let go of the other while basking in the comfort.
»I‘m definitely sleeping here tonight.«
You are not sure if you refer to his arms or couch, not caring at this point. He takes your words seriously and squeezes you lightly, almost making your breath hitch.
»Mhm… damn right, you will.«
His voice drops lower, getting into a low whisper as he keeps you close to his chest, refusing to let go of the comfort and sweet scent of you.
Even though you didn‘t mean your words at first, you find yourself quickly accepting the fact that this night will be spend here. Hell, you wouldn‘t mind falling asleep right now like this.
A small groan leaves him and he finds himself nuzzling into your neck, searching for more warmth and most importantly your scent. He needs to make sure you are actually still there and not just a silly imagination he came up with.
Following his actions, you wrap you arms tighter around his neck, shifting to press closer. Your clouded brain can‘t help it, neither does his own and soon enough, your limbs are tangled with the other in a more chaotic way. Thanks to Bruce‘s master-brain, he finds a more comfortable position and lets you straddle his lap.
Finally seated, you both relax and simply enjoy the presence of the other. You don‘t know what changed exactly, but in the next minute he is all over you.
Hands groping gently at your curves and fats, lips tracing your skin down your neck and shoulder. Your shirt seems to be in the way, but he is also too lazy to tug it off just yet.
Your brain catches up on what‘s happening and by the time he already started, you can‘t just stop. Acting by logic and pure desire, you give into the act and tangle your fingers into his hair, guiding his head around a little.
Soon, the room fills his soft grunts and your heavy breathing. His hips desperatly jerk up and try to get friction, but it‘s harder in this position when his chest is pressed against yours and you are also pressed completely against him. Deciding you have enough of the friction that‘s barely even there, you lean him back into the back rest and do it your own way.
Hips grinding and sliding against his crotch earns a groan from both of you. The new friction feels more intense and delicious, soon getting breathless from it. His hands settle on your thighs and the small of your back, guiding you in a steady rythm.
Due to the effect of the alcohol, it‘s actually more sloppy than anything, but you both couldn‘t care less. It‘s sloppy, messy, hungry, whatever; you both need this.
Your heavy breaths turn into small whimpers, getting him riled even more than he already is. And then it happens, the final knot snapping without warning. You never came so fast before, maybe it‘s your intoxicated brain, maybe it‘s just Bruce alone, but it feels heavenly either way.
Your hips stutter and thighs shake on either side of him, and for a moment he stills too. A primal groan leaves him before he grabs onto your hips and continues, the pace faster and rougher. His brain immediately went to mush the second he realised what happened.
»Oh, yeah— s‘ good f‘ me… just like that, a little longer,« Bruce mutters under his breath, sucking new marks against the exposed skin of your neck and suddenly drags your hips painfully slow against him, trying to draw out as many needy sounds from you and milk out as many possible aftershocks from you at the same time.
The way he does it is enough to draw a second orgasm out of you, but your body simply gives out. A few final trembles and jerks, then you slump limp onto him.
Sighing out deeply, he caresses over your back and settles back comfortably with you. Your brain shuts off at the same time and are on the brink of falling asleep until he speaks up, voice low and dangerous.
»That‘s not all, doll… gonna stay the whole night, aren‘t ya?«
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←MASTERLIST
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axelsagewrites · 3 months ago
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could you make a robb stark x baratheon reader where they grow up together as friends and were promised to each other, at the beginning reader thinks robb doesn't wanna marry her but then he tells her he loves her
if you could please add smut at the end (afab reader btw)
Robb Stark*Arranged
Pairing: arranged marriage!robb stark x princess!reader
Word count: 2272
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Warnings: arranged marriage, anxiety, talks of running away, making out, (smut in part two but this is mostly wholesome), fluff
Masterlist here
A/N: sorry this (and everything else lol) has taken so long but part two with the smut will be up in the next couple of days :)
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despite being a Baratheon by blood, by title, and by name most days you felt more like a Stark than anything else. Your father had sent you up to the North on your eleventh name day to become a ward of Ned Stark as part of an alliance of sort. Marrying his eldest daughter to a well-respected and established house only strengthened your fathers claim.
It had benefits for you, well at least he told you all his reasons in the letters. You’d be safe under lord starks protection, able to grow up alongside Sansa Stark who was only a year younger than you, become the future lady of Winterfell, and most importantly, to you at least, marry your childhood crush.
Yes, that’s right from the time you met him at four, him being five, you were smittened. Your father had travelled north on business but also happened to attend the wedding of one of the northern lords. He and ned laughed loudly, clinking their glasses together, as they watched you force Robb to walk down a pretend aisle with you that Jon helped you set up with chairs.
Of course, it was just a silly crush. It’s not like four-year-olds understand what a wedding is. By the time you moved to the north at eleven it was just a fond memory of your fathers he would tell at dinner parties.
In the nicest way possible when you first arrived Robb didn’t even care you were there. He was twelve and running about with wooden swords to practise with Jon and Theon while you and Sansa would practise hairstyles in each other’s hair.
However, by fifteen something dreadful happened. You fancied him.
Sure, in theory it sounded great but there were so many awkward moments. After all you were only fifteen. You couldn’t help that your face went beat red when he gave you a necklace for your birthday and when he told you that you looked ‘pretty’ one day you could barely muster out a thank you, you were so shocked.
You did your best to shove it down and pretend everything was normal over the years, but the crush never went away. You got better at hiding it. you had to as you’d grown closer over the years. Since Sansa had no interest in horse riding you were left to go with the trio, as you called them, instead. It soon became one of your favourite past times and you quickly grew close with the three boys. Especially Robb.
You figured it was a good idea especially as the talks of your marriage began cropping up more frequently. Your parents started pushing you to go on chaperoned excursions to markets and walks through the gods’ woods. They had no clue, or at least pretended, about the unchaperoned ones. Often you disappeared into the gods wood for some peace or the fields behind Winterfell to race. Robb began to bring food in his satchel so your excursions could turn into late lunches in the few sunny days of Winterfell.
“I definitely won,” he grinned as he dismounted his horse.
“Yeah right,” you scoffed as you jumped down, “you cheated,”
“How?”
“You went before I said go!”
“It’s three, two, one, go on one,”
“No, it’s not. Its three, two, one, go,”
“As in go already I said one,”
“As in you’re a cheat,” you huffed as you sat down against a thick oak tree.
Robb laughed at your antics as he sat down beside you, pulling his satchel out, “Truce?” he offered as he pulled out a parcel of sandwiches.
You pretended to think it over before nodding, “Truce,” For a few moments you sat in silence eating the sandwiches before you finally decided to tell him the news that had been weighing over you for the past week. “My mother sent me a raven,”
“Oh?” Robb paused, mid bite with concern written on his face. Your father sent you letters on a weekly basis but so far, your mother had only sent three since you left. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, well, I think so. I’m not sure,” you paused for a moment before just blurting it out, “She’s coming next week. With a seamstress,” Robb stared at you confused, “For the wedding,”
“Oh,” the word shattered your heart. While you had become friends over the year neither one of you ever spoke about the impending nuptials. Sure, you wanted to marry him, but you were terrified. Not of marriage. He was a good man. He would treat you right whether he wanted this marriage or not. But that’s when the fear came in. what if Robb could never love you? “Aren’t most girls excited about fancy dresses?” he tried to joke, lighten the mood like he always did. Its what he always did whenever the wedding was brought up. Play it off, make a joke, laugh. It was all an awkward joke to him.
“I suppose, Sansa will be,” you laughed. She really had become like a sister to you over the years, “I suppose though this means it will be arranged soon,” you tried to look at him, but Robb just stared down at his food. “Unless we escape somehow,” you joked, copying his defence mechanism.
He looked up a smiled a little, “Quick you grab the horses, I’ll pack the bag. We’ll ride at dawn,” he joked.
“Imagine. Take all the back roads till we get to Riverrun,”
“Bribe the Frays into letting us cross,”
“Then straight down to Dorne,”
“Sounds like a plan,” he smiled, knocking his knee against yours. “Jon would never forgive me if I left him behind,”
“Him and Arya can come with. We’ll become sellswords,”
“Sounds like we’ve got it all planned out,”
-
When you returned to Winterfell Catelyn ran up to you both in a tizzy, “Where have you both been?” she whispers shouted, smiling at a passing lord before scouring, “A messenger from the king has arrived,”
You knew she meant well but your stomach dropped. you both followed her to the hall but soon the sorrowful look on your face was replaced by a grin, “Uncle Tyrion,” you rushed up to him immediately.
“Ah my favourite niece. Finally returned from some dingy pub I assume,” he joked though Cat couldn’t help but frown a little. They were both protective just in their own ways. “Don’t worry I’m not here to stay long. Just come down on your father’s behalf to organise the wedding. Speaking of, Lord Stark I do believe this is the first time we’ve met,” he extended a courteous nod to a very nervous looking Robb.
“Lord Tyrion,” he bowed.
“It goes without saying if you hurt my niece, I will have to have my men kill you,” he said, head tilting to the side making Robb gulp, “But other than that it’s lovely to meet you,” he grinned widely like a jester.
“Don’t tease him uncle,” you shook your head, but Tyrion just laughed, “I’d say you’ll get used to him, but no one has so far,”
“You’re so kind niece, truly,” he laughed, “Now onto business The king has organised his travels and shall be in Winterfell by the first of next month so we shall have to act swiftly,”
Panic set on all three of your faces. Though Robb and yours was far different than Catelyn’s. “My lord that’s awfully soon. We may not have the provisions to afford so many guests so soon- “
“No fear my lady. I was also sent with my father’s gold. No Lannister shall have anything less than a golden affair,” you could see the relief melt from Catelyn but yours was just setting in.
-
For the next three weeks every discussion you had was about the wedding. cakes, flowers, food, music, dresses, veils, and most daunting of all; organising the preparation for Robb’s and yours new chamber. Tyrion even sent a seamstress to your room to organise an outfit for your wedding night. It was all quickly becoming too much.
You’d barely even seen Robb since the planning began. There was no time to calm down and no one to remind you to breathe. That was his job. Whenever you got nervous, he would gently grab your wrist under the table, running his thumb over the back of your hand. But he was nowhere to be found.
You eventually managed to find Jon who told you Robb was under the same stresses. His mother had him arranging with traders and mingling with the growing number of lords appearing at Winterfell’s gates. “Suppose this is the stresses of being a lady,” Jon joked.
It was only then it hit you. Soon this whole castle would be yours to run. How would you ever have time to breathe let alone enjoy your husband’s company if he would even have you.
Despite missing your family, the night before their arrivals, you cried quietly in your chamber. Their arrival tomorrow only marked the three remaining days you had left as a maid. Perched on an open windows ledge, the cold air stung your cheek but at least as you watched the birds fly you could feel a little of their freedom.
Then there was a quiet but rapid knocking. The faint sound brought your attention to the door which was shut less than a second after it was opened. “Hey sorry I’ve not come sooner- “Robb’s voice entered the room, for some reason making your tears sting more. Robb shivered from the cold, “Why’s the window open? You’ll freeze princess,”
Robb rushed to your side, leaning past you to shut the glass to preserve what little heat he could. His confusion fell from his face when he saw your tears, “What’s the matter?” his voice was soft and tender as he sat across from you to hold your hands, his thumbs stroking over the back on them.
“I don’t know,” you lied in a whisper.
Robb knew. He always knew when you lied. He just nodded gently though. “I’ll start a fire,” he was on his feet again.
“I can fetch someone if you wish- “
“But I’m already here,” he teased as he knelt by the fireplace.
As he got to work in silence you padded across the floor. The stone floor felt like ice against your bare feet making you quicken your pace till you could sit on the small sofa in front of the fire Robb had started. “Easy, see,” he said, joining you on the couch, “We’ll get a heat in you,”
“Thanks,” you sniffled.
You sat in an easy silence though when you left out another sigh Robb was compelled to place an arm around your shoulder. You leant into his touch, your head rested on his shoulder and his on yours. A few moments passed before he spoke, “Jon said you were asking for me,”
You weren’t sure why you tensed, “I just worry sometimes,”
“I know,”
You couldn’t stand the next silence that followed so made a joke, “Thought you’d ran away,”
“Without you?” he said, pulling back to grin back at you, “Nah we have a deal princess. Say the word and I’ll get the horses,”
His smile made your stomach drop. It all felt like one big tease, “I thought,” you began to stutter, “You may have been running from me,”
Robb’s face fell, “Why would I do that?”
You sighed, turning to face the flames again as the tears threatened to spill, “It’s not like you chose this marriage. You weren’t exactly ever given the option. I wouldn’t blame you if you objected to it,” you muttered.
When he pulled away you could’ve sobbed but it was quickly replaced by confusion when he knelt in front of you, “Why would I object? all I desire is to be a good and faithful husband to you and may gods help me I will be. I wouldn’t desire another option if I was given a thousand,”
“Why?” you could feel venom briming in your voice, “Because my dowery? Because the king commanded it?”
The hurt on his face felt like a stab to the gut but his words only twisted the knife, “Because I love you,” he took your hands in his, “and I understand that you don’t feel that way for me and may never, but nothing will stop the way I- “
You didn’t even realise you’d moved till you pulled back from the kiss. Without thinking your lips had found his and now you stared into his eyes. It only lasted a second before Robb lusted forward, reconnecting the kiss into a messy, desperate thing.
As you felt him raise, you followed, standing to kiss him as his arms wrapped around your back, pulling you flush against him. Your hands rested on his shoulders, now fully able to appreciate his strength.
You wanted more but he pulled away, your lips chased his making Robb breathe out a laugh. “You’re something else,” he muttered, a grin on his face, “I can’t imagine not wanting to be with you,”
This time your arms tightened, burying your head into his neck as you hugged him close. Robb followed suit, his muscular arms keeping your warmer than the fire, “I feel the same way,” you eventually managed to stutter out, “But I- “
“You don’t have to say it,” he mumbled, kissing the top of your head, “I understand,”
“How did I get so lucky?” you pulled back to smile up at him.
He just smiled back, “I ask myself that each night,”
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heavenlyvision · 11 months ago
Text
Mattress
Word count: 2.1k
Pairing: Raiden x afab!Reader
A/N: I don't have any excuses, I am apparently feral tonight and decided to write a short fic for Raiden that is basically all smut. I feel bad that he tied in the poll but lost to the wheel :(( Have this as a peace offering <33
Summary: Raiden's bed is more comfortable than your own, which means you are always in it, much to his dismay.
Warnings: 18+ only, smut, pwp, p in v sex, no pronouns used, praise, Gentle!Raiden, eye contact, no use of y/n
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The mattress of Raiden’s bed is significantly more comfortable than your own, something you tell him frequently. Something he tells you is not true every time you bring it up but continues to remain true to you. Whether it’s because it’s actually more comfortable or if it’s because it’s Raiden’s bed, you aren’t sure but it’s comfy here. Safe.
“Go back to your own bed,” he complains from beside you.
You pretend to think hard, humming, “Hmm no, I am comfy here.”
He’s exasperated with you; he just wants to read alone in bed and you are hijacking his peace and quiet. You think right about now he is regretting letting you live with him but you needed a roomie and he is one of your oldest friends, so he caved and let you stay with him.
“I can’t do anything alone anymore,” he sighs.
You huff out at him, “You can to! I am just having a little nap.”
“Do it in your own room,” he complains.
Whinging at him, you protest, “But my mattress is lumpy and weird, plus I don’t like sleeping alone.”
“Do what you want, you are going to anyway,” he acquiesces, this conversation going nowhere.
You smile smugly, proud of yourself, he always caves with you and now you get to nap comfortably in his bed beside him. You weren’t lying, your bed is genuinely lumpy and weird and you prefer sleeping next to him, your sleep is better when you know he’s beside you.
“You always give in,” you prod at his side, gloating.
“Do not push it,” he warns but you still poke at his side, “I thought you wanted to nap?” He asks, slapping your hand away.
You ignore him and sit up, continuing to tease and poke at him. He’s generally difficult to get a reaction out of, too ‘mature’ to stoop to your level but every now and again you push his buttons just right and he’ll retaliate. It’s always fun to watch.
Apparently, today he’s extra touchy and he shoots up, grabbing you and pushing you back on the mattress. He holds you down under him, your wrists being pushed into the mattress.
“You are meant to be napping,” he scowls at you, his face close to your own.
His proximity makes you nervous, this does not bode well for your crush on him. You’re stunned as you look up at him, not expecting him to hold you down like this and certainly not expecting him to do it so effortlessly.
“What is wrong? You normally have so much to say,” his brows are still furrowed at you.
You try to struggle against his hold, attempting to free yourself. Your attempts are entirely unsuccessful, your movements not even affecting his hold on you even a little bit. Which makes you frown at him, the annoyed expression on your face and unsuccessful escape has Raiden’s features lighting up. Seemingly pleased at your realisation of your defeat.
You ask him, “Can you get off me now?”
“Hmm no, I am comfy here,” he smiles smugly at you, repeating your words from before.
Your frown deepens at him but he seems to have done a one-eighty, overly pleased with himself while you are now annoyed with him.
As you gaze at him you can’t help but drift over all of his features, the smugness in his eyes, the definition of his nose, the softness of his lips. You quickly flick your eyes back up to his, hoping he didn’t notice your wandering gaze. But he did, he always notices everything you do, you can’t make an out of the usual decision or move, he notices and he always checks if you’re okay.
When it comes to your feelings you can’t tell if he’s ignoring them or dim but with the knowing look in his eyes now, he seems to have finally caught onto your desire for him at the very least. His head ducks down closer to yours, his lips lightly grazing your own, the slight touch makes you dizzy. You’ve liked him for so long and now he’s so close to you, his skin touching yours.
His lips move against yours as he checks with you, “Can I kiss you?”
“Yes, please?”
Your confirmation has him pressing his lips to yours properly, it’s so soft and so caring and so him. He has you melting for him just from a tender kiss and you really wish you could touch him but he’s still holding you down. His lips are gentle and searching, learning how you like to be kissed. One of his hands leaves your wrist to grasp the side of your face, his lips the smallest bit more forceful as he holds your face.
The increase in his urgency has a light gasp pulling from you and he takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth. Your free hand reaches up and holds on the side of his face, pulling him down to you more, wanting more from him. Craving all of him, and he provides, his kiss becomes fervent and full and it has you lightheaded. Small whines are slipping from you at the way he kisses you, he’s kissing you like you’re delicate, trying so hard to be gentle but being overwhelmed by his and your own need.
When he pulls back you’re breathless, you’ve never been kissed so attentively, so fully. The desire you feel for him is unmatched and you’ve been so carefully pulled apart by his lips alone. His thumb strokes high on your cheekbone, his eyes captivated by you, they keep flicking back to your lips. Waiting for you to catch your breath so he can kiss you again.
You’re still restrained, hand struggling under his hold to remind him he’s still got you pinned, he releases you at your movements and both your arms reach up, grabbing behind his neck and pulling him down to you completely. His lips crash against yours, eager to kiss you again, his tongue immediately in your mouth again. Exploring you carefully, attentive to how you react to him.
One of his hands slides down your body and holds onto your thigh, pulling it up and hooking it onto his hip. You use the position to your advantage and pull his hips to yours, your core pressed against his crotch. The shock of your movement has a surprised sound exiting Raiden, he moves his lips off yours and rests his forehead against you.
“We can stop,” he tells you, giving you an out. Not wanting to push you into something you don’t want.
You pull him close to you and grind against the bulge in his pants, “I don’t want to.”
The motion has him closing his eyes, having to control himself momentarily, “Then, undress.”
His words bleed with need and desire, you can tell his control waned thin for a second, his tone has an underlying commanding manner to it. It has you throbbing for him. He lets you push him back so you can undress, you slip out of your pants before tugging your shirt off.
“These too,” he comments, lifting the waistband of your panties before letting them snap back against you. The shock of it making you jump.
He had pulled his own shirt and pants off while you did, both equally undressed, “You first,” you retort.
Your apprehension makes him smile at you, he tugs his underwear off first, completely bare in front of you. His cock fully erect for you, the sight of it has your insides twisting, he’s large and thick and, “I don’t know if you’ll fit,” you observe.
“I am not that big,” he dismisses.
You look at him incredulously, “Humble to a fault.”
He shakes his head at you but taps your leg, reminding you to take off your own underwear, which you do, nervously. Chucking them to the floor when they’re off, Raiden shuffles closer to you again, between your legs.
“If you are worried, I will be gentle.” He assures you.
You look at him coquettishly, “You don’t have to be.”
His eyes shut, gathering himself, “I am going to be gentle.” He replies, it’s not a question.
“Okay,” you answer.
He slides the head of his cock through your folds, gathering all of your slick on him. Getting his dick wet to make the stretch easier on you, his movements have you twitching against him. His eyes are alight with satisfaction, enjoying your bodies reaction to him and his minimal touch. He notches himself against your pussy hole before gingerly pushing forwards, the stretch a lot for you.
He notices your struggle to take him, and he rubs his thumb over your clit, the pleasurable stimulation has you relaxing against him. Enough so he can push the head of his cock into you, the feeling has you both sighing.
“You are tight,” he groans, struggling slightly with the grip you have on him.
You argue back, “You’re just big.”
He chuckles a bit but pushes into you more, his cock is a lot to take but he eventually has you stuffed full of him. Your cunt taking him to the hilt, you’re so wet for him that you’re practically drooling on his dick.
Once he’s fully inside you, he leans down, pressing all of himself against you. Skin to skin. The contact has your heart soaring, feeling so full of him and loving the closeness. He looks you directly in the eyes, it’s intense and has you shying away from him, but he pulls your face back so you’re looking him in the eyes.
He watches your face carefully as he pulls out of you, his pace slow and steady, “You are beautiful.” He compliments you as you take his fat cock.
Your legs wrap around his waist, holding onto him. He holds your face still, making sure you keep your eyes on his, wanting to watch your face as you fall apart for him. His cock is rocking back and forth into you smoothly, never speeding up or slowing down, keeping pace. The unwavering manner of his strokes has you craving more but loving what you’re getting. Not wanting him to change anything and wanting so much more, he’s driving you crazy.
His expression is pleased as he watches the way you melt for him, the way your eyes glaze over, and mouth opens letting soft sounds of whimpers and moans fall from it. He offers you compliments the whole time he rocks into you.
“Doing so good for me, look so pretty right now… You always look so pretty,” he murmurs to you, his own eyes glazing over with the pleasure your cunt gives him.
You try to tell him how good you feel but you’re a bit scatter-brained at the moment, “Raiden, you feel –mmph– good, filling me so much –hah–”
He doesn’t seem to mind, enjoying the lost look in your eyes and incoherent compliments. His thrusts are still holding steady but you’re getting closer, his consistent pace working you up gradually. You’re throbbing around him, close to the edge. He’s twitching inside you, close to his own end as well.
“Want to cum at the same time,” his hand reaches down and rubs circles into your clit. His eyes stay on your face, never wanting to look away. The fingers on your clit have you right on the edge, about to fall off. He tells you, “Now, cum for me.”
And you do, very suddenly, and he cums as you do. Grinding into you as he releases his sticky cum inside you, it’s filling you completely. He’s still watching you, carefully taking in your expression as you come down from your orgasm. His own face pleasure filled, eyes lazy and content.  
It occurs to you that you had been subconsciously waiting for his permission to cum, he has a soft domineering way about him that compels you. He’s polite as he tells you what to do, so much so that it doesn’t even seem like he’s telling you what to do.
“You look beautiful when you cum,” he compliments again, genuine as he does.
His compliment is embarrassing and has your cheeks heating up with it, he smiles at you and leans down to press a tender kiss against your lips. He kisses you for a moment, enjoying the closeness of being inside you while pressing his lips against yours, coming down from your highs together.
Eventually, he parts from you, careful as he pulls out. He rolls onto his back and takes you with him, leaving you resting against his chest. He’s comfortable, maybe more comfortable than his mattress.
“Is my mattress really better than yours or was this always your end goal?” His chest vibrates under you with his words.
You laugh a bit, “Your mattress is actually better, this was good too though.”
He hums a bit, “I have a feeling you will be in my bed even more frequently now.”
“Will that be my fault or yours?” You tease.
“Mine,” he answers, kissing the top of your head.
⊹₊ ⋆
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waughymommy · 28 days ago
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MOMMY KNOWS BEST 💕
Chapter 16
Progress was coming along nicely in the nursery. So far, Rebecca had successfully kept him from seeing the room’s transformation. She was confident that it would be ready for the big reveal on Friday. Brian also seemed to progressing with the hypnotic conditioning. She planned on really testing his suggestibility after she showed him his new nursery.
She wondered how Brian was faring at work. I wonder if Samantha has revealed our conversation yet. Speak of the devil. Her phone buzzed with a text from Samantha:
            Good morning. I wanted you to know that your baby boy soaked his diapers right in front of me. You have done such an amazing job regressing him.
            Rebecca: Oh I am so happy. I can’t thank you enough for your help. I feel so much better that he has someone to watch over him at work.
            Samantha: It’s really no problem. He is just precious when he is little. You must let me babysit him at home sometime.
            Rebecca: I think that can be arranged.
            Samantha: I never in my wildest dreams imagined changing a grown man’s diapers. But now that I have, I think if I ever get a man of my own, he will have to return to diapers.
Rebecca smiled. Not only had she gotten her baby, but it seems that a new friendship was budding.
After Samantha changed his diaper, Brian knew that she was never again going to view him as her boss, but he hoped she would at least pretend for appearance’s sake. She filled up his sippy cup with apple juice and set it on his desk. “Ok sweet boy, its time to be a big boy for a while and get some work done. I will check on you later. And remember its ok to use your diaper, but just come get me if you want to try and use the potty,” she said much like a mother to a toddler.
Brian blushed again at the mention of his diapers. She left the office and closed the door behind her. How on earth could he possibly focus? He realized he was still sucking on the pacifier and he quickly removed it. If these two women could regress him with such ease at any moment, was he now permanently bound to diapers. He had fantasized so many times about being reduced to a helpless baby. Now that it was happening and he questioned if this is what he wanted. But he feared it was too late. He was going to have to accept and trust that they would keep him safe.
He tried to act like everything was normal. Now that he was alone, his adult clarity started to return. He needed to start brainstorming how to market this new Babies R Us line. Brian always liked to sketch out ideas by hand whenever he was brainstorming. He even kept a whiteboard in his office for this very purpose. He went up to the board. His mind was blank. How could he ever have a mother’s perspective? He looked down at the sippy cup sitting on his desk. He brought it too his mouth and tasted the sweet juice. Maybe he couldn’t tap into the perspective of a mother, but he knew what it felt like to be a baby. Maybe not entirely, but then again, he was in a very thick diaper. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the feelings he had when his mommy was in control. In those moments, he didn’t think in words, but feelings and sensations. He opened the cap to the marker and started scribbling the feelings he experienced with his mommy: warmth, safety, trust, love, giggly. He kept scribbling across the board: cold, wet, hungry, scared, small, full, peaceful. He stared at the words he had scrawled out. He keyed in one word in particular: trust. He grabbed a red marker and drew a big circle around it.
Trust could be a nebulous word. It gets tossed around so much that it sometimes lost meaning. But with his recent experiences, it took on new meaning for him. When he was wet, he had to trust that his mommy would change him. When he felt scared, he had to trust that she would keep him safe. He thought about the night that this all started. By him agreeing to be her baby, he was entrusting her with his greatest vulnerability. Obviously, babies aren’t able to articulate what they are feeling, but who would know better as to what a baby was feeling: mothers. He still had a long way to go, but this exercise was getting the wheels turning.
Brian was so consumed with his work, he didn’t realize that half the morning had elapsed. He was so happy that he had been able to regain that focus. It gave him a glimmer of comfort that maybe he still in control of some things. Maybe he could be both a big boy and a baby. But then a rumble in his belly snatched his attention. He hadn’t had a bowel movement since Saturday. Perhaps his anxiety and nerves had bound him up. When he had played in diapers before this all began, he had never messed himself. It was one thing to wet, but he wasn’t willing to do that. He felt nervous about having to ask Samantha to go potty. He could just use his diaper, but having her change a messy diaper might be even more embarrassing. He looked back at the board. Trust. He had to put it to the test and trust that Samantha meant everything she said to him.
He peaked his head out the door, “Umm, can I see you for a moment?”
“Of course,” she smiled.
Inside the office, Brian started to have second thoughts about asking, but then another rumble in his belly made him find the courage to ask. “Ummm, I need to use the potty… I mean the restroom.”“Oh! Ok. Let me help you,” she was actually surprised that he came and asked. Brian started to unbutton his shirt. She playfully slapped his hand, “Uh uh uh baby, let me do that,” she chided him. After removing his shirt and pants, she pulled his onesie over his head, “Lay on the couch for me.” She undid the tapes of his diaper and set it aside. Fortunately, these diapers were refastenable. She then went through the trouble of redressing him. “Alright, I think you look acceptable to walk through the office. You don’t have any big boy undies, but I think you will be ok for a few minutes. When you get back, I will get you back in your diaper,” she said.
            “Thank you,” Brian said timidly.
            “Thank you what,” she said with one eye-brow raised.
            “Umm… thank you Auntie Samantha,” he said like a child that had just be scolded.
            She patted his bottom, “Off you go.”
After a few minutes he returned. Although he still struggled with his embarrassment, Samantha was helping him feel more at ease. Back in the office, she had Brian undressed once again. The haze of regression swept over him again as he stood before her in nothing but his birthday suit. His thumb made it to his mouth. “Lay down baby,” she cooed. She pulled out some wipes and proceeded to clean his bottom.
“But Aunfie Samanfa, I wiped myself after I went potty,” he said with his thumb still ensconced in his mouth.
“I know sweetie, but I just wanted to make sure that you are all clean,” she responded.
She rediapered him and got him dressed again. When he was finished, he started to “grow up.” He pulled his thumb from his mouth and blushed.
She placed her hand on his arm, “Brian what did I tell you. There is no need to feel embarrassed. Do you think if I was judging you that I would be standing here? I want you to feel comfortable to act as little as you want around me. Ok?”
“I know, its just hard. And if it makes you feel any better, I still get really nervous with mommy too,” he said not even realizing that he said mommy instead of Rebecca. “Its hard and scary, but I want you to know that I am really thankful that you are here to help me. It really helps to know I am not alone. To be honest, I felt really scared yesterday, especially when I had my accident.”
“I have to imagine that must have felt really scary and lonely. You aren’t alone Brian. You can count on me anytime,” she said. Brian felt a tear run down his check. He felt like he had cried so much over the past few days. “Oh sweetheart, there isn’t any reason to cry,” she said as she pulled him in for a hug. “You are such sweet boy and you are just too cute in your diaper. I could just eat you up,” she snickered and started tickling him. Brian’s tears turned to giggles. “Now I don’t want to hear anymore about feeling embarrassed, whether its around me or even around your mommy. We both want you to be a happy baby. Now let’s try to get a little more work done before I take you out to lunch, my treat,” she smiled.
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bitchimasnake-sss · 5 months ago
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Hey love ❤️ I love the way you do Zoro angst. I was thinking like Zoro and the reader get pretty drunk at a festival and some guy sweeps her off her feet. Like she's all giggly and blushy and he's miserable about it. I was thinking maybe his perspective. She ends up not going home with this guy cause she knows Zoro's tendency to get lost. He's pissed off but also wasted so he doesn't make much sense. Maybe they argue. Maybe he drunkenly confesses. I think you can pick whether it ends well or not. I like pain.
mwuhahah i thrive off of angst (but i suck at writing it). this also shall have little bit of miscommunication trope (I HATE IT AS MUCH AS THE NEXT PERSON BUT IT MAKES FOR BRILLIANT ANGST HELLO!), and this ends in like unresolved angst and tension (cause i thought that was super funny of me). also a bit of crack included (cause im a jester and a clown and i enjoy making everything a bit stupid).
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drunken liabilities ft. roronoa zoro!
set up: check above! the strawhat crew are invited to a celebratory party after saving an island from merciless pirates and somewhere between the drinking and the dancing, zoro finds himself yearning for a certain someone. warnings: dumb people, even dumber plot by me. mentions of alcohol, a fight, random party shenanigans; zoro gets jealous and petty. mutual pining by two idiots. "We're just crewmates" stfu no you're not. nami is the best thing in the universe. yeah, thats about it. wc: 2.7k
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zoro saw you.
he saw your smile, and your ability to turn every one of his jabs into a nice, little argument. he saw the way you smiled, all self-satisfactory when you finally shut him up in those arguments. he saw the way you took him on in drinking competitions and how you giggled when he pretended to lose. he saw how pretty you looked, eyes hazy and cheek flushed after each of those competitions.
roronoa zoro saw you, whether you knew it or not.
but now, he saw you swaying your hips with your hands wrapped around a man. a maN?? A MAN THAT WASN'T EVEN HIM?
nami cleared her throat, raising the bottle of beer to her painted lips. she wanted to laugh at zoro's grumpy face, the way his eyebrows were knitted together. but being a woman of honour and virtue, she held back.
"fuck is wrong with him?" zoro muttered under his breath, mentally slicing up that man that was swaying with you. "why is he eye-fucking her?"
"you good?" nami laughed, finally.
zoro begrudgingly shifted his vicious glare from you and that stranger you were dancing with to nami. he gave her a shrug, "whatcha laughin' at, woman?"
"nothing, you're just murdering a man in your head again."
zoro said nothing, finding his words too simple to convey whatever it was that he was feeling. he didn't need to defend himself, after all.
it wasn't jealousy. pfft, ofcourse not.
maybe protectiveness? yeah, thats the word. you were part of the crew. and so, as the first mate, it was his duty to ensure that you were safe and sound from any imminent threat. even if that imminent threat was a man who you were dancing with. now, ofc, the swordsman wasn't a complete idiot. he knew that maybe he had a teeny, tiny-miny crush on you. maybe.
"i don't think it should be this normal for a person to be this casual about murder, zoro." the navigator egged him on.
"we're pirates, who cares." his shoulders slumped downwards as if to showcase his nonchalance about the subject matter.
"we care, we're the good kind."
"yeah, yeah. good kind." the former pirate hunter dragged the bottle to his lips, drinking in the intoxicating liquid as a light thump thump thump built in his head. he closed his eyes and tried to find a second of peace. but the people were singing too loud, and the makeshift lighting too blinding and if zoro recalled correctly, the sake he was chugging on was cheap as fuck. and he had had one too many as always.
typical celebratory things.
"you do know that she's single, right?" nami quipped after a minute, nodding in your general direction, "like, she isn't doing something morally wrong by dancing with a random dude. it's your own fault you're a pussy and can't ask her out."
he cracked open one eye, glaring at the red-head, "yeah okay, do you get paid to be all up in other people's business?"
"no," nami grinned, "but it's fun."
"right." zoro closed his eyes again and ran a light hand through his hair. he tried to guess where the other members of the group were. it wasn't hard to come to a convincing conclusion. he was sure that somewhere in the party, luffy, chopper, and ussop were busy playing some sort of food-related game. sanji was probably busy trying to pick up women. and the others mingling with the townsfolk. but you— what were you upto?
the swordsman's thoughts grabbed him by the collar and shook him like a wet, rabid dog. what if— what if you were swaying along with that man? your head on the stranger's chest, your ass hard against that man. what if that man took you through the unknown alleyways and up to his house and fu—
zoro whipped his face to look to where you were previously dancing. relief washed over his face when he found you on the dancefloor, still intoxicatedly dancing with the stranger.
but now the scene was different.
that guy had lifted you up in his arms. and the people around you (who were drunk out of their pea-shaped minds) hollered and cheered as you burst into a fit of giggles.
"hey, hey easy now." nami gently withdrew the glass bottle from zoro's grasp before he shattered it into a million pieces. the action from the navigator made the green-haired man looked down at his reddened palms in surprise. just protectiveness, right?
when nami spoke up again, she offered her (annoying) crewmate a sympathetic smile, "just go talk to her," zoro ignored the next part of her sentence, "when you're sober, okay?"
and that is how a very drunk roronoa zoro ended up in front of you on the dance floor.
the guy was swiftly carrying you away from the dance floor, to one of the darkened alleyways as you blushed and giggled when zoro approached the both of you.
"hey, i need to talk to ya for a sec." zoro's voice was slightly sluggish while addressing you, but the man turned around and gave him a confused look, "you want something, zoro?"
the swordsman shrugged, dismissing the well-natured man, "wasn't talking to you, was i now?"
drawing out your gaze on zoro, you scrambled off from the man's grip, standing up before answering, "sorry. what is it, zo?"
but it seems like whatever had been on zoro's tongue died within a minute of approaching you and that bastard. he resigned himself to a soft sigh, looking away from you. "nothin'" he grumbled, "nami was sayin that once you're done dancing, meet up with her."
"oh? is that all?" you asked softly, hoping that the stoic man would say something else.
but he was a man of few words, that you knew.
"yeah, well, she says she wants to walk back to the sunny with you. it's unsafe alone." he shrugged, "also, im heading back to the sunny."
"so soon?" and he nodded curtly in response. he gave the man next to you a quick side-eye before attempting to walk away from you at lightning speed.
by now the stranger had almost faded to the background as all your focus fell upon the man your captain called his first mate. as he walked away, his green hair were tousled, his walk a bit jagged up from all the alcohol. the overhead lighting plays with the dips and creases of his kimono and you found yourself following after him.
"hey!! where are ya going?!" the stranger called out after you but his voice faded between the rhythms and thumps of the songs and dances.
"zo!" you called after him, long forgetting the stranger that was spinning you around a few minutes ago. you caught up with him, "you know what? i actually wanna go back too, mind if i walk with you?"
he nodded solemnly, and you didn't mention that it was because you knew he would get lost and get drunkenly passed out on these unknown streets. and you didn't mention that you were worried about him, just because he was your crewmate. that's it.
the both of you walked in uncomfortable silence, as if something sinister was lurking around, waiting to ruin whatever peace remained between the two of you.
"you know." the swordsman voiced as he followed you into a dimly lit street. you were now far away from the celebratory festival, trying to take a shortcut to head back to the ship.
"hm?"
"you shouldn't get that close to a stranger." his words were innocent enough; a cautionary advice from one crewmate to the other. but it was his tone — dashed with a tiny bit of accusation — that made your skin crawl.
"well," you glanced back over your shoulder, finding his drunken form trailing you, "i don't really need you to tell me what to do. i can take care of myself, i know how to fight."
he scoffed, "oh, do you?"
maybe it was his tone. oh no, it was definitely his tone that pissed you off. so, you turned around. crossing your arms over your chest, you stared him down, "what's the problem with you?"
both of you were drunk, and the tension between you two ran high. one slip of tongue, one wayward action and the swordsman didn't know how the night would end— with you in his arms or with your dagger in his chest.
so, he decided not to take his chances. it was too risky, too bold. and the swordsman was never the kind to take uncalculated risks. so, he stifled his words and brushed past you. walking ahead now, he declared into the night air, "nothing's the problem with me, was jus' offering advice. don't take it if ya don't want it."
you followed suit, voice growing agitated, "why do you have a problem if i'm dancing with somebody else. or even making out or fucking them. it's none of your business. we're friends."
now it was his turn to turn around and glare at you, "i know that."
he paused for a second. were you really that stupid? did you not notice that whatever was left of his wretched heart belonged to you? or did you notice and you liked to stomp over it, anyways?
he finally sucked in a breath, steadying his drunken thoughts, "as you said, we're friends. you're part of the crew. and i was just l-looking out for you—"
"—well, you don't fucking have to. i am grown adult, zoro."
and just like that, whatever argument he had died within him. and he looked at you, dumbfounded. then, his gaze hardened and he stepped forward. were you really that stupid? or was he just that good of an actor for you to not see him the way he saw you?
he highly doubted the second one. maybe you were just very dense.
your breath hitched as he walked forward. if you had forgotten how scary the former pirate hunter can be, you were reminded right this second as you backtracked slowly. the two of you moved in tandem till your back was pressed against a solid wall and zoro stood directly in front of you.
towering over you, the menacing first mate said nothing as his gaze bore down holes into you.
"zo—zoro?" your voice was a meek whisper, eyes drifting downwards to avoid looking at him.
and suddenly, he was hyperaware of the situation he had forced you into. the closed proximity of it all, as you looked away from him. for someone who was a swordsman, he was certainly losing his patience. so, he simply pulled back, giving you some space. he sighed, he had clearly drunk too much tonight.
all that alcohol with all that pining was messing with his brain, "you should stay back, i'm going to the ship."
"what are you talking about—"
"—just go, enjoy. you're right, it is none of my business who you see." and with that the swordsman walked away.
"huh?? zoro!" you yelled after him, an unyielding resolve in your voice, "whe- where ARE YOU EVEN GOIN' ALONE? YOU'RE GONNA LOSE YOUR WAY!"
but in his classic avoidant way, he ignored you. taking long steps through the dusty road to reach the ship.
"oh my god, are you GONNA MAKE ME RUN TO REACH YOU?"
but he dismissed you again, clenching his jaw and continuing to walk. and you decided to jog to catch up with him, much to your dismay. he scoffed over his shoulder, fingers dancing along the hilt of his swords, "no need. sorry i ruined your plans tonight."
and that halted you dead in your tracks. to fuck with any apologies you had, who was he to pass around judgement for what you do?
"what's that supposed to mean? fuck you." you spat out, "i'm going back to the crew."
"fine by me." he grumbled, turning around to face you, "have fun."
"will do." you seethed, trying to raise his hackles, "make sure you don't pass out on the streets like a drunkard."
"even if i do, i'd be fine." he was getting more and more irritated, trying to raise your hackles right back, "why do you care?"
"ugh." you stepped forward, jabbing his chest accusatorily, "i was so dumb to leave that super nice guy to come chase after you! all you care about are your swords and your dumb sake."
he pursed his lips. what were you both even arguing about anymore? it made no sense, any of it. he wasn't even sure why the two of you were yelling at each other anymore. the nightly winds were unforgiving and cold. and all he knew was that as you yelled at him, blood rushed to your cheeks and your eyes came ablaze. your brows furrowed and lips fell into a pout as you awaited him to answer you. the gentle caress of the winds washed your hair over your face and you pushed them back in annoyance.
dammit.
zoro never believed in gods, but right now he would curse whatever deity sat above for making you so goddamn pretty. and making him so goddamn stupid.
as if looking at you would lead to his demise, now, it was his turn to look away. slowly drawing in a breath, he muttered, "jus' go back, there's no point arguing."
"fine. i'm leaving."
and wow, there must be some sort of cruel deity above. one who especially had a vendetta against zoro.
because, as if on cue, the man who you had been dancing showed up. he was slightly out of breath, as if he had run to come catch up with you, "hey! uh," he stopped short as he saw the stare off between you and zoro. "sorry, am i interrupting something?"
you turned around to look at the man, "what? no. nothing." you paused, giving zoro a short glace, "what are you doing here?"
"i uh—" the stranger shifted on his feet, a nervous smile on his face, "i- well, my friends forced me to come after you. i— i just... i know you guys are leaving in two days, but i was wondering if you would maybe wanna spend some time with me tonight? i, uh, i would really like to get to know you."
zoro stared at the man in a strange mix of jealousy and awe. was it that easy to confess?
"—it's okay if you're tired!" the man spluttered on, "i mean, i just wanted to talk— only if you want to, of course."
clearly, it was. because you turned away from zoro, giving that stranger a genuine smile, "you're too sweet. and, i was heading back to the party anyways, so might as well—"
"—really?" the man beamed and you nodded, walking towards him, mirroring his smile.
roronoa zoro watched you walk away, not even sparing him a sliver of a glance. and all of a sudden, the night air was too chilly and his headache too annoying and his heart, it ached.
before you turned to next street and disappeared with the stranger, you looked back at him. something in your gaze that begged the first mate to stop you, to call you back to him instead.
but he didn't.
all zoro could do was stand there, stupefied. you turned the corner, taking your gaze off of him with mild disappointment. before you turned, he saw you laughing at something the stranger had said.
zoro had no idea how long he stood there, transfixed at the ghost of you that was once in front of him.
roronoa zoro always saw you, right? well, now, he just saw you leave.
"what are you doing here? lost your way, marimo?" sanji asked as he materialized out of thin air on that street.
"huh?" zoro broke out of his daze, "what are you doing here?"
"hah," sanji looked smug, ignoring his question and blowing out a puff of smoke, "what did i expect from the idiot with no sense of direction."
"oh, go fuck yourself, shitty cook."
now, why did sanji show up at the exact moment zoro got his heart (whatever of it was left, anyways) broken?
the gods above must be laughing at the swordsman.
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credits: to @bucciniexe for the format of the header; @chachachannah for the divider above! a/n: i don't know if this was nearly angsty enough, but i really do picture zoro as an avoidant who runs from his feelings for quite a long time. sooo, i hope this was angsty enough. thankyou @screaming-crying-screamingagain for the prompt, hope you like it mwuah <3
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hazelfoureyes · 1 month ago
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A Doe in Fall (part 11)
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⟢HumanAlastor x FemaleBurlesquerReader - A Doe in Fall
A burlesquer with a penchant for conning men, you find your latest game interrupted when your next mark saves you from an aggressive fan— by killing him. The chance encounter left you curious, still half convinced you could complete your normal chase. Unbeknownst to you, you were the one being tracked.
Part 1 - Pretty in Red smut💦 Part 2 - Liar smut💦 Part 3 - A Tragedy smut💦 Part 4 - Enough Part 5 - Too Much Part 6 - Learning smut💦 Part 7 - Recognition smut💦 Part 8 - Trust sexual 🥵 Part 9 - Shiny Things Part 10 - Good Deeds Part 11 - Caught 📍 (this bitch is getting long) Part 12 - Eddie
Horny? Not this story yet but….Don’t worry, just wait a couple days… 👀 💦
Part 11 Caught
Taking time to cast out the line and wait for the big one to take the bait.
「Warnings/Promises: Human Alastor x Fem!Reader, jaws theme plays, fishing, sweet as fuck, and then not sweet, prostitution yelled into a crowd, rough hands, I won’t say the word ‘paddy wagon’ because the history seems to be targeted at the Irish in America so it’s called a wagon here」
Minors if you violate the MDNI I will toss you back into the river lie the pinfish you are 💥 🎣
Peaceful. Your head on his chest. Even breathes, strong heart. Corporeal. Real. There with you. A ritual to whoever brought you into his embrace, every morning you lied against him and you stared out the window. Past the greenhouse, where the woods were allowed to run wild and you knew the animals therein were safe to exist as they were meant to. Everything and everyone in their element.
His fingers would make little circles and pattern eights along your shoulder blade. Your gaze out and forward, his intently focused on the ceiling fan; then and there.
Occasionally he’d spell a word across your skin  to see if you were paying attention. Today: B R E A K F A S T ?
He didn’t want to interrupt the sounds of the radio on the dresser with the half hearted question.
He carried your plate out onto the front porch, the swinging bench as much a perfectly suitable place to eat as anywhere else. You both tended to enjoy the back porch, but he felt an urge for novelty.
As you nibbled, he stared at the car. He didn’t really want to leave, but he wanted to go somewhere with you.
“Can I take you to the water? We could fish. I’m in no rush today.” You were unsure, tilting your head a little when he asked. He had offered before but you admitted you didn’t know how. “You’ll have time to shower before work.” His index finger came over and waited for yours to hook into his.
Alastor was beyond smitten watching you and your trousers bound down his steps. Hand in hand, in the early morning breeze of the impending fall, he led you through his property to the water’s edge.
A small cup of earthworms he scrounged up while you changed, two poles from the shed, and a bucket he hoped would have fish soon enough.
As a child he often ran through the woods of his home and played pretend, and as he got older and his imagination shifted he would fish for his mother. When his friends began to date and pair off, he’d hunt animals in a parallel kind of chase. 
They took home gals, he dragged in rabbits.
And when his mother died, and the food he brought home was more than he needed, he stopped venturing past the clearing. That trek home to a bright house, his mother waiting on the back porch surrounded by the chirps of crickets was something he cherished.
But then her silhouette was gone. And the cricket’s song became one of loneliness. The walk to the house now a chore, a thing he had to do to get from Point A to Point B.
Pulling you by the hand past the field and its tall grass, into the shade of the trees where the air was so cool it bordered on wet, he wasn’t so worried about the return trip. No tedium in the navigation now.  
Alastor wasn’t loquacious as it were, but when he did feel like talking he talked. He could, and did, name every species of fish that lived in the river. The ones he liked to eat, the ones he liked to look at, and the fish he didn’t care for much at all. His mother’s favorite was bluegill, and he said it was the scariest fish when he was young.
“The fucker has spikes!” He said it like he was introducing a villain, “I grabbed one once and it flexed these spines and I dropped it. I broke a pole trying to beat one to death once because I was too scared to pick it up again.”
You’d never fished. Not because you didn’t care for it, it just wasn’t what you did. Your mother didn’t take you to rivers or the sea. You stayed in buildings and parks near people. You could see the water, just never really interacted with it. Luckily, Alastor was ecstatic to teach you. 
He saddled up behind you and explained how to cast out. It took a few tries to get it right, the release of the line a little tricky to get down at first. You could see the shine of the reels and could tell they were expensive and unused. Easily they were worth more than three dollars a piece. He bought two of them… when? The thought brought a silly, crooked smile you couldn’t contain. 
“A friend accidentally hooked his own back once.” You watched the way his gaze seemed to soften as he was looking into the distant past.
“I hope he’s gotten better at it.”
Alastor shrugged. 
Oh, right… Alastor had friends in a sense, but never had he really introduced you to someone that was remotely important. No one he lit up for, no one he invited over, no one he completely relaxed his put-on smile for. You had to wonder where they'd all gone.
“Do you ever see him?”
He shook his head, “He has a life now.”
Your chuckle wasn’t meant to be cruel, but it came off a little too incredulous, “Do you not have a life?”
He didn't look at you, which was the loudest indicator he wasn’t fond of the question. He cast out his own line, waiting to reply until he could settle, “Sweetheart, do you really think I’ve been living a life compatible with his? Or any of them?” He pulled back on the line a little to feel the tension, “Wives get uncomfortable inviting over single 40 somethings like myself. And I can only stomach so many surprise female dinner guests at such things.”
You felt like an ass. 
Being a single man at his age, with a good job, a car, and land, made people uncomfortable. A lifelong chosen bachelor is fine, a rake is expected, but someone who seemed to be disinterested in dating and in fooling around? You could imagine the looks on their wive’s faces, asking questions that were thinly veiled insults.
What do you do for fun?
Is it difficult to find respectable dates when you work in jazz?
So, you’ve never been married, is that right? Not even close?
A mood change. You waited a moment to let silence kill the topic and asked, “What is the catch you’re most proud of?”
He thought for a second before a lopsided grin spread and you felt your heartbeat relax. “A gull.”
“A gull?!”
Alastor cackled, doubling over at the memory. “I threw out my line and as it flew through the air, a gull passing by grabbed the worm. It fought me for a minute before managing to get loose.” He ended up squating, blue jeans rolled up at the ankles and covered in spurs you just now noticed. “It looked as confused as I was.”
The morning was spent reveling in new and useless information about each other. Your fear of dogs, his fear of armadillos (someone told them they had the plague). The time you accidentally walked into a stranger’s home, the time he startled an old woman because he was standing too still in a store and she thought he was a mannequin.
Moments of intimacy intermittently interrupted by a tugging of the fishing line and excited easing in of the prize.
The fuckers did have spikes. You reached out for your first successful catch and the barbs pricked you. With a hurried step back, your short heel sank into the dirt and you lost your balance. Your ass hit the ground hard, and you needed a breath before you could reply to Alastor’s worried questions.
“I’m fine”, just embarrassed, you assured him before picking up your shoe and throwing it, “I have to go home and change out these shoes.” Leftie smacked against the tree with a soft pop.
“Bring over a few pairs, if you have them. I’m sure a pair of mom’s could fit you, you can wear them home. We could toss these into the river. Shoot ‘em. Run em over.” He retrieved the thrown shoe before kneeling to remove the other one. He touched your ankle, eyes shooting up to monitor your face for any pained expressions. “Burn ‘em.”
“First my stockings last week and now my shoes? You’ve gone fire-happy.” You wiggled your toes for his peace of mind, “It’s okay, I don’t have many shoes. We’ll reconcile someday.”
Alastor sat down properly on the grass and dirt of the river’s edge and took off his shoes and socks. You thought maybe he was trying to commiserate somehow, until he shoved the socks into the toe box and slipped one onto your foot. 
You warned he didn’t have to do that and he flashed you a look, his smirk alone called you a hypocrite and made you go silent. “You can’t perform with tattered feet or a rolled ankle.” He laced them tightly, “I know where the stickers and ant hills are, I’ll be fine.”
Your eyes wandered over the bucket of water and fish, the worms in their cup, and his bare feet on the grass.
“Who taught you to be such a well rounded gentleman?” A rhetorical question, mostly. 
“My mother, of course.”
“Your father didn’t worry you’d be too soft?”
“Ah, apparently not. He left before I was born,” Alaster fidgeted with the straps of your shoes. “He hadn’t considered,” every word was measured, “the realities of,” you could see him searching for the words in real time; this was a conversation he had never had before, “of being with my mother before knocking her up.”
The ‘family planning’ conversation on the kitchen table fluttered back to you.
“Oh, can I have permission to hate him?” Always the easiest emotion.
He clicked his tongue, hands busy looping your shoes together by their straps and then attaching them to his belt loop.
“He left her the house and the land before going. Kept his promise to help take care of me, in that sense. So, no. I think indifference is fair enough.” He grabbed your fish by the tail and placed it into the bucket. “Kinda funny though, had he stuck around he’d have seen how the only thing I got from him was his biggest worry: my complexion!” A joyless laugh, “But I’m just like her in all the ways that matter.”
It came out before you could think it through, “He didn’t love your mother?”
He winced. “Cowards can love just fine, I think. Maybe they love the hardest actually.” You nodded, knowing this wasn’t a philosophical debate where your opinion was needed. “I mean, what kind of man just gives away his only assets?” Alastor leaned over to fix the collar of your blouse, “A scared idiot in love, of course.”
You wondered about ‘family planning’. In their age it was nothing short of guessing and lamb innards. It was impossible to pretend you knew what his father would have lived through had he stayed. But you knew very well what Alastor lived through because he left. New Orleans was different than many other parts of the country when it came to mixed children, but the attitude was less acceptance and more a baseline tolerance for their existence.
The conversation, and shoe change, brought a natural end to the morning. Alastor helped you up, taking the opportunity to brush off your backside. 
He led you until the clearing, he knew the land was flat there, and slowed down to let you walk a little bit ahead. The view of the house was much more inviting with you in it.
As promised, a shower. Originally alone, Alastor sitting on the toilet seat talking to you about dinner. Then he got quiet. He startled you a little when he peeked behind the curtain but everything settled when he got inside and his hands wrapped around your waist. Kisses for kiss’s sake. Skin on skin just to feel closer than you were before. A hum buzzing his chest as you hugged him tightly and wasted some water. Well, ‘wasted’ is subjective. The warmth radiating off his stomach rivaled the shower’s spray. You knew there wasn’t time for a nap, but the comfort was so deeply rooted you worried you’d fall asleep in his arms then and there. 
His mothers shoes did fit, a pair of her black double straps with a nice wide heel replaced your T-straps and their damned thin one. The offer and action of presenting them to you was bigger than could be acknowledged. It was clear in how he wiped them clean with drilled in focus and set them in front of the bed for you like the main course of a fancy meal. The way they’d been kept packaged and neat in the guest closet. 
“Throwing them away seemed a waste. Glad they could be of use.” He said it so casually but it was more than that. When she died he packed away her items and forgot about them. He couldn’t throw them away. It still felt like her house, after all. Who was he to change anything?
It was a little surprise to himself when he offered them to you. It seemed natural at the moment but as he said it his calm heart backtracked. Was that okay to do? Was it disrespectful to his mother? Was it rude to offer you a dead woman’s things? Would you be uncomfortable?
The little strings of worry all cut loose though when you did the straps and said, “I’ll return them in perfect condition.”
He had thought you’d take them forever. But no, that was better. “I’ll buy you your own just like them.”
You quickly buried the sincere sweetness of the moment with a joke, “Finally this long con is paying off!” What else could you do, threading the strap of your beau’s dead, dearly loved mother’s heels? It was like being on cloud nine with lead shoes. Confusingly wonderful and supremely daunting. You were literally walking in her shoes. The irony made you squeeze your arms to your sides to make sure your sweat pads were in their place.
Alastor thought if all you were getting out of this was a pair of shoes, you were definitely coming up in the red. 
Negative. 
Losing out. 
He knew it was a joke,  but had it been true he’d build a home on his land and fill it with shoes and dresses and whatever else you asked for. A stage all your own if you wanted. He’d clap and throw flowers at your feet nightly. If you’d let him. 
Maybe he could do that anyway. Every night, praise you with his mouth in all the ways he could imagine you’d enjoy. 
The analogy carried through as he drove you to work. What was the price of admission and had he managed to afford it yet? Again, he fretted over what he was giving you in all of… whatever exactly this was.
He knew exactly what he wanted it to be and knew very well what you didn’t want. So, letting sleeping dogs lie, he instead considered what you were actually getting out of the arrangement as it stood now. 
He’d met women who just wanted a home to pretty up. You had your own space you seemed keen on so he doubted that was it. Sometimes women pursued him for his obvious disposable income. Images of you swiping the hundred off the hotel bar played across his thoughts. No, you seemed capable enough to earn more than your job paid. If anything you seemed to enjoy chasing down marks.
You’d made it clear your thoughts on marriage (“I won’t be bought by jewelry and promises of a pretty cage.”)  though he did consider what could ever make you want that legal lock. He’d had friends who would have liked the safety a husband lended their image. Women who didn’t have any need or want for men in general. But things like banking and ownership were easier with a husband. And if he was aware of their preferences, they could still enjoy their love lives as they always had tried to before marriage. Alastor had considered such an offer before. Seriously considered it. It seemed to solve all of the problems he and his lady friend had. 
His hands twisted around the steering wheel. He knew, deep in the marrow of his bones, he was always going to be alone. But the tiniest speck of desire to have someone love him and share his life remained buried in the viscera of his reality. So he turned down the sham marriage. What if he met someone inconceivable? Suddenly he would be an adulterer. Which was just hilarious to him. Such a thing could lead to a loss of employment and social shunning. 
Plus, his mother would shake her head if he opened her very deserved home to someone purely existing to make a pleasant lie for the world. Disappointment could leak straight from her grave and into the floorboards.
Everyone wants something, though. He wanted to be seen in his entirety and accepted as he was.
You?
Well. All the things you seemed to want you had. Autonomy. Adoration. Attention. 
His mind conjured images of you sitting pretty in your trousers in Beth’s. Moments like those, before he knew you, you had all of the things you wanted and seemingly needed. It made you upsettingly attractive to him. 
Alastor didn’t want to be needed by someone, he wanted to be wanted by someone who already had everything.
As the car rolled over the bridge and you both made your way into the city proper, his thoughts wandered back to the notion of rings. His mother never had one, so he had nothing to hand down. Would you wear gold, like the necklace you hung on the mirror in the guest room? Or silver?
He suppressed an embarrassed chuckle, he was getting ahead of himself again. Daydreaming while he drove like he always did. But this time you were in the car with him. 
You caught him blushing, asking if he got too much sun by the water earlier. Alastor’s eyes went wide and he laughed a forced ‘ha ha ha!’, punctuated by a flat and low “No!”
All you could do was laugh in return when he didn’t elaborate. The way he was gripping the steering wheel made his knuckles go pale through the thin skin of his hands.  But the wonky smile he had told you he wasn’t angry. 
He gave you a peck outside the theater’s side door, promised to swing by yours after work so you could grab some shoes, and drove off. 
✦ .  ⁺   . ✦ .  ⁺   . ✦ .  ⁺   . ✦ .  ⁺   . ✦
“Excuse you, you’re not welcome here.”
You heard it but didn’t really register what that implied. Sometimes people tried to sneak in who’d been banned, but it was…not common. The list of people was quite short. You didn’t stop to think of them all, regardless.
You made a habit of calling Ruth by her stage name as early in the work day as you could remember, to avoid any slip ups. So when you called out to her as you worked the room after your performance, she knew to answer.
“Skye, could you bring me some water?” Leaning on the bar you watched her make her own drink, flashing you a wink. She always got tipsy and ended up behind the bar when she was in a good mood. Which was most nights. The staff didn’t mind, the real money to be made was in liquor and whatever could be passed off as beer. So the extra pair of hands was appreciated.
“You’ve been especially happy lately. Good sex?” The glass was slid to you. All you could do was nod. You’d hadn’t actually had sex in awhile, but that wasn’t anyone’s business.
Your smile barely had a chance to slip off your face, your senses too quick for your body to keep up. The awareness that something was wrong hit you fast and hard, but only milliseconds before you felt someone grab you.
Brady’s hand gripped your shoulder and pulled you backwards, something slipping around your wrists as a uniformed cop came around the corner of the atrium. You struggled to get away from him, shouting general protests to being suddenly manhandled. Your voice erupted, the first cannon shot of the war as women and men began to swarm and berate the detective.
Barely a shocked laugh could be choked out from your tightening throat. 
“You’re under arrest!” He yelled it, looking at you for just a moment before announcing it to the audience. An actor to his crowd.
“For what?!” Johnny pushed Brady with two fingers to the chest. 
“Prostitution.”
A beat of silence as the room collectively gasped. Ruth was the first one to truly lay her hands on him, snatching his hat off and smacking him across the head. The other dancers moved like a school of fish, tucking Ruth into the safety of their numbers with a simultaneous jostling of the detective.
The cop leading you away stopped, “Just her? I thought-,”
Detective Brady dusted his hat off with the back of his hand and shooed the man away. “Just her.”
Before you had reached the glass doors of the theater, you tensed and pulled back. “What the fuck are you doing, Mr. Brady?”
But Brady wasn’t looking at you. He was scanning the room. Staring into the small but fierce roiling mass of regulars, dancers, and staff filling up the doorway in front him and flooding the atrium. 
Johnny sized up Brady, getting nose to nose with him, “Show your face here again and we’ll need an ambulance, not a wagon!”
Brady leaned into the confrontation, “Now sir I’d be careful. That almost sounds like a threat.”
“Sure as shit is!” Someone hissed. 
“Hey! Brady!” You tried again in vain to get his attention.
“Hush. You confessed to it already, no point crying now.” The cop’s voice was harsh, his disgust barely hidden. His palms were calloused and scratched at the exposed skin of your arms.
“Someone! Someone call-,” Ruth snapped her fingers as the syllables teetered on the tip of her tongue.
Goosebumps rose across your shoulders like little tombstones. Your autonomic nervous system came to a crawl. The grip on your arm tightened as you had to be wretched forward and out of the front doors.
Her eyes lit up, “Alastor! Does anyone have Alastor’s work number?!” Ruth was met with confused faces and shrugs from the others.
You didn’t feel yourself begin to cry, it was a reaction to the fact you hadn’t blinked since you became aware Brady didn’t seem too interested in your reaction to this.
This wasn’t an arrest. It was a trap.
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arlathavellan · 6 months ago
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Phantom Pains | III
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Fandom: ACOTAR
Pairing: Azriel x Reader
Reader: she/her, (3/4-High Fae, 1/4-Tartera), Y/N used
Genre: Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Word Count: 2.7k
Something is... wrong. Time missing, memories missing, thoughts missing. Wondering where things both big and small disappeared to, like the dress you were working on or even the past seventeen hours of your day. Something is very wrong, and the thought seems to slip your mind as soon as it comes. || Azriel has been a part of your life for years now, and has been courting you since the fall of Hybern. Only, things don't seem to be as simple as you'd both assumed they'd be. It seems someone thought you were the weak link-- the easy ticket to infiltrating the inner circle through its spymaster. And maybe you are.
|| Previous Part | Next Part (wip) | Masterlist ||
All Azriel ever wanted was to keep you safe. From the moment he first saw you, he knew you were something precious, something to be protected. Convinced he knew best how, he kept you away from the inner court, away from the side of himself he was afraid you would turn from in fear. His hubris and shame kept you away from the people who could protect you while he was gone.
Cas and Mor had wanted to be introduced to you years ago, before things were even official between the two of you. Afraid it would only put a target on your back, he let himself pretend it was better for you to never cross paths with that part of his life.
After the war, he started to let his guard down. Mor would commission gowns from you, both supporting you and building a professional relationship as a compromise to respect Azriel's boundaries. When he eventually decided it was time to officially introduce you to everyone, he went to Feyre first, thinking it would be easiest for you to connect artist-to-artist rather than let one of the others completely overwhelm you. She was happy to agree, and excited at the prospect of helping ease you into their family. When she finally got her dress, it brought your little shop more attention than you'd had since coming to own it. The way your face lit up when you told him about having to hire someone to help you out helped reassure him that he'd made the right choice. He wanted nothing more than to introduce you to the rest of his loved ones, knowing they'd love you almost as much as he did.
It was obvious to them all how much you meant to Azriel.
It was obvious to everyone who knew who he was that you were the Spymaster's weakness.
That was his mistake; growing too comfortable with the bubble of peace that had existed undisturbed around the two of you. When he was with you, he let himself imagine he was someone else, someone with less blood on his hands.
He never should have forgotten, never should have let his guard down. It didn't matter how many times he'd been able to walk you home with no issue— every moment you were seen with him was a public admittance that you were important to him. Azriel could never be a normal illyrian, never act like it was possible to separate the parts of himself. Every waking moment he was the Shadowsinger, the Spymaster. His love for you didn't keep you safe, it only made you a target. Everything he did to put a smile on your face made it that much easier for others to hurt you.
——
Azriel is on his way back from his mission when Rhysand gets in contact with him.
Come home, he says. Now.
He tries to ask questions. Anxiety swirls in the pit of his stomach as he flies, any response met with a resounding silence.
The mission had been underwhelming, the intel he'd gotten no more than cold tracks leading straight to a dead end. Whispers of rebellion, more faeries foolish enough to act out against Rhysand moreso because of what he is than what he's done. There was nothing when he'd gotten there, just a long-abandoned camp that left no clues behind. His shadows couldn't find anything either, returning just to whisper confusion in his ear. While he was ready to call it and go home, he didn't feel right dropping the thread without seeing where it might really end. After a week of searching, he felt like he'd been run in circles, and told Rhysand he was coming back to Velaris empty-handed. It seemed to be a routine the past year, a lot of low-effort surveillance that seemed to result in nothing.
Not even a souvenir? He'd joked.
He wasn't joking now.
"What's going on?" He asks in response, scanning the room. The atmosphere of the house is low, and it has all of his senses on high alert. "Is everyone okay?"
Azriel lands on the balcony of the Town House. If it were official Court business, Rhysand would be in the House of Wind. But the Town House? This was family business. He opened the doors swiftly, some of his shadows immediately fanning out to sweep the residence.
"Az," Cassian calls, voice tight and shoulders tensed as he practically marches towards him.
Shadows curl at his neck, overloading him with information. He winces, unable to sift through it all at once. They're panicked, some moving around the room so fast they're knocking chairs into the table and toppling over vases. The noise draws another person into the room as Cassian steadies him by his shoulders.
Room, he can barely make out in their desperate jumble of cries. Your room, your room. Five in house. Three in room. High Lord, doctor, sw—
"Azriel!" Mor cries, ducking around Cassian's wings to help hold him straight as his shadows continue their barrage of information, nearly knocking him off his feet in their haste.
Five in house. Three in room.
"Mor, grab a chair before they knock him down—" High lord.
"We don't have time—" Doctor.
"—just get Rhys—" Sweetheart.
Silence falls over the room as his shadows still in a single breath. His wide eyes meet Cassian's, flicker over to Mor's distressed, tear-streaked face, and the pieces fall into place.
"Y/N?" he breathes, terror gripping his chest.
Hands reach for him once more, mouths opening in explanation, but as his knees buckle, the light is sucked out of the room in an instant, and he's gone.
——
"Now," you say, making a few final adjustments to the garment in front of you. "There's still some work to be done, mostly alterations, but it will absolutely be done in time for the party."
The woman behind you is absolutely giddy, facing away until you give the word.
"Before we get started on all that, I know you mentioned you wanted a draping that was loose and flowy, but I was worried the fabric might snag on your jewelry." You explain. "So It's still a loose drape, but a little less than what I first showed you when we were picking out fabrics."
She lets out an impressed 'ooo' as you explain. "That's so smart; I can't wear my chunky bracelets with half my dresses. My lady, I defer to your judgment."
Letting out a laugh, you fluff out the skirt in preparation for its presentation. "Okay! Now, three, two—"
"—one!" Mor cuts off, spinning around to see the dress. Her hands fly up to her mouth as she bounces on her feet. "Yes, yes! Oh, Y/N, it's even better than I imagined."
Pride wells up in your chest as she moves closer to see the gown, but a wave of confusion washes over you as you sway slightly on your feet. She… liked the dress? No. No, she didn't like the dress. This isn’t what happened. Your head spins as you watch Mor fuss over the skirt, playing with the fabric to have the gemstones on the inner layers catch on the light like stars.
You ran out of that fabric. There wasn't enough left for a full skirt, so you had to go without it. You stumble backwards towards the wall, but nothing catches you. Panic grips your throat as you float weightlessly, and everything is drowned in black.
It's okay, a voice whispers in your mind. You're alright. I need to see what memories they locked away so I can figure out what they were looking for.
Memories… that was a memory? But that didn't happen. You try to close your eyes tightly against the darkness, but you feel nothing. Light floods your vision, and suddenly you're sitting on your couch alone.
"Hello?" You call, voice shaking. "Who's there?"
"I suppose an explanation is in order, now that you're here." The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere at once, until an unfamiliar faerie steps out of the shadows with his hands raised.
You stand unsteadily as he moves closer.
"My name is Rhysand, though you can just call me Rhys," he says.
"While I wish the circumstances were better, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Y/N."
"Rhysand…" you mutter, feeling feint. "Azriel's brother?"
A fond expression crosses his face. "Not typically the first title that comes to mind for people, but I must admit it's refreshing."
The couch behind you seems to beckon you once more, and he has no objections when you sit back down. "What's going on?"
"I thought this might be easier to digest." A chair you certainly don't own appears on the other side of the coffee table for him to take a seat. "We're in your head right now. I can't say I've ever tried something like this, but I quite like it. Although I believe your mind may be doing most of the heavy lifting, so we don't have much time."
Holding your hands out, your flip them over as you curl your fingers. Everything has a bit of a smoky quality to it, like it would all disappear with a gust of wind, and feels the same sluggish consistency as your shadows.
"What… happened?" Quiet as your voice is, he seems to hear you perfectly well.
His gaze is pained when you look back up at him, eyebrows pinched as he tries to explain. "From what I can tell, someone has gotten access to your mind, and had been taking and altering your memories. I don't know for what purpose, so I've been trying to see what they've hidden to try and figure it out. Do you know when this may have started?"
The answer comes to you immediately, the incident having weighed on your mind since it happened. "I lost a few hours a little over a month ago. Azriel found me standing in the street."
Something passes over his face, and the moment of silence that follows has dread building in your gut.
"Az spoke to me about that night," he says softly, almost slowly. It reminds you of that moment with Mor, before everything in your head exploded. He opens his mouth to speak once more, but his attention is snapped elsewhere. Looking to the side, his expression twists with confusion and anger. "Someone's trying to break through my wards. I'll be back soon; let your mind rest, and we'll continue once you've regained your strength."
"Wait—" you lurch forward, reaching for him, but you continue falling forward as everything you see dissipates.
Your existence feels lighter and lighter, until you feel nothing at all.
——
Azriel feels the wards fighting him, digging under his skin as his shadows slip through cracks that aren’t there. He’s never tried to travel within the house like this, never had need to, but with his shadows guiding him to you he had no complaints.
His room explodes with darkness as he finally lands on his feet, the sound of an older woman screaming in shock filling his ears before they all congregated around his bed. Looking around frantically, he took stock of the occupants of the room.
Madja stood by his dresser, hastily straightening bottles of medicines and salves that had been knocked askew by his arrival. By his bed, stepping back from the writhing mass of darkness, was Rhys, with a displeased expression.
“What happened?” he asks before the High Lord can speak.
Rhys sighs, rubbing between his brows as they pinch together. “Was that you, bursting through my wards?”
“Rhys,” Azriel hisses.
“You were right,” Rhys says, leveling him with a look that urged him to try and stay calm. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you then, Az. But we can fix it, now.”
The ground seems to fall out from beneath his feet. Stumbling forward, the Spymaster catches himself on the foot of his bed, shadows curling up his arms.
“She’s had multiple memories locked away, and when Mor caught on…”
Azriel looks up at him, wanting him to finish but not wanting to hear the words.
“It was a Daemati.”
The breath leaves his lungs, and the illyrian curls in on himself at the jolt of pain that shoots through his chest. A steady hand grasps his shoulder, grounding him.
“She’s alright, now. I’ve shut them out of her head so they can’t do any further damage, but…” he trails off, as if it might ease the blow.
Azriel understands the implication loud and clear. “But they’ve already caused damage.” He digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, taking deep breaths as Rhys sighs. The only sounds in the room are his breaths, the rustling of his sheets, and the near-silent clacking of Madja’s equipment. “How bad is it?”
Rhys’ hand twists on his shoulder as he moves to sit beside him on the bed. “She may have some residual issues with memory loss in the future. I didn’t get very far, but they’ve locked numerous memories away, most pertaining to interactions with you or Mor.”
The silence that follows is somehow more tense than the last, and when Azriel finally straightens back up to look at Rhys, the expression that greets him is pained.
“When I asked her when she began to have issues relating to her memory… she claimed that you found her standing in the street a little over a month ago.”
A month ago. Had you really been suffering for so long unnoticed that you’d lost so much time? Everything he’d just chalked up to stress about the customer influx, and you were missing three months worth of memories. What had they even left for you?
He turns to look over his shoulder at you, his shadows parting just enough for him to see you sleeping peacefully in his bed.
“I’m keeping her unconscious for now,” Rhys tells him. “It will give her mind time to rest and heal itself, so I don’t do more harm than good.” His hand squeezes his shoulder, turning his attention back to him. “With the depth and frequency of attack… they have to be somewhere in the city, Az. Somewhere close to her.”
His fists clench tightly in his sheets, a low-bubbling rage festering in his gut. “Someone in Velaris did this?”
“We opened our gates to Hewn city,” Mor calls from the doorway. The two turn to look at her, a heavy weight settling upon the room at her words. “We should start with any frequent visitors, see who spends a lot of time in her part of the Palace of Thread and Jewels.”
“The intel we’ve been getting,” Azriel says, voice raspy. “Almost a year of nothing.”
Rhys answers with a dawning dread. “Someone wanted you out of the city. Away from her.”
He shares a look with Mor as Azriel stands from his bed and storms out of his room, half of his shadows rushing after him.
——
Cassian is downstairs to meet him at the door. “Don—“
“Move, Cas,” he snarls, stopping in front of him.
“Think, Az. If you go tearing through the streets of Velaris—“ an attempt to shoulder past him is stopped with a hard shove, “—they’ll be in the wind before you can find them.”
The two have their stand-off, Azriel’s siphons beginning to burn as Mor makes it back downstairs, Rhys close behind.
“You’re needed here, Az.” She’s met with a glare, hazel eyes dark. “Don’t give me that. You know we need to narrow our search down so they don’t see us coming.”
Rhys steps forward with a subtle tilt of his head. Azriel’s gaze snaps towards him, brow cocking as he waits for a third iteration of the same argument. “Y/N needs you here, with her.”
Silence falls between them, a battle of wills crackling the air around them. Darkness creeps up his legs, his torso, curling around his neck to voice their deliberation.
Sweetheart, they say. Alone, hurt, with us, safe, sweetheart, safe.
He closes his eyes with a heavy, weary sigh, shoulders dropping and siphons fading. A heavy hand lands on his shoulder from behind.
“We’ll find the son of a bitch who did this,” Cassian promises. “And then they’re all yours.”
He opens his eyes for a moment, searching for deep blue. Rhys’ gaze meets his, darkening as he nods his confirmation.
“You’d do the same for me, brother,” he says. In a moment unshared with the others, the rest goes unspoken.
If it were Feyre lying there. If it were my mate instead.
----------
Here I am falling into my old dialogue-heavy traps! I was going to queue this for tomorrow but I got too excited lmao
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intimidating-fettuccine · 9 months ago
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Family Dinner. Yan! Slender x Reader. CW; Controlling relationship, Slender is a dick, small allusions to physical harm, normal yandere behaviors and content.
You can’t breathe. 
When he stares at you like that, irritation swirling around him, the anger seeping out of him in physical waves, you can’t breathe. He doesn’t even have to touch you to choke you, so suffocate you, and tears are brimming out of your eyes against your own will. Pretending to be strong won’t work on him, as much as you want to try sometimes.
“What are you wearing?” His words are filled with venom, and it takes every fiber of being to hold back the cry that wants to escape from you.
“I- I- I just wanted-“ You try to answer him, but he cuts you off quickly.
“I didn’t ask what you wanted. I prepared this expensive, tailored outfit just for you to wear tonight to finally meet my family because they won’t stop pestering me about it, and you do this? You wear something so— ragged?” He gestures to the clothes you’re wearing, clothes you’ve had for a very long time, clothes you normally feel comfortable and safe in, however, not anymore.
“I just… That outfit is so tight. It’s uncomfortable. I wanted to be comfortable when meeting them.” It takes you a long time to force the words out, and your voice is barely a whisper. He steps forward, towering over you, and he forces you to look up at him, gripping your cheeks painfully as he yanks your face upward.
“I did not ask you what you wanted. I picked this outfit myself, for you to wear, to make a good impression. I give you this house, I give you these clothes, I give you any fucking thing you ask for, and all I ask in return is that you obey me and at the very least pretend to love me. I don’t think I’m asking for too much, so why don’t you stop acting like a brat, and do as you’re told for once?” His words cut deep, and it takes you every remaining ounce of remaining control to not fight back because you know it will only make things worse.
You do follow his orders, you do everything he asks of you, and you never fucking complain about any of it. You have never outwardly complained about any of this goddamn bullshit since the moment the devil before you decided to steal your soul. You hold the right to bitch about him in your mind, and he cannot take that away from you. If he chooses to listen to those thoughts it’s his own damn problem as far as you’re concerned. You take a deep breath, clench and release your fists a few times, and you stare right back at him.
“You told me, when you first brought me here, I hold the right to negotiation.” You stare him, dead in the face, and he clenches his jaw, but he does not make a rebuttal. “This dinner is far more important to you. Your family is unaware of the way you treat me, and I know better than anyone that you want it to stay that way. If you want me to be a polite, well-behaved Darling, you will allow me to dress comfortably. It does not have to be this outfit, but I will not be choked and corseted by the outfit you have chosen. You may choose a selection of other outfits, but I get to pick one, and I will behave the rest of the night. I will put on whatever act I need to for them to believe I am happy here, but I will be comfortable while doing so.”
You nearly choke at the end of your words, trying to resist shaking as he stares you down. He could agree, or he could do any number of other things. He could slap you, lock you in your room again and forbid you from leaving, he could scream at you until your ears are ringing and your head is throbbing if he wanted to. After all, what you’ve just done is a direct act of defiance. But he doesn’t.
“…Fine.” His response is said spitefully, and if he had eyes one of them would probably be twitching. 
He releases you with a flick of his wrist, your head flipping to the side, but he chooses much more reasonable outfits for you to wear, and you easily select one. He leaves you to get dressed in peace, and you do so quickly. You were lucky tonight. There have been previous nights where he’d rip your clothes off of you, sparing you no dignity, and force you into whatever outfit he wanted you to wear. Tonight, however, most likely spurred on by his need to appear normal to his family, he allowed you to win. Your win will be temporary overall, but it makes your chest fill with a small amount of pride. When you open the door to your room, he’s standing outside waiting for you, arms crossed, looming irritably.
“We leave in five minutes. Get your shoes on and be by the front door in less than that.” He goes to turn to leave, but instead bends down and puts his face beside your ear.
“Do not get used to defying me, Darling,” his tone could make you sick with how saccharinely venomous it is, “for it will not always turn out the way you want it to. Behave like this again on the next night you must meet someone important, and you will meet your consequences.” You feel as though he could have stabbed you from the way his words sink into you, but before you can respond he’s gone, evaporated into thin air as he teleported away from you.
The pride previously filling up your chest is now gone, and you wish you could just melt into a puddle on the floor instead of attending this family dinner. Any thoughts of asking for help don’t even appear in your mind, because after all… No matter the consequences, he would probably kill you, or his family, on the spot.
You feel like the more likely option is his family. He promised you, beyond everything, that you’d never get away from him, even in death.
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cressidagrey · 4 months ago
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Glorious Sunrise - Chapter 1
Summary:
So what happens after the mating bond snaps?
Well-meaning interfering family members, deep conversations and nights spent brooding on the roof like some kind of gargoyle…this one has it all.
Warnings:
Az the gargoyle, horrible self image
(thanks to @cafekitsune for the super pretty dividers!)
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“You know, you could come inside…and not sit outside my window like a brooding gargoyle.”
It spoke of centuries of experience that Azriel didn’t fall off the fucking roof. 
He twisted around,  staring at Galena who had opened the window to her bedroom. She looked right back at him, her arms crossed.
Azriel wasn’t even sure what had brought him here that day. No, that was a lie. 
He did know what had brought him here. To say that his brothers had turned into mother hens was a fucking understatement. 
They wanted to talk. And talk they did. Constantly. 
Azriel had been made to talk about his own feelings more in the last few days than he ever had in his whole life before. 
So he came to sit on Galena’s roof, so he could pretend he was keeping her safe…could try to talk himself out of knocking at her door…could get some peace and quiet and…
And clearly, Galena had known that he was there… 
“You have been doing this the last three days. You know we have a front door,” she told him pointedly. 
Correction. She had known that he was there since he had first done it. 
Azriel didn’t know what to say to that. 
We told Master that! The shadows preened at that moment, rushing at Galena, enveloping her hands, caressing her cheek…doing everything that he wanted to do.
Being so sweet and doting to her. 
Shut up, he huffed at them, but they happily ignored him. 
Which left him to try and say…something. 
“I know,” he finally admitted weakly. He knew that. But ever since…ever since she had finally left the House of Wind, and settled back into the apothecary, since he had been healed enough that his brothers had decided that he was due a talking to… He hadn’t seen her since then. 
And so for three days he had let them do the talking and had come to perch on Galena’s windowsill before finally retiring to the House of Wind again. 
Because he couldn’t manage to ring the doorbell like a normal person and risk being turned away. 
“Come inside, Azriel,” Galena told him drily, her voice brokering no argument as she stepped back from her window. 
Go inside master! She told you to go inside!
So he slipped inside that window. 
He found himself in the attic of the building that housed Madja’s apothecary. The ceilings were sloped and it made it difficult for him to stand, his wings tucked in tight to his body…but of course, for Galena, small, slight Galena…this wasn’t a problem. 
He stared at the one big room with the one partition being what probably was her bathroom…with the bed tucked into one corner so that she could stare out of the window if she laid on it… the desk that was tucked under another window…the paintings and sketches that decorated the walls, a wild collection that covered everything from the beaches of Adriata to anatomical sketches of a fae body to botanical studies, pressed flowers in another frame…maybe the most startling thing: a collection of animal skulls laid on velvet and also mounted in a frame on her wall. 
A tiny kitchen was tucked in another corner… it consisted out of a sink and a stove and a kitchen table for no more than two people…a horrible mustard yellow couch, with books stacked on the coffee table…
He blinked at the amount of books in the bookcases lining the few free walls she had. 
Maybe it shouldn’t surprise him. if Galena wasn’t working, that probably was what she did in her free time. Researched and read and let the books tell her the story…
But still…the whole room…the whole room somehow was Galena. Filled with knowledge and trinkets that she surrounded herself with, because this was where she spent all her time. So very tidy, because he had noticed how she absentmindedly started to tidy up around herself regardless of where she was, always so pristine and perfect…
Her in a nutshell.  
“What’s going on?” She asked him, meeting his gaze with both of her eyes, one brown, one milky white…she stood before him barefooted, wearing pyjamas, long trousers that covered her legs and a short-sleeved shirt that did nothing to hide the scars that covered her arms…they lessened the higher they went…around her biceps there where even small free flicks that weren’t covered in scar tissue at all. 
He was searching for the right words, shadows still swarming. 
“What’s wrong?” There was an edge to her voice now. 
“Nothing,” he blurted out and she stared at him as he took a step towards her. “I…I don’t deserve you,” he tried to explain and she snorted before she started laughing. 
“And that’s why you brood outside my window?” she asked him, chortling. “In what world does that make sense, Azriel?”
“I…I wanted to keep you safe,” he mumbled. He hadn’t quite thought this through. Mating instincts had been at war with…everything else of him, that constant thrumming of not being good enough, never feeling like he was good enough…unsure how to show her affection that wasn’t going to be turned down and… 
“You are ridiculous, you know,” she told him drily, before closing the gap between them and enveloping him in a warm embrace. She just so hit the middle of his chest if she hugged him like that. 
Ice and peppermint enveloped him and his shoulders softened as he allowed himself to put his arms around her. Somehow she made everything better. 
“I missed you,” Galena whispered softly, and it nearly broke his fucking heart…that he had done something to put that expression on her face and that tone into her voice…because he had been too foolish to simply knock at her door. 
“I missed you too,” he replied softly. He had. 
He had wanted to crawl inside her and never leave, regardless of how impossible that was. Still, it was what Azriel had wanted. 
“No more brooding on my windowsill. Come inside,” she told him pointedly, as she stepped back. So easy. She made it sound so easy. She made everything so easy for him. 
“Does the fire bother you?” She asked him, and only then he realised the crackling fire in the fireplace, keeping the place toasty warm. 
“No,” he promised her. “Do you want me to put another log in there?” He asked, not wanting her to have to move across the room with her bad leg. “Does it bother you?” He asked her suddenly. She had scars like him…did it bother her? It had taken close to a century until he had felt safe around fire again. 
“Oh no,” Galena assured him with a small smile. “These aren’t the result of fire. They are acidic burns. 
Acidic? 
“I’ll explain it to you, just not tonight,” she promised him. And then she held out her hand for him.  “Come to bed.”
His brain came to a screeching halt. 
Bed? 
Bed?
She must have realised where his brain had jumped to because her cheeks blushed bright red. 
“To sleep. Come to bed to sleep,” she clarified, her voice a squeak. 
Oh.
Right. 
He took the offered hand, let let her tug him towards her bed…made with perfect precision…white sheets and a couple of embroidered throw pillows on it. 
She was limping more than usual, but he chalked that up to the fact that it was the end of the day and that she wasn’t leaning onto her usual cane…but only his hand. 
She crawled into the far side, nearer to the window, staring out over the Sidra and he hesitated, not wanting to dirty her bed with his fighting leathers…
But then his shadows already dumped his pyjamas on the bed, nearly pointedly, and Galena laughed, the sound like a tinkling bell. 
“Seems like they agree,” she told Azriel with a grin, pulling the covers over her figure and then turning onto her side, away from him, giving him privacy. 
He stripped out of his leathers and only then realised that the shadows hadn’t even bothered with giving him a shirt. He was nearly certain that that had been on purpose, as they were happily hiding underneath the bed now, with one or two tendrils curling themselves in Galena’s hair.  
Azriel curled up behind her, until she rolled over to face him…without even saying a word, she started pulling her blanket over him as well. She didn’t even think twice about, about that caring gesture as she tucked him in…and then caught his hand with her equally scarred one, curling up with him. 
The fae lights blinked out, leaving them in darkness… strangely intimate even when they had shared a bed before….
Still, he couldn’t help himself as he stretched out his wing and brought it over himself to envelope her as well, making her giggle and move closer to him, tucking herself against his chest. The touch seemingly made every nerve ending in his body come alive. 
“I take it your brothers have done their best to talk to you?” She asked quietly. 
“Yes.”
“And I also take it that they didn’t succeed in making you believe that you deserve to be loved and included in things,” Galena continued, not a question. He tucked her head underneath his, resting his chin on her dark hair. 
“Why are you so smart?” Azriel asked her in a whisper, not even bothering to answer. Galena snorted. 
“I am really not. You are just easy to read,” she gave back, warm amusement in her voice. Her breath was warm and soft, puffing against his naked chest and he just so managed not to shiver.  
“I am the spymaster of this court,” he responded drily. 
“Easy to read for me at least,” Galena amended easily. “You know…it’s not a question about who deserves what . I can make my own decisions. And I would expect my mate to respect that.” She said that with the same exact, calculated way she did seemingly everything in her life. How the cut she had made in his chest was perfectly perpendicular to his ribs, the stitches perfectly even, an equal distance apart. 
It would quite possibly be the most beautiful scar he had on his body. 
“I will. I do,” he assured her. Azriel very much respected her and the decision she made. She was his mate. Of course, he did. 
“Then your reasoning is very much not sound,” she pointed out drily. “I told you I wanted to see you. And you…what, decided I lied to you?” She asked him and he couldn’t quite find the word to what exactly he had thought. He had been too much of a coward to knock at her door and be turned away. 
“I…I was…scared.”
Not an admission easily made by him. Not when fear had been burned out of him through training, through centuries of near death and danger. He wasn’t scared of many things. But he was of what she could do to him.
“Not of you but…of you turning me away.” 
“I will never turn you away.” Her voice was fierce, one hand worming itself around him as she hugged him to herself. “You’re my mate.” Such fierce, ferocious words from his little mate. “Mine.”
Hers. Always hers. 
He would gladly put himself at her mercy if she tucked him into her bed and held him… a kiss was pressed right over his heart. Soft lips make him shudder.
“Sleep, Azriel.” 
And sleep, he did.
Galena was better than any sleeping potion. 
He slept until dawn broke the next morning and even then only woke up because Galena moved out of his arms. 
He watched silently as she sat up, and then stretched her arms over her head…movements were choppy, a soft noise escaping her as she bent at the waist, folding herself in half. 
He knew how his own hands sometimes felt, bones and joints needing at least an hour to loosen if he hadn’t moved them in too long. 
“Good morning,” he finally said quietly as she sat up again and she twisted her head to see him. 
“Good morning,” she responded, moving her legs now, the movement of her right choppier than of her left…the right one was the one where she limped, where she used the cane to balance herself.  “Slept well?” she asked him curiously and he nodded.  
“What are you doing?” he asked her, wondering if there was another reason for that regime, of her twisting herself into half a pretzel before the day even started…now sitting straight backed the soles of her feet touching each other as she pushed down on her knees. 
“If I don't stretch ... I will regret it the whole day,” she answered him honestly. “I have problems in my leg and hip from childhood injuries. Which makes my spine act up because I can’t walk without the cane… which also hurts my shoulder. The whole body is connected,” Galena sighed. “I preach that to every patient and I am still annoyed at the same applying to myself.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the pout on her face at these words.   
There was a sharp knock at her door and he snapped around, but Galena didn’t even hesitate. 
“Come in, Aunt Madja.”
Oh great. Here he was, sitting in Galena’s rumpled bed without even wearing a shirt…and there was Madja opening the door and blinking twice at his appearance. 
“Shadowsinger,” her voice was just as bone dry as her niece could be on occasion. 
“Good Morning, Madja.” He did not squeak. He was 500 years old. He was not going to squeak. Or hold the bedding in a death grip on his chest.  
“Did you winnow in? The wards are supposed to stop that,” she asked him. He opened his mouth to respond, but Galena beat him to it. 
“No, he came in through the window.” Somehow she just made it even worse. Though her voice was calm. Even. 
“We have a front door,” Madja said pointedly. 
Why did he feel like a child again, being admonished by Rhys’ mother?  
“I told him the same thing,” Galena said brightly. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Breakfast is nearly done. You’ll eat with us,” Madja responded, not even bothering to wait for a response.
Still, Azriel stared after her form. He had known her for centuries, had seen her pull faes and faeries alike from the brink of death, had seen her amputate limbs and stitch wounds closed…but he had never seen her, like she was with Galena…that nearly maternal glint in her eyes. 
“Seems like we got our marching orders,” Galena quipped. 
And that was that. 
She needed longer in the bathroom, some kind of salve that she needed to rub all over her body so that the scars wouldn’t bother her for the whole day, he walked downstairs, into Madja’s private quarters. 
Lined with just as many books as Galena’s rooms, it was clear from where she had inherited her literary love. 
Madja was already seated at a bigger table, set for three, clearly where Galena and she had breakfast every day and took their meals…where Galena had been raised. 
She had been raised here for all her youth nearly, from Madja.
He didn’t know what exactly had happened…or when…she hadn’t told him that yet…and he didn’t know if he wanted to know what had happened to Galena to result in the scars that covered nearly all her body. 
Madja looked up, dark eyes, the same that Galena had also inherited, mustering him. 
“Shadowsinger,” she said drily. She didn’t normally call him that but clearly, centuries of knowing him were forgotten in the light of him being her niece’s mate. 
She had something to say to him…he knew that. 
“Shadowsinger is just as…title. My family calls me Azriel,” he responded carefully and she mustered him. 
“And I am your family now?” There was something akin to amusement in her voice at that. 
“Galena is my family,” he gave back. “She’s my mate. You are her family.” Madja was important to Galena. The one bit of blood family she was close to. So it shouldn’t…He was always going to try and get along with her because he didn’t want to put Galena into a situation, where she had the feeling that she needed to make a choice between him and Madja. 
“ I…apologise if I…” he started and then trailed off, blushing furiously, as he searched for the right words. 
“If you?” Madja asked him drily, letting him open his mouth and then close it again twice before she finally took pity on him. “We have a front door. There is no need to hide your relationship like that,” she finally said calmly. “Actually I would prefer it if you didn’t.”
He blinked.  
“Galena hides her whole self away. At least here, in her home , she shouldn’t need to hide a single thing,” Madja explained herself, her voice rough. “You are her mate. As long as you treat her well and do nothing that she doesn’t want, we will not have a single problem,” she promised him. “She wants you. That’s all that matters to me.” She was telling the truth. He could hear that, crystal clear in every syllable. 
“But... If you don’t…I have a full knowledge of Illyrian anatomy and I know what poison can kill you and make it look natural.”
He inclined his head. He didn’t doubt that for one moment. 
“Be gentle with her heart. She likes to pretend that she doesn’t feel…and I have fallen for that on occasion…but I think Galena feels deeper than most others.” 
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madi-writes-things · 6 months ago
Text
Nobody Pt. 7
(C.Sturniolo X Reader)
Summary:
Chris and Y/N never seemed to get along, but sometimes help comes from the most unexpected places
Word Count: 1,255
TW: Cursing, SH (not in detail, but it is talked about), wound cleaning, arguments, Hurt Comfort, Panic Attack, Crying, Nightmare, talk of past trauma (dead brother), Not Edited
A/N: TLDR for the last chapter - Chris notices Y/N drifting slowly, and tries his best to keep her within a safe distance… but one night him and his brothers decide to film a car video. While in the house alone Y/N tries to distract herself from the bad thoughts… it doesn’t work, and she doesn’t want to interrupt the triplets, causing her to relapse and try to commit. She calls Chris, and the guys rush home to find her a bloody mess in the bathroom. (Nick didn’t see it because Chris made him leave, but Matt was really effected by what he saw) after cleaning her wounds, Chris leaves her with nick while he cleans up the mess in the bathroom (Matt left, barely even looking at her), while with nick she tells him everything. The chapter ends with Chris saying “who said I was pretending?”. This chapter picks up right where the last one ended.
if I missed something, please let me know
-Madi <3
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“”“”“”“”“”
“I told Nick…” he just stares into my eyes. “You don’t have to pretend to love me anymore, there’s no point in lying anymore.”
“who said I was pretending?”
I stare into his icy eyes in the dim lighting, trying to figure out if this was some cruel joke. “Don’t say things you don’t mean Chris.” It’s lined with a venom developed from years of rejection.
“it’s not a lie.” He looks genuine, I want him to mean it. “I think I’m in love with you… we can talk about it in the morning, you need to sleep”
I try to protest, but he just nuzzles his head into the space between my collar and jaw. The adrenaline rush from the events of the night finally dies down, and I realize just how tired I am. Within minutes my heavy eyes drift shut, all thoughts of an explanation long gone.
“”“”“”“”“”
The sun through the window wakes me up, I reach over for Chris… the bed is cold where he usually lays. I lay in peace for a moment before my brain starts working.
Did I just imagine the conversation with Chris? Was it a lie he told so I didn’t try to kill myself again? Was it just the adrenaline rush that made him say it? What if I dreamt it all? What if-
Before I could keeps coming up with worse case scenarios, the bedroom door opened. Chris walked in carrying two plates of pancakes.
He sits down criss cross in front of me on the bed, handing me a plate and fork. “How are you feeling?” He asks right as I shove a piece of pancake into my mouth.
“much better now… you didn’t need to make me breakfast in bed.” I pause for a second, staring at my food while trying not to cry. “You also didn’t need to say that you love me…”
I hear him set his plate and fork down. “Yes I did… not for you, but for me.” With that I looked up at him. “I have been so scared to tell you how I felt, out of the possibility that it scares you away… but I can’t lose you Y/N, I can’t not tell you how I feel.”
He meant it.
I just stare at him, dumbfounded at how he could really mean it. I’ve never been the kind of girl that all the guys chase, especially guys that look like Chris. I’ve always struggled with how I see myself, and I never thought that I’d believe a man who says he loves me…
But here we are.
“When we’re done eating I need to change your bandages, and then we can watch a movie or something… if you want to, if you want to do something else that’s totally fine…”
He’s rambling, I love it.
I love him.
“”“”“”“”“”
it’s been a month since the incident, and I’ve never been happier… and I’ve never felt worse.
It's a normal Tuesday night this time… I can feel Chris tossing and turning. I open my eyes to see his face scrunched up in anguish, and I know that it’s my fault. This happens at least once a week.
It’s always the same:
-It starts with tossing and turning
-then he starts pleading (“no, no, please, it’s okay… baby… please, you have to be okay… please don’t leave me…”)
-I usually end up straddling him before gently shaking him awake
-he wakes up and hold me like he never thought he’d see me again, and he never tells me what his nightmares are about.
He doesn’t have to.
I remember the look in his eyes when he opened the door. The way he tried to keep it together, never letting his tears fall. I could hear him breaking down while he cleaned the bathroom floor.
I see that look in his eyes again when he opens them. “It’s okay baby… it’s just a nightmare… everything is okay now.” He burst into tears, pulling me into him. We stay like this until we end up falling back asleep. I wait until I had his breathing even out, and he starts snoring softly before letting myself fall back asleep.
I know he won’t talk about it in the morning, but I’ll still ask him.
“”“”“”“”“”
The vibe in the house has been tense since that night. I walk into the kitchen, and notice Matt staring at something on his phone.
“good morning.” I say, smiling in his direction.
he looks at me with a look of disgust, before leaving the room.
I’m tired of this… I’m going to follow him to his room to make him talk to me. He hasn’t said a word to me since he found out I was alive.
“Get out of my room.” He snaps in my direction. “I don’t want you here”
“Do you wish I died?” I didn’t mean to say it so bluntly, but it’s been the only thought in my head for the last month.
“Excuse me?” I can tell it offended him. That wasn’t my intention.
“I said ‘do you’… ‘wish that I had died’, it’s a yes or no question.” I didn’t mean to starts out this hostile, but it’s been building for longer than I wanted it to.
“how could you say something like that Y/N?” He has tears in his eyes now. Shit. “I can’t stand to look at you, but it’s not because I wish that you had died!” I clearly misread the situation before me. “I can’t look at you because every time I do, all I see is you on the floor, covered in your own blood. I can’t look at you because I see you, half dead, every time I close my eyes! I don’t sleep anymore Y/N!”
“Im so sorry…” I don’t know what else I can say. It’s true. I hate the way that my mistake has affected the people around me.
“No Y/N, it’s too late to apologize… did you even think about how traumatic finding you like that would be for us?”
“I know how you feel, I can help you with-” I’m cut off before I can finish my sentence.
“You don’t know shit about what this is like! I had to watch my brother patch up the slit wrists of my best friend… the love of his life, and all I could do was stand there!” His voice is shaking, but I can’t stop now.
“Don’t talk about me like you know anything about my life before I moved to Boston! I survived… I understand that you are struggling, but you don’t get to act like I died. I know exactly what you feel like, because I’ve been right where you are… the only difference is that my brother didn’t survive.”
I never told him about my brother, Chris and Nick are the only people in my life who know.
“You can’t possibly imagine the pain of finding your twin brother lying dead on the floor of his bedroom!” The words are coming quicker than I can process. “You never had parents that told you that they wish it had been you, you always got a birthday, and you never had to move to a different state because everyone knew that you tried to kill yourself… so don’t tell me that I don’t know what you’re going through!” I’m practically screaming by the end.
Then I’m crying.
And Matt is holding me while we both cry.
“”“”“”“”“”
@unbruisable @bernardsbendystraws @sturniolo-fann @jnkvivi
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anarchy-and-piglins · 8 months ago
Note
alternatively, Techno having nowhere else to go so he tries to sneak into a hybrid community. He knows he'll get kicked out at best if they know he's human. So, he disguises himself as a hybrid and prays it lasts long enough that he can get into a better position and escape before they figure out (or at least with minimal damage). Small problem: he intended to keep his head down the whole time, but actually a lot of them are super friendly and curious about the new comer. The closer he gets to them the more complicated and convoluted the lie becomes, because suddenly he cares less about avoiding notice and more about them liking him.
And it works, until one day, when Philza confronts him for being human. Techno scrambles for a lie, desperate to keep his friends, but can't think of one, falling silent as Philza accuses him of being a human spy trying to infiltrate the community. Panicking, Techno bolts, and suddenly all of his friends are hunting him down. No where is safe, not the air or water or nether. All of them are desperate to capture him, some furious for his deception, others terrified he's going to destroy their community.
And Techno...wasn't he already planning to ditch this place from day one? It's fine, right, this was part of the plan. For months he'd been fighting the impulse to show them his real self, and now he knows that instinct is correct. They didn't like Techno, only the guy he pretended to be. So why does it still hurt so much to leave? They despise him, don't they? And don't they have every right to?
Or, for the funny route, he thinks he's a master manipulator spiraling in a web of lies, but everyone has known since day one and think his sheer bravado is funny enough to keep him. Their little prods at the facade is because watching him fall silent for like 10 minutes to think up an absurd lie is really really funny.
OUGH, okay, okay, I'm picking up what you're throwing down (with some small adjustments for taste perhaps).
Techno is a human, but he's an outcast. He figures a good way to live in peace while also being somewhat protected is to live on the very outskirts of this hybrid commune he's discovered. Right on the edge, so he's technically within the border (and the safety it provides), a place barely any humans know about and those that do shy away from it because of The Crowfather's claim to those lands. Techno knows he won't get away with living there as a human, so he pretends to be a hybrid.
A bunny hybrid to be precise.
They're mostly humanoid-looking anyway, and Techno makes himself a convincing set of ears + tail. He dyes his hair pink. He builds a little cottagecore cabin and hopes that he can keep his head down. Obviously, this does not work as well as he'd hoped, since the commune members are curious and nosey and also super friendly and start worming their way into his heart. They also know bunnies normally live in big warrens with lots of other bunnies so they're worried Techno is lonely all the time and don't want that :( they're trying to help! They're trying to be good friends!
Techno tells them he has a leg injury, so that's why he can't jump as far as other bunny hybrids. He makes sure to never eat meat in front of them. He does everything he can to keep up the ruse.
Except sooner or later, something is going to happen to make it fall through. You could have somebody find out and confront him, but I'm also very partial to a dramatic reveal because he's saving/helping somebody else and him getting hurt in the process. Maybe somebody else is in danger and Techno's instinctive reaction reveals he's a human somehow? I'll workshop it.
Whichever the case, Techno is found out. And he panics. The commune members are shocked, they feel betrayed. A few of them might genuinely be a little pissed he was hiding this or accuse him of being a human spy. But most of them are just confused. Techno bolts, because he's scared they'll kill him or kick him out. They follow - partly out of worry (Techno did get hurt in whatever prompted the discovery), partly because they just want answers. Maybe one or two of them are angry and scared that he'll rat them out to the humans and would stop that at any cost.
Techno does not get away. He's hurt and exhausted and outnumbered and he's only human so he can't outrun a bunch of hybrids forever. I like the idea that one of the 'weaker' hybrid members catches up to him first (maybe Tommy or Tubbo) and Techno knows he can take them in a fight. He could defend himself, hurt them, and have that be an additional distraction that'll allow him to get away. But he can't bring himself to do that. Eventually he gets caught by them (maybe after getting hurt some more during the failed escape because I'm evil and enjoy Techno whump so much) but they don't kill him like Techno expects them to. They want to know why the fuck he lied to them in the first place.
And that's when it all gets revealed. How Techno was an outcast among his own kind. How badly they treated him (those scars he played off as being caused by hybrid hunters suddenly gain a whole new meaning for the commune members). How he only wanted to find a place he could be safe and he never intended for them all to care, for them to become friends with him, for his lies to become this serious. How he never expected himself to actually feel at home with them.
Obviously, this would lead to a happy ending. Some of the commune members probably forgive Techno almost instantly. A few of the others might be a bit peeved at him for a while because of the deceit, though they can kinda get why he lied in the first place. They say Techno can stay to heal and Techno accepts while fully expecting to be kicked out as soon as they know he won't drop dead out alone in the wild. Except by the time Techno is healed, basically everybody has already agreed they're fine with him staying :D
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perictione00 · 1 year ago
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Selfish
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Ch 1: Surprise!!!
Pairing: Geto Suguru x reader
Warnings: a bit dark and graphic..?
Synopsis: You left the Jujutsu World behind the moment the source of your warmth turned cold. So what happens when you come face to face with that one episode in your life that you wanted to obliterate? Simple, you reap what you sow.
Jujutsu Kaisen Masterlist
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Malaysia, 2014
It was a tiring day, your period wasn't helping either. You were just itching to get home, take a shower, and order from that new Mexican place your boyfriend had been talking about. It was a Friday, so you were getting excited about the weekend. For some reason, you were feeling so grateful, maybe because your life was finally normal and you were happy. It was all okay until you encountered a young boy in a wheelchair, with a curse engulfing his lower body. A world that you wanted to escape so desperately, somehow never failed to present itself in a situation that made you question your morality. But after everything you had seen, you were way past morality, so you ignored the boy like you did with every other person who needed you.
"Jayden", you called out for your boyfriend as you opened the door to your shared apartment. You assumed, that he wasn't home yet as nobody answered but the familiar cursed energy you sensed said otherwise. You felt dreaded as it wasn't possible, you had dodged every single mistake that could have given away your whereabouts.
"Please no", you prayed as you walked further into the apartment. You froze, as you entered your bedroom. The bed was soaked in blood as the lifeless body of your boyfriend was being violated by a curse. "No, no, no, no, no", tears spilled out of your eyes as you started screaming in denial. It quickly turned into anger as a certain raven-haired man standing in the corner declared his presence, "Surprise!!!". You attacked him with a punch straight to his face and he didn't budge, he didn't dodge the many punches you threw his way while crying your heart out. He did stop you, chuckling, "Aww, don't cry..did you actually love this one? C'mon now, you know you're not capable of that". He started cradling you in a hug, "Now let's get back to business.., remember the traitor who left me?.. yeah, yeah, the one I trusted the most, remember that person?", his hand slid down your hair slowly as he continued, "oh wait, you look a lot like that person..the one who abandoned me".
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2005
On New Year's Eve, you told your mum about some weird dreams you were having for the past few days, and of course, being a typical mother, she blamed it on your choices of television series. But you knew it wasn't because of the few Supernatural episodes that you had seen in the span of two months.
From the beginning of time, you were used to seeing terrifying figures randomly, which were avoided at all costs as you were scared of what might turn out if they knew of your existence. However, your parents thought otherwise, resulting in child therapy, which wasn't working yet you pretended it did. You adapted to your surroundings being full of creepy creatures, ignoring them, and trying to live like a normal teenager. That was until the onset of some weird dreams and a malevolent presence under your bed. It was weird, as none of them ever came in close proximity to you. Hence, you started sleeping with your parents again. The nightmares didn't stop; in spite of that, you felt good, safe, and loved, no longer scared.
The peacefulness vanished on the first day of 2006, when you were alone in the house and someone was singing a broken melody. You were petrified as you saw a woman playing a violin emerging from a newborn's skull, singing while rocking to the rhythm in the drawing room, suddenly stopping, turning, and smiling unnaturally at you.
"You would make a beautiful cello."
You bolted as it proceeded to move crookedly in your direction. It was guffawing so loudly that you had to cover your ears. Locking yourself in the bathroom, you called your parents, whispering to them about how much you loved them, until you heard a frightening tune on a piano. The call was disconnected, and the door started melting while you tried to escape from the window you couldn't reach. The room started turning white, and you saw your reflection in the mirror, smiling at you. Your vision blurred as you fell into a slumber.
Waking up, your eyes adjusted to the brightness of a white room. You felt agitated at first, but slowly observing, you saw your parents sitting sadly on a white couch. Thank fuck, it was a hospital room. Their happiness and relief after your recovery from an unexplainable incident couldn't be measured. You were spoiled rotten with love as you woke up after a week of unconsciousness. In the evening of the same day, a bulky man in all black approached your family, discussing something before finally coming to you. He introduced himself as Masamichi Yaga and unfolded the world of Jujutsu sorcerers to you. Though your parents were sure he was a cult member, you felt ecstatic; you weren't crazy after all. With that came many days of convincing, resulting in your parents ultimately agreeing to admit you to Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College after checking its legitimacy a thousand more times. They were not ready to let you go, but they came around as you kept insisting with evidence.
On the way to the campus, the tough-looking man turned out to be a total softie who was explaining to you about your unknown technique and appreciating you for exorcising a grade 2 curse without any training. You were dumbfounded, but you were a sucker for praise, so you didn't question him.
After reaching the campus, you were introduced to your classmates, an almost gloomy Kento Nanami, and a total cutie, Yu Haibara. They were great, especially Haibara, who was currently showing you around the campus. After getting a hot drink, you both settled down on a seat. You weren't expecting to get along with anyone on the very first day, but Haibara's just so sweet that anyone can feel comfortable. He showed you your assigned room, and you guys called it a night.
However, later at night, your slumber was disrupted by a growling stomach at 3 in the morning. It was odd timing for a takeout, but you still gave it a shot, ordering a Zaru Soba with cola. You were surprised at how advanced the Tokyo delivery system was, as you got your delivery within 10 minutes. It tasted better than your expectations, and with that, you started brainstorming ideas to decorate your room, which was interrupted by a knock on the door. You ignored it the first time out of caution, but you opened it on the third knock. To your surprise, a literal god stood in front of you, and you didn't know how to react. "Hey..?", you broke the ice with an awkward greeting.
"I think the delivery guy confused our orders because we ordered the same thing, so I'm assuming this is yours", the Greek god said as he offered you your cola.
"Oh yeah, thanks..um..yeah", you were doing a great job continuing the conversation with your five syllables. Before you could close the door and save your ass from embarrassment, the guy asked for your name, and you told him. Shit, now you felt obligated to ask his name, and so you did. "And you are?"
"Geto Suguru"
Ch 2
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evolutionsvoid · 12 days ago
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Of all the woes of the world, of all the terrible curses that fall upon the land, the Grotesques are said to be one of the most wretched. Horrid malformations of reborn flesh, where essence from the great cycle has been corrupted and spat out in disgusting forms. The Church of Divine Wealth labels them abominations, symbols of sin that has blasphemed the wondrous cycle we all worship. Few argue with such claims, as the Grotesques are truly revolting in the eyes of many and they are happy to see them burned.
Yet, of all the horrid blights that torment folk, the Grotesques actually seem one of the lessers. Plenty of their melting, misshapen forms are too mangled to be a proper threat, and many more seem to flee at the sight of others rather than fight. While teams of Church warriors seek out these creatures and cut them down, watchers of the carnage could note that these battles are incredibly one-sided. If one would hold off in their hate for just a moment, they would see these "demons" and "monstrosities" cower in terror and plead in wretched gurgles for mercy. Despite what many believe, it would seem that not all Grotesques are mindless malformed monsters.
Nymus is a Grotesque who fancies themself as a noble knight. A rather odd creature when compared to what these abominations are said to be. They are not mindless, in fact, they can speak in coherent tongues. Their speech is dripping with chivalry and honor, as they hold themself as a proud warrior and a righteous defender. Their purpose is indeed a noble one, as they are a resident of the hidden grotto of Trub, a sanctuary for Grotesques. This secret place is buried deep in the wilds, kept far from the Church's eyes and ruthless hunters. Grotesques with coherent minds and capable of movement come together here to try and fashion a sort of life for themselves. In there malformed state, it isn't easy to pretend everything is normal, but to be surrounded by others in similar situations, and in a place of peace and quiet, one can find a happier existence. However, there are plenty out there who would see this makeshift village as a nest of demons, and would like nothing more then to slaughter them all. Nymus is one who ensures this fate does not come to pass.
Though short in stature and lacking the usual appendages of a knight, Nymus is a skilled fighter with what they have. A spear-like beak is good for stabbing, along with a bony crest that can be whipped about. But their real weapon of choice is their keratin blade, which they wield with the grace of a fencer. Their strange tail is used to stab and parry, and their small size lets them strike from odd angles. Though funny enough, Nymus is not one for low blows, as a noble knight always follows the code of combat. No one is really sure why Nymus has taken on this self-imposed oath, as no other Grotesques are bound by such things. Some wonder if it is a part of their past life that has remained in the wretched forging of their corrupted rebirth, or if Nymus is attempting to show the world that the Grotesques are not mindless beasts. If it is the latter, then it may be a wasted effort, as many would not hesitate to reduce this grotto to ash and couldn't care less if an inhabitant or two has "standards." But Nymus is a good fighter, and does well to keep this little community safe, so everyone keeps these thoughts to themselves.
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"Grotesque Knight Nymus"
Golly gosh, what is happening here? Something not subtle, I will tell you what!
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