#2. I have 12 charms that need to be attached. that is a lot. it does not give me tons of room for future acquisitions. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

j-j-ehlby-writes · 3 years ago

Text

Almost (c.e.)

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Word Count: ~5.9k

Summary: You and Chris were set up on a blind date by your mutual friends. Sparks flew, but you never heard from him again. Two years later, you come face-to-face with him once more for their friends wedding.

Warnings: Some angst, swearing, not much else

A/N: This is a mixture of the movie “Life as We Know It�� (mmm Daddy Josh Duhamel 🤤), a dating experience I had, and one scene from One Tree Hill. Enjoy.

My Masterlist

Two years ago…

My heart is pounding all the way to my ears. My hands are shaking under the table. My knee bounces uncontrollably as I wait.

I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I let her convince me to do this?

“You haven’t had a boyfriend for as long as I’ve known you.” My best friend so pointedly mentioned when we were out to lunch last week.

“What’s wrong with that?” I counter.

“I’ve known you for three and a half years.” She deadpans. Even without looking at her, I know she has her eyebrow raised at me and her lips are pursed.

“Your point?” I know she thinks my serious lack of companionship these past few years is wearing on me, but it’s been quite the opposite. Not being attached is freeing. I can do what I want when I want; I don’t have anyone to answer to. If I want to sleep until 3 on a Saturday, I’m going to do it. If I don’t want to socialize with anyone, I won’t. If I want to take a spontaneous road trip, I’m going to do it. My life is my own and that’s how I like it.

“I want my best friend to have someone to experience life with.”

My shoulders dropped, sighing in defeat. There was no way I was getting out of this conversation.

“I want you to be as happy as I am.” I see the love in her eyes as her mind goes to her boyfriend and their new relationship. They’ve only been together for a few months, but I know that this is it for her. She’s a smitten kitten and he is equally as infatuated with her. They’re sickeningly cute. “Which is why I think you need to meet one of his friends-”

“Lemme stop you right there,” I interrupt her, “I hate blind dates.”

“You’ve never been on one.”

“And there’s a reason for that.” She rolled her eyes at me. “They’re cliché, they’re awkward for both parties, and they never amount to anything, thus being a total waste of time.”

She sighed, “Ever the skeptic.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“Regardless,” she continues, “I think you’ll really like this guy. He’s already expressed interest in you.”

Like that makes everything better. “Great so now I have to live up to his impossible expectations of me when I know absolutely nothing about him.” As if the idea of a blind date wasn’t bad enough, now it’s only a semi-blind date. There’s no doubt in my mind that she has hyped me up impossibly high, that’s what a best friend is for. However, when your confidence level is next to none and already skeptical of the pending meeting, there’s no way he’ll like who I am in reality.

“I can tell you anything you want to know about him.” She is bargaining with me. She really wants me to meet this guy. She wouldn’t be trying this hard if she didn’t believe we would hit it off.

“Well is he nice?” This was the only real question I had. If he isn’t kind then there’s really no future.

“Incredibly!” She continues to tell me of the many things he has done for a charity he started a few years ago and slowly but surely she was starting to convince me. If he was that generous then he has to have a good heart and therefore is a good man.

How bad could it be?

I check my phone, glancing at the time. Great, he’s late. That can’t be a good start.

Numerous reasons why popped into my head.

Reason one: he saw me and bolted.

Reason two: he got into an accident on the way here and he could be in the hospital.

Reason three: he changed his mind and decided to stand me up.

More and more played through my head as I sipped my drink.

By the time I was on my second drink, I was convinced he wasn’t showing up. I knew this was a ridiculous idea. I knew I shouldn’t have done this. I never should have listened to her.

I chugged the rest of my drink followed by some water before standing up to leave some cash. I was slightly humiliated for actually thinking this would be any different than all of my expectations.

My shoulder rammed into another as I turned to leave.

“Oh my, God, I’m so sorry!” A hand steadied me, gently grabbing the shoulder he ran into. “Are you okay?”

“My already small ego is a little bruised, but I think I’ll live.” I looked up to meet my assaulter’s eyes and immediately I froze.

Holy shit, it’s Chris Evans.

His piercing blue eyes were staring right at me, his concern was directed towards me. In all of his charming, ray of sunshine, bearded glory, he was here.

“I’m so sorry that I’m late. Traffic was insane over the bridge. I would have called but I don’t have your number.” He half-smirked but not in a cocky way. I’d seen him do it in interviews before. He could have come up with a lame excuse, but somehow I knew he was telling the truth.

“No, it’s okay. I understand completely.”

He sighed in relief, his gorgeous and perfect smile taking over his features. He looked down at the table and it disappeared. “Were you leaving?”

“Uh,” I stammered, “I was because I thought I was being stood up.”

“I feel awful. Please let me make it up to you. Let’s sit down, have a nice dinner, and get to know each other.”

I hesitate, now even more nervous than I was before.

As if sensing my hesitation, he decided to sweeten the pot a bit to persuade me, “We can even get dessert.”

I chuckle at his attempt. That’ll do it though. I sit back down with him following suit, finally starting our date.

We talked about everything. Anything and everything. No topic was off limits. Hours went by but it felt like minutes. We didn’t even know how long we’d been there until our waiter came to tell us that the restaurant was closed. We left and walked around the city until the night sky was giving way to the morning. He accompanied me back to my car, gave me the best hug I’ve ever received and a kiss on the cheek, promising we’ll get together again soon, and opening and closing my car door for me. I drove away with the biggest smile on my face and literal butterflies in my stomach. That was the best date I’d ever been on.

When I made it back to my apartment with the early morning rays peeking through my shades, I had a text message waiting for me from him. Just a simple good night, he had had an amazing time, and he couldn’t wait to see me again.

I fell asleep, hopeful. Hopeful that I would see him again, that this could maybe go somewhere. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it was hard not to. I hadn’t felt this way in an exceptionally long time. I haven’t been on this good of a date in equally as long. I can’t wait to see him again…

Present day...

I finally pull into the parking lot after an hour stuck in traffic. My 12-hour day at work today has taken a lot out of me. I’m exhausted, mentally and physically. Thankfully though, my 2-week-long vacation starts tomorrow. After that, I have fourteen days of no working, no getting up at the ass crack of dawn to be able to drive in miserable traffic, no dealing with difficult or boring co-workers. Just fourteen days of rest and relaxation, after the wedding of course.

My best friend and her fiancé are getting married on Saturday. I’ve watched them go through all of their highs and lows throughout the last few years and when he came to me telling me he planned on proposing, I couldn’t have been happier for them. He even asked me to secretly photograph the moment for her. She was more than surprised about everything.

Now their wedding is here and everyone couldn’t be more excited to celebrate them.

Tomorrow is their rehearsal dinner. The wedding party and their plus ones are all invited.

I walk into my apartment, immediately relieving myself from the confines of my shoes. A heavenly scent registers to me and I’m carried all the way to the kitchen. I see my sexy boyfriend standing at the stove with his back towards me.

“Hey babe,” he calls without turning around.

I hum, happily making my way towards him. I wrap my arms around his waist, placing a kiss on his back. “What is that unbelievable smell?”

He chuckles, vibrating through his chest. “Your favorite, of course.”

I hum again, “You spoil me, baby.”

He chuckles again, turning in my arms. His handsome face finally came into view. His gorgeous brown eyes look into mine as I get lost in his. For the past year, I’ve been the happiest I’ve been in a while. Since the day I met him, it was like everything fell into place. He’s sweet, ambitious, funny, kindhearted, passionate, and just overall the best man I had ever met. He makes me so happy…

Oh who am I kidding? He’s perfect. He is everything I ever wanted. If I made a list of all of the qualities I wanted in a husband, he would check off every single box.

But the feelings I have had for him over the last year are nothing compared to what I had in one night for him. I find myself wishing his eyes were bright blue instead of dark brown. I wish his arms were around me instead of the ones around me right now. The butterflies from that night have stayed dormant ever since.

I don’t know what happened after that night. I honestly thought we had a good time that night. Conversations flowed seamlessly. We made each other laugh so hard we had tears running down our faces. The physical connection was there- at first he had his arm around my shoulders as we walked around town, but as time went on he slowly moved lower around my waist, eventually intertwining our hands together until we arrived back at our cars. He even said that he wanted to see me again.

But I never heard from him again after that one text message. No call, no text, not even a message from my friend’s boyfriend. Nothing. I was disappointed beyond belief. I didn’t think he was that guy: the type to ditch someone without any explanation or goodbye. I thought I understood him to be a gentleman. Everything I had read about him pointed to him being one of the purest humans in the world. This was the opposite of all of that.

From that day on, I’ve loathed him. He gave me the perfect evening and then cut me off cold turkey from anything further. I have a three strike rule. His first: he was late. His second: he tricked me into liking him. His third: he lied to me. Three strikes and he’s out.

I have tried not to look back since. It’s not without its difficulties though since he’s literally everywhere. On magazine covers, in commercials, movie trailers, streaming services- he’s there. Why did he have to be such a successful actor? If he weren’t, it would make for forgetting him that much easier.

No closure. No answers. Nothing.

The rehearsal dinner went smoothly the next night which hopefully was foreshadowing for the big day itself.

A majority of us were standing around about to start when the doors loudly being opened drew everyone’s attention away from our milling about. A man stood in the middle of the doorway then strode in like he owned the place. The closer he got, the more the details of his face came into focus.

No. Freaking. Way.

I look toward my best friend. She looked like she wasn’t shocked he was late, but she knew he was coming. I creep up behind her and clear my throat. Instantly she cringed.

“Did you forget to tell me something?” I whisper to her.

She sends me an apologetic smile, “Well, I actually put off telling you ‘cause I didn’t know how you would react and then I meant to tell you last night but with the whole ‘I’m getting married in two days’ buzz took over and now the rehearsal is here-”

“Just please tell me I’m not walking in with him.” I beg.

She chuckles nervously before she escaped to go greet him with her fiancé.

I turn to her sister who is also one of my closest friends. “Did you know he was going to be a groomsman?”

The guilt written in her face tells me everything I need to know. “She made me promise not to tell you.”

I groan, “The loyalty level around here is staggeringly low.”

I head over to where my boyfriend is standing and take comfort in his arms before I have to deal with the man who broke my heart.

“Are you okay?” He asks a little confused by my actions.

I nod, “Just tired from last night.” He chuckles at the mention of the night before, squeezing me into his chest.

“Alright everyone! Time to get started.” The wedding coordinator beckons us all to the back entrance of the barn standing next to our corresponding wedding party member. I stand right in front of the Maid of Honor and Best Man. I kept my eyes forward focusing on anything but the guy who took his place next to me.

“It’s good to see you,” He murmurs to me over the instructions of the coordinator.

I scoff and roll my eyes. He has the nerve to say that to me after two years of silence. I imagined a million times what it would be like to see him again. I’d imagined a lot of screaming with possible hitting. Or I thought about the ever-effective, old fashioned silent treatment. He doesn’t deserve to know that our one night out together effected me so much and I’ve carried a rather large torch for him ever since. At the very moment, it will be the latter, but there’s no telling what tonight and tomorrow will bring.

“Now ladies, rest- don’t grab- your hand near the crook of his arm. Men, keep your arm at that angle with an open hand resting on your stomach- no fist. And don’t forget to smile- this is a happy day!” As quickly as he showed up, the coordinator was on to the bride and her father before either of us could register he was there.

I begrudgingly did as I was instructed, “resting” my hand on his bare forearm, holding a stand-in bouquet for the occasion in my other hand.

“Are you not going to talk to me?” He speaks again but I ignore him once more.

Thankfully that was when it was our turn to walk down the aisle. For the rest of the rehearsal, he didn’t get a chance to say anything else. As soon as we were done, I go straight for my boyfriend. I figured there’s no way he would approach me if I were with another man.

We all head to the restaurant afterwards to celebrate the last night before our friends begin their lives together as husband and wife. I keep my distance from Chris, always sticking close with my boyfriend.

The one moment I was alone was when I went to the bathroom. I thought for the few minutes I wouldn’t be in danger.

However I was wrong.

As soon as I step out an arm shot out in front of me. A very pale muscular arm.

“Are you seriously going to ignore me for the next two days?”

I duck under his arm fully planning on continuing what I set out to do.

“Y/N,” he grabs my arm, “will you please talk to me? What did I do to make you so mad at me?”

I whip around hopefully sending daggers his way. “Are you serious right now?”

“She finally speaks!” He exclaims.

“Because I cannot believe what I’m hearing. Like, I don’t think I heard you right.” All of the feelings I’ve been burying for two years were making their way up to the surface and I don’t think I can stop them. “We had a fantastic night. It was literally the best night of my life, it was the most comfortable with a guy that I had ever been. You made me laugh, you gave me butterflies, you helped me feel for the first time in years.” I try to swallow down the lump that was forming in my throat. “You told me you wanted to see me again. You made me excited for the future for once in my life… and then you took it away.”

With every second that passed, his expression got closer and closer to utter defeat: his shoulders slumped, his grip on my arm loosened, his jaw slowly unclenched, his eyebrows furrowed.

“You were late,” I hold up one finger, “You tricked me,” two fingers,” “You lied to me.” Three fingers were up and in front of his face for emphasis. “Three strikes and you’re out.”

I back away from him, having nothing more I wanted to say. As soon as I turned the corner, I felt liberated… for about five seconds. When that passed, devastation hit. For the last two years, I’ve held out hope- I tried not to- but I did, that maybe someday something could happen between us. That maybe, just maybe, we could pick up where we left off that night.

Now that the moment of confrontation has come and gone, I feel all the hope fade away. All of those possibilities I pictured have left the building. Being with him is no longer an option. I have my boyfriend who makes me happy, who gives me everything I could possibly want.

The rest of the night went on without another incident. Chris kept his distance. However, I could feel his eyes on me for every second that passed as we sat at the table. It was a relief when we finally left and could retreat back to our hotel rooms for the night. The bride and I got to stay in a suite that we’ll all be getting ready in in the morning. They wanted to uphold the “not seeing each other the night before the wedding,” even though they’ve lived with each other for a year and a half now.

On the wedding day, everything went according to plan. Everyone was on time to hair and make-up, pictures went flawlessly, the weather cooperated with everything, Chris didn’t attempt to talk to me at all- it was a perfect day to watch two people who love each other commit to the other for the rest of their lives.

But then came the reception. That’s when I knew apparently all bets would be off. The ceremony was over. Niceties would wear off as more and more alcohol is consumed. I was not looking forward to it.

We make our ridiculous entrances and take our seats at the head table. We eat then speeches were made. Lots of laughs were had as the Best Man dished on stories he had with the groom growing up, a few tears were shed at her sister’s after recounting the moment the bride knew he was the man of her dreams- overall I’d say they were a success.

Again, I felt his eyes on me, burning holes in the side of my head from the other side of the groom for the entire dining portion of the evening. I kept myself from glancing in his direction, instead focusing on the conversations with the bride’s sister next to me and my boyfriend who is across the way- anything not to meet his eyes.

Finally the DJ announces it was time for all to convene on the dancefloor after the specialty dances. I immediately see my boyfriend start to stand, knowing he’d been ready for this all night. I’d been looking forward to dancing with him all night as well, I even removed my shoes in anticipation. As I stand up, a hand is held out in front of me. I knew whose hand it was. I remember staring at it as he would rub his lips on our date. The strength of it as it intertwined with mine as we walked down the streets of our town, the safeness I felt as he squeezed it if he detected I was getting anxious around a group of people and I needed the reassurance. I knew that hand well, unfortunately.

“Dance with me?” He nearly whispers in my ear. I didn’t realize he was that close until I could feel said whisper on my neck. I contain the shiver that runs down my spine at how husky his voice is. God I’ve missed that…

No! I will not be enchanted by him again. He does not deserve me.

I exhale the breath I was holding, it comes out a lot harsher than I expected. “No, thank you.” I turn away from him, but his hand gently grabs my arm stopping me from going any further.

He whispers again, “He’s not good enough for you,” before walking away.

I’m frozen in place. I glare at his retreating back as he makes his way over to the bar. My mouth hangs open in disbelief. How dare he… How fucking dare he assume anything about me or my relationship. He doesn’t know anything about what our relationship is like. My boyfriend treats me so well, spoils me even though I know I don’t deserve it. He listens to me, he cares about me, and he makes me laugh until I cry- he’s everything I’ve wanted in a man. Chris is the one who had his chance and subsequently blew it. He has no right to judge or even comment on my relationship when he knows absolutely nothing about it.

I hurriedly make my way to my awaiting boyfriend and pull him onto the crowded dancefloor. “You okay?” He asks me, “Did he say something to upset you?”

“Nothing worth repeating.” All I wanted to do was forget about him and his irrelevant feelings towards my relationship…

…Except I couldn’t. His words rattled me. Does he see something I don’t? He told me on our date that he’s an excellent judge of character so he wouldn’t say something like that unless he got a bad feeling, right? Either that or he said it just to get under my skin and force me to talk to him. No matter the reason I hate him for it because my pride won’t let it stand.

I spot him leaning against the bar, staring directly at the two of us over the rim of his glass. His perfect eyebrow quirks up at the eye contact, that sets my blood to boiling. He thinks he’s so smug. I wish I could just slap that stupid hidden smirk right off his perfect face…

Following a few dances, I mutter something about him going to dance with the bride to my boyfriend before exiting the dancefloor. I rush out of the barn, away from the crowd needing some air from his suffocating gaze. I find a little lit area that’s perfect for pictures. There are rectangular hay bales set together as a makeshift U-shaped bench with some low watt bulbs strung up above between two poles. It would be serene if I weren’t already on edge.

After taking a few deep breaths, I finally feel like I can speak without yelling. “You had no right.”

I didn’t have to turn around to know he followed me out here. It’s exactly what I wanted him to do, just like it was his intention to get under my skin. As much as I wished to avoid this conversation it seems that we can’t go on without it. We may tear each other apart in the process, but this is my chance for closure. This is my only opportunity to get the answers I’ve been needing to move on for the past two years. Two years of wondering what went wrong after the most perfect date I’ve ever been on with an equally perfect man has been eating at my heart and mind. I hated always wondering “what if” or “what would I be doing right now if I were with him” especially when I started dating my boyfriend. I had no answers as to why those questions could not be. I thought with time I’d stop asking them, thinking I’d never see the man again. He’s a big movie star, why would he wonder about a woman he went on one date with?

As I expected, his deep baritone voice comes behind me, but his words do little to ease my nerves. In fact they set them off even more so than before. “I’m sorry.”

I scoff at his half-hearted apology, knowing he doesn’t mean it at all. “Oh bite me, Christopher.” I turn around to face him. God he looks even better out here. The subtle gold glow from the lights are complimenting his skin tone, they make his baby blues shine which just frustrates me more.

“Please, Y/N,-” He takes a step closer to me, but I won’t have that.

“No,” I take a step back keeping the needed distance between us for fear I may strangle him. “I don’t want to hear any of your bullshit excuses. You had no right to pass judgment on a relationship that you know absolutely nothing about.”

He slips his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. “Oh, I’ve seen enough.”

“Really?” I jut my hip out, resting my hand on it. “In the two days you’ve been here, you think you’ve got us all figured out?”

“Yes,” he answers with conviction.

My shaking hands clench into fists, trying my damnedest not to lose control. I entangle them into my hair as best as I can without ruining the work the hairstylist did this morning before running them down my face. He has some nerve.

“We had one night. One night! One nearly perfect night together and suddenly that makes you an expert on what is good for me?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘an expert’-”

“I wouldn’t say anything!” I interrupt, “I never heard from you again. Now after two years, you come in here acting like you know anything about me or my relationship? Who do you think you are?”

“A man who made a mistake!” He snaps.

There was a long pause. I never expected to hear that from him. All these years I wanted to think the worst of him for leaving me hanging like that. He got my hopes up, thinking we may have a future together only for them to come crashing back down to Earth when he never contacted me again. I wondered and wondered if maybe I read the signals wrong. Maybe I took his flirting as more than it was. Maybe the small gestures like his arm around my shoulders, on the small of my back, or the hand holding were only him being friendly. I wracked my brain going over every single detail of the night to try and pinpoint a reason for him not to have called me afterwards. I found nothing, which was equally as frustrating.

“Alright, I made a mistake.” He moves to sit on one of the hay bales. He rests his elbows on his knees and buries his head in his hands, letting out a huge sigh. “God I wanted everything with you.”

Once again, I’m frozen by his words. He what? But that doesn’t make sense. His words and his actions don’t line up- how could that be?

He removes his hands from his face, staring at the grass. “After that night, I wanted it all. I wanted to settle down, get the house with a white picket fence in the suburbs, carry you through the threshold after our wedding day, bring our children home from the hospital, watch them grow until we’re old and gray. I wanted everything.”

My heart aches. All of that was exactly what I wanted, especially with him. I could feel the tears building behind my eyes, my heart breaking mourning the loss of what we could have had by now if he had only said something.

I also find my anger growing as well. If he felt all of that, why did he not contact me again? Why did he give me hope that our night out together could have been the start of something good and then taken it away just as quickly?

“But?” There had to be a “but” coming after his statement. Clearly something stopped him from pursuing the possibility of “us,” destroying any future we could have had.

He sighs, “but…” he finally looks up at me with more emotion in his eyes than I was expecting. There was contemplation, confusion, honesty, agony…

I look away. In an instant I knew what he was about to say. It makes complete sense. He was at the height of his career, shooting movie after movie all around the world for a majority of the year. How would he have had time to have a relationship mixed in with that? He couldn’t.

“Your career was more important,” I interject, “I get it. I do.” I couldn’t fault him for choosing work over someone he just met, no matter how much he claims to have liked me right off the bat. He was going to be busy. We probably wouldn’t have had a lot of time to see each other. It’s not like I could give up my career to follow him. Besides even if I could have, he wouldn’t want that. He said so himself. He wanted someone who was independent; who could do their own thing and not be enveloped in his crazy life.

He stands up and steps closer to me, “no, that wasn’t it. I promise you that wasn’t it.”

There’s that word. Promise. He promised we’d see each other again soon after our night together. But he broke that.

“Then what was it?” My voice cracks at the end. I can feel my reserves slipping the more he speaks. I didn’t realize how much I missed his voice until now. I haven’t seen any of the movies he’s been in the last few years. I have him and his hashtag blocked on all social media platforms so I don’t see anything of his on any of my timelines. My other friends think I don’t like him (only my best friend and her now husband know about our date). To hear it again brings back all of the good memories we made together in that short night and all of the emotions I’ve been holding back since. “I have been wracking my brain for years wondering what went wrong after that.”

“I got scared,” he finally admits the truth. “I got scared of how much I liked you and how much I wanted to protect you.”

“From what?”

“From me,” he casts his gaze down at his hands as he fidgets with them, “and my life. I didn’t want to subject you to the chaos that is my life. I know what my fans would do to you if we were in a relationship, I was trying to protect you from all of the ugly that being with me comes with.”

So that’s what he was afraid of? He was afraid our relationship would inevitably end exactly like his last one? His “fans” were horrible to her. They sent death threats to her and her family members, always commenting negatively on her social media pages all because she was dating him. I remember reading about it right after it happened. I knew that side of his fandom was toxic. But did I care? No. Did I think I couldn’t handle it? I honestly don’t know, but would I have been willing to deal with it for him? Yes. I would have given up anything to be with him. That’s precisely why he did what he did. He didn’t want me giving anything up for him because he knows I’d be giving up any semblance of privacy I had if I were in a public relationship with him.

If I had known these were the reasons why he ghosted me, I would have been broken hearted but I would have understood. Hell, I probably would have fallen more in love with him if I knew that, not fallen in loathe.

He continues, “I thought that if I never contacted you again, you could move on”- he clears his throat-“and find someone better than me who could give you the normal life you deserve. Which as much as I wish I couldn’t, I see that you have…” he pauses as if deciding whether he should keep speaking. When I don’t stop him, he does, “But I can’t help feeling like that could have been me.”

My slightly shaky hands cover his fidgeting ones. His hand moves until he’s intertwining our fingers together, palms touching. They fit perfectly together as if they were each other’s missing puzzle piece. His thumbs stroke mine sending warmth down my arms all the way down to my toes. The sparks I felt back then return with full force. He leans down, pressing his forehead against mine. My heart is beating out of my chest, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t feel it in some way.

I feel my heart break in my chest. My lip quivers and the tears threaten to make themselves known. My only saving grace is the fact that he can’t see my face. I may lose it completely if he did.

His breath is coming out equally as shaky between us, he squeezes my hands as if he doesn’t want me to let go. Believe me, I don’t want to. I bring one of our interlocked hands up to my lips. I kiss the back of his hand because I can’t kiss him where I want to. I pull back just enough to see his beautiful baby blues that could have any woman in the world swoon. They were terribly bloodshot right now but that only made them more tragically breathtaking. I tear one of my hands out of his and bring it to his cheek. He leans into it, a tear drops into the crevices between the contact.

The barely above whisper that came out was all I could muster without having a total breakdown because he’s right. It could have been him. We could have been something great. We could have built a life together. We could have had it all. And it broke my heart into a million pieces knowing all of this could have been avoided if life had handed both of us different lives.

“It almost was.”

~*~

Taglist: @the-marvel-wars @elusive-beauty @drakesfiance @im-a-slut-for-an-accent @fantasy-is-my-reality @princess-evans-addict

#almost #Chris Evans #christopher robert evans #christopher evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans imagine #chris evans drabble #chris evans oneshot #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n #jj ehlby writes

232 notes · View notes

thelovelyghostwriter · 4 years ago

Text

Ranking the HxH guys in my Simping Tier: Countdown

Note: This is just for fun and lame-ass humour. You are free to like anyone in hxh and this tier doesn’t reflect how great the character is. It’s just a ranking based on how much I simp for them.

14. Meruem

Okay. There’s a reason why Meruem is at the last list. He’s an ant. He’s not even fully human FML. Can’t believe people wanna fuck this teenaged mutant ninja ant. Can’t even say those people are a furry because this ant has no fur. It’s a no for me.

13. Illumi

The Illumi simps are gonna hack me for having him too low. I find him cute and has really nice hair that can be for shampoo ads... but his eyes... it covers 70% of his face. It’s guppy eyes. It’s like he wore those coloured contact lenses that enlarges the eyes.

12. Shalnark

OKay. Shalnark is cute. He’s really one of the most good looking guys in the series. However, I don’t know why but his personality is kinda “ehh”. He’s a little psycho who controls people with his phone, but somehow his personality is overshadowed by a lot of extreme characters with Hisoka. Also, I try not to get too attached to him because of what happens in the current arc.

11. Kite

Okay. This is weird but... I find Kite more attracted when he’s a red-headed female ant right now. Okay. I know I went all like “MERUEM ISNT EVEN HUMAN” but female Kite LOOKS human. She has freckles and all that. It’s real cute. But I’d say he’s a little lower because he doesn’t really have that “oomph” personality so-

10. Pariston

Now, talk about a character with FABULOUS presentation of himself. Pariston shows himself off with extravagance. NOW, that’s a personality. He’s like one of those celebs that are just so extra like Lady Gaga that it’s amazing. I know he’s underrated in the simping world, but he’s essentially kinda like Hisoka (who has a big simping fandom), only he prefers to play with people’s minds rather than fight people.

9. Tserriednich

You might be wondering, why the fuck is he here? Okay, first of all, he reminds me of Hannibal who is by the way, charming. And yes I mean it in the Mads Mikkelsen AND the Anthony Hopkins way. Makes me wanna his Clarice but I’d rather have Theta have that spot. Secondly, he’s a prince so being his bride is literally a dream come true. Thirdly, yeh, Tserriednich is actually very handsome. Nice blond hair and that facial beard.

8. Gon

He’s quite low on the tier because I had always seen him as a cute green mini-Ging. Personality-wise, he’s really sweet and I can see a lot of girls liking him because he knows how to treat women respectfully. He can even handle the crazy ones like Palm. His alpha side came out during the Chimera Ant arc and his adult form is hella attractive.

Jokes aside, this character is really amazing as an MC. It’s sad that he gets overshadowed but I believe he’s a pretty unique shounen MC because most of the time, a shounen MC doesn’t kill or has a pretty much black-and-white morality. Gon Freecss breaks that stereotype and he’s truly appreciated.

7. Leorio

Listen to me. This man is supposed to be the type of man you’re supposed to marry. Doctor, loyal, caring and funny. This man is the total package. I think the reason why he’s a little lower in my simp tier is because well... he’s the type of guy that I will go for in reality. In fiction, that’s where all my crushes for crazy guys should be. My simp tier is based on my heart, not brain.

6. Killua

Okay. I was down bad for Killua when I was younger. DOWN BAD. So down bad that it was scary. I sort of got over him now. But what can you do? Killua is simped by a lot of teenaged girls or women who had a crush on him since the beginning of time. He’s fiercely loyal, has white hair and pretty blue eyes, is a fun mixture of mischief and seriousness. He’s the type of guy you can count on to get out of trouble and one to always treasure you. I do think that if I ever meet Killua though, that he’d bully me to oblivion.

Okay, we’re at the top 5. From here onwards, some real NSFW simping words.

5. Hisoka

I kinda do understand Hisoka stans, but at the same time, I do not get them. Like him or not, he’s a very flamboyant character. He stands out of the crowd and he just have that unexplained charisma.

He’s actually a really well-written character. He’s the balancing factor in the narrative of HxH. He’s like the joker in the deck of cards. Back to my simp tier, he’s very attractive ESPECIALLY with his hair down. There’s a certain aura that is addictive about him that I can’t pin-point. And for that, he earns my top 5 spot.

4. Feitan

I swear. This simping phenomenon actually manifested from Hiei. Yes, Feitan’s character blueprint, Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. (The real OGs will know that Hiei is the character blueprint, not Levi). I know a lot of people compare him to Levi but let me explain why Levi and Feitan are alike: it’s because their character blueprint is Hiei.

Anyway, Hiei is HOT. And to me, the hxh equivalent is Feitan, with a huge addition of sadism and emo-ness. Okay, that makes it even hotter.

I have read some Feitan/Reader on AO3 and BOI. I enjoyed reading certain stuff that I never thought I would enjoy. I read a fic about Reader-chan getting whipped and basically all sorts of BDSM and OMG it’s heaven.

“They say all good boys go to heaven, but bad boys bring heaven to you”

3. Chrollo

At first, I didn’t really care about Chrollo until he wore that tuxedo and let his hair down (Is it just me or a lot of hxh boys look good with their hair down?). HE LOOKS SO GODLY HOLY FUCK.

I’m 100% sure that his character blueprint for the hair-down is Koenma. He also gives me Tuxedo Mask vibes. Overall, such chivalry and handsomeness all in one man. Not to mention, that sexy sexy voice when he recites his fortune-telling. I would say he has the sexiest voice among all hxh guys. He is just that HOT and charismatic. I wanna see where he hid that Spider tattoo and scratch his back.

2. Ging

Okay. Ging is hardly simp by girls. And I do not understand why?? He is motherfucking attractive. Even now. GAWD. I love him.

I think my attraction to him pre-started because he looks and acts SO much like my childhood crush Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho. I know he’s an asshat but he’s a CHARMING asshat. Yeap, I said it. He is actually highly intelligent and just acts like a total haggard because he can.

It’s not just when he’s young. I STILL think he’s hot even in his 30s. He’s not that old for me to me honest. I don’t care if he’s a decade older than me because I think that’s the appeal of it. I

It’s kinda sad that he’s not that popular because I need some Ging/Reader smut content. Like, I envisioned a smut fic where the reader is like in her 20s and is strangely attracted to Ging. He’s wildly confused over this but he’s seriously considering of tapping it because his old ass haven’t had any action lately. The other Zodiacs are also confused and are convinced that he must have given some sex pollen to the reader because who the hell is sane enough to be attracted to him? (But it’s just that you need some acquired taste to actually find this man alluring). He’s one of the most fuckable characters ahhh.

And... for the last one...

Drumroll please....

1. Kurapika

Seriously, was there even a surprise.

THIS MAN IS THE AKAKU GOD. He’s beautiful, he’s sexy and fucking dominant (yes, I say he’s domineering because do you see the way he throws a hot tantrum during the whole YorkNew arc, demanding shit from his enemies, taking charge of everything?) His chains drives me nuts. I love it when he gets angry. I know he’s kinky on the inside. When he wore that tuxedo... ooof. He looks hella fine. He’s the only guy in hxh that fulfills my ala Michael Corleone mafia boss kink. I want him to ^&*(%%%*%^ (to save myself from embarrassment, I self-censored) as we attempt to repopulate the clan and produce more scarlet eyed babies, as he whispers some real degrading and possessive shit in Kurta while he tells me what to do. AHHHHH. *bye gotta go write some kuraneon porn now byeee*

#hxh #hunterxhunter #sorry im just down bad during quarantine #kurapika #akaku #kurapika akaku akaku #akaku god #ging #ging freecss #chrollo #chrollo lucilfer #feitan #this is a shitpost

128 notes · View notes

boldlyvoid · 3 years ago

Text

Hypothetically | Chapter 21-24

Summary: Reader and Spencer were friends in kindergarten, she watched him grow up and explore the world while she was still trying to catch up to him. now that they work together, they fall in love incredibly fast. friends to lovers, case of the week style story.

Warnings 18+: Murderers, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Blood, Guns, mentions of autopsy, Fluff, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, bed-sharing, Riding, Unprotected Sex, Virgin Reader, Case of the Week, original crimes, Food mention, Smut, Oral Sex, Light BDSM, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Talk, obgyn appointments and info, Home Invasion, Past Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Emotional Manipulation, Grooming, Pedophilia mention, non-con oral (male receiving), Pregnant Sex, Daddy Kink, Breeding Kink, Homophobia, conversion therapy

A/N; thee case in c21 is personal to me, like fictional revenge.

word count so far: 70K (chapter 1-25)

chapter 21

Having Spencer all to herself for 3 weeks straight was an experience she’ll never forget. They had the whole month of January off together, painting and re-decorating their home till it was exactly how they wanted it. It felt like home, it was theirs for real now.

Painting the bedroom green was the best idea she’s ever had. When the sun finally woke them up every morning, it wasn’t as blinding. It was paradise. The golden beams of light cast a beautiful glow around the room, it was like she was in a magic forest at the start of every day.

Spencer was laying on his back, his hair scattered on the pillow. He looked so peaceful, sleeping with his mouth wide open. Y/N was leaning on her elbow, looking down at the beautiful man she had the pleasure of spending the rest of her life with.

She brushed the hair off his face, watching his nose scrunch up as he felt her fingertips on his cheek. The sun on his face made him glow, he looked like a gift from god laying before her.

“Good morning baby,” she whispered softly. Dragging her finger along his jaw and down his neck, “we get to go to work today.”

Spencer stretched as he woke up, slipping an arm under her and pulling her into his chest. She held on tight, kissing his neck as she settled in. “Morning,” he replied. Raspy as ever.

“Wanna go get breakfast?” She asked softly.

He laughed against her skin, “gotta feed the baby.”

“And the wiiiife,” she teased.

“Not for another 11 weeks and 2 days,” he corrected her. “But yes, we should go get breakfast,” he whispered after a moment.

“Come on get up,” she replied with a big smile. He patted her ass as she peeled out of his grasp. Sitting up and stretching, taking a look down at the basketball protruding from her stomach. “Damn.”

“What?” Spencer asked.

She stood up beside the bed and pulled her shirt up, showing Spencer how big her stomach was. Turning sideways so he really got a good look at it. Spencer leaned over and kissed her right on her belly button that was beginning to pop.

“I know your ears are on in there, I love you, Matthew,” Spencer whispered against her skin.

She couldn’t stop smiling, taking a moment to rub her hands over the bump in amazement. “Hi Mr. Matty MaGoo, mommy also loves you.”

“Mr. Matty MaGoo?” Spencer laughed, looking at her with the biggest smile.

“Yes,” She laughed. “It just came to me, and it's going to stick.”

“Derek’s been calling him Mini G,” Spencer added.

“We should tell him it's Matthew, then he can be little Matty G,” Y/N swooned. “Seriously let’s go I miss everyone.”

“Okay, okay go get ready then,” he insisted, getting out of bed and dragging her to the bathroom.

—

Spencer drove, giving her a chance to look over her work emails before the day started. She was still CC’d on a bunch of VICAP things, being able to snoop on what was coming in and inspecting it.

Sometimes Mindy would CC her in just for an opinion.

Subject: Found Something. From; Mindy Patel To; SSA Y/N Y/L/N, Unit Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA-CL Jennifer Jareau

There’s been a child abduction in Arizona, I’ve pieced together some thing’s I’ve been working on in the background that might help the case if you are called in to assist. Even if you are not I believe you should take a look at this.

Mindy Patel, VICAP.

Attachment

Year: 1998 Victim 1: Emily Lawrence - 13. Kept till 16. Taken: August 3rd, 1998. Williams, AZ Found: June 10th, 2001. Camp Verde, AZ ME: decay has he placed at 48 hours postmortem when she was found - strangled, sexually assaulted long term, extensive throat damage. Never been pregnant. - COD: asphyxiation Info: good student, innocent shy girl. Followed the rules. Taken when walking home from school. Held for 3 years, assaulted and chained. Dumped without care.

Year: 2001 Victim 2: Olivia Tomms - 13. Kept till 16 Taken: August 3rd, 2001. Payson, AZ Found: June 23rd, 2004. Florence, AZ ME: decay has her at about 2 weeks postmortem. - strangled, sexually assaulted long term, extensive throat damage. Never been pregnant. - COD: asphyxiation Info: good student, innocent shy girl. Followed the rules. Taken when walking home from school. Held for 3 years, assaulted and chained. Dumped without care.

Year: 2004 Victim 3: Shelby Summers - 13. Kept till 16. Taken: August 3rd, 2004. Peach Springs, AZ Found: July 16th, 2007. Keams, AZ ME: decay has her at over a month postmortem. - strangled, sexually assaulted long term, extensive throat damage. Never been pregnant. - COD: asphyxiation Info: good student, innocent shy girl. Followed the rules. Taken when walking home from school. Held for 3 years, assaulted and chained. Dumped without care.

Year: 2007 Victim 4: Beth Green - 11. Kept till 13 Taken: August 3rd, 2007. Saint John, AZ Found: January 13th, 2010. @ flagstaff hospital. ME: COD complications from a miscarriage. Massive blood loss. - well taken care of. Throat damage. Signs of being detained long term. Info:good student, innocent shy girl. Followed the rules. Taken when walking home from school. Held for 3 years, assaulted and chained. Dumped with remorse like he didn’t want her to die, and he felt sorry because he loved her.

Newest abduction: Name: Sally Irvine - 12 Taken: February 3rd, 3pm. Middle School pick-up (missing 13 hours now) Witness Report: Italian/greek man. Early 30’s. Claimed to be her parents assistant. Sally was used to going home with random people from her parents' work. Handsome man, very charming and convincing. He wore a suit and drove a Silver Honda Civic. Rust at the back, partial plate HC8.

“Fuck,” Y/N cried silently as she scrolled through all the information, even in a compact form.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer asked, looking over at her with concern.

“Um,” she didn’t really know why she was reacting like this at first. Then it hit her. “Mindy sent me a case and it’s hitting a little too close to home.”

“Would you like to explain it yet? It’s okay if you want to process it alone,” Spencer comforted her easily like it was his second nature.

She let out a deep breath. “There’s a serial killer in Arizona that is kidnapping girls between 11 and 13, only keeping them 3 years. Every ME report says they have extensive internal throat damage, and 3 of the 4 found were never pregnant. This unsub is forcing them into oral for 3 years straight.”

“Fuck,” Spencer agreed. “I think we should take this one, if you can’t I would fully understand.”

“I think the unsub is my rapist.”

Spencer pulled over onto the side of the road. Putting the car in park and flashing the 4-ways. He turned to her softly and looked at her with a blank face.

“Walk me through it.”

“What?”

“If I’m going to go in there with you and tell Hotch that this is the same guy who hurt you, then you’re going to need to explain it to him and the team,” Spencer explained softly. “You’ve never even told me the full story, I don’t know anything about that summer other than the fact something happened. The first time you repeat this in front of me is going to be hard, and I don’t want you to have to do that in front of all of them.”

She couldn’t help herself from letting out a small sob, “okay.”

She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, and calm down enough to get full words out of her mouth.

“When I was 12,” she started. “My mom went back to work, and she didn’t trust me to watch my brothers because they were rowdy and never listened to me. Like you said, they were more like my older brothers.

“My dad’s best friend, Jimmy, his wife had MS so she was home all the time. They had 3 older children and a few foster boys, she was used to lots of kids being there. And she had a pool to keep us occupied,” she bit her lip before she explained anymore.

“My mom’s birthday is June 8th. That’s when victim 1 was murdered,” was the first fact she explained that related to the case. She handed Spencer her phone so he could read and follow along.

“My dad is a Mason with the Masonic Lodge in Los Vegas, and he was becoming the master of his division on my mom's birthday that year, so we rented a hall and had a big party. Jimmy’s foster son was there, you remember Christopher Torsey? He was a freshman and I was in grade 6, about to enter grade 7, that was when the grooming started. He took me into the back room and asked if anyone had ever kissed me, I said no. He leaned in and kissed me in the dark and I was a giggly mess.

“My parents and his were really friends and he would come over all the time, our dads would drink in the backyard with our mothers till 1 in the morning most weekends. So I spent long periods of time with this boy for a few years, trusting him like a friend before he started anything. That summer he would always find a way to wander off with me, at first it was just kissing in different places where we could be alone together. Then he would touch my boobs, and he had me take my shirt off a few times.”

Spencer looked calm, but the redness in his face and the pulse in his neck told a different story. Her breathing got heavier as she had to recall it all, and she didn’t want him to be so upset.

“We worked at a local church camp together that July, we’d do crafts and sing songs and after all the kids left and we had to clean up, he’d find a way to take me to the room where they held the nativity scene out of season. He’d start kissing and touching me like normal, and then Kendra walked in once and saw and suddenly he went from obsessed with me, to disgusted, saying I came on to him and that it was all me. He was disgusted by me when we were in public, but he loved me apparently behind closed doors.”

“On August 3rd,” a tear slipped down her cheek. “The day the girls go missing. That was the first time he took me back to the shed and said ‘when two people are in love, they do things, and I love you. So you have to,’ He took his, you know, and I’d never seen one before. It was scary and I didn’t want to, I wanted to leave, but he pushed me against the wall and down to my knees.” She had to stop to take a breath, Spencer was crying silently as he watched her explain it all.

“He kept me trapped there while he did it,” she explained. “The worst part is that his parents were hosting a wedding that night, so no one could hear me basically screaming no over the music. He knew that. And so, when I complained about the sore throat the next day, my parents thought it was from all the singing.”

Spencer let out a shaky breath, he looked at her with so much love and sadness, she knew he loved her. She reached across the centre console and wiped the tears off his face, pecking his lips softly before sitting back to continue.

“The dates match up, he was Italian, they’re all 11-13 with throat damage,” she ran it down. “It’s him.”

Spencer licked his lips, wiping the tears off his face before taking a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go tell Hotch.”

Aaron stood up from his desk after Y/N explained the situation, walking up close to her with a sad smile on his face, “this was a very hard thing to come forward with. How would you like to participate in the investigation?” He was soft with her for the first time, it was surreal.

“Um, I’d like to come with you to Arizona,” she said softly. “when Garcia finds him, I’d like to be the one to interview him.”

“Do you think that is a wise idea?” He asked softly.

“When I was 16, years after everything happened. I went to Jimmy’s house for an event, and Christopher was there, and I went to his room. I was so desperate for the bullying to stop. For the lies, he had told about me to go away, that I went in there and apologized to him,” her voice almost disappeared as she got to the end of the sentence. Crying in disbelief. “2 years later he started abducting. I apologized to my rapist and he started kidnapping girls. I need to look him in the eyes and find out why he did it.”

“Okay, let’s tell the team.”

Y/N and Garcia spent an hour building the case files and compiling all the data they had on Christopher Torsey. Joining the team in the briefing room, where Spencer had already relayed the events to the team. Y/N didn’t need to describe it all 3 times in 2 hours.

She passed all the folders out, trying to avoid the looks the team gave her. They were sorry, they respected her, they wanted revenge for her. She knew it all came from a place of love, however, she hated being perceived by others.

It was a trauma thing. For so long people had the wrong idea about her, she was bullied and put down, and hated for no reason. She hates any form of attention, the glances and staring, the whispers of rumours being told as fact. It was stressful.

“Before we start,” she started softly. “Thank you in advance for your concerns, but I’ve been in therapy for 10 years. I’m very happy, this is gonna fuckin’ suck, but at the end of the day I’m coming home to a man who loves me, a baby on the way, and the best friends I can ask for. He’s going to prison. I win.”

Derek smiled at her, “that’s my girl. What did you find?”

“Christopher Torsey was born in November of 1979. His father was extremely abusive, he was in the ER a lot by the time he was 11. His mother killed herself in front of him when he was 12, he also watched his father rape his mother according to his child therapist,” Garcia started. Not knowing how to say the next part without Y/N crying.

“He uh, he said that his dad would tell his mom to be quiet. That-uh, I’m sorry, shouldn’t you say this?”

Y/N stepped in without a second thought. “He said that his father would hold the fact that he loved her over her head to force her into having sex with him. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“He’s our guy for sure. Do we have an address?” Prentiss asked.

“Yeah, he lives in a double-wide trailer in Cottonwood. Near the back with his own access to the main road,” Y/N explained. “I knew he moved to Arizona when Jimmy finally kicked him out. I haven’t heard from him in years.”

“Y/N is coming with us, wheels up in 20.”

—

Cottonwood PD waited for them to arrive before apprehending him. They were concerned that he would run, with his access to the woods and a four-wheeler in his possession, it was a matter of boxing him in quietly with a backup plan in place and men on the ground.

“Can I suggest something?” Y/N cut into the Police Chief and Hotch’s conversation.

“Sure.”

“Um, what if I walk up in our civilian clothes, and just pretend that we’re there to rub it in his face that I'm happy and in love,” Y/N suggested. “I can wear a wire, you can be in a surveillance van listening in. You’ll be right there if we see Sally or sense something’s up.”

“Are you sure you can do that?” Hotch asked her.

“I am,” she turned to Spencer, “if you can control your temper you can come. If not, I’ll show up with Derek and still rub it in his face that someone loves me now.”

Spencer sighed deeply as he contemplated it. “I’ll kill him,” he admitted. “Take Derek.”

“Let’s get suited up,” Derek patted Spencer’s shoulder. “I won’t let him hurt her again. Don’t worry.”

“I know.” Spencer looked disappointed.

Everyone left the room, leaving Spencer and Y/N alone. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug resting her face against his chest. He softly held her in return, rubbing his hands along her back with his cheek on her head.

“I love you, forever and always,” She reminded him. “And I know how much you love me, believe me. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I didn’t truly believe Chris was wrong.”

She pulled back when she felt a tear on her head. She wiped it softly with her thumb as he leaned his cheek into her palm. “I am loveable, and you love me. I win.”

He laughed softly, “I won too.”

She pulled him into a soft kiss, “I’ll be back in your arms soon.”

“I’ll be in the van watching the whole time, I love you so much,” he added for good measure.

She smiled as she walked away, throwing a fist in the air like the end of the breakfast club. Knowing full well he’d never get the reference. JJ on the other hand, laughed as she followed with Spencer.

They changed into regular clothes, getting in a car from the impound lot and following the surveillance van. Morgan was quiet, Y/N knew he wanted to talk to her, to go over the plan, but he didn’t know how to. The wire wouldn’t be on till they walked out, giving Y/N and Derek their privacy if he ever chose to speak.

“Did you ever confront your guy?” Y/N asked.

He nodded, “Carl Buford. I got to show him who I am now, that I put men like him behind bars. That I’ll always win.”

“Is it a good feeling?”

Derek set his hand palm up on the centre console, looking at her softly as if to ask her to take it. She interlocked their fingers, he rubbed his thumb against her skin.

“You’re right, it fucking sucks. The original pain never goes away, but there is a content feeling knowing he won’t get to hurt another person, that he might get his ass kicked in prison,” he smiled that beautiful Derek smile. “I’ll always be here for when you need someone who gets it.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.

They pulled into the trailer park slowly, separating from the team as they approached Christopher’s trailer. “Just pretend you’re Spencer, treat me the way he would. I know Spencer tells you everything, go off of memory of what he’s said about me.”

“You know he tells me everything?” Derek asked softly, laughing a little to himself.

“Because he also tells me everything,” she smirked. “When he’s tired and he rambles, he tells me about his whole day and that includes when he asks you for advice.”

“You two are gross,” he smiled. “I hope I can replicate it.”

“Come on,” she laughed, getting out of the car and waiting for Derek at the hood.

She took his hand before walking up to the door, a hand on her belly to make it look bigger. Really wanting to show off that she was in a better place than he was.

She knocked, 3 times, stepping back so he could open the door. She didn’t feel scared, she felt anxious in excitement to watch Derek take him to the floor.

“Y/N?” She heard his voice for the first time in 13 years. “What are you doing here?”

“My therapist suggested that I come here and show you someone actually did end up loving me, regardless of what you said,” she explained.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he panicked, flashing his eyes back and forth between her and Derek.

“I can come in and explain it for you if you’d like?” Y/N smiled. “You’ve got nothing to hide I assume? I’m just wildly obsessed with you and a liar right? That’s what you told everyone so I wouldn’t be able to say you forced my head on your dick with the promise that you loved me.”

“I- I uh,” he stuttered. Starting to shake lightly.

“That’s what you do to all the girls, isn’t it, Chris?” Derek cut in, pulling the screen door open and watching as Christopher ran to the back of the house. “We got a runner!!” He announced to the wire.

Y/N didn’t run after him, she knew the team had him. She walked through the house to watch from the back door. Only to find Spencer stiff-arming him.

Christopher flipped over Spencer’s arm, hitting the ground before Spencer was on top of him. Spencer punched him in the face, once, twice, three times before he stopped. Sitting over the unconscious man as he caught his breath. Everyone just watched him. He rolled Christopher over, cuffed him and walked away into the woods.

Y/N carefully jogged into the yard, passing the bleeding and groaning asshole she used to know as she ran after Spencer. He was walking too fast, and he didn’t look like he was going to stop.

“Spencer Walter Reid!” She yelled at him as if she was his mother. “Stop.”

He stopped abruptly, huffing as he did so. He only turned around to face her when she finally caught up to him. “Don’t touch me yet,” he instructed her.

“Okay,” she stopped a foot in front of him. “Look at me, breathe. In and out.” She used her hands as she motioned a breath in, and a release out. She repeated it 4 times, watching him do the same.

“Can I hug you now?” She asked softly.

He nodded, stepping into her space and wrapping himself around her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It was actually really appreciated,” she laughed. “I was debating if having a baby at 22 weeks was worth punching him in the face a few times.”

Spencer laughed softly into her shoulder. Squeezing her in his grasp as he breathed her in. “I love you.”

“I love you, more,” she smiled against his neck before pressing a soft kiss to his ever-beating pulse. “Let’s go see the team, come on.”

Y/N was adamant about searching the trailer with the team. Going to the surveillance van for a vest and gloves while Christopher was taken to the police station, and Spencer had his hand wrapped up.

It still smelled like him in there. The smell of his detergent mixed with smoke from the fireplace. It never changed. She noticed his PlayStation was on, he was still interested in games. He still slept with the brown comforter that was on his bed when she was 12. It was worn down, holes gathered at the bottom as it was almost see-through now.

She opened the closet to see a very large metal safe in its place. She took a deep breath, looking at the keypad to see what numbers had been worn down the most, guessing his password.

0803

It popped open, it made her feel sick to her stomach. As she opened it, she heard the muffled screams behind duck tape. Sally Irvine was tied up, hunched over in a tiny metal box while he played GTA.

She wanted to kill him.

“Hey, hey it’s okay,” she shushed the girl. “Sally, my name is Y/N. We’re here to take you home, you're safe now.”

Y/N took the tape off Sally’s mouth softly, the girl sobbed immediately. Not able to say a single thing as Y/N untied her and held Sally in her arms. Sally hugged her back as tight as she could, sobbing into her shirt as Y/N rocked her back and forth. Crying along with her.

“He did it to me when I was 12 too,” Y/N whispered.

Sally pulled back and looked at her with puffy eyes, “really?” She asked. Her voice low and scratchy.

“JJ can you get some water?” She called behind her. “Yes. I was his first.”

“Y/N,” the girl repeated. “That’s what he called me?”

She couldn’t stop the sick feeling in her gut, “let’s get you out of here.” She changed the topic, helping the little girl to her feet and to an ambulance.

Y/N smiled at her as she dropped her off with the EMTs, walking off into the woods as quickly as she could. She leaned over, holding her own hair back as she threw up on the ground.

She swatted away at the hand rubbing her back suddenly, continuing to hurl in the bushes as she heard them behind her, shushing her. She wiped her hand on her mouth before she calmed herself down.

She sighed and turned around to see Morgan. His arms were open for her to hug him, she buried her face in his chest as she cried. Not able to fully process all the information she just heard.

“Let’s get you home,” Derek whispered. Escorting her back to the car, she was done for the day.

chapter 22

Valentine’s day had come and gone by the time they finished their most recent case. Landing in Quantico very late on the 16th of February. Everyone departed the plane slowly, half asleep after the 3-hour flight.

“Did you guys miss any plans?” Y/N asked JJ and Emily as they walked together.

“Yeah,” Emily sighed, “I uh, I’ve been seeing someone.”

“Since when?” JJ asked, both her and Y/N suddenly not tired at all. They stopped on the tarmac and stared at her.

“Um, a few months now,” She blushed.

“Was this the sin to win weekend?” Y/N asked softly.

Emily nodded, “what’s sin to win?” JJ asked just as quietly.

“It’s a weekend for gay people in Atlantic City,” Emily replied. “It’s an easy way to mingle in a safe space.”

“Oh,” JJ was shocked. “Oh, so you’re, and you too?” She pointed at both of them as the information was processed.

Y/N and Emily smiled at her and laughed. “Bi? Yes,” Y/N replied.

“I’m still not sure,” Emily added. She sighed deeply, shaking her head as she tried to speak again. “I’ve never really enjoyed male company? It feels more like a performance than a relationship.”

“I mean good for you for noticing that now, if it wasn’t for Spencer I’d be in the same boat,” Y/N smirked at her. “He’s more than just a pretty face.”

“Wow,” JJ was shocked. “I would’ve never known.”

Emily placed her hand on JJ’s back, leading her towards the charter back to headquarters, “oh you poor, poor, heterosexual woman.”

“She has a cat, she cuts her bangs when she’s stressed and she bites her fingernails,” Y/N explained to JJ as they picked their seats. “She likes pussy, JJ.”

Emily smacked her arm lightly, all of them laughing hysterically. The boys walked onto the bus to their cackling, desperately wanting to know what was so funny.

“I was just telling them, I met someone and I’d like for you to all meet her soon,” Emily explained to the rest of the team. “I think you’ll really like her.”

“No way,” Derek smiled, high-fiving her. “Congrats dude, welcome to the dark side.”

“You too?” JJ was shocked. “Okay, put your hand up if you’re a straight person,” she stretched her arm into the air. Hotch and Rossi joined her.

“Really?” Spencer and Y/N looked at each other with excitement.

“What the fuck?” JJ was dumbfounded. “How did I not know this?”

“It just never came up before,” Derek shrugged. “Tell us more about this girlfriend of yours, Prentiss.”

“Or,” Y/N cut in. “you could bring her to Vegas in April.”

“Why?” Emily smirked at her.

“If you’re all free on April 23rd,” She teased them along. “Spencer and I would like you to come to our wedding at my parent’s house.”

“Oh!” JJ and Emily freaked, “holy shit!”

“So, you guys are in?” She laughed.

“Yeah!”

For 2 in the morning, the bus was the most excited they had ever been. And Penelope didn’t even join them on this trip. Normally it was her making this kind of excitement, Y/N basked in the happiness that filled the bus.

They discussed little details on the way to their cars, standing in the garage for a good 15 minutes as they planned the dates they’d need to arrange to have off. Hotch knew he could pull some strings to use everyone’s vacation time for a few days.

They exchanged hugs before breaking apart for the night. Planning to return around noon that same day. Giving them a sweet 9 hours of peace and quiet.

“We still need to invite Penelope,” Spencer whispered when they were halfway home. Interrupting the silence that Y/N was enjoying.

Y/N laughed softly, watching him drive with a smile on his face. “I only told the rest of them because Penelope somehow hacked into my calendar app, to plan a baby shower around my schedule, and saw the plans.”

“Of course,” he nodded along.

“So yeah,” she smiled. “She’s told me that she wants to throw me a baby shower/bachelorette party now.”

“That would be nice,” Spencer agreed, squeezing her thigh where his hand was always glued to her.

“If we even get more time off before the wedding, I’m crossing every appendage on my body in the hopes all the psychos take the day off!” She laughed, twisting her arms and legs in a demonstration.

He laughed, leaning against the wheel as he tried to keep his focus on the road. “I love you.”

“You better!” She teased him.

It went quiet again. She could hear the tires on the sandy slush. The grinding of pressure as the snow compressed into the tire tread. Small rocks being flicked up from the wheels, smacking the underbelly of the car as they approached their house.

She sighed as she saw the place, the beautiful green door illuminated by the porch light. Screaming ‘welcome home!’ As they pulled into the parking spot.

Sleep surprisingly came easier to her the more pregnant she got. She was used to laying on her left side now, she actually preferred it, because it means that every morning when she woke up, the sun came in just perfectly to make Spencer glow.

The alarm on Spencer’s table started to beep letting them know it was 10:30. She softly watched him roll over and smacked the machine before turning back to her and closing his eyes once more.

“No.”

She huffed in a silent laugh, getting closer to kiss the tip of his nose. “Time to wake up,” she whispered between kisses spread across his face.

He was trying his best not to smile as she peppered his skin with kisses. Pushing him onto his back so she had more skin to cover. It had been a while since they did anything together.

Between the cases and the baby, and everything Spencer learned about her past trauma. He’s been a little distant, and it was starting to make her worry. Dr. Korrapati promised that this sudden burst of anxiety was normal at this stage of pregnancy. It was what contributed the most to the nesting phase, but it still scared her.

She wanted to kiss him, to run her hand down his chest and palm over his boxers until she couldn’t take it anymore. So she did, just a little more seductively.

She moaned softly as she kissed the patch of skin under his ear and down his neck softly. She dragged her fingers over his skin, looping around his nipple as she sucked on his neck. She lifted her leg lightly over his, trying to get some friction between her legs as she kissed him.

“We should probably just go to work,” Spencer softly interjected.

She sighed, dropping her forehead against his shoulder and letting her shoulders slouch.

“I’m not broken!” She sat straight up as she yelled at him. “Can I please just fuck my boyfriend? I have been horny for Weeks,” she wasn’t sure where the sudden burst of emotion came from.

“Oh,” he sat up too, resting his hand on her back softly. “I didn’t realize you wanted to after everything, and the baby? You’ve had a rough few months.”

She laughed lightly, “Spence, of course I do?”

She looked at him softly, cupping his jaw in her hand. “I’ve had to process my trauma before. Yes, it’s still bothering me, and yes I have new trauma that I need to address with my therapist. But,” she emphasized. “I am a woman with needs, and one of those needs is getting railed before work by Doctor Reid.”

“You’re one hundred percent sure?” Spencer asked again.

She smiled and nodded, pushing him back down against the pillows. She resumed her last position, putting her leg between his so they could grind lightly and make out. “If it gets to be too much, I’ll ask you to stop.”

“Okay,” Spencer looked up at her, brushing her hair behind her ear as she hovered over him. “I love you.”

“Prove it,” she teased him, leaning in and kissing his neck again.

He reached behind her to grab her ass, she had noticed his hands gravitating there more as she gained pregnancy weight. She wasn’t complaining either, the way his hands felt on her skin was glorious.

He was putty in her hands, tilting his head to the side so she could kiss, lick and suck wherever she so pleased. She reached her free hand into his hair while he other kept her steady, in the perfect spot to grind against his boney hip.

He was all gasps and heavy breaths underneath her, she raised her leg lightly dragging it over his hardening erection before putting herself back in place. Just wanting to see how far along he was.

She rolled onto her back then, laying flat, waiting for him. He pushed his underwear to his ankles as he flipped on top of her. She was nothing but giggles as Her Spencer came out to play.

Opening her legs, she greeted him back into her grasp as he hovered over her. Both hands planted against the pillow as he looked down at her. His hair falling into his eyes, she pushed his hair back behind his ears.

“You might need a haircut soon,” she teased him, biting her lip softly.

“Shhh,” he whispered.

She took his right hand from beside her head, gripping him by the wrist and guiding him towards her mouth. Taking his middle and ring finger in, sucking on the digits softly. Making him release a sound she’s never heard before.

She looped her tongue around his fingers, spreading them lightly as she licked a stripe through them. Feeling his skin against her teeth, which only seemed to excite him more.

She pulled off with a pop, he looked mesmerized by the trail of spit that connected her bottom lip to his wet fingers. “Fuck,” he gasped as his breathing hitched.

“You know where to put them,” she whispered up at him, staring into his eyes as she bit her lip.

He kissed her quickly, pulling her forward so he could get the t-shirt she was still wearing off her body, throwing it off the bed as he kissed her neck, sucking a mark into the skin as he pushed his hand into her panties.

“Jesus,” he whispered against her neck as he felt how wet she was. “You weren’t kidding.”

Making her twitch slightly as he used the two fingers that were just in her mouth, to drag up and down on her clit. Rubbing it back and forth between the two knuckles.

“Fuck,” she breathed out as she gripped his hair. Palming his scalp while he kept kissing her neck.

She could feel him grinding against the bed as he kissed her, moaning against the space under her ear as he quickened his finger movements.

“I need you to fuck me, like yesterday,” she panted against his mouth, licking his bottom lip after.

He pulled away from her then, lifting her hips to drag her panties down. Keeping them on one of her ankles as he gripped the base of his cock and sat on his knees.

The sight between her legs was phenomenal. The glow of the sun on the lake through the windows as Spencer stroked himself in front of her.

Suddenly, he took both of her knees in his hands. Pushing them to her chest slightly before flipping her over. Extending her hips as he held her ass up. Kissing each cheek softly before straightening his posture.

“Ready?” He asked, she wasn’t expecting it.

Her face pressed into the pillow as she tried to find the best position to support herself. Pushing her hips back in a silent yes. He understood her body language, lining himself up with her and slowly pushing in.

She pushed back against him as well, moaning as she took all of him. “Finally,” she sighed, wiggling against his hips.

He gripped her hips, pushing her off abruptly before slamming back in. She was shocked, letting out a gasped moan as he fucked into her. Taking the instructions too literally, railing her.

She had never been that loud before in her life. Concerned Rossi would be able to hear them from across the lake, but it didn’t stop her. Only enticing him to keep it up.

She pressed her face into the pillow more as she attempted to reach her clit. She couldn’t, “fuck, Spence?”

“Yeah?” He slowed.

She took his hand off her hip, “can’t reach.” Her breath was erratic as she tried to explain.

“Aw poor bunny,” he teased her, slowing to a grind as his fingers ghosted over her clit. “Can’t get yourself off anymore?”

“Please daddy?” She let it slip, feeling his cock twitch inside of her as she did.

He leaned forward, kissing her shoulder softly. “Tell daddy what you want, use your big girl words.”

She pushed back against him, raising herself from the pillow to look over her shoulder at him. “I was going to say breed me, daddy.” She teased, watching his entire personality change. “But it looks like you already did.”

He licked his lips, pushing his hair out of his face as he shook his head at her. “You’re going to regret that.”

She pressed her face back into the pillow and perched her ass back more, ever the invitation. He ran his hand softly over her asscheek, slapping it before he started to fuck her again, reaching around to rub her clit, like she asked, ever so nicely.

They found their rhythm then, pushing against each other in just the right way. Between her deep breathing and the moans she released, the only other thing she could only hear was the sound of their skin slapping together as Spencer fucked her harder than ever before.

“Fuck, sweet Jesus I love your cock,” she praised him, punching into the pillow as she pushed herself back into him, on all 4’s now.

Using his free hand, he spread his fingers through her hair. Gripping her at the roots and pulling her head back as he slammed into her.

“Yes, daddy,” Y/N panted as she felt herself get closer to the edge. “Right there.”

“Cum for me bunny,” he instructed her, “let me fill your perfect little cunt.”

She came with a shout, pushing back against him as his words pushed her over the edge. Not being able to ever say no to that man, feeling his hips shake as he tried to fuck her through his own orgasm.

He pulled out, flipping her limp body back over so she could lay on her back, releasing the pressure on her stomach. Legs still spread as he observed his handiwork, scooping it up with his fingers and pushing it back inside of her. Making her clench up at the feeling.

“Spence-“

“Too much?” He smirked down at her.

She nodded, catching her breath as he just sat there. Still, on his knees, cock now soft and resting against his leg. She preached herself up on her forearms, shaking her head at him as she bit her lip.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” She asked him.

“I have no idea,” he laughed. “But hypothetically,” he bit his lip and raised his eyebrow. “I wouldn’t mind revisiting that on a later date.”

She laughed, dropping back against the sheets. “Me either.”

—

She waddled from the car to the elevator. A mixture of pregnancy and over-extending her hips, exercising with Spencer. Lamaze class more specifically, if anyone asked.

“I should really start calling you ducky,” Spencer whispered in the elevator.

“I hate you,” she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

“Really?” He teased her, “because if I recall 27 minutes and 15 seconds ago when you were saying ‘fuck, sweet Jesus, I love your cock,’” he whispered into her ear.

The elevator doors opened as her jaw dropped, “notice how I specified which part, Doctor Reid?” She answered abruptly, walking out towards her coworkers.

“So that’s how it’s going to be?” He said as he followed her. Making everyone turn around to see them.

“What’s going on?” Morgan noticed it first.

“Nothing,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Just correcting the genius.”

“On?” Prentiss pried.

“Well this morning she said and I quote-“

“I will cut your balls off and hang them from the mirror in my car,” she snapped, glaring at him as she pointed her finger in his direction.

“Mama’s got claws,” Morgan laughed at them. “Damn.”

Spencer wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek in front of everyone. She turned pink, pretending to be pissed while a smile crept onto her face.

“She loves me,” Spencer smiled, pressing their cheeks together.

“One part, it’s nice to me and doesn’t talk back,” she replied, making everyone laugh as Spencer shook his head.

“Okay, you win,” he put his hands up in surrender as he backed away. Opening the door to the bullpen and disappearing behind his desk.

chapter 23

St. Patrick’s Day was never a holiday that Y/N or Spencer really cared for. Yes, they wore green to work, but other than that they didn’t really see the hype. They were Halloween people.

Will and JJ, on the other hand, went all out.

It was something to do with Will’s love for beer and his frat-boy attitude. Explaining to them that morning in the bullpen that the best parties on his college campus were around St. Patrick’s day and Mardi Gras, making February and March party central in his life.

They walked in with little Henry, decked out in green from head to toe. Green beads around his neck, gold chocolate coins in a basket, and the cutest little shamrock light-up head bopper.

“Look at you!!” Y/N called out to Henry as she walked into the room. Opening her arms up and leaning down to pick him up as he ran into her arms.

“Any Y/N!” Henry called her, not being able to say his T’s yet.

She pressed his tiny cheek against her face as she picked him up and snuggled him against her chest. It was getting harder to pick him up now that she was pregnant but she wasn’t going to miss a Henry snuggle.

“Since when did the FBI consult with leprechauns?” She asked him, booping her nose against him.

“Nooo,” Henry leaned back in her arms, “I’m not a leopard-con,” he tried his best to say the word. Making the team all laugh.

“Well, either way, why’s my favourite little guy here today?”

“Hey?” Spencer complained.

She leaned her elbow into him, “hi unca Spence,” Henry smiled at him. Spencer ran his fingers through Henry’s hair, messing it up under the headband.

“He wanted his godparents to see his outfit before the party at daycare today!” JJ explained with excitement.

Y/N placed him back on his feet, “go on the, show it off!”

He walked around the room, doing a fake model strut as he shook his diapered butt, walking towards the stairs before running back. “Woooow!” Everyone clapped and cheered.

Y/N looked up from Henry’s gaze, seeing Emily in Hotch’s office with a blond woman she didn’t recognize, “what’s going on in there?” She pointed.

“They’ve been in there all morning,” Rossi explained. “I think that’s the girlfriend.”

“How so?” Spencer asked, moving across the room to get a better view through the blinds.

“The way Emily leans against her, hand on her arm like that as she speaks. That’s the same way you and lady boy-wonder act when you’re in there together,” Rossi raised an eyebrow at them.

“Ahh,” Y/N smirked. “I wonder what happened, no one talks to Hotch with the door closed unless they need us to look into something.”

“I’ve gotta go,” Will cut in, scooping Henry up from the carpet with a tight-lipped smile.

“Bye buddy,” Y/N scrunched her nose at him, getting in close to press their noses together. “Have a good day today.”

“Bye, love you,” JJ kissed both her boys and watched them leave the room.

“they’re the best,” Y/N said as she wrapped an arm around JJ.

“Anyone want to go sit and have coffee while we wait for them?” Derek asked prior to a long yawn.

Rossi patted Derek on the back, leading him up the stairs and towards the briefing room. The remaining team members following their lead, discovering fresh donuts and flowers waiting for them.

“A gift for helping in advance, -Noelle” Read the small card on the table.

“Emily’s girlfriend?” JJ pondered, holding the card up and waving it slightly.

“I like her already,” Derek said, kicking his feet back and taking a donut.

Hotch walked in with Emily and Mindy 45 minutes later. Following them was a beautiful blond woman, probably 6’1 even in her flat running shoes. She was wearing cuffed blue skinny jeans and a big Barbie Pink petticoat.

She smiled lightly as she walked in, glueing herself to Emily’s side. “This is Noelle, my partner, Noelle these are my co-workers.”

“Hi!” She waved, “let me guess. Chocolate thunder, Derek Morgan.” She pointed to the nearest person to her.

“Correct,” Derek nodded in her direction.

“You would have to be Penelope Garcia,” she guessed right once again. “Emily was right, your aura is very bright.”

“Oh,” Penelope blushed.

“Y/N and Spencer, she said you’d be basically sitting on top of each other,” making everyone on the team laugh. “JJ, she said you’re like wonder woman, you look more like you could be cast as Super Girl if you ask me.”

JJ blushed, “thank you, Henry would agree.”

“Rossi, I already knew you. I love your books,” she fangirled a little. Something Rossi was incredibly used to.

“Signing hours are from 6-8,” he teased her.

Noelle laughed, her smile wide and toothy. “It’s lovely to meet you all.”

“Noelle has come in today with concerns that local gay men in her circle of friends are going missing. Over the last few holidays, 3 of her friends have disappeared. Dropping all contact after a trip to the bar,” Hotch explained.

“I’m a firefighter,” Noelle explained. “I have a Facebook group of friends who are gay and in the forces in any capacity. Just to let each other know where they’re going, to be safe.”

“Smart system,” Rossi complimented. “But also incredibly easy for someone to pose as trustful to gain access and track them.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Emily’s pressed lip smile portraying just how uncomfortable she was with the situation. “I’ve met our supposed victim number 3. Officer Perry is a great man and we haven’t heard from him since Friday.”

“Where was he going?” Y/N asked.

“He was at the bar with us on Friday for a little, we got a few beers and then he said he was meeting with a guy he met online, he was never big into online dating or even dating in general. He didn’t know how to be an officer and gay at the same time,” Noelle explained the situation fully. “He is one of my best friends, I excused it Saturday when he didn’t call cause I guessed he was having a good time. But when he missed Sunday dinner I knew something was wrong. I begged Emily to let me pitch this to you.”

“I believe you,” Hotch added. “Which is why I’ve asked Mindy Patel from VICAP to join us today.”

Mindy waved, she dressed more like a techie than an agent. Beanie, headphones on her neck and a big black sweater.

“Strauss and I agreed it would be beneficial to have a member of the team solely responsible for going through VICAP coincidences and letting us know. We stumble across too many rare cases thanks to Y/N and Mindy,” Hotch explained. “Mindy Patel is now officially VICAP Liaison. Her office will be across from Garcia’s from now on, she’s going to be our eyes and ears in the missing person world for the time being.”

“I took into account the fact that your friends were all masc for masc, on the police force in some capacity and male obviously,” Mindy explained. “And I found the two men from Valentines Day and New Years, and then more going back every major holiday for the last 2 years as of this St. Patrick’s day.”

“We’ve compiled the data and sent it to Garcia, it’ll be on your tablets shortly,” Hotch confirmed. “I’d like everyone to split up into teams and take an apartment of the most recent 3 victims. Prentiss and Rossi, you get New Years’.”

“Yes sir,” Emily agreed. “Noelle can stay here with Penelope for insight.”

“Yes. Reid, Y/N and Morgan, you’ll take officer Perry’s apartment. It’s the freshest so I need the best eyes.”

“Absolutely,” they replied in unison.

“Myself and JJ are going to the Valentines Day abduction,” check in with Garcia when you need to, fill me in on everything. Good luck.”

—

“Yeah a cop lives here,” Y/N laughed as she searched through the carefully organized home. Combing the place over for the slightest abnormality.

“He definitely wasn’t taken,” Morgan agreed. “He went willingly and never made it home.”

Dust was starting to settle on his possessions. Photos on the wall looked blurry as the sun shined through the windows. It smelled stale, no one had opened the windows in a while and the man who lived here worked out.

His clothing was organized by category. His laundry had 3 separate baskets for darks, lights and colours. Inside his bedside drawers, all his condoms were lined up by type. He was definitely anal about something.

“Guys?” Spencer called from the office.

Morgan and Y/N followed the sound of his voice, seeing him hunched over an iMac. “I moved the mouse and it’s open and unlocked.”

“But you don’t know what to do?” She teased him.

“Yeah,” he blushed. Watching Y/N sit in the desk chair and start looking through his things.

“His Facebook is pretty basic, he checked in at the bar with a photo here of him with Emily and Noelle, and then he went offline. He doesn’t have Twitter or Tumblr logged in, so I’m guessing he doesn’t have that,” Y/N explains as she stalked his activity. “In his history, your male basics. Case research, pornhub, Facebook, Hotmail… hold on.”

She read through all the subjects, all looking pretty normal. “What would a gay man hiding his sex life from his co-workers disguise his emails as?”

“Work-out appointments,” Morgan answered almost too quickly.

‘Workout’ she typed into the search bar. Seeing 15 messages from another man named [email protected]. “got him, call Garcia.”

“Hey baby girl,” Derek spoke softly as she answered. “We got Jensen Perry’s computer open, his email shows he’s been working out with a [email protected].”

“Already working my finger magic,” she teased him. Hanging up before he could say anything back.

“That woman will be the death of me,” he sighed.

“I don’t think we’ll find anything else here, our best bet is with Garcia,” Y/N admitted as she closed all the windows. “Wait,” she pulled up the search and typed in ‘find my iPhone,’ “if he has a Mac he has an iPhone, not many people blend their tech.”

Last ping: 2256 Sheerly Lane, Friday at 23:56.

“I’ll call Hotch while you drive,” Y/N said, pulling out her phone and following the men out the door.

Morgan followed the GPS 15 minutes down the street to an apartment complex. It was worn down and looked as if no one had taken care of it in the last 25 years. “I’m calling Garcia before you go in, I don’t feel good about this.”

“Hey doll,” Garcia’s cheery voice was a nice refresher.

“Hey, do you have any info on who owns and occupies 2256, Sheerly Lane?” Y/N asked softly. “Also send backup to this location, it’s where Perry’s iPhone is apparently and it looks sketchy as hell.”

She heard the clicking of the keys before she heard Garcia’s reply. “Yep, we have 1 occupant. Amy Romano, 46, left the building after her mother died. She’s been living there in room 333 for years, not renting any rooms out at all in the last 3 years.”

“A woman?” Morgan was shocked.

“Must be why we’ve never found the bodies, female serial killers are 90% less likely to ever be caught,” Reid added his fun fact, one she’s heard from him a handful of times before.

“Exactly,” Y/N agreed. “What do we know about her?”

“She’s an interesting one,” Garcia’s tone changed. “Her father was a minister, big bible freak. Her mother was the maid here at the hotel before being given the deed from the original owner’s family. She died in 1988.”

“How much of the religious upbringing rubbed off on her?”

“Enough to make her have multiple psychotic breaks, being diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 15,” Garcia gained more insight. “Claimed to have been visited by God, and was told sinners are punished by word of god. That one day she would be the one to follow his word for the righteous man.”

“What if she’s doing her own form of conversion therapy?” Y/N gasped. “She’s not killing them. She’s following god’s word and freeing them from their sins. This is the perfect place to keep them. Locking them in rooms away from each other, secluding them and only subjecting them to a female for long periods of time.”

“Garcia, we need back up right now,” Morgan stressed.

“they’re 4 minutes out, good luck in there my babies.”

“See you soon, baby girl.”

Being left out of raids was weird to her, watching Spencer put on a bullet-proof vest and load his gun without her cover made her anxious. Luckily, she got to stand with JJ outside. Watching the building as they listened over their radiofrequency.

“Clear,” Morgan spoke over the system.

“Clear here as well,” Hotch said. “Meet me at the stairwell.”

“I hate this,” Y/N whispered.

JJ ran her hand along Y/N’s back softly, “me too.”

“Floor 3, room 33,” Hotch explained. “I’ll kick in the door, Morgan, you enter first. Spencer and Prentiss, follow our lead.”

Not having a visual was the worst part. There was no way to know where they were or who was there. They worked on sounds, if and when the team decided to speak.

“1, 2, 3,” Morgan whispered before they heard the door smash in. “FBI!”

Then it was silent again, too quiet for anyone’s liking, staring up at the third floor trying to hear everything in the neighbourhood.

“Amy Romano put the gun down!”

“No!” They heard before 4 shots were fired.

Y/N’s heart was in her throat; she couldn’t hear anything going on inside. The officers asked over the radio for updates, hearing nothing in return. Y/N couldn’t stop herself from running towards the apartment buildings before anyone could catch her. Up 3 flights of stairs, drawing her gun and walking towards the room.

Morgan was shot in the arm, down. Prentiss, hiding behind a table with Morgan and Spencer as she tried to stop the bleeding. Hotch in the unsub’s grasp, fighting for a gun.

Hotch noticed Y/N in the doorway. Kicking the unsub down. Y/N wrapped her arm around the unsub’s neck, putting her in a headlock as Hotch attempted to cuff her. She struggled like a wet fish against them, slipping out of her grasp and falling to the floor.

“If God wants to tell me to stop, he’ll tell me himself!” She screamed.

Y/N presses her gun to her head, “he just did.”

“Amy Romano you’re under arrest for the kidnapping of 24 men, attempted murder of a federal agent and resisting arrest,” Hotch explained as he cuffed her.

“Y/N!” Spencer stood up, looking at her like she was the crazy person. “We agreed, 3rd trimester, no fieldwork.”

“You didn’t reply on the radio and suddenly I was here,” Y/N explained, “I’m sorry.”

“We need EMTs, Morgan’s been shot in the arm. The bleeding is under control, just hurry.” Prentiss ordered over the radio.

“Y/L/N is going to need to get checked as well,” Spencer added.

“Why?”

“You ran up three flights of stairs, wrestled an unsub and got elbowed in the side,” Spencer explained, taking her hand and leading her out of the room.

“I’m sorry, I get it now I really do,” Y/N stopped him in the hallway, holding him in her arms. “I don’t like when I can’t see that you’re safe.”

Spencer kissed the top of her head, “I love you.”

“The baby’s kicking,” she replied softly, “that’s good right? 4 movements in 30 minutes after activity is a good thing.”

Spencer laughed, pulling back to feel her belly. “I’m sure he’s all hopped up on adrenaline now, come on let’s get him looked at quickly.”

—

They found 16 of the 24 men alive and in critical condition inside the apartment building. SCSI was canvassing the scene with local cops, taping up the building and surrounding property while the city discussed demolishing the building altogether.

Y/N was able to witness Noelle running into Jensen Perry’s arms, hugging him as they cried in his hospital bed. Y/N could imagine the trauma he was going through, the terror and the fear of something you really don’t want, happening anyway.

“Why do people do terrible things in the name of God?” Y/N whispered towards Spencer, looking up at him with soft eyes. Truly curious.

“The religious system runs similarly to cults, they believe the words are to be followed and thus they will gain entrance to heaven. If there’s one thing humans are afraid of more than dying, it’s internal damnation. Holding the fact that they will suffer in death over their head is a way to get them to do anything.” Spencer explained softly. “With the right person, the wrong message can actually sound like a pretty good thing.”

Y/N let out a deep sigh, “how do you raise a good child in a fucked up world?”

“Matthew, 18; 1 through 5, At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Spencer repeated the bible verse softly. “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.”

Y/N smiled, “I like that.”

“He was always supposed to be good, he has you as his mother.”

chapter 24

April rolled around out of nowhere. Suddenly the snow had all melted, the birds were returning, and the trees were starting to bud thanks to the week of thunderstorms.

Love was in the air, both in the wild and in Y/N’s life.

The wedding’s in 2 weeks and she’s growing daily. She wanted to wait till the last possible moment to get her dress. Wanting it to actually fit over her stomach on the big day without any struggle.

Being placed on office duty for the rest of her pregnancy made it easier, not being allowed to leave Mindy and Penelope's side, under direct order from Aaron Hotchner. She was starting to notice that the more pregnant she got, the more the men of the team wanted to protect her as well.

JJ said it was the same for her the first time, all the alpha personalities came out around the third trimester. It was like they didn’t quite register that a woman on the team was pregnant till it was abundantly clear.

The girls had all agreed to go to the dress store with Y/N when they had a free afternoon, but that didn’t seem to be happening any time soon. Y/N ended up going by herself between cases while Spencer was on a flight, trying on 6 different dresses before she found one that made her happy.

The sales associate was being extra nice to her, knowing she had both a big budget and no time. It was an easy sale, but this wasn’t an easy decision.

She tried a sleeveless, skin-tight number on first. Not being able to even move once she got in it, not even bothering to look in the mirror. It wasn’t right, that was for sure.

Eventually, by #5 they had an idea of what she wanted. Long sleeves to hide her stretch marks, it had to be flowy but still show off the bump. And she wanted lace, embroidery even. Something that made it different, something that was more like her. Always growing, changing, adapting.

She was wandering the racks when she saw it.

It was so long, the train had to be at least 6 feet. It was light, made with sheer fabric so it would twist and flow with whatever direction she ran or danced. She could imagine walking through the grass with the train flowing behind her with purpose.

The most wonderful aspect was the long sleeves and the neckline. Cupping her chest perfectly with a nice ribbon right above her bump. The entire dress reminded her of something, the floral embroidery sending her back to a dress she remembers from her childhood, not able to place it but knowing it in her heart.

She looked in the mirror at herself, she felt beautiful. She shook her head lightly as a tear fell down her cheek. “It’s perfect,” she whispered.

The sales associate shook a big bell then, causing everyone to look at her and cheer. “Are you saying yes?” She asked, as cheesy as it was, she loved it.

“Yes!” She cheered back, feeling the love from everyone in the store.

The dress was huge, she laid the bag against her passenger seat and stared at it for a while. It felt a little crazy that she was getting married in a few days, even crazier that she was having a baby in 2 months.

Her phone rang as she started to leave. “Hewwo?” She answered softly, knowing it was Spencer.

“I just got home, where are you?”

“Oh,” she smiled. “Penelope said you guys wouldn’t be back until 9, I went and picked out a dress.”

“Alone?” He sounded sad.

“It was better this way, I picked it for me and no one else,” she reassured him. “I’m on my way home now though baby, I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, drive safe. I love you,” Spencer replied, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

“Love you too,” she hung up.

She sighed, turning on the stereo and driving home to her favourite albums. Driving alone was different for her now, she used to love just escaping into the Virginia wilderness, picking a road and an album and just going somewhere.

Driving with Spencer meant silence, hand-holding, humming and ha-ing as he discovered new facts that intrigued him. She loved it, the ambiance of Doctor Spencer Reid was not something you could replicate, it was special and calming and wonderful.

She couldn’t wait to get home to him.

He was waiting on the front porch as she rolled into the driveway. Joining her at the car, wanting to help her carry her things inside. “Hi,” she smiled at him as she stepped out.

He pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek softly. “Want some help?”

“If you don’t mind carrying in my dress, I need to pee so bad!” She said, almost about to run inside when he stopped her.

“Like how bad?” He asked.

“Excuse me?”

“If you were to get surprised would you pee your pants?” He tried not to laugh as he asked.

“Spence?”

“Just go in,” he said softly.

She sighed, knowing what this meant. Walking up the stairs slowly, turning the doorknob just as slow. Not ready to have her eardrums blown out.

“Surprise!!”

Sure enough, there were balloons and flowers and her friends gathered all inside her front hall. “Oh my god?”

Penelope wrapped her in a hug first, “your first baby shower has to be special!”

“You guys really didn’t have to do this?” She was so shocked to be getting attention that she felt a little embarrassed.

“We wanted to,” JJ hugged her next, their bumps too big to hug normally, opting for more of a side snuggle. “I got you something to change into before we get started.”

Y/N took the small blue bag from her, kicking her shoes off before they went upstairs. Spencer joining with her wedding dress, hanging it in the closet and slipping back downstairs, unnoticed.

Y/N opened the gift bag on her bed, JJ looked around the room for the first time ever. Looking at the photos of their first day of kindergarten on the wall, the artwork they chose. How Spencer wrote notes to her on the mirror with whiteboard markers.

“You guys are really cute,” she smiled.

“Thanks,” she smiled.

Finally taking the dress out of the bag, it was just something simple. Blue with pink flowers. Something she’d definitely pick out on her own. “This is so beautiful!”

“I got it when I was pregnant with Henry and never had a chance to wear it,” She smiled, “thought that you’d like it more.”

Y/N hugged her, “seriously this is the best thing you guys could’ve done for me!”

“I’m also going to need a pink dress,” JJ said softly in her grasp.

“No?” Y/N was shocked. “Really a mini JJ?”

“Yeah,” she smiled softly. “Hurry up we have more surprises for you downstairs!”

—

It took her longer than she hoped to get changed. The baby was just big enough to make her winded all the time now. Having to stop and take a breather just from taking her pants off. Not to mention the struggle of standing up after peeing.

When she finally made it back down the stairs on her swollen feet, she heard a familiar giggle that she loved very much. “You didn’t?”

JJ smiled, “it was Rossi and Will, they flew them all in and got them here.”

Her parents, brothers and wives were all in the kitchen waiting for her. Then she saw Diana, who was pressed up close to Spencer having a conversation in their own little world.

She walked in and cried, hugging her parents for the first time in 5 months. Showing off her big baby bump and chunky face for the first time too.

“You look amazing!” Her mom complimented her, taking her hand and making her spin slowly.

“Thank you, I feel huge,” she smiled. “I can’t believe you guys are here, I’m literally coming home in 2 weeks!”

“When David Rossi calls you and says he has a jet picking us up, you don’t just say no,” her father laughed, wrapping his arm around Rossi. They were going to be something else together.

She gave Diana a big hug when she could, watching her rub her belly and talk to the baby through her stomach for a good 10 minutes. It was so cute, everyone in the room watched and swooned. Secretly always hoping Spencer’s family got a moment like this.

After dealing with the Riley Jenkins case, and Gideon leaving, they worried for him. They never expected him to just show up one day with a girl and start the rest of his life the way he did. But it just made sense. He sped through school and early adulthood well before Y/N, now they’re moving fast, just together.

They had pizza for dinner, spreading 6 different kinds across the counter and telling everyone to dig in. Y/N took a slice and walked around, mingling with everyone to ensure she thanked them for coming.

“Henry!” She finally found him with Chloe and Lizzie. He ran into her arms, giving her a big hug. “Did you meet my niece?”

“You’re my any?” He questioned her right back.

“Come here Clo,” she called her over, huddling them both in close to her. “You both get to call me aunty Y/N, isn’t that so cool? You’re new friends and you share an aunty!”

Chloe gave her a big hug, she was getting bigger and bigger every day, about to turn 4 in a few months. It felt a little crazy, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“How are you?” She asked her softly.

“I’m good,” she whispered at her, smiling before hiding her face in her dress.

“Are you having fun here? Did you meet buddy yet?”

“No!” Chloe’s face lit up.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” She gasped at them both, getting back up to her feet and walking with them to where Buddy hid in the laundry room.

He was curled into a ball in a basket of towels, peaceful in the quietest room in the house.

Chloe and Henry took turns petting Buddy, kissing his head and playing with his tail, it was good for him to get a little used to grabby kid's hands. She was a little worried about how he’d handle a baby, but he was a chill cat he never really cared about attention as long as he was fed.

Eventually, JJ and Lizzie found them, peeling them away from the cat with the promise of cake while Y/N opened her gifts from everyone.

Everyone was watching her as she sat down in the living room, feeling a little anxious like she had to perform for them or something. Spencer finally joined her on the couch then, wrapping his arm around her in a soothing motion.

“So,” Garcia started. “I took it upon myself to organize the party but I didn’t just stop there, I also emailed everyone a link to a chart where they could pick the category of gift they got you so that we avoided repeats and got everything you would need.”

“This is all so much,” she turned bright pink. “You guys really didn’t have to I feel like I haven’t bought anything for myself since I met Spencer.”

“Nonsense!” Penelope hushed her. “Here, pick whatever one grabs your fancy.”

Y/N’s eyes raked over the pile of gifts, “um that big one over there, why not.”

It was a big blue bag, stuffed to the brim with tissue paper. The card on the handle was signed, she opened it to find 'from; Erin Strauss' on it. “Oh?”

“She couldn’t come but she passed that along on behalf of the section,” Hotch explained.

Y/N didn’t waste any time opening it. Finding brand named everything that she would need for breastfeeding, losing her mind at the never-ending bag.

Almost every gift was the same, all themed and absolutely filled. She was never going to have to buy anything for Matthew, she got it all today.

Hotch and Haley got her a babies bath essentials set. Her parents equipped her with every form of linen she would ever need for a baby, as well as a quilt made just for Matthew.

Penelope bought easily $400 in clothes for him over the past 7 months, with the promise of not stopping any time soon. Derek and Emily got together to buy them an all-terrain stroller, for the walks they expect them to take down the back roads. Emily’s girlfriend even brought a mom after-care set for her.

Diana’s gift made her cry the most, opening the box to find old copies of childhood books. “Those were all Spencers when he was a child,” she explained softly. “His love for the world started with those stories, I would like for Matthew to know them too.”

“Absolutely,” Y/N wiped the tears off her face, leaning over to hug her. “If Matty ends up being even half as wonderful as Spencer I’ll be grateful.”

“Spencer, did you get her anything?” Diana asked him softly as she was still mid embrace with Y/N.

“It’s in the garage,” Spencer smiled.

She looked at him with excitement, “you didn’t!”

“I might have,” he smiled.

“What?” Rossi asked, hating suspense more than anyone on the team.

“I was joking about wanting to get an SUV and become a soccer mom,” Y/N’s whole face lit up. “Did you get me a soccer mom mobile?”

He smiled back at her, “here.”

She held the key in her hand, her car was old as hell. She has had it since she moved to Virginia and even then it was a 2004 model. She had never had a new car, with the fresh car smell and clean everything!

“I am so overwhelmed,” she announced, bouncing a little in her seat as she shook her hands. Stimming just a small amount in front of everyone in all the excitement.

“We’re all done celebrating you now, I think we can start getting out of your hair, right guys?” JJ stood and pressured everyone that wasn’t relying on their house for the night, out the door.

Penelope helped Debbie and Diana clean everything up around the house. Peeling Henry and Chloe away from each other was the most difficult part of the night, becoming fast friends and wanting to look at books all night together in uncle Spencers library.

Rossi offered to let her brother Levi and his wife stay at his place while Diana and Y/N’s parents took the guest room in her home. Harrison and Faith driving back to Fort Meade to their own house.

—

Y/N and Spencer sat up in their bed, leaning against the headboard as they listened to the quiet of their house. Their co-workers were gone, their parents were settled in the guest rooms and most likely still awake from the time difference. The day had been so crazy that she barely had time to wrap her head around it.

“So…” Y/N cut the awkward silence. “Wanna make out?”

He laughed at her, shaking his head. “Remember the last time you asked me to do that?”

“Yeah, I lost my virginity,” she whispered back at him. A little scared that everyone could hear them talking.

“We can't,” Spencer looked at her with wide eyes. “It's bad enough my mother knows I’ve had sex once let alone possibly hearing us.”

He nudged him a little, crawling into his lap and sitting there softly. Her belly pressed against him, filling the space between them as she held his face in her hands.

“They’re on the other side of the house,” she pouted. “Just make out with me?”

He kissed her quickly once, “why are you so needy tonight?”

“All day I’ve had everyone's attention but yours,” she explained softly. “I missed you and I want my Spencer time.”

He couldn’t say no to that, because he felt the exact same way. He ran his hands up her thighs, over her hips and finally resting them on her back. She ran her thumbs over Spencer's cheeks, looking at him softly as she tilted her head to really admire him.

His lips were perfect, his nose was adorable. The way his stubble grew in and darkened his jaw was amazing. His bone structure, his eye colour, the way his hair just fell flawlessly into place with 0 effort. She sighed as she looked at him.

“I love you,” she whispered, biting back a smile as she waited for his response.

“I love you,” he giggled as he looked right back at her. It almost felt more intimate than sex, just staring into each other's eyes in a dimly lit bedroom, in the middle of the night.

She ran her hands up into his hair, combing her fingers through it. He tilted his head back every time, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling. She was about to smile when she got a sharp shooting pain in her hips.

“Oh, my, god,” she breathed out. “Ouch?” She scrunched her face with the pain as the sharpness dulled into the bone, just feeling uncomfortable as she tensed up in his lap. She didn’t even realize she was tugging on his hair in response to the pain.

“What?” Spencer asked, concerned as all hell.

“I think that was Braxton hicks? It was like everything down there just lit up in pain,” she explained with a horrified look on her face.

He ran his hands softly over her hips, soothing the skin in an attempt to help. “Are they bad?”

“It just feels like a pinched nerve at first and then a dull ache, it’s not the worst. I don’t enjoy it that's for sure,” she laughed a little louder. “God, I hope he’s kind to me on the way out.”

“I was doing research into the best drugs and techniques for birth for mothers that don’t want any drugs either because they’re sober or they don’t want to be removed from the moment,” Spencer explained softly. “There are a lot of options if you want to look into them with me this week?”

“Of course you did,” she smiled at him once again, feeling a bit better. “We also have to pack the baby’s go-bag.”

Spencer laughed at the way she phrased it. “Isn’t it just a hospital bag and a diaper bag?”

“No, it’s a mission to have a baby. It’s a go-bag.”

They kept giggling with each other over the dumbest things, staring at smiling as they laughed. Spencer’s hands roamed her back while she poked his face. Happily just talking in each other's space about the most random shit.

It was what she loved the most about him, that they could equally ramble about what they found interesting and the other felt just as excited about learning something new. They had mutual respect for each other's interests and feelings that ran deeper than most, truly loving every word that left their partner's mouth.

By the time they settled against the pillows and attempted to sleep it was half 1 in the morning. They turned all the lights out and still just stared at each other.

She booped his nose softly with her own, watching him scrunch his face as a result before giggling again.

“Do you have any idea what the case tomorrow will be?” She was only asking because she wanted more time with him, needing to find every topic to bring up so that the night never ended.

“Mindy’s pitching something to us tomorrow again,” he whispered. “You’ll be good at this one.”

“Oh I’m excited now okay, goodnight,” she closed her eyes and pretended to snore, making him snuggle in and wrap her arms around him, pulling her in close the way they liked it.

“I love you, bunny,” he said one last time for the night.

She sighed as she settled into him, “I love you more Spence.”

#hypothetically #spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader

97 notes · View notes

grailfinders · 3 years ago

Text

Fate and Phantasms #178

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the beach’s demon king of the sixth heaven, Oda Nobunaga (Berserker)! This extra spicy Nobu is a Swords Bard to make her axe a little more literal while still grabbing the freaking spaceship we need to build, a Four Elements Monk to grab that giant flaming skeleton, and just a bit of Fighter for high-speed guitar skills that would make Hellshake Yano weep with jealousy.

Check out her build breakdown here, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Team Tyrannical Shooting Star... again.

Race and Background

Nobu is still a Variant Human, giving her +1 Wisdom and Charisma. The Deception proficiency she gets is also super useful for your fool’s tactics, as is the Mobile feat, which gives you an extra 10′ of movement each move action, and you can escape from enemies you’ve attacked this turn without dealing with their attacks of opportunity.

She gets the Entertainer background this time though so she can rock out on the beach with proficiency in Acrobatics and Performance.

Ability Scores

Nobu’s Charisma is top notch, which isn’t surprising. She really knows how to make an entrance. After that is Dexterity, because playing a guitar is hard, but playing one with a chainsaw attached is even harder. The fact you still have both hands is tribute to your skills. Your Dexterity is next, your primary fuel for that fire is... you. A lesser servant would already be charcoal by now. Your Wisdom isn’t terrible, though that’s mostly for multiclassing. Your Strength’s a bit low, but your weapon’s damage comes from being a chainsaw more than you swinging it. Finally, dump Intelligence. You’re still Nobu, and you’re also a berserker this time around.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: We’re starting off as a fighter mostly for the weapon proficiencies, but the extra HP and concentration buff doesn’t hurt either. You get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two skills- Insight will help make you a lot smarter than you look, and Intimidation is just really easy when you have a giant flaming skeleton backup singer.

You also get a Fighting Style, so grab Superior Technique to throw out a Distracting Strike once per short rest. When you hit a target with a distracting strike, you’ll deal more damage, and the next non-you creature to target it gets advantage.

You also get a Second Wind you can use as a bonus action once per short rest for a bit of healing. This isn’t even the last healing thing you get- I don’t know why you’ve got Garden of Avalon attached to a skill, and honestly I don’t care. It’s awesome.

2. Monk 1: One thing fighter doesn’t have going for it is the ability to duke it out in a T-shirt. Monk fixes that handily with Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC based on your Dexterity and Wisdom. It’s... not a huge boost, but it’s something?

Even better, you get Martial Arts, so now you can use your dexterity instead of strength to attack with your monk weapons. A guitar/cd player/chainsaw isn’t a monk weapon yet, but at least your punches will land.

3. Monk 2: At second level, monks can use their Ki for all sorts of things on their bonus action- dash, disengage, dodge, or attack twice as a bonus action, by spending ki points! You get Monk Level ki points per short rest. You also get Unarmored Movement, making you even faster while not wearing any kind of armor.

Most importantly, you can turn your axe into a Dedicated Weapon over a long rest, turning any non-two handed or heavy weapon into a monk weapon. Battleaxes are versatile, not two-handed, so now you’ve got an axe-sized axe that you can really use. And it only took three levels!

4. Fighter 2: We’re popping back to fighter one last time for Action Surge, giving you a second action on a turn once per short rest. I don’t know what qualifies as a “sick guitar solo” in D&D, but I hope playing twice within the same six seconds counts.

5. Bard 1: Now that you’ve got your speed up, your music should be a bit more magical. First level bards can use Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action, giving your allies a d6 to use on an attack, check, or save. You get Charisma Modifier inspiration dice to hand out per long rest. You also learn a couple Spells that will put your high Charisma to use.

Grab Vicious Mockery and Bane to throw people off their game, and Prestidigitation so you can do whatever you want to with minor magical effects. You also get Heroism and Cure Wounds for more party support, Faerie Fire for just a touch of flame right off the bat.

You also get one more skill proficiency, so grab History. You’re not an academic, but you are a historical figure.

6. Bard 2: Second level bards are Jacks of All Trades, adding half their proficiency to checks you’re not proficient with. You also get a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to healing done over short rests. We’re still a ways away from your giant flaming skeleton, but for now you can use Silent Image so it looks like you have one.

7. Bard 3: We debated a lot between making you a Swords bard or a Valor bard, but in the end the former won out so you can make your weapon your casting implement. Thanks to your new Dueling fighting style, you can play the axe one-handed just as well as you do with two hands, and you also get Blade Flourishes using your Inspiration. When you take the attack action, your movement increases by 10′, and you can spend an inspiration die to deal extra damage and get another effect. A Defensive Flourish adds the roll to your AC for a round, a Slashing Flourish deals the extra damage to nearby creatures as well, and the Mobile Flourish pushes the creature away, and you can use your reaction to follow them.

You get Expertise in Performance and Deception, doubling your proficiency bonus in those checks. You also learn the second level spell Heat Metal. Real fire? In a fire-themed character build? Wild!

8. Bard 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity for higher AC and better attacks. You can also use Minor Illusion for those times you want a fire skeleton, but you can’t waste a spell slot. If you want another second level spell, use Pyrotechnics to make, well, pyrotechnics. You can put out a small area of existing fire, and/or you can create Fireworks or Smoke from that area. The former forces a constitution save (DC 8 + Proficiency + charisma mod) on nearby creatures or they’re blinded for a round, and the latter creates a smoke cloud that creates a heavily obscured area for up to a minute.

9. Monk 3: Now that we’ve got a good lineup of music set to go, let’s finally get the skeleton. As a Four Elements monk, you’re a Disciple of the Elements, giving you two Elemental Disciplines. Elemental Attunement is mandatory, and it gives you several small effects, including the ability to create small fires as an action. More importantly, you can spend a ki point to turn your arms into Fangs of the Fire Snake, making your unarmed attacks deal fire damage for the turn, and your reach increases by 10′ for the turn. On top of that, you can spend even more ki points to deal more damage with each hit. They don’t specify the attacks are coming from a giant skeleton, but I’m pretty sure that’s an oversight.

You can also use your reaction to Deflect Missiles and reduce incoming damage from arrows. If you reduce it to zero, you can throw it back. Yeah, it’s okay. I’m still thinking about the fire skeleton though.

10. Monk 4: The ASIs are coming hard and heavy right now, so bump up your Dexterity for better armor and attacks. You also get to Slow Fall as a reaction, so jumping out a building isn’t quite as stupid an idea for you.

11. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an Extra Attack for more punches each action. That means you’ve got two in a normal turn, three with martial arts, four with flurry of blows, and six with an Action surge. You also get to turn those punches into Stunning Strikes, forcing a constitution save on the target to avoid getting stunned for a round. That save’s based on your wisdom though, so don’t expect miracles.

12. Bard 5: Bouncing back to bard real quick makes your Bardic Inspiration stronger, turning all those dice into d8s. That buffs your flourish power, and your party support. As a bonus, you become a Font of Inspiration, so those dice recharge on short rests too!

Really this is just a banner level for you, since with third level spells you can also grab Major Image to create a really big skeleton that actually feels hot!

13. Bard 6: Sixth level bards get pretty much nothing, ‘cause your extra attack doesn’t stack. You also get a Countercharm, I guess. Spend your action to give advantage to allies dealing with Fear and Charm effects.

If you want to do that and still be useful, spend a minute to give your allies a Motivational Speech -er, concert- to give them temporary HP and advantage on wisdom saves. If they’re hit by an attack, they also get advantage on their next attack too. The spell ends for everyone after an hour, or for a creature after their temporary HP is destroyed.

14. Bard 7: Seventh level bards get fourth level spells, like Hallucinatory Terrain. I know nobuserker won’t get the ability to set fields on fire for a while, but futureproofing is a good habit to get into.

15. Monk 6: Hopping back over to monk real quick for some Ki-Empowered Strikes, making your fists magical for overcoming resistance. You also get one more Elemental Discipline, and Sweeping Cinder Strike gives you Burning Hands for the low low cost of 2 ki points per cast. You can also spend an extra ki point to upcharge it, but honestly that’s more trouble than it’s worth.

16. Bard 8: Another ASI! Use this one to power up your Charisma for stronger heals, stronger spells, and more inspiration. You can also cast Phantasmal Killer so Skelly can go kill people on his own.

17. Bard 9: Your Song of Rest grows to a d8 as well, for sicker riffs while you’re jamming. You can also Animate Objects, so now you can really put the “chain” back in your chainsaw and go scooting around.

18. Bard 10: Your Bardic Inspiration grows one last time to a d10, and you get Magical Secrets, two spells from any class. (You also get a cantrip, so.. True Strike, why not.)

You also learn the spell Find Greater Steed so you can ride in style in your own customizable rocket. I’d recommend a Griffon, but anything with a flying speed is good. You also get Haste to make that griffon more rocket-y, doubling a target creature’s speed, giving it an extra action, advantage on dex saves and checks, and it’s AC goes up by 2. You’ll have to let the engines cool afterwards though, it’ll have to take a turn off once the spell ends. Also, make sure you keep that thing low to the ground, unless you want to get pancaked by Ishtar.

Also, more Expertise. Perfect your atsumori with Acrobatics and your cool poses with Intimidation.

19. Monk 7: It took a while to get here, but you finally get Evasion! Now your dexterity saves are super good, with failures only dealing half damage and successes avoiding all damage! You also get a Stillness of Mind that lets you end charming and frightening effects on yourself. Madness enhancement is one hell of a drug.

20. Monk 8: Your capstone level is one last ASI, and if you made it this far you deserve a pat on the back. And also the Tough feat for 40 extra HP.

Pros:

With support from your fighting techniques and bard spells plus damage from your monk stuff, you’ve got a lot of variety, so you can fill out any niche your party doesn’t have covered.

Being a mobile monk means you’re fast as hell and hard to retaliate against, making you perfect at hit and run tactics. Use that action surge for a burst of activity, then run off before anyone knows what happened.

Despite being a berserker you have a lot of support options and can fit a lot of roles, from preventing status effects with countercharm & motivational speech to healing with cure wounds to weakening enemies with vicious mockery, bane, and distracting strikes.

Cons:

A less generous person might say this build is too Cluttered. You’ve got inspiration and martial arts fighting for your bonus action, and while you can do many things, there are more dedicated builds that do them better.

This is in part due to limited resources for your best abilities, mostly tied to short rests. With limited action surges, distracting strikes, flourishes, and fire snake fangs, you’ve got a short fuse, and it’ll take work to make sure you don’t burn out before the fighting’s over.

Your ability scores are similarly spread out in all directions, with your wisdom being the big loser. This means that if you can’t outrun someone you’ll be an easy target with an AC of only 15, and your monk abilities like Sweeping Cinder Strike and Stunning Strike aren’t nearly as useful as they should be.

#Fate Grand Order #FGO #DND #D&D 5e #Oda Nobunaga #Monk #Fighter #Bard

35 notes · View notes

so-writing · 4 years ago

Text

Things You Never Show - Rafe Cameron x Reader x JJ Maybank (Outer Banks)

I was in my BSB feels, listening to ‘Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely’ and this happened. Not proofread so mistakes most likely

Summary: You are a pogue dating Rafe Cameron and, as expected, chaos ensues.

You could be the center of attention at a party and still feel ignored.

Rafe was a good boyfriend, at best, half of the time. When the two of you were alone, he was more than happy to fulfill your every desire and make you feel like you were on top of the world. He made sure you were satisfied in every way and it was heaven to you.

But when you were out and about, like at a kegger in the boneyard, Rafe acted like a stranger.

“You know he treats you like shit, right?”

A figure you didn’t immediately recognize dropped down beside you on the edge of the dock you were seated on, dipping your toes into the water.

“He’s an asshole and you deserve better.”

You were about to protest until you looked toward the stranger and met the eyes of JJ Maybank. The boy you’d pined after for years when you were younger. Even though you were past your crush, you couldn’t shake his gaze.

“Cameron is a piece of shit, you know.”

“He’s not,” you defended, “he just doesn’t know any better.”

“He doesn’t know that he shouldn’t flirt carelessly with other girls when he’s obviously locked down? He’s an asshole.”

You should’ve protested JJ’s musings but you knew he was right and that there was no defending Rafe.

“Maybe, but he’s my asshole.”

It was a weak argument, confirmed by the chuckle JJ released before he took a hit of his blunt.

“There are about a million people in the world that would treat you better than Rafe, but you’re stuck on baby money for reasons I couldn’t possibly understand.”

JJ turned his head and blew smoke away from you before he stood up, ruffled your hair and made his way back to the party.

The friendship between you and the other pogues had existed for as long as you could remember and you weren’t quite sure when JJ became someone you looked at just a little differently. You harbored secret feelings that you were never able to spill and they eventually faded when you matured some and started noticing other boys.

Rafe Cameron was one of those boys. He didn’t attend Kildare Public, his parenting opting instead to send him to the fancy private school that all the kooks seemed to attend, but he regularly showed up at boneyard parties and that was when he first caught your eye.

Two years older than you and a haughty asshole, he was exactly what you thought you wanted. Rafe being and kook and you a pogue, you assumed he wouldn’t be interested at all but that wasn’t the case and not much time had gone by until you were spending your nights in his bed.

The first time you went public as a couple was over a year ago and you were now comfortable in feeling lonely a lot of the time, despite what felt like the entire world knowing you were attached to Rafe Cameron.

“But he’s my asshole,” you said to yourself when JJ had gone, “what a fucking stupid excuse.”

Feeling dumb and embarrassed, you pulled your feet out of the water and slid into your sandals. Rafe might have noticed your absence and you weren’t feeling up to getting into an argument over where you could have been, not that he cared anyway.

You found him sitting on a log around one of the few bonfires at the party with his arm wrapped around a girl you didn’t recognize. He was obviously drunk, maybe a little high as well, and you knew you couldn’t say anything to either of them without facing the consequences later.

He laughed at something Kelce said as he wrapped his arm tighter around the girl, pulling her close enough to kiss her forehead. This behavior was new to you. He always flirted with randoms in public, giving them a hug or rub on the back but Rafe had never put his lips on someone else, that you knew of.

“See that?”

JJ’s breath ghosted across your neck, he stood behind you and placed his palms on your shoulders, “he’s an asshole. You know you can do better.”

“JJ,” you shook him off and turned around to meet his eyes, “this is just how he is. He doesn’t give a shit about that girl.”

“He gives a shit about you though, right?”

“Yes,” you bit the inside of your cheek as a reminder to keep your composure, “he does.”

He laughed, an easy chuckle that made you equal parts furious and peaceful, while grabbing your hand and pulling you toward the rest of the pogues sat around a neighboring bonfire.

“Raise your hand if you think this one can do better than Cameron?”

Everyone around the fire, including Rafe’s own sister Sarah, raised their arms above their heads.

“You guys are not supportive at all.”

The laugh that followed your statement was supposed be happy and jokey but it left your lips hollow and angry.

“No,” Sarah began, “we’re not. He’s my brother and I love him but he is a grade A piece of shit when it comes to the way he treats women.”

She unwrapped herself from John B and stood up, walking over to you and taking your hands in hers, “you do not deserve that. You are better than him.”

“Guys,” you gently squeezed her hands, “I don’t need this. I’m fine. I know how he is.”

“That is the second time I’ve heard you say that tonight,” JJ piped up, “and I haven’t believed it either time.”

His tone was almost cocky, he too had quite a bit to drink, and you weren’t about to get into this with your friends in the middle of a party where everyone could hear you.

“John B, can you give a ride home? I just really want to leave right now.”

The brunette gave you a quick nod of his head and the two of you walked in silence away from the beach and to the Twinkie waiting in the parking lot. You both entered the van in silence and he pushed the key into the ignition, bringing the vehicle to life.

John B drove toward your house without a word, something you were more grateful for than you could say. He pulled into your driveway and you noticed that no lights were on the house. Your parents were either out for the evening or fast asleep, either one was good, it meant you didn’t have to face their innocent questions about your night and your boyfriend.

“Hey,” John B put the Twinkie in park, “you know I’m not here to judge you or your relationship but I just want to say this.”

You prepared yourself for another bashing of Rafe. They happened pretty frequently, especially when JJ was around.

“Rafe is not my favorite person, I’ll never hide that. I’m worried about you. I’m worried this rich douchebag is taking advantage of you and sucking the life out of you. I just want you to know that we’re here. We love you, we have you. Please say something if you need any of us.”

Your heart warmed at his words as you quickly unbuckled your seatbelt and leaned across the center console to give him a hug, “thank you John B, I needed that more than you know.”

Sliding from the passenger seat, you closed the door behind you and turned to give John B a wave before going inside and heading straight to your room. You were used to your friends hating on Rafe but what John B said about the situation had you seriously thinking about your relationship with the charming kook.

The words ‘sucking the life out of you’ repeated themselves in your head as you lay on your side trying to fall asleep.

Your constantly buzzing phone finally pulled you from slumber at, you checked the time before responding to anything else, 2:36am.

Rafe (11:04) where are you?

Rafe (11:16) seriously

Rafe (11:41) what the fuck

Rafe (12:21) you left with JJ? Really? Maybank? REALLY

Rafe (1:18) you went home with Maybank so I’m going home with a blonde too

Rafe (2:04) I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention to you tonight

Rafe (2:17) baby please I’m sorry

Rafe (2:36) call me when you wake up. I love you.

Normally, when this happened, you would be wooed by Rafe’s apology but John B’s words swan around in your head as you noted the forty-six minutes that passed between Rafe claiming he’d take someone home and his apology.

“Fuck this,” you whispered into to your empty room as you tossed your phone to the floor and rolled over to fall asleep once again.

It was 2:46 in the afternoon when you woke up. You’d slept longer than you intended and when you grabbed your phone from the ground you where met with a marathon of messages and calls.

Not counting what he sent the night before, Rafe had called you 14 times and sent 38 text messages. Most of them were angry, some of them apologetic, but the theme was clear: he hated JJ.

You scrolled past the many Rafe’s and found your conversation with JJ.

“J, please text me back as soon as you get this.”

You knew Rafe and you knew he would go after JJ and he would hurt him if he could. Staring at your phone sitting in your hands for about a minute, you decided you couldn’t wait and called him.

JJ’s phone rang and rang and just as you were about to hang up, he answered.

“Hey, sorry, was outside with John B, what’s up?”

“JJ,” you breathed a sigh of relief, “Rafe thinks I went home with you. Watch out for him, I have no doubt he’s on a warpath.”

“Him being on a warpath means he has to publicly declare that you’re someone he actually gives a fuck about, he’s not going to do that or come after me.”

“J, please,” you ran a hand through your hair, “please just be careful.”

“Always am. See you tonight?”

“Yeah,” you had completely forgotten about Kiara’s birthday party, “see you then.”

Walking into the Wreck, things looked mostly normal. The main dining room was full of patrons eating and socializing. The restaurant was on a short wait but you slid past the people in line and made toward the smaller of the two decks off the side of the restaurant.

There were only three tables on the small deck and tonight they were all pushed together for Kiara’s celebration. The usual suspects were present: JJ, Pope, John B and Sarah. Kie’s mom had taken the night off so she was staying permanently while her dad planned to pop in during his free moments.

“You showed,” JJ shouted as he slid out his chair and trotted toward you, pulling you into a hug.

“Of course I did, I would never miss this. Happy birthday Kiara,” you shook off JJ and moved to hug Kie, wrapping your arms tight around her small frame.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket and Kie pulled away enough to give you a questioning look.

“It’s your birthday and I’m pissed at him. All messages remain unread tonight.”

While you enjoyed yourself eating seafood and cake with your friends, you had no idea how serious Rafe was taking your radio silence. You hadn’t responded to any of his texts or calls and the last time you spoke was before the kegger the previous night.

Rafe (7:46) Where are you? We haven’t talked at all today

Rafe (8:04) Seriously what the fuck

Rafe (8:37) There you are. Sitting to next to Maybank huh

Rafe (8:49) Fuck it

The messages remained unread and when your chair was harshly pulled away from the table and your friends began yelling did you realize what was happening.

“Rafe! What the fuck?!” Sarah was the loudest, her words cutting through the air.

“I’m tired of this and I’m done. She’s coming with me.”

You hoped against hope that JJ wouldn’t say anything but you knew better. He never failed to come to your rescue but now wasn’t the time you needed him to do so.

“You don’t get to claim someone when you’re fucking literally everybody else.”

Rafe’s hands were no longer on your body or the chair you were seated in, instead he was charging toward JJ. The blonde had removed himself from the chair next to you and was now standing his ground, nose to nose with Rafe Cameron.

They began to push each other and one particularly hard shove from JJ sent Rafe into the table, causing everyone to jump up and back away from the fight.

“Guys, please! Not here!”

You were nearly in tears, your words falling on deaf ears and they continued to throw punches and accusations.

Time seemed to slow as you took in everything happening in front of you. Kiara’s mom had her arms wrapped Kie as she ushered her back into the restaurant. Pope and John B were both standing in front of Sarah, blocking her off but ready to jump in and defend their friend if they needed to. Various pieces of seafood were scattered across the small deck and Kiara’s cake was destroyed, icing and cake bits stomped into the floor from all the commotion.

Everything had gone wrong. You never went home with JJ and you should have made that clear to Rafe. You should’ve responded to his texts earlier, explaining and begging his forgiveness even though you didn’t really want it.

You ruined Kiara’s birthday and maybe the reputation of The Wreck itself. JJ and Rafe had been pulled apart now but it was too late to salvage anything. Slowly making your way toward the railing, you jumped over the side and landed a few feet below in the soft mud a few feet away from the water.

It didn’t matter that your shoes were thick with mud, you trampled out of the swamp and toward the road. When your shoes were light enough, you broke into a run. It didn’t matter how you looked, everything was ruined and as much as you wanted to place the blame on either of the combative boys, it was all your fault.

All you wanted to do now was fucking disappear.

#jj maybank #jj Maybank x reader #rafe cameron #Rafe Cameron x reader #outer banks imagine #outer banks

241 notes · View notes

thatgamefromthatad · 4 years ago

Text

Games Like ‘Merge Mansion,’ Ranked

I noticed an ad for what seemed to be practically the same exact game as Merge Mansion, so instead of doing an individual review for it, I decided to find as many Merge Mansion dupes as I could and review and rank them all!

If you’ve never played Merge Mansion or similar games, the concept is basically merging together two of the same item to get higher-level items of the same category. The items spawn from other items (I don’t know if there’s a technical name but I call them spawners), which you usually need to tap in order to put more mergeable items on the board. You can usually create new spawners by merging special parts together too, and create more powerful spawners by merging together two of the same spawner. The objective is to fulfill tasks the game gives you to obtain certain items by making enough merges. I enjoy these games because it’s satisfying to merge things together and discover new items.

Here is a handy-dandy rubric I used to score and compare each game to the best of my ability. This way instead of going by which games I just liked overall, you can pick which game you’d like to play based on the aspects that are important to you! (All of these metrics and scores will be broken down and explained further below.)

See all seven games (including Merge Mansion itself) ranked from best to worst below:

***

1. Travel Town

Developer: Magmatic Games Ltd

Release Date: Feb. 12, 2021

So this game is actually the one on the list that is the least like Merge Mansion, and I wouldn’t really call it a copycat unlike some of the other games on the list. However, the basic gameplay is the same as Merge Mansion and all the other games, so I think it’s fair to put it in the same category. (It also has the common thread of using energy, coins, diamonds and a level system, all using similar symbolism as the rest of the games.)

I really like this game’s vibrant colors and beautiful items, and the fact that all of your goals are shown right above you which is less frustrating than having to switch back and forth between your goals tab. I also like that you have a lot of goals at once so that you don’t feel like you’re wasting energy if you spawn and merge items that aren’t related to a current goal when the spawner you actually need is reloading.

Another thing that makes this game unique is that instead of just unlocking new renovations or parts of the story with each goal you fulfill, you get coins for fulfilling goals that you can then spend on the construction stages, that come with additional parts of the story in turn. I’m not sure if this is a better or worse system, but is the only game on this list that does it like that.

The best part of this game I think is the fact that there are event stages with completely different items and a cool way of unlocking new parts of the board (for example, you merge tools up to a chainsaw to cut down trees blocking part of the board). For a newer game, I think it’s pretty innovative and off to a strong start!

🐚 Art: 3/3 (It’s are very vibrant and shiny-looking and the character drawings are also very well done)

🐚 Story: 2/3 (the dialog between characters is fun and humorous at times but I don’t really see a solid plot going on throughout and I couldn’t tell you any of the characters’ names or most of their relationships to each other to be honest)

🐚 Gameplay: 5/5 (I haven’t run into the frustrating thing of constantly running out of space on the board, at least not yet, and completing the merges is very satisfying. I also like the goal system and the events)

🐚 Variety: 3/3 (There isn’t that much variety on the main board to begin with but this is the only game on the list to have a log book that tracks the items you’ve unlocked and I can see from the blank sections that there will be a lot more variety going forward. Plus there is extra variety in the event stages)

🐚 Playtime vs. Wait Time (without paying for more energy or to reload spawners): 2/4 (Like most of the games on this list you can only really play the main board in short sessions before needing to wait for your energy to reload. However being able to play the event stages when they’re available can lengthen your play session)

🐚 Overall Enjoyment: 5/5 (This is sort of subjective score based on the amount of fun I personally have playing each game. I found this game to be the most fun out of all of the games and I would give it an overall 5/5 if I were reviewing it individually like I do with my usual reviews)

🐚 Total: 20/23

2. Merge Design

Developer: Stonemobile Kft.

Release Date: Feb. 19, 2021

This is another newer game that is pretty unique from Merge Mansion and off to a strong start! it’s also the only game on this list with a landscape orientation so it’s nice to play on an iPad if you have one.

For this game you fulfill objectives to place furniture and decor inside a room you’re remodeling for a client. There are different clients throughout the game and several tasks for each client; you also get to choose between three styles for each item you place in the room. There are two main designer characters you follow throughout the game and there’s occasional dialog between the designers and clients.

I found this game to be more on the challenging side because you have to experiment a bit to find the items you need, and getting the spawners you need for some of those items does not come as easily and naturally as in most other games.

One of the things I didn’t like that much in this game were that the maximum level for most item categories is not that high so you can get a lot of maxed out items pretty easily, although there is a wide variety of different items. There’s also only a handful of slots to unlock in storage (where you can move items off the board when you’re running out of room) so it can be a lot easier to run out of room which is frustrating. However, the ability to play this game for longer stretches of time than the others is a big plus!

🛋 Art: 2/3 (the character art, item art and room/furniture/decor style are each nice enough of their own but they kind of clash in my opinion, like they’re from three different games)

🛋 Story: 2/3 (it’s cool to meet the different clients along the way and you can definitely start to see the personalities of the two main characters but it’s not all that exciting)

🛋 Gameplay: 4/5 (I like that this game is a little more challenging and that the objectives are more complicated, usually requiring more items, but it’s really frustrating when the board gets so cluttered)

🛋 Variety: 3/3 (lots of different item tracks corresponding to different types of furniture and household items, and new spawners that take work to obtain but it’s fun when you see the new kinds of items you can get)

🛋 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 4/4 (by far the best game for if you want to be able to play for long stretches of time. You get a ton of energy, almost to the point where it seems like a mistake by the developers lol, and the spawners reload pretty quickly too)

🛋 Overall Enjoyment: 5/5 (between the variety of items and ability to enjoy long play sessions I definitely enjoyed this game plenty!)

🛋 Total: 20/23 (same score as Travel Town but Travel Town gets the upper hand with its event stages and less of a problem with clogging the board)

3. Merge Friends

Developer: Skunkworks

Release Date: Nov. 6, 2020

This is the last game on the list that I wouldn’t consider an exact copycat of Merge Mansion but definitely seem like it’s influenced by it. It’s unique in its more cartoony art style which I think has some charm when it comes to the items on the board, although I was a little less fond of the character designs. This game also has parts of the board that unlock as you level up and getting new types of items takes a little time.

The objectives of these game are based on orders placed by different characters to complete certain tasks, and you get little pieces of the storyline with each task you complete. Each character has their own personality and role in the town that goes along with the items you have to give them to complete the objective. There are also some events in this game but they’re not exciting as the ones in Travel Time, they basically just seem like extra goals with extra chances for rewards.

🔨 Art: 2/3 (as mentioned I like the cartoony art style on the board but don’t like the character designs as much)

🔨 Story: 3/3 (this is one of the only games where I actually got kind of attached to the characters and wanted to know what would happen next)

🔨 Gameplay: 5/5 (merges are satisfying, didn’t have problems with the board getting clogged up and I liked that each objective went along with the story i.e. the character had a specific use for the items as explained through the dialog)

🔨 Variety: 3/3 (it takes a little longer to get more categories of items but once you unlock more of the board it’s fun to see the new categories you can come across, the items also level up pretty far)

🔨 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 1/4 (unfortunately you can only play this game in short spurts once you run out of energy)

🔨 Overall Enjoyment: 4/5 (solid game but not being able to play for longer sessions puts a bit of a damper on it)

🔨 Total: 18/23

4. Miss Merge

Developer: TrueMyth Games Ltd

Release Date: Feb. 2021

This game is probably the most blatant rip-off of Merge Mansion, but only based on the fact that they steal the fake plot from the Merge Mansion ads and actually do something with it lol. In fact it’s because of that that I actually ended up liking this game more than Merge Mansion - it gives you want you wanted from those ads that wasn’t in the actual game.

Other than the ripped ad plot and a similar grandma character design this game actually is pretty unique from the original Merge Mansion and is more similar to Merge Friends in its gameplay. It has a similar cartoony art style, similar form of objectives (except instead of orders it’s just personal requests from characters) and similar way of unlocking parts of the board along the way.

This game probably has the best storyline of all the games, with an actual mystery unfolding throughout the plot line.

🍪 Art: 2/3 (similar to Merge Friends, the cartoony board items are charming but the character designs are lacking)

🍪 Story: 3/3 (I genuinely want to know what happens next and each character has their own personality, motives and relationship with your character/the other characters)

🍪 Gameplay: 4/5 (gameplay is most similar to Merge Friends but objectives are more random and not directly tied to the plot, and this is the only game without storage space for your items, although I haven’t really needed it all that much anyway)

🍪 Variety: 2/3 (there is a little more variety in items as you go along but not as many interesting and unique categories, you’ll mostly just be giving people various foods and beverages for a while)

🍪 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 3/4 (you can’t really play for long sessions, however, extra energy is pretty easy to come by so you can often play for longer than most of the other games)

🍪 Overall Enjoyment: 4/5 (definitely delivers as far as storyline but doesn’t do much more than any of the other decent games on this list)

🍪 Total: 18/23 (same score as Merge Friends but has less item variety and clearly copies a lot from other games)

5. Merge Mansion

Developer: Metacore Games Oy

Release Date: Sept. 16, 2020

I’ve already thoroughly covered this game in my original review of it, which you can read here. This was my first experience with this kind of game and it’s the first of its kind as far as I know, so I definitely have a fondness for it, although it has its pitfalls.

💐 Art: 3/3 (I really like the art in this game, you can see the detail that went into each individual item and I like the main character designs too. The 3D models of the characters shown in the garden are a little wonky though)

💐 Story: 1/3 (Very generic and boring “adult child returns home to discover mansion is a mess” plot)

💐 Gameplay: 3/5 (Overcrowding the board is a huge problem and there are certain spawners that automatically spawn what I consider nuisance items without you even tapping them. They’re nuisance items because if you need them for an objective that’s not until much later in the game; I’ve never needed these useless items yet and all they do is take up space. The objectives also aren’t very satisfying to complete other than it getting rid of some of the items taking up space. However merging is very satisfying and the game deserves credit for introducing me to this whole genre of merge games to begin with)

💐 Variety: 3/3 (tons of different items and spawners to discover, almost too many)

💐 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 2/4 (you can only play in short sessions before running out of energy but the sessions do tend to last a bit longer than in some other games, and you can get extra energy pretty often)

💐 Overall Enjoyment: 4/5 (although the overcrowding issue is frustrating it is a very fun game and keeps me coming back to keep discovering new items; this is the rating I gave it in my original review)

💐 Total: 16/23

6. Merge Matters

Developer: GreenPixel Ltd

Release Date: Dec. 31, 2020

This game seems a lot like a direct copycat of Merge Mansion; the art style and categories of items are extremely similar. It basically hits all the same boxes as Merge Mansion but I liked it just slightly less.

🪴 Art: 3/3 (the colors are more vibrant than Merge Mansion and overall the items are very nice to look at, the character design of the main girl is very pretty but I noticed that she seems to have a different art style than the grandpa, or maybe that’s just me)

🪴 Story: 1/3 (same problem as Merge Mansion, very generic homecoming story)

🪴 Gameplay: 3/5 (satisfying merges but same overcrowding problem, maybe even a little worse than Merge Mansion)

🪴 Variety: 3/3 (about the same level of variety as Merge Mansion)

🪴 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 2/4 (about the same as Merge Mansion although I tend to get less extra energy in this game but maybe just by bad luck)

🪴 Overall Enjoyment: 3/5 (although it’s nearly identical to Merge Mansion, I give it a lesser score here because if I had to pick between the two I would definitely choose Merge Mansion. I can’t say exactly why, but a range of small factors make Merge Mansion the more satisfying game to play)

🪴 Total: 15/23

7. Merge Villa

Developer: 4Enjoy Games

Release Date: Feb. 2021

So this isn’t the worst game ever, but it is by far the most lackluster out of all the games I played for this project. It definitely feels like the dollar store version of Merge Mansion. The art here is frankly ugly and the gameplay is very simplistic with very little item variety. The merging here also doesn’t feel very satisfying for some reason, maybe because there isn’t any sort of animation or proper sound effect to go along with the merging. It’s definitely a playable game but nothing to write home about.

🪛 Art: 1/3 (like I said, it’s ugly)

🪛 Story: 2/3 (it actually has a little more plot going on than Merge Mansion or Merge Matters although it still follows the same trope)

🪛 Gameplay: 3/5 (although it’s definitely simplistic and the merges are less satisfying than in Merge Mansion/Merge Matters, I’ve never had to worry about running out of room on the board, plus it has the added feature of letting you choose between three styles for each renovation similar to Merge Design and other games like Homescapes, which makes completing the objectives more satisfying)

🪛 Variety: 1/3 (very little variety, I’ve only seen and handful of item categories so far)

🪛 Playtime vs. Wait Time: 1/4 (abysmal, the play sessions are short, the spawners run out quickly and the energy takes twice as long to recharge as in other games)

🪛 Overall Enjoyment: 2/5 (playable but barely worth playing)

🪛 Total: 10/23

If you got here to the end, even if you just skimmed through, thank you so much for reading 😍 Follow me for more reviews and articles about those mobile games you’re always getting ads for 🥳

#merge mansion #merge games #mobile games #casual games #free games #renovation games #garden games #remodeling games #knockoff games #travel town #merge design #miss merge #merge friends #merge matters #merge villa #full review #games ranked

59 notes · View notes

eclecticash22 · 4 years ago

Text

🔮 November Month Ahead Reading 🃏

Take a moment to breathe. Take three deep breaths, and look over each pile. Which one do you keep going back to? Follow your intuition and choose the one you are most drawn to.

Pile 1 - Mrs. White

Hello Pile One! So immediately I'm getting that this month is a good time to open up and pay attention to the things that have been trying to get your attention. I do feel like there are things you haven't noticed that now need you to see them.

This month I see you going through a transition and engaging in self growth. I see you being more confident in your abilities and really feeling on top of things. I see you feeling relief this month as well, like things are balancing out. There is also a message here of balance, so I feel things will straighten out and calm down, leading you to feel balanced. Again, there is a message to pay attention to what needs your attention. Try to focus on what is important this month. Touching back on that self growth message, allow yourself to let go of things that no longer serve you and the things that hurt you. We cannot dwell forever, we must move forward. And for many of you, now is the time to let yourself move forward.

Charms: I see that self growth message again. Face your emotions and face what has been bothering you. It isn't easy, but it is worth it to heal. Also, take time out this month to have fun. Find a new hobby, have a movie night and eat your favorite snacks, go out and have fun (if it is safe to do so and as long as you're being safe). Whatever it is, have fun.

Runes: You are coming into abundance this month! There are also new beginnings and prosperity coming forth, as well as change.

Important Numbers: 5, 2, 17, 10, 12, 21

Important Letters: N, K, Q, M, F, W, W, Z, N, U

Shufflemancy Songs: Maniac by Conan Gray | Two Young Hearts by Sabrina Carpenter | Joanne by Lady Gaga | S.O.S. by Rihanna

Pile 2 - Mr. Green

Hello Pile 2! This month you may be feeling a bit more confident and you may be setting clearer boundaries. You may also be communicating more clearly with others this month. On top of this, you may be feeling very emotional this month. You may feel things very strongly this month, but want to shut those emotions down and ignore them. But that is not the path to take, pile two. Instead, face your emotions head on. It may not be comfortable, but you can do it. This month, I also see an end to a cycle for you, but a new one beginning soon after. You may be getting a job you wanted or a promotion, or you may be getting into a new relationship or moving to a next level in a current romantic relationship. Whatever this is, pay attention to how you're feeling. Address how you're feeling and allow yourself to take a break, talk things out, etc. Finally, pile two, I am seeing that this month you should allow your beauty to shine. You are an incredible human being and you are so beautiful and worthy of goodness. Allow your light to shine this month.

Charms: Immediately what is standing out to me here is communication. With your cards it is hinted at as well. Communicate your needs and desires this month, pile 2. This could also be a message that someone may be communicating with you or reaching out to you this month. Bottled up emotions may end up spilling, and this could have something to do with the communication message. There is commitment here- this may be a specific message for a handful of people, but some of you may be getting engaged/married this month. For others, this could indicate you entering into a committed relationship. Take time to relax this month. Face your emotions. Look at the bright side of things.

Runes: Prosperity. Something is being left up to fate. Joy. Romance.

Important Numbers: 7, 11, 10, 15, 13, 22

Important Letters: A, B, G, Q, M, B, S, V, I, Q

Shufflemancy Songs: Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears | Mustang Kids by Zella Day | Kiss the Girl (cover) by Ashley Tisdale | You're My Best Friend by Queen

Pile 3 - Miss Scarlet

Hello Pile Three! I see that November is a good month to work towards what you want in life. You have the skills, you have the tools, and you are ready to work towards what you want. This will require you to work through self healing and to release things that no longer serve you. Do not hold onto negative emotions, but rather work through them and release them. It isn't always easy or comfortable, but it is needed in order for us to grow. This is necessary in order for you to progress towards what you want in life. This month I also see you finding something you really love. Whether this be a sense of independence, a new relationship, a new friendship, a new job, a new hobby, etc. Finally, pile three, I see this month is a good one to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. But choose your battles wisely. Avoid petty arguments, but continue to stand up for what you believe. Take initiative.

Charms: Let go of the past. You are strong and protected; your guides and angels are with you. Try not to be super stubborn or hard headed. Know your worth and know you're amazing. Something is unfolding in your life. Don't allow others to disturb your inner peace.

Runes: Success. Support. You are protected by your angels. Conflict. Adversity. Positive Outcome. Satisfaction. Awareness.

Important Numbers: 20, 27, 28, 20, 22, 28

Important Letters: X, E, J, X, K, V, G, D, O, K

Shufflemancy Songs: Save My Soul by JoJo | Love Me Two Times by The Doors | All We Have is Love by Sabrina Carpenter | Eh, Eh by Lady Gaga

Pile 4 - Colonel Mustard

Hello Pile Four! I'm seeing a lot of defensive energy for this month. Remember, stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Don't let others run over you. But choose battles wisely and try to remain calm. There is an energy here about looking back on things from the past. The message here is to allow yourself to move on from your past. Let go of what doesn't serve you and allow yourself to let go of negative and toxic energies. Find balance in your life, and don't allow others to disturb the balance you have. Things are going to be just fine. Believe in that and know that better things are coming your way. I see you may be undergoing some sort of transformation this month. Be flexible and adaptable. This month may also be am important one to let your friends and/or partner know how much they mean to you. This may also be a good month to make the first move if you find yourself crushing on someone.

Charms: Nurture yourself. Let go of negative attachments. Know you control your life and how you feel. New beginnings. Give love and be persistent in order to reach your goals.

Runes: Gifts. Skills. Prosperity. Disruption. Sudden Loss. Something is being left up to fate.

Important Numbers: 6, 14, 16, 13, 22, 9

Important Letters: B, U, W, Z, F, Q, U, J, Q, M

Shufflemancy Songs: The Way You Make Me Feel by Micheal Jackson | Hollaback Girl by Gwen Steffani | One by Lewis Capaldi | You Deserve Better by James Arthur

Pile 5 - Mrs. Peacock

Hello Pile Five! This month I see you feeling very in control of things. You're feeling driven and determined. You're using clear thought and focus to make decisions. This will lead you to success. You may have been feeling down or rough lately. Like maybe things are just going wrong, but I see you getting back up and continuing to work hard towards your goals. Keep going after what you want and do what makes you happy. Find inspiration and use that to stay determined. There is a message here to keep going! You are capable of creating the life you want and reaching the goals you have. Stay focused, pile five! Do not allow self doubt or a false self image being you down. You are worthy of greatness and you are capable of greatness. You are incredible and amazing and you can do whatever you set out to do. Don't forget it, friend!

Charms: Know you are loved. Love yourself. Nurture yourself. Nurture your inner child. You control how you feel and you control your life. Be careful. Think positively. Listen to some feel good music.

Runes: Renewal. Dreams. Success. Shield. Support. Passion. Vitality. Courage. Instinct.

Important Numbers: 13, 10, 12, 14, 5, 26

Important Letters: X, L, A, L, B, N, C, I, F, F

Shufflemancy Songs: Father by Demi Lovato | Why by Sabrina Carpenter | Detroit Rock City by KISS | Stronger by Kelly Clarkson

Pile 6 - Professor Plum

Hello Pile Six! This month, I see you moving forward. Moving forward past a situation that has left you feeling stuck, regretful, or sad. Things are falling into place for you to move forward and continue on to achieving goals. Remember, do not dwell on the past. It has already happened, and we can't change it. What we can do is fix it or choose to let it go. I do see you moving forward to a better place. There is a lot of energy here about moving on to something better. There is also energy here of success. Approach things with fearlessness (but still be careful and use your sense). Don't be afraid to try new things or go after what you want in life. Stay determined and don't allow others to disturb your peace. You are on the right path. Know that life is an unknown journey that we must go down. The unknown may be a bit frightening at times, we must approach it with bravery. Find your inner peace.

Charms: Knowledge and learning. Moving forward. Friendships. Seeing something you didn't see before. Something being revealed to you. Adventure. Curiosity. Picking something. Choices. Overcoming obstacles. Good things happening in life. Success.

Runes: Leadership. Truth. Wisdom. Confrontation. Turning Point. Death (metaphorical). Wealth. Prosperity.

Important Numbers: 17, 14, 19, 24, 15, 24

Important Letters: P, G, Y, X, P, I, R, T, Q, Z

Shufflemancy Songs: Bad Guy by Billie Eilish | Tough Lover by Christina Aguilera | Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna | Bad Liar by Selena Gomez

*** All Groups ***

Thank you so much for your time today! I hope you have such a wonderful day and an incredible month ahead ❤❤❤

*This reading is for the collective. If it resonates- awesome! If it doesn't resonate- that is okay. Take what does resonate and/or pick another pile.

* This reading is for entertainment purposes. This can not tell you are exact future. I am also not responsible for any decisions you choose to make. Any and all decisions you make are 100% your own.

#pickacard #pick a card #tarot #pick a card reading #divination #tarot reading #pick-a-card #free readings #pick-a-card reading #tarot cards #month ahead pick a card #november month ahead reading #pick a pile reading #tarot pick a pile #pick a pile

71 notes · View notes

shishi-tls · 5 years ago

Text

Kanroji Mitsuri’s Secrecy

I’M DONE WITH THIS, FINALLY, BANZAI.

Okay, here’s my surprise (and Christmas present) for everyone. This is chapter 3 of the second novel of Kimetsu no Yaiba (Kataha no Chō). Each chapter’s the story of one character, so it’s not like you missed part 1 and 2 of Mitsuri’s story.

I apologize it took double the time I thought it would take me, I honestly thought about giving up many times ohohoho. But hey, here you have it.

This is a mid-quality translation, I do believe it’s readable, but there’re some parts I didn’t give too much thought and left them as short or simple sentences. I tried, okay?

This is a fantranslation, there could be mistranslations. Read at your own risk.

Also, typos, grammatical errors, whatever there is, just leave a relpy and I’ll try to fix it as soon as possible.

Last thing: if you want to put this up on another website or translate it to another language you’re free to do so, BUT LET ME KNOW, OK?

One Winged Butterfly

Chapter 3: Kanroji Mitsuri’s Secrecy

1.-

The first time I met her I thought ‘wow, such a pretty girl’.

Pure white skin and clear violet eyes; stunningly beautiful and delicate; kind and doesn’t discriminate anyone.

But, can create things like poison to kill Demons.

Strong and intelligent, cute, brave… a lovely girl.

I would be very happy if we could be friends. We are both girls, so there should be a lot of things we could talk about…

That’s why, when I heard about it, my head went blank and couldn’t think about anything.

“Kochō-sama’s parents were killed right before her eyes, and on top of that her sister Kanae-sama too… dying in such a way…”

Ah….

I didn’t know.

Shinobu-chan. I didn’t know.

“Well you see, I joined the Demon Slayer Corps to find a gentleman who would marry me for life. For a girl, it’s actually better someone who’s stronger than themselves, no? We want to be protected. Hey, Shinobu-chan, don’t you think so?”

If I’d known, I’d never said that.

Such a frivolous reason.

If I had known Shinobu-chan’s past, I wouldn’t have been able to say it.

Ah, how stupid of me.

When I told her that, how did she feel?

She was a little startled, but then she answered with the smiling face she always has.

‘I see… Who knows. I’m sure Kanroji-san will find someone wonderful’.

It must have been really unpleasant and annoying, right?

Did she think she didn’t want to be together with such a simpleton?

Hey, Shinobu-chan…

I’m.

You see, I…

2.-

“Kanroji-san’s acting weird?”

Kochō Shinobu tilted her head to the side at her coworker who came so suddenly.

They’re currently inside her office at the Butterfly Estate, where she –as the Insect Pillar– lives. This is a place where poison effective against Demons is developed and Slayers are treated or nursed after being wounded in battle. Therefore, most visitors are wounded people.

However, her coworker Iguro Obanai came here without a single scratch and as soon as they met, he started to talk anxiously about the Love Pillar, Kanroji Mitsuri, with a serious face.

“In what way is she acting weird?”

“Everything, she’s weird all around. You haven’t noticed?”

Iguro makes that question and looks at her as if accusing her for something.

As some sort of signal, the snake wrapped around Iguro’s neck sticks out its long tongue. It’s Kaburamaru, the Snake Pillar’s beloved snake.

“Hmm, well…”

Shinobu with the tip of her index finger softly traces around her upper lip. She tries to remember Kanroji’s behavior in the last Pillar meeting, however…

“Nothing in particular”.

“Just where do you have your eyes attached to?” Are those stupidly big eyes of yours blind? Or maybe just decoratives?”

After some nagging, Iguro made a big sigh.

Shinobu stopped herself from speaking her thoughts out loud ‘unlike you, I don’t exchange letters with her frequently’ and just smiled and apologized.

“Oh my, I’m very sorry”.

Even though it’s daytime and Demons can’t move around, each Pillar should be very busy as they shoulder a lot of heavy responsibilities. However, he pushed all of those aside and came here, so he isn’t doing this just for show or on a whim. Despite his appearance, Iguro cares about his colleagues more than others.

“It’s fine if they’re things you saw from your own scope, so could you please tell me what’s so strange about Kanroji-san?”

Once Shinobu asked again, Iguro nodded with an obedient look.

And then…

“Just fifty”.

“Yes?”

“Normally, she would eat a hundred of those dango sticks, but she only had fifty. You hear me? Just fifty. That Kanroji. Her favorite dangos.”

“……”

Being stared fixedly by his bloodshot eyes right in front of her, Shinobu unconsciously stepped back. Contrary to her, Iguro leaned forward.

“Moreover, she replies coldly to my letters. Her letters are awfully plain and seem to be written to a stranger. Why? It’s weird. Anything and everything is weird.”

“Aoi, Iguro-san’s already leaving.”

Shinobu turned her back to Iguro, walked to the room’s door and said “Iguro-san, the exit is over there.”

“It’s not just that”.

Despite Shinobu’s sarcasm, Iguro kept talking.

“In the last Pillar meeting, Kanroji didn’t even try to look at the eyes of any Pillar. And not only the Pillars’, Oyakata-sama’s too.”

Shinobu turned around with a surprised face.

Every Pillar respects and loves dearly Oyakata-sama –Ubuyashiki Kagaya– from the bottom of their hearts. Mitsuri’s not the exception, she also cares about Oyakata-sama. As far as Shinobu knows, Mitsuri has never opposed his will and would even put him above everything else. It was certainly strange for someone like her to avert her eyes from Oyakata-sama .

“And after that, Tokitō picked up a handkerchief she had dropped, but when he tried to talk to her she jumped high enough to reach the roof and ran away.”

“Yes, that seems strange”.

If Mitsuri was herself, her heart would have throbbed and expressed her gratitude honestly by saying ‘thank you, Muichirō-kun’.

“Was it then when you first noticed something strange on her behavior?”

“No, she was already acting weird 12 days before that.”

Shinobu was full of retorts at him answering immediately and with such detail, but that aside, this meant Mitsuri has been like this for nearly half a month.

By all means, this was worrisome.

“There could be something wrong with her health. I’ll try to ask her indirectly, you think about something too. Got that, Kochō?”

After voicing everything he wanted to say and seeing Shinobu nod, he left the Estate. Shinobu, left alone in the examination room, sat down on the chair. There was no need for him to go all the way to visit her, he could’ve just wrote a letter and sent it with a crow. It’s quite charming that Iguro cares about Mitsuri to that extent, but…

“Good grief. When it comes to Kanroji-san, Iguro-san immediately becomes unreliable.”

Relaxing her body, Shinobu let out a short sigh. It came to her mind the cute face of the only other Pillar of her same gender, Kanroji Mitsuri.

“Shinobu-chan, Shinobu-chan.”

She’s older than her, but has an innocent smile and becomes attached to others just like a kitty would. Thinking about the face that had crossed her mind, Shinobu gently narrowed her eyes.

Outside the windows, the wind blew against the cherry blossom trees and shaked its branches, now with only leaves left on them.

3.-

A thin and soft katana ran in a moonless night, almost as if it was alive.

“Breath of Love, First Style: Shivers of First Love!”

A greatly bended sword cuts a huge Demon up to pieces at lightning speed, its head rolled over the ground.

Mitsuri exhaled slightly, for some reason she felt her body heavier than usual and her katana wasn’t cutting as sharp as it should. It was distressing, her head was like in a haze.

“Thank you… thank you very much!”

The couple she had saved was thanking her, the man was bowing his head over and over again while the shivering woman asked her

“Are… are you okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well… You’re hurt…”

“Oh, no, I’m not…”

Mitsuri noticed the woman was looking at one of her cheeks and wiped it with the back of her left hand. There was blood on it. Seeing this, she finally understood she’d been injured.

“For our sake… because you protected us…”

“We’re really grateful, thank you so much…”

The woman apologized while crying and the man lowered his head once more. Mitsuri waved both of her hands flustered.

“Ah! Don’t worry about it! This is nothing at all, nothing! I’m sorry for making you frightened. But, I’m happy you’re both okay.”

Mitsuri smiled at them and the man was suddenly moved to tears.

“To tell you the truth, my wife’s actually pregnant.”

“Uh… really? You’re having a baby?”

Surprised, Mitsuri looks at the woman who finally shows a smile. Her cheeks which were wet with tears shyly transformed into a smile.

“Yes, the due date should be in around 3 months.”

Her belly did seem plump.

“I see, congratulations. Take care of your body.”

“We owe you our lives, thank you very much.”

The man says his thanks again and afterwards, the couple cuddled close together and disappeared into the night.

Mitsuri, while watching them until they were out of sight, lifted her hand to her chest.

Thump thump, her heart pounded.

If that Demon’s attack had cut that woman’s belly instead of my cheek…

As soon as she imagined it, she found herself terrified.

That Demon wasn’t weak, but it wasn’t very strong too. If I had been myself, I’d have saved them without getting a single scratch.

(And everything would have ended well, without that pregnant woman making such a face…)

The wet night wind caressed her cheeks. Mitsuri gently ran her fingers over the wound.

There was almost no pain.

But she couldn’t help but feel like something very important was falling and spilling over from that opened wound.

4.-

“Sigh…”

Finishing her night round and exposed to the brilliant sunlight, Mitsuri dragged her heavy body through the city.

She went in her favorite restaurant and ordered some tempura rice bowl, cold soba with dipping sauce, grilled fish with rice and miso soup.

It seemed quite a lot to eat as a breakfast, but for Mitsuri this amount was like a tenth of what she would usually eat.

Shortly thereafter, tea was brought to her and she sipped it absentmindedly.

She gave a sigh again.

Since that time she became eager in disciplining herself and made sure to not have any superficial feelings towards anyone.

In short, she sealed away her love. She’d to give up finding someone who would marry her for life and committed herself to forbid her heart to flutter every day.

However, it seemed like someone was mocking her because things that would make her heart flutter happened one after another.

(I wonder why… it’s only at times like this… )

The timing was so bad that brought Misturi to the verge of tears. The last Pillar meeting was specially the worst.

That day she and the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyōjurō, ended up at the same place by looking for a shelter from the rain and he told her “You’re going to catch a cold! Put this on, Kanroji!!”, covering her with his haori. She also saw an unexpected side of the Rock Pillar, Himejima Gyōmei, saying “Namu. Cats are cute…” while carrying in his arms a kitten. Then, she met by accident with the Wind Pillar, Shinazugawa Sanemi, just when he was feeding a stray puppy. On top of that, she spotted the Water Pillar, Tomioka Giyū, taking a nap in the open corridor and waking up with a sudden jerk. Moreover, she tripped but Uzui catched her in his arms before falling to the ground telling her “be careful, don’t go tripping so plainly.” And finally, Iguro inviting her to a newly opened udon shop.

Mitsuri was depressed because she had to suppress her heart from throbbing every time, but she just couldn’t help it.

… In the end,

“Mitsuri, is something troubling you? If you don’t mind, you can talk to me.”

(I even made Oyakata-sama worry… and when I was leaving, Muichirō tried to tell me something but I just ran away.)

This is the worst.

I got too nervous around Shinobu and couldn’t even look at her face.

(What… am I doing?)

And the final blow: she got hurt while fighting an enemy who wasn’t even part of the Twelve Demon Moons.

Mitsuri dropped her shoulders dejected and restlessly ate her tempura rice bowl brought by the waitress.

(Is it really okay to keep on like this?)

Thinking absentmindedly, she dropped the tempura she had picked with her chopsticks into the bowl. Inside of it there was still more than two thirds of rice left. She should be hungry, but she didn’t feel like eating. In fact, everything she tried to eat was tasteless and felt like chewing sand. She hadn’t felt like this since her first marriage interview was broken off.

“Kanroji-san, your body shape is the same as other people, but you’ve eight times more muscles than them. In other words, your muscle density is quite high.”

The one who told her this was none other than Shinobu.

“That’s why, you have to eat a lot. People who have more muscles have a higher basal metabolic rate. So please, do at least eat eight times more than a regular human does.”

“But, for a girl… to eat that much, um… won’t people be disgusted? won’t I be disliked?”

“You don’t have to forcibly stick with someone who would stop you from taking the nourishment you need. You should just do this to that kind of people.”

Saying that and keeping that lovely smile of hers, she made as though she was hitting someone with her fists.

“Right?”

“Geez, Shinobu-chan…”

Mitsuri had no idea how much those words and smile had saved her.

A few days after this exchange with Shinobu, Mitsuri went with Iguro to have some lunch. She timidly ordered what she wanted to eat. Iguro, who ate the least among the pillars, only asked for tea and something small to eat. In spite of Mitsuri’s fears, Iguro did not reproach Mitsuri for her gluttony, on the contrary, he insisted her ‘eat this too’ and ordered more food.

He was also the one who casually gave her those long striped socks without asking for anything in return when she was too embarrassed to use her uniform, which showed too much skin, and wasn’t able to burn it right in front of the tailor like Shinobu had done.

“Kanroji, so you were here after all.”

Mitsuri lifted her head in surprise at the sound of a familiar voice and saw the very face of the one she was thinking about just now.

She was taken aback by this.

“I, Iguro-san!? Why’re you here!?”

“I was looking for you to talk about something.”

As if it was the most natural thing to do, Iguro took the seat in front of Mitsuri and, for some reason, frowned deeply.

“Kanroji, what happened? That…”

“Uh?”, without thinking, she looked down at her rice bowl flustered.

“Did I drop some rice?”

Or was she eating sloppily? Oh no, did she have food on her face?

Mitsuri was getting really nervous, however Iguro had questioned her because of something entirely different.

His next words were colder than ice.

“Why is there a wound on your cheek?”

“Ah! This? This is from yesterday’s night round… I got careless and…”

As soon as she replied in a flurry, Iguro’s eyes became immediately slanted.

Iguro was rather a cool-headed coworker, but seeing him for the first time making such a grim face made her break out in a cold sweat.

(He’s angry. He must be disappointed with me getting injured when I wasn’t even fighting one of the Twelve Moons. What should I do? Is he fed up with me?)

While Mitsuri was earnestly trying to make herself as small as possible, Iguro suddenly jumped to his feet.

“Where is it?”

“Uwaa!”

Mitsuri could only shrug her shoulders as a reflex.

“Where’s that trash.”

“Eh?”

“The trash that ruined your rosy cheeks.”

“Eh…ah, well…”

Mitsuri was about to answer him she had already beaten it, but Iguro interrupted her groaning with deep hatred.

“That trash deserves certain death. I’ll go now and cut him into small pieces.”

Mitsuri stopped him in a hurry as he was already trying to leave the shop.

“W, Wait, Iguro-san! It’s already gone. Umm… You see, I cut its neck that same night… so…”

“…”

Finally coming to his senses, Iguro stopped his bloodlust and went back to sit in front of Mitsuri again. Then, he covered his forehead with a hand and apologized.

“Sorry.”

And muttered a few words very embarrassed.

“Me of all people…losing my mind in anger.”

“…Iguro-san.”

(So, you were not angry with me…)

On the contrary, he was really worried about her.

She felt her heart slowly getting warmer.

Come to think of it, Iguro has been kind to her ever since she joined the Corps, he would help her whenever she was troubled with something. He, who would awkwardly address her

—Kanroji.

“There’s something troubling you, no?”

“Eh?…”

“If you’re okay with me, I’d like you to tell me.”

“Iguro-san…”

“I want to help you, Kanroji.”

“!”

Her chest tightened and her heart made a loud noise at his sincere voice and serious gaze, but at that instant, Shinobu’s face came to her mind.

“…!! I can’t!”

“Kanroji?”

Mitsuri jumped to her feet and Iguro looked up at her dumbfounded. She couldn’t look at him in the eyes.

“I, I just remembered I have some stuff to do! Sorry. I’m leaving, okay?

Coming up somehow with those words, she thrust her money at the shopkeeper and almost tripped rushing out the shop.

(I’m sorry, Iguro-san! I’m so sorry.)

Even though you are worried about me.

Even though you want to help me.

But, that will only make my heart leap for him…

If that happened, instead of getting help, I would just get stuck in an awful situation. I can’t always rely on him.

She left the shop as if she was running away from it.

Several buildings away, she finally calmed down.

(This is something I have to do alone. I can’t rely on Iguro-san forever.)

She slapped her cheeks with both hands with energy.

However, the haze in her head wasn’t cleared in the least.

And then, a few days later—

“Haaaah….”

Mitsuri’s condition, instead of improving, only got worse day by day. It felt like she was extremely suffocated and her body was as heavy as lead. Maybe this was the reason behind not being able to use the Breath of Love properly. It was clear it has weakened.

(I really wonder what’s wrong with me…)

Can I keep on as a Pillar like this?

In the end, I’ve only been feeling miserable and got a message from Shinobu to boot.

Please, come to the Butterfly Estate whenever it suits you.

Mitsuri would normally be happy with this kind of invitation, but this time it only troubled her even more.

(What would Shinobu-chan want from me?)

It’ll be too awkward to see her now… but I can't’ ignore her.

Just when she had started to walk heavily towards the Butterfly Estate, she heard an “ah!” coming from behind her.

“The Demon hunter… sis*?” (nee-chan*)

She turned back at the perplexed voice.

“Yeah, I thought so! It’s sis!”

Some time ago, Mitsuri had saved a boy and his mother from a Demon. Today that boy was standing in front of her, with a smile in his tanned face.

“I’m glad. I’ve been looking you forever, sis.”

“Me?”

Mitsuri blinked her eyes.

“What is it? Some advice? Is something troubling you?”

“…”

Suddenly, the boy’s behaviour changed and became aware of his surroundings. Lowering his voice he told her:

“Actually, the restaurant where my mom works is close by.”

It seems he doesn’t want her mother to know about whatever he wants to tell me.

“Mom will get mad if she hears this.”

A mere child just talked as if he were a grown up man.

“Oh my….”

Holding back a laugh, Mitsuri decided to take him to her favorite teahouse which was some distance away from there.

Sitting right outside the teahouse, the boy happily stuffed his mouth with dangos.

“Have you been well? You’re all grown up! You’re a lot taller now.”

“I’m like 15cm taller since that time.”

“15cm. Boys surely grow up fast.”

Mitsuri smiled with a wide grin. She had a younger brother around the same age as this boy and couldn’t help but see him in this child.

“So? What did you want to talk with me?”

The boy gulped down the dangos and slowly opened his mouth.

“Y’know, I want to be a carpenter.”

“Oh, that’s good. Are you good at making things?”

“Yeah, kind of. My deceased dad was a carpenter.”

“Oh…”

She wasn’t sure how to reply.

However, the boy was attentive to her and kept talking.

“It’s okay, my dad died 3 years ago already.”

He fixed his deep dark eyes on the sky.

“He got swept away by the river and drowned when he was building a bridge. He was a skillful carpenter, but he was a poor swimmer.”

“So that’s what happened…”

Mitsuri lightly bit her lower lip and looked at the boy’s tanned face.

Her mind strongly recalled his mother when she saved both, holding his son with large tears running down her face. Even now she remembered vividly how she kowtowed, bowing her head over and over again.

“Thank you so much for saving my son. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Now that she’d heard what had happened to the father, that memory became a heartrending one.

“Because of that accident my mom won’t let me become a carpenter, it makes her remember about father. She says she wants me to become an apprentice and live in a haberdashery or kimono shop… but, I don’t want to become one of those. I want to be a carpenter.”

The boy tightened his grip of his hand and continued.

“I’m keeping it a secret from mom, I’m planning to become an apprentice of a boss who was an acquaintance of my father’s. Everything’s been arranged.”

“… Why are you telling this to me?”

Mitsuri asked him confused. They boy hesitated at first but then answered brusquely.

“‘Cuz, sis, you were super cool when you saved me and mom.”

“Eh…”

She was extremely puzzled. At that time, she had just joined the Corps and was a lower ranked Slayer who only had her strength to boast, but wasn’t competent at all. She got cut all over and it took her a lot of time to chop off the Demon’s head. Anyways, she had been desperate. She hadn’t been in a state in which she should receive some flattery or even be called cool.

“But, y’know, I was really weak then! Like, I could only reach a lame victory and… I wasn’t cool in the sligh-”

“You were cool!!”

The boy shouted, cutting off her words.

“You fought with everything you got, for us, for complete strangers. Despite being a woman, you went so far as getting all battered… sis, you were cooler than anyone.”

The boy’s honest words pierced her heart.

Maybe because of his excitement, the boy’s earlobes were turning red as the sunset.

“Seeing you like that it made me think. I want to be like that too, doing what I really I want and be of help to others. I don’t want to give up or regret anything. That’s why, it doesn’t matter how much my mom cries for it, I’m going to become a carpenter and show everyone I can make a bridge that surpasses my father’s.”

“…”

“I was looking for you forever because I wanted to tell only sis about this. Okay then, thanks for the dangos.”

Saying that, they boy ran off. There wasn’t even time to call him out.

His back grew smaller and smaller until he dissapeared in the crowd.

“…”

Mitsuri stared in a daze at the spot she last saw him…

5.-

“Kanroji-sama, thank you for visiting us. Shinobu-sama’s waiting for you.”

After arriving at the Butterfly Estate, Kanzaki Aoi guided her to the training area with a troubled face. Mitsuri tilted her head while trembling.

(Why at the training area?)

Just as the name implies, that place is a dojo where injured soldiers go through a training regiment to boost their recovery process and also where Shinobu trains herself and her Tsuguko.

Mitsuri had visited the Butterly Estate before, but this was the first time she was called to the training grounds.

With a worried face, Aoi left her alone and she timidly opened the sliding door to the dojo.

“Umm… Shinobu-chan?”

“Hello, Kanroji-san.”

And there she was, at the center of the vast dojo. She was sitting with two bamboo swords at her side. However, she wasn’t smiling as usual.

With a frosty look, she grabbed both swords, stood up and tossed one of the swords to Mitsuri.

(…Eh?)

She caught it with her hand reflexively.

Shinobu, still stone-faced asked her.

“Could I ask you for a match?”

Despite making a request, it seemed that Shinobu had no intention of listening to her answer as she readied her bamboo sword and pointed it towards Mitsuri.

“Eh?… Wha- Eh? Shinobu-chan?”

While Mitsuri was confused and not able to understand the situation, Shinobu gave her a sidelong glance and rushed in without making a sound. In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance between them and knocked the sword in Mitsuri’s hands off.

The low pitched sound of the sword hitting the floor resounded in the dojo.

“Just now—”

Shinobu glanced sharply at Mitsuri who stood still and dumbfounded.

“You don’t even have half of your strength. If you were yourself, it wouldn’t have mattered how low your guard was, you’d have dodged that easily.”

“…Ah… Um…”

Shinobu’s voice had a strict tone, almost as if she was reproaching her. Mitsuri became flustered.

“It looks like you can’t use the Breath of Love properly.”

“Th- that’s… Um…”

What she said was exactly correct and made Mitsuri more and more dispirited.

Shinobu let out a soundless sigh and lowered her sword. She directed a chilly look to Mitsuri’s body.

“You look pale and your cheeks are hollow. You haven’t been eating enough to keep your muscles healthy, have you?

“!!”

“I’m not strong as a swordswoman, however Kanroji-san’s different. What makes you an excellent swordswoman is your talent to use a longsword as it pleases you without worries, your incredible flexibility, the strength you got by birth and, above everything else, your overwhelming honesty.

Mitsuri fell completely silent.

“Kanroji-san.”

Shinobu addressed her emotionlessly.

“Why are you trying to make yourself weaker?”

Her heart jumped from the shock.

She fearfully looked at Shinobu, who was already looking back at her.

Mitsuri gulped, but the sound of it felt like another person had done it.

If she was going to talk, now was the moment.

But—

(No… I can’t say it…. I just can’t.)

If she said it frankly, it would just hurt Shinobu. She would make her remember unpleasant and sad things—

No, wrong. In truth, she was scared of saying it. Mitsuri was deceiving herself by thinking it was all for Shinobu’s sake, when it actually was for her own. She was too afraid of being hated by her precious friend if she confessed, of destroying their friendship and losing a friend.

Mitsuri casted her eyes downwards to avoid Shinobu’s eyes and squeezed her hands.

(What should I do… Something else, I could tell her another rea-)

At the instant she thought that, a voice sounded in her ears.

— You were cool!!

Ah…

Mitsuri lifted her head energetically.

That boy told her she was cooler than anyone when she was still a novice. She had felt a huge relief and was happy they were alive.

She’d thought she finally found a place where it was fine to stay, aside from her family.

Thank you.

It was actually Mitsuri the one who wanted to say those words.

(I can’t….I mustn’t tell lies.)

If I do it, I won’t be able to stay here anymore.

I won’t be able to face Shinobu ever again.

(I have to tell her properly… my feelings.)

She shut her eyes tightly, then opened them and looked directly at Shinobu’s eyes.

“—Shinobu-chan, I…”

Just by saying those few words, her mouth went dry. She knew she was speaking in a shrill voice.

“I… heard it…. from the Kakushi….about Shinobu-chan.”

“….”

Shinobu’d been watching her, still with a cold expression. Even now, there couldn’t be seen any change in her emotions.

If she really had complete control of her emotions, just how much training did she go through to reach that?

A girl whose parents were slaughtered by Demons right before her eyes and whose beloved sister was snatched away too.

The pain and sorrow almost made Mitsuri’s heart falter, but she eagerly fought them back.

“… I, was embarrassed at my reason to join the Corps… to find someone special and love… I felt sorry for Shinobu-chan. I thought I shouldn’t be like this, I needed to pull myself together… But,”

Sealing away her love made her surprisingly weak. The connection between her heart and the Breath of Love was deeper than she’d thought.

“I finally got it now. I can’t do that. I have to become stronger being myself. If not, I won’t be able to protect anyone.”

She became afraid of being hated by those precious to her and as a result she neglected those she was supposed to protect. She unreasonably weakened the power and strength given to her by birth and tried to live in falsehood. All when she’d supposedly decided to live somewhere where lies were not needed and use this power granted by her parents to save as many people as she could…

“This is me! This is Kanroji Mitsuri!! My heart leaps for many kinds of people, I eat a lot and I’m really strong! … But… I, I—”

“…..”

“Shinobu-chan… I really love you, okay?”

Saying that and before she could close her mouth, Shinobu’s pure white throat started to move slightly.

“Aside from me, there’re a lot of members in the Corps who had their parents snatched away from them by Demons.”

Mitsuri’s heart throbbed in pain at her calm voice.

“Aoi, Sumi, Kiyo and Naho too. Their families were killed by Demons and had nowhere else to go, so they live here with me.

Mitsuri was hanging her head again, but a soft voice reached her hears.

“However, me and those girls would never be jealous of your situation or loath you because of your reasons for joining the Corps. But, well, I was surprised at first when I heard it.”

“Eh?…”

Mitsuri heard a giggle slip out in the last sentence, she lifted her head in surprise and saw Shinobu with a smile playing on her lips. Their eyes met.

With Shinobu’s cold expression gone, Mitsuri was warmly wrapped in with her usual gentle smile.

“Everyone here harbors hatred and grief, and despite licking each other’s wound, we can’t move forward. For us, Kanroji-san’s cheerfulness and smile is what always saves us.”

“Shinobu… chan…”

In Shinobu’s eyes, she could see herself ready to burst into tears.

Her deep violet eyes looked the same as the first time they met, they were the most beautiful thing in the world.

“So, please, don’t do things like lying to yourself. I really like you as you are.”

Unable to endure it, she clinged to Shinobu who was way smaller than herself. Lukewarm tears were shedded one after another.

“Shinobu-chanShinobu-chanShinobu-chan!!!”

“I’m sorry for testing you like that.”

“No, it’s fine! Really fine… I was being stupid.”

Still clinging to her Mitsuri shook her head, tickling Shinobu and making her laugh.

“Please, from now on you have to eat properly, okay?”

“Yeah, I will! I’ll eat a lot. And get stronger!”

“Iguro-san was worried too.”

And added a few more words in a whisper.

‘To the point of being a little overprotective.’

“Yeah, I’ll apologize to him too. And to Muichirō-kun…

Wahhhh.

Mitsuri cried like a child and Shinobu softly patted her back with her small hand, in the same way one would do it to a baby.

Then, she murmured.

“—To tell you the truth, I was always jealous. Jealous of your constitution.”

“Eh?”

“If I too had muscles like you, if I was taller… Then…”

“Shinobu… chan?”

“I said too much, please forget it.”

She muttered in her arms.

What was she going to say after ‘then’?

Mitsuri felt like the words left unsaid were full of feelings strong enough to be heartbreaking, feelings which would rather burn down everything.

The only swordsman who can’t cut off a Demon’s head among all the Pillars.

The body she was holding now felt so fleeting, or rather it was like a child’s, that it made her cry loudly once more.

She promised herself again.

That she’d live without making lies.

That she’d kill as many Demons as possible.

And she’d protect as many smiles and happiness as she could.

So that she can live proudly with her cherished friends in this precious place—.

6.-

“Kanroji-san, why did you join the Demon Slayer Corps?”

“Uh? Me?”

In the corridor of Tecchikawahara’s mansion, Kamado Tanjirō asked her a question.

This boy, who joined the Corps to turn her sister back to a human, had fiery red eyes. They were really pretty.

He was looking at her straight into her eyes, it almost made her shrink back.

“It’s kinda embarrassing… Oh, what should I do. You wanna hear?”

Mitsuri fidgeted.

Nezuko, who through her Demon Blood Arts had shrunk her boy to the size of a child, looked up at her curiously. Mitsuri gently brushed her black hair.

“You see…”

— Kanroji Mitsuri continued her story with a smile in her face.

FIN

TL:SoMeBoDY kILL ME

#kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu #demon slayer #one winged butterfly #kataha no cho #translations #Kanroji Mitsuri #iguro obanai #kochou shinobu #pillars #love pillar #snake pillar #insect pillar #hashira

1K notes · View notes