#But listen LITERALLY I sat down with my then-partner drinking wine and laughing at everything like

[disasterbijupiter]

Happy approximately one-year anniversary of me being (re-)obsessed with G Gundam for some reason! 🎉 😆🎉

[tencrushesperday]

Pulling on Threads pt3

Azriel x reader and very much angsty

happens during acowar so far, i forgot the exact time line bc i’ve read this book over a year ago

part 1 , part 2

i have an important exam tomorrow yet it’s 2:30am and i’m still here pls appreciate my dedication 😩

The first time you met Azriel, Rhysand had brought you to the House of Wind for a report about the repairs on the city’s wastewater drainage that had caused some problems recently. Everything was going well until shadows started gathering around you. They were not threatening but you would lie if you said it didn’t startle you.

“You could have just come in and said hello, you know. No need to send your little friends over.” Rhysand’s chuckle brought you out of your apprehensive thoughts about the shadows swirling around you. You didn’t understand what he was saying but it all made sense when the door opened to reveal the most beautiful male you have ever set your eyes on.

You were staring, wide eyed, as the shadows regained their masters, cladding his body in this dark, mysterious aura. It took Rhysand’s voice again to get you out of your fixation. “This Azriel. Azriel, this is a friend of mine.”

You shot up to your feet and extended an arm, out of courtesy. However, the tall male didn’t reciprocate your gesture. Withdrawing your hand, you let out a shy “Hello” suddenly very aware of his gaze on you.

You wished you had the confidence to keep the eye contact but he was so imposing that you sat back down. Rhysand told him that the both of you had a meeting that would soon end and he would seek him out once he was done. At that, Azriel left with a short nod. Nothing else had left on that he was aware of or even listened to what was going on in the room. You wondered if he was always that expressionless.

Rhysand apologised for his Spymaster’s behaviour but you brushed it off, reassuring him that there was nothing to apologise for.

You couldn’t stop thinking about him after that. You got nervous each time you were around him. He was so pretty it literally hurt. It was pathetic how nervous you were around him at the beginning because you wanted to get to know him but had no idea how to engage. And he certainly wasn’t making it easier.

Yet, with time, you two grew comfortable around each other. Obviously he wasn’t one to talk much, but you stopped trying to get him to do so and started appreciating his silence.

Since you started going out with Rhysand’s Inner Circle more often, you also noticed his feelings for the Morrigan (for a sly spymaster, that had been pretty easy to read). You weren’t exactly comfortable with her yet when it happened. However, a year after the fateful Starfall party, you both went shopping for gifts for the holiday. You started talking about relationship statuses, just mindless gossip at first. But it was the perfect opportunity for you and so you asked her about her relationship with Azriel. She laughed it off at first but later in the night, when the both of you were drinking wine in your apartment, she decided to open up about her story. Obviously, she asked you in return why you were so curious about Az and since she trusted you with her past, it felt wrong to lie to her. So you told her about your little crush, insisting that she does nothing about it.

After speaking about it, it became easier for you. Seeing that it wasn’t reciprocated, you buried your feelings deep down and started simply enjoying his company, stopped overthinking every move when in the same room as him. Of course it still hurt to see him take home a cute female after a night out, but you tried a few relationships of your own.

They never worked out, though. Your partners always complained that you weren’t giving your everything to the relationship. And since the bond never snapped with any of them, you didn’t bother. You knew your heart belonged somewhere else.

You wished it didn’t.

Especially tonight. When you woke up to everyone panicking about a missing Elain. Of course it was tragic. She was a lovely girl, that meant a lot to many people here, yourself included, as she was Feyre’s sister.

But she mattered a lot to Azriel too apparently as he flew to rescue her not thinking twice. He hadn’t heard you call his name before he shot up into the sky with Feyre. No planning, no strategies. That was so unlike the calm and collected Azriel everyone knew. She could elicit such reactions from him when you could barely get him to smile at you recently.

How cruel the world could be.

Rhysand was going mad all night waiting for them to come back. You understood, at least you told yourself that you guessed, what he was feeling when his mate was in danger like that.

Over the decades, you have mastered a composed exterior. When you’re in love with someone you copy their antics and manners, right ? At least Azriel taught you that.

But right now, with him being in the middle of the Hybern war camp, you knew it was threatening crack. You were holding on to your sanity by a thread. Because what would you do if something ever happened to him? How would you survive that ? You knew you wouldn’t. You would blame yourself everyday for at least not telling him of your feelings. He deserved to know that someone loved him as fiercely as you did, even if he didn’t feel the same. Rejection could maybe mean closure for you.

Going over every worst scenario in your mind made you nauseous so you had to leave Rhys and go to the bathroom. If nausea passed once you had a glass of water, hyperventilating only got worse, as silent tears were rolling down your cheeks. After a few minutes, you heard a knock on the door and Mor’s soft voice asking if you were okay.

You simply opened the door for her and let her hold you in her arms. You needed to ground yourself back into reality, needed someone to tell you he was going to come back, safe and sound.

She held you like that, softly stroking your head and whispering reassurances in your ear, for at least fifteen minutes before you were able to calm down your breathing and thoughts. “Let’s go make tea in kitchen, huh?” Her voice was so gentle and you were only able to nod back.

You had to get your shit together. If Mor saw you like that, it didn’t matter. But the rest couldn’t. Not Amren, not Cassian and certainly not Rhys, who was already panicked enough.

Hours passed and your worry didn’t. You drank tea with Mor, practiced some breathing exercises Cassian once taught you, even tried to get yourself busy with some other work.

Nothing has ever felt as good as Rhys announcing that Feyre told him all three of them were alive and on the way back through their daemati gift.

Nothing has ever felt as horrible as watching him land with her in his arms.

You were worried sick over him. While he was risking his life for her. When she was mated to another. When he was…

As fragile and hurt as she was, you decided that you didn’t like her. It was definitely biased, unfair, uncalled for. But you couldn’t shake that feeling. That she was stealing something from you.

“You’re hurt” Azriel shot his eyes at you. Nobody said anything before nor after you stated that. And you didn’t know if centuries or milliseconds had passed since they landed. The world was heavy on your shoulders as he held your gaze. You wanted nothing more than to run into his arms. To hold him as tight as possible to make sure he was real, that he was with you and alive.

But you stayed on the other side of the room, still holding eye contact for what felt like an eternity.

Cassian got in between you as he took Elain from his arms. Azriel still stared at you over his shoulder.

You approached him slowly. You were doing everything in your power to not throw yourself at him. “Can i help you clean that?” He nodded slightly. He was so tired.

He was so, so tired. And you looked so welcoming. He just wanted to crash in your arms and let you hold him forever.

You barely caught him before he fainted.

[redgillan]

Under Pastel Skies - 11

Sugar daddy!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Modern!AU Bucky doesn’t need anyone, especially not a sugar baby. He isn’t that desperate… but she smiles so sweetly and she’s endearingly awkward, and he’s so lonely. She’s an artist, a painter, the type of person who always puts others before herself. Throwing caution to the wind Bucky offers her a place to live, a place where she can finally paint whatever her heart desires. He doesn’t need much in return; a friend, a muse.

Word Count: 6,696

Warnings: Unprotected Sex (non explicit) 

A/N: And finally... Just a word before, and it’s important, I wanted to put the explicit between two ‘*’ but I settled for one at the end because explicit means different things to different people. So whenever it starts to get too steamy for you, skip to the *. Thank you for reading, I appreciate your support!

Wannabe sugar daddies, don’t interact with this post. 

Bucky moved behind the kitchen counter when he heard the door close. You and your guests were in the hallway where you took their coats and asked them to remove their shoes. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He had to stay calm, you depended on him tonight.

“It smells nice in here. What did y-”

Bucky straightened himself up and tried to keep a casual, friendly smile on his face as he came face-to-face with Okoye. He had seen enough pictures of your siblings to recognize them.

She looked surprised to find someone else there. He raised his hand and waved, and she frowned at him in confusion. The rest of the guests stopped short when they saw him waving like a dork. You pushed through them and came to his side.

“Guys, this is my friend, Bucky,” you said. “He’s the one who invited you.”

“Thanks for the invite. I hope you like wine,” Scott said, extending his hand as he walked over to Bucky.

“I sure do.”

Then he shook Wanda and Okoye’s hands, telling them how good it was to finally meet them. Your sisters introduced him to their partners, W’Kabi and Edwin who preferred to be called ‘Viz’.

You led them to the living room while Bucky prepared the drinks. W’Kabi decided to stay behind and help Bucky carry the drinks to the living room. He praised Bucky for having such a nice home.

The conversation seemed to flow easily between your siblings, though as Bucky arrived with your drink, he couldn’t help but notice that you were not participating. You took the glass from his hand, smiled then went back to staring at the coffee table. He sat next to you and rubbed soothing strokes on your arm before he reached for his drink.

Okoye was telling everyone that she had decided to return to New York after King T’Chaka’s passing. His son carried the mantle of the Black Panther, surrounding himself with his father’s Dora Milaje, but Okoye wanted to live closer to her own family.

She was a Dora Milaje, loyal to her king, but she was also a sister, loyal to her family. She felt like there were no good choices, and it ate away at her until her king found a solution to her problem. His little sister, Shuri, was starting her own business in the United States and needed her own bodyguards. Okoye accepted and W’Kabi followed her.

Scott didn’t share much. He showed everyone pictures of his little girl, Cassie, and said he was now working at Baskin-Robbins.

Wanda was evasive about her life and whereabouts. She told everyone that she’d been backpacking across Europe and met Viz, a wealthy businessman, on a beautiful sunny day in Berlin. They’d been attached at the hip ever since.

“And of course, you’re all invited to the wedding,” Wanda said while Okoye admired the ring. “It’s going to be a small wedding. I just need my family.”

“Excuse-me,” you said, standing up abruptly. “I think something’s burning.”

Bucky watched you disappear into the kitchen. He glanced at the group again, no one was paying attention so he followed you into the kitchen.

He found you leaning back against the counter, your arms crossed over your chest, staring into nothing. He walked over to you and pulled you into a one-armed hug that you accepted with a pleased sigh.

“I don’t think I can do this,” you said, your voice muffled against his shirt.

“Is it a code ‘flamingo’?”

“No,” you chuckled, pulling away. You took a deep breath and leaned back against the counter again. “It’s just...”

You huffed, unable to find the words and grabbed him by the waist, seeking his warmth again. Bucky let out a surprised laugh as you squeezed him tightly. He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pressed you against his chest.

“I know it’s hard,” he said, kissing the crown of your head. “It’ll be over soon, angel.”

Bucky rocked you side to side in a slow, soothing rhythm until you were practically melting against him. He felt you take a deep breath, your nose buried in his chest. He didn’t want the moment to end, but you’d been gone for several minutes now, and the others would barge in the kitchen soon.

He pressed a long kiss to your forehead and gently pushed you away, his arm falling to your waist. You smoothed out the wrinkles you had made in his shirt without looking him in the eye.

He could tell you were thinking about something but before he could ask what was on your mind, you kissed the slight cleft in his chin and quickly moved away from him.

He smiled to himself, his heart beating a little faster.

You were transferring the dinner rolls from the pan to the basket when Scott poked his head into the kitchen. Bucky was still smiling to himself like a lovesick idiot.

“Everything okay?” Scott asked, taking a step closer to you. You turned to him and nodded. “It’s kinda weird, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Seeing each other again after all this time.” He leaned his forearm on the counter next to you and smelled the bread. “Baby Wanda’s getting married. Did you know they flew me first class? And the hotel is incredible. I feel like a prince.”

“Viz seems very nice.”

“I can’t believe Wanda backpacked through Europe,” Scott scoffed. “She hates camping.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Bucky watched as Scott leaned closer and whispered in your ear. “Listen, I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me and for Cassie-” Bucky quietly left the two of you alone. It was a private conversation and he didn’t want to impose himself.

He finished setting the table, and soon everyone joined in. Bucky was sitting with his back to the kitchen, W’Kabi sitting next to him. You took a seat across from him, Wanda sitting next to you. Okoye sat next to Wanda, facing Scott, and Viz took a seat at the end of the table.

The food was good, and everyone complimented Bucky on his cooking skills. He said that you had helped him a lot, but you refused to take credit for chopping up a bunch of vegetables. You gushed about his cooking skills and his delicious recipes. It made them salivate just thinking about it.

“And your house is amazing,” Scott said with a dreamy look on his face. “A place like that...” he sighed, “that must have cost you an arm and a leg.” The whole room fell silent, and something that sounded like a foot hitting a shin made the table jump. “Ouch, why did yo- oh.”

Okoye was looking at him with the widest pair of eyes Bucky had ever seen. She looked furious and exasperated at the same time. The others stared at their plates as the uncomfortable silence grew.

Bucky glanced at you, not surprised to find you smirking. You knew he lived for moments like these, and you knew he already had the perfect comeback. As he watched you bit your lip, trying to contain a little giggle, he couldn’t help but love you even more.

“It was the original price but I’m a good negotiator,” Bucky said. “Only cost me an arm.”

W’Kabi was the first to laugh at his joke, then the whole table broke into fits of laughter. Scott looked equally amused and relieved.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”

“No problem,” Bucky cut him off.

“Can’t take you anywhere,” Okoye said with a smile and a shake of her head. She turned to Bucky as everyone calmed down. “So, Bucky, strange name, uh? What do you do for a living?”

“My name is James, Bucky’s just a nickname.” He wiped his mouth and set the napkin down. “I’m a writer.”

“A pretty good one, judging by your apartment.”

“I’m all right.” He shrugged. “Literally.” Scott snickered at the joke.

“He’s too modest,” you said. “His books are best sellers. They’re autobiographical, he’s very sincere and honest and funny. He has a way of making you laugh about things that are pretty awful.”

“Yeah, we saw that,” Wanda said with a grin. “Are you working on anything at the moment?”

Bucky shifted a little in his seat. “Yeah, it’s uh,” he cleared his throat. “It’s a very important one. I don’t really want to talk about it. Don’t wanna jinx it.”

He wasn’t going to tell your family that he was writing a book about how he fell in love with you. That’d be pretty awkward.

“I understand,” Okoye nodded, then looked at you. “You’ve been really quiet tonight.” You shrugged. “I thought you were still living with Natasha. Do you still work at the hotel? Where is it again? Chelsea? That’s one hell of a commute from Brooklyn.”

“I wasn’t exactly living with Natasha,” you said. “I was crashing on her sofa. And no, I quit six months ago. I’m a full time artist now.”

“That’s great,” Scott said, raising his glass toward you in a silent toast. “How’s that working out for you?”

“Not too bad. Bucky’s friend is a professional photographer. He helped me set up my website. The pictures he took are amazing. I sold a few pieces online but I’m struggling to find gallery representation.”

“Hey, as long as it pays the bills.”

“I don’t really have to worry about bills these days.”

“What do you mean?”

The room got quiet again, and Bucky could feel the tension in the air, buzzing like static electricity. All eyes were suddenly on you, waiting for an explanation. Bucky knew you were not going to lie to them. He locked eyes with you, and braced himself for impact.

You set your fork down and folded your hands in your lap.

“Well, Bucky and I have an arrangement.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Scott cut you off.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush and I’m not going to use pretty words to make it sounds more appealing,” you continued as if you hadn’t heard him. “He’s my sugar daddy.”

“You’re joking. Please, tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope,” you replied smugly, popping the ‘p’.

A chorus of voices rose in protest. Okoye and Scott were shouting while the others kept glancing around wondering what had just happened. Wanda was strangely quiet next to you.

“Oh, shut up!” you shouted. “You left me alone. All of you. We were all grieving our brother but it doesn’t give you the right to fuck off when things get tough. Do you know how fucking terrifying it was when mom started to lose her memories? Or when the police drove her home at three in the morning after one of her spells? No, you don’t know because you weren’t there.”

Bucky had never seen you so upset before, and he didn’t quite know what to do but he felt like you needed to get it off your chest.

“I didn’t have friends or boyfriends. I went to class, then got home, hoping mom hadn’t set the house on fire. I took the first decent job I could find because she needed a new home and professional help. Without Natasha I would have been homeless.” You turned to Bucky. “I’m so sorry, I’ve ruined dinner. You’ve worked so hard.”

“It’s okay,” he replied immediately. “I’m with you.”

“God, you’re so nice,” you sighed, then turned to your siblings. “See? That’s the kind of person he is. I was lonely and lost, and I found him and he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s kind and sweet, he’s selfless and generous, and you have no right to criticize our relationship.”

Bucky stared at you, his mouth hanging open a little. Slowly he shook himself out of his trance and reached for your hand on the table. He had no idea you thought so highly of him.

“We needed each other,” you continued. “And I don’t care what you think.”

Dinner was officially ruined but Bucky didn’t care. He smiled at you, soft and reassuring, and let go of your hand when you smiled back. He was proud of you for speaking up, for standing up for yourself.

Bucky noticed Wanda and Viz exchanging looks.

“Okay so, since we’re sharing truth bombs,” Wanda said, shifting a bit in her seat. “I wasn’t really traveling through Europe. I went to Sokovia and after that, everything’s kind of a blur. I did things I’m not proud of. I wanted to forget,” she paused and sighed, “everything. I hit rock bottom, pretty hard, and checked myself into a psychiatric hospital. That’s where I met Viz. He helped me send you those postcards. I screwed up, real bad, but I couldn’t tell you guys the truth. I’m not really proud of myself.”

“I got fired from Baskin-Robbins for yelling at a costumer.”

“Okay!” Okoye exclaimed in her big sister voice. “Enough truth bombs.” She pointed at you. “I’m sorry you had to do this alone, it wasn’t right but we’re here now and we won’t let you down. As for the sugar daddy thing... well you’re a grown woman, you can do whatever you want. Bucky seems like a nice guy.” She turned to Wanda. “We are all dealing with our pain in our own way. I’m not judging you. We’re here for you, Wanda.”

“I know,” Wanda said, sniffing.

“And Scott, stop yelling at people.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

Bucky turned to W’Kabi and Viz who looked proud of their girls, albeit a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. Someone started chuckling, he couldn’t tell who it was, but suddenly the whole table broke into a fit of laughter.

“How about some dessert,” he said. “Then you guys can fill me in on some childhood secrets.”

As he walked away from the table, he heard you warn your siblings to keep their mouths shut. They laughed in response, which made Bucky smile. Surely it’d take more than one outburst at a family dinner to fix your broken bond but it was a good start.

During dessert, he learned that everyone called you ‘Splotchy’ because you painted on the living room walls as a child. He learned that you always wanted to play board games with Okoye. Your favourite one was Mystery Date.

“She had a crush on Tyler, the beach date.”

“No, that’s not true, don’t listen to them.”

When they finally left, you spent a few extra moments hugging everyone. Promises were made, and Bucky couldn’t help but smile as he watched you wave goodbye to your siblings.

It was just the two of you again, and the mountain of dirty dishes and silverware. He told you not to worry about the dishes, but you knew if he went to bed he wouldn't be able to sleep, not when the kitchen was such a mess so you cleaned together.

He loved these moments with you. There was something very peaceful about the night; the dark skies, the soft lights, the quiet apartment, knowing people all around town where getting ready for bed. It used to make him feel tiny and isolated but now, with you, the night didn’t seem so frightening anymore.

A few weeks went by, and things were changing a bit. You spent your Saturday mornings with your sisters, bonding, and facetimed with Scott at least once a week.

Bucky also noticed a subtle change in Sam’s behaviour. He seemed happier and he wondered if his friend had already forgotten Natasha.

It was almost June, and the building’s swimming pool reopened as the weather got warmer. Despite living there for several years, he had never gone near that swimming pool until you dragged him out one scorching afternoon.

The rooftop was surprisingly calm, apart for the group of children playing in the pool. There were people sunbathing around the pool, enjoying a good book, socializing. You dropped your bag on the floor and laid out your towel on the reclining chair.

Bucky had never seen you in a bathing suit before and it caught him completely off guard, but what made him literally growl was seeing the little pendant of your necklace rest against your skin. He didn’t know why but it awoke something in him.

You both slathered on sunscreen before you went for a swim. Bucky recognized a few neighbours, and while they all knew he only had one arm, they had never seen him shirtless before. Bucky didn’t mind their inquisitiveness, as long as you were beside him.

“Do you think the kids peed in the water?” you asked as you rested against the edge of the pool.

“Probably,” Bucky cringed. “When I was a kid, my mom told me that there were chemicals that turned the water a different color when someone pees.”

“Ew,” you laughed.

After a while, he lay out in the sun, enjoying the feel of the sun on his skin. He could still hear you playing water polo with the kids when a shadow passed over him. With a frown, he pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead.

“It’s nice to see you, James,” his neighbour beamed, taking a seat on your unoccupied chair. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out here.”

“Hi.” He wasn’t surprised when his voice came out hoarse since he had been on the verge of falling asleep. With the grace of a walrus, he propped himself into a sitting position. “Yes, well, swimming pools are more fun when you’re not alone.”

His neighbour turned to look at you. “Congratulations, by the way. I didn’t know you were seeing someone. Must have been serious if you two moved in together. How long has it been since she moved in? Six months?”

“Seven.”

He knew he should have corrected her, you weren’t his girlfriend, but it felt good. It was just a harmless little lie.

“Does she make you happy?”

“I’m the happiest man on earth,” he replied with a bright smile, then slid his sunglasses back on his face.

His neighbour chuckled quietly. “I can see that!”

When you returned to your seat, his neighbour was gone. You hummed to yourself as you settled into your seat, big droplets of water running down your body. Bucky tilted his head down and peered at you over the top of his sunglasses.

“Where did you get that popsicle?”

“Jealous?” You licked your treat without looking at him. “The kids’ mom gave me one as a thank you for looking after her kids.”

“That looks good.”

“So good.”

“Mind sharing it with me?”

You pursed your lips thoughtfully, then held out your popsicle. As Bucky leaned closer, you pulled it away and jumped to your feet. The look he gave you was one of pure betrayal.

“Oh, angel, you should have never done that.”

He grinned to himself when he saw a shiver run through you. When he stood up, you took a step back. He strutted toward you, his grin predatory. The floor was slippery so you couldn’t go very far.

“Are you ready to share now?”

“No!”  

The popsicle melted down your hand, creating a mess. You turned your arm and licked the drops of popsicle juice from the inside of your wrist. It distracted you long enough for Bucky to wrap his arm around your waist, pulling you against him. You squealed and grabbed him around the neck to keep from falling while also trying not to smush the popsicle against his chest.

You waved the treat in front of his face and he tried to bite off the tip of your popsicle. It made you laugh, your body sagging against him. His face was close to yours. He was so close he could smell the artificial orange scent of your popsicle.

Your laughter died down and your breath caught in your throat when you saw the way he was looking at you. Without thinking, he went for it. He felt your fingers flex against his skin, urging him closer.

His lips were barely a breath away from yours when one of the kids repeatedly slapped your thigh, obviously oblivious to what the two grownups were about to do.

“Come back! We haven’t finished the game,” the kid whined. “Come on!”

Reluctantly, you let go of Bucky and took a step back. Your exhale came out shaky, and in your almost-kiss-induced trance you handed him the popsicle without saying anything before you followed the kid.

You turned back to look at him, one hand sprawled across your stomach, the other across your chest. He knew you were feeling it too: the butterflies, the racing heartbeat, that pleasant heat going through your body.

The difference between like and love.

A week later, he came home to an empty apartment. He climbed the stairs to your studio but you weren’t there. Instead, he found a canvas stretched out smooth and tight on the floor, and several bowls of paint arranged in a semi-circle around it.

He knew you were home, you wouldn’t leave without your phone or bag. Out of curiosity, he went up on the roof and let out a relieved breath when he found you.

You were sitting on the edge of the rooftop with your knees up to your chin and your arms wrapped loosely around your shins. You looked so beautiful in the golden hue of the setting sun.

He stood there, watching you as if he was looking at a painting in a museum. Entranced. You hadn’t noticed him yet, and a quick glance around the roof told him you were alone.  

Slowly, he made his way to you and took in your appearance: a short sleeve white shirt and a pair of denim overalls. The shirt was surprisingly spotless but the overalls were covered in dried paint splatters of different colours.

“I looked everywhere for you,” he spoke softly, trying not to disturb you.

“Did you?”

You straightened up a little but kept your eyes trained on the horizon. Bucky sat close to your feet and let his hand slip under the hem of your jeans to close around your ankle. A sigh slipped past your lips, and he let his fingertips linger for a moment on your smooth skin.

He knew you had a meeting today, and judging by the resigned look on your face, it didn’t go well.

“What’s on your mind, angel?” he said, caressing the top of your foot.

“I was thinking about the night we met. God, I was so nervous,” you said, laughing softly. “I told you that agreeing to meet you was like choosing between a pack of wolves and jumping off a cliff.”

“I remember,” he chuckled.

“I never told you how glad I am that I jumped off that cliff,” you said. “I’d never jumped head first into something, not knowing what was going to happen. Now I think I’m addicted to it. Before I met you, I was living for others. Everything single decision was thoroughly analysed. There was no mystery, fun, or impulsiveness. I put my entire life on hold, and now I see that I can’t do that anymore.”

“What are you going to do?”

You paused, searching for the right words. “I don’t know if I want to turn my passion into a career. Painting is my safe-place, and right now it’s giving me so much anxiety. I haven’t had the inspiration to paint in weeks.” You looked at him and pressed your lips together tightly. “And, if I don’t want to become a full time artist, then I guess our deal is off.”

Bucky stared at you, mouth agape. He really hadn’t seen it coming.

“Please, don’t be angry,” you pleaded. “I don’t want to stop seeing you. When he didn’t answer, you leaned forward and touched his face.

“I could never be angry with you, angel,” he said, kissing the inside of your palm. “I understand, and I’ll help you however I can.”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m still thinking about it.” You looked away from him and stared at the sky. “Do you know that feeling when you stand in a high place and you think about jumping? You don’t want to jump and you don’t do it, but there’s that urge.”

“I think I do.”

“It’s called ‘call of the void’. People say that it’s an affirmation of our will to live. That knowing we’re going to die one day makes us appreciate life even more.” You looked at him. “I want to jump but I can’t. I’m scared.” You lowered your voice. “I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

“You’re scaring me a little. You can’t talk about jumping when we’re sitting on the edge of the roof.”

You chuckled under your breath. “It’s a metaphor.”

“Let’s go home. We’ll make dinner together, put on some music and pretend we’re in a movie.” He got to his feet and held out his hand to you. “Please.”

You took his hand and let him lead you to the staircase.

Once you were inside the apartment, he removed his shoes and you removed yours. Silence settled between the two of you as you entered the kitchen. Bucky moved behind the counter while you stood close to the dining table.

When he chanced a glance at you, he saw you staring into nothing while you played with the charm on your necklace, rolling it back and forth on its chain. You often did that when you were daydreaming.

Bucky walked over to you and placed his hand on top of yours, halting your movements. You let go of the pendant and held his hand instead. He ran his thumb soothingly over your fingers.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he spoke softly.

“If I say it, it’s going to change everything.”

He pressed your joined hands against his chest, over his heart. “No, it’ll make it real.”

He let go of your hand and cupped the side of your face. You leaned closer until you were only inches apart. His thumb traced your cheekbone, then moved to trace the outline of your bottom lip.

He let you come to him, let you take that first step, and when your lips brushed against his, he closed his eyes and sighed. He kissed your parted lips; once, twice, three times, tiny little kisses against your trembling lips.

His kiss grew bolder, turning into something so intimate, so passionate and intense that tears gathered in his eyes. He pressed his mouth more firmly against yours, his large hand still cupping the side of your face. His bad shoulder jutted forward as if his missing arm wanted to touch you.

He let out a groan, frustrated that he only had one hand to finally explore your skin. Sensing his inner turmoil, you held onto his bad shoulder and pulled him against you.

His tongue swept into your mouth, moving in a slow and deliberate rhythm. A growl escaped him and he deepened the kiss, tasting, sliding, retreating and entering again. He poured everything he had into the kiss.

“Bucky,” you moaned after your broke the kiss, breathless.

Hearing his name fall from your lips, your voice hoarse with desire, sparked something inside him. He swiped his thumb over your bottom lip, feeling the softness and collecting the moisture that had gathered there.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, looking positively entranced. “My pretty angel.”

You pulled him in for another kiss and wrapped your arms around his neck, your slightly cold hands felt amazing against his heated skin. He pressed himself against you, letting you feel the rise and fall of his chest, the desperation in the jerky thrust of his hips.

He needed more but he wasn’t going to force you into anything. He was more than happy to stand here and kiss you for hours. He cupped the back of your neck and rubbed the sensitive skin behind your ear with his thumb.

“I’m yours,” he spoke against your lips, his eyes screwed shut.  

You pulled back to look him in the eye, searching his face. He opened his eyes and you saw nothing but honesty in the depth of his eyes.

You untangled yourself from him and took his hand. Slowly, you took a step back, then another, his hand still in yours. His eyebrows lifted slightly when you bit your bottom lip and gave him a coy look.

He nearly growled again, the wolf inside him eager to touch you, feel you, claim you. He stood taller, his chest puffed out and breathing fast.

You led him up the stairs to the second floor and turned on the light in the corridor. You slowly made your way down the corridor with him behind you.

But instead of turning left towards his bedroom, you turned right into your studio, and it changed everything. Your studio was your sanctuary, your safe place, and knowing that you were about to bare your soul and body to him tamed his inner wolf.

You hesitated at the threshold of the room and glanced over your shoulder to look at him. Bucky squeezed your hand to encourage you.

“I bought some body paint on my way home,” you said, letting go of his hand to step into the room. “I wanted to try something different, something more personal. I wanted to use my body to express my emotions, to create something raw and messy. My interpretation of somatic art therapy.”

You moved around the darkened room; bent down to adjust the canvas on the floor and made sure the bowls of paint were still full.

“I sat there and thought of my mom and Pietro,” you continued, barefoot on the canvas. “I only feel sadness and anger, and I don’t want to create something that makes me feel sad. And I realized the only thing that keeps me inspired is hope.”

Turning to face him, you held your hand out, palm up, and his eyes widened at your silent request. Without thinking twice, he joined you on the canvas. It was both soft and scratchy under his feet.

Bucky watched as you unbuckled the right strap of your overalls and slipped the second strap off your shoulder. You tugged your jeans down your legs and tossed them aside, leaving you in your underwear and white shirt.

Swallowing thickly, Bucky let his eyes travel up and down your body. He had seen you in your bathing suit before but this was different. Then he reached behind his neck and pulled his shirt over his head, baring his strong chest, hard abdomen and marred skin.

The room was dark; the pastel sky, visible from your studio thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, didn’t provide much light. The light was still on in the corridor, casting a faint golden glow over the room.

You took a step forward to examine his scars more carefully and Bucky took that opportunity to kiss you again, slowly, intimately. He peppered kisses along your jaw and down your neck, then went down on his knees in front of you and continued his journey down your body, pressing soft kisses to your stomach.

He accidentally knocked over two bowls of paint; the dark colours spilled out onto the canvas, chasing each other. His kisses made you light up with desire, your moans music to his ears as your hands came down on the back of his head.

When it all became too much, you gently pushed him into a lying position and helped him out of his jeans. His belt buckle made a faint clink when you pulled it open, and Bucky swore out loud when you planted a wet open-mouthed kiss right below his navel.

In the back of his mind, he knew he wasn’t going to survive the night. He let his head fall back against the canvas and closed his eyes shut. Your talented mouth sent sharp jolts of pleasure through him, making it difficult to breathe.

He could feel the paint stick to his back, creating the shape of his upper body on the canvas. It was strangely exciting.

He moaned, arching his back, and slammed his fist down on the canvas. His fist landed in one of the bowls of paint. It splashed paint everywhere. He looked down at you and saw tiny flecks of paint splayed like freckles on one side of your face.

It made you both giggle. As he pushed himself up into a sitting position, Bucky left a print of his forearm on the canvas. You climbed into his lap, straddling him, then removed your shirt and bra. You wrapped your legs around him, one hand on his upper arm, the other hugging his neck.

Bucky was sitting on the canvas with his legs outstretched and slightly bent at the knees. He held you against his chest, rocking back and forth, his arm around the small of your back. You sighed together, sharing the same breath.

“You have the prettiest nose.” You let your index finger run down the length of his nose, your finger wet with paint. “So pretty.”

Laughing softly, he brushed his nose against yours and kissed you. He changed the angle of his thrusts, catching you by surprise.

“Does that feel good, angel?” he asked, lightly biting your jaw. You answered with a short cry. “Look at me.” You slowly opened your eyes, your movements faltered a little. “You’re so beautiful like this. You drive me crazy, y’know that?”

“Bucky,” you cried out.

He felt you shiver when he moved his hand from your back to your face. He cupped the side of your face and you immediately pressed yourself closer to him, craving the warmth of his touch.

He stopped your movements and looked you in the eye. “I’d do anything for you. Anything. You’re my one and only.”

He laid you down as gently and safely as he could, and once you were lying flat on your back, he sprawled between your thighs. He supported his weight on his forearm, careful not to crush you. Your hands slid up his sides, and as your thumb traced over his ribcage, a violent shiver went through his body.

He had never seen anything more beautiful than watching you come apart; your eyebrows furrowed, your lips parted in a silent ‘o’, the way your body shook in little spams. Absolutely stunning.

Exhausted, he collapsed on top of you and hid his face in the crook of your neck. You wrapped your arms around him and slowly caressed his back.

After he kissed his way down the side of your neck, he straightened himself up into a kneeling position and looked down at you. Your naked body was on display, covered in paint and glistening under the moonlight. He wished he could take a picture, immortalize this memory.

*

He helped you up, and after another passionate kiss he led you to his bathroom, the two of you leaving colourful footprints all over the clean floor.

The bathroom's bright fluorescent light was harsh and unforgiving as you looked at each other in the mirror. Yet you were both glowing, streaks and dots of paint covering your bodies. Bucky turned on the water and waited for it to get hot.

He wrapped his arm around you from behind and rested his chin on your shoulder. “We look like we blew up a rainbow,” he said, smiling wide when it made you chuckle.

In the shower, you took turns washing each other, laughing and kissing until the water turned cold. You pushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled sweetly at him.

“We’re going to catch a cold if we stay here.”

“Mhh,” he replied, kissing your temple. “You’re right. There are clean towels on the shelf. Go, I’ll be right behind you, I still need to take care of my scar.”

“Can I help you?”

Asking for help wasn’t something he was comfortable with, especially after years of being babied by his ex-girlfriend, friends and family. After his accident, he couldn’t do anything on his own. He had to rely on others and it made him feel like a burden, like he was incapable of taking care of himself.

He knew it was all in his head but he couldn’t help it.

“It’s not exactly sexy,” he said.

“I don’t care. I want to help. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Patiently he guided you step by step through the process of cleaning his stump. You inspected his skin thoroughly, looking for irritation or any signs of infection, then washed it with a mild soap.

He had to admit that watching the woman he loved take such good care of his scar made his stomach fill with butterflies. You looked so focused, so attentive, that he could help but smile and try to kiss you.

“Bucky,” you complained, turning your head away, avoiding his kiss. “This is serious business, stop fooling around.”

He almost said it. I love you. But something was holding him back. He didn’t know what would happen next and it scared him. He didn’t want this to be a one-time thing, but he also realized that things were moving too fast.

“Okay, now you’re shivering,” he said, holding you close, trying to share his body heat with you. “Let’s get out of here.”

He wrapped you in a fluffy bathrobe and patted you dry. Then you carefully dried his scar and applied corticosteroid cream to his shoulder, massaging it gently into his skin. He slipped on his robe and you loosely tied the belt at his waist.

“We should talk about what just happened,” you said, playing with the belt. “What does it mean? What are we going to do? Can we-mph”

He cut you off with a kiss, long and hard and filled with passion. You smiled against his lips and finally pulled away.

“Is that how you’re going to shut me up from now on?” you asked with a grin.

“We’ll talk,” he said, pressing his forehead against yours. “But not tonight.”

“When then?”

“Tomorrow, I promise.”

You looked down at your hands on his belt and nodded. He tilted your head up and lowered his mouth to yours.

“Don’t avoid me tomorrow. Please.”

Your words felt like a knife in his heart, and it left him momentarily speechless. He took one of your hands and pressed it against his heart. “No matter what we decide to do, you’re my angel and I’m yours.”

You shared a long, silent hug before you both decided to call it a night. Once he saw the footprints in the corridor, Bucky felt the urge to clean them. He tried to resist but he knew if he didn't clean he wouldn't be able to sleep.

You understood –you always understood. That’s why he felt so comfortable with you.

Once it was clean, he joined you in the kitchen and made you breakfast for dinner, opening the cupboard and pulling out a couple boxes of cereal you didn’t even know he had.

He told you that he was keeping them for a special occasion. He remembered you telling him that it was your favourite meal as a kid, watching TV with your siblings every Sunday night, eating cereals.

“I can’t believe you remembered that,” you said, tears in your eyes.

The two of you sat on your bed, sharing random thoughts and spoonfuls of cereal. You giggled as milk dribbled down his chin and stained his robe. You wiped at the spot on his chin with your thumb and gave him a chaste kiss.

Your lips tasted sweet. Bucky pulled you in for another kiss, discarding the dirty dishes on your bedside table. You helped each other undress, then slid under the covers where you laid your head on Bucky’s chest.

“Bucky,” your voice cut through the quiet. “Do you mind-”

“Don’t worry, my angel, I’ll wait until you fall asleep.”

“Thank you.”

Part 12

[boygirlmeetsworld]

Messy.

ONE-SHOT

Word count: 2793

Disclaimer:  One piece and all it’s characters belong to Eiichiro Oda, I just like to write about them.

Warning: None

Rating: T (i guess?? there’s cursing)

Author’s Note: Whale, this is the first fanfic I’ve posted on the interwebs since high school so please keep that in mind, lol. I do plan to finish it sooner than later so check back in a few days if you want to read the rest, sorry I don’t have it all done right now.  At long last it it FINISHED.

Feel free to tell me what u think! Unless it’s mean, then I ask that u keep those thoughts in ur noggin because I’m just writing these for fun not for grades.

Without further ado, here ya go.

Author’s Note pt 2: So i didn’t end up going the smut route like I originally planned, but I think it worked out better bc this one got nice and Emotional.

Summary: Zoro really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

__________________________________________

The moon was floating high in the night sky when Nami wandered onto the deck, unable to sleep even after a few hours of sketching. 

She wanted company – specifically, she wanted the company of the crew’s resident alcoholic. It only took a few minutes to find him on the lawn deck with his back against a tree and his eye closed. ‘How typical.’

Nami smiled a small, excited smile as she strode over to him and squatted between his parted legs. An unconscious sigh left her nose as she swept her gaze up and down his face. She caught herself thinking, ‘He really is easy on the eyes isn’t he.’ ....again. 

Who was she kidding? She’d been thinking the same thing every time she looked his way lately. 

Two years ago she’d been able to keep the immature crush she had on him locked tightly away but somehow - it had gotten out and was slowly consuming her entire being. 

Nami hoped he hadn’t noticed how often she invited him to drink with her because she didn’t think she could handle being rejected. So she settled for spending time alone with him whenever and however she could. 

“Hey, moss-head,” the navigator said finally, leaning in to squint at him, “Are you asleep?”

He had literally just settled down for a nice cat nap when the navigator appeared suddenly to interrupt him. ‘Damn. What the hell did she want now?’ 

Instead of answering, Zoro chose to ignore her and pretend like he was deep asleep. ‘Why won’t she go bother someone else?’

Nami started prodding his cheek with one finger to rouse him if he really was sleeping, ”Zorooo wake up, I wanna drink,” she whined and his eyelid opened instantly.

‘Why’s she so damn pretty..’ was the first thought he had when he realized that she was a lot closer than he’d anticipated. 

He mentally chastised himself after, trying to remind his id that Nami had never once indicated that she wanted to be anything other than friends and he should respect that. 

But… There was no harm in looking from time to time was there? And she was pretty. She’d always been... ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, now he sounded like Sanji. He needed to get a grip.’

“Helloooooo,” Nami waved her hand in Zoro’s face until he snapped back to reality and snatched her wrist up, pulling it away. He scowled but it wasn’t deep, and now he was refusing to look her in the eye. “What was that about, huh Zoro?”

“Nothing.” The swordsman replied perhaps a little too quickly to avoid suspicion, “Thought I heard a noise, doesn’t matter – oi, didn’t you want to do something?” 

He couldn’t remember what exactly it was. He’d been so distracted by the way her bangs framed her face and sometimes got caught in her eyelashes—’Damnit! He was doing it again.’

Nami smirked again but didn’t press the subject anymore. She’d do that later once they started drinking. “Weren’t you listening to me? You’re so rude, maybe I should find someone else to share my booze with.”

Was it a good idea to go drink with Nami when he kept catching himself thinking about feelings that he’d been suppressing for the last two years? Probably not…

But he couldn’t just decline an opportunity to get buzzed. ‘And... Maybe he wanted to get buzzed with Nami, specifically.’  

Zoro scoffed, mostly at himself. “Quit playing games, damnit, do you want me to drink with you or not?”

“You’re so stubborn,” The navigator teased with a pleased smile that made his heart beat unevenly, “I could care less if you join me, but you’re not allowed to come unless you say you’ll be nice.”

“Nami. I am older than you, quit treating me like a fucking child or I swear-”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady who’s getting you drunk for free, Roronoa Zoro. If you can’t be nice then I’ll just add the cost of everything you drink to your debt and-”

Zoro didn’t have time to ruminate over the way hearing her say his full name made him shiver because he had to shut her up before she did charge him. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll be... nice.” He hissed through gritted teeth and her answering giggle made his pulse flutter. He had to fight to keep himself from smiling. ‘What the hell was going on with him tonight? Was he sick?’

“Good boy,” she turned and started walking towards the Sunny’s aquarium bar, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure he was coming.

“Don’t push your luck, woman.” Zoro snarled to mask his confusion over the sudden need to touch her that he felt scratching at the back of his head. He really shouldn’t agree to be Nami’s drinking partner if he wanted to keep their friendship from getting... Complicated.

He knew it, but he followed her up the stairs all the same.

                                                       * * *

“Why d’you always want to drink with me anyway, witch?” Skeptical of her intentions, his narrowed eye fixed itself on Nami as she approached him holding two maroon tinted bottles. She offered one to him and he accepted it – but he didn’t let his guard down yet.

Zoro lowered his gaze to check the label out, whistling long and low when he read 23% alcohol per volume. A couple puzzle pieces clicked together in his head ‘Oh, that’s why. Because if she tried to drink this with anyone else they’d pass out after two glasses.’

“Would you believe that I just like hanging out with you?” Though her tone was teasing she was actually being genuine, she had a lot of fun with him whenever they went out.

“No–“ He paused when Nami kicked him in the shin hard enough to make him swear. Reaching down with his free hand he rubbed the sore patch of skin and glared daggers at his crewmate. “What the fuck was that for?!”

“You said you’d be nice, Zoro! So be nice or I’ll charge you a hundred thousand beris for that bottle.” Nami uncorked hers but waited to hand the corkscrew over until he behaved himself. The look he was giving her would probably frighten a small child but she didn’t flinch.

‘This was his choice.’ He reminded himself. Of his own free will he chose to get drunk with Nami instead of napping, and that meant dealing with her bossiness no matter how much he loathed it. ‘Sometimes he just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and make her shut up, there were better things her mouth could be doing anyway-‘

“Why do you keep staring at me like that, do I have a zit or something?”

Zoro sat up so fast that he banged his shoulder on the underside of the countertop. ‘What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with him?’ He hadn’t even opened the damn bottle and he was already making himself look like an idiot.

“No,” the swordsman grumbled, wracking his brain for a believable excuse, “Just thinking about how I’ll owe you money even after I’m dead if you keep charging me for bullshit.” That made her laugh and Zoro cursed himself for how much he liked hearing it. “Don’t see how it’s funny for me, witch.”

Nami let him take the corkscrew from her, eyes crinkled with amusement while he opened his bottle. “You’ll just have to stay alive until you pay me back in full, I guess!” She trilled before taking a long, heavy drink from hers.

“Yeah?” Zoro snorted before mimicking her and downing about half of the wine in the container. It tasted disgusting, which he’d expected, but that didn’t make the bitter aftertaste any less miserable. His nose wrinkled slightly as he set the bottle down. “I bet even if I did try to pay you off you’d find a way to charge me more.”

“You make me sound so heartless,” the navigator batted her eyelashes innocently, pretending to look hurt, “Why would I ever do such a thing?”

“Hah.” He scoffed before chugging some more wine and failing to keep track of how much he was drinking each time. “Because you want to keep me on a leash since I don’t throw myself at you like that dumbass cook.”

An impish smirk crawled it’s way onto Nami’s face that made him immediately regret what he’d just said. ‘Fuck. Damnit!’

“So…” She began slowly, savoring every second that the swordsman spent avoiding direct eye contact with her, “You admit that you are one of my lap dogs?”

A muscle in his jaw flexed and he stopped drinking for one second to grunt, “That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what I heard!” Chimed Nami as she rose from her seat, stepping over to Zoro and tracing a finger under his jaw while he drained the last few drops of liquid. “I should get you a collar, so people know who to bring you to when you get lost.”

Normally he would have snapped at her for poking fun at his sense, or lack thereof, direction but he wasn’t listening to her. She’d come close enough for him to pick up her scent and maybe it was the alcohol intensifying his feelings, but it was suffocating him in a good way.

He loved the way she smelled. Tangerines from her soaps mixed with salty seawater and traces of sunscreen. A hint of orange blossom, but only when she was close to him like this. 

Zoro inhaled deeply through his nose and, without realizing it, his expression melted into something affectionate and gentle. ‘In two years she’d changed in so many different ways… but she still smelled the same. She still smelled like home.’

                                                        * * *

“What are you thinking about, Zoro?” Her voice void of it’s usual teasing tone, Nami’s curiosity was piqued by his sudden shift in demeanor. He looked soft and peaceful, like he didn’t have anything to worry about. She wanted to know why.

‘Ah, fuck.’ What was he supposed to tell her? That he was thinking about how good she smelled? ‘Yeah right.’ Zoro was quiet for a while, mulling over his words until he came up with an explanation that didn’t sound as creepy – but also wasn’t a lie.

“I guess..” he finally murmured, his gaze shifting to meet hers, “It’s just been a while and… I was thinking about how nice it feels to be back here, with everyone…” a brief pause then he added, “I missed you guys.” ‘Look at him being all gushy and emotional, this wine really was something else.’ Zoro reached to brush his fingertips by her temple, catching a stray lock of hair and tucking it behind her ear, “I missed you.”

When had Zoro ever been this honest with her about the way he felt? Never was the answer, but now he seemed to trust her well enough to know she wouldn’t spill his secrets. Nami took his face in both of her hands, surprising him, and pulled his head down so she could kiss his forehead. “I missed you too, Zoro.”

Something about hearing her say that she’d missed him too broke a dam in his chest that he’d been trying to keep together for two years. Hormoness flooded through his bloodstream quicker than Zoro could even process them and before he knew it he was practically throwing his arms around Nami’s waist and crushing her against his chest.

“Nami—” he pressed his face into her neck to hide the tears that he couldn’t hold back anymore. Sober he might have cared about losing it like this around her but she was here and… ‘He just – needed to hold her.’ Hold her and smell her and feel how real she was because she had almost been taken from him.

‘He’d barely begun to process what he had been through on Thriller Bark when they were attacked in Sabaody. If he tried to think back on it his memories would get hazy and his bones would ache from their very cores. He knew what had happened but it’s like his brain was protecting him from understanding how close to death he’d come. Then – to be torn away from the people he loved with all of his heart? Who he had just nearly killed himself to protect?

It had ripped him apart and rubbed salt into every wound. And it fucking hurt. The same kind of pain he felt when he saw Kuina dead on the floor of their dojo. He was scared, he was furious, he was devastated – all over again but this time it was so much worse. So, so much worse.

That was why he had trained so hard over the last two years. Because he couldn’t bear the grief that came with loving them so deeply – so he got stronger. And stronger. And stronger. No matter the cost to his body, he would become powerful enough to defeat anyone who crossed them. Then… He would never have to feel the agony that he did when he first woke up on Kuraigana Island ever again.

Taking on all of Luffy’s suffering in Thriller Bark had been the most physically painful experience of his entire life – but that was nothing compared to how much it hurt to think that his friends were gone forever, that he hadn’t been able to protect them.

Training made it easy not to think about what had happened -- but now he was home, and they were safe - and he was realizing just how close he’d come to losing all of them. At once. And he could do nothing to stop it.’

Startled by him grabbing her, Nami was prepared to give the pirate a good smack if he was getting handsy but… He started trembling. ‘Was he not feeling well?’ Her mouth opened to form the question then stopped. His breathing hitched while his entire body jerked and she realized…

‘Zoro was crying.’

Roronoa Zoro, who prided himself on his strength, was sobbing wretchedly into her neck. ‘He must have been holding this in since Sabaody.’ Nami’s heart ached for him and his stupid pride that forced him to torture himself instead of letting him cry like he needed to. She’d been expecting him to crash at some point, how couldn’t he? Even someone as strong as Zoro was still a human being.

One of her arms cradled his head while the other wound round his shoulders, her fingers combing gently through his hair. “Oh you sweet, sweet boy…” she spoke in the tone that Bellemere used to use when Nami and Nojiko were frightened by a passing thunderstorm. It always calmed her, maybe it would calm Zoro, too.

‘Quit fucking crying you loser you’re supposed to be a man.’ But he couldn’t, he literally could not stop because he was trying to. “I wasn’t strong enough,” his voice quivered at the edges and he hated it. ‘He was definitely never going to drink this kind of wine again ever. Not if it turned him into a blubbering mess like this every time.’

“Shhh, no. No. Don’t you dare try to blame yourself for what happened. Hey, look at me.” Nami urged his head off her shoulder and cupped his face in both of her palms, “None of us were strong enough, okay? Not even Luffy.” Each tear that fell she tenderly swept away with the pad of her thumb. The corner of her mouth turned up as she assured him, “But we are strong enough now. We can take care of each other. Nothing is ever going to tear us apart again, Zoro.”

‘She was right. Of course, she was right. He needed to have faith in his crewmates and his captain. They could do anything as long as they had each other.’ His breathing slowly evened out as he focused on anchoring himself back to reality. He wasn’t in Sabaody or Kuraigana – he was on the Sunny. In the bar, with Nami who had grown so much since he last saw her. The look in his eye softened like it had before his breakdown.

“You’re staring at me again, Zoro.” The navigator teased, her hands falling to rest on his shoulders. He hadn’t let go of her yet but she didn’t mind, he could hold on to her for as long as he needed.

A ghost of his usual smirk passed across his face. “Sorry, Nami…” Zoro took a little risk by leaning in to press a chaste but lingering kiss to her cheek, then traced a path with the edge of his nose to her ear, murmuring, “Wine makes me a little… Messy.”

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 15/?

Word Count: 3k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name.

Thinking about making parts longer so that I can at least finish a semester of Jason knowing Y/N before I do fic 2 of this continuity. Give it a better name, probably. I dunno

Warnings: Eludes to sex, Takes about Injuries, Mentions of Trauma, Refusal to acknowledge pain, Swearing, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

She could find herself lost in the way Jason walked for hours. He thought she was asleep when he threw on his slightly ripped boxers so he could walk to his desk. She didn’t know what it was that drew her in, maybe it was just the way that even after he had been stabbed that he could act like he owned the room.

She thought he was really, really, attractive. Like, really.  She couldn't think of times where she wouldn’t get lost in how he looked. His personality made it a lot better, too. She really liked how he chose to carry his personality, how he chose to carry himself. 

He turned to his bed after plugging in his laptop, it would take a while to charge, when he noticed she was staring.

“Your eyes will dry out looking at something so hot, Y/N. I’d be careful,” he joked, letting a large smile slip by.

“I’ll need heat-resistant goggled to keep this relationship going, damn.”

“Bruce can buy you some.”

“I think after his freak-out bout our situation, he wouldn’t be keen on that one, darling.”

He smiled at her, “What makes you say that? He clearly likes you.”

“That doesn't mean he wants to spend that much money on me.”

“I would spend that much money on you,” he grabbed the water bottle sitting at his desk and twisted the cap off.

“You have spent that much money on me.”

“Pretty girl, gets money, gets the pretty man,” he said before seeming to chug the entire bottle.

“You would probably find a way to drown while drinking water, honestly.”

“Ha, ha, baby. Funny.”

“You don’t have to tell me I’m funny for me to know I’m funny, Jay,” she joked, “Are you coming back to bed?”

“No, I’m not.”

“What the fuck, man.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I have work to do for Wayne Enterprises,” he said.

“I just want to cuddle,” she jokingly wined at him.

“You’re a temptress, but I really have to do this.”

“Doesn’t your laptop take time to charge?” she asked.

“Yes it does, why?”

“Come here then.”

He sighed and looked at his laptop before smiling and coming over to his bed, “You’re lucky it’s charging slowly today, baby.”

He climbed into the bed beside her, she thought he forgot that she was naked but he didn’t.  He knew she was naked, he just didn’t want anything from her, he didn’t want a ‘fun night’ with his girlfriend, he just wanted the cuddling on a Thursday morning.

She had a headache, a massive one, and Jason noticed her wincing a lot and holding her head, he had seen these signs before, in Time Drake, his baby brother, who had a severe caffeine addiction.

“You alright?” he asked, nuzzling his nose into her shoulder.

“Headache,” she answered and winced again.

“Caffeine or medication?” he asked, trying to make certain that is was caffeine and not anything else.

“Caffeine.”

“I can always make you some coffee, Y/N.”

“If you're willing to leave this bed, could you?” she asked.

“I could, I could. I don’t want to leave this moment, but I guess” he said, sarcastically.

“I’ll owe you indefinitely,” she said as he got up and walked over to his dresser, scavenging for a pair of pants so he didn’t walk downstairs and possibly expose himself to his siblings.

“Do you want anything else while I’m down there?” he asked while putting on his pants, “I can always make you breakfast,” he said. 

“No, no, the coffee is more than enough, I swear.”

“You just want to spend more time with me, you simp.”

“That is true, that is so true.”

“I’ll be back in bed before you know it,” he walked over to her and kissed her forehead, taking in the bedhead and the way her eyes drowsed when she was tired, “Don’t pass out on me.”

“I can’t make promises I may not keep.”

“Then just keep me positive.”

She laughed and he walked out of the room. You could feel the way he was giddy about her as he walked out, from the way his grin wouldn’t fall to the way he bothered to get dressed, even if it was just pants.

No one thought they’d see the day that Jason Todd, the Jason Todd, would walk out of a room with a girl in it with pants on.

“Master Todd,” Alfred said as Jason walked into the kitchen, “One of these days, I ask of you, you and Miss Y/N should eat breakfast with the rest of us. And, it’s nearly 10:00, sir. You should be up sooner.”

“I can always count on you to parent me, Alfred,” Jason joked, “One of these days she and I will come down for breakfast, I swear,” he turned on the coffee machine.

“You don’t drink coffee, Master Todd.”

“No, I don’t. But she does.”

“My god, you’re whipped!” Tim exclaimed at his big brother.

“You’ll understand one day when someone you like this much is in your bed, Tim.”

“You didn’t even call me on my shit, who are you and what did you do with my brother?” Tim joked.

“I sold him to the devil in exchange for his rocking body and a beautiful girlfriend, moron.”

“How is your stab wound, Master Todd?” Alfred asked.

“Painful,” he said before looking in his foresight for Alfred’s reaction, when Alfred frowned, it broke Jason’s heart, he loved Alfred, “It’s gotten better, I swear. But it’s not ideal, either.”

“Master Richard says he should have watched you closer.”

“I don’t think he could have stopped it.”

“I could have tried,” Dick chimed in.

“Have you been listening in?” Tim asked when he turned to Dick.

“Are you that surprised? But Jase, you could have died, I could have done better, I could have stopped it if I just-”

“How many times do I have to say it isn’t your fault, Dickie?” Jason cut him off.

“I just promised to always protect you, and I failed my job.”

“You’re starting to sound like Dad, Dick,” Jason joked, trying to liven up the mood and stop his brother from crying. He needed to just distract them all from it, he didn’t want to deal with it, to talk about it all.

“Jase,” Dick paused.

“Dick, c’mon. I’m not dead. No one died. We’re all okay.”

“Jay, he has a point, no one is ready to lose you again, man,” Tim jumped in.

“To say the least,” Alfred finished.

“I love you guys, I do,” he said as he poured Y/N’s coffee, “And I get you’re scared that I’m going to die again,” he paused and sighed, “I don’t really know what to say, really.”

“You said really twice,” Tim joked.

“Listen here you little, literally, shit,” Jason retorted, holding his hand above Tim’s head like he was comparing heights, “I’ve enjoyed this, really. I can’t give up family bonding for anything, but you guys understand-”

“Are you ditching us for the pretty woman?” Dick asked.

“You would do the same, Dick.”

“Because I’m serious about Barbara.”

“And?” he joked as he walked off and back to his room.

Opening his door, he saw her, half-awake, laying in his bed. She had gotten up at some point to put on one of his shirts, it was cute. He liked the fact that she was wearing his shirt. He stared for a bit.

“Whatcha doing, Romeo?” she joked.

“Is that my shirt?” he asked as he walked towards his nightstand and put down the coffee before looking at her.

“Yeah, it is. If you mind, frankly, I don’t care.”

“Ha, ha. I don’t mind,” he said as he crawled back into bed with her while she sat up to drink the coffee, “Hope that makes it a little nicer to be here.”

“It’s already nice to be here.”

“I’m sure the headache made it suck a little, though.”

“Well yes but no.”

“Yes but no is my personal motto.”

“Is it now?”

“Well, ‘Should you do this, Jason? Dad will be mad.’ followed by yes but no is literally everything I do, ever.”

“Is this how telling your dad that we’re dating went?” she joked.

“Oh yeah, he just hates you,” he said with heavy sarcasm.

“If your partner’s parents don’t hate you then are you even their partner?” she retorted.

He laughed and buried his face into her chest. She laughed between sips of her coffee and she stroked his hair. She thought he liked it when she did this, and he did, she was right. He could feel each of her fingers running through his hair, massaging his head. If love languages are a thing, she could speak his fluently.

She was scared, scared that the attacks against her were related, scared that her friends weren’t going to get out of jail, scared that her escapade of drinking had brought her back to alcoholism, there was a taste she could never get off her tongue, the cravings she couldn’t quench. And it scared her. She hadn’t been this far down in a while, mentally. 

It never seemed like the moment that she could bring that up to Jason, her fears. She wanted to open up about it but she just couldn’t.

Jason wanted to bring up the nightmares to her, but it was never the moment, He wanted to open up to her about it but he too, just couldn’t.

When she finished her coffee, it was unfortunately the time that Jason had to work, she audibly groaned and sighed when he left her side. He laughed and kissed her before he left the bed, and she, jokingly, tried to pull him back onto the bed.

Mundane life, day-to-day life was stuff like this, partners leaving because they had jobs, school, volunteering, extra-curricular activities, anything. It was the sad reality that they both would have to accept, especially if Y/N was going to reenroll in her dance lessons, which she had been thinking about. She hadn’t been deciding anything, she was scared.

Was it the distance that scared her? Probably. Was it the fact that she could fall from grace? Yes. She didn’t want to fall, she wanted to climb and climb harder and progress. She was a high-achiever. She had already fell, too. She fell hard.

She remembered waking up in a hospital in grade 10, after a night of partying, on the verge of death from alcohol poisoning. She was sent to rehab but relapsed hard. She had already fell, she had fallen so hard but tried to rebuild herself so hard as well. No one, but her parents, knew about the hospital visit, she had hidden it.

He was working away, typing on his laptop when she noticed that he was wincing.

“Baby?” she asked.

“Yes?” he said, through pain.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a little bit of pain, don’t worry.”

She got up and draped her arms behind him on the chair, “Doesn’t seem like a little bit, Jay.”

He grabbed her arm and rested his hand there while the other worked still, “Really, it’s nothing.”

“Do you have pain medication?” she whispered in his ear, trying to prove that she wasn’t going to let it go.

“I do, in the cabinet in the bathroom, why? Are you in pain?”

“If I asked you to take some so I don’t have to see you wince, will you?” she said while she walked towards the bathroom and dug through his cabinet.

“Baby, c’mon, please,”

“Shhhh,” she said as she found the pain meds and walked back, “Take some?”

“C’mon now,” he said.

“No, don’t humor me, say yes or no,” she said.

He grabbed the pill bottle and read the dosage instructions as she  crawled behind him in the chair and rested her head on his back. He laughed slightly when she did and she could feel him laugh. The way his muscles contorted as he laughed. It was something she loved. He took the recommended dosage when she glanced at his stitches. They looked to be healing, but she wasn’t a doctor, she didn’t know if they were.

She placed her hand on top of his stitches, hoping she could just trace the outline of the scar, but she was watching his face, hoping that he wouldn’t wince if she tried. He smiled though,  something about her even trying to comfort him brought him joy.

He didn’t feel worthy of her worry, her love, her kindness, but he enjoyed every minute of it because he still didn’t know if the pressure of it all, his life, if it would break her. He didn’t want it all to come crashing down, ever. He wanted this to last at least long enough that he could consider saying ‘I love you’  to her.

Every other girl would have run at the moment he was stabbed though, maybe because they had sense, maybe because she didn’t think through it all. He didn’t think she was ‘Not like other girls’ just because he knew that mindset is fucking trash, thank to his sisters just rambling about it at family game night after Tim said it, on accident. Boy, that kid got his ass handed to him by the girls.

He was sure that Y/N probably thought the same about it, in spite of the pick-me songs she’d end up playing when she was bored. They were just good songs, he was sure she didn’t really think that bringing other women, even men, down was a good thing. if she did, who knows how his sisters and brothers would feel about her when they found out.

But there he sat, and Y/N hadn't run. She had embraced the tragedy with open arms and expected it to slow down. His life was face-paced, a tale of a boy running too far and into the sky, and she sat through it with him. He would tap and type on his laptop, trying to not move and disturb her as she relaxed. 

Doing work was not exactly the activity a new couple would want to do when neither of them had anything else to do, but it needed to be done or Bruce would hand Jason his ass in an argument about work ethic. Jason had work ethic, and Bruce had let him rest but when Jason was showing signs of recovery, he started telling Jason to ease back into work. So, Jason wrote essays defending projects Bruce wanted to do to the board. 

Bruce didn’t need Jason to defend him, but if Jason could get the words out, normally no board members would fight Bruce on the decision anymore. And Bruce paid Jason handsomely for these essays, because Bruce did not like the fighting and arguing he’d get from the board.

But the Batman-Patented Stare would follow if someone continued to hate Bruce’s plans. It was a watered-down version of it, but it was still probably the most intimidating thing that his kids and teammates have ever experienced.

Jason hope that the relationship between him and Y/N would continued even if Bruce gave her the Batman Stare. She seemed like the type of girl who would end up laughing in Bruce’s face if he did it to her.

She was probably going to receive it after that fight Jason and him had about protection, because she was also partly to blame about that.

The hours ticked by as Jason wrote to defend his dad from the board, and before he and Y/N knew it, it was dinner time at the Wayne Manor, and Y/N was invited. Great, Jason thought, I guess we’re going to find out how she’s going to deal with the stare.

“Just a fair warning, baby, my dad’s probably going to attempt to lecture you if you join us for dinner,” Jason said as he got dressed.

“He can try his best, I’ll give him that,” she laughed as she threw on the same clothes she had from the day before.

“You need to start bringing an over-night bag here, damn,” he joked.

“Remind me next time I come over and I’ll at least bring a second change of clothes in my schoolbag.”

------------------------

They all sat down for dinner, and Bruce started his parenting attempt, “Jason, Y/N,” he said and both of them stared at him, “You both know what you did was irresponsible-”

“Everything I do is irresponsible, Bruce, no offense,” Y/N joked.

“Look, I’m not going to have you two having sex-”

“They’re having sex?!” Damien and Tim exclaimed with fake disgust, YN laughed.

“Could any of you take this seriously?”

“Sorry, sorry, playboy billionaire, I’ll pretend you’re my dad for a second,” YN joked.

“You’re going to be a pain in my ass, huh?”

“Yeah, probably. Sorry about that, genuinely, but its not my fault your son picked me.”

“I just need you two to be safe if  you’re going to continue to have sex in my house,” Bruce said, exasperated.

“We’ll just have sex at my house then,” Y/N joked again.

Bruce gave her The Stare at this moment, and she got startled a little bit. Everyone paused because she literally jumped a bit at The Stare.

“Dad, I think you genuinely scared her a bit,” Dick said.

“Did I jump? Oh my god,” she laughed, “I’m sorry,” she laughed harder, “I wasn’t expecting it!”

“Dad, c’mon, she’s a guest,” Jason said.

“No, no don’t worry about me, seriously. He can discipline me all he wants, honestly. If he’s nice about it, I’ll listen, even if I throw 69 jokes his way.”

“Nice,” Tim retorted.

“Really, a sex joke? Right after I tried to parent you?” Bruce questioned, “You really are the perfect match for Jason, my god.”

“You didn’t already realize that from the flipping off the press and her head-butting incident?” Stephanie added in, mocking Bruce.

“I, in no way, feel remorse or shame about either of those events.”

“You flipped off the press?” Cass asked.

“I did, I did. They can’t stop me, no one can.”

“I can,” Jason joked.

“You can keep thinking that.”

Everyone laughed. Whether or not Bruce wanted to admit it, he liked Y/N and hoped that Jason and her were going to last a while.

[regrettablewritings]

Slapped By Legal (Matt Murdock x Reader)

@locke-writes​ S u f f e r

‘Twas four weeks before Christmas, in a Hell’s Kitchen home, where you sat in the kitchen, feeling downtrodden and boned. Your laptop was open, the window filled with tabs Of all the potential gifts you could feasibly nab. But this was three hours into searching and nary a perfect gift could be found As your brain began contemplating just burning the building to the ground —

Okay, maybe don’t do that. But you would’ve been lying if you’d claimed you weren’t tempted to at least fling your laptop out the window. Buying gifts for one’s boyfriend was usually a point if glee for most couples. You had coworkers who would gush about what they’d gotten their partners, eagerly asking you if you wanted to see it. Even without you courteously saying yes, they would shove their phone into your face, forcing you to not only pretend to be interested, but also to remember that the clock was ticking — and you still didn’t have anything for your own partner.

At face value, Matt would presumably be a relatively easy man to but for. He lived well within his means, both to regard his disability but also because he was just simply a humble person. Most people like that would’ve been satisfied with, like, a bottle of wine.

But not your Matt: Your Matt was Matthew Michael Murdock, a man both blessed and cursed with sensitivities that made his tastes particular — literally. You had to sit on the side of caution when it came to nearly everything: Certain materials felt scratchy on his skin; certain foods and drinks tasted like every step of the factory that had contributed to their production; cologne bothered his nose; and he didn’t much listen to music anyway, so a radio or stereo would’ve been mostly pointless.

You released a loud, aggravated groan as you flopped in your seat. You were pretty positive that no matter where Matt was at this point in time, he probably heard you. Even if it was from Queens.

Fuck this, you thought as you grumpily scrolled further along your current tab. That bastard is getting a gift card. Or a wine-stopper. Or —

And that’s when you saw it. In an instant, your posture turned upright alongside your sense of hope.

— Or that!

Everything about it was perfect: The price, the content, the opportunity -- you simply had to have Matt have it!

Christmas tended to be a rather small affair for the Nelson & Murdock crew. With nobody having any real family to speak of (or, at the very least, any family worth visiting), the four of you were more than happy to make do with your own little traditions: Ordering Thai from down the street, drinking yourselves silly without the guilt, and just plain enjoying one another’s company. Oh, and opening presents together, of course.

And the entire while Foggy and Karen expressed excitement over their gifts, you sat there with a slight hint of smugness just barely nestled inside of you. When they gave Matt his own gift, you couldn’t help but feel some relief: A mug and a paperweight in the shape of an apple. Sure signs that even after all this time, they, too, struggled with what the hell to give the guy who generally wants for nothing.

You didn’t want to silently toot your own horn, but you already knew you had them beat. Hence why you saved the best for last. And although you weren’t quite certain as to how his innate lie detection worked, you couldn’t help but suspect that he was on to you. It was subtle, but it was like it was hidden in the crook of his brow every time he happened to face your direction. Not that he said anything, of course. He wasn’t new to your breed of mischief, after all.

Two could play at this game. All he needed to do was wait patiently until your dramatic self became too overwhelmed with eagerness to bear it.

The gusto with which you presented the parcel was met with further brow-cocking on Matt’s part.

“Matthew,” you spoke, enforcing an exaggeratory accent befitting of an American’s idea of a British butler, “your Yuletide endowment.”

Matt huffed with amusement. “‘Endowment’? What, are we living fancy now?” You made no response, perfectly content to simply watch him rip apart the colorful paper with anticipation. To be perfectly honest, Matt wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from you. Normally, he could tell what something was at a distance. But once boxes and further packaging got involved whatever his senses reported back to him got all fuzzy and muddled.

But surely whatever you’d gotten was something you were proud of. After all, he’d spent the entire gift-unwrapping listening to the small, telltale signs of your excitement.

“It’s a . . .” He lifted it from the ruins of tissue paper. “. . . T-shirt?”

“Uh-huuhhh!” you chriped. He could hear you practically vibrating. Matt wasn’t averse to t-shirts. But he had to admit, it was a bit of a strange thing for you to get so excited about. Though, feeling about the cotton, he could sense some roughness. Ink. Was there a design on this? Was it a graphic t-shirt?

“Put it on, put it on!” you cheered. He did so, not able to think of a reason why he shouldn’t. Besides, well, the fact that he knew you were being highly suspicious. The brief moment it took for him to pop his head through the neck hole, he could hear rustling coming from your part of the little circle. He also heard Foggy snort before weakly attempting to stifle his obvious laugh. He heard Karen’s breath hitch as well, though not in any way that denoted discomfort. In fact, he heard heartbeats quicken and lungs practically spasming.

What the hell had you done.

“Okay, I give up, what does it say?” Matt demanded.

“Nothing!” Foggy squeaked.

Matt’s lips pressed into a thing, unimpressed line. “Yeah, that’s bullshit. I don’t even need to hear for a lie, what is it? What does it say?”

“It, um,” Karen offered fruitlessly, “It says ‘World’s Best Boyfriend’, that’s all.”

“Seriously?” Matt sighed, though not without cracking a hint of a smile. “You’re going to lie to a blind guy? And to me of all blind guys?” He heard you shuffling towards him, walking on your knees. 

“Don’t worry about it, Babe,” you insisted, pressing a kiss to his scruffy cheek. In the moment you leaned towards him, he could smell a new smell on you: It wasn’t unlike the one that belonged to his brand-new shirt.

But before he could demand the truth any further, Foggy cut in with a giggle-wobbled, “Time for Christmas photos! Say cheese, Lovebirds!”

Matt could only give in; there was no point in trying to wedge the truth out of any of you. All he knew was that he knew you three were lying about . . . something.

Ah, well, he decided as he heard the click of Foggy’s camera phone going off. Perhaps there was a way to get the truth out of you . . .

It didn’t work. In spite of his best efforts (and damn, were they his best), he couldn’t get it out of you. However, that wasn’t to say that he didn’t get anything he wanted out of you. And as he began to fall prey to his exhaustion, the events of the day finally catching up to him, he snuggled his naked form loser to yours. Perhaps the truth would have to wait for another day . . .

For your part, you were proud of yourself. Admittedly, part of the pride’s source came from the fact that you were able to hold your ground in the end (Matt was just too giving of a lover to be good at torturing you). But for the most part, it came from the fact that you were able to execute your plan as you intended it. In a way, it was also like a little bit of revenge: Revenge on Matt for being one of the absolute worst people to shop for. And for that, maybe you’d hold on to your not-so-secret secret. Just for a little while longer . . .

But first, one last relishing in your success before you succumbed to sleep.

You carefully and slowly made your way to your side of the bed. Not enough to properly wake up your sleeping boyfriend, but just so that you could reach your phone from its resting place on the nightstand. Once acquired, you pressed the home button and set your sights aglow with the image you had last had your phone on before your and Matt’s little session.

It was the picture Foggy had taken earlier of you and Matt, dressed in the matching T-shirts you had acquired for yourselves. You grinned cheekily at the camera, making sure that the bubbly white writing on the black fabric was perfectly legible: “My Ass Got Slapped By Legal.”

And next to you was Matt, a smile planted on his handsome face but altogether tainted with confusion and growing insanity over what the hell you had him wearing -- an equally black t-shirt with equally bubbly white writing: “I Am Legal.”

Oh, yeah, you decided as you smiled to yourself. This was going on the Christmas cards next year.

[detectivesofty]

ex’s and oh’s | j.h.

Summary: your ex and your partner, whom you have feelings for, walk into an interrogation room. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke right?

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Partner!Reader

Song I listened to while writing: Spirits by The Strumbellas also a rewatch of Season 4 of Chicago P.D.

Author’s Note: sorry for the delay, I was watching a movie with my dad and forgot the time! This has literally everything. Romance, action, excitement. READ IT! PS: The part with the interrogation might confuse you a bit, be sure to read it carefully to know who’s talking to whom!

Warnings: mentions of alcoho, child abduction, death and guns

Word Count: 3,229 words

“You’re late.”

“Don’t I know it, Sarge.”

Normally you exchanged more than a few words with Sergeant Platt when you came to the district in the morning, but this morning you were late. This week you caught a case of abducted kindergarten kids and it’s been especially hard on you. Unsurprisingly, Jay knew about it, even though you’ve adamantly insisted that nothing was wrong, and came over  with a bottle of wine.  

“They’re already questioning the witness upstairs, giggles.”

You threw a thumbs up in her direction before placing your palm on the scanner, waiting for the buzz of the door impatiently, immediately pulling the door open when it did buzz. Hurrying up the stairs, you threw a collective ‘morning, hey’ into the bullpen and knocked on Kim’s desk as a form of greeting while you walked by, finally reaching your own desk, across from Jay’s, which was conspicuously empty.

His empty seat already had your head gears turning and you glanced at Kim, who was already looking at you quizzically. It took her only a few seconds to interpret your face.

“He’s questioning the witness. In the interrogation room,” Kim said, making you jump up and lock your gun into the locker. 

“Y/N, wait-”

But you already disappeared around the corner into the observation room, where Voight was standing with his arms crossed. You made two steps into the room when you stilled, your eyes stuck on what was happening in the other room.

“So you’re telling me that you were right across the street while 15 kids were being abducted and the only thing you saw was a white van?”

“Man, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not like I knew what was going on.”

“A bunch of kids being herded into a white van didn’t appear suspicious to you?”

“What the hell is Jay doing in there with my ex?” You sputtered and Voight only blinked at you. 

“Don’t tell me he’s the witness.”

“He’s actually the only one we’ve got,” Voight replied and you scoffed, leaning your hand against the glass. 

“Why the hell are you so riled up? Do you think I had something to do with it?”

“I don’t know, did you?”

“The jerk’s right though, why is Jay being so antagonizing?”

“Why do you think?” Voight said dryly and you pressed your lips together, shaking your head slightly when you thought about what had happened last night. 

“I told you I am fine,” you said with a sigh, but still opening the door wide enough so Jay could come in. 

“And I told you that you need to stop lying to me for two reasons,” Jay answered, leaning against the wall. “One, I am literally a detective. And two, I am your partner. You can’t lie to me.” 

Rolling your eyes playfully, you pushed the door shut and walked to the living room with Jay hot on your heels. While you took a place on the couch, Jay wandered into your kitchen to grab two wine glasses. It was weird how he felt much he felt at home at your apartment. Handing him a corkscrew, Jay quickly opened the wine bottle and poured two glasses, offering you one. 

“So. Talk to me.”

With a long sigh, you accepted the wine glass and swirled the wine in the glass, before taking a sip. You weren’t good at talking about feelings. You were good at making jokes, telling stories, nagging other people. But you rarely got raw and honest about what you felt. Jay was the same. The two of you never openly talked about your feelings for each other. You knew he loved you, but did he love you the way you loved him?

“They’re just kids, Jay. Innocent children in a kindergarten. Why would anyone abduct them? And what are they planning on doing with them? Who does something like this?” You threw the questions into the room, not expecting an answer. “I really love my job. I know we’re helping a lot of people, but this?” 

You let out a sharp exhale and Jay gently pried the wine glass out of your hand, putting glasses on the coffee table. Without anything to hold, your shaky hands dropped into your lap before Jay clasped your hands in his, effectively stopping the shaking. 

“Hey. Hey, look at me,” he said softly and you lifted your eyes to meet his. “I know this job is tough, but you can’t keep focusing on the bad stuff. How many times have you told me that? So now it’s your turn to believe, hm?”

Pressing your lips together, you nodded and gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Jay gave you a look and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, I’m always right.” 

You snorted with a roll of your eyes and then gave him a push so he’d fall back on the couch, but he quickly grabbed your wrists, so you fell with him. 

“You dimwit!” You exclaimed in between laughs, leaning your arms on his chest. 

“You pushed me first!”

It was then that you realized how close you were. You swallowed thickly and tried to focus your eyes on anything but his mouth, like all the freckles dusted across his face, his beautiful green eyes and eventually, your eyes still ended up on his lips. It looked like he was looking at yours and your tongue reflexively darted out to wet your lips. 

The tension was so thick, you almost felt it all around you and at this moment, you thought to yourself: this is it. Maybe this is where Jay would reveal his true feelings for you.

But your hopes were too high.

Jay quickly averted his eyes and cleared his throat, before he gently rolled over, lying next to you. There was a brief silence and then Jay clapped into his hands, as if he’d wanted to clear the air. 

“You down for some pizza?”

“Yeah… Sure.”

The night passed relatively normal after that, but that one moment still lingered in both of your minds, especially in yours. Maybe he didn’t see you as more than a partner and friend. And now you have to watch Jay drilling your ex, out of all people in Chicago? God really liked to torture you. 

“How about you stop dicking around and tell me what happened before I arrest you for obstruction of justice?”

“Obstruction of-” Your ex jeered and then paused, furrowing his brows. “Wait a minute. You’re Y/N’s partner, aren’t you?”

You wished you could see Jay’s face instead of his back. 

“That’s Detective Y/L/N to you,” Jay said, his voice dropping lower. 

“Alright, that’s it, I am pulling him out. Burgess, you and me,” Voight said and headed out of the room. You hadn’t even noticed Kim in the doorway, and she just gave you a sympathetic look before she followed Voight into the interrogation room. 

“Halstead, take a break now,” Voight ordered as he opened the door. Jay threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Sarge, I-”

“I said now!”

“Yeah, Halstead, take a break,” your ex taunted and Jay slapped the table, making him flinch when he pointed a finger at him. 

“Do not test me, you jagoff.”

With that, Jay pushed his chair back and Kim and Voight sat down across from him. Your ex, quickly having regained his composure, grinned at the two of them.

“Thanks for saving me, Halstead’s a real hothead, huh?”

“Shut your mouth.”

You stopped paying attention to the interrogation when you saw Jay walk past the open door, freezing when he saw you. 

“Y/N? How long have you been here?”

Shaking your head with a scoff, you exited the room, shouldering past him. 

“Y/N, wait, I can explain!”

You didn’t. Ignoring everyone’s eyes, you walked straight to the break room and you were about zero percent surprised when Jay followed you in there, shutting the door behind him. Still, you ignored his presence and grabbed a mug to pour yourself a coffee.

“Earth to Y/N, I am talking to you,” Jay exclaimed and laid a hand on your shoulder, turning you to face him. 

“I am trying to drink my coffee here, Halstead.”

Jay sighed and gave you a look. “Really? You’ve resorted to calling me by my last name now?”

“What do you want, Jay?” You asked, putting an unnecessary emphasis on his name just to bug him. 

“Oh my god,” Jay muttered, massaging his temples before he turned his attention back to you. “Listen. I know I shouldn’t have been so aggressive but he’s such a dick, I couldn’t help myself.”

“You always thought that he was a dick and tried to be civil to him. But you treated him like a hostile suspect in there, even though he’s the only witness in this fucking case. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Jay rubbed his chin ruefully and shrugged with his shoulders. “I just lost my cool, okay. I wasn’t actively trying to destroy this case.”

“You never lose your cool unless it’s something personal.”

“Well, this was personal. You’re my partner. He treated you like shit, ergo personal.”

He was making excuses up and both of you knew it. 

“That was a year ago, I am fine. I don’t need you to fight for my honor.”

“Cheating on your girlfriend doesn’t have a statute of limitation and-”

“What the hell Jay!” You suddenly exploded, startling him. “Stop saying stupid shit and just be honest with me. This is bullshit! Last night you came over all like ‘I am your partner, you can’t lie to me’ shit and now you have the audacity to lie to me when it’s literally about me?”

Jay heaved out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine. You’re right, I am sorry, I shouldn’t lie to you… I just don’t know how to tell you this.” He paced back and forth, while you looked at him expectantly, soon he turned back to you. 

“I-” Jay began, but broke off again, cursing before he cupped your face and kissed you. 

Even though you were still mad at him, you could feel your resolve slowly melting away as he kissed you and while you were shocked for a split-second, you kissed him back the moment you had realized what was happening. You weren’t sure how long you’ve been kissing when Jay slowly pulled away, leaning his forehead against yours. 

“I’m sorry, this is probably the least appropriate place to do this, but I figured if I can’t find the words, I’ll act instead,” he mumbled softly and you nodded, not finding any words. Your head was whirring, trying to form a sentence, but before anything could come out of your mouth, someone knocked on the door and the two of you sprang apart.

“Hey, I hate to interrupt you guys,” Adam said, leaning in the doorway, “but Antonio tracked the white van your SOB ex described and it’s parked outside a warehouse in Oakly Boulevard. We gotta go right now.”

You and Jay looked at each other, faces incredibly serious. You knew this had to wait right now. 

“We’ll talk later,” you promised him and he gave a curt nod, before the two of you followed Adam to save some lives.

“Everyone in position?”

It was a couple hours later and your team was sitting outside the warehouse where the kids were held. The weather was gloomy, and even though it was only a few minutes past four pm, the sun has already set, engulfing the warehouse in darkness.

“Burgess and I are on the roof boss, we’re ready.”

“We’re good, Kev is ready to take down the door.”

Jay glanced at you, hands on his radio. “You good?” You swiftly broke the lock and gave him a thumbs up, before he gave his confirmation through the radio to Voight, who was running point outside of the building. 

“Okay. Remember, quiet and stealthy. Right now we count all fifteen kids and 4 offenders inside and 3 outside standing watch. We do not want to tip them off, who knows what they might do. The most important thing is to get the kids home to their families alive, you hear me?”

Everyone voiced their understanding. 

“Good. Go.”

“We’re in,” you spoke quietly into the radio, silently moving through the dark warehouse. It took a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the darkness but you could hear people talking from a room where light was coming from. 

“We got the pricks outside,” Adam said.

“We’re through the west entrance, hostages seem to be kept in the break room, two offenders with them and three are walking the warehouse, keep your eyes open,” You heard Kim’s voice crackling through your earpiece and you stilled when you saw a flashlight bouncing off the walls. 

Turning back to Jay, you pointed two fingers in that direction and he nodded before he disappeared into the dark. You quickly walked towards the flashlight and a few seconds later you could hear a grunt and a body hitting the floor.

“One suspect down,” you informed the team. “We’re getting closer to the breakroom, I can hear two of them arguing.” 

There were two doors leading into the room and you glanced at Jay. 

“You go in, I’ll distract them,” he whispered and the two of you split up, quietly moving toward the open door. Through the crack, you saw two men, standing in front of the children, waving guns around. The children looked scared, but otherwise okay. You felt a bit relieved, though you knew that this was not over yet.

“I told you,” one of them said, getting in the face of the other man, “We’re waiting for the parents to contact us, we left them a message-” A clatter outside the room made him pause and he quickly looked around, alarmed. “Someone’s here. Go check if where the others are.”

His partner rushed through the door and the shot caller aimed the gun at the kids. “If you even think about running, I will kill all of you,” he threatened and as you moved in, you pointed your gun at his head.

“I don’t think so, jackass. Hands up and put the gun on the floor, now.” You could hear the offender cursing under his breath before he carefully dropped the gun to the floor. Kicking the gun away, you moved closer until the nuzzle of your gun was pressed against the back of his head. 

“Get on your knees.”

You were surprised that he was so compliant and threw some handcuffs on. Then, you slowly put your gun back in the holster, turning to the kids. 

“Hey, hi kids. It’s okay, I am a detective, you’re safe now okay?” You told the kids with an assuring smile, checking them over. “Is everyone alright? Anyone hurt?” The kids shook their heads and you sighed in relief. 

“I got the kids, waiting for confirmation until all offenders are down. Jay, what’s your-”

“Watch out!” the kids cried and you felt a gun against the back of your head. 

Fuck. 

“Turn around and do not reach for your gun,” the man said and as you turned around, you realized it was the man from before. He looked nervous and drops of sweat were running down his temples. 

“Kids, get behind me,” you said in a calm voice, not wanting to scare them.

“Wyatt, what do you want me to do with her?” he asked and Wyatt grunted, his face contorted in anger. 

“Just kill her and get me out of these cuffs Zac, we’re about to be swarmed with police.”

You saw the hesitation in Zac’s eyes. “Hey, Zac.”

Zac turned his eyes on you and you held your hands higher. “Zac, right?” He nodded, his  eyes flitting over to Wyatt when he screamed out.

“Don’t listen to her! Get me out of these cuffs!”

“Zac, ignore him and listen to me, okay?” Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Jay inching closer, his gun aimed at Zac. You shook your head ever so slightly and Jay nodded, keeping his aim, but not pulling the trigger just yet. 

“I know you don’t want to do this. You can still get out of here, it does not have to end like this. Look at all these kids. They’re innocent. Whatever you want to achieve, I promise there’s another way, okay?”

You could see that Zac was really listening to you, as he slowly lowered his gun, but Wyatt kept screaming at him. 

“HEY! If I go to prison because of you I will fucking kill you!”

Zac balled his hands into fists and as the desperation clouded over his face, you knew this was a lost cause. He straightened his arm, his gun on you. 

“I am sorry,” he pressed out. 

“NO!”

A shot rang through the room and blood splattered all over your face, the kids screaming out. You exhaled deeply and blinked slowly, watching Zac fall over limply. You were so close to saving him.

“Hey, Y/N you alright?” Jay asked, rushing over to you and you nodded, holding onto his bicep for support while he patted you down. Wyatt was still kneeling on the floor, cursing loudly, not even bothered by the fact that his partner just died in front of him.

“I am fine. Let’s get the kids out of here,” you told him and he nodded, herding all the kids together to lead them outside. 

Several ambos were already waiting outside to check on the kids as the offenders were being taken away. You watched with a small smile as a handful of cars pulled up, and parents started piling out, calling for their kids. 

A hand laid on your shoulder and when you turned, Voight was giving you one of his rare smiles. “Good job, Y/N. Do you need a medic?”

“It’s not my blood,” You said, wiping your sleeve over your face. “Thanks Sarge.”

Voight clapped your back affectionately and then walked off to take care of the offenders, while you looked around, finally catching Jay’s eyes across the street. He tilted his head to the side and you gave a tired nod, picking up your feet to where Jay’s GMC was parked. 

He was waiting by the driver’s door, but instead of getting in the passenger’s side, you walked up straight to him, laying your head on his chest. Jay wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close. 

“Today was good, huh?” 

“Mhm,” you hummed, not wanting to pull away just yet. “Can’t believe it started with you yelling at my ex.”

Jay breathed out a laugh before he pulled away, holding you at an arm's length. “Listen, about that-”

You effectively cut him off by placing your lips on his, kissing him gently. Immediately he kissed you back and cupped your cheek with his hand, holding you as if you were delicate. You pulled away after a few seconds and smiled up at him. 

“I think I got it,” you told him quietly and he beamed at you, tucking your hair back. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.“

You knew that you’d have to have this conversation eventually, probably later that day. But for now, this was enough.

Taglist: @toomuchtv95​ // @miranda0102​ // @annaallicce​ // @galacticsmoon​

[the-record]

Love at First Sight (3)

Category: FLUFF ABSOLUTE FLUFF

Warnings: Kissing

Spencer Reid x Fem! reader

A/N: Thank you for reading part 3 of this loves! In this a lot of things didn’t happen: JJ never left, Spencer never talked to Maeve, Morgan never was kidnapped but still had his kid (Don’t worry that is too cute) and he didn’t leave the BAU. Enjoy!

Summary:  It’s been 3 years and 6 months since you joined the team. You finally got ahold of your crush and tried to ignore it. However it started to creep back up on you as Spencer and you got even closer than before.

Gif not mine

“Hey Spence.” You said walking in with two coffees and a small package. You hand him one of the coffees and set the package on his desk. “Open it.” You always got him a birthday present and coffee, a little tradition. He carefully ripped off the brown paper to reveal a book and card. He opened the envelope  to take out the card. A 20 dollar bill fell out which he payed very little attention to. He quickly read the long card you gave him and smiled.

“Thank you.” He stands up to hug you, holding you close. He generally hated hugs but loved hugging you. You didn’t mind, you were a very touchy person. “I love it.” That made you smile. 

“Good, I’m glad.” Morgan came over and put his arm around Spencer’s shoulder as you sat down. “Derek. Don’t.”

“What? I didn’t say anything.” He says. “Anyways pretty boy, what’re you doing tonight?” 

“I was going to order in and read. Maybe call my mom.” 

“Spence, no way.” You practically yell. You guys couldn’t go out and drink but there was something else you could do. “My house tonight. If you don’t show up by 6:00 I will pick you up.” He nods and I pull Derek aside. “Before you say anything, it’s just a birthday party. Garcia has been helping me set it up. Everyone is gonna be there so don’t even. Just show up with a present and don’t tell him.” He laughs and nods heading back to his desk. 

You sit in your chair drinking the coffee you got from Spencer’s favorite coffee place. You have so much paper work to catch up on you don’t know if you will even finish it in time to get back to your place and make sure everything is set up. You spend all day at your desk, not taking time for a lunch break. It should be just as easy for you as it is for Spencer but you had taken some time off last week after getting the flu so you had much more to do. You finally finished and looked at your watch. 4:45. Spencer was sitting at his desk reading. 

You stand up and head to Aaron’s office. “Hey, I got to go pick up Spencer’s cake and present. See you later?” he nods. “Good, don’t be late. Garcia will be at my place in a little incase it takes me longer than expected to get home.” You turn to walk out his office.

“Be safe.” You turn to look at him.

“I will. Bye.” You got to Spencer. “Hey, my mom needs me for something but I promise I will be back in time. I will see you at 6:00 ok?” He nods. Before you leave you let Garcia know. 

***

You have the cake and present but barely make it in time. 5:48. You look around and see Spencer’s car isn’t outside thankfully. You had the team park farther away so Spence wouldn’t see their cars. Everyone was here. You came inside to see your house decorated and ready, presents on a table. “Guys this looks perfect!” You set the cake in the fridge and put your present on the table. You hear a knock on the door and smile. You go to open the door to see a very happy Reid. Everyone yells ‘Surprise’ as he walks in, slightly catching him off guard. He hugs you.

“Was this you?” You nod and smile.

“Well kind of. Pen did most of the work.” She comes up behind you.

“Don’t listen to her. It was all her idea and we wouldn’t have done it without her.” He smiles even more and I blush a little. 

“She’s right, it was all Y/N’s idea. No one else’s, we just helped out a little.” Derek says, wrapping his arm around Penelope. “Now come on. We didn’t drive out all this way just for you two to stand around and talk, now come on. I want some cake!” The two walk off together towards your dining room table. You go to the kitchen to grab the cake and put on the candles for him. Lighting them before walking in as the team sang happy birthday. You set the cake down in front of him. As they all finished singing he blew out the candles.

“Happy Birthday genius.” He smiled as he blew the candles out. There were paper plates, a knife, and plastic forks already on the table so you didn’t have to do dishes. You cut the cake giving everyone a piece, letting everyone choose their pieces. You were last to get yours but you didn’t mind. 

As you all sat around the table eating the cake, many laughs and memories were shared. Times Spencer had corrected someone, did something not so smart. You didn’t understand all of them considering you hadn’t known them as long but that didn’t phase you. You were just happy to be with all of them. It wasn’t all about him though, it was also about the rest of the team. Drunk memories and cases. Any little thing that could make someone happy. As you looked around everyone was laughing and smiling. Including Hotch. A very rare occurrence. 

Spencer kept nudging you with his arm or leg every time a memory had absolutely anything to do with you. It was weird but you didn’t mind, you were just happy that he was happy.  You found yourself staring at him smile but quickly stopped feeling his hand squeeze yours. He opened all of his presents and hung out listening to music. You had gotten him a record player and some records. He had been kind of hinting he had wanted one but never directly asked. 

***

Slowly everyone started to spread out. Garcia and Morgan were of course doing whatever they do as usual. Aaron was trying to see if he could get his sister in law to bring down Jack. JJ was on the phone with Will saying goodnight to Henry. Rossi was sitting on my couch drink whiskey. You pulled Spencer aside on your deck. “Hey genius.” He smiled as you talk to him.

“Am I ever going to get a new nick name?” You shake your head no. He sighs but his smile never fades. “Thank you for this. It was really nice.”

“Spencer, spend the night. We can watch Doctor Who and chill on the couch.” He is shocked and caught off guard, his smile going away. “Or don’t. I’m sure you have other plans. I’m just gonna go clean my-” He grabs your face and kisses you. You don’t kiss back at first from the shock of it, but eventually you kiss him back. You put your arms around his neck and he pulls you closer by your waist. You only pull away to catch your breath.

“I would love to spend the night.” He kisses your forehead and you rest your head on his chest. “How long have you liked me?” he asks as you to look at the dark city skyline, lit up by windows all around. 

“Since my first day.” He looks down at you and your arms fall to around his torso. 

“Really?” I nod and smile. 

“Yeah. I thought I was pretty obvious about it. Genius, I literally have extra clothes at your house, we know to to get to each others houses. I know your favorite coffee place and get it for you whenever I can. Spence, I offer to watch Doctor Who and Star Trek with you even though you know I like Star Wars more.” He laughs realizing how oblivious he was.

“So why didn’t you ask me sooner?” I look at him.

“Because I thought you didn’t like me. Thought you thought of me more as a sister than a partner. I have always liked you Spencer.” He smiles holding you tighter than ever before. 

“I love you. I love Y/N. Don’t forget that.” He kisses your head. You never want this moment to end. But just then, just as you are think that, it does. 

“Hey hey. What are you guys doing out on the patio? Alone? Hugging?” Instantly you let go of each other. Of course Derek and Garcia have to ruin the moment. You love them but they have to worst timing ever.

“Uh, I just needed to talk to Spencer and he was giving me a hug.” Derek raises a brow.

“What about?” You look down at your hands which you had started fidgeting with. 

“Family things.” Instantly Morgan’s face went blank and Garcia looked sad.

“Oh, sweet girl. Do you want to talk about it? I know that stuffs hard. Come here.” Garcia says, pulling you into a hug. “I love you angel and if you need to talk just call me and I will be over with wine and a hug in seconds.” Spencer starts to walk away. You mouth words at him. ‘No, please.’ he starts to laugh, waving as he leaves. You start to laugh slightly but Garcia thinks you’re crying.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.” She says shushing you. You force tears into your eyes so when she pulls away she won’t be confused. She holds your face in her hands. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be ok. Now, come one let’s go hang out, apparently Henry and Jack are here.” Your eyes instantly lit up. They were your favorite people ever, well apart from Spencer. You see Jack next to his dad and Henry with Spencer. When they see you they both come running. 

“Y/N!” They come yelling your name at the same time and you pull them into a hug. 

“Hey boys!” You pull them tight, kneeled beside them. “I missed you guys! Did you tell Spencer happy birthday?” They nod.

“Uncle Spencer got me and Jack a piece of cake!” You mouth opens so you look surprised. 

“Really? Did you guys like it?” They both nod, smiling ear to ear. “Oh that’s good, how about we all play a game?” They got very excited. “Ok, ok. What do you guys think about... hide and seek!” They both run off finding a hiding spot. You look around at the team staring at you. “Go on, go hide! You’re playing too. Alcohol goes in the kitchen. I don’t need wine or whisky spread around my house.” They laugh and hand you you’re glasses as you walk to the kitchen. You hear the kitchen door open expecting to see one of the kids but instead you see Spencer.

“It looks like my favorite profiler spot has been taken.” You laugh at him.

“That would never happen ‘Uncle Spencer’ now, what are you doing? You’re playing too birthday boy!” You say pushing him out of the kitchen. He laughs but complies and leaves to find a hiding spot. You take a deep breath just thinking about Spencer. Your future life, not with him necessarily but just in general, although you hope it’s with him. After a minute you walk out to find everyone and do it in record time, the last person being Spencer.

“Well, if it isn’t Spencer Reid. Ok you were my last hider so now-” He pulls you in for a kiss and locks the door behind you so no one can walk in. You have one hand in his hair, tangling your fingers, and your other around his neck. He sits pulls your hips close with his hands as he deepens the kiss. 

“Spence, as much as I wanna just stay up here with you, the team is gonna come looking for us in a second and I have a party to host so if I may.” You kiss his forehead. “Lucky for you, you have all night with me.” He smiles and let’s you go knowing you were right. Both of you walked downstairs together, you first with him behind you. “I finally found him. Ok Pen what’s next?” She looks at you with a big smile, never seeing you so happy before. 

***

Everyone died down and the kids were asleep on you. Henry’s head on your lap and Jack’s on your shoulder. JJ had tried to take Henry home but you told her no and to enjoy the party. “Please JJ, you don’t get very much time away from being a mom and work, I get that all the time. Shoo shoo.” She smiles, glad you said that because she was exhausted and missing before she walked away to finish her wine and talk. You feel your phone buzzing and grab it from the couch before it wakes the boys. 

“Hello?” The voice was familiar.

You whisper into the phone, “Oh hey Emily. I sent you my address right?” 

“Oh yeah you did I’m actually outside right now.” You gasp.

“Oh okay. Try not to be loud or get them riled up, Jack and Henry are asleep on my lap. I will have JJ get the door for you.” 

“Thanks.” She hangs up the phone.

“Hey J, can you get the door for me?” She nods and opens it. You have only met Emily a few times but she was always kind to you and you got along. You smile as the both of them hug. You wanted to do something nice for the team and figured this was the best way. You hear talking from the kitchen, saying how happy they are to see her and how much they missed her and then you know you did an amazing thing which lifts your heart. Jack sits up and turns over to lay on a pillow on the other side of the couch. As he does this you life Henry’s head and replace your lap with a pillow so you can say hi.

“Y/N. Hey!” Emily says as you hug each other. “Thank you for getting me here, I really didn’t want to miss Reid’s birthday.”

“Of course, I’m glad you’re here.” She smiles.

“So pretty girl, how did you do it? Emily only ever comes down for cases.” You smile at Derek.

“Oh nothing, just know some people, pulled some strings, no biggie. And no that does not mean I am able to get her down here all the time. I’m sorry to steal your beloved Emily away but I need to talk to her.” You walk away from the team with Emily following you and you go to a room and close the door.

“Hey, are you ok?” You look at her and smile, your face blushing. “Who is it?” You laugh.

“Emily, I kissed Spencer. Well, he kissed me but Emily, he kissed me.” Her smile is huge. 

“Y/N! When?” You giggle.

“Tonight. I pulled him aside to talk to him on the deck and he just kissed me. Emily I could barely contain myself in there and I desperately need to tell someone. I couldn’t keep it to myself. And I don’t really know you that well so I knew I could tell you. I was a little overwhelmed at first and so I just kind of stood there and I don’t-” She cuts off your rambling. “Sorry, I was rambling wasn’t I?” 

She smiles. “It’s ok. I worked with Spencer for years, you get used to it. I won’t tell Reid you told me or anyone else. I know sometimes things just need to be kept private.” You smile and she opens her arms pulling you into a hug.

“Thank you.” You said as she hugged you.

“Of course. Now let’s finish up the night so you can be with Reid.”

***

Everyone was starting to leave now. Slowly moving out. JJ carrying Henry. Hotch giving Jack a piggyback ride. Garcia and Morgan together, arms wrapped around each other. Rossi, saying his last goodbyes. Finally Emily, hugging the both of you and whispering in your ear. “Good luck.” You smile as she leaves. As soon as the the door shuts he locks it as he pushes you against it, pulling you into a deep kiss.

[may-you-always-be-satisfied]

Stormy Weather

AN: A Laf x Reader bc I’m a little blue thinking about my own life. Y/X/N = your ex’s name. LMK if you want part 2. Song is Stormy Weather by Etta James

Warnings: hurt/comfort, break up.

You heard rain start to tap at your window just as Etta's voice rang out in the darkness of your little apartment. The weather had turned just in time for the song. It was almost like in a movie. 

 Don't know why

There's no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather 

Since my man and I ain't together

Keeps raining all of the time

 Alex and Eliza had gone home first that evening. Eliza was completely wiped out at the end of every day as the pair was expecting their first child. You couldn't blame her for being so tired all the time, she was growing a tiny human. 

Hercules and John had gone home next. Something about work in the morning but happy to spend time with the group all the same. 

Then Angelica and Peggy left after them. Leaving you and Laf drinking on the couch, slowly sinking into a drunken stupor. 

You were "celebrating" your recent parting from your long time partner. 

Seven years. 

You'd spent seven years with them. And it was all gone in the blink of an eye. 

You had called Angelica, your heart pounding in your chest, tears not daring to roll down your cheeks while at work. Her sisters had been with her for lunch and watched her face fall after she answered. 

Angelica texted Lafayette while Eliza reached out to Alexander. The boys told Hercules and John and they planned to ambush you after work. 

You thought you'd walk into a dark and quiet apartment, ready to cry into your wine glass until you met everyone for dinner the next day. To your surprise, all of your favorite people were sitting on your couch and it appeared they had brought enough food (and booze) to supply a small army. 

You'd all eaten and drank, save for Eliza who drove everyone there, until it seemed you'd forgotten what happened. Then everyone started to go home, safely driven or tucked into an Uber, until it was just you and Laf left. 

He had started drifting off before you, so you talked him into staying in your bed. You knew you wouldn't really be able to sleep tonight and tomorrow was your day off, so it didn't matter. 

You poured yourself a glass of wine and plopped back onto the couch, letting your playlist envelope you in sound. 

You loved your friends. So, so much. They had taken an absolutely shit day and made it almost fun. But sitting alone in the dark, you had the time to process. 

And here you were, processing everything, two more glasses in, when the rain started. 

 Life is bad

Gloom and misery everywhere

Stormy weather, stormy weather

And I just can't get my poor self together

 "Ma moitié?" It was nearly a whisper. "Why are you still awake?" 

"Why are you still awake is the better question." You let out a sigh, shifting slightly to make room for him on the sofa.  

Laf settled in next to you on the couch, spreading the blanket he'd brought with him over both of you. 

"Is that my comforter?" 

"Oui." He followed his affirmation with a yawn, fully comfortable on your couch now that he had tucked you into him. 

You rested your head on his chest. "Why are you awake, Laf? You passed out over three hours ago." 

Before he could respond, a roll of thunder shook your apartment. 

"That is why I am awake." You felt his arm tense around your shoulders. "I hate thunderstorms. They always wake me up." 

You hummed thoughtfully at his statement, getting lost in your music now that the thunder had passed. 

Laf wiped a tear that you hadn't noticed from your cheek. "Talk to me, Y/N. I know today was probably a nightmare." 

A sad laugh bubbled from your chest, followed by more tears. You hadn't had the luxury of crying at work, so it chose to come out now. 

"Y/X/N just… told me I wasn't worth it any more. I wasn't worth their time and their effort… That I spent too much time focusing on life away from them. That they were done wasting time on me." You had been dating since high school, long before meeting any of the people that had picked you back up today. 

The two of you had agreed that your education would come first. It was important to you to make sure you could stand on your own two feet before starting a life with a partner, you'd never been good at being dependent on others. But after finishing their degree, they didn't want to wait on you any longer and left. 

Lafayette pulled you in closer so that your legs were now slung over his lap and your head could be tucked under his chin. "Focusing on your career shouldn't have been a threat to them. I'm so sorry, ma moitié. They never deserved you." 

The two of you sat like that for a while, you still silently crying, Laf tensing when thunder rolled through. 

You fell asleep at some point, listening to Laf's heartbeat, synching your breathing. 

 All I do is pray

The Lord will let me

Walk in the sun once more

 When you woke up, you knew your face was pressed to someone's chest. You snuggled in before remembering where you were. 

"Bonjour, Y/N." His voice was soft, like he was afraid you'd run away.

"Morning, Laf." You'd like to say your voice was soft, but it was really just scratchy from all the alcohol you'd had the night before. 

You started the process of trying to get vertical again. "Sorry." 

"Sorry for what?" He furrowed his eyebrows at you, the rest of his face soft with confusion. 

"For literally crying on your shoulder and then falling asleep on you." You gave him a small smile, which was the only kind you could manage at the moment. 

"Non." Both of you had managed to sit up. Laf was looking at you more intently than he had ever in your entire friendship. "Y/N, ma moitié, you are my best friend in the entire world. I couldn't have let you spend last night alone if you asked." 

You gave him a hug then. You really couldn't have stopped yourself. Even in the moment when you felt the worst, he'd made you feel beyond loved. "Thank you." 

When you pulled away, there was a genuine smile on your face. "Now let's go get breakfast. I'm buying." 

He rolled his eyes at you, hands already reaching to fix his hair, reminding you to do the same. "Fine." He flashed you one of his own brilliant smiles. "But next time, it's my treat." 

You got up from the couch to get properly dressed. Yesterday might have been a nightmare and tomorrow could be one too. Hell, you knew that it was definitely going to get worse before you felt completely better. No one ended a relationship like that and was just magically better. But with Laf and everyone else by your side, you knew that it was going to be okay. One day. 

[mightiestheroes]

Could I request a geralt x reader based on quartet at the ballet from Anastasia? Or at least based on the quote “Someone holds her safe and warm, Someone rescues her from the storm” form the song please???💕💖💓🧡💘💞💘💜💛❤️💛

What a beautiful request! Thank you very much! I hope you like it as I interpreted it my way 💜 .

As always sorry for any mistakes.

Geralt hates parties. He can’t stand the smells, the noise, noble people trying to outdo one another and show off their status. It’s all too much for his sensitive senses but he made a promise and he’s a man of his word. Of course it was Jaskier who convinced him to come along to this fancy ball and watch his back in case of an emergency or flirting gone wrong. The witcher had literally no other choice, he’s learned that when it comes to the bard, it’s easier to agree and help him than hearing his constant pleas and whining. That’s how he got where he is now. Sat at a small table that curved under all the food and drinks. At least I have that to enjoy, he thinks to himself pouring some more of that delicious Toussaint wine. As soon as they got here, Jaskier downed a few cups and went off to mingle with the crowd. Geralt followed the bard with his eyes just to be sure he’s not getting into trouble and to try tuning out the whispers. He could hear all of them. What is that mutant doing here? That came mostly from men. Oh, he looks lonely, I’d love to keep him company all night. Followed by feminine giggles. He’s learned to ignore them as much as possible, otherwise he’d go mad. He focused on the soft tune Jaskier was currently playing and breathed deeply. Though he never admits it, he really enjoys the bard’s talent. That’s when he saw her. A phenomenon, an angel sent to grace this solemn grounds with her presence. Geralt met a lot of women in his long years of living, a lot of beautiful women too, but he can’t remember being so enchanted before. Maybe she was a sorceress? A magical creature? But he couldn’t sense anything abnormal about her. Just to be sure, he decided to follow her with his perceptive eyes a little more. He saw her standing on the other side of the ballroom with other women. Everything she did was captivating – her gentle and polite smile, her pure laugh that could cure even a severed limb, but also her eyes. When she caught him staring for a brief moment, the witcher could swear he lost his breath for a second. He still couldn’t place what it was, but besides the obvious beauty, there was something else in them. A force to be reckoned with, courage, power. His observations only were proven right when a man approached her. He was lean and tall, but had something about his manners that made Geralt’s jaw clench. Trouble. He knew he shouldn’t but he focused a bit more on their conversation.

“May I have this dance, sweetheart?” The man asked, his words a bit slurred and leaned towards her a bit too much. Geralt’s fist clenched on it’s own. But the object of his current interest only rolled her eyes and replied something with a smirk which caused the man to drop his smug smile and walk away. The witcher’s lips twitched slightly in attempt to smile. She’s beautiful AND smart. He relaxed a bit when he felt a pat on his shoulder.

“Is everything alright Geralt?” asked Jaskier. “I could’ve sworn I saw something resembling a smile on your face. Do you need a healer?” The bard continued and followed his friend’s line of sight. Oh.

“Shut up, Jaskier. You’re already drunk.” Replied Geralt with a straight face and turned his eyes away from the woman. But the bard already connected the dots and smiled.

“That’s Y/N. She’s a close friend of Lady Catherine who owns this palace. I have to say – hard choice, my friend!”.

“I have no idea what are you talking about.” The witcher tried to hide his interest.

“Oh but you do. I have to warn you. Many have tried and fallen. She’s something else, I admit. Good luck.” With another pat on the witcher’s shoulder, Jaskier went away to charm another person. Geralt scoffed but searched the room for her presence again. She was standing outside on a balcony watching the cloudy sky and drinking wine. She looked so serene and peaceful, Geralt felt he is not worthy of intruding. Suddenly, a loud thunder pierced the sky and he noticed her getting startled and he heard her heart rate pick up. Her astonishing features turned into a deep frown and she went back inside immediately. The witcher felt the urge to go to her and protect her from anything that takes away that blinding smile off her face. As soon as he thought about that, another man approached her once more. Only this time she seemed friendly toward him and smiled almost shyly at whatever the man said. He took her hand and twirled her around to the middle of the floor. Of course it was Jaskier’s turn to shine again. Geralt could swear the bard knows him too well at this point when he heard him sing a slow ballad.

Can this be the evening?

Can this be the place?

Am I only dreaming looking at her face?

Everything I wanted, suddenly so clear

My past and my future so near…

Geralt wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill the bard, watch Y/N or stand up and leave. He found himself not able to do the latter. So he looked at her once again listening to Jaskier’s voice singing.

See that girl

Could it be?

Don’t be ridiculous!

I refuse to dream

I refuse to hope

I must stop believing…

Of course he noticed the way that man looked at her. He couldn’t blame him. And she seemed to feel good and content with him. Geralt’s stomach twisted.

She’s near at hand

Yet here I stand

My heart and mind at war

The times must change

The world must change

And love is not what revolution’s for.

Suddenly it dawned on him. He wasn’t worth her attention. And even more her affection, her love… Gods, what was happening to him? He wanted to smash something or punch someone in the face to find his balance again. But he couldn’t tune out the song.

Someone holds her safe and warm

Someone rescues her from the storm.

He was naive to think there was no man in her life. But he couldn’t deny the urge deep inside to protect her, to shield her from all things bad in this world. Even is she was perfectly capable of doing that herself. There was another twirl and he was almost sure she was looking at him but quickly looked away. She said something to her partner and went to sit by her  table and sipped some more wine. Geralt took his cup as well and looked up at her only to find her already watching him. But instead of shy smiles and blushed cheeks as he was used to, he saw her smirk at him as she rose her cup in a toast towards him. He felt almost euphoric but kept his composure repaying her with his own signature smirk and a rised cup. She stood up when the music was still filling the room and walked towards the balcony again watching him the whole time. Geralt gave in and decided to join her as soon as possible. As he was getting through the crowd he heard Jaskier still singing the song and his step quickened a bit more.

Simple things but one thing’s clear

It’s fate that brought us here.

SEE MY PROMPT LIST

ALREADY WRITTEN

[a65232-joshywoshy]

Colorado Crybaby

Chapter 9     

     "I'm so sorry, Penny. I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Rachael reached out for her friend's hand.

     "Oh, Rachael, no." Penny snickered and smiled. "I'm not in any actual trouble. I'm not being assaulted or unjustly punished or anything. I mean, I will get my butt spanked, but I broke the rules. I broke a play agreement we had discussed a while ago. We're play partners. We set up a scene, like we did here, we have boundaries in place, and we still make sure to have some fun. Through this whole 'getting in trouble' thing, there wasn't one time where I got near any of her or my actual boundaries. I didn't ACTUALLY offend her. I broke her play rules…” Penny smiled a mischievous grin, “kind of on purpose."

     "Oh. Wow. I guess I don't know much about how that kind of relationship works." Rachael sat back in her chair and eyed Penny inquisitively.

     "Yeah. And we never do anything sexual. That's a hard limit. I mean, she'll spank my butt with her bare hand. She probably sees… me... but she doesn't touch anything. She's..." Penny giggled, remembering her past infantile states, "She’s my Mami. She's changed my diaper before. So she saw me all laid out, but we never do anything sexual. I mean, don't get me wrong. Once she leaves, or that night, I'll hump my brains out. But… that just works for us."

     "Okay.” Rachael was smiling. “That sounds like a lot of fun, honestly. Especially being babysat. It's partly terrifying, partly amazing."

     "Like she said, you can play with us this weekend, if you want. She's so much fun to be with. See, me calling her “V” was actually an agreed-upon trigger to begin a small play session. If she didn't want to, she would have started talking about how the weather will affect her outdoor plans. Veronica is a little annoyed by that name, so we decided to use that name as a starting point to escalate me getting in trouble. When I didn't tell you about the diapers I bought earlier today, that was on purpose, too.” 

     Penny continued. “Sorry. I'm supposed to announce the diapers to my close friends when they’re around. It's part of our agreement. If I don't acknowledge my little side by saying it out loud often enough, she forces me to acknowledge it when she’s around. When I don't acknowledge that side of me, I have a valid reason to be in trouble. I've let that side of me build up too much before and It wasn't good for me. It can take me to bad places, which is why she’s in my life. She helps me to stay leveled out. The bratty whining at the end was just me acting out, because it's so fun to do."

     “That… is amazing.” Rachael just kept smiling. “So you two have all these little phrases and words set up so that you can play…” Rachael gestured to the club. “Pretty much in public? That’s really cool. And nobody knows any different. I’m sure the dialogue is a little more laid back when it’s in public public, like at a movie theater or something.”

     “Of course. We don’t want any nilla’s getting their panties in a bunch. Do you want to go cuddle the giant teddybear now? I know I do. Just leave the…” Penny huffed, “diapers... here. No one’s going to touch someone else’s diapers.”

     Penny got up and walked over to the bear in the corner of the room. She plopped down next to it, rested her head on its arm and closed her eyes. Rachael followed her over to the bear. As she walked across the room, she was much more aware of the diaper under her shorts. Penny was padded, too. She had almost forgotten. A couple to her left were wearing onesies as they shared a plate of nachos. A woman to her right sucked on a pacifier as she played a game on her phone. There was an aura of familiarity to the room and Rachael felt like she was in her element. She felt as though she belonged here, with these people. It was a group of people who didn’t know each other, but had at least one common trait. They were people whom she could immediately identify with, at least in part.

     "Can I borrow your sweater?" Rachael was starting to get cold, just like Penny had predicted.

     "Of course.” Penny snickered. “Silly babies like you don't know how to plan ahead." Penny smiled as she took off her sweater to hand Rachael, then leaned back against the bear.

     Rachael put on the sweater, then sat down cross legged on the other side of the bear. She looked over at Penny.

     "Silly babies like Penny get in trouble for not following instructions." Rachael grinned at Penny again.

     "Well… " Penny blew raspberries at Rachael and they both chuckled.

     It was fun to act childish. They both believed that adulting was too hard, at times. It seemed like the best way to wind down was taking time to be childish, play, and relax. They had both heard their grandparents say that retaining youthfulness was best accomplished by acting somewhat childish. So acting childish, at times, was a key to retaining youth. The girls fully intended to do their best to act childish when they could get away with it.

     "Penny, I'm thirsty. What do they have to drink here?"

     "Only the finest of concoctions, prepared by artisan crafters and aged to perfection." Penny looked at Rachael with a mock seriousness. "Strawberry… or chocolate. The flavor is but a minor choice, for the decadent liquid which you will consume will satisfy your palate in ways you've never imagined.”

     Rachael laughed. "You are ridiculous. What do they sell here, thousand dollar wine?"

     "Strawberry or chocolate? Pick!" 

     "Chocolate, ma'am."

     "As you wish, my lady." Penny got up and bowed at Rachael. "I shall fetch the lady her royal beverage."

    “Thank you, Penny!” Rachael put on her best British accent. “Mr. Bear and I will discuss your exceptional service while you’re away. Hurry, now.”

     Penny laughed as Rachael watched her walk away. Rachael marveled at how wonderfully silly and adorable she was. She could see that Penny's dress had caught on the diaper underneath. Nothing showed from underneath, but Rachael couldn't help but stare at the distinct fold in the fabric that was caused by fabric hung on something underneath. 

     “Mr. Bear,” Rachael watched Penny walk towards the bar as she started a pretend conversation with the bear. “I like that girl. I mean, I really like her. She’s sweet, smart, fun, kind of a rebel at times. She’s a diaper girl, which is, of course, amazing. I mean, for so long, I thought I wanted a guy. But, I mean, it’s really just different parts. People are people. She's got a great personality. She’s just a great person to me. She might have literally saved my life today, too, Mr. Bear. Some scary dude came up to me and Penny drive him off like it was nothing. She’s perfect, Mr. Bear.” 

     Rachael sighed and leaned back against the bear's shoulder, still watching Penny order drinks from the barkeeper.           

     “Part of me wants to throw myself into a serious relationship with her, but another part says it’s too soon. I mean, we’ve known each other for 5 years, so we’re not strangers. We took a nap in the same bed today. We’re close friends that are getting closer as time goes on. She’s coming back.”

     Rachael whispered as Penny started to walk back. “Are those bottles? We’ll talk later, Mr. Bear. Thanks for listening.”

     Penny came back with two baby bottles, both larger than normal. One had strawberry milk inside, the other had chocolate. Penny stuck one of the bottles in Rachael’s mouth as she sat in the bear's lap to face Rachael.

      "Hey!" Rachael mumbled through the bottle, smiling all the while.

     “See? Finest of concoctions.” Penny started to drink her bottle unashamedly, seeming to have done this before.

     Rachael blushed slightly, having had a baby bottle shoved in her mouth. She took a drink of the cold chocolate milk, enjoying the richness of it. 

     “This is good,” Rachael said, taking a break from drinking. “And out of a baby bottle. You’re right. This place is amazing.” Rachael smiled and continued drinking.

     Penny sat and drank her bottle, staring at Rachael all the while. She was enjoying watching Rachael in her element. She could tell the experience was still a little new, but Rachael was taking to it quickly. Penny had felt uncomfortable for the first several times here, too. After having visited for over 2 years, drinking a bottle here was as comfortable to Penny as breathing.

     “Penny?” Rachael had been too busy looking around the room to notice Penny staring at her. 

     “Yeah?” 

     “I like you.” Rachael smiled brightly as she looked at Penny.

     “Well, I like you too, silly.”

     Rachael blushed a little more.

     “No, I mean, I LIKE you like you.”

     Penny had caught Rachael’s meaning.

     “Oh.” Penny smiled back at the woman sitting beside a giant stuffed bear. “I… um… I like you too, Rachael.”

      Penny looked away, though she was happy to hear how her friend felt about their relationship.

      “Do you want to… you know…” Rachael’s cheeks burned red now.

      “Date or have sex?” Penny’s cheeks started to turn red now. 

      "What?! No!" Rachael laughed. "Sorry. Date. Can we start dating?" 

     Meekly, Penny said, “Yes. Who could be better to date than your best friend?" She smiled.

     Rachael moved to be between the bear’s legs, next to Penny, who was sitting on a leg. She wrapped her arms around Penny’s waist. Penny wrapped her arms around Rachael’s neck.

      “I love you, Penny… DeLa Cruz.”

      “Wait. Whoa. Why did you pause? Are you so blushy that you forgot my last name?”

      They both laughed.

     “No. I forgot your middle names that Miss Veronica said.”

     Penny huffed. “But then you’ll know my full name for when I’m in trouble.”

     “But it’s part of who you are, Penny. I really want to know everything about you. Including your middle names! Which you have a lot of, by the way.”

     “Yeah, it’s a common thing for us Mexican girls." She sighed. "My full name is Penny Rosita Eleana De La Cruz. You better not repeat that ever again.”

     Rachael laughed. “I won’t. I know your whole name is to be used in emergencies only. It’s very pretty, though.”

     “Thank you. Drink your milk. You drink so slow.” Penny continued drinking her bottle. It was half way gone already. Rachael had barely drank a fourth of hers.

     “Hey. I’m not a baby bottle guzzling champion like you, Penny. I guess you really are a baby if you know how to drink from a bottle fast.” 

     They both smiled.

     “I guess maybe I am kind of a baby.” Penny said. Having Rachael here with her at the club was helping Penny feel more comfortable with herself as well.

     "I'd rather you be a complete and total baby than be like Nick. I hope I never meet another soul that's like him." Rachael shivered.

     Penny moved to sit beside Rachael, between the bear's legs.

     "It's been a while since you talked about him. He was the guy who started trying to gaslight you, right? The guy who wanted to convince you that he was the best thing since sliced bread?"

     "Yeah. That Nick. Can we get out of here? I don't want to talk about him here."

     "Yeah. We can go. We've done everything I wanted to do here. I just wanted you to see this place."

     The two got up and walked back to their table where they picked up the box of diapers. They walked back out, said goodbye to Pablo and got back into Penny's car.

     The mention of Nick put Rachael in a bad mood. She was quiet as Penny drove to Rachael's house. Penny didn't say much, either. She only commented about other drivers on the road on occasion. Penny knew that Rachael would need some time and space to relax.

     They finally arrived at Rachael's house, and Penny got out to take her box of diapers inside.

     "I'm so happy I got to hang out with you today, Rachael. I know you just want time and space… just… call me if you need me."

     Rachael had been lost in her head for several minutes, but she still processed what Penny had said. Rachael didn't want Penny to go, but she knew they both needed to get ready for work tomorrow. They had to go back to being adults, living their separate lives again.

     "Thank you for today, Penny. You make me so happy." 

     Rachael kissed Penny on the cheek. It was the first time their faces had ever touched. Penny smelled wonderful to Rachael. There wasn't any particular scent to her. She just smelled like Penny. Rachael's lips had felt her warm cheek against them and it felt wonderful.

     Penny hugged Rachael. 

     "I'll see you at work tomorrow, okay, kid?" 

      Penny kissed Rachael's forehead, then turned to go back to her car.

      "I love you, Rachael."

      "I love you too, Penny."

[embeanwrites]

Finding Home Gavin Reed x Reader

Chapter 11

Masterlist

The week went by slowly. I met up with my dad and Connor for dinner a couple times, but I mainly sat in my office grinding out my lesson plans. Nines stopped visiting during lunch and I hadn’t heard from Gavin either. Connor had messaged me a few times to ask to hang out and I felt bad blowing him off, but I just wasn’t in the mood.

I was sitting at my desk with my feet up scrolling through social media. It was Friday and I’d been killing myself getting everything done for my class. I still had a week left before class started and I desperately needed the distraction. My work phone started ringing.

“Hello, this is Dr. (L/n). How can I help you?”

“Hello, (Y/n). This is Nines.”

“Oh! Hi Nines, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you had plans for dinner tonight. I haven’t been able to get away for lunch, but I wanted to continue our conversations.”

“Sure, where should I meet you?”

“Wine & Bread, in about an hour?”

“Sounds good. See you then.” I hung up the phone. I looked up the menu. This place looked fairly fancy. Had Nines asked me on a date? I sighed and closed the menu. I leaned my head back and decided to text Tina.

 How’s work been?

 Ask what you really wanna ask (Y/n) lol

 I think Nines just asked me out and I’m very confused lol

 Eh, he probably just didn’t understand the context. I wouldn’t worry about it.

Oh hey! Before I forget I have something important to ask you…

 Oh no I’m nervous, Tina

 Well, I told you before you moved back that me and Valerie are getting married in October…I was hoping you’d be my maid of honor…I know it’s a little close to the wedding to ask, but I wanted to make sure you were moving back for real before asking.

 Tina! Of course! I’m so touched you’d even ask me! You’re gonna make me cry!

 Yay!!! Are you busy on Sunday??? I was gonna go try on suits by myself, but it’ll be more fun if you came!!

 I’d love to! Text me the deets and I’ll be there!

Wait! Tina! What do I do about tonight?!?!

 Go and have fun! Nines and Connor both get paid and don’t have to eat so take advantage of the free expensive food!

 Wow, you should quit being a police officer and become a philosopher

 Hardy har har, (Y/n). I’ve got to run, but I’ll see you Sunday! (Text me what happens tonight!)

 See ya! (Depends on how horrible it goes!)

 I smiled and stood up and stretched. There was still a decent chunk of time before I would need to leave for the restaurant. I decided to move some of my decorations around, mainly focusing on the mess that was my bookshelf. I had made the decision to hang up my degrees on the wall across from the door, so it would be the first thing people would see. It made me feel a bit like an asshole, but after what happened at the precinct, I wanted to prove to anyone who walked into my office that I did know what I was talking about.

Again, my office phone went off.

“Hello, this is Dr. (L/n).” I answered, sitting on my desk instead of my chair.

“Well, Dr. (L/n), tell me why I had to learn from someone else that you had moved back to Detroit.” I laughed.

“Hello to you too, Elijah! I’ve been busy trying to get my class ready. I was going to reach out eventually.”

“For your research, of course.” He said with a chuckle.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that! Obviously, I was going to take advantage of the fact you have your own pool!” I giggled.

“Hmm of course. Are you busy tonight? I was wondering if we could catch up.”

“I am, sorry. I have a…” What do I even call what was going to happen tonight? “meeting tonight with one of dad’s colleagues. Are you busy tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, works. Come by around 1? I can send you my address.”

“That sounds great, see you then Elijah!” I hung up the phone and laughed to myself. Elijah had always been a huge flirt. We had met while I was in grad school, I had been too tenacious in trying to find information for my research thesis at Cyberlife. I had caught his attention, apparently in more ways than one, as I had turned him down a couple times, citing the ethical restrictions on our relationship because of my research. But I wasn’t in grad school anmore. Smiling, I finished working on my office and headed to the restaurant.

 “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I heard as the hostess led me to a table. Instead of Nines waiting on me, it was Gavin. The hostess looked back at me and I gave her a shaky smile as I sat across from him.

“Where’s Nines?” I asked him, looking around, not wanting to cause a scene. 

“I could ask you the same thing, pipsqueak. I’m going to call him.” Gavin grumbled. I nodded. I looked down at the menu, realizing we probably weren’t going to eat here. I dug through my bag looking for a ten-dollar bill I could give the waitress for taking one of her tables. “Nines what did you do?” I couldn’t hear Nines through the phone, but Gavin looked pissed. “I have not been moping! Whatever, don’t do this again.” He hung up and sighed. “Him and Connor planned this. Said they were both sick of us moping around.” He pitched his voice up, mocking his android partner, and air quoting ‘moping around.’

“What! I haven’t been moping!” Connor didn’t seem like the meddling type, and he knows I’m still pissed at Gavin. 

“Yeah, neither have I.” I sighed, setting the money on the table and getting up. “Sorry for wasting both of our time.”

“Wait! I mean…” He looked down at his empty place setting. “We’re already here and I’m starving.” He glanced up at me. I nodded curtly and sat back down. He picked up the money and handed it back to me. I took it back and put it in my purse. If I wanted to get through this night in one piece, I knew I was going to have to swallow my pride and apologize to Gavin first. 

“Hey, Detective Reed…I’m sorry for last week. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

“What happened to ‘Gavin,’ pipsqueak?” He asked with a smirk.

“I…I just figured you were angry with me still so being more formal would be better.” I started flipping through the menu, noting how expensive everything seemed to be. “Wow, this place is so fancy. Why were you meeting Nines here?”

“He told me one of our suspects was going to be here and it would be easier to listen in on them in the restaurant instead of outside with mics. How did he trick you, miss professor?”

“He told me he wanted to have another conversation about sociology.” Gavin laughed loudly.

“And you didn’t think anything strange about meeting an android at a restaurant?” My face immediately felt like it was on fire.

“Look, it’s been a long week. I just figured…” I started laughing, which seemed to startle Gavin. “I don’t know what I was thinking! I even told Tina how weird it seemed. Oh my god, I can’t believe I thought he’d asked me on a date.” 

Before Gavin could comment, the waitress returned with a bottle of prosecco. 

"Here’s the bottle requested when you made your reservation, sir.” She informed Gavin, neither of us bothered to correct her while she poured each of us a glass and then nestled the bottle into the ice bucket on the side of the table. We gave her our orders, I wanted the pan seared scallops and asparagus, Gavin was a little more simple - a ribeye steak medium rare with garlic rosemary mashed potatoes.

“Wait, did you want to go on a date with the Tin Can?” Gavin raised his eyebrows as he took a drink of the prosecco and made a sour face.

“No, I was just really confused! I haven’t seen him in like a week.”

“Yes, you have. He’s been going to your office like every day.”

“Ah no, he hasn’t. I think I would know if he had been in my office.” Gavin covered his face with his hands and groaned, before he dragged them down he rested his elbows on the table, staring down at his hands as he brought them together. 

“Him and Connor must have been planning this for a while.” An awkward silence fell over both of us.

“Is the prosecco good?” I took a sip and immediately started coughing. Gavin started laughing.

“It’s shit.” He waved over the waitress. “Can we get a couple glasses of Jameson on the rocks?” She nodded and walked away. Gavin sighed and looked away from me, he ran his hand through his hair nervously. “Hey, I also owe you an apology for being all pissy in that meeting.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“I would’ve gone with ‘asshole,’ but pissy works too.” We both chuckle.

“Your laugh is cute.” Gavin said softly, making me blush and look down nervously. The waitress dropped off the two glasses of Jameson and our food. “Well, here’s to nosey androids.” He held up his glass.

“To nosey androids.” I raised my glass with him.

 Dinner went surprisingly well, Gavin could be funny when he wasn’t making fun of androids. He also insisted on paying for dinner and driving me home. We started walking to his car which was parked a block away. He lit a cigarette while we were walking.

“You know, smoking kills.” I said bumping my shoulder into his arm.

“Did you get your PhD just so you could tell badass detectives what they should and shouldn’t do?” He joked, but he flicked the cigarette away.

“My dad didn’t tell you? That’s literally the only reason. I’m just here to order you all around.” He stared straight faced at me for a moment, before he loosed a loud 'Ha!' his eyes crinkling around a toothy grin that lit up his whole face. He looked really handsome when he wasn’t scowling or being rude. “Hey, I had fun tonight. Even if it was a trap.”

“Yeah I had fun too, pipsqueak.” We both got in his jeep. He started the car but stayed parked.

“Oh! Here’s my address, I forgot you haven’t been there, yet.”

“Do you want to come over and see the cats again?” I smiled and looked at my phone, it was getting pretty late.

“I’d love to, but I have plans tomorrow and I have some work I need to get done beforehand.” He nodded and started backing up.

“What are you doing tomorrow that’s more important than hanging out with the best detective in Detroit and his three awesome cats?” I laughed as he drove.

“First off, I’m pretty sure Connor could give you a run for your money. One of my contacts from my grad school research lives just outside Detroit and he invited me over to catch up. He would flirt with me more than he’d give me actual information I could use. He’s ridiculous.” I said while laughing. Gavin’s lips were in a tight line.

“Who is it? Or is that like some ethics thing?”

“He’s not active in my research anymore, so I think it’s fine to talk about it. It’s Elijah Kamski, the old CEO of Cyberlife.” I looked over at Gavin with a smile, which quickly faded. Just like last Friday, he was clenching his jaw and he was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white.

“That’s crazy.” He said through his teeth. Fuck, this is just like back in my office. He does have some kind of problem with either Cyberlife or Eli.

“Yeah…I never took him seriously. Eli’s…ridiculous.”

“Eli.”

“Yeah, that’s his name Elijah Kamski. Eli is short for Elijah.” I said jokingly. Gavin didn’t respond. I kept glancing at him and back at the road. We were only a few minutes away from my apartment, if I didn’t fix this soon, it would be another bad interaction between us. I wanted to fix this because I wanted to stay friends with Nines and Tina thinks there could be something between us. Gavin looked really handsome tonight and was actually pretty nice up until now. “Gavin, I- “

“You should take him up on it. You two probably have a lot in common. Both of you just love androids.” He snapped, pulling into the parking lot.

“I don’t like him like that.” I said softly as he pulled into a spot. “Gavin, I don’t know what I keep doing wrong and I’m going to keep making the same mistakes if you don’t talk to me.”

“Why don’t you ask Eli in between him trying to impress you?” He glared at me.

“Fine Gavin. Maybe I will.” I stepped out of his car. “Gavin, I had fun tonight, before this mess. I wish you weren’t holding something that I don’t even understand against me. Yeah, I think androids deserve equal rights, but you keep acting like you like me and I think I like you too.” I took a deep breath. “But I can’t be with someone who won’t talk to me and won’t tell me what’s going on. So, I guess if you ever get over whatever this is, you know where to find me.” I slammed the car door and hurried towards the lobby, willing myself to not cry until I was in my apartment.

 It was a trick. Nines and Connor set me and Gavin up. Wasn’t good. I’ll see you Sunday.

 I texted Tina on the way up to my apartment. I fumbled with my keys for a moment, before pushing the door open, kicking it shut with my foot and immediately plopping onto the couch. I absentmindedly brought my hand to mouth and bit my nails and worried at the skin around them, an anxious tic, while I tried to think up a firm but appreciative text to send to Connor.

 Connor, I appreciate you trying to help Gavin with me. It’s not going to work, and I really need you and Nines to stop pushing us together. I’m not mad I promise, but tonight didn’t end well.

 I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I looked back at my phone and bit my lip. I wanted to call someone, anyone to talk to. Tina was probably busy, and Connor wouldn’t really understand. I also didn’t want my dad to get mad at Connor or Gavin. I leaned back on my couch but sat back up as my phone vibrated. For a second, my heart believed it may be Gavin explaining or apologizing, but it was just Connor.

 I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Do you want to come over?

 Maybe some other time. I think I’m just going to go to bed.

 I stood up and walked to my bedroom. Throwing my phone onto my pillow I got ready to take a shower. Today just needed to be over.

[universallongings]

I'm stealing some of yours because I want to know your answers too! Top 5 restaurants we’ve eaten at together, Top 5 memories from all our trips, Top 5 Tim/Lucy moments

Jumping around with these to save the hardest one for last! ;) 

Top 5 Tim/Lucy Moments:

1. “You hungry?” — I know there are a million things to love about the entirety of him saving her/holding her/being the one by her side in the hospital. But to me, this is the definitive “soft Tim Bradford” moment and it RUINED me. Food is my love language, so the idea of him bringing Lucy her favorite food was just the world’s biggest unspoken “I love you.” And not only that, but the unguarded affection in his eyes and his voice when he asks her if she’s hungry is perfection.

2. “Tim Bradford finishes what he starts.” — COME ON. Everything about this moment is gold. Her fishing for the truth. Him giving it to her with no doubts that she’s why he’s staying. The way he looks at her lips. The way she smiles in response. Her LAUGH. To me, this is the foundation of what a relationship between them could look like, and it looks so good.

3. Lucy stealing his money clip — This was when I went from being a casual shipper for the first few episodes to falling down the rabbit hole entirely. It shows us that Lucy gives as good as she gets and that he likes it. And it shows that there’s so much affection right under the surface already. It’s flirty in the best way because there’s distance between them so they can lean into what they’d never lean into in person yet, and there’s a reason why it’s the source of my OTP tag for them.

4. “You riding with me tomorrow?” — The whole scene in the gym before he gives her the ring back is GOLD but this, the shy, sweet, disarmingly adorable way he asks her if she’s coming back to him is the best. He’s not hiding his affection anymore, and if there was any doubt that somewhere in the recesses of his heart he’s falling for her,  this scene proved that he’s a goner. 

5. “You think I’m good at things? Can I get that in writing?” — The entire virus plot was great for them, but this moment, with her trying to make him smile and it working, even if she can’t see his face, is just exactly who she is for him. 

Top 5 Restaurants We’ve Eaten at Together:

1. Bouchon 2. Kitchen 76 at Two Sisters Vineyards 3. Treadwell 4. Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge 5. Mon Ami Gabi 

Top 5 Memories from Our Trips:

1. Our entire second/first “full” day in Vegas last June — It was everything I’d dreamed Vegas would be and more. It was a day of cereal milk lattes and hotel hopping and avocado toast and sitting in that beautiful pool and just talking and taking in the most beautiful blue sky and skyline I’d ever seen. It was putting on makeup while listening to Lady Gaga and knowing we looked damn good and finding Secret Pizza and finding myself slightly gin tipsy from that amazing cocktail and finding out that Gaga sounds even more incredible singing Shallow in person. It was listening to dueling pianos and coming back to that insane view out our window and my feet never really hurting despite my heels. It was one of the best days of my life, and it was all because I got to spend it with the best person I know living a dream I never thought I’d actually be brave enough to make come true.

2. The Chicago rooftop bar — The decision to prolong our last night in Chicago with good drinks and even better conversation solidified in my mind why we are perfect travel partners. Talking for hours about everything (and especially about why Game of Thrones is a disaster) on that rooftop was worth how tired we were the next morning. ;) 

3. Our airport hug in Orlando in 2016 — Never have I needed an airport hug more. I also remember how happy some of the people around us looked seeing me run up to you and hug you, and that’s always stuck with me. We’ve had some great airport hugs, but that still might be my favorite. 

4. Our first day in Niagara on the Lake — From discovering Nina Gellateria to drinking ice wine in an ice cave, it was the perfect day of exploring a place I’d always wanted to come back to as an adult with someone who was ready to explore with me. We may never be wine experts, but that wine tour was so much fun (mainly because we both just sat back, content to drink and listen to other people try to be experts) and then the day ended with dinner at sunset on literally the most beautiful patio I’ve ever eaten on. It was like a dream.

5. Literally every Bellagio Fountain moment, but especially when we just happened to stumble upon them playing “Believe.” It was a moment of ridiculous joy for me, and to be able to share it with you was the best. Those fountains are magical, and watching them with you gave me the same feeling as sharing all my favorite WDW attractions with you.

Honorable Mentions: Our happy tears after Happily Ever After, every time you let me wander into stores full of things I should not even be looking at, that first breakfast at Bouchon when we realized just how much food I was actually getting, feeding Amy grapefruit cake through the grates at the Brown Derby Lounge, and the walk back to the hotel after meeting Zachary Levi in NYC. 

[lunaraindrop]

Dream Running in Airports (part 2)

Unlike being involuntarily sucked in like the last one, Penny had to put in a little effort into finding Eliot Waugh's dream. Unlike Quentin, Eliot always remembered to ward his mind to keep his thoughts to himself. That was something Penny really appreciated. Normally he didn't hear a peep from the King of the Physical Kids mind. He obviously valued his thoughts being private and staying private.

Fat luck it did for Penny now though.

Sleeping made it easier for him to step into Eliot's mind.

Penny whistled.

Penny: Shit. Nothing can be mistaken as Christmasy in here.

Eliot's dream took him to a place he swears has to be that Oculto place he had heard people whisper about.

It was a balmy night with a slight breeze. There was a raging party to his left. Out of the sand rose a lit up dance floor covered in writhing bodies. The party goers were dancing to some crazy remixed club versions of Hungry Eyes and Dido's Here With Me. There were fire dancers, laser lights, and people swimming in giant champagne glasses.

To his right was a large orgy. Out of the sand was a padded looking platform covered in swaths of gauzy fabrics from an unseen ceiling. The fabric made the movements behind it more muted. Less porno, more sensual interpretive dance. Of fucking. So much fucking. Like, goddamn. Moans and gasps floated through the gauze like music.

Penny had to admit, he was not eager to look for the man in either place. But, he realized he wouldn't have to.

In the middle of the two, was Eliot. Not dancing. Not fucking. Alone. Something about that didn't seem right to Penny. Eliot was always the life of the party. He and Margo were two of the most flirty, openly sexual people he knew. Yet he wasn't in either scene. Hell, even Margo wasn't with him in his dream. He was sitting in a lone beach lounger, sipping on what looked to be a glowing purple cocktail. In the dark.

That spoke of some fucked up shit.

But just like how this was not a Christmasy dream, this dream was unlike the saddest elf on the shelf, because Eliot was obviously aware that he was dreaming.

Eliot: *sips his drink* *stares at Penny* This is new. You've never been in one of my dreams before. So either my brain is putting you here because I either subconsciously want you to have more fun or get laid...or you're trespassing.

As Penny walked closer to the lounger, the pleasant breeze started to feel more cold. From his vantage point, Penny could tell that Eliot could see everything happening in both the scenes going on that he was not apart of.

Being far enough away from both the party and orgy, Penny could finally see that he recognized some of the people. Among some of the other names less Physical Kids that he had seen come and go from the cottage parties, he spotted Eliot's partner in crime.

The absent Margo seemed to be having the time of her life drinking from a bottle of wine and twirling around the dance floor in a cleavage-friendly red and white striped minidress and tiny Santa hat. She was the center of attention at that party. Eliot seemed happy to see her so.

A loud noise drew their attention towards the orgy. Where most of everything had been ethereal and muted, the loud bark of familiar awkward laughter might as well have been a sonic boom. Through a peachy gauze was the dorky silhouette of one Quentin Coldwater, smiling for a change. He was looking at who appeared to be a naked Alice like she was a Fillory book offering him a lifetime of magical blow jobs. They were kissing, but not full on lustful tonsil hockey. No. The kisses were tender things, in which the hobbit would pull back, laugh and look at her in wonder. He touched her in cherished, soft strokes.

Eliot...did not seem to like that. What's more is that this is a dream. It's harder to hide the truth from someone when they are standing in your head.

By the way Eliot was looking at him, he knew that too.

Eliot: Yeah, you can fuck off now.

Penny really didn't need this shit...but he had already gone this far. Plus, it seemed that Brideshead Revisited was pathetically pining too.

They deserved each other.

Penny: Look, I have better things to do than to do favors, but I must have had some funky magical egg nog because now I have a fucking Christmas spirit. It is making me want to do good things. So for my *one* good deed charity work this year, let me just say what I need to say and then I can get the fuck out of your weird sexual pity party, okay?

Eliot: *eyeing him* Your "good deed" has nothing to do with your dick, right?

Penny: *rolls his eyes* Fuck no. You're not my type.

Eliot: *sighs in relief* *more devil may care relaxed* Oh good. That would have been awkward.

Penny: Yeah...awkward is the word for it.

Eliot out of nowhere whips up two more or the glowing drinks, and hands one to Penny. This one is red and seems to have crushed candy canes around the rim.

Eliot: It is a recipe I am trying out with peppermint Schnapps. It seems festive.

Penny knew the drink wasn't actually real, but it didn't stop him from drinking it.

Eliot settled back into his seat and indicated Penny to continue.

Penny: Look. Your nerd boy has never had a good grasp at remembering to put up wards so I don't have to hear him all the time. This time I actually got sucked into his dream.

Eliot: *pretending to not be intrigued* Oh, a Q dream. What does this have to do with "charity work".

Penny: I'm getting to that. The idiot was dreaming of being a character from Love Actually and-

Eliot: Was he Sam?

Penny: Who?

Eliot: The little boy that runs through the airport.

Penny: That's freakishly accurate. Are you sure you can't read minds?

Eliot: *smiles fondly* It's just Quentin. Brave little boy that believes in love and hope? Has a good relationship with his dad? Yeah, that just screams Q.

Penny: *annoyed that he is feeling a little sad for Quentin* Yeah...so that airport scene. He dreamt it. But it didn't go so well.

Eliot: *unable to hide his intrigue* *slightly concerned* Like how not well?

Penny: Like the love of his life got on the plane before he could tell him he loved him, and he sat on the floor in a pathetic heap telling himself that he wouldn't want him anyway.

Eliot: *stands up* Shit!

Penny: Yeah, so what I need is-

Eliot: *realizes something* Wait wait wait wait wait. Did you say "he"?

Penny: Did I stutter?

Eliot: You must have heard wrong. Q is straight.

Penny stared at the well dressed man before him incredulously.

Penny: *shakes head* I don't know how the fuck you made it into Brakebills, because you are dumb as shit.

Eliot: *about to say something smarmy*

Penny: No, you listen! You've actually met him, right?! I have literally seen him drool over you AND heard his little nasty thoughts on begging you to bend him over any available surface. He is the fucking poster child for disaster bi! Have you seen him try to sit in chairs?! He can't! It's like he either has a stick up his ass or he's allergic to the floor! Come on!

Eliot: *wide eyed* *slack jawed* Repeat that about Q wanting me to "bend him over"...?!

Penny: *losing patcience * I have had to hear it too many times how the hardwood desk in your room looks sturdy and the perfect height. I've never even been in your room, dude! I know this shit though.

Eliot didn't say anything. He just felt for his chair and sat down shakily. Penny didn't let him gather his wits to possibly try and talk around this. Penny knew what he knew.

Penny: This is my good deed. If you want him as much as I think you do, then go and get him. Right now he's fucking *sad* because he doesn't think you'll ever want him like he wants you. And hey, if I'm wrong, if you are not stupidly pining over his ass, then find him someone else that he can moon over. You're his friend. Help the guy out.

When Eliot did finally find his voice, it was strangled, yet thoughtful.

Eliot: For someone that isn't his friend, you sure are play at great wingman.

Penny: *preparing to leave* Seriously, that Josh guy must have spiked my egg nog. I'm going to punch him in the stomach if I start sing carols.

Penny started walking up the beach, noticing that the air around Eliot was warmer. The party was gone, and so was the orgy. Strangely though, Eliot didn't seem so alone anymore. Just before he blipped out, Eliot ran up to him.

Eliot: Hey Penny. Since you've been drugged into charity, I think I can help you with your good deed. I need a favor though. Is it possible for you to take me into someone else's dream?

[talesandfluff]

Gelphie 15?

you are literally the sweetest for indulging me and being an actual angel all the time and I am so thankful!!!!!

prompt is: Loud, so everyone can hear

and it has been filled HERE

You can also read it under the line because it seriously got out of hand it’s like over 2k words 

just so everyone knows this is like, lowkey bookverse. more like modern AU bookverse-inspired but I don’t think anything definitely proves it CAN’T be Shiz in this particular fic. 

The fight sticks out between them for days.

Glinda's heart feels heavy day and night, carrying with her the weight of the argument. She's been near enough bedridden for the past few days, only getting out for her classes. Elphaba, the infamously infuriating Elphaba Thropp, does as she does and pretends nothing happened. The sight of it makes Glinda ache all the more. Elphie − no, Elphaba jokes around with Boq, making him the butt of her remarks, studies with Fiyero, argues with Nessa as if nothing could get to her, not even the knowledge that Glinda was suffering.

She is almost glad for the hints of prickliness and frustration Elphaba fails to hide here and there. They're the faintest proof that perhaps she is not the single one affected by their outburst. But these secret glances are only for when she's home home and she has not been home much at all. Elphaba pretends better with an audience, audience that she steals from Glinda, who was always the one who made friends who then were only obliged to take the both of them as a package deal. This week, she has been lonely, laying in bed all alone with her hermit of a roommate roaming Oz knows where. Anything to avoid the narrow room they have shared for two years now − though sometimes it feels to Glinda they have known each other since birth. She should certainly feel used to Elphaba's antics by now, and yet.

"Avaric is taking us out," Elphaba lets Glinda know the evening of the fourth day. "Tonight. Not at that horrendous club," she hastily adds, mistaking the wary look Glinda gives her. "Just at the bar."

Glinda cannot help the blank stare. Half a week with barely a few sentences between them and this is what Elphaba chooses to break the silence with. Not that silence is not what she gets still. Even as Glinda reluctantly gets up to get ready, she finds nothing to ask beyond the occasion (Avaric's promotion his father unlocked him) and the time (he's there already with Shenshen and Milla so any time is fine), and Elphaba certainly finds nothing to mention on her own.

They used to talk so much. Only up to a few days ago, before that terrible talk that turned sour, Elphaba and Glinda could converse for hours at a time and lose track of everything else. And not just converse. They were close as can be, made to be in each other's presence, to be together.

Glinda, out of spite, out of a desperate attempt to entice Elphaba's attention, doesn't pull her curtain to get changed into something nice, doesn't leave the room. Elphaba can stare at her back if she wants as she undresses down to her panties, grabbing some summer dress from her closet. Her closet. She wants to scoff. Just where Elphaba would want her. She realizes she's picked the wrong outfit as soon as she's pulled it on. Or the exact perfect one.

"I can't zip it," she sighs.

Soft, softer than anyone else seems to notice, Elphaba's hand is at her shoulder, the other slowly zipping her back. Glinda closes her eyes, basking into the touch. She missed it. She missed her so much. Elphaba's hands linger on her for longer than strictly necessary but not enough for comfort, not enough for Glinda's hopes of reconciling. Elphaba doesn't move away from behind her, not immediately, and Glinda almost wants to lean into her, wondering if Elphaba would embrace her as she always does. She opens her eyes.

"What are we going to do?" She sighs.

There is no sound, but then she feels the hint of a kiss against her shoulder, lips hardly brushing, and Elphaba is gone like the wind, already by the door by the time Glinda turns around.

"We're going to celebrate Avaric's promotion," Elphaba replies.

The bar is surprisingly empty as they arrive. Avaric needlessly hollers them over, already tipsy with what must be half a dozen expensive sugary cocktails. Shenshen and Pfannee are glued at his sides, Milla sipping on a glass of coke, smiling politely as Boq tries to make good conversation.

"Here comes the elf!" He shouts. "No, wait, wait, I'm kidding, come sit, both of you."

Glinda scans the table and takes a seat next to Milla. She has never been anything less than perfectly courteous to Avaric, but would not jump on any occasion to be overly familiar with him either. Out of habit, she turns around to smile at Elphaba, only to find empty air behind her. The little demon of emotional constipation has sat herself next to Boq, who seems just as befuddled with her decision as he is annoyed with it, surely having hoped for a better conversation partner than a sulking green bean.

Glinda orders herself a glass of wine and resolves herself to exchanging smiles and courtesies with Milla when Crope and Tibbett do decide to bless them with their presence. Hand in hand, they walk into the bar, Crope whispering something into Tibbett's ear who laughs out loud, pressing an embarrassingly long kiss on Crope's cheek in answer. Glinda's stomach knots.

"Hey, guys, too busy shagging to get a minute for your old pal?"

The good thing about Avaric being insufferably loud and obnoxious is that no one really expects conversation from her. Glinda nurses her glass, silently staring at the others who all seem to be having a good time − and although she knows for certain that Elphaba must be faking it, she is a master of pretense tonight. Deep into some conversation about classes with Milla and Boq, she is being her smartass self, charming everyone with her wits and clever remarks, leaving Glinda for the boring one. All the better. Glinda would not find it in herself to participate, not when opposite her are Crope and Tibbett, animatedly talking to a late arrived Fiyero.

Her heart is racing, her stomach churning. Glinda tells herself she should have stayed home, but her bed is starting to become shaped to her form these days and besides, she's not even sure she can call that place home as she used to. But then, without going out, she would have missed out on this, wouldn't she? Impossibly affectionate, Crope and Tibbett enjoy their freshly out relationship to the fullest. Jealousy is clinging to her as she watches them share the same beer, Crope playing with Tibbett's hair, their hands fiddling together. Their love is for everyone to see. Why only theirs?

This was the bulk of it, really. Glinda never thought this would be an object of disagreement, not that way around. Elphaba and her were friends in private, then in the open, then more than friends, and the whole time Elphaba was unapologetically herself, impossibly smart and on the verge of bullying often as not, and also proudly out with the occasional array of pride shirts. Glinda was the one who was afraid to admit, first to herself then to the world, that her affections for Elphaba were romantic in nature. She was too scared to be honest, but bit by bit, kiss after kiss, after months of being Elphaba's girlfriend in all but official label, the fear gave way to a deep desire to proclaim their love. And it was Elphaba who refused.

"Toasts!" Pfannee purrs. "Let's do toasts!"

Glinda could not be less interested in whatever people have to say to butter up to Avaric. She often wonders how she ever thought there was a handsomeness to him, to anyone other than Elphaba. He's not a horribly bad person, she's sure, but she wouldn't describe him as a good one either. She's still not sure why they stick around. Most likely because he is one of the people who can take on Elphaba when she's in an argumentative mood. Lord knows Glinda struggles to. Has struggled to.

She doesn't really listen to the others, just smiles and nods when appropriate. Boq's toast is extremely short, Tibbett and Crope's much longer and intercut with bawdy jokes, Shenshen's is likely the most flattering of all. The bar has started to fill up and there is a lot of noise and she is finding it harder and harder to focus. The touch of Elphaba's hand on her shoulder only an hour prior…

"Glinda?" She blinks. Tibbett is smiling at her and everyone is looking. "Do you have anything to say?"

She gulps. Across the table, Elphaba is staring down at her drink − what looks like whiskey, for some reason, but she could always bear alcohol much better than the rest of them, something about her mother. You deserve better than me, Glinda remembers the words from the other day that cut her like a knife. Don't corner yourself into coming out just for me. You'll find someone better. Of all people, Elphaba cared more about Glinda's reputation than the very person concerned.

"I… erm…"

Tibbett's hands in Crope's, head against his shoulder. How easy they make it seem, though she knows it must have been everything but.

"I do have something to say." She breathes. "I'm in love with Elphaba. We've been dating for five months and they've been the happiest of my life."

Her audience falls silent and it seems to her that even the rest of the bar is less animated than a few seconds ago, but she doesn't let it bother her. Four days of silence was enough and she won't let Elphaba's stubborn hate of herself get in the way of their happiness. A few pairs of eyes are bulging around the table, though none very much and certainly none as much as Elphaba's, whose mouth is gaping, her glass still mid-air. After the shock has passed, she squints in suspicion and Glinda wonders if this was a good idea after all.

"I think he meant about Avaric's promotion," Shenshen whispers loudly to Glinda.

"I was afraid to tell you before," she goes on, finding the braveness in her. "I don't even remember why… But I'll tell you now, I'll tell everyone the truth because I think I'll die if I keep it any longer: I love her." Staring into Elphaba's frowning eyes, she gets a rush to the head and louder, she adds, "I love you."

Fiyero looks at her dumbfounded, the only one. Shenshen and Pfanee are whispering behind Avaric's back, who is grinning naughtily. Milla's smile is much tamer, as is Boq's as he stares, waiting for Elphaba's reaction. A reaction which never comes. The silence drags on and on. Glinda looks, begs, but Elphaba's gaze is impenetrable.

"So…" Avaric tries. "Is anybody else gonna…"

"I have to go," Elphaba says and jumps to her feet.

Glinda's heart free falls in her chest as she watches Elphaba circle round the table to the exit. She feels everybody's eyes on her and the blood rushes to her cheeks but just as she was about to excuse herself, she hears Elphaba's voice call back.

"Well, are you coming?"

She bites her lips and doesn't even meet the gaze of anyone as she pushes back her chair. The devil. The horrible leprechaun of a woman she has found herself. Why such drama?

"Excuse me just a…"

Elphaba's hand grabs her elbow as soon as she gets a foot out of the bar, pulls her so very close, wrapping an arm around her waist and before Glinda has any time to give an explanation, Elphaba's lips are on hers, the taste of whiskey in her mouth, though not nearly as inebriating as the embrace. Her back gets pushed against a wall and she clings to Elphie for purchase, for safety, crumbling under the so very desired assault. She registers people passing them by in the background, one or two shouts, but nothing matters outside the feel of Elphaba's arms circling her, of her chest pressed up against her breasts, their bodies melting into one another.

"Elphie…" She breathes when Elphaba leans back, her forehead against Glinda's, long nose bumping into hers playfully.

"This," Elphaba says, pressing another quick peck at Glinda's lips before pulling back, taking Glinda's hands with her and swirling her into a side hug, arm around her shoulders "Was for the kind words you didn't have to say back there."

"I did," Glinda says, squeezing Elphaba's waist where her arm is wrapped. "And I meant everything."

Elphaba kisses her hair as they make their way back home.

"You're a stubborn one, Miss Glinda," she says after a moment of comfortable silence. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"And I you," Glinda replies, "But you don't see me making a dramatic fuss about it begging you to leave me."

She feels Elphaba's chuckle resonate against her and fill her with warmth.

"I suppose I'll have to make it up to you."

Glinda smiles. They're almost back to their dorm room. It's not even dark yet.

"Yes," she says, kissing Elphaba's shoulder where she can reach, "I suppose you will."

[thehalfworld]

Fanfic MST: Forbiden Fruit: The Tempation of Edward Cullen, a Twilight fanfic [part 8]

And here we are at the end. I hope you’ve all been enjoying the ride, because it’s about to get a whole lot weirder in this, the final chapter.

Warnings this time around: a whole lot of drug use, some underage drinking, DUI but it’s okay because Tiaa is a vampire, bestiality, and an attempted sexual assault. Also did I mention drug use? There’s a lot of drug use.

Recap: Tiaa met a panda bear named Snoofles on her way to school (please don’t think too hard about this) and learned that she can now talk to animals, among other abilities. Thanks to a vague new ability of hers, she accidentally made her mean classmate Lauren get struck by lightning while they were in a verbal spat. Edward finally decided to leave Bella for Tiaa and the two celebrated by having sex in the middle of the school. Bella walked in on them and got upset.

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

hey guys sory its been so long since an update, i hav been so busy latley. sooooo..i had a fight with my old beta but i have a new 1 now an she is helpin me byut she is on vacaton this wk and next so i promise i will sort the spellin mistaks out wen i can!

Did she refuse to beta your fic after you stole her poster of Gerard Way?

Chapter 8 - the Kidnap

I sat alone in the changes rooms, i was all most naked and looked awsome with my exotic lithely hair falling down over my face like a curtan of soft yellow cream with bits of purple in it but I didnt care how beautifull or eqxisite I was any more. 

Tiaa doesn’t care how beautiful she is, but she had to start the sentence off by reminding us all how beautiful she is. And that she looks awesome. And her hair is exotic.

Whatever that means.

Edward was gone. he had left to follow Bella to stop her from killin herself and i was SO mad. 

Wait, are you mad Edward is attempting to prevent Bella from committing suicide?

how coud he leave me like that after sayin bella was a cow and he didnt like her no more? 

That doesn’t mean he’s fine with letting her make attempts on her own life, Tiaa.

I was pissed! and the tears were falling down my face like a tepid summer rain of misery and woe. 

I love this goddamn sentence.

So i went home and skipped school and sat in my room in my black corset and leather panties and i smoked some drugs and started to weep. 

To be fair, this is a really solid stoner-goth aesthetic she has going.

…wait, hold up, leather panties? 

Leather panties?

dave came in and made a big smiley face.

He’s in a really good mood for someone whose brother was murdered hours ago.

"hi tiaa! I didnt no you were home! how was school today?" (he didnt notice i was smokin drugs he thougt my cigarete of pot was a chapstick)

Okay, for the sake of argument, I’ll buy that Dave visually mistook a spliff for chapstick… but can he not smell that she’s smoking weed?

"it sucks!my life sucks and i want to DIE!" i scremed and my eyes glitered with beauty.

Love how Tiaa is suicidal but still needs to make sure we know how pretty she is at all times. Reminds me of the bit in “My Immortal” where Enoby was flirting while sobbing.

"u teenagers and ur problems, LOL!" he said laughing a lot, and i knew he thougt i was just some silly kid wineing about homework and dumb boys and stuff. 

Well, replace “homework” with “getting raped by the relative of a caregiver, turning into a vampire, and accidentally seriously injuring a classmate” and Dave’s on the money.

he didnt no i had killed a man and lost the love off my life and had made lauren get hit by lighting and that all the kids at school thougt i was a freak becase my face and bodys were so diffrent from everyone elses.

Do I really need to tell this girl to stop humanizing her rapist? She killed him in self-defense! It was one hundred percent justified! C’mon, Tiaa, don’t be so hard on yourself.

Also, nobody cares about Lauren.

"dave your a good person but ur SO FUCKIN DUMB! YOU ASSHOLE!" i shouted at him and i threw my ashtray at his head WITHOUT TOUCHING IT (i could make stuff move when i was angry now...it was so weird! why did this have too happen to me!)

Well, yeah, that is weird, but I don’t get the woe-is-me attitude about it. Telekinesis is a really cool ability. Also, turns out Dave is literally so dumb that you can be an obvious nonhuman smoking weed in bed while screaming about wanting to die and he’ll take you for an ordinary teenage girl holding a tube of chapstick.

"haha, i guess your right" he laughed (he thougt i was joking, i wasnt spoiled or anythin) 

…so did the ashtray miss?

"its so nice havin you hear tiana, your so pretty. i swear your even prettier than before! 

I can’t help but feel that the amount Dave and Marie compliment Tiaa on her looks borders on inappropriate, considering she is sixteen and they are her foster parents. 

and i think your boobs hav grown!" 

Case in point.

"yeh i no they are like an E cup now" i said.

I guess it’s a good thing she’s a vampire, then, since I’m pretty sure vampires can’t get back problems.

Wait. Can vampires get high? Does being high feel different if you’re a vampire?

Dave smiled and patted me on the head and left.

That Dave!

I was so sick of bein treated like a kid and no one listenin to me that i got up and got dresed in a long black dress and took some pills (of drugs) and went out to the local nightclub which was called Pablo NIghtmare - it was a goth club were all the cool people went in forks. 

Listen, I don’t know Washington State, but in my neck of the woods small towns don’t have goth nightclubs. 

I love that she specified the pills were drugs, in case we thought they were sugar pills or something. 

bella probably had never even heard of it, LOL! 

If there is a goth nightclub in your small town, I guarantee you everyone has heard of it.

i met snoofles on the way and he came with me. 

You’re taking the panda out clubbing?

we went to the club and got drinks and started dancing to the heavy metal music. 

…I’m starting to get very confused about Snoofles. My initial impression was that he’s a regular panda bear, but Tiaa is able to communicate with him because she’s a vampire and can talk to all animals now. But I don’t think ordinary pandas go to clubs, get drinks, and dance to heavy metal music.

Although I’ve never met one, so I could be wrong.

ppl there stared at us cos i was so diffrerent looking and Snoofles was a panda, but we didnt care we were havin so much fun we were SO drunk and had taken a lot of drugs so my head was fuzzy like there was snow everywhere.

I adore the similes in this fic. No idea what Tiaa is on but I definitely know what the author means by feeling like there’s snow everywhere in your head.

"hi your called Tiana arent you? I am Jasper and I go to your school" said Jasper Cullen who was tall with blond curly hair like straw only soft and nice and not dry. 

So… not like straw, then.

he was tall. 

Yeah, you mentioned.

he was wearin a black pulover and red metal pointy shoes. (AN - haha, that descripton sounded beter in my head, OH WELL!)

No, it’s good, I dig it. Simple goth on top, bling on the bottom, may or may not be wearing pants? It’s a look.

"hey whatever" i said. "why arent you with that girl i all ways see you with?

"you mean my GF alice," he said and locked soddenly very sad and started to cry and bite down hard on his lips.

"what is wrong Jasper?" i said

"the problem is i dont love her like she loves me. i am gay, and thats wrong, and i feel so horible about it!" 

Of course he’s gay. Look at his outfit! Look at those shoes! I can’t even see him for real and my gaydar is going wild.

"theres nothing bad about bein gay u no" i said. 

"REALLY?" he sed, and looked chocked with his mouth open.

Good on Tiaa for being an ally. I love how Jasper reacts as though he’s never considered the possibility that his gayness might be alright. He’s a vampire too and has been alive for well over a century, so that’s a lot of internalized homophobia… but he’s also been around to witness the entire modern LGBT rights movement, so you’d think he might have gotten the “it’s okay to be gay” message before.

"yeah, its proper normal and Snoofles is gay and everything" i said and Snoofles waved and Jasper waves back. 

If you just got a bad feeling about what might happen next, trust your fucking instincts.

he smiled and we all stared dancing together and Jasper gave us some of his drugs.

I really wanna know what they’ve been taking, because even though Tiaa isn’t human I feel like anyone who can get high should have to worry about drug interactions. Weed and alcohol is fine, but aside from that I have no idea what the hell Tiaa is on except that she described it as “pills” and a lot of drugs that come in pill form do not play nice with alcohol. She probably isn’t going to fry her liver or anything like that given that she’s essentially undead, but I doubt she’s immune to having a bad trip.

we had a relay good time and jasper met another gay guy called Vince and we all got in Snoofleses car at the end of the night and i drove around while the others all had sex in the back of the car. 

A note: At this point in the story I quite literally had to stop the MST for a bit so I could pour myself a very stiff drink. 

The panda has a car. The panda is having a threesome with a vampire and a human in the back of his car while another vampire drives it. This is treated as normal because the panda and his two human(oid) sexual partners happen to all be gay.

Like, I’d normally feel pretty weird about the “promiscuous gay” stereotype being invoked, but I’m way too busy feeling weird that the author thinks it’s normal for gay guys to want to screw a panda because the panda happens to be gay too. Also, keep in mind Snoofles can only talk to Tiaa — the dudes he’s having sex with can’t understand him. I’m gonna say a panda who behaves like a human and owns a car is probably capable of consenting, but I still feel mighty weird about the idea that two dudes who perceive Snoofles as an ordinary, non-talking panda would want to have a threesome with him.

I guess the promiscuity aspect isn’t even bad considering how Tiaa and Edward have been acting with each other throughout the fic. The bestiality, though, I have trouble overlooking.

(i was drunk but cos i was a vampire it was ok to drive i had beter reflex than humans!)

Sure, but do you even know how to drive? In most states, it’s not legal to get a learner’s permit until you’re Tiaa’s age, so we’re not talking “experienced driver with superhuman reflexes,” we’re talking “superhuman reflexes, but on somebody who quite possibly has never sat in the driver’s seat of a car before.”

but soddenly somethin jumped into the road infront of us and i had to stop the car and get out. there was a man standin in the middle of the road he was tall and mussely and had black hair like the black feathers of a raven in the black darkness. 

But was his black hair like the black feathers of a black raven in the black darkness? I just want to be clear on the color.

he was good looking but he looked so angry i got out my samurai sword (i often have it with me!) but somone jammed up behind me and tore it from me, there were like ten people all grabbing my body in the darkness and they put a thing over my face so i coudnt see and they tied me up! 

Oh, of course, her samurai sword. Yep. Been with her the whole time.

Jasper Snoofles and Vince were too busy doing gay sex on each other to notice, i cud hear them grunting and humping and having orgasms on each other - it was so cute but now was SO not the time! 

She’s being attacked by a group of ten or more people, who have overpowered her, restrained her, and blindfolded her, in the middle of the road. Three people (well, a person, a vampire, and a panda) are present and they don’t notice this happening at all.

Like… I know they’re all intoxicated and, uh, otherwise occupied at the moment, but did they not at least pause to notice Tiaa slamming on the brakes to avoid colliding with a stranger in the road?

The men who had caught me took me away and somethin hit me over the head and i was unconshous.

when i awoken i found myself in a small dark room and the tall mussel man was in front of me. i was strip down to my underwear and i was chained to a chair with some metal chains and i coudnt move.

Tiaa has superhuman strength and reflexes. She has telekinetic abilities. She can affect objects and people by touching them. 

Yet she can’t get out of being chained to a chair?

I call BS.

"WHO ARE YOU YOU WANKY PERV!" i shoyted.

She sounds like Wheatley from “ITS MY LIFE!” now.

"I AM JACOB...THE WEREWOLF KING!" he yelled with his eyes rolling around in his face - he looked so mad and CRAZY!

Jacob’s a big dude who can turn into a wolf, but he’s also about fifteen and just learning about the whole werewolf thing, so I doubt he’d be “king” of anything. Also Tiaa could take him easy.

"NOOOOOOO!" I scremed and i try to broke myself free but i was under so many heavy chains so i looked into his wagging face insted.

I don’t know why she reacted so negatively to Jacob’s response. There is a longstanding vampire/werewolf feud in the Twilight universe, but Tiaa is very newly turned and shouldn’t know about any of that yet. Learning your kidnapper is a werewolf sucks, but if you’re already a vampire you’ve got an edge too.

"Watt do u want from me? why am i here?" i say and i started to cry.

"YOU MUST BE PUNISHED FOR WHAT YOU DID TO BELLA SWAN!" he shreeked and the drool was sloapping down his face just like rain only thick and foam-like. 

So… not like rain, then.

"YOU ARE A HALF-BREAD! 

I’ve got to change this blog’s name right away. I don’t know what I was thinking naming it “The Half-World” when I could have named it “The Half-Bread.”

Also, hold up — what did Tiaa do to Bella? Is this just about “stealing” Edward? Jacob and Edward aren’t exactly buddy-buddy, and if Bella’s single Jacob has a chance with her, so if anything I think he owes Tiaa a thank-you.

YOU SHOUD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORNE! YOUR FATHER WAS A VAMPIRE AND YOUR MOM WAS A WHITCH! ITS WEIRD AND WRONG AND NOW YOUVE BROKEN BELLAS HEART! HALF-BREAD! HALF-BREAD! HALF-BREAD!" 

Well, this really does speak for itself.

This dude was insane, he was so angery he was jumpin up and down. 

Sounds like my second-grade teacher. She was the daughter of a well-known Republican senator and she had to resign after she tied a kid to a chair with a jump rope. True story.

But something he said had caugt my attention .

Good job on the punctuation.

"What do u mean my mom was a whitch?" I said.

What do you think he meant, genius?

"MY FATHER USED TO NO HER! SHE LIVED HERE IN LA PUSH AND SHE WAS A WHITCH! SHE COUD MAKE FIRE COME FROM NOWERE AND CONTROLL THE WETHER AND TALK TO ANIMALS AND LOADS OF OTHER STUFF! SHE WAS A FREAK LIKE U!" 

I guess this does explain Tiaa’s extra powers, but, I have to say, I don’t think Jacob gets to criticize anyone else for being freaky when he can turn into a wolf.

Of corse! It all made sense now! 

It didn’t all make sense. There’s still an interspecies gay threesome that needs explaining.

I was so shocked I fainted,

and also got my periods and commas mixed up,

When i woke up Jacob was in front of me and he was NAKED! He was smilling in a proper creepy way and looked totaly weird like a greasy frog thing and his male genital item was not nice like edwards it was like a horible wet mushroom.

Honest to god I love these similes. 

he stroked my knee with it and i gapsed. whatt was he going to do to me! 

I think I have an idea, actually.

but sudenly before he coud come any closer the door of the room we were in burst open!

IT WAS EWDARD!

Here to save the day! And to end the fic, because this is it for “Forbiden Fruit”: BeckyMac666 left us all on a cliffhanger, so we’ll never know what happens.

I do genuinely love this fanfic. I love how it’s written, I love the similes, I love the purple prose and the melodramatic tone, and I love my girl Tiaa. It’s a truly fantastic badfic, and I’m happy I got to introduce others to it, too.