#Everyone else: press x to doubt and does so repeatedly

[valeriefauxnom]

Chapter 14 of Scaling the Walls of a Mystery is up!

In which Euden finally starts to dig too deep and his well of lucky coincidences that allowed him to escape for the moment starts to dry up.

Exert from update (~10k/~170k total words written so far!):

“Yeah, I can only imagine how weird this has to be for you. I mean, this is something right out of a faerie tale, a lost prince raised outside the castle being rediscovered… I’m just glad you’re doing okay and that the royal family accepted you so quickly. All the stories I know always have the lost royal having to fight their way to prove their birthright or fight their family outright, and that’s always sad.” Theo scratched his head. 

“I suppose it is, fighting family…” Euden mused, “Ah, but how’s Roland doing?”

--

I'm only on AO3 here! Feel free to ask about anything because goodness knows I'm always down to rant about this longfic that has rapidly spiraled into a complex web of royal family drama even if it is much less homicidal than the main game!

[ppawmpkin]

Okoye NSFW Drabbles

Okoye x Black Fem Reader

Translation: sithandwa, sweetheart uthando, love nkosazana, princess. ingelosi, angel.

Taglist- @fentibeauty @demxnicprxncess @sevikasmainwhore @shuris-whore

Y’all if it’s wrong please correct me in the comments, cause I tried my very best to get it correct.

Jealously?

This woman swears up and down that jealously is something that is not of her but, in reality, anyone who is proving to be a little too friendly towards her love, makes her blood absolutely boil. She would go lengths just to make sure that the fact that you belonged to her was known to you and to everyone else, wether that be the purple bruises trailed down your neck, that she wouldn’t allow you to cover, wanting the whole Wakanda to see her admirable work or fucking you dumb so that everyone could hear how good she made you feel.

Scenario:

“How could you call me jealous, hm?” She said, her tongue buried deep in your cunt, strategically moving the muscle as she always did. When she had you in such way, she couldn’t help but drive you completely senseless, addicted to the way her love looked all fucked out, only for her and her only. How eagerly you moved against her mouth, not even a hint of shame of the desperation you were demonstrating, just wanting even more of her, drunk off the sensation and the fire that pumped through your veins at being handled carelessly, something that, unless consumed by anger, Okoye never did.

“I could never be jealous of such foolish individuals making advances at you when all I have to do is say a word and you spread for me exactly like this, uthando.” She spat, sucking on your sensitive clit rather harshly, while her fingers replaced where her tongue used to be. She pushed them into you repeatedly, the action making you see white in your vision as your eyes rolled back slightly, tightening the hold of your plush thighs around her neck. “Right there, sithandwa.” You dragged, letting you teeth sink into your bottom lip as she worked her fingers into you at an unmerciful pace, the sounds of your wetness only becoming more louder with every movement of her fingers buried within you.

You could feel the coil in your stomach loosen, making your fingers grip the soft, silk sheets as your juices sprayed all over her, coating her and the sheets under you. She stared at your pussy in awe, watching as your cum dripped down from your mocha colored thighs to the freshly washed sheets. She dipped her slender finger in gently, coating it in your sweetness before having a small taste of her own, humming as she savored you.

“Can they make you do that, uthando?” She questioned, an self assured smirk on her face before placing a small sweet kiss on the top of your lips.

Submissive at all?

Okoye almost never submits to you in bed, but when she does allow you to prove your dominance, the pride the swells your chest is unreal. Her noises are the most telling fact if you are making her feel good, sometimes high and at others, low and smooth. She always made sure to keep you in check though, reminding you that through your teasing, she could take back the control of you at any given moment.

Scenario:

“Is this ok?” You questioned, making the woman who laid exposed in front of you groan in irritation at your constant questioning. She thought she was doing a good job of letting you know how she felt, but yet, you had still doubted yourself on certain aspects of giving her pleasure. “Yes, yes must I tell you for the last time, love. You’re doing amazing, nkosazana.” She said, pressing her hand to the back of your head, rather than doing talking she would rather she be the only thing in your mouth at the moment. You gladly obliged, placing a kiss on her cunt, starting with slow strokes, lapping up all her strands of wetness before increasing your speed, encouraged by her low groans and murmurs of “intombi elungile” or in english, good girl.

You felt her clench around your tongue, driving her cunt in you face as you moved your tongue against her, pushing into her at a rate that drove her absolutely mad, not being able to control the uncontrollable build up of intensity in her stomach. She could feel your confidence build, the way your tongues movement had more precision and intent behind them, eager to please and she was eager to receive. You peered at her through your eyelashes, watching as her head rolled back, her eyes shut while out of her mouth came words that were anything but innocent.

“You look divine, ingelosi.” You cooed, studying her in pure adoration as you continued your work. “Please, cum for me. I wanna taste you so badly.” You said, feeling her wrap around you at the words, the pitch of her moans increasing as she viciously went after her release. Soon, she let out what could be called a scream, her voice becoming weak and drawn out as she came straight into your mouth, the sweet, creamy substance coating your tongue. You cleaned her up, licking every last ounce of it as you watched it utter infatuation as she spasmed, heavy breathes filling the room, struggling to regain her strength.

“Did I do-” She cut you off, giving you a look that would look threatening, if it were under different circumstances. “If you ask that one more time.” She warned, beckoning you closer, before drawing your lips closer to hers, a thank you all in one. “After that I might have to marry you.” She joked, causing you to tap her arm lightly, playfully glaring at her. “So you hadn’t already thought about marrying me, hm?” You said, resulting in a light slap on your ass, a hearty laugh coming from her while she shook her head. “Mhm, I have thought of it, but this, this is making me think I might have to tie you down at a more faster rate.” She said, while you snaked your arms around her, pulling her closer to you, which surprisingly she’d allowed herself to be “small” twice the same night, snuggling into you, liking the feeling of your body heat against her relatively cooler one.

A/N: Alright y’all, I only did two this time. I’ll do more of her cause I feel as if she’s not wrote about enough. Me personally, I love me some Okoye, that’s one fine and powerful black queen that I can’t help but adore. 💗🫶🏾

[bylertruther]

thinking out loud here so don't mind me ok prepare for ur regular serving of a wall of rambles with no punctuation just me typing my every thought as i think it<3

bUT OKAY so . i think it's good sometimes to be ur own devil's advocate abt ur beliefs to see if they still hold up for u n stuff right so i was thinking of how i believe tht will is the one tht shaped the upside down into hawkins and i was like hm. well. what if el did tht when she opened the gate? but then i was like mmmmm press x to doubt bc her thing is that she's the gate opener n closer. she's a seeker. she finds people n makes that connection. and when henry takes her power he says tht he does it because he wants to be able to open gates himself. so... i don't think that's her thing. just like him, she can only move what is already there—she can't change its form.

henry talks all the time abt wanting to Reshape and Remake the world, so... clearly... he's interested in Creation! he specifically uses these words repeatedly. n brenner tells el when she opens the gate that "it's" reaching out to her bc it wants her. so if henry reached out to will time n time again.... n took him.... n didn't want to kill him but DID want to kill eleven as well as everyone else.... then it has to be for a reason. if the upside down is stuck on the day he went missing & didn't look like that before AND the duffers keep pointing to Will, Will, Will, who's henry's perfect foil and also a wizard and a creator himself bc he's an artist.... and the duffers got scared for a second when jamie showed them his pin board with will at the center bc they thought he knew something... and will and henry are STILL connected somehow despite there being no more particles within will and henry had to wait for mike to leave for him to strike.... and will's disappearance is the outlier bc the "monster" had telekinesis, teleported from outside the shed to behind will inside of it, messed with the phone lines, stalked him patiently, followed him from mike's house which isn't near the lab at all, targeted him despite will not bleeding from anywhere, and then never hurt or ate him in the upside down only sought to keep him trapped there n later took him to the library where he was found in a position much like the victims we see in s4 in henry's mindscape.... i mean...

and that's not even mentioning how will used the lights to communicate bc there's no way he touched all of them at once that fast and at that height unless he's the flash or something lmao, or how he appeared in joyce's mind once, or the lights tht lit up in a circle in his room, or how he was able to remain hidden at the house n survive despite the monsters knowing he was there and even being there just seconds after him in his exact place, etc etc....

so like. unless this is all just an extensive series of red herrings there is just. i mean. i just do not see how he Wouldn't have the power of creation... or whatever other power besides just true sight... because henry doesn't like humanity, so what other reason would he have to make will the ONE human that's worthy to stand by his side?

and how did he even know will? how did he find him at mike's house? what's at the library that that's where will was taken to and that's where the rifts in s4 connect? there's something there and it's not just that will was at the wrong place at the wrong time bc none of it adds up. that wasn't a regular wild demogorgon that took him, because the "monster" did not act like every other demogorgon we've seen. and then later on, he was targeted AGAIN. he was CHOSEN not once, but twice. and there has to be a reason! and considering henry's motives... i don't see how it could be anything other than will being the missing piece: his way of reshaping and remaking the world in his image. he needed eleven so he could open gates himself. he needed the mind flayer because it gave him unimaginable power and the ability to overtake and control others. now, he needs someone to be able to Create and all signs seem to point in will's direction.... hm.

but i could be missing something. thoughts, anyone? 🤔📝

[cartierbin]

14 with lix 😭

thank you for requesting baby

『 14. “stop being so gentle damn it”

pairing — felix x reader

genre — smut + rough roommate sex with felix

word count — 1.324k 』

smut under the cut !

“why do you care so much felix!! huh? why do you care we’re not even together!!”. he clenched his jaw from across the room, it was almost 2am and you knew it was late but you hated the way felix was acting. you know everyone in the dorm halls probably hated you two by now. “you know why I care. And stop saying that bullshit every single time you get caught up in your mess”.

“I can say what I what I want to say”.

“no, you say bullshit that you think excuses you. you think I don’t know that we aren’t dating? Huh?! Do you think I want to be reminded of that every single time you go back to your stupid ass ex and I confront you about it?!”. you fold over the blankets on your bed, slipping under it. “whatever felix. I’m going to sleep I’m sick and tired of arguing with you about this shit. I go back to my ex because I can. I’m single. And until you make me anything other than that you shouldn’t have your nose in my business”. you turned your back to him, throwing the blanket over your shoulder. felix stared at you in disbelief, making a pft noise before he sat on his own bed, facing the opposite direction. he runs his hands over the expanse of his thighs, hanging his head low. the realization settled low in his gut. he knew you weren’t his and the fact that you kept sticking it on him hurt him.

“so? that’s what it’s going to be? you told me you weren’t ready for a relationship. yet you grant me relationship benefits. how are you going to lead me so far just to tell me that you want someone else? and expect it not to fuck with my mind?”. you listen, more than glad that you were facing the opposite direction so he couldn’t see the guilt scrawled on your face. he took your silence as a reply, meaning that you didn’t care how he felt and that you were done talking about the situation. he grips his own blankets and throw them over his shoulder as well, leaning his forehead on his fingertips before drifting off to sleep. you waited a while, unable to sleep due to how guilty you felt. you knew you hurt him. you were sorry and didn’t know how to say it. rather, you knew just what to do. it was another hour before you sighed deeply, pushing the covers away from yourself prior to getting out of bed. you stood over his, kind of admiring how cute he looked when he slept. so cute that it made you feel even worse for how you treated him. you drew his covers back positioning your body on top of his and attaching your lips to his neck, giving him tongue filled kisses all over his skin.

he was soaking them up for a little while until he was awake enough to feel the softness of your lips. his hands slid down the span of your back, creeping to the back of your thighs and pulling upwards making you straddle him. he groaned too, half because it felt good and half because he wanted to know what you were doing. he opens his eyes but you didn’t give him a chance to think about your vulnerability. you needily rut your hips against his groin, gaining a few small deep voiced groans from his throat. you sucked another hickey into his neck, apologizing countless times in between your wet sloppy efforts. he took a deep breath squeezing your ass into the palm of his hand, wondering if he should give in. your lips felt good and he knew that fucking you would be even better. you could tell that his head was lost in his decisions and instead you mushed his lips into a kiss allowing your tongue to roam his mouth knowing he was fond of tongue kisses. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of that just fuck me please”, he takes a hand a wraps it around your throat departing your lips from his own. his eyes looked cold when they bore into yours. fear flooded your chest. “you think you can just talk to me any type of way and then bribe your way out with sex?”. his voice was low and deliberate, throwing you into a nervous spiral.

“felix you know I just- I just say things I don’t mean. we both always say things that we don’t mean. that’s what we always do when we argue”. you stammer helplessly feeling pathetic. his expression remained unmoved. cold and conniving. even when he laughed. it wasn’t his normal laugh, beautifully contagious. but it was a laugh of irony. “I need you to make a decision because I’m sick of this shit”. he spoke narrowing his eyes, you could still hear the lumps of sleepiness in his voice. he cocks his head to the side. “do you want to keep running back to your toxic ass ex? or do you want to get fucked into this headboard of mine?”. your throat immediately ran dry and you wondered where your spit had gone. on one hand, your ex was someone whom you’ve known since you were younger. but on the other, felix meant everything to you and the way his dick kept twitching up against you through his sweats made your pussy throb. “you going to choose or what? because I’m tired and I have a class in the morning”. he spoke again still waiting for your response. “I want to get fucked felix”. he shook his head in doubt. “you’re only saying that because you’re on top of me right now”. “no. no please, I’m not. please. I want to get fucked by you and only you felix”. he stares at you a bit longer just before unleashing his tongue down your throat entrapping you in a slimy kiss and pulling away. he figured he’d make this quick considering you weren’t going to last long anyway. “get on all fours”.

you got into position and waited for felix who nonchalantly discarded his shirt and tugs down his briefs, draping his body over yours so he could clutch the top of the headboard. he settles his dick into you with a curse word leaking from his lips and with a purr of relief coming from yours. you shut your eyes for a bit feeling satisfied with the way his thick length filled you from behind. he pushes your head into the pillows and arched your ass up higher for himself and for better angles. he rolled his hips into you at a measured pace before gradually speeding up, watching your ass make his dick disappear with each thrust. you breathe heavy and hard into the pillows, feeling lost and euphoric all at once. felix bit his lips and pounded into you deeper steadily increasing, cinching his hand into the dip of your waist. the buildup caused the headboard to beat the wall, and the slapping sounds of your skin was so loud you knew the people who roomed next door had to hear it. but you didn’t care. “god I hate you sometimes but the way your pussy clenches around me—fuck”. he groans, fucking you a bit harder. he rocked his hips into you with a power that almost made you headbutt the headboard. you curved your head to soften the blow. “fuck felix. stop talking like that”. he took his other hand off the headboard and instead gripped your waist with two hands, pressing it against the bed and fucks you that way. “stop being so gentle, damn it. If we’re going to fuck like this we’re going to talk the right way”. he licks his lips each time your ass moves in a wavelike motion, starting from the bottom and making the top curve up against your lower back. you cry into the sheets in pleasure, gripping them and drooling against them. “nngh god yes right there— please”. you begged, needing it more than you thought you would. felix molded the palms of his hands into your lower back holding you in place so you couldn’t move.

he flipped pieces of his hair away from his face as the noises in the room only grew louder. he admired the sounds your pussy made each time he entered you, a thick river of gush waiting to coat his dick every time he invited himself in. “how in the fuck do you get this wet all the time? holy shit”. you were trying to reply but your eyes rolled to the back of your head and instead you were babbling nonsense that you hoped he’d understand. your head was being pushed against the headboard which was showing no mercy on the wall, denting it in all types of ways. “because you fuck me so good f-felix”. you murmur feeling your body tremble and your tummy cave in a bit. felix felt you contracting and he smirks. “aw? is your little pussy about to cum already? how long does it take your ex to do this?”. a throaty groan bubbled from your throat. you could only talk in shakey syllables with the way he was fucking you. “h-he doesn’t felix—fuck I’m going to cum fuck”. he leans off of you and smacks your ass with his hand. “cmon. let me see you fuck yourself”. You desperately pushed back against him trying to do more than you could handle but the way he stretched you and hit your weak spots the closer you became. he smacked your ass repeatedly almost as if he was spanking you, making it all worth while and making your cum drip down your thighs in the process. when you were finished you collapsed on the bed, gasping for air and a peace of mind.

“don’t you ever go back to his ass again”.

[drwcn]

ok but for fem!wwx au does lan zhan believe the rumours? and if so what does that mean for the whole 'i birthed him with my own body!' cause lan zhan did the maths and was like 'no it was just the once and this child is too old' but if he thinks he was just one in a line does he go back to bm after nightless city to rescue a kid he thinks is wei ying's but with another man? does he spend the three years in seclusion cursing every jin whose name he remembers as cowards only to step out, take one look at sizhui, and have an 'oh. i know why wei ying was so determined to save wen qionglin' moment???

Answer:  Haha, nah, Lan Wangji was fairly sure Sizhui wasn’t Wei Ying’s, for several reasons. One, Wen Yuan was born before the wen remnants even went to the Burial Mount. Lan Wangji saw the small child amongst the escape party that rainy night at the  concentration camp. Also, Wen Ning was several years younger than them, which would make it kind of weird if he were the dad. Before Wen Ning became the Ghost General, everyone just knew him as Wen Qing’s kid brother.  Lan Wangji, however, absolutely believed Jiang Yan to be Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s child even before Wei Wuxian was resurrected... 

《the midnight sun》 — 

[original], snippets [x] [x] [x] [x], other posts found under #lanyan or #midnight sun

midnight sun [snippet 7]

When Yan’er turned ten, Jiang Cheng decided it was time for her to accompany him to Cultivation Conferences. Most sect heirs began their training this way; Jiang Cheng still remembered his first time, trailing nervously in Jiang Fengmian’s wake. 

Heiresses, in comparison, were few and far between. Even head disciples were rarely girls. Jiang Wanyin had no children. His head disciple was his heiress, and his heiress was Jiang Yueqian (江月千). 

长烟一空 - when the smoke clears; 皓月千里 - the moon casts a thousand miles of light 浮光跃金 - which dances upon the water, golden 静影沉壁 - the shadow of the moon itself like jade underwater*

A jade underwater indeed.

“Shifu.”

Speaking of the devil, here she comes, walking measuredly down the long stairs of Jinlintai towards Jiang Cheng, the epitome of an obedient, filial disciple. It had only been a day and Jiang Yan already had the world fooled. Only Jiang Cheng knew how impossibly obstinate and utterly uncontrollable she was when her mind was fixed.

"Ah, Jiang-zongzhu, this is..." Spotting her, Lan Xichen glanced beyond his shoulder, the question dangling in the sentence he did not deem necessary to finish.

Unbeknownst to Lan Xichen, the child that made her way over was his niece by blood. Jiang Cheng was acutely aware that Yan'er actually resembled Lan Wangji a great deal, and despite having weighed the risks and gains against each other repeatedly before deciding to bring Jiang Yan along, now he was no longer so certain in his calculations. Lan Xichen was not a simple peasant; what if he detected a trace or a hint of her heritage between the furrow of her brows or the curve of her eyes? What if...

Jiang Cheng turned, raising an arm towards Jiang Yan, an introduction ready, but whatever words he had prepared in advance died on on his tongue when he laid eyes on the girl. Suddenly, he was no longer worried that others would suspect her to be Lan Wangji's child.

There was a red ribbon in her hair.

Yan'er stopped at a polite distance from the two older men and bowed in perfect form.

Jiang Cheng's heart stuttered violently in his chest at the sight of that red ribbon falling sideway over her small shoulder. If souls could travel, his would have left him in an instant. He stood in disincorporated panic, wrestling with the nauseating sensation of being ripped from his reality and tossed so far into the distant past that he felt whole again.

"Shifu, Lan-zongzhu." Yan'er greeted.

Shifu. Lan-zongzhu. In another world, another life, she would not need to be so formal. She could easily bound up to them, carefree, cooing jiujiu and bobo and ask to be bailed out from whatever trouble she caused.

Instead, he was only her shifu, and Lan Xichen, a stranger in her life. It would be laughable, if fate had not dealt them each such a wretched hand.

Jiang Cheng stepped towards her. “Where did you get this?” 

Jiang Yan looked up in surprise, her hand reaching up and making an aborted motion to touch the red ribbon in her hair.

“Qin-shenshen gave it to me. Is it not nice?” 

Qin Su. Jiang swallowed down a sigh of relief. Earlier, the Jin servants had sent word that Jin-fu'ren had baked treats for Jin Ling, and the boy had wasted no time dragging his favourite person - his Yan'er jiejie - to his aunt's place with him. Clearly, Qin Su had seized the opportunity to dote on the girl in place of the daughter she never had. Qin Su meant well. She couldn't have known. She's never even met Wei Wuxian.

In this state, Jiang Cheng could barely bring himself to look at his disciple, but he forced himself nonetheless to kneel and tuck an errant strand of baby hair behind her ear. “Very pretty.” 

Yan'er smiled.

Jiang Cheng could cry.

They'd been lucky thus far. Yunmeng's Jiang-xiao-guniang was born a taciturn girl who did not like to smile or laugh, not even when she was expected to for polite society. Whether she was happy or sad, one would be hard pressed to tell. Only in front of her master Jiang Cheng or her Jin Ling-didi did she elect to reveal the full expanse of her emotions. Yet, whenever Jiang Cheng bore witness to that smile as warm and incandescent as sunlight, he could not help but shudder somewhere deep. Recalling the radiant days of years gone by, he could still see - every time he closed his eyes - his er-shijie smiling at him in the very same fashion.

Aiyo, Jiang Cheng ~

So...they'd been very lucky thus far, that Yan'er was not so like her mother in that way, not so free and generous with her smiles. Or else this devastating secret —Wei Wuxian's only wish — would not be able to withstand the test of time.

"Very pretty, Yan'er." He reaffirmed. "Did you thank Jin-furen?"

"I did."

Jiang Cheng stood and turned back to face Lan Xichen, and realized they were being joined by two others: Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji. The latter of two stared directly down at Jiang Yan, visibly stricken and unblinking, as though he'd just seen a ghost. After all, he had often been on the receiving end of that signature smile once upon a time. It was probably not a smile he'd ever expected to see again in this life.

In hindsight, perhaps Jiang Cheng should have made Yan'er wear her uniform like all the other disciples instead of her favourite indigo robes.

“Ah, Wangji, shufu -” Lan Xichen was quick to react, sensing animosity brewing in the disquiet that stretched taut between his younger brother and his fellow sect master. "Jiang-zongzhu, perhaps you would introduce us?"

The First Jade smiled kindly down at Yan'er. She returned his kindness with a polite nod.

Lan Wangji finally dragged his gaze up to meet Jiang Cheng's, a rarity since their violent parting at Nevernight. The venerated Hanguang-jun had developed a habit of pretending that Jiang Wanyin of Lotus Pier did not exist at all. He probably preferred, dreamed of it even, if Jiang Cheng had been one to fall of the cliff that day. He probably hated himself for not shoving him into the molten abyss when he could to avenge the love of his life.

Love. What did Lan Wangji know of love? Jiang Cheng sneered inwardly. One did not compromise one's love and abandon her, ill and with child, to bleed out alone in a cave tainted by demonic spirits.

One did not watch idly as one's love and her people are reduced to ashes for the power and greed of men either....

Jiang Cheng buried the offending thought, too familiar with Wen Qing's ghost that still haunted him in his moments of weakness. Without breaking gaze, he laid a hand on the crown of Jiang Yan's head and said, "This is my first disciple, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yueqian."

"Yueqian greets Zewu-jun, Lan-lao-xiansheng, Hanguang-jun."

Jiang Cheng watched as the icy fire within Lan Wangji's eyes flicker, fizzle, and extinguish entirely. Jiang Cheng's vague silence had allowed him the space to make his assumptions, and he had assumed the most insane explanation.

Is it so difficult for you, wondered Jiang Cheng. To believe that she could be yours? So impossible, that you would choose to doubt Wei Wuxian instead?

Fine.

Hanguang-jun. The venerated Second Jade of Gusu. That's all you'll ever be. Yan'er will never call you Father.

Jiang Cheng decided he had spent enough time today making nice. "Zewu-jun, it's getting late. If nothing else, I will be taking my leave. The conference continues tomorrow. I will see you then. Yan'er, come."

Yan'er bowed again to the senior cultivators, perfectly well-mannered. A dash of surprise crossed those bright eyes, however, when Jiang Cheng took her hand to lead her away. She followed wordlessly, trusting him, and did not look back once at the Lans she left behind.

Now that Yan'er was out in society, there would surely be rumours. No matter. Rumours were nothing Jiang Wanyin could not withstand. How ironic, indeed, that this was to be his lot in life.

For the first time, Jiang Cheng felt he could understand his father.

Note:

The poem is from the Song dynasty, by poet 范仲淹 from his work 《岳阳楼记》

Jiang Cheng of course is also working off a lot of assumptions about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship. He has his reasons for hating and blaming Lan Wangji, but not all the blame is deserved.

[elriell]

Some thoughts on Poppy x Cass x Kieran & The Joining.

After some awesome chats with the wonderful peeps ( @silverlinedeyes , @azriiel , @rhyssescups & @azrielisababe​ ) I think that there are several little tidbits that really hint at The Joining or potentially more, I know it is a pretty mixed bag of opinions but here are some of mine. [Spoilers: TCOGB]

Implication vs. Foreshadowing

“Casteel’s arm curled, tightening around my shoulder, drawing me closer. My breath snagged as his movement triggered Kieran. He shifted behind me, and my pulse felt like a trapped bird. A sleek, muscled thigh slid between mine, pressing in. I had no idea if it was Casteel’s or Kieran’s.”

“I didn’t know when I’d stopped thinking about the fact that it wasn’t just Casteel’s body that touched mine, it wasn’t his chest that my head fell back against.”

“But that wasn’t the only explanation for why I was so warm. Heat pressed against my back. A heavy arm lay over my waist and a leg was tucked between mine.”

The first time they... have fun, he does so with Kieran nearby.

She could have easily left the joining in the air, having implied it but not intending to follow through yet we get 23 mentions, alongside several moments of highly sexual/emotional connection between the three.

Instead throughout the book we are slowly introduced to the prospect of the three of them gently, coaxing them in to the storyline repeatedly through AKOFAF.

“Cass is too jealous...” 

“A ghost of a smile appeared. “And then he’d be…intrigued.”

My mouth opened, but my mind took that and leapt with it. I had nothing to say. Absolutely nothing, but I thought about what I had read about the wolven and the Atlantians. There was a bond between some of them, and while not much was known about what that bond entailed, I was confident that a Prince was of the class that wolven would be bonded to. I wanted to ask, but considering I was in a tub and naked, now wasn’t the time.”

There is way to much we do not know about their bond, or their past to make that statement in my opinion, I think ordinarily I would agree, except with Kieran, he is the one person I could see Cass trusting with Poppy.

Not to mention textually speaking, he brings it up plenty and never seems offended by the idea. 

“I’m not judging either.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not?”

“I’m not,” I insisted.

“So, you’re interested then?” he murmured.”

“Did you bookmark the chapters detailing how Willa spent afternoons entertaining not one but two suitors, one in front and the other—?”

“You seem to know a lot about that book.”

“I love that fucking book,” he said, and my jaw ached from how hard I was clenching it. “So, you’re interested then, Princess. What a wild side you have.”

“Look, I know you’re not looking for this marriage to go beyond the necessary,” he said, and that strange, stupid ache in my chest pulsed. “So, it’s not even something you need to worry about. But the Joining is meant to strengthen the bond that’s already there, and ensure that the partner is also a part of that bond. It’s not done lightly, and again, it is not always a sexual thing. I know it’s been done where everyone kept their body parts to themselves.”

“I can always read to you,” Casteel offered. “I still have a certain diary with me. There is a chapter I’m sure you’ll be interested in. Miss Willa has the same sleeping arrangement—”

“No. Nope.” I screwed my eyes closed. “Not necessary.”

“Are you sure?” Casteel seemed to have wiggled closer. His entire leg pressed against mine.”

All of these instances are in reference to the Joining/Kieran. Never does he imply jealousy or something he would disagree with, if anything we are told how much stronger it would make the bond (though we have yet to see where it stands) and also include Poppy. You cannot convince me that she would bring this Joining up so many time only to have it never come to fruition.

 Potential Breadcrumbs

“A hundred different thoughts and emotions exploded through me, so many, so fast, I couldn’t make sense of them.”

This is during the cuddle scene, this really screams foreshadowing for her emotions and the tug-of-war she is going to undergo! 

“I…” I looked around, seeing nothing but thick fog and Kieran standing above us, staring behind me and breathing just as heavily as Casteel. Confusion swept through me.”

“Just as heavily as Casteel.” interesting choice of words.

So while we are on the topic let’s speak about Poppy & Kieran;

“Reaching for the blanket, I tugged it to my waist. A muscle flexed in Kieran’s jaw. “He didn’t force himself on you?”

“You’re okay?” Kieran asked, and I felt Casteel nod. “Penellaphe?”My tongue felt heavy, but I managed to work out a muffled, “Yes.”

He is not only focused on Casteel’s wellbeing but also Poppy’s. We also get significant growth between them and their comfort with each other...

“He lifted his brows. “Are you worried about me?” Crossing my arms, I nodded.

“Don’t be nice to me,” he replied, and I sensed amusement from him. “It weirds me out.”

“Sorry.” He smiled then as he walked to where I stood. “You don’t sound remotely sorry.” I grinned at him.

“Do me a favor,” Kieran said, looking down at me. “Protect your Prince, Poppy.”

They both understand each other because they both understand their love for Casteel and desire to protect him.

“Still caring for him would only lead to heartache,” I whispered, knowing the truth right then and there. I did care. I never stopped caring. And acknowledging that felt as if I’d slipped under the black water.

“It doesn’t have to,” Kieran said. “But even so, sometimes, the heartbreak that comes with loving someone is worth it, even if loving that person means eventually saying goodbye to them.”

The roughness in his tone spoke more than his words shared. “You sound like you have experience with that.”

This is so cryptic. Either way, it is a beautiful scene where they are opening up to each other and being genuine, not to mention the subtle hints at it being “worth it” despite the pain. Could Kieran have love/d Cas? We know from JLA that she said that most Wolven are Bi/Poly.

“I wasn’t sure how I could come to terms with it even when I had time. “I don’t...”

“You don’t want this.” Kieran finished for me, his wintry gaze meeting mine. 

We can only speculate what this is referring to but I don’t think it is strange to think it could be the Joining, not to mention JLA said she wrote a scene that was unlike any of the smut she has ever done before and it occurs at the beginning of the book or near it... I am guessing something will urge them to need to do the joining, perhaps to reform the bond between Kieran and Cass that was severed.

This goes hand in hand with my theory that something will happen that separates them and has Poppy/Kieran having to go on a mission for Cass either with or without him. I think this could be how she finds a way to balance out the scales in the development in their relationships as PoppyCass has a full book more than with Kieran.

Not to mention this early review of the book mentions “sharing” & “watching” this heavily implies the Joining could happen.

Kieran & Cass

“If I had turned to Casteel in my sleep, Kieran had also turned, as if Casteel were a magnet that drew both of us.”

I strange turn of phrase. My thoughts are if a Poly Ship or alike were ever to happen there would need to be complete trust, a lack of jealousy and be functional much like HeronGrayStairs. 

I truly believe the potential is there between PoppyCassKieran.

“Disbelief and anger radiated from him, but I felt something else, something deeper that was warm and stronger than the anger. “I know why you’re doing this,” Kieran whispered.”

“Casteel said nothing for a long moment and then said, “It’s not the only reason.” Words went unsaid between them, but were understood nonetheless.”

Their bond is undeniably strong and I truly believe there is more to it than meets the eye, unquestionably they love each other, the question remains how.

“When a bonded elemental takes on a partner, the bond can be extended to that person. It requires an exchange of blood between the three—or the four if the partner is also bonded. And the exchange of blood…well, it is quite…” He cleared his throat as his cheeks flushed. “It can become very intimate. In a way that would most likely make you very uncomfortable.”

I just can’t see why she would make such a show of the Joining for no payoff in the next book.

“First off,” he said, struggling for breath, “I don’t think anyone is going to expect that.” From you seemed to hang unsaid between us.”

Not to mention the fact there is little secrets between them, when no one else was told about Poppy’s gift Kieran was. When no one (Malek aside) knew about Shea but Kieran, and now Poppy.

It is a recurring theme that the three of are very open with each others secrets. 

And I can only imagine it growing in the next book. 

This ^^^^ just make me believe more and more we are getting some major Kieran development and book time, going along with my theory him and Poppy will be going to be spending time together for some reason.

So in summary, I think there is little doubt in my mind that the Joining will happen and potentially even a ship born.

[earlgreydream]

therapy.

| dark!bucky x reader | smut |

requested by @fitzfiles​ 

cw: infidelity, dub-con, ethical violations

“How is it going so far? Is it helping?” 

“Yeah, it’s going well. He’s... a little intense sometimes.” Your confession left your lips with ease. Too much ease. Parker always knew how to pull the honesty out of you.

“I think the best therapists are supposed to be.”

His loving smile spread warmth through your chest. It was so unlike James’ cold eyes. Everything about Parker was warm, inviting, and friendly. He was your best friend, your roommate, and more recently, your boyfriend. You loved him, and he was perfect for you. Parker was the sunshine in your life, the bright spot that broke through shades of grey. 

“I’m really glad that he’s helping, Y/N,” Parker’s gentle touch on your arm was followed by a sweet kiss. 

You shouldn’t have pictured someone else’s face when his lips touched yours. 

“Me too.” 

“Let’s order food from that Romanian place you like in uptown,” his fingers laced in yours, pulling you to the couch. You couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across your face; he knew what you needed. 

“Even dessert?” you asked hopefully, your head dropping down onto his lap.

“Of course,” he grinned, opening his laptop to order your dinner. He let you pick the movie playing while you dug into Romanian take-out, and Parker had you laughing until your sides split.

Parker was perfect. He knew what you needed without being told, and he balanced you. He was patient, bright, and lovable. Parker was a giver. You couldn’t have asked for anybody sweeter and more loving.

“Baby,” you murmured, crawling on his lap as the movie credits rolled.

His hands went to your waist, and he gave you a delicate kiss. You tried to deepen the kiss, but it felt innocent, even as he kissed you harder.

“Parker,” you murmured, leaning back.

“Let’s have sex.”

“Are you sure? I know you have to be up early in the morning,” he asked, and you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth.

“Of course I’m sure, you’re my boyfriend and I want to.”

With that, he picked you up and carried you to your bedroom, ceremoniously undressing you and kissing your body so gently it was almost hard to feel.

He moved into missionary, his elbows on either side of your head, his body flush against yours. Little kisses were peppered to your face as he slowly rocked into you. His thrusts were slow and shallow, and he rubbed your side as you tried to pull him deeper or push up against him.

“You feel so nice, honey,” Parker said, pecking your lips.

You hated yourself for growing discontent, finding yourself just wishing he would hurry up. You nearly praised when his fingers went to your clit, thinking it would finally be enough. You weren’t so lucky, his gentleness extended even to the filthiest of his actions. He was caressing you so slowly it was just as useless as if he wasn’t touching you at all. You finally gave up and faked an orgasm, moaning softly and increasing your breathing, holding him close to you as you shuddered.

He pulled out and came in the condom, rolling off of you and getting up for a towel. You stared up at the ceiling, feeling utterly discontent.

You sat up when Parker returned, and you kissed his cheek and told him you’d clean yourself up, and take a quick shower before bed. He didn’t seem to object, and you shut yourself in the bathroom, desperate to get some space.

You cried silently, your tears and sniffles drowned out by the stream of water. It washed over your muscles, surrounding you with warmth and easing the tension. You eventually resided yourself to getting back in bed with him, feeling suffocated as he spooned you. You didn’t understand how it was possible to adore him so much and want to run as fast as you could out the door.

The weather was terrible. If the view out your window and the sound against your roof wasn’t enough, the news channel murmuring softly on the television confirmed it. The city was being drowned in a thunderstorm, the streets flooded with rainwater. The sky was almost black from the clouds, and you struggled not to let your mood darken along with it. You felt stormy on the inside, your stomach twisting with doubt and discontentment. Parker being home that morning made you feel impossibly worse, and you were willing do get soaked in order to have some freedom from his attention.

“Do you want a ride to the office, Y/N?” Parker offered, frowning as he looked out the window.

“No, I’ll take the subway. No sense in making you late for work. I’ll see you later, okay?” you kissed him before heading down the street underground to catch the train. 

Bon Iver filled your ears as you waited for your train, nervously tapping your feet. The heat and dampness made your clothes stick to your skin, and you felt suffocated. Your anxiety spiked, and you pulled at the sleeves of your windbreaker, about to snap when the train made stale wind whip through your hair. 

You covered your face with your hands, wiping the tears away that had escaped. Overwhelmed didn’t even begin to crack the surface of how you felt, and emotion came rushing up in your chest faster than the train sped down the rails.

People flooded out onto your station, clearing the way for the new passengers to board, everyone rushing to get to work, or school, or far away from whatever haunted them.

You took a deep breath and stepped onto the train, trying to calm down. Your therapist would have a field day if you turned up at his office this anxious. The prospect made you shudder.

A few months ago, you had began seeing your therapist, James Barnes. After repeated anxiety attacks in the presence of your boyfriend, he had encouraged you to go to a therapist for help. You’d finally agreed to take him up on it, deciding it would be helpful to talk through some of your issues. James was a highly praised therapist, recommended to you by several people. Your acquaintances sung his praises, and you decided it wouldn’t hurt to try.

You definitely had not been prepared for what you were met with. A young, gorgeous man with intimidating steel eyes, who got you to spill your secrets and insecurities was the last thing you expected. All it took was looking into his intense gaze for the honesty to fall past your lips.

 James Buchanan Barnes tore the truth from you effortlessly. 

You stepped onto the subway platform, ascending the stairs and pushing through the small crowd of wet people trying to catch their trains. You pulled your hood up as you ran across the street to the office. The beautiful glass building reached the sky above you, holding the offices of many self-employed New Yorkers, including James. 

You walked inside the modern lobby, the secretary nodding at you as you took the elevator up to the seventeenth floor of the high-rise. The glass and tile were all grey in the light of the storm outside, fog obstructing the view outside of the windows. You were trapped in a grey bubble. 

“Y/N?” James stood as you entered the office, the door open and inviting you in. 

“Hi, sorry I’m a few minutes late, the storm is really bad,” you apologized.

“Of course, it isn’t a problem in the slightest. I expected it. Go ahead and have a seat.” 

His voice was deep and smooth, and his slight smile eased some of your nerves. You sat down on the couch, across from the dark blue chair he stood from. You watched him move, and his hand brushed your elbow softly as he walked by. It was like when Parker touched you, but it felt distinctly different. 

“Can I get you some water?”

“Please,” you nodded, your eyes wide as you watched him lean over a drink fridge. 

His hands flexed as he twisted the cap off of a water bottle for you, the action making you blush slightly. You lifted it to your lips, hoping the water would calm down your nerves a bit. 

James sat down across from you, stirring a cup of tea and waiting for you to speak. When he realized that you weren’t going to start on your own, he set down the tea and leaned forward. 

“Want to talk about what is on your mind, Y/N?”

Your eyes traveled from your lap to meet his gaze. You took a deep breath before speaking. 

“I’m uncertain about my relationship,” you finally admitted. 

“Your relationship with Parker? I thought it was going well,” James head tilted a bit.

“It is going well. It’s perfect, in fact. Parker is too perfect.”

“He’s too perfect, or too perfect for you?” James asked, and he wondered immediately if he was too harsh. He noted the way your hands squeezed the bottle of water you held.

You startled at the question, feeling exposed. He was your therapist, but you didn’t like to be called out.

“It’s not like that!” your voice came out sharper than you intended. 

“What’s it like then?” He asked in a much softer tone, attempting to understand what you were trying to tell him.

You hated how patient he was, keeping his voice even. Those steel eyes gazing deep into your soul. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap... It’s just that I guess I think he’s too perfect for my taste. It’s not him, or his fault, even, I’m just bored. I feel like that makes me a terrible person,” you sighed, dropping your head into your hands.

“You don’t need to apologize for expressing your frustration. So, Parker isn’t your taste, that’s okay. It doesn’t make you a bad person. If he’s not it then he’s not it.”

You weren’t convinced.

“Why does he bore you? This is recent.” James had noticed he seemed less fond of Parker recently, but he was surprised by your confession. He didn’t expect you to so openly admit you had tired of him, especially when you’d repeatedly mentioned that he was the stable, gentle force in your life.

Your face flooded with embarrassment, and James’ curiosity was killing him. He could’ve guessed by your reaction to his question, but he waited for you to speak.

“Does this have something to do with him being ‘too perfect’?” He pressed.

“I guess you could say that. He is so sweet, he really is. But he doesn’t satisfy me sexually...”

“Because he’s kind?”

“I want something, someone, more dominant. It’s stupid, but Parker is too vanilla. It feels like a high school fairytale, and I want something fiery and intense. I want things he would never do,” you confessed the truth, and it sounded horrible in your ears when you said it out loud.

“So the problem is your sex life.”

James’ insidious curiosity was getting the better of him. He’d immediately taken notice of you over his other clients, admiring you in tight jeans and short skirts. You were charming, and you completely enraptured him.

He had never been so enamored, and he felt devious for feeling the way he did. He imagined you when he touched himself in the shower, your sweet voice and shy blush, innocence pouring through you as you confessed your deepest secrets.

James studied your reaction to the statement. Your fingers nervously pulled at your sleeves before coming up to your soft lips. A rosy pink spread across the apples of your cheeks and tips of your ears, warming your face.

You grew shy, unable to escape his steel gaze. You wanted to sink into it, get lost in him, instead of swimming and struggling for air in your empty relationship.

You shouldn’t have these thoughts about your therapist.

You shouldn’t imagine his lips on yours.

You shouldn’t imagine his hands on your body.

“Y/N,” James spoke, calling your attention back to his question.

The problem is your sex life.

“Yes, he doesn’t pleasure me,” you forced yourself to answer.

“I’m sorry to hear that. What is it you’re looking for? Is it something you can discuss with him?” James asked, wanting to hear your fantasties. 

Your face was burning, but the truth spilled out of you.

“Tell me what you haven’t told anyone.” It was a command. 

“I want something rough, and desperate and needy. I want to feel wanted, like he couldn’t survive without touching me... I have to control every aspect of my life, and I want to be dominated, and just... let go of that control. I want to be held down and roughed up, and I want it messy and explosive,” you confessed, your fantasies pouring out of you, filling James’ mind with filthy fantasies of fuckign you over his desk. 

Before James could answer, the electricity cracked, plunging the two of you into complete darkness. You screamed, jumping out of your seat. Your heart was pounding, startled by the shock that snapped the tension in the room.

“You don’t need to be frightened, not with me,” James’ voice was soft, and you felt his hands on your arms and his breath against your face.

Your heartbeat stuttered in your chest, the air catching in your lungs. His touch overwhelmed your senses, and all you could see in the dark was the silver eyes that pierced into your mind.

“Y/N, it’s alright. Hey, are you okay?” He turned on a battery powered lamp, soft light spilling into a small circle around you.

“I’m fine, just startled,” you stood up.

“I’m sorry we were interrupted-”

“Not your fault. But I’m going to head out,” you interrupted.

You were embarrassed and shaken up, and the large office felt suffocating. He caught your hand as you went for the door, his hands much larger than your own, making you feel small. You hesitated, gazing into molten steel as he tried to keep you in his safety.

“At least let me walk you out,” he said, turning on the flashlight on his phone. 

James never ceased to surprise you.

He opened the door for you, letting you slip by him. The building was dark, and the lack of power turned the two of you toward the stairs. You watched your steps, his hand on your back as he guided you through the dark stairwell. 

You halted on a landing, and James looked to you. 

“Turn off the light,” you whispered hoarsely, your fingers wrapping around his wrist. He did as you asked, darkness swallowing the two of you.

It wasn’t just a metaphor anymore.

“Y/N?”

“James.”

Before you could give it a second thought, you grabbed his navy blazer, pulling him into a rough kiss. He pushed you up against the wall, his hands going to either side of your head. His lips were heavy against yours, and he kissed you like he was starved for you. This was what you craved, heated, fiery intimacy. 

Your fingers slid up his chest to thread through his dark hair. One of his hands went down to your hip, squeezing you and pushing his knee between your thighs. James overwhelmed all of your senses, filling your mind as you breathed him in. His tongue slotted against yours, swallowing your moans as your hips rolled forward against his. 

When you finally broke to catch your breath, your head felt like it was spinning and the floor swayed under your feet. 

“I can make you feel desired, I can make you forget everyone who came before, until my name is the only one you can remember, the only word that leaves those gorgeous lips.” James’ words were hot against your cheek, his lips ghosting along your jaw as he spoke. 

Heat washed through your body, and you felt like you could collapse. Your phone rang in your back pocket, and Bucky’s presence was suddenly gone from your body, leaving you alone in the dark. 

His flashlight turned back on, and the two of you silently went down the rest of the stairs, until you made it to the lobby.

“Next week, Y/N?”

“Next week,” you nodded before the door slid shut. 

You hesitated before going out into the pouring rain, hanging back in the lobby. Your phone rang again, Parker’s second call. You stared at the caller ID for a moment before answering it, putting the phone up to your face. 

“Hey, what’s up?” you asked, fighting to keep your voice as calm as possible. Your nerves were all sparking, and your heart raced in your chest, still in the aftershocks of your brief intimacy. 

“The power is out here, are you alright there?”

“No, we ended the session early. Total blackout.”

“Okay, baby, do you need me to come get you? Otherwise we can meet at home?” Parker asked, worrying for your safety. You held in your sigh, rolling your eyes up at the ceiling. 

“Let’s meet at home. The subways are still running.”

“See you soon,” Parker said cheerily before the line went dead. 

You slid the phone into your pocket before braving the storm, quickly taking cover in the crowded subway station. Your hand went over your mouth, and you watched the stations whiz by as you tried to process the last hour. 

Your fingers traced your lips, the feel of James’ kiss burned into your skin. 

Your hands were shaking so bad you could hardly get the key in your front door to unlock it. When you finally kicked it open, you left your raincoat and boots in the foyer, shaking out your wet hair. Parker called your name, a bright smile on his face, and a New York-style pizza box in his hand. 

You knew you should’ve felt guilty, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it as you were faced with the relationship that had long lost its momentum.

“I grabbed some lunch, because I figured there wouldn’t be power to cook here.”

You thanked your boyfriend, taking a slice and sitting down in the kitchen, praying the power would return soon and you could distract yourself with netflix. His kiss tasted like novocaine. 

You desperately wished that Parker’s arm around your waist belonged to James.

It was the slowest week of your life. Every spare second, your mind wandered to James, and his lips on yours. He consumed your thoughts, and the ghost of his touch lingered on your body. When Parker was inside of you, you imagined it was James just to make the sex tolerable. 

One moment had gotten inside your mind, and shattered the facade of your romance. 

James was no better. Thoughts of you pried into his mind as he worked with other patients, and he suddenly found them insufferable. He longed to hear your voice, to see your beautiful eyes darken with lust as you bit your lower lip. 

James found himself wondering if you knew how much you turned him on. The mere thought of you aroused him, and your name was the one he moaned into the sheets as he fucked his hand. 

He wished it was you.

Your stomach was practically in your throat as you rode the subway to your appointment with James. A week had passed, a week of sexual frustration, anxiety, desire, and longing. 

His words echoed repeatedly in your head, filling your thoughts with filth and pooling arousal in your sex. 

I can make you feel desired, I can make you forget everyone who came before, until my name is the only one you can remember, the only word that leaves those gorgeous lips.

You’d worn a short dress that was cut low in the front for your appointment. Parker was gone to work before you were even out of bed, and your thoughts were entirely on your therapist as you showered and dressed for the day. 

Your desire clouded your mind, throbbing deep in your core and making you ache with raw need. 

You stepped into James’ office, the heavy door falling shut behind you. 

“Y/N,” James practically cried, satiated by the sight of you. 

His eyes trailed up your body, on sexy display in your revealing dress. You pulled your lip between your teeth, driving him absolutely mad. Your steps were silent as you dropped your things, walking around his desk to stand in front of him.

“You’re all I’ve thought about.”

“I’ve been dying to touch you,” James growled, flipping you around and pulling you back against his chest. 

You felt how hard he was, pressed tight against your ass, and his hand slowly snaked around your throat. His other hand slid up the inside of your thighs, trailing higher until he cupped you through your thin panties, his mouth devouring the breathy moans that escaped your lips. 

His fingers dipped beneath the lace, feeling how soaked you were just from thinking about him. He smirked against your jaw, nipping lightly at the skin, making your breath hitch. 

“You’re soaked, doll,” James’ voice was deep, making another wave of arousal wash over you, only adding to the wetness that was spilling from you. He let go of your neck to slide the straps of your dress off of your shoulders, letting your breasts fall free into his gaze. 

“Beautiful.”

His fingertips circled your clit a few times before sliding through your folds, and you sank back against him, your knees weakening from the lightest touches.

“James please I can’t take waiting anymore!” You begged, desperate to feel him inside of you. Your hand hand moved behind you, feeling him through his pants as he continued to grind against your ass. You moaned loudly when his hand cupped your breast, teasing your nipples as he pushed two fingers in your slick heat at the same time. 

“Make me forget about everything else.”

James didn’t prolong the teasing any longer, fearing he wouldn’t be able to hold out himself. His tailored shirt and pants were stripped from his body and your dress discarded on the floor along with your panties. He laid you on top of the desk, positioning himself between your legs and pinning your wrists above your head, dominating you just as you desired. His mouth moved from your lips, down your neck and chest, all the way to your abdomen. 

“James!” His name echoed off of the glass walls, your scream shooting all the way down his spine, straight to his dick. He buried himself all the way inside of you, swearing at the way you accepted him without resistance. You were tight and warm around him, and he shouted your name as he began to fuck forward into you, railing you on top of the desk as you chanted his name in blinding pleasure. 

Your body accommodated him, the throbbing ache satiated as he filled you more than any partner had in the past, ripping all of the memories from your mind, leaving you with only thoughts of him. 

He let go of your wrists, leaning over you so he could pull your hips down to meet his thrusts, railing you harder and faster, sending white-hot pleasure through you, your nerves fraying and sparking like a live wire. 

“It feels good, doesn’t it? To let it all go?” 

“Yes, yes!” you cried, your legs shaking around his waist and your fingers pulling roughly at his hair.

You dragged your nails down his back, moaning loudly into a heavy kiss, your mind melting from his lips moving against yours with raw passion. The coil in your abdomen was wound so tight that your body was writhing under him, his fingers on your clit dragging you closer to an orgasm at lightspeed. 

“Come for me, I want to hear you scream my name!” James ordered, and all the pressure and tension inside of you shattered, fire radiating through your body as you screamed James like it was the only word you knew, the only thing that kept you clinging to existence. 

The sight of your ecstasy had James filling your cunt with his own release, continuing to roll into you as he rode out his high, dragging yours with him. Overwhelmed tears escaped your eyes, and you blinked them away as your vision slowly started to return from the white sparks that had blinded you. 

James eased out of you, leaning on the desk and catching his breath, gingerly kissing your lips and grounding you back in reality after your mind-blowing orgasm on the desk. 

Your chest rose and fell, your back still arched off of the desktop, and you turned your head to gaze up at the gorgeous man beside you. He brushed stray hair from your face before pressing his lips to your forehead. 

“That’s what it’s supposed to be like.”

“I want to get addicted to you,” you breathed, losing yourself in molten steel.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, doll.”

[prettytamagnii]

Here for you, with you (JJ X Reader)

Fandom: Outer Banks

Trigger Warning: ANXIETY, ANXIETY ATTACK

Disclaimer: I am a person with anxiety, and I decided to write this oneshot after an anxiety attack I had recently. I don't want to romanticize anxiety, or sugarcoat the reality of how it really affects us; what I want is to put my feelings to paper (screen, wtv) as a way to cope with my struggles. Anxiety is NOT solved with an hug from your crush, it is something that must be continuously treated, with help from a therapist. The support of your loved ones is definitely important, and that's what this oneshot is about, but don't forget that mental health issues like this require professional help and treatment, and that healing is not a linear process, but a continuous journey.

Summary: You have an anxiety attack during a Pogue's party, and JJ, your (not really) unrequited crush stays with you throughout it.

Tags: Oneshot, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Outer Banks imagine, Pogue! Reader.

***

Loud music, strong drinks, euphoric people messing around - that's what a typical Pogue party looks like. That's what tonight was all about. An abundance of young people, pogues and kooks alike, gathered around the front of John B's house, everyone with a cup on their hand, you included.

You didn't really like the taste of beer, it was too sour for you, but you often drank so you would fit in - you'd never admit this, of course. Kiara always assured you that you didn't have to drink if you didn't want to, you should never do anything out of pressure. You understood that, you knew your friends wouldn't mock you if you didn't drink, but a feeling of invisible peer pressure still haunted you during those parties, where not everyone was your friend, not everyone cared if you were uncomfortable with the noise or the alcohol. So, you'd drink. You'd try to blend in, to relax, to ignore all those feelings that hurted you, haunted you.

Tonight, you couldn't do it.

It had been a rough day before the party started, and the stress of this party environment was just strengthening those heart-wrenching thoughts and feelings. It was like there was no air left to breathe, your body was clenching around itself and you felt like you would explode. As your vision got foggy and the floor escaped your feet, you ran away into John B's house and looked for a place to lay down and escape that awful feeling.

There was a spare room, kind of a guest room where you always stayed when you stayed for the night. As you made your way into the room, people couldn't help but stare, some of them worried they saw a person looking so distressed. You ignored it all, for all you needed was to close that door and lay down in the comfortable bed. Just as you did it, you closed your eyes, allowing all of the tears to leave your eyes. It hurted inside, but it also freed you from the pain. There was peace in letting your tears run free, until there wasn't anything else to cry about.

"Y/N?" you heard Kiara knocking on the door. You had no energy to talk, but you managed to answer her.

"I'm in here."

"Are you OK?" she asked "You disappeared out of nowhere, everyone is worried about you."

Everyone? You highly doubted it. Out of everyone who was at that party, your friends were John B, ever since you two were very young, and Kiara, since you've always been classmates. Throught them you've also became friends with Pope, a very nice guy and the responsible one of the bunch, Sarah, the kook girl with a pogue heart after falling in love with John B... And JJ. Young, wild and free JJ, whose snarky smile and ocean eyes had got you smitten a long time ago. You kept your feelings a secret from anyone you knew, however, since something inside you, a gut-wrenching voice, told you repeatedly that he saw you as nothing more than a friend. You've tried to get over your crush, but these feelings wouldn't leave you. They stood strong and stubborn against the voice of your insecurities that told them to give up.

Tears kept rolling down your face as the face of the golden haired guy invaded your mind. Now that was no place, no time to think about him. A one-sided crush was the last thing you wanted to occupy your head as you tried to battle an anxious episode. Not another thing to be sad, worried, anxious about.

"For fucks sake, now is not the time!" you heard Kiara yelling, but she wasn't talking to you. Another voice reached your ears, unmistakable.

"Why not? I wanna see her" JJ's assertive voice shook your heartbeat.

"She doesn't sound OK, JJ" Kiara insisted "She's definitely not in the mood to party, let her rest."

"I'm not going back to the party, Kie. I'm staying here with her."

Having said this, the door opened and you lifted your head up to see JJ and Kiara walking into the room. You hoped they couldn't hear the beating of your heart, faster than light.

"Y/N" he called you. You tried to look him in the eyes, but you didn't want him to see your tears. Too late.

"Y/N!" they both approached you.

"I told you she needed to rest!" Kiara scolded JJ, before turning to you "I'm sorry-"

"It's alright" your voice was frail. You looked up, both your friends were obviously worried.

"Are you sure?" Kiara asked. Your eyes met JJ's, a part of wanted to scream. You had heard him saying he wanted to stay with you. And god, did you want that too. But at the same time, you were scared. You shouldn't lean on an unlikely hope that maybe, just maybe he could feel about you the way you felt about him. Yet another instance of wishful thinking, no solid truth behind it. Fuel to those oppressive, heart-shattering feelings.

"I want to stay here. Go have fun, you two" you told them. Kiara nodded, assuring you you could call her should you need anything. She went back outside, but JJ didn't move. The usually laid back, charismatic guy now looked so shy before your eyes.

"Y/N" he called.

"Yes?"

He held his breath.

"Do you want company?"

It caught you off-guard. You blinked, in disbelief.

"What?"

"It's... I'm, sorry, it's fine if you want to be alone" he stuttered. Your gaze couldn't leave his, as you took a step in the front.

"I don't want to be alone" you said "But I don't want to hold you back either."

JJ waved his head in disagreement.

"You're not holding me back. I want to stay here with you, if you want me to."

You tried to ignore your heart nearly jumping out of your chest as you heard him. Conflicted between your small hope and what was real, so you thought, you looked him in the eyes and spoke.

"I would like you to stay here."

He nodded, approaching you. He smelled like the ocean waves clashing against the rocks and sand, a long day at the beach, and maybe a little bit like weed. Still, his presence filled you, and you couldn't help but lean on to hug him. You shyly wrapped your arms around him, and a wight was lifted off your chest when he hugged you back, his arms holding you tight against his body. His hands running through your head, soothing you as your tears ran free.

"Hush now, Y/N" his voice sounded deeper than usual, but caring. You wanted to cry even more, not out of pain but out of commotion.

"Why does this has to happen to me?" you cried "Why am I like this?"

"It is not your fault, Y/N. We all have our inner demons, it's not always an easy battle to fight" he answered, pressing his lips softly against your forehead. You melted into that gesture, a cathartic moment when your wounds were attended to, mended with his touch. It still hurted, but in that touch there was hope that the best was yet to come.

"My demons are such motherfuckers" you said, a small laugh leaving your throat. You smiled as you heard him laughing too.

"But they are no match for you" JJ kissed your forehead lightly again "They are no match for us."

"Us?" you looked up to meet his eyes again. He pulled you closer, until your noses touched.

"Us, because I'm here for you" he answered, smiling "Maybe I haven't showed it, but you are very special to me, Y/N. I like you a lot."

You must have misheard it. Misunderstood it. Could JJ feel the same way about you as you did about him? It seemed so unreal. Too good to be true.

"Are you serious?" you whispered lowly, the thought of stealing a kiss from his lips never leaving your mind. He was so close you could almost feel the warmth of his mouth in your skin. That's when you realize, his lips rest in near the corner of your mouth.

"I am" he answered and you couldn't hold yourself anymore. You pressed your lips against his, briefly kissing him, and pulled away for a moment.

"Is this okay?" the question leaves your mouth. You look at his face and his eyes shine before you.

"Y/N..." he mumbled, but stopped at a loss of words. Instead, he pulled you for a kiss. You melted into him as his lips brushed against yours, soft at first but progressively becoming more eager.

"I have been wanting to do this for so long" he confessed, his lips still lingering on yours.

"So have I..." it was your turn to confess. It still felt so odd that it was really happening, that the guy you were sure didn't have any feelings for you had kissed you. It seemed to good to be true. But as your hands wandered from his shoulders to his face, and he smiled, playing with your hair, you knew it was real.

The party would go on through the night, but you still didn't want to go back. Instead, you fell on the bed, relaxing with JJ by your side. He held you in his arms, soothing your inner turmoil, a reminder that no storm lasted forever. That even when it didn't seem like it, there was hope. There was always hope.

*thanks for reading *

[justauthoring]

insecurity at its finest.

Request: hi!!!! if it’s okay i would love a reader x niall where the reader is really insecure about her weight and niall notices?? thank you!!

Pairing: Niall Horan x Reader Word Count: 983 Please don’t plagiarize my work!

Even though you did it repeatedly, pulling at the fabric of the tight-fitting dress did nothing to change the way it looked on your body.

And the frown strewn across your lips never fades or wavers, if anything just deepens, because you can’t help but think back to how excited you’d been when you’d ordered the dress. How proud you’d felt at yourself for going out of your comfort-zone and the smile the thought of Niall’s reaction to the dress brought to your lips.

You’d been so excited.

But now, there was no way you could take one step outside of your closet let alone show Niall. You already couldn’t understand why, out of everyone, he’d chosen you -- when, realistically, he could have any girl his heart desired. Girls sought after him, and in a world where skinny but still curvy was the desired fit, you felt like ugly was a better suited word for you. 

Sometimes, you felt good. Sometimes, a shirt would flow just right off your body, or pants would fit just right, sometimes a dress with slip onto you without ever having to fiddle around with it and it just felt right. You thought that this dress would be that for you. How wrong you were.

You hate the reflection that stares back at you, but you can’t even muster enough courage to pull your gaze away. Your eyes are glued to the imperfections of your skin, the way your arms look far too round and bulge out at the sleeves, the way the dress sticks to your tummy and makes your rolls pronounced in a way that is definitely not flattering. The sight and thoughts that float around in your head are enough to bring tears to your eyes and before you can help it, they stream down your cheeks without a care as a choked sob leaves your lips.

Just for once, you’d like to feel pretty.

It felt like, even if something fitted right, there was always that nagging thought in the back of your head that reminded you; you’re not. 

And while it’d been worse before you met Niall, it wasn’t any less prominent now. The thoughts just wouldn’t leave your mind and they tore you down day by day more and more. Niall called you beautiful and swore he only had eyes on you, but you couldn’t understand why he would say such things when you looked the way you did.

You want to tear the dress right off.

“Love? Where are you?”

Your body freezes at nearing sound of Niall’s voice. You hadn’t even heard him come in, and you realized with a panic that he’d said he was coming home from the studio sooner when you’d informed him your dress had arrived. You’d been raving on about it to him for weeks, and he’d been just as excited (probably more at the fact that you seemed so excited to show off to him). 

“I wanna see the dress, love. Where--”

You couldn’t let him see you.

But it’s too late. No amount of scrambling would save you from the sound of the closet door squeaking open before Niall’s bright blue eyes and wide grin pop in from the other side.

However, all traces of excitement wash from his face when he sees the dears.

“Y/N?” He calls softly, voice thick with concern as he pushes the door all the way open and rushes to your side. His hands fall on your arms with a light grip before coming up to cup your cheeks, pulling your hands away gently to brush your tears away. “What’s wrong? Did something happen--”

You just turn away from him, tucking your head into your shoulder in shame. You’re sure your cheeks are burning in embarrassment at having been caught looking... looking like this... in front of him.

And that one, just single act of shyness is all it takes for the gears in Niall’s head to start spinning again. Instantly, a frown mares his lips and he takes a small step back, just enough to let his eyes cross your figure entirely. He doesn’t realize just how much that simply act causes your stomach to knot uncomfortably.

He thought you looked beautiful, and if he hadn’t been so concerned, that would’ve been the first thing he’d of said.

“Is it the dress?”

His voice is soft and it causes your eyes to fall shut as you nod numbly.

“...You look beautiful, Y/N.”

“No,” you scoff, finally gathering enough courage to look him right in the eyes. Maybe it’s annoyance at his constant lies your way. You knew you were not beautiful and you certainly didn’t,look so in this dress. “I am not.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Niall sighs sadly, stepping forward as his hands cup your cheeks firmly. He does so so you can’t turn away from him, pressing your forehead against his own and smiling softly. “You are beautiful. Certainly to me. And the dress looks gorgeous on you.”

“I look--”

“You look amazing.” Niall interrupts with a grin, pulling back as you blink at him. “And you don’t have to wear if it you don’t want to, if you’re not comfortable wearing it. But I think you look amazing, and I have no doubt in my mind that, to me, you’re the most striking woman i’ve ever met.”

Blinking, your lips part, stunned.

“Okay?” 

Cheeks warm, for an entirely different reason this time, your eyes lower as you fiddle with the fabric of your dress once more. However, this time, it’s not because you hate the way it sticks to your tummy. 

“You really think so?”

Leaning in closer, until his lips are just inches from your own, Niall whispers; “i’ve never thought anything else,” and then, he presses his lips against your own just to help reassure you.

-

Let me know what you thought?

[miss-scientia]

Unrequited Love

Hi all, (everyone who is still here that is!) just a random post by me! Not totally random actually. I was just going through my old documents and I found a FFXV one shot I had completely finished but never posted for some reason. I re-read it and actually quite liked it, so I thought I’d stop by and post it for anyone still around! It’s a bit of slight Noctis angst, I hope you enjoy if you read! 

(Also, I stop by from time to time and see notifications still popping up. You are all still so lovely!)

Prompto x Reader x Noctis (kind of!) SFW This is a long one!

She had confessed her feelings to him at the beginning of their journey, but he’d rejected them to stick to his duty. After a while she moved on and started dating Prom, which is... great! Fantastic really! Then why did he feel so shitty...?

Noctis was sure, he thought to himself as he shuffled around in his sleeping bag, that the six had a pretty sick sense of humour. They had to have, judging by his current predicament. Either that, or he had done something really, really, really bad in a past life to deserve this. 

Gods above it wasn’t fair. 

It wasn’t fair that he was the one chosen to be the king of kings, having his future laid out and already planned for him. It wasn’t fair that he had to marry Luna, an area in life where he ought to have control, yet had none. And it certainly wasn’t fair that the actual girl he was in love with, was with someone else. 

And that someone was his best friend. 

To make matters worse, she had previously admitted feelings for Noctis too, early on in their journey. But he’d had to say no, that he was already betrothed to another, that he couldn’t do that to Luna or his family. A familiar sinking feeling clawed at Noctis’ gut as he recalled that day, the regret of his words churning in his stomach. 

What an idiot. 

How different life could’ve been if he’d only told her how he felt that day. Instead, he had kept his lips sealed and she had moved on. Unfortunately, to a certain blond haired sharp shooter. 

Although he had his back to them, Noctis could hear them both now, whispering to each other in a shared sleeping bag. Did they have to be so... so affectionate? Constantly touching, constantly giggling. It was like they lived to torture him. 

Noctis stifled a groan, the pit in his stomach growing ever deeper. The whispering of the two finally ceased, and Noctis was about to send a silent thanks to the gods, before an odd sound stopped him. 

Are they...? 

A sharp wet sound emanated from behind him, confirming his suspicions. They were making out, completely unaware of the wide awake prince laid only mere inches away from them. 

I must’ve done something absolutely awful in a previous life. 

Before he could prevent it, a perfect picture of the scene behind him had appeared in his mind; her wrapped tightly against Prompto’s body, his arms tight against her, pulling her to his frame. Their lips locked in a heated kiss, eyes communicating their sheer desperation for each other. 

It was like a knife had impaled his stomach. The mental image paired with the the all too real sounds behind him was enough to make him queasy. The thing was though, he couldn’t even find it in himself to be angry at either of them. He had rejected her, and she had ended up with Prom - why shouldn’t they have got together? It was neither of their fault, no. Could he even blame himself however? Was it his own fault, even though he’d been born into this life with all of his future, all of his destiny already set out for him? Was it his fault for following his duty? He wasn’t certain, but he was damn sure that it sucked. 

Curling his fingertips into the soft material of his pillow, Noctis attempted to block out the almost heavenly sighs that fell from her lips. Slowly he drifted off, plagued with thoughts of how if only he had the chance, he could make her sigh like that... 

- 

The ever delicious scent of Ignis’ cooking drifted to your nose as the evening meal was presented to you and your camp mates. Your stomach grumbled in anticipation, desperate for fuel after the exhausting day you’d all had. “I dunno if it’s because I’m ravenous, or if you’ve done an extra special job of it tonight Iggy, but this is the best meal I’ve ever laid my eyes upon!” Your boyfriend Prompto sighed dramatically from beside you, eyes lighting up as he was handed his food. 

“Kid’s right Iggy, this is good stuff.” Gladio nodded, already digging into his larger than average portion. 

“Mmmmph...” came your almost orgasmic sigh of agreement. 

“Well, thank you everyone, but I dare say that I haven’t done anything extra special tonight. Perhaps we were all ready for a meal after our rather busy day.” Ignis modestly brushed aside the compliments, but you could tell he was pleased by the corners of his mouth rising, fighting to hide the beam threatening to reveal itself. 

You were halfway through your food before you realised that Noctis hadn’t said a word since sitting down. Casting your eyes over to the prince, you saw his figure sitting rather slumped over on the floor opposite you. One hand gripped a fork rather loosely as he stabbed the utensil repeatedly into the same carrot, in and out, over and over. His brow line puckered slightly, the hints of a frown forming over his dull looking eyes. It struck you that he sort of looked like... he was sulking. And now you thought about it, he’d been really grumpy all day, unresponsive and quiet. 

Wonder what’s up with him? You thought, glancing once more. Strands of his jet black hair fell into his eyes, causing him to blink those long lashes and sweep his head slightly to clear his vision. 

Your heart stuttered. 

As much as you didn’t want it, he was still able to get you like that. One little move of his head or gesture of his hands, and it shook you again just how pretty he was. 

It truly was hard to forget about your first love. 

Drawing your eyes away you searched for another familiar pair, gaze landing on the ever smiling, ever warm face of your boyfriend and immediately you felt better. As much as Noctis could sometimes catch you off guard, you knew for certain you loved Prompto. There was no doubt there. 

“You okay [Name]?” His kind face and genuine smile had you smiling back instantly. 

“Sure am Prom.” You replied, resting a hand on his knee. Naturally, his hand rested on top of yours, warm and safe. 

“What’s the matter with you prince sulks?” Gladio voiced your earlier question, albeit a little more teasingly. Everyone stopped eating to glance over at the Prince in question. 

Noctis shot Gladio a glare, his eyes clearly saying ‘don’t even start’. 

“Is there something on your mind that you wish to share?” Ignis asked this time, much more accommodatingly. 

“No. Why, does it look like it?” His voice was gruff, annoyed. There was definitely something up. 

“Well, you’ve not really said much since coming back, and you’ve barely touched your food.” You offered. 

“Yeah pal, is there anything we can help with?” Prompto offered his best friend, leaning forward so he could pat his leg. 

Finally Noctis looked up, but as you caught his expression your heart sank. He looked mighty pissed. 

“I said there isn’t anything. Why do you guys have to push me all the time?” 

Prompto blinked, taken aback by his friend’s blunt tone. 

“I just wanted to see if there’s anything I could do to-” 

“Well there isn’t Prompto. There’s nothing that anyone can do, okay?” The prince snapped, rising to his feet. 

Prompto’s face fell, and that was like someone had pressed the anger button on inside you. You were suddenly furious. How could he talk like that to his best friend? 

“What the hell is up with you?” Standing to your feet, you walked over to the sulky prince. 

“Nothing, [Name].” 

“Nothing? So you think you can talk to people like that because... because nothing?” 

Noctis looked at you, fully frowning now, agitation apparent in his ocean blue eyes. 

“Guys, I think we should just cool it...” Prompto’s quiet voice attempted to cut the tension which was now crackling in the air. 

“I agree, Noctis I’m not sure what’s wrong, but we must-” 

“I’d have been fine if people had just left me alone.” Noctis cut over Ignis. 

“Sorry that people care about you.” You retorted, anger still clouding your better judgement. 

“Yeah well, I never asked for people to. I never asked for any of this.” 

“You ungrateful little-” 

“Noctis.” Gladio’s voice stopped you from finishing your sentence. He hadn’t shouted, hadn’t raised his voice, but his deep rumbling tone halted you. “I think you should go and take a walk. Cool down. Come back when you have a better head on, cause this is going no where.” 

“Tch, fine.” Noctis grumbled, but turned on his heel and stalked off into the night, leaving the four of you hurt, annoyed and confused. 

- 

The campsite seemed overly quiet now that the prince was gone, suffocatingly so. Every cough and every shuffle was heard, adding to the already tense atmosphere. 

“I just don’t understand. It’s not like him.” Prompto said for the fifth time. He was anxiously picking at the hem of his shirt, pulling at a loose thread. Every so often you had to lay your hand atop his to remind him to stop before it became threadbare. 

“I know what you mean, I don’t get what’s up with him.” Gladio sighed and stretched. 

“Perhaps his last comment gave us some insight? He said he never asked for any of this. He has never been overly fond on what his future holds in store for him...” Ignis offered a solution in a quiet speculative tone. You almost scoffed however.  

“It still doesn’t give him the right to talk to his best friend like dirt.” Prompto squeezed your hand in silent thanks, but you knew that the blond wasn’t even angry. In fact, you correctly assumed that he was more worried for Noctis’ safety right now. 

Pure person through and through. 

“I do wish we could know where he went.” Ignis sighed, guardian-like instincts kicking in. 

“I’m sure he’ll be fine specs, he’ll come back when he’s ready.” Gladio attempted to appease Ignis, to no avail. 

You had a pretty good idea of where Noctis might have headed to, thinking back to the car journey earlier on that day. The only time when the prince had shown remotely any interest in what was going on around him is when you had driven past a very large lake. It was highly plausible that he’d gone to check it out. The more you thought about it, the more that you were certain this is where he’d have headed. And the more you thought about it, the more you realised you could remember the way there. And the more you thought about that, the more you realised this was a good a chance as any to have a proper conversation with him. And to possibly lecture him on how to actually talk to his best friend. 

I can go there, yank him back here and make him apologise. 

Looking over at Prompto’s anxious face, his top front teeth gently nibbling on his lower lip, you knew this was the right thing to do. You stood up quite forcefully, drawing the attention of the other three boys. 

“[Name]...?” 

“I’m going to go find him, and bring him back. Then I’m going to get him to apologise.” 

Ignis sighed, Gladio nodded, and Prom... 

“Are you sure you want to do that [Name]?” He stammered, looking torn between some inner dilemma. 

“I’m sure. I think I know where to look, but I’ll be fine. I can’t have him talking to you like that Prom. I can’t.” 

“He was just angry, he didn’t mean it.” 

“Well then, he can just say sorry when I drag him back here.” You told Prompto with a reassuring smile. The blond boy finally smiled back, standing up to face you. 

“Thank you [Name]. Be safe.” He told you, and with a quick kiss you set off in search of one sulky prince to bring home. 

- 

Just as you’d expected, Noctis had made his way over to the lake that your group had passed earlier. You could see his silhouette from where you stood; his shadowed figure sat crossed legged on the wooden pier which stretched out into the middle of the lake. The perfect fishing spot, yet he wasn’t fishing. 

Well shit, there’s gotta be something really wrong with him then. 

It hadn’t taken you all too long to get there since you knew which paths to take, however it was still a rather long way away from where your group had pitched the tent. It had been a miracle that no daemons had attacked you, dark as it was out. You wondered how long the prince had been sat there, not fishing, just sitting and watching the lake. 

Taking a deep breath, you walked out from your hiding spot and marched all the way down to the lake, stopping to stand a few feet away from Noctis. He didn’t move upon your arrival, showed no sign that he was even aware of your presence. 

You cleared your throat. 

“Noctis?” 

“[Name]?” Was his reply, quiet but with a hint of sullen sarcasm you knew well. Swallowing the biting response you wanted to give, you instead replied; 

“What are you doing out here?” 

He didn’t answer straight away, still looking down at his hands. In fact, he took so long to answer that you weren’t sure if he’d even heard you. But then finally; 

“It’s peaceful out here. When it’s night like this, lakes always seem that much more... tranquil. Kinda makes me feel like time has stopped, at least in this little area, y’know?” His reply startled you a little, it hadn’t been what you were expecting. And looking around the lake, you could kind of see what he meant. But as lovely as the lake was, you weren’t here to discuss that. You had a purpose in mind for travelling all the way out here, and feeling sorry for the prince wasn’t it. 

“Noctis, I don’t really understand your train of thought right now, but what I do know, is that you snapped at everyone and left your best friend feeling highly confused and rather hurt.” He could probably hear the accusatory edge to your voice. 

Well, good. 

“Look, I didn’t mean to upset anyone. I just hate it when everyone is pushing me.” 

“Yeah, well y’did.” 

“I know that [Name].” He finally turned to look at you, those ocean blues flashing with a hint of frustration. “Don’t think I don’t know that, cause I do. It makes me feel worse than I already do, alright?”

You folded your arms. “Then come back and apologise.”

“Tch, I’m not going back there yet.” He mumbled, his eyes dropping once more. This only annoyed you further.

“So, it makes you feel bad, and yet... you’re not gonna apologise for what you’ve done? Is that it?”

“N-n... that’s not what I said.” The prince suddenly sprang to his feet, his body towering over you. He was getting worked up at your words, the biting remarks nibbling away at his ability to think clearly enough to explain himself coherently.

“You aren’t the only one going through some tough shit, okay?” You snapped, unaware at his inner turmoil.

“Obviously! I never once said- it’s really hard for me to- just stop pushing me, alright?”

“No. If you won’t apologise then we at least get to know what’s got that stick so far up your butt!” You drew yourself up to try and make yourself look taller. There was no way he was worming out of this one, and you could tell he knew. He could sense your determination, his eyes betraying the slightest hint of panic within the frustration.

“[Name], seriously, you-”

“No Noctis! We’re sick of it! We can’t even help you if you don’t explain.”

“You can’t help me.”

“Why not? What is it Noctis?” Your voice was sharp but your eyes were gentle. Underneath all of your annoyance, you really did just want to help your friend.

“[Name], really, you don’t-”

“What is it?”

“I’m telling you, you’re not-”

“What is it?”

“[Name]-!”

“Just tell me what it is!”

“It’s you!”

You paused, the words you were about to say dying in your throat. It was... you? You were the reason he was acting this way? Unease swirled in your stomach.

I’ve been making him feel like this...?

Noctis was almost panting, seeming out of breath from your shouting match. Although he seemed weary, he did not look as if he regretted saying so.

“It’s...me?” You whispered, his answer throwing you completely. Noctis sighed heavily, one hand rising to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck. Suddenly he almost seemed... tired.

“Look... that came out wrong, okay? It’s not... it’s not just you.”

“But I... I’ve done something to hurt you?” The crack in her voice at the end of the sentence physically pained him to hear, made him want to take back everything he’d just said. He’d suffer with it all internally if he never had to hear her sound pained again.

“[Name], it’s not something you’ve done. Please, just let it go.” Noctis pleaded, knowing his efforts would more than likely be futile. Slowly he turned away from her, walking once again to the edge of the wooden beams to sit down, dangling his legs only centimeters above the calm lake. Not looking at her made this easier. Her crumpled expression only further pained his heart, and it was getting hard to quell the need to comfort her as it was.

Gentle padding sounds as she walked to sit next to him told him she wasn’t going to give up that easily. Frustrated, he repressed a groan.

Not. Fucking. Fair.

“Noctis...whatever I’ve done, I want to know. It was never my intention to hurt you.”

Of course it wasn’t, pure soul that she was.

Her quiet tone caused him to sneak a peek at her from the corner of his eye. She was sat close to him, legs dangling, an almost mirror of his pose. All traces of previous anger had been washed from her face, instead, confusion and remorse took its place.

He hated that he was responsible for it.

“Honestly, there really isn’t anything you could have done about it. I’m not sure there’s anything anyone could have done about it. My future has been set since day one, I don’t have a say in this stuff... and I sure as hell don’t have a say in who I fall in love with either.”

A quick intake of breath from his immediate right caused him to realise what he’d just said out loud.

Shit!

His head snapped to look at her fully now. She was turned to him, eyes wide in shock as the realisation of what he’d just admitted sunk in. Quickly he began to try and explain.

“[Name], I-”

“That’s not fucking fair.” Her voice was dull as she cut over him. To his surprise, tears quickly gathered in the corner of her eyes which were rapidly becoming tinted with red. She was... really upset. He had been expecting anger. Not sadness.

“That’s really un-fucking-fair of you Noctis. You know... you know how I felt about you. It took a while to get over that rejection.”

“I’m sorr-”

“You don’t get to say that to me now Noctis! I’m with Prompto, I’ve moved on! I picked myself up and carried on living, you can’t just, just waltz back in and say that. It’s not fair!”

“I know.” He uttered, so softly it was as if he was speaking to himself. It was your turn to be surprised at the sadness of his tone. A few moments of silence passed between the both of you, your eyes trained on the almost black waters beneath you. It was hard to really believe what he’d admitted... he loved you?

Noctis broke the silence first with a soft sigh. Well, if the cat was out of the bag, he may as well try and explain himself.

“I tried so hard to stop it. Y’know? I knew it wasn’t fair, believe me, that’s all I’ve been saying these past few months. Not fair on you, Prom, or me. But, [Name],” He took a deep breath; “you’ve no idea how fucking hard it is when I see you cuddled up to him every night.”

Her eyelids fluttered shut as he spoke, a little pucker forming between her brows as she frowned slightly. There it was again, that look of pain. But he couldn’t stop explaining now he’d started, it would be better to get to the bottom of it.

“It’s not like I resent either of you. Honestly, I was happy for the both of you. But I also felt like absolute shit. Took me a while to realise why, guess I’ve never been one to be clued up about their emotions.”

That earned him a slight snort.

“Yeah, guess that’s no secret either, right?” His words were tinged with regret.

Chancing a glance her way he saw that her eyes were still closed. However, she made no move to stop him explaining, so he continued, eager to finally get it out in the open.

“So when I finally realised how I felt about you... well, the fact that it was far too late sucked. And it just got me thinking, if my life wasn’t so predestined, if I had even a little bit of control over areas of my life where I really should, then we’d be together. We’d be together right now [Name]. No pre-arranged wedding duties. And it’s just been eating at me how little of a choice I get over pretty much everything in my life. Then listening to you and Prom giggling and enjoying each other every night... I just wanted that.”

Finally he petered off, letting the weight of what he’d said hang in the air. It was like the burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders - she knew how he felt. He’d told her, in probably the longest speech he’d ever given in his life, and it just felt good to not have it burning him from the inside.

Although that may all go to shit the next time her and Prom start sucking face again. He almost grimaced at the thought.

The seconds ticked by in what felt like hours, she didn’t breath a word. Shyly Noctis turned to face her again, noticing her eyes were finally open, wide and [e/c], staring right back at him. The whites of her eyes were tinged a deeper red, and fresh tears had collected in her lids. His heart almost broke. He wanted to stop the crying, comfort her, take it all back, anything to stop her tears.

Undecidedly, he lifted his hand, fingers outstretched to rest on her shoulder, but froze in mid air.

“[Name], you don’t know how sorry I am.” He whispered, and she replied with a quiet sob from deep in her throat.

Before he knew what he was doing, the one sound caused him to finally reach out to her, close the distance between them. In no time at all, his strong arms were wrapped around her shoulders, her waist. Her head buried in the crook of his neck, holding her close as she sobbed. His fingers rubbed soothing circles into her back as he held her, noticing with a sick, ironic pleasure that they fit together so well. Like his arms had been made to fit her body exactly.

Could this get any worse? He was comforting her.

But she’s not yours.

They fit together perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together at last.

But she’s not yours.

She was all he wanted. But she wasn’t his to have.

Fuck, this sucks.

Noctis wasn’t sure how long he sat there, holding her. Time truly seemed at a stand still; they were lost in this little hidden part of nature. He wasn’t sure when her tears finally stopped, but he could feel her breathing return to normal, her silent sobs no longer racking her chest. Still, he couldn’t let her go. Didn’t dare move for fear of breaking this moment with her, her face gently buried into the side of his neck, wrapped in his embrace. He knew it would never happen again, despite how much he wanted it.

It couldn’t.

“Noctis?” Her voice was soft, thick from the tears she’d shed.

“Yes?” They were almost whispering, but in the tranquil quiet of the night, the sound seemed to echo in his skull.

“I’m in love with Prompto.”

“I know.” His reply was gentle, but the feeling in his heart was anything but. The admission shouldn’t have been a surprise to him, he’d known it for a while. He could tell just by how she looked at him, the pure adoration for Prom in her heart. It still hurt. He wished she’d look at him like that.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He uttered, one hand absentmindedly reaching up to tuck a stray hair back behind her ear.

“It’s me who should be apologising. To everyone back at camp, but mostly to you. It wasn’t fair for me to dump all of my baggage on you like that. I just... felt I had to.”

“No... I’m glad you did.” She had lowered her voice, and it came out slightly mumbled into his shoulder, but it meant the world to him anyway. It felt like she’d accepted what he said, and that was the best he could hope for right now.

“Thank you [Name].” He whispered, his voice trailing off, leaving what he wished he could say hanging in the air between them both.

I love you. 

[holylulusworld]

My best friend’s wedding - Part 4 - Long time no see

Summary: After two years of radio silence your former best friend finally sends you a letter. An invitation to his wedding. The man who never wanted to settle down wants to marry someone who isn’t you. 

Will you attend his wedding? Will you bear the pain of losing him forever? Will you find someone new? And even more important can you hide the secret you have?

Pairing: former Dean x Reader, Sam x Reader (platonic), Dean x Lisa, Castiel, Crowley, Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Rowena

Warnings: angst, a secret, a plan to get rid of Lisa, a hint of fun, Crowley being a good bro/just like Castiel, Lisa hate – I’m not even sorry, longing, pining

A/N: This is partially an AU but the Winchesters and the reader were/are hunters.

My best friend’s wedding Masterlist

Back at the hotel, you needed a moment on your own. Sam was understanding and followed Castiel and Crowley outside to talk about their plans to ruin Dean’s wedding.

Laughing you glance at your phone as Sam sent you a picture of Lisa placing a vegan cake in front of Dean. You can see Dean’s disgusted look, but he learned to play along, you guess.

----

Pacing. All Dean does since you entered his apartment with Sam is pacing while he looks at the addressee of your hotel occasionally. Lisa is gone, headed off for her hen party, leaving Dean alone with his doubts.

His eyes land on the picture frame, showing a picture of Sam, Bobby, and Dean. With shaking fingers he grabs the frame to open it, revealing the ring he bought over two years ago.

“Messed up…” Sniffling he is close to driving to your hotel, but he stops in his tracks, gulping as he looks around the apartment. “Son of a bitch, get your shit together…”

Your image, the way you hid the hurting today is burned into Dean’s mind. All this time he believed you left him, not wanting to be his girl – now he knows you believed he chose Lisa and his stomach drops every time he looks at the piece of paper with your addressee.

“Fuck you, Crowley…” 

Closing the frame, Dean hates himself for wanting nothing more than burying his face into your neck and to tell you he missed you every single day since you left. “I can’t break another woman’s heart.”

Falling onto his couch Dean closes his eyes, remembering your eyes when he got the call, and how you tried to talk to him till he finally decided to end things with Lisa. He never thought you wanted to talk to him to make your relationship bloom, Dean assumed you wanted to call things off.

“Fool…” Dean’s hand starts shaking as he feels the heavy weight of the engagement ring in his hand. Sighing he wants to toss it away, wants to forget about you but one look around his apartment changes his mind.

Nothing inside these four walls belongs to him. Lisa didn’t allow anything from his past life to enter this apartment, except for the picture of his brother.

Lisa never cared about what he likes. Never baked him a pie or laughed about his stupid jokes. All he got so far are angry looks and demanding words, along with sex without passion. 

“Y/N…” Playing with the ring Dean jumps up as Castiel sits next to him, looking at the beautiful ring. It’s a simple gold band with a tiny diamond, not a fancy one, like the one Lisa insisted on buying.

“Beautiful ring, Dean. You should give it to the right woman. It’s still time, my friend. No one is forcing you to marry a woman you do not love.” Castiel says as Dean wants to hide the ring. “Just go to her, maybe she will forgive you for…”

“What for, Cas? She left me not the other way around!” Angrily clenching his fist Dean shakes his head. “I was ready to settle down, to propose and Y/N left me.”

Castiel raises to his full height, showing Dean his wings as his eyes flash blue.

“Silence! Do you know how much Y/N suffered?” Dean gasps, glancing at his fist pressing the ring painfully hard.

“I…”

“No, you don’t know about Y/N’s pain as you were selfish and asked Lisa to marry you not a week after the love of your life left.” Castiel covers Dean’s fist with his hand, squeezing it tightly.

“She called, and called, Dean. For two months Y/N tried to reach out for you. Not out of guilt – out of love my friend.”

Dean can’t react as Castiel vanishes before he can find his voice. Suffered…out of love…

----

Smiling you talk to your daughter, listening to her soft voice you need to hold back the urge to pack your things and leave town, but you made a promise to Sam.

“Mommy loves you, Baby Girl. I’ll be back in a few days when I watched my friend marrying a woman not loving him.” You whisper bitterly as your mother takes the phone.

“Just tell him about his child, Y/N. If this was a misunderstanding you should at least try…” Your mother sighs as you sniffle lightly.

“He said it was my fault, mommy. Dean broke my heart and has the guts to tell me it’s my fault. Sam is right, Lisa has a bad influence on Dean. I will help him ruin this wedding but after I’m gone…” There’s silence at the other end of the line for a moment.

“If that’s what you want, do so, honey, but if you still love him…” Whispering your answer you hear someone knock at your door before you can start to cry again.

“Sam is back, mommy. I got to go. Kiss my little girl and tell her mommy loves her…”

Hanging up the phone you blink the tears away. You need to make sure Sam gets his brother back so you will help him to succeed…

----

Meanwhile out of town…

“So…Y/N is all in?” Donna looks around the room as Sam is pacing around the table, pointing at some papers he gathered.

“Holy! She’s using all his money to buy shit and she…oh…he will kill her…” Jody gasps. “How can Lisa do such a thing?”

“Better question, Jodes. – How can Dean let her do this?” Donna deadpans while Crowley sits on a chair silent since a while.

“I gave him an ultrasound picture with Y/N’s name but so far it’s still stuffed in his pocket.” The demon suddenly blurs out and Sam gasps.

“Holy hell, Crowley! That wasn’t the plan. It was our last resort!” Castiel grab’s Crowley’s jacket, trying to intimidate the demon.

“No one told me so. I can’t bear this slut any longer. She looks at me like I’m a bad guy…” Snickering Crowley winks at the angel. “I’m a bad guy, but that chick doesn’t have the right to look at me like that.”

“Dude, this is not about you, okay.” Sam sighs pointing at the papers. “Lisa wants to sell the Impala without Dean’s knowledge. This is far from loving my brother. She doesn’t know him at all.”

“Bloody hell! Let me finally kill that bitch! One nice deal and she’s history…” Crowley curses.

“I hate to admit it, but I got some nice memories of that car. The trunk especially.” Smirking the king of hell shrugs as Castiel mouths ‘no’.

“Crowley…” Jody warns but Donna snickers, giving the demon a wink.

“Why not, Sheriff? Lisa is evil, I’m the king of hell. Let me do this for Dean. A wedding gift…” Sam is silent for a moment before he shakes his head.

“Not yet…”

“Uh-huh, Moose. Just tell me when and where! I’m burning to kill that bitch. I got a special room in hell for girls like her.” Crowley swoons as he hears Castiel sigh.

“I tried to convince Dean. I can feel his love for Y/N and he still got the ring.” 

The angel is sure Dean will find his way back to you. Not wanting Lisa to die even while not liking her. 

“I don’t like that woman either. She calls me angel boy…” Shuddering Castiel leans against the sideboard, glancing at Sam.

“Maybe Dean will call things off, maybe not. We need to be prepared. First, we need to make sure Lisa can’t sell the Impala.” Sam insists.

“Too late, Moose. Someone bought it half an hour ago. Uh—fuck. Bloody hell she’s a keeper.” Smirking Crowley shows Sam who bought the car on his phone.

“Y/N bought it?” Gasping Sam looks at your name again. “How did she find out?”

“I might or might not let a nice e-mail spam her phone…repeatedly.” Snickering the demon gives Sam a wink, knowing he’s the puppet master again. 

“I will make Dean love that girl, even if I have to raise hell to do so. That chick called me a stinking demon and worse!”

“I got no words…” Jody laughs. “We are a bunch of hard-boiled eggs determined to help two blind love-birds find each other.”

“What else can we do? I’m hopeless romantic.” Donna shrugs, keeping the ‘killing Lisa’ part in the back of her mind – just in case.

“Good thing we found Y/N’s whereabouts some weeks ago. I tried to find her for years. How could we not see she lives right under Alex’s nose?”

Sam opens another folder, revealing Lisa already looks for expensive houses Dean will never be able to pay for.

“I kinda helped her with a spell.” Rowena finally enters the stage - or so she thinks in her mind as everyone looks at the red-haired witch.

“You did so, mother? I did the same, just like wings over there…” Crowley rolls his eyes as his mother calls him Fergus only to rile him up.

“Let’s say I’m the mastermind behind this crazy plan.” Rowena chuckles, not giving away what she did today.

“What did you do, Rowena?” Jody cocks a brow, not trusting the witch at all.

“I made sure Dean and Y/N get some ‘free’ time. Lisa is busy with stripper, drinks and tossing money at the said stripper. She will be out cold for at least a few hours. Time we need to get rid of that woman.” Walking toward Sam the witch shows him an amulet. 

“Nice jewelry but I do not wear that kind of stuff.” Sam tries to be funny, but Rowena slaps his hand away when he tries to touch it.

“We need Dean to touch it at the same moment as Y/N does. It will reveal their true feelings and make them see a future in which they are together and the alternative version.” Rowena explains as Castiel smirks.

“I like my mother’s plan, but let’s not forget the ‘killing Lisa’ part.” Crowley tries one last time as everyone yells ‘no’ at the demon. “We will see that…” 

----

While you try not to think about the fact you just wasted thousands of dollars to buy Baby you need to hold back the tears.

Dean changed beyond repair. How can he sell his beloved car? How could he abandon his ‘home’ for a woman not loving him? 

“Oh, Dean. What happened to you? What did that woman do to you…?” Sniffling you sent´d a message to the trader to make sure you will get the car tomorrow afternoon. If anything, you will give it to Sam, knowing he will take good care of your old home.

Your tears of sadness slowly turn into angry tears as  Dean changed for that woman. While anger wells up your stomach you hear the person outside your room knocks impatiently at your door.

“Yeah, Sammy I’m on my way. I had to say goodnight to my…” Gasping you swallow the last word. Not Sam is standing in front of you, Dean is leaning against the doorframe. 

He seems to be nervous as he awkwardly glances at your room. “Y/N…can I come in? We should talk about a few things…”

My best friend’s wedding

@unsung-knight, @sherlockedtash88, @idjit-angel-radio, @linki-locks11, @abbiewrites1808, @mychemicalimagines, @carryon-doctor-lock, @heyyy-hey-babyyy, @ofpoetryandlove, @chaoticfiretaconerd, @idalinette, @youaremyfiveever, @marvelslut16​

SPN Forever Tags

@donnaintx, @screechingartisancashbailiff, @fallen-wolf22, @sister-winchesters99, @mogaruke, @the-is13, @helloitsmeamie203, @strayrosesbloom, @thewinchesterco, @hobby27, @kittycatlover18, @gh0stgurl, @marvelfansworld , @sandlee44, @hawaiianohana31, @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt, @katpatrova17, @notyourtypicalrose , @heyitscam99, @flamencodiva, @echoesofpassion, @cocklesbelli, @voltage-my2dlove, @fandom-princess-forevermore @thenamelesschibi, @lauravic, @fandomsrourlives, @wittysunflower, @drakelover78, @lemondropirwin, @lonewolf471, @wronglanemendes, @spnhollis, @void-imaginations, @jay-and-dean, @shatteredabby, @juniorhuntersam, @helpmeluci, @neii3n, @goodgodimaweirdperson, @alltimesamantha, @chonisberonica, @supernaturalonice, @stuckys-whore, @shadowkat-83 @officialmarvelwhore, @wecantgiggleitsafandom, @meganywinchester, @shikshinkwon, @miraclesoflove, @yolobloggers, @lu-sullivan, @maniacproffesor, @hollymac79, @straycuties9,  @kayla-2000, @ilovefanfic86, @gracefultrenchcoat494, @babygirls-fav, @sadn0va, @spnwoman, @amiquette, @linki-locks11, @geekofmanyforms, @eggingamazinglove, @jessica-marsh09, @spnficgirl, @shut-themoonscone, @thequeenreaders, @countrygal17a, @kteelou, @soryuwifeyxx, @kricketc28, @atomicfandombomb, @defenderrosetyler, @shortwinchester, @maybesomedaygayyyy, @tmiships4life, @deanmonandnegansbitch, @exo-nova, @laxe-from-outer-space, @sabascio, @that-place-called-middle-earth, @the-broken-angel-13, @bunnybaby89, @pandabiiissh, @maddiedott, @fandom-imagines1, @lilulo-12, @theoneandonlymelol, @mblaqgi, @sea040561, @clawsandshotguns, @justsomedreaming , @differentstudentrunawaysposts, @hhiggs, @deepmuffinspymaker, @certaindeanwinchesterforcastiel @cassiopeia-barrow, @mep6811, @jo-like-josette

Dean/Jensen Forever Tags     

@spnfamily-j2, @supernatural-bellawinchester, @butifulsoul125, @lyinginthegingerlocks, @deans-baby-momma, @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester, @20gayneen, @janicho88, @thefaithfulwriter, @dreaminemz, @negans-lucille-tblr, @akshi8278, @midnightsilver16830, @mrspeacem1nusone, @ria132love, @caligraphee, @the-witch-in-silence, @multisuperfandom, @deansgirl-1968, @justanotherwinchester, @jadesupernatural​, @squirrelnotsam​, @gaveherhearttotheliontattoo, @roonyxx, @jason-todd-squad​, @thevelvetseries​, @spnsuper17, @adoptdontshoppets, @woodworthti666​, @frederikkeborup​, @psychicforest, @luciathewinchestergirl​ @michellemxndes​, @addictedtofictionalcharacters​, @gabifernandessn​

[basicjetsetter]

At the End of the Day (I)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Words: 4.9k

Warnings: Lil Fluff, Lotta Angst, Language, Violence – an extremely violent scene, might not be suitable for some, don’t continue to read if it triggers you.

Summary: All Bucky wants to do is protect his family and keep them happy, keep them safe. But no matter what he does, danger hunts him down and makes his life a living hell. It has a name. Baron Zemo.

A/N: This is my first time writing for Bucky. I hope y’all love it as much as I do. If you want, you can listen to Sometimes by H.E.R. The fic isn’t inspired by the song, but I felt like it fit. (Gif not mine, all credit to its creator). Also I apologize if the translation is wrong. Happy Reading!!

Part II

Bucky had it all planned out.

Race out of the debriefing room as soon as the meeting adjourned, jump into his car, still grimy and clothed in tactical gear, and gun it to his house to get there in time for dinner. For the most part, the plan was successful. He left the Compound at 3:45 p.m. and made it to the driveway by 5:50. The clock on the dash reads 6:18. He can’t get out of the car. Every time he attempts to unfasten the seatbelt his muscles lock up until he caves under the exhaustion.

Missions never take this much of a toll on his body, but to be fair, he did hurl himself out of a ten-story building like an idiot. He remembered how the world outside swayed, remembered hearing Sam shout into the coms, telling him that everyone was safely out and that he needed to get out too. There was nothing else they could do.

The floor underneath his boots shuddered. Stairs were out of the question and there was no time for Sam to figure out which side of the building Bucky was in. So he jumped.

By now he’d thought he’d be used to imminent death. After all, it came with the job. And yet this knowledge didn’t keep him from squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath until his lungs cried for air. It didn’t help his hammering heart or the tight clench of his gut as he plummeted to meet the concrete.

Everything had gone a bit fuzzy afterward. A lot of people rushed in to see if he was still alive. He thought he saw a familiar face, but chalked it up to be a trick of the light. Sam and Wanda hovered over him, repeatedly asking if he could hear them and if he was alright. Nothing hurt too bad. He somehow managed to rotate enough so his left side took most of the impact. His head hurt like a son of a bitch, though, and his mouth tasted metallic and felt like sandpaper.

Medics pawed at him the entire way back to the Compound, checking his vitals, shining bright lights in his eyes to rule out concussions. One of them suggested he be left in their care for the night.

What he needed was a goddamn aspirin and a nap. If he let them hook him up to all those machines, he’d be stuck in there for… Christ knows how long. Hours? Days?

Bucky just wanted to go home to his girls.

Instead of listening to the docs advising him to do such and such, he thought of you seeing him like this, bruised from head to toe, covered in rubble and blood. You’d seen him look worse, but every time he came in with even a cut you worried at your bottom lip and a small crease of a frown darkened your features. But he knew you’d be relieved to have him at home in one piece.

So he disregarded their caution. Within 48 hours he’d be right as rain. The perks of being a souped-up solider, he thought ruefully.

Only one good came out of this mess. Bumblebee is going to go through the roof with excitement. He can hear her screams now, “No way! That’s so cool! Mama! Mama! Did ya hear that? Daddy jumped out of a building!”

6:32 p.m.

He wouldn’t be able to tell her anything if he couldn’t haul his ass out of the car.

Bucky groaned as he grabbed hold of his canvas bag and slung it over his shoulder, then kicked the door of the Jeep open. He gingerly climbed out, whimpering with each movement. He shouldn’t have sat in there for so long. All his muscles are stiff as a starched shirt. He leaned against the car door to close it.

As Bucky limped up to the front door he heard the sounds of Bumblebee and Tater, their golden retriever puppy, running around and you laughing as Bumblebee huffed in frustration, “Give me back my shoe, Tater!”

The corners of Bucky’s mouth curved into a large grin despite his crushing headache. He put his key in the lock and frowned when it didn’t click. Already open. Sighing deeply, he twisted the knob and pushed open the door. Scampering feet ran out of the kitchen into the foyer. “Daddy’s home!”

Sure enough, Bumblebee, and Tater right on her heels, dashed into him just as he dropped his canvas bag on the ground and jumped into his open arms. He grunted in the effort to keep her up in his aching arms, staggering back a couple of steps. “Jeez kid, you’re getting big on me.”

She pouted. Miniature versions of your eyes examined his face. “Are you okay, Daddy? Why’re you all purple and blue?” Her smooth, chubby hand brushed away a stray hair from his face. “Does that hurt?”

Had he winced?

In front of him, he heard a sharp inhale. Shit. Reluctantly, Bucky lifted his eyes and met yours. He’s probably not his usual sight for sore eyes. In fact, he’d be willing to bet that he’s the cause of those sore eyes.

You assessed him from head to toe, no doubt noting how he shifted your daughter to his right side to protect his left.

“James.” Your tone is viperous.

He’s in for it. “Don’t say it,” he pleaded.

“Buchanan.”

Bucky hid his face behind his daughter’s shoulder. “Doll, I-“

“Barnes. What the hell happened to you?” You didn’t wait for an answer, striding over and taking your daughter out of his arms and setting her down. “Honey, why don’t you go finish up your dinner. Daddy and I need to talk about grown-up stuff.”

The girl looked up at her dad with a defiant set of her mouth. “I want Daddy to come and eat with me.” She is her mother’s child, but the way she held herself reminded Bucky so much of himself before he became a pawn to Hydra. Cock-sure and confident, ready to hold his own. That’s his little Bumblebee.

You sighed. “He’ll be there in a minute, baby. I promise. Go on,” you smiled sweetly. He knows you don’t want her to worry, but you aren’t doing a good job at neutralizing your frantic expression.

Your daughter still didn’t budge.

“Celeste, please. For Mama?” you supplicated, leaning down to meet her stricken gaze.

“Is Daddy in trouble?” she asked, her voice now small and quavering. It broke his bruised heart.

Bucky’s knees buckled as he kneeled and he did his best to minimize the sound of his groans. “No, no, Bumblebee, I’m fine. Mama just wants to take care of me, that’s all. As soon as we’re done, I’m all yours.”

“Promise?”

He nodded and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Super promise.”

She perked up as if her mood hadn’t soured at all and skittered off into the kitchen, Tater trailing after her with a tiny shoe in his mouth. Bucky waited until he heard her chair scrape across the floor then peered up at you. “Might need some help getting up here, Doll.”

Despite your apparent anger, you giggled lightly and held out your hand. Bucky grabbed it with his right and pulled himself up, but leaned against the wall adjacent to the front door for support, panting.

“God Bucky, you look awful,” you whispered, running a hand through his tangled hair. “Did you get hit by a train?”

“Sort of.” At your stern frown, he confessed. “I-uh… I may have jumped out a ten-story building and the ground might’ve broken my fall. It’s nothing,” he rushed. “I’ll be fine in a few hours.”

He sucked in a breath as you softly pressed a hand to his left side. You set to work on undoing the harnesses and buckles of his vest. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Lie to me.” Bucky fixed his mouth to deny it, but you continued. “We’ve been married for six years… Don’t you think I know you like the back of my hand by now? You aren’t fine. It’s not nothing. You’re human, no matter what you or anyone else thinks. You can still feel pain.” Your voice dropped to a murmur.

At first, he thought your silence resulted from the weight of your words because now he certainly felt like he got hit by a train. But he followed your eyes. You’d successfully ridden him of the top half of his tactical gear, laying everything in a heap at the bottom of your feet. Angry welts, cuts, and bruises smattered down his chest in an intricate pattern, ranging from red to purple to blue. The puffed scar connecting his cybernetic arm to his shoulder paled in comparison.

Hearing you sniffle brought him back to the present.

“Jesus Bucky.” Tears shone in your eyes, pooled, then fell down your cheeks.

This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go. He wasn’t supposed to come home after being away for three weeks and immediately upset his girls. The sheer sadness laced in your words hurt him more than his wounds. And that sadness wouldn’t just go away in a few hours.

Bucky pulled you into his arms, welcoming your soft body against his like a heat compress. You smelled like roasted garlic chicken with a hint of buttery, herbed mashed potatoes, and lavender soap. His stomach growled.

“Remember that time we took Bumblebee to Wollman Rink and she accidentally fell on her head and got that nasty bruise?” Bucky asked, resting his head on your shoulder and pressing small kisses to the side of your neck. A small sigh of contentment sifted into the air.

“Yeah.” Another sniffle. “Sam, Wanda, Peter, and Rhodey all bought her big teddy bears and ice cream to cheer her up. My poor baby. I never wanted to hear her cry like that again.”

Bucky nodded in agreement, recalling how every rational thought fled his mind as he rushed to his daughter, cradling her small body to his chest. They took her to the Med-Bay and she stayed there for a week and he never once left her side.

“We didn’t eat. Didn’t sleep. Sam all but locked us out of her room and told us to take a shower and change into some fresh clothes.”

You cocked your head back and gazed confusedly into his pale blue eyes. “You going somewhere with this?”

“We can’t…” he paused, clearing his throat. “There is a healthy amount of worry we’re allowed to give before it becomes too much, you know. We’ll go mad wanting to keep each other out of harm’s way and that’s exactly what you’re doing. This is my job, Doll. I get hurt. We just gotta accept that.”

You pulled out of his arms and crossed yours. You didn’t damper the bitterness as you spoke. “You’re such a hypocrite. What would you do if I came home covered in bruises and cuts every night? Huh? Shrug it off? That’s what you’re telling me to do?”

Bucky didn’t know if he should answer, so he kept his mouth shut, down-casting his eyes. That’s not quite what he meant, but it’s in the same vein.

“Alright. Fine.” You turned away from him and walked out of the room, into the kitchen.

That didn’t turn out how he wanted it to, but Bucky didn’t have the energy to go after you. You need time to simmer. 

He picked up his stuff and dropped it off on the foot of his office, quickly showered and changed into a pair of gray sweatpants. His muscles appreciated the warm water and comfortable clothes.

The lights in the family room and dining room were shut off by the time he finished, leaving only the kitchen to be illuminated in a faint glow. A stack of dishes sat in the sink and the leftovers were contained on the counter, ready to be put away in the fridge. On the other side of the house, down the hall, the light in the second guest bathroom gleamed. He heard the splash of water and giggles. Bath time.

Despite his cloudy mood, he smiled. Bucky missed this.

After he scarfed down some microwaved chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots, he got to work on the dishes.

The act always soothed him. When every second of his day had to be calculated down to the last minutiae, taking the time to listen to his thoughts became a welcome gift. But all his thoughts led back to you. Your warm body in his arms, your head propped against his chest as you made little sighs of happiness. He understands why you’re upset, and no, he wouldn’t like it if you came home hurt every night as he does. Hell, he wouldn’t be able to stand to be away from you as long as he does now.

You’re concerned for him. The least he can do is empathize and lessen your fears. Him not saying anything translated to you as, “Yes, I’d prefer if you didn’t care about me.”

“I’m such an asshole,” he muttered, tossing the dish towel onto the counter after drying the last plate.

He heard you shuffle behind him and he turned in time to see you drop an armful of blankets and pillows onto the couch.

“Thank you,” you mumbled, acknowledging the clean dishes. “If you need some more pillows there’s a couple in the hall closet.”

Before you could lope off into your bedroom, Bucky called out, “I’m sorry.”

That stopped you short.

He chanced a step forward, then another, until you put a hand out to confirm the distance. “About earlier… You were right.” Bucky itched to hold you, but instead, he settled for pulling his hands through his damp hair. “If the situation was reversed, I know I wouldn’t be able to handle it and the fact that you’ve been doing it every day since we got together… I’m gonna be more careful. I promise. I can-I can request some time off. We can—”

You interrupted him, so quiet even his enhanced hearing strained to pick up the noise. “Do you know why I handled it, Buck? Why I never complained?”

He shook his head, again finding his tongue too tied up to answer.

“Because it’s your job. You’re an Avenger. You’re this awesome superhero who saves hundreds of people every day. How can I complain?” Your words choked off with emotion, yet somehow you managed to push past it, sounding rugged and defeated. “H-How can I be so selfish to want to keep the Winter Soldier safe? The craziest thing is, I never see him when I look at you. The soldier, I mean.” You bowed your head and swiped away ceaseless tears. When you brought your eyes back up to meet his, both of your eyes glistened. “I see you, Bucky. And you’re someone I can’t lose.”

Bucky didn’t react fast enough. As soon as he took that last step forward to stand right in front of you, you turned and dashed into your bedroom, shutting the door. He didn’t hear the lock turn.

He walked over to the door and placed his hand on the knob. Pressed his ear against the wood. You sounded close. Crying with your hands clamped over your mouth to muffle the sobs. Nothing would be able to stop him from going in the room to comfort you, locked door or not. But if you wanted him to be near you, you’d have left the door open.

How had this whole day turned to shit?

He went into his daughter’s room. You being upset with him and him landing himself a night on the couch were huge setbacks, but he’d be damned if he didn’t tell Bumblebee a good-night story. She loves those. He loves telling them to her.

They have their ritual every time he’s home. She’s usually sitting up against the headboard, wearing a toothy grin. He’d come in and she’d scoot over to the side to let him lie on the bed with her. Some nights they’d doze off together.

When he cracked open the door and peered in, her back faced him and the blue covers were drawn up over her head.

Bucky took a seat on the corner of her twin mattress, feeling how it slightly bowed under his weight. Tater is curled up on the other corner. His head rested on his paws and his eyes dolefully glanced up at Bucky.

“Bumblebee,” he whispered, stroking her head. “Hey, kid. You sleep?”

Silence. He heard her breath quicken. She’s still awake.

“You mad at me too?”

He held his breath. Utter silence.

“Guess I can’t blame ya.” Exhaling slowly, Bucky leaned in and kissed the back of her head. “Sweet dreams, sweetheart. I love you.” Then he got up, turned on her rainbow nightlight, and delicately closed the door.

The family room felt too small. Too still. Too vacant. Trying to sleep on a couch, especially this one, in particular, had to be the worst sleeping arrangement he’s ever experienced, on par with sleeping on dirt floors and metal cots.

A previously recorded football game is playing noiselessly on the TV. All the lights are turned off. The exhaustion Bucky warded off earlier returned in full force. He blanked out by the time the game reached the second quarter.

“Good evening, Sergeant Barnes,” a distant voice lulled. It’s familiar. Accented. It stood nearby, standing right above him. “Or would you prefer Winter Soldier?”

Bucky’s eyes opened as slow as a stream of molasses. His head swam and his body felt out of place. He didn’t know what was up or down, left or right. That wasn’t what shocked him, though. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t even twitch his pinky. 

Isn’t he supposed to be in jail? How did he find me? How the hell did he even get in here?

As far as Bucky can tell he’s still in his family room, laying on the couch. The covers around his body have been thrown back. A needle is sticking out of his right arm, connected to a small drip bag.

“Whahh—” he slurred. It took him a while to pull his eyes away from the needle and up to the man looming above him with a gaunt smirk.

God no.

“Oh good, you remember me.” Zemo pulled up a chair and sat right by Bucky’s head. He’s wearing a plain black sweater and dark jeans. “Don’t worry, it isn’t poison. Simply a temporary sedative. The effects will wear off as soon as I take out the needle.”

Bucky tried to scream with everything inside of him. He called your name over and over again, but nothing came out higher than a whimper. Even if you heard him, he doubted if you’d be able to alert the others in time. What if he already got to you? Or Bumblebee? A cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

Zemo watched in amusement at the emotions flitting over Bucky’s face. “You’re a hard man to find, but easy enough to keep track of. Your little band of do-gooders always makes the front page. But you know what those covers don’t show? Hm?”

He held up a picture frame level to Bucky’s eyesight. It was you, him, and Bumblebee, all going down a slide together. Sam took the picture a year ago. You were at the top, holding up your then three-year-old daughter, and Bucky at the bottom. Bumblebee gripped his long strands of hair with a vicious glee in her eyes. Your eyes are closed from laughing and Bucky is looking up at his wife and daughter with a rapt smile.

“You have a lovely family, Sergeant Barnes. Reminds me of mine.” He pulled out a small folded copy of a photograph, creased due to the course of time.

Bucky saw a family, but he didn’t take them in. He didn’t want to care.

Zemo paid him no attention as he stared fondly at the picture, taking them in for himself and then comparing it to Bucky’s family.

“You see, I went about this all wrong the first time around. Taking on the Avengers as a whole resulted from my hubris, if you will. I saw the potential to exploit a weakness and work around the outside. Some might say I instigated the War. No,” he smiled and took the needle out of Bucky’s arm. “I merely set them on the right path.

“Captain Rogers was indeed quite fond of you, but I knew Stark wouldn’t be so disillusioned to your heinous crimes. Though, I admit I may have given him too much credit. A tin man set up to fight against two of the world’s best super soldiers? A failed endeavor, yes, but necessary. It brought me reason. Why influence a whole and almost succeed when I can influence one at a time. Leaves less room for marginal error, don’t you agree, Soldat?”

As the sedative ebbed away, feeling gradually flooded into his fingertips and toes. In a couple of minutes, he’d be free from the immobilizing numbness. He prepared his body to spring.

Zemo pulled one more object from behind his back. A red book. An old, red book with a black star branded on the front.

An icy gust of recognition shot shards of panic through his system. It couldn’t be. He’s fixed. Shuri fixed me.

The man went on in relish. “Of course you recognize your creator’s book. A handy thing, this is. Hydra is many things, Sergeant Barnes. Many things. But one thing they remain to be is prepared.” He thumbed through the pages, stopping to the last several pages. “Two steps ahead and all that stuff.”

Bucky forced out the word, “Why?”’

“Why?” Zemo mocked. “Why is it that an abomination, a murderous machine such as yourself, can have this type of happiness at the end of the day? Doesn’t it strike you as unfair, Sergeant Barnes? Why should you have this beautiful family while mine doesn’t even get an ounce of recognition? No front covers. Not even an obituary. I’m simply taking matters into my own hands and dealing justice where justice is due. And Sergeant Barnes, you have over 70 years of undue justice stacked against you.”

Tears stung Bucky’s eyes. Every inch of his body trembled. His teeth painfully chattered. He felt his lips move. “No, please. No, no, no, no, no. God no. I can’t. I can’t.” Not to them.

“This is the way it has to be, Sergeant Barnes. I truly am sorry.” Zemo rose from the chair, walking around to the back of the couch. “Возвращение (Return).”

Bucky’s whole body drowned in a cold sweat and the blood drained from his face. Those bastards! Those goddamn fucking bastards! He pushed off the couch on jelly legs, falling in a heap of blankets.

“сброс настроек (Reset).”

Anger propelled him to his feet and he staggered drunkenly around the couch, standing arms-length away from Zemo. Only a few feet stood between him and the front door.

“не помнить. Добро пожаловать назад зимний солдат (Forget. Welcome back Winter Soldier).”

Zemo closely watched the man standing rigid in his sweats, chest heaving. Bits of his hair is in his face and one blanket is caught around his ankle. He heard the harsh grinding of his metal palm curling into a fist. The asset’s face smoothed over into a mask of stiff submission and indifference.

“Ready to comply.” Mechanical, detached, lethal.

“Terminate everyone inside the house.” With those final words, Zemo withdrew from the house, exiting out of the front door. It slammed shut.

You weren’t really asleep.

Even trying felt like a waste of time. The king-size bed swallowed you with its vast amount of unfilled space. Sleeping in an empty bed was hard enough not knowing where Bucky was. Turns out it’s even worse when he was just outside the door and down the hall, sleeping on an uncomfortable couch.

You knew that he knew the door wasn’t locked.

Relief and an inkling of regret settled your nerves thirty minutes after you closed the door. He wasn’t going to come in. He was giving you space.

Is it wrong to want Bucky laying here with you, even though your heart wasn’t ready to face him? Maybe you’re being ridiculous. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s an amazing father to Bumblebee. He’s an amazing husband. Work doesn’t consume him and if it does start to become an obstacle in your marriage, Bucky’s quick to rectify the problem.

You inched over onto his side of the bed and buried your face in his pillow, taking in his heady scent. Were you too hard on him? Were you irrational? Bucky can’t help who he is. 

He’s your daughter’s hero.

He’s yours too.

At 2 a.m. you fretfully turned back over to your side of the bed when you heard one of the doors slam shut, ringing out like a shotgun

You’re on your feet and rushing out without a single thought of caution to stall you. Bucky is out there. So is your Bumblebee.

Bucky stood in the middle of the room. Blankets are strewn around and one of them wrapped around his ankle.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

His head swiveled up at the sound of your voice. Empty, calculating eyes snapped to yours.

Something’s wrong.

You tripped back a little, finding your balance against a wall. Fear mounted in your chest. “B-Bucky?”

No reaction.

“Buc—"

In an instant he advanced towards you, stepping out of the blanket as if it was never there. A scream caught halfway in your throat as metal coiled around your neck. Squeezing. Squeezing. Squeezing.

Black pinpoints and stars shaded your vision. He watched you splutter. You’re sure he didn’t feel your nails clawing at his shoulder.

None of the things Bucky taught you about self-defense came to mind. You couldn’t think, but you had to act. Instinctively, you kicked out. One kick landed dead in his hard abdomen. It felt like kicking at a boulder. He coughed out a surprised grunt and his grip slackened. You aimed another kick at his crotch, dead on the center, and the hand around your neck loosened enough to send you scrambling on the ground.

Your lungs scorched. Your palms and knees ached from landing unceremoniously on the hardwood flooring. By the time you began to crawl away, it was too late.

Bucky regained himself quicker than humanly possible. His hot flesh hand snagged your ankle in a bruising grip and yanked you back.

You cried out, hoarsely. “Bucky stop!”

He paid you no attention. Almost didn’t seem to hear you at all.

His hair fell into his face, darkening the mask that slid into place. He barely struggled to pull you underneath him. Strong, thick thighs caged your lower half to halt your flailing legs as he straddled your hips.

The pressure instantly returned. Both hands crushed your windpipe. His fingers dug into your skin. The wedding band fitted on his flesh hand bit deeper than the metal of his cybernetic hand.

In a last-ditch effort, your fingernails impaled his forearm, breaking the skin. Five half-moon crescents beaded up and trickled in lines of scarlet red, slicking along his arm and on your fingertips.

He never flinched.

Tears streamed out the corners of your eyes.

Darkness bled into your vision, starting at the corners and then filling in the rest as the seconds ticked by. Each beat of your heart painfully thudded in your chest, each thump clunking slower and slower. More spaced out.

Numbness spread until you resigned to it.

Your lids slid shut. You didn’t want those eyes to be the last thing you saw. Those arctic blue, barren eyes. Not Bucky’s eyes.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

“Stop it, Daddy! Stop it! Get off of Mama!”

You wrenched your eyes back open in time to see your daughter smacking her father over the head with her rainbow nightlight.

Hope and absolute dread wracked your body as Bucky unclasped his hands and turned to look at the small girl standing her ground behind him, nightlight half-raised in the air for another strike. Tater is in front of her, barking viciously at Bucky.

“Run!” The word tore itself out your mangled throat. “Run!”

Bumblebee watched in horror as Bucky rose to a towering height, and she let out an earsplitting scream as he ripped the light away from her, then gripped the front of her Avengers pajama shirt, lifting her into the air.

“BUCKY NO!”

Past the rush of oxygen flowing back into your lungs and the thunderous beats of your heart, you heard terrified crying.

Your baby.

Wailing. Scared.

For a second, you’re back at the skating rink and your eyes land on Bucky, sitting on the ice, cradling her to his chest. Nothing else mattered.

Bucky frowned.

The first sign of emotion flickered over his features since you came out of the room.

Confusion.

You saw his eyes drop to the ground, saw him shake his head. Then he looked at the girl in his hold.

Recognition.

Grief.

Fear.

Horror.

Agony.

Bucky trembled, slowly and shakily lowering Bumblebee back onto her feet. She skittered around him, putting as much space between them as possible, and stumbled to your side. Tater is still growling at him.

You watched his eyes reluctantly settle on your body, watched his face crumble.

Bucky choked out. “I’m sorry.” He took a step back. He looked at his arms and saw the indents of your fingernails. Saw the imprint of his hands around your neck. Took another step back. “I…I…I didn’t—”

He turned and ran out of the house.

[hqprotectionsquad]

Breakfast in Bed (Akaashi x Reader)

my birthday present for qee babie :) happy birthday @letmeshouyou! you’re the absolute sweetest and let us “shoyou” how much we love you! have the greatest birthday ever, i love you!

qee day master list here!

“Shoot,” Akaashi mutters under his breath, side-eying the mess he’s made. He’ll have to clean it all later, but after he’s made everything. The counter usually sees all light, but now it is covered in a thin layer of flour and sugar. Music flows softly from the speaker to the ears. It’s loud enough to hear over the sizzling pan but not so much that you’ll stir from the jazz notes meddling to make a song.

“What else, what else,” his voice trails off as he taps the list on the fridge repeatedly until he knows what’s next. All that’s left are the omelette and pancakes, which should be a piece of cake to finish before you stumble out of bed. After cracking the eggs on the side of the pan, the substance swishes into the pan with the happy vegetables, the ones that you tolerate, at least. There’s so many things listed on that piece of paper that it’s hard to believe that a day has twenty-four hours. But it’s your special day and he’s determined to make these hours feel like eternity.

He folds the eggs into a clamshell shape before sliding it onto a plate. He sprinkles some parsley over it for taste, but it’s more of a decoration by the looks of the green popping against the yellow.

He’s never not known you. When he saw you for the first time, it was like meeting an old friend; gone for a little bit, but never forgotten. There was no doubt that he’d met his soulmate in an elementary classroom while everyone else stuck erasers up their noses. He was busy playing blocks and getting to understand you in every way a five-year-old could do so.

He knows that you hate waking up with your alarm, but you refuse to turn the setting off because it reminds you that you’re alive. He can’t count off the amount of times he’s seen you mess up because it’s too many, but he also can’t count the amount of times he’s fallen in love with you unequivocally. His emotions dig deeper by the day and he’s never been more grateful.

“Keiji?”

And he should’ve known you’d wake up before he finished.

“Love, happy birthday.” He abandons his plans to make pancakes to cross the room and gather you in his arms. It just feels right to be wrapped up together.

“Thank you,” you reply. “Please tell me you’re not making pancakes,” you plead while using a hand to flatten the hairs that stick up from your head. If he wasn’t so offended by your statement, then he’d probably be telling you that he loves this candid look of yours that he has the privilege of waking up next to every morning.

“What’s wrong with my pancakes?”

“You measure all of the ingredients so precisely. Everything tastes better when you take a risk, you know that right?”

“It tastes the best when you plan everything and make sure it’s right.” Akaashi wants to continue, but he’s not going to push it. “I guess everything does taste better when you take a risk.” Akaashi grins as his mind brings him to the first time he kissed you: first year high school and right before an important volleyball match. If you hadn’t kissed him back, he wouldn’t have been in a bad mood in the game, but afterwards would’ve been a rough time. Luckily, his risk paid off and look where he is now, incredibly content with life.

He presses his lips against yours and the way to describe them is with honesty. Being honest, he thinks you’re the best kisser in the world, not that he’s really had that many people to compare you to, but he never wants to compare you to anyone or anything. You are your own being and he’s so lucky you chose him.

“Sweetheart, thank you for the breakfast.” You jut your head to gesture to the stacked table with plates with steam streaming into the air.

“Who said it was for you? Maybe I just want a really nice breakfast.”

“Really now?” Your deadpan is almost as hard as your eye-roll, which he cannot deny his laughter.

“Of course, it’s for you. Happy birthday, I love you.”

navi! | master list | tag list form

general hq tag list : @dorkyama​​ @kingkags​​ @clowninfortodoroki​​

[thorne93]

Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 27)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 1963

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy​​​​​​, @carryonmyswansong​​​​​​, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​ - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong​​​​​​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​​

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You and the team had gotten nothing else done the next morning, thankfully. They tried. Garcia hadn’t found any new information for anyone. Once they let everyone go at noon, you and Dex headed to the marina with the equipment. You got loaded on the boat with fishing gear, cleaning gear, and a picnic lunch. 

“So get this,” Dexter started as you began to open the cleaning supplies kit. 

“Hmm?”

“Harry was seeing my mom,” he blurted out. 

You stopped grabbing stuff to look up at him. “Your adoptive father was dating your biological mother?” 

“It appears that way.” 

“How did you find this out?” you asked, going back to working after handing him a rag. 

“I was listening to some old recordings of my mom. It turns out she was a confidential informant.” 

“So that’s how your father knew her,” you gathered.

“Right. But now I’m starting to question everything. Harry’s teachings. Was he using her? Was he using me? Was I just a means to an end? Did he know I’d ultimately wind up killing my mother’s killers? I had emotional problems as a kid because of what happened to my mom.

Harry said he was trying to help me, but we only talked about his rules. I spent so much time trying to live up to his expectations because I thought he had my best interests in mind.”

“Dex, I’m gonna say this, and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way but…” You sat down, so that he was facing you. “I care a lot about you, and I know you put Harry on a pedestal because you think he saved you from prison, but the truth of the matter is… Harry didn’t do what was best for you. There was no guarantee you’d end up a killer. From what you’ve told me, you were a curious little boy who had an incredibly traumatic past, and instead of dealing with it, getting you help, Harry made you into what you are today.” 

“So you think he was wrong,” he said, no accusation or malice in his voice. 

“I do,” you firmly but softly stated. “Regardless of why he did it, too, the result is the same. You have your Dark Passenger.” 

He began to look lost, erratic, even. “But I've built everything in my life on what Harry said I was supposed to be. My job, my girlfriend. It's all what Harry told me I needed.”

“Maybe he was wrong though. You can’t go back and undo his teachings, but maybe you could start living by your own.”

“What? You’re saying just give up the code? Just live life to some other standard?” 

You shrugged indifferently. “Maybe it’s time to start looking at what you need, rather than what Harry groomed you for.”

“But this is all I know,” he said hopelessly with a trickle of sadness. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin. What would I do with my...urges?” 

“Quiet them. We’ve already discussed how more than anything else, they’re an addiction. Something you can control. Maybe start with that first, and see where life leads you.”

“You’re something, you know that? You come to me, asking me to teach you how to use my urges, just for you turn around and tell me to turn them off.” 

You smirked proudly as you got up and began wiping down the boat again. “What can I say?” 

For the next thirty minutes, you and Dexter meticulously cleaned the boat. You took the right half, he took the left half. Every inch was cleaned and scrubbed. 

“So how are the narcotics anonymous meetings going?” you inquired when you two sat down and started to eat lunch. You stared out over the water, soaking up the sun, relishing the heat and feeling free out here. 

“It’s pointless... I get nothing out of it. But it helps Rita think I’m being normal. Of course, her mother hates me, thinks I’m going to end up like Rita’s ex.” 

“Right,” you agreed, nodding. 

“How are you and Spencer? I can tell he’s not my biggest fan, but what about you two? You making it all work?” he asked, nothing but sincerity in his voice. 

“Actually, uh, I was going to talk to you about that… I’m still worried Spencer might leave me.” 

He seemed a little alarmed so you assuaged that worry. 

“Not that I think he’ll turn either of us in, not like that. He wouldn’t go through all of this just to turn around and sabotage it…” You shook your head. “No, I’m still worried that between his revelation of me, this investigation, and JJ’s confession… I’m just worried he may start to want her again, if he doesn’t still. I know he’s helping us, helping me, and he doesn’t have to, but… I know how hard this has to be for him. I’ve gone from his wife to a serial killer. He’s torn between wanting to protect me from the justice system and turning me in to it. I can understand where he's coming from because when he was in prison, he killed some guys. It was hard for me to hear it, but I sympathized easily. I just think he’s having a harder time…” 

“Why?”

“Well, he killed two guys that were just drug mules. They killed his friend in prison just because they could and they knew it would hurt him. So he retaliated. It was personal. Spence can’t come from a place this cold like you and I can. He can’t come from a place where we spot a stranger and say we want to rid the world of them.” 

“Can’t say I blame him, most people can’t.”

“I know. I mean, our job is to think that way. His entire livelihood has been built around putting people like me away. Now, he has to say he’s married to me. It just makes me feel like maybe he regrets marrying me.”

“I think if he did, he would’ve divorced you by now, or turned you in, or something,” he tried to assure you. 

“Maybe, or he’s just waiting until I’m caught. Then he can pretend like he didn’t know, and he can divorce me easily. Otherwise, we’d have to make something up to our team if we got divorced.” 

“Have you talked to him about this?” 

“No. he’ll just tell me I’m paranoid about JJ...” 

“Well… are you? I mean, are you just being paranoid for no reason?” 

“Maybe. He swears he doesn’t love her, or feel anything, and he probably doesn’t. That doesn’t make me feel any safer or better about Spencer though. Even with JJ not in the picture…” You sighed, realizing you were rambling. 

“What is it?” Dexter gently urged. 

“What if he just leaves because he doesn’t love me any more? Because I am who I am?” 

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. “You were honest with me, so now I’m going to be brutally honest with you.” 

You braced yourself, fearing the worst from your friend. 

“You sought me out, knowing full well what might happen if we took your curiosity all the way. You knew that the moment you killed someone outside of your job, it would change your entire life, everything about it. You knew it, and I told it to you repeatedly.”

You nodded, knowing he was right, listening. 

“So now, you can’t really be upset with him for having normal responses and reactions. This fear you’re having, of him leaving? It’s a side effect of him being involved, of him knowing the truth. That fear is probably always going to be there, unless of course he somehow proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he won’t leave, but that’s impossible.”

“But that’s what I want,” you retorted. “I just want him to say that he forgives me, that he understands why I did what I did, and he won’t leave me for it. I’m just worried with all this extra stress the investigation has caused, so close to him finding out, it’ll push him away.” 

“If it does… it does. There’s nothing you can do to stop it, unfortunately. It’s better to live your life blissfully ignorant, than to go about every day worrying that today is the day something might go wrong.” 

“That’s poetic, did you read that somewhere?” you sarcastically responded. 

“I’m serious. Would you rather live wondering every morning you wake up, ‘Oh, is today the day he decides to leave me?’ Or would you rather just live it happily? Personally, I’d take the happy memories over ones that would be clouded by fear. Aside from waiting to tell you about JJ, you’ve never mentioned Spencer as someone who is flakey, flighty, or a liar. I’d say, if he’s willing to do all this work to keep you from being put in prison, he’s in it for the long haul.”

His words actually made sense and seemed to warm you up. 

“You think so?” 

“Yeah. Besides, you’d have to be crazy to try and divorce a serial killer right?” 

You shook your head and made a face before throwing a cleaning bottle at him. “You’re such an ass!” 

The two of you laughed before talking about things that had nothing to do with the case or killing or your shaky marriage. It was nice to escape for a bit. You caught up about Debra, she was dating some new guy apparently. Rita and Dexter seemed fine but apparently she was uncomfortable with a woman sponsor. 

As the sun was starting to get much lower in the sky, you and Dexter decided to pack things up and call it a day. The boat should have been completely clear of everything by then. Dexter started the boat and began to make towards the shore, which would probably take about ten minutes. He wanted to be sure that you all wouldn’t be disturbed. 

“It’s been hard, you know?” you suddenly said as you leaned back in the seat behind him, admiring the gorgeous view of the horizon. “Being an agent… I have to still know more than everyone in the room, and yet I can’t know too much or it’s suspicious and leads them back to you or me. Every day is getting harder and harder.” Your voice dropped slightly, hope dwindling out of your tone. 

“You just have to lie, that’s all.” 

“I know, that’s the hardest part for me.” 

Dexter couldn’t help himself but laugh. “I like how the killing is the easy part, but the lying is the hard part.” 

“Well the people I’m lying to are friends, Dex. They’re practically family. I’ve prided myself on being honest and trustworthy and forthright my entire life. Now all that’s a farce.” 

“I know,” he finally said with some sympathy and a low voice. “I bet it’s hard. Lying comes naturally for me because Harry told me to basically say the opposite of what I was thinking or feeling at all times. I was raised to be a liar to protect myself. I can’t imagine switching gears now.” 

You let a soft smile touch your lips. This was the side Spence needed to see, the whole world needed to see. The fun, caring, gentle side of Dexter. 

“I never thought I’d see the day where I am best friends with a Fed, and two of them are keeping my secrets,” Dexter noted with a smirk. “Kind of a crazy world, huh?” 

“Yeah, I never thought I’d befriend an unsub, let alone want to protect him,” you informed, getting up and standing next to him. You nudged his shoulder and he glanced at you, the two of you exchanging a fond smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagging:

Forever Tag:

@essie1876​​​​​​​

@magpiegirl80​​​​​​​

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked​​​​​​​

@iamwarrenspeace​​​

@marvel-imagines-yes-please​​​

@superwholocked527

@missinstantgratification​​​​

@thejemersoninferno​​​​​​​

@rda1989​​​​​​​

@munlis​​​​​​​

@thefridgeismybestie​​​​​​​

@bubblyanarocks3​​​​​​​

@igiveupicantthinkofausername​​​​​​​

@kaliforniacoastalteens​​​​​​​

@feelmyroarrrr​​​​​​​​

@kaeling

@friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo​​​​​​​

@damalseer​​​​​​​

@heyitscam99​​​​​​​

@yknott81​​​​​​​

@thelittlebigirl​​​​​​​

@glitterquadricorn​​​​​​​

@xxqueenofisolationxx

@little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama

@bittersweetunicorm​​​​​​​

@alyssaj23​​​​​​​

@sea040561​​​​​​​

@princess76179​​​​​​​

@thisismysecrethappyplace​​​​​​​

@sarahp879​​​​​​​

@malfoysqueen14​​​​​​​

@ellallheart​​​​​​​

@breezy1415​​​​​​​

@marvelmayo​​​​​​​

@paintballkid711​​​​​​​

Spencer Reid

@camigt1999​​​​​​​

@ultrarebelheart​​​​​​​

@lenawiinchester​​​​​​​

@esoltis280​​

ITCM

@arganfics​​

[mskinkyafro]

Cooking For Two (Aurora & MC)

A/N: Hey everyone, I’m back with a new open heart fic! I’m excited and nervous to share this because it’s my first Aurora x mc fic. I haven’t wrote for her much so I tried to capture her as best I could. I just adore Aurora as a character and I wanted to showcase her friendship with Katrina more and how I envision it in between chapters. Which is more comfortable and friendly than what canon pushes. This is a super cute and fluffy piece that I hope you all enjoy!

*Platonic Pairing*: Aurora & MC 

Summary: Katrina & Aurora spend some time in the kitchen.

Side Note: This takes place some time after chapter 6 but before chapter 8. I plan to make more fics around these two and their friendship so if anyone enjoys reading about these two, I’ll make sure to add you to a tag list for any Aurora x MC fic I write.

After an extremely tiring day, Katrina was gratified to finally enter her apartment. Dropping her bag to the ground and kicking off her heels, she reclines back onto the closed door. Running her hand languidly through her hair eases some tension from her body.

“Home at last.” she sighs.

Only a minute passes before she adjusts to get up from her spot to make her way toward the stairs. Right as she takes a step, she feels a graze from a leather-like texture. Looking down, she sees a scowling tortoise greet her.

“Pistachio! I didn’t see you there, buddy. I’m sorry.”

Katrina bends down and picks up the tortoise and presses a small kiss to his head. His scowl leaves and a smile replaces it. Shaking her head in amusement, she puts him down and laughs. As she stands up straight and turns to head to her room, a loud crash followed by a stream of expletives stops her in her track. Spinning in the direction of the kitchen, Katrina rushes over to the next room only to find pans and silverware scattered on the floor, knocked over spices, and a panicked Aurora Emery wiping vigorously at spilled water.

“Fuck! Damn it!”

Katrina cautiously treads into the disarray room, unsure where she should lend a hand at first.

“Aurora? Are you okay?”

“Does it look like it?!”

Katrina shoots her a pointed look. Aurora sighs dejectedly as she gets up from her knees with a drenched rag in hand and carefully moves to ring it out over the sink.

“Sorry to snap on you-- I’m pissed.”

Katrina waves her hand freely.

“It’s fine. So you want to tell me what the hell happened here?”

Katrina reached to push a pile of vegetables to the center of the counter and picked up the topple vials of spices.

“I figured after a few rounds of cooking with Sienna that I could manage a simple dinner for you all. Clearly, I should’ve known better,” she says flinging the wet towel aggressively in the sink.

Aurora leans her back against the cool surface with her shoulders low. Her hand pressed firmly against her forehead. Katrina moves delicately across the damp wooden floor and stands next to the shorter woman and lays a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it in a gentle circular motion.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s not all a bust. This is salvageable.”

Aurora looks to meet Katrina’s gaze, her eyes full of sadness.

“How? Everyone else should be home soon. I’d have thirty minutes, max and the recipe takes at least an hour and a half. Besides, I made a mess.”

Katrina looks around them again and notices things she missed when she reached the kitchen; half-peeled potatoes, vegetable oil tipped over the stovetop, opened ground meat hanging dangerously close to the edge of another counter. She walks away from Aurora and starts to gather everything up and organize them in a fashionable order.

“First thing, depending on how you see it, I have good or bad news for you.”

“And that is?”

“Jackie and Sienna are working late on-call shifts tonight and Elijah said he was gonna get drinks with Sothy.”

“That sounds like good news to you? You can just say I did all this for nothing.”

“Wrong! Look at it this way. This can be practice for next time you make dinner for us. Which will be mishap-free and everyone will be home to enjoy it. Bonus, you get a culinary lesson from yours truly.” Katrina tells her as she wipes up some spilled oil with a paper towel.

“You’re willing to help me cook?” Aurora asks shyly.

“Of course! Sienna isn’t the only chef living here. Plus I love you girl, but I don’t think it's wise to leave you alone in the kitchen too long or you’ll burn the place down.” Katrina teases.

“Shut up,” she scoffs. Rolling her eyes playfully.

“Hey, I’m not a person who frequently burns breakfast.”

“Kat, that was one time.”

Katrina looks at Aurora incredulously. The shorter woman avoids eye contact and folds her arms to her chest as she mumbles.

“Fine, only one time in this household."

“Exactly. Look I’m gonna go change real quick. You gather all the vegetables in one pile and everything else and I’ll be back in a few.”

Katrina turns to leave the kitchen and heads to her room. Not much time passed before she returns in baggy red sweatpants and old white wife-beater pulling her hair back in a high puff. Looking around the kitchen and no longer seeing a chaotic scene before her, she stands next to Aurora in front of the stove. She clasps her hands together.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Don’t worry, this is gonna be fun and really easy once you do it more often. I promise.”

“If you say so.” Aurora deadpans. Katrina grins at the woman.

“First, before we begin we have to do the most important step when you begin cooking.”

“Wash our hands?”

Katrina pauses for a moment.

“Okay, the second most important thing?”

Aurora stares at her with a blank stare. With a sly smile, Katrina darts out the kitchen briefly before returning with a beat pill and her cell phone.

“Music, duh. You’re black. You should’ve known that.”

“Whatever,” she says with a bemused smile as she pushes a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear.

Katrina sets the speaker down and turns it on. In her other hand, she scrolls down her music library until her finger pauses and presses on the screen. A blast of soulful noise fills the air as Katrina grabs a large pot and fills it with water and sets it on the stovetop to boil. She shimmies pass Aurora and tosses a potato in her hands and holds out the vegetable peeler.

“Hey sister, go, sister, soul sister. Time to peel these po-tat-toes, po-tat-toes.”

Aurora reaches to grab the peeler and begins peeling the skin off into their trash can as she watches Katrina swing her hips in time with the music.

“Patti Labelle? Really, how old are you?”

“Hey, these are classics. The designated genre to listen to when you are about to throw down in the kitchen. Besides, that’s what makes the food taste even better.”

“Ah-huh, sure.”

Katrina sticks her tongue out playfully at Aurora who giggles at her antics. Katrina smiles to herself noticing that since attending her class reunion, Aurora has opened up more to everyone, finally finding her place. She continues her dancing while cutting up bell peppers and onions. Once she got them finely chopped, she bends down into the lower cabinets to pull out a large skillet and a large loaf pan and sets both on two inactive eyes on the stove. Peering over into the steaming pot and seeing the water bubble she calls out to Aurora.

“How’s it coming, my sous chef?”

Aurora moves to stand beside Katrina and brings the potatoes over, spilling the skinless starch over the counter.

“Finished. What’s next?”

“Okay. Chop them a quarter inch and then I’ll have you drop them into the boiling water and we’ll let them cook. Then you can season the meat.”

Aurora follows Katrina’s instructions as the taller woman lightly sautéed the previously chopped veggies in an oiled saucepan. The strong aroma filters through the air and in her peripheral view, Katrina notices Aurora inhales the scent. Kat takes note of the serene and warm smile that frequents Aurora's face lately. Spooning through the cooked veggies one last time, Katrina turns off the burner and sets the skillet aside to rest. She then reaches to set the ground beef next to Aurora as she prepares the wet ingredients for the recipe. Playfully, she bumps her hips into Aurora prompting the quiet woman to retaliate the same. To her surprise, Aurora dances along with the music, dropping it low before picking it back up.

“Umm, excuse me, Ms. Emery?! You’ve been holding out, girl! Since when have you had moves like that?!”

Throwing her words earlier back at her, Aurora replies with a smirk.

“I’m black, duh.”

“Okay, Ms. Smarty-Pants. How come you can’t cook, then?”

���The same reason why you can’t braid.”

“Damn, you didn’t have to come at me so hard.”

The two women laugh and continue ribbing the other as they continue the tasks at hand. Still chuckling, Katrina grabs the stalk of asparagus and drench them with olive oil and light salt before tossing them into an oven. Once she closes the oven door, she then turns back to Aurora who is now finishing up combining the last of the previously cooked veggies with the wet ingredients and seasoned beef. In her eyes, she looks up at Katrina, questioning that she’s doing things right. With a nod, the two women press the mixture into a loaf pan and place it alongside the rest of the food cooking.

“Okay, the meatloaf and asparagus are gonna take about 35min at least and we got a good 15 before we need to check the pot--”

Katrina freezes in place as she stops talking. Right as Aurora opens her mouth to question what’s wrong, Katrina reaches for her phone and clicks repeatedly on the button on the side, increasing the volume of the music as she begins to rap along obnoxiously loud.

“It's going down, fade to blackstreet

The homies got rb, collab' creations

Bump like acne,  no doubt I put it down,

Never slouch As long as my credit can vouch

A dog couldn't catch me ass out

Tell me who can stop when dre makin' moves

Attracting honeys like a magnet

Giving 'em eargasms with my mellow accent

Still moving this flavor,With the homies blackstreet and teddy

The original rump shakers”

She bounces along with the beat, swinging her arm around Aurora. Katrina was going to continue but is cut off by Aurora's own silky voice.

“Shorty get down, good lord, baby got 'em up open all over town

Strictly biz, she don't play around, cover much ground,

Got game by the pound Getting paid is her forte, Each and every day,

True player way I can't get her out of my mind, East side to the west side 

Pushin' phat rides, it's No surprise, She got tricks in the stash

Stacking up the cash, Fast when it comes to the gas

By no means average, She's on when she's gotta have it

Baby, you're a perfect ten, I wanna get in, Can I get down,

So I can win I like the way you work it, No diggity, I got to bag it up, bag it up”

Joy lights up in Katrina’s eyes as she urges Aurora to keep going. Together, the two both belt out the song and dance with each other. They shimmy and swing their hips to the next songs in the queue being as carefree as they can be. Time seems to have barely passed before, a timer goes off. Pausing to catch their breaths and control the giggles that escape their lips, Kat reaches to silent the alarm, while Aurora pulls out the food from the oven. Not too long after, the two set down the finished meatloaf, a bowl of mashed potatoes, and a platter of baked asparagus for the table. Aurora sets down two plate sets while Katrina grabs two wine glasses in one hand and carries an opened bottle of wine to the table and sits.

“Wine?”

“Oh yes, please. Definitely needed this.”

“Even more than this feast you prepared? Because it looks and smells amazing.”

As Aurora accepts a glass of wine, Katrina pinpoints a slight blush on her cheeks as she sips.

“Please, I hardly put this together.”

“Ah ah nope. Aurora, you did the grunt work. I just did little things. You totally did this. Enjoy it-- a matter of fact, relish in your success by taking the first bites.”

Nodding, Aurora gathers a healthy serving of everything onto her plate and takes a bite. A moan of satisfaction escapes.

“Damn, you make it sound really good. Let me test it out.” Katrina fixes her plate and once she places her fork into her mouth, it immediately goes back for more.

The two ate in silence minus the music from earlier playing softly in the background. Both preoccupied with the food in front of them. After a few minutes, Aurora speaks.

“I-- I really couldn’t have done this without your help Katrina. For taking the time to spend to teach me. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

Katrina sets her fork down and takes a few sips of her wine.

“It’s nothing. I’m happy you had fun tonight because I did too. I’m more than happy to make a repeat of it if you’re up to it.”

 “I’d like that,” Aurora says with a bright smile. 

The two talk as they ate, enjoying the rest of their evening.

[naivesilver]

31, 56, 19, 78, 20, 16, 11, 12 , 10, 4, 1, 21, 36, 39. Sorry if this is too many 😅

Guys it’s NEVER too many you’re giving me the chance to talk nonstop about Sonic it’s the best thing that’s happened to me in days

also I had planned to answer them in the order you asked for but it was driving me crazy so I sorted them out thematically sorry alfhjkhljshja

I answered 1 here!

100 Sonic Questions

21.) Tell us a funny Sonic-related story.

This one comes from the depths of my very first months as a Sonic fan. Basically, I had watched Sonic X upon its first Italian release as a very very smol bean. By the time I got obsessed again in middle school, though, I had forgotten everything about it except a few shots from the Italian opening theme and ONE scene from a season three episode, where Sonic and Knuckles played chess on a spaceship and then Sonic began running around and fell into space.

The “friend” that had introduced me to the show again (not a nice person and source of about 25% of my trauma, I’m glad to say I haven’t seen her in years) didn’t believe me and accused me of lying. Repeatedly. Unkindly. For months. How could such a stupid scene be in such an amazing cartoon? I must be trying to fuck with her.

Fast forward to the end of the year. I’m minding my business and I see a Facebook message from this friend, and another, and another. I click on it wondering what she’d be going ham over, and BAM. This girl had been watching Sonic AMVs on Youtube and had caught a glimpse of that scene at the beginning of a video and was fucking losing it over the fact that WOW, I HAD BEEN TELLING THE TRUTH ALL ALONG?!

Now, you have to understand that I wasn’t the kind of kid that swore, back then. I had been brought up to think that swear words would send you to hell straight away. And while not a delicate little flower, I was much, much cuter and more proper than I am now because I couldn’t live out my butch dreams quite yet. But I needed to express all the frustration gathered in those months.

So please imagine this baby-faced, straight A student 13yo wait for her friend in front of their school and bellow at the top of her lungs “BITCH, WHAT DID I FUCKING TELL YOU?”

I still remember that scene fondly, though.

31.) Tell us a Sonic-related story that will give us feels.

Related to the experience I just mentioned, the problem I had in my first years in this fandom was that this person who had dragged me into it was obsessed with the thought that people would mock us for it. She said it was for kids, and when she got over it she gave me shit for clinging to my passion while she’d “grown up”, and she had me enjoy Sonic in secret and yelled at me for saying anything even vaguely related out loud where other people could hear us.

It got into my head so much that for a long long time I didn’t dare share anything Sonic-adjacent on any social media, long past when I’d broke away from her. I thought no one would ever take me seriously again. I felt ashamed a lot.

It got better, though. Slowly, I broke out of my shell and started interacting with this amazing fandom, and I found lots of people who didn’t give a damn about what the world thought of their passion. And I know tons of wonderful people outside the fandom, too, friends who encourage me to talk about Sonic even though they don’t know anything about it. Chats where any mention of Sonic has someone saying “wait we must tag naivesilver into this she’ll love it”. It’s - it warms my heart every day. Tumblr is a shithole, but it helped me in feeling free to do what I love in the fandom that I love most.

Thank you. To everyone that got me through that, thank you. You have no idea how helpful you’ve been to me.

19.) Favorite soundtrack

KNOCK KNOCK IT’S FUCKING KNUCKLES

20.) Least favorite soundtrack?

None I think???? There are some I don't listen to much, either because I haven't played the game or I just don't vibe with them, but there isn't any song that I particularly dislike. Almost all of them are genuine bops.

16.) (if you read fanfic) What are some fic tropes you love? Ones you hate?

FOUND FAMILY!!! Adoptive parents, siblings, friends taking care of each other, I want a shitton of fluff in my life. And kid!fic. I could read (and write!) kid!fic every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. That's why I enjoy Chaotix and Sonic Movie fics so much. Let's raise them boys well.

As for hating...I don't like high school AUs lmao I wrote one when I was younger but I never dared touch it again and I haven't read any Sonic one since 2014 at most. And most time travel fics. Sorry, Silver, I love you a fucking lot but time travel shenanigans are only funny in the two or three specific settings my mind lets me enjoy.

11.) Top five stages.

In no particular order:

-Press Garden (Mania)

-Casinopolis (Adventure)

-Casino Forest (Forces)

-Studiopolis (Mania)

Anddddd I haven't played much else so I'll have to get back to you on this ajshfkjfahlljha

12.) Worst five stages.

-IMPERIAL TOWER

-IMPERIAL TOWER

-Jesus Christ I died 78 times in that stage alone

-I'm bad at being fast and not falling off stuff and it required me to do both at the same time

-Also the Shadow DLC levels. Fuck me up a bit more will you

56.) In your opinion, what’s the weirdest thing any character has ever said?

I'm a simple girl, I see this panel and I lose my shit

10.) What do you like best about your favorite animated adaptation?

I only finished my Sonic X rewatch yesterday and I’ve been meaning to make some final comments about it (tho it’d probably be me rambling at thin air bc I doubt I can say anything that hasn’t been already said over and over and over) but the most compelling thing for me is and always will be the music.

Don’t get me wrong, what I’ve seen of the OG Japanese version had wonderful, heartfelt music, but the upbeat themes I grew up with still have me vibing day in and day out. I can dance to the Italian opening sequence at any given moment - no, you know what, here it is. Watch it and feel the serotonin drip into your veins.

(Some people will come at me for this, but I didn’t watch this show in 2019-2020 to make an in-depth analysis about it. I did it to have a dance off while Knuckles beat up some robots.)

78.) Post a scene that always gives you feels.

Sonic 06:

13yo me about to see her first ship torn apart:

4.) The last Sonic game you played is now your life. How awesome is this adventure gonna be?

Sonic Adventure - which means it’s a pretty cool life, unless it runs like SA does on my laptop and it turns slow and glitchy and grinds on my nerves even more

36.) C’mon now. How many ships do you have? :P

A FUCKING LOT my main ones are silvaze, vecpio and sonadow but I have many medium or small ones that I enjoy finding content for, like tikaze or knouge

39.) Which game is your golden standard?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not the greatest game fan as in I’ve only been actively playing for the past 2/3 years. Before that it was just gameplays on Youtube, so you should not take my opinion into any account since it’s not very informed.

However there was something about Sonic and the Black Knight that just felt...new? Peculiar? I know jack shit about the technical side of gaming but I remember being extremely pumped every time I logged in to see more of it. I'd like to feel that again, when a new game drops.