#I got rid of the office chair a while ago because it was awful and shedding chunks of plastic all over the place
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#op have you. considered an adhd diagnosis
I have actually asked about that, but all the options were super expensive, alas. but fortunately everything that's ever been wrong with me will be magically cured as soon as I finish moving and have an actual sewing room that's separate from my bedroom.
Now I shall re-add the finished pictures, since this version of the post doesn't have them!
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gothellewoods · 10 months ago
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I'm just so fucking tired of living with my mom I need to get out of here but she's gonna lose it even more and I'd feel like I was abandoning my dad but. I need to get out
A few days ago my dad asked to fucking move the end table from between two chairs to the side so he could lay across the chairs to watch TV and my mom got weirdly upset about it but she left bc she didn't like the movie. He did it anyway + put everything back after
Then the next day my dad woke up to see my mom took the table down into the garage to "get rid of it" since it was bothering him so much. And she took his instruments from the living room down into his office too to get his stuff out of there? Just on principle idk?
And then my mom woke me up that day just fucking screaming at my dad. Why? Because according to her he was talking her he wanted to get rid of the table. And when he said "that's not true, I only wanted to move it out of the way for a bit," she lost her shit. Started calling him a liar and a "monster" repeatedly, among a few other nasty names
Now she's been shutting herself in her bedroom all day every day and I don't even see if she's eating? Like at all? It's been days and idk if she's on a hunger strike. And she won't give me any clear answers when I ask if she is. Like I can't outright ask her bc that's basically asking her to freak out at my but I can ask "have you had lunch yet? Did you skip breakfast again? I'm going get some food, want anything? I just picked up some bread from the bakery, have some while its fresh! I'm going to get takeout, do you want me to pick you up anything?"
And it's always no. She won't take anything and I haven't seen her take any food on her own. And she hasn't eaten breakfast or lunch yet at 2:30pm and she doesn't want anything and she'll get her own food herself later.
She'll barely say two words to me and they're usually words that are like like, specifically designed to make me feel like im some abusive awful person locking her up and making her act as my maid. Meanwhile I'm out here begging her to stop reorganizing my room and come get lunch with me. And she's being even worse to my dad at the moment. I'm so fucking tired I don't know what to do anymore
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tsumune · 3 years ago
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haikyuu boys get glasses
features: atsumu, osamu
tags: fluff, ᵖᵉʳʰᵃᵖˢ ᵗʰᵉ ˢˡⁱᵍʰᵗᵉˢᵗ ᵃⁿᵍˢᵗ
a/n: atsumu’s part is inspired by @/zan_miya’s art on ig!
miya atsumu
atsumu is stubborn
he often stays up watching volleyball matches on his phone in the dark
you and osamu have both warned him about his habits before, but he just brushes it off
finally, it’s time for his yearly eye checkup
“this isn’t fair! why doesn’t ‘samu need glasses too!” atsumu complains while seated in the black leather chair of the optometrist’s office.
“because i don’t spend all day and night glued to my phone watching volleyball matches,” osamu replies with an exasperated side eye to his brother.
atsumu groans and slumps further down his chair. the optometrist, bless him for putting up with the miya twins, tells him he can go and pick out a pair of glasses when he’s ready.
“help me pick a good pair, ‘samu.”
osamu snickers to himself as he picks out the tackiest pair he can find: thick, bright orange frames.
“wow, these aren’t bad,” atsumu says as he takes and examines them. osamu is about to shoot his brother a disgusted look when atsumu whacks him over the head.
“take this seriously! this has to fit well with my public image. i’ll treat ya to a meal if you find a better pair than me.”
of course atsumu finds a way to make this into a competition, but osamu knows he’s just as competitive and they begin searching the racks in earnest. finally, osamu comes across a pair that are genuinely pretty good.
“those don’t look half bad on ya, ‘tsumu.”
“really? then ya should wear a pair with me!”
“no.”
“aw come on-“ osamu walks off in the middle of atsumu’s unconvincing whining and starts heading for the front desk, atsumu trailing behind dejectedly.
-
“babe! what’s taking you so long to get ready?” you call out to your boyfriend in the bathroom. atsumu gives a muffled “i’ll be done soon!”, but he doesn’t move just yet. he stares at his reflection, black frames sitting comfortably on his face. atsumu has always cared about his appearance, so while he doesn’t love the idea of having to wear something he didn’t choose to willingly, he admits the pair osamu chose isn’t all that bad. now he’s just worried about whether you’ll like it or not. he thinks the glasses make him look more dorky. are you into that? well, only one way to find. atsumu gives one last sigh and lightly slaps both sides of his cheeks.
“took you long enoug-“ your words are cut off as you stare at the blonde in front of you, eyes shyly cast downward and a faint pink blush dusting his cheeks. neither of you move nor speak for what seems like minutes. atsumu shifts uncomfortably in his spot, too intimidated by the silence to look for your reaction. but he can feel your stare boring into him, and it withers his confidence more and more, until eventually he can’t stand it anymore.
“does it look that bad!”
“you look so adorable!”
the two of you yell at each other at the same time, and are both taken aback by the other’s exclamation.
“you think so?”
“what, why would it look bad!”
atsumu’s blush deepens as you suddenly move up flush against him, your head tilted up to look into his eyes.
“‘tsumu, you really look so cute, they suit you so much.”
no way. how can you be so cute and sincere while saying that? atsumu feels like he can melt into a puddle, but he doesn’t want to let you realize your effect on him, so he feigns confidence.
“yeah, i knew they’d look good on me.”
you snicker softly at your boyfriend’s pride, and pretend as if you didn’t just hear his insecure words or see his clearly nervous stance as he waited for your approval. you grin.
“well then, why don’t we go see a movie after dinner tonight? you’ll actually be able to see the screen this time.” you tease.
“hey, i could see the screen perfectly fine last time.”
“really? then tell me, what was the demon slayer movie about?”
“...a slayer...slaying demons.”
“you were blind as a bat.”
miya osamu
osamu is often staring at bills and budgets all day for his restaurant
you have a feeling his eyesight is worsening because he always asks you for help finding things
he wonders where his calculator is when it’s right next to him, or drops a pen and loses it forever
one time as you walked towards the meeting place for a date he didn’t wave until you were a few feet away from him because he didn’t recognize you
so you finally force him to go to the eye doctor and he gets a pair of glasses
“hey osamu- woah.” a regular enters onigiri miya and is stunned for a few moments as he looks at the shop owner.
osamu glances up at him and smiles. “the regular?”
“yeah. when’d you get glasses? it doesn’t really suit you,” the customer says as he sits himself down. osamu furrows his brows but decides to brush off the comment.
“just a few days ago, i’ve been having vision problems for a while.” the customer hums in response and osamu gets to work on his order.
for the rest of the day, more regulars filter in and out, some seeing osamu since he got his new glasses for the first time. some of them make comments, such as ‘well that’s new’ or ‘you look different’, and osamu can’t help but think on the negative side. sure, they probably didn’t mean anything bad, and osamu didn’t think he’d be one to care so much about others’ opinions, but for some reason they got to him more than usual. he stares at his reflection in the bathroom mirror on his break, and slowly removes his glasses.
-
that night, you hear yelling from osamu’s home office again.
“y/n, have you seen my calculator?”
that’s a question you haven’t heard in a while. you walk in to find osamu bent under his desk, looking around and feeling the ground. when he comes back up, you realize why he couldn’t find it.
“baby, why did you take your glasses off?”
“they were giving me a headache. just help me find my calculator,” osamu says quickly, but you don’t buy his lie. the glasses fit perfectly fine before, and he even mused about how it’s amazing he can see every little detail now (he pointed out a pimple on your face and you wanted to smack him).
“no. i’m not helping you until you tell me why you took your glasses off. or you can just put them back on and find it yourself.”
osamu sighs in defeat, and a small pout paints his face.
“some of the regulars said they don’t suit me...”
you stare at osamu, and then spot his glasses on the table beside him. you pick them up and slowly slip them over his eyes.
osamu looks up at you like a hurt puppy, and you feel your heart melt.
“don’t listen to them. you’re the prettiest boy in the world, glasses or not.” you place small kisses all over osamu’s face, watching as his expression brightens. he laughs when you don’t stop, complaining that it tickles, and you take in osamu’s face, the way his smile lifts his cheekbones and his eyes twinkle in laughter.
“there’s my pretty boy,” you say solemnly, hand patting osamu’s head. before he can react, you pull out your phone and take a picture, turning it around to show him. you zoom into his face and point out everything you love about it while osamu feigns protest.
“i love the way your lips sit in a small cute pout, but curl up when you’re happy. i love your nose, and how it scrunches up when you get cold. i love your well-kempt eyebrows, and how you pretend you hate me plucking them but you really love it,” osamu shakes his head playfully, but a smile is playing on his lips as he pulls you down to sit on his lap.
“but most of all, i love your eyes. i love how i can clearly see them through your glasses, how the silver frames highlight their colour even more, and how i know that you can clearly see the world and all it has to offer through them too. i hope you can see how truly beautiful you are.”
osamu stares into your eyes and feels like he’s drowning in their sincerity. he can feel tears threaten to come up, and he blinks quickly to get rid of them. looking at the picture of himself on your phone, he decides he does look pretty good.
“ah, i found my calculator,” he says as he reaches behind you. “thanks for helping me,” his eyes shift to the side, and you understand what he means.
“anytime,” you reply with another kiss to his cheek.
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vukovich · 1 year ago
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Chapter Fifty-one
Harry’s the only one in his office not crying.
“Five years, Ron!”  Hermione’s bent at the waist, so she can yell directly into Ron’s face.  “Five fucking years, I stayed home with the kids.  Five years of diapers and spit-up and listening to you whine about fieldwork while you didn’t-
Harry cried all day yesterday.  And the day before.  Maybe longer.
“-know a thing about what I did all day.  I knew more about your job than you knew about mine, and my job was your fucking children!”
She takes a breath to reload, and so does Ron, and then so does Harry. At first, he'd worried that if his office was under audio surveillance that Ron or Hermione wouldn't want to argue in here. But they'd been fighting enough in the Atrium in front of the lunch crowd, so privacy apparently wasn't a concern.
“And for five fucking years, I had to hear about how all you ever wanted was an Internal position, so you-”
Harry can’t care.  It feels like he never has cared, really.
“-could spend more time with your kids.  And now the absolute fucking minute you get a foot out the door, you’re off on a goddamned suicide mission?!”
Ron holds up a hand, but that just infuriates her.
Harry can’t remember the last time they were happy together.  Everything before now feels a little fuzzy.  Distant, as though sighted through a telescope he can’t quite focus.
They put him on Atrium duty last week.
Harry blinks.  It’s been more than a few days, then.
“They”, whoever “they” were, but were most definitely Junior Mugwump Granger, gave him Ron’s vacant position.  Harry had brought his own, personal vacancy with him behind his eyes.
Sometimes, he wondered if Draco had hexed him when he took his collar back.  Other times, he questioned whether any of it had really happened.
Sometimes, he wondered if the scar on his scalp went down to the bone.  And sometimes, he wondered if just anyone could get in that way.
But mostly, he stood at the side gate of the Atrium, the one used mostly by foreign diplomats, and ran security checks that a stoned nineteen-year-old Auror trainee could do.
Last week, so maybe the vineyard had been several weeks ago, a delegate from the Tridevyatoe Tsarstvo had come through.  Harry had noticed his gold chain first.  And his wandering eyes second.
Ron is standing.  “You didn’t even want kids when we got married!”
“Because I had to finish raising you first!”
There’s a dusty file in Harry’s desk drawer with pictures of Draco in it.  He hasn’t seen them, but he assumes that if he opens the folder - when he opens the folder - that there will be a picture of Draco paperclipped to the inside.
It’d be on the left-hand side, and it’d be circled in red marker.  And he’d look smug, like he did back then.  Not like he does now.  He was an arrogant braggart then, but now he’d made good on it.
Because of him, a divorce was unfolding over lunch break in Harry’s office.  None of them had bothered to bring food.
Hermione said she ate.  Ron said he wasn’t hungry.  Harry vaguely remembered stealing Ron’s bacon at the diner sometime recently.
Eventually, he’ll read the file.  Maybe there won’t be a picture of Draco inside.  The Ministry was probably grateful to be rid of Lucius Malfoy, so they wouldn’t have investigated very thoroughly.  Maybe Draco was only a suspect because they’d lazily made a list of people who’d been in the Manor at the time, decided they didn’t care, and tucked the file away.
From what Harry remembers, the file wasn’t very thick.  And there hadn’t been any paper clips that he’d noticed.
The file snaps shut, and Harry startles.  It was his office door.  It slams so hard that it bounces back before it can latch.
Ron slumps into his chair and blows out a long, low whistle.  He looks like he just got laid, and it’s disgusting.
“Maybe you had the right idea,” Ron says.  He pulls a cigarette out of his pocket and lights it.  “Women are something awful.”
And Draco was right, it turns out.
There are definitely ears in the walls.  
At exactly 5 PM, when Harry walks past the newsstand on the way to his flat, there’s a special edition of The Daily Prophet.  He doesn’t stop to read it.  The headline is big enough that he can see it from a distance.
GOLDEN BOY INTO BOYS?
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24K9
A daily(?) kinktober 2023 fic. Will post to AO3 on American Thanksgiving, 2023.
Harry is a K9 unit Auror. Draco is the Ministry Kennelmaster. How could that possibly lead to anything?
Tags: collaring, top Draco, sensual pet play, touch starved Harry, bathing, shaving, rescue dog feels, other tags TBA, maybe dark draco ending?, maybe werewolves?, definitely coming untouched though, just blasting rope man
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Chapter One
“I assure you, Auror Potter,” drawled the Patronus, speaking even before it found its full form, “there is nothing wrong with your partner.”
Malfoy’s tone was patronising, as though he were telling Harry that the monsters under his bed weren’t real, and to go back to sleep.
Next to Harry’s desk, his ‘partner’ had managed to catch his tail and was currently gnawing on it with nothing short of ardour.  K9 Auror Wurst, aka RottWurst, clamped down on his fluffy tail so hard, Harry swore he heard a crunch.
The bright fog condensed into a direwolf the size of a modest pony.  It was the perfect symbol for Draco Malfoy.  A pale, leggy, sharp-toothed relic of another time.
“And I assure you,” Harry spat, “Kennelmaster Malfoy, that this mutt’s fucking touched in the head.”
The mutt in question was eighty-plus pounds of Rottweiler-poodle abomination.  He looked like a St Bernard had dug into an avalanche, missed the humans, and hit a thousand-volt power line instead.  The curly white fur on his belly was caked with mud, and his brown muzzle still had bits of grass clippings on it.  The rest of him was black, save his brown eyebrows and speckled ears.
“He keeps alerting to sex magic, not dark magic.  It’s fucking embarrassing.  Dragged me across Hyde Park.  I had to use a Confundus on him to get him back to the office.”
The direwolf was so still that Harry blinked twice to make sure the shape wasn’t burned into his retinas.  It was a bloody showboat of a Patronus.
It was so bright that it brought out the dinginess of Harry’s office.  The yellow carpet had a pale brown trail between the door and Harry’s desk chair.  The corners of the ceiling had cobwebs, and the baseboards held an unhealthy amount of dust.
The fresh dog piss on the floor didn’t help things.
“I mean, he’s not worthless,” Harry added.  “But Robards said he can’t reassign him to Vice.  That he doesn’t have that authority.  So it must be you who has to do it.”
It was a little risky to bypass Robards the way he had, contacting Malfoy directly.  He probably should have made an appointment with his assistant or something.
But he’d been angry, so he’d pulled an interdepartmental priority Howler out of his desk and sent it.
There was probably a DMLE protocol for contacting a member of the Wizengamot.  There was a DMLE protocol for everything but wiping his arse.  Actually, they probably had one for that, too.
Harry blinked again.  His eyes were dry.  He was on hour seven of a twelve-hour shift.  After this, he’d get another coffee.
The direwolf shifted its weight, then leaned back, hindquarters high, in a deep stretch.  Its paws spread out in front of it.
Harry wondered if Malfoy was actually stretching.  And what that might look like.
It’d been years since he’d seen Malfoy in person.  Just in the papers, and only in the background of Wizengamot photos.  He’d been called to his Wizengamot seat the day after his thirtieth birthday, having met the minimum age.  They hadn’t called Hermione to hers until she was thirty-two.  She’d die mad about that.
The direwolf laid down, then yawned.
Harry yawned.
Wurst yawned.  Then farted.
Harry thought to check the time.  2:30 AM, according to his wristwatch.  He’d been on the clock for fourteen hours.  Not seven.
“Shit,” Harry said.
He’d woken a member of the Wizengamot at 2:30 AM.  And an important one.  
The direwolf sighed and tucked its muzzle under its paw.  Harry held his breath.  Maybe Malfoy would fall asleep.
Maybe he’d doze off, and he’d think he dreamt he got a Howler in the middle of the night from a burnout beat cop at least six rungs below him.  Maybe.
The direwolf sighed again, then drifted away like will-o'-the-wisps on the wind.
Maybe Malfoy wouldn’t report this.
Maybe.
Maybe Robards wouldn’t kill him.
He drummed his fingers on his desk.  If he did get written up, it’d be his sixth this year.  Two of them were for failing to meet dress code, but the shaving regulations were stupid, and the hygiene one was just weird.
Still.  
Wurst looked at him.  He looked at Wurst.
Nothing would happen.  His talk with Malfoy had only lasted a few seconds.  He’d think it was a dream.
It would be fine.
“It’ll be fine,” Harry told Wurst, ignoring the sweat on his palms.
Wurst’s nostrils flared, and then an ivory envelope slid under the door.  It sat on the grimy carpet for a moment, then folded itself into a swan.  With a few wingbeats, it landed on Harry’s desk and unfolded itself.
Inside was a business card.
Draco L Malfoy Wizengamot Member, Kennelmaster Warminster BA13 4SH UK
“Shit,” Harry said.
He flipped the card over.  On the back was an appointment date and time.  Tomorrow.
“Fuck.”
Robards was going to kill him.
--
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anika-ann · 4 years ago
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Words Whispered in the Dark
Type: Modern-college-professor AU - part of Attached series or a standalone
Pairing: professor!Steve Rogers x reader   Word count: 6250🙈
Summary: There are things, intimate desires, which people simply don’t want to talk about out loud. Since you prefer writing those down, it applies twice as much. 
Steve supports your writing – but what he’d think about your newest story… well, you’re not sure you wanted to know.
Warnings: 18+, nsfw, smut, bondage, oral (M rec), consensual sensory deprivation, praise kink & body worship, ‘babygirl’, fingering, dom/sub undertones & implied age gap & professor-student dynamic & cumplay if you squint, language ---- (let me know if I missed any…why is the list so long wtf)
A/N: Can be read as a standalone. Part of the Attached ‘verse with professor!Steve.
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A/N: For Siri’s 5K Soft Dark Challenge. Congratulations to the rightfully earned milestone ❤️ Thank you for hosting the challenge and kindly including even soft fics (even though I feel like my soft got lost in translation a bit).
Prompt: “Oh, honey, you weren’t supposed to see that.” - bold in the text, pls don’t @ me for the way I used it.
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Stepping back into your and Steve’s shared bedroom and study room in one, you froze on spot, heart leaping to your throat.
You were lucky you didn’t drop your coffee and snack upon the sight of him, your fingers gripping the items tighter in surprise instead. But fuck, was it a close call.
Because few minutes ago, you moved to the kitchen to grab some refreshments for your brain. Relaxed air had settled over your tiny but loving household on a late Sunday morning; Steve was chilling on the bed, while you sat by your desk, laptop in your lap as your fingers danced over the keyboard, putting into words your latest… uhm, story. It was going great too and being able to steal glances at your gorgeous fiancé and muse in one person was a pleasant bonus.
Steve was, as sheepish as it sometimes made you, well-acquainted with your passion for writing, even rooting for you in his fully-supportive partner mode at all times. He read a few things of yours, both dirty and sweet ones, and he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. You weren’t hiding things from him, never had to; and damn, did it feel good for both of you.
So technically, you knew there was a chance you’d find him behind your desk, eyes skimming over your words since you left the computer opened, just like the document, but… well.
Nothing could prepare you for the sight on him actually doing it, shoulders tense, Adam’s apple bobbing, breathing shaky as his chest kept rising and falling irregularly.
Your own breath hitched at the sight, face feeling like set aflame, pulse hammering in your temples.
Oh no. Oh shit. This wasn’t happening--
Truth was, you really had no problem sharing your stories with Steve. But this one… well, fuck. You were so fucking screwed.
“Oh---oh honey,” you stuttered, the endearment you rarely used tasting foreign on your tongue. That was how out of it you were upon realizing what was happening here.
Steve was reading it. Steve was reading that thing. That shameless, entirely dubious thing that--- this was bad. Bad, bad, bad, really fucking bad—he hadn’t run for the hills before, no matter how filthy your stories got, but now he certainly would.
Steve’s head snapped to you at instant, cheeks flushed, eyes wide as he was caught red-handed.
“You- uh, you weren’t supposed to… see that,” you stuttered awkwardly, still unable to move an inch.
Maybe you should run for the hills just so you wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath?
He didn’t react apart from spinning in the chair to face you, throat working again as his gaze trailed up and down your figure clad in a simple shirt and shorts, fluffy socks to keep your feet warm. Despite your plain outfit, his gaze burned with intensity and dare to say hunger, enough to stir heat in your belly.
Realizing this might be the last time you’d ever see him (okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, maybe, but better safe than sorry), you let yourself to take him in as well, again, even if you knew every line of his body, every detail. The cut of his jaw, tendons in his throat tense as well as his shoulders, long fingers griping the armrests, legs slightly parted, accenting the unmistakable growing bulge between them.
Your heart skipped a startled and excited beat. Oh. Well. At least he liked what he read, you supposed, even if all bells in your head were ringing it alarm, because… that. That kind of story would be a little too much for him, you had thought.
Was it?
“Come here,” he whispered, voice hoarse as if he had just woken up, the same voice that caressed your ear as he rutted into you, in the lazy loving which so perfectly fit a morning like this.
Willing your feet to move, teeth sunk into your lower lip, your fluffy socks padded almost soundlessly against the floor as you obeyed his request.
He gestured for you to rid yourself of the items in your hands; once again, you obliged.
The second your hands were free, he grabbed your wrist, pulling you in for a dirty kiss, fingers sinking into your hair to keep you exactly where he wanted you. Sighing in relief, you relaxed into his affection and he wasted no time licking into your mouth, his free hand gripping onto your shirt (his shirt) to drag you into his lap.
A hazardous position in an office chair, one might think. But you had a lot of practice with your favourite professor.
Sliding lower in the seat and pulling you up, Steve positioned you to his liking, drawing an appreciative hum from you as his erection rubbed deliciously against your core. You felt him smile into the kiss at the little sound you made, his fingers digging into your flesh in order to press you into him further, rutting against your quickly dampening centre.
Okay, who were you kidding. You had been writing down your filthy fantasy, you were already soaked, Steve’s movements and apparent enthusiasm just adding to the heat. A whine escaped your lips when he withdrew a fraction, giving you a chance to breathe, hand slipping under your shorts to fondle your lower cheek.
“Well, I did see it, sweetheart,” Steve said lowly, a little too short of breath for the teasing to work in his favour. Still, your stomach twisted in anticipation of what was to follow. “And I want it.”
Your eyes snapped open, your lips parting in awe, butterflies erupting in your stomach. You met his eyes, dark pupils having almost swallowed the blue of his irises, gaze intent to prove his point. Fuck. You could come right now if he kept you sitting exactly as you were and watching you like that.
It was one thing to see him react to your fantasy laid bare for him to see – voluntarily or not – but him admitting it out loud, well that was just a whole new fucking level.
Now the idea of that actually being doable was planted in our brain and your core clenched at the wistful image you had painted with your words.
It took you another minute of staring at each other to realize what exactly he was saying without explicitly voicing it.
“Wait, right now?” you blurted out breathlessly, a single nod and a kiss to the corner of your mouth your only answer.
Fuck. Shit. Okay.
“A-alright. Let’s do this then,” you stuttered, as thrilled as nervous.
You didn’t expect that – but you weren’t one to let the opportunity pass. You framed Steve’s face with your palms, his beard rough against your skin, and pressed your lips to his in a hurried kiss, eager to get him where you needed him before he changed his mind. Last grind of your hips, swallowing his content hum, you climbed from his lap to search for something that would hold.
“Bed. Now.”
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Your fingers were shaking a bit under his intent gaze as they slipped under his t-shirt, pulling it over his head. Steve was sitting on the bed now, legs parted enough for you to stand between them, watching our every move. You didn’t think you’d ever get used to the way he was looking at you – so tender, with longing and yet with such lust.
It lit your nerves on fire in the worst and best ways and that was alright with you, as long as you’d get to keep him.
He smiled at you softly, a little quirk to his eyebrow when he caught you staring and not springing into action just yet.
“What is it, babygirl?”
His hands trailing up your waist made it harder to answer.
You sighed, feeling your earlier confidence wavering. “You’re just so fucking pretty, it’s unreal.”
His lips curled up in a smirk, but the light in his eyes gave away just how much the compliment meant for him. He pulled you closer, a breathy kiss landing on your clothed stomach.
“That coming from you… could look at you all day, you must already know that,” he murmured to your shirt, sending a sparkle of courage up your chest.
You ruffled his hair and pushed him away with a chuckle, mirroring his previous smirk.
“Well, you won’t, not this time,” you sing-sang cheekily, stepping over his thigh to kneel on the bed behind him, hearing his breath catch, his hand brushing your thigh as you danced out of his reach.
Placing the scarf over his forehead first, you felt your insides twist in anticipation, fingertips tingling. God, you were really doing this.
“You ready, Professor Rogers?” you hummed to his ear, marvelling at the effect the title had on him, always, as his hands clenched into fists on his thighs.
“When you say it like that, babygirl? Yes, I am,” he grumbled, causing you to bit down on your lip.
Making sure you didn’t tie the knot too tight nor too loose, you moved the fabric so it would cover his eyes.
“Good?”
“Uh-huh,” was his wordless answer as you let your hands slid to his bare shoulders.
Steve was undoubtedly a specimen. He was every male-attracted person’s wet dream and you were the one getting your hands on him.  You thanked heaven and hell for it every day. The barely visible lines of his abs, toned chest… but Christ, it was his back that would be your downfall.
Allowing your hands to wander, your fingertips traced the hard lines of his deltoids, a featherlight touch making him shudder and your mouth to actually salivate. Dropping a kiss between his shoulder blades, you scooted closer so you were literally breathing down his neck, palms sprawled over his triceps, caressing his thick biceps, down his forearms and over his fists and all the way back up.
It was almost like a beginning of a massage, you supposed, but no one could blame you if you were enjoying the sensation on your palms a little too much. You didn’t get the opportunity to appreciate Steve’s physique like this often enough. So you indulged yourself a few more times, applying more pressure, dropping a kiss to the crook of his neck every once in a while. He winced at the accidental scrape of your nails up his forearm, causing you to halt in your movements.
“You still good?” you questioned quietly, genuinely worried for a second. You realized he had barely made a sound so far.
“You could say that, yeah,” he choked out you felt your lips curl up into a smile. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, you took notice of the unmistakable hard outline on his sweatpants and gleefully resumed your movements, nibbling on his shoulder before soothing the skin with a gentle lick. “Babygirl…”
“Yeah?”
“You know what. Don’t test me,” he warned, only making you smile wider.
“Or what?”
He turned his head to side despite not being able to see you, giving you a perfect view of how tense was his jaw. Oh, you could imagine the stern look he wanted to scold you with.
“Or you’re not gonna like what’s to come when I put my hands on you,” he threatened, sighing exasperatedly when you replied with a barely audible ‘promise?’.
“In all seriousness though… what if you… uhm, couldn’t?” you asked reluctantly, not keen on sharing what you wanted… but wanting it really badly. You were sensing a pattern within yourself, seriously.
“I don’t follow---  oh,” escaped him soundlessly as your fingers attempted to wrap around his wrists and squeezed to give him a hint. “I don’t know about that, I mean-“
You felt your hear sink in disappointment, but you tried not to let it show, wondering how to try to convince him one more time. Sure, if it was a no-no, then you wouldn’t force him, he never forced you into anything either and this was about your mutual pleasure, but… now, having him partially at your mercy, the idea nudged insistently on your mind and the image of him with his hands tied above his head while you could do anything you pleased… you might have been soaking the shorts and the sheets at that.
“We don’t have to, Steve,” you assured him kindly, hundred percent honest despite planning on playing dirty. Your hands moved to his abdomen, caressing their way up his chest, accidently brushing over his left nipple, your lips moving to his ear. “But I’d be so good to you…”
“Babygirl,” he whispered, out of breath as your hand wandered down his happy trail, slipping just under the hem of his sweats, the fingers of your other hand moving to the neglected nipple, this time shamelessly toying with it.
“I’d be such a good girl for you, Professor Rogers,” you promised, keeping the smile off your voice when you heard him gulp, his cock visibly twitching. “I’d be really, really nice. Don’t you want that, Professor?”
“Y-yeah, yeah, okay-“
“Good choice,” you said approvingly, dropping a kiss to his cheek, making him groan and probably regret his decision already. You stood up, quickly looking for something you could use. “Just so you know, I think this is where the same rule applies,” you noted matter-of-factly. “You don’t like something I do, you want me to stop at any point, you tell me. I really want this to be good for you, Steve. So. What’s the word?”
From the front, you could see the blush that spread over his chest, causing you to bite your lip and nearly stumble over your feet. Good lord, Steve blindfolded, all flushed and waiting for you on the bed so you could do your worst--- now that was a sight to behold.
“Uhm… Waterloo?”
You bit your cheek so you wouldn’t laugh at his choice. It was cute and ridiculous... but also kinda hot, because well, Steve’s brains were just another turn-on for you. Of course he would choose something like that. Professor Steven Grant Rogers, history buff, certified hot nerd, the sweetest man to ever walk the Earth.
You pressed your lips together to prevent yourself from smiling too wide. You didn’t even know why. It wasn’t like he could see you.
“Okay. Waterloo it is,” you said, swiftly moving to the closet when another idea popped in your head.
Slipping into a new outfit before heading back, you were rather satisfied with yourself as you grabbed the two ties you found prior. Not that it would actually hold him – it was about the idea.
“You’re taking a bit long, babygirl…”
“And? You mind?” you teased him, stopping to stand in front of him. “Have some… pressing issues?”
“Keep it up, babygirl, see what happens once this is over,” he bit back, only making you chuckle at the perfect pass.
“I think there’s something else that’s up--- sorry, sorry,“ you mumbled when his hand landed blindly on your thigh.
His brows furrowed when he felt the difference.
“You changed.”
“Uh-huh.”
His hand trailed up curiously, right under your miniskirt and you let him… just until air got stuck in his throat upon finding you with nothing but the generous amount of slick covering your core.
“Fuck-“
“Nope,” you replied cheekily, even if the flicker of his finger caused you to shudder, his touch like liquid fire at this point.
Fuck, you wanted him. You wanted him right now and you wanted him to take you in every way he wanted… but the idea of him at your mercy was appealing enough for you to control yourself.
You grasped his wrist and shoved it away; he allowed it, but not without whining pitifully.
“Lie down, Steve, please. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You better,” he grunted, unwillingly moving up the bed, obediently spreading out on the sheets and letting you guide his arms up as you climbed over him and tied his wrists together.
“Not too tight?”
He shook his head, a smirk crossing over his lips. You rolled your eyes at the double meaning, but you guessed it served you right.
Oh, but would you wipe that smirk off…
Securing the knot, you shifted to be face to face with him, lips hovering just above his mouth, breathing the same air and hoping to begin the sweet torture.
You had to admire his patience; despite definitely noticing your positions, Steve didn’t move an inch. It was up to you then – and the premise sent another thrill through your veins. Oh, you’d break him in the most delicious ways.
As soon as you erased the distance, his lips sunk into yours hungrily, wet and soft in the contrast to his beard, the sensation you adored, having you squirming above him until you remembered again that you were the one in control.
You kissed him with vigour, licking into his mouth, one hand still where his were joined, the other pressing against his chest. Your tongue met his, revelling at his taste and at another of his tries to dominate the kiss, to set things as they usually were. But as much as you loved it when he took charge… not today.
Parting abruptly, his lips following on instinct, you couldn’t but grin to yourself. Kissed his fingertips, you lingered at the one still glistening with your juices. You took it to your mouth, swirling your tongue around it and sucking lightly, feeling Steve’s heart speed up under your palm like crazy.
When you lightly grazed the skin with your teeth, his groan and the way his hips thrusted upward was the best reward you could get.
Kissing a trail down his arm – because goddammit you loved his arms – you hummed to yourself contentedly whenever you could feel the slightest shift of his body under yours and greedy for more contact, you allowed yourself to put most of your weight fully on him.
The choked sound it elicited from him startled you at first – until you realized that with your skirt hiked up, you weren’t the only one enjoying the skin-on-skin contact, your slick coating Steve’s lower stomach just above his sweats. Hopefully it was giving him ideas – it was certainly was to you.
Rustle of fabric, ragged breaths, occasional smacking noise when you moved up or left a small hickey on his shoulder and above his collarbone. Your fingers toyed gently with his nipples as you kissed his sternum before replacing your hands with your mouth once more, sucking, drawing a quiet whimper from him.
Fuck couldn’t get enough of the noises he was making. The pretty breathless moans of your name, the curses slipping from his lips… it was like music, but on a desperately low volume.
“What is it you always tell me?” you teased, lamely covering for the fact that your own arousal was nearly uncontainable. Shit, you loved how sensitive his nipples were… how much more sensitive he must have been now, no visual, laser focused on every touch instead? You wanted more… so much more. “Don’t hold these pretty sounds from me?”
Steve gritted his teeth at the remark, but as soon as you positioned your heat directly over his hard length and rolled your hips, he sang for you beautifully.
“Shit, sweetheart-“
The rush of confidence, the feeling of power was almost overwhelming – the image of him, lips parted in mute pleasure, certainly was. You were a little too close to climbing your own peak a little too quickly to your liking.
Sitting up straight, you undulated your hips few times, hands tracing patterns over Steve’s rapidly rising chest and abs. Much to his obvious dislike, you all too soon slid lower, your mouth making its way down his abdomen and then you finally, finally rid him of his sweatpants and boxers in one go.
His cock sprang free, hard and red at the tip, leaking just enough to cause your mouth to water and your thighs to rub together to give yourself some of the friction you craved so much.
Hands planted on his hips, you kissed along his hip bones and the apex of his thighs, taking your sweet time exploring everything you could – except for where you suspected he wanted you the most. You had to grin for yourself when you cupped his balls, causing him to hiss in relief, the muscles of his abdomen and legs clenching beautifully.
“Talk to me, Steve,” you hummed as you replaced your hand with your tongue, licking a stripe towards his base.
“Christ- don’t stop--“
“Eloquent as always, Professor,” you retreated, causing him to let out a growly sound you never heard before and had your core tingle, cunt feeling awfully empty.
Christ was right, alright. Seeing his chest heaving, fingers twitching as if he wanted nothing but to tug at your hair to keep you there and stuff your mouth full of his cock---  if you didn’t get some soon, you might actually combust.
So you put your mouth back to work on his sack again, fingers barely curling around the base of his cock, giving a first experimental stroke before you squeezed a bit tighter – and then swiftly moved away, his hips following on instinct in, craving more.
“For fuck’s --- how did I ever think you were sweet and nice?” he complained huskily, impatience lacing his voice.
You chuckled, but heard him out, leaving his balls in order to give more attention to his impressive and possibly painfully hard length.
“Beats me,” you retorted, hands busy with gentle strokes to his shaft. “I mean, we literally got together thanks to you finding out I wrote about sucking and riding your dick right in your office, Professor Rogers.”
“You little-“
His protests died in his throat, features twisting in wordless pleasure when you finally wrapped your lips around the head of his cock, delivering a few kitten licks to the tip. His taste exploded on your tongue, eliciting a content hum which he certainly felt too, because a jerk of his hips pushed him deeper to your mouth.
Slowly swallowing as much as you could without having him hit the back of your throat, you curled your hand tighter around the base and started bobbing your head.  
A string of breathless profanities left his mouth whenever you squeezed, only getting filthier when you hollowed your cheeks. It was all encouragement you needed to take him deeper, giving him a taste of heaven as his tip brushed the back of your throat.
“Babygirl, fuck, fuck, yeah--- just like that…”
Your own arousal became unbearable, a surge of hot need squeezing your insides at Steve’s praise. Slipping a hand under your skirt, you sighed in relief when your fingers caressed your lower lips, hips bucking forward in desperate need of more.
Your predicament was impossible to solve – you wanted him inside you already, so badly, but fuck the picture Steve made, even if blurry as tears prickled your eyes whenever he hit the back of your throat, was just too divine.
Lips crimson with how he kept biting at them to keep at least a little quiet, hair sticking to his forehead, muscles drawn tight like strings as he kept clenching them both unwittingly and consciously in hope to get you where he wanted you and the fresh taste of him whenever you did something he particularly liked--- you simply had to feast your eyes on him. And he couldn’t do the same… or take charge for that matter.
So fucking pretty like this.
And you were the only one seeing him like that, tied up, helpless against the assault on his senses sans vision. He gave himself up to you like that, willingly. The thought warmed you up inside out, enough to drive you nearly as crazy as if you were in his place.
Wasting no time with preparation you didn’t need, you pushed two fingers into your core at once, whimpering around Steve’s cock when you did. Your whole body relaxed, the pent-up desire easing a little and yet burning hotter. You pumped your fingers slowly, the sensation so blissful you had to remind yourself to keep working on Steve too.
Still, your actions didn’t go unnoticed.
“Are you—are you touching yourself, babygirl?” he whispered, tongue peeking out to wet his lips.
It took you a second to swallow the baseless embarrassment and literally swallow, causing Steve to let out a moan so wrecked and pretty you felt your pussy clamp around your fingers.
Hoping your words would come out less shy than you felt when saying them, you released Steve’s length with a wet pop to tease him some more.
“Yeah, I am…. Why? You want a taste?” you asked sweetly, clearing your throat that suddenly felt so empty.
The guttural moan that erupted in Steve’s chest was music to your ears, his cock twitching and glistening with fresh beads of precum a sight to behold.
“Yeah, babygirl… give it to me,” he choked out and the genuine desire in his voice was like a punch to your solar plexus. Your walls clenched around your fingers, the familiar coil in your abdomen tightening.
Swallowing a pitiful sigh at the loss, you stretched over the warm length of Steve’s body, gulping when his own parted in invitation.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Reluctantly, you let the fingers sticky with your juices brush over Steve’s lips, gasping when his tongue instantly slid out to lick at the essence eagerly, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Fuck, always so sweet, babygirl…” he muttered, your breath stuck in your throat when his mouth blindly chased after your fingers before you could withdraw your hand.
“Oh my god-“ you choked out, mesmerized, your pussy clamping around nothing.
He sucked greedily, the image alone causing your hips to rut against his, your clit catching against his rock-hard shaft. Your eyes fluttered close in bliss, stars exploding behind your eyelids.
Unwittingly, you worked your hips faster, riding Steve’s thick cock even without having him inside. The friction, the soaked fabric of your skirt brushing against your clit, the sensation of Steve’s tongue lapping at your fingers as if he had his mouth on your pussy instead--- you felt the coil in your belly snap, the world turning white before you knew how.
You came with a broken cry, blissed out and shocked at the sudden release, but riding your pleasure out on instinct.
Grazing your fingers with his teeth as he let go, Steve spoke words so filthy our head spun.
“That’s it, babygirl. Fuck. Look how little my girl needed to come all over my cock. Using me so shamelessly.  You must have really wanted it, didn’t you…” he said, voice hoarse with a tint of smugness as you came back from your high, the dirty talk only already riling you up again.
You had no idea what just happened, but you had a feeling Steve immensely enjoyed it as he somehow got the upper hand on you despite being the one tied up.
For someone who was supposed to have all blood out of his brain and have it in his dick instead, he was way too smug… but you’d reverse it again. He had no idea what was about to hit him.
Stealing a kiss to taste ourself on his tongue, your fingers went to remove the blindfold.
Your professor was, in certain aspects, still just a simple guy – he liked a good visual. It was silly of you to rid him of it in the first place, no matter how much fun you had with it.
Steve blinked in surprise, squinting against the sudden light, while you slipped out of your bralette, leaving you in nothing but your very schoolgirl-like mini skirt. You smiled at him sweetly, kissing his mouth once more, thumb softly brushing his lips as you towered over him, nearly giving him a view of what was under the fabric.
“I always want you,” you whispered with a smile, your hand cupping your breast, gently tweaking your nipple, his gaze following the movement as his fingers twitched. You bit the inside of your cheek, hand slowly trailing down. “Want you to touch me, everywhere. Always so wet and ready for you…”
Dark eyes watched you as you slipped your fingers under the waist of the skirt, a tiny mewl escaping you when the pad of your fingers bumped into your clit.
You would have felt stupid trying to give him a show after you came after almost nothing, but the warning growl of your name once again assured you that unsexy was the last thing that came to Steve’s mind when looking at you. It warmed both your belly and your heart. You almost felt regretful for a moment that you were still keeping him hanging, neglecting his no doubt aching cock, but he thought he had the upper hand here.
He was wrong.
“Always thinking of you… even when I’m alone, always thinking about your fingers, stretching me so good, about you fucking me, so hard till I’m screaming your name,” you continued in hushed voice, revelling at how tight his jaw set, eyes narrowed, breathing once again picking up.
“Babygirl—”
“Oops, sorry,” you chipped, pecking his lips as you withdrew your hand, quickly drawing a trail of kisses down his chest and abdomen, unable to resist a lick here and there where the line of his muscles looked particularly tasty. “Just thought you’d like to see my mouth on you. You like to watch, Professor Rogers, no?”
He never got a chance to answer as you guided him to your mouth again, holding his gaze as he indeed watched, eyebrows furrowing, each breath hitching, soon chanting your name. You caressed his balls as well, tongue tracing the vein on the underside of his length, your other hand firmly around his base.
You were the first to avert his gaze as your eyes fluttered close so you could fully focus on your task, relaxing your throat.
“Babygirl--- fuck me-- I’m gonna-“
You eased up a bit, earning a frustrated growl, the corners of your lips rising a bit as you imagined the ugly glare he must have shot you.
Thinking about it, closing your eyes was a mistake.
You never saw it coming as a hand suddenly sunk into your hair, yanking you up face to face with him, alarmed eyes staring into black ones as his pupils nearly swallowed all the blue or his irises.
He had slipped out of the poorly tied bonds, clearly fed up with your shenanigans.
Ah-oh, sounded in the back of your mind.
Another part of you didn’t fail to notice that despite the swift movement and calling an end to your games, Steve’s fingers were careful not to pull too harshly, making sure he was cradling your head safely. Same when he rolled you over, trapping you under the hard lines of muscle you had been tasting a moment ago, protective cage of his arms around your head.
If you weren’t so startled, you would have swooned.
You never got the chance, because any possible sound was muffled by his mouth crashing into yours, hand slipping from your nape to your throat to keep you in place with a wordless warning, hips pressed to yours just in case you would want to escape.
You would never. Even if you had a hunch Steve was about to ruin you in a way that would have you feel it for days.
Having enough of your mouth for the moment, giving you a chance to gasp for air, he stared at you smugly, one corner of his perfectly red lips raised in a smirk.
“Wicked little thing, aren’t you?” he grunted, thumb caressing the hollow of your throat softly, causing you to gulp.
You summoned your best innocent look, doe-like eyes that usually worked. “S-sorry?”
A flicker of a smile as he forced his knee between your thighs, instantly pressing against your still sensitive core.
“I don’t think you are, babygirl,” he huffed, nosing the crook of your neck, biting down sharper than you expected, a yelp erupting from your throat. He soothed in with the pad of his thumb, smiling wide, something soft in his eyes when he looked at you again. You were so fucking baffled at what that meant. ”That perfect filthy mind of yours… and you still get a bit shy, huh?”
“W-what?”
“You know what I think, babygirl?” he whispered intimately, teeth grazing the shell of your ear. “I think that you left the document opened on purpose.”
Your rapidly beating heart stopped in your chest, wind knocked out of you completely.
Fuck.
You were so busted.
Steve had read you like a book wide open--- because of course he did.
Yes, there had been a great part of you who wished for him to see it, hoping in this exact outcome; there had been an equally great part dreading what he would think about you. Writing the story down, you were thinking a bit more with your pussy than your brain though, so you decided to leave it for Steve to read. If he went for it, maybe you’d get something from it. If he didn’t, you’d move on. No harm no fool, right?
Right. No.
Now he did know and saw right through your little trick. And damn, did he look proud of himself for figuring it out. You were in so much trouble.
Somehow, you were as horrified as excited.
Steve chuckled as you swallowed against your suddenly dry throat, eyes no doubt wide as saucers.
“Oh, you did. Too shy to ask for it, leaving that to me instead. My sneaky, needy girl,” he muttered, fondness and humour with a dark lilt in his voice.
“I—I didn’t know how-“ you stuttered, feeling your face burning in embarrassment at his tone, just a smidge patronizing.
You averted his gaze, a vain attempt really, knowing he wouldn’t let you. Slipping two fingers under your chin, he guided you to face him again.
“Didn’t know how… hmm… so you thought you’d play me? That’s really naughty, sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry… Professor Rogers,” you added quickly in hopes to mollify him, indeed earning a sweet kiss.
“Oh, it’s okay, babygirl. You know why?” he tested you and you could only shake your head lightly, guessing at best what kind of revenge awaited you. “Because you’re my good girl and you’ll let me settle the score. I’ll play with you now. It’s only fair, no?”
Oh fuck, here it came.
For a brief second, his lust-filled eyes appeared startingly clear and sober, boring into yours with a serious question.
It’s only fair, no? he had said.
It’s alright with you if the roles reverse, right? was what he was truly asking, checking, always checking if you were okay, just like you had been checking with him.
Because sex was fun, but only if all parties were on board.
Because Steve was sweet, considerate, soft and loving and he was everything you ever looked for in a man and more. You trusted him. You always did and you trusted him now – he would make you feel so so good. It was never really a question.
“Y—yes, it is.”
“Good girl,” he praised you, causing your core to weep. And he knew it, oh did he know and shamelessly used it against you... a little payback to all the professor you’d been throwing around. “Close your eyes.”
And you did. The blindfold came first, then hands, his fingers skimming over your forearms teasingly, feather-light touch on your sensitive skin, before he finally brought them up and tied them together.
“You ready, sweetheart?”
No, you were absolutely not ready, but your body was buzzing with desire again at that point, so you breathed a soft yes. And maybe, just maybe… no matter how you had enjoyed driving him crazy, cheeky and full of feeling of power, this felt like home. Because you trusted him – and so you gave yourself to him wholly.
He hummed in contentment as you confirmed, causing you shiver as he nosed the skin under your ear. “Good. Because I’m going to wreck you for that little stunt of yours.”
His words tickled the sensitive skin and shit, okay, your nerve endings were tingling, the sensation amplified tenfold with your eyes covered. Steve really was going to wreck you.
Mouth moving to your breast, he took the nipple in his mouth, shifting so the head of his cock nudged at your weeping opening, pushing just a bit with a promise of a delicious stretch, almost, almost there.
“Please,” was all you managed to breathe out, growing impatient, hissing when gave a playful bite to the underside of your breast, sending a surge of arousal through your veins. You back arched, a mewl escaping your when Steve moved his hips away completely, denying you.
“And you’re gonna take it, aren’t you?” he muttered to your skin, lips trailing lower and lower, warm and soft, beard leaving behind a delicious burn.
“Y- yes.”
“Good girl. And what else are you going to do? Tell me,” he encouraged you, large palms pushing your thighs apart so he could fit the insanely broad shoulders between them.
Mind foggy with need, senses overwhelmed, you still had enough wits to understand what he wanted to hear.
“Thank you,” you breathed out.
“Damn straight.” His words were a damp hot blow of air against your mound, causing your hips to jolt as if your body was begging to be taken apart by him already – blissfully aware of how he would put it back together again.
And with an inevitable scratch to your lower lips and a kitten lick to your swollen bud for starters, Steve did.
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I sincerely apologize for twisting the prompt and not even being able to write a soft enough fic the one time I’m supposed to.
But I hope you enjoyed anyway.  I mean, if you made it to the end…
Thank you for reading :-*
Your Anika I’m-Not-a-Smut-Writer Ann
P.S. Fic loosely relates to one of the reblogs of this series: “You know one good thing about being an erotic writer is - you don’t have to talk about your embarrassing kinks. You want to tie your boyfriend up? You just email him a story about it 'subtly’ hinting at it.” Close enough?
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kassies-take · 4 years ago
Text
If You activated the Werewolf curse after saving Lena Luthor from an assassination attempt
A/n: A TVD and Supergirl crossover. This can be read as its own but for a greater understanding of the situation: Saving Kara
You: Hey Jess *looks at phone, walks past Jess's desk, doubles back*
Jess: *unconscious on the floor*
You: *rushes to Jess, checks pulse, sighs in relief* Mom! *rushes into Lena's office and pulls out collapsible knife*
Office: *trashed*
Lena: *chained to her chair*
You: *throws knife past assassin's head*
Assassin: *chuckles* oh ho. you must be the daughter. I suggest no sudden movements, while we are waiting for the whole *mocks* I need the access codes from Lena Luthor, can I make you a drink *pours whiskey into a cup*
Lena: (Y/n) it's okay I can handle it
Assassin: You should really listen to your mother.
You: you think she's going to give you the access codes chained to a chair.
Assassin: *sips* yeah. She's the monster here after all.
You: she's not a monster
Assassin: agree to disagree *throws glass at you*
You: *rolls out of the way, pulls belt out from loops, and extends to make a sword.*
Assassin: *pulls the knife from the wall* can I ask you a question. Are you trying to fit in someone else's shoe because something is missing here *swings knife around* oh I got it, there isn't any blood
You and Assassin: *fights*
Assassin: *gains the upper hand*
Lena: *breaks the chains*
You and Assassin: *gets distracted*
You: *power side kicks*
Assassin: *groans and clutched stomach*
You: *leg swipes*
Assassin: *falls on his neck and it snaps*
Lena: *stares at the dead body*
You: *runs to Lena* are you okay? How, how did you get out of that? *checks her body* are you okay? Mom? *creases eyebrows together, chokes, and groans*
Lena: (Y/n)
You: *kneels in pain* what is happening to me *groans, pants, and eyes turn gold*
Lena: *kneels and hugs you* it's going to be okay baby. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. *signals for Kara*
~~~~~
-Tower-
Superfriends: *sits around*
Kara: *wraps her arms around you*
You: *poker face*
Lena: (Y/n), triggered the werewolf curse
Jamie: the what curse?
Lena: *sighs, looks at J'onn and Brainy*
J'onn and Brainy: *nods*
Lena: the werewolf curse runs in our blood. It is triggered by taking the life of a human, intentionally or accidentally. Every full moon we involuntary and unwillingly transform into hostile wolves.
Lucas: we've seen you on full moons
Lena: I wear a moonlight ring, as long as I wear the ring I can control my transformations.
Liam: did you know? *looks at Kara*
Kara: when we considered having kids, Lena was reluctant. She told me then, we were always very careful so you guys wouldn't trigger it. Then Lucas killed one of the Cadmus agents 5 years ago and it didn't trigger it.
Lena: Because I had the ring and there was no way for you guys to trigger it, we kept it from you... I was scared.
Brainy: Kara's Kryptonian genetics is blocking the werewolf gene.
You: *quietly* That's why you didn't want us to get rid of our powers for Jeju
Liam & Lucas: and why you didn't want us to use our powers
Supercorp: *nods*
Lena: anger is a strong emotion among our kind.
Lucas: I just always assumed that was a Luthor thing.
Lena: Believe me I wouldn't be a surprise if it was a Luthor thing. My eyes turn gold whenever I am angry or scared.
You: How did we never notice before?
Lena: *smiles* you guys were always a lot more interested with your Kryptonian side than you were with the human side.
Liam: what about investors, shitty businessmen, and just downright awful people.
Lena: normally just look away and calm myself down.
You: are there any perks to being a werewolf
Lena: We have access to super speed, super strength, enhanced agility, durability, regenerative abilities, and enhance senses. These are all accessible after the curse is triggered, in human form and in wolf form where these powers are stronger.
You: I’m sorry there’s more of us?
Lena: when I was trying to figure out this wolf stuff more, I ran into a couple of packs on the east coast. Met my friend Hayley, she helped me understand more about myself and in return, I helped her with a wolf problem in Mystic Falls. I wanted out of the Supernatural World and Hayley gave me the only Moonlight Ring we knew of. Haven't been back since.
Nia: Says the girl who married an alien, has half-alien children, and a friend group that is 70% not human.
Jamie: Is this on the Luthor side?
Lena: Oh god no! Can you imagine what Lex would've done if this was in his genes.
Alex: I asked that question too. *proud mama smirk*
Lena: my grandfather was from New Orleans he had the gene, when he moved to Ireland he met my grandmother and the rest is history.
Kelly: How did you trigger the curse, again?
Lena: Veronica Sinclair always had this fancy yacht party, I was drunk and accidentally killed someone. Two weeks later every bone in my body contorted, broke reshaped itself to make the wolf skeleton.
You: *winces*
Lena: It lasted hours luckily I locked myself in the apartment I had. Went to the Luthor Manor to see if I could find anything. In Lionel's study, I found a letter from my mom. Explaining the whole thing to me. *takes off the ring and hands it to you*
You: mom but you'll...
Lena: I don't want you to go through that *smiles at you*
You: I don't want you to go through that again, we will do it together
Lena: *smiles and kisses your forehead* I'll work on finding someone to make you a moonlight ring.
You: El Mayarah
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lucysometimeswrites · 4 years ago
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Kiss the Girl (2)
thank you so much for the feedback on Kiss the Girl!! i really didn’t expect it to do so well and, as requested, here is part 2. I just feel that this concept is so disgustingly cute that i had to write it, so here it goes! hope you enjoy your reading :) 
Part 1: https://lucysometimeswrites.tumblr.com/post/640529882710999040/kiss-the-girl
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“...and if you could just go away it would make me the happiest man alive right now”
His words kept echoing in my head and never quieted down. It made me want to rip my hair out, but all I could really do was continuously run my fingers through it under the shower. I’d stopped crying a few minutes ago, the pain never subsiding and just lingering like and unwanted guest that just wouldn’t go away. I felt a breakdown coming again, noticing how my breathing started to become unsteady so, in an attempt to avoid it, I quickly turned around and switched the water to ice cold. I needed something to take my mind off of it, needed to feel the physical pain that maybe would help me get rid of the internal one,
“Shit” I whispered to myself. Boy was that cold. But it worked, gave me a sort of “strength”, if you will, almost like it screamed “Pull yourself together” as it hit my skin. 
Yeah, pull yourself together Y/N.
Deciding that was enough, I turned the shower off and stepped out, wrapping myself in a towel and stopping in front of the mirror. You could see the sadness in my eyes, which reminded me of the pity looks I got from the boys. How embarrassing, I thought, and quickly fixed my posture to stand taller and my face turned stoic, looking as if nothing had happened. Much better.
I left my sanctuary, or the bathroom, and changed myself into some joggers and an old shirt, none of which were Tom’s. Making my way downstairs, I grabbed a blanket from the couch and made my way to the patio. I breathed a sigh of relief while closing the door behind me, the boys nowhere to be seen and saving me the sympathy looks or awkward atmosphere. I sat down in one of the chairs, pulling my legs up to my body and covered myself with the blanket, taking a deep breath of what fresh air London could offer. The sun was starting to set, beautiful colours painting the sky and making me feel a little better. It helped knowing that there were still beautiful things in life, even when everything appeared to be going to shit.
After a few minutes of staring at the sky, I heard the door opened behind me and I tensed, dreading turning around and finding Tom there. 
“Hey” came Harry’s voice. Whew, okay.
I turned around to greet him, “Hey” I said back, with a small smile and hoping he would not bring what happened earlier up.
“I’m not here to interrogate you or have you talk about your feelings, I know better than that,” we both chuckled, “but I thought that a cup of coffee and a pastry would help?” he said, a hint of shyness in his voice. Then I noticed the cup of steaming coffee and the small plate with one of my favourite pastries in his hands, and my heart just about melted at the sweet gesture. 
“Oh Harry, thank you so much” I quietly exclaimed, noticeably perking up at the idea of food. He set them down in front of me, while explaining, “It’s no secret we heard what happened, so Harrison, Tuwaine, and I ran down to the bakery you like to buy them”.
“Aw you guys, you’re too kind for your own good” I smiled, feeling a lot better, but then I rewinded to the part about hearing what happened, and my walls came back up again, “You didn’t have to do this, though, I’m fine” I stated, a lot more serious now. 
“We know, but a cup of coffee and a pastry never hurt anyone. Like I said, not here to interrogate, just bringing a snack for a friend” he said smiling a little, putting his hands up in defense but knowing that I wasn’t upset at him. After living together, he sort of knew how I reacted in certain situations.
I sighed contently as I took a sip of the coffee, looking up at him and saying once again, “Thank you, it really does mean a lot to me”.
“Anytime. I’ll leave you alone now, and if you wanna talk about it, tell Harrison or Tuwaine, not me. You know I’m bad at that and will just make fun of you” he joked as he headed back inside, lightly hitting my shoulder on his way.
“Noted” I answered with a quiet laugh, shaking my head and setting the coffee down. Talking about my feelings? Ha, no thanks. Now that I was alone, I let my thoughts run free.
Okay, what am I feeling? I feel most definitely hurt. I feel angry, embarrassed, and, cue the eye roll, sad. I feel sad because one of the people I care about the most in this world just said some mean things to me. He made me feel like a burden and unimportant. He yelled at me, he kicked me out of his office. He basically said I was annoying him. He humiliated me. He yelled and everyone heard and I got pity-eyes. My God, how I hate pity-eyes. The fact that the boys had to go out of their way to make me feel better about something is just plain humiliating. And yes, I know, validate feeling emotions or whatever but that’s just not my style! Right, so I feel angry because I feel embarrassed. Okay. Now, hurt. I feel almost physical pain in my heart because of how hurt I feel. Besides him not taking me seriously, he confirmed my biggest insecurity in the worst way possible. He said he'd be the happiest man alive if I went away- oh my, he wants me to leave...
My eyes widened and small gasp left my lips, my hand coming up to cover my mouth even though I knew no one was round.
What am I gonna do?? Should I leave? He said he wanted me to leave. That that would make him happy. Where do I go?! I can’t possibly go home because of the lockdown, I’d be risking everything and everyone. Um, maybe I could look for a small cheap place around? I doubt anyone has places for rent right now, or a hotel? No, too expensive. Oh no oh no oh no what am I gonna-
My thoughts were interrupted by the door sliding open behind me and I whipped my head around, expecting to find one of the boys but instead finding Tom leaning against the frame, hand in his pockets and looking at me with unreadable eyes. I froze, staring at him with wide eyes and waiting for him to make the first move, just in case I bothered Mr. Holland and his busy schedule, I mockingly said in my head. 
“Hey, can we talk?” he asked, looking to the floor and his tone a lot calmer compared to earlier. Anger filled me and, without thinking, I answered, “I don’t know, can we? You’re not too busy for that?”
“Okay, I deserve that” he said as he pulled a chair to sit almost in front of me, leaning his elbow on the table while I just took a sip of my coffee, looking straight ahead and trying to appear unbothered by the situation. It was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke up again,
“Uh, so, I’m sorry about the way I spoke to you in the office. I don’t know what happened-”
“Yeah you do” I quickly said, cutting him off. He looked a little surprised at my statement, but continued.
“Well, I-I do. What I mean to say is that I should not have reacted that way, and I realize now that you were just trying to look out for me. I’m sorry” he admitted, the last bit a little quieter, briefly looking at me.
My eyes finally focused on him, and how...sad?...he looked. He was still unreadable. 
“Do you want me to leave?” I asked him, emotionless.
He straightened up, eyes wide and clearly taken aback by my question, “What?! No! Darling, I don’t want you to leave at all! I’m so happy that you’re here and that I get to see you everyday, I could not imagine spending lockdown with anyone else” he said as he grabbed and squeezed my hand. His head tilted the way Tessa’s does when asked if she wants to go out. I hate that I still think you’re cute.
“That’s not what you said earlier” I challenged. I let him hold my hand but did not squeeze back, which showed him that I was still apprehensive and upset. I saw his mouth open, but before he could say anything, I reminded him, “You said it would make you the happiest man alive if I left”.
His eyes dropped in sadness as he remembered what he said and he sighed, frustrated at himself for saying that. He stood up and grabbed the cup from my hand, setting it on the table and crouching down in front of my, now holding both my hands in his. He brought them to his lips, kissing them repeatedly and looked up at me. 
“No, sweetheart, I would never want you to leave. I would be devastated if you did. I-I know what I said, but it was the heat of the moment and I swear to you, I didn’t mean it. You being here is one of the best things I could have, and please, please, darling believe me when I say that I need you here. I don’t want you to leave” he pleaded, and I guess I could sense sincerity in his voice. 
Now I felt sympathy. I could understand he was stressed, and me pressing on something that he clearly did not have time for may have caused him to burst and accidentally lash out. I could understand that, but he also took it too far and I knew, in my head and heart, that I didn’t deserve that. And I told him that much.
"I didn’t deserve that” I said, looking at him with troubled eyes, “I didn’t deserve the way you talked to me and I understand that you were stressed but honey, I was just trying to help. I wanted to talk about something that worried me with you because we’re supposed to be there for each other, but instead you blew it out of proportion and basically rubbed in my face how I’m a burden here and that you wanted me to leave. You know you don’t have to provide for me because I have my own money but you insisted. You were the one who asked me to come here and you knew how worried I was that I was just going to be a bother.” I talked from my heart, and he appeared to be incredibly upset with himself.
“I know, I know and I am so so fucking sorry. I can’t express how terrible I feel about that,” he said as he cupped my face and made sure to make eye-contact with me, “but I can assure you that you being here has brightened my life, darling. I promise to work on managing my stress better and spending more time with you and the boys. But please please please, baby, don’t leave” he ended as he leaned his forehead against mine and we both close our eyes, his even a bit tearful.
Should I stay or should I go? I couldn’t help but laugh at that, which just made me start singing the song in my head and ruin the serious moment. Tom, perplexed, asked, “What’s so funny?” 
“Nothing, sorry, I was being dumb in my head” I said. That little moment of silliness diffused the tension in me. I could see he truly meant it and, honestly, we’ve all been in his place- all stressed out and cranky. 
“I really want to believe you, Tom, but you can understand how it’s a little hard for me. I forgive you, though, as long as we learn from this and move on.” I said, putting my hands on top of his, and kissing the corner of his mouth.
“Oh thank God, thank you, love” he breathed in relief, pulling me up and slipped his arm around my waist, bringing me in while his other arm cradled the back of my head holding me to his chest. I loosely circled my arms around him, basking in his warmth and scent. 
“I promise I’ll make it up to you, I was such a dickhead but know that I love you endlessly” he said, his grip strong. I managed to lean my chin on his chest and look up at him while he scanned my face and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Me too.”
Suddenly, we heard loud music come from inside the house, both of us turning our heads to find the source of it. As Tom opened the door for me and we went inside, we found Harry, Haz, and Tuwaine with a speaker. 
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Is that my speaker?” Tom said, pointing at the device in Harrison’s hands. 
“Well, you stole Tuwaine’s, he stole mine, so I charged and stole yours” Harrison explained.
Harry butted in, answering my question, “We don’t mean to say we eavesdropped, but we did see you guys make up SO we thought, to get rid of the remaining tension, we’d do something nice for you guys.”
“Nice as in...?” I said, wanting to know more. They all just smiled knowingly amongst themselves and Harry fumbled with his phone.
(This is a good time to press play on Kiss the Girl from The Little Mermaid) 
Percussion...Strings...Winds...Words...
The first notes of Kiss the Girl started to play, and the three men in front of us had smug smiles at their little strategy to bring Tom and I together.
“Oh no. No no no. I’m leaving, this is too cheesy” I laughed and made my way to the stairs, but before I could go up on the first step, Harry and Tuwaine blocked my way. Those stupid smiles never left their faces, and they both gripped my shoulder to turn me around and face Tom, who was now on the other side of the living room. He also had a stupid grin on his face, while stupid Harrison still held the speaker that played the stupid music.
I closed my eyes and sighed, fighting back a smile at the silliness of the boys I lived with and came to terms with the fact that we would all have to get through this moment. 
There you see her...sitting there across the way. She don’t got a lot to say, but there’s something about her.
Tom started jokingly dancing my way, and feeling a push from behind me, I stumbled in his direction as well. I chuckled and said, “Nope, not happening”, as I stepped back in the opposite way when I bumped into Harrison who wiggled his eyebrows and pushed me in Tom’s direction too.
And you don’t know why, but you’re dyin’ to try, you wanna...kiss the girl.
Tom made a jump to grab me but I dodged it, squealing out a “Nope!” and moving so that the coffee table was between us. The three boys surrounded Tom, and sang the next part to him while pointing and looking at me.
Yes you want her, look at her you know you do. Possible she want you too, there is one way to ask her. It don’t take a word, not a single word, go on and...kiss the girl.
I giggled at the comic action and Tom took that as his chance to lunge and grab my hands. I laughed surprised as he, in a jokingly sensual but sweet manner, sang the next words to me, with adoration in his eyes. 
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, my, oh, my, look like the boy too shy, he ain't gonna kiss the girl. Sha-la-la-la-la-la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad he gonna...miss the girl.
We dance stupidly around the living room, finally giving in and living in the beautiful moment. As the song went by, the boys all danced around while Tom held on to my waist and my arms hung around his neck. We moved around crazily and uncoordinated, laughing and singing out of tune to the top of our lungs. His attempt to follow the song and actually kiss me were unsuccessful, still teasing him a bit about being mad. 
“Oh come on Y/N! Do what the music say” Harry yelled along with the music. 
Tom twirled me around, smiling, pulling me even closer, our face mere inches from each other. The boys sang around us, waiting for the big moment.
You wanna, kiss the girl.
Tom brought my chin up, his eyes hooded and nearly closed as his breath fanned on my face.
You’ve gotta, kiss the girl.
I bit my lip as I smiled, wanting nothing more than to feel his love.
Go on and, kiss the girl.
Our lips finally connected in the last line of the song, and we melted against each other. The boys hooting around around us and yelling Get it Tommy boy! seeing as they got their desired results. His kiss held passion and pure love behind it, which I reciprocated as best as I could. When we finally parted, breathless and a sparkle in our eyes, he whispered,
“I’m so in love with you. I love you, Y/N” his hands on my cheeks and looking me straight in the eyes.
“Beyond the stars?” I asked quietly, with a small smile.
He kissed my forehead, “Beyond the stars” he assured me, sporting a big smile and those beautiful, love-struck eyes.
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soooo what do we think? i almost threw up writing it hahaha, but yeah lmk what you thought and if you’d like me to write something else! cya :)
ALSO i wish i could reply to all your comments but idk how to do that or if it even is possible. just know that i read them and greatly appreciate them <3
Tags: @pheebsyells @gypsystuf @greatpizzascissorstaco @hannah220506 @marianas-studyblr @wizkiddx @eridanuswave @hollanddolanfangirl
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rwby-necro-au-archive · 3 years ago
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Death does not do you and I part completely.
Summer has a special meeting with someone in particular.
Tick tick tick
The clocks second hand went, ticking by, counting each excruciating second that he sat in that goddamn chair.
How long had he even been sitting here? Hours? Days? Weeks? It felt like he hadn’t left his office.
Could you blame him though? It was only a few months ago that the terrifying head councilman of Vale had him pinned to a wall with an iron grip around his neck, choking out every last little bit of lifesaving air he needed in order to live.
He was too scared to leave the council building. So he stayed in his office, that now seemingly small and empty office, the one with gunmetal grey walls, giant crystal clear windows, and carpet more expensive than the man himself sitting in his equally expensive chair.
Ironwood felt like he was losing his mind. Between the constant childish insults of the anons, his inability to track a location on them, and the fact that there was a chance that the people he saw around Ozpin were those only he could see, he wanted to just close his eyes for a few days.
Sleep doesn’t come for the weary though, and he had work to do. Paperwork. Of course it’s paperwork, as if his eyes weren’t already failing him with the lack of sleep.
He sighed and began his work.
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Summer floated gracefully through the building, passing by countless who she couldn’t care less about, she only had 1 person in mind.
The man himself, the man who shot her in cold blood. God, how long had it been? She had been 28 when it happened, Ozpin was only 5 years into his position as councilman.
8 years at least is what it had to have been.
8 years for Summer to finally level herself out to have this conversation.
She knew he didn’t deserve patience, but she also knew that screaming at the man wouldn’t do her any good either.
Finally, after what seemed like a short eternity, she arrived at the door. A silver plate screwed into the door stated “Ironwood” in cursive.
She fazed through the door, looking around the office before seeing the person she was looking for.
And there he was, bags under his eyes, working as always, he didn’t look a day over 25. Unsurprising considering he was revived by her.
She stood and waited silently for him to notice her presence.
Ironwood continued to slave away at the busywork, getting irritated with each passing second at the fact that he had to do this while so torturously tired. He noticed that someone was now in the room with him, but paid them no mind.
“Pursuer. Get out. I am not in mood for whatever you have to say.” He spoke through gritted teeth, irritated at the insistent presence.
Summer tilted her head “I never liked how you spoke to your subordinates. Especially your younger ones.” she spoke in a gentle tone.
Ironwood froze. Rapid fire thoughts shot through his mind all at once, all telling him there’s no way the voice he was hearing was correct.
He slowly looked up, horror splashing across his features once he had done so.
In front of him stood a desaturated, dead looking and glowing version of Summer Rose. Glowing white sclera’s without Iris’s or pupils looked back at him, and an all too familiar white glowing scar graced the center of the woman’s forehead. She wore the same white cloak she had worn before, along with the same black turtleneck and floor length skirt.
Summer laughed gently “What’s wrong general? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Y-you’re supposed to be dead.”
“I am dead. You killed me, don’t you remember that silly?”
Ironwood sat there dumbfounded, fearful, and confused. She was dead, how was she here?
“What do you want with me?!” Ironwood demanded.
“Just to chat. I wanted to see how you’re doing after all this time. I’ve checked in with my family and friends, why wouldn’t I check in with you? Although….” She tapped a desaturated red finger to her chin.
“Although….?” He spoke nervously.
“Although….I’ve seen you around…”
“Y-you have?”
“Yes…..I saw every meeting you had with Ozzy, everytime you visited him and beacon, everytime he met you in Atlas. How sad that he had to put up with your poor treatment for that long. I’m surprised he didn’t snap sooner! Ozzy was never the kind of man to be patient like that.”
Ironwood gulped nervously. He was showing more of his fear than he’d like to, but at this point he didn’t care. “Really….?” Was Said barely about a whisper.
Summer crossed her arms and scolded the man in front of her like a child, “Mhm….and I saw you threaten my daughter. Now that wasn’t very nice, was it?”
“What are you trying to get at?”
Summer simply looked at him, silence the only thing coming from her.
“What are you getting at?!” He demanded.
She continued to stay silent, staring at him.
Ironwood slammed his hands down on the desk and gritted “Why. The hell. Are you here. To taunt me?! Make fun of me like a child?!”
Summer sighed and shook her head, refusing to speak still.
“TALK TO ME GODDAMNIT”
SMASH!
Ceramic echoed through the office as it hit the wall. Being thrown hard by ironwood in the direction of Summer.
“You can’t hurt me anymore. Don’t you know that?” She said quietly.
Ironwood gripped his head in his hands “SHUT UP!”
Summer kept her quiet tone, “I wouldn’t yell so loud. Your subordinates might hear you—“
“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT WHAT THEY HEAR.”
“You seem to be the only thing I can rely on, did you know that?”
Ironwood’s gaze shot up to look at the woman, “what?”
“I can rely on you because you never change. You haven’t changed since the day I met you James. Perhaps that isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
“The fuck are you talking about?!”
“It’s why Ozpin is happy.”
“Huh?”
“Ozpin is happy because Ozpin knows how to change. He’s a tree that knows how to bend in the wind, a house that’s built to stand the tests and changes of the tide. He knows when change is needed. And although there have been many changes in his life, he appreciates them all.”
Ironwood didn’t have anything to say. He sat in his expensive chair, gripping his head in his hands, staring at the women in awe.
Summer looked sorrowfully at the man in front of her, “you, do not want to change though. A tree that doesn’t bend in the wind is a tree that will snap in half, and if there’s nobody to hear that snap and see it fall, but to only see it’s aftermath, was it ever a tree to begin with?”
“You and Ozpin will be written into history books for years to come. Ozpin will be seen as a man who despite everything being ripped from him as a child, pushed through to see the light in the world and help those less fortunate than himself. He will be seen as a hero. And you, will be seen as a man who got everything he wanted, and yet still took more from those who could never get what he took back. You will be seen as a Villain. A monster.”
Ironwood took his hands off his head and gripped his desk “No. I won’t. Atlas will write me into the history books as a hero. You’re wrong.”
“What good is a title of hero if it only serves to cover the misery that one man has caused? A false hero, is no hero at all. Humanity will always find the truth, it is in our very nature to do so.” Summer spoke.
“You’re wrong. I’ll prove you wrong. Referring back to your tree metaphor, I won’t snap in half.” Ironwood clutched the desk further, gritting his teeth.
“You will. In fact, it’s already started. There are many who will seek to be rid of you.”
“I already know about how the necromancers feel about me.”
“I’m not talking about the necromancers.”
“What?” Ironwood questioned.
Summer gave him a pitiful look and shook her head.
“ANSWER ME.” He screamed as he slammed his hands down on the desk.
Summer continued to stare sorrowfully at the man in front of her. Questioning if this was truly the man she feared so much beforehand.
He slammed his hands down on his desk again, harder, putting a crack in it “FUCKING ANSWER ME.”
She continued to stay quiet, as he continued to scream, eventually throwing things at her. None of which hitting her but rather phasing through her.
Summer turned her back to him before speaking barely above a whisper “you truly never change, James.” Before disappearing.
Ironwood stood there silently, contemplating what happened. Before he could calm down, his door was cracked open slightly.
“Sir, Are you alright?” Violet asked quietly.
“GET. OUT.” He screamed at her, slamming another fist down on his desk, putting a bigger crack in it.
She flinched before quickly closing the door and running down the hall.
Ironwood collapsed back into his expensive chair and put his head into his hands.
He sat there thinking for a while, tired, exhausted, and confused. He couldn’t even fathom what he just experienced.
Soon, he whispered something so quiet, only he, in his office, that now seemingly small and empty office, the one with gunmetal grey walls that were now dented from the objects he’d thrown, the one with crystal clear windows, and carpet more expensive than the man himself was.
“I’m losing my mind.”
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sapphire374 · 3 years ago
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Soy Sol: Chapter 4 (Rumors and Mishaps)
Wattpad Link
Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.5 /Ch.6 / Ch.7 / Ch.8 / Ch.9 / Ch.10 / Ch.11 / Ch.12 / Ch.13 / Ch.14 / Ch.15 / Ch.16 / Ch.17
The Jam and Roller
As Luna enters the Jam and Roller all eyes are laid on her. Luna notices across the room Nina typing in her computer. She anxiously runs to where Nina is sitting at. “Nina why is everyone staring at me?” “I think it’s because of what was on the news today. What I told you this morning about how they think you and Matteo broke up and that he replaced you with some girl named Viviana,” Nina clarified to Luna. It felt like a huge weight was pulling Luna to the ground. Things just had to go haywire after everything finally fell into place.
Across Luna and Nina’s table was Ámbar filing some papers. She has been very eager to hear Vidia’s news on the Jam and Roller’s future. Luna notices an apprehensive Ámbar and decides to talk to her. “Nina I’ll be back, I’m going to check up on Ámbar,” Luna stated to Nina. When Ámbar noticed Luna walking up to her, she immediately grabbed all of her lose papers and stuffed them back into the binder. “Hola Ámbar. Hi Ámbar. I just wanted to check up on you. Is everything ok? You look really stressed out and very red. Almost as if you saw a ghost or something,” Luna commented. “Oh, nothing much just a……studying to be a lawyer is hard that’s all,” Ámbar stuttered which made Luna even more worried. “Well you know that you can always count on me if you ever need any help. Plus, Nina’s mom is a lawyer as well; which obviously I know you knew that, but just a friendly reminder. Ámbar, are you sure everything is ok? You seem to be really holding on tight to that binder,” Luna inquired feeling really concerned for Ámbar. “Oh, that’s because…... I don’t want the wind to take away my homework. Usually you can blame it on the dog but not on the wind. Also, thanks for the advice but I think I’m fine for now,” Ámbar replied.
Right before Luna could say another word, Jim and Yam entered with Ramiro. Jim and Yam rushed to give Luna and Nina a hug while Ámbar was saved by the bell. “Oh my gosh I’ve missed you besties! How has that performing arts university going for you guys,” Luna asked while smiles were plastered on everyone’s faces. “It has been so much fun, but this year has been really rigorous. It is nice though that we have each other. It makes the scary setting feel a lot more like home,” Jim confessed with a happy smile. Ever since Jim and Yam started attending their prestigious university, they haven’t had the time to meet up with Luna and Nina at the Jam and Roller, but since its finally summertime and the semester has ended, they now have time for their friends and roller skating.
After everyone gave each other a hug, Ramiro hesitantly revealed news that everyone has been talking about. “I don’t mean to ruin the moment but have you guys heard what’s been going on between Matteo and Viviana on the news. Luna, perdón, I don’t mean to put you on the spot right now but… have you and Matteo broken up?” The whole Jam and Roller stayed quiet as everyone wanted to hear what Luna was going to say next. “Umm I don’t know much about Viviana, but I know, well at least I think, Matteo wouldn’t ever cheat on me. To be honest, I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Luna stated right before Simón walked in. “Dónde está Matteo? Where’s Matteo? Cause the person who should really be explaining himself should be him,” Simón yelled out loud leading to Luna trying to shush him. “No Símon it’s ok. It’s probably a misunderstanding I just don’t want to make a scene especially involving Matteo since he’s a celebrity now and I don’t want to ruin that for him,” Luna whispered. “Luna, I know your trying to be nice and all, but I can still see the depressive look in your eyes. Tus ojos nunca mienten. Your eyes never lie. You’re my best friend and I’ve known you forever. I know when something is bothering you and it’s my duty to protect and defend you cause I care a lot about you,” Simón comforted Luna and then gave her a hug.
While Simón and Luna hugged each other, Matteo walked in. A crowd of screaming fans rushed towards him for a picture. Luna immediately looked down to the floor with a noticeable frown on her face. Simón saw her gloomy, which ignited the flame to his anger. Simón quickly walked towards Matteo and announced, “Me and you need to have a serious conversation right now.” Luna saw and rushed over to their not-so-friendly encounter. “Ok, please. Simón and Luna let me explain. The news, paparazzi, and the tabloids all love to lie just to sell and make a lot of money. I promise you guys I’m not with Viviana and I don’t care to be with her. Alright, she’s just a friend,” Matteo announced while the whole place was quiet. “What about the pictures. Cause the pictures show that you and her have been really close to each other,” Simón asked to Matteo. “Yes, I have hanged out with her but only a few times because she loves coming to my shows and is a good friend of my manager, that’s it. The least I try to do is look for problems, especially in that industry, so obviously I’m going to be nice but she’s just a friend. Luna I would never cheat on you. Never. I fell in love with you the minute I laid my eyes on you and that will never change.” Luna’s smirk transitioned to a wide grin. Everyone was in awe of Matteo’s words.
Simón than replied to Matteo with, “My apologies. I guess I was wrong. Now that doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping my eyes on you two.” Simón smiled and then left Luna and Matteo alone. “Awww I wish I had a boyfriend as sweet and loving like Matteo,” Jim stated. “Me too Jim but I guess only a girl can dream.” Ramiro replied to Yam’s comment with, “And what am I, chopped liver?”
In the office of the Jam and Roller, Ámbar sits glaring at the wall. To her surprise Simón walks in. “Que te pasa mi amor? What’s the matter my love,” Simón curiously asked after seeing a worried expression on her face. “Luna almost found out. Honestly, I don’t know for how long we can keep lying to them. They will find out soon, trust me whether it’s from us or somebody else.” Simón takes a deep breath and takes a seat on one of the chairs placed in front of her desk. “Me neither to be honest. I just don’t think we’re ready to tell them. Especially with all the stress Luna has been having to deal with. I feel like maybe we should wait a little more before we reveal the secret. This is very delicate news that we should take with precaution. Plus, we don’t even know for sure if Vidia is going to sell this place or not. Let’s see what happens first, and then decide what our next step is.” Ámbar hesitantly nods in agreement to Simón’s response.
As Nina puts her books away in her locker, she receives a phone call from a strange phone number. She picks it up and to her surprise it’s somebody familiar. “Hola Nina! It’s Eric. I know it’s been a long time since we broke up, but I know that right before I left for Brazil to record my new album you said we can still stay as friends and keep in touch. Well I’m going to be in Argentina tomorrow, and I was hoping if maybe we can meet up. Of course, hang out as friends nothing more. I just really wanted to see your pretty face again.” Hearing Eric’s full speech catches her off guard. She was not expecting such a random phone call from Eric. The last time he called her was exactly three years ago. Before Nina can respond to Eric, Gaston enters. “Hola mi amor. Hi my love. Who are you on the phone with,” Gaston whispers to Nina so he won’t seem rude. Nina anxiously gestures a “give me one minute” sign by showing her index finger. “Sure, we can meet up and talk a little……. Tomorrow at three pm sounds fine. Bye.” The look on Nina’s face makes Gaston feel perturbed.
“It was Eric…He wanted to meet up with me just to talk since we haven’t seen each other in a while and we’re still good friends.” Gaston starts shaking his head in disbelief in what Nina said. “Eric? You’re ex? I thought that lousy musician was away at Brazil? What do you mean he wants to meet up with you? And I can’t believe you said yes!” Gaston gruntled. “I didn’t want to sound rude and say no.” Nina explained to Gaston. “Sounding rude and saying no would’ve been perfectly fine! He better go back to wherever he came from after tomorrow. Who does he think he is, Zavi? Well, let him know I can get rid of him just as easily as I got rid of Zavi!” Gaston fumed leaving Nina worried and a little depressed for making Gaston feel that way. “Look Gaston, it will only be for tomorrow I promise. He’s only going to be in town tomorrow and then leave. There’s nothing to be worried about. I love you and only you.” Nina stated which calmed Gaston down a bit. “Also, what did you do to Zavi? Is that why I’ve never seen him again?” Gaston scratches his head nervously and replies with “Oh would you look at that Matteo has arrived! Hola Matteo, cómo estás! Hi Matteo, how are you!”
Gaston heads over to where Matteo is and gives him a huge hug. “Long time no see. So how was the tour?” Gaston asked Matteo. “It was amazing seeing all the fans sing my songs and everyone enjoying themselves. My manager has also been very proud of how people won’t stop talking about it,” Matteo boasted to Gaston. Nina notices the look Luna gives her and immediately creates a diversion so Luna and Matteo can be alone. “Well, we’re very proud of you Matteo but Gaston I think it’s time we leave these two alone. Especially how you still haven’t answered my question on what happened to Zavi. Don’t think you’re going to get away from answering it this time.” Nina than pulls Gaston away and now Luna and Matteo are finally alone at last.
Luna and Matteo don’t stop staring at each other’s eyes almost like if they are each two opposite ends of a magnet that keep pulling towards each other. Luna shakes her head and says, “so why exactly have you been hanging out with Viviana?” Luna wants to pretend like she doesn’t care yet the curiosity has been eating her up inside the whole day, and she was hoping he can give her the full explanation. “Luna, I promise we only hanged out as friends. She’s a rising actress and it’s good to have friends who have had experience with this world and can give me some tips and advice. Trust me though, I don’t see her as anything more than just a friend. You are the love of my life Chica Delivery. Te quiero mucho.” This time Luna did believe him. They have had a long history of their ups and downs dealing with their relationship, but Luna believes him. She reminds herself that she doesn’t want to make the same mistake as what she did when Emilia tried to rip them apart.
Matteo and Luna share a passionate kiss where no one can see them. As they pull apart Matteo states, “I’ve been wanting to tell you something. I was thinking how about we go on a nice date tomorrow. I can even take you to that new restaurant that everyone’s been talking about. I miss hanging out with you so much, and now that I finally get a break since my tour ended, I want to spend every minute of it with you,” Matteo proposed elaborated. “I would love to Chico Fresa and…. Te quiero mucho tambien,” Luna beamed with excitement and hugged Matteo as he lifted her off the ground making her feel like a princess. After one rotation, Matteo puts Luna down. “Oh, how could I forget I also have a surprise for you!” Luna’s shocked face didn’t last that long though when they heard a loud scream coming from the cafeteria.
Luna and Matteo hurried to where the scream came from. It appears the Roller team’s members are surrounding a guy with a suit on, holding a briefcase. “What do you mean your shutting down the Jam and Roller,” Jazmín exclaimed while holding her tablet up in the air filming everything.
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writer-k-pop · 4 years ago
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The Prince (y.j.h.) - Waning Crescent Hotel
Please read this (W.C.Hotel) if you this is the first post of this series that you see. Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of death, mentions of abuse Genre: Angst, Hotel Del Luna AU, Choose your own adventure, SVT x Fem! Reader Staff: Yong (Spirit General Manager) / Jiwoo (Human General Manager) / Soon Bok (Room Manager) / Mun Hee (Front Desk Receptionist) / Shin (Grim Reaper assigned to Waning Crescent) Word Count: Ending A - 4.6k / Ending B - 4.7k
W.C.Hotel | Seventeen Masterlist | Masterlists
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Running through the halls, my heels click at the pace of a speed typer. My hands grip my bunched up dress tighter and I startle many guests in my hurry to the lobby.
"Woah, slow down there." Jiwoo manages to grab my arm and essentially stop me in my pursuit.
I turn and glare at him while trying to continue on my way. Jiwoo flinches slightly when my eyes land on him but his feet stay rooted to the ground like the tree in my garden.
"Let go of me." I tell him, not having any of his attitude.
"Relax." Jiwoo nearly rolls his eyes at me. "Yong's still showing him around."
I narrow my eyes into daggers at him for telling me to relax. Jeonghan's finally here and Jiwoo has the nerve to tell me to relax.
"Did you just tell me to relax?" I drop my dress skirt and rest my arms at my sides, dumbfounded.
Jiwoo nods, "Yeah, I did. Because you need too." He glances around the hall, "You're making our guests nervous."
I yank my arm from Jiwoo's grasp and roll my eyes. I continue on my way to the lobby, slower this time, and with Jiwoo next to me.
"Why is Yong showing him around? Where's Soon Bok?" I wonder.
"Soon Bok had to settle a dispute with a couple about their rooms." Jiwoo informs me as the hallway opens up to the lobby's second floor balcony overlooking the lobby floor.
"A dispute?" I look over at him as we reach the railing.
Jiwoo looks down at the guests. "Something about how they needed to be in the same room with each other. Something about how they're soul mates or something. I dunno, I left before I could understand it fully."
I shake my head and chuckle, "Ah, did they not hear the part where this is the last stop for their soul and tomorrow they'll have another life crowded their small brains?" I watch as some guests chat together while others hurry to the beach or the swimming pool.  
Yong walks out of the outdoor beach entrance with Jeonghan following her. I take in a breath and hold it as he stuns me just like always. He's wearing black slacks and a white button up shirt. His hair looks freshly washed and fluffed down over his forehead. With hands clasped behind his back, he listens intently to everything Yong says and looks at the places she points out.
"He look the same?" Jiwoo asks and I can hear the smile on his lips.
I glance down at my hands gripping the railing tightly, then back at Jeonghan, where Soon Bok is bowing and introducing herself.
"His face does. Though when I knew him, he was a prince." I tell Jiwoo.
"Wow, like an actual prince?" Jiwoo leans his forearms on the rail, looking at Jeonghan, "Like crown and everything."
I give a single nod, "Crown and everything."
"No, honey, that was ridiculous the way she treated us!" A female voice shrieks behind us. "Where did she run away to? HAS ANYONE SEEN THE ROOM MANAGER?" She then full blown yells into the lobby.
I turn to the right and at the top of the stair case stands a very upset female and her very embarrassed husband.
"There! You! Room Manager lady!" The female spots Soon Bok standing with Jeonghan and Yong. The entire lobby goes silent and all eyes are on the female at the top of the stairs. When I look at Soon Bok, I can tell she's extremely annoyed and will probably explode soon. Her face has 'I will kick you' written all over it.
Jiwoo and I silently watch as the female races down the stairs with her husband in tow. In just a few seconds, she is standing in front of Soon Bok who's hands are clasped behind her back in an attempt to keep herself from wringing the female's neck.
"You have to treat us like guests!" The female says loud enough for the entire lobby to hear. All the guests in the lobby just stare at the outburst or nervously glance around.
"Like I mentioned before, we aren't allowed to room people together becaus-"
"Because of policy, blah, blah, blah." The female interrupts Soon Bok. "Screw your policies, we are the guests here and you have to cater to your guests. And we want to room together. Where's your manager?" She suddenly asks and I see Yong smile.
"I'm the general manager here." She says.
"Oh, good, fire this bitch. She's no good here. Doesn't even listen to the guests." The female points an accusing finger at Soon Bok.
"I understand, however, our Room Manager has told you the truth. We are not allowed to put guests together in a room." Yong says calmly, facing the fiery female with her steeled front.
"Now you won't listen to us?" The female shrieks, "What good are you here then?" She asks and my blood boils. It's one thing to treat one of my staff poorly, but it's a whole other thing to treat Yong poorly.
I push back from the railing, "And I'm the one making people nervous." I mutter to Jiwoo as I pass him on the way to the stairs. Jiwoo stifles a small laugh behind me.
Through the silence, my purposefully heavy steps echo off the stairs and catch the attention of everyone in the room.
Soon Bok looks at me and silently asks for help. The same look is in Yong's eyes as well though her's is harder to distinguish through her front. I avoid Jeonghan's face for fear of faltering even the smallest amount.
"And you are?" The female stood her ground as I approach though her husband cowers away from me, as he should.
"The CEO." I say, bored and unamused with her attitude.  
"Oh, would I like to have a word with YOU." The female points her finger at me.
I bat away her finger, and hand, and cross my arms.
"I think the word you should be saying is 'sorry.'" I stare at her.
"Excuse me?" The female questions like she's been offended in the worst possible way.
I place my hands behind my back and lean towards her, "I said you need to apologize to my employees."
"Why would I do that?" The female asks.
I smirk, "Because the policy is in place for a reason. And that reason is because tomorrow your past life will also be living inside of your memory. So will his. Your past life may not even like his type of personality. You could end up being arch enemies stuck in the same room."
The female stutters, trying to form a sentence.
"We should have told you about it when you arrived." I continue, "I'm sure our purpose was fully laid out for you, wasn't it?"
The female nods, slowly, "It was."
I lift up the side of my mouth in a side smile, "Then there should be no problem here and you two should be able to carry out your stay in separate rooms." I straighten my back, "Unless you would like to wake up with a man who you have only have memories of but your previous life leads you to accidentally kill him because you simply despise him?"
The female looks down at the floor in shame.
"I thought so." I smirk, knowing I have won. "Now go away. My staff have other guests to attend to." I wave my hand, indicting that she should shoo.
Her husband understands immediately and drags his wife away. When the lobby stays silent, I glance around and the guests immediately pick their conversations back up.
"Mr. Yoon, our CEO." Yong introduces us.
"A pleasure." Jeonghan greets me in a bit of an awe.
"I do apologize for the disruption." I lower my head in apology, slightly upset that his visit had to be interrupted so rudely. "Soon Bok?" I turn to her and motion for her to continue showing Jeonghan to his room.
As Yong and I turn to walk away, Jeonghan blurts out a question.
"Sorry, but do I know you?" Jeonghan asks, searching my face for any signs of familiarity.
I smile softly and shake my head, "Not from this life, no." I tell him and leave him no time to reply back, walking away with Yong by my side.
"Which room?" I ask Yong as the elevator doors open.
"410." She answers as we step inside.
She presses my office floor while I ask, "How many days?"
As the elevator doors close, I catch Jeonghan still staring at me. And for a second, just before the doors fully close, he meets my gaze and an electric shock runs down my spine.
Yong sighs before answering, "Four."
My heart stays on the lobby floor as the elevator carries my body higher. I had expected him to live many many lives but the Gods apparently had other plans for him.
~The Fourth Day~
I sip champagne from my glass in an attempt to prepare myself to meet the Jeonghan I left all those years ago.
My time with Jeonghan wasn't crazy adventurous but it wasn't dead boring either. However, leaving him was the hardest out of all thirteen. It's not that I wanted to stay with him more than the others. It's the fact that he had his entire kingdom's army at his disposal. So when I left, he was constantly sending out patrols in search of me. I had to watch every where I went, and there were times when he got close but I always got away. Those nights, I would hear his cries. I could hear his heart break and it only broke mine further.
Shaking my head to get rid of the sad thoughts, I finish off the glass and set it on the table. Turning the glass between my fingers, I watch as the moonlight refracts through the glass and shines into my eyes.
A knock at my door pulls me out of my spotlighted daze.
"Come in." I call out, looking towards the door.
Yong opens the door and sticks her head in, "Jiwoo is taking him to the garden."
I nod, "I'll be there in a few minutes."
I stare at my empty glass for a few more minutes then rise out of my chair and make my way to my garden. Where Jeonghan waits for me.
Just as I reach the doorway leading to him, Jiwoo stops me.
"(y/n)," He runs over with a box in his hands, "This just came for you."
I scrunch my eyebrows together and open the box. Sitting inside sits a beautiful crown and a crown that I recognize immediately. It's the crown that Jeonghan wore during his first life. The one he loved and cherished because it was his grandfather's.
Along with crown is a note. Picking up the note, I read the simple sentence aloud.
"I believe this belong to one of your guests." It reads, and is signed simply as 'Gods.'
"Is it his?" Jiwoo asks, curious beyond curious.
I pick up the crown and let my muscles adjust to it's familiar weight. "It is." Then I sigh, turning the crown side to side, "The Gods really know how to fuck with me."
"It's beautiful." Jiwoo comments, ignoring my pass at the Gods.
"You should've seen it in the living world." I smile at him, "Thank you, Jiwoo."
He nods and takes his leave obediently while I walk down the passageway, crown in my hand.
When I arrive, the usually hidden bench is placed between the entrance and the center tree. Though instead of sitting with his back to me, Jeonghan stands facing the tree and his hands are tucked into his pockets. He's still in the black slacks and white shirt but they look freshly washed and pressed.
"Do you think it's alive?" He asks somehow sensing my presence but he doesn't turn around to face me.
I walk towards him while answering, hiding his crown behind my back. "It's like me. Somewhere between life and death. Just waiting." I reach his side and copy his body position facing the tree.
"How long have you waited?" Jeonghan questions.
"Long enough." I breathe out. "I hope your stay was comfortable."
Jeonghan nods, "It was, though I wish I could be in my normal clothing in front of you. They tell me those clothes were unobtainable."
"Unfortunately, the world we are in now does not suit the clothing of our world." I explain, then bring the crown out in front of me. "Though I believe I can still give you this back."
I face Jeonghan and I watch as his eyes light up in recognition. He gingerly takes it from my hands and sits down on the bench. I follow suit.
"I thought this was stolen by thieves and sold in parts." Jeonghan says and runs his hands over the jewels secured in the gold frame. "But you had it."
I shake my head, "I wish. I think the Gods were holding on to it. I just received it a few minutes ago."
"Uh huh," Jeonghan smirks at me, "Sure you did."
I shove his shoulder, "I'm serious."
Jeonghan chuckles then lightly places the crown on his head. "How do I look?" He asks, posing slightly.
"Princely, as always." I tell him with a smile.
He laughs, removes the crown, and places it on the bench next to him. Leaning forward, he rests his forearms on his thighs.
"We had fun, didn't we?" He asks, glancing back at me.
I nod, "We did."
"What happened?" Jeonghan asks, opening his body to face me, one elbow on his thigh, holding himself up. "To us."
I rub my hands together nervously, "I just couldn't stay." I say.
"Why not?" He pushes, "What stopped you from staying?"
I point towards the sky, "The Gods. They told me I had to leave and when they tell me something, I have to listen."
"Part of the curse?" Jeonghan ponders.
"Yeah." I say sadly.
"You know that I looked for you?" Jeonghan tells me, leaning back against the bench. "I looked for years and years."
I nod, staying silent.
"Can you tell me if I was ever close?" He asks.
I chew on my bottom lip wondering if I should. On one hand, it could give him a sense of relief. But on the other, it might make him regretful that he didn't try even harder.
"I just want to know if my efforts were done in vain." Jeonghan continues, literally answering my questions.
"You always could do that." I chuckle.
"What? Read your face and know exactly what you're thinking?" He answers with a smile. "Yeah, I used to think that it was my super power."
I laugh, "And yes, you did get close a couple times." I answer his original question then take a breath. "After the first two years though, I was more careful and you never came close again."
Cockily, Jeonghan intertwines his fingers behind his head, "At least I almost got you."
I shake my head at his comment before diving into my own question, "My turn."
He looks at me from the corner of his eyes, "Alright."
"When did you know you loved me?" I ask, studying his face for details that have changed.
Jeonghan sucks in a breath and releases his hands. "The exact moment? Let's see." He puckers his lips and his eyes wander aimlessly as his thinks.
My hand twitches with the desire to push his lips back down like I used to do but I collect myself before I can move.
"I don't think there was an exact moment but more of one particular night." Jeonghan finally answers. "Do you remember the night of my sister's 18th birthday?"
I faintly remember the big party and nod.
"Do you remember what happened?" Jeonghan asks.
I clear my throat, "I remember something happened at the party and then you tried running away but I think I somehow stopped you."
Jeonghan chuckles, "You could say that."
"Why? Did it not happen that way?" I ask, worried that I'm remembering a different love.
He shakes his head, "No, it happened that way. You just remember the general events."
I lean closer to him and smile sweetly, "Then tell me the details."
Jeonghan wags his finger, motioning me to scoot closer. I follow his instructions and when my knees hit his legs, he swings them over his legs and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
"We were in the middle of the party." Jeonghan begins and I just watch him retell the tale while securely tucked in his embrace. "And my sister's idiot ex decided to show up uninvited. I was pissed. No, I was beyond pissed. So without thinking, I went up and gave him a good punch to the face."
"In front of everyone." I add, starting to remember the events.
"I didn't care." Jeonghan shrugs, "He had hurt my sister and he was going to pay for it. Of course though, once I hit him, he got cocky and fought back instead of walking away. So we tussled and fought in the middle of the party for a few seconds before the guards pulled us apart."
I still as the memory surfaces and flashes through my mind. The grand ball room. Jeonghan's scowl of disgust right before he briskly walked over and socked his sister's ex in the face. The way my body froze, unable to do anything to stop the fight that then occurred. The yells of the royal guards as they pulled the two apart. Jeonghan's sister yelling at her ex to get out and leave. Their father, the king at the time, barking orders at the guards.
"My dad was so mad." Jeonghan continues, "The guards dragged both of us out of the ballroom. You know, I don't really know where you disappeared after I left."
I smile at his lapse in knowledge, "I think I was still frozen in place."
"Why were you frozen?" Jeonghan asks, a laugh sitting behind his lips.
"I don't really know." I admit, "I just didn't expect you to do that in front of everyone."
Jeonghan barks out laughing, pulling a giggle out of me.
"It's not that funny." I manage to say between laughs.
"It is that funny." Jeonghan replies still chuckling.
I hit his chest with a pout, "So what happened after you were dragged away?" I ask, but I already know the answer.
Clearing his throat, Jeonghan continues the story, "I don't really know what happened to the other guy, I'm guessing he got booted out though. I, on the other hand, got a good scolding from my father." He runs his hand through his hair while blowing out a breath.
"I heard." I tell him, remembering how I hovered outside his father's office behind the closed doors.
"You did?" Jeonghan asks, looking at me.
I nod, "I don't think I heard all of it, but I heard enough."
Jeonghan's eyes fall slightly, "So you heard all the talk about you?"
I silently nod, snuggling closer to him.
"And the things he said about me?" He continues.
I nod again, sadly remembering the terrible things his father threw into his face.
"And you heard what he did?" Jeonghan asks slowly.
I shakily nod my head. I close my eyes as the echo of his father slapping him rings in my ears. It was one of the sounds that haunted me for a long time.
Jeonghan sighs before continuing the story, "Well, after my father stormed out, I didn't really know where else to go cause every room in the palace seemed to anger me. Even my private studio. So I ran. I ran out into the back gardens and just kept running until the land dropped away and I had to stop. And then you found me."
I look up at him and meet his gaze.
"You know I didn't want to be found." Jeonghan continues, "But you walked up to me with a bag and just waited with me. I don't know what you were thinking but you stood there, silently." He readjusts his position and tilts his head, "You know, while we're here, how did you find me?"
I gaze around the garden, thinking back to how exactly I did it. "I just tried to think how you would think. If I were in your shoes and my father had just berated me and my love, where I would go. I knew you weren't staying in the palace. Everywhere you went there were reminders of who's control you were under. So then it just became a game of where did you start running and where did you end up." I explain, "I found you on my first try." I smile up at him, proudly.
"That. That was the tipping point." Jeonghan says. "You found me when I didn't want to be found but needed to be. And you found me almost immediately." He rests his cheek on top of my head and continues, "The fact that you didn't say anything and just stood with me. And just let me feel what I needed to feel. That was the night I knew I loved you."
"That was probably the most adventurous night we had together." I comment on the story.
"You think?" Jeonghan asks, "What about the night you swore you could get a deer to let you pet it? Or the night you challenged your guards to a game of foot volleyball? Or-"
I cover his mouth with my hands, "Stop," I whine, "Why did all our adventures involve me thinking I could do something?"
"Not true." Jeonghan counters, "I did the dumb things on horseback. Or those little games that I always somehow lost to the palace children? Or, or that time I suggested we go cliff jumping?"
I giggle, "That was the most terrifying yet most exciting day."
"Agreed. Though I never did it again." Jeonghan sighs at the memory, "Your turn."
"My turn?" I give him a questioning look.
"When did you know?" He reiterates his statement.
I drop my mouth open in a little 'oh' of realization. "Uh, the same night actually."
I feel Jeonghan hesitate under me and I'm quick to continue, "Not in the way you think. It was after it all happened." I take a breath, "After I found you in the forest. When you let me treat the injuries you had. The way I could tell what I was doing hurt you but you stayed as still as possible. You would constantly watch my expressions and it was almost like if I worried for even a split second, you would adjust so the worry would go away." I tell him, "That's when I knew."
"You noticed all that?" Jeonghan asks.
"I noticed everything." I say and look up at him again, "Everything."
Jeonghan gives me a small smile before leaning down and presses a kiss to my lips. Before pulling away completely, he pecks me on the nose. Something he habitually used to do.
"What kind of king were you?" I wonder, still looking at him.
He raises his eyebrows at me, "You mean to say that you didn't stick around?"
I shook my head, "It was better to move away. It would hurt less."
Jeonghan takes in a breath, "Well, I like to think that I was a good king. Kind, courageous, and righteous. Though I didn't leave much of a legacy."
"I'm sure you did if you were kind, courageous, and righteous." I reassure him.
"I didn't leave any heirs." Jeonghan corrects himself.
Then he launches into his life. What he did. Why he never married. The battles he had to overcome as king. The reforms he created. The lives he changed. Everything I have only read and heard from the wind.
The sun begins to dip in the sky, illuminating his features in a bright orange hue. As I silently wish the hue away, Jeonghan understands what the time means before I can even admit it to myself.
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"So is this when I take my leave?" Jeonghan asks the air around us.
I only nod, not trusting my voice.
Jeonghan moves my legs off his and slowly rises up. He takes a breath as if to steady himself before offering his hands to me.
I reluctantly grab his hands and he pulls me up. Once I'm on my feet, he uses one hand to grab his crown while the other stays locked around my hand.
"Where do I go now?" He asks as we walk out of the garden.
"A car will take you to the afterlife where your soul can rest." I explain and every word feels like vomit, "I will stay here and wait for the others to arrive."
"Will you have to wait long?" He asks, worried about my constant waiting.
I shake my head, "Hopefully not."
"That's a relief." He sighs before we fall into a silence for the rest of the way to the backyard forest where Shin waits next the car.
When the dusk air hits my skin, I get immediate goose bumps but not from the chill, from the finality of the area. There never will be a chance when Jeonghan's soul will mistakenly appear at my hotel's front door. There won't be another run in with one of his lives. This is the end.
Shin stands next to the car, waiting with his hands resting at his sides.
"That my ride?" Jeonghan asks, nodding towards the idling car.
I nod.
"Well, they could've at least given me a grand carriage or one of those, oh, what are they called? Oh!  Those limo things." He tries to lighten the mood.
"Where did you learn about limos?" I wonder.
"That receptionist you have really likes to talk." Jeonghan simply says as we step up to the car.
I smile at Mun Hee's special talent.
"Your highness." Shin greets us and opens the rear passenger door.
Jeonghan faces me with his crown between his hands.
"Would you keep it? So you remember me?" Jeonghan asks, holding out the crown for me to take.
"I can't take it. It belongs to you." I tell him sadly and his shoulders droop.
Jeonghan sniffles but stands a little taller, "Then will you put it on me one last time?" He asks.
I nod, "I can do that." I take the crown from his hands then he lowers himself slightly so I can actually reach the top of his head. Setting the crown in its place, I rest my hands on his shoulders.
With a small smile and tears in his eyes, he kisses me hard, making sure the last is the most memorable. He pulls away and a few tears have managed to slip out but he chooses to ignore their presence on his cheeks.
Without another word, he dips into the car and Shin closes the door once he's securely inside. As the car drives away, I clasp my hands together and grip them tightly while Shin moves to stand next to me.
"Why didn't you keep the crown?" Shin asks, genuinely curious.
"Because it would've disintegrated soon after he left." I tell him as the car's taillights disappear into the fog. "And I couldn't bring myself to tell him that."
I stare into the fog and silently bid Jeonghan farewell.
As a tear slides down my own cheek, back in my garden, one chrysanthemum withers and dies. Shin leaves me alone. He leaves me so I can collect myself before I head back inside to wait for the others who are on their way.
Return to the Navigation Page (Waning Crescent Hotel) to choose the next guest.
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"I was told when the sun sets that you and I have another destination to head towards." Jeonghan says, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Somewhere our souls can rest."
I smile, "Since you arrived, I'm free from my binds. We can go and let our souls rest."
We untangle ourselves and rise to our feet. Jeonghan picks up his crown and places it on my head.
"Just as I suspected," He comments, taking a step back and looking at me fully. "The king's crown looks so much better on a woman."
I laugh, "Maybe cause it was made for me."
"That it was." Jeonghan agrees, takes my hand, and we walk away from my garden.
We walk hand in hand to the lobby where Yong, Mun Hee, Soon Bok, and Jiwoo stand solemnly. I slide the crown off my head and hand it to Jeonghan before walking over to my staff.
"So this is it?" Mun Hee asks with tears in his eyes. "This is the day you leave us?"
I wrap him up in a hug, only a tiny bit annoyed that he's being so sappy. "Maybe I'll get punished again and be back here by the end of the year." I try to joke but Mun Hee abruptly pushes back from me.
"Don't you dare say that. You better not return here." He says angrily through his tears.
I chuckle, "I won't come back. I promise."
Turning to Soon Bok, I thank her for her service and her amazing work. Something I never did and should've done more.
Next onto Jiwoo. I also thank him for his and his entire family's service then I unclip the bracelet that has held him to this place.
"When you leave today, you won't be able to find this place again." I inform him, "I hope that you'll be able to go and live your life happily."
Jiwoo nods, "Thank you for letting me work with you. I won't ever forget you."
I smile sadly, knowing that he will, in time, forget me. "Thank you."
Finally I reach Yong who is sniffling and trying so very hard not cry.
"You'd think after all these years of waiting that I'd be prepared for this day." She says through sniffles.
"Thank you, Yong." I rests my hands on her shoulders, "For everything. Thank you."
With lips pursed together, she leans forward and wraps me in an unexpected hug. But I soon wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tightly.
We pull apart after a couple seconds and I wipe the few tears that have escaped from her eyes.
"Keep this hotel running beautifully." I tell her before Jeonghan grabs my hand again.
With final waves of goodbye, Jeonghan and I walk out to the foggy forest that will take us to our resting place.
At the edge of the forest, Shin stands next to an idling car, a somber look on his face.
"(y/n)." He says when we reach him, "It has been an honor working with you. I wish you both a peaceful rest." Shin bows his head and I pat his arm.
"The honor was mine." I tell him with a smile. Now the tears start to line my eyes as the realization fully sets in.
I'm free. I have served my years of punishment and now I'm free to let my soul rest.
I turn back towards the hotel and look up to the top where the rooftop patio is outlined with bright string lights. Then to the mid floors where random room lights are turned on, some guests staying in while others opting to experience the hotel's many services. Then to grand base where guests would be milling around, waiting their turns to leave this world.
"(y/n)?" Jeonghan softly asks pulling my attention to where he sits just inside the car, "Are you ready?"
I take one last quick look at the hotel before turning away from it. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."
I lower myself into the car and Shin securely closes the door after I am completely inside. As the car begins to drive forward, Jeonghan securely grabs my hand and I let his warmth guide me towards our final destination.
In the garden, the final chrysanthemum withers and dies so that no more stand at the base of the bare tree.
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amive2567 · 4 years ago
Text
Levi Ackerman x Reader
Summary: Levi has to cope with the loss of you. 
Warning: Angst
Words: 1.436
A/N: That´s my first post and i hope you like it. 
Disclaimer: Attack on Titan and the characters belong to Hajime Isayama.
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                                                       Levi P.O.V
I am sitting in my office and doing the paperwork Erwin assigned to me. Outside of the window, the birds are twittering which is slightly distracting. They are just too noisy, which upset me. On the other hand, they make the day less depressing and fill it with noises which I prefer from the silence. Well, even this moment of peace got destroyed when Hanji burst into the room with a big fat ass grin on her face. "What do you want four-eyes?" I asked her while I filled out another record. "I just wanted to ask something." She said and sat down. "The answer is no." I spat at her and hoped that she will go, but she stayed and pouted. "I didn’t even say something. You can’t deny a question you haven´t heard." "Well, I can and now leave my office. I have better shit to do than talking to you." I hissed. She grimaced and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You are such a mean person. I just wanted to ask if you would like to give me your paperwork because today is..." I did not even let her finish the sentence. The rage inside of me just got the best of me and I slapped my hand on the wooden desk. "No. Now leave shitty four-eyes." Her eyes widened and she nodded understandingly that I will not cooperate with her. "Alright but don’t do too much shorty." She opened the door but froze in the doorframe. "If you want to talk about it and get a day off Erwin will understand." Her voice shook a bit but I didn´t show any type of empathy. "Well, could you leave now?" I demanded and she left me and my thoughts alone.
Today, 33 years ago, the most precious person in my life was born. A light to call home if I put it into something ridiculously poetic. Why did Hanji have to remind me of her? Y/N and her calming E/C in which I could've drowned. It has been one year without her and every day is a challenge. She was the last bit of hope in this awful hell and even this bit of hope was taken by those titans. 
I lowered my pen and got up from my desk chair, which I had been in since yesterday. My back cracked while I  stretched myself. I looked outside of the window and enjoyed the three birds that chirped and flew happily through the sky. I wish I could be like them. Free and happy. I opened the window and let the fresh air into my office. I looked at the blue sky and wondered how this day would be if I hadn´t been so sluggish. I could´ve saved her. I closed my eyes and took a breath. I never regret my choices and even if it hurts, I won’t regret it this time either. It happened and if I mourn about it nothing will change the fact that it happened. I can’t change it and that’s it. I must accept it and live with the thought that Y/N is gone and will never come back. One of the birds chirped and landed in front of me. It tilted its head and looked at me. For a second, I thought that the bird wanted me to forget my dark thoughts. I shook my head and closed the window again.
I turned around and saw that all the papers were scattered around the room. I cleaned the mess and tried to work again but my thoughts drifted away and I laid my head on the desk. Why did the only light in my life have to vanish and leave me with darkness and pain? I walked out in the hallway and down to the kitchen to get me some black tea. I need to get rid of those thoughts. There’s nothing in the world that changes it. It happened and I couldn’t do anything against it. These are the facts.  I filled the water in the teakettle and let it start to boil. In the time that the water boiled, I stood on a chair and grabbed a teacup from the upper shelf. Which idiot thought about putting the cups in this shelf?  If I find this person there is someone on stall duty in the next few months. The teakettle whistled and I filled the cup with the hot water. "Ah found you. It’s a miracle that you even left your office." Says a deep voice behind me. I rolled with my eyes and turned around. "What do you want eyebrows?" I asked him harshly. "You get today off." He commanded and I wanted to complain, but he shook his head knowingly. "That’s an order and nothing to talk about. Hanji will take care of the paperwork." He explained and I stared angrily at the ground. "I don’t need a day off. I’m fine." I said and glared at him. "How can you be fine if..." "I don’t want to hear it." I interrupt him. "She is dead, Levi. You have to accept it." He said again and I glared another time at him. "She is dead and will never come back." He said again and I felt the urge to hit him with a chair. "Don’t you dare to talk any further!" I barked but he opened his mouth again. "She is dead Levi. A Titan ate her." I rushed forward and grabbed him by his collar. "I. Said. Don’t. You. Dare. To. Talk. Any. Further." I spelt with my bared teeth. He opened his mouth, but I kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back and noded. "Enjoy your day off." He said and I watched with anger in my eyes how he left the kitchen. I swore under my breath and took the cup of tea with me to my office.
I open the door and saw that the papers were removed from my desk. I rolled with my eyes and sat back at the desk. I stared at the blank wall and thought of all the things that Y/N showed me and how she carved herself into my cold heart, just with her encouragement and happiness. I wanted to marry her last Christmas, but the Titan came first and took the love of my life. My eyes started to burn, and my vision went blurry. I can’t cry, that’s not like me. I am humanity's strongest soldier I can’t cry, it's weak. 
"It’s not weak to cry, Levi. Even the strongest person needs to cry sometimes." Her voice echoed through my mind and I buried my head in the crook of my arm. A salty tear left my eye and rolled down my cheek. A sob escaped my mouth and I broke down. All the pain I tried to hide in the last year came over me and drowned me. It was like daggers were stabbed in my heart. It feels just like yesterday when I saw that the titan grabbed her and ate her alive. Her haunting screams echoed in my mind and I sobbed even harder. Why did this have to happen to her and not to me? I ask myself this a lot of times, but I concluded that life wanted me to live in my living hell. My sobs echoed on the bare walls of the office and the desk shook, just like my body.
A light knock brought me back and I looked at the closed door. I wiped away the tears and said, "Name and business." in my normal voices. "It’s S/N. I wanted to ask if we could play with my wooden trains."  "Come in." I answer and the door opens. A little boy with my raven hair and Y/N E/C eyes came into the room. In his hands, he held some of his trains. I stood up and walk to him. I kneeled in front of him and stared him in the eyes. "I love you S/N and I will always protect you." I wrapped my arms around the small boy and hugged him. "I love you too dad and I believe mommy loves us too." He answered and a small smile spread across my face. "You are right. Let us play." I said and we started to build a proper railroad. In the end, Y/N even left some of her pureness in the world and even her personality stays with me. S/N is my light and I will keep him safe. No matter what it takes. 
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thatsbucknasty · 4 years ago
Text
she used to be mine (vi) waitress au
pairing: Y/N x Bucky
summary: inspired by the broadway musical. Y/N Beck is a pie baking force to be reckoned with. She’s pregnant with her lazy ass husband, Quentin Beck’s baby. As everything around her turns upside down, Doctor James Buchanan Barnes charms his way into her life.
a/n: we’ll get a peek of Bucky’s pov here. Hope you guys are still reading this, and sorry for taking so long to update.
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chapter 6: a soft place to land
doctor bucky pov
-
I think I’m falling for her. The moment she walked into my office, holding that pie almost three months ago, I wanted to get to know her. I know I must’ve annoyed the hell out of her in that first encounter, I know I can be intense, but I couldn’t just refer her to a different person. I feel like we were connected, destined to meet. I’m a big romantic and I love how the universe works. I believe in my soul that we were not a product of coincidence or happenstance; maybe we’re not destined to be together but I’d surely love to just be her friend.
 Everytime she comes for an appointment I hope I’m cherishing her company as much as I should, or praising her talents because she deserves to know how amazing she is. And everytime I’m not in her presence I’m waiting  for the day I’ll get to see her again. Or hoping I’ll casually run into her at the market or in the street. Cause I’m stupid like that. Hoping some married woman, who’s also my patient by the way, will actually want anything to do with me. 
She’s sound asleep right now, and if things were different and she wasn’t in such a scary situation I might wish she’d wake up so I could tell her how beautiful she is to me and how much I want her to feel the same way I feel about her. But even if she’s had issues with that awful man, she’s still with him, so… I know it’s not going to happen and I’d just make a fool out of myself.
And where is that bastard anyway? His wife and kid are in such a vulnerable state and he’s nowhere to be seen! I swear if he comes here drunk, like she’s told me it’s his usual state, I’ll kick his pathetic ass. She deserves better than this. 
She listed a woman named Natasha as her emergency contact. A strange, scary woman indeed. She waltzed in here bossing everyone around, threatening to kill anybody who wouldn’t let her near her best friend. If I wasn’t scared for Y/N’s own life at the moment I might’ve laughed at all the interns she threw daggers at. The scary redhead went out to make some phone calls and get coffee, so it’s only me and Y/N, and the little nugget.
She looks so peaceful right now, so soft. I feel an incessant need to be near her and make sure she’s safe. Both of them really. It’s been a bad year for the both of us, that’s for sure. But all I care about right now is this woman, sleeping with an IV and a monitor by her side, and that tiny baby inside of her. I know they’re gonna make it just fine. I may be a little awkward and dumb when it comes to girls, but I’m damn good at my job, so for now, they’re both stable.
I’m falling for her hard. She baked me a pie and I couldn’t stop smiling once I was alone, just staring at it. The first pie she gave me wasn’t really for me, it was for Doctor Perkins. But the second one she made specially for me. I felt so proud that day, like I had discovered the cure to some major disease. She’s got me wrapped around her pretty little magical pie baking fingers.
-
y/n pov
-
I try to open my eyes and it’s taking an excessive amount of effort to do so. Everything’s too bright and I’m disoriented but I finally assess my surroundings and I realize I’m in a hospital bed. Oh god, my baby…
“My baby. Is it okay? I-” I whimper and try to call for somebody but there’s no one. How did I even get here?
“Y/N! You’re awake! Thank god!” Natasha and Wanda enter the room, and run to my side when they take in my panicked state.
“Nat, my baby? How is it? I don’t know how- I was- Please tell me it’s okay. I didn’t even get to give them a name yet. I-”
“Sweetie, it’s okay, shhh. You and the baby are okay. You’ve been here for two days, and we were so worried but Bucky said the worst part is over. Oh! That reminds me, Bucky said it’s a she! And she’s quite healthy, but you need to relax because whatever sent both of you here took a toll on your health and you need that to grow a baby, you know? You gotta take care of yourself, hon”.
I sigh in relief and try to relax back into the stiff hospital pillows. My baby is okay and it’s a girl. I feel like my heart stopped for a minute there but now there’s a sense of calm flooding me.
“Wait, you met Bucky?”
“Why yes, actually he wouldn’t leave your side but since Wanda and me are here, he figured you’d be more comfortable with a less crowded room”.
“Oh. That’s- um, that’s nice of him I guess”.
“Y/N? Would you like us to go fetch him?”
“YES! ...I mean, if you girls don’t mind”.
“Oh not at all. I’ll go, Wands you stay here to see if she needs anything”. Nat left the room and I suddenly feel so grateful to have such good friends in my life. I’d feel very pathetic if I was in the hospital by myself. No parents, no husband. No one else to worry about me and my baby girl.
“Okay, missy. I know you mentioned Doctor McDreamy was cute. But you never said he was THAT cute!”
“He is, isn’t he?” I feel my face heat up at her comment but it doesn’t matter anymore. They’ve met him and well, no one could hide that man’s handsome face.
“Too bad all of us are taken”. Wanda says while she cleans the chair by my bed with a wipe and sits.
Man, I gotta tell them what happened with Quentin, I feel like they’re gonna throw me a party or something. They really hate his ass.
“Yeah, about that…”
“Y/N, I’m glad you’re awake, how are you feeling?” Bucky enters the room and even though he has dark circles around his eyes and his face is scruffier than when I last saw him, he looks gorgeous.
“I’m good. Thirsty”. That’s all I manage to utter in front of the prying ears of my best friends, but I glare at them and Nat gets it.
“Oh would you look at the time, Wanda we should go back to the diner. Y/N, honey? We’ll visit after our shift’s over tonight, is that okay? You’re in good hands here, isn’t she, Bucky?”
“Indeed she is”. He says without taking his eyes off me, he smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes, he looks… concerned.
“Kay, see ya!” Nat takes Wanda by the arm and they almost jog outta here.
All of a sudden I feel extreme guilt. Bucky told me stress was bad for the baby and here I am. I feel like a child at the principal’s office. My eyes are welling up and I can’t even look at him.
“Hey, is something wrong? Are you in pain?” Bucky walks over to my side and takes a look at the monitor. I look up at him and he slowly reaches over to grab my chin. My heart does a little flutter and I hope the monitor doesn’t rat me out.
“I- I feel fine. But I’m so stupid. You told me stress was bad and- and I didn’t listen”, I can barely speak coherently in between sobs and jagged breaths, “I’m sorry- I had a huge argument with Quentin, he wasted all my baby savings and he’s having an affair, which I should’ve seen it coming, but I’m so, so stupid!”
Tears flow down my cheeks and I hide my face in my palms, then I feel the bed dip next to me and Bucky’s arms around me. He holds my back with one arm and the back of my head with another, whispering sweet words into my ear. I cling to his arms and let all my sadness and frustration be washed away by his embrace. We stay there for a little while and I try to mimic the rhythm of his breathing to calm myself down.
He’s the first one to let go and I hate to be parted from his arms, but he reaches over to wipe some stray tear and that tiny touch is enough to make me feel better.
“I just want you to know- you’re not stupid. Whatever reaction that you had and that led you here, it was completely normal. Y/N, if I may be so bold to say this- Quentin’s a lowlife. He doesn’t deserve you. I know you tried to work things out and gave him chance after chance because you choose to see the good in people, but you’ve had enough and you deserve more. You’re pretty amazing and the fact that you’ve been handling this pregnancy on your own since day one, makes you the strongest person I know”, he lowers his hand to my stomach and looks deep into my eyes, “you and that little princess you got there are alright now. It was just a scare. A very serious one, but you both are going to get through this in no time, I’m going to make sure of that”.
I smile up to him and he leans in to give my forehead a barely there kiss. Perhaps he’s right and things will be okay, maybe even more than just okay. There is hope in his eyes and in my heart, I can feel it.
“You should rest, I’ll be here, I promise”. 
Bucky takes my hand to his lips and sits in the chair next to me, still holding my hand and kissing it every so often until I fall asleep.
-
chapter 7: never ever getting rid of me
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rx-ven · 4 years ago
Text
The One That Got Away (Shinobu x Giyuu)
Chapter 4: saved by you, again
-----
12:51 P.M.
After the lunch, Tomioka dropped Shinobu back at the Hospital.
She was greeted by a grinning Mitsuri, sitting on the chair in front of her table when she opened the door of her office.
"So," Mitsuri started, tapping her fingers on the table, "how's the 'family' lunch?"
Shinobu chuckled, obviously know what is on the mind of her pink-haired best friend.
"What are you saying, Mitsuri? It's just a simple lunch that I was offered to."
"Yes!" Mitsuri exclaimed, "Offered by one of the most beautiful men that have entered this hospital."
Shinobu gotta admit Mitsuri isn't wrong on that part.
"You mean I'm offered by his kids, not the other way around."
"Um, no, Ms. Kocho Shinobu. I heard your conversation in the hallway, and I believe he insisted you come with them, and magically, you accepted it," Mitsuri wiggled her brows.
Knowing that her friend won't stop pestering her about the lunch, and she is very sure she will not tell the incident in the comfort room, she tried to change their subject.
"Mitsuri-chan, aren't you supposed to be in your office? It's almost 1:00 P.M."
"Ah, ah," Mitsuri waved her right pointer finger, "you will not get rid of me that fast, Shinobu-chan. Besides, I know something happened! I just know it. I can smell it."
"Well, your nose is obviously clogged because I am certain nothing happened out of ordinary, Mitsuri-chan. And please, stop shipping me to that stoic man. His attention span is like a kid! I can't believe he zoned out while I'm talking to him."
"Maybe he is enchanted by your beauty," teased Mitsuri.
"Y'know, Mitsuri-chan, you're really into this matchmaking of yours, ne?"
"Oh, come on! You're no fun, Shinobu-chan. You don't get to be invited to lunch every day with a handsome man! I need to know what happened," showing her puppy eyes to Shinobu.
Shinobu gave Mitsuri an uninterested look.
"Ugh, fineeeee. I'll stop but only for now," whined Mitsuri, "next time something like this happens you will give me all the tea," Mitsuri winked at Shinobu.
Shinobu rolled her eyes but found herself agreeing to the condition of Mitsuri.
"Yes, I understand, Ms. Kanroji. Now, will you stop pestering me, and get back to your own office?"
"We are not yet done, Shinobu-chan. Douma came."
Shinobu grinned, "I know."
"What? You know?"
"Why do you think I accepted the lunch offer, hm?"
Mitsuri laughed, "you're smart, Shinobu-chan."
"Well, I can hear Douma shouting my name from the other end of the hallway, so I gotta do what I gotta do, escape him even if it means sitting with an emotionally deprived man that zoned out every now and then," Shinobu chuckled.
Shinobu met Douma a couple of months ago when she was strolling in the city. Douma, whose attention is on his phone, dumbly tried to cross a street with cars on full speed. Her automatic reaction was to save him so she yanked him back in the side of the street. Since then, Douma has been pestering her and commenting every now and then how it was like destiny considering the circumstances on how they met.
"I think he was about to ask you on a date."
"Ugh, again? Believe me when I say I turn those advances down every time."
Mitsuri chuckled at the thought, "Well, he is right though. You should start dating now, Shinobu-chan. I'm sure Kanae-san will be happy if that happened."
"I don't like to have another problem in my life, Mitsuri-chan."
"You're really no fun at all, Shinobu-chan," Mitsuri pouted, "speaking of dates, I'll be having a date Saturday next week and I kinda want a movie date but in our apartment. Kanao and Aoi will be staying at Kanae-san's during that time sooo... Is that alright for you?"
"Sure, I'll be just in my room the whole time so you don't have to worry."
"Yay! You're the best, Shinobu-chan!" Mitsuri hugged Shinobu.
"Alright, alright. Now, get back to your office."
--
The car ride was pleasingly silent. Nezuko was silently scrolling through her phone when a thought came into her.
"Giiyuu-san? Why don't you have a girlfriend?" Nezuko asks innocently. The question made Tomioka flinch. The question also caught Tanjirou's interest.
"Hm, now that you've mentioned it, you haven't introduced someone special to us or even go on dates, Giyuu-san."
Nezuko hummed in agreement. Tomioka kept silent debating if he should answer the two kids. Should he say he the woman he met doesn't interest him or should he just say he doesn't want a relationship yet?
"You know, Giyuu-san, we can help you! Give me your phone, I'll download something," said Tanjirou.
Without thinking, he gave his phone. After a couple of minutes, Tanjirou gave it back to him smiling.
"Here, Giyuu-san. I've installed a dating app on your phone. It should help you in finding the people that interest you by clicking on the filters!"
Bumble app
Tomioka isn't new to this thing. He knows this app because his students use this to find their special someone. Some are successful, some are not. For him, it is efficient, however, it can also be dangerous. He will be meeting a stranger that he only met through the app.
Changing the subject, Tomioka asked Tanjirou where should he drop them. "At the house, Giyuu-san. I'm on a day off today. Inosuke and Zenitsu are the ones working today."
The statement made Tomioka look in horror at Tanjirou.
"Don't worry, Tomioka-san! They won't trash the Café. Kanao and Aoi are there to make sure they won't destroy the Café." Tanjirou said sheepishly.
Aoi and Kanao had been helping in assisting the café a few months ago to help their dear sisters, Shinobu and Kanae pay off bills. Although the earnings of Shinobu already can provide for their everyday needs and still have savings, they still insisted on working and helpful. The idea was adored by Kanae but the money they are only allowed to give is only in a certain amount, and the rest will go to their respective savings.
"Giyuu-san, I know you're trying to change the subject but please try going on dates sometimes, or at least go out," Tanjirou's voice was laced with concern.
Tomioka nodded.
Maybe, just maybe, this can help her find the girl in his dreams.
--
7:30 P.M.
Mitsuri informed shinobu that she would not be able to go home with her tonight and will be home late. Apparently, Iguro surprised Mitsuri at the hospital and have a date night tonight. Mitsuri apologized at Shinobu knowing she'll be walking home alone tonight. Shinobu assured her that it is alright and that she should just enjoy the evening.
Exiting the hospital, she saw the very least person she needs to be with tonight. Douma.
Ugh, when will the odds be in my favor?
She rolled her eyes.
"Let me walk you home, Shinobu-chan!"
"I don't think that would be needed, Douma-san."
She walked past him and he followed. "But it's late, Shinobu-chan. You might get in danger. I don't want you to be hurt."
Shinobu stopped walking.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Douma-san-" Shinobu rummaged her bag, "-I have a knife and pepper spray with me," Shinobu showed him, "do you want me to try it to you?"
"Aw, don't be mean, Shinobu-chan! I just want to walk you home!" whined Douma.
Shinobu fastened her phase and ignored him, cursing herself because she timely did not bring her car today. Unable to avoid the loud, blonde man. Still, Douma followed her, trying to make her agree to him on going on a date with him.
"Come on, Shinobu-chan! Give me a chance. I'll definitely sweep your feet away," pleaded Douma.
Shinobu glared at him upon hearing his remarks.
"What is it, Shinobu-chan? Why are you glaring at me? Don't tell me you've fallen in love with me already," he said while brushing his hair, voice laced with pride, "I know I'm handsome but don't look at me that long, Shinobu-chan. I'll be shy!"
"No, I'm hoping you'll spontaneously combust," she said smiling.
Clearly hurt, Douma stopped on his tracks and replied, "Why you gotta be so mean to me, Shinobu-chan! We are destined to be together."
Yeah, right, destined to be as far away as possible from each other.
Shinobu continued to walk, ignoring the drama Douma is causing.
While walking, Shinobu is trying to think of ways to get rid of Douma. Douma eventually caught up on her.
She reached the pedestrian crossing when an idea came to her mind. While waiting for the stoplight to be red, Shinobu removed her butterfly pin, and let her hair down. The action surprised douma.
"Whoa, Shinobu-chan! You look so pretty when your hair is down. Why did you do this? Are you hitting on me, ne, Shinobu-chan?" Douma insisted.
Shinobu masked her irritation and just smiled at him, Not answering him. Douma, however, continued to blabber about her hair.
When the stoplight turned red and people started crossing, Shinobu ran as fast as she can away from Douma. Douma was startled and became rooted in his spot, not knowing what was happening.
Shinobu knew that with Douma's height, she will be easily spotted especially with her custom-made butterfly pin so she had to remove it. The plan was a success. She lost Douma in the crowd.
She rearranged her hair and put her pin back. Shinobu skipped on her way home, pleased with the absence of Douma.
While walking, she spots the guardian of the Kamado Siblings who is resting on a bench while holding his water bottle, sweaty from his jog.
Shinobu debated if she should greet him.
If I greet him, he will probably just stare at me again or not even acknowledge me, but if douma catches up on me while I'm alone he will probably start pestering me again.
Shinobu decided to do the latter, deciding that it is the best choice for her current situation.
As she walks closer, the image of Tomioka became clearer. His always messy raven hair is tamed by the ponytail, showing her his forehead. She also took notice of his toned muscles.
He sure does have a nice body.
Mentally slapping herself, Shinobu shook her thoughts off because the man in front of her is obviously confused why she hasn't said a word yet as she stands in front of him staring.
"Good evening, Tomioka-san."
Surprisingly, he acknowledged her, "Kocho."
--
Tomioka spots a form coming in his way, he lifted his head up and see the small butterfly woman that he had lunch with earlier.
It surprises him when she hasn't said a word to him yet knowing how talkative she is especially when annoying him. His facial expressions must have shown his confusion.
"Good evening, Tomioka-san."
Ah, there it is.
"Kocho."
Utterly confused because she still outside when it is already evening and how it can be dangerous for her.
"What is it that you need, Kocho?"
"Oh, nothing Tomioka-san, I was just about to go home. It just happened that I saw you and decided to greet you,"
"I'll walk you home."
His offer stunned her.
"Umm... What?"
"I'll walk you home."
"Um... why?" then an idea came to her, "are you hitting up on me Tomioka-san? Who would know that you like girls, I thought you were gay," teased Shinobu.
"Girls like you shouldn't be out at a time like this."
Obviously irked by the statement, Shinobu replied, "Excuse me, Tomioka-san, but I'm a 23 years old adult who can definitely protect herself." Fumed Shinobu as she crossed her arms, offended by the comment.
"Yes... but you are small, and light-"
"What are you saying Tomioka-san? Please, do not judge my appearance I can definitely take yo-"
Tomioka grabbed her hips and pulled her close, then grabs her wrist and place it on her back, locking her up.
The action made Shinobu blanked for a second.
Not knowing what to do, she stayed still as she felt her blood rush in her face.
"See, you can easily be cornered."
"What-"
He then let go of her, "I'll walk you home."
Shinobu who still can't wrap up in her head what had just happened, silently followed Tomioka, still blushing furiously.
--
The walk on their way home was pleasantly silent if it weren't for Shinobu's every other minute teasing or interrogating but Tomioka paid no mind. Having a company is sometimes refreshing.
Surprisingly, her apartment building was just a few blocks away from his.
"Ne, Tomioka-san. Thank you for walking me home," Shinobu said when they got up in front of her unit's door.
Of course, she didn't receive any reply other than his nod.
"Take ca-"
Before she can finish her farewell, her unit's door opened which catches her attention.
She was tackled by Kanao whom she catches at the last minute.
"There you are! We're worried sick! You're not replying to our text and-"
Kanao stopped her rambling when she noticed someone other than her elder sister outside their unit.
"Oh," Kanao straighten herself, "Hello, Tomioka-san. What are you doing here?"
"I walked Kocho home."
Kanao looked at her sister and connected the dots.
"Thank you so much, Tomioka-san! We were worried that something might have happened to her. She's supposed to be home 20 minutes ago-"
"Now, now, Kanao. I'm home safe and sound. You can relax now," Shinobu patted Kanao's head.
Kanao smiled at her sister then faced Tomioka, "Why don't you have dinner with us, Tomioka-san. Take this as a form of gratitude for walking our sister home."
"Thank you, but I don't want to insist."
In Tomioka's mind, he is sweaty and probably smelled, so as much as he wants to have dinner with them, he declined. "We insist, Tomioka-san. Please have dinner with us," Kanao begged.
Shinobu laughed at the cuteness of her little sister she shifted her attention to Tomioka.
"Go freshen up in your apartment first while we prepare for dinner," Shinobu said, sensing Tomioka's thoughts, "Do not try to ditch us Tomioka-san, she will still insist that you'll have dinner with us until you show yourself and eat with us."
With that, Tomioka left and agreed to be back after 10 minutes.
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kim-bobbae · 5 years ago
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87. “I saved you a seat.”
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“I don’t get it,” He said flatly, evidently annoyed. “You’re always complaining about me being away and when I’m finally back you’re throwing a fit cos me sitting here and watching you work stresses you out? Come on.”
“I’m not throwing a fit,” You argued.
“Yeah?” He challenged, raising a brow as he folded his arms and leaned back on the sofa behind your desk, eyes staring you down.
“What?”
“Do you want my company or not?” He asked, the straightforwardness catching you a little off guard.
“You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to…” You murmured, then clicked your tongue in annoyance at the sound of your email notification as you swiveled in your chair and turned your attention back to your desktop.
“If you don’t want to…” He repeated after you, rolling his eyes.
He knew very well that you were ‘in the zone’ with the pile of work that you had to do, and how fickle minded yet demanding your client was being on a Saturday night was doing nothing to make your job any easier. But he especially hated it whenever you used that line on him because what the fuck, why did it have to be on him. There he was, despite being jet lagged himself, giving you shoulder massages and trying to talk you through your stresses but all he got in response was you swatting his hands away and asking him to leave you alone cos it was getting distracting.
“Yeah whatever I don’t really deserve this crap after trying so hard to help you keep your emotions in check if you, a grown working professional, can’t deal with your own responsibilities,” He stated.
And that kinda hurt.
“Jay-” You started, swallowing a potential outburst as your eyes were still fixated on the screen, scanning through the endless lines of requirements your client had just sent, unreasonably asking to be met by the same night.
He watched as you closed your eyes, dropped your head to the table and your hands grabbed at your hair, then wordlessly picked up his keys and cast one last glance before making his way out of the study.
“I’m just trying to finish so I can make it-” You tried explaining after calming down, but the click of the main door signaling that he had left your apartment only drew out a long, heavy sigh. “…tonight.”
 --
“Ayeee,” Gray greeted as soon as Jay entered the office.
“Long time no see!”
“Hey,” He said with a small smile.
Having left your house a few hours ago, Jay had sought solace in his studio, attempting to distract himself by working on some new tracks but obviously none of them were coming out satisfactory and it was adding on to his exasperation on top of the whole episode between the two of you this afternoon.
It rarely ended with him walking out on you even though he usually preferred to have some time to cool off before talking it out on the occasion that you guys argued. But ever since he left for the world tour, you struggled to keep yourself mentally sane with the ridiculous workload that you were facing at your new job and the lack of mental and emotional support. It was easier when he was around – you would bring your work to his office if you had to work overtime, he would come over to write his lyrics, but more importantly, he could pull you into his arms whenever he saw that the stress was driving you up the wall.
Needless to say, the past five months was a real struggle with you often crying over the phone to him despite your best efforts to keep it in. He knew the nature of your work and your low threshold for work stress, but he didn’t expect that you would have driven him away even after not seeing him for so long when he had put in the effort to spend time with you instead of recovering from his jet lag.
“What’s up? Everything okay?” Kiseok asked, reaching his hand out for a handshake.
“Yeah of course,” He shrugged.
“Is Ji Eun not joining us tonight?”
“Maybe later, she’s kinda held up at work,” He replied, casually going over to the refrigerator to grab himself a drink to avoid any further questions about you.
It worked, though, as everyone went on to catch up with one another, chilling with some card games and Nitendo Switch as per the usual.
The guys at AOMG had arranged for a casual gathering at the office on a Saturday night to congratulate Jay on concluding his successful world tour.
“You coming?” 
Your phone buzzed, and you diverted your attention from your bedroom ceiling to your mobile phone as the message preview from Hoody lit up the screen.
It was only three hours into the said time of the party when you had finally sent out the documents to your client, a huge wave of relief coming over you as you slumped into your seat, wanting to just stare into blank space and do absolutely nothing for a while.
“I don’t know, should I? I just got done with work and it’s super late though.”
“Duh, it’s a party for Jay, come and chill out. Pretty sure he’s been waiting, he seems pretty restless.”
You sighed, putting your phone face down on the table then rubbed your face, sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was a no brainer that you wanted to be there to celebrate the occasion with him. More than that, it was the end of all the woes of long distance that the both of you were more excited about cos if anyone thought Jay was busy in Korea, he was almost untouchable on a tour, though you had to commend his efforts to squeeze in a Facetime call every other night or sometimes even getting DJ Wegun to film it so you could watch him perform for a bit.
Maybe it was the fact that he had not been physically around you for so long that needed some getting used to, but you honestly didn’t mean to come off the wrong way when you asked him to leave you alone. Of course you wanted the hugs and the kisses, but at that point of time you just needed to get the work done as soon as possible.
“Ugh I’m a mess,” You groaned, as you walked over to the mirror beside your wardrobe – the dark circles were deeper than the pits of your stomach and your complexion was embarrassing from the lack of proper sleep the past couple of days.
Nevertheless, you picked out a casual set of clothes and with some make up and self-convincing, you managed to get yourself out of the house and to the office.
Yeah, it’s gonna be fine. It’s gonna be fun. You repeated mentally.
--
“Ji Eun!” Loco greeted with a grin as soon as you walked in.
“Hey…” You smiled, unable to mask the weariness in your voice. “Sorry I’m late, but I brought some chips to make up for it if that’s okay.”
Jay’s ears perked up at the sound of your voice, and the way everyone’s attention was turning to you made it impossible for him to avoid looking at you.
“Aw you didn’t have to,” Kiseok said, hands on your shoulders as he brought you over to where everyone else was sitting.
“Everything at work okay?” Elo asked gently, noticing your lack of energy.
“Oh you know, the usual,” You shrugged.
Taking a quick glance around you had noticed that the only seat available was the one beside Jay and it was then when you linked arms with Hoody and walked towards the ice box, naturally avoiding Jay as you caught up with her in a hushed conversation. After all, you didn’t want to put it out there that their boss just had a fight with his girlfriend, nor did you want to ruin the atmosphere with talk about work at a party.
Jay could not help but take quick glances at you from time to time, the crease in your forehead and the subtle frown on your face as you spoke about what he assumed to be work woes to Hoody only making him feel worse about this afternoon. After all, you guys haven’t had proper quality time since he touched down yesterday for him to notice the weight you had lost and your lack of energy.
“You okay?” Loco asked, noticing how Jay went quiet ever since your arrival.
“Ya Hoody, don’t steal his girl, it’s his party today,” Ugly Duck remarked, turning all the attention on you.
“Sorry wha-?”
“Join us, we were just getting started with another round of drinks!” Sungwoo chimed.
“I saved you a seat,” Jay said in the quietest voice, barely looking at you as he cleared his throat.
You bit your lip, looking up at Jay for a split second before the both of you looked away from each other simultaneously. You tried as best as possible to stall for time and lingered awkwardly around Wonjae at the opposite end of the room. By now, it was becoming a little obvious that something wasn’t right between the both of you, but they knew better than to spell it out until a slightly tipsy Kiseok broke the silence.
“What? Afraid that you’ll jump on each other? Go ahead, we’ll look away,” Kiseok chuckled.
Seeing that Jay was having none of it as he smacked Kiseok’s head with a cushion, you took the opportunity while their attention was diverted and excused yourself to the pantry.
You sighed, unwrapping a bowl of instant ramen as you began regretting your decision to even turn up at the party when really, you would rather curl up in bed with Netflix than tread carefully around Jay after months of long distance.
Jay figured that it wasn’t wise to drag this out any longer and finally got up from the couch, biting on his inner cheek as he walked up to you quietly. There you were, sitting on the bar stool at the island, propping your chin on your hand as you stared blankly at the electric kettle not even noticing that he had walked right up beside you.
“Haven’t had dinner?”
“Oh…no, kinda made my way here as soon as I was done,” You explained, surprised, then pressed your lips to form a tight line.
He then reached for the bowl, unwrapping the condiments and wordlessly prepared it for you.
“Thanks,” You whispered.
“No worries.”
And for a while you sat there, looking at him whilst biting on your lip, not exactly sure of what to say to get rid of the deafening silence.
Noticing this from the side of his eye, he let out a soft chuckle, “What?”
“Nothing,” You replied, and as he looked at you with a brow raised, you sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drive you away...”
“Me too,” He sighed, leaning down to rest his elbows on the island as he brought his face closer to yours. “I’m sorry.”
A part of you wanted to go off on a long ass apology, but a part of you didn’t want to start this whole drama all over again, nor did you really have any emotional energy left in you. Instead, you simply looked at him, the both of you staying like that for the longest time.
“I know, you don’t have to say anything,” He said, finally wrapping his arms around your frame and pulling you closer to him.
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justkending · 5 years ago
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Just Roommates. Chapter 24.
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Series Summary: These two college friends have had years to grow together. Each being the others support system, adventure buddy, movie night partner, and dorky roommates. That is until things start coming to a new light in their relationship. At least for him… Is there something else there? Is it possible? Were these feelings always there?
Pairing: (Modern) Bucky Barnes x Reader
Warning: Fluff, Adulting, sexy-times mentions, language.
Word Count: 2000+
A/N: A little short and fluffy chapter for you all as I bring together the future of this series:) Hope you enjoy my dream world!
Chapter 24:
Sure enough... It wasn't much of a quicky. Bucky and Y/N ended up at their friends house a good 30 minutes later than everyone else, and it did NOT go unnoticed.
After coming out to the crowd at the gala about their relationship, they figured it was time to confess to their friend group as well.
But after Nat said, "Good God, it took you long enough. I've been waiting close to a month for you guys to finally say something." They realized that their little secret wasn't much of a secret at all.
Bucky had moaned and groaned as the boys hassled him for waiting so damn long, and Y/N and the girls immediately started talking details as they sat around the fire in Wanda and Visions back yard. The night was simple, intimate, and a great memory compared to the annoyance that happened at the ball.
All of that was quickly left in the back of their minds after they had their sweet friend group gathering. Time together like that always gave them a little reboot when the world seemed to be going too fast. Who better to slow down with than your best friends?
3 Months later.
"Babe?" Y/N shouted from the front door as she came home from work.
"In my room!" he shouted back.
Bucky had been working at home more often because things had calmed down in the business. He never REALLY had to go in as much as he had to before, but being the good boss he was, he made sure to be present. Now, he was trying to find things to help with the No Soldier Left Behind center more, so it was easier to just set up shop in his room where he had a mini office to the side, and not have to worry about people distracting him.
"Hey," Y/N smiled as she leaned her head into the room.
Bucky looked up from his computer and sent her the same grin she was giving him.
"Hey gorgeous," he chuckled when she didn't come in fully. "You just going to hang out by the door, or are you going to come in and give me a 'Honey, I'm home' kiss?" he teased.
"I actually have a surprise for you," she said with a wider grin, but one that showed she was up to something. Bucky knew that smile a little too well.
"What did you do?" he questioned slowly pushing his chair back going to stand.
"Wait! Stay right there!" she shook her head, but her hands were behind her showing whatever the surprise was was behind her back. "First, I got flowers for the week," she said, bringing a bouquet of her weekly flowers out. "One of your favorites. Baby breath, lavender, and daisies."
"Thanks sweetheart. That's sweet, but why do I feel like another boot is about to drop?" he probed, tilting his head as he put his hands on the arms rest and leaned back. He wanted to stand and go to her, but she told him to not move, so here he was.
"Well, that's the second part of the surprise..." she said tilting her head more and scrunching her nose.
Damn that nose scrunch! She knew what that did to him.
"Y/N..." he drug out.
"Just close your eyes real quick-"
"Y/N."
"Please! Please! I promise it's a good thing!"
"You said that last time and I ended up with a face mask on and my hair in two french braids."
"Don't act like you didn't like it," she scoffed with a small rolling of her eyes. "You love spa night."
"Sam found out and said I lost a piece of my man card," he crossed his arms.
"No, you gained a piece because you're secure in your masculinity unlike 99% of men out there," she countered. "Forget that for now though! Close your eyes."
"I don't know what I'm getting myself into-"
"That's the best part!" she shouted with a loud sigh, "Close your eyes or else Buck." The last part was said with a hint of a threatening tone was all it took Bucky to surrender. He put his hands up before crossing them again and doing as she asked.
He wanted to peak and he was so close to doing it, but right when he was about to break she giggled.
"Ok, open 'em!"
Bucky wouldn't have even come close to guessing what was sitting in front of him. Outstretched in her arms was a white cat with even bluer eyes than him. His hair wasn't long, but it wasn't short, and he had a big bushy tail. He looked as if he was kinda small for a cat given he wasn't a kitten.
"You got a c-"
"A cat!" she jumped pulling the white furball back into her arms and cradling it as he purred to her.
Bucky didn't know how to react. He never had a pet growing up, and even if he were to, he imagined it would've been a dog. Not a cat. Cats always seemed so temperamental and angsty. But the way this one was looking at him made him second guess his quick judgement.
"Don't be mad. There was a girl trying to get rid of him by the shop where I usually get my flowers. She said it was either someone buy him from her, or she would have to take him to the shelter," Y/N was quick to explain. "I knew we would treat him right compared to another stranger on the street, and if someone didn't get him at the shelter they would probably put him down." The small pout on her lips and the longing look of the cat was all it took Bucky to let out his breath he was holding in and lean back in his chair.
"Ok."
"Wait... You're not mad?" she asked, turning her head to the side.
"No. You were just being you," he chuckled standing up and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she said furrowing her eyebrows.
"All good things Sassy. I mean you being you because you constantly are trying to help people, and apparently," he looked down at the cat who gave a loud purr where she was rubbing his tummy. "Animals too."
"Awe, Buck!" she smiled putting the cat down and jumping to hug him around the neck. "You're the best!"
"I know, I know," he laughed as he pulled her into him. "Hey, how about pasta for dinner tonight? I already have the meatballs ready to go."
"Oh, yeah. I've been craving Italian all day. It's like you know me really well or something."
"I know it's crazy, right?" he said looking down at her with a joking grin. "Come on you loon," he said, giving her a quick squeeze to the hip before walking toward the kitchen.
"I'm not a loon," she mumbled following him. "Wait!" she said jumping and bouncing on his back. He was quick to catch her and let out a laugh as he piggy backed her to the kitchen.
"A loon," he chuckled squeezing her calves.
______
Halfway through their meal, Bucky caught Y/N looking around as if inspecting the apartment.
The cat had curled up in the chair next to him having already taken a liking to the man of the house. Bucky every once in a while giving him a scratch on his ear, but still not really sure about the pet just yet.
"Ok, what in the world are you doing?" he finally asked as she furrowed her eyebrows in concentration for the 100th time in the past 15 minutes.
"Nothing, nothing," she shook her head with a light chuckle before snagging a piece of garlic bread.
"That's not nothing. You've been in one of your dream worlds for the past 5 minutes. I can see it in your eyes," he jestered, filling their wine glasses again. "Are you redecorating the house in your head again?"
"Well..."
"Y/N you literally changed the entire layout of the living room just 2 days ago." He couldn't hold back that laugh.
"Ok, but hear me out!" she shouted forgetting her meal and leaning forward with her leg propped up next to her. "How long do you plan on living here?"
"You mean the flat?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Uh, I mean I don't know. I haven't really thought about it," he shrugged, grabbing his wine and relaxing in his chair. "I own it now, so I could sell it anytime."
"Have you ever wanted to live somewhere else?" she questioned propping her chin in her hand as she watched him intently.
"Uh," he paused really thinking about it. I guess if he had a choice he did have a place he always imagined. "Upstate New York actually. I always imagined still being close to friends, but far enough out of the city it would be quite at night. No city lights making the night sky disappear, but instead being able to point out constellations and star gaze. I would have some land, a nice big house, and hell, maybe even a place I can build on and landscape some. I've always wanted to look into that stuff."
He hadn't even realized he was rambling about his dream world, until he finally looked up at Y/N who had a soft smile painted on her lips and admiration in her eyes.
"That sounds beautiful B," was all she said.
Bucky smiled before taking a big sip of his wine. "It's all a dream though. That would be a lot of work to get there, and I'm not sure something like what I want even exist."
"Who says you can't make it exist?"
He looked up at the comment and Y/N was gingerly taking a sip of her own wine as she kept eye contact with him.
"What else do you have up your sleeve today, doll?" he said with a challenging look.
"Oh Buck. It's funny you think it's just today," she stood grabbing her finished plate and his. "I always have something up my sleeve. Every. Day." With that, she sashayed her hips to the sink with a smirk on her lips.
But Bucky was two steps behind, and as soon as the dishes were no longer in her hands, he was already picking her up.
"Tell me what's going on in that beautiful mind of yours Y/N!" he said fake biting at her shoulder, neck, and ear getting a laughing fit out of her.
"B, put me down!" she shouted as she tried to stop laughing, but his hands were already working their way under her shirt and tickling her stomach too. "Bucky!"
"Tell me!"
"Ok, ok! Put me down!'
He relented, sorta. He placed her to sit on the island, and then put his hands on either side of her thighs as he trapped her in. She wasn't leaving anytime soon if he had a say. Gently and ever so lovingly she leaned forward placing her forehead on his and smiled. Bucky loved when she did this cause it was intimate in a whole other way. It was like she was opening that mind of hers and letting him peak inside it.
"How do you feel about moving in together?" she whispered.
Bucky chuckled a little, but didn't move. "I'd say we seem to have already've done that."
"What about into your dream home? Our dream home?"
"What are you getting at Y/N/N?" he said, finally pulling back enough to see her face. He sweetly pulled some stray hair behind her ears as he kept eye contact with her.
"I mean... What if we moved in with each other for REAL, and got our dream house together? How would you feel about that?" Her big doe eyes were captivating and practically asking Bucky to give them the world.
All he could do was let that lopsided grin he only gave to her, grow on his face.
"I would say that sounds like an even better dream than I could imagine."
Just Roommates:
@starfirerules @buckys-blunders @alexxcorona113 @tcc-gizmachine @vrgelivvvv @nighttwingg @firefly-in-darkness @mizzzpink @poppunkdork @nerdygirlwithacrush @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @ellaenchanted91​ @sebbbystaaan​
Marvel Tags:
@thejourneyneverendsx​ @death-unbecomes-you​ @heyiamthatbitch​ @zeilenkrieg​ @lizzymacy555​ @iheartsebastianstan​ @srrymydood​ @xa-dia​ @redhairedfeistynerd​
My Lovelies forever:
@natura1phenomenon​ @lauravic​ @traceyaudette​ @kakakatey​ @notyourtypicalrose​ @laneygthememequeen​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​ @sandlee44​ @thorne93​ @snffbeebee​ @thefaithfulwriter​ @marvelfansworld​ @essie1876​ @greyeyedsmile14​ @capsiclehan​ @naomi02hook​ @xostephanie​ @averyrogers83​ @awesomenursingstudent​ @gh0stgurl​ @cs-please​ @carls1022​​ @jjlevin​ @rainbowkisses31​ @carls1022​ @anise-d-castle6​ @deannotmoose​ @their-bibliophile​ @kitkatd7​
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photiniainsummer · 4 years ago
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A Little Audience Participation Can Tip the Scales (1/?): The Lede
Genre: GenFic - Action, Mystery, Humor
Rating: Teen and Up
Story Summary: There’s a strange group living at the old Markiplier Manor.
They’re the villains of their tales, they’re looking for information, and they need your help putting Mark’s scattered egos back together to get their lives back.
And stop Mark and the Entity breaking reality.
Small goals.
(Second Person POV, vaguely fem-coded Reader)
Chapter Summary: The one where your cheeky coworker convinces you to check out the old Markiplier Manor with him.
Word Count: 5372
Author's Note: Decided to cross-post from my Ao3! The next three chapters are already up, and I try to post every Tuesday. :3
Interested?
Read on Ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30510852/chapters/75244647
The Lede
You watch amusedly from your desk as Jonah, your coworker-slash-mentor and partner in crime, comes bustling through the door to the reporters’ bullpen. He’s late, as usual, his half-open messenger bag slung across his rumpled self. Scribbled-on papers and even his laptop haphazardly jut out from the bag as he struggles to balance a breakfast sandwich on his thermos. Sometimes, all he had to do was exist to make you nervous. He starts to make his way across to you and your neighboring desks but is intercepted by the resident office mom for what she calls a “good old fashioned talking-to.” She’s always trying to tenderly bully him into being a better example for the junior reporters like yourself, although you have to wonder why she keeps it up despite its clearly limited efficacy. It’s not even that Jonah’s particularly stubborn - he’s just one of those people who, no matter how early he leaves home or how hard he tries, something just so happens to make him late. You can see how it would seem intentional, but you know Jonah’s too honest and, frankly, not creative enough to come up with the plethora of scenarios that conspire against him. You’ve just learned to tell Jonah to show up at least half an hour before you actually want him to.
Eleanor, however, is committed to whipping Jonah into shape. In the midst of her chiding, Jonah catches your gaze and pulls an awful face, startling a laugh out of you. Eleanor, of course, seizes on this and switches to berating him about listening when spoken to as you try to pull your attention back to scanning the morning news. He really knows how to dig himself in deeper, you think, chewing your lip to keep from laughing at the memory of his terrible expression.
“Don’t even start,” Jonah grumbles when he finally extracts himself from Eleanor’s chastising, sliding into his desk across from you. “You heard it, she already ran the full gamut this morning.” You give him your best shocked look.
“Who, me? No idea what you’re talking about,” you reply coolly, punctuating your tease by exaggeratedly returning to your work and clattering at your keyboard. “I was just going to ask how your morning went.” Jonah groans, but his lips tug upward in his typical crooked smile. At least he’d managed to shave without cutting himself this morning, you note.
“Ugh. Just because you were born able to wake up five minutes before your alarm doesn’t mean the rest of us were. Besides, I was up listening to the scanner.” Now it’s your turn to groan.
“That thing again? It’s barely legal for you to have one here, even Walker said as much.” Your boss and head editor had given Jonah his patented disapproving brow-furrow and pressed-lip combo when it had come up in conversation, but he hadn’t explicitly told the crime reporter to get rid of it, either. Jonah argued it kept him ahead of the curve on his beat, but with as many connections as he had, you suspected he used it more for the thrill of it than bettering his job performance. “What was so interesting last night, anyway? Any high-speed chases?”
“Not in our limits, unfortunately.” Jonah chuckles at your unamused expression, popping the lid on his thermos. “Kidding, come on. No, it was quiet last night, except… well.” He pauses, something changing in his expression. It’s enough to pull your attention away from your inbox. Jonah’s a goofball, but he’s a damn good reporter with a mind like a whip. He has to be, to be head of the crime division. So you take it seriously when he casts his eyes around the office before leaning in conspiratorially. His voice is hushed as he murmurs to you. “Someone called in that they saw a suspicious person skulking around the old Markiplier Manor.”
You immediately lose interest. That was news to him? The Manor had been abandoned as long as you had been alive, long since off the market after being passed from renovator to developer for most of its nearing-hundred year existence. Even with calls for it to be turned into some kind of museum, it had never been able to shake its grisly past or tendency for the strange. You’d heard the stories of the few historic maintenance crews dealing with randomly exploding lightbulbs and eerie spectres, disembodied voices and footsteps - but that’s all they were, stories. Stories from a creepy, old, run-down house on the edge of town. It was a hotspot for teenagers wanting to prove their guts - hell, you had even gone with a couple of friends back in high school, although you had been busted by a roving patrol car. You sigh at the memory of just how badly your mom had berated you about breaking curfew and fix Jonah with a disappointed look. He was immature at the worst of times, but you thought he’d at least be able to tell a lead from normal shenanigans. “That was exciting enough to make you late for the third time this week? You’re supposed to be a senior reporter around here, you know.” Jonah huffs, leaning forward on his desk and closer to you. He seems intent, despite your skepticism.
“Well, if you’d let me finish explaining, then you might know why such an on-time and dedicated individual such as yours truly would have let the time slip away from him,” he replies, sarcasm curling his tone. A quip rises on your tongue that he was the one drawing it out so much, but Jonah has a certain glint in his eyes. Something had his attention. You finally turn from your computer monitor and to face him, only slightly exasperated.
“Okay, okay. Listening.”
The man grins slightly and shifts his weight further forward on his elbows, keeping his voice down as he continues. “All right, so, PD gets this call from a neighbor that they saw someone wandering around on the property, yeah? They send an officer to check it out - of course, nobody’s around by the time he shows up. But the weird thing is… they found all the lights on inside.”
You blink, sure you missed something. “Like. Shop lights, right? There’s some construction crew working on it, or… they called in an appraiser and they forgot to turn them off.” Jonah shakes his head.
“Nope. Light fixtures. Every single one with a bulb in was blazing. And no crews or anything, I called the agency that owns the place. The last pro they had in there was over four years ago. There’s a security guard that checks it out regularly, but the power’s been off for years.”
You furrow your brow and sit in thoughtful silence for a moment, hunched and staring at your desk as you puzzle over the details. Jonah watches you intently while you think, taking the chance to work on his massive thermos of coffee, so strong you could smell it across your desks. He’d done this since you’d joined the paper, assuming the role of your mentor, at least informally. He would offer you the details of a story or curious anecdote that he’d started with and watch your mind run. You had always appreciated the exercise - it kept you sharp in dealing with local politics and its various mealy-mouthed players - and he appreciated getting a second pair of eyes on the issue at hand. Sometimes you picked up on things he hadn’t, ran rabbits he might not have. Working the inside of your cheek between your teeth, you roll the details over in your mind, hunting for another explanation as Jonah hunted for the bottom of his thermos. Something didn’t sit right with you about the details, but what?
Suddenly, you land on it, sitting up suddenly and turning to Jonah, who lifts his eyebrows at you. “The neighbor that made the call, did they mention the lights, or just someone wandering around outside?” His face breaks into a pleased smile, eyes dancing with the curiosity of the problem before the two of you.
“Nice catch. They didn’t mention the lights at all, just the trespasser.”
“So the lights got turned on between the neighbor making the call and the officer showing up.” Jonah’s smile turns into a real grin, cheeks split with it.
“Exactly. But why?” The other reporter leans back in his chair with a sigh. “That’s what kept me up, and made me late. Again.” He sips his coffee idly. “And it’s why I’m going to check it out for myself tonight.”
“What?” Jonah jumps in his chair with the volume of your exclaimation, quickly shushing you as he looks around in a panic. He can’t be serious, you think, but lower your voice. What is he being so low-key about? “No, Jonah, you absolutely can not go poking around some abandoned house.” He settles somewhat, content that nobody cast a glance your way after your outburst. Most of your colleagues are already out on assignments, anyway, given the later hour. But he’s determined, unfazed by your forbiddance.
“And why not? I’m just following a lead.” You open your mouth to protest further, but he interrupts. “Oh, come on, you aren’t a little curious to see what’s going on? What’s the harm, the cops just checked it out, it’s totally safe.” That gleeful glint is back in his eyes. How it thrills and infuriates you in equal measure.
“Seriously? Someone could be squatting there, and the cops just didn’t find them. Someone tapping a neighbor’s powerline and clearly not in their right mind, if they’re turning every light on in the place. Besides, even if it is empty, they could have a patrol posted on it now.” Jonah’s excitement begins to fade in the face of your barrage of facts. “If that agency still owns it, then it’s private, posted property, and you’d be actively breaking the law.” He sucks his teeth and slumps back in his chair, somewhat defeated.
“You’re no fun. Where’s your reporter’s spirit, your drive!” You turn back to your computer, shaking your head as you try to refocus on catching up with your inbox.
“Getting arrested for trespassing and/or breaking and entering isn’t ‘reporter’s spirit,’ Jo. You’re not Nancy Drew, you can’t just start poking your nose around abandoned buildings. It’s not safe.”
Jonah pauses for a moment, then gets an annoyingly knowing grin on his face. He leans forward again, good humor returning. “Ohhhh, so you’re scared is what I’m hearing.”
You huff in exasperation. “Literally how is that the conclusion you’re drawing from what I just said? I told you--”
“You’re the one who said ‘safe’! That means you think it might be dangerous and you’re scared.”
“Yeah, for your job and general well-being. Seriously, Jonah, I’m not scared of some abandoned house. Just because a couple of people happened to get murdered there--”
“Ah ah ah, they only found one body. The Mayor and the District Attorney were missing, assumed dead. Same for the killer.”
“Okay, Mr. Nitpicky. You you that’s even less scary, right? But, regardless, none of that makes the place inherently dangerous or scary. Hospitals aren’t scary, at least not like that, and people die there all the time.”
Jonah doesn’t immediately reply, giving you the opportunity to hammer out a reply to a scheduling issue and push your lunch meeting with the Senator back an hour. How did her assistant manage to double book her? you wonder as your reply zooms off. When you get the chance to look back to your coworker, he has a wry, sneaky little smile on his face. “What?”
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” You shake your head. He really isn’t giving this up. “Fine, if you’re soooo not scared, then I dare you to come check it out with me tonight.”
“Absolutely not, did you forget about the illegal part? We aren’t kids, this isn’t just messing around after school. It could look bad for the paper, and you know Walker as well as I do - there’s no second chances.”
Jonah pauses. Mulling over your words, the threat of being fired. Then, “I’ll buy you dinner from that new Japanese place uptown.”
Visions of high-end sushi dance enticingly in your mind. Your stomach threatens to growl, with it being the end of the month and your bank account looking dismally light. Jonah always knows how to hook you, damn him. It doesn’t help that you knew from that look on his face that he knew you were already burning up inside with curiosity. The two of you were peas in a pod, and he had seen that since your first day at the paper. It was exactly why he’d gotten you set up as his desk neighbor, why he’d taken it upon himself to play mentor for you, probably why he was telling you any of this in the first place, despite how low-profile he clearly wanted to stay. You were going to be at that Manor tonight as soon as Jonah had heard the cop call in over the scanner. You sigh quietly through your nose, letting the decision sink in before you make it official.
“Fine. What time?” you ask, not looking away from your screen. Despite trying to ignore him, you could still see Jonah’s joyous fist-pump out of the corner of your eye.
What’s the harm in a little urban exploring, anyway? At least I’ll be there to keep Jonah from going too far with it, you muse to yourself, already planning your celebratory dinner.
What’s the worst that could happen?
---
Even after three years of working closely with Jonah Scott, you still managed to underestimate just how late he could be. You had agreed to meet at the foot of the Manor’s drive at Jonah-time 5:30, 6 sharp for normal people. However, it’s already pushing half-past with no apology text or update to speak of from the crime reporter. Wasn’t this his stupid plan? you mentally grumble, fruitlessly checking your phone again. At this point, your text conversation was fully one-sided, your messages over the last thirty-ish minutes taking up the entirety of your screen. With a defeated sigh, you flick the app shut and slide over to your ridesharing app. There doesn’t seem to be any reason to stick around, and with the sun setting quickly, like hell you’re going to willingly hang around the abandoned Manor longer than you have to.
As you scan available drivers, you consider just how to make Jonah pay for standing you up. You mentally upgrade your promised sushi meal straight into a sushi boat, and although you know you don’t have the heart to commit to such an egregious attack on his wallet, the thought brings a smile to your face. At the very least, you decide to charge him the cost of your rides to and from the massive property - the place is barely in the city limits, not to mention situated up a long road that only led into an almost equally long driveway. Your already light bank account was begging for mercy as you select a nearby driver. Of course it was surge pricing, to boot. The estimated ride cost is enough to make you pause and hope beyond hope that Jonah and his old jalopy were right around the corner. Maybe his phone had just died. Or maybe he was being a particularly safe driver and ignoring his texts. You decide to give it another couple of minutes, if just to make sure you had no other option but to pay through the nose for a ride home. With a sigh, you turn back towards the Manor itself, its exposed-rock exterior catching the burning sunset.
It doesn’t even look that creepy. Really, with the warmth of the setting sun, it almost looks inhabited, just in limbo between relying on daylight and its residents needing to turn the lights on for the evening. The grounds are well-maintained, too, likely thanks to a strict HOA. You figure that if neighbors are paying enough attention to report people wandering around the property despite how spaced out the houses are here, there’s likely a resident weed-measurer who complains as soon as the yard breaches an acceptable length.
That being said, the building itself barely looks like a home. Although you had brushed up on its appearance and floorplan online, images couldn’t prepare you for just how much it really looks like a castle. You knew its creator, Mark Iplier, had been a fabulously wealthy actor back in the day, building his first house to match, but good lord. There’s still such a thing as too much. It has turrets, for crying out loud. Not to mention Google Earth showed that the massive patio that wrapped around practically the entirety of the backside of the building was home to some kind of natural waterfall-looking pool and a life-sized chessboard. It had been impressive online, but in real life, the place is enormous to the point of ridiculousness.
I guess it matches its creator, then, you muse, considering what you had gleaned from a scan of a few biographical entries earlier in the day. He was a local legend, to be sure, but you had never learned more about him than surface stuff and the details of the murder case that had basically ended his career. Before all that, though, Mark had been the embodiment of every stereotype you could muster about early 20th century new-money creatives -- massive personalities with a penchant for equally massive parties. As beloved as he had been on stage and film, he’d been even more so in social circles, known for all-night ragers with massive multisection big bands, ample liquor even in the height of Prohibition, and occasionally the exotic animal or two. Famously, Mark had once arrived at a costume party on the back of an elephant, led by four retainers and dressed like a prince, swathed in silks.
In that context, the house seemed to make a bit more sense, although it had clearly seen better days. The paint on wrought-iron fence surrounding the grounds needs a fresh coat, peeled off in places; you can see a few shutters hanging lopsidedly from their hinges. It’s almost sad, the longer you look at it, especially knowing the revelry it had once hosted. Mark’s own life mirrored the place, as cliche as it was. After the incident, Mark never seemed able to recover. Even the few pictures you had found of him afterwards looked different - he seemed thinner, his eyes haunted, his smile forced. He’d appeared in a handful of films after the fact, but something had changed in him, and he ended up becoming somewhat of a recluse until his death. It was horribly tragic, really. Just trying to put yourself in his shoes had your throat tightening up a bit. Your childhood friend goes off the deep end and goes on a rampage out of nowhere with the rest of your closest friends as casualties - a freak incident right as you’re hitting your stride--
Suddenly, your phone breaks out into its ringtone, startling you out of your empathetic wallowing. You fumble the device in your hand just to keep a grip on it, cursing as you manage to maintain your hold. You check the screen - a local number, but you don’t recognize it. You answer anyway, crossing your fingers it’s not just a spoof call. “Hello?”
Jonah’s voice crackles through on the other end. “Kid! Hey, I’m so sorry-”
“You better have a damn good explanation lined up, Scott,” you snap, interrupting. “Where the hell are you?”
“God, I know, I’m sorry, I’ve been trying to get home for the last hour to call you. My car practically blew up in my face on my way home from work, and it must have been something electrical because my phone was connected and charging and got totally fried. It was kind of working for a second, but I just had to give up and come home in a taxi. I’m having to use an emergency landline, I can’t believe the damn thing even works.” The annoyance drains from your body, his tone so disappointed and clearly stressed that you can’t keep a hold on your frustration.
“Oh, Jo. I’m sorry. Are you okay, though? It didn’t shock you or anything, right?”
“No, thank god, no hospital bills on top of everything else. Look, I’m really sorry. Are you still out there?”
“Yeah, I was just about to get a ride home when you called.”
“Oh, awesome, so have you gone in?!” You scoff out of reflex, stunned at his emotional 180. If he was here, you’d give him a good pop on the head.
“What? No, Jonah, of course I didn’t go in! This was your plan, I was waiting on you to roll your goofy ass up this stupid hill. You’re lucky this place is out of the way, I bet the neighborhood association would have called the cops on me by now if the houses were any closer,” you grump down the line. Jonah’s laugh crackles on the other end.
“Lucky’s my middle name, especially today, right? Look, I know I already owe you big, but can’t you just slip in and take a look around? Like hell I’m gonna be able to afford getting a ride out there any time soon, and you’re already there… Just see if the door’s unlocked or something, look in some windows?” He’s really begging, now, and his tone melts your resolve. How does he do that every time? You sigh heavily, crossing your arms and peering up at the manor. Its large, dark windows stand out against the lighter stone as the sunlight truly begins to fade. They feel like eyes, looking down at you from the top of the hill. It sends a shiver up your spine.
“Jonah, you know I value you as a dear friend and colleague, but... Fine, look, this place is creepy, I admit it, I’m a chicken, I’m scared of the creepy murder house, can’t we just come back some other time when we’re a we and not just a me?” Although your rushed confession is half joking, it’s obvious Jonah isn’t fully engaged. He only gives a short laugh in response before you hear him shift the phone a bit, pausing. Thinking. It feels like an age before he speaks again, the crickets beginning their evening song in the interim.
Then, “Look, Vivian, I. I haven’t been straight-up with you. Yeah, the scanner was going off last night, but the truth is I’ve... been thinking about that place for months. Remember that puff piece about Mark, the retrospective Devontae put up a couple months ago?”
You shift your weight, turning away from the manor and its looming walls to focus on your friend’s voice. His tone had seriously shifted. This is Real Talk time. “Yeah, sure. The board killed it. It was weird, especially since it was his death-iversary, right? But… I dunno, Jo, that’s not enough to--”
“I talked with my friends at the Star, their board nixed a retrospective, too. So did the Inquirer, the Daily, and the Herald. Not to mention anything having to do with Mark for at least the last couple of years. I checked Walker’s record cabinet, too. Anything mentioning Mark, that night, his life after… hell, even the Manor, everything is heavily edited. Anything even adjacently referencing his existence is lucky if his name doesn’t get cut.”
You draw up short. A bit of concrete is loose underneath your feet, rocking slightly with you as you shift your weight from foot to foot. What is he getting at? “I mean. Yeah, okay, that’s pretty weird, but maybe… I dunno, maybe the board doesn’t want to bring up a dark moment like that, or more likely, they don’t wanna openly admit the town hasn’t been able to get their shit together about the Manor and make it into something other than an eyesore all this time later. You know at least half of them take board work as their victory lap after a glorious public service career,” you offer, laying it on thick. Jonah hums, considering it.
“Could be. But still, kind of a personal bent for an editorial board to take, no? Even for them. And it’s not just our board, it’s consistent across the papers.”
“But nothing that awful happened to warrant this. I mean, sure, his buddy killed a detective and presumably a couple of friends in his house, that’s sad, but… Mark wasn’t involved. He didn’t do anything, at least, nothing bad enough to make everyone decide it’d be better if he just didn’t exist.”
“Nothing that we know about,” he offers, quieter. Your blood chills.
“...you think something else happened? Something worse?” Jonah is silent for a moment. His next words are careful.
“Maybe. I don’t know. But I think what happened at the Manor has more to do with Mark than he wanted people to think, more than reports let on. And that, whatever really happened, it’s something bad enough that even now, this long after everything and even him passing over two decades ago, someone’s keen to keep it covered up.”
You’re quiet, mind reeling. You were a local, you knew as well as anyone that all of this stuff is treated more like an urban legend than true local history. It’s almost larger than life, at this point; you had heard the story told and retold a thousand times over until the telling itself was smooth and simple. Mark, fresh off a successful play’s run, had invited over his old university buddies for a night of good old fashioned revelry and reconciliation after years of petty disagreements had crescendoed with his wife cheating on him with his oldest friend, the Colonel WIlliam J. Barnum. However, little was resolved, and adding alcohol to the mix turned out to be deadly. Tensions between the group came to a head the next day, and the Colonel snapped. His rampage ended in the death of the city’s leading detective and, presumably, two of the original group’s members, although their bodies were never found, seemingly dumped in the woods behind the Manor. The Colonel’s attempt to cover up his crime left the others a chance to escape and alert the police, but the killer, too, disappeared, and was never heard from again.
It feels like a well-worn path in your mind. Nobody ever questioned Mark’s innocence in everything - it was assumed. He had just been there, equally terrorized by the killer as the other victims. But exact details had never emerged to the public, and Mark had been reticent to ever speak of things. The missing guests, too, were just so easily presumed dead at the hands of their friend, their mysterious disappearances more like eerie window-dressing on a ghost story than a suspicious hole in an otherwise tightly-woven story.
Maybe not so tightly, since now that you can see the holes, it’s hard to ignore them.
The tender inside of your cheek aches from your teeth worrying it, bitten raw. You swallow your thoughts for a moment, trying to return to the conversation. Jonah’s been equally quiet, letting you puzzle. “...and you think the Manor has some clue to that? To what might have… really happened?”
“...that’s my working theory. Mark left the place so quickly after everything, it’s still full of his stuff. He didn’t want anything to do with it, wanted to start fresh. Technically, the local historical society owns it all, now, but you know what their funding is like, so it’s all just sitting around. I figure, in his rush, he left something behind that can give us an idea of what we’re missing. Besides, reports of weird stuff happening there has been on an uptick.” You suck your teeth, feeling some of the edge of the conspiracy theory-laiden tension fade.
“Massive media blackout, I can run with. But, what, you think there are ghosts that have something to do with it?”
Jonah groans. “I never said ghosts, specifically, but… come on, kid, you have to admit it’s weird.”
“It’s practically a hundred-year old house, of course it’s weird - the wires are probably all way out of code and nobody’s been in the place in ages.”
“Okay, okay, maybe it’s a stretch,” he admits, retreating from the point. “I’m just looking for patterns. We don’t have a lot to go on, in terms of hard information. Which is why getting in there is so important.” He’s turning toward pleading again. “Please, kid, it’d mean the damn world to me if you’d just take a look around. I’ve got no idea when I’ll be able to get out there myself. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate.” You know he wouldn’t, he’s always been considerate of your time and comfort. Really, Jonah is one of the best friends you’ve had, coworker element aside. It makes it horribly hard to say no to him. Which is why whatever reservations you’re still holding on to cave in the face of his honesty.
“...okay. I’ll go poke around. But you seriously, seriously owe me for this one.” You can practically hear Jonah smile on the other end.
“Seriously, I do. Thank you, kid, honestly.” He sounds relieved, taking a steadying breath. Was he really so worried you’d say no? “And take pictures if you see anything!” he quickly adds.
“Only if you call the cops if I don’t call you back in an hour. If there’s someone in there, Jonah, I--”
“Hey, hey, I promise. I’ll stay right by the phone. Cross my heart.”
You sigh quietly to yourself. “All right, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, kid, and seriously. Thank you.” He sounds painfully sincere. You can’t summon up the spite to gripe at him anymore, so you let yourself be equally honest.
“I’ve got you, Jo. You know that.”
“Yeah. I know. Okay, I’m gonna let you go. Just be careful.”
“I will be.”
Then the line goes dead and your phone beeps dully before returning to your ridesharing app. You stare at it for a second, before you swipe up and close the app completely. No way you were going to chicken out now. Apart from Jonah’s confession, your mind was on fire. Sure, you could go home and just apologize to Jonah, but you know you’d be awake all night, tossing and trying to turn over the truth thanks to your limited information but unlimited curiosity. It wasn’t just his skepticism polluting your mind, either, there was definitely something missing from the narrative. Almost like the incident was too well-put-together, the reports from back then too careful with their words, what they didn’t say. Real crimes were messy because people were messy - their memories faulty, their behavior unpredictable and sloppy, even more so when under duress. But everything about the case and its retelling was clean. Neat.
It might as well have been wrapped up with a bow.
With nothing else between you and the Manor besides the peeling gate, you turn back to face its imposing exterior. Although the house had glowed softly in the setting sun, the rock reflecting the light so warmly, it had faded to a soft gray in the twilight. The windows are obviously dark and empty, now, their size exaggerated by the deepening of shadows as the sun slipped behind the horizon. You stare up at them, watching them back through the locked front gate from your tottering bit of pavement. You take another breath in, out. Then you square your shoulders and step up to the gate.
“It’s just a creepy old house,” you mutter, worming yourself between the wide bars. “Nobody inside, just a weird… big house. ” Nonetheless, a shiver goes down your spine when you’re through and the lawn stretches out before you and up to the front door. You crane your neck towards the nearest neighbor, but their windows were dark, too.
So why does it feel like someone’s watching you?
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