#I think I was trying to do like: bounding into the distance with a really deep perspective and failing

[moeblob]

Amazing, take some of the side character demons from Evil Bound.

Vincie is a menace to Chuck and Chuck alone so in Hell, Chuck hexes his hand behind his back so that he isn't grabbed as much (and it's harder to pet him). Chuck is like the most irresponsible older sibling ever to demons though so Kelvin recruits him (as an older sibling vibe) to go help him get his ACTUAL older sibling from Earth. Chuck agrees. And then drags Vincie from Hell with them because no one else wants to babysit him and he refuses to unbind the hex just to re-hex when he returns to Hell.

In Hell, Kelvin actually doesn't appear much different than his human form! Like Kronos, the lines under his eyes are red in Hell but black on earth. Chuck however? In Hell he has wolf-ish ears and has a fur lining his neck (note the neck scars in human form). In addition to that he has four eyes in Hell (note the scars under his eyes in human form). Vincie just has horns in Hell. And! In Hell the hex doesn't have a silly looking "tied up" look, it's invisible unless Vincie strains it with movement and then its red text. But it shifts on earth to be visible.

Vincie's biggest agony for the entirety on earth is "dude it's colder here than in Hell I want a jacket to slip my arms into BUT I CANT BECAUSE IM BOUND".

[kaiser1ns]

#. A KISS TO PROVE IT

featuring 𝗶𝘁𝗼𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝘀𝗮𝗲 𝘅 𝗳𝗲𝗺!𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

fluff + slight suggestive. for him kissing wasn't special, but his actions told you otherwise.

You are thirteen. A teenager—well, at least at the start of teenage life. Watching movies where the main characters share their first kiss has become fascinating. What’s so special about kissing, anyway? Do you just walk up to a random boy and kiss him, or do you tell the friend sitting next to you that you want to try it?

"Sae, do you know anything about kissing?" you ask, glancing at him as he remains glued to the TV, watching yet another football game.

"Huh? You mean that disgusting thing adults do when they love each other?"

Love each other? The thought rolls around your mind. Do you really have to love someone to kiss them?

“Well, I think it’s romantic,” you counter.

He finally looks at you, leaning slightly closer. “What’s so romantic about swapping germs with someone else?”

Typical boy—he doesn’t get it.

But what if? What if you kissed someone you really, really liked? What if he was the boy sitting next to you, holding your hand like he is now, his curious gaze waiting for an answer? Would it still be disgusting? Or would it be... something else?

“When a boy and a girl fall in love, they do more than just hold hands or visit each other’s houses,” you murmur, your cheeks heating under his stare.

At your words, Sae lets go of your hand, and you suddenly wish you hadn’t said anything, but then he speaks.

"Do you want to try?” he asks but you don’t answer. You can’t. Your heart is pounding, but he leans in before and... It’s quick, awkward, and ends almost before it begins—a brush of lips that leaves your mind with questions.

“That’s it?” he asks, skeptic and unimpressed by the mere act of kissing. You’re stunned silent, your lips tingling. But Sae, who is never satisfied, leans in again. “Let me prove it—kissing is gross.”

This time, it’s slower, more deliberate, and definitely less awkward. It’s warm, it’s strange, and you can’t help but think he’s wrong. It’s not gross at all. This time, the kiss lingers, as if he’s trying to understand why you find it so fascinating. The world seems to fade away for a moment, until—

The front door slams open.

“I’m home!” a familiar voice echoes through the house, followed by hurried footsteps. Sae pulls back instantly, his expression blank as if nothing happened.

Rin appears in the doorway, stopping dead in his tracks. He blinks at the two of you, then points at you and Sae accusingly. “Why is Nii-chan eating her face?”

You want the ground to swallow you whole.

Sae groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Rin, stop saying stupid things.”

As Rin bounds away, laughing, you sit frozen, your cheeks on fire. Sae exhales, leaning back on the couch like it never happened. “See? Disgusting,” he mutters, though his tone sounds less sure now but he still reached out to hold your hand.

Some things, it seems, are better left in theory.

When Sae left for Spain, it felt like your heart had been ripped out. The boy you’d spent so many afternoons with, arguing, laughing, and most importantly sharing your first kiss, was gone. And the distance between you, one thing remained certain: Sae was your first love, and you fully intended for him to be your last.

Now you are seventeen, in a cozy hotel room, sitting on the plush couch, it feels like no time has passed. He’s here again, leaning into you, and the world-famous athlete—Itoshi Sae the pride of Japan, playing for Re Al is nowhere to be seen.

To you, he’s just Sae. The same annoying, sarcastic boy who always got under your skin, except now.

His lips are on yours, firm and demanding, as if making up for lost time. His hands find their way to your waist, pulling you closer, and you don’t resist. How could you, when you’ve been missing him just as much?

His mouth trails down your jawline, his breath hot against your skin, and you let out a soft sigh, tangling your fingers in his hair. “You’ve been gone too long,” you whisper, between kisses. Sae pauses just long enough to smirk against your lips. “Not my fault you’re terrible at long-distance relationships.”

You roll your eyes, but the playful retort dies on your tongue as his lips find yours again, hungrier this time. He’s missed you—he doesn’t need to say it; it’s in the way he kisses you, the way he is finally claiming his most important prize.

“Still gross?” you tease, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze.

His eyes lock onto yours, and for a moment, his expression softens. “Very gross,” he says, before pulling you back into another kiss, as if trying to prove his point all over again.

You melt into him, your heart pounding as your hands clutch his shirt, desperate to close the space between you. It’s overwhelming, messy, and intense, but neither of you care.

Right now Sae isn’t Japan’s treasure. He’s yours.

©2024 kaiser1ns do not copy, repost or modify my work.

[devildomditzy]

“aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!”

The sound of a scream rarely can pull your attention away from your D.D.D. nowadays.

Oh no, you know far better by now.

The days where once you panicked with worry, quickly stumbling over yourself to find which one of the brothers was in danger were long over - now that you know the only real danger in this house hold is the fact that they are dangers to themselves.

You lay lazily on your bed, scrolling through your Devilgram feed on your phone when you hear it: a scream off in the distance, slowly getting louder.

Actually, not louder. Closer.

You can hear it through the thick, oak door that divides you from the rest of the house. There’s some extra noise there too. Perhaps, one or two pairs of footsteps quickly falling on the hardwood floor in succession out in the hallway.

The only action you bother to take is glancing up from your device just to make sure your door is shut, and locked.

You expect it, you could even count down the seconds till it happens. Like clockwork, ever so predictable. The footsteps only get louder until you hear the inevitable banging on the other side of the wood.

Knocking, vigorous knocking. A loud fist slamming against your door so hard and so frantically you thought it might break.

“MC! Are ya in there? Can ya open the door please? Preferably within the next ten seconds.”

You roll your eyes, not bothering to move. Nope, you don’t want any part in this. You can ignore it all you want though, you know how persistent he is. Mammon always gets what he wants.

“MC, please. Ya gotta open up. I’ll do anythin’ ya want for the whole day- no, week if ya let me in!”

Now, that was an interesting proposition. Having a demon butler doesn’t sound too shabby. But Mammon isn’t Barbatos. And the idiot forgets he’s already pact bound to you, forced to do whatever you command on a whim.

You roll your eyes, calling out to him from your bed. “Hmm. Tempting, but not good enough.”

“Not good enough?! Whaddya mean not good enough you lousy-“

He’s cut off by a monstrous roar, one you’d distinctly recognize anywhere. Oh good, Levi summoned Lotan.

Mammon’s knocking gets faster as he pulls on your door handle, practically shaking the frame.

“Please please please please please!”, he pleads with you, sounding increasingly more panicked.

“Okay, okay, fine! I’ll take ya out to that nice restaurant you’ve been yappin’ about all week, that really fancy one!”

Now, you know Mammon good and well, so you know good and well to be suspicious of him and his motives. But, you trust him well enough to not flake out on a deal. He’s a business man and all that.

“Tonight?”, you question, trying to dull the hint of excitement in your tone.

“Yes! Tonight, fine whatever! Just open up already!”

You hear an angry shout of Mammon’s name that could only come from the third eldest getting louder, nearer into earshot.

“Fine.”

You open the door with no warning nor fanfare, causing Mammon, who had been practically leaning his whole body against it, to fall directly flat onto his face in front of you.

You hear a muffled “thanks” from the floor as you quickly shut and lock your door, effectively hiding the troublemaker from the sea monster (and his owner’s) eyesight.

“What’d you do this time?”, you question, arms crossed and peering at the man on your floor with feigned annoyance.

He slowly raises himself up, pushing off the floor and sitting up. He puts a hand to his head, rubbing at a tender area that must have hit the hardwood as you reach out a hand to help him up.

“Argh… What makes ya think I did somethin?”, he grumps. “Do ya really have that little faith in me?”

All it takes is an eyebrow raise from your unamused face before he growls at you- and spills his misdeeds.

“I thought maybe Levi wouldn’t notice if some of those little anime dolls of his went missin’”.

You sigh at him and shake your head in disappointment, multitasking as you take a look at the spot he was rubbing on his forehead, pushing his bangs out of the way to see if it bruised.

“How many did you take?”

“Only one!”, he says, almost as if he’s insulted that you’d insinuate that he took more- but then he falls apart under your gaze.

“Or three.”

“How about you give them back, huh?”, you muse, guiding him to sit down on your bed while you move about the room, walking over to a small antique looking ice chest you kept in the room as a mini fridge and opening the lid, peering inside before moving to your desk to grab something from the drawer.

“Cause I kinda loaned them out-“

You throw a dangerous look over your shoulder at him causing him to flinch and gulp.

“to a pawn shop.”

You make a few small ‘tsk’ sounds at him, reaching into the chest to pull out a handful of ice, wrapping them in the handkerchief you pulled from your desk drawer.

You walk over to him and place it over the red mark appearing on his forehead. Using your hand not holding the makeshift ice pack, you grab one of his, moving it up towards the bundle to replace your own with his, making him hold it instead.

“You know Lucifer’s gonna kill you AND Levi when he finds the hallways flooded with sea water for the second time in a month”, you say, taking his chin in your hand and carefully tilting his head side to side to look for any other cuts, scraps, or marks. You could pretend to be annoyed all you want. You both knew you didn’t mind playing nurse for him.

“Why do ya think I’m hidin’ from em ?”

You let out a small laugh, but shake your head at him all the same.

“Well, I’m looking forward to our impromptu date, but first we’re gonna head to that pawn shop to buy back his figurines, okay golden boy?”

He grunts at you before making eye contact and melting. He could never say no to you, not under that gaze.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll even buy him another one to go with ‘em. He’s been talkin’ about some new magical girl or whatever, I’m sure I could find one of her.”

You smile at him, cupping his cheek in your hand.

“Perfect, sounds like a plan. Let’s get going”, you smile, moving in to lay a kiss on his cheek, only stopping when you both hear a trickling sound.

You look over at your door only to find water beginning to flow underneath and into your room.

Aaaannnddd, the hallways flooded.

“We are going to have to leave through the window though.”

[heavyhitterheaux]

IDGAF (NSFW)

See Me Through You Series

I don't care right now (I don't give a fuck)

Pull your hair right now (come here)

Tryna beat it right now (she like)

But you know I got a man

Synopsis: Joe has no more fucks to give and is tired of him not having the title of being your boyfriend

Warnings: mentions of dv

Do not engage if you are underage

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

After Joe had told you that he knew that you loved him instead of Trevor, you stood there speechless.

One thing you weren't about to do was tell him that he was wrong.

His eyes never left yours as he waited for you to say something. When you didn't, he knew that it had to be up to him to at least try to pull a response out of you.

“Look, Y/N, if you go back to him, fine. I can't stop you, but I do need to tell you one thing.” He told you as he grabbed your left hand to hold it while the other one was holding onto the bouquet of flowers that he had gifted you.

“What's that?” You asked him not knowing that you had absentmindedly squeezed his hand tighter.

“You’re making a mistake and hopefully you realize that before you get hurt again because I know that at this point, it's bound to happen.” Joe said as he was not holding back how he felt about the entire situation.

Now the question was why did Trevor have such a strong hold on you?

“Joey, I promise that you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine.” You said while trying to reassure him, but knew for a fact that more than likely it was not working in your favor.

“And who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself? Do you also not realize how much your brother worries about you too? From what I've seen and heard about him, he is not a good person. Especially not to you. Did you forget him leaving actual marks on your wrist while we were at that party and you were trying to get away from him? What do you think would have happened if I wasn’t there to get you away from him?”

“I wish that people would just stop acting like they know what's best for me.” You breathed out, frustrated about being hit from all different angles.

Joe, Ja'Marr, Erin, and Alisha.

Even your parents thought that you had broken up with him a while ago because that's what Ja'Marr told them when he knew that Joe had eyes for you.

“Bam Bam! Why did dad just say he was relieved that I finally broke up with Trevor!? And that you had told them?! Didn’t realize my life was a soap opera to you!”

“I just uh predicted the future. Now you're not going to make me look like a liar to mom and dad, right?”

“I should beat your ass right now.”

“I mean…. You have someone who likes you that I know will treat you right. He's literally just waiting for Trevor to get out of his rightful spot.”

“JA'MARR! Who are you talking about!?”

“Pebbles, don't be dumb. I'm talking about Joe, obviously. I see the type of person he is and that's someone I want for my sister.”

The relief that was evident on their faces let you know that he was not ever going to have approval from anyone that was a part of your life.

As soon as those words left your mouth, Joe wasted no time responding to you.

“Oh so you think this is what a healthy relationship between two people looks like? And someone obviously needs to because you definitely can't do it yourself.”

“Just like you said before, if I go back to him, it really isn't any of your business or anyone else's for that matter. Let's keep it that way because I am done with this conversation.”

“If that's what you want then okay. I won't say anything else about it. And to add to that I'll keep my distance because you're right. You shouldn't be spending more time with another man that isn't your boyfriend and I guess he probably feels like I stepped on his toes enough. But he won't have to worry about that anymore.” He told you as he sighed and held up his hands in defense, losing the warmth that he had been getting from holding your hand.

“Wait…” You started to say, but Joe shook his head at you.

“No, this is what you wanted so this is how it's going to be from now on.”

“Joey, I didn't mean…”

“Didn't mean what? You love me but your ass is crawling back to him as he begs for forgiveness as usual after doing the bare minimum? Actually, he doesn't even do that. I'm not about to compete with anyone who I feel isn't even on my level to compete with me in the first place. I'll see you at the game if you're coming later. Probably not the best idea to wear my jersey since we can't have Trevor seeing it.”

Now it was apparent that Joe was more than pissed off with you.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I need to head back to my apartment to start to get ready anyway. But for the record….” He trailed off and you tried to grab his hand, but he immediately moved away.

“For the record what?”

“I love you too. So do what you will with that information.”

That's the last thing Joe told you before he turned away from you before he walked back to meet up with Justin and Ja'Marr.

Later that day in the afternoon, you were sitting next to Alisha and Erin in the student section of the stadium waiting for the game to start. After the conversation between the two of you earlier in the day, you honestly didn’t feel like going, but decided to anyway.

Even though Joe was mad at you, you had already promised him last week that you would wear his jersey to the game and didn't care who saw it at this point.

You were going to support your friend.

Your friend that you were in love with and he was in love with you however that was a whole nother discussion.

“You look good in your future husband's jersey.” Erin teased while Alisha laughed before taking a bite of her hot dog.

“He’s a little mad at me right now so hopefully seeing me in it will make it a little bit better.” You said as you turned to look at her.

“Well he can't be but so mad at you since he is literally making his way over here.” Alisha told you as you turned around to see that she was indeed correct.

The three of you were on the first row in the middle so that you would have the best view. In order to get these seats, all three of you made sure to get to the stadium early. When Joe finally reached you, he had an expression on his face that you couldn't quite read and you were the first one to speak.

“Surprised to see me?” You asked and he nodded.

“A little bit, but I know you. A promise is a promise and you said that you would be here. You aren't one to back out of something so easily.”

“Hmm, true. Are you still mad at me?” You quietly asked and Joe simply shrugged.

“Seeing you in my jersey is making me less mad if that helps. If you were my girlfriend, after tonight when I won I would be able to take it off of you. But I know my opportunity is coming.”

“I…” You started to say as you felt your cheeks heating up.

“Oh, that’s right. We established boundaries today and I promised that I would back off. It's kind of hard, but I just have to deal with it.”

“Joey….”

“Bold move though wearing it considering anybody could see it, including him. We both know that he already doesn’t like me. Think he'd be mad if I kissed you right now? In front of all these people? Letting the entire world know that you belong to me and only me even if you aren't ready to admit it yet.” Joe whispered as he leaned closer to you. Joe had spotted Trevor in the stands a few rows up and sent a small smile his way which led to Trevor glaring at him. You still had yet to notice that he was there which Joe was going to take advantage of.

When you were quiet, Joe laughed as he broke the silence.

“Let’s find out.”

He lightly grabbed your face and moved you closer to him so he could place a kiss on your cheek that was dangerously close to your mouth.

If you would have moved less than one centimeter, he would have planted that kiss on your lips.

“We'll talk later.” He told you while pinching your cheek and you simply nodded. This was the second time today that he had left you speechless.

“Have a good game, Joey.”

“It already is a good game, because you're here.” He replied as he winked at you.

He made his way back over to the sideline while Erin and Alisha were grinning from ear to ear as you turned around to look at both of them.

“I seriously wish yall would just fuck already. It would literally solve so many problems. He would take you on the fifty yard line if he could.”

“ERIN!”

“I’m just saying. I am literally waiting for the wedding invite. I wonder if you two will get married here or have a destination wedding? I can start looking up places.”

“What am I going to do with you?” You asked her, but also couldn’t help but to laugh at the same time.

What you didn't see was Trevor fuming behind you. He had seen the entire interaction and planned to confront you about it later. He knew that you and Joe were obviously close and were friends, but that interaction that he just saw was too intimate for his liking.

He hadn't cared for Joe ever since the party where he had stepped in between the both of you. In the back of his mind, he knew Joe liked you, it was obvious. But one thing that he had to do was set him straight and let him know that you were his and planned on reminding you about it later.

Little did he know, it was too little too late.

You were too far gone at this point, and the only person that held your attention was Joseph Lee Burrow.

Later on that night after he had gotten back to his apartment from LSU winning their game, Joe had grabbed food and was sitting down eating it while his phone vibrated on the table in front of him indicating that it was his mom and he quickly answered.

He simply wanted to be by himself and didn't bother celebrating with any of his teammates because once again, his mind was on you.

It was a continuous cycle, you, football, and focusing on his classes.

It took everything in him not to text you to tell you to come over at this very moment. He was supposed to be mad at you, but being around you was something that kept him grounded. Seeing you wear his jersey tonight made it hard for him to continue to be mad at you.

“Hello?”

“I watched the game and you played amazing as usual. I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to this one, but I will definitely be there next week.”

“It's fine, don't even worry about it and thank you.” He quietly said and she knew for a fact that something was wrong.

“What's going on? You sound upset.” Robin asked him and he sighed before he answered her.

“I like this girl…”

“Oh Y/N? Yes I know. Pretty obvious. You literally talk about her non-stop every week that me and your dad call you. Can't wait to meet her, but go on.”

“Well she knows that I like her, well I actually told her that I loved her earlier today and also told her that I knew she loved me. We've gotten really close ever since I came down here and met her. If I'm not playing football or in class, I am literally spending all of my time with her.”

“Well, what's the problem?”

“She has a boyfriend and I might just have to settle for being her friend because instead of breaking up with him and being with me, she told me that she is giving him another chance even after he's hurt her multiple times.”

“I know that can be hard to watch, but as bad as it sounds, you need to let her make her own mistakes. If that's her decision, you need to respect it.”

“And that's what I told her and also said from now on I’ll be keeping my distance from her.”

“If you feel that's your best option, then stand by your decision.”

“I just…. All I've seen is her getting hurt by him and she steadily defends him each time.”

“I… if you are her friend and you are as close as you claim you two are, just be there for her and help her get through whatever may happen. If the two of you are meant to be together, you'll be together.”

It was 2 in the morning when Joe heard someone knocking on his apartment door and was instantly confused. Hopping up from the couch that he had fallen asleep on with open books scattered around him, he opened the door to see you staring at him in a frantic state.

“Y/N, is everything okay? What's wrong?” He asked as he stepped to the side to be able to let you in and led you to sit down on the couch.

“My brother isn't here, is he?” You asked not bothering to answer his question and looking around since sometimes Ja'Marr would crash at Joe's place if he was too tired to go back to his own.

“No, but do I need to call him?” He asked and you immediately shook your head no.

“No! Please don't. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, just don’t tell him.” You didn't mean to raise your voice and it came out harsher than you intended.

“Then are you going to tell me what happened? Wait, why is there a cut near your eye? And it's bleeding.” He asked and got up to wet a washcloth and dabbed at your face with it.

It was at that moment that you had looked down and started playing with your matching bracelet that you and Ja'Marr had gotten each other on your eighteenth birthdays and under no circumstances would you make eye contact with him.

That's when the thought hit Joe like a ton of bricks.

“Did that asshole put his hands on you?”

“No.”

“Y/N, if you lie to me I'm calling Ja'Marr.”

“Okay, okay. He tried to. We were arguing and he threw a vase at me that shattered against the wall and some glass from it must have cut me. And then he pushed me into a corner and acted as if he was going to punch me, but punched a hole in the wall instead. Right next to my head. He apologized, but I waited until he fell asleep and then I came here. I was so scared.” You quietly said as tears were starting to run down your cheeks and Joe quickly wiped them away.

It happened again, just like he said it would.

And this time, it ended up being a lot worse.

Joe was sitting there with his jaw clenched and once you looked up at him, you knew that you had to stop him before he did something stupid.

He abruptly got up and was looking for his keys when you instantly ran to stand in front of the door to block him.

“Move, Y/N.”

“Joey, no. You are not going anywhere. Let it go.”

“He fucking hurt you. I should go over there and kick his ass myself.”

“I cannot risk you getting in trouble and therefore getting kicked off the team, he isn't worth it. I'll be fine. Do not mess up your future over me.” You told him as you took his hands in yours.

“But YOU are worth it. Who the fuck in their right mind would do something like that to you? I knew I didn't like him when I met him and your brother was right about him.”

“Joey, promise me. Please don't. I'll deal with it in my own way.”

“There is no way in hell you are going near him ever again. Ja'Marr would be mad as hell at me if he knew that I knew that he hurt you and didn't do anything about it.”

“And that's why you aren't going to tell him.”

“Wait, what? Y/N… you cannot be serious.”

“I… it's the same thing with him too. You can both get arrested for assault and it'll lead to so much more, just please.”

Joe let out a deep sigh before nodding, letting you know that he would honor your wishes.

The two of you were still standing in front of the door and the two of you hadn't taken your eyes off one another when you suddenly reached up and kissed him, catching him off guard, but he immediately kissed you back.

When the two of you broke apart, the reality of what you had just done hit you like a ton of bricks.

You had just cheated on your boyfriend with Joe.

And you didn’t have an ounce of regret in your body.

“I'm sorry, I…” You started to say as you stepped away from him and Joe cut you off as he lightly brought you back towards him.

“I'm not. Break up with him and be with me instead. So I can show you how you're supposed to be treated. I promise you that you won't regret it.”

You didn't respond, but Joe immediately brought your face to his and kissed you once more. Both of your hands were exploring each other's bodies but as soon as you tried to lift Joe's shirt, he abruptly stopped and he kissed the side of your mouth like he had done earlier at the game before saying anything.

“Not yet. You've been through a lot tonight and the last thing I want is for you to feel like I'm taking advantage of you in a vulnerable state and you regret it tomorrow.”

“But I'm…”

“I just want you to rest for the rest of the night. We have plenty of time for that. I'll grab you some clothes to sleep in.”

Nodding your head he kissed you again before taking your hand in his and led you towards his bedroom that you had grown familiar with all throughout the semester. Any time you came over, it would lead to you stealing one of his shirts or one of his hoodies. He was convinced when the semester was over that all he was going to have left at this rate were his boxers. Once there, he let go of your hand and went into his dresser to pull out one of his old Ohio State shirts and handed it to you.

“It'll probably be huge on you, but you'll be comfortable.”

You smiled at him before heading to the bathroom to change out of your clothes. Once you closed the door behind you, you glanced in the mirror and didn't recognize the girl staring back at you.

You promised yourself that if it happened again, you would leave him, but here you were. You had someone right in front of you that wanted to give you the world so what were you so scared of?

You were tired of running around in circles and tired of making excuses.

First thing you were doing later on that day was breaking up with Trevor.

Once you had gotten changed, you walked back out into Joe's bedroom to see he was now in just a pair of sweatpants and looked like he was headed towards the door, but was quickly stopped in his tracks as he heard your soft voice behind him making him turn around.

“Where are you going?” You quietly asked since you were confused.

“To sleep on the couch while you sleep in my bed. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay first.”

“Joey, no. I'm not kicking you out of your bed and besides, I don’t want to be by myself right now.” You confessed as you grabbed his hand.

He nodded as the two of you both got settled, Joe was closest to the door while you were closest to the window. After making sure you were comfortable, he reached over to turn off the lamp that was on the bedside table. That was when he heard your voice once more.

“Joey?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for always being there for me. Even when I might not deserve it.”

At this point in time, you were honestly surprised that he even answered the door and let you in, but knowing the type of person he is, he wouldn’t have reacted any differently.

“I'll be here as long as you want me to be and you deserve the world. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

—

You didn’t know how long you were laying there, but sleep was the last thing taking over your body. Noticing that Joe's breathing also hadn't slowed, you turned around to face him and at the same time you heard his voice.

“Princess? You still awake? You need to go to sleep.”

“I can't sleep. I'm still so scared, I know he's going to look for me sooner or later.”

“You’re safe here and no one is going to touch a hair on your head. I can promise you that.” He told you as he stroked your face and placed a light kiss on your forehead as he was able to make out your features in the dark by the moonlight peeking in through the curtains.

“Come here.”

Joe then wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer to him as he then leaned down to place a soft kiss on your lips which you quickly returned.

All of this led up to a heated make out session with Joe now hovering over top of you as his hands reached underneath his shirt that you were wearing. His fingers lightly grazed your nipples and he then began to roll them between his fingers as he noticed that your bra that you had been wearing had been long forgotten which he was thankful for.

Before he lifted his shirt over your head, he asked for permission to make sure you were absolutely sure about wanting to do this. Joe had wanted you from day one, but if you weren’t ready to do this he was willing to wait until you were.

“Are you…?”

“Yes. I was sure earlier tonight and I'm sure now. I know the last thing I'm ever going to regret is being with you.”

Once he peeled the shirt away from your body, he now had full access to you. The plan was to take his time so he could give you the undivided attention that you deserved since he knew for a fact that Trevor wasn't giving it to you without even having to ask you about it.

His mouth found its way to one of your nipples and he began to lightly suck on it while continuing to roll the other one in between his fingers before switching making a moan escape your mouth.

“Mmm, fuck.”

“I'm going to make you feel so good, princess.” He whispered against your lips before kissing them.

The increase in wetness between your thighs was evident as you Iet out soft quiet moans from the sensation of having him explore your body with his mouth.

As he moved further south, Joe's fingers ran along your folds as he saw how wet you actually were.

“This all for me? I've barely even done anything and your body is responding like this?” He asked you as he placed one kiss on each inner thigh.

As you nodded, he inserted one finger and soon worked himself up to two before settling in between your thighs and beginning to pleasure you with his tongue.

After a few minutes, he noticed you starting to squirm and firmly wrapped his arms around your legs in the hopes of limiting your movement.

“Stay still for me princess.” Was all you heard as your hands found a way to his hair and was softly tugging on it, hoping to bring him in closer.

With the use of his tongue along with his fingers, a new sensation unknown to you was building in the lower half of your body and at the same time, Joe began to suck on your clit.

“Oh, shit….”

Joe felt your hands trying to push him away from you, but all he did was tighten his hold on your legs making sure you had no way to get away from him.

“You gonna cum for me, baby? You won't be able to if you keep moving away from me.” Joe asked you as he had come up for air, but immediately went back down.

“Yes.” Was all you said as he began to suck harder.

It took no time at all for you to feel like you were seeing stars as Joe continued to pleasure you.

It was official.

Joe had given you your first orgasm.

He gave you a few minutes to recover as he was placing kisses up and down your thighs before sliding off his sweatpants along with his boxers as he opened the bedside table to pull out a condom. It was still obviously dark in the room, but you could literally see because of the light coming through the windows past the curtains, how big he was and you suddenly became nervous.

You thought to yourself that there was no way in hell that he was about to fit.

Joe could sense this as he was putting the condom on and quickly tried to reassure you.

“No reason to be nervous, baby. It's going to fit. Most important thing is that you have to relax for me.” He told you while leaning down to lightly stroke your face.

“Okay.” You quietly said in response, but you still weren’t convinced. But at the same time, you knew that Joe had no reason to lie to you.

Once he positioned himself in front of you, he reached down to kiss you and once he pulled away from you is when you heard his voice once more.

“You ready, princess?”

You nodded, but that obviously wasn’t enough for him.

“I need words, you need to say it. I’m not doing anything unless you do.”

“I’m ready.”

Once he finally heard it, you felt Joe slowly entering you and you tightly closed your eyes. As you did this, Joe immediately felt your body tense up.

It would have probably been a good idea to tell him that you had never had sex before before all of this began happening, but knew that he would be as gentle as possible with you regardless.

That's just the type of person he was when it came to you.

“Princess, you have to relax. It's me and the last thing that I am ever going to do is hurt you. When I told you that I loved you, I meant it. Every word.” He quietly said as he leaned down to kiss you.

You nodded and several more kisses were placed on your lips when you felt him easing the rest of the way into you at the same time making you gasp as your arms wrapped around his neck.

“You're okay, I got you baby.” Joe told you as he gave you time to adjust to his size before he made any sudden movement.

Kisses were planted along your neck and shoulder as you were adjusting to a new feeling that you had never experienced before. It wasn’t quite to the point of pleasure, however you weren’t necessarily in pain either.

It felt weird.

About a minute or so had passed when you slowly felt him begin to move and you wrapped your arms around him tighter.

Now all you felt was pleasure as moans escaped from your mouth when Joe began to increase his pace.

In order to go deeper and at a better angle, Joe held onto your hips before deciding to wrap your left leg around his waist.

“If you want this as bad as you say you do, keep those legs spread. Fuck you feel so good around me, just like I knew you would.”

Since your arms were already tightly wrapped around him, his face was in the crook of your neck as he had now leaned forward.

Making that sudden change in position, he was now hitting the same spot over and over again and you just knew that it was about to send you over the edge sooner or later.

You were thinking that it would probably be sooner.

“Fuck, Joey stay right there.” You breathed out as he lifted his head to steal a quick kiss from you.

Doing what you had asked him to, his movements increased in pace while also becoming sloppy at the same time making you think that he was just as close as you were.

“Joey, I…” You trailed off as a weird sensation was building in your stomach once more and you knew it was happening again.

The second orgasm hit you like a ton of bricks and you felt like you had gotten the wind knocked out of you.

As Joe heard your soft whimpers, he placed kisses all along your shoulder blade as you rode out your high.

He placed another kiss on your forehead before he slowly slipped out of you making you wince and went to throw away the condom.

Once he had come back, he had a washcloth with warm water in his right hand as he started to gently glide it onto your body in order to wipe you off.

When he was finished, he threw it into the hamper and laid back down beside you, ultimately pulling you on top of him. Your eyes began to become heavy between Joe rubbing small circles along your back and listening to Joe's heartbeat.

Your eyes fluttered open from hearing the television on a low volume and you could only assume that Joe was already awake. Once he noticed that you began to stir, he peeked down at you seeing as you were still laying on his chest.

“Good morning, princess.” He softly said before placing a kiss on your forehead.

“Good morning. What time is it?”

“It’s almost nine and I was about to wake you up since I know that you have class at ten and it takes you five to seven business days to get ready.”

“Really, Joey?” You replied as you rolled your eyes.

“I call it like I see it. I always tell you what time I’m going to come and get you, however, I’ll be downstairs waiting in the car while you only still have one of your lashes on.”

“You get on my last nerve.”

“But did I lie?”

When Joe was met with silence and another eye roll from you, all he did was laugh.

“I guess I have to go and get ready then.” You told him as you sighed, not wanting to leave his embrace.

“We can do dinner later and have a study date…. With or without clothes.”

“JOSEPH!”

“What? What’d I say that was wrong? I was just giving you options!” He exclaimed as he then held up his hands in defense.

“I’m ignoring you. What time are we doing our dinner and study date?”

“As soon as you get out of class, just come back here.”

“I’m honestly a little nervous to go back to my apartment.” You said being completely honest.

“Just get some of your things and you can stay with me, you know that I don’t care and the most important thing is that you’re safe. I have to go to class too, but I can call Ja’Marr…”

“NO! Baby brother asks too many questions. I’ll be fine. The security guy who works there is super nice and I know if I tell him I don’t feel all that safe he’ll walk me to my apartment door.”

“As long as you’re sure. But call me if there’s a problem, understand?”

“Understood, Mr. Burrow.”

—-

Joe was still running off of the high from this morning as he had woken up to the sight of you beside him. He was walking to his last class of the day on campus when he did a double take as he spotted you in front of one of the many libraries that he knew was near a few of your classes. But who he saw you with was why he instantly became upset.

You were talking to Trevor, who of course he despised and for good reason.

He couldn't tell what the nature of the conversation was by your body language and it almost looked as if Trevor was barely paying any attention to what you were saying which wasn’t unusual.

So, did last night mean nothing to you?

Joe was watching you for a few more minutes until he looked down at his watch and noticed that if he didn't leave now that he would end up being late to class.

At this point, he was done trying.

If that's who you wanted, then fine.

And he made it up in his mind that he was done.

Completely.

Throughout the day, you were calling him and sending him text messages, that ultimately went unanswered making you nervous.

You deserved to get an explanation on why he was suddenly acting this way towards you and immediately hopped into your car after packing your bags that you were going to take in order to stay with him and quickly drove to his apartment.

The banging on Joe's door instantly annoyed him seeing as he just sat down to watch one of the many NBA games that we’re coming on that night. He glanced at the clock to see that it was barely 6 pm and had a feeling that it was you.

A deep sigh escaped his mouth before he got up to answer it. Once he did, he was met with you just as he suspected and you had a pissed off look on your face and Joe raised his eyebrows at you in confusion.

“Yes? Did you need something?”

“So, you can have sex with me, but then suddenly ignore me? I may be little, but I will kick your 6’4 ass and throw a dumbbell at your head.” You asked him and pushed your way past him into the apartment.

“It's not even like that so stop jumping to conclusions.” Joe replied as he closed the door behind you.

“Then tell me so I can understand, Joey! Because you have me confused. You claim to want me so bad and then end up ignoring me all day!? When I called you multiple times? Who does that?”

“Because I saw you with him! Why the fuck are you even talking to him? Hasn’t he hurt you enough?”

“Now look who's jumping to conclusions.” You said as you crossed your arms.

“Then why else would you be with him? You did tell me recently that you were going to give him another chance. Recently as in yesterday before we had sex so I simply thought she claims she loves me, yet she's still going back to him.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose before you said anything else to him.

“You are literally so annoying. I went to talk to him to break up with him! Last time I checked you did confess that you loved me or did I not get that right?”

“Oh.” Joe quietly said and you couldn't help but to roll your eyes.

You started to make your way back towards the door in order to leave when you felt Joe suddenly pull you back as he wrapped his arms around you.

“Let me go. I'm mad at you.” You said as you were trying to wiggle out of his grip.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed anything.” He replied as he turned you around to face him and leaned down to kiss you.

“No, don't kiss me. Turn me loose. Leave me alone. All you literally had to do was just ask me.”

“I know, but seeing you with him just pissed me off and so I walked away. I promise it won’t happen again. You forgive me? I’m not letting you go until you say you do.” Joe asked you as he squeezed you tighter and leaned down to kiss your forehead.

“I guess.” You muttered as he led the both of you over to the couch as Joe sat down first and then pulled you onto his lap.

“So, is it official now?” You asked him as he had been focused on the game that was playing on the television.

“Is what official?”

“Me being LSU's star quarterback Joe Burrow's girlfriend.” You teased as you kissed the tip of his nose.

“You've been mine for a while. That ex-boyfriend of yours was just keeping my spot warm. I bet he never made you feel as good as I did last night.” Joe told you as he was wiggling his eyebrows as you both then let out a laugh.

“No, because I never had sex with Trevor.”

Joe immediately stopped laughing and looked at you with wide eyes.

“Wait, huh?”

“I never did because I told him that I wanted to wait. That was one of the only things he actually did respect, but I know for a fact that he's probably cheated on me multiple times because of it, but I just ignored it.” You replied while being completely honest.

“Uh, princess? Don't you think you should have told me that? Fuck did I…? Shit. I would have made it a lot more special if I would have known. I would have had candles and…”

“Stop it. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.” You cut him off as you kissed him and tried to reassure him.

“I waited for the right person who I knew for a fact was going to treat me right.”

[kimberly-spirits13]

Back From Hell

Pairing: Dean Winchester x witch!reader

Warnings: Details of hell, the silver knife test, shower together but nothing NSFW, angst, fluff with hint of angst at the end

Summary: After you sacrafice yourself to save humanity from demons trying to harness your powers, you die and go to hell, only to be ressurected. In the aftermath, the first thing you do is find Dean.

Word Count: 3156

 Heat, blistering heat hit your face and suffocated your lungs. The hair on your face singed off and you felt your skin peel in flakes off your body and the sounds of screams deafen your ears. Something pierced your body, feeling like thousands of needles scratching blood from your flesh the moment it returned, and the singeing of your body started over once more. The squeal of a heavy iron door shrieked through wherever you were, and a tall, dark figure entered. 

                  In a low guttural tone it spoke, “Had enough yet, witch?” 

                  You didn’t answer, closing your eyes and ignoring the figure.

                  “Speak!” He raised his hand and a large blade thrust through your stomach and back out again.

                  You screamed in agony, spitting blood onto what seemed to be the floor, “I thought” you gasped for air, “I thought you hadn’t even started with me yet.” 

                  The creature smiled and pulled out a large iron, lit flaming orange from heat. With slow, long strides, it approached you, running a long-clawed finger over the heated metal. 

                  “Well, in that case, I’d like to see how you feel about your spells now, witch.”

                  In a swift movement, he pressed the burning iron into your skin and began writing in ancient script. You wailed curses in pain as the scorching end of the metal carved into you. 

                  In a matter-of-fact tone, you heard his voice start again and the singe of the metal into your skin pause, “You could join us and make all this stop. Indeed, your magic would be of great value to us.” “Think about it, witch. You’d never endure this again. All for a simple commitment.”

                  “Fuck you.” You spat blood at the form.

                  A low chuckle emitted from the being, “It’s a shame really.” 

                  He pierced your side again, “You’d do so well.” 

                  The torture continued for what could have been hours, days, or weeks longer before you were left alone once again to suffer the same eternal cycle of struggle. You knew time was passing because the routine would stop and start over. It played on and on in the same loop as a broken record, bound to never be shut off. After every 1000 cycles of time, the figure would come in again, usually with a different introduction, but always with the same request. You had died sacrificing yourself to kill a line of demons rampaging through the human world. Using the last of your strength and the legendary magic you possessed, you died after destroying them. Now you were stuck here, in an endless loop of dread. 

                  The day you got out was no different. You awoke with the same terror drowning your senses and making breathing almost impossible. Volcanic heat violently erupted against your skin and began to suffocate you again. The heat was unbearable and boiling tears swept down your face and into your ears. You cried and screamed against the pain and began counting down the cycle repeats until you endured whatever form of torture hell created today. Around the 200th sequence you started hearing unfamiliar noises in the distance. Your stomach churned thinking it was some new creative device to instill pain on a new level. The shrill scream of the metal chamber door opening came early this time and you looked up to see what it was. A tall bright figure stood at the doorway and confidently walked towards you. In the flash of an eye, you felt yourself being picked up and carried away.

                  “Whatever this is,” you mumbled, “I won’t join you.” 

                  A strong, calm voice answered you, “Be calm, this is your deliverance.”

                  “What are you on about?” You looked towards what you thought would be the face, dazed and confused. The landscape around you seemed hazy and you didn’t understand what was going on.

                  “You maintained proper loyalties. This is your reward.” The voice came again, “Now sleep.” 

                  When you awoke again, you awoke in a dark airtight room. You gasped for air but found little. Feeling around, your finger was pricked by the splinter of wood, and you began to understand where you were. 

                  “That’s right.” You thought, “I died. Am I alive? How do I get out?” 

                  With little air left to breathe, you muttered your spell in Latin, “let me out”

                  Violently, with sudden force, the ground around you began to shake and become disrupted. All around you, the wood disintegrated into ash and the ground piled into heaps around the grave. A gust of spinning wind lifted you and released you with a thud onto the grass next to your burial site. You gasped for air, clawing at the ground and squinting to see from the sudden change in light. Your head pounded as you laid there reeling from what had just occurred. 

                  When some of your strength had returned, you sat up and looked around. There was a headstone with your name carved roughly into the stone and the remains of old flower stems strewn about. You wanted to scream for someone, but you knew no one would answer. You wanted Dean, but you knew he wasn’t here. There was no telling how much time had passed since you died and now, but you knew you had to get to civilization. Out in the distance, you heard cattle and followed the sound. Your legs were shaky and uneasy on the ground for the first time since who knows when. Feeling came back to your feet, and you started towards what you thought was life. 

                  After some time, walking through thick woods, you came out into a clearing with a gravel road running around the edge of the tree line. You walked down the road and past the cattle, listening for any sort of engine or signs of humanity. Once you had walked about twenty minutes or so, you came upon a small gas station on the outskirts of a little town, complete with a few run-down cars in the front lawn piled together as some sort of decoration. 

                  A bell dinged when you opened the door and a kind looking man looked up from his newspaper at the counter. You looked at the date and nearly doubled over. It had been exactly a year since you died. For a year, you had been enduring the torture of hell. There was no telling where Sam and Dean were at this point. 

                  “Everything alright dear?” He asked, a concerned look glazing over his face.

                  “Oh, I’m alright.” You answered with a small smile, “Where are we? My car was stolen from me while I was camping.”

                  The man gave you your location as some small town in South Dakota that you didn’t really catch and then started asking questions about the assailment and if you needed medical attention or the police.

                  “I’m fine, thank you. It was a beat-up thing, nothing special. How far are we from Sioux Falls?” 

                  “I’d say we’re about an hour’s drive. A bus comes through here heading towards there in about fifteen minutes if you want to catch it. The next one comes in the morning.”

                  “That’s great. Thank you.” “Do you have a bathroom?”

                  The man happily pointed towards it, “Of course. Down that little hall and to the left.”

                  Once you were in the bathroom you locked the door and threw up. There was nothing being spit out but for the feeling of adrenaline you had knowing how long it’s been and not knowing where anyone was. A few moments passed and you pulled yourself together and collected your thoughts.

                  You scoffed at yourself silently, “I don’t need a bus to take me to Dean. I just need a simple spell.”

                  With the same confidence you held so many times before, you recited your incantation and watched on as you were pinpointed to his direct location. The small bathroom you were in became Bobby’s study room. Sitting at the wooden table, you saw Dean hunched over an old leather-bound book with stacks of others piled high around him. Heavy purple bags hung under his eyes as he read. You couldn’t tell what he was reading about, but you had your guesses. Suddenly, Dean looked up, and turned to face your general direction. He huffed and returned to his book. This hadn’t happened before. 

                  You heard him mumble, “Nothing’s watching you stupid, you’re just tired.”

                  Silently, you headed outside of the bathroom and began for the door.

                  “I’ll just wait outside for the bus, thank you!” You waved.

                  “That’s alright. Have a good one.” 

                  Bus or no bus, you weren’t waiting. You ran behind the building where you were sure no one could see you and began another spell, this one to take you to Bobby’s house. A strong gust of wind blew around you and dust kicked up causing you to close your eyes. Your feet lifted off the ground and the next thing you knew, you were being knocked back onto the ground with force. You groaned, rolling over on the ground and slowly picked yourself back up. You hadn’t been this tired in a long time and you didn’t think the sudden use of so much magic was helping either. 

                  Wordlessly, you walked towards the front door. No one would believe that it was you, especially not Bobby. On the porch you questioned how you’d enter. “Surprise, I’m alive” didn’t seem like the best option, but there didn’t seem to be a better route. You put your hand on the knob of the door and beckoned it to unlock. The click under your fingers signified the effectiveness of your deed and you silently walked inside. Closing the door behind you, you listened for noise. You heard the familiar creaking of the kitchen floor and silently crept through.

                  You peered into the room, not seeing anyone, but sensing that someone must be there.

                  Almost whispering, you said aloud, “Dean?” “Bobby?” “Sammy?” 

                  The moment you stepped inside, a strong arm wrapped around your body and the cool touch of a blade’s edge rested on your neck.

                  Dean’s voice, laced with fury and hate filled the room, “What the fuck are you?” 

                  “Dean it’s me. It’s me! I don’t know why, but it’s me!” Your hands clawed at his arm, trying to get him off you. 

                  “I don’t believe you.” “It was you watching earlier, wasn’t it?” 

                  Before you could answer, you heard running coming from some other part of the house, into the kitchen where you were, “Dean what’s wrong?” 

                  Bobby came in wielding his gun and aimed it at you, “Who the hell are you?” He roared.

                  “Don’t shoot!” You yelled, “I’m Y/N, I’m telling you! Do the tests! Do it!” 

                  Dean’s grip loosened just enough at the offer so that you could disarm and throw him over you. You knew Bobby was trained on you now and you had to be quick. From in front of you, Dean came swinging with the knife he had just picked up, making you duck and jump out of the way. 

                  “I’m telling you the truth!” You swore loudly, “I’m not some demon, Dean.” “Bobby, put that down!”

                  “Like hell you are.” Bobby spat at you.

                  From where he was, Bobby threw a pitcher of holy water at you, waiting for you to ignite somehow. 

                  You spat the water out of your mouth and blinked hard, moving from Dean’s aim as you did. With a shriek, you slipped across the wet floor and into the counter with a thud. Your hip would be bruised after that. 

                  “Dean, hold the fort, I’m getting the flames!” Bobby ran out of the room and left you and Dean alone.             

                  Seeing you vulnerable, Dean jumped onto you, trying to slash at whatever he could before you threw him off you again, cringing a bit when he hit the ground and got right back up to swing once more. 

                  “Dean-” You were exasperated, “That’s enough!” 

                  You threw your arms out and light pulsated from your fingertips. Everything froze in the room where it was, unable to move. Bobby came running back in and before he could make it inside, you sealed off the entrances to the kitchen with a clear wall. His screams for Dean could be heard from the barrier you made. He could see everything happening but couldn’t do anything. 

                  “Give me this!” You took the silver knife from Dean’s hand and stood in front of him, your eyes welling up after getting your first good look at him in months.

                  He looked worse in person. His eyes were red and heavy bags sagged his skin. His undereye was stained purple and a small stubble had grown out. It looked like he’d been wearing the same clothes for more than a day now, and sleep was nowhere to be seen from him.

                  You sighed and dragged the knife across your forearm, “If I were some monster, I couldn’t do this.” 

                  Blood spilled from the spot you dragged the blade over and you softly gasped in pain, squeezing the area once you knew Dean had seen it. 

                  With desperation, you looked at Dean, “Good enough?” 

                  While he was still frozen in place, tears streamed down his cheeks and you released him from the hold, still maintaining the walls to keep Bobby out. You wanted to see him, but you needed Dean first. 

                  Dean released from his frozen state, throwing himself forward at you and pulling you to your knees. He wept as his body shook, arms wrapping in a death grip around you. You cried too, not minding the blood that was now dripping onto the floor. Dean pulled back after a few moments and looked you over. His hands went from being tangled in your hair to wiping the tears off your face and dragging his fingers along your jawline.

                  “It’s really me Dean.” You cried, “I told you I’d always come back to you.”

                  “I tried to find you.” He sobbed, “I promise, I tried to find you.”

                  You raked your fingers through his hair, “You’re okay Dean. You did a good job.” 

                  “Sammy. He left a little while ago to get food.” Dean started rattling things off out of pure shock, telling you about things you hadn’t asked him for, gauging your every reaction to see if you were real. 

                  “Y/N!” You heard Bobby call from the other room, “Let me in damn it!” 

                  The boarder dropped between the kitchen and hall, and he came barreling in, scooping you up into a bear hug and wiping away his tears.

                  “We haven’t stopped looking for a way to get you back since you died.” He said, “It’s not been the same.” 

                  You talked for a second before turning back to Dean who grabbed you once again, not letting you go this time. The two of you stood there forever, basking in each other’s presence. There was little to say but for the occasional “I love you” and “I missed you”. Sam had come back and fondly dropped all the dinner he had just picked up in shock. 

                  Hours came and passed, and the day turned into night. You were disgusting from being in a casket from a year and smelled like dirt and grime. Dean hadn’t left your side all day and wasn’t planning on it anytime soon.

                  You mumbled against his chest “I need a shower.” The two of you were laying on the sofa in silence. 

                  Dean sighed and pulled the two of you off the couch, wordlessly walking you upstairs into the room he was staying in and shutting the door behind him. He kept constant watch over you to make sure you were still there. No matter what you were doing, he was there. It was impossible to do anything alone, even use the bathroom. Dean was convinced you’d slip away, and he’d never see you again. The sound of the shower’s running water pulled you out of your thoughts. Sincere green eyes looked in yours as he hooked his fingers around the hem of your shirt.

                  “You’re fine.” You said softly.

                  With permission to proceed, Dean pulled your remaining clothes off and did the same for himself, guiding the two of you under the hot stream of water. You flinched feeling the water for the first time in what felt like 100 years, startling Dean.

                  He searched for an obvious indicator of what was wrong, “Are you okay?” 

                  “I’m fine.” You answered, “Just not used to this.” 

                  Dean nodded, “tell me if you get uncomfortable.” 

                  From the corner of the shower, Dean grabbed a bottle of your shampoo and lathered it in his hands after you had washed the dirt off your body.

                  “You kept that?” You asked astonished, tears welling up again.

                  “Smells like you. I couldn’t get rid of it.” “The day I got rid of it was the day I accepted that you were gone.” 

                  Dean held you close to him and washed your hair as warm tears streamed down your face. You sniffled and Dean looked at you again, wrapping you in a warm embrace and letting his own tears flow.

                  “I didn’t know what to do without you.” He said honestly, “I can’t function without you.”

                  “I’m sorry Dean.” You said into his shoulder, “I never wanted to leave you.” “I had to.”

                  “I know. It’s our job.” He sniffled, “You did a good thing.” “Let’s just not do it again.”

                  “Agreed.” You chuckled, feeling the last of the conditioner he had run through your hair rinse out.

                  The two of you dried off and changed. He gave you a set of sweatpants and one of his t shirts you always liked to wear. Wordlessly, the two of you fell onto the bed and held each other closely. His breath fanned against your skin in a warm sweep.

                  “Hey. Look at me.” He said, his fingers resting under your chin and pulling you to look at him, “Are you okay?”

                  You hadn’t thought about this yet, only being concerned that you were breathing and with Dean. The flashes of what you currently remembered from hell blipped against your memory and the spaced look you gave Dean told him what he needed to know before you said it.

                  “No.” you answered calmly, “But I know I will be.” 

                  Dean looked at you and spoke sternly but softly, “Don’t hide anything from me. If you have a nightmare, wake me up. If you start feeling all weird about it tell me. I love you Y/N. I don’t want you to hurt.” 

                  “I promise.” You answered, “I love you two.”                  It was a little while before you felt yourself drifting to sleep, but after a while you managed to. You’d deal with the nightmares and daydreams about hell later. For now, all that mattered was that you were back where you belonged. You were back with Dean.

[kjthenbee]

The more I think about the Nandermo interview scene at the end of S6E3, the more I realize just how significant that entire scene is for Nandor as a character.

These first three episodes have told us multiple times that Nandor is not the person he used to be - he is no longer a purely violent, apathetic, selfish man (though he obviously retains some of those qualities). He's changed - he's softer. And Guillermo is the reason for this change.

We've seen how Nandor used to treat Guillermo early on in the series. I can imagine that when little 19yo Guillermo first came to him, Nandor was dismissive, thinking of him as nothing more than another familiar that he was going to string along for years - and, of course, bright-eyed young Guillermo, who was willing to do whatever it took to become a vampire, wouldn't have cared how he was treated.

But now, 15 some years later, everything is different. Guillermo isn't his familiar anymore. They aren't bound by the power imbalance of that relationship any longer. Guillermo has become someone important to Nandor, possibly more important than anyone has ever been before. No matter how much shit they've gone through, or how much Nandor has fucked things up, Guillermo has always stayed, and he has always cared. Even when he does leave, he never stays gone for long. Nandor has never experienced this type of a relationship with someone before - a relationship with someone who loves and cares for him unconditionally.

In the interview scene, Nandor totally could have messed with Guillermo, could have just... not taken him seriously. He could have done the interview in the main room with all the other vampires and had a laugh about the whole thing, but he didn't. He specifically took Guillermo to a private room to conduct the "interview". And the entire time, he treated it with the utmost sincerity- and you can see it in the way he looks at Guillermo with such attentiveness, such fondness. He lets him talk, and just listens. When Guillermo talks about not having many friends as a child, Nandor sympathizes and tells him that that must have been hard even if he himself does not know what this is like. He smiles with him, and laughs with him.

On top of all of this, Nandor very much could have left Guillermo hypnotized - he could have had his former meek, obedient familiar back by his side. The Nandor from just a couple of seasons ago might have done just that. But now, he's learned. He knows that he can't do that to Guillermo. He can't do that to someone he genuinely loves cares about deeply. The Guillermo that he knows now - confident, competent, and sure of himself - is the Guillermo he loves. Nandor does not want to take that away from him for his own selfish reasons. So, he just lets himself have one thing: Guillermo can sleep under the stairs one last time, then he'll unhypnotize him, and things will be back to the way they were - with them at a distance. But at least Guillermo will be himself.

Soooo yeah. I really hope that this is not just fanservice or whatever and that the writers are actually setting something up between them this time. I want so badly to believe that we might actually get some payoff to this 5 season long will-they-won't-they setup. I mean, seriously - what do the writers have to lose with this being the final season?

I'm trying not to keep my expectations too high just because of how many times we've been burned in the past, but this scene (along with the shed scene where Nandor was still talking like Nixon lmao) have gotten me hopeful again...

So here I am, back in Nandermo hell, one last time...

[msnmnt]

The Very First Night

Notes: Happy New Year’s Eve Eve!

I think this is my longest fic yet so I really hope you enjoy. Feedback is very much welcomed as always 🥰

Summary: On New Year's Eve, Mason’s car breaks down, leaving you both stranded in the middle of nowhere. With no choice but to find shelter till you can be rescued in the morning, you stumble upon a little B&B where you end up sharing a bed for the night. Lots of fluff as you navigate the uncertainty and awkwardness of unexpectedly being so close early on in your relationship. 🩶

You tried your best to keep your smile at bay as you looked out of the passenger window of Mason’s car. The soft sound of the radio played in the background, enjoying an otherwise comfortable silence as Mason navigated the winding country roads that looped around the lakes, guiding the two of you home.

Your fingers absent mindingly traced at the edge of the map you’d been following throughout the day, spending hours in quaint cafes, visiting quirky shops as you enjoyed some time together away from the non stop festivities.

The day had been nothing short of perfect - just the two of you away from everything with no real direction as you let the day unfold as it pleased.

After meeting at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Mason had taken you on a few dates with each one topping the last, but you knew this one would be even tougher to beat.

The sun had began to dip beneath the horizon when a jarring sound suddenly interrupted the quiet of the car. A loud thump was followed by a scraping noise and Mason’s eyes darted to the mirror as the car veered slightly to one side.

“Shit," he muttered, slowing the car as he led it to the side of the road. "I think we’ve got a flat tyre.”

Your heart skipped in your chest as you turned to him, your voice light with worry. “Seriously?”

Mason let out a soft laugh in disbelief this was actually happening, running a hand through his hair. “Unfortunately I think so, angel.”

Your heart fluttered in your chest once more, this time at the nickname Mason had recently given you.

Mason managed to get the car into a lay by, parking it up as close to the side as possible. The evening was growing darker by the minute and all that was on Mason’s mind was how he could keep you as safe as possible.

“Wait here, I’ll go check what the damage is.” You watched on from the comfort of your heated seat as he scrunched up his brows, his tongue darting out as he inspected the tyre. After a few more moments of him shining the torch light from his phone to inspect the damage, Mason signalled it wasn't good news as he shook his head, his disappointed eyes meeting yours.

You unbuckled your seatbelt before stepping out of the car and joining Mason, straight away noticing the sharp nail that had somehow ended up impaling your transportation home.

You glanced around, tugging your bottom lip between you teeth as you thought about what you were doing to do. It was New Year’s Eve, you were quite literally in the middle of nowhere and the nearest town, or even a shop, felt miles away.

“What do we do now?” you asked, uncertainty creeping into your voice.

Mason walked around the car, inspecting the flat tyre again, He shook his head, his expression half-amused and half-annoyed. “Well, it's New Year's Eve so everyone’s probably at least half cut by now.” He signed. “And the wait for recovery is bound to be hours.”

You swallowed, trying to push down the nervousness that bubbled in your chest. "So… what, we’re just stuck here?"

Mason looked back at you with a soft smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he tried to comfort you, sensing your apprehension at being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Mason took your hand in his and suddenly everything felt like it would be okay.

The quiet of the countryside was broken only by the distant rustle of wind through the trees and the occasional car driving by in the distance, too far to flag down to ask for any kind of help.

“We passed a bed and breakfast not long ago, it’s just back up the road.”

You nodded, thankful to have somewhere where the two of you could feel safer than the roadside till someone was sober enough to come to your rescue in the morning.

Mason tightly gripped your hand as he spun you around so he was walking closest to the road offer he led you back in the direction you had came from. Luckily after around just 10 minutes later, you arrived at the cozy, ivy-covered inn that Mason had spotted earlier. The B&B had an old-world charm, bright lights from the windows gleaming in the early evening gloom.

You let your body embrace the warm as soon as you walked in, leaving Mason to do all the explaining to the old woman behind the desk. Luckily she was sweet and accommodating, gushing at how cold and worried you must've been.

“You're in luck, we have one room left,” she explained, her voice raspy but kind. “It’s got a large bed, so you two should be fine."

Mason glanced across to you, his heart suddenly thudding harder than it had all day. Your eyes flicked up to his, equally unsure of what to say. You'd been on a few dates, but the pair of you had agreed to take things slow.

And sharing a bed?

That was new ground entirely.

“Is that okay?” Mason asked, trying to sound casual but failing a little as he snapped you from your thoughts.

You hesitated at first but quickly nodded when you realised, offering the lady a thankful smile. “I think we’ll manage."

The room was small but charming, a warm looking quilt covering the bed and lace curtains blowing gently in the cool breeze that came from the window which was slightly ajar.

The light from a single lamp cast a soft glow over the room, and you felt your nerves spike, unsure of how you were going to handle this unexpected first night together.

A self proclaimed control freak, a B&B in the middle of nowhere was not how you had invisioned your first night with Mason.

He put the few belongings he did have down onto the small wooden desk, consisting of a phone charger and a small toiletries bag that he was grateful he always kept in the boot of his car.

“I hope she didn’t think this was a one night stand.” Mason spoke, the idea of the sweet old lady thinking he had bought a one night stand to her small and clearly family run B&B making him feel a little guilty.

You mockingly gasped, your jaw dropping open and eyes widening. “Excuse me, do I look like a one night stand kind of girl?” You thought your voice was clear with sarcasm, but Mason’s jaw tensed slightly as he became overcome with worry that he had offended you. Mason knew your relationship was still in its early days, and he daren't put even a foot wrong to mess up what he was sure was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Mason internally cursed himself for his comment, looking like a deer in the headlights as he tried to explain himself. “No! No, not at all, I just meant because we have literally like almost no belongings between us, I didn’t mean it like th-“

Your lips turned upwards as a giggle fell from your lips, a sound Mason was sure was one of the sweetest to have ever graced his ears. A wave of relief washed over Mason as he realised you were only playing around.

“Did you, um, would you want my shirt? To sleep in, I mean.” His eyes dropped down to take in your attire, a long sleeved knitted dress with a bulky cardigan over the top. “Dresses aren’t the most comfortable to sleep in.”

You raised your eyebrows. “And do you have much experience sleeping in dresses, Mr Mount?”

Mason’s cheeks reddened as he struggled to come up with a response, and you begun to feel a little bad at your relentless teasing. As much as you loved seeing him getting flustered, you felt a little guilty and didn’t want to end up accidentally pissing him off, especially when you were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no means of getting home.

You bowed your head slightly, unable to look at him. “I’m sorry, sarcasm is my defence mechanism when I’m nervous.” You mumbled out, offering a shy, apologetic smile.

“Why’re you nervous, angel?” He stepped forwards, reaching out a hand to cradle your face. It was your turn to blush this time, his long fingers cupped perfectly around your burning cheek, which did wonders to settle his own nerves. “There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just me.”

Your heart jumped in your chest as his dark orbs stared so intensely down at you. “Sharing a bed with a pretty boy is a little nerve wracking.” You admitted sheepishly.

A grin plastered across his face at your words. “Just imagine how nervous I feel with how gorgeous you are then.” He booped your nose with his thumb and you couldn't fight a big smile from forming on your face, perfectly matching his.

“I’d like it. Your shirt, if that’s still okay.”

Straight away Mason nodded. “Of course.” he took a step back and pulled at the collar of his white tee, stripping it off his body and over his head.

He muddled with the shirt, attempting to fold it up before walking over to the queen size bed and placing it on top of the duvet. Your eyes raked over his body, your heart booming as you stared at his perfectly defined back, blood rushing straight to your head as he turned to face you and you took in his bare chest for the first time.

His heart soared as your eyes became fixated on his abs, scanning over the ridges of his muscles, the light sprinkling of hair on his chest. You were completely and utterly enamoured with him.

You knew you had been caught by the smirk that was spread across Mason’s face, but he was more than happy to let you indulge in his body all you liked, deciding not to risk potentially embarrassing you by drawing attention to it.

“I’ll go to the bathroom, give you some time to get changed, okay?”

You just nodded, words escaping you as your gaze moved to his slight smile, being unable to look him in the eyes.

As soon as you heard the bathroom door click shut, you let out the breath you didn’t realise you had been holding in.

You wandered over to the small mirror that was above an old fashioned wooden desk, tousling your hair between your fingers before rubbing at the smudged eyeliner under your eyes, trying your best to rub away the mess.

You removed your cardigan, carefully placing it over the chair underneath the desk. It looked equally as ancient as the rest of the furniture in the room, and you definitely didn’t want to break anything.

You slipped off your dress, cursing yourself for not wearing matching underwear. You frowned at your boring baby pink bralette and white knickers. You couldn’t never preempted that this was the way the day was going to end.

Walking over to the end of the bed, you picked up Mason’s top and pulled it over your head, the familiar smell of his aftershave enveloping you. The shirt just about covered your bum, hitting the top of your thighs.

“Am I okay to come out?

You jumped at the sound of Mason’s voice from behind the en-suite door, taking one last look in the mirror before quickly making your way over to the bed.

“Yeah.”

If he was at home, Mason would never go to bed in anything more than a pair of boxers. But he didn’t want to risk giving you the wrong idea or making you feel uncomfortable, and so he decided to keep his jogging bottoms from the day on.

Right on queue, Mason walked in to you flopping onto the bed, stifling a laugh when the bed made an almighty creak as you settled atop it. You frowned, sitting yourself up and cringing as the bed squeaked further at your every move.

“So minimal movements throughout the night, got it.” Mason laughed, climbing onto the bed himself.

He finally turned to you, a sickly sweet feeling swarming in his tummy as he took in the sight of you in his shirt. You begun to feel nervous as you felt his eyes taking in your body, feeling a little self conscious, repositioning to enable you to tug the duvet up and wrap it over your lower body.

Mason joined you under the duvet, quickly extending his arm and beckoning for you to come snuggle up to him. You gladly obliged, tucking your head under his arm and wrapping your arm around his bare chest. The warmth of his skin against the side of your face made your mind feel hazy, the new position adding an element of intimacy to your relationship which you hadn’t been expecting to come so soon, but now it was here, you were glad to welcome it.

The clock on the wall seemed to tick louder than it had before. The quiet, steady rhythm of its hands echoed in the stillness of the room as the pair of you laid intertwined, barely moving as you just enjoyed the intimacy of the situation you had ended up in, your legs tangling together as you listened to Mason’s steady heartbeat.

The warmth from the bed had settled between you, but it was the quiet energy in the air that made it feel like time itself had slowed. You were close - closer than you had ever been before, and despite the nerves you couldn't deny how right it felt to be held in Mason's arms.

Outside, the faint sound of fireworks popped in the distance, echoing through the dark and signaling the approach of the new year. You looked back over at the ticking clock on the wall before glancing at Mason, your breath catching when you realised how close to midnight it was.

"Ten minutes to go," you murmured, voice quiet, barely above a whisper.

Mason nodded, flicking between you and the clock, then back to your face. You lifted your head slightly, still comfortably in his arms, his eyes dark and warm in the low light. They quickly locked on your lips for a brief moment before he pulled his stare back to your eyes, but the look hadn't gone unnoticed.

There it was again - the pull, the undeniable magnetic force. You felt it more now than ever.

“So, you got any resolutions?” Mason asked, his voice cracking slightly as he tried to shake the nerves. He shifted a little, the arm you weren't laying on coming down to rest on your shoulder, his thumb brushing gentle strokes on your bare skin.

You felt shivers go up your spine, your cheeks warming as he held you so tightly to his chest. Your lips twitched into a smile. “Maybe… to stop feeling so nervous around you." You paused, then added with a teasing glint in your eyes, “And to learn how to stop blushing whenever you look at me.”

Mason laughed, low and soft, but his eyes softened when they met yours. “I don’t think you can stop blushing. I mean… it’s cute."

Your heart skipped again, and you couldn’t help the way your face warmed, despite your attempts to play it cool.

You gave in, hiding your face into his chest which vibrated as he chuckled at seeing you flustered.

You gathered the courage to raise your hand up to his bare chest, gently tracing little shapes with your finger tip. A low laugh hit your ears and you swallowed at the feel of being so close to Mason for the first time. You loved his warm skin on yours, his heart now thudding loudly away under your touch.

“Tickles, baby.” Mason mumbled and you smiled, secretly rather pleased with yourself, switching to use your nails to drag random patterns over his abs. The sensation made Mason tighten his grip on your waist making goosebumps form on your body.

You let out a satisfied hum, rather pleased with yourself before stopping and twitching slightly to nuzzle further into Mason’s grip.

You cuddled back into his chest and Mason was quick to wrap his arm tightly around you once more. You laid there in complete content, not being able to stop your eyes from fluttering closed.

Mason smiled to himself, happy you felt comfortable around him.

“You sleepy, angel?” He murmed, and you barely managing to mumble back a yes.

“I wasn’t but you’re warm and cosy.”

He chuckled at that, his heart warming.

Mason lent down and gently placed a tender kiss to your head, his lips barely brushing your forehead before caressing the bare skin of your arm with the pads of his fingers.

The sound of fireworks echoed through the room, the familiar tone of the new year ringing out across the quiet, making the moment feel all the more real. Your pulse quickened, and for a moment, the world outside - the fireworks, the noise, the time - it all faded.

The pair of you were only aware of each other.

You turned your head up to Mason just as the last chime rang out. He glanced at you lovingly, taking in the moment. You swallowed, your heart beating louder in your chest. His gentle movements, the way he held you as the clock struck midnight. You knew you were right where you needed to be.

"Happy New Year, y/n." He whispered.

Before you could respond, his hand gently cupped your cheek. He leaned in slowly, his eyes never leaving yours, searching for something, permission, maybe, but you didn’t want to wait anymore. You tilted your head slightly, feeling your breath catch in your throat as you closed the distance.

The kiss was tentative at first, a soft meeting of your lips that lingered longer than either of you expected. A simple touch, almost shy, yet full of everything you were yet to say. Mason's lips were warm, his hand brushing a lock of hair behind your ear as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Your hand found its way back to his chest, feeling the drum of his heartbeat beneath your palm. When he pulled back, just a fraction, your foreheads met, and for a long, lingering moment, neither of you moved.

“I didn’t think we'd end up here tonight.” Mason whispered, his voice rougher than before. “I mean, in bed with each other.”

You smiled, lips tingling from the softness of the kiss. “Me neither.” Your fingers gently traced the edge of his jaw, your gaze locked with his. “But I’m glad we did.”

“Me too,” he breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. He shifted closer, the warmth of his body against yours sending an electric thrill through your veins.

You both knew it was more than just a kiss. It wasn’t just about the timing or the situation shared between you. It was the feeling - the way everything about today now felt like it was leading to this exact moment. A kiss shared in the quiet of an unexpected new year, both of you uncertain and shy but so completely, undeniably there in the moment.

For a moment, you just stayed close, breathing each other in. The fireworks were lighter now and through the light curtains you could see bursts of bright colours against the dark sky. But inside the room, it was just the two of you. Silent, content, and intertwined in a way neither had imagined would happen yet.

Mason didn't want to push his luck, completely respectful of your boundaries and not wanting to risk making you feel uncomfortable. But when he saw your eyes fixated on his again, following them down as they flickered towards his lips, he gently brushed his lips against yours once again, this time allowing himself to deepen the kiss as he slipped his tongue past your slightly parted lips. The moment was still soft and tender, both of you basking in the intimacy.

When you finally pulled away, it was slowly, as if neither of you wanted to fully break the spell.

You looked at Mason, cheeks flushed, a soft smile tugging at the corners of your lips. "Happy New Year, Mason."

He returned your smile, his eyes shining bright with excitement for what was to come in the year ahead for the pair of you. “Happy New Year, y/n.”

[22ayla21]

Reader breaking up with Mydei when she hears his people criticizing her and saying she doesn’t suit their prince, believing that she’ll drag him down and that she could cause a rift between him and his people who refuse to accept her,

Mydei however refuses to accept that as a reason for breaking up and tells her he refuses to let her go.

The Unbreakable Vow

She left to protect him and not sever the connection with his people, but he won't let her go so easily.

She left without a word.

She left only an icy emptiness in the rooms where her voice had rung out just yesterday, where her laughter, warm and vibrant, seemed to have seeped into the walls forever.

Mydei felt it immediately. Something inside him snapped, not just disappeared, but was torn out by the roots, leaving a ragged, bleeding wound.

He searched for her.

Anger, hot and blind, flared in his chest with every step. Not at her—he knew she wouldn't leave him just like that. It wasn't in her nature. She held onto him as tightly as he held onto her.

And when he found her, standing on the edge of the observation deck, where the wind whipped her hair, he understood—she was waiting for him.

"Why?"

His voice was quiet, but a storm raged within it. She didn't answer right away. She just looked into the distance, avoiding his gaze, as if trying to read an excuse for her actions in the gray haze.

"I heard them."

She spoke calmly, but he saw her shoulders tremble.

"They say I'm dragging you down. That I'm not your equal. That I'm a weak link, capable of ruining your life."

Her hands clenched into fists.

"And they're right, Mydei. I'm not like them. I'll never be able to become like them. They won't accept me, and one day you'll have to choose between me and them. I don't want you to be torn apart."

She waited for his silence. Waited for him to turn away and leave. To accept her decision, no matter how bitter it was.

But he stepped forward.

"Do you really think that of me?"

She turned sharply, and her gaze met his eyes, full of fury and... pain.

"Do you think I'll let some cowardly gossip decide who I love?"

His voice was low, almost bestial.

"Do you think I'll let them dictate who is worthy to be by my side?"

He stepped closer, and she felt his palms grip her shoulders—firmly, but not roughly, as if he feared she would melt into the air.

"If they don't accept you, then they'll leave, not you. If they don't see that you're my strength, not my weakness, then they were never my friends."

She froze, and he continued:

"You left because you thought you were protecting me. But you didn't even ask what I want."

His gaze held so much firmness, so much unwavering certainty, that her heart faltered.

"I want you."

These words sounded like a vow.

"You are mine. And I don't care what others say."

She felt a lump rise in her throat, tears clouding her eyes.

"I love you," he said, and there wasn't a shadow of doubt in his confession.

And then she understood: there was no force capable of breaking the thread that bound their hearts. Because Mydei would never allow it to happen.

[deakyjoe]

Stay Sweet

Pairing: Cardinal Copia x Reader (afab)

Category: smut

Summary: Copia is all too enthusiastic when you suggest something new.

Warnings: 18+, smut, f receiving oral, face sitting, dry humping, kissing, Copia’s nose, Copia being beautiful, Copia worshipping reader, fluff, established relationship

Word count: 2k

A/N: Happy Birthday @littlemissemeritus!! I cannot believe writing a face sitting fic for you motivated me to get back into writing after several months. Hope you have a good one today, this is for you :)

The Cardinal had such a beautiful face. It was the kind of face that artists yearned for as to inspire their pieces of work. You could imagine that anyone with an ounce of talent in their bodies would long for him to be their muse. He had the kind of face that people went to war for.

Which is why you had the burning urge to sit on it.

Especially his nose. His gorgeous nose.

A flurry of butterflies swarmed in your stomach any time he looked at you, which had been a lot in more recent times. Ever since he expressed an interest in you really. You had always admired him from a distance, keeping away from him as your desire for him overwhelmed you any time you were in close contact. So you watched him, just looked at him, from afar. It turned out that he felt the same way for you, as he awkwardly admitted one day. He was endearing as well as beautiful which really screwed you over - the lust that buzzed in your bloodstream only doubling with that new information.

Another fun fact about the charming Cardinal Copia was that he worshipped you. By simply throwing him the bone of sharing a mutual affection for each other, he was willing to do anything for you. Which is why it didn't take too long once the intimate side of your relationship had started for you to express your want, no need, to sit on his face. And he was all too happy to hear it.

The way his eyes lit up at the mere notion of it showed you how in tune the two of you were. His words only solidified this. "I think that is a wonderful idea."

You weren't entirely surprised by his enthusiasm, he had shown in the past how willing he was to try anything in the bedroom with you. And with how much he practically bowed down before you and grovelled at your feet, it wasn't exactly a shock that he liked the idea of you potentially suffocating him by sitting on his face and crushing his head between your thighs. Not that you'd let that happen, you liked him too much so would prefer it if he stayed alive. Copia wouldn't have hesitated in saying that dying as a consequence of giving you an orgasm would be a pretty good way to go.

You were, however, slightly surprised when he suggested going forward with the activity right then and there in the moment.

"Wait, right now?" You gasped at him.

"Why not?" Copia shrugged in response, a smile on his face. "I have time. You have time. My bed is right there."

Your eyes drifted towards the piece of furniture in his room. You should've seen this coming really with how you'd brought up the idea whilst in his bedroom. It seemed only natural to immediately give it a go.

He saw you hesitate. "My face is also willing and available."

Your gaze snapped back towards his face. His beautiful, beautiful face. His nose really was calling to you, begging to be ridden on.

"Okay, let's do it."

"Great!" Copia cheered and bounded over to the bed, leaping onto the mattress and landing on his pillows with a couple of small bounces. He starfished momentarily before waving you over. "Come, come! So I can make you come!"

You shook your head at his joke, stifling a smile, and started kicking off your shoes. Pausing, you stared at Copia sprawled on the bed. He was fully dressed, and would remain so. You, on the other hand, would be have to be naked from at least the waist down. 

The Cardinal noticed your hesitation and pushed himself up on his elbows to look at you. "If it makes you feel better, I am very excited about this."

The sincere grin on his face, the face you were about to sit on, was very convincing of his enthusiasm. So you stripped. Well, stripped from the waist down at least. And then you crawled onto the bed, smiling at Copia as he flattened himself against the bed again, fully prepared for what was to come. However, he appeared confused once the length of your body covered his and you stopped with your face hanging over his. 

"Amore, what are you doing? This is not prime position for what we discussed." Copia's eyes roamed your face, affection filling them as he gazed up at you. He was confused but he certainly was not complaining when he had your breathtaking face so close to his own. He always found himself feeling rather lucky that you felt the same way for him as he did for you. When he had first admitted his feelings, he had expected that he would have needed to grovel at your feet in order to convince you to go on one date with him. He was shocked when you had immediately announced that you found him beautiful and jumped at the chance to spend the evening with him. It had only gone uphill from there.

"That'll come soon enough." You nudged your nose against his. "But kissing first."

"Well, if you insist." Copia chuckled lowly and closed the inch of distance between the two of you, his lips covering yours.

It was always nice kissing the Cardinal. Extremely nice. He knew the perfect ratio of lips to tongue, the exact way to have your toes curling without even touching you intimately with his hands, and the precise moment to break away that always left you craving more. He always had you clinging onto him, trying to pull him impossibly closer, bucking your hips against him with the desire for some sort of friction. You believed it was part due to your carnal attraction to him based on his beautiful face, but you knew it was because he possessed the gift of knowing you, of understanding you. He could sense exactly what would get you ticking and used that to his full advantage.

Which is why it didn't take him long before he was sliding one his thighs in between yours and pressing it against you. 

You whimpered against his mouth and reluctantly broke the kiss. "That is not what we agreed."

Copia smiled. "Oh but, amore, I know it's what you want."

Damn, he was right. How he read you so well would continue to be a mystery. But oh, it was a mystery that you loved. 

So you kissed him again and rutted your hips against his thigh, letting out a soft moan against his mouth as you did so. This sound made Copia smile, as it usually did. The initial objective was forgotten momentarily as you suddenly favoured the idea of riding his thigh rather than his face. This particular activity wasn't new for the two of you, in fact it happened to be one of the first things that you had explored with him and tended to make an appearance during every sexual encounter with him.

You desperately grinded your pelvis against his thigh, chasing the high that you knew would come soon enough. The Cardinal could sense your impending orgasm so shifted his leg into a slightly different position that would get you there sooner. He knew all the tricks with you, after all. But just as you inched closer and closer to that inevitable drop, Copia dropped his thigh from beneath you and slide it out from between your legs.

You groaned in protest. "Why? Why did you do that?"

The quaking feeling of the approaching orgasm faded away into a buzz that had you clenching around nothing. You hated him sometimes. Despite worshipping the ground you walked on, he could also be a tease.

"I think it is time for you to sit on my face now, don't you think?" He grinned up at you like the Chesire Cat and made a circular motion with his hand at his face. "Use this to make you come instead?"

He knew exactly how to get you.

Seeing the desire in your eyes, he patted his chest. "First slide on up here and take a seat."

You did as you were told, very aware that your arousal was staining his clothes. "Now what?"

"Now you sit on my face."

With a low sigh, you scooted forward until you were hovering over his face. But then you paused.

Copia's hands rested on your thighs, gliding up and down the skin to calm you. "Sit down. I promise it'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I don't want to break anything."

He laughed. "You won't. Just sit."

"But... your nose." You whined, thinking about how one slight slip up could leave it a mess forever. A crooked nose would look good on him, granted, but you did also like the way it looked now very much.

Copia huffed. "I can wait here all day if you like, I have a very nice view, but it's you who will be left with cramping legs and sexual frustration if you do not sit down."

He was right. The bastard. So you sat.

The delighted squeak that left Copia and was muffled against you did not leave you regretting that decision.

There was only a fraction of a second of delay, that had you wondering whether you had suffocated him, before his tongue darted out and swiped against you.

"Oh." Your hips squirmed at the sensation, the angle somewhat different to usual oral. 

Copia's hands gripped your thighs tightly, somehow forcing you to sit against him even harder. It was like the taste of you sent him into a frenzy, it had, that caused him to make his mouth go wild on you. He devoured you. Licking, biting, sucking, shaking his head from side to side. Anything that he could reach was touched by his mouth at least once. 

One of your hands flew to the headboard of his bed, clinging on for stability, whilst the other slapped across your mouth in an attempt to smother the sounds that were attempting to escape you. But as much as you could control the sounds your mouth was making, you could not control the movement of your hips. A primal urge overtook you that had you rutting your hips backwards and forwards. And once your clit hit his nose, you were done for.

A choked cry left your throat, the hand covering your mouth abandoning it's mission and flying down to grip onto Copia's greying hair instead. The grasp you had on him kept him in exactly the position you wanted as you rode his face, pelvis circling so the tip of his nose continuously hit exactly where you needed it to. The Cardinal beneath you had no issues with that and just carried on using his tongue to hungrily eat you like you were his last meal.

So lost in your own ecstasy, you didn't notice the squeaking of the bed springs behind you as Copia uselessly thrust his hips up into the air seeking out a friction that did not exist. However, he suspected he was probably going to come based on the taste of you alone. So sweet. So delicious. So addictive.

You weren't surprised at how little it took to have you approaching the edge of your orgasm with how good it felt. You expected maybe a few more knocks of your clit against his nose would have you there but you were caught off guard when the tips of the Cardinal's fingers dug so deeply into the flesh of your thighs that you predicted you would be seeing bruises sometime soon, and he pushed his face even harder against you. With the added pressure, your body tensed up and you crashed over the edge.

A strangled scream left your mouth as you collapsed against the headboard. Copia smoothed his hands up and down your thighs to calm you down as you slowed your breathing down, eventually lifting a shaking leg to move off of his face and sit down next to him.

The room was silent for only a moment before your beautiful Cardinal spoke.

"Well, that was fun." He chimed happily. "We should do that again."

You glanced over at him, taking in the sight of his skin glistening with the remains of you, looking drunk on the taste. He really was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.

[lusmeitli]

But like of each thing that in season grows

Summary: How a kind gesture can lead to something more. One shot.

Pairings: Loki x Female Reader

Warnings: Christmas fluff, mention of off screen assault, some swearing, lots of snow, books, poetry, smutty smut.

A/N: Okay, look. It just wanted to get out. You’re thrown in without a warning, nor a floatie. Apologies for the liberties taken to interpret and manipulate characters to dance after my will once more. Obviously don't read if you're a minor.

9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9~9

The greatest ideas were conceived in the shower. That was a scientific fact.

You liked facts. You did not like uncertainties or speculation. The feeling of being in limbo was something that didn’t sit right with you.

So as you were in the shower, working the conditioner in your hair, the idea was just there. It was simple, humble, but beautiful. Your hands slowed and stilled. And then your mind rebooted and went at lightning speed, planning things out. You needed to write things down.

You stepped out of the shower hurriedly, towelling down your body, before realising that your hair felt different. Cursing, you stepped back under the water to rinse off the conditioner.

*****

You hated staff meetings. Particularly third Thursdays staff meetings, because they dragged on and on. The weekly mission reports were presented and Fury insisted on inviting some guest speakers. He called it “Horizon Thursday”.

In your opinion it narrowed rather than widened it. Today’s guest speaker was Quinn Harris, cyber security specialist. You suspected self-proclaimed, but you hadn’t bothered doing a deep dive on him.

You were sat on the increasingly uncomfortable chair, rows of employees in front of you, the Avengers at the very front. Rogers had delivered his usual military style mission report, the other members of his team trying to look alive, though you suspected Romanoff and Banner were asleep, as they were both donning sunglasses.

“What you need is a quantum computer and it’ll solve all your problems with encryption.”

“They might as well propose using block ciphers,” you murmured under your breath, turning the page in your book.

Meanwhile, a hand shot in the air at the front. “Excuse me, Mr Harris.”

The man smiled. “Mr Stark, do you have a question?”

“Well, not so much a question for you, but I would very much like the opinion of another expert on what you just said. You know, before anyone here thinks about investing in your product, which, let’s be honest, would be me. I’d like to be sure it’s the right thing.”

Fury rolled his eyes and sunk back in his chair.

There had been talk about getting that dude in? You must have zoned out for that part.

Harris’ face fell for a second, but he honed his features and forced a smile. “Of course.”

“It just so happens that we have an inhouse expert,” Tony got up and scanned the crowd. “Isn’t that right, Y/N?”

Everyone uniformly turned to look at you. Everyone.

You felt the moment one particular pair of eyes set on you. The amount of times you had spoken to one another had been limited to the missions you were needed on, for hacking. You’d had his voice in your ear a few times and it did things to your body that made you feel like a system overheat. You never really saw him during missions though as your job was very much office-bound.

Today, he wore the damn leather suit. Whilst Fury didn’t give a fuck, Rogers very much was all about the professional appearance of the Avengers. What you didn’t understand was why everything looked better on him. The black and green possibly was the best colour combination there ever was. The other day Bucky had worn a Slytherin pullover and even though it very nicely accentuated his physique, it looked nothing like the colours did on Loki.

You swallowed hard when you felt his eyes on you. They seemed to see right through you, even over the distance of the seven rows of chairs.

And then you felt the weight of all the other pairs of eyes on you. That was a lot of people. You gulped and pushed your glasses back up the bridge of your nose - a habit you couldn’t break. 

“Y/N,” Tony called, bringing you back to the matter at hand. “Stand up and look at me.” His voice was gentle. “Start breathing again. Good. Now tell me what Harris is not telling me about the quantum computer.”

You adjusted your glasses again and cleared your throat. “It’s a solid proposition, I suppose,” you started, “however, one I would expect from a college freshman, certainly not from a cyber security expert specialist.”

Murmurs erupted, but you ignored them and rattled off your thoughts.

“Can a quantum computer crack asymmetric encryption algorithms? Yes. And yes, we all know that thanks to Shor’s algo the maths problems are only polynomial. Also, we know this applies to discrete log problems, too, therefore, all we’d need is a large enough quantum computer. Of course, he,” you gestured to Harris, “would have to build one first, which as you can guess is very costly. However, this entire presentation is based on the assumption that quantum computing is the end of asymmetric cryptography. And that is such a blatantly ignorant approach, with complete disregard for the safety of the members of our staff that are entirely reliant on the encryption cracking working on all their devices during operations and missions. And this whole quantum computer only works if you have a network connection.”

“So you’re suggesting there are hard problems that a quantum computer can’t solve?” Harris said, chin jutting out, arms crossed defiantly.

“Don’t be silly, of course there are,” you huffed. “I coded new post-quantum asymmetric encryption algos three years ago and tested them on several sites I am not authorised to disclose that have quantum computers. Not one of them cracked the simplest of those codes, in any of the over 5,400 attempts they ran over the past three years. So this presentation is… rather embarrassing in its sloppiness.”

“Well,” Harris’ lips were a thin line now. “I’m sure you have a ‘much better’ suggestion then?” He actually raised his hands to add the quotation marks.

“Actually, I do. I developed our own version of a quantum computer, at - and I’m only guessing here - a fraction of the price you’d charge Mr Stark, which can crack both symmetric and asymmetric encryption, works on all of our staff’s devices, portable and stationary, works offline and is about the size of, uh, a thumbnail.”

You pointed to your thumb, because in your humble experience men like him struggled to accurately size things.

Tony smiled and turned to Harris.

“Okay that concludes today’s meeting.” Fury got to his feet and patted Harris’ shoulder. “Looks like we’re good, but thanks for coming.”

People around you stood, some nodding at you as they passed. Tony caught up with you in the hallway. Before he could say something you blurted out: “Did I say something wrong? Was I rude again?”

He smirked and pushed the button of the lift. “He needed putting into place. Totally fine by me. You did great.”

“Stark!” bellowed Fury from down the hall and Tony winced.

“Excuse me, mother’s calling.” He turned and left.

You sidled into the lift with several other people. The cabin stopped a few floors up and people got off. That was when you noticed Loki on the other side of the lift. Up you went and after another stop you were alone with the Asgardian god. The cabin seemed to shrink.

You both watched the numbers climb, the lift hummed, Loki’s leather suit creaked softly as he crossed his hands behind his back.

“Could you please enlighten me about Shor’s algorithm?” he suddenly asked, looking at you.

You had a heart palpitation. Surely that was what it was. He was so impossibly tall and sculpted and… here.

“Um,” you pushed your glasses back up, “it’s a quantum algorithm for finding the prime factors of an integer.”

Loki’s face looked blank.

“It, er, essentially it finds the prime factors of large numbers a lot faster than conventional computers do. Which we use in encryption. The large numbers, that is. So it cracks codes faster.”

“Ah,” he said, head turning back to continue staring at the number display. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you croaked out.

The urge to facepalm burned under your fingers, but you resisted. As soon as the doors slid open on your floor, however, you fled and sought asylum in the ladies’ toilets, banging your head against the wall of the stall.

*****

Operation Great Idea was in full swing.

So you’ve had a little personal setback, but that didn’t deter you from the objective. You had compiled a list, one you were confident was accurate based on your intel and research. That very list was neatly folded in the deep pocket of your coat as you walked through the cold rain on this late November afternoon.

Yes, you did something you’d never done before - take an afternoon off - and were trying to evade puddles on your way to the bookshop. Could you have ordered the books online? Most of them, certainly. But your late mother, an independent business owner, had ingrained in you to support local shops. You liked bookshops, they reminded you of her and of simpler times.

Your timing was excellent - of course you had researched when the shop was least busy - and you practically had the shop to yourself. And so you walked, dragging a pull-along basket behind you as you searched the shelves for the books on the list.

Sometimes, there were different editions there and you stood for a while, feeling the weight of each book in your hand, the feel of the embossed letters on the spine, the scent of the pages. You wanted it to be just right, so you took your time.

Some of the books you would only be able to get in a little second hand bookshop, tucked away in a side street. You had called beforehand and the owner lifted a box from under the counter to show you what she had reserved for you. As soon as your fingers made contact with the books you felt absolutely giddy.

Back at the Tower, you spent two entire evenings wrapping books after work. When you were finished, you leaned back, looking at the neatly organised stack. Yes, you were ready. Now all you needed was an exorbitant amount of luck for the next 24 days.

*****

You watched Loki stare suspiciously at the first parcel. He was sitting in the communal kitchen, Thor next to him. 

“Why would it be hexed?” Thor asked. “Simply because the sender is missing?”

Loki just gave him a pointed look.

“Come, brother, aren’t you curious to find out what is in this gift?”

“Loki got a present?” Steve asked as he pulled a bowl out of a cupboard. “Did I miss his birthday?”

Before Loki could say anything, Thor shook his head. “He’s worried it has been tampered with.”

Roger’s brows furrowed. “How did it get into your possession?”

“It was on the floor outside my door this morning,” Loki complied, sighing.

“FRIDAY would have picked up on any foreign substances or intruders in the tower,” Tony said between gulps of coffee. “He now can detect traces of magic, too. ‘Course, he went apeshit over your magic, but we got it under control, eventually.”

“That’s what all this ‘Alert, alert, magic detected, caution advised’ blaring at five in the morning was?” Scott bustled in.

A slight tinge of red shaded Loki’s complexion. “I have to practise some time.”

“Thought you were born with it?” Scott interjected, helpfully.

This earned him a glare. “I was born with the aptitude for magic and sorcery. It takes a lot more than mere talent to achieve this level of proficiency.”

“Several centuries, in fact,” his brother supplied. “Now then Stark here says it’s safe. So open it, brother!” Thor clapped his hands together. 

Loki indignantly and very reluctantly slid the parcel towards him and pulled on the simple string that held the wrapping together. The paper fell open to reveal one of the books you had picked.

From your vantage point of, well, your computer screen, you zoomed in to get a better look at him.

“Oh, a book,” you heard the onlookers muttering disappointedly, quickly losing interest and going about their business once more.

But Loki just sat, staring at the book. It took him a good few minutes to pick it up. And he did what you had seen him do many times before. He weighed it in his hands, fingertips running over the cover, the spine. Then he opened the lid. To anyone else it might not have been noticeable, but to you it was: he inhaled the scent of the book. And finally, there was the smallest upturn of his lips.

You exhaled, relieved. One down 23 more to go.

*****

Over the next week you were too busy testing the new firewall you had developed to check on Loki’s reaction. Sometimes you felt a little self-conscious, scared even that he might not like the books or think this was from a stalker. Which technically you had indulged in, stalking that was, but only to find the perfect books for him. And then sometimes you would get worried that someone else might have found the presents.

But you knew he had received every single one of them, for every evening, when you passed the common area you saw him sitting on the couch with the latest offering in his hands. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but it looked as if his tense shoulders had started to relax a bit.

Another couple of days went by and as the decorations started to pop up in the Tower and the first snow fell that didn’t immediately melt or turn to mush you felt happy. Perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that a certain someone walked differently. Maybe it was your imagination. But he seemed even taller these days.

*****

“Did it work?” you heard his voice in your ear a couple days later.

The data set was streaming on the screen in front of your eyes. “It did. Give me a moment to inject the virus, then you can disconnect the USB cable.”

“Can I still talk to you?”

Your fingers on the keyboard stilled for a moment, surprised. “Of course. The program runs through your phone, not through comms.”

There was a little pause, before he said: “I have a question. About a Midgardian tradition.”

You wrinkled your nose, scanning the code rushing over the screen. “I’ll try my best, but I’m rubbish at traditions.”

The audible outbreath sent shivers down your spine. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“What’s your question then?”

“Tell me about the Yuletide calendar.”

45% done. “You mean the Advent calendar?”

“Precisely.”

This was dangerous territory you were treading on. “Oh, it’s a fun thing for kids, really. To make the wait for Christmas a bit more exciting and I guess more bearable. It’s nice to get a little something like a toy.”

“Is it always toys?”

69% now. “Well, no. My mum used to get me an advent calendar that had these lovely drawings behind each door. I hung it up in the front room and we’d open it together every morning.”

“I suppose it’s a nice custom,” he said, before asking, “What about grown ups, do they have advent calendars?”

83%. “Sometimes. There’s all sorts: beer, wine, beauty products, chocolates - you name it, it probably exists somewhere.”

“Books, too?”

The question threw you, did he know it was you? A light was blinking on your screen.

100%.

“That’s it, Loki, the virus is uploaded, you can unplug the cable now and get out of there.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

You heard a crackle and the comms was handed over to operations again. As you finished running the decryption programme on the data Loki had extracted, you kept hearing his voice in your head.

“Books, too?” Were you busted?

*****

Security breaches were both an insult as well as an admittedly welcome challenge to you. Someone had tried to flex their fingers - and you had a very good idea who - to break into Stark’s network. They had managed to pierce a little hole into the outer layer of the firewall, but they didn’t know that you had several back up plans in place and you enjoyed watching them work. However, as you scanned over the intruder’s code you devised a new security strategy.

You were in the middle of coding a nice little primer for a new layer - unexpected because of its simplicity, but a tough little nut to crack - when someone cleared their throat next to you. You looked up to find Loki, his eyes fixed on you. You blinked, looked around, but no one else was there, and back up at the god.

“Can I, uh, help you?” Smooth. You facepalmed internally.

“I realised I have never been in here,” he said, looking around the room, then back at your desk. “You have a lot of monitors.”

You waved your hand dismissively. “Just the standard three.”

“What are you doing now? Or is it a secret?”

“It’s not a secret at all. So we’re currently under attack. Relax,” she said when she noticed him tense, “cyberattack. Someone’s knocking at our backdoor, trying to see if they can get in.”

You motioned to one of your screens. “This is the intruder’s code. He’s trying out lots of keys to see if he can get in. And this,” you pointed to the screen next to it, “is our defence mechanism.”

“Extraordinary.” Loki’s low voice murmured. He was close. You turned your head and nearly had a heart attack at just how close. His sharp profile was illuminated by the blue glow of the monitor, his hair falling to his shoulders, one hand splayed on the desk, the other resting on the back of your chair. He looked beautiful. Perfect. He was leaning closer to the screen so he could see what was going on. Your breath hitched.

And then he turned his head.

Something that sounded an awful lot like a squeak escaped your throat.

Loki lifted an eyebrow. “Am I making you nervous, Agent Y/N?”

You pushed your glasses up your nose and leaned back, just an inch. “No?”

Loki’s eyes drifted over your face, before they met your gaze again. “Is that a question or a statement?”

“A… a statement,” you mumbled and, for good measure, added, “sir.”

His eyes darkened, a smirk curling the left side of his lips. “Are you scared of me?”

You tilted your head ever so slightly. “How can I be scared of you?”

“You’ve heard the stories, undoubtedly.”

“I did. And if I believed everything people told me and not looked beyond I would be incredibly shitty at my job.”

He smiled at that. It was small, but there, and it made him so attractive you felt your stupid heart starting to pound in your chest. Could he hear it?

“Do you like to read, Agent Y/N?”

Another adjustment of your glasses. “I do.”

“What would you say is your favourite book?” His voice was low and smooth.

His hand moved from your desk to the side of your face, where he gently pulled on a tendril, before he brushed it behind your ear. The back of his fingers skimmed your cheek for less than a second, but it sent you reeling. It was as if an electromagnetic pulse was slowly wiping clean your hard drive. You couldn’t think.

“Um, err, Jane.. Jane Eyre.”

He hummed. “I wonder why? Is it because she’s abandoned and rejected all her life?”

You shook your head slowly. “No. Because she’s forced to leave home, into a life she didn’t choose. But when she is given the freedom and space to grow she learns to be the master of her happiness.”

His eyes followed the curve of your neck and back up again. It almost felt as if he was touching you. “Interesting.”

You swallowed again, before he stood upright, nodded at you, turned and left. 

Your heart was pounding. And then your computer beeped and your attention was back on the screen.

“Oh pants…” Your fingers started flying over the keyboard. “Not today, Harris. Or any other day.”

Nine more books to go.

*****

He was onto you. Of course he was. After all, he was the God of Mischief and Lies. If anyone would find out who was behind this, it would be him. Personally, the preferred outcome was that he never would find out.

You had asked yourself often over the last 18 days why exactly you wanted to do this for him. But that was just it. You really had no other motive than wanting to do this for him. Maybe because you sympathised with him, being stuck somewhere far from home, feeling lonely and not really integrated. Maybe you had projected your own feelings onto him a tiny little bit. Possibly considerably. However, it was done with the best of intentions. You wanted to make this nice for him. The run up to Christmas. A little bit magical. He must like magic, he was a sorcerer after all, wasn’t he?

So what if you had started dreaming of him at night. He would lean over you as you sat at your desk, in all his tall- and broadness. This time his hands would be touching you. And he’d lean in to whisper into your ear. Admittedly, not words you would necessarily associate with such a situation.

When you would wake up you knew where to place the things he said to you in your dreams. He’d said them to you during missions. And yes, “how much longer till the download is complete, Agent Y/N?” was not remotely as sexy as “I’m going to ravish you now, thoroughly” would have been, for example. But your brain only had so much to work with and it worked for you.

You noticed a few things, however. Loki was around more often, probably just a silly coincidence, or you had started to pay more attention. He looked at you now. You’d look up and find him already looking at you, sometimes a little smile crossed his lips, but mostly it was just something with his eyes, they seemed… warmer, maybe?

However, to your horror you discovered that you had started to blush. Every single time this happened. So you spent a lot of time in the ladies’ toilets, splashing your face with cold water, only to see it even more flushed than before. Apparently, all the books you had read lied about that ‘splashing your face with cold water to calm down and not make people notice’-thing.

But it all boiled down to the fact that he was onto you. Maybe he was humouring you and seeing where this was going. Maybe he had found out already and you made him feel awkward. Or he was waiting for the opportune moment to expose and humiliate you. You weren’t sure which.

Right now it didn’t matter. You were so tired you could hardly see properly anymore. So when you decided to crash on the sofa in the common room, because it was halfway to your room, you didn’t think to check if anyone was there.

That was mistake number one.

You collapsed onto the sofa with a groan, eyes closed, head leaning against the back of the sofa.

“Fuck. My. Fucking. Life,” you complained to the universe. “Can you please make the appendage of that misogynistic wanker fall off already? For fuck’s sake!”

Mistake number two.

Someone chuckled. It came from rather close to you.

Dread filled you. Foul language was not tolerated in the workplace. To be fair you could argue that the common room was not your workplace per se, however, you did not want to start arguing with HR because they were absolute savages in the art of word twisting. Or just savages full stop.

Carefully, you cracked your eyes open. And there, on the sofa right next to you, sat Loki. One leg was stretched out in all its glorious length, the other bent at the knee, his forearm resting over it, the book in his lap now closed, one of his slender fingers acting as bookmark. For a moment you wondered what it would feel like to be the book.

“I hope it’s not my appendage you’re asking to be removed,” he said with a smirk.

You grappled to sit up, horrified. “Of course not! That would be awful… I mean, a terrible thing to wish for… you’d… err… such a loss of such a beautiful… I mean, I can only guess… but… um, err… heavens, please make me stop talking…”

You hid your head in a throw pillow, wishing the floor would open up and swallow you whole.

Mistake number three.

The sound of a low, rumbly laugh made its way to your ears. It entered your system like a virus, leaving your limbs feeling weak and yearning. Was Loki laughing? You lifted your head and watched him, highly bemused at your idiotic display.

It was the most beautiful thing you’d ever heard. You felt a hard tug at your heart. Goodness, if this man wasn’t already a god, you’d have to declare him one. If he were the head of a religion you would throw out your atheist views and follow him to the end of the multiverse. He looked absolutely breathtaking. Then again, when did he not?

“I’m so sorry,” you started to apologise, “I don’t know what-”

With superhuman speed he moved and sat next to you, his finger on your lips. The feel of his digit on your mouth felt more intimate than any sexual intercourse you’d ever had.

And then he leaned in.

He was so close your cells were basically breathing him in. His eyes were locked onto yours and nothing would have been able to make you look away right then.

“Do you want to know what book I’m reading right now?” His quiet words did things to your insides that were not legal.

You just about managed to nod, his finger still in place.

“‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro. Do you know it?” He waited for your affirmation. “It’s about a man who is in love with a woman. But he doesn’t tell her. When they meet again after decades, she tells him her life would have been different if she had married him. And you know what he does? He still won’t admit his feelings to her. He walks away from her. The first time he lets her go, the second time he walks away.”

You remembered the book very well. You had picked it out for him, after all.

“It’s a cruel story, Y/N. A love that is never acknowledged, nor consumed.” Loki’s eyes drifted from yours down to your mouth. His finger slowly traced the outline of your lips. It was too much, your eyes closed.

“Do you think love is this cruel?” Loki asked quietly. You felt his words as he spoke them almost onto your skin. So close.

“It-it can be,” you whispered. “But maybe, maybe that wasn’t the point of the story.”

“No?”

You opened your eyes to find him looking at you. He’d moved away a bit, giving you some space, waiting for you to elaborate.

“Maybe the point was to show that he chose his job over love. Twice. You can call it dignity or pride, but at the end he’s alone. Without love.”

“What about you, Y/N? Do you have love in your life?”

You weren’t able to look into his eyes. Slowly, you got off the sofa. You turned back to him to respond to find he’d stood up, too.

You looked down at your shoes. His shoes were black, of course, polished, perfect, like him. Yours were several seasons old. Worn. A bit of the shoe sole had started to peel off at the top of your toes. The bit you always kicked into the floor when you worked.

Your eyes wandered up his trousers, black, to the belt, his pullover, also black. He looked effortlessly elegant, poised. You, on the other hand, looked a mess, even in your work attire. Your heart grew heavy at the realisation. Your dreams were stupid. Turned out your heart was even more stupid. And suddenly you felt incredibly small in more ways than one next to the tall, powerful god.

Swallowing a lump in your throat, you said: “I have known love, once. A long time ago.”

With that you pivoted on your heels and left, leaving Loki alone in the common room.

*****

Harris was an absolute tosser.

He just couldn’t leave things be. He insisted on trying to show you up, so he tried and tried to hack his way through your firewalls. Of course he had tried to hide his identity and it had made you chuckle, because you seriously had no idea how he could ever dare call himself a cyber security specialist if he covered up his tracks like a novice hacker.

In a way it was cute, but it was getting to the point of obsessive stalking and you frankly were rather tired of this little game by now. Particularly, since it kept you from your nice, warm, comfortable bed well past midnight.

However, Harris seemed to have changed tactics and started to badmouth you in the industry. Even Fury had called Tony and asked whether he should be worried, because Harris had dug up some hacking you’d done when you were much younger and much less ethical. Really it was unhinged, but everyone worked through teenage years in their own way.

You only knew this because you happened to be in Tony’s office and he had Fury on loudspeaker. Tony had pacified Fury without batting an eye, then hung up and asked if you’d be okay with him paying Harris a little visit, preferably as Iron Man. You had both laughed it off. But it bugged you.

So when you were on your way back to the tower from the compulsory (for all employees) counselling session and someone grabbed you, you weren’t surprised to come face to face with Harris. He didn’t lay a finger on you. No, he got two goons to do that for him.

Later, as you stumbled out of the lift and along the corridor, trying to make your way to your room, someone blocked your way.

“Speak of the devil! Y/N! We were just talking about you.” Tony. Other voices around him.

You kept your head down, thinking of how to get out of this unnoticed.

“We were just wondering if– Y/N? What happened?” You saw Tony’s hand reach out for you, but you flinched away.

Silence fell for a long moment.

Then a movement. Shoes appeared in your line of vision. You knew those shoes well. They had been on display on the couch for the past 22 days, attached to an Asgardian god.

He slowly held out his hand, palm up. An assurance, no harm. You gave the slightest nod. He moved the hand up and placed a finger under your chin so carefully you wanted to sob. The faintest of pressure had you lift your head to look up at Loki. His eyes scanned your appearance, stopping at your bruised hands that were trying to hold together your coat, taking in the blood splatters on the fabric, your busted lip, the lopsided glasses, the badly bent temple dangling off its hinge.

You never understood the expression ‘his features darkened’. You did now. Loki’s face transformed and you saw for the first time what a dangerous man he could be. Power radiated off him. You were glad it was not directed at you. His nostrils flared and you almost heard how much he was clenching his teeth.

“Names,” he ground out.

A hot tear rolled down your cheek and now that it started it didn’t want to stop. His eyes softened, something akin to vulnerability flitting across his features.

“H–Har…”

“Harris?” Tony asked softly. You nodded, still looking at Loki.

Loki rolled his lips in his mouth, his thumb swiping ever so lightly over the skin of your chin, before dropping his hand and walking to the lift in long strides.

“Nat?” Tony asked, the spy already by your side.

“Hold up, Reindeer Games!” Tony hollered behind you, as Romanoff led you down the corridor to your room. “I’m coming, too…”

It felt as if you were having an out of body experience as you were peeled out of your bloodied coat, your clothes and body assessed quickly but gently. She pulled out her phone after she ushered you into the shower.

“Tony? No forced intercourse, but lots of bruising…,” was all you heard before the hot spray of the water ran into your ears, blocking all noise out.

*****

Your glasses were fixed and you could see properly again. That was important, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to see Harris’ face on the news as he was escorted - handcuffed - from a courtroom and shoved into a police van, followed by the two goons who had helped him.

When you turned from the screen above the cashier, you saw Loki next to Tony across the canteen, looking at you. You walked over, clutching your sandwich.

“So, um… thank you,” you said, gesturing to the screen, “for that.”

Tony put a hand on your shoulder, squeezing gently, before his eyes gazed behind you. “Is that a double cheeseburger I see? Excuse me.”

And off he went, leaving you alone with the Asgardian god.

You shuffled your feet, studying the floor.

“Thanks again-”

“Are you okay?” 

You both said at the same time. You laughed quietly, looking up at him. He smiled. You’d never seen Loki smile.

“I’m fine, thank you,” you said.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

You wanted to say so much more, do so much more, like hug him. But he was a god. You weren’t exactly sure what the protocol was for hugging gods. The awkward silence thickened.

“So, I’ll see you around?”

He was still smiling. “Yes. See you around.”

You were fairly sure you were blushing as you scampered off, back to your office.

*****

Bryant Park was one of your favourite places to be in New York. For one, it was right behind the public library - your heaven. For another, it was close to the Tower and you could wander the paths under the lovely trees. The park was very busy as it was Christmas Eve and people wanted to while away the time in the Winter Village until the big day. But as the ice rink closed down and the skaters came off, noses and cheeks red from the cold, the park started to empty.

You sat on a bench under one of the trees, gloved hands deep in your coat pockets, a woolly hat and scarf keeping you warm. Your head was tilted back and you watched the snowflakes dance and twirl in the cold wind.

“Y/N,” someone called.

Loki stood a few metres away from you, a black coat making him look even taller. He was not donning a hat or a scarf, he looked comfortable with the cold. The snow clung to his dark hair, a soft dusting was on his shoulders. You envied the snowflakes.

You got to your feet and he took a few steps closer, looking down at you.

“Were you enjoying the activities?” Loki asked, nodding to the ice rink.

“No, I just… I just like to sit here,” you said, feeling a bit silly. “I like the trees and the snow. It’s… peaceful.”

He nodded.

“How about you? Fancied a turn on the ice?”

He laughed and you watched the cloud mix with your breath. Now you envied your breath.

“Actually, I was looking for you.”

“Me?”

He took another step towards you. “Yes.”

“Why? Did something happen at the Tower?” Worriedly, you fumbled your phone out of the coat pocket and checked it.

A large hand covered it. You looked up. “Nothing happened. I wanted to talk to you.”

Nervously, you glanced down at his hand that still covered your phone. If you hadn’t been wearing gloves your hands would have had actual skin on skin contact. He dropped his hand to his side.

“Am I in trouble?”

He shook his head. “I… I wanted to thank you.”

“What for?”

His hand pulled a book out of his pocket. “For this.” He slid it back in the folds of his coat.

“Oh.” You didn’t really know how to feel or react. You knew he’d been onto you, so it was no surprise he’d sussed it out. He was, after all, the God of Mischief and Lies. But you had to give him kudos for letting it play out.

“Um, you’re welcome.” You bit your lip.

“You don’t know what this meant– what this means to me.”

It was impossible to look at him.

“I was dreading this time of year here on Midgard. But your incredibly generous advent calendar made it feel… like when I first visited here with my mother.” He grasped your gloved hands in his. “I miss her dearly, so thank you. For giving me this.”

You were too choked up to say anything, so you just nodded.

“Can I enquire what your reason was?”

It was so cautious, as if he was worried it might scare you off. And yet, the question threw you, most likely because you had been asking yourself the very same thing from the moment of its conception in your shower. It was just there, a need, an urgency you didn’t know where it came from or why it existed. It was something you had to do. Like breathing.

But over the course of the last few weeks, particularly the last few days, it had become painfully clear why you did it.

“I wanted, no, I needed you to be happy.”

He squeezed your hands gently. The tips of his shoes, his shiny, polished shoes, now touched yours.

“Please look at me.”

So you did. He looked different… vulnerable maybe.

“Why do you need me to be happy?” The question was another cloud and you breathed it in, let it fill your lungs.

“Because…” You were afraid to say it, to admit it. But something in his eyes made you courageous. Either that, or foolish.

“Because I watched you, during missions and in briefings and ops planning. You started to believe what they said about you. And it’s not true. There’s so much you don’t share, don’t tell them and I see it. It’s right there in your eyes. And I didn’t want you to lose yourself. And it’s selfish, I know, but I need you to be happy… because if you are, so am I.”

“If you think that’s selfish, then I am guilty of this notion, too.”

Loki raised his right hand to run the backs of his fingers over your cold cheek. “I knew after three days it was you. I wanted to see where this was going, what your motivation was. And I… when I saw you after Harris… I was filled with so much rage and fear. That I would lose you. Before I had you.”

He leaned his forehead against yours, you closed your eyes, heart beating out of your chest at what you were hearing. Was this a dream?

Loki’s voice was just above a whisper. “Can I? Have you?”

You moved away slightly to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

He leaned in, his hands splaying on your back, as you stood on your toes. The moment his lips touched yours, you felt a current run straight to your heart. It was as if your brain rewired, the missing piece of the primer clicked into place and unlocked everything.

Snow was falling as Loki kissed you under the tree. You didn’t hear the whistles and hollering of passerbys. You didn’t feel the cold wind. You felt elated, buzzing even.

“Your phone is buzzing,” Loki murmured against your lips.

“Hm?” you said dreamily. 

“Your phone is buzzing,” Loki smiled, “someone’s calling you.”

Quickly you pulled out the damned device. Before you could even say your name, you heard Tony say: “So sorry for disrupting, Y/N, but we got a slight issue here that needs your expert skills pronto.”

You hung up, burying your head in Loki’s chest. His laugh rumbled in his chest. “We’ll talk more later.”

Breathing in his scent and holding onto him, you weren’t ready to let go. “Promise?”

*****

“Oh god, yes,” you sighed in absolute bliss. “That’s the spot, right there.”

Your groan sounded through the kitchen. You deserved that after three hours of extra work on Christmas Eve.

“Here?” Nat asked.

“Yes, yes! Please don’t stop,” you begged, putty in her hands, eliciting more noises from you.

“Maybe you should try yoga. Your shoulders and your whole upper body are so tense and full of knots. There’s a class I go to tomorrow at lunchtime, if you want to join me?”

“No time,” you murmured. “Heavens, Nat, what else can you do with those hands?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teased.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Banner interrupted, grabbing Nat by the hand and dragging her to the door. “I’m happy to share my girlfriend’s masseuse skills for a severe case of muscle lock, but I’m afraid I have a personal request now.”

You opened your eyes to catch Nat winking at you, a slight blush on her cheeks as she was pulled out of the room. “So I’m your girlfriend now?” you heard before they disappeared down the corridor.

You laughed and turned in your stool. Thor, Scott and Loki stood staring. Thor at the ends of his braids, Scott at his fingernails, Loki at you. Eyes intense and dark. You swallowed.

“Y/N, a word, if you please,” Loki said, before wrapping his fingers around your wrist and marching out of the room, with you trying to keep up with his long strides, your coat and shoulder bag in your other hand. 

He didn’t say a single word until you reached his room - it was closest - and the door shut behind you, locking the outside world out. He pushed you against the door, arm placed against the wood above your head, body leaning into yours, not quite touching.

“That was… a rather interesting display,” he remarked quietly, his breath puffing against your face as he spoke. “In future, I would prefer if your keening was reserved for me.”

Your hands found the buttons of his shirt. “That sounds like an exclusive right to me.”

“It most certainly is.” His lips hovered over yours.

Your index finger slipped in the space between two buttons. “A right that needs to be earned,” you whispered, your finger grazing his skin.

His breath hitched ever so slightly. “Do not challenge me, darling,” he leaned in, his body moving against yours teasingly. “It might be,” his mouth brushed against your earlobe, “too taxing for you.”

You scoffed, but his lips silenced you. His stance shifted as he picked you up and placed you on the nearest surface - a sideboard - and stepped between your legs. He broke the kiss, to cup your face. For a long moment he just gazed at you. The heat in his eyes seemed to intensify, turning you into a needy mess. He made a show of taking off your glasses, folding the temples and carefully putting them on the side board next to you. Your core clenched.

He held out his hand for you to hop off the furniture. You took it and he took to your lips.

It was quite possible that several things fell off on your way to Loki’s bedroom. When you pushed him into the wall to open the damned buttons of his shirt, a picture might have fallen. A vase, perhaps, when he picked you up and spun you around so your back was against the doorframe next to the fragile ornament. Your head hit the heavy frame of a painting, rendering it lopsided, when Loki feasted on your throat, and you tilted your head back to allow him better access.

Kissing, licking, nipping, sucking - he was intent on leaving marks. Your fingers somehow were in his hair, keeping his head in place. Soft, his hair was so soft. A sharp contrast to the teeth you felt pulling on your skin. His ministrations drew a long moan from you.

Loki smiled against your skin. “Yes, my siren, sing.”

Your back hit the mattress and he crawled over you. His hair a curtain, screening you off from the rest of the world in your own sacred space. His shirt hung open, your hands reached out, tracing each line, each dip. His tongue against yours mimicked the motion of his hips that rolled into you. Your legs wrapped around his waist, meeting each movement, as if you had practised this dance many times before. He pulled away to tug off your pullover. His fingers pushed up your bra and then he sucked your nipple into his hot mouth, making you arch your back.

“Loki, please.”

You didn’t really know what you begged for. More, probably. More of this, more of him.

He pulled you up so you both were kneeling on the bed. Shaking hands fumbled with clothes and fastenings and then you were both naked. Your breath hitched at his beauty.

“Can I…,” you started, voice sounding hoarse. You looked up at him. “Please let me worship you.”

Something flickered across his face - surprise? He gave a curt nod and then watched every single one of your movements.

You took his right hand, tracing each finger with yours, the veins on the back of his hands. You brought his hand up to your face, cradling it to your cheek, before kissing the palm of his hand. One finger at a time, you sucked it into your mouth, to the knuckle, your tongue swirling around the digit, before releasing it and pressing a kiss to the tip, before moving on to the next.

Your hands traced the skin of the inside of his arm, his veins, the rise and fall of his muscles, and up over his shoulder, across his chest to his left arm, which you gave the same treatment. Each birthmark, each scar was kissed. Your hands skimmed over his chest, your lips followed the path. Loki’s breath stuttered when you sucked on his left nipple, before you released it, softly blowing on it. It puckered. You bestowed the same treatment upon the other nipple.

“Please, lie down,” you whispered and he complied.

You lay next to him, kissing his forehead, your fingers running through his hair along his scalp, gently tugging. Onwards, to kiss the curve of each eyebrow, the bridge of his nose, his cheekbones, his chin, along his jawline to his ear. You felt his body shiver when you breathed: “You are so beautiful, inside and out.”

Then your teeth closed around his earlobe, gently pulling. A deep moan sounded through the room. Up until now he had let you do whatever you wanted to and not touched you. But his restraint waned and his hands splayed on your back, pulling you flush against his body. You kept going, your lips now worshipping his delectable throat. He tilted his head back to give you better access.

“Herregud,” he rasped as you kissed, licked and sucked on his sensitive skin. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard, his hands growing slack on your back.

You kissed the dip between his collar bones and worked your way down his torso, lips kissing, hands caressing. Further and further you went, along his abs, dipping in his belly button, following the trail of hair below. You leaned back a bit, to look at him. He was fully erect, heavy, swaying slightly. The purple mushroom head gleaming with pearls of pre-cum, thick veins running down the shaft to his pubic hair.

You licked your lips, curling one of your hands around his base, the other cupping his testacles. Then you looked up at him. He was up on his elbows, staring down at you hotly, biting his lips as he watched you in anticipation. You made sure to have and maintain eye contact and then you took him into your mouth.

He hissed, his head falling back, a loud moan following when you hollowed your cheeks to apply suction, the salty taste of his precum on your tongue.

You moved your hand up his length, still sucking, giving his testicles a gentle yet confident squeeze. Up your mouth went, your tongue circling his slit, before sucking him back in. The third time you did it, his hands clasped your shoulders.

“Stop.”

You looked up at him. Loki was breathing hard and you let his cock slide from your mouth with a wet ‘plop’.

In an instant your back was on the mattress and he hovered over you.

“Please don’t misunderstand,” he explained, voice rough, “I loved it, but I have plans.”

He settled between your legs, eyes locked on yours, hand on your thigh, pulling your leg around his waist. His hand slid up, splaying over the fullness of your ass, before giving it a firm squeeze, then sliding over the globe and dipping between your legs. When his slender digits made contact with your aching centre, you cried out. Your whole body was throbbing with need.

“All this nectar is for me?” he rasped. 

You nodded.

“Oh, I have to see this.” And in one fluid motion he sat back on his heels, spreading your legs with his hands, looking at your dripping wet centre in amazement.

“Wait a moment,” he said, before he scrambled off the bed and disappeared in the corridor, only to come back a few moments later to resume his place between your legs. He handed you something with a smirk. Your glasses.

“I want you to see me.”

You put them on, your heartbeat accelerating. You bit your lip in anticipation. He looked up at you, his hot breath puffing against your wet core and then his flat tongue licked you all the way from your entrance to your clit. Your fingers fisted in the bedsheets, eyes falling shut in ecstasy, mouth open in a silent cry.

“Look at me.”

You did. He started a rhythm of licking, sucking and lapping that had the coil inside you wind up and tighten impossibly in no time at all. You fell back onto a pillow. Then he slid two fingers inside you and your hands dove into his hair, tugging, scraping.

What a visual. Loki between your legs, eyes burning into yours, humming and moaning against your clit, fingers sliding in and out of you, curling just at the right time, at the exact angle you needed. It was as if you were a book he’d read a thousand times before. Your toes curled and then you fell into the abyss. You moaned out his name over and over as the orgasm washed over you, leaving your legs shaking.

Loki moved up your body, placing kisses on your thighs, your tummy, your breasts, before he brushed some hair out of your face. You took your glasses off, he placed them on the bedside table. His eyes searched yours.

“I need you, Loki,” you managed, pulling him down.

He kissed you deeply, slowly, the taste of you on his tongue. His hips rocked forward and he slid inside you all the way to the hilt. Loki stilled and broke the kiss, resting his damp forehead against yours.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

Your fingers caressed his back. Unable to form words, you nodded. Then he moved. His hips rocked into yours in slow, deep thrusts. He filled you so well, stimulating places inside you you didn’t know existed. Your hands ran over his back, down his sides, making him shiver. He watched you, eyes dark but warm. One hand found your swollen clit and his fingers circled and rubbed, applying the pressure you needed to fall into oblivion again. Your feet pressed into his ass cheeks to bring him closer, deeper and his name fell from your lips over and over.

He rocked inside you as you rode out your orgasm. You opened your eyes to look at him in wonder. Never had you seen anything as beautiful as Loki. He seemed to glow from the inside. Maybe it was your imagination. You lifted your head, cupping his face to pull him in for a kiss. His tongue moved languidly against yours, savouring the intimacy.

Then he started moving faster, pulling one of your legs up to rest the calf against his shoulder. Deeper, you wanted him deeper. You couldn’t get close enough. His mouth was devouring yours in a needy kiss, all tongues and teeth now as he pistoned faster into you, your hips meeting each of his thrusts. His lips found your nipple, sucking, pulling on it, moving to its sibling. You couldn’t believe you were on the verge again already. Never before had you been able to orgasm more than once during intercourse.

The room was quiet but for the moans, the heavy breathing. You were so wet that your coupling’s noise was wonderfully dirty, edging you both on even more.

“Look at us,” Loki commanded and you did.

Nothing had ever been so erotic as watching him fill you, stretch you, sliding out, covered in your juices. His fingers were on your clit again, rubbing, circling.

“I don’t know if I can…”

“One more, darling, give me one more,” he insisted, breathlessly.

His hips moved faster, as did his fingers and you were there, on the edge. Loki’s eyes met yours and he knew. His movements stuttered, pupils fully blown, jaw slack, a drop of sweat sliding down his temple.

“Cum with me,” you whispered, your fingers dragging down his back, possibly breaking skin, squeezing and pulling his ass into you.

And he did, propelling you into bliss with him. Your name fell from his lips in a string of Norse profanities. His cock pulsated as the hot ropes of his seed marked your insides as his, your pussy eagerly clenching around him, making sure every last drop would be spent inside you. His movements slowed and then he stilled, buried inside you.

Loki’s lips pressed onto yours in a tender kiss. You stayed in the embrace until you both caught your breath. Then he pulled out of you, your mixed juices running out of you. He could have cleaned you up using magic.

But Loki got out of bed, got a wet flannel from the bathroom and gently cleaned you, kissing your tired body, before sliding back into bed. He pulled you into his arms, your hands joined over his heart, legs intertwined and you both lay there, in your bubble of utter and complete happiness under warm covers, watching the snowflakes dance outside the window in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Christmas Day!

“Oh, wait here!”

You scrambled off the bed and ran to the door, forgetting about your nakedness, pulling your shoulder bag from under your coat. You pulled something from it and brought it back to Loki. He was sitting up, forearms resting on his knees, an intrigued look on his face. 

“Merry Christmas,” you said.

He looked at you and then at the present you held out to him. He cocked an eyebrow as he took it and pulled the fabric ribbon off. His hands parted the paper and then he grew completely still.

“Where in the nine realms did you get this?” he asked after a few moments, voice sounding rough.

“A friend of mine got her hands on this a while back. I thought you might like it.”

He stared at the book, transfixed. His slender fingers caressing the embossed letters on the front and then he lifted it to take in the scent of the pages. His eyes closed.

“Do you? Like it, I mean?” You were worried about this book. It had cost an arm and a leg, but you thought it would be worth it.

“Like it?” Loki asked, finally looking at you and pulling you on his lap. “My mother used to read me his poems when I was a child. I rediscovered it later. This is…”

He was searching for words, failed to find them and instead kissed you, hard, hand fisting in your hair. After a long moment, he broke the kiss.

“Thank you, love.”

Your fingers wrapped around his wrist, stroking his pulse point.

“Will you read it to me?” you asked, a bit out of breath.

Nodding, he sat against the headboard, you curled up against him with his arm around you. He made sure you were both tucked under the covers. Then he opened the book and cleared his throat.

“Kormákr Ӧgmundarson ‘Sigurðardrápa ‘Drápa’. This is one of my favourites, he wrote it for the love of his life.”

His fingers wandered up your arm.

“Brunnu beggja kinna

bjǫrt ljós á mik drósar,

oss hlœgir þat eigi,

eldhúss of við felldan.”

His digits absently stroked your ribcage, skirting over the side of your breast. The rhythm and intonation of his deep voice made you clench your thighs.

“Enn til ǫkkla svanna

ítrvaxins gatk líta,

þrǫ́ muna oss of ævi

eldask, hjá þreskeldi.”

He paused, closing the book and brushing his lips against the skin of your neck. Your eyes fluttered shut.

“What-what does he say?” you all but stuttered.

Loki kissed along your collarbone. Humming against your skin.

“The bright lights of both

her cheeks burned onto me

from the fire-hall's felled wood;

no cause of mirth for me in that.”

His hands cupped your breasts as he sucked and teased one of the nipples. Your hands tugged on his hair, desperate for him again already. You felt his need hard and heavy against your thigh.

“By the threshold I gained a glance

at the ankles of this girl

of glorious shape.”

Loki moved to lie between your legs, hands sliding over your breasts, your tummy, your thigh, down to your ankle, lifting it to wrap it around his hips.

“Yet while I live

that longing will never leave me.”

His voice faltered as he rocked his hips forward and your bodies were joined once more.

“That longing will never leave me,” he repeated like a vow, eyes serious and warm.

“Nor me,” you pledged, before you lost yourselves in the physical expression of your feelings once more.

~ fin ~

[thefusioncelestial]

Mix 18: Once brothers, now Him

Ah, brotherly love. 55% love, 45% violence. History is full of examples of those bound by blood spilling that same blood.

Here is Finn:

Just about to graduate from university. Great grades, top of his social circle, off to a potentially great career, & noted ladies man.

Then there is his twin, Leon:

The only thing he does better than Finn at is academics. His lack of connection building meant that at best, he could go the professor/teacher route.

These brothers were both content with their lot in life....until the test results came in.

Finn had an incurable disease that also induced infertility. Finn would live a long life, but could never start a family of his own. Leon was devastated as well, but he shot down the idea of using his seed to father Finn's kids.

"Come on bro, we're twins, genetically any kids you have will be mine as well. I am not asking you to sleep with my future wife, just put it in a cup & walk away," Finn said.

"No, it would be hard to treat my kids like I am their uncle when I am their father. Imagine something bad happens & my parental instincts try to kick in. Or, when my kid accomplishes something & I want to celebrate with them. It's going to lead to awkward situations," Leon said in curt & said tone.

"Then just move far away, just until they turn 18, then we can readdress this," Finn said.

"Family gatherings," Leon asked.

"Don't come," Finn said.

Leon was dumbfounded. He wanted his own brother to destroy his own familial relationships because his sack can't finish the job.

This has always been an issue between the two. Leon has always sacrificed his well being for his brother's sake & never got so much as a thanks.

Leon got in Finn's face.

"Out of the question," Leon screamed.

Before they could further react to the situation, both brothers began to feel dizzy & moved closer to each other. But Finn was able to get out of the trance and put some distance between himself & Leon.

"There has to be another solution. I know I am asking a lot from you," Finn said.

"Like you always do," Leon retorted.

Finn squinted his eyes in frustration but decided to think about his next words. He wondered why Leon was pushing back on this. He doesn't really have to leave the family. He can just be the overly involved uncle. There is more to this.

"We are going to therapy," Finn said in an authoritative tone.

"Don't act like the boss man now. You may have the muscles, but I am still older," Leon said.

"By fifteen seconds. You can walk yourself there, or I can carry you. My third arm might be useless, but these two guns are still functional," Finn said.

"You wouldn't dare," Leon said.

Finn smiled.

Finn did in fact carry Leon to the university's mental health clinic. Leon regrets starting Finn on the gym bro path back in high school.

There was an opening from a last minute cancellation & the brothers met Dr. Krushnik.

Finn moved to talk first, but Leon just suddenly let it out. About how he sacrificed nearly everything for Finn growing up & gave up his social life for him as well in university. About how their parents always favored Finn. Like he didn't exist. Like his existence was just to back Finn up.

Finn was shocked & hurt, but he thought back to all the times. Better toys, better clothes, allowed to do sports. He even overheard how Leon gave up his spot in a fraternity so that Finn could get in. The party invites redirected to him.

Finn reached his hand out to grasp Leon's.

"I am so sorry," Finn said in a sorry tone.

Leon was shocked mentally. First from spilling his guts & then from his brother's reaction. The hand grasping turned into a full blown hug.

The doctor sighed. The brothers reconciled without him saying a word.

It happened again. The brothers felt delirious. They could hear each other's thoughts. They pulled back quickly.

The doctor noticed this.

"Did you hear each other's voice in your heads," he asked.

They both nodded.

"I only dealt with a case like this once," he said.

"I am going to guess that you two are twins. You two are splitters," he said.

"We are what," Leon asked.

The doctor responded:

"Identical twins start off as one person, during the pregnancy, the original you splits into two separate zygotes & twins are born if you both survive."

"Not all twins are splitters. The distinction is that you two can still rejoin," he said.

Leon was confused.

"Wait, would merging fix our health issues," Finn asked loudly.

Leon was shocked at Finn's response. He knew exactly what Finn wanted to do.

"Such as," the doctor asked.

Finn blushed, in a hushed tone:

"I suffer from a disease that makes it impossible to have kids."

The doctor responded:

"There is some literature that speculates that splitters can suffer from ill effects if they don't pull everything they need."

The doctor eyes both of the brothers.

"You seemed to have stopped at the nether regions."

Finn closed his eyes & blushed again.

Leon facepalmed.

They were heading back to their dorm room when Finn punched Leon in the shoulder.

"What was that for," Leon asked.

"For splitting with me. We should have walked this earth as originally intended, as one," Finn said.

Leon blushed again. Was he that determined to bear fruit? The doctor did warn us that the original persona would take over. We would only exist as individuals in his subconsciousness. The idea of being stuck with Finn & debating about everything for as long as they existed 24/7 nearly gave him a headache.

They both walked into their shared dorm room.

"I know what you are thinking, that I only want to merge to be fertile. But it isn't restoring my fertility, the process will reform a new being. We are restoring him, whatever we were originally," Finn said.

"Oh you want to merge with me that much. I got you down bad," Leon retorted. He sticked out his tongue & panted like a puppy.

Finn threw a pillow at him in response.

"Look, I don't want to exist as half a person anymore. Please, join with me," Finn begged.

"You are never "half" a person. You are you and fully worth existing as is. If I am doing this, I don't want to merge with a wimp with self-confidence issues," Leon said.

Finn was shocked, his brother agreed. His shock turned to joy.

He didn't notice but Leon was right up close to him.

"Never say I never did anything for you, this better be worth it," Leon said.

Leon embraced his brother in a hug & soon after, so did Finn.

The delirium set in again. Come to find out, it was their minds opening up to each other to begin mixing.

There was a soft moan coming from the brothers. Their memories & mental traits were mixing into one.

As their minds became one, Leon began to sink into Finn like quicksand. The sounds coming from Leon stopped as his head sunk into Finn's chest. Within a few minutes, Leon was completely sunk into Finn's body.

Finn's closed his eyes & began to flex his fingers and toes. But this was no longer Finn. This was now their original self being reborn & his reaction to the process.

Stretching & pulling noises could be heard as his neck, shoulders, arms, legs, & feet expanded with new muscle. At the same time, the skeletal frame thickened and expanded. This original self grunted in response.

Pops could be heard as the chest grew bigger. The abdominals became flat at first, but as if one was popping saran-wrap, his abdominal muscles began to pop out one by one until he had an eight pack.

His butt expanded as well, but more gently. It was as if he had balloons for butt cheeks that were connected to a water hose, and someone turned the water on.

The sensation of being filled didn't stop there, it eventually extended to his private areas. At first he was fully extended to what Finn could achieve, but then his rod kept growing, and in waves, it grew thicker. His gonads came to life & grew four times their size. He cocked his head upwards in response.

Their minds finally became one. Finn let Leon completely in & so did Leon in return. They were reborn, no remade into their original persona.

His skull grew larger & a little more straighter. His eyes, mouth were Finn's but less sunken. His nose & eyebrows a combination of the two. His ears & chin was from Leon.

He kept Finn's hair style, but he gained Leon's volume. The flood of testosterone caused facial hair to erupt, giving him a beard, mustache, & side burns that connected.

He opened his eyes & his rebirth was complete. He found himself breathing heavily & a quick scan revealed he was drenched in sweat. He was naked too. Apparently Finn's clothing could not handle his much bigger frame and tore off.

Even though he was alone, he grabbed a white towel and wrapped it around his waist.

He quickly went to the bathroom to check out his form.

Here he was in flesh. He never thought he would ever exist as a whole the moment he split while in his mother's womb. But here he is. He knew that Finn & Leon could never return individually, and while he was grateful for both trying to live their lives, he had no desire to split again.

But who was he? He was never given an name as he was due to the nature of his birth, but wait he did have a name.

History had shifted. In merging back into one, the brothers merged their timelines too. He given the name of....Magnus.

He later took some fertility tests, and found no issues. Finn got his wish, sort of.

Thanks to the Leon part of him, there was no desire for kids until 28. If Finn was still here, he would be facepalming & Leon would be cackling. One last brotherly hit from brother to brother.

[justagalwhowrites]

The Savage and the Sanctuary: Ch. 9 - Starlight

You officially become Starlight and Joel reckons with your life in the spotlight. A continuation of The Savage and the Sanctuary, a no outbreak TLOU story, from the prologue through chapter 8 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

CW: Canon-typical violence; panic attack/PTSD response; attempted kidnapping. No use of Y/N. Whole fic will be explicit so minors DNI, 18+ only.

Length: 12k

Fic Masterlist | Masterlist | AO3 | Prologue | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

“You sure this is a good idea?” Joel asked, arms crossed over his chest, his jaw tight as he watched you from across the small room.  

“Joel,” you looked at him, almost amused, from your spot on the couch. “What do you think they’re going to do? Delay the casting announcement that’s been planned for months for a movie with a $210 million price tag because I want a personal day?” 

“You’re the fuckin’ star,” he said. “So… yeah.” 

You pressed your lips together, stifling a laugh. 

“It really doesn’t work that way,” you said. “Sorry to disappoint.” 

“Yeah, well,” Joel grumbled, turning to the craft services table that had been set up in your green room. “Maybe it should.” 

He got a plate and piled it with a small sandwich, slices of cucumber, baby carrots and celery before spooning hummus onto it and grabbing a can of Diet Coke, which made you frown. You’d never once seen him drink Diet Coke. 

But he didn’t go to drink it himself. Instead, he closed the short distance between you, handing you the plate before opening the soda and setting the can down almost forcefully on the table beside you. 

You frowned, looking up at him, brows raised. 

“You’re not puttin’ on that damn suit,” he said, nodding to the plate. “And I was awake before you, I know you ain’t eaten anything today.” 

You resisted the urge to smile but felt your lips tugging up at the edges all the same. 

“You like me,” you teased. He rolled his eyes. “Look at you, getting invested.” 

“Just been around you too much,” he muttered but he smiled ever so slightly, too. “Bound to stick eventually.” 

You let yourself smile fully then, taking a bite of the sandwich as Joel shook his head, clearly trying to not look happy about anything at all. 

Something had changed in your relationship with Joel the day before. You could almost feel it happen, the shock of connection and understanding when you’d asked him to break into Henry’s office and he’d just done it. He didn’t question it, he didn’t even hesitate, he just busted the man’s door down and protected you in the aftermath. The way he’d touched you in the elevator, the way he still looked at you like you were a person after you told him about the shit you were most ashamed of, it felt like he cared about you. Not the strange version of yourself you made for the world but the real you and it was the first time it seemed like someone who wasn’t Justice or Elise or Ellie or Anna had done that in so, so long. What’s more, he made you feel like you were worth caring about. Like there was something inside you, something about you, that was worth the effort. That feeling made your heart beat faster and your head get light and you knew that was stupid, that you should avoid feeling like that about your bodyguard as much as you could but you couldn’t resist it. It felt too good, caring about him and knowing that he cared about you, too. 

He had gotten up before you that morning. You found him in the kitchen when you forced yourself to get up, skipping your usual morning workout because - although you’d slept well and hadn’t shot anything the day before and it had been a short day - you were exhausted. It was a sort of tired that had settled heavily into your body, weighing down your limbs and fogging your mind. You more trudged through the house than walked, not able to fully pick your feet up. But you were surprised to find coffee ready made and waiting for you when you got to the kitchen, Joel sitting at the breakfast bar with a mug in front of him. 

“Morning,” he said, watching you. 

You froze, blinking at him for a second. 

“Morning,” you said back, your tongue thick in your mouth. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked, looking you up and down but not in the way so many men did, not like he wanted to break you down and consume you. 

You shrugged. 

“Fine,” you said before pulling your gaze from him and going to pour yourself a cup of coffee. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Just…” he paused. “Seemed like you might not be. After… you know.” 

“Oh,” you said, not sure what to say to that. You took a sip of coffee. “Well… I still have a convention to get to.” 

“That a good idea?” He asked, frowning, watching you. 

You watched him back for a moment, something so unsettlingly honest about how he was looking at you.

“Maybe not,” you said after a moment. “But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?”  

He kept watching you, like he thought you might take it back and maybe that was because you wanted to, his jaw clenched, before he sighed. 

“Shit goes sideways, we leave,” he said. “And I don’t just mean some jackass tries to break your arm again, I mean if you have a panic attack or that… that fuckin’ asshole shows up, we go. We clear?” 

“You can’t just try to whisk me away from all my problems,” you said, smiling a little sadly. 

“I know,” he said, open and almost vulnerable. “I know you can handle yourself and lord knows you know this world a hell of a lot better than I do. But I’m trying to keep you safe. You said you’d let me keep you safe. You gonna let me?” 

“Yeah,” you said softly. “Yeah, I’ll let you.” 

He’d stuck close to you all day. You heard him pacing the hall outside your room as you put on the outfit that Frank had selected for you. He took a break to let your hair and makeup artist, Caroline, in but he took back up pacing not long after. 

“He’s an anxious one, isn't he?” She said as she blended your eyeshadow. “That’s a change from the last guy, right?”

“He’s the same one I had last time,” you said. 

“Really?” She said, stepping back enough that you opened your eyes to look at her and you looked at her, incredulous. “Well shit, never would have guessed.” 

He was waiting there outside your door in a pair of dark jeans and a button down and you gasped in mock surprise. 

“Look at you!” You swatted him playfully on the arm. “You got dressed up!” 

He rolled his eyes. 

“Let’s go,” he said. “Before you find some new way to drive me insane.” 

“It’d be a short trip,” you smirked before leading the way to the car, Joel close enough that he kept his hand on the small of your back the whole way. 

He was tense as they slipped you into the convention hall, bringing you in a side door under a tent that enveloped everything, protecting the secret of your identity for another few hours. 

“You know you can’t come on stage with me, right?” you said, smiling a little but trying to hide it as you ate one of the carrots Joel had put on your plate. 

“Oh I’m well aware,” he muttered. “You know, I keep waitin’ for these producers and managers and… other assholes to figure out that you’re not just some profit center but you’d think they’d have realized by now that they can’t make money off you if you’re hurt or dead. Can make fuckin’ movies but can’t manage to understand basic shit…” 

There was a knock at your door and Joel clenched his jaw before going to answer it. Quinn didn’t wait for him to fully step aside, pushing past him and looking a little frazzled. 

“We ready?” She asked, looking you up and down before narrowing her eyes at you. “Are you eating? And drinking from a can without a straw? You’re wearing lipstick! Jesus Christ…” 

She started looking around, as though she might find some stray tube of lip color lying around but you just laughed a little, dabbing your mouth with your napkin and going into the small bag you’d brought with you to touch up your lipstick. 

“There,” you said, putting the tube away again. “See? No harm, no foul.” 

“And now she won’t pass out on stage,” Joel muttered. “Let’s go, sooner they trot you out like some show pony the sooner we can get you back home.” 

You just shook your head and smiled a little, following behind Quinn, a small army of assistants waiting outside your door and Joel staying so close to you that you could could feel the heat of his body alongside yours all the way to the stage. 

Cole met you there, waiting in the wings, and you greeted him with a hug. 

“You ready for this?” You asked quietly. “Because our lives are about to change.” 

“Think mine more than yours,” he smiled, a little sheepishly. “Everyone already knows your name. This is the first time I’m doing something this big. Feels a little like I’m about to… I don’t fucking know, go BASE jumping or something.” 

“Well,” you said, taking a deep breath. “As long as you’ve got a good parachute.” 

You looked toward Joel in spite of yourself, his jaw clenched as his eyes raked again and again over the surrounding area. You leaned closer to him. 

“And of course where would we be without a man worthy of our hero?” The emcee said. You looked at Cole and he looked back before taking a deep breath. “Introducing your Devin Hancock - Cole Cox!” 

Cole ran out on stage, his arms above his head and you watched him soak up the applause, waving out at the audience that you couldn’t see beyond the stage lights. 

“Finally,” the emcee said as the crowd quieted down. “The moment we’ve all been waiting for, the one I’ve been most excited for. Are you ready to meet our intergalactic heroine? The one, the only, Starlight?” 

The screams were deafening and the lights cut out, replaced by the glow of the massive screen behind the stage. You had to crane your neck to see it from where you stood but it was what you’d shot a few days earlier, the slow pans down your body, keeping your face hidden, the frantic fight sequences that kept your identity just out of sight and then a bright, blue-tinged glow before a close up of you, smirking confidently in your suit and hair and makeup, took over the screen, Starlight in an arch over your head, your name written below as the emcee announced you, the roar of screaming and cheering drowning him out almost entirely. 

You ran out to join him on stage, hands up over your head and waving to the convention hall packed with people. 

It took what felt like a small eternity for things to quiet down enough for you to even talk, the emcee giving you a mic and you just standing there with it as you waved for long enough that you started to get tired of holding your unoccupied hand so far over your head. 

“Thank you all for that very warm welcome!” You laughed when things got quiet eventually. “I really could not be happier to join the Galactic Comics Cinematic Universe.” 

You took your seat next to Cole, demurely crossing one ankle over the other (even though you were in jeans) and nodding as you listened to the director talk about the movie and the lengths they went through to keep your identity under wraps. The emcee threw a few softball questions your way and you gave the other people on stage a chance to shine before the audience questions began because you knew most of their questions would be directed at you.

You were right, the first question out of the gate was directed at you. 

“Huge fan,” the guy asking it said, smiling sheepishly at you. “But I don’t think I’d ever see you in something like this. Why’d you decide to play this role?” 

“Well,” you smiled back at him and you saw the blush rise in his cheeks. “I’ve always been drawn to stories about powerful women, I’ve always liked telling those stories and exploring the lives of those women and what better way to do it than tell the story of a superhero, right? Especially one who starts out as a doctor. And…” 

You took a deep breath. You’d debated about including this or not but, fuck it, if the world knew about Ellie anyway, why not? 

“And as some of you might know, I’m in the process of adopting my niece and Savage Starlight is her favorite comic. When I found out about the opportunity to be her favorite hero, I jumped at that. She didn’t know about this in advance, by the way, so she’s finding out about this role at the same time you all are by watching the live stream at home - hi Ellie!” You waved to the camera that was broadcasting live online. “I hope you’re behaving for your grandma, I really don’t want one of the first things I do as Dr. Daniela Star to be ground you.” 

The audience laughed and you smiled at that, this strange warmth settling inside you as the next person came up to the mic and you found yourself looking over at Joel, a little smile on his face as he watched you in return. You’d never shared something like that about yourself to press or at an event. You weren’t sure why, but for some reason, you felt comfortable being more yourself, offering that small vulnerability and piece of humanity up to these strangers. 

Time passed quickly there on stage and, before too long, you were making your way off stage, happy that you weren’t miked anymore and you felt like you could breathe a little. 

“That was surreal,” Cole said, nearly yelling in your ear to be heard over the crowd, staying close to you as the two of you headed off stage, Joel watching from the wings, his eyes sweeping the stage as you did. 

“But cool!” You said back, smiling at him before turning a little to wave one last time at the crowd. 

You were so distracted by the crowd and the noise and blinded by the stage lights, you almost didn’t see Joel running for you. 

***

It happened so fast, he almost fucking missed it. 

You were almost off stage - almost next to him again - and he had almost relaxed. You were close and you were so beautiful and looked so happy and it was easy to just look at you, the temptation to just watch you instead of looking anywhere else so easy to fall into. 

But then he saw it, someone shoving off event security and scrambling onto the stage. He barely noticed it, the person almost entirely blocked from his view by you and your costar. 

He moved quickly then, event security chasing after the man as he went for you. You noticed him half a second before he reached you, your smile dropping and your eyes going wide. 

“Move!” Joel grabbed you, tucking your head down and putting his body between you and the person who was inches away from being tackled by security. He rushed you off stage all the same, not about to trust security to suddenly do their jobs properly. 

He got you off stage quickly, casting a glance back over his shoulder to see two security guards take the man down. Joel kept moving with you, rushing you through the maze of back stage and back to your green room. He slammed the door shut and released you, taking your face in his hands and looking you up and down. 

“You OK?” He asked, breathless. 

“I’m fine,” you said quietly, your hands covering his, your fingers soft and soothing against his own. “I’m OK, it’s OK.” 

“Fuck,” he said, pulling you against him before he thought better of it, clutching onto you and focusing on the feeling of your chest rising and falling as he held you close. Your arms slowly, cautiously went around him, too, your hold gentler than his own except for your fingers which knotted in his shirt and pressed into his back. His heartbeat finally slowed, your body a comfort against his own, and his grip on you eased. You pulled back from him but didn’t go far, still in his arms, still close enough that he could feel when you breathed. You looked at him, your eyes wide, lips parted and, for half a moment, he thought you might kiss him and he wanted you to. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t kiss you, he wanted to. The fact that you were his charge, that you were so far above him you weren’t even in the same galaxy let alone the same league, that he was in no position to let anyone close to him at all didn’t matter. All that mattered was your lips and skin and the way you felt against him. 

Your eyes traced over his face then stilled at his temple and you frowned, reaching your hand up, delicately tracing the scar there with one finger, your touch so gentle it was more like a ghost than anything corporeal. 

“Joel,” you whispered, your palm finding his cheek but your finger lingering on the scar. His heart stuttered. 

The sharp knock on the green room door made you jump and he pulled you closer for a moment before maneuvering you behind him. 

“It’s me!” Quinn called through the door. “Let me in!” 

“Stay put,” Joel said sharply, going for the door and only opening it a crack, confirming it was just Quinn there before opening it just enough to let her in and then locking it again. 

Your manager rushed over to you, looking you up and down before taking you by the shoulders. 

“You’re OK?” She asked quickly. 

“I’m fine,” you said, smiling a little at her. “It wasn’t a big deal, really.” 

Joel stalked over, trying to put himself between you and Quinn as best he could without physically moving her. He’d never put hands on a woman, he didn’t want to start now. 

“When are you people gonna learn that this shit is a risk?” He growled, letting himself tower over Quinn. “That it’s not fuckin’ worth it? That you’re gonna get her hurt or worse because someone else needs something more from her?” 

“Joel,” you quietly, your hand curling around his bicep, but he shrugged you off. 

“She is not some goddamn toy!” Joel snapped. “So stop parading her around like some fuckin’ Barbie before someone does more than break her fucking arm!” 

“She’s my client!” Quinn snapped back. “And my friend and I’ve been looking out for her a hell of a lot longer than you have so if you think for one second that she matters more to you than she does to me…” 

“She is right here, in case either of you were wondering,” you said, voice sharp. 

Joel and Quinn both turned to face you and, beyond your eyes being wider than he was used to seeing, you looked like yourself. Your jaw was set firm, your back straight, daring either of them to push you. 

“Last time I checked, I’m a grown woman who is perfectly capable of making her own choices,” you said, looking between the two of them. “Joel, I’m fine. Nothing happened. Security took down… whoever that was and you protected me. The system worked. Quinn, cut Joel some slack. He’s still new to this industry, he doesn’t understand how shit works here and… he’s right. Events are a risk. They’re just also necessary.” 

Joel clenched his jaw, tightened his fist. He wasn’t going to win this fight, he knew that, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. 

“There is a piece of good news,” Quinn sighed, changing the subject. “The guy who rushed the stage was looking to talk to the director, some super fan. Had his last movie on BluRay in his bag, looks like he’s a film student at UCLA.” 

“Jesus,” Joel pinched the bridge of his nose. “People can’t just be fuckin’ normal about this shit? Have to be rushing the goddamn stage, camping out at premieres…” 

“People care,” Quinn said, a little edge in her tone. “It might be a little intense but…” 

“Yeah,” Joel cut her off. “That’s the problem, ain’t it.” 

Joel got you out of there without any further incident, bypassing the crowds of people clamoring for a piece of you outside and instead ushering you back out the way you came, straight into the back of the heavily tinted SUV. He sat in back with you, not willing to even be as far away as the front seat would force him to be.

It took until the two of you were well on the way back at your house for him to really calm down, the tension in his chest easing, finally able to relax his clenched fists. 

“Can I ask you something?” You said quietly. 

He looked over at you, your eyes soft and open and you were twisted in the seat so you were facing him as much as you could be while still being buckled in. He didn’t say anything but you pressed on. 

“How…” you paused, like you were trying to figure out how to phrase your question. “How long have you protected someone?” 

He flexed his hand. 

“Few weeks,” he said. “Usually just a few days.” 

You nodded slowly. 

“Why.” 

“Did you usually get along with the people you protected?” You asked, ignoring him. 

He laughed once, derisively. 

“No,” he said. “No, they’re just rich assholes. Usually CEOs in town for meetings or some shit. Protected this one model once who was a nice enough girl. You might know her… Rosie something think her name was. Don’t really remember. Otherwise, mostly just jackasses. Why.” 

“You’ve never worked a job like this one, have you?” You asked, your head cocked ever so slightly to the side, your exacting gaze seeing past seemingly everything he had to protect that dying thing inside himself. “Where you might actually give a shit about whether or not the person you’re protecting lives for anything outside the professional, I mean.” 

“No,” he said again after a moment. “No. I haven’t.” 

You nodded again. 

“I’m sorry it’s working out like this,” you said quietly. “I’m not trying to make life difficult. You probably think I’m full of shit but I’m really not…” 

“I know,” he cut you off. “You’ve given me plenty of grief, Siren, but I know that’s not what this is.” 

“I’ll…” you took a deep, shaky breath. “I’ll do my best to make sure it’s professional. It’s weird for me, too, being around someone this much and not… I’ll try to do better.” 

He wanted to tell you not to worry about it. Please don’t stay away from me, he wanted to say. Please just be where I can see you and touch you and know that you’re breathing, please stay close to me, please don’t leave me alone in this. 

“S’OK,” he said instead. “It’s… it’ll be OK.” 

You smiled at him ever so slightly, something sad in your eyes when you did and he resisted the urge to touch you the rest of the way home. 

*** 

Being rushed off stage after your big announcement put a bit of a damper on the celebration outside your house but inside, you still got to bask in the excitement a little. Ellie had called you freaking out while you were still on stage and you FaceTimed her as soon as you were back home. 

“Are you kidding me, Sissy?” She gaped at you. “You’re seriously fucking Starlight? THAT’S what you’ve been working on?” 

“Yeah,” you smiled, trying to keep from laughing, too happy that she was happy to scold her for her language. “Think I can pull it off?” 

“Hell yeah!” She said, beaming. “This is the coolest fucking thing! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” 

Not everything was that easy, though. You did your best to avoid Joel over the next few days as much as you could. You trained and did fight choreography, Joel sitting up front in the car while you sat in the back, and you kept to your office and bedroom as much as possible when you were at home. Not that Joel spent much time in the common areas of the house, anyway, but it seemed that when you did encounter each other there, there was a strange intimacy to it that didn’t exist in other spaces. It was safest to avoid it. 

Even though it’s not that you wanted to avoid Joel. Far from it. The way he’d held you after the incident at the convention had touched you in a way no one else had. He’d clung to you like you were a lifeline, as though you mattered to him. And it wasn’t because you were rich, it wasn’t because you were beautiful and he wanted to own you, it wasn’t even because he fawned over your fame or power or skill. It felt like he did it just because you existed. Like that was all that as required of you when it came to him, like as long as you just continued to breathe you would matter to him. No one else had ever done that for you, not in the way he did, and now that you had a taste of it you craved it. You wanted to matter to him, you wanted him to see something in you that was worthy because there was something about him that was so real and so vital, something in him that made the way he saw the world so much more important than the way anyone else did. 

Which is why you needed to give him space. You couldn’t let yourself do this. You couldn’t let yourself fall into the feelings you had for this man that were threatening to swallow you up, it would only get you hurt. Space was smart. 

But, Tuesday, you didn’t have a choice. The premiere was Wednesday and you had to figure out what you and Joel were wearing, the entire day blocked off to spend at Frank’s studio to review the different looks he’d selected for you and Joel both. That meant a day together, whether either of you liked it or not. 

And you might have liked it. More than you should. 

“I can’t believe I get to dress that sexy, grumpy body guard of yours,” Frank said as you stood in your underwear looking at gown options, Joel waiting safely on the other side of the door. “I’d say it’s a dream except for the fact that he is one big man and no one knows who the hell he is so it’s not like I can name drop to get off-size samples. Selection’s going to be limited, I’m afraid.” 

“I think he’ll live,” you said, reaching out and touching the skirt of one of the gowns, running your thumb over the sumptuous fabric. “I’m still surprised he went along with the date scheme, honestly.” 

“I’m not,” Frank scoffed. “You two fucked yet?” 

“Frank!” You gawked at him and swatted him. 

“What!” He said, indignant. “I know chemistry when I see it, honey, and you two have chemistry.” 

“He’s still not interested in fucking me,” you said, your stomach clenching at that thought even though you shouldn’t care. 

“Yes he is,” Frank rolled his eyes. You raised your eyebrows at him and he waved you off. “For someone as stunning as you are, you sure are good at missing when someone wants to get you into bed. Maybe you’re just used to it because you’re you but that man would cut off a limb for a night in bed with you, mark my words.” 

“Please,” you rolled your eyes. 

“I’m serious,” Frank said, his tone shifting. “And none of that’s unusual for you but I’ll tell you what is unusual for you: you want him back.” 

“Don’t start,” you said, pointing at him sternly.  

“I’m not starting anything,” he said, his hands up in surrender. “I’m just pointing some shit out. It’s been a long time since you were in a real relationship…” 

“I’ve been kinda busy the last year or two,” you said, defensive. 

“And you could use someone,” he continued like you hadn’t spoken at all. “And there are worse choices than the tall drink of water that’s sitting out there. That’s all I’m saying.” 

“He works for me,” you said. “It’s not happening.” 

“Whatever you say,” he said, turning his attention back to the gowns. “Want to know my favorite or do you want to go in blind?” 

“That one’s your favorite,” you said, pointing to a fully beaded gown that looked like it would fit you like a glove. “Don’t think I don’t know you.” 

He laughed and gave your arm a squeeze. 

“To be loved is to be known,” he said. “Or something like that.” 

You smiled a little. 

“So they say,” you said. “Let’s try them on and figure out what we need to do to get me down that carpet.” 

Frank had an eye. You tried on all the gowns but none of them held a candle to the one you’d eyeballed as his immediately. 

“I know you get this all the time,” Frank said, standing back from you and looking you up and down after he’d pinned the places he’d need to make temporary alterations to make sure the gown fit you just right. “But I think you might be the most beautiful woman on Earth.” 

“Only when you dress me,” you smiled but admired yourself in the mirror all the same. 

“Alright,” he said, stepping onto the small platform to help you out of your gown. “Let’s get you out of this and figure out what we’re squeezing that giant man into.” 

You laughed but let Frank undress you before getting back into the sweats you’d come to the studio in, your stylist going to grab Joel who looked none too happy about needing to get dressed up. 

“Dunno why it fuckin’ matters what I wear,” Joel muttered as Frank took his measurements. “No one’s gonna be looking at me anyway.” 

“We need to make sure you’re not drawing attention,” Frank said absently as he noted a measurement. “You show up in jeans to an event like this, people look at you funny. Unless you’re Adam Sandler but that’s another story…” 

He straightened and looked at the numbers, draping the tape measure around his neck and comparing them to another sheet on his clip board and nodding to himself. 

“Well, I’ve got good news,” he said idly. “I wasn’t too far off on your sizes and I pulled a few options for you, we don’t need to send you to Men’s Wearhouse. Or wherever it is we’d have to look to find something to fit those shoulder of yours…” 

Joel glared at him but Frank didn’t seem to notice, just going to grab the suits as Joel stood awkwardly on the platform, trying to look anywhere but at the mirrors that surrounded him. 

“You’ll never break Frank by being grumpy,” you said, smiling a little as you propped your head on your fist, one leg crossed over the other from your seat in the corner. 

“Why’s that,” Joel said more than asked, barely glancing your way. 

“His husband, Bill, would give you a run for your money on the grumpy asshole front,” you said. “He’s reigning world champ, you’d like him.” 

“Jesus,” Joel muttered but you saw his lips tug up ever so slightly. You smiled. 

“Don’t worry, Big Miller,” you teased. “You’re in good hands for your red carpet debut.” 

Frank had undersold his options, Joel looking damn good in every outfit he put him in but, eventually, they settled on an all black suit that fit him almost perfectly - just needing to be let out a little at the cuffs of the coat and the hem of the pants - with a black shirt he was going to wear without a tie, open enough that you could see a bit of the golden tan expanse of his chest that made your mouth water when you looked at him too long. 

“This is too much,” Joel grumbled. “Can’t I just wear… I dunno…” 

“No, you can’t,” Frank cut him off. “Move your arms for me, up over your head.” Joel just looked at him, brows raised. “I’m assuming you want good range of motion to protect our newest superhero over there, right? So do what I say.” Joel rolled his eyes but obeyed. “Good boy,” Frank said and you coughed to cover your laugh. 

He pinned Joel, too, and, eventually, the two of you were finished up, Frank and his team needing to get to work to finalize alterations and the rest of your outfits. 

“See you both tomorrow morning at the hotel,” Frank said. “Expect you both to get a good night’s sleep, you’d better not let bags under your eyes ruin this for me, understand?” 

“Yes sir,” you said, kissing both his cheeks. “And I’ll be sure to tell Bill about all the fun you had today…” 

“Don’t start young lady,” Frank said, turning to Joel. “Keep her in line or I’ll put you in something hideous.” 

He didn’t give your body guard a chance to respond. Instead, he just headed back into his studio and you tried not to laugh. 

“You just like to torture everyone you work with don’t you,” Joel said, a teasing edge to his voice. 

“I need to have fun somehow,” you said, letting Joel lead the way to the car that was waiting just outside the door. He put his hand on your back and you tried to ignore the way your heart raced when he did. “You looked really good, by the way.” 

He frowned at you. 

“In the suit, I mean,” you said. “You’re going to look good tomorrow.” 

“Right,” he said, opening the door for you.You got in the back of the car and were surprised when he got in the back seat next to you. “Uh… thanks.” 

You smiled a little as you buckled in. Frank might be wrong about Joel wanting to sleep with you but you could at least take some comfort in knowing that you could still throw him off a little. And as long as you could get through the premiere without caving to that growing, gnawing urge to touch him, kiss him, feel him, everything would be OK. 

The two of you got up early the next day to head to a hotel near the premiere to get ready, Joel sitting next to you again with a sour look on his face the entire trip. 

“So what’s got your boxer briefs in a twist today?” You teased after a while, not able to resist it. 

“Don’t understand why we gotta be in an unknown space for this,” he grumbled. “Your house was fine for the last premiere, stupid to add another variable into this situation.” 

“Because the last premiere was more low-key,” you shrugged. “This one starts later in the day and there’s a party after, we’re not going to want to deal with getting all the way back to my house that late. Trust me, having the closer space will be a blessing when push comes to shove. Think of it this way, you’ve got a safe place to whisk me off to when you get paranoid.” 

He gave you a look and you stifled a giggle. 

“Don’t think it’s paranoid if I’ve had to do more than just look after you the last few times you’ve been out in public here,” he muttered. “Should have said you couldn’t do this, not even your damn movie…” 

“Well we extra need the media push now because I couldn’t do any press after the con,” you said. “And I know they got this premiere more locked down…” 

He clenched his jaw and shook his head and, before you could stop yourself, you reached for the hand that rested on the seat between you, covering his thick fingers with your own. He looked there, still for a moment, before slowly, gently, turning his hand so he could hold yours. Your heart fluttered. 

“It’ll be OK, Joel,” you smiled softly. “It will.” 

They’d put you in a two bedroom suite with a living space in the middle, Quinn’s assistant getting the space set up with a variety of snacks and drinks and coming up with your favorite coffee as you settled into the larger bedroom to get ready. 

The team of stylists showed up not long after you and you went through all the motions of getting ready for a big event - the nails and the hair and the putting on the gown that had to weigh at least 10 pounds and you were happy for the structure of the bodice so the weight of it wasn’t entirely landing on your shoulders. 

“How’s Joel doing?” You asked Frank, sipping a Diet Coke through a straw as Caroline, your hair stylist, put the finishing touches on. 

“Looking way better than he has any right to,” Frank replied, getting a necklace with a sizable blue gemstone - the same shade of blue the powers Starlight had glowed with in the comics - and put it around your neck. “It’s not fair, someone looking that good when they don’t give a shit about it.” 

You laughed a little. 

“Good thing you’re there to bring out the best in the guy,” you teased, giving a lock of his hair a little tug and he gave you a look, smiling a bit as he did. 

“Well, I’ll take solace in the fact that he’s walking the carpet with you,” he said, offering you his hand to help you out of your chair. You took it and he adjusted your gown before walking around you in a slow, discerning circle. “He’ll pale in comparison.” 

“Thanks to you,” you said as he held out his hand for you drink and you surrendered it. 

“Alright,” he said, waving the makeup artist over. “Lip color, then we go.” 

She painted it on and then Frank gave a nod. 

“You’re ready,” he said. “Let’s get you there, be sure to watch the back of the dress when you’re getting in and out, it might snag on your heels…” 

“I do know how to wear a gown,” you said, following him. 

“If you saw how some of these things came back to me at the end of the night from other people, you’d know why I bother to say it,” he replied, opening the door to the living area and Joel stood up from the couch, moving for you for a moment before he stopped in his tracks, staring at you. 

“What?” You asked after he’d stood stock still for what felt like too long. 

“Nothin’,” he shook his head once. “You… you look nice.” 

“Thanks,” you smiled, looking at him, trying to ignore the tug at the base of your chest you felt when you saw him there, the suit fitting him like it’d been made for him, the bare skin of his chest almost too intimate to look at even though you knew the entire planet would see him like this in just a few minutes. “Not too bad yourself.” 

“I’m going to try to not be personally offended by the fact that you just said she looked ‘nice,’” Frank said, giving you a peck on the cheek. “You look beautiful, honey. Have fun, don’t work too hard. I’ll come by tomorrow to pick up the dress and jewelry.” 

You watched Frank go before turning to Joel. 

“Ready to run the gauntlet?” You asked. 

“Guess so,” he sighed. “Let’s get this over with.” 

“Don’t sound so happy about it,” you teased as you made your way for the door. “You know there are men who would kill to be in your shoes right now.” 

“I know,” Joel said. “That’s who I’m worried about.” 

You gave him a brief run down of how to handle himself on the carpet on the short ride over. Let you do the talking, when people asked about your relationship just say that you’re friends, try to keep your face at least neutral if not smiling as much as possible.

“There are going to be a lot of people coming up to me,” you said. “If they’re in formalwear, don’t worry about it. Actors are physical folk, there’s going to be a lot of hugging and kissing, please don’t snap anybody’s arm because they decided to touch me.” 

“I’ll do my best,” he said, clearly tense. 

“And you’ll probably need to touch me, too, now that I think about it,” you said as the car pulled up toward the carpet. He almost jumped at that and you cleared your throat awkwardly. “You know, just in a friendly way. For pictures and as we’re moving down the carpet. If we don’t hold hands and that sort of thing at some point, it’ll look strange.” 

“OK,” he said, sounding hesitant. 

“I won’t read into it,” you smiled a little. “Promise.” 

Joel adjusted, stiff in his seat, and the cuff of his jacket slid up his arm, just enough to reveal his watch. But it wasn’t the one you’d been expecting. Instead, it was the one you’d given him, the one you’d thought he’d certainly have pawned or destroyed or… something by now. 

Your shock must have shown on your face because Joel frowned. 

“What,” he said, looking at you. 

“You’re wearing the watch,” you said quietly. “You kept it.” 

“Oh,” he said, looking down at his wrist and clearing his throat awkwardly. “Yeah. I… It’s nice. Thought this was the place to wear it.” 

The car came to a stop at the carpet and a man in a headset with a clipboard opened the door, smiling. 

“Welcome!” He said, offering you his hand. “We’re just about ready for you on the carpet.” 

You took his hand and stepped out of the car, a roar going up from the roped off area for fans as you did. You smiled broadly, raising your arm to wave at them as Joel came up behind you. You sensed him there more than saw him, something about the strength and security of his presence making you hyperaware of where he was in relation to you. 

“This what it’s always like for you?” He asked, putting his hand in the middle of your back, at the skin that was bared just over the top of the gown. You resisted the urge to lean back into his touch. “Everyone looking at you all the time?” 

“Just figured that one out, eh?” You smirked a little and lifted the hem of your dress enough that you could walk unimpeded. “C’mon, Big Miller. Time to get to work.” 

You led the way down the red carpet, signing a few autographs with Joel’s hand firmly at your waist as he watched everything all around you. You’d just cleared the fan area and were starting toward the press when there was an excited shriek that made Joel stiffen but you smiled as Chloe, a friend from early in your film career who had been in this franchise for years, came running over. 

“Oh my God, it’s so good to see you!” She squealed, hugging you and you kissed her cheek as she kissed yours. “Welcome to the family, baby!” 

“Thank you!” You laughed, giving her arm a squeeze. “I’m in for a few movies so I’m sure we’ll be in one together.” 

“Fuck, I hope so,” she said. “I should have held out until they started giving women the leads in this shit. I’m a glorified sidekick and the team is all guys. I love them, don’t get me wrong, but damn the set needs some estrogen.” 

“Chloe!” Someone yelled for her from further up the carpet. 

“One sec!” She yelled back before turning back to you. “Ugh, back to the office, I guess. See you at the afterparty? You can tell me about whoever this is?” 

She looked Joel up and down, a suggestive look on her face. 

“OK go take photos with your husband,” you shoved her playfully and she laughed, giving you a wink before obeying. 

You took Joel’s hand, the movement feeling oddly familiar and natural as you laced your fingers with his and led him to the row of photographers waiting for you. 

“Now act like you like me,” you smiled at Joel, guiding his hand around your waist as you posed beside him, angling your body for the different cameras. He was stiff against you, like he was trying to hold himself away from you as much as he could and you tried to not let that sting. 

“Some of just you, beautiful!” A photographer yelled and you laughed and gave Joel a squeeze before stepping away, posing so they could capture you from the front, back, side. It was second nature to you now, how to best position your body to make it as appealing as possible, always holding yourself in a way that wasn’t necessarily comfortable but made people want you. That was your job, be the object of desire, and you tried not to think too hard about that fact when you caught a glimpse of Joel’s face as he watched you smile coyly over your shoulder for photographers. 

You took his hand again as you made your way to interviews, stopping to talk to reporters and say over and over again just how excited you were to play Starlight. 

“How many more of these you got?” Joel asked, his lips at your ear and his body so close to yours you couldn’t help but be aware of every inch of him. You shook yourself mentally and looked down the row of waiting reporters. 

“I think three more outlets,” you said, pulling away from him just enough to look him in the eye. “Why, getting antsy there, Big Miller?” 

“Don’t know how you do this all the time,” he muttered. “Shit is exhausting. And I’m not even the one doing the talkin’.” 

You laughed a little and led him down the line, stopping at the next reporter, one you’d talked to a few times before and had always liked. 

“Oh hi!” You hugged her and kissed her on both cheeks when she greeted you. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you in a while! Did you have your baby?” 

“I did!” She smiled. “About five months ago.” 

“Congratulations! Tell me about her!” You said. “They’re a girl, right? Can I see pictures?” 

She smiled and showed you pictures of her baby, a tiny thing with chubby cheeks and soft, dark curls and you fawned over her. 

“It’s actually very convenient that you made me get my phone out,” she said after a minute. “Because I wanted to get some reactions to tweets that fans have posted about you. Just a fun little game to mix it up a little.” 

“Oh alright,” you smiled conspiratorially. “Lay it on me, mama.” 

“I’ll give you the phone so you can see the tweet,” she said, pulling it up. “You read it and tell us your thoughts!” 

She passed you her phone, a screenshot of a tweet pulled up. 

“Alright,” you said, laughing a little as you read it. “This one says ‘Now that we know who Starlight is, I’m going to need her step on me while blowing some bad guy away.’ Well… TitsMcGee23 - great handle, by the way - that sounds structurally unstable but if I ever need a riser on set, I will slide into your DMs.” 

The reporter laughed and you handed her the phone back. She pulled up the next one and returned it. 

“Oh, this is… something,” you laughed. “‘Dear Starlight: Choke me, Mommy.’ Well, I sure hope I’m not old enough to be your mother if you’re posting that and I don’t think choking is really my thing but you know what? I could be convinced, you sound fun.” 

She had a few more tweets like that to read and you played along before moving on to the next reporter, who asked who you were wearing and then honed in on Joel. 

“And who is this gentleman?” She said, looking Joel up and down. “Is he someone we should be watching out for in your next film?” 

You looked over your shoulder to Joel whose eyes had gone wide in panic

“Um,” he said, looking quickly to you and you stifled a laugh. 

“This is my friend,” you said, looping your arm around his back, hoping it came off as familiar and friendly. “He was kind enough to make sure I had someone to lean on while walking the carpet in these heels!” 

You stuck your leg out through the thigh high slit in your gown, turning your ankle and showing off the stilettos Frank had put you in.  

“Just a friend though?” The reporter asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively. “No new romance for Hollywood’s hottest bachelorette?” 

“Afraid not,” you scrunched your nose. “For now I’m flying solo and spending as much time as I can with my niece. But if that changes, you’ll be the first to know.” 

You made your way inside and settled in with Joel at the back of the theater so the stars of this movie could comfortably take center stage, him shifting uncomfortably in his seat and adjusting his suit. 

“Doing OK there Big Miller?” You teased. 

“That was fuckin’ surreal,” he muttered. “That’s really what it’s like for you all the time? Strangers asking about your personal life and making you read what people post about you online and wanting you to tell them the same thing over and over?” 

“Pretty much,” you laughed a little. “I keep telling people that being a movie star is not all it’s cracked up to be but no one believes me.” 

“Jesus,” Joel muttered. 

“It has its perks though,” you smiled, nodding to the screen as the director got up to introduce the film. “Get to see the biggest movies early. And, you know, there’s the whole getting to make art for a living and do what I really love.” 

Joel looked at you for a moment, considering you as the lights dimmed. 

“You really do love it don’t you,” he said. “The acting part.” 

“Yeah,” you smiled a little. “I do.” 

When the movie ended, you and Joel went to a lounge the studio had rented out for the afterparty, the whole place decked out with Scarlet Sentinel colors and logos, music thumping in the background and servers roaming with trays of hors d'oeuvres and themed cocktails. 

“We gotta go over the rules?” He asked, keeping you at his side near the door. 

“I can go wherever I want whenever I want and definitely be out of your line of sight at all times?” You asked brows raised. He glared and you laughed. “I’m not going to try and ditch you, don’t worry. I’ll stay nice and close.” 

“Gotta figure out how to make you behave like this all the time,” he muttered and the two of you worked your way into the party. 

It was surprisingly easy, hanging out with Joel and catching up with people. Chloe came back over to say hi and so you could fill her in on the situation with Joel - dragging her husband along behind her - and Bryant, a guy you did a movie with in your early 20s and hooked up with a few times in the fall out after Henry noticed you, smiling when he did. 

“I didn’t know you were going to be here!” He said, coming up and kissing you hello. “How have you been, it’s been ages!” 

“I’ve been a little busy,” you laughed, giving him a squeeze, Joel’s hand still firmly on your back. “So have you though, congratulations on the Tony!” 

“Thank you, thank you,” he said, stepping back and looking you up and down. “Fuck, you look good.” 

“Thank you,” you smirked. “I’m going to be every teenaged boy’s wet dream now, haven’t you heard?” 

“Please, you’ve been that for teenaged boys for years,” he said and you laughed. “C’mon, let’s dance.” 

You scrunched your nose and went to turn him down but he cut you off. 

“Old time’s sake,” he said. “I’ll only try to get you back in bed for the first minute. Promise.” 

You groaned and then looked over to Joel who looked none too happy about the proposition. 

“I won’t go far,” you said. “Promise.” 

He quirked his jaw. 

“This side of the dance floor,” he said. 

“Thank you,” you said, giving him a squeeze as you let Bryant lead you onto the dance floor. 

“So,” he said. “What are the chances of you going home with me tonight instead of the giant asshole who is staring at me like he’s about to knife me?” 

“Slim,” you said. “But, if it makes you feel better, I will leave with him but only because he’s my bodyguard.” 

“That does help,” he said. “But bodyguard? That’s new for you.” 

“Just some extra concerns for a little while,” you said. “I have a fan that’s been getting a little aggressive and there was that thing at the premiere a few months ago…” 

“I heard about that,” he flinched. “Doing better now?” 

“Yeah,” you waved him off. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s as much of a thing as everyone else seems to think it is.” 

“Well if Rambo over there is keeping you safe?” He said. “I like him a little more. Though I think he could keep you just as safe by standing outside my bedroom door while I put your ankles by your ears as he could standing outside your room.” 

You laughed. 

“Bold of you to assume my legs can still bend that way,” you said. “I’m not 23 anymore.” 

“Oh I saw that convention footage,” he teased. “I’m pretty sure you could do whatever you wanted to with those legs. But I promised no trying to get you back in my bed after the first minute on the dance floor so I will stop that as of… you’re sure you don’t want to fuck me?” 

“Pretty sure.” 

“Stopping now,” he smiled. 

Bryant was true to his word and, when the song ended, you were true to yours, making your way back to Joel as he practically glared a hole into the side of his head. 

“See?” You said, standing next to Joel. “All in one piece.” 

“Don’t wanna keep you from your boyfriend,” he muttered, crossing his arms and you laughed. 

“Not a boyfriend, don’t worry,” you said. “And I’m not going to argue with an excuse to not go home with him, he’s actually not that great in bed.” 

Joel snorted at that and you got another cocktail from a passing server. 

“Hey,” Chloe came up behind you, looping her arm around your waist. “I have to pee and this dress is a nightmare, can you help me?” 

“I dunno,” you looked at Joel, brows raised. “Am I allowed to go to the bathroom?” 

“If I stay outside the bathroom door and you don’t try to sneak past me?” Joel said. “Yes.” 

“So demanding,” you sighed dramatically, making Joel roll his eyes as you headed off, feeling his gaze heavy on your back as you went.

But when you made inside the bathroom, you couldn’t help but laugh, the sound almost maniacal, and Chloe frowned. 

“What?” She asked. 

“There are two entrances,” you nodded to the other one. “All that bluster and he wouldn’t even notice if we went out the other door. Should we fuck with Joel and go out the other side, meet him out there?” 

“I think you’d give him a heart attack,” she giggled. “Come on, I have to piss like a race horse.” 

You went into the stall with her, helping her hold her gown up and then traded, her doing the same for you before you went to wash your hands. 

“Come on,” you said, your head swimming from the alcohol and a lightness filling you. “Let’s go out the other door, it would be hilarious.” 

“He seems scary,” Chloe scrunched her nose. “Do you really want to poke the bear?” 

“Poking the bear is the only fun to be had when you’ve got six and a half feet of muscle following you around all the time,” you replied, drying your hands before straightening your gown. “Come on, you know you want to.” 

“Fine,” she sighed dramatically. “Let’s do it.” 

You giggled, wondering if this was how kids in school felt when they played a prank, looping your arm through hers and heading for the other door when you bumped into someone on their way into the bathroom, one of the servers in a black white button down and bow tie. 

“Sorry!” You laughed quickly, stepping back, and then realizing that the man was familiar. Not because you’d taken a cocktail from him or grabbed an hors d'oeuvres from his tray. No, you knew his face from another time, from a moment of pain and fear that had stayed planted firmly in your mind in the weeks since it had happened. The wrist that had been in a cast throbbed. You wanted to run but you couldn’t seem to make yourself move, your feet frozen to the earth.

Chloe went to duck around him, trying to pull you with her, but he cut both of you off and your hold on her tightened. 

“Excuse us,” she said, no sense of wrongness in her voice. She didn’t know and you couldn’t seem to make your mouth move to tell her. “We’re just headed out.” 

“No, you’re not,” he said, lifting his arm, a butcher knife in his grip, and he pressed the blade to your chest. 

***

Joel didn’t like any of this. 

He didn’t like the way everyone on the damn red carpet - from the people directing you from place to place to the fans to the reporters - seemed to want a piece of you. He didn’t like how you had to laugh at strangers saying crazy shit about how they wanted to fuck you because you were on camera. He didn’t like how packed it was in here and he didn’t like that the volume of the music made it hard to hear jack shit and that the low lights made it hard to see. He didn’t like the way that fucking guy had just come up and kissed you and cracked jokes about getting you into his bed, jealousy twisting hot and sharp in his stomach when he watched that man’s hands on you. 

He really didn’t like that you were out of sight right now, in the bathroom with your friend. Yeah, he could make sure no one else went in there and he doubted even you could find much trouble in a bathroom but still. There were so many people here, so many variables, and he couldn’t see you or feel you or hear you. You were outside the realm of his control and he didn’t like it, not at all. 

His chest got tighter and he looked at his watch, the one you’d given him, his usual timepiece on the nightstand in his room at the hotel. He’d told himself that he did it to blend in - this fancy fucking suit needed a fancy fucking watch - but he knew that was bullshit as he put it on, his thumb tracing the engraving on the back as he slipped it on his wrist. He put it on because he wanted to look like he belonged with you, even if it was just for a night. He put it on because he wanted to have something that came from you touching him. And then he saw how your face lit up when you noticed it, your genuine happiness at him using something you’d given him, and he had a hard time remembering why he’d avoided it for so long. Why would he ever do anything to keep you from smiling like that? He wasn’t sure. 

He’d checked the time when you went into the bathroom, too, and you’d been in the bathroom for what seemed like a while. Yeah, you’d be navigating that fancy dress - the one that damn near sent him into shock when he saw it, the perfect way it framed your shape and accentuated your breasts and exposed your thigh - but still. Something felt off. 

He was just about to slip into the bathroom to check on you, propriety be damned, when Chloe stumbled out, tears streaming down her face, slamming into him. 

He caught her, quickly looking her up and down, his heart pounding as he desperately searched for some sign of her panic, something besides you being hurt and just out of reach. It had to be something else, it couldn’t be you, it couldn’t. 

“You have to help her!” She sobbed before he had the chance to ask where you were, her fingers twisting in the sleeves of his jacket as she clung to him. “He has a knife, he’s got her, you have to help her, please!” 

Joel’s heart stuttered and he shoved past your friend and ran headlong into the bathroom, drawing the gun that was strapped to his side as he went. 

You were nowhere to be found but he figured out why quickly: there was another fucking way out. He ran for it, keeping his gun low. The other entrance went to a long hall, one end emptying back out into the lounge, the other toward the kitchen. He was trying to take a guess on where to go when a cook came running out from the kitchen, a panicked look on his face, another cook close behind. 

“Fuck!” Joel swore, running for the kitchens as more people started pouring out, forcing him to go against the flow of servers and chefs as they made a run for it. He could hear the chaos in the main part of the building, the music cutting out and someone - not you - screaming. 

He kept going. 

He pushed himself to keep moving even though it felt as though something was choking him, his heart racing, his chest tight because he had to reach you, he had to, until he was behind the building and you were there, straining to not get in the back of a car, a knife held to your throat by a man who - even in the dim glow of the street light - Joel recognized. It was the man from the premiere, the one who had broken your wrist weeks ago. Your body was held tight to his, your hands wrapped almost gently around his arm, trying to keep the knife away from your skin. 

Time froze, the whole of the world honing in on this one, fine point. The blade on your skin, the panic on your face, his arm around you. Your life was in this man’s hands and he could take it. Joel was inches away from seeing your blood spill all over that sparkling dress because - for all your ethereal beauty and inhuman perfection - you were just a mortal thing, the same animal he was on the inside. This man could destroy you as easily as anyone else and Joel could feel the pull of that possibility there, this terrifying and haunting potential future on the horizon. It was like he was seeing the car in the road again, smelling the gasoline, feeling the blood on his skin. There would be nothing he could do for you if this man decided to end you, nothing he could do for himself. 

He wasn’t going to let that happen. He was not going to hold your body, too. 

The world righted itself, time moving again. He ignored the tightness in his chest, raising his gun. 

“I’m not going to hurt you!” The man pleaded with you, breathless. You were between Joel and him, he couldn’t get a clean shot. “Just listen to me! Just come with me, it’ll be OK, I won’t hurt you I promise I won’t hurt you, I…” 

“Stop!” Joel said, gun up and trained on the man. He looked away from you to Joel, adjusting you ever so slightly so you were even more of a human shield. “Let her go! Now!” 

“Joel,” you said it so quietly he almost didn’t hear it. Your face was streaked with makeup and tears and you looked afraid, so afraid. He was close enough now that he could see you shaking in the man’s arms. “Please.” 

“Let her go!” Joel yelled again, moving closer. The man pressed the knife to your throat and Joel froze, your eyes closing, lower lip trembling. “Right the fuck now!”

“You took her from me before,” the man snarled, voice shaky. “I’m not letting you take her again! I just want to love her, that’s it! But you won’t let me!” 

“We can work something out,” you said, your voice thick. “Please, just…” 

“You don’t understand!” He yelled, spittle flying from his mouth. But he was more focused on you for a moment and Joel took advantage of his distraction to press closer. “I’m what you need! You wouldn’t be fighting me if you just understood! I’ve seen it, you need me, I’m just trying to take care of you, you don’t understand!” 

The man looked to Joel again and he stopped, gun still up. 

“Stop trying to take her from me!” He shrieked and you flinched. The knife had moved from your throat but was against your chest now, the metal pressing into the skin below your throat and the exposed swell of your breast but not drawing blood. “She needs me! If you cared about her, you’d let her go with me!” 

Joel was close and he was a damn good shot but the only part of this man he could reliably hit was his head and that was right by yours. Even if he hit him dead on, at this range, there was a chance the bullet would go through his head and into yours. 

“Alright!” Joel said, thinking quickly. “Alright. I’m gonna lower my gun, need you to keep the knife where I can see it.” 

“Joel!” You cried, eyes wide and pleading. 

“S’OK baby,” he said, putting the gun down slowly. “It’s gonna be OK. He’s not gonna hurt you, it’s gonna be OK.” He turned his attention back to the man. “Keep your eyes on me. I’m lowering the gun.” 

He nodded quickly, watching Joel, and he lowered his weapon slowly, aiming it just off to the side as he did. But instead of putting the gun on the ground, Joel shot, aiming for the tire of the car and hitting it. 

Things moved quickly then. Joel dropped the gun and ran for you. The man jumped in shock at the gun shot and then tried to get a better grip on you but Joel reached him before he did, ripping you away from him, you collapsing to the pavement as Joel threw the man to the ground. 

He tackled him then, the man swinging the knife uselessly at Joel but he was easily able to knock it away, pinning the man below him and then punching him across the face. 

Joel had only intended to hit him to knock him out, just enough to protect you, but once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop, the man screaming and writhing below him. Joel hit him again and again, the man’s hands scrambling against his chest, trying to shove him away but Joel was bigger, stronger and lost in the satisfaction of destroying him. 

Because it was satisfying. This man had tried to take you, hurt you, kill you. He’d tried to make Joel have to hold your broken body as you bled out in his arms, just like he had five years earlier, he’d tried to take one of the only things left in this world that mattered and destroy it simply because he could and Joel could make him pay. He’d never been able to get justice from his daughter’s killer but he could get justice from this man. He could make sure this man never, ever hurt you again. 

He hit him again and again and again until his fist and jacket sleeves and the face of the watch you’d given him were bloodied and the man below him stopped shoving at Joel, his body going limp. His chest wasn’t moving. 

Joel finally stopped punching him then, his knuckles ruined, and he panted for breath, looking down at what remained of the man. Because he wasn’t a man anymore, he was a body. He was dead. The man was dead and Joel had killed him and he knew that something in him should feel bad about that but he couldn’t. All he could feel was this righteous satisfaction that he’d kept you safe. This was what he was supposed to do, what he was built to do. He was supposed to protect you - even if it killed him he was supposed to protect you - and he had. 

He went to make sure the knife was out of the man’s reach - just in case he was wrong about the fact that he was dead - and it was. But it was also bloody and it was too far away for that blood to be from Joel’s assault. 

“No,” he breathed, looking, frantic, for you. 

He found you quickly, lying flat on your back, your eyes wide and afraid. You were shaking and there was blood at your chest, enough that it had smeared on your skin and turned some of the silver beads of your gown red. 

“No, no, no,” he scrambled for you and those wide, terrified eyes found his. “No, you’re OK baby, you’re OK.” 

He looked you over quickly, his hands ranging over your body, taking stock, and he realized that he wasn’t going to have to hold your body, too. The man had cut you but it wasn’t deep and gaping. It wasn’t like her. You were hurt but you would be OK and he took a deep, centering breath. You were going to live. He wasn’t going to need to find a way to survive a world without you in it, you were going to live.

His hands were cautious on you then, gentle, as he tried to pull you into his arms but you threw your arms around his neck, practically clawing up his body until you were pressed tightly to him. Your whole body shook and you sobbed, heavy and racking as you gulped frantic breaths against him. 

“Joel,” your voice was muffled by his shirt and he could feel the wet of your blood and tears on him. “He… he was going…” 

“I know,” he said softly, clutching you against him and rocking you gently. He could barely breathe. There were sirens in the distance. You were alive. You weren’t dying in his arms, he wasn’t going to have to put you in the ground, you were alive. You were alive. He pressed a kiss to the crown of your head. 

“Please don’t leave me,” you clung to him. “Please don’t go, please don’t leave me, please.” 

He held you closer, tighter.  

“Not going anywhere,” he whispered. “I’ve got you baby. You’re OK. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll protect you. You’re safe. I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.” 

Next Chapter

A/N: OH THEY'RE IN IT NOWWWWWWW

I'm so excited for the next chapter you guys. So excited. So so so so so so SO excited.

I've only been picturing it since I first came up with this fic, nothing crazy at all, nope, not squealing and kicking my lil feelies one bit.

Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you've enjoyed the journey these characters have been on together and I hope you enjoy where they're going next, too!

Love you!!

Taglist: @christinamadsen@eff4freddie@brittmb115@copperhalfcent@r3dheadedwitch@pedropascalsbbg@lovelyjess69@yopossum@moel-jiller@picketniffler@lilyevanstan1325@reluctanthalfwayoptimism@wintersquirrel@missladym1981@mellymbee @canthinkof1user @inept-the-magnificent@secretlyangelic@pedrobae@scarletsloveletter@phry-k@sunnytuliptime

[edenavari]

On the Matter of Mirrors

Eddie is still trying to convince Steve he and Nancy are made for each other. It comes up, like, everytime they hang out, which is all the time, because Steve couldn’t stay away if he wanted to. He doesn’t, but he also wishes Eddie would quit trying to set him up with someone else. 

‘Cause, like, here’s the thing. Steve likes girls. He also, he realized sometime after Robin came out to him, quite likes boys. He likes Eddie. Like… Really likes him. Practices pick-up lines in front of the mirror kind of like. Wears a little more black and tousles his hair just right to give himself a subversive edge he never used to have, just the right amount to trigger a subconscious response without appearing to be tweaking his fashion sense at all. Has mastered the art of wearing eyeliner without looking like he’s wearing it, and it took him a fucking while to work up the nerve to go out like that, not that anyone but Robin noticed. 

But Eddie just will not drop the Nancy case, no matter how many times Steve tries to stir the conversation away from her, and between his budding crush and the crushing fear that it’s never gonna be anything but one-sided, between the slightest of sore spots Steve still sports about the way things with Nancy ended in the first place and the bitter edge of never managing for something to start with Eddie after weeks of efforts, it’s beginning to grate, right? 

“So what’s the problem?” Eddie insists, bounding circles around Steve like an eager puppy, and something in Steve’s ribcage snaps. 

They’re in Steve’s room studying when it comes up once a-fucking-gain. Eddie is taking accelerated summer classes so he can finally graduate by September, and by some inexplicable fuckery of fate, despite Steve’s own dirt poor records, he’s turning out to be a decent tutor. Something about Eddie managing to focus in a way a classroom environment never allowed him to. Maybe because most teachers and over half the student body were openly hostile at worst and aggressively ignoring Eddie at best, all because of his last name or his tattoos or his loud brassy cheek.

All the same, Eddie does get distracted fairly easily, and an hour in, he’s bounced off the bed and started rattling reasons Nancy Wheeler is definitely Steve Harrington’s soulmate. Steve groans noncommittally, gets up to grab his water from the desk and takes a long swallow as Eddie keeps needling him. 

“You’re the problem, Eddie,” he all but snarls, when he really meant it to come out exasperated at worst.

He snarls, though, and Eddie stiffens, his eyes going cold and hurt and the corner of his mouth turned down in anger. 

“Right,” he says, and it sounds so casual Steve thinks he won’t make a big deal of his tone after all. Fool’s hope. “I’ll get out of your perfect hair, then,” Eddie spits out as he makes for the door, only Steve stands in his way, hands up in surrender. 

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that,” he starts. 

“No, you’re right, it’s none of my business,” Eddie interrupts, but he steps back, gesturing wildly as he speaks. “It’s not like we’re even friends, you just got saddled with me because of Dustin. We saved the world together? Big deal! My involvement was incidental, really, more of an inconvenience than any kind of help. Why would you want my opinion, of all people’s, right? Even by this point. Get out of my way, I’ll quit stepping on your toes. Go on!”

“I don’t want you to go, Eddie,” Steve tries again. 

“Just want me to shut up, is that it? Not really my strong suit, you might have noticed.”

Steve can’t help smiling. “I have noticed.”

It only seems to rile Eddie up even more, throwing his hands out and making to step around Steve again. “Man, what do you want from me?”

“Is this allowed?” he breathes out, extending the last word beyond its scope. 

Which puts him within reaching distance of Steve, who grabs him by the lapels of his jacket and presses him, careful not to jostle him too bad but firm enough to counter his manic strength, against the wall. He doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything, just presses a touch too close, lets himself imagine that he’s going to close the distance entirely, cocks his head and licks his lips and hangs there in a way he hopes spells it out for Eddie without inducing any kind of panic. 

Eddie, hands still up at shoulder height, lets out a little huff close to a whimper when his back hits the wall, bracing himself for a hit that would never come, and maybe some part of him knows this, because he doesn’t look scared or angry anymore, just kind of confused with a side of grief, and it doesn’t take two seconds for him to start to look intrigued, maybe even, if Steve allows himself a little optimism, interested. 

His lips part on a sharp inhale, and they’re close enough to smell each other’s skin, and Eddie’s eyes drop to Steve’s mouth, a little watery and out of focus, edging forward in a way that could just be a twitch, just a consequence of holding his breath the way he is, plausibly deniable, subconscious no doubt, only when Steve mirrors the movement, he does it again, gaze moving up and down from Steve’s eyes to his lips and back and back again without blinking, until twitch by twitch their noses graze and their mouths connect and Steve closes his eyes and concentrates on maintaining that seal over Eddie’s plush, pliable pout, because if he didn’t focus, he’d be way, way overeager for a first kiss. 

He moves back after several seconds with a shaky exhale, swallows as he finds Eddie’s eyes again. His blood is thrumming in his fingertips, somehow he feels both cold between his shoulder blades and warm down to his toes, and if Eddie looks at all put out he thinks he might never manage another mirror in his life. 

The look on Eddie’s face is pure disbelief. 

Steve shrugs, not quite settled on the matter of mirrors. “I thought you made a point of breaking the rules?”

A glint starts to wake in Eddie’s eye that’s looking more delighted by the minute. 

“Just as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“We’re in the clear, then,” Steve whispers, leaning in, just a smidge. 

Both of Eddie’s hands sink into his hair as he pulls him into another, much steamier, kiss. Steve lets his fists fall from Eddie’s lapels and knot over his back instead, lets his mouth drop slightly open, an invitation Eddie wastes not a second to follow through on, teeth scraping and back arching like he wants to sink all the way into Steve, and by the time they’re parting, breathless, cheeks flushed, mouths stinging, Steve’s one hand is braced against the wall, holding himself up, knees too weak to do the job on their own. 

“I thought you could barely stand me,” Eddie heaves.

“I can’t,” Steve admits. “You drive me nuts. Just not how you thought.”

Eddie frowns, suddenly serious. 

“You should forget all about Nancy.”

Steve frowns too. “That so?”

“Hm-mm. She’s taken, man. And not all that. You need to move on.”

“Damn,” Steve sighs. “Am I being desperate?”

“Pathetic,” Eddie nods, barely a whisper against Steve’s lips, and they break into smiles in tandem. “Forget all about her,” Eddie repeats. 

“Who?” Is the last word Steve gets out. Then he’s busy enough he really does forget. 

When he fixes his hair in the bathroom mirror in the morning, he walks away with a wink.

Give us a kudos, if ye dare x

[villifx]

fairy wings and bloody knees ♡ | daryl dixon

word count: 1.9k

A/N: this is really just daryl and reader's daughter. reader is mentioned but not seen during this fic. eventually i will get around to making a part 2 with daryl x reader! this idea was inspired by @louifaith and i included a piece of artwork by @vaebun at the end of the story that is absolutely ADORABLE. please take a moment to view both of their blogs for great content! ♡ also i didn't do much proofreading so forgive meee

"I like your fairy wings."

It took a moment to register the words before Daryl realized they were directed at him, and another moment for him to realize that - shit - so was a pair of big brown eyes. His boots came to a slow stop as he regarded the child. The girl couldn't have been older than six, a tiny little thing with unruly curls and scabbed knees, gripping a piece of pink sidewalk chalk in one hand. Her curls fell into her face as she leaned to try and look behind him, clearly wanting another glance at the wings on his vest.

The fuck?

"Ain't no fairy." Daryl muttered gruffly, unsure of what to make of the girl. A lock of hair clung to the corner of her mouth and she pushed it away, smearing pink chalk over her cheek in the process. He let her walk behind him as he quickly scanned the area, looking for any sign of a guardian but it seemed the girl was just out playing on her own; it was strange to him, to be in a place where someone would feel safe enough to let their child outside without being right behind them. It reminded him a bit of his youth, before his mother died, when she'd send him out to ride on his bike and tell him to be back when the streetlights came on. Different times. Now, that sort of thing felt too irresponsible. Too risky - even with walls.

He felt a pressure against his back and jumped, turning to look at the little girl as she grinned up at him. Her hand was still raised in the air, fingers outstretched and tinted pink. Daryl had half a mind to tell her to quit it, to go find her mom or pops and leave him be, but a little giggle tumbled past the girl's lips and he found himself short of words. Not a moment later she turned and bounded, leaving Daryl alone. For the remainder of the day, he was entirely unaware of the little pink handprint lingering on the back of his vest.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

The following day, Carol was the first to notice that Daryl had managed to acquire a shadow. She met Daryl’s eye as Aaron led him and Abraham down the road and the archer found himself pausing at the hint of a smirk playing on her lips. “What?” Daryl questioned, eyes narrowing at the amusement painting his friend’s features. Ahead of him, Aaron and Abraham noticed him hanging back and came to a stop, waiting. “Spit it out.” “Just think you’ve got an admirer, that’s all.” Carol teased, looking past him with a knowing smile. Frowning, Daryl turned to follow her line of sight just in time to see a familiar mop of curls duck behind a mailbox. Daryl let out a quiet huff, shoulders relaxing minutely. The girl wasn’t any good at hiding - not with the way her whole body could still be seen behind the base; she’d clearly dressed herself that day, too - floral overalls clashing with a bright, striped shirt. It didn’t look like she had any chalk that he’d have to be on the lookout for, at least. He could still hear Rick’s chuckles from the night before when he’d pointed out the handprint on his vest. With a dismissive shake of his head, Daryl turned back, moving to continue on with Aaron and Abraham. “Ain’t nothin’. Just a kid.” “Look at you, already a hit with the ladies!” Abraham chaffed, earning a pointed scowl.

“Stop.” Aaron glanced between the two men with a relaxed smile, sparing a glance towards where the girl peeked her head out from behind the mailbox, watching from a distance. Aaron offered a little wave, to which the girl returned a cheeky smile, pressing a finger to her lips as if her presence was a secret between the two of them. “That’s Remy.” “Remy?” Daryl echoed, unamused. “Yeah, Remy. Short for Remington, but for your own safety just call her Remy.” “Remington?” Abraham cut in, unable to contain the amusement in his tone. “Like the rifles?” “I think so. I’m pretty sure her dad picked it.” Aaron told them, motioning for them to follow as he continued down the road. He’d mentioned wanting to introduce Abraham to one of the community members that ran the construction projects for Alexandria, and planned on taking Daryl to speak with Deanna after; she was still figuring him out, trying to decide which job would suit him best. He might’ve had time to brew on how much he couldn’t stand Deanna’s attempts to categorize him if his thoughts weren’t still stuck on the girl - Remy. Daryl glanced back over his shoulder, just enough to notice that she was trailing behind as they walked, eyes downcast and focusing hard as she balanced on the curb of the street while she followed. “She always just out here on ‘er own?” “Not exactly,” Aaron explained, considering his words before adding, “mostly just in the afternoons when she doesn't feel like sitting in class with the other kids. She's usually with her mom whenever she isn’t helping in the infirmary. Actually, I've been meaning to take you all by there - have you met (Y/N) yet?” “Nah.” Daryl muttered, finding no recollection of the name. “What about ‘er dad? He dead?" “Well, no. That’s, uh… a bit more complicated.” A brief silence fell over the them, and when Aaron peeked from the side of his eye to see that Abraham and Daryl were both still waiting for an answer, he let out an uncomfortable sigh. After looking back to ensure Remy was far enough that his words wouldn’t carry, he continued in a softer tone. “Her dad is around but not really around. It’s a long story - and really, not mine to tell - but... alright, they have an arrangement that Deanna settled between them. He gives Remy half of his rations every week, outside of what he hunts for the pantry, and (Y/N)... well, I guess you can say she has 'custody'. Like I said... it's complicated.” While Daryl’s lip twitched with irritation, Abraham let out a low whistle. “Well, ain’t that 'bout a bitch. Whole world goes to shit and you still can’t get outta child support.” It took a solid few seconds for the redhead to register that Daryl and Aaron were both staring at him, deadpanned, before he held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just sayin’!” Daryl didn’t find any of it funny in the slightest. It was bad enough that a kid had to grow up in a world like they were living in, but to have a deadbeat dad on top of it? And the Alexandrians, they just let it slide - let him give her some food and throw the rest of his duties as a parent aside.

Bullshit. This place, these people, this attempt at 'normal' life. A bunch of bullshit.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Talking to Deanna left him in the same spot he was in before. For whatever reason, she couldn't seem to figure out what to do with him even though he already knew the answer was obvious. He didn't belong in these walls, wasn't built for playing house and acting like there weren't monsters lingering around dark corners beyond the streets of Alexandria. It wasn't the dead that really bothered him, not after Terminus... not after the Claimers or Grady Memorial.

There were people out there that would come across a place like this and do the unthinkable and it wouldn't matter how nice their houses were or what casseroles they could make - they would suffer because they were weak and unprepared. He wasn't built to sit back and be vulnerable. He needed to be out there, hunting or scavenging or making sure the people that would hurt them stayed far enough away.

He thought going out and catching some game could clear his mind some. So, after stopping by and checking out his crossbow, Daryl headed towards the gate without much of a plan except to get out of the walls. But of course, it wouldn't never be so easy.

If he hadn't been so on edge in this new place, he wouldn't have heard the sniffle. It didn't take very long to find the source of it - Remy, pressed up against the trunk of a maple tree, blood trailing from her knees down to her ankles. She'd had to have fallen, tearing open scabs that were still healing. Though her knees were bloody and raw, cheeks wet with fresh tears, she didn't seem to pay them any mind.

Following her gaze to where she stared off in the distance longingly, Daryl quickly pieced together what was really upsetting her. Lingering by the front gate, in conversation with one of the other Alexandrian men, was a man with a hunting rifle strapped onto his back. A Remington rifle. That was her dad. Her dad, getting ready to go out on a hunt while she sat here with torn knees and a yearning heart. Well... he'd be damned if he were going to walk away from that.

"Must be clumsy." His own voice sounded foreign to him as he took a step into her view, trying hard to sound casual though he wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation. Those big puppy-dog eyes looked up at him and he could have sworn he felt like somebody kicked him in the gut.

"Clumsy?" Remy echoed, confused, and sniffled again as she reached up and swiped her nose with the back of her arm.

"Means ya fall a lot." Daryl explained.

"My daddy's leaving." Remy blurted, lower lip quivering a bit as she looked past Daryl to see the man finally stepping out the gate, pushing it shut behind him.

Daryl looked over his shoulder towards the gate, acknowledging the man's departure with a sideways glance. "He come tell you goodbye?" Remy merely shook her head in response and Daryl hummed, unsurprised. He looked down to her knees, considering, before pulling a rag from his pack and kneeling down beside her. "Here, lemme see."

Remy extended one leg as Daryl gently reached for her ankle, watching with a pout as he wiped the blood from her shin before switching to the next leg and doing the same. Her knees were still bleeding a bit, but her legs weren't dripping blood anymore, at least. When he dropped her second leg, Remy blinked up at him through watery lashes. "I want Mommy."

Daryl met those doe eyes of hers, thinking back to the conversation with Aaron earlier that day. He'd mentioned Remy's mom - (Y/N) - helping in the infirmary. Seemed the girl probably needed to get some gravel cleaned out of her knees, anyways...

"C'mon. Let's go find yer ma." Daryl told her, pushing himself back to his feet and holding out a hand for her to grab onto to. As soon as Remy pulled herself up, though, she tried to take a step and limped, whining loudly. Not a second later, Daryl was instinctively scooping her up, resting her on his hip; and Remy, instinctively, reached up to wrap her arms around his neck as he carried her towards the infirmary to see you. Her messy curls tickled his stubble as she tucked her head against his neck, and if it weren't for that alone, then surely it was when he walked into the infirmary and laid eyes on you for the first time that Daryl Dixon knew one thing for certain...

He was so fucked.

artwork by @vaebun !! ♡

[squibsformers]

Feral Fears, Ch. 1

Human x Transformers fic

MTMTE/Lost Light, First Contact AU

Rating: M

Word Count: 1,004

Desc: After needing to stop off for more supplies, the Lost Light gets a strange, displeased, new passenger.

AN: Hi hi hello I hope you like this! This was the poll winner, maybe I'll do another chapter soon. If you like it let me know! I enjoy reading tags and comments on my things a lot. This one's short to kinda get me back into the swing of writing.

[Next]

“How in the pit have we gone through this much energon so quickly…?” Yellow servos tapped rapidly against the owner's desk, glaring at the report from Ultra Magnus. 

“If you bothered to pay attention, you would have heard me when I said the breach in the ship had us LOSE much of our stock, as well as how quick we went through our repair supplies... We can refuel and pick up more once we hit the next stop off, but we may be stationed at the outpost longer than you'd like.”

The prime sighed. “Longer as in a few vorns or-”

“Cycles. We have to wait for them to get us what we want if they don't have it.”

“Slag. Well… Damn. Okay, I guess we don't really have a choice- Set a course for the nearest outpost, tell the crew they're getting a… surprise few days of tourism to go run around and do whatever it is they please.”

“...That's not-” Ultra Magnus sighed. “That's bound to lead to trouble.”

“You wanna explain to everyone they're grounded to their rooms while we're parked and picking up supplies?”

Ultra Magnus sighed. “No…”

“That's what I thought. Plot a course! Let's get moving, the ship isn't gonna fuel itself!”

–---

Legs carried them desperately, ducking and weaving along unshipped cargo and barrels of fuel.

They had to keep moving. Keep moving, keep quiet, keep running. Your lungs burned, feeling like hot embers were popping in your bronchial tubes, making them hiss and whine quietly as they flex, their feet thumping quietly, trying to run on the balls of their feet as they scurried through the shipping bay.

They had to keep moving. Keep moving, keep running, keep pushing and going, it can't stop, if they stop they're FUCKED so utterly fucked-

“♠︎£°▪︎¤#%¡¡¿ ~×&%ꕥ˚꒦꒷���﹆¡¡”

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck-

They ducked down between two shipping containers that barely had enough space that they could squeeze between, cutting down the row and looking around.

Where to go. They had to hide, running wasn't going to work, they were so much bigger, so much stronger and faster and smarter- but they could be crafty. Ohoho and could be sneaky.

….I mean they couldn't see shit but. Well. That would just be an obstacle to work past.

The organic looked around, squinting while leaning back against a crate… and stumbled some, feeling the massive box's frame was warped. Frowning, it looked up, and noticed a small, dark spot waaay up at the lid.

….Hole. That had a hole.

Hopefully, a hole the human could wedge itself into.

To the right, they spotted some metal pallets…and started climbing, grunting and huffing with effort. The makeshift knapsack weighed them down some, but they kept moving, desperate for an escape, for freedom. The fleshy's hands slip at one point and they drop, letting out a pain-filled wheeze and hearing a nasty, wet crack.

Don't think about it. Don't think about it, don't do it. Barely even slowing down, the human heaves themself up, panting. Their free hand reaches over…and they whine as they clench the break, sliding the bone into…relative place. It looked…okay. Perfectly fine. Yes.

Absolutely. Couldn't even tell it had a staircase break.

….Time to climb again.

The human sighed and began scrabbling up, wincing and trying to ignore the obvious injury it had. They didn't have time to worry about that, and they needed to get to safety-

“^^□●₩◆°°°▪︎°%”

Fuck. Those fucking robots were close.

One pallet, two, three, four, six, eight-

When the organic reached the top of the pallets stack, they looked over to that crate, judged the little distance you could out…

And leapt across the gap, purposefully overshooting the edge so it wouldn't miss but stumbled and landed hard, cracking their already damaged arm, letting out a yelp of pain.

“!#$♤♤□♡°•°¡¡”

Time to hurry. That sounded very aggressive.

Feeling along the edge of the crate, they finally found the hole… and blindly smushed themselves inside, falling a small distance onto a pile of…something.

Cabling? It felt like cables, it had the outer layer of rubbery plastic…

Geez it was dark.

……Geez it was really dark.

They heard metallic footsteps storm closer, and the little organic being covered their mouth, taking slow breaths to try and stifle the sounds of being… well, alive.

They stayed that way for what felt like hours, the dark slowly pressing more and more in on you, stifling and terrifying but at the same time a sanctuary, a safety net. They listened as those pedes paced about, searching, scouring, seeking them out. They heard the strange “Vrr wrr chtcht chitter krr bzrtkr krrrzst” that was their strange natural language. Aggressive tones. Still mad. They heard…

….

They heard beeping. Something is getting closer, beeping is getting louder. Heard new footsteps, old ones fleeing once the shouting began. Heard the beep directly outside their cable sanctuary.

And then… felt movement. The crate jostled and shook, and you held your breath, waiting for the lid to be ripped off and you to be found….

But…that didn't happen. Instead…. the crate moved. And you were moving along with it, whether you wanted to or not.

There was chatter, again. Lots of chatter. Then there was an obnoxiously loud beep near one side of the crate, another more.. blippy-beep next to that spot…And the crate moved once more, rattling a bit, before there was a hiss, a soft thud and the sound of pedes leaving.

The little human stayed in that crate. Stayed in it for hours. 

And then there was a new noise. A louder noise. A deep, thrumming, hum, that evolved into a bone and brain rattling roar, of impossible machinery kicking in, engines revving, turbines whirling, and a feeling like, for a brief moment, their soul was pulled from their body.

When they felt relatively normal again, the human slowly peeked out from the hole in the crate, and squinted.

They had a feeling they were on another stupid ship.

[beargirlmj]

an idea for the next story about Kim Minjeong. I really like her in 'Drama' and I'd like a story where she's cold, like she's a troublemaker, you know? Everyone thinks she is mean to the reader, but Winter is very needy in private. It's just an idea, if you're going to write, you can write at your own time :)

Oh, my first request! I loved the idea, so here it is.

Behind the Ice.

genre : fluff.

warning(s) : none.

At school, Kim Minjeong was the kind of person no one dared to contradict. She walked the hallways as if she owned everything, with a closed-off expression and cutting words always at the ready. If you crossed her path, you’d likely receive a chilling glance or a sarcastic comment that would linger in your mind for hours. It was hard to believe that someone like her could have any trace of vulnerability. At least, that’s what everyone believed.

Except you.

When Minjeong passed by you at school, it was always the same scenario. An "accidental" shove, a provocative look, and, of course, a biting comment in front of others. “Don’t be a nuisance, Y/N. I don’t have patience for you.” The laughter around was inevitable, and everyone at school assumed you were her favorite target.

But when classes ended and you were alone, everything changed.

After a long day of provocations, you went to the study room where, once again, you were bound to encounter Minjeong. She was there, as always, already waiting for you. As soon as you walked in, the cold air seemed to vanish almost instantly.

“Finally,” she grumbled, but her voice lacked the sharpness from before. Without waiting for any response, Minjeong stood up from her chair and walked over to you with an expression that was almost... needy.

Before you could react, she wrapped her arms around your waist and pulled you into a tight embrace. The chill from moments ago seemed to have completely evaporated. She buried her face in your neck, and you could feel the warmth of her breath on your skin.

“I missed you,” she murmured against your neck, her voice soft and full of need. You froze for a moment, still trying to process how the girl who had treated you so coldly moments before was now clinging to you as if you were her safe haven.

“Minjeong, you treated me badly all day,” you said, your voice almost confused but not really trying to pull away.

She simply sighed, holding the embrace a little tighter. “I do this because I need to maintain appearances,” she whispered, her lips brushing lightly against your neck. “But here... here I can be myself.” Without warning, she pressed a gentle kiss to the side of your neck, causing an instant shiver to run through your body.

“You’re so strange,” you tried to joke, but your voice trembled slightly with the closeness.

“Shhh,” she mumbled, trailing her lips up to your cheek and leaving a loving kiss there as well, followed by another. And another. It was as if she was trying to make up for all the distance she displayed at school with an overwhelming intensity when you were alone.

“You’re so mean in front of everyone, and then you act like this with me? How does that make sense?” you asked, half laughing at the situation.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice low, still with her face pressed against yours. “But... I need you, Y/N.” Her words were so sincere that for a moment you forgot all the provocations and cold looks you had endured throughout the day. Minjeong pulled you even closer, as if afraid of losing you, and murmured again: “I need you.”

Before you could think of any response, she tilted her head and placed another kiss, this time more lingering, on your neck, making your heart race. You knew Minjeong was needy, but the contrast between her cold demeanor and the desperate way she clung to you in private was something you were still learning to handle.

“Minjeong...” you began, but your voice was interrupted as she continued to place a series of soft kisses on your cheek, her arms still firmly around your waist.

“Don’t say anything,” she asked softly, now with her face buried in your shoulder. “Just stay here with me.”

You sighed, wrapping your arms around her and returning the embrace. In the end, no matter how complicated and confusing Kim Minjeong’s dichotomy was, you knew that deep down, she just wanted to be loved – even if she didn’t know how to show it to the outside world.