#I was so damn sad thinking he was gone forever

[thestarswillguide]

During the last episode, I was too caught up in all that was happening to process everything correctly, so I fr had tears streaming down my face looking like this thinking he was dying permanently as he blew up, and how unfair all this was for him:

[loganbcrnes]

Mine

Logan Howlett/Wolverine x female!reader

Tags/Warnings: Smut, Fluff and Smut, Rough Sex, Dom/sub, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alpha Logan (X-Men), Feral Behavior, Rut Sex, mention of frank castle, Explicit Sexual Content, Breeding, Impregnation, Marking, Blow Jobs, Logan has a big cock, and hes very hairy yes, Reader-Insert Authors note: originally posted this on my ao3, but decided to just upload the full one-shot here as well. link. Not beta'ed and no description of reader Summary: Logan unexpectedly goes into rut and you're there to help him through it.

You had no idea what you were anticipating when Logan came home from work. Before he left in the morning, he was acting stranger than normal. His temper was short, his motions were labored, and he wasn’t himself. His scent was also stronger than normal. It didn’t take you long to realize something was wrong, the bond felt stronger between you two like it was during the war and before you even began to make lunch, you received a text from your Logan.

Logan: I don’t want you to be alarmed, but I think I’m in rut.

This caught you by surprise. Most alphas these days didn’t get ruts and omegas didn’t get heats either. Just like they’re becoming rarer as time goes by. it’s sad really, back before the war, before Hydra - you were able to go into heat. You always spent it alone back in the 30s, you even got time off from your part-time job as a nurse when you were temporarily staying in Ireland. Logan could go into ruts too before Project X. during the war you both would help each other out, which led to you both bonding until the train mission fucked all of that up.

But now it’s 2021, over 70 years have gone by and 3 years since The Snap. You are forever thankful that both you and Logan survived it. You don’t know what you would have done if your beloved alpha was taken away from you once again. Since then you both decided to get a nice cabin in the mountains to get away from everything. You both were done fighting, tired of constantly losing people you loved. 

Logan got a job in construction in town about an hour away. So he didn’t usually come home until around 6 pm. You were thankful when you got the news that Frank Castle and his pack of alphas were moving a few miles away from your cabin a few months ago. You know it can get isolated in this area, so to have friends that you consider family to come and visit was nice.

There was no time to think about the next course of action though, it was clear what you had to do and something you thought you wouldn’t ever do again. Logan would be back in about half an hour, which gave you time to set up the room and go for a nice shower. 

You immediately went into one of the cupboards in your walk-in wardrobe for blankets. Logan didn’t necessarily like making nests, he always said and his quote: “ya’ don’t need to make those things no more lady, you use your alpha.” in his deep gruff tone. So you resorted to cuddling at least 2 times a day instead and he would fuck you into the mattress just how like it every time. 

Once you got a mattress onto the floor with a ton of blankets and pillows littered onto it, you went into the bathroom and stripped down. You cleaned up and once you were done, you slipped on a white silky nightie that reached down to your thighs. After that you got some nice cold water bottles to put beside the nest. As you were done you heard the door click open.

Logan could smell you before he even got out of his truck. His heightened senses were even more sensitive and he could smell just how wet you already were. All he could think about was knot, breed, mate- over and over as he got closer to the door.

It was rather embarrassing when he started to sweat and get a hard-on on his lunch break. He didn’t understand at first, but then recognized the symptoms to be a rut. Thankfully Frank was there to get him to leave, but damn did that hurt his ego a little.

Once he entered he was hit again with your strong scent. It was so sweet, sweeter than usual that he was beginning to think that maybe his rut could trigger your heat. He sure hoped so. Your scent was a mixture of roses and strawberries, he used to hate strawberries before he met you, but now it’s one of his favourite fruits.

You looked up from your iPad as Logan walked in and put down his backpack. “Hey,” you said as you got up, but were cut off by a squeak when he immediately jumped you. He picked you up by your thighs, making his way to your bedroom, his lips never leaving your neck. He nipped and sucked little bruises into your soft flesh. He put you down gently onto the mattress and started groping your breasts. 

“Fuck, I’ve been thinkin’ about this all day, Darlin’”. Logan growls as he starts kissing down the valley between your breasts. He pulled back and slipped off your nightie, revealing your breasts and wet cunt. You blushed and looked away, but your alpha immediately notices. “Hey, no looking away from your alpha now,” Logan says as he grips your jaw to look back at him. 

“Sorry, Alpha” you shyly say. Logan only grunts back in reply as he stares down at you. You grip at his clothes, “off, please” you whine at him. Logan immediately starts to strip down, you stare at his glorious beefy body as he takes off his pleated shirt and jeans. Your eyes traveled the trail of hair down to his already hard cock. You lick your lips wanting to taste so badly. 

Logan notices as smirks, he leans back down to press his lips against yours, just as a whimper escapes through your lips, giving you a smoldering kiss which leaves you breathless within seconds, distracting you as he continues to run his hand up and down the curves of your body, getting closer to your sensitive parts.

You are gasping for breath when he pulls away, and in your complete haze, you watch him as he slowly climbs down your body, his lips never leaving your skin as he trails his hot kisses on you all the way down. He parts your legs further so he could get more comfortable between them, then when he presses a kiss at your nether lips, his fingers parting your folds so he could find your slick entrance and give a long, hungry lick right at where your desire is centered until you cry out. “Taste so fucking sweet ‘mega”. Logan growls as he licks your clit. You hear him moan and you open your eyes to look down at him, to see that his eyes are closed, totally blissed out as he sucks on your cunt, licking your entrance. You feel the hard tips of Logan’s fingers right at your opening, you moan when you feel two fingers parting your hot pussy, your walls instantly begin spasming around them, sucking them inside your depth.

“So hot, baby,” Logan growls, his warm breath falling on your sensitive folds as he whispers between the kisses he is giving you right at your heated core. “I’ve wanted to taste you since I could smell your sweet scent before I even got outta my car.”

You can’t think straight, you’re totally blissed out and your mind is filled with alphalphabreedmatealphabreed constantly, you reckon he has triggered your heat, but you don’t even realize and neither does he. His cock is stiff and swollen, you notice the center of his length has a bulge, showing that his knot is starting to form.  Your cheeks begin to heat up realizing that you’re doing this to your alpha. 

You go deeper and deeper into submission, surrendering yourself to your alpha, letting him know he can use you however he wants. Logan feels everything you feel, your bond is so strong that it’s overwhelming for the both of you. 

He continues to tease you with his fingers for a few more seconds and then the warm rasp of his tongue sends a series of shivers trembling through your body. He licks across your sensitive bud leisurely, biding his time with his eyes on you to take in every single reaction you are giving him through every lick, every swirl of his tongue. He has never seen anything so beautiful. He flicks his tongue from around your clit, down to your slit, moving back and forth as he continues to plunge his fingers into you. You begin to shake as you are nearing the edge.

He must have felt it, because he continues to lick at your cunt, slick pouring out as he slurps it all up, growls deeply against your pussy. “Come for me, little mate.”

You let out a whimper at his command but feel helpless to resist him. You can’t hold it in anymore as you come to your release. “Alpha!”. You moan out as you arch your back, Logan continues to milk through your orgasm and makes sure to gather every drop of cum.

Once you come down from your high, Logan pulls back and climbs up the bed kneeling right beside your head. Keeping one hand at your chin, he raises your head up as he uses the other hand to pump his cock, aiming the crown tip on your swollen lips. “Go and put your pretty mouth to use, Darlin’,” Logan says. A drop of pre-cum leaks from the slit, making you drool at the taste, while the heady scent of his cock fills your senses as you breathe him in.

You eagerly nod, barely catching a breath from your strong orgasm, he slips his cock through your open mouth, wanting to satisfy your alpha.

Groaning, Logan reaches down and squeezes your nipple as he thrust in and out of your mouth with almost the same force he would use if he is deep inside your pussy. 

“Love these tits of yours baby, love to see them jiggle when I fuck your tight cunt” Logan continues to grope your tits as he dirty talks. He thrusts into your mouth hard and you moan at his words, cheeks reddened at how dirty he’s making you feel.

You suck the entire length of him each time, loving the feel of the head of his cock at the back of your throat. Using his other hand, Logan grabs onto your hair, keeping you steady as he plunges deeper inside your mouth, pummelling deep into your throat each time he reaches to the brim.

His heavy balls filled with seed, slaps against your chin, loving the sensation and feeling dirty all at the same time. You dig your nails into his thigh with one hand and into the sheets with the other, holding on tightly as your lover uses your mouth for his pleasure. “So fucking good, baby. Always taking my fat cock so well. Look at you choking on it” Logan rambles as he thrusts into your mouth. He groans as you suck hard. You continue to choke as his knot is forming. 

Logan’s cock falls out of your mouth with a pop. The spasms of your climax remain. You close your eyes trying to catch your breath. You feel movement and blankets being moved on the mattress. After a few minutes, you feel a hand caress your cheek, tucking your hair behind your ears. You open your eyes to see Logan, his pupils are dilated to the point you only almost only see black. “You okay, Honey?” Logan asked. He leans down to press soft kisses to your cheeks and down to your neck. You hum as you lean into his touch, “Want you now Lo”. you said, “please knot me, need it so bad”. 

You’re a whimpering mess now, grinding your clit against Logan’s muscular thigh. Logan growls as he pulls back, he grabs a hold of your hips, flipping you over so that you're laying with your chest pushed flush against the mattress, legs bent, and the knees with your ass and pussy on full display. Your smell consumes him; all that he can think about is the taste of your arousal on his lips and how badly he needs to be inside you now.

His long fingers trace your slit as arousal floods from your entrance, coating your slick on his fingertips. Anticipation pangs at your chest as you wait for his next move. Everything in him wants to drive his hardened cock into you and knot you full of his seed.

Logan’s eyes screwed shut as he brings a finger up to his mouth, basking in the taste of you. A wanton moan erupts from his lips at the taste – so perfectly sweet he would never be able to get enough.

Dire thoughts rush through your mind as you rest on your elbows, face turned to the side to try and see Logan out of your peripheral vision. His pupils are completely blown, eyes focused only on your center as his chest heaves in anticipation. “Please Alpha, breed me, I’m ready,” you say to him. 

Logan is always less talkative during sex and now that he’s in his rut and possibly gone feral, his mind is screaming to him to knot and breed your tight cunt, to the point he can’t form words.

His hand is quick to line himself up with your entrance, grasping onto your hips with such pressure that it is sure to leave bruises tomorrow, even with your fast healing. Sharp fingernails dig into your skin as his tip meets your entrance. It’s fiery and red, inflamed and veins popping out alongside his length from how hard he is. The precum that leaks from his tip coat your slit, combining with the wetness dripping down your thighs to create a delicious mixture.

One last reassuring squeeze of your side is all he gives before pushing into you ruggedly. A sharp gasp leaves your lips as he makes his way into your core, feeling the familiar sensation you felt back during the war. His size is bigger, so much thicker and longer than his normal length when he is not in rut. It’s a lot to take in at once, and he’s trying his best to let you relax as your body adjusts to his size. 

“You can move,” you say, lip caught between your teeth as your walls stretch further around him.

With your fists grasping for the sheets, Logan begins thrusting his hips slowly into you– holding out a second each time he bottoms out to let you breathe. His nails only dig into your sides further, barely giving him a grip onto reality to hold back his animalistic instincts.

Deep grunts leave his mouth as he tries to hold himself back, but he can feel his humanity slipping further and further away with each clench of your pussy. His heavy balls slap against your clit.

“Can’t hold back much longer,” he bares his teeth, “need to breed you now.”

You moan out loud “please, please alpha, need you to fill me up with your pups” you continue to beg him. 

Quickly, his hips snap into yours, his thick muscles flexing as he holds your body steady, fucking into you deeply. Breath is sucked out of you as his pace increases; stars forming at the back of your eyelids as you squeeze them shut, mouth salivating at the increasing pleasure bestowing upon you. His length is a lot to get used to again, even though Logan tried to avoid knotting you back then because you both didn’t have enough time, there were times when he would sneak into your sleeping quarters to knot you in the middle of the night, his hand pressed against your mouth to reduce your loud moans as he thrusts his large cock into you; but the everlasting pressure against your g-spot was making the pain melt away.

Logan thrusts in and out of your pussy effortlessly, your slick coating his cock and making it easy for him to slide in and out of your velvety walls. With each thrust, he bottoms out, and it becomes difficult for you to remain upright. Limbs shaking from pleasure, your elbows begin to give way, landing you flat against the mattress.

Your mouth opens, but the only thing able to escape is a silent scream, too immersed in the feeling of him battering your walls and hitting your cervix to make a sound. A loud moan leaves your lips as he pulls you back up, his arms wrapping around your waist to use all his strength to hold you in position. His sweaty hairy chest is pressed flush against your back, the heat radiating off his body soothing you as his mouth meets your ear. A quick nip is placed on your earlobe as he catches it between his teeth.

“Taking me so well.”

He says in his deep voice. The praise quickly soothes your nerves, helping you relax into him as he holds your body close, closer than you had ever felt to him before. His tip is repeatedly hitting against the sensitive spot deep inside of you, you know he’s not ready to let up just yet, but you’re too on edge to hold on.

“Logan I-I’m gonna–”

“I can smell it,” he groans, mouth meeting your bond mark as he sucks harshly on it. 

A string of cuss words falls from your lips as your eyes clamp shut, relishing in your release as your pussy spasms around his cock. His movements don’t slow either – his pace is still erratic, plummeting into you at an ungodly rate.

Feeling your release over him only makes him thrust harder, deeper. It sends him into a full-blown frenzy, unable to keep himself from chasing his high. “Smells so sweet, gonna breed you, Baby, have you pumped up with my pups. Gonna look so sexy with your tits filled with milk and your pregnant belly.” he rambles, the more he talks dirty the closer you get to the edge. 

And you knew what this meant. You both finally have a chance to have children. Something you have always wanted when you first got together with Logan. Before meeting him, you never had high hopes to find a man and have a child or two. You were insecure and no one wanted a 26-year-old virgin omega. Especially since omegas were looked down upon back then.

But that time is over now, you're with the love of your life 70+ years into the future and everything you have ever wanted is here right now.

“God, do it, Logan, please knot me,” the words slip between cries, still shaking in the aftermath of your orgasm, “Breed me.”

So he does.

His eyes slam shut as his mouth finds the crook of your neck, breaking the flesh as his sharp teeth sink into your skin, reclaiming you once again. Screams blow past your lips as blood begins to trickle from the wound on your shoulder. Your chest tightens in pain, loving and hating the sensation all at once. Relief takes over once his tongue meets the small incisions made on your skin, his saliva filling the holes and alleviating the wounds as he licks up the blood.

“That’s it ‘mega. Doing so good for me. So perfect.”

Your heart flutters at his claim, have never felt as close to him as you do right now. Firecrackers lit through your veins, the connection between you and Logan binding stronger than ever and you couldn’t be happier. It felt like you were floating in thin air. Your body is unable to focus on any pain right now, you’re too blissed out from the shock of him reclaiming you to notice how his cock is beginning to swell inside of you.

Cum shoots out of his member, filling you up to the brim until your abdomen begins to feel heavy and swell. That floating feeling quickly begins to fade as his orgasm keeps coming and coming, no inch of your insides gone untouched by his seed. It seems like it's never going to end, and you can feel the pressure from his release building and building inside of you. Your sensitive walls stretch as his cock expands, your body doing the job it’s supposed to; knotting to plug you up and make sure none of his cum drips out.

“Logan,” you whine, tears spilling from your eyes as his cock continues to inflate inside of you, “Logan it kinda hurts.”

“Shhh It’s almost over, baby,” he comforts you, stroking your hair before guiding you onto your side, laying behind you. After such a rough round, his familiar touch eases your pain. The light kisses he places along your spine let you sink back into him, focusing on the feeling of his soft lips instead of the balloon-sized cock stretching your vagina. Gentle hands trace circles up and down your arms as you listen to the sound of his calming breath. His chest heaves as he tries to come down from the adrenaline rush.

Soft kisses soon turn into small licks running over the length of your back as you lay there, still speared on his cock. Now that his animalistic needs were met, it was all about you.

“What are you doing?” you frown slightly.

“Cleaning you up,” he answers calmly, his even more heightened senses finding nothing strange with this new method of aftercare. You’re too immersed in your thoughts to question him any further; if this is what his alpha side was telling him to do then so be it.

As Logan’s knot begins to subdue he doesn’t let go. His tongue soothes over the spot of his mark, all red, but could see the bond mark more visible than it was before. 

“Do you really think this will work?” you ask Logan. You don’t know what you will do with yourself if you aren’t able to get pregnant by this. “It will trust me, Darlin’. And if it doesn’t, we’ll try again and again until it does,” he says as he kisses your shoulder.

“You’re so beautiful, I’m so happy you’re mine after all these years.”

Butterflies flutter in your tummy as a smile stretches across your face. All you want to do right now is to turn around and kiss him, so you do. His face is just as bright as yours when you meet his eyes. His hair is messy and his skin is shining with perspiration, but he looks handsome as ever. He welcomes your kiss like he’s been waiting for it all day. Mouth chasing after your lips, capturing them in a quick kiss before pulling away.

It's the first time he’s seen your eyes since you’ve gotten home, and even then he couldn’t appreciate them as he could now. There's a different glow that he didn’t notice before. Maybe it's because he’s reclaimed you and knotted you after all these years, but he is willing to do anything and everything for you.

“I love you,” you sigh, pressing your palm to his cheek. He looks so innocent now, the blackness in his eyes now faded back to the hazel color you love so much. All the years and pain he’s been through, disappeared. 

“And I love that you’re mine.”

[wannaeatramyeon]

Lookism: "If you die tomorrow, would you have any regrets?"

G/N. Jake, Goo, Gun, DG, Ryuhei, Sammy. Reminder that Gun is canonically a gamer lmao.

Jake looks up at you in surprise, the morbid question catching him off guard.

"Why?" he asks, tilting his head.

"It was just a question I read."

"Hmm," Jake rubs at his chin and gazes off somewhere in the distance, no doubt thinking about all that has happened in his life. "Yeah. Loads."

Oh. You weren't expecting that-

"A lot of things I've made my peace with," Jake shrugs and you know he means Sinu and Samuel and Big Deal.

The mess with Workers, the falling out with Samuel and end of the Golden Era, the arrest of so many of his crew. He knows his mom is disappointed that he is so much like his father, his time in juvie, and Jake thinks if he tried better in school instead of fighting then maybe things would have worked out a lot differently.

"But-" he tugs on your hand, pulling you off-balance and falling straight into his lap.

"I'd regret not spending more time with you. All the time trying to be a good boss rather than a good boyfriend."

You open your mouth to argue that he is a good boyfriend but he continues on-

"I'd regret leaving you on your own. Even though I know you'd find someone easily," And Jake manages a small wistful smile, "I'd regret not being there for you."

.

.

"Me?" Goo blinks, looking up from his manga.

"Yes, you. The only other person here."

"Just checking, Cupcake." Goo thinks briefly for a moment before making up his mind.

"I'll regret not seeing how this manga ends," then he narrows his eyes, stabbing angrily at the page, "And not going to Japan to hunt down this asshole for killing my fave off-screen."

"Goo!" Maybe this is on you for expecting a serious answer.

He gets up and makes his way to you, peppers kisses all over your face as you roll your eyes. "You're not planning on killing me are you, Sweetheart?"

"Yes. Tonight. There's a knife under my pillow."

"Make sure you don't wake me, do it quick," he grins mischievously then-

An unpleasant thought pops up and he pulls a face. "Once I'm dead, you better not fall in love with anyone else. My ghost will haunt you, y'know."

"Fine, I'll just be sad and alone and mourning over you forever."

"Perfect!"

But what would Goo actually regret?

What's the saying? You can't take it with you.

Goo has such fun plans once he retires from all this crew shit. Neither of you have to work another day again, you can just spend the rest of your lives terrorising the general public instead. Travelling the world, swimming in a pool of money together, sleeping on a bed of cash. All that fun stuff.

Goo doesn't regret the time amassing his fortune, his little safety net for the future. But if he was to die tomorrow, he would regret not having that future with you.

.

.

Gun pauses the video game at your question, then turns to you with a brow arched, "Why do you think I'm going to die?"

"It's hypothetical. Like in a fight or something."

An arrogant smile spreads, "And who's strong enough to kill me?"

You click your tongue in annoyance at his response although you hate to admit that damn, you find his attitude sexy as hell. There's just something about him being able to back up his confidence with his skills and talent.

"Just answer my question!"

"No I would not have any regrets," he says, already turning back and resuming his game.

Of course Gun doesn't. As if someone like him would have any regrets.

Eyes still on the screen and fingers clicking on the controller, Gun adds quietly. "But you will be taken care of."

Oh.

If Gun were to die tomorrow, he would regret not being able to take care of you. Being by your side. In his line of work, it is always a possibility no matter how strong he is. The least he could do, and has done, is make sure that at least no harm or hardships befalls you after he is gone.

Money, protection, freedom. If he can't have a future, then he will assure yours.

.

.

DG falters mid-stride, giving it the briefest of thoughts before coming to a conclusion.

"Nope," he says with a cocky smirk.

He has very little to regret. His life as DG is what most people dream of. Fame and fortune, power and influence.

As James Lee he has proven he's the strongest, he's the peak and untouchable.

There's very little left for him to accomplish. Why would he have any regrets?

But, he supposes, as he is later handled by the assistants and the stylists, then plasters on a fake smile for TV appearances before being ushered to some event full of schmoozers and fakers and having to make small talk as DG, the idol and CEO-

Is that maybe if he could do it again, he would choose something with more privacy. More freedom. That he could do what he wants, whenever he wants.

And most importantly-

That he can walk hand in hand with you down the street without rabid fans screaming and the paparazzi photos making headlines.

Without you being on the receiving end of death threats and unhinged letters, and his agent and company telling him that he needs to apologize for his relationship. Backtrack it. Single idols sells better, appeals to the public more.

If DG died tomorrow, he thinks that actually he would regret this. He regrets keeping you in the shadows.

.

.

Ryuhei doesn't hesitate and tells you he wishes you were his first. For everything.

Even hand holding. Even hugs.

You pull a face at that.

"That's... Sweet." You say, lying through your teeth as Ryuhei looks at you with concerned puppy eyes.

"You wish the same, right?"

"Sure," you agree because where's the harm in appeasing this goofball.

In truth, and Ryuhei hates thinking about it, is that he does desperately wish that he met you first. Before Mitsuki, before anyone else.

Nevermind that it's a completely futile, fanciful dream because everything that has happened has led him to you.

But he thinks it would have worked out better. He could have been a better person, a better boyfriend. If he met you before he had a chance to develop his sex pest tendencies and obsessive behaviour that you had to stamp out.

It's pointless though. Not even worth dwelling on. What has happened has happened and he could only try to be better now.

Ryuhei considers the question again with a sigh. If he dies tomorrow, what would he regret?

Oh yeah! He would absolutely regret this!

"I'd regret that we can't bang anymore!"

"Ryuhei!"

.

.

Samuel immediately feels defensive at your question.

He thinks about what he hasn't yet achieved. All his dreams of becoming King, being at the top, and yet he's no closer.

"Why?" he asks, eyes starting to narrow behind his glasses.

You hold up both palms, in a gesture to indicate you didn't mean anything by it and your face tells him to just chill.

"I dunno. I found it and thought it was an interesting question."

"It's not." Samuel says, effectively ending the conversation and eyes dipping back down to his phone.

But it doesn't just end.

Samuel spirals and doesn't talk to you for the rest of the day, his shortcomings haunting him instead.

He drinks and he smokes and he spends even more time at work, trying to dull the ache of his inferiority.

The mornings and nights pass by in a blur, a string of toxic behaviours and self sabotage, until eventually - he comes to.

His failures and faults pushed to the back of his mind, rather than a constant reminder.

Then like a fog clearing, he finds clarity again. He sees your face, the worry, the trepidation... The guilt for asking an innocent question.

And Samuel knows that his biggest regret of all if he dies tomorrow is that you deserved better and he hasn't been able to give that to you.

[chaoticbardlady99]

Can I request a fic where Astarion reacts to GN!Reader who always helps him but refuses to accept his propositions please?

 CW: Dead Dove- for the people who can’t think for themselves and make a decision, no I am not adding specifics to my tags and I don’t have to. You know what game you are playing and you know Astarion’s back story. Put on your big kid pants and get over yourself- if the worst thing that happened to you today was that a fanfiction had a vague CW (which is also not a requirement for anything, it’s common courtesy. You don’t see CW on every book with dark themes, do you?) then you have a pretty damn good life. I’m not paid to write these fanfictions- if you want me to change how I tag things, then start sending me money or 🖕🏻 your bitching isn’t welcome here

I hope you enjoy!

Astarion doesn’t know much about freedom and normal sexual relationships. In fact, he doesn’t know shit about normal relationships period. His entire world is people taking advantage of his body and his lack of freedom- hands scraping at his skin and taking from him.

 You, on the other hand, have thwarted every attempt he has made to please you sexually. 

 You roll your eyes at his pick up lines and his nicknames, you flirt back, but you never take it further when he asks. He asked you to spend time with him in his tent the night before- his plans to seduce you had been destroyed when you brought Lanceboard, he tried to get you to put it away, you suggested he is afraid to lose, and he had to prove that he is definitely not afraid to play Lanceboard with anyone! Especially you- who he was certain he could beat. It ended up being five draws and you won at the end, but it was the most fun he has had in a long time. 

  It’s been three weeks of traveling and his plan to wrap you around his pinkie finger has gone abysmally. Yet- you keep helping him. 

 You aided him in killing the Gur, give him blood as he needs it and make sure everyone knows you support and trust him. The rest of them have the right idea not to, but it warms something deep within him to know you genuinely do trust him. It shouldn’t- you are a means to an end. 

 And yet- here he is, sitting next to you at the campfire and just enjoying your company as you tell him about one of your many adventures before you were swiped up.

 You, the busy body of the group, are exceptionally well traveled and you have been telling Astarion about all the places he needs to see- Evereska, Neverwinter, Althkalta, Waterdeep, Candlekeep- the list goes on and on. 

 Astarion swears he could listen to you talk forever and then some, but it also makes him feel poorly about himself. 

 He has absolutely nothing to offer outside of sex and yet, here you are, offering to take him all around Toril at the end of this journey. 

 “Why?”

“Why what?” You look stunned by his sudden disruption, “why do the people of Daggerford like Cheddar over Mozerrella? I’m honestly not-“

“No- why do you want me to stick around?” His voice comes out more harshly than he intended, “you refuse every proposition I have given you- I haven’t even begun to show off my usefulness and-“

“Usefulness?”

 His eyes snap to yours and you look sad- heartbroken even. Astarion doesn’t need your pity! He doesn’t need more from you when he has already taken so much.

“Well of course,” he scoffs, “you provide me with food- literally- and you talk to me all the time and you spend time with me and ask me what I like and about me-

“And you always help me,” he says uneasily, “and you never ask for anything in return.”

 The silence feels defeaning. 

“I really like you, Astarion,” you say softly, “and I know the importance of finding one’s self and Cazador stole that from you. I also know you think the only positive thing about you is sex and that’s why I refuse to have it with you.

“If- if we have sex,” you look away, embarrassed and red in the face, “I want it to be because we both genuinely want to and we want to enjoy each other. You don’t owe me anything for my kindness, Astarion, I told you we would get this figured out together that day on the beach and I meant it.

“And if you never return my feelings,” you say quickly, “I entirely understand and that is okay too- I would still love to show you the entire world if you want to continue traveling with me after all of this,” you wave your hands wildly, “has been taken care of because you’re my friend- I hope you may consider me yours one day too.” 

 Your smile is so beautiful and sweet. He could fall into you forever and then some. 

 It takes him and you by surprise when he leans forward and leaves a hesitant peck against your lips. 

“I- I would really like to travel with you,” he whispers, “a-and consider your feelings and friendship returned.”

[theprisonerandthebeast]

Do you write poly marauders? if so could you write one where they all live in a cute little apartment together, but the boys have gone away for week (or however long) and reader (preferably fem) kind of loses herself. like she starts eating less or at irregular times, kinda lets apartment get messy, wears same clothes everyday and is over all sad. the boys come home and find what's happening and comfort/help her. Mega fluff?!

hope this is enough inspo!

love your writing!!!

thank you :))

I LOVE THIS! I’ve been wanting to write poly!marauders forever and now I have an excuse. A kiss for you, anon.

(I might edit to add more details to the ending later!!)

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“It’s just a week. We will be back soon, okay, Angel?” James coos to you, kissing you softly.

The boys are all heading out, bags in hand, saying their goodbyes.

“It’s actually 6 days, Jamie, not a week.” Sirius says, pointedly.

“Excuse me…” James says sarcastically to Sirius, then, turning to you, “6 days, then, Princess. Think you can make it without us that long?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” You say, giggling at James’ almost-overly-sensitive tone. He’s always babied you the most.

Remus says, exasperatedly, “I wouldn’t even be going to this Quidditch game if it wasn’t to make sure these idiots don’t fall off the stands, gorgeous girl, you know that, right?”

You giggle even harder at that, “Yes, I know. Now, go and have fun.”

You usher them out the door and into the hallway of your apartment. Luxurious, ceiling-high windows, a kitchen all of you could judge James’ latest experimental dish in, and a living room couch (made of clouds) facing the most expensive TV screen Sirius could afford.

What was originally Sirius’ apartment became Sirius and James’ apartment. Soon after, Remus moved in. Lastly, they asked you to move in once your relationship became more serious.

You walk around the suddenly too-quiet apartment. The cool floor feels more evident on your feet than before and a chill runs down your spine. You climb onto the couch, pull a blanket to your chin, and turn on a show for background noise. You fall asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, you wake up expecting the boys’ arms around you. Sirius snoring loudly, James spread out, pushing Remus off the bed- this was your normal morning routine. Waking up on the couch was never an option before. If you fell asleep on the couch, one of the boys, usually Sirius, would carry you to bed.

With nobody around to do that this morning (and no snoring to be heard from anywhere) you start to feel an empty, lonely feeling. Usually you or James or Remus would make breakfast but you didn’t feel like eating. You make yourself a cup of coffee and relax for the rest of the day. For dinner, you order a pizza and eat the whole thing. It was the only thing you had ate that day and told yourself tomorrow would be better.

That night, you fall asleep fitfully.

The days after are no better, in actuality, they were worse. One night you couldn’t sleep at all and at 3am you give up. You go to the living room, stare out the window at the city below and watch the cars light up the street. Even at 3am, cars are still going. You think too much about who’s in those cars and what they’re doing. Why are they driving at 3am? Some of them could be driving to the hospital right now. Some of them are just now getting off work. Some of them are teenagers who want to get away from their parents to smoke weed at the abandoned house on 7th Street.

You think about how out of all the people in the world, Remus, Sirius, and James chose you.

Suddenly, a thought hits you- there on the couch at damn near 4 in the morning. “They left me, they went on a trip to see someone else… They never chose me after all…”

You believe its true. You believe it so bad you go to sleep, crying, right there on the couch.

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

Hours (or was it days?) later you wake up to keys jingling outside the door. Panic hits you at first. You look around the living room and kitchen. Pizza boxes, McDonald's cheeseburger wrappers, and an old, door-dashed Starbucks drink, definitely growing mold by now, lay around you. And that’s not even counting the bedroom.

They walk in, bags in hand. Smiling at first, then immediately frowning when they see the state of the apartment; the state of you. Shame hits you like a brick. You think about the scene in Home Alone when the robber gets a iron smashed into his face. You think that might feel better.

James is the first to drop everything and coddle you, as usual. He rushes to you, thrusting himself in your arms. You immediately feel better.

“Are you okay? You look so sad, puppy.” He strokes your hair and you smile as the familiar James scent reaches you.

Remus and Sirius are hugging you moments after.

You cry but laugh. You feel silly for ever thinking they were visiting another person.

“What’s going on? You missed us?” Sirius says, pouting.

“Yes, I missed you!” you cry-laugh and throw a pillow from the couch at him.

Remus giggles when you miss.

You explain the situation to them and how you got a little insecure in their departure.

Sirius carries you to bed and Remus holds you while James makes you a proper dinner.

After, Remus runs you a bath, just how you like it. Sirius brushes and braids your hair.

While you were taking a bath, it seemed like the trash disappeared magically. You figured Remus had cleaned it.

Nobody mentions the mess, the boys are all just glad you're feeling better.

You fall asleep with all the boys cradled around you in your big bed. You only start to fall into a deep sleep when you hear Sirius snoring softly.

[myownwholewildworld]

14. IT'S GETTING DARK IN THIS HEART OF MINE

chapter 13 | ao3 | series masterlist | chapter 15 (soon)

pairing: post-outbreak!joel x f!reader. summary: dealing with the aftermath of tommy's actions has you and joel in a dark headspace. in your way to Boston QZ, you find a small gated community that looks so promising... and meet the man behind the creation of such oasis. a/n: this chapter is charged with angst as both you and joel come to terms with what has happened. it's a bit sad but also joel is very caring so i hope that makes it slighty better? also slightly sad about the fact that next chapter is the last (before the epilogue), this is drawing to and end t.t as always, i appreciate comments, reblogs and likes, and if you do all three, i'll treasure you forever. take care, lovelies <3 x warnings: 18+, mdni. angst. discussion of a miscarriage. joel being the partner we all deserve. reader is female, no other description given. reader is mid-late 20s, joel is 37. no use of y/n.  tommy's pov at the beginning, then joel’s and reader’s pov. also there's a very special guest appearance towards the end 👀 dividers by @\saradika-graphics w/c: ~5.6k. taglist aka the drama wagon at the end of the chapter (let me know if you want to be added/removed from the list pls!)

“They should have been back by now,” Tommy paced in the hallway, unable to quiet down the intrusive thoughts.

A supply run shouldn’t have taken more than two hours, and Laney and the rest of the group had been gone for almost three now. They could have run into trouble, but they would have asked for backup on the transceiver.

Thinking back on it, Tommy was not so sure now that they had actually gone supply hunting. They had ventured into town only two days ago, which meant they were not in dire need of anything. With clickers everywhere, it was too risky to leave the safehouses when it wasn’t really necessary.

The nagging doubt that had been lingering for the same amount of time returned to tear his brain apart. Laney seemed to have left in a hurry, deciding there and then that a supply run was needed. A thought had crossed his mind as he saw her leave through the door, but had forced himself to drown it ― Laney wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t go find his brother without him.

Or would she? The venom her tongue distilled when Tommy mentioned you should have been a red flag, but given Laney’s snappy personality, it hadn’t been out of character. But in retrospect, Tommy started wondering if Laney had actually decided to track Joel and you down.

The idea tightened his throat ― he knew what Laney was capable of. But she wouldn’t ― she knew Tommy cared for the both of you. Tommy had shared so much with her, opened up about his past and new life, he thought she wouldn’t do anything that would hurt him. Perhaps it wasn’t love, but it was damn close. At least for him it was.

“It is unlike them,” Robert chipped in, scratching his beard.

“Maybe they have hit the jackpot and that’s why they’re running late,” Elijah added to the conversation. “Just give ‘em ten more minutes.”

And for ten minutes, Tommy kept on pacing around the enclosed space, watching his wristwatch eagerly. The moment the hands indicated ten minutes had gone by, he grabbed the keys.

“We have to go now. If we wait any longer and it snows, the tyre tracks will be covered,” he commanded, and the two men quickly followed.

They jumped into the Jeep, following the fresh treads on the snow. Soon Tommy realised that whatever path they had taken, it wasn’t the usual one into town, but the one that circumvented the river.

His heart skipped a few beats, fearing that his first instinct might have been correct. And if it was, he just hoped that Laney never caught up with his brother and you, for your own sake.

If something had happened to Joel or you because of who he chose to trust, Tommy would never forgive himself. When he had answered Laney’s question earlier that day, he hadn’t thought she would do anything with the information given. Mainly because he hadn’t asked her to. Laney respected him ― or so would he like to believe.

Despite his early departure, he didn’t want to leave Joel and you behind, not when he had just found you again. Sure, he had been a prick reacting the way he did, but fear to the unknown―you, alive and pregnant―had momentarily won. Now that he had a cooler head, Tommy knew he had been stupid to ditch you again. Instead of congratulating you both, he had pulled back and pointed his gun at you.

What a dick, he mentally reprimanded himself.

Even if Tommy hadn’t expressed it out loud, deep inside he was happy that his brother had had a fresh start with you. Losing Sarah had almost killed him, annihilated him from his own humanity, crushed him until there was nothing left of him. And thanks to you, who had breathed life into Joel even when the older Miller didn’t want you to, his older brother had slowly but steadily resurfaced. Joel wasn’t completely back to being his old self but was learning to with your help.

And now he had another chance at life, at having the family Joel always dreamed of and talked about. One, Tommy hoped, he hadn’t fucking ruined.

The engine wheezed after a sharp turn, the dam and the red-bricked building he knew like the palm of his hand coming into sight.

And just by the fence, there were five bodies lying on the floor.

With his heart climbing up his throat, Tommy braked suddenly, stopping a few yards away. Yanked the driver’s door open and jumped outside of the vehicle, quickly followed by Robert and Elijah.

Tommy unholstered his Glock, alert of his surroundings.

Please don’t let it be my brother or her, please don’t. Lord, please, if You’re still listening…

The cacophony of prayers repeated in his head in a sick loop, the desperation in them increasing with each step he took.

The moment they got close enough, Tommy swiftly recognised everyone. Laney and the rest of the group were sprawled on the snow, thick blood pooling underneath them. But neither of you were nowhere to be seen.

His eyes lingered on Laney’s body ― her eyes still open, observing the darkening sky above. A bullet perfectly buried between her brows, a trickle of blood running down her nose bridge and left cheek.

Even through the stinging sense of betrayal, Tommy grieved her death. She had kept him company when he felt lost, being the only shoulder he had relied on for the past few weeks. Despite their toxic relationship and never-ending fights over nonsense, Tommy had thought he could have a future with her.

That future had been cut short. And he couldn’t blame the hand that had killed Laney, whether that was Joel or you.

“Those motherfuckers,” Robert snarled. “They’ve done a proper number on Michael, his head is cracked open.”

While Elijah replied, Tommy’s solely focus was a sixth puddle of blood a few feet away from Laney. Smaller, the blood thicker and darker than what he had seen before. His pulse hastened wildly as his brain worked out all possibilities.

One of you was hurt. How badly, he didn’t know. He could only hope it was a milder injury, something easy to tend to and heal.

“We need to go after them. They must’ve taken the car with them,” Elijah trudged forward, the top of his boot brushing a fresher set of tyre tracks. “Looks like they went back south.”

“Let’s hurry then. Those bastards gotta pay for what they’ve done!”

Both men were fuming, irate even. And probably he should have been too, but his relief was much greater than his non-existent anger.

“Tommy, let’s go, move!”

Tommy’s eyes finally lifted from the pool of blood he had been eyeing too intently and settled on the backs of the men as they made their way back to the car.

Robert and Elijah wouldn’t rest until their friends were avenged. And knowing he had done more harm than good, Tommy couldn’t let that happen. He needed to make sure that both you and Joel would be safe from men like them ― like him.

His hand gripped the gun tighter as his finger slid to the trigger. Then shot twice consecutively, both men falling face-first onto the ground, while his heart pounded madly in his chest.

This was the only thing he could do for the both of you. The only good thing he would ever do for you.

At that exact moment, Tommy knew that there would be no redemption for his wicked soul if something bad and irreversible had happened to either of you. He could only hope that the two of you were okay.

The three of them, he corrected himself, fear taking hold of his being.

At some point during the car drive, you cried yourself to sleep. Exhaustion danced with your grief ― the sensation of impending doom clinging close to your heart. Perhaps if you closed your eyes, you would wake up from this nightmare and the dull ache blanketing your heart and numbing your mind would fade. Only if you were lucky.

But you weren’t. The moment you awakened, Joel carrying you somewhere, the full force of reality hit you again, the scarlet stain on your jeans a sorrowful reminder of what had happened. Tears held onto your lashes, threatening to freefall onto your already-drenched coat.

This couldn’t be ― the pain swallowing you whole like a shadow monster, its sharp teeth gnawing at you while you silently screamed in the void of your mind. Where your heart had been, there was a hole nothing could fill. It felt like the twisted arms of destiny had reached inside you and stole your happiness, leaving behind a hollowing darkness.

And despite the edges of the sinkhole in your chest cracking even further apart, there was also this cold, drowning lump you couldn’t shake the feeling of. It constricted your throat, to the point you were gasping for a gulp of air. Then your airways expanded suddenly, the knot dissolving and letting oxygen in, only to wail in the midst of the night.

Trembling in Joel’s arms, he hugged you tighter to his chest, the warmth pouring from him soothing the coldness your heart harboured.

“We’re almost there, baby,” Joel whispered, his lips pressing your forehead.

Wherever there was, you wanted to arrive somewhere safe where you could open the dams of hell and let pain take its course. Because holding all of this inside would drive you mad with woe.

Soon enough he placed you down on a soft surface. It took you a second to notice the walls around you ― it was a small living room, crowded with someone’s belongings. The ceiling was low, big wooden rafters holding it up above your heads. In any other circumstances, the place would have been a cozy getaway.

You crouched on the couch, hugging your knees with devoid eyes transfixed nowhere in particular. Perhaps, if you held your knees close enough to your chest, you would stop the pieces of you from falling all apart.

Joel squatted in front of you, your glassy orbs darting to his sad ones. They told you a story ― a life of loss, of grief. He didn’t need to say words for you to understand how much this hurt him too. And knowing you were not alone in your pain gave you some selfish relief, but it also added to your own sorrow.

Unwrapping one arm, your hand found his cheek, your thumb tracing a line on the bag under his eye. Swept away the lone tear clinging to his skin, feeling it like your own. Then he nuzzled against your palm, a second later kissing it and taking it between his hands.

“I love you,” he reminded you, a broken whisper that glued together some shattered pieces of your soul. “Whatever you need of me, I’ll do. I can give you space to be on your own or be by your side for however long you need me. Please, tell me.”

Your heart bled for your unborn child, but also for yourself and Joel. Even though the news had shocked you both first, the idea of raising a little one together had gotten you even closer. And despite the hardships, you did not want to let that go, let him go ― your connection to him, the yin to your yang, the yang to your yin.

So you pulled from the hands holding yours, silently asking him to join you on the couch. His steadfast presence filled the empty spot on the sofa, and he dragged you to the calmness between his arms. One hand on your crown, the other gently pressed on the small of your back.

No words were needed to be shared, silence speaking louder. Time was a haze, blurry on the edges, while you held each other. You would cry and Joel would eventually follow, your shared sorrow a reminder of why you should keep fighting ― together. Because no matter what had happened, you both would survive this. It seemed distant now, almost ethereal and unachievable, but the world you lived in wouldn’t let you sink in the pits of despair for long. Of that much you were sure.

When you calmed down a little, your eyes dried of tears, you looked up at Joel, your cheek nuzzled on his chest. His dull, chocolate eyes were clouded, and you knew his mind had taken him somewhere away from reality.

Now you somewhat understood how he felt, the sense of helplessness so paralyzing. You didn’t even dare to imagine how this loss would feel if you had spent years knowing and caring for a child ― devastating, agonising. And having to go through all of that, just because you appealed to his humanity―his love for family―, made you feel sick.

You should have listened when he was reluctant about finding Tommy. Perhaps if you hadn’t pushed, your reality would be very different now. But wanting to see the good side of people was innate to you, so you had convinced him to try and reunite with his brother.

Big mistake.

“I’m sorry,” you let out in a choked whisper.

Joel’s eyes regained part of their usual spark, quickly drifting down to you with a confused look.

“Why?” he asked, his thumb finding your cheek and drawing a delicate line on your skin.

“I shouldn’t have insisted on tracking Tommy down. I should have―”

“Don’t. This ain’t your fault, sweetheart. I know you meant well. This isn’t on you nor me,” his voice cracked a little. “This is on Tommy, on men like him. So fucking desperate to belong, he didn’t even consider us as family anymore.” He paused and you felt his inner struggle, the words clinging to the tip of his tongue like a raindrop teetering on the brink of a leaf. “He’s dead to me.”

His raw admission brought tears to your eyes again. You couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty for this outcome ― Joel had no blood family left.

Joel cradled your cheek, so your averted orbs met his.

“And that is not your fault either, do you understand me?”

“But―”

“No, baby. This was a long time coming. Ever since we arrived at Chicago, deep down I knew I had already lost him. God knows I tried to redirect him, to help him, we both did. But wouldn’t fucking listen to either of us. What he has done now, hurting you― hurting us like this, it’s the last straw,” Joel drew in a big breath, his thumb still stroking your cheek. “He may not have been the hand who… who murdered our child, but he was the instigator. I just can’t bel―” Joel paused when he heard your low sob and his body shifted slightly under you. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to upset you. You’ve gotten enough to deal with.”

You shook your head no, your fingers wrapping around the wrist that held your face.

“You’re entitled to your feelings, Joel. I understand your rage. Believe me, I really do. I just don’t think I have it in me right now to feel anything else other than…” you trailed off, unsure of how to categorise the storm brewing inside you, “other than this gripping sadness,” admitting such thing out loud just made it even more real. “But I don’t want you to bottle up how you feel, so please don’t do it for my sake.”

He didn’t reply straight away, so in awe with you it warmed up a little the bitter cold nipping at your bones.

“Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true, too good for me,” Joel mumbled in a hum, pressing his lips on your forehead.

Even through the tears, through the pain, you smiled albeit weakly. Because it didn’t matter how dark it was getting in this heart of yours, Joel was able to shine a ray of light even during the darkest of times.

“I love you,” you muttered, hugging him tight.

Silence settled again, comforting and somewhat healing, until Joel broke it.

“If you’re feeling a tiny bit better, I’d like to get you out of those clothes and into clean ones, darlin’. I don’t want you to catch a cold and…”

The blood was still there, he didn’t need to finish. A sudden remainder of the piercing ache in your lower belly, burning and dull at the same time. Your grief was so loud, so overwhelming, you had barely paid attention to how you felt physically. And now that you were heeding the pain, it started to creep up on you.

“That’s a good idea,” you managed, sitting back up on the couch, breaking the physical contact with him.

“I’ll only be a second, you won’t even realise I’m gone,” Joel promised, and you nodded.

Joel got up and scavenged through his backpack, grabbing a small tin box, and then darted to the door. Thirty seconds later he was back and down on his knees a few feet away from you. He set up the gas canister on the floor, lit it on the lowest setting, and placed the tin tray on top, the snow slowly melting.

He then knelt in front of you, undoing the knots of your boots and putting them down on the floor. His steady hands helped you stand up so Joel could unbutton your jeans, gently pulling them down along with your underwear, seemingly unbothered by the thick, now dried blood.

You swallowed at the sight, his kind reverence a soothing balm on your aching heart. Your gaze looked up to the ceiling in a vain attempt to keep your tears at bay. Joel guided you back to sit down on the couch and veered around to dunk a clean rag in the lukewarm water. Then his attention turned to you and swept your skin clean with tender strokes.

The whole moment was so intimate, so raw, it made you cry a little more, but you hid your glassy eyes from him, keeping them on the wooden rafters as if their carved lines drove you somewhere far away from this heartbreaking moment.

Soon enough, Joel was done and shuffled through your rucksack to get a change of clothing. He slid your feet through the holes in the fresh panties lined with one of the few pads you had left, pushed them up to your knees, and repeated the same process with the clean trousers.

Only when he helped you get up to pull the clothes up to your hips, did he realise you were quietly sobbing again.

He buttoned your trousers for you, then cradled your face and kissed your tears goodbye.

It truly broke his heart seeing you like this. Knowing what you both could have had, but now didn’t. The ache only grew louder, having lost yet another soul to the misdeeds of mankind.

But when a lifetime of loss would have seemed daunting, holding you close to his chest reminded him of the reasons he would carry on. Broken and hollow, but he would keep going ― for you, but also for himself.

Joel hugged you on the sofa, hoping you would find some solace in his embrace. You had slowly drifted away to your dreams ― or so he hoped that they were not nightmares.

Suddenly you stirred, a quiet sob breaking through your chest, and he held you tighter. You blinked half awake, clutching at your chest. His lips hovered over your temple, whispering calming words until you settled back into a state of hypnagogia.

“We’ve got holes, but we carry on,” he murmured, more to himself than to you.

Hours went by, dawn breaking on the horizon, its orange and crimson lights filtering through the only window in the tiny cabin. Joel rubbed your back until your eyes fluttered open ― sleepy until reality knocked at your door. Your features folded slightly, and he knew you were trying your best to hold it together.

“Sorry to wake you, sweetheart,” he apologised, sitting up on the sofa with you in his arms. “It’s been a few hours, you should take another painkiller. I don’t want you to be in pain.”

You nodded with a heavy sigh when he got up to reach for the water bottle and the pills, offering them to you.

As you swallowed, Joel knew that his need for revenge paled in comparison to his need to care for you. As much as he wanted to go back and put a bullet in Tommy’s skull and whoever else remained from Laney’s group, he knew he couldn’t drag you into that. Wouldn’t put you through hell again. He meant it when he said that Tommy was dead to him ― you were his utmost priority, would always be.

As if you could read his mind, you looked at him askance as you placed the empty bottle on the coffee table in front.

“So… where…?”

“We go eastwards. We are only a couple of hours away from Boston. There’s a QZ there and although I’m not planning to get close, it might be handy having that place to run to if at some point shit hits the fan. I just don’t think that being out here completely on our own is a good idea right now,” he ventured, stroking your knee.

You slowly nodded, understanding he was trying to get you to safety and nowhere near Tommy.

“Sounds good,” you replied, unknowingly scratching your forearm.

Joel extended one hand and rolled up your sleeve. The wound was no longer bleeding and had completely healed. The scar had started fading a bit, the teeth marks were not so obvious anymore. The skin looked ragged and torn, sensitive to touch and itchy.

He bowed down to kiss the scar, his lips trailing the tissue, hoping it would calm the itch. Then sat back up to brush your lips with his.

“Are you sure? Otherwise, we can stay here a little longer―”

“No, I think you’re right,” you cut him off, a feeble smile dancing on your mouth. “It’s a good idea.”

Joel slowly nodded.

“Alright then, let me pack everything up and we’ll be in our way.”

A few hours later, when you were only half an hour away from Boston, the fuel indicator lit up on the dashboard. Your eyes had been glued to the world outside the passenger’s window, the last sign indicating that you just had crossed the boundary of Lincoln, Massachusetts.

“We’re running low in gas. Should stop and see if we can find some, or a different car. Or perhaps a place to stay for the time being, we’re close enough to Boston,” Joel said, removing the keys and the engine dying out.

He had veered into the verge, coming to a half between some evergreen bushes and trees.

“I also need to… to change,” you whispered, feeling the pad soaked with blood.

Joel eyed you, understanding. “We’ll find somewhere quiet too then.”

You zipped up your coat and joined him in the snow, backpack on your shoulders. Joel took your hand in his and walked along the side of the road. The houses were far apart from each other, just a few buildings here and there. But every car you both checked either had an empty tank or was unusable ― it seemed like the people from Boston had already ransacked everything in Lincoln.

A few more yards down the round found you in front of a fence.

“That’s weird,” Joel said, his lips twitching with worry.

“What is?” you asked, squeezing his hand tighter.

“Do you hear that?” he quieted down for a second.

Then you heard it: electricity humming.

“Is the fence electrified?” your brows furrowed deeper with your own question.

“Yeah,” Joel whispered, his free hand wrapping around the grip of his gun. “Seems like someone’s made home of these houses.”

You ventured a peek through the fence. It was a small cluster of houses, as if it was a gated community. But there was no one in the street, deserted as the rest of the town.

“Turn around and leave now. Don’t make me shoot,” someone suddenly shouted.

Joel quickly pushed you behind him, gun withdrew. Your heart rushed with the danger you had not seen yet.

Glancing over Joel’s shoulder, you saw another man quite a few feet away on the other side of the fence. He was smaller than Joel, a baseball cap shielding his face. He had a prominent beard and a sturdy build. From what you could guess, he would be in his early forties.

“I won’t say it again. Get the fuck out of here or I’ll kill you both,” the man advanced a few feet, a riffle pointing towards you both.

“Joel, let’s go before he changes his mind and starts shooting,” you pressed him.

Joel looked over his shoulder at you.

“But he may be able to help us. This looks to be well guarded, he’s even got cameras in the perimeter,” he pointed towards one of them in the fence. “Let me talk to him.”

“You sure about this?” you muttered, unsure about how the man would react if asked to let you in. Joel gave you a nod. “Alright, yeah.”

Joel sheathed his gun and raised his hands, facing the man.

“We mean no trouble, sir. We are only looking for a safe place to spend the night,” he appealed.

“I ain’t sharing shit with you two. Get lost,” the man barked back, looking through the peephole of his riffle.

“I swear to God we just want somewhere to sleep for a bit. My partner and I need to rest, and with so many motherfuckers out there, I’m just not sure we can fend them all off on our own. Just one night, that’s all we’re asking.”

Joel was really trying to reason with him, but you could see he was not getting through. And as the back and forth continued between the two men, an idea came to mind. It would mean being vulnerable with someone you didn’t know if you could trust, but if it meant getting off the streets and getting some rest…

“Sir,” you stepped to one side, hands visible so the man would see you had no gun. “Please, this is Joel,” then you introduced yourself. “We’ve just been through the fucking wringer. I had a miscarriage yesterday and I am about to bleed through my fucking jeans,” the words came out choked, and Joel quickly wrapped an arm around your waist, his presence a much-needed reassurance. “I just want somewhere where I can clean myself, change, cry my fucking eyes out and perhaps get a couple of hours of sleep. That’s all we’re asking. Please.”

You were barely able to keep the tears at bay, but you did, albeit with trembling lips. You leaned on Joel for support, and he held you tight to his side. Your eyes were fixed on the other man across the fence, who had gotten a few yards closer now.

He deliberated for two long minutes until he finally put his riffle down.

“Okay. One night and then you’re out,” you sighed with relief, the prospect of some comfort very soothing. “Let me open the gate.”

He reached towards his back and pressed some buttons on a control. A few yards to your right, a screeching noise announced the gate opening.

Joel and you walked towards it, and the moment you were in, the man pressed another button, and the gate closed behind you.

“I’ll need your guns. And knives. Whatever you have, I’ll return it to you tomorrow when you’re on your way,” the stranger rasped.

There was something about him that made you trust him. He seemed to be a good man, although a bit of a crazy prepper with all this technology.

Both of you handed everything to him, except for the hunting knife that Joel kept in his boot. You both knew better than trusting someone blindly.

“I’ll show you to where you can stay tonight,” he motioned his hand forward and both of you followed. “Name’s Bill, by the way.”

“Thank you, Bill,” Joel and you said in unison.

“Do you have something warm to drink?” you asked Bill as you came down the stairs.

He and Joel were waiting in the landing, the tension between both men could be cut with a knife. You could bet that they had not spoken one single word since you were gone to freshen up.

Bill cleared his throat, then grunted a husky “yes” and trudged towards what you assumed was the kitchen.

Joel took your hand in his and walked with you, his movements rigid, uneasy.

“Got tea, coffee, soup.”

For a moment you were overwhelmed with the choices. This man had more commodities than anyone else you had met so far. The house was tidy and warm, clean. He had running hot water, something you had not come across since leaving Chicago. Damn, he even had fucking pads to offer you.

“I’d kill for a black coffee right now,” you admitted, slightly excited with the idea.

Bill’s blue eyes darted to Joel.

“Same thing,” he replied succinctly as you both settled on a couple of chairs around a table. He then turned to you and whispered, “how are you?”

Joel probably had noticed your reddened eyes from crying under the hot stream of water.

“Better. Had a hot shower and took the last painkiller,” you replied in a hush.

“I’ve got some ibuprofen,” Bill said out of nowhere. “I wasn’t eavesdropping, you guys whisper too fucking loud.”

His retort made you smile feebly. Bill reminded you of a cat you had when you were a kid ― the little beast would hiss when approached, snarl like a demon even, but once it knew you, it would not stop purring and asking to be petted. His body language spoke loudly for him ― stiff, almost robotic, as if he had forgotten how to be around other humans. You could tell he was extremely reticent and wary of you, as he should be ― for all he knew, you could be the reincarnation of Bonnie and Clyde. But Bill had this charm about him, as if he couldn’t help himself but offer you some hospitality.

“I mean, if you could give me some before we leave tomorrow, I’d greatly appreciate it, Bill.”

Bill just hmphed before returning his attention to the pot. Soon enough, the air smelled like freshly brewed coffee, and he handed you each a steaming mug. You inhaled the aroma, your eyes closing with delight, before taking a sip.

Bill settled on a chair opposite you, his eyes moving from you to Joel, then back at you. You were sure he was studying you, deciding if you were worth of his reluctant kindness. You wondered how many people he had found stranded at his gate ― had he ever open them to anyone? It didn’t look like it.

“You heading to Boston QZ?”

“Not sure we want to venture that far in. Our idea was to stay in the area until we decide what to do,” Joel explained, holding the mug close to his mouth.

“It’s not the best place, the people I have crossed paths with…” Bill shrugged. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No, we come from Texas. Joel’s from Austin, I come from Houston,” you said before sipping again, the hot liquid burning the tip of your tongue.

“That’s a long fucking way from home,” Bill noted with a frown.

“Tell us about it. It feels like we’ve spent a lifetime on the roads.”

“Bet you do.”

“What about you? Are there any other people here living with you?” you asked curiously, sipping away.

Bill took a moment to reply, his thick brows knitting together.

“It’s only me,” he finally said. “Don’t like company if I can help it.”

You hummed in agreement. “Can’t blame ya. There are monsters out there, and I’m not talking clickers…” you voice eventually died out, remembering the events of yesterday.

Joel squeezed your knee slightly, a reminder that he was still by your side and would always be. Bill must have understood where your mind had drifted off, because he stirred in his seat uncomfortably.

“If you don’t mind me chipping in… I hope those monsters are fucking dead. Doing something like that to someone― fucking hell, hope you’ve killed ‘em.”

“Most of them we have,” Joel said between gritted teeth, taking over the conversation when you fell silent. “Whoever remains, they were not following, if that’s what worries you.”

“Worries me? Nah. I’ve got a fucking arsenal here,” Bill chuckled then snorted, his taut façade momentarily falling before he pulled a composed, deadpan expression again. “Could kill them all before they even got within a mile of my town.”

Joel and you kept the small talk alive for a while, sharing some anecdotes here and there, to get Bill to open up a bit and build some rapport.

At some point he got up and cooked some food too, a proper meal that both of you devoured in under ten minutes. Then helped Bill cleaning up and had another coffee around the table, with a fire lit nearby in the chimney.

“You both go have some rest. I’ll keep watch tonight,” Bill offered when you stood up to retreat to your room upstairs. “You look like you need it more than I do.”

@yesjazzywazzylove-blog @pedrospurplerain @missladym1981 @fancyyoouu

@smolbeanzzz @guelyury @bishtrouille @harriedandharassed

@thepalaceofmelanie @eternallyvenus @theoraekenslover @vickie5446

@hiroikegawa

[onskepa]

Left behind: You promise?

Hellooooooooooo everyone! Now the story will really starts kicking! Hope you guys enjoy this one!

Left behind series

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Third pov

It was like looking at his own dead body. There he was. His twin brother, his other half, dead right before him. Jake found it a bit cruel, his brother studied hard to be in a position to go to another planet, to be with the big science guys. Only to be killed by a simple, pointless crime. 

He didn't want his little girl to see her dead uncle. It would break her heart. It was only a few days ago they all had a cup of coffee and luxury sweets called cookies, did Tommy break the news. That he would be leaving Earth for the ideal planet called pandora. To make connections with life over there. 

It was a bittersweet goodbye since the travel to pandora is 5 years. 

It was best to not tell his little girl that her super smart uncle is dead. Best that she believes he left to space.

Third pov

“I'm sorry, WHAT?” 

“The RDA wants you to take your brother's place and continue what he couldn't even start”

Jake was at a loss. He needed to mourn for his loss but the officials couldnt even give him 5 fucking minutes. 

“The RDA wants me, a crippled ex-marine, to join them? What use would I be to them?” Jake asks, feeling a bit pissed off by the second. 

“More than you know. You see Mr. Sully, your brother was going to join the Avatar program, it is a section of the RDA where scientists use a body that looks like the pandorian natives. Those bodies costs billions of dollars to make. And not being used is a huge waste” one of the officials said, almost in a robotic way. 

“So?” Jake shrugs. 

“You have a 100% accurate DNA of your brothers avatar, they want you to join in the program and do the mission that was given to tommy” 

Jake scoffs. Slamming his fists against the table. 

“You want me to leave this place, leave my kid behind. Mind you, just to get to that planet takes 5 years! 5 years of me being gone away from my kid! The hell is wrong with you?!” he shouted. Jake was ready to leave them and just get back to his home, back to his daughter. 

The two officials looked at each other, having a silent conversation in their eyes. 

“Mr. Sully, I don't think you are in a position to reject this” 

“Oh, why the fuck not?” Jake tilts his head, almost ready to laugh out of his insanity. 

“We know you are financially unstable. Barely scraping by, making a clown of yourself in low cheap bars. Can't even give a good education for your kid. Jake, you are at the bottom of the trash, and even with your useless legs, you can't crawl up. But hear this. If you join the RDA, your daughter will be given the best education we can give her. All employees who work for the RDA, if they have kids, are given the utmost care. School, shelter, a chance in life” 

It was like a spell. 

The more those bastards talk, the more tempting it sounds to jake. 

His kid getting everything he can't provide? School? A warm bed? 

“But…..it's 5 years……10 years to and from…thats….that's too much I would be missing so many years of my kid…” Jake says rather weakly. 

“Oh jake….many parents make the biggest sacrifice to give their kid a better tomorrow. If you truly care for your kid, you leave her behind”  

Jake’s pov

“You are leaving…?” Her voice was weak. 

God damn it this is going to be a lot harder than I thought. 

I accepted the Devil’s offer. I will take my brother's place in exchange for my daughter having a better future. Sad to think it might not have me involved. But there is still time, she is still a baby. By the time I returned she might be a moody teen but still a kid. 

“You are not staying with me daddy?” my little angel asks. Her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes reflecting mine. 

“It won't be forever, baby, just for a little while. Uncle tommy needs my help” 

It took everything for my voice to not shake, my girl is a smart kid, she will sense my heart breaking. 

She crawled on my lap, her little face eager. “I wanna go with you!” she whines. Shaking my head I had to explain to her. 

“I'm sorry baby, but where I am going, kids are not allowed. Too dangerous. Its safe you stay here”. 

“With Miss Morve?” she questions. God I wish. 

“No, Misses Morve is too weak, you will be going to a school that will take good care of you. Doesnt that sound nice? You get to go to school like you always wanted. Make friends and eat all the yummy foods we see on the holograms. Doesn't that sound great?” I do my best to make it sound good. 

But stubbornly, she shakes her head. 

“It's not great! You won't be here! I wanna stay with you! You said it daddy! Sullys stick together!” 

My little girl started to cry her little heart out, and I followed. Hugging her really tight, we cried for a bit. 

“Don't leave me daddy!” she wails out. 

“I won't baby, I will always be with you. It will just be for a little while. It may feel like forever, but I will come back. I promise love” I tried to reassure her. 

Feeling her pull back a bit, I can see her eyes puffy red, tears still flowing out. God, seeing her cry makes my heart ache. My little angel does hold my heart in her hands. 

“You promise?” she asks, holding out her pinky finger. 

I intertwined my pinky finger. 

“I promise. No matter what baby girl, I will come back. Sullys stick together” 

Third pov 

Handing the handlers his child’s only luggage, Jake gives his daughter one last hug. But this hug will be the last for who knows how long. 

Jake’s little girl was crying her soul, not read to really let go at all. Wanting to be with her dad forever and ever. 

“Don't leave me please!!” she begs. This was really hard for Jake. Hard for both of them. And it took jake everything in him to not change his mind. To say no to the RDA, to take back his child and go back home. But this was for her. This was for the little sully girl. To give her everything she could ever want, it required the biggest sacrifice. And that was letting go. 

“I'm not leaving you. I will come back, I promise with my life babygirl” jake says. Giving her so many kisses. 

Sniffling away her tears, his little princess leaps up to give Jake a kiss on the cheek. 

“Be good, ok? Make friends, study hard, and before you know I am back for you” 

But little Sully was still scared. 

“You won't forget about me?” she asks, wanting to make sure her dad won't forget. 

“I could never forget you. My angel, my sunshine in the rain, my little princess "Jake praises. 

Wiping away her tears, his little girl takes a deep breathe. “You promised daddy. Sullys stick together…” she says, her voice shaking. 

“Sullys stick together, forever” 

Third pov 

“And there they go! Off to the beautiful planet Pandora '' the teacher says as she shows to her class the live recording of the RDA employees in the transportation ship leaving the Earth's atmosphere. 

Among the astonished woas of the little ones, little sully was watching the ship with her careful eyes. A small tear leaving her eye. There goes her daddy. But he will come back. He promised. So, if she is a good girl and does everything, her daddy will come back for her. 

He promised. 

Right?

I am so pleased with how it turned out! Tell me what you think! Until next time! See ya!

Like the story? Put your name on the taglist for the next update!

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Taglist:

@boobitchhehe @heart-an0n @justcaptiannoodles @mochacoffeeumai26 @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @skittlebum @teyamsbitch @ratchetprime211 @iwannabeapinkaesthetic

[angelicsjn]

Hi can I request your oc reactions to their gf cheating on them? If you're not comfy with writing cheating then they think you cheated on them but it was an old pic/video

YOUR SEVEN YANDERES.

A N: I won't write cheating, but I will write that there is a miscommunication in it.

A B O U T: They think you cheated, you didn't.

W A R N I N G S: Verbal abuse, of course. Anger and angst.

— ROMAN BEAUREGARD.

Roman is cool and collected. When you come back he's at the table, waiting.

You feel the air around him, and it's cold as he looks at you in scrutiny.

"Is it true?" He asks, leaving you complaining lost. What does that mean?

He shows you his phone, a photo posted on an F1 wag account, and you kissing your ex-boyfriend before you met him.

"Roman, that's my ex." You say, reassuringly. "It's an old photo."

He visibly relaxes before nodding, looking at you appreciatively before calling his manager up, requesting to have to rumour flattened and the photos removed.

He doesn't want to see your ex all over you. You're his now and will be forever.

— LATEN REED.

Laten bangs at your door, and when you open it, he's wild with rage. It's the first time that you've seen him so... serious.

"Who the fuck is it?" He spits your way, even though he wouldnt even think of laying a hand on you, he would to them.

He was out for blood.

"W-who?" You ask, confused and shocked. Also, slightly scared.

"That bastard my friends saw you with today?" He growls, the vein in his neck about to pop.

You begin laughing.

"Laten. That's my childhood friend. He's gay." You laugh even more as he freezes.

"Oh." He mutters. "I thought you were cheating..."

His green eyes look sad now, and as you pull him into a hug, he feels better. All anger is washed away as he stuffs his face into your neck.

— JAE 'NIKO' LEE.

Dear God. He's throwing stuff around. Screaming. Ranting. Raving.

"I could ruin my reputation because of you." - "after everything that we've been through." - "you've fucked me over, you're a waste of fucking time."

He goes off.

He storms out and leaves you to clean everything up. He's gone for days.

He only sees that it's all a lie when he finds out that toxic fans created lies to break you up, only then does he back with his tail wagging between his legs like a sad puppy.

— KAIDAN WOLFE.

It's not even true, but his delusional all would believe it was fake even if it wasn't.

You could have fucked his best friend and he wouldn't believe it. Even with proof of it.

"It's okay, baby." He smiles. "I know it's all fake." And he asks them to remove it because it's all fake.

He might even make a story about to, trying to stop others from ruining your perfect and healthy relationship.

— HAYDEN WEST.

He damn near has a heart attack.

He loses his mind over it. Does he tell you, ask you? What if what he saw was real, wasn't just in his head? Is it best not to say so he doesn't get hurt?

Then he blurts it out a few days after, "I saw you with someone the other day... are you, like..."

"Cheating?" You ask with a laugh. He looks mortified as if you confirmed it.

"Come on, Hayden. You know I love you." You press a kiss against his lips before laughing, "he asked me to help him study, that's all. It's nothing."

He worries, still, after that. The guy is better than him in every way — maybe not academically... but still!

He plays sports, is good-looking, is popular, is funny, talented, and he's the whole package. Why wouldn't you like him.

What was his name again? Oh.. yeah. Laten Reed...

— JOSHUA WHITE.

Loyalty is a big thing for him. So he asks you straight up, sort of like Roman, really. Just more worried as his voice wobbles.

"Are you cheating?" He asks gently with a worrisome crease in his forehead.

He provides the 'proof' and hears you out.

You actually have a lovely conversation where he thanks you for being honest and for being able to communicate with him, and of course you're happy and relieved that he didn't blow up over it.

— BLAKE CROSS.

Blake sees red. Actually, no. Black. He full on loses his shit.

"Do you know who I fucking am, huh?" He seeths. His fists clench the collar of the guys shirt, and you attempt to pull him away.

"Fucking come near what's mine again and I'll fucking kill you, go it?" He pushes the guy against the wall, his head hitting off of it with a thud as Blake rips away his hands in anger.

Looking your way, he looks like a completely different person. His eyes, usually a warm brown, are now black, and his features are hardened in marble.

"Are you fucking that piece of shit?" His tone cuts into you as he backs you up against the wall. You see the lingering of betrayal in his eyes.

"No, no. Blake. He's doing a project with me." You shake your head and even though you're scared, you know that he wouldnt ever hurt you.

His eyes closes as he rips at his hair in frustration, "fuck! Are you telling the truth. Don't lie to me."

Suddenly, he looks as if he's about to burst into tears. You pull his hands from his hair and kiss his knuckles before nodding.

"Fuck," he whispers. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I dont want to lose you..." he shakes his head, his eyes brimming with emotion.

"Especially to some guy that smells of cheap aftershave and wears 100% polyester clothing, that's disgusting..." he laughs a little, attempting to brighten the mood — he meant it, though.

[tnt-kokoo]

Savior

Arthur Morgan × fem!reader

summary: You're a biologist explorering the nature. But sadly the nature was mean and had you in an wolf's attack involved. Luckily your savior Arthur Morgan was there to help.

warnings: wolf attack, guns mentioned, knife mentioned, I can't write accents, dead aninal mentioned; English isn't my first language; rushed kinda

Crouching down, you cut a piece of the plants growing on the ground. After so much time spend on your discoveries, you were sure you were able to go back home soon. Sure, you were happy to live your dream but this area sure was dangerous.

____________________________________________

Walking back to your makeshift camp, you were ready to to write your report of the day. But the second you stepped close to your camp, you noticed it was ruined.

Tend ripped apart, conserves broken, your journal... gone??

Confusion turned into worry and that worry turned into fear when the hungry growling of a group of wolf's was heard behind you.

'Oh no..'

You quickly grabbed the revolver stuffed into your holster. You didn't have to think twice to shoot and scare two wolf's slightly to make them step back. Suddenly though, another wolf came from your ride side and jumped on you. Your revolver slid away from you and your only hope was your strength pushing the hungry wolf away.

Looking around, you searched for a weapon and there it was. A knife.

But if you were to remove your arm of the wolf above you, you were to lose this fight. And that's what the other two wolf's realized as well because the second you saw the knife, another wolf was about to jump on you as well. Lucky for you, it dropped dead on the ground right next to you with a single shot echoing in the forest.

That sound made the animal above you confused and that's when you made the decision to grab the knife and hit the wild beast over your body. With a whine it ran away and you were now breathing out your anxiety.

Silently thanking your savior.

"..You alright, miss?" A gruffy voice asked.

Looking up, you saw a hand teaching down to help you up and you took that hand.

"Yea, I was just not expecting that attack I guess." You smiled thankful, that this wasn't your last day.

"Well your camp looks ravished, you need help, miss....?"

"Y/n L/n, biologist. And you are?" You questioned teasingly despite your situation.

"Arthur Morgan, a normal guy."

____________________________________________

After Arthur helped you look for still intact things in your camp, you slowly lost hope for your journal to be still in one piece.

The man noticed your melancholic thought and wondered out loud, "What's making you so sad, Miss L/n?"

"You can call me Y/n and I think the wolf's have my journal, that I've worked on for forever." Frustrated with the situation you didn't even care that much about your tent having holes or your food being gone.

"What if we go search for it, Y/n?" He asked and you nodded thankfully. With whatever left of hope, you agreed to go with Arthur.

He held out his hand from above you in the saddle, as you took his hand, it felt like before when he pulled you if the ground.

"So? How do your journal look like?"

"Its a brown-reddish book with a small deer on the front cover and a charm hanging down on a cord as a bookmark."

____________________________________________

Time passed and the sun began to set. Your hope now completely gone as you now only wished to rest.

"I think we should stop searching. We ain't gonna find the journal in the dark."

You agreed and searched for a good place to set up Arthurs tent. Unsure if you were welcomed to sleep in the temporary camp, you awkwardly stood by the side.

"You gonna get in the tent or do you wanna sleep outside, Missy?"

"Uhm.. sleep outside?"

"Well too bad you don't have a choice. Go sleep in my tent." He joked. As serious as Arthur looked like, he sure knew how to be sarcastic.

"Well damn, why you gotta be so nice to me? You don't know me?"

"I know enough to know that your own tent is gone!" He argued. Still managing to sound sarcastic though.

"Why don't you just lay with me in the tent? I'd feel bad if you weren't." "...Fine" Arthur looked down and sighs but nonetheless agrees.

____________________________________________

As you both lie down inside the tent the awkward phase began to hit. You turned around not wanting to deal with that.

As you closed your eyes, you heared a husky voice quietly ask you, "What is this journal to you?"

The question wandered around in your brain before you gave your answer, "In that journal I've written down everything I've discovered. I've worked so hard to prove to those privileged men that I can be a biologist as well. But now, I bet these damn men will laugh when I come back home empty handed..." Your frustration was visible in your voice. You didn't needed to look at Arthur, for him to realize that you really needed your book back.

Arthur didn't say anything anymore and took a look at you. Slowly letting sleep consume you.

____________________________________________

Waking up with much more place to move around, you already knew that your temporar companion was not inside the tent anymore.

Once you made your way out of the tent, you saw the man sitting infront of the fire, cooking some meat that you guessed belonged to the cut-up animal next to him. He most likely went out early to hunt.

"Thank you for letting me stay the night, Arthur."

Your voice made Arthur aware that you woke up and offered you the meat that is already done cooked. "Have some,"

You took it and and started eating away as the man continued, "I've found your journal I think."

He then pulls out the book you've worked on for the past months and you gasp in surprise.

"These beasts were not willing to let go of it" He then jokes, showing a few cuts and bites on his arms.

Instead of taking the journal out of his hands, you search for some alcohol.

"I knew you'd be happy but 'ya already going to celebrate with alcohol?" He teased.

"Yes- wait what no??" You sit down next to him, "I want to clean your wounds but you don't seem to have any bandages or so around here" worry audible in your voice.

"It's gonna sting a bit."

____________________________________________

"Stay safe now, miss L/n" Artbur said as the train behind you was waiting for you.

Now that you had your journal back, you finally could go back home. Just sadly, it so meant to say goodbye.

Without thinking, you suddenly ran down the stairs of the train to Arthur and reached up to give him a small kiss on his cheek. A surprised look on his face as you could only ran back to the train to catch it in time.

"Goodbye Arthur, I hope we will see eachother again soon!"

____________________________________________

'I met somebody. An interesting girl, might I add.

She was a biologist working to show men how smart she is. Now she's gone to prove them she can do as good as them- or even better.

I've read through her notes and was impressed at how good and precise they were, some things even surprised me!

I can't lie, she was a beautiful women that I hope to see again. I mean, I do have to repay her with that sneaky kiss she gave me right before departing.'

Arthur wrote down on a page in his own journal, next to a whole page of a portrait of you smiling. He liked looking at it, it made him smile as well.

[majoryeager104]

𝔏𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔢

004

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕

“𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑．“ － 𝑐． 𝑠． 𝑙．

Summary: an au where Touya was taken into custody after his initial fight with Shoto. After you move him in, Touya begins to attempt to settle in his new arrangements.

Warnings: Language, mentions of blood, depression if you squint

Touya Todoroki x gn!childhood friend reader

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Touya tried very, very hard to get along with everyone, he really did. But he couldn’t help but try to distance himself, whether that be through locking himself away in his room all day, or not saying a single word at the dinner table. It was hard, really, not speaking to the people he loved. He even ignored you to an extent. His guilt, shame, and anger seemed to outweigh his feelings about anything and everything.

But the more he ignored you all, the harder it got. Sitting in his room all day was beyond boring, and usually left him feeling worse than he initially did. It all made him realize how…terrible he was, inside and out. After the first week, the mirror in his room was gone, shattered glass in the trash can, and little specks of blood on the carpet. You tried to ask him what happened, but he just pouted and didn’t reply, crossing his arms to hide his scratched up hands. You sighed, sitting next to him on the twin sized bed, the only kind you could afford after the move.

“Touya…please talk to me”

You practically whispered it in his ear, your gentle fingers carding through his white hair, your breath tickling his ear. He almost answered. Almost. But instead he just looked away, like he always did, his blue eyes focusing on the floor. You sighed, tightening your lips into a groin as you looked down as well, but to his covered hands. You put your hand on his arm, and gently tugged his hand out into the open, leaving him frowning at the floor as you analyzed the cuts with a sad expression on your face.

He didn’t want to look at you. He couldn’t. Not after the things he’d done, which every day felt more and more unbearable. Not after the way he’d broken that damn mirror that you’d spent money for him to have, he felt like such a burden. And so he frowned at the floor, not looking at you even as you quietly wrapped his cut up hand in bandages.

It had been so long since the two of you had really, spoken, let alone touched. Not since he was in the hospital, and you’d kissed his forehead, had he really felt like you two were still together. He still thought back to that moment almost two weeks later, the memory making his expression relax, if only a little.

So when you finished wrapping his hands in bandages, and kissed his cheek before walking out, you’d be damn sure he’d be thinking about that forever too.

He watched you leave, his frown dissipating even as you shut the door. Did you still love him? Or were you doing this to make him feel better? Or both? He wasn’t sure, but as he fidgeted his sore fingers, he felt something in his mind shift a bit, he just wasn’t sure what.

—later—

Touya was still lost in thought when a gentle knock rapped against his door. He blinked, looking up. Were you back? “Come in” he grumbled, looking back down as if trying to act like he didn’t want to see you, even though he damn well did. But as the door creaked open and his eyes drifted up, he couldn’t help but regret the invitation.

“Hello, Touya”

Shoto’s quiet voice sliced through his thoughts. He watched through narrow eyes as his little brother quietly shut the door and sat down on the twin sized bed.

“can we talk-?”

“no.”

Shoto looked over at him, that sad, distant look in his eyes that he always got when he was thinking about something.

“you don’t have to say anything… i just want to tell you about my day…”

He said quietly again, leading Touya to finally sit up a bit, saying nothing. Shoto’s shoulders slumped, but he continued to speak, taking Touya’s movement as a sign that he’d let him stay.

“school was good today, it’s nice getting back into a routine now that the war is over. We did combat training, and my friend Iida and I were practicing a team move that we’d used a while back…”

Shoto continued, his voice soft, as if worried that if he spoke too loud, he’d scare Touya away, like a cat, or maybe a bird. Touya sat in silence, staring at him with those unreadable eyes of his.

“I tried a new soba place with my friends…that’s my favorite food, and it was nice”

Something flickered across Touyas face for a moment, but Shoto didn’t seem to catch it.

“mom told me soba was your favorite too…maybe one day i could take you there and we can-”

“get out.”

Shoto blinked up at him, his expression shifting as he looked at his big brother. Touya remained cold, his eyes still narrowed at Shoto as he spoke again, his voice gruff and hoarse.

“don’t make me repeat myself. Leave.”

Shoto stared at him for a moment, before nodding and quietly leaving. He went to close the door behind him, but stopped for a moment, looking back at Touya.

“thanks for letting me talk to you, i enjoyed your company…”

It was true. Shoto really wanted nothing more than to get to know his big brother, even if those feelings weren’t reciprocated.

as the door clicked shut, Touya snarled at the blank wall in front of him, his eyes darting to find something he could throw, or burn, or anything. Something to take this burning feeling out on. He hated it.

and yet, he found nothing, instead staring at the blank wall like he usually did, waiting for another visit that he’d inevitably turn away, because rejecting help seemed like the only thing he was good at.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

𝚃𝚊𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 <𝟹 @greenmanshoe @shaunarcanine @sugurusmoon @hktfbuo

[strongheartneteyam]

I wet you like water but she stained you like blood.

Pairing: widowed!dilf!jake sully x younger!female!human!reader

CW: slight sexual language, can be triggering to some, heartbreak, age gap kink, hurt/no comfort, age gap relationship problems, angst, reader reminiscing (pls tell me if I missed anything) 

So, yeah... I never know when I'm gonna come back with another writing. My hiatus n working periods are all a bit unpredictable lol sorry. Anyways... I literally spent the whole night awake n I was struck by a sudden lightning of creativity early in the morning and I edited this chapter n wrote a bit more, but I still haven't slept at all, so, I apologize if some parts of this make no sense at all. I'll fix it when I can. Hope you guys like it <3 ily guys a whole lot :)) obs: this chapter is a shorter one.

Slightly proofread.

Chapter 4 𓆩♡𓆪

They say all's well that ends well

But I'm in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind

You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would've been fine

And that made me want to die

The idea you had of me, who was she?

A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you

All Too Well - 10 minutes Version (Taylor Swift)

𓆩♡𓆪

It had been 1 year since the last time you saw Jacob Sully. Or Jakey, like you used to call him. The wound never healed. It still throbbed and bled every time you remembered the words he told you that dreadful day. "I think we should stop seeing each other." It felt like you would never get over him. How can one get over such an overpowering, raw feeling? He marked you forever, like a bruise that seemed to never disappear from your skin.

The flashback came like thunder in a storm, haunting your thoughts with a loud pain that echoed through your mind. What you told Jake that night.

“The truth is I love you. The truth is I can't take this anymore. I'm giving you my everything but you don't seem to be doing the same. You're still guarded.” There was a tense period of silence “Jake… I love you. But I don't think you feel the same.”

Maybe you shouldn't have said anything. Maybe if you had kept your mouth shut, he would still be with you.

Ugh!! Stop that, now, (y/n)! Some self love, please? You're better than this. You deserve better.

You tried to convince yourself of that, at least.

The pain was unbearable at times and almost easy to conceal at other times. It depended on how distracted with work or your studies you were. These days you ran to any distraction that could ease the perpetual angst that squeezed your heart inside its hands all the fucking time. It had been like that ever since Jake left you. What were you expecting anyway? You should have known you were never truly loved by Jake. The love of his life was Neytiri and it would always be, alive and walking through Pandora or dead and with Eywa.

It felt beyond weird to have to hear people talking about Jake and have to pretend he was a stranger to you, someone you barely knew, when he had actually left a mark so strong on you, a memory ingrained in your brain, a feeling, a pain buried inside your heart that made you want to scream and hit your head against a wall. That's how much it hurt.

You would never have his body against yours again, warming you up when it was cold, after you spent the whole day in that damn lab, studying Pandoran plants but all you could really concentrate on was how much you missed his reassuring, protective presence. He made you feel safe for the first time in your life. But now he is gone. Just like every single good thing you ever had in your life. But you know what? Maybe your mother was right, maybe love wasn't really something that could ever last forever.

Did Jake ever really make a real effort to be with you? Thinking back, it was extremely easy for him to just come to you and fuck you anytime he felt sad and lonely. What if you had just been a naive, dumb girl all this time? Were you mourning a love that never actually existed? It was always so hard to talk to him about his feelings for you, he never actually let you in, to be honest. All the time you two spent together, you were never able to know if he ever saw you as a partner or just a fuck buddy. 

Oh, but the high… it was worth all the lows. The butterflies in your stomach every time you guys were almost caught fucking in the back of your work room by Norm. Eventually you guys had to tell him about your situationship because, oh well… he already knew what was going on, really. Norm is not a fool or a child. He could add 2 plus 2.

The adrenaline was worth all the tears. And, fuck… you would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

𓆩♡𓆪

Taglist:

@aonungsoneandonly

@coldbabyheroin

@fairyyrosee

@myh3artttt

@explosiongamora

@ufiy

@yeosxxx

@happyyappysworld

@avatar4eva

@henhouse-horrors

@jakesullyfatjuicypeen

@fujimoribaby

@layla2-49

@zoetrope1997

@yeosxxx

@luvv4j4ybe11

@bakugouswaif

@slytherdor01

[wonnieluvr]

forever with you

pairing -> grayson hawthorne x fem!reader

summary -> you break off your current relationship for grayson hawthorne, a past love. logically, you know you shouldn't but the heart wants what it wants.

warnings -> none :)

a/n -> some fluff for my love finally !! pt 3 of photographs of you and thinking of you

seeing grayson again had not been in your plans. at all. you didn't know how you were supposed to explain any of what had happened to your family or to your date. your boyfriend. it wasn't an engagement you had really wanted, just something that would put you a step further ahead in life and he was nice, he treated you well.

but he wasn't grayson. he wasn't your grayson.

that shouldn't have mattered, you mother reminded you harshly the minute word of your meeting reached your family. as you had returned to the gala your mother immediately cut in, having heard grayson's name, warning you not to make any rash decisions.

was it really a rash decision if you had been waiting years for a moment like this?

your date had quickly noticed the change in demeanour. he was swift to pull you away.

as you danced in a room full of people, it should have been him on your mind. he, who was touching you, holding you gently and dancing with you carefully. but it wasn't. no matter how hard you tried it wouldn't ever be.

"you love him" the words had startled you, but they weren't untrue. your boyfriend offered you a small smile, bittersweet and so understanding. you hated it. hated the way you had never fallen for one another. maybe then you would have had no trouble. it might have been simple. you had shared stories of those you had truly loved, first loves gone wrong. you had bonded over that. the hurt.

and here you were now, selfishly considering your second chance while he was stuck without one. "darling, you love him. you can't do anything about that" he dipped you softly, eyes saying everything as you stared at each other. "it's okay"

your eyes begun to water for the second time that night. "i can't do that to you" your voice was full of pain and sadness as you stood straight again. "i don't know if i can do this"

"stop it" he chided softly, brushing your hair back into place as you both paused in your dance. "you would tell me to take my chance if she came back to me. so, i'm doing the same for you. you deserve to be happy. it's okay"

your shoulders dropped slightly, pained and fighting your raging emotions. "but i-"

"sh, go to him" he held your cheeks in his hands for a moment, gently caressing your face, admiring your beauty. "but if he breaks your heart again, i don't care who he is i will kick his ass"

you laughed softly, humourless. you couldn't help the way your heart filled with such great sadness for the boy you had come to spend so much time with. but your grayson was waiting, the same way you had been these past years. you had a chance and you'd be damned if you didn't take it.

you had cursed the hawthorne boy for years. you had harboured hate for the whole family after what they had said to you. you loved gray, yes but it wasn't going to heal those wounds over night. breaking off your relationship for him was something your parents advised against, very strongly when you had told them what you were doing. your mother had tried to dissuade you, remind you off their cruel words, the way they had treated you.

"i can't just give up. i have to try, i love him" you had pleaded. they had shaken their heads but they understood what this meant to you. they had hated seeing their little girl so hurt but they couldn't deny the happiness that had come before that. the way life shone in you when you had been with grayson was something they had never seen since.

it was worth the chance if you believed it was.

you met with grayson a week later. both of you were nervous, unsure of what to say to one another. you had barely ever seen this side of gray, the one who worried and fretted, the one who cared so openly.

while he had shared smiles and murmured words of love to you he had never really showed you himself. he had never been brave enough to truly let you in. and now he was.

he stood before you now, normally steady hands holding out flowers to you with a slight tremor to them. he had shown up at your door, sudden but expected, with the hopes of rekindling your relationship.

"gray" you breathed out, eyes widening when you opened your door to his figure. he wore a suit, as usual, but no matter how many times you saw him, he never failed to make your heart flutter. "hi"

you offered him a small smile, neither of you knowing how to proceed.

he stared at you for a moment longer before he blinked slowly, coming back to reality.

"hello, these are for you" he spoke softly, he had never used the hawthorne tone with you. even if he did, you would never have needed him to. he only needed to ask and you would have done anything he wanted.

"thank you, they're beautiful" you ignored the heat in your cheeks as you took the bouquet from him, fingers brushing his. you disappeared inside for a moment, putting them away in a vase and grabbing your bag before returning to the door.

"shall we?" you asked, trying to appear more confident than you felt.

if he noticed your nervousness he didn't mention it, merely holding an arm out to you, leading you to the car. he was tense, you noted. he knew it would take more than flowers to win you over again. and he was desperate to win you over.

"where are we going?" you asked, once you were both seated in the car, buckling your seatbelt up before properly turning to him. he was already looking at you, gaze soft.

"where would you like to go?"

with anyone else you would have frowned. you would have taken that as a cop out, a hint that he didn't know you and that he hadn't put the proper effort in to make the date special.

but this was grayson. grayson who bled power and control. he had a plan for everything and he had always had backups. he was giving that control to you.

you smiled softly, a memory coming to mind immediately as you glanced out the window to take in the weather.

a storm was coming despite the heat.

"what about the beach?"

the scene between you two was exactly like that of when you had visited last. it was the same beach you remembered, practically empty as a summer storm threatened the peace. the wind whistled in the quiet, as you walked side by side.

neither of you spoke for moment before you found yourselves in a familiar alcove. you smiled at the memory, warmth filling you despite the cold sea breeze.

"do you remember?" you turned to the tall boy beside you. he, once again, already had his eyes on you, watching you walk. you could practically see the two of you in his eyes, the same colour of the sea as you had unknowingly posed for his camera back then.

"how could i forget?" he whispered quietly, his hand reaching out for your face, pausing before he could actually touch you.

you didn't speak, breath catching in your throat as you stared into his eyes. you felt like you were back there again. back when everything had been fine, when there was nothing holding you back.

"i'm sorry" his expression twisted, lips forming a frown as he glanced away. his hand dropped away from you. he didn't deserve to hold you, to love you. "i hurt you and i-"

"stop" you shook your head, taking his hand in yours, gently squeezing it. the sensation was as familiar as it was foreign. "you are not your family, gray. i'm here for you not them. yes, you hurt me when you didn't say anything but i know how much pressure you're under"

"that's not an excuse-" he begun again, hand clinging to yours.

"i'm not saying it is" you grinned a cheeky smile, trying to lighten the mood. "you have a lot of making up to do"

he just blinked at you, mind running rampant with ways he could possibly do that. your grin only widened as you spoke your next words.

"you can start with giving me a kiss" you reached your free hand up to tap your lips, puckering them playfully and awaiting his move.

he didn't stay frozen for much longer, how could he ever refuse you? he let his own smile grow as he leaned down to capture your lips in a sweet kiss.

he pulled back first, but he couldn't move far, your arms coming up to wrap around his neck, holding him close. his hands automatically moved to your waist.

"i have a few more requests to make before i can forgive you" you announced into the centimetres between you. "but i think i need a few more kisses first"

he released a small laugh, eyes shining as he watched your lips move. "is that so?" he hummed, dipping down again to press his mouth to yours. he paused before he could, murmuring lowly. "and how long do i have to complete these requests, darling?"

"forever, gray"

-

the hawthorne empire's heir, grayson hawthorne, is rumoured to be dating. find out more here.

"well, shit"

[adhdzagreus]

curtain call

The Mechanisms are uncharacteristically quiet as they walk off the stage. Even Jonny doesn’t know what to say as the remaining eight space pirates file into the dressing room of the venue they booked for their last ever show on Earth. 

The first one to break the silence is the Toy Soldier who sniffles, gasps tremulously, and then wails, “Is all that really going to happen? With the—the black holes and the bar fights and the octokittens and everything?” 

Jonny stifles a groan. This is exactly why he’d locked it out in the first place. What’s going to happen is what’s going to happen, and they all might as well accept it. 

To make matters worse, the Toy Soldier’s sniffling has set off some of the more sensitive Mechanisms. Ivy pats it on the shoulder with a forlorn look, eyes glassy with unshed tears, and Marius’ fragile expression suggests that if Ivy starts crying, he’ll follow suit. 

Tim has his arm around Ashes’ waist, as if worried they might disappear, and though his metal eyes betray no sadness, the firm set of his mouth worries Jonny more than anything else. 

“The odds of us changing the future now that it’s been written are over three hundred million to one,” Ivy says sadly. “It’s statistically impossible that we will live forever.” 

“B-b-but we have so many more songs left to sing!” the Toy Soldier weeps. “Tales to tell! Wars to wage!” 

“And we will,” Jonny says shortly. “None of us are instantly about to keel over, are we?” 

“N-no?” the Toy Soldier says. 

“Everyone seems in decent health to me,” Marius says quietly. He holds Ivy’s hand in both of his. 

“So don’t worry about it,” Jonny says. 

“That’s easy for you to say,” Marius says. “You’re not dying for another millennia. I could get eaten by octokittens tomorrow.” 

Jonny’s stomach twists, and he wrenches his mouth open to retort, but someone interrupts him. 

“No,” Raphaella says sharply. “You will not. We know for a fact that we each die alone. I’m not letting you out of my sight, and you’re certainly not going to check on the octokittens any time soon. I’m planning to have Ivy feed them when we arrive back at the ship.” 

“It’s not the same now that I know they eat Marius,” Ivy sniffles. 

Marius’s expression shatters. “Don’t hold it against them, Ivy! They’re just hungry! They can’t help it! Don’t be sad!” he pleads. 

Jonny feels sick as Ivy starts to cry harder, expounding on the hunting habits of felines, which only makes Marius more upset. He throws himself into a chair and starts taking his makeup off with a wet wipe, trying and failing to ignore them as Raphaella attempts to comfort them both. 

“You’re being awfully callous about all this,” Tim says, still with one arm around a stony-faced Ashes. Brian and the Toy Soldier have joined the fray, and Brian’s platitudes about everything coming to an end in time are almost as unhelpful as the Toy Soldier’s weeping and wailing. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jonny snaps.

“Well, you could at least pretend to be sad like the rest of us,” Tim says. “I know you’re all excited to die, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are.” 

“God damn it, Tim,” Jonny snaps, throwing the wet wipe on the floor. “You think I’m not sad?” 

“You’re not acting like it,” Tim replies. “Marius had a point. You’ve got a run-up and a death you’re looking forward to. Ashes here could go at any time.”

“Hey, babe, don’t bring me into this,” Ashes mumbles. 

“Am I wrong?” Tim says. 

“Yeah, you fucking are wrong!” Jonny shouts. “You think I want to die alone in some backwater asteroid bar centuries after the rest of you are gone? Yeah, I’m excited to die, but that doesn’t mean I want to watch the rest of you disappear first!” 

The rest of the dressing room falls quiet, and Jonny realizes belatedly that he was shouting. Worse, he feels tears in his eyes, and he scrubs at them angrily, smearing the remains of his face paint. 

“Oh,” Gunpowder Tim says. “I guess I didn’t think about that.” 

“You choose how you go out,” Jonny says. “I have to wait until it finally decides to fucking stick. You know how many times I’ve been stabbed in the heart? I could go start a barfight on an asteroid tomorrow, but I guarantee it won’t stick.”

“All the same,” Tim says quietly. “I’d prefer you didn’t risk it.” 

“And I’d prefer you wore your fucking seatbelt, but we don’t get to choose, now do we?” Jonny says. 

Tim flinches, and Ashes frowns at Jonny who takes a deep, shuddering breath. 

“I—I mean. I don’t want you to die either,” he says. “But we have to die s-sooner or later. And I don’t want to waste whatever time we have left crying about it.” 

Despite this, tears are dripping from his eyes as he speaks, flowing faster than he can scrub them away. No one says another for a long moment, but he feels the eyes of several of his crewmates on him. 

“C’mere, you mean ol’ bastard,” Ashes says. They spread the arm not curled around Tim’s waist and gesture for him to approach. 

“What?” Jonny says, standing up and shuffling closer. 

Ashes crushes him to their chest in a one-armed hug, and Jonny breaks and grabs both Ashes and Tim as best he can. Before he can recover, he feels someone else wrap their arms around him from behind, and before he can protest, he’s at the center of a tangled mass of weeping space pirates—colloquially known as a group hug. 

It’s awkward with so much metal and wood and weapons, but Jonny can’t even pretend to be annoyed by it. He’s too focused on not breaking down into sobs. He’ll be damned if he lets his crew see him cry anymore than they already have. 

“I love you all very much,” the Toy Soldier says happily. “Best space pirate crew ever.” 

Jonny rolls his eyes and sobs silently. Hopefully, buried as he is in a mass of bodies, no one will notice. 

“Well, now that that’s been dealt with,” DrumBot Brian says, “I would like to return to the Aurora. I am concerned our parking pass has expired.” 

Jonny sighs. “Fine, but you stay away from the damn airlock.”

“Your concern is touching and noted,” says the DrumBot. 

The Mechanisms disperse and hurriedly gather up their things. Jonny lovingly coils up his microphone and tucks it safely away, and the band of space pirates begin to make their way back to the Aurora and off to destinations unknown. 

[hifugoro]

Picturing Ren eventually distancing himself from Akechi after accepting Maruki’s deal.. Picturing him weighing the idea of them not being friends anymore in his head the night of 2/2—since he figures that Akechi wouldn’t want to—and slowly becoming more resolute to do it himself after seeing Akechi back to detective prince mode….

“Have your regrets begun?” is a scalding line in it’s own context of Akechi being gone but I think it applies twice as much in this scenario. Is Akechi really happy here? Was his TV persona drawing upon a place of real joy, or is this Maruki’s vision of a Happy Goro Akechi? Or, worse, Akechi had an OkumuraMadarame™ pulled on him. Ren’s wish was granted before he spent any time with the “real” Akechi (in quotes because I have other unrelated thoughts on his behavior during 3rd semester) in a way that didn’t end with one of them dying. Therefore it’s an admittedly reasonable assumption that those feelings of closeness came solely from Akechi’s other personality. There’s also the Vey Important dialogue with Maruki where Ren can say his heart aches when he gets betrayed. And I mean. You know.

So, let’s switch him back to the polite Akechi who would never betray anyone. He’s alive because Maruki wants him to live a good life as well, sure, but him being here was Ren’s wish. As messed up as it is it’s pretty obvious who comes first and foremost. Maruki thinks all happiness is real, even if it means entirely destroying who you are, anyway.

And I don’t think Ren would be able to come to terms with that. He’d try to reason it with himself for the first few weeks (maybe Akechi didn’t really think he was too unlovable to show any real parts of himself to the public. maybe this is genuine) but it wouldn’t work in the end. It doesn’t help that Akechi hadn’t even been angry when he said their deal was off, he just looked hurt. Acting like nothing is wrong after betraying someone like that, whether they remember or not, just isn’t something Ren could do forever.

So he doesn’t. He stops going to see him. Stops returning Akechi’s texts. Doesn’t reply to the follow up texts of Akechi being confused as to why they suddenly aren’t speaking anymore. He can’t even imagine going to the jazz club, the real Akechi’s safe haven, after everything is finished. The other thieves may talk about Akechi from time to time since they’re all friends now, which hurts him to hear, but guilt can’t be outweighed that easily.

Damning the entire world to save one person who didn’t even want to be saved is a selfish action born entirely of Ren’s own feelings towards letting Akechi die again. Does following that up with a selfless one—letting him drift away even if he desperately wants to reach out, because Ren knows Akechi wouldn’t realistically forgive him for taking the deal—cancel it out? Does it make anything better? Does it matter?

And at the end of the day, Akechi’s pain over losing the closest relationship he has likely wouldn’t even last. Sadness doesn’t mean anything here. After a while, Ren probably won’t even be missed. Maybe he realizes that this is the case and commits to it anyway. A roundabout apology for something Akechi doesn’t even know he did

[rogueshadow1124]

DEADLY SILENT

[BATFAMILY IMAGINE SERIES]

Platonic¡Jason Todd x Batsis!Reader, slight platonic¡Dick Grayson x Batsis!Reader

Summary: Over a year ago to this day Jason died, his younger sister found him at the scene but was too late to be able to stop his death- she ended up blaming herself and vowed to visit his grave...

Word count: roughly 1805

Warning: mature language, mentions weapons/some violence.

The youngest Wayne, strolled through the graveyard that was set a light by the neutral tones that seeped out of the lampposts nearby. Y/N made this a weekly occurrence, she couldnt seem to push away the thought of her older brother not being here anymore, she couldnt come to terms with the fact that he was indeed gone.

She came to a stop at the grave she visited everytime she had a chance to. Jason Todd, a loving brother and son forever in our hearts and never to be forgotten, 1990-2012. Y/N had always admired her older brothers but more so Jason as they were the closest and had a similar persona, when she found out he died a year ago to this day she completely broke and nobody knew for sure if she could be fixed.

"Its been a year Jay, a whole goddamn fucking year." The girl dropped to her knees, reaching towards the ga stone to set a hand upon it. "I'm hurting Jaybird, everything hurts so much and I dont know how to stop the pain. I dont even think its curable, I'm broken, I've become a unrecognizable person." Her head dropped, tears seeped out of her eyes and dripped down the curve of her cheek, trailing down her neck. "Dick said I needed to speak to someone, maybe a therapist but I refused. Bruce- he's given up. Alfred's trying to keep us together but it's not working. We need you- I need you."

A buzzing echoed through the air as her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, she let out a heavy breath while reaching down to grasp it and see that Dick was calling. Her thumb swiped across the screen to accept the call before pulling it up to her ear.

"Y/N/N where are you?" His voice rumbled through the other end of the device, he sounded panicked yet calm at the same time.

"Dont worry Dick I'm not gonna do anything stupid okay I'm just doing a usual weekly round, I need space, I need you all to stop treating like I'm still a child and let me mourn in my own damn way. I can handle myself, maybe it doesnt seem like it but I'm still here arent I?" She let out a sob at the end, her hands shaking as she let out a laboured breath this time, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm herself.

"Y/N can you come back home, theres something really important we need to discuss..."

"What part of 'I need to be alone' dont you understand Richard?" She heard her brother sigh on before the sound of a few things being knocked over and then Bruce scolding someone in a hushed tone. "I'm going now."

"No, wait. Y/N!" She ended the call, placing her phone back in her pocket. Her head tilted back up to look at the grave infront of her, her thoughts ran wild in her head as she tried to figure what she could possibly say next. In reality she was speaking to nobody, there was nothing but silence but she felt a huge amount of relief lift from her when she 'spoke' to Jason.

Her eyes then narrowed in frustration, hands coming up to tug at her hair while more tears blurred her vision and suffocated the soft surface of her face. Small, audiable cries passed her lips in distress and sadness, her body shaking from her crying and the slight chill of the cool midnight air that flew within the atmosphere.

Y/N hated the feeling of loneliness. With Jason being gone that's exactly how she felt, sure she had her other brother but Jason was the one she confided in, he was her protector. He reassured her, he was her shoulder to cry on, he was her rock and without her rock she had nothing to go back to, to lean on when she needed comfort-

She pushed herself up to stand on her feet, looking down at the gravestone before spinning on her heel and speeding down the narrow paths. Her hands came up to pull the hood of her jacket over her head, trailing down to slip into her pockets that were the only source of heat to radiate through her hands to stop them from becoming numb on this cold night.

The cars whizzed passed on the Gotham roads, horns blaring and tires screeching as they sped by.

Y/N only ever came out at night, it was a time where she could set free from her mind- not fully but it was relieving while it lasted. She hated the silence that surrounded her daily, though she all but loved it at the same time. When it was silent she would drown in her own thoughts however if someone broke the silence they would ask the same questions and suggest what could help her.

A hand shout out from her left, hauling her into an alleyway. She yelped at the sudden force, her back cracked slightly when she was slammed into the brick wall behind her making a groan slip from her lips. Her deep blue orbs, that now seemed to be duller than ever peered up at the attacker- dressed in fully back and had a light grey mask covering their face.

"Y/N Wayne." Came a male voice, sounding quite sinister.

"Who's asking." She replied dryly, leaning back into the wall as the male tightens his grip on her shoulders.

"My boss. Your father seems to have upset him and he doesnt take things like that lightly sweetheart." The man pulled a gun from his back pocket, bringing it up to hover over her face, the cool metal sliding it up to the bridge of her nose to rest against her forehead.

"Do it. Kill me." Her words never faltered which surprised the man, her hand raised to grasp the gun and pull it further towards her head, eyes crossing as she peered up at the gun.

"Oh, who would have thought. The Y/N Wayne begging for death." The man teased, tilting his head to the side as dark eyes pierced her own through the holes in the mask.

"I've got nothing left to loose. I'm miserable. Do it, just pull the trigger. Do it!" She pushed forwards as the mans finger went to pull at the trigger, eyes screwing shut as a rush of anticipation ran through her veins as she waited for the quick way out of life. It never came.

Her eyes peeled open to see another person, a metallic looking red helmet hid his whole head, a brown leather jacket along with a black shirt and dark, tight fitted jeans and a pair of matted jet black combat boots. The new comer held the attacker up by his throat as he rithed under his grip, hands clutching onto the gloved hands that wrapped around his neck.

"You're so dead." The red masked vigilante grumbled out in anger, his hands tightened around the other males neck making breathing a hard task to do before the attacker slowly grew limp in his arms and was dropped to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?!" The girl whispered shouted, looking him up and down. Her eyes trailed to the man on the floor who lay unconscious- maybe, possibly dead. She fell back against the wall, hands by her side as she threw her head back and sighed.

"What do you think you were doing Y/N?!"

"How the fuck do you know my name?" She stood back to her full height eyeing the vigilante with a puffy red eyes from when she had been crying not so long ago. She watched as a gloved hand moved up and hooked under the metal helmet, tugging at it so it revealed a face. A very familiar one at that. "No. Please. Oh- no."

"Y/N/N I know this seems weird right now okay, let me explain." Jason spoke, holding his hands out to her as she shook her head repeatedly and whispered a bunch of 'No's' and 'this isn't real'.

"Your dead, yo-your supposed to be dead. I-I saw your body, I didnt make it in time." She sobbed out loudly, looking directly at the 'replica' of her older brother. Her brows furrowed and her lip wobbled as she continued to cry uncontrollably. "A year ago today, we found you dead!"

"I-I was resurrected months ago Y/N, I'm here. I'm real. I promise." Jason stepped forwards slowly, pulling the broken girl into his embrace. The sound of a motorcycle revving sounded in the background making the no longer dead Jason look over his shoulder to see Dick in his nightwing costume.

"Did you find her, please tell me you found her." Dicks voice echoed within the alley, breathing out a breath of relief when jason moved his form to reveal the crying girl. "Oh thank god."

A slap suddenly came to fill the secondary of silence along with a Yelp. One of Jason's hands flung up to cup his burning cheek while his eyes met with Y/N's fiery gaze, her hands set on her hips as she continued to sniffle, tears still venturing down her cheeks.

"Y-your telling me you've been alive for months?!"

"W-well yeah, I-" he tried to respond but was near to immediately cut off by his younger sister raising her hand and waving it around.

"I-I'm miserable. Broken even, for a whole fucking year I was and your telling me you have been alive for a few months. I saw your body Jason, I was the first to find you and I completely broke when I knew I could have done something to prevent your 'death'." Her voice became softer as she relived the memory, images flashed through her mind as she recalled what she had seen when she found him dead.

"Y/N I've told you millions of times it wasnt your fault. Nobody could have stopped it from happening." Dick stepped to stand beside Jason so both of them were infront of her, a small smile etched onto his lips when she rammed into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest.

"But what if I could have prevented it Dick?"

"Theres no way you could have sweetheart." Jason stated, running a hand through her messy locks that splayed upon her head wildly.

"I love you Jaybird, so much. I missed you." She turned around and attatched herself to Jason, jumped in his arms which made him laugh as he caught her and she wrapped around him like a koala bear.

"I missed you too, little bird."

[hannahbarberra162]

Struck Twice By Lightning, Chapter 13

18+ MDNI on Ao3

Link to all chapters

TW: jealousy

A few days later and you were laying on the bed in the early evening, resting after a huge supper. You felt like a snake, basking in the sun after a large meal. And like a snake, you didn’t think you’d want to eat again for another month. Damn Lucky and his fantastic chicken pot pie. Laying there, you heard the ringing of your den den mushi.

Puru puru puru puru puru puru

You looked at the Buggy snail and your mouth twisted. You still hadn’t called him back after all his missed calls. You didn’t want to worry him but you hadn’t wanted to hear how he was right, how you screwed up, and how you shouldn’t have gone with Shanks in the first place. The worst part of it all was, he was right. But he didn’t deserve to be left hanging for so long. You rolled off the bed and grabbed the snail, bringing it to sit on the bed with you.

“Hi.” 

“About time, babe. I was getting worried. I was gonna leave for the Grand Line if I didn’t hear back from you soon.” You felt guilty, Buggy really was a good friend.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just kinda…going through it.” Buggy hummed through the snail.

“Yeah, I’d imagine so. Everyone and their Captain saw the article. That's all anyone is talking about.” You cringed. You had some small naive hope that everyone would forget about it after the next big story broke. “You looked great, though. At least they got a good picture of you.” 

“Yeah, I mean but did you see Shanks? That asshole has never taken a bad picture.”

“Fuck him, did you at least stab him? I have no doubt that it’s his fault somehow.” You laughed, something Buggy could always get you to do. It was Shank’s fault, but you didn’t want to poison Buggy against Shanks even more.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t. Thought about it though.”

“Do you want me to come get you?” You knew Buggy’s offer was sincere. But you’d thought about that too - the only place that you’d really be safe would be with an Emperor. Buggy was strong, but not if someone like Linlin or Kaido wanted to get you. They’d send wave after wave of powerful fighters, Emperors had a shared quality of being goal oriented when they wanted something or someone.

“No, but thanks. I’m gonna ride on the Dead Horse with Stanks. I think it’ll be OK, at least for a while. If I need you, I’ll make my way out to the East Blue.”

“Like hell you will, if you need me, I’ll come out there. We can stab that idiot together, as a bonding activity.”

“Hi Buggy!” The man himself had appeared, entering the cabin through the doorway. He walked over and sat next to you on the bed, leaning back on you as if you were a sitting pillow.

“Fuck off,” Buggy replied angrily. This was the first time they’d directly interacted since you’d been on board. 

“Aw, c’mon Bugs, I haven’t talked to you in forever.” Shanks was pouting. He had a lot of love for Buggy, but it wasn’t always reciprocated. You understood why, but it still made you a little sad.

“Fuck off,” Buggy repeated. “Why do you have to fuck things up for everyone you’re involved with? It’s like the Mierdas touch, everything you touch turns to shit.” Shanks laughed.

“That’s a good one, never heard it before. But it's not true! How was I supposed to know -”

“- that your actions have consequences? Gee, Shanks, I don’t know, it’s a lesson most of us have learned by our thirties. Anyway, fuck you. Doll, listen, say the word and I’ll set sail. Kisses.” 

“Love ya, Bug.” You hung up the snail. Shanks was looking at you with an amused expression. “What?” 

“Why did you call it the ‘Dead Horse? ‘Stanks’ I get, no questions asked. Buggy’s been calling me that since we were 12.”

“Oh, ‘cus the presence of your ship is like beating a dead horse. We get it - you’re Shanks and the Red Haired Pirates . No need for all the fuss.” You waved your hand at him dismissively.

“It’s not my fault we’re greeted with fanfare everywhere! I didn’t ask for it, people like me!” Shanks scoffed.

“ Some people like you, sure,” you said, rolling your eyes with a smirk.

“And some people like being tickled,” Shanks replied. Your smirk dropped but as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he’d grabbed your foot with his hand and yanked your leg into the air. 

“Ha! Whatcha gonna do now? No other hand to tickle with!” You were weakly trying to kick him.

“This.” Shanks licked the sole of your foot, causing you to shriek. 

“Shanks!! That’s absolutely disgusting! Don’t do thaaaaa-” but you couldn’t finish your sentence as he licked it again and you were laughing. 

“You’re right, that’s too hard with one hand. How about here?” He pinned your legs under his and started tickling the inside of your thighs. You were laughing hard.

“Stanks! Stop!” You weren’t serious, you knew he’d stop if you changed your tone.

“Stanks, is it? You really want to play hard ball, huh?” He pinned your arm under a knee and tickled your side up to your armpit. You were laughing so much tears were coming out of your eyes.

“O-k ok ok I surrender! I won’t call you Stanks!” He moved off you, freeing your arm while your giggles subsided. “Fake surrender!” You launched yourself over him and started tickling him back. You knew Shanks was letting you hold him down, but it was still fun. The two of you were goofing off for a while, ending with you leaning down over him, breathing heavily, with his one large hand pinned by both of yours.

“So, what do I get for defeating the Emperor?” 

“You can keep me as a prize of war,” Shanks rasped, wrapping his legs around your waist. You moved your face closer to his. 

“Mmm, not sure about that. What makes you worth keeping?”

“This,” he said as he leaned forward and kissed you on the lips. You pressed forward, lying down on top of him, releasing his hand. You ran your nails down his chest, feeling the muscle twitch under your fingertips. You’d been having a lot of soft moments with Shanks recently. You still fell into bouts of sadness and loss, but there was no other solution you could see. You were sailing back to your island and you’d be there before you knew it. Life would continue in some kind of way, but right now you were enjoying time with your…husband.

You kissed him along his prominent collar bones, leading to the hollow of his neck. You spent some time there, flicking your tongue on the sensitive areas. Shanks was moaning, gripping your ass and thrusting up slowly, turned on by your actions. You whipped off your shirt and bra, throwing them onto the floor. You leaned forward so your breasts dangled in front of his mouth. He quickly captured one nipple in his mouth, sucking and biting. He released it only to put the other in. You had undone his belt and were shimmying his pants down his legs. You didn’t want to wait any longer, you could feel you were already wet. 

You didn’t even remove your own clothes, just moved your skirt aside. You sat up a bit, taking your breasts away from Shank’s eager mouth. You hooked your panties to the side and sank down onto Shank’s eager cock. As you lowered yourself, you groaned. This is exactly what you needed. The stretch always felt good, but this time you wished you could make it last. You started bouncing on Shanks, pulling your hips down harder with every stroke.

“Come on, Love. I’m here for you,” Shanks was talking to you sweetly as you used him to get to your peak. You suddenly felt tears pricking the corners of your eyes but you didn’t know why. You shifted yourself to lay down next to him, hoping Shanks would take up the mantle and fuck you while spooning. You wanted to continue but were feeling too raw to have Shanks watch you. Shanks looked down at your face but didn’t say anything. He pulled out and fixed your panties, covering you up once more. He pulled your back flush to his front, gently kissing your face, while your tears threatened to spill.

“Where’d you go? Come back to me,” Shanks said softly. That made the dam break and you started crying.

“I’m s-sorry Shanks. I don’t know what’s w-wrong with me,” you cried, covering your face with your hands.

“Nothing’s wrong with you. Take whatever you need, I’ll always wait for you.” That just made you cry harder. Shanks comforted you until your tears ended, letting you cry into his chest. 

“S-sorry,” you eventually said. You felt bad about starting something you couldn’t finish and ending it with a huge crying session. Shanks turned your face to his and kissed you. 

“Don’t be. I love you.” You blinked. That was the first time he’d said it directly. Maybe you weren’t the only one guarding your heart this second time around. He joked and teased and beat around the bush but rarely expressed his emotions so frankly.

“I love you too.” You put your forehead against his. “Guess you’re stuck with me now.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” he replied. 

~~~

It didn’t take too long to get to your island since you’d only been with Shanks for a few weeks at that point. The closer you got, the more anxious you became. You were nervous to see what remained in and of your house. You were on edge as the Red Force docked near your island and you were chewing your nails to shreds as the dingy brought you to the wharf. Unfortunately, the article had brought notoriety to the island and to you, so locals were waiting to catch a glimpse of you and Shanks together.

“Leave,” was all he said. He was serious, intimidating, and had his hand resting on Gryphon's hilt. The villagers, all of whom you knew, quickly dispersed to their houses. 

“You didn’t have to do that, they’re just townsfolk.” You felt awkward that the people who sold you milk were being threatened by one of the most powerful pirates in the world.

“Did you want one of them taking another picture of you and I together to sell to Morgan?” You pursed your lips. You were hoping the story would die down, Shanks had a point. You walked hand in hand towards your little house. From the outside, it didn't look too bad. Your garden was a little trampled, but someone had been watering it.

You pushed open the now unlocked door, braced for the worst. Shanks trailed in behind you, inspecting various trinkets you’d gathered over the years. You were surprised to see most of your belongings still in their places. You went from room to room, looking for your favorite possessions - a knife from Buggy, an empty bottle from the first sake you’d sold, old pictures of friends, and they were all where you expected them to be. You went into your office and found someone had rifled through all your documents, but you had been expecting that. You yelled to Shanks through the open door of your office.

“Shanks, you’re not going to believe this, almost everything is still here! And unbroken, too. I was so sure this place would have been looted, but no -” Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a shock of blond hair.

“You’re welcome yoi,” said a familiar voice.

~~~

You skipped up to your old friend and gave him a hug around his middle. “Marco! What are you doing here?”

“Buggy called in a favor and asked me to watch over your house yoi. Prevent looting, stealing, that kind of thing. He said you’d be by soon and I was in the area anyway.” God, you loved Buggy. You really needed to send him a gift after all he'd done for you. 

“Honeydew, I can’t believe you kept this old shell from that beach -” Shanks was walking back to you, holding a shell in his hand. He stopped short when he saw Marco. Internally, you groaned. 

“Shanks, Marco’s the reason the house wasn’t looted. He’s been staying here.” Shanks smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Thanks, Marco. Owe ya one.” 

“That’s so kind of you, Marco, I really appreciate it.” You beamed at The Phoenix, who popped a tomato in his mouth. “Was it you who watered the plants?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t leave them parched. You have a great little house yoi. It’s so cozy and comfortable, I relaxed more than I have in years. You have great taste in interior design yoi.”

“Yeah, she does, doesn’t she?” Shanks had come to stand next to you and hooked his arm around your middle. You wanted to roll your eyes - you’d already told Shanks you hadn’t slept with Marco, he didn’t need to be jealous. 

“Thank you, I spent a lot of time over the years getting everything just right. Listen, I’d like to invite you to dinner, it’s the very least I can do,” you said. You were incredibly grateful, he’d saved you a lot of heartache. 

“-That WE can do,” Shanks interrupted with a laugh. You’d meant the invitation to include Shanks, but hadn’t specified. 

“Thank you, that sounds great. But it really was no problem yoi. Always ready to help a friend in need,” he said, smiling. He leaned against your office bookcase, holding a tomato from your garden in his other hand.

“Here, would you like it? They’ve been coming in, they’re good yoi.” Marco underhand tossed the fruit to you. Shanks let go of your waist and caught it. 

“Thanks, bud.” Shanks was trying to speak casually but was failing. He looked like he wanted to throw you over his shoulder and haul you off to the nearest cave. The twinkle in Marco’s eyes told you he was enjoying riling up Shanks. This time you did roll your eyes. This would not end well for someone, probably you. 

“Quit it,” you whispered angrily, turning to Shanks. Marco pretended not to hear. You turned back to Marco. “Please, feel free to stay here as long as you’d like. I’ll get dinner later today, I still need to get my house in order. It will be our pleasure.” You dragged Shanks out the back door of the house by his empty sleeve.

“What are you doing?!” you whisper yelled at him.

“What am I doing? What are you doing?” he wasn’t yelling, but Shanks wasn’t happy. “ You’re the one trying to go on a date with Marco.” You tutted at him.

“You’re being ridiculous, and you know it. Marco was helping as a friend after Buggy called him. You heard all that, right? Behave or I’ll uninvite you to dinner.” You would too, you didn’t have a lot of patience for Shanks’s jealousy. Shanks huffed.

“Fine, we’ll have the rooster over for dinner. But I’m gonna call you my wife the entire time .” If your eyes rolled any harder, they’d be out of your head.

~~~

You hadn’t specified that you’d be the one cooking dinner for a reason. You weren’t the best cook on the Grand Line, to say the least. You bribed Lucky to make the dinner for the three of you with a large bottle of sake. He obliged and made a fantastic orange duck dish with jasmine rice. Of course, you brought out a nice bottle of wine and some sake, unsure which Marco would prefer. You were setting the table while Shanks sat in your overstuffed armchair.

“This thing’s great, we should bring it back to the ship.” You hummed in response.

“I know it’s great, that’s why I bought it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the house and most of my belongings. It’s not like I can bring it all with me.” Shanks was messing around and finally found the lever for the footrest. He pulled it and launched himself backwards, enjoying the full recline.

“Oh yeah, this is definitely coming with us. Now, if I had this chair when you first came on board I wouldn’t have had to sleep in the bed.”

“Shanks, be serious for a minute. What should I do with the house? I can’t be here at any regular intervals. I guess I’ll have to sell it.” The thought made you sad - you really loved this house. 

“Sell it? Why?” Shanks asked.

“Well, it’s not like I’ll be here to stop anyone from taking things, and I don’t want to ask Marco -” Shanks cut you off with a wave of his hand.

“No one’s gonna take anything from here. I’m gonna spread the word that this is my vacation house. No one will touch it. And maybe we really can vacation here, this place is great.” 

“Do you think that will work?” You gnawed at your fingernail, while setting the final silverware down.

“Sure, I’m not an Emperor for nothing. Keep your house, keep your stuff, take whatever you want with you. But we’re bringing this chair.”

~~~

The dinner was lovely, except for two things. The first was Shanks and the second was Marco. Shanks was in a pissy mood, trying to cover it up but not quite succeeding. Marco kept making little comments to annoy Shanks and they hit their mark every time. 

“Thank you again for watching over my house, Marco,” you said, pouring him a cup of sake. Shanks had sat right next to you and kept trailing his fingers up your thigh during the meal. Which was incredibly obvious because he had to stop eating to do it, due to having only one hand. You slapped it away as discreetly as you could.

“My pleasure yoi. I always enjoy coming here.” Marco gave a little half smile as he sipped his drink. Shanks stiffened incrementally. “This is excellent, is this aged?”

“Yeah, this is an older batch. It’s pretty good, I was thinking of entering it in a competition.” Maybe you could enter neutral territory by talking about work.

“My wife is so modest, it’s better than ‘pretty good.” Shanks kissed your cheek. He had kept his word and was referring to you only as his wife. 

“Mh. Speaking of which, were you thinking of gifting Whitebeard another bottle for his birthday? I can bring you that tokkuri if you want to use it again.” You rubbed one temple. These two idiots were going to be the death of you.

“I didn’t know you made sake for Whitebeard. How…thoughtful of you.” Shanks said through his teeth. 

“Just once, and no, I don’t think I can. I’ll be sailing with Shanks now, and the ship isn’t a great place for brewing.” Maybe you could move to Laughtale and live happily ever after by yourself.

“So you are still married? Last you said, you wanted to get divorced yoi.” Marco said it like he was talking about the weather but you swore Shanks’s haki was starting to build. Maybe you’d kill Marco before you moved to Laughtale. Or Shanks, whichever made your life easier.

“We’re still married,” Shanks gritted out, taking your hand in his. “My wife couldn’t get rid of me so easily.” He kissed the back of your hand. Marco smiled calmly. 

“It’s rare to see you like this, Shanks,” Marco said with a raised brow and knowing smile. Shanks was already moving his hand towards you under the table. 

“Like what?” You said as you swatted Shanks’s hand for the millionth time off your inner thigh.

“Jealous. I only ever see you relaxed or serious, with nothing in between yoi. Your wife is the only person I’ve ever seen inspire such feelings in you. It’s endearing.” Shanks barked a genuine laugh.

“Only person I ever met who was worth being jealous over.”

~~~

The rest of the dinner went slightly better but not by much. You were doing the dishes while Marco insisted on clearing the table. Shanks had gone back to reclining in the chair, still drinking.

“Leave them, I’ll do it.” You felt bad your guest was helping. 

“I don’t mind yoi,” Marco replied. “Have you decided what you’re going to do with your house?” You nodded.

“Shanks is going to spread a rumor that it’s his vacation home to keep it safe. I think that’ll work. You can come here when you want though, it’s not like we’re going to be here all that often.” In your house inspection, you’d found that Marco had fixed a number of small projects you always meant to get to. That alone had earned him a permanent visit invitation. 

“Thank you, I just might. Nice to get away from my siblings now and again.” You hummed in response, still working on the dishes. “By the way, yoi. It seems like things are patched up between you two. But if you ever need to go somewhere else, you can come aboard the Moby yoi.” You paused for a moment. You hadn’t considered the possibility of staying with Whitebeard. He was another Yonko, you'd be safe. Before you could answer Shanks was by your side, leaning against you casually. But nothing about his demeanor was relaxed. Laughtale was looking like a better and better plan.

“You invited my wife to come with you?” Shanks was speaking in a clipped tone. Marco was unphased, still carrying plates. You looped your arm around Shanks, to attempt to calm him down.

“Shanks, stop. Marco, send my thanks to Whitebeard, but I’m staying with Shanks.”

“You’ve gotta be needed back on your ship, you’re the doctor after all,” said Shanks coolly. Marco laughed.

“You’re right, and I’ll be leaving soon. It’s nice to see you both again, yoi. Thank you for the dinner.” Marco deposited the remaining dishes in the sink. You said your goodbyes and you walked him to the door, giving him a final hug goodbye. He partially transformed and flew off into the night. You sighed, it was always so beautiful to watch him in his Zoan form.

“Show off,” Shanks grumbled. You walked back to the living room and plopped down on your couch. Shanks laid down next to you with his head on your lap.

“You’ve been such a brat all night! Marco was just being helpful.” You weren’t mad at Shanks but you’d wished he could contain his jealousy better.

“Inviting my wife onto another Yonko’s ship isn’t helpful, ” he replied. “Besides, Marco was provoking me!” Shanks’s mood was already on the mend with Marco gone.

“Mmm. And the all powerful Emperor just had to take the bait, right?” You jiggled your legs, making his head bounce slightly.

“I can make your thighs shake more than that,” Shanks said, turning his head towards your body.

“Show me, husband .” Shanks grinned. You hadn’t called him that yet. Hopefully the last of his jealousy would dissipate. And if not, well, jealousy sex was always fun.