#I’m never gonna be able to look at a sack of potatoes the same again

[growmybelly]

@cheeseburgersinparadise asked so nicely for some more belly play so of course I’ve gotta provide the goods 😉

[obeiii-mee]

Heyo, this is my first time asking (im kinda new to tumblr, so please dont judge) if you would'nt mind, could you do some headcannons (or oneshots, it dosen't matter) with all the demon bros and a MC who is crippled/paralized in their legs, and has to use a wheelchair to get around? Thank you!!

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This is the first time I’ve written about a crippled MC, so I hope I didn’t fuck this up or anything. I found out that being paralysed in both legs is a disability called Paraplegia so that’s how I titled this post. And y’all are too sweet, you are more than welcome anon! I hope I can portray this properly because I am not crippled myself so I’ve opted to do some research before writing this! I hope you like it! Also, I feel inclined to add that none of the brothers would treat you too differently if you happen to have a disability because you’re their human nonetheless :)

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The Brothers with an MC that has Paraplegia and needs a wheelchair to get around:

Lucifer:

-Lucifer was in charge of choosing the final human, exchange student for the program so it’s guaranteed he already knew about your predicament before you even arrived

-Him and Diavolo probably had many meetings concerning your disability before the program could commence, considering that being unable to walk would double the chances of you getting killed since you are obviously more vulnerable

-Not to mention all the treatment you would require

-Lucifer is not well versed in human illnesses and disorders, but he makes sure that he is educated enough on the matter before you get brought down there

-It would not be easy, but he is determined to help you survive your year in DevilDom for the prince’s sake

-First problem of the day was, of course, your wheelchair

-Due to lack of time, Lucifer was unable to instal ramps around the House of Lamentation which meant that for the first couple of weeks, someone would’ve had to help you move around certain parts of the house

-He gave that highly prestigious job to himself because he didn’t trust his brothers and thought they would accidentally drop you and your wheelchair down the stairs

-He talks a lot to you, even at the beginning, because he needs to establish your needs and what he should do to make sure you don’t die for the following year

-You would have to tell him about physical therapy and how most commonly it uses heat, massage and exercise to stimulate your nerves and muscles, making it a great treatment for people with leg paralysis

-Once you two enter a more intimate and personal relationship, it’s more than likely he’ll help you perform those things himself (instead of kidnapping a human doctor from somewhere)

-Lucifer knows you have no problem getting around with your wheelchair by yourself but there are times where he’ll insist to push you along in order to give you a quick break

-I can totally imagine you two strolling around DevilDom and having cosy chats about RAD and your adjustments to DevilDom

-He has a softer side to him that he’s afraid to show most of the time, but he feels so at ease when you’re around, it’s hard for him to hold that part of him hidden from you

-Of course, your safety still remains his primary concern and he acts more like your guardian than Mammon does, even if he was originally supposed to look out for you

-He will accompany you almost anywhere. And if he can’t, he’ll have one or more of his brothers do it. And even then he’s probably lurking nearby, just in case

-He would always be willing to listen about your condition, if you wished to tell him whether you were born with the defect or why you ended up crippled later in life. Either way, he’s all ears

-If you would rather not speak about it, he wouldn’t pry and respect your decision because he knows it’s not his place to pressure you

-Because of your paralysis, it’s quite obvious to demons that you are even weaker (physically speaking) than most humans and that usually puts a target on your back

-Howver, never fear, because Lucifer is pretty quick to put lower rank demons in their place with just a mere stare

-Oop one of them passed out from the fear, haha

-In conclusion, he’s the most responsible when it comes your comfort and safety during your stay

-He makes sure you are always left in good hands and and provides most of the requirements you need

-Y’all should see how his wings puff up when he senses a threat approaching you, he looks like a peacock ready to go on attack lol

Mammon:

-The second born is unsurprisingly a bit of a jerk at first

-He stays really grumpy the whole day of your arrival because he’s stuck babysitting you stupid human

-“Lucifer c’mon, what’s all this workload for? The human can’t even walk by themselves, why do I have to help them out?”

-Wtf Mammon you can’t say shit like that

-Anyways, the following very few days, the only thing he’s thinking about is how much money he could sell your wheelchair for

-He’s the literal incarnation of greed, what else did you expect from him?

-After a while, he starts feeling a bit guilty every time he thinks about it though

-Mammon is gonna take this secret to the grave (laughs in immortal) but he actually really likes pushing you around

-Maybe it’s because it’s a clear indication to everyone around him that you are HIS human, under HIS protection and therefore you trust HIM the most since he was your FIRST MAN

-He will insist on helping you get out of that thing when you need to go to bed and stuff every night and he will get pouty real fast if you let any of his other brothers do it

-You wake up to him trying to roll around in your wheelchair one night at like 3am

-At some point, he stole a wheelchair from the human realm to match with his human. You can guess the consequences of his actions

-I can imagine you having to face a staircase or something at school and Mammon being like:

-“Fuck it, imma carry this fragile human instead; wheelchair and all!”

-Like you were a sack of potatoes or something smh

-Cue his brothers watching him from a distance as he heaves you and basically weight-lifts you up the stairs

-Ok but every now and again, he gets so sad thinking about you not being able to walk, like he starts crying kinda sad

-While you stand there like 😐 “Why are you crying?”

-He’s so quick to help if he senses you’re in danger too

-It’s canon that Mammon is crazy fast if he wants to be so if he has even the slightest impression that your life is threatened, his feet are already moving

-He will charge at your immediate threat at around 120 miles per hour-do not try him when he’s mad

-“The Great Mammon saved the day! C’mon MC, let’s go buy some ice cream. My treat! Ya better be grateful!”

-He says while the demon that tried to eat you lies on the floor with about a dozen broken bones

-Mammon is the second most powerful demon out of all of his brothers, even if he doesn’t resort to violence often

Levi:

-He didn’t really know how to react when you first teleported to DevilDom

-I mean, from the very beginning he considered you to be a human normie but at the same time, he felt bad you were stuck with his brothers for the rest of the year

-I think he would understand you would have an even harder time integrating yourself in their house because of your disability and he knows his siblings are really fucking annoying, always pushing you around and whatnot

-So, he kinda lets you hide in his room quite often

-You guys chill out in there all the time, much to the dismay of the other brothers who also want to spend time with you

-At some point, Levi definitely begged asked Lucifer to let you start online classes with him

-“But wouldn’t it be easier for MC to do online school from home rather than go to R.A.D since there aren’t any ramps or anything around there???”

-“The answer is no Leviathan.”

-“Ugh fine! What a fucking boomer-“

-For some reason, he gets so flustered whenever you ask him to push you around

-He blushes right to the tips of his ears and then he starts sputtering some nonsense that you can’t make out at all

-But he’s more than happy to do it, especially if you guys are going to a convention or if he’s dragging you out to buy new merch

-You two would get along in the sense that Levi realises the struggles you faced all your life were tough to overcome and he believes you are just like him

-Usually left out by other people, ignored even

-He knows you always listen to him ramble on about whatever he is currently obsessed with and how much you check up on him to make sure he never isolated himself

-He wants to do that for you too! Talk to him about your hobbies, please I’m begging you-he feels so bad whenever he’s doing all the talking

-If you ask him to help you with anything (getting something, helping you into bed—that sort of thing), he legally and physically can’t say ‘no’

-And he would get envious enough to stop talking to you for a day or two if you let his brothers do it instead (the second and third born are indeed similar lmao)

-S T A Y I N H I S R O O M, W H E R E Y O U C A N B E P R O T E C T E D !

-He will feel so much more at ease if you’re in his room because to him, that’s his haven

-If you’re in there with him, that means you’re not getting involved in his siblings’ endless and dangerous shenanigans

-Whenever you’re at school, he can’t help but worry about your well-being

-Because you’re human! You’re gonna get killed!! Do you know how much your organs sell on the black market in DevilDom??? 100x more than in the human realm, that’s for sure

-Would they have a black market or would it be a regular market lol

-For some reason, he also likes staying in your wheelchair when you’re not using it

-I think he just takes comfort in knowing it’s something that belongs to you and smells like you and-

-OK Levi, sit back down

-He wouldn’t treat you any differently if you had a disability tbh, but he’d be more concerned because you can’t even run away or anything

-So he’s so fuckin’ relieved when you guys are just vibing in his room

-He could die happy knowing he kept his best friend/ partner safe

Satan:

-Satan would be even more prepared for your arrival than Lucifer would, in a sense

-Out of all of his brothers, he’s most likely to understand and recognise paraplegia (either from studying human illnesses/birth defects/disabilities or from encountering humans with said disability)

-He’s a smart boy, alright?

-Always seems to be the first to notice if you need help or if someone’s bothering you

-Though in the very beginning, he was pretty tempted to just let you get killed to see how angry Lucifer could get

-Seeing dear Luci’s misery brings him great joy 🥰🥰🥰

-Once you two manage to build a very honest and strong relationship, he feels more and more inclined to keep you out of harm’s way

-Pls, he would feel so honoured if you let him push you around (it’s like you asked him to h*ld h*nds or something)

-If you require treatment of any kind, he would be so happy to help

-But in a subtle way...?

-Satan makes it seem so smooth too like he doesn’t mind lending a helping hand when in reality he’s all giddy inside

-*Kinda wants to rub it in his brothers’ faces but at the same no, because he’s definitely the bigger person here

-He wants to know how your wheelchair works

-It’s got all of these neat mechanisms and he wants to learn how they’re constructed because he never had the chance to inspect one before

-He’s such a sweetheart about asking you as well and never pries about your disability unless you start elaborating yourself

-Most of the time, he acts all charming and very gentleman-like

-So people have a hard time spotting and acknowledging the building rage inside of him every time he sees you are threatened by some moronic low rank demon

-Satan’s usually chill when it comes to injuries, unless he can see you’re in horrible pain

-There’s nothing a few spells can’t accomplish

-But when others purposefully try harming you?

-It’s like he loses all the self control he’s been trying to perfect over the centuries and he can’t help himself from at least breaking someone’s rib cage

-Satan’s a weird one because he’s protective of you even though he’s more on the relaxed side when compared to his siblings

-He very much acknowledges that you made it this far in life with your predicament so he doesn’t feel the need to baby you or anything

-You’re strong and he knows this

-It’s one of the many things he clearly loves about you

-That one time you rolled over Mammon’s foot with your wheelchair on purpose, he was wheezing

Asmo:

-Even now, he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be stuck inside a wheelchair for the rest of his eternal life

-I mean, he’d obviously still be absolutely fabulous, have you seen him? He’s gonna be gorgeous either way

-But after the two of you meet, he definitely starts thinking about how he takes his feet for granted all the time

-It would be so difficult to complete his daily tasks without the ability to walk or run around

-That’s why he gets sad every time he remembers that’s your reality and on days like that, you’ve noticed he gives you a helluva lot more attention than usual

-He knows you don’t need pity or anything so he’s just making sure his human has all the support they can get

-Paraplegia or not, shopping trips are still a go-go

-He loves buying you clothes! And he loves helping you try them on! Asmo takes it very seriously

-Might have a go at the employees if they’re being rude to you

-You don’t even ask him to, but he subconsciously starts pushing you around himself whenever the two of you are out together

-“MC! Look at that new shop that’s just opened! Isn’t it adorable? We have to check it out!”

-He can’t help it! There’s so many places he wants to visit, he sort of just drags you with him wherever he goes

-Even at home, he always pops out of nowhere to coax you into coming to his room

-Y’all have so many skin routines to do each day

-Like he’s in your room most nights to greet you goodnight and tuck you in, with the rest of his brothers it gets so awkward at times

-Asmo just wants to see you smile, ok? He thinks you have a beautiful smile and laugh and he wants to remind you that you’re marvellous, disability or not

-And if anyone does anything to put an end to your self confidence, he will swiftly put an end to their life

-Please, he’s a pro at ruining lives, he’s been doing it for centuries

-Asmo has such a huge influence over the people in DevilDom, he just needs to make this one post on Devilgram to end said demon’s whole career

-I mean, who is he compared to him, Hmm? So don’t worry MC, scum like that don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you :)

-That one time Mammon tried lifting you up the stairs and Asmo started shrieking, like put them down! Don’t manhandle them like that, poor human :(

Beel:

-I know I sound repetitive, but he would be an overall sweetheart to you no matter the circumstances

-If Mammon is not by your side, then Beel definitely is

-His big, scary aura and figure usually scares off any threat in a 10 mile radius

-Most demons don’t fancy being eaten by the Avatar of Gluttony, ya know?

-Idk why but I feel like he’d be the type to ask for oral consent every time he wanted to push you around

-He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable :(

-Surprisingly also the type to lift you and your wheelchair whenever an obstacle gets in your way

-You basically weigh the same amount as a paper plate compared to him, so he has no problem doing so

-He doesn’t really understand your condition as well as Satan may do, but he’s trying his best

-You mean so much to him and he feels it’s only fair he learns more about your disability as a thank you for what you’ve done for him

-He has a rough time keeping up with you when it comes to stuff like physical therapy because he’s very unfamiliar with it but that doesn’t mean he’s not gonna help

-Of course, Beel believes that this is the second best way to show you how much he cares for you besides the obvious ‘I love you’

-Giving you a hand whenever you need his support the most

-That’s his way of saying “I’m not going to let you down. I want you to trust me, the same way I trust you.”

-And knowing him, he will try to do everything in his power to keep you safe and sound

-After a while, you’re bound to notice he’s the first one to pull you out of his brothers’ pranks before you have a chance to get hurt

-Beel is always the one handing you stuff from high places you can’t reach, without teasing you for it like Mammon might do

-Always the first one to remind you to get plenty of rest and to eat enough

-He wants to protect you and his brothers because he knows he failed to do so with Lilith so yeah, he’s a bit overprotective at times

-He doesn’t mean to be overbearing, but he gets so anxious knowing you’re by yourself

-After a few months of getting accommodated with him, your disability is no longer brought up in the conversation

-Because he doesn’t care that you are crippled and forced to use a wheelchair

-You are part of his family and he loves you no matter what

Belphie:

-He didn’t really care, even when you first met and his hatred for humans was at its very peak

-It didn’t matter that you had a disability

-All that mattered to him at the time was killing you to satisfy that deeply rooted need of vengeance inside of him

-Though he was sort of surprised his brothers didn’t get to you first

-In general, he’s pretty chill about you being crippled in both legs

-It takes too much effort to worry about your well-being 24/7 after all

-Surprisingly, he does keep an eye out for you if his siblings aren’t nearby

-It’s his redemption arc people, he’s trying to be nicer

-But he has such an irritating way of showing his affection for you

-Do not let him push you around

-He’s either going to a) fall asleep after 30 seconds and slump over you in the middle of RAD’s halls

-Or b) be annoying and fling your wheelchair in every direction possible just to piss you off

-He likes messing with you because you give him the best reactions and he thrives on that

-You’ve almost fallen off your wheelchair multiple times because of this asshole

-Not that he’d actually let you fall, he just wants to see how easily he can get you to yell at him

-Speaking of said wheelchair, like Mammon and Levi, he also loves using it when you’re not

-You’ve woken up to him curled up and asleep in that thing quiet often and he’s gotten in trouble over it every time with Lucifer

-But he doesn’t care

-And at this point, I don’t think even he knows whether he’s doing it to get a reaction out of you or because he somehow found a way to make himself comfortable there

-He would low key use you as a mode of transportation every time you go to RAD

-Just clings the damn wheelchair and almost topples both of you over

-“Belphie, there’s nothing stopping you from walking 😐”

-“Shh, just bring me to class and let me nap until then.”

-He doesn’t mention your legs but he still lays his head on your lap often

-Might make you hold him like a bride every time you stroll around the house

-It’s done out of love, I promise 😌😌

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Al~

[awhitehead17]

Batfam Alphabet: F - Fear Toxin

Summary: When Tim gets injected with a new variant of Scarecrow’s fear toxin, all Jason could do is hold the kid in his arms to stop him from getting injured further as he waits for back up to arrive. 

A/N: As a warning violence happens, nothing too graphic but here’s a warning just in case!

Enjoy! :D

Jason pauses when his fingers grasp nothing but empty air. Snapping his gaze down, he frowns when he finds his pocket completely empty. He sighs and curses. This is just what he needs, he’s ran out of antidotes.

He looks up across the street to find Tim administering an antidote into another cowering civilian caught in the crossfire of Gotham’s latest villain scheme. Jason jogs over to his brother and glances at him through his helmet. “You got any more? I’m out.”

Tim shakes his head regretfully. “No. That was my last one. We really underestimated how far Scarecrow’s toxin got this time. We don’t have enough.”

Jason hums in agreement and observes their surroundings. They’re together in a back alley of Gotham’s streets, one that had been hit badly by Scarecrow’s latest fear toxin. They had the task of vaccinating all the civilians around with the new antidote. Back in the cave they calculated an estimate number of many people populated the area and had prepared more than enough between them, or so they thought, unfortunately their numbers were far from right leaving them with not nearly enough antidotes.  

Around them now, many civilians are still under the hallucinations of the toxin, some are screaming, crying or even violently yelling at empty air. Jason swears again, this is not how the night was supposed to go.

He’s brought out of his thoughts when Tim turns to him. “We’re going to need to go back and restock. We’re not much use otherwise.”

“Agreed.”

He wonders if the others are having similar issues with numbers and the lack of antidotes. The team’s spread out around Gotham’s most targeted areas, all of them working in pairs for safety and everyone working their asses off to help people in the city.

Wordlessly the two of them head for their hidden vehicles in a neighbouring alley. As they prepare to climb onto their bikes Tim glances his way to say something but ends up yelling in alarm instead. “Hood watch out!”

It’s thanks to Jason’s reflexes that he’s able to duck underneath the swinging arm in time to avoid being hit. He brings his gun out and turns to face his attacker. His attacker is probably middle aged man, a little on the heavy side and he’s wearing a shitty Halloween mask to hide his face. Jason dodges another swing and returns the favour, he takes him out in three quick and precise strikes with his hands.

A loud grunt gets his attention and Jason spins around to find Tim caught in a head lock with a gun pressed against his temple. Tim’s attacker is too wearing a mask as were the four others who now surround them. Where they came from Jason has no idea. How the hell did they miss these guys who had obviously been waiting and hiding for them to return to their bikes?

As Jason levels his gun at Tim’s attacker the four others surrounding him also raise their guns pointing them in his direction, this concludes them all into a standoff.

Tim’s attacker speaks up first. “Put that gun down or I blow his brains out.”

Behind his mask Jason rolls his eyes. How fucking cliché? He keeps his gun up though, pointing at the man and in a cocky statement he takes the safety off with an audible click. The man holding Tim snorts as he had been expecting Jason’s disobedience.

“Very well. I’ll show you how this is going to go. You get one warning and mate, you’ve just used that warning.”

He kicks Tim’s legs out from underneath him and lets him go, unexpecting the abrupt movement Tim crashes to the floor. Once he’s sprawled out on the ground the attacker stamps on one of Tim’s hands, causing a rather loud and sickening crack to ring out. Jason winces as Tim yells in pain but before anyone could react further the same man manhandles Tim to his knees and resumes their previous position.

He cocks the gun and presses it to Tim’s head. “Now, if either of you act up, you’re gonna get a hurt whole lot worse than a broken hand. Now follow us. No funny business! Get his gun!”

One of the men come and wrench Jason’s gun out of his hand and all Jason could do was let him. He doesn’t want to risk Tim any more than he has to.

He and Tim are marched out of the alley and into another before being directed into an abandoned building. They’re walked into the middle of the room and forced down to their knees, once on the ground a couple of the thugs come over to grab their hands and tie them behind their backs. Jason grits his teeth and refrains from doing something like headbutting the asshole, while next to him Tim lets out a pained grunt as his broken hand is jostled.

When they step away Jason twists his body awkwardly to get a look at his restrained wrists to find them tied with cable ties. Jason huffs in disbelief. His attention is soon brought back to the room when one of the attackers speak up.

“Boss we got’em just like you asked.”

Jason straightens up when a new figure walks into the room only to grit his teeth seconds later when Scarecrow is revealed. The bastard doesn’t stop moving until he’s looming over them. Unable to help himself Jason speaks up, sarcasm heavily laced in his tone. “Same shit different day Crane. Why don’t you go and get yourself a new hobby, go for something like knitting perhaps.”

Crane turns his head towards Jason, his expression hidden by that stupid potato sack over his head. “You would like that wouldn’t you? If I were gone there would be nothing to fear. Perhaps that clown but nothing else.”

“Sorry to break it to you but you ain’t that scary.” Jason quips, glaring through his helmet.

“Maybe not right now but with a little help, I will be, I’ll become your greatest nightmare.” Crane reaches behind him and pulls out a box, he makes a show of opening it up and producing a syringe filled with a clear liquid. “A person can learn to control themselves when feeling great emotion, sadness, happiness, anger, but never in times of fear. Fear is the minds greatest enemy and that’s why it’s so powerful, why even the greatest of men fall.”

Jason watches as Crane drifts over to stand in front of Tim, his brother simply looks up with a hard and determined expression not saying anything. Crane fiddles with the syringe in his hands, studying Tim as he does.

“It won’t work. We’re not stupid Crane.” Jason says feeling dread build up inside of him. He knows what’s about to happen and he has feeling he knows exactly what Crane’s response is going to be.

“I know. That’s why I’m sure you’ve worked out that this is a different toxin I’ve produced to the one I’ve already distributed. One of which you don’t have an antidote for.”

For the first time Tim speaks up, snarling at the man in front of him. “Go to hell Crane.” Scarecrow doesn’t answer Tim, instead he reaches down and grabs a fist full of Tim’s hair and yanks his head back to expose his neck.

From his position Jason lurches at the movement, ready to pounce but it stopped when the thugs immediately zone in on him. Guns point at him and at Tim, simply daring him to make another move. Uselessly he settles back down on the ground.

Crane jabs the syringe into the kid’s neck and injects the liquid into Tim’s body. Once it’s empty he steps away, pushing Tim down to the ground as he does. Jason is torn between worriedly watching Tim’s unmoving form on the ground and Crane’s retreating figure from the room.

One of the thugs speak up. “Uh boss now what? We not killing the big one?”

“No.” Crane says firmly. “He has a choice to make, come after me and leave the other to suffer or help him and let me go.”

“You bastard!” Jason yells as Crane exits the room, disappearing from his sight. “You’ll be sorry you’ve left me alive! I will kill your ass when I next see it.”

Jason snaps his attention to Tim who is now whimpering on the floor. He needs to get help, he needs to get Tim to the cave so they can start working on a new antidote to whatever the hell Crane just injected him with.

With some difficulty, Jason twists and wiggles around so he can move to get his restrained hands in front of him. Using a move Dick once showed him, Jason tucks up tightly loops his arms underneath his body so they go underneath him and end up in front of him. It tests his flexibility for sure but it works.

Once his arms are in front of him he reaches up and presses the comms, getting Barbara’s help.

“O! I need immediate assistance!”

“Hood what’s going on, why did you and Red Robin go radio silent-”

Not having the patience Jason cuts her off. “Now’s not the time! We ran into Scarecrow and he injected Red with a new toxin. We need to get him to the cave asap.”

“Shit. I’m alerting the others now and sending them your location. Do what you can to help Red.”

“Already on it.”

Jason signs off and moves to break the cable ties around his wrists. He tightens them up as much as possible, raises his hands over his head and brings his fists down to his stomach in one fluid movement. Upon impact the ties break and his heads are freed.

Not wasting a second he scrambles over to Tim who is now starting to wither on the floor, whimpering pitiful sounds. Knowing there’s not much he can do, Jason decides to break the ties from Tim's own wrists, he’s aware of Tim’s broken hand but that’ll have to be dealt with later on.

At least that was his plan up until he puts a hand on Tim’s shoulder. As soon as Jason touches him, the kid freaks out. He lets out a scream of terror and suddenly jerks up right and starts to scramble away from him. Jason freezes in shock as he watches Tim try and move away from him, but the kid’s movements were hindered by his hands being tied behind him.

“No no no no. I’m sorry. Please I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. No no no. It won’t happen again I promise.”

The words were quiet and raspy but Jason could hear them clearly in the silence of the room. He needs to stop Tim from moving and also to prevent further damage to his hands. He cautiously approaches Tim again, crouching down low and taking slow steps forward, but at the moment Tim only sees him as a threat. The kid screams and continues to try and scramble backwards away from him.

“No no no! I’m sorry! Please don’t kill me…”

Jason frowns at the words as his heart lurches inside of his chest at the sound of Tim’s pleading voice. When he takes another step forward Tim only screams again, making Jason freeze on the spot. He really ought to get Tim to stop moving, Jason doesn’t particularly want to use force to get him to restrain his movements but he doesn’t think he has any choice.

Sighing Jason takes off his helmet, something he admittedly probably should have done before now, and approaches Tim again. As expected the kid screams and begs as he tries to shuffle away, his legs kicks out and his body contorts uncomfortably.

Pretty much out of options Jason lunges for Tim. He grabs the kid’s ankle to stop him from getting any further away before diving onto the floor and situating himself behind Tim. He wraps his legs around Tim’s thighs and knees, pinning them in place and he wraps his arms around Tim’s torso and shoulders. He holds on tightly as Tim tries and fails to buck out of his grasp.

While the kid screams in his arms all Jason could do is hold him and wait until backup comes. He counts the never ending minutes as they tick by. His brother is weakly fighting his hold while tears stream down his cheeks as he whimpers out pleas, it breaks Jason’s heart to hear it all.

Thankfully the cavalry soon arrive, they burst into the room and take in the scene before them. Both Dick and Bruce rush towards them and immediately start making plans.

“How long ago was he injected?” Bruce demands as he grasps Tim’s chin. Tim tries to get out of it but Bruce holds firm as he removes the kid’s mask and studies his dilated pupils.

“Twenty maybe thirty minutes. Right before O contacted you. Crane got away.” Jason reports automatically. He’s furious about Crane of course but family comes first, he couldn’t have left Tim alone in this state.

“Hold him still.” Bruce grunts as he digs through his utility belt. After a moment he produces a small blood sample kit. With quick efficiency Bruce takes a vial of Tim’s blood, caps it off and holds it out to Nightwing who had been hovering on the side but not getting in the way. Dick takes it without words. “Get a head start to the cave, Agent A is preparing to start a new antidote trial.”

Dick nods, his gaze lingers on Tim before his head tilts in Jason’s direction. “Keep me updated.” He disappears before Jason could respond. When Dick is out of sight his attention is drawn back to Tim and Bruce.

“We need to get him to the car and then to the cave. You’ll need to keep him restrained so he doesn’t hurt himself.”

If the situation were different Jason would both be peeved and even upset at the detachment in Bruce’s tone of voice. Unfortunately in this situation he can understand why Bruce is like it, not being emotionally invested will allow him to focus on the task at hand, which in this case happened to be getting Tim back to the cave and working on a new antidote. He’ll let himself feel everything once he knows Tim is safe and sound.

Together he and Bruce manage to get Tim into the batmobile. The kid does nothing other than scream, whimper, plead and cry as they move him. Jason makes sure to tell Bruce about his hand and once in the car Bruce relays the injury to Alfred in the cave. Once they’ve worked out the antidote they can work on his hand.

Getting back to the cave seems long and tedious but once they’re there they move Tim from the car and into the medical bay. They settle him down on one of the cots, having to restrain his wrists and ankles to the bed to stop him moving so much and Alfred updates them on the situation with the antidote.

They were fortunate enough to be able to come up with a temporary antidote in that short amount of time. It turns out Scarecrow hadn’t used a new toxin but rather the same one as before, the only difference in this one is that there are hints of Poison Ivy’s hallucinogen concoction. Dick and Alfred quickly worked together to combine the two antidotes making a new one altogether.

Without much hesitation they give Tim the new antidote and watch as the kid quietens down on the bed and falls unconscious. It’s only after Alfred deems everything is okay that they all can breathe somewhat easily again.

While Dick, Bruce, Jason and Barbara (over the comms) discuss the next steps and about what the current situation is looking like, Alfred stays with Tim and patches up his hand, fixing a cast over the skin and bone until they can get it looked at professionally.

As plans are being made Jason watches Alfred work, his worry for Tim still heavily stirring inside of him. He doesn’t think he’ll be forgetting those petrified screams any time soon. Once the kid wakes up Jason is going to have a long chat with Tim, one to rest his own subconscious and secondly because he wants to make sure the kid is mentally okay after the ordeal. He’ll make sure Tim gets some proper r&r after all of this and maybe even for himself too once Crane is dealt with.

[actress4him]

The Barn 2 - Auction

(Prompt #28 for Summer of Whump)

Previous | Next

Warnings: restraints, captivity, dehumanisation, shock collar, asphyxiation, human auction

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It was another day and a half before Jacob started to find out why he was there. During that whole time, he stayed hogtied in the stall, only being acknowledged when one of the goons came in to pour some water down his throat. The first time that happened he made the mistake of choking on it, and the sound set the stupid bark collar off again. The goon had just laughed at him.

On day two, when he was thoroughly bruised all over and aching from the cramped position, something started happening out in the barn. More and more voices filled the airy space, male mostly, but with a feminine laugh breaking through here and there. Jacob had no idea what was happening, but his heart rate sped up, regardless.

Then faces began appearing through the bars that lined the top of his stall. New faces, not any of the goons from before. Some glanced in briefly and moved on. Some stared openly, making notes on their phones. Others peered in curiously, smiling at him, leaning their heads in towards each other and exchanging secretive words.

He felt strangely like an animal in a zoo.

Part of him wanted to cower back into the corner, try his best to hide from the stares. But his pride wouldn’t let him. So instead he bared his teeth like the animal they seemed to think he was, trying to look as menacing as a mute, tied-up, sleep- and food-deprived, skinny blond guy possibly could.

He wondered if that was part of the reason some of them laughed.

The staring didn’t last long, thankfully. The faces stopped appearing, and the voices faded, though not completely. They sounded like they were standing outside of the barn, rather than in it. Somewhere close to him, a latch grated open, and there was a shuffling sound in the hay as a semi-familiar voice - Fancy Suit Man - rose above the rest, as if addressing the crowd.

For a long time nothing else really happened. Another voice spoke for periods of time, and every once in a while footsteps would enter the barn, and another latch would open. From the sound of it, they were opening each stall, drawing closer and closer to his each time.

Were there others trapped in here, like him? More importantly, what were they doing with them now? What were they about to do to him?

Eventually it was time to find out. Footsteps approached again, and this time the same man who’d laughed at him getting shocked the day before appeared at the stall door. Jacob glared at him as if that would change his situation at all.

The door swung open, and the goon quickly got to work untying the rope that connected Jacob’s wrists to his ankles. His heart was pounding for sure now. Maybe if he kicked out at the man’s face...maybe if he could get the stupid collar off…

He didn’t actually have any sort of plan by the time the rope came off. He tried kicking anyway, regardless of the fact that his ankles were still bound and he wouldn’t have been able to run anywhere, but the goon seemed to anticipate this, ducking calmly and catching Jacob’s leg in one, beefy hand.

“I’d break your ankle for that if it wouldn’t get me in trouble for damaging the merchandise.”

Merchandise?

There was no time to figure the statement out. Fingers were sliding down the back of his neck, in between the collar and his skin, and it was too much, too tight, the metal prongs dug holes into his throat while the black box they were attached to pressed up against his Adam's apple. He tried to gasp, but nothing came through. Instinctively he brought his bound hands up to the collar, groping at it, trying to pry it forward and give himself some air, but it was no use. There was no more give.

Through the fog of panic, he distantly registered that he was being dragged. Backwards, out of the stall, by the collar.

Black spots started dancing in his vision.

Just when he thought he’d surely pass out, he was thrown sideways onto gravel. He immediately sucked in a lungful of both air and dust, and began hacking until he thought a lung might spill out onto the ground any second.

He was still gasping and choking when a pair of hands grabbed onto the rope tying his wrists and yanked them up over his head, hooking something to it that pulled at the rope, scraping it across his already chafed skin. A second later, and he was jerked backwards.

And up. And up.

When the dizzying motion stopped and he was breathing somewhat normally again, he found himself looking out on the entirety of the crowd that had come by his stall earlier. They were all gathered around, watching, staring at him once again. And it was no wonder, because he was on full display now. It seemed they had hooked him up to the pulley on the front of the barn, the one normally used for hauling hay bales up to the loft. Now it was being used to keep him upright, toes just barely brushing the ground.

“Alright, folks, this is our last lot. Last chance to own one of these fine specimens for yourself, because I’m sad to say that after today I must move on to greener pastures.” Fancy Suit Man was standing somewhere to Jacob’s left, though he couldn’t crane his neck quite far enough to see.

“Now, I know a lot of you like to come to these events to find you a good laborer, but this particular lot I’d have to recommend for any of you who might be looking for...other purposes.” He finally appeared in Jacob’s periphery, gesturing to his body. “That’s not to say that he couldn’t be a good worker, eventually. He’s just gonna need a little...training. The shock collar you see him modeling might give you a good idea of what I mean.” He chuckled. “That’s not included, by the way. You’ll need to find your own creative method of shutting him up.”

Labor...other purposes…training? He didn’t know what any of it meant, and he didn’t want to. He just wanted to go home. He wanted his apartment, his bed, his leftover pizza, his cat Molly. He wanted to call his mom and tell her what had happened to him and let her lecture him one more time about the dangers of living alone.

He didn’t want to be here anymore.

“Alright, let’s start the bidding at $2,000.” The second voice he had heard before started up, quickly dropping into a drone of words and numbers that Jacob couldn’t keep up with. A white sign was raised, and the number changed. For a moment he couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t let himself wrap his brain around what was happening.

But there was no denying it, not really. He was being auctioned off.

A man in a trucker hat - not the goon, but another of several audience members wearing the style - was bidding rather fervently, egged on by the short, frumpy woman who hugged his arm. A few others joined in here and there, but after a while it came down to just that couple and one other man. He wore a hat, also, a Stetson that was pulled down far enough it left his eyes in shadow. There was never a twitch or flicker of emotion on his face, just a steady raising and lowering of the number twenty-eight sign in his hand.

Eventually, the man in the trucker hat gave up, much to his wife’s disappointment.

“And...sold! to Number Twenty-eight.”

Fancy Suit Man started blabbing on about his appreciation for the turnout, but Jacob was too busy being dropped to the ground and wrested off the hook to pay attention. The man in the Stetson approached, looming in the background while a couple of goons held him down. One started attempting to pull his wrists and ankles back together, despite the fight Jacob was putting up, while the other unhooked the blasted collar.

As soon as it was gone he shouted as loudly as he could, which wasn’t nearly as loud as he’d have liked, seeing as how his throat was practically mutilated. “Get off me! Get your stupid, filthy hands off me! I don’t belong to anybody, you can’t just sell me! I’m a human being, and you are all just sick, demented -”

The one who had taken off the collar joined the second and they were able to get him hogtied once more. They stepped back then, leaving him writhing in the dirt while Stetson looked on.

“Well, the boss did warn you. He’s a feisty one.”

Stetson’s stoic facade still didn’t crack. “I’ll take it from here.”

The goons stepped back. In one, fluid motion, Stetson reached down, grabbed hold of the shorter piece of rope, lifted Jacob off the ground, and slung him around his shoulder so that he hung against the man’s back like a sack of potatoes. He cried out in surprise and at the smarting pain in his wrists, glad he could do so now without getting the tar shocked out of him.

He continued to fight as he was carried away from the barn, bouncing, hoping he could make the man drop him despite knowing the fall would hurt. Nothing seemed to faze Stetson, though. They stopped after a minute, and the jangle of keys and creak of a tailgate being opened was heard. Then he was being tossed down onto a grooved truck bed and shoved deeper inside. Before he could get his bearings and try to scoot anywhere, the tailgate slammed shut, and a cover came down over the bed.

He was left in complete darkness, wondering where on earth he was being taken next.

[bbrandy2002]

Happy Birthday Burnsy!

The Country AU -- I'm Gonna Live Where The Green Grass Grows

Pairing: Drake x Alyssa, Liam x Riley, and a whole host of other TRR characters.

A/N: This was a silly little idea I had months ago for an AU built around the places and people where I grew up. I never had plans to actually write it, but I mentioned it to Burns, and well ... she wanted it lol so here we are. And she’s already read half of this and is the one who made the mood board for it and the song inspo hahaha. Thank you to @mskaneko for the edits of our OTP’s, and @charlotteg234 for pre-reading the first half of this.

Trigger warning: Gun usage, hunting, mild language ... I think that’s it

@burnsoslow

My dearest friend, when I think back at where we were one year ago, I can’t help but be reminded of the vastly different world we live in now. On February 5, 2020, there was no covid keeping us sheltered and fearful, families were complete, jobs were stable, and so many of the things we worried about then simply pale in comparison to now, Life wasn’t so bad. But here we are with all these new changes and mindsets. Through it all, one thing remained consistent: YOU. You have been my strength, my rock, the anchor that grounded me. We have cried together, laughed a lot together, worried for each other, and celebrated those small victories that were important to each other. And I get so happy when someone comments about how much they love the friendship between Riley and Alyssa because it's the most real part of Fearless. If anyone ever wanted to know what we’re like, it's all written out in that story. I’ve got your back, and you have mine. You’re my best friend and I just love the hell out of ya! I hope your birthday is amazing and that this fic is everything you wanted for this AU.

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On Sunday mornings in southern Georgia, you did one of two things: You woke up early for church services or woke up late to watch NFL football.

Some people figured out a long time ago how to do both.

Sitting in the back pew of the First Cordonian Church of Everlasting Peace, Alyssa Walker sat quietly with the sweetest southern belle smile, nodding her head along to the beautiful words spoken during Pastor Hakim’s sermon and hiding a pair of earbuds lodged in each ear. 

She and her husband, Drake, had laid claim to the pew when they were teens trying to sneak a kiss or two during prayers. After ten years of marriage, they no longer needed to sneak kisses but stayed in that same seat, believing the biggest sinners should stay as far away from the minister as possible. Why be the barrier that may prevent the spirit from reaching the rest of the congregation? The couple felt it was the least they could do.

They were actually pretty good folks and well respected in their community. Alyssa had taught first grade for eight years at the local elementary school, where her two children, nine-year-old Audrey and six-year-old Patrick, also attended. Her best friend since third grade, Riley, was the art teacher there. 

Drake worked nearby as the lead mechanic at Rys and Sons Chevrolet out on North Ramsford Avenue. Constantine had owned the auto dealership for 35 years before passing it down to his sons, Leo and Liam, when he ran for and became the town's mayor. Leo peaced out, heading to South Florida, while Liam took on the sole responsibility of ownership himself. 

And while most people in this sleepy little town of Cordonia were Falcons fanatics, Alyssa grew up rooting for the team where her parents were born and raised before settling in Georgia as newlywed lawyers: The Chicago Bears.

With the game against the Packers blaring into her ear, she kept a keen eye on the rest of her fellow parishioners. When they clapped, she clapped. When they sang, she sang. She raised her hands in hallelujahs when they did. She had learned to read lips and could “Amen” and “Praise God” right on cue with the rest of them. All the while, she sat in contentment, listening to her weekly football games. 

“The score with 14 seconds left in the second quarter is Chicago -- 14, Green Bay -- 17. The Bears have the ball on the 5-yard line. It’s third and goal. If Trubisky can score here, they’ll go into the locker room at halftime with a lead for the first time in this game, or possibly tie it all up with a field goal after this down. This is a huge, HUGE play, Jim ...” 

Alyssa twined her fingers together and lowered her forehead onto them as she waited with bated breath for the announcer to call the play-by-play. As far as anyone else knew, she was praying fervently for the Hebrews crossing the parted Red Sea away from Pharoah's army that the pastor was chronicling.

“And here comes the snap. Trubisky backs up. He tosses to Robinson in the end zone. OHHH! So close… batted away by Alexender …”

“JESUS!” Alyssa yelled out in anger. With earbuds in, she didn’t realize how loudly that just came out of her mouth. Drake nudged her in the thigh. She glanced over at him for a second before he nodded to the 123 pairs of eyes that had all turned at once in her direction. It instantly dawned on her that everyone in the congregation heard the outburst.

Feeling the color drain from her face, Alyssa placed a hand over her chest and addressed, “I am soooo into this sermon, Hakim. Woohoo! Go, Jesus, go!” She pumped her fist in the air like she was rooting him on.

Drake dropped his face onto Patrick’s shoulder, who was sitting on his lap, to cover the incessant laughter that threatened to spill out of him. He was doing a terrible job of it, as a momentary burst of muffled snickers could be heard through the sound of the game playing in Alyssa’s ear. Her husband was nothing but a big kid himself -- she wouldn’t change that for anything.

“Mommy,” Audrey whispered next to her. “It’s about Moses. Not Jesus.”

Alyssa smiled, patting her daughter’s knee. “Same thing, baby. They both performed miracles.” She cut her eyes to the phone hidden under the cardigan draped across her thighs. “And the Bears need a miracle right now, guys,” she muttered, “Part those shithead Packer’s defensive line, Lord. It’s time to help my Bears get to the promised land.”

“Going for it on fourth down, Trubisky drops back. The Packer defense is putting a lot of pressure on the Bear’s offensive line. Every man is covered in the end zone. He has no one to throw to, Jim. They’re running out of time. Four seconds left. And, NOOO, they sack Trubisky on the 10-yard line … WAIT THE BALL IS LOOSE … THE BALL IS LOOSE ... he fumbled the ball. The Packers are scrambling to get it. There are green and white jerseys all over that ball. BUT LOOK … Green Bay’s Klark picks it up. He’s running the other way … and he just slipped … he just slipped, and the football fell right into the hands of Chicago’s Robinson --”  

Alyssa grabbed Drake’s thigh, her fingers digging deeply with hope and panic. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” her stressed words weren’t audible to the crowd, but they were speaking volumes in her heart.

“--Robinson’s on the 20, now 15, he’s sweeping past the defense to the 10 -- 5 -- TOUCHDOWN, CHICAGO!!!”

"FUCK YES!" Alyssa jumped up, her arms outstretched in a V shape. “Hallelujah. Holy shit. Thank ya, Jesus.” She let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling nothing short of elated, not concerned in the slightest by the heads that twisted around again.

Hakim stood slack-jawed from the raised platform for a moment, his tallish physique slouching on the pulpit, before adjusting the microphone and clearing his throat deeply. "I'm certainly glad, Sister Alyssa is ... feeling the spirit this morning."

"I am feeling it, Brother Hakim," She shook her head profusely. "I. Am. Feeling it." She shot him a dimpled grin.

Drake snorted loudly, covering his face with one hand and grabbing the side of her dress to pull her back down with the other.

They turned to each other, neither one able to control the snickering and shaking of their bodies. Drake lifted a sleeping Patrick over his shoulder while Alyssa grabbed Audrey's hand; the Walker couple decided they were too immature for church this morning.

They laughed all the way to the parking lot.

"It's never a dull moment with you, baby girl," Drake chuckled, turning over the ignition.

"You know me …” She blew on her nails before rubbing them against her chest. “... just doing the Lord's work." 

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

It was customary in Cordonia for families to gather together each week for a big supper after church. 

The Walkers traditionally took turns hosting with Liam and Riley, and Constantine and Regina. This week's meal was at the elder Ryses.

Sitting down at the dining room table, everyone licked their chops, hungry and ready to dig into all the made-from-scratch southern goodness Mrs. Regina had prepared: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, green beans with hamhock, corn-on-the-cob, deviled eggs, biscuits, sweet tea, and coffee. It was all accompanied by two containers of broccoli salad, Alyssa picked up from the Piggly Wiggly deli after church, and Riley's lopsided carrot cake.

There was always a lot of food, a lot of love, and what would it be in a small town without a little gossip here and there.

"Regina, you've outdone yourself on this meal," Liam raved while placing his five-month-old son in a high chair and fastening the clasps. "If it tastes as good as it smells, we're all in for a big treat."

Everyone agreed as she sat down, Constantine pushing her chair in with a peck to the top of her head. "Thank you, Liam." She looked up at her husband with a sincere smile, rubbing his arm. "Only the best for our family."

She meant every word of that as she and Constantine glanced around the table at all the cheerful faces of the people they loved most — that included Drake and his family. 

Drake's father had been the sheriff for many years before his untimely death, while the younger Walker was a teen. Connie had never met a braver, more hard-working man than Jackson; the now mayor stepped in after that death to be the father figure in Drake's life. Drake was already best friends with Liam, and over time, the family just considered him one of their own. Drake and Alyssa's children referred to them as Mamaw and Papaw Rys.

As everyone settled in and passed the food around the table, the doorbell rang; 7-year-old Ellie -- Liam and Riley's oldest -- jumped up to answer it. With everyone focused on getting their helpings, Riley leaned over and whispered to Alyssa, "Any more scoop on Savannah?"

Alyssa passed the potatoes to her and answered in a hushed tone, "I drove past her house yesterday ... Chuck was there. His big rig was backed right up into the driveway. They're not even trying to hide it anymore."

"I knew it." Riley slapped a scoop of potatoes onto her plate, passing them across to Liam. "When does Bertrand get back from that Bankers Convention in Atlanta?"

"I think Max said on Tuesday. And I guarn-damn-tee, Chuck will be there until then."

"Of course he will. Have you told Drake yet?"

Alyssa shook her head, peeking over at her husband, who was in hog heaven, dousing everything on his plate with white gravy, blissfully unaware of their idle chitchat. She turned back to Riley. "Not yet. You know how protective he is. I'll need to hide the gun cabinet keys when he finds out ... if he finds out. You remember how upset he got when Bianca got caught at the Love's Truck Stop with Landon Ebrim over the summer. His mama can do what she wants, but not with a married man."

Riley agreed with a nod before taking a sip and swallowing her sweet tea. "Ya know, I've never seen sweet Emmaline that angry."

"Yeah, me neither. She sure whopped ass that day." They both giggled lightly. "Landon's dentures flew clean across that truck lot."

"I saw her the other day at the Food Lion, grinnin' like a baked possum. Got that ol' dog for everything he had."

Alyssa huffed, "Cept' his nuts."

Ellie ran back in and hopped in her chair. "Miss Olivia is here!"

Alyssa stiffened, clutching her fork a little tighter before letting out a faint groan. Not that she didn't like the Assistant Principal of Cordonia Elementary -- she was her boss, after all, and they grew up together -- she could just be a little off-putting, sometimes with her treatment of Drake. In light of Olivia's recent divorce, she had, however, started directing most of her scorn on her ex-husband, Anton.

Everyone greeted Olivia as she strolled in behind the youngster, shrugging her jacket off and tossing it on a counter with her purse. "I smelled your chicken and taters all the way from Lythikos Drive, Regina. You know how I love a good rib stickin' meal."

"Is Travis and Waylon here?" Patrick piped up eagerly from the children's table, hoping to have some boys to play with rather than the three little girls who kept ganging up on him.

Olivia pulled out a chair and started loading her plate down. "They're with their daddy this weekend, sugar. I'll tell them you asked about them."

Drake lifted his coffee mug, not making eye contact with anyone. "Speaking of ... I saw Anton yesterday at the Dollar Tree ... with someone." He smirked into his drink. While everyone else knew who and was trying to avoid the elephant in the room, he owed her for years of squabble.

"Who? Madeleine?" Olivia spat, adding heaping spoonfuls of sugar to her already overly sweetened tea. "Bless her rotten heart, he was seeing her before our break up. Moved in with her right after the divorce was final, so I hope she's enjoyed cookin' and cleanin' after my youngins' all weekend, cause she's gonna be doin it a hell of a lot more now that she got herself fired."

Madeleine was a bank teller in the drive-thru at First Cordonia and also Leo's ex-fiancee. 

"Madeleine got fired?" Alyssa asked in surprise. "She's been there for years."

The redhead swirled the sugar around in her tea with a spoon before licking it off and continuing, "Mmm-hmm. Bertrand caught her on video, stuffing her gaudy drawers into the vacuum tubes at the bank and sending them to that bastard when he drove through to make a deposit. He was making deposits alright. Right between her scrawny, cankled ass --"

"Olivia!" Liam quickly interjected, knowing once she got going, it would likely turn R-rated with several little ears listening. "I'm dying to hear how the Christmas Festival for next Saturday is coming along." He shot a look across the table at Drake for getting her worked up. Drake simply grinned.

By late afternoon, supper had been eaten, dishes cleaned, and pants unbuttoned. After a couple of hours of chatting on the back porch and watching the kids play, the two younger couples packed up leftovers Regina insisted they take home and were ready to hit the road. 

Liam and Riley lived next door and walked out with the Walkers who were making their way to the Tahoe parked on the street.

Alyssa bounced and cooed over baby Jacob before handing him back to Riley and getting into the vehicle's passenger seat. 

Liam was leaning into the driver's side window, having a casual discussion with Drake about the opening day of deer season next Saturday and asking what time he wanted to head out.

Alyssa was half-listening and half-working the stereo when an idea popped into her head. "You know what would be fun?” Both men stopped talking and glanced over at her. “We should all go?”

Drake knit his brows. “Go where?

“Hunting. We can make it a double date. You and me, Riley and Liam. The great outdoors. Some quality time together. I’ll even make snacks for everyone. It’ll be fun,” her voice was chipper. She was excited about it. 

She was also deadly serious. 

So were the dubious looks Drake and Liam gave each other over the thought of taking their wives on the most important hunting event of their year. Not that either didn't enjoy spending time with their significant others, but hunting was a whole different world. It was a one-person sport where you spent the day away from reality and responsibilities and just enjoying the great outdoors —a place to be alone and experience the thrill of a good hunt.

“Guys, I’m serious. We go fishing together, and I’ve shot targets plenty of times. I really wanna go hunting with you. Riley wants to go too, don't you?” She cast an inquisitive glance out her window at Riley, who glared back with the biggest what-the-fuck look she'd ever made. “See, she wants to go too.”

“Baby,” Drake began softly, giving her knee light squeezes. “I don’t mind taking you, but this is opening day. We’ll be in the woods for hours, in the cold. It’s not really what someone would consider a ‘date.’ And we’re going to the Festival that night … we’ll get a chance to spend time together there.”

She held his gaze as her lips began to quiver. “I understand. You .. you need time to be away from me, and it was a dumb idea anyway --”

“No,” Drake cut in. His heart plummeted from the sadness in her voice and eyes. “That’s not it at all. I love spending time with you. And if you really want to do this, then … let’s do this.”

“Really? We can go together?” Drake nodded with a smile before she squealed in his ear and pulled him into a tight hug. “I can’t wait! Thank you!”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Liam let out a heavy breath as he looked over at Riley -- The woman he knew would not be a fun hunting partner next week -- still standing on the sidewalk, appearing like she might faint. “Yeah ... I can’t wait either.”

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

Saturday. 5:15 a.m. The cellphone alarm on Drake’s bedside table let off a series of rhythmic beeping sounds and vibrations. 

The alarm wasn’t needed. The man had been awake for hours, listening to his wife's gentle snores; the anticipation of bringing home at least a 12-pointer keeping him from falling back asleep. 

Letting out a ferocious yawn and a hearty stretch, he picked up his phone to dismiss the alarm and rolled over to wake Alyssa.

With her ass perfectly curled into the space between his stomach and thighs, his hands settled on her curvy hip, jostling her slightly. “Time to get up, my little peach. We gotta get crackin’ before all the good deer are gone.”

“I just need one more hour, okay? Thanks,” she protested with a drowsy murmur, pulling the pillow over her head.

Drake chuckled, rubbing soothing circles over her back. “No. We have to get up now. We’re wasting time, sleepyhead. Unless … you don’t want to go.”

Alyssa’s heavy eyes stung as she tried to peel them open one at a time. “No, I wanna … go ...” she trailed. Her eyes slowly shut again, and she was out.

On a day like today, Drake was usually up and ready in ten minutes. Once he could finally get his wife out of bed, dressed, and back awake again from where she fell asleep on the toilet, it was close to 45 minutes. 

Maxwell, who was also a childhood friend and the music teacher where Alyssa taught, rented the room over their garage. He agreed to come down that morning and watch the kids while the pair spent their morning in the woods. Bianca used to help out in that regard, but the kids complained she slept the whole time, and Alyssa was pretty sure her mother-in-law smoked pot around them.

Drake loaded up the truck, placing his rifle and a smaller .22 caliber for Alyssa behind the seat. Dragging herself slowly to the vehicle, the night sky still pitch black and her breath turning to thick vapors in the frigid air, she listlessly tossed a Taylor Swift tote bag on the floorboard and climbed in.

Drake looked at his phone after everything was packed up to see if Liam had sent a message about being late. It was unusual for him not to be there already. Typically, his best friend was up and at his house before Drake was even ready. He sent off a quick text to check.

Drake: Where you at, man?

Liam: Running late. Riley had to put makeup on and do her hair. 

Liam: I’m having so much fun already 😑

Liam: snark

Drake: Lyss couldn’t decide which gloves looked the best with her orange vest. I guess she wants to impress the deer before she kills them.

Liam: We’re not catching deer today. We’ll be lucky if we catch a cold. Be there in 10.

Twenty minutes later, Liam’s gray Silverado pulled onto the Walker’s gravel drive. Riley had wanted biscuits and gravy from McDonald's, and she had to run back inside to pee, so that set them back. But, with everyone now there, they were finally ready to head out.

Just down the rural road from where Drake and Alyssa lived, the current sheriff of Cordonia, Bastien, owned several acres of unoccupied land that he used for recreation. He had been a close friend of Drake’s dad and agreed to let Drake and Liam hunt and fish on his property whenever they wanted.

Turning onto the dirt road and opening the gate, the four friends arrived at their spot just as dawn was breaking. 

No one spoke much as they trekked through the mud, sticks, and brittle fall leaves that littered the path to the deer stands. Riley and Alyssa were too exhausted to say anything. Drake and Liam just weren’t used to talking at all.

"Riley, love,” Liam whispered softly. “Can you watch how you’re walking? The noise is going to scare the deer away.”

“I can’t help it if … " She reacted loudly in frustration before Liam placed a finger over his lips, and she resumed speaking more quietly. “I can’t help it if there're leaves everywhere. I’m walking on them as delicately as possible.”

“How much further? I think my toes are frozen and I need coffee.” Alyssa bemoaned while walking on the balls of her heels. Drake was basically dragging her sluggish body by the hand. Her eyes were still drooping from exhaustion with every careful step.

“Just over yonder of that fence row is our stand.” He pointed out.

Alyssa aimed her flashlight around the woods in several spots. "And where do we pee at?"

Liam lightly snorted as Drake answered matter-of-factly. "Just over yonder of that fence row below our stand."

"Oh ... " her tone was small and apprehensive, "... I guess that's ... okay." She glanced back timidly at Liam, who was following close behind.

He shielded his eyes from the beam of her flashlight in his face and frowned. "I'm not going to watch you pee, Alyssa."

Riley gasped, "Eww! I don't want Drake watching me pee either." 

"Shhhhh." Liam was quick to remind her again of the volume of her voice.

"Stop, shushing me, Liam! Those deer don't know I'm out here."

Drake grunted, then whipped around to face the three of them. "Would you keep your voices down? No one's watching anybody take a piss," he whisper-yelled. "Lyssa and I will be at least a hundred yards away from ya'll. Riley, I promise you can piss your little heart out, and I won't see it."

"We're separating?" Alyssa asked wistfully. "What if I need to ask Riley something, and she can't hear me yelling across to her?"

"You'll just have to ask her when we're done, baby girl. And ... please don't yell questions to her while we're out here. Low voices."

They continued on with their noisy hike.

"Having so much fun," Liam grumbled to himself.

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

Liam and Riley headed to their tree stand as Drake helped Alyssa climb up the ladder to theirs. 

The stand and ladder were made of plywood -- chipped and faded from years of exposure to the elements -- and were attached at the apex to an oak tree about twenty feet off the ground. At the top it had enough room to take a step onto, with a wooden seat just wide enough to accommodate them. One plank rail came out on both sides. 

Alyssa plopped down onto the seat, clutching her tote bag of goodies on her lap. She lifted the brim of the orange beanie she borrowed from Drake -- that smelled of animal carcass and gun powder -- above her eyes and peered out to the wilderness spread monumentally below. She closed her eyes and slowly inhaled the fresh, dewy air, taking in the sounds of twittering birds, branches clashing from the nearby squirrel frolicking on them, and the rippling of a bubbling brook streaming down the hill. 

A pleasant warmth overcame her as Drake's much larger body sat down next to her and protected her from the frosty wind blowing in from his side.

Alyssa wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling into him. "I can see why you like this so much. It's so quiet and peaceful ... look how purty it is out here, Drake. It's just real purty, isn't it?"

Working diligently on getting their gear together, he stopped briefly to look out; affection glowed in his eyes. “It sure is, darlin’. Almost as purty as you ... and notice I said 'almost.'” He winked, and Alyssa blushed, feeling that same love trickling up inside her she'd had since they were teenagers. Drake could charm the pants off a chipmunk, but she was thankful he only used that gift on her.

"Sooo ... " She drawled in her thick Southern accent. "How long will it be before the deer start coming out?" 

Drake drew the barrel of her gun back after loading it with shells and explained, "Don't know. It could be minutes. It could be a few hours. Just whenever they head this way, I reckon."

Perplexed, Alyssa nodded slowly. "A few hours? I s'pose that's okay. What do you do while you're waiting?"

He shrugged, passing a gun to her. "You just ... sit here."

"You just sit here and do what?"

Drake leaned over to kiss into her orange cap and replied, "Wait."

"Wait." She acknowledged. "I can do that. I'll just sit here ... and wait."

Several minutes had passed, and Alyssa was already bored with listening to nature, Drake's gurgling stomach, and sitting quietly with nothing to do. Every so often, a shotgun blast was heard in the distance, signifying either someone out there had gotten their prize or Riley had driven Liam insane. It was the only break from the monotony that came with the boredom of sitting in a tree for who knew how many hours.

Letting out a giant exhale that caught Drake's attention, she propped her rifle against the railing and pulled the cloth tote that was sitting between her boots into her lap. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out her phone and began thumbing out a message.

Drake furrowed his brows and asked, "What're you doin'?" 

"Just texting Riley,' she answered dismissively. He shook his head and leaned it back against the tree while she formulated her message.

Alyssa: You still alive over there? How's it going?

Riley: This is boring as shit.

Riley: And now my texting is apparently scaring away the deer. F the deer Liam. F all the damn deer!!!! What were you thinking, Lyss?

Alyssa: I was thinking we could spend quality time with our husbands. The men we love and cherish with all of our hearts. I’m having a great time with Drake so far 😍😘

Alyssa: And no one twisted your arm to come bitch.

Riley: Liam's just staring through binoculars. He hasn’t spoken in 20 minutes except to tell me to point the gun away from him or to quit moving. Let’s go get our hair did at Adelaide's.”

Alyssa: OHHH Yes! And get Chinese food ... CRAB RANGOONS!! I'll have Drake drive us back. Girls Day Out. Love you!

Drake let out a belch and blew it away when Alyssa turned to him with a dazzling smile and a sparkle in her blues. "Can you drive Riley and me back to the house?"

"What? Right now?" he shrieked. She answered him with a cheerful nod. "What happened to all that talk about wanting to spend quality time with me?"

"I still do. But ... we're just sitting here, not really doing anything. I could be getting my hair done for tonight's festival. I also have a ton of laundry to do, some papers to grade, and I’m supposed to be making the Devereaux’s famous peach cobbler for the raffle. If I leave now, I’ll have time to do all of it.” Alyssa knew she probably wouldn’t do half of that, and Audrey would likely make the cobbler, but it made the situation sound more urgent.

"It's opening day, baby. I'm not leaving this spot." He reached into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out his keys. "If you and Riley wanna take my truck, I'll ride back with Liam."

She gave him an exasperated look. "I don't know my way back to the truck. And I sure as hell know Riley doesn't."

He smirked, stuffing his keys back. "Then you're stuck."

The next hour was brutal. Alyssa texted Riley to alleviate the boredom for several minutes, but there had been no responses in a long while. She wasn't aware that Liam tossed her friend's phone over the hill when she started making TikTok videos of her plight -- Liam took his deer hunting seriously: No noise meant no noise.

Drake wasn't much better; he was quieter than his usual self. It wouldn't have been so bad if she could at least talk. An occasional whispered word was not going to cut it.

Alyssa sighed heavily. She wiggled around for comfort. She unwrapped a Nutty Bar. She crunched. She opened a can of pop. She tapped her fingers. She flipped the pages of a magazine. Each one got that look from Drake that let her know it was too loud. If she ever made it out of there, she planned to jabber and stir until she couldn't do it anymore.

After another half-hour of stewing quietly in her thoughts without a sign of a deer anywhere, Alyssa decided now was the time to finally just talk. 

"Do you ever think about having another baby?" It was a topic that had been on her mind for a while. To her surprise, Drake didn't give her a look or even freak out the way she anticipated. Despite his own rule of silence, he even responded in kind.

"Yeah. Kind of a lot."

Her right brow darted up. "Really?" 

Drake took a breath and shifted the gun across his lap. "I mean, of course. It's always been my dream to settle down and have a bunch of youngin's with the woman I love." He studied her lit-up face; he'd swore she'd gotten more beautiful with age. That's why he hesitated when he added, "But ... "

Her shoulders slumped at his words, and a deflated look impressed upon her face. "But ... " The word barely made it past her lips.

Drake reached for her hand and gripped it tightly. "Lyssa, we have so much going on right now. You're working on National Boards, Audrey has piano recitals and basketball, Patrick has peewee football and Boy Scouts. We barely have time -- except for right now -- for just ... us. I'm not saying,"never"... just that right now ... isn't a good time."

"I understand that, but ... we've always made it work. And don't you miss those tiny little fingers wrapped around yours? And the way they smell fresh out of the bath? And those chubby little cheeks pressed up against yours?" she goaded.

“Of course I do. I remember the first time I held Audrey and PJ in my arms -- there’s just no better feeling in the world than ...to look down ... " Drake paused as his voice cracked, and his brown eyes glistened like glass. " ... and to see someone so small ..." When she sniffled, it made it that much harder for him to speak. "... that you created with the woman you've loved since you were 16 years old. But I like who they are now, and watching them grow, and doing things with them ... And, well ... there’s no shit clean up.”

“You obviously haven’t washed Patrick's clothes in a while,” Alyssa retorted with a chuckle that brought out one in her husband.

"I’ll have to talk to him about that." He gazed deeper into her eyes. "But I do love you ... more than all the peaches in Georgia, Lyssa Claire.”

Alyssa smiled.“That’s what you said to me when you promised to marry me when we were teens.”

Drake returned his own smile. “I did. I remember like it was yesterday too. Sitting in your parent’s basement, watching Friends reruns, eating pizza, making out. And hell, it’s still as true today as it was then. Somehow, even more."

Their cold lips parted and joined halfway for a fervent kiss, with Drake's hand meandering around the subtle groove at the junction of her waist. Just as it became more intense and desirous, a rustling of twigs off in a nearby thicket caught Drake's ear, and he broke away, his eyes scoping the perimeter. Alyssa wasn't offended, she heard it too, and her heart raced with excitement.

Lifting the binoculars hanging from his neck, he spotted two deer eating from a blackberry patch some thirty yards away. He pointed in their direction; Alyssa gave a quick thumbs up, letting him know she saw them too.

Drake carefully lifted the rifle resting in his lap as Alyssa leaned forward and squinted to get a better visual. "Is that a buck and a doe?" she whispered, not moving an inch.

"Sure as fuck is." He mounted the stock of his .30 caliber, Winchester, just beneath his collarbone;  the rush of this moment coursed ravenously through his body. He lined up the scope and placed a steady finger on the trigger -- his thumb pulling the hammer back.

“Wait.” Alyssa loudly whispered. “You can’t shoot him.”

"I'm gonna. Better cover your ears."

"No, Drake. There's a doe with him. What if that's his wife? You can't just leave her all alone without him."

"Lyss, this is the whole reason we're out here."

"So you can make a widow out of her?"

"No ... so I can make deer chili out of him."

Alyssa's mouth flew open. "No. No. RUUUUUUUUN! RUUUUUUN!"

Drake pulled his face away from the scope and fired her a look. "What the hell are you doing? They're getting away!"

She tilted her chin boldly. "I don't care. That was her husband, and they're in love, and you can't take that away from them. I would be so sad if we were just out eating berries and someone came up and shot you, ALL SO THEY COULD EAT DRAKE CHILI!". 

Drake dropped his head. He knew there was no point in arguing with her. As long as he’d known her, she was stubborn, and at that moment, she was dead set in believing those two deer were living out the greatest romance of all time. Nothing he said or did would change her mind on that. 

A thought emerged while he attempted to comprehend the logic of the situation. Those deer ran off in the direction where Liam was set up. Maybe if he could give his friend a heads up, it was still possible at least someone would leave those woods with the prized buck.

Turning his back from Alyssa so that she couldn't stop him, he pulled a small walkie-talkie from his pocket and radioed Liam. Alyssa knew what was up and jumped to her feet, thrusting her arms around him in an attempt to stop the travesty.

"You can't do this, Drake," she hollered, "That’s her soulmate. And why don't I have a walkie-talkie? I want a walkie-talkie!"

While seated next to Liam, Riley was swinging her legs, purposefully making the soles of her boots scrape against the platform. Liam tried to ignore her; maybe he had been a little too uptight about every little noise and utterance she made. But this was playing a whole different ballgame now: she was now making it her mission to piss him off.

Prepared to pound his head against the tree, Liam gritted his teeth, skimming his eyes in her direction. "Love, do you have to do that?"

"Did you have to throw my phone in the woods?" She spat back.

Liam rubbed his hand over his face. "No, and I am sorry that. I apologize for all of eternity. I promise I will get you another one as soon as we get back, okay?”

Riley huffed. "Fine, but that phone had all of my contacts on it. It had our babies' pictures and videos on it ... our vacation photos. I can't get those memories back ever, and I have to find it, and God only knows where it landed. It could be ..." She stopped rattling on when she caught sight of the distressed look Liam was giving her. Knitting her brows, Riley asked, "What?"

"Nothing ... just ... can you lower your voice a little? You're gonna scare the deer away," 

He regretted it as soon as it came out. 

“LIAAAAM!”

He saw the steam gushing out of her ears. There was no time to answer the incoming call on his walkie-talkie from Drake.

Belting out a furious screech, Riley jumped up and tried to jerk the gun from his hands. There was no question she wouldn't shoot him, but she'd sure as hell shred his favorite gun apart piece-by-piece and toss them all the way to Portavira Lake on the other side of town.

Riley tugged with all of her might. "I have HAD IT with being quiet for those damn deer, Liam. HAD IT!"

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down ..." He stood up in front of her, pulling back on the rifle even harder, surprised -- and not pleasantly so -- his considerably smaller wife had this much struggle in her.

"Don't you sweetheart me. You have shushed me for the last time, Liam Preston Rys!"

“Okay, I’m sorry! But can you at least admit us fighting over a gun is dangerous? Somebody is going to get seriously hurt, and I don’t want it to be you, Riley. Please. I won’t shush you anymore, I promise.” His face softened, eventually adorning a loving smile at his wife, who, with a sigh, was unable to resist that handsome face and relaxed her grip. 

Riley gave him a half-smile in return. “I’m sorry, too. I’ve ruined your hunting trip.”

“Yes ... you did.” Liam agreed, dodging the playful slap she nearly made to his upper arm. “But I don’t want to fight anymore.”

With the War of the Ryses finally over, they went in for a makeup kiss until Drake’s voice called out to Liam again through his walkie talkie. Liam set the gun down on the bench and leaned it against the tree before he started digging into his pocket to answer the device. Riley dropped down onto the seat, her elbow brushed against the rifle and caused it to slide away until the barrel end hit the railing and set off a powerful blast.

When the ringing in both of their ears subsided, and the smoke had cleared, Liam and Riley collected themselves from the sudden spine-gripping explosion that shook them both. While Riley explained to Liam what happened, a hysterical sounding Drake came back over the walkie-talkie, wailing, “Alyssa’s been shot! Alyssa’s been shot! Help me!”

__________________

Later that evening, in the courthouse square, the street was lit up with zig-zagged rows of red, green, and white lights. Strands of garland were wound around every lamppost in perfect spiraled loops, and red bows hung and waved with the wintry breeze.

With traffic rerouted away from the area, vendors lined sidewalks selling local goods to put the town's citizens in the festive spirit. What would this small town in Georgia have been without boiled peanuts, low country boil, fried green tomatoes, barbecue, and peach everything? 

Once Constantine had lit the 30-foot spruce, surrounded by hundreds of merry people from all walks of life that made up this small community, the festival was officially kicked-off.

In a large tent set up on the square, Liam and Riley laid out styrofoam containers and drinks they’d purchased from a barbeque vendor on one of several picnic tables inside. With their two young daughters munching away on their meal, and the stroller with their sleeping son beside them, they both sat down with heavy hearts and restless minds.

Liam bit into his barbecue sandwich, noticing Riley only prodding at her mac-and-cheese while staring off into the distance. He didn’t have to ask what was wrong; he knew what happened that morning was bothering her with guilt and worry. It wasn’t every day she accidentally shot someone.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Riley shook her head slightly with a sad look. “No. It’s just not the same without Alyssa here. You know how much she loves Christmas and the festival. She was so looking forward to it too, until --”

“You shot her.”

“Yeeeeeesssss,” she cried out. Liam reached across the table and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, his thumb caressing her smooth skin. Riley continued to sniffle as she grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped the barbecue sauce off Liam’s sticky fingers that were now smeared all over hers. “I didn’t mean to, I swear it. And the way … and the way Drake cried. It broke my heart. Now he has her on bed rest AND house arrest. He won’t let her take calls. I’ll never see or hear from my bestie agaaaain.” The tears continued to flow in steady streams.

Liam stiffened, feeling the eyes of everyone in that tent, gawking at his overly-dramatic wife breaking down. He started to tell her to lower her voice, but after the gun battle in the woods, he thought better of it. “Riley, darlin’, you know Drake is really overprotective of Alyssa. And as scary as what happened was, she only needed the one stitch and band-aid for her graze wound. Something tells me Drake won’t be able to keep her down long.”

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

Liam was right. As much as Drake tried to keep her in bed so he could wait on her hand and foot, protect her from the careless friends of the world who could inadvertently do his baby girl harm, and check to see if she needed a new band-aid every few minutes, he could not keep her down. She had been far too excited to hang out with the people she loved so much and celebrate at one of her favorite festivals.

Maxwell had left for the events with Audrey and Patrick an hour ago; they were part of the children’s caroling group and needed to be there early. Against Drake’s wishes, Alyssa showered, got dressed, and made sure he knew in no uncertain terms would he be able to prevent her from going. The only thing he knew to do was to go, follow her around the entire night, and make sure she wouldn’t get shot again.

They circled the block where everything was held several times, but spaces to park were impossible to find. Three blocks away was the church where they attended, and the parking lot was completely empty. Drake didn’t like the fact that Alyssa would have to walk so far in her debilitated condition and was prepared to haul her piggyback style if he had to, but this was the best spot he could find.

Drake moved the gearshift into park and reached over to grab Alyssa’s arm, who was already bounding out the door. He pulled Alyssa back inside, the chilly air blowing through her open door swept her straighten hair this way and that way. 

She cocked her head to the side and exhaled, “Drake, I can open my own door. I’m not broken. It’s just a scratch. I’m fine.”

“I know.” He smiled that tenderhearted smile only Alyssa had ever seen. The same one sending a shudder through her already chilled body. “I changed my mind,” he replied simply

Alyssa slammed her eyes shut and groaned. “I just told you I was fine --”

“No, no,” He shook his head. “About having another baby. I want to start trying.”

Saddled with curiosity, she slid back into the truck and shut the door. “But, I thought you said we didn’t have time for that --”

“Yeah, I did say that. I still believe it. But … today made me realize that yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today …”

Alyssa’s hand flew to her mouth as she laughed out loud. Drake gave her a confused look before chuckling awkwardly to himself, “What’s so funny?”

She lowered her hand, still laughing. “You got that saying from a quote on a poster in my classroom. You’re the one who hung it up for me.”

The memory dawned on him, and he lowered his head, attempting to cover the guilty grin that spread over it. “Well, hell. Here I was trying to make you think I was all insightful and smart and stuff.”

Alyssa’s hand splayed across his rugged chest as she leaned over to kiss him.“You are very insightful and smart. You know I never settle for anything less than the best.”

“I s’pose.” he said, forking his fingers through his hair. “But … I guess what I wanted to say was … I know that bullet missed you, barely … but what if it hadn’t? What if I’d left those woods without you today? Just like you were afraid that doe might. Time wouldn’t matter anymore. There will NEVER be enough time with you. You’re my life, Alyssa Claire. You’re my lover, my friend, my heart, my confidante, my soul, my everything … my little peach. I want to experience all that life has given me with you as my wife … and forever make time with you.”

“DRAAAKEY!” she bawled, spreading her tiny arms wide around his bulky body. Alyssa drew him into her so hard it nearly crushed the wind right out of his lungs. “I -- love -- you -- so muuuch!” Drake patted her back and kissed into her hair as she sniveled into his shirt. He hated when she cried, but damn if this didn’t feel good to him. Anytime she was happy made him that way too. 

They took a moment to kiss and pet each other a little before Alyssa sat up and asked, “So … when do you want to start trying for a new baby Walker?”

He shrugged. “Whenever you want, baby.”

Alyssa looked through the back window of the truck and scanned the parking lot. She bit her lip and looked back at him impishly. “What about … now?”

Drake’s eyes flew open wide. “In the church parking lot?”

Pursing her lips, she affirmed, “Yes. We’ve done it behind the Piggly Wiggly plenty of times. And let's not forget the ‘Great Ass Blow-out of 2019’ in the Atlanta Convention Center parking garage.”

“I will never forget that.” Drake shook his head as that momentous sexual experience replayed in his mind. “Mmmm, you performed magic that day, woman.”

She raised a brow and coaxed him on, “So? What’dya say?”

Drake took a tentative look around at the dark, empty lot, then back at her. “We’re so going to hell, but I’m in.”

“Eeeeeee,” she squealed, jerking his arm around in excitement. “Try to keep your ass out of the window this time, okay?”

Thirty minutes later, Pastor Hakim pulled into the church parking lot with Mara, the game warden, following behind in her truck. There had been several reports from passerby’s of loud animals howling and screeching behind the church. The stray cat population was out of control in that area, and several cats had burrowed their way inside the church on occasion. 

Hakim parked his car, with Mara pulling in beside him. They both got out simultaneously and listened quietly to see if they could decipher where the commotion was coming from. 

Within seconds, a load moan roared out, followed by several consecutive whimpers that were hard to make out by the duo.

Mara listened intently, then gestured with her flashlight to an area near the back of the lot where clusters of shrubs and dry brush bordered. Hakim ambled behind her, the noise getting closer and closer until the pastor's brow furrowed at the shaking of a nearby truck.

“Damn, teenagers,” he grumbled as they tipped toed discreetly.

Mara crouched down by the truck's tailgate, Hakim bending over while she duck-walked toward the driver's side door.

The game warden turned to the pastor and instructed, “On my three. 1 -- 2 -- 3.” They both jumped up at the same time, flashing the light inside the cab. “HAHA Caught ya! OH MY GOD!”

Alyssa, who was on top of Drake, completely naked except for the band-aid on her left arm, looked up in utter humiliation and shock. She crossed her arms over her chest to cover her breast, feeling like she might faint. Not knowing what to say at that moment to rectify their actions or why those two were still staring inside the truck, Alyssa smiled sheepishly. “I’m still feeling the spirit, Hakim.”

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

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[goldentournesol]

The Receptionist and the Profiler (Four)

Chapter Four: Casino Night

(Spencer Reid x f!Reader)

Series Masterlist

General Masterlist

A/N: y’all gonna hate me for this one

Nowhere in the office was safe for Spencer. Every single room, except for the men’s bathroom, was completely overtaken by Y/N and every other woman in the office rambling about the upcoming wedding. They’d apparently gone dress shopping together and he’d overheard them discussing the dresses Y/N had tried on. Not that he was interested in the act of dress shopping itself, but he imagined that even the ugliest dress on the market could never take away from Y/N’s beauty. She could drape a potato sack on her body and put on a veil and Spencer would still think she’s the most beautiful girl in the world. He wondered if Anderson thought the same.

But seriously, it was getting unbearable. The breakroom--the centerpieces, the bullpen--the dress, the kitchenette--whether or not she’ll have her hair up. He practically had to hide in the men’s room when he wasn’t on a case. Spencer hadn’t had a proper conversation with Y/N since the announcement. He missed her. He missed their little chats and he missed making her smile at his dumb jokes. 

He was currently hiding in the bathroom--despite him being absolutely grossed out by every surface--he planned on staying here for a few minutes, just to calm his racing heart. Every time someone brought the wedding up, it would send his heart and sweat glands into overdrive. He was glad the bathroom was empty so he could wash his face and pick at his nails until he was ready enough to leave it. He was leaning up against a wall when the door opened and Morgan walked in.

“Hiding, huh?” He asked knowingly, as if he was completely unfazed to see Spencer in there.

“Yup.” He replied simply, turning away as Morgan went.

Morgan sighed heavily as he emerged from the urinal and began to wash his hands, “I’m sorry, man. I can’t imagine how annoying it must be for you, but seriously if I have to hear Garcia ask one more time if she’ll be able to provide a vegetarian option, I might actually explode.” 

Spencer found it hard to smile back at his friend but managed to give him a nod. Morgan dried his hands and stood in front of Spencer, “Hey, have you tried talking to her? Maybe..telling her...” He trailed off suggestively.

“No! I haven’t even had the chance to say anything to her besides ‘good morning’. You know, with us being on cases and stuff, and now we’re in the office and I can’t even talk to her. And you can absolutely forget about me telling her anything about anything.” Spencer nearly pouted as he ran his hands over his face, absolutely exhausted.

“Well, okay, then forget the office. Talk to her at Rossi’s, she’s coming to Casino Night on Friday, right?” Morgan tried to reason.

“Yeah, but so is Anderson, and she won’t leave his side. So when the hell am I supposed to talk to her?” Spencer huffed frustratedly.

“You’ll figure it out, man. Now come on, you’ve been gone for too long, I think people are starting to worry about you.”

Rossi was hosting a mini casino night in his house--mansion--as a means for the whole team to unwind. Everyone was glad for the distraction since the last case hadn’t gone so well. It also gave everyone the excuse to dress up, which was nice for a change. Spencer wasn’t even sure whether his teammates would like it if he played with them, but he’ll go anyway, even if it’s just because he wanted a chance to talk to Y/N. 

Friday rolled around way faster than any of them had expected, or maybe because Spencer was stressing so much that time seemed to fly and everyone else experienced time normally. Thankfully they hadn’t gotten any cases and had the entire weekend off. Of course, he was the first to arrive, again. What is so difficult about coming on time? He was just jumpy and anxious because he’d try to talk to Y/N tonight. He doesn’t think he’d be confrontational or….confess anything, he just genuinely misses her. She and Anderson arrived half an hour after Spencer had. She looked...stunning. It wasn’t often that he’d see her all dressed up, it was almost too much for Spencer to handle. He could barely take his eyes off of her. 

She’d spotted him in the kitchen as soon as she came in and sent him an excited wave from the doorway. His face responded with a blush far faster than his hand responded with a wave. Morgan quickly whisked Anderson away and Spencer hoped it would be that way for the rest of the night. She quickly made her way over to him and Spencer was absolutely entranced by the way her emerald green dress sparkled and twinkled under the light coming from Rossi’s expensive chandeliers.

“Spence! Hey!” She began as she greeted him with a hug.

“Hey yourself. You, uh, you look really really pretty, by the way.” Spencer stammered as he stared back at her. He cursed himself for being so nervous.

“Thank you. You look dashing. You know how much I love this tie on you.” She grinned as she extended her hand to rest on the tie. Spencer was terrified she’d feel his heart beating through his chest, but was more than glad she’d noticed his tie. He’d worn it specifically because he remembered her complimenting him every time he wore it.

“I do...know, I mean.” He chuckled awkwardly as he tried not to focus on the way her hand was still on his chest. She was so close he could definitely smell her divine perfume. It always reminded him of her, he’d be able to recognize it anywhere. She gazed up at him so sweetly and Spencer’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the rich redness of her lipstick. So perfectly lined, so tempting. 

He’d decided then, red was his new favorite color.

“I missed you all week, we haven’t had the chance to talk at all.” She pouted her bottom lip ever so slightly and he never felt like he wanted to kiss someone as bad as he did then. He almost frowned when she stepped away to start pouring herself a glass of wine.

“Yeah, we haven’t.” He felt as though her gravity was pulling him in and all 187 of his IQ points had decided to disappear right into thin air as she smiled up at him.

“Are you feeling okay, Spence?” She giggled, sipping from her glass, eyeing him from her spot at the island of the kitchen.

“Yep, totally great.” He tried to laugh it off, but before he could make more conversation, JJ had swept into the kitchen and announced that they were starting another game. She pulled a laughing Y/N out of the kitchen and to one of the makeshift round tables.

“Nu-uh! I’m not playing with Reid!” Emily exclaimed as Spencer took a seat at her table, which consisted of Morgan, Rossi, Anderson, and Garcia. Spencer laughed and raised his hands in defense.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you guys kinda suck.” Spencer joked and Rossi practically jumped out of his seat.

The night went on, filled with lots of laughter and sounds of chips hitting each other. Y/N found herself trying to catch Spencer’s eye most of the night. She’d missed him. The girls had been so excited with planning and discussing the wedding with her that she hadn’t talked to him in forever...well, it was only a week of intense distraction, but it felt like forever, okay? The few times he’d caught her eye, she found herself blushing and looking away quickly. 

Two hours later, Spencer had felt the need to get some fresh air outside when he heard Anderson get up and excuse himself inside. Oh no, they were leaving. He didn’t get to talk to her.

“Hey, babe, you ready?” Anderson asked Y/N, who was clearly in the middle of a game with the girls.

“Um, we’re leaving already? We just got here.” She replied, temporarily leaving her spot at the table.

“I’m just so beat, Y/N. I really wanna go home.” Anderson replied, coat already on, barely leaving her with any choice.

“Okay, um...no problem, I think I’ll stay for a while, I’ll catch a ride back with JJ. I’ll walk you out, hun.” She smiled and put up a finger to the ladies at the table to gesture that she’ll be back soon. Spencer sighed as he watched from the front porch as she led him to their car and pressed a kiss to his lips from the window when he got in.

“Night, babe. See you when I get home.” She smiled and waved as he drove away.

Spencer stood from his seat and she smiled upon seeing him.

“Hey! What are you doing out here? Bored already of taking everyone’s money?” She giggled, walking back up the front steps to meet him.

“Uhm, nothing, I was just getting some fresh air.” He attempted a smile, “Hey, so can I talk to you about something? Do you, want to...go back inside or would you like to, um, go to the backyard with me? It’s really beautiful.”

She totally forgot about the game going on inside and nodded, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go see the backyard.”

He led her to Rossi’s gorgeous backyard which was more elegant than anything the two had seen. The pool shone under the twinkling garden lights which also did an amazing job of giving her an ethereal glow. Spencer was nervous all of a sudden as he led them both to the center of the garden. It was quiet, the chatter coming from inside the house was faint, but it was peaceful enough for him to be able to catch his breath.

“So, are you having a good time?” She attempted to fill the silence as they strolled a little in the backyard.

He laughed, sticking his hands in his pockets, “Um, well, considering Emily’s basically banned me from playing with her and Rossi literally shooed me away from his table, yeah, I’d say I’m having a great time!”

She laughed and the sound echoed in the garden, leading her to place a hand to her lips to try to suppress her giggles, “Sorry…” she mumbled a shy apology. He wanted to tell her to never apologize for laughing because it was truly music to his ears and his favorite sound in the world. 

He shook his head, once again in a trance, “You are so beautiful.” He said, with a dopey grin on his face. She felt her face grow hot as she caught his lovesick stare.

“Thanks Spence…” She recoiled shyly into herself, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by his gaze. They hadn’t realized they stopped walking. Spencer found it hard not to stare.

“So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” She gazed up at him curiously. She caught herself thinking that his honey colored eyes were something she’d always want to stare into.

This was his last chance. It’s now or never.

“Um, I just- uh…” He trailed off nervously. 

His heart wasn’t just beating, it was absolutely going batshit crazy in his chest. He swallowed nervously as his hands made fists in his pockets. He wasn’t up for this, he really wasn’t. He’d never confessed...anything to a girl, let alone his undying love for her. Why is this so hard? It’s just five little words. Yeah, but five little words that had the power to ruin everything so quickly---

“Spence?” She prodded, her hands finding each other nervously. But as he looked down at her, he thought, how could he not be irrevocably in love with her? He took a deep breath and braced himself.

“I’m in love with you.” His eyes were alight with adoration and admiration as he confessed. Years and years of pent up love and feelings have finally led up to this moment.

“What?” She stared up at him incredulously. Of all the things she thought he’d say, that was absolutely not one of them.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry if that makes things weird. I know it’s really bad timing, you’re about to get married in less than a month, but I had to let you know. At least once, so...I’m so undeniably in love with you, Y/N.” He swallowed nervously.

“What are you doing?” She began to frown, shaking her head in disbelief, tears beginning to line the inside of her waterline, “How am I supposed to react to that?” 

Her hands fiddled with the ring on her finger. The ring that suddenly felt too heavy on her hand. It felt wrong to wear it. Half of her heart wanted to throw it in the pool and run away with Spencer into the night and the other half--the half that was currently winning--was planting her feet into the ground.

“I just wanted you to know, Y/N. I’m not expecting anything from you, right now, or ever. Just as long as you’re happy, even if it’s...with him.” He felt the tears gather in his own eyes.

“Spencer...you--I can’t.” She sniffled, wiping a stray tear from underneath her eye. She couldn’t leave Anderson, not even when she knew she returned every bit of Spencer’s love and admiration. 

He nodded solemnly and wiped at his own eyes, “I get it.”

“You have no idea what this friendship means to me…” She began but Spencer shook his head, raising a hand to stop her.

“No, stop, stop, I don’t want just that,” he shrugged, “I want to be more than that, Y/N.” He sniffled through his nose.

“I’m...I’m sorry, Spence, I can’t.” He watched her red lips turn downwards into a deep frown as they tried to contain her small sobs. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s not your fault.” He tried to smile as he wiped his cheeks, stepping past her and slipping right back into the house.

Her feet felt as though they were rooted into the grass, the tears falling from her eyes were watering her in place. She couldn’t believe her ears. 

What just happened? 

Did Spencer really say all that or was she dreaming again? Did he really love her? As in, love her love her? That sounded too good to be true. It felt different than when she thought back to when Grant had first told her he loved her, did it feel like she felt now? Grant was such a safe option...he was always there. She’d always thought she’d marry him, he was the only person she’d ever been with. They’d been together for so long, it felt ridiculous to think of leaving him. Was she thinking of leaving him? She hadn’t decided yet. She was never the type to leave someone at the altar, Grant was the safe option, she repeated. It’s already all planned out.

She hadn’t realized how much time she had spent in the garden until she found JJ taking a seat next to her on one of Rossi’s bamboo chairs.

“Hey, you disappeared, is everything alright?” JJ asked and Y/N was glad she was slightly turned away from her so she couldn’t see the remnants of her tears.

“I...I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’m--I’m just--,” She choked back a sob, her emotions bubbling up inside of her. JJ was quick to pull her up to wrap her in a compassionate hug, “I don’t know what to do, JJ.”

“What is this about?” JJ asked, even though she had a very strong inkling as to what it was about.

“He’s my best friend.” She said simply and it clicked in JJ’s mind. She sighed and nodded, but her blue eyes looked past Y/N.

“Um, I think you two have a lot to talk about.” JJ said before leaving hurriedly, giving the two the privacy they needed.

Y/N turned to face Spencer again, who had his hands in his pockets, “Spence, I’m sor-” She began but she was immediately cut off by Spencer’s soft lips enveloping hers. She gave in quickly as his hands came up to cradle her cheeks and guide her into his face as much as he possibly could. Her hands instinctively rested upon his warm chest. It simultaneously felt as if they’d both kissed a thousand times, yet it was still foreign to her. She’d never known that a simple kiss could be so powerful and intoxicating. Of all her years dating Anderson, never once had he kissed her with this much passion. She’d thought all those authors of all those romance novels must have been exaggerating when they’d said a kiss transported them somewhere--but now she knew. She knew what that felt like. And she never wanted it to end.

But it had to end. Because everything that’s good ends.

All Spencer could remember thinking was, finally, finally! 

Their lips pulled away from each other and neither could contain the little smiles they had, but their faces remained close, “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that.”

She blushed, shaking her head slightly, “No, I think I might have an idea.”

Spencer’s thumbs caressed the soft skin of her cheeks as he gazed longingly at her lips again. Now that he’s gotten a taste, he’s not sure he can control his impulses. He found himself leaning in for more and her almost giving in before pressing firmly on his chest.

“Spence…” She spoke against her better judgement.

“You’re really going to marry him?” He frowned, taking back his hands from her face, she felt the warmth disappear immediately and found herself wishing for it back. As a compromise, she grabbed his hands before they went to his sides, trying to hold onto any semblance of warmth she could.

She nodded solemnly, having made up her mind, although Spencer’s kiss was nearly pushing her off the edge of what was right and what was wrong, or rather--what was safe and what was not. She never had to worry about whether or not Grant would come back home to her, she never had to worry about Grant being blown up in some ranch in Colorado, she never had to worry about serial killers chasing after her. 

“Okay.” He nodded simply, respecting her final choice. 

He took a few steps back, their hands slowly slipping from each other, before disappearing into the house once more. 

He felt as though that was the end. He’d let it all out to dry, she finally knew how he felt about her. And that was the most important part. He was broken, sure, but at least he felt a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. 

He didn’t have to hide anymore.

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[pact-with-faith]

How Faith Earned Her Pacts: Leviathan

Mammon's here!

Here's how Faith earned her pact with Levi! For those who are new, this series is about how things would have gone if Faith were the MC, how her getting the pacts is different. She wants to earn their respect and the pacts, to prove that she deserves it.

Leviathan was an otaku. There’s no denying that. Everyone knows that he’s a yucky, no good otaku.

But the one thing that is worse than an otaku, was someone pretending to be an otaku. Who didn’t dedicate as much of their time as physically possible to the shows, who couldn’t be bothered to learn everything possible about them. Are you really a fan if you don’t do all that?

Maybe that’s why Faith annoyed him.

When she found out that he was an otaku, that he loved anime and video games, she got so excited. He almost got hopeful, maybe he’d found an equal to share his interests with!

But when he tried to ask her about it, she was too… everywhere. Not fully dedicated to anything. She spent too much of her time doing normie things to be able to watch much anime, let alone play games. And she’d never heard of Ruri-chan!

So after that, and the failed attempt at getting her to use Mammon’s credit card against him, he pretty much refused to talk to her.

As a result, he was surprised when Faith got him a Ruri-chan pin she’d found on Akuzon. Sure, he already had one, but… she had been paying attention to him. She remembered that he liked Ruri-chan. Not that it’s hard, since he talks about it so much, but… still. She’s still a normie for sure, but not too bad…

Then, about a week later, she sent him a drawing of the Lord of Shadows and Henry! With book accurate appearances! He didn’t even try to hide his excitement as he texted her back, honestly really impressed! It looked like it really could be from an anime!

It wasn’t until later that night that he realized what that meant. That she’d read at least the first book, and paid close enough attention that she got the looks down to a near-perfect T.

Maybe she wasn’t as much of a normie as he’d thought…

Though the entire ordeal came to a head when she invited him to come watch some human world anime with her in her room. She even had some snacks she’d kept hidden from Beel!

“I had a feeling that Devildom animes and games weren’t the same as the ones from home.” Faith admitted during a break she’d insisted on for stretching inbetween episodes. “Considering I considered myself decently versed in anime back home, at least having seen things in passing, but I’d never heard of a lot of the stuff you mentioned.”

Levi just lounged on her floor for a bit, shifting how he was sitting, but still watching her while she talked. “A lot of it is too good to just be Devildom-exclusive though! Like Ruri-chan!”

Faith chuckled and nodded, raising her hands as if in surrender. “You’re not wrong. But what can I say?”

She visibly hesitated, steeling herself before she kept talking. “Do y’all have gatekeepers in the Devildom?”

Levi furrowed his brows at the question, crossing his arms as he leaned into the pillows he was lounging against. “Of course. Gatekeeping is a /thing/ down here.”

Faith nodded, glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye. “So… you realize you’ve been gatekeeping anime? Instead of letting people just enjoy their interests, if they don’t know every little thing about something, then clearly they don’t actually care about it. If they can’t dedicate every moment to it, every thought, then it’s not enough. Even if they want to, but can’t because they have to work in order to be able to afford to enjoy it?”

Levi clearly didn’t like the accusations, sitting up straighter slowly as she spoke.

“I’m not-”

“Yes. Yes you are.” Faith interrupted, shifting to face him properly, but wiping her palms on her legs anxiously. “That was a near textbook definition of gatekeeping. And it’s exactly what you did when I first got here. And still do, by repeatedly insisting I’m a ‘normie’. I may not know everything about the things I watch, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. That I don’t deserve to call myself a fan.”

Levi felt his tail flick angrily, for a moment surprised that he’d slipped into his demon form. But even as he started to growl at her, she didn’t seem to falter, despite the all too familiar signs of anxiety.

“Honestly, I envy you.”

That made him pause. “You? Envy a nasty otaku like me?”

Faith snorted and nodded, giving him a shaky smile. “I envy you, yes. Because you’re an otaku. You have the time and energy to devote yourself to your interests whole heartedly. I can’t, because I’m too scared of failing to keep up with my responsibilities and not being able to enjoy the games and shows that I’m into. I want to be an otaku like you. To have the time to learn everything I can about something I love, that means a lot to me.”

Levi’s anger dissipated some as he considered this, honestly not sure how to process it. Someone was jealous of him… for being a yucky otaku? And she wasn’t wrong that he was being a textbook gatekeeper…

His tail kept flicking, but he wasn’t making any move to get closer to her. He just stared at her intensely, as she looked up at him, clearly not sure what she should be expecting him to do.

But they were both startled when Faith’s bedroom door flung open, Mammon in the doorway and almost looking frantic.

“Oi! Human! What the fuck does ‘I’m gonna do a dumb’ mean??”

And then he took in the scene. The computer paused on some anime episode, Faith leaning against the side of her bed and tense, her hands shaking slightly against her knees. And Leviathan. Sitting up straight, coral horns coming from his head and reptilian tail now ready to attack Mammon thanks to having been so startled.

Faith gave a sheepish laugh “It means I’m doing a dumb?” Mammon groaned and stormed over, grabbing Faith and tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Wah! Mammon! Put me down!” She fussed, but clung to the back of his jacket to avoid being dropped.

Levi finally stood up, staring his older brother in the eye. “What are you doing?”

“Getting her away from you until you chill out some. Go watch some anime or something. I can’t have you attackin’ her or anything! It’s my neck on the line!” Mammon answered, easily ignoring Faith’s fussing as he carried her out.

Faith gave in to being carried, puffing her cheeks out in a pout. But before the door closed, she called “I suggest Ouran Highschool Host Club to start with! Or Inuyasha!”

Leviathan just watched the door shut, still standing in the middle of Faith’s room. He did calm down enough to hide his demon form again, but it took him a few minutes to move. He opted for sitting down again, and got on Faith’s computer.

If she used what spare time she had to try the things he was into, and gave him some suggestions… the least he could do for a fellow otaku was to give her recommendations a try.

[misteria247]

Forgotten

Chapter Six

It was infuriating being forced to sit quietly while his hands are bound to keep him from getting away. Casey had explained what had happened while he continued to glare at the group of strangers that currently resided in the room with him. It was making him uncomfortable how they all gave him looks of various emotions all directed at him in some way. The rat was looking at him like he'd just watched him be stabbed right in front of him, the perfect picture of grief and disbelief. The red turtle was looking at him in anger and pain, almost as if he had no idea how to handle what he'd been told by Casey and April. The purple turtle was looking at him with concern and despair. And the last one, the orange turtle was looking at him like he'd personally shanked him in the kidney. Betrayal and confusion all over his expression.

It made him feel uncomfortable and to his confusion slightly guilty. He couldn't help but feel like it was his fault that they were feeling this way even though he didn't know these people. These strangers who kept calling him Leo, who kept looking at him like he was something important. It made him uneasy. It made him feel conflicted and on edge even more so than he'd originally been.

'I wish I had stayed in my forest.....'

He thought in a bitter manner. With each passing moment he found himself regretting his decision to leave his home in the forest more and more. Surely he could have taken those strangers in the forest near his shack on. He was decently strong and could fight well enough. If he'd just remained calm and thought things through then the people with the red footprint would have no longer have been a problem. But no. Instead he panicked and ran away hiding in an old pickup truck and making his way to this cursed place and being caught like an animal in a trap. He had no one to blame but himself for the situation he was in, no matter how much it unnerved him and made him afraid. The turtle was knocked out of his head by the sudden accented voice filling the room.

"So what are we gonna do Casey?? If what you're saying is true then that means that our brother doesn't even know who we are!! How are we gonna fix him?!?"

The red turtle snapped, frustration seeping into his tone. Casey didn't seem too bothered by his outburst, the man just reminded quiet as the turtle yelled.

"I don't know Raph. If I knew how to fix this I would have and you know that!"

Casey responded in a somewhat irritated manner despite the calmness he radiated. The red turtle, Raph was quick to jump on the tone his eyes narrowing into slits. But before he could say anything in response the purple turtle and April were in between them, quickly trying to defuse the situation before it exploded out of proportion.

"Raph calm down! I get you're upset, we all are but if we lose our heads now then we'll be of no help to Leo!"

The taller turtle exclaimed, his reddish brown eyes filled with nervousness and pain. Raph turned an angry green eyed stare towards him, the obvious frustration and newfound grief getting to him.

"How can I calm down when Leo's like this Donnie?!? How can I not lose my head when he doesn't even know who we are anymore?!?"

Raph exploded. Chaos erupted shortly after with several voices speaking to try and get Raph to calm down and to keep Casey from snapping. The giant rat was quick to try and get to his boys while the two humans were speaking over one another. He sat there silently, curling in on himself due to all the noise. He wasn't used to chaotic atmospheres like this, he was used to the peaceful atmosphere of his forest and the welcoming embrace of the trees and other wildlife that he'd lived in. As the group continued to somewhat shout at one another he was suddenly startled by the presence sitting near him. Dark nervous blue eyes quickly flickered in the direction of the unknown presence only to meet baby blue hues filled with concern and nervousness. The orange turtle had moved closer to him during the confusion, keeping a watchful eye on him the entire time he moved closer. The turtle stiffened in slight fear and stress as the smaller one moved a bit more towards him.

"Stay back."

He hissed in what he hoped was a threatening manner. The other turtle didn't pay any heed to him instead moving a little bit closer. At this point he was practically invading his space, just close enough to make out his features yet far enough that he wouldn't be able to cause any damage to the younger turtle. It scared him how undeterred the orange turtle was to move closer despite the earlier threat on his life.

"Get away....! I'm warning you if you don't back off right now I'll-"

His threat was cut off by the gentle hand that suddenly touched his shell. He felt the air leave his lungs as he froze in his place, his mind going blank from the bold move. It took a moment for him to realize what the other teen was doing. He was rubbing his shell in a soothing way, gentle circles touching the hardened surface in an attempt to give comfort. It left him stunned, unable to understand nor believe in what was happening. The other turtle continued the gentle gesture, keeping a focused gaze on him.

"It's....it's okay bro. I know you're scared and confused but.....but it'll be okay. I promise. You don't need to be scared anymore."

He said softly, his voice sounded innocent and kind. It baffled him how this other turtle's voice seemed to actually make him relax much to his horror. He didn't understand exactly why he found this fellow turtle teen suddenly comforting, why he couldn't attack him like he'd threatened earlier. Confused dark blue eyes watched him as he continued to comfort him.

"Why....why are you....?"

He croaked softly startling the other teen. Big blue eyes looked at him before soften slightly.

"Cause you need us.....just like we need you. You need me right now and I'm gonna be there for you because you're my big brother and...."

The younger turtle paused seemingly in thought for a brief moment.

"And you'd do the same thing for me if I was in your shoes....."

He finished staring at him head on. The older turtle sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. He'd never met this child before in his entire life, yet the way he looked at him and the way he spoke to him......it was so sincere. Unbearably sincere that it threw him off. It was at this point that he'd realized that the room had gone suspiciously silent which made him tense up again in unease. Tearing his gaze from the other he looked to see that the group that had been arguing had gone silent, their eyes watching the two interact. The purple turtle had what looked like a somewhat small smile on his face, his gap in his teeth peeking out a bit.

"Well it seems like Mikey already has the right idea on how to help him."

The tall turtle Donnie said seemingly relieved. The shorter turtle Raph was looking between them with an unreadable expression but his posture was relaxed now.

"Of course it'd be the baby of the family. Leo always had a soft spot for ya."

Raph said in a gruff tone. The rat was watching them with a small sorrowful smile before looking at Casey and April.

"Thank you both for finding my son. We're forever in your debt."

He said giving a grateful look towards the humans.

"We were happy to do it Master Splinter. Leo's family after all."

April said softly her gaze landing on him. He just stared back at her, confusion and caution on his face.

"I'd keep the zip ties on him till you get home at least. Leo maybe docile now but I've got a feeling that once that wears off he'll go and try to kick someone's ass."

Casey said in a blunt manner. Donnie gave him a small glare at the reminder of the zip ties that currently bound him and cut into his wrists. The orange turtle, Mikey frowned as he took in his wrists obviously not liking it. Raph and Master Splinter just stiffened a bit before surprisingly letting it go.

"Noted. I think it's time to head home, I've got to go check over his wounds and make sure he isn't hurt anywhere else."

Donnie said in a deathly calm voice. It made the tied up turtle stiffen even more at the underlying threat.

'If you ever do something like this again you'll regret it friend or not.'

Was the unsaid thing that hung in the air. Casey nodded understanding perfectly. He didn't have time to process anymore before he felt two strong arms wrap around him and yank him up only to throw him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He felt himself panic a bit at the sudden touch and started to squirm to try and break free.

"Hey, hey! Careful Fearless you're gonna get hurt even more if you keep squirming!"

Raph's gruff tone filled his ears. Dark blue eyes quickly moved around the room in a slight panic before Mikey's eyes came into view, Donnie and Master Splinter watching him with a concerned look.

"It's okay we're just taking you home bro. We're not gonna hurt you, I promised remember?"

Mikey spoke in a somewhat soft voice to try and help him relax. The turtle looked at the group that currently had him, looking for any signs of a lie. Seeing nothing but the same sincerity that Mikey had he relaxed much to his dismay and allowed Raph to carry him. All too soon they were out of the apartment and heading towards a large vehicle where with surprisingly gentle hands Raph settled him inside. Once the others had hopped into the large truck they drove away, the apartment that held April and Casey disappearing behind them. Despite the nervousness and still lingering fear that prickled in the back of his mind he couldn't help but feel safer somewhat. He didn't know these people but they hadn't harmed him yet so he was going to go with it. If worse came to worse he could escape later. The turtle teen suddenly felt exhausted as the events of the day started to hit him full force. He shook himself to try and stay awake until a gentle rubbing to his shell relaxed him. Blinking he found himself looking at the red turtle Raph who was doing the same thing Mikey had done earlier. Bright green eyes softened slightly and no longer holding the earlier frustration and anger.

"Get some sleep Fearless. I'll make sure you're okay."

Raph said softly, somewhat embarrassed by his own voice. That was all it took for him to lean on the short tempered teen as he finally gave into sleep and leaving his fate up to the unknown future.

*I'm alive and yet somewhat dead whoop-! Okay so obviously our boy Leo is having a not so fun time with all of this but luckily he's got his family to help him out! Also I couldn't pass up some Mikey, Raph and Leo bonding time even if it's incredibly short and protective Donnie was a must. As this series goes on it'll focus on all of the family bonding with Leo and helping him in anyway they can. Anyways if any y'all read this I hope you enjoyed it!*

[libsterslobsters]

Bring It On Home..

Summary: The battle against Thanos is over, and the Avengers are the winners. Those gone for the past five years have returned home, including Bucky. But what changes have taken place in the reader's life since she lost him, and can things go back to the way they were? Or do they have to find a new normal?

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x fem!enhanced! Reader

(Reader is able to see bits and pieces of the future, can understand all languages, and process information at an abnormal pace, as well as being a super soldier)

Warnings: mild angst, fluff, maybe a hint of smut (blink and you'll miss it) mentions of the events of Avengers: Endgame, strong language

*************************************************

She knew it would happen before it did. Her damnable knack for seeing shards of the future let her know that Tony Stark would get the stones, and what’s more, sacrifice his life for both friends and people he had never met, but there were so many screams on the battlefield that day, when her agonized cry escaped her as she rammed her knee into the groin and her knife into the jugular of one of Thanos’s goons (the same one who nearly killed her five years ago, actually) no one heard.

She’ll carry that secret to her grave. Goodness knows Pepper doesn’t need the worry of wondering if it somehow could’ve been avoided (it couldn’t have), if she somehow could have saved him (it wasn’t possible). She briefly thinks about telling Steve once the dust settles, but then she catches sight of a familiar flash of silver, and what’s more, the man in black attached to it.

She’s not sure if he’s seen her before she takes off, running the fastest she ever has, but there’s no way he could miss the sound of her footfalls once she’s nearly on top of him, and he manages to catch her when she nearly topples over from stopping so abruptly in front of him. He looks the same as last time she saw him, her Bucky, but she’s sure she looks much different. Her mind rapidly runs through everything she could say to him, everything she should let him know, but what comes out is five simple words:

“You came back to me.”

He doesn’t get the chance to reply before heart-wrenching sobs echo from the woman in the Iron Man suit, who nearly keels over next to her dead husband. She’s not sure who reaches Pepper first, her, Steve, or Rhodey, but as Rhodes pulls her up to lean against him and Steve shields them from prying eyes, she’s the one to remove the helmet from Pepper’s head and dab at the tears.

She doesn’t see him again except for briefly passing in coridors for several days after that. Steve’s patching up holes in what’s left of their forces, explaining that they’ve been gone for five years, and here’s how they were brought back. Rhodey’s putting out publicity fires. Pepper doesn’t have the huge circle of friends she enjoyed in the days before she and Tony ran off together to start a family, and although they don’t know each other well, she stays with the grieving widow and along with Happy and Peter, entertains Morgan.

Since she hates to leave Pepper for more than an hour at a time, remembering her own grief years earlier, Steve has taken to dropping off fresh clothes for her every day and taking what needs to be washed home with him. That’s who she’s expecting when there’s a knock on the door of the room she’s been staying in for the past week and a half.

That is, until the door opens and her heart skips a beat. It’s him.

He offers her a smile, but it’s nervous.

“Hey. Steve said he was gonna stop by and drop these off for you, but I was in the neighborhood, so I thought-” Stopping short, he holds out the brown paper bag she assumes has the sweater she asked for and the workout wear.

There’s so many things she wants to say to him. So many things he needs to know. That she missed him so much she thought cutting out her heart would be less painful. That not a day has gone by when she hasn’t woken up, expecting to see a good morning text from “Barnes” as he’s still listed in her phone. That she hasn’t deleted any of the voicemails he sent her. That she’s kept moving forward because she had to, but it felt like she was hollow, just a shell of herself.

Instead, she ignores all logic and reserve, and goes with her gut instinct; wrapping one arm around his neck, grabbing a handful of hair to bring him down to her level, and kissing him the way she used to, like no time has passed and no changes have occurred. It’s only when a “thunk” from the bag hitting the floor reaches her ears that she realizes what she’s done or has a moment of doubt. But then, he’s pulled her closer, and she’s not the only one going for broke.

She manages to break away long enough to gasp out,

“Sorry. Is this-”

“This is okay. Yeah. This is good.”

That’s all she needs to hear before dragging him into the room with her and kicking the door closed.

___________________________________________________________________________________

This is stupid. It’s the thought at the forefront of Bucky’s mind. They dated for three years, and he even worked up the courage to ask her if she’d marry him before Thanos attacked. There’s absolutely no reason to be nervous over a simple dinner date. It’s stupid. But he is nervous. Sure, for him, it’s been a grand total of two weeks since the battle where he turned to dust, but for her, it’s been a long five years. Who knows what’s happened in that time?

All of those concerns are put on pause as he catches sigh of her stepping through the diner doors. At the time, when he changed into one of Steve’s nicer button downs, blazers, and a pair of slacks (he’s pretty sure all of his clothes are still in Wakanda… or possibly thrown out by now, since it is five years later), he felt stupid, but now… yeah, he’s still underdressed. Of course, that would be true if she turned up wearing a potato sack, because it’s her, and to his mind (which he can’t guarantee is objective, but dammit, he can’t be far off) she’s the most beautiful creature to ever walk the face of this earth.

He’s barely stood up from the booth (no nicer places were available since literally everyone is trying to catch up with long-missing loved ones, and besides, he’s fairly certain they don’t take Wakandan currency in New York) before she catches sight of him, and that smile that could rival the sun peeks out again as she makes her way over. Does he hug her? Does he shake her hand? What’s the protocol when you’re meeting up with the woman who may or may not still be your fiancee for the first time in five years for her, and a few weeks for you? Who you’re sure as hell, absolutely, head over heels in love with, but who knows if she still feels the same way?

He doesn’t get to do either because she pecks his cheek, and before he can recover, slides into her side of the booth.

“You clean up just as nice as I remember.” He needs to say something in response. Words. He knows plenty of them. It’s just the using them that’s the problem.

“You too.” Did part of his brain disappear in the dusting and not come back properly? Is that why he’s completely tongue tied around her?

The situation definitely doesn’t improve when a waitress comes over to take their order and, as they fold up their menus and hand them over, he gets a good look at her left hand. Oh.

“Hey-” He doesn’t realize he’s been just staring until she reaches across the table and lightly grasps his arm. “-you alright there, Buck? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Maybe he has. Maybe he’s hallucinating. Or maybe-

“You kept it on.” She looks confused for a moment, and then a flush rises to her cheeks.

“Of course I did.” Her eyes lower to study the table, and her hand drops away. “Of course.”

“For five years.” Why is he saying this? Can’t he just accept anything at face value?

“Yes, um-” She clears her throat nervously. “-it wasn’t on my finger the entire time. I had a scare around four months in where I thought I’d lost it, and after that, I wore it on a chain around my neck, but yes. I kept it on.”

He wants to tell her how amazing that is, how he’s floored that it meant that much to her, he meant that much to her. But again, she’s the one to speak before he can.

“You can have it back. That is, if you’d rather…” She stumbles over her words, then sighs. “If you’d rather it not mean what it used to mean anymore.” Wait- “I know it’s only been a little while for you, but it’s been five years for me. I’ve gotten older, and I’m rough around the edges in places I didn’t used to be. Plus, I’ve changed a lot, and you might not to be tied down to who I am now-

“Keep it.” Her mouth falls open at the interruption, but she quickly snaps it shut. “That is, if you still want it to mean what it used to mean.”

She frowns slightly.

“I do. You wouldn’t believe how much… it’s only… are you sure?” Of course he’s sure. “If you wanted to take some time to think about it, or if you didn’t want to try at all, I’d understand. No hard feelings.” She laughs sadly. “I mean, who knows? You may not even like me anymore.”

That’s what finally pushes him past embarassment, past any worry about making her uncomfortable. Damn being eloquent. He just needs to say it.

“I don’t need time. I’d already thought about it when I gave the ring to you in the first place.” This time, he’s the one reaching across the table, taking her hand in his. “Doll, I knew we were both gonna change eventually. That’s just what happens as time passes. And my mind’s still made up that I’m gonna love each person you change into. I just wish…” Should he say this? Now or never. “… I wish I’d been there so we could’ve changed together.” She doesn’t look convinced. Alright, time to make things a little ridiculous.

“Are you still the girl who uses the humane mouse traps, has terrible taste in music, and drinks tea because coffee gives her the jitters?”

“Yes and no.” That’s not the answer he was expecting, but at least she’s smiling now. “I still use the no-kill traps, my taste in music was never terrible, excuse you, but coffee doesn’t give me the jitters since the super serum.”

“The what?!”

“Oh, right. You missed that part.”

It’s a long explanation, during which he has to almost completely shut down so he won’t show how much it’s affecting him, hearing how close she came to death that day, but by the end he’s even more certain of his decision.

“Then it’s just as I thought. You may have changed here and there, but at the core, you’re the same girl I fell for in Romania. And I’m still sure I want to marry her.”

Before she can stop it, a tear runs down her cheek. As she wipes it away, she asks,

“Really?”

“Really.” He nods. “But hey, from the sound of it, you’re a bad-ass now. You sure you want to marry an old man?” It works, and she laughs.

“Well, every bad-ass needs a sidekick, and you’ve got the credentials.”

He’s not sure why he asks, because it doesn’t matter, he wouldn’t blame her if there was someone else, but he needs to know just to put it to rest in his own mind.

“What, there weren’t any other applicants?”

“Nope. I held the position open for you.” He’s never been more excited to start a job in his entire life.

___________________________________________________________________________________

“Did you know it was going to happen?” They’re in the back of one of Stark’s (or rather, Pepper’s) SUVs on the way home from Tony’s memorial service. The only major difference from the trip down is that Steve’s gone. He’s gone. Traveled back in time. She doesn’t know for certain, but she’s pretty sure he went back to live his life with Peggy. And now Bucky’s asking her if she had a vision, saw it coming.

“No.” That’s not entirely true. “I saw…” She sighs. “Something confusing, and I still don’t think it’s happened.”

He doesn’t say anything, but she knows he’s waiting for her to explain. Still, she takes a few moments to arrange her thoughts in a way that’ll make sense to someone on the outside. Finally, she thinks she has it figured out.

“I saw you sitting on Steve’s bed, and you were upset. I saw myself sit down next to you to try and comfort you. I didn’t know it would be because of this, but-” she starts to take his hand, but stops herself. What if he’s angry? “-I knew it would be sometime today, because of what we’re wearing.”

It’s quiet, deadly quiet, then-

“When?” It’s one word, but she knows what he means.

“Right after Bruce pushed the button.” Maybe she should’ve mentioned it, but she was hoping she was wrong, that Steve wasn’t going to die going back to return the stones to their proper timelines. Turns out she was indeed wrong. He’s not dead. In fact, he got a life.

“Okay.” She frowns. Surely that can’t be it.

“Okay?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “It’s not like we could’ve stopped him, and I can’t blame him, ‘cause if it were me, that’s what I’d do. But-” He sniffs hard, and that’s when she realizes she’s not the only one trying not to cry. “-I’m gonna miss the punk.”

This time, she gives into her instincts and entwines their fingers, metal against flesh.

“I know you will. I know.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

Even if they’ve lost their leaders, the world doesn’t stop spinning, and work doesn’t stop for the Avengers. Sooner or later, they have to regroup, take up the mantle of protecting Earth again. Bucky is surprised when not just Sam, but Rhodey as well asks him to be part of the team. Not just him, he mentally adds. No, they want her too.

“Is this gonna be an issue? You two working together?” She turns in his direction, an eyebrow raised in response to Rhodey’s question. He thinks he knows the answer.

“No. The plan already was to work together until one or the other of us drops.”

Sam cackles.

“Thought that thing on her finger looked familiar. Man, you couldn’t come up with a diamond? Not even a little one?” He catches her rolling her eyes, and fights back a laugh.

“How dangerous do you want her left hook to be, Sam?”

“Good point.”

It’s easily decided that he’ll be part of the main force, and she’ll be in the reserves. That means she’ll keep her job at an upstate community college, teaching English to adults, and he’ll… be doing a lot of paperwork.

What’s not so easily decided is when and how they’re going to make things official. His suggestion is they wait a year for the dust to settle and then do things the old fashioned way, white dress, church, and tux included. Hers is that they walk down to city hall and sign papers. In the end, it’s Pepper who makes the decision.

“Of course you’re having a real wedding. Don’t be silly. And you’ve already waited five years. Why would you want to wait one more?”

She makes polite protests on both their behalves that courthouse weddings are quick and easy, or if they waited a year, they could save up, sort more things out, but Pepper’s not having it, and in the end, they’ve set a date six months in the future, and the widowed Ms. Potts as elected herself the wedding planner. Bucky’s not at all sure about this (Pepper’s a multi-billionare after all, her tastes are probably a little on the extravagant side, and their idea of a “fancy” date has for the most part consisted of “not wearing sweats or pajamas and going somewhere that’s not the sofa in your appartment or mine” y’know, since they’re broke and have been in hiding), but then she pulls out the,

“Please. I need a project to concentrate on that doesn’t have anything to do with… you know. And, I’m paying.”

So of course, neither of them can say no. And really, if the options are wait a year or wait six months, he’ll take the shorter option any day.

He’s been staying in Steve’s apartment (knowing that he’s the one who killed Stark’s parents, he couldn’t bring himself to stay in Avengers H.Q.) since his best friend payed through the next month, but eventually, he has to figure out something else. He may be working for the good guys now, but the price on Brooklyn apartments has just gone through the roof since most people want their old places back, and it’s more than he makes.

He tries not to let on that he’s starting to get a little worried about things (is there anywhere even remotely nearby available at a price he can afford), but eventually it does come up that he’s apartment searching. She has an immediate, rational response:

“Then just move in with me.”

His poker face really must’ve gone to shit (at least around her), because she laughs and, catching a piece of popcorn on the edge of her tongue, asks,

“Come on, Buck. You’ve signed up for the rest of your life. Do you really think we’ll be sick of each other in five months?”

That’s not it, not by a long shot. It’s just that back in his day, moving in together without a trip to church and the exchange of both vows and rings was a way to guarantee whoever the unlucky girl was would be painted as a scarlet woman. It’s archaic, and logically he knows no one bats and eye now, but he still has to ask,

“You sure, Doll?”

She nods.

“Yeah, I have a couch that pulls out into a mattress. Or, if you promise to be a gentleman and keep your hands to yourself, you can have the empty side of my bed.” It’s a joke, and he knows it.

“Sorry. Can’t promise that.” His own smirk matches hers.

“Well, then, I guess I’ll just be charitable and offer it to you anyway.”

[ajokeformur-ray]

Shaken to the core // J x Lilith // angst, fluff, comfort.

Summary: During the scene in which J is interrogated by Batman (the True Villain of Gotham), you protect J and end up getting punched by the Masked Coward. J goes feral but when you’re safe at home and patched up, J’s own emotional wounds come to the forefront and your bond deepens; if such a thing is even possible.

Warnings: I don’t like Batman and it shows lmao (so maybe don’t read if you like him), reader gets punched, J is scary angry, descriptions of fights and physical injury, swearing, crying, intense discussions, lots of comfort.

A personalised fic for @jokershyena​. I love you, doll, and I can’t thank you enough for letting me fully write this out for you skskskkkskk I adore our talks. I hope you like this! ^^

Word count: 3, 581 (Okay, I know you said under 1k buuuut~ a) have you met me? and b) when do I ever do what I’m told?)

Everything happened so fast.

One minute J was sat in the cold and unforgiving metal chair, his hands folded neatly in his lap in a mockery of the ‘rules’ the Commissioner had left him with, and the next were his feet suspended several inches above the floor, steel toecaps scraping across the floor, his painted face so close to Bats’ own masked one. J had been sat there teasing the Masked Coward but once again had Bats’ power and the situation at hand gone to his head. He was acting more like a villain than J was as without a word did Bats swing J around and slam him down far too harshly onto the metal table. It made J cackle and woop through his amusement as he curled his fingers up beneath his chin in a position of mock defense. “Ya’ gotta break your code,” J dropped his voice to a gravelly octave to mock Bats’ own ridiculous voice. “You know it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“I’m not gonna break my code,” You rolled your eyes at Bats’ voice - seriously, how was this dude able to talk like that for so long? Did he use something to alter his voice? - but your sarcasm quickly turned to horror when Bats lifted J up, still by his collar, and slammed him down once more against the table. How could this man call himself a hero when he was so violent with J, a man who hadn’t actually done anything in this particular case and had just been minding his own business? And why the hell had someone asked for you to be in the room, too? Ugh, you hated Batman. If anyone was the villain of Gotham, it was him.

While Bats was still holding J down by his collar, his other arm, clad in hard leather, came up, up, high above his head, his fist clenched - 

“No!” Your heart seized in your chest as panic and a fierce need to defend what is yours took you over and you flung your body forward, moving so that your back was pressed to J’s chest, your hair spilling over his abdomen and chest like a dark halo. You were leaning over him, protecting him, and you heard J growl, felt the vibration against your back as it rumbled through his chest and pushed out of his throat, the sound guttural and foreboding, as Bats’ fist connected squarely with your shoulder, and made you cry out. You slid off the table and dropped to the floor and the room. went. silent.

Pain exploded in your shoulder. Fuck, it hurt. The hard leather, Bats’ brute strength, the harsh way that Bats had let you drop, presumably shocked by the fact that he had just broken his code completely accidentally. Your entire arm was numb, pain and fear pulsating through you. You were so scared for J, you were terrified that something bad was going to happen to him. You had always been so protective of him, immensely so, and right now was no exception. You knew, even through the haze of pain, that right now J was both impressed that you had managed to get Bats to break his insanely stupid and hypocritical code but also really angry. 

Seconds ticked past, marked in silence. You weren’t sure anyone was even breathing as you each took the time to process what had just happened. Your thoughts all circled and though the words changed, the sentiment was the same every time as the reality seeped into your foggy mind. You would be lucky if you only had bruising from this. 

You had just been punched by Bats.

Bats had just broken his stupid fucking hypocritical code.

You had been protecting your J.

One thought, more important than the rest, stuck in the very forefront of your mind. So strong was it, so raw was its intensity, that it reverberated around and around inside your head, like a hurricane of beautiful devastation, once it registered in your mind. It was louder than all the other thoughts:

You had been protecting your J.

You felt proud of yourself for doing so. You were a woman of your word. You had told J once that you would be a dragon if he ever got hurt - you would defend him with your life. And right now - you had just proven yourself to be true. You were proud of yourself, immensely so, for looking after your clown. He was yours and no one hurt your J. No one.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” J’s voice was lower than you had ever heard it before. You had known J for twelve years; you knew his every tone, his every expression, his every demeanour... but you had never heard that pitch from him before. Your head shot up as you took him all in. The ticking jaw muscle, the clenched gloved fists, the leather creaking with every flex of his fingers, his tongue prodding against the scarring on his inner cheek, first one side and then the other before the thick muscle left the warm cavern of his mouth to wet his full lips, his chin dipped, his head tilted to the side... your blood ran cold. “No one hurts my hyena.”

J was pissed, so much so that he was almost shaking with sheer unadulterated rage. In a movement so fast that your naked eyes struggled to see what was happening, and your mind, oh, it was spinning, J grabbed Bats’ head with both of his hands, raised his knee and mercilessly brought Bats’ head down. J acted with no hesitation and with brute force in a moment which reminded you of just how dangerous your chaotic clown could truly be. There was a sickening noise and Bats dropped to the concrete floor like a sack of potatoes. It was loud, undignified and he was undoubtedly out cold, but you didn’t much care. Good riddance. It was nice to see Bats get a taste of his own medicine. You had no idea where the Commissioner was or where any of the stationed police officers were but you suspected that everyone had cleared out of the vicinity once Batman had begun his portion of the ‘interrogation’ - or, as you and every other morally flexible person saw it, unwarranted aggression akin to torture. You had intervened long before Bats had truly started on J, but he never should have even been allowed to do so. He wasn’t a man of the law and as such, he had no jurisdiction here and he definitely had no right to be throwing anyone around like that. Who the fuck did he think he was??

J climbed gracelessly off the table and stepped over Bats’ body like he was nothing more than a pile of shit in the middle of the road (if the shoe fits...) and got down on his knees beside you, gently, gently, pulling you into his lap. His body was trembling, from worry or from adrenaline you knew not. “You shouldn’t have done that, doll.”

Tears came to your eyes fast now that it was all over and you sniffled. Oh, but you were in so much pain, but J was okay. Nothing more than a few scrapes or bruises. J’s okay. J’s safe, J’s okay he’s okay he’s okay... “I would never let you get hurt, J.”

“I know,” J sounded so genuine, his voice quiet and his tone soft as gloved fingers swiped your tears away. Not many fell - both of you knew that this was neither the time nor the place, no matter how much it hurt. There were no masks here, no pretenses... just you and J, as it had always been. “You’re my guard hyena, aren’t’cha?” There was untapped urgency in his words, a need to make sure that you were okay and you felt that same sense echoed within your own self, so desperate were you to ensure that your J was okay.

Your answering nod sent sharp stabbing pains shooting through your shoulder and you couldn’t have stopped the wince if you had tried. J’s gaze sharpened as he looked you over. His intense chocolate eyes were looking at you critically, his stare roaming over your body as he catalogued your body language. He was being so tender, his arms around you like the safest, warmest cage, like a heater was your clown.

Deft fingers pulled your collar aside, making you wince, and J leaned into your body, peeking into your shirt as he checked out the damage. There were no cameras in this interrogation room but even so did J not wish to expose you, to make you uncomfortable in any way. He made a soft whistling noise. Had you been anyone else, he would have been impressed with the colouring. As it was... he was enraged and trying so, so hard to keep himself from beating Batman shitless. “It’s a pretty purple ya’ gonna be wearing when this settles, Lil.” Despite his gentle teasing, J was being completely serious. It was almost scary. Almost. But you knew your J, you knew him, and you knew that he would always take care of you. Right now was no exception. “Come on, let’s get’cha home.”

There was a shakiness to J’s voice which both of you could hear but J’s ticking jaw muscles kept you from voicing your concerns as he gathered you up in his arms and carried you out of the building. Nothing had gone the way he wanted it to,  but you had always been and would always be his number one concern. Fuck the world - his hyena needed him and truthfully, he needed you, too.

Time ceased to have all meaning as J did not let you go. You remained in his arms for the few blocks that he had to walk, your face tucked into the warm crook of his neck. You littered the skin available to you with kisses, licks, nibbles, gentle bites... J had so much pent up anger and energy within him that he was almost vibrating, but he was still so gentle with you as he got you both home, holding you in such a way that you were barely jostled by his movements. Oh, but he was so strong, emotionally, physically... your clown was fierceless, unstoppable, especially in the face of one of his worst fears.

Losing you.

Without you, J would truly have nothing to lose, nothing that he could be threatened with. He got you both home safely and he carried you through to the sofa in the living room.

“J... J, you can put me down. I can walk.”

He only shushed you, somewhat roughly, and set you down on the sofa. Immediately was he gone to get the dark green first aid kit which you kept in the bathroom, and he was back just as quickly. A pocket knife slid out of his sleeve and he fingered it into position expertly, the blade balanced between two fingers as he sliced your shirt off straight up the middle and peeled it off your body as gently as he could. You made no protests. J would replace it, you knew he would, and the circumstances were such that you couldn’t bring yourself to stop J. His face was set, his eyes were somewhat misty, and his breaths were deliberately slow, deep. J was keeping calm as best as he could, and you knew that once your injury had been examined and taken care of, you would have to deal with J’s own wounds.

You almost wanted to tell him to not bother with your injury, to let you take care of him, but that would only get you scolded, so you sat tight and let J take care of you. In moments like this did the two of you not need words, so well did you know each other and so deep was your bond. Twelve years... twelve fucking years and never before had you made good on your promise to take a hit for him if you had to. J had always made sure that such a promise wasn’t even necessary but today, today there had been an opening to prove yourself, to use your body to protect J’s own, and you knew that he was more thankful for it, for you, than he knew how to say.

So he would show you, instead.

And J did... careful touches, slightly rough kisses to your forehead, to your cheeks when you hissed in air through your teeth or otherwise winced, two pairs of chocolate eyes met every time you did so, and J would either shush you or his full lips would turn downwards in genuine sympathy. You were hurt because of him. His touches were so tender as he ran fingers over the deep purple bruise which bloomed across your collarbones, the slope of your shoulder, veiny lines spreaded out like tendrils around the outside of the bruising like a border of red and purple vines... there was some blood where the skin had completely split and J mopped it up, bandaged the areas and kissed over the protective layer he had placed against your skin as if his love could seep through the barrier and heal you from the outside in; indeed, many of your emotional wounds had already been healed, or, at the very least, soothed, by his presence in your life. You were pretty messed up just from one punch, but you were infinitely grateful that J hadn’t had to take the hit. You would do, be and say anything for him if it meant keeping him safe, sane, honest.

The more J put you back together, the more unravelled he became. 

When at last you were bandaged and J had helped you to get into your pyjamas ready for sleep - you had been awake with J this entire time and neither of you had slept for more than a few hours at a time over the last few days and you were both exhausted on top of everything else - J put the first aid box back into the bathroom. He took his sweet time, his head bowed, his broad shoulders stiff. He was still on the defence. J was too calm, too quiet and you knew, you knew your J. He was barely holding it together.

As he came back into the living room, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, his beautiful face bare and his footsteps uneven, his fists clenched, his head bowed and his slightly greasy locks framing his face, hiding himself from you, J sighed. “Best you, ah - get some rest, doll. Bed’s ready for ya’.”

“Aren’t you... aren’t you joining me, J?”

J shook his head, angling his face away from you some more as he took another step towards you. “No, no, I, ah - got some calls to make.”

Like hell he did. Not tonight. “Then I’m not sleeping.” Fire crept into your voice and you stood. Your shoulder didn’t hurt too badly. It wasn’t as bad as the pain you had felt that time you had been shot in the leg, and you knew you’d be okay. “Not without you, J, not after today.”

“Lilith - “ There was a warning in J’s tone and you went immediately to his side. You knew your clown, you knew that he had been on the edge of something ever since you had taken the hit for him, and you saw the opening that you had been waiting for, perhaps subconsciously, this entire time.

You took his hand, locked your fingers with his and you walked the both of you to the bedroom. You could almost hear J’s torment as you got into bed, easing yourself down with a wince. Lying down, it wasn’t so bad. You would be just fine within a few weeks. You had taken worse before. 

“J, don’t... don’t hide from me. Come here, sweet angel.” You kept your tone soft, warm, comforting and you used your grip on his hand to pull J towards you. He didn’t protest, he didn’t fight you, he didn’t argue or try to say that he had work to do. No, J went with you, and as he eased himself down atop you with barely any hesitation - you were always so sure of yourself and what you wanted with him and for him - he sunk into your body.

J’s strong forearms framed either side of your head, your hair once more like a dark halo; it was reminiscent of what had happened today, though this time was J protecting you, and his shaking only intensified until his entire body was shaking. J dropped his head into the crook of your neck, his slightly greasy locks tickling at the underside of your chin, your nose, and you felt the falling of one, maybe two tears.

J was shaken to his very core and you needed (and wanted) to take care of him, now.

Ignoring the screaming in your shoulder, you wrapped both of your arms around J’s broad shoulders, wrapped your legs around his waist and crossed your ankles to solidly anchor him to you. “Shh, Jack, it’s okay - it’s okay, my darling, I’m here.” J didn’t even react to the mention of his real name, he just burrowed down further into you as if he was trying to climb inside you, to hide himself from the world by literally becoming one with you so that never again could the two of you be torn asunder. You ducked your head somewhat awkwardly so that you could rain kisses down upon the top of J’s head, your lips lingering against his skin, your nose resting in his strands, which were in desperate need of a dye job as well as a wash. Normally, you would have made him shower before coming to bed, but not tonight.

Tonight, all the rules were off the table. There was only room for the two of you. The raw essence of your relationship had been exposed to reality this night and neither of you quite knew what to do about it. All you could do was just to... simply be together, to express the impossibly deep bond which the two of you shared with one another. You continued to kiss J over and over and at some point he lifted his face up so that you could reach him there, too, his bare scars receiving the most love. You adored his scars and you treasured the times he let you interact with them. 

J lifted himself up so that his nose was inches from yours. Your lips landed on his forehead next and J’s broken rasp of a voice broke the quiet stillness of the room, “He dared to touch my hyena. No one touches you, Lilith. You’re mine and… there’s no me without you. Without you, I have nothing… nothing.” As if he was distressed by words alone did he shut his eyes tightly, and you cooed as you cupped his face in your hands, your fingers stroking along his cheeks.

“No one hurts my J. Mine. I love you.” You felt like you were going to cry, so deeply and so intensely were the waves of love and affection crashing over your shores at this moment.

The answering sentimental declaration came in the form of J’s full lips crashing against your own, his lips warm but heavy against your own, his tongue hot as he commanded your full attention. J’s kiss was so thorough, his hot hands cupping your face - like a heater was he - the feeling of his heart pounding against your own... oh, but this was everything you could ever want and need. J left no room for arguments as he took from you what he needed, though in equal measures did he give you what you needed. You only needed each other, to reaffirm that the both of you were alive and safe and whole and loved, always loved, and that would always be enough to shine a light on any residual fears and anxieties lurking in the dark about each other’s continued safety.

“Mine,” J growled against your lips as he peppered your face with kisses so ferocious that they were almost bruising, “Mine, mine, mine.”

“Yes, J,” You smiled through tears you refused to let fall. Too many had been shed this night. “I’m yours. And you’re mine.”

J made a noise low in the back of his throat by way of agreement, by way of making and keeping a promise which never needed to be voiced because you both just knew as he claimed your lips with his again once more, but it was a slower, more tender expression now, more reverent and full of worship than it was of desperation, of urgency. “The hyena and her clown... the clown and his hyena. I like the sound of that, doll, don’t you?”

The smile you gave J by way of a reply was brighter than any firework, bigger than any explosion, and more commanding of J’s heart than anything else in the world.

You were his entire world, and so long as he had you and you had him, why, you both had everything.

[adzuki-ren]

Wish Upon a Twilight

Title: Wish Upon a Twilight [Read on AO3] Series: Haikyuu!! Characters: Kuroo Tetsurou, Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou (mentioned), Kozume Kenma (mentioned) Pairing(s): BoKuroo, KenHina (mentioned) Rating: Teens (mild swearing) Word Count: 2320 Additional Notes: Fantasy AU, Romeo x Juliet AU, Soulmates, but not necessarily a Soulmates AU, it’s just being discussed, Pre-Relationship, kuroo has it bad, just to be clear bokuroo aren't Romeo and Juliet, but this is still about them, sorry for the big disappoint Summary: Kuroo had never really thought about soulmates, what they were, and what it meant to have one, least of all if he had one. There were more pressing matters, like trying to make it out of the war alive, or at the very least, protect his liege till his very last breath.

It’s only from a simple conversation with his partner and comrade, coming out of seemingly nowhere, that gets him to wonder…

For BoKuroo Week 2020 on Twitter (Day 2 Prompt: Soulmates)

A/N: Apologizing in advance because this short fic is probably gonna make sense to absolutely nobody, but in case you’re interested, you can check out my notes about this sloppily put-together AU. The TLDR of it is that Kenma and Hinata are Romeo and Juliet, and they are Kuroo’s and Bokuto’s lieges respectively. Kuroo and Kenma are still childhood friends.

I haven’t written in a while, and I’m still trying to figure out what my writing style is, so sorry if it’s a janky read.

Bokuto was quiet. Bokuto was never, if not almost always, ever this quiet. He had been for nearly the entire day now, ever since…

Kuroo should have been making good use of his time; Time: a luxury they most certainly could not afford, not when they were finally able to rally enough support to launch the rebellion against the Nekoma clan, not when they were constantly fleeing from enemy troops and always needed to be prepared to defend and strike within a moment’s notice, not when Shouyou had finally taken up the banner in the name of Karasuno, taken up the fight he never wanted, riding on nothing but his convictions and hopes of a swift end to the war with the fewest possible casualties.

What he should be doing at the moment was sharpen his blades, on any chance that they were confronted by a surprise assault. If he was to best serve his liege (his friend, his family), he must always have the proper means to do it; ensuring that his tools were at the utmost optimal condition was a crucial part of fulfilling that role.

So then, why was something so trivial, like his usually loud-mouthed comrade-in-arms suddenly becoming quieter than a still midsummer’s night, such a distraction?

Even if he hadn’t looked over at the corner of his eye, Kuroo knew that he and said companion were doing the same. Their sights had never left Kenma and Shouyou, not once since they had fled the capital together that stormy night and had seen many skirmishes since, had seen to it that they got out of them alive.

And that remained true even as they discovered this small, quiet town, far, far away from the capital, and the lush clearing lying just a little way up north. Only, instead of vassals, at that moment, they were more of mere onlookers, watching their charges wade through tall blades of grass dyed in the warm oranges of the softly setting sun.

It should have been fitting for the moment. Amidst all the fighting, they had finally found for themselves a moment of respite. He, Bokuto, and their allies could use this time to treat their wounds, brace themselves physically and mentally for the many battles that awaited. Kuroo’s eyes followed his liege and he wasn’t sure if the smile that formed in his mind had ever reached his lips. Kenma had taken his dragon steed along with him, and he hadn’t let go of Shouyou’s hand even once.

At least someone was finding peace in these times, Kuroo mused; because even when he was supposed to take this moment to rest, he found that couldn’t, at least not until he figured out what the hell was going on in his partner’s head.

And as if the timing couldn’t have been any better, any words he had prepared were abruptly cut off by one simple question.

“Do you believe in soulmates?”

Bokuto blurted the words in one breath, even gasping out a little, all as if to push the words out of his mouth before his brain had the chance to take them back. Kuroo blinked twice. He was taken aback, to say the least, though whether it was from the question itself or the fact that this was what Bokuto mulled over, he didn’t know.

But it seemed that he wouldn’t even be given the chance to ruminate over it, because as quickly as Bokuto had asked, he threw in a hurried but mumbled, “Never mind, it’s a dumb question.”

Kuroo sighed. Shaking his head, he gently placed a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. “Hey, I haven’t even said anything yet. And no one’s saying anything about it being dumb.” He hoped Bokuto understood from his tone and comforting gesture that he was willing to listen. (In truth, he would always be ready to lend his ear to his most trusted partner if it meant putting him at ease and returning that radiant smile to his face.)

Bokuto deflated somewhat but decided he’d rather pout instead. It was this contrast of Bokuto as the strong, courageous warrior that he was in one second, only to transform into a big, sulking child the next that would never fail to amuse Kuroo. And it was moments like these, small and insignificant they may be, that he could feel in his chest that familiar tickle of mirth and affection that came from just being around Bokuto.

Seeing that Bokuto had lost some spirit in him and was less than likely to interrupt him again, Kuroo hummed, “I haven’t ever really given it any thought.” Whatever thoughts that began to take shape in his mind were quickly brushed aside as Kuroo’s eyes trailed back to Kenma and Shouyou. The pair had wandered further towards the cliff overlooking the sea and its crashing waves, but could still be made out within their line of sight. He could see that their hands were still linked, and then all at once, it struck him; when Bokuto had started to grow quiet, why he asked about soulmates—Kuroo might just have stumbled upon their roots.

He turned back to Bokuto to give him his long-awaited answer. “I don’t not believe they exist.”

One glance and Kuroo could tell he’d already lost him. He continued, “If being soulmates just means that there might be some otherworldly or spiritual force out there, someway or somehow connecting them, then yeah, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched. Okay, maybe not the otherworldly stuff. But,” he paused briefly, tapping his chin in mild contemplation, “Kenma and I have been together for before I can even remember. For all I know, he could’ve been my soulmate this entire time. Who said bonds couldn’t be formed between souls as close as family?”

Kuroo didn’t think his rambling would earn him much of a reaction, but he was able to catch the subtle widening of Bokuto’s eyes. And because he was such an open book, Kuroo could already tell from his furrowed brows that Bokuto had something he wanted to say, but it would be Kuroo who got to cut him off before getting to say his piece this time.

“But,” and he looked back to Bokuto, only to be met with those striking golds, bright and clear with a curious mixture of bewilderment and expectation, “That’s not what you wanted to hear, was it?”

Bokuto jerked back visibly, which meant he’d hit a bull’s-eye. Kuroo chuckled lightly, this time inviting Bokuto’s gaze to join his own with a simple nod towards the general direction of their lieges. More often than not, Bokuto was dumb as a sack of potatoes, but he decided to put a little faith in his dearest comrade, letting him know that they were on the same page with the knowing looks they’d just exchanged.

Bokuto let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding in, with the dejected look of someone who had just admitted defeat. He was being so dramatic, as always. He finally spoke up again, though his voice was still quiet with uncertainty, “It’s just that when I look at them, I can’t help but think…”

(And Kuroo wanted so badly to make a quick jab at that (“You? Think?”), but thought better of it and refrained.)

Bokuto’s last words were left hanging, but it was fine. Even if neither of them finished those thoughts, they didn’t need to when it was the same, now just hanging heavily in the chilly air around them. Can a love like that truly exist?

The conversation was already strewn with gaps of acknowledged silence, and it wasn’t as though either was trying to fill them in. Their words flowed and ebbed with the push-and-pull of the exchange, and just as natural as the tides, some things were best left to the course of that flow. So the somewhat-confession that followed surprised Kuroo and didn’t all at once.

“I wonder if I’ll ever be lucky enough to find mine...” Bokuto uttered in a bit of a pensive daze, and then added a bit more optimistically, turning to Kuroo expectantly, “I’m a lucky guy, right? I mean, I escaped death more times than I can count!”

Peace and harmony and all things good and natural between them be damned, that still didn’t excuse these instances where he was asking for the life to be wrung from his neck for saying crap like this. The bastard had the gall to even laugh about it?

Instead, Kuroo did the less merciless thing and gave him a hard shove, intending for it to come off playfully, but still gaining some sort of petty satisfaction, snickering inwardly from seeing Bokuto catch himself from nearly toppling over.

“Psh, yeah, because I was there to save your ass, dumbass.”

And what does he do? He laughs it off. Again.

Kuroo’s hand was two centimeters away from making impact on his friend’s dense skull. Bokuto needed to learn how to look a little more ashamed, or at least pretend to look embarrassed.

He let out a loud sigh of exasperation but decided to backpedal to their focus, his tone taking a sudden solemn turn. “You and I both know full well that it wasn’t good fortune that brought them together.” Not with all the suffering they both had to endure, just to see each other again.

The last trickles of Bokuto’s laughter ran dry and he was quiet again, thankfully only for a fraction of the time he’d been all day. Bokuto faced him again, and any trace of annoyance Kuroo may have had left instantly melted.

For the short time they’ve spent together, Kuroo thought he knew Bokuto like someone he’d known his whole life, someone he’d fought with for what felt like ages. But it was times like these that he learned Bokuto was still so full of surprises.

“Lucky or not, I’m just really happy you’re here.”

His smile was just as blinding as the first time. Not their first meeting ending with the two shaking on a truce thrust upon them (one that should never have been possible); lips were drawn in taught lines, courteous on the surface, but thinly veiled the wariness, bordering distrust. (Though neither of them imagined they would eventually come to embrace that truce as an oath inherited from their lieges.)

No, it wasn’t until the first time, gathered by the crackling campfire to fight the night’s biting winds, Kuroo made a witty retort and Bokuto excitedly interjected with an idiotic remark of his own, sending them both into loud, raging fits of laughter with seemingly no end to obnoxious cackles, desperate gasps for air, and clutched stomachs. And when Kuroo caught his breath and looked back to Bokuto wiping away a single tear, the first thought his brain should have supplied him with was that he knew they’d get along just fine. It should have only been something that simple.

But all Kuroo could think about were the tiny crinkles around his eyes, specks of gold peeking through thin slits, cheeks dusted in the blush of dawn (and looked just as warm to touch), and those lips (oh, those lips) stretched out in the widest smile he had ever remembered seeing. And all were accompanied by light, airy jingles of laughter; as if everything else wasn’t already enough to send him spiraling into an existential crisis. He simply glowed.

Bathed in a pool of twilight like this now, Kuroo realized Bokuto had never stopped glowing.

“Thank you for always having my back.”

And with those honeyed words dripping with the sweetest sincerity, Kuroo’s entire heart leapt into his throat, choking him speechless. In terms of looks, he must have rivaled a gaping fish with the way he kept opening and shutting his mouth, too.

Kuroo returned his gaze towards the sun dipping into the horizon, now just glossing over the lovers in the distance. “Yeah, sure,” he mumbled with as much indifference he could muster, not that it would do anything to hide the telltale signs of the blush creeping up his cheeks.

Bokuto just chuckled, the sound ringing pleasantly into the warm dusk air. It somehow managed to once again invade Kuroo’s thoughts, along with the very seed Bokuto had sown earlier. Unless he entertained it, it might just fester.

What about me? Would I ever…?

But as quickly as the thought formed, he quashed it. The more he dwelled on it, the more trifling it seemed.

(Because when Bokuto was standing right by his side like this, so close within his reach, he only had one selfish wish.)

The sun had just set, though whether it was a few minutes or hours ago, Kuroo had lost track. Time was lost on him, and sometime during it all, the space between them had vanished and Kuroo felt the weight of Bokuto’s head on his shoulder; or rather, he would have if his partner had been notably shorter. The sight was ridiculous, no doubt, with Bokuto’s head propped at an angle against the side of Kuroo’s.

They looked silly and he should feel silly, yet, all he could feel was the stir in his heart. The gesture was incredibly endearing, and Kuroo had given up trying to recall when he’d first yielded his heart to Bokuto. They most definitely looked ridiculous, but he could care less, so he laid his own head atop Bokuto’s. Standing in a familiar and comfortable silence, Kuroo really should have been more surprised by the less familiar, but equally comfortable, faint beating of hearts.

He longed for many, many more of these days to come. When all of this, all the fighting was over, maybe one day they could have that peaceful life.

And when he felt Bokuto’s hand quietly slip into his, he squeezed back gently and didn’t need to wish for anything else.

Thank you for reading! Again, sorry for the lack of context. I’m not super happy with how it came out but I just love Bokuroo so much and if it wasn’t sappy enough, then clearly I have failed in my mission. Please come scream Bokuroo, KenHina, or Haikyuu (anime-only tho) to me here or Twitter! The To the Top-shaped hole in my heart needs to be filled. ;-;

[animezing-fandoms]

What Flirting?

Nalu Week 2020 Day 3: Flirt

Masterlist

Warnings: None.

Summary: When Lucy’s feeling down on her love life, Natsu decides to take a crack at flirting.

-----------

Lucy Heartfilia had never considered herself a master at flirting. She may be a writer who was skilled with words, but past experiences had proven to her that her words were better off on the page than spoken out loud. And whenever she did come up with something witty and attractive to say, it only seemed to work on guys she was trying to get to give her something other than a date, like a discount on something she wanted. She had never been able to successfully flirt with a guy she liked, and Natsu was no exception.

Even after she realized she had feelings for him, Lucy never dared trying to flirt with him. It would be a waste of time. He was the densest man she'd ever met when it came to romance. Leave it to her to fall in love with a man who would probably never feel the same. What God had she pissed off to make her love life so unlucky? She thinks to herself while walking through the park and seeing a bunch of happy couples walking together and holding hands. She recognized a few of them from Fairy Tail.

That was the other part of this that made it worse. Everyone in the guild was coupling up! Once people found out about Gajeel and Levy, it was like a domino effect that had set off everyone to start coupling up. Even though some couples tried to hide the fact that they were together like Gray and Juvia, and Jellal and Erza, and even Elfman and Evergreen who were currently trying and failing to hide behind a bush together, it was still fairly obvious to Lucy that she'd probably end up being the only single girl in the guild before long. What did a girl have to do to get swept off her feet by the man of her dreams?

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu shouts and runs towards her.

Well speak of the devil...She thinks to herself as her crush comes running over to her with that cute grin on his face. But before she even had the chance to say hi back, she found herself swept off of her feet and thrown over Natsu's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. What the hell!? Did he read her mind or something? And even if he did, when she thought she wanted someone to sweep her off of her feet, this isn't what she meant.

"Natsu what are you doing! Put me down!" Lucy shouts at him and starts kicking his side and banging her fists against his back.

"Natsu you idiot!" Happy shouts as he flies over to them. "When I dared you to pick up a girl that's not what I meant!"

"Oh, sorry Lucy." Natsu says as he sets her down.

"You're supposed to pick up girls with words Natsu." Happy explains.

"What!?" Natsu exclaims in confusion. "You can't pick people up with words. You can't even touch someone with them! Maybe if you used Levy's powers though..."

"Happy, why did you dare Natsu to try to pick up girls?" Lucy asks.

"Because I knew he'd never be able to do it and I thought it'd be funny to watch him try." Happy jokes.

Lucy rolls her eyes before looking back at Natsu who was still trying to figure out how you could lift a person with words. He looks cute when he's confused so it made Lucy giggle a bit.

"And if that's Natsu's idea of flirting, he's never gonna get a girlfriend." Happy teases.

"You jerk, stop being confusing!" Natsu shouts at Happy. "First you tell me to pick up Lucy, now you're asking me to fart on her? What do you want from me!"

"He said flirting not farting!" Lucy shouts at Natsu.

"What's the difference?" Natsu asks and Lucy sighs.

"Flirting is when you say witty, romantic things to someone you like to try to get them to like you back in a romantic way." Lucy explains.

"Huh...I think I get it, but I don't think I get it." Natsu says and tilts his head in confusion and Lucy laughs and decides that he needs an example.

"Natsu, you know you're really cute when you're confused." Lucy says sweetly.

Happy squeals and covers his mouth with his paws, looking back and forth between the two of them, excited to see what would happen next.

"Uh, thanks?" Natsu asks, looking even more confused.

Lucy laughs, expecting a reaction like that from him.

"Natsu, that was flirting." Lucy tells him.

"Oh!" Natsu exclaims like a lightbulb went off in his head. "You have a really cute laugh Lucy."

Lucy wasn't expecting him to flirt back, and with something so sweet.

"Oh, thank you Natsu." Lucy says softly and blushes. Then she realizes it must have been her turn again, but what would she say? "You know, I think it's gotten hotter around here since you showed up."

"Oh!" Natsu says and blushes slightly. "Hey that was a good one! Because I'm a fire wizard right?" Natsu asks.

"Yep, that's the only reason why." Lucy says and blushes while scratching the back of her head.

Then Natsu takes her hand and her face turns red again.

"This is fun, let's take a walk and keep doing this flirting thing." Natsu suggests happily.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Lucy says and smiles back at him.

Maybe Natsu wasn't as oblivious to romance as she thought. She just needs to give him time and take things one small step at a time.

[bgn846]

One Giant Warp - FFXV Promtis

         Summary:            

Noct wants to show Prompto how he warps, how hard could it be? Very hard, like the wall he just threw himself into attempting to demonstrate.  However, the one nice side effect of his miscalculation is Prompto fawning over him.  Maybe he should throw himself into walls more often. a.k.a. Noct likes Prompto and doesn't know how to tell him.

--

It turns out the old adage of keeping your eye on the ball wasn’t just meant for sports. The same reasoning applied to warping. This fact made itself known when Noct decided to risk a quick glance over at Prompto. The prince had wanted to ensure his friend could see the feat he was about to perform.  Sure, his best friend was paying attention, and subsequently got to watch as Noct slammed himself into the wall of the training room.  One small note of comfort being, no one else had been there.  

The feeling of pain was first and foremost in his brain as he writhed on the floor.  Thank the six, the walls were covered in mats. Though he was pretty sure they weren’t meant for warping into. Noct was dimly aware of the floor vibrating as Prompto ran over.  His frantic shouts also helped clue Noct into his approach.

“Noct! Buddy! Oh em gee please tell me you’re alright?!” Prompto yelped in a panic.

Only able to manage some sort of guttural sound in acknowledgment, Noct reached out his hand to grab Prompto’s arm. Squeezing firmly he held on in hopes the gesture would calm his friend. Typical to Prompto, it didn’t work.

“Dude, shit, are you dying or something? Why are you holding me like that? Say something I don’t know what t--.”

“M’fine!” Noct blurted. “Hurts, give me a minute.”

“Did you break anything? If you did then you shouldn’t move. How’s your neck feel? What about your back?” Prompto rapidly fired as his blue eyes darted to and fro. “When you said you wanted to show me how you warped, I didn’t think you’d do it so forcefully!” he finished with a wince.

The shock of literally throwing his body at an immovable object was wearing off, and Noct attempted to roll on his side, albeit slowly. Thankfully, nothing twinged and the only part of his body that was starting to throb was his head. A headache he could handle.  Having to explain why a potion was missing later due to a broken bone wasn’t something he’d been looking forward to.

He knew he’d never be able to say the real reason why due to certain people like Ignis being able to see through him in a heartbeat. That was the only issue with practically growing up with someone, they knew all your tells.  Fibbing to Prompto, on the other hand, was easy.  Not that admitting he’d merely been trying to show off for his secret crush would work well either.

Noct simply had to survive this moment and move on, or rather move up. The floor was very comfortable right now, and the idea of even attempting to walk wasn’t sounding promising.  Fighting gravity combined with relearning how to balance was the least of his worries. He already knew he’d need Prompto’s help getting back home. The prospect of having to hang onto the blond was proving to be a worrying thought.

He didn’t mind being close to Prompto, quite the opposite, he wanted nothing more than to stay close. Having a crush on your best friend was fun and torturous all at the same time. Resigned to keeping his fantasies in dreamland Noct focused on trying to sit up.  No need in delaying this process any longer.  He needed to rest and forget this ever happened.  However, when Noct did sit up the room spun.  Guess he’d hit his head harder than he thought. Muttering a curse under his breath Noct clamped his eyes shut and reached out for the nearest thing to steady his movements. Prompto’s warm and slightly clammy hand enveloped his a second later.  Right, he forgot, Prompto was the nearest thing.

Laughing nervously to detract from his now equally sweaty hands, Noct began rambling. “I’m fine, really, it’s all good,” he lied opening his eyes once more.  Big mistake. Prompto’s blue eyes were right there, brilliant and bright, staring straight at him.

“You don’t look so fine, buddy. You sorta look ill.”

“You try throwing yourself at a wall and see how you fair.”

“Not funny, you didn’t see it from my perspective, or hear the noise either.”

“What noise?” Noct asked bewildered. “Did I yell?”

Prompto huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. “No, dude, the noise I’m talking about is when your body hit the wall. It sounded like a sack of potatoes dropping.”

“Oh, yeah it wasn’t supposed to go like that.”

“We should get you to the clinic or something, just in case.”

“Huh? Clinic? Six, no, I’m not going to the doctor.  I’m fine,” Noct defended while attempting to stand and promptly grabbing his friend for support.  Stupid head, spinning around and making the simple act of standing an issue.

“Whoa, I gotcha,” Prompto supplied as he slung Noct’s arm over his shoulder.  “I know I just started crownsguard training but I’ve already learned about first aid,” he beamed proudly.   “Which means we need to go to the clinic.”

“Seriously Prompto, I’m good, I’m not gonna go,” Noct tried again as they hobbled along to the door.

“I’m not going to be responsible for killing the crown prince of Lucis because I let him bully me.”

Noct scoffed, “I’m not dying, my head hurts I need to sleep it off.” This statement got Prompto even more animated.

“Your head hurts? Shit, dude, that’s worse. You shouldn’t go to sleep.”

Noct was about to tell Prompto that he was perfectly capable of reading his own injuries when an idea struck. If he needed to stay awake then this was a perfect excuse for them to spend the rest of the afternoon and night together. Prompto slept over all the time but always used the guest room if he hadn’t already fallen asleep on the couch.  This time Noct had a valid reason for him to share his bed.

Impressed by his own cleverness Noct voiced his brilliant idea without pause. “Why don’t you keep an eye on me then, make sure I don’t pass out or something worse.”

“I’m already doing that dummy, and I’m going the extra mile by taking you to the doctor.”

Thinking fast Noct remembered that Cor might still be around. “What if Cor clears me? Would you accept that instead of the doctor? He’s got a medic certification too, remember?”

Prompto pouted but eventually nodded. “I trust his judgment, but I still think you’re being a baby.”

Noct waved Prompto off with his free hand motioned for them to go in the direction of Cor’s office. Needless to say, Cor was not amused by his appearance five minutes later.  The man took one look at the pair of them and scowled. “Noctis, why do you have a rather painful looking bump developing on your forehead?”

“I hit the wall with my head, but that’s not what’s important right now. Can you make sure I’m not going to die so Prompto won’t make me go to the clinic?”

Taking a deep breath Cor stood from his desk and sauntered over. “I warned you not to take your eye off the ball.”

This time Noct scowled and gave Cor a look that he hoped would stop the older man from pressing further. “You can’t even warp,” he grumbled.

Cor hummed in agreement, “I still saw your father do plenty of stupid shit, so I know the principle behind the magic.”

“Yeah, yeah, am I okay? You’ve seen real dead people before so you’ll know what to look for.”

“Noct, shut up,” Prompto whispered. “He’s the immortal for six sake.”

“Yes, I know,” Noct hissed. “That’s why we are here.”

Cor took all their comments in stride and if Noct was being honest he would swear Cor had a slight smile on his face. After some cursory questions about how he was feeling and Cor examining his head, he was given the clear to go home. A stern warning to call if anything changed was given out as Prompto steered them out of office once more.

The next challenge on the long, terrible journey home was transportation. Noct knew he shouldn’t drive, and he was not going to call Ignis for a lift. If he could keep this little accident a secret it’d be even better. Ignis wasn’t even scheduled to visit later. If Noct played his cards right he’d have Prompto all to himself for the whole night.

Convincing Prompto to drive the car back to his condo was tricky.  Noct laid out how terrible it would be if Ignis showed up, and how degrading it would be if Gladio found out.  They were best friends this was a moment between them, and them alone.  Noct was babbling and he knew it, but it worked.  Prompto finally took the driver’s seat and slowly navigated them to his place. Noting to never ask Prompto to drive again Noct focused on staying upright on the walk to the elevator.  Having someone to lean on was immensely helpful; otherwise, he was sure he’d have fallen over in the parking garage.

Curse living on the ninth floor, the elevator made his head throb painfully and he wasn’t about to take the stairs. Prompto noticed immediately when he sucked in a labored breath once the elevator began moving.

“You’re still feeling awful aren’t you?”

“I’m not in pain if that makes you feel better.  My head still hurts, but not anything unbearable,” he added quickly.  Prompto might take this admission as a sign of weakness and decide to call Ignis or something worse.

“Cor said to make sure you ate and to take it easy, let’s focus on that for now.”

“We can order pizza!” Noct exclaimed making them list sideways. This using his crush as a crutch was great.  Maybe he would stay ‘dizzy’ for a little longer. He was starting to enjoy this moment for all the wrong reasons.  Noct wasn’t even sure if Prompto liked him back that way. Asking that question of his friend though was another matter entirely. Noct didn’t want to risk losing one of the best things that had happened to him.  Prompto’s friendship had been a relief from the mounting daily pressures he faced.

Ignis and Gladio always had his back but this was different, Prompto didn’t come from their world. He wasn’t familiar with all the pomp and circumstance of being a royal. They were friends because they got along and had fun together, nothing more and nothing less. Noct was loath to ruin such a great thing by offering up his true feelings. Something about ‘hey I like, like you’ felt like a good way to seriously rock the boat.  Things were smoothly humming along; there was no need to destroy a perfectly good friendship.    

Lost in his own thoughts about how nice Prompto’s body felt Noct didn’t notice they’d reached his front door. It wasn’t until a hand began patting his pockets did he realize the issue. Prompto wanted his keys to get in.   “Huh, sorry, they are in my other pocket,” he offered sheepishly.

“Well then, we gotta switch sides for me to reach them,” Prompto announced right before ducking out from under his arm and moving. The sound of jingling keys erupted soon after.  

Noct was about to whine at being jostled until Prompto’s body pressed up against him once more. Smiling like an idiot he leaned further into his friend.  Unfortunately, his timing was terrible, and Noct merely made them both fall forward. The newly unlocked door swung open forcefully, and Prompto barely had the strength to keep them both upright.

“Dude, warn me when you’re gonna do that!”

“Sorry, you feel really good,” Noct murmured sleepily.  It wasn’t until a healthy blush developed on Prompto’s cheeks did Noct pick up on what he’d said.  Shit. This was bad. “Ya know like ah, um--,” he trailed off completely at a loss for words.  There wasn’t really a good way to explain away what he’d just said.

“You should sit down, I’ll order food,” Prompto quickly cut in as he looked everywhere but Noct’s face.

The walk to the sofa was deathly quiet as Noct desperately tried to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind. Prompto eased him down gently a minute later and then disappeared like his butt was on fire. Groaning at his own inability to function like a normal human Noct leaned back and stared at the ceiling, resigned to drown in his own insecurities.    

--

Prompto’s hands were shaking by the time he made it into the bathroom.  Noct’s apartment was open in the main living area so he couldn’t seek refuge in the kitchen.  He also knew he couldn’t stay in here forever. He needed to keep an eye on Noct and hiding in here wasn’t the way to do it.  His mind was still reeling from the simple comment his friend had made.

‘You feel really good’ was a benign statement in of itself, but combined with all the soft smiles and other things Prompto had noticed recently, it took on a whole new life. Maybe he hadn’t been imagining all of it before.  Maybe Noct liked him as more than a friend.

Pulling his phone out he called the one person who might be able to give him some advice. Prompto had wanted to let someone else know what had happened, just in case they needed help later, despite Noct’s protests.  He wasn’t about to put his friend in harm’s way.  Suddenly worried he opened the bathroom door and looked down the hallway.  Noct’s fluffy head of hair was still visible over the couch.

He was about to wander closer to really check when Noct’s hand came up and touched his fresh bruise.   Thank the six, he was still okay. Going back to his little haven, Prompto hit the call button and waited.

Gladio picked up on the third ring. “Hey Prompto, what’s up?” he asked jovially. “We didn’t have a training session today, did we? I thought it was on Monday.”

“No, no, you’re good I uh just need to tell you something real quick.”

The shield must have picked up on the stress in his voice due to his next reaction. “What’s wrong? Are you alright? Where’s Noct? Is he hurt? Are you hurt?”

“Whoa big guy, calm down, I’m fine.  Noct’s mostly fine. Cor checked him out if it makes you feel better.”

“What do you mean Cor checked him out?”

Prompto had to cover the speaker on his phone for fear Noct might heard Gladio hysterically laughing. The tale of Noct’s great warp strike to the training room wall was very funny to him. After Gladio had quieted down again he continued. “So yeah, I wanted you and Ignis to know, so you could like be prepared if something else happens. I felt like it was the wise thing to do considering the circumstances, and the fact that he refuses to go to the doctor.”

“Okay blondie, I’ll alert Ignis and make sure he promises to keep his mouth shut.  I appreciate you callin’ You’re a good friend to Noct, he needs more people like you in his life.”

Gladio’s comment made Prompto remember the other reason he’d called.  “Uh, so you were also right about the other thing.”

“Huh, what other thing?”

“The thing you relentlessly tease me about when I miss a move in training. The thing about Noct like, liking me and being to chocobo to admit it.”

“Seriously?! What’d he say?”

“Nothing much but I think hitting his head has made him a little loopy.  He’s super relaxed and saying things and hanging on me.”

“You gonna tell you like him back?” Gladio asked.

“Should I? I don’t want to ruin things.”

“You’re not gonna ruin anything. Noct likes you, just tell him and see how it goes.  I’d suggest you not try to ya know do anything tonight, he’s injured after all but talking about stuff is fine.”

“Oh em gee too much info Gladio, I’m not gonna jump him tonight, he needs to rest.”

Gladio laughed again but there was no malice behind it. “Go back and sit with him. You’re hiding in the bathroom, aren’t you? I can tell by the echo.”

“Yes!” Prompto hissed. “I got nervous, shit, I still need to order pizza.”

“Hey, calm down. Go sit with him and I’ll order for you. I can use his account to pay and then you can focus on making sure he’s alright.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Sure kiddo, you’re my friend too.  Besides, I know what you two like to eat.  Go check on him; make sure he’s not passed out or somethin’.”

“Okay thanks, Gladio.”

“No problem, call me straight away if anything changes. It sounds like he needs to rest and take it easy for the weekend.  I’ll let Ignis know so don’t worry about that either.”

“Alright, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks big guy.”

Pocketing his phone once more Prompto opened the door to check on Noct. His friend was still in the same spot and moving his arms around like he was having a conversation. Expect no one was there.  Wondering if he’d gone temporarily insane Prompto slipped out into the hallway and listened.   Sure enough, Noct was talking, but after a second Prompto figured out he was simply talking to himself.

The dialog was all over the place. Noct was berating himself for being stupid and messing everything up. What in the hell was his friend going on about? Not wanting to see Noct act so self-deprecating Prompto ran back into the room. “Hey you didn’t mess anything up,” he chided while coming to a stop next to the sofa.

“You’re still here?” Noct exclaimed with a pained look. “I thought maybe I’d messed up so bad you’d snuck out.”

“You’re such a dork, I’m not gonna leave. I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it.”

“Oh, you’re not mad at me?”

“Dude, how hard did you hit your head? No, I’m not mad at you.”

‘Sorry,” Noct mumbled as he looked away and stared at the floor.

“Sorry for what? Pizza is on its way and we get to hang out for the rest of the night and watch movies and like uh, you know be idiots together.” Prompto offered with a smile.

“What kind of pizza did you get?” Noct asked with a pout. “I’m hungry.”

Unable to stop the burst of nervous laughter from escaping his mouth, Prompto blurted the first thing that came to mind, “It’s a surprise buddy. You’ll love it don’t worry.”  

“Okay, I trust you.”

“So ah, how’s your head feel now? Is it still pounding?”

“It’s getting better, but I think I’ll be glued to the sofa for the rest of the night.”

Sitting down next to Noct, Prompto gathered his thoughts. He wanted to talk to Noct about how he felt, but he wasn’t sure right now was the best time. Gladio’s words flashed through his mind at that moment. Prompto should try and talk about stuff. He didn’t think he was reading the signs wrong, Noct sure seemed like he was interested in him.

“Um, what did you think you’d messed up?” he asked finally.

“Huh?” Noct whispered as he settled down into the cushions further.

“You were saying something earlier about messing up, what did you mean?” Prompto was sure Noct’s face was turning pink. That had to be a good sign. No one would blush if they didn’t have feelings to admit. Noct looked stricken; he clearly wanted to speak but couldn’t seem to find the energy.  Time dragged on as Noct stalled.  Gladio has been right, Noct was never going to say anything first. Prompto couldn’t believe he was about to do this but his friend needed him, now more than ever.   Taking a deep breath he voiced his own feelings in hopes it would prompt Noct into revealing his own.

“You--you felt good too,” he managed through the lump in his throat. Noct didn’t immediately react. Prompto watched as various emotions played across his friend's face. Noct was confused at first; it was an odd statement to make when they weren’t actually touching. It was understandable that he’d be wondering about the context. Then, in a flash Noct turned his head and looked at him with wide eyes. He’d figured it out, hopefully.

“Say it again,” he demanded, but not in a condescending way.

Licking his lips Prompto gathered what little bravery he had left and repeated his comment, “you felt good too.”

“You mean it?” Noct checked as he leaned forward and gripped Prompto’s arm. “I didn’t destroy our friendship?”

“Is that what you thought would happen?” Prompto exclaimed. “I’m always gonna be your friend. I don’t know what life would be like without you buddy.”

Noct instantly relaxed and flopped back into the sofa, “I was so worried I messed everything up.”

“What? By telling me how you really feel about me?” Prompto asking hoping this might bait Noct into saying more.

“I’ve had a crush on you for soooo long, I just didn’t know how to tell you,” Noct admitted with a relieved look.

“Were you trying to impress me with your warping abilities?” Prompto queried with a smirk.

“Maybe, but don’t tell anyone else that! I don’t wanna get yelled at for abusing my magic just to impress someone I like.”

“You’d already won me over the moment we met.” Smiling at how that made Noct blush even harder Prompto continued on. “I’m flattered that you were willing to risk life and limb to impress me, but next time, tell me how you feel.”

Noct laughed and winced immediately afterward, “Shit, oh man I gotta take it easy tonight.  That sucks.”

“Sounds kinda nice actually.”

“We could be trying out so many different things tonight, but I can’t even stand up without the room spinning.”

The true meaning behind what Noct had said, sunk in a second later. Oh, damn he was referring to those kinds of other things.  One idea did come to mind that they could do. “So, we can always cuddle until you feel better,” Prompto suggested slyly.  “Ya know, and then later we can do some other uh, stuff.”

Prompto didn’t have much warning before Noct slumped to the side and tackled him in a hug. “Thanks, buddy, falling asleep against you sounds really good.”

“Hey, no sleeping yet, you need to eat.” The sound that came as a response didn’t sound like the English language. Had Noct already zonked out? “Dude, no come on wake up!”

“Sleeeeep nowwwwww, pizza laterrrr.” Noct mumbled as he began to rearrange them on the sofa.

Prompto patiently waited until Noct was fully sprawled across his chest before he pulled out his phone again.  He needed to send a text to Gladio but he was waiting for the inevitable. Noct falling asleep.

However, once Noct had stilled he took a breath to speak. “Why is your heart racing?”

That was an easy one to answer. “We just confessed that we like each other more than friends and now you’re lying on top of me.  Why do you think my heart is racing?” He questioned jokingly. “I’m excited and nervous, and happy all at the same time.”

“Sorry, my macho display delayed our fun.”

“Honestly, I’m okay taking things a little slow. I like what we are doing right now and maybe later after dinner, we can uh, you know, try kissing?”

Noct giggled like a freaking two-year-old once he’d finished talking. “We can kiss now if you want.”

“Nope, gonna make you wait since you laughed at me.”

“Hey, I can’t help it, you sounded really cute.”

“I’m not cute bro, I’m manly just like you.”

Noct laughed again even moved his arm to hit him in the shoulder. “Fine, you sounded really handsome and strong. How chivalrous of you to wait on my account, so as not to spoil my virgin body.”

“If you weren’t injured right now I’d have shoved you off on the floor already. You should thank me for being so nice to you.”

Snorting and groaning in pain Noct stilled again. “Stop making me laugh. I gotta take it easy remember?”

“Sure, buddy,” Prompto drawled out. “You’re taking it easy, and picking on me at the same time. I don’t think that should be allowed.”

“Okay, truce, I’ll stop until I feel better.”

“Deal, but I’m gonna fight back once you get better too, don’t forget.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Noct asked indignantly.

“If you pick on me I’ll retaliate.”

“How? You can’t hurt me I’m the crown prince.” He offered haughtily but Prompto could tell Noct was teasing.

“I have my ways. I know someone who’d be more than willing to tell me where you’re ticklish.”

“Iggy wouldn’t betray me like that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Shhh, enough talk about that, lets enjoy this moment before the food gets here.”  Noct went so far as to cover Prompto’s mouth with his hand to silence him. One well-placed lick of his tongue had Noct crying out in disgust. “Not fair, no licking.”

“Ever?” Prompto asked coolly.

“Never!” Noct replied but he seemed to realize what that might imply and quickly changed his tune. “Licking s’okay,” he nearly whispered a second later.

“I thought so, but that’s for later remember.”

“M’sleep nowww.” Noct hummed.

Prompto let Noct rest this time.  Once his friend's breath had evened out, he texted Gladio to get an ETA on the food. For once the Friday night rush meant the hour-long time was actually welcomed, considering his current situation.  Gladio had of course asked how it went and Prompto was happy to reply that they’d confessed their feeling to each other.  He was graced with a thumbs-up emoticon and a smiley face.

Putting his phone down Prompto hugged Noct closer and rubbed his back. He was going to make sure they had the best weekend ever! Happy to simply be with Noct and hold him Prompto drifted off until the door buzzed.  The night was just beginning as was their new relationship.  Prompto couldn’t wait to have more adventures with Noct.  So long as he didn’t throw himself into a wall again!

AO3 Link

[xhanisai]

Can I be that one annoying fan that spams you every day with basically the same question? That being Kiss AU frightningale. If you would be so kind.

Well, since you kindly gave me that Ko-Fi UwUwUwU, I can spare an ounce of kindness~~~ 

This will be a long one~ Enjoy! (P.S. I have made a lot of changes here to make this, hopefully much more interesting…) 

The episode starts off with Gabriel dragging his son away to the venue for the Chat Noir costume fitting. Adrien’s trying everything to escape, ranging from faking he’s sick to clinging to the railings on the stairs. Gabriel and Nathalie struggled to get him to let go but Gorilla comes to their rescue, managing to pluck him off with ease. 

“You’ll never take me alive!” Adrien hollered out childishly, kicking his legs and banging his fists against Gorilla’s back as he was held like a sack of potatoes, the group making way out of the house and to the limo. 

“Never make us do that again, Son.” Gabriel grumbled out, running his fingers through his unruly hair before quickly straightening the locks back. A frazzled Nathalie handed him a comb with a huff.

“How about, don’t force me into doing things I don’t want to? Hmm?” Adrien sassed, looking as intimidating as a caught kitten. He could feel Plagg cackling in his jacket, the cursed being doing nothing to help. 

“It’s just a fitting Adrien- plus it’s a very good opportunity for you! You get to meet an international popstar and perform in her music video, dressed up as one of those superheroes you adore.” 

“B-B-But…I’m just a stick! I won’t do any justice to Chat Noir’s muscles and abs!” For effect, Adrien poked his shoulders. “See? Skin and bones.”

“Nonsense~ my stylists have commented about your developing muscles during your shoots. All those fencing and basketball lessons have been paying off,” Mr. Agreste chirped with a cheesy grin, pushing his glasses back against the nose. Adrien was immediately reminded of those dopey glasses characters in the hundreds of anime he’s watched. 

“Besides, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng will be picked up by Vincent and his crew in five minutes to meet up at the venue and dress as your counterpart.” Nathalie added, scrolling through her tablet. She then flickered her eyes towards the boy’s curious face, glasses glinting under the light for a split second. “You wouldn’t want her to be paired with any other random Parisian, right?” 

You see, Adrien is usually a very bright boy, evidenced by his top grades, ability to adapt and so on.

This is not the case right now.

Completely dismissing the disastrous problem awaiting him, Adrien’s mind was clouded with utmost jealousy. Images of his talented Princess being oogled by some…some random KID in HIS costume…making her SMILE and even…HOLDING HER HAND??? 

‘Oh my God…what if they try to make the boy kiss my Marinette?’ Adrien screams internally, dismissing another important factor before jumping out of Gorilla’s grasps (who coincidentally loosens his grip) and darted inside the vehicle. 

“TO THE VENUE! ONLY I CAN BE THE CHAT NOIR TO MARINETTE’S LADYBUG!” The boy beeped the horn for good measures. 

“Why didn’t you use my daughter-in-law’s name to coax him in the first place, Nathalie?” Gabriel’s eyebrow twitched with irritation. His assistant simply mirrored the look. 

“It was one way I was able to get you to do some workout, sir.” Her eyes narrowed further but inside, she was fighting a grin when Gabriel spluttered. “After all, someone has been gaining a few extra pounds ever since we got friendly with your future in-laws.” 

“I-I have no idea what you mean!” Her boss harrumphed, entering the limo with a grumble. Nathalie didn’t miss the way he clutched his stomach with a pout. “It’s not my fault that they don’t let me leave till they’ve fed me three helpings of dumplings…”

Meanwhile, Marinette is kidnapped hauled away by Vincent, Alya and the rest of the girls from her class, much to her protests. Sabine and Tom watches the scene unfold with a cup of tea in hand and some sweets. Their smiles only broadening. 

“Alya-aaaa! Lemme go! Lemme go-ooooo!” What good was being Ladybug when she can’t seem to escape her best friend’s shoulder, getting carried away like a THING? Marinette let out another huff as the girls finally made way outside, a car waiting for them. 

“You can keep wriggling and fighting but you’re no match with Mama Bear Alya’s muscles~!” Her best friend hooted, flexing her free arm with exaggeration as the rest of the group giggled. “And gurl! You’re light as hell! What the heck? No wonder you can’t make me budge.”

“I am big and strong! I can take you all in one go! I’ll prove it right now!” Marinette retaliated. No one took her seriously. “I just wanted to be a backup dancer and so did Adrien!!!” The girl resorted back to whining again, flopping in defeat.

“Really? He was actually pretty adamant in taking the Chat Noir role.” Mylene nodded as did the others. 

“What? Since when? We both agreed to be backup with you girls yesterday night during a call.” 

“Someone call Barbie Doll right now,” Alya suggested whilst shoving Marinette inside the car unceremoniously, ignoring her groans. Alix rolled her eyes, whipping her phone out and got inside the vehicle, purposely squishing Marinette against the car’s door on the other side so that she had no means of escape. 

The model finally picked up when the girls were on the road, his annoyance clear through the speaker.

“Don’t tell me you girls are already at the venue and some loser stole my role- the traffic here is mental!” Rose and Juleka hid their snickering at this. 

“What role? Adrien! We agreed to be backup dancers- what’s with you wanting to be Chat Noir now?” Marinette butted in, glaring at the phone despite the recipient not being able to see her face. 

“O-OH!? Morning Princess~”

“Don’t ‘Princess’ me you big, annoying, dummy-”

“Okay, Sweetcheeks it is then,”

“NO.”

“Sugarberry?”

“STOP.”

“But Darling~”

“ADRIEN!”

“Hey, now listen here. I didn’t do this on purpose ya know? I was all decked up and ready to be a backup dancer but Pere and Nathalie had other plans!”

“And you went along with it?” 

“They had to get the Gorilla to literally get me out of the house! Give me some credit here, Marinette!” Adrien groaned, slumping against his seat, knowing very well that his trio of guardians were all wearing matching grins under that poker face of theirs. 

“A-Ah, okay, so basically the same thing as me then, right?” Marinette almost felt bad for going off on him.

“Mmhm, besides,” 

“Oh?”

“I refuse to let any dumb boy take away MY woman.” Marinette could literally feel the cat radiating from him, annoyance pumping through her veins. Of COURSE he relents into his father’s whims due to jealousy! A tiny part of her brain was rather flattered, making her heart flutter but the raven haired girl immediately brushed those thoughts away. 

“You never really put up much of a fight after you found out I was gonna be forced to play Ladybug, right?” The baker girl’s tone was dry as hell. 

“Your point?” She couldn’t believe Adrien had the nerves to answer like that.

“YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR ASS AGRESTE! COS WHEN I’M THROUGH WITH YOU-”

“Oh please do be gentle~”

“ADRIEN!?”

“Love ya~~~mwah!” With a triumphant grin, Adrien hung up the phone. He knew very well of how much trouble he’s in but he’ll focus on that hurdle when it comes to it. Gabriel and Nathalie only eyed the teen incredulously, the former pinching the bridge of his nose. Why oh why is his son like this…?

Both cars simultaneously arrive at the venue, making Adrien realise how much danger he’s in. He could literally feel Marinette’s rage seeping out of the car. Nathalie pretty much kicked him out so that he can face his responsibilities. Both he and Mari have a stare off- the latter itching to throttle him whilst the boy whistles innocently. 

Marinette doesn’t get a chance to drag Adrien away as they’re both led into the venue by their peers, finally seeing people trying out the superhero roles. It was then that Adrien recalled why he and Mari settled to be backup dancers in the first place.

“Oh shit…” Adrien finally uttered when a boy slipped on the Chat Noir mask. His eyes then drifted to Marinette, wincing at her pointed glare before averting his gaze again. He fucked up. Their identities are screwed! 

The duo were too preoccupied with their thoughts to process Clara’s enthusiasm and squeals, babbling about how they’ve been going through hundreds of candidates for hours. 

“Wait- how come those two get the role immediately? We don’t even know if they’re good enough!” One of the teens exclaimed, hands on hips and glowered. Clara sweatdropped at this. “We’ve been waiting here for ages! Is this all for nought?”

A light bulb appeared on both the secret heroes’ heads, both wearing a matching grin as they turned towards each other.

‘You thinking what I’m thinking?’

‘You bet so, Princess~’

‘Don’t call me Princess. I’m still mad at you.’

‘Oh boo…’

Marinette and Adrien were quick to agree with the teen, claiming how they should wait like everyone else so that there’s a fair chance without paying mind to Gabriel’s glares. The rest of the girls lined up for the backup roles, wishing the duo good luck whilst the adults were pulled away elsewhere. 

“Thank God…” Marinette sighed in relief. She vowed to give the teen an autograph the next time she’s transformed. The girl looped her arm through Adrien’s, both of them sticking with the Chat Noir line (the staff knew they were going to perform as a packaged deal so they didn’t necessarily have to wait separately). 

“You got a plan Bugaboo?” Adrien was met with a snort but all he did was roll his eyes fondly. “Aight, still mad, no nicknames. Got it,” With a smirk, he tried kissing her cheek to soften her up but his lips met her hand clasping his mouth instead, blocking him.

“Adrien…” The boy deflated at her disappointed tone. This is what he was worried about, disappointment. “Ugh- I can’t even be mad at you for long. We were both forced into this.” He almost perked up. “But you didn’t even attempt to sneak away when your father was distracted. You’re usually really good at that, dummy.” She playfully punched his shoulder.

“Forgive me?” Adrien’s eyes twinkled like a kitten. The aspiring designer found herself melting. 

The model considered her blush as a win, engulfing her in an ecstatic hug despite Mari trying her best not to care. 

‘They really do make a perfect Ladybug and Chat Noir…’ Clara mused at the front. She’ll endure another hour of the other candidates trying out the roles happily if it meant that she could get THOSE two in. 

Marinette’s plan involved not only losing the masks in the changing rooms but also messing up their try out as much as possible. The duo were also quite shocked to see Chloe audition and actually do a good job! As much as she’s a pain, that’s one less hurdle to jump over for them. However, Chloe’s attitude and rudeness really put Clara off so she didn’t make it through the auditions.

By the time it’s our superheroes’ turn, they put the plan to action. The masks were conveniently hidden away and the duo botched up everything they were meant to do for the auditions.

They clasped their hands like a handshake when asked to hold hands, they flopped on their faces after every acrobatic move, Adrien even fell off stage at one point, only bruising his knees and a blow to his pride. Clara and Gabriel didn’t give up on them; they found the masks and beckoned the duo to put them on.

We have the tense moment where time goes still as Marinette and Adrien eyes the masks in their hands. Silent apologies are given to each other as they slowly brought the masks closer to their faces. 

As per canon, Chloe barges in with the Mayor in tow, piles of paper in hand, claiming that Clara has no permission in shooting in France. The poor singer gets her mike thrown on the floor, much to Marinette and Adrien’s protests. Alya and co try to help Clara up but the singer runs off crying. Gabriel quietly shuffles inside one of the bathrooms, locking it and transforms into Le Papillon to akumatise the woman. 

Soon, Frightningale makes her debut, whipping everyone with her wand and turning them to statues if they didn’t sing in rhymes and dance. Marinette lures herself and Adrien into one of the changing caravans so that they can transform.

“Once again, Butterfly Breath and Little Miss Brat saved us. I thought they’re the villains as well,” Marinette hummed. 

“Hey.” Adrien flicked her nose softly. “Don’t be mean to Chlo’,” His shit eating grin only grew at Marinette’s gaping face.

“E-Excuse me!? Don’t be mean to the girl who made Clara Nightingale CRY-” She stopped mid rant and scoffed, refusing to play into anymore of the boy’s teasing. Tikki and Plagg floated out from Marinette’s twin ponytails, admiring their costumes once more. 

“You should really do something about your childhood friend, Adrien.” Tikki scolded.

“Hey! My kitten isn’t obliged to parent that bossy brat into a decent human being. He tried to anyways and it’s like she’s deaf to anything that’s humane!” Plagg countered back. The kwamis fell into an argument in a language that neither teens could understand. 

“I’ve reprimanded Chloe about her behaviour so many times, I’m starting to feel like a broken record. The more I tell her to stop, the worse she gets,” Adrien fiddled with the mask as a gloom settled in the vicinity. “Maybe she’s a lost cause…” The idea of losing hope in a friend he’s known since he was born was enough to have his chest tighten in pain. 

“Or maybe we’ll have to give her a wake up call.” Marinette suggested with a smile, laying a hand on his forearm. “This isn’t your fault. It’s her parents’ responsibility to discipline her- not you. From what I’ve seen, you’ve told her off more in a week than her father probably has in her entire lifetime. That’s better than nothing.”

“What’s the point if it doesn’t do shit?” 

“The point is that you’re trying, you’re doing your best. You’re doing what you can to help her rather than being a doormat or letting her walk over people in front of you. I don’t think you’ve realised that the torment she used to spread has lessened in school ever since you’ve arrived.”

“…” Adrien bit his lip before glancing back at Marinette, swiftly turning her around so that he could embrace her from behind. He rested his forehead on her shoulder and pressed her back into his torso. “If it weren’t for you in my life, I wouldn’t even be half the person I am now…thank you Marinette…”

All the words disappeared in her throat, face redder than a tomato. Marinette mustered the will to put her hand on his head and let her fingers comb through the tresses. 

“Where’s all this coming from?” The girl finally asked. 

“Nothing…just super grateful that you exist, Bug.” He slowly picked his head up and puckered his lips against her cheek with a pure, innocent, softness that could be rivalled by silk. Both of their hearts sped up in sync as they tried to decipher each others feelings. Is this just a grateful kiss?

Or…

Is it something more?

Feeling like her heart was about to burst out of her chest, Marinette promptly spun around to face Adrien and crashed her lips against his, pushing the boy against the wall. She was deaf to the kwamis’ sudden protests as they were pulled into the miraculouses, transforming the teens into their original suits.

Ladybug tugged and tugged on Chat Noir’s bottom lip, eyes squeezed shut as both her slender hands cradled his face. The sweetness of their lips was a huge contrast of the ferocity and passion of their feelings, evidenced by the gasps they let out. 

She didn’t pull away, no. She kept going after his lips over and over again. His touch was like fire on her body and she was burning. 

“Mm- Bug…Mari…Hm- Marinette-” She cut him off with a kiss everytime he uttered a word. Chat Noir knew that if he were to die now, he’d die happily. Ravished and thoroughly kissed by the one he loves. When his Lady’s swollen lips trailed down his jaw, teeth barely grazing his skin, Noir gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her back. 

His entire face was flushed and his eyes were glazed, as if he was in a dream like state. He let out an exhale, leaning his forehead against hers when she wrapped an arm around his middle. From all their past experiences, Ladybug knew that his silence was due to embarrassment, especially when she took the reigns. She decided to put the nail in the coffin.

“I’d be nothing without you,” Ladybug whispered into Chat’s human ears, lips brushing the shell before skipping out of the van. A sly smirk escaped her when the sound of a body tumbling on the floor and a soft groan was emitted by the boy. 

“Hnnnn that girl is gonna be the death of me, godammit!” 

Just like canon, they attempted to fight Frightningale but ended up getting zapped by the whip. They sing and dance their way through, using the lucky charm to their advantage and even waltzing at some point (whether that was to deter the akuma or just an excuse to hold each other close, neither of them admitted). 

Once purified, Clara is quick to coo and thank the heroes, even flustering them when she mentioned how much of a cute married pair they are. The Heroine whispers an alternate plan for the video so that not only would Clara not get in trouble for shooting, there’d be a way to incorporate many people. Ladybug and Chat Noir are quick to leave when she asks how many kids they have and if their children had the same costumes as them.

The episode ends with the whole class watching the video at the library, commenting and cheering whenever one of them showed up. The video ends with Marinette wearing a Chat Noir mask and Adrien wearing a Ladybug pair. This gave Alya and the girls the opportunity to tease the lovebirds about their terrible auditions before the shooting. 

“You’re right! I’d make a terrible Ladybug. Besides, I think black is more of my colour, don’t you agree, Buggaboy?” Marinette teased, eating up the way Adrien’s cheeks reddened for a split second. He knew she was never going to let up the fact that he almost combusted on the spot when she wore his mask.

“Always knew you were a furry, Marichat,” He delivered with a wink, his ego boosted with the way everyone else burst into laughter despite Marinette’s incredulous disagreements. 

“I didn’t sign up for this! Hmmph! Not even the real Chat Noir would be this mean,” She blew a raspberry and crossed her arms, slouching on her seat. 

“You’re right, he’d treat you like the princess you are,” Adrien quickly swooped in, kissing her brow. The crease between her brows softened as a result and a light blush decorated her cheeks. They darkened when everyone else quipped with how ‘smooth’ or ‘cheesy’ Adrien was being. 

“Just get married already!” Kim sighed in mock disgust. “Your flirting has put all of ours combined to shame, Agreste,” 

“Wasn’t aware that you guys knew how to flirt,” The cheeky boy clicked his tongue, quickly darting off whilst his boy group gave chase (along with Alix). A few mock threats were heard before the noise faded away, out of the door.

“Think they’ll keep him alive, Mariboo~?” Alya nudged her best friend’s shoulder, stealing Adrien’s seat. 

“I think they’d do me a favour if they killed him.” Marinette huffed.

“You don’t mean tha-aaaaat,” 

“You’re right, I don’t,” Marinette dropped the hard to get act and squealed, the rest of the girls joining, huddling her into a group hug. 

THE END.

I HOPE THIS WAS AIGHT! 

[shianhygge-imagines]

Middlemarch: Alternate Universe [Ravus/Reader] Finale

AN: This final chapter of Middlemarch was a long time coming. I’m so sorry for how long it took! 

There are purposely some stuff left unanswered and open ended, though if asked, I will elaborate on it :3

|Masterlist Link|

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

After the Trial of the Archean

It was immensely awkward, you decided in that moment. Why? Because after that moment of affection and intimacy from the High Commander, it seemed as if the both of you had taken five enormous steps backwards in terms of your relationship. Despite your past together as playmates, and despite the fact that he had saved you, Ravus still seemed to resent you immensely. The morning after you recovered your memories of your connection to Ravus, you’d been greeted with the old stoic and borderline antagonistic attitude you’d seen briefly. When confronted, Ravus had simply huffed, stated that nothing good could come of any relationship with a Lucian, he’d taken his paperwork and all but stomped out of the room. Occasionally, you’d see Ravus come check on your recovery progress, but it had been the last that you had personally spoken with him.

His eyes are not the same. You observed during one of his visits to check on your health. A metal arm, and a different colored eye. Probably from the aftermath of trying to wear the Ring of the Lucii. There were so many questions that you wanted to ask him. Why did you stop writing to me?

Had I done something wrong?

Why are you so cold to me now?

It’s been three days since you’d last spoken with the broody man, and the bitterness was starting to build up again. Just like it did when Noctis abandoned you in favor of his love, Lunafreya, you felt the loneliness build. Except, unlike the last times, where you had Ravus and then Cor, this time you had no one. With Ravus seemingly abandoning you as well, you’d been left as prey for the one person you knew who liked to mess with people the most.

Yes, as of right now, you were being dragged around from location to location by the Chancellor of Niflheim himself, Ardyn Izunia. You’d protested heavily when the auburn headed man practically stormed your room and swept you off your feet, carrying you like a sack of potatoes as he seemed to teleport in the same manner of those blessed by the Crystal.

Once Ardyn seemed to touch back down onto solid ground, he let you squirm out of his hold, aiming a rather mischievous look at you. “So? How was my driving?”

What in the- Driving? You groaned as your stomach turned unpleasantly, “I think I’m gonna puke.” You’d used the King’s power to phase and teleport before, but never through such a long distance. At least, you gathered this from the sudden fact that you were outside the airship, in a military base. Though appreciating the fact that Ardyn had given you some time to regain your footing, you still gave him a stern glare. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Aww. You don’t want to see your beloved friends? I thought I told you that your beloved Prince was waiting.” Ardyn pouted heavily, and while you admitted that the look worked for him, it still didn’t seem right that a man his age would pout. 

The twitching in your cheek came out of nowhere as you opened your mouth to shoot out a snarky reply. You were interrupted by a loud thud when you tried to snark back, bringing a halt to your statement as Ardyn tsked, waving his hand for you to follow. “Come hither. Wouldn’t want anyone getting killed now.”

Ardyn walked off before you could answer, leaving you following behind at a slow pace. What the hell is wrong with this guy?

“I’d say that’s far enough.” you suddenly heard Ardyn chide, like an adult scolding children, though you snickered at the irony. “A hand, Highness?” Your eyes narrowed, Highness?

“Not from you.”

“Oh, but I’m here to help.”

“And how is that?”

The familiar voices had you sprinting at full speed, catching Ravus’s eye as you practically slid around the corner to see your friends.

“By first bringing back something you lost.” you heard Ardyn answer.

“What do you mean by-”

“NOCT!” You practically screeched, sprinting past Ravus and Ardyn to glomp your friend.

All around you, there were gasps of surprise. The man in your arms froze, unable to move in his disbelief, afraid that everything was a dream. That you weren’t really in his arms. “Y-Y/N?”

“I’m so glad you’re all okay!” You cried in relief at seeing your childhood friends and brother.

“We thought you died!” Gladio looked on the verge of tears as he ran to engulf you and Noctis in a great hug. Prompto and Ignis followed soon after, and you allowed yourself to grin in happiness at being reunited with those you had considered your family.

“Y/N… You shouldn’t be running around so soon.” Ravus protested, extending a hand, something resembling worry passing over his face for just the briefest of moments. When you only ignored the older man, his face hardened, schooled into another stoic mask as he turned his attention to Ardyn. “I told you not to bother them.”

“I could let dear Y/N die of boredom, now could I?” Ardyn argued with a tone that suggested a lack of seriousness. “To torture your Little Light by abandoning them in that cold metal prison… how cruel.” The Chancellor tsked, a knowing glint to his eyes as he started to walk away. “Come now, Commander. Make haste.” His sly gaze spoke volumes as he stared at Noctis, “When next we meet, it’ll be across the seas. Just so happens we have business of our own with the tutelary deity, don’t we?” 

Ravus refused to acknowledge Ardyn, his gaze set upon your form, still surrounded by your friends. There was an almost pleading sadness to his eyes when he stared after you, but you stubbornly refused to acknowledge him in return. Something about Ardyn was hauntingly familiar as he bid the group farewell and walked away with Ravus. You shook your head in confusion, forcing your mind away from the matter, simply happy to have been reunited with Noctis and Gladio.

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

During the Trial of Leviathan

You missed being able to throw your weapon and teleport, especially now that the entirety of Altissia was under siege by the Hydraean and Niflheim forces. Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis had all begged for you to stay with the evacuated civilians, but you couldn’t sit back and let your friends do all the fighting. The minute that the Hydraean appeared to answer Noctis’ call, you’d sprinted back into the city just before the waves rose to form a barrier. When the Niflheim airships encroached upon the city, seeming to head towards the Alter of the Tidemother, you sprinted faster, slipping the communications earpiece that Ignis had given you into your left ear. The floor rumbled as the waves shook the water bound city, and still you didn’t stumble. “Ignis? What’s going on?” “Y/N! Whatever you do, stay far away from the city!” It’s your brother’s voice that advises you from the earpiece, sounding like he was running somewhere.

“Uh…” You paused your sprint to look around for a higher vantage point, “Maybe too late for that.” There’s an exasperated groan from the other end of the comm link from your older brother. “Fine… just… play it safe, okay? I can’t lose you.”

You’re about to respond when an angry roar shakes the area. Stand on top of a building after having scaled the walkways and side tiles, you could see the Hydraean screech in anger from afar before attacking a flying speck… who you assumed to be Noctis. Remembering that you should have responded to Gladio, you spoke in a winded voice. “I’ll stay away from anything overwhelming, but it’s still my job to protect Noctis.” The tired sigh from Gladiolus brings a regretful frown to your face, knowing that your big brother only wanted you to be safe from harm. “I guess that’s all I can really ask for, huh… Love you, sis.” “Love you, too, big bro.” Was the response you gave before jumping towards another rooftop, making your way towards the Altar of the Tidemother.

You’re just about halfway to the altar when a bright beam lights up the sky, the ground shaking violently following. The Archenn rises from the water to challenge the Hydraean, and your comms piece crackles to life, Ignis’ voice filtering through. “Noct! Do you read me?” You could hear Ignis call over the comms unit before Titan slammed a fist into the water, creating a shockwave that knocked the approaching airships out of the sky and into the city. 

Too focused on keeping your balance on top of one of the Altissian buildings, you failed to notice that one of the airships had crashed into a towering piece of architecture, sending debris plummeting down around you.

“Ah! Damn!” You cursed, eyes darting around for a building that was still stable. When you didn’t see any to climb up towards, you sprinted over to the edge of the building, deciding that down into the water was better than getting crushed by pieces of building. “Let’s hope the water isn’t too turbulent.” You muttered before jumping off in a pencil dive.

Not even 15 minutes later

You coughed and sputtered as you tread water, once more having been knocked under the Altissian waters from the violent waves that crashed around the once beautiful city. The communication device fizzled in your ear, emitting only a few words from your brother, Prompto, and Ignis before dying from all the water damage.

“Great. Just great.” You muttered as you swam towards the closest ledge and pulled yourself out of the tepid water. Yanking the device out of your ear before it shocked you, you took a minute to rest your muscles, sea water dripping off your body as an exhausted groan left your lips. “Okay… Altar… that’s where I need to go.”

Climbing to your feet, you glanced around the street for any sign of enemies before allowing your gaze to drift upwards, wanting to get on top of another rooftop. Even among the rubble that littered the street, there wasn’t any easy way to climb up to the rooftops. “Okay then… I guess we’re doing this the old fashion way.” The sigh that escaped your lips was cut short by the distinct sound of a screeching Magitek soldier. “Astrals preserve me.” You cursed with a roll of your eyes, turning in place to summon your greatsword in a flash of crystalline light just as a large group of Niflheim puppet soldiers rounded the corner of the building towards you, surrounding you on all sides.

You’d seen the inhuman soldiers fight before, but had never personally fought one until now. As such, you remained a cautious distance away from the Niflheim puppets as they attacked with random patterns and seemingly zero team coordination. There was no technique for you to be weary of, no pattern for you to exploit. Just the overwhelming number of them. They were just mindless toys of the Niflheim Empire, but that was fine. You’d faced greater odds before. It took a little bit of time on your part, as well as the use of some thunder elemancy, but all the Magitek soldiers eventually fell at your feet.

“Waste of my time!” You growled, moving to scale the nearest wall in order to get a better vantage point of the city. Explosions and gunfire could be heard all around you, though you barely paid attention to anything besides the beam of light from the Altar. “Gotta get to Noct and Luna.” You muttered before sprint forward once more, doing your best to dodge the magitek armors that patrolled the ruins near the Altar.

The closer you came to the Altar, you began to notice the skies darken, rain falling as the Archaean and Hydraean departed. The beam of bright light that was once your waypoint dimmed and disappeared just as you rounded the corner and onto the path towards the altar. “No, no, no, no!” You pleaded under your breath, “Please don’t be too late to save them.”

For all the resentment you held towards Lunafreya, you didn’t hate the older woman. She had supported and protected Noctis during the darkest times of his childhood, and you swore to protect those that your King cared for.

But now, as your eyes took in the scene before you… of two tall familiar figures standing over the fallen lovers, you realized that you’d failed. The radiant glow from Lady Lunafreya dimmed until it was extinguished, though you still forced your tired feet to stumble forward, stopping to stand beside Ravus and Ignis, an expression of horror on your face.

“No…” the grief in Ravus’ voice gave you pause as he stumbled disbelieving towards Luna’s body. You could understand part of the grief, having lost your father only days before, but you couldn’t imagine losing your entire family. 

“Ravus…” you lifted a hand to reach out to him, but the Prince of Tenebrae continued forward, a growl to his tone.

“First, the Lucians stole from me my mother…” Your breathing paused as you scrambled through your memory for what little you remembered of the old reports on the attack. We didn’t… But we weren’t the ones that killed the Queen. Eyes darting to rest on Ravus’ back, your body tensed as he continued to speak, drawing his sword to strike down the unconscious Noctis. “And now they make a sacrifice of my sister!”

Ignis reacts just a split second faster than you do, stopping Ravus’ downward strike. Bewildered and still shocked from the lack of life in both Lunafreya and Noctis, you missed the two protectors’ exchange until Ignis roughly shoved Ravus back, taking the enraged and grief-stricken Prince on and pleading for him to return to his senses.

Trusting Ignis to handle calming Ravus down, you dashed forward and fell to your knees, checking both Oracle and King for heartbeats. “If I can do one thing right this day, please let it be to save them.” You pray, utilizing what little first aid you learned. As was expected of a King’s Sworn Shield, you confirmed that Noctis was okay first before moving onto Lady Lunafreya. The rain had long since washed away most of the evidence, but from the trail of blood from the altar proper to where the two lovers lay, you knew that Luna had lost too much blood for your meager first aid to be able to do anything about. Still, you worked to staunch the bleeding, using as much Curative Magic as your body could produce, hoping that you could at least prolong her life enough for proper aid to arrive.

Don’t die, You begged, pulling at all your magical reserves as you forced yourself to use the unnatural magic. Don’t die, Lunafreya. Don’t leave Noctis. Don’t leave Ravus. Please! Healing magic was never supposed to be used by a Lucian, only the Oracles of Tenebrae, and despite using everything you had in your body, the spell did nothing. Exhausted and without energy, you slouched forward with a miserable sob. “No! What good am I if I can’t even save one life?”

Before you knew it, a body sank heavily to the floor beside you, reaching out towards Luna’s body. “But… part of me always hoped… that I might see you happy one day. Your burdens lifted, free to live and love as you please.” Your eyes darted away from such a private moment between brother and sister, though it didn’t stop you from hearing, “You would have made a beautiful bride.”

Your eyes darted to stare at Noctis, silently agreeing that Luna would indeed have made a beautiful bride for Noctis. The Fates are cruel. You lamented as the darkness was briefly illuminated by Luna’s passing, her spirit appearing above the water… beautiful, benevolent, and lively as she smiled towards her brother, who begged for her not to go. And as you watched Ravus sob, something within you mourned with him.

Once upon a time, Ravus had been the light to coax you away from the darkness. As you shifted weakly to sit beside him, you knew that it was time you acted as his light.

Hesitantly, you extended a trembling hand to rest on his Magitek arm, drawing mournful heterochromatic eyes to your own. Nothing was said between the two of you, though Ravus raised his right hand to grasp your own. 

Please stay with me. His eyes plead, tears trailing downwards with the rain.

A squeeze of your hand was all the answer that the Prince needed, I won’t leave you.

After a small lot of time, the group of you could hear thudding footsteps approach. “Gladio!” You raised your head from where it rested on Ravus’ shoulder to stare at your older brother, only to furrow when he ignored Ignis’ follow up questions in favor of staring at the man beside you.

“Well, well.” Your brother muttered a little too elegantly as he approached. “What have we here?”

You rose, your greatsword summoned with the intention to block your brother’s attack upon Ravus, but even summoning your weapon proved too exhausting, and you slipped, slumping into Ravus’ firm back, which remained steady even as he blocked Gladio’s strike, “You… “ Ravus growled, staring up at your brother’s towering form. “Ardyn.”

“Ardyn?” Blinking in confusion, you watched in horror as the illusion dropped, and Ardyn Izunia stood before the lot of you, Niflheim soldiers surging forward to detain all of you.

Watching as they manhandled Ignis and Ravus ignited a fury within you. And despite how exhausted you already were, you called upon the power bestowed to you by the late King Regis. A powerful surge of electricity discharged from your body, shocking the troops around you and Ravus enough for the Prince to distract Ardyn. Weakened from reaching far over your limit, you reacted too late to block the descent of Ardyn’s arm to your neck, hearing only the cry of your name from Ignis and Ravus before your vision went black and you slumped forward into the Chancellor.

The next you woke, Noctis had sealed himself into the Crystal and eternal night had fallen over the world.

Y/N

I know if you were awake, you would have yelled at me for doing this. But I have a destiny to fulfill. I wanted to be there for you when you woke up, but the world couldn’t wait. While I take care of what I need to, I’m leaving everything to you, Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto. And do me a favor? Live for yourself. I know you spent your entire life training to protect me, but I don’t want your life to go to waste. Ravus promised me that you’d be safe in Tenebrae, and I hope that when I do return, you’ll have your own story to tell me.

With Love,

Noctis

You sighed as you read the letter in your hand for probably the fiftieth time since you woke up. The pristine room seemed to taunt you as you sat in the soft bed, mulling over Noctis’ request. “Live for myself, huh?” An anxious laugh escaped your lips, “How to even begin…”

“You could start by trying to leave the bed.” A voice suggested dryly from the room entrance.

The smile that rose to your lips didn’t go unnoticed as Ravus stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him as he balanced a tray of food you. “Good morning, Ravus.” You greeted your host… though caretaker seemed a more appropriate title for the Prince of Tenebrae at that point.

Setting the tray of food down onto the small tea table, Ravus strolled forward to extend a hand, urging you to your feet gently as he stood by you for support. “It is actually closer to the afternoon, but that is of no consequence.” With one arm supporting your waist, the ex-Commander extended his left arm to pull out a plush chair before guiding you to the seat. “You should eat to recover your strength.” The last of the Nox Fleurets suggested, buttering a slice of bread for you before handing it over.

Muttering a soft ‘thank you,’ you took the buttered croissant, noting with affection that Ravus had remembered your love of spreading a copious amount of butter onto your bread. “You remembered how I like my butter.”

The ex-High Commander allowed his lips to curl at the edges, “I don’t think I could ever forget your bad habits.”

“Hmph.” You stuck your nose up and pouted haughtily as you bit into the bread, chewing and swallowing before answering Ravus. “Butter makes everything better, Rae.” Ravus merely continued to smile, his only answer being a soft chuckle as he set about fixing you a cup of tea. 

Now that he wasn’t looking at you so closely, you could see the well hidden exhaustion on the twenty-eight year old. Having been trained to read people, you could tell that recent events had truly taken a toll on your childhood friend. “I can practically feel your stare burning a hole into me, Y/N.” Ravus’ blue and purple eyes suddenly meet yours, “I suspect you have some questions.” Unfortunately, you were never that subtle with your observations…

Licking your lips to get rid of the butter and crumbs, but also as a nervous habit, you set the croissant down. “I understand all that Ignis told me… about the Starscourge… about Ardyn’s true identity… and about Noctis’ role in all this. But what I don’t understand is why I’m here in Tenebrae. I appreciate what you’ve done for my friends and I… and I’m more grateful that you’ve allowed me to stay here but… Surely your contempt of Lucians has not magically disappeared.”

“You needed a safe place to rest and recover.”

“I could have done that in Lucis. My brother and sister would have looked after me.” You quickly refuted Ravus’ reasoning. “Ravus… I know you promised to protect me when we were children… but… in light of what happened… I don’t think you should feel obligated to protect me.”

Blue and purple eyes gazed upon you with hurt and outrage, “You think that I allowed your stay here out of some misplaced sense of obligation?”

Not letting his tone affect you, you merely stared back at the Tenebraen Prince calmly, “Ravus… What else am I supposed to think of this situation? You cut off all connection with me for over ten years, and when I see you again, you make it no mystery that you abhor Lucians. And now, for whatever reason, you’ve suddenly taken an interest in my well-being.” Ravus almost looked ashamed for a moment, “So, I’m asking you now, Ravus. Why am I here?”

The silence that descended upon the room was tense and awkward. And when Ravus wouldn’t meet your eyes, you just wanted to kick yourself. And why can’t I keep my fat mouth shut. He was being nice, Y/N. Nice after ten years of ignoring your existence. And now he’s lost his little sister, and you’re being ungrateful. Sighing heavily, you took a breath before speaking, an apology on the tip of your tongue.

“Ravus, I-”

“... Is it too much to not wish to be alone?” 

The heartbroken and stressed edge to Ravus’ voice brought a wince to your face. And there you go, Y/N. Congratulations on being the most insensitive a-hole on this side of the planet. “Rae…”

“My sister is dead, Y/N. The last of my family has been taken from me and I…” His voice caught as his head turned to look in your direction, tearful eyes meeting yours. “She was all I had left. And now I have nothing.” You weren’t entirely sure if Ravus had even allowed himself to mourn. “Would you fault me for wanting a friend?”

You were on your feet before your brain had time to think about it. It’s not too much to ask. You want to say, but what leaves your lips is, “I’m here.” Your legs fail the moment that you put weight on them, and while you don’t scream or emote, you cry on the inside when Ravus catches you. WHAT IS THIS HORRIBLE CLICHE. 

Hoping that the moment hadn’t been ruined as you’re gently guided to the floor, you continue to speak, sinking to your knees alongside Ravus. “I’ll be here for you, Ravus. Until you no longer need me.”

Something in Ravus’ expression cracks and he pulls you close, embracing you as his body trembles, “Oh, Little Light. I don’t think there will be a time where I won’t need you.”

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

[ofharrie]

Summary: Harry and Y/N explore a...different side of their friendship. 

Themes: smut, friends to lovers, virginY/n, pwp

Word count: 2113

(A/N: I’m back with another piece after not having posted since january oops hope yall like it please give me feedback also request for a part 2 if you liked it thanks heaps!) 

masterlist 

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“What about if I...y’know?” Harry asked, gesturing with a wave of his hand.

“What if you what?” She questioned, cocking her head to the side as if insisting for him to just spit it out whatever it was on his mind.

“If I...deflowered you?” Harry replied bluntly, internally wincing at his choice of words. Never has he been made nervous by the subject of sex or anything remotely sexual. But it was sex with her that they were talking about and if there was ever anyone that made his palms cold and sweaty, it was Y/N.

The pair were in Y/N’s living room, sat next to each other in Y/N’s yellow couch passing back and forth a cheap bottle of wine. Neither of them could remember how the topic of Y/N still being a virgin came up in the conversation, but nonetheless it was now thrown out in the open. Y/N wasn’t completely inexperienced, per se. She’s had her fair share of kisses and she’s made out with a couple of people but she’s never done anything more than that. 

Harry was not ridiculing her for being inexperienced, because of course he wasn’t! She’s one of his best friends, albeit they’ve only known each other for a little less than a year, but Harry can’t remember a time where he and Y/N weren’t in each other’s pockets ever since they met. So it was surprising to him, that after all the times they’ve spent together, they’ve never brought up Y/N sexual history until now.

“Deflower me?” Y/N let out a loud snort. “Will you also ask for my hand in marriage in exchange for your fattest goat and a sack of freshly harvested potatoes? This isn’t the medieval ages, Harry. You can say ‘virginity’, it’s not gonna hurt anyone.”

“I just didn’t want to be crude,” He scoffed, shaking his head at her. “But, seriously. What if I...I was the one to take your virginity?”

“Why would you want to do that?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Because why not?” Harry rebutted. “You’re one of my best friends, also one of the few people that I trust wholeheartedly. I pride myself in being a gentleman and I’ll even light candles and spread petals on the bed for you if you want!”

“But wouldn’t it be weird afterwards?” Y/N asked, completely ignoring Harry’s arguments. “I feel like it’ll change everything between us and I don’t want that. You’re also one of my best friends and I don’t want to ruin what we have because I’m still a lonely virgin!”

“It’s not gonna ruin anything,” He argued, setting down the bottle of wine on the wooden coffee table before them. “We trust each other, don’t we? If it ends up being an awful and awkward experienced, we can just never speak about it again.”

“I don’t think you’ve really thought this through,” Y/N said. “You’re going to be inside of me, Harry. How would it not be awkward afterwards?”

“Okay, then I don’t have to fuck you,” He backtracked, scooting a tad closer to Y/N so that their knees were touching. “I can just do things for you, if you want?”

There was a brief pause in the conversation, Y/N jutted her head towards Harry just to make sure she heard that right. Harry could see the gears turning in her brain and he knew she was in the midst of considering his offer. 

“Like what?” She asked.

“Anything you want,” Harry replied, giving her a cocky smirk. “Say the word and I’ll do it.”

“What, now?” She scoffed, laughing at Harry’s words. “You can’t be serious. You’re bluffing!”

“But I am serious,” He reaffirmed, still with a smile on his face. “If you want me to eat you out right now,, I’ll get on my knees and devour you.”

She felt herself swallow the lump in her throat. Never has a guy offered to eat her out, let alone devour her. It made her head spin, thinking about Harry in any way that’s not completely platonic. Although she would be lying if she said she’s never thought about him sexually. 

There have been nights where she’d toss and turn, thinking about Harry’s big, strong hands, or his long and slightly dishevelled brown hair, or even his lips that he’d sometimes pull on out of habit. But she never let her thoughts run too wild, immediately stopping as soon as she got too hot and bothered.

“I think you’re scared because I might not be kidding,” Harry observed. “I’m willing to do it if you’d let me.”

“Yeah?” She asked, sheepishly. 

“Yeah,” Harry reciprocated, giving her a small nod. 

They hadn’t noticed how close they’ve inched towards each other. Harry could smell the red wine in her breath, mixed with the perfume he bought for her after a trip in Italy just because. The warm, dim light coming from the thrifted lamp atop the wooden side table created shadows on her face, emphasising every bump and crease on the surface. And yet, Harry couldn’t help but smile and admire her.

Y/N’s heart was hammering against her ribs, her eyes going back and forth from Harry’s lips to his eyes that have gone a rich emerald colour due to the low-lighting in the living room. Time moved slowly as Harry reached out to cup her cheek before leaning in and connecting their lips together. His thumb caressed her face, burning her skin and sending tingles down her spine. Y/N thought she’s never been kissed so gingerly; Harry was being so soft and gentle like a proper gentleman, just like he promised. His other hand remained still on her exposed thigh, just below the hem of her cotton shorts, making no move to inch any closer to her centre. 

Y/N cupped Harry’s jaw with both hands, deepening their kiss with the subtle movement of her tongue between his lips. He scooped her from her spot on the couch, manoeuvring so that she was now straddling his thighs. 

“We don’t have to do anything if you want,” Harry spoke lowly, in between kisses. His hands have now found their place, one pressed firmly against Y/N lower back and the other behind her head. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Y/N had to pause for a moment but not without sneaking in a few kisses from the man underneath her. “If it’s okay with you, I don’t want you to eat me out right now.”

“That’s okay,” Harry said, inhaling deeply to even out his breathing. 

“Can we-” Y/N was interrupted by a quick peck from Harry on her jaw. “Can we keep kissing, though? And...um…”

“What is it, love?” Harry asked, continuing to plant kisses on Y/N’s jaw. “What else do you want to do?”

“I wanna…” She was trying to tell Harry that she could feel him against her thigh. She wants to ask him, beg him, to let her feel him grinding against her clothed core. But Harry’s wet lips pressing lingering kisses along her neck was proving to be a distraction.

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t be able to do whatever it is that you want,” Harry teased. “I told you, I’m down for anything.” 

“I want to...um…I-” Y/N stammered, licking her lips before continuing to voice out her desires. “I want to grind against you.” The last part was dealt out in a rushed whisper that Harry almost didn’t catch it. Her request evoked a sharp breath from him, clearing his throat before speaking again.

“You wanna feel my cock against you?” He clarified, raising an eyebrow at the girl on top of him. He could feel her cold hands fiddling with the collar of his shirt, followed by a small nod from Y/N. 

His hands pulled her closer towards him, eliciting a small moan from Y/N. Her crotch was now directly against Harry’s hard on and she’s trying her hardest not to think about how there’s only a few layers of clothing separating the two of them and how easily Harry could just take out his hard cock, pull her shorts and panties to the side and fuck her real good. 

“Does that feel good, love?” Harry asked, thrusting up against Y/N’s heat. He liked watching her reactions, she looked so shy and yet so insatiable at the same time. Y/N brought her lips back to Harry’s, continuing from where they left off with their tongues in each other’s mouths. 

Y/N began grinding her hips, desperately chasing the high of the friction between the two of them. Harry’s hands travelled down to her bum and pulled her even closer, matching her needy movements by thrusting up to her soaked heat. 

“Tell me how it feels,” Harry said, his breathing laboured as he continued to explore her mouth. 

“Feels so good, H,” She whined, followed by a loud moan from a mix of Harry squeezing her ass and giving her a particularly hard thrust. “I’m so wet.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, her words knocking the wind out of his lungs. He’s never heard such filthy words come out of her mouth and it made his cock dribble with pre cum. “Gonna let me have a taste one day? Let me feel your wet little pussy against my tongue?”

“Yes,” She answered quietly, reverting back to her usual shy demeanour. “Yes, Harry.”

“You have no idea,” Harry breathed out, his jaw go slack from pleasure. “How long I’ve wanted this. Been wanting to see you and make you cum for ages.”

“Really?” Y/N grinned, looking down at Harry who had a similar smile on his face. 

“Yes, really,” He replied, leaning in to give her a kiss. “Can’t count how many times I’ve cum just thinking about you. You drive me crazy.”

“I’m so close, Harry,” Y/N whined, biting on her bottom lip in an attempt to conceal another loud moan. She no longer cared how needy she sounded, all she wanted was to cum with Harry’s leaking cock rubbing against her wet core and sensitive clit. “I wanna cum.”

“Take what you need, Y/N,” Harry said, his eyes fixed on Y/N who had her head thrown back and her eyes closed. “Use me to get yourself off.”

He could see a wet patch on his grey joggers, both from his and Y/N wetness. The filthy sight made his head spin and the desire to feel Y/N’s slick folds gliding against his bare cock grew stronger. He doesn’t think he’s ever been as hard as he was at this moment, with his best friend on top of him and looking like she’s never had anyone pleasure her like this before. And in fact, she hasn’t and it made his member throb.

“Oh gosh,” She gasped as she felt Harry nibbling on her neck and his hand reaching under her shirt to cup her breast. The mix of sensations was so overwhelming, driving her closer to her climax. “Harry!”

“You’re soaking my joggers, love,” Harry teased, wanting to help Y/N cum. “Can only imagine how you’d feel around my fingers. You want that, Y/N? Wanna feel my fingers fucking your pussy, pressing against your special spot? Feel my thumb playing with your throbbing clit?” 

“So close,” She whined, continuing to move her hips against Harry. “Keep talking. Please.”

“What about my cock, huh?” Harry whispered against her ear, picking up the pace of his thrusts. “I bet you want to know how it feels to squeeze around my thick cock while I’m balls deep inside of you. Can feel me in your stomach, that’s how deep I’ll fuck you,”

A long, drawn out moan came out of Y/N’s lips and Harry felt her tremble before freezing. He studied her face as she came undone, not wanting to ever forget the way she looked after he made her cum. Her head was thrown back in pleasure, mouth slightly ajar and her chest heaving up and down as her shaky palms rested on Harry’s shoulders. He was already certain that image was all he would think about when he closes his eyes before going to bed. 

“Holy shit,” Y/N breathed out, smiling at Harry who was staring at her, dumbfounded by her actions.

“Look so beautiful when you cum,” Harry commented, letting out a breathless laugh. “How do you feel?”

“Good,” Y/N said, smiling down on him.

“That’s good,” Harry replied. “So...how about some pizza?”