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darkmatilda · 4 days ago

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𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 | 𝐬. 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: basically just two bookworms arguing about books and having a s3x right after

𝐚/𝐧: please read the note! so it's only a very short part of my upcoming fanfiction that has...25k words...i'm aware no one is going to read it all soo i'm publishing one of my favorite parts.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 3.1k

Maybe it was that one drink you had, but your legs seemed to take you in a certain direction.

You weren’t sure if Spencer was even home. But if you had nothing else to do, why not check? A short walk. You were a little desperate, after all, you didn’t have anywhere else to go. That’s how you justified it. You were going to him because you had no other option.

He opened the door, dressed in a wrinkled shirt, trousers, and a tie loosely hanging around his neck. His hair was in disarray, and you felt an urge to run your fingers through it and style it the way you wanted, but it would’ve been awkward.

"Hey. Am I interrupting?"

Surprised, Spencer shook his head.

"No... Actually, I was asleep."

"In those clothes?"

"I fell asleep while reading..." he explained, trailing off when he noticed your appearance. To put it modestly, you looked incredibly hot. For a long moment, his gaze lingered on your dress, visible beneath the open jacket and ending high on your thigh. "Very... nice dress. Is it... is it your mom's too?"

You chuckled.

"Can you imagine my mom, a school psychologist, in a dress covering half her ass?"

Embarrassed, Spencer raised his hands in apology and also chuckled softly.

"Sorry, I'm still half-asleep. Anyway... is there something wrong that you're here?"

"My mentally unstable ex-boyfriend of my roommate is lurking under our apartment.” You confessed bluntly “I'm a little scared to go back, and... I didn't know where else I could go."

It seemed like he was suddenly waking up quickly. He swung the door wide open, letting you in.

"Of course, come in. Is he dangerous?"

"He shows up every now and then and then disappears. It's like a lottery. Jude doesn't want to ever see him again, so we just pretend we're not here when it happens."

The inside looked just as you remembered. The lights were off everywhere except the bedroom, where he was probably reading. You allowed yourself to take off your uncomfortable shoes and set them by the door.

"Why don't you report it to the police?" His forehead furrowed with concern.

"Jude doesn't want to. And I don't want to do anything against her will. But I swear, if this happens again, I'll convince her. Or I'll do it myself."

"You should," he said, and suddenly a silence fell between you.

You weren't sure how to act. You'd barged in on him in the middle of the night, pulling him from his sleep. Not to mention, you hadn't seen each other since that conversation at the bar.

"Let me take your jacket," he said after a moment, as if remembering how to behave when hosting a guest.

You slowly took it off, revealing the full dress. Spencer momentarily let his gaze linger on it, but then he caught himself and turned away to hang your jacket. The glance didn't embarrass you in the slightest; if anything, you expected to catch him looking.

"Sorry if I woke you," you said, realizing you should probably apologize. It was only then that you began to feel a little awkward about the situation.

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault. And I'm glad I can help," he said, and once again, silence settled between you. Spencer placed his hand on his forehead as he realized you were still standing in the hallway. "Sorry, it's been a long time since anyone's visited, and I don't even know how to act... Do you want something to drink, or need anything?"

"I’m fine," you assured him, walking behind him into the living room. "I don't want you to act like I'm some important guest, Spencer. Or like you need to serve me."

"But you are an important guest," he replied.

A warm, gentle smile appeared on your lips.

"What were you reading?" you asked, leaning your lower back against the kitchen island, the two rooms connected as one. You glanced around the cozy interior, in soft, almost warm hues, where the darkness of the night blended with the orange light of the lamp. "Let me guess, some spine-chilling thriller?"

"I have spine-chilling thrillers every day at work," he snorted. "I was reading... Emma. Jane Austen."

Your eyebrows shot up.

"You fell asleep reading classic literature on a Friday night? Spencer Reid, what kind of man are you?"

"In a good way or a bad way?"

He stood across from you, his arms loosely crossed over his chest. Your eyes lingered on the first few undone buttons of his shirt.

"Of course, in a good way. Why would I judge someone for reading?"

"I don’t know," he shrugged. "Some people think it’s boring. And weird, especially on a Friday night. And what about you? What were you doing before your roommate’s ex showed up?" he asked, a playful glint in his eyes as he nodded meaningfully toward your outfit. "Were you reading too?"

You lifted your chin high.

"Exactly. I was reading my favorite Shakespearean drama in my favorite dress. And those incredibly comfortable shoes I left by your door."

"That goes without saying."

"I definitely wasn’t at any club."

"I wouldn’t even suspect you of that."

"I was doing what any God-fearing virgin would do," you said, bursting into laughter at the absurdity. "Alright, alright. I’m getting carried away. Now I actually feel like reading something. But nothing too classic—I don’t have the brainpower for it. Do you happen to have any romance novels?"

I'm afraid not."

"Really? You have more books in your home than the library in my hometown, and not a single romance? I’m not talking about dark erotica or anything—just something subtle. Friends to lovers, polite sex..."

Spencer choked on a laugh.

"Sorry, but are you drunk?"

You were just horny.

"Not a drop of alcohol has touched my lips. I'm just hyperactive. That’s what the night does to me."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"So? Aren't you hiding any sinful books in there?"

He rolled his eyes, clearly amused rather than annoyed by your persistence.

"You're welcome to look," he offered, gesturing toward one of the shelves. "But I’m not promising you’ll find anything like that."

"But if I do, you owe me a drink."

“And if it turns out I’m right, then what?”

You bit your lip, pondering.

“I’ll figure something out.”

“You know, I won’t enter a bet unless I know what I get in return.”

“And what do you want?”

“A dinner together,” he replied without hesitation. “Or breakfast, if you prefer.”

“Deal,” you answered just as quickly. You weren’t worried about regretting it—your blood was buzzing too much for that.

He extended his hand for you to shake on it, sealing the deal. Instead of letting go, you held onto his fingers firmly and tugged him toward the bookshelf. He stood so close as you examined the books one by one, taking some out to inspect their covers to see if they suggested any hint of romance. When they didn’t, he let out a short laugh, his breath brushing against your neck and sending a shiver down your spine. You didn’t let it show.

“Spencer…” you started after a while, glancing at him from the corner of your eye. “It counts if the book has a romantic subplot, right?”

“No, it doesn’t count! We agreed on a romance. A full-fledged, contemporary one.”

“We didn’t say contemporary.”

“I assumed it was implied since I mentioned owning Jane Austen books. Pride and Prejudice is a romance, among other things…”

“Ha! So you do have one. I won!” You raised your hands high in victory.

“…But it’s also a social and domestic novel. Doesn’t count.”

You poked him in the chest with your finger.

“You don’t know how to lose.”

He glanced at the spot where you touched him, clearly trying not to smile.

“Maybe I just care a lot about that dinner,” he admitted boldly.

You didn’t know what to say. You tried to look at him confidently, but it was hard to think and maintain eye contact with him at the same time.

“Or breakfast,” you murmured.

“Or breakfast,” he agreed. Realizing how close he was standing, he instinctively stepped back half a pace. “So, are you ready to admit my victory?”

You shot him a defiant look.

“Not a chance. I haven’t even checked all the books yet. I’m only about three-quarters through. Who knows what kind of BDSM might be lurking in the last quarter?”

“Seriously?” he asked with a sigh. “Okay, just look at me. Do I seem like the kind of guy who reads stuff like that?”

“Honestly, you look like the kind of guy who reads encyclopedias. But the one thing I know about people is that appearances can be deceiving. Still waters run deep.”

He shook his head in disbelief.

“You’re as stubborn as they come.”

“Maybe I just really want that drink,” you teased.

“I can make you one,” he offered unexpectedly.

“Seriously?” The suggestion caught you off guard.

Spencer shrugged casually.

“I don’t drink much, but some friends gave me a few bottles for my birthday.”

You hesitated, considering.

“I’m not really in the mood,” you admitted. You felt good, even without alcohol. “But I do have another request… Do you happen to have something I could change into? I won’t lie, this isn’t the most comfortable dress… though it’s absolutely stunning.”

He smiled softly.

"You’re right. And yes, I’ll find something for you to change into. Just… it’ll be something of mine."

Following him into the bedroom, you let out a small chuckle.

"You know, I didn’t expect you to have a closet full of women’s clothes. Plus, in my size. Although, who knows what girls leave behind at your place. It’s a tactic, you know? You leave a sock at a guy’s place to have an excuse to come back. Unless you didn’t like it, then you have to accept losing the sock."

He didn’t say anything, opening the wardrobe to find something appropriate for you. You’d been in his bedroom before and didn’t feel the need to look around; nothing had changed inside.

"Do you do this often?" he asked, inspecting a t-shirt. "Use the sock strategy?"

"No," you replied, shrugging. "I’m too straightforward for that. If I like it, I just go back and say 'Let’s do it again' Or I don’t leave at all. I’m a bit of a parasite too."

He chuckled at the comparison and finally handed you some clothes. You didn’t really look at them; you just needed something looser, something you hadn’t danced in for hours at the club.

"You know where the bathroom is, right?"

You confirmed and were about to head in that direction when you stopped.

"Wait," you said, turning back toward him. But then, you turned again, facing him with your back. "The zipper on the dress," you explained, pulling your hair to the front. "I could manage it myself, but I don’t want to risk breaking it. Could you…?"

"Y-yeah," he agreed after a moment, stepping closer.

He stood just behind you, reaching for the top of your back. Before he pulled the zipper down, there was a moment where he simply paused, unmoving. Your knees suddenly trembled, almost impatiently. Then, he tugged at the zipper, unfastening the dress, and the coolness and freedom teased your skin.

You could have said thank you and headed to the bathroom, but you didn’t. Something kept your body rooted in place, right there next to him, feeling the pads of his fingers on the lower part of your dress.

Even his breath, louder and irregular.

When you began to, slightly disappointed, assume that he wouldn’t do anything more, his lips found a spot on your neck, kissing it slowly. You inhaled deeply, your head instinctively tilting back, giving him more access, as if you had been waiting for just that. He stopped for a longer time in this specific place, pressing on it harder, as you barely hold a groan.

Your breath was given a free rollercoaster ride.

You reached your hand back, wrapping it around his head and pulling him closer to you. You felt him sigh directly into your skin, leaving another two hungry kisses on an exposed skin on your shoulder. God, why were you still wearing that dress?

You abruptly stopped, turning around and almost hitting the top of your head against his jaw. You didn't care about it, and the thought of apologizing never crossed your mind, just simply pushed him, planting a strong kiss right on his lips.

The clothes he gave you slipped from your hand and fell to the floor, but neither of you were concerned about it, as you were both too absorbed to care. You pushed him again, this time onto the bed, on which he sat, surprised by your suddenness. You saw red marks creeping onto the parts of the neck exposed by the undone shirt.

"Spencer, Spencer, Spencer," you said, shaking your head in a mock reprimand. He tilted his head to the side, unsure of where you were going with this, his fingers impatiently brushing your waist on both sides. "You lied to me."

Your hands grabbed his face, positioning just under his jaw and lifting it upward so you could find his lips right against yours.

“I lied to you?”

"“That's right. You said you don't read romances. But tell me, how does someone who doesn't do that know such practices?”

“Practices?” he repeated again, surprised."

His gaze was focused solely on your lips to which he tried to get closer, but you hadn't allowed him to yet.

"This whole unbuttoning of the dress. And then, the neck”

With your index finger, you traced along the skin on his neck

“Did you like it?” he asked, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. He removed one hand from your waist and took your hand, the one you had been playing with.

“Did I like it?” you scoffed with a genuine laugh.“I’m like half naked now. Answer that for yourself”

Undressing was the element you hated the most. You became impatient and couldn't understand why your clothes couldn't just disappear from you, instead of threatening to burn your already overheated skin. Spencer didn't help, so slow in his movements. You had a feeling he was doing it on purpose. He probably enjoyed watching you struggle to untangle yourself from the dress. He waited a minute before helping you, effortlessly pulling it over your head.

Maybe slow wasn't the most accurate description.The way he touched his body wasn’t slow. It was like rationing a treat, breaking it into small pieces and savoring them one by one. Meanwhile, it gazed straight into your mouth, shouting, eat me!

It required incredible self-control and composure, but it resulted in something more than just pleasure. When he found himself right between your legs, his lips touching gently every single inch of your thigh and refusing to go further despite your pleas, you compared him to the previous guys you slept with. With them, on the other hand, you had to tell them to slow down, to do everything more carefully, and not to focus solely on their own needs.

“Does it feel right?” He asked, briefly lifting his gaze, his hands gripping your thighs.

Your back arched, probably enough of an answer, but you confirmed it with a soft moan.

"I'd rather you said it out loud. Does it feel right?"

"That's edging on sadism, do you realize that?" you whimpered, trying to release the tension by pulling at his hair.

He stopped again.

"Please, do it again."

It wasn't something he had to beg for.

The rest went similarly. You liked how his confidence and courage grew, but you also went wild when, at certain moments, the same gentle and sometimes awkward Spencer returned. It was a perfectly balanced mix.

"Can you talk to me more?" he asked over time, once he was already inside you. "I want to know how you feel about all of this." After those words, your forehead twitched slightly as you felt the onset of pain. "Does it hurt?"

"No," you whispered, accompanied by a faintly tired exhale.”A little. But it's normal I just didn't have sex for a while”

"No, it shouldn't hurt you. Do you want to stop?"

"Just... give me a moment."

He slowed down, almost stopping. You took a breath,pressing your forehead to his. You stayed like that for a moment, neither of you in a hurry. After all, where to? Outside, the night still reigned, long and patient, winter’s grip holding steady. You liked having his face so close to yours, joining them together and not speaking. For the first time, you could truly say that you enjoyed the silence.

You had always considered silence overwhelming, incapable of calming the chaos that arose in your mind. You preferred moments of wildness, loud sounds, and fast pace, but it was in that silence, which fell then, that you found a peace filled with intimacy.

You wrapped your arms tighter around his neck.

"It's okay, I'm ready."

After everything, you simply lay facing each other, tangled in one another. Actually, you didn’t like that expression "after everything." After everything—after what exactly? Sex wasn’t just about the physical act; it also included the long moment before and the even more significant one after. It was precisely that moment after which revealed the true you both. How much you cared for each other and how much you meant to each other beyond the bed. That was often missing in one-night stands; the perspective of quickly disappearing from each other's lives and being forgotten somehow intensified selfishness in people.

Lying there, you played with the hair on his forehead.

"You know, they say this is the moment when people are the most honest with each other."

"Do you want to squeeze a few secrets out of me?" he asked.

"Just one," you said mysteriously, turning onto your back. Before that, you noticed his eyebrows furrow.

He propped himself up on his elbow to look at you again.

"Which one?"

You pretended to hesitate before answering. You tried with all your might to keep the smile from appearing on your face, betraying you.

"I'm afraid that even now, you won't be honest with me."

"I'm starting to get worried."

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise to tell the truth. Give me your pinky."

"What?"

"A pinky promise, you fool."

“O-okay”

Clearly surprised, he did what you asked.

"Now tell me the truth. You got any romance books at your place you're too embarrassed to admit to?"

He rolled his eyes.

"I'll find them," you teased. "I’ll get up right now and find them."

You pretended to get up, but he pulled you closer, preventing you from moving.

"You're not going anywhere."

i know some of you were curious about this fanfiction, so I'm tagging it.

@nightfullofparadox @bloodredrubyrose @lillaberry @miriamnox @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx

#criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid criminal minds #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x oc #doctor spencer reid #dr spencer reid #bau team #spencer reid smut #criminal minds smut

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transformersxreader · 26 days ago

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Imagine being a famous opera singer across Iacon city! (TFOne Reader insert)

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~(Y/n) who loves to sing her spark out to all the citizens of Iacon city, (Y/n) who gladly performs for her primes.

~The primes enjoy (Y/n) singing voice, they could listen to her all day and talk poetic

~(Y/n) being the nicest bot that anybody has ever meet, welcoming all to see her performances. No matter who they are

~(Y/n) who changes her amor styles like padme from Star Wars, but mostly wears her yellow mix orange amor (☝️The one in the sketch above)

Here are some example vids of what (Y/n) would sing like

youtube

~After another perfect performance for the primes, (Y/n) meets an odd yet charming fan.

“(Y/n) a pleasure to finally meet you, the names sentinel~ love your work~”

The blue bot grabs (Y/n) hand pulling it up towards his face to kiss it, (Y/n) smiles trying to be kind about his actions

“Thank you sentinel, very nice to meet you.”

~Some time has passed and the sad announcement of primes death facing the quintessons, ending the war making everyone believe they have won. Not knowing that sentinel betrayed the primes working for the enemy to gain power over cybertron. Making him the new prime of cybertron their “savior”

~(Y/n) was saddened with the news of the primes death, but due to the victory over the quintessons it was called a celebration from the new prime.

“(Y/n) there’s someone here to speak with you.”

(Y/n) looks up to the mirror reflection to see one of her assistant that helps her throughout the day, but doesn’t look back,

“Tell them I’m not seeing anyone today….”

(Y/n) looks down covering her face, before the bot could say anything. A large figure pushes into the room, (Y/n) hears standing up turning to face whoever came in.

“I’m sorry I’m not seeing-“

There stood sentinel.

“Sentinel?”

Sentinel smiles and walks closer to (Y/n), grabbing her hand pulling her closer to him surprising (Y/n) by his bold actions.

“(Y/n) lovely to see you again, how you’ve been?”

(Y/n) was shock just as she was to reply she was interrupted

“Listen my dear, since our victory against the quintessons I believe a performance from you would really lift our citizens spirits up.”

(Y/n) was just lost at this point,

“Sentinel… I don’t-“

“Prime. Sentinel prime.”

(Y/n) flinch at his voice, (Y/n) not wanting more issues agrees to perform for the new prime. Sentinel delighted on (Y/n) agreement, stating that he will be excited to see (Y/n) perform for him.

Time seems to past slowly for (Y/n), After performing for the passing of the primes and our victory,

(Y/n) didn’t felt like herself, waving to the large crowd that applauded and cheered. Looking above to some of the balconies seeing sentinel prime and what seems to be his right hand bot, a very tall femme bot.

Both with smiles applauded for (Y/n).

(Y/n) gave one final bow to the crowd and walking gracefully off the stage to her personal dressing room.

Sighing in relief, she hums a low lullaby to herself. As she hums the room around her changes slowly, she removes a few pieces of her outfit. Changing into a new amor color.

(Y/n) was resting enjoying the free time she had before seeing sentinel again, looking out viewing the large city from a high building, placing another small energon cube into her mouth. Laying back to look up (Y/n) slowly closed her optics, finally feeling at peace.

Clunk-Boom!!

A loud crash startle (Y/n), waking her up looking around the room seeing a bit of dust, waving the dust away.

‘Cough’ ‘cough’ “ugh… ow my head.”

“And this is why I didn’t wanted to come!”

(Y/n) optics adjusted seeing two fingers, the two other bots didn’t seem to noticed her. They both continued their little conversation. The gray bot looks around then finally noticed (Y/n).

“Uh.. pax…”

The other red bot looks up to his friend and just as he was going to ask what’s the matter, the gray bot grabs ahold of his head making him face (Y/n). They three stood in silence, thinking whether or not to make a sound. The red bot smiles shyly slowly raising his hand waving.

“Umm hello.”

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

Thanks for reading my friends 😊✨✌️

#transformers #transformers one #transformers x reader #x cybertronian reader #x reader #transformers one x reader #reader #tfone orion pax #tfone d 16 #tfone sentinel #tfone sentinel prime #tfone the primes #tfone

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landosjpg · 5 months ago

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risk | ln

lando norris x teammate!reader

the one where you find your crush with someone else.

word count: ~1.0k

warnings: just a little bit of angst with happy ending

note: based on this request. i haven’t written anything longer than 500 words in so long so bare with me please, i hope this is good enough :) reader is a driver but it doesn’t play a big role on the story/is only mentioned like once or twice!

you felt anxious, the nerves eating you alive as you lied in the darkness of your hotel room. you knew it was normal, in only a few hours you would be on your way to your first ever home race as a formula 1 driver.

but you also needed sleep, and as hard as you tried, nothing seemed to put your mind at ease, your mind just going back to making up every possible scenario of what would happen as you stepped in the car the very next day. the good, and also the bad.

after hours of tossing and turning around in bed, you desperately sighed: there was only one thing that could help you relax. someone.

cozied up in your pajamas you silently made your way out of your room and walked down the corridor to lando’s room. you knew he was, most likely, still awake despite of the late hour, well aware of his bad sleeping habits.

while most people thought your relationship was merely professional, during the previous months lando and you had grown extremely close to each other. too close, some would say.

countless nights, you had spent hours in each other’s rooms, trying your best not to wake up the whole building with your laughter. and most of those nights had finished with your limbs tangled with his under the thin blankets, whispered conversations and lingering touches lulling you to sleep.

you weren’t sure where your relationship really stood; every time you took a step forward, it seemed like you went back another three the next morning, the few moments of intimacy quickly forgotten as soon as the sun came up.

but he was the only person around who could make you forget about all your worries in just a few minutes, so you knocked on his door, hoping to not wake anyone up.

you heard his voice on the other side of the wall, but you couldn’t quite understand his words. only a few seconds later, the door swung open, a dishevelled lando standing before you.

“hey,” he greeted you in a whisper.

“hey,” you repeated, trying to catch on the undertone of his voice. normally, he would had pulled you inside already.

“i wasn’t expecting you to come.”

“i…” you started explaining, your words cut off by a figure walking out of the bathroom. your eyes widened and you took a step back. “oh my god, sorry. i didn’t know you were… i’m just gonna…” you said, slowly walking back.

you heard lando sigh and close the door as you made your way to your room again, your chest tightening at the realization. You had completely misunderstood your relationship with him, and now you felt stupid.

you crawled under your sheets with a heavy heart, and as much as you tried to think about something else, the image wouldn’t leave your mind.

the soft knock on your door only a few minutes later startled you and still with a blanket wrapped around your body, you made your way to open.

what you hadn’t expected was to find lando in front of you again, leaning against the doorframe.

“can I come in?” he straight up asked, his eyes analyzing your form.

“I thought you were…”

“she just left,” he cut you off, rising his eyebrow as if to ask you again to let him in. you stepped aside, inviting him inside and closing the door behind him.

“i’m really sorry, i didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” your voice was almost a whispered, embarrassed every time the scene played in your mind again.

“you didn’t,” he said, taking a sit on the edge of your bed. “you’ve been crying?”

no,” you quickly lied, shyly drying your cheeks with the back of your hand.

“your eyes are red,” he tried to ignore your gesture, but curiosity got the best of him.

“i’m just tired and can’t fall asleep,” you weren’t fully lying.

“mind if i..?” he mumbled, leaning back on the mattress.

He didn’t have to finish his sentence; you already knew what words followed: mind if i stay the night?

And normally, you would have giggled and told him that he didn’t even have to ask, but this time it felt different.

“i don’t think your girlfriend would like that,” you said before you could even think about your words.

an amused chuckled left his lips, “is that jealousy i hear?”

your cheeks heated up at his question, embarrassment growing inside you. and you couldn’t answer, too scared to mess up again.

“we didn’t do anything,” he explained, a softness in his eyes as he looked at you. “realized I would rather spend my time with someone else.”

your heart skipped a beat at the implications behind his words, silence falling hard between the two of you.

“really?” you finally managed to quietly ask.

he patted the spot next to him on the mattress, silently asking you to join him, “you’re that oblivious, huh?” he chuckled.

slowly, you made your way closer to him, his hands reaching for your body as soon as you were at arm’s length; his hands were hooked at your hips and he pulled you into him, standing in between his legs.

he looked up at you, a sly smile spread on his lips when your hands rested on his shoulders.

“you’re not just saying that, are you?” you questioned again, not completely sure of if he was just playing with you.

“don’t be silly,” he shook his head. “i’m actually crazy about you.”

your fingers found home in his curls, softly running a hand through his hair as your gaze met his, “what does this mean for us then?” your voice came out in a nervous whisper.

“i don’t know,” he answered in the same low tone. “but i’d really love to kiss you right now.”

your breath hitched at the statement, and you only could give him a slight nod of your head before he closed the gap between your lips, freeing you from all the worries that had been tormenting you for hours.

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tvgirlie24 · 2 months ago

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Not Enough pt.2

After that gruesome training session Alexia desperately tries to fix things between the two of you, you’re having none of it.

Angst (some fluff?)

part 1

The first thing that you felt upon regaining consciousness was an unbearable headache. You didn't think you've ever experienced anything like this. You were uncomfortable, in pain and overall just really confused. The last thing you could remember was someone telling you to keep your eyes open everything else was pretty much a haze. You've made the mistake of trying to open your eyes now, but you were immediately blinded by the intense light of the room and quickly closed them again. The rest of your senses were slowly coming back as well, as you could hear someone quietly talking close to you. There were more voices as well, but you couldn't quite tell who it was. You tried moving your arm as you could feel a needle poking your skin but the second you moved someone held your arm down.

"You're awake! Oh, thank god, you had us scared for a second." Ingrid? Again? Not that you expected anyone else really but even Ingrid being here with you was surprising enough. Despite knowing that she stood up for you yesterday it still didn't make sense why all of a sudden she was so interested in providing you support. Maybe she felt sorry for you?

"Uhh, what the fuck?" Your voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

"You passed out, like an hour ago, we were starting to consider taking you to the hospital if you didn't wake up. Do you not remember?"

"I just remember feeling really dizzy and that’s pretty much it."

"You should've said something if you didn't feel well you know, that was pretty irresponsible, you could've hurt yourself." Whilst you knew Ingrid’s scolding came from a place of worry you really didn’t appreciate her words right now. As if it was your fault. Partially yes, but no one stepped in when Alexia was taking it too far. No one stood up for you, and you were at fault?

“As if me saying I didn’t feel good would’ve done anything.” You murmured and Ingrid gave you a sympathetic look.

You slowly sat up, with the help of Ingrid and looked around. A physio was next to you, checking your vitals and on the other side of the room was the last person you wanted to see right now. Alexia, looking all guilty and it seemed as though she wanted to say something but kept changing her mind at the last minute.

You got tired of waiting after she opened and closed her mouth for the fourth time. “What do you want?” You snapped.

“I, uh, I just-, I’m sorry, really, I didn’t mean to take it so far. I didn’t know you felt sick, If I did I-“

“You would have done the exact same thing, we both know that.” You interrupted, not really interested in hearing any of her excuses.

“What? No! No, really-“

“Are you sure? You’re saying that if I came up to you and said I’m not feeling well, you wouldn’t have told me that I’m just slacking off?” You asked, though you already knew what the answer would be.

Nothing, no response. Just as you thought.

“Thought so. I really don’t understand what your problem is. I would understand if you just had some doubts about me, everyone does, I’m used to it. But you have absolutely no reason to hate me and I’m really fucking tired of it. I do everything that I can and yet you always have something to complain about. I’ve had enough of this, I don’t want to do this anymore. I fucking heard you yesterday. I know you think I don’t belong here, I know you think I’m not good enough, but fuck you didn’t even give me an actual chance and I’m sick of it. I don’t fucking deserve this.” You didn’t even realize that tears were streaming down your face or that with each sentence you voice kept getting louder and louder until you were practically screaming in her face but you didn’t care. It felt nice to let it out, all of the frustration you have felt for the past couple of weeks. She kept taking her frustration out on you, now it was you turn.

She was about to say something but you had no interest in hearing what she was about to say. Whatever she was about to tell you would never warrant her behavior towards you.

“No, I’m not doing this right now, I’m leaving.“ You stood up abruptly and felt yourself get dizzy again, Alexia reached out her arms to steady you but you quickly steadied yourself and walked past her to the physio.

“Get it out.” You said while giving him your arm, where an IV was administered, but the physio didn’t move and just looked hesitantly at you.

“Get it out or I’m going to rip it out of my arm myself, I don’t care, your way or my way, you choose.” You barked out. You knew you were being unfair, and unnecessarily mean, the man didn’t do anything to you. But you were so angry with the whole world right now that you couldn’t care less about who was on the receiving end of your outburst. You needed to get it out and most importantly you needed to leave, if being harsh meant you could get out of there sooner then you had no problem being a bitch. For once you just didn’t care.

The man grabbed your arm and carefully pulled out the IV from your vein, while staring at you very disapprovingly but you didn’t give him a chance to say something, quickly turning around and gathering your things.

“You should have someone drive you, it’s not safe for you to drive yet.” Spoke out the man, despite knowing you were probably not going to listen to him.

“I’ll be fine.” You dismissed.

“I can dri-“ Tried saying Alexia but you didn’t even let her finish the sentence, too worked up to let her finish.

“No, there’s no way in hell I’m getting into a car with you Alexia. I would rather crash my car into a building.”

“Then I’ll drive you.” Offered Ingrid but before you could refuse, she started talking again.

“Really, please, let me give you a ride, I’ll have María pick me up. I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to drive.” She pleaded and you were too tired to argue with her. “Okay, fine, whatever.” And with that you walked out of the room, with Ingrid closely behind you. Not sparing Alexia a single look.

The ride home didn’t take too long, despite having to give Ingrid instruction, given that you lived pretty close anyway. A fact, which you were grateful for because you physically couldn’t wait for the moment you lied down on your bed. This also meant that it didn’t take Mapi too long to pick up Ingrid, not that you weren’t enjoying her company, but right now you were much too eager to finally get some rest, so when you saw her pull up in your driveway you quickly hugged Ingrid goodbye and shut your front door, leaving both women standing outside confused.

You didn’t do anything else for the rest of the day, still not feeling too well, but also so mentally drained that all you could do was just bury yourself under blankets and order you favorite take out after taking a much needed shower, finally somewhat content after the horrendous day you just had. And as you were slowly falling asleep you couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of your stay in Barcelona would be like this. Hopeless and miserable, filled with unpleasant trainings and you questioning why you even came here in the first place.

__________________________________________

When you woke up the following day you could feel dread completely consuming your whole body. You were terrified of going to training today, but there was no way you could skip training when you were scheduled to be starting in the match tomorrow. Physically you felt okay, you were rested and the dizziness and headache from yesterday were gone. But mentally you were everything but okay. You didn't know what to expect but each second you were becoming more of a nervous wreck. You didn’t know what today would be like and that was what freaked you out the most.

Walking in wasn't any better, everyone was nice but you haven't had to chance to see the one person you dreaded seeing the most, but it appears as though luck was on your side today because you ended up not seeing Alexia all the way to the locker room. Strangely enough the only two people that were there were Ingrid and Mapi. You greeted them quietly and started changing, not saying anything else but as you sat down on the bench to tie your shoelaces you noticed just how hard your hands were shaking. You let out a frustrated huff when even on your third try you still couldn't manage to tie your laces. It was irrational, the way tears started to cloud your vision but you were overwhelmed with every negative emotion that there is and all of a sudden even a simple thing like inability to tie your shoes has immediately put you on the edge.

Just as you were about to try again someone appeared in front of you, but you refused to raise your head and let whoever it was see just how much of a mess you were.

"Need a hand?" Ingrid asked gently. At this point you should've expected it would be her. So far, she's been the only one to offer you any support. But through your life you've only ever been met with a cold shoulder, so anyone being there for you just wasn't something you were used to. You don't think this is something you will ever get used to.

"No thanks, I got it." You actually didn't, but it was easier to struggle alone, it's all you've ever known. No one ever taught you how to accept help, constantly reminding you to not rely on anyone.

"Let me help, please." She asked again. And as much as you wanted to refuse, you didn't have it in you. So, you just pulled away and let her tie your shoes, like a little kid but you were way past the point of caring. You still kept your head down, not wanting her to see you crying.

"There you go, hey, hey, what's going on?"

"No, no it's nothing don't worry, i'm fine." You said frantically trying to dry your tears, though unsuccessfully.

"Look, you don't have to tell me, but you don't need to lie to me, I can see you're not fine." With how gentle she was being it was basically impossible for you not to tell her. You couldn't remember the last time someone spoke to you like this, maybe, when you were a kid and your mom was comforting you after you fell from your bike, but even that memory didn’t feel as warm as this. So, you decided to open up to her, just a little, even if everything in you told you not to.

"I'm just freaking out a little. These past few training sessions have been hell and I just, I guess I'm just nervous. I really don't want to mess up again." You admitted, already regretting saying anything at all but Ingrid just gave you a soft smile, lightly squeezing your leg, offering you a bit of comfort.

"Hey, no don't say that, you haven't messed up anything."

"That's not what Alexia thinks." You murmured. "It doesn't matter what she thinks." She argued.

"But it does, she's the captain." You argued weakly, because it did, it would always matter what she thought. And if she thought you were not worth being here, then everything was doomed.

"Look, she will come around I promise. And especially after yesterday I don't think she's going to be so harsh anymore." She kept trying to convince you and you weren't sure if it was because she was actually speaking the truth or because she was just trying to calm you down. "I'm having a really hard time believing you, to be honest."

"I get it but I promise, it's going to be okay, really."

"Thank you. Again. You've really been saving my ass these past few days." Both of you let out a small laugh at that.

"You don't have anything to thank me for, really. I'm just being a decent human being."

"Trust me, that's more than I usually get. So, I appreciate it, and you." She gave you a sad smile at that. You didn't mean to sound so depressing, but that's how it was. You really didn't feel like sugarcoating the truth just for the sake of not sounding like a complete loser.

You didn't say anything afterwards and neither did Ingrid, she just offered you a hand and helped you stand up. She kept her hold on your hand and slowly pulled you in for a hug. You froze momentarily, not really expecting it, but quickly relaxed and hugged her back.

"I know you've had it tough and I'm really sorry about it, but I'm here for you, for anything you need. I know what it feels like when you think you're all alone, but I promise you're not, at least not anymore." Tears clouded your vision again but for an entirely different reason now. God you really were a wreck today. You didn't trust yourself to speak so you just squeezed her harder, hoping that she understands your gratitude.

__________________________________________

You wouldn't say you were necessarily calm after your conversation with Ingrid, but at least you were not on the verge of a complete breakdown anymore, so that's a win. That changed the second you saw Alexia approach you. From experience you knew not to expect anything good from her, so her next words left you completely speechless.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked simply, her face not giving you any indication of what she was thinking. Out of all the things she could've said to you, you really didn't expect her to care about how you were feeling. So, you just stared at her, not knowing what to say. She raised her eyebrows though, silently telling you that she was expecting an answer.

"Uhm, I-, yeah, I'm fine." You stuttered, internally cursing yourself for sounding like a complete idiot. She didn't didn't say anything else, just giving you a faint nod that was barely noticeable before turning around and leaving.

The beginning of the training was all formalities, and you were pretty much spaced out until you all started running laps, not really paying attention to anything else, but just as you were about go run the extra laps that Alexia always orders you to, you could hear her shouting.

"What are you doing?" She asked sternly and you braced yourself for another scolding. You didn't know what you've done wrong, again, but you were definitely not about to argue with her.

"Uhh, I'm about to run the extra lap? Like always?" You said, rather hesitantly, not really knowing what to expect next.

"No, it's okay, you don't have to, go stretch." She replied and you gave her a simple nod, absolutely flabbergasted.

Since you came here, she always ordered you to run extra laps, to repeat the drills, her telling you not to felt way too weird. For a second you wondered if it was a joke, or if she just went crazy, because this was not the Alexia you knew. But she kept on surprising you today, because each time you were about to do something she kept on stopping you, reminding you to take it easy and repeatedly asking you if you felt okay.

You were confused at first, not understanding what her point was at all. But that confusion quickly started turning into anger, why did she decide to be nice to you now? She could've been nice to you this whole time and she would've saved both of you a lot of trouble. Why did it take you passing out for her to come to her senses and actually start treating you like a human? So, the next time you heard her tell you to slow down you really had to bite your tongue because you got dangerously close to telling her to fuck off. You were positively furious, your blood was boiling and you kept having to remind yourself to stay calm.

Breaking point came when she handed you a bottle of water that you could’ve easily gotten yourself, a simple innocent gesture. Under any other circumstances you would’ve just said thank you, but in this very moment that was the last thing you wanted to say. You hated it, how all this time you wanted her to treat you like a human and that’s what she was doing, yet it was only driving you crazy, and against your better judgement you ended up snapping at her.

“Okay I really don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve today, but it is driving me insane. You mind explaining to me what the fuck you’re doing?” You snapped with a frown on your face and you could see the colour draining from her face as she looked as you as though she has seen a ghost.

“I-, uhm, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you know, after yesterday and you know…” she trailed off, awfully shy for someone who was yelling in your face less than 24 hours ago.

“Well, I’m fantastic of course! How do you think I’m doing? I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be around you and I certainly don’t want you making sure I’m fine! It’s too late for it now, I don’t care if you feel guilty it’s your own fault Alexia! You don’t get to treat me like a piece of shit and then act all nice hoping that will make up for it.”

Maybe if you weren’t so angry you would’ve felt a bit sorry for her because she truly looked like a kicked puppy after that little outburst. But she didn’t say anything and with a scoff you turned around and left. You didn’t even bother changing, just slumping your bag over your shoulder and escaping to your car as fast as you could. You were lucky you left a bit early and the parking lot was still empty, otherwise everyone would’ve seen and heard the yell you let out once you got into the car.

That woman really is going to be the death of you.

__________________________________________

So, the match really didn’t end up that well for you. You ended up winning 3-1 so it wasn’t that much of a disaster for the team, but your performance today was less than good. You were all over the place, but never where you were needed, completely missing passes and none of your shots came even close to a goal. It was painful to watch and you really weren’t surprised when you came off in the 63rd minute. You couldn’t stick around and keep watching it, too angry with yourself so you immediately went inside to take a shower, hoping that a nice cold shower might calm down not just your body but also your mind.

Once you got out of the shower you could tell that the game was over since some of the players were already inside while some stayed out on the pitch. You hoped to have a bit more time to pull yourself together before everyone would come pouring in. The shower did absolutely nothing to help you and once you started crying there was no way you would be able to stop. Maybe Alexia was right, maybe everything really was just handed over to you and maybe you really weren’t that good.

You tried to avoid everyone’s stares while you took your bag and excused yourself, leaving the locker room and hoping to find some quiet place to cry it all out. You tried several doors, most of them locked but you managed to stumble open a door that was unlocked and once you opened it you could see it was just a small conference room, abandoned a long time ago given how empty it was. So, you threw your bag and the floor and made a beeline for the corner, slumping down and burying your head in your knees, trying to make yourself as small as possible. The first sob you let out was rough, so rough it actually hurt, but it felt way so good to finally let it out. You cried so hard that you could feel your whole body shake, and each second it was becoming harder and harder to breath.

You completely forgot to keep a track of time, knowing that you were due to leave soon, but in that moment that was the least of your worries. All of a sudden, you could hear someone open the door but you refused to raise your head, much too comfortable in your little bubble, so you couldn’t tell who it was.

Please be Ingrid, please let it be Ingrid.

“Hey..”

Oh God, no.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Alexia tried again after she got no response from you.

“Go away.” You pleaded but instead of turning around she just got closer and on instinct you tried to push yourself closer to the wall to create more space between you. “No please, please go away, please I don’t want you here.”

She didn’t go away, instead she slowly lowered herself onto the ground until she was sitting in front of you, not too far but not too close, which you appreciated. If she were to disturb your personal space in your current state you would probably just freak out even more.

“Please, tell me what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” She asked softly, you’ve never heard her speak like that, let alone to you, but you didn’t let that break you. “No, please, just let me be.” You cried, even harder, wanting her to get away from you as soon as possible.

“I will, once you tell me what’s wrong.” She didn’t get a response from you, all that could be heard in the quiet room was your ragged breathing.

“Is this about the game? Is that why you’re so worked up?” She kept her voice gentle, and it made it hard to keep ignoring her, but you weren’t quite ready to talk to her yet. So, all that she got in response was just a whine, one that resembled an agreement.

“Look I get it, no one likes bad days, but they’re a part of what we do, we can’t have a perfect performance all the time, as much as we want to. It is not the end of the world, I promise.” She tried to comfort you, not realizing she was doing the exact opposite.

“It is when everyone around you thinks that you don’t deserve to be a part of the team and you constantly have something to prove, then it pretty much is the end of the world.” Your voice was rough and you looked like a mess but you still raised your head as you spoke, wanting her to understand that the biggest reason why you were crying was her own doing. You didn’t necessarily feel secure at Barça before, but it definitely wasn’t as bad as it is now, and it was mostly Alexia’s fault.

She frowned, thinking about what to say next.

“Look, I’m sorry, I really am. I was an arrogant asshole and I took it too far, but none of what I said is true. I did think it was but I don’t anymore and I don’t want you thinking it’s true. It is not, you deserve to be here, okay?”

“But that’s not what you thought 3 days ago.” You murmured, Alexia barely hearing you.

“No, it’s not. But a person that gets everything handed to them doesn’t train until they actually pass out, you know.” Again, no response from you, but she refused to give up. At least now your sobbing subsided to just small hiccups.

“I know I messed up, and I will forever feel sorry about it, but I don’t want you to doubt whether you deserve to be here or not. You do, you work hard and I didn’t see it then, but I see it now, okay?” Alexia said firmly, and it was hard not to believe her, with how gently but convincingly she was speaking. “Okay.”

She gave you a soft nod and slowly stood up, offering you a hand and even though you felt like you shouldn’t, you accepted her help. She carefully helped you stand up, holding you up when you wobbled a little from your legs falling asleep.

“Come on, they’re all probably waiting for us.” She gave your hand a light squeeze and let go and you followed her out of the room.

All of a sudden you didn’t feel like the world was ending, everything that was going on now seemed almost manageable and you walked out of that room with a small, barely noticeable smile on your face.

__________________________________________

Yaaay I finally finished the second part🥳 Sorry for the delay I wanted to get this out over 2 weeks ago, but I hope you liked it anyway :)

@marvelwomen-simp

#woso x reader #woso #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas #barca femeni

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samptlay · 3 months ago

Text

♡ ⁠◍⁠• Skin That Cries Golden Tears • Chapter 2 ◍⁠

Chapter 1•🌑

Ah yes. How cliche. Of course, you blackout as soon as you hear the background noises of the tiny mob dying. Everything was too overwhelming at once, you couldn't fight it. You died and suddenly woke up inside a game. Not to mention you still have to process the deep feeling of betrayal left by your ex. But it honestly can't be helped. You have no idea where you'll be when you wake up and just pray it's not a jail cell. You weren't dressed in anything they were used to, you were dressed in a simple black dress that you’re sure didn’t belong in your wardrobe, it definitely wasn’t what you were wearing when you had died but it looked modern. You’re going to half to find a way to play it off, somehow.

When you first felt your body being carried, it was no surprise since it was the only way you’d be…. Well, rescued. That is what happened, right? Surely you didn’t get kidnapped. But judging by the moon being out and the cool air at the time, it couldn’t have been the Knights since all of them must have been asleep or in town based on how dark it was. So who came to your rescue? They had to use Pyro, you knew that, at least.

Red ponytail…. Pyro vision…. Night time….

You can’t possibly be this slow. It’s clearly -

“So you think the Dark-Knight Hero is the one who left her unconscious at our doorstep?” There’s no mistaking it, the owner of that soft-spoken voice was most definitely the Grand Acting Master, Jean. Your eyes were still closed telling by the sunlight hitting your skin, that you most likely spent the night there, or morning. You were completely conscious, but you wanted to know for some reason. Depending on when they noticed you outside. “Yes, there was a letter too but it flew away in the wind before I could bring it here when I picked her up.” And that absolutely had to be Diluc’s voice. Anyone smart enough would be able to tell that it was clearly him who brought you the HQ. However, Jean just sighed with a nod before looking over a particular document at her desk, which actually looked more like some type of scroll in your opinion. She kept looking back and forth between it and you.

“So, unidentified traveler, how long do you plan on faking unconsciousness?” The sudden change in his voice startles you, causing your eyes to blink open fully and take in the frowning tall man who’s crossing his arms while looking down at your figure lying on the bed.

“Oh. Sorry, I was a bit… Half-awake? I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, I just-” But your words were interrupted by someone clearing their throat to which both you and Diluc turned to look at the source, Jean, of course. “It’s not that big of a deal, Diluc.” She takes a few steps towards you before raising a hand to your forehead, even moving a little hair out of your eyes. Even with her touching you, she looked somewhat wary and in your opinion, overly spectacle.

“You seem healthy. However, I am curious to know exactly what you were doing in the fields late at night. And you don’t seem like a traveler, with no weapons on you, or resources. And you clearly don’t have a companion, or am I wrong?” You catch the way she wavers in her voice as if she’s conforming to something she doesn’t want to or is even afraid to. It is exactly what she’s doing so you’re confused about why she’s nervous.

“..Yes, I’m alone. I was just… I... I don’t know how I woke up there, to be honest.” Diluc, who you had forgotten was there for a moment lets out something that sounds like a chuckle, but out of disbelief. Jean glances at the desk once more which just makes you want to get up and see what’s there for yourself. She removes her hand from your body before standing up straight up and eyeing you with something you can’t describe. She goes behind her desk and sits down.

“...”

The silence & tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. You suddenly felt the urge to sit down, as if sitting down would prove to turn you too vulnerable. So you get up, quickly. It startled the other people in the room and you swore you saw Diluc reach for his sword when he flinched, and the reaction on your face clearly said it all because he glimpsed over the sword strapped to him before visibly relaxing (at least trying to).

“This was fun for a little but I think it’s time you c-” The Grand Acting Master is interrupted as the door flies open and you think the temperature gets a little chiller. A certain navy blue man with an eyepatch scurries in, looking like he is searching for something. His eyes scan the room in a flash before landing on you. Something about the eye contact you two made sent a shiver down your spine while his gaze lingered while he turned towards the other two in the room. “Oh! Was I interrupting something? Sorry, sorry. I heard that a particular person had shown up in the middle of nowhere and I just had to see what all the commotion was about…” The deep ocean blue eyes fall on you again. “So this is our guest?” He leans against the door frame for a moment, eyeing you up and down when he decides to stand up straight and walk (more like stride) straight in your direction.

Real. This is all real and in fact, not some delusional dream. You pray none of them notice the way you hold your breath as he gets closer and closer, stopping at Diluc's distance, only a little closer. You can't stop the words coming out of your mouth.

“You're-” “Kaeya.” He interrupts confidently, stretching out his hand to you. It's a good thing he said something before you mentioned his name. It would have only made you all the more suspicious. You stare at his hand that's stranded in the air for a few seconds, before he sighs and takes your own with a gentle yet strong grip, pulling it to his lips, and kissing it. A peck. Then he freezes, as if he didn't believe what or why he just did that. It wasn't really visible on his face but you could tell. You can tell a lot about everyone here, actually. And some things tell you it's not just because you know all the lore for every character. It's something you feel from the inside.

Kaeya graciously lets your arm fall back to your side and you hope there isn’t as much blush on your face as you think there is. “Why don’t I take this fine lady throughout Mondstadt, hm? You two seem like you have more important… things to discuss about whatever just happened, unless..?” He, not aggressively, yanks you up and off what you are sitting on and starts leading you toward the door. He didn’t even wait for the two to reply. Jean gets up from her chair, hands practically slamming on the table as she pins him with a look. “Hold on Kaeya, this is dangerous. We don’t know who this is or where they came from. And here you are trying to show them around? Let them meet civilians? This is all too suspicious. You can’t just-” She shuts her eyes and makes a noise that sounds like something close to a groan. One hand on her hips. “They have to stay here. You know exactly how heavy this situation is.” Diluc, being the man he is, also glares at Kaeya, and you swear you hear a scoff from under his breath.

Kaeya, shockingly, doesn’t look back and continues dragging you along out of the head office. “I’ll bring them back, don’t worry. But I’d like this with this one by myself.” You can hear Jean and Diluc’s complaints rise but you're out of the building by the time you can make out any of their words.

The two of you venture into the city, and you take a moment to look at everything around you. Wow. It’s much more beautiful and lively since everything is suddenly so…. Realistic. Before waking up here, it was your least favorite nation but you might consider changing your mind. Everything seems so calm and it really is less chaotic than all the other nations. It’s peaceful. “So I assume our city is to your liking? With the way your eyes are practically shining…” Your daydreaming is cut short when Kaeya stands in front of you, arms crossed, hands on his hips, looking amused out of his mind. “Well, it’s not every day you wake up in a whole new world.”

It slipped out, it really did. But you hope he doesn’t take your words literally, and you think he didn’t because he lets out a content chuckle. But then his smile drops. And you’re stuck in place. He slowly makes his way closer, then he grabs both your hands and stares you straight in the eye.

“I don’t think what I’m feeling right now is simply attraction. I have a lot of experience with that, trust me. But with you, there’s a pull. A pull that I can’t ignore. Hah, I wonder if the Red Hawk man feels it… Maybe that’s why he didn’t want you to go.”

You don’t know what to say. You have no idea why this is happening or why you’re here. And is he serious? A pull of some sort? That’s not good. Pulling means attention and that’s the last thing you need right now. Yet the way he looks at you would make anyone think the whole world revolves around you. And as of now, you have nothing. No one knows you or trusts you. You don’t know how to fight, which is very much required to survive in Teyvet. You need friends, allies, and people who are willing to defend you. And you can’t do that while simply touring around Mondstadt.

“Thank you, for this.” You step closer and you know what you want from him, what you need. You need his trust. “All of this is nice, but I’m more curious about you. I think I feel that same pull with you, to be honest. I want to get to know you better. Where do you live around here? I’m curious to see how people here live.” You’re positive you sound genuine and curious. Good. All is needed to win him over.

He looks surprised, then pleased. All before you’re suddenly tucked into his chest… And a sword is against your throat. You gawk at it, squirming. That wasn’t the smartest thing to do, which caused him to press it against your throat even more. “I might be captivated by you, but I’m not as stupid as you think. Now… Why would anyone try and get into someone's home when they’ve barely known that for a couple of hours? Unless, that certain someone has a plan, of course. I took what Master Jean said to heart. For all I know you could be dangerous. I’ve been watching you closely the whole time. It’s as if you’ve never seen something like a regular town. There are even more impressive ones all over Teyvet. You know what that tells me?”

You know exactly what he’s implying and you feel like you could throw up your organs. Were you going to lose your second chance so easily?

He turns you slightly and you’re finally facing him. Expect all the warmth is gone. His gaze is as cold as his vision and you’re no longer sure if you’ll be able to try and gain him as a companion, let alone civil allies. The sword across your neck is making you start to throb in pain and you’re sure it’s going to leave either a cut or a mark. It hurts.

You can feel Kaeya’s breath against your neck.

“Who are you?”

Suddenly, there’s a bright flash and you’re temporarily blinded, and Kaeya’s holding his left arm up. You can see some blood seeping through. It looks like it’s the same size as the one he created on your neck. But yours is gone.

He’s breathing heavily, confused. Kaeya’s barely standing on his two feet, he’s dizzy. Even though he just practically attempted on your life, you couldn’t blame him for it. He doesn’t trust others. He can’t, it’s not what he’s here for. You don’t know how you get to him so quickly, throwing one of his arms around your shoulder. He seems to be in a more… fatal condition than you were. It’s like he took your injury, only intensified. You have to get him aid. But then again, if you go to anyone else, there’s a good chance you’ll be locked up. You don’t want to imagine an interrogation right now. So, you look at the poor man in your arms and speak softly. You hope that gets you some points, at least.

“Where do you live, Kaeya?” He barely opens his eyelids, having a look on his face that’s in between exhaustion and uncertainty. You think he’s about to shake his head before he blurts it out, surprising the both of you. Now he’s the one gawking at you since you go in the actually direction of his home. How did you even know your way around? That took away some points, didn’t it?

A/N:

A little over two weeks, my apologies. Time flies, 1.5x longer!! Yippeeeee ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ I'll get to that Masterlist...

Taglist: Sorry if I tagged you twice!

@esthelily @cosmo112 @fantasyhopperhea @ilxina @aloflapse @mayberaspberrywrites @enjoyjellime @vianitry @blipblopblopblip @fuji-sen @leafanonsforest @cchiiwinkle @annexblogs @akemityan

@uhfhfhfhf @xdrin @msun1c0rn @umi-adxhira @lovingnahida @strrawb3rrysh0rtcak3 @ssecylia @skyl8ver @immahuman @meowmeowraven @01234 @markexplanation @esthelily @dawnofazrael @chickenalfredo4life @eccaza @jun-xiu @klemen-time @delulu-val @everi-eve @cluelesstoeverything @strangersomeone @lapinaenmicoche @alwayslegendarymoon @lumiiiiiiiiii @superninjaarbiter @themonsterunderyourbed69

Borders by @cafekitsune

#fanfic #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #genshin fanfic #simple!creator!au #sagau x reader #genshin sagau #sagau #sagau diluc #diluc x reader #kaeya x reader #sagau kaeya #mostly gn (I think)#genhsin impact #genshin impact fanart

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m1ckeyb3rry · 9 months ago

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── THE GLASS PRINCESS // ONE

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You meet Mai, Ty Lee, and Prince Zuko.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.6k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: this is my first ever attempt at writing for atla despite how long ago i watched it and how much i’ve written since then HAHAH. tbh i don’t expect much to come of it but oh well we’ll see how it goes!! also this is an alternate universe — the extent of which things have been changed will become more apparent as we go along. also apologies in advance if anyone is ooc, i haven’t watched atla in forever so idk if i’ll get it right!

There was a pile of glass on the nightstand when you woke up. It glimmered in the light, the fire refracting on the shards and forming tiny little rainbows on the wooden floor. Rusty streaks stained the faceted tips, though, and you winced as you tried to imagine how that quantity of blood could’ve made its way there.

“It’s yours,” a girl said. You startled, for you hadn’t noticed her presence, but it seemed like that had been her plan. She stood in the corner, her clothes a dull maroon, her hair glossy black and eyes a sharp, dark shade. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she regarded you, but her face was otherwise smooth, betraying nothing.

“Mine?” you said, voice cracking from disuse. “What do you mean? The — the blood?”

“And the glass,” she affirmed. “In some sense, anyways. Some of the pieces, we had to pull out of you, and others were apparently just lying around where you were found. At least, that’s what Zuko said. I’m still not quite sure why he went and collected it all to bring back, though…”

You squinted at the glass, trying to find some familiarity in it, but there was none. You had no idea why you would be surrounded by it, nor why it would be embedded in you. The girl waited for a second, but when you did not speak, she scoffed.

“Sorry,” you said automatically.

“We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for so long,” she said, an accusatory note entering her voice. “Zuko refuses to say anything, and it’s not like we can bully the crown prince himself into telling us what happened, so you’ve been our only chance at figuring everything out.”

“Oh,” you said, a migraine building behind your forehead as you tried to go through the events that had led to your presence here, in this austere room, on this plush mattress. “I — I don’t know.”

“You don’t know,” she repeated drearily. “Wow.”

“I’m sorry,” you said again. “I really don’t. I’m telling the truth.”

In fact, you were rapidly coming to the conclusion that you didn’t know anything. Your childhood, your family, your home…there was nothing. Where your memories ought to be was a bleak stretch like night, barely interrupted by flashes of blue. You reached for that blue, for that lovely shade like sapphire, but it was always just out of your grasp, something you could never quite touch no matter how much you wanted to.

“How about I tell you what I know, and we go from there?” she said. You nodded, though you were only half paying attention to her. The rest of you was fighting back a panic that threatened to twist your insides, a dread that was rotting through you, both sensations borne from the fear that you would never remember anything again.

“Prince Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation and told only to return once he found the Avatar,” she said. “He found him eventually, found him many times in fact, but he wasn’t able to capture him. It’s irrelevant, though — he did do something just as impossible. That is to say, he infiltrated Ba Sing Se.”

You thought that you were probably supposed to be awed by this, but considering you had zero idea what any of it meant, you just felt further confused. Still, you smiled at her, hoping she would keep talking until something or another made sense.

“Fire Lord Ozai couldn’t ignore the opportunity. He sent an army to the prince’s aid, and under his command, they managed to destroy the Earth Palace and depose the royal family. The Earth Kingdom’s in shambles, and all but the most secretive resistance efforts have vanished,” the girl, who had still not introduced herself, continued.

“I don’t see what this has to do with me,” you said, ducking your head.

“Neither do the rest of us,” she said. “That’s what you were supposed to know. For some reason, the fact is that upon returning from Ba Sing Se, the prince had your body in tow. You were wrapped in so many bandages we couldn’t tell what you were at first, and then we thought you must be closer to a corpse than anything, but he insisted you were alive, and that we had to heal you.”

“The prince himself did such a thing?” you said. Even you understood what the magnitude of that title meant, what kind of person a prince was bound to be. And if that was the case, if this mysterious Zuko really was the prince of an entire nation, then why would he have sullied his victory with care for the brutalized body of a random girl?

“He did,” the girl said. “It was the first thing he saw to. Not the reclamation of his crown, but that you were being treated with the best technologies the Fire Nation has to offer. Don’t you think it’s strange? Worthy of investigation? Don’t you agree that we should be curious about what significance you have?”

“Yes, um, naturally,” you said, taken aback by the rapid-fire line of questioning. Despite her initially bland facade, she was surprisingly intense, relentless, even, the stark contrast between the two personalities enough to make you curl inwards.

“Maybe he loves you,” she said, narrowing her eyes at you, inspecting you critically. “I suppose it’d certainly be an explanation, though it wouldn’t give us any clues about who you are or why he might love you in the first place.”

“I wouldn’t know,” you said, shifting in your seat uncomfortably. “I don’t even know my own name, let alone whether I was in love with someone.”

“Don’t even know your own name?” the girl said, raising her eyebrows. “You really are pathetic. I’m impressed.”

“I can’t remember anything specific about my life. I know general things, of course. The color of the sky. The way the moon looks. But the history of the world, my own existence…these are things I cannot recall,” you said.

She appraised you with the beginnings of something like sympathy flickering in her irises. Clenching her jaw and deciding upon something, she straightened her back and turned to the door.

“I should tell Zuko you’re awake,” she said. “That’s what he told us to do, the instant you regained consciousness. I’ve put it off long enough.”

“Wait!” you said. “What’s your name?”

She glanced at you over her shoulder. You blinked at her, willing her to understand — that before you could meet this prince, you had to know something. Even if it was only as small as this girl’s name, you wanted to have at least one thing in your head, a word or other such piece of knowledge that you could cling to, that you could form a barrier around your mind with.

“Mai,” she said. She did not elaborate before slamming the door shut behind her, but it was enough for you. There was this one constant now — you knew a girl, and her name was Mai.

As you waited for Mai to return with the prince, you busied yourself with inspecting the room you were quartered in. You had mistakenly called it austere due to the lack of decorations hung up, but now that you had the chance to look closely, you noticed that the wall itself was covered with intricate, swirling designs engraved by a firm, steady hand. The blanket that had been drawn up around your shoulders and was now puddled around your hips was made of silk and stuffed with feathers, and its quality was such that it all but shimmered. This was not the kind of room that just anybody stayed in; it was a room fit for someone of high rank. A lady. And a lady you were not, yet here you sat, in this room that made you feel entirely out of place.

Only a few minutes had passed before the door slammed open, but it was not Mai nor any sort of prince who entered. It was another girl, as bubbly and cheery as Mai had been cool and collected. She beamed when she saw you sitting up and looking around, bounding over to place her hands on your shoulders.

“Hi! Hi, hi, I’m so glad you’re awake!” she said. You tried to smile back at her, but the exuberance was so jarring that you could not do anything but brace yourself against it.

“Thank you,” you managed to say as she shook you. “Who are you?”

“Ty Lee!” she said. You noticed that she had a habit of ending every sentence with her voice ticking up in delight, like she was perpetually thrilled with the world. It was even more of a contrast to Mai than you had anticipated, and you felt your head spinning as you tried to keep up with the differences.

“Did I know you before?” you said. She cocked her head.

“Huh? No, I have no idea who you are, just like you have no idea who I am. You sure are pretty, though! Even prettier when you’re not all passed out,” she said, miming fainting before beaming at you expectantly. You tried to laugh, but it was an awkward sound, clearly unconvincing.

“The same to you,” you said. “Er. Obviously, aside from the part about passing out.”

“Obviously!” she said. “Now, just stay very still, okay?”

You froze in place immediately, wondering what she was going to do but trusting that it would not be anything harmful. Or, perhaps trusting wasn’t quite the right word for it — you just had no choice but to obey, because you had no other metric for what was correct. Whether Ty Lee wanted to help or harm you, you couldn’t know for sure, but either way she would do something, and since she was only the second person whose face you had seen, you had to let her do it.

She jabbed her pointer fingers into your neck, side, and wrists, all in a quick, precise succession. You waited for something to happen, but there was nothing, and when she raised her eyebrows at you, you could only furrow your own in a non-answer.

“Felt nothing?” she said. You nodded in the affirmative. “Interesting.”

“Was I supposed to?” you said.

“I dunno!” she said. “I guess we’ll see once the others get here.”

“What do the others have to do with it?” you said. At this, she winked and raised her fingers to her lips, as if you two were sharing some silly secret.

“If I tell you, then that’ll ruin things! We can discuss it later, but for now, you have to keep it to yourself, okay?” she said.

“Why?” you said. It wasn’t accusatory; you were genuinely curious.

“Let’s just say that certain parties would not be pleased if they found out what I was doing,” she said, giggling nervously and glancing at the door. “And those parties aren’t the kind you really want to offend, so please just keep your mouth shut!”

“Don’t want to offend? Who, like Prince Zuko?” you said.

Before Ty Lee could respond, there was a knock at the door. She scrambled away from you, so that she was standing in the same corner Mai had been in, looking demure and respectful. It was like she had never spoken to you in the first place, and when she had arranged herself suitably, she motioned towards the door.

“Me?” you said.

“Yes, you!” she said. “It’s your room, isn’t it?”

“I would hardly know,” you reminded her. She considered this before making a face in agreement.

“Right, there is that fact. Anyways, yes. This isn’t a hospital wing or anything, it’s your room, which means that when someone knocks, it’s up to you to tell them if they can come in or not,” she said.

“You didn’t knock,” you said. Ty Lee cleared her throat.

“Ah, well, I’m from a Fire Nation family! People of higher rank are allowed to do things like barging in on others,” she said. “I can’t tell you the amount of times Princess Azula has stormed into my room without warning.”

“I see,” you said, mostly because you didn’t know who Princess Azula was or why she merited mention. “This must be a servant or something, then, considering they’re knocking on even my door.”

“Probably,” Ty Lee said. There was another knock, louder this time, and you swore under your breath as you realized you had forgotten to answer them.

“Come in!” you said, folding your hands in your lap and looking over at the doorway, wondering who it could possibly be.

To your surprise, it was a boy. He was dressed in fine armor, his dark hair tied back in a regal topknot, his features angular and his eyes a sharp gold. His face was set in a frown, but when he saw you, you thought you picked up on the faintest trace of happiness. Almost immediately, though, it was quashed by a scowl, so that you could not be quite sure if you had actually seen it or if you had just been imagining things.

Behind him was Mai, looking as bored as she had earlier, though she seemed marginally more excited to see Ty Lee than she had been when you had woken up. You supposed they must’ve been friends or something.

“You should bow,” Mai said, directing the statement at you.

“No way!” the boy said immediately, waving his hands in dissent before you could even move. “I mean, ah, she doesn’t have to do that. It’s fine.”

“Woah! That’s crazy, Zuko, normally you’re all about honor and tradition and whatnot!” Ty Lee said. “It’s strange to hear something like that coming from you.”

So this was Prince Zuko, the boy who had, for some reason, saved your life. He was the only one who knew anything about your past. Your name, your identity, your origin…if you wanted to know any of these things, then your best chance at finding them stood before you, gazing at you with an inscrutable expression.

“Your royal highness,” you said, not bothering to get out of bed but dipping your head in what you hoped was a sign of respect anyways. He coughed awkwardly.

“Um. Yes,” he said.

“So,” Mai observed from the spot she had taken beside Ty Lee, “she’s awake now.”

“I see that,” Prince Zuko said. Mai rolled her eyes.

“Will you tell us who she is? Or why you insisted on saving her, maybe?” she said.

“Why don’t you ask her?” he said. “She’d know as well as I would. Maybe better.”

“I already tried,” Mai said. The prince’s scowl deepened, the corners of his mouth tugging further downwards at the offhand statement, his eyes flicking to you before returning to Mai.

“Of course you did,” he said. “And what did she say?”

“Nothing,” Mai said.

“She doesn’t remember anything,” Ty Lee said. “Not even her own name. You’re the only one left who can tell us anything about her.”

Something in Prince Zuko’s demeanor shifted at that moment. A despairing anger warred with resignation and defeat, but below the surface, some other emotion was hidden, kept locked tightly away, something that he was suppressing, so that no one could dare to even attempt to comprehend it.

“I see,” he said. “Is that the case?”

He was asking you. You did not look at him when you responded, focusing on the pile of glass still stacked on the nightstand.

“Yes,” you said. “Your royal highness. It’s the case.”

Prince Zuko considered this, and for a moment, there was an eerie silence in the room, as you all waited to hear what he would say. Who were you? Would he finally disclose it, or would you be further stranded in the darkness?

“Ursa,” he said finally.

“Your mother?” Mai said. He shook his head.

“No, not her. It’s — um, it’s her. Her name,” he said, jutting his chin in your direction.

“She has the same name as your mother,” Mai said flatly.

“Yes,” he said.

Ursa. That was your name. You didn’t feel some great reclamation of your identity upon hearing it; in fact, it meant nothing to you, except that at some point, people must have called you that.

“Is that why you saved her?” Ty Lee said. “Because she has the same name as your mother?”

“Yeah,” he muttered under his breath. “That’s exactly why.”

“Really? We thought you might’ve been in love with her or something,” Mai said. “I guess this is in character enough, though.”

“How’d you find someone with a Fire Nation name in Ba Sing Se, though?” Ty Lee said. Prince Zuko gave her an irritated look; she only gazed at him innocently until he sighed and looked away.

“She had been taken prisoner on the front lines and brought to Ba Sing Se to be, er…tortured. For — for Fire Nation secrets,” he said.

“Why would they think an ordinary girl would have Fire Nation secrets?” Mai said.

“It’s not like Fire Nation citizens are easy to kidnap!” he snapped. “She might not know any vital information about the nation, but it was probably better than nothing!”

“Well, sorry for asking,” Mai said, rolling her eyes at him once again. It seemed her fuse was particularly shorter when it came to him, not that it had ever appeared to be particularly long to begin with.

“Do you think they got anything out of her?” Ty Lee said, in a not-so-subtle attempt to change the subject and break the tension. Prince Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” he said.

“I guess not. Not now that Ba Sing Se is ours and the rest of the Earth Kingdom has all but fallen,” Ty Lee said.

“Right. Even if they found out anything from her, it didn’t help them in the end,” he said.

“What should we do with her?” Ty Lee said. “Poor girl, she doesn’t even know her lefts from her rights!”

“Uh, I do know that much…” you interjected. Ty Lee paid you no mind, continuing to speak to Prince Zuko like you weren’t there.

“She can’t live in the palace like this forever!” she said. “But she’s like a blind little child, alone in the world. Where can she even go?”

Prince Zuko looked at you, and then he exhaled heavily. You swallowed, waiting for his judgment, knowing that he now held your life in his hands, wondering what he would decide, wondering what fate was in store for you. For Ursa. Since you both were one and the same, after all.

“Send her to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. They’ll teach her what she needs to know to be a proper Fire Nation girl,” he said.

“She’s not a noblewoman, though,” Mai said.

“Do you think the headmistress will argue with me if I say I want her admitted?” Prince Zuko shot back, though there was a tinge of insecurity, a questioning undercurrent, like he really wasn’t sure if he would get away with it or not.

“Nope,” Ty Lee said. “But do you think she — Ursa — can handle it? I mean, we were there, right, Mai? You remember how it was.”

“It’s a tough environment,” Mai agreed. You could tell what she was thinking: what place did a girl who came to the palace covered in bandages and glass, in the arms of a once-banished prince, have in a royal academy? “She’ll be eaten alive there.”

“And what if someone challenges her to an Agni Kai?” Ty Lee said. “Do you think she could win that? Is she that good at bending?”

“She’s not a Firebender,” Prince Zuko said.

“Why was she on the front lines if she’s not even a Firebender?” Mai said before pausing. “Never mind. I don’t feel like listening to your dramatics when you explain. But, you know, she’ll struggle that much more without bending to protect her.”

Prince Zuko’s face settled into a pensive mask of thought before he lit up, brandishing his pointer finger as if he’d come up with the idea of the century. Mai did not look amused, though Ty Lee seemed fascinated by what he might say.

“Ty Lee! You ran away from school to join the circus, right?” he said. Ty Lee went from looking fascinated to nervous, but she nodded.

“Yes, but I’m back now, so I don’t know why you’re bringing that up,” she said.

“My sister doesn’t have any immediate need for you,” he said, eyes gleaming. “Maybe it’s time you finally finish your education for good.”

“You want me to go back to the Royal Fire Academy?” Ty Lee repeated. Prince Zuko nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. You can watch out for her,” he said, jabbing his pointer finger at you.

“What will Azula say?” Ty Lee said.

“It’ll be fine,” Mai said. “If she needs you, you can just take a vacation from school or something. It’s better that you do this than laze around the palace.”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” you said quietly, speaking up of your own volition for the first time. “To anyone. I’m just grateful that you saved me, Prince Zuko. The rest of it is unnecessary. You don’t need to force the royal academy to accept me, and you don’t need to make Ty Lee come just to watch out for me. It’s enough that I’m alive. I can make my own life from here.”

“You don’t know anything. How can you expect to make a new life when you don’t even remember the one you’ve had until this point?” he said.

“I suppose there might be some benefit to Ursa going to school,” Mai added. “As long as she can survive the academy, it’ll be good for her. She can get caught up on everything she doesn’t remember, and it’ll be in an environment where her classmates are the children of the Fire Nation elite, so she can make further connections with people in high places.”

“Maybe she can find someone who has a brother she can date!” Ty Lee said, swooning.

“No!” Prince Zuko said. You all gave him strange looks; when he noticed, he turned a red as bright as his garb. “It wouldn’t be proper. You know, since you’ll be attending in my name and all; if you date anyone, it’ll reflect on me. So you can only date the people I approve of.”

“Alright. If that’s what you think is best,” you said. The last thing you wanted was to make things difficult for the boy who had, by all accounts, saved your life.

“I do,” he said.

“Uh-huh,” Mai said from the corner. “You know, Ty Lee, this reminds me of when Azula took us to the zoo that one time.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess it does!” Ty Lee said, covering her mouth with her hand as she giggled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Prince Zuko said.

“Is there a zoo nearby?” you said. “I don’t remember ever going to one. I’d like to visit, if it’s possible.”

“I’ll take you!” Ty Lee said. “When we have a break from school and classes and all.”

“So you’ll go with her?” Prince Zuko said. Ty Lee huffed.

“I don’t really have much of a choice, do I? Besides, I’m sure Azula will be happy to hear I’m pursuing my education in my downtime instead of just doing nothing. And you know I’d do anything to make her happy!” she said before cartwheeling over to where you were still situated in your bed, throwing her arms around you affectionately. “We’re going to be classmates, Ursa!”

“I look forward to it,” you said genuinely. Ty Lee tapped you on the forehead.

“Me too!” she said.

“You are?” Mai said. “I don’t remember you ever liking the school, Ty Lee.”

“I don’t,” she said, abruptly wilting. “Everyone was so mean there. But my parents will probably be happy, and at least I’ll get to spend more time with Ursa! Maybe I’ll be the only one around when she regains her memories, and I’ll get to hear her story in her own words first.”

“For the sake of the prince’s mental wellbeing, let’s hope that’s not the case,” Mai said. Prince Zuko did not even respond, too busy inspecting the glass on your bedside to rise to the barb.

“Fine, then,” he said. “Make sure she’ll have everything she needs to attend the academy.”

“Which one of us was that pleasantly worded command directed towards?” Mai said.

“Whichever one of you has the time to do it, I guess,” he said. “This is the glass that came with her?”

“Yes. On the subject, why’d you go and collect so much of it? What a waste of time that must’ve been,” Mai said.

“I don’t know,” Prince Zuko said, sweeping the glass into the small bag lying on the ground by the nightstand. “I thought it might be important in healing her or something. I mean, you know, how could the healers understand what they were pulling out of her unless they saw it?”

Mai did not seem to believe him, but to your surprise, she did not question him further on the topic, only nodding. Maybe she respected him just a bit more than you had thought, though considering your original hypothesis had not exactly been favorable for the prince, this didn’t mean much.

“Where are you taking that?” she said instead, motioning towards the bag. “To dispose of it?”

“Yeah,” Prince Zuko said. “I’ll have it taken to the incinerator.”

You felt a twinge in your stomach. “Do you have to?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said.

“That glass is my only link to who I was before. Even if it was a bad memory, at least that memory was mine,” you explained. “I — I know it’s strange, but I feel like if you destroy it, you’ll destroy me, in some sense.”

“Ursa…” Ty Lee said, helplessly sympathetic, grasping your hands in her own. “It’s just glass. It can’t tell you anything about yourself, besides the fact that you were hurt during the fall of Ba Sing Se.”

“Your royal highness,” you beseeched Prince Zuko, who shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably at the title. “I know you have already done so much for me, so it is in bad taste for me to ask you for another favor, but please do not send that glass to be burnt away. Please save it. At least until I remember why it was there in the first place.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “It’s waste material. Nothing good will come of you keeping it. Nothing at all will.”

“I just—” you began before breaking off. “Never mind. I’m sorry for asking.”

“Zuko, maybe you should just do it,” Mai said.

“Leave it, Mai,” Ty Lee said. “He’s made up his mind. Even we can’t change it once he’s like this.”

Both of them looked at him, but he only picked up the bag and tucked it under his arm.

“I’m leaving now,” he said. “Don’t come after me.”

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving you alone in the room with Mai and Ty Lee. Both of them seemed sorry, and actually, unlike what you had expected, Mai was the first to speak up.

“I’m sorry, Ursa,” she said. “He’s always been the temperamental sort.”

“It’s okay,” you said, still unused to being referred to as Ursa, even if it was the name you had supposedly bore for your entire life. “He and Ty Lee are right, after all. It’s just glass. Trash. What use could I really derive from something like that? If that’s all that’s left of my old life, then maybe I’m better off not remembering at all.”

“You don’t really believe that,” Mai said. “But if it makes you feel better, we won’t argue, right, Ty Lee?”

“Hm? No, we won’t,” Ty Lee said.

“What’s gotten you all distracted?” Mai said. Ty Lee shook her head.

“It’s nothing. By the way, can you help me pack for the academy? I’m worried I’ll forget something,” she said.

“That, or you want me to do it all for you,” Mai said.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do that!” Ty Lee said.

“I’m just joking,” Mai said, but since her voice remained that same steady deadpan, it was hard to tell. “Yes, I’ll help you, and I’ll get things ready for Ursa, too. That way she can leave as soon as Zuko gets her admitted into the academy. Let’s be honest — the sooner she can get out of here, the better.”

“That’s true,” Ty Lee said, though when she noticed your downcast expression, she rushed to reassure you. “Don’t feel bad!”

“It’s not a problem. I understand; you’ve already wasted so much time and so many resources on taking care of me. It’s only logical that you’d want me gone,” you said.

“It’s not like that,” Mai said. “There’s just people in this palace that you’d be better off never meeting. It’ll be good if you can get out before you have that displeasure. That’s all.”

“I see,” you said. “Then thank you once again for doing your best to look out for me.”

“We’ll leave you alone for a bit,” she said. “I’m sure this has all been a lot to process, so it’ll be good for you to come to terms with it on your own time.”

“Bye, Ursa! See you soon!” Ty Lee said.

“Bye,” you said, though your farewell was lacking much of her cheer. Even if Mai was right, you didn’t really want to sit alone. You had nothing to think about or do in the solitude, so what good would you gain from it? But you could hardly beg them to stay, not when you did not know them and they did not know you, so you only watched as they left you sitting by yourself in silence.

It was only when the moon was high in the sky that your door creaked open once more. You were still awake — you had been having trouble getting to sleep, so you had tentatively begun to walk around your room, testing your legs, familiarizing yourself with the motions of walking once more. When you heard footsteps, though, you immediately grew still, hoping that the visitor would be someone you recognized and not someone with more nefarious intentions.

You had been expecting, or perhaps hoping, that it would be Mai or Ty Lee, but to your surprise, it was Prince Zuko. He was not wearing armor, and his hair was loose and messy around his face, but there was no doubt that it was him.

“How much do you really remember?” he said without formality or even a greeting. “Hey. Tell me the truth, at least.”

“What do you mean?” you said. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I mean, have you really forgotten everything?” he said.

“Yes,” you said. “There’s nothing but a vast darkness whenever I try to look back at the time before I woke up here. I don’t remember a single thing about myself. I didn’t even know my name until you said it.”

He cocked his head at you, trying to discern if you were being truthful, and eventually he must’ve come to some conclusion, because he just buried his face in his hands.

“Okay,” he said.

“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” you said.

“It depends on who you’re asking,” he said. “And if you’re telling the truth.”

“I am!” you said.

“I believe you,” he said.

“Well…” you said. “There is one thing. Sometimes, in between the darkness, I’ll see something blue. I don’t know what it might represent, but I know that it’s there. It’s the only other thing I can recall — that precise shade like jewel-paint.”

“That could be anything,” he said.

“Yes, I know that,” you said. “That’s why I wouldn’t have even mentioned it ordinarily. Maybe something important to me was that color, or maybe there was just a blue tapestry on the wall where I was injured. There’s no concrete explanation, but I wanted you to know the full truth.”

“So that’s it, then,” he said.

“I suppose it is. On another subject, do you really mean to have me attend the Royal Fire Academy for Girls?” you said.

“You’ve already been accepted,” he said. “You’ll go. It’ll be alright.”

“Mai and Ty Lee didn’t seem to think so,” you said.

“You’re stronger than both of them, by far,” he said. “If they survived, you will, too.”

“Yet I’m the one that was captured,” you reminded him. “I don’t see how that makes me the stronger between us.”

A ghost of a smile flashed over his face. “You may not believe it, but at least to me, you are.”

“Did you know me very well, then, to be saying that with such confidence?” you said. “Before you found me that day? Were — were we friends?”

You didn’t want to say anything else, for it seemed presumptuous, but friends was close enough to what you were really asking that you figured the prince would understand.

It seemed that he did, but he did not appreciate the implication, for his face closed off and his posture grew withdrawn. Turning away from you, he pursed his lips.

“No,” he said. “We weren’t anything. You didn’t know me, and I didn’t know you. I only saved you because — because you and my mother share a name. That’s all.”

“It’s strange,” you said. “That name doesn’t even feel like it’s my own. Is it the amnesia that causes such a phenomenon?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “But you shouldn’t overthink it. Have fun at the Royal Fire Academy, Ursa. I’ll give you a messenger hawk; write to me frequently. And — and if you remember anything…”

“If I remember anything?” you prodded.

“Tell me first,” he said. “Not Ty Lee. Not anyone else. Me.”

#zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla #reader insert #the glass princess #canon au #m1ckeyb3rry writes

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house-of-lovin · 2 years ago

Text

love language

Tara Carpenter x F!Reader

masterlist | over (1) | safety net (3)

Summary: Tara Carpenter loves to play games with you. (inspired by love language by SZA)

Warnings: sexual themes implied, mature language. toxic!tara, jealous!tara.

Note: this was originally going to be a two-parter, but I wanted to keep writing about this dynamic. So I made it into three parts! Sorry for the long wait, I've been deathly ill the last few days, so it's been hard to do anything but sleep :/ but the last part will be posted tomorrow! (idk how i feel abt this but i tried my best lol)

Word Count: 3.7k+

Tara: ‘Last night was fun ;) but had to run!’

At least she had the decency to leave you a text as she left you to wake up in your bed, alone.

Sighing, you sit up; cracks and pops reverberate through the empty room as you stretch your stiff muscles. You run a tired hand on your face and glance at the spot beside you where Tara was just hours ago.

You should have known she would leave.

You weren’t sure if she even bothered to stay after you had passed from exhaustion after the fourth round. Tara rarely stayed over, her sister’s overprotectiveness made the occasion scarce. Coupled with the fact that the smaller girl thought it crossed boundaries to stay the night. So, the only time she had ever slept was when you fucked her senselessly she physically couldn’t make it home.

“Morning!” A loud voice interrupts the quietness in your dorm. “I bought the three of us some coffee. By the way, I didn’t appreciate coming home to you and Tara naked. You do you, but at least send a text – or hang a sock on the door… where’d Tara go?”

“Left…” You flush embarrassed, grabbing the shirt on your headboard to slip on, and stepping off your bed. Shivers run through your bare feet as you step on the cold floor.

“Oh…”

“Yeah… Oh.” You replied bitterly, moving to gather some clothes to start your day; even if it started off on the wrong foot already.

“...How does that make you feel?” She says after a few moments of silence.

“You’re not gonna therapize me right now, Minds.” You laugh, trying to avoid her probing tone. “It’s too early and I’m nearly naked.”

“You’re really gonna stand there and tell me it doesn’t bother you how she’s acting?” She crosses her arms, fed up with you and her childhood friend’s immature antics.

“Why would it bother me?” You say as evenly as you can. “We’re just hooking up.”

She scoffs, “Yeah right, Chad told me what happened at the coffee shop last night.”

You roll your eyes, “Of course, he did.”

“Point is… she’s playing games with you and you say that you’re fine with it because you're just hooking up but I can tell it bothers you, Y/N."

You stand rigid, unmoving and slightly uncomfortable. Talking about your feelings has never been your strong suit, maybe that’s why you fell so easily into this routine with Tara. It was all physical and lust-driven; no words have to be uttered when you two are tangled in each other’s sheets. But maybe, somewhere along the way lines began to blur the longer you got to know the Carpenter. The more your lives began to intertwine the harder it became to separate feelings during sex.

It grows increasingly difficult to ignore that thought, when she acts affectionately toward you around your friends. During movie nights, she’d scare off anyone else who dared to sit beside you; sharing a blanket and linking your fingers underneath. And in the classes you had together, she always made sure to save a seat for you beside her, leaning into you as close as she can.

“I promise… I’m fine. Tara can do whatever she wants.” You maintain eye contact with your roommate; trying to remain unbothered.

“I can’t deal with you two.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m just saying… you two have danced around each other long enough, maybe it's time you really talk to each other. Before someone gets hurt.”

You stay silent thinking over her words.

“Look... I really didn’t want to like you when I first moved here – getting stabbed makes people paranoid, you know.” She chuckles dryly. “But I guess the odds are finally in my favour 'cause I got a roommate I actually like… so figure your shit out because I’d like to keep hanging out together as a group please.”

You chuckle, breaking out of your trance. You send her a lopsided smile, appreciating her words. “I like being your roommate too, Minds.”

“Gross, this is too much for me now… go take a shower, you reek of sex.” She purposefully avoids your eyes, turning to grab her now lukewarm coffee.

You roll your eyes, laughing at Mindy's antics but grab some clothes anyway to start your day.

●●●

“So I just handed in my last assignment, which means it’s officially spring break for me… and everyone’s gonna be out tonight. Wanna come over?” Tara slides into your booth out of nowhere.

You flinch, slightly startled; dropping the pen you were using with a clang. You were currently in the common room on campus attempting to get some studying in before your final exam. “What?”

She rolls her eyes but smiles fondly at you. “I said, everyone’s out for the night. Come over… I miss you.”

Your cheeks flush as your heart darts wildly in your chest at her words. “We were just together last night…”

“Yeah, but I had to leave so soon cause Sam was coming home early.” She pouted, moving closer to you to swing her leg over yours.

You clear your throat, glancing down. “I still have to study for my exam tomorrow.”

“Come over after you study then…” She places a hand on your inner thigh, swiping her thumb on the fabric of your pants.

“Tara…” You were trying your hardest to gather some sort of self-control but it was becoming increasingly difficult when she started leaving light kisses on your shoulder. “Tara there are other people around.”

You were lucky you had chosen a booth that was tucked in the corner of the room, facing away from possible wandering eyes. Even still, this was definitely not the time nor the place, no matter how much you wanted to give in.

“Don’t care…” Her kisses on your clothed shoulder move upward toward your neck. You grab at her waist, trying to push her back. “Tara, seriously.”

She simply wraps her free arm around your shoulder, moving closer to you. “I’ll only stop if you promise to come over…”

You feel her bite down on the bruise you tried to cover up with your hoodie; you wince. “Ow… okay, okay. I’ll come over, now stop before someone reports us for public indecency.”

She rolls her eyes, but smirks smugly, unwrapping herself from you. You’d be a liar if you said you didn’t immediately feel cold from the lack of contact. “You’re no fun… but I’ll see you tonight.”

The Carpenter doesn’t say anything else. Just slides out of the booth, gathers her things and walks away from you.

You drop your head against the headrest of the booth, heaving out a heavy sigh. You feel like the most pathetic person in the world for giving in so easily, especially since Mindy’s words kept ringing in your ears all morning.

Later that night, you found yourself standing in front of the Carpenter’s apartment, contemplating if it wasn’t too late to turn around and run away. This is a bad idea and you knew it. You should have padlocked yourself in your dorm and not left until the weekend was over. But Mindy had convinced you this was the best chance for you to finally talk to Tara.

So here you were rooted dumbly in front of her door. Unable to bring yourself to knock.

The door opening makes the decision for you. “I heard you stomping down the hall, were you not gonna to knock?”

She has a smirk planted across her lips as she leans against the doorframe.

“Uh… I was just about to...”

You see her brow raise in amusement but doesn’t question your awkwardness; electing to pull you into her apartment with a tug on your wrist. “Come on… I have a movie on and popcorn waiting for us.”

You allow her to lead you through the apartment and then to the couch, pushing you to sit down. Upon sitting, you take a moment to scan the living room; taking note of the one light coming from the kitchen, casting darkness to the rest of the room. She has candles lit up on the coffee table across from you, with bowls of an assortment of snacks.

This suddenly felt more… intimate. You felt a pang of guilt for thinking she had only invited you over as a booty call.

“Um… what is this?” You ask dumbly.

“What’s it look like? Movie night.” She chuckles before plopping down beside you and draping a blanket over your legs. You feel her move closer, pressing your thighs together.

The two of you haven’t had a movie night since before you had fallen into this friends-with-benefits situation. They were actually the reason how you and Tara became closer in the early stages of your friendship.

Two months ago, she had invited you over for a movie night under the guise of simply being bored, but when she had opened the door you saw the slight redness in her irises and the tear-stained marks on her cheeks. You said nothing and just allowed her to pull you inside. In your attempts to cheer her up, you may have made a trip to the liquor store around the corner and drank away your sorrows with the Carpenter. That was the first night you and Tara had ever slept together.

“Oh… I just thought–never mind. Movie night sounds nice.” You smile, appreciating her efforts. Maybe that talk can wait another time. You didn’t want to ruin the night when she was clearly trying.

“Good.” She returns your grin, settling in to lean against you as she entangles your legs. “No talking this is my favourite part.”

“The movie just started.”

“Hush.”

●●●

Thirty minutes must have passed when you felt a hand run up and down your thigh. Your eyes snap away from the TV, looking down atop Tara’s head as she leans on your chest. You couldn’t see her face from this angle but you can tell she was enjoying how you tensed in her touch.

You ignore the movements, turning back to face the screen. But Tara doesn’t seem satisfied as she tilts her head up. The feeling of her soft lips brushing against your neck makes you stiffen even more in her hold. And like earlier, she begins to leave a litter of light pecks on your still-bruised neck.

“Tara…”

She hums, scooting up to reach your jaw. Her fingers tickle your sides as she slips her fingers under your shirt to grab your waist, shuffling to sit on your lap. Tara kisses that spot just under your ear that always makes you cave – marking you. She has you now and she knew it.

A part of you wants to bang your head against the wall because of course this movie night would eventually lead to sex. It always leads to sex with Tara. It was like a vicious cycle you couldn’t get off of. But the way she touches you feels so heavenly that you couldn’t even think clearly enough to stop her.

“Take this off…” She mutters, bunching up your shirt in a fist as she pushes it up. You pull back to obey her request, hastily yanking the fabric off your head and connecting your mouths in a harsh kiss. You slip your hand under her shirt, tracing your fingers dangerously close to the waistband of her shorts. She whines under the cold touch.

“No teasing…” She whispers before grabbing at your cheeks to pull you impossibly closer; the feeling of her tongue brushing against yours feels sinful.

You wrap an arm around her waist, ready to flip her on her back and take her on this couch when suddenly a frantic knock startles you both.

“What the fuck?” Tara mutters, pulling away from you but keeping a firm grip on your shoulders. She was panting heavily, lips already beginning to bruise.

“I thought you said everyone was out for the night?” You heave, also trying to catch your breath.

“They were…” She mutters, sliding off your lap to toss you your shirt. You slip it over your head swiftly, following the smaller girl as she walks to the door.

She takes a look through the peephole and the scowl on her face was an indication that she was less than pleased. Then she moves to unlock the numerous amounts of locks on her door, yanking it open.

The twins, Anika and Ethan stood on the other side of the door.

“What are you guys doing here?” Tara says unamused, crossing her arms over her chest. You move to stand behind her, connecting eyes with your roommate.

“Mindy said it’s movie night, so we came over,” Chad answers from behind his twin, holding up a plastic bag with a large smile on his face. “Don’t worry, we brought snacks!”

You send your roommate a glare, grateful Tara had her back to you. Slightly irritated because Mindy had been the one insisting you go see Tara.

Tara sighs, dropping her crossed arms. She glances at you for a brief moment, before opening the door wider to let the others in.

“I’m gonna make some more popcorn…” The Carpenter mutters, leaving the room.

You immediately corner Mindy. “What the hell, man? You told me to talk to her, what are you doing here?”

She raises an unimpressed brow, pointing at your neck. “Did she leave that hickey on your neck when you guys were talking too?”

You slap a hand on the spot she’s pointing at, attempting to hide it. “Shut up… I was going to talk to her later.”

“No, you weren’t.” She whispers, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. “You two were going to have sex and ignore the talking part… like you always do.”

You cross your arms, scowling, “So you gathered the entire village to cockblock me instead?”

“Yes.” She responds unapologetically. You stare at your roommate for a few seconds. Eventually, you groan lowly, knowing she’s right. You were about to give in to Tara and until you two have talked about what this is, that probably wasn’t the best idea.

Ultimately, that chance to talk with Tara never came as the friend group all settled back in the living room to watch a plethora of movies for the rest of the evening. And when Sam came home, everyone knew to call it a night.

Maybe you dodged a bullet by not confronting Tara tonight. Not quite sure what you even wanted to say to her, yet.

Hey Tara, remember when we agreed to just be friends with benefits? Yeah well I caught feelings... actually I may be in love with you. And it hurts when you run off with other people. Ha. Sorry.

She would run away from you. Tara was like a deer, you needed to be cautious upon approach. But even then, it was getting increasingly difficult to just remain friends with her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Tara leans against the doorframe; watching as you slip on your jacket to leave.

“I have my exam in the morning, but maybe after.” You stand unmoving for a few moments, wanting nothing more than to leave a kiss on her cheek but her sister was standing right there, watching the two of you with an observant gaze. So instead, you squeeze her shoulder, send her a tight-lipped smile and catch up with the rest of the group down the hall.

You missed Tara’s disappointed frown.

●●●

“What’s wrong with you?” Anika asks over the loud music.

Since it was officially spring break for everyone; students who decided to stay on campus have been throwing parties non-stop. And currently, that's where Tara found herself; huddled on a couch on a Thursday night beside Anika and Mindy, sipping on a red-solo cup as she watches people drunkenly dance around the room.

“What? There’s wrong with me.” She glances at her friend, confused.

“You’ve been staring holes at the front door for the last ten minutes.” Mindy counters, peering over her girlfriend to look at her childhood friend.

“You can just say you’re waiting for Y/N.” Anika teases, bumping her shoulder. "We all know."

Tara rolls her eyes, “I’m not waiting for anyone.”

The Carpenter hears a scoff, “You didn’t even wanna go to this party until you heard she might be coming.”

You’ve been…distant with her lately.

Giving half-excuses as to why you can’t hang out, cancelling last minute on group activities or taking hours to respond through texts.

She hasn’t seen you since your friends crashed movie night and that was already a few days ago. You never did meet up with her the next day, and since then you’ve made yourself scarce; not hanging out with the friend group, always seemingly busy.

She had confronted Chad on your whereabouts, she figured he would know where you have been spending your time, given your… close friendship with the boy. But Chad had merely said you were helping your uncle with his shop uptown during the break, hence why you haven’t been around.

Tara was hoping she can get a chance to be alone with you tonight and ask why you have been so closed off with her when she caught wind that Chad might be dragging you to the party.

“Shut up.” She mutters, sipping on the cheap alcohol. “She’s been acting weird lately, I just want answers.”

The two girls nodded, unconvinced. For the amount of times, you two say you’re just ‘hooking up’ Tara sure played the part of the concerned girlfriend perfectly.

Eventually, Tara’s wandering eyes snap to the door, catching a glimpse of the top of your head as push past the crowd with Chad and Ethan trailing behind you. You seem tense, looking like you’d rather be anywhere else than here.

Before she can even think about it, she’s standing, about to stomp over to you but a hand on her wrist stops her.

“What?” She glances over at Mindy.

“At least, let Y/N grab a drink before you ambush her.” She reasons, glancing over at you from across the room.

Tara turns to find you, Chad and Ethan greeting a group of people, smiling and laughing. The group eventually trickles over to the kitchen, no doubt grabbing some drinks.

“Fine…” She mutters, sitting back down in her spot as you disappear from her sight.

Tara waits for you to come out of the kitchen for the next ten minutes; patience thinning by the second. This was ridiculous, you were literally another room away. Why is she waiting for you to come back?

As the smaller girl's eyes remain unmoving from the kitchen door, she eventually sees you walking out with an unfamiliar girl beside you. You were smiling, clearly entertained by the conversation. Tara feels an uncomfortable pang in her chest at your undivided attention towards the girl.

The Carpenter can’t help her moving legs as she stands, abandoning her cup on a random table; stalking toward you with an unrelenting gaze. Before you can even step into the living room, Tara is dragging you upstairs by the wrist; leaving the girl you were conversing with confused.

“What the hell— Tara!” You stumble behind her, desperately trying not to trip on the steps as she tugs you along with an unabated grip.

She pushes you through a random door, slamming it shut behind her. Tara crosses her arms just glaring at you.

“What’d you do that for?” You huff, feeling slightly irritated.

She raises a brow at your tone, “Wanna tell me why you’ve been distant with me lately?”

You stand straighter, “I’m not… I’ve just been busy.”

Tara chuckles dryly, “Busy enough to ignore my texts?"

You didn't answer and the scoff Tara lets out tells you it was the wrong choice to make.

"You didn't seem busy enough when you were entertaining that girl downstairs.” Tara couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth, fed up with the silence.

She sees a flash of irritation in your eyes as you cross your arms, defensive. “Are you serious? Why do you even care? You’re not my girlfriend.”

Tara’s brows raise in surprise. For a brief moment, you regretted your words as she looked slightly hurt before her face drops impassively. “I didn’t know it was a crime to be worried about your friends.”

You scoff, “Yeah friends…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She stares at you, not believing that for a minute.

“What is going on with you?” Tara steps forward, but you take a step back. This time, the Carpenter can’t hide the frown on her lips.

“I think we should stop this…us.” You gesture between you two.

“What?” Tara's forehead creases in confusion, unsure if she heard you correctly.

“I can’t do it anymore.” You mutter, eyes trained to your shoes; unable to look her in the eyes.

“Why?” She takes a step forward, reaching for your arm but you yank back.

“Cause I caught feelings!” You shout making Tara flinch; the repressed feelings you've been hopelessly trying to bury come hurling out; unable to keep them at bay. You knew this situation would only end in heartbreak the longer it continued. So you made the decision to break your heart first before she got the chance to. “I can’t do the games anymore… I-I'm tired, Tara. I think we should stop.”

“I–I…” Tara stutters, taken aback by your confession. "Y/N... we agreed we're just hooking up."

You laugh solemnly, roughly rubbing your eyes. Was it possible to feel your own heartbreak? That's really all she had to say? "Yeah... well too late for that."

"Y/N..."

“You don’t have to say anything else. You made your feelings clear. But I caught feelings, okay? I know it wasn’t part of the plan, but it just happened. So I’m sorry, but I just need some space at the moment.”

Without waiting for a response, you brush past the smaller girl, slamming the door behind you.

Tara stands rooted in her spot, unable to move as you leave her to process what you just said.

●●●

Reader:

#tara carpenter #tara carpenter imagine #tara carpenter x you #tara carpenter x fem reader #tara carpenter x reader #scream #scream movie #scream 6 #scream vi #jenna ortega

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snailpaste · 3 months ago

Note

Hi! This is my first time requesting, so am kinda nervous to request!

Can I get Shanks x HalfDragon! Male reader? Or gn reader if you prefer that more, like they were secretly childhood best friends then got separated when HalfDragon! Male reader got captured by the Marines? (He was too weak that day) then few years pass and they meet again? Like Shanks found him all chained up on a island that belongs to the Marines (is there any island that belongs to the Marines??) and considered as dangerous?

Fluff and angst too pls!!

(Sorry if am not making any sense, English not my first language)

(Also, if you're uncomfortable with this, ignore it or delete it! I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable with me :D)

Shanks x Dragon! Male Reader

CONTENT: SFW, gen fic (can be read platonically or romantically), imprisonment, kidnapping, child neglect, male reader, dragon reader (like seraphim)

AN: I hear ya I hear ya. I’ve never written for anything remotely anthropomorphic before. This took so long I'm so sorry 💀 if you're still around I hope you like it (:

The Roger Pirates had been laying low for a few months, wandering about in the South Blue following a particularly high-profile rendezvous with an Admiral, when they drew in to dock at Bakemono Island.

It was here that you were found, sneaking up on, and stealing from, a tipsy Crocus. You’d nearly made it out the door too, cloak pulled tight over your shoulders, the rowdy drunken cheers of the crew providing a great distraction… until a firm hand clasped around your elbow and tugged you back. You spun around in shock, coming face-to-face with a red-haired boy roughly your own age, and a looming figure above.

You froze seeing his expression morph into one of shock, mentally preparing for him to be disgusted or angered by your eyes, the smattering of scales across your skin, your slightly pointed teeth, but his gaze only softened.

But the first things Shanks noticed were the cuts and scrapes covering you, evidence of the resentment and fear the locals had. You clearly hadn’t bathed in weeks (the lake long since frozen over in the harsh winter) and your lips were purple and trembling from the bitter night air. Bruises littered your skin, some fresh and some yellow.

Before you could run off again, Shanks had frantically called over a tall blond man. Rayleigh had looked down at you from behind shanks, immediately noticing the wallet clasped in your shaking hands, but his annoyance at a brat -And hell, you must’ve been no older than what, five?- stealing from his crew was quickly dulled when he saw your face. Any scolding died in his throat, and he gently forced you down into a chair, sliding you a bowl of stew with a simple demand, “eat.”

Courtesy of Shanks’s incessant probing, you reluctantly admitted you had no family or caregivers. Hearing this, Rayleigh and Roger had all but decided you were to become a member of their crew, a proposition you agreed to so quickly you accidentally choked on the bread roll you were given. The night had gone well after that, the crew didn’t ask questions, too tipsy or busy with terrible karaoke to bother, and once things had subdued you were brought aboard the Oro Jackson.

You were carried to a small cabin by Rayleigh, barely awake. He tucked you into a comfortable hammock where you fell asleep feeling secure for the first time in your life.

That sense of tranquillity was lost the second you woke up.

A boy your own age grinned down with bright red eyes and equally shocking hair, interrupting your startled scream with a chirpy “Hey! I’m Shanks. Who- no don’t scream you’ll wake the clown- who’re you? Whatcha doin’ here? I like your… scales? And your eyes! And-”

From that moment on Shanks became a permanent fixture in your life, whether by your own volition or not, and while a little overwhelming for an orphaned social outcast to begin with, the redhead quickly became your best friend. Shanks, and the rest of the crew, helped you come out of your shell

Over time the two of you more or less became a packaged deal— wherever you went, the crew knew Shanks was soon to follow suit; wherever Shanks went, you’d be hot on his heels. Quickly, the Oro Jackson became home and the crew the family you’d never had.

You quickly caught up to Shanks in swordsmanship, leading to amused gambling from the crew during your many duels. As you got older, the crew learned to make the two of you wait until a nearby island before fighting, following a rather nasty incident of a cleaved mast. Your dragon abilities became stronger as you got older too, and a nasty bout of flu led to you setting Buggy’s hat on fire.

The sea was calm the day you’d pulled in to dock at orchard island. Roger entrusted the task of gathering a few specific supplies to you, a routine you carried out often. Hours passed, and the atmosphere on the ship grew uneasy. Shanks returned from his own chores, expecting to see you, but you were nowhere in sight. The crew began searching the ship frantically, calling your name with increasing worry. However, as the minutes turned into hours, and the hours gave way to nightfall, it became evident that something was terribly wrong.

Shanks discovered your belongings untouched in their shared quarters. The half-finished drawings, the worn-out pirate hat - all left behind. The crew descended on the town in search of you.

In the heart of the town square, Gaban discovered a series of wanted posters plastered to the wall, large red “X”s painted over them — displaying your face. Shock ran through the crew as they first realised that the marines had been watching you closely. Then, that you’d been taken.

──────────────────── many years later...

The scent of salt and decay lingered in the air as Shanks and his crew disembarked onto the abandoned Naval Fortress, its walls cracked and crumbling, long since reclaimed by nature.

Possibilities of treasures or hidden secrets about the World Government drew Shanks to investigate the fortress

The soft slap of his sandals echoed as he wandered through the corridors.

As the crew rifled through old storage rooms and examined dusty maps, Shanks couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to this forsaken place. His instincts led him to a particularly intact section of the fortress; the walls stood strong, showing no signs of weathering.

“Hey, Benn,” he called over his shoulder, palm splayed against the cool stone, “you seeing what I’m seeing?”

A wave of Haki accompanied by a soft grunt confirmed it. Shanks pushed his hand forward, the brick beggining to slide backwards at the same time as a bookshelf on the opposite end of the room swung open. A draft of cold air greeted them as the secret door creaked open, revealing a dark passageway leading downwards.

The two exchanged looks before descending, Benn lighting a bundle of old lamps as a torch. The descent was eerie, the walls damp and the air heavy. The further they went, the more ominous the surroundings became. Shadows danced on the walls, and the distant echo of dripping water kept them on edge.

At the bottom of the passageway, Shanks caught his foot on something, something that clanked and grated against the lichen-covered floor. Benn swung the torch downwards, casting the corner of the room in dim light— and Shanks couldn't believe his eyes. Chained to the cold, the stone wall was a figure. You.

Word Count: 1094

#snailpaste: inbox #snailpaste: writing #i didn't edit this... if you see mistakes no you don't. this been sitting around for months bc ive been too scared to post it lmao #op:shanks #shanks x male reader #shanks x reader #one piece x m! reader #one piece x reader #one piece x male reader #one piece x gn reader #male reader

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may-fanfic · 2 years ago

Text

Safe With You

summary: Wednesday keeps having nightmares of you dying after what happened to Eugene. She comes to you one night after a particularly bad nightmare and you’re there to comfort her.

warnings: mentions of death

word count: 1,002

((feel free to send in any request you may have 💕))

_________________

After Eugene's unfortunate incident, it seemed to leave a mark on Wednesday. Nearly every night, the girl would wake up in a cold sweat, gasping frantically for air, looking around the dark room desperately. The nightmares were always the same and ended the same. No matter what she did differently in the dreams, it'll always result in your demise, and each night, it would paralyze her with dread.

The nightmares forced her to witness you die over and over. She began to loathe the night, almost afraid of falling asleep. She could not stomach the thought of something happening to you, but the dreams were always in great detail. Wednesday feared it wasn't dreams but instead visions that came to her in a different form. Perhaps, it might be fate; she'd do anything to prevent that from happening.

Wednesday rose from her bed; her trembling feet met the cold wooden floor. She needed to see you for herself to ensure that you were well. She knew she could not return to bed without easing her pounding heart. "Wednesday?" a voice called out; the flick of the light made Wednesday squint; Enid looked concerned at the state of her roommate. "Go back to sleep, Enid." her voice was dry, and her throat burned; wiping her hairline, she brushed away the droplets of sweat.

"Are you okay? You're shaking," Enid asked with concern. Enid could see the faint tears that clouded Wednesday's eyes.

"I'm fine." She avoided her worried eyes. "Go to sleep." with that, Wednesday left her dorm, she knew she could get caught sneaking around the campus, but that had been the least of her concern. She didn't want to talk to anyone about her nightmares, especially not Enid. She knew Enid would be overbearing and want to shower her in love, Enid had a good heart, but there wasn't anyone else she wanted right now but you.

When she softly knocked on the door, her heart dropped at the lack of movement in the dorm until Yoko pulled the door open, eyeing her with confusion written on her expression. "Wednesday, it's 3 in the-"

"Enid is having a crisis." Yoko's eyes went wide, and she nodded quickly and pushed her way out the door. Once Yoko was out of sight, the girl stepped into the room, her eyes immediately finding your sleeping form. A sigh of relief left her lips as she made her way over. You looked peaceful enough, eyes fluttered closed and lips slightly parted. She hated to disturb you, but a small piece of her wanted nothing more. She called your name softly, a single finger sticking out to gently poke your cheek.

Your eyes snapped open suddenly; a soft yelp slipped past your lips; she took a quick step back at your response. "Wednesday?" you croaked out, squinting your eyes at her. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." You let out a gentle breath, leaning back into your bed.

"Sorry..." she trailed off, feeling guilty for interrupting you.

"It's alright," you replied, letting out a yawn. "What happened?" Wednesday took the opportunity to sit on the edge of your bed; she wasn't sure how to approach the topic. Wednesday flinched slightly when a soft hand found her back before easing into your touch.

"You're going to die." Her words seemed so sincere and broke as if god came down and told her himself of your destiny. A soft laugh slipped past your lips, but then she let out a soft sniffle, and all you felt was concern for your girlfriend.

"Wednesday... Where did you get that from?" You asked quietly, your hand softly rubbing circles into her back. Wednesday was tense, afraid that a single touch from you would have her head thrown back with a vision, and it would confirm just what she feared, but as you touched her, nothing happened.

"I dream it; every night." She felt some relief finally getting it off her chest. You sat up suddenly, your hand still pressed against her back; your movement caused the girl to glance over her shoulder, finding you sat on your knees beside her. Your hand found her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Wednesday, It's nightmares. What happened to Eugene scared all of us." She let her shoulders drop, a soft sigh escaped her lips, leaning into you slightly. "But I'm going to be okay." You reassured, leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss against her neck. She could shiver at the sensation, letting her tired eyes fall closed. "And so will Eugene." You mumbled into her neck, causing Wednesday to nod.

"I know it's scary, but I'm right here." Wednesday shifted until she got a clear look at you; her soft hand reached up and found your cheek, her thumb caressing softly on your cheekbone. She wanted to feel you, make sure this hadn't just been another nightmare.

"If you have another one, you come here, okay?" She nodded, tugging you lightly until she could press the softest kiss to your lips. You always had a way of relaxing her; she felt safe with you and trusted you entirely.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" You spoke in a hushed tone; your forehead leaned against hers; there was a slight panic at the thought of having to relive such things, but there was some comfort knowing you'd be there, so she nodded.

You smiled lightly, leaning back into your bed and opening your arms for Wednesday. She eyed you lightly and felt frozen in her place. You could see the hesitation in her eyes before she sighed and settled into your bed, letting herself snuggle into your chest. Her arm looped around your waist, eyes fluttered close. "This is pleasant." She spoke softly, a small smile tugging at her lips. You hummed back in agreement, pressing a warm kiss to her hairline.

For the first time in a week, Wednesday felt eased, and only then did she sleep peacefully.

#Wednesday #Wednesday Addams #wednesday series #wednesday addams x reader #netflix wednesday #wednesday x reader #wednesday x you #wednesday addams x female reader #wednesday addams fanfic #jenna ortega #jenna ortega x reader #jenna ortega x fem reader #wednesday imagine

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https-harlow · 3 months ago

Text

Jack Harlow Concepts

Wedding Planning

Surprise Trip Home

Make A Stressful Day Better

Early Morning Shower Sex

Jack Getting Sick

Lazy Day

Bleached Hair

Jack Forgets your anniversary

Nightmares

Daughters Caught Cursing While Singing Jack’s Songs

Snow Day

Jack surprises you with a puppy Part 2

Vacation

All You Want

Newborn Cuddles

Parents Night Out

Be Quiet

Dinner Date

Monopoly

Friends with your ex

5th baby

Stressed out

She’s So Tiny

Awake before the kids

Busy

Quiet

Eternity Ring

Interrupted Interview

Vacation

Dance Party

Temporary Wedding Ring

Pool Day

Matching Pajamas

New Year’s Kiss

Spoiled

Baking

Waking Up Sick

Jack Hangs Out With His Ex

I Miss Daddy

Grumpy

Want To Be Close To You

Edging Jack

Cleaning Day

Arguing In Front Of The Girls

Tea Party

Silent Treatment

Falling Asleep On FaceTime

Overwhelmed

Early Morning Snuggles

Stolen Blankets

Ignored

Playing Basketball

Too Far Away

Interrupted

I Don't Want To

That's My Thing

Pillow Fort

Sleepover

On Stage

Vulnerable

I Love You

Celebrity Crush

Reading

I Know My Daughter

"We do not say that!!!"

"How could I ever believe another word you tell me?"

“Have anyone ever told you how annoying you are?”

“what do you say? You, me and no phones”

"Every time I turn around, one of you has done something"

"Baby... is this for me?"

Paisley's First Loose Tooth

Olive's First Cold

"Don't you dare."

“Anything my wife wants, she gets.”

"It was just a bad dream."

"Did I hear that correctly?"

Scary Costumes

Haunted House

“daddy I want you to be Winnie the Pooh for Halloween”

Childhood Halloween Costumes

“even if you turned into a scary monster, I’ll still love you forever”

Dressing Up As Each Other

“mommy, I didn’t know daddy was a scaredy-cat”

Scary Movies

Last Minute Costume Change

Scary Halloween Decoration

“I hate that costume! I hate Halloween daddy!”

Scarier Than I Remembered

Baking Cookies

Santa Letters

“Daddy I want a new sister this Christmas! Mine is ugly,”

“I’m so sorry, I thought your gift would be here by now”

Snoring

Christmas Party

"This isn't what I wanted!"

“Jackman get off me I can’t breathe!!”

“Daddy, I saw Mommy kissing Santa,”

“You’re the sexiest Santa I’ve ever seen”

Relaxing Christmas

#jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow x reader

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katzkinder · 4 months ago

Text

Since Mukuro and Tsuna are still weirdly connected, Tsuna’s sometimes gotten glimpses of things he wasn’t ever supposed to, and vice versa on Mukuro’s end. He usually shoves Tsuna awake once he notices Tsuna’s accidentally plopped into one of his memories, but

If it’s one of Tsuna’s, he’ll let it play out without interruption. It’s never anything of note, anyhow, so expending energy to wake him would be pointless >liar mc liar face

Eventually this gets him more than he bargained for

There’s also a lot of stuff in Tsuna’s mind that, once he’s aware of it, it makes him go okay hold up

Because it’s not like he ever assumed that Tsuna was some happy go lucky idiot, but he also assumed he wasn’t actually thinking about much in that head of his he’s sure is more fluff than brains

Gokudera-kun is going to be disillusioned with me any day now. I’m grateful to him but I feel bad for somehow tricking him like this. I shouldn’t let him get too close but I don’t want to hurt him, either. What should I do? I’m sorry, Gokudera-kun. Please don’t hate me when you figure it out.

Yamamoto is such a nice person; he shouldn’t be stuck around someone like me. He’s like Kyoko-chan like that. Nice to everyone, even useless, no good me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she fell in love with him. Of course the two nicest people in the whole school would date, right? I’m so worried about him… I don’t know how to handle the way he lights up when he sees me. What should I do? Don’t try and hurt yourself again. Don’t get hurt for my sake, either. I’m sorry I’m so weak…

Hibari-san doesn’t treat me differently from anyone else. He’s super scary but he still bothers to treat me like I’m normal. I think if even he began to act like I wasn’t worth his time I would seriously just give up and call it quits. Things have gotten so messed up. I’m relying on a psychopath like that kicking my ass to reassure me I still mean something. If even someone who values strength above all else still has hope for me what choice do I have?

Reborn’s going to give up on me. Reborn’s going to give up on me. Reborn’s going to give up on me. Don’t go. Don’t go. Don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go— It would be just like me to be so useless I beat the world’s greatest, huh?

The only words he ever found in relation to himself, and words that shake him to his core, are very simple ones

Please wait for me

One time, though, he managed to dive deep enough to find the source of Tsuna’s Dying Will, and he keeps going back despite knowing it’s a pointless, silly thing to do.

There are still the broken remnants of a cage around it. If he sits near it like this, he can almost pretend he isn’t in Vindicare. The cage is still red hot. He’ll burn his fingers if he tries to handle them. The flames reach out to him but don’t touch.

It is not a soft, warm home.

It is something which, if he allowed it to, would consume him right down to his marrow.

This is how Sawada Tsunayoshi has always survived

One day he sees that flame guttering, and he feels panic swell in his throat, because what could possibly, after all this time, be dimming that roaring inferno

There’s ice at the base now

Tsuna made a binding vow to destroy Vongola, that rotten, shambling corpse of a man’s ideals puppeteered by someone with a face a lot like his.

He knows better than anyone that when you make that kind of vow, if you don’t fulfill it… There are consequences.

The mafia has practically deified Vongola Primo’s will into its own separate entity.

The ring, rebuilt and no longer fit for any other, past or future, weighs cold on a young boy’s finger, demanding he make good on his promise

Mukuro wants to destroy the mafia. He’ll get his wish. He’ll make sure of it.

Sawada Tsunayoshi… Is too kind for that life, anyhow.

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #mukuro rokudo #sawada tsunayoshi #6927

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babydollmarauders · 2 years ago

Note

Baby au does she ever go through that clingy stage where all she wants is jack and nobody else can hold her?

omg okay idk if this was supposed to be a blurb or just a general question, so i’ll answer it both ways! she DEFINITELY does! el is such a daddy’s girl and y/n 100% blames it on how stingy jack is with her. but there was a good 6 month period where she literally didn’t want anything to do with anyone other than jack. which made it rough on poor y/n because when jack was on roadies or at practice or a game, el would be SO fussy.

———

Jack and i were on the couch, him horizontally, his back against the arm of the couch and his legs sprawled out along the cushions with me laying between them, my back against his chest. a movie plays on the tv but neither of us pay attention, rather doing our own things in our phones instead. he scrolls through instagram, liking his teammates and friends posts while i scroll through tiktok.

my daily tiktok break is interrupted by the sound of El crying from her crib, having awoken from her nap.

“i’ll get her.” i heave out a sigh, rolling myself over Jack’s leg and off the couch before standing up. Jack just nods, his eyes never leaving his phone, and i make my way over to my 11 month old’s room.

“hey sweetheart. mommy’s got you. mommy’s here.” i coo as i walk in. she stands in her crib, whining with tears welling in her eyes, but she shakes her head when i come closer.

“dada!” she screams as i scoop up under her armpits. i heave a deep exhale, very tired of this phase.

for the past two months, the only person El has wanted is Jack.

i pick her up? “dada!”

Luke picks her up? “dada!”

she’s mad if i’m feeding her instead of Jack. she cries when he’s not in her sight. he must be the one to get her when she wakes up in the middle of the night, in the morning, or from nap.

it’s made it incredibly hard for me since he’s not always here.

“dada!” i startle at the volume of her voice in my ear, fast-walking back to the living room. i stop at the edge of the couch, El’s whines still blaring in my ear.

Jack doesn’t seem phased, just holding an arm out so i can place her on his chest.

“take your shadow.” i grumble, laying her on his chest. she immediately quiets, putting her face in his face and smiling. “i think she ruptured my ear drum.”

Jack chuckles, shutting his phone off and setting it on the couch beside him. He grins at our daughter, picking her up by the hips and hovering her over his face.

“hey, El-Bell! you giving mama a hard time?” he coos, making her giggle.

“dada!” her tiny hands smack his cheeks, squishing and pulling at them.

“yeah? you just wanted daddy, huh?” he asks before smooching her cheeks repeatedly.

“yeah, that’s because, when you’re home, you never let her leave your sight.” i sigh, dropping on the couch by his feet.

“can you blame me? she’s my world. i hate leaving her.”

“nice to see where i rank.” i joke, making him chuckle.

“you’ll always be my love, my wife. but sorry, she’s stolen your previous number one spot in my heart.” he tells me. “not by much, you’re actually pretty tied, but i’m just saying if our apartment burned down, i would go for El first.”

“that’s okay, i wouldn’t expect any less.” i pat his foot, smiling at the sight before me. El sits in between his legs like i did mere minutes ago, playing with his hands. “besides, Luke would save me. at least i’m number one in his heart.”

“of course you are.” Jack tells me. “you baby him.”

“i do not!” i mock offense, holding a hand to my heart.

“LUKE!” he yells out.

“WHAT?” Luke calls back from his room.

“WHAT DID Y/N MAKE YOU FOR LUNCH YESTERDAY?” Jack asks.

“GRILLED CHEESE AND TOMATO SOUP AND A GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST!” Luke replies. Jack levels me with a stare.

“and i’ll bet you cut the crust off for him too.” he raises an eyebrow in questioning and my cheeks flush slightly.

“i plead the fifth.”

#el!hughes au #jack hughes x reader #ask faithlynn ✨

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bravrdm · 1 year ago

Text

I’ve been feeling very dark lately so here’s an interesting idea I had…

Azriel would do anything for his sweet little human wife.

He would kill anyone for his sweet little human wife.

Including the annoying fucking men who gamble and drink outside of your apartment at 2 am.

You slammed your book closed In anger, and adjusted your bonnet. absolutely fuming at the group of idiots who have been showing up in front of your apartment complex almost every night for the past month now.

They do absolutely nothing but drink,gamble,and scream at the top of their lungs.

It didn’t help that the past few weeks you kept waking up with your bonnet and headscarf halfway across the bed trying to escape in the middle of the night.

You complained yet again to your husband. The poor shadowsinger hated seeing you upset. He hated that after a long day of stressing you couldn’t even relax and finish your book.

“I’m sorry pet.” Azriel looked offer to his beautiful wife admiring he dark skin and drinking in her beauty.

You sighed, and clinched your hands tightly all the way to the bedroom. Something told Azriel that his response wasn’t sufficient enough to settle your nerves.

So after you finally drifted to sleep Azriel snuck his way out of the apartment and waltzed his way down the stairs stopping in-front of the gaggle of men throwing their fists around and chugging their liquor.

Azriel is always a gentleman when it comes to affairs involving his wife. He knew If he jumped straight to murder you would feel guilty once you found out.

He would hide it from you for as long as he could but you would find out eventually.You always do.

So after sauntering up to the gang of rowdy men he politely asked if they would quiet down.

Well, he asked as politely as he could be.

“Im guessing you are all aware of the time”

The group of men all turned to you husband, displeased to be interrupted.

“You know maybe if you put all this energy into getting a fucking job you all would actually have someplace to be instead of disturbing everyone else’s peace.”

The men were not pleased by his suggestion.

They approached Azriel at once prepared to fight for their rights to disturb the peace.

Azriel only cared about his wife’s peace and the look on you face as you stomped into the bedroom upset and unsatisfied with his empty apology.

That’s the only thing he cared about : pleasing you.

There was a philosopher who once said that going to be angry wasn’t good for your health.

It probably wasn’t good for your marriage either.

So he didn’t mind doing things like this.

For you he didn’t mind going out of his way even if it meant he would suffer for it.

Just like he didn’t mind killing the entire group of males in less than a few moments.

He didn’t mind chasing after one of the males that tried to get away either.

He certainly didn’t mind cleaning up the carnage that was left behind after the massacre.

And as he fished cleaning and soon climbed into bed after you, a strong sense of satisfaction filled his heart knowing his mate would never have to go to bed angry again.

Sorry if this shit was ass it’s been a while since I’ve written.

#acotar black reader #acotar x black reader #acotar black women #acotar x reader #azriel x black reader #rhysand x reader #azriel #azriel x reader #bravrdm #azriel smut #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #black reader #blackreader

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jedifarmerr · 4 months ago

Text

Wasteland Masterlist/AO3

Pairing: Frankie Morales x F!Reader/OFC (established backstory, no y/n or physical descriptions)

Series Summary: Sentenced to a life underground after a nuclear attack, what was said to be a quick and painless process somehow ended up taking 200 years. Waking up alone and with everyone else still frozen, a search for help and answers turns upside down when four mysterious men come into the picture.

Rating: E (chapter warnings: language, food & eating, some allusions to PTSD. Let me know if I missed anything!)

Word Count: 12k

Authors Note: Yes, it's been a thousand years and I'm so sorry, but here we go again!

Chapter 11

“Have any of you seen Tom?”

Frankie glanced from the Miller’s to Santiago, his gaze catching on the empty stool that haunted the head of the hightop. He grimaced and looked away, feeling a stone lodge in his gut. Being here without Tom didn’t sit right with him.

They were at Shamrock Brewhouse – a tradition on Tuesday night. There was no one in the sunroom with them, but Will and Santi scanned the basket archway and the limited view of the second floor for any prying eyes or stray barflies. Nothing. Scarlett was nowhere to be found with their food either.

“Nope,” Will answered as Santi sullenly shook his head. They turned to Benny who was tracing the rings and runny medullary rays on the oak table.

“I ran into Molly the other day at the grocery store, but no Tom,” Benny said, voice low and sad. “Have you seen him, Fish?”

Lifting the frosted mug to his lips, Frankie downed a heavy sip and swallowed. “Not since the welcome home party.”

Twelve days ago.

One of them should’ve seen Tom around town by now. Sanctuary was too damn compact. You couldn’t evade anyone for too long unless it was intentional.

A bitter taste hung tauntingly behind his uvula, and no – it wasn’t pale ale backwash. Tom had made his point abundantly clear not showing up tonight – for the second week in a row. The writing was plastered on the wall: Tom was avoiding them.

And Frankie had no idea how to deal with that.

It was fucking with his head.

He’d never been on the other end of Tom’s silent treatment. None of them had, not Will or even Santiago. They never fought to such a degree before. Frankie tried to recount when any of them last genuinely argued with Tom. It must’ve been sometime before he retired. Butting heads was inevitable on missions when stakes and tensions were high.

Will cleared his throat, shaking Frankie from his musing. Behind Will, the wall of windows revealed a pitch-black sky. It was still somewhat early. It couldn't have been later than 8:30, but the nights had grown longer the further it inched into fall.

"It's been long enough. It’s time we reach out,” Will declared as he rubbed his jawline, his fingers scraping the thick, blonde hair there. “Besides, Tom’s not gonna be the one to do it.”

“No shit,” Santi murmured, snatching a greasy fried pickle from the basket in the center of the table. "But if we all show up at his house unannounced, he's gonna feel ambushed."

True.

“Alright, then, who goes?” Will didn’t look directly at anyone, but the answer was obvious. Even if Frankie knew his friends would never say it first.

There was a long pause. The air was ripe with tension. The music from downstairs bled in from the ceiling into the sticky floorboards, vibrating the legs of his chair. Frankie glanced around the table at his friends. Their faces were bathed in disfigured shadows by the few stained-glass pendant lights that barely lit the room. The glass was painted in dark neutral tones, the bulbs dim and orange as pumpkins.

"We all know it has to be me,” Frankie broke the silence. “I can go see him tomorrow.”

“Only if I’m coming with you.” Santi stared at him adamantly. The expression on his face was resolute, but Frankie still protested.

“You don’t-”

“You’re not going alone,” Santi interrupted, voice firmer than usual. He rarely raised his voice at Frankie.

"Not after that shit he pulled with your mom," Will added, and Benny nodded.

Surprised, Frankie’s lips parted. He didn’t think they would still be hung up over that. It had been almost two weeks, but the guys were still pissed at Tom for dragging his mom into this mess. Good thing he kept his mouth shut about Tom mentioning his dad. Or else it would be World War fucking 4.

"I wonder what your dad would think of that - about all of this."

Frankie could still recall the way Tom sneered at him. Those words had been said so flippantly – so carelessly – that it rooted Frankie to the spot. Shocked. He would’ve sworn he’d just been pummeled by a rabid gulped with the way the air caught in his chest, squeezing his ribs and lungs.

Tom must’ve known. Tom had to have known that it haunted Frankie. That he’d thought about his dad and especially his opinion every goddamn day since meeting her. Hell – longer than that. It’d plagued him for years. Ever since that cold January night when tiny white specks fell from a starless sky, wetting his ears and nose – snow. It was almost as if those flakes had melted into his head, sunk into his brain, and buried themselves somewhere deep within the grooves and fissures of his frontal lobe. He could not rid himself of it, could not make a decision without it being there - looming and present, unseen like a ghost.

What would my dad think of this? Would he be proud of his son?

It had been in that moment that Frankie had wanted to defend himself against Tom. It took everything in him not to lash out, but he knew better than to argue with Tom when he felt backed into a corner. There was no point. It was like dealing with a wild boar – a prowling snake – a faulty fragmentation mine where one tiny misstep would make him completely implode.

Instead, Frankie had left his office without saying a word.

Honestly, Frankie didn’t expect Tom to swallow his pride and ask for forgiveness. It was less of a joke and more of a universal fact that Tom was allergic to apologies. The word sorry would sound alien in Tom’s voice. It didn’t matter, though. Frankie had already made up his mind and forgiven Redfly. It felt like the least he could do given the circumstances.

"It worked out, though, didn’t it?” Frankie finally replied.

Abruptly, Will straightened and his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Frankie said, his thumb smudging the sweaty mug. “Blue seems to like working there-”

“That’s not the point, man,” Will intercepted, his blue eyes piercing into Frankie. "He never should've put you in that position."

Frankie shrugged, his tongue running along the roof of his mouth, feeling the dents and ridges. It was tough. He could understand where Tom's anger stemmed from in a way they could not.

He could see it from Tom’s perspective, and a part of him felt deserving of Tom's wrath. If roles were reversed, he’d also feel betrayed. He’d be shaken up, as well. Crawling out of his skin if someone, let alone his friends, showed up with a Vault-Tec kid claiming they were innocent.

“I could’ve said no,” Frankie reminded them. “We just need to make things right with him.”

---

The next day, the sun was beginning to set as they made their way to Tom’s place.

Frankie felt like he was going to be sick. His throat was dry as chalk – tongue lace-patterned. The hard lump in the center of his chest was shaped like an unruly fist.

His slippery grip tightened, practically strangling the glass handle of their peace offering – a growler from Shamrock. Coming equipped with an olive branch in his arsenal seemed like a necessity at this point. It never hurt to be prepared.

He hoped that Tom would be willing to talk as they silently walked through the orange and pink painted streets – as they moved into the calmer part of town and past colonial homes primarily reserved for families.

Encroaching upon the white picket fence, he was surprised to see Molly. Or her ponytail, more like. Her rich copper hair nearly blended into the budding sunset. He’d never met anyone with red hair before her. As a kid he’d thought it was a myth that only existed in the dingy pages of picture books like Madeline.

She was alone in the backyard. Her back turned to them as she picked up fake, plastic food in the patchy grass. It gave him a moment to readjust a smile on his face before Santi knocked on the fence.

Molly spun around, squealing when she realized it was them. At least she was elated to see them.

"Tom didn't tell me you guys were coming by." She tossed the toys into a nearby bin and waved them in.

“Thought we’d surprise him.” Santi unlatched the gate, tipping his stubbly chin towards the house. "Is he home?"

“He’s inside with the girls.” She hugged Santi, then Frankie. This was a much kinder welcome than anticipated.

It was funny how different Molly was from Tom. On the outside, their couple almost seemed like a mismatch. Polar opposites. She was warm and bubbly and as green as her eyes. There was a callowness there, an innocence that Tom did not possess, but then again, nobody who lived in the vaults did.

Tom needed someone like that to calm, ground, and balm his barbed-tooth edges. Molly was good for him. They worked well together.

After setting the growler carefully on the ground, they helped Molly clean up the rest of the yard: chalk, hula hoops, and a single jump rope. Most of the time, Molly talked about the girls – Janey had started school. Tess was learning how to ride a bike. They’d been pestering Tom non-stop about when the guys would come visit.

That made Frankie feel a gut-twisting guilt for his friend. Poor Redfly. He was angry at them, but still had to cover up their absence and had done it well, given how normal Molly was behaving. Frankie couldn’t imagine. Lying to his mom was hard enough and would undoubtedly be worse with a wife and kids.

"Would you mind hanging around out here?” Molly asked, directing them to sit at the patio table. "It's almost bath time, and it will be impossible to get the girls upstairs if they see you."

It was no problem. Of course, they did as she said. It would offer them more privacy, anyway.

As Molly waved goodbye she made them promise to come by next week for dinner with the Millers before heading inside to fetch Tom.

Waiting, Frankie nervously drummed his fingers along the tempered glass. The sun was barely cusping the horizon. A crisp breeze, scented with salt and early October, rattled the leaves, which had recently changed from green into fiery shades of orange and red – some pink and vermillion.

The back door kicked open – it swung and hit the terracotta siding with a thwack.

Wordlessly, Tom stepped onto the porch. His jaw was clenched. His beard was scraggly and unkempt. The only good sign was a stack of three cups in his left hand. It seemed he was letting them stay for a drink.

Frankie watched as Tom mechanically walked towards them. Usually, he’d stand to greet him but decided not to push it. He instead went with the safe option of a smile. The last thing he wanted to do was get off on the wrong foot over something stupid like a hug.

Santi must've had the same thought because he remained seated, as well. "How's it going, man?"

"Alright." Curt. Stone-cold.

The only sounds that followed were the wind and the whine of rusty hinges as Tom sat in the chair between them. God – it was awkward. It made Frankie doubt if it was a good idea coming here.

Tentatively, Frankie slid the growler over to Tom hoping it would help. It was a gift – a tribute. Tom remained silent as the grave. For a second, he thought Tom might push it away, deny it, and tell them to leave, but he finally sighed and accepted the offering. He unstacked the cups, unscrewed the lid, and poured the inky black liquid into the first glass.

"Imperial Stout." Tom's lips twitched enough to resemble a smile. "Trying to butter me up?"

"That depends." Pope shrugged with an ease that Frankie envied. He made everything look so simple. “Is it working?”

Tom answered with a nondescript hum before filling the other two glasses. Together – they took a drink. The beer coated his mouth. It tasted mildly of cherries.

It was civil twilight. The sky was crepuscular and cornflower blue. Around them, the streets were empty. The closest neighbors were an elderly couple who were likely already in bed. Tom was lucky. His house was private, located on a half acre of land.

A light from upstairs suddenly turned on – it flooded the grass with a dull yellow hue, and Tom cleared his throat. “Molly’s getting the girls ready for bed, so we can cut the bullshit.”

"What bullshit?" Santi quickly shook his head. Barely a word had been said, yet. “We’re just here to talk.”

Tom remained silent, eyeing Santi as if he was lying. It didn’t seem to faze Santi because his voice was as calm as ever.

"What do you want from us, Tom? We’re doing everything you asked. We’ve been looking after her-”

“We? Really?” Tom snuffed, the bottom of his cup smacking the tempered glass. "Cause what I’ve heard is only one of you is babysitting her.” He flayed Frankie with such a venomous glare that it startled him. “How’d you get that job, huh Fish? Pulling sticks?”

"Are we supposed to be keeping an eye on her or not?" Santi replied before Frankie could finish licking the bitter tang off his lips.

"Keeping an eye on her is a very different thing from following her around like a fucking dog," Tom spat, and Frankie had to look away, suddenly feeling severely embarrassed.

A dog? Was that what people were saying? It must've been the shop owners. Assholes. God forbid he walk her to work every day for the first week. It was just to make sure that nobody fucked with her. He didn’t like how certain people looked at her sometimes. That’s why he also walked her home if she got off when it was already dark. Sanctuary might’ve been protected against ghouls, raiders, and mutants, but there were still creeps.

Her safety was his – their responsibility.

He vaguely wondered if Kasumi had told Tom how often he was at her apartment. He hoped not. He hoped Kasumi had kept it to herself how often she saw him in her garden. In those first few days especially, he'd hung around her place slightly more than necessary when it became apparent how much she was struggling. He couldn’t find it in himself to leave her alone for too long – isolated in that tiny garage apartment with nothing more than her thoughts for company. It seemed cruel.

“Molly went by your mom’s shop the other day, but Blue wasn’t there.” Tom’s fingers curled around the metal armrest, his knuckles blanched as white as the crescent moon. “No. She was out to lunch with you.”

“So what?” Santi – again – intercepted. “I took her to lunch today - Benny took her yesterday.”

“But it’s mostly you, isn’t it?” Tom’s voice was so smug that it came across as patronizing. Even more so when his lips twisted into an impish grin. It was as if he’d caught him.

But he didn’t. It wasn’t like that. It really wasn’t.

Yes. Frankie had taken on the brunt of the work. He’d mainly looked after her, but only because the others had been analyzing the data from Blue’s vault, trying to figure out a way to open the pods. They had also been working on decrypting the synth chip. Besides, Frankie had more time to spare than the others. Will and Santi, and likely Benny as well, had someone in their beds.

“They help out when they can,” Frankie explained, tugging at the worn sleeves of his camel-tan nubuck jacket. “You know tech shit has never been my thing.”

"Don’t fuck around with me.” Tom shook his head in disbelief – or maybe disgust. “Is she what - your friend, now?”

“So what if she is?” Santi answered, but other than a grimace, Tom ignored him; his gaze remained firmly glued to Frankie’s face.

“I-” Frankie muttered, “I don’t know.”

He didn’t. He really didn’t know what she was to him. It wasn’t something he ruminated over too much because anytime he did, it struck him as a sin. He felt contrite when he realized Blue had wormed her way in. She’d gotten closer than he anticipated, and the guilt bound to his skin like old, muddy blood.

His brain was hard-wired to despise anything remotely associated with that company. It was decades worth of psyops.

They were the enemy – they imprisoned innocent people – they destroyed his fucking life.

He knew, deep down, he knew that he was supposed to hate her.

And he had hated her.

He’d despised her entirely with that bratty attitude and sinfully tight vault suit. He'd wanted to kill her. He’d pointed a gun at her head and nearly shot her dead. Brain matter on the Vienna rug. Purple guts on the velvet couch like the mud from their boots. Her body left to decompose in the living room.

It was strange how after just two weeks with her, he could no longer bear that thought. Ugly. Horrible. It cut him deeper than the idea of being her friend. He felt violently sick whenever he remembered his finger on the trigger, visualized her trembling chin and bulging eyes in his sight. The memory was never supposed to stick with him like this. She was never supposed to matter. It was like nothing made sense anymore. He swore nothing did since she came crashing into his life.

Of course, he had no idea how to explain any of that. The sky had darkened and blued like mold when he looked at Tom, wishing he could articulate all the shit in his head. He cleared his throat.

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Tom spit the word back at him. Staggering back in his chair, Tom tilted his head and scrutinized him. “Are you fucking her?”

"What?” Frankie stared at him in shock as Santi sputtered on his drink. “No.”

"Jesus, Tom. What the fuck's the matter with you?"

"Me?" Tom hissed, ramming a finger into the center of his chest. He suddenly lurched forward and Frankie could see the prominent vein on his forehead throbbing. “What the fuck’s the matter with you? I mean, seriously - it’s like you’ve all forgotten who we’re dealing with here.”

“Do you think I could forget?” Frankie snapped – his shock erupting into indignation. His fingers curled into his fists as he tamped down the fire to rattle Redfly by the collar. How could you say that? How dare you. "I know better than anyone who we're dealing with," he spat, voice shaking with overwhelming rage. "My dad's dead because of them."

It was like he slapped Tom across the face. The force of his words made Tom’s head jerk, his mouth split apart like a gutted fish. Good. Tom gaze instantly dropped to the ground, where the moss was branching over the bricks.

Frankie snagged his drink off the table and took a heavy pull, though he wished for something stronger. His body craved it. Almost demanded it. His tongue itched for the specific burn that only the hard stuff – the good stuff – could supply: gin, whiskey, or whatever gut-rot he could quickly get his hands on. Of course, all of those were off the table. Had been for the last five years. He'd given up hard liquor when he quit Mentats and Jet and every other Chem that he'd grown too reliant on to live.

"What'd she say when you told her about your dad?" Tom's voice was soft, almost remorseful. It was the closest thing he'd get to an apology.

"I haven't told her yet," Frankie answered. "It's not easy to talk about." There was a reason why most people avoided mentioning Vault-Tec. It was a trigger. It brought back those memories that he used to try and choke to death in Chems and booze.

Soon. He would tell her, though. Very soon.

"I get it."

The stars breached the surface. A gust of chilly air seeped into his jacket, making Frankie snug it tighter. He turned to Tom and even in the ripe twilight, he could see Tom starting to crack. All that previous hardness was chipping away to reveal the man he knew – his friend. Redfly.

"I'm not asking you to trust her, Tom. I know I didn't." At first. Frankie sighed, dragging a hand across his jaw. "I still have doubts."

"About her?"

"Sometimes,” Frankie admitted. “Not as much as I used to, but it’s not like all the shit from before just goes away."

“We’re just asking you to give this a chance,” Santi siad, his carob eyes pleading with Tom. Trust us. "Can you do that?"

Tom waited a moment before giving a weak nod. “I’ll try.” He raised his glass in the air and rested it against his bottom lip. "Let's hope you're right."

"We'll find out more tomorrow." Santi squeezed Tom's shoulder. "She should give us some sort of intel at that meeting."

---

You'd expected things to move a little faster than this. You'd expected them to be on your ass for information. You'd expected them to give you at most a week, maybe a day or two at the new job before they started hounding you about holding up your end of the deal. This was, after all, a transaction. It'd sorta seemed like you'd be treated like one of those informants in a drug cartel movie.

You weren't complaining, though. Not at all. Having time to settle in was nice and much needed and you took it as a sign of good faith. They’d help up their end of the bargain, and now it was your turn to do the same.

After a little over two weeks, you were finally summoned to the council building. In the basement, they'd set up a private base where you could safely share intel. It was tucked away within a maze of short hallways, secured behind a pair of password-protected doors.

Stepping inside, the room appeared to be nothing special. It looked more like a storage room than a nerve center. The floor and walls were unfinished, gritty concrete with spidery cracks in the ceiling. Tiny motes of dust swirled around the strip lights like fruit gnats. Your eyes stung when you breathed in the heavy smell of loam and spilth.

The room was certainly spacious, though. Even with ten people in here, there was legroom to spare. The limited furniture undoubtedly helped. Against the back wall, a chalkboard on wheels was flanked by foldable steel chairs on two-tier dollys. Everyone gathered in the center of the room around a long cafeteria table.

Squeezing into the spot between Preston and Benny, you noticed the table was covered in maps, which encompassed the entire state of Massachusetts. A few even expanded into parts of Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

These maps were incredibly detailed. Each included street names, major highways and interstates, parks, and various landmarks. Someone had added their own interest points: X's and O's, making the maps look like a scrambled Tic-Tac-Toe board.

"These areas are where the bombs fell." Preston pointed at the black ring around Fall River. His finger rested there for a few seconds - tapping it for emphasis before trailing to the other circles.

You tracked his movement from Bridgewater to Rockport to Milford. When his finger ran across the ring near Wayland, you winced. It felt stupid that something as small as a circle could be a trigger. You couldn't escape it.

The nightmares were constant. Again and again, you dreamed of Concord, reliving everything like Groundhog Day. There was the distant sound of sirens and screams. Families desperately wailing for someone to save them. You could see Nora - bloody lips and gravel-dust on her ashen face. Against the summer blue horizon, a bright burst of light - a mushroom cloud of smoke. You'd thought you were going to die. It rattled your skull. You'd braced for impact, accepted death, then turned around and had to live.

To make matters worse, you could not go somewhere deep inside your head anymore. You couldn’t escape to happier times. Everything was too fresh and tainted. You couldn't remember Nora without seeing her dead. You couldn't think about your parents or family trips to Spain and Greece or the Amalfi fucking Coast without the taste of vinegar burning your throat. All your memories had become rotten, curdling like spoiled milk.

A salty pressure built around your temples, and you quickly closed your eyes to keep back tears. This was not the time or place to fall apart. You could do that later, in bed, like a normal person.

If anyone noticed your reaction, they didn't mention it. You were thankful for that. You were still figuring out how to deal with everything and where to put it all.

Stuff it down.

Stuff it away.

Bury it.

You opened your eyes when the threat of tears finally waned. You exhaled before scanning the mix of red and black X’s on the map. Focusing, you recognized some of the locations of the black X’s and noticed the red was solely in the north.

"I know these black X's are Vault-Tec. So, I'm guessing the red must be for Treasury?"

Preston smiled in response as Benny explained, "We added Treasury's, just in case you were curious."

Surprisingly, it was very informative. Most of the vaults they'd found were also in the north. That made sense, you supposed. Finding the vaults closest to Treasury's and Sanctuary was probably easy – or easier, at least. Additionally, there was one in Malden, Revere, two more in the neighborhoods around Boston, and four in New Hampshire. In total, you counted 16, but that was it?

"When did you start looking?" you asked. You were genuinely curious, but your tone must have come off as judgmental or unimpressed because Tom immediately appeared offended. He defensively folded his arms and nearly elbowed Frankie in the ribs as he puffed out his chest.

"The first vault was freed in 2200."

Suddenly, it made sense why they seemed so desperate for your help. Almost 80 years of searching, 16 was barely scratching the surface. At this rate, it would take another two centuries for them to locate the rest. If not longer.

"The first vault actually liberated themselves," Preston elaborated, gesturing to the X in Swampscott. "They found us, and that's how all this started."

"How many others have freed themselves?"

"As far as we know, none," Preston said.

Tom suddenly let out a sound that sounded like a mix of a scoff and a snort. It audibly flared his nostrils. "They made sure it never happened again," he stressed, the tendons in his jaw twitching.

He continued to stare at you. The chill that ran down your spine had nothing to do with the cold draft in the basement room. Under his ruthless hazel eyes, you felt scrutinized. His upper lip curled in disgust as if you stunk of toxic waste.

The guys had said they'd talked to Redfly. He's gonna try. He's gonna give you a chance. Yeah, that didn't seem to be the case.

Benny must've sensed the growing tension because he abruptly shifted topics. “Do a lot of these overlap with the ones you had?”

You tilted your head unevenly from side to side.

“About half-and-half. I didn’t know the exact location of the ones in New Hampshire. Or any of these, either.” Your finger orbited around the three vaults in the far northeastern region. “I was pretty dicey on this one, too,” you added, pecking at the city of Lawrence. It was lucky for them that most of the ones you knew were either within a 25-mile radius of Concord or to the southeast of Boston.

“So, that means you have a vault to give us.” Tom’s voice was flat as wood as he rolled a marker across the table. It would've been easier to just hand it to you, but of course, he had to be difficult. He probably didn't want to risk touching you. It was like you were diseased.

Luckily, you caught the marker before it could slide off and hit the ground. The last thing you wanted to give Tom was the satisfaction of seeing you crawling around on the cold, cement floor for a runaway marker.

You tapped the capped side of the marker against your chin. The fluorescent lights were bright white, reflecting against the synthetic paper. On the edge of Peabody, there was a vault. Finding Cannon Rock on the map, your eyes drifted a few blocks northeast. Right there. In that park.

You paused and abruptly looked at Concord, where your family was currently frozen. You thought back to when you left the vault. The only reason you did it was to save them, not betray them.

You'd been flirting with the point of no return but realized this was it. If you did this, if you gave up the vault, you could never go back to them again. Your father would not forgive you. Thinking about losing the only thing you had left of the world you knew made your chest feel too tight. It was as if a burlap sack was wrapped around your sternum, making it hard to breathe fully.

You wondered if this was the right decision. There was a split-second where you considered giving them the wrong location, leading them there, then making a run for it. This was a position you never wanted to be in. You were tired of being misled. Tired of not knowing who to trust. Time and time again, your own intuition had proven wrong. You didn't want to fuck up anymore.

You looked up, and when your gaze landed on Frankie, he offered a small smile. It was subtle, a simple quirk of his pink lips. You felt penitent. You hated yourself for even briefly considering misleading them. It was a lapse in judgment. You had no idea what you were thinking. Whether you turned back or not, things would never be the same with your family. You knew too much.

You uncapped the marker and took a deep breath before drawing an X near the border of Peabody and Lynn.

No going back, now. It was done.

---

When Frankie saw where she marked the map, he knew Tom would definitely question her.

“Right here?” Tom hammered his index finger against the fresh blue X, smearing the edges onto a nearby street. "Are you sure about that?"

Tom's stare bore into her like a heavy boot on her neck, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she firmly nodded, not even looking down to double-check.

"Positive?" Tom continued to press despite her confidence. "Cause we've checked that area more than a dozen times-”

"I don't know what to tell you, Tom. It's there."

Frankie had lost count of how many times their unit was sent on a recce to scope out that exact area.

Over the years, there had been countless clues and data encryptions that alluded to a vault being somewhere in Peabody. They’d go and waste days sifting through the town, turning it upside down to leave empty-handed.

After a while, Frankie had started to believe it was a ruse – a diversionary tactic to throw them off their scent. It sounded like something Vault-Tec would do, but now, it seemed like they had just overlooked it somehow.

"What made you pick this vault?" Tom asked.

She glanced down at the map before peering up at Tom through her lashes. "Uh - it's the closest one." Her tone was dry, a duh heavily implied. "I thought that would be the easiest way to do this, wouldn't you agree?"

The vein on Tom's forehead pulsed like a wound. He grunted in response, clearly pained to agree with her.

Truthfully, they should've been thanking her. She could've easily given them a vault that would take days or weeks to reach, but Frankie decided not to point that out. He'd rather not pick a fight before the ink could dry on their new peace treaty. Things between them weren't entirely back to normal just yet. Their interactions were still slightly awkward – stilted and fragile.

"So," Will rested his hip against the table and looked at Tom. "Is the captain going to tag along?"

Tom's lips split into a disarming grin that shaved the years off his face. Gone were the bags, wrinkles, and frown lines. He hadn't seen Tom smile like that since he retired.

Frankie knew Tom missed being out there – with a gun in his hand. He craved action – adrenaline – the acts of violence that inflicted the wasteland. Sitting at a desk and reading through files wasn't the life he ultimately envisioned.

"Come on." Tom folded his arms over his chest. "Do you think I'm gonna let you guys do this without me?"

"Woo!" Benny cheered, pounding his fist on the table. "That's what I'm fucking talking about."

Frankie glanced across the table at Blue and noticed the worry flicker over her face. Her fingers were curled tightly around the marker as her smile faltered to one side. There was a faraway look in her eyes and absently watched Tom and Benny celebrate. She blinked and abruptly corrected her expression. Even though she appeared fine, Frankie could tell innately that something was bothering her.

It had become almost like a sixth sense. Over the last two months, he had subconsciously come to learn her tics and tells. She didn't even have to give a lot. To him, she was downright easy to read.

And right now, she was nervous. He suspected that her unease had something to do with Tom and couldn't really blame her. She had no reason to trust him or any of them for that matter.

"Will Molly be okay with that?" Preston's voice was almost as stiff as his spine, but Tom didn’t seem to realize.

"She won't mind," Tom said dismissively. It was likely. After retiring, Tom continued to fill in for a sick patrol or volunteer to clear out an infestation of ghouls. He'd jump at the chance to escape from Sanctuary. She must've realized those few hours outside the gates kept him sane. "Besides, as long as Blue's telling the truth, we should be back before dark."

When Tom looked away, Preston quickly exchanged a glance with Curie. The two of them shared an inscrutable look. Interesting. Maybe it wasn't just him who caught on to Blue's apprehension.

"Well, someone has to balance out the testosterone in this group," Curie announced casually. "So, I'll come too."

Blue snorted earnestly before flashing Curie a grateful smile. "I'd really like that, but-" she paused for a moment, her lips twisting to one side. “Won’t people find it strange that I'm tagging along?"

“We don’t think so,” Preston said. “But we did talk and decided if anyone asks, we’ll say you aren’t comfortable being here without the guys, just yet. That excuse should buy us a few months, at least.”

"Besides, everyone believes you grew up out there," Will added. "To survive this long, you'd have to be a pretty big badass."

She smirked at that, but her expression quickly turned serious again. "So, you don't think anyone will put two and two together? Even with finding a vault?"

Frankie could understand her concern, though it was highly unlikely for a few reasons. For one – the guys didn't even believe who she was when she was in front of them, donning a vault suit.

Secondly, nobody had any real reason to question the Council or their unit. They were both respected. Both were highly regarded throughout the entire Commonwealth. Even if there were rumors, Frankie doubted the gossip would include Vault-Tec. Not with his involvement. Just his seal of approval alone cleared her name.

Thankfully, Preston said something different than that.

“We told everyone about the synths in Lexington for a reason. They know we’ve been working hard on analyzing the chip,” he explained, glancing briefly at Tom. “It wouldn’t be the first time a vault’s been found that way.”

She was silent for a long moment – seemingly contemplating before she nodded and said, “Okay.”

That was it.

The meeting concluded with Tom laying out a plan.

“We’ll leave Sunday.” He looked in Blue’s direction and scowled. “After the morning patrols get back. I don’t want any fucking surprises.”

---

On Sunday morning, the patrols slowly trickled in one by one. The routes covered the area of Clifton, but you doubted they extended further than Phillip's Beach or Swampscott Mall. Waiting seemed like a waste of precious daylight for only an hour or so of clearance, but questioning Tom would surely piss him off. He was already in a sour enough mood.

For the last hour, Preston and him had bickered in the corner. The council lobby didn't offer much in terms of privacy, but neither seemed to care.

"All I'm saying is maybe we should postpone the trip another day or two," Preston had said, halfway pleading with Tom to reconsider.

It had been raining on and off since yesterday. Last night, it was so severe that it woke you up twice. Even though the storm had passed earlier, you glanced out the window at the sky, where a mass of blackness brooded on the very distant horizon. Traversing through a hostile wasteland was dangerous - even more so with sight lines limited. Preston made it sound like a death wish, but Tom seemed intent on asserting his dominance.

"It's just rain. We'll be fine." Tom's tone was harsh – final. "I'm not waiting another day to find out if she's telling the truth."

Preston must have realized that Tom would not budge because he went to a nearby linen closet and handed everyone a flimsy bedroll. He dropped it in your lap, and it smelled like mothballs. "Just in case."

Luckily, you'd been prepared and wore a field jacket with a hood. Clad in combat boots and tatty black jeans, the leather holster around your waist looked like something straight from an old western - Gunsmoke or something with Clint Eastwood. It was thoroughly shocking that Tom even allowed you to have a gun.

It was around 10 or so when the last of the patrols walked through the gates with another clean bill of health. Finally, the group left – Preston waving goodbye with a worried look in his ochre eyes.

Against the overcast skies, you could see it was storming in Lawrence or Andover. Somewhere out west. The clouds over there were smeared and bruised with a sickly green hue. The air was gummy and thick with humidity from the October rain, and as you walked down Tedscore Street, you could feel your tank top sticking to your skin.

It was strange being surrounded again by destruction. Inside the walls of Sanctuary, you could almost forget what existed on the other side. No - everything there was so clean and put-together instead of destitute.

You turned onto Eastern Avenue and saw it lined with decay. The houses and stores were comatose, rotted from time and weather. The uranium residue hung above the town, blending into the ozone. This once busy street was now full of holes.

Staring down at your feet, you carefully stepped around the debris - the pits and cracks that riddled the asphalt, making it undrivable. Inside the potholes, the fresh puddles carried a specific stink. It was earthy and sulfuric, overwhelming your nostrils like a hot shower in Orlando, Florida.

Funny – even the smell of petrichor was different than it used to be. Nothing was the same anymore. It was ugly. It was broken. The world was in utter shreds.

“Pick up the pace," Tom barked, knocking you back into the present. His hot breath and bits of spit pelted the back of your neck. He was right on your heels.

"I'm going as fast as I can," you sassed. You refused to look over your shoulder, not wanting to be that close to his face.

"It's slick here, man," Benny was quick to come to your defense. It wasn't like he was moving any faster than you.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Frankie lightly grip Tom's arm and guide him three steps back. You were thankful for that. It was better than nothing, though you wished Tom wasn't here at all.

You knew he would ruin the entire vibe when he announced that he was coming along. Everyone seemed uneasy around him. Barely anyone had said a word over the last hour and a half.

You’d thought Frankie was bad in the beginning, but even he didn’t act this cold. At least Frankie had the decency to act a little sympathetically toward your situation. He didn't trust or like you but cared somewhat about your safety. He didn't leave you in Concord. He'd protected you from the bugs and ghouls. You doubted Tom would've taken a nasty gash to the arm for you.

Two or maybe closer to three miles left, the group stopped for lunch in a strip mall parking lot. You plopped down next to Benny on the curb and pulled out a sandwich from the front pocket of your bag. Molly had made one for everyone. This morning, she'd handed them out personally before kissing Tom goodbye. You'd talked with her briefly, a quick introduction, but she was nicer than you expected given her husband. There was something kind about her smile.

"So," Tom began as you took the first bite. "How exactly do you know where this vault is?"

Suddenly, you realized they'd never explicitly asked how you knew the location of the vaults. You supposed it was a small detail in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps they thought it was common knowledge back then, and honestly, they wouldn’t have been completely wrong.

Looking around, you wouldn't know it now, but there were billboards everywhere, cheesy late-night infomercials, and posters shepherding traffic to the closest vault in case of an emergency. Back then, everyone knew where a few vaults were.

You swallowed. "My family went to the grand opening." Took another bite. This sandwich was delicious. You needed the recipe for whatever this sauce was.

"You've been to this vault before?" Will sounded surprised and slightly confused. Suddenly, you noticed everyone staring at you and gulped.

"Only outside of it, but yeah." You absently picked at the bread crust. Once construction finished, barely anyone was allowed inside aside from a few high-ups, such as your parents. Not even Alice had that sort of clearance, much to her annoyance.

"Vaults are a fragile system," your dad would tell her. "They need to be kept in perfect condition. We must maintain their integrity."

"And every vault had a grand opening?" Santi clarified, and you nodded.

As a kid, you used to cut the big yellow ribbon. You could remember the first time – outside of Vault 85. It was in the middle of a blizzard. Your teeth chattered, tiny hands shaking so violently in your fur-trimmed gloves that your dad had to hold them steady as you grappled with the giant scissors.

"I don't get it." Benny scratched his temple with a quizzical expression. "If you couldn’t go inside, what was the point?”

You couldn't help but smile at Benny. It was funny how much things had changed. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to him. In this world, there was no PR or promotions. They had no idea that a brand needed media attention to thrive.

"The whole thing was just for publicity." The Boston Bugle was always front and center – their pictures were broadcast on WRVR evening news. “The only reason my dad brought me was for the photo op. He thought seeing a family unit was good for the brand.”

Tom made an ugly sound with his mouth.

"If your face was already selling vaults, sounds like you might as well have worked for them." Tom glanced at Frankie, who was awkwardly sitting next to him on the cement parking block.

"It's not like I didn't consider it." You did. Of course you did. That would've made things at home so much easier. It would've made your parents – God, your mom so proud. How nice it would've been to make her proud for once. You shoved that thought away and shrugged. “At the end of the day, I didn’t want a job dealing with the end of the world. It wasn't something I liked thinking about."

For good reason, you thought, scanning the strip mall. There were the remains of a Dunkin' sign – a pizza place – a quaint corner cafe. At lunchtime, this area would've been swarming.

Now, there was no one. Now, there was just brittle mineral dust. Ash and ghosts.

You sighed. "I would've rather focused on saving the world I had, not saving it in the aftermath."

"And that's what Vault-Tec was doing? Saving the world?" Tom hissed, the words gritting between his teeth.

"That's what I thought at the time," you said calmly, voice sad. "Turns out I was wrong."

—-

It wasn't much further now. You were passing St. Joseph Cemetery, where headstones were buried under a thicket of weeds and bright yellow dandelions. Amidst the river birch and flowering dogwood trees were mausoleums entwined in vines. The brass doors were dark and rich with patina.

“Blue!” Curie called out, snapping your attention away from the grand iron archway and to the front of the line. “Wanna come lead the way?”

“Sure.”

She ushered you to the front of the pack, walking at your side. You squinted at the street signs and storefronts. It was hard to orient yourself when everything looked radically different.

“Here, this might help,” Curie said, revealing a pip-boy from her bag and placing it in your hands.

“Is this a 3000 model?” You marveled at the pip-boy before latching the band around your wrist. The device was roughly the size of your foot. It was clunkier and heavier than the prototypes. Vault-Tec had advertised the device as lightweight – you won’t even realize you have one on. Just another one of their lies. It was no wonder Curie had kept it in her bag. It felt like a two-liter of soda pressed against your radius and ulna.

On the screen, there was a monochrome map. You messed with the control dial on the right side, flipping through the different tabs at the top: data, stats, and a radio that emitted pure static. The device must’ve been modded because it was missing the vault features. Even on the home screen, there was no Vault-Boy (or girl).

"I'm guessing your vault didn't hand those out." Tom's voice was even more grating than the static.

"Nope," you said simply as you switched back to the map, honing in on the vault's location and placing a pin.

"And you didn't find that odd?"

"No, not really," you replied. "Believe it or not, the last thing on my mind after watching the world end was a fancy computer for my wrist."

You could hear Tom let out a low growl but ignored it.

As you continued down the road, you wondered if Tom was someone who people didn’t usually fuck with. It seemed highly likely. He was intimidating, after all. Big and menacing in his build. He struck you as someone who didn’t want to be tested. Or bested for that matter.

On the last half-mile, it began to drizzle. Picking up your pace slightly, you glanced at the screen and turned right. Just a block ahead, outside the neighborhood, was Granite Park, nestled in a valley between rolling hills. Most people had no idea the park was funded by Vault-Tec. It wasn't anywhere on the sign.

The park was eerie with its empty benches and dead gardens. The monkey bars and jungle gyms had lost their paint and would undoubtedly collapse with time. A cool breeze rustled the swings. The melody was haunting.

It looked different than you remembered, and not in the way that everything looked different. The park had changed, but you couldn't pinpoint what exactly.

“So, where is it?” Tom slapped his thighs like an impatient child.

With an irritated huff, you pressed forward. Your boots slopped through the overgrown grass, hitting just below your knees. After passing the picnic tables, it was basically a swamp. It led to a pond filled with moss and trash, and the air stank of stagnant water. There were willow flies and golden drakes the size of your fist. The vault was around here somewhere.

Rubbing your chin, you spanned the shoreline and even went deeper, near the forest edge. Nothing. In a valley, the land was flat enough that you could see the expanse of open area fairly clearly. Your mouth began to dry as you backtracked to the picnic tables, then scanned the grounds, including the kiddie area and splash zone.

Again – nothing.

The vault was gone.

---

“Are we gonna keep going around in circles, Blue?” Tom taunted, and you could imagine the look on his face - his chin thrust out and eyes gleaming with insolence.

Holding your breath, you surveyed the pond, the soccer fields, and cracked pickleball courts. That was the fourth time: still, nothing. Your toes and fingers felt like static. Your heart was in your throat. Your anxiety was rising to a level that made it nearly impossible to think straight.

A strong hand grasped your shoulder, yanking you from the brink of a full-blown panic attack. Your feet swerved in a circle and when you tilted your chin up, Frankie’s hand dropped to his side. He shifted back a step to study you. His thumb dragged over his bottom lip, your eyes tracking the flicker of pink that appeared between his teeth.

“Are you sure it’s here?” Frankie whispered, glancing momentarily at the group. His brows were pleated, his jaw tensing. He appeared less upset and more worried than anything.

Tom was going to lose his shit any second.

“I don’t understand. I-” You bit down hard on your bottom lip, though let it go before drawing blood. “It was here. I swear.”

It was.

It was here.

The vault couldn’t just get up and move, so where the hell was it?

Cursing, you spun back around to observe the park for the fifth time. You scanned the perimeter of the pond. Something pulled you back to the cola cans and plastic bags floating in the water. A hairless duck had made a nest from diapers.

It became more difficult to focus as Tom’s voice rose, yelling and laughing as if this was a game he’d just won. “I knew it.” He repeated over and over again. “I fucking knew she was a fraud.”

“Shut up and let her concentrate.” Frankie snapped before mumbling. “Jesus Christ.”

“Fuck you mean concentrate?” Tom snorted. “The vault isn’t here. She's setting us up. She lied to you."

“Stop it,” Santi warned, voice stern and angrier than you've ever heard. Tom growled like a wild beast, clearly not in the mood for orders.

“This is fucking bullshit.” He roared as the rain began to fall harder. “For all we know, synths could be on the other side of that tree line."

“That’s not helping, Tom,” Curie cut in, which was mildly surprising. She barely knew you, after all. All of them, especially Curie, had every right to doubt you, yet…

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Frankie shift and reposition himself at your back. He was guarding you. Ben and Will also began to defend you. It made your chest feel warm, even against the chill of the rain.

You refused to let them down. Focusing, you gripped the edges of your hood and crushed it against your ears to drown out the fighting.

Think. Come on, think.

It didn’t make sense. If this vault had opened when you were a kid, you would’ve understood being turned around, but it had been relatively newer when the bombs fell. Its grand opening was the day after your 21st birthday. Your dad had dragged you here disastrously hungover, hair in a bun and makeup crusty from the night before. You'd spent the entire drive dry-heaving in the backseat of his Bentley Continental. Then a solid ten minutes with your head buried in a public toilet, swearing off Sea Breeze's and vodka in general.

You glanced over at the bathroom, a brick shack that was surprisingly in decent shape. The vault was just a short distance from the bathroom. Squinting, you inspected where you swore there used to be a gravel pathway. Amidst the weeds and greenery, something silver caught your eye.

It was a random metal pole near the outdoor fitness zone. It looked plain and unassuming, nothing special at all. However, it triggered a memory from the day you left the vault. Outside, one of the first things you’d noticed were silver poles. The last remnants of the fence.

Slowly, your hands fell to your sides as you spotted another pole a few yards off - two more on your left. They were scattered in seemingly random order, though none too far from...you rocked back.

“The pond.”

“What’d you say?”

You ignored Frankie, too busy perusing the hills surrounding the park. The pieces were rapidly clicking into place. Yes, you’d realized something was different. Something had changed, and it was this pond. This pond was not here before. A group of vaults had been built in a flood plain. You closed your eyes, visualizing the bulkier entrance that was reinforced with protective barriers to prevent it from bogging.

Obviously, those barriers were now gone. They’d descended underground, you guessed. Disappearing along with the men, women, and children when the vault was sealed.

Suddenly, you were seeing first-hand how deep Vault-Tec's corruption ran.

They’d clearly planned this when building the vaults, strategically placing them in places where no one could find them – places where the landscape could do the dirty work. The rain had covered their tracks. Marked on a map or not, no one would question a pond in the middle of a park. It was brilliant and frightening.

That was why these guys had struggled to find the vaults. That must’ve been why they appeared so frustrated – so desperate. They had searched this area before – they were in the right place this whole time. Everything was starting to make sense.

You spun around to find Frankie staring at you from the berm. Visibly anxious, his fist shook at his side. You slid over to him, leaving barely a gap. “It’s in the pond. It’s here. It’s under the water.”

The expression on his face morphed from curious to puzzled. It took him a moment to digest the information. His gaze flickered from your face to the murky water behind your shoulder. “In there?”

You nodded, and Tom scoffed with his usual mark of disdain.

“Do you expect us to take your word for that?"

"Not at all." You moved to the side and dramatically motioned towards the pond. "Be my guest and check for yourself," you challenged, making his upper lip curl into a snarl.

You didn’t know how deep the pond went, but surely, if he dove down far enough, he’d find something. The yellow and white paint had likely thinned and peeled away, but the VT mullion would still be visible. Ponds weren’t metal at the bottom. Perhaps he could feel the steel ridges under his feet or with his hands.

As thunder rumbled in the distance, Benny stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Will asked, very concerned, but Benny was already stripping off his clothes.

His jacket and shirt were strewn over a bench. Gone were his boots, socks, and jeans. Clad in black briefs, your cheeks burned seeing Benny this exposed.

You'd seen a man shirtless before. Of course, you had, but they never looked like that. He was lean with muscle and much hairier than you expected. His chest and lower abdomen were swathed in dark fuzz.

Shit. You were staring.

Turning away, you caught Frankie eyeing you, his tongue pressing against his cheek. It was hard to read his expression. The rain dribbled off the brim of his cap and blurred his features – his revelatory eyes.

Almost immediately, he broke eye contact and glanced down at your wrist. "Benny will need the pip-boy," he stated, devoid of emotion.

When you finally managed to unhook the pip-boy, Benny was on the shoreline in all his farmer-tan glory. He was close enough where you could see every individual strand of russet hair between his muscled pecs. You cleared your throat and handed over the pip-boy.

"It should be somewhere close to the middle," you told him as he secured the device to his wrist and flicked on its flashlight. Smart. In this cloud coverage, visibility was going to be extremely limited.

"Don't worry, Blue. I'll find it." Benny winked before Will patted him firmly on the shoulder.

"Be quick." Will tipped his chin towards the dark, grumbly sky. They didn't need Ben dying from a lightning strike.

“I will,” Benny promised and descended into the sooty water. It must’ve been cold because the muscles on his back convulsed. The water ruffled as his head disappeared entirely under the moss.

The rain formed capillary waves, making it impossible to see where Benny was. On the shoreline, everyone stood in a single line except Tom, who was lurking in your shadow. Every breath, every scoff, every mumbled remark puffed against your pulse point like the hot breath of a dragon.

Benny emerged once – a second time, a few more yards out. He shook his hair out of his eyes like a wet dog. “I think I see it!” He sucked in a big gulp of air before diving back down again.

The storm was edging closer. Closer. The moody, pewter-green clouds heaved a low growl. A flash of white light snaked the sky as Benny resurfaced for a third time.

"Holy shit!" Benny slapped the water and hollered, "We've struck gold, bitches!"

---

The celebration was cut short by the storm. The rain pelted them as Frankie and the group fled to the nearest house with an intact roof - a split-level with a wood stove in the living room. It was a lucky find. Even though it stunk of mold, and radroaches had long-infested the master bedroom.

As Santi and Will treated the intrusion with double-barrels, Frankie worked on starting a fire. Searching the second bedroom, he found a stack of Grognak comic books and used the pages as tinder. Good thing he brought matches. His hands hovered around the fire for warmth, but the cold had seeped through his bones and made his teeth chatter. His fingers were chilled blue from the rain. His clothes were soggy and swamped, gripping his skin like mutant guts.

He undressed in the kitchen, hiding his bare ass behind the island. God forbid Blue come upstairs to see him in such a pitiful, shriveled state. Not just her – he would hate for Curie or any woman to see him like that. Even though it was completely normal. It was the cold, wet goddamnit.

After yanking on a spare pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his pack, he draped the sodden clothes over a dining room chair to dry. Time was already running thin before this delay, so there was no chance of returning to Sanctuary tonight.

Sighing, Frankie leaned against the sliding glass door and watched the steady deluge of rain. The backyard offered a small view of the park. In the gaps between the trees, he could see a glimpse of the swing set - the teeter-totters. Throughout the years, he’d spent countless hours ambling around these streets and even that goddamn park for a sign of a vault.

It was there. This whole time, the vault was right there.

He wondered how many other vaults they'd missed, overlooked, and walked right past without a clue. It was obvious they never would’ve found it on their own. They never would’ve thought to look at the bottom of a pond. Those people would’ve been stuck there forever if not for her: A woman whose skin was freezer-burned less than three months ago.

It was crazy how much had changed within a season – from a simple mission to explore further west. He could remember arriving in Concord defeated, drained, and covered in sweat and ghoul brains. Like the town before, the neighborhood had been swarming with undead. Throughout those muggy August nights, he'd desperately wished for a miracle while bunking in a brick mansion, unaware that its original owners had worked for Vault-Tec. Unaware of her existence at all.

Little did he know.

Frankie had never put much stock in the idea of fate. He would much rather rely on logic and choice than the idea that his life was written in asterism. However, there was no denying that meeting her felt almost cosmic.

Thinking about her like that made the hair on the back of his neck bristle. It scared him how fast his doubts about her were beginning to dwindle. He wanted to cling to them. Sometimes, those what-ifs felt like the only thing keeping him sane. It gave him an excuse to keep her at a distance. He didn't know what would happen if he didn't have a reason to keep her at arm's length.

A violent crash yanked Frankie from his musing. The first thing that came to his mind was Blue. As he wondered where she was, he remembered she was with Ben and Curie. She was safe with them.

Gun at the ready, he tracked the noise to the master bedroom. It was just Will and Santi moving an armoire to block a broken window, where the roaches were likely entering. Afterward, they decided to do the same for the rest of the house, checking and covering any entry points large enough for creatures to sneak through.

When they finally finished securing the house, it was dinner time. Everyone was gathered in the living room around the rekindled fire. Luckily, they were prepared for the worst and brought mason jars of chili, which was just vegetables and beans, no meat. Despite it being cold, Frankie preferred this to sleeping on an empty stomach.

“So, give me a timeline - how long does this whole freeing the vault thing take.”

Frankie turned to his left, where Blue was beside him, criss-cross on the moth-bitten rug. She shoveled a handful of dry fruit into her mouth. Her and her damn dried fruit.

“It can be a lengthy process,” Frankie answered, and she bobbled her head for him to elaborate. He snorted at her dramatics. “Depends on the season, the weather, the geographical location of the vault. Sometimes, it takes weeks - other times months.”

"Alright, but what about this one?"

Probably a while. Frankie shrugged. “I don’t know.”

The raggedy couch cushion whined under Curie as she leaned forward. “Typically, the process starts by hacking into the vault's main control board using the Pip-Boy's adapter plug. We install a backdoor attack, which allows us to remotely access the vault doors without tipping them off."

“Damn.”

“And not just that,” Curie continued. "We also gain access into the Pip-Boys registered to the vault, which offers us a headcount for the MRO.”

Doors and Pip-Boys. It was strange how those were the two weak spots in the system. Everything else, though, was locked down and encrypted. As a young cadet, part of their duties included ciphering the coding - or at least, attempting to. Frankie thought back to those weekends spent at the base's information room in the dark basement. Afterward, his head would hurt from the mess of letters, numbers, and mysterious dates: September 7th, 2041, January 3rd, 2045, and more that he couldn't fully recall. Once in a while, a random word would be thrown into the mix, like Sugar Plum Fairy or Peanut.

Goddamn peanut was everywhere. In fact, the intelligence team had been thoroughly convinced that it must have something to do with elephants. One of the best units in Sanctuary's history - Frankie's idols growing up - were deployed to Franklin Park Zoo. It was one of the worst missions ever. The unit returned home down two arms and an entire person after a blood bath with mutant lions and pygmy hippos. It was a miracle any of them survived.

The crackle of thunder pulled Frankie from his thoughts. As he slugged back a bite of chili, he figured Curie would launch into one of her usual tangents. He was fully expecting Curie to tell Blue about the ability to communicate with the Vault Dwellers as well. It made more sense when Curie explained it. She knew better than all of them the logistics behind sending messages to individual Pip-Boys. She was on the intelligence team that would spend days, even weeks, cold-calling until someone got curious enough to take the bait.

Breaking into the vault without an early warning was risky. It was essential to form trust for a smooth rescue. After all, these people had kids – families that they would want to protect. Even though it was shitty, the vault was the only home they'd ever known. That was their entire world.

Curie's mouth opened as if to say more, but she must've noticed Tom glaring from the dusty recliner because she took a drink from her canteen instead. No one wanted to deal with Tom's wrath, and knowing Curie, she'd likely tell Blue later - when Tom wasn't around to give her hell.

Will finished off the last of his chili, screwing on the lid of his jar. "This time will be harder, though," he said in his typical methodical tone. "Since the main control board is embedded into the entrance-"

“Which is underwater,” Blue finished before Will could.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Will hummed. "So, we're gonna have to figure out how to drain the pond."

“Well, maybe-” Blue abruptly cut herself off, wrenching her jaw shut. Her expression switched into something conflicted, her gaze diverting to her lap, where the cloth bag of dried fruit was twisted like a water knot in her grasp. She bit down on her lip, chewing it thoughtfully.

Frankie wondered what was going on in that head of hers as the wind rattled the windows. The rain continued to pour down in sheets, leaking from the various water stains in the popcorn ceiling. Underneath, the wooden floorboards were bent and warped and gnarled. He forced himself to focus on the plop-plop-plop instead of trying to figure out her brain. He didn't need to know the interworkings of her mind - he didn't understand why he even cared.

In the quiet room, the fire crackled and spit, casting the room in shadows. Blue drew in a breath as if savoring the smell of burning paper. The resin buttons on her shirt slowly relaxed as she exhaled. “I don’t know if you noticed the metal poles around the pond, but those used to be a part of a fence that went around the vault."

“The fuck does that have to do with anything?” Tom interrupted, very confrontational. Could he let her finish?

“I’m not completely sure,” she answered Tom more calmly than he deserved before choosing to focus on Frankie. "But if Vault-Tec wanted to wipe themselves from the surface, why leave those?"

Intrigued, Frankie's body dipped into the space between them as he licked his lips. "They wouldn't."

"Exactly." Her bright eyes reflected the orange light from the fire – her lips curved into a pleasing smile. “Now, those poles could be integral to the vault structure or something. But, maybe, there’s some type of wiring inside.” She shrugged, shaking her head as if worried to say something stupid. "I mean - I don't know much about that kinda stuff, but in order for computers and Pip-Boys to work, they gotta be getting a signal from somewhere, right?"

That goddamn head of hers.

This was the second time today she'd left him dumbstruck. She looked unsure of herself - almost insecure - and even though they didn't know if she was right or wrong, it was a sound theory. She was full of surprises.

"Blue!" Benny revered, hugging her around the shoulders and lightly shaking her. "You might be the smartest girl I've ever met."

She giggled girlishly as Benny rocked her back and forth a few times before finally releasing her.

"Thanks, but I find that hard to believe when Curie's legit the reincarnation of her namesake."

Curie clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses."

"That sounds like something a genius would say," Blue said, and Frankie tilted his head, his lips pursed as if deeply puzzled.

"Does it?"

She scrunched her nose at the sarcasm in his tone and answered, "A humble one, at least."

"And how many of those do you know?"

"Sadly, I've met more arrogant idiots," she said before trying to open her jar of chili. It didn't budge. She grunted, trying and failing for the second time. She frowned.

He gestured at the jar with two fingers. "Let me see it."

Stubborn, like always, Blue ignored him and instead cranked the lid as hard as possible. The muscles in her neck flexed, but when it still didn't give way, she groaned and begrudgingly handed it over, finally accepting his help. It took one solid twist for him to pop the lid.

"Show off," she huffed under her breath. He'd never met someone so determined to prove themselves as capable. Even with small things.

When she snatched the jar from his hand, it was Deja Vu. He was instantly transported back to her first few days in Sanctuary when cooped up in her house, they'd spent hours in her tiny kitchen. She'd put herself in charge of cooking, but he was always there, propped against a nearby counter to watch her zest lemons and mince garlic cloves. She insisted that she didn't need his help, but five minutes later, she would turn around and ask him to open a jar, stir the sauce, or grab some spices off the rack. "Whatever you say, chef."

She was a far better cook than he anticipated. Every dish, even the most basic, had her own little flare.

One night, she whipped up some brownies, licking the gooey batter off the beater. Her tongue twisted, curling around the metal rods to get every drop. It had made his breath catch.

The memory of her pretty tongue flashed behind his eyes, making his blood simmer in his veins. Frankie dug his fingers into the musty rug. His focus abruptly dipped to the jar pressed against her lips. She tipped back her head, eating the chili like a pull of whiskey.

His gaze was glued to her mouth as she thumbed some juice off her bottom lip and sucked it from her fingertip. It made something hot unfurl in his gut that he had to jam into his intestines before it could take root. He looked away, suddenly remembering where he was. This wasn't her kitchen. Other people were in the room.

Curie and Will might've been lost in each other, but Santi and Ben were staring at him. In the dark, the firelight obscured their faces - their expressions indistinct. When he thought of looking in Tom's direction, the heat of shame burned his cheeks.

It was stupid. He'd done nothing wrong at all.

So, why did he feel caught?

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