#I’ve fallen into the deep end and don’t plan on getting out | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

and-claudia · 3 months ago

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Against All Odds pt. 12 (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that’s not your jam, I’m sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won’t actually be in it for a bit

warnings for this part: mentions of suicide, mentions of coming out (it's not all super heavy, I promise!!)

ALSO!!! I am making a decision that kinda contradicts an earlier part... I am adding this note so you know, earlier I was going off Joel's age based off the show, I am now changing it to be his age in the game just to make a few things work a little better... SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION!!!!!!!

word count: 2800+

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gif not mine

Ellie’s PoV

Once I was sure Yn was out of earshot, I turned to Joel.

“I want to talk about what happens after we find your brother in Wyoming.” I said seriously.

He gave me a weird look, “Okay…”

I took a deep breath before starting, “What’s your plan for me once we get there?”

“Well… Marleen didn’t exactly give us the address of where you were going. So I was gonna ask Tommy if he knew where those Fireflies might be. Get you there… then… I don’t know. Timeline really depends on how long we’re out here, how close Yn is to havin’ the baby.” He explained.

I nodded and was quiet for a moment.

“What if I don’t want to go to Fireflies…” I asked quietly.

“Do you not want to?” Joel asked.

I took a deep breath, “I don’t know…I didn’t want to tell Yn because I don’t want it to stress her out in any way since she’s already pregnant… but I don’t think I want to find the Fireflies anymore…” I watched him to gauge his reaction, but he gave none, “It’s just… I’ve been told I am special, that I am the key to the cure… but I don’t think I am… not anymore. I tried to save Sam… it didn’t work. If I can’t save one person, how am I expected to save thousands?”

I paused.

“And I know this sounds selfish, and I know I am not anything really to either of you, but I don’t want to leave you two behind… you three behind. I want to be here when Yn has the baby and watch it grow into a tiny person.”

I looked at him, trying to fight the tears brimming in my eyes. All I could do was give a small nod.

“That’s not selfish, Ellie. It’s human.” Joel said after a moment, “Yn and I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to. And you don’t have to decide anything right now. Trust me, we will have plenty of time before now and Wyoming for you to think and make up your mind.”

I nodded before whispering, “Thank you, Joel. For everything.”

He only nodded back, “Go get some rest. I’ll nudge you in a couple of hours to take a watch shift.” he said, nodding off to where Yn had fallen asleep against a tree.

I nodded and stood up. My mind was still reeling with what the hell I wanted to do. But Joel was right, nothing needed to be decided tonight. We were still far away from Wyoming, I would have plenty of time to decide by then… right?

Yn’s PoV

The following days were fairly uneventful. We walked for hours on end and would rest at night. The sun was setting on our fifth day of straight walking. To say that my feet hurt would be a severe understatement. Joel had said something to me the other day about how I should start showing here soon since I was around 15 weeks now, but currently, the only getting bigger were my feet. I tried not to say anything, though, because I knew their feet must be getting sore, too. But every step we took sent a jolt of pain up my leg.

“Shouldn’t we stop soon?” I asked.

“Eh, the sun’s just now starting to set. We can probably go another hour.” Joel said.

He was a few paces ahead of me when he said it, so he couldn’t see the sour face I made… but Ellie did.

“You okay?” She asked quietly.

“Hm? Yeah, fine.” I said.

She nodded before speeding up to be in step with Joel.

“Damn it, Ellie.” I mumbled to myself as I watched her talk to Joel.

They both stopped walking, which allowed me to catch up with them.

“On second thought, let's just stop for the night. This is a decent clearing. There’s a creek nearby to get some water from. We can stay here for the night.” He said.

“Joel, I’m fine. Let’s go another hour, then stop. It’ll let us get another mile or so under our belt.” I said.

He said nothing but glanced down to where I had undone my boots earlier. They were completely undone to where they would come off, but they were clearly loosened.

“Why’re your boots undone?” He asked, standing with his hands on his hips.

“Forgot to relace them… pregnancy brain. Let’s go. We’re losing daylight.” I said.

“Nope, sit.” He nodded to a large rock beside a tree.

I sighed and did as he said. He followed me over and squatted down in front of me. Once I was sitting, he began undoing my boots. I winced slightly as he pulled the first one off.

“M’sorry.” He said, grabbing the second one and sliding it off gently.

“How long have they been like this?” He asked.

“Started about halfway through the day yesterday. I didn’t want to say anything and slow us down.” I explained.

“You need to speak up when you’re in pain. We’re not traveling tomorrow. We’ll take a day to rest.” He said.

“No, I don’t want to slow us down.” I tried to argue.

“Not resting will slow us down even more. Tomorrow, I want you on your feet as little as possible, okay?” He said.

I nodded, “Can you go fill my water for me?” I asked, leaning over to grab it out of my pack that I had dropped beside me.

“Yeah. Ellie, give me your water, I’ll go fill them. When I get back, I’ll set a trap to try and get us some dinner.” Joel said, standing up and walking over to her.

Once he was gone, Ellie came over and sat down beside me on the ground.

“You didn’t have to say anything to Joel, you know.” I said.

I wasn’t actually mad at her in any way; I was more just frustrated with myself for being the reason why we were taking a break. Deep down, I knew it was out of my control, but it still didn’t help make me feel any better about it.

“I know. But I also know you weren’t going to. Plus, I could tell you were in pain.” She said.

“Thank you… sorry that I’m slowing us down.” I said.

“Eh, it’s not your fault, it’s the rugrat’s.” She said, making me smile.

“I guess you’re right. I just want to make sure we can get you to the Fireflies as soon as possible. I don’t know if they’re on a timeline or something.” I explained.

I noticed that she stiffened up slightly at the mention of the Fireflies.

She let out a nervous laugh, “About that… I talked to Joel a few nights ago… I am having second thoughts on finding them.” She said, looking at me clearly trying to watch for my reaction.

“Okay… any particular reason why?” I asked.

“I am not certain that I am the cure… I just don’t know if it’s worth leaving you and Joel… and the baby for something that’s not a guarantee. And I know I at least want to stay with you until the baby gets here… but then thinking about leaving after that doesn’t feel right either. I just don’t know what to do. I told Joel that part of me feels guilty for even considering staying because I could be potentially saving thousands… but I may not even be the cure.”

“That’s a decision only you can make, Ellie. But it doesn’t have to be soon. We’ll have plenty of time before we even get to Wyoming. Only you know what is best for you… I will say that I would love to have you here when I have the baby. I want them to meet you for sure. But if and when the time comes that you decide to go find the Fireflies, I won’t hold you back. I’ll support you in any decision you make. Come here.” I said, scooting over to make room for her on the rock.

She got up and sat beside me. I hugged her to my side.

“Thank you.” She said.

I only nodded.

“You know, you’re pretty good at the whole mom thing.” She said suddenly, making me look at her.

“What?”

“I don’t know… you just have something that makes me feel like I can share anything with you… like I don’t have to hide anything.” She explained.

“Well, I’m glad. And you really can tell me anything.” I said.

“Okay, well… do you remember how y’all mentioned a boyfriend when asking if anyone would come looking for me?”

“Yeah.” I nodded for her to continue.

“Well, truth is, I’ve never had a boyfriend… and I honestly don’t see myself ever having a boyfriend. If you know what I mean…” She said, glancing over at me.

“I get what you mean.” I said, smiling and nodding.

“You’re okay with that?” She asked, almost shocked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? You’re not the first gay person I’ve met.” I said with a small laugh.

She nodded as she let out a breath, “Do you think Joel will be okay with it?” She asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“Really, even at his age?” She asked, making us both laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Joel asked as he walked back up with our water canteens filled.

“Nothing.” Ellie said.

“Okay…” He said, clearly not convinced, “I am going to go try and trap something for dinner.”

He collected some supplies before heading off once again.

“So… if there wasn’t a boyfriend, has there ever been a girlfriend? Sorry if that’s too personal, just curious about your life before all of this.”

She hesitated, and I was scared that I had crossed the line. But then she began to speak.

“I don’t know if I would call her a girlfriend… but there was a girl I liked… Riley.”

The way she said told me everything I needed to know at that moment. Riley was dead, and she clearly wasn’t over it yet.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I shook my head, “You don’t have to talk about if you’re not ready. I get it. I lost the last of my brothers years ago, and I still don’t like talking about it. It’s okay.” I said, hugging her close once again.

“I miss her… does that ever go away?” She asked.

I shook my head sadly, “No… it gets easier. Eventually, you get to where you don’t even think about it anymore until something reminds you of them, then hurts again, not as bad as it originally did, but still hurts. Then again, you eventually stop thinking about it until you get reminded again. It hurts, but it's even less than last time. And it continues. It always hurts just a little bit.” I explained the best I could.

She nodded.

“Whatever happened though, it wasn’t your fault… and neither was Sam.” She snapped her head to look at me, “I don’t know what happened with you and him, but Joel mentioned you tried to save him, and it didn’t work… that’s not your fault. I know it’s hard, but don’t blame yourself. And trust me, I know that’s easier said than done. Hell, it’s been over ten years, and I still blame myself for my brother’s death…”

“What happened?” She asked.

“He hung himself… I am the one who found him. He had just done it. I tried to cut him down. I just wasn’t fast enough… My father blamed me for it until the day he died… and I still carry that with me. Like I said, the pain never fully goes away…”

“How old were you?” She asked.

“Doesn’t matter… no one should have to experience that… I was younger than you were.” I said, staring off.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t pry.” She said.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll share more about my brothers later if you want. Some of the better memories.” I offered, and she smiled.

“I’d like that. I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to have siblings, even just one.” She said.

I couldn’t help but think about how if she chose to stay, then she would definitely be getting one. Although I wasn’t much older than her, just around ten years, I could see her becoming like a daughter to me. And I had a feeling the same was happening to Joel.

small time jump

Within the next three days, we finally found ourselves entering Nebraska. We hadn’t gotten the chance to clean up in a while because the creekbeds were too low, so when Joel informed us of a creek that was deep enough to rinse off in, I was overjoyed.

“You two go ahead and go. I’ll try to trap a rabbit or something.” Ellie said, nodding us off towards the creek.

Joel had recently shown her how to trap things, and she actually gotten pretty good in the couple of days she’s been practicing.

As we walked, I turned to Joel, “As much as I love you, I have only one thing on my mind, and that is to scrub the grime off of me and go sit down and get off my feet.” I said, making my intentions clear.

“Got it. Give me your clothes, and I’ll rinse them with mine.” He said as we got to the creek.

I nodded as I slipped my boots off and then peeled my socks off of my feet. The ground beneath me was cool to the touch and felt like heaven against my swollen feet. I finished getting undressed, tossing my clothes over to Joel, and soon I was in the cool water.

As great as it felt, I was soon getting out and getting my “clean” clothes from Joel. Once again, I was forgoing putting my bra back on for the night and was just about to pull my shirt over my head when Joel stopped me.

“Hey, wait, turn back around.” He called out to me.

I turned to face him, “What?” I asked, confused.

“Just turn to the side again…” He said, staring at me intently.

“What?”

“Just do it, please.” He wasn’t being pushy. Instead, he seemed oddly curious.

I did it and looked at him expectantly.

“When did that show up?” He asked, in slight awe.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“That.” He emphasized, nodding to my stomach.

“Joel, it’s nothing. I’m just a little bloated. I don’t think it’s what you think it is.” I said.

“I don’t think so… no offense, but we haven’t really eaten anything that would be making you bloated. I think you’re starting to show.”

I honestly hadn’t really considered that as a possibility. My mind just jumped to it being bloated.

“Really?” I asked, looking down, it was just barely there, but there was definitely a small bump forming.

“I mean, I’m no doctor, but that’s what it looks like to me. Here, come sit while I rinse off, and we can talk about it more afterward, okay? I’ll be quick.” He promised, standing up and beginning to undress.

Once he was done, he rinsed our old clothes, and we began walking back to our camp. Ellie had managed to catch two squirrels that Joel quickly prepared and began cooking. Then he came and sat by me.

“Sorry if I made you self-conscious or anything… I just wasn’t really prepared for this part of all of it.” He explained.

“Were you not…” I trailed off, knowing that his daughter was a touchy subject for him.

He shook his head, “No, her mom and I were like an on-again-off-again type of thing. Then, at some point, we were off again for a while, and then she showed up at my door out of nowhere with a baby. She was gone the next morning. So, I am a little inexperienced in this part of things… I do vaguely remember my mom being pregnant with Tommy, but that’s about it.” He said with a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood from when he started talking.

“Well, you got more than I do. I was the youngest, so…” I said, and he nodded.

“Also, you really remember your mom being pregnant with Tommy… that was so long ago…” I teased.

“I am only 52. I’m not that old, you know.” He shot back, nudging me with his shoulder.

“I know, I just like giving you shit.” I said, looking over at him with a smile.

“You’re lucky I love you. You know that, right?” He said.

“Yeah, I know. I love you too.” I said, leaning over to kiss him.

“You better not be letting those squirrels burn.” Ellie’s voice made me jump slightly.

“They’re not.” Joel said, rolling his eyes, though he wasn’t really upset.

He finished cooking them before dividing up the small amount of meat from them to all of us. After we ate, we settled in for the night. We had one more day of traveling before we would rest for a day. It was slow progress, but it would work. I knew the cold would set in soon, and the cool breeze that blew through the trees just as the thought crossed my mind only confirmed that.

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playbucky · 10 months ago

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Make Me A Match

Richie calls up an old friend when he ends up in jail. Unknown to him, he ends up being a matchmaker between you and Carmen. A/N - I’m going to start and try and make my reader insert more neutral, so if you see anything pronouns or descriptions that I've missed please let me know. Thank you! Characters – Reader x Carm, Richie, Fak Word Count - 1.1k.

‘You’re out?’ Carm sounded surprised to see Richie walk out the room, deep bags had formed underneath both their eyes from the lack of sleep. ‘Yup, used my get out of jail free card.’ Richie said, you lifted your bag strap up your shoulder and walked away from the guard. ‘I have a name.’ You said, Richie moved to the side as Carm’s eyes widened. ‘Y/N.’ He said, almost in disbelief. ‘At least one of you remember it.’ You commented, Richie smiled widely and shrugged before you turned to Carm. ‘How you doing?’ You asked, Carm pulled you in for a hug which you welcomed. ‘I’m good.’ He breathed against your ear, you shook your head as you pulled away. ‘Sorry it’s took me so long to come and see you.’ ‘Hotshot lawyer right here.’ Richie practically cheered; you rolled your eyes as you turned to him. ‘Alright Richie get in the car.’ You told him, he pouted but listened. ‘Yes ma’am.’ He agreed before he sauntered away, he ducked his head as he dived into his own thoughts. ‘You need to make sure he attends court in a week's time.’ You informed Carm, he nodded, mentally taking a note of it. You knew you’d have to find some way to remind the pair of them. ‘I will.’ He said, you smiled. ‘Good.’ ‘You coming back?’ He asked, you shook your head, your left arm raised to look at the small watch fixed around it. ‘I’ve got a meeting at nine.’ You said, aware that it was only five minutes after eight. ‘She’ll be there for family.’ Richie called out, Carm looked apologetic. ‘I told you car.’ You turned to Richie, his eyes widened but he turned and walked the rest of the way, hands in the tracksuit pocket. ‘Think he only listens to you.’ Carm commented, you chuckled and watched as Richie ducked into the back of the car. ‘Seems that way.’ You mused as you turned back to Carm, his blue eyes were trained on you. ‘I’ll try my best to be there, don’t know how long this meeting will be.’

‘Cousin?’ Richie shouted, you jumped at the sudden intrusion of noise. ‘Geez Richie, you’re gonna burst my eardrum.’ You pulled away from him, finger to your ear as you rubbed it. ‘Sorry.’ He apologised, hands on your shoulders. ‘Yeah?’ ‘We’ve got a special guest today.’ He called, muttering came from the kitchen before Carm’s messy head of hair popped over the counter, a smile took over his face. ‘You made it.’ Carm said, his shoulders sagged. ‘Pushed my lunch back,’ you set your back and thick jacket on a nearby chair, ‘better be good.’ ‘Good?’ Richie sounded offended, ‘he went to New York, it’s amazing.’ You raised your eyebrows as you looked to Carm, he shook his head. ‘He’s trying to inflate my ego.’ ‘Who you trying to bullshit?’ A familiar voice said, you leaned to the side and noticed Fak, you smiled widely. ‘Fak.’ ‘Y/N!’ He replied back enthusiastically, you chuckled as he ran through the door, quickly he was in front of you, arms wrapped tightly around as he hoisted you off the ground. ‘Which ones of us is getting sued?’ Fak joked, you smiled widely as he set you down. ‘No one hopefully, was invited to family.’ You informed him, his eyes widened but his smile never left. ‘Ohh.’

‘Can I take you out one night?’ Carm broke the silence the two of you had fallen into, just happy to enjoy each other's presence, he had finished his cigarette a while ago. ‘You planning a hit on me?’ You quizzed, eyes narrowed on him. ‘No, i - on a date?’ He asked, ‘I’ll make you dinner and then we -,’ he trailed off, his hands started to shake at his sides before he ran through his hair. ‘Yes, to the date but you aren’t cooking.’ You stated, arms crossed over your chest as he looked at you. ‘I cook all the time.’ Carm pointed out, you nodded. ‘I know which is why you should relax, I’ll cook.’ You said, Carm laughed at you. ‘I don’t want burnt Mac n cheese.’ He commented, your jaw slackened as you were shocked that he remembered that. ‘That was one time.’ You whacked his chest, he laughed but caught your hand, ‘plus I had to figure out how to cook for myself when you went to school.’ ‘So, it’s my fault that you burnt the mac n cheese?’ He asked, subconsciously he played with your fingers, a small smile on his lips. ‘I plead the fifth.’ You held your free hand up, he smiled. ‘Okay.’ ‘Yeah,’ he lifted his gaze, ‘when suits you?’ He asked, you tilted your head as your eyes searched his face, taking in the freckles and moles. ‘Tomorrow at seven?’ You suggested. ‘Tomorrow.’ He replied with a nod, you smiled at him but he didn’t pull away. ‘Carmy?’ You whispered, his blue eyes snapped up to yours, you hadn’t used that nickname since school. ‘Yeah?’ ‘You gonna kiss me or just stare at my lips all night?’ You quizzed, his lips jumped up at the corner. ‘I’m gonna kiss you.’ He said. Carm cupped your cheek, the warmth spread over it before he pulled you closer and leaned in. Your noses budged against the other, both of you smiled as his lips just brushed yours, ‘Cous.’ Richie shouted, both of your shut your eyes and sighed. ‘What?’ He shouted back, you glanced over his shoulder just so you could make out Richie. ‘You gonna kiss them?’ He asked, you scoffed as Carm groaned, his face scrunched but you placed a hand on his chest. ‘Richie?’ You stepped to the side so he was able to see you. ‘You wrote your apology letter yet? The judge wants it by the morning.’ You told him, you pinched your brows just enough for a wrinkle to form. ‘He didn’t say anything about a letter.’ ‘It was in the paper you signed.’ You said, his face wrinkled before cursed and turned. ‘He doesn’t have one, does he?’ Carm asked when he disappeared back into the shop, you shook your head as you focused back on him. ‘No, but it might do him some good in the future.’ You replied, Carm smiled widely before he surged forward and captured your lips with his. ‘I need to tidy up,’ he looked back to the shop, ‘can you wait and I'll give you a lift home?’ Carm asked, you rubbed your lips together before you nodded. ‘On one condition though.’ You said, he arched an eyebrow. ‘You kiss me again.’ ‘Think I can agree to those terms.’ He agreed, both of you smiled before he pressed a quick kiss to your lips and pulled away. His fingers still interlocked with yours as he led you back into the shop that you had spent the last six hours at.

#Carmen x reader #reader x carmen #Carmen berzatto x reader #reader x carmen berzatto #Carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto imagines #the bear #the bear x reader #reader x the bear #the bear hulu

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damn-stark · 1 year ago

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Chapter 12 Fallen Angel

Chapter 12 of Sugar

A/N- Enjoy :)

Warning- Swearing, Sweet toothing rotting FLUFF, BUT THERE'S ALSO ANGST, spoilers, long chapter, violence and mentions of blood.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader, (future) Choso x fem!reader

Takes place during- Jjk 0 movie

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“…and they lived happily ever after. The end,” you finish reading and close the book.

Satori yawns and rubs her eyes from her exhaustion but instead of closing her eyes, she interjects. “Mommy, are you and Daddy happy like the woman and the man in the book?”

You blink in confusion, but smile all the same as you tuck her stray hair behind her ear. “Yes,” you assure her. “We’re very happy. Why do you ask?”

Satori shrugs. “Because,” she mumbles as her eyes droop. “Mikael from down the street says his mom and dad say that they hate each other.”

You sit back in disbelief, even though she’s always telling you the crazy things she hears the other kids say. “Well,” you mutter. “You have nothing to worry about, your dad and I love each other so much.”

Satori flashes you a tired smile, letting you lean over and press a kiss on her forehead before you stand up. “Okay now,” you whisper and turn off the lamp. “Go to sleep. Goodnight, chipmunk.”

“Goodnight mama, I love you,” she mutters.

You grin. “I love you too, to the moon and never back,” you redirect, making her giggle.

Once you step outside of her room you see Suguru push himself off the wall, and you make sure to close the door first before you pick on the matter that just happened. “Did you hear what she said?” You ask as you walk away with him at your side.

Suguru nods as he slides his hair tie off to let his long hair fall over his shoulders. “Yeah,” he says. “I heard it.”

You snicker softly before you burst out laughing over the matter your daughter told you.

“It’s not funny,” Suguru counters to try and scold you, but you can see he wants to laugh too. “We should really…” he trails off and begins to laugh as you continue to chuckle.

“Stop,” you scold him in between laughs. “It’s not funny. It’s very serious.”

“You stop,” he says and nudges you. “You’re making me laugh.”

You shake your head and stop to catch your breath. Suguru stops a bit ahead of you and turns around to look at you with a wobbly smile as he manages to calm down, but he then begins to laugh again as he sees you. Which then turns to you laughing again because he can’t stop, so the subject you were laughing about is completely forgotten.

It’s not until a bit later when Nanako and Mimiko come and find you that you finally stop.

“What are you guys doing?” Nanako blurts with annoyance. “Hurry up, we’re all still waiting!”

You both clear your throat and nod in comprehension.

“Right,” Suguru says as he breaks away from his spot. “Sorry.”

You quickly follow him to the parlor room and immediately get questioned. “What were you guys laughing about anyway?” Mimiko asks.

You draw in a deep breath and shake your head with a smile. “I don’t even remember anymore,” you say honestly.

“Hm.”

When you reach the parlor room Suguru immediately addresses your tardiness. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting, this conversation is not for children so we had to put Satori to bed. Darling, if you could please,” he refers to the board.

You pull the board out of the cabinet and show off the maps of Shinjuku, Kyoto, and the school. All of which have been marked according to how Suguru and you have planned the battle strategy.

“First,” Miguel cuts in as he stands up. “Let’s serve ourselves some drinks. I’ve brought this sweet concoction from Fiji.”

“Concoction?” You whisper to Mananmi as she takes a seat by you.

“Sounds like some kind of witch brew if you ask me,” she whispers back.

“Hey!” You actually exclaim. “Yeah, Manami’s right. The last time I tried one of your concoctions I threw up and had a hangover for over two days!” You complain.

“Wait yeah,” Nanako speaks up. “It wasn’t easy to clean up either.”

Miguel walks up to you first and hands you a glass of some kind of dark red drink. “Just drink it,” he insists.

You pull the drink up to your nose and get a hint of sweetness, so you slowly bring it to your lips and take a sip. Luckily for you, it’s not bad at all! It’s very sweet and smooth.

“Taste,” you tell Suguru as you push the cup towards him.

He looks at you with concern considering he was the one who had to take care of you last time you tried alcohol Miguel brought over to try. “It’s okay,” you assure him. “I’ll take care of you this time.”

“It’s really not that,” he says as he takes the cup. “I don’t want to die yet.”

You laugh softly. “You won’t, it’s good.”

“You said that last time, you almost got alcohol poisoning,” he rebuttals.

You roll your eyes and push the cup up as he has it between his lips. He groans and swats your hand away so you snicker and turn to face your family. “Anyway! Did you guys like the dumplings I made? I tried some new stuff this time,” you add smugly.

“Yeah, they were very good,” Larue mentions as he takes a glass from Miguel. “Except I only had one because someone finished them,” he mutters and points his glare at Toshihisa.

The young guy sees and looks at Larue offended. “I only grabbed five,” he defends himself.

“Yeah,” Mimiko interjects. “That was basically half to the plate.”

You smile proudly through the discussion since it means that your meal was very well-liked.

“Yeah, she only made ten!” Nanako snaps. “I didn’t even get to try one.”

“Too slow,” Toshihisa taunts, causing Nanako to stand off her seat and turn her phone to point her camera at him.

Toshihisa begins to snicker, but before she can try anything, Suguru grabs her shoulder and pushes her back down to her seat. “Okay, let’s focus,” he cuts everyone off, causing Miguel to walk to the bar with his concoction in hand.

“Y/N and I have planned out most of the strategy,” Suguru continues and gives you your drink back as he points at the board. “But of course, anyone is welcome to rebuttal and suggest a change. As of now though,” he exhales deeply and points to Kyoto. “Larue and Toshihisa will go to Kyoto, keeping the sorcerers appointed there distracted.”

Toshihisa sighs and cuts in. “Distracted for what exactly?”

“We’ll get there,” you let him know and let Suguru continue.

“As for who you'll have to face, the students of Kyoto,” Suguru says. “The staff as well, but none are much to be concerned about.”

“It doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down though,” you quickly add. “Understand?” You direct mostly to Toshihisa since he is the youngest of the two going there.

“Yes,” he sighs.

You were young once too, you wanted to prove yourself so you know how much it sucks having to be reminded. You can also sense the annoyance in his tone.

“Next Shinjaku,” Suguru continues and points to the map. “Now that’s where most of the higher grade sorcerers will be. Manami, Nanako, and Mimiko will stall the sorcerers there, while Miguel engages with Satoru Gojo in combat.”

Everyone looks at Suguru and then at Miguel with concern since they've all heard how insanely strong your brother is.

“Now listen,” you interject and sit down to cross your foot over the other. “Satoru is strong. As you all know he has the Limitless technique, which interferes on an atomic level controlling space-time with precise manipulation of cursed energy,” you explain what you know. “And what makes it all possible and him even stronger is his six eyes. Your rope will disrupt his techniques, but it won’t stop him completely, he will counter and he will continue to try and use his infinity to block your moves, so be very careful. All you have to do is stall him, so counter and avoid if that’s what you want.”

Miguel nods and doesn’t argue. “Understood, now will you explain what you two special grades will be doing?”

Suguru and you share a knowing look before he goes on this time. “They know we’ll be after Okkotsu so they’ll keep him at the school thinking I’ll be in Kyoto or Shinkaju—”

“Of course,” you cut in. “Someone will figure out that something is up when neither of us are fighting in the front lines, and my best bet is Satoru, so that’s why we need you all to stall them…”

“While we go to the school so I can kill Okkotsu,” Suguru finishes your sentence, making you smirk softly. “And so y/n can steal all 9 Cursed Womb Death Paintings kept within the school warehouse, and hidden behind Tengens barrier,” he continues to say. “We’ll need their help in the battles still to come.”

You nod. “Plus,” you add. “They don’t deserve to be stuck there. We’ll welcome them into our family.”

“Curses?” Larue queries.

Suguru shakes his head. “Half,” he corrects him. “From what I’ve read they’re half human and half curse. We’ll still need to use vessels to reincarnate them of course. But they’ve been incarnated too long, we'll help them.”

You nod in agreement and look around the group. “Any questions?” You ask.

“Yes,” Manami interjects. “How exactly will you get to the warehouse? Isn’t Tengen’s place protected by a bunch of doors?”

You nod. “Yes, but hopefully with my new technique it won’t be much of a problem,” you let her know.

“And about the stalling,” Nanako says. “Why can’t we just have a dummy to go for the both of you so the sorcerers stay there longer,” she wonders.

Suguru nods in comprehension. “Good question, and there’s a simple answer, it’ll make too much of a mess. I won’t risk that.”

The room falls silent, but there’s still one piece of doubt that adds tension. No one dares to speak it though, not out of fear that Suguru or you would get upset, but out of fear that you’d jink this entire plan.

Yet it needed to be discussed, so you bring it up quietly. “If all goes to hell and we lose, then we run. Hide. There’s nothing wrong with that,” you assure them. “Nanako, Mimiko, you guys come back home, as do you, Larue. We’ve all made sure to keep our lives wiped off any database, but keep your heads low nevertheless.”

“But,” Suguru says softly. “I have faith in all of you. We both do.”

You offer them a soft smile to reassure Suguru’s comment. And they all do look comforted by the comment, but there’s still that sliver of tension left. This time Miguel addresses it. “And if Satoru Gojo goes to you two, then what?”

You sigh deeply and let your eyes flicker to the ground before you meet Suguru’s gaze.

“Then,” Suguru says and drifts his eyes back to your family so they can see the confidence he’s trying to make you see. “We will fight him.”

That’s easier said than done. No matter what animosity there’s been neither you nor Suguru have had to actually fight against Satoru. So if it happens will your anger actually be enough to confront him?

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Suguru?” You call out softly as you slide the door open and peek your head inside the empty room.

“Yeah, I’m in here,” he calls out softly.

You walk in and see him sitting on the windowsill that leads to the balcony. He then turns his head and meets your gaze, making the blazing sunset behind him glow around him so beautifully.

“Looking for some time alone?” You ask as you walk past the door.

Suguru shakes his head. “You’re welcome to join me, darling.”

You offer him a soft smile and walk over to him to sit on the balcony to let the sun kiss your skin and bask in the little warmth it provides during December. “Beautiful sunset, huh?” You muse as you fold your hands on the railing and rest your chin on your hands to watch the sunset over the horizon. “Makes me miss spring and summer.”

Suguru hums and then stays quiet, letting you close your eyes to just take in the soft feeling of the sun's rays on your flesh. You enjoy the silence since you know your children aren’t home to have you worried that it’s too silent. You enjoy Suguru’s presence, and bask in the comfort and peace it brings you by just being nearby.

Yet it’s his silence that soon begins to worry you. Ever since he saw Satoru, and since he declared war, he’s been quieter than usual. You’ve found him alone just pondering and it’s never worried you until now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You probe softly as you drift your eyes to him.

Suguru blinks and lets his eyes fall on you, he then sighs and averts his gaze before he speaks up quietly. “Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you had stayed at the school?” He asks, making you slowly sit up.

“Well,” you sigh and see him meet your gaze with a curious look. “Sometimes,” you admit. “When I’m feeling nostalgic really. But honestly, there isn’t much to think about, I was going to leave regardless, whether it be after graduation or before. My place wasn’t at that school.”

Suguru hums softly and smiles. “Really? I think you would’ve made a pretty cool teacher.”

You laugh softly. “Yeah, I don’t think so. My attachment to them would’ve gotten in the way if I had lost one,” you say as you shake your head.”

“So what would’ve changed then?” Suguru asks.

You draw in a deep breath and look out at the dimming sky. “Well this,” you exhale. “I wouldn’t have this house, my career, this family, the girls or you.”

“You really think we wouldn’t have worked out if I stayed in that school?” He probes softly.

You look over at him and answer genuinely. “No. I honestly think we wouldn't have worked out. I mean I think we would’ve stayed together until I graduated, but I would’ve left with Yuki. I would’ve come back after maybe a couple of years and started my community. Our lives would’ve taken different directions.”

Suguru nods softly in comprehension. “Yeah,” he whispers. “You’re right.”

You tilt your head and redirect his question back to him. “What about you? Do you think you would have stayed there and become a teacher? Because I think you would have made a pretty damn good teacher. A hot one too. If you were my teacher I would have always paid attention.” You laugh, making him scoff in amusement and turn his head away to hide his smile.

“Well,” he says and draws out a deep breath. “I don’t think I would have stayed as a teacher, or at Jujutsu high for that matter,” he says and loses his smile, making you lose yours. “If it wasn’t that village then it would’ve been something else that made me drift away. I don’t think I could’ve stayed knowing that what we did didn’t really matter. And after Haibara I don’t know if I could have seen any more of our other friends on that same table.”

You swallow back nervously and nod. “I know what you mean,” you whisper.

Suguru holds your gaze for a moment and sighs before he goes on. “I don’t know what would have become of me exactly, perhaps I was always meant to be this, or not. I don’t know, but I know that I wouldn’t have stayed…so hey, maybe we would’ve reunited down the line.”

You hum. “You really think so?” You ask with amusement. “I don't know, I don’t think Satoru would’ve let you.”

Suguru chuckles. “What is that supposed to mean?” He queries.

“Well…you guys had some weird special bond, so I think he would’ve left with you and I don’t think he would have let you join me,” you let him know.

Suguru smiles at you. “Jealous?” He teases.

You shrug. “Just a little,” you admit and look down, immediately feeling that smile fade. “So what brought all this on? Feeling nostalgic? Regrets?”

“No,” he says immediately. “No regrets. I’m satisfied with my life and with the path I chose. I love you and the girls, you guys are the best things that have happened to me.”

You smile softly and keep looking down.

“I guess,” he continues a lot quieter this time. “I’m just pondering over what could’ve been.”

“It’s this upcoming fight isn’t it?” You ask since you’ve been wrapped around in your mind like him too.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I think it is.”

You exhale and sit in silence to let what you talked about sink in, and to feel grateful that you have him to spill your heart to. It’s not always easy, but you’re glad it’s easy with him. And it’s because of that thought, along with the others that leads you to think about what you have been debating.

And when you look up to quietly admire Suguru as the last rays of the sun kiss his face, as they cling onto his dark eyes and turn them even more beautiful as they blaze against the light, it's all clear. You can’t look past your anger, especially not after what you’re going to do. Plus this, what you’ve built depends on you giving it your all even if it’s against your brother.

And if it comes to Suguru versus Satoru…then you know what side you’ll take. It’s doubtful they’ll ever come to the point of having to kill one or other though. They’ll fight, sure, it’s a fight that’s been waiting to happen, but it’s doubtful that they could ever make a choice like that. They’re too bonded to ever make that choice, even if they’re apart.

“I have something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Suguru interjects, causing your attention to drift back to him. “I wanted to give it to you for our anniversary, but I thought it would be better now.”

You lean over and watch him pull out a small and thin book from his pocket. “What is that?” You probe excitedly.

Suguru sighs and hands you the book, and when you look down at the title you beam out of pure joy. “Wow,” you muse. “The pun book I was missing from my collection…” you trail off and chuckle before you throw yourself on him. “It’s your funeral, so I don’t want to see any eye rolls,” you point out.

Suguru returns your embrace and mutters, “yeah, yeah.”

You press a kiss on his cheek before you whisper, “thank you so much. I love it.”

“Good.”

You shift and sit on his lap now to open the book and skim through the pages. “This is amazing,” you mumble. “I love it and I expect at least a fake laugh—no one laughs at my jokes,” you grumble.

“They’re cheesy,” he rebuttals.

“That’s the point! Puns are meant to be silly, they’re puns!” You grin and go back to a page where you read a funny joke. “Okay, okay, Ladies, if he can’t appreciate your fruit jokes, let that mango.” You snort and then laugh to yourself.

Suguru scoffs. “Okay, I get it,” he assures you with an amused smile and then the fakest laugh you’ve heard.

“Aw, you suck,” you grumble and slide off his lap to walk away. “I’ll find someone who appreciates my jokes one day.”

Suguru slides off the window frame and follows after you. “Baby, you said a fake laugh was enough. I did it,” he actually laughs this time.

You peer over and stick your tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes. “Mature,” he mutters before he quickens his pace and throws his arms around your waist.

You stop moving and begin to slide down. “No! Let go of me,” you complain as you try not to laugh. “Suguru!” You squeal as he begins to pull you up.

“I laughed,” he says between his own laughs. “Besides, who are you going to find that’s better than me?”

You stop moving and scoff. “Ew, why would you say that?”

“Yeah, I heard it and it was too late to take it back,” he mumbles before he picks you up bridal style. “The girls aren’t here, we should take advantage of that before they return.”

You smirk as you wrap your arm around his neck. “Oh? What do you have in mind? Maybe a bath, with wine to the side! Or you can help me paint my nails while we do face masks together!” You suggest excitedly.

Suguru shrugs. “We can do both, why not?”

You grin at him and then lay your head on his shoulder. He takes you to your shared room, but you actually don’t get to do any of the two things you wanted since the girls get back home earlier. However, it turns out to be better because you all huddle around Suguru and pamper him instead. He never complains about it either so it works out great each time.

Everything always works out fine when you’re with him, so this battle will work out too. It has to—no it will!

You keep telling yourself that, you keep giving yourself hope as you train, as you count the days and the time that passes.

And there’s so much that gives you hope, more than you would have felt when you were younger. You like to think that you’re not as negative now. Yet when December 24th arrives you can’t sleep, all you can think about is the different what-if scenarios that pop into your mind.

But you have to be positive because you can win. You will. And you’ll go on living your life, your great life. You will.

You sigh deeply and try to engrave that in your brain as you lie in bed in the morning. Yet the thoughts are too overwhelming and too stressful, so you get up instead. However, you stop and smile when you see how peaceful Suguru looks sleeping with his bangs over his face, and his mouth partially opened. He then moves and you think he’s going to wake up, but he just lays on his side and stretches his arm out over the empty spot you had been lying on. So you make sure to be quiet to not wake him up as you change, and then walk out of the room to wander over to the small lake that sits by your house.

Mediating often helps so you try to do that in the serenity that being outside brings you. However, no matter how strong you’ve gotten, no matter how many other fights you’ve fought, none of it really gets easier. The stress of it, the running thoughts. And now there’s more at risk; the twins, your family, even your friends and old cherished companions on the other side…

When did it come to this? Fighting against each other.

You sigh and lay back on the shore with a lit cigarette in your mouth. You close your eyes to try and clear your mind, listen to the howling wind, and feel the cold breeze unfurling over your face.

There isn’t a moment of hesitation or regret, it just doesn’t really get easy. But after this fight, you’ll be one step closer to achieving your goal. Maybe then you can talk to Satoru again…maybe.

“No matter how hot you run you can still get sick you know!” You hear Suguru shout.

You smile and open your eyes to look back, catching him upside down with his hand behind his back as he approaches you.

“It’s cold y/n, come inside,” he tries to advise you, but you just sit up and pull the cigarette out to watch the ducks on the still water.

“I’m just,” you talk loudly so he can hear you. “Thinking.”

Suguru stops behind you and nudges your ass with his foot. “Get inside, you’ll freeze out here,” he repeats himself.

You show off your burning cigarette before putting it between your lips to draw in a drag, letting him know that you’re not out here to train or for fun. You’re stressed. You picked up the habit of stress smoking in school after he offered you a cigarette once.

“We’re going to be outside later, you know,” you remind him. “It’ll be a lot colder then.”

“Well you'll be moving then, you're not now,” he rebuttals.

You hum and stand up, but you offer him a drag. He sighs and takes the cigarette to draw in one drag before giving it back to you.

He wants to ask what’s wrong but you begin to walk around the lake. He would’ve insisted on going inside, but he sighs in defeat and has no other choice but to follow you. “You can stay, you know,” he interjects. “The Cursed Womb Death Paintings can be taken further down the line.”

You shake your head and exhale the smoke before responding. “I’m not feeling any kind of hesitation or anything, I’m just overthinking the outcome,” you mutter. “I know I shouldn’t, Yuki says I can’t. I just need to fight. Use your mind and your heart, she says. You’ll be stupid to use one or the other, but I…it’s just a part of me…worrying about what might happen, or what might not.”

Suguru exhales and nods slowly. “Think of it like water,” he says. “You raise it as you inhale when you’re practicing your different forms, right?”

You look at him and hum in agreement.

“Let the stress rise, and bring it back down like the wave of water you pick up and slowly drop,” he adds and looks over to meet your gaze with a soft smile.

“Okay,” you mumble and nod along as you throw the cigarette down and smush it with your foot.

“We’ll win,” he continues to assure you. “And we'll be one step closer to our dream.”

That’s what you said.

“If only we could achieve it now, huh?” You muse as you look at the water you’re passing by.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But it takes time. Soon though, I promise you that.”

You reach over and take his hand. Suguru glances at you and you then stop the both of you to cup his hands, noticing now as you take his other hand that he’s holding a hibiscus flower.

You smile, but let him continue to hold it as you cup his hand and hold his dark eyes. “Just…promise me you’ll live. I can’t do this without you, you know that?”

Suguru flashes you a charming smile and pulls one hand away to tuck the beautiful red flower over your ear before he slides his hand down and caresses your cheek. “I will, don’t worry about me, okay? I worry about you.”

You scoff and shake your head. “Suguru,” you scold quietly.

Suguru cups your cheek and pulls you closer. “I’m not being selfish,” he says what you’re thinking. “I’m assuring you, stating facts…”

You giggle softly and lean towards his touch.

“It’s just a simple mission,” he adds. “Get Rika and go. No one will get hurt. We will be back home just in time to put our daughter to bed. And then we’ll count the days to celebrate eleven years of being together.”

You grin at him and can’t help but embrace him, just to relieve yourself of the stress with the warmth of his body, with the smell of his scent that clings onto every inch of him, and with the softness of his long hair that falls over your hands. He hugs you back and presses kisses on the top of your head before he rests his chin on your head.

Once a moment passes, when your mind is somewhat clear and your heart isn’t racing, you pull back and continue to smile. “Eleven years, huh?” You mumble and begin to walk back home hand in hand. “It’s fucking crazy. Who would've thought, huh?”

“Me,” Suguru says with a smirk. “Not you?”

You smirk and shrug. “I could’ve been dating Orlando Bloom, or I don’t know, maybe someone else with long hair and a charming smile.”

Suguru chuckles softly before he pulls to the side and digs in his hoodie pocket to pull something out.

“Eleven years ago,” he muses. “I gave you a Christmas present because I liked you.”

You grin before you gasp as you try and guess what he has for you. “Oh my god, Sugar, is it another engagement ring? Because maybe I got you something shiny too.” You hint.

Suguru narrows his eyes and you flash him a cocky smirk. “What is it?” He probes.

“You’ll have to wait to find out,” you tease and look down at his hands as he shows a small firefly pendant.

“I gave you two pendants before, but I haven’t given you one for Satori, so here,” he says and grabs your hand to place the pendant with the two other smaller ones that represent the twins, and then the bigger firefly pendant that came with the red string bracelet he gifted you eleven years from ago.

“Wow,” you whisper. “I love it. Your present is—”

“It’s okay I want to be surprised,” he assures you since he knows you get excited when he gets surprised by the things you get him.

“Well,” you move on. “Thank you then. I really love it.”

When Suguru ties the bracelet back around your wrist he steals one kiss from your lips before he continues to walk with you back inside.

“Now,” you mention. “Let’s hurry back inside because I am cold!” You hook your arm around his and pull him back inside with you.

When you get inside you see the twins eating breakfast as they watch TV, but you notice that Satori isn’t up. And she also didn’t come to greet you at the door either.

“Bunny,” you direct at Mimiko. “Where’s your sister?”

Mimiko drifts her gaze to you and then points to the stairs. “In her room,” she says. “She doesn’t want to get up.”

You share a concerned look with Suguru before you both head to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock first once you reach her door, but she doesn’t answer so you slowly open the door and walk in.

“Hello?” You make yourself known as you notice that her lamp light is on. “Chipmunk, is everything okay?”

You walk further inside and see her snuggled up under her blankets and with her tiger curse lying beside her.

“What’s wrong?” You ask with worry even though you’re beginning to see through her little act. After all, she knew everyone was leaving later today to do a mission, she knew she couldn’t come so she’s trying to make you stay.

“My head and tummy hurt,” she whispers in a fake hoarse voice. “And I think I’m hot too.”

Suguru and you share a knowing look, but you still crouch by her side and feel her forehead. And like you assumed it feels normal.

“Why don’t you come feel, Suguru,” you lure him over, causing her to hold her blanket tighter against her as she watches her dad crouch beside you.

When he feels her forehead and notices the same thing you did, you smile at each other before he sighs and looks at his daughter with pity. “Well maybe we should take you to the doctor, you have every sickness in the book, don’t you think, darling?” He asks you.

You nod. “Yeah. And she needs some medicine and tea too.”

“No!” Satori cuts in with her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Just…stay with me all day and I’ll feel better I promise.”

Suguru offers her a genuine smile and leans over to caress her cheek. “We won’t be gone long. We’ll make it back for bedtime,” he tries to assure her. “I’ll tuck you in and when you wake up again we’ll be here.”

Satori pouts and her eyes fill with tears, so he continues.

“And I’ll tell you what, after we come back, you get to tell us where you want to go for our trip,” he lets her know. “You pick anywhere and we’ll go.”

Satori’s lips tug to an excited smile and her eyes seem to almost glimmer. “Really?” She asks, forgetting she’s pretending to be sick. “Even Disney? Or the beach?!”

Suguru and you share a look before he nods. “Yeah, anywhere, but maybe…not with so many people, hm?”

“Daddy, no! You said anywhere.”

Suguru sighs in defeat. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll think real hard all day,” she says. “And I’ll tell you when you come back.”

Suguru nods. “Yes, deal.”

Satori grins and sits up to throw her arms around his neck, making him hug her back and pick her off of bed as he gets up.

“Why don’t we go downstairs?” You suggest as you get up to head out the door. “Then again, maybe Satori can stay here. You must not feel hungry since you’re sick…” you trail off and smirk.

“Well,” she mutters. “Maybe I’m a little hungry.”

Suguru laughs softly at his daughter's antics and proceeds to spoil her all day long. And all day long she followed the both of you everywhere, like a little shadow. After a while, she forgot she was sick, but when the time came to leave, she put her act on again like a little movie star.

Nevertheless, you continue to assure her one last time.

“We’ll be back okay?” You assure her before you shoot her an assuring wink and a thumbs up.

Satori grins and winks back at you, but with both eyes and then throws a thumbs up.

You grin, and she whispers. “I’ll miss you.”

You touch your heart and then press a kiss on her head before you redirect her comment, “me too. I love you to the moon and never back.”

Satori giggles. “I love you too, mama,” she says softly.

You proceed to step away or you will feel bad and stay with her. Albeit Suguru continues to go on to say his goodbye, and your heart swells with so much joy when you see them interact that you almost want to make you both stay. But you don’t, you resist.

“I’ll make it back for bedtime,” he assures her and cups her cheeks. “And I’ll be expecting an answer for our trip, okay?”

Satori frowns and her eyes fill with tears.

“Don’t cry,” he tells her softly. “It’s okay, my little love. I’ll be back.”

Tears fall down her cheek, but she tries to act tough and wipes it away. “Okay,” her voice quivers. “Goodbye, Daddy.”

Suguru presses a kiss on her forehead and then hugs her tightly. “Bye, Satori. I’ll see you later.”

“You'll take care of mommy?” She whispers, making Suguru smile wider.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her. We’ll be back,” he says again and pulls back to brush her bangs back. “I love you.”

Satori grins. “I love you too, Daddy,” she says happily.

Suguru gets up and begins to walk away. She waves at him, and he spares her one last glance before he turns away.

“Bye Nana, bye Mimi,” she waves at her sisters before they join their group, leaving you lingering behind alone.

“Bye, my girl,” you tell her one last time. “I’ll call when we’re on our way home. Okay?”

She nods and holds onto Belinda and her tiger curse as she watches you follow Suguru. When you climb on Suguru’s bird to fly to the school, you both wave goodbye to her one last time.

——

*LATER*

All you ever wanted when you were young was a big family, a big loving family like those you’d see in movies, those you’d see when you’d go out. A family who didn’t shame you, or turn their back for what you lacked. You wanted friends who would have your back. And you wanted a love that will always last.

It sounded so foolish then, such a simple deep desire, but you lacked it, you lacked a parent's love and a family’s warmth, you only had your brother. So when you had a taste of that sweet desire when you came to Jujutsu High as a student eleven years ago, you didn’t want to let go.

But you did, you let go and you found more, you relished in that love you so deeply wished for, you didn’t find pain, instead, you found simple moments full of joy and love. It was at the expense of others you so deeply cherished, but you can admit that it was worth it to get what you wanted. And when you got it you said you wouldn’t return to a place that reminded you of the pain you later endured in your young years, but here you are now, on a roof as you sneak in with Suguru.

Here you are now ten years later watching the happy memories of then haunting the places you would be at and the places you'd walk through, with the intent to oppose the same side you had fought with once before.

All to protect the family you formed along the way. And most importantly to accomplish a new deep desire for a better world so sorcerers like you don't have a chance to experience the pain you endured.

How odd is that?

“Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness,” Suguru chants as he raises his hand to do the hand symbol to lower a veil. “Purify that which is impure.”

A white veil emerges and quickly surrounds the school grounds, trapping him, you, and Okkotsu.

“Besides Okkotsu we have to avoid killing any sorcerer that may be here,” Suguru reminds you as you move down the roof now that the veil is drawn.

“I know that,” you mutter, and then jump off the roof and swiftly land on the ground. When Suguru lands beside you you begin walking down the same way for now.

“Except if that Zen’in girl is here,” Suguru grumbles. “You can kill her and we'll rid ourselves of one more monkey.”

You roll your head to the side to shoot him a glare. “She’s like Toji, you know. It’ll be exciting to see how strong she gets as she keeps getting older.”

“It won’t be,” Suguru retorts as he watches out for anyone who might be after you now that you made yourselves known. “That guy was hard to kill before, I’d rather not deal with that again later down the road.”

You hum and nod. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“But if you come across her,” he adds as he senses your hesitation. “Then you can spare her. You can’t ask me to do the same.”

You shake your head and can’t help but let your lips pull to a small smile. “I never would. Now is he near or what?”

“Okkotsu?”

“Satoru,” you correct him. “I’d rather not deal with him right now.”

Suguru scoffs. “How am I supposed to know?” He quips.

You smirk and shrug. “I don’t know, maybe you have, like, a Satoru radar. You would. You guys are weird like that.”

Suguru looks at you with a pointed look that makes you smile and snicker.

“Well,” Suguru sighs, “I don't know where he is, but knowing him he’ll probably come here late. He would’ve caught up with us otherwise. Let’s take advantage of his absence.”

You hum and yawn as you stretch your arms out. “It’s been a while since I’ve fought another sorcerer,” you mention. “This should be fun.”

“Need I remind you of your mission,” Suguru makes himself clear, causing you to sigh. “Take them and get out.”

You nod lazily. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, but there’s a chance I might run into guards, so I’m looking forward to it. And for now, I am helping you until we know there’s a clear path to the warehouse.”

Suguru exhales deeply at your persistence to not listen, but he doesn’t argue with you or force you to actually listen, so he just speaks kindly instead. “If Tengen puts up some fight to protect the warehouse, just get out.”

You smile softly. “Doubting me?” You ask even though you know that’s not it.

“No,” Suguru says immediately. “I’d rather not have you run that risk. Not without me there at least. Who knows what Tengen is capable of, you’re strong but, you’ll be in his territory. You understand that right?”

You nod. “I do, I'm just giving you a hard time…you be careful too. No matter how strong you are, you're not invincible. I want to go home with you after this is over.”

Suguru meets your gaze and offers you a kind smile. “I’m always careful.”

You mirror his smile and hold each other's gaze for a lingering minute before you enter a big empty courtyard.

You knew you wouldn’t find anyone here, no matter how big this school is, not even half of it is actually filled with people. Yet you did expect to come across some curious person. It’s almost worrying how quiet it is.

Almost though, because as you get halfway through the courtyard the Zen’in girl appears with a spear in her hand. When Suguru spots her he looks disgusted as he begins to nonchalantly rub his neck.

“You’re here?” He asks as she approaches bravely.

“Is it a problem if I am?” She retorts. “What the hell are you two doing here?” She asks and points the spear at Suguru and you.

Suguru shifts into a fighting stance, while you roll your shoulders back and just clench your hands to fists.

“Sorry,” Suguru says as he summons long and red centipede-like curses. “But we don't have time to chat with monkeys. Me or you darling?”

You step back. “Go ahead,” you encourage him.

Suguru’s smirk deepens, and with a quick mental command, the curses hurl themselves at her.

The Zen’in girl runs forward and just as one curse is going to bite her she slides down and skillfully uses her spear to slice the curses stomach. It doesn’t die though, it disappears through the ground pretending it did, while the other curse swoops back around and goes after her as she gets up to her feet and charges at the two of you.

Rather than moving out of the way, you stay where you are and wait for her to get close with a growing smirk. And once she’s close enough she jumps up and pulls her spear up.

You remain where you are, so she takes advantage of that and swings the point of her spear down to try and stab you as she gets pulled back to the ground. But you’re faster than her, so instead you swing to the side and rather than using your technique, you manage to throw your hand up to grab her by the throat harshly.

The girl chokes and drops her spear to try and pull your hand off, but you smirk deeper and pull your other fist back before you throw it up, and punch her in the gut so hard you hurl her out of your grip and into the air.

Within seconds you counter and use her technique now to gather wind around your left foot before you shift your body. You then proceed to swiftly swing your left leg around and hurl the wind out to roughly lash her to the ground.

Nevertheless, even as she hits the ground and blood begins to leak out of her head, she slowly pushes herself up and makes you grin with pride. She then fists her hands, but she doesn’t get to move because the curse that was after her jams into her and throws her down, and then the other curse that had hidden comes out from under her and closes its jaw around her to throw her past Suguru and you.

This time she doesn't try to get up, she goes unconscious, and the blood that was leaking out begins to spill out and form a pool around her. The curses he summoned disappear and you approach the girl to check for her pulse.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s dead,” Suguru interjects. “Not her at least.”

You ignore him and when you feel a faint pulse you sigh and stand back up. “Do you want me to go or stay with you?” You break your silence and step away from the girl to turn and face him.

“Go,” he declares as he walks to you. “I don’t want to risk having more people show up and give you a hard time. The quieter you get to the warehouse the better.”

You sigh and wait for him to reach you so you can say your goodbye. Yet just as he gets close he freezes.

“Oh?” He says and grins whilst he continues walking to you. “Someone made a hole in the veil.”

You gasp softly and only think of one man. Satoru. Can it be him?

“Nothing ever goes quite as planned,” Suguru adds and steps on the pool of blood as he continues towards you. “It should take them five minutes from the point of entry to be here.”

Rather than saying your goodbye and proceeding to leave, you fall beside Suguru to stay and help him. At least until you know if it’s Satoru or if it’s someone else with reinforcements. Or until he says otherwise.

“Should we ignore them,” Suguru continues as he rubs his chin. “Or should we take care of them? It’s so hard to decide.”

You part your lips to share your suggestion, but just before you can the wall at Suguru’s side explodes and sends out a cloud of dust and a bunch of debris. And through it pops out the Panda.

He got here fast so it means he took the shortest route here.

“Not bad,” Suguru says.

The panda responds by trying to punch him, but he swiftly slides back. The panda then spots you and tries the same thing, but you mirror Suguru’s actions and move away from the panda. You then manipulate the air to gather some of the smoke together and create a screen to hide behind.

Instead of staying hidden though, you run forward to surprise him. And just as you pop out of the smoke screen you notice that the panda is distracted so you jump up, and then spin around to kick the panda towards Suguru. “Focus,” you scold the panda.

Suguru then meets the panda halfway to punch it down and crash through the ground. However, the panda quickly recovers and just as Suguru was going to throw him back to you, the panda wraps his arms around Suguru and slams him to the ground.

Your husband acts quickly and gets out of the panda's grip before hurling himself back. The panda then turns and tries to charge at you, but you manipulate the air to wrap around your fist. And just when the panda gets close you throw your fist out and send a torpedo of air that sends him flying back before he can even touch you.

Just as he’s in the air though, he lets out a loud roar and grows more muscles on his body. He even grows fangs on his bottom jaw, and his eyes glow purple as they narrow into a fierce glare. But rather than continuing to attack you, he turns and runs to Suguru, as your husband approaches. The panda then proceeds to jump up and zips towards Suguru, but he misses as Suguru jumps on the roof.

The Panda doesn’t fall behind though, he follows Suguru at a much quicker speed than before and envelops his fists with cursed energy to try and hit Suguru, but with every punch he throws, Suguru swerves with ease. You on the other hand step back and jump on the roof across from them to keep out of the way.

And this should be your chance to leave while the panda is distracted, but you sit down instead. He is a cursed corpse after all so you are curious how strong it is, so you watch and see Suguru return to the courtyard and pull out some ugly-looking leech curses.

The panda lands in the courtyard too and manages to crush the curses with ease, but they only serve as a distraction so Suguru can get around him. “Predictable,” Suguru throws at the panda.

The panda lifts his head. “Because it was a feint,” he rebuttals as he turns around and pulls his fist back. “Drumming beat!”

You smirk and lean forward, and watch Suguru pull out another one of the previous curses. However, this time the panda manages to punch through the curse and throws Suguru back, causing you to quickly stand up and cry out with concern. “Suguru!”

The panda snaps his head towards you and runs at you. Yet before he can try and actually reach you, Suguru yells out at the panda, “eyes on me!”

You look over at Suguru again and see him summon out more of those long curses to throw them at the panda. So the panda has no choice but to pay attention back to Suguru to destroy the curses after him.

You now attempt to hop off the roof, but before you can, in the distance you spot the cursed speech user approaching. He doesn’t seem to have noticed you, so you quickly hop off the roof and approach Suguru as he hurls the Zen’in girls' spear through the panda from afar.

“That was close,” Suguru tells him.

“Same to you.” The panda counters.

“Someone’s approaching,” you let Suguru know as you gather the water that’s in the air while the panda slowly goes down.

And just as you predicted, the moment the panda hits the ground, the cursed speech user appears from behind the panda and yells out, “plummel!”

You clap your hands together and quickly shield Suguru and you with a blanket of water.

The sound waves from the boy's cursed technique only cut deep through the ground around you, and just throw out a thick cloud of dust since the water you hold protects Suguru and you.

“Hey!” You yell out at the boys.

As the dust clears you see the cursed speech user on his knees, and the panda behind him holding his shoulder. And they both share the same horrified look.

“Did they not teach you anything?!” Suguru shouts out smugly, and you bounce off his comment just as smugly.

“Water absorbs sound!” You proceed to move the water that's shielding you around Suguru and you, and then gather it into an orb in front of you.

“Which means…” you trail off and shoot the orb out. The boys try to move, but the water orb hits them, and the sound trapped inside damages them instead. Not as much as it would’ve hurt Suguru and you, but it knocks them out and cuts them.

“Thank you,” Suguru interjects and makes you snap your eyes away from the students unconscious on the ground—“you really saved me just now.”

You turn and face him with a growing smile. “Don’t mention it. It’s what we do.” You brush him and flash him a wider smile.

Suguru smiles softly and nods. “I know, but still. Thank you.”

You sigh and lose your smile. “Maybe,” you interject quietly. “You need me by your side when you face Okkotsu. He won’t go down without a fight, you can use my help.”

Suguru closes the small gap that was left between each other and cups one of your cheeks. “No,” he says. “You go, do what we planned. I’ll be okay.”

You let out a shaky breath and he cups your other cheek. “Go,” he insists. “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’ll meet up with you where we agreed, okay?”

You drop your head and hesitate, so he presses his knuckle under your chin to lift your head so you can meet his dark eyes. He doesn’t say anything and you don’t either, you just hold his soft and loving gaze, and as if it were magic you feel comforted by his look alone.

“Suguru,” you whisper.

He leans in and begins to kiss you softly to only deepen that comfort. You don’t kiss him back right away, you savor the sweetness of his lips and cherish the softness and warmth of them. When you slowly grab his jaw you pull him closer to finally kiss him back with more passion and with longing. He wants to pull back so you can go, but you pull him back and linger in the kiss until you want to pull away.

“Be careful,” you tell him once again.

Suguru offers you a smile and nods. “I will,” he reassures you. “You be careful too, hm?”

You brush a strand of his long hair over his shoulder and nod. “I will be,” you whisper and slide your hands off his jaw to step back before you stay. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you,” he repeats.

You let out a deep breath and hold his gaze for another lingering minute before you turn and walk away. You’re tempted to look back, but you know that if you do you’ll begin to think about staying to help him, so instead, you quicken your pace. It’s only once you’ve turned into a different path that you walk slower and realize that this damned school really hasn’t changed a bit.

The same buildings remain here, they look like they’ve been kept up to date, but besides that, there’s nothing new. How do they expect kids to learn and continue to live if they don’t change? What a pity.

Nevertheless, just like expected you don’t run into anyone either since they all should be in the city. But you would have preferred to run into obstacles, as you wander through the school grounds you remember your youth and you begin to feel all nostalgic because it really hasn’t changed…

It makes you wonder if yours and Suguru’s initials are still carved on the tree by the pond you’d like to sit by. It’d be nice to add your daughter's initials on there now too. Hopefully, once Suguru and you both are done you can do it since you did agree to meet up there.

As for now though, you really need to stop daydreaming and focus on your plan. Thus, you also try to strain your ear to try and hear if Suguru might be fighting, but you’re too far from where you left him, you can’t hear or feel a thing.

Hopefully, he’s okay though.

Nevertheless, when you reach the building that leads to the warehouse and Tengen’s tomb, of course, you come across two guards.

“Stop right there Y/N Gojo!” A guard shouts as he pulls out his metal flail and lets the metal ball fall.

You look at the both of them unamused and retort. “Fighting you two would be no challenge so don’t embarrass yourselves.”

The other guard begins to unsheath two blades, and the one with the flail points his finger at you. “We’ve been ordered to kill you,” he sneers.

You scoff and smile. “Come at me then,” you encourage him. “I’ll give you the first shot.”

The man with two swords charges at you and jumps up to swing his blades down at you, but you run forward and slide down toward the other man.

When the man with the flail sees you he tries to catch you off guard and swings the metal ball down, but you're faster than him, so you swiftly get back on your feet and stand behind him.

“Boo,” you whisper in his ear.

The man with the flail jumps. “What the hell,” he gasps, and then turns back whilst he swings his flail, but you catch the chain and wrap it around your wrist to yank him towards you.

Once he's close you fist your hand and throw him a right hook before you snatch his own flail out of his hand and swing the ball across his face, managing to knock him out, and leaving only his partner left. And just like before he charges at you and swings his blades, but you swerve each one and only get him more upset.

When he charges at you a third time he’s faster, so you let him reach you. However, when he swings this time you meet his blades with the metal ball and then use your foot to kick him back. The man drops his blades at the moment of impact, so you drop the flail and stride over to kick his face and knock him out.

Just like you told them that was no challenge. The real challenge is when you get inside the building and find a thousand doors.

Only one leads to where the warehouse will be. And you’ve prepared, but you don’t know the consequences that destroying the doors could lead to. The last time you came here you were allowed here when you were hoping to find Suguru and Satoru, so the correct door was open. This time they’re all closed, they’re around you, above you, below you, it’s like being in some dark abyss and only doors keep you company.

But you can do this. You can.

You roll your shoulders back and tap into your fire, causing the dragon around your arm to glow red as fire comes out of your palms.

“Cursed technique, fire dragon,” you mutter and begin to fill the dark room with the burning light of your fire-made dragon while you form its large body outward. “Cursed technique, fire snake,” you add and use your other hand to flow fire out and form a large fire-made snake.

“Now,” you sigh. “Let’s hope this works,” you mutter.

You put your hands together and combine the dragon for its fire breath ability, and the snake for its ability to burn away cursed energy, and create a large fire-made Wyrm that lights the room so bright it looks like a sun. Its body grows horns like a dragon, it grows an incredible and ferocious jaw like your fire-made dragon, it grows a tongue and a long slithering body like a snake.

It’s a new technique you discovered while training with Yuki. She helped you realize your full potential in ways the school or your family never could. She made you the sorcerer you are now, you owe a lot to her.

“Now,” you continue and smirk. “Cursed technique, Fire Wyrm!”

You send the Fire Wyrm out and it opens its jaw to blast fire out and bathe every door with bright and hot flames as it flies around the void. The fire grows so hot you begin to grow uncomfortable because unfortunately, you aren’t immune to fire. You can tolerate a lot more than the average person, but there’s a chance that you could die by fire.

Luckily though, this time isn’t the day your fire took you out. Instead, you watch in awe as the fire burns away the cursed technique that was keeping the fake doors up, leaving only one that was too strong for your technique to destroy. Just like you had theorized.

And thankfully there’s no counterattack either, so you return the fire back to you and slowly open the door. When you walk in you see the forest-like room you came across before, and this time just across the door is the warehouse.

You had not even batted an eye to the warehouse before, you had no interest in it because you were too caught up in your own worry to even pay any mind to it. Eleven years later here you are walking to it without caring about the tomb.

When you reach the warehouse though, you see a lock on the metal door.

“What to do?” You ask yourself and glance around the forest until an idea hits you.

You crouch down and wrap your hand around the lock to use your fire to burn it away. Luckily, the lock isn't immune to your fire and melts away, letting you pull the door open.

When you walk inside your breath catches as you find yourself impressed by what’s inside, by how large the warehouse really is compared to how it looks outside. And every inch of it is covered with cursed weapons and cursed objects of every grade.

In theory, you could use it all against the school, use it to win your battle, but you’re only here for one thing, the 9 Cursed Womb Death paintings.

They stand all the way in the back in glass flasks that stand on podiums that are basked by such a dim light that you can’t even shape what’s inside the flasks. When you approach them though, you gasp as you see nine fetuses, all different shapes and different sizes, but they’re all just fetuses…

Maybe it’s the intimidating name, but you expected something scarier. They’re harmless—in this state of course. When they’re incarnated in their vessels though, they’ll grow into intimidating humans with strong techniques, and hopefully, they’ll help your cause.

“You’re not so scary,” you mutter as you crouch to look at the first cursed womb death painting through the glass. “Don’t worry…” you trail off and grab the flask to turn it and read the label stuck to the glass. “…experiment number 1, Choso.” You smile softly at it. “I’ll get you out. All of you,” you add softly.

The fetus opens its little eyes and you jump up. “Fuck,” gasp out of fear. “Unexpected.” You exhale and laugh softly to yourself. “Anyway. Let’s go home, Choso.”

You tuck it in the bag you brought and move down the line to tuck the rest of them inside. And when you’re done you’re about to turn to head out, but then the sound of a familiar voice makes you freeze.

“Are things really that bad that you’re resorting to stealing now…”

Satoru.

“…Sister.”

You clench your jaw and swallow back thickly as you grow annoyed and angry at the sound of his voice, and at the feeling of his presence so close to you.

You had seen him not so long ago, but it wasn’t the same, there were people between the two of you, his attention was wavered, and neither of you had the intention to get close or attack. This time, it’s just the two of you alone and you know there's only one thing you will have to do. Something you’ve never had to do because you both know you wouldn’t just drop what you took without a fight, you wouldn’t leave without one.

Is that what fills your eyes with tears then? That knowledge? Or is it the anger that’s flowing back in as the memory of him leaving you behind ten years ago resurfaces as if it happened yesterday?

“Y/N,” he calls out your name in that same nonchalance he would always say your name so many times before. It would annoy you sometimes. But this time it’s different, he’s acting like he didn’t break your heart, as if nothing happened. This time it infuriates you.

And when you slowly peer back over your shoulder you display your anger through your furrowed eyebrows and narrowed glare, and through the angry tears that fill your eyes.

“Brother,” you mutter coldly.

A/N- Don’t think about how if Satori sees her dad again it’ll actually be Kenjaku

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno

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johnsbleu · 5 months ago

Text

Hold My Hand: John Wick x Reader Chapter 173

warnings: dual pov, nsfw moments hmh masterlist

Y/N is always pretty good when it comes to scary movies. Usually she’s walking through the dark house after watching one and she’s completely fine. Not tonight. Maybe it’s because we’re at a different house and not at our home where she knows every nook and cranny, but she’s pretty freaked out. She picked the movie and she’s trying to be so brave, but I can tell she’s scared, which is why I’m staying a little closer to her. If I can make her feel safe, then I’ve done my job.

We decided to sit out on the back deck for a little bit, and she’s looking over her shoulder every few minutes. I reach over and pull her chair closer to me, then I drape my arm over her lap and lean in to kiss her, hoping she feels safer.

“Getting tired?”

Y/N nods, “Yeah, we spent so much time in the sun today. I think I’m drained.”

I get up and reach for her hands, then I lift her up and throw her over my shoulder as she laughs. One of these days I’m going to be too old to do that, but it’s not any time soon, so I plan on doing it until my back breaks from old age. I open the sliding door, lock it behind me, then head to the front door and lock that one too. Y/N kicks her legs playfully, so I spank her.

“Stop that.”

“No!” she laughs, so I squeeze right under her butt where I know she’s ticklish. She screams so loud with laughter that I have to put her down so I don’t drop her.

I wrap my arms around her and lean down to kiss her as we walk back to the room, and she reaches down to undo my belt.

“Oh, is this what we’re doing tonight?”

She looks up at me and nods, “No different than the last two nights. I want as much uninterrupted sex as I can get.”

“Sounds good to me.” I whisper as I kiss her, “Really putting that new birth control to work, huh?”

Y/N tilts her head back and laughs loudly, “I’m glad I got the IUD instead of those stupid pills. Though, did you know there was a woman who didn’t realize that her IUD had fallen out and she ended up getting pregnant?”

I slouch a little and let out a big breath as I look at her, “Peach…”

“Sorry,” she laughs quietly, then she starts undoing my belt. I lean down to kiss her neck, and she begins to laugh, “Did I ruin the mood?”

I look at her as she laughs, “No.”

Even though she’s laughing, I lean down and suck on her neck, moving my hand down between her legs and rubbing her over her pajama bottoms. I slip my hand into her underwear, and she immediately stops laughing and lets her head loll back. I lay her down on the bed and pull her pajama bottoms off, along with her underwear, then I kneel down in front of the bed and smirk when she looks up at me as I pull her closer to my mouth, diving in deep for just a moment to give a taste of what to expect.

“You done talking now?” I whisper against her thigh, and she whimpers as she nods. “Good.”

You shoot up in bed when you hear a sound coming from the deck, and you reach over and shake John’s shoulder. He’s completely sound asleep, which yes, is flattering since he literally rolled over after kissing you goodnight, saying he loved you and immediately fell asleep. But now you need him awake right this minute!

“John!” you shake his shoulder, and he hums, “There’s someone outside.”

“No, there isn’t.”

You scoff and shake his shoulder, “Yes, there is. I keep hearing something hit metal.”

“I just got up to pee. There’s no one here.” he rolls over to his right side and pulls you into his arms, “Go to sleep, baby.”

“Wow, thanks for protecting your wife.” you glare at him in the dark even though he can’t see you. “You’ll feel like shit when someone breaks in and murders me.”

John laughs sleepily, “No one is breaking in, peach.”

You sigh loudly and lay down next to him, then you stare up at the ceiling, just waiting for the noise again because you know it’s going to happen. After a few minutes, you finally start to feel your eyes grow heavy, and you start to fall asleep. Just as your eyes close, you hear the noise again and sit up.

“I’m awake!” John groans and sits up. “I heard it too, and after mentioning someone murdering you, I got paranoid.”

You smile softly when he turns on the light, “I love you.”

“I love you too. Stay here.” he rubs his knuckle against his eye and walks out of the bedroom in his boxers with absolutely no fear of what he could find outside--he’d have it handled with no problems. Even in boxers.

God, it’s hot. If you weren’t so scared, you’d definitely go down on him when he comes back into the bedroom. On second thought, you definitely will if there’s nothing outside.

You pull your knees close to your chest and watch the doorway, then you furrow your brow when you hear the noise again and John laughing.

“What? Oh, god, be careful! John! Please be careful. Are you okay? What happened?”

Wow, you’re spiraling.

“Come here, baby.” he calls from the other room, and you immediately get up and rush out to him. He’s still laughing when you get to him, “This is what you’ve been so scared of all night.”

You scrunch your brows and walk over to see what John is pointing at, and you gasp and laugh when you see a small fluffy kitten playing with a string from your towel draped over the chair. Every so often, as it swats at the string, it bumps into the metal of the rain spout. That’s the noise you’ve been hearing all night.

You turn to John and cross your arms, “Told you someone was outside.”

“Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” he laughs as he kisses your forehead.

The kitten meows and walks over to rub up against John’s leg, and you grin and look up at John. He takes a deep breath and laughs since he already knows what you’re going to ask.

“Listen to me,” he laughs as you reach down and pick up the fluffy kitten, “If this kitten is here by the morning, we can keep him.”

“He’s hungry, John!”

“We don’t know that.” John laughs, then he gestures to the yard, “Maybe he has a momma around here. We’ve seen a ton of cats since we’ve been here--tons of kittens even!”

You pout a little, “But look at him. He’s so thin. I can feel his ribs.”

“Baby, it’s so late right now.” he closes his eyes, then he looks at you and exhales as a smile spreads on his face when you pout, “I don’t know why I’m fighting this.”

You hold the kitten up in front of John as it meows, “Look at him, he’s so cute.”

“He is pretty cute,” he admits, and you smile.

“I’m keeping him.” you say, happily walking past, and John laughs as he nods. “What are you going to do? Say no to me?”

John shakes his head, “I wouldn’t dream of it. You know I can’t.”

He opens the door for you and locks it when you get inside, then he kisses your cheek and smiles softly as you talk to the kitten.

“What are you going to feed him?”

“I don’t know.” you shrug and open the fridge, “Cats don’t actually drink milk. I’ll give him some water, but…I don’t have anything to feed to him.”

John opens the fridge and holds up the chicken that he had bought at the store earlier to grill out tomorrow, “You could boil this. Give him a little. It’s probably not great, but it’s something. We can go to the store tomorrow and get some food.”

You smile at John and watch him grab a pot and fill it with water before dropping a chicken breast into it. He puts the other chicken breasts away and turns to you, smiling when you lock eyes with him.

“God, you’re so cute. It’s dangerous, I hope you know that.” he says, leaning down to kiss you. “It’s 3 in the morning and I’m in the kitchen boiling chicken for some kitten we just found, and I already know we’re bringing him home.”

“Come on, he’s cute!” you hold him up and smile when he nibbles on your finger, “We can take him to the vet when we get home and make sure he’s okay.”

John nods, “What if he has a momma out there and she’s looking for him?”

“Well, we’re here for a few more days. I’ll ask around.” you get up and snuggle the kitten as you walk to John, “But until then, he stays here.”

“You putting your foot down?” John jokes, and you stomp your foot playfully. “Ronan’s going to be very happy with her birthday present.”

You look at him and laugh, “This isn’t your anniversary gift to me?”

“I mean…it can be!” he laughs, then he shrugs, “My gift is kind of shit anyway.”

You hold the kitten in your right arm tucked close to your chest, then you lean up and kiss John, “You’re a really good man. Now finish boiling that chicken, so we can feed this baby, then…I have a surprise for you.”

John perks up, “What’s that?”

“As long as you aren’t tired…” you back away and seductively wipe your finger against your bottom lip before looking down lower to John’s boxers.

“Lucky for you, I’m fully awake now.” he smiles, and you wink at him.

Since the kitten is pretty small, you didn’t want him to have full range of the house. There’s too much stuff that he could get into, plus he has been outside so you don’t know if he has fleas or not; you didn’t notice any when you were holding him, but you can’t be too safe. You folded up a few towels and made a little bed for him in the bathroom, then you put his water in there with him as well.

You were barely able to contain yourself this morning, so you got up quickly and changed your clothes to go see the little kitten. When you went into the bathroom, he was still sleeping, so you let him be--after checking to make sure he was still alive, of course.

John was in a pretty good mood despite you waking him up at three in the morning, most likely because he got a little bit of a treat before going back to sleep. The two of you went to the store and got some things for the kitten. You bought some food, a few toys, and some shampoo to wash away any possible fleas. John won’t admit it, but he’s excited about the newest family member, and you know he is because he picked out a cute little collar for him.

“Do we even know if it’s a boy?” he asks as you get out of the car.

You shrug, “I couldn’t tell, but I’ll look again. Either way, Baby Cat is going to look so cute in that collar.”

“Are we really going with Baby Cat?”

“Until Ro can name him.” you say as you open the door, “I’m blanking on names at the moment.”

John holds the door open and laughs, “Ro doesn’t know very many words yet.”

“Then let’s hope she doesn’t name the cat ‘dada’.” you say, and John smiles. “We already have a fish and an actual dada with that name.”

Before you can even drop the bags off at the table, you rush over and open the bathroom door, then you look down as the little kitten prances out into the living room. John kneels down and wiggles his fingers, and the kitten stops and wiggles his little butt before he pounces at John’s hands.

“Ro is going to love this,” John says, and you nod as you sit down on the couch and go through the bag.

The kitten walks over and tries to jump up to the couch, but he barely gets two inches off the ground. You reach down and pick him up, then you take out the toys and offer them to him.

“He’s so tiny,” John says as he sits down, “I wonder if he was the runt, which reminds me, I was going to go talk to the people a few doors down. I saw some cats outside their door.”

You frown a little, “I hope they don’t want him back. Well, I shouldn’t say that. If they want him back and actually want to take care of him, then we’ll give him back, but…”

John leans over and kisses your temple, “I’ll go talk to them.”

“I’m gonna give him a bath, then I’ll get some lunch started for us,” you say as he gets up, and he leans over and kisses you.

“Off to go bribe someone to let us keep their cat.” he says, and you look over your shoulder at him and laugh. “Anything for my girls, though.”

You’ve just sat on the couch with the kitten when you hear the door open. You look down at the kitten with his eyes closed as you take the towel and dry him off, and you melt a little when you hear him purring. John leans down and kisses the top of your head, then he sits with you and smiles when he sees the kitten lying on your chest as you dry him.

“Give me the news.”

John laughs, then he takes a deep breath, “Well, there is a momma cat, but momma cat has been…having lots of kittens lately and is getting fixed soon. So, I talked to them and they said that if we found a kitten, we’re more than welcome to take him.”

Your heart bursts as you sit up, “Really?”

“Yes.” he nods, reaching over to pet the cat, “It’s better that we take him than something bad happening to him. I told them that our daughter would be thrilled--and that my wife would be pretty happy too.”

“We get to keep you!” you say to the kitten, then you kiss him and hug him. Your eyes snap open and you look at John, “New family member!”

John furrows his brow, “Huh?”

“The psychic said we’d have a new family member and that it might not be a baby,” you hold up the kitten and smile at John, “New family member!”

“Yeah,” he laughs, nodding his head, “Even more reason to believe her.”

You lean over and kiss him a few times, “It’s a boy, by the way. Found that out while I gave him a bath.”

John laughs, “Can’t wait to see what Ro names him.”

“We might just have to think of something.” you say, and John nods his head, still petting the kitten. You look at John and smile softly, “Thank you for this. I know we talked about getting her a kitten later on when she’s older, but…he kind of fell into our lap.”

Letting out a small laugh, John reaches over and touches your chin, rubbing his thumb against your bottom lip, “I would give you anything you ask for. You know that.”

“I don’t ask for anything,” you shake your head and look into his eyes, “I just ask for you to love me.”

“You don’t have to ask me to do that,” he whispers as he leans closer, “Loving you is as easy as breathing.”

You tear up a little and nod, “I feel the same way. I love you so much.”

“I will give you and Ronan anything you ask for. Whatever you want, you can have. You two have me wrapped around your little fingers.” he says, and you lean over to kiss him. He cups your face and kisses you again with a little more intensity, then he looks down at the kitten sleeping on your chest, “Yeah, I get it, little guy, her boobs are great.”

“Shut up!” you laugh as you playfully swat John’s arm. “How did you just go from being so romantic to being…a man?”

John scoots over and rests his head on your chest too, “Ah, so cozy.”

“You’re weird.” you say, and John squeezes your breast a little as you laugh.

“Can I ask something and pray like hell you won’t get upset?”

You look at John when he leans up, “We’re keeping this cat.”

“No, no, it’s not about the cat.” he says as he sits up, then he takes a deep breath, “Have I made you feel…unsexy lately?”

“Unsexy? Is that a word?”

John nods earnestly, “I think so.”

“Okay, well, no, you have not made me feel unsexy. Why?”

John takes another deep breath and shrugs, “You just…don’t ever wear lingerie and I thought maybe I made you feel bad about yourself or something. I just want you to always feel good and feel beautiful, because I think you’re the most beautiful person. If I made you feel bad, I’d want you to tell me. I know you feel good when you wear that stuff, so I just…I don’t know. You can hop in to the conversation at any point here.”

You start to smile before you lean over to kiss him a few times, “I don’t wear that stuff because of you, actually.”

“Oh, god.” John puts his head down for a moment, then looks at you, “Tell me what I did. Please.”

“Well,” you set the kitten aside and turn to face John, “The problem usually is I want to wear that stuff because yes, it does make me feel pretty and sexy, but also I know you like it when I wear it. The problem is…you don’t let me get away from you for long enough to actually change into it. When you want me, you want me that moment, which, hey, I’m flattered, but you just don’t give me time!”

John exhales in relief when you smile at him, “So basically you don’t wear it because I need you right that minute?”

“Literally yes.” you laugh as John closes his eyes. You straddle his waist and sit in his lap, “John, you’ve never made me feel anything but beautiful and sexy. I would love to wear lingerie more, but sometimes we need each other right that minute and that’s okay!”

“Did you bring some with?”

You start to grin as you lean forward to kiss him, “Yes.”

“You should wear it tonight.”

Letting out a small laugh, you nod your head before nuzzling into the crook of his neck, “Anything for you.”

You bite into an apple slice and squint out at the sun going down. Baby Cat is lying in your lap right now and snoozing away. He won’t stop following John and you around, so it’s nice that he seems to be fine with being away from his momma. You look down at him and pet him, then you reach for an apple slice just as John does. He gestures for you to take one, then he smiles at you.

“Almost three years, peach.” he whispers, and you smile at him. “Three years since I met you. Can’t believe it.”

“Me neither,” you reach for his hand and kiss the back of it, “You make me really fucking happy, I hope you know that. I hope you know how in love with you I am and how I feel like I can be myself with you, and how safe I feel with you. I know talking about how we feel about each other isn’t an unheard of concept in our relationship--we tell each other how much we admire and love each other all the time--but I just really want to tell you that I am so fucking happy that I met you. You’re the best husband I could have ever asked for, and you’re my best friend. On top of being the best husband, you’re my best friend too, which is the most important thing.”

John cups your face and smiles, “I love you, sweetheart. The love of my life and my best friend, how lucky am I?”

“How lucky are we?” you smile, leaning over to kiss him. “You ever think about how different things would be if it hadn’t been me who brought the mail to your house? You could be living in Manhattan with April in a nice apartment or with Tess.”

“Well, for starters, April is a lesbian, so that’s not happening.” he says, and you laugh quietly. “And two, Tess is in love with my best friend and my best friend is in love with her, so that also won’t work. And finally, I am so madly in love with you. It didn’t matter who brought it over to me. I wanted to talk to you. I would have kept putting shit in your mailbox until you came over.”

You smile, “Or until you worked up the courage to talk to me.”

“Yeah, that too.” he grins, then he squeezes your hand, “Peach, you scared me. You still do. All I wanted was you, and I have you now. I’m never gonna take that for granted. You’re everything to me. Everything that I do, every thought that I have, you’re right there in my mind. Every decision I make, I do with you in mind. I mean it, you are everything to me.”

“That’s what I love so much about you, and I’m sure Helen did too.” you say, and he raises his brows, “When you love, you love with your entire heart. It’s really nice to be on the receiving end of that.”

John scoots closer and wraps his arm around you, “You love with your whole heart too. We were both so timid at first, but once we knew that this was real, we were both all in. I only ever want to be all in with you.”

Leaning your head against his shoulder, you close your eyes and smile, feeling the sun warm your cheeks as it dips lower. John presses a kiss to the top of your head and rests his cheek against your forehead.

Three years with this man already, and it’s flown by. Forever won’t even be long enough. Whatever time you get with him won’t be long enough. You can’t focus on it for too long, otherwise you’ll just be upset, so you open your eyes and inhale deeply.

“Can you believe Ro is going to be one?”

John laughs, “I can’t. How the hell do we have a one year old?”

“No clue,” you shake your head, laughing, “But I will say, she is your freaking twin, and I’m totally cool with it. I know she’s only one, but she has all of your good qualities, I swear. She’s sweet and kind, and she’s somehow so patient too. We’re raising a freaking phenomenal little lady.”

“Well, her momma deserves most of the credit here,” he says, tipping his head to you, “You’re doing a great job with her. I see the way she watches you and mimics you. You’re setting a great example for her, and I’m so happy to know my daughter is going to grow up to be just like her mom.”

You smile, “And her dad. He’s a great role model too; he deserves credit too.”

John laughs as he leans over to kiss you, “We’re doing a good job with her, I think.”

“Me too,” you smile, then you start to laugh, “We really just stroked each other's egos for a few moments. Felt great.”

“Sure did, and I’ll do it again.” John smiles, leaning down to kiss you.

Baby Cat stretches out in your lap, then he crawls over to John and stretches out, reaching his little arm out in front of him. John scoops him up and holds him close to his face, and the kitten reaches out to touch John’s nose. John gives his paw a little kiss, then he sets him down and laughs when he sees you watching him.

You grin, “You love Baby Cat.”

“He’s really cute, but I’m not crazy about the name.”

You laugh, “Well, I can’t think of anything! And he’s not getting the typical cat name like, Shadow, Midnight, Fluffy, and shit like that. Ronan needs to name him.”

“She’s going to be so excited to see her kitten,” John pets the cat and looks at you, “And she’ll be excited to see her momma.”

“And her dada.” you whisper, then you lean over to kiss him, “But momma needs daddy to herself for a few more days.”

John laughs as you push him down into the sand and kiss him, “I’m cool with that.”

“Time to exchange gifts?” you ask, and John laughs as he holds up the gift-wrapped box for you. You point at the two gifts on the table and he furrows his brow in confusion. “One for our anniversary, one for your birthday.”

John sits next to you and laughs, “Remember we weren’t being completely serious with these gifts.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m aware.” you say, and John nods as he hands the box to you.

You rip along the edge and pull the paper off, then you put it on the floor and smile when Baby Cat immediately pounces on it. John didn’t put too much tape on it, so you don’t have a problem opening the box at all, and you push the tissue paper down and gasp as you hold up the beautiful white and floral robe.

“This is gorgeous,” you rub it against your cheek and smile, “I love this. Thank you!”

John grins, “Cotton.”

“Yeah,” you laugh as you nod, then you lean over to kiss him, “Thank you. You know I love a good robe.”

“I do.” he smiles, watching you grab the box for him. He opens it carefully and tosses the paper down for the kitten, who is in love with the paper and the box from your gift, then John starts to laugh as he holds up the boxers. “Wow.”

You laugh and shrug your shoulders, “Cotton.”

“Yeah, I got that.” he holds them up and starts to laugh even harder at your face printed all over the boxers with ‘MINE’ written in funky letters over the crotch. “Wow, baby, these are…”

“I don’t know! Cotton is such a weird one! All I could think of was blankets and boxers and we don’t need any more blankets, so I just settled on those. I thought you’d think they’re funny.”

John looks down at them, still laughing, “I do think they’re funny. Might even wear them sometime just for you.”

“Oh, can’t wait.” you joke, knowing full well if anyone is wearing them, it’ll be you. You cup his face and kiss him, “Happy anniversary, babe.”

“Happy anniversary.” he cups the back of your neck and presses his lips to yours harder before you pull away and grab his other gift. It’s just in an envelope, so you already know he’s very curious. He opens the envelope and pulls out two tickets, and he widens his eyes and looks at you, “What?”

You shrug, “Thought you and Jimmy would have a good time. Wherever the World Series is going to be this year, you and Jimmy will be there with the best seats--right behind home base.”

“Well, what if I want to bring you?”

“As much as I love doing anything with you, I think I’m going to sit baseball out, especially the World Series. Bring Jimmy. He’ll have a blast. You both will. Make a weekend of it.” you smile at him, and he lets out a small laugh. “Happy birthday.”

John looks over at you and smiles, “Thank you. This is very thoughtful, though I am a little sad you don’t want to come with.”

“Tess and I just want you and Jimmy out of our hair for a weekend.” you joke, and John laughs. “He loves baseball and you do too. And look, I know that…back when you two became closer, it was because he invited you to watch games with him--it’s how you two bonded.”

“You are so sweet,” he says softly, rubbing your back. “Thank you for this.”

You scoot over and rest against his shoulder, “You’re very welcome. Did I do good this year?”

“Well, last year you gave me a baby, so…” he playfully grimaces and clicks his tongue, “I’m gonna need a little more effort next year.”

“You are absolutely not getting another baby next year.”

John jokingly groans before leaning over to kiss you, “Another pair of boxers will do then.”

John stands next to you at the counter and begins to help you cut up some veggies for a salad. He leans down and kisses your bare shoulder, and he smiles when you look at him.

“I like this tank top on you.” he says, and you start to laugh. “Looks good.”

“I wonder why you like it so much,” you joke, and John glances at your breasts before he starts to laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He puts his hand up, still laughing, “It looks great on you. The fact that I can see your nipples through it is just a bonus. You look…hot.”

“I look ‘hot’?” you set the knife down and turn to him, “You think I’m hot?”

John furrows his brow as he laughs incredulously, “Of course I do! I think you’re the hottest woman I’ve ever seen. You’re sexy!”

You burst out laughing until you’re in tears, “God, please, why is this so funny to me?”

“Because you’re weird. Did our conversation about the lingerie tell you nothing?” John says, looking at you with amusement as you laugh. “Of course I think my wife is sexy. Baby, you have no idea how attracted I am to you.”

“I think I have some idea.” you say, squinting your eyes a little before glancing down at the crotch of his pants. You press your hand to your cheek and laugh, “I’m warm. You’ve embarrassed me!”

John smiles proudly, “You’re so cute. Come here.”

You fall into John’s arms as he laughs, and he buries his face into the crook of your neck and inhales your perfume. You close your eyes and smile happily as the two of you hold one another for a few moments before you hear Baby Cat meowing at your feet. You lean back and look at him, and he stretches out before he tries to climb up John’s jeans. John reaches for him and puts him on his shoulder--his new favorite spot to hang out.

It’s actually kind of ridiculous how hot this makes John. He’s already hands down the sexiest man you’ve ever seen, and honestly he’s just getting better with age. You were never really into those stupid firefighter calendars--the ones with the guys who clearly aren’t really firefighters posing with kittens and puppies, or they pose shirtless as they bake a cake--but seeing John hold a little kitten and kiss him, yeah, you’d definitely like to see him shirtless and just in his boxers as he poses with the kitten. Hell, even if he was shirtless in the kitchen with a huge mess behind him, you wouldn't mind that.

John is sexy. He’s always been sexy, but seeing him so vulnerable and sweet just makes him so much better--there’s nothing sexier than an emotionally mature man. Seeing him show up for you and Ronan every single day, seeing him with her, seeing how he goes out of his way for you on days when you struggle a little, all of that just makes you all the more attracted to him.

It sure doesn't hurt that he looks the way he looks, of course. His beard is still dark, but he does have some gray that is poking through here and there. His hair as well. His skin is amazing--you’re definitely still trying to figure out his secret for great skin. He’s still tall and lean with a little more muscle now than before since he’s been doing so much work around the house. He looks even better now than he did before, which is mind-boggling since he looked gorgeous before.

“Hey,” John taps your chin and smiles at you, “Where did you go?”

“I was just thinking about how sexy you are.” you say, and John scoffs. You hold his gaze and nod your head, “I’m not kidding. I was just thinking about how sexy you are and how sexy you’ve gotten.”

John perks up, “Really now?”

“Yeah, genuinely,” you look up at him, smiling, “You know how you always say that you’re more attracted to me now than before, and then you quickly add in that you were very attracted to me before so you don’t upset me?”

He starts to laugh, “Yeah.”

“That’s how I feel.” you say, and he chuckles, “Seeing you as a dad, seeing you be so vulnerable with me, seeing you so emotionally mature, seeing you with a tiny little kitten on you…”

“It’s hot?”

You laugh, “Yeah! I don’t know, John, you’re just getting more and more attractive to me. I like it a lot. I like that we haven’t lost our spark. Sure, we’ve had our little spurts where we’re not as intimate, but it’s not because we don’t want to be. We might just be a little more busy or tired, but it’s never been because we’re not into each other anymore--not for me at least.”

John laughs when you smirk and shrug your shoulder, “Oh, you know it hasn’t been for me either, you little shit.”

“Excuse you!” you laugh as John smiles at you, “You’re a little shit!”

“Nope,” he shakes his head and places Baby Cat back onto the ground where he quickly runs off to play with a toy, “You are a little shit.”

You scoff, turning your nose up jokingly, “I am not.”

“You are,” he pulls you to him and leans down to kiss you, “You’re my little shit.”

Letting out a small laugh, you kiss John as he helps you onto the counter, then he spreads your legs and steps between them as you two make out. You wrap your legs around him and pull him closer, and he lets out a small moan. His hands are warm on your back, and you shiver when you feel him slip one hand under your tank top.

Rain has been pattering against the windows all day so you’ve been cooped up inside, but you sure don’t mind. You really don’t mind when you have John in front of you to keep you entertained. Whether that’s with conversation or sex, whatever time you spend with him is well spent. Lying on the couch watching TV or reading, chatting about complete nonsense, or reminiscing about things from the past, as long as you’re with John, it’s perfect.

“Hey,” you lean back and look into his gorgeous brown eyes, “I love you.”

John’s finger trails along your jawline as he smiles, “I love you too.”

“We were making dinner,” you whisper, and he laughs as he looks down at his left hand resting on your breast, “I think we got a little sidetracked.”

“You’re very distracting, Mrs. Wick.”

A smile spreads on your face as you hold his gaze. You gently remove his hand from your chest and pull your tank top off, tossing it aside. John inhales deeply as he takes you in, and you reach for his hands again and place them both on your chest.

“Sorry for being so distracting.”

“You can distract me anytime.”

You start to laugh, “You’ve seen my boobs how many times?”

“Lots…” he nods, still staring at your chest as his fingers trail about your soft skin, “Lots of times. Still doesn’t matter how many times I see them, I fucking love them!”

You smile at him, “Still obsessed with my piercing, I see.”

John nods as he looks up at you with your nipple in his mouth, “Yes. Very.”

“When we get home--”

“I don’t want to talk about going home. We have a few more days. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“We can’t go home yet,” you shake your head and reach up to cup John’s face, “You still haven’t fucked me in that amazing shower yet.”

John pulls you closer and lifts you off the counter, “We have time now.”

“We were supposed to be making something to eat.” you say, and John starts to smirk.

“You have something I can eat,” he replies, low and velvety, and you bite your lip, “And you definitely want me to, don’t you?”

You hug him tighter, “Well, you certainly are the best at it.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he whispers, and you close your eyes as he sucks on your neck. “I need to hear you moan for me, and I need it to be loud.”

You chuckle as John lays you back on the bed, “I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that.”

John hovers over you and smiles before he begins kissing down your body, getting himself situated between your legs. He pulls your shorts down and tosses them aside as he licks his lips, then he pulls your underwear off and smiles. He moves his hand up your stomach to rest between your breasts, then he leans down and buries his face, causing you to immediately moan loudly. “Good girl.”

“Remember how you wanted me to wear lingerie?” you say, and John laughs between your legs, “This is the problem right here, John.”

“You want me to stop?” he asks, leaning up to look at you as you start to smile and shake your head. He moves back between your legs, “Good because I don’t want to either.”

taglist: @lilithlinen @ladyren33 @multifandombliss @ruby-octo @tnu-ree @scream-queen-25 @beingnerdyissupercool @sakurachan-9

#john wick x reader #john wick x you #john wick imagine #john wick x y/n #fic: hold my hand #john really loves to EAT. doesn't he.#and he just loves her god he loves her so much #if someone loved me like that i would pass out #i hope you all are loved like that one day #well i hope you enjoy!#they've been together 3 years now and that's so cute #and ro is gonna be ONE #like WHAT #that's my daughter y'all!#anyway lmao lemme shut up ENJOY!!!!!

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kuroneko1815 · 1 year ago

Text

Monsters and Treasures in Dungeons Deep

This came from my short walk to the bus stop and written while on the bus. Huzzah to the almighty commute boredom.

Deep in a dark, dusty, and damp dungeon was a monster’s nest. Riddled with the bones of treasure seekers and hapless adventurers who thought to try their luck to find the legendary treasure within the very heart of the dungeon.

On most days, the only sounds that could be heard were the growls and grunts of the monsters, but not today. At this very moment a warrior fought off the monsters, panting through the effort.

“This treasure better be worth it.” The warrior muttered angrily. Robes dirty from the near constant fighting.

Finally the warrior made it to the dragon’s chambers and took a moment to prepare. The dragon was said to be fierce and tyrannical. When the warrior entered the chambers, instead of a treasure guarded by a dragon, there was a man.

She approached the sleeping man. And looked around as though she’d missed the treasure. But there was nothing there.

“What the? I fought through six levels of hell in a dungeon to face a dragon and to earn the most magnificent treasure in the world so where is it?!?” She yelled out loud, turquoise eyes blazing with the promise of death. “Where’s the dragon? Where’s the gold and rubies I was promised?!? Damn you Secretary Porter!!!”

And then she brought herself close to the man, too angry to care about his handsome face or his golden hair and bunched up his shirt as she pulled him up, ready to question him. She raised her other hand and slapped him hard, repeatedly, until he stirred.

“What? Who dares slap me?” The man grumbled as he opened his eyes revealing ruby coloured eyes. “Do you know who I am? I am the dragon prince, Callisto Regulus, crown prince of the Empire.” He said grumpily. “Though I must thank you for waking me up from that terrible sleeping curse my step mother put on me. It was supposed to be broken with true love’s kiss.”

“True love’s kiss who? I slapped the ever living fuck out of you. I guess a slap works just as well.” She said bitterly. “I demand a reward of gold and rubies.”

“How about an entire empire as my empress?” He offered.

“Does that come with a lot of money and fine food?” She asked.

“Yes.”

She didn’t even have to consider it. “Then let’s get married today. I’m Penelope by the way. You may as well know the name of the woman you’ll be trapped with for all eternity.”

“All eternity is it?” He asked with an elegant brow as he reached for the sword at his side and hopped off the gilded altar made into a luxurious bed. He looked at it in disgust.

“I went through all this trouble to get here on the promise of treasure. If you’re going to make me the empress and give me the entirety of the imperial treasures, that’s great. But I also intend to make sure that you don’t replace me with another and make me lose the treasure.”

He snorted as the two fought their way back up the six levels. “I think you and I will get along great. Though if you do take a lover, I’ll end him viciously in front of you.”

“Any concubines you have won’t make it past a fortnight, nor would they ever give you any children.” She vowed, magic setting the monsters in front of her ablaze.

They continued to talk to one another as they went through each level at which point she revealed herself to be the youngest child of the Duke of Eckhart, adopted of course. She made sure to specify that part.

“I need at least one child from you.” He told her absently as he pulled her away from the path of the arrows.

“We need to show the picture of marital bliss. No less than three nights in my room, even if we don’t do anything. I won’t have anyone talk that I’ve fallen out of favour with my husband.” She demanded.

“Right to refuse intimacy.” They both said at the same time.

And then they spoke of the wedding. “Three weeks from today. That should give me enough time to deal with my step mother and half brother, his faction, my father, and plan a wedding.”

“Talk to my father as well.”

“Any thoughts on flowers?”

“Something red, no roses though, or at most, just three or four roses in my bouquet but the rest should be some other flowers.”

“Will you have trouble procuring a dress?”

She looked at him with a wry smile. “I’m an Eckhart. Leave the dress to me.”

By the time they had left the dungeon to where Secretary Porter was waiting eagerly to see his liege, they had ironed out everything from the marriage agreement to the wedding, even to the policies they wished to implement within their first five years.

In the wake of the Imperial Wedding, Captain Leon Markham would lean in close to his friend, Sir Cedric Porter as he watched the newly risen Emperor wed his Empress and get crowned together. The Emperor’s half brother was put on house arrest after being found to be too dishonourable, his mother imprisoned, and his entire faction dissolved. The former Emperor was glad to be rid of both crown and wife and went merrily on his way to retirement.

“Did you really have to choose her?” The Captain asked incredulous. The new Empress’ reputation as an Iron Lady was well known, he worried that the Emperor might not survive the bedding if he did anything wrong.

“I had no choice.” The Emperor’s aide said, as he defended himself, silently lamenting his liege’s new wife who still held a grudge. “Every other woman that would’ve wanted to rescue him and become his wife and empress had died in the dungeons, and the rest were either afraid of him, or afraid of the dungeons itself.”

“I had to trick her into believing there was a magnificent treasure there.” He still flinched at the thought of the woman’s words.

“The Emperor is no treasure, unless you count his looks and title, but his personality leaves much to be desired.” Captain Markham noted. “In that they’re the same. But that being said, will the Emperor be alright with her?”

“He’ll survive.” The Captain said resolutely stubborn in his faith that his liege could survive anything.

True enough, he survived. In fact, he was never in danger from her. He never spent a day away from his wife’s bed and they went on to have no less than seven children. The Duke and the Empress’ brothers never quite got around to liking the Emperor though they doted on their nieces and nephew, her sister however, was their biggest supporter.

The adventurer/sleeping beauty curse in reverse. With Penelope as the money hungry saviour and Callisto as the damsel in distress/princess in need of saving, the treasure, and the dragon itself. Penelope isn’t pleased she’s been conned. But they still got their happily ever after.

#death is the only ending for a villainess #villains are destined to die #vadd #callisto regulus #death is the only ending for the villainess #fanfic #death is the only ending for the villain #cedric porter #penelope eckart x callisto regulus #penelope x callisto #penelope eckhart #penelope eckart

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widowwaddles · 2 years ago

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Yelena the Match Maker - The (Late) Valentine’s Day Special

Summary: It didn’t take long for Yelena to notice your crush on Wanda, not that you were trying hard to hide it. The tension between the two of you was palpable, even during class. But you’d only deny it whenever she brought it up, saying how you didn’t think Wanda liked you in that way. So as your best friend, she decided you needed a push and devised a plan to get this ship sailing. TLDR: Yelena trying (and failing) to be your wingman.

Pairing: Wanda x reader

Warnings: Jealous Wanda, complete chaos

Word count: ~3.1k

Taglist: @xxxtwilightaxelxxx

A/N: This takes place within the Don't Go Breaking My Heart universe, just later down in the timeline. I had got this idea last night and was eager to get it out before February was over. It was supposed to be short and sweet but ended up being a lot longer than I planned lol. Enjoy

Read the main story here

Masterlist

You noticed that Yelena’s been acting weird today, she was oddly excited to go to Wanda’s class after work. Practically rushing you out of the building as soon as you clocked out. You shrugged it off as Yelena being Yelena, you could never predict what she was thinking - ever. Plus you’d have to admit that you were excited for class today too, as thoughts of Wanda quickly flooded your mind. You started to get a lot closer these days, and you felt like you were in heaven the minute you locked eyes. Just seeing her angelic smile had the power to ease all doubt - about falling so fast - from your mind and when it was directed at you, you fell even harder for her. Yes, you were in deep, but you couldn’t help it. She was perfect. Smiling, you start your car and begin the drive to the community center.

As you walked into class you saw Wanda talking to a fellow classmate of yours, Monica. The room was fairly empty, which doesn’t surprise you because it was still pretty early. You thought Yelena would have already beat you here from how fast she drove out of the parking lot after work. A small part of you was starting to get worried, but a much larger part wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to have some alone time Wanda. Yelena was more than capable of taking care of herself. When your eyes met Wanda’s, you offered her a small wave and walked to the station in the back row, her green eyes lit up before she quickly excuses herself from her conversation. Monica left the room, saying she’d be missing today's class. Now you were truly alone.

“Hey Y/n” Wanda says, cheeks lightly dusted pink in embarrassment from how fast she ran over to you.

“Hey” taking in her appearance, you grin. “You doing okay there Wanda? You look a little out of breath”

“Shut up” she groans as playfully punches your arm.

Before you could retort her hands reach towards you - slightly above your hips - pulling you closer to her by your jacket.

“I had a lot of fun with you yesterday,” she says lowly, her attention now focused on her hands as fingers nervously fiddled with the bottom of your jacket. You internally scream from how cute she is.

Using one hand you grab her hip, while the other reaches under her chin. Lifting her head until you make eye contact with the green eyes you’ve fallen for. Looking at her face you can see how anxious she truly was in this moment, - as if scared of your reaction to her small confession - and you only wished to ease her worries.

Leaning closer you bring your lips to her cheek. Kissing it softly, you pull away hoping to see her nervous expression leave her face. Let’s just say that the bright red tint of her smiling cheeks was the perfect indicator that it had worked.

“Every moment I spend with you, makes me incredibly happy” you confess, her eyes light up even more. “But yeah, yesterday was fun too” you end jokingly. “I’ve never seen someone rage so much at Mario Kart”

“Hey, in my defense it seemed like everyone decided to gang up on me. You’d get angry too if 3 red shells hit you while you were in 1st place” she mutters angrily, as she remembers the unfortunate events from yesterday.

“My ears have never heard so many Sokovian curse words” laughing at the memory, you bring both of your hands to her waist as she attempts to push you away. Realizing that you had no plans of letting her go, she leans her head into your chest.

“But you’re supposed to be on my side, Detka” a pout forming on her lips. She knew she was playing dirty. You could never resist her pout and throwing in the nickname only assured her victory. On cue, you fell for it immediately, wrapping your hands around her tighter - pecking kisses all around her face.

“I’m sorry, Wands I think I may have gotten a bit carried away with wanting them to like me” your onslaught of kisses continues. “You know that I’ll always be on your side no matter what, right?”

Giggling she brings her hands up to your face - pushing you back lightly - deciding she wanted your undivided attention as she answered.

“Yes I know” her voice is warm, as she looks at you longingly. “And I’m so lucky to have you here still, even after everything”

“You’re worth it” you admit, feeling your heart swell with love. “You’re worth everything and more to me”.

Slowly you both lean in, wanting to seal this moment forever in your memories. You could feel her warm breath ghosting against your lips, deciding to not prolong this moment further you connec-

SLAM

You and Wanda jump apart in surprise. Barreling through the door was your lovely best friend, who was just as surprised to see you too.

“I didn’t see anyone in here when I looked through the window. What were you two doing back here?” furrowing her eyes brows.

“Uh, we were just- ” you start, looking at Wanda for help.

“Talking about today’s lesson. We’re making red velvet cupcakes today” she finishes, eyes switching between you and Yelena.

“I can’t wait!” you say looking at Yelena enthusiastically, wincing at how fake it sounds and hoping she doesn’t catch on.

“Okay, don’t tell me then,” She says as she walks to our station.“You don’t have to act so weirdly about it”.

You and Wanda look at each other in relief. But before anything more could be said, more people flooded into the room. Wanda makes her way back to the front of the room, greeting everyone that comes in. Class has officially started. __

Everything carried on as it normally does today, with Wanda teaching and you gazing (or drooling according to Yelena) at her. Yelena’s odd behavior from earlier seems to have subsided, but you noticed she kept glancing at the door. Almost, as if she was waiting for someone. Before the detective in you could fully come out, a sudden knock halts everything in the room. Wanda walks to the door and unlocks it, she is surprised to see an older man carrying a bouquet of flowers the size of his head. He walks to the front of the room, before pulling out a note from his pocket.

“I have a delivery here for…” he squints his eyes as he reads the paper.

“A Y/n L/n” and as he finishes all everyone’s head turns to you. Including Wanda’s.

Feeling confused, but very awkward in this situation, you put your head down hoping he’s made a mistake.

“Is there a Y/n here?” he asks, beginning to get annoyed.

“She’s right here,” Yelena says, raising her hand.

He walks over carrying the bouquet to your station.

“Hey, kid, the gal who got you these must really like you a lot” pausing as he places the flowers gently on the surface. “Treat her well” he winks at you before walking away.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he says, stopping in the middle of the room. He pulls out 5 boxes of heart-shaped chocolates from his satchel. Returning to your station, he stacks them neatly next to the flowers.” Ehhh… I’m not sure about these. Valentine’s Day was weeks ago, but to each their own” he gruffs out. And now he finally leaves.

The room is completely silent, everyone’s eyes still on you. Looking down at your new “gifts” you could feel your cheeks start to burn from embarrassment. You have no idea what just happened. Daringly, you bring your head up and look toward Wanda, and boy does she not look happy. Frowning, her eyes darkened as they bore into yours. You look at her pleadingly hoping she understands that you’re just as confused as she is, but she shuts her eyes close. Breathing in and then out slowly, and opens her eyes again. You still held everyone’s attention even during your silent exchange with Wanda, you watch as she slams her hand onto the top of her station. The loud noise snaps everyone out of whatever trance they were in.

“Are you all ready to continue now?” her voice dripping with fake sweetness.

You were really in trouble now. Beside you, Yelena had to hide her smile as she watches her plan become a success. From her limited experience with love, she knew that jealousy was the best way for people to accept their feelings for one another. If you couldn’t see Wanda’s obvious feelings for you before, you’d definitely have to see them now. You feel a sharp elbow in your side unexpectedly, you look towards Yelena and she winks at you - smiling.

What the hell was going on today?

–-

Wanda continued class on as if nothing ever happened…or at least that's how everyone else felt. She still looked expressive as always as she explains the steps for the recipe. You found yourself smiling seeing how cheerful she was, but whenever your eyes met her eye hardened, lips forming into a line. She’d quickly averted her eyes to someone else in the room. She even avoided coming to your station during the mixing portion. You’d search for her expectantly only to see she’s engaged in a conversation with another group. Waiting for the cupcakes to bake, you look down at the flowers dejectedly, wondering what you did for Wanda to react this way.

RING

“Sounds like our cupcakes are done, now we can start the fun part” holding up a frosting piping bag. “Decorating”

Splitting the pan in half, you and Yelena started to decorate the cupcakes. Taking inspiration from your current mood, you began piping little broken hearts onto yours. Your behavior confuses Yelena - shouldn’t you be happy now - but before she could inquire about what was wrong with you Wanda decided to make an appearance.

“These flowers look nice” feigning interest in the bouquet. Looking up you were surprised to see that she was suddenly here after spending all of class avoiding you

“Yeah, they are” Yelena answers as if it was a question posed to her. “ It looks like our little Y/n has a secret admirer” throwing her arm around your shoulder.

You stiffen as you feel Wanda glare at you.

“It definitely looks like it” she exasperates. “Y/n, I was hoping to talk to you after class today about your… disturbance”

You stare at her blankly, trying to gauge her reaction. You don’t feel very confident about this talk later. If looks could kill, you’d be six feet under right now. Yelena bumps your arm, wondering how you still weren’t seeing the signs yet - now in her mind you were being rude and ruining her genius plan by not responding. Shouldn’t you be reveling in this moment?

Wanda looks annoyed that you still haven’t said anything yet. “Actually, let’s do this now. Meet me in the hallway” she says impatiently, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

You look on in fear. You don’t want to go out there. Looking at Yelena for help, you realized you were not on the same page about this situation. She’s pointing at the door, happily as if you’re crazy for not leaving already. She stands up quickly, grabs your wrist, and drags you to the door. Opening it, she pushes you into the hallway - giving you another wink before closing the door. Did that entire interaction from before just go over her head, why was she willingly shoving you toward your own death?

Yelena smiles as she shuts the door in your face. Walking back to your station she smirks. This is exactly how things play out in movies, Wanda - sensing competition - will stake her claim on you, in an attempt to keep you to herself. She’ll kiss your oblivious lips until you realize that she has feelings for you and then you’ll finally get together. She mentally sets a timer for 5 minutes, knowing she’ll catch you in the act the next time she opens the door.

Stumbling into the hallway, you see Wanda leaning against the wall, hands crossed against her chest. She looks at you expectantly.

“So..” you start off

“Who are the flowers from Y/n?” Wanda says sternly, getting straight to business.

“I don’t know” you say truthfully. She looks at you skeptically. “I really don’t know”.

Wanda closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

“I thought you said you were okay with us taking things slow” looking at you again, all anger leaving her body and being replaced with doubt.

“Hey, I meant what I said. I’m more than okay with waiting until we’re both ready,” you say getting closer.

“The flowers and chocolates waiting for you in there speak a different story” she replies bitterly. “So where’d you meet her? Work? The bar? Tell me, I wanna know”

“There is no one else” grabbing her hands. “I’m just as surprised as you are”

“So if they mean nothing to you then why accept them?”

“I don’t know what you wanted me to say, Wanda, I’ve never been in that situation before” you exclaim. “You could tell how embarrassed I was about the whole thing, I don’t enjoy those types of public gestures. Plus you saw how everyone was looking at me in there, it would have been a lot worse if I rejected them”

“Yes, but I would have felt better about everything!” Her voice was loud. “Imagine how hard it was for me to see that. I thought what we had meant more to you” her head now looking at her shoes. “It hurt a lot, it felt like everything we’ve been building towards had been shattered, you’re supposed to be mine. The one person I was allowed to be selfish with, you made me believe that Y/n”.

“Now I just feel like an idiot for ever believing I could want things and actually be happy again,” she says weakly, as she stands amongst the wreckage of her broken walls. You feel tears springing into your eyes at Wanda’s words. She genuinely believes that she can’t be happy and that breaks your heart, even more knowing that you (unknowingly) were the cause of it.

Walking up to Wanda, you get down on your knees and look at her pleadingly. “Wanda, I’m so sorry for causing you so much pain. I would never, ever, intentionally do that because it hurts me to see you like this. My chest aches in pain whenever your smile leaves your face, and I promised myself that I would do anything to bring it back. Please believe me when I say there is no one else, only you” she looks away, and you hold her hips to keep her attention. “Please, Wanda. I know the situation doesn’t look great but I need you to trust me. I would never do anything to betray you or your trust” the tears are streaming down your cheeks now as you beg this woman with everything you have.

Sucking in a deep breath, Wanda looks down at you. You can see that she desperately wants to believe you but the pain is still there. Your heart breaks at the thought of this being over and Wanda walking out of your life. You bend your head down to hold in your sob. You feel a soft hand on your head, “we’ll continue this later” her voice quiet.

You nod your head eagerly, at the chance to prove your innocence and make things up to her. Before you could move, the door of the class opens. You quickly wipe your face before turning around to face the source of the interruption with Wanda.

“Hey guys, it looks like we’re all pretty much finished for today,” Yelena says, as she peeks her head down the hall. Wanda is the first to walk back in, desperate to end the class. As you pick yourself up and walk into the room, Yelena slaps you on the back, grinning. “I don’t know what I walked into back there, but it looked pretty kinky”.

You raise an eyebrow in confusion. What part of that looked kink- Oh. You bring your hands up to your face and groan. From Yelena’s perspective, yeah it probably did look worse than what actually took place. You definitely would mind being on your knees for Wanda, especially if it left her gasping rather than close to tears. You shook your head, you couldn’t let your mind get too distracted. You weren’t in the clear yet, and you had to make the most out of the chance she was giving you. It definitely felt like the last.

Wanda dismisses the class and reminds everyone that there we wouldn’t be meeting up next week. You stick behind, eager to finish this conversation in the comfort of your own homes and ultimately decide it would be best to do it at Wanda’s. Yelena squeezes your shoulder as she packs up to leave. She leans in close, “I hope you enjoyed your little gift today”. You look at her confused, trying to piece together what she meant. “Don’t have too much fun and use protection”.

Yelena walks to the door and when she looks back she sees that Wanda has walked over to you, holding her hand out expectantly. You place the bouquet and chocolates in her hand. She walks to the nearest trash can and throws them in aggressively. A slight smile crossed her face as she turns back to you. You make eye contact with Yelena, seeing her put two thumbs up and mouth ‘she’s going to kill you’ but with a proud look. Before you could say anything she was already out of the door.

Getting up you start to pack up your cupcakes and prepare to leave. As you go to pick up the container, you see two pieces of paper underneath.

They are the receipts for the flowers and chocolates, with Yelena’s name on the orders. As you look at the total price you see she had got a good deal for it all, it was the typical everything must go sale price - as the store was eager to get the next holiday items in. On the back of it, you see something written:

A gift from me to you, I just hope Wanda goes easy on you tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised to see you walk in with a limp tomorrow. ; )

P.S: You owe me $20

Wanda has already left the room, but you take off right behind her. Yelling for her to wait as you carried the evidence to prove your innocence.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #wanda x y/n #dontgobakingmyheart

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phillippadgettwrites · 1 year ago

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The First Time, Every Time: Fallen Angel

Rated X / 1437 words / Tagging @today-in-fic /Posted on AO3

She insists on coming by to help him get ready for the hearing, which is completely unnecessary from his perspective; he’s gotten along just fine with more significant injuries than a badly sprained ankle. But he’s learning that attempts to dissuade her from tending to his medical needs are futile, so after a brief debate he gives up and tells her to come on over.

She looks painfully pretty with her hair pinned back from her face, and he feels like an oaf as he hops to the bathroom in his sweatpants and dirty T-shirt with her right by his side, holding his elbow for balance.

“I think I’ve got it from here, Scully,” he says, feeling mildly embarrassed, when they arrive in front of the shower.

“Just be careful taking your pants off, please,” she says, looking at his foot and frowning. “If you fall over you’re likely to hit your head.”

“Did you want to take them off for me?” he quips with annoyance while tugging on his waistband, and her eyes snap up to his face. He sees her cheeks begin to turn pink and he feels bad for giving her a hard time. She’s just trying to help.

“I’ll be right out here,” she tells him before turning on her heel and closing the door behind her.

He thinks about her as he showers standing on one foot. Thinks about the struggle he sees behind her eyes, the internal conflict as he continues to show her things that she can’t make sense of. Max had called her enigmatic, and she is. Firm but tender, stoic but playful, open but endlessly skeptical. He expected her to have bailed by now, but she just keeps coming back, which certainly engenders admiration. Not many people are willing to look right into the face of things that make them uncomfortable, or confused, or afraid, but Scully is a rare breed. Rare and beautiful. Painite in a sea of diamonds.

Her knock startles him back to reality, and he looks down at his cock, half-hard and draped with soap bubbles.

“You okay in there?” she calls out, and he nods reflexively, rinsing the suds off his body. “Mulder?”

“All good,” he calls back, then shuts off the water and reaches for a towel to sling around his waist.

“Can I come in?”

He checks to be sure that he isn’t sporting a tent, then grants her permission to enter. He’s still standing in the bathtub, dripping wet, considering whether it’s altogether wise to use the towel rod as a handle while he climbs out. Scully cracks the door open a few inches, and he sees her eyes flick over his body before they land on his face. She smiles a tight, uncomfortable smile and then slowly steps through the door.

“Do you need help getting out?” she asks, already approaching the tub with her hands held out.

Mulder opens his mouth to decline, but truthfully he’s very likely to end up on his ass if he attempts to extricate himself, and that’s bound to be more embarrassing than just accepting her help to begin with. He sits on the edge of the tub and swings his legs over one at a time, then takes her hands as he slowly stands on his good foot.

“There you go,” she says triumphantly, giving him an encouraging smile. She’s so damn pretty. He tries not to notice, but he’s finding it particularly difficult today.

He hobbles to the couch with her assistance, the chill in the air and his wet skin bringing up gooseflesh all over his body and tightening his nipples to stones. He sits heavily with a grunt and Scully gingerly perches on the edge of the cushion beside him.

“I can get you clothes,” she offers. “Was there something particular you were planning to wear?”

“I don’t need you to dress me, Scully,” he says with a little laugh, and again he registers embarrassment on her face. “I appreciate your help,” he adds, then holds up both hands, “but these bad boys are still fully functional.”

Scully nods, pulling in a deep breath and then expelling it slowly.

“I’m sorry, I think I’m just nervous about the hearing,” she says, averting her eyes to the coffee table. “I don’t see how we can possibly justify our actions in Wisconsin.”

“My actions,” he corrects her, and she looks up at him. “I’m not gonna let you go down for this, Scully. Don’t worry.”

Her eyes narrow a little, her chin pebbling in consideration.

“You’re my partner,” she says plainly. “Whatever happens to you, it happens to both of us.”

His chest suddenly feels tight. She breaks eye contact momentarily, glancing at his mouth before her ocean water irises are locked on his again. A drop of water runs down his back and he shivers, which makes another drop fall from the ends of his hair onto his cheek.

Scully scoots closer, reaching out to brush the offending drop away with her thumb. Her skin feels warm and velvety against his, which is chilled and rough with stubble, and the tenderness of the gesture combined with his relative nakedness and her pretty face so close to his makes blood rush to his lap.

Scully moves to pull her hand away and he reaches up to grab it. He’s not even sure what his intention is, he just knows that he wants her to stay close. She looks at their joined hands, and then at his face. Then briefly, so brief that if he blinked he may have missed it, her eyes flash down to his groin and she swallows.

The slightest tug on her hand sends her chest crashing into his. Her mouth tastes like bitter coffee and she smells like heaven, and as he wraps one hand around the back of her neck he has the forethought to be careful that he doesn’t mess up her hair. A quick glance at the clock as he pulls her into his lap tells him that they’ll need to leave in forty-five minutes or they’ll be late for the hearing. What he could do to her in forty-five minutes. What would she let him do?

Such an enigma. Poised and professional and endlessly rational, but here she is sucking on his bottom lip as she shucks off her own suit jacket and expertly unbuttons her blouse in ten seconds flat. They shouldn’t be doing this, but she shows absolutely no sign of hesitation, even when they have to stop so she can wriggle out of her pantyhose without tearing them. She throws him a self-conscious smile as she drapes the perfectly intact hosiery over the arm of his couch, then hikes her skirt up around her waist and climbs back into his lap, allowing him to do the honors of tugging her panties to the side and getting a good look at the pink slash between her legs before he feels her envelop him, hot and wet.

She comes quickly, her eyebrows knit and her eyes closed, and he watches her face raptly, savoring every new surge. When her eyelids flutter open and she finds him looking at her, she smiles sheepishly. Mulder looks at the clock again: twenty-five minutes until they’ll need to be walking out the door.

“I think I’d better get dressed or we’ll be late,” he says, his hard cock still tucked inside her.

Scully’s eyes go wide.

“Did you…finish?” she asks. They hadn’t even discussed a condom.

“No,” he assures her, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

“You don’t want to?” she asks, now concerned for different reasons.

Mulder smiles and pushes her hair behind her shoulder. So pretty. So tough. So complicated.

“You’re my partner,” he says. “Whatever happens to you, it happens to both of us.”

Scully scoffs, then extricates herself from his lap.

“I’m not sure that’s how that works,” she says, retrieving her blouse, “But I suppose you did owe me one for bailing you out.”

“Exactly,” he says, covering himself with the tail of the towel before he gets to his feet and begins to hobble toward his bedroom. “Which suit do you think will make them hate me less, black or gray?”

He pauses in the threshold and looks back at her. She’s sitting in the chair at his desk, carefully tucking her toe into the end of her pantyhose before smoothing them up over her leg. She does not appear to have any qualms about what just happened. She flicks her eyes over his body, then answers, “Definitely black.”

#x files fanfic #the x files #xf fic #xf fanfic #dana scully #fox mulder #smut #xfiles #the xfiles

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look-at-the-soul · 1 year ago

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Look at the soul- Part 10 There you’ll be

Cillian Murphy x OC

Series master list

⚠️ Grief (but the comfort afterwards compensates)

🎭 Special thanks to @heidimoreton for creating the most perfect and beautiful moodboard for this part! 🥰✨ I’ve been saving this for so long, this chapter holds a very special place in my heart since it was one of the very firsts scenes I had in mind, I didn’t know how I’d get there, only this had to be part of the story… as Cillian realizes that in order to be able to enjoy something new, he needs to let go first of what’s keeping him locked.

Word count: 3,840 (without the song)

Song: There you’ll be by Faith Hill

“Adria!” Enda shouted from behind, people walking on the street turned to look at him but he simply didn’t care. Cillian followed him in silence.

Marianne blushed as she heard him calling her by her character’s name several times until he reached her.

“On a trip to fulfill your coffee addiction?”

“Better than yours.” She pointed at the cigarette between his fingers.

“Touché.” Edna chuckled looking at Cillian, she had been getting better at keeping up with his sense of humor and sometimes she got a better comeback.

“Turn it off man, it’s bad for her lungs.” Cillian asked him politely.

“I’m curious what do you have in there?”

Marianne looked at the tote bag Enda just pointed.

“Got a few books at the café, I’m planning to start it this Friday.”

Enda looked at her with a shocked expression. “How old are you? Eighty two? Marianne this is Ireland, you’re by yourself and no one knows you here, should be going out until four in the morning, pass out… have a great time.”

“Reading a book with a glass of wine it’s more like my kind of night.” She replied shyly. “And it’s a great plan by the way.”

“Live, woman… go out and live life! That’s why you’re single.” Enda joked. “Both of you.”

“Don’t be rude mate.” Cillian tried to defend.

“Just telling the truth.” He shuddered. “Hopefully you’ll get someone thanks to the play.”

“Enda!” Marianne opened her eyes wide.

“What? Could be a good opportunity to make a casting or something for you.”

Reaching the steps of the Olympia theater, she shook her head slightly.

“Don’t listen to him, it’s a consequence of his age, he’s losing the filter.”

“Aye, you’re not getting any younger.” Enda patted Cillian on the back.

“Doesn’t matter you’ll always be older than us.” He gave Marianne a small wink.

“Go on stage now, before I start the audition right away.”

As everyone took their place, the lights tech started to make some adjustment, the cast began the rehearsal.

“Stop, stop.” Enda asked interrupting the scene going on stage. “We need the lights off just as Adria reaches the top step, all theater lights off, this light on her.” He explained and then took off his glasses, the big opening was around the corner and this was the most important part.

“Every body keep your counts right.” Heidi called over the microphone.

Marianne positioned herself close to the bar again, her eyes and ears on Enda to follow his instructions.

“Cillian on your count.”

As the cast started moving around and a bright light was focused on Adria, the screenplay writer walked towards his friend.

“Holy fuck.” Enda exhaled loudly as they both watched the scene unfold on stage.

“I know man.” Cillian crossed his arms against his chest without moving his eyes from Marianne.

Even after weeks of rehearsals, it kept taking them by surprise once she got into character, dress and characterization included. They were both holding their breaths as she looked back, over her shoulder towards them. Her emerald eyes boring into their souls.

“Is this one of those stories they love to portray in movies right?”

Cillian looked at him confused.

“I’ve known you since you were a noisy teen, don’t try to fool me.” Enda adjusted the glasses on his nose. “You have fallen deep for her and I don’t blame you to be honest… I mean, who wouldn’t?”

Cillian’s eyes moved around the theater without locking eye contact with Enda. He remained quiet, letting the words sink in.

“It’s alright to move on, it’s been a while. You just have to make peace with you-know-who first, close the cycle they call it.” Enda squeezed his shoulder. “Go home man, think about it.”

Cillian looked back on stage, finding Marianne there turning her face around, over her shoulder. The realization feeling heavier on his shoulders.

There was no use to try to deny it now, Enda only gave his own thoughts a loud voice.

Was it a proper time to move on?

How are you supposed to do that?

Would Marianne feel the same about him?

Slowly, day by day she found a way to make him smile, she gave him back the strength and need to be on stage. To do what he loved the most and without even noticing, made herself earn a spot inside his heart.

Grieving doesn’t come with a manual, there are no instructions to know if you’re taking the long way or the short route. Words of support come and go, but the only thing that sets the pace it’s your own heart.

As a few rain drops started to wet his face, Cillian shuddered, not because it was cold, but because this would represent a major change in his life, he couldn’t even come close to measure the impact this would bring into him.

Could he take this chance after losing his wife?

Could it be Marianne the one helping him heal his heart? Did he really stand a chance with her? Even after being in his forties?

For the first time he felt self conscious about his age, he wasn’t the young lad he was once…

And besides that, moving on after a breakup or a divorce is completely different than starting all over again after being a widower. He had now developed several mannerisms over time, he had an already built in life, an ongoing list of things he could no longer tolerate, in-laws that were looking at the time were he would make the slightest mistake and last but not least, his sons… but above all of that he was just a lonely man and without an ounce of being pretentious, he thought he deserved to give love a second chance.

He wanted to be happy, to feel alive again…

Was he ready to let go of the memory of his late wife to take a chance to be happy again? Fall back in love?

He had to give Marianne credit because she lifted him up when he needed it the most, she had been there as a lifeline for him the moment he met her on that bus and ever since she had been holding a candle to light his path back to theater among other projects.

That wasn’t entirely a surprise, because deep down she had this internal light that could bright even the darkest room.

It had been a while since the last time he went there, the atmosphere suddenly felt dense, he wanted to apologize for not coming sooner, he didn’t even paid attention of anything around him on his way there.

The day he met Marianne on the bus exactly, that was the last time he had been there visiting his late wife’s urn, after that he stopped completely, something had been keeping him away.

Someone more likely.

“Hey,” his voice cracked a bit, “I’m sorry I haven’t been here lately, loads of things going on, the kids are alright growing up so fast. Andrew is even taller than me already,” he chuckled looking at his late wife’s name engraved. “Truth is I don’t have a valid excuse… I’ve been working on a play, yeah it’s a great script and it’s been a massive therapy for me, the only thing that keeps my mind off but you already know that right? There are days where I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, losing you forced me to be around the boys completely and we didn’t had the phone line for like a week because I forgot to pay the bill once, you took care of everything… but I’m trying, for the boys, for me… for you.”

Cillian let out a heavy sigh, feeling embarrassed suddenly.

“But that’s not what I came for…” he cleared his throat.

His hand trembled when he touched the cold stone.

“One of those nights after you left, I was lying in bed unable to sleep and reality hit me hard, my mind started bombarding me with these thoughts ’is this how it’s going to be from now on?’… I know you’re not coming back, and you’ll always be the mother of my kids… but I met someone a-and I don’t know how she feels, but I wanted to let you know that I decided to give it a try… is that alright? To rebuild my personal life and have someone by my side?”

In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky

In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life

He could feel the wedding band around his finger burning, of course it wasn’t real, it was just a thing made by his mind, but he needed to do it. The lump in his throat growing.

I'll keep a part of you with me

And everywhere I am, there you'll be

“I promise you I’ll help the boys keep your memory alive in some way… I better go, have to make dinner for those beasts.” He added with a small chuckle.

Everyone carries grieving in different ways and to him everything is valid, or at least that’s what he wanted to think because as he stepped outside one of the classic Irish rain started to pour down as if somehow the rain came to wash over his pain, his grief and also the guilt of thinking about a brand new start with someone else.

Cillian couldn’t find a single word to describe how he felt, but the weight on his shoulders was definitely lighter this time around.

The shadow of mourning finally stopped wrapping its coat around him.

Arriving home later, he left his shoes by the steps. Walking across the corridor he was met by the familiar sounds of his sons and dog, but he stopped on his tracks as a photo of his late wife dressed in her wedding dress all those years ago stared at him from the shelves.

This was his way of saying goodbye, of letting go finally of the woman who had been his partner for the last eighteen years.

Rolling the gold wedding band between his thumb and forefinger he took a moment to rub the edge, the symbol of their marriage, their vows, the dreams they once shared.

And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me

Placing his wedding band next to the photo, he gave her one last look. “Thank you for giving me my boys.”

He was ready to open up his heart again.

“Hey Da.” Andrew, his eldest son greeted him as he walked into the kitchen.

“You’re studying, guess that’s why it’s raining.” He joked.

“Yeah, I don’t understand anything.”

Part of his abilities as an actor was learning things for the role he was portraying, but school assignments were a pain in the arse for him.

“Sorry buddy, you know I suck at this but if you need some help…”

“Are you gonna call aunt Orla? No thanks, last time she confused me more.”

Cillian couldn’t help but chuckle at his son’s statement. But he had someone else in mind.

“Do you want help or not?”

“Ya.”

Cillian saw Andrew groan defeated, resting his head on the book. So he quickly took his phone and opened a new text message.

Heyya’ are you busy?

Hello! No, why?

I know you love numbers, interested in doing some tutoring? SOS it’s for my son. He wrote back.

Of course, come over.

And just like that she was able to brighten his day in mere minutes. Even if it was the darkest night.

“Pick up your stuff, we’re going. Benjamin! We’re going out, are you coming?” He shouted from the first floor.

“Can I drive?” Asked Andrew.

“Do you’ve a license?” As his eldest shook his head, Cillian tilted his head. “Then the answer is no.”

“No, can I go to TJ’s house? He invited me to play video games.”

Cillian nodded and passed Ben’s jumper, after waving Scout goodbye, he left his youngest at his friend’s house and drove away with Andrew to Marianne’s place.

“Who did you get?”

“Marianne, she’s part of the cast of the play but she’s really, really good with numbers.” Cillian explained.

“Cool.” Was all his son had to say.

It was a short and quick drive, Cillian pulled in front of the townhouse, the property seemed to be remodeled and held several apartments independently.

After pressing the buzz, Marianne opened the door for them.

“Hello again, this is my kid Andrew… thanks for doing this by the way.”

“Dad I’m not a kid anymore. Hi.” Andrew looked at Marianne, making her swallow a gasp by the similarities with his father.

“Hey, please come in.” She welcomed them with a smile.

Cillian mimicked Andrew. “He can’t stand when I call him that.”

Suppressing a giggle, Marianne guided them towards the small kitchen. She decided to avoid commenting the obvious that they looked so alike. “So, your Dad says you’re studying applied mathematics?”

“Yeah but so don’t understand my teacher.”

“Oh before that, we brought hamburgers for dinn-” Cillian started to explain, but quickly found himself staring at the stove. “What’s this? Smells fantastic.”

“My special chicken.” Marianne explained, she had prepared it for the traditional tacos night with the girls the following day, but judging by Cillian’s glances, she thought of changing it. “You can have some if you want.”

He wanted to say no, it would be a terrible thing to take away her food, but the smell was incredible and by now it was evident, it was mouth-watering.

“It’s fine really, there’s enough.”

“I swear they’re good, but this looks and smells delicious.” Cillian praised again. “How about we exchange?”

“It’s fine really, there’s enough.”

“You sure?” Cillian asked again, to which Marianne replied with a nod.

“Would you like some too Andrew?” She asked looking at the boy.

“Nah, the burger is fine. Thanks.”

“Your loss ‘cos this is awesome.” Cillian shuddered taking another bite.

It felt somehow strange to have Cillian and his son in her kitchen.

“Did you know Marianne's studying her master in Finance?” He raised his eyebrows, making evident his admiration. “Trinity College.”

“Oh yeah? The campus is grand.” Andrew stated.

“It is, loads of buildings, but now I’m taking a hybrid method so I’m not always there.” Marianne explained before thanking Cillian for her dinner.

“Hmmm.” Cillian was lost for words, he never imagined the explosion of flavors in his mouth. “This is perfect.”

As Andrew excused himself to use the bathroom, Cillian continue praising her cooking skills.

“How have you been feeling?” He asked studying Marianne’s face, his gaze was penetrating.

“Everything’s fine, the new inhaler works like a charm.” She replied, getting busy with the dirty dishes.

“You could try going outside for a walk put all these trees to good use.” Cillian added taking the plates from her.

“Heidi told me I’ve to go to the Blarney Stone, I’m planning to visit on Sunday.” Cillian’s fingers brushed against hers accidentally, but it was enough to make her heart skip a beat.

He noticed a small blush in her skin, or it was the kitchen light perhaps? Why was this suddenly feeling like a perfect domestic scene?

“Just avoid kissing it please.” He made a disgusted face.

“Why? I’ll loose my good luck shot.”

“Just… don’t kiss it, trust me.”

“What? The Blarney rock?” Andrew laughed. “It’s full of piss… gross.”

“Andrew.” Cillian warned with his eyes and voice tone.

“Wha? ‘S true.”

“Are you guys serious?” Marianne asked in disbelief.

But after watching them nod profusely, Andrew told her locals usually pee on the stone among other disgusting things so she decided to trust in their words. And avoid kissing the stone at all costs.

While Cillian finished with the dishes, Andrew got his book and notebook.

“Oh I remember these.” Marianne took a moment to read through the notes and exercises. “Just let me grab my glasses. At this hour I can’t see without them.”

“No offense, but you sound just like my Da.”

Marianne laughed, but Cillian moved so quickly to slap his son in the back of his head.

As Andrew hissed and rubbed the spot with his hand, Marianne waved at Cillian.

“It’s fine, after you cross your thirties you’ll start making Dad jokes without even having kids and wear glasses too.”

Cillian smirked, pleased. “That was a nice comeback, smooth.”

Andrew groaned and shook his head.

“Okay let’s start with this example, you need to find the ‘x’ value. And differentiate 3x-7.” She read the first part of the instructions.

“But I only have ‘y’.” Andrew frowned confused.

“Yeah you’ll have to find that first and then use that value to find the ‘x’.” Marianne started working on her own sheet to show him, in a few short steps she solved the problem.

“Woah!”

Cillian chuckled from the living room where he had picked a book from Marianne’s shelves that caught his attention. Lying on the couch he watched the scene before his eyes, the domesticity at its finest and he felt so comfortable that the mere sensation from it forced to question himself if he was allowed to feel this good.

And his son was even smiling from solving the problems correctly. To him that mean everything.

Since he left the theater he hadn’t been able to stop the thoughts about Marianne and the positive impact she had brought along the way. He was constantly relying on her not only about his professional projects like the play or his production company, but on a personal level as well, she had seen him at his worst, on a negative attitude and managed to help him ground again. She had a very particular sense of humor and her face was so transparent that he could see every emotion there even when she wasn’t speaking. He also enjoyed way too much teasing her when she couldn’t get a word right.

If he could use one word about her, it was admiration, there was no other way to describe his feelings. Because seeing her on stage, transformed into this fearless character, dominating the entire theater with her presence in a foreign language when she didn’t have an acting background but she worked so hard so you wouldn’t notice that. It was something that slowly made him fall in love not only with theater again, but with her as well.

He had to admit her physical beauty attracted loads of attention, he had seen first hand the way people stared at her when they were out for a coffee or walking towards the theater, there was something about her that made you turn around or steal a glance and she didn’t seem to notice, she never seemed to be pretentious or rude to anyone. No, all the opposite she was always kind to everyone.

But could all of that transform or evolve from the daily interactions to something else? How would she feel if she knew that he was falling for her?

Endless questions had been on his mind lately, it was frustrating to not have the answers.

How could he be so sure that this was something genuine and not because they worked together?

How could he even start all over again in his personal life?

“There you go, be careful with the-,” she stopped talking as she saw Andrew answer by himself, “yes that’s correct.”

Leaning back on the chair, she looked in Cillian’s direction finding him laying on his back, on her couch as if he always belonged there. Dragging her eyes quickly from him before he could notice.

Lee’s words resonating in her mind over and over.

But looking at Andrew wasn’t much help because he looked just like his father in every possible way, the only difference was that he had short hair and less freckles and the other one was the colour of his eyes, as Andrew’s looked more like blue-grayish, but she could easily imagine this is what Cillian looked like when he was younger.

She needed to stop these feelings to grow further because they still had to hit the road with the play and by the end of the dates she would end up with a broken heart.

“How did I do?” Andrew asked pulling her away from her thoughts.

“Let’s see,” tilting her head she check over at the numbers, a soft smile appearing on her lips, “you did it!”

Offering Andrew a high five, she encouraged him to continue, helping the boy every now and then when he had questions but he did it mostly by himself.

“How’s it going?” Cillian asked joining them in the kitchen.

“I finished the work.” Andrew stood with pride oozing from him. “Thanks.”

“Thank you.” Cillian added looking into her eyes. “Really appreciate this.”

“Happy to help.” Marianne gave them a quick glance.

“I won’t see you tomorrow, will be around scouting for locations to film the video and arranging stuff.” Cillian took the keys of his car and handed them to his son.

“Oh… okay.” Marianne stammered adding a nod. Unsure of what to say.

“Can I drive?” Andrew looked at his Dad who was standing behind him, with his hands on his shoulders.

“Ya.”

“Grand!”

As Andrew stormed out from the flat with his belongings and the keys, Cillian hid his hands inside the pockets of his jeans.

“You saved me from a headache and him for his test.” Cillian picked on his lip nervously and forced Marianne to look in a different direction.

“You just want an excuse to keep me working.” She joked with a smile that reached her eyes.

“Of course, you don’t deserve a day off that’s why I asked for the tutoring tonight and then you appearing in the music video.” He replied in the same light tone as her.

“I was just kidding,” she assured him feeling like a fool, he probably just wanted to go home and she was trying to make small talk.

“Thanks for the budget by the way, it helped me a lot.”

She had already finished the budget for the rest of the year and managed to give him all the quotes to film the music video, she even added a small percentage for what she called the just-in-case. And the numbers looked good, the group’s manager approved it already.

Marianne nodded and added in a playful tone: “Someone has to keep your spending on track.”

“I’ll have to start thinking of the next project.” Cillian ran one of his hands through his curls.

“Enda mentioned you left the rehearsal early because you felt rubbish.” She loved using that term now. “How are you feeling?”

She asked a simple question oblivious to the real reason behind Cillian’s absence from the rehearsal. In her eyes, he found she was genuinely worried about him.

Leaning in with a smile, he kissed her cheek as goodbye. “Never been better.”

Cillian stared into her eyes for a few seconds, taking in the feeling he had been experiencing since they arrived there; for the first time he was able to see her properly without the veil of grief blurring his vision.

***

Part 11

🍀🇮🇪Visit Ireland: Blarney Stone, I recently read about it in a book and man, 😂 the stories I’ve heard ever since…

A/N: If you like this, remember your feedback is the best tip you can leave 🫙✨♥️🎭

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