#SOME FOLKS WHISPERED SOME FOLKS TALKED BUT EVERYBODY LOOKED THE OTHER WAY.

[thewingedwolf]

Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!

tagged by @sirenascelestiales and i’m gonna tag @woongminrome @bemybabymp3 @shoeeatingshark @pinkhysteria @allyriadayne @breanime @monstersandheartache

[greynatomy]

take me or leave me

leah williamson x reader

obsessed with this song. my musical era is back.

anyone here watched rent? if you want a visual of how reader kinda acts while performing, click this link.

masterpost

———

You met Leah when she attended an awards show two years ago. You’d sat at the same table and got to talking. She asked for your number and the two of you would be texting and calling all the time.

Eventually, she asked you on a date, taking you to dinner at a secluded section in the restaurant. That night was a night that you could never forget. She let you talk about your career and passions while you did the same for her.

You were from two different worlds, being well known in your own ways, but understand each other, for the most part.

Two years in, and your relationship still strong. You did have some arguments here and there, that’s normal, but what you learned over the years was how jealous she could get. It was amazing to have someone love you so much that they don’t want anyone coming in between that, but sometimes her jealousy becomes too much, like today.

You invited her and some of her friends to a night out with some of your friends. Your two worlds colliding once more.

Being in a relationship with you, she knew how many people ‘desired’ you. You’ve been a public figure since you were a teen. You’ve had costars who’ve tried to date you, others who openly flirt with you and always reassure Leah that she’s the only one you want. She knows that. Doesn’t mean she has to like the way men and women throw themselves at you.

Today was another one of those days, except this time her jealousy seemed to have amplified. Your friends traveled all the way to London to visit you, Leah inviting some of her Arsenal teammates, meeting at a little karaoke club.

Just an hour of being here, Leah’s mood sours. She keeps seeing people coming up to you, some were fans and some who ‘wanted to get to know you’ and not in a friendly matter. It came to a point where she started to ignore you, staying by her friends.

You’ve had enough of it, so you thought of a way to grab her attention. You grabbed your friend Alex and walked up to the person in charge of the karaoke performances. Leaning down to his ear, you whisper your song choice, he gives you a smile and a thumbs up.

“Alright, alright!” He announces on the microphone getting everyone’s attention. “We’ve got some broadway royalty with us today! Here to perform a classic from hit musical Rent, Y/N Y/LN and Alexis Thomas.

That got Leah’s attention. She directs her eyes towards the stage where you and Alex stood, microphones in hand. Leah or her friends didn’t know this musical, none of them have ever been into broadway musicals so they didn’t know what to expect. You knew this would get her more jealous, but this is what she gets for ignoring you.

Every single day I walk down the street I hear people say "Baby" so sweet

Ever since puberty Everybody stares at me Boys, girls I can't help it, baby

You look to where Leah sat, shrugging your shoulders.

So be kind And don't lose your mind Just remember That I'm your baby

You point a finger towards her.

Take me for what I am Who I was meant to be And if you give a damn Take me baby or leave me Take me baby or leave me

You take your coat off, revealing an outfit that shows more skin than Leah would like. You walk over to where she sat, draping the coat over her shoulders.

A tiger in a cage Can never see the sun This diva needs her stage Baby, let's have fun!

You walk around to your girlfriend, pulling her chair back and sit sideways in her lap, arm draped over her shoulder.

You are the one I choose Folks would kill to fill your shoes You love the limelight too now, baby

You take the strap of your top, slowly dropping it from your shoulder, teasing her.

So be mine But don't waste my time Cryin', "Oh honeybear Are you still my, my, my baby?"

Leah’s arms wrap around your waist, pulling you closer.

Take me for what I am Who I was meant to be And if you give a damn Take me baby or leave me

You turn in her lap, now straddling her, the hand not holding the microphone grabs the back of her neck, yanking her face to yours, nose barely grazing.

No way, can I be what I'm not But hey, don't you want your girl hot? Don't fight, don't lose your head 'Cause every night, who's in your bed?

She tries to hold onto you as you climb out of her lap. You place a hand on her chest, pushing her back and give her a flying kiss, walking back to the stage.

Who, who's in your bed? Kiss, pookie

Alex starts her part. You’ve both sang this song together so many times that the routine is muscle memory.

It won't work, I look before I leap I love margins and discipline I make lists in my sleep Baby, what's my sin?

Never quit, I follow through I hate mess, but I love you What to do with my impromptu baby?

She starts stalking towards you as you back up, running a finger up your arm. She grabs at your face softly, bringing your face close to hers.

So be wise 'Cause this girl satisfies You've got a prize, so don't compromise You're one lucky baby

Leah squirms in her seat, not liking how you and your friend are touchy, steam practically blowing out of her ears. Her friends start to tease her, jealousy easily seen in her face.

As the songs finishes, Leah is quick off her seat, rushing towards you. She grabs your wrist, pulling you towards what you assume the restroom. You turn your head towards your friends and Leah’s teammates, giving them a wink.

Shutting the bathroom door, she pushes you against it, leaning down so you’re face to face.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” You ask innocently.

“That’s little show you did there?”

“Oh, that.” You extend the ‘a’. “That’s just a little something me and Alex love to perform.”

“Was all the touching really necessary?”

“Yes.”

She looked at you shocked. “What d’you mean ‘yes.’”

“The only way I thought to get your attention after ignoring me all night.”

“People were all over you!”

“And what did the song say? Something like ‘Take me baby or leave me.’”

You give her a quick, but passionate kiss, pushing her away. Making sure to fix yourself it the mirror, you give her a wink, leaving a stunned Leah in the restroom.

[satinsummer]

Chapter 3: The Morning After

Summary: Sam wakes up alone in Y/N'S bed before she had a chance to process anything the door is slowly opening as Y/N slips back into the room. Did she regret last night?

Pairings: G!PReader x Fem!SamCarpente & Fem!Y/BF/N x Fem!Tara Carpneter

Chapter 4: https://www.tumblr.com/satinsummer/761208076522127360/chapter-4-what-do-i-wear

Warnings: Suggestive Language, Drug Use (smoking weed), Fluff

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Nobody's Pov:

As Sam stirred awake while memories of last night began flashing behind her eyelids. Moving a little further back in the bed, thinking she'd be met with another warm body instead the space beside her was empty, almost cold like the girl had been hours ahead of Sam. What time was it? How long had she slept? Reaching out for her phone on the nightstand beside her and checking the time it read "8:36am" Way too early for Tara or Y/BF/N to be awake the older girl started to wonder where you had run off to. It was almost like Y/N could hear Sam's thoughts as she reentered her room closing the door gently with her foot, two mugs and another serving tray in hand. Her clothes were changed too; and Sam felt caught herself thinking about last night all over again.

(outfit ref.)

Approaching the bed and very carefully handing Sam one of the mugs on the tray Y/N took a good look at the girl in her bed, wearing her shirt and she couldn't stop the smile that took over her face. "Good morning Sam" Y/N rasps out, voice still thick with sleep. Sam's heart fluttered never had she thought waking up in Y/N's bed would feel so natural between the two of them. "Good morning..Do you want to talk about last night" Sam hesitantly says, while forcing her eyes down on the mug in her hands like it was the most interesting thing in the room.

"Look at me" Y/N requests after shuffling around the bed, kneeling before the older girl. Lifting her eyes from the mug Sam watches Y/N speak, eyes searching for a hint of deception or dishonesty the whole time. "If you think I regret what happened last night you are sorely mistaken." Mid sentence Y/N grabs Sam's hand placing it on her chest right above her heart. "Do you feel that? That's what you do to me Samantha" Y/N whispers leaning in. Sharing a smile as their noses brush up against each other Sam takes it upon herself to close the gap between them. It's a short kiss but still sweet nonetheless. "You should try your coffee and eat before it gets cold" Y/N says after pulling away only to kiss the girl once more before getting up.

Removing the steal dome from the tray Y/N placed over Sam's lap, a small buffet sits in front of her. Pancakes, fruit, hash browns, eggs, bacon and toast fill the plate in front of her, surrounding by smaller dishes some had pastries and the others filled with jams & jellies, butter and maple syrup? There was also a cup of apple and orange juice. Always giving her options, never forcing decisions. Sam truly couldn't believe the girl standing above her, hands clasped behind her back awaiting Sam's approval.

"You made ALL this..for me?" Sam asks staring down at the assortment that was so graciously provided to her. "Yeah, just for you.. I left some in the fridge for everybody else but this is just for you, Sammy" Y/N says making her way over to her desk as Sam begins to dig in. "So what about us going on a dat-" "Yeessss" Sam moans out loud, eye rolling back as she tastes the food in front of her. "That good, huh?" Y/N smirks. The food is too good for Sam to be embarrassed "Yes, to the date as long as YOU are not cooking but actually sitting and entertaining me. I want to know more about you" Sam says still eating her food. "I know a good place, it's Pan-Asain restaurant over in Phi-" "I KNEW IT" Tara interrupts as the door swings open. "Sorry about that folks, continue on. Y/N/N, we are so talking about this later" Y/BF/N says looking between her best friend and her girlfriends older sister.

"Back to that date, Does tomorrow tonight at 8 work?" Y/N says turning her attention back to Sam. "Sounds great" the older girl says while walking over to Y/N and pressing a kiss to her lips. Sam's lips are naturally sweet and slightly sticky but Y/N just couldn't get enough. She tastes so good, Y/N wondered what else on her tasted good. But not wanting to get too carried away Sam pulled back and put some distance between the two of them. Turing on her feet and making herself comfy in Y/N's bed again to finish eating as she did so Y/N turned on the TV, offering the remote to Sam who easily reached out and took it. Scrolling through Y/N's streaming options she picks a true crime show on Netflix called "American Murder: Laci Peterson."

"I love true crime, this was a great pick" Y/N says getting comfortable in the leather chair just across from her bed. Sam eyes her questioningly "Is that chair as comfortable as you look?" She asks tilting her head with a small smile. "Super comfy" the other girl responds reaching up to a random place on the bookshelf and pulling down a pair of glasses, putting them on and turning her attention back to the show playing.

After a few episodes and a small nap after eating enough for two, Sam found herself not wanting to but having to leave the younger girl as they parted ways for work. "I can always stop by after the dinner service tonight? Hopefully I can be out by 1-130AM" Y/N says leaning against the door frame while checking her watch. She was now dressed in her Chefs Coat, hair pulled back and tattoos covered. Yet she still looked and smelled AMAZING. Throwing her arms around Y/'s neck, Sam pulled her into a heated kiss that was nothing but lips, tongue and teeth. Stunning the younger girl and poking her softly in the chest, Sam whispers "Come over after" All Y/N can do is nod, checking her watch again and suddenly she's pressing a quick kiss to Sam's lips, before she takes off running down the hall and out of the building.

8hrs Later, 7:45pm

Sam is trudging up the steps to her and Tara's shared apartment. Opening the door and making sure to lock it behind her, she hears laughter coming from the living room. Making her way over, Y/BF/N, the twins, Akina plus her sister have set up shop in the living room for an impromptu "Game Night" She didn't have it in her to kick them out, giving them a stern "Don't break the coffee table again Y/BF/N and Mindy" before walking out of the living room and into her room to get ready for a long and well deserved shower. She wondered how Y/N was doing, the girls ironically forgot or never really got around to exchanging numbers. It was a overlooked step that drove both of them crazy. Until Sam's phone dinged, picking it up and seeing it was an unknown number who texted her. She decided to click open the message hoping it was you, sure enough it was.

Text Convo Between Y/N & Sam:

+1 212-356-9122: "I hope work wasn't too hard on you. I'll be sending dinner over in an hour -Y/N🕷️"

A second message follows the first

Y/N💕: "Also I had to bribe Tara for your number, she drives a hard bargain😭. There is dessert in the bag for you both"

Sam: "Thank you, how much do i owe you?"

Y/N💕: "Our date tomorrow is a great form of payment, but seriously you owe me nothing. I know you're probably tired from today so I just wanted to make it easy on you..plus it's my cooking"

Sam: "Thank you Y/N..that's so thoughtful"

Y/N💕: "Of course. Would you like me to have it sent now? You say the word and it's on the way"

Sam: "Yes, please. Tara is currently whining about how hungry she is through my door like a cat"

Y/N💕: "Sent, Should arrive in 20. I'll text you when I'm headed out. Enjoy dinner!"

(Sam Loved Y/N message )

Sam: "Don't work too hard!"

(Y/N loved Sam's message )

Y/N ran dinner service like a pro, no dropped plates, everything came out on time and the communication in the kitchen tonight was perfect. After hiding in the bathroom for bit and texting with Sam again, Y/N made her way back into the kitchen where Head Chef Philippe greeted her with a small pat on the shoulder.

Taking her under his wing when his signature restaurant "Philippe" opened a second location in NYC was the best decision he'd ever made. Y/N was quick, headstrong, never too cocky or confident but always looking to be better if not the best, he admired that about the young girl. She perfected almost all the dishes he had on the menu in a single weekend. She was a natural. "Why don't you get out of here for the night, kid" Chef said "I can't leave you after the dinner rush, we still have to prep for tom-" "I'm sure Y/N/N, I have enough hands here to help. You aren't on tomorrow so don't worry about prep. Now go, go have some fun. Get a drink, be young! You worked hard tonight" He says motioning towards the exit with his free hand. "Alright, Call me if you need me. I appreciate you Phi" The young girl responds running over to hug her Head Chef.

Just like earlier Y/N is running out of the building and to her car but this time she's going back to Sam instead of work. Y/N couldn't be happier. Hopping in her car and sending a quick "Got off early, gonna shower and head over. If that's cool?" text, she anxiously awaits her response to which comes through in the minute it was sent.

Sammy🖤: "that's more than fine, I may be asleep when you get here but I can leave my door open for you? Dinner was amazing by the way💕"

Y/N: "Take your nap. I won't disturb you unless you want me to, and I'm happy you enjoyed it"

Sammy🖤: "Disturb me"

Y/N: 🤭

Around 1 hour later

A knock at the door interrupts the intense UNO match between Chad and Y/BF/N. "I'll get it" Mindy calls out, shuffling towards the front door. On the other side she's met with Y/N's relaxed sate and hazy eyes. "Hey Minds" She says pulling her into a hug and following her into the apartment after closing the door. "Look what the cat dragged in" She chuckles at the others as you both enter the living room. "Oh great, Y/N/N help me whoop his ass" Y/BF/N says handing the other girl her cards. Several curse words and draw 4s later Chad was pouting like a small child who got their favorite toy taken and Y/N was happy to put that look on his face. He always talked the most shit during game nights but Y/N somehow always washed him in UNO.

Afterwards Y/N slipped out of the living room undetected and went on her search for Sam's room. The second she hit the dark hallway, she was pulled into a room too fast for her to comprehend. Once she gains her bearings she see's that it's Sam who has taken her hostage in her room (not that she's complaining) "I was just coming to disturb you" Y/N whispered into Sam's hair having now pulled the older girl into her arms still standing against the closed door. "Yeah, well I beat you to it" Sam retorts. Leading Y/N to her bed, Sam climbs in on one side and settles in and looking at Y/N to follow suit. "Lock the door and come here" Sam says and Y/N says nothing in response, simply honoring her request and removing your hoodie and sweats (Y/N has satin shorts on underneath) Who wants outdoor clothes in/on their bed? Surely not Sam. "Is this okay or pants back o-" "It's okay" Sam reassures, patting the empty space next to her.

"Want to continue that show from earlier" Sam inquires. "I thought you'd never ask" Y/N replies, snuggling up to the older girl. With Y/N's head on her chest, TV show playing and the girls arms around her. Sam felt like all was right within the world. She didn't know how she got so lucky, nor would she question it. She just wanted to experience whatever it was Y/N were making her feel every single day. She hoped Y/N felt the same.

The two girls had eventually fallen asleep after many shared kisses and hesitant touches, Sam made Y/N promise not to leave her bed empty in the morning. She wanted to wake up in still wrapped in her arms. Sam was just selfish like that, could anybody blame her for it though? While pulling Sam closer to her Y/N placed a kiss to the back of her head and let sleep take over your body not before reminding sam of how much you looked forward to your upcoming date the following day. "I know, I can't wait either baby" Sam replies.

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AN: How are feeling about chapter 3? Chapter 4 will the date and maybe a little fluff before the smut

Lmk what you guys think! Chapter 4 might be out later on today as well!

[alchemania]

Drowning.

(Emotions are overwhelming, sometimes too hard to traverse alone. Thankfully, she doesn't have to.)

“I'm accusing you of not being the Hydro Archon at all.” 

Those words freeze her where she stands, and whispers fly throughout the courtroom, like vultures searching for a carcass. Wait, no. Nonononono. This could not be happening. No one was supposed to discover her, she had to fulfill the prophecy or everybody would die and all of this would be for nothing and– the glares from all around and the distrust freeze her in her tracks, and Furina can't breathe, breath catching in her throat so hard she chokes. “Wait! Wait!” she cried, shaking her head frantically. “Don't listen to what he's saying! I- I am the Hydro Archon I swear! I'm real! I'M REAL!!” 

She had to be. She could be nothing else, or all was lost, all was for naught. She could not allow that to happen she WOULD NOT allow it to happen. There had to be a way, there must be some way…the water! Yes! She's moving her hands rapidly as she talks now, attempting to get away from the spider's web that entangled her further and further. Put your hand in the water, Furina, they said, and she did, she did, deadly determined to keep up the facade, to live out the role. But that was ultimately what undid her- the water, diluted as it was, would not kill her, but she exhibited the same symptoms as the diver boy- Freminet, was his name (he would be dead soon as well oh god. Oh god. And she knew he had only wanted to help, they all did, but they did not know that in doing so, they'd doomed themselves..) 

“On the charges of impersonating the Hydro Archon, Furina-” 

“No! No!” she screamed, tears flowing like a river. “Stop! STOP!!! You don't understand, none of you understand please Neuvillette LISTEN TO ME -” There was so much pain in his eyes, she noticed, so much turmoil. But he uttered the damning words, regardless. 

“..is guilty.” 

Guilty. 

That verdict stopped her heart, and Furina stumbled back and crumpled into her chair, looking like one dead. At the eleventh hour, she'd stumbled. Five hundred years of lies and guilt all for them, all to save them, down the drain. It was for nothing. SHE was for nothing. What was the point of it all..? 

“All this time, she lied to us?! But why?”

To save you, I had no other choice. But it doesn't matter now, anyway. The flood is going to come.  

All of a sudden, a terrible shaking rocked the entire courthouse, and an otherworldly being, resembling some sort of whale, seemed to swim through the building, sucking in horrified onlookers. People screamed and pushed each other in a mad dash to the exit, and somehow, Furina felt her legs carrying her as well, running outside along with the crowd. Her worst fears were already coming into being - the unforgiving waves were rising higher and higher, and folks were scrambling - to rooftops, to the trees, wherever they could go to get away. Furina watched numbly, being unforgivingly bumped into and shoved aside as her people fled for any hope of safety. 

It was gut wrenching, also seeing humanity shine through in these moments - someone helping an older lady through the streets so she didn't fall, a little boy picking up a frightened cat so it wouldn't be run over and tearing through the streets like the angels themselves guided his footsteps. But it would not be enough. Even so, she ran, splashing up puddles as her heels made contact with the ground again and again and again and again. “Get to higher ground!” Furina screamed, helping a young lady onto a rooftop. “Don't stop moving!”

The hands of disaster would not be held back, though, and as the people climbed higher and higher, some of them began to slip and fall- wives screamed and cried for their husbands, parents for their children, children for their parents, friends for their companions, and she could do nothing but watch it all happen, hopes and dreams dissolving just like her entire nation. “No, no no!!! Please! Stop!” 

“Help us!!” People screamed, and she could not. There was nothing she could do. She was helpless, her hands were tied, and all she could do was watch. Lyney and Lynette held Freminet near to them as the waters rose, heads bowed in solemn acceptance of what was to come, and the boy sobbed, dreading the inevitable.

“It's alright,” Lyney comforted. “It's alright. You're gonna see your mother soon, you'll be together again, and we'll see our parents too- and - and we'll never be apart anymore. It'll all be okay.”

“I don't want to die!” Freminet wailed, and Lynette shook like a leaf, fear taking hold. 

“.. I don't either. But, we'll embrace it hand in hand, okay??”

“Mhm.” 

“I love you guys.”

“I love you too.” 

The waters consumed them soon, and Furina couldn't breathe. They were gone. They were gone. 

The next thing she knows, she's atop the highest building in Fontaine, and the waters lap at her feet, a silent but deadly testimony to all that had happened. She was all alone now…. everyone was dead and it- it was all her fault. Hollowly, Furina looked to the water, sobbing and crumpling to her knees. The water had changed - it was just normal seawater now, and she found herself frantically pawing in it, inconsolable. “Give them back! Give them back to me!!! I'll do anything I swear - I'll take their place, I - please!!! They didn't do anything wrong it's not their fault it's mine! IT'S MINE!!!!!"

Her reflection changed, and Focalors stared back. Furina yelped, scuttling back like a surprised crab, and sniffled. “Furina. Come here,” she called, and there was no anger in her voice, only sorrow. When the girl approached, the goddess looked ready to weep. “What have you done?” she breathed, horror marring her face.

“I- I didn't mean to, they- they found me out,” she stammered, “I-”

“You were so close,” Focalors mourned. “But it was all for nothing.”

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” Furina wailed, and the goddess sighed. “Please, I'll do anything - I don't care what happens to me -"

“There is nothing more you can do. You failed the task that you were given, and all is lost. I see now it was a mistake to trust in you.”

Furina's pupils shrank about three sizes, and she choked on air, shaking like a leaf. “I'm - a mistake?”

“Yes, Furina. You are a mistake. But it's alright, because I created you, and so the blame falls to me.” 

“I- you - I had to suffer all this time, for nothing,” she wept, anger weaving its way into her veins, “You have no idea what I've been through! You don't - you could never know! It's your fault I had to go through all this! How- how dare you call me a mistake!!” Breaths ragged, Furina splashed the water furiously, again and again and again. “I'm NOT a mistake I'm NOT! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!! You said I was special!! You created me because you wanted me to live the way you couldn't!!! You created me because you BELIEVED in me!! WAS THAT A LIE, FOCALORS?! WAS ANYTHING REAL!?” 

The reflection changed back to herself, and Furina was left alone with no answers. A beat passed, and the girl yanked off her hat and threw it into the water as hard as she could, screeching. Off came her coat, and her gloves, and she hurled them into the waves as well, screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. And Furina cried. She cried for all her people, and for all the pain she'd been shouldering, she cried for the pointlessness of it all, she cried because she was angry, she cried because she was tired, she cried because she was sad. And when she could cry no more, she hollowly stared at the waves, the waves that had doomed so many unfairly to a watery end. If she had just held on a little longer, if she had just kept up the act for a while more…..all would have been well. If she had been stronger, then..maybe..maybe-

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” 

Someone was calling her, and she curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her person.

“Furina,” the voice called again, and she looked up with red rimmed eyes to the heavens, chest heaving. 

“No, not up there. Listen. Wake up. You have to wake up.”

“..what are you talking about..? The prophecy-- it's already come to pass it doesn't matter anymore -"

“Furina.” 

She looked to the water again, and Tetsuya's face replaced her reflection, to her shock. “Wake up,” he commanded. “Wake up!” The image then sprang from the water, stopping her heart from fear as it grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Wake up!!” 

Furina screamed raggedly, nearly tumbling out of bed, and Wanderer was right there, grabbing her face in both his hands. “Hey, hey!! It's alright! It's alright!”

“They're all gone,” the girl wailed, inconsolable, and he stared in bewilderment, face twisting almost comically in confusion.

“..huh?”

“Everyone- I failed, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry please please you have to help me please - there has to be something we can do-” she can barely breathe around her sobs, and Wanderer shakes his head, slowly. 

“No. No you didn't, Furina, listen. It was a dream. You were having a nightmare of what could have been.” 

“Everyone is-” 

“Alive, yes.”

“I'm not- a mistake?”

“....uh, excuse me?” Tetsuya asked after a beat of disbelief, expression darkening like a storm cloud had taken residence. “No…Who the hell told you that?” 

“She- she said -”

“She's wrong, whoever she is,” he interrupted, and Furina sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Furina. I need you to breathe.” He took her hand then and squeezed, frowning. “Come on. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” The girl coughed harshly, sucking in irregular breaths, and after a moment of hesitation, Wanderer took Furina's hand and placed it on top of his stomach, breathing calmly. “Can you follow that?” 

“M- mhm,” she managed, taking in a shaky but steadier breath, and the rise and fall of Tetsuya's abdomen guided her through the motions, slowly steadying. 

“Good, good,” he nodded, as her breathing evened out. “..do you need anything?”

“Can- can you h- hold me?? Please?”

“Ah- alright,” he relented, and Furina leaned on his shoulder, sniffling roughly. “..do you want to talk about it.”

“..no…”

“Okay. Then we'll just sit here.” 

And they did just that, silence only broken by the girl's quiet sobs. 

“..what if everything went wrong??”

“The important thing is that it didn't. What you need to focus on right now is what you're going to do now that everything is over. It wasn't all for nothing.” He glared at her, then, but she could tell his anger was not with her. “And even if everything had gone to hell, you would not have been for nothing. Don't you let anyone tell you otherwise, not even yourself.” 

“..okay..okay. .. Tetsuya?”

“Mm.”

“... I don't think I'm okay.”

He gave a bitter, hearty laugh at that. “I don't think anyone expects you to be, Furina.”

“M’sorry if-”

“If what? You were a bother? You woke me up? If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here,” Tetsuya asserted, holding her closer. “Don't you remember what you said? Emotions are a burden, never the person who carries them. And when you care about people, you carry them too.”

“You remember what I said…?”

“I remember many things. More than I would like to. Important thing is, you're not okay right now, and quite frankly I'm terrible at comfort and all that. But I can promise I can kill whatever gives you hell. I'll be here when you need me, and if you wanna cry, well. To hell with it. After everything you've been through, I think you kinda earned it.” 

“Okay. Thank you…” 

"Mm.” 

“... I wish I could hear her.” 

“What?”

“Focalors. She's not here anymore, but I wish- she could've told me she was proud of me. That I did good. That - I was strong, and. . I did my best.” 

“Well, I'm not her. But I think you did a hell of a job,” Wanderer muttered. “Sometimes you have to be your own closure and accept that the people you need most will not be by your side. I would know. And- if nobody else, you tell yourself.”

“I.. I did good,” Furina whispered, tears falling fast, and Tetsuya nodded, rubbing her shoulder to soothe. “It hurt a lot.”

“It did, but the worst of it is over. And you are going to get better.”

“I'm gonna get better. I'm gonna heal.”

“And you're not gonna put yourself down when you have setbacks.”

“. .I'll try.”

“Sometimes that's all you can do.” 

“Mhm.” She looked up then, eyes misty. “Hey.”

“What.”

“I love you,” Furina smiled wetly, and Tetsuya blinked twice, eyes also a little glossy. 

"..uh huh," he mumbled. "Love you too.”

“..What?????”

“I'm not going to say it again,” he huffed, looking fit to blush, and she squeezed him hard, laughing delightedly. 

“You love me, you love me!!!” 

"Yeah, yeah, you wormed your way into my heart and I can't find it in me to kick you out. Is that you want me to say??"

"Yes," she grinned, and Tetsuya sucked his teeth.

"I'm in your corner. That's the best you're gonna get right now."

She leaned her head back on his shoulder, and Wanderer sighed, looking affectionately weary. "Geez...... I'm getting soft."

"Is that bad?"

"..well. Not as much as I thought it would be."

Sometimes, life was still hell. But at least she had someone to walk through the fire with her now.

[halfdeadsacrifice]

The rhythmic scraping of Lalanika's knife against the sharpening iron provided a morbid percussion to the whimpers of the latest unfortunate soul to wind up on her table -- whose hand wildly grasped, and then closed in a fist around Vijay, the assistant's, wrist.

She spoke in the same aching whine that Vijay had heard way too many times. "Please, you've got to- you can't be-"

Vijay rolled his eyes, and didn't bother hiding it. This one would be dead within the month, just like every other victim not named Vayu, and everybody knew it. Vijay definitely knew it. Lalanika, no matter what outcome she hoped for, had to know it. Even the woman on the dinner table today had to realize her life was basically over. Keeping up appearances was as useless as begging the cannibal's assistant of all people for help.

With a sharp tug, he pulled his wrist out of the hold, and replied, "Hey, don't ask me for help just because you couldn't outrun a frail old dead lady."

The scraping of steel-on-steel stopped for a beat, and then resumed. But the victim was suddenly a lot quieter now, though still looking up with wide, despairing eyes.

Honestly? That kind of interested Vijay -- had he struck a nerve? Only one way to find out, he supposed, and that was to do it again. He loomed over the table, with a mocking grin on his face, as the woman flinched away from him.

"Ooh, how fast was she, actually? Because it takes her forever to get anywhere just in this house." He gestured to Lalanika's feet, twisted backwards, as was the case for many undead creatures. "There's actually a room upstairs -- you'll see it once we're done here -- but it'll take her even longer to get up all those stairs with her, ah... condition."

Vijay looked over his shoulder and called to the ghoul of the house, "Why don't you let me take her up this time? Get some rest, dida, have an after-lunch nap like us normal folks."

Without responding, Lalanika turned around, and lumbered to the table.

"See what I mean?" Vijay whispered to the prisoner as Lalanika approached, with a snicker. "That's how long a few steps take. Now imagine how long-"

Suddenly, Lalanika swung and stabbed the knife into the side of the woman's neck. With a single jerk to the side, she sliced the neck entirely open.

A moment of convulsing agony stretched on. Lalanika spared but a glance to the mess she'd made and stared, unblinking and unmoving, at Vijay and dissecting his reaction -- how he stood frozen in shock, how this was something he'd seen before, should have been used to, and yet the quiver at his fingertips betrayed how his animal mind was screaming to get away.

When he regained the ability to speak, Vijay babbled, "Wait, I thought we- you said were going to-"

"We will," Lalanika said in her hoarse, grasping voice -- she was talking about her constant attempts to recreate whatever accident of fate allowed Vayu to survive being carved up for months, but no-one else. "Another day. Today is... a day of impatience."

With another quick, jerky stab, Lalanika dug her blade between the ribs of the recently-deceased. She cut deep and wide enough to dig her claws in, and laboriously crack open the chest, revealing the flesh and organs within. Not a split second sooner was it all open to the air than did Lalanika dig her claws and teeth into it.

Vijay registered the corpse's blood dripping down his cheek, still warm, as he watched the gory feast unfold.

Lalanika lifted herself from flesh and blood with a heavy sigh, and a guilty expression. "No, no... cannot eat too much."

She pried herself away from the table, and dragged herself to her workbench, reaching for her bone-saw. She grasped it with both hands, and pointedly stepped towards Vijay first -- even hunched over, and not that much taller than him to begin with, she cast a shadow over the room. "When she is in pieces, help me carry her to the cellar."

As the adrenaline drained, her message became clearer. Remember that it could always be you on my table.

Vijay silently nodded, and watched her step back to her work.

[mariacallous]

Well, word gets around in a small, small town They said he was a dangerous man But mama was proud and she stood her ground She knew she was on the losin' end Some folks whispered, some folks talked But everybody looked the other way And when time ran out there was no one about On Independence Day

Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing Let the whole world know that today Is a day of reckoning Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay It's Independence Day

[writing-turnip]

Bodyguard Work

Spent a few hours on last contract talking with an international bodyguard, he does peacemeal contracts for celebrities and VIPs. Officially because I was interested in the position but the truth is I wanted to use his information for writing.

Networking and soft-skills: build the reputation that you are likable, and useful, but not a threat to the current persons employment (prevents them trying to sabatoge or get you killed). * If going international, read up on social cues. Every environment has its rules and customs, and your survival often depends on knowing them. In Russia, you never refuse vodka, in Pakistan, you always clear your dinner plate, and in prison, you're careful about making eye contact etc. * Have a contact card that you only give out when asked for. Give it QR code code for contact. No more details. They should already know what you do and specialize in. A bodygaurd is like a plumber, a dentist or a mechanic. Everybody is always looking for a good one. * Next time you come through here and need help with something. Make a point of reaching out to people monthly and checking on them, even if its every few months or once a year. * If helping someone a third party for a contract as a far NEVER give the client contact information unless asked for. They will treat that as you undermining them. Which you are. *U Don’t just be useful and helpful, be indispensable. "Everyone on the team has the basics: combat-driving, firearms etc. I know two guys who are barbers before becoming bodyguards, they can keep the team clean while you travel without having to try local." Other skills include Speaking a language having similar hobbies to the client (golfing,  etc), or skillsets specific to being near the client during niche times when other guards might not be able to (scuba divine, paragliding, etc), or a skillset that you'd only use when things go really pear shaped (EMT, paramedic etc). One of the best traits nobody thinks of is construction, knowing how harnesses work for performers is useful plus most of the custom-busses used for campaigns and celebrities are taller than a lot of tunnels due to the custom-made air-conditioners. If you can do lazer-measurements, you can help with the route planning and prevent a LOT of very expensive damage. Anti-bug and surveillance training is expensive and doesn't pay back as quickly as you'd think unless you're in a very specific area for it. * You should always be on good terms with your fellow help. Especially in aristocratic type households, especially in the Emirates, and some of the European noble-types, the nannies and butlers typically run the household more than their bosses do. Help them whenever you can. *Surveillance is the leading cause of weight gain among your line of work, find ways to stay awake that are relatively slimming and don't get your suit stinky with sweat. *You get used to people having whispered conversations about you. It's a little like being in high school. Pay attention to body-posture to see if they want to kill you.

TACTICS: *What do you do when an operation goes bad? Not much to do, but smile and try to stay alive. On top of knowing the top restaurants in an area that have your clients favorite food *IF you're being followed, find hard-points to escape to if you're being followed, most people recommend trying to go to a police station, which is a terrible idea. Most operate on a skeleton crew full of rookies or the folks they don't think can handle not being at a desk. Fire-departments and ERs are better, both have large groups of burly working class guys with tools, who want to feel heroic and don't get as many opportunities for it as they'd like. Bonus points if your client is a beautiful woman or has a child with them. *Keeping track of information and being completely discreet and off social media. The truth is, identity theft isn't hard. A number and an ID is all you need to drain a bank account and return some money to some very surprised retirees. But, with some VIPs why stop there? As long as you're stealing someone's identity, why not use it to contact some known terrorist organizations on unsecured phone lines? It can get messy very quickly. *Covering suspicious individuals can be done two ways: man to man or by zone. Man-to-man is risky; follow someone too long and they're going to get suspicious. Zone is usually the way to go. Stay put and let targets come to you. Less obvious, easier on the feet... and you get to relax and can get fancy cocktails and claim its a business expense. * The thing about security is that the very things that protect you can be turned against you by someone who knows what he's doing because a lot of it is about managing the clients sense of safety. It's tough to compromise a well thought-out security system, but making someone think you can compromise it, is often just as good. Take surveillance cameras, for example: you can disable one by shooting a laser at it and overloading the light sensitive chip. Cheap, easy, and exactly the sort of thing a sophisticated criminal gang with lots of resources would do. Leave around some tell-tale signs of surveillance like cigarette butts, a forgotten camera lens cap and the more security there is, the more likely they are to think they've got a very serious problem. Even the security team itself can be an opportunity (which rival security corporations might do to steal the contract btw). The more employees you have, the more you have to worry about them. Deliver some vague threats and a few hundred bucks to a security guard. If he's honest he'll tell his boss, who then wonders who wasn't so honest. For the cost of a nice dinner you can get a whole security team canned. *A great way some people will try to get you talking about their security is to put them on the defensive. Accuse a guy of having bad locks and before you know it he's telling you where his motion detectors are. Do not give them anything.

IF YOU FAIL: *If your principal (the client) is captured, you've failed and are likely fired. DO NOT GO AFTER THEM. You specialize in customer service, immediate protection, and making sure the clients life ran smoother in your area of expertise. Getting them back means hiring K&R, who are specialized hostage rescue specialists (Hyperion Services Corporation, for example). Also, don't tell anyone about the Kidnapping insurance. It voids the warrant and you may have just killed your client.

Lastly: remember that most of the people who want you to take a bullet for them don’t deserve it. And most who do can’t afford it.

[harrison-abbott]

Robbie Loves Amanda

Robbie fancied this girl called Amanda in his class. He was only eight. Boys and girls usually start to fancy each other around that age, right? In a kind of half-observed way: they just like the other’s face. And, well, it was nearing Valentine’s Day. … The kids in the class knew Valentine’s Day from their parents and to them it was innocent and linked in with gifts. They weren’t thinking about sex. So on the 13th February Robbie thought he would send Amanda a Valentine’s card. Other boys had already done that with the girls. And he could hear the girls behind him on the tables whispering about the boys they admired. The 14th was a Friday, when the children had a half day. A sunny Friday morning. Robbie had made the card for Amanda last night. With Crayola pens, and glitter. And it got to snack time. The teacher gave the kids a snack time at 10:30, where they would munch Walkers crisps – and the audacious ones would try some fruit. Robbie got up. With his card. Amanda sat at the table in front of him. That was part of the reason why he had gotten to admire her so: because she was frequently in his line of vision and he had the chance to gaze at her. The kids looked at him. And at the card that he was holding. Like watching a film they all glued to him as he walked up, smiled, and gave Amanda the card. … Amanda looked down at it and she blushed. … Next to Amanda was her friend Lauren. Lauren took the card with glee. [Lauren was a loud girl who often spoke out in class, not realising how stupid she often appeared to be. She was one of those extroverts who will get by in life solely due to being loud, or the loudest, without needing to be intelligent.] “Oh, what’s this!” she proclaimed. “A Valentine’s, from Robbie to Amanda. Wow.” The children began to cackle. Lauren then read out the message inside the card that Robbie had written to Amanda. Robbie was still standing there in front of everybody – whilst they all listened with glee. Amanda’s blush remained. That’s what happens when you blush, right? You really want the redness to evaporate in your face: for the blood to go away: but it stays there, occupies your visage, when the least thing you want is for everybody to be staring at you. But, Amanda felt more sorry for Robbie. Amanda didn’t fancy Robbie. She just didn’t. He wasn’t a cute boy. Simply didn’t like him in such a way: she’d never really thought about that kind of thing before. She was the only person in the class feeling sorry for Robbie. He stood there. Robbie wasn’t able to blush. He was only stunned and trying to scowl. His scowl wasn’t so terrifying and the children only laughed harder that he got so cross. And, thus, Robbie would go on to think about this memory for most of his life. It took a long time for the pain to subside. He would tell the story to other people, in later life, when he was in his 20s and 30s, when the groups were talking about first crushes, first loves in school, etc. They would chuckle it off. Even though it still wasn’t so funny to him. Then when he was in his 40s the memory began to dim and he didn’t think of it so poignantly. But from then on he would think about it now and then. There would still be a little stab at the incident. Some folks, Robbie thought, don’t survive childhood, and all of the cruel moments intwined. He was still here. That Valentine’s Card, to Amanda? That was the first and last one he ever made. He certainly never tried another card again.

[catebees]

Still thinking about Marian and her way to approach her own feelings.

She was always too busy, "introspection is for the rich folk who have fuckall to do all day. I've got fields to till" (or whatever, I still don't know what she'd do in Ferelden, definitely not mercenary work).

Because of this she very rarely knows what's going on in her head. For most of the time it was a constant whispered uneasiness, like an ache in your bones that will never really leave if you keep breaking your back. And it's not like she can stop, so like. Why address it. It just became background noise.

I wonder how different it would all have been if she had had the tools to figure it out sooner. If she could have been more comfortable in her gender identity, if she could have understood earlier what exactly she wanted and what she could give.

She doesn't realise she doesn't want to be a "woman" until inquisition. "I thought it was normal to dislike being called a lady." Everybody called her Hawke for so long and that felt so good because she was almost a thing, Just A Person. Bull and Krem just look at her like 👁👁

And the same thing goes for romance. She always had people she found interesting and wanted to get to know, people she wanted to impress. She definitely craved some sort of intimacy but never really knew how to get it. A bit of bread shared in the shade with the farmers or a cold drink after work, a job well done, laughter, a slap on the back - that went a long way. That was enough.

The first year in Kirkwall was pretty much the same, the people were different but the beats were there. She probably picked one or two interesting people of the group to exchange looks with and have something to talk about.

Then Varric comes around. Then Merrill and Isabela, Fenris, Anders, Sebastian. That empty space gets filled. And it stays like that for years. And she would be satisfied. Except that this time she gets picked. And when she looks across the table Fenris looks back and it's not some almost-stranger. With them, she could never imagine anything happening. It was a past time. She would always fold before anyone could take her up on her offer.

Fenris chips away at her defences without her noticing, and the same happens to him. And at one point they realise that they can't stay apart.

When I say at one point I mean extremely late. With all that happens in Kirkwall there's no time to stop and figure out what this sort of feeling means. Fenris is the one who initiates things and when he leaves, all she worries about is his wellbeing.

Years later, he is the one asking to try again. And that's what makes it all starts to make sense. "So this is what it feels like to be happy". Which is extremely dangerous.

I said it before but Marian thinks she's cursed. Not like "a witch put a spell on me" but "From Clear Evidence, everybody I love gets taken away from me." It doesn't help that the city is also Disaster Central.

(At one point she develops a sympathy for Saemus Dumar. Nothing romantic, he's much younger than her, but she likes him. Maybe she sees some hope for the future in that kid. She maybe talked with him twice but every time she sees his about she hopes he has a nice day. When he gets killed she wonders if she somehow brought that on him.)

So she never tells Fenris she loves him. They start sleeping -just sleeping- together and it's so obvious how much they care for each other.

The sex is there. It's nice, it's fun. It's a way for Fenris to savour his freedom and to replace bad memories with much sweeter ones. Secretly, she's also conditioning herself. Replacing her first reaction to love with happiness instead of fear.

Some mornings when they're in their new little home in Ferelden, Bethany will go out early with Peach and stay in town for a while. The house is small and they all sleep in one room. When Marian wakes up Fenris is sitting at her side with breakfast. Sometimes they thank Bethany for the privacy. More often they let the hours go by in bed, finally being allowed to slow down.

[lucy-sky]

Just Another Friday Night (Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x f!Reader)

Alright folks, I keep experimenting with writing for different fandoms because why not shitty writing is not a crime after all xD 

Words: 3515; Warnings: mentions of casual sex and alcohol consumption. No explicit smut though, sorry :’D 

Also in this fic: Slight enemies to lovers trope; slight insecurities from the reader’s part; Hangman is a huge show-off; guest appearances of Coyote and Bob (and Rooster playing the piano in the background :D) 

AO3 link if you prefer reading there

Tagging @munsonownsmyass​ because idk anyone else who would be interested in this :D

On a Friday night The Hard Deck is always pretty crowded, but the atmosphere is lovely. All the steady customers and pilots are here, chatting, laughing, drinking and enjoying the evening. Rooster took a place at the old piano and is playing some vaguely familiar tunes - sometimes you joke that Penny should probably pay him a salary for live music. At times like this you actually feel lucky to work at such a nice and friendly place.

There’s only one thing that’s making your mood a bit darker tonight. Jake Seresin, callsign Hangman is here too. Well, of course he is, as well as the other pilots. Where else would they go on a Friday night? He seems relaxed and unbothered, as always, and you hate the way his presence makes you feel. It’s over. O V E R. Period. You’re hundred percent sure it was the right decision, the best one for probably the both of you. So why the hell it’s so hard to just… feel normal about it? Damn, you really miss the good old days… Well, not that old, actually. It’s crazy how only like… a month ago everything was so simple. Why does sex make everything so goddamn complicated? Or is it just you…

“You really think it’s gonna work?..” Bob asked quietly, looking at you with those enormous puppy eyes of his. “I mean… What if she… uh…”

“Are you kidding me? Of course it’s gonna work! She literally talks about you all the time, Bob!” you assured.

“Really?..” he looked genuinely surprised, “Sh-she talks about me?..”

“Well, not with everyone, but I’m her friend, so yeah… We discuss you boys from time to time,” you giggle softly. “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I know…” he sighs deeply, blush creeping over his cheeks. “But she’s just so beautiful, I-”

“That’s true, she’s pretty. But she’s humble too. And Bob… Lily really really likes you, a lot. So just go for it!” you winked at him, and Bob smiled back sheepishly. Then he turned to search your colleague with his eyes. Lily just finished wiping one of the tables in the corner and was about to return to the counter.

“It’s your chance, c’mon!” you whispered, gently pushing him on the shoulder.

“Okay… Okay, I'm going.”

You couldn’t help grinning as you watched Bob approaching Lily. He looked so cute and bashful, and she smiled at him so brightly and happily. For sure they would make an adorable couple. You were even a tiny bit jealous. Not because you liked Bob or something - your feelings for him were purely platonic. It’s just the way he looked at her… To be fair, you could hardly imagine someone looking at you like that. You could keep scrunching your nose and saying the romance was overrated, but you had to admit it at least to yourself - a part of you was curious to know what it feels like. Nevertheless, you sincerely felt happy for your friend. You loved Lily a lot, and thought she absolutely deserved all the happiness in the world.

“‘Scuse me…”

Damn, with all this romantic novel worthy stuff you almost forgot you were actually at work.

“Yeah?” you turned to see Coyote at the counter.

“One beer for this asshole, please,” he muttered, pointing at Hangman who stood next to him, a smug grin on his handsome face.

“Ah, shit… Not again!..” You sighed, giving him a compassionate look. “I’m sorry, Javy.”

Hangman plays darts very well, and everybody knows it. But still from time to time his fellow pilots make desperate attempts to beat him. So far, none of them was successful.

“What can I say, sunshine? I always win,” he shrugged with a content smile.

“Oh, is that you, Hangman? Sorry, your ego is so huge I barely noticed you behind it,” you said sarcastically as you handed him the beer.

“Sassy as always,” he chuckled.

“Hey, what’s Bob doing?” Coyote suddenly asked, nodding in the direction of Bob and Lily. They were talking about something quietly, you could see Lily smiling at him as he gently touched her hand. Both looked a bit shy and completely smitten with each other. “Did he finally ask her out?”

“Yes! Well, um… I hope so. He was about to do it. I encouraged him.���

“As you should!” Coyote nodded in agreement. “I mean… Look at them! Literally a couple of lovebirds!”

“Right?? So glad Bob finally dared to approach her…”

“You know what, I don’t get what’s all the fuss about,” Hangman said lazily, sipping on his drink. “I mean… He really didn’t have to be that antsy - all the girls love pilots after all.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, darling, but I’m afraid that’s not entirely true,” you retorted.

“Really? Okay. Name one girl you know who wouldn’t date a pilot then.” Hangman wiggled his eyebrows.

“How about me?”

“You?” He looked surprised, and so did Coyote. “Mind telling me why’s that?” He leaned against the counter so that his face was inches from yours. You could even smell his cologne like this. God, this man’s so full of himself it makes you sick sometimes… And yet, there’s something dangerously attractive about him.

“Alright, I’ll tell you,” you lowered your voice as if you were revealing a big secret. “Most of you guys are way too cocky for my taste. And way, way too full of yourselves. And, you know... guys like that... In reality they’re not nearly as good as they think of themselves,” you winced. “All they can do is showing off.”

“Ouch! Girl!” Coyote laughed as Hangman’s grin faded. “What’s that I just heard? Is it someone’s ego crackin’?”

“Shut up, man,” Jake grumbled, but it took him seconds to get back to his usual attitude. “It’s not cocky, it’s called charisma, baby.”

“Oh, okay… You can think so if it makes you feel better,” you shrugged, giving him an innocent smile as Coyote snorted another laugh.

That’s how it used to be. You and Hangman kept poking each other like this all the time, sometimes rather flirty, but nothing more than this. It was fun, and everything was great until that Friday night.

That night, for once you weren’t in the bar for work. It was Penny’s birthday, and everyone was invited, including you. And yes, Hangman was there too, along with the other pilots.  

You were having a great time. It’s been a while since you felt so relaxed, so happy and careless - just drinking, laughing and dancing. Even Jake Seresin didn’t seem all that annoying that night…

You vaguely remember walking out of the bar to get some air, and him holding you probably a little too close than you would normally allow. And you can’t tell who made the first move for a kiss, but what happened happened - in the end of the night you found yourselves in bed together.

It was a bit weird and clumsy, but still, as ridiculous as it sounds, probably the best sex you’ve ever had. The cocky bastard made you come twice, left a couple of hickies on your neck, and you could swear he also got a few marks from your nails digging into his broad shoulders and back.

The morning after was awkward as hell, but your head was aching so bad you simply weren't able to think much about what happened between the two of you. Thankfully the next day in the bar Jake acted as if nothing happened, and you breathed out a sigh of relief. Just a drunken one night stand which was most certainly not gonna happen again. And honestly you thought it’s for the best.

It happened again a couple of weeks later. That time you had a really bad day. To your surprise, Hangman noticed that something was off and suggested to drive you home after work. You couldn’t really explain why you said yes. Probably because you felt really shitty and it was just good to have someone around, it gave you some sort of comfort. You were also not in the mood to talk much about your problems, but thankfully he seemed to be satisfied with your vague answers and didn’t insist on you getting into details. It was also nice, and you were thankful, so you leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. He kissed you on the lips in return.

That night wasn’t as messy as the first one. In fact, he was pretty gentle, as if he really felt something for you. You didn’t allow yourself to fall into this trap though. Clearly you’re not the kind of a girl golden boy Jake Seresin would seriously be into. But at least it was a good distraction - in his arms you simply lost your ability to think for a while.

He left early, while you were still asleep, saving the both of you from another embarrassment.

And then there was that time when not you, but he had a bad day. You still don’t know what exactly happened. It was late, and you almost fell asleep in front of the TV when he knocked on your door.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” you frowned as you tried to read his expression - he was frustrated for sure, and angry too. “Someone beat your ass in darts?..”

He didn’t answer your sassy remark. Instead, he stepped in and you instantly found yourself pinned against the wall, his lips kissing you furiously, hands almost ripping down your sweatpants. His hot breath against your skin, and he smelled like alcohol and sweat mixed with some expensive cologne; that musky scent somehow made your head spin as if you were drunk as well. Or maybe it was his kisses? Feverish, deep and merciless. It’s like a hurricane that swept you away, not giving you any chance to resist.

It was just sex. Nothing wrong with that. After all, you're two adult people. You may hate his cockiness, he may hate your sarcasm, but who cares when he makes you literally see stars with his tongue, or his cock, or those big hands and those long, thick fingers of his? Makes you moan out his name as you grip onto the sheets? Who cares when the warmth of his bare skin against yours feels both spine-tingling yet so comforting when he wraps his arms around you? Who cares that when the morning comes, the magic fades, and you get back to your usual roles: you’re a random waitress, he's a self-centered yet charming pilot, just one of the many customers you see every evening?

And relationships? Pff. Relationships are simply overrated.

For a while you were really good at convincing yourself you were fine and what’s happening between you and Hangman was just purely physical. It’s when you saw him one day shamelessly flirting with another girl, you realized you weren’t fine at all. It hurt as if someone punched you in the chest. Yes, he slept with you from time to time, but he wasn’t yours, never been and never could be. And actually you knew that all this time, just refused to pay attention.

The girl Jake flirted with was new in town. She got the men’s attention from the very first night she entered The Hard Deck. Perfect body, perfect makeup, sexy dress and high heels. She looked like a top model or a movie star and she definitely knew it. And well, of course she had to choose the most handsome guy. He’s a Prince Charming, and she’s a beauty queen. They looked great together, you couldn’t deny. Way better than you would look next to him - a clumsy nerdy girl, neither very slim, nor tall, and almost always wearing old baggy jeans and a pair of chucks. Maybe in a way you’re cute too, maybe you also have your own charm. Maybe. But you and Jake are simply from different leagues, and it’s stupid to think you could be something more than just… fuck buddies? Or whatever the hell you were.

You couldn’t tell if he noticed you distancing yourself from him. You wanted to think so, but maybe he’s been too busy with himself and his new girlfriend to pay attention. Probably you needed to talk to him, but you simply couldn’t bring yourself to do it. What were you even gonna start with? “Jake, I’m breaking up with you”? But you weren’t dating anyways.

Soon, you got the opportunity to explain yourself though.

Just another Friday, just another crowded night. You walked between the tables after bringing an order, when someone grabbed you by the wrist.

“Hey there, sweetheart,” the man at the table looked at with drunk eyes, predatory grin on his face. Right, of course. This asshole had been eyeing both you and Lily the entire night - something simply had to happen.

“How ‘bout giving me your number? We could… ya know… have fun together,” he continued, licking his lips.

“I doubt that,” you winced, trying to pull away from his grip, surprisingly tight for someone that drunk. “Let go.”

“That’s pretty fucking rude to talk to customers like that,” the man’s voice started to sound threatening, although you weren’t scared.

“I said, let go of me right now,” you hissed. “Let me work.”

“Hey bud. Haven’t you heard what the lady just said?”

You didn’t even need to turn your head to recognize Hangman’s voice.

“You got problems here, flyboy?” the drunkard asked boldly, finally letting go of your wrist and standing up to look Jake in the eye.

“I don’t,” Hangman shrugged with his signature smirk. “You do.”

“Oh, really?”

The next moment the drunk man tried to make a strike at Hangman, but his condition betrayed him, and Jake easily caught his arm and twisted it behind his back.

“Guess you have to leave, buddy. We respect the girls here,” he said, pushing the man towards the exit to throw him out of the bar. The crowd cheered, and Jake smiled triumphantly.

“So… Hangman saved the day again, huh?” he winked, coming closer to you.

“Oh fuck off,” you rolled your eyes as you turned away from him and headed back to the counter.

“You could at least say thank you, you know.”

Apparently he expected you to be grateful, but all you felt was annoyance.

“I didn’t ask you for help. I’m pretty much able to stand up for myself,” you snapped.

“Whoa,” Jake frowned in confusion. “What's got into you, sunshine? Can’t let someone care for you?”

“Oh please,” you snorted. “You care for me? We both know it’s not about me. It’s about you - you just always have to be a fucking hero of the day and a center of attention, isn’t that right?”

For once Hangman seemed to be lost for words and it felt strangely satisfying.

Hours later, when you got home from your shift, he knocked on your door.

“Wanna talk about what the hell’s happening?” he asked, hazel eyes scanning your expression.

“Thought I already told you everything tonight,” you muttered.

“Yeah, well… It’s not just about tonight, it’s been a few days already.”

“Oh wow. You actually noticed.”

“Hey, would you stop that with your sarcasm for once? What did I do?”

“Nothing,” you sighed deeply. “You were just being you, that’s all. And I… I’m just tired.”

“Tired?..” he blinked in slight confusion.

“Yeah, uh… You know, casual sex was fun and all, but I can’t do that any more, okay? It’s over. So why don’t you go hang out with that new girl of yours and leave me alone?”

“Wait, I don’t… Oh, I get it! You’re just jealous, aren’t you?” he cocked his eyebrow. Damn, this man was absolutely insufferable. The smug look on his face made you want to punch him.

“No, Jake, I’m not jealous. I just feel like I’m kinda… being used. You know, when you sleep with me, and then flirt with someone else like it’s nothing… I guess this kind of a relationship - just sex and nothing else - is not for me after all.”

“Didn’t you say I’m not the kind of a guy you’d date?”

“Yes, I did,” you admitted. “But that’s how I feel. I wish I didn’t, but I can’t help it. I shouldn’t have let this happen, but now that it happened… All I can do is just finish it, before I fall for you more than I already did and get hurt even more.”

There, you said it. You didn’t plan to admit having feelings for him out loud, but it just just tumbled from your mouth like that. Jake's smile faded at your words, and you gulped nervously, cheeks burning.

“Anyway, let’s just… You do what’s better for you, and I’ll do what’s better for me, okay?” you mumbled.

“Okay…” he nodded, and for the second time today you had a feeling he didn’t know what to say, all his cockiness suddenly disappearing. You knew it’s not for long though, so you forced yourself not to let this new, oddly vulnerable expression of his melt your heart.

“Bye, Hangman,” you said simply, closing the door.

“Hey there.”

There he is. As if he sensed you thinking of him, Hangman makes his way to the counter.

“Hey,” you reply, as dryly as you possibly can. “Another beer?”

“Yes please.”

There’s something unusual in the way he sounds today, but you can’t quite catch what exactly.

“Here you are,” you say, as you place a glass in front of him. “Anything else,” you add, as he seems somewhat hesitant, still standing there leaning against the counter instead of grabbing the beer and returning to his pals.

“Yeah, uh… there is something else, actually,” he says, clearing his throat and slamming his hand against the counter loudly enough to make the people around turn their glances at you. “Lily told me you’ve got a day-off tomorrow, is that right?”

Wait, what? He talked to Lily?  

“Jake…” you let out a deep frustrated sigh. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying to ask you out. Kinda seems pretty obvious, no?” there's a soft mischievous chuckle on his lips - you hate how charming it looks.

What the fuck.  

“I told you, it’s over,” you lower your voice to almost a whisper, but you still sound so incredibly loud, because goddamn Rooster stopped playing, and is watching the “show” with the rest of the bar. You have to fight the urge to throw something at him. “Whatever it was between us, it's-”

“Exactly,” Jake cuts you off, “Whatever it was between us is over, and now I’m asking you out on a date. Officially. That’s it, I mean it,” his face suddenly turns serious. “No more hiding or shit like that. How ‘bout that?”

“I…but…” you blink, lost for words. He surely can’t be serious about this… Or can he?.. You’re still from different leagues, guys like him don’t date girls like you. Impossible. And yet, these hazel eyes tell you a different story.

You can still feel all the eyes on you, the “audience” nearly holding a breath as if he’s proposing to you, and they’re waiting for your decision.

“What about the new girl?” you blurt.

“Well… Had to tell her it’s not gonna work,” Hangman shrugs, “Sadly, she’s just not sassy enough for my taste.”

He grins at you widely, the same signature Hangman’s grin, and yet… There's something different in the way he looks at you, his eyes so warm and filled with sudden tenderness you could never expect from him. And you simply can’t help it - you smile back.

“So… Is that a yes?” he asks. “C’mon, sunshine… I know you think I’m a cocky ass, but ain’t I worth a chance?”

You know he already knows the answer, but well… People are waiting.

“Okay… Yes, I’m officially going out with you,” you declare, and his smile gets even bigger.

“Yeah, man!” someone cheers in the back, probably Coyote, “You go, Hangman!”

Ugh. This bastard always manages to be a hero, doesn’t he?

“Please don’t make me regret it, Seresin,” you whisper, leaning closer to him.

“Will do my best,” he smirks, and before you know it, he closes the distance between the two of you, his lips catching yours in a kiss, that’s somehow so much sweeter than usual. You giggle against his mouth as you hear a round of applause.

“And now, ladies and gents,” you say loudly as you pull back and reach for the bell above the counter, “Mr. Hangman’s buying a round for everyone! Yay!”

“Hey, what was that for??” Hangman clamors dramatically.

“For being the biggest fucking show-off around here,” you grin. He laughs and shakes his head.

“Rude. But fine, I take it. Get over here.”

He cups your face and kisses you again, the crowd cheers and applause even louder. The room instantly fills with laughter, clinking of glasses, and Rooster finally gets back to playing - another Friday night goes on, as it should.

Thanks for reading! Idk if I’m gonna write for this or any other Top Gun character again, but it was fun :)

[weonbullshit]

So I've got this thing that bothers me so bad about the entire transformers rescue bots series.

Like, I gotta tell y'all, there was NO WAY the folks on Griffin Rock didn't know that the bots were sentient before season 4!

The Burns family and the bots slip up so much all of the time in season one alone that it had me yelling at the screen.

For one, in "Countdown" (where everybody gets teleported by little bugs called 'tracers') After Frankie gets into the cockpit to escape, Dani says something that Blades doesn't like and his face shows up on the screen along with him sighing with disappointment.

When Frankie asks, Cody and Dani give her different reasons for the "malfunction". A funky router and something to do with the engine.

At the end of that same episode, the bots bust through the stone slab in the cavern to save everyone when Doc Greene asks something along the lines of, "How did the even know to find us here?"

All of the Burnses stutter and make things up until Cody makes the excuse that they're programmed for search and rescue. This makes sense, but there's no way that this doesn't look suspicious, why wouldn't the Burns family know how their own machinery works. Even though Cody is clever, why is the 9 year old, who has no qualifications know better than they do?

In "Christmas in July" the Burns family brings the bots to a corner where Doc Greene tested out the weather machine so that they can play in the snow too. Since nearly everyone else is in the town square, they shouldn't run into too much trouble, right? Anyway, Graham stands as a lookout and warns them that people are coming. Then, they all stand stiffly and carefully watch as a mom and her daughter walk by them and immediately go back to playing. They don't check to see if they are out of earshot or anything!

Wouldn't it be odd for the entire rescue team to break away from the festivities? And it's definitely suspicious to find them all standing in a corner, staring at you.

Plus in "Rescue Boy", when the bots pick up a tree that Cody used to stop a rouge garbage truck, the bots complain and Chase classifies them as sidekicks. Meanwhile the Burns and Huxley (A news reporter!) are right beside them.

How would you not hear giant robots whispering to each other?

That was a rant, but here's more cut out reasons why I think Griffin Rock knew better.

The bots openly speak to each other without using their robot voices and talk to the Burns family.

The Burns family makes up horrible excuses for the bots' strange behavior

They avoid media coverage as much as possible

The bots make obvious noises like loud grunts or screams (Heatwave and Blades respectively) when they're working.

The Burns family call them by name very often instead of saying "firebot" or their other designated titles.

The Burns family seems very emotionally attached the bots, even in public.

You'd just have to be stupid not to notice all of this! The people of Griffin Rock are dummies, but they can't be that unaware of their surroundings. Especially on an island that's CONSTANTLY trying to kill them.

Not only that, but when they confessed, they were extremely well received, even with the surprise, the citizens adjusted very quickly. And Huxley and Mrs. Neederlander betted on it! (Of course, Huxley lost). But I'm starting to think that it wasn't about whether they were aliens or just robots, but about what kind of sentient being they were. Like Aliens, or an experiment gone wrong.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts. If some can expand on these or counter my rant, I'd love to hear it! I gotta know if y'all noticed this too.

(Unless this is a super old idea and I'm just embarrassing myself ☹️)

[he-flies-with-his-own-wings]

throwing ideas your way in case you want them (NOTHING underage): 1- dick loves being held by bruce (bruce loves it, too; whispering sweet and filthy things to him depending on the mood); 2- phone s*x or s*xting/pics; 3- au where they're not heroes (lawyers, drs, bankers); 4- skinny dipping or another getaway; 5- mutual m**turbation; 6- dick surprising b with something really nice/meaningful.

yo are we allowed to have p()rn on this website again, because if so maybe i'll take a run at a few of these other ideas sometime too. but in the meantime, here's a piping hot #6 for you!

perfectly safe for work unless your work doesn't want you using tumblr during business hours. established relationship, no smut, lots of feels, light angst. tried to do my best by romani dick & jewish bruce and then fell down a rabbit hole of 20th century circus town history.

thank you for your prompts and please, folks, feel free to keep 'em coming!

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

These days, when mail addressed to Dick Grayson arrives at Wayne Manor, which hasn’t been his legal residence in like a decade, it’s generally an excuse for Bruce to have a little fun with it. 

(“This relationship is very new, still,” he said the last time, sitting somberly across from Dick at the breakfast table with an envelope in his hand. “Things are delicate between us, Dick.”

“I understand that. We’ve talked about this before, Bruce. I know you want to take things slow.”

“I do. That’s why I’m concerned. It’s far too early to be telling everybody at -” as he looked down at the envelope with a solemnly furrowed brow - “Gotham City Bank Preferred Platinum Visa Rewards Card that we’re moving in together.”

“Very funny.”

“I know you’re preapproved for a special offer with 0% interest APR, but -”

“Oh, just give me the goddamn envelope and shut up.”)

But this time, both he and Alfred see the return address on the big cardboard box when it arrives, and they know whatever is inside, they can’t joke about this.

Gibsonton, Florida has been the winter home of circus and carnival performers since the early Depression. Its unique zoning laws allow residents to keep everything from monkeys to elephants to giant tents and trailers on their property, and in its glory days it was a safe, albeit colorful and bizarre, home for all kinds of people who might have been treated like freaks anywhere else. Pop Haly had been born there, back when the town was at its wildest, and had always spoken of it fondly, though in Dick’s time the circus traveled so far and wide that they didn’t really take whole winters off anymore the way they used to, so his memories of the place were more fragmented.

It would not take Batman - or even an ordinary detective - to figure out what’s in the box. Alfred gets there just as quickly as Bruce.

“Master Richard did mention plans for the circus to sell off some of the assets that were no longer in use, in order to reinvest them in the new permanent site,” the butler ventures. “I do not recall specifics, but I would imagine property -”

“And somebody going through it for sale found something that belonged to the Graysons.”

“Would you like to call him, sir, or shall I?”

Bruce shakes his head. “It’s Wednesday. He’ll be here at seven for dinner anyway. Leave it on his bed in his old room. He might want to be alone when he opens it. We don’t have any way of knowing what’s in that box, or how it will make him feel.”

He doesn’t get answers to either of those questions that night. Dick finds Bruce in the study and kisses him hello with an easy smile, but it falls off his face like a painting on a loose nail when he hears the word “Gibsonton.” He’s alone upstairs for so long that Alfred has to put the chicken pot pies back in the oven to keep warm, and when he comes back down to the dining room he’s uncharacteristically reserved and somber.

“What did he tell you?” Alfred asks Bruce quietly, as he helps the butler carry the dishes into the kitchen, leaving Dick staring wordlessly into his coffee and playing with a brownie he isn’t really eating.

“Nothing. I didn’t ask.”

“Not even to see if he was all right?”

“He’s not all right,” Bruce says simply. “It’s private, Alfred. If he wants to tell us, he will.”

But he doesn’t say anything over coffee and brownies, and he doesn’t say anything as he puts the box in the trunk of his car and drives home, and he doesn’t say anything for days and weeks afterward. 

Bruce still doesn’t ask. But he hasn’t stopped wondering.

* * * * *

It’s nearly two months before the topic comes up again.

It’s a nice night, warm for October, the skies clear. Bruce is sitting alone with a cup of coffee on one of the benches near a corner of the grounds where the leaves are already turning. He still has a few hours before it’s time to leave for patrol, and it’s peaceful here. His parents liked this spot. It’s gotten easier, slowly but surely over the years since Dick came into his life, to live alongside their ghosts without feeling quite so . . . haunted. He can remember the nice moments without as much pain. When he was little, after the fall leaves were raked up into piles but before the landscapers hauled them away, Bruce was permitted to jump in them. He liked the crunching sound.

He hears the same sound behind him suddenly, an odd coincidence, and turns to see Dick approaching across the flagstones, scattered red and gold leaves crackling under his feet.

“You’re early,” he says, smiling, and moves aside to make room on the bench.

“Alfred said I’d find you here.”

Everything okay?”

“Yes. Yeah. I just had something -” Dick pauses, shaking his head a little like he’s gathering his thoughts, and takes a seat beside Bruce. They look up at the stars in silence for a few moments. Bruce doesn’t press him. Dick will talk when he’s ready. He always does.

“So you probably remember that box,” he says finally. He doesn’t look at Bruce as he speaks. “The one that came here for me.”

Bruce nods. “I remember.”

Another silence.

“You know, I kept waiting for you to ask me what was in it,” Dick says.

“It was private.”

“Like you’ve never seen me opening the mail and asked, ‘oh, a package! Who’s it from?’”

“I know exactly what Gibsonton is, Dick. Did you want me to ask, or were you afraid of me asking?”

“I don’t really know,” says Dick.

“Are you bringing it up because you want to tell me now?”

This silence lasts even longer than the others. Bruce doesn’t reach out to touch him, or turn to look at his face, but he lets his knee shift leftward just a centimeter or two, enough to bump lightly against Dick’s. I’m right here, the gesture says. Take your time.

“There was a warehouse on the property,” Dick finally says, eyes fixed on the trees in front of him. “All the other outbuildings were empty, easy enough to get them ready for the sale, but behind the stable there was a big old bunker of a thing I didn’t remember when the real estate agent sent me the photos. All she told me at the time was that the guy who was managing the property had found some personal effects in there and needed access to Pop Haly’s list of addresses of former employees. It was full of shelves with crates and bins on them, labeled, personal things people didn’t want to take with them on the road. I didn't think anything of it, I didn't assume there'd be anything in there for me, so I just sent over the copy I had in the paperwork he left me. But it must have been old -"

"Because the address he had for you was here."

"Gibsonton was home base, see," Dick goes on. "The place they always came back to. Sometimes when you were going out on a long-haul, you might leave a box there for the crew to watch over, if there were things you didn’t want to get lost or broken from months of traveling in a caravan.”

His voice has been impressively steady up until now, but when Bruce hears it begin to break a little, he steps in to let Dick breathe for a moment.

“So the property manager went through the warehouse to ready it for sale,” he guesses, “and found a box with your name on it. Things you didn’t go back for, because you stayed here in Gotham and didn’t go back to Gibsonton when the rest of the circus did.”

“Not my name,” says Dick, and he reaches out for Bruce’s hand.

Bruce exhales deeply. “Oh.”

They sit there like that for a long time. The moon’s almost full. A faint breeze shivers through the tree nearest them - a dogwood, which always erupts into riotous white and pink blossoms each spring - and a few red-gold leaves flutter downward.

“They left a bunch of things in Gibsonton that they didn’t have room for anymore in the caravan after they had me,” Dick says. “Things from their life before.”

“I see.”

“Things that were fragile, or delicate, or just things that there wasn’t a daily use for, so they had to choose between that and, you know, diapers and a stroller and all that. We never had a lot of room. And going from two people to three people in the same tiny space -”

“Of course.”

“They left a lot of things behind,” Dick says, and there’s something strange in his voice. “They left a lot of things behind, to make room for me.”

Bruce turns and looks at him, and squeezes his hand. “You don’t need me to be the one to tell you that nothing they left behind in a cardboard box in Gibsonton, Florida was more precious to them than you were,” he says, “but I’ll say it anyway, if it would help you to hear it out loud.”

Dick gives him a fleeting, weary smile before moving in closer, resting his head on Bruce’s shoulder. At the implicit signal that Dick wants comfort, that proximity and touch are now more important than the distance and silence he’d seemed to require when he first sat down, Bruce puts his arm around him, letting Dick curl up into the massive, sturdy wall of his chest. It seems to ease something in the younger man, who lets out a long, exhausted sigh.

“The biggest thing in it was a lamp," Dick says. "The base is a glass elephant. Mom told me about it once. She’d had it in her bedroom as a little girl. She’d dreamed of joining the circus because she wanted to make friends with an elephant. They’re matriarchal, did you know that?”

“I did.”

“Mom had dreams as a little kid of a trapeze act starring her and a bunch of girl elephants. They would be her best friends, she said. It always made me laugh when she told me about it. They left the lamp in Florida after she got pregnant; Dad was afraid a kid running around a space that small would knock it over, and he knew it was special to her. He always said someday, after they’d retired, they’d buy a little house somewhere, and -”

Dick’s voice breaks off. Bruce squeezes his shoulder.

“We always think we have more time,” Bruce says simply.

Dick nods. “Yeah.”

“It’s nice that you have it now.”

“That was the biggest thing in there,” Dick says. “There were some antique-looking books, and a really old dress - like a prom dress maybe. And some jewelry - nothing, you know, fancy, they weren’t rich, but things that were special. A few pieces that I think were maybe my grandmother’s. I remember them from photos. And a glass box full of shells. They must have collected them somewhere. Maybe on vacations, or maybe when the circus was traveling and hit seaside towns. Dad always liked to go to the beach on days off if we could.”

He sits up, pulling away from Bruce a bit, and reaches into his pocket to pull something out of it - something small enough to fit inside his closed fist, which he doesn’t open right away.

“And then there was . . . there was something else.”

Bruce turns and looks at him. Dick’s eyes are thoughtful, and warm, and a little sad.

“I think she forgot it was in her jewelry box,” he says, looking down at his hand, still clenched tight around something Bruce can’t see. “She talked about it a lot, actually. She always believed she’d lost it somewhere. She wasn’t a terribly superstitious person, it wasn’t that, not really, but it was a habit. And it was special to her. She’d gotten it from her mother.” He opens his palm and looks down into it, but Bruce still can’t quite see what he’s holding. “And the first thing I thought when I opened the box . . .” He shakes his head suddenly, looking up at Bruce with his eyes suspiciously bright. “I’m not explaining this very well,” he says apologetically.

“Take as much time as you need,” says Bruce. 

Dick opens his palm all the way, and holds it out for Bruce to see. It’s a tiny gold oval, tarnished and faded. It looks very, very old. Bruce isn’t Christian, but he’s seen enough holy medals to know one when he’s looking right at it. And despite the fact that whatever graven image the medal once held is impossible to make out - probably long since worn down by decades' worth of fingers rubbing it for luck - he knows enough about Mary Grayson to make an educated guess.

“Saint Sarah?” he guesses. “Patron saint of the Romani.” Dick nods. “This was your grandmother’s?”

“At least,” says Dick. “Maybe older. Mom didn’t really know. She said that her mother gave it to her as a child, for protection, and told her that nothing bad could ever happen to her as long as she had it with her.” He closes his eyes. “She didn’t know it was in the jewelry box, she didn’t know it was in Gibsonton,” he says dully. “She thought she’d lost it. Used to joke about how that meant she was unlucky now. It was funny, when I was little. Every time she got stung by a bee or something went wrong at rehearsal or she was the only one in the whole circus who caught whatever cold was going around, she and Dad would laugh about it. ‘If only you’d had your Saint Sarah medal, this would never have happened.’” One bright tear wavers for a moment on his thick black lashes before falling. Bruce watches its slow progress over the rise of Dick’s cheekbone and down his jaw, wanting to kiss it away but uncertain whether that’s pushing the moment too far. “The medal was in the jewelry box all those years,” he whispers, “and they only left the jewelry box in Gibsonton because they had me.”

Bruce is a pretty good detective, true, but he also knows Dick Grayson better than anyone else in the world, and Dick doesn’t need to say it out loud for Bruce to know exactly what fear is haunting him.

“Your parents’ death was not your fault,” he says quietly, moving closer and leaning forward just enough to rest his forehead against Dick’s. “Even if your grandmother’s belief was provable, Dick, even if the medal truly was some kind of talisman invoking the protection of a patron saint - well, I know very little about saints, but I have a hard time imagining any of them granting or withholding their favor as capriciously as that. Your mother didn’t discard it, after all. She didn’t give up on Saint Sarah because the medal was lost. Perhaps she had her own kind of private rituals or devotions that she maintained in her own way.” He takes Dick’s empty hand and squeezes it. “Or perhaps she had less need of a talisman in her life to make her feel like the luckiest woman in the world,” he murmurs, “once her child was born and she realized how blessed she really was. Maybe she allowed herself to forget it because she didn’t need it anymore, the way she had when she was a child. Maybe it was all right for her to let it go. Mary Grayson always seemed to me like a woman who made her own luck. And her life was more than the worst thing that ever happened to her. She would be happy that her things have finally come home to you, Dick, but she would never, ever want you to blame yourself for being the reason that she’s gone.”

Dick sinks heavily against Bruce’s chest, not fully crying yet but not able to speak either. Bruce can feel the emotions pressing him down with a palpable weight. He’s so preoccupied with listening to Dick’s breathing to make sure it’s steady and he isn’t heading towards an anxiety attack, that at first he doesn’t notice the feeling of something small and warm and hard being pressed into the palm of his hand. 

He looks up at Dick, who closes Bruce’s fist around the medal and lays his own hand over it before lifting his head to meet Bruce’s eyes.

“I know you don’t believe in it,” he says. “I don’t even know if I believe in it. But I need you to take it. I need you to have this, Bruce. Keep it with you, and don’t let it go. I’ll sleep better if you do.”

“Dick -”

"I lost you once," Dick says roughly. "I'm not going to lose you again."

Bruce closes his eyes. He doesn't know what to say.

“If anything ever happened to you, and I wasn’t there,” Dick tries to say, but he can’t quite get the words out.

“Dick,” Bruce says softly. “I’m honored to hold a piece of your family’s history. I’m honored to have this. It’s priceless to me, to have something in my life that belonged to your parents. I don’t want you to think that I don’t . . .” He swallows hard. “That I don’t know what this means.”

That your family is my family. That my family is your family. That if they were alive today, Mary Grayson would be my mother-in-law one day and Martha Wayne would be yours. That it would matter to you, that much, what they thought of me, and what I thought of them.

“So yes,” Bruce says. “I’ll keep this. I’ll keep it forever. I’ll treasure it. But I don’t need a talisman to protect me and keep me safe, Dick. I already have you. And you’re all I need.”

[omiscurls]

hmm this is like my first time responding to a request thing so here goes: (slight webtoon spoilers!!)—- imagine if you/reader finds out about kaeyas secret accidentally, before he told diluc. how would he react to that? i’ve given some thought into it and i’d love to see your perspective!

dark whispers

plot: hurt/comfort, reader finds out about kaeya's secret before anyone else

contains: kaeya

warnings: WEBTOON SPOILERS, the story takes place before the start of the game, approximately 5-6 years, alcohol, acting under the influence, you can even say underage drinking, curse words

the sun had long set behind the mountains adoring the territories of mondstadt city. it's people had already closed their shops, workshops and businesses, having gone home to their families, many of them possibly already drifting off to sleep.

some individuals, as everyday, be it a workday, weekend, or a holiday, decided to go entertain themselves with different kinds of alcohol at the local tavern.

but to some of the mondstadt folk, that day, that evening was a special one, for it was a celebration of the ever so famous master crepus' adoptive son, kaeya, turning seventeen.

the night fell special even for regular customers, not only the ones celebrating, for it was rare for the master of the dawn winery himself to pour drinks and serve them at his establishment. for the birthday of his son, though, he had abandoned his normal nightly duties, and stood behind the counter for a good couple of hours, giving one speech and joining everyone in singing happy birthday for the young knight.

he had gone home around an hour ago, leaving the happy, slightly drunk bunch of customers in the hands of a younger bartender.

"alright" kaeya's older brother, and cerpus' firstborn, diluc, had made everyone quiet with the way he clapped his hands, a sly smirk on his lips as he looked his friend and brother in the eyes. diluc, being older, already knew the taste and... other qualities of alcohol a little better than the blue-haired boy, so he found nothing but amusement in the way kaeya couldn't find balance on his chair, or in how his eyes just wouldn't focus on one spot, instead wandering around the walls and ceiling of the tavern. "kaeya" he called out, making the boy face him with a dumbfounded look. "you're one round of shots behind me"

kaeya's expression changed to distressed within seconds, as he examined the three glasses before his eyes, wondering if he'll even fit those in his stomach.

"is yer head made out of stone or sum?" he slurred out "how're ya this sober?"

diluc laughed, pointing to the glasses.

"less complaining, more bottoming these out" he rushed, arms crossing at his chest, as he leaned back on his chair and observed his little brother struggle to make the decision.

"go to hell" kaeya mumbled, emptying the drinks one by one, a grimmace coming to his face right after he had laid the last glass back on the table. "what even is that?" he asked, unamused, as diluc responded happily:

"firewater."

a smile of satisfaction painted the redhead's face.

"what?" kaeya's eyes widened "how'd you even get this past father?" he leaned lower on the table, studying diluc's expression. „that’s like, forty percent sheer alcohol!”

"i have my ways" he responded enigmatically, and kaeya shook his head in resignation.

"aight" the birthday boy took a deep breath "your turn. ya don't want to loose now, do you?" remains of a grin lifted the point of his mouth, as diluc chuckled, pouring the transparent liquid into the glasses yet again.

"what's the prize?" you asked one of their friends, having come late to the scene of the challenge.

"oh, the one to loose has to do the other's chores for a month" the guy responded, eyes not darting away from how diluc managed to empty all three glasses, much to kaeya's dispair.

hours had passed, and everyone slowly left the birthday party, diluc leaving kaeya in your hands, as he helped the bartender clean up the mess the young knights had made. you asked the blue-haired boy if he wanted to get some fresh air, to which he nodded, you can't say eagerly, but nodded nonetheless. so that leaves you to where you were now, slowly walking towards your place, kaeya bumping into your side every now and then as he lost balance.

"did you have fun?" you asked happily, eyes focusing on his face, waiting for a response.

"yea" he murmured, not even sparing you a look.

"poor you, are you that wasted?" you continued, amused, as a hiccup left his throat.

"'m not wasted" he denied instantly. " 't was nice to spend some time with diluc, we all know i don't have much of that left"

your eyebrows furrow in confusion, as you stop in your tracks, making him stop, too. he seemed to have thought this was a normal thing to say, and politely waited for you to start walking again, but you didn't, instead crossing your arms, and asking again.

"what do you mean by that?"

he scoffed, almost rudely. " he's gon' hate me for life, isn't it obvious?" he slurred, head lifting to look on the starry sky, hands going deeper inside his pockets. your expression turned even more confused, as he stared up, acting like it was the most natural thing to say, and like everybody knew this.

"what's he gonna hate you for? he's your brother, he loves you deeply, right?" you wanted to rub his arm, or something, do anything to soothe the feelings that must've been eating him alive, but stayed still.

"brother" he scoffed again. you couldn't possibly see, from the angle his head was at, but hot tears flooded his eyes as he said the word out loud, and the moment of silence that came after, he used to calm down even the slightest bit. "i think that's the most beautiful lie i ever came up with, y'know? brother." he repeated.

"what- what do you mean by that?"

"i've been nothing but a useless homewrecker to his family for as long as i have been in this world. how did i ever find the audacity to call myself his brother? oh my, even i hate my guts for this." he chuckled, painful irony overflowing his voice "and my dearest, short-tempered diluc is gonna flip the fuck out, for sure"

"kaeya" you asked, growing to be scared of how mysteriously he was acting "is there anything you wish to tell me?"

you swallowed a gulp in your throat by saying that, and awaited the reply in stress, even if you didn't know why.

his gaze finally came down from the sky, as he looked at you with a sad smile.

"if it was up to me, i'd wish not to tell a soul anything. but i have been lying for far to long, and my so-called family did nothing to deserve that. nothing, nothing bad, ever, and yet they've been cursed to deal with one like me. truly unfair, the fate of this world. how kindness pays off in nothing but sorrow."

you could tell he was a bit more sober by how his words were more understandable than before, but he was still far from his right mind. you would've stopped him, but there was really no going back now, and you almost needed to hear what secret he was talking about.

"my dearest" he said, addressing you "please, do not get angry with me as well. i don't know what i'd do if i lost even more people than i intend to with this information."

after you nodded in confusion, he explained the story, briefly and in a twisted way, having little control over his slurred words.

you stood there in silence for a good long while as silent tears rolled down from both yours and his eyes.

"i'm sorry" he finally mumbled "i'm sorry, i swear i didn't do what i was designed to do, i didn't tell anyone anything, i didn't attempt to harm anyone. it wasn't my decision to make, i swear, i hold no loyalties to-"

"kaeya" you interrupted him, and he feared for the worst. "that must've been so confusing for the little kid you were"

the worried tone of your voice, the way your words were covered in affection, the way your eyes seemed to care, it all flooded his wrecked soul all too quickly and all to strongly, making him gasp for air, as if it was knocked out of his lungs.

"you- you don't think i'm a-"

"no" you interrupted again, afraid of how he might finish the sentence. "and neither will diluc. i can't promise you he won't be mad, because he probably will, but you're brothers, by blood or not. you're gonna fight and you're gonna make up, because no anger will ever top the love i'm sure he has for you. and if rougher days are really coming your way" you said, approaching him to wrap your arms around his shaky form. "then i'll stand by you to face them with you."

little did you both know. the date of diluc ragnvidr’s 18th was approaching faster than anyone could ever anticipated.

[cafecourage]

The moment they realized they loved you. (Isekai Au Edition) Part 3

If you want more information on this AU here is the Link!

Hyrule:

- It confusing and full of yearning.

- The Fae Folk are very affectionate in nature. Physical touches and platonic kisses are just normal. Hyrule growing up briefly with them had adopted this habit.

- You are like that as well so you’re the one to take care of Hyrule when he wanted affection. Since other then Legend, it’s awkward to ask the others.

- He finds however while he still asks/gives you affection. He gets more flustered and embarrassed when you initiated contact.

___________________________________

Admittedly Hyrule never had a clear understanding of Hylian social norms. Some things were easy to pick up when he was just traveling by himself. However, there was a lot that conflicted with Fae social norms. While yes, the Fae were more mischievous and could be borderline malicious, they are very affectionate creatures. Which was the one of many things Hyrule picked up when he was being raised by the Great Fairy.

Before you join the chain, he had to hold himself back from being overly affectionate with the group. Yes, when he had chances, he would give a quick side hug or ruffling of the hair for the younger Link’s. But nothing on the level of cuddles or small peaks on the cheek and forehead. You though! You were the one to lay the affection on everyone thick. Most if not every Hero has melted from all the complements and physical affection.

Hyrule was living his best life now with you! Cuddles are a must for the two of you. Especially when one another has been having a rough day. You’ve also gotten the others involved with this newly formed ritual. He just over all feeling comfortable and loved.

Which then leads to Hyrule’s issue. Slowly he began to feel embarrassed with every peak after he heals you. Then his heart begins to race when he is cuddled up resting his head against your chest. Even holding your hands became hard for him to stand! It felt so warm but also made him fearful. He was scared of losing you. Losing this warmth. This comfort. He wanted to keep it but scared that this feeling was to good for him.

“-and that’s what happen so far.” He was visiting the Great Fairy Cotera of Wild’s Era. He had visited her each time they visited Kakariko. Cotera gently hummed messing with his hair. “What should I do?” He looks up to the giantess worriedly. His small sisters surround him ether sitting on top of him or by his side.

Their mother hummed as she thought about his problem. “My dear sweet child.” She started after a long pause “this human… do you feel different compared to your other friends? Or with your siblings in the forest?”

Hyrule thought about it after a while shook his head. “No… I did used to feel embarrassed with the others but it was different. This is more… warm?”

“Warm?” She urges him gently to continue. “Do you hate it?”

“No…” he sounded like a child, fidgeting in his seat “I hate how anxious it makes me now.” You meant a lot to him. Hyrule knew you meant a lot to everyone too, but that normal! You’ve helped them all in some sort of way! Yet he was deep in that unidentifiable emotion towards you. He adores you. All of you. Even during your more impulsive actions he didn’t mind having to heal you. Of course, he would truly rather not heal anyone with his magic. Yet… with you giving his payment in kisses on the cheek or forehead… he can’t stay mad at you.

“Chin up little one.” Cotera lifted up his head “your feelings are valid and has a simple explanation.” Hyrule pouted slightly making her giggle a bit tapping lightly on his nose. “You my dear seem to love your sweet human.”

It was like a lanterned was just lit in a dark cave he was wandering in. Finally revealing a path out. Everything thing slowly explaining itself. “Oh…” was all he could say as he was comprehending it. His sisters were giggling at their brother’s expense causing him to blush. It all made to much sense.

“Roolie! Are you nearby?” He and the Great Fairy both perk up when they heard your voice. He stared up at the Great Fairy expectingly.

“Well?” Cotera nudged him off of the petals of her fountain. “What are you waiting for little one?”

___________________________________

- Well, that was embarrassing and he knows once he starts perusing you. The more his siblings of the forest will start to tease him. Not only that but the chain also catches on pretty quickly.

- He becomes a blushing and stuttering mess around you, not pulling away from your touch but leaning more into him.

- It will be a miracle if he confesses but he will! And he will do it in a more intimate manner though, with or without help.

___________________________________

Four:

- It took long to accept but filled with soft cotton fluff.

- Isn’t canon in the manga that the colors (minus Vio) straight up try to impress a girl they just met?

- Now I’m not saying he is like that now a days, but old habits die hard right. He probably doesn’t even recognize that he still does it.

- Honest to God the resident brain cell is the only one that new point blank what was happening. Having a “not again” moment.

___________________________________

It’s been a while since Four was back in his forage. He missed every second of it. The smithing process was the one hobby each color had in common. As Link they found it relaxing, something to get their mind off of things.

That morning was no different. Traveling on the road was stressful even for a seasoned adventurer. Traveling alone was boring which was the upside according to Red. It relieved them of responsibility Green was used to taking upon himself to carry. Blue was at least a lot calmer with having to be on alert all the time. Vio had pointed out this was mainly because of You.

The chaos came back full force. The same argument has been happening recently, it was about his feelings towards you. Now they all liked you as a friend. Four knew that for a fact. He was only six when he felt your presence and this situation, he was in was as if an imaginary friend became real! At least that’s what Red felt.

No matter if they were unified or separated, Four could trust you to help him out of even the messiest situations. So, what if some of those situations were caused by him trying to impress you? That doesn’t mean anything!

Just because Blue became a stuttering mess when you surprised Four with a flower crown just meant he was taken aback at your kindness! He isn’t good at showing his emotions. Yeah, so what about Green becoming a soft mess when you first showered him in praise and affection. Wouldn’t any person do that from someone that been through hell and back with them? It doesn’t count that Red craves your affection! He is like that with everybody and just because it makes him feel different it doesn’t count. Someone saves Vio from this.

Four was conflicted which is why he was working so early in the morning. They wouldn’t shut up about their own feelings. It was a chaotic mess inside his head as soon as he woke up. A weight on his back clued him back into reality “Good morning!” You while looking down at him smiling still holding on lazily. “How is the most beautiful person here doing?”

Ah. There goes most of composure out the window. Vio was the last one standing with Green and Blue almost hanging on. You loved to tease him and he was never able to get you back. “Don’t know how are you?” Four was really struggling to keep unified and calm. He was shaking because of the other three’s nerves. You stared at him wide eyed.

“Jeez look at you!” You give him a squeeze before finally let go of him “you’ve grown! If only you were that smooth towards Erune.” You teased.

The blush he was so desperately trying to beat down started to flare up this time out embarrassment. “Can we not talk about that?” Four could only cringe when he thought back at that bit in his adventure. Him and Erune have been close friends since then, but the colors were really trying to play the hero in front of the poor girl back then. Their antics truly were really not impressing anyone.

Green was really happy he grew out of it. Seriously it‘s not like Blue really cared about it anyway he was just a kid! Red was just happy that he got a long-term friend out of it! The audacity the others had was killing Vio. They are still just as bad and it seems like no one was listening to reason.

An explosion of emotions and thoughts collided in Four’s skull. Three denying their logical side’s claim all while getting thrown every instant in their faces by the odd one out. “Whatcha making anyway?” You were observing the short knife blade curiosity not seeing the other’s internal debate. Vio felt like he had to spell it out to each of them. Pulling up memories of their actions towards the outlander. Four struggled to focus on what you were saying but it was too loud!

“Woah there.” You turn him away from his project letting it sit safely on a cooler section of the work top. “Breath Link.” You where kneeling down in-front of him holding his hand. He focused on your warmth. The way you rubbed small circles on the back of his hand. On your voice that instructed him to breathe. In for four, hold for seven, let out for eight. Repeat. Slowly the divide melded back together. Soon the voices faded out. “There we go.” You whispered “good job Link.” Four stared back at you still tired from everything but nonetheless happy that your here with him.

Man, he loved you so much.

Wait-

___________________________________

- It was definitely an I told you so moment.

- Four as a whole though is still struggling to come to terms with it, even though he had already admitted his feelings.

- Another case of: drown him in affection until he realized. Not because of him not believing you! It’s just you have four people in a trench coat here! If one is conflicted then four as a whole will feel that subtly.

___________________________________

Bonus (just Headcanons):

Wind (finding out that a Link has a crush on you)

- The little gremlin is going to have a field day! He was thinking about messing around but the other hero is doing his work for him!

- The only one saved from this Black Mail harvest is you. He does have a few things but you mostly let him off the hook when he gets in trouble anyway sooooo…

- Not the best wing man but he honestly isn’t trying. He is just enjoying the journey.

- He might be tempted to help if he was asked but there isn’t much he could do. You are his right hand after all! Why would he let your secrets go so easily?

- Imagine Wind just vibes with you when the other Link is trying their best and you literally ask if the other hero was ok since they are acting weird around you. It would take Wind a minute to get an answer because all he is thinking is: ‘are you dense?’

- Or on the flip side. If you know about their feelings. He would definitely be on board of helping you out. Again, you’re his right hand! Of course, he’ll help you! (Favoritism)

- Wind: “Don't worry. He likes your butt and fancy hair. I know. I read their diary.” (Y/n): “He thinks it's fancy?”

(Part 1) and (Part 2)

My First Request is now done :D! That was fun. Thank you Pinky and Star for the request <3

[taylorswiftandx]

Taylor Swift and Hearing

'Taylor Swift'

Picture To Burn: In case you haven't heard, I really really hate that stupid old pickup truck

Our Song: I've heard every album, listened to the radio

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

The Way I Loved You: He says everything I need to hear and it's like I couldn't ask for anything better

The Best Day: I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you

Jump Then Fall: I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard

Jump Then Fall: I hear the words but all I can think is we should be together

Mr. Perfectly Fine: He goes about his day, forgets he ever even heard my name

Mr. Perfectly Fine: Because I hear he's got his arm 'round a brand new girl

That's When: And I knew my words were hard to hear and harder to ever take back

Don't You: I heard she's nothing like me

'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'

Speak Now: You need to hear me out and they said, "Speak now"

Speak Now: I hear the preacher say, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"

The Story Of Us: I've never heard silence quite this loud

Better Than Revenge: She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause

Better Than Revenge: You might have him but haven't you heard?

Better Than Revenge: Let's hear the applause, come on show me how much better you are

Superman: And I can't hear one single word they say

'Red (Taylor's Version)'

Treacherous: I hear the sound of my own voice asking you to stay

I Knew You Were Trouble: Now I heard you moved on from whispers on the street

Better Man: But your jealousy, I can hear it now, you're talking down to me

Babe: I'm here on the kitchen floor, you call but I won't hear it

I Bet You Think About Me: And the book that just saved them that I haven't heard of

Forever Winter: He says he doesn't believe anything much he hears these days

'1989 (Taylor's Version)'

Welcome To New York: Searching for a sound we hadn't heard before

Blank Space: Ain't it funny, rumors fly, and I know you heard about me

Style: Oh, it's been a while since I have even heard from you

Style: I say, "I heard, oh, that you've been out and about with some other girl, some other girl"

Style: He says, "What you heard is true but I can't stop thinking about you and I"

I Wish You Would: See your face, hear my voice in the dark

I Know Places: I can hear them whisper as we pass by

I Know Places: Let them say what they want, we won't hear it

Clean: The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud but no one heard a thing

Wonderland: Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?

You Are In Love: You can hear it in the silence

Now That We Don’t Talk: You went to a party, I heard from everybody

Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar): Love don’t hear no more, no, I don’t fear no more

Sweeter Than Fiction: Only sound, only sound that you hear is "no"

Sweeter Than Fiction: Only sound, only sound that you heard was "no"

'reputation'

End Game: Ah, and you heard about me, ooh, I got some big enemies

End Game: Ah, and I heard about you, ooh, you like the bad ones, too

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?

Call It What You Want: Nobody's heard from me for months, I'm doing better than I ever was

'Lover'

Cruel Summer: I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?

London Boy: But something happened, I heard him laughing, I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent

'folklore'

Exile: You didn't even hear me out / You didn't even hear me out

My Tears Ricochet: And when you can't sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullabies

Betty: You heard the rumors from Inez, you can't believe a word she says most times

'evermore'

'Tis The Damn Season: Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out

Cowboy Like Me: Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Right Where You Left Me: I swear you could hear a hair pin drop

Right Where You Left Me: Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen?

Right Where You Left Me: Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?

'Midnights'

Anti-Hero: Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman? Tale as old as time

You’re On Your Own, Kid: I hear it in your voice, you’re smoking with your boys

Question...?: And what’s that that I heard, that you’re still with her?

Bejeweled: I made you my world, have you heard I can reclaim the land?

Hits Different: I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway

Other Songs written by Taylor

Best Days Of Your Life: A shame that every time you hear my name brought up in a casual conversation you can't think straight

Best Days Of Your Life: I heard about, yeah, someone told me once when you were out

Best Days Of Your Life: I heard you're gonna get married, have a nice little family

If This Was A Movie: Last night I heard by own heart beating

Only The Young: It keeps me awake, the look on your face the moment you heard the news

Only The Young: So everyday now you brace for the sound you've only heard on TV

Official Alternate Releases

Anti-Hero: Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman? Taylor, you’ll be fine

[brokenbutnotquiting]

Say My Name

A Nace Oneshot where Nancy *really* loves the way Ace calls her name. (Because Alex Saxon makes it sound so damn enticing that I couldn't help myself)

I had always liked my name. Nancy Drew. Not so much Drew anymore, but it sounds better than Nancy Hudson. Or maybe that was just my habits talking.

In any case, I like my name. Nancy.

With the ever-growing confusion regarding my last name, it suited me better to opt for – what I call – the Ace option. Just casually dropping my last name until and unless it's an official or legal requirement.

For the very common folk of Horseshoe Bay, I am Nancy.

Just Nancy.

It was only after I realized and accepted my intense feelings for my best male friend – my partner-in-investigative-work – Ace, I often found my heart skipping a beat at my own name.

Purely because of the way he called it. Nancy. With that adorable lilt at the second 'n'. He probably never even realized that he did it, which made it all the more enticing.

But I would never tell him that.

__________

I ignored the screaming soles of my feet as I locked up the Claw. It was date night for George and Nick, and despite my best hopes, I was the one left in charge of closing up the seafood restaurant.

How had I ended up here tonight, I wondered sarcastically before a face flashed in my mind.

Ace.

How was it that most of my stupid impulsive decisions nowadays were because of him? 

He had opted to lock up for the night, claiming to be happy to do it only if George allowed Amanda to stay with him.

"We haven't seen each other much since we returned from our road trip, and she has been asking me if we could just talk for a while without either of us running off for something or the other," he had said with a shrug.

Now, normally I am not a goody-two-shoes. Or a masochist. But seeing Ace with that utterly adorable little pout made my heart melt, and I jumped in to sacrifice my sanity to let him leave early. To be with his girlfriend, no less. 

What can I say? Sometimes, I am just that much of an idiot.

Bess had side-eyed me so hard when I chimed in, I wondered how transparent I had become regarding my feelings for Ace. How did no one else notice?

But then, maybe everybody had noticed it at some point in time and had chosen not to comment on it.

Everybody except Ace. A sigh heaved out of me at that particular thought.

Ace was blissfully unaware. And thank God for that. I didn't need him to hate me for ruining his chances with Amanda. As much as I had rolled my eyes at his dopey smile that first time he had accepted his crush on her—almost endangering George in the process—I did want him to be happy, even if it wasn't with me.

Even if watching him fall for her tore my heart out every time, I thought about it.

Even if I was wrecking myself over him. Every. Damn. Day.

I looked around aimlessly. I only had to mop the floors one last time, and then I could leave. So I got the mop and the bucket— put on some music, and let my mind daydream about a life where I wasn't the girl one-sidedly crushing on her best friend as I let my body move on autopilot.

I didn't even realize that I wasn't alone until I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise, pulling me out of the daydream just before I got kissed.

I whirled around towards the door leading to the locker room to find him standing there.

Ace.

He looked angry. Really angry. 

"Ace? What are you doing here? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly. Was someone in danger? Was there an accident or something?

"What's wrong is that I cannot fucking stop thinking about you," he snapped, his soft blue eyes flashing with barely concealed anger.

"What – what are you on about?" I stuttered with surprise.

His nostrils flared delicately. "There I was, with my girlfriend, finally spending some much-needed time together, and my mind kept reminding me that she is not you. That you are you. And that you are here. And I was so distracted by the thought of you being here alone with no one to protect you, should something happen, that I completely missed her telling me that she loved me."

He strode over to where I was standing, grasping onto the mop as if my life depended on it. The weight of his words, the complete and utter disaster of it all hit me at the same time he stopped barely half a foot away.

"Ace— ” I started and stopped. What was I supposed to say? Was there anything I could say that would help? Anything at all? It didn't seem so.

"There she was, looking all hopeful as she told me she loved me, and all I could think of was whether you were safe. Whether I would see you tomorrow." His voice held an undercurrent of fear. And I understood that.

After the Aglaeca and the Wraith and Everett Hudson and the threat of the Road Back still lingering, all of us felt overprotective of each other.

"I am not a marshmallow, Ace. I can take care of myself. At the very least, not drop dead while locking up the Claw," I joked half-heartedly. I admit that I might have intentionally ignored the part where he said he barely paid attention to his girlfriend. Or how my heart skipped several beats at it. I didn't need him more antagonized over my feelings for him.

"That's not the point, and you know it," he snapped. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, before he continued, "my girlfriend told me she loved me, and not only was I distracted enough to miss it, I couldn't even say it back."

He shook his head, eyes still closed, as if he could somehow forget everything that happened. I understood that feeling as well. Sometimes, I wished the same.

"Why?"I asked him softly because I knew that was the part he wanted me to stress on. I knew him well enough to know his cues. I could play along.

He opened his eyes at my question.

"Because, as much as I like Amanda, I don't love her. At least not as she wanted me to. I tried, God knows I tried so damn hard, but I just couldn't," he explained.

I didn't ask him the question on the tip of my tongue again. I merely kept staring at him. Ace knew my cues as well as I did his. If he wanted me to play along, he could as well.

Why? 

"She broke up with me, rightly so. She deserves someone who isn't already in love with someone else," he whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the music, "what kind of a pathetic person does that?"

Even then, my heart beating fast enough to rival that of a marathon runner, I stayed silent.

"Nancy." He whispered almost pleading, for what I didn't know.

"I love the way you say my name, "I whispered back as if in a thrall. Completely inappropriate? Perhaps. But a kernel of truth nonetheless.

He raised his hands, cupping my face so softly as if afraid that I would break under his touch. He touched his forehead to mine, his eyes closed again.

A slight tremble shook me at his touch. His breath ghosted over my face. "Say my name again," I whispered to him.

"Nancy."

He shifted his face a tiny bit and kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes at the onslaught of feelings his adoration elicited.

"Nancy," he whispered before kissing my other cheek.

"Nancy."

A kiss on my chin.

"Nancy."

A kiss on my forehead.

"Nancy." 

A kiss on my brows.

"Nancy."

A kiss on one eye, and then the other.

"Nancy." 

A kiss on my nose.

"Nancy," his voice took on an almost worshipping quality as he whispered my name but didn't lower his mouth to mine.

Tell him, I chided myself. Tell him that he isn't wrong in his feelings for you. Tell him that if he felt condemned about his feelings for you, then you shared the damnation with him.

"I love you, Ace," I said, tears escaping me, my throat raw with emotion, "I have loved you for a while now." 

There was so much I wanted to tell him and couldn't. So much he needed to know. Another day, I reasoned with myself. I would tell him another day when we were both far more clear-headed than we were at the moment.

"I know, Nancy," he said softly, nodding his head, "I love you too."

And then he closed the gap between us.

His lips were soft against mine. Unhurried. Moving with a languid assurance that he knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to claim it any longer. I played along with him, slow and steady, our form of normalcy until the heat growing in my body took over.

The kiss turned frantic as soon as I bit on his lower lip. His tongue was in my mouth, claiming me. He wanted everything, and I wanted to give it all to him. My tongue followed his, teasing him to a sensual dance of their own.

His hands, which were previously cupping my face, slid lower until one of them was grasping onto my neck – positioning my head as he wanted – the other grabbing onto my waist, pulling my body closer to his.

I let go of the mop, and it fell on the floor with a clang. I placed my hands on his chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady, if not galloping at a faster pace, under my fingertips. I moved my hands on his body, feeling his muscles flex subtly until one of my hands took a life of its own and decidedly wandered over to his hair, tugging on it as if he could come closer than he already was.

I don't particularly know how long we stayed like that, devouring each other like the last meal, but when we did eventually come up for air, I knew I wouldn't be able to let him go, and I told him as such.

His chuckle was like music to me. I opened my eyes just in time to see his smirk, "after a kiss like that, I should hope not, Nancy."

"Jesus Christ, Ace," I swore, "the way you say my name is my favorite thing."

His used laugh vibrated through me at that, warming my core but you know what? I didn't care.

"That's all?" Ace asked me playfully. No more stoicism. It was almost as if he had pulled back another layer of his surprisingly dazzling personality. I smiled at him in answer.

His answering grin almost knocked me right out. Damn! I really did love this man.

I didn't know what my face showed him, but the grin dropped off his face as he asked, "what's wrong?"

Ah. I must have been emoting the pent-up sadness I had repressed for so long.

I shook my head at him, smiling again. I combed through his hair with my fingers and let all of my affection pour into my voice as I said, "I didn't think I would ever get to do this again."

"Touch my hair?" Ace asked amused, quirking an eyebrow.

"Just be with you. Touch you without having to worry about offending anyone," I explained.

He placed a soft kiss on my forehead, pulling me into a hug, "You never really had any sense of personal space when it came to being near me, Nancy. That was just so you, I never really questioned it further. I was so scared of you putting up defenses against me that I purposefully ignored all the signs. Even when they were glaringly obvious." 

He kissed my cheek and said, "I shouldn't have tried as hard as I did to deny my feelings creeping up on me for over a month. And I definitely shouldn't have chosen the easier way out with Amanda."

I shook my head at that. "You did what you thought was right for you," I said, somewhat sadly, "I remember your smile. You told us that she made you bloom."

"She did. For a while."He said. There was a trace of sadness in his voice. It would take time, I knew, for him to stop blaming himself for everything that happened with her.

"Take your time before you move on, Ace. Both of you deserve that respect," I told him.

"I will," he said, a small smile gracing his lips again, "but not tonight." I nodded my acceptance of his decision. Whatever he needed.

"Nancy," he whispered my name in my ear a heartbeat later.

The groan that escaped me was obscene, and I rightfully snapped, "Stop saying my name like that, Ace, if you want to keep your clothes on."

His answering kiss made my blood heat up and my toes curl in my shoes in an instant. I kissed him back with equal fervor. His hands started roaming, and I gasped into his mouth as he cupped my ass. He chuckled in response. A challenge.

Very well, I thought to myself. I dropped my mouth, kissing his neck softly before biting on it. An obscene groan escaped him. I smirked.

Two can play this game, Ace. And I barely got started.

I licked the spot I had bitten.

"I won't be able to even see straight if you keep doing this," his warning rang. I ignored the moan accompanying the statement.

I took half a step away from him and said playfully, "You need some space, Ace?"

"Nancy," he almost growled before yanking my body flush against his again and dropping a searing kiss on my lips.

Dear God, in the heavens above! I loved the way he said my name.

Nancy.