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reiderwriter · 1 year ago

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Margaritas and Mistakes

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female Reader

Genre: Fluff, suggestive, smut coming in the next part (it's already written it just felt best to post them separately lmao).

Warnings: Suggestive language, dirty talk, some heavy petting and mention of sexual arousal. 18+ MINORS DNI

Summary: On a group night out, you get a little more drunk than you want to, and when Spencer shows up looking like the love of your life and not just your coworker, you realise that the margarita’s are having more of an effect than they should be.

A/N: Welcome back, it's my week off currently so I've been writing a copious amount of smut, so please enjoy this 3.6k word build up to more smut coming soon. Requests are still open, and you can find my masterlist here!

PART TWO!

You truly made all of your worst decisions when under the influence of alcohol. You blamed it on the fact that you really didn’t get the chance to go out all that often now that you were a full time member of the BAU Team. But the job was sometimes rewarding, and considering you’d been working on consultations all week and not a full time case, you were really looking forward to stretching your legs this friday night and getting some much needed relaxation in before you had to stare evil in the eye one more time.

“Girls’ Night Out! No male detectives, partners, Special Supervisory Agents, Unit Chiefs, OR Doctors!” Penelope cheered as you arrived at her apartment that night prior to your eventful outing.

“God I needed this,” Emily sighed, taking a sip of her drink. “I can’t remember the last time I got to kick back with a glass of chardonnay.”

“You sent me a picture of your drink two days ago, and it didn’t exactly look like water,” JJ laughed.

“Ah you see, my dear JJ, that wasn’t kicking back. That was therapy.”

“Honestly, though, it’s going to be good to get out of the house. I swear, the only places I’ve been for the last month have been my apartment and work,” you sigh, downing the last of the drink Penelope had handed you on the way in.

“What happened to that guy you were seeing, Y/N? Was he that bad?”

“Don’t even mention it. He took me back to his place and he didn’t even have a mattress on the floor, wanted us to do it on his couch,” you groan. “The couch that was also housing all of his laundry. And I’m not positive it was even clean laundry.”

You really had been having the absolute worst luck with men recently; other than your aforementioned tinder date, the only men who had shown any interest in you being serial killers who wanted to murder you and married cops looking to fool around with an FBI agent. Not the most auspicious of dating pools.

“Okay, operation get Y/N laid is a go. Ladies, your jobs tonight, should you choose to accept it, is to become the best wing-women this town has ever seen!” Penelope joked, and you found yourself giggling at just the idea, thankful that they were taking the time to try to cheer you up.

“Oh I’m all in. I’m warning you now, Y/N, my wing-woman success rate is pretty high. I’ve helped multiple couples achieve not only orgasm, but also marriage and kids.” Emily boasted.

“Emily, next time you might want to think about the wording of that one,” JJ laughed. “But I’m in too, you could use a little unwinding.”

“Not you too, JJ. You were supposed to be our voice of reason tonight.” You giggle into your cup, feeling the effect of your starter alcohol already.

“Nope. We’re having no responsible adults in our midst tonight. That’s why I’ve already arranged for our favourite Doctor to come and pick us up when the last of us falls tonight. He’s at a screening of some Indie Russian flick until 2am which is probably about perfect for our plans.”

This is the first you’ve heard of Penelope’s plans, but you’re not against it. With a solid escape route, you can let loose as much as you want tonight and know that all of your friends are fully able to have as much fun as possible tonight.

“Well, that’s the plan for us, sweetcheeks. Maybe you’ll get lucky.” Penelope winked at you with a nefariously innocent look on her face. And suddenly you weren’t quite as sure you trusted her…

–X–

After your first margarita at the bar you were still feeling fine. Sure, you were talking a lot louder than you usually did, and if you saw yourself in the mirror you’d probably start giggling instantly at the stupid, semi-permanent grin on your face, but you were feeling so relaxed that it was of no consequence.

You’d moved swiftly from Penelope’s apartment to the nearest downtown bar. It looked pretty seedy to you, and the lighting was so low you could barely make out the faces of your friends in their seats at the same table as you, but you were sure some of that was just the alcohol blurring your vision.

Your hearing though was still in top shape, which was why when Penelope asked her next question, you almost spit the drink out of your mouth, rushing to laugh.

“Okay, fuck, marry, kill, Hotch, Morgan, Reid.” She giggled as she posed the question to her teammates.

“Oh come on now, that’s not fair.” Emily laughed at the question posed.

“You’re right, I don’t know a woman alive that doesn’t want a ride on my chocolate thunder.” Penelope let out a faux dreamy sigh and took another swig of her drink.

“And marrying Reid just seems wrong. He’s like our brother at this point.” JJ points out, just shuddering at the thought.

“So we’re all in agreement? Fuck Morgan, marry Hotch and lovingly bury Reid six foot under?” Emily laughs and the other two nod.

“Nope,” is all you manage to get out before going for another large gulp of your drink.

“Well, well, well, Y/N what would you be doing differently?” Emily snaps her head around to look at you, eager for the juicy details.

“None of you are curious what the doctor is packing?” You reply, almost innocently, unaware of the many plots culminating in the minds of your friends at that very second.

“Not at all. “Nope.” “That’s pretty gross, actually.” They all seem to reply at once, but Penelope pushes another drink into your hand as soon as you’re done and gets ready to launch a counter-attack.

“Are you curious about it?” She leaves it at that, and if you weren’t so drunk, you’d have seen them all lean into you, desperate for your answer and ready to hang off of your every word. "Do you think about you and him… You know?"

“Every night,” you sigh dreamily. And you’re telling the truth. In the recent months, you’d found yourself waking up a little hot and bothered after some rather steamy midnight encounters with the Good Doctor. You’d become close to him over the few months you’d worked with him as a member of the team, but it wasn’t like you’d had a crush on him or anything. It was more like your body had an unconscious appreciation of his body. Or at least for certain parts of his body.

“His fingers are really nice, you know. And they’re big, too. Just makes a girl curious, s’all.” You down the proffered drink, hiding your remaining shame behind the glass.

“No, no, no babycakes, we’re gonna need more details than that if you’re gonna claim that you want to fuck Reid more than Morgan.” Penelope insisted, more forceful now than before.

“And what exactly does every night mean, Y/N? Something you should be telling us?” JJ wiggled her eyebrows at you and you lost it for a few seconds having a giggling fit.

“Okay, okay, it’s just… You’ve seen how he looks, right? And there was that one case three weeks back. He confronted that accomplice, and when he was about to bolt he slammed him against the wall and held him there like he’d barely broken a sweat. And you know how it is, we see Morgan kicking down doors on the daily, so I thought I wouldn’t be that interested in feats of physical strength, but my only thought in that moment was that I’d rather like him to slam…me…against that …wall.” You slowed down your speech at the end, looking up to see what looked to you like the grinning faces of three wolves staring down at their prey.

“And now I need another drink, anyone up for another round?” You squeaked out, changing the topic before any of the others could make their own comments.

–X–

Your second round of margarita’s was probably where things went irreversibly wrong for you. You’d returned to the table with two rounds of shots for all, having queued up four songs on the ancient jukebox you’d seen in the corner, hoping to entice the girls away from conversation, and it had worked.

After you’d bought the first two rounds, JJ had bought you another, and then Emily had splurged on another three, and then Garcia had rounded the hour out with one more shot, this time with sparklers attached.

So by the time you got back to your table and took a much needed swig of a drink that didn’t have to go down all at once, you were feeling well past drunk, to say the least.

But with the free-flowing alcohol came the lack of inhibition, so you really didn’t care. True to their word, the girls had been doing their best to convince you to dance with some of the guys in the bar since you’d gotten up, but truthfully none of them had enticed you.

But now, the night was running out, and the alcohol had you a bit hot and bothered, so when you felt a nice, hard body press up gently against yours, you decided to take advantage of the situation. Without looking back, you wrapped your hand around the one of his that had grazed your hips and held in there, moving your hips back and forth and beginning to grind back into your mystery man.

He was a little bit still at first, but eventually began making some slow movements along with you, and you could see the others cheering for you from a distance, Emily especially whooping from her perch at the bar.

You felt the voice lean down to your ear after a minute or so, and you tilted your neck up to hear the tall man a little better.

“What are you doing, Y/N?” He whispered against your skin, still letting him guide you through the music. Had you been sober, you’d have realised the voice was more than familiar, especially since he’d said your name, but you were not, and so you did not.

“Well, if you’re lucky, tonight I’ll be doing you?” you giggled back, looking up at the man quickly. But with the hazy lights of the bar and the copious amount of alcohol you’ve ingested, you don’t catch a good enough glimpse of the man to realise he’s your coworker.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink,” he says, when you start to pull him towards the bar, his grip on your hips tightening, accidentally pressing you back into what you expect to be his semi-erect cock, straining against your clothing.

“Oh, what, wanna take me home right now? That’s okay with me, mister.” You giggle, grinding back into him more intentionally this time. You grip his hand and try to force it up to touch more of you, utterly carefree about throwing yourself on what you presume to be a stranger in the middle of a bar.

Before you manage to, however, he lets out a frustrated groan and turns you around by your hips, forcing you to look him in the eye for a little bit longer, and all of your senses finally start working once again.

“Yes, Y/N, we’re going now. Penelope called me 15 minutes ago and said you were ready for that ride home and I can see now that she was right,” Reid leant down so you could hear him enough, but your brain was short circuiting.

You’d been grinding on your coworker. The one that had been the cause of so much of your sexual frustration for the past god knows how long. Spencer was right in front of you, and he hadn’t loosened his grip on you that much. Spencer was right in front of you and his erection was poking into you.

Really, your following actions shouldn’t be held against you in the slightest given the situation.

“Are you going to take me home, Doctor? Lay me down in bed and get me nice and comfortable?” you giggled up at the man, now enjoying the way your insinuations were making him blush.

“Y/N, you’re not being fair. We need to get the others and go,” he shot back, irritation dripping from his tone.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I being a bad girl?”

“You’re certainly being very difficult- what are you doing?” He jolted as you moved your hands to his fair, beginning to play with the curls at the nape of his neck.

“It’s softer than I imagined it would be,” you giggled again, pressing yourself forward to press a kiss against his neck.

“Okay, we need to get you home,” he panicked, grabbing both of your hands, pressing them against your sides, spinning you around and walking you back towards the other girls.

“Hello Spencer~” the girls all giggled as you approached. You struggled against his grip a little, but he kept you firmly in place, man-handling you slightly, and you practically melted into his touch.

“Who let Y/N drink this much? Don’t answer that, you’ve all been drinking the same amount, right?” He left out a frustrated breath, and ran one hand through his hair. You attempted to move again, but he’d practically pinned you to the table. Your hips were pressed into the edge of it, his hips pressed against you, forcing you up against the table in a way that should have been uncomfortable. His other hand was resting near your discarded glass, caging you in almost entirely.

“Cars out front, lets go,” he said, his jaw twitching with anger now.

“No need, lover boy, taxis are coming to pick myself, Penelope and JJ up as we speak,” Emily slurred the words, but got the idea across well enough. “You’ll just be needing to take this little kitten home and you’re done for the night.”

They were all giggling now, as you let out a childlike yay, your excitement evident on your face.

“We’ll wait and see you all off together at least, so outside now. She needs some fresh air or something,” he was practically talking to a wall at that point, but after a few repetitions, the women acquiesced and moved outside.

“Ooh, that’s my taxi, gotta go,” Garcia practically runs from you the moment you step outside, and you wave at her whilst wrapped around one of Reid’s arms, stumbling with each step.

“Use protection my sweet babies,” she shouts as she slams the car door just as her car drives away, leaving a spluttering Spencer unable to respond that he’s not touching you tonight while you’re in this state.

The taxis for Emily and JJ arrive swiftly as well, and the two soon depart with similar messages and soon you find yourself alone with Spencer once again.

“So, your place or mine,” you smirk, looking up at him and batting your eyelashes in the sweetest way you can manage.

“You’re drunk, Y/N, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Drunk I may be, Doctor, but I absolutely know what I’m saying. I’m saying I want you to shove me against a wall and finger fuck me until I don’t know how to walk anymore.”

“Goddamnit, Y/N, someone’s gonna hear you.”

“Oh you want me to be quiet? If you take my panties off and push them into my mouth maybe you could shut me up for a few minutes.”

“Get in the car, now.” You stick your tongue out at him, but hop into the passenger seat. He slams the door in your face and takes a few deep breaths before moving around and getting in himself.

–X–

Despite having the window open the entire car journey, hoping that the fresh air will do you some good, you’re still on top form when Spencer pulls up to your apartment.

“I didn’t even give you my address,” you pouted, as you tried, unsuccessfully, to remove your seatbelt.

“I memorised your file, now let’s get you into bed,” he unclasps it for you, and you use the close proximity to drop a kiss on his cheek.

“Only if you get into bed with me, hot stuff,” you wink at him and make for the door. “You know, you’re going to remember everything I said in the morning, right?” You asked him.

“Unfortunately, yes,” he muttered under his breath as he caught you just as you were about to teeter into the hedge on the shared green space. You wrapped your arms around his neck for the second time that night and stopped him in his tracks. Looking deep into his eyes, you took one of your hands and traced it gently over the side of his face and down his neck, your eyes following your fingers. He gulped involuntarily when you hit his adams apple, and you snapped your eyes back to him.

“Chances are that I’m probably not going to remember any of this, right?” You smiled up at him.

“Alcohol induced memory blackouts tend to occur in binge-drinkers whose alcohol levels have hit at least 0.16%, and further studies show that 50% of adults will experience some kind of alcohol-related memory loss in their lives, so yes, I’d say you’re probably not going to remember any of this.” He shot back, almost entirely still in anticipation of your next move.

“Good, then I might as well enjoy the moment while it lasts right.” As soon as the words were out of your mouth, your lips crashed into his, and after a beat, his reciprocated, moving over yours just as hungrily. He moved now, walking you back to your door, lips still locked in a ferocious battle for dominance, until he pinched your arm slightly. You gasped a little, ready to pull back and complain about the pain, but suddenly his tongue was in your mouth and you were back at it all over again. He tapped your legs, signalling that he wanted you to jump into his arms, and you did, wrapping your legs around his centre tightly as he finished making his way to your apartment door.

Pulling away for the briefest of moments, he pulled your keys from your back pocket, and made quick work of your door.

“Bedroom, now Spencer, please I need you,” you whimpered in his arms, pressing kisses against his jaw and neck. Unfortunately, he had other ideas.

“No. We are going to the bathroom, where you’re going to wash your makeup off, brush your teeth and change your clothes, and then you are going to get in bed and sleep.” He unceremoniously dropped you at the door of your bathroom, and you slid to the ground.

Pouting up at him, you felt the tears well in your eyes.

“No! I don’t want to go to bed yet,” you sounded like a petulant child and Spencer cursed a little under his breath when he looked down at you.

“Y/N listen to me very clearly, you’re not thinking straight. You’re way past the legal limit, you can’t consent to any of this and I’m not going to sleep with you and then have you forget it in twelve hours.” His tone was harsh, but you listened to him.

Picking yourself up off the floor, you followed his instructions and got yourself ready for bed.

“Okay, I’m all done now, Doctor,” you grumbled once you were done. You half expected him to have left you there, choosing to retreat whilst you cleaned yourself up, knowing that he’d already done what was asked of him by getting you home. But he was still there perched on your bed, and you made one last attempt to get what you wanted.

As he made his way to stand up, you used the last of your strength to push him back down again and climbed into his lap. This time though, you made no attempt to take anything further, just wrapping your arms and legs around him and burrowing into his shoulder. You had to admit, you were getting particularly sleepy now.

You let out a small yawn and burrowed further into his neck just as he opened his mouth.

“Y/N, please, what are you doing?” He sounded tired now, but didn’t attempt to push you off again.

“You said I was probably not going to remember this in the morning. That’s not going to fly with me. So you’re gonna sleep here with me and tell me everything I forgot in the morning.” You informed him.

He scoffed at you, but you could hear the smile in his voice when he replied.

“So you want me to just sleep here next to you? No pushing you against a wall? No panties in your mouth?”

“Nope. Like you said, ‘s getting pretty late and it’s been a long week, so it's probably for the best if we…” You tried to finish but your tongue was so heavy in your mouth that you just couldn’t use it anymore. You felt the warm rumble of his answering laugh of disbelief as he manoeuvred the two of you under the covers, taking the time to kick off his shoes and remove his coat and shirt.

“Sleep well, Y/N, because when you wake up I’m going to make you feel all of the torment you’ve put me through tonight tenfold.”

And he held you there against his chest as both of you fell deeper and deeper into your slumber.

PART TWO

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thehouseofurmotha · 4 months ago

Note

In all honesty, I'm such a fan of the bakugo x aizawas daughter!reader series (if i can all it that)

I'm in NEED of new oneshots basically anything will do

AHH PLEASE TYSM @kitthefanfickat FOR REQUESTING THIS I LITERALLY LOVE ANY EXCUSE TO WRITE DADZAWA <33

Pt. 3 to loud blonde <3 (as for all of them could be read on its own as a standalone one shot.)

Pt. 1, pt. 2

Summery: y/n starts feeling really left out of her father's life, and her loud blonde boyfriend is there to comfort her and fix the pieces of her that have broken.

Warnings: swearing, angst, mommy issues!! Mentions of mental abuse snd neglect,

You loved your father, and you knew how much he did for you. But sometimes you couldn't help but feel left out of his life. Recently he's started spending the little free time he has training a kid in your general studies class.

Hitoshi Shinsou, you've talked to him on more than one occasion. You and him have a very similar personality, and in reality he kind of reminds you of your father. Which is why it makes sense that he took a liking to the kid. But fuck did you feel like shit.

You knew that your father loved you too, and that there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for you. But you still, couldn't help but feel left out of his world. The world of being a hero, you suppose.

You've never once regretted your decision to not become a hero like your father. Maybe it was from your mother drilling it into your head as a child that hero's are bad, and you should never want to be one.

For the first 5 years of your life you were raised by a mother who simply did not care about you. Maybe she saw to much of your father in you to ever truly love you. She had left your father before you were born, as a child you fantasized about him coming to save you and take you away from your mother. But even as a child, you knew the chances were unlikely as the chances he knew you existed were very slim. Your mother would tell you that, all the time. She would constantly remind you that no one loved you, and nobody was coming to save you.

For a long time you couldn't come to terms with the truth that your mom was an awful person. You wanted to hate her but she was still your mother. No matter how much she neglected and manipulated you.

The day of your 5th birthday, your mother finally snapped. She hadn't been taking care of you in months, you were practically skin and bones. Your hair was in one huge mat.

As a child, most kids were excited for their birthdays. Not you, your birthday just reminded your mother more of 'mistake' she made by not getting rid of you. You woke up and made your way to the kitchen in hopes she would have made herself breakfast and you could steal whatever scraps ended up left.

You were lucky that morning that she did. Or so you thought, she had went to the couch to watch her show while she ate. And you saw this as the perfect opportunity to eat a little bit of the food she had left over, even if you couldn't have much it was better than nothing.

You quietly dragged a chair over to the stove and picked at the extra eggs and bacon lying in a pan. You thought your mother had been preoccupied, but she must have forgotten something, you didn't really know.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" She screamed some how louder than she ever has at you before. You immediately burst into tears stuttering an apology over and over again.

"I was just so hungry mommy I'm so sorry- I- I won't do it again-" She looked at you with burning hatred as you begged for her forgiveness. You didn't understand what you had done to deserve this.

"Get the fuck out of my house." You sob even harder at this. You were just a kid where were you supposed to go.

"Mommy please-" you beg, you don't want to get kicked out. You just wanted her to love you.

"Get out. Now." She was unnaturally calm while saying this. You kept sobbing and sobbing as you stood on your tippy toes to reach the door handle. Suddenly you were no longer in that house, and surrounded by a cold uncaring world.

You don't know how, but you managed to make it to a police station. You knew that these people would help you. You just wanted to be saved, like the people your father helped. Why couldn't he help you.

You push the large doors open, not without struggle though. You see a pretty woman sitting at a desk in front of you with a kind smile.

"Hi honey, where are your parents?" Her comment makes the tears that had previously stopped come back even harder. No body had ever been that gentle with you.

"M-mommy kicked me out-" You sob and hiccup throughout the sentence and the lady gives you a look of pity. She quickly gets up from her desk and wraps you in her warm arms.

"You're safe now sweetie, you're safe." You shove your face into her chest and sob harder. Never having felt such loving touch. "Can you come with me honey? We just need to ask you some questions so we can figure out how to help you."

You look up at her and give her a small nod. You're brought back into an interrogation room, but the kind lady never leaves your side. She sits in the chair next to you asking if you need anything. She offers you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"don't know what that is.." It's hard for you to admit, you really didn't know what anything was. It was a miracle that you had learned how to talk at all.

"It's a very yummy food, and it'll help you feel better." She adds the second part after heading your stomach grumble. You not giving her approval, "I'll be right back honey." She says this as she walks out of the door leaving you alone.

You pull your knees to your chest. You were so scared, you just wanted your mom to love you.

You wake up from the nightmare, if you could even really call it that. It was nothing but the truth, the harsh reality you had to face that your mom had abandoned you.

You hazily make you way out of bed, tears gently falling from your eyes. You make your way straight to your father's bedroom, it's a Saturday so he should still be in bed asleep. But he's not and an overwhelming panic sets onto you. You go and search the rest of the house hoping that he just woke up early today.

As you're searching you find a letter on the kitchen counter, and it reads

'Hi hun,

Left to do some training with Shinsou, I'm not sure when I'll be home. But if you want me to pick up food or anything on the way home just text me. Have a great day.

Love, Dad'

The letter only manages to make you sob harder. You just wanted your father, and he was just with another kid. With this thought, you started to spiral. With the thoughts that your father's going to leave you, just like your mother did. Maybe you should have become a hero, maybe he'd like you better. You start thinking of all the things you could've done wrong, all the things that could make him hate you like she did.

Eventually you start to recognize that you are not in the state of mind to be alone. But texting your father asking him to come home now seems like the scariest thing ever. So you settle on the next best person.

As soon as you had just simply said please he knew something was wrong. You never invited him over without telling your father. You respected your father to much for that.

As to his promise, Katsuki arrived 15 minutes later. He pounded on the door until you opened it; you weren't sure if it was because he was worried, or this was something he would always do if you didn't wait outside for him. But today you simply didn't have the energy.

You walk over the door quietly unlocking it before sitting back on the couch. Your boyfriend obviously hears you unlock it cause he's bursting through the door a second later. He scans the room looking for you and as his eyes land on your disheveled body, with tears still running down your face.

He gently wraps you in his arms, holding you as close as he can. "Talk to me doll what's goin on?" He just wants to know how to help you. The softness in his voice seems to only make you sob harder.

"He- he's gonna leave me- he's gonna leave- I'm not good enough he's gonna leave-" This only left Katsuki with more questions. Who was 'he'? It couldn't be your father would it? What would he have done to make you feel like this, Katsuki thinks he may kill your father if it was him.

"Who baby? I need to know so I can help you, I just want to help you." He gently rubs your back, the soothing motion help you to start sobbing a little less. But in the moment Katsuki thinks that any progress is good progress.

"My- my dad- he's gonna- he's gonna leave me just like she did-" Katsuki's suspicions are confirmed with this. It was about your father, and he could only assume the she was your mother. He knew a little bit of what had happened. He knew that you didn't have contact with your mother, but that was pretty much the extent to what you had told him. He really didn't know what to do, so he texted the one person who might.

"You good sensei? You look even more miserable than normal." Shinsou and Aizawa have always had a sort of playful banter while sparring. And even though they're on a water break they normally keep it going. And when Shinsou noticed that Aizawa was staring at his phone with his brows creased, of course he was gonna do some teasing.

"Sorry to call it quits early, but I have to go kid. Something's going on with my daughter." Aizawa is really panicking internally, wondering what he could have done to upset you. He doesn't know, he thought you had been fine. But obviously not.

"Oh you're all good, I didn't know you had a daughter Sensei." Shinsou was a little taken aback by that comment. Never having heard about this mysterious girl.

"Yeah.. have a good day Shinsou I'll see you Monday morning before classes."

"Alright see you then sensei, thank you." And with that Aizawa gets in his car has fast as he can. Thoughts racing, he just wants to know what's wrong with his daughter. What he did, so he can fix it.

He doesn't want you to feel like he's going to leave you like your mother did. He never would. He definitely speeds a bit on the way back to your guys apartment but honestly, he doesn't care. He just wants to hold his daughter and tell her that everything will be okay.

He quickly arrives at your guys apartment, due to the fact that it's not very far U.A. He rushes up the stairs to get to get to your apartment.

As he opens the door, he's greeted with the sight of you sobbing into Bakugou's chest. The boy looks up at him with a puzzled look on his face. This tells Shouta that he's made no progress figuring out what sparked this.

Quickly he makes his way to you and picks you up out of Bakugou's lap. The boy goes to resist it but he just sends a glare at him and the boy takes the hint. Allowing him to carefully cradle you to his chest, the way he would when you were upset as a child. This action causes you to only sob harder.

"I'm not leaving hun, I'm not going anywhere's. I'm not leaving." He just keeps repeating that he's not leaving you. And this manages to get you calm enough to form semi coherent sentences.

"Msorry- I was just being dramatic- I'm sorry-" you mumble this out with your face shoved into his chest.

"Honey, if you're this upset it's not dramatic I promise. I need you to tell me what's wrong hun, please. Let me fix this." With a sigh he holds you closer, he just wants to make you feel better.

"I just- I had a dream- more a nightmare I guess- of um- the day my mom you know- kicked me out- and then you weren't here.. and you've been spending so much time out of the house. And I know your training Shinsou and he's a nice kid and would make a good hero- but I don't know- I feel like he's taken up the little bit of time that we would spend together- it's stupid but part of me thinks you like him better because he wants to become a hero and I don't.." Once it starts to come out you just couldn't stop. You had told him everything you had been feeling. He looks at you with a look that makes it impossible to tell how he feels.

"I'm so sorry, kid. I should've thought about you would feel about this, but I need you to know nothing you could do could ever make me love you less, or love someone else more. I need you to know that I'm not going to leave you, not ever. I will not abandon you like she did. I promise I'll make extra effort to hang out with you, I'll call out of patrol tonight. Me and you, as well as Bakugou if you would like, can all hang out and have a movie night. Or whatever you want to do, anything to make you feel better. I'm so sorry." You start to cry again, but this time more of relief than anything. You had finally gotten the reassurance from him that you needed.

"Also hun, I don't care about you not becoming a hero, all I want is for you to be happy and do something you love. And I know analysis is that thing."

"Thank you dad.. but you um- you don't have to call out tonight I'll be fine."

"Nah it's alright, I'll just get Hizashi to cover and he'll do it no complaints." This causes you to giggle, you truly do love your father and Hizashi's relationship.

"I love you dad." You say this with a smile on your face looking up at him.

"I love you too kid."

The two of you sit in silence for a while before you're the one who breaks it. "I think that I want to try and contact her.." You whisper this not knowing how your father will feel about this.

"If you think that's what you need to do, then I'll support you 100%." The reassurance that he's not upset at the idea is comforting.

You notice that at some point your boyfriend had left. You figured that he just went outside, to the benches at the front of the building. Because you know that Katsuki would never leave you with out saying bye.

You spend the rest of the night sitting between your two favorite people feeling more content than you had in a while. And even though there was anxiety about trying to talk to your mother, you know that they would get you through it. And that was all the comfort you needed.

Okay so I definitely meant to finish my Shinsou x reader one shot before I finished this, but I got a little carried away when I started- soooo! Anyways I hope you enjoy! Happy reading <3

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writingwithciara · 3 months ago

Text

safe with me -matt sturniolo-

summary: after a brutal break up with her boyfriend, y/n goes to see her best friend chris but finds matt instead. she runs off after matt accidentally says something to upset her and she ends up on the beach in the middle of the night, not knowing what to do or where else to go.

word count: 3k

pairing: matt sturniolo x reader

notes: i really love the tv shows/movies where one of the main characters goes to a beach for some self-reflection and one of their close friends or love interests finds them and they have a serious conversation. thought it would fit perfectly with a sweetheart like matt. enjoy W: abu$e, trauma, swearing

"you've got to be fucking kidding me, y/n! what did i tell you about lying to me? you know what happens when you lie."

"david, please don't."

his large fist came in contact with her right cheek and she couldn't take it anymore. she could hear him apologizing but by this point in their relationship, she had learned to block out his empty apologies.

y/n sat in her car, remembering back to the events that occurred over an hour ago. she wiped the new tears that had fallen just as the old ones were dried.

she sat in the driveway of the sturniolo house, deciding if she should go in and drop her problems on chris like she usually did. there was a voice in her head that kept telling her that chris was getting tired of her problems with david. it happened more than once a week and the more it went on, the harder it was becoming to ignore that voice.

maybe chris really was getting tired of her drama. maybe he needed space.

she shook her head to get rid of the voice and got out of her car slowly. the walk to the front door seemed to get longer the more steps she took. it almost felt like while she was walking forward, she was also walking backward.

she checked herself in her phone reflection before knocking on the door. when nobody answered, she knocked again. after the 4th knock, she was about to leave when the door opened slowly.

"ugh, what?" it was matt. "oh. hey y/n. um, chris isn't here."

"oh. okay. i'll come back then." she sighed and turned around.

"you can come in and wait if you want. he should be back soon."

"alright." she kept her head down as she walked past him and into the living room. she sat on the couch and matt sat next to her.

"can i get you something to drink?"

"no thanks." she began to fidget in her seat. matt could tell she was anxious.

"okay. um, do you want to talk about something?"

"no. i'd really rather just sit here and wait for chris." she answered with a hint of attitude in her voice. matt wasn't sure if she meant it to come out that way or not so he just brushed it off.

"okay then."

the silence between them got louder every minute they sat there. and within 20 minutes, matt decided to speak up again.

"weren't you supposed to go out with david tonight to celebrate something special?"

"um...no." she pulled at her sleeves slowly and avoided matt's eye contact.

"you guys are really cute together, you know? he really loves you."

"no."

"what?"

"it was a mistake coming here. i gotta go." she stood up and rushed out of the house before matt could get any information out of her. on her way to her car, she passed nick and chris.

"hey, y/n. what are you-"

she ignored chris as she just kept running.

chris walked into the house and saw matt in the living room. "what just happened?"

"i have no idea." he shook his head. "she came here to talk to you and i let her wait in here. she was acting weird so i asked her if she wanted to talk. i even brought up david because he makes her happy. then she got up and left."

"i think i know what happened." chris shook his head.

"care to fill me in on what i did wrong?"

"it's about david."

"what about him?"

"that's all i can tell you about it. you need to go find her and talk to her."

"she's not gonna want to talk to me. we barely talk."

"yeah and the one time you guys get a few words in, you somehow manage to upset her." nick looked at his brother. "just stating facts."

"i'll be right back." chris walked out of the room, dialing a number on his phone. when he returned a minute later, he looked at matt. "she isn't answering her cell and she didn't answer her home phone either. you gotta go find her, matt."

"we're not really friends. so even if i wanted to, i have no idea where she is."

"use your instincts. you know her better than you think you do." chris patted his brother on the shoulder before heading to his bedroom.

matt sighed and grabbed his keys. he was going to have to search the depths of his brain to find y/n. he got in his car and started driving. the sun was already beginning to set and he didn't know where he was going to find y/n.

elsewhere, y/n was sitting on the beach she met the triplets at. her knees were up to her chest and her elbows rested across the top of them.

she was watching the sun set over the horizon while thinking about all the good times in her life. aside from the david mess, her life was good. the triplets made it good. especially chris. she couldn't think of a single moment in their friendship where he failed to cheer her up.

she thought about the moments with nick, as well as the few rare moments she had with matt. each of the triplets have made her feel better in their own way and she was grateful for the separate friendships they have given her.

by the time it was completely dark, y/n had been alone for almost two hours. she figured that was enough time with her thoughts and knew she had to go back to the house.

as she was about to stand up, someone sat next to her. she looked over to see matt.

"what are you doing here?"

"i came to talk to you. i feel really bad and stupid for what i said earlier. i most certainly did not mean to upset you. i just wanted to make you feel better."

"it's okay, matt. really." y/n sighed and pulled her knees back up. "i should be apologizing to you. i shouldn't have run out like that. but things happened and i wasn't ready to talk to you about them."

"i completely understand. and i know we're not the best of friends. more like acquaintances than anything really. but i'm here if you ever do need to talk. about anything."

"thank you, matt. i really appreciate it." she looked over at him and smiled. "i feel like you should know what's been going on."

"that's okay. you really don't have to tell me if you're not ready."

"no. i am. i had a lot of time to think over the last 2 hours and i decided that i should let the most important people know what's going on. and that includes you." she took a deep breath. "earlier, when you said that david loves me, it was a lie."

"what do you mean?"

"if he had really loved me, he wouldn't have hit me whenever he was mad. you're supposed to treat your loved ones with kindness and you're supposed to show that you care about them. not the opposite." she felt a few tears fall down her face and went to wipe them away but matt was already beating her to it.

"hey. come here." he held his arms out and she scooted closer. she rested her head on his shoulder and he stroked her back. "nobody deserves to be treated like that. least of all you. david is an idiot because you're one of a kind and should be treated as such."

they sat in silence for another 20 minutes before y/n spoke up again.

"i really appreciate this talk, matt. you have no idea how much."

"not a problem." he looked at her and wiped a few tears off her face again. it was then that he noticed the dark spot on her right cheek. he didn't see it before because she had it covered up with makeup. matt gently grabbed her chin and looked closer at it. "did he do thi to you?"

"y-yeah. but it's okay now. it doesn't hurt anymore."

"so what if it doesn't hurt anymore. it's not, okay. that is never okay." matt stood up. "i'm calling the boys and then we're gonna go give that bastard a taste of his own medicine."

"no, please don't." she muttered. suddenly, she was brought back to her fight with david. she was picturing him in matt's place, screaming harsh words at her. she pulled her knees up to her chest and threw her hands over her ears, sobbing uncontrollably.

matt watched as she began rocking back and forth in her spot on the sand. he wanted to help her but he wasn't sure what to do.

"y/n?" he reached out a hand and grabbed her shoulder gently.

she was about to fight him off, still thinking it was david. but when she opened her eyes and saw matt, she couldn't help but break down in his arms. he sat back down and held her as she sobbed.

"it's alright. let it all out." he stroked her hair and began humming a low tune. the song seemed to calm her down a little bit because her body stopped shaking, but he know she was still crying. "i am so sorry."

"it's not your fault, matt. he just...really fucked me up." she sighed. "thank you for being here. i don't know what i would've done if you didn't find me."

"i'll always be here, okay? i'm not going to let that asshole hurt you anymore."

"i don't know what to do, matt. i can't go home. he's there."

"you can stay with us as long as you want. he doesn't know where we live so you'll be safe. and if he ever finds you, i'll make sure to make him regret ever hurting you."

"okay." she looked up at him. "can we go back to the house? i'm freezing."

"yeah sure." he helped her stand up and they walked to his car. y/n got in and matt made sure she was buckled in her seat before getting in his side and reaching to the back seat. he handed her a hoodie nd received a small smile. "here. i always keep an extra hoodie in the car in case one of the boys gets cold during a video or something."

"thanks, matt." she slid it on over her clothes. "you really are like the mom of the group, aren't you?"

"it seems to be that way." matt started the car and drove towards his house. "you can sleep in my room if you want. i can take the couch."

"that's really sweet of you. but i can crash in chris' room. i don't want to kick you out of your comfort zone."

"you're not kicking me out. i offered."

"okay. fine. i'll take your bed. but i don't feel ocmfortable with you sleeping on the couch."

"i've done it before. it's no big deal."

"matthew, please?"

"it's already decided. you get the bed and i take the couch. plus, if that dumbass does find where we live, i'll be the first line of defense to make sure he doesn't get to you."

"oh wow. my knight in shining armor."

"that's me." he smiled and put the car in park. "let's go inside. chris is making burgers and i'm sure you're starving."

he was barely finished his sentence before she was out of the car and almost at the front door. matt chuckled to himself and followed her inside.

"oh thank god you're alright. i was so worried about you." chris pulled his best friend into a hug and rubbed her back. "please don't ignore my calls again."

"sorry, chrissy. my phone has been on 'do not disturb' since i left my house earlier. didn't want to see any calls or texts from david trying to weasel his way back in with empty apologies and fake promises."

"you're not going back there. ever again."

"i know. matt already offered to let me stay here as long as i wanted. even offered up his bed."

"wow, matt. how chivalrous of you." nick chimed in, knowing just how much matt hated giving up his own personal space.

"she really needs to sleep peacefully tonight and i know she would never get that sleeping in either of your rooms." matt smirked playfully at his brothers.

"if she's sleeping in your bed, where are you going to sleep?" chris asked, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"i'm taking the couch."

"for how long?"

"as long as y/n is here. i want her to be safe and feel secure."

"okay. fair enough." chris went back to making dinner. "still upset she doesn't want to sleep in my room like she always does when she's over. but that's okay. you're right. she needs peace."

"thank you guys for letting me stay. i can't thank you enough."

"you're always welcome here anytime, y/n. you're practically family at this point." nick smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "i'm glad you're okay. you ran out of here really fast earlier."

"sorry about that. i was just really emotional."

"you don't have to apologize. i understand."

"dinner is ready." chris announced to the group and everyone got their burgers together.

as they ate, matt turned on a random movie. it ended up being y/n's favorite movie and she was more thankful than ever that she had the boys by her side.

after the movie was over, nick and chris went to their rooms to get ready for bed while y/n followed matt to his room.

"i have some old clothes that would probably fit you." he went through his drawers and pulled out a shirt and pajama pants that were too small for him. "you can get changed in here. be right back."

matt left the room and y/n quickly got changed. the shirt was bigger on her than she thought and she was thankful she was wearing pants or it would look like she wasn't wearing anything. matt knocked on the door a few seconds later.

"you're good. come in." y/n sat on the bed and looked at her phone. matt came in and put his clothes in the laundry basket.

"just came in to say goodnight." matt stood at the doorway. "if you need anything, come wake me."

"got it. thanks again."

"no problem. goodnight."

"goodnight, matt." y/n smiled and curled up under the blanket.

3 hours later, matt found himself wide awake, staring at the living room ceiling. he could hear y/n tossing and turning in the other room and he knew she was most likely having a nightmare. his assumptions were proved true when he heard her sobbing.

matt wasted now time running into the room. when he got there, y/n was still asleep but she was crying. matt approached her slowly and sat on the edge of the bed.

"y/n, wake up." he put his hand on her shoulder and the action caused her to jump. she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings but she was aware matt was by her side. she collapsed in his arms for the second time that night.

after 10 minutes of labored breathing, she began to calm down.

"i'm sorry about this again, matt. i feel pathetic." her eyes stayed closed and she held matt tighter.

"you're the farthest thing from pathetic." he moved her hair out of her face. "i'm sorry you felt like you had to keep things going with that jerk just to feel happy. you can always come to me if you want to be happy."

"what?"

"i meant that you can always count on me to make you smile. i'll do everything i possibly can to make you feel better on your bad days." matt chuckled nervously. he didn't mean to accidentally flirt with y/n.

"thanks, matt. you have no idea how much i appreciate everything you've done for me tonight."

"it's my pleasure. i'd do anything to see you smile."

"that's really sweet." she looked up at him and before she knew it, her lips were landing on his. before matt could kiss her back, y/n was pulling away. "oh my god. i am so sorry."

"it's fine. just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"i feel like an idiot. my emotions are running so high and i-" y/n felt herself beginning to ramble but she was cut off. this time, matt was the one to kiss her. she wasted no time in kissing him back.

it was unexpected for both of them but despite that, they both gave into it. it was like, while their lips were moving together, nothing else mattered in the world but them.

when they finally pulled apart, it was matt's turn to apologize.

"sorry. i just don't like hearing you treat yourself like that. you're so much better than you've been told you are and i'm sick of that jerk poisoning your mind." matt looked at y/n and held her cheek gently, careful to not put pressure on her bruise. "god, you're so beautiful. it's crazy."

"you don't mean that." she tried to shake her head but matt held her.

"yes i do mean that. how could i not?" he took a deep breath. "why do you not believe me?"

"i don't know." she looked down. "i've never been told i was beautiful and the entire time i was with david, he never treated me like i was. guess i've been conditioned to believe i'm not."

"well, fuck him. he was very clearly blind. and he doesn't matter anymore." matt gently forced her to look at him. "you are so incredibly beautiful and if i could, i would go back in time to make sure you were told every single day of your life."

"thanks, matt." y/n smiled. "maybe with you, i'll finally believe it."

"trust me. i will spend every day of my life proving it to you. you're safe with me."

"i believe it." she smiled and kissed matt again, finally feeling safe.

#sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #matt stuniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo #nick sturniolo #sturniolo triplets fanfic

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lavendermunson · 2 years ago

Text

enchanted | knight!eddie munson x princess!reader

summary Eddie never saw you again after that night, you both were ten years old and sitting in a piano, just a couple of kids enjoying each others company but since you were a princess with an arranged marriage, you got trapped in a castle. You never saw Eddie again but he did, getting close to your windows to watch you, you grew to be the most beautiful he has ever seen. A re-encounter might change the world, even put upside down two different kingdoms.

tags +18, afab!reader, perv!eddie, mentions of jason craver sorry, best friends to lovers kind of relationship, masturbation reader and eddie, mentions of food in a nsfw way, set in some fairytale, mention of low self-steem. one use of y/n just one i swear it’s you won’t even remember it. i tried to be as inclusive as possible so i didn’t mention anything about the reader’s, no skin color, no hair color, no body type, if i missed something tell me! i want everyone to read this and picture themselves as a princess, although i did used she/her pronouns and the reader was born in autumn. mentions of death eddie’s mom

a/n i pictured a lot of princess from disney and also toon inspiration from bridgerton, it’s the first time i write something so long so forgive me for any mistakes. if you want me to keep writing this story don’t forget to mention it :)

wc 2.4k… i surprised myself

moodboard | next chapter

A few years ago two kingdoms decided to unite, building a wall to protect them both and agreeing on sharing everything. With this agreement also came the rule of “arrange the marriage of their second born children at the age of 20” The two of them being born in the same year made it easier for it to be more under control, thanks to their older siblings being already married or out of town.

Prince Jason, from the Craver family, was born in the light of the summer, and with it came his whole personality. He isn’t much of a charming young man, his soft hair shines under every light, even the fire, what’s supposed to be aggressive and dangerous. The boy used it in his favor, lighting his room every time he got a new girl on his bed from one of his famous parties.

From the second kingdom, Princess Y/N from the Willow family was born in autumn, just in time when the trees start to let go of their orange-colored leaves. She was a quiet girl, always surrounded by books, avoiding parties, and helping her mom grow all kinds of flowers. She’s never had a boyfriend, and always tried to keep herself busy until the day of her wedding, which she named “the end of her life”.

She didn’t like Jason, at family dinners, he always had a girl in his arms, he wasn’t polite and he was irresponsible. Didn’t have what it took to be a good prince, let aside the new king. The princess was about to turn 20, in three weeks exactly, she was scared of her future because she had too much more to learn, to see, to experience.

—

At the start of the cold winter, Eddie was born, the same year as the prince and the princess, his friends always joked about that “If you were born into the Craver family, you would’ve married the princess” he always laughed about that, knowing that only happened in his dreams, one time, after a private Christmas dinner with the Royalty, when his uncle Wayne became the Willow king’s right hand. Eddie was being trained by his uncle, in sword fights, first aid, horse riding, everything to serve as a knight to the Willow kingdom and to keep him close, but the long-haired boy hated it, he wanted to play guitar, play piano, conquer every instrument in existence, he loved music thanks to his mom who unfortunately died when he was a little boy.

Eddie had an innocent crush since that dinner, he was 10 the same as you, and you showed him the piano and started playing with it.

“You should come here and take classes with me, I'm pretty sure you’re going to be better than me. You have talent, Eds” You said.

“She said I can take classes with her, Wayne.” little Eddie begged his uncle to let him go “Pleaaase”

“No way son, you have to start training,” the older man said, with a frown on his face.

Since that day, you never saw Eddie again, but he did, when he gets a little too close to the kingdom and stares at your living room window where you read, every day, at 5 pm. He watches you bite your bottom lip when you flip the pages gently, your fingers rub the words as you furrow your eyebrows, he realizes he is head over heels for you.

—

It was a Sunday, the air was cold and the clouds were getting in the way of the sun making its light a little bit dim. Eddie grabbed a horse and some grapes, to keep him company while he watched you read, it wasn’t weird, right? He wasn't doing anything wrong, just an innocent act of… spying. His uncle stopped him after hearing the loud steps of the horse.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going for a ride, just to clear my head”

“No, you get back here young man” The voice of his uncle was louder, firmer, Eddie whined at the old man with a frustrated look on his face “Did you forget tomorrow you start working for real? We have to get you ready”

“Ready? I’m ready Wayne I just need a little time to myself”

“Nonsense, get back here you have to clean your armor”

They both get back in the little house, Eddie sighed as his uncle showed him the new armor.

“But it’s clean!” Eddie whined again, Wayne eyed his nephew annoyed, and tossed a cloth into the young boy’s chest.

“It’s not, it has to shine,” he said, Eddie sighed again, defeated. “C’mon”

Eddie stayed home that day, the first day he skipped his little spying routine, and thank god he did because what happened that day at 5 pm would’ve broken his heart.

“Just one kiss, please?” Jason said to you, getting the book out of your hands and throwing it aside.

“You are drunk at 5 pm? What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing! Just kiss me” he leaned in closer to your face, fingers touching your jaw “We are getting married, don’t you remember?”

“I do, I think about it every day and it makes me so sick, now I have a migraine because of your little tantrum” You push him away, and with all the strength in your body, gravity played a little turn and betrayed you, making you fall on top of him on the floor.

“Are we going to practice?” Jason had a grin on his face, his hands tightening on your waist. You get up quickly at the feeling of his touch, fixing up your dress you leave the room, not after scoffing at him and his absurd behavior.

—

On Monday, the kingdoms were throwing a celebration in honor of King Craven’s 60th birthday. Everyone in town was celebrating, having a big party for themselves with the excuse of their least-favorite King. The servants were getting the party started, Queen Craven decided to go with a ball instead of a casual dinner, where people from other towns would come to see the castle and have fun with beautiful gowns and expensive jewelry.

After Eddie met with the Willow king and queen, his new job was taking care of their little princess. He was excited about it but also nervous. He’s getting a chance to spend time with you, to watch you for a few more minutes than usual. It was a new sensation for him, some kind of anxiety mixed with enthusiasm, walking around with a heavy metal armor over his body relaxed him a bit, it was making pressure on his chest so his heart wouldn’t burst out, the only ‘bad’ thing was he didn’t have to wear a helmet, he was afraid his grin was too big on his face and decided to look for an empty room to make a little dance of celebration.

Finally one of the doors opens, and thanks to his bad luck he finds your room. You are currently in a large undergarment, looking at yourself in the mirror and making a disgusted face. You didn’t have a corset on because you hated them, but something was off with your self-esteem that day.

“Sorry, sorry i-” he said, stunned to speak at the sight of the beautiful princess. He also dreamed of seeing your body, it was better than his imagination would have pictured. The parts of your naked skin were glowing, he closed his fist trying to keep himself on edge, the desire of touching you, feeling your soft skin with his fingertips, and placing kisses all over you made Eddie turn around quickly, closing his eyes in an attempt to memorize what he just saw.

“Wait! Don’t go!” you said, getting in your dress as quickly as possible as he touched the door handle “Can you tie up my dress? It’s pretty difficult for me since i can’t reach”

Eddie opened his eyes wider, trying to ease his breathing and slowly coming up to you ‘Your wish is my command’ he said to himself.

He nods in your direction and gets closer, you move your hair to one side so Eddie can tie up the dress easier, and with his big fingers, he takes the laces of the dress tightening up a little, and makes a secure knot on your back.

“Please make sure you add a bow, i-it looks better that way” You peek your head over your shoulder for a second, he nods again and tries to make a proper bow, but it turned out nicely than he thought.

He rests his hands on your waist, looking at your reflection in the mirror, you keep checking if the dress looks good and trying to fix some parts of it that look loose. You didn’t mind Eddie’s touch, you knew who he was and what he was doing here (kind of). You were happy inside, you always wanted Eddie as a friend since that night when you were kids, and now you can keep him close, even better, speak to him and get to know him.

“Thank you, Eddie,” you say, getting out of your pool of thoughts.

“You remember me?” he asks, eyebrows crinkled on his face, and you giggle looking at his surprised face.

“How could I forget such a pretty face?” Eddie flushes instantaneously.

“Me? You are the one who looks speechless” you blush, the little flirt game making your heart flutter.

“You think so? I believe this dress has something wrong, do you?”

Eddie takes his time to reply, looking at your reflection again he keeps looking for the mistake you were searching for earlier, but he seems to miss it. He gets brave enough to trace your waist and torso with his fingers, going up from your back and resting his hands on your exposed shoulders, rubbing them delicately. You shiver at his touch, something that you have never felt before, your tummy starts to feel funny and your breath hitches, the boy behind you is quick to notice your little squirm, he laughs at it and gently takes his hands off you, you miss his touch already.

“I don’t think so, it looks… you look really good” he says, giving you a look of reassurance. He misses your skin too, it’s been just a couple of seconds since his fingers ignited with your warm skin and now his hands are too cold for his liking. You turn around in a quick twist, locking eyes with him.

“So… you work here now,” you ask him, getting lost in his chocolate eyes.

“Yes, from now on”

“What do you have to do?” His cheeks feel warm being close to you, now he hates the armor that protects his chest from the warmth of your body.

“I have to take care of you, actually” You are quick to notice he is trying to hide a big smile “Your mom kept talking about your little trips to the outside and she wants someone to protect you”

“You think I need protection?” you cross your arms in front of your chest, Eddie brings his attention to your little act trying to look tough and he gets lost in your cleavage for a minute.

“N-no, I’m sure you are fine” he shakes his head and finds your eyes again “Since you’ve been back without a scratch i know you got everything under control, i mean… she only wants to keep me close to you so she can relax” he curses at himself for feeling so nervous all of a sudden, the fact that he didn’t know about your trips to the woods outside the kingdoms makes his blood boil, he kept tabs on you every day, all day, how did he miss this?

“I’m pretty sure she thinks there are monsters out there” you laugh, covering your mouth with your hand “i only go out to read, sometimes i need to clear my head and be somewhere new, you know?” He nods, he understands perfectly, that’s what he said to his uncle just yesterday.

“Yes, but now I'll be doing my job and watching you” ‘like i used to’ he thinks to himself.

“Alright, i don’t mind you doing your job” You roll your eyes and turn around “I have to keep getting ready, can you wait outside?”

“Yes, of course” he leans his head to the front and you giggle at his movements “I’ll leave you to it”you giggle at his movements “I’ll leave you to it”

“I’ll take a lot of time, you can just go get some food and I’ll find you in the kitchen”

“If you need something i’ll be there, i have to take you to the Craven kingdom in an hour”

“Perfect, i’ll find you there” he leaves your room after listening to your words, you look at him with a soft smile before he closes the door and you run to the bathroom to clear your head.

You quickly realize you miss his touch on your body, the pool on your panties confirms it. You lift your dress and sit on the edge of the bathroom, reaching for your pussy and rubbing your clit over your clothes with your fingers, closing your eyes, and trying to focus on him. His masculine scent comes back to you, remembering his fingers touching you and the way he looked so good in that armor, you made sure to remember he had been working out to get the job. Your imagination takes you far beyond, it was almost as you were listening to his moans, but no, it can be, he is in the kitchen at this moment. Maybe he is eating a tiny cookie with his big hands, crust getting all over his mouth, maybe he is eating a cupcake while he gets frosting over his fingers and he sucks them clean, eating the bottom part while licking at his sugary lips.

But you were wrong, he wasn’t in the kitchen, he came back a couple of seconds after you went into the bathroom. He wanted to ask you something before you had to be in a public space, surrounded by people he didn’t like. But you weren’t there, he got worried for a second until his ears started ringing, recognizing your voice through the bathroom door and your shaky moans. His cock got hard just hearing you breathe in and out with a fast rhythm, he quickly got his hand under his pants and started to rub his dick, moaning at your pretty noises not noticing you could hear him, he managed to run to a bathroom close to your room to release his cum and wash his hands after. You did the same in your bathroom, quickly cleaning your cum so it doesn’t drip onto your clothes.

If that’s how both of you get after seeing each other for less than an hour, it would be worse when you have to be together day and night.

sorry i ended up like this :) if you want more i’ll be happy to write it, leave some ideas of what should happen next i’ll be reading you ♡ feedback is appreciated! don't forget to REBLOG TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR!

tags: @stephanie-nicks76 ty for commenting luv. join my taglist in the form or comment here

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flower-boi16 · 10 months ago

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Helluva Boss: A Show For "Mature" Audiences That Isn't Very Mature

Something that's very funny to me is how Helluva Boss is an adult show, meaning that its supposed to be mature, and more mature than a kids show. However, the show really isn't that mature when you really think about it; sure, it's supposed to be viewed for mature audiences, and It by no means is for kids at all but...HB is really just the superficial version of mature. The show constantly crams in gore, swears and sex jokes all the damn time as a way to just appear edgy. It's not mature as in "it has mature and deep messages and themes" its the superficial version of mature, the type of mature that's just "let's shove in a bunch of swears and sex jokes into this show so people can KNOW its for adults!".

The show feels like its trying so damn hard to be edgy and crams swears and sex jokes into its dialogue because its an "adult" show. 70% of the dialogue in this show is awful because of the amount times it feels the need to shove in swears and sex jokes into every single line the characters say. It feels like the show is just..trying to be edgy with no substance to it. The only really mature theme HB has is Stolas's sexual desires for Blitz...but now its just completely dropped as Stolitz is suppoused to be seen as a healthy reletionship for some reason.

A majority of the villains are very one-dimensional Saturday morning cartoon villains too. HB feels like a show that's just overly obsessed with being edgy so it can come across as "mature". And while you can technically say that HB is mature as the show isn't exactly for kids and is aimed towards adults, again, its only the superficial version of mature, the show isn't really that mature in terms of its actual writing.

But here's the REAL kicker here; the shows I primarily enjoy watching are kids shows on Disney Channel, and...well, lets take a look at the themes and messages of these shows aimed towards kids that I've seen, shall we?

Gravity Falls: Tells a story about growing up, and how, while growing up may seem hard, you don't have to grow up alone, and that even when you grow up, that doesn't mean you have to let go

Amphibia: Tells a story about three girls who are all heavily flawed people in a toxic friendship. Ends with a message about change and how while it may be hard, sometimes; things change, and you need to accept that.

The Owl House: Tells a story about a girl who was ostracized for her whole life who was able to make real connections with others and find a place where she truely belongs.

Ducktales: Has an old man rediscover the value of family after pushing away his loved ones after losing his niece

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Has an episode where the main message is that you should stand up for your community, and how you can make your voice be heard no matter what.

The Ghost and Molly Mcgee (SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE): Final episode has a beautiful and mature message about how you should spend your life to the fullest, take risks and not be afraid or play it safe, and has a character go and spend his life to the fullest when he becomes human again

These "kids shows" have more mature and thoughtful messages and themes as well as better writing than this "adult" show. Helluva Boss has me groaning and getting frustrated at all the bad writing and wasted potential in its second season. Meanwhile, Amphibia's second season almost gets me to cry not once, but twice. These shows have more compelling and nuanced characters than HB, they don't constantly try to coddle them and absolve them of their mistakes, rather for some of them, they make the characters actually grow as people, something HB has NOT done at all.

Helluva Boss is an adult show, yet these kids' shows not only have more nuanced characters than it, but they are also unironically more mature than HB despite being shows targeted towards a younger audience. Its extremely funny to me how Viv said that HB is "Bojack Horseman with demons" when HB is less mature than kids' shows that aired on the Disney Channel.

Helluva Boss isn't a mature show, it's just an overly edgy one.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #hazbin hotel critical #vivziepop critical

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oonajaeadira · 1 year ago

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Leave Off Your Wandering pt. 2: Summer

Fandom: The Last of Us (TV)/ Joel Miller

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Reader: Adult female. Old enough to have been an adult on Outbreak Day. Wyoming born and bred. Sheep farmer, easy-going but confident and self-sufficient. Likes to sing, not a great cook. Childhood friend of Maria. No other physical descriptors; no use of y/n.

Rating: T for now

Warnings: Hunting and skinning squirrels. Chemical burns to skin. Piercing injury. Joel being a dick in a moment of self-preservation. Ellie's still a swear-mouth. Everybody makes some mistakes.

Summary: You solve a problem for Ellie and Joel really doesn't take it well.

A/N: Set after season 1 and then diverges. Does not acknowledge the existence of further plot/seasons, although I claim the right to steal ideas and bits of cannon from the second game if I want to for plot reasons later.

Listen. I know those warnings up there seem like a bit much, but I promise you all of that is in passing, in service to the plot, and not described in detail. (With the exception Ellie's cussing. That will persist indefinitely.) This is stupid fluffy.

Your gut reaction is to fetch your gun and point it at Ellie’s head.

But the girl is calm.

And the bites are healed.

“Wanna shoot me, don’t you,” she challenges with a mismatched set of cocky mouth and world weary eyes. “This one happened before I met Joel. And this one the day after. This is why he took me to the Fireflies. He told me not to tell anyone. That’s why I freaked out.”

Earlier in the day you’d gone looking for Ellie, hoping to show her the honeybee hive you’d discovered at the edge of the meadow. She’d been bathing in the stream, stripped down to nothing. She’d shrieked when she saw you coming near and you’d laughed and kept your eyes averted, understanding the self-consciousness of teenagers, about to tell her to come and find you when she was done.

And then she roared.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! GO!”

It had been a punch to the heart if not a slap to the face, which you were certain by her tone you would have received had you been close enough.

Saying nothing, and simply obeying her wish, you’d turned and gone back to the Roost. Ellie stayed away so long that her hair was completely dry and her nose was sunburned when she finally joined you.

Every footfall had been an apology on the ladder. And every slow creak along the porch was following an olive branch to the broken down sofa you perched on to keep watch over the north meadow.

Taking a reticent seat beside you, she’d rolled up her sleeve. “I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t want you to see it. It’s kind of a life and death thing.”

“Obviously,” you answer, shellshocked. “Reaction warranted.” Dropping her arm to her lap and reaching up to pull down her cuff, you stop her, holding out a waiting hand. “Can I?”

Suddenly doe-eyed and struck by your acceptance, she nods and lays her forearm in your palm.

There’s instinctual revulsion at first, but it melts to wonder as you get a closer look at the scars. There’s nothing of skin breakage, no mycelium running underneath, nothing reaching for you through holes as there would be if you were having one of your nightmares.

Immunity. Statistically speaking, it had to exist, but she’s the first you’ve ever seen or heard of.

“I wondered why you’d choose to wear long sleeves in this heat. I see now. Joel was smart to tell you to keep it covered. This’ll get you killed faster than infection, that’s for sure.” The tendons in her arm flex involuntarily when you run your fingers over the marks. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to tickle.” She relaxes as you release her. This time she doesn’t move to cover the skin. “Out in the open with Joel, I can imagine why you were bit the second time. How’d you come by it the first time?”

“Messing around with a friend where I wasn’t supposed to.”

Ah. By the pull at her brow and the same laws of statistics, you’d hazard to guess that friend didn’t make it. Probably another kid like her. Tragic.

“I see. And that’s why you were being smuggled. That’s why they wanted you. Well, what did the Fireflies make of you?”

She clearly catches the way you slather contempt onto the name of the terrorist organization, but answers your question. “They wanted to make a cure from my blood. They had me on the operating table but raiders attacked the hospital and killed everyone while I was under. So I guess we missed our chance.”

A quiet minute passes as you watch her tracing her thumb over the scar, lost in thought, brow twisted, recounting the ordeal of that day. Something doesn’t sit right with her about it.

And neither does it sit right with you.

Doctors don’t put a person on an operating table just to draw blood.

And you’ve heard stories of what Joel’s capable of.

You’ve witnessed just how protective he is over this little girl.

Her reverie dissolves when you lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. “While I’m sorry they never got the chance to find the possibilities, I understand enough about research medicine to know that the likelihood of their finding a cure from just one person is almost impossible. So while they might have been able to study your blood, they most likely wouldn’t be able to get enough of it or keep it stable long enough to find any answers.”

“How do you know that?”

Over the next hour as the sun sinks in the sky and she soaks up your history, you tell her about your sister. How you and her and Maria were a tight-knit team growing up, how in love with Maria she was, how you were certain they were going to get married one day.

Then you tell her how Maria went off to law school and your sister got sick, that the cancer was rare and the treatment was long and expensive, so your parents had opted for research to fray some costs and keep the ranch.

In the end, there were no answers, not without more donors of her ilk.

Your parents took a loan against the ranch, knowing full well they would lose it, but everyone agreed it was worth it for whatever time it would buy her.

And then Jakarta fell. And the world went to hell.

A few of the elderly residents of the Jackson basin came to hole up on the ranch and most of Willa’s family and tribal branch moved over from their land to form a protective new family group. It worked for a few years. It was safe. It was a thriving little commune.

And then the Fireflies came.

“There were Fireflies out here too?”

“Oh yeah, they were in every QZ, spreading their lies and chaos through the telegram towers, recruiting poor young suckers wherever they took root and getting them all killed. You tangled with them and I’d say you’re lucky you’re alive.”

Ellie frowns down at her arm again. “What did they do when they came here?”

Another story then. Now you explain with a little less nostalgia how the Fireflies came to use your ranch as a base. Trucks coming and going at all hours. Gunshots in the night. Catching the attention of roving packs of raiders. People got hurt. People died.

There was one day when two Fireflies went out foraging mushrooms with old Ms. Celia. They brought her body back on a makeshift sled. Just keeled over, they said.

Funny how the same thing happened the week before with old Ms. Margie. What a coincidence that it was happening when the food supplies were running low.

But the last blow came when the ranch was attacked by raiders a third time. There was a plan in place to create a distraction, draw their attention away from the ranch. The Fireflies knew your sister was sick and designated she do the job. They put a gun to your head when you protested.

It’s okay, she’d said, I don’t have much left to lose. If I’m going out, at least the people I love will be safe.

It was a shit plan.

A lot of people died that day. Most of them were raiders, thanks to Willa and her tribe. Some of them were Fireflies thanks to you and your shotgun.

“So did you win?”

“No. The barriers were still broken. And the ranch was burned to the ground.”

The evening sky is a mix of purples and gold now, the flocks of birds swooping over the meadow are starting to vie for their meal of mosquitos and gnats with an increasing number of bats. Ellie watches one in particular as it swoops up and over the roof of the Roost.

“What about your parents?”

“They burned with the ranch.”

She nods solemnly, without horror, the attitude of a child that’s seen too much.

“And your sister died too then?”

"She got away at first. Found her in the woods a week later with a bite like yours, but she was long gone by then. One of Willa’s brothers did the shooting.”

Another quiet nod. “What was your sister’s name?” she asks as an evening bird calls.

It was bound to come up.

“Eleanor. We called her Ell. Ellie, when she was little.” When you can see the unearned guilt building in her face you bump her shoulder playfully. “It was almost twenty years ago. I hold onto the good memories. She was sweet and kind to everyone she met, never backsassed our parents, never disobeyed. So basically nothing like you at all.” You laugh when she shoots you an annoyed look. “Not that she was an angel though! She had her fire; you didn’t want to get on her bad side. And she was whip smart. That’s where the two of you meet I think.”

“Sounds like you lost everything at once.”

“I did,” a fact you aknowledge as you stretch and get up, heading back into the cabin to light the lantern. “But Willa helped me through. And then Jackson got its walls up and Maria found her way home and I had family again.” Once the lantern flickers to life, you grab your bag and start pawing through it. “You keep going for family.”

“That’s what Joel says.”

“Huh. You know what? I believe you. Here,” pulling a tank top out of your pack you toss it at her and it smacks her in the face. “While you’re out here you can wear that and not die of heat stroke in those knit tops. But when you’re out in the sun, put something over your shoulders or use the tsuga paste. Your skin hasn’t seen sun in a while and the last thing I need to do is bring you back cooked like a Christmas goose and have Joel all up in my ass about it.”

“That actually sounds like a good thing for both of you, if you ask me.”

“Watch it.”

“What? I didn’t say anything! Look at the time! We should be spinning wool! How I love spinning wool. Whoopee!”

“Like I said. Nothing like my sister. You little shit.”

________

“Meadowlark to patrol.”

“This is patrol.”

“Starling and I are on the southeast side of the meadow near the chokecherry copse and we’ve found a honeybee hive. I’m going to tie red flags to the surrounding trees. You wanna put the word out that some of these cherries are ready to go and get someone suited out here to scope out this hive?”

“This will make four hives now.”

“I know. We’re getting lucky this year.”

“Will do, Meadowlark. We’ll radio in before we cross borders.”

“Copy. Out.”

On the way back to the Roost you and Ellie stop to greet a group of sheep lazing in the grass, sitting down and sharing cherries with them from a basket between the two of you.

“They can eat these?” she asks.

“Sure. They can pretty much eat whatever we do. Chokecherries are fine. Just don’t give ‘em the leaves or stems. Those are poisonous.”

This means taking the time to pull cherries away from the branches until there’s a handful to feed the sheep. Normally you’d be fending them off during this, they’d be insistent and impatient, but the heat of the day has them lazy and languid.

It’s also working on Ellie as she yawns, stretching her white arms plastered in pine and sunflower paste for protection, her scar marring her otherwise unburned forearm.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” you hand her another branch to start shucking. “Willa does tattoos. She could cover that for you.”

Ellie hesitates. “Maybe.”

“What. You don’t want a tattoo? I thought you might like that. It would be pretty badass. We could cover it with a starling or something….”

“I guess.” You wait for her excuse. It’s a decent one. “I just…It would mean Willa would know too. Joel told me not to tell anyone. I don’t think I should.”

“I understand. That’s kinda why I suggested Willa. The woman’s a vault.” But Ellie’s fingers stop picking berries, as if she doesn’t know what to do or what to say. “Oh. I see. You don’t want Joel to know you told anyone. Even me.”

She nods.

She changes the subject then–something about him wanting to keep her safe, even teaching her to use a shotgun to protect herself–but your mind keeps working on the problem.

It’s only when you make it back to the ladder at the Roost, one foot frozen on the bottom rung, that you find the answer.

“What’s wrong?” she asks from behind you.

Under the posts of the Roost is a load of firewood. And under that wood….

“Ellie…if there was another way to get rid of your scar, would you?”

“What. You gonna give me some kinda bird tattoo yourself? Is it gonna look like a blob or–”

“I mean, do you want it gone at all?”

She pulls herself out of her slouched position to her full height. “I mean…yeah…I think a tattoo is actually a great idea I just…”

“What if Willa didn’t have to know? What if she thought she was covering up something else?” Pulling a few armfulls of wood away from the side of the pile, you uncover a wide plank of wood, once a handsome cedar coffee table top, now a sunken excuse for a forest cellar door. Prying the wood out of its depression, you reveal an earthen pit housing a couple of shovels, a couple pairs of oilskin mittens, and a covered earthen pot.

“This,” you point to the pot, “is lye. We keep it out here in case one of the sheep dies from infection or illness. It’s important to bury the sheep to keep it away from the flock. But even if you bury a carcass, bear and coyotes will come sniffing around and dig it up. We discourage that with this. Lye breaks down organic matter. That’s why we have gloves in here. It burns skin.”

Ellie frowns into the pit, understanding slowly dawning until she asks with a gasp, “Does it hurt?”

“Hells yes it does. It’s a burn, Ellie. It hurts like a son of a bitch, there’s no way I’d lie about that. But it will twist the features of that scar. You’ll never have to dodge suspicion again.”

“Mother. Fucker,” her whisper shakes, but she eyes the pot in steady fascination.

“You know what?” You throw the tabletop back down over the hole, “I saw a whole lot of squirrels around those chokecherries and they’re actually good eating if you get a few of them and throw ‘em in a pot with some potatoes and onion and garlic…. Too bad their skins are too small to be useful. But we can’t just leave ‘em lying around, you know. So if you and I were to go out and get a few and make a stew, and say I was to show you how the lye works with the leavings… well, something might happen.” The girl looks you dead in the eye, her jaw dropping open a little in disbelief. “What do you say? You wanna go out and do some target practice? Get some squirrel for dinner?”

A switch flips in Ellie’s spine and her eyes spark cold and bright, two supernovas in a smiling galaxy.

“Fuck yes. I’ll get the rifle.”

________

“Good shot!” you cheer as a third squirrel drops from a branch and you share a high five. “Wonder who taught you that! Damn, girl! Three for three. Tonight, we feast.”

“So, when are we doing this?” Ellie smiles as you walk back to the Roost, the barrel of the rifle slung over one shoulder, a string of fuzzy dinner swinging from the other.

“Tomorrow morning. Willa will be coming in at noon and that should give us some time to get a good burn in before she arrives. It should be fine, but if anything goes wrong, she can help and that makes me feel better about it. Ellie…. You sure you trust me with this?”

“I can’t die from it, right?”

“No, but you might want to. It’s sure as hell not gonna be pleasant.”

“Lady, I spent half a year walking across the country with Joel. I’m a master at dealing with unpleasant.” By now the sheep are familiar with the sound of Ellie’s laughter and a few perk up on your way past to follow you lazily back to the Roost. “But, like, I don’t understand why we have to go through all this with the squirrels. Don’t get me wrong, I like the target practice and all…”

You take the squirrels from her and set up a makeshift butcher’s block on a stump left waist high specifically for this purpose. “I don’t want to lie to Joel when he freaks out about you getting hurt. We had squirrels. We disposed of the leavings. You got burned with the lye. Truth truth truth.”

“You think he’ll be mad at you?”

“Oh, I’m already counting that into the equation. I know you seem to think he’s fond of me, but not all the evidence leads up to that. You know how to clean a squirrel?”

“Sure do,” she grins as she trades the rifle for your boot knife and, taking the first rodent in hand, she works it skillfully, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth, skinning the critter in one go. “Thanks, little buddy. You were cute, but you’ll be gooooooood eating.”

“You’re a hell of a kid.”

“Yeah, well, guess who taught me this?” she says as she morbidly slices through another one, making dramatic death noises as she goes. “Why do you think he doesn’t like you? Joel’s stupid about you. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Jesus, Ellie.” With a sigh and a shake of the head, you indulge her question and your own immature angst. “Well, for starters, I can tell he doesn’t think much of some of my conversation.”

“What do you mean?” Another skin lands at her feet.

“He just…doesn’t answer questions sometimes. Ignores comments. Doesn’t like to join in on the joke.”

“This is a big one,” she grunts, tugging at the final squirrel. “What side are you standing on when he ignores you?”

“Huh?”

“Where are you standing when you talk to Joel? He’s deaf in his right ear.”

You blink.

And suddenly a hell of a lot of things make a hell of a lot of sense.

That one time you complimented his shirt and he said nothing, you were on his right.

That one time you poked fun at his scowl. On his right.

You cracked that joke, offered a piece of pie, told him everything would be alright.

Right. Right. Right.

“I…didn’t know that,” you stammer stupidly, flinching when Ellie hands your knife back and heads for the ladder.

“Yeah, that was obvious. I’m gonna go get a bowl.” You’re still in shock as she starts climbing. “Don’t expect him to get down on one knee when he asks you to marry him; he’s got shitty knees too. He’s happy to complain about it if you ask him. Make sure it’s in his left ear.”

________

“Okay, look at me, Ellie. Breathe.”

She nods, her eyes burning with determination over the shirt you’ve tied around her nose and mouth to protect her from inhaling the mix.

As you sit in the grass a few meters from the stream with her arm resting in your mittened hands, you lay the lye-laden cloth over the scar and enclose it with pressure.

Her breath comes heavily. Bravely. Then you hear it change as the lye begins to work.

“Shit. It itches,” she hisses. “Shit. Shit shit fuck fuck ow it’s getting worse–”

“You want me to stop?”

“No shit fuck I can do this I got this shiiiiiiiiiit!”

“I won’t let you go too long but you let me know if you need–”

“I’m fine! FUCK!”

It’s when she screams that you know it’s enough and releasing her, you order, drill sergeant style, “Go! Go! Go! Fifteen minutes! Don’t look at it!”

Ellie bolts into the ice cold stream, sneakers and all, gasping as the water washes the cloth away from her. “Shit. I thought it would feel better. It doesn’t!”

“Does it feel worse?”

“No, it just fucking burns!”

A sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good. Just… just let it rinse. Do you feel woozy at all?”

She just shakes her head, looking down through the water. “It’s getting red. And puffy.”

“No broken skin?”

“No.”

“Good. It’ll probably blister up some.”

Ellie might not be feeling woozy, but you sure are. Was it a reckless idea? Probably. Will it actually work? Hopefully. Do you feel bad that she’s gonna be in pain for a while? Fuck yes. But then you remember when she put on your tank top and just … laid in the grass and smiled. Even if she never wore short sleeves again, at least nobody was going to make a fast decision with a gun to her skull.

You really should have checked with Joel though. No matter what Ellie wants, you know full well it wasn’t your call to make.

Another problem for another day.

“Everything okay down there?” Willa’s black braids glint in the sun as she walks down from the Roost.

“Ellie had a run in with the lye,” you call back.

“Yeah, I see you were composting. I filled in the hole.” She hardly even stops when she reaches you, simply pulls off her boots and heads straight into the water. “Let’s see. Oh yeah. That’s a burn alright.”

As Willa inspects Ellie’s submerged arm, the girl looks up and smiles at you, giving you a wet thumbs up. “Hurts like a motherfucker!"

“I’ll bet,” the woman hums dryly. “That’s going to swell up and scar pretty bad. Why don’t you sit and let the water do its work. Meadowlark and I will go pack your things and I’ll grab the gauze in the first aid kit.”

Willa doesn’t ask questions as you pack up, just the regular routine of information trade off. You tell her that you’ve marked a few sheep with blue dye to keep an eye on for injuries or dehydration. And she lets you know what’s going on in town, including the fact that there’s gonna be a wedding with a reception at the food hall over the weekend.

“Really? Who?”

“Bear and Missy Tippet.”

“Your uncle??? Willa, I can stay; don’t you wanna be there?”

She laughs. “Hell no I do not. You know exactly how I feel about Missy Tippet; same as you. I’d rather be out here. Perfect timing. They’ve been keeping each other warm on and off for years now. Maybe this will finally keep her on. As much as I hate to picture that,” she shivers.

Willa’s such an even-keeled soul and it’s not just anyone she’ll shit talk in front of. “Well, your secret’s safe with me. If it is a secret that is.”

“What’s a secret?” Ellie interrupts as she pulls herself up to the balcony from the ladder with one hand.

Willa takes a little time to show her the correct way to bandage the burn–not too tight–while you pack the horses, as well as instructing you where to find her stash of willow bark if Ellie needs it for the pain.

But something tells you that Eliie’s gonna tough it out. Though she holds her arm gingerly as she rides, fisting the reigns in her left hand, the girl grins all the way back to Jackson like she’s just pulled off the heist of the century.

________

Jackson is busy when you ride through the gates midday, folks passing by on their way to visit, deliver, build. Purpose in Jackson is taken seriously, as is leisure, and both are on display as you pass by the rustic main drag, in many different ways frozen in time–log storefronts and Mickey Mouse tshirts, leather-saddled livestock and Japanese fans.

You spot Joel waiting at the stables before he sees you, distracted by none other than Missy Tippet. Getting herself married or not, the stunning woman is a glutton for attention and a class A flirt, and she’s not the only one in town whose head turned the minute Joel took up residence.

Not that you can blame her, with him in that tight grey tshirt, busting a carpenter’s arms out of its sleeves and contouring it with sweat…. By the dust on his face, he’s been working today. Probably took a break to wait for–

“Ellie. Hey! You decided to come home.”

“Yup,” she says, throwing him the reins to distract him while she gingerly dismounts. “I shot three squirrels!”

You avoid Joel’s questioning glance as you slide down from your own mare and lead her into a stall. “Go on, you two, I’ll stable up. Nice to see you, Cinnamon Roll.”

But they’re already on their way, an engaged chattering, laughing questions and energetic answers…and your teasing goes unheard. Ah. Wrong ear, you realize.

Missy smirks; condescends.“Cinnamon roll, huh? Good try, I guess.”

You don’t rise to her bait. “Just giving him sass. He’s obviously not a fan. You gonna help me with these saddles or keep slobbering all over the men that aren’t your fiancee what come on by?”

Okay. Maybe a little rising.

________

It’s your ritual, first thing back from the meadow. The Roost holds a special place in your heart, but the one thing it can’t deliver is a shower. Great gods of earth and sky, let there be thanks that warm water’s still a thing, even in summer.

You’re still dripping, one head tilted to the side as you drain the last of the water out one ear, when there’s a knock at the front door downstairs.

Well, let’s see. There aren’t that many people who know you’re back yet and Ellie’s come home with a bandage on her arm. It’s easy to guess who’s knocking. Okay. Let’s get this over with.

When you answer the door wrapped in nothing but a towel, it obviously wasn’t what Joel was expecting, and if he walked over here with any ire, it instantly freezes and shatters like a bubble on the tundra when he takes in all the skin on display.

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t invite you in for snacks at the moment.”

Deflated, he simply rams his hands in his pockets, squinting. “You wanna tell me about Ellie’s arm?”

“I had planned on it at a time when I wasn’t wet and naked, but sure.” When he throws his hands up in defeat and turns to leave, you stop him, catching at his sleeve and stretching the fabric so it snaps back against his arm. “Hey. Wait. Yes. I was going to tell you.” As you cross your arms over the towel and lean on the door frame, he does much the same on the other side, averting his eyes and trying not to fidget. And failing. “It happened this morning. She shot some squirrels and we dressed ‘em for dinner last night and buried the bones and pelts. Gotta lye ‘em or animals come digging. I thought she could handle it. Looks like we both got burned, so to speak.” His face is stony. Unamused. You continue. “Willa looked at it this morning, we got it a good rinse. I’m gonna go by her place later and grab some willow bark and show Ellie how to compress.” He shakes his head at his boots. “Hey. She’ll be fine, Joel.”

“I don’t want her getting hurt out there.”

“And I do? It’s a chemical burn, not a clicker bite. She’ll learn from it. Kids can’t be put in glass cages.” It’s here that you pretend not to see the flash in his eye at the mention of bites, meanwhile noticing a bad scrape on his forearm. Seeing your opening, you reach out to draw a finger over it. “Jesus, Joel. Look at this. This. See? We all have occupational hazards. Come on.”

With a sigh you turn and pad into the kitchen to your first aid drawer, taking a chance that pays off--you’re surprised to hear him actually following. It takes a minute to dress the wound and you’re not ginger about it–water, apple cider vinegar, gauze. It’s a quiet minute though, one you thought you could power through, and maybe you could have, if you were in anything more than a towel…or couldn’t hear him breathing…or feel it on your skin. Trying to play it cool and get a vibe check on him, you look up only to catch his eye shifting away from your bare shoulder back to your work on his arm.

It’s time to break the silence, but you don’t feel the need to be on the defense anymore.

“We don’t have a lot of antibiotics just sitting around, you know. Don’t let this stuff fester, okay, cinnamon roll? You and that daredevil kid are a matching pair, you know that?”

He only grunts, half rolling his eyes at you, jaw set, voice at a soft compromise. “Yeah, well, I don’t want her going back out there until she’s healed up. Limited use of both arms is a good path to more accidents.”

“Fair. You win. Summer’s pretty slow anyway. I could use the quiet.” Laying it on thick, you tie up the ends of the gauze before releasing him back into the wilds. “Warm sun, buzz of bees. Sweet smell of grass and lupines. Meadow’s a good place for afternoon naps. Easier to do without an apprentice yapping my ear off.”

He nods thoughtfully at this--your words showing their effect--and slowly turns and heads for the door.

And you smile knowingly as you watch him go.

“You know,” you call out just before he closes the door behind him, “door’s open at the Roost. You can always come out there with her if you’re so concerned. That is, if you don’t mind sleeping on a broke-down sofa on the porch.”

Without looking back, he pauses briefly in the patch of summer glare. Then he silently steps out and pulls the door shut, leaving only the click of the latch and the sunlight through the leaded glass.

Well. That certainly could have gone much worse.

________

At least you’re wearing more clothes when it finally does go worse.

“What happened here, squirt?” Tommy taps his fork on Ellie’s bandage at family dinner.

And Ellie answers with a light jab to his arm. “Ow, you dick! That hurts!”

“Ellie–” a scold in stereo from both you and Joel.

As her teacher, the admonishment was instinctual. But in current context, it may have been a breach of place. The table goes silent as Joel’s head snaps in your direction and everyone else’s eyes bounce between you two, utterly amused. There’s a moment when you’re afraid he might just continue to glare, but then he cracks half a smile, shakes his head, and goes back to shoveling a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth.

It’s a reaction that lets you know Joel’s forgiven you, back to allowing you to be a rearing force in Ellie’s life.

“Meadowlark let me do some target practice and I shot some squirrels for dinner. Had to bury the skin and bones with lye and I got burned. Oops.”

“Oh my god,” Maria chews. “Are you okay?”

Ellie gives her a precocious smile and follows it with sarcastic condescension. “Yes, I’m going to live. As long as some people let it heal and stop hitting me with sharp things because they think they’re funny and they’re not.”

Tommy sticks his tongue out at Ellie and Maria laughs at them both before getting up to go fetch another jar of pickles from the pantry, holding her growing belly and waving off her husband's attempts to help.

“Rabbit’s better eating,” Tommy points out, returning to the subject at hand.

Ellie pops a stringbean into her mouth, clearly in a good mood. “But their hides are useful. Don’t have to bury them.”

The moment after she says this is like a lightning flash, and your reaction matches hers as you both freeze, realizing what she’s just accidentally said.

“Squirrels are faster, smaller, better target practice,” you say, clearing your throat, trying to act casual.

Tommy shrugs and nods, agreeing, oblivious, going to town on his ear of corn.

But Joel’s gone still, staring you down across the table, then casts a glance at Ellie…and her arm.

Shit.

Tommy and Maria are blissfully unaware of Joel’s turn for the quiet during the rest of the meal, not that he’d been very talkative to begin with. But the hesitant glances and shy smiles are gone now, replaced with a restrained patience and a few calculating glances.

It’s Maria’s turn to wash and Tommy’s to dry and yours to clear the table. But with every trip into the kitchen, you glance through the window over the sink into the yard where Joel and Ellie are having a spirited conversation under the tree at the far end.

'Spirited conversation' might be too polite a term. More like a one-sided lecture. Soon enough you have the table wiped down and you’re making a bee-line out the back door while Tommy and Maria argue about the best technique for drying a glass.

“That is not okay,” Joel hisses, trying to keep his voice low, giving Ellie’s shoulder a rough shake. “What if something went wrong? Huh? You could have burned down to the bone!”

“Joel, Joel, hey,” you whisper as you come to complete the triad. “Don’t. She confided in me. It was my idea.”

Nostrils flaring, lips pressed together, head wagging, he glares. “Of all the reckless, stupid….”

“I wanted to!” Ellie pleads, and you shut her down.

“That’s true, but Joel’s right and I knew it. I shouldn’t have–”

“If you tell anyone–” he warns, his eyes going full retribution against you--a hot coil ready to spring--and it petrifies you, takes you by the heart and squeezes.

“She won’t! Joel!”

“She’d better not.”

It’s a tense moment, one that surprises you. Scares you. In the months you’ve known him, Joel’s been a quiet and withdrawn creature, opening up in increments as you’ve done your best to build your trust, taming him slowly week after week, hoping for nothing more than having him someday eating out of your palm, pushing his cheek into your hand for gentle reassurance…

But in one fell swoop you’re back at the starting line–beyond the starting line. The papa bear in him is showing, bearing its teeth, and you’ve spent too much time among sheep, forgetting the valuable lesson that wild animals can never truly be tamed.

“I will burn this place to the ground if you ever hurt another hair on her head.” The quiet threat is feral and stinging and steals your breath before it’s over.

The things he’s capable of...those things are here and now and he could do them all to you before you had the chance to run.

The way he looks at you pulls the heat from the earth.

Before you can break from your paralysis, they’re gone, Joel pushing Ellie out of the yard toward home.

The stars are coming out. If there are crickets, you don’t hear them. Every sense seems to have shifted into neutral. Except breathing. That comes back with a hunger.

“Joel and Ellie take off?” Tommy calls from the window.

“Yeahhhh,” you call back without turning. “Tired. The heat. Think I might head home too.”

“Take a jar of these pickles. We have too many and Maria can't stomach them right now. I’ve got pickles coming out my damn ears.”

“Okay. Thanks, T. Pickles. Will do."

________

The following few days are...confusing. You should go out and grab some supplies on the main street, but actually fear running into Joel or Ellie. It’s stupid, and it makes you angry; it’s not that you’re afraid of him, it’s just…

You’re disappointed in yourself. Because everything’s upset now. Sure, you wanted to get close to them, but you overstepped, put Ellie in danger, made Joel feel unsafe. Everyone should feel safe in Jackson. Everyone should feel safe in the meadow. And you took that away from him.

Joel.

Why him? What about him do you need to have so badly? Why do you feel the need to fix him? To give him that safety?

Because Joel and Ellie so badly need a home. And you have an excess of home within you.

And little else.

You’ve never been lonely before. Why now?

Something about them….just fits.

Or so you thought. Or may have thought. Before you ruined it.

It’s better to just sit home and knit. Winter will be here soon enough and people need sweaters, dammit. You have a job to do.

But you can’t stay hidden away forever, especially not when there’s a wedding in the community.

________

“Bear, Missy, you’ve said your vows in front of all of us here tonight. We are all witness to your commitment. All in agreement, say aye!”

“AYE!”

“And those of you who want to spoil this good time, say nay!”

Bear’s brother pipes up from the side of the mess hall. “Nay!”

“Shut up, you asshole,” Bear laughs.

“Perfection is tempting devils!” his brother teases.

“Let ‘em come,” Bear shouts. “I’ll tear ‘em all down for my lady love, the prettiest girl in Jackson!” There’s applause and laughter as he kisses his new bride and the mood shifts as he roars, “Drinking and dancing!!!”

“Ugh. Good thing Willa isn’t here to see this. She’d be so annoyed.” Maria yells in your ear over the din as you huddle around your favorite table at the back of the hall. “I thought Missy would never settle down.”

“Bear must earn his name in the sack,” you crack back at her, and she clinks her glass against yours in agreement.

Tommy and Joel sit across the table from you, facing away toward the front. But when Tommy turns to join in the conversation, Joel remains facing out to the crowd, watching as tables are pushed to the side to make a dance floor, quietly pulling sips from a frothy cider.

He’s still pissed at you.

“Where’s Ellie?” you ask Tommy, not even attempting to address the wall of Joel-shaped ice.

“Over beyond, with the other big kids.”

You don’t turn to look, but Joel does after hearing the comment, before turning back to watch the crowd.

A band strikes up. Friends stop by and chat. Some of Tommy and Joel’s work friends come and take over the table–the boys all getting loud and rowdy–so you and Maria escape to the edge of the dance floor, beverages in hand, dancing–but not really–in place.

“What’s going on?” Maria finally asks over the music and the general glee.

“Hmm?”

“You two keep watching each other, but you’re not talking. What’s going on.”

You can’t keep from glancing over at the table…again. You weren’t aware of him taking any interest in you though.

“We had an argument the other day. I think I fucked things up.”

She pulls a face, comically surprised. “I would have guessed the other way around, but okay. You push him too hard or something?”

“Something like that.”

Glancing back over her shoulder at Joel and then back at you, Maria gives you her lawyer face. “He’ll come around. Tommy says he’s the last person to apologize for anything and if he does, you know it means a big deal. But if you’re willing to extend the olive branch first, that can go a long way.”

“Well, maybe not tonight,” you sigh, stealing a glance, watching as he drains his glass. “He’s had a few.”

But you can’t even convince yourself, handing your drink to Maria as Joel sets down his glass, slaps the table and pushes himself up, leaning forward to wish his buddies a good night. You follow him out of the mess hall like some lovestruck teenager strung out on a last hope.

“Joel. Joel!” Catching up with him halfway down the block, the light and noise from the party still follows as you get out in front of him. “Joel, stop. I have to apologize to you. Please let me.”

Though he’s backlit, you can still make out his tired glare. “Don’t. It’s not necessary.”

“Of course it is. Ellie’s important to you. You're her guardian. It wasn’t my call to make. I’m sorry.”

He waits a moment before throwing you an irritated prompt. “But?”

“But? I don’t know. She was hot in that long sleeve shirt and she showed me her arm–I can’t imagine what she went through. I just felt for her. But I did have a gut reaction when she showed me, Joel. Anyone would, but most wouldn’t hesitate for long. And those bites could get her killed. All I wanted was for her to be free from that. To be a kid. I’d say I wasn’t thinking, but...I was, Joel. Fuck was I thinking. I was thinking about her just being a kid and not getting killed.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah, I guess. Except… I really don’t want you to punish her for my decision. She loves it out there. She thrives. And if you don’t trust me, my offer stands. Come with us. See for yourself.”

A huffed laugh. “Yeah? Do I get a callsign then?”

Your fatal flaw is jumping to the joke and the playful tease too soon, as you do now, anticipating his forgiveness. “Of course you do, grey fox.”

And that’s when he reaches out, pulls you close with strong hands.

Which would be exhilarating, if it wasn’t too close. And if his breath didn’t smell of cider.

“Why don’t you just take what you want,” he growls, quietly, coldly, jaw set, lips hardly moving.

It’s not fear that pings up your spine–now that you’ve had a taste of his anger and gotten over the initial shock from the other night, you know Joel won’t hurt you, not here, not as part of your found family, he knows better–

It’s bitter disappointment.

“What?”

His grip tightens, digs in. “It’s obvious what you want. Just go ahead. We’re both fucking lonely enough and I’m too old for games.”

He’s right here with you in the dark, his breath on your lips, your fingers twisting into the shoulders of his tshirt…but it’s wrong. It’s so wrong. And it’s hurting.

So you slowly push off his chest.

And the light from the mess hall hits your face again; something there causes his shoulders to drop, causes him to let you go.

A cheer rises up from the celebration that you’ve left behind, that you don’t feel like returning to, but neither can you be alone right now, so it’s likely your only choice.

“I’m not playing games, Joel. I never was. I like you. A lot. Both you and Ellie. I just didn’t want to spook you. But...I also don’t want someone who doesn’t want me. So…maybe I read you wrong. Or maybe we need different things.”

“What do you need?” It almost falls out of him, uncontrolled, unemotional, a gathering of facts.

And your answer comes the same way, surprising you as you’re sure his own question surprised himself.

“A home.”

It’s a quiet night, perfectly warm. You’re sure if you went home right now, the fireflies–the good kind–would be out in the back yard.

Instead, you give him a shellshocked nod–of finality, of punctuation–and follow your feet back toward the light, toward happiness and love that you can’t share at the moment. And you don’t look back.

________

When you don’t show up for family dinner that week, Maria comes knocking the next day.

Knocks, yes, but does not wait for an answer. In sisterly fashion, she makes straight for your wool room and sits calmly on the edge on the daybed there, staring at you as you mend a hole in a sweater.

“Missed you at our table last night.”

“I know.”

It doesn’t matter how hard she stares, you continue to avoid it and concentrate on the work in your hands.

“That was an invitation for you to explain.”

“I’m aware.”

“Girl–”

“I’m not getting along with Joel right now. Ellie has…this thing on her arm that she doesn’t want anyone to know about. You notice how she would wear long sleeves even in the heat? I felt bad for her. So I… suggested…the lye.”

This doesn't faze her. “It was on purpose. And Joel found out. I see.” Leaning back into the pillows with a pregnant grunt, she swings her feet up onto the daybed. “Is hiding helping? You know we all know where you live, right?”

“Are you really putting your muddy shoes on my quilt?”

“So you’re just going to avoid him.”

You squint at the binding. “I’m gonna have to raid the commissary for some better glasses. My eyesight’s getting out of hand.”

“You’re going to avoid us. Me and Tommy and Ellie.”

Letting out a huge sigh, you concede to her tenacity because she won’t stop until she gets what she wants. “For now.” When her tongue clicks, you finally look up. “Listen. I apologized and he’s still mad. I agree with you that he’ll get over it, but he hasn’t yet, and that means I haven’t either. And I’m not as good at turning on my bitch face as that one is.”

“So we shouldn’t expect you next week either.”

“Nope,” you pout, tackling the sweater again with focused frustration. “I traded with Goldie. Going out a week early.”

“You’re running away.”

“I’m stressed out and I need to not be here, yes!” You admit, throwing down the knitting. “What is the big deal? I don’t have to get along with everyone in Jackson! You don’t!”

You understand that flat look from her, known it since you were kids. She’s counting to 10, giving you the chance to calm down so one of you can speak the truth and speak it calmly.

“But you want to get along with Joel.”

Of course she was going to say that. Because it’s what you’re thinking and not wanting to say out loud and she can read you like a book.

“Yeah. I really do. You know I do.”

“Okay,” she says, pushing herself up with effort and crossing the room to kiss her fingers and press–nay, slap–them to your forehead before heading out. “Go on and go to your happy place. Go calm down in your little clubhouse. I was just worried about you is all. Brought you leftovers. They’re on the counter.”

“Thanks. You’re too good to me. As always. Love you.”

“I know. As always. Love you too.”

________

At the end of the week you’re up early, your pack and rations slung over your back, pistol on one hip, making your way to the stables while the town’s still quiet, before anyone can notice you going. Your boots crunch on the dirt road in lieu of the birdsong from those lazy bitches not even up yet, the dawnlight casting Jackson in blues and blacks, like a new-world mid-era Picasso.

The problem is, you know all of these blues and blacks, all these shapes and shadows. There’s a new one this morning, something leaning up against the stable door.

And it’s shaped like a fourteen year old girl with a couple of bags.

As you approach, Ellie tips away from the wall, standing upright, waiting until you come to a stop in front of her.

“Joel said I could go with you.”

“It’s a week early.”

“Yep.”

It’s too early in the morning for exasperated sighs, but here you are. “Maria or Tommy?”

“Tommy.”

“Figures. Big fucking mouth.”

“Yep.”

She waits patiently for it to sink in.

Once it does, you pull the walkie off your belt.

“Meadowlark to Chickadee. ETA 30, towing a Starling in behind me.”

________

“So what did you say to him to get him to change his mind?” Ellie takes your fishing rod so you can pull off your boots and roll up your pants.

“Me? I figured it was you said something.” Wading out into the stream at this little ripple point is harder than it looks. The rocks are sharper here, full of crannys that are equally as good for fish to hide in as they are to turn an ankle. It doesn’t help that the setting sun is throwing shadows that make it harder to determine what’s what. “I haven’t talked to him in weeks. Not since Bear’s wedding. Keep that line taut.”

“According to Maria, you haven’t talked to anyone lately.”

“I had knitting to do,” a dismissal as you follow the line out into the current. “There are hardly any weeds out here; what did this dang hook snag on? A rock?”

“Well, he finally admitted that masking the scar was a good thing. I told him I want to get a tattoo over it. He said no.”

You laugh, tugging at the line, teetering on a flatter stone. “Of course he did. But that’s a good thing. Tattoo’s a permanent mark. Good to have an excuse to think long and hard about what you’d want. Willa’s great with nature stuff. She could probably do you a bird or a tree or something.”

“I was thinking maybe the moon. Or like, a machete.”

“Of course you were. Oh, oh... hang on, I think I’ve found it.” Reaching down under one of the rocks, you follow the fishing line, but it doesn’t seem to have an end. “Well, where the hell?”

“Uhhhhh,” Ellie points to the water at your feet. “I think it found you.”

A fine red ribbon of blood floats away on the current and you follow it upstream to your foot. More specifically, the inner part of your big toe. “Well shit. Did I just catch my own damn self?”

“Catch of the day!” Ellie laughs. “I bet you fry up real tough. Does it hurt?”

“Didn’t even feel it, water’s too cold. Get your knife and cut the line so I don’t get all tangled.”

Once you’re back on shore and take stock, it’s obvious some tools are needed. “Run and get me the wire cutting pliers, the vinegar jug, and the first aid kit, will you?”

Ellie’s off like a shot on youthful legs, making short work of the errand while you keep your foot in the stream and tend to her line. But once she’s back and opens the kit, her face twists into a frown. “Aren’t there supposed to be bandages in here?”

“What?” Snipping the hook in two you slide it out the easy way as Ellie watches in morbid fascination. “There’s not?”

“Nope. Plenty of cleanser and some needle and thread, but no bandages.”

“Shit. I suppose we never restocked it after Willa set you up. Well, I’ll just have to bleed into my sock for the time being and find something up at the Roost.” Ellie moves to help you, but you hold a hand up and go for the walkie. “Hey. Meadowlark to Goldie.”

The walkie comes to life, garbled, full of noise.

“Goldie? Meadowlark to Goldfinch.”

A couple of seconds pass. “Sorry, Goldfinch here. Was in the tavern and there’s an arm wrestling competition in there. Lots of yelling.”

“Really? Who’s winning?”

“Right now it’s Bear. What’s up?”

“Oh, I never restocked the first aid kit after Ellie’s mishap and we’re needing clean bandages. Can you send some along on patrol tomorrow?”

“Sure. Everything alright out there?”

“Yeah, I just stepped on a fishhook.”

“Well, why the hell did you do that?”

“You know, the usual. Shits and giggles.”

“You do you. Don’t ever change. I’ll send some supplies along.”

“Thanks. Put a wager down on Bear for me. Meadowlark out.”

“Will do. Goldfinch gone.”

“Alright, kid,” you groan, hanging onto her shoulder and pulling yourself up, “Bring in your line and let’s take what we got and get a supper going.”

________

The next day, you drop a few old carrots over the balcony railing. “Ellie! Take these with you! You’ll tame that skittish one sooner or later; keep trying!”

The girl scoops up the veggies and trudges out through the pasture, heavy not with the task of doing the rounds by herself but due to the heat. At least she can wear short sleeves now, even if the bandage gets questions. But you suspect she enjoys the clout and attention she gets out of the burn.

Thank goodness she’s here. Your injury gets angry when you walk. So Ellie's tasked with the rounds and taking stock while you elevate the foot and get caught up on some spinning.

Not that there’s any hurry to do so. As you lean on your arms against the balcony railing a little breeze kicks up. Content for the moment, you let it bring you a little coolness, a little movement, the rising and falling music of this year’s batch of cicadas. The meadow's pretty this summer, all purples and reds, festooned with lupine and Indian paintbrush and the air at the Roost smelling like the pines that grow around it.

“Patrol to Meadowlark.”

Damn. You left the walkie on the table inside. Guess the decision’s been made for you to get your ass moving. That’ll be a delivery coming in and you hobble on over to answer.

"Patrol here. You there, Meadowlark?"

“Sorry. Meadowlark here.”

“Sending Joel Miller in with supplies at the north gate.”

That’s…not what you expected. But…wow. Really? Has your heart stopped, or is it just going really fast?

“Put him on the walkie.”

Who cares what you’re heart’s doing, your face is gonna cramp from the smile.

“Hey. It’s me,” he answers, gentle, penitent.

“Me who.”

“Joel.”

So he's olive branching first. Well, he'll have to earn it.

“Yeah, about that, we have procedures around here. Callsign or bust, sir.”

You can almost hear his eyes rolling, but it sounds like he’s up for the challenge.

“Seriously.”

“Sure.”

“Jesus. This is…Grey Fox. Coming in at the north gate. Happy?”

“I will be. Meadowlark out.”

Tottering gingerly back out to the balcony, you land heavily on the old green broke-down sofa. There’s no need to bring the rifle. Even if he was being pursued by a pack of raging clickers, Joel is certain to carry a gun, and certain to use it confidently.

A few slow minutes tick by in the sun and a cicada buzzes in from nowhere to attach itself to one of the balcony supports. The big bug breathes for a minute, its iridescent wings still twitching with the effort of hoisting that bulky little body.

And then, in your eyeline just past the cicada, there’s movement.

Joel coming out of the north woods.

He’s on foot. Green plaid and jeans wading through the flowered fields. With his shirtsleeves rolled up on purpose to let those brown arms and big hands of his swing. With not just the one, but two rifles on his back? Isn’t that a bit overkill?

Wait. One of them’s not a rifle. It’s…a guitar.

Well. Someone’s planned to make himself at home.

Your smile earns more real estate.

Good.

Soon he’s close enough for you to make out his grey curls shifting in the breeze. Then he disappears under the Roost, only to transform into the sound of heavy footfalls on the ladder.

Propping your chin on your forearms crossed over the back of the sofa, you watch through the front windows as he steps into the room and takes it in with a carpenter’s eye. He stops in silent appreciation, gaze scrolling the woodwork, the joints, posts, slope of the peak. The woodstove catches his notice and he taps the tile beneath it with his boot, his interest trailing up the pipe, squinting at the trap around the exhaust. His bottom lip pushes up in approval and he nods, surveying the windows now…and stops when he sees you.

“Hey there, Cinnamon Roll. Welcome to the Roost.”

A half-hidden smile. Without a word, he untangles himself out of his gear, digging through his knapsack and retrieving a box before coming out onto the balcony and making his way over to you. Swiping a hand through the air, he motions for you to move your knee so he can sit beside you, then pulls your foot up into his lap and takes a look over your makeshift bandage–the sleeve of an old blouse–before starting to unwrap it.

It hurts. But you let him.

"Who told you I needed a first aid kit?"

"Was at the tavern when Goldie got the call. Heard it myself. Where’s Ellie?”

“She’s making the rounds. Just left before you came in."

He grunts an acknowledgement, focusing on your toe, moving it so he can assess the wound a little better. A little wince; he can tell it hurts. Grabbing a tiny bottle of cleansing agent and a fresh bandage, he gets to work.

“Just so you know,” he grumbles, “we don’t have a lot of antibiotics just sitting around. You shouldn’t let this stuff fester.”

He must see your smirk from the corner of his eye. He matches it with his own.

“You using my words against me now, Dr. Miller?”

“Not at all. Just passing on some valuable knowledge that was gifted to me.”

He works quietly, carefully wrapping the toe, then your foot, splinting it in a way that should make it easier to walk on. Obviously not the first time he’s cared for a wound. He must have seen a lot out there in his wilder days.

“This one was truly an accident. For real this time,” you attest.

But his smile burns off to the stone underneath.

His sincerity precedes him. “I’m sorry.”

An apology. From Joel Miller. For what? Not trusting you? Keeping Ellie away? Speaking to you the way he did? You assume it’s all of the above. But it isn’t necessary to ask for clarification; you only want to put the missteps behind you and get on with leaning on each other.

“You’re staying, right?”

He nods once to you, then to the sofa. “This where I’m sleeping?”

“I mean, if you want one of our beds, that’s fine, you’ll just have to fight us for it. In which case, you might as well give up now.”

“No, it’s okay. It’ll be like sleeping under the stars.” He stares out at the mountains over the meadow, watching the shadow of a cloud roll over it, your foot warm between his hands, a thumb absently rubbing at the bandage. “This is nice out here. Quiet. I’m not used to it. But it’s good.”

“Yeah, I’ll admit I do better with some wide open spaces. And fewer people to share it with.”

Two lines form above the bridge of his nose. “Ellie told me about your ranch. Your family. I’m sorry to hear it.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t worth being sorry.”

He's got you there. “Everyone’s lost something. Someone. Several someones. The whole world’s a little sorry. But I appreciate it. It means we’re all in it together, those of us left." You make a study of him, his solemn nod, the way the sun glints off his watch. “I’m glad you took me up on my invitation, Joel. It’ll be nice having you here, being out here together.”

And then he turns to you, making his own study of you, as if watching your clouds roll away too.

“I agree.”

________

“Now, the E7 is the same as the E, you just pick up that third finger. Good. Now let’s do a three-four, E7, A, E.”

As the sun starts to set, your eyes have had enough of the spindle for one day and you’re cleaning up while Joel and Ellie muck around with his guitar out on the balcony. She’s a quick study, even if some of the chords are more difficult than others for her small hands, and it’s obvious he’s been working with her on it for a while.

Using a walking stick that Joel made from a pine branch–stripping the bark and wrapping one end with duct tape for a sliverless handle–you put together a little plate of berries and cheese, sling a thermos full of sun tea under your arm, and head out to the balcony.

“That's it. Thumb, wrist, wrist,” Joel coaches Ellie in a waltz strum as you hand off the treats to him and take a spot at the railing for one last survey of the meadow before the twilight goes. “That’s good. Keep that up, just like that. Hey there, songbird,” he drawls at you, “you know any Hank Williams?”

Rather than turn to him with a smile, you give it to the meadow, but let him hear it in your voice. “Do I? My dad grew up in Montana in the 50s and 60s. What do you think I was raised on?”

“Well go on then. You should know this one.”

Now that you’re truly listening and realize the chords he’s been working her through, you certainly do.

Ellie must have told him how you like to sing out here. So you do.

“Hear that lonesome whippoorwill, He sounds too blue to fly. The midnight train is whining low, I'm so lonesome I could cry.”

Joel encourages Ellie to keep going, and to add a B7 in at the end. “Go on,” he prompts to you when you turn around, smiling blithely as his two girls make him a pretty song to listen to.

“I've never seen a night so long When time goes crawling by. The moon just went behind the clouds To hide its face and cry.

“Did you ever see a robin weep When leaves begin to die? That means he's lost the will to live; I'm so lonesome I could cry.”

“The next verse is the last one, so play her out on some single rising notes and hit the final chord.”

Ellie bites her bottom lip and nods, taking the cue, but she doesn’t need to look at her hands anymore as she’s getting the hang of it, and instead smiles as you take on her favorite subject.

“The silence of a falling star Lights up a purple sky, And as I wonder where you are… I'm so lonesome I could cry.”

Her outro could use a little work, but it suffices and you give her due applause. “How are those fingers doing?”

She takes stock of her hands. “Look. Calluses.”

“You’ve got some work to do before you can call those welts calluses,” Joel teases.

“Well, I think she’s earned a treat. I didn’t bring those out here for you to hoard ‘em.”

Ellie balances the guitar against the arm rest and Joel hands over the plate, stealing a cherry and popping it into his mouth. Bringing her feet up, Ellie rests the plate on her knees and settles against Joel’s shoulder, smiling, content, proud of her progress, eating her reward and watching the night come on.

It’s such an intimate father-daughter scene that you’re about to go indoors and let them enjoy the view together. But then Joel moves his foot slightly as if to block your path. Catches your eye. Drapes his free arm over the back of the sofa and glances pointedly at his free shoulder, then back at you with a jerk of his head as if to say, You too, get in here, this one’s yours.

You do not have to be told twice.

Settling in with a long sigh, you don’t pay much attention as Ellie starts recounting everything she knows and doesn’t know about the first moon landing. You’re more interested in the way your cheek fits into Joel’s shoulder, and how his arm lays heavy and warm over yours, how his chest rumbles when he answers Ellie’s questions and laughs at her sass. How the shadows spill over the butte and pull through everything until they are everything.

And you notice how the moonlight reflects off the plate in Ellie’s hand, off the tuning keys of the guitar…and yet…it’s missing in one place it should be.

Joel’s wrists are bare.

Joel is laughing. And his wrists are bare.

________

Picking up his watch where it’s been living on the little table all week, you pack it into Joel’s knapsack on the last morning before heading out.

“Goldie’ll be here soon. You see Joel come back from the rounds yet?”

Ellie shakes her head as she’s packing her bag. “Nope. Went out an hour or two ago. You want me to go get him?”

Taking his bag and your own to the balcony, you throw them over the side to the forest floor below. “I’ll go. Been on my ass all week. I could use the walk.” You hand her the walkie on the way out, trusting her to take the incoming hail.

Fastest way to find someone on rounds is to walk the opposite direction, so you head south to the stream.

You don’t have to go far.

A group of sheep have gathered in the grass halfway between the Roost and the water, lazing peacefully as if gathered for a little tea party, and you can guess what they’re all discussing.

There, in the middle of their protective huddle, is the man you’ve been waiting for all this time; shoes off, one arm slung above his head, asleep in the sun and the warm, fragrant grass, as if he grabbed your description of the meadow and ran with it, needing the nap of a lifetime.

At first you keep your distance, not wanting to startle him. But then you realize that it might take more than your approach and a couple soft bleats from a lamb to wake him.

Especially with his good ear turned to the ground like that.

Safe. Warm. Content.

Goldie will be coming soon, but you’ll be able to see her from here. No need to wake him yet.

There’s time enough to just sit and shade his face from the sun, watch the steady rise and fall of his hand on his belly, and whisper a little prayer of thanks to the earth and wind and sky–hell, even to the sheep–that Joel and Ellie found their way to Jackson.

And that you found your way to them.

Good. Everyone's got a good reason to keep going then.

________

Lyrics from "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" by Hank Williams

PREVIOUS: SPRING

NEXT: AUTUMN

MASTERLIST

SERIES MASTERLIST

(artwork by @stealyourblorbos)

#leave off your wandering #tlou fanfic #the last of us #the last of us fanfic #joel miller x reader #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x meadowlark

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grapejuicestyless · 1 year ago

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Fix You.

Conrad Fisher x fem!reader

Summery: You and Conrad have been in a toxic relationship for as long as you can remember. As much as you want to fix him, it night not be possible.

Just a little blurb while I try to finish other requests <3

The deepness of his eyes hid the cool undertones of his glare. He was the embodiment of summer. Blonde hair, tanned skin. He had freckles from the sun and a blush like burn tinting his cheeks. His wild hair and charming smile was nothing like the man he was.

At first I could blame his casual cruelty on the passing of his mother. The affairs of his father and the distrust that Belly had placed on him after her endless chase for his heart ended with the her wrapped around his brother.

But soon the past faded further into the distance. Each summer seemed more and more dull, not in his eyes, but in the fiery kindness he radiated. He was no longer the gentle boy I had grown up with. Not the same kid who sat next to me in math, begging for help on fractions. Not the same teenager who helped me in calculus when numbers because letters and more buttons on the calculator were being used.

He wasn’t the same Conrad who begged Susannah to take me with them each summer because the thought of even spending a second without his best friend from Boston was too unbearable for his young heart.

This Conrad liked to yell. He liked to drink at parties, and he liked to lie.

Hickeys adorned his once beautifully pure neck and his lips stained a shade of red I never owned. I couldn’t afford to own. And with the smell of liquor on his breath, I let it slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer. I reason, he wasn’t in the correct mindset. And in the morning he swears he believed it was me he was kissing. And I believe that it’s all better because he’s my Conrad, the same boy who pushed me on the swings and held my hand in the dark.

Yet, him confessing his infidelity meant nothing. His crying and begging building my trust only for him to ruin it again.

When would it be my turn to come home and pout about my mistakes. Ones that were supposed to be an accident that clearly were becoming more and more purposeful. When could I pull at my roots and sob into the shoulder of the man who swore to protect me?

It would never be and it could never be. The second my throat would close and my voice would betray me, he was as angry as I was. He had no reasons to be. But he was so good at convincing me otherwise.

“Have some self worth.” Belly had scolded me. But it was impossible to have some. Not when I’d spent it all on a boy who swore to pay it back and never did.

His friends all told him not to be surprised when I stopped showing up for him. A girl can only believe in change so much before the broken proves they are unfixable.

It took me until August, just days before our two year anniversary. A day that was once decorated with flowers and promises was littered with bear cans and scandals.

The night before I caught him finally. His second glass of wine half empty on the table. The same shade of red as the woman’s lips he was kissing tenderly.

I bet he would’ve like it, if I had made a scene. If I had yelled and cried. But I had already done all that. I had begged and pleaded for answers and he called me overdramatic, moody, angry. He had taken all the willpower out of me to do just what he wanted.

I stopped coming by after that summer. The old red door was chipped by the knocker, but it was never used anymore. And his phone was dry without the sound of my voice to remind him to enjoy the nice weather while it lasted.

The birds still sang and the children still played in the streets. But my driveway was empty and the houses were quiet.

I sat alone in my room, feet in front of me on the floor. Humming the tune of a song I know vaguely, I skip some lyrics in my head. Snow falls steadily by my window, and the chill seeps through my thin walls. My nose is red and fingers numb. Im combing through the twinkling fairy lights. I want to hang them up for the holidays. Each time I pull, no matter what I do, they always spring back into their previous curls and spirals. They twist and wrap around each other. The knot only reforms the farther I dig into the wires. I can try to change it, but it will always go back to where it was.

I was untangling string lights much longer than I thought.

#conrad fisher #tsitp conrad #conrad x reader #conrad fisher angst #conrad fisher fluff #conrad fisher x you #conrad x you #conrad fisher x y/n #conrad fisher x reader #conrad #isabel conklin

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donutwatches · 9 months ago

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MHA 2.20 - Listen Up!! A Tale from the Past - part 2

Sorry for the big gap in posting, I have been SICK sick. Anyway here is the rest of episode 20.

He looks like a business man. Needs tailoring in the shoulders. Big bad villain points thus far, mysteriousness: 10 points, intimidation: 7 points, fashion sense: it's a 0 from me.

Why do I feel like I am learning so much lore, but only have more questions?

Wait, it is hard to tell in black and white, but that is totally All Might in a pool of blood hunched over Big Bad's 'dead' body, right?

I would pay money to see that fight. I must have been gritty as hell. SHOW ME THE GORE!

This seems like something Deku should have been informed of BEFORE he was given the quirk. I suppose All Might thought Big Bad was dead, but still.

Well crap. I guess fighting terrifying villains was going to come with the territory no matter what, but All Might having kept our little Green Bean in the dark about the history of his new quirk feels like a big mistake.

Sweet brave kiddo. It is a good thing that All Might turned out to be a good person. Imagine if he wasn't? With a kid looking up to him so blindly he could have manipulated him so badly.

This statement from Deku is ominously naive. Deku is def going to face dark times and hardship that will test his commitment. I know it is going to be hard to watch him fight through it.

TELL HIM WHAT ALL MIGHT! IF YOU ARE HIDING MORE ESSENTIAL INFO AT THIS POINT I SWEAR TO THE ANIME GOD-

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO DEATH FLAGS ALLOWED!

The show is basically telling us he is going to die upfront. I am going to hope it is reverse psychology, and that somehow All Might will escape the mentor death trope. *Praying*

What the hell? Is his head a cabbage? That is wild.

Click here for episode 21

#mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #izuku midoriya #anime #all might #deku #midoryia #yagi toshinori #ofa #afo

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jackiequick · 11 months ago

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Iceman. Ice cold, no mistake and—wait he has a kid?! | Top Gun Fanfic ❄️

Summary: The day people find out about Iceman’s private life would be the day he makes sure, he knows it firsthand. In other words, Tom Kazansky meets his future wife the day his fellow pilot finds out about his daughter.

Established father daughter relationship: Iceman & Skysolo

Pairing: Tom “Iceman” Kazansky x Hazel "Daredevil" Quinn

Note: Pre-Top Gun Maverick, so Amber Kazansky is around 5-7 years old

——

There were many things Iceman was, or least how he presented himself to people. Strong, levelheaded, flies ice cold and no mistake if he had a say in it.

Some people were honest a bit scared of the man, might even idolized him, and even rather intimidated to say the least due to his looks.

Yeah sure he was rather layback and chill, cracking a few wisecracking jokes with his teammates and family. Swearing his cheeky smile with pride. Ask Maverick or Slider, they’ll tell ya the truth to that showing smile.

But one thing that Iceman made sure was to keep his private life separate from his aviation one. At home, he was just Tom. Tom Kazansky.

And there is a reason why.

His daughter.

Amber Nic Kazansky.

His angelcake, his little snowball, and his reason to keep fighting. His angel eyes. He kept her private from the public eye, safe and sound in his arms. Mentioning his kid every once in a while at work but people always assumed he was talking about Maverick’s kids or Goose’s son.

Because he was considered their uncle, to everyone on base.

But they don’t ever assume his own. He didn’t blame them, he never specifically said his daughter name out loud to the masses to hear. Only his close family and friends knew about Amber’s existence. She was one of Maverick’s sweethearts afterwards and Slider’s little glamorous girl.

And if ever did his angel eyes to work, he made sure she never left his sight. It was a big place, she could get lost however Amber was smart enough to know her way around the base too, even if Tom liked it or not…

Such as today.

Tom wasn’t supposed to have work that weekend, it was Sunday for gods sake but his bosses had other plans for the Lieutenant Commander. He was called in to finalize some paperwork, check on installations and probably head to some meetings. Which meant he would be stuck in his office for most of the day.

Tom sighed, knowing he had no choice but to bring Amber with him due to Maverick being busy and his sister being in another freaking state. However he didn’t mind the company, since he was able to show his daughter the planes, possibly getting to see a familiar face such as Wraith or Hollywood, look at the frames on the wall and the view of the building from where they were standing.

And to be honest, Amber loved it. She was shy about it all but she couldn’t help but grin. Her eyes sparkled at the huge planes, the classrooms filled with aviators, the darling style of the technology they had and clean cut frame of the building.

Tom stayed in his office playing the radio and doing paperwork with Amber by his side sitting in the blue beanbag beside from desk. Even though Tom was working, he pauses writing on a form hearing his 7 year old curls bounce as she sang one of the songs on the radio as she played with her Barbie dolls.

“And here we go, we know the start, we know the end!” She sang, brushing her doll’s hair with such passion, “Masters of the scene. We’ve done it all before and now we’re back to get some more..”

“You know what i mean.” Tom sang along softly, twirling his pen in between his finger grinning, “Voulez-Vous!”

One thing was sure was how much she loved singing ABBA’s popular songs when it came on the radio. She definitely got it from her aunts and uncles, he can’t blame her. When music like that starts playing it becomes contagious, where you just have to sing along.

Amber stood up from her beanbag chair and started to twirl around, dancing holding out a hand for Ice to take. He hesitated cause he was at work but he shrugged, removing himself from his seat taking his daughter’s hand and twirl her around. Her infectious laugh and cheeky grin matched her father’s gracefully.

The two of them, dancing until the song was over and radio played Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5. Tom returned back to his desk, twirling the pen back in his hand chuckling. Meanwhile Amber went to grab the grapes that were packed in her bag as she sat down and ate, looking out the window at the planes.

———

A few short hours later, Slider walked in greeting his niece and best friends, sitting down to talk with Ice over the planes they would flying next weekend. Amber was finally starting to get bored and begging her father to walk around the base with him. She wanted to spend time with him or her uncles to explore for a while, instead of being laying around in an office.

Slider noticed the look on his niece’s face and said, “Oh come Tom, it’s just a little walk to see the other side of base. I know your overprotective but cut the baby some slack.”

“Ron. I know that, she’s been here before she could walk but what if she gets lost, huh? Half of people don’t even know about her.” Tom explained, with a sigh.

“She’ll be fine! Won’t you, baby?”

“Slider!”

“Ice! We’ll have fun, right babygirl?”

Amber smiles, “Yeah! Daddy pleaseeee! I will be careful.”

With a sigh, he nodded and replied, “Alright. Okay, you can go and explore the base but be careful. I don’t want you getting lost or get both of you and your uncles in trouble.”

“No promises. They are a bunch of cowboys like you said.”

“Clever girl. And watch your tone.”

Slider chuckled taking his niece’s hand and teased his best friend on how they’re gonna cause some trouble. Probably even bring Goose and Mav along for the ride. Ice just rolled his eyes and chuckled at them.

Ron knew that his niece was very important to his pilot’s life and understood why he’s been overprotective of her since day one. He was a single father, yeah sure their friends were there too but Tom was the main caretaker of his daughter’s life. Of course he wanted her safe and sound wherever she is. It was also a private part of his life, that he wanted to maintain calm and not go off the rails.

But like everything, change happens and surprises come along the way. Weather he liked it or not.

He was talking to Hollywood when it did, keeping Amber close by the tarmac of the planes. Hollywood was kneeling down to the girls height, letting her play with his helmet in the meantime.

Both men were chatting about the way the newer pilots almost got jet washed during training session a couple of days ago and how they needed to tweak the planes safety alerts. Amber was holding Hollywood’s helmet and enjoying the colors when something caught her eye. More like someone.

On the tarmac, drew out a nice sliver dollar plane as if someone just gotten off the skies and landed on the ground. She caught wind of the small wave of damage the plane got on the edges but the man—no women, since she removed her helmet, who step out of cockpit, climbing out of the darn thing had some trouble finding grin on her.

She didn’t know if to be impressed or intimidated by her.

Dark locks like her uncle Mav, a dark olive green jumpsuit like all the other aviators and attention grabbing attitude towards the person she was talking to. Amber didn’t get a good look at her face though. So in her brain, she couldn’t if she was good news or not.

She was taken out of her gaze, following her uncle Slider and Hollywood inside still holding the helmet. Slider was called by Viper for something real quick, leaving her with Hollywood. Amber got a bit annoyed at that, she wanted to explore but she got stuck sitting on a bench instead.

It was half bad, due to her and Hollywood talking about the latest movie she saw.

Since her dad and uncles took her, Bradley, Austin, Jenny and Dane to see a rereleased of The Empire Strikes Back. The kids haven’t seen those movies yet, so it was their first time. But Hollywood couldn’t go cause he was too busy so he couldn’t, instead Wolfman went taking his place.

“And then Luke fought Darth Vader! Austin screamed saying he could do it better than him. And I said ‘no you can’t!’ but he didn’t believe me.” Amber exclaimed with a laugh, “Why did Leia kiss Luke then Han in the movie?”

Hollywood chuckled at her enthusiasm for the movie and repiled, “Well he did to prove a point to Han. But you kids will have to watch the next one to find out what happens. Did your Aunt Carole or Drey took you to see The Little Mermaid yet?”

“No! They said we gotta wait for they can buy it and we can watch it at home. But I wanna see it.”

“How about I see if I can get Drey to change her mind? How does that sound? She owes me a date anyway.”

Amber giggled at that and nodded, suddenly she had to use the restroom and Hollywood pointed to go down the hallway, next to the double doors. He watched her from where he was standing, smiling.

———

After she used the restroom, Amber noticed that Hollywood wasn’t there anymore but on the other end of the hallway talking with Wolfman. She rolled her eyes and grunted, rushing her with a glare to Hollywood.

“Hey! You said you’d wait for me.” Yelled Amber, tugging at his pant leg with a glare that similar to Iceman.

Expect that glare had a hint of fire within them, like there was smoke behind the ice cold blocks. Wolfman noticed it and would’ve chuckled if he wasn’t a bit confused about Amber being here. He was sure he saw her walking with Slider earlier.

“I’m sorry, kiddo! I got caught up with Wolf, he will telling me something important.” Hollywood apologize, for his mistake but he still saw the glares.

He noticed Amber walking away, her temper and annoyance getting the best of her. All she wanted was a small walk around the base with someone like her aunts or uncles but they were more or less distracted with work. She couldn’t even blame them for being caught up with work but she was smart enough to know she deserves some attention and respect.

Hollywood and Wolfman chased after the 7 year old, as her blonde locks bounced across the hallways of the base finding herself in the wonders of the building. She pushed her bangs past her eyes, popped up her collar of her jacket.

A few mutters and mumbles could be heard of people asking who’s child was that around the corner, as she stopped in front of the rows of pictures frames displaying days of older class photos. From 1960s to now. She blocked out the whole noise of officers, captains, commanders and even some lingering lieutenants who walked past her.

She saw a few pictures frames of planes her favorite was the Tomcat due to the display of grays and or blues, speaking volumes of the way it swords the skies and classic modeling that carried two passengers. She knows her uncle Mav had small miniature replicas near the speakers at his house, telling the kids to not play with them.

She wasn’t one to absolutely desire the trill of piloting one of those lovely things. But she wouldn’t mind being in the backseat of one, watching them go fast and the high from being in the clouds. Hell, her uncle Merlin and Maverick took her in one of those for a quick joy ride before her surprise birthday party last year. They were only off the ground for a few minutes, nothing special but it was fun.

Amber sighed, smiling softy at the pictures wishing she wasn’t alone but with her uncles. Like Merlin, Maverick, Slider or even her uncle Buzz. But then again, she did run away from them and they were busy.

She heard a loud, “Kazansky!” as she wiped her head around to see Jester and Stinger talking probably searching for her father.

As one of their fellow members, said that he was in his office and heading to a meeting.

She even heard Cain’s voice yelling “Maverick! Kazansky better get say something good about you and Merlin’s flying today or so god help me!”

She was rather shy but curious, when it came to things like this. Her uncle Mav always got into trouble for his interesting, in color words to say the least, flying skills. She winced hearing the yelling of her last name and others across the hall, as you can hear plenty muffled noises in between. Amber didn’t like it, so she glanced at the pictures once again, this time being of the 86’ class and ran finding herself outside of a briefing room.

She knew the room she stood outside of, being the same one her dad’s higher rank, Viper, taught the 86’ class in. Well it was very much similar, at least. She stood on her tippy toes at the window, looking inside to find it empty inside but the door easily locked.

It was across the small hallway her father would possibly be having his meeting in. Amber instead of boring herself, she found herself wondering outside the window playing with one of the tiny toy Blackbird plane, she had in her pocket that she took her father’s desk at home and placed it against the glass window pretending to fly it.

She giggled to herself softly using imagination and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Officer Kazansky speaking. I will be showing here the flight manners, I liked to call a barrel roll. And if you’re lucky, you can surprise the other pilots with this one by sneaking up on them.”

Little did she know, some female works were walking past her and listening giggling catching onto her last name. Some were confused even shocked, plenty around it adorable and others were jealous thinking that Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky was secretly taken if that was really his kid.

——

Just as Ice was about to enter his meeting with Jester, Cain and Stinger to explain his wingman actions up in the sky, Slider went rushing in as as Maverick was about to head inside.

“H-HEY! I-Ice, we got a little—” Slider began to explain what he heard from Hollywood and Wolfman, but was surely cut off.

“Where’s my kid?” Tom asked, looking over his shoulder and around for his daughter.

“I was just about to get to that. Long story short, I left her with Holly for a while and when I came back, he and Wolf said she was gone.”

“Gone or ran? Amber ain’t gonna run out unless something happened.”

Maverick cut in, “Wait! Amber’s here?! In the building?! Slider what’s wrong with you?”

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault Viper called me earlier into his office, so I left her with the guys! They said she ran from them as the two started to chase her down." Slider said, telling the shorter pilot.

“Find her! I don’t care about myself right now, I’ll take the heat like always but Jester would be more mad that you guys left a child unattended in the building.”

Tom shared a look with his wingman, something both him and Mav knew all too well, the panic, fear and annoyance at the thought of their children missing. Slider or some of their friends didn’t get it yet, since not all of them were parents but they had nieces and nephews. Slider was of course one step ahead of them, saying that he already sent some of the guys to go search the blonde.

Maverick gave Ice a soft smile, “Hey. They’ll find her, if not we’re leave the meeting early and get her ourselves.”

Tom’s eyes were turning ice cold with a glare that somewhat soften at his words nodding, then entered the meeting quietly. Iceman being too quiet wasn’t a good thing for anyone, it meant his mind was racing around with throughs to rush out and resume work for another day. But had to stay focused, he knew Slider and the others were on the case. Maverick was frustrated by it all, yelling for Merlin who walked past by to see if he saw Amber, who shock his head but went searching for her…

———

The girl in question was walking around the base, passing a few short notice offices and lounges to find not many familiar faces. She was getting shyer and slightly curious as the moments went on, regardless she knew she got herself in trouble by running away. Amber eventually stumbled upon an office that brought a soft smile to her face. She gently knocked on the door, fixing her jacket and holding her plane in one hand.

It open to reveal the man who this office belong to brown mustache, deep brown eyes and tipped baseball cap staring at her. Mike MetCalf, Viper, looked down at her blinking twice at her small figure. He heard a few of his 86’ class rushing across the building yelling and shouting softly a few words, as it clicked in his head. They was looking for her.

He kneeling down in front of her, noticing the same deep look as her father, covered with blushing tears as if she was trying not to shed any. He put a hand on her shoulder, “Amber, sweetheart. What happened?”

“I..I ran away..fr-from..from Hollywood and Wolfy..” She replied with a small voice, a soft glare trying to keep her tears from falling.

“That’s wasn’t the right move and you know it. I don’t know why you did it but you weren’t supposed to that..”

“I know…”

“Come on.”

He takes her hand, leading her inside his office as he lead her to the counter against the wall near the window. He told her to stay there, as he was in middle of a conversation with an pilot at the moment. She looked up at the pilot, Viper mentioned, as she titled her head remembering the dark hair women from eariler. This time, she saw her face.

She was looking right at her.

Her rather soft features combined with rich one such as the woman’s nose and eyebrows that curled in a way as if she was analyzing the situation. There was something about this women that made Amber not know if she would be scared or shy about her, as she looked away from the brunette.

Viper noticed the looks and said, “Amber Nic Kazansky, meet Hazel Quinn. One of our pilots here, she’s been here before months ago but transferred recently to hopeful longer stay.”

This time the women—Hazel, looked at Amber with a slight difference, analysis of her state with soften concern and worry for the young girl. Hazel looked at Amber, twisting in her chair and standing up to sit beside the little girl. She noticed her glares, her last name ringed bell. Iceman. Flies ice cold, no mistakes.

She never met the man or even seen pictures but heard about him. If though he never met him, she can see the results of his child from the blonde hair to the eyes. But there was a sweetness that Hazel read to her face, a loving and gentle pace to the girl. A doll that needed to be protected. She can only imagine what made this girl run away but she might have an idea coming from a family who lend their lives to the military herself.

Hazel smiled softly, “Hi.”

“Hey..” replied Amber, looking up at the women.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Y-yeah I’m fine…how about you?”

“I’m alright but you don’t seem like your fine.”

“I’m fine..”

“…look, I guess you don’t want to tell me what happened cause we just met. But whatever it is, you should at least tell someone. They will try to understand.”

Amber stayed silent, her smoking glares still knees deep she wanted to say something like a witty comeback or a rude interception of her works but she didn’t.

Hazel contained her obvious observations and continued, “Okay I’ll humor you. I bet that you wanted to spend time together with your father or uncles but they got too busy, playing hand off with you instead? You wanted some kind of respect and attention today but didn’t get it or know to tell your guardian at the moment about it.”

That seemed to soften Amber up, as she looked over her shoulder and nodded, she left like she wasn’t exactly scared around this women but somehow understood and willing to listen. I guess what they say is true, sometimes a complete stranger can be the easiest person to talk to than anyone else closer to you? Huh? Hazel watched her, waited for her to say something as she noticed Amber tuned to face better and explain.

She told her, everything about how she wanted to spend time walking around the base and explore with her family members but she really secretly wanted was some more moments with her dad. But she understood he was busy today, since he originally wasn’t supposed to come into work at all for that matter. Amber couldn’t blame him and didn’t even bother to say anything but it sounded like she was annoyed with that fact herself. She knew Viper was listening, as she watched her in a way he looked at his own children and godson.

Hazel wanted to give this little lady a hug because she knew that feeling all too well herself, wanting to spend time with her parents but they were busy sometimes with military assistance. But she could tell from how Amber spoke of her father, she loved him very much and wasn’t even mad at his efforts, as if she knew she will get her attention soon enough.

————

And she was right. Because less than a half a second later, you could 8 rushing footsteps and yelling of 4 men, possibly even 5 at Viper’s doorstep.

“Amber!” Yelled the voice. As the girls turned around to see Tom Kazansky—no, Iceman, standing there with his hand on the doorknob with a mix of anger, worry and deep questions laced across his face. He continued, “Sweetheart what were—”

“I’mma stop you right there, flyboy.” Said the only female voice in the room, being Hazel, who stood up from the couch facing Iceman with a hand hovering his chest to pause him.

It was as if the room fell silent for a millisecond.

This brunette just stop Tom Kazansky in his tracks. The Iceman. Hollywood and Wolfman were just outside the door, as you only heard a small sniff or murmured noise coming from there. Wolfman blinked confused then recognize the voice, knowing who she was.

She was like a female Maverick but with a strong levelheaded voice, dark humor and a wildly competitive side to boot.

Princess Leia but in aviator form in simpler words.

Slider cough slightly, standing there awkwardly entering the room to check up on Amber’s current state that matched his own. They were both staring at Daredevil and Iceman, who just locked eye on another.

Tom’s ice cold glares that tend to be laced with deep fried anger watching all the angles in the room, locked eyes with the brunette. She was breathtaking. Stunning in every way possible due to the way she challenged him at the moment.

From her short brown hair with feather bangs that almost fell over eyesight that she didn’t even bother to fix. Rich blue eyes. Craved out cheekbones that enchanted her beauty. Along with the nude, almost red lip that she carried added to her frame.

It took a moment for Ice to contain his combating composure and focus on the task at hand. But dear god was this women gorgeous in his eyes!

Tom cleared his throat, scoffed with a slight chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, who might you be?”

She crossed her arms, with a light smile pointed across her face with a stance and replied, “Hazel ‘Daredevil’ Quinn. One of your new Lieutenant Commanders, sir. I’m assuming that she’s your daughter?”

“Yeah, ma’am, she is. I apologize if she intercepted your and Viper’s conversation earlier. She almost gave me a scare..”

She scoffed, “Some father. Shouldn’t you have been looking after her? Look, she told me what happened and how she felt. I don’t blame you for anything but maybe take a few minutes to listen to her next time.”

He raised a eyebrow, “Look, I would’ve been keeping an eye on her but I unfortunately got caught up with work, so I entrusted her with my friends and she got away from them. I messed up and so did they, i take full accountability for what happened today. None of this was supposed to happen but I’m more worried about her right now.”

Hazel took one a look over her shoulder at Amber, as Tom followed her gaze with a sigh already telling by his daughter eyes that she was a bit down in the dumps. He kneeled down in front of her, put a gentle hand on her cheek meeting her baby blues and asking her tell him what happened in a calmer tone this time. Hazel sat beside her, listening to what she told her.

Tom sighed lowering his head as he listened to his daughter’s words and shook his head, not catching on the small signs that she wasn’t enjoying her day, he apologized greatly for it. His first job was father, pilot second. He knew that, it’s why he tried to keep his private life separate from this base but here he was in Viper’s office listening to his baby girl thoughts.

Sometimes he forgets what’s it like to be a child and feel unheard or not wanting to bother adults with your own business.

Amber pushed back her bangs and lowered her eyes, before looking up at her father and said, “…I’m sorry, daddy..i know I shouldn’t have ran away but i wanted to see the base with you..but everyone was busy or talking with other people…it felt like Hollywood forgot about me..”

“Honey, why didn’t you come back to my office or at least, find your uncle Mav to tell us how you were feeling?” Tom asked, with a soft tone that sounded almost like a whisper, nothing like the pilot people are used to hearing.

“You were handling a lot of paperwork and i heard Jester call your name..and I didn’t like it..and uh, you were about to go into a meeting. I didn’t want to interrupt you..”

“And you through because i was about to head to a meeting to bail out your uncle Mav, I wasn’t gonna have time to talk with you? Baby, as busy or annoyed as i can get, i will always make time for you. I’m sorry you thought running around base was the best option…oh..all you wanted was a little bit of attention, didn’t you?”

She just nodded at that. She must’ve sounded selfish or brash, wanting some attention than it seemed like she already had. Hell, due to her lack of communication she had 5 men searching for her.

“Amber, honey, you’re still so young and you won’t get it now but when you’re older you will. I didn’t want to stuck in my office all day, it wasn’t even my intention to make you feel that way either. If it was up to me, i would’ve been taking you flying or have you see a new selection of planes we have gotten this month but my schedule said otherwise. When you’re old enough you will understand what i mean. I should’ve went with you and gave you my full attention instead of having you hang out with your uncle Slider.”

Slider intercepted with a light mocking gasp, “Hey! I was a nice babysitter.”

“You lost her, you idiot.” Tom commented.

“Blame Hollywood and Wolfe for that last part.”

“Yeah, sure, buddy. We will.”

Wolfman and Hollywood scoffed hearing that part but nodded, since they did take a part in losing the young blonde. The duo walked in apologizing for their mistakes, as Wolf even ruffled Amber’s hair in efforts to make her crack a smile. And to his efforts, it worked.

Hazel leaned backwards in her sat and whisper softly to the young blonde, “Well now you got all the guys fondling over you, sweetie. Feel a little better?”

Amber nodded and wrapped her arms around Tom’s neck as he picked her up, embracing his little angels warmth not wanting to let her go. He humming softly asking, “Angel eyes?”

“Hm?” Amber responded, rubbing her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Can you forgive me?”

“Well, daddy, can you forgive me?”

He chuckled nodding, “Yeah I can. I’m still a bit mad that you ran instead of coming to me first but yeah, of course I forgive you.”

She smiled at that, “I forgive you daddy..how much longer do you have to go your meeting?”

“I cut my meeting with Cain short because I had to go searching for you. But I have another one in two hours, after that I’m all yours.”

“Are you in trouble?”

“Stinger understood but Jester was a little annoyed, but I think I got off the hook. And I think you need to apologize for giving Maverick and the rest of the boys a scare too, baby.”

She nodded hearing the last part, knowing she needed to do that at some point. Tom put her down on the floor, thanking Viper for keeping her in his office for the time being as the older man told him he didn’t mind it one bit. Slider was already walking walking the boys out of the office, leaving the father daughter duo and a certain someone left. Hazel was running her fingers crossed her hair, with a soft smile leading against the couch hearing them talk softly to another one prideful she was able to help.

However just as she about to continue her conversation with Mike, the two blondes turned to her. Amber thanked her firsthand, hoping to see her around more often if she gets a chance to visit the base once again and went to stand in the doorway waiting for her father.

As she stood in the doorframe of Viper’s office, she noticed something on both adults faces. Mainly because the fog cleared now for her. She would’ve giggled and cleared her throat but she was more than curious to see where this goes. Mike was standing beside her, giving the girl a small wink as he looked over his shoulder to see Maverick coming their way.

Tom cleared his throat and grinned, “Uh, thank you back there.”

“For what?” Hazel asked, with a sly smile.

“Knocking some sense into me. I wasn’t thinking straight at all, usually I’m more grounded than this.”

“So I heard. I heard of your reputation, but I never expected the whole father thing.”

“Yeah well, it’s something I don’t expect everyone to know. I have my reasons to keep my private life separated from my aviation one.”

“I get it.”

“Yeah?”

“I do. With a darling girl like that, I can see why you want to keep her safe. She’s a good girl, you got lucky.”

“I think so too. And she seems to have taken a liking to you.”

“I guess so. Uh, I’ll see you around, Iceman?”

“Most certainly, Daredevil.”

Amber rolled her eyes at her father not being as smooth as he would be and chuckled, “Ask for her number, daddy.”

All adults laughed at her comments and rolled their eyes, seeing how forwarded she was being today. To be fair, after the world-wind of a day Tom had his head wasn’t screwed on straight, so missed a stepped at being a flirt with his fellow pilots.

He gave his daughter a pointed look and chuckled, “I was just getting to that, sweetheart.” He continued looking at the brunette with his signature smile and added, “Can I have your number, beautiful?”

Hazel chuckled doubling over with a hand on her chest, still taking in the young girl’s forwardness as if it was the most obvious answer. It took her a moment before she replied with a darling smile, biting her bottom lip, “Yes. Yes you may.”

Without a second later, Hazel ripped a piece a index card from Viper’s desk and wrote down her number, handing it to Tom who grinned thanking her. The two talked for another half minute about whatever nonsense that came to mind, with a mention of a date next Friday if they’re both available and then some. Viper chuckled clearing his throat, as much as he loved seeing two pilots creating a connection, he knew time is money and he had meetings to get to today.

Both the blonde and brunette nodding grinning as Ice took his daughter’s hand and once again thanked Viper, allowing him to return to his previous meetings Daredevil earlier. Hazel waved at the two blondes and took a seat once again where she sat originally.

———

As one could imagine, the rest of the day went as follows, Ice went to his final meeting of the day with Amber this time right beside him. She didn’t mind it all, rather enjoyed being in the room with all the high ranking people and the view of the office in general. Maverick intercepted the meeting to check up on his niece and wingman, glad to see two of favorite people in the building alright and well. Stinger glared at the short pilot twice and pointed for him to exit the door as soon as possible.

Once it over, the father daughter packed it up leaving the offices and headed to the tarmac to watch the planes in the air. Since he always carried an extra pair of sunglasses, he slipped the another one in her hand as she gladly put them on.

Tom scooped up Amber, pointing out the fliers pulling the moves then landing from the safe zone. There were moments of comfortable silence between the two of them and others of them suggesting what else they should do that day.

“How about McDonald’s?” Amber asked, as her father placed her once again on the ground.

He thought for a moment, considering the opinions of today’s action and shook his head, “Sorry, angel eyes. Not today, maybe some other time.”

“It’s okay. I understand..I’m sorry again daddy for running off.”

“I know you are sweetie and I just hope next time you know not to do something like that again.”

“Yes daddy. So no McDonald’s?”

“Nope. We have food at home, but we can past McDonald’s on the drive.”

Tom smirked watching her face, as her mouth opened for a moment then shut pouting. Seeing that it would furrow her brown and having her nose snitch up at that rather rude idea. He knew it was a little mean act, but it was something his grandfather did to him as a small punishment and to see if the fast food restaurant was really worth it.

After a moment, her face returned back to normal as she let out a dramatic sigh and nodded knowing it was somewhat fair trick to play on her. She even let out a smile, following her father out away from the tarmac and into the parking lot.

The drive home was pretty okay, since the music that played on the radio allowed for a gentle sound to release whatever negative thoughts and feelings from across the day, as they went out the window. And yes, they did past by McDonald’s on their way home.

Once they got home, both ate something and showered early, that’s when Tom had the actual talk he said he was going to do earlier that day. Not to get into any heavy detail, it a long 20 minutes of Tom’s eyes almost shifting to his Iceman persona every few minutes at how his emotions sorta bottled up in him while scolding Amber.

He didn’t scream or yell, keeping his voice neutral the whole time.

Telling how that what she did was very reckless, irresponsible, that it a worrisome situation on his part and she literally made a down right stupid decision. Saying something worse could’ve happened if she wasn’t careful. He gave his two sense on the matter and explained to her all the possibilities of what might’ve went wrong today. Things she could’ve done instead and so forth.

Amber tear up hearing her father and just nodded listening to him. He said that he understood why she did it, she felt annoyed and unheard. Plus, she’s a kid, so she doesn’t know any better than to just run away from the issue and stay in her thoughts. However he does say that he felt good that she realized what she did wrong and went back to find an adult.

Yes, he rather it was him but he really liked the fact that she at least went to Viper’s office. Because it was a trusted friend and honorary member of the family.

Due to Tom sitting on the couch with her as he talked, he rubbed her shoulder and handed her a tissue to wipe away those tears that rolled down her cheeks. Apologizing as well for his decisions and own actions today, knowing he messed up on his part since he should’ve stayed with her the whole entire time, instead of leaving her with Slider and the older pilots.

That he should’ve read the signs and taken time to give her his full attention or something. Amber didn’t blame him, as she given her moments to speak her mind as well onto her own feelings. She promised to not try to run away again and go to him if she feels some certain way. She asked if it possible to go flying like old times and he replied that one day they can. Telling her how he will definitely try his best to make time for her, listen to her own thoughts better and keep himself as in the loop as possible.

He gave her a squeeze and a kiss on her cheek, as the two stayed there just talking about punishments, the rules for the rest of the week and exceptions to be set soon. She leaned into his touch and nodded hearing him talking, to be honest even though he was telling her no tv for a week and among other things, his voice was rather relaxing. Hushing her worries about a few things as she softly smile.

Overall the afternoon went well, a few shed tears and a couple of moments just to hear the other person out was exactly what was needed.

——

That’s what I got for the first fic of the year (this was supposed to come out last year but shhh 🤫). I hope y’all like it.

Tell me what did you think about it in the comments below. Remember to like, share and reblog!

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