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nadiecomoyo · 4 years ago

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Fortune Favors The Bold

Prologue

Before visiting Yuta, Gojo travels to America to see a group of skilled individuals. Once there he gives them the task to seek out cases where curses are out of the norm, in hopes to find more of Sukuna’s fingers. All four of them scramble across Japan with one goal in mind: find as many fingers as possible to feed to the new vessel before his execution takes place.

Song Inspirations: La Casita, The Plan, Leave The Door Open

WK: 3.5k

A/N: Hi! This is my first story. It’s more for my entertainment but if people like this then great. Basically Gojo meeting the gang and what not. Enjoy!

“Would your table like to start off with an appetizer while the last person in your party arrives?” the waitress asked, making her round yet again to the table for a third time that night. The pristine white table cloth maintaining the same cleanliness since their arrival. The only indication of the table being used are the four empty glasses littering the table. The exact table currently holding four people who remained silent as sharp glares descend on the vacant seat. The three men and one female all looked like they wanted to be somewhere else, the waitress noted that none of the guests have ordered food, only drinks.

Angel sighed, seeing the lack of initiative from the others, and decided to answer the patient waitress. “No thank you, we’ll order once he arrives. But can you get us four,” turning his head to see Nicole motioning to her glass, “I mean three glasses of Aviation and one glass of water.” The waitress jotted down the request and promptly left.

The lavish Gabriel Kreuther restaurant became alive at night: people chattering, plates and utensils clicking, instruments playing, yet their table did not have an ounce of sound. Unbeknown to the waitress and the people around them, the four were conversating in their minds.

[Some invite this is], Alejandro flicked his wrist to the seat next to him.

[The guy is almost an hour late. I don’t care who he is I’m ditching this place once I finish my drink], Thomas sent an annoyed look to the group. Alejandro hummed in agreement.

[Come on guys, it must be serious if he contacted us], Angel pleads to the other three at the table.

[It’s concerning how he found us. The barrier I generate around us clouds our remnants. The inevitable trails we leave behind should not be enough to trace us ba-]

[-Must be his Six Eyes!] Thomas’ eyes widened at his not-so-genius epiphany.

His internal excitement reached his body, their mental conversation did not help the incoming waitress with their drinks, who has not seen much of a reaction from the guests since they have arrived. She did not expect Thomas’ action and almost dropped the tray onto the floor. A quick apology towards the waitress and a mild smack on Thomas’ head from Nicole amended the almost tragedy.

[As I was saying], Nicole specifically looking at Thomas, [I’m just glad we’re here and not back home. I never want to be in the same room with him and my grandfather.]

[The bastard may finally have a heart attack], Alejandro snickering at the thought of the resigned clan leader kicking the bucket, [Either way being caught between a rock and a hard place sucks.]

Everyone was thinking the same thing since their special, late, guest invited them to the sought-after restaurant overviewing the New York skyline. They all did not like this encounter one bit. All four of them were uncomfortably realizing their present reality. Exorcising in the shadows for so long, while going against their respective clan’s wishes, they preferred no one knew about their prohibited activities. The confrontation by a certain sorcerer clearly irked them, especially Nicole.

[Those eyes of his annoy me beyond imagina-]

Nicole halted her sentence as all four of them sensed an overwhelming presence of cursed energy. Being seated in the middle of the room, it gave them access to seeing the entrance door. An overly tall white-haired man sporting black sunglasses entered the main dining room floor. He exchanged words with the host, who pointed to the reserved table under his name, and began to walk towards them.

“Look who finally arrived,” Angel’s sarcastic comment rang a bit too loud causing a few people at the other tables to glance at him.

Nicole quickly investigated the special guest’s mind.

[Oh, I am so late. But that chocolate pizza really hit the spot. I need to buy one for Yuta before I leave.]

Disappointed with the revelation, she retracted from his mind. Nicole begrudgingly sent him a smile as he sat down at the table acting as if he was not late by one hour.

“Sorry for the delay, traffic here is terrible amiright?” flashing a bright smile towards the four at the table, “My name is Sa-,”

“We know who you are. Can you get on with the point of this dinner? Your timing is immaculate, has anyone told you that?" Thomas interrupted Gojo, sending him the same bright smile back. Gojo seemed to expect that type of response and brushed his teasing comment.

“I knew I made the right choice with you all,” Gojo slouched on his chair and pointed at Nicole, “You made it a difficult task in trying to find all four of you, I’m impressed, but better luck next time.”

His jab at her technique hardly offended her. Unsurprising to her, it offended the three other males. Before the lot opened their mouths, she sent them a reassuring nod before speaking on her behalf.

“Now that I am familiar with your mind, I will sense your presence the second you come into the country again. I will make sure that you will never find us again,” [nor our clans] she thought, while staring into the black abyss of his sunglasses.

“Don’t stay away too far, I’ll miss you,” His shameless flirting earned him scoffs from Alejandro and Thomas.

[This guy, I swear] / [Gross], both men expressed their distaste.

“Are you going to tell us what this dinner is for? Certainly not to get to know us. You clearly have knowledge of us, it got you this far,” disgusted by his remark, Nicole wanted this dinner to end as soon as possible.

“Well to keep this as simple as possible, we recently found a suitable vessel for Sukuna’s fingers. The vessel’s control over the curse is immeasurable. I have never seen a vessel like Yuji Itadori, quite frightening. Fortunately, his execution is delayed by yours truly,” motioning to himself, “I see this as an opportunity to destroy all the fingers. It would be a waste to kill him, right? However, Jujutsu Tech only has a few of the fingers.”

Gojo leans towards the table assessing the table, looking at each person one by one. Not one ounce of interest shown on their faces. On the contrary, their minds were racing with the oh-so-simple explanation given by Gojo. The bomb of information he dropped on them almost short-circuited their minds.

[What the hell? What in the actual hell?]

[Suitable vessel?]

[Yuji who?]

The loud thoughts from the guys started to bother Nicole. Hushing them, they all turned to say sorry. The white-haired sorcerer smirked, “This is where you four come in. I need your help in locating as many fingers as possible.”

“That means he ate a finger and has the capability to consume more without any complications?” Angel questioned in disbelief.

“Mhm!” Gojo nodded in excitement, at least someone is curious. Gojo feels confident in his recruitment skills, all he needs in a breakthrough.

[Hold up, I need food to process this.]

Thomas stood up from his seat. His face held something in between of a constipated/happy look. He spotted their designated waitress, beckoning her to come to the table.

“Sit down,” Nicole pulled him back into his seat.

“Excuse me ma’am, can I get the pork chops drizzled in wine sauce with a side of potatoes and greens?” The surprised waitress wrote down Thomas’ order and waiting patiently for the others. Not having any other option, the people seated at the table quickly ordered their desired plates, wanting the waitress to leave them alone.

The three besides Thomas, who was enjoying Alejandro’s unfinished Aviation, began to think on why this pertained to them.

Alejandro was the first to talk, “that’s quite the task, I don’t know if we’re qualified to handle it,” letting a lie slip from his mouth. He wanted to test the waters with Gojo to see how much he truly knew about them. They never flaunt their techniques, something they learned at a young age, how can this guy know what they are capable of accomplishing?

Seeing through the lie, Gojo smirked. He knew these four individuals were capable enough to exorcise grade 1 curses, possibly special grades. Gojo heard rumors about an American group of jujutsu sorcerers who clear swarms of curses with ease. People who vanish as quick as they strike, never leaving a trace behind. With the help of his Six Eyes, the remnants of their cursed energy were enough to help him locate the group. The closer he got to them, the foggier his mind became. He relied heavily on his eyes to find the four sorcerers. Overall, that technique of hers is a tricky one. Gojo has an inkling that she has a trump card up her sleeve. The others? He has no clue what lies within them. His eyes are failing him yet again, the four people around the table do not radiate any levels of cursed energy. One would say he is having dinner with civilians. But if he squints his eyes hard enough, he can see a glimpse of their energies through the mental barrier in front of him.

“We both know you’re kidding,” Assertive in his statement, Gojo laid back, getting comfortable in his chair.

“Either way international affairs aren’t our thing,” Nicole chimed in.

Gojo shrugged at her comment, “Aiding your fellow jujutsu comrades? Saving the world? This may be overseas affairs however, you’re gonna feel the ripple sooner or later sweetheart. What are you going to do then?”

[Why should we help a country that did not even help ours to begin with?] Being in public, she could not do much but glare at him. Not like that did much to affect Gojo. He's used to being the bane of many people's existence.

“There should be other capable sorcerers, you didn’t have to come all the way over here?” the three nodded at Angel’s point. They all agreed with Nicole's response as well. Why help when the other side of the world turned a blind eye to them? Years of curses running freely through populated cities to small farm towns. The aid back then from Japan was non-existent.

“It would be easier for me to get help back in Japan, but I wanted to see if the rumors were true. And I am not disappointed.” The small praise from Gojo did boost the four’s ego. Getting some recognition from the strongest sorcerer felt nice for a second, until they remembered why he praised them. The bubble from his praise was popped, bringing them back to reality.

“If we chose to accept this task, we will get something out of this. No way in hell am I doing your work for free.” Alejandro crossing his arms continues, “I like saving the world as much as the next guy, but this will not be a one-sided transaction.”

“Alright then, what do you want?” intrigued by what his demands would be, Gojo shifting himself to look towards his right. Signaling to Alejandro that his attention is on him.

Alejandro glanced at Angel and Thomas, both who were already staring at him.

“Great question. We’ll let you know when we need a favor from the strongest sorcerer alive,” Alejandro stated, the three men wearing a smug smile.

“Idiots,” Nicole murmured.

“While we’re thinking on what you can do for us,’ Alejandro gesturing to the four, “stay away from our clans. Do not go near any member of our families.”

Gojo raised an eyebrow when he noticed how serious Alejandro became.

Thomas added on, “Our techniques were a bitch to train, but it had to be done. We trained during the nights growing up; it was the only time we were out of sight from our families. It got easier as we got older, more freedom to roam and do as we please. Hiding our exorcisms from them is not something we are proud of. But we know they would not approve of what we do. Not like they can do anything at this point.”

“But there’s something about disappointing our families that we can’t bear to see,” Angel received funny stares from the three besides Gojo.

“Ok mamas’ boy, save the sappiness for later,” sending Angel a playful wink, the group chuckled at Nicole’s side joke. Alejandro took the opportunity to ruffle his hair. Everyone getting some entertainment by messing around with Angel.

“No one knows what we do. Our clans have lost all hope in saving this country. Growing up we all saw our fair share of deaths caused by curses. Our people have let them roam around for so long. All four of us decided to do what our clans have given up on. So far, I believe we have made a difference and that is all that matters to us,” Nicole loudly sighed before continuing, “But just know I am fully against helping you for your cause. Years have passed here, and our situation only got better because of us. The only reason why I would help you is if they all agree. If not, count me out. Do not think just because your comfort zone is in danger that I will run to help. And I can proudly say that the other three all agree with what I am saying.” Nicole's animosity reached Gojo’s ears. The three men she mentioned did not say anything, but one look at their stern faces spoke louder than words.

“Fair enough, but what about the future? Why do we have to follow the same traditions or actions that they did? Alienating ourselves to protect our useless hierarchy instead of allying with our neighboring countries will greatly benefit us all. Let us show everyone that working together does make changes.” Gojo slid his glasses slightly. His sky-blue eyes peeking out from the black tinted glasses, startling the whole table. One can try to explain how it feels to be under the gaze of Gojo Satoru, but it can never measure up to the actual feeling. They knew he was serious about recruiting them for the task. No doubt about it.

[Man, this blows. He’s actually serious]

[Do we agree?]

[I heard in Japan the fruit is expensive. Should I sneak in a watermelon into the country?]

[His eyes are beautiful.]

“Well 'Mr. Motivational Speaker' you got your point across, now tell us about the task.” That last thought made the three men look at Nicole, she ignored them and focused on Gojo.

“One thing to know, there may be a chance that the fingers resonate. The other fingers may have reacted to the first finger being eaten by Yuji. The chance that it is already eaten up by a curse is highly likely. If you agree, I will give you four individual missions. Each location has had unusual curse activity, a finger can be the cause of the of activity. That is why I am sending each of you to investigate and retrieve the finger if it is there. I would go, but I need to deal with Yuji’s transition into Jujutsu Tech. He is still a kid. I want him to at least enjoy the remaining life he has. Remember his execution is postponed, he will be executed in the future. But before that happens, he needs to eat as many fingers as possible. He is our only way to eliminate those cursed fingers.” Gojo elucidated Yuji's importance in eliminating the indestructible cursed fingers.

“Say we agree, where would we go?” Angel asked the question the four were dying to know. None have ever ventured outside of their county. The thought of leaving America to Japan has them on edge for what is to come if they agree to the mission.

“Let me remember,” one finger tapping on his chin as Gojo tried to remember the important locations, “Nicole to Okinawa, Angel to Musutafu, Alejandro to Osaka, and Thomas to Shinganshina.”

Listening to their designated places did excite them. Spending their time exorcising curses throughout America, they have seen grotesque curses that makes anyone hurl to weak curses even a baby can kill. Given the chance to see other parts of the world, the group began to think hard about their decision. Each one hoping that their decision matches the others.

The silence after revealing the locations made Gojo rethink his method of persuasion, [Should have done this differently, maybe start a game consisting of each person saying what is great about Satoru Gojo!], he thought.

[How is that persuasive?], a feminine voice popped unexpectedly in Gojo’s mind. Ignoring the snark comment, he instead focuses on her presence. He feels her peering into his mind, it felt personal. Not intimately but comfortably, almost as if they were to be playing a game together. Not having much knowledge on her technique, curiosity got the best of him. And he intended to discover more about it.

[Is that so? Tell me how to persuade you], Gojo putting emphasize on the word ‘you’, wanting to continue this private conversation.

[Be truthful. What else is there to say but the truth? Everything else is a waste of a breath.], Nicole stared right into his blank glasses, seeing nothing but her reflection. Sighing from Gojo’s way of thinking, she observes her friends.

Seeing her friends in their own conversations, she returned her attention to Gojo. Rolling her eyes and said, [What is with the glasses? I know you can’t see through them.]

[Helps with my technique], feeling unsatisfied by his response she did not push any further. Seems like we aren’t the only ones cautious, she thought. Deep in thought, Nicole did not notice the group switching topics. Alejandro’s voice reeling her back into the conversation.

“Well why not? I want to see the curses over there. I’ll give them a run for their money,” Alejandro leaned back with his arms on the back of his head. head. Patiently waiting to see where this would go. His response gave Gojo hope as he looked for the other responses.

The three other sorcerers looked at each other. Each of them wondering whether they are making the right choice or not. But after seeing Alejandro’s determined face, they won’t allow him to go by himself. It is all four of them or nothing. No one gets left behind or stranded. They did not need Nicole’s technique to know what they were all thinking.

“We’re in,” all three of them agree to the task.

“Only because this will benefit us as well, don’t forget that Gojo,” she reiterated to the now overly happy sorcerer in front of her. Her negative tone did not match the small quirk on her face.

“Going to Japan huh? Who would have thought?” Angel’s left-hand brushing through his hair, “We have to be crazy from agreeing to this.”

“Extremely but what’s a jujutsu sorcerer without some craziness? Basically a requirement for the job.” Gojo reassured them. Briefly thinking of his students who attract themselves to danger, like moths to light.

“Hey where is ou-” Thomas got cut off by the tray of delicious food heading towards there table. The sight of their food was mouthwatering. The meats to the pastas, everything they asked for was cooked to perfection. The four silently thanking Gojo for inviting them to the restaurant.

As they all settled in with their food, something rubbed Angel the wrong way.

“That Yuji guy, is he ok with all of this?” The question caught Gojo off guard.

“Yeah,” Thomas losing interest in his food spoke, “no one especially someone his age should not experience this. What terribly luck he has,” staring at the skyline.

“Knowing you’re going to die in the future, he must have will power. No regular guy would continue to move forward like that,” Alejandro added in.

The group stopped eating once they saw how silent Gojo became. The topic wasn’t the most positive one, but necessary. The four are weary about Sukuna’s vessel, but if Gojo has faith in the boy then they will follow his judgement. Easier to stomach when the threat is nowhere near your home, praying that this trip will prevent things from coming over to America. Feeling bad for bring up the topic, they resumed eating. No one mentioning again the fate of Yuji Itadori.

[You ok?] Gojo looked up form his plate to see Nicole looking at him. The blankness of her face masked her slight nervousness on how concerned she sounded. She sent him an awkward smile and followed the other’s actions. She ate her food while feeling Gojo’s gaze on her.

[I’m ok], she paused after hearing his thought, to her surprise, relieved. A genuine smile broke onto her face. Not wanting him to see her smile, she concentrates on enjoying her dish.

Dinner almost went smoothly aside from the couple flirty comments towards Nicole. She did not mind them; not like she would tell him that. Her friends on the other hand showed their disgust to Gojo’s flirtation.

After thanking the waitress for her patient service, leaving her a hefty tip courtesy from Gojo, Angel had to be dragged out of the restaurant by Thomas and Alejandro, the poor guy forgets he's lightweight. It was best to enjoy the night as much as they could. The future is ever-changing and they would like to die with no regrets. As they were heading out, going their separate ways for the time being, Gojo had one more thing to tell them.

“You know I’m counting on all four of you,” his parting words held so much weight, but it was also a breath of fresh air. Nodding to him, knowing that they will not let Gojo down. Not when this is the new beginning, one where humans prevail over curses.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jjk imagines #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #mha #my hero academia #hq!!#hq #haikyuu!!#aot #attack on titan #writing #sukuna #ryomen sukuna

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choco-exe · 4 years ago

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𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚔𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎! genre: fluff :> type: special one shot status: proofread pronouns: female word count: 1697 warnings: none

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

“Kuroo-san!” The familiar voice hit Kuroo’s ear, like a melody tuning into his system. He pretended not to hear the girl calling to him, opting to continue making his way down the street. A tug on his shirt indicated for him to stop and turn, and he looked down to see a particular optimist that somehow knew exactly where he was at all times, trying to catch her breath. “My apologies, kitty.” He said teasingly, making her head snap up at the nickname. “You young people have much better hearing than me, so I suppose you tend to forget to speak louder.” Her cheeks dusted a coral red from his teasing earlier, she pouted as she looked up at him. “Stop acting like you’re an old man, Kuroo-san! You’re only seventeen!” Kuroo stroked his chin, as if he had a beard. “Only seventeen, you say?” He repeated, pretending to not be bothered by that statement. “That seems fairly old to me, wouldn’t you agree?” He leaned down, his nose lightly brushing against hers. Her face now blossoming into a deep shade of pink, she took a step back, away from Kuroo’s face. “Y-yeah! Only seventeen! You still have a long way to go before you’re a wise old man!” She poked his nose childishly, as if proving her point. Kuroo’s heart fluttered slightly at the contact, but his face was still bearing his teasing grin. “Are you calling me wise?” “Yes! I am!” Her reply made him pause; he didn’t expect her to actually agree to his comment. “You’re very wise when it comes to science!” “Is that so..” He murmured. “Well, if that’s all you wanted to say, I’ll take my leave now.” Leaning down, he took her petite hand into his own and kissed the back of it gently. He glanced up at her face and smirked, with his lips still barely lingering on her hand; her face was a mix between shock, embarrassment, and.. was that pleasure he saw? Nevertheless, he retracted away from her and spun around, waving goodbye as he began to become a smaller figure to her.. then immediately turned back, as if he forgot something. “It isn’t very gentlemanly of me to leave a girl as beautiful as you alone now, is it?” Kuroo stated. “Let me walk you to your destination.” When she was silent for a few moments, he frowned and leaned down to her height. “Did I break you?” He asked teasingly, poking her cheek. “Wha-” Her eyelashes fluttered as she came back into reality. “OH!” She hesitantly took a step back. “Um no it’s fine I can walk by myself my house is really near-” Her words came out in a single breath, and she scrambled away, like a mouse running away from a cat, leaving a confused Kuroo leaning down awkwardly. He slowly went back to standing up straight, furrowing his eyebrows. Did I go too far? He thought to himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets, going back to walking along the streets of Japan. He ran over their conversation in his mind, frowning when he remembered her saying, “you’re only seventeen!” Judging her expressions, she probably didn’t know my birthday was tomorrow.. Kuroo let out a heavy sigh. Oh well.

・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・

Waking up from a heavy slumber, Kuroo rubbed his eyes as he slammed his alarm off. He went through his morning routine before checking on his phone, and he was bombarded with messages, varying from his teammates to people he’d only talk to once, and it was for one assignment. He chuckled as he scrolled through all of them, but his heart began to race as he saw a message sent from her. The captain stopped walking to his kitchen as he slowly unlocked his phone, bracing himself for whatever she sent him. His eyes widened as he read the message, and he quickly dashed to his front door. Wrenching it open, he ran like mad, only wearing shorts and a tank top (as he was going to go jogging after eating breakfast.) After a few minutes flew by, Kuroo was right outside her door. He tried to tidy himself up as he knocked on the door, and when he heard footsteps nearing, he took a deep breath. “Kuroo-san..?” She murmured, the door creaking open as she rubbed her eyes sleepily with her sleeve; he thought she looked like an angel, even in an oversized hoodie with saggy socks. “Wait.. Kuroo-san?!” Her eyes widened, as if the sleep evaporated from her body. “W-wha-?!” Kuroo ruffled her hair, trying to stay calm. “Looks like a little kitty just woke up.” He grinned, as if he didn’t just run to a girl’s house at six in the morning. “How about you treat me to breakfast, yeah? Then we talk.” “I- um, okay!” She stammered out. “My treat! Just let me, um, get changed and.. give me thirty minutes!” She quickly scurried upstairs, leaving Kuroo standing at her doorway. He let himself in and went to the nearest chair, plopping himself down and going through the other birthday wishes he received. He was just about done scolding Kenma in a very long text about being awake at three am, when she nearly leaped down the stairs. Kuroo’s eyes immediately looked at her outfit: her hair a bit damp from showering, she was wearing an oversized black t-shirt tucked into straight-cut jeans. “Do I look overdressed?!” She asked frantically. “Are the jeans too much?!” Kuroo shook his head, chuckling at her questions. “Your outfit is fine, kitty.” He replied. “I’m the one that looks like a mess; you look perfectly normal.” Her face flushed. “I’ll take your word for it. Also, can you stop calling me kitty?” “Why, of course, kitten.” He got up and walked to the front door, putting on his volleyball slides. “You know that’s not what I meant!” She retorted, right on his heels and pulling a pair of used sneakers on. “No more nicknames!” “It’s my birthday, kitten,” he said lazily. “Respect the birthday boy’s wishes. Don’t tell me you forgot who was the first to text me, hmm?” Her face grew incredibly hot after she comprehended what he said. “I-I just wanted to be first, okay?!” She sputtered, embarrassed. “Don’t get the wrong idea!” “Alright, tsundere.” He stopped in front of a cafe. “Let��s eat here, yes?” She nodded, her eyes full of curiosity, as she had never been in the place before. Kuroo opened the door for her, slightly bowing as well. “After you, m’lady.” “Um, thank you- wait, I am not a tsundere! And isn’t it your birthday, not mine??” The pair walked into the building and was greeted with the aroma of coffee and pastries. “Who could say..” Kuroo replied, musing over many of the food in display shelves. “Surprise me, kitten. I’ll eat what you pick out for me.” “What if I give you something nasty?” She grinned up at him, although her eyes showed no mischief whatsoever. “Then I guess I’ll just have to give you a taste as well.” He nudged her forward, as they were in front of the line waiting to order. “Shoo, then!” She pestered, lightly pushing him aside. “Let me surprise you, like you said!” “Okay, okay, I’m going now.” Kuroo said playfully, walking over to a table beside a window. He swung himself into the chair as he waited patiently for her to go to him, replying to a few more texts as he waited. It didn’t take very long before she found him, balancing a few things in her hands. “Here you go!” “Whoa, kitty, careful now.” He quickly helped her set everything down on the table so that she wouldn’t drop anything. “Why didn’t you just call me for help?” “A female doesn’t need a male’s help all the time.” She replied back, sitting down on the opposite side of him. “You were literally about to drop something,” he argued, examining what she brought to him. Two lidded cups of something he assumed was either coffee or tea, a cinnamon bun, and a cake slice that had fruits adorned around it. “If Newton hadn’t invented his Three Laws of Physics, you wouldn’t know the reason why!” She blurted out, taking one of the two cups and sipping it. “I don’t know if you can have coffee, so I got both of us some tea! It’s actually really good, too!” “Don’t make me lecture you about Newton’s Three Laws,” Kuroo said jokingly. “I’m assuming the cinnamon bun is yours, then?” She nodded and continued to sip her tea. “What a sugary breakfast..” Panic flashed across her face when he said that. “Oh, no, are you not supposed to eat anything sweet?” She asked worriedly. “I’m sorry-” “No, no, it’s fine.” He assured her quickly. “You could think of my birthday as a cheat day; although I won’t have that much, I’ll still eat sweet things.” He grabbed a fork and stabbed a piece of cake, then brought it to his mouth. “This tastes like heaven, considering I haven’t eaten cake in awhile.” Her face immediately showed a sign of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.” She said, chomping on her cinnamon bun. “For a moment, I was afraid I just screwed everything up.” “You’re fine, kitten.” Kuroo decided to switch the topic before it became awkward. “Can I taste that?” “Hm?” She looked up from her food, syrup smeared on the edge of her lips. “Oh, sure-!” She was about to stab her cinnamon bun, but instead, Kuroo lifted her chin with his fingers and gently leaned in. Her eyes opened in surprise at the narrow proximity between them, but he didn’t move any closer to her face. “..may I?” He asked slowly. She had nothing to say or do except nod, and he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, before kissing her softly. It was like a dream; a very short dream, as he pulled away faster than she wanted him to. “Sweet.” He concluded, leaning back into his chair as he tried to hide his face with his hand. “Very, very sweet, Y/N-san.”

ﾟ+*:ꔫ:*﹤ 𝚎 𝚡 𝚝 𝚛 𝚊 ﹥*:ꔫ:*+ﾟ

#kuroo #kuroo tetsurō #haikyū!!#haikyuu!!#one shot #kuroo x reader #hq fluff #hq kuroo #kuroo x y/n #fanfics #kuroo tetsuro fluff #kuroo tetsurou

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sourbat · 4 years ago

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25 or 50, hammertooth or magcharles? 🥺

Sunlight

I’ve been meaning to give butterknife a try...

(special thanks to @metalrat for letting me play with their headcanons here)

Charles was grateful he designed Mordhaus with hardly any stairs, save for the grandiose ones designated for the more lavish, festive rooms, and instead opted for more practical means of getting around the gargantuan fortress as quickly and effectively as possible. Naturally, the boys had little positives to discuss, and Nathan muttered a few lines about Vikings lacking elevators and smoothened flooring, but Charles saw little point in arguing over minor aesthetics. With so many servants, and the promise of Dethklok’s new army already exponentially growing, having alternative access to rooms, hidden pathways and chambers made locating, servicing, and, quite often saving the boys far more manageable and accessible.

“I, ah, took the liberty of cleaning a spare room in the dungeon.”

Charles wheeled Magnus up a gentle incline. Despite the model of the wheelchair, Charles required more than his usual effort to keep a steady distance between himself and the handles and the back of the seat. The scientist in the upper levels had supplied a remote control to the left armrest that Magnus refused to use on a basis of (his absolutely stubborn) principle, and with his right wrist handcuffed to the armrest, Charles was placed with the burden of carting the man through the dark, secret passages.

Magnus huffed underneath him. “Wonderful,” he said with a dry flick of his tongue. “I look forward to the sounds of screams filling my otherwise uneventful nights.”

Charles halted to let a hand rest on top of the man’s slumped shoulders. “The walls are thick, and will repress most sounds,” he exclaimed, not picking up on Magnus eye roll until he got close and witnessed Magnus’ less than savory reaction to his presence. “You, ah… you don’t care about that, do you?”

Magnus emitted another dry chuckle. “It doesn’t really matter where you place me, Charles,” he said, then wheezed out an airy cough. Charles leaned close, offering a handkerchief as Magnus covered his mouth with his one, freed hand. He brushed off the offering, shaking his miserable head at Charles. “A hospital room. A cell. A bedroom in a dungeon. I’m still your damn prisoner.”

Magnus had been like this since he woke up from the hospital three weeks prior. Klokateers were sent to locate him upon Toki’s request, but it was only Charles that knew of the man’s actual condition. He was found alive, though not without retaining some severe damage. Charles told the boys he was in a coma, and would likely never waken. A lie Charles knew he would, at some point, retract, but for now, found it easier to keep silent on Magnus’ progress. The impalement left by the assassin had damaged the central nervous system, and though it was possible to rewire the spine and provide Magnus the ability to walk, Charles declined approval for the experimental surgery. Partly out of fear. Partly as a means of enacting justice on a man who didn’t deserve to walk again. Partly out of something else.

This, and the recent heart surgery more than likely meant Charles didn’t need the handcuffs to secure Magnus into his seat, but when a klokateer handed him the restraints, Charles was hit with a blast of nostalgia, and could only think (and say), “why not?”

Magnus was declared healthy for release a few days ago, and since then, Charles busied himself with the arrangements. At some point, he would depart Dethklok for good, but until then, he’d work on this secret side project, fixing Magnus piece by piece, diagnosing the unknown source of his rage and misery, and would, eventually, have the man own up to his terrible acts. There was Toki to consider, after all. There was Abigail, too. Nathan. There was the whole damn stunt he pulled at the funeral.

But, for now…

“Prisoner, hmm?” Charles turned a wide, round corner, revealing yet another hallway leading to an elevator. He added nothing more, letting the stirs and weakened low chuckles inform him of what Magnus still thought of him.

“I sincerely doubt you’ll let me go once I’m all patched up,” Magnus remarked, then rested his heavy head on top of his free hand.

Charles deflected the statement with a question. “Where would you go?”

“Good point.” Magnus finished with a laugh, far softer this time. Charles wheeled him inside the elevator, not saying a word as Magnus’ stare rested on his legs. “You have me where you want me.”

Charles didn’t bother to come up with a witty remark, a joke or question. Any further attempt to detract or defer would have Magnus pushing back harder until he was using his one good appendage to wring the truth out of him.

So he remained quiet. Both men were silent the entire ride, with Magnus facing the consequences of his own actions, and Charles years of “whys and what ifs” he hadn’t bothered asking himself since learning of Magnus’ departure from the band. It had been so hard then, and now it was becoming close to unbearable; all the questions he wanted to ask Magnus.

Why did you do it?

Why did you toss your future away?

Why didn’t you answer my calls?

What if I had stopped it?

What if I had given you the attention you craved?

“What do you think?”

They stood on top of the head of Mordhaus. An icy, but refreshing morning hit them, stirring Magnus up to clench his ailing chest, and Charles to lower and offer the man his scarf. He was sure Magnus would refuse it, like had every small, kind offering affronted to him, but this time greedily took the cloth and brought it up to his bandaged front.

Charles took it as a sign of progress.

He asked again. “What do you think, Magnus?”

Magnus was silent. Not out of defiance, but because the sight of the sun compounded him so. He’d spent his entire recovery induced, forced to face the unending darkness and whatever machinations his mind would allow while under the influence of power opioids. His time spent awake wasn’t much better. Charles purposely kept Magnus in a room separate from the rest, secluded and lacking a window. Any light Magnus was exposed to was falsified, a product of man’s great undertakings. And, as of earlier this morning, Magnus would be spending an… undisclosed amount of time healing in his new room. Much like his hospital room, this one would be small, isolated and kept secret to most of the staff.

This room would also lack the extra lighting the hospital supplied, and somehow Charles knew that Magnus was aware of this.

Charles stared out at the blue fields below them, eyes gazing up the sea of swaying blades of grass against the morning breeze, and those in the distance that were gathering sunlight and shifting into a more natural dark green hue. In the distance, the top of massive trees shook against the harsher winds, gales that made the entire forests groan in misery at the start of a new day.

The sun, however, rose proudly against the icy winds and foggy atmosphere, tearing through the sheet and hitting Magnus with the first real warmth that he had no choice but to accept. Warmth Charles hoped he might be able to offer, one day.

If either would allow.

Charles lowered to Magnus’ level. “Well?”

Magnus blinked. Charles thought he heard something similar to that of a smothered choke. “It’s nice, I suppose.”

Finally, an end to the attitude.

“If you be good, I promise you can watch the sun rise more often,” Charles said, unaffected at how such a simple reward could sound so ominous coming from him. He saw Magnus shirk underneath him, and knew the message had come off as intended. Still, despite the cruelty behind his words, the desire to get close was still there, and his hands quickly left the wheelchair’s handles to rest on top of Magnus’s shoulder. “We can watch together… or on your own. Whatever you prefer.”

This time Magnus made no attempt to cover the frustration in his forced, pained laugh. “And who will have the honor of wheeling this waste of space up the topmost floor?”

The sarcasm, though unwelcomed, returned familiar feelings of a simpler past.

Charles pressed his face into the center of Magnus’ crown, breathing in the smell of freshly washed hair he had worked so thoroughly to clean. “…good point.”

#magnus hammersmith #charles foster offdensen #butterknife #warning: mentions of injury #ficlet ask thing #thank you #wxcked-fc #tw: physical disability

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skylarmoon71 · 5 years ago

Text

Earth 2 Harrison Wells x Reader-Imagine

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Flash.

“Woooo!” you grinned listening through the com link as Jesse and Wally were helping with a robbery. Harry had that constant frown and you just directed your gaze back to the two dots that were zipping after the car. They passed the car easily, forcing the criminals in the vehicle to pull up to a stop. “Alright, cuff them quick, remember don’t let him touch you. “ Barry instructed.

In a matter of seconds both criminals had no choice but to walk out of the cars. All three speedsters had them cornered.

“Mission completed. “ Wally said. You fist pumped. “We’re coming in.” Barry said. You pulled out your earplug, awaiting their arrival. You twisted your chair, ready to maybe get a bite to eat. Barry was probably carrying those guys to iron heights. “All in a day's work.” you spoke. When you looked back Harry was still leaned over the desk. You had a feeling you knew why.

“Hey Oscar, quit being a grouch.” he turned to you with an annoyed look.

“I don’t appreciate the nicknames you and Cisco insist on using on me.��

“Well maybe if you smiled once in a while we wouldn’t have too.” he just looked back at his computer.

“Stop worrying. Jesse’s a smart girl. She knows how to handle herself. She’s your daughter after all.”

A ghost of a smile made its way on his face. You and Harry never really got along, but every once in a while you would have moments like this. Honestly, you were sporting a huge crush on him. That’s why when he first came you made it your mission to avoid him. Whenever you did bump into him you gave him the cold shoulder.

You couldn’t trust him, and for good reason. After what happened with Eobard you told yourself you’d never trust anyone with that face again. Little did you know there was an entire multiverse of Wells.

Lucky you.

As time went on though, it was becoming harder to deny your growing attraction for the man. When you found out about his daughter, your wall slowly crumbled and you made any and all efforts to comfort him. The both of you still bickered though.

At that point you decided it was better to just give up on your feelings. He obviously didn’t feel the same way. And it didn’t make sense chasing after a man that had no interest in you.

With that thought you turned, exiting the cortex.

“Maybe I’ll stop by the store and get some beer.” you could tell it was going to be a long day. Might as well treat yourself with some booze and outdated movies.

~~~

“So what do we have today?” When you strutted into the cortex the next morning you were shocked to see no one there. Harry was the only one at his desk. He looked up, making a face when he saw you. You frowned. You were going to deal with this once and for all. You could deal with him not having feelings for you, but that didn’t give him the right to treat you like crap.

“Hey what’s your deal with me!” you demanded. He looked over, wondering if it was him you were yelling at.

“Excuse me?” you pointed. “Don't pull that excuse me crap, you know what I’m talking about. Ever since you got here you’ve treated everyone like the dirt beneath your feet. I allowed it at the beginning because you were a grieving parent, but your attitude still stinks, especially with me.” He slammed down his tool.

“I don’t recall being obligated to be a nice person. I’m not Ramon and Allen. I’m not here to be your friend. My only goal is to help with the new threat that’s it. “ you scoffed.

“You really are something else. I’m not asking you to be a saint. But would it kill you to wear a smile, or say good morning!!” he walked towards you like a lion approaching it’s prey. You almost backed down when he was standing right in front of you. He was staring you down, and all at once you seemed to lose the ability to speak. He towered you, blue eyes pinning you in your spot.

“Is there anything else you would like to get off your chest.” his voice was lower and you felt like the air had been smacked right out of you.

“N-No I-I..I uh..” somehow you forgot how to make actual sentences.

“I have no desire to be your crouch. Snow told me about your relationship with the previous Wells.” His words made you take a step back.

“W-What does that have to do with…”

“He broke your heart. Maybe it's your fault for being so naive. “ you felt a pang in your chest at his words. You looked up at him, eyes watering. You weren’t sure how, but at that moment Harry looked like he actually regretted the words he said. He looked down running a hand over his face.

“Listen that was..I didn’t mean it like that I just-” you didn’t want to hear his explanation.

“I think you’ve said all that you wanted.” you replied coldly. You tried to hide the tightening in your throat as best you could when you spoke.

“I won’t waste time trying to get close to another Wells. I should have learned my lesson the first time. “ with that you were gone. Upon your exit you almost crashed into Barry. He held you by the shoulders apologizing. When he saw your fresh tears he tried to find out the reason. You pulled away from him, rushing off. Barry’s eyes moved in Harry’s direction. He looked pissed.

“What did you say to (Y/N)!” he accused.

“You don’t have to lecture me Allen. I already know I messed up. “ Harry turned back to his desk. He wanted to punch himself.

~~~~

That night you were tucked in your bed, legs pulled to your chest. The memories of Dr. Wells, or Thawne for that matter replaying in your head. All the sweet words he said to you. How special he said you were. It was all a lie, a facade to ensure he accomplished his goal. You regret everything you ever felt for him. In some sick way Harry was right. If you weren’t blinded by your feelings for him maybe it would have been easier to see through him. Even when you found out about him you never wanted to believe it. But all the evidence was there, and when you confronted the man, when he was standing right in front of you, he never even looked sorry. He just wore that stupid smirk on his face. That sinister smile as he ripped your heart out of your chest and threw it in your face.

“(Y/N). “ you cursed at the voice behind you. After your little spew with Harry you made it your mission to avoid him. You succeeded for about a week. Of course he was going to find you sooner or later. The person who called you wasn’t Harry though, it was his daughter. You turned to her, forcing a smile on your face. “Hey..” you said a bit awkwardly. You could tell by the look on her face that she wanted an explanation. “What’s going on with you and Dad. “ you were hoping she wouldn’t ask that. “Nothing, you know us we could hardly stand each other.”

She placed a hand on her hip. “Yeah, usually you’re going at it like an old married couple, but you haven’t talked in so long and dad he’s..he’s not acting like himself.” you were a bit worried. Then you remembered why you were angry at him.

“That’s not my problem.” you stated flatly. You knew it was mean, but he was the one that said those things to you. He had no right.

Jesse looked ready to say something, but the person you were dreading walked out from behind her and you suddenly felt like crying again.

He stepped forward and just as he opened his mouth alarms started blaring. You flinched and Jesse braced. “Someone’s in Star Labs!” she bolted out to scope out the threat and Harry moved closer to you.

“You can yell at me later. Right now just stay close.” he instructed. You nodded. As much as he made your blood boil, it wouldn’t do any good if a dangerous meta was loose and either of you got hurt because of a spat.

You followed close behind as he moved in the direction of the cortex. When you made it to the entrance Barry was putting cuffs on an unconscious Jesse. Harry ran over in a panic.

“Allen what the hell are you doing!!” Barry waved his hands about to explain. Caitlin was kneeling down, retracting the needle from the girl's skin.

“Those metahumans we took down last week. Somehow they got out of Iron Heights. I think one of the guards slipped up. One of them has manipulative powers.” He informed.

“They twist your view. Jesse thought we were the enemy. “ Caitlin added.

“I had to take her out before she could get hurt. I locked one of them up in the pipeline but the other is somewhere here. “ Barry interjected. He looked down at the computer, trying to pull up footage of the halls.

“Try right behind you.” you spun around just in time for him to press his hands on your forehead. A red light glowed in his palm, passing through your skin. Barry zipped forward, shoving the male away from you. The meta crashed into the wall, falling down and passing out from the force of the blow. Barry wasted no time, cuffing him quickly.

Harry looked over to check you. “Stay back Harry, she's been hit.” Caitlin advised. She had a syringe in her hand, unsure of how to administer the shot without provoking you.

“Give it to me, I could get close enough in a second. “ You turned to Barry and you screamed in terror. He looked back, shocked to see the level of fear in your eyes as you backed up against the wall.

“Please don’t hurt him I’ll do anything please!!” you were pleading. Barry approached, raising his hands to show you he didn’t mean any harm.

“Hey (Y/N). Listen it’s me Barry.” he pulled off his cowl, but that just triggered you more.

“Don’t hurt them Dr. Wells I’m begging you! Please don’t, I’ll do anything!!” Barry froze, he recalled you saying those words before.

“S-She’s..she’s reliving a memory.” he muttered in recognition.

Harry stared. “What do you mean by memory? I thought he just manipulates your concept of the present reality. “ Caitlin shook her head. “They morph reality yes, but reality for everyone is different. Some people see their friends as enemies. Others face a reality they can’t control. One they feel powerless in” Harry couldn’t believe it. The level of horror on your face hurt him. When he made that statement about Dr. Wells he knew he crossed a line. What he didn’t realize was the level of emotional damage Thawne actually did to you. You weren’t a meta. So when he attacked you couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch as he tried to kill your friends.

Harry took the syringe from Caitlin’s hands, storming over to your direction. He couldn’t see you like this. When he was standing directly in front of you your eyes widened and you tried to scramble away.

“D-DON’T!” Harry pressed the needle into your neck. It took a while, but slowly, your eyes started to lower. Just as you were about to pass out you looked directly at him.

“Harry..” you said softly. He smiled, removing the needle. He tossed it to the side, cradling you into his arms. “I’ve got you, don’t worry. You’re safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. “

Barry and Caitlin watched from the back, both a bit stunned by the level of care the man displayed when holding you.

You groaned, holding your head as you tried to sit up. When you finally came to, Caitlin was right at your side with a smile.

“Look who’s finally up.” you gave her a weak smile, leaning against the head of the bed.

“I got socked by that meta didn’t I?”

“Affirmative.” she said cheekily. You just laughed. “Wow, my head feels like I got hit by a bus.” She jotted something down before placing a hand to your forehead.

“I think that’s my fault. I made that in a rush in case those metahumans got a hold of our speedsters. Unfortunately a shot like that does the trick but the dose isn’t really easy on regular people. “

“Noted.” you looked over, noticing Barry and Jesse standing at the door.

“ You really gave me a scare. How are you feeling?” Barry’s question made you shoot him a look.

“Sorry, I guess it was a stupid question. But hey at least we caught the guys.” you nodded.

“That’s good.” Barry was still watching you. “(Y/N), I just wanted you to know. What happened with Thawne..it wasn’t your fault. We know it hurt you maybe far worse than any of us.” you looked at him a bit taken aback. A shaky breath exited your lips. “Y-Yeah, you don’t have to worry about it. I'm over all that. It’s been months.” He shook his head.

“There’s no time stamp on how long those types of wounds heal. If you ever wanna talk, we’re all right here.” Caitlin and even Jesse smiled, agreeing with him. You gave another nod.

“Thanks guys, I appreciate it.” Jesse grinned.

“Of course, by the way. There is someone who’s just as worried. “ before you could ask you felt the wind blow your hair back. When she reappeared there was someone with her.

“Jesse I told you not to-” his complaints stopped when his eyes landed on you. She unhooked her arms and at that moment everyone started to make their exit. You turned to Caitlin with pleading eyes, begging her not to leave. She gave you a thumbs up, vanishing around the hall.

When it was just the two of you, you shifted back into the bed.

“Listen I-”

“I apologize.” Harry cut you off. You stared at him. Not sure if you heard him right.

“Wait..did you just say..” he stepped closer, taking a seat at the edge of your bed. Him being so close made you readjust your position. You picked at the sheets nervously.

“I was unaware of how deep Thawne’s wounds scarred you. Then I made a comment that was uncalled for. I apologize.” you bit down on your lip.

“I’m sorry too.” you said finally. “It was childish of me to avoid you like I did. I should have just talked to you. The truth is you were right. I let my feelings dictate everything I do. The feelings I had for him and the ones I have for you.” Harry looked over at your words.

“I-I like you Harry.” you confessed. “Y-You look just like him so I told myself never to go down that road again. But little by little I couldn't help but be intrigued by you, attracted to you. I’m so stupid!” you said, fresh tears falling down your cheeks. Harry moved closer scooping you into his arms.

“Don’t say that you're far from stupid. “ you clenched your hands into his clothing.

“I am..I am the foolish one. I’m just as much attracted to you.” he whispered. You pulled back.

“W-What..” his hands rested on your cheek, wiping any evidence of your tears.

“I distanced myself because I thought you were only seeking solace in me to replace him. I was cruel to you because it was the only thing I could do to deny just how much your presence affected me. I’m completely and utterly infatuated with you (Y/N).” you swallowed. He was so close now. “If I haven’t already ruined my chances, I would like an opportunity to show you just how much I care about you.”

“Okay..” you mumbled. With the way he was looking at you now there wasn’t much you could say. His thumb traced the outline of your cheekbone.

Everywhere he touched felt like a spark to your skin. His lips met your own in a slow, hesitant kiss. It wasn’t much at first, just the innocent touching of lips.

After a few moments you wanted more. Your hands tightened their hold on his clothing as you tried to pull him closer. He complied, pressing you softly into the mattress. You sighed at the feel of him. Your hands slipped into his hair and he gave a soft appreciative sound. Your stomach twirled at the little noise. Your hands wandered, you hooked your fingers into the hoops of his pants, pulling. His hips thrusted into you and you gasped. Your lips disconnected and Harry continued pressing kisses to your skin as you tried to regain your breath.

“We should...probably...stop..”you forced out in between pants.

“Agreed, they could..walk in at any time..” he was still pressing heated kisses to your body. His leg moved between your own and you moaned, looking at him a bit startled. Harry smirked down at you. “Then again, I think I’ve been holding out too long. Something tells me you have too.” you gulped when you felt his hand travelling under your clothing.

“H-Harry..” you whined weakly. You whimpered when he squeezed your breast.

“I finally have you, I’m not sure I really want to stop..” he growled into you ear.

Someone clearing their throat made you both turn.

“Allen.” Harry said sharply. Barry looked uncomfortable, like he regretted even coming in.

“N-Nevermind, It can wait. “ he dove out of there faster than you’d ever seen.

Harry’s eyes fixed back on you.

“Now where were we.”

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asgardianthot · 5 years ago

Text

Three times Bucky nursed Sam back to health

Words: 2247

Warnings: gunshot, injuries, vomit (but there’s fluff to make up for it!)

The first time, it came as a shocker; An unexpected attack on a regular mission. Sam was caught unready and was surprised by a gunshot on his leg.

As soon as he felt the impact, a wave of pain paralyzed him. Bucky heard him cry out in pain, then a few exchanges between the Falcon and Wanda over the comms.

"I'm okay."

That was all Bucky needed to hear, but the ache in his tone made the sentence difficult to believe. Hardening the grip on his shotgun, Bucky contemplated his options. He could continue fighting and help out the team, or he could take a look at Sam in order to find out if he truly was okay. Then, there was the problem of how he would handle that interaction. His mind had spent far too much time thinking of Sam lately, and he was clueless as to what to do about those feelings.

Eventually, he found himself kneeling down next to the injured man, not even realizing that he had ran over there.

"How bad is it?" The words left Bucky's mouth faster than the speed of his thoughts.

The veteran groaned as he rested his head against the wall, sitting on the floor and looking very defeated. There was a visible stain of blood leaking from his pants on the extended leg.

"I'll be okay. Go." Sam tried to ease Bucky, however wincing from evident pain.

Only when Barnes approached his hand to the harmed thigh, he noticed how shaky they were. He immediately retracted the gesture, suddenly feeling nervousness overtake him. Not only he didn't know how to talk to Sam anymore, ever since the realization hit him that he liked the Falcon, but now he was bleeding out right in front of Bucky. The latter was about to go into full panic mode.

"What- what do I do?" He stuttered.

"Just go back, I'm fine." Sam barked back.

The brunette knew that was wasn't an option. He shook his head and swallowed hard before speaking.

"No, you're not." He protested, reaching to lift Sam's body from the ground. "Come on."

By helping the fallen soldier hop on one leg, they managed to walk themselves to the quinjet, where they found safety and quiet. Sam was gently sat down, although it didn't stop him from complaining about the pain on his limb.

"Where's the medical kit?" Bucky asked, frantic.

Sam shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to control the sharp feeling of a bullet pressing against his muscle.

"Under the oxygen." He sighed out. "I can get it, don't worry."

Bucky refused to dignify Sam with an answer, seeing how he most definitely shouldn't get up nor limp across the jet, and how Bucky himself had already established that he would be doing the curing.

The former assassin found the gauze and sprinted to wrap it around the injured thigh, as a way of stopping the bleeding and stabilizing the zone.

"That good?" He looked up from the wound to check up on Sam's expression.

The appellee nodded while pressing his lips together, riding off the wave of agony.

"I'm gonna stay here until the others get back, okay?" Before Sam could protest to that statement, Bucky raised his voice. "I'm staying, no matter what. You're hurt. You need me here."

That was the first time Bucky grew a pair when it came to Sam, and ever since, he didn't stop being honest. Being with Sam made him want to be open and caring and truthful about what his heart felt, which is why it didn't take too long until they were both pretty infatuated with the other.

The second time, Bucky had been expecting it. Sam's performance in missions had been sloppy lately, for the Falcon was under a lot of stress. SHIELD seemed to have a preference of sending him alone to take care of private matters, probably getting him ready for higher-stake issues. Bucky wasn't a fan of the idea. He loved Sam. They had been open about loving each other for a while now, and if there was something Barnes didn't appreciate was SHIELD forcing his boyfriend to keep secrets from him. Especially, since it meant Sam would receive orders at any given moment, and the former soldier now turned agent would have to fly out, no questions asked, only to return bruised and exhausted.

This particular night, though, Sam returned worse than usual. As soon as he stumbled inside the house, Bucky could hear him complain. When he saw the black eye and the way Sam held his ribs like they were about to fall off, his chest ached with concern.

"Why do you sound mad?" Sam asked, half-jokingly, while his boyfriend held an alcohol-dipped cotton ball to his face.

Bucky was uncharacteristically silent while he cleaned the open wound on Sam's cheekbone. The veteran was also enduring a broken rib and a lousy, dislocated shoulder. Nothing he wouldn't easily recover from, but also nothing that should have occurred in the first place.

"I'm not even talking." Bucky mumbled, not looking away from the bruised under eye area.

"And yet you sound mad." Sam smirked.

The brunette didn't grant him the attention. He didn't laugh, for there was some truth to Sam's observation. He wasn't mad at the man he adored, he was monumentally angry at the shady organization that was pushing the man he adored towards danger. He was frustrated at his boyfriend for agreeing in the first place, and he was more than worried for his future of crime-fighting. Not to mention how much it hurt to see him torn apart like that.

"You shouldn't be getting hurt like this, you know?" He eventually said dryly. "Just FYI."

Sam appreciated the response, but didn't lose the light attitude, thinking that it would hopefully make Bucky worry less.

"I thought it was part of the job." He narrowed his eyes, only to then get a rush of pain from the alcohol that seeped through his small wound.

He winced and bit the inside of his cheek in order to cope with it.

"Not so badly." Bucky remarked. "Not so often."

"You saying I'm dumb or something?" Sam raised his eyebrow, playfully.

The man healing him mimicked the expression, in a way of implying you said it, not me. He continued to clean Sam's face, taking his time as he wasn't prepared for what would come yet; someone had to pop the shoulder back into place. That was never pretty.

"I'm fine." Sam finally eased him with a sweet tone. "Just getting a hang of the new wings and all. Makes me a little slower."

Bucky nodded, still not buying it. Sam knew when Bucky wasn't tranquilized by his words, so he tried again.

"Hey." He made himself heard, causing Bucky to lower the cotton ball and look directly into his eyes. "I'm okay. Stop worrying."

It took a few seconds for Bucky to accept it, but eventually, Wilson saw the love and concern behind Bucky's eyes, behind all those layers. The latter placed a hand on Sam's cheek, to which Sam reacted with approaching him and planting his lips on his boyfriend's. With that kiss, Bucky transmitted how sorry he was for acting so cold.

The third time, was the worst of them all. Sam got infected in a laboratory base he was commanded to raid. It was an underground operation to create chemical weapons, and as he dealt with it, he accidentally ran into one of said creations. The virus made its way inside Wilson's organism too quickly, therefore, Sam flew back to headquarters where he could get checked. Hopefully, the virus was prevented from expanding thanks to an antidote, an aggressive vaccine that would flush it out and avoid his demise. The virus turned out to be so quick to spread that all agents at headquarters were told to get their own shot as prevention, even after the doctors had neutralized the threat to the point of making it non-transmissible.

The downside to it all were the effects of the antidote. Expulsing such a virus would cause a fever, vomiting, and all kinds of nasty experiences, which was why Sam was recommended to find someone to care for him that night, and assist him on such horrid state. Bucky, of course, stepped in.

I got you, Sammy. Always got you.

Sam gasped the words out with tiredness. “You’re gonna get inf-“

Yet he was unable to finish his sentence, for another wave of vomit crashed his body, and he had to throw up on the bin that was being held by Bucky.

The sick man was sitting on his bed, shirtless and sweating profusely, while Barnes sat behind him and surrounded him with his arms for support, while keeping the puke bin in his hand.

“I won’t. Remember?" Bucky said sweetly. "I told you before?”

He had explained a million times how he was immune to any kind of infection, because of the prevention shot, but Sam kept forgetting. The high fever didn't let him think straight, nor retain information for that matter.

“I can’t get it from you." He reminded him once again. "Now drink.”

As soon as the cup of water approached Sam's face, the latter bent over and threw up again. Bucky took the opportunity to lose the glass and fetch the wet towel he was keeping nearby. He patted it against Sam's burning forehead while the poor man panted. His sweat was as hot as his skin.

“Get it out.” Sam groaned, breathless.

“You’re doing great.” Bucky hushed him, trying to get the idea out of his boyfriend's head.

“Get it out.”

“You’re getting it out, Sam." He repeated himself, getting the water cup again. "Just drink.”

Apparently, the idea of hydrating –or probably just the mere thought of ingesting anything– kept provoking nauseas, for he rejected the water once more in order to throw up on the recipient.

Suddenly, the sound of sobs coming from Sam made Bucky's heart break in a million pieces.

“Knock me out, I don’t care.” Sam's pleas were echoed inside the bin, where he breathed loudly into. “Sedate me, just get it to stop.”

Barnes shut his eyes as he felt his heart weight. As painful as it was to break Sam's hopes for the hundredth time that evening, they had been through this. Wilson had to throw it all up, flush the virus out. He couldn’t just sleep the discomfort away.

Bucky got the second bin from the floor and handed it to Sam, retrieving the one that was filled with Sam's vomit and heading for the bathroom. He washed it on the sink, and when he returned, he saw Sam laying on his back with his chest heaving. The current caregiver turned the air conditioner up for the feverish man to sweat less, before sitting right back behind him.

He ran his hand up and down Sam's bare back. "Where does it hurt?"

“Everything.” Sam mumbled.

Barnes pressed the wet towel on Sam's forehead. “I know, baby. Where?”

All he could do was try to distract the ill man, and it worked for a minute.

“M’head.” Sam spoke with a tone that sort of implied that the towel made it better. “Chest.”

“Here?” Bucky confirmed on a random spot and soothed it with his hand. “Stomach?”

Wilson nodded. Bucky focused his caresses on the diaphragm, thinking that it must be in hell after contracting so much for him to throw up.

Then, he heard Sam gag painfully, yet nothing came out.

"Shhh, it’ll stop hurting, I promise.” He said softly while massaging his ribs.

“Don’t baby me.” Sam protested with his last bit of energy.

The reaction caused Bucky to be unable to prevent a smile. “What’cha want me to do, then? Scold you into health?” He mocked his suffering boyfriend.

“Idiot.”

“I can yell at you if you want.”

“You know that’s-“

Unfortunately, the jokes came to a stop when another gag reflex hit Sam, hard.

Bucky went back to soothing Sam's head.

“Okay, let’s not talk for now, maybe. I know it’s hard for you to shut the hell up. Especially when I’m talking, cause I’m such a moron, right?”

Sam simply nodded, and Barnes had to laugh because of course he had to call himself a moron for him to get quiet and calm.

The next morning, Bucky woke up to an empty bed. Panic overtook his every fiber when he realized that Sam wasn't there with him, for the ill man was probably very weak, still. A million scenarios of tragedy ran through his head in a fraction of a second; Sam could have walked downstairs and gotten hurt. He could have passed out somewhere. He could have tried to-

When Bucky picked up on the sound of the shower running, he jumped out of bed.

He ran inside, only to find Sam on his feet and working the water.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” Barnes frowned in concern.

“I stink.” Sam replied with abnormal tranquility.

“You could have fallen.”

Sam sighed and slowly sat down on the edge of the tub. Bucky reached out to help, but Sam was okay by himself. At least okay enough to sit.

“I can get up." Sam said with annoyance. "Or scream for help like a damsel.”

There was no amount of worry that could outweigh how Sam made Bucky feel. One small joke, and Bucky's face would light up with adoration. Feeling calmer, he smiled and held both of his hands on each side of Sam's face.

“How are you feeling?” He asked genuinely.

“Better." Sam was looking up at his boyfriend with loving eyes. "A lot better.”

“Good.”

Wilson grabbed Bucky's metal hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you.” Before Bucky can shake his head and reject his gratitude, Sam continued. “I would’ve thrown myself off the window if you hadn’t been there with me.”

A proud grin appeared on Bucky's features. “I make a great nurse.” He joked and bent down to kiss Wilson's forehead, only to scrunch his nose with exaggerated disgust. “You do stink.”

“I know. Help me get in there.”

Barnes proceeded to aid his boyfriend in getting undressed, and gave him a hand to sit under the running water. He gave Sam his privacy and came back only after he heard the water being turned off, and spent the entire afternoon pampering Sam, who never stepped out of the wet towels. Bucky just loved to wrap his body entirely and kiss his face until it bothered him.

#sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #hurt/comfort #hurt/comf #tw: injuries #tw: gunshot #tw: blood #tw: vomit #angst #fluff #sambucky fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #sam x bucky #sam/bucky #sam wilson/bucky barnes #ftws #the falcon and the winter soldier

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pandawritespoorly · 6 years ago

Text

With Time: Chapter 6 - Dressmaker

Author’s Note: Well, here we are - my first made-up akuma. This one wasn't supposed to be more than a simple concept, but then my friend loved it and now we've got a decent background character who I may add in occasionally. He's great.

Chapter Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir fight an akuma. Marinette makes a couple of lists.

First | Previous | Next

Ladybug exits Marinette’s room, immediately heading to the Eiffel tower. She’s done this often enough that she’s on auto-pilot while her mind is focusing on acting right.

Marinette might be a mess, but Ladybug is fine. After her little melt-down with Chat on the Eiffel Tower, she was determined not to let that happen again. She is a hero . Heroes don’t have a melt-down over the simple fact that she’d messed everthingupsomuchshe’soterribleutterfailurec-

No. No. That’s for Marinette. Ladybug is fine. Maybe a little more focussed on professionalism in the past few weeks, but that’s to be expected after that whole incident. Paris depends on her and she won’t let them down too.

Arriving on a rooftop nearby she surveys her surroundings. It doesn’t look like there is much damage, but it’s a type one, so that was to be expected. There seems to be some sort of event going on though - everyone around looked kind of dressed up.

Footsteps behind her, “Evening, M’lady!”

Pasting a gentle smile on her face and speaking in an easy tone, she turns to him, “Hello Chat. Do you know anything about the akuma?”

“Nope! Just got here.”

She sighs, pulling out her yo-yo, “Right, let’s see if the news has anything…”

Chat is about to suggest she check the Ladyblog, but thinks better of it. Alya may be a good source, but in the past few weeks, Ladybug has favored more professional news organizations. He doesn’t know what happened, but after their talk last month, he’s been trying to avoid upsetting her. He doesn’t know what caused her tears, but he hates the thought of her so upset.

She certainly seems better now. In all honesty, the next time he’d seen her she’d already looked better, so maybe she just had a tough time adjusting to her new school - a few bumps in the road that’d smoothed with time.

“Okay, definitely a type one...”

That’s a relief, sometimes the alert gets it wrong and they go in expecting one type only to be met with another.

Ladybug continues,”He goes by ‘Dressmaker’. He shoots glitter from his ...tentacles? Okay. If someone gets hit then they’re wearing a dress… they’re pretty tasteful.”

“Are you telling me this akuma isn’t a total eyesore?”

“Oh no, he definitely is, but his victims look great.” She turns her screen to him, where a man is wearing a dress… with tentacles? Yep. The akuma is wearing a glittery ball gown with three distinct colors. The top is hot pink, the middle is gold, and the bottom is a bright light blue. All the colors are entirely glitter and Chat can’t tell if it is just glitter or a very glittery fabric. Out of the middle there are four appendages that can only be described as tentacles - thrashing about, spraying glitter everywhere. Sure enough, when someone comes in contact with it, their outfit changes to a dress, though no one seemed to have the same one. On top of his curly hair sits a tall, heavily jeweled crown, with a blue flower gem in the center.

“That’s quite the outfit.”

“Isn’t it? But I guess there’s been worse ones. Though I’m pretty sure we’re going to have an afterimage of his dress burned into our eyes by the time we’re done with him.”

Chat nods, but looking at the akuma again on his own baton, something about the colors struck him.

“Wait, look at the colors on the dress…”

“What about them?”

“Pink, yellow, blue… isn’t that the pan flag?” “Oh hey you’re ri-”

Ladybug gets cut off when a blast of multi-colored glitter shoots just past the two heroes.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! Hand over your miraculouses!”

The Dressmaker is on a nearby rooftop, having climbed up with his tentacled dress.

“Sorry buddy! Not happening! Don’t you know how this works by now? My lady and I make a fur- midible pair! We’re going to win!” Chat Noir’s grin grows in response to his partner’s customary eye roll.

“You’ll never defeat me! All of Paris will try a dress!”

“...’Try’? I thought your goal would be for all of Paris to wear a dress?” Ladybug is to the right of the akuma, but pauses in her approach after her question.

“That would be ideal wouldn’t it? However Ladybug, people are welcome to change out of them, I wouldn’t force someone to continue an experience they didn’t enjoy.”

“Aren’t you forcing them to do that right now?” Chat is impressed, this is one of the more considerate akumas they’d had, but as always there is a bit of a questionable leap in logic there.

“I am forcing them to try it.” Dressmaker punctuates his statement with a glitter shot at both heroes, who easily dodge,”As I said, they are free to do with their makeover as they please.”

Out of the corner of his eye Chat Noir notices Ladybug gesturing for him to back off. Shrugging, he says, “Well all of them certainly look purr -ty. Un- fur- tunately, I have a prior engagement and simply must be on my way.” Giving a quick salute, he turns and jumps several rooftops away before using his baton to meet his partner at the top of the tower.

Seeing his two nemeses back off, Dressmaker resumes giving people glittery make-overs. After watching for a moment to make sure he wouldn’t try to scale the tower, Chat turns to Ladybug.

“Everything alright Bugaboo?”

Even as she rolls her eyes at the nickname, he can’t miss her small smile.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Then why-”

“I’d prefer to not get my suit turned into a dress. I think the easiest way to defeat him would be to catch him off guard. While he’s distracted with his makeovers I can wrap him up with my yo-yo.”

“Any ideas on the akumatized object?” “It’s got to be that crown.”

He nodded, that had been his thought too, “Well, there’s no time like the present!”

“I mean… I’m sure there are some people that could consider this a learning experience.” She sits down, leaning against a beam in mock-relaxation.

Chat gives an over-the-top gasp of disbelief and goes along with her - she didn’t joke very often so he treasures every moment he gets, “What’s this I hear? Ladybug suggesting slacking off- during an akuma attack no less ? Is this the end? Has Hawkmoth got you under some spell?”

She swats at his arm playfully as she stands again, “Rest assured Kitty, this bug is under no one’s spell.”

“Well, I’m certainly under your spell.”

She shook her head, and though he may have imagined it, he is fairly certain he saw a light blush on her face.

They swing off the tower in unison, quietly landing on the rooftops once more. Dressmaker wanders around, glitter flying about, unaware of the heroes approaching. A yo-yo shoots out behind him, quickly wrapping around his tentacles - restraining them.

“Hey! How dare you!”

Walking up behind him, Chat Noir plucks the crown from the man’s head and throws it one the ground before stomping on it harshly. The delicate headwear breaks into pieces and a dark butterfly flies out.

Ladybug retracts her yo-yo and quickly purifies the butterfly. With the akuma gone she realizes that the fight was so simple that she hadn’t called a Lucky Charm. Technically, she didn’t need to have one - she could just use her yo-yo - but without a timer going, she’d have no excuse to get away from Alya if the girl comes along. There wasn’t a lot of physical damage, but this is the one thing she’s supposed to to, so she can’t just not .

“Uh... Lucky Charm!” a red and black spotted figure falls into her hands. Her ever curious partner leans over her shoulder.

“What is it?”

“Uhh… a demon? I think?”

“Odd, but okay.”

She shrugs tossing it in the air, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

As the small bugs went about their jobs, the two heroes finally turn to the victim.

A curly haired man stands before them, looking disoriented. He’s dressed in a white dress with blue flowers.

Ladybug sees that the crown has turned into a blue flower hair clip. Picking it up, she holds it out to him. “Um, I’m guessing this is yours. Do you remember what made you upset Mr…?”

“Oh! Just Leonardo is fine.” He accepts the clip, putting it in his hair. “Someone said something about how men shouldn’t wear dresses - usually that wouldn’t bother me, but it’s just been one of those days ya’ know?”

She nods, understanding. Her hands fly to her ears as her earrings beep, “Well, for what it’s worth, I like your dress. Bug out!”

She waves at Leonardo and her partner as she ducks into a nearby alley. She and Chat have patrol soon, so there is no use going home.

“Spots off.” She detransforms once sure she is alone, and Tikki flies out of her earrings, landing in her open hands.

“I think Hawkmoth might be running out of ideas, that was the easiest akuma yet!” Tikki bites into a cookie as she speaks.

“Or he’s just bored. With all his free time you’d think his akumas would look at least semi-decent.”

Tikki giggles at the comment as she finishes her cookie, having eaten quickly.

“Ready Tikki?” at the Kwami’s nod, Marinette transforms back into Ladybug.

Ladybug quickly makes her way back to the top of the tower, where her partner is waiting for her, having not had to recharge.

“Long time no see, Ladybug.”

“I’m sure you managed to live without me for all that time Chaton.”

“I did, but every second was agonizing.”

“How do you do it everyday then?”

“Even I’m not sure. I think it must be magic.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Alright, whatever you say kitty. Let’s start patrol.” Jumping from the tower she shoots out her yo-yo to swing to the rooftops. Chat follows behind her. The two take off across the rooftops along one of their usual routes.

---

They’d been out for about an hour, and Ladybug is starting to get tired. Not that she will say anything of course, but she’d had a long day - much more eventful than usual. Their patrols typically wouldn’t last more than an hour and a half, so she only has to last another 30 minutes. Just 30 more mi-

Distracted and tired as she was, she lands poorly on a rooftop, tripping on her feet and almost faceplanting, if not for the fact that she manages to correct herself. Despite her hopes, her partner certainly notices her stumble.

“Woah, Ladybug are you okay?” he sounds concerned.

Of course she can’t even manage to get through a whole patrol, who does she think she is? “Yeah, I’m fine.” She adds a smile at the end to really sell it, “Just tripped.”

Somehow he doesn’t seem entirely convinced, “Are you sure Ladybug? You look a little tired…” He looks over her, seemingly as proof of his statement.

She holds back a yawn, “What are you talking about?” Her eyelids decide to take his side - fluttering closed for a moment too long before snapping back open, “I’m fine.”

He gives her a look, “I think we should cut patrol short. We could both use some rest, and we can’t protect Paris if one of us falls off a building.”

“No, no! We don’t need to-” Can’t even last one patrol and worrying her partner, what an idiot.

“ Yes we do. Before you protest, I get the feeling you would sooner run yourself into the ground than admit that you’re just as human as the rest of us. You need to rest too.”

She opens her mouth to protest more, but all that comes out is a yawn, and she immediately blushes in embarrassment. Chat grins.

“See, I was right! Now go home.”

She sighs in defeat, Chat Noir isn’t going to let this go. Taking out her yo-yo she turns in the direction of her home,”Goodnight, mon chaton.”

With that she swings away, hearing him call out a goodnight to her before he presumably turns to go to his own home.

Landing on her balcony, she says, “Tikki, spots off!”

Her Kwami comes to float in front of her, “Marinette, Chat Noir was right, you should rest.” “I know…”

“However, I wanted to talk to you first. I suppose it could wait until morning if you don’t think you can stay awake. Your health is important.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” She had climbed into her room, and now is sitting against her cat pillow, looking at Tikki.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about Marinette. I don’t think you’re fine. It’s been almost a month since you left Françoise Dupont, and I don’t think you’re handling it very well.”

“What?”

“I’m worried about you. I think you’re dwelling on it, and it’s making you scared to move forward. Marinette is stuck, and I’ve seen such a difference from how you acted before then, and now. Ladybug seems to have found a way to move forward though. As Ladybug you talked to someone - briefly - and I think it might have helped. I know most holders have a different mindset when they transform, and I think it might help a some if you brought a little Ladybug into your Marinette life.” The Kwami brings one of her paws to rest on Marinette’s face, looking at her chosen with concern.

“I don’t know Tikki…”

“It’s okay Marinette, it’s only a suggestion. I just want to see you move on, and I know your friends do too.” She kisses Marinette’s forehead softly before floating over to the small bed on Marinette’s desk.

Marinette sits awake for a few minutes, not sure what to think. Has she not moved on? She certainly moved schools… but was she dwelling on what happened too much? She tried to avoid thinking about that Thursday in general so surely she wasn’t. Tikki said that Ladybug seemed to have moved on. Was that true? Was Ladybug better? As Ladybug, she just tries her best to act like she did ... before . Ladybug only thought like Marinette when she was alone (during akuma attacks so that there’s no threat of attracting an akuma). Ladybug hadn’t gone through what Marinette did though. She has to move on right? So that means accepting what happened. She should make a list.

Taking out a small empty notebook from behind her bed, she starts writing.

Things to Accept:

Okay, what did she need to do? Write the things she avoided thinking about and...what? Just come to accept that they were true. That sounded right…

You messed up.

Everyone Most people at Françoise Dupont hate you

You don’t know how to do friendship properly.

That last one makes sense. She’d been pretty friendless before Alya and now… well she had a group of people that she enjoyed hanging out with, but they were just being nice. Okay, what else?

People want to believe you’re a bad person

It was like Lila said, she only tells people what they want to hear.

You’re a terrible hero, and Paris deserves better.

That one hurt, but it was true. What kind of hero attracts as many akumas as she has? That’s probably why Tikki gave her this advice. Best to tell Marinette before the earrings are gone and she can’t tell the girl anymore. Preferably, the earrings would be with Chat or Fu though, not Hawkmoth.

You’re an obsessive stalker-ish creep.

No one actually likes you.

Because if they did then what would that make her…? Her old classmates had thought her crush on Adrien was weird, and they’d all turned on her so quickly. She knew those people for years. They were good people, they were smart, she could trust their opinions.

You shouldn’t be trusted with responsibility

She’d been class president, and had been pretty terrible at it. They’d said so. As Ladybug, come on, it doesn’t take a lot of research to know she’d messed up quite a bit. Even her first akuma battle managed to go wrong.

She continues with her list, eventually making about two pages. Reading them makes her want to cry, but that’s against the rules… rules, she should make a list of rules to follow. She’s always been good at following rules.

Rules To Be Better:

Don’t cry

Smile

Be nice to people

Apologize when you mess up (again)

If someone needs a favor, do it

If asked, you’re doing good

Laugh at jokes, even when tired/sick

When tired/sick, do not show it

Take care of akumas as quickly as possible

Only lie if absolutely necessary - honesty is important

Adrien, Claude, Allegra, Allan, and Felix have been nice enough to be put up with you, don’t make them regret it.

There, that seems right. There is space to add to either list if necessary. Marinette reads over each list a few times. Reading over the facts helped make them feel less bad, that would lead to acceptance right? She would try to read them before bed when she could. As for the rules, she would memorize them, that would make sure she didn’t forget and accidentally break one.

~~~

Author’s Note: Marinette, honey, no. (So close, yet so very very far)

If anyone is wondering why the lucky charm is a demon, I spent far too long looking for something that would be symbolic of her current state (because her lucky charm is worried too) and finally found this, so I went with it.

I put together a reference slide for Leonardo, I’ll post it soon.

The next thing I've got planned on the timeline is actually the first akuma I thought up for this story, and has a much bigger impact on the story and characters. That said, I'm tempted to put a short chapter in between to give an idea on how the Quantics feel about all this, so I may do that next instead. I'm really looking forward to the akuma though, and you'll have to put up with (looking at the timeline) another two akuma battles pretty close together. These ones will probably last longer than Dressmaker though, and serve more of a purpose than just a 'check-up' on Ladybug.

As always, thanks for reading, and constructive criticism is welcomed.

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#miraculous ladybug #transfer #with time #fanfic #chameleon #salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #chat noir #akuma attack #leonardo #tikki

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flawlesspeasant · 5 years ago

Note

Do you have any new Jolex fics to post or recommend?? Nobody has been posting any lately.

So here’s one I wrote (circa season 11 or 12...?) in which Jo confronts Alex about the way he treats her vs. the way he treats Meredith.

_________________________________

Jo slid her hand down into the left pocket of her white lab coat and wrapped her hand around her pager as she leaned back against the silver metal bar that lined the perimeter of the elevator. She sighed and pulled the pager from her pocket, sweeping a loose strand of her silky brunette hair away from her forehead and out of her field of vision with her unoccupied hand. Upon seeing that she had no new pages, she crossed her legs at the ankles and rested the palms of her hands against the metal bar behind her.

The elevator dinged, and on the wall above the doors, the number “3” lit up in bright yellow fluorescence. The motor that was in charge of making the doors pull back stuttered and just as the doors began to close, a pale white hand with hairy knuckles slipped through the crack and caused them to retract once again. Jo clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes upon noticing the silver, expensive-looking watch on the wrist that belonged to the hand on the door; she recognized that watch and she knew exactly who it belonged to. She took her palms off the metal bar and stood up straight, prepared to breeze right past him once the doors were fully opened. The argument was still fresh, she still wore the irritation on her shoulders like a jacket and she’d rather walk up three flights of stairs than ride in an elevator with him.

Alex slipped through the elevator doors and stood directly in front of them, planting his feet firmly and making a bold statement with his demeanor. He had been walking down the steps just as Jo was entering the elevator and he had to act quickly if he wanted to make his move. Still out of breath from running down the steps to get to the elevator before it closed, Alex wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and folded his arms across his chest.

With a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head, Jo turned around and retreated back to the corner of the elevator she was standing in before she tried to run. She knew Alex was trapping her and to a certain extent, she was trapped. He was standing in front of the door, the doors were closed and for at least 45 seconds, she had to witness whatever it was that he wanted to say. She didn’t have to listen, though, and to make her point, she kept her hands in her pockets and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling.

“Look,” Alex started, lifting his head upwards and giving a stern expression that Jo didn’t notice for the fact that she refused to look at him. “I know you’re mad at me but we’re gonna have to talk about it sometime.” Jo kept her eyes geared towards the ceiling, which made Alex suck his teeth. “Alright fine, you don’t wanna talk about it? You don’t wanna fix it? Fine. I did my part.”

Jo smirked to herself and let out a disgruntled, sarcastic chuckle. “Sure you did,” she whispered, mostly to herself. She cleared her throat and finally laid her eyes on him. “You’re right. I don’t wanna talk about it,” she shrugged. Alex raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, clearly confused. “I’m just tired of having this argument when nothing ever changes.”

“Because I’m not sure what you want me to change. You snap on me all the time and you never tell me what your real issue is and then somehow you expect me to ch--”

“The way you treat me!” Jo held her hands out and threw her head back, feeling her blood beginning to boil once again. Their initial argument was at least an hour ago and up until this point, she was relatively calm again but the second she allowed her mind to wander, to revisit the very thing that had ruined her day in the first place, the anger was instantaneous. “Don’t make it seem like I’m throwing all this on you out of nowhere when I’ve been telling you about the same thing since last year! It’s not...random, Alex, it’s been the SAME thing! And thought maybe you would’ve done something about it by now but obviously--”

“What do you want me to DO, Jo?! What do you want me to say? You want me to stop being friends with Meredith? Not gonna happen. I’m not going to--”

“I didn’t ask you to stop being friends with her! I never asked that, I just want you to--”

“It’s not about what you want!”

“Yes, I know! You’ve made that painfully obvious since the beginning. I’m aware that it’s not about what I want and you know what? Maybe I’m kidding myself at this point. Maybe I’m stupid to think you actually give a damn about what I want. It was never about what I want. It was always about what she wanted then and it’s still about what she wants now.”

“Jo, there are things that you’ll never understand, alright? She was there for me when nobody else was, she was the only one that ever gave me a chance and we’ve been through alot together. She’s the only person--”

“I know that too,” Jo mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears. She cleared her throat again and made her voice the best impersonation of Alex’s she could offer, “She’s the only person that ever had your back, the only person in this world you can trust, yeah Alex, I know. And you’re right, maybe I don’t understand. But I don’t WANT to understand. I’m not asking to understand...I just...really need to get away from you right now.”

The elevator dinged once again and Jo heard the familiar sound of the motors buzzing. The doors parted once more and on the other side stood two nurses that she didn’t recognize, their coats slung over their arms and their purses on their shoulders. She side-stepped Alex but was quickly shut down by Alex putting his arm up and blocking her exit. She glared at him with a clenched jaw, and Alex shrugged.

“Take the next one,” he mumbled to the two nurses waiting to get on and his own anger shot through the roof when the two women looked at him in disbelief. “Take the next one!”

The two nurses shook their heads at him, but eventually, they did as he said and walked away to wait for the next elevator. Alex jammed his finger into the number “10” button, which was the highest floor and would allow him the most time, and let the doors close behind him once again.

“I need to get away from you, Alex,” Jo closed her eyes and tried to breathe through her nose to calm herself down. “You really need to let me go.”

“No,” he put his hands on his hips and stuck his neck out. Jo raised her eyebrows. Was he telling her no? Was he telling her what she could and couldn’t do? As if she wasn’t angry enough. “You run from your crap all the time. You’re not running here. You’re not running out on me.”

“Let me go,” she clenched her teeth and in her pockets, her hands involuntarily bawled themselves up into fists.

Alex rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. “You know what Jo? If you really wanted me to fix it, you’d do more than just stand there with that sour look on your face. I can’t fix anything unless you tell me how to. I hate when you act--”

“Because it never freaking changes! It never changes so I don’t know why I have to say anything to you when you don’t put forth an effort! All you do is dismiss me and then tell me how much you care about me when in reality, you can’t be bothered to show it! Why do I have to say anything when nothing changes? I’ve been telling you about the same thing for a year! A whole year! Matter fact, longer than that! And nothing I do ever changes a thing! I put forth the effort, Alex! I moved us out of that house because I wanted t-to BE with you! Is it wrong for me to want to have you to myself? Because if it is then...WOW, yeah I’ve been nothing but unreasonable. I just don’t understand what YOU want me to say when nothing I say changes a thing. We can have this argument a million times but it’s always going to be the same. She’s still gonna be a bitch and you’re still gonna defend her so what’s the point here?”

“Stop calling her a bitch,” Alex mumbled and put his head down. It was his only defense, the only thing he could say and not sound like a tool. It was the only thing he even had to say for himself.

“No, I’m not gonna stop calling her a bitch because that’s what she is. She’s been nothing but a bitch to me. Everyone has. But it’s always worse when she does it because she rules the roost and does so with an iron fist. She’s a bitch and she makes everybody else a bitch.”

“She’s not a bitch. She’s just--”

“God, don’t you ever say anything else? You’ve already TOLD me about all the crap she’s been through. It’s a sucky excuse and an even poorer explanation. I’ve been through crap too and I don’t go around stepping on everybody else,” Jo folded her arms across her chest and sighed. “...I’m not knocking her. We all have our crap and we all go through it and I get that. But Alex...why is that license for you to feel obligated to her and not me? I could’ve used somebody...when all that stuff with Steph was going down and everybody around me turned against me, I thought...I thought it would be okay because I still had you. But..I didn’t. I didn’t have you, and I still don’t. But you know who did? You know who does?”

Alex sighed and felt his shoulders slouch. He ran his fingers through his shaggy, wavy brown hair and swallowed hard. He had nothing else to say. In truth, he didn’t realize just how much it bothered Jo. He knew that she had an issue with some of the things Meredith did and up until today, he thought they were all corrected. She didn’t like how Meredith came in the bed and kicked her out, it was resolved and hadn’t happened in a while. She didn’t like how Meredith could just come in the house as she pleased without warning, and they moved out. It was resolved. He didn’t know just how much Jo was bothered by all of this...and he had no defense. He had nothing to say for himself. He sighed again and looked up at Jo, his heart dropping upon noticing the tears lined around the rims of her bright brown eyes.

“I’m just...juggling,” he said. “I’m trying to be there for her and for you and--”

“You’re doing a crap job.”

“It’s hard, Jo! It’s not easy!”

“It shouldn’t be! It shouldn’t be hard! It shouldn’t be tough for you to be there for the both of us. It shouldn’t be easy, but it shouldn’t be hard for you to be able to turn off the supportive friend and turn on the supportive boyfriend. It doesn’t have to be hard, Alex. You’re making it hard. Just...let me know, okay? Let me know where I stand. Let me know...that she’s higher on the priority list than I am. You’ve already shown it, just say it. She’s a priority and I’m not.”

“That’s not--”

“It is,” Jo nodded. “Meredith...oh, Meredith. Let me make sure Meredith’s okay, let me make sure her kids are okay, let me make sure she has a shoulder to cry on. Oh, Meredith’s upset? Let me go cheer her up, let me go make sure she has someone to talk to. But Jo? Oh, she’s fine. She’s only being ostracized by more than half the damn hospital, she only lost her best friend, but she’s pulling through!” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m just the one you come home to. Just the one you roll over to in the middle of the night and climb on top of when you’re hot and ready. You show it plain as day...might as well own up and say it.”

“You’re being selfish,” Alex mumbled and Jo’s jaw immediately dropped. “You can’t have me to yourself all hours of the day Jo, it doesn’t work like that. You’re being selfish.”

“...I’M selfish?!” Jo’s voice rose as she took her index finger and stuck it on her chest, pointing to herself. Her arm trembled as anger coursed through her body, white hot and in the place of blood. “Now I’m selfish?! How selfish was I when I was holding your hand as your dad was dying? How selfish was I when I was rubbing your back as all your friends, the one’s that have been through OH SO MUCH with you, voted against you? But I’m selfish, right? Selfish for wanting my boyfriend...if you’re even that anymore. I’m selfish for wanting the man that I love. You know Alex...some people…” her voice cracked as her eyes gave way to tears that she quickly brushed off. She chuckled again and prepared for a dose of heavy sarcasm. “Some women want..a ring, maybe? They want to talk about having babies with the man they’ve loved for years but me? No,” she shook her head. “I don’t want a ring...I don’t wanna marry you...I don’t wanna be the mother of your babies someday. Ii just want...to feel like you actually care about me. That’s all. And if that’s too much, then you know what else? Just get me a boat. Or an island, whichever one is cheaper.”

“Jo…”

“Just the boat, Alex. The boat. Or the island, I don’t care,” she shrugged her shoulders and as soon as the elevator dinged again, she wiped her face and prepared to leave.

“Jo, when you said… ‘if I’m even your boyfriend anymore’...what’d that mean?” Alex turned and let his eyes follow her as she shuffled past him in a desperate attempt to get out of the elevator. “What’d that mean? You breaking up with me?”

Jo whipped around fast as she stepped off the elevator. “I just want a boat or an island, Alex!” She held her hands up and backpedaled, ignoring the stares she got from the nurses and passersby for yelling. “That’s all I’m asking for.”

Alex watched her as she walked away. He kept his eyes on her until the elevator doors shut again and she was nothing but a memory. He still wasn’t sure what she meant and at this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

He had no idea how to fix this.

#jolex #fanfiction

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return-of-a-space-cowboy · 6 years ago

Note

Hey your writing is magnifique, may I request a Yandere Gio with a male reader underling, if possible they have a stand too?

Yes sure, this is the second male reader request I've gotten so I hope it's to your standards :)

When doves cry

(Yandere Giorno Giovanna X male reader)

"Do I really have to come" you asked your Capo thought the phone as you looked towards your boyfriend.

"Yes you do, Don's orders" he sternly spoke. You let out a sigh, today was supposed to be free from worry.

"Ok… I'll be there at 6pm" you said before hanging up. You saw your boyfriend pout as he heard your words.

"(Y/n), why did you say that, you've been working nights for weeks" he huffed. You felt your heart wanting to burst. For all he knew you were a nurse. He had no idea what your real job was, you wanted to tell him but you knew that it was safer to keep him blind to the Mafia.

"They offered me triple for overtime, you know we need the money" you responded with a sigh. He clung onto your shoulder and looked at you with worrying eyes.

"You shouldn't push yourself so far, I don't want you to become ill because of all that pent up stress" he said as he nuzzled into you chest.

"I promise I'll make it up to you" you whispered into his ear.

"You always say that…" those words pierced you. You hated when he reminded you of those broken promises.

"I really do mean it this time" you said as you kissed his forehead.

🐞🐞🐞

You sat in the limousine, pouring a small glass of cognac as you waited for your Capo. You slumped back before taking a sip.

"Seems you arrived early" a familiar voice said. You looked towards the door to see him walking through the door.

"So why did the Don need me" you asked. It had only been three months since the previous Don had been killed.

"Well it only seems fair, you did replace Squadra Esecuziono single handedly" he responded.

"That is a huge over statement" you retorted as you took another sip.

"I'm sure the previous Don had his personal guards do most of the work, so don't try boosting my ego. I'm simply just piece in the game" you continued.

"I know you don't like to seem arrogant but trust me, you have what it takes to be a Capo yourself. You have a calm composure and a good sense of judgement" he said as he poured himself a glass.

"INXS is a great stand for one such as yourself" he then commented as the limousine started.

🐞🐞🐞

Your eyes wandered as you walked through the halls, looking at the opulent interior. From detailing painted in gold, pillars carved into perfect form and pieces of art that screamed suficicaion. You felt so small in this large hallway.

"So… what's the new Don like? If you've seen him that is" you asked the Capo.

"How would you respond if he was one year younger than you" he asked.

"Your kidding me!" You exclaimed.

"See for yourself" he responded as you both reached the doors, beyond these doors was the man who you would serve with your life to.

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes before pushing the french doors open and saw the Don himself sitting like a king on his throne. His hair like small threads of gold, his eyes as blue as the sky, his body was smaller than most men but still had tone to it and his skin a slight pale tone. He looked like a living porcelain doll. You were stuck in awe.

"I am glad to finally be able to meet you in person (Y/n)" he spoke in a soft tone and his lips titled into a small smile.

"Likewise Don..." you said as you bowed down before him.

"Giovanna, Giorno Giovanna" he said as he walked towards you.

You stood back up and looked at your Capo.

"Your probably wondering why I summoned you here" Giorno said.

"Yes, I am" you responded.

"I'm sure you've heard about what happened to most of the former Don's guards" he began to explain. You gave him a nod.

"I knew that when I became Don I would need some form of protection, so I looked though the profiles of various members in our organisation" he continued.

"I thought you would fit the role perfectly" he concluded. You were shocked, the new Don wanted you to be his bodyguard. It was flattering sure but you knew it would be a time consuming job, not to mention the excuses you would have to come up with for your boyfriend.

"I'm flattered by your offer but I don't know if I could accept-"

"Take your time, I'm sure your overwhelmed by my proposal. I'll give you all the time you need to decide" he said as he placed a hand on your shoulder, which caused you to flinch. He had a bright warm smile on his face that made you wonder how someone who seemed so gentle could have killed the former Don.

🐞🐞🐞

From the balcony Giorno watched as you left in the limousine. A dreamy expression plastered on his face, his heart fluttered.

'He's even more handsome in person' the blonde thought, causing a pinkish hue to cover his face before he covered his face.

'what am I thinking?' he thought as he let out a sigh.

Giorno was confused, he was well aware of sexuality but he just couldn't comprehend how he could fall so desperately in love with someone he had only interacted with once, maybe his thoughts would clear if got to know you more.

🐞🐞🐞

You sighed as you opened the door, you felt so relieved to be back home. The TV's light illuminating the lounge room and your boyfriend asleep on the lounge. had been waiting for you to get home. You smiled before shuffling right beside him, you didn't care how uncomfortable the lounge was. As long as you were with him.

🐞🐞🐞

A month had passed since Don Giovanna had offered you the position, you still hadn't given him a response. Your Capo was constantly asking why you hadn't taken it up already but you never responded to him.

You had done a few tasks for the Don. Mainly escorting him to Mob affiliated events, however despite that he had always kept you close by. He'd ask you questions about yourself, from your favourite books and bands to more personal questions like your upbringing and daily life. He just seemed so interested in you, maybe it was just him wanting to know about the person he would put his trust in or maybe he was just curious.

It was a pleasant day and with a day off you decided to keep your promise that you made. You and your boyfriend sat down at the rock at the marina watching the sunset, not the most extravagant date sure but the greatest pleasures came from the smallest of acts.

"(Y/n) it's beautiful" he mumbled as he rested his head on your shoulder.

"I knew you would love it" you whispered as you pecked his cheek.

Time seemed to stop and it was perfect, you wanted this moment to last forever but a voice tore you out.

"(Y/n) what a coincidence" a familiar voice said. You quickly turned your head. To your shock it was Giorno, standing on the nearby dock.

"(Y/n) who's this?" Your boyfriend said as he shuffled away. You a mental breakdown. God what were you going to say.

"He he was one of my patients, how's you arm going Giorno?" you lied.

you saw the amusement in his expression but he simply played along.

"Good as new" he responded.

"Oh (Y/n)" your boyfriend said with slight distress in his voice as he looked at his phone.

"Yes"

"My grandma's had a stroke I need to go to the hospital"

"I'll take you"

"No I'll just take a cab, I don't want to trouble you"

"No you take the car, I'll take the cab" you offered to end the back and forward between you two.

"Are you sure?" He asked as you gave him the keys.

"Yes" you said. He gave you a quick hug before climbing up the rocks

"Thank you" he said before disappearing into the distance.

"So your boyfriend doesn't know?" Giorno asked.

"And why do you assume he's my boyfriend?" You retorted as you climbed the rocks.

"I was around longer than you knew" he chuckled, Causing you face to go red. You stood up and looked at him, looking as perfect as usual but his eyes. They weren't as clear as usual, the seemed clouded.

"I'm not bothered in the slightest about your sexuality" he assured you.

An awkward silence between you grew as you had no idea what to say.

"I'd like you to show me your stand, I've heard so much about it" he said

"Heh ok but don't anticipate something powerful" you commented as you summoned INXS, a small mirror in your hand. Giorno gave a confused look before asking.

"So how exactly does it work?"

"Well to put it in simple terms, it reflects the desires of anyone caught in it's reflection. I can use it to disguise myself as someone the desire or have it creates an object of their desire" you explained.

"So what do you do from there?" He asked.

"Well I can get close to my target without worry of them being sceptical or I can make a trap out of their desired object" you continued.

"Interesting, most stand users in Passioné have more offensive stand but you use yours to simply trick your target" he said.

"It's not about the ability, it's about how it's used" you replied to the blonde.

"Show me how it works" he ordered.

"Well sure but I'll let you know that I see myself as normal while it's active, so you don't have to worry about me prying into your secrets" you said as you held out the mirror so his reflection was shown.

"See what I mean"

"No you look the same to me" Giorno said with a confused look.

"That's funny I'm sure I got your reflection" you said as you tried again.

"Has it worked now?" You asked.

"No" he replied. It baffled you, why wasn't your stand working? Did it possibly have something to do with his stand?

You looked around and saw someone on the boardwalk just to the side and you pointed INXS at them.

"You look very pretty but I think I prefer you in your normal form" the blonde snickered. Your face turned bright red as you heard him say that but you tried to think of what he said as a joke.

"What do I look like…"

"You have long, wavy blonde hair. Slightly tanned skin, light grey eyes and a very slender figure for a lady" he explained. You instantly retracted your stand, causing you to return to your normal form.

"I'm glad I got to see you today (Y/n)" Giorno said with a small smile on his face.

"And why would that be" you asked.

"Because your a pleasant person to be around and honestly it's easier to talk to you, I feel like I can act like myself " he said.

"I'm flattered but-" you began to speak before Giorno cut you off.

"I want you to come with me" he ordered.

"Giorno this is unexpected, I really should get going, I don't know how my boyfriend is going to feel when he gets home" you explained as you tried to back away from him.

"I can take you to your house after" he stated through grit teeth as he grabbed you by the wrist, his gentle persona slowly deteriorating more with every mention of you significant other.

He dragged you into the limousine.

"What is going on?" You asked him as he slammed the door shut.

"You trust me right?" He asked. You obviously had your doubts about what he was doing at this point but you wouldn't dare tell him.

"Of course I do boss" you said as you tried to remain calm.

"Who do you trust more me or him?" He asked, his eyes becoming more clouded.

"What do you mean by 'him'"

"Your boyfriend" he hissed.

"What does my boyfriend have to do with this?" You yelled at him.

"I want what he has, I want your loyalty and your undying affections… I want you to be right beside me" he stated as he wrapped his arms around you.

"But Boss-"

"Don't call me boss or Don anymore, I want you to call me by name from now on" he whispered in your ear.

"Giorno please understand, I don't see you that way"

"I understand that your confused but you'll realise your feelings for me sooner or later" he mumbled as his hands played with your hair.

"Giono your not thinking straight" you said as you tried to shake him off of you.

He stopped smothering you and gave you a stern look.

"My thoughts are as clear as day, do you think I became Don by just going with a spur of the moment" he hissed.

"And I don't want you to talk about that man ever again, it's not like you'll ever see him again" he continued.

"What did you do to him!?" You screamed.

"I haven't done anything, but I'm sure by now one of my assassins has done away with him" he explained. Everything crumbled around you. Your brain overflowing with thoughts. You had lost the love of your life and something inside of you snapped.

You grabbed Giorno by the shoulders and pushed him into one of the seats.

"You… you…" you mumbled, unable to form a proper sentence as tears formed in your eyes. The blonde male brought a hand to wipe away your tears.

"(Y/n) I can give you whatever you want if you choose me" he lulled to you.

"But if you don't... I just want to remind you that I know everything about you and That I can easily make your life a living hell" he continued, still with a sickeningly sweet tone.

"All you have to do is be right beside me" he cooed before pulling you in for a kiss.

#yandere x reader #yandere jjba #yandere #giorno giovanna #giorno #male reader

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echoes-of-the-clockwork · 6 years ago

Text

Book One: Death (Noctis x Reader) Chapter Fifteen

A/n: I think I forgot to mention this, but this is a short series that will include four books in all. Each book will have around 15-20 chapters and you can tell this one is coming to an end. There will be a large time skip soon, but I will make sure this story has a happy ending! Love you all!!! •••••••••••••••••••• Not able to catch up to (Y/n), the boys lost sight of her. "Shit... How can she outrun us in heels?!" Noctis shouted as they came to a stop. There were two paths and no one knew which one Death took. The prince tried to follow the scent, but the smell drenched the entire area and nearly caused him to gag. "Should we split up?"

"No. With (Y/n) truant, the creatures in the vicinity will strike without warning," Ignis responded. "We will venture down both paths if necessary."

"Eenie... meenie... miney... mo..." Prompto started, determining with path they should take first. After finishing the jingle, the sharpshooter chose the path to their right. "That way!"

"Guess we're goin' right," Gladio mumbled as they took off.

Halfway down the path, the four were attacked by a couple of Mandrakes. It wasn't a grueling task slaying the creatures, but it did put more distance between them and (Y/n). Once the monsters were slain, the group continued down the path.

The four spot a familiar figure as they stood on the other side of a tunnel that led to an open area. Noctis was the first to reach the Horseman as her body appeared stiff. He followed her gaze as he heard the cries of a Wendigo and something else. Prompto stood a few feet behind the couple as he saw two creatures fighting. "Is that a...?"

"Bandersnatch and a Wendigo," Ignis responded. "Skirmishing against one another."

As the five watched the battle, they could tell the Wendigo had the upper hand even with its smaller stature compared to the Bandersnatch's immense one. Blood poured from the larger creature's side as it tried to attack the other worldly monster. The Bandersnatch's steps were wobbly, the blood loss causing its large body to sway with each step. The Wendigo pounced and landed on its opponent's back, lodging its claws into the larger monster's thick, though skin. Without hesitation, the smaller creature hissed loudly before biting into the Bandersnatch's flesh. Blood spurted from the fresh wound as the creature wailed out in pain as it no longer could stand. It tipped over, landing on its side and shaking the ground when it made impact.

The Wendigo retracted its claws and teeth from the now dead Bandersnatch, crying out in victory. (Y/n) glared daggers at the rotting, bloodied monster as it began eating the corpse of the large creature. From behind her, she could hear Prompto gag at the gruesome sight.

"What a vile creature," Ignis muttered with a scowl.

"Just be glad you don't live in the Inner Sanctum. There're monsters far worse than the Wendigo that reside in the world between life and death," the Horseman commented as she summoned her scythe.

"Gotta admit-it made our job easier," Gladio commented as he followed (Y/n)'s action and summoned his broadsword.

"Yeah, but now we've gotta face that creepy, nasty thing!" Prompto cried out, gripping his pistol tightly.

"It's an easy kill, Prom," the Horseman reassures. "The only way to kill it is to chop its head from its body. If you cut off any limbs, it won't slow it down-that'll only anger it and its movement won't be affected at all."

"Let's begin, shall we?" Ignis inquired with a dagger in each hand.

"Ready whenever you are," Noctis responded, eyes bouncing over to (Y/n).

"Let's just hope I can fight in these contraptions," she responded, glancing down at her dress and heels.

Without waiting another second, the five engaged the Wendigo. The monster easily sensed their presence before they could land a hit and swiftly dodged. It wailed out in anger-its meal being interrupted. Blood covered its entire body as its red, glowing eyes bounced between the boys and girl in front of it. The creature set its sights on Prompto, earning a scream of fear from the boy as the Wendigo pounced in his direction. (Y/n) acted quickly and outran the monster, standing protectively in front of the blonde boy and raising her scythe just as the Wendigo landed a few inches in front of her. Its bloodied claws rammed into the blade, the strength behind the attack causing her to slide back in the dirt.

Prompto took the chance to fire a round at the Wendigo and managed to take out the monster's left eye. It bellowed in pain and jumped away from the two, only to be attacked by Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis. (Y/n) and Prompto joined in as they recovered and surrounded the creature. It knew where the five were aiming and protected its head as it managed to break through their defenses and gain some distance. Noctis was the first to react and charged at the monster. The Horseman saw what it had planned and quickly ran after the prince. "Noctis, stop!"

The raven-haired boy heard her shout, grabbing his attention and distracting him from the monster standing only a few feet in front of him. A menacing glint flashed in the Wendigo's remaining eye as it raised its claws and swiped at Noctis. Before the prince could feel his skin being shredded, he was pushed out of the way and to safety. His body went rolling through the grass before he came to a stop. When Noctis heard a scream, his azure eyes widened as his head shot up.

Noctis watched in anger and fear as the Wendigo tore into (Y/n)'s flesh with its claws. With the immense force of the hit, her body was swatted away and flew through the air. Her body slammed against a stone structure, which Noctis recognized as the tomb they were searching for. Stumbling to his feet, he dashed over to (Y/n) while the others handled the Wendigo.

Noctis reached (Y/n) and called out her name. When he didn't receive a response, he checked on her injuries. The ones she received from the impact were healing, but the one she received from the Wendigo wasn't and blood was pouring from the large gash on her arm. He patted his pockets, hoping to find a curative on him. When he didn't, he clicked his tongue in frustration and gathered (Y/n)'s body in his arms. "Dammit... Ignis!"

"On my way!" The tactician responded as he dodged one of the Wendigo's attacks to reach the couple. Ignis grabbed a curative from his pocket and tossed it to Noctis-who crushed it over the immense gash on Death's arm. The prince watched as the skin mended together and prevented anymore blood from flowing out.

Noctis held (Y/n) tightly, her head resting against his shoulder. He waited for her to open her eyes, signaling she was well and didn't need further medical attention. Ignis remained by the prince's side as Prompto and Gladio finished off the Wendigo with a combined attack. The two rushed over and gathered around Noctis and (Y/n), hoping the unconscious girl would wake.

A few minutes of silence passed when Death opened her eyes. She inhaled deeply before sighing heavily as she tried to sit up, but the hold Noctis had on her prevented her from moving an inch. "Is it dead?" Was the first thing she asked when she decided to let Noctis continue to hold her.

"Yeah. You alright?" Gladio asked.

"Just peachy."

Noctis was glad to hear she was fine, but one question buzzed in his mind. "How come the injury inflicted by that thing didn't heal? Your back healed perfectly fine and even when you grabbed Ravus' sword, the wound healed within seconds."

"That's because the Wendigo is from the Inner Sanctum. Injuries caused upon my being from a monster that I share a home with don't heal with mana from this world," the Horseman responded.

"That's what happened when Noct summoned you after we found the last runestone," Prompto said.

"Yes, except I wasn't only injured by that attack. By the time you summoned me, I had lost too much blood and my heart stopped."

Prompto swallowed hard at her response. "So, you were... dead?"

"In simple terms-yes. But, I am immortal and also happen to be the Horseman of Death. Kinda ironic, isn't it?"

"Never heard someone be so casual about death before," Gladio stated with a small frown.

"Well..." (Y/n) started. "When you're a being with the power to swipe someone's soul with a single touch, you kinda lose yourself to the darkness in you and end up laughing at the darkest things any man or woman could think of."

The boys were silent and couldn't think of anything to say after such a heavy statement. (Y/n) realized how she dampened the mood and decided to break free from Noctis' hold. She stood up and brushed off her dress. "You better go claim the royal arm." Not able to meet any of their gazes, Death headed towards the tunnel.

With a sorrowful gaze, Noctis watched as (Y/n) walks away from them. He wanted to chase after her and say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Sighing heavily, the prince opened the entrance to the tomb and claimed the royal arm.

<------<<<<<<<<

(Y/n) reached the Regalia and waited patiently for the boys to return. She examined the area she was scratched and saw the tear in her dress. "Guess I'll get rid of the sleeves before taking the photos."

"I think it suits you," Death heard a voice laugh from behind her. Spinning on her heels, she was greeted by the spectral image of one of her sisters-Famine. Unlike Death, she had blonde hair and green eyes. A smile was etched on her face as she stood a few feet away from (Y/n).

"What're you doing here, Famine?" (Y/n) questioned her sister.

"Pestilence, War, and myself have been watching the Wendigos. There's only one left and you'll be able to return home! The three of us miss you, Death."

(Y/n) glanced down at the ground, her (e/c) eyes becoming dull. "What if I wanted to stay here?"

Famine's emerald eyes widened. "What? Why would you want to stay in the land of the living?"

"There's someone I care about very dearly and I can't bring myself to return to the Inner Sanctum and leave him here."

Famine sighs in disbelief. "I understand, but you know your presence is needed to prevent another incident like this from happening. Before you slay the last Wendigo, please say your "goodbyes" to this boy. The moment the last monster is slain, the portal to the Inner Sanctum will open. Please, do not get yourself tangled any further in the living or your departure will only be more difficult."

(Y/n) remained silent as her sister vanished. She knew Famine was right and she needed to distance herself from the boys, especially Noctis. It hurt her to do this to them even after she had confessed her feelings to the prince recently. Biting the inside of her cheek, she steeled herself and made up her mind.

<------<<<<<<<

When the boys returned to the car a few minutes later, they didn't see (Y/n). Noctis searched the area, wondering if she had just wandered off a little ways. "(Y/n)?"

Prompto helped in the search, but he couldn't find the Horseman. Gladio and Ignis joined and searched further from the car. Noctis pulled out the summoning orb and curled his fingers around the ornament. When (Y/n) didn't appear, he grew worried for her safety.

"I don't see her, Noct," Prompto confesses as he returns from checking down the road.

"Neither do we," Ignis stated as he and Gladio returned from checking the foliage.

Noctis gritted his teeth, staring down at the sable orb in his hand. "Where the hell has she gone?"

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #final fantasy xv x reader #noctis x reader #noctis lucis caelum

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memescomicswriting · 6 years ago

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In the Pursuit of Happiness Ch. 2

.Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Reader x Bucky, Reader x Steve

Warnings/Genre: Angst, Fluff

Summary: Singer!Avenger. Raised by Sheild since the age of ten, Y/N grew up without everyday examples. She only saw how to be an agent. Though as a grown woman she has surpassed that mindset, she still faces challenges from her upbringing- like how to handle feelings, unrequited love, and interpersonal challenges. Set after similar plot points in Civil War, Y/N must face returning home after leaving during an uncomfortable time in her life and facing the consequences

A/N: This is my first series in the Marvel fandom. I hope you enjoy it. I always welcome feedback. It is appreciated. This story does not follow the traditional Marvel timeline. I mess with it to make the story work, so roll with me.

Story Masterlist

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You were disappointed with Steve, to say the least. Yes you'd been on this mission for over three months, and yes, you left when your friendship with Steve was on rocky grounds, but you never thought he would forget you. You were friends from almost since the beginning. Then you had to go and make things murky.

You shook off those thoughts as you neared Peter. God, you loved that kid. He was like the little brother you never had. Growing up as a ward of Sheild didn't provide a great example of family, but you had Natasha and Clint. They were your family.

"And he placed second in the national science fair!" Tony exclaimed. "He should have taken first if it were up to me. The judges had a bias."

Tony was praising his semi adopted son to a gathering of his friends- Rhodey, Coulson, and other government and Sheild names.

"I think you have some bias." You joined the circle, slinging an arm around Peter. "Though Peter is an amazing kid."

"And there's the other rising star!" Tony somewhat took you in as well. When a sixteen-year-old shows up, Tony adopts them. You appeared with Coulson and Nat when Tony was dealing with the fall out of revealing his dual identity. You were kind where they had been stoic, and you'd play along with Tony's bits. When he discovered your love for science he nearly sued Sheild for your custody. That was almost eight years ago.

"Superstar and MIT and Columbia graduate; you blow me away kid." Tony raised his glass to toast you.

"You forgot top Sheild agent and Avenger." Coulson, your other father figure added.

"Yes, Y/N is the apple of all our eyes." Peper winked at you as she joined the group. "But really honey, you shouldn't gush on the kids this much."

Tony dared to look annoyed at his fiance, but he quickly dropped it with one raised eyebrow from Pepper. He moved on to other stories, but still managed to relate it back to Peter or you.

"Run," Peper whispered discreetly in your ear. Without any hesitance, you nodded to the lovely woman and escorted Peter and yourself to the food table.

Thor was roaring with laughter at something Vision had said. The vision was utterly clueless as to why it was funny. They scooted further down the line for you and Peter to grab your own plates.

"Thanks for the save." He released the tension he held. He was the cutest little thing. He was always polite, even in awkward situations.

"What are roomies for?" You quipped. Tony wanted Peter to stay closer to his wing of the compound. However, you insisted that Peter should have more independence. He needed to be around someone closer to his age, but someone he could look up to. That was you.

"Ugh," He groaned. "You don't know how happy I am that you're back. Clint's kids were killing me." One questioning look and Peter was retracting. "Not that I don't love having them visit. They're just a lot to handle at their age."

"Right." You side-eyed him and giggled to yourself. "And it has nothing to do with how much mothering I do for you, or how I keep Tony off your back."

"I'm not all that helpless." He grumbled.

"I know you're not." You elbowed him and you both chuckled together.

With full plates, you made your way over to an open table by the window. It was off to the side, and away from the heavy crowd of personalities. "Oh!" Peter perked up. "How did it go meeting Captain America's friend, Mr. James?"

You halted the motion of your forkful of food to your lips. Slowly, you put your fork down and folded your hands on your lap. "You can call them Cap and Bucky you know."

"You don't" He casually pointed out.

"No, I don't" You sighed and faced the window. You looked out over the lit field of the compound that led to the forests beyond of Upstate New York. "Steve forgot to mention I was coming or who I was."

"No!" Peter exclaimed. "He couldn't have!"

"He did and he told me so." You let out a small and disappointed huff. Your smile faltered, something you hated doing around Peter. You always wanted to keep the joyous vibe for him especially.

"He's a jerk." Peter had a stern look set on his face. He had never shown that look to you.

You were shocked. "Peter!" You gasped.

"What? It's true!" He pointed his fork at you. "So what you've been gone for three months after what happened. You were on a mission with radio silence."

"Yeah, but I left for three months after what happened." You repeated his statement with a different tone. "I accepted the mission."

"Like you can say no to Fury." Annoyance clear in his voice. You questioned that statement. Shock took over him as he realized you have said no to Fury. However, he shook that off and continued. "It's not your fault you don't know what you feel, or how to feel it. You were raised by Sheild with no examples for one. Second, you've been friends with him for years- since you were eighteen. You took the place of a friend, therapist, guide, and everything else for him. You don't owe him more of yourself. Third, rejection isn't an excuse to be a jerk."

You were taken aback by this sudden declaration. Evidently, he had been spending time with Carol and Natasha and the rest of the feminist army while you were away. Honestly, you'd say the same things to another woman in your situation.

"I just..." You took Peter's hand holding it firm. "I can't be everyone's everything all the time even if I want to be."

Peter looked so sad staring into your eyes. "You just being you is enough for me."

You wanted to throw your arms around him then and there and pick him up. He really was the best. Though you convinced Tony, Peter needed to be near you, you may be the one that needed to be near him. In a sudden move, you swept your hand away and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" He cried out. retaliating by throwing a roll at you.

"You're the best kid." Despite being hit in the nose by a dinner roll, you beamed at him. Then he blushed.

At eleven, Peter decided it was time for him to go to bed. You told him not to wait up for you. Now you could join in Thor's tomfoolery and consume some Asgardian liquor. Games of chicken and bets became more common with the more alcohol consumed. Clint asked you to dance just before you had the bold idea to go up against Nat.

"So I think I got all of the kids' things out." Small talk while he twirled you around respectfully.

"You pulled me away from the fun to talk about my room?" You scoffed.

"No," He corrected you. "I pulled you away to keep you from making a mistake."

"I so could have taken Nat in that challenge." You retorted with displeasure.

"No, you couldn't." Clint managed to say without letting his chuckle slip.

"No, I couldn't." You agree quickly, dropping your act of toughness and laughing with Clint.

He hummed out. "Things aren't the same with you gone on a mission." Then he dropped your hands as the song ended.

"Well, I hope my return doesn't put a cramp in your vacation from active duty." You huffed out with your hands now placed on your hips.

"Never kid! In fact, I'm the leader of the welcome home committee." He retorted.

You were both about to rejoin for another light dance when someone cleared their throat next to you.

---

A/N: Chapter 2 done! Let me know what you think. Reblog if you liked it. Peter’s the best, isn’t he? Comment below if you want more Peter and Y/N scenes and what they would be.

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phantasticworks · 6 years ago

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Don’t Ask Me How I’ve Been (Fake Happy)

Based on the short film "Papercut" by Omad Productions (Somewhat, I got carried away)

read on ao3

Words: 13.7k

Description: Dan Howell is an up and coming actor in a closeted relationship with a man who isn't ready to admit his sexuality. Phil is their Uber driver for a very important awards show. Things don't go exactly to plan, but maybe that's a good thing?

Warnings: swearing, scenes with emotional abuse (not dnp), some angst, horrible smut scene there at the end that I will apologize for now (pls skip if it makes you uncomfy to read)

“Yeah, we’re on our way. No, I’ve just picked Dan up. He’s-“ A heavy pause fills the air around them, and the brunette nearly rolls his eyes. It’s no use, really, because in the darkness of this car, his backseat partner wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. “He’s here.”

If they weren’t currently accompanied by a friendly-looking Uber driver, Dan might’ve made a bitchy remark. Of course, that would’ve resulted in some sort of argument or lecture and wouldn’t actually be worth it, but he still just barely bites his tongue to keep the words from spilling out.

“Right. Yeah, we’ll see you in, eh, about twenty minutes, I’d say. Right. Yeah. Okay, see you.” There’s an audible click signaling the end of the call, and Dan shifts to cast his gaze on his not-boyfriend-but-mate-that-he-sleeps-with-and-practically-shares-a-flat-with.

“Who’s the booty call?” He asks with a smirk, his voice not quiet enough not to be noticed by their driver.

Cool grey-blue eyes meet his, an unimpressed frown etched onto the man’s face. “That’s not funny, Daniel.” It’s said with an overwhelming amount of disapproval, and Dan can feel it pressing down on him.

With a sigh, he tosses his head back against the headrest and drops his hand onto the seat between them, a small part of him hoping that they might hold hands on the way to the ceremony. He knows it’s a foolish dream, but he can’t help but hold onto some sort of hope.

“Sorry, am I meant to pretend I don’t know that we’re picking up someone to be your “date” for the evening?” Dan mutters, absently tapping his fingers against the leather. It was a surprisingly nice car for an Uber, and the driver had been pleasant enough, quiet and friendly. Even teetering on the edge of what might be a big break in their professional careers, they still couldn’t afford an exuberant ride for the awards show tonight. Not that Dan cared about such materialistic things, anyway.

A huff sounds from beside him, but Dan doesn’t grant him with so much as a glance. “I don’t know why you have to be a prick, Daniel. I really don’t. I’ve already told you, things will be different now.” The words are muttered quickly and quietly, and Dan can tell this is likely some sort of signal for him to keep his mouth shut.

He ignores it in favor of laughing, loudly.

“Right. Different. How different are we talking, Ben? Am I going to start topping?” He taunts, bitterness lacing his words.

He’s not totally surprised when the hit comes, but that doesn’t make it hurt less. He winces, bringing a hand up to rub at his now-sore arm. “Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” Ben hisses, his eyes wide and panicked.

They both glance to their driver, and Dan catches the blue eyes in the reviewer mirror, a look of concern etched onto the man’s face as he studies Dan.

“Everything alright back there?” He asks, cautiously.

Dan shifts and tosses an arm over Ben’s shoulders and sends the driver a brilliant smile. “Oh yeah, everything’s just fine. Just a tiff, you know how it is.”

The driver glances back to the road, but sends a disbelieving look back towards the mirror before nodding.

Ben waits until the driver has refocused on the road before elbowing Dan sharply in the ribs. “Get the fuck off me.” He doesn’t even look at Dan after he’s retracted his arm, staring out the window with what Dan can only assume is a glare, as if the rain itself has offended him. It wouldn’t be a surprise, honestly. These days it really didn’t take much.

“Ouch,” Dan says, a bit belatedly. He rubs pointedly at his ribs where he’d been struck, wondering if the bruise would blossom the same as the others have.

“Oh, come off it. I didn’t hurt you.” The words are wrapped in ice, detached.

Dan stays quiet then, unwilling to open that particular can of worms with the audience they had. After a few kilometers go by in a silence that feels far heavier than it should on a night like tonight, Dan glances over at Ben, a thought bouncing around his head, struggling to escape. “Who was she?” He asks softly, dropping his gaze to stare at his hands, which he’s laced on his lap.

There’s a pause, and Dan doesn’t think that Ben will grant him with any response at all, but eventually an exasperated sigh falls from his lips. “Do you really want to know?” He asks, his tone softer than it had been so far. It was almost apologetic. Almost.

After a moment of consideration, Dan shrugs. “Can’t make that much of a difference, can it?”

Ben finally shifts just enough to look at Dan properly, but the brunette refuses to lift his gaze.

“It was Sophia,” he whispers, almost as if he’d rather it stayed a secret. As if he’d rather not hurt Dan, as if he’d rather lie and pretend that he hadn’t been planning this all along.

“Huh.” Dan clicks his tongue, processing this.

Sophia was a nice enough girl, he supposed. She certainly hadn’t done anything directly to him to warrant the kind of comment he was about to make.

“I guess you’ll have two holes to fuck now. Oh, three, if she likes to suck dick, I suppose. Probably won’t be nearly as practiced as me, remember last night when I-“ before he can even finish his remark, a hand is swiftly coming up to cover his mouth, holding it shut with more force than was necessary.

Dan tells his body not to panic, even when he feels Ben’s hand shift just enough to press right under his nostrils, cutting off any and all air supply. It was a scare tactic, and one he’d dealt with a hundred times before. He clenches his fist and forces himself to breathe slowly, keeping himself from running out of oxygen before Ben drops the little act.

“If you don’t keep your fucking mouth shut, I’ll fucking find a way to shut it.” Cold blue eyes stare into Dan’s, the anger bubbling up there making Dan almost nauseous.

Dan waits, counting to himself in his head. 8... 11... 15... 23... and finally, Ben’s hand shoves against his mouth one last time before pulling away altogether, an irritated huff falling from his lips.

After allowing himself a moment to catch his breath, Dan straightens out his suit coat and shoots their driver a cautious look, hoping that he hadn’t seen what had just occurred. He’s relieved to find the driver not looking at them through the rear view mirror, but his eyes drift to his hands, wrapped tightly around the steering wheel, the bones in his hands sticking out prominently against his alabaster skin.

Shit.

A nervousness floods his stomach, and he can’t help but feel almost embarrassed; by his own actions or Ben’s, he isn’t sure. Either way, he glances over at Ben, hoping he didn’t realize that their driver had probably caught on. If he did, he’d likely demand he pull over and call someone else; not out of any concern that the driver might comment on the rather physical aspect of their relationship, but likely out of fear that the driver might recognize them and sell the story of a domestic dispute in the backseat of his car.

Luckily, Ben appears to be oblivious, so Dan forces himself to relax. Suddenly feeling awkward with silence and not wanting another fight with Ben, Dan turns to their driver.

“Excuse me, what did you say your name was, sir? It’s completely slipped my mind since we got in.” He smiles at the driver when he glances into his rearview mirror to look at Dan, surprise on his features.

“Phil,” He says easily, a small smile gracing his lips. He glances back over his shoulder at Dan this time. “And you are?”

Dan opens his mouth to speak, but before he can even get a word out, Ben shifts over and narrows his eyes at Dan, his gaze flicking to the driver. “He’s Daniel, and I’m Benjamin.” He shoots Dan a warning look, as if that’s quite enough idle chit-chat, but Dan pretends he doesn’t notice.

“Dan, actually. But you can call me whatever you prefer.” He doesn’t know why it comes out in a flirting sort of way, but before he has anytime to be mildly embarrassed, the driver, well- Phil, smirks.

“Will I be calling you?” He asks smoothly.

Dan can’t help but laugh at the subtle response to his own unintentional flirting, and he flashes Phil his most charming smile, dimples and all. “I’m sure that could be arranged.”

Phil glances back at him in the mirror, and Dan decides to be so bold as to wink, forgetting the grumpy man who’s currently pouting beside him.

That is until said grumpy man whips his head around to glare at Dan. “Stop it,” he hisses, his jaw clenching.

Dan quirks an unbothered eyebrow at him. “Now why the hell should I do a thing like that?”

Without breaking eye contact, Ben tilts his head so his voice carries over the chair in front of him. “Sorry, mate, but we’re professionals in our field. We don’t date chauffeurs.” There’s a glint of challenge in his eyes, as if daring Dan to contradict him.

Flushing from the absurdly selfish and egotistical part of Ben’s statement, Dan shifts to break the eye contact. Looking back to Phil, he gives him a reassuring shake of his head. “That’s bullshit, mate. This one over here thinks that being nominated for an award makes you hot shit, but he’s wrong.”

He can practically feel Ben seething next to him, but he knows that he’s off the hook this time, because not only do they have an audience, but they have an engaged one, and Dan’s decided he’d like to keep it that way.

Phil laughs at his reassurance, shrugging. “I dunno, maybe I could be more easily wooed by someone with an award,” he sends a cheeky smirk to Dan via the reflection in the mirror, and Dan’s grin widens. Ben huffs and pouts next to him, but he ignores it.

“In that case, I actually hope I win this thing,” Dan flirts back. With a start, it occurs to him it’s the first time he’s actually cared if he wins or not.

“So what kind of award are you nominated for?” Phil asks curiously, his hand coming up to drag through his quiff.

It occurs to Dan then that this man seems to have no idea of who they are and what they do for a living. It’s refreshing, and in a way he can’t describe... liberating. To openly converse with someone who has virtually no clue who you are feels better than he could’ve imagined.

It’s not like he was particularly famous- he’d been in four films now, with only one major role between them, and had played various side characters on a handful of tv shows. Really not all that impressive, but it seemed that lately he was only surrounded by people who knew who he was. It was a nice change to finally be among someone who doesn’t, and still, curiously, seems interested in talking to him.

“We’ve both been nominated for Best Supporting Male Lead,” Ben contributes from his pouting position to Dan’s right.

Dan’s teeth grind together, annoyance coursing through his veins as he shoots the blonde a glare. It wasn’t fair for him to sit here treating Dan like shit, and yet forcing himself into their conversation like some sort of interpreter. Dan didn’t need an interpreter, despite what their management thought. Sure he had a tendency to be a little brash and downright rude sometimes, but generally that was only when he was dealing with pricks. Now wasn’t one of those times though, so Ben could honestly fuck off.

“Oh. So you’re both, like, proper actors?” Phil asks, his eyebrows shooting up on his forehead.

Dan nods, although a prickle of something uncomfortable is starting to form in his chest. He really didn’t want their conversation to go down that route, but now that they’d let it out in the open, he figured that’s the only way it could go. Rather than continue on and have the conversation dominated by his stupid career, Dan goes quiet, turning to look out the window.

“That’s interesting,” Phil comments from the driver’s seat. Dan only offers a hum in response, and then the car falls silent once again.

The silence gives Dan the time and space to revisit his and Ben’s short conversation about Sophia from earlier. The satisfaction of hearing him admit that it was exactly who Dan had thought didn’t lessen the pain he felt now that he realized what that meant. For one thing, it meant that he hadn’t had the exclusivity he’d been promised. Well- not that he’d really expected that to last anyway; Ben was fickle with his promises.

And secondly, it meant that tonight, when they were standing on the red carpet posing for photos, there’d be a hundred photographers screaming for Ben and Sophia to kiss or get closer or anything of the sort, without any knowledge of the heartbroken man just a few feet away, always in the shadow of Ben’s latest conquest.

Except this time, it would be real.

After the show, when Dan was headed back to his flat alone, Ben would be on his way to his own, seldom-used flat, with Sophia. Or maybe he’d just go to hers, instead. Dan’s stomach churns uncomfortably at the thought of what they’d spend the night doing, and a dull pain throbs in his heart remembering that only the night before, they’d been sharing that very same thing.

“How long?” He asks into the dark, a question that could really be answered by either member of his company, although the answer he wanted would likely not be the one he received.

“About five more minutes, if traffic allows,” Phil responds cheerfully.

Dan glances over at Ben, waiting to see if he’d catch the undertone in his voice and realize that’s not what he’d meant. The blonde is staring out the window, his arm propped up on the side and his chin resting on his fist. He looked like a model like that, and Dan hates him for looking so subtly beautiful in such a normal setting.

“Ben,” He says softly, shifting slightly closer.

“What?” Ben asks, sounding tired.

Dan swallows hard, forcing the words out before he can lose his nerve. “How long have you been seeing her?”

It feels like a silence settles over the car, thick and stifling. Dan almost fears breathing, as if even the most subtle noise will burst this bubble of tranquility, this moment of calm before the inevitable storm. He forces himself not to panic before Ben has even spoken, but when those cold blue eyes flick over to meet his gaze, he already knows the answer.

“A while.”

A deep breath. Then, “I asked, how long? I need a number.”

Ben sighs deeply, rolling his eyes. “You’re being foolish, Daniel. Why does it matter? You and I aren’t-“ he spares a glance at the driver and lowers his voice. “You and I were never dating. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Dan can feel his breathing quicken, but it feels like the faster it gets the harder it is to feel the oxygen expanding in his lungs. He knows he’s about to have a panic attack, and his fists clench tightly, his fingernails digging into his palms. “That’s not fair.” He shakes his head adamantly. “You can’t just erase the past two years of our life, Ben.” His voice sounds as panicked as he feels, and he’s having a hard time controlling the volume.

Ben glances towards the driver, a nervous look in his eyes. “I can try,” He says lowly, his gaze unwavering when he faces Dan.

“Why?” He breathes. He can feel his throat fluttering and he knows he’s close to tears. He’s too emotionally charged about this to control the way his body is functioning, and he hates it. “Why bother with any of this? We could- We can tell people, Ben. No one... no one would care.” He speaks softly, his gaze dropping to his hands so he doesn’t have to say the words directly to Ben’s face.

Ben lets out a harsh, humorless laugh, and Dan regrets ever saying it. “You’re pathetic, you know that?” He taunts. The words make Dan flinch.

“I’m not,” He whispers, finally allowing the tears to fall. He hopes with every fiber of his being that Phil isn’t listening, isn’t noticing the state he’s in right now.

“You are,” Ben confirms. “You’re still chasing after this stupid fucking fantasy, after all this time. I’m straight now, Dan. You’ve gotta just give up this stupid faggot shit. It’s sad, honestly.”

Dan’s head whips up at this, his eyes narrowing as he meets Ben’s unbothered gaze. “Really? This faggot shit? You do realize that your dick was literally in my ass last night, right? It takes one to fucking know one, mate.”

Ben clenches his jaw tightly, his face comforting into a glare. “Not another fucking word about that, got it? I’m not a fag, so you can just keep that shit to yourself.”

Dan stares, disbelievingly, at the man beside him. “Are you... are you even fucking listening to yourself? To me?”

“I’m trying my best not to, your whiny fucking voice is really grating my nerves,” Ben retorts, his gaze returning to the window.

They were currently driving through the neighborhood where Sophia lives, and Dan knew he only had a few more minutes left to clear his head before the evening really begun. He sorts through all the shit swirling in his mind, all the arguments he wants to make, and he settles on the one that feels the most pressing for now.

“We should go in separate cars,” he mutters, glaring out his own window.

“Pardon?” Ben says, his voice holding an air of offense.

Dan rolls his eyes before speaking again, raising his voice. “I think we should go in separate cars. You and Sophia should go in one separately from me.”

Ben seems to take a moment to consider this before speaking again. “Is this your way of pouting? It’s immature, if it is.”

With a huff, Dan turns to face him. “No, you twat. This is my way of being smart. People already think we’re together-“

“Because of your fucking comments,” Ben reminds him.

Dan talks over this. “-So if we show up in the same car, it’s going to look weird, even if Sophia is with us.”

After a prolonged moment of silence, Ben lets out a quiet hum. “Okay. Sure. In that case, I’ll call a different car, you can just take this one.”

If Dan had it in him to care, he’d be annoyed, because he knew the fare would be higher for him, considering a car going from Sophia’s to the awards show would have a shorter distance to travel. Instead, he just nods. His mind is already piecing together a plan for tonight that involves skipping the ceremony altogether, but Ben doesn’t need to know that.

“Alright, here we are, then. Should I wait?” Phil is probably only pretending he hadn’t overheard their change in plans, and Dan appreciates the subtle attempt at privacy.

“No need. My date and I will have another car come fetch us.” Ben moves to open the door, and then glances back at Dan. “Don’t fuck around and be late, okay? And when you get there, go see Annette for a briefing about who we need to speak to and where we’ll be sitting.”

Dan nods obediently, acting as if he plans to do just that. “Sure.” Ben studies him for a moment, rolling his eyes as he moves to step out. Dan watches him go, and just as he steps out, a thought occurs to him. “Ben?”

The blonde leans down to make eye contact with him. “What now?” He groans, clearly annoyed that Dan’s bothering him yet again. Dan hopes this is the last time.

“I want my key back.”

Ben has a look of confusion on his face before the meaning of his words seems to dawn on him. “I still have things at your flat,” he reminds him cautiously.

Dan shrugs. “I’ll drop them off at the office.” He holds his hand out patiently, waiting for the key to be given back. “Sometime today would be nice,” he drawls.

Ben’s gaze flickers to the driver, who seems to be zoned out, waiting patiently for Ben to leave already. “Fine,” he mutters, digging into his pocket and pulling out the silver key that belongs to Dan. He tosses it into the car, disregarding the hand that Dan had held out for it. “There.”

“Thanks.” Dan plucks the key from where it has fallen on the seat and twirls it around in his hand for a moment before shoving it into his pocket. “Might wanna hurry along, now. Don’t want to be late for our first big awards show, now,” Dan says mockingly.

The blonde barely gives him a reaction, just rolls his eyes and slams the door shut, leaving Dan alone in the Uber.

Dan sighs deeply, leaning his head back against the seat and allowing his eyes to close. The returned key sets heavy in his pocket, and for some reason he feels like he’s coming to the end of something. He’s not sure that it’s a feeling he’s entirely opposed to, but it’s one he hasn’t felt in so long that it’s practically foreign.

His swarming thoughts are interrupted by a throat clearing. “Alright?” Phil asks softly, his eyes holding a warmth to them.

Dan smiles at him and nods. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

Phil bites his lip and nods slowly. “I’m sorry for coming across so... bold, earlier,” he apologizes, his cheeks flushing slightly with the admittance. “I kind of, well... I kind of thought maybe you needed someone to be a buffer, but I do apologize for seeming so forward and pushy.”

The surprise on Dan’s face probably doesn’t go unnoticed, and it takes him a minute to gather his thoughts enough to properly respond. “Oh, um, it’s fine, really. I... yeah, I probably needed that, so... thanks.”

Phil nods, and slowly pulls away from the curb, moving down the road at a leisurely pace. “I assume we’re off to the O2?” He asks politely.

Dan raises an eyebrow, feeling a little more than confused. “I don’t believe we actually got around to telling you where the awards show was,” he says cautiously, trying his best not to sound rude.

Mischievous blue eyes meet his in the rearview mirror. “C’mon, mate. Did you really think I didn’t recognize you when you got in my car?”

A brief feeling of unbridled panic rips through Dan’s chest, a result of his countless media training sessions that taught him to keep his private life completely separate, especially his sexuality. He stomps that feeling down, hard. There was nothing to be ashamed of, and he’d spent years learning to be proud of himself for who he was. He wasn’t about to let that be taken away from him all because a nice Uber driver had seen an insight to his domestic life.

“Well, I guess I’d hoped you didn’t,” Dan finally says. He sighs and then glances out the window. “But, to answer your question... I think it’s back to my flat for me.”

There’s a moment of silence before Phil speaks again, timidly. “Are you sure, Dan?”

Hearing his name fall from this stranger’s lips twists something in Dan’s gut, and he isn’t sure if it’s the newness or the comfort of knowing that this stranger had seen a part of his life he hadn’t meant to share, and still seemed to have no problem speaking to him.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

His PR agent would be absolutely pissed, and he knew he’d have a hundred missed calls from his manager by the morning, but he really didn’t care. He’d had a rather shit evening so far, and he really just wanted to go home. Part of him almost wished he could go on Grindr and let out some of the pent up emotion, but the more intelligent part of his brain reminds him that it probably wouldn’t be a great idea.

“Are you sure about that?” Comes the quiet response of his driver.

It takes Dan a second to rememberer his earlier words, and when he does, a flush crawls up his cheeks. He wasn’t positive it was flirting, but part of him, the lonely, horny, just-got-my-heart-broken part, was absolutely going to take it that way.

“I suppose that would depend on who’s asking,” he says slyly, sending Phil a smirk in the mirror.

The bright blue eyes twinkle with excitement, and Dan can’t help but find it endearing. “How about your neighborhood friendly Uber driver?” Phil jokes. “What if he asked?”

Dan gums as if he’s considering it. He’s undeniably interested now that the option is there, and to say he wasn’t would be a lie. He realizes then that they’ve turned around at some point, headed back the way they came. “I reckon if he was fit I could be swayed a certain way.”

“Yeah?” Phil responds with a laugh, his tongue poking out between his teeth in a way that’s just too endearing.

“Yeah,” Dan agrees, smiling. “Come back to mine?” He asks after a moment of quiet contemplation. If he was rejected it really wouldn’t be the worst part of his day, and if he wasn’t- then, hey, at least he’d get laid, and by someone attractive, no less.

Phil smiles back at him through the mirror. “Well, if you insist.”

The rest of the ride goes by quickly and considering Phil had just made the same trip from Dan’s flat, he has very little problem making the trip in the reverse order. Having sat in the backseat stressing for the past hour or so, Dan finds himself absolutely vibrating with nerves by the time they pull up to his building. His palms are sweating with the nerves he feels, and he can’t tell if he’s just excited or if he’s just genuinely nervous. It had been a very long time since he’d slept with someone that wasn’t Ben; well over a year, probably closer to two. He barely knew Phil, and he felt what he was doing was stupidly reckless, but that didn’t stop him from grinning when Phil killed the engine and looked back at him.

“Here we are,” He says slowly, his eyes studying Dan’s face in the darkness of the car. A single lamppost close to the doors of his building allows a little light to flood into the car, and it’s just enough for Dan to see the nervousness he feels reflected in Phil’s eyes.

“Yep,” Dan says quietly. He nods to the building. “You coming?”

Phil tilts his head and studies Dan for a moment, and his gaze makes Dan squirm nervously. “Lead the way,” he says with a smile.

Dan hides his grin as he steps out of the car, shivering slightly against the chill of the wind. He digs his keys out of his pocket as he steps around the car, waiting for Phil to do the same.

Dan stares unabashedly as Phil climbs out and shuts the door behind him. He’s tall, probably as tall as Dan, and without the barrier of the car seats between them, Dan has a better look at what he’s wearing. Black jeans cling to long legs, and under a stone washed denim jacket, he’s got a black T-shirt. Dan doesn’t even bother pretending he isn’t staring, and from the smirk he catches on Phil’s lips when he meets his gaze, the man isn’t even bothered by it. He looks good, and he obviously knows it.

“Uh, this way,” Dan says dumbly, cringing inwardly as he waves Phil over to follow him. Phil does so dutifully, his hands going into his pockets as he trails after him.

After fumbling with his keys for a moment, Dan finally manages to get the door unlocked and he shoves it open without ceremony. He hesitates, wondering if maybe he should let Phil in first, but that seemed weird; Phil didn’t know the layout of his apartment, he’d just be left to stand awkwardly in the foyer.

This in mind, Dan leads the way inside. “Just close the door behind you,” he calls over his shoulder.

“Want me to lock it?” Phil asks.

Dan shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it onto the rack near the door, considering. “I mean, if you’re sure I’m not going to peel your skin off and wear it like a coat, then yes. But if going into a random stranger’s house isn’t something you do often, you can leave it unlocked.”

Phil quirks an eyebrow at this, and Dan nearly swears. He really hadn’t meant to be so weird, it just sort of happened. Ben always said he didn’t have a filter, and well, maybe he was right about that.

Instead of being disturbed, though, Phil only smirks before flicking the switch and locking the door. Dan swallows hard, meeting the other man’s gaze across the few feet that separated them. He hadn’t even considered how he’d start this- it wasn’t everyday he brought someone home to screw. He hadn’t the faintest idea about how to proceed from here.

“Erm.... I don’t... I mean, obviously, Ben- well I mean, maybe not obviously, but, I don’t-“ he’s rambling, twisting his hands together awkwardly as he struggles to explain that he’s really not the type to do this sort of thing.

“Relax, Dan.” Phil’s voice is soothing, with no judgement in it. “Tea?” He asks, gesturing for Dan to lead them out of the foyer.

Nodding quickly, Dan turns and makes his way into the kitchen, the sound of Phil’s footsteps trailing behind him.

“Um, I’m more of an herbal tea person... is peppermint okay?” He shifts awkwardly in his kitchen, feeling ridiculous. He was usually so well put together. He was Dan Howell, for fuck’s sake! He did films, and interviews, and press releases! He could handle some awkward chit-chat with a hookup.

There was just something different about Phil, something almost unnerving about the way he looked at Dan. Especially when he smiled at him and nodded, his tongue doing that cute thing from before. “Peppermint sounds great.” He moves to sit on one of the barstools situated at the island in the center of his kitchen, and Dan just stares at him for a moment, a little entranced by how at home he seemed in his little flat, after only five minutes.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dan quickly moves to begin preparing the tea. “I have some mugs in that cupboard,” he gestures off to the side. “You can look through and find one, if you’d like.”

“Sure,” Phil chirps before sliding off the chair. Dan can feel his presence pass behind him as he moves to the cupboard. The sound of the mugs moving against the shelf is interrupted by a quiet gasp. “I have one just like this!” Phil says gleefully.

Dan glances over after hearing the words, his heart dropping when he sees Phil holding out a Mario Kart mug. Ben had gotten him that as a joke a long time ago, claiming it was a symbol for Dan being such a nerd, and he’d honestly forgotten about it. That is until now, at least. He wasn’t about to try and tell Phil he couldn’t use it though, so he only smiled and nodded, trying to keep his hands steady as he waited for the kettle to boil.

Ben was right about one thing. They were never official. Although Dan had pledged his loyalty and had stayed exclusive to Ben, the blonde had not done the same. And Dan knew that at the time, and he knew it now. It didn’t make his earlier goodbye any less painful, though.

“I think I prefer this one, though,” Phil’s still speaking, and Dan has to force himself to pay attention instead of dwelling on his stupid ex… whatever he was.

Dan nearly chokes when he sees the mug Phil’s holding now, a mischievous look in his blue eyes. He had been given the “Daddy” mug as a joke, but he’d kept it because it was big and held quite a lot of liquid. Right now, though, there was nothing more embarrassing that Phil could have pulled out of the cupboard.

“It was a joke!” He nearly screeches, hoping that Phil doesn’t think he’s some kind of weirdo now.

Phil hums, disbelief clear in the sound. “Sure, Dan.” He places the mug on the counter before turning around and searching through the cupboard again.

“Er- are you going to use this one?” Dan asks in confusion, holding a tea bag over the mug uncertainly.

With a glance over his shoulder, Phil nods. “Yeah, I’m just finding you one.”

Dan’s a little surprised at this, but he tries to hide it. “Oh. Okay.”

He drops one tea bag into the mug Phil had selected, and then waits patiently with the other tea bag, watching Phil’s face contort with concentration as he gently lifts the mugs, one at a time, carefully looking at their logos before putting them down. Eventually, he finds something that piques his interest, and he pulls it out with a grin. “Here’s yours,” he says proudly, handing Dan the white mug with a black pixelated heart on it, their fingers brushing as Dan takes it.

Glancing at it, Dan quirks an eyebrow up. “Thanks? Is this your way of saying you think I have a black heart?”

Phil’s face drops into an unimpressed look, and he crosses his arms. “No, it’s my way of suggesting that I like Undertale, too. And maybe hearts are just cool, okay?” If Dan’s not mistaken, a tinge of pink is blossoming on Phil’s cheekbones, but before he gets a good look, the electric kettle beeps and he has to turn around to finish the tea.

“So,” he starts. “Undertale?” To his surprise, Phil laughs. “What?” Dan asks, incredulous.

“You’re cute,” Phil says simply, taking the mug that Dan holds out to him.

Dan can feel heat flooding his cheeks, and he hopes and prays that Phil doesn’t notice the shift in his complexion. “Erm- thanks?” It sounds like a question.

“You’re welcome,” Phil smiles over the rim of his mug, blowing air gently to cool the tea down faster.

Dan fixates on his lips, not even processing that he’s staring until Phil speaks again. “Hm?”

Phil smirks. “I said, did you want to go sit down? Or do you usually chill in the kitchen with your conquests?”

The reminder of what he’s here for is like a slap in the face, and Dan quickly nods, although he can feel the nerves creeping back in. “Yeah, lounge is this way,” he leads the way out of the room, flicking the light on as he walks in.

“Nice place, by the way,” Phil compliments as he goes to sit on the sofa.

Dan shrugs as he sits beside him, leaving about a foot of space, but turning so that he’s properly facing Phil. “It’s not much, but I’d rather save my money than shell out an arm and a leg for a proper London flat.” He follows this with a sip of his tea, burning his tongue a little in his attempt at a distraction.

Phil studies him for a moment, a very calculating look on his face. “You’re unhappy,” he says finally. He sounds so sure of it, so positive, that it takes Dan aback.

“Sorry, what?” Dan splutters, trying to laugh. It sounds more like a cough.

Phil places his drink on the coffee table and moves to mirror Dan’s stance, so that they’re both facing each other, knees pressing into the back of the sofa. “You just… I dunno, Dan, but you don’t seem happy.” He sounds worried, as if this is something he’s really concerned with. Dan figures that it’s likely just because Phil knew he was an actor; he had no reason to care about Dan as a person.

“Well, that’s one way of flirting, I guess,” Dan jokes awkwardly.

“I’m sorry,” Phil says quietly, glancing down. “That was rude of me. But… Can I ask you a personal question?”

Dan lets out a deep breath before moving to set his own drink down, leaning against the back of the sofa with his arm propped up. This seemed like a conversation he needed his hands empty for, even if it was a conversation he wasn’t particularly keen on having. “Sure. Go for it.”

Phil licks his lips, completely distracting Dan from whatever it is they were trying to talk about. “Did you invite me here as a rebound? It’s fine if you did, but I want you to be honest with me, before anything else happens.”

Dan’s mouth drops. He hadn’t been expecting the question so bluntly, or really at all, if he’s honest. It takes him a moment of fumbling around in his own head before he’s able to form a proper answer. “Um… well, I suppose, in a way, but-“

Before he can finish, Phil cuts him off. “Okay. That’s all I needed to know.”

As he’s trying to wrap his head around the answer he’d given and Phil’s response to it, Dan’s thrown off yet again by Phil shifting closer. Dan swallows hard. He knows what’s about to happen, and he knows he wants it, but he’s undeniably nervous. After having sex with only one person for so long, he had no idea how to get back into the world of learning a person for the first time, especially physically.

“Is this okay?” Phil whispers, his hand coming up to rest at the nape of Dan’s neck.

Swallowing hard, Dan nods. “Yes,” he breathes.

Apparently, that’s all the encouragement Phil needs, because then he’s leaning forward, pressing their lips together. He’s gentle at first, not timid exactly, but cautious. The hand not pulling Dan in moves to rest on Dan’s waist, and Dan finds himself dropping his arms across Phil’s shoulders, his hands dropping to play in his hair. Dan hums into the kiss, and Phil responds by pulling away. “Good?” He asks, his lips barely an inch from Dan’s.

Dan nods, his eyes drifting shut as he leans forward again. Phil laughs softly before bringing their lips together again. This time, Dan has some sort of confidence boost, parting his lips a little, swiping his tongue across Phil’s bottom lip. Phil’s hand on his waist squeezes, and then Phil’s opening his mouth up to him, allowing Dan’s tongue to dart inside. He tastes like the peppermint tea, and something else, something sweeter. Dan wants to ask if he’s been eating sweets or if he just naturally tastes like sugar, but his mouth is otherwise occupied.

An unmeasurable amount of time passes before Dan pulls away for some air. Phil breathes hard against his lips for a moment before suddenly Dan feels himself being tugged. “Come here,” Phil whispers softly, sitting back and dropping a hand to Dan’s leg to drag him onto his lap. When Dan is situated with a leg on either side of Phil’s, now an inch or so taller, he looks down at Phil with a smile.

“Hi,” he says, his voice almost shy.

Phil smiles back, his hands running up and down Dan’s back in gentle sweeps. “Hi,” he parrots.

“I-“ before Dan can even finish that statement, his phone begins ringing in his pocket. He frowns, already knowing that it’s likely going to be his agent, pissed at him for missing yet another event. He shifts enough to tug it out of his pocket, silencing it before tossing it onto the sofa to the left of Phil.

Blue eyes follow the phone as it crashes onto the cushion, flickering back to look at Dan with an uncertainty in them that hadn’t been there before. “Ben?” he guesses, his mouth twisting into something like a grimace when he says the name.

Dan shakes his head. “No, just my manager. They’re probably mad that I missed the awards show. Again.” He rolls his eyes, but a smile graces his lips as he looks back down at Phil. He brings both hands up to cup his neck, his thumbs brushing over his Adam’s apple in feather-light strokes.

“Will you get in trouble?” Phil asks, looking guilty.

“Nope,” Dan lies. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. Sure, he wouldn’t get dropped from the agency or anything- he was their prize client right now. But he would get a very long lecture come Monday, or whenever he called them back. Whichever came first.

“I’m sorry,” Phil says, seeming to pick up on the lie Dan’s just told. The brunette just shrugs it off, but Phil shakes his head. “I probably should’ve just taken you to the O2 like I was meant to.” He stares past Dan, at something he can’t see, and Dan notes that his hands haven’t stopped their gentle movements against his back.

“And miss out on this?” Dan asks softly, gently pressing forward to press a kiss to Phil’s lips.

Phil smiles when they’ve separated. “I don’t want you to get in trouble,” he tells him, his voice sounding sincere.

Dan smirks, ducking his head down to speak into Phil’s ear. “Would you have to punish me? If I got in trouble?”

Instead of the sexy response he figured he’d get, Phil laughs, loudly. Dan’s cheeks flush, and he sits back, barely able to meet Phil’s gaze now that he’s embarrassed himself. “Aw, Dan,” he giggles, tugging the brunette closer to him, hugging him to his chest. Dan drops his forehead to his shoulder, refusing to meet his gaze. “I’ve got to be honest and say I’m not, um, quite into that. But if you are, that’s-“

“I’m not either. Not really,” Dan admits, lifting his head to gaze up at Phil shyly.

A curious look settles onto Phil’s face then. “Oh. So, we’re you-“

“I was kidding. Mostly.” Dan rolls his eyes and sits up, putting a couple inches between them. “Ben was into some strange stuff, so I just thought… I don’t know what I thought. Can we pretend that never happened?”

“Pretend what never happened?” Phil asks with a small smile.

Dan grins down at him. “I knew I liked you for something.”

Phil laughs. “For something other than my devishly handsome good looks? Preposterous.”

“That’s a big word,” Dan giggles, dragging his hands down the front of Phil’s t-shirt to play with the hem. He was still wearing his jacket, Dan noticed. That needed to change.

“That’s not all that’s big,” Phil says in a low voice.

It’s Dan’s turn to laugh, tipping his head back and letting the sound echo around the room. “That’s- oh my god, you- Phil,” he whines, rolling his eyes back to catch the other man’s gaze.

Phil’s looking at him with the softest gaze, his lips just barely curved up. “You’re beautiful when you laugh. Especially right here.” He drops a finger to Dan’s cheek, right where his dimple lives.

Dan can feel his cheeks flushing with heat, and he knows that there’s no way Phil hasn’t noticed. He ducks his head down, trying to hide how pleased he is by the compliment. “Thanks,” he mumbles. “You don’t have to sweet talk me, though. I’m literally sat in your lap, waiting to be ravished. I don’t need to be buttered up.”

A quiet laugh falls from Phil’s lips as he reaches up to tuck a curl back into place. Something in Dan’s chest flutters at the intimate gesture. “I’m not trying to butter you up. Although, if that’s a euphemism for lube or something, then you probably ought to reconsider that, unless you’re just already prepared.” His lips curve into a smirk.

It takes a moment for Dan to register what that means, but when he does his mouth falls open in surprise. “Phil!” He shouts, scandalized. And then he can’t help but laugh, because such bold innuendos are practically foreign to him now. He loved a good cheeky dick joke here and there, but Ben said they lacked class, which Dan figured was code for “I’m not comfortable enough dicking down a dude to make jokes about it.” It was refreshing to joke around like this with someone who was obviously perfectly comfortable in their skin.

Phil laughs along with him, his hands roaming down to rest against Dan’s hips. “I’m teasing, obviously.”

“I know,” Dan says sarcastically. “If I thought you were serious, I’d be slightly offended.”

Shrugging, Phil pokes his tongue out in that cute way. “But you’re not, so here we are.”

“Here we are,” Dan echoes, shifting to enunciate his statement.

Phil’s eyebrows raise, and he watches silently as Dan slowly drags his hands back up, tucking them under Phil’s jacket as he goes. He holds Phil’s gaze as he slowly pushes the fabric off his shoulders, watching his eyes for any sign of discomfort. Phil only shifts forward a little and moves his arms to allow Dan to remove the jacket. The minute that piece of fabric is no longer on Phil’s body, Dan leans forward, capturing his lips yet again.

Dan’s hands grip Phil’s shoulders, gently kneading the skin there as one of Phil’s hands comes up to cradle his jaw. It’s nearly perfect, aside from all the layers of clothes still separating them, and Dan lets his problem with this be known with a whine against Phil’s lips.

“What do you want?” Phil asks gently, pulling away from Dan’s lips to trail kisses down his jaw.

Dan drags a hand up to tangle into Phil’s hair, messing up the perfectly styled quiff that was there. “You,” he groans, slowly grinding his hips down into Phil’s. The man beneath him stutters to a stop against his throat, and Dan can hear a soft curse fall from his lips.

“Do you have a bedroom?” He asks, his lips tickling Dan’s neck.

Something about the way he’s phrased the question makes Dan snort out a laugh. “No, I sleep in the bathtub. Yes, Phil, I have a bedroom.” He can’t help but roll his eyes.

Phil sits back and gives him an unimpressed look. “Ha ha. You’re hilarious,” he deadpans. Dan grins at him, and something shifts in Phil’s expression. He sighs, leaning forward to press a kiss to Dan’s dimple. “You’re well lucky you’re cute,” he breathes against Dan’s skin.

Dan laughs but he can feel that giddy feeling from his earlier compliment making a return in his stomach. He wasn’t used to being so openly appreciated, and he honestly could say that it was quite nice. “C’mon, then.” He climbs off Phil’s lap and holds a hand out to lead him into the bedroom.

“Our tea-“ Phil begins, giving the mugs a wary look.

Rolling his eyes, Dan picks up his hand and pulls him to stand. “It’s cheap tea, it’s fine.” He begins making his way down the hall, turning the lights off as he went.

Phil makes a humming noise. “I can’t believe you gave a guest cheap tea, mate,” he teases.

Dan glances back at him with a mocking smile. “I don’t shell out the good stuff for just anyone, you know.”

There’s laughter as he drags Phil into his bedroom, releasing his hand the minute they’ve stepped into the room. He immediately turns to face Phil, reattaching their lips in the darkness of the room. He gently steps forward, inching Phil back just enough that he can close the door, pressing him against the wood until a click is heard. Phil responds to the kiss easily enough, his hands coming up to wrap around Dan’s hips as he had earlier. The little circles he’s tracing with his thumbs drive Dan insane, but in the best way.

Phil pulls away eventually, panting against Dan’s lips. “Should we turn the light on or something? It’s dark in here,” His voice sounds joking, but something about his words makes Dan freeze. A memory of something that happened long ago and that had long been forgotten, prods at the back of his mind.

“Shh!” Ben hushed him loudly, covering his mouth.

Dan gently pulled his hand away, looking up into his eyes curiously. “Why? We’re the only ones here. No one can hear us,” he laughs, but uneasiness sets in when Ben sets him with a glare.

“I don’t want your neighbors getting the wrong idea,” he explains, shifting so that he’s holding himself away from where he’s pressed Dan’s body against the door.

Confused, Dan brushes Ben’s hair back. The blonde flinches at the action, swatting Dan’s hand away. “Babe, they don’t know-“

“Don’t,” Ben warns, his eyes darkening. “Don’t call me that. I’ve told you.”

Dan swallows. “Sorry,” he whispers. “Can we just-“

“Turn the light off,” Ben mutters, gesturing to the light switch as he moves to lay on the bed.

A frown etches its way onto Dan’s lips. “It’s like half midnight, Ben, and I can’t really see-“

“Turn the fucking light off, Daniel, or just forget about it.”

Dan stares at him for a moment before nodding slowly, moving to flick the switch off. He knew why Ben didn’t want the light on. He just thought… Well, maybe someday he’ll want to see him in the light.

“Dan? Are you okay?” Phil’s voice reaches his ears, and Dan snaps himself out of his thoughts.

“I want the lights on,” he blurts, rather than answering the question.

Phil sends him a strange look, but nods before leaning over to flick the switch that would turn the light on. “There we go,” he says, voice soft. He’s still got a strange look in his eyes, as if Dan’s some kind of injured animal and he’ll hurt him if he moves too fast.

Without waiting for anymore questioning, Dan grips Phil’s t-shirt and drags him close, kissing him deeply. Phil doesn’t protest, wrapping an arm around Dan’s waist and holding him close. Dan carefully begins walking backwards until his knees hit the edge of his bed. He allows their lips to part, making quick work of the buttons on his shirt. He tosses it somewhere else, not paying attention to where it lands as he takes in Phil’s reaction.

Phil’s expression has shifted into something hungry and wanting, and Dan couldn’t be more thrilled by the look on his face as he studies Dan. Ben never looked at him this way. He certainly never looked at him this way in the light and for such a long time. “Dan.” Phil’s voice sounds almost choked.

“Can I...” Dan trails off, slowly bringing a hand up to the hem of Phil’s shirt. “Can I see you too?”

“God, yes.” Phil quickly tugs his own shirt over his head, dropping it to the floor. Dan immediately drops his gaze to his chest, and he swears he can feel his heart beating out of his chest when he sees the chest hair there. Ben had chest hair as well, but he didn’t like to be ogled.

Phil didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Dan slowly drags a hand down Phil’s chest, his fingernails lightly scratching down as he traces a path to the top of his jeans. “Fuck, Phil,” he groans. Without waiting for a response, he drops to the edge of the bed, giving him the perfect opportunity to begin peppering kisses across Phil’s chest, loving the way the hair tickles his lips as he makes his way down.

“Oh,” Phil lets out a soft sigh, his hand falling to Dan’s hair as he works. “Dan, will you-“

Before he can finish, Dan drops a kiss right over the zipper on his jeans, effectively cutting his words off. “Yes?” He says sweetly, looking up at Phil. The height difference with him sitting on the edge of the bed does something funny to his stomach, and he finds himself wishing, not for the first time, that he was shorter.

Phil chews on his lip for a moment, studying Dan, before gently pushing him back. “I wanna suck you.”

There’s not a lot of things that make Dan nervous about sex. Having his cock in another man’s mouth, however, was one of those things. Ben preferred to be the receiver on that end, naturally, so Dan hadn’t had a proper blow job in what felt like forever. So, to say that his stomach was swarming with nerves was an understatement.

“Dan?” Phil calls softly from his position at the foot of the bed. He’d settled himself on his knees there, staring down at Dan with a soft gaze. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

Dan had no clue how Phil just seemed to know just what he was feeling, but he was so, so grateful. He shakes his head once he registers his words, though. “I want you to. I just...” He gestures vaguely, not finishing the sentence.

Phil sends him a confused look, and Dan’s reminded that although it might feel like it, Phil can’t actually read his mind. “I don’t know what you want unless you say it, babe,” he says gently, the pet name seeming to fall out with ease.

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Dan manages to answer him. “Ben didn’t like going down on me, so I just... I’m not sure if I, um... I don’t know. It’s dumb. Just, go ahead.” He gestures down to where the bulge in his pants is slightly softening from all the talking they’re doing.

“Dan,” Phil sighs. He moves to crawl up the bed, placing an arm on either side of Dan’s head to hold himself up over him. “I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. But if you’re holding back because your idiot ex-boyfriend didn’t know how to treat you right, then I want you to just let go of that. I’m not him. This is different. You can be someone different with me.”

Dan considers his words as he stares up into his blue eyes, pondering for a long time what to say to that. Eventually, his mouth moves before he’s even really made his decision. “What if I want to be just me?” He whispers.

Phil smiles sweetly before ducking down and pressing a kiss to Dan’s cheek. “I’d love nothing more than to spend the evening with just you, then.”

A shy smile works its way onto his lips then, and Dan quickly captures Phil’s lips with his own in an effort to distract himself from that giddy feeling in his stomach. They kiss languidly for a while, and then slowly, Phil makes his way down, trailing kisses along his chest as he goes. He seems to consider stopping at Dan’s nipples, but he simply drops a sweet kiss to each before continuing down.

When his hands reach for Dan’s belt buckle, the brunette’s stomach swoops in arousal. Phil’s deft fingers work quickly in undoing it, moving right along to the button and zipper. “Lift up,” He pats Dan’s thigh gently, waiting until Dan’s done as instructed before he tugs the dress pants down his thighs, sitting back to pull them off his legs entirely. “You’ve got such gorgeous legs,” he murmurs. As if to prove his point, Phil takes one of Dan’s calves in hand and begins pressing kisses down, making a path to his black Calvin’s, which are straining tightly over his throbbing cock.

“Please,” He whispers, having very little patience for the teasing way Phil’s kissing up his thigh.

Those blue eyes flicker up to meet his gaze, and Dan swears he stops breathing for a moment. “Be patient, sweetheart.”

The nickname causes a swirl of emotions in his chest, and he tries hard to hide his ridiculous smile. “I like- oh, fuck,” he interrupts himself when Phil’s lips finally ghost over his cloth-covered cock.

The sensation doesn’t last long, as Phil pulls away to shoot him a self-satisfied smirk. “What was that you were saying?”

“I don’t-“ Dan means to say he doesn’t exactly recall, but then Phil’s hand is squeezing his hardness and he’s certain the air in his lungs is gone. “I don’t know!” He whines, nearly thrashing against the touch he’s being granted. It’s not nearly enough, but it just feels so good, especially with all the buildup.

“You were saying you liked something, I believe. Was it...” Phil ghosts his lips over the material again. “This?”

Dan fights the feelings of lust and pleasure to try and recall what exactly he was trying to say, because it might have been relevant. As soon as he realizes, he spews it out, no filter whatsoever. “I like when you call me sweetheart, it’s-“ a whine when Phil removes his touch. “I really like it.”

It’s quiet in the room for a moment, and it gives Dan a moment to come down from the cloud of lust a bit. He raises his head just enough to shoot Phil a look, surprised when he finds him staring down at where he’s tracing patterns onto Dan’s thigh, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Phil?” He calls softly.

The man in question glances up at him, a soft smile on his lips. “Hm?”

“Are you... is this okay?” He’s a little unsure now that they’ve paused.

“Yes, of course it is,” Phil says quickly, easing Dan’s doubt a bit. “I just...” He trails of as he leans his head to the side, resting his temple against Dan’s thigh. “You deserve something good. I want this to be good for you.”

Dan blushes, but manages a small laugh. “It’s perfect. This is perfect, I promise.”

A smirk crawls onto Phil’s face, and he slowly drags his fingers to trace over Dan’s hardness. “Just this? Do you want to just do this, or would you prefer something a little...” he leans down then, pressing his lips to the material and sucking gently through the fabric. It’s just enough friction to have Dan bucking his hips.

“More,” he pants, shifting around. “God, please, more.”

“My name’s Phil, but I guess you can call me God, too,” Phil teases, dipping his fingers under the waistband of Dan’s pants.

“Shut up,” Dan groans. “You should be doing something with your mouth that isn’t talking.”

Phil giggles, like actually giggles, and Dan doesn’t even try to hide the grin on his face at the reaction. “How very bold of you, Daniel,” he murmurs, dragging the material down slowly.

Dan doesn’t have the heart to respond with any sort of joke, especially not when the material is gone and there’s nothing separating his cock from Phil’s view. “Please,” He whispers, unable to help himself from begging.

“You’re so gorgeous, Dan,” Phil gushes before dropping his head down to press a kiss to the head of Dan’s cock. Dan squirms under him, searching for more. “Ah, sit still, Dan. Good boys sit still.” He’s clearly teasing and referencing their earlier conversation, but Dan can’t help but gasp at the way the words seem to just turn him on even more.

“Fuck,” Dan groans when Phil’s lips finally wrap around him, properly blowing him now. He drops a hand to Phil’s hair and begins dragging his fingers through it gently, not forcing his head down but just feeling the softness of Phil’s hair as his head bobs. “You’re so good,” he mutters, incoherently, as he allows his head to fall back, just taking in the sensations.

Phil only hums and continues his movements. It’s not long before Dan can feel it becoming too much, and he knows he doesn’t want to finish this way. He gently tugs Phil’s head away with his hair, and those blue eyes flick up to look at him questioningly. “Okay?” He questions softly, his hand stroking Dan’s thigh.

“Mhm. I want…” He trails off then, a little embarrassed to finish that particular sentence.

A sweet smile graces Phil’s face, and he props his head up on his hand, his elbow digging into the mattress on the other side of Dan’s thigh. “Use your words, sweetheart.”

Dan allows a breathy sigh to fall from his lips before gesturing for Phil to come closer. “C’mere. Wanna kiss you.”

“Your wish is my command,” Phil grins as he crawls up the bed, settling himself between Dan’s legs and bringing their lips together.

They lay like that for a bit, Dan trailing his fingers through Phil’s hair and finding the feeling so pleasant he just doesn’t want to stop. Eventually, though, he does, as Phil has begun lightly grinding down on him, making it impossible to ignore the arousal coursing through his veins. Pulling Phil down with his hair, Dan ghosts his lips over his jawline, making his way up to his ear. “I want you to fuck me,” he whispers hoarsely.

Phil groans at this, and Dan smirks at the way the other man ruts down against him. “Condom?” He breathes.

Dan nods to the bedside table to his left. “Top drawer,” he instructs.

Phil ducks down to press another kiss to his lips before pulling away and moving to rummage through his drawer, coming back with a foil packet and a bottle of lube. “This is the same brand I use,” he informs him with a concentrated look on his face as he begins unscrewing the cap.

Something about this makes Dan giggle, but he tries to cover his mouth when Phil looks up at him. “Sorry,” he says behind his hand.

“What?” Phil asks, an eyebrow raised.

Dan shrugs, spreading his legs apart as Phil moves down the bed to settle down there. “I dunno. That was just a cute thing to say.”

Phil sends him a gentle smile then, and Dan can’t help that stupid fluttery feeling in his chest again. He hadn’t felt that way about anyone in so long, and as much as it scared him, he never wanted it to go away. “You’re cute,” Phil tells him quietly as he pours the liquid onto his fingers.

“No, you,” Dan protests softly.

A finger gently pets over his rim before slowly sinking in, and Dan can’t help but let out a small breath. “Relax, Dan,” Phil says gently. He strokes his unoccupied hand over Dan’s thigh. “Are you alright?”

“Mhm. You can-“ He breathes out again, trying to keep still as he adjusts to the feeling of Phil’s finger sliding inside him. He was definitely not used to going this slow, and something about how gentle Phil was being made him squirm uncomfortably. “You can add another.”

Phil frowns at him then, and it’s the first time Dan’s seen a real, proper frown from him all evening. “I don’t do that,” he says softly. “I’m not going to hurt you, Dan.”

Something in the way he says that has Dan feeling his eyes fill with tears. He takes in a shuddering breath, struggling to keep it under control, but Phil’s going so slow and his hands are so soft and gentle, and before Dan knows it he’s crying, big, messy tears streaming down his face.

“Dan?” Phil calls in alarm. “Dan, what-“

“I’m sorry!” Dan cries, covering his eyes. He barely notices when Phil pulls his finger out, but he is fully aware when the bed shifts, and strong arms are wrapping around him, pulling him to rest against a warm chest.

“Shh. It’s okay. Please don’t cry, Dan. I’m sorry about… whatever I did.” Phil strokes his hair gently as he speaks, his fingers soothing against Dan’s scalp.

“It’s not you,” Dan breathes.

There’s a pause, before Phil speaks again. “I don’t… I don’t think I understand,” he admits.

Dan sighs, pressing his face to Phil’s chest. “It’s fucking Ben.”

Phil hums at this but doesn’t respond immediately. When he does, however, his words surprise Dan. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Chewing on his lip, Dan actually considers it. He feels stupid, but at this point he’s certain he’s ruined the mood, so he’s not sure how bad he should feel about sharing his trauma with this man who’s seen his dick but is still a stranger, in most senses of the word. “Can I?” he finds himself whispering.

“Course,” Phil replies. “If you want to. I’ll listen.”

Dan doesn’t speak for a long time. He tries to collect his thoughts, tries to bring something to the front of his mind that seems to be worth talking about. When it came to the relationship he had with Ben, or the lack thereof, he had a hundred things to say, but being faced with saying them- well he didn’t know where to start.

When he finally speaks, he surprises himself when he answers. “I used to think I was in love with him.”

Phil hums, probably indicating for Dan to continue. It feels strange having such an intimate conversation with a stranger while he’s naked, but he decides it’s probably worth continuing.

So, he does. “I used to sit up all night, waiting for him to text me that he was horny, so I could offer to help out, just so I could see him for a little while. I didn’t even care if I finished, I just… I wanted to see him so bad. And when we’d go out together, I’d see him flirting with other people- it made me sick, that did. I’d go to the bathroom and just sick everywhere. I hated it.” He can feel tears streaming down his cheeks, but when he notices, Phil’s fingers come down to gently wipe them away. “I’d watch him go home with someone else, and I’d cry myself to sleep. But then the next day when he wanted to go for lunch or something, I’d go, because I couldn’t put any distance between us. I just couldn’t.”

Phil doesn’t answer, his hand still gently stroking through Dan’s curls.

“But that’s not love, is it? Loving someone who makes you so sick that you can barely move, or who calls when they need you but don’t pick up when it’s two am and you’re sitting on the fire escape thinking about jumping-“ he releases a shuddering breath, and he’s almost positive that Phil tightens his grip on him. “That’s not love at all. Is it?”

It’s mostly rhetorical, but when the silence is interrupted by Phil’s soft tone, Dan doesn’t hesitate to listen.

“I don’t think…” he starts out slowly, sounding cautious. “I don’t think someone else can tell you that what you feel isn’t love. But, when the person you’re in love with treats you that way-“ his voice sounds choked, and Dan hates that he’s the cause of it. “-Then I think it’s safe to say that the person doesn’t love you back.”

His voice is so, so gentle, and so are his hands, but Dan can’t help the sob that escapes him. “I know,” he says wetly, closing his eyes tightly in an effort to stop the tears. “I know, and I hate it.”

They sit there for a while without talking, and eventually Dan realizes how stupid he feels. “God. I’m sorry,” he groans, disentangling himself from Phil and looking down at him with an apologetic grimace.

“For what?” Phil asks, sounding genuinely perplexed.

Dan gestures around them helplessly. “For being so… I don’t know. You don’t go to hook up with someone and expect them to just spill their fucking problems, you know?”

Phil frowns at him then, tilting his head as if he hadn’t understood. “You know I didn’t just come to hook up, right?”

Then it’s Dan’s turn to act confused, because he’s fairly certain he hadn’t misread the situation that much. “What?”

With a small smile, Phil tugs his arm so he’s laying against him once again. This time, though, Dan rolls onto his stomach and props his chin on Phil’s chest to meet his eyes as he speaks. “I would’ve offered to come in and chat if you hadn’t invited me, Dan.”

It takes a long moment for Dan to process this. When he does, he shakes his head. “But you- we were about to have sex!” He protests.

Phil shrugs. “That was just a bonus.” A cheeky smile frames his lips before they shift into something more serious. “But honestly, Dan. I was in the car with you and Ben for a while tonight, I saw what happened. I’m not blind, you know.”

Dan flushes, his mind going back to when Ben had covered his mouth to whisper-yell at him. He shivers involuntarily at the reminder. “I hadn’t thought you noticed.”

A snort falls from Phil’s nose. “Of course I did. There I had Dan Howell and some twat sitting in the back of my car arguing, naturally I tried to pay attention.”

“Oh,” Dan nods, suddenly getting it. “Of course, yeah. Actor, drama. Got it.”

Phil sends him a confused look. “No,” he says slowly, his blue eyes narrowing. “That’s not what I’m saying, Dan. No one deserves to get treated that way. The fact that I recognized you just meant that I felt closer to the situation and wanted to make sure you stayed safe. It had fuck all to do with the fact that you’ve got a day job as an actor.”

Dan’s gaze falls down to where he’d tucked his hands under his chin, and he studies his fingernails carefully. “Oh,” he repeats. “So… You just… What, you were just going to pop in for tea and ask how my relationship was going?” Something about it bothers him, but he can’t put his finger on what.

“No. I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out. You seem like a genuinely nice person, and honestly, you seem like you need nicer friends. I would’ve asked if you wanted to play some video games or something, and if later on you decided you wanted to talk about it, I would have listened, just like I did now.” Phil reaches a hand up to pet Dan’s hair. He lets out a sigh, and his breath fans across the space between them and lands gently on Dan’s face. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad about telling me. I genuinely just wanted you to feel like you had someone to listen, if you needed it.”

Before Dan can really consider it, he’s moving, shifting closer and pressing his lips to Phil’s. There’s a brief second where he’s not sure if Phil’s going to reciprocate, but then his hand is on Dan’s hip, and his other his resting in Dan’s curls, holding him closer. Dan tries to put all his gratefulness, all his relief into the kiss, showing Phil how glad he is that he met him tonight. It had only been a few hours, but Dan had never felt so bonded to a person in such a short period of time.

“Thank you,” he whispers against Phil’s lips when he finally pulls away.

“You’re welcome,” Phil whispers back.

He doesn’t ask what Dan means, and Dan’s grateful for that. He wants to have a moment without talking, or maybe several, and now that he feels an emotional weight has been lifted off his chest, he feels that maybe they can finally have that. But first, he wants to check and make sure that he hadn’t fucked it up already.

“I ruined the mood, didn’t I?” he asks with a hint of a laugh in his voice.

Phil pulls away enough to smile. “Nah. You’ve changed it, but I think in a good way. Are you still-?”

Dan slowly drags his hips up, and although his cock had started to soften, this new simulation causes a new swell of arousal to rush through him. “Yeah, are you?”

“Mhm,” Phil presses a kiss to his lips again before gently pulling away. “Still want me to top?”

Dan chews on his lip for a moment, but nods. “I really just-“ he flushes as soon as he processes what he was about to say.

“What?” Phil asks gently, dragging his lips down to kiss along Dan’s throat. “What do you need, babe?”

The pet name has him ducking his head to hide his smile, but then he’s feeling embarrassed all over again over what he was about to admit. “I want you to take care of me,” he breathes.

Phil doesn’t pause his movements, dragging his lips from the base of Dan’s throat and back up to his lips. He presses his lips to Dan’s softly for just a moment before pulling away. “Lay down.”

Dan immediately obliges, rolling over onto his back and watching as Phil moves down the bed to resume his earlier position. He spreads his legs again, only feeling slightly embarrassed about how on-display he was. The lights being on didn’t help how nervous he suddenly felt, but he preferred being able to see the way that Phil tugged his own pants off, finally leaving both of them naked. Dan was impressed, to say the least, and there was absolutely nothing else he wanted to do tonight other than Phil.

“I’m going to go slow, okay? I don’t want to hurt you, so we’re starting slow, alright?” Phil looks down at him with a raised eyebrow, squeezing the lube out onto his right hand.

“Alright.” Dan nods in understanding. He could handle that. He’d had his breakdown, but now he was certain that he’d be alright.

“If you want me to stop, at any point and for any reason, you have to tell me, okay, Dan?” Phil’s voice is serious, and the authority in his tone does something funny to Dan’s stomach.

“Okay.”

Phil nods, satisfied with that answer, before he moves his hand down to Dan’s most sensitive place. He tugs at Dan a few times before dropping his hand down to stroke his fingers over Dan’s hole. He meets Dan’s gaze, waiting for him to nod before he slowly slips a finger inside, pumping in and out gently.

Dan sighs, dropping his head back. “Good?” Phil asks softly.

Nodding, Dan murmurs out, “So good.”

Phil lets out a soft laugh at this, and true to his word, he works slowly, eventually adding a second, and finally a third finger, moving them apart and stretching Dan open as gently as possible. When he finally pulls them out, Dan’s sweating, his hips grinding down onto nothing as soon as Phil’s hand is gone. He lets out a whine, unable to stop the noise from falling from his mouth.

“Are you alright?” Phil whispers.

Dan opens his eyes, not even aware he’d closed them, to find Phil hovering over him. “Yes,” he breathes. He leans up to capture Phil’s lips with his own, pleased when Phil swipes his tongue over Dan’s bottom lip. “Phil, please,” he whispers.

Phil sits back on his heels, nodding as he finds the foil packet in the sheets and rips it open, rolling the condom on with quick fingers. He moves to hover over Dan, pressing their lips together again. When he pulls away, he murmurs, “Ready?”

“Mhm, yes,” Dan mumbles, tossing his head back as he waits, impatiently, for Phil to get inside him already. Phil chuckles softly at this, and Dan can feel the mattress shifting as he moves down to sit back on his heels, pulling Dan’s legs up and wrapping them around his back. The way he’s positioned them has Dan arching his back up a little, and Phil grabs a pillow and quickly pushes it under his lower back. Dan hates himself for it, but the sweet, thoughtful gesture makes him blush.

Surprisingly, Phil doesn’t speak again as he gently pushes inside. It’s almost as if they’re both holding their breath, the room gone silent aside from their heavy breathing, as Phil gently presses in, inch by inch. Once he’s finally bottomed out, Dan opens his mouth and pants. The stretch feels amazing, but it’s undeniably painful. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t glad that Phil had taken his time to stretch him so thoroughly, but even with it, he felt like his eyes might start to water.

“Let me…” Phil cuts himself off with a groan, his head dropping as he pants. “Tell me when I can move.”

It takes a few moments, but eventually Dan nods, reaching forward and patting Phil’s hand that’s wrapped around his hip. “You can move. Please, please, move.”

His plea is answered, Phil sliding out before pressing back in slowly, the slide feeling like one of the best things Dan’s ever experienced. “You feel so good,” Phil groans, lifting a hand from Dan’s body to push his messy hair back out of his eyes. “Fuck,” he breathes.

Dan whines, lifting his hips up to meet his thrusts. “Please, Phil,” he begs, trying his hardest to make him go faster.

“What do you want? Use your words, sweetheart.”

The name has Dan’s eyes rolling back. “Faster, please. Please, fuck, Phil.”

Phil responds to this by shifting a little, the movement causing him to slide impossibly further into Dan’s willing body, and the brunette swears he’s going to faint. Before he even has a moment to wonder over how impossibly close he feels to Phil right then, Phil is moving faster, just like Dan wanted.

“Oh my god, fuck, oh- Phil,” Dan babbles, tossing his head back and forth as he feels Phil press against his prostate with every thrust. He knows this is going to end too quickly, all the buildup from this evening having his stomach tightening already.

“Dan, Dan, oh fuck.” The words seem to fall from Phil’s lips without any thought, and Dan’s intoxicated by the sound of his name falling from Phil’s lips.

“Please.” Dan has no idea what he’s asking for, but he can only plead for something to bring him over the edge he’s on. Phil doesn’t disappoint, his hand coming up to wrap around his length and pumping in time to his thrust the best he can. “Phil, oh god, gonna-“

“Go ahead, sweetheart.” Even now, Phil’s voice is gentle, and with that nickname falling from his lips, Dan doesn’t stand a chance. He comes quickly, all over Phil’s hand and his own chest, whines falling from his lips even after he’s finished.

Phil thrusts into him a few more times before he stills, a drawn out swear leaving his mouth as he releases, his thumbs stroking circles onto Dan’s hips as he does. He slowly eases out, pulling the condom off and tying it. He looks a little unsure at first, and Dan nods to the trashcan beside the wall. “Over there,” he says tiredly, tossing an arm across his forehead as Phil climbs off the bed to dispose of it.

Dan closes his eyes for just a moment, just to catch his breath, but they snap open when he feels something soft running over his stomach. “Shh. Just me,” Phil soothes him quickly. Dan glances down to find him gently cleaning up the stickiness on his chest with a tissue, one he’d probably found on his nightstand.

“Thank you,” Dan murmurs, watching as Phil gently wipes him down before moving to toss the tissue into the trash.

Phil shrugs, coming back over to sit on the edge of the bed. “So, um…” He looks awkward, for the first time this evening, and Dan wonders how often he does the whole hooking-up-with-strangers thing.

“I have some pj’s in the second drawer of my dresser.” Dan gestures carelessly over at the piece of furniture, his limbs feeling heavy with exhaustion and the relief of a good orgasm. “If you want to sleep in something, that is.” His words are punctuated with a yawn as he climbs under the cover.

A look of shock is on Phil’s face. “Oh, um… What?”

Dan lifts his head to give him a confused look. “Aren’t you staying the night? It’s awfully late to be driving home.” Phil doesn’t seem sure about what to say to that, so Dan turns the blanket on the right side of the bed down. “C’mere. I’m a cuddler.”

Carefully, as if he’s unsure what he’s allowed to touch post-sex, Phil settles onto the bed beside Dan, laying stiffly beside him. “Are you…” He swallows hard, and Dan watches the way it moves his Adam’s apple. “Are you sure you want me to stay here?”

Dan nods, moving closer and tossing a leg over Phil’s. “Mhm. I don’t want you to drive home so late. Oh, by the way, I’ll pay you for the Uber in the morning. I completely forgot about that earlier.” He feels like he’s already half asleep at this point, so he’s not sure how coherent he’ll be if Phil decides to respond.

“Okay. Night, Dan.” He whispers softly. Dan feels a hand gently card through his hair, and the thought of waking up next to this gorgeous man makes him smile.

“Night, Phil,” he mumbles, hoping that it sounds semi-intelligible. He quickly drops off into a deep sleep, his mind swirled with thoughts of black hair and blue eyes and tongues between teeth and sweet nicknames. He works himself into a proper good dream starring the man he’s sharing a bed with, for once feeling content enough to sleep through the whole night without stirring.

When he awakes the next morning, he’s alone.

#phan #phanfiction #this is based on a short film but i got v carried away with the angst and backstory #fluff #angst #smut #au #some emotional abuse but not dnp #dnb

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breathebangtan · 6 years ago

Text

Credulous

Ch. 4: Lurking

Genre: FallenGuardianAngel! Jimin, Supernatural

Members: Jimin

Pairings: Jimin x y/n

Synopsis: love is an uncontrollable feeling, even for those who were meant to protect, and only protect. Nothing more and nothing less. Yet somehow, there was always outliers.

Warnings: Slight manipulation and a small accident

Word count: 3.6k

A/N: Hope you all enjoy! Please like and reblog if you do!

Ch.1 | Ch.3 | Ch.5

My weeks were usually uneventful, aside from the occasional accidents here and there. Like this morning for instance, when I didn't tie my shoelace tight enough. I accidentally tripped on it and fell down the stairs. Luckily, I was only three steps away from the ground, only ended up with a scraped knee. Jimin, of course, took care of my wound. I was late to class, but at least my knee wasn't burning, thanks to him. I hadn't realised just how much my guardian would be around me, now that I knew who he was. He gave himself full reins on my life. Sitting in the empty seats next to me in class, giving me the answers to tests, literally telling me where to walk because he was afraid I'd get hurt again. Maybe I was over exaggerating though, he wasn't with me 24/7, or at least he wasn't visible to me. But he was a little overbearing, about everything I did that could potentially harm me.

Not that I could blame him, my track record wasn't in my favor by the slightest. He let me be once he thought I was fine on my own, which was nice. I was grateful that he trusted me. The week came to an end sooner or later though, and my double date was getting closer. Jimin seemed to feel funny about the whole thing, sat on the edge of my bed as I did homework, asking me for details. “Where will you guys be going, anyway?” I could only shrug, I didn't know either. Rae had only stated that it would be a double date this Friday, and that was all the information she gave me.

“I wish I knew that too, but Rae didn't give me any specifics. Hopefully the guy isn't a douche.” I giggled to myself at the last part. “Are you sure you want to go out with some random dude you haven't met?” He questions me, and he successfully inserts doubt into my mind. It doesn't go unnoticed by me, however, the fact that he's trying to push me away from the whole thing. At least it would seem like it. “I mean, Rae knows him. Why? Do you not want me to go out?” I question his motive but he just shakes his head.

“It's not that, I just know you don't like socializing, much less dating. It just seemed odd to me that you gave in so easily. That's all.” He smiles, and I brush it off. His excuse was pretty valid. Even I was astonished at how surprisingly okay I was with this, even somewhat excited. Albeit, very little. He spent the rest of that night watching me study, helping me here and there before he disappeared. There was nights when I couldn't sleep and he'd stay with me, until I could. On nights like that one however, he'd disappear randomly, and I wouldn't see him until the next day.

Finally I was home, after a long day of work. Maybe the fact that work was stressing me, was the same reason why my excitement for tonight was growing slightly, and I gave in. Spending the remaining hours, before the double date, preparing for it. I tried my best to look presentable, yet casual. A simple pink knit sweater, that was torn at the bottom, making it barely reach past my belly button, that paired with a denim skirt and black sneakers. I hoped I wasn't underdressing myself, nor over dressing. I was just so nervous on what my first impression would be, and I wasn't sure why. Maybe the comfort Jimin had given me, was changing me.

Just as I thought of him, he chimed in out of seemingly nowhere. “Is that what you'll be wearing?” He asked, as I finished applying the last bit of makeup. “Yeah, is it too much? It's not enough, is it?” I questioned. My tone made me seem desperate though. I always disliked feeling desperate, which made me shake my head. “No, you look perfect.” He smiled at me, I was relieved as I looked myself over in the mirror.

“I just think it might be too revealing.” He spoke in a quitter voice, with a tone I couldn't figure out. I tilted my head slightly, in questioning. Too revealing? It's just my legs, but it's nothing bad, right? “Are you sure? It's just a skirt.” I asked him as I looked at my mirror, contemplating what to do. “I'm just saying, it's supposed to get cold later tonight. Are you sure you want to be wearing a skirt? I don't want you catching a cold.”

He might be right, I didn't want to get cold later. As much as I didn't want to go, I didn't want to not enjoy it because I was cold. Besides, I was slightly excited, I didn't want to ruin it for myself. “Should I wear jeans instead?” He was quick to nod his head at my suggestion. It was cute though, making me giggle as I went to grab a pair of jeans from my drawer. After successfully changing in my bathroom I walked back out. He wasn't in the room anymore, I figured he'd left and grabbed my purse. As if on cue, Rae called me. I didn't hesitate to answer her call. “I'm outside, are you ready!” She screeched full of excitement. How could she not be though? She'd had a crush on Henry for the longest time. Just another reason why I wanted to be on my best behavior tonight. I didn't want to jeopardize her chances with him. “I'll be right out.”

I was thankful that Rae had a car in this moment, because I wasn't sure how far our date would take place from my apartment. I was sure that walking wouldn't be ideal though. The only reason Rae had a car now, was because her parents finally took the next step and bought a new car. Resulting in Rae receiving their old one. “So, have you guys decided on what we'll be doing today?” I asked her as she drove down busy streets. The moon was high up in the sky, shining as bright as it could, but still overshadowed by all the street lights. “Yeah, we're going to the boardwalk. Ride a couple rides, play some games. It'll be fun, plus it'll be easy to get to know each other.” She happily cheered. She was always so bubbly, in contrast to me. I always wondered what made her befriend me, we're so different. Maybe opposites do attract.

“Well, it does sound exciting.” I looked out the window, looking at all the stores and cars passing by, all the people out shopping. The city was booming with activity right now, it was Friday night after all. Not too long after, we made it to the location. Just as I expected, there's a huge crowd of people. I guess the incident from last Friday night did have an effect on me, because I was worried that in this large crowd of college kids, that jerk would be too. I prayed that he wouldn’t and got out the car, sighing slightly. I guess my thoughts were obvious, because Rae questioned me. “Are you alright? You look a little pale.” She looks over my features as she walks closer to me. I can only smile at her, nodding. I was determined to make this night amazing for her, without having to worry about me. “Yeah, of course. I think I’m just a little nervous. I mean you never told me who my date will be, or what he’s like.” I try to act like that’s what’s bothering me, and nothing else. Not a complete lie though, I was curious as to who she paired me up with, what he was like. Which didn’t really matter because I wasn’t thinking of being in a relationship or anything, but a fun date couldn’t hurt, right?

“Oh, you’ll have so much fun together, I just know it!” She responds as she ushers me into the swarm of bodies that are running around, enjoying their night. “That doesn’t really help me, but okay?” I let her lead me to wherever, guessing she and the boys probably agreed on a specific spot to meet up. We quickly end up in front of a booth that look like it sold tickets and passes for the rides. Rae didn't bother to get in line, instead opting for cutting half of the line. “Um, Rae… What are you doing? Shouldn't we go get in line back there?” I question her, but quickly realise why she had done so. We ended up in front of two guys, laughing with each other. One was Henry, who didn't take long to notice us. “Hey! You guys made it.” He smiles at us as Rae smiles shyly, going in for a hug, which he reciprocates. Next to him is someone I haven't seen before, which wasn't unusual as I didn't socialize much. Aside from parties at least, which wouldn't help because the alcohol made everyone's faces blurry.

He stuck his hand out to me, smiling widely as he introduced himself. “I'm David, it's nice to meet you. Rae was boosting about you all week, it's nice to finally see why that is.” I blush slightly, a light giggle escaping my lips. Wasn't sure if it was because I found that funny, or if It was a nervous laugh. “Well, she hasn't mentioned you at all. So I'm excited to see what mysterious you hold.” I smile as we step closer to the booth, the line making progress. He laughs at my words, “I'm an open book, so you won't have any trouble. Trust me.” He smiles and I nod my head. I had to admit he was a very good looking guy. “I'm Y/n, by the way. So, do you go to school with us? Or?” I ask him, trying to make conversation, I just hoped that it wouldn't get awkward. I couldn't count the many times I made small talk with someone, and I somehow made it awkward. “Yeah, I'm studying law now. To be honest though,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck, “I wish I could pursue something else, but my father is a lawyer. He wanted me to be one as well.” He comments.

“I see, that's always hard. Have you tried talking to him about it?” I questioned him, and as I did I realised he most likely has, but it wasn't like I could retract my statement now. “Of course, but he's insistent. I just wish he could understand that it's just not for me.” His shoulders droop slightly, in defeat. We take a couple more steps. “No, I totally understand. We only have the one life, we should do what we like and be happy.” He smiles genuinely at me, his mouth opening to say something, but Rae interrupts us. “You guys, I’m getting a little hungry.” She pouts cutely, we all smile at her.

“We could eat something before going on the rides. Although, I don’t know how much of a good idea that is.” I contemplate my own suggestion, as I realise that eating before going on any roller coaster isn’t exactly ideal. It could lead to an unwanted accident. “We could eat something light, maybe a snack. You know, just to tame your hunger.” David chimes in. I agreed with him immediately. As we were all agreeing, the person in front of us had finished buying tickets, we walked up to the booth after they’d walked away. The girl behind the glass window spoke up. “What can I get for you?” Her tone was bored, it’s not that she was rude, but you could definitely tell she didn’t want to be here. I didn’t blame her, working Friday nights, in a ticket booth, watching others having fun wasn’t ideal.

As much as I hated myself for what I was about to do, I tried not to think about it too long and just did it. “How about you guys go and get something to eat for Rae, David and I will buy the tickets.” I say as I give Rae a little push. “Are you sure?” She asks but I just nod and turn back to the girl behind the window. I didn't want to be alone with David, but I also knew Rae probably wanted a little alone time with Henry, and I was determined to make this date the best for her. David and I decided on what free passes to buy, and walked away from the booth. The loud laughs of the people running around the boardwalk filled the night. “So how did you meet Rae?” I ask David as we walk around, looking for our friends.

“Oh, we were friends when we were younger. We use to live in the same town. I saw her on campus not to long ago and we started talking again.” He explained to me, I was glad in away. At least it meant she knew him pretty well. He wasn't just a complete stranger. “Oh, so you know her since she was a kid. Has she always been this bubbly?” He laughs at my question as he nods his head. It was a good thing, she's always been the bright person that she is today. “It's quite endearing, isn't it?” He wasn't wrong at all, it was the feeling I always got when she got excited about things, or acted like a schoolgirl fawning over Henry.

“So tell me about yourself, I mean Rae talked a lot about you, but it's not the same as hearing you say it.” He leads us further down the boardwalk, where I see Rae and Henry near a pretzel stand. “Well, what are you interested about?” I realise that I’m making myself sound mysterious in away, but I just genuinely don’t know what to say. Aside from Rae, I never really had to talk about myself. I mean I didn’t even with her, we just gradually figured each other out the more we spent time together. I thought that was the norm, but I guess not? “Anything, are you from here?” He asks. We’re getting closer to the other two, that Rae sees us and waves at us to hurry.

“No, not originally. I use to live two cities away from here, but I moved here on my own for school.” He nods taking in the information. “Just like Rae and I, I guess it’s not that uncommon for students to be out of town.” It really wasn’t, I was sure around half of students were out of town. It was just such a common thing. We finally reached our friends, Rae handing me a pretzel. “That’s for you,” She says, in a sing song voice. “and this one's for you.” She hands David another. I take a bite of it as we walk away from the stand. Out of nowhere Rae starts jumping excitedly and we all laugh at her antics. “Oh my god! Look!” She points at a carnival game, the cliche knock down the bottles and you win a prize ones. She was usually really good at these games, but I figured that she’d want the typical date experience where the guy wins the prize for the girl.

“Hey, why don’t you go win her a prize?” I suggest to Henry, trying to set in motion my plan. He looks like he wants to respond, but David picks up on my intentions and pushes him forward. “Come on, win the pretty lady a prize.” Henry gives in and pays for a game. I was starting to notice how nervous he was, they were comfortable with each other, and he was confident. Even so, he would do slight things that made it apparent that he wanted to impress Rae. Which of course, I was happy about, because that could only mean he liked her as well. “Do you want to come up to the ferris wheel with me?” David seemed like a nice guy, from the small sentences we interchanged, but I was here for Rae and to have a good time. I feared that spending too much alone time with him would make ideas in his head.

“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I stuttered out, rubbing my arm awkwardly. “Why? Are you afraid of heights?” He asked, I could tell by the tone of his voice he really wanted us to go. “No… I just…” My voice caught in my throat, as a new thought came to mind.

It’ll be fun, he’s cute. I couldn’t help but agree with myself, but I was still silent. Not sure if to say yes to him. The thought brought along an unpleasant and odd aura. A sudden emptiness left inside me, but I was totally fine with the vacancy within me. It was as if I could become addicted.

I’m so lonely, he’d be perfect. Everything I need. My lips turned into a smile on their own. It’s time to live my life, and he’s the one to do it with. My voice rushed out of my mouth, “On second thought, this should be fun!” I hooked my arm around his and pulled him along, yelling over to Rae that we’d be back as I ran off. David laughing beside me as his steps picked up. I couldn’t argue with myself, even if I wanted to. I just went along with my instinct. Thankfully the line wasn’t long. Barely anyone was waiting, we were up and in the ferris wheel in no time. David helped me sit down, and in my head I marked down a point for his chervillry acts. When he sat down, I noticed he tried his best to give me space. Something if never Do was my next move. I brushed my hand over his, leaving some fingers lingering over his.

His slight smile was evident. The pink hue in his cheeks forming was utterly cute to me now, the wind pushing his hair back as he looked to the side. “I know we just met, but you seem super nice and I’d like to spend more time with you.” He scots closer to me, my head leaning on his shoulder. “That would be nice, you and I.” I say in a dreamy voice. A familiar scent came to me in that instant. Vanilla and roses mixed with lavender. Such an amazing scent, one I could lose myself in. It was utterly familiar but I couldn’t place from where, not in this instant at least. “What made you change your mind, back there I mean. When I asked you to come up here.” I shrugged slightly. Even I wasn’t sure what that was, all I know is that I did and we were here now.

“You seem like a nice guy that I’d like to spend time with.” I didn’t want to let him down, and it was a complete lie. I hooked my arm around his again, sliding closer. “Maybe we can make that happen.” He suggested and I nodded my head In content. We spent the rest of the time in peaceful silence. Until the ride stopped, our cart at the very top. “Wow, look at all those light.” I pointed out at the city, everything looked so small from here. He laughed at me slightly, “The view is amazing, isn’t it?” He looked out as well. Our eyes opened wide suddenly as we felt the ferris wheel shake. My heart started to palpitate quickly, as a more violent shake was felt. My breath hitching in my throat.

“Are you okay?” David asked, as he kept his arm in front of me, gripping the metal handle next to me. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I told him, as I dared to look forward, to see what was happening down there. The all too familiar feeling came to me. Only accomplishing for me to look like crazy all over for Jimin. However, I couldn't find him anywhere in the crowd of onlookers on the ground. “Be careful, you’ll fall.” David said protectively, and as he did Jimin’s presence became much more unbearable.

“Where are you?” I whispered to myself, gaining a strange look from David. “What was that?” He asks, confused making me shake my head. “Nothing, I just don’t understand what went wrong down there.” My sentence barely making it out as the ferris wheel rushes to rotate. A scream escapes my lips, my body slamming against David’s, which I was quick to hold on to for dear life, wishing it was Jimin instead. But he wasn’t making himself visible to me.

I’ve got you. Jimin’s voice filled my ears as the ferris wheel came to a halt and started to slowly move. My breath was irrational but I was trying to stabilize it. Finally, our cart reached the bottom and it all stopped as we did. I didn’t even wait for the man to open the gate on our cart, I unbuckled myself and opened the gate, running out. I didn’t even stop to wait for David, rushing to where Jimin was in the crowd. I wasn’t even sure how I knew where to find him, probably our connection. Either way, I crashed into him, hugging him with all the strength that I still had in my body. A stream of tears falling down my eyes.

#bts jimin #bts jungkook #bts au #bts jhope #bts jin #bts suga #bts #bts angst #bts v #bts maknae line #bts namjoon #bts hyung line #bts guardian au #bts horror au #bts reactions #bts yandere

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