#ah the parade i miss her

[ratatatastic]

"it rained, didnt matter! we're not made of sugar!" LUNDY

[sourlove]

YANDERE KING PART II 👑(GN READER)

TW: OBSESSION, YANDERE THEMES, JEALOUSY, VIOLENCE, IMPLIED TORTURE

READ PART 1 HERE

You had never heard a room fall silent the way it did when you stepped in.

It was lunchtime and King Henry had demanded politely requested that you join him and some foreign dignitaries for a meal in the grand hall. However, none of the aforementioned were present. Instead, the Queen and her servants stared at you coldly as you halted by the entrance.

"Good afternoon, Your majesty," you greeted with a bow. "My apologies for-"

"You. Come here." The hall was empty, so the Queen's voiced echoed, coldly.

You glanced up and nervously stepped towards her. The head butler stood there as well, but he sneered at you when you looked at him. Queen Penelope's maids, two nasty girls who constantly tried to make your life miserable, began to whisper to themselves, eyes trained on your neck. Actually, you noticed that all of them seemed to be looking at your neck.

With a sinking feeling, you looked down at the garishly ornate necklace the King insisted you wear to lunch.

"It's the same color as my eyes. I want you to wear it and think of me," Henry had whispered into your ear as he clasped it around your neck. You hadn't thought much of it and had just planned to wear it for the afternoon and stuff it in a drawer with all the other gifts Henry had forced on you.

"That necklace, where did you get it from?" the Queen asked stiffly. Her face gave away nothing but disgust and hatred for you.

"Ah, this? It was His majesty that gave it to me, Your majesty," you replied, reaching up to touch the giant chunk of sapphire swinging from the thick gold chain.

"Liar!" One of the maids cried. "It is the same one the King gave Her Majesty on their wedding night! The one that went missing!"

The temperature suddenly dropped as you realized the situation you had just walked into. You opened your mouth to defend yourself but nothing came out, making Queen Penelope snap in anger.

"You dare try to make excuses? Hold them down!"

The two maids immediately grabbed your arms, fingernails painfully digging into your skin. The butler scoffed, "Of course someone of your status would resort to theft."

The Queen roughly yanked the necklace off you. "A filthy concubine," she hissed. "Dares to sneak around my chambers? You must think you can get away with anything just because you're warming the King's bed. But let me tell you something." She lowered her voice as if she were sharing a secret. "He will soon tire of you, and I will take great pleasure in dealing with you the same way I dealt with others who dared to think they were beyond their station."

You licked your lips shakily and stammered out, "Y-your majesty, I swear there must have been some kind of mistake. Hen-The King truly gave me that necklace! I would never dare to-"

Her rings caught on your face when she hit you and you stumbled back, only held up by her giggling maids. A warm, metallic taste filled your mouth. Blood. "How dare you speak his name?! You will regret ever crawling into his bed, you vile wench!"

She raised her her hand again to land another blow until a booming voice froze everyone in place.

"What is going on here?!"

Henry looked furious as he stormed into the grand hall, closely followed by an entourage of people; guards, servants and the dignitaries you were supposed to have lunch with. Before you could even begin to feel embarrassed, the maids holding you fled to stand behind their mistress, leaving you to stagger into Henry's arms.

His blue eyes scanned you and took in your bruised face, his face twisting into an expression you had never seen before. "Penelope!" he barked. "What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself immediately!"

The Queen balked at the face of his pure, unadulterated rage, but still pointed an accusatory finger at you. "My necklace! Th-they stole it from my chambers and paraded around claiming that you gave it to them!" All of a sudden, she burst into tears and you gaped at her. Who exactly was the victim here? "I-I just lost my temper, because that necklace is so dear to me! You gave it to me as a wedding gift!"

You could already feel the nasty looks being sent in your direction and shrunk back. Henry looked down at your trembling form and bloody mouth, seemingly unaffected by Queen Penelope's tears.

"Let me see the necklace," he commanded. The head butler stepped forward with the cause of all your problems and bowed to the King, handing it to him. Henry turned it over in his hand and chuckled dryly. "You foolish woman."

This seemed to surprise everyone, for the King was known for being kind and peaceful. "Y-your majesty?"

Henry flipped the sapphire pendant, revealing the gold backing on which your initials were carved. The Queen was at a lost for words and her mouth opened and closed multiple times without saying a word.

The butler stepped in for his mistress. "Your majesty, there is a chance they could have engraved it themself after they stole it!"

Henry cocked his head and hummed. "There is a chance. A very slim one, considering I was the one who engraved their initials myself." He stroked your hair soothingly. "I didn't want there to be any confusion between the two so this was a precaution. Had I known that the Queen would be so willing to strike my concubine over such a small issue, I would have been more careful."

"Your majesty!" A knight ran into the room, holding up a familiar object. "We found the Queen's necklace in the head butler's quarters!"

The man gasped and shook. "Framed! I've been framed!" He dropped to his knees as the guards surrounded him. "Your majesty, please believe me!"

Henry barely spared him a glance. "Take him to the dungeons and have him whipped. Such is the punishment for a thief." He turned to the Queen who paled in fear but Henry wasn't done. "Take the maids too. Cut off the hands that dared to hurt what is mine."

They screamed as they were dragged away, pleading for mercy, and you winced. Henry turned to reschedule his lunch meeting with the dignitaries as if it were nothing, as is he didn't just order for people to be tortured. The events of the day started to catch up to you and you swayed in Henry's grasp.

He swooped you into a bridal carry immediately, barking orders to call a physician. He cast a final glance back at the Queen who had just watched her most loyal servants be taken away. Tears, perhaps real ones this time, filled her eyes.

Henry turned back to you. "Lock the Queen in her chambers until further notice. She has done enough damage today."

"Your majesty! Your majesty, you cannot do this to me! I am your Queen!"

Her cries were cut off as the doors to the grand hall slammed shut. Henry strode quickly to you chambers, lips pressed in a thin line.

"...I'm fine, Henry," you said softly. You knew calling him by his name would calm him down from the thoughts in his head. He glanced down at you.

"She hit you."

"But it's not serious. I will heal very soon."

Henry shook his head in frustration. He said no more until you were tucked in bed, after being thoroughly examined by the palace physician. After the old man had given you some medicine and left, the King crawled into your bed. "I'm sorry, my love."

You patted his hand tiredly. You wished he would leave you to sleep in peace, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. "It's not your fault, Henry. It's not like you planned this."

When Henry said nothing, you turned to find a look in his eyes that made you sit up straight, sleepiness fading away. "I didn't think she would hit you-" he began but you cut him off.

"Is that why you insisted I wear it to lunch? Did you plan this whole affair to humiliate me?"

"You don't understand, I did it for you! To help you establish your place in the palace!"

"As what? As your bed warmer? The King's whore? Is that what you wanted?" You glared at him. "Why can't you understand that there is simply no place for me here. Not when I was forced to be here."

"...you're right."

You glanced at him, frowning in confusion but Henry was staring into space, lost in his thoughts. "It's too dangerous for you here. Who knows what that woman will do to hurt you?"

"Are you-are you saying that I can go home?" You couldn't help feeling hopeful of returning to your old life but that feeling soon crashed down when Henry smiled.

"I can't just let you go, my love," he chuckled, pulling you closer to him. "But I will take you somewhere you never have to go through anything like this ever again."

Later on, you would wonder if anyone ever questioned your disappearance or if Henry had spread some story to stop them from searching for you. Either way, it's not like anything that happened outside of the safehouse mattered. It was your only home now.

And the only thing you needed to concern yourself with was loving your King and serving him, and only him, until death do you part.

FIND ALL PARTS AND ASKS HERE

A/N: Please like, reblog and leave a comment if you enjoyed this! Feel free to request any headcanons for this character but I might not write anymore full fledged fics of Henry for a while lol.

@pinkrose1422 @justabratsworld

[fangirl-dot-com]

Chapter 27 - Block Out the Haters

Hello beautiful people! How I've missed writing and uploading! I'm so sorry for the delay but this chapter and Across Every Universe part 2 had been in creation for a while. But expect a few updates this weekend!

I love you all and thank you for being so appreciating and patient!

Your body felt as though it was on autopilot as you walked through the paddock on Sunday morning. The weekend was kind to you. You completely dominated all the free practices and you’d be starting the race today on pole. 

However, it wasn’t the weekend that was unkind. 

It was them.

And it was all because of him. 

Checo had decided to show up to the paddock at his former home race on Thursday. And like all “good” journalists do, they ask questions that bate people to speak words that can be turned into something they’re not. 

Yet, the Mexican had spoken out with his chest puffed out and words full of confidence. 

“I see my replacement has done well in the car. Too bad that she’ll be replaced soon enough. Like she did to me, someone will take her seat and brag about how great they are, leaving the old driver in the dust. It’s only a matter of time.” 

Ah yes, only a matter of time until Red Bull drops you. The team that you had complete confidence in was not a ticking time bomb in your mind. 

What if you didn’t convert pole into a win? 

What if you accidentally took Max and yourself out of the race like Charles did to Checo in 2023? 

What if the team can finally see how replaceable you were? 

It had happened before…at Prema. 

Number 1 driver to ending a contract early. 

But this time, you were even further down the totem pole than you were at Prema. 

You were a rookie and the second driver. 

Replaceable and forgettable.

Your headphones were on and blasting music to cover up the nasty words thrown at you from the so-called fans. You had thankfully walked in with Max and Charles, who took the liberty to walk on either side of you. You were slouching as you walked, trying to make yourself smaller between the two men. 

At least you understood that Charles and Max knew how you were feeling. Charles, who had been booed at this very race last year. And Max, who seemed to carry boos wherever he walked. 

Your eyes widened at the sight of the large crown surrounding the opening to the garage. Checo was in the middle, smiling widely with sunglasses on his face. You froze, not walking any further. The navy and red clad drivers walked a bit before realizing that you weren’t between them anymore. 

Max’s eyes flitted toward the garage and then toward a signature blue. He put his hand on your shoulder and lightly pulled one of the headphone cushions away from your ear. 

His head jerked in the direction of the blue garage. “Why don’t you go hide in Williams for now. I’ll text you when it’s clear. Christian won’t let them get to you.” 

You silently nodded as Max put the headphones back in place before heading in the direction of the safe garage. 

Charles crossed his arms as he watched you walk away. 

“Merde, I wish Arthur was here this weekend.” 

The Monegasque sighed in relief once he saw Logan sling an arm around your shoulders and lead you away toward the back. Alex was following them, parading his limited edition Oscar Piastri paddle. 

Max was silent as he gazed at the amount of journalists in front of the garage. He was internally cringing, knowing that the journalist would attack him as well. 

Charles threw a smile in his direction as he bumped the sullen Dutchman. 

“Do you need to hide in my garage as well? Be babysat Mr. Verstappen?” 

The Ferrari driver wiggled his eyebrows as Max rolled his eyes. However, he shrugged and looked straight into Charles’s green eyes. 

“Lead the way Mr. Leclerc.” 

Charles’s eyes widened for only a moment before grabbing the backpack attached to Max. The brunette gently led the blond away, knowing that his childhood rival didn’t like crowds any more than you did. 

You had found yourself hidden away in Logan’s room, on a facetime with your boyfriend. Logan was sitting next to you, trying to reach a new high score on whatever game he was playing. Oscar had somehow also found himself in the American’s room and was currently looking at Alex’s paddle. 

The Aussie scoffed as he twirled the offending thing. He was silently listening to you borderline cry to Arthur. 

“And then they threw a water bottle at me. And it was one of the metal ones too!” you cried out, hand rubbing your face. 

Arthur offered you a sad frown. 

“What did you do?” 

You sucked in a breath. 

“I caught it and I kept it.” 

The three men suddenly laughed at your confession. You looked around confused. 

“What? It was a nice one!” 

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Nicer than the one I gave to my brother to give to you.” 

Your eyebrow cocked. “Um no, not Kevin.” 

Logan’s eyes glanced at you as he muttered, “You named your water bottle?” 

You shoved him, making him lose his spot. “You don’t?” 

Oscar suddenly piped up. “That’s a bit childish, don’t you think. And how cliche is it to fall in love with your teammate.” 

That earned him an eyeroll as you threw one of Logan’s pillows at him. He caught it easily. 

“Sorry Os-cah, at least I can act on it. We all can’t secretly be in love with our teammates.” 

A screech erupted from the Aussie’s side of the room. You and Logan giggled as Oscar’s face bloomed red with a deep blush. The pillow came back flying. 

“I am not in love with Lando. And plus, I have a girlfriend.” 

“Sure. Didn’t stop you from almost kissing Arthur that one time.” 

The brunet rolled his eyes. “Number 1, it was through glass. Number 2, he leaned in first.” 

“Excuse me?” you asked into your phone, looking at Arthur through the screen. Said boyfriend stuttered a bit as he tried to come up with an excuse. He only stopped as you spoke again. 

“It’s ok Osc, he has some nice lips.” 

A groan left Logan’s lips as he listened to this conversation. He leaned over and snatched the phone from your hands. 

“Hey!” 

“Sorry, poor connection. Call back later.” 

The American pressed the red X as you looked at him in disbelief. Logan quickly deposited your phone back to your lap before picking up his own phone. 

Your mouth was still wide open. 

You were about to reply when there was a knock on the door. Logan huffed as he stood from the couch and walked toward the door. When he opened it, he was met with Christian Horner and a very pouty Max Verstappen. You sheepishly grinned as Christian just silently pointed over his shoulder and turned around, walking away. 

Max stayed at the door, waiting for you as you packed your stuff. You quickly said goodbye to the best friends before following Max back to the Red Bull garage. You noticed his pout on the way. 

“What’s got you so pouty.” 

“I was about to beat Charles at FIFA and then Christian scared me, causing me to misplay and not score.” 

“So Charles won?” 

A huff from the Dutchman let you know that you were correct. 

Thankfully the crowd had died down when you returned. But, to your chagrin, Checo was still there, looking down into your car. Mitch seemed uncomfortable as she stood near, needing to get the last bit of data before talking to you about the strategy. 

You watched as she lightly nudged the Mexican, but was not met with any movement. Your anger rose as he blatantly didn’t move at all. You loudly cleared your throat, making most of the men turn their heads toward your direction, Checo included. 

“I think my strategist needs to be by my car. You wouldn’t mind moving far back to give her some space?” you questioned loudly. 

Perez seemed to get a bit of the message and took multiple steps back. Your jaw clenched as he smirked at you. At that moment, you knew he had done that on purpose. 

You only walked past him, going to your room to get changed. When you walked back out, there was a small interview going on, once again with Checo and now Max. 

The interviewer asked, “So Max, how does it feel to have your old teammate here to watch you win?” 

You could tell that Max wanted to wince at the question, but he let it be. 

Max replied, “Uh, it is nice to see Sergio back in the paddock. It is Mexico after all. But, Y/n is looking very strong and she won Monza from pole. So the team is just going to let us race and I’ll just try to keep up with her.” 

The laugh that the Dutchman let out was obviously forced, but you were thankful for the backing from Max. 

You watched as Checo obnoxiously laughed as he put his hands on Max’s shoulders, shaking the driver just a bit. Max’s shoulders tensed under the hard grip of the ex-driver’s hands. He was thankful that Perez wasn’t doing that to you, or you might have had a bit of PTSD because of it. 

The Mexican began to speak, “Ah Max, always so modest. I bet that he’ll overtake her on the first corner. She might pull a me from last year. Eat some Ferrari tyre and DNF on the first lap. And before you know it, the team is going to drop her. I bet Max would like that. Maybe Daniel will get his rightful seat back.” 

Max jerked away from the hands that gripped his shoulders before speaking, “Y/n happens to be a very safe driver. There might be a bit of fighting between us on the track but that’s just racing. And the seat was never Daniel’s to begin with. It was always her’s. Too bad you couldn’t keep up to keep the seat.” 

If you could see Max’s eyes, you knew that they would be stormy and cold. 

Your eyes wanted to water from the soft words that Max was speaking. He was really defending you to the best of his ability. Your eyes found Christian at the other side and your feet quickly took you toward the father-figure. Yet, you heard a closing statement from Perez that set your nerves ablaze. 

“She won’t get the win. She was lucky in Monza, but that’s all it was. Max DNF-ed, giving her the win. This race will truly show you how talented she truly is.” 

Your shoulders deflated as you tapped Christian’s shoulder, nodding over at the journalist. Christian’s eyes widened as he stalked toward the trio. He had anger in his eyes. 

“I told you, no more journalists or interviews in the garage. The race is about to start,” the Briton stated, voice ice cold. 

The journalist visibly gulped before packing up quickly and walking away. Max took this opportunity to also find his way back to your side. The two of you watched as Christian completely scolded the Mexican. You couldn’t hear it, but whatever your team principal said, it make Checo red with embarrassment. 

Max gave you a shit-eating grin before pulling you into a hug. 

“Thanks for being my best teammate kid. You’ve changed me for the better. Let’s go get you that second win.” 

You pulled away with tears in your eyes as you laughed a bit. 

“You’re just going to let me win? Thee Max Verstappen purposely losing a race to little old me?” 

The Dutchman shook his head. “No, I’m not going to let you win. You’re going to take it from me.” 

Well, Checo was right about only one thing. 

Max did overtake you on the first turn. 

But that was it. 

You didn’t eat Ferrari tyre. 

Your seat was yours to keep. 

And Max was right about everything. 

You made him work for the lead and overtook him on the second to last lap. Your cars fought for all they could give, drivers wanting another taste of victory. 

For Max, it seemed like it had been a while. 

For you, it was like Monza was yesterday. 

And that sweetness from the win. The nickname you earned there from the Italians (who were much nicer). 

Charles Leclerc, the Predestined. 

Max Verstappen, the Inevitable. 

Y/n L/n, the Long Awaited. 

The victory was oh so sweet. Maybe you just really had to learn to block out the haters. It’s what you should have done at the beginning of the weekend. 

But you showed everyone who you were as you stook on the nose of you trusted Red Bull. Fists near your body as you yelled, hunched over. 

Max was right behind you, followed by the familiar Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. The two rivals watched as you pointed at the now booing crowd. They laughed as your motioned that you couldn’t hear them, cupping your hand by your helmet where your ear would have been and shaking your head. You shrugged and jumped off. 

Your hand clasped Max’s hand and then Charles’s. You walked (more like skipped) by your team, being pulled in by the mechanics. 

You took your helmet off quickly and got in line to be interviewed. Thankfully, for once, it was a woman. 

She was smiling widely as she spoke into the microphone. 

“Y/n that was splendid driving you did out there. And congratulations on your second win. I know this win is a little different than Monza, so tell me a bit about your race and how you’re feeling.” 

You smiled as you spoke into the mic that you held. 

“Ah well, this is very different from Monza. It was fun to race against my teammate. Normally, I’m behind him getting a nice tow, but the team really wanted to see us just go at it. Obviously, at the end of the day, Red Bull is what matters, but I had fun with Max. And this win just feel more special because I can tell that not a lot of people wanted me to win.” 

You were huffing by the end of your statement, but the lady was grinning at your answer.

“Well, I will let you go celebrate, but mighty well done!” 

You skipped a bit to the cool down room before heading to the podium. You wanted to follow Charles and Max, but someone led you down to the little lift where your car was waiting. 

You knew that Charles and Max had already walked out when the lift slowly started to rise. On your head was the biggest sombrero you had ever seen. You climbed up on the nose of your car and sat cross-legged as you slowly rose. Once it stopped, you took your place at the top step and put your hands behind your back. 

Jokingly, you took the hat off and placed it on Max’s head. He only rolled his eyes (but kept it on for your amusement). 

People tried to yell and boo during your anthem, but you honestly couldn’t hear them over your own heartbeat. It was nice to see a certain disgruntled Mexican down below, arms crossed as he looked everywhere but up. 

You smirked as you showered champagne onto Max and Charles, with you getting sprayed in return. 

Fuck them haters – honestly. 

redbullracing has posted

redbullracing rookie got a second win and max got a hat! time for a siesta!

due to strong storms and flooding, the Sao Palo Grand Prix is canceled and will not be rescheduled

liked by y/n.nation, formulala_delulu, arthur_leclerc, and 534,209 others

rookie_freshmanyear OH YEAH - THAT'S MY DRIVER

max&co max got the hat back

y/n&max4ever she truly is the best teammate max has ever had

y/n_on_top true, what checo said was horribly wrong

maxverstappen1 ok you're done - no more wins

y/n.89 booooo charles_leclerc certified every other racer hater landonorris tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes oscarpiastri you all can speak for yourselves :(

y/n.nation sad for Brazil but they will be in our thoughts

formulafan still can't believe that the next race is FREAKING VEGAS BABY

rookieroo I know right! what if - hear me out - y/n wins again as a homecoming formulala_delulu ok let's get you back to bed

mericanf1_fan YEAH VEGAS 'MERICAAAAA

TAG LIST: @fionaschicken @glitterquadricorn @laura-naruto-fan1998 @treehouse-mouse @sam-is-lost @kagatinkita @fangirl125reader @megatrilss1885 @myxticmoon @angsthology @cmleitora @fly-me-away @graciewrote @ashy-kit @slutofmultifandom @aexitizen-ln4 @sugarvibez @vellicora @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @33-81 @hoetel-manager @xcharlottemikaelsonx @jayda12 @ilove-tswizzle @justme2042 @itsjustkhaos @nikfigueiredo @stopeatread @cha-hot @sadg3 @iloveyou3000morgan @s4turnsl0ver @alessioayla @torchbearerkyle @leptitlu @awekbachira @shreks-sugar-daddy @v1naco @stan-josie @mellowarcadefun @badassturtle13 @beskardroids @callisposts @poppyalice2001 @juniper-july19 @lizzypiastri

[imnameimswrld]

╰┈➤ ❝ [𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 || 𝗠𝗩𝟭, 𝗩𝗗𝟮𝟵, 𝗥𝗛 ꒱꒱

━━ ❪ . . . maxverstappen x vincedunn x renhiramoto x vettel!model!reader ❫

━━ ❪ . . . description : world famous model y/n vettel celebrates her birthday and the internet blows up when 3 of the hottest sportsmen post about her, their princess ; ❫

━━ ❪ . . . smau, poly relationship ❫

━━ ❪ . . . warnings : language ❫

━━ ❪ . . . fc: gigi hadid ❫

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

maxverstappen1, vincedunn, and ren__k1 added to their stories !

[ caption for all: our bday princess 💗 ]

ynusername

liked by vincedunn, tomholland2013, and 50 335 798 others

[ tagged: kendalljenner, zendaya, maxverstappen1, ren__k1, vincedunn ]

ynusername what a birthday weekend I had ! spent it with my special friends, my amazing boys, and some damn good dinner 💗. thank you for the stellar weather monaco, a huge congrats to my maxie on p1, and GO SEATTLE KRACKENS 3-0 !!!! 🏆

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user MOTHER SLAYS ONCE MORE.

user yn and seb were so cute at the race omg the way she was hugging him and squishing their cheeks together 😭

user I genuinely wonder what seb's reaction was to his little sis telling him she has not one, but THREE bfs.

⤿ sebastianvettel i fainted.

⤿ maxverstappen1 ah, good times

[ likes by ren__k1 ]

user miss girl has a f1 champion, a nhl player, a mma fighter, AND is the younger sister of a former f1 word champion – god has favourites.

user yeah, god, it's ME AGAIN.

user couple of the century idc what anyone says.

zendaya what a weekend indeed omg 😻

⤿ ynusername miss our midnight adventures already 🤭😫

[ liked by zendaya, kendalljenner ]

⤿ kendalljenner we gotta plan another girls weekend – but boy-free this time !!

[ liked by ynusername, zendaya ]

⤿ vincedunn hey, I can be one of the girls.

⤿ tomholland2013 same here !

user did ya'll see the videos of them in the restaurant ?? 😫😫

⤿ user yes omfg the way vince pulled her on his lap so they could all three hold her while they sang happy birthday PLEASE 😭😭

⤿ user yn gets to kiss these three everyday... are you guys looking for a 5th party to your relationship ? I volunteer 🙂 !

user bye they're so cute omfg.

vincedunn

liked by brandontanev, charles_leclerc, and 67 332 others

vincedunn life's been pretty perfect lately 💌

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user crying on the highway.

ynusername you three are the perfect ones 🥰

⤿ vincedunn don't start with me baby

⤿ ren__k1 I will headlock you again, and you know know it.

⤿ ynusername I do know it, and I'm waiting.

[ liked by ren__k1 ]

user OH- mother is bold damn

user yn wearing his jersey 🥺

user them>>> the world.

maxverstappen1

liked by danielricciardo, christianhorner, and 1 223 453 likes

maxverstappen1 loving this little life of mine :)

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sebastianvettel not ren and vince suffocating my sister

⤿ ynusername I'm alive seb

⤿ sebastianvettel are you though ? are you really ? cause girl, you manage three hotheads, and I don't know how you do it.

⤿ ren__k1 honestly don't know how she does it either seb, but I'm not complaining.

user seb being concerned for yn having the bfs she does is weirdly hilarious to me

user I pray for anyone idiot who ever tries to cross yn honestly

user one look in yn's direction and i bet they pounce.

⤿ ynusername I can confirm this statement.

⤿ zendaya scariest shit I've ever seen in ma life.

⤿ landonorris I'm a victim.

⤿vincedunn I APOLOGIZED for that lando, I didn't know you at the time !

⤿ landonorris and yet, I can still feel the remnants of the fire of your gaze burning into my head.

⤿ maxverstappen1 my god you're dramatic.

ren__k1

liked by yukitsunoda0511, sebastianvettel, and 566 335 others

ren__k1 この人生にとても満足しています

[ trans: so happy with this life ]

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ynusername aishitemasu 💗

⤿ ren__k1 watashi wa anata o motto aishiteimasu purinsesu 💗

user ya'll I saw them at the pride parade yesterday and I CRIED they're so sweet and I was able to get a picture with them 🤧

⤿ user the way they tools turns carrying her on their backs was so cute pls

⤿ user the princess treatment is unmatched.

⤿ ynusername 🏳️‍🌈🤘

⤿ user QUEEN !

vincedunn ren, will u come stream with me please ?

⤿ ren__k1 isn't it max's turn ?

⤿ maxverstappen1 nu-uh, I streamed with him last week.

⤿ vincedunn and max, I love you, but you talk too much and you keep telling me what to do in MY game.

⤿ maxverstappen1 you literally told me you loved having me ??? two-faced. you even said ren is too quiet and broody.

⤿ ren__k1 because I hate streaming and vince KNOWS that.

⤿ ynusername boys.

⤿ vincedunn sorry.

⤿ maxverstappen1 sorry.

⤿ ren__k1 gomen.

⤿ ynusername so who's turn is it to stream with v ?

⤿ ren__k1 ...mine

⤿ ynusername and, are you going to ?

⤿ ren__k1 yes ma'am.

user damn.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[babybluebex]

def write more best friends dad!cillian orrrr maybe you can dip ur toes into dads best friend!cillian??? i feel like that would be awesome!

here you go, lovelies, the long awaited dad's best friend!cillian! enjoy! warnings for smut (oral f!receiving, fingering), age gap (cillian is 46, reader is in her 20s)

The moment you surfaced from the water, you felt his gaze on you. You had known Mr. Murphy for years, for long enough for him to insist that you call him Uncle Cillian (although you didn’t,  but you were never sure why), and his bright blue eyes were hard to miss, especially when they were fixated on you.You swiped the droplets of chlorinated water from your eyes as you looked around for him, dodging the various people that were in your backyard. It was a hot Saturday evening, and your parents were putting on a little summer party to celebrate you being home from college; of course, Mr. Murphy was invited, and you had briefly greeted him when he arrived a few hours before, before you got in the pool. But now, you felt him watching you, and you found him standing by the back door that led into your kitchen.

You watched as he averted his eyes, obviously having been caught looking, and he slipped inside your house quickly. You scrunched up your eyebrows in confusion at his hasty exit, and you swam to the edge of the pool, tugging yourself up and out. Your towel laid nearby, and you quickly dried off and wrapped it around your waist as you padded barefoot by your dad. “Don’t track water into the house,” he told you as you passed, and you absently nodded, still intent on following Mr. Murphy inside. 

You found him all alone in the kitchen, standing with his back to the door, leaning against the island, sipping at his beer. He had his phone in his hand, scrolling too quickly to really be looking at anything on his screen, and you purposefully opened the fridge louder than usual to get him to look at you. “What’re you doing in here?” you asked playfully when he looked at you, his paralyzing blue eyes scanning your body, from your soaked hair to the almost-too-small white bikini top you wore. “Don’t you know the party’s out there?”

Mr. Murphy shrugged. “Got hot outside,” he said. “And I know where your dad keeps the good beer.” 

You nodded, not really believing him, and you pulled out a can of soda and shut the fridge door with your hip. “Well, wearing sweaters and shit probably doesn’t help with the heat,” you said, reaching out for the corner of his navy cardigan. “You should’ve brought your swim trunks, you could’ve gotten in the pool with me.” 

“Ah,” Mr. Murphy scoffed. “Nobody wants to see me parading around in my bathing suit. I’m too old and out of shape for that.” 

“As if,” you said. “You look fine, don’t stress too much.” 

“Thanks, love,” Mr. Murphy said softly. “Sorry, I’ve just… Ever since the divorce, I haven’t really felt like myself.” 

Ah, right. The divorce. Your parents and The Murphys had been friends since they were your age— you had seen the scrapbook pictures of college-aged versions of your dad and Cillian getting up to no good— and you had to admit that you were always a little closer to Aunt Yvonne (not to say you didn’t like Mr. Murphy, because you did, but you always liked Aunt Yvonne more). When you were at college and your dad offhandedly mentioned on the phone one night that Yvonne and Cillian were separating, you had frowned. “Is Yvonne okay?” you asked. “What happened?” 

“I’ve only talked to Cillian about it,” your dad had told you. “And he hasn’t said much. People just grow apart, I guess.” 

You screwed up your mouth at the mention of the mysterious divorce, and you popped the tab of your soda. “That’s okay,” you told him. “You just need to find someone new.” 

“Really?” Mr. Murphy asked. “A rebound? Is that how you deal with breakups?”

“Well, yeah,” you shrugged. “Whenever I get sad about my ex or whatever, I just go find someone else to focus on for a little while.”

“First of all, that’s not healthy,” Mr. Murphy chuckled. “Second… I don’t know, I was married for 20 years. I have two kids. I can’t just go find a girl at a bar and hook up with her and expect to get over it.” 

“I don’t know, man,” you mumbled. “Just trying to help, I guess.” 

“I appreciate that,” Mr. Murphy said. “You’ve always been a sweet girl.” 

Oh. Oh no. You felt a stirring in your lower belly when he said that, one that made heat flood your bikini bottoms, and you shifted your weight on your feet as you nervously sipped your soda. You had to admit that Mr. Murphy, with his high cheekbones and greying hair and brilliant eyes, was quite attractive, exactly your type, and you had considered fucking him before, but, because of Aunt Yvonne, you had pushed down that desire and pretended it didn’t exist. It was just a fantasy about your dad’s best friend; that wasn’t that uncommon, was it?

“So,” he started before you could think anymore. “How’s college?” 

You shrugged. “Fine, I guess,” you said. “Classes are okay, but exams are hard as hell.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mr. Murphy said softly. “Any boys catch your eye?”

“Honestly, not really,” you said. “They’re all kind of… Eh, I guess. I don’t like any of them the way I—” You cut yourself off before you could finish your sentence, the way I like you, and you stammered, “I-I should.” 

“What’s wrong with them?” Mr. Murphy asked. “I mean, I know college boys can be dumb, but what’s wrong?”

“They’re just not mature enough,” you said softly. You set down your drink and wrapped your arms around your middle, and you added, “I don’t want to worry that my boyfriend will do some stupid shit on a night out. And they just, umm, don’t do things the way I want them to.” 

Mr. Murphy wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, also setting down his drink, and he leaned his hip against the kitchen island. “What do you mean?” he asked. 

“Well…” you started. “Boys my age don’t, like… Whenever I’ve hooked up with a guy, I’ve always asked him to do certain stuff, and he never does. At least not well.”

“Wait,” Mr. Murphy said. “Are you telling me that the boys you go out with don’t go down on you?”

Your skin prickled at the sound of those words coming out of his mouth, and you eyed him suspiciously before you cleared your throat. “Um, not really,” you said. “Like, they do it, but never well.”

“Oh, darling,” Mr. Murphy sighed. “You need to find a really good guy that’ll do that. And he’ll treat you like the princess that you are; don’t ever let a man do anything less.” 

You huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, Mr. Murphy,” you said softly. 

He smiled softly, tilting his chin down to look at you, and he said, “Now, how many times have I told you to call me Cillian?” 

Your heart skipped in your chest, and you mumbled, “A-A few.” 

“And yet, you don’t,” Cillian said. “Why not? You called my wife Yvonne, why not me by my name?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “I never felt like I was close enough to you to really… Deserve to call you that.”

Cillian took a step towards you, then hesitated, then reached out for you. You expected him to grab your hands or touch your shoulders, but his fingers tucked in the towel around your waist. He waited for a moment before he slowly unraveled it from your body, and his eyes hungrily took in the sight of your legs. “Wow,” he whispered. “I knew that you would be so beautiful…” 

“Cillian?” you said gently, nervously looking over your shoulder to the outside door, where everybody else was still outside. “Wh-What if someone sees?” 

“Sees what?” Cillian asked. He set your towel on the counter, taking a step closer to you. “We’re not doing anything.” 

“Yeah, but…” you started. “But—”

“If you want me to do something, all you have to do is ask,” Cillian told you. “But ask nicely.” 

You swallowed thickly. “I-I don’t even know what I want,” you told him. “I’ve thought about this, sure, but…” 

“Do you want me to go down on you?” Cillian asked. “Just say the magic word, love.” 

You blinked, fluttering your eyelashes at him, and you softly said, “Please?” 

Cillian’s face softened, and he took your hips in his grasp, pulling you close to him. He gently moved you to the counter and helped you jump up on it, and he buried his face in your neck and took a deep breath as his fingers danced at the ties on your bikini bottom. “Sweet girl,” he whispered. “How long have you wanted this?” 

“Umm…” you started, and your breath caught in your throat when he deftly undid your ties, pulling your wet bottoms from your skin. “A long time.”

“Yeah?” Cillian breathed, and he carefully moved down to kneel on the ground in front of you, his face level with your pussy. You felt almost shy as he looked at you, and you wiggled on the countertop as his dull fingernails pressed into the flesh of your thigh. “And how long has it been since you’ve had sex?” 

“A few weeks,” you told him. “I haven’t since I moved back home.”

“Oh, you’re dying for it, aren’t you?” Cillian cooed softly. “Your little vibrator isn’t enough, right?” 

“No,” you breathed. Cillian leaned forward and littered soft kisses on the inside of your thighs, coming close to where you wanted him but never landing exactly there. He was teasing you, the bastard. Your hand left the counter and curled in his salt and pepper hair, urging him closer to your pussy, and he smiled, looking up at you with those brilliant eyes. You felt shocked, like his gaze was electric, and Cillian sighed heavily, focusing back down between your legs. 

“You’re so pretty, baby,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning across your core. “My sweet girl…” Then, before he could say more, he pressed forward, touching his lips to your pussy. You jolted in surprise, letting out a quick laugh to try to ease your nerves, and he chuckled lightly. “You alright?” 

“Yeah,” you said softly. “Just… Nervous.”

“Why’re you nervous?” Cillian asked, smoothing his hands up your legs to rest on your back. 

“If someone catches us—” you started, and Cillian furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head. 

“They won’t,” he told you. 

“But if they do?” you countered.

“But they won’t,” Cillian said firmly. “Ease up, love, just enjoy this. Let me take care of you.” 

“O-Okay,” you said softly. Your fingers rested against the back of his head as he continued to kiss all over you, and he finally put his mouth right where you wanted him to, almost like you had led him there. His tongue darted out to taste you, playing gently with your soft clit, and you closed your eyes blissfully, letting the wet warmth of his mouth overtake you. “Fuck, Cill…”

“That’s it,” Cillian whispered, and his lips captured your clit, sucking on it for a brief moment, just long enough for you to moan softly, and he broke away. His tongue ran a thick line up your wet cunt, tasting you from throbbing hole to quivering clit, and he went back to your hole, teasing you with the tip of his tongue. 

You clenched your teeth to keep from being too loud, and you watched Cillian eat your pussy like he was starving for it, lapping up your wetness and sucking eagerly at every inch of flesh that he could get his mouth on. He held you tightly, yet tenderly, wanting all of you that you would give him, and the warmth of an orgasm began to build in your belly. God, that was quick, but you suppose that Cillian had years of experience. He knew what he was doing, far better than any kid from your sociology class could do. “Cill,” you whispered, and he looked at you through his eyelashes, shocking your system again. “Fuck!” 

“What is it, baby?” he asked softly. His fingers itched to your pussy, lighting trailing up and down your slit, and you whined as you felt an intense and sudden need. 

“Want you,” you mumbled. 

“What do you want?” Cillian asked. 

“Anything,” you panted, jolting your hips again at his light teasing. “Everything.” 

“Unless you have a condom,” Cillian started with a laugh. “I’m not having proper sex with you. I’ll do this and finger you and everything else, but…”

“Why not?” you asked. “Are you worried that I…?”

“No, I’m not worried about that,” Cillian said. “I know you don’t have anything, it’s not that. I just… I don’t want there to even be a chance that you could… That we could…”

“I don’t understand,” you said, looking down at him through half-open lids. 

“I don’t wanna knock you up,” Cillian said quickly, as if saying it quickly would lessen its impact. “And I’m not going to fuck you if I don’t have a condom, because, once I get inside you, I know I won’t be able to control myself from cumming inside you.” 

“Oh,” you said softly. “It’s not a… An Irish Catholic thing?”

That made Cillian laugh. “You know, just because ‘Irish Catholic’ is a thing doesn’t mean that all Irish people are Catholics—”

“No, no, I know,” you said quickly. “Sorry, just checking.”

Cillian smiled softly, laughing gently at you, and his fingers gently touched your hole, waiting for you to do something in response. You sighed, flexing your hips down to urge his fingers inside you, and he did as you requested, pressing his middle finger past your flesh and inside you. You gasped at the feeling, loving him so deep, and you mumbled, “Cill…” 

“I know, love,” Cillian said, placing a soft kiss to your clit. “Does it feel good?”

“So good,” you whimpered. Cillian began to slowly thrust his finger inside you, moving gently as he sucked lightly on your clit, and you gasped quickly. “Cill! Oh my God!”

“That’s it, lovely,” Cillian said. He pushed his second finger in, pausing to let you adjust to the feeling of it, and then he started up a relentless pace, fucking you quickly on his fingers as his mouth and tongue explored your pussy. “God, you’re so tight, s’good…”

The heat inside you was becoming too much, tingling even down in your toes as it grew in your belly, and you whimpered and let out a cracked moan as his fingers hooked up inside you, brushing that sensitive nerve. “Cill!” you yelped, your hand flying down to grab at his wrist, as if that would stop his quick fucking. “Oh my God, I’m gonna cum!”

“Mhm,” Cillian hummed, burying his face fully into you. “Let it out, baby.”

You whined high in your throat, everything becoming all too overwhelming, and your legs shook as the heat burst in your belly. Your head fell back as you moaned, maybe a little too loud, and Cillian fucked you through it, whispering out “Yes, love, you’re so good, you’re such a good girl for me.” You tugged on his hair as your orgasm crashed through you, trying to keep him right where he was but also pull him away all at the same time, and Cillian smiled into your pussy, letting his tongue linger a bit at your throbbing hole. “Now,” he started softly. “Was that better than what you’re used to?” 

“Yeah,” you sighed. You looked down at him, still kneeling on the floor, and you brushed back his hair out of his eyes gently before he started to stand up. “Thanks.” 

“Of course, love,” Cillian said. He grimaced a bit as he stood, mumbling out something about that damn knee, and he added, “When’re you going back to university?” 

“Not for a few months,” you said. “It’s summer break.” 

“That’s nice,” Cillian said. “Well, erm… I’d like to see you again.” 

“Oh, yeah?” you chuckled. You slid off of the counter and retrieved your bottoms, and you did the ties back up as you tried to stand on your shaking and weak legs. Jesus, he really did a number on you. “When?” 

Cillian took his drink back into his hand and sipped at it for a moment, thinking hard. “Well,” he began. “Whenever you’re free. I’m at your mercy, love.” 

“Right,” you said, laughing softly. “I’ll let you know.” 

At that moment, the door to the backyard creaked open, and your heart stopped as your dad came into the kitchen. “There you two are,” he said. “I thought you were still outside.”

“No, I cornered her to ask about school,” Cillian chuckled, and he looked at you. “Remember what I said: school first, parties later. Right?” He winked at you, and you huffed out a laugh. 

“Yeah, sure,” you smiled. “Whatever you say, Cillian.” 

[defrosted69]

My Laker star (Lesserafim)

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I had this custom story made when I was watching the game and realized that Lesserafim was at the building. so it may not be perfect and I have decided to change it up a bit. (7k words)

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"Y/N McDaniels with the ball. He faces up against his opponent and goes into a smooth crossover, faking right and then slicing diagonally to his left. His defender is slow to react, and he blows past him with a step to his right, going up with the layup. He puts it up with authority, sinking the shot, and the crowd goes wild as the Lakers take the lead!"

"McDaniels on defense now, his opponent trying to drive to the hoop, but Y/N stands his ground and uses his superior length to contest the shot, and it's a miss!"

"McDaniels has been on fire tonight; nobody has been able to stop him. He gets the ball on the break, and he's one-on-one against his defender. He puts the ball down and drives, beating his man and going up for the layup, but his opponent puts a hand on the ball and tries to block the shot. It could have been a foul, but the refs let the play go on! McDaniels brings it down and puts it up again, sinking the shot! Another bucket for McDaniels!"

"McDaniels has it at the top of the key. He sees LeBron James open down low, and he makes the perfect pass, whipping it down the court with lightning speed. LeBron jumps up to meet it, and he throws the ball down with authority, and the crowd goes wild as the Lakers stretch out their lead. McDaniels and James are working great together tonight, and the crowd loves it!"

The huge ovation from the audience caused Kazuha's phone to ring, surprising her members who were gathering their breath after packing their belongings. With their hard work and sacrifice, the world has gradually acknowledged the ability of six girls who only wanted to play on stage.

"Zuha, What are you watching? Sounds like a parade there?"

Chaewon, their leader, inquired as she sipped her drink. When the firm gave them a ton of work, they didn't grumble and instead went out to perform with their hearts out, giving as much as their fans gave to them. To them, being an artist is not as simple as it appears. Some must make significant sacrifices in order to make their debut and demonstrate their skills. Because the sacrifices often may not equal the return, being a successful artist sometimes need luck.

"Ah, Sorry Unnie…my bad hehe.."

As a brilliant smile came on Kazuha's face, she murmured humbly. She was so engrossed in what she was viewing that she forgot about her surroundings, but can she really blame herself? When someone is completely absorbed in what they are doing. They tend to lose sight of the people around them and concentrate only on what they are doing. In this example, Kazuha was watching a thrilling Los Angeles Lakers game.

"Hearing the sounds…is that a basketball game Zuha?"

"Oh yeah Unnie."

"Eeeppp!! Is that the Lakers?! Girl let me watch!"

Yunjin dropped her luggage and sat next to Kazuha, her gaze fixed on her phone. The viewing tool for the game was minimal, but for die-hard fans like Kazuha and Yunjin, it was far superior to watching streams with so many strange adverts plastered left and right on a website.

"Eh? Yunjin, you watch basketball?"

Sakura inquired, closing her suitcase carefully. Sakura has already checked her suitcase three times to ensure that everything she needs for their short holiday is in there. Her suitcase was more ordered than their Maknae's luggage, who wasn't even packing and was sleeping. Sakura sighed as she began organizing their Maknae's stuff and placing everything in her suitcase.

"Of course Kkura Unnie. I have a few friends in New York who are basketball Junkies. Heck, I used to play basketball with them a few times before."

Sakura nodded in agreement as Yunjin's response demonstrated his familiarity with basketball. Given that she grew up in New York and discovered that their culture was much different from the society to which they were used. Sakura, on the other hand, knows basketball for two reasons. One is that in the early phases of her career, she was urged to do insane things in order to be elected, and basketball was one of them. She still suffers nightmares when she tries to remember those events. The second is that her childhood pal is now a basketball player. She last heard from him when he moved to the United States to play collegiate basketball, and after that, all forms of communication were cut off.

"Eh? You used to play Basketball Unnie?"

"The opposing team is looking to get an easy layup off of a fast break. McDaniels races back down the court to do his best to stop the play, but the defender is already airborne, ready to dunk the ball into the basket. McDaniels jumps, putting his body on the line to try to reach the ball. He tips it with his fingertips, and LeBron James comes soaring in from behind, blocking the ball and preventing the opposing team from scoring. McDaniels and LeBron high five as they force a turnover."

Yunjin nodded her head as her mouth formed an oh shape as she just saw an amazing play from the king, Lebron James.

"Yeah. Basket is literally a part of American culture there so yeah. Anyway, What's the age of Lebron again? He isn't suppose to be doing this things at year 21! My god…"

Yunjin was left speechless and at awe by the amazing feat Lebron James was showing. But Kazuha was more focused on the efforts of the other player. Y/N McDaniels. Kazuha knew that Lebron was the one who erased that easy layup but she knows that Your the one who prevented it to even making it graze the rim at all.

"Well He's Lebron Unnie. What can you say?"

As the opposition team requested a timeout, Kazuha laughed gently. Growing up, Kazuha was a tremendous basketball lover since her father was a huge basketball fan. Either the A or the B. The NBA or the Premier League. She recalls becoming exposed to the game of basketball during the 2009 NBA Finals. It was Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers were giving the Boston Celtics a fight for their money. Kazuha saw his father so engrossed in the game that she imagined herself in the stadium with her father, watching the game. Some would claim it's dull to watch, and who could blame them?

10 guys try to get a ball and score on each other and it just repeats over and over again. What's so fun about that? Add in the stereo type that Girls don't like basketball because it's too simple just makes Kazuha love the game even more.

Basketball became her method to hang out and interact with her father over time, since they were both die-hard Lakers fans. The Lakers have long been popular across the world, thanks to Kobe Bryant. His fame, combined with his influence, made the Lakers renowned all over the world, as it is constantly rated first in the world. So it's no surprise that the majority of the individuals Kazuha knows are huge Lakers fans. It is, after all, the city of angels..

"Hmm.. That guy McDaniels seems familiar and good too don't you think Zuha?"

Yunjin inquired as Kazuha nodded. Throughout the game, Kazuha was analyzing every player's mistakes and excellent plays, and in her opinion, you were the one with the fewest bad plays and the most team plays. Of course, she recognized your name; after all, you were the first rookie to lead your team to the Western Conference without any assistance.

"Of course Unnie. He's actually the only rookie to bring the lakers to the west conference finals when Lebron, AD, Dlo and Reaves were all injured. He went head to head with the Golden State warriors and got the respect from Curry, Klay, Draymond and even Kerr. Obviously the lakers lost because He was just a rookie but he made Golden state question their defensive scheme to stop him. "

Kazuha's words were full of pride in them as she spoke with confidence. She will never forget the headlines you made during that series and it was the buzz until the season ended. Expectations were set high for you following your next season and you didn't dissapoint at all.

"Oooh he sounds like a problem. So did he perform well his next season? Last year? Did he?"

Yunjin eagerly asked as Kazuha smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah Unnie. He actually destroyed all expectations and showed the world and the team that he's legit. There were concerns about his fit with Lebron and AD but he showed them that he's a team player."

Everyone was taken aback by her remark. Few individuals can swallow their pride, especially in basketball, where many players are overly full of themselves and want to prove that they belong in the NBA. With the added pressure of playing with LeBron, your faith in yourself was unshaken, and it just fueled your desire to win.

"Seems like an amazing player. Also… He's kinda cute in a way.."

Yunjin said as she eyes you from Kazuha's phone. Chaewon sighed and gently smacked her arm reminding her that they are idols and not any ordinary people.

"Yah Huh Yunjin. Don't do anything stupid when we go to the states got it? We're still idols remember that."

Chaewon's leader side was showing as Yunjin could only laugh at her remark. Of course Yunjin was only half joking about her comment on you. Again, the word there is Half joking meaning, in a sense, she was admitting a small truth in her words.

"I know I know. I'm just half Joking Unnie hehehe~"

"Yah Yunjin."

The two began to do a playful banter as Kazuha was once again focused on the game. Sakura finally finished fixing the luggage of Eunchae who happens to wake up from all the noise her Unnies were doing.

"Did..did I miss something?"

Eunchae yawned as she slowly stretched her arms up trying to wake her body up.

"Not much. Just the typical chaos your used to Eunchae. Also, try to lessen your clothes in your bag. You have more clothes than me."

Sakura scolded their youngest who just cutely smiled at her as she knows that Sakura would listen to her no matter how much she scolds her. After all, Sakura loves her too much.

"It's fine Kkura Unnie. It's cold there in America and it's better to have thick clothing right? Hehehe~"

Eunchae did have a point as autumn has finally started in that country. But then again, Sakura knows that Eunchae would be spending a lot of her allowance in buying clothes there so what's the point of her grabbing many clothes when she will just buy new ones there? This somehow confused Sakura but she still had to scold her for it.

Meanwhile, the game concluded for the victory of the Lakers despite them struggling earlier on with their shooting which was always been the problem. There was this crazy conspiracy that all shooters that come to play for the Lakers suddenly forgot how to shoot the ball into the net. Of course seeing the terrible 3 point shooting of the Lakers pissed Kazuha off. But then again, the lights are the brightess in Los Angeles so that could be a huge contributor to why some of their players shoot bricks.

"Everyone! Have you all packed your stuff? Remember, we're going to watch the Lakers game in a few days from now after our short vacation in New York."

Their manager arrived in their dorm suprising everyone with what she just said. Kazuha's eyes widen hoping that she wasn't hearing things just now. Everyone was frozen shut as Chaewon tried to confirm what they all heard.

"Wait Unnie. We're.. We're going to watch an NBA Game? The lakers?"

Their manager nodded her head confirming that they infact heard the right thing.

"They Invited you girls to watch their game against the Clippers. And they also have you girls buy whatever you want in Los Angeles NBA store."

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"Shit Man I'm tired.."

You sat in your place behind your locker as the squad pulled off a hard-fought triumph against the opposition. Playing on the road has always been difficult since the supporters would be cheering on their squad, which may be detrimental to any team. So you have to be prepared to perform well and bring your best against road opponents, otherwise the media will either condemn or acclaim you. There was no middle ground.

"Well we got the dub, that's all that matters. Now we have a 3 day rest before we return home and play against the Clippers"

Austin Reaves, your teammates spoke making you sigh deeply. Even though that team was in the same city as yours, they have been quite the nuisance with all the noise they have been making in social media. Sure some of those don't really affect you too much but the fact that ESPN always hype them up like that have achieve something annoyed you. For you personally, your a person who doesn't really have a talent to basketball at all.

You just worked your ass off to where you have been.

"Nah like they probably gonna play like it's Game 7 or something against us again."

Anthony Davis added to the group. Even though AD was a very dominant starting this season, there was. A few instances where he would dissappear in the 2nd half of the game and it's either Lebron, Dlo, Austin or you has to carry that slack up. But considering the start of this season, he's playing like a Defensive player of the year so far and the most important thing is that he's healthy to start the season.

"Don't let all that get in your heads. They wanna start putting all this in your head so that when the game arrives, you will be shaken"

As LeBron talked, the atmosphere in the room calmed down. He has always been admired and idolized by many people, and his skill set at his age just serves to reinforce why he is regarded as an all-time great in the sport of basketball. Not only that, but he has been an excellent mentor to you from your first year with the team. His training routines were difficult, but you kept going because you didn't want to be pleased with an alright outcome; you wanted a greater result.

"Alright Guys. Great win today but for now, let's all rest and pick up our practice once we returned to LA okay?"

Coach Darvin said as everyone nodded at him. He may have been doing some questionable lineup for the past 3 seasons but right now, with you at the starting lineup, he finally found the recipe to win games and close them out. Coach Darvin also has been a big part of your rise to all star level as he has been training you on and off the court about Basketball and about life as a whole. You got nothing but respect for him. As everyone was preparing to leave the arena and head to their hotel, Austin pulled you to the side confusing you.

"Hey man, let's walk around New York shall we?"

"For what?"

"Oh come on don't be a party pooper. This is the only time we get to New York you know. Come in dawg, I just wanna walk man."

You sighed at his recommendation. As weird as it sounds, This was the only time you'll visit the Knicks this season as the second time you'll meet would be in your home court. Most of the time, you'll face a team at least 3 times but for this season, You'll only face the Knicks twice. And New York has always been an iconic place in the whole world so why not visit it around right?

"Alright, alright."

"That's my brotha right there. Alright let's go."

Austin Changed his outfit to his regular clothes and by that, it mean his hoodie and pants. No fancy clothing or anything like that. Austin in your eyes has always been a simple man but you could guess that a huge part of that is his place of birth and growing up in.

As you two exited the arena, you were welcomed with a massive edifice and a plethora of lights that represented New York City's nightlife. You were surprised at how many people flocked to this location despite the large crowds. The numerous digital billboards drew your attention as award shows and musicians were advertised on the colorful billboard.

"This is so different than LA…"

Austin could only laugh at you remark as he couldn't help but add in his own joke.

"You should visit Arkansas, you'll be greeted by cows and beautiful grass than this."

"Sounds relaxing in my opinon."

He laughed as both of you continued to walk. Many kinds of act was caught by your eyes ranging from magic tricks, mimes and the one that caught your eye is a bunch of people dancing to some Korean music.

"Hey, why are there so many people dancing to a song they can't understand."

Austin looked at you rather annoyed and in disbelief. He was kinda caught off guard with your question as he took a few seconds to answer you.

"Dude, Music transcends language. It's a universal language that no words needed."

"Right…."

You realized how stupid you looked asking that question so you just decided to ask a different question this time. Something more reasonable.

"Then what music is that?"

"That's Kpop bro haven't heard of it?"

He looked at you with an eye raised eyebrow. He looked rather quite suprised by you not knowing Kpop since it's kinda blowing up in the west. Even kids nowadays nows Kpop and have many Kpop artist on their Spotify Playlist.

"Sorry I haven't. Educate me AR"

"Fuck you man. I'm older than you, But basically Kpop is Korean Pop. That's it. It has many groups doing many category of that genre."

"Such as?"

"Cute, girl crush, retro and many more. Some are experimental"

You were quiet suprised by the many genres of one music has but you have to consider that Kpop is a pop music and pop Music can vary from time to time depending on what the listener wants.

"I see…I wonder if Jen achieved being an Idol…"

"Who?"

You shook your head not wanting to confuse AR further. You just smiled and nodded your head.

"Sounds intriguing"

"Oh it is. Anyway, buy me a New York Hotdog rookie"

"But I'm already in my Sophomore year."

"Did I stutter?"

You groan at him and walked away from where he was standing. You can see him enjoying the people dancing to Kpop songs and for you, it was interesting to say the least. It's music was something you haven't heard yet and it's not bad to try something new once in a while. Perhaps you should take this Kpop music a thing a chance and who knows, you could end up enjoying it.

As you approached the food truck with Hotdog on the menu, your eyes searched for the neighboring hotdog stand. But something else drew your attention away from the menu. You noticed the merchant attempting to communicate in English with a female wearing a hat and mask. You could see the bewilderment and fear in her eyes. You sighed as you noticed a long queue forming behind her, so you sped your feet and stood behind her, hoping to assist her.

"Is everything okay Miss?"

You asked as she look behind you and you saw her look up from her height as her changes to look of confusion and worry to amazement.

"Uhh… Food.. Eerr….want..This.."

She was trying her best to communicate with her broken English as she pointed at the Hotdog with bacon in them. You immedietly knew what she was trying to say as you nodded and spoke her order.

"Sir, she's ordering 5 Hotdogs with bacon toppings in them."

And just like that, the vendor sold her 5 hotdogs which she payed well for. It wasn't much of a big deal for you helping her but in her eyes, she was so glad someone from a foreign land helped her.

"Ah thank you very much~"

Her voice was high pitched and you would though that she was a singer with how her voice sounded.

"It's no problem miss. Hope you enjoy your food"

"Ah, You too."

It was preety obvious that English wasn't her primary language as you can hear the forces accent in her words but you didn't pay mind to it as you just nodded your head as she left with her food and you ordered your own. You pulled out your wallet hoping that it wad empty but you forgot your a millionaire athlete as you cursed AR.

"Damn you Austin!"

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Kazuha was lounging on her bed, watching highlights of the Lakers vs. Knicks game that had just ended. Despite their hunger, they waited for Chaewon to return with their New York Hot dogs with patience. Kazuha was so engrossed in the game highlights that she couldn't help but replay the highlight of the Lakers' action every time. But her heart would race as the scoreboard went from 2 to 7 down in an instant.

She is aware that the Lakers have a tendency to forget how to shoot, especially in crucial times, but based on the clips she was viewing, the Lakers were able to hold themselves to catch or tie the score. But, among the Lakers players she was watching on the phone, her gaze was drawn to you since your team's performance usually amazes her. She knows you had the ability to take over and fire as many rounds as you want, but you weren't pressing the trigger. Kazuha understands that basketball is a team sport, not an individual sport, and that getting the team involved in a play is what important in basketball.

"I'm back!"

Chaewon's voice made everyone look at her with a grin as their leader was back safely with food at hand. Eunchae ran out of her bed quickly as she rushed towards Chaewon sniffing the food in her hand.

"Gimme gimme gimme please~~"

Eunchae's cuteness was over the roof for Chaewon but Sakura once again scolded her.

"Yah, Eunchae Wait for everyone okay?"

Eunchae could only pout her lips as Kazuha pauses the video on her phone and went towards Chaewon with a small grin seeing her safe.

"Welcome home Unnie. How was your English skills?"

Yunjin smirked hoping to hear great news from her but Chaewon just simply chuckled and scratched the back of her head signaling that something didn't go well for her.

"Hehe… I kinda fumbled my English when I was speaking with a local. Hehehe…"

Chaewon shyly smiled as she felt embarrassed by what happened earlier. Everyone knew that Chaewon was confident in her English as she was practicing really hard for it and Kazuha knows it too. So for her to say that she failed means that Chaewon needed more practice. Sakura distrubuted the food to each one of them as Yunjin asked Chaewon.

"So how were you able to order this then Unnie?"

Their attention went to Chaewon who suddenly got embarrassed with their stares. For her, it felt she was the center of attention and she wasn't familiar with such feelings.

"Oh umm.. A tall person helped me out. I was kinda scared at first since he looked so tall but he ended up helping me out."

"A tall person? What does he look like Unnie?"

Eunchae asked seemingly intrigued as everyone else. Chaewon tried to recall your feature but the only thing she could remember was how nice you were to her.

"He's tall. I feel like he's an athlete and he's nice too."

Sakura widen her eyes as she immediately asked

"Does he look Japanese?!"

Chaewon shook her head making Sakura sigh and look away dissapointed. Kazuha noticed this and perhaps there was something more than what meets the eye for her.

"Well anyway, we should start getting ready after we eat as our flight will be tonight alright?"

Chaewon reminded them all that they still need to fly to LA since the Lakers invited them to their game. Kazuha suddenly got excited once again as the though of seeing you and the team as whole got her feeling excited and nervous at the same time.

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After a few days of seeing Los Angeles and shopping at the NBA store, it was finally time to meet the Lakers and witness their game versus their hometown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. When they arrived to the Staples Center, Kazuha was overjoyed. She never imagined witnessing a statue of Magic Johnson in front of her eyes, yet here she is. She took out her phone and began photographing the iconic Magic Johnson, but she was surprised when Mr. Magic appeared in front of them.

They were all looking uo to him who showed a sweet smile at them as they all shook their hands with him. Lesserafim was one of the tallest kpop idol group in south Korea especially Yunjin and Kazuha but standing next to Magic Johnson made them look like average people.

"It's nice to see and meet you girls. Congratulations to your shows Ladies. Can we take a picture?"

Despite him being tall, in their eyes, Magic Johnson was a big ball of sunshine who's smile radiates infront of them. But Kazuha was the most thrilled one when Magic himself asked for a picture with them. Her smile was reaching her ears as Magic Johnson told them to enjoy the lakers game which they will.

Their Manager told them to follow them as they will be guided to the Lakers court which at this point, everyone was excited to see but Kazuha was the most thrilled one. Wearing a custom jersey given to them by the Lakers, getting welcomed by a laker legend, taking a picture with him and now seeing the court first? This was a dream come true for Kazuha.

"Zuha your excitement is showing through your smile."

Sakura said as a chuckle escape from her mouth. Kazuha shyly blushed but smiled happily as her excitement was just off the roof right now. From watching the Laker on her TV and Phone to actually sitting Courtside and walking in the laker court was her dream come true.

"How can I Unnie? This feels so surreal and its my dream come true!"

Sakura could only laugh at her as they were walking the halls of the Lakers. Painting of the great players who wore the purple and gold was hanged on the walls as Yunjin and Kazuha were happily explaining who these players are. The rest were happily listening as they finally arrived at the court of the lakers. The arena was empty as the game wasn't until 10pm tonight. It was here that the girls realized how small they really are compared to NBA players.

"Wow… The rim is so tall.."

Eunchae said as she looked up the rim like it was a big giant tree infront of her. Yunjin chuckled and patted her shoulder.

"Thats why the NBA athlete are crazy good. Imagine shooting so far or even getting into the rim."

Eunchae nodded as the group spotted a few of their fans as well as they greeted them and had a chance to interact with them. Sakura smile quickly dissappeared when she noticed their fans jersey number familiar with her and a name that she was familiar with. Chaewon noticed this as she talked to her.

"Is everything Okay Unnie?"

"H-Huh? O-Oh yeah.."

Sakura returned her smile like usual but something didn't sit well with Chaewon. Meanwhile, Yunjin decided to take picture of them as a whole with the Lakers logo behind them. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to step foot on an NBA court and even walk on it. Their manager told them that the lakers have a suprise for them which got the girls intrigued. Eunchae wanted to know what the suprise is but instead, their manager told them that she can't reveal it yet as it will happen during the game.

The girls then went to their seats waiting for the game to start as the crowd was finally filling up the arena. One by one the players were coming out of the locker room and into the court as Chaewon and Yunjin gasped seeing a familiar face. Kazuha smiled happily to see her favorite player out and Sakura gasped seeing a ghost of her past.

"Y/N?!! YOU'RE AN NBA PLAYER NOW?!!"

Yujin's voice was so loud that despite the many people, you heard her as your eyes landed on her. You widen your eyes in suprise seeing Jennifer on the Courtside with a different hair color but you were damn sure she was that Girl you know back in New York. You smiled and went near her seat as Yunjin did the same. Kazuha was shocked that her favorite player was acquainted with Yunjin as Yunjin Rushes towards you hugging you tightly making the girls shocked.

"Y/N! It really is you!!"

Her tight embrace made you feel your chest getting crushed and the air shortening as you breath.

"J-Jen.. I.. Can't breath.."

"Opps. My bad hehe."

Yunjin chuckled as she let go of you. She looked you up and down looking so proud of you as her smile was the proof of that.

"Wow look at you, already an NBA player huh? Damn Daniels, I didn't know you were like that."

"What can I say? I'm guessing you made it too right?"

"You bet! Look look! My jersey is custom gifted by your team!"

Yunjin happily showed you her jersey which you were at awe from. You begin to question why the office didn't told you that a Kpop artist was in the building and more importantly, it was your friend Jennifer. Yunjin called upon her members as they made their way towards you. Chaewon was shocked because the person that helped her out back in New York was you.

"Hey guys meet my friend Y/N McDaniels."

They waved at you as Chaewon smiled at you cutely. Your eyes landed on Chaewon and her eyes immediately made you feel like you have seen her before.

"Have I… Seen you before Miss?"

Chaewon nodded as Yunjin gasped in suprised.

"Oh my! So your that tall person that helped her in that Hotdog stand?"

You nodded your head as Chaewon smiled and bowed at you thanking you for that time of helping her.

"I'm Kim Chaewon. Nice to meet you and thank you"

Her voice made you blush right away since you thought it was charming. Your face flushed with embarrassment as you realized what had happened. You were staring at five attractive females in front of you, and the notion made you feel self-conscious.

"Oh umm.. N-Nice to meet you too.. I-I mean nice to meet you all…"

Yunjin noticed your shy demeanor as a smirk appeared on her face. She playfully nudged you as she found a way to tease you.

"Hohoho~ Look at this, this guy is getting flustered~"

"W-Well why wouldn't I? I'm infront of 5 beautiful ladies."

Yunjin was taken aback by your response, as her cheeks grew rose-colored and her eyes widened. Her heart began to beat faster, and her pupils became wider. This sensation was familiar to her, but she didn't expect it to happen to you.

Kazuha decided to take over as she smiled and offered you a handshake which you accepted.

"Hi, I'm Nakamura Kazuha. I'm a fan of yours."

Kazuha brightly smiled and that alone made you blush even more. There was this pulling string towards Kazuha that got you staring at her beauty. Her smile was so bright that it lighten up your mood even though your not sad yourself.

Chaewon saw that you and Kazuha were staring at each other as she decided to grab your attention with a cough. That snapped both of you as you and Kazuha pulled each other's hand away from each other. Both your cheeks were blushing as Chaewon smiled and offered a handshake.

"Hi again. My name is Chaewon~"

Her cute voice reall got your heart racing and it got you feeling different. You shook her hand and just like Kazuha and Yunjin, her hand was soft and fluffy to touch as your blush only gotten redder.

"Thank you again for helping me."

"A-ah no it's nothing.. Anything to help."

"That's so cute to hear. Hehehe~"

If your think your cheeks couldn't get any redder, it just got redder. Chaewon has this cuteness factor which got you captivated and cling to her. In all honesty, she's quite dangerous for your heart as she could effortlessly grab your heart without you resisting.

"Me! Me! My turn! Me next!"

Eunchae was enthusiastic to meet you as Chaewon pulled away shyly. She herself felt lost in those eyes of yours as she blushes a little and looks away. Eunchae happily and energetically shook your hand which made you smile happily.

"Hong Eunchae!! Hehehe~"

She was really cute with her smile but what got you was her energetic aura that she was showing. She was like a pure ball of energy that just make you smile. In a sense, it made you feel like you need to protect her from the harshness of the world.

Last but not the least was Sakura who smiled happily at you as you shook her hand.

"I'm Miyawaki Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"Hi Ms. Sakura. Are you Japanese?"

"Yes I am."

"Ohhh just like Rui."

Sakura stood frozen upon hearing your word. Everything was starting to line up for her as to why she was given the jersey number by the lakers. Her suspicions could have been answered as You notice her staring blankly at you.

"Sakura? You alright?"

"H-Huh? O-Oh yeah. I'm fine. Is this Rui… Named Rui Hachimura?"

"Yeah."

That was it. Sakura was right all along. Rui Hachimura is here in the NBA. Her eyes began to dart everyone trying to look for him as Yunjin decided to slip in to talk to you again.

"Well you know our seat Y/N, that means you know where to look at hehe~"

Yunjin's words was kinda filled with teasing and a little bit flirty as Kazuha and Chaewon got what Yunjin was planning too. Chaewon was filled with worry about her Idol career if she was to get into a scandal with you. Kazuha on the other hand felt jealous that Yunjin was a step ahead of her when it comes to getting to know you. She pouted her cheeks as she looked down a little annoyed by herself.

"Alright, alright. Well I hope you enjoy the game guys."

You smiled once again before returning to the court warming up with your teammates. They returned to their seat as all of them began asking Yunjin how she was familiar with you. Sakura on the other hand was solely focusing her stare at one player, and his jersey number 28. She was feeling a mixed emotions seeing him as she has many questions more than answers.

"どうして私を捨てたの?"

(Why did you leave me?)

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The buzzer sounded and the atmosphere was filled with energy coming from the lakers fan as a whole. Lesserafim was shocked to see how passionate the fans of the lakers were but they immediately got themselves immerse into the game.

When your name was introduced, Lesserafim was hyped up cheering you on as Yunjin and Kazuha took Out their phones taking a picture of you on the big screen.

After trailing and suffering from the 1st half, Lesserafim realized how stressful it is to watch a game for the Lakers and how great it feels to comeback from a huge lead. They could feel the intensity of the game and the support of the fan cheering on.

"Wow this is… So this is the feeling of Live NBA basketball.."

Kazuha said as her dream of being in the NBA has finally happened. It was dream come true for her seeing NBA players up live and seeing you up close.

"I think my throat is getting dry from screaming earlier…"

Eunchae remarked, making the others laugh. What she claimed was correct since they had entirely forgotten that they were Kpop Idols while immersed in the game. Sakura was screaming her lungs out trying to defend the Lakers from questionable fouls, Chaewon was trying to understand the game but she was also cheering and defending the Lakers, Kazuha was explaining the game to her but she was also cheering you on, and finally Yunjin was cheering and reacting to every play with her heart. Her expressions were spot on.

But despite the hardship, the Lakers managed to take a win against their hometown rival and was able to snap their 11 losing game streak with them. Their manager then decided that it was time for them to get the suprise they were anticipating. She smirked as she called Lesserafim over. Excitement was evident on their faces as they suddenly walked down to the tunnel as they were standing waiting for something.

And that something was unexpected to say the least. You came out holding their Album and a pen as your sweet smile made them know what your goal was. Yunjin was more than ecstatic to sign the album as she slowly began planning on how she'll write her number on the album. Kazuha was blushing as this was her one chance to get you more than just a player and as a friend. Perhaps down the line that friendship could evolve to something beautiful. Chaewon was feeling a little nervous as she was contemplating on whether or not she should be bold or keep her thoughts to herself. She wanted to know you more and be friends with you because she has this weird attraction towards you. Eunchae wants to have an NBA all star friend so she can boast it to her friends back at home.

But Sakura found this as an opportunity to find more about Rui. So when you went towards them holding their latest album, you kinda felt self conscious about yourself.

"Heh, Lesserafim Huh? Guess you girls have an NBA fan now."

Your words was all the thing they need to feel like they are on top of the world. Kazuha couldn't be more happier when you spoke those words. To her, this was the biggest dream come true for her. She couldn't be more proud of herself.

Chaewon was smiling ear to ear because she felt proud of their team as a whole. All their hardship and sacrifices has been paid off because now, they are being recognized by people who are adored and idolized in the world. That's not a feat that should be overlooked.

Yunjin on the other hand couldn't help but be proud of herself and to you. She knows the hardship you went through to get through here and she also have to give herself a pat on the back for this one. Her journey wasn't easy as well and there were many times where she though of quiting but she didn't. She pushed through and her determination proved to be rewarded.

"Can I have your autographs?"

You asked them and they happily complied. You were feeling nervous about getting your album signed by the artist themselves but you noticed how Yunjin turned the album around and wrote something else as a Smriks appeared on her face.

"Don't show this to the camera okay? It's my number~"

That made you blush as your eyes widen looking at her. Kazuha knew Yunjin already did something to make you blush so she did the same thing. After signing from the front, she turned it around and wrote her own number as she looked up to you blushing shyly. She quickly turned away with a blushing face but no words were needed to know her intentions.

Chaewon sighed as she already knew what those 2 did but she ended up doing it as well. After all she also has her own goals with you so this time, she choose to be a little selfish.

"That's my gift for winning tonight. Hehe~"

Again, Chaewon's cute voice really got you like a blushing mess as she was very dangerous for your heart. Eunchae followed what her Unnies did but instead of her number, she placed her IG account there.

"You have my permission to talk to me hehe~"

Eunchae's silliness made you chuckle as you almost forgot that 3 beautiful idols handed you their number like it was nothing. Sakura wrote her signature and didn't turn the album instead she asked you.

"Is Number 28 gonna walk here?"

"Oh Rui? Yeah he will. He's just busy doing some interview right now but he'll be here"

"Thank you and congrats on the win."

Sakura smiled as you thanked her and smiled as well. You took picture with the group and signed their custom jersey as well before they could depart in the arena. Yunjin and Kazuha wanted to stay with you more but their manager told them that they have to return back to their hotel now. As sad as it seems, everything wasn't in vain as they gave you a way to connect with them. It made you feel a little sad that you could have spent more time with them but that little time was enough for you.

You looked back at the album and you smiled a little knowing that something could start with this chance. But as you look further on the album, you saw an unfamiliar hand writing that says…

"MY LAKER STAR"

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Rui just finished his interview and was feeling great after that win. He was smiling ear to ear until a familiar person made him stop walking. Sakura closed her eyed before opening them and showing a bittersweet smile. A smile that hold so much emotion but has no happiness.

"It's been a while… Rui.."

"Sakura…."

[fictionallystable]

Rating: Mature

Fandom: Call of Duty (Video Games)

Relationship: Phillip Graves (Call of Duty)/Reader

Characters: Reader, Phillip Graves (Call of Duty), Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags: Author Has Played Call of Duty, Childhood Friends, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Civilian!Reader, Pre-Canon, Jealousy, Angst, Kissing, Mild Smut, Time Skips, Brother's Best Friend, Toxic Family Dynamics, Eventual Smut, Drama, Misunderstandings, Getting Together, Minor Age Gap

Words: 9,080| Chapters: 4/5

Authors: @orphancains & @collinnmckinley

Chapter 4: The Engagement Party

Chapter Summary: You're invited to Matty's engagement party and run into a familiar face—only for everything to seemingly fall apart.

A/N: agian we are extremely apologetic for the late update. life got hectic for both of us and hit us like a bus. and we were too exahsted from everything to even think about writing. but here we are!!! with a longer chapter to make it up to yall!! we really hope you enjoy this one c: only one chapter left to go ;) (likes and reblogs are appreciated <3)

the fic can also be found on AO3

tags will be updated!!

You felt nauseous at the thought of returning home for Matty’s engagement party. You’d been living out of town, happy with your job as an architect even if it meant you sometimes went months without seeing family. But you preferred it that way, with less judgment from your parents for choosing to postpone your own engagement yet again. 

With your boyfriend Richard’s arm around your waist, you braced yourself for the booming cheers from your mother and father when they saw you. Immediately, they enveloped you in hugs and shook you with delight. 

“[Y/N], oh, it’s so good to see you! We’ve missed you so much.” 

“The drive must’ve been tiring, huh? How’s work been, Richard?” 

“[Y/N], your figure looks great! And that skirt is gorgeous!” 

Ah, yes. The skirt Richard picked out for me.

Your mother’s wrinkled, smiling eyes rubbed your back as you made your way to the living room for a drink, while Richard stayed in the hall with your father, enraptured in more dull small talk. The stiff smile you had kept carved on your face all this time suddenly melted into a real one when you saw Bear, your dog, laying on the ground.

You knelt down immediately to pet him, forgetting the drink your mom was getting you. You rubbed your hands through his long, brown fur as he wagged his tail back and forth. He panted excitedly, leaning up trying to lick your cheek. You laughed. “I’m glad you’re looking good, Bear,” you said to the dog. He had been staying comfortably with your mother for the past 6 months, enjoying her leftovers but far away from you. Every night, you wished you could cuddle up with the dog. But Richard insisted that no dogs be allowed in your apartment.

“ I can’t handle all the hair, especially with it sticking to my suits. And I doubt you’ll have the time to clean up after a German Shepherd’s furballs with your workload ,” you remembered he sourly sneered while he unpacked your boxes all those months ago. 

“And Matty?” you asked your mom when she handed you a cup of soda and ice in a red plastic solo, while Bear rolled over on his back elatedly.

“He’s outside entertaining the guests with Elaine.” Your mom grinned. “Her parents seem to be very happy with our arrangement.”

You tried to smile, but a grimace cracked through instead. Ever since you graduated high school, your mother and father had insisted you get married quickly. Matty seemed to have no issue finding the right girl to propose to. You, on the other hand, well… you couldn’t see yourself with Richard. He was protective, he remembered your anniversaries, and he always made the time to take you on dates, to remember your favorite flowers, and always paraded you with pride at his own work parties. But the thought of saying “I do” to the man made your chest bubble with anxiety. And maybe even dread. Sometimes he was too  protective, interrupted you too much, and sometimes took his sarcastic jokes too far to the point of cruelty. You were sensitive, ever since your adolescence. But… you could get used to it, right? 

“Oh, that’s great news,” you muttered in reply to your mother.

Your mother leered at you from the corner of her eye. A mischievous but scrutinizing twinkle in her eyes. “Yes, it’s just a matter of time before you and Richard have your very own—”

“I should go say hi to Matty, yes?” You got up quickly and brushed the wrinkles from your skirt. “And of course, to my future sister-in-law…” you sputtered out as you scurried past your mother.

When you stepped out onto the back garden, you were hit once again with the warm, thick heat of the Texas night. You saw your brother from behind, with his arm around Elaine, whose long, pin-straight hung like a curtain from behind her, and a cold beer in his hand. You saw they were laughing while they chatted to an older man and woman you didn’t recognize, crinkled skin and silvery but pin-straight thin hair that Elaine had. From what you could guess, they must’ve been Elaine’s parents.  

It was hard to hide your joy at seeing your brother. You sauntered up to your brother, wanting to catch up with him. Last time you’d seen him, he’d been arguing with your dad about the very idea of proposing to Elaine. He wanted to wait another couple of months, but your father insisted Elaine would start to get impatient and would find another husband, another arrangement. Your brother had stormed off that day, driven away in his car, uttering nothing more than a “Not now!” at you when you had asked if he was okay.

“Matty!” you called out to your brother from where you stood. Your smile couldn’t get any wider. Yes you spoke with your brother every week when work let you, but it's been a long while since you last saw your brother in person. 

So when he heard your voice calling his name, he turned to see you standing there, at your parents backyard porch, waving to him excitedly, he couldn’t help but let out an airy laugh and immediately started to make his way to you. You did the same and both met in the middle as you scooped you in a hug lifting your feet off the ground. Oh how he missed his baby sister. Although all grown up.

Seeing how excitedly Matty basically ran towards you, it made Elaine chuckle and shake her head. She knew how strong the sibling bond you and your brother shared, and she found it extremely endearing and adorable in a way she can never experience, as she was the only child.

As Matty let you down on the ground again, Elaine made her way to greet you. When you saw her you couldn’t help but hug her too. You liked Elaine, she was like a sister you never had, and you couldn’t be happier for both of them. 

“It’s so good to see you [Y/N]! We missed you so much” Elaine told you, her smile was bright and contagious. You couldn’t help but to mirror her excitement and feeling.

“It’s good to see you both too! I’m so sorry I couldn’t get earlier work got in the way, and we packed at the last minute-” you expressed how regretful you were about how late you arrived. You truly meant to arrive earlier, to help your brother and his wife-to-be with the arrangement of the party, but the universe had other plans for you. 

Before you went on a tangent, Matty cut you off with his usual reassuring demeanor.

“Nonsense! You’re here and that's what matters.” Elaine nodded, as Matty’s hand came around her shoulder. They truly looked like a couple made for each other. 

“Oh! Before you go or do anything, I gotta show you who’s here!” Matty said, his excitement meant trouble. For some reason you were worried.

“Oh there he is! Just the man I was looking for hah!” Matty was looking over your shoulder when he spoke. 

As you turned around like any normal person would do to see who your brother was talking about, the air was knocked out of you immediately as your eyes landed on him.

“Phil…” you sputtered out, quiet enough for it to be a whisper.

Phillip Graves stood a few feet away from you, far enough to reach in a couple of steps. And that's what he did when your brother called him over. The Phillip Graves was standing in front of you now, except now he was older. His hair was still the light brown, almost blonde hair that had as a teen. His tan skin now was littered with a few scars, on accenting his cheek bone. You remembered he was tall, always athletic, as a kid from playing varsity football and soccer. But now, he had filled out muscles under his burgundy t-shirt and light-wash jeans. And he still towered over you just enough that you had to peer up to meet his blue eyes. 

With a surprised, almost confused smile, he repeated your name back to you. 

“Phillip... Phil…” you breathed out, still in disbelief. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Of course he’s gonna be here, silly! He’s my best friend, I couldn’t have a wedding without him being my best man can I?” you’re brother jokes. Before you could say anything to him, you heard a distant voice calling his name. He answers “coming!”, but not before bidding you both to have a good time and catch up.

He knows how much Phil meant to you, and he knows for sure for the past fifteen years how much you tried to forget him.

You watched as your brother and his fiancee in his arms went to tend to the other guests, before turning to Phillip, who’s smile grew into one of his beaming ones that you’d grown familiar with as a teen. “Hopefully seeing me ain’t a bad surprise.” He winks at you teasingly before smiling softly. He gestured to the plastic, white porch table nearby. “D’ya wanna sit?”

Tentatively, you took a seat across from him at the table. He looked around, almost looking bored, as he took a drink of his own beer bottle. But you knew Phil. He wasn’t disinterested. You could tell from the way he was bouncing his left leg in slight nervousness. 

“So, how have you been [Y/N]? I heard you became a big shot architect in Seattle! Not gonna lie, I thought that you’d become a famous artist with her own exhibit all across the country.” Phillip genuinely sounded happy and surprised, leaning back in his chair, hands intertwining on his torso. A habit he picked up during his time away from home in the Marine Corps.

You smiled at him. He recognized that as the one your mother trained you to show new people. It only got sweeter—and prettier—as you grew older, he thought. It suited you even as you were no longer a little girl and now a beautiful, grown woman. Graves’ heart strings tugged, and for a split second, and only for that tiny moment, he was taken off guard. 

“Yeah.” You paused but only for a second. “Things turned out differently. But I can't complain.” That sweet smile still plastered on your face. Phil couldn’t believe it, how much you’ve changed, how much you’ve grown. How beautiful you’ve become-

“Things… didn’t end well the last time we saw each other.” He was lost in thought again but your voice brought him back. 

“Or rather didn’t see.” You murmured.

He knitted his brows in confusion. “I’m not following.” 

Annoyance began to stir inside you. You huffed and looked away.

He nearly stammered his words. “From what I last remember; we had a blast at your birthday party, Matty gave you a puppy, the one that he’d been planning months to get for you. And I—”

“And you left.” Your eyes, returning to him and now darker with hurt, pierced straight into his eyes, and your silky voice cut him like a sharp knife. “Practically the next day.” “Without saying a single word to me about your enlistment that day.” A sad, but bitter, smile adorned your face, eyes cast downward. As the memories of that day continued to unfurl for you, a dormant resentment continued to bubble in the depths of your viscera. 

“You didn’t even bother to say goodbye to Matty properly let alone me.” Your voice was softer now,  but he could still see the hurt behind your eyes. “Much less to my parents who—”

“Listen, [Y/N], I didn’t—” He clenched his jaw and dragged his chair closer, hoping to keep his voice low. He felt embarrassed to be having this conversation with you in the first place in your parents’ backyard. And he especially didn’t want Matty to know you were talking about this with him. Still, he felt he owed you an explanation. “I didn’t want to scare you….” he stops and looks at you, in his eyes an emotion you have never seen before swims, you can't decipher it, but it somehow looks familiar. “Or hurt you for that matter.” 

He shook his head, crossing his arms across his chest. He scoffed, just barely audible to you. “But be realistic for a moment. What did you expect me to say to you? ‘Hey, kiddo, I’m off to join the Marine Corps. Might die or get a limb or two blown off. Make sure you do your homework and don’t stay up too late playing video games with Matty! Bye!” 

Phil couldn’t help being defensive of his actions that summer, a bit too defensive even to his liking. He sighs and continues with a bit of a calmer voice. Phil knew that his answer wasn’t half-assed, but he still knew they could be biting. Although he didn’t want to reopen old wounds, he also didn’t want to lie to you. Especially not now that you were no longer a child, and not just Matty’s kid sister. “I did what I thought was right, for you… and me. And I wouldn’t change it if I had to do it again. That’s the truth.” 

You blinked. You couldn’t help but hear something alien in his voice, a tone so unfamiliar in your memories of him as kids. Was it sorrow? Remorse? Pain? You couldn’t figure it out. But you know it was something not to be pushed any further. As a kid you never understood why he did what he did, but as you grew older, somehow you knew that as a child everyone’s decisions were outside your range of understanding. You had accepted what happened. Or at least you thought you did. But today that young girl returned, took back control your body and mind, and you found yourself spluttering these words to Phil. 

Sitting with his own answers, you sat in silence. You watched as he leaned back and eyed you carefully. His eyes were still the same baby blue ones that always gazed at you with brotherly affection all those years, the ones that sparkled when the Texan summer sun’s rays cast on them. But now you felt a hardness radiating from behind them, one that would make anyone else cower and feel smaller. Years in military combat had definitely changed him and his gaze. Indeed, you did feel like he was studying every inch of your face and body, scanning you as if trying to profile you, maybe like he did with the captured combatants in whatever war in which he fought. You tried your hardest to return the intensity of his stare, but it was hard to compete with the icy look in his eyes.

But behind his colder eyes was a burning curiosity that he was successful in concealing from you. It was a curiosity he didn’t expect to experience tonight, because he never expected to see you, Matty’s beloved little sister, again. In all his memories, some more faded and fuzzier than others, you remained a little girl whose clothes were stained with paint and fingers sometimes still smudged from soft pastels or even charcoal from your art. In his mind, you still had baby cheeks and wore Matty’s old hand-me-down clothes and hoodies. But before him, he never expected Matty’s little sister, now a woman, to be sitting before him. He almost wanted to curse himself for immediately noticing when you walked to the table how your curves fit the skirt you wore. And when you sat across from him, he caught himself glancing more than once at your chest when your arms folded just beneath it. 

He clenched his jaw. God, if Matty even caught the places his eyes were traveling when he saw you, he was sure he was going to get his ass kicked and his face pounded in by Matty’s notorious fist. Grown up or not, you were still his sister. And this was also still Matty’s engagement party, and he couldn’t ruin it. And you were clearly still torn up about his sudden, unannounced enlistment all those years ago. This was not the place or time to be thinking of… other things.

What disrupted his curious gaze from roaming over you was a sole tear that began to trickle down the corner of your eye. Just one, and one that you quickly wiped away with your hand before it could ruin much of your makeup. But it was enough to know that, once again, Phil had made you upset. He internally wanted to bang a fist against the table. He was hoping you would lash out at him, he would let you burn off some of the steam that you couldn’t when you were both kids, he knew how much you controlled your rage, and he wished you would finally let it out even if it was on him. Let you both make fools of yourselves that night, so he could feel less remorse. But instead, the silence from you that he was me with was damning him more than he could expect.

When you refused to say anything, Phil anxiously whirled the cold glass bottle in his hands. “But, I was also an idiot,” Phil spat out suddenly. 

Your furrowed brows softened, noticing how Phil’s eyes melted into what you couldn’t intercept at first. But you soon realized it was a miserable mixture of hurt and regret. “I just wanted to get away from my folks, you know. Even though they were hardly ever home, I still felt like they controlled every aspect of my life. So…” He breathed out. “So, I’m sorry.”

“I get that,” was all you said as you mindlessly twirled the bracelet around your wrist. As you did so, his eyes glanced down at your hand on the table, the same ones that were always covered in stubborn faded blue and yellow hues of paint. He swallowed when he noticed that, unlike Matty whom he’d spoken to earlier, you had no ring on your left hand. Before you could notice, Phil quickly glanced back up at your face, and was relieved to see that your harsh scowl from before had melted away. “I just wish you could’ve told me that then. But I… I get that I was too young. We were both pretty stubborn when it came to talking about anything serious, but we cared—”

Before you could finish, you heard a booming voice call out your name. You turned and saw Richard beckoning you to where he stood, while your parents stood to the side and grinned giddily together. Suddenly the whole party had grown strangely quiet. Beside the ice cooler, you noticed a bluetooth speaker playing a familiar soft rock song. One that you distinctly remember as the one Richard played in the car after your first date together at the theme park, and the same one you two danced to in his old apartment when you both were tipsy one night.

You got up from your seat. Next to you Phil also suddenly wondered why so many eyes were on you and this unfamiliar man. You started walking toward him and your parents, wondering what in the world was happening, and why your boyfriend was standing in the middle of the backyard like he was about to give a speech. Oh no, I've seen this scenario happening in public one too many times. This does not look good…. Your internal monologue was put in a pause when you looked around to find your brother, and when your eyes landed on his and his fiance, you knew with one look they did not seem pleased of what was going on.

“[Y/N],” he started. “We’ve only known each other for a few months…”

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Matty muttered from a few feet away from where Phil sat. 

Phil blinked a couple of times. His gut was telling him he knew exactly what was going on, but he himself couldn’t believe it. Not after he just reunited with Y/N a few minutes earlier.

Elaine tried to calm Matty down silently, but Matty was furious. “I specifically told them not to pull this shit, not on this occasion. Jesus fucking Christ.” Elaine didn’t need to hear him say it, but she knew who he was referring to when he said ‘they’.

Richard continued. “But you’ve made me a better man, a man with bigger, better ambitions, a man who can see himself becoming a family man. Beyond just a businessman, a partner, a rock to lean on, someone who could build a home with you and raise a family together.”

When he got down on one knee, you felt your heart stop and all the muscles in your body seize. You tightened your jaw, dormant rage igniting all over again. You didn’t know if you wanted to run away and flee the scene or smash Richard’s head with the beer bottle from a nearby table, but you felt as though your shoes were glued to the dry grass. “Y/N,” he said as he took a ring out of his jacket pocket. 

You looked up frantically and saw your mother on the verge of happy tears and your father with a proud grin but his hands tucked in his suit jacket’s pockets, much like when he is negotiating a business deal at work. You knew immediately that this was not simply Richard’s doing. No, you had told Richard as recently as last night at bedtime that you would rather wait at least when you hit 30 before even considering marriage. This was your parents handing you off to Richard, hoping and desperately trying to have their wealth merge with Richard’s own family wealth. Just like you feared in every conversation you had with your mom and dad, you feared you represented nothing more than a simple pawn in another one of your dad’s business deals. 

You glanced back down at Richard, the sour sneer on your face growing harder and harder for you to conceal. You could feel your hands trembling now by your side, and the cup of soda in your hand threatening to get crushed.  

“Will you do me the honor of letting me call you my wife?”

You heard murmurs and all around you from the backyard. The night’s spotlight was now on you, no longer on Matty and Elaine, and that made you grind your teeth even more. You didn’t want extra attention. It was bad enough that suddenly your childhood crush crashed the party and made you relive your teenage hormones and heartbreak. Richard and your parents both knew how uncomfortable you felt coming back home, and suddenly they decided to make you have to answer a marriage proposal in front of all your relatives, friends, and neighbors. 

You glared down at Richard, who was oblivious to the storm raging in your mind. “You’re out of your fucking mind,” you spat out, with a low and harsh voice, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. You whipped your head up furiously to glare directly at your mom and dad. “And you two! You two are unbelievable. You should be ashamed of yourselves!” Your throat ached from how harshly you growled at them.

Without another word, not even a “no” to dignify Richard’s proposal, you threw your cup of soda at Richard’s face. The half-melted ice-cubes and cold Sprite made him flinch and get back up to his feet quickly. A chorus of gasps erupted from behind and around you. 

“You spoiled brat!” your mother shrieked. The disdain and disappointment on her face was one so familiar, but one that still brought your heart racing anxiously and your lips to quiver. Your father stood frozen in shock beside her. He himself didn’t expect you to react in such a way. He thought tonight would be another business success for him. “Do you know how much we had sacrificed for you? And you decide to act like a child? When will you grow up?l!” 

“THIS IS INSANE!” 

Your eyes snapped to the source of outburst and landed on Matty standing near where Phil and you had been sitting. Phil remained at his seat watching all of this unfold with amusement, as Matty was walking towards where your parents had been standing, with determination of giving an earful to them most likely, but before he could start what he had to say your voice decided to come out on its own accord.

“Oh mother… How can you still be so stubborn about this? How could you pull this stunt at Matty’s engagement party, your own son's engagement party? Do you have no shame? Either of you?” Your voice determined and harsh. Even your mother was taken aback by your bold retort. Her speechlessness only allowed you to continue your tirade. “I told you at least a hundred times that I don’t have any plans to get married anytime soon. But you didn’t listen! That doesn’t surprise me; you hardly ever listen to me. But at least have some respect for your own goddamn son! Who has been nothing but an obedient child to you! Both of you! And this is how you treat him?! The least that you could have done was ask him and Elaine if this was okay with them!” 

Your mother was stunned, the blood having drained from her face and her hand clutching her handbag tightly as she gawked at you. You’ve never been this brave with your words. You never talked back to either of your parents in all your youth. And if your father wasn’t just as speechless, he would’ve given you an earful, and even threatened you to remove you from inheritance. But you didn’t care, your patience ran thinner and thinner each year and this new stunt made all that remained evaporate in a matter of seconds.

You knew you couldn’t come back from this. The realization that there was a chance you’ll probably be shunned and even maybe disowned after this. You had run out of words, so you simply ran from the scene. Your spilled red cup of coke laid on the grass, something the ants in the yard would later indulge in. You bolted into your family’s house, your childhood home, which was mainly empty with everyone mingling in the evening out in the yard. You went into your room on instinct, but noticed your mom and dad had converted it into an office space for their work. Your jaw dropped as you realized they never kept your room the same way they had adoringly preserved Matty’s. You tightened your grip around the door knob. You wanted nothing more than to trash the room, break the desk that sat where your bed once did, and stomp on bookshelves that once held your comics and artbooks but now held folders of boring white paperwork. 

But instead you fled to your brother’s room across the hall. You knelt down beside his bed, kicked off your shoes, and buried your face in a pillow. You let out a muffled scream. After a few seconds, your scream morphed into pathetic sobs. You knew you were surely staining Matty’s old pillows with your makeup, but you didn’t care at that moment. At that moment, it felt as though you time-traveled back fifteen years in your old home, crying your eyes out into your beloved brother’s pillow.

‿︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵‿

Phil watched as Matty slouched on the plastic lounging chair outside. Almost everyone had left. Your mother and father stood near the backyard fence, arguing desperately about what to do next after you had ruined their evening. Richard stood next to them but remained mostly silent and merely listened to them. Elaine, Matty’s fiancée, trudged into the house in search of you. Meanwhile, Phil took a seat across from Matty, who ran his hands through his beard and squeezed his eyes shut momentarily out of frustration.

“Cannot believe they would fucking do that on tonight of all nights,” Matty groaned out.

Phil let out a low whistle. “Yeah definitely didn’t expect to see [Y/N] throw a cup of soda at some random guy.” It would almost be laughable if it weren’t for the fact that he had seen tears once again streaming down your face when you darted inside. “So, that was actually [Y/N]’s boyfriend or—”

“Unfortunately,” Matty spat out. “I can’t stand the guy. But our parents love Richard even though he’s a huge asshole to her half the time.”

“Huh…”

Phil tried to recall the man. He was tall and athletic. He seemed like the type to weight lift, worry about trends in luxury suits, and track his meals’ calories to keep up with his appearance and health everyday. His dark hair was slicked back with some gel, and his jaw was sharp and pronounced. His sharp, aquiline facial features reminded Phil of some of the college guys who would apply for internships to work for his dad’s firm during summers back when he was a kid. But something about him made Phil’s skin crawl. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that his entire personality seemed like a masquerade of wealth and opulence, or the fact that he was dating you , had the gall to propose to you , while also being an asshole to you, according to Matty at least.

“I can’t say I blame her for throwing the soda at him,” Phil snickered quietly.

Matty almost cracked a smile at this. Suddenly, he remembered why he called Phil his best friend for so many years of his life. “Trust me, if I could’ve thrown one too, I would’ve.”

Your father suddenly bellowed your name. “Come out! We need to have a talk!”

Phil and Matty quickly glanced at each other, worry coating both of their faces. They expected Elaine and you to come out together, Elaine probably holding a box of tissues and your eyes still swollen from crying. But instead, no one came out of the backyard door. They waited several seconds, until your father stormed toward the door to head inside himself. Richard trailed behind him, not nearly as full of energy. It seemed the would-be fiancé was still feeling dejected, even if the soda from early had already dried.

“Unbelievable,” your father growled, the door of the house slamming open violently with a bang.

Phil and Matty both got up quickly, following the man. They found you and Elaine sitting in the kitchen, you nursing a cup of warm tea and Elaine sitting next to you still attempting to console you. Your father rushed toward you, grabbing you by your shoulders, forcing your gaze away from your cup of tea and to his own red-beet face. The force of his grasp made your elbow knock into the mug, tumbling it to the ground with a sharp crash. 

Elaine gasped sharply before stepping back in shock. Meanwhile, Bear emerged from the living room, his bushy tail stiff in the air in alert and his pointed ears slicked back against his head. He growled and barked furiously at the sight of your father grabbing you. Agape, you stared back at your father in horror, feeling all the muscles in your body suddenly become paralyzed in fear.

“How can you throw away your future just because of your own stubborn self-righteousness?! Didn’t we raise you better than to act so selfishly?!” your father yelled into your face.

Matty quickly grabbed your father’s arm, grabbing him by his gray blazer’s stiff fabric, and pulled him off of you. “Your dumb plan for the night was botched from the start, dad,” he sneered out. “She clearly doesn’t want to marry Richard and this was supposed to be our engagement party to begin with!” he looked at Elaine for a second saying that.

The graying wisps of hair on your fathers were now disheveled and sticking up, his sagging and wrinkled face now flushed with a furious red. He balled his fists as he spoke back to your brother. “What she did, regardless of what day it was, to Richard was unacceptable. Would you ever imagine Elaine treating you in such a way? No, of course not! Because [Y/N] is acting like a child, and an insolent one at that!”

He turned back to glare at you, taking one step further forward. “Richard, come here,” he said, his glower locked on you not wavering.

The tall, dark-haired man strode beside your father. You couldn’t read the expression on his face. You had wounded your ego and in public in front of your friends and family, something he would seldomly allow without biting back. But he remained quiet ever since his botched proposal. Usually he would yell back, make a scene, demand he stay in a hotel for the night, after arguing with you over nonsense. But his silent, narrow-eyed stare bore down on you and made you feel uneasy. There was nothing calm or passive about it.

“So, why don’t we start over, hm? Why don’t the two of you go to the living room to discuss and… reconsider Richard’s proposal once again, yes?” Your father’s gritted teeth betrayed the false air of diplomacy he was trying to prop up.

“I don’t think—” Your brother was caught off.

“[Y/N],” your father said more sternly this time. “Now.”

Your brother wanted to continue to protest, but he knew your father would not take no for an answer right now. Not with his fists balled up and his face as red as it was. So Matty, Phil, and Elaine watched breathlessly as you and Richard walked to the living room by yourselves. Phil noticed how your hands shook ever so slightly, even while you kept your lips pursed and tried to straighten your blouse, desperately clinging onto any semblance of composure before talking to your boyfriend.

Breathing out an exasperated sigh, your father, the man Phil used to revere so much as a child, began to step outside back to the yard. “There better still be some drinks in the cooler. I need one right now,” he muttered. Your mother followed him, obediently, to avoid the thick air of tension that was suffocating everyone in the kitchen.

Phil couldn’t help but let curiosity get the best of him. While Elaine consoled Matty in hushed voices and picked up the broken glass on the kitchen tile, Phil drifted away from them. He could hear Elaine telling Matty that it was okay, that they could hold a smaller, more intimate engagement party next week with just close friends. He knew that he, too, should be trying to console Phil. But he was worried about you. He just couldn’t believe your family was pressuring you to marry.

Phil stood just outside the living room beside its entrance, leaning on his side against the wall and focusing on the little he could hear. Bear padded up to Phil. Much calmer now, the German Shepherd sat down and looked up at Phil with a panting smile. Phil wanted to smile and pet the dog, but instead brought his finger up to his own lips, hoping the dog wouldn’t alert everyone to what Phil was doing.

“—how embarrassed I was left feeling! In front of everybody!” It sounded to Phil like Richard was still furious, still left with his pride injured. He was on the verge of yelling, but kept his voice somewhat hushed. Maybe to avoid drawing even more humiliation to himself tonight.

Your voice was less hushed, a little bolder. “We’ve barely been dating long enough to begin even thinking about marriage, Richard! I told you I wanted to wait!”

Phil carefully peeked into the room just enough to see that the two of you were standing and you had refused to sit on the couch. Richard towered over you, clearly trying to intimidate you. You were trapped between him and the untouched couch. You nervously ran your hand through your hair as Richard continued roughly gripping one of your shoulders with one of his hands. The sight of his hands on you like that made Phil’s skin crawl and stomach lurch. He tried his best to control himself.

“[Y/N],” Richard began again, clearly still annoyed. “You already made a scene with the first proposal. But I’m not giving up on you . And so is your father—”

You scoffed at this and rolled your eyes. 

“So, please. Just stop being so stupid and stubborn for a second, and just say yes so we can both move on ”

You stayed quiet. And Phil’s mind was racing in the midst of your silence. Was it possible you were actually considering it? He remembered you when you were younger, as a kid. You were stubborn, yes, and very outspoken. It’s what stopped any kids from picking on you or your art. But you also never betrayed your own goals, your own ideas and feelings, for the sake of someone else’s preferences. Even if that meant getting into ugly fights with others and giving your mom and dad the silent treatment for weeks. It was one of many qualities in you that Phil remembered admiring, and he hoped that it was a quality that had never diminished during these last fifteen years.

Phil didn’t want to admit it, but he also felt sick to the thought of you getting engaged just when he had finally reunited with you. He felt a nauseating feeling in his gut at the idea of you marrying this, clearly, arrogant guy. Phillip Graves himself was arrogant at times—sassy even, but when it came to the people he cared about, he was never arrogant. When it came to you, he could never be arrogant.

Finally, you did answer. “I already said my thoughts on the subject, Richard,” you said firmly. At that moment, you hoped Richard and your father would respect your wishes more than anything. Once again, you felt like nothing more than a pawn. “I already said no to you once. And now I’m saying it twice. Do I have to say it a third time?”

“Well, neither of us are getting any younger, [Y/N]. If you’re as serious about this relationship as I am, then you should at least be considering marriage with me. If not, then what’s the goddamn point of this? Of any of this with you?” He placed both his hands now on your shoulders, shaking you just a little. “What do you even want out of this?”

Your face seemed almost serene. You didn’t frown, nor did you nervously smile or even produce a grimace. You placed your hands on his that were squeezing your shoulders, gently sliding them off of you and placing them back to his sides. “After tonight, Richard. I can’t give you a straight answer. I don’t know. After this scene you tried to pull despite everything I told you, I can’t say I see a future with you anymore.”

Richard leaned away, almost repulsed by your answer. He scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head furiously. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are you breaking up with me? ”

Phil would’ve started laughing if he didn’t give away the fact he was spying on you and Richard. But he also wanted to beam with pride at seeing you stand up for yourself despite Richard and your dad not ceasing in urging you two to get married. He was glad to see that you never lost your fiery side as you’ve grown. 

“I guess that’s what it is,” you mustered out. “If you can’t stay in a relationship with me without getting married immediately just to make our parents happy, then maybe we just shouldn’t be in a relationship.”

Any shock was replaced with fury. Richard began seething. “You can’t be so goddamn dumb, [Y/N],” he growled out. “Why are you throwing all of this away? We could’ve had a future together, a built home, a nice family. And you’re throwing it all away just because you wanted to make a point about waiting ?!”

You scoffed. “A nice home where you’re calling me an idiot for sticking to my values. Yeah, sure.” You tried to step beside him to walk away, to finally leave this conversation behind and head back to the family that cares about you. 

But instead Richard grabbed you by your forearm, whipping you back toward him and forcing you to face him again. His eyes were now no longer narrow with disdain but wide and dilated with rage. It was a look you only saw on rare occasions, mostly when you had screaming matches after you would “ruin the mood” when he’d try to have sex with you, drunk out of his mind, after one of his work parties. 

“Let me go,” you muttered, your annoyance desperately trying to mask any fear that could be detected in your voice. 

Suddenly, Richard grabbed your face with a hand, squeezing your jaw and cheeks as he did. He forced you to look at him, even while you desperately tried to pull his hand off you, scratching his forearms and trying to push him away. Phil’s heart began racing and he could feel the blood coursing through his body grow hotter. He couldn’t believe his eyes, but all he could focus on was how the solemn look in your eyes was now replaced with one of terror and shining with wet tears beginning to form.

Richard’s fury continued. “I never thought you could be this stupid. Do you even realize what you’re doing to your—”

Phil had enough. He rushed into the room and in what felt like a flash he pushed Richard away from you. You fell onto the couch, watching in horror as Richard tried to fight back against Phil. Sure, Richard was strong and big. But Phil’s hand-to-hand combat had been refined over the years in the Marine Corps. With little struggle, he managed to subdue him, and within seconds, Richard was pinned to the ground. Phil was successful in knocking the air out of Richard, leaving the man breathless and writhing on the floor. 

“What the fuck ! Get off me!! ” Richard growled through gritted teeth.

Phil smirked for a split second before ignoring him. He let Richard crumble to the ground before he went over and tentatively kneeled in front of Y/N. He saw once again furious tears pooling in your eyes threatening to fall . He placed a gentle hand on her knee and gazed up at her. “You okay [Y/N] ? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

You shook your head, your own hand traveling to your jaw where Richard had roughly grabbed you. “No, I’m fine.” 

He nodded in understanding, still looking at you carefully. While he watched you, he felt Matty and Elaine rush into the room, confusion written on their faces. They saw your small form still sitting on the couch with Phil crouching in front of you while Richard was still getting up from the ground, catching his breath. 

“Th-thanks, Phil,” you said quietly. “I… didn’t know he was gonna lash out like that.”

“ He what ?!” Matty demanded. “Richard, what the hell did you do to my sister?!”

Richard was now back on his feet, he breathed out deeply and glared at Matty. Then he straightened his shirt and painted on his usual smug look of contempt he carried. “I broke up with her. If she’s not taking this relationship seriously, then neither will I.”

“What a load of bullshit,” Matty practically spat the words in Richard's face before grabbing him by his collar. Elaine watched in horror too, scurrying away to the side. Matty dragged him out of the room until both you and Phil lost sight of the two of them. Knowing Matty and his long-lasting hatred for Richard, you were sure he was kicking him out of your parents’ home. 

“Dad is going to be furious,” you mumbled to yourself, but Phil could hear you loud and clear. 

He took a seat next to you on the couch, deciding not to touch you further. He had to remind himself that you were no longer a 12 year old girl, he had to restrain himself from holding you . Yes, you two were very close when both of you were mere teens . But it had been years since you last spoke. Fifteen years to be exact, he didn’t know if you ever counted the days but he did, for some reason that even he couldn’t explain it to himself. He couldn’t overstep his boundaries. So he just pulled his hands back to his lap and sat there, trying to console you as best as he could.

“He’s not always like that… but when he is it gets too much ” you breathed out. Phil tried to listen but he was also acutely aware of how your hand, albeit sweaty from your nerves, felt on his much rougher, larger one. “Matty never liked him. But mom and dad adored him for some reason.”

Phil sighed out. He wished he could say something comforting, something that would chase all your anxieties and fears away. But all he could do was sit there and listen to nothing and everything all at once . Feeling your heat radiate from your side, and he sits besides you only a hair of a touch away. He could lean in and hold you close, and the thought made his heart flutter with nervousness. From here, he could smell how your hair smelled like roses and coconuts—

Before he could drift further away he had to snap back to reality with you still sitting next to him solemnly. How could he think that about you? You were his best friend’s sister for goodness sake… but was he in the wrong to think of you as the pretty woman that you have become? Yes he considered you as a little sister back in the day, but that was a decade and half ago. But now? His heart told him one thing but his brain said something else.

You always carried your emotions on your sleeves. If you were happy, your face would be brighter than the sun. But then if sad, a cloud would particularly be looming over your head. When you were flustered, your face would be brighter than the fresh tomato that his parents would have the cooks pick up from the farmers market And if you were angry, oh man that was something to witness. That was why he always loved teasing you and making you laugh, to get that reaction and to see those emotions. He admired them. But in your grown-up state, he noticed that trait in you lessened. It was as if you were trained to wear a mask that would hide all your emotions. Even now, watching you sit there waiting for the unknown, you try to mask your emotions, hide them in a box and lock it. And discard the keys somewhere where no one can find it. And it hurt Phill to see you in this state. He couldn’t decide which one was worse; having you go through the trauma of facing your now abusive ex boyfriend, or that you were forced to masquerade your emotions.

“I knew the guy for like half an hour, but… yeah, I can say he seems like a dick.” He pursed his lips, but raised his eyebrows when he heard and felt you start to chuckle. “Pun intended” Phil smirked as he looked at you.

“He reminds me of a guy I met back when I first joined MARSOC,” Phil continued. You tore your teary eyes away from your hands and looked at him, listening intently.  “He was big and burly too, but he actually was much more considerate. Hated bullies. Always lending the rest of us a hand if he could see we were struggling.”

You held back a snort. You couldn’t imagine Richard enduring something like Marines training, much less being generous and looking out for others if his skin was on the line. But as a child so many years back, you also couldn’t imagine Phil joining an elite fighting team. Not because he couldn’t work in a team, but because you only saw him as your brother’s best friend who just seemed to play football and video games—not shoot guns and hunt down dangerous men. So, you asked him more. While your mother was off trying to calm your father down, and your brother was getting fresh air to cool down with Elaine, the two of you stayed on the couch. While he did, Bear padded over to both of you, laying down at your feet and surely feeling sleepy already. Phil finally had a chance to reminisce out loud on some of his training days and some missions with the MARSOC Raiders—at least the parts of them he was allowed to tell others about. He even remarked how he had left the Raiders, now working with others to form a new PMC, hence why he was back in Texas. 

While you sat listening and while your tears dried, you couldn’t help but feel admiration bloom inside your chest for him. Admiration and… something familiar you still couldn’t put your finger on. Yes, you were thrilled to have him back in your life, someone you might’ve called your best friend as a young girl. You felt some nostalgia, of course. You felt like you were truly back home for the first time, even after visiting home a few times already after moving in with Richard. Still, while he spoke and you listened intently, you couldn’t help but admire how his lips moved when he smirked as he remembered something cheeky he did, or how his brows furrowed tightly and his jaw clenched when a difficult memory flashed for him. Or how he’d sometimes run his hand across the side of his head, his light brown hair getting disheveled for just a few moments without his knowing. It made you smile for a few seconds before returning your focus to his words. But even while you concentrated on him and his stories, you couldn’t ignore the fluttering of butterflies in your stomach and the way your palms sweat when you noticed him gazing at you several times.

For a moment, it felt good to disconnect from your world, from the drama and yelling of your parents and Richard. Delving into Phil’s past several years away from your hometown felt like finding an oasis in a harsh, unforgiving desert. Your racing heart that you felt when Richard had glowered down at you in furious disbelief moments ago had diminished, now a comforting lull in your chest as you listened to Phil’s familiar voice. But it was short-lived, and it made you realize, yes, this was just one night, when your parents both walked in.

Your father’s face was less red, but the tired look in his eyes made you know that he was still disappointed. “Your mother and I are heading to bed.” He pursed his lips into a thin line when he looked at you. He had so much he wanted to say to you, so much he wanted to yell too. But your mother next to him nudged him with her elbow and cleared her throat. He shook himself out of his death stare and instead looked at the man beside you. “It was, uh… good to see you, Phillip. Please give your father my regards when you see him. It’s been a while since we’ve emailed each other.”

Phil nodded curtly but said nothing in response. Next to you, he could feel how tense you still were. He didn’t want this conversation to drag on any longer. Without another word, your parents left the living room, finally retiring to their bedroom up upstairs. But replacing your parents’ spot in the living room’s entrance came Matty and Elaine. 

Elaine yawned. “How are y’all not tired yet?” 

“We’re going to be heading to the guest room in a bit. But by all means, let me know if you need anything. Just knock on our door or give me a call. I’m here.” Matty gave you a reassuring smile. 

Phil glanced down at his watch—you remember it as the same rolex that his dad had given him for his sixteenth birthday and that Phil only begrudgingly accepted.

“Jesus, time sure flies. It’s already one in the morning.” He huffed, feigning sleepiness,  and looked at you with pursed lips. He placed an earnest hand over his chest. “I’m sorry to have kept you awake so long, [Y/N].” 

You shook your head frantically. “No, don’t apologize, Phil. Catching up on what you’ve been up to has meant the world to me.”

Hit with sudden realization, Phil widened his eyes slightly. “[Y/N], do you need a place to sleep tonight?” The thought of you returning to your hotel room with your furious ex-boyfriend made his chest tighten. 

You shook your head. “No, I’ll just be sleeping in Matty’s room for the rest of my stay. So I'll be hanging around here for a while.” You honestly weren’t in a rush to return to Seattle immediately, just to have to see Richard glowering at you from every corner of his apartment. He was going to have to find a new roommate quickly.

Your brother wrapped his arm warmly around Elaine, bringing her sleepy body closer to him comfortingly. “See you two around,” he said before turning around and heading up the same stairs your parents had climbed earlier.

Phil got up from the couch, and you followed. You straightened your skirt as he rubbed the back of his neck, almost sheepishly. “Really, I mean it. I hope I didn’t bore the hell out of you, [Y/N].”

The two of you began to walk to the front door, Phil pulling out his car keys from his pockets. “No, Phil. I’m being honest. Just getting to sit and hear you speak for a while has really helped me. I’m—I feel a lot better now. Thanks to you.” You watched as he opened the door but then you realized he also is technically only visiting town. “Wait. Do-do you have a place to stay?”

He paused. He shut the door that he had left slightly ajar before, as he turned to look at you. “Oh, yeah I’m staying back at my parents’ place. They rent out the first floor as an AirBnB sometimes, especially since they mostly spend time with my uncle in St. Augustine in Florida. But they’re letting me stay on the second floor now that I’m back home for a while as I work things out.” He smiled warmly. He couldn’t help but find it endearing how you worried where he was staying as well. 

You let out a soft sigh. “Good.” You were relieved to hear not only that he wasn’t staying in some sketchy motel but that it was back in his childhood home, where you and him had spent so much time watching TV and pranking Matty on your weekends off of school. 

He leans in slightly. “That’s right,” he said in a low voice. “If you wanna come by tomorrow, we can hang out. I’ll even cook you something.” He smirked. 

You felt your heart leap and your face heat up furiously. You prayed that he couldn’t tell how flustered you felt. You tried to play it off smoothly. You tried to suppress the huge grin from growing on your lips and said, “I’ll think about it.”

Phil nodded and turned the doorknob again, getting ready to head out. “You better, or I’ll come by and snatch you myself.”

Your heart did backflips again at this. The image of eating dinner with him flashed in your mind, and you felt like your brain was short-circuiting. But you had to say something back, you had to answer without melting down. You desperately kept your composure but let out an airy laugh, one you hoped didn’t give away your nerves. “Goodnight, Phil. I’ll see you later.” 

You followed him, stepping outside to your front porch as you watched him heading back to his black sedan parked by the side of the house. You couldn’t help but watch him as he walked with the same confident strides from when he was your childhood crush, his keys jangling in his hands. 

As he pressed his car key’s FOB and and his car beeped, unlocking, he turned and glanced at you. He felt breathless as he saw as your hair blew in the cool nighttime breeze. But he didn’t want to give away how he, too, was gazing at you for too long. “Go inside, [Y/N],” he laughed. “You’re gonna catch a cold like that.”

You groaned and rolled your eyes. “Just making sure you’re gonna head out safely, Phil,” you called back, feigning annoyance. He shook his head and chuckled as he stepped into his car, headlights turning on and engine rumbling. 

You turned around and headed back inside, closing the front door but quickly scampering to the window to look through the blinds until you saw his car disappear down the road. 

Even after chatting with him all night, you still couldn’t believe Phil Graves had somehow returned to your life.

[togrowoldinv]

Red Hot

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

You meet a hot firefighter at a bar

Warnings: Smut 18+! Kissing, oral, cursing

Note: Uhh Nat is really muscular and hot so yeah. Enjoy!

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 1, Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 2, Main Masterlist

A drink is placed in front of you as the bell above the bar door rings. A parade of loud-talking people stumble in. You take a sip of your drink and fiddle with the band on your left ring finger.

“Is this seat taken?” a raspy voice asks. You would know that voice anywhere.

“It’s all yours,” you reply.

You turn to see a redhead wearing a smirk as she straddles the barstool. Her hair is pulled back in a small ponytail, and she is so beautiful. She orders a drink, Russian vodka, and you watch as she downs a shot. Her biceps flex as she lifts the drip to her plump lips.

“Long day?” she asks you once she’s swallowed her drink.

“Very long. I missed my wife,” you say.

“Hm. I bet your wife missed you too.”

You fail at hiding a smile, and she returns one too.

“I’m Natasha,” she says, holding out her strong hand for you to shake. You do so and tell her your name too. It’s a familiar dance.

“You’re a firefighter?” you ask her.

“How’d you know?” she shoots back almost immediately. You gesture to her shirt that has the department logo on it. “Ah, yeah, I am.”

“So, you’re a hero, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” she says, her cheeks blushing a light red.

“I would. Tell me Natasha, how would you feel about saving me from this long day I’ve had?” you lean closer to her and ask.

“It would be a pleasure, y/n. I just live down the block.”

“Me too.”

The redhead pays for your drinks and takes your hand. Her coworkers whistle as they see her leaving with you. She shakes her head and pulls you towards the door.

Once you get to her apartment, you’re crashing your lips into hers. She returns the kiss and is quick to lift your shirt over your head. Natasha’s strong arms lift you up and carry you to the bedroom, never once breaking the kiss.

“You’re so beautiful,” Nat says.

She kisses your neck, and your fingers slip under her shirt. She leans back and takes her own shirt off. Your eyes go wide at her perfectly shaped abs and her toned arms. Nat smirks and takes off her bra too. The sight of her straddling you half-naked is enough to make the heat pooling between your legs impossible to ignore.

“I need you,” you plead. “Natasha, please.”

“Be patient, sweetheart,” Natasha replies.

She kisses from your lips, to your breasts, down to your pant line. Her fingers work quickly to unzip your pants and slide them down your legs. Nat smirks as she can see how wet you are through your underwear.

“Fuck baby. Is this all for me?” she asks, kissing the inside of your thighs. You nod. She slips off your underwear in a quick motion. “Use your words.”

“It’s all for you, Natasha,” you say. It comes out breathily.

Next thing you know, Natasha has her tongue buried inside you. She licks at your wetness, and her strong hands keep your legs spread for her. Nat takes your clit in her mouth, and you feel yourself tipping over the edge. Your legs shake with pleasure.

“Cum for me, baby. Cum for daddy,” Natasha says, her voice muffled by the way you clench your thighs around her head. And you do cum for her. She helps you come down from your high and then moves up and kisses your lips once again.

“God, you’re so hot, Nat,” you say.

“Hot enough to ride your face?” Nat asks, kissing you once more. You nod your head in excitement. You love the feeling of her pussy against your face.

Natasha smirks and situates herself against your mouth. Your hands go to her muscular thighs as she begins to ride your face. Your mind is fuzzy as you gather her wetness with your tongue. The moans she lets out are like music to your ears.

“Oh, I’m going to cum,” Nat says as she clutches the headboard. “Fuck y/n.”

You hum against her, and she cums hard on your face. Her hips move erratically as she comes down. She climbs off your face and lays down next to you. Or more accurately, half on top of you as her cheek presses against your shoulder and her legs intertwine with yours.

“Do you still miss your wife?” Nat asks with a knowing grin.

“Nope. She’s right here in my arms,” you say with a chuckle. “I love you, Natasha.”

“I love you too, baby.”

You smile at her, and she blushes. She may be physically strong and tough, but her heart is soft and it belongs to you.

“We should do this again sometime,” she says. “You know, the whole pretending not to know each other thing because I think that’s the best sex we’ve had in a long time.”

“I agree. Round 2?” you ask.

Natasha answers by kissing you. You love this woman so much.

Tag List: @gracebutnotgraceful @i-wished-for-you-too @wandasbb @be-missed @likefirenrain @hehehehannahthings @mythosphere-x @readings-stuff @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @madamevirgo @milfloverslut @mrswidowjohansson @alotofpockets @ggrangerdanger @maia-lightwoood @xxromanoffxx @peanutbutterprincess @karmasgxrl @picnicmic @wandaslittlewhore @exhaustedfangirl @when-wolves-howl @natashalovers @sammi1642 @jujuu23 @the-night-owl-blr @strangegardentaco @avatarsnips @romanoffswoman @natashasilverfox @imthenatynat @sayah13 @harleysincairo @rach2602 @cordyandbilliehavemyheart @lovelyy-moonlight @huitzilinthebudgie3 @juicyy444 @youralphawolf72 @btay3115 @red1culous @lenam07 @randomwriter1021 @rightwereyouleftme @natismywife @dumb-fawkin-bitch @natashaswife4125 @karsonromanoff @bookfrog242 @theprinceofmarvel

[dark-frosted-heart]

The Fairytale Keeper's Final Assessment - Roger (Premium End)

This is the 1st anniversary event and is in his POV.

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this

Roger: Kate, I’d die of boredom without you. I’d miss you. So stay as a fairytale keeper.

Kate: Roger…

Roger: So, what are you going to do, Kate? Continue being a fairytale keeper? Or are you going to say farewell-to me.

Kate: I…

Roger: How about I give you an extension. I’ll wait for you at Crown Castle ‘til midnight. If you don’t want to be a fairytale keeper anymore, then you don’t have to come back.

Kate: Don’t need to come back…?

Roger: Yeah. I’ll just write “NO” on the agreement letter and that’ll be it. Alright, I’m heading out. Make a choice you won’t regret.

–

Alfons: So, you just abandoned Miss Kate? You’re the worst. Just like how the hunter abandoned Snow White. You’re a heartless, muscly glasses-wearing walking egoist!

When I got back to the castle, I grabbed Al, told him the whole story over drinks and he fired complaint after complaint.

Roger: You got some nerve hurling insults at me while ignoring how much of an ass you are yourself. Kate wouldn’t have been able to make a choice if I was there. And if I stayed, I would’ve been in trouble.

Alfons: Don’t tell me you were going to bring her back by force?

Roger: Hmmmm………?

Alfons: Oh this is not good. You’ll always be an egoist.

Ice clinked in Al’s glass of whiskey.

Roger: Al. I’m definitely egotistical, but that doesn’t mean my head’s empty. We’re all cursed, part of Crown, and killers. It’s a parade of misery and disaster. It would’ve been better if she stayed uninvolved.

Alfons: Well, I agree with you on that point.

Roger: And yet… There’s lots of things you can’t give up on. I’m sure the same can be said for you.

Alfons: … I don’t know about that. My glass is empty, so I shall be taking my leave. I hope that losing Miss Kate will make you fix your ways.

Roger: Haha, thanks.

–

How much time’s passed since Al left?

It’s not even because of my abnormally sharp hearing, but the clock sounds really loud.

(30 minutes ‘til midnight)

(What if Kate doesn’t come back?)

I’d definitely miss her a lot.

And then rationalize it as “it is what it is”.

(As we get older, we get a whole lot more decisions to make)

Five minutes ‘til midnight.

—The sound of Kate’s voice and footsteps reach my ears.

Kate: Roger!

(Ah…)

Roger: “Welcome back” Kate.

I looked up at the clock and saw that it was exactly midnight.

Kate: You must have felt a little worried. About how I might not have come back.

Roger: Well, maybe a little.

Kate: I was troubled. I mean…I have friends, and I was pretty useful as a postal worker.

Roger: Hm, I see. So why’d you come back with Liam?

Kate’s eyes dart side to side.

Kate: Well…um…it just happened that way.

Roger: I heard something like “tell it to Roger straight!”

Kate: !

Roger: Well?

Kate: The truth is…I couldn’t stand being alone so I went to see Liam at the Scala Theatre. I hung out with him…to kill some time.

Roger: Why?

Kate: Because…

Roger: Because?

Kate: Because…I wanted you to think about me of course.

Roger: …

Kate: Saying what you want, leaving everything to me… I…You know there was a chance we would've never seen each other again, right?

Roger: Yeah

Kate: You knew and yet you left just like that.

Kate started tearing up.

Kate: I thought…you’d want to spend more time with me.

(Really…this girl)

The day I met Kate, I tried to draw a line between us and have her live wisely.

A brief time at Crown as a fairytale keeper should’ve been enough.

(And yet)

~~ Flashback ~~

Kate: I still don’t have an answer on whether your betrayal was evil or not. Therefore— Can I not continue to think about it while being by your side? 

~~ End flashback ~~

Kate said that and tried to get to know me and Crown.

(Nothing’s changed since that day…)

(No, she’s been chasing after me incessantly)

(Ah, damn it…)

(Everything about her’s so cute. It can’t be helped)

I drew closer to Kate and pulled her into a hug.

Kate: Ro…ger?

Roger: I still want to be with you. Let’s stay together, Kate.

Kate: I’m not doing this because you told me to. I’ve…made my decision.

Roger: Pfft, hahaha. Nice. I love a woman who can think for herself. But, do you really know what this means? If we’re together, then that means you’re gonna be at my mercy.

Kate: Bring it on. I still want to know more about you and Crown. Besides…I still haven’t proved that love exists yet.

For me, love’s something that has no proof. So I don’t have any faith in it.

What we call love is a dysfunction of the brain or a misunderstanding caused by sexual desire.

That’s my definition of love—Kate wants to prove me wrong.

(It's like saying you stayed for me, isn't it?)

Whether Kate’s affections can be called love is something yet to be seen.

Roger: In the meantime, let’s kiss.

Kate: ……Huh?

Roger: Didn’t you hear me? Kiss. Kissing. You like that, don’t you? Kissing and being affectionate.

Kate: O-of course not!

Roger: I thought you really liked me if you kept chasing after me.

Kate: That’s because…it’s my duty as a fairytale keeper.

Roger: Such a hard worker. I’ll talk to Victor about giving you a raise.

Kate looked at me in annoyance.

(You’re so cute)

Roger: Well then, let’s start with this “again” form here. Let’s get along, Kate.

I held out my hand and Kate grasped it in hers.

Kate and I are connected.

Once again, with a certain temperature.

–

Fairytale Keeper’s Letter of Agreement From here on, Kate will continue her role as the fairytale keeper. Because she’s a valuable dog, or assistant, in my research on curses. Beyond that, I’m simply curious -Roger Barel

–

(Kate’s POV)

It was a few days after I chose to continue my role as the fairytale keeper.

I had suddenly received a notice from Her Majesty the Queen. Kate, I’ve heard much about your work. Thank you for everything. Therefore, I would like a reliable woman to assess something. Whether Roger, who is cursed, is suitable for Crown.

[miranyx1337]

Alastor x angel reader

FEATHER chapter VI

Tags: fluff (for now ) enemies to lovers, kissing, being protective, cuddles, sleeping problems, flirting, possesive reader is an angel, fem reader

Alastor POV

From window of the radio tower, I observed a silvery creature maneuvering through the crowd gathered under the hotel. It adeptly gave lessons in hand-to-hand combat and tips on outsmarting celestial entities. I lounged on a small rolling chair, resting my feet on the table.

Unexpressed frustration and anxiety engulfed my thoughts as I discarded another chewed-up pen. Knowing that the silvery feather hidden beneath the floor was inherently linked to its owner tempted me even more, to test its intriguing properties.

Her energy brought an unwritten relief to my shackled soul. Increasingly aware of my addiction, I shredded another pen. My hand searched the bottom of an empty drawer for the next victim. Perhaps a real victim would soothe his nerves? The taste and warmth of blood, screams, and insane doses of adrenaline always helped in moments like these.

One of the slender male figures often and closely positioned near the angelic being. it seems like he has chosen MY girl for a lunch.

With a snap of fingers transported to the company of my dear cannibalistic friend and the likely place of a future crime

’’Oh Darling, you are hiding again," her clawed fingers adjusted the slightly crumpled coat. "Everyone gathered here thanks to you, and you rot in the radio tower," she retorted disgusted.

"I'm sorry, Rosie, I was busy."

Alright, alright, but now I'm interested, who is she?"

Of course, she could only be talking about the laughing Y/N leaning her elbow on the young cannibal.

My patience is definitely being tested this day

‚,Then let me introduce you." I grabbed her arm and quickly approached to interrupt the cheerful conversation.

Rossie’s suggestive head motion clearly signaled the youngster to disappear and attend to something usefull

And this, my dear, is Y/N," - I calmly introduced, as if presenting another sightseeing spot. "Our guest from heaven."

"Oh my, so you are truly from heaven?" she replied, as if big wings weren't evidence enough. Our little angel apparently enjoyed some attention, parading cheerfully in her true form.

Yeah, it's nice to meet you, miss." Her gaze halted where I held Rosie under the arm.

"Oh, what miss? I'm Rosie, dear friend of Alastor." Too bad she had to reveal the truth so quickly; I would have liked to see if angelic beings can feel such emotions as jealousy.

"I see you're really skilled in combat."

I wouldn't say that. I can quickly spot opponents' weak points, including my brethren," she emphasized her allegiance.

Now uncomfortable questions could start, but I had already discussed it with Charlie. Y/N was declared as a founder of the ,,heavenly resistance against executions’’ and to show her support, she descended into darkness with the princess of hell.

We stared intensely at each other, and Vivien sensed the tension, letting go of my hand.

"Being honest, I've been watching you all day. Really, you are a lovely creature, and if I'm not mistaken, I could smell Alastor's perfume on you."

Ah, that intrusive and sensitive cannibalistic nose. I must admit, as always, reliable in reading situations.

"Ah yes, Y/N and I had a meeting last night to discuss some training issues." I explained

Yes, I can feel she needed to deal with your experience issues. And a 'holo hole' was the one to actually entertain you?"

A what now?"

I guess Y/N wasn't as embarrassed and angry as me for this improper remark. In the end, she was an angel. Her pure laughter entertained everybody around." "Oh sorry, I just ahahahah ."

Overlord lady starter to laugh with her

I thought it was the right moment to exit the conversation.

I wouldn't want to interrupt you, ladies, but Y/N and I still have some things to discuss.

Instantly, the smile disappeared from her angelic face. She took a more upright position, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I guess so."

Rossie said goodbye to Y/N with a quick smile and a hand on her shoulder, then immediately found herself another interesting occupation.

A heavy silence fell as I led her toward the radio tower. My demonic shadow trailing behind us definitely got too excited, like a dog seeing its owner. A whole day without her was definitely too long. I let the angel through, then closed the door behind us.

"Listen, Y/N."

An unexpected kiss interrupted me, decidedly more intense than the one initiated by me. My hands automatically moved to her waist to pull her closer, but she abruptly stepped back, leaving me unsatisfied.

"What's wrong with you? You hate others' touch, can't stand affection and romantic Things , but let me kiss you around?!"

Could she decide in what mood she wanted to be today? - ,, Y/N, let me explain everything."

"Alright!! I'm listening!"

"It's a curse. Since I ended up in hell, a curse hangs over me... when I get close to someone and form a bond it makes me a slave to them. That's why I desperately avoided closeness."

Of course, it was a lie, but it was the only explanation I came up with for the morning events. The sweet angel's knowledge of hell was limited, unaware of soul contracts or how punishments imposed on sinners worked; I could easily manipulate the truth.

I stepped closer, placing my hand on her cheek.

But you are different. You are kind, good, and lovely. For the first time I could trust somebody this much ." I continued

"You're lying. I don't know if you're someone I can trust," she said.

"Y/N, why would I lie?"

"I don't know, maybe your kiss will turn me into a demon?"

"What?

There was a bedtime story for young angels; if they acted bad, a demon would welcome them in their sleep instead of their mothers, and give them a goodnight kiss to turn them into a hell creature ."

"I've never heard a bigger nonsense since Charlie's hotel idea," - I couldn't help but laugh at this silly anecdote - And did you think these chains were a sign of turning into a demon?"

"Maybe," she said, apparently embarrassed.

"Haha, oh my dear. If you want, I can prove you every night that my demon kisses won't change your cute appearance." I leaned in to practically whisper those words

[literatecowboy]

The Rattlesnake County War

Following a botched cattle rustling job, a lone surviving outlaw finds herself thrust into a conflict between ranchers bigger than any she'd been embroiled in before. A Sheriff!Price x Outlaw!Reader fic; MDNI please; reader is AFAB and she/her pronouns are used but should otherwise be ambiguous (if I can be more inclusive/there is somewhere where I can improve on making her more "friendly" to readers let me know pls!) Warnings: hanging, angst, death, stabbings, references to guns and shootings, execution, etc. Eventual smut. I intend to write 2 versions of this fic - more information can be found in the masterlist.

1. Hanging Offense

1869, Somewhere on the Colorado River

“Cattle rustlin’ is a hangin’ offense, miss. You know that?”

You sat straight-backed in the back of the prison wagon, hands shackled, as it bumped down the dusty dirt road.

“So’s horse rustling,” you shouted over the rattling of the wagon, looking pointedly at the sheriff’s deputy as he walked beside the wagon, leading your horse. He was a young Black man who wore his hat low over his eyes and showed respectful deference to the muttonchop-toting Sheriff who drove the wagon.

“One horse - which mind you, we’re taking along for safekeeping, in comparison to one thousand head of cattle. Does that strike you as being equivalent?” the sheriff asked, turning back to look at you. You fixed him with a stony glare.

“You took the lives of my men and the rancher got his cattle back, so yes, I’d say this is unfair. I’d like my horse back so I might go on my way,” you said. “My guns should be returned to me as well.”

“You put a shot in between my legs, miss. Not sure if arming you would be beneficial to my health.” the deputy piped up, tugging on the reins as he walked and making your horse, Whiskey, balk.

“Learn to control a horse, asshole.”

“That’s Deputy Garrick to you, miss.”

As the prison wagon rattled into town, the dirt of the road became mud. Men lining the wood plank sidewalks gawked as you were paraded by. You noticed few women, and those that you did paused to gawk. The sheriff laughed.

“With how few decent women there are around these parts, half of these men might ask you to marry them yet. Welcome to Rattlesnake Point, miss!”

—

Hours later, you sat in your cell on the threadbare cot, watching the sun go down through the windows. The door opened and the sheriff looked up from his desk, a smile crossing his lips.

“Ah, Mr. Riley. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?” he asked, rising from the desk and extending his hand. The two shook hands and Mr. Riley produced a wound measuring tape before stepping toward your cell.

“Good evening, Sheriff Price. If you would permit me, I would like to measure this women for the coffin I expect will need to be constructed for her, given her charges.” Mr. Riley said, offering you his hand.

“Miss. Would you mind standing for me?” he asked, unwinding the measuring tape. It uncoiled like a snake waiting to strike, its end brushing back and forth against the brick floor.

“Go fuck yourself.” you spat, your heart thumping in your chest at the thought of death so close.

“Now, miss, that’s no way to speak to Mr. Riley. He’s a fine undertaker, the finest this town has ever seen. Find it in your heart to make his job easier, or else I may have to enter your cell and measure you myself.” Sheriff Price said.

“Come in here and it’ll be your coffin Mr. Riley constructs.” you hissed. Mr. Riley smiled and rewound the tape, slipping it into his pocket.

“You seem to have imprisoned a wildcat in place of a woman, Sheriff. It is of no consequence - we can bury your body wrapped in canvas.” he said, turning to leave with a tip of his hat.

“My apologies, Mr. Riley. If I might ask a favor - if you see Deputy Garrick, would you ask him to return to me? I’ve no doubt he’s at Mr. MacTavish’s watering hole, but our work is not yet done. I would like an extra guard on watch tonight - I suspect this one to be a flight risk.” the sheriff said.

“Of course.”

—

The night passed, but not without event. The walls of the jailhouse were brick, as was the floor, and try as you you did you could not dislodge them. The bars in the window were sturdy and did not budge when you tugged. The ceiling was too high for you to reach, even standing on the flimsy cot.

The Sheriff merely sat and watched you, not lifting a finger to stop you as you searched out every avenue of escape you could. He had bested you. Your men were dead - not a soul could come to your rescue.

You slept for a few hours before being awoken at dawn by the cell door opening. The Sheriff was gone. Deputy Garrick stood in his place.

“Miss, it’s time. Please, come quietly so that you might die with your dignity.” he said softly, almost gently, reaching out his gloved hand. You stood slowly and stepped cautiously from the cell, your gaze finding the window in the wall near the front of the room. Sheriff Price stood leaned against the prison wagon outside, and his gaze met yours. He offered you a pitying smile as if you were some hapless little woman who needed to be disciplined.

With a growl, you turned and launched yourself at the deputy.

—

It took the combined might of Sheriff Price, Deputy Garrick, and Mr. Riley to wrestle you into the back of the secure wagon, kicking and screaming and spitting and biting and clawing. By the end of it they looked thoroughly unkempt and to your chagrin, thoroughly amused.

“A wildcat indeed. It’ll be interesting to see if she can fight a rope,” Mr. Riley mused.

The ride to the hanging tree was over quickly. A crowd had assembled to watch, despite the early morning, and you glared silently at them all, having been muzzled following the earlier scrap. You were not given the chance to walk - Sheriff Price hefted you over his shoulder and marched you beneath the noose, standing you on the flimsy chair before slipping the rope over your head. The Deputy was entrusted to watch you as he climbed onto a barrel and fished a paper from his pocket to read your charges.

“While unfortunate that such a beautiful member of the fairer sex feels the desire to engage in criminal behavior unbecoming of Christianity, it is imperative that she be punished for her crimes as any other…”

As the Sheriff droned on, dust was kicked up in the distance and the sound of hooves on the dirt road pounded closer. Before you could fully make out the figure riding hard in your direction, a hood was pulled over your head and all you could see was black.

“…and may God have mercy on her soul.” the sheriff finished. Your heart tightened, as did the noose around your neck. The noise of approaching horses was drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in your ears. This was the end.

“Stop! Stop this execution, now!” a voice shouted out. “Those were my steers she stole, and I am commanding this to stop!”

You tensed, awaiting weightlessness. The deputy behind you froze - you could feel his hands tighten on your arms. Sheriff Price called out to the figure.

“Mr. Marshall, what is the meaning of this?” he called out. You could hear him jump down from the barrel he stood on and pass by you, leaves crunching as he approached the man.

“I don’t wish for her to be executed. Her men are dead, her gang has been eradicated. My steers are safe. There is no need for this - and I have many things to ask her.” the voice, who you assumed to be Mr. Marshall, said.

“You would ask me to set free a livestock rustler - why?” Sheriff Price asked. Their voices quieted - you could no longer hear what they were discussing. The bag was lifted from your head, then the rope pulled from your neck. You sucked in a deep breath, stumbling down from the chair and falling to your knees in the grass.

You caught sight of a young, attractive man standing before you. He offered you his hand, but you ignored it and stood on your own. Your boots left indents in the dirt.

The deputy cut your hands free and you stretched your wrists, looking around. The crowd had largely dispersed, heading back to town and grumbling about missing out on the promised entertainment. Your knees wobbled.

“I’ve been told that you might be the solution to a…problem Mr. Marshall and I are afflicted by,” the Sheriff said, folding his arms across his chest as he eyed you, obviously unconvinced.

“So you delay my execution? So I can be a tool for you to use and then discard? Hang me now and get it over with,” you demanded. Price sighed.

“As much as it pains me to say it, this…opportunity would earn you a full pardon,” he said. “I’ve been around long enough to know that if you want to bring the Lord’s justice to sinners, you don’t call upon a saint.”

—

You passed back through town sitting proud on your own horse this time. Whiskey, your large, strawberry roan mustang, was a mean mare. She had given the Sheriff and each of his men trouble as they brought her to you, only calming when you offered her some sugar from your pocket. Deputy Garrick had earned his first bruises from her after she had thrown him the previous day when he tried to ride her out of your sight.

Mr. Marshall and Sheriff Price rode on either side of you. As you passed the jail, you slowed Whiskey to a stop and gave the sheriff a pointed look.

“My guns?” you asked. Mr. Marshall seemed to be about to speak but the Sheriff shook his head.

“You’re lucky that you’re even on horseback, miss. You get your guns back, there’s nothing stopping you from putting lead in between my eyes and running off again,” he said. You sighed.

“I’m a woman of my word, sheriff. Mind that I might not be able to assist you as efficiently without my guns at my side,” you said, urging Whiskey on once more and riding in front of the men, who glanced at each other warily.

—

Mr. Marshall had lead you to a saloon.

Sheriff Price looked hesitant as you hitched your horses out front but did not leave your side regardless. As Mr. Marshall was about to pass through the swinging doors, he grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Here? Are you sure?” he asked, glancing around. You watched curiously, leaning against the saloon wall, arms folded across your chest.

“Where do you think I’ve been getting my information? Men from the Old Kingdom come here all the time, but the owner’s got no love for loyalists like them,” Mr. Marshall said. “Feeds me info from time to time.”

Pulling free from Price’s grasp, he shoved his way into the saloon. You followed without sparing the Sheriff a glance.

It was rowdy in the saloon for the mid afternoon. That morning’s work was done unusually early for the cattlemen and they sought to pass the rest of the day with drink. The piano sang from the corner as men stumbled about, finding their places at the bar or at gambling tables. Women of ill repute lined the railing overlooking the first floor from the second level, fanning themselves or smoking as they sought their marks.

The presence of Mr. Marshall had caused a mild stir, and you quickly realized that the men of this bar were no friends of his, though Sheriff Price’s presence seemed to dissuade the clientele from approaching him. You observed as a table of men, upon catching sight of Mr. Marshall, stood and exited the saloon. They mounted their horses outside and rode away rather quickly, which raised the hairs on the back of your neck. Something didn’t feel right.

“Barkeep! Where’s Mr. MacTavish?” Mr. Marshall called out as he approached the bar, tossing the bartender a coin.

“Cellar, sir. Does this have to do with the spirits you requested for your dinner party?” the barkeep asked. Mr. Marshall nodded. The barkeep eyed you up and then Sheriff Price, his brow furrowing.

“Very well. Head on downstairs,” he said, turning to fetch another drink.

—

The cellar was large which only slightly surprised you. A town containing as many cowboys as it did needed to be well-stocked with drink. As you followed Mr. Marshall deeper into the cool, lantern-lit depths, the sound of a thick Scottish accent boomed off of the kegs.

“James Marshall! It’s good tae see–” Mr. MacTavish froze when he caught sight of Sheriff Price. “You brought the Sheriff? And a lass? What’s going on?” he asked, how brow furrowing and his head cocking.

“I think she’s the perfect solution to our problem, Johnny. I let John here in on it too, and he agrees with me. There are others counting on us - we’ve never had an opportunity like this before.” James Marshall said, gesturing to you as you stood with your hands on your hips.

“Hold on, now, I still haven’t been told what exactly this problem you keep mentioning is,” you said, your brow creasing. John shook his head at the other two men.

“Not here, too many ears. Later tonight, let’s meet at my office. The others will be there too. In the meantime, I’ll explain to our…asset…what’s been going on here,” he said, turning to leave the cellar again.

“I’ll be there. See ya later, gentlemen. Lass,” Johnny said, tipping his hat to you. This made the Sheriff scoff, but he said nothing as you climbed the stairs back up to the saloon. You were the first to push through the swinging doors, and as you fiddled with your saddle, a shout sounded from down the street.

“Marshall! Get over here, boy!”

Sheriff Price’s head jerked up at the same time as yours. You watched as a big, burly man, one of the men who had hurried out of the bar earlier, stormed up to Mr. Marshall. Two other large men flanked at him.

With one punch from the burly man, Mr. Marshall was sent to the ground, hollering and clutching his nose. The man wasn’t done, though, and aimed a hard kick at his ribs. The other two flanking him were quick to join in.

You were quick to the defense of the man who’d saved your life, rolling up your sleeves as you stomped over toward Mr. Marshall’s attackers. You aimed a punch at the big one, clocking him hard in the chin and sending him stumbling back a few steps as you flexed your fingers, eyeing the others.

“You vagabonds! Stop, now!” Sheriff Price roared, surprising you with his speed. He pulled you away from the fight, shoved you to the side, and stood over Mr. Marshall, glaring down the attackers. One of them laughed, making the others chuckle too.

“You ain’t got no authority here!” he laughed, shoving Price in the chest. He staggered back a step, his chest heaving as his hands balled into fists.

“One more step and I’ll put you in the ground,” you growled, surging forward and putting yourself in front of Price and Marshall. The big one grabbed for you, but you took a step forward and swung at him, landing a strong punch and stepping up to land another. This set them off again, and someone swung at you, connecting with your nose and sending you falling onto your ass beside Mr. Marshall as he groaned, blood gushing from his nose.

The three turned on Price then, aiming punches at him and trying to grab him to force him to the ground. As you scrambled up to rejoin the fight, Mr. Marshall grabbed your hand and shoved a hard, leather-bound handle into it - a knife that had fallen during the crisis.

“Should’ve sold your land, Marshall! Should’ve left before you died in the fucking dirt!” someone yelled, making someone else laugh. You were on your feet in an instant and plunged the knife into the back of the neck of one of the men who was getting the better of Price. He gurgled, dropping to the ground as blood gushed from the wound.

This made another one of the attackers whirl around in surprise, but this time, you were ready. You yanked the knife from the dead man as he toppled to the ground and plunged it into the man’s throat with a scream as you tackled him.

The Sheriff and the remaining man were stunned still now, but the third attacker regained his composure before the Sheriff and bolted for his horse. As you tried to yank the knife free from your victim’s neck unsuccessfully, he mounted up and tore off leaving only dust in his wake.

You stood up slowly, your chest heaving. Before you could recover, Sheriff Price grabbed you by the shoulders and shook you fiercely, the blood of your victims rubbing off onto his hands.

“What the fuck have you done? You just started a war! You killed them!” he roared, shoving you back into the dirt and drawing his pistol. You scrambled away from him as he aimed at you. James was in front of you before you could blink, his hands up.

“Lower the gun, sheriff! They would have killed me. This woman saved my life!” he yelled. Sheriff Price, looking disgusted, shoved his gun back into his holster.

“And she’s just doomed countless others.”

---

@sprout-fics

[zqmbiescorpse]

GLADIATOR, PART 3

johanna mason x female reader

a/n: i feel like they part is really wordy lololololol, also everytime i try to proof read i get very bored, so i will do it eventually (probably)

summary: after winning the 72nd hunger games, quite a name had been made for you in the capitol - quickly becoming a favourite across panem. because of this, naturally, you find yourself thrown back into the horror of the games due to the 3rd quarter quell, representing district 5 one last time. though, not all is lost, fellow tribute and close friend, johanna mason of district 7, finds herself in the same position.

tags: graphic depictions of violence (sometimes), johanna mason, katniss everdeen, peeta mellark, finnick odair, johanna mason x female reader, catching fire, mockingjay part 1, mockingjay part 2, 72nd hunger games, 75th hunger games, gore, eye gore, detailed descriptions of eyeball squishing, disabled reader, female reader, reader is missing an eye, reader is missing limbs, missing fingers, traumatic events, blood, choking, johanna mason needs a hug, rebellion, slow burn, mutual pining, scared of feelings, fluff, angst, making out, kissing, confessions, peeta has his prosthetic leg, maybe smut idk, tension, awkwardness, wlw, i love johanna so much

warnings for this part: making out, kissing, some angst

word count: 3.5k

(part 4) (masterlist)

The tribute parade was definitely something. Experiencing it for the first time, three years ago, it hadn't seemed so bad at the time - possibly due to the overwhelming anxiety and fear that kept you from processing any other emotion. However, going through it again made you realise how ridiculous the whole thing was. You hated everything about it. Sure that it was a humiliation tactic provided by the Capitol for entertainment, you had observed each of the various tribute outfits and were unable to detect anything that looked decent. Aside from the dazzling black material, which caught aflame, worn by Katniss and Peeta, everybody looked as stupid as they felt. How were your stylists allowed to do that to you?

In all honesty, it was a major struggle to keep a straight face, at that point you were just completely over it and couldn't take it seriously, eventually accepting the fact that you were dressed disgustingly. During the parade you found yourself distracted, fortunately, concerned with one thing. Johanna. Especially after the previous night, she remained prominent in your mind throughout the entire day and you were quite desperate to see her again.

You'd caught a few glimpses of her, each time you did you fought with yourself to stifle a laugh, although, to her credit, she managed to pull off the outfit in an odd way. Maybe it was because you found her extremely attractive, but even dressed as a tree, Johanna looked exceptional.

You were waiting in the lobby of the apartments with your stylist, mentor, and the male victor of your district, Gus. He was about 20 years older than you, the greys scattered in his hair growing more obvious with each day. The two of you weren't close and you hadn't discussed alliances with one another, assuming that in the arena you would be going your separate ways, which you were fine with, you didn't mind Gus at all, he was a nice guy.

"Ah! You both did so well today! Y/N, Gus, you looked amazing!" Your stylist, whose name you hadn't bothered to retain, announced delightedly, clearly very pleased with her work. She clasped her hands together and smiled widely before suggesting all of you return to the District 5 apartments for a meal, to celebrate.

Politely, you declined. You feigned exhaustion, excusing yourself and going on ahead with the intention of hiding away by yourself for a few hours. You said you were tired because of the hard work you'd done today, playing it up massively, yet, your mentor bought it and let you go.

You approached an elevator at the far end of the corridor, failing to see the victors from District 12 and their mentor enter it. About to step in, you finally noticed that you wouldn't be alone, becoming hesitant at the presence of Katniss and Peeta. Haymitch caught your eye with a look of reassurance, he was encouraging you to join them.

"Y/N Armstrong, District 5." While the idea of leaving them be and getting on the next elevator sounded a lot more appealing to you, Haymitch didn't give you the opportunity to decide for yourself, loudly declaring your arrival before you had the chance to back away.

"There's my favourite warrior," he joked as you nervously made your way, standing by his side to create some distance between yourself and the other victors.

"Hello, Haymitch," you spoke with an easily detectable awkwardness, causing your cheeks to heat up slightly at how strange you thought you'd sounded.

Similarly to most winners of the Hunger Games, you'd been given a nickname relevant to your triumph, branded by the Capitol for all of eternity. To them, you were known as the warrior, or, more commonly, the gladiator. Someone who was a ferocious fighter and absolutely brutal during a battle of life and death. Unfortunately, it was an accurate description considering the circumstances of your victory, but you found it funny how gladiators were usually slaves, trained and forced to fight, and weren't predicted to live long lives. The latter half you found you related to more.

Normally, hearing people call you that made you uneasy, cringing each time you were addressed as such, yet, when Haymitch called you that you knew it was him poking fun at the Capitol - mocking them, not you so you didn't mind it at all. Besides, you were close enough that you found some humour in his methods too.

Not much more was said, the atmosphere was uncomfortable and it didn't help that you could feel both Katniss' and Peeta's eyes constantly on you, both of them staring at your injuries.

"I'm not a fan of prosthetics," you blurted, brushing off any insecurity you had, faking confidence while you smiled at them. You sensed the comment had broken some of the suspense, since the elephant in the room had been acknowledged. Sometimes you walked around without even an eyepatch covering your socket, shortly after the tribute parade you removed the one given to you, discarding it. Consequently, you were feeling quite exposed standing there with people, who were pretty much strangers, the old wound on display for them to see.

"If I didn't need it to walk, I wouldn't either," Peeta spoke up, a welcoming warmth to his voice. You appreciated his response, the both of you were able to relate to each other, him wearing a prosthetic leg due to an infection that made him need to amputate. At least you could say that you and Peeta were somewhat friendly. You knew that Haymitch was probably pleased, happy that you were taking the plan of rebellion seriously by attempting to connect with the District 12 tributes.

"Why don't you wear them? If anything, you're just putting yourself at a huge disadvantage." That was the first time Katniss had ever said a word to you, her tone harsh, communicating suspicion and uncertainty perfectly. For some reason, you were getting the feeling that she wasn't very fond of you. Then again, untrusting and closed off was a large part of who Katniss was, understandably, so you didn't take it to heart.

"I like how it makes them uncomfortable." You were totally honest, having your injuries on show often satisfied you in a weird way, refusing to let the Capitol disguise what they did to you.

You could tell Katniss was a fan of your response, something in her face changing, it relaxed a little as suspicion morphed into respect. Imprinting a positive impression, the air felt a lot clearer than before and you felt you could breathe better, any anxieties about the situation disappearing.

Little conversation continued but you still felt that you'd managed to make a good amount of progress today regarding alliances. Then, the elevator doors slid open, allowing Johanna to saunter through them, that frustratedly amused expression, which she commonly wore, present. She briefly acknowledged you, enough to make the blood start rushing. You could tell that she was up to something, intrigued and glad to see her, you watched on intently.

"My stylist is such an idiot. District 7, lumber…trees. Ugh, I'd love to put my axe in her face." She rambled on, anger seeping through her words while she let her crimson hair flow free and removed any extravagant jewellery inconveniencing her.

The image of Johanna axing someone in the face. No matter how hard you tried to not be attracted to the idea of her doing that, you couldn't stop thinking about it. You too hated your stylist for what she made you wear, consequently seeing no issue with what the fired-up redhead was saying. God, just the thought of it made you feel…something.

Seemingly lost, drifting away in the daydream, you'd missed the part where Johanna got undressed and was now completely naked in front of the four of you, flashing everyone standing in the elevator. You'd heard that earlier on in the day, Finnick had approached Katniss in the same playful manner, more subtly since he didn't strip off. It was a way of lightly intimidating her, observing how she would react in an uncomfortable situation; having some fun at her expense yet seeing whether the person they were risking their lives to protect was worth it.

Haymitch and Peeta were clearly enjoying themselves, shamelessly taking in everything Johanna had to offer. On the other hand, you struggled to not stare at her stunning body, her bare chest perfectly in line with your sight if you were to look ahead like a normal person. Your eyes fixated on every spot around your area that wasn't the person in front of you, you were a flustered mess, blushing all over, now feeling rather warm.

Although what she was doing was not aimed towards you, Johanna took notice of every reaction you were having, relishing in how nervous she made you feel, every smidge of red splattered on your cheeks was because of her, and she was proud.

You could almost smell the disgust radiating from Katniss, unimpressed by Johanna's stunt, she tried seeking support from you as together you'd discovered a newfound respect for one another. She expected you to be equally repulsed, only to find that you were trying so desperately to not pass out because of Johanna. Katniss bit her tongue, rolled her eyes and came to the conclusion that you were into Johanna, though, at least you were being more respectful about it. Haymitch and Peeta gawked while you had the decency to look away, even if it was because you felt awfully tense and awkward due to the attraction and feelings you had for her.

With the rise of a perfect brow, the fierce woman gave one last glance at everyone, winking at Haymitch, the pair exchanging knowing looks. Sensing her departure, you quietly let out a sigh of relief, having been holding your breath, allowing your heart rate to regulate. Regaining confidence, your vision altered itself from a top corner of the elevator to what you expected to be an empty space ahead of you. To your surprise, Johanna remained unmoving, her dangerously mischievous eyes already on yours.

You had no chance to inquire, her hand wrapped tightly around your wrist, her grip firm, practically dragging you away with her - a delighted cheek plastered to her face.

"Thanks! Let's do it again sometime!" marvelled the domineering woman, her voice getting lost to Peeta and Katniss while she made her way into the hallway, a very confused, uneasy you trailing behind, sort of against your will?

"I was supposed to get off ages ago, this isn't my floor," the sudden realisation hitting you, displaying stupidity since this was unmistakably not your floor.

"No, it's my floor, and you got off at the right time, with me. We're going to my apartment," Johanna informed you, leaving no room for protest.

At that moment, she spun around to face you after leading on in front, finally releasing the hold she had on your reddening wrist. However, she made sure to run her thumb gently over the mark, sparking jolts of an electric sensation down your left arm, then she dropped your hand.

"Why?" Your voice was laced with bewilderment. There was an additional something you were meaning to vocalise, but any recollection of what it was disappeared once you were faced with the naked woman again.

"Johanna, I can't believe you're wandering around without any clothes, shouldn't you, yknow, put something on?" Fumbling your words here and there, a cloud of scarlet dust crept its way back up your neck.

"Well why do you think we're heading back to my room?" She mocked, inching closer to you, whispering, “What is it, baby? Do you not like my body?”

You froze, slightly wide-eyed, a feeling of dread at the lack of ability to think of something to say. Johanna just laughed.

“Okay…whatever, let’s hurry up then. I mean, what if someone sees you?” You finally responded, purposefully ignoring some parts of what she’d said, apparently more embarrassed than she was.

“You’ve already seen my plenty,” She smirked, her pointer finger jabbing into your shoulder, “So has Katniss, so has Haymitch, so has Peeta. It doesn’t bother me, I’ve been seen in worse states anyway, crying, shaking, covered in the blood of others, right? And the whole of Panem saw that.” The seductive expression never left her face while she was talking, a huge contrast to the words coming out of her mouth, the sinister undertones lacing them.

Johanna witnessed a change in you. She was enjoying the teasing and seeing you tense up every time she took a step closer to you, until getting any closer wouldn't leave room to breathe. Although it was doubtful that she would ever confess it, she disliked seeing you sad, and you were looking pretty dejected after she reminded you of the world you were living in, having been immersed in whatever was occurring between you both.

Eventually, you had gotten back to her apartment and Johanna wasted no time getting dressed into a more casual attire, disappearing into her closet. Her room appeared identical to yours: same rectangular shape, same double bed with the same luxuriously styled sheets, same window, and even the same bedside table.

"Is everything alright, Johanna?" You asked, growing ever more curious as to why she brought you all the way here.

"Mhm, yeah, why'd you ask?" She called back, still out of sight.

"Because…is there a reason why you wanted me here?" You could only imagine how timid you sounded, glad that she couldn't see you fidgeting about.

"Was you expecting something? I bet you thought you were gonna get lucky," Johanna almost howled, reappearing suddenly.

"What? No… we're friends… I don't know, maybe I thought you needed something…" Your voice trailed off, each word getting harder and harder to hear, almost a fearful whisper as you awkwardly laughed your way through your speech.

The unique effect Johanna caused whenever she was around you was extraordinary - a tense thrill that you could never want to dispose of. It was humiliating how you seemed to melt into a goopy, uncoordinated puddle on the floor each time she gave you the time of day. Considering the less-than-ideal world you lived in, not many things brought joy to your life, hence your strong attachment to the short-tempered tribute from District 7, thus, it would be a total lie to pretend that you weren't expecting anything to happen.

Seeing her on the opposite side of the space, you were caught in her cheery gaze, provoking a smile to form on your lips. This seemed to satisfy her ever-growing playful mood.

"Well maybe I do need something, baby…" Johanna suggested, a nonchalant grin gracing her alluring features.

It was aggravatingly slow. She wasn't even that far from you. Yet, Johanna took her sweet, sweet time moseying over, each step she took closing the gap keeping you apart.

"Whatever it is, I can try my best to help. I'm always here for you and stuff…" You claimed, the nerves rapidly ramping up. Fully aware that advice and a conversation weren't what the enticing woman before you desired.

An approving hum tickled your ears, Johanna was now so near to you that you could feel her warm breath on your lips, mere centimetres apart from hers. You were desperate to close the gap but couldn't bring yourself to do it, something was stopping you from finally putting an end to all the agonising tension. Maybe it was the fact that you couldn't possibly fathom the idea of someone as beautiful as Johanna expressing a romantic interest in you. Maybe her bringing you back to her room, backing you into a corner, was just another teasing gesture that in a few moments would be over and everything would die down the moment things started to feel serious between you and her.

"What is it, pretty girl? What are you thinking?" Johanna almost whispered against your lips, a whole new wave of red coating your cheeks.

Lacking a response, the beautiful woman took it upon herself to cup your face in her soft hand, feeling the heat radiating off your skin, while she gently tilted your chin, forcing you to meet her gaze. You observed an odd mix of emotions, her eyes suggesting seduction, lust, desperation, longing, yet, there was also uncertainty and fear.

"Johanna…please…"

As much as she was giving in to your pleas, Johanna was giving into herself, she'd been craving your affections and couldn't hold herself back any longer, though there was an isolated nervousness to her that was hidden excellently, you didn't notice a thing, too excited and wide-eyed her lips meeting yours.

It was barely a brush, a soft press, sudden feelings of hesitancy present again and the kiss did not last long. You felt quite satisfied, having managed to feel her lips against yours, even though it was short - yearning for more. Sparks ignited your entire bodies because of the tender moment, spurring Johanna on.

Her mouth soon connected back to yours, crashing into it hungrily, her tongue swiping across your lips, which you parted, accidentally whimpering into her mouth. This kiss continued to deepen, becoming bruising, you couldn't help but feel like she was being a little rough, not that you minded, triggering a similar amount of passion from you.

The past three years have brought a strange relationship into your life through the likes of Johanna, it had been very gradual, for starters, not seeing her as much as you had wanted caused your friendship to build at an excruciatingly slow pace, the romantic feelings that came later were danced around for far too long - tensions constantly high, the desire for one another ever-growing

Her hands roamed your body, fingers trailing around your hips, she grasped at your clothes and guided you backward pushing you flush up against the wall in her apartment. Clearly the more dominant out of the two of you, Johanna seemed to be in control, leading the kisses and the occasional touches over each other's aroused bodies.

Breaths were few and far between, more concerned with keeping the movement of your lips entwined; like your mouths were glued together, impossible to part, the simplicity of inhaling and exhaling became their least significant thing. But you did part, eventually, not wanting to lose the closeness, your hands remained tangled in her dark hair and Johanna left a series of pecks around your lips, regaining air every other second.

The erratic atmosphere came to a halt, presenting an opportunity to calm down. Faint pants could be heard, but that was all. A grin stretched across your face, wide and hopeful, never breaking eye contact with a content Johanna. She wasn't smug, amused, or teasing, appearing genuinely pleased. It was a moment you could bask in for hours, a golden glow basking you both, in her arms, playing with her luscious locks, reshaping the spikes that added so much to her personality without fail.

And then, she pulled away.

Immediately, you could sense something was wrong. The previously loved-filled eyes looking down at you in a memorised trance turned sinister, the happiness washing away and being swiftly replaced by…regret?

You could feel a shake against your waist, her smooth palms let go and she retreated back into herself. A distance had been put between you, physically and emotionally.

"Johanna, what is it? Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?" Whereas the words would usually come tumbling out of your mouth due to nervousness caused by a silly, awkward crush, here, you were stumbling and stammering because you could see the cogs turning in Johanna's mind - caught up in her own dreadful thoughts, a painful expression flashing her features.

She didn't respond. Growing worried by the second, you tried to move nearer, consequently, Johanna became infuriated, the intense anger she would aim towards everyone in the Capitol, a side of her you hadn't witnessed directly.

"You need to leave, go, I don't want you here!" She yelled, repeating it until her throat went sore and her eyes started to water from frustration.

Initially, you stood there, perfectly still. To understand would take a while. It was obvious how scared she was and that frightened you, you struggled to comprehend the abrupt change occurring so drastically, your world crashing down around you. The sweet bliss and sheer joy you had felt were rare, the last time you had felt so happy was hard to recall, however, your naive heart was being crushed by the one who had made it beat so freely.

Your stomach turned, nausea corrupting your senses, the shouts for you to leave never ending, and getting through to Johanna was impossible. Tears flowing, streaming down your cheeks, you made haste, slamming the door as you left - consumed by sorrow and bewilderment.

That night, you didn't get much sleep.

[mochaintherain]

Demense

Summary: You change your team lineup of starter characters. The subsequent Aftermath, revolving around a cryo user.

Word Count: ~1k

CW: Heavy religious themes, implied cultish behavior, (implied?) religious trauma, SAGAU

Add. Tags: Kaeya, Creator!Reader, unreliable narrator, reader is Not present in this story as a character.

Author's Note: Not proofread! I've no idea how to use Tumblr or format on mobile </3 please help me. did I miss something I DUNNO (´_ゝ`) WHERE EVEN AM I anyway kaeya is so babygirl

Never had Kaeya assumed the Gods would favor him. Not after the promise he made, the bonds he shared with both his fathers—his brother, and how easily his patchworked life tore beneath his feet, his right eye a constant reminder of all his failures.

So when Aether, Amber, and Lisa extended a hand toward his figure, purple light enveloping his being, bubbling with warmth that mended the bitterness of his past, and opened his eyes to the heavens—

How could he not become Your believer?

Soon, he would travel the entirety of Mondstat, escaping his duties whilst discovering treasures, receiving divine gifts: goblets, circlets, feathers—and participating in...rather strange rituals. You made him carry a hefty bag of mora and flowers, gems, remants of slain regisvines, to the zenith of Starsnatch Cliff before imbuing him with unknown strength that coarsed through his veins.

Aether called it an "initiation", to forever be acquainted with divine blessings, to be Yours. He affirmed the sole reason he'd been able to save Dvalin, the entirety of Mondstat, was due to You, granting him the privilege of becoming a vessel.

"...Vessel, huh?" The word stuck to his tongue like a bitter saccharine. Even worse--You seemingly vanished, leaving he and his comrades hollowed by Your absence. After a desperate letter and trek sent back home, the reception back in the City of Wind was nothing less than suffocating.

A small gathering of vision wielders greeted them at the gate, welcoming them home. Yet, the sun never penetrated his body. The bite of sheer cold blossomed in his veins, making him tremble with every step he took—the first of many which he had to be conscious of; and breathing, keeping his heart beating, leaving him winded and dizzy. Your gaze took away his autonomy, rendering him a spectator in his own corpse, but You left him with the most joyous of dreams and slumbers; abandoning him forced everything back into his muscles, and he scrambled to remember what it was like to be alive without you. However, that was hardly the worst part.

His friends who cheered at his safety—

their smiles did not meet their eyes.

Instead, replaced was envy, resentment, and the brewing notion that he was a fraud, tricking the Creator and seducing You into loving him. They swirled, in vile concoctions, behind each of their pupils. Yet they paraded around him like he, himself, was divinity. Did they all wish he never came back? Would they tear each other apart for a chance at Your Grace?

Maybe his death was an opportune moment.

Unfortunately, he lived.

"Welcome back, everyone. I'm glad the Creator brought you back safe and sound." Jean bowed slightly, relief written on her lips.

"Hmm...go on and rest for now. Tommorow, you can tell us what all your travels uncovered." Albedo smiled, nodding at him and Lisa in particular.

Klee bounced on the soles of her heels, waving her hands to the weary travelers. "Yay! Kaeya's back! And Amber and Lisa and Mr. Honorary knight!" she cheered, beaming.

"Ah...why don't we all go back to the cathedral? I can heal you all of any injuries!" the deaconess suggested, a strain of a smile forming on her face.

"...Welcome back," Diluc muttered, most likely dragged along by the Acting Grand Master.

"Hey, on the way there, why don't I sing you all a song? No wine in exchange!" The enigmatic bard hummed, giving them all a wink.

Kaeya heaved a ragged breath, forcing a small laugh out his lips. "Sorry, but I think I'll pass. I'd much rather rest at Angel's Share," he responded, ignoring the pointed glare from a certain redhead. "After all, the Creator never afforded us any sort of wine; I'd certainly die if I had to spend another day without it."

"Huh...?" Barbara said, "b-but, Sir Kaeya—"

She was interrupted with a solemn headshake from the librarian.

"None of us are hurt," Lisa reaffirmed, "let him be...We'll tell you everything."

The Calvary Captain huffed, breaking away from the group and stumbling into the tavern, his countenance morphed into the expression he held all those years ago, when he first received his vision.

Haunted.

Nothing had changed since his leave, though there were far less customers than usual. Did the other citizens feel You vanish too? Or was that a curse reserved only for the puppets You deemed fit for control?

"Charles, the strongest, if you please."

Alcohol had left his throat burning, a reprieve from the sudden, chilling, desolation. After his "ascension", he was no longer the same man. In gazing upon him, You stole away a piece of his soul, a void only able to be filled by You and You only.

It wasn't too long before the bar's door opened again.

"What are you up to, Kaeya?" Diluc stayed near the entrance, not bothering to move toward the stools.

"I'm not in the mood," he hissed, downing his glass too quickly to savour.

Diluc forewent the usual quips he'd aim toward his brother, settling in a silent scrutiny. He was never one to favor the Gods. They stood in one another's solitude, drinking until the "Darknight Hero" woke to dusk.

Then, Kaeya was truly alone. Truly, utterly alone, with not even the eyes of which he'd come to expect. After all, he, a barely devoted follower, could never stay in the Divine's gaze forever.

Even so, the ache in Kaeya's heart screamed that the Gods had forsaken him again; being a vessel was far more merciful than being 'Kaeya'. Because if he wasn't a vessel, he was emptier than he'd ever been.

And when Lisa wrote to him, musing about how his Prototype rancour ended up in the hands of the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing, how strong she was—he knew he'd been discarded.

...

If he were more pious, would You deign to look at him once again?

[ato-catto]

Requested by: @justmewoo

What If I'm Not Enough?

Piccolo x reader

Mentions of pregnancy and childbirth/sadness/turmoil

You looked beautiful, holding baby Bulla to your chest while you and Bulmaz  gushed over the newborn with the other Z fighter wives.

Piccolo crossed his arms against his chest in an attempt to subdue the growing feeling in his chest, watching you gently press a bottle nib into the mewling infants mouth, bouncing and shushing her- lulling her into a sleepy feed.

His dark pupils widened slightly, his heart thumping just a little harder. You looked so ... happy.

Come to think of it, you were the right age for motherhood. Not that he could give it to you. Piccolo glowered slightly, turning away from you in a mixture of sadness and shame.

You two could never have a family. Namekians were not built that way- to reproduce with a woman.

Gohan noticed Piccolos dark look and hunched shoulders and smiled at him.

"What's up, Mister Piccolo? You look like someone just rained on your parade!"

Piccolo let out a slow sigh. "I'm fine." He lied. He felt awful.

Gohan frowned, and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Sympathetic to what he didn't know-- yet. "Piccolo you look miserable. What is it? You can tell me, ya know?"

Piccolo turned away and looked out at the horizon over Capsule Corps pools. "She looks so happy with the baby. And I can't give her that." He said, his voice deep and quiet.

Gohan glanced over at you, watching you play with baby Bulla, smiling happily while you shook a little silver rattle. He sighed.

"Ah. I'm sorry Piccolo. I guess that wouldn't be on the cards for you guys, huh?"

Piccolo tensed and his frown got deeper, his arms tightening across his chest. "Clearly not."

Gohan didn't know what exactly to say- he couldn't relate to the predicament at all, watching Pan fly about with her Uncle Goten and Trunks. "Maybe you guys could consider adoption? Or, oh! You could vomit up an egg..? Apparently Namekians do that."

Piccolo grimaced. "I would rather not." He grumbled, his antennae drooping. "It wouldn't be our baby. It would just be mine."

Gohan nodded. "True. I'm sorry Piccolo. I don't know what to say."

Piccolo didnt need him to say anything. His mind was already made; Slowly pull away from you until you found another human you could copulate with.

Even if it broke his heart- he wanted you happy.

And you seemed happiest around children and babies. Your maternal instincts shone out from within you like a whole new type of power. You looked the part, acted the part.. it was destroying him to see you go without a family.

Every time you came to visit him over the next few weeks, he pulled away from you everytime you tried to fully wrap your arms around him to embrace him. Confused, you kept to yourself the rest of the week, thinking perhaps he didn't want to be touched at the moment.

Before you left one night, you turned to kiss him goodbye but was met with a stony glare. "Piccolo, what is with you at the moment?"

Piccolo just turned away, once again crossing his arms defensively over his chest. "Nothing. I'm not acting any differently than I normally do." He grunted, refusing to make eye contact with you.

"You have kissed me in almost two weeks, and everytime I try to even touch you- you pull away like I have some awful disease."

He didn't respond, he just turned and walked into his home, letting the door click shut behind him. What you took as a purely rude and hateful response was actually the big stoic Namekian hiding the welling tears threatening to spill.

He had hated every second of the last few weeks, but in his eyes it was for the greater good.

But he loved you so much it was ripping him apart.

You went home, a cloud of thunder hanging over your head . You sobbed into your pillow when you tried to sleep, your soul starved of the love you had been so used to for the past three or so years. You missed the Namekians touch, and murmered compliments and gentle kisses.

Did he not love you anymore? Had he grown tired of you?

The relationship was not sexless- despite Piccolos absence of a manhood. There was a passion there that was irrefutable. It wasnt the absence of passion whatsoever.

Perhaps... perhaps it was because you weren't biologically compatible.  He could give you a baby and you couldn't bore him a family.

The realisation hit you in the gut- this had started the day he saw you with Bulmas new baby girl.

You tore out of bed and shoved on your shoes, running to his home across pitch black plains, only lit by moonlight. "Piccolo!" You cried, his door opening before you reached it. His onyx eyes sparkled in the silver moonlight, his body language still guarded.

"What are you doing here so late? It's not safe at night-" he began, staring down at you with forced indifference.

"Piccolo- we don't need a baby to be happy. I love you- us! - just the way we are. If we want a family we can go through other means," hot tears stung your cheeks and you pleaded before him, watching his scowl melt away from his face. "But please! Don't leave me! I need you."

Piccolo dropped to his knees and hugged you against him so hard you felt your spine pop in several places. He let out a single huffed sob and buried his pointed nose into your hair.

"I'm stupid." He growled, shaky breaths making his shoulders tremble. "I'm so stupid. I'm sorry."

You wrap your arms around his neck. You had missed this closeness so much. "You were stupid. Don't ever think I would give you up for anything else. You are perfect just the way you are and I wouldn't change you for the world."

"But you looked so happy with Bulla.. and you always talk about being a mother." Piccolo pulled back to swipe your tears away with his thumbs.

"I also talk about being a chef." You giggled through tears. "It doesn't mean we have to do it now, right away, or even ever."

He watched your smile before it spread to him, his little fangs poking over his lip. "You're right. You're always right, somehow." Leaning forward, he placed his lips on yours, kissing you with the power of two weeks of missed kisses.

After all, there was always the dragon balls. ;)

[tqmies]

Can I request Mark + College or Fake dating + prompt 42?

Rush | Mark Lee

Part of Tqmies 1K Event!

college & fake dating au, 42. “Who’s laughing now?” “…Clearly not you. You’re crying, dear God.”  wc: 1k Note: why choose an AU when we can have both ?!

"I want to piss off my parents - Which isn't illogical, by the way - so what better way than to drag you into it?!"

"Is this supposed to make me agree?" You quirk a brow, tapping a nail on the desk in front of you. And your wearing a frown, taken aback by the sheer audacity of the male in front of you, who you haven't spoken to in years, asking you for help.

"It'll only be for a bit! I'll parade you around for a bit, make my mom blow up in her chair, and then we'll fake break up!"

"I'm missing the part where I benefit from this.. And why me anyways?" You loll your head to the side, its not like you were a particularly bad influence or anything. You were nice, hard working, and a good student. If anything, you were a mothers dream for their son.

"My mom hates your mom."

Ah there it was, the moment of truth. You and Mark's mom had attended high school together, and from what you know, the two weren't fond of each other at all.

But your mom held no ill intent towards Mark, would Mark's mom hate you? How immature, doesn't sound too far off of what your mom would say.

"Still don't see what I get from it." You shrug, going back to your book.

"You'll get to date me." He points at himself, eye brows raised as he's dead serious. He thought of himself as a catch, why weren't you jumping at him?

You want to laugh in his face.

"And I'll pay you."

"Now we're talking." You nod, not one above being payed off. Hey, you'd done far more questionable things for as little as twenty dollars.

But being faced with someone as affluent as Mark, you're sure you'd get a check out of this.

Which is why you're now standing beside him as he shoves his hands in his pockets, waiting for his parents to get the doorbell. You had to admit it, you were kind of nervous.

Not that you really liked Mark or anything, but you weirdly felt pressured to win over his parents.

The door opens and you're met with Mark's dad, and he offers his a son a curt nod before he turns towards you. "Oh, will you be joining us for dinner tonight?"

The smile is wiped off your face. "He didn't tell you?"

Mark's dad shakes his head, and Mark avoids any direct eye contact with you. Oh you were going to piss Mark's parents off, that's for sure. Mark's dad just turns and heads inside, the two of you following after.

You enter behind him into the kitchen, where Mark's mom is. Her eyes widen among seeing you, "Mark, honey, I didn't know you were bringing a guest."

"Ma, this is my girlfriend."

You expect steam to blow out of her head, for her to angrily rage and demand you leave, to even start cursing out her son.

But she does none of that, instead offering you a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you. Mark didn't tell me we were having guests, or else I would've cooked up something special."

You shake your head, unable to stop yourself from returning the kindness. "The food smells amazing."

Why'd Mark want to piss off such nice people anyways?

The evening goes pretty well, and Mark thinks that he's not getting his moneys worth. He had bet by this time at night that you'd be getting ran out of the house as he got berated for dating you.

But none of that is happening, in fact his mom looks happy as ever. She doesn't mind your mother either, she had to know by now, you had even given her the names of your parents when she asked. So why was she keeping it together so well? Didn't they hate each other?

You tell Mark's mom your major and she jumps up. "Oh wow, so pretty and smart. How did my son manage to snag you?"

You just nervously laugh, shrugging playfully. "I don't know either."

"Mark usually brings home such trouble makers." She shakes her head as she cuts into her food. "It's a relief to see he found someone so good for him."

..

Mark slams the door as he climbs into the drivers seat, and you can tell he's mad. And really, you can't blame him, seeing as his parent's didn't seem pissed off at all.

"Well, guess your genius plan didn't work out after all, guess I'm just too likable." You make a snark comment, crossing your arms.

Mark leans his head against his steering wheel as you continue.

"Tried to use me to piss off those sweet people! Jokes on you, Who's laughing now?" You mock, facing Mark when he doesn't respond.

Instead you notice wet tears fall off his face, the sound of sniffling as well. You grow confused at that. ".. Clearly not you. You're crying, dear God."

He wipes as his face aggressively as he sits back up. He looks at you as he scoffs. "My parents don't like anyone, okay? Even if they didn't care about your mom, I knew they'd find something to pick at you for. They always comment on my date's outfit or their manners."

"Oh wow, I'm sorry Mark. That's really shitty." You respond.

"But the one time I try and piss them off, they like you?" He says, bewildered. "Not a single bad thing to say? And it's all for a girl that I'm not even dating. God, I'm such a loser, why did I think this was a good idea? How am I going to explain that I let the one good thing I had go?"

You assume he's referring to you not showing up anymore, and for as little as you know the boy, you find yourself sympathizing. "I can always show up again, if that helps."

He nods a little, "Sorry I dragged you into this."

You can't believe you ever agreed to this fake dating thing, but something you tells you that you'll be sticking around longer that you intended.

[berylcups]

Okay okay this my last OC for part 5 I swear-! This is Dolce! She’s 22, 5ft on the dot. She is Singaporean Chinese and Japanese living in Napoli since she was 14. She had dead beat parents, her mother basically dropped her off on her father who’s a hitman himself for Dio. Who is he? Well let’s just say he’s super arrogant and has a goopy yellow stand that shapeshifts. 😬 He left her at a boarding school in Napoli when she was 14 and has never came back. Did he die? Or did he move on to a better life? She’ll never know and doesn’t want that closure because either answer would kill her inside. 💔

She’s mostly calm and rational. Shes willing to hear Ghiaccios rants out and give reasons to why certain things the way that they are and or just sympathize with his frustrations. She looks like a valley girl but looks are deceiving- she’s intelligent and knows exactly what to say to keep everyone happy. The only issue is her accent can be a bit thick. So sometimes she needs to repeat herself. She keeps a journal to remind herself how to properly pronounce Italian words and understand Italian slang words. She came to this country not knowing a single Italian word of other than “Ciao”.

She’s Ghiaccios significant other because she’s just so patient with him and she loves that he gives her his full attention- even if it’s just him yelling at her over a stupid idiom. She has a soft spot for nerds and men who’re aggressively dominant. 🥰

There is a bit of a twisted side to her. Sometimes she gets a little too excited when it’s time for her missions. She loves the thrill of the chase and the agony of the victims as they dissolve to death. She has a sickening cackle that’s very unladylike according to Prosciutto. But he’s not going to rain on her parade! Melone suspects this is her way of her getting her own frustrations out and stress out since she’s always the emotional support for the rest of the team.

She has her hobbies like everyone else. She loves to make her own clothing and dreams of being a fashion designer. But those dreams died the minute you joined a crime syndicate. She’s the one you come to if you need your clothes fixed- got holes? Blood stains? Rips and tears? Missing a button? She’s got you covered. 👍

She has a gruesome stand called Lollirot that’s a mech queen bee that shoots out acidic goopy ammo that sticks to people like gum and dissolves them like acid. (Gross) The ammo is affected by temperature so cold temps can make it harden and turn it to acidic shrapnel and it causing it cut up a poor soul and heat back up with body heat making it stick to them again. So she’s paired up with Ghiaccio and Melone majority of the time. It feeds off her blood sugar so she’s always having to consume some sort of sugar to keep her ammo handy or else…hypoglycemia 😬 that could be used against her but she’s gonna hide that secret like her life depends on it because it does!

Ah~ my heart is racing. Why do I always get nervous when I share OCs?! 😭 I hope you all love this little gremlin.

PS- I’m also gonna write a tiny Drabble about calamari interacting with the others to get an idea of how they get along with the others. 👀 it might take a while- I got like 9 men for them to interact with lmao