#and I leave it as an exercise for the reader how the egg came to be in the first place

[kingdomoftyto]

Been sick at work the last couple days but the self-imposed quiet isolation has given me time to finally come up with my next D&D character!!

This is my ex-gladiator Josephine and her beautiful fisherwoman wife, living their best country life together in the little remote border town

They look so happy together! I sure hope nothing bad h

OOPS TOO LATE, WIFE'S DEAD

Jo vowed to never touch a blade again when she left her old life behind so she's going to have to avenge her family with her bare hands (and flame breath)

She's a shameless tribute to "The Ballad of Smokin' Joe Rudeboy" with some little twists to make her fit the setting, and I can't wait to see this angry dragon lady in action

[danikamariewrites]

Hiding in Plain Sight

Cazriel x reader

Warnings: eating disorder/disordered eating, anxiety, angst, comfort at the end

If reading about Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating makes you uncomfortable please don’t read. Your health comes first.

Azriel stares at you across the table, a worried frown pulling at his lips. He watched you push your breakfast around the plate. His hazel eyes occasionally dart to Cassian, silently begging him to notice that there is something wrong with their mate.

But nothing. Cassian was busy joking with Amren and making sure Elain found it funny that he picked on the ancient being.

There wasn’t much on your plate to begin with. A small scoop of eggs, one piece of bacon, and half of a bagel. Placing your fork on the plate you nudge it away from you. No one would notice that you barely touched your food anyway.

Besides, you had a big dinner last night. There was no need for a big breakfast.

That was the problem with the River House. Every meal was big. And your absence wouldn’t go unnoticed.

The edge of the plate presses against your fingers gently. Looking up from your lap you see a shadow discreetly moving your plate closer to the edge of the table, urging you to eat.

You raise a brow at the shadow before it scurries back across the table to rest at Azriel’s shoulders. Your eyes dart to your mate, briefly making eye contact with him.

You start to fidget nervously feeling the scrutiny of his gaze. Swallowing hard, you stand from the table, excusing yourself to your office for the day.

You were just too anxious. A permanent knot has formed in your stomach over the last week. It feels like your throat closes up on you and you can’t breathe when you try to eat. The only thing you’re able to stomach has been water.

Having Azriel look at you like that had your heart racing in panic. You feel like a burden to your mates at times, especially when your anxiety lasts long periods of time.

Sitting at your desk you take deep breaths, pouring a glass of water. After taking a few sips you get to work, focusing on the needs of the city and keeping your side of the bond closed.

Up in the training ring Azriel’s mind is still on you. Were you not eating again? Or was it just this morning? Last time you struggled with eating it ended you came to them for help. It wasn’t like Cassian and Azriel judged you or thought less of you. They worry about you only because they love you.

Cassian nudges Azriel’s shoulder as he strolls by, leaving the Valkyries to their warm up exercises.

“What’s wrong?” He crosses his arms trying to keep a stoic facade up. Azriel knew Cassian was worried and stressed. He could feel it in his own chest. Knew there were thoughts of you running through Cass’s mind because they echoed in his own.

“I think y/n is struggling again.” Azriel says bluntly, not wanting to dance around the topic as they have before.

Cassian’s jaw muscle feathers. Hurt and anger bubbling in his chest quickly. Azriel lays a gentle hand on his arm to calm him. “Listen,” Azriel growls. “I know how this makes you feel. Angry and powerless, we can’t fight this, only she can. But we can help her.”

Azriel holds the general by his shoulders, forcing Cassian to meet his gaze. “Talk to me Cass.” He inhales sharply, eyes lined with silver as he looks up. “I just…I feel useless to her.” Azriel gently holds Cassian’s face. “You aren’t. We aren’t. I promise, she needs us.”

Deciding to skip dinner, you head straight for your rooms. Exhausted from anxiety making you physically sick.

Opening the door you’re taken aback seeing Cassian and Azriel sitting on the couch. “Oh, Hi my loves.” You put on a fake smile, trying to convince your mates to not ask questions.

Azriel gives you a sad smile, striding across the room to hold you. At his touch you crumbled.

Sobbing into Azriel’s chest he rubs your back in soothing motions. “It’s ok,” he whispers against your temple.

Cassian watches from his spot on the couch. Tears of his own silently sliding down his cheeks. Feeling your anguish through the bond had Cassian wanting to crawl out his skin.

Gods, if this is what you’ve been struggling with on a daily basis you must be stronger than him.

He quickly makes his way across the room, holding you from behind. Cassian presses a long kiss to the back of your head. Scooping you from Azriel he walks you over to bed, cradling you to his chest like you’d cease to exist if he let go.

“Tell me what to do, how do I fix this?” Cassian pleads quietly. You bury your face deeper into his chest, no longer holding your emotions back from your mates. Your shoulders shake as your sobs continue.

Taking deep breaths makes your sobs calm. Sitting up you wipe at your face. Cassian pulls you right back to his chest, needing to hold you.

“I don’t know how to fix this. I can’t make it stop. Every time I think I get better it all comes back worse.”

Cassian looks at Azriel, both males giving each other a pained look. “I’m sorry, sweet pea. I’m so sorry.” Cassian whispers. “We’re here for you. And I swear I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

“We won’t let you face your problems alone, y/n.” Azriel says, pressing a kiss to the back of your head. You reach out to hold his hand.

Settling into your mates’ comforting embrace you focus on clearing your mind. “Thank you,” you say softly. Your mates respond by squeezing you between them. “We love you, y/n.”

“More than you can imagine.”

You curl into them, letting their love reach you through that precious golden string.

[literaila]

can you please write a Peter Parker x reader one shot where the reader gets injured and when Peter comes to visit her in the hospital her crush is exposed because her heart monitor keeps going insane 🙏🙏 she’ll get really embarrassed and he may tease her a bit but ultimately her feelings end up being reciprocated. There could be some angst when she gets hurt but I am the number one fan of teeth-rotting fluff that will make me giggle and kick my feet 😍🫶 could be a friends to lovers situation or an established relationship if you’d like!!! I love ur writing <3

he’s trying to kill me

tasm!peter x fem!reader

a/n: it’s only proper for this to be a hurt reader comfort peter fic (and i mean that literally)

“what is wrong with you?”

you’re momentarily shocked when an accompanying voice bursts through the room. the words are loud and imposing, and completely distracting you away from the already rough rasp and egg smelling breath of the doctor trying to explain how reckless you were being.

but the new voice is angrier than the first; harder and louder.

there’s still uncertain goosebumps running up your skin when he walks through the doors with his chest heaving and eyes dark, pushing past the doctor like he doesn’t even realize that the woman is there, or just doesn’t care.

but his hands are gentle as they reach you, and his face is anything but shocking.

the doctor is glancing around his shoulder, a worried look in her eyes.

quickly, your muscles relax. you’re used to this imposition. your nerves settle, and you allow peter the chance to freak out for the both of you.

his hands run over your cheeks, his eyes darting over every possible inch of skin they can find. his frown is unburdened and furious. when he is satisfied with his scan of you—all limbs accounted for—peter’s shoulders lose a bit of their tension.

although you allow peter to pull you closer to him, his eyes are threatening, and not even your small greeting of a smile gets his face to settle.

he hugs you—crushing your head against his chest—and then quickly let’s you go, like he’s just realized that you’re made of lava.

but not too far, of course. peter is well within a foot distance.

“what is wrong with you?” he repeats, but a hiss this time. a punishment awaiting its victim. a demand of you. “are you crazy?”

your brows furrow back at him. “i’m fine, peter, now shush. let me listen to the doctor.” your voice is firm, but your chastising is ruined by the tip of a smile at your lips.

your hands wrap around peters arm, moving him away from blocking your view of the doctor.

you nod for her to continue.

“your x-rays came back fine, and there’s nothing unusual about your blood work. the only concern i have is about your head—“

“her head?” peter repeats, voice a bit high. you give him a look to shut up. pinching the skin of his arm, but he doesn’t flinch. just stares at you like you might disappear. or you gained four additional eyes.

she clears her throat. “it looks to be a minor concussion, but any more blunt force trauma might worsen your condition. so it’s important that you take extra precautions in the next couple of weeks, and avoid doing anything that might affect your head. no strenuous exercise, or harsh movement.”

“so no alleyway fist fights?”

she doesn’t laugh, and neither does peter. the tension within the room remains, swirling over you like a cumulonimbus cloud.

but he does interrupt once again. “could it get worse on its own?” he asks, eyes darting between you and her. “do i need to be watching for anything? checking her pupils every once in a while, or making sure she’s not excessively napping for the next couple of days—“

“it shouldn’t be necessary.” she looks back to you, and you can see the sarcasm in her eyes. “if you develop any unusual symptoms, schedule an appointment with your physician. but otherwise, you’re free to leave whenever they bring in your paperwork.”

you feel peter sigh next to you, and you shake your head. “thanks, doc.”

“i’ll have a nurse bring in a list of information about any reoccurring symptoms, and the healing process for your brain over the next month.”

you nod.

the doctor clears her throat once again, giving you a tight lipped smile and nodding at peter, and then she runs out of the room as fast as humanly possible.

you watch her go but peter is staring at you. eventually, when you’ve been dwelling on the pattern of the tile for a moment too long, you look back.

and what you see is expected; harsh lines and worried dimples, stormy eyes and a gash of a frown ruining his otherwise perfect face.

you sigh.

peter swallows. “are you going to explain yourself?”

you lean forward, small teasing smile on your lips as you rest your chin on a hand. “explain what? my headache?”

“c’mon, i’m serious,” his frown doesn’t budge, but he nudges your leg so he can sit down next to you. “what were you thinking?”

he sighs again, shoulders falling, and leans his head next to yours. when he’s this close, you can see the lines wearing under his eyes. you can smell smoke coming off of his skin.

“i was thinking that my doctor needs to improve her bedside manner, and that my boyfriend needs to learn how to wait his turn to speak.”

“i’m not kidding. you could’ve hurt yourself—you’ve already got a concussion.”

“a minor concussion.”

“does it matter?” peter mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

“i’m fine, baby, all bandaged up and everything.”

peter pushes himself up, meeting your eyes with an unfound passion. “this time,” he urges, getting closer, he glances at the door. “but what about next time when you decide to jump off a building just to prove you can fly?”

“i’m not icarus,” you shake your head. “you needed help, peter. i’m not going to let someone get hurt just so i don’t.”

“that’s my job.”

“that’s every good samaritans job,” you roll your eyes, hand brushing through his hair, feeling the dirt build up under your fingertips. “just because you have an advantage over everyone else doesn’t mean that you’re the only one who gets to be a hero.”

“dying isn’t heroic.”

you scoff. “that’s actually the most heroic thing a person can do, but i’m going to let you have this one so you don’t go and get any ideas.”

he bites his lip, swallowing. “you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“well so could you, but you don’t see me bursting into your room and interrupting—“

“that’s not the same thing.”

“how, peter?” you ask, shaking your head and giving him a small smile. “how is this any different?”

“because i can handle it!”

he moves away from you, and throws his head back, sighing out of frustration and looking at you with gentler, more pained eyes. “i can handle it,” he repeats.

“are you saying that if you were standing where i was you wouldn’t have pushed that woman out of the way?”

“i—“

“you cant expect me to watch you save everyone and not help when i can.”

peters eyes catch yours, and you watch him struggle to speak. but eventually he whispers, “you got hurt.”

“i’m okay, though. really.”

“i don’t…” peter shakes his head. “i don’t want, i can’t—ugh.”

you reach for his hand, running a finger over bruised knuckles. “i appreciate your concern,” you tell him, softly. “i know you’re just worried, but you have to let me make my own decisions. you cant rescue everyone all the time.”

“you would be enough.”

you snort. “peter, you have the worlds biggest savior complex. if you let a single person get hurt—even if they live in antarctica—you brood for days. i don’t expect you to watch other people suffer, but i need you to respect the same for me.”

your words are almost biting.

there’s a moment where peter looks at you, and then glances towards the wall. “are you mad?”

you frown. “no, of course not. annoyed or frustrated, maybe. but not mad.”

he gestures beside you with his head. “your hearts beating really fast.”

you look over to the screen next to your head, watching the lines rise and fall rapidly. and then down to your finger, with the cursed device making it apparent to everyone in the room.

“that’s just my resting heart rate,” you say, curled lip and waved hand.”

peter licks his lip. “oh, really?”

“yes, peter. you put on the finger thingy and let’s see how fast your hearts going.”

“i’m not the patient here. are you feeling alright? light headed? dizzy?”

“i’m feeling interrogated.”

peter moves closer to you, eyes darting towards the screen by your head, then to your eyes. he moves away, and his eyes squint. “hmm.”

you look with him, furrowed brows. “what?“

he leans forward again. “there seems to be a common factor.”

“i already told you—“

“every time i move closer to you your heart rate spikes.”

you roll your eyes. “that’s because i’m mad at you.”

“i thought you said you weren’t mad?”

“things have changed.”

peter laughs and leans down to kiss your hairline. when he moves back his eyes aren’t on you. a small smirk falls on his lips, and he moves to kiss your cheek. and then the other.

you don’t need to watch your heart rate to feel the heat rising in your chest.

he leaves a peck on your nose, and moves to kiss the side of your jaw. his kisses are gentle and ticklish, and when his nose runs along your cheekbone, you have to refrain from shivering.

he’s incredibly annoying.

peter moves back as little as possible so he can watch the screen. “maybe i should leave the room.”

“maybe you should get over yourself.”

peter moves forward again, kissing your cupids bow. and then his lips are at your ear and his fingertips are grazing your jaw.

“you first,” he whispers.

you groan and tilt your head, trying to shake him off of you. “this isn’t fair. get your own monitor.”

“let’s just focus on you right now.”

your hand locks around his neck, the other moving to his hair. peters eyes are almost shocked at the feeling, but his momentary surprise gives you the perfect opportunity to pull him closer.

to actually kiss him and avoid dying of any more teasing.

peters smile is evident against your lips, but he doesn’t move away, and his breath meets your own in gentle strokes.

his hand is smooth as he tilts your chin up.

you can feel your own heartbeat, but peter takes his other hand so he can rest two fingers against your neck, feeling for your pulse.

you want to die at the feeling.

“interesting,” he says, his lips brushing yours.

you roll your eyes while they’re still closed, and hope that he can feel it. “shut up.”

peter laughs again, and guides you in short but tense kisses, like he’s trying to make sure that you’re still breathing.

he doesn’t budge when you try to force him closer.

and before you can get him to kiss you properly again, there’s a clearing of a throat, and a different kind of spike in your heartbeat.

a nurse stands behind peter, looking a bit uncomfortable.

peter moves away, swallowing, and greeting the nurse with a shake of his hand. she’s holding a clipboard and a juice box, giving the two of you a brief smile. “sorry to interrupt,” she says.

peter laughs and looks back at you with wide eyes.

you smile, then point at peter. “he’s trying to kill me.”

*

[lachesismoonmist]

I've Been Watching You - Chp 3

Cheese Scrambled Eggs

Rating: Mature. Minors dni

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook / Reader

Words: Total: 73k

Status: Complete. 3 out of 26

Summary There's a hot new guy in the gym. You can't keep your eyes off him, and it seems he can't keep his off you either. What starts out as Friends-with-Benefits turns into something a lot more complicated as your past comes back to haunt you and you find out your best friend's long-kept secret.

Originally posted on AO3

MY MASTERLIST

Chapter 3: Cheese Scrambled Eggs

“If I have to sit through another talk about homeotherapies for pets, I’m going to pull my hair out and scream”, I complained on the phone.

“Well, you did sign up for this three-day conference on alternative therapies in veterinary medicine”, Jimin reminded me. “Did you forget that you flew halfway across the country for this?”

“The only saving grace about that is I used my miles, and the food here is pretty decent.”

“When does your flight get in tonight? I miss you!” Jimin whined. “I haven’t had a decent cheese scrambled egg since the other day when I saw you leave the gym with Jungkook”.

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen. I gave you the recipe for it.”

“But it just doesn’t taste the same! Mine aren’t fluffy at all” I could almost see Jimin’s pout, his lower lip sticking out prettily. “Speaking of Jungkook, so, what happened? And don’t say you’re so busy attending talks you can even stop for five minutes to tell your best friend – is Jungkook a good lay?”

“What do you think? With those bulging muscles, he was bulging in all the right places.”

“Was he huge?”

“HUGE.”

“Thick?”

“VERY THICK. But he was also very sweet. He cleaned me up after he fucked me senseless on his marble vanity”.

“Ooh, sounds like someone had a good time. Are you going to have another booty call?”

“I don’t know yet… “

“Well, he’s been asking about you. The first day you were away he came over to me and asked where you were. I told him you were away at a three-day conference. I swear you could see the gears turning in his head processing that information. He was very polite though, he thanked me then left”.

“That was it?”

“Nope” Jimin said, popping the ‘p’. “He came up to me again this morning, asking me when you’d be back in the gym. He had that hopeful puppy dog look on his face. I told him you’d most likely be back in the gym tomorrow. You should have seen how he smiled.“

“Awww… he’s so cute. So you think I ought to give him another go”?

“It’s up to you. I would though. Those doe eyes, and that lip ring…”

“You know I still wonder how it is you’re not gay”.

“Please, I could never give up having pussy. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a hot piece of hunk when I see one.”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “OK Jiminie, I need to leave for the airport soon.”

“Do you want me to come over later?”

“It’s okay Jiminie. I think I’ll just crash tonight. Get an early start tomorrow”.

“Ok honey, see you”.

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

The gym was particularly crowded. It was the beginning of a long weekend, and it seems everyone had decided to put in some gym time. I waved at a few of the regulars and smiled when I saw Jimin, who in his usual fashion, was flirting with a new girl. The girl looked very young, all slender with smooth, long hair, and a sweet pixie face. Just Jimin’s type.

I did a round on the various cable machines and finished up with squats at the Smith Machine. My legs were starting to feel like jelly, so I sat on the exercise bench, wiping my brow and taking a big swig of cold water. Then I felt my hair stand on end, and there was a strange buzz of energy. He was here.

Jungkook stood just inside of the entrance to the gym, his eyes sweeping over the crowd till they came to rest on me. He broke out into a wide smile, eyes twinkling as he strode over to me.

“Hello”, his voice rumbled in his chest as he looked down at me.

“Hello yourself” I smiled, blinking up at him.

“So… I heard you were away at a conference. What conference was it?”

“You really want to know?” Nod. “Alternative therapies in veterinary medicine.”

“You’re a vet? No way. I wanted to become one when I was a kid.”

“Then what happened?”

“My dad bought me a Canon AE-1 and the rest is history. Where do you work?”

“Actually, I have my own practice – Artemis Sanctuary”.

“Artemis belongs to you?” he asked with wide eyes. “It’s the top rated veterinary clinic in the state! I just brought my dog Bam there for his check-up and yearly shot”.

“Bam is a …..”

“A Doberman. He’s got a black and brown coat.” Jungkook had a goofy smile on his face as he thought about his dog. It was adorable.

“He sounds cute.”

“Y/N!” Jimin interrupted as he packed up his gym bag. “Let’s go! You owe me cheese scrambled eggs, and I need to pick up my brother from the train station after breakfast!”

“Sorry,” I apologized to Jungkook, “Chef duties await”.

Jungkook laughed “Sure. Jimin sounds hungry. Here… “ he took my phone which was on the bench beside me and punched in his number. He pressed dial to make sure he got a call from me, then passed my phone back to me. “Maybe I’ll get to try your cheese scrambled eggs some time”. He winked, then strode off to the men’s changing room.

“What was that about?” Jimin asked as he reached my side.

“Looks like you’re not the only one who likes cheese scrambled eggs”. I quipped, smiling.

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

Having Jimin’s brother in town was like having a 10-year old having a sugar high living with you. In this case, a beefy 24 year-old who didn’t want to waste any moment of the day. The minute he got off the train and wrapped Jimin and me in a crushing bear hug he dragged us to a new brunch place he’d read about. Then he wanted to go go-karting now that racing-track had just reopened after renovations. I managed to escape the go-karting, pleading the excuse that I had patients to check on. But that was not before he made me promise to go clubbing that night. Jimin, who was a bit huffy that I wasn’t saving him from having to go go-karting, smiled evilly and said he would fix me up with a really cool guy from work.

So here I was, standing outside the club in my new “clubbing dress”. A deep red halter neck dress that left most of my back bare. The material had tiny silver sparkles in it, making the fabric glimmer when I moved. The skirt was a little short for my taste, ending a little below my ass, but it showed off my long legs. I made a mental note not to bend over and end up showing my matching red thong to everyone in the club. Smokey eyes, deep red lipstick and silver strappy heels completed the look.

“Y/N! Hey, sorry we’re late” Jimin rushed up to me, throwing his brother an evil look. “Mr. Hairspray over here had to change his outfit three times because he invited the go-karting instructor to the club”.

Jiho was the total opposite of Jimin. Tall, beefy, full of restless energy and into extreme sports. But when it came to having smooth, porcelain-like skin, dimples to die for, floppy hair that begged for fingers to run through it and a panty-dropping smile, the brothers were exactly alike. The only difference being it wasn’t panties Jiho was interested in dropping.

“Hey, did you SEE the instructor? The one with the blond highlighted hair? His washboard abs when he stretched? I want to pour chocolate sauce all over his abs” Jiho licked his lips suggestively.

“You’re incorrigible”, I slapped Jiho on the arm.

“Come on, I’ll let Simon know we’re here”, Jimin said as we turned towards the club.

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

Simon turned out to be the bouncer at the door to the club who let us in without having to join the queue. That was the power of Jimin’s megawatt smile.

It took my eyes a little while to adjust to the dim light in the club. There was a DJ console on the far end, where a man dressed in all silver was pushing out R&B hits, the heavy base thumping through the club. The bar was on the right, and it looked impressive. Three bartenders moved around the long bar seamlessly, like it was a practiced dance. Next to the bar was a area with high cocktail tables, and behind that booths with plush leather seats.

Jiho was looking around furiously, then smiled when he saw Chocolate Abs sitting at the bar. “Byeeee” he said to us and sauntered over to the bar.

“Jimin!” someone shouted, as a tall, lanky man unfolded himself from the nearest booth and walked towards us. He towered over Jimin and me, long legs and arms reminding me of a giraffe. I wondered how he even fit in the booth in the first place.

“Hajoon!” Jimin turned toward me with a grin “This is my BFF I told you all about, Y/N”.

“Hellloooooo” Hajoon turned to me, offering his hand for me to shake. I looked him over. He was handsome in the lithe and lanky sense, with sharp features and with an undercut that made him look like he was in a boy-band. I also noticed that his speech was a little slurred and that he was swaying a little.

“Jimin told me you’re purr-ty… but he didn’t tell me you were so hawt! Come on, join us for a drink”.

“Oh, I…. “ I turned to Jimin to try to signal to him that Hajoon was in no shape to be on a date, but Jimin had already started walking towards Hajoon’s table where several other of his colleagues were seated.

“Come on Y/N, come sit with me for a drink”. He slung his arm around my shoulders and steered me towards the booth. He sat us down with a thump and proceeded to pour me a shot of whiskey.

I smiled weakly, thanking him for the drink. The girl next to him introduced herself as Maisy, saying they'd all heard so much about me as Jimin talked about me all the time.  We talked about what we did for work, and I told her the story of how Jimin and I became besties, Suddenly, I felt cold fingers brushing against my shoulder blades, then trail down my back to my tattoo on my lower back. I froze. I looked over my shoulder to see Hajoon touching me with feather light strokes, talking to himself “So soft, so warm. So purr-teey”. Before I could tell him to stop, he put an arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. He nuzzled his nose into my neck, breathing deeply. I tried to wriggle free but his arm was like a vise around my hips. Enough was enough. I grabbed one of his arms with my arm, reached with my other hand to hold his hand, and bent it backward over his wrist, pulling tight until I couldn’t bend it anymore.

“Aaaaaaaaah! My hand! Let go!” he cried, shocked by my sudden move.

I applied more pressure and he screamed in pain as I hissed through gritted teeth “You never, ever touch a woman without her permission, much less grab her and put her on your lap!”

Jimin had jumped up from his seat as soon as he heard Hajoon cry out, and was now tugging at my hand to let Hajoon go. I finally released him reluctantly and stood up, as Hajoon cradled his wrist, ugly crying while wailing “You hurt me! Oww!”

“You’re lucky she didn’t break your wrist” Jimin admonished him. Tugging me away from the booth, placing both hands on my arms to look me over.

“He didn’t hurt you, did he? He asked worriedly, checking for bruises.

“Him? No. He was just too handsy”

“I’m so so sorry Y/N. Hajoon is a really nice guy. Who would have thought he couldn’t hold his liquor.”

“It’s not your fault Jiminie. But no more set-ups okay”.

“Ok, I promise” Jimin folded me in a hug, resting his cheek on my hair. He held me tight for a while, as I took a deep breath, feeling comforted by Jimin's warmth. “Do you want to go?”

“You know what, why don’t you stay and have some fun with your colleagues. I’ll make a move”.

“You sure? You okay being alone?”

“Who says I’m going to be alone?” I said, as I took out my phone and sent a text.

Jimin’s eyebrows shot up “Who are you texting? It’s almost midnight ……. Oh…..”

[Sexy Vet] Hey Big Boy, you up?

[Hot Gym JK] Yeah, I’m up. Wazzap?

[Sexy Vet] Can I come over? Need to get away from a douchebag before I break his arm. Or face.

[Hot gym JK] Wow, sounds like a crisis. Sure, come on over. Buzz me from the carpark.

[Sexy Vet] Ok, see you in 15.

Previous (Chp2) || Next (Chp4)

[storm-angel989]

Sorry if I keep blowing up your ask box, but is it possible to get a part 2 on Val’s daughter being insecure? Maybe Vel x Vox’s daughter noticing her cousin still isn’t emotionally feeling great no matter how much she smiles and reassures her. Also, maybe have Val and his wifey figure out the sitch too? Again, sorry if I’m blowing up your ask box!

Hey there,

You’re not blowing up my inbox! I did have to give her cousin a nickname. I went with Bee- ambigous enough that you can come up with a name for her yourself. Enjoy!

<3 Mandy

It’s been a week since Aunt Velvette asked me to babysit. 

Not that it mattered, but my Saturday mornings had typically been filled with Bee. This Saturday, however,  my alarm went off at its usual time. I wandered out, expecting to find my baby cousin, Aunt Velvette and Uncle Vox out in the kitchen, like I did every Saturday morning. Instead, I found Uncle Vox sitting, drinking his coffee alone at the kitchen table.

“Hey kiddo,” he greeted me. “Eggs are in the pan, and I made french toast if you’re hungry.”

“Where is Aunt Vel?” I asked. 

“She and Bee went to the studio early for a shoot. You’re free to do as you please- Dad and Mom send their love. They’ll be home next week,” Vox said casually. 

That feeling fluttered in my stomach at his words. Why was it that she got to go with her Mom and mine couldn’t be bothered to even come home? My Uncle Vox gave me a kiss on the forehead and a quick goodbye before leaving me utterly and completely alone. 

A kiss on the forehead, watching him step on the elevator, and for the first time in a long time, I was completely alone with zero responsibility. Unsure of what to do, I went to my room and gathered up my swim things. My stomach knotted in anxiety as I paged for a limo to bring me to the school. Despite Uncle Vox’s warning that I couldn’t exercise my feelings away, it wouldn’t hurt to try. I just needed to not get caught and persuaded into talking about my feelings this time. 

An hour passed. Then two. Another hour of jogging. An hour and a half of yoga. I was home in the shower by the time the clock ticked four- an hour before anyone was due home. By the time five o’clock came around, I was longing in my bed in my pajamas, too tired to feel much of anything. 

“Reader!” My cousin squealed as my door slammed open. 

Little arms jumped into my bed and wrapped their arms around my neck. I sat up and returned her hug as she gave me a grin.

“Why didn’t you come to the studio?” She demanded as she sat on my lap. “I missed you! I made you pictures- Mommy has them on the kitchen table! Daddy said dinner is gonna be ready soon!” 

The knot in my stomach reappeared with her words. 

“Reader? You okay?” My cousin asked.

I felt her hands grab my face and she scowled as she looked at me.

“You look sad. Do you have a boo boo?” She demanded.

I took her hands off my face and lowered them as carefully as I could. 

“No, Bee. I just don’t feel good,” I muttered. Guilt washed over me as I saw her face crumble. I pulled her to me in a hug and released her. “I’m going to take a nap, okay? Let your Dad and Mom know, I’ll eat later,” I told her.

“Oh kay,” she replied as she hopped off my bed. “We’ll play later.” 

 I didn’t answer her and waited until the door closed before burying myself under my covers. No part of me wanted to play with her, and even worse, the feeling I fought so hard to keep away was now back in full force. It wasn’t her fault, but I wasn’t in the mood to be around her, or anyone else for that matter. I turned on the TV for background noise and closed my eyes. 

I woke up at one point to the feeling of Velvette’s hand on my forehead. 

“No fever,” she said softly. “Babygirl. Wake up, it’s dinner time.” 

“I’m not hungry,” I mumbled in response as I squirmed away from her touch. 

She pulled her hand away. Footsteps retreated and I heard the door close. I closed my eyes tighter. Good. Nothing felt right and I wanted to be left alone. Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep.

All too soon, my alarm clock buzzed. I reached out and smacked at it as I dragged myself out from under the covers. I rubbed my eyes as I made my way down the hallway. Despite my wish, sleep didn’t help either. Not only that, but my headache from lack of food and water the day before. I needed advil, and at least a bottle of sweet sixteen before I talked to anyone. 

“Reader!” Bee’s voice screamed from the living room. 

I winced and before I could stop it, she tackled me in full force, her arms wrapped around my legs.

“Morning Bee,” I winced as I plastered a smile on my face.

“Uncle Val is here!” She said excitedly. 

That got my attention. I jerked my head towards the kitchen to see my father sitting next to my Uncle Vox and Aunt Velvette, a cup of coffee in his hand. As quickly as I could, I disentangled myself from Bee. He stood up and I jumped into his arms. 

“Daddy,” I whispered as I hugged him. “Daddy, you’re home.” 

“I am, bebita princessa,” he said softly as he held me. “Mom isn’t far behind.” He kissed the top of my forehead. “We’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I replied as I hugged him tighter. “I missed you alot.” 

[colderdrafts]

Hi! I love your works and I’m absolutely in love with your Underground Visitor series!!

If you don’t mind me asking, I was wondering who Dren and Morgan would react if the human that came to their world was wholly capable of protecting themselves? Like they came from a different world than the current protagonist, making them a cyborg or something. Basically a reversal of the dynamic, where the human turns out to be even bigger and scarier than the drider haha

This ask mainly comes from the want to protect Dren and his eggies!! Morgan, too, even though they’re such a red flag, I just can’t help but feel like I want to dote on them and protect them XD

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy! <3

Well, that's certainly one way to turn things around! Reader who can and will give an efficient knuckle sandwich >:)

I think if they were a cyborg or something both of them would be hesitant to approach, unsure if they could still fulfill their role, or if their abilities would even affect them. Depends on how far cyborg..y? they are, I guess. Dren would approach them much the same as normal, casually talking to figure if they're a match or not. Putting out some feelers, so to speak. Morgan would wanna watch from a distance a bit longer to figure out if it's worth the risk.

If they get along and start a relation, Dren would probably be a lot calmer, I think? Knowing that they would be 100% capable of breaking someone's arm from looking at his eggs funny would bring him a lot of peace of mind, lmao. He'd appreciate the advantage that you can shift who's looking after them if necessary - that he doesn't necessarily always have to pick up the fight if they can hold their own just as easily. He'd be hesitant to leave them to it, though. He's still got that overly protective instinct, even if it's not needed. He'd probably be a little worried he's not holding his end of the bargain - that's he's supposed to be defending them- and will want to check in now and then so that's he's not gaining more than he's giving. Other than that, he's pretty much the same, and will want to build a strong and healthy relation with them. Also, please do a sparring session with him. He'd love it as a way of bonding, you'll both benefit from the exercise and it's been a loooooong time since he's had a fun fight.

If they figure they can still affect them, Morgan wouldn't know what to do at first. Being feared and seeming more powerful is one of their main strategies in life to get to their goals. In the beginning they'd up the ante, they're not gonna back down just because the sentry seems to know their way around a fight too. Depending in their behavior, they might actually get in a fight with them. Hell, they might even come to enjoy it. They'll use their abilities to make sure the sentry can't purposely kill them while it's going on, getting close enough to make that effect permanent. If they're stubborn, Morgan might leave them alone for a bit, remaining close but out of sight. They'll patiently wait until the pain of loneliness sets in. They'll probably try and spin the story so that they won't like other common-folk, and vice versa. It's Morgan or no one. Or, if they have those rose tinted glasses and wanna defend Morgan of their own accord, well. They'll be happy to be your partner in crime. Conjoined bloodshed can be a great bonding activity <3

[naffeclipse]

Naff, just wow.

Immediately after I finished reading the CS chapter the tears came all at once, streaming down my face and leaving wet streaks down both of my cheeks. It is hard to make me cry like that. I’m floored, just completely stunned.

I’m soooo happy you gave us a chapter like this, giving the characters and the reader a safe space to digest and get some questions answered. It was also much needed after the action filled chapters before it and it’s a nice resting stop before the horrors waiting before us.

Naff, you write so beautifully, I’m looking back at the lines of text I saved to keep for this comment and I’m gonna cry again from just reading them! (Also sorry,, this is gonna be a long one,,,)

They ate and came back to your trailer, where all of your weapons reside. Holy water, silver knives, and bolts, the Latin incantations to exercise beings just like them.

Just, I’m crying at this. To me it holds so much emotional weight. This story is so close to my heart you don’t even know AAAAAAAA

The repeating “Eat.”, “Please. Eat.” and finally “Ask, then eat.” has me on the floor weeping and I don’t know exactly why. Just the ‘ask’ before the ‘eat’ feels so calm and like they’ve fully opened up. Ready to answer any question.

“Yes,” Moon answers softly. “We ate their hearts.”

You jerk in your shock, almost flinging the egg and sausage bit off of your utensil and to the floor.

“You ate his heart?”

Moon becomes completely still. He stares blankly at you then at your chest.

I swear they can’t keep doing this! But they must! But please phrase it differently boys! XD

The nature of the demonic cryptid before you tumbles through your brain and into your heart—a monster that protects children. An instinct to reject it as a fairy tale touches your nerves. It’s too good to be true, that’s too romantic to believe a being of teeth and claws would seek to protect vulnerable children.

Again, your writing!! And AAAAA IT IS TOO ROMANTIC TO BE TRUE BUT IT’S!!!!!

I’m so happy mothman came up again! And slkfdlfkfsahvjdf that whole bit was so needed oh man!! Perfect way to break the tension! “You killed it,” “It’s not your boyfriend.” FDKLKFSAJKADFG

I love that Y/N isn’t afraid of Eclipse, they’re afraid of Eclipse hurting others. This is why they love Y/N, their heart is filled with only compassion and an undying will to protect others. That scene by the gully, my brows still hurt from how much I was furrowing and straining them, I was at the edge of tears the whole way through. (I’m crying rn reading it again)

“Life means much to you, we understand—”

“No, you don’t! You don’t know the value of life at all,” you jab your finger at him, hitting the yellow button on his chassis, “If you did, you wouldn’t kill an innocent person!”

*WAILING*

“Heart, we have acted too long upon fear.” He holds your gaze, their voices low and rumbling with pangs of remorse and pleas. “We are still learning, but we want to show you that we are better for it.”

*LOUD SOBBING*

And the vow!! aaAAAA!!!!

Deep in the darkness of your sleep, your fist closes around their true hand, and squeezes.

They hum low, rumbling you into ease with a purr of promise.

They are yours.

I’m fucking CRYING!!!!!

The back rubs have me absolutely MELTING! that’s how touch starved I am at this point

Oh and the hug KILLED ME!!! OH MY GOD THEY NEEDED THAT. I THINK I NEEDED IT MORE THO. AAAAAAAAAAAAA Thank you for that :’>

The slow slooooow build of trust, acceptance and some fragments of happiness coming back was a wonder to read! And the still lurking distrust in the form of the salt shaker is tugging at my heartstrings so hard I think I’m gonna cry again..

Absolutely AMAZING chapter as always!!!

I told you before but please, pleeeeease don’t worry about taking your time with your writing. Waiting one month between chapters is nothing. I’d wait an eternity if necessary❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Meep, I'm gonna melt into a puddle, please!!! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed this chapter and I'm seeping into the floor knowing you like it so much! I also love that you shared your favorite paragraphs/quotes because alsdjflasdfj it's always a warm-fuzzing feeling when I hear what people were affected by!

Thankfully I won't make you wait a full month again, but I do appreciate it ♥ ♥ ♥

Ah, thank you so much, babe! ♥

[seawater-aurelia-writing]

The Break

Pairing(s): Fem!MC/Yuu/Reader x TBD

Summary: MC finally shuts down from all of her acts of helping with overblots and the countless favors/demands that are asked of her. When the Prefect of Ramshackle is the one who needs help, who steps forward?

WARNINGS

I am not the best at labeling warnings or triggers but I can say that this story is laden with neglect, self-neglect, anxiety, possible depression and attempts to justify the above. There could be more labels that I can add but i’m unsure how to word them - so please exercise caution.

Quick Note: The reader in this story is largely based upon Cinderella, for multiple reasons (#1 being that I want to and #2 being that I absolutely love Cinderella and think she’s amazingヾ(•ω•`)o ) . If that type of character behavior annoys or offends you, I recommend skipping this!

She should have seen it coming; The break. Her break.

Her sight blurred with tears, which spilled over her eyes  quickly as she laid upon the floor of the library – cold and alone. In front of her, just out of reach, laid her phone amidst the plentiful books which laid strewn chatoticly across the floor from her harsh tumble. Her phone vibrated constantly cause M/C o flinch as she imagined the messages that must be flying across her notifications; Her friends and upperclassmen asking for favors and why she hadn’t completed what they asked.

‘I need to… get up.’ She thought to herself, willing herself to move her arms but her body was more akin to cold, ancient steel, a machine that had been abandoned and forgotten throughout time; It felt nothing like how she was a month ago, a week ago, a few hours ago. ‘ I have.. so much left to do.’

As she tried to find the will to stand – M/C thought of how she ended up in this position; body battered and bruised after falling from the top of the ladder in the deserted corner of the library.

 She could barely life her feet as she made her way down the path, back towards Ramshackle Dorm. In her arms, Grim lay curled into her chest as he slept peacefully in her arms.

‘We both had a long day.’ MC mused to herself, gently pressing his closer as the cold, wintry wind blew harder. She recounted their day slowly, going over each task they had accomplished.

Crowley wished for them to wake up earlier to remove unwanted, viney weeds from around the campus gates, Sam’s Store, and the fencing around the Flying Course field in exchange he’d give them some aid to finally repair their roof. Unable to refuse such an offer, M/C awoke at 3 am to be able to accomplish all of the weeding.

However, Grim had not woken to any of her calls or he just ignored her, leaving M/C to venture into the darkened morning on her own to do the weeding.

After 2 hours, when she was finally able to head back to Ramshackle to freshen up before breakfast, she was stopped by Vil. The Pomefiore Dorm Head all but demanded her attention for an hour  in the afternoon, her lunch period specifically, to fetch him some arctic sea water from Azul.

Vil was supposedly unable to pick up the water himself as he had an impromptu photoshoot and Azul would only meet during lunchtime.

Despite the tone he used, M/C could sense that Vil was more antsy about missing his photoshoot -made more evident by the slight twitch at the mention of potentially missing the event. She agreed with a bright smile; choosing to ignore Vil’s comment about grass sticking to her and her ‘odor’ when she turned to leave.

Finally, she made it to Ramshackle and  rid herself of the stray remnants of debris before she freshened up. Grim, who finally awoke, all but rushed her from the home before she could rest – determined to beat Ace and Deuce to breakfast.

But as luck would have it, M/C could not make it to the Dining Hall before she was stopped by a rather, frazzled Ruggie, who all but shoved a bag of food onto her. He left rushed orders to take it to Leona as he was asked to help restock the lounge before classes. He ran off before she could refuse.

Grim happily skipped to the dining room, telling her not to waste time since he wasn’t going to save her any of the food. However, before she could rush off – Grim yelled back at her to pick up some tuna for him at Sam’s since she was going out of the main building anyway.

She only nodded, ignoring the hollowed feeling in her stomach and the way it rumbled in protest.

M/C remembers being stopped before she could reach Leona, the botanical garden just in sight. That view had been blocked by the ever-looming, Leech Twins. Floyd grinned down at her and plucked the sandwich from her hands.

���Ah! Koechi-chan is so sweet!~ She brought food for us, Jade” Floyd cheered, ignoring her protests and pleas for him to give her the food back.

“Indeed she did, Floyd.” Jade chuckled, doing nothing to stop his twin, who began to eat the food in front of M/C. “And by the way, Prefect. Vil told us that you would be the one picking up his items later today.”

“Y-yes that’s right. At lunch time.” She clarified, her voice softer as she deflated. In retrospect, she still didn’t know what she could have said to Floyd to make him stop. So many girls on Magicam were adamant about how they maintain dominance over their own friends to avoid being stepped on but they always sounded cruel; Giving instructions to ‘clapback’, to insult them,  to physically hurt them or poke at their insecurities to make them listen. She didn’t want to snap at the twins, not only would it not do her any good but angering them isn’t what she wanted.

“Azul needs to push that time to this evening, at dinner. Vil suddenly requested twice the amount and thus more payment is required.” M/C remembered the chill that ran down her spine as the Twins seemed to loom over her even more.

“P-Payment? But I don’t-“

“Rook is handling the payment but,in the even he doesn’t, please he prepared to pay any outstanding fees.”

The Twins ignored her pleas for clarification, with Floyd only turning around to demand that she be present for his basketball practice later today.

M/C recounted how, after that, her day became a blur with random intervals of clarity when another request or demand was made of her.

Ace and Deuce asking her to handle their chores in Heartslabyul of feeding the Hedgehogs and Flamingos while they went to mandatory study hall with Professor Trein.

Trey caught her and asked for her to pick up some cream from Sam’s shop for him. She also picked up the tuna that Grim had asked for and the only thing she could afford to eat to replace the breakfast that she missed – a discounted egg salad sandwich.

A sandwich she could only eat half of, as the other half was given to Silver, who had missed breakfast looking for Malleus. He had not asked anything of her, she remembered, but the way he looked at her was odd to say the least. He was adament on her sitting down and finishing her half of a sandwich before leaving  but the appearance of Ortho, who asked for her to run an errand for Idia, pulled her away.

Her classes came and went, leaving her feeling isolated as usual. Professor Crewel, never one to shy away from a ‘training’ opportunity, chided her for using an incorrect about of Phoeniz wings in her potion. He only became agitated when she proceeded to answer his questions about the potion, a simple draught, completely wrong. Grim was of no help as even he didn’t know the answers, nor did Ace or Deuce by what they had said but Ace and Grim took great joy in laughing at her misery.

Normally, it wouldn’t have affect her but today, it hurt.

But she smiled anyway.

Lunch time came and, again, she was stopped before she entered the dining hall. Sebek  demanded her help in finding Malleus, who was not present at lunch. Again, Grim deserted her as Sebek grabbed her and dragged her along beside him and Silver to find Malleus.

Again, Silver regarded her in an odd way but he said nothing out of the ordinary towards her.

They never did find Malleus and Sebek took too yelling at her for being unable to be of any use in finding him.

“..Sorry, Sebek. I’ll try harder next time.” Was all she could say, while Silver chided him on being too harsh.

As they made it back to the main building, it was time for classes; She had missed lunch as well.

 ‘Perhaps that’s why I was so dizzy.’ She thought to herself, managing to prop herself onto her elbows. The floor beneath her moved and rippled, similar to the waves in the great oceans back in her homeworld. ‘Correction, why I AM so dizzy…’

Her mind again wandered back to her day after lunch time; Where her day only worsened.

Without any proper food in her, there was no way that she could stay awake with Professor Trein’s class. Lucius quickly spotted her and alerted Trein, before Deuce could fully wake her up.

“Do you believe yourself too smart to pay attention within my class, Miss M/C.” He sneered, a glare firmly on his face as he gazed down at her.

“N-No, sir. I’m sorry, Professor! It wasn’t-“

“Silence.” His voice was firm as harsh, caushing her to flinch and shrink in her seat. “There will be no talking back to me of any kind. I had high expectations of you, Miss M/C and yet you have a complete lack of manners. As punishment, you will write me a paper explaining the important of Magical History, no less than 10 pages. If it is not on my desk first thing in the morning, then expect a harsher punishment. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes, sir.” She mumbled, her head bowed in submission. M/C could remined the feeling of the heat behind her eyes; How hard it was to hold back tears in that moment.

She hadn’t expected kindness from Professor Trein but it seemed no one was recognizing that she was doing the absolute best that she could do with the circumstances that she was in.

She was blunt and sarcastic at times, yes, but she can’t think of anyone who can hold their tongue constantly. Yet when she seemed to speak, unless it was humorous in nature or her agreeing with those around her- she went unheard. But if she pressed and asked for help, who would drop their things to come to her aid?

Those thoughts plagued her for the rest of the day;

Even as Floyd threatened and scolded her for missing basketball practice, where she was supposed to stock the ice water and the cool towels for him,  even though Epel asked her to pick up some old weights from Ruggie.

Even when Ruggie scolded her for not delivering Leona’s sandwich, calling her a thief for eating the sandwich when she reassured him that she didn’t and that Floyd had taken it.

Even when Ace and Deuce whined and complained about letting them down for not feeding the animals properly, when she couldn’t do it properly as they never explained all of the rules to her.

Even when Azul asked, demanded, that she find a specific book for him within the dark recesses of the library before closing as Vil’s additional fee– the thoughts never left her.

In truth, she was merely an anomaly in this world; An irregularity that didn’t belong, didn’t have a place within this magic, twisted world that she found herself in. She was without even the most basic magic to help her through her day to day life as the other had. M/C didn’t know even the most basic of terms within classes that would help her – shown by her struggling grades and performance.

She wouldn’t last outside of NRC, even Crowley had alluded to that. She had no birth certificate, no I.D. on her person, and no family of which to speak of.

Who would risk their own education and future to help someone who wouldn’t be able to do anything on their own anyway?

Even Grim, the other half to her ‘whole student’ was beginning to separate from her as his magic was matured and refined.

But that was why she smiled, was it? She smiled because she liked being needed, feeling as if she had a place in a world where she had none. Even if it ended with her being overworked, sleep-deprived and feeling so hollow – she was needed. A little suffering was nothing.

If her friends would excel in the world around her, wouldn’t that be worth it all? They shouldn’t have to suffer and fail in their classes just because a useless anomaly couldn’t handle the most basic of things.

‘It’s fine.’ She thought to herself, finally pushing herself to her knees. She winced, her movements letting her know just how bad her fall had truly been; Her chest hurt and ached with every beat of her heart, her right leg, the one which hit the ground first, was pulsing and red hot and all over – it felt as if fire ants were stinging her.

“It’s..fine.” She mumbled to herself, reaching with shaking hands to begin the task of stacking the books that she knocked over.

“No, it is not.” Came a hardened voice from behind her.

M/C tensed, her eyes widening as she registered the voice as Professor Trein. As she straightened her back quickly, aiming to turn to look at her professor, the room began to spin once more. Sound all around her became muffled as it felt as though her entire was was submerged underwater.

 “ -s M/C. Are your manners that abhorrent that you cannot even turn to face when when I speak to y-.” Professor Trien fumed but his voice faded away despite how hard she attempted to focus on it.

“P-Professor…” She whimpered, curling into herself to try to stop the sensations around her; But they never ceased, even as she felt something wet run down her face - a pain beginning to bloom upon her head as she focused on the wet feeling.

And it all went dark.

[dreamerstreamer]

Breathless

Pairing: Dream / Clay x asthmatic!gn!reader

Summary: Life with a chronic illness isn’t always easy, and some days are more difficult than others, but you always manage to find yourself breathing a little easier with Clay by your side.

Warnings: tw// depiction of asthma & asthma attack

Word Count: 4.4k

A/N: my second commissioned story! this work has been altered from its original form so that everyone can read it, but the plot and writing remain largely the same. this was more specific and required more research than the stories i typically write, but i hope you all enjoy nonetheless! <3

The smell of sanitizer and antiseptics tickled your nose as you pushed past the hospital office door, folding the piece of paper tucked in your hands into quarters. Slipping it into your pocket, you raised your chin, the paper resting comfortably next to the familiar weight of your inhaler. You stretched your arms above your head with a small groan, rolling your shoulders back as you made your way down the hall with a small bounce in your step.

Respiratory therapy may be good for you, but your favourite part was still when you got to go home.

You rubbed your hand over the patch stuck to the inside of your forearm, the tiniest hint of red colouring the ivory white cloth as you pressed your fingers gently against it. Letting out a sigh, you faced forward once more, your eyes lighting up as the waiting room came into view. Walking a little faster, you was just about to head into the waiting room when you froze, your eyes falling on the figure sitting in a chair pressed up against the wall adjacent to you.

Clay was drumming one hand against his thigh as the other scrolled leisurely through his phone, Tweet after Tweet flying by on his screen. In his ears hung a pair of earbuds, and you could see him gently bobbing his head along to the beat of whatever song he was listening to, his foot quietly tapping against the tiled hospital floor. You traced your eyes over the bridge of his nose and the crest of hair that tickled the top of his forehead, a fond warmth rushing through your chest.

He always waited for you no matter what, even if you told him not to. It didn’t matter if he had a stream planned just a few minutes after your session would wrap up or if he was in the middle of editing a video—he would drop everything to wait for you, patient and caring as always. He was just stubborn like that, and you knew you wouldn’t be able to get him to swallow his pride, as much as you may try.

Blinking as you gazed at him, a thought suddenly popped into your head, a devilish ember tickling at the base of your spine. Your lips split into a sly grin, your eyes narrowing as the cogs in your head churned. Ever so slowly, you crept over to his side, just barely keeping yourself out of view until you were standing just diagonally behind him, a single step away. As quiet as a mouse, you reached your hand forward and dipped your head down beside his ear, gently tapping his shoulder. With a start, Clay jumped in his seat, his eyes shooting wide open as he whipped his head up to look at you. In a flash, he was tearing out his earbuds, his phone going slack in his hands and a bright smile tugging at his lips.

“Boo,” you whispered, waving your hand at him as your lips stretched widely across your face.

“Hey,” he said, gentle and warm as he reached for your hand, intertwining your fingers between his. “You done with therapy for today?”

You beamed proudly, bobbing your head. “Yep. We’re all good to go.”

The gleam in his eyes was as sweet as honey as he got to his feet, slipping his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. He tilted his head at you, and before you could ask if anything was wrong, he had raised his free hand to brush a stray strand of hair away from your face. A second later, he was dipping his head to yours, and you shivered at the warmth of his lips pressing against your forehead while he murmured into your skin, “Perfect.”

When he pulled back, he squeezed your hand in his, his thumb brushing over your knuckles lovingly. With one last grin, the two of them began to stroll out of the waiting room and into the front hall.

“So,” he said after a moment as they turned a corner, “how did everything go, today? Did anything different happen?”

You shrugged, gesturing vaguely. “Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Got my blood oxygen level checked, did some breathing tests and exercises—” You eyed the small patch on your arm with a wistful glance. “Just the usual.”

A comfortable silence washed over them as they swung their arms together in a charmingly off-beat rhythm, occasionally brushing their sides up against one another with a small smile. Beside you, a nurse bustled past with his stethoscope bouncing around his neck and a clipboard clutched to his chest. You glanced over at him, then opened your mouth again. “What about you?” You shrunk back the tiniest bit, your fingers sheepishly twitching against his. “I hope you weren’t too bored or anything waiting up for me.”

Clay laughed, his thumb brushing over your knuckles. “For you? Never.” You felt your heart stumble in your chest as he continued. “I just scrolled through Twitter for a while, then I made a tweet about the donation I’m making for my next video—you know, the one to spread chronic illness awareness.”

Leaning against his side slightly, you sighed, your head stuffed full with adoration for your boyfriend as you pressed your head into his warmth. “That’s incredible, Clay,” you murmured, squeezing his hand. “You’re incredible.”

His lips twitched into a ghost of a smile, and he squeezed your hand back. “I try my best.”

You felt your heart swell, and you resisted the urge to kiss him in front of the hospital staff right then and there. Just how lucky could you be to have someone as lovely and compassionate as Clay in your life?

Stepping into the front lobby, he gently nudged his shoulder into yours, stepping to the side to make way for another patient. The ringing of the secretary’s phone made you jolt beside him, but not once did his eyes leave your face. “I’m guessing we’re coming back the same time next week?”

You flashed a grin at him, winking sheepishly. “You know it.”

The chuckle he let out made your stomach flip, affection nipping incessantly at the back of your head. “Awesome,” he hummed, sticking his hand into his pocket. Fishing around, his mouth quirked up a moment later as he pulled out a ring of car keys, clasping his fingers around it. “Alright—let’s go.”

You blinked, your lips curling into a frown as the automatic doors parted in front of them. “Wait, I can drive us.”

He shot you a fond look, shaking his head. The sun’s warm rays cast a golden sheen to his dirty blond locks, his eyes practically glowing in the midday heat. “Nope, no can do.” He jutted his head toward the car, which sat a few yards away in the parking lot beside the hospital. “You drove us here, and now it’s my turn to drive us back.”

Something flashed in your gaze, and your tongue darted out to swipe at your lips as your fingers twitched at your side. “You say that,” you began, your hand shooting forward toward the keys in his, “but not if I get the keys fir—hey!”

A gasp flew from your lips as your hand met nothing but open air, Clay having leapt back with his arm stretched up high above his head. Stumbling back a few steps, shimmering mirth danced in his gaze as he waved the keys at you, just barely out of reach. “Too slow, baby.”

Scowling, you leapt forward yet again, your fingers desperately reaching for the keys as he simply stepped off to the side, backpedaling until a few feet stood between the two of them. The glare you shot him only seemed to egg him on as he began to twirl the silver key ring around his pointer finger playfully. He was teasing you now, you knew it, and you were not going to take any part in it.

“Clay,” you said slowly between gritted teeth.

“[Y/N],” he drawled back, a wide grin still plastered to his face.

Just then, you were bolting over to him, a small breeze biting at your face as you lunged for his hand. You could feel your lungs tighten as the warm, humid air came rushing into your chest, but you were far too focused on the glint of metal against his skin to care. Clay’s eyes went wide as his hand suddenly snapped shut around the car keys, his arm pinning itself to his back as his other hand reached out to steady you against him.

“Okay, okay,” he cried, his fingers gently pressing into the fabric of your shirt, “no running! Please.” His voice suddenly went soft, and your feet came to a grinding halt before him, your lungs heaving. “I don’t want you to stress your asthma.”

Feeling your heart batter against your rib cage, you sucked in a breath, rocking against him ever so slightly as you lifted your chin at him. “Then will you please let me drive?”

He blinked at you for a moment, a thoughtful look passing over his expression. “Hmm... should I?”

You gasped, bobbing your head eagerly, a hint of a smile gracing your lips. His tongue poked out at the corner of his mouth, and you felt a glimmer of hope spark in the pit of your stomach. Yes!

Then, he smiled, apologetic and teasing. “Still no.”

Your face fell in an instant, twisting into a pout as you sagged against his side with a whine. His grin only widened at the sight, patting your on the shoulder with a gentle nudge. “Sorry, [Y/N],” he hummed, turning on his heel to walk over to the driver’s side of the car, “but I’m not budging on this one.”

You groaned, begrudgingly dragging yourself over to the other side of the car and tugging the door open. “Ugh. You,” you said, flopping into the passenger seat with a frown and your arms crossed on top of your frontside, “are the worst.”

He let out a chuckle at your face, pushing the keys into the ignition and turning his hand with a knowing look. “Sure, sure,” he murmured, soft and low. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Despite yourself, you felt your heart flutter in your chest at the pet name, melting back into the car seat as your arms went limp over your chest. Sneaking a glance over at him, you felt warmth skitter across your face at the way his eye caught yours, loving and true. Huffing, you feigned annoyance and stuck your tongue out at him, but you couldn’t quite stop the smile from tugging at your lips, something pink and fuzzy bubbling up in the core of your chest as they pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

You were so driving next time.

You picked at the patch on your arm, your gaze focused intently as your nails carefully peeled back one of the corners. Gently grasping at the lifted flap, you tugged backward, the patch slowly peeling off until it was popping off your arm with a satisfying flick. Smiling triumphantly to yourself, you walked over to the garbage can and tossed the used patch in, relishing in the feeling of the cool air brushing over your now exposed skin. Leaning against the kitchen counter, you tugged your phone out of your pocket, swiping open your phone with a soft hum.

It had been a few days since your last respiratory therapy session, and you were feeling good. The new breathing exercises you had been suggested were working amazingly, and it almost made your feel like you didn’t need to keep your inhaler on hand every waking second.

Sucking in a deep breath, you held it in for a long moment, then exhaled, feeling the air rush out of your lungs in a single gust. It was right then that a small itch rose into the back of your throat, and you coughed just a little bit, swallowing sharply as you straightened. All of a sudden, a head popped into the kitchen doorway, golden brows knit together with worry.

“[Y/N]?”

You whirled at the sound of your name, your gaze immediately landing on Clay’s pursed lips on the opposite side of the room. “Mhm?”

He cocked his head at you, his eyes scanning you up and down for a split second before locking onto yours once more. “I heard coughing.” His eyes flashed. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, shooting him a reassuring grin. “Yeah—just choked on some spit or something. It was nothing serious.” When he only blinked at you, you firmly added, “I promise.”

Just like that, his shoulders relaxed once more, and a soft smile crept onto his face. “Alright. I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be editing for a couple of hours.” He jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll be in the next room over if you need anything, alright?”

You grinned, sending him a playful salute. “Roger that.” Pushing back against the counter, you slipped your phone back into your pocket and strode across the kitchen over to him, stopping just a tile in front of him. “How much is it this time?”

One side of Clay’s mouth curled up into a thoughtful expression. “Well,” he began slowly, leaning against the doorframe, “I’ve got about five hours of footage and audio to cut down into about fifty minutes, so...”

He gestured vaguely with a pained expression, and you offered him a sympathetic look. “It’s a lot?” you prompted.

He let out a long sigh, weary yet sure as he bit back a wince. “It’s a lot.”

Shuffling a step closer, you reached your hand up to brush your fingers over his cheekbone, gentle and sweet. “You’ll do great,” you said quietly, your eyes curving into crescent moons alight with ardent and honest affection. “You always do.”

Clay leaned in to your warm touch, his eyelids fluttering for a moment as he let out another sigh—an enamoured one, this time. “I love you,” he whispered, sincerity seeping into every letter he breathed.

The fondness of his voice made your heart melt into a sugary sweet puddle in your chest, and you let your hand bury itself into his soft locks. “I love you, too,” you whispered back.

With a warm gaze that made your insides tingle, Clay was dipping his head, and you let your eyelids fall shut as you let your mouth part ever so slightly. A second later, his lips were pressed against yours, plush and loving as you felt yourself smiling into the kiss, his hot breath tickling the side of your cheek. Just a moment later, they broke apart, warm air rushing into your lungs as you flashed him a bright grin.

“Go ahead, now,” you murmured, nudging his shin with your foot. “You’ve got lots of footage to sift through.”

Standing up straight again, he rolled his eyes as he turned on his heel with a dramatic groan. “Why did you have to remind me?” he cried over his shoulder.

You could only laugh in return, waving at him with a jesting bow and grinning at the way he pretended to be offended. You watched as he slunk into the next room over down the hall, pushing the door shut behind him with his arm. With a hint of a smile lining your lips, you hummed to yourself before strolling out of the kitchen and into the living room. Flopping onto the couch with a huff, you settled back against the cushions with a comforted exhale and pulled out your phone once more. You relished in quiet moments like these, even if you would much rather be spending them with Clay. Maybe you would make him a snack or something, just to help him ease up on all his editing.

You had only been sitting for a few minutes when you felt a familiar itch gnaw at the base of your neck once more, and you ducked your head into your elbow to let out a harsh cough. Your chest felt tighter than it usually did, and you furrowed your brows. You had been breathing just fine less than an hour ago. What in the world could be possibly changing that?

As another cough welled up in your mouth, you turned your head, sweeping your gaze across the room. Just as you began sucking in yet another burning breath, a flash of cerulean blue caught your eye, and you froze, your jaw going completely slack.

The window was open.

Everyone had their own asthma triggers, whether it was a cat allergy or some nasty pollution. But for you, having so much as an open window could be more than enough to send your body spiralling into overdrive and straight into an asthma attack.

And by the looks of it, your body was doing just that.

Your lungs felt tight—too tight, almost as if a boa constrictor had snaked up your spine and wrapped around them, constricting them until they were nothing more than two, tiny, trembling slivers in your chest. You let out a choked gasp, then desperately tried to breathe in, only to feel your lungs screaming in protest within the cavity of your chest, fuzzy pain swimming throughout the entirety of your body. your windpipe felt like it had been squeezed into the size of a straw, and you knew it was only a matter of time before you began wheezing. With a hammering heart, you stumbled to your feet, your hand reaching for your pocket with a shuddering cough. Patting against your thigh, you suddenly seized up when you felt nothing pressing up against your palm. That was when it hit you.

You had left your inhaler upstairs in the bedroom, back when you were feeling better than ever just a couple of hours prior.

You half wanted to cry out of both amazement and agony—how ironic was it that you would have an asthma attack the one time you didn’t have your inhaler on you?

You could practically hear the blood rushing through your ears as you took a shaky step forward, holding yourself upright as much as possible as you tried to remain calm. Or, as calm as you could when you couldn’t breathe. It would take too long for you to go all the way upstairs and grab your inhaler—there was simply no way you would even be able to make it that far.

Luckily for you, you knew just where to find another one.

Striding as quickly and steadily as you could on your shaking legs, you pressed your way out of the living room and down the hall, breathing as deeply as possible despite just how narrow your airway felt. You coughed again, the inferno ripping through your lungs like a raging beast as you grasped at the wall for support. It was like someone had sat on your chest, pressing down like an iron anvil slamming into the earth from a cliff.

It hurt.

You could feel the back of your eyes sting more and more with each desperate gasp for air you took, and your entire body felt like it was about to collapse beneath your . You nearly sank with relief when you finally reached Clay’s door, your knees buckling like a newborn fawn’s. With a muffled choke, you wrapped your hand around the door handle and twisted it, pulling it back as hard as you could. The door slammed into the opposite wall with a reverberating thud, shaking the floor with a low creak.

In front of his desk, Clay jolted at the sudden sound, ripping off his headphones as he spun around in his chair to face you. “[Y/N]?” he said, confusion clouding his face. “What’s wro—”

You cut him off with another cough, the flames licking at your throat with a burning vengeance as you frantically gestured toward your neck. An instant later, you were sinking to the ground, wheezing for dear life. That was all it took for Clay to come barrelling out of his desk chair and across the room to your side, one hand already digging itself into his pocket.

“Oh, crap, okay,” he rambled in a panicked rush, pulling an inhaler out of his pocket. “[Y/N], please look at me. I’ve got a rescue inhaler here.”

Forcing your head up to meet his frenetic gaze, you could feel tears brim along your lashes, opening your mouth for him. Not even a split second later, he was gently pushing the inhaler past your lips, one hand carefully gripping the plastic while the other reached for your hand.

With a quivering voice, he slipped your hand into his. “Ready, set, breathe, baby.”

He pressed down on the top of the inhaler, and immediately, you were sucking in a harsh, aching breath. Almost instantaneously, you felt a cool mist of medication spray against the back of your mouth, your throat relaxing the tiniest bit as you exhaled. A few seconds later, he was pressing down again, and you were inhaling as much as you could. For a few minutes, they stayed like that, your hand squeezing his as tightly as possible as you took breath after agonizing breath, your lungs working beyond belief. You weren't keeping track of how much time had passed, focusing only on the simple act of breathing and the feeling of your lungs slowly expanding in your chest. Every so often, you let out a tiny whimper, and he would reassuringly squeeze your hand in his, his emerald eyes filled with an intensity you rarely got to see.

At long last, you tapped thrice at Clay’s hand wrapped around yours, and in a flash, he was pulling the inhaler from your lips and letting it rest in his lap, his eyes desperately scanning your face. Your chest felt like it had just been unraveled from a wound-up ball, and you leaned forward the tiniest bit, your palm pressing against the ground to stabilize yourself.

“Clay,” you whispered, your throat feeling raw and your voice coming out with a slight rasp.

His name was only about halfway out of your mouth when he was wrapping his arms around your shoulders, the warmth of his hands soaking into your skin. “[Y/N], are—are you okay? Does your chest hurt? Does it still hurt when you breathe?”

You took in a staggering breath. Then two, then three. After a few long seconds, you lifted your head, flashing him a brighter, calmer smile. “I—I’m okay. Y-Yeah, I’m—” You cleared your sore throat, not missing the way his eyes flashed with concern. “I’m alright.”

His palms were still tense next to your arm. “Are you absolutely sure?”

You reached a hand up to grab one of his, gently prying his fingers into yours with a soft promise. “One hundred percent.”

His eyes focused on yours for a moment longer, then he was sagging with relief, his shoulders finally slumping. “Good. Really good. That’s great, honestly.”

You laughed at his reaction, your heart only just slightly trembling between your aching lungs. “Thank god it’s over. Just, woah, um,” you rambled, your words coming out in a hazy rush. “That was—holy crap, that was so… so...”

He raised his hand, and you suddenly fell silent as he warmly patted your side. “Slow down a bit, baby,” he said gently, his brows sloping downward. “I don’t want your lungs acting up on us, again.”

You nodded, squeezing your eyes shut for a second before whispering, “That was so scary.”

Just like that, his face was flooded with compassion, and he brushed his thumb over your cheek with a soft croon. “It was. It’s been a while since you last had an attack.” You melted against him, soaking in his every word. “Do you know what triggered it, this time?”

You paused, furrowing your brows before cocking your head. “I, um, there was an open window. In the living room.”

Clay blinked at your . Then, his expression slowly shifted to one of realization, the horror creeping onto his face like a stalking beast. “Oh, god,” he breathed. “I—I opened it when we got home from grocery shopping today. I just thought... it might be nice to have some fresh air, and—” He ran a hand through his hair, anxiety flicking at his head. “I wasn’t thinking. [Y/N], I’m sorry. That was terrible of me, I—”

His voice cracked brokenly as he dropped his head, and you were immediately throwing your arms around him, climbing forward and into his lap with a soothing tone. “No, no, no, Clay, no. Don’t say that.” You pressed your hands to his face and lifted his chin until he was looking at you again with wide, ashamed eyes. “You’re so good to me,” you whispered, “so wonderful in every way. If you didn’t have an inhaler on you, we would have had to call 911, and—”

You shook your head, your lips curving up into a gentle smile as you leaned forward to press your forehead to his. “Clay, you’re the best. Really, I mean it. Don’t think so poorly of yourself.”

For a minute, all was silent. Clay’s lips were parted with what looked like a mixture of awe and admiration, and you watched with surprise as he suddenly tugged you closer to his chest, your chin resting upon his shoulder as he squeezed you tightly. You could feel his breath tickle your ear as he whispered the softest of words into the quietness of the room. “God, I’m just glad you’re safe.” He brushed his lips against the shell of your ear. “You’re too important for me to lose.”

You gulped, your heart somersaulting through your chest and barrelling right through your lungs. You could feel your eyes water the tiniest bit as he rubbed a small circle into the curve of your waist, and you smiled as he nestled your head into the side of his neck.

He always managed to take your breath away in the best way possible.

[sunababiee]

Brighter days

Paring: Sakusa Kiyoomi x F!reader

Word count: 603

Warnings: none

Time skip!

Sakusa had a process. Waking up early, going on a morning jog, come back, having breakfast then go to training, he had this process since high school. But then you came along, and that changed up his whole schedule, well only a little.

Mornings with you became longer, how he would wake up to go on his daily jog, only to get pulled back onto the bed with you wrapping your arms around him mumbling something along the lines of “it's too early to exercise” He would let out a tired chuckle and wrap his arms around your waist pulling you in closer, savouring a few more minutes with you before he ultimately went for his jog.

Mornings with you became his favourite time of the day. How he would come home from the morning jog, sweaty and hot. He would walk through the door and the smell of bacon filling up his nose. He would make his way into the kitchen to see you in one of his shirts, humming slightly. He would stare at you in awe, taking in all of you. The way you would pout when the egg split on the frying pan, ruining your perfect breakfast. The way you would let out a squeal when you felt Sakusa wrap his arms around you. You would complain about the feel of his sweaty skin pressing against your cool skin.

You would pull away, turning around to playfully glare at him, “Omi~ take a shower first before you come to hug me! I don't want to smell” you would whine every time he would hug you after his runs. Sakusa would let out a chuckle and ask you to join the shower with him since he knew you were going to have one either way if he hugged you or not. You would raise an eyebrow at him, leaning forward and pecking him, “someones a bit clingy this morning” you would coo since it's rare that Sakusa would ask you to join him in for a shower since it was his time to refresh himself for the day ahead of him. He would roll his eyes, moving you out of the way to turn off the stove, grab your hand and lead you towards the bathroom.

Goodbyes in the mornings were the worst for him, leaving you for his idiotic teammates. You would walk with him to his car, hand in hand. He would open the back door and shove his gym bag in it, closing the door he would turn around to see his face mask in your hand. He would take it from you and put it on. He would notice the pout that sprawled across your face, he knew why.

“Omiii aren't you gonna give your favourite girlfriend a kiss goodbye” you would tease, poking at his ribs. Sakusa would raise an eyebrow, pull down his mask to give you a sweet long kiss on the lips. Pull away, bring his mask up and place his hand on your cheek, “you’re my only girlfriend” “I would hope so”

Sakusa would roll his eyes but you would notice the tint of red come across the tips of his ears. You would laugh and hug him tightly.

“Good luck today” you would say smiling brightly. Sakusa would nod, getting into his car. He would look in the rearview mirror while driving away, to see you standing at the corner of the path waving goodbye.

Sakusa’s days seemed a bit brighter when you were around to make it and he was willing to change his strict schedule just for you.

©️sunababiee 2021 do not copy, repost, or modify

[theprologues]

Kaylor Inspired Reading

There are so many great books I’ve discovered thanks to this little community on here! I thought I would organize a collection* of ones we’ve discussed at one point or another. I’d love to add more books on here and other recommendations. These are the books I’ve found pertain to Kaylor or that we’ve discussed were similar to Kaylor story. Books that inspired some of Taylor’s work or that both the girls have referenced. 

1. Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

This was a quick and easy read for me. I really loved the Hollywood era parts of it. The book does a great job of showing that bearding in Hollywood is something that is not unusual. It makes it more palatable to the average reader who doesn’t really understand how Hollywood operates. I recommend showing this book to a friend who has heard about Kaylor but doesn’t really understand how Taylor’s “boyfriends” play a factor into it. Here’s the tweet that originally inspired the discussion about it: 

LINK LINK LINK

2. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

“Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. It was like an awakening, for these words did not come from on high, they came from within. This was her own voice, the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to abandon the world’s expectation of her and embrace knowing her true self. Now she takes us on her journey of realization. She had to be willing to burn down what she was taught to want and rise from the ashes knowing the truth about who she is and who she was meant to be with. Only then would she truly be free and start living and loving as she was intended.”

LINK LINK LINK

3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

"When I was reading 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier, I was thinking wow, her husband just tolerates her. She's doing all these things and she's trying so hard and she's trying to impress him and he's just tolerating her the whole time...there was a part of me that was relating to that because at some point in my life I felt that way so I ended up writing this song Tolerate It which is all about trying to love someone who is ambivalent” - Taylor Swift

4. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I included this side of Paradise because Spade had a riddle quote from it. We all know Taylor’s epic love of F. Scott Fitzgerald. At the time the Spade riddle sent there was a lot of imagery of palm trees and the idea of paradise Taylor was hinting at as well. This was pre- Lover release.

♠️1 | I began the riddle with a line from the poem, “Tiare Tahiti”, which inspired the title of Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, “This Side of Paradise”. An easter egg mentioned in the Elle essay, “Pop is Personal”. Anyways, at this point, the ellipses were to guide you to a section in this novel called ‘KISMET’ - “…within”. This entire section and the interlude, contain underlying themes in Lover. You can see parallels of the story that unfolds in Lover within these paragraphs.

Spade’s Riddles: LINK

5. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

The discussion for this began after the You Need to Calm Down music video. In the video most people featured are famous or are clearly shown. Which made us curious who the Orange Girl was whether or not it was Karlie disguised and why she was on an exercise bike eating oranges whole. This one is the next one I plan on reading after my current book!

Jeanette is brought up as one of God’s elect and seems destined to spend life as a missionary, but she falls for one of her converts. So she decides to leave her life and home for the woman she loves.

LINK LINK LINK LINK LINK

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.*

[thran-duils]

Doll Me Up (P.11, Final)

Title: Doll Me Up (Part Eleven, Final) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark Mob!Tony Stark. On good days, you and Tony were a power couple. You, a perfect trophy wife with your hands in local charities to promote a wholesome image. Tony, business man but sullied with organized crime. He indulged in his illegal gambling, extortion, and political corruption. And he indulged in his escort business. Hell, that is where he had found you. You were a brat, and he loved a challenge. Words: 1,892 Warnings: Unhealthy relationships, smut, daddy kink, dom/sub, manipulation, death, violence, possessive behavior, drug use

Part Ten ||  Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

~2 weeks later…

“Come now, drink up,” Tony said, gesturing impatiently since he was needing to leave to go to a meeting bright and early, and you picked up the glass warily.

He had made you a smoothie out of hemp, cucumber, avocado, kale, ginger, grapes, and coconut milk. You had watched him adding each ingredient feeling more and more anxious. You just wanted an egg and bacon sandwich.

You grimaced as you swallowed it. You whined, “I don’t like it.”

“Yeah, I don’t either but it’s good for us, kitten,” Tony said, grabbing his own glass and taking a swig. He barely held back a face. “I’ve gotta be tip top shape for you and the baby. And you gotta be tip top shape for baby Stark.”

Scowling, you stared down at your glass, muttering, “I don’t like you calling it that.”

“I don’t like you calling it… it.”

“Well, we don’t know the sex yet, so what do you want me to say?”

“Baby Stark,” Tony quipped, taking another drink. He eyed your glass, nodding, telling you to do the same.

You took another long drink and swallowed it with difficulty. “It sounds too close to that annoying ass song.” Tony cocked his head in confusion, and you said, “I won’t subject you to it. Or myself to it. Again. Once was enough. I’m glad we are past the age – hopefully – that abomination is in vogue.”

“Well, now you’ve got me curious,” Tony said, pulling out his phone.

“Please, don’t,” you begged and then thought quick to threaten, “I won’t finish this if you do.”

Tony pointed at you and said, “That’s not fair. That’s for baby… the baby. This is for me and you can handle it.” Your jaw set and put the glass down, staring defiantly back at him. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, not breaking eye contact. “You hate it that much?”

“Yes.”

Rolling his eyes, he placed his phone back down and picked his glass back up, taking another drink. At his relent, you did the same. Tony finished his and sucked his teeth before rinsing his glass in the sink. You forced yourself to finish as well and placed the glass back down on the counter. Tony grabbed it from you and rinsed yours as well.

He leaned in and gave you a quick kiss, “I’ll listen to it at work.”

“I am telling you, you shouldn’t subject yourself to it,” you replied.

“Digging my own grave then,” Tony joked before giving you another kiss, longer this time. He tapped your nose and said, “Do your laps in the pool, princess. Don’t forget. Doctor said that would help aches and loosening your muscles.” You nodded in response and he smiled, his hand coming to rest on your abdomen for a second before he moved past you to go to the garage and leave.

<><><>

~2.5 months later… (5.5 months along)

Tony had you on your knees on the bed, your fingers spread, digging into the bed, bracing yourself. He ran his hands up your sides as he kept a steady pace. He was being gentler than usual, and you were thankful, loving the intimate contact. His touch was sensual and loving. The further you got along, the more he was relaxing on the rough sex.

The two of you ended up on your sides, Tony holding you close this chest as you came down.

He laid a kiss on your cheek, still panting softly from the exertion considering he had done most of the work.

His hand slid down to your abdomen, caressing your ever growing bump gently.

“Look at how perfect and strong you are, kitten,” he murmured. He turned your head towards him and kissed you slow and deep. “A superhero in your own right, growing life.” You smiled gently at that.

<><><>

~1.5 months later… (7 months)

“She’s been good,” Happy commented, watching Y/N inside from the back patio. She was showing now completely, round, and no hiding her pregnancy. “I can admit, I am surprised.” He looked at Mikhail and said, “Looks like you aren’t a complete idiot.”

“Took you long enough to figure out,” Mikhail responded, taking a long drink, looking at the women gathered inside the room. He smacked his lips and said under his breath to Happy, “Not stoked about being at a baby shower but at least there’s a lot of nice ass to look at.”

Inside the mansion, you took the salad from your friend, who commented, “You should eat something else.”

“We are going to have cake later,” you said waving her off.

“I meant something more nutritious than a green salad, Y/N.”

“Spinach is very healthy,” you retorted.

“There are a lot of finger foods. Tea sandwiches. Meatballs on sticks with veggies. Deviled eggs. Pinwheels?”

You sighed, chewing the bite of salad you had just taken. “A couple deviled eggs wouldn’t be bad. And some veggie sticks with ranch.”

She walked off and you scowled to yourself. Everyone was trying to constantly get you to eat ‘healthy’ for the baby and it was getting worse, the hounding about everything you needed to do. You were tired of it. The constant asking about what you had eaten and when, the reminders to drink water as if you had not been drinking water your entire life, did you exercise…

Cassandra waltzed over, sitting down next to you. You were very thankful she had decided to come and had forgiven you for the scene at her house less than a year ago. She picked a crouton off your salad, drawing a smirk out of you as she winked, before she said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Where did you get this dress? It is gorgeous.”

“Tiffany Rose.”

“The blush color looks beautiful on you. And I love you went dramatic with the floor length.”

“Thanks. Would you expect anything less from me?” you asked, jokingly. She shook her head, smiling. You took another bite and swallowed. “Are you looking for a dress for your shower?”

She nodded in return. She was taking a break from porn – hinting she might not go back at all – having gotten pregnant herself. And then asked, her eyebrows wiggling, “Is the blush supposed to be an indicator about the sex?”

“No. I just liked the color.”

“You really don’t know the sex yet? It’s a surprise for everyone?”

“Well, for us. I’m sure Happy and Mikhail know. God knows Tony couldn’t have kept it all to himself. Good luck breaking them though. I’ve been trying to get Happy to slip up about it for a couple weeks.”

Cassandra leaned back and said, “So, he set it all up and then the cake cutting reveal is his secret?” You nodded. “Hmm, he put a lot of work into this.”

“He did,” you confirmed, taking another bite as your other friend returned with a plate of deviled eggs and the vegetables you had agreed to. You held out the half-finished salad bowl and they took it, albeit reluctantly seeing you had not finished. You took the plate and obliged them by eating one of the eggs. “He’s excited.”

You paused and then added, “Excited but he’s ready for rough sex again.”

“I’m sure you are too,” Cassandra joked, nudging you playfully.

“Yeah. I’m tired of just… growing.” You took a bite off one of the carrot sticks. “It’s never ending. And I know I’ve got probably another month and a half of it at least.”

“It’ll all be worth it,” Cassandra reassured you, stealing a celery stick off your plate now and biting into it.

You finished off your carrot, swallowed, and muttered, “I fucking hope so.”

Your hand came to your stomach, rubbing. You were anxious to know what the sex was. When the sex had been able to be detected, Tony insisted you should stay in the dark so he could make it an actual reveal at the baby shower for you. You hated not knowing when he did, but he had been persistent about the idea of it and you had gone with it because he seemed thrilled with the idea. You just wanted to know. You were hoping the party would progress faster so you could end that anxiousness.

When it finally happened, the blue inside the cake settled something in you. At least you knew what that part of your future was going to look like.

<><><>

~2.5 months later…

“What’s this?” Tony asked, seeing another travel bag next to yours.

“It’s for Miles,” you said as if that was obvious. You went back into your closet, grabbing another scarf from your collection. It was going to be cold at Lake Tahoe for the trip.

Tony took the scarf from you and put it in your travel bag. “He doesn’t need a bag. He’s staying here.”

“Wait, what?” you asked, stricken. He was only a month old. Barely.

“Doctors said one month is enough, but a lot recommend three months for trips. So, we are going to play it safe. He’ll stay here and we will go.”

“Tony, I—we can’t leave him!” you tried to argue, your hand falling protectively on his travel bag.

Tony’s eyes flicked to your hands and he gripped them, prying them away to grasp them in his. He stared into your eyes and said, “Sure we can. It’s only three days, Y/N. We will be back before you know it. He is an infant; he’s not going to notice.”

You were going to notice leaving your infant behind.

“I have to breastfeed him,” you tried another argument.

“Pump before we leave. You have back up in the fridge, no? And it keeps for up to four days. And then he can have formula otherwise.”

“I didn’t want to give him formula,” you protested.

“Don’t listen to that shit that says it’s not good. I had formula and I’m a genius by earthly standards,” Tony said, trying to make a joke. “I already got the formula, Wendy knows how to whip it up.”

“But—” you started to protest but Tony interjected.

“Just us, princess. Just us,” Tony said, his thumbs caressing your cheeks as he cradled your face.  “He’ll be fine. He’s in very capable hands with Wendy. You trust her right?” He waited for you to respond and you nodded; you did trust her, wholeheartedly. But that did not mean you did not want to bring your infant on a trip with the two of you. Before you could actually say anything, Tony’s hands fell from your face and gripped at your hips, sliding back to your ass to hold you close. “Let’s enjoy ourselves.” He leaned in, nipping at your ear, “Let me enjoy you. He’s been stealing all your attention as of late.”

You hated that last comment. Throughout your pregnancy and even from the beginning, you had had a nagging feeling Tony was going to get jealous about sharing your affection and attention. And that was just proving it.

“I deserve some attention, don’t I, baby?”

Shoving down argument, you forced a quick smile. “Of course, daddy. All of my attention.”

He smiled sensually, his hands kneading at your ass as he pulled you closer. His eyes were alight with adoration for you. “That’s my perfect princess.”

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21, @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @kvzctam @farihafangirls, @teenageregression @mrsnegan25 @lilacs-lavender @agustdowney @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @emmariexx

[foxymoxynoona]

Ashtoreth

Ok, I had told Tae_ree on ao3 that I was inspired by her story Cam Girl back in the day to barf out a little cam girl story of my own, which I then immediately abandoned. I looked and I wrote this on July 20, 2020. It's not a full story arc or anything, just a little snippet I abandoned BUT I had forgotten that actually this was a stepping stone to writing Amended and Meadow, as you'll see from some themes I repurposed. I thought I'd share even though this isn't really a complete story because I think it can be interesting to see how inspiration and ideas morph over time into something completely different.

Content warnings for this: nsfw, 18+ , cam girl, voyeurism, masturbation, I don't actually know anything about cam girls and I didn't bother to learn since this was just a little writing exercise, so there ya go...

Tattoo Artist!JK x Camgirl!Reader

He didn’t watch much. Well, he watched plenty of porn, but Jungkook didn’t follow live camgirls because seeing the show live made him feel… awkward. Nervous. It felt so intimate, to have a girl talking live to the camera, to be able to type in the chat and have her notice your comment. It made it feel too much like a living, breathing person --not that he didn’t think women in porn were real! But… it was an image he was watching. Something a woman had cultivated, edited, decided to share. A live camgirl was performing in a different way and…

Well, he just felt guiltier watching camgirls. So he didn’t watch them much. Maybe he’d tune in if there was one on, and then he’d feel too ashamed of his own… earnestness. Live cam girls were a level of intimacy that… that was cruel. That he wanted. Camgirls reminded him too clearly of what he didn’t have in real life, and that made him feel ashamed and pathetic and broken. And so he’d leave almost as soon as he started watching and go find some safe, static porn.

But there was one. Ashtoreth. He couldn’t resist her. He was pathetic, weak for this woman, and wound up making an account --which he never did-- just so he could subscribe and get alerts whenever she scheduled a show. Even just the act of getting an alert made him stiffen, made the blood start to trickle south, because he knew what was coming.

He didn’t know what Ashtoreth’s face looked like. And she often wore colored wigs, so whatever he did see wasn't identifiable She had a pretty average body, neither the fit nor voluptuous extremes that tended to dominate the suggested videos. She had a somewhat soft belly and hips and thighs. She had those stripes on the inside of her thighs, too. And a beautiful tattoo along her hip that he desperately wanted to see in closer detail. Her tits weren’t huge, but soft and squeezable and real. Sometimes she presented herself bare to the camera, other times tidy, and sometimes fully grown out. She said she felt like it was a matter of principle to create videos with natural hair growth, even if she preferred to be better kept because she often got horny and juicy throughout the day and it was easier for her to keep clean. That had fucked Jungkook up for a little while. It didn’t help that she had the prettiest pussy he had ever seen, beautifully shaped and colored, and even just tuning in to see how much he’d be able to see was worth the effort. And he liked the idea that she had principles like that.

In fact, he liked all the things she talked about. She was very personable, in a way that was horribly endearing. She played video games, which had actually been what struck him first; that was how he’d found her, because he’d seen that a camgirl was playing Overwatch with a vibrating egg in, and so he’d tuned in, and she was good, and it meant the next time he’d played, it had made him too hard to concentrate, remembering the way she’d whined and moaned and cum just after she’d won her match. Fucking dream girl.

She took suggestions of things to do from high donors, within reason. He wasn’t the only one that liked when she got sort of passionate and fixated on something interesting she’d learned and wanted to share. She spoke several languages and alternated between them --English and Spanish. She claimed to speak more Korean, but never spoke that on her cams, and Jungkook was far too shy to ask her to. It would do him in, but it was also his fucking dream. Did she really speak Korean? It seemed so unusual for a foreigner.

So he liked the things she spoke about too, he liked when she shared her interests, even though it made him feel guiltier because he knew he was looking for the wrong sorts of connections in porn. A cam girl was just performing. It was possible everything she talked about was fake. She was trying to earn money, after all. It funded the toys she bought, the pretty lingerie. People funded those things, all the men and women who tuned in to watch her tease herself into a whining mess and then cum all over the sheets. She’d taught herself to squirt on camera, even giggling at how unreliable it was. She’d just started doing some anal and admitted it made her nervous. She was just so sweet and sexy at the same time, and it all fed into this horrible, horrible fixation Jungkook had that she was his dream girl, even though he knew it wasn’t true and it wasn’t real.

And then at the end of a live, she’d curled up on her side, flushed, panting a little, hand lazily stroking her hip, and said in Korean, “By the way, I thought I’d mention here because my stats say I have a lot of viewers from Asia, but I’m looking for a tattoo artist and it’s hard to find. So if anyone knows a good one in Korea, let me know!”

Jungkook came on his hand. He hunched forward, spluttering and frozen. It had ruined his good orgasm, the shock --he always had good orgasms when he jerked himself off to watching her. He particularly loved after she came, the way she lay there and giggled sort of breathily and talked about the random things that came to mind. But he had not expected her to speak Korean for the first time. And he had not expected her to ask for tattoo artist recommendations.

He froze. He stared at the screen, grunting a little as his cock twitched. Should he-- no. He couldn’t. He shouldn’t. That would be stupid. And weird. And creepy. But like… what the fuck? Did she actually live in Korea?? Her profile didn’t give a location, but he’d always assumed the States since she spoke English primarily. Did… what… and she needed a tattoo artist…

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck,” he grumbled, grabbing a tissue and wiping his hand off. He couldn’t say anything. He shouldn’t.

But if he didn’t, her other followers would, right? Why was she asking for recs? She was setting herself up for harassment! She couldn’t just ask people who watched her pleasure herself for IRL recommendations!

Frantic with a need to protect her, it was perhaps the only thing that could have led him to message her.

GKtat97: hello. Are you sure it’s a good idea to ask for suggestions here? You could get bad guys answering

Ashtoreth: hello. Are you saying you’re a bad guy? ;)

GKtat97: no! I’m very serious! Be safe! But if you need a place my friend does really good tattoos in seoul. I don’t know where you are looking but I didn’t know you were in Korea

Ashtoreth: oh really? Yes I have moved a few times but I’m currently in Korea. Does your friend work in a parlor somewhere?

GKtat97: yes. Byeolbit Tattoo downtown. Whole studio of great artists

Ashtoreth: awesome, thank you! Have you had work done there?

GKtat97: yeah

Ashtoreth: cool I will definitely take a look. Thank you for the recommendation! What’s your friend’s name?

GKtat97: anyone there is good but my friend is jjk. If you ask for him, he’ll hook you up

Ashtoreth: excellent, I’ll check out his portfolio on their website. Thanks babe :*

Fuck fuck fuck, what was he doing? If anything, he should have suggested her to one of his friends there. Because what if she actually did follow up? What if she made an appointment and came in for a tattoo by him and he got to touch her… fuck, that was entirely unprofessional. He couldn’t do it. Maybe if she knew he was the one watching her, then he wouldn’t feel so morally conflicted, but there was no way he could tell this woman to her face oh yeah, that was me messaging you, I watch you finger yourself to get off. Fuck.

Well. It was highly unlikely she’d be following up, anyway. He comforted himself with that. Probably a dozen guys were messaging her now, trying to get her business so they could tattoo her body.

Ugh. She’d called him babe. He groaned and felt his cock twitch in pleasure just at that reality. She’d called him babe, this faceless woman with the beautiful voice and body. Fuck.

**

As far as he could tell, no one unusual had reached out to the tattoo parlor, though it was hard to really guess what that would mean. He’d idly flipped through the appointment calendar but of course it wasn’t like she’d make an appointment under Ashtoreth. No one had requested him out of the ordinary. And she’d done a couple more lives in the past couple weeks, so he figured that meant she’d decided to go with someone else. Which hurt a bit, sure, but he was trying to be an adult about it. After all, it was for the best.

And then during lunch, Mina popped her head back and asked, “Hey, there’s a woman who came by to see if you can do a consult…”

“Is she in the schedule?” Jungkook asked.

Mina made a face but admitted, “No… but that’s my fault. I’ve been trying to get something scheduled for her for a couple weeks now and forgot to write it down-- I’m sorry!”

Jungkook rolled his eyes and teased, “Mina, it’s the whole point of your job to write it down…”

“I know. I feel so bad. I’ll buy your lunch tomorrow. Can you meet with her now?”

“Fine.”

He shoved one final bite of food into his mouth, then went to wash his hands and rinse his mouth out so he wouldn’t risk sauce or broccoli in his teeth for a consult. He was still hungry but maybe if this went quickly he’d have time to scarf down the rest of it.

He stepped out to the front area where a woman sat in one of the chairs, looking a little uncomfortable actually. He thought it must be her first tattoo and that she was nervous; he got a lot of young women in for their first tattoo, a little butterfly or hummingbird on their ankle or wrist. She stood when he approached and gave him a rather dubious smile.

“Are you Jeon Jungkook?” she asked. In Korean, which was unusual but not unheard of for a foreigner. A young woman had probably come here to teach or something and learned the language, but she had a good grasp of it.

“Yes. Hello.”

“I’m Y/N,” she answered, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you. Sorry about the mix up--”

“It’s my fault!” Mina sighed dramatically.

“I’m sorry I’m interrupting your lunch. Should I come back another day?”

“No, it’s fine. What are you looking for?”

“Well, I um, I need one covered up and I was hoping to get something custom to cover it. I saw your portfolio and it looks like you’ve done that kind of thing before.”

He nodded, “Yeah, it’s not a problem. Do you have ideas?”

“Yeah… but I’m also kind of open… I’m not an artist, so…”

“Can you show me what you’re wanting covered up?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“We can step back here,” Jungkook offered when she seemed a little shy. She followed him back to one of the pods and leaned her hip against the table as if for strength, then lifted her shirt to show him a man’s name scrawled across her ribs.

“Is it ok if I examine it?” he asked her. She nodded and he sat on a stool to lean in close and look. It was not well done; if it was the man’s copied signature, he had an ugly hand, but the tattoos itself was also uneven, too shallow in some places, too deep in others. However the scratchy and loopiness of it would be pretty easy to design a pattern over.

“I can see by your face it’s ugly. I know. It was… complicated,” she admitted. “I keep it covered with make up usually but I want it gone.”

“That’s easy to cover,” he assured her. “What do you want over it?”

“Well, I thought-- I have this tattoo,” she told him, lifting the other side of her shirt to expose the flower design crawling out of the waistband of her pants over her hip.

Jungkook froze. She was talking but he didn’t hear anything she said because he knew that tattoo. This was Ashtoreth. He looked up at her face, frozen with shock. This was Ashtoreth’s face. How had he not recognized her voice? But she was speaking Korean and he’d only heard her speak it that once and he hadn’t expected this

“Will that work?” she asked.

“Sorry… could you repeat?” Fuck.

“If it can match this?” she asked him. “Except adding in some violets.”

“Oh. Yes. That’s not a problem,” he assured her. “Um, how big are you thinking?”

She motioned with her hands, then asked, “Am I going to die? I know rib tattoos are supposed to be pretty bad… But I’ve had a baby and I got this thing so I’m not a total baby…”

“You have a kid?” he repeated, then immediately cursed himself. Why did that matter? But it was a real thing about her and it was not what he’d expected.

“Um, yeah. Do you have kids?”

“No,” he said simply. And then because apparently he couldn’t stop himself, he pointed, “I guess he wasn’t a very good father, huh?”

She gave him a small laugh and a crooked grin that made his heart actually flutter and agreed, “No, he wasn’t. But I did get something good out of it, so that’s what I want to cover his name with.”

“Flowers?”

“Violets. My daughter with him is called Violet.”

“Ah. That’s… sweet.” He looked away from her, sliding over to the counter to get his camera. “Can I take a picture? I’ll draw a design and you can leave your email with Mina. Once we get that, we’ll make an appointment.”

“Ok. Yes.” She turned to the side and held her shirt steady for him to take a picture of the names, a couple so he’d be able to recreate it flat.

“Mind if I get one of that too, so I can remember it?”

“Do you want the whole thing?”

“No, just the top is fine, if this has all the style elements you want.” So turned and posed for him to get this second one, and he tried to ignore that he was sweating a little to now have personal photos of Ashtoreth. This wasn’t ok. It wasn’t ok. It was unethical. It was ok for him to tattoo her if she knew he knew, but otherwise it was unethical, right?

But he didn’t tell her. Because he was stupid and struck a little dumb by her. He couldn’t comprehend that he was seeing her in person right now, that he was seeing the tattoo up close that had factored into how many of his solo sessions now? And this other tattoo, that never showed in her videos! He knew something now none of her other viewers did.

She thanked him for his time and he promised to get her a sketch within a week and then she left. The whole exchange had been so… normal, compared to how he might have envisioned it.

She hadn’t been anything like he’d expected, but maybe that wasn’t fair. He tuned into her next live after debating it, but he couldn’t bring himself to miss it. He wanted to see if he could see traces of her bad tattoo, but she did a good job of hiding it.

Anyway, why should he be surprised that she had been polite and sweet and a little shy? Because he didn’t expert a camgirl to be those things in real life? But that came through in her cams and it was one of the things that had even initially drawn him to her channel.

It was different now though. She slid her fingers down her panties and he knew what her face looked like. She pressed her fingers into her wet hole and he knew she’d had a child. He knew her real hair color and her real eye color and the sound of her voice in person. Soon he would spend hours hunched over her body, etching something permanent into her skin that would hopefully please her, that all her viewers would see on her. How would she unveil it? Would she give him credit? She’d already been very excited about the design he’d emailed her.

[13uswntimagines]

I Should Sleep With You More Often (Sam x Reader)

Sequel to Works Like a Charm  where Sam and Reader finally get together. It’s a very fluffy piece, with a little bit of late night breakfast making and a surprise kiss. 

special thanks to @literaryhedgehog​ cause this wouldn’t have happened without her. 

Hello?”

“Hey, I can’t sleep.” Sam’s voice comes over the phone, getting straight to the point with frustration.

“And you’re calling me about it? At 3 am. I could have been asleep you know.” You huff into the phone, pinning it between your chin and your shoulder. 

“Were you?” She asks, and you can almost see her eyebrow quirking up. 

You look down at the frying pan where you were about to pour your egg-cheese scramble. “No. But still.”

“Don’t worry, I appreciate the irony of the situation,” she says, with an attempt at humor. “can I come over?”

“Sure. You can split my omelet.” You hum, your tongue poking out as you make sure the entire omelet landed on the plate instead of the floor. 

“Omelette?” Sam asked, sounding amused. “I thought you weren’t supposed to --” 

“Eat anything after 9 pm I know, I know. But I woke up and was hungry, and couldn’t just ignore it to fall back asleep for two hours. I had to eat something or I was going to get nauseous.” You interrupted her, waving your hand dismissively. 

“What?” Sam asked entirely confused. 

“You know that feeling, where you’re like, so hungry that you get kind of nauseous?” You tried to explain again. 

“No…” She trailed off. 

“Oh, well it’s the worst. I like to try to eat something before it gets too bad because otherwise, the food won’t do anything. Anyway, I made enough you can have half of it, just let me know when you get here so I can send down the elevator for you.” You said, whipping your hands off and walking towards the door. 

“I’m actually just parking,” Sam’s voice came sheepishly over the phone. In the background, you heard the unmistakable sound of her car being locked. She always insisted on clicking the lock button twice so it would beep, like she didn’t trust it to lock the first time. 

You shook your head and left your apartment to buzz her into the building. “You’re telling me that at 3 am, before even checking to see if I was awake, you just decided to come to my apartment because you couldn’t sleep?”

“Yes?” 

“You’re insane,” you said, hanging up the phone as the elevator door opened to reveal her tall frame. 

She ruffled the hair at the back of her neck, grinning. “I knew you would be awake?”

“Bullshit.” You led the way back to your apartment and grabbed two plates from the cabinet. “You want soy milk?”

“What?” 

“Soy milk. I’ve got vanilla or dark chocolate.” For some reason, soy milk helped reduce the insomnia nausea more than anything else most days. Still, the omelet smelled amazing. 

“Um sure, vanilla please.” She shrugged, and you rolled your eyes. Vanilla was for the weak. 

You pulled out both cartons and two glasses, before cutting the omelet in half and handing her a fork. 

“Don’t I get my own plate?” Sam whined, cutting off a piece of the Omelet and popping it into her mouth. 

“People who come barging into my apartment at 3 AM have to share with the host. Unless you wanna do dishes?” You raised your eyebrow at her, pointing your fork in her direction, smirking when she emphatically shook her head no. 

She quickly changed the subject, avoiding your eyes as she ate. “So how are you liking your apartment, it’s new right?”

“Yeah, I moved in four months ago, you know when I suddenly got traded to North Carolina,” you said, a very bitter edge in your voice. How Mark could let you leave the thorns you would never know, but at least Hinkle was retiring. 

You took another bite “So why couldn’t you sleep? At camp, you’re usually snoring like a freight train by now.” 

Sam paused mid-bite, fork in the air. She looked like she was debating how to answer then, stuffed her last piece of omelet in her mouth. “I donb snowe.”

“You totally do. Rose even sent me the video evidence if you wanna see it,” you smirked, standing to go get your phone. 

“No!” Sam jumped up and you sprinted across the kitchen to get out of her reach, grinning. “You really don’t have to do that, it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh, but I really don’t mind,” you taunted, starting for your phone before Sam tackled you. Well, it wasn’t a tackle so much as a grab, but she had a good foot and a half on you, so same difference really. 

“Put me down. This is highly unnecessary,” you sputtered, laughing from Sam’s shoulder. “I’m not supposed to exercise within an hour of bed. My therapist would be unhappy with so much activity.”

“Yeah cause eating an Omelette at 3 am is totally something she would approve,” Sam rolled her eyes, as she tossed you onto your couch.

“Lies and slander. I won’t get the alleged snoring video, but seriously. Why are you here?”

Sam sighs, and slouches onto the couch next to you, dropping her head into your lap. You smile down at her, liking this new angle. While you certainly didn’t mind being the baby of the team, it was kind of nice to do the petting for once.

“I don’t know,” Sam said, furrowing her eyebrows.

“You were never a good liar. It’s why everyone catches you when you try to pull pranks. I hear it helps if you talk about it,” You murmured, using your thumb to smooth out the crease that formed between her eyes. 

“Fine, I couldn’t sleep because I kept having nightmares. It felt like, I was tossing and turning for hours, and then every time I dozed off, my brain came up with these fucked up images. Like, silence of the lambs shit. I could sell some horror film director the plotlines and make bank, I’m telling you. And since Rose and Wilma moved out, my place has felt so empty. It felt like, the panic attacks I used to have before games. When I had to always bring a bag with me to hyperventilate into before I could get my mind on the game.”

You frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

“Once you became my bus buddy I didn’t have that problem. You got me out of my own head with fun word games and stupid jokes. Remember that time you gave me the sentence ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog?’ You kept grinning telling me to stop stressing out, it would be alright, to just guess a letter.” 

“Because whatever you guessed would be right.” You hum smiling down at her. 

 “You couldn’t take that shit-eating grin off your face, you jerk, but like, it helped me stop second-guessing myself. Sitting on the bus with you, I’ve never felt more calm going into a season. And so I just thought. It’s dumb but I hoped coming here would help.” She shrugged. 

“It’s not dumb Sammy. You help me sleep too. Why do you think all the vets insist I sit with you?” You said softly, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

“Because you used to fall asleep literally everywhere and they hoped I could get across the aisle and catch you before you hit your head?” She giggled and you snapped her shoulder lightly. 

“Wow. Thanks.” You said in a monotone, “Or maybe it’s ‘cause you’re my favorite teddy bear.”

“If anyone is the teddy it’s you. You’re like half my size,” She giggled. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you muttered, playfully pushing her head off your lap. “Come on you giant.”

“Where are you going?” She asked, allowing you to pull her to her feet. 

“To go grab you a toothbrush and a fresh pillowcase for the bed.” You said, your tugging getting a little more insistent. You really wanted to get to sleep tonight. You had been so good lately (ignoring the random omelet you cooked tonight).

“Oh, um. I was hoping we could just watch television on your couch and I would fall asleep,” Sam rambled, eyes wide. “I mean, not that I mind, but I didn’t want to like, invade on your--”

“Just come up to my room. It’s no big deal, it’s large enough for both of us, and I honestly don’t think that couch is even big enough to fit you. Besides, maybe it will help you sleep to be on a mattress actually purchased in this century.”

“Hey, I like my mattress!” She grumbled indignantly, crossing her arms. 

“You flip it twice a month because it keeps forming an indention where you’ve slept!” You said exasperated. That sleepover had been a terrible idea and you stood by that. At least your bed didn’t spit out feathers when you turned over too fast. 

“Well, I. um. No comment.” you hear her say as you go to take your turn in the bathroom. 

When Sam gets back from brushing her teeth you’ve done everything except turn out the lights. You look up from your side of the bed as she pauses in the doorway. 

“Is this… Welcome to Night Vale?”

“It helps me ignore my thoughts. Can you get the lights please?” 

You had to replay the podcast the next day after Sam left. You couldn’t remember anything after “Wednesday has been canceled due to a scheduling error” because within moments you were asleep.

*****

You thought that sleeping with Sam was only supposed to be a one-night thing, but it wasn’t. One night turned into two, which turned into the two of you usually crashing at each other's places. 

If you were being honest, it was the best sleep you had ever gotten. It was nice to have someone there to hold onto, to protect you from the bad dreams. The problem was that your feelings were edging past the line of friendship, and you had no idea what to do about it. 

It started with a team party you both went to, where Sam offered to be the designated driver. After she dropped everyone else off, you told her she might as well stay the night at your place since it was already so late and she did. And you both slept great. And then you had your usual Saturday spa night the next night, and you were several shots in and it wouldn’t have been responsible to drive home. And you both slept a solid seven hours. 

Not that Sam was a magical cure to your insomnia. You still had nights where your brain was like a train running off the rails, unstoppable no matter how hard you tried. Yet, having her there helped. She made sure blue lights went off when they were supposed to, and your late-night breakfast-making was kept to a minimum. AND after the first few nights, you realized that she was amusingly clingy in her sleep. Which meant that occasionally if you woke up and tried to get out of bed, she would sleepily grab you and hold you in place murmuring about whatever was happening in her dream. Since you couldn’t get up you had to just lay there, which normally might have been boring, but with her was amusing as you listened to her rambling state of consciousness. 

You sighed, staring up at the ceiling. You really needed to get your shit together and just ask her out. But what if she said no, and you lost your cuddle buddy? That would suck royally, and if you lost your bus seat it might completely curse the USWNT. 

“Alright, I can practically feel the steam coming out of your ears, spill,” Sam groaned, rolling over and throwing an arm around your waist. 

“Isn’t it weird?”

“What?”

“Time. Like someone decided that seconds were a thing and a certain number of seconds equaled a minute and there were a certain number of minutes in a day. Like someone just decided it was a thing, and everyone went along with it and now we all have to plan our lives around this arbitrary system. I wonder if that asshole realized that people would use it to put kids in detention and force them to cram so they could regurgitate facts in a specified amount of his made-up system. And like the Romans made a Calendar and the Mayans did one too…” Your rambling was cut off by Sams’s soft lips touching your own in a quick peck before she collapsed back into the pillow. “Just blame capitalism babe.”

You stared at her for a minute, shocked, before she bolted upright. “SHIT. Sorry, I just. I forgot to ask for consent. I just forgot--”

“I consent, yes, more of this please,” you said, leaning over to kiss her again. Your hands cupped her cheeks and her fingers tangled into the baby hairs at the back of your neck. 

After a few minutes, Sam broke off the kiss, both of you breathing heavily. “Um, wow. You know, I’m not sure this is helping you get to sleep, love.”

You smirk, biting your lip and straddling her hips before you lean in to kiss her again, slowly. “You’re the one who said you needed to sleep with me more often.”

[hearts-hunger]

dralshy’a ka’ra (brighter stars): chapter five || din djarin x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

Series Summary: In the lake country of Naboo, you and Din romance each other under summer’s brighter stars. || Part Two of Jate’kara (Lucky Stars)

Chapter Summary: You and Din enjoy the last days of your trip.

Pairings: Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

Genre: Pure fluff | Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: None!

A/N: Hello! It’s been a hot minute since the last chapter! I know I said this was going to be the last chapter of the series, but I wrote too much fluff and had to break it up into two chapters. Chapter six will be up tomorrow, and I hope you like this one! ♡

The rest of your trip passed blissfully. You drank up every moment you had with your husband, careful not to let any moment pass without a grateful appreciation of it. It would be a long time before you could indulge in such a long, restful trip like this again, and there was much to be done when you returned to your “real” life. Until then, though, you and Din both enjoyed your time together.

He took you dancing one night, in the city square where musicians played as the sun set. He was graceful even in his armor, and the pair of you caught many curious gazes. Mandalorians weren’t known for dancing, but Din was open and friendly to everyone around you; when you stopped to catch your breath for a dance, Din had a gaggle of children asking him to dance with them. He let them stand on his boots while they danced and allowed them to put their little hands on the shiny beskar that entranced them so, a laugh coming through his vocoder whenever one of the children called it “pretty”. It reminded you of the way he played with your baby; as you often did, you found yourself very glad you had married a man so gentle and kind to children.

You asked him to take you to the beach, and he very selflessly obliged you, even if it meant tramping over the sand in full armor. He declined to go near the water and settled on a dune nearby to watch as you let the waves run over your feet. You smiled as you watched him - he was a funny sight, in all his beskar, sitting on the sand like he hadn’t a care in the world. You waved to him and were pleased when he waved back.

“How do Mandalorians enjoy any leisure time in full armor?” you asked, walking up the beach to sit next to him. You buried your feet in the warm sand and leaned your head on his shoulder.

He laughed. “We don’t really do leisure, cyare. At least, I’ve never known a Mandalorian who didn’t have full armor on every time they left the covert.”

You traced your fingers over his chest plate; your fingers were still wet from the water, and you left little droplets over the surface of the beskar.

“What if you had to dive in the water and save me?” you asked. You’d pestered him with hypothetical, Mandalorian-related questions often enough to know he didn’t mind them, and in fact liked giving you the answers you sought. “Wouldn’t your armor be very heavy?”

“Yes, it would,” he said. “We had to do training exercises, when I was younger, to make sure we were strong enough to swim with our armor on.”

“But you’d do it for me.”

You knew he was smiling under the helm. “Yes, cyar’ika. I’d do it for you.”

You laid back on the sand, shaded from the sun by his broad shoulders. “And what if you wanted to make love to a beautiful woman on the beach?” you asked.

He patted your thigh. “I’d say I wouldn't be caught dead with my armor off like that, and the sand would make it miserable anyways. Even as much as I wanted to.”

You laughed and pulled on his arm to lift yourself back up, resting your head against his back. You ran your hand under his cloak, settling between his shoulder blades.

“Can you feel my hand?” you asked. He wore so many layers that you sometimes couldn’t tell if he could feel you or not.

He hummed in agreement. “I always feel you, cyare. Your touch could go through beskar.”

You smiled. “You’re very sweet to me, you know that?”

He looked over at you and gently bumped his helm against your head.

“I love you,” he said simply.

You stayed like that for a while, listening to the sound of the waves and the lake birds. A mother and her two children claimed a spot a little down the beach from you, and the sound of the children’s laughter mixed with the sound of the surf.

The littlest one couldn’t have been but two years old, toddling with his older sister down to the water to gleefully splash in the gentle waves. You smiled as you watched them play, and weren’t entirely surprised when you felt an ache in your chest at it.

“I miss our baby,” you said.

He straightened; you knew he’d been watching the children too.

“I miss him too,” he said. “I was thinking how much he would like it here.”

You laughed a little. You could just imagine the kinds of mischief your little one would get up to, running headfirst into the water in search of fish eggs to snack on.

“We’ll bring him, one day,” you said. “My parents miss him, and one day we’ll be safe enough to come and stay for a long time.”

Din’s hand found yours, and you held on tightly.

“Thank you for your patience with... all of it,” he said sincerely. “And your faith in me. After some of the things I’ve gotten us into, I sometimes can’t believe you put up with me.”

You gave a soft laugh and wrapped your arm around his, resting on his solid, steady frame.

“Fair’s fair,” you said. “You put up with me, so it’s the least I can do. Besides, my life would be so boring if I’d stayed here.”

He chuckled. “I guess that’s one word for it.”

He watched the children playing, building a sandcastle just near enough to the water that the waves would eventually topple it.

“We should head to Sorgan tomorrow,” he said. “If that’s alright with you.”

“Wherever you go, I go,” you said simply. If he thought it was best, you’d leave Naboo tomorrow and gather your son before you headed off wherever in the galaxy he needed to go next.

You touched your knuckles to his neck, right under the lip of his helmet. He pulled away from you a little and actually giggled.

“You hate it when I do that, don’t you?” you asked, amused. You could listen to his laugh forever, especially one as surprising and joyful as that.

“No, I don’t hate it,” he said, and you could hear his smile. He relaxed against you again. “I’m just ticklish, that’s all.”

“I won’t tell anybody,” you teased. “It’s very cute, though.”

“Oh yeah?”

He grabbed you by the waist and tickled you mercilessly until you conceded defeat, doubled over in laughter as you grabbed hold of his hands. He held you close to him, chuckling he listened to you laugh, and you were so glad you were married to him. You were so glad you loved a man as kind and good as he was, with hands that would only ever touch you in love, with a body that would defend you until his last breath, with a heart so deeply bonded to yours that to love him was as easy as breathing.

“You have to teach me more Mando’a,” you said.

He chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed. “Just in general? Or is there something specific you want to know how to say?”

“Well, both,” you admitted. “But right now I wish I could say something to you.”

You felt a little embarrassed - maybe it was silly of you to want to speak his own language to him. “Even though I probably won’t pronounce it right and I should probably just stick to Basic.”

“I don’t mind,” he said sweetly. “I love your voice no matter what language you speak, even if your pronunciation is terrible.”

You gave him a light nudge with your shoulder, drawing a gentle laugh through his modulator.

“I’d love to teach you Mando’a if you want,” he said.

“You won’t ever make fun of me?”

“No, love. I won’t make fun of you.” He rested his helm against your head. “Tell me what you want to say, cyar’ika.”

You brought your hand to rest on the side of his helm. “Teach me... ‘you are my heart’s home’.”

“Hm. That would be... gar ner yaim be kar’ta. You are the home of my heart.”

You repeated it back to him. “How was that?”

“Perfect,” he said. “You’re the home of my heart, too.”

You put your arms around his neck and let him hold you. On Naboo or on the Crest, on the run or on a warm summer afternoon, it would be the same no matter where you were. He was your home, and you were his, no matter where in the galaxy you went.

-

You carefully packed away your beautiful dress in your chest of clothes aboard the Crest, taking the time to wrap it back in its paper and place it so it wouldn’t wrinkle. You didn’t know when you’d be able to wear it again, but you cherished it and the kindness of your husband in giving it to you. The memory of it would serve you well until you could put it on again.

Din finished his once-over of the ship, checking to make sure everything was as it should be, and called you up to the cockpit as he started the power-up sequence. The Crest hummed pleasantly as her engines came to life under Din’s familiar hand, and your emotions were a little bittersweet as you listened to the Crest and looked out at the bay and the docks filled with people coming and going from their ships.

“You alright?”

You started a little at the sound of his voice, even gentle as it was, but he steadied you with a hand on the small of your back.

He chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, affectionately running his thumb back and forth. “Everything ok?”

You hadn’t taken your usual seat behind him, even though you knew he was ready to leave and the Crest awaited his direction. You turned to face him.

“Yes, sorry,” you said. “I was just... people-watching, I guess. You’re ready to go?”

He hummed in agreement. “Everything’s set. But you can people-watch for a few more minutes, if you want.”

You smiled. He understood your reluctance to leave and wanted to make it easier on you if he could. You reached your hand out towards him and he took it without hesitation.

“You’ll miss it, won’t you?” he asked. There was no judgement in his tone, only understanding and sympathy.

You sighed. “Yes, I will,” you admitted. You squeezed his hand. “But I’m ready to see our baby, and we have things to do. It’s time to go.”

He tugged you towards him, gently, and spread his knees for you to stand between them. He looked up at you, cocking his head slightly as he studied your face.

“How did a pretty thing like you end up with someone like me?” he asked. “Weren’t there any ruggedly handsome guys on Naboo who wanted to marry you?”

You smiled. “I had an offer or two,” you teased. You had in fact gotten one marriage proposal before Din’s, but it had been from an arrogant young man who hadn’t bothered to woo you at all - perhaps thinking his proposal was flattering enough - and saw you as nothing more than another achievement to add to his list.

Even with his helmet on, you could read your husband’s distaste as plain as day.

“Don’t remind me,” he said, his tone just as uneasy as the day you’d first told him that story. “I was only being rhetorical when I asked.”

You laughed, genuine and deep and full of love for him. You felt his gentle grip on your waist tighten with affection, and you kissed the top of his helm.

“I’m glad I didn’t accept any other proposals,” you said needlessly. Din knew that, but you thought he might like to be reminded every so often. You rested your hand on his shoulder, toying with the fabric of his cloak.

“I didn’t want to marry any of the ruggedly handsome guys on Naboo,” you said. “I wanted to marry a very religious man who could have been a Gungan, for all I knew.”

Din snorted. You giggled and drew his hand up so you could pepper gentle kisses across his knuckles.

“I wanted to marry someone with kind eyes and an easy smile,” you said gently. “I wanted to marry someone with beautiful curly hair and big, strong shoulders. Someone who loves to laugh with me and takes care of me and my babies.”

You pressed his knuckles to your mouth and looked steadily into his visor, knowing you had his full attention. He was sweetly willing against your touch, allowing you to take your time, waiting for you to speak again.

“I wanted to marry someone who takes me on grand adventures across the stars,” you said.

He didn’t say anything, and you wondered what he was thinking. He released his hold on your waist and took his hand from yours, and you briefly worried that you’d offended him somehow. Your fears were soothed as he reached up to take off his helmet and set it on his thigh. The deep love and unwavering devotion in his expression warmed you from head to toe, and you couldn’t help a lovesick smile as he pulled you down to sit on his lap.

“I love you,” he said. You knew it meant a million things he couldn’t figure out how to say, and you leaned closer against him as he put his arm around your waist.

“I love you,” you said back. His curls were mussed, as they always were when he first took his helmet off, and you brushed your fingers through them.

He smiled. “Happy with your scruffy Mandalorian who takes you on grand adventures and gets into trouble with the law for getting you a baby?”

You beamed at him. “Perfectly,” you said. “I wouldn’t have you any other way, Din Djarin.”

He kissed you deeply, drawing you close to him; you put your arms around his neck and let him hold you.

After a few long moments you spent lost in each other, the Crest started a soft, slightly impatient alarm to indicate she was ready and waiting. Din fumbled around blindly to shut it off, still kissing you, and you laughed against his mouth.

“You other lady’s getting jealous,” you teased.

He gave you quick, gentle kisses all over your face. “Let her,” he said. “I want you.”

His desire for you never failed to spark the same in response, but you knew it was time to go. The harbormaster had been informed, and the Crest was ready to take off, and you’d sent a message to Omera letting her know to expect you. There would be plenty of time for lovemaking later.

But oh, his kisses were heady, and the promises of what would come if you let him take you to bed called you like a siren’s song. You pulled back from him with some difficulty, giving a soft laugh at his insistence and your own hesitation.

“More later,” you said, giving him one last, consoling kiss. He accepted it gratefully, but his hand still lingered on your waist as you stood from his lap.

“You drive me crazy, woman,” he said affectionately.

Kriff, you wanted to get back in his lap and kiss him silly. You took his helmet in both hands and lowered it onto his head, hoping not being able to see his expression would ease your longing a little.

He looked up at you with that steady, unreadable gaze, and you knew it hadn’t worked. Instead of making you less keen for him, it turned to something different, something that wasn’t hungry for his gentleness so much as his dominance. You almost blushed at the thought.

“What?” he asked, and you could hear his smirk through the modulator. “Oh, love. Did you think the helmet would make it any easier?”

You laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Din.”

He rapped his knuckles over the side of it. “We both know you fell madly in love with this tin can, cyare. Beskar’s the way to your heart.”

You leaned a hand on his shoulder and pressed a kiss to the corner of the T-visor, right over his cheek. “Fine, you got me. Beskar’s the way to my heart.”

He gave a satisfied hum, pleased with your agreement. Though your desire for each other still sparked between you, it settled into a comfortable warmth that would keep until you had more time to enjoy it. You perched into your usual seat and he finally obliged the Crest and eased her into flight, both of you settling in for the trip to Sorgan.

Read chapter six!

pedro pascal character taglist: @punkgeekchic, @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl, @stardust-galaxies, @theorganasolo, @qhbr2013 ♡

series taglist: @kyjoraven, @sarahjkl82-blog, @remmysbounty, @bitchin-beskar, @cosmicbreathe, @prettyboyskywalker, @happyxdayxbitch​ ♡

let me know if you’d like to be added to either taglist! ♡

[retvenkos]

just saying, these ej caswell x reader pairings i came up with are great. however, to be the only ej caswell writer on this app as of now calls for sharing these ideas for fun bc i can’t write them-

av club! ej x journalist! reader

rival! ej x north high dancer! reader (exes to lovers imo, my favorite)

ej x reader as marriage project partners (friends to lovers !)

water polo! ej x swimmer! reader

ej x injured dancer! reader (with the just friends and will they won’t they romance??? chef’s kiss ! angst ! all of it)

and honestly,,, prom. just prom bc i know they won’t give me a prom episode 🥲

thank you for letting me put this in your inbox olive sorry to bother you FJSKFJSJ these ideas just have so much potential ✋🏽😭

mARRIAGE PROJECT PARTNERS!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 that is the kind of content we deserve.

it reminds me of how my friend had to take care of an egg as her "baby" with this guy who was an sbo and they were complete disasters. big idiots to lovers energy (she had a crush on him but it sadly never went anywhere). first, my friend put the egg in an empty face cream jar that was filled with necessary padding, but then she closed the lid so her teacher told her that her child was suffocating and the sbo was like "we need to talk about cUsToDy" (jokingly). but then this man leaves the kid at the school over the weekend, so he had to get back into the school when the basketball team had a game. my friend went with him and i can only imagine it was very funny for them to have to ask the custodian for the key to the biology room because they left their child, tommy, in there. (part exercise was that you had to give it a name and call it your "child" not your "egg". idk.) my friend jokingly got to be like, "we need to get a dIvOrCe." it was great.

and for another baby egg story, my mom had to take care of one when she was in high school, and her partner dropped it in the cafeteria.

i could see there being an entire episode of hsmtmts about the main cast getting assigned egg babies or marriage project partners, and all of this drama (and more!) ensues. its so in character for the series. just imagine..... nini gets paired with ej for maximum "we used to date" awkward energy (but also they work really well together, i want their friendship to be sacred),,,, gina and ricky get paired up for maximum tension and “how can i be a parent when mine are not great models?” freak outs,,, kourtney and seb are great parents that really get into it (taking pictures and everything), and big red and carlos are just like..... i let my egg sit here beside me. i haven't had half the problems that everyone else has had. 

but also.... don't school use fake baby dolls now? isn't that a thing? that would be even worse, tbh, since some of them can cry...