#and hopefully they don't fight too much or i'll wish I had stayed home

[house-in-the-backyard-trees]

So my coworker said she was going to go do landscaping in the last hour before I left for the day which was fine. It was getting to be around 12:45 and she wasn't back in so I went to check the garbages and see where she was. I got to the last garbage can on pump 7/8 and she got out of her car. I don't know if she was in it the entire time bc she likes to do the garbage behind the dumpster. But it's really frustrating being the one stuck on register doing all the work while she goes outside and sits in her car and does whatever. I feel like we shouldn't have to babysit her. I got so mad at her I started shaking and I slammed the money counter down on the counter and counted my drawer in like 2 minutes and we didn't say a word to each other and I went and stood in the office and sent a message to my manager about her. Like when will anything she do be enough to upper management for her to get fired? or is she just gonna be here forever, just letting her get away with anything and everything?

[allieslittlewritings]

*not my gif <3

Comfort

Aaron Hotchner x Teen!Reid!Reader

Summary: Hotch comforts Spencer's daughter when she's worried about her dad

Set in: Season 14 Episode 1 "300"

Warnings: Reader is worried about Spencer, mentions of a parent hypothetically dying, hints of self-deprecation

A/n: what i'd give to see Hotch in the later seasons :(

When you were little and your dad was in danger, the team kept it from you as long as they could.

The older you got, the more difficult it was for them to lie or stretch the truth.

By now you were too old for them to not tell you.

They spared you the details of the actual situation.

You just knew Spencer was abducted, and, therefore, there was a chance he wasn't coming back alive.

You wondered if this was it.

If this would finally be the time your dad didn't make it out on the other side of a life threatening situation.

You waited at the BAU and sat by your dad's desk, wondering if that desk would belong to someone else in a few months, maybe years.

Hotch exited his office and slowly walked towards you.

He saw the emotionless expression on your face and his heart sank.

"Hey," He said softly.

You didn't reply.

He walked closer to you and leaned against your dad's desk.

"You can talk to me, you know that right?" He said.

The feeling of guilt had started to build up in his throat.

Maybe if he'd been more careful, or more observant, this wouldn't have happened.

You waited a minute before speaking. "You know, even with everything he's been through there's still this weird thing in my head that convinces me he'll be okay."

"He might." Sugar coating things wouldn't help you right now.

"But he might not." You finally looked at him with glassy eyes.

A quiet, bitter chuckle left your lips.

Not becuase anything was humorous, you simply couldn't believe this was happening again.

"I don't know what I'd do without him, Hotch." Your voice shook as you spoke.

"You're not supposed to," Hotch said. "I know that does little to comfort you. I wish there was something I could say to make it better but there isn't."

"This shouldn't happen to people. And I don't mean me, I mean... hasn't he been through enough? Even if he survives, physically. One person can only handle so much."

"Your dad is strong, and he has you to remind him why he has to keep going."

"What if I'm not enough to make life feel worth it to him?" You asked, your voice cracking.

"Enough?" He asked, shocked. "Y/N, on every bad day I've seen your dad have, when he gets to go home and see you, I can see the weight on his shoulders ease. You've been enough for him to keep going since the day you were born. Hell, even before you were born."

You didn't bother fighting against the sobs begging to be released anymore.

"Come here," Hotch said softly, opening his arms.

You gave in and let him hold you while you sobbed.

He wasn't a very touchy person usually, but he felt differently about that when it came to certain people, and you were one of them.

Hotch swore to himself then that if your dad didn't make it back, he would always be there for you.

You would never be alone as long as he was around.

★

You sat in Aaron's office after that.

He didn't go with the others when they went to hopefully bring Spencer back, choosing to stay with you instead.

You sat on the couch in his office, a book you had only read three pages of open in front of you.

Hotch saw your eyes start to falter.

"You should get some rest, Y/N."

"No, I need to be awake when they get back." You insisted.

"I'll wake you up," Hotch assured you.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

You lay down on the couch and eventually fell asleep. Aaron went to get you a blanket and carefully covered you with it.

★

"Y/N." Hotch shook you awake. "Your dad's almost here."

You quickly sat up, "He's okay?"

"Yeah. He's in the elevator now, he'll be up in a minute."

Relieved tears welled up in your eyes.

"Thank you," You whispered, leaning forward to hug him.

"For what?"

"Being here." You said quietly. "And whatever you did that helped get him back."

Hotch tightened his hold on you, "I'll always be here, Y/N."

fin. ♡

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.190 New season

Today, I took the family back to Gilbert Gardens to see our house, officially, for the first time. Last night, after Dub went home, I showed Sophia pictures of the inside to confirm with her my choice. As suspected, she agreed wholeheartedly. When we walked in, the familiar scene greeted us with a warm invitation. After scrolling through the pictures over the last few days, being inside was so magical. It felt like home. Sophia was especially taken with all the red accents in the living room. I think it's hilarious how she says she doesn't have a favorite color, but it's so obvious that she does.

We've had many signs that this was to be our home even before we bought it, and the inside confirms it even more. First, with Sophia's favorite color, and now my mother's. The kitchen is green, and throughout my life, it seems like most of our intimate moments happened in kitchens. I'm not a big fan of the color, but it felt like fate.

The eat-in kitchen is such a large room, as I said previously. It's totally gonna end up being the family room. Me and Sophia already hang together while we're cooking anyway, so with the computer and toys for Desi in the mix, I don't see how we'll ever leave this room. Sophia is the only one who watches TV, and she really only does that when she's alone, so I don't see the living room getting much use.

It's interesting how a home's layout makes all the difference. This house is roughly the same size as our current one, but it feels so much more spacious. I especially love having different places to hang out. Upstairs, there's a nice loft-like area that I'm sure Desi and her cousins will take over when they're older. I wish we could have had a spot like that in our current house. Tummy time would have been so much more comfortable than squeezing into a narrow hallway.

All the bedrooms and the hall bath open to this space. Our bedroom is super tiny, so the wardrobe sits just outside the door. It'll be tough to leave behind our large bedroom, but we've lived the tiny room life before and will do it again happily. At least we finally got our own bathroom this time. We might have to change the color scheme, though, because the bedroom is the one place I don't want to be thinking about Mama.

I love Desi's room. It has such a sweet yet calm vibe, just like her. It's a shame she'll probably never sleep in it as is. I hope I can find a similar set in a child size to maintain the vibe.

When the cousins come over, two of them can stay in the spare room, and the other can camp out in the loft with a sleeping bag.

There's a nice size porch, and a fenced in side yard just like we have at our current house. But the pièces de résistance is the backyard. I'm glad to see all the stuff I ordered arrived, but I kicked myself for not thinking it through. I was too excited about giving the kids the best backyard ever and never once considered they're all aging up the day after tomorrow. Hopefully, there's a good return policy because that stuff was not cheap.

Once we finished touring the house and getting a feel for it, my next move was to leave and go back home, naturally. Sophia reminded me that this is our home and we could stay as long as we want unless I had something better to do. I most certainly did not, so we parked upstairs and sat on the floor with Desi.

"Do you like this house, Des?" I ask.

"Yeah!"

"Do you want to live here?"

"I go live in the dollie house!"

I swear we have the most adorable kid on earth. And I will fight anyone who disagrees, heh. Given how she behaved at Dub's rental, I knew I wouldn't have to convince her moving here was a good thing, but I had to be sure she understood this time we were definitely staying.

"We should pack up our photos and stuff tonight and move in tomorrow," Sophia said.

"Why tomorrow?"

"Why not? It's not like we're taking much. Plus, I'd like to be settled before her birthday."

Sometimes, I don't understand my brain. Like, I'll have something in my head to do, but for whatever reason, it doesn't occur to me to do it right away. I honestly can't tell you when I thought we'd move in, but it definitely was not tomorrow. Thank goodness my wife has better foresight than me.

"Are you excited about your birthday, Desi baby?" I ask.

"Birdaaaay!"

She's excited because we're excited, but I don't think she knows what birthdays are all about yet, so I try to explain.

"It's gonna be so fun! All your cousins will be here, and we're gonna eat cake, and then you'll be a BIG girl. Are you excited?"

"I cited!"

"What excites you most about being a big girl?" Sophia asks.

"I cited about TREE HOUSE, an I pway with Koopa an Wosie, an I cited about pway with you, Daddy!"

"Awww, I'm excited about playing with you, too. Are you excited about school?"

"What's school?"

"School is a place where you go every day to learn important stuff and get super smart. There'll be lots of other kids there, and you can make friends. And there's a thing called recess where they let you go outside and run around for a little while. It'll be fun."

I do not doubt that little speech was more for convincing myself because the thought of her being away for that long every day makes me incredibly anxious, and I miss her already. How is my baby girl school-age already?? I should have asked Dub how he dealt with this transition.

"Does that sound like fun, sweet potato?" Sophia asks.

"Yeah! I gon' have THIS MANY fwens!"

"Woooow that's a lot of friends," Sophia said.

I left them talking to go to the bathroom, and then I called Less to give her the plan. When I returned, I found my entire family in the kitchen, looking happy and comfortable, as if we'd been living here the entire time. I sensed that relief—that era of chill I'd been longing for—settling into the foundation of the house. If I would have known all we needed was a change of venue, I would have bought this house long time ago. But everything happens in its time for a reason. Whatever this new season will bring, I'm ready for it.

[siennadraws]

A letter sent from Rook to his fathers in Wycome:

It's always so good to hear from home. I'm glad things are as stable as they can there, and I hope it stays that way despite the troubles southwards, despite this mess I threw the world in.

I know I tried to do what's right, but I should have trusted Varric and stayed back. All this ruin, because I wanted to one-up Terys and scratch at that scar I swore I'd leave alone.

Sometimes, I still wish everything could go back to normal, that no one had traveled to the Conclave, some other could have found that Foci. But I have seen so much now because of that. I think that if someone tried to pull back time, everything I experienced would weigh down its fabric and keep it in its place.

But people are suffering; there's no use, there's no justice, in me wishing for reprieve. I need to set things right.

And, I admit. There's a piece of joy I don't know I could let go of, anyway.

I think you know what I'm talking about, who I'm talking about. I sealed the letters describing him (as clinically as I possibly could) red-faced. I'm sure you're both horrified by it if you've already been through the denial. Especially you, padre.

But I know you trust me, and I hope you still do. I'm seeing so much of the world. It is a living, breathing thing.

After the Blight, the Crows were changed. Your House is gone, padre, alongside many others, and many costumes. I am not naive to believe there isn't harm still being done as it was done to you and so many Crows, but it's not tolerated.

And Lucanis- if you met him, you'd understand.

I can recognize it in his eyes, he was raised like metal being worked into one of his daggers. Burned, beaten, drowned, skinned until he shone and cut, despite his status.

But there is a warmth to him that I can't pull away from. Believe me when I say I tried. For you, padre, for every scar on your body and mind. For you, papae, who tended padre's wounds and kept vigil through his fever.

It is a warmth like the embers on the hearth, like the tea they give us hunters at our night watch. He kills like no other, but I do too, and I don't believe my hands are quite as gentle as his' nor my actions as quietly thoughtful.

No one called "Demon" should make me want to wrap him safe in the furs and knitted blankets of my aravel, but in my sleepless nights I am pulled to him, and as I fight to string phrases, I can't think of anything else.

I'd probably beg you for your blessings, but there is nothing to bless. Hopefully just yet.

I have seen the glances he has thrown at me when he thinks I wouldn't notice (as if I don't take note of every single thing he does), and I can only hope they mirror mine.

I wish I could be as bold as I am, but I'll have to wait for his lead. As frustrating as it can be, his trust in me and watching it grow is as beautiful as he is.

Your son,

Wenalen

ps.: I swear next letter will be more informative, and thank you for letting the Mercars stay with you.

[thephantomchronicles]

20 questions for writers

tagged by @mac-lilly (thank you for the tag🥰)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

97! Didn't even realize when they got to be so many😅

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,011,650

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly Julie and the Phantoms and I used to write a lot for Legacies before it got canceled (plus a few others here and there depending on what I'm watching at the moment����)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I’d Like to Be My Old Self Again (But I’m Still Trying to Find It) (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Life Is a Risk, but We Will Take It (JATP)

I’m Only One Call Away (9-1-1: Lone Star)

Our Best Days Are Yet Unknown (JATP)

Will You Hold Her Tight and Not Let Go? (JATP)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! Unless I can't think of anything that makes sense to say, I usually try to reply :D Sometimes I feel like I'm getting repetitive, but I'm really insanely grateful to everyone that comments🥰

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Technically it has to be i'm talking to a memory (haunted by the moments of what we used to be) - although considering how angsty the fic is, I would say the ending is the least angsty part of it😂

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, almost all of my fics have happy endings, I guess I'm going with You’re More to Me (We're Everything) mainly because there's a juke wedding and if that's not happy, I don't know what is😅

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't gotten anything yet, hopefully it stays that way😅

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope

10. Do you write crossovers?

Well, my main thing on ao3 is a JATP x Shadowhunter Chronicles crossover, so yes definitely

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I haven't

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really - I sometimes talk some ideas through with friends just to get another perspective, but I usually end up doing the one I want anyway😅

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Impossible to choose just one, I will hyperfixate on a different ship according to what I'm watching/reading at the time, but jatp will always have a special place in my heart so I got to say Juke and Willex

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

There is a juke pregnancy fic I've had in my wips for nearly 3 years that I keep saying I'll finish and then I keep forgetting about it - I think I've got to be honest with myself and accept that it'll stay unfinished...

16. What are your writing strengths?

Probably dialogue... And usually the angsty parts of a story😅

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Fight scenes - and the main series I'm writing is full of them😅 and describing places and physical appearances - it's one of the reasons I like fanfiction, characters and places are usually already established!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've written a few lines of dialogue in Spanish because of the Molinas, but I'm always nervous because I know very few words in Spanish and I try to look things up as much as I can because I want it to make sense😅 And I've written a few lines in Greek in a fic too :D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Julie and the Phantoms💜

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I've previously said i'm talking to a memory (haunted by the moments of what we used to be) but I also really like i am pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door - a willex fic from my first responders series

I'm not sure who's already been tagged, but I'll just go ahead with no pressure tagging😅 @onlygenxhere @writerownstory

[kleinstar]

Sent to Eiden's home address is a small package which, upon opening up, contains a handwritten book, a bottle of sesame oil, and a hastily scribbled note (traditional Chinese written in vertical rows reading right to left, thankfully translated by the island's handy powers):

Hey Eiden— You're doing all right, right? It's been pretty crazy these past couple of days so I've been busy dealing with that; I expect you're much the same (luckily no body switches here...yet)? I remember it's your birthday today, so I hope this reaches you while you're still you. If not, back off and leave it alone, I'll know if you touched it instead. >:( Anyways, moving on. After that last coliseum fight I figured it'll be useful if you know more self-defense skills, so I wrote up my sect's beginner swordfighting manual from memory for ya. It's technically supposed to be passed down to only disciples but I doubt anyone from that world's gonna follow me here. You can learn it yourself or find me for training, there's basic stuff you can master even if you don't go expert, all right? I'm also including my recipe for longevity noodles here because you said you were in a cake coma last year. Hopefully this helps with someone that. There's only one brand of sesame oil I'd trust to make it taste right though, so I'm giving you a bottle of that too. Try cooking it when you can! I'd make some for you but—body switching, chaos, etc. Anyways, take care and let's try to catch up after all this is over. Also, if anyone wearing my face tries to talk to you, test them with someone only I'd know first! Just in case. Happy Birthday and stay safe, 王亿

" Haha. "

" Lucked out huh.... Man imagine if the angel bastard had been here for the gifts... "

Before even looking at the gifts Eiden actually grabs the note, taking time to read it in peace. And naturally he'll also send out a response, a little later on the day:

Yo! You lucky dog, wish I could tell you the same but at least it's me now! Everything's arrived as it should be so don't worry about that! You're putting lots of thought into your gifts as always eh? Always so conscientious... Don't go making faces there, that's a praise ok? I'll take a good look at the guide but I am more of a hands on learner ok ;D -- ahh im kidding!!!!! Don't put the letter down yet!!! I wouldn't mind taking the offer to help with the training! Edmond used to taught me a bit but I'm deeefinitely rusty, he'd scold me for sure. And thanks! I'll keep that in mind - I don't think any fake Wang Yi would get past me anyway hehe. I'll try the recipe for sure too so I can cook like Master Wang yi ;) As for the usual gift from me for this year - thank you for everything from this year, gifts included, and before, and most of all -thank you for being my friend~~ See ya! ~Eiden

And with the letter comes a bracelet with pink and green beads plus some silver ones in between the latter in the shape of a certain fat cat.

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Healing Ties - Chapter 18 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

It took Yore far longer than he would have liked to lure the rock golem into the swamp, dodging hands that reached up from the mud as they went.

He'd hoped to get it bogged down in the mud but it just kept ploughing through it.

At least there were no boulders for it to throw out here and the mud slowed it down enough that it had no chance of getting close enough to slam its rocky arms into him.

When he trusted the wrong ground and sunk belly deep into the mud himself, he decided he was done.

The dead grabbed for him and tried to pull him under but he managed to struggle and squirm his way back onto firmer ground.

It looked like they'd distracted the rock golem as well.

Yore took the opportunity to dash back the way he'd come.

He hated that he'd left Fanner alone for so long but he had needed to get the rock golem clear of the path.

It was too dangerous.

Members of his own pack used this route regularly.

Chances were, a group had been sent out looking for him and would be coming back this way once they stopped in at the inn and were told that he was fine and had already headed home.

Hopefully Cookie was with Fanner.

She's stayed with Yore long enough to ensure he had the situation under control and then she'd dashed off.

He didn't know that she was capable of much in the way of fighting, if it came to that but she was smart and she seemed particularly protective of Fanner.

He doubled back to where the fight had been started, left the bag for now and began to track Fanner.

Cookie seemed to have come this way as well but the path she took was meandering.

However she had tracked him seemed quite different from Yore's method.

Yore heard the distant sound of Fanner's voice and ran in its direction.

Fanner fell abruptly silent as Yore got close but he could smell him now.

Cookie chittered, loud and friendly, from the bottom of a dried up creek bed.

Fanner poked his head up as Yore climbed down the bank.

"Yore," Fanner exclaimed, throwing his arms around Yore's furry body.

"I thought you were dead."

Yore waited until Fanner let go and then shifted back into his human form.

"I'm sorry I left you along for so long. I had to get the rock golem away from the path."

Fanner hugged him again and this time Yore had arms to hug him back with.

Fanner was shaking, his breathing coming fast and uneven.

Yore rubbed his back.

"It's okay. Everything's fine now. You're safe and so am I."

"I really thought you died."

"I'm sorry, Fanner. Really. I wanted to come and find you sooner but I was worried someone would get hurt if I didn't deal with it right away."

Fanner pulled back and looked Yore over.

"You're hurt."

"A little and very muddy. Sorry. I had to go all the way out into the swamp to get it far enough away."

Fanner started brushing his hands over Yore, not quite touching him as he dissipated the mix of blood and dried mud on his skin.

He paused to pick a shard of rock out of a cut on Yore's shoulder.

He was still breathing unevenly and his eyes were red and damp.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yore asked.

Fanner gave a shaky nod of his head, but it wasn't very convincing.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

"You saved my life. You and Cookie."

Yore offered him a gentle smile.

"She was good, wasn't she? Somehow she knew that thing was there and she was determined to protect you."

"I saw it when it still just looked like a pile of rocks and... and I was going to go and sit on it and have a drink of water."

"She stayed long enough for me to get the situation under my control and then she ran off after you. I'm glad she found you."

"Do you think they'll let her stay at the settlement you're taking me to? If she wants to, I mean."

"I don't see why not. I'll talk to them about it for you."

"Thank you. I wish I could go with you but if I at least have Cookie maybe... maybe things will be okay."

"Things will be fine. You're starting to trust me and that's good but we've only known one another for a few days. We've gotten a bit closer a bit faster than we otherwise might have because of the circumstances but if you can get to know me this quickly I'm sure you'll have lots of friends within a week."

Fanner nodded as he lifted Yore's arm and cleaned under his armpit.

He still looked so distressed, so vulnerable.

"What if I don't? What if things really aren't okay?"

"If things really aren't okay you can come and visit me and I'll help you figure things out. But only if you really need to, okay? I'm not saying that I don't want to see you but I have a lot of things going on in my life and there are a bunch of things I need to jump right into when I get back."

Fanner nodded.

"Thank you. I promise I won't bother you just because I miss you."

That made Yore's heart clench.

He wanted to reassure Fanner that he wouldn't be bothering him, that he'd actually like to see him, he just couldn't afford to take on the extra responsibility.

He wasn't sure that would help, though.

Fanner was a person, a friend, not a responsibility but he did need help and that would take a great deal of time, patience and careful thought.

"I'll come and visit you as soon as I can," Yore promised.

He smiled as Fanner circled around him, checking for any remaining mud.

Yore would have settled for a quick rinse in the river but Fanner had done thorough work.

"Am I sufficiently de-mudded yet?"

Fanner made a sound of dismay in the back of his throat.

"You're covered in tiny cuts."

"Don't worry about it, Fanner. I'm a man who's had tiny cuts all throughout my internal organs. I can handle having them on the surface of my skin."

Fanner took a deep breath in and let it out as a sigh.

Yore did his best to turn his reflex to laugh into a kind smile.

Fanner just sounded so serious.

"It's just some minor cuts. Like I said, I've had worse. Hell, you've had worse. Why is this upsetting you so much?"

Fanner shrugged.

He wouldn't look Yore in the eye.

Of all the things that had happened to him on this journey and a lot of shit had happened to him in just a few short days, this one seemed to have shaken him the most.

Yore looked around.

"Hey, where's Cookie? She's surprisingly stealthy for... I don't even know how to describe the shape that she is."

Fanner let out a slightly broken but genuine laugh.

"She went away and caught me a fish before. She probably hasn't gone far. Or maybe she has. I don't really know what goes on in her head or what motivates her but it's worked out in my favour so far."

[soft-jihoonie]

Hello! It's your secret Santa again 💝 I hope you’ve had a nice week and weekend? Can I ask about what you've been up to? And wow, I saw on your about page that you do songs and circus videos? I’d love to hear more about that! 💗 Are those your main hobbies/interests?

Oh, I can definitely see why you love Chanyeol then! ❣️ He’s such a happy pill, and a daring one too (which is very apparent in their variety shows, yes!) and I agree - he’s ridiculously talented and handsome as well 😖💘 I also discovered Exo through Call me baby! That song + Overdose had me gaping in awe, they were like nothing I’d ever seen before! ✨ Was Call me baby your first era then? I became an Exo-L in 2016 so my first era was the Monster era~

Ahh Yixing is such a sweetie, I understand why you fell for him too 💕 I gave my heart to Junmyeon right away, and even if the others (especially Kyungsoo) have been fighting him for the bias spot I have to say that it doesn't look like they'll succeed any time soon haha 💜

I’m glad I got it right! ✨ Did you get into Seventeen before or after Exo? And what do you like about Jihoon in particular? I’ve gotten the impression that they’re pretty amazing as well, but since they’re so many it’s been hard to find the courage and energy to actually get to know them haha 😅 but I’ll see if I can give it a try someday soon! Any tips on where to start? And do you have any favourite songs by them? (And by Exo?)

Me too! 🎨 And I also love vibes like that, so hopefully I’ll get that down at least 💓 Oh, don't worry, I don’t have any problem with drawing ships, but thank you for giving me multiple options - I’ll see what I can come up with!!

💫 ~I wish you all the best for this upcoming week~ 💫

-🎅

Hey! So sorry for the late reply, I went on holiday for a week with my friends and the signal was so bad with barely any wifi, and then I came home and had to go back to work instantly!

I definitely need to update my page haha, I haven't done circus since i was like 21 (i'm 26 now) but it was a huge part of my life, I did it from the ages of like 12 - 21 and even moved to Tasmania at one point to work at a circus over there. Nowadays, I still sing a lot but haven't filmed any singing vids forever, I mostly just write fanfic as my main hobby at the moment haha, I have 3 jobs so it's kinda hard to find time for hobbies outside of consuming kpop content!

What about you? What are your hobbies?

I thought call me baby was my first era but I literally just realised yesterday that I also became an exo-l in 2016 so monster was my first era with them too! I was like obsessed with exo from the moment i saw them for the first time haha

I love Yixing so so much, I miss his interactions with exo so much all the time, he's the sweetest lil bean! Omg i love that you were able to stick with Junmyeon, he's the best! I pretty much never stick with the same bias that i have when i first discover a group, like i'll be bias wrecked and then the person who bias wrecked me will stay as my bias for good, like with seventeen i thought i was Joshua biased when i discovered seventeen and then Jihoon just whisked me away haha. OMG Kyungsoo at the moment needs to just stop, I can't handle it haha.

I got into seventeen after exo and was definitely more seventeen focused for a bit but I always came back to Exo! Jihoon is very introverted which I really relate to so I think that's what made me gravitate towards him, plus he's just really cute and soft whilst simultaneously being a huge grump and i just love those vibes haha. He's also super talented, like his singing voice is gorgeous and hes basically produced like all of seventeen's songs! I get that haha, I find that watching their reality showing going seventeen really helped with getting to know them! My favourite seventeen song is actually a song by just 3 of the members and ailee called Q&A, it's so good, i highly recommend checking it out! I love like so many exo songs but Unfair always seems to stick as my fave, i just love the vibe of it so much!

Amazing, i'm super excited to see what you come up with!

Hope you're well!

[windrunner]

raw emotion if you're pissy about it i cannot care okay i am trying to leave my home for the second time this year and i do not give a shit. ledge time

i am locking the fuck in regarding getting shit done to get myself into a safe place where i can help my friends also come stay if they need a safe place in a sanctuary state but like.

i am going to be honest and say that i am sort of just accepting my own possible death today (from potential lack of access to intersex and trans healthcare), so if you find me very abrasive and rigid here i'm sorry! genuinely. there is no version of me who wanted to be saying any of this shit today.

i feel exactly like i did back in March of this year when i was almost made homeless by my ex and almost ended my own life because my grandma had died traumatically on the operating table 30 minutes before. i feel like i'm scratching at a wall with no handholds trying to pull myself up out of a pit. i feel so totally alone. i don't know who to reach out too and i'm frankly a little too busy to put myself first. so i'm going to word vomit here.

the only thing i am morbidly glad about is that i now see who i Shouldn't waste my energy or time on. and sadly that's a massive fucking majority of self-described ""leftist"" people i used to know (especially the people on my instagram. what the fuck is happening on ig) who seem to be... Gleeful? about the despair and genuine suicidal idealization so many people are experiencing. people who really do think this is going to "teach us a lesson". I'm glad I can at least kick those people out of my life for good. I'm sad that I've seen that here as well.

i now fully understand that you have viewed me as nothing but a useful idiot. I'm not your token hermaphrodite. I'm not your token faggot. I'm not your token tranny. Neither me or my loved ones are an acceptable sacrifice for whatever the fuck your ideals are, and I'm going to fight to create that safe place for us still. I hope and WANT you to prove me wrong with the "revolution!1!" shit but i have no confidence in anyone who thinks minority USians deserve this.

i hate that i had to see a highschool friend blaming the jewish and black american communities for this outcome (which is why i reblogged that post with those tags). i had to see so much fucking racism and misogyny on display. it's in my own house. i now know that my own father would not care if i'm barred from my medication because "at least now the mexicans will stop taking jobs." i hate how hateful everything is. i just want to crumple into a ball.

but I'm getting a car this week. I'm going to get any job that will take me and then transfer it to my nearest sanctuary state. I discussed it with my mother over lunch and both of us are genuinely scared about my republican father's (most likely violent) reaction to these results. it's not safe for me here.

i've already started downsizing my things. my christmas present will hopefully be a down payment on an apartment in a different state. i pray that the biggest thing i'll be complaining about in early 2025 is having to work doubles or two jobs.

i'm terrified and i'm numb and i HOPE the results shift in the coming days but today was just too much. something broke in my chest that i don't think i'm going to get back for at least a few years, if we're being optimistic.

i refuse to venerate suffering but i also acknowledge that i am suffering so badly right now. i really wish someone would give me a hug tbh

i don’t want this in the tags so buffer post

[spinaroos-47]

Hunter Whispers AU!

A quick (hopefully) post about the basic things that change on the au!

Also a quick warning about blood on one of the images in the middle of the post when I start to talk about Lilith.

Like the other two aus here, it is being developed together with @bernardo-draws-and-cries, who drew some of the drawings on this post.

- Raine meets Hunter when he's pretty young, like around 8 years old and training to become the Golden Guard. They show genuine kindness to Hunter and there's a very slow adoption process (like socializing a feral kitten), Hunter sometimes sneaks out to their house, and then when the cheek wound happens when he's 12, that's the breaking point for Raine to go "that's it" and get Hunter out of the castle and adopting him.

- Hunter managed to stay pretty undetected from the EC even if Raine was getting higher and closer to the EC on the bard coven. He's not on Hexside, he and Raine managed to figure out a homeschooling system. And usually if he's not helping Raine with things, or at home, he's likely on the library or outside in the forest.

- He's part of the BATs! (Took a lot of convincing for Raine to let him join) But sometimes when dealing more directly with the EC, Raine doesn't want to risk him being caught and doesn't let him join in these missions. Resentment happens.

- Hunter resenting and feeling trapped and like no adult thinks he's capable of doing what he wants to do is a theme. He's doing better emotionally than Canon Hunter but there's a lot there that he is not doing well with and still some unprocessed trauma.

- Lilith is the in place of the Golden Guard. She has scars across her face from one time fighting Eda, where she intentionally made her turn into the Owl Beast, to try to capture here, which is why she almost always uses a mask now. She ended up telling her family about her cursing Eda and decided to isolate herself and focus only on the EC. Which is... not good for her mental health.

She still appears mostly on the same momentos as on Canon, but the more friendly times, like Sense and Insensitivity are way less friendly and Eda is less cheery with her, for good reasons. She is Canon Lilith before s1 finale but if she stayed and spiraled.

- Raine has a flying fox palisman! I haven't decided a name for them yet

(haven't digitalized it yet)

I based them on the animal head on their violin looking a bit like a bat! And this au is working with the headcanon that palismen for bard witches can either transform into instruments or join their witch's instrument to help with the magic casting.

So, they're the violin!

- Raine is the one who gets fooled by Belos about the whole "I'll cure Eda" thing. They don't trust Belos for obvious reasons, but they hoped this would help Eda, and they're not going for the capture path, they want to talk with Eda about all this but they never find the time to tell her their plan. Which wasn't going to be 100% doing their part of the deal either, they were planning on getting Eda cured and then let her escape. Also they also have a path of realizing that the curse itself isn't the problem, but it happens a bit too late. And Hunter doesn't know about it. Until YBOS.

- Lilith had also been trying to capture Eda, being way more aggressive about it. And she's still the one who captures Luz in AOAW and makes it seem like it was Raine's choice. Very angst

- The two appear way earlier, in Covention, and appear some more other times, like Hunter in Escape of the palisman, and the two on Grom (and more times. They become semi regular characters but we haven't figured out that much)

- Hunter ends up befriending Luz (and hexside trio) and goes to quite some sleepovers there, specially after discovering about the glyphs! (his love language is snack giving and one constant on these aus besides Hunter having a bad sleep schedule is him having a great relationship with King)

(both him and Raine have bad sleep schedules)

- Hunter gets Lil rascal on SOTP. He has the same wish as canon, just a different situation. He still feels caged and unable to fully decide what he wants for his future

- There's the obligatory awkward pining Raeda

- Eda's requiem has quite some changes that i will probably make a separate post about

- Amber, Derwin and Katya are basically like Hunter's older sibilings. He's the baby of that found family

- And on this au he acts more like an older cousin than as a brother to luz. Still close but not like a brother.

- He can kinda use bard magic but it's kinda weak since he himself is powerless (Lil Rascal helps with that), and we're using another headcanon, about bard magic being able to be used by beings without innate magic in them, just less powerful than if performed by a being with innate magic

- Raine ends up sharing the curse with Eda (the assumption that Eda cursed Raine and not that they shared the curse gets spread around) and Raine can become the Bat Beast

Very fluffy. They can still do bard magic (but way weaker) as it is Eda who is still the main carrier of the curse.

- Things get...pretty tense with Raine and basically everyone else (specially Eda, Luz, King and Hunter) after ybos. Their relationships get slowly rebuilt but then Eda's requiem happens.

- But before that, they're around quite often on season 2, together with Hunter

This au is a lot of "Raine fucked up and is trying to fix it/make up for it" and it's really fun to work on it, even if it looks like it's mainly angst, we still have some non angst stuff about it fksmdmfm

And that's it! The basics about this au! There's a lot more stuff we're going to be slowly sharing

[flamingo-writes]

Ch. 9: Out For Blood

Keep You On My Side, Chapter 9: Out for Blood

Andrew Garfield!Peter Parker x [Female] Reader

[Previous] [Next: 03.30]

A/N: Make a wish next time I post when I schedule it because I'm a dum dum 😭 It took me so long to write this, mostly because this is the longest chapter yet, and it's basically twice as long as the last two chapters. Anyways, like I said in last chapter, I'll try to slowly go back to my scheduled posting on Sundays...Hopefully, I'll be able to make it ToT Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bunch of strong emotions all poured into one messy chapter with so much happening.

Summary: As you watch from a distance, you can't believe everything that's happening. Although, you wished things were gonna be different the next day, but only turned out to be a roller coaster that seemed to take unpredictable turns as the day went buy. Secrets confessed, memories you wish you could forget, truth you can't believe, and the realization finally hitting you.

Warnings: This chapter contains darker topics, mentions of psychotic behavior, manipulation, gaslighting, depression, mentions of suicide threads.

Word Count: 8.2K

“Stay here, don’t go down, don’t do anything. I’ll come back for you as soon as I’m done” He babbled as he turned around and jumped down as you watched him incredulous, your heart beating fast as you dropped your gym bag and approached the edge.

“Peter!” You cried out as you started getting worried.

You watched him swing back into the eye of the hurricane, as the guy with the dark cape swung towards him and Peter dodged him. You stood paralyzed as you watched, the penny dropping again. If Peter was…If Spiderman…While earlier you had no issue processing this information. But now…seeing him in this situation, made your heart sink in fear. Right, Spiderman did a lot more than stopping robbers and helping kittens off the trees, or even helping people who left their keys inside their cars. You remembered the few weird instances in which very weird characters attacked the city. The giant lizard, the electric guy, some giant rhino…and now, these two clowns in silly costumes who seemed to know how to put up a fight even with Spiderman’s enhanced senses.

You looked horrified as you watched Spiderman dodge some attacks, but receive most of them, either by managing to protect himself or completely take the hit. However, everything was happening too fast and too far away. You were a couple of buildings away, and with a very good reason. Spiderman taking you in particular there, while he simply told people to leave and where to go, spoke volumes about his priority to keep you safe. It made your heart ache.

Your eyes filled with tears as you felt your phone vibrating. You pulled it out of the back pocket of your jeans as you saw Miles’s name on the screen and picked up.

“Yeah?” You said in a shaky voice.

“Yo– are you alright? Where are you?” Miles asked, alarmed as he noticed the peculiar tone in your voice.

“I-I…” You chuckled bitterly. “Not sure how to…say…this…”

“Dude, what the hell? Should I call my dad? He’s a cop…” He added nervously.

“N-no. I-I’m…fine” You said, not lying, but you were mostly worried about Peter. “I’m…on top…of a building”

“Wha–?”

“I’m fine. I’m…there’s some sort of…issue…going on between Spiderman and two other guys…” You explained nervously as Miles easily picked up on your anxiety. “I was…walking by, when Pe–, I peeked over the street to see what was going on, and Spiderman saw me and…took me away from there..”

“He left you on top of some random building?” He asked exasperated.

“Ye-yeah" You sighed nervously. "I-I'm…safe. Don't worry…"

"Sis, you don't sound exactly relieved…" Miles chuckled bitterly.

"I'm worried about him …Spiderman…" You admitted.

"Are you two friends or something?"

"I mean, we've talked a few times…he's saved me several times…and he's walked me home to make sure I make it home safely…" You replied, not exactly lying to Miles.

"Do you… know who he is?" His question made your stomach drop as you knew you wouldn’t be able to lie to him.

"I…I think…" You said, not exactly lying.

"Yo, what? Really?" He asked incredulous.

"I'm not sure…okay? I haven't confirmed it” Truth “And even if I did…if it were me, and someone found out I'm MJ, I wouldn't want them to tell anyone, you know?" Also truth, and with that, Miles sighed deeply.

"Yeah, fair…Hey, he'll be alright, you'll be alright…" Miles said, mostly to relieve himself.

"Yeah, thanks…" You replied, sounding a lot more calm, and making Miles feel more calm as well.

"Should I call my dad? And tell them about the ruckus?"

"Ye-yeah…"

You gave Miles the address and hung up as you leaned over to the edge, looking for Spiderman, your heart beating fast and strong on your chest as it was hard to follow the bad guys and Peter. There was shooting, although they did not seem like regular guns and instead looked like something out of a Hollywood action movie. What was going on? You were so freaked out by everything you couldn't understand and what was happening.

For several seconds, Peter was out of your range of sight, as you kept hearing the ruckus, yelling, cursing. And you were standing too close to the edge, leaning over the balcony as you felt your heart on your throat.

A quick dash of orange and yellow ran from the alley they’d disappeared. You looked at it, noticing it was one of the guys who was fighting as well. You watched him climb up the building, running away as Peter was fighting the other guy with the metallic dark cape. You knew screaming would be useless, and would perhaps catch the attention of the guy running away and put you in danger.

However, as you looked at Peter struggling with the other guy, you completely missed the second man jumping from building to building, slowly making his way in you general direction. You heard a loud huff, catching your attention as you watched the guy running away jumping into the fire escape from the building you were secured in. You gasped and moved away from the edge as the man climbed up.

His peculiar suit, looking almost like a suit of armour had orange and yellow details, as well as some large gauntlets and boots. He jumped on the edge and stared at you for a full two seconds.

Your body froze in shock, suddenly feeling the blood drain your face and your stomach fell to the ground at the realisation that the bad guy had seen your face.

“Enjoying the view, darling?” He hissed with a chuckle as he continued running towards the next building.

You watched him leave speechless as you stood paralysed and thought about the implications. He’d seen you. God, he had seen you. You wondered how screwed you were. You could be just any person watching through the roof of their building, right? Unless they’d seen Spiderman take you there himself. The fact that he let everyone else run away but took you to the roof.

Another loud growl snapped you out of your thoughts as you ran back to the edge and saw a bunch of web hung between two buildings, and in the middle the bad guy was all wrapped in it, suspended in the middle of the web. Although Peter was nowhere to be seen. At least for a few seconds you heard him crashing against the fire escape as you looked down. He climbed the wall slowly, catching his breath until he finally made it to the top.

“Peter!” You said desperately as you approached him and hugged him as he groaned softly and then wrapped an arm around your back. “Are you alright?” You purred, breaking the hug and looked at him as you noticed he was holding his side with one of his arms.

“Received a pretty nasty blow on my ribs, but nothing that a good night's sleep won’t fix…” He replied with a cheerful, although tired voice.

You watched him with worry overflowing your eyes, almost like tears.

"Hey, can I ask what you are doing out here late at night? You could've gotten hurt!” He said in a low and somewhat severe voice “Or worse! You could have died”

You looked at him and realised how dangerous it was. You being there at the wrong place at the wrong time could have cost you your life just like he’d said. Your mind went blank, as Miles had also mentioned it was dangerous for you to leave so late, and the guilt sunk in your gut.

“I-I'm sorry…” You stuttered softly as you looked at him with wide terrified eyes. “ know it was dangerous and reckless of me to go out at this time…i…really needed a swim…”

“Whoa, whoa, babe, hold up, right there…” He said with a bitter chuckle. “You went out because you wanted to swim? At midnight?”

You realised how bad your wording sounded as you cursed under your breath.

“Please, I-I…it's the only way I can deal with him being back…” You said. “I'm still sorry, though. You got hit because of me…”

“Don't” He cut you off. “You had nothing to do with me getting hit. I was careless, that guy knows how to fight…C'mon, let's take you home” He said as he stood up and walked towards you.

“What about your ribs?” You asked worried.

“I’ve been through worse, don’t worry” He tried to sooth you as he walked closer to you. “I’m gonna wrap an arm around your waist, and I need you to cling to me like a baby monkey or koala or small cute mammal of your preference…” He said as you looked at him and nodded softly as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and you felt his arm snaking around your waist. “Please don’t scream, I’ve got sensitive senses…and when I’m swinging around people, they tend to yell and it’s pretty rough on my ear…”

You felt your heart skip a beat as he said “swing” so casually, as if it were the same as riding a bike or getting on the subway. You nodded.

“Ye-yeah…”

“If you’re scared of heights, you can close your eyes too” He added and your first reaction was to hide your face against his neck, as you felt him chuckle underneath the mask. “Ok, I’m gonna jump now, ready?”

“No, not really…” You whispered. “But go ahead…” You purred as his arm around you tightened and he jumped.

You felt the gravity pulling your stomach to the ground, and the wind hitting your body, as you felt the swinging of your gym bag on your shoulder and you cursed under your breath as you clung desperately to Peter, wrapping your legs around his waist in an attempt to feel more secure.

“Hey, you’re good. You’re doing good. Hang in there, your place is not far from here…” He chuckled. “You’re doing pretty good, most people yell, others cry, once I had a guy telling me he was getting nauseous and…it was not pretty” He joked trying to distract you from the pull and gravity with each of his swings.

You heard him grunting softly in pain every time he let go of his web before shooting a new one.

“This sucks!” You cried out as he laughed.

“I do this on a daily…” He said softly as you felt a sudden turn and your grip around him tightened. “Almost there” He purred as you kept cursing under your breath, hearing Peter’s amusement.

You felt him abruptly stop as you looked away from his neck and opened your eyes, noticing he was sticking to the wall next to the fire escape.

“We’re here…” He purred softly as he got on the small balcony and put you down.

Feeling weak, you stumbled and grabbed the ladder and dropped your gym bag looking through your window into your dark room.

“Thanks..” You whispered almost asking yourself how did he know the fire escape was right next to your window, but you remembered a few days ago he’d gone into your room after you saw Gal outside the Coffee Pot.

“Can I ask you something?” He purred as you turned around and looked at him, noticing the details in his mask.

"Yeah" You purred.

"What gave it away?" He purred softly, as you stared into his mask, wondering how clearly could he see with that over his eyes.

"Your corkboard," You replied softly "You have my note…" You chuckled as it took Peter a second to know what you were talking about "I can't believe you actually found my note" It was a simple thing, the only note he had was MJ’s.

"So, the MJ is Mark Jensen?" He replied. "Like the main character from your novel?"

"Mark Jensen is my self insert in my own novel…I feel braver writing under his name…" You admitted shyly, feeling weird as you'd never talked about the MJ thing with anyone who wasn't your roommates or Lauren.

"You are brave. Always have been…You don't have to sign under his name…" He said, his voice softening "But I get the whole hiding and staying anonymous part…"

"Thanks" You murmured as you scanned his mask, and leaned forward.

Peter read your movement and leaned forward as well, pressing his forehead to yours. His mind spinning erratically as his wild ideas and fantasies of you being MJ were true. You were MJ. He thought of the chances, the other two Spidermen having an MJ of their own, and although the multiverse theory explained his universe the existence of an MJ was random, and said MJ to eventually get involved with him was also random, he'd been feeling weirdly hopeful of having one of his own. Mostly because he craved that tender intimate human interaction. After he met you, well, his obsession over searching for MJ ceased, at least until he started noticing the pattern between the both of you. And this was because you seemed to correspond to his feelings. And if that was the case, then finding MJ was meaningless with you in the picture. Although, you being MJ made him think of his parallel version, and thinking how he too had an MJ.

"How long have you've known?" He asked, as he wondered if he should take his mask off now that you knew the truth.

"Since 5:27 pm…" You said as he frowned softly and recalled what he was doing at the time.

"We were in my apartment" He chuckled as he pulled away, and ran a finger over the edge of his mask.

"Yeah…I saw the note I left on the bridge after you asked me who I was…What about you?" You purred as you stared at his fingers lingering on the edge.

"Like…a minute or so ago…" He chuckled as he looked down "I had my very strong suspicions for a while…of you being MJ…but if you saw the note you saw the other stuff…" He groaned embarrassed.

“I did…” You chuckled softly as he sighed.

“Yeah…man, it's creepy, I'm sorry you had to see that…I swear I'm not that creepy” He chuckled awkwardly as you shook your head.

“That’s the spirit of a true journalist…” You added.

“I’m a photographer, not a journalist…” He chuckled.

You looked at him and extended your pinky finger towards him. Looking down at your hand, he chuckled softly.

"What?" He asked slightly confused.

"I'll keep yours if you keep mine" You purred softly as Peter looked up and you felt his gaze on yours through his mask.

"I thought that went without saying…" He purred softly as he stretched his hand and wrapped his pinky with yours.

The both of you stayed silent, as he stared into your hands and leaned forward. He bumped his forehead to yours as you felt his breath through his mask.

"Hey, I know you've had a hell of a day…but, if I asked you if I can kiss you…what would you say?" He purred, his heart in his throat as he thought how much he'd been dying to kiss you, but every time he saw his chance to do it, in some way or the other, you weren't in the right headspace.

"If I hadn't had a hell of a day, I'd say yes…" You purred. "But…I'm scared…Gal is back…I'm pretty sure he's stalking me, and it scares me…"

“Hey, I'll watch over you…I won't let him lay a finger on you” He murmured as you closed your eyes and sighed deeply.

“That's not it. It's about what he's already done…besides,” You stopped, feeling nervous just by thinking of Gal “I'm worried that he might try to scare you away…” You said.

“He can try all he wants, I’ve dealt with far crazier and scarier people than him…” He purred trying to lift you up, although he noticed your concerned look did not change. “Hey, I like you…I really do” At this, you smiled softly and looked at him.

“I like you too Peter…” You sighed “but Gal is not just some jealous ex…He is a psycho…and I don't mean that in a hyperbolic kinda way…” You murmured as Peter finally pulled up his mask and stared at you, his eyes reflecting his concern, one you could not see through his mask “I mean, the guy seriously has some serious issues in his head…”

“I'm sorry…” He purred.

“He did so many horrible things, and every time I tried to call him on his actions…he manipulated me, gaslighted me…into taking his side…” You stopped as you felt an odd lump on your throat and closed your eyes.

“Hey, it's alright…” He purred as he cupped your face in his hands “You don't have to tell me…”

“I know, but I want you to know who you're dealing with…” You murmured as you met his stare. “The amount of power he had over me was…gross…” Your eyes teared up as you sighed and closed your eyes, trying to keep your tears from falling “He turned me into someone I’m not…Every time I tried breaking up with him, he managed to make me feel guilty as if I was the one doing things wrong…And I let it happen constantly for three long years…”

When your tears finally fell from your cheeks, Peter pulled you in for a hug as you buried your face in his neck, clinging to him as you sighed deeply, trying to calm yourself down.

“I'm so, so, sorry…” He purred your name, his voice soothing your nerves as you shrugged.

“It's fine…” You sighed, still tangled in his embrace “I mean, it's already in the past…

“I'll watch over you, okay?” He said breaking the hug and cupping your face again, his sincere dark eyes looking into yours “Whatever that guy is capable of, I'll still be several steps ahead”

“Why? Because you're Spiderman?” You replied softly trying to pull a cheeky smirk.

“I bet he won't see it coming,” he joked. "Cmon, you've got to sleep” he purred bumping his forehead to yours again as you nodded.

“Yeah…” You purred as you pulled away and turned around, opening your window and throwing your gym bag inside your room and ready to get in when Peter’s voice pulled your gaze back to him.

“See you tomorrow?”

“You're going to the Coffee Pot tomorrow?” You asked.

“Have you seen the barista? Real charming real smart, always gets the coffee just right…” He said as his smile spread on his face “Do you think Andy is single?” He joked making you laugh, not expecting that punchline.

“No, I'm sorry, he's been officially  taken for about 3 weeks” You replied as Peter faked a frustrated groan.

“Ah, shoot. I'm late…” He chuckled. “Goodnight…" he purred your name sweetly as he pulled his mask over his face again.

“Goodnight, Spiderman” You purred as you got inside your room and watched him jumping off the fire escape and shooting a web at the building next to yours.

With both your secret identities out, as well as your feelings for each other, you spent most of your shift anticipating Peter’s visit with a tender anxiety building in your stomach, reminiscent of when you were a teenager with a silly little crush and butterflies in your stomach. And every time you heard the bell chiming a new customer's arrival, you'd look up at once, hoping to see Peter walking through.

And when he finally showed up, you felt your heart skip a beat, as well as your lungs stopping as you watched him walking in with a small bouquet of flowers as you gave him the kind of look you'd always gave him when he insisted on paying for his coffee when you told him it was on you.

The flowers gained not only the customer's attention, but your coworkers as well, as you felt the knowing look of your friends. Peter approached the bar with a cheeky smirk as your cheeks got pink and hot.

"Peter…" You sighed.

"Yeah?" He asked with a feign innocent voice "Oh, these? I found them" He said, oh so casually.

"Yeah, right…" You replied, squinting your eyes.

"I swear!" He chuckled "Outside of my apartment. They were just there and I thought…I don't have a vase to put them in…"

"What makes you think I do have a vase?" You chuckled as you played along.

"Oh, come on!" He giggled.

You walked towards him and grabbed the flowers and placed them on the bar next to the cash register and then hugged him. Tenderly wrapping your arms around him and buried your face in his chest, you felt your cheeks tickling and feeling everyone's stares on you. But by this point, you didn’t care, you were too into Peter, and knowing he liked you back, made you want to show it off to the world proudly like a badge.

“Thank you,” You whispered, breaking the hug. “They're beautiful…” You said

“Hey, do you wanna do something after your shift?” He asked as you met his stare and frowned softly.

“I…actually have to go back home after work…” You explained, looking down “Miles is going through a rough time right now…” You purred as Peter opened his mouth and his face went blank.

“O-oh…” He purred softly as he remembered seeing the news this morning, talking about how Spiderman had caught a guy going by the name of The Prowler, and the man behind the mask. Peter remembered feeling like his stomach fell to the floor when he saw none other than Aaron Davis was the man behind The Prowler.

The man who helped him get his freelance career started, he who had taught him how everything works, how to set prices, and tips on when and who to work with. And most importantly, Miles’s uncle. Miles’s uncle and somehow the favourite person of everyone in your apartment. Peter realised the irony behind the citation, although it made all the sense in his mind. Aaron was kind to all of you and apparently had helped you a lot with many different things. As well as The Prowler wanting those enhanced guns out of Queens. He wanted those things out of Queens since people he cared about lived here.

“ Surviving in New York is hard, isn’t it? ” You had told Peter once, shortly after meeting him.

“Yeah…” He replied, his mind deviating a little bit. “Tomorrow?” He asked with a shrug.

“Sure, tomorrow sounds good…” You purred as you heard the doorbell chiming softly as you grabbed the flowers from the bar and took them to the small table where you kept your laptop on, and walked behind the bar, ready to take the next order when you looked up and your world stopped still.

Peter noticed the way you suddenly got stiff and even heard the way your heart stopped for a second before it started rushing, as if you were running a marathon. He turned and saw a guy walking in, as he stopped before the bar. His grin spread into his eyes as his stare was fixed on you. There was something odd about his demeanour, thought Peter as he looked at you and saw you, your eyes wide and alert and your jaw clenched as Peter needed little to no effort to put the pieces together.

“Hey, long time no see” He said in a low voice as he kept his eyes fixed on you.

“What are you doing here?” You replied bitterly.

The guy looked away, meeting Peter’s stare as his smile faded away. He’d seen the flowers and the hug from the other side of the glass doors and immediately knew Peter and you were close.

“Hey, I’m Gallagher,” He said in a cool voice, stretching his hand to Peter as he simply looked at it. “Loonie Toonie and I go back a long way”

“Gal” You hissed.

“We talked on the phone the other day” Peter replied, returning the sassy smile.

“Oh, so you’re the over protective boyfriend?” Gal chuckled as Gal had to look slightly up to meet Peter’s gaze, as Peter was taller than him.

“Did you come here to get coffee or just to bother me?” You barked.

“I came here to say hi, my darling” He said, Peter taking note of the way your body shivered at the disgusting pet name. “It’s been a long while since we last saw each other, I thought it be fun to catch up–”

“I made it pretty clear I did not want to hear from you again” You cut him off.

“You told me to kill myself, but don’t worry, I’m over it now. I forgive you” He said, his voice softening as Peter opened his eyes in surprise not expecting that to come out.

“I think you should leave, man,” Peter hissed defensively. “You’re clearly upsetting her” Peter said as he got between the wooden bar and Gal, getting you off his sight field.

“You don’t get to choose for her, man” Gal growled.

“ You don’t get to choose for me either. Get the fuck out, Gal” You barked. “I am not interested in catching up with you. Not now, not ever” You snapped moving to a side so you could look at him, Gal’s face widening in surprise.

“I want to talk to you” He said.

“I don’t. Go”

During the interaction, you were too busy staying alert of what Gal did, you did not notice Andy sneaking into the backroom to get your manager, who luckily happened to be there as he usually spent a day at a different coffee shop from the same chain.

“Sir, I will have to ask you to leave, you’re upsetting my employee” Your manager said in a firm voice as he stood next to Peter.

“Who the hell do you think you are” Gal chuckled sassily as he looked at the man now standing in front of him.

“The manager of this place.” He replied dryly. “Leave before I call the police”

“Is this how you treat your customers? You must have a full five star review on the internet” Gal scoffed.

“Only those who harass my staff. Now, leave” He said raising his voice, as Gal glared at him with cold threatening eyes as he turned around and left.

As soon as you saw him walk out, you sighed deeply and leaned against the kitchenette behind you, feeling your heart beating in your ears and your eyes finally teared up instantly, as you’d been fighting the urge to cry with him there. Peter noticed and quickly got to your side, completely ignoring the silent rule of no customers being behind the bar.

“Thank you, Roald,” Andy said.

“Are you alright, kiddo?” Roald asked as he turned around and saw you sobbing silently against your mouth as you shook your head no and Peter pulled you in for a tight hug as you immediately clung to him desperately looking for comfort.

“N-no…” You sobbed softly as you held on to Peter for balance.

“I’m so sorry…” He purred. “Who was that?”

“Abusive ex” Andy replied with a tired sigh as Roald looked at him, his expression growing five times more concerned over the span of a second.

“You should contact the police��” He said.

“Ye-yeah…” You murmured.

“Go home,” Roald added, whispering your name softly. “Your shift is over in a couple of hours anyways, go home and rest” He purred, calling you by your name as you broke the hug, without letting go of Peter.

“What?” You purred.

“Go home”

“Bu-but…”

“You're shaking, you’re crying, you’re pale…” He sighed, cutting you off with a gentle voice “And clearly you’re upset… Andy and I can hold down the fort, don’t worry” Your boss reassured you. “Besides, I don’t remember the last time you called in sick, c’mon”

“Loonie, you can’t work like this,” Andy said.

“Let me walk you home…” Peter purred softly as he rubbed your back softly and kissed your head.

Reluctantly, you nodded and went to your table, putting away your laptop and grabbing the small bouquet of flowers. Peter grabbed your backpack, carrying it for you as the two of you walked out. Peter replayed the thing in his head, as you continued to silently sob, cleaning your tears with your sleeve. He didn’t know how to comfort you after what had happened, besides having so many questions regarding the whole scene.

“Can I ask what…happened there?” He purred softly, aware of your body language, in case you didn’t want to talk about it. “C’mon, talk to me…Perhaps I can help?”

“What exactly? You were there…” You sighed softly. “I told you, Gal is crazy…”

Peter looked at you, eyebrows furrowing not sure how to phrase his next question, but still making too much noise in his head it was hard to ignore.

“He said…” He cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. “...You told him to kill himself?”

You sighed deeply and stopped walking and looked at him.

“He’s taking it out of…context…” You purred.

“Out of…context?” He said surprised as he called your name confused.. “What the hell does that mean? Please be honest with me”

“Peter I– I didn’t tell him that. He thinks I did…it’s a long story” You sighed as you looked into his eyes. “I went to Yale for a year. I got a scholarship I could not let down…” You began as Peter gasped.

“You went to Yale ?” He asked, quite impressed as he noticed the weird pattern he had for falling for the seemingly smart and nerdy girl who managed to get opportunities not everyone could.

“Yeah…I was dating Gal at the time…we moved in together during this time, that’s when things started getting bad …” You continued ignoring his question about Yale “He manipulated me, he made me things I’m not proud of, I isolated myself from everyone but him…Dropped out of school…He cheated on me…” You listed as Peter looked at you growing concerned about everything that had happened in those three years. “One day Miles went to my apartment in New Haven…He basically took me away from there, telling me Gal was a living breathing red flag. Which I kinda knew but was too afraid to admit at the time…”

Miles being the one to take you away from such a situation suddenly made sense considering how close you were to him, and the way you seemed to trust him with everything you’ve got. The way he was always there in family events and in most of your stories. He was not only a childhood friend, he pulled you out from such a messy situation.

“Miles basically took me to live with him, I…” You continued as you started walking again, looking at the floor. “Gal once sent me a text saying he loved me and he needed me and that without me he had nothing. And that I had nothing without him…He told me if I didn’t come back, he was going to kill himself…” You said as Peter sighed deeply.

“Jesus, that’s sick” He purred.

“Miles saw the text…” You said looking at him. “He didn’t tell me about it until much later. Miles replied, pretending it was me, saying if I stayed with him, I was going to end up killing myself. Sent the text, blocked him, deleted the conversation…He got me a new number, in case Gal tried to contact me again…Miles didn’t tell me about the text like eight months later…” You said as Peter grabbed your hand and stopped you.

“Wow, I’m so sorry…” He purred looking into your eyes as he pulled you closer to him and wrapped his arms around you, holding you tightly.  “I still can’t believe you went to Yale…” He added, trying to lift up the tense atmosphere, and managing to make you chuckle softly.

“Yeah…” You purred. “My parents kinda got mad at Lauren for wanting to pursue her music, and I told my parents I’d support Lauren financially if they worried about her having an income…So, I tried to shove it in their noses, and study in a prestigious school, go to med school, become a doctor like my dad, and…you know…go big or go home…” You purred as you broke the hug and cleaned the leftover tears on your eyes.

“You literally went home” Peter joked as you smiled and nodded, giggling softly between sniffs.

“Yeah, I did…” You purred. “But, Lauren told me it’s fine, she’s been able to make a living off The Fool’s Journey…and I’m managing through the coffee shop and MJ…”

“Hey, you’re doing an amazing job so far…” Peter said softly as he kept trying to lift you up. “You look pretty satisfied with your life, and not anyone can say that about their own…” He purred, leaning forward as he planted a gentle kiss on your forehead.

“Thank you, Peter…” You muttered.

As you two exchanged sweet stares, he grabbed your hand, entwining your fingers with his and kept walking towards your apartment.

As you two made it to your place, you walked into the apartment, which was normally lasting with Miles’s music as he worked on some new project or commission. This time, silence, and just the soft echo of the news playing in the background as you noticed not a single light was lit, despite the sun almost setting behind the ocean.

Miles sat up from the couch he was lying on and turned around, seeing you and Peter there, noticing your puffy face and knowing right away something had happened.

“Hey, what's wrong?” He asked, jumping out of the couch and approaching you.

“Gal showed up at The Coffee Pot today” You sighed tiredly as Miles’s mouth fell open.

“He fucking what?” He asked.

“Her manager got him out…” Peter said at once as Miles looked at Peter and then back at you.

“I’m so sorry, sis” He purred in a low voice and hugged you tightly. “Guess we both have to have shitty days, huh?” He purred with a bitter chuckle.

“We can be miserable together”  You murmured as you rested your cheek on his shoulder.

“Yeah, we can…” He chuckled.

You two remained hugging for a few seconds before breaking the hug, and you saw in Miles’s eyes a heavy silent burden. You still didn’t know what had Miles so worked up, and wanted to help him so badly, but you knew it was better to let Miles open up on his own.

“Should I…leave you guys?” Peter asked awkwardly, feeling like a strange third wheel despite you and Miles functioning more like siblings.

“No, I-I think we should…have a functioning person…in case..you know..whatever…” Miles said softly as he looked at Peter, attempting to smile through his still shocked face.

“Can I do something for you guys?” Peter asked.

“Keep us company?” You purred as you looked at him.

“Yeah” Miles added.

“Sure” Peter nodded as you looked back at Miles.

“So, what's wrong Miles?” You asked concerned as he’d texted you earlier he wasn’t doing so great and he needed some company for the afternoon, but didn’t go into any details.

“You haven't seen the news?” Miles chuckled bitterly as he grabbed his phone and unlocked it, scrolling through twitter.

“Haven't seen shit, nor checked my phone all day long…why?” You asked intrigued as Miles opened a link and showed you his screen as you read a headline ‘The Prowler Forgot The Meaning Of His Name’ followed by a brief description of what the police found on the streets, right where you’d been the night before, watching everything from the top of a building.

“Aaron got arrested…” Miles said as you looked up and met his stare, your eyes widening in horror.

“What?” You murmured, your voice barely audible and you looked down at the article on Miles’s phone as you read and scrolled, not playing as much attention as you wanted, since the news hit you like a cold bucket of water.

“Yeah…Spiderman got… caught …him…apparently he was some sort of bad guy…going by the name of The Prowler…” He said as your blood turned cold as Miles spoke and the words in his screen started making sense, connecting to the bits of your own memories. The purple guy Peter had caught and made him suspended from his web.

Your gaze returned to Miles as his own stare looked lost and unfocused. His shoulders were shaking lightly and you could tell Miles was struggling to keep himself collected. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out of it, as you saw Miles’s eyes tearing up. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he returned to the living room without saying anything. He laid on the couch and grabbed the x-box controller, turning the console on.

“I’m gonna go get some juice…want something from the kitchen, Miles?” You sighed softly, feeling sorry for him, knowing how much Aaron meant to Miles, and from the look in his eyes, you could tell Miles was deeply disappointed and perhaps even betrayed by Aaron.

“Some juice as well…” He purred in a low defeated voice. The echo hurt your heart as you nodded.

As you headed to the kitchen, you gently tugged on Peter’s sleeve, looking at him with puppy eyes. He got the message without you having to say anything as he silently followed you into the kitchen. His hand reached yours, as you entwined your fingers with his and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, finding comfort in his gesture.

You stopped in front of the fridge and turned around, letting go of Peter’s hand and staring into him worried.

“Can I talk to you?” You purred in a barely audible voice.

Peter nodded silently, knowing what you wanted to talk about.

“You knew?” You murmured, your eyebrows furrowing. He shook his head.

“No, I didn’t. Not until this morning when I saw it on the news…” He answered in a low voice as well to keep Miles from listening.

“Well,” You sighed and turned around, opening the fridge and taking the juice. “You still did the right thing…” You added.

“I do feel a bit guilty about it…” Peter said as he looked at the TV in the living room, as Miles started playing something colourful and over all cheerful, perhaps trying to keep his mind busy from what happened.

“You did what you had to do…” You replied as you grabbed a couple of glasses from the cupboard. “Do you want something to drink?” You asked, catching Peter’s attention.

“I-I…n-no. I’m fine...Thanks…” He replied softly as you nodded and poured juice in both glasses before taking the juice back to its original place.

You walked back to the living room, followed by Peter, as you handed Miles his glass and spoke softly.

“Juice”  You announced as Miles looked at you and sat up, taking the glass.

“Thanks…” He muttered and looked at you, as you sat on the couch next to where he was seated, and Peter sat next to you, particularly close to our, hips against each other, and your shoulders touching, Miles shook his head and sighed. “Hell of a day huh? I find out Aaron has been lying about how he makes money…turns out he’s some supervillain or whatever…Gal shows up at your work…”

“Cheers to the best day in history, hey?” You said sarcastically as you raised your glass at him, and Miles chuckled.

“Cheers” Miles laughed softly and took a sip. “At least we’ve got each other…” He said looking at you and smiling, as you smiled back and nodded.

“We do…” You muttered.

Miles went back to playing Stardew Valley, as you snuggled on the couch next to Peter, resting your cheek on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around you, keeping you close, close to his warm body. After staying silent for a while, the sun at some point had set behind the horizon and now the apartment was only lighted by the TV. At least until Miles stopped playing and sat up.

“I’m going to take a nap…I’m falling asleep…plus I ain't feeling it today…” He sighed tiredy as he turned off the x-box and got up, walking to his room and turning the light above the living room.

“Go get some sleep…” You said as Miles waved as he disappeared behind his bedroom door.

“Don’t let me sleep more than two hours…” He announced as he walked out, leaning against the door frame. “Or else I’ll be waking up at 3 am and won’t be able to get any sleep…” You chuckled.

“We’ll wake you up, don't worry man” Peter said smiling softly at Miles as Miles nodded with a sly smirk.

“Thanks guys…” Miles said and went back inside his room, not even bothering to turn on any lights.

You snuggled back against Peter, burying your face in his chest, as you took a deep breath, feeling his smell and warmth all around him, as you realised how comfortable and safe you felt being so close to him. You stopped and wondered how long had you two been friends now…A few months? In the beginning it all felt like it was unfolding so fast, but now, it felt as if you’d known him for so long. Feeling his arms tightening gently around you brought you back from the depths of your thoughts as you felt your heart race slightly.

“Thank you” You whispered.

“For what?”

It took you a few seconds to reply, as you were more focused on how he was making you feel and his question almost slipped your attention.

“For staying…” You answered.

“I mean, you guys asked me to…” He replied as you pulled away and looked at him, your eyes still a bit puffy and tired from everything that had happened, as Peter saw his reflection in your glassy orbs, wishing he could fix all the damage Gal had left.

“I still appreciate it…” You said as you saw Peter smile and look away shyly.

“Can I tell you something?” He said, his voice lifting up a little bit, as you looked at him curiously.

“Yes, of course…”

Peter bit his lower lip softly, not sure how to bring up his thoughts. He looked at you with tender eyes and a cheeky smile, as he blushed lightly. He was well aware of how your feelings for each other were now in the open, and you seemed to correspond to them, but still, addressing them made him feel funny inside. He took a deep breath and looked away as he decided to bite the bullet.

“I’m kinda very, incredibly pissed at Gal…” He chuckled awkwardly as he looked at you. “Every time I think I’ll finally get a chance to kiss you, he sticks his nose and completely blows my chance…” He chuckled.

“Tell me about it, I’m also mad at him” You chuckled as you snuggled back against his chest.

“You stayed pretty collected earlier…” Peter purred as he gently rubbed your back with his hand.

“Yeah, I’m not sure how that happened…” You sighed.

“Hey, it doesn’t matter. You did it, and you’re great for doing so…” He comforted you, gently kissing your head and burying his face against your hair.

“Thank you, Peter…” You purred as you looked up at him, your nose gently brushed his chin as you closed your eyes, craving the kiss that had been delayed so much.

“Hey, I’m in no rush…If you’re waiting for the right time, I’m happy to wait too…” He purred as he brought his hand up, brushing your cheek with his fingers before cupping your face in his hand.

“I’m done waiting” You muttered as you leaned forward as Peter shook his head and slowly pulled away.

“Hmm, I'd rather not do this while you're pissed at your psychotic ex…” He purred, bringing his other hand to your face as he pressed his forehead to yours. “I really want to enjoy it and savour it…” He purred.

“Alright, fair…” You sighed as you closed your eyes and sighed, feeling slightly disappointed, although you could understand why he’d prefer to wait longer.

“I’m sorry” Peter said with a small smile as you looked at him and you shook your head.

He kissed your forehead sweetly and cuddled you as you looked for something to watch on Netflix, mostly to fill in the silence as the two of you remained tangled and close to each other. As the movie soon faded into background noise, you weren’t paying any attention and mostly focused on the way his warmth radiated through his clothes and into your body as you seemed to melt against him. God, this felt just right. This felt as good as very few things in life.

After a while his phone vibrated as he excused himself and used one of his arms to pull it out of his pocket. As he unlocked it, you watched him open an app with a very odd design, and upon a closer look  at the screen, you saw it was some sort of app that picked up on emergency lines and live locations where patrols were sent.

“What’s that…?” You asked curiously as you saw Peter focusing on his phone.

“I…uh,” He chuckled awkwardly. “An app I designed myself…” He said as if it was nothing as you stared at him surprised.

“You what?” You asked and raised an eyebrow as he looked at you and blushed lightly before he chuckled awkwardly.

“I may have hacked the emergency phone lines…” He said, clearing his throat.

“Come again?” You asked incredulously as he chuckled.

“Y’know…for my… other job” He purred as you kept staring at him.

“No yeah I got that..” You chuckled “It’s just…wow, that’s impressive” You acknowledged and nodded your head, staring at him as you pulled away, thinking he’d perhaps go take care of whatever his phone notified him of.

“Thanks…” He said as he stood up and you two exchanging knowing looks, as he realised he didn’t have to say anything, as you picked up on it yourself. “See you tomorrow?” He purred.

“Yeah, sure. I’d like that… “ You purred, smiling softly at him as he nodded as he walked to your bedroom and instinctively, you followed him.

As you walked inside your room, a few steps behind him, you noticed him changing into his Spiderman suit. You blushed lightly, although you didn’t get too see much of him, aside from his toned back soon disappearing under the red and blue suit. As he turned around and looked at you, you got a better view of him in his suit, compared to last night, when you saw him take off his mask although the dim street lights didn’t do much. This time, upon seeing him clearly, inside your room, it looked pretty surreal, Peter’s face coming out of the iconic suit. And knowing he was Spiderman.

As he approached your window, he was ready to pull the mask over his face. When you spoke.

“Hey,” Your voice stopped him as he turned around and looked at you with an attentive gentle stare. “Stay safe…” You purred, the concern in your voice making Peter’s heart melt as he looked into your eyes and nodded.

“Yeah, of course…” He purred sweetly as he looked at you with a particular adoration.

“And text me when you get home…even if its at 3 am”

The way you seemed to worry about him made his heart feel full. The way he constantly fantasised of having something stable, a warm home to return to, with someone waiting for him to receive him with open arms and a tight hug, to comfort him, to tell him he’d done a great job, now didn’t seem so wild and distant now. Even if you lived in different apartments, the fact that you were looking out for him, and telling him to take care was a good first step for him to finally get what he’d been craving oh so desperately.

He walked closer to you, as his hands immediately latched on to you, cupping your face as he bumped his forehead to yours. Caught in the moment, he had to stop you, his nose brushing yours as he sighed. He thought, if he kissed you now, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to drag himself out that window to fulfil his duty as the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman. He sighed deeply and looked up, pressing his lips to your forehead.

“Thank you for watching over me…” He purred, his lips still pressed against your forehead before he planted another kiss and pulled away. “You’re amazing” Peter purred before putting his mask on and finally leaving through the window into the fire escape as he jumped and started swinging, soon disappearing in the distance as you watched attentively, you heart wild and erratic in your chest as you thought how much of a lost cause you were.

You were in love with Spiderman.

~~~~

Thank you so much for reading! Likes and comments are very well appreciated!

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[xiaotopia]

Longing For You

Pairing: Fem reader x Aether

Words: 10k+ I lost count

Genre: one-shot, platonic relationship, fuff, angst, slight crack if you squint

Cw // mentions of character death, blood

Hi! It's my first time writing on here and I just write what's on my mind I'm sorry if this is bad since english is not my first language ㅠㅠ I promise I will get better with my writing! Enjoy ^^

Lonely.

That's what you are feeling. It's been 3 days you got stuck in this unknown land. You thought it was beautiful, it really was. But will you be ready to face what's in front of you?

You manage to survive with fruits like apples and cashews, at least that's what you thought the name was, because in your world they called it cashews. Even though it doesn't really give you enough nutritions, as long as you get to live you're okay with it. Heck there were almost nothing here. You wanted to explore the place more but there are monsters everywhere, and you- with no weapon, could only run and hide in hopes of not getting spotted by them. Will you ever survive?

Sighing, "just another day like this I guess"

you said before drifting to dreamland under a tree in a secluded area of the unknown land.

----

"She's still breathing"

"Paimon! What are you doing?!"

You could hear someone whispering- half screaming to be exact, at someone but you are more bothered at someone poking your arm with a stick. Groaning, you woke up and realized someone invaded your place. Ready to fight whoever that was, your actions suddenly come to a halt when you meet a pair of golden eyes and his tiny little companion. They were as shocked as you, well... I guess you are more shocked to see a floating kid beside the blonde boy.

Quickly, you hide behind a tree. Since you don't have any weapon to defend yourself what else can defend you other than a tree?

"w-who are you?! And why you can float?!"

you shrieked, the little floating kid crossed her arms and scoffed at your question. Why would she scoffed at you?

"excuse me young lady but we're the one who should ask you that!".

You just meet her now but god knows how much her high-pitched voice started to annoy you. The blonde boy beside her started to speak up before his companion could even say a word,

"I'm sorry she bothered you. I'm Aether, and this is my travel companion, Paimon. We found a group of hilichurls around here and we already fight them off before it could reach your campsite. May we know what is your name?" he asks as his pair golden orbs stares straight into you.

"Uh.. My name is y/n..."

He smiles, assuring you that they're safe and can be trusted, you slowly got out behind the tree when he stretches out his hand for a handshake. You grab his hand, reciprocating his action. "it's nice to meet you y/n".

----

"No"

"Aether c'mon please?"

"ugh fine"

It's been a month you had stayed in Monstadt, The Land of Freedom, and a month since your encounter with Aether and Paimon. She still annoys you though, but you're really grateful that she can keep the conversation going because it always turns awkward whenever you tried to initiate a conversation with people. You learned that Aether didn't come from this world too, separated from his sister by the unknown god and now is looking for her in Teyvat. Hopefully, you can go back home too.

You missed your family of course but you're also happy that there are people who willing to take care of you, especially Barbara. She treated you like her own sister, beside Jean. You learned everything here from Lisa and learned how to fight from the cavalry captain Knights of the Favonious, Kaeya. And Diluc? He's hot, but cold as ice at the same time and you went to the Tavern once, only to see him talking to a bard named Venti, about how the bard needs to stop drinking all of his dandelion wine before he runs out of it because of him.

Now, Aether is in front of you as you manage to persuade him to bring you to one of his adventures. He never let you tag along because he told you it's dangerous outside. Both of you are no vision holders, but he has the power of Anemo. It's still a mystery to you but he's an outlander so it would probably make sense why he can have such powers even without a vision blessed by the Archons.

"But! You only have to fight the hilichurls only while I take down those mitachurls, got it?" he says. Nodding your head aggressively, you started your journey with him as an adventurer.

"Let's go to Liyue!" Paimon says excitedly.

---

"That was close, thank you y/n"

Aether pants heavily, letting out a sigh of relief as you kick off the last hilichurl with your sword. Turning around to face him, you tell him it's nothing.

You three bumped into a hilichurl camp in the middle of the road of Bishui Plans. Unfortunately, those group of monsters noticed you before you three could even hide.

You were about to follow Paimon but Aether called you, you look at him as his face expressed shocked. You asked him what's wrong only him to point at your hips. You were confused so you look down where he's pointing at. Well now you're equally as shocked as him, if not because of the shining crystal blue orb hanging on your belt.

"What... I-I swear it wasn't there before?"

You whispered, questioning yourself because how did it get there? How did you even got a vision? What did you do? You know it's a vision because Lisa has taught you at the library back in Mondstadt. How? That was all in your mind.

You hear Paimon gasped, putting her hands on her mouth, "you got a vision! Let me see!". She flew to look at your vision before touching it to get a better look. "You got a cryo vision!" she exclaimed.

"Cryo? You mean I get the power of ice?" You question her. She nodded her, "Yes! Now you can help Aether to fight enemies!". Looking down at your feet, sighing. Aether asked you what's wrong and you simply said you don't know how to fight. Like actually fighting enemies with your own power, how to use it and how to handle it. What if you unintentionally hurt people around you? Aether chuckled at your response. You look up at him, tilting your head in confusion.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you"

----

"I wish kaeya was here"

"You don't like it when I teach you?!"

Chuckling at your friend, you said it's not that you don't like it when he teaches you. It's because "it would be easier if a cryo vision holder teaches me how to control the element", you says.

He let out a puff, while you were stroking Paimon's hair on your lap. She snores softly and you swear you could hear her mumbling sticky honey roast in her sleep. Giggling at her, you wonder how can she be cute and annoying at the same time. It's unfair you think. You turned your head to look at Aether and he was zoned out, as always.

"Mind telling me what's in your mind?"

You picked up his habits quite quickly, since you both attached to the hips all the time. You would notice he always does this when he's deep in thought. The same goes for him. You both can read each other like an open book.

He looks at you, smiling. Shaking his head and tells you he always thinks the same, about his sister. You smiled back at him, you assured him that you will meet her soon. And now, you both enjoy the calm breeze as you both watched the sun set over the blue horizon at the nearby cliff in Liyue.

"S-sticky honey roast... "

----

Annoyed.

That's how you feel right now.

This guy just keeps pestering you for 20 minutes now. You got separated with Aether as he got something to do with Zhongli, the Wangsheng Parlor Funeral Consultant. Aether wanted to let Paimon stay with you but you said you're fine on your own and you would enjoy alone time in the time being while waiting for them.

But you didn't expect this.

"Can you stop following me now?"

"Why would I?"

Rolling your eyes, you bump into his shoulder, or Childe as he call himself.

"Oh don't be like that girlie-" " I have a name shut up" you sigh for the nth time. You need to avoid this man, because he's one of the Fatui, you don't want to involve yourself and Aether with them. That's why you've been running and avoiding him at all cost.

"Well you never tell me your name girlie-"

"It's y/n okay? Now go you're getting on my nerve..."

you mumbled the last sentence. He only chuckles at your reaction as he enjoys it. You were buying some street food from the food stall and before you could give your mora to the seller, someone beats you to pay for the food. You were not complaining though, you didn't thank him either.

"Okay then but can I ask you one last question, y/n?" he smiles widely while you only look at him, chewing your spicy fish cake, unamused. His question however, almost send you to you death as you were choking on your food.

"W-what did you say?!" "I want to get to know about you"

Aether is not going to like this...

----

As expected, he was mad. No, he was furious.

"Why did you talk to him?!"

"I tried not to talk to him Aether, he kept following me when I tried to avoid him! To the point he creeps me out..."

Aether sighs, rubbing his forehead as Paimon watched you two arguing. Was this the only time Paimon shuts her mouth? Excluding the time she's asleep. She knows when to silent herself because this time, Aether is different in Paimon's eyes.

"So.. Did you agree?" he questioned, not giving you a glance. You shake your head, "No, of course I didn't. He's dangerous and he could hurt us if he has the opportunity..." Which is true. Childe is a harbinger, and you, just a mortal from another world who just got dumped to Teyvat out of nowhere.

Aether engulfs you in a hug, which surprised you. You could feel your cheeks burning from the physical contact. His arm wraps around your shoulder while the other strokes your hair, calming you.

"I won't let that happen to you, Paimon and me. I won't let him hurt us, I will promise you that I will protect you both from any danger. I don't want to lose another friend..." he says and the last sentence sounds more like a whisper to you but you understand him.

You also promised to yourself that you will protect paimon and him. Because you love them.

----

"Well traveller, you're quite stronger than I thought"

"Stay away from him!"

You yelled at the harbinger, keeping yourself from falling as you struggled to stand up. Paimon tried her best to keep Aether awake while you were guarding them, ready to attack him anytime.

Childe let out a loud laugh, as if he was mocking you and your companion. Shaking his head, he came closer to you.

"You know what, you're lucky that you didn't fall for my tricks" he chuckles. You were getting antsy everytime he take a step closer to you, "no one is fool enough to fall for a harbinger, Tartaglia" you sneered.

He was about to attack you with his hydro sword but you managed to dodged it with your power and turning it into an ice. You both fight for a while and fortunately, Aether came to help you.

After hours of fighting, that's what you think, you feel drained out. Slumping on the floor, you take a glance at Aether he was panting hard, Paimon at his side to support him. And Childe, he looks better than both you and Aether combined but he's still in a good shape.

As you were trying to stand up, you saw a glimpse of a woman at the corner of your eye. You widen your eyes and tried to push Aether away as you saw the woman was about to attack him with her sharp ice.

Signora.

You made a wall of ice to protect Aether and Paimon from her attacks. However, you didn't do it for you. You didn't protect yourself and got hit by the ice. The ice wall from you melts, so does Aether's world when he saw you, bleeding from your own element.

Childe was as shocked too, he thought you were a genuine person, he really do. Is this what it feels when you know someone personally got hurt? He can't imagine what Aether feels now.

You fell, you felt dizzy as you hit your head on the solid ground.

"Y/n!" Aether and Paimon yelled your name, but why do they sound like they're miles away?

"Y/n! Keep your eyes open! Don't you very dare to close your eyes!" Your friend screamed. Paimon is holding your hand while sobbing on you. "Y/n you can't leave us! Paimon still want to have fun with you!"

All you can do is cry. You don't want to leave them. You still haven't find your way back home, you can't. But you were losing so much blood and all you could do is remembering your moments with your friends.

Aether and Paimon.

Aether holds you on his lap, you could feel his tears falling on your cheek. He cups your cheek as he stares into your (e/c) orbs. To him, it resembles the stars on the night sky. He wish he could look at them like this before.

Not when you're dying.

He put his forehead on yours as he keeps repeating "please don't leave" to you. You promised him that you will protect him, but not stay with him. Did you regret it? Yes. You wish you could stay but you knew at the end, both of you will leave eventually.

But you didn't expect that you would leave them like this.

With all your might, you hover your hand over his that was on your cheek, rubbing it softly. "Promise me, we will meet someday, wether it be in our next life or in different universe, promise me we will meet again" you said, voice getting hoarse and staring to his golden eyes. You want to remember his eyes, his nose, his lips, his everything.

"Paimon doesn't want you to leave!" your little friend cried, you let out a loud sob as you pull her to your chest, soaking your bloody shirt with her tears. You three tried to cherish your last moment together, even though it was a tragic one, like now.

Aether tighten his hold on you, Paimon cries harder when she saw the colour of your vision starting to fade, knowing you couldn't make it.

"Paimon loves you, y/n", all you can do is cry, before your last breathe you hear Aether says "I promise you, we will meet again.. I love you"

Your vision faded, you fall into a deep sleep and everything turns dark.

----

"She's awake!"

"Call the doctor!"

You slowly opened your eyes, the bright light hurting your eyes, still adjusting to the surrounding. You could feel your tears were falling. Why did you cry? Then it hit you.

You were in the hospital.

You remember what happened, was that all just a dream? It feels real, way too real for your liking.

"Thank god, you're finally awake!" your mom sobs. Wait, your mom is here? You're finally back? You were supposed to be happy but why did you feel sad?

"H-how long did I... Sleep?" you asked, voice raspy as your throat lacks of hydration. Your mom gave you a glass of water and you gladly drink it, your throat still hurt.

"2 months now, you got hit by a car and the guy felt bad. He even insisted to pay for your bills", your mom says as she hold your hand. It's been a few minutes but you missed them. Aether and your little friend Paimon.

"Oh.." that's all you can say. You really don't know what to respond. You were happy that you're finally awake but you also missed people you met in Teyvat. Are they real or just your imagination?

"I forgot to tell you, the person who pays for your hospital bill will visit you. He always visits you when me and your dad is busy with work", you nodded your head, didn't have the energy to reply your mom back.

Suddenly, the door opens, revealing a tall man. You face him, only to widen your eyes as you were shocked to see the person in your dream.

"Childe?"

----

It's been a month since you got discharged from the hospital and been recovering well. You still struggle to walk on your own though, but nothing serious. Ever since you met childe, you both got along very well, not like the one in your dream.

"So... What I dreamed of during my coma was real?" You asked him, walking through the flowery path as the cherry blossom falls on the ground beside him arms clinging to his.

"Yeah. In fact, I'm still the same Childe in your dream!"

"Yeah as you wish. The only same thing is you keep paying things for me.. And being annoying"

You remarked. He only laughs and told you the reason why he keeps doing that is that it's the only kind action he could do, even now. But in reality, he felt guilty. He

"By the way, I want you to meet an old friend of mine. You won't mind right?"

"What's the point of asking me if you're going to introduce your friend to me now?"

"Geez woman, you're still the same"

you could only laugh at him. To you, he's a good friend but no one could replace Aether. If you met Childe, there's a possibility of you to meet Aether and Paimon right?

"Oi blondie! We're here!" Childe yelled, getting you out from your deep thoughts. You look up only to meet a pair of golden eyes that you've missed so much.

It feels like the time has stopped. He walked towards you and slowly, engulfed you in a hug. You were stunned, you meet him. You both found each other. You hugged him back, tightly. You let out tears of joy, he was relieved he found you that he also cried.

"You didn't forget me don't you?" You hear a feminine voice behind Aether, only to find Paimon crossing her arms, just like when you meet her for the first time. But what amazes you that she's in a different form. She looks... Like you. A woman.

Your eyes got teary again and went straight to her, giving her a big hug which she reciprocated. "I miss you so much Paimon" you burried your head into her neck. Paimon was happy she could meet her.

Childe and Aether could only look both of you with adoration. Aether cleared his throat, without looking at the man beside him, eyes still on you. "Thank you, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't find her"

The red haired man could only smile, "it's no problem. I couldn't face anyone after what happened in Teyvat. Think of this as my way to apologize". Aether couldn't answer, he only nodded his head to let him know he's listening.

You went to him only get a hug from you. You missed him so much. And you noticed Aether doesn't have his long braided hair anymore, which saddens you because you always play and braid his hair.

"I noticed that you finally got rid of your annoyingly long hair", you teased him. You hear him chuckled as he tightened his grip around you. "Can't let the annoyingly long hair distract people sweetie. People found it weird here"

"But I like it though..." you blushed at the pet name he gave you. You both just couldn't let go of each other now. He strokes your hair, enjoying each others presence. "I'm so glad that I found you", "me too, I'm glad you're here".

The other two friend only watched you two reunited again, hugging each other and won't let each other go because you missed each other so much that you both are afraid one of you vanished anytime. But it's real.

"Childe can we get some sticky honey roast?"

"Good grief, paimon.."

[merakiui]

hihi again!!

yanven anon sounds a bit silly, but it also has a nice ring to it, im not quite sure i have any other ideas ( ⚈̥̥̥̥̥́⌢⚈̥̥̥̥̥̀) im not very good with giving names ..

that's absolutely fair!! i just don't have the determination to keep in trying and tell myself it's for the next time 😣 i guess you can't be lucky in every event..

you use aether though??? i love traveler mains so much, most especially aether mains, cause the ones i meet are such sweethearts omg!! i hope to see the day he gets crowned with you!! ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧

i tend to feel foolish too, but it mostly happens as a hunter, because i'm not very good at looking for things and people •́ ‿ ,•̀ i'm a better rebel, but it's such a 50/50... i tend to get caught in stupid ways, and i don't hide/disguise cause i prefer being chased aha (faint presence is one of my favorite achievements!) and omg it definitely must have been fun! childe mains in general are really entertaining in windtrace, it's a shame ive barely met any...

hehe ill be waiting for that, if luck has it; that would truly make me happy ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡! kaeya is such a fun character to use...

and yeah (´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`) i guess that's what makes the whole island even better!! the atmosphere really embellishes it in that..gloomy way..

hehe, i'm glad you understand! (ب_ب) as much i love to slander him, i kind of wanted childe myself, because of his story and character, but i could not play when his banner had a re-rerun..

thank you! i guess ill just spend my wishes on both kazuhas and yae's banner and hope for the best, we'll see (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+ and yeah, kazuha has such a pretty design, and he's just such a soothing character, it makes him super likeable!! (and i am definitely not forgetting venti and his fun personality (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) my beloved...!!! i am planning on cosplaying him too, so maybe he's worth having...)

thank you so much!! i wish you the same; it's a pleasure to talk with you!!

(ps: by the way, have you heard of twisted wonderland? with it's recent english release, i suspect it's gona gain some fans, and i was just wondering if you knew about the game..? ( ╹▽╹ ))

Hello, yanven anon!! I think that name is nice, so if you'd like to keep it I'll happily use it to address you! (I will put my chat under a cut for any mobile users so that it won't be a long scroll! ^0^)

Some Genshin events are really enjoyable, but for some some it feels like I have to drag my feet through it. I try to have an optimistic outlook for each event, but the ones that involve fighting are really not my favorite. ^^;;

Yes, I main Aether! To this day he is the strongest out of my characters (although ever since I got Childe he went to second strongest). When I first started playing, I didn't understand the wish system at all so I didn't do it and instead worked hard to build the starter team. ୧ʕ•̀ᴥ•́ʔ୨ I still use them, even in the Spiral Abyss!! And Aether always stays on my team no matter what. :D I can't wait to give him his very first crown! But before that I'd like to stock up on more resources. orz

Ooh, that makes sense! I'd like to think I'm equally good at both roles, but sometimes my clownery manages to impress me. ;;; Despite that, I really do like playing! I'm worried I'll encounter toxic players, so most times I don't talk unless someone else talks. But so far all of my experiences have been pleasant! I hope it's the same for you!

Hopefully there will be a chance for you to get Childe sometime in the future! He really grew on me and I like his character. He's also very fun to write, so maybe that influenced my love for him.

Good luck with your wishes!! I'm hoping you can win your 50/50s and that both will come home early. If Venti gets another rerun, I might be tempted to wish... T^T But I've fought the Anemo Hypostasis so many times now. It's too much. </3 Omg but cosplaying him!!! Maybe he will come home while you wish for him in cosplay. o(^∀^*)o

(*looks at all the twst wips/concepts in my folder* Never in my life have I ever heard of such a game. Never have I looked at the one known as Riddle Rosehearts and gone :D. I don't know him. ;;

lol yes, I have heard of it! I've been a fan since it first released in Japan. I started playing it recently and it's a lot of fun!! I'd like to write for it, so I'm dusting off old ideas and seeing what I can do with them. I've got solid fic plans for Riddle and Azul so far. Hopefully I can write something for Ace and Deuce because they're a funny pair!)

[fangirl-ramblings]

Pairing: Arthur x gn!reader

Characters: Reader, Simon Pearson, Mary Linton, Arthur Morgan

Word count: 3306

Summary: You and Arthur have recently made your relationship official by moving into his tent...but is he really into you...or is he still holding onto his past?

Notes: SFW, Angst leading to fluff

After requesting several wonderful stories from one of my favourite writers and people, I was super honoured to have the chance to be able to write something for the super talented and lovely @littlestarofthewest -  Merry Christmas from your secret santa 😘😘

Also a huge thank you to @horsegirl1h (who helped me plot this out) @verai-marcel (for wrangling in all my stupid grammatical mistakes) & @mileycyprus-hill who took a quick look over this and gave me a much better character note on how to improve Arthur's feelings in this story and give me a far better title I could ever think of myself. Thank you all 😘

~* Tumblr Masterlist | Stories on AO3 *~

The First Shall Be Forgotten

You slowly opened your eyes, only to find the cot next to you still empty. It was fairly late when you'd finally taken yourself off to bed last night, but you had found yourself unable to keep your eyes open as you'd sat around the scout fire. Your hope of Arthur riding back into camp and joining you in lying down for the night had turned into a wishful dream of waking up with his strong arms wrapped around you, but it turns out it was just that - merely a pleasant dream. 

It was only a few months since you'd started dating, with most of that time spent being inseparable, but lately you noticed that Arthur was staying away from camp longer and longer. Yes - the events of Blackwater had changed the gang's luck and the likes of Dutch and Strauss kept giving Arthur more and more tasks to do, but you'd felt like that most of these jobs could be done well before nightfall. Surely Arthur wasn't avoiding you because he was bored of you already….could he?

You sat upright, shaking your head free of any more of those nasty thoughts, quickly making the decision that you should get dressed and help out around camp before Miss Grimshaw marched over to berate you for wasting so much time idling about.

There was a chill floating in the air this morning in camp and so you found yourself shivering as you looked around for your light jacket. Opening your shared trunk, you proceeded to pile a mixture of both yours and Arthur's clothes on to the cot in your quest to find your missing coat. Though you soon found yourself distracted as you lifted one of Arthur's shirts up, tutting to yourself as you saw just how worn and dirt stained they all were. You swore that that man would wear these offending items until they fell apart on him...and some were close to doing so, judging by how often they'd been patched up.

   "Ah, there you are," Pearson's cheerful voice booming from behind you, making you jump out of your skin, "I need a helping hand gathering supplies in town and was wondering if you could come along with me for the ride"

   "Me? Surely there's someone more capable about?" Although Valentine was only a short ride away, the idea of being Mr. Pearson's captive audience for that short length of time was not high on your list of priorities for the day. 

   "Well, I don't know if you noticed but we are stretched a little thin on the ground right now," his hands gesturing to the almost empty camp area in front of you, "Mr. Smith & Mr. Escuella are yet to return from Blackwater with young Sean and, as you well know, Mr. Morgan is still yet to return from wherever he has took himself off to. As for the girls..." you tried to stifle a chuckle as he trailed off to glance nervously over at where Tilly, Mary-Beth and Karen were currently sitting at their wagon, making sure they couldn't hear this conversation, "...I'd rather not ask them. Uncle told me of the trouble they got up to on their last visit into Valentine."

You couldn't help but burst out laughing at Pearson's fear of trying to keep three excited young women from creating chaos. "Sorry, sorry," you apologised, wiping your eyes as he looked at you with confusion, "Well...since you have no other options, I'll join you. I've been wanting to pick Arthur up a new shirt anyways." Spotting your jacket at the bottom of the truck, you quickly threw it on, leaving all the other clothes heaped on the bed, "Shall we go now then?"

"Goddamit, why does there have to be a train in the station?" you grumbled as Pearson pulled the horses to a stop at the crossing, which was blocked by one of the carriages belonging to the offending train. After being waylaid by the shop boy slowly loading the wagon with all the goods Pearson had chosen for camp - not that any of these ingredients would do much to improve his cooking, you cruelly thought to yourself - your head was starting to ache from listening to Pearson's constant tall tales. All you had wanted to do was get back to camp and sleep off your headache, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon, thanks to this stupid train.

   "I know what you mean, I was hoping to get back and make a start on preparing supper," Pearson sighed before suddenly cheering up, "But, hey, at least it gives me more time to tell you about my time at sea. There was this other time..."

Internally, you found yourself groaning, trying to zone out the older man as he recounted yet another story, that this time seemed to involve him somehow, inexplicably fighting a walrus -  single-handedly -  to save his crew.

You glanced around, finding yourself admiring all the different horses hitched up around the station...until a familiar sight caught your eye.

   "Hey isn't that Brutus?" you interrupted Pearson mid-sentence, gesturing towards the big, black Shire horse that Hosea had gifted Arthur a few weeks ago. Arthur had rarely named his horses after losing his beloved Boudicca in Blackwater and was more than content to just refer to this one as "Boy", but after overhearing Hosea called this giant a brute, you'd jokingly suggested the name Brutus, a name that had tickled Arthur and agreed it was the perfect name for this beast.

Put out a little by the fact you had rudely interrupted him just as the story was getting good, Pearson grudgingly glanced over to the direction in which you were pointing.

   "Er, it does look like it. So anyway after I killed the Walrus with nothing but my bare hands…" 

   'So this is where you've gotten to Morgan,' you thought to yourself, once again not listening to Pearson's story. 'Here's hoping you're on your way home too.'

Smiling to yourself that your lover would hopefully be by your side once more, you absent-mindedly found yourself scanning the crowd of people that was starting to thin out as they slowly stepped onto the carriages...until you saw him standing with his back to you.

A smile started to creep over your face as you recognised Arthur's dirty blond hair, broad frame and filthy blue shirt. Just the fact you could see how dirty it was from this distance made you glad that you'd made the decision to buy him a new one now, as that one needed throwing out, never mind a good wash. Anybody would think that man spent most of his time rolling around in the mud than riding a horse around.

With his hands on his gun belt, he shifted his weight to one side and the smile on your face was replaced with a look of confusion as a young lady was revealed to be standing next to him, deep in an intimate conversation.

Unconsciously scowling at her, you were unable to shake the feeling that you've seen her somewhere before, but for the life of you, you couldn't quite place where.

You squinted your eyes to try and focus your vision on her delicate features before a feeling of rage bubbled up from your stomach as she kissed Arthur's cheek, in a way that suggested more than just friendship.

"And I'll tell you - I used that walrus meat to feed a crew of 50...and not one of them complained the way you and the rest of camp do about my cooking" Pearson waffled on down your ear, distracting you from your thoughts about this mysterious woman and how you wanted to jump down and throttle her. Instead you suddenly had the urge to wrap your hands around the cook's neck. 

Turning to face him, you barked, "Maybe being at sea for weeks at end with no food makes people more appreciative of the slop you always manage to serve up - no matter the ingredients." 

You instantly felt regret as the words left your mouth and you saw the hurt in the older man's eyes.

   "Christ, I'm sorry Mr. Pearson. I didn’t mean to take it out on you..." You paused, thinking about telling him about what you just saw, but you doubted this old sea dog would give a damn about your love life and so explained "I just have a real bad headache and it's put me in a bad mood."

He nodded softly and turned away so you wouldn't see him wipe the sting of the tears from his eyes.

Feeling guilty from the hurt you just caused, you looked away to the source of your own pain, only to find Arthur had disappeared from the platform and the train was now pulling out the station. Had he gotten on board with his mystery woman? Gone off to start a new life with her and left you and the outlaw life behind him? These thoughts rattled around your head as Pearson told the horses to giddy up and the pair of you headed back to camp in an awkward silence.

Jumping down from the wagon, you helped Pearson unload the wagon - still with an uneasy tension in the air, before you tried to broker the peace between you both by offering to help prepare the next meal as a peace offering.

   "No, it's quite okay," Pearson patted you shoulder to show there was no hard feelings, "You go sleep off that sore head of yours"

You nodded appreciatively, finding yourself thanking him and apologising once more as you picked up the wrapped parcel containing Arthur's new shirt, and headed back to your tent. 

As you walked over, you rolled your eyes in annoyance at yourself as you caught sight of the mess you'd left behind this morning. Picking the mountain of clothes up, you threw them in straight at the trunk at the end of the cot, surprising yourself as you heard a loud clatter of something hitting the side of the chest and then dropping onto the floor.

Peering over, you saw that a few shirts and a pair of trousers had missed their target and were now scattered over the floor... alongside a wooden photoframe, laying face down on the ground, that definitely wasn't there before.

Picking it up, you recognised the image of a younger, but still very handsome version of Arthur standing on the left.

'You've always been a good-looking bastard haven't you?' half smiling as you took in his handsome features, 'No wonder you have a long list of admirers to spend all your time instead of me.'

Well before you and Arthur had started dating, you had seen this photograph before. You recalled picking it up from his bedside table back then too, in order to get a closer look of how attractive Arthur's always been.

But sometime between then and making your relationship official, Arthur must have removed it and hidden it out of sight from you. Just as you were about to ask yourself why, you spotted who else was in the picture.

   'No…no it can't be,' you thought to yourself as you stared at the beautiful, dark haired woman standing next to him in the image. But, as much as you didn’t want it to be, it certainly was. Looking straight back at you was a younger version of the same woman from the train station…the same woman who had ripped Arthur's heart out and tore it into a million pieces all those years ago when she called off their engagement - Mary.

Time seemed to slow down as your mind went into overdrive. Did he simply remove the picture as a thoughtful gesture so you wouldn't wake up to a younger Arthur and his ex-fiancee looking at you…or did he hide it because he still loved her and her alone? Were you just a stopgap - something to fill the emptiness in his heart until she came back to him? Is that the real reason Arthur had hidden the picture and not gotten rid of it completely? So once he had managed to win her back, he could toss you aside and place it once more on his bedside to stare lovingly at while he held her in his arms?

You hadn’t realise you were crying or just how hard you were gripping the frame until you heard the sudden sound of glass cracking and a mix of your blood and tears began to streak all over her stupid, perfect face. Standing frozen to the spot, you stared and stared at her image, slowly disappearing under the physical manifestations of your hurt and betrayal, until you heard Arthur bellow out your name as he rode back into camp.

   "Hey you. Boy, did I sure miss you while I was gone," he cheerfully greeted you as he strode towards you, "I tell you, there's some strange sights out there that I've been dyin' to tell you all 'bout."

   "Tell me?" you snarled, acting the wounded animal you currently felt like, "Don't you have other people you'd rather spend your time with?"

   "What? What's got into you?" 

Your heart panged as you saw the hurt cross his face as he saw how upset you were. 

"Listen, if this 'bout me spendin' so much time from camp recently, then I am sorry - but I did miss you somethin' fierce y'know" he assured you, placing his arms around your waist.

   "Just like you've missed Mary for all these years?" Just saying her name out loud felt like you had tasted venom on your lips and needed to quickly spit it out.

"Mary? Where's all this comin' from?" He flustered, averting his eyes downwards as not to meet your steely gaze. Upon seeing you holding the photograph, he exclaimed, "Christ alive, you're bleedin'. Here lemme fix you up."

"I'm fine," you snapped at him, pulling your hand away from his gentle touch. Any other time, this small act of affection - the big mean outlaw gently cradling your hand in his - would have made you melt on the spot, but today your inner rage wasn't having any of it. Instead you blurted out, "I saw you. At the train station…with her."

Realising he had been caught out and couldn't bluff his way out of this sorry mess, he sat down on the cot and tried to explain.

   "Okay, yeah, I was at the train station with her, but it really ain't what you think…"

   "I saw her kiss you."

  "You mean when she kissed my cheek? That was her sayin' goodbye. Her and her brother are headin' back East to find their father."

You sat next to him, the photograph still in your hands.

   "Still doesn't explain why you were with her in the first place."

   "No it doesn't, does it." He sighed, running his hand down his face. "I was on my way back to camp, ridin' through Valentine when I thought I'd check and see if there was any post. Lo' and behold there was just the one - a letter from Mary askin' if I could help with a small problem of hers."

   "So you must have been in contact with her if she knew you were in town."

He shook his head. "No. No, she'd recognised the girls after their last trip into town and wrote to me on the off-chance I was also in the area."

   "Why?"

"Her kid brother, Jamie, he'd gone and got himself mixed up in this weird cult up in Cumberland Forest. Christ, you shoulda seen them all listenin' on as this lunatic spouted some nonsense about turtles or somethin'," laughing, he patted his leg until he saw your stony expression still waiting for the answer to your question.

   "Get to the point please, Arthur."

   "You're right, sorry," he said as he nodded, "Jamie was the only one in her family who stood up for me and I owed it to *him*, not Mary, him -  to help get him away from those crazy fools."

You fidgeted slightly next to him. You wanted to believe him, but he seemed to be avoiding the main topic of conversation.

   "So say I believe you about your reasonings for helping her…why did you keep a picture of her?"

Silence filled the air for a second before he simply answered. "I shoved it in there so you wouldn't have to keep lookin' at it when we lay together...and I guess I forgot all 'bout it."

You looked away as more tears fell down your cheeks. Gently placing his hand under your chin, Arthur turned your face to face his, looking deep into your eyes he told you, 

   "You’re overthinking – I’m yours. That’s all I want to be.”

   "Prove it." You pleaded.

   "Okay then...this should show you she's nothin' to me now." He took the broken frame from your grasp and carefully removed the picture from the frame, lingering for a moment before crumpling it up in his hand and walking towards the campfire.

Though his stride was purposeful, you couldn't help but feel he faltered once more as he looked at the flames, but those fears disappeared as he turned to look back at you with a warmth in his eyes and a smile stretching wide across his face. Looking straight at you, his hand opened and the picture fell into the flames, where it lay for a few moments as it slowly rendered into nothing but a pile of ashes.

Making his way back over to you, he picked you up and spun you around his arms.

   "I'm all yours...are you mine?"

Bonus scene: Arthur's POV

He slowly removed the picture from the frame, partly being careful not to cut himself on broken shards of glass and partly because he wanted to make sure he was making the right decision. He was convinced that after Mary called it all off between them, he'd never smile, let alone love again. But then you'd walked into his life and brought light back into the darkness he'd found himself in.

But maybe there was a reason he'd held on to this photograph for all this time - a reminder of the good times that existed between them. Heartbreak has a funny way of erasing those memories, but seeing the woman you once considered the love of your life in person has an equally funny way of making those feelings rush back.

But no, the heartache he'd felt for all these years outweighed the fleeting moments of happiness he'd felt with Mary. And that kiss on the cheek to say goodbye that she'd given him at the train station? It certainly didn't give him butterflies like it used too. Looking at her image one last time, he crumpled it up and walked over to the campfire.

Though he had confidently strode over to flames, he once more had doubts he was right to finally let Mary go. Turning to face you, everything suddenly became very clear in Arthur's mind. Everything he ever wanted: someone who loved the group of people he considered family, as well as loving him for the man he was - despite his faults, someone who was willing to stick with him through thick and thin, make him laugh when he was down, and never fail to make him smile, that special someone he wanted to grow old with with...he already had that with you.

Without thinking, he opened his hand and let the battered photograph waft downwards, enveloped by the flames and turning to nothingness as he made his way back over to you, picking you up and spinning you around his arms.

   "I'm all yours...are you mine?"

[emachinescat]

I've decided to watch MacGyver from the beginning (again), and I'm live tweeting the experience with every tweet tagged with #savemacgyver. I thought it would be fun to share my collected thoughts from the episodes on here as well.

My Thoughts on S1E2, "Metal Saw"

Seriously love the music in this show!

THE FREAKING BELT GRAB. You can tell they've done this kind of thing before.

I always love it when Jack and Mac have heart-to-hearts in the middle of super intense, dangerous situations. Like... it's sweet, but time and place, guys?

"Hi, I'm Jack." Nervous Jack is bebby.

Ew, sweat. Like, I know it's "realism" to have sweat stains on clothes in situations like these, but that's one bit of realism I can always do without. Gross.

Is that a bit of PTSD I'm seeing with Mac there on the couch? That's a kind of realism I can always get behind.

Riley finding Mac and Boze in that compromising position will never not be funny. "But he was on top." I love Riley more every episode.

Riley is a really good liar from day one.

I love the joke about ex-cons benefiting from being in relationships with stable people (i.e., fake boyfriend Bozer), then the immediate cut to Bozer with his whole arm inside the vending machine. Great stuff.

Love the Riley and Bozer bonding... right up until the cringe-tastic "Slide me your digits."

"Soon, I'm gonna woo you the same way Romeo would have wooed Juliet if they had Snapchat back in the Renaissance." Bozer and his surprisingly accurate pickup lines. The Renaissance did in fact start in Italy around the 14th century, when R&J is thought to take place.

I love all this psychoanalyzing of Mac. "Adapting is his survival mechanism." Also I'm living for Jack sticking up for Mac to Patti.

"This place has been searched by everybody and their dog." Is this a Texas thing or an old guy saying? Either way it's great.

Nothing beats the early days of Mac and Jack. Nothing. I wish we had gotten more interactions where Jack has to parent Mac: "Stop touching that. Look at me." ❤️❤️❤️

Jack so concerned about Mac and putting on the kid gloves = everything I could have ever asked for and more.

Jack has such a big heart. Poor guy, the look on his face when he sees that the reporter is actually Sarah...

Paperclip sculptures: When I first started watching the show, I thought they were lame. Now I miss them so much. Does that mean I've gotten lamer or that they were always cool and I was always lame?

"Closest time I ever came to coming home in a box." Oof. This line hits different now, and not in a good way.

I just love how Jack is this big tough ex-Delta who is so open about his emotions, particularly with Mac. And the way Mac reassures him... Their bromance is top-tier.

"Oh, like when they invented fire!" Another zinger.

Mac grabbing that giant cigar right out of that dude's mouth 😂😂😂

Love some good fight-scene Mac whump! 👏👏👏 And bar fights are always a blast!

Riley with the car door - such a boss. "What? You told me to stay in the car, and I did."

I've seen some people say they don't like S1 Mac's hair. I kind of dig it, to be honest. He looks like he's 5, but I love it.

Mac has made a lot of DIY cutting torches in his time, but they never get less impressive.

Jack trusting Mac to save Sarah while he keeps watch is just *chef's kiss*!

These early episodes have so many MacGyverisms. One right after the other. It's awesome.

I've never been a big fan of the dark either, Mac.

The first scene with Mac and Sarah is so beautifully tense and whumpy (he way he scrabbles for purchase, gasps for breath, that hitch in his voice as he tries to squeak out Jack's name) that I had to rewind and watch it again.

The hopeful disbelief in her voice: "Jack Dalton came for me?"

Sarah can kick some serious ass. I can see why Jack likes her. Too bad she's about to lead him on the rest of the episode, while actually having a fiance...

Sarah: *leans out of car, shooting her weapon with deadly, terrifying precision* Riley: I agree, this woman should not have kids. 😂 Everything that comes out of Riley's mouth is gold.

Riley asleep in the back of the car while Mac sits quietly and Jack and Sarah have a sweet moment is like mom and dad with the kids in the backseat. Except mom has a fiance and hasn't told dad yet, even though she's had ample opportunity.

Because seriously, Sarah. It's not that hard to tell him the truth. Giving him those big eyes and flirting with him, thinking he has a chance is just cruel. I have never liked her character, and this is why.

Mac and Jack giggling about Jack's crush on Sarah like middle-school girls is life.

"You're just gonna have to let that go." Man, I love their relationship.

Gosh, the scene where they find Luis always hurts so badly. These early episodes did not play around.

"There isn't always time to beg some suit back home for permission to do what's right." I'm not a fan of Sarah, but I love this line. Also, this is pretty much the synopsis of the whole show.

Riley's hair used to be so LONG! 😍

The loyalty of these three! And I love the OG trio so much.

This sleazy guy in the computer place makes my skin crawl.

Love how Patti's like, "Mac will be back by then." Not Jack, not Riley. Just Mac. Can we say teacher's pet? I actually lowkey love this though.

"Who is this guy?" Much like Doctor Who's "It's bigger on the inside," I never get tired of people being equally amazed and confused at the stuff Mac can do.

I've never been the biggest car chase junkie, but Barrios jumping over the car using that log in the road is pretty dope.

Sarah's rage is chilling. And Jack talking her down breaks me every time.

Again, I love the loyalty of our team. Everyone sticks up for each other, ending with Mac's totally unbelievable but still somehow 100% genuine "It was me. I forced them." TOO good.

First mention of Oversight this early. Just thinking about who it is that doesn't like unsanctioned ops just makes me 😤 I wonder if the writers knew who OS was at this point or if it was a later development.

I do wish we could have gotten more conspiratorial, approving Patti. She's so much better than expressionless, bland Patti.

The way Sarah never told Jack about her fiance Jeff (who is in fact a cinnamon roll but still a discount Jack) pisses me off. "I tried to tell you." Yeah, right. It's not that hard to say, "Yo, I'm in a relationship."

Jack NEVER should have found out about Jeff the way he did. There's no excuse.

It's not okay, Jack. She did you wrong. You didn't deserve that. Stand up for yourself, man. Gosh, he's so broken here, and I hate it.

"At least we have each other... Don't look at me. I know how weird it sounded." THESE TWO I SWEAR 🤣🤣🤣

Poor Mac. I do love how we get his obsessive tendencies so early in the show, and how they keep coming back, even as late as season 5. As someone with clinically diagnosed OCD, this makes me feel seen and I love being able to relate to my favorite character.

Love the found family antics at the end. Riley and Bozer making dinner while Mac and Jack play basketball? Perfection.

Lol, Bozer calling Riley a "caramel goddess" has such Schmidt/Cece vibes from New Girl, and I dig it!

Ew. More sweat. I know some people find sweaty men attractive, but that is NOT my vibe. I prefer my men clean and freshly laundered.

The way Riley glances back over her shoulder at them as she walks away, as if to make sure they're really there, that this is actually real!!!

"That's not even... that's true, actually. That's sad." Jack 🤣 Also, "I'm hungry." Big mood.

As a Grandpa Harry stan from the OG show, I eat up any mention of him in the new one. I just wish we'd gotten more of that wonderful man in the reboot. Still, I'll take what I can get!

I'd honestly forgotten how much I enjoy this episode! So solid, full of bromance, found family, and lots of good-natured bickering. Can't wait to watch the next one, hopefully tomorrow! In the meantime, please keep fighting for our show! Together we can #savemacgyver!

If anyone wants to join me in my re-watching and tweeting adventure, please do! It's my way to take about an hour a day in my busy, busy life to commit to the #savemacgyver movement. (And to enjoy my favorite show yet again!) If you do tweet as you watch, make sure to tag EVERY tweet with ONLY #savemacgyver so we can keep that hashtag trending! :)

Thanks for letting me share my (numerous) thoughts on this episode. This was really fun, and I hope it's something you all enjoy, too. I'd love to know what you all think of the episode in the comments! ❤️

[may85]

Summary: After getting away from Guarma, Arthur is ready to tell the reader how he really feels about her.

Requested by @writing-in-hell

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Reader

Game: Red Dead Redemption 2

Word Count: 1562

Warnings: None

Photo: Mine. Taken with my early version of Arthur.

His first visit left him reeling. Arthur had grown accustomed to helping women in need and he wasn't expecting to run into an independent such as her.

He was watching her as he casually rode his horse. Without so much as a peep, she'd taken down a nice size buck. Not a grimace in sight and she'd begun skin it… and when she finally caught wind of him, her bloodied hand was steadily aiming her pistol at him.

He held his arms out, “Didn't mean to intrude Ma'am,”

“Whatchu want?”

“Not a thing Miss, calm down,”

She squinted at him, giving him a stink eye that would put Miss Grimshaw’s to shame, “Ain't anybody ever tell ya not to tell a woman to calm down. That it just prolongs their anger?”

“No Ma'am. I do apologize,”

She sighed, holstering her gun, “Apology accepted. Mind helping me get this beauty back to my land? I'll share some meat with ya,”

Arthur nodded, smiling in kind.

He came to find out that her name was Y/N and the more he would visit her, the deeper his feelings would grow.

It was when he'd shown up on her doorstep bloody and damn near dead that he knew he had to tell her how he felt… but he never had the chance to do so that night.

Arthur had passed out from blood loss and when he woke, she was gone, leaving him a note saying that she had to run to town and would be gone for a few days.

After an internal fight with himself, he decided to leave. He wrote her a simple thank you, but knew that it wouldn't be enough.

°°°°°°

What felt like years, had actually only been two months… Two long, disastrous months of being on that damn island, Guarma. It was the longest he'd gone without seeing Y/N, but she was constantly on his mind.

With his beard neatly trimmed, hair freshly washed and some new clothes, Arthur passed the bakery Saint Denis.

“Cain't go empty handed,” he muttered.

After making his purchase of something sweet and fresh loaf of bread, he mounted his horse and made his way to Y/N's home.

Somewhere along the way, he found some gorgeous wildflowers. He picked them, remembering how she had said that those were her favorite. He had hoped that this would at least smooth over any hard feelings that she would have towards him.

Upon arriving to her home, he noted the pompous looking horse that was hitched at her porch.

Arthur could feel his gut bottom out as he thought that she'd found a suitor within the time he'd been gone.

It wasn't until he heard her shouting that he was pulled from his self pity.

“I said no, damnit! Now git!” she hollered, swinging open her door.

“Aww, come on now Darlin’, don't go gettin’ yer panties in a twist,” the man cooed.

“I ain't your Darlin’!”

Arthur's horse neighed, making Y/N whip her head around. He tipped his hat in silent greeting.

Her wide eyes narrowed, giving him her signature stink eye.

Oh yeah, he was gonna get it for sure.

He saw an idea from as her facial features relaxed.

“Arthur!” she breathed, taking off on a run to him.

He dismounted just in time, catching her body as she threw herself at him. Her hug was soft and tightening. He couldn't help but sink his nose into her neck to inhale her scent as he squeezed her waist.

“Arthur? Who the hell is Arthur!?” the man demanded as he came out onto the porch.

She pulled back, cupping Arthur's cheeks, “He's my husband,”

Arthur's eyes squinted at the man.

“We got a problem here, Sweetheart?” he asked, his tone low and threatening.

“Husband!? Since when!?”

“I don't think that's any of your business there, partner,”

Y/N hugged his neck again and whispered in his ear, “Please get rid of him,”

“It is my business,” the man barked.

Clearly, he was stupid.

Arthur pulled back from Y/N, his hands on her waist. Throwing her for a loop, he kissed her gently on the lips, “Go inside, Sweetheart,”

“Yer not really married! You ain't even got a damn ring!”

Arthur was growing more and more agitated. He wanted to get on with telling Y/N how he felt and this moron was ruining his chances.

He whipped out his pistol and cocked it as he aimed it at the man, “Yer a damn fool, boy! Now leave my woman alone or you'll find herself riddled with bullet holes,”

Y/N never did go inside, opting to stay with Arthur and hold onto his waist.

“This ain't over!”

A shot rang out, the mans hat flying off of his head.

“Yes. It is. Now got outta here,”

The man threw his hands up and backed away, clearly scared and hopefully getting the message.

Arthur sighed as he holstered his gun.

“Wha- hey now!” Arthur bunched his arms up, trying to block Y/N's swats. She wasn't hitting him hard enough to hurt him.

“You damn jerk!” she said.

“Y/N, damnit! Stop it woman!” he laughed. He figured he was gonna have his ass handed to him.

“Two goddamned months! Two! A-and then ya kiss me! What the hell Morgan!?” she finally stopped smacking him and began to pace.

“Y/N-” he had his hand out to touch, but stopped when she spun around to face him.

“I thought you were dead!” her eyes filled with tears.

It literally broke his heart.

“Aww hell��� C'mere Honey,”

Without hesitation she placed her hand in his and he pulled her back into his embrace.

“I'm sorry, Y/N,” he said softly, “Truly,”

She sniffled, “Where were you? What happened?”

Arthur pulled back, his fingers running through her hair, “I-”

He watched a tear run down her cheek. He had to tell her and now was the time, “I love ya, woman. I wanted to tell ya- wanted to wait for ya to come back from town, but I- I'm a cow-”

Her hand over his mouth didn't let him finish his sentence.

She shook her head, “No, you're not. Don't even finish that sentence,”

He gave a slight nod and took her hand from his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he smelt something delicious coming from her cabin, “So, uh… whatcha got cookin’?”

Her laugh went straight to his heart.

“Is that all I'm good for? Cookin’?”

“Wellll,” he drew out, tilting his head to the side.

She swatted his arm, “C'mon jerk. Let me feed you and you can tell me all about where the hell you've been,”

Over dinner of pot roast with vegetables, which was his favorite, they kept mostly quiet. Afterwards, Y/N rose from her seat and took their dirty dishes to the sink and started the percolator for coffee.

Arthur watched her move about the small kitchen and had the urge to go to her once she was at the stove.

His rough hands slid down the dips of her waist and gripped her hips. He leaned down slightly, resting his mouth on her shoulder, just enjoying the feel and scent of her.

He felt her lips rest against his forehead causing him to close his eyes. This all felt so natural to him and he wished that it would never end, but he was scared how she would react to what he was about to tell her.

“I was stuck on island called Guarma,” his voice was thick with emotion.

“Guarma? How did you get there?” she asked, softly.

“Got stuck on a boat… running from the law,”

He felt her back stiffen and his heart drop.

“The shootout in Saint Denis… that was you?” she turned in his arms.

He couldn't look at her. He was so afraid that he'd see disgust written all over her face. He begrudgingly admitted to it, “Yeah… it was,”

He felt her warm, soft hands cup his cheeks as she tilted his face towards hers.

“The bank heist; that you too?”

Arthur swallowed, “I told ya- I'm a bad man, Sweetheart,”

He watched her eyes as they roamed his face. She was going to kick him out. He was sure of it.

“You're not a bad man to me,”

His brows furrowed.

“I know for a fact that you'd never hurt me. Hell, you protected me from that idjit earlier without even batting an eye. You're a good man, Arthur and you can't tell me otherwise,”

“But-”

She cut him off by pressing her lips to his. Arthur squeezed her hips, pulling her closer to him. Tilting his head to the side, he deepened the kiss and good God was it amazing.

When she pulled back for a breath, she licked her lips and blushed, “Wow,”

The corner of his mouth turned up, a soft chuckle shaking his chest.

Y/N bit her bottom lip and played with the collar of his shirt, “Ya know, I never answered you earlier,”

“Hmm?”

She stood on her tiptoes while sliding her hand to the back of his neck. Arthur's hands rested comfortably on her behind.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, her lips moving over his gently.

For once in his difficult life, Arthur felt like he was where he belonged.