#and then she IMMEDIATELY is like WAIT NO TOO MUCH

[viaxslz]

⊞﹑ᶻᶻ﹒⪨﹐ꜛ WHEN YOU STOP DURING A KISS ﹒⁂ꜝ

享受 ! .°. ݁₊ 𐙚 gn!reader, cw: kissing/making out, pet names, slightly suggestive, nothing much not proofread :P

CHAN

He blinks, dazed and breathless, still leaning forward like his lips are chasing yours. “Wait, what— Did I do something? Was it too much? Too fast? Was my nose in the way? I knew I should’ve angled more to the left—” He immediately goes into concerned boyfriend mode, rubbing the back of his neck, rambling nervously with furrowed brows. You can literally see the gears turning in his head trying to figure out if he messed up. When you explain that you just got flustered or wanted to look at him, he MELTS. Like full-on gooey marshmallow mode. “You… pulled away just to look at me?” Cue soft little chuckle, hands cupping your cheeks now, and he kisses your forehead.

LEE KNOW

You pull back mid-kiss, and for a moment, Minho just stares at you. Unmoving. Unblinking. He looks entirely unbothered… until you catch the faintest twitch of his brow. “Wow,” he says flatly. “Did I bore you mid-makeout?” You try to explain maybe you were flustered, or your brain short-circuited, or your stomach made a weird noise but he just squints at you, suspicious. “So you’re telling me I was putting in my best effort, and you just exited the app mid-update?” He looks personally offended for 0.5 seconds. Then smirks. “No, no, it’s fine. I’ll just go kiss the cat instead. She never pulls away.” (You hear him muttering to Soonie under his breath five minutes later: “At least you appreciate my affection…”) But he does end up pulling you back in, much gentler now, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “If you ever stop again,” he murmurs, “you better have a damn good reason. Like a meteor. Or Hyunjin screaming.”

CHANGBIN

At first, he’s frozen mid-pucker, lips still slightly parted, eyes blinking like he’s buffering. “…Huh?” He looks around like someone just unplugged his brain, then turns back to you with the most confused expression you’ve ever seen. Like a golden retriever who got told “no” for the first time in his life. “You— You just stopped. Was it me? Was I too aggressive? Too soft? Did I miss? Did I kiss your chin again?! I knew I should’ve practiced more—” You try to calm him down, but he’s already spiraling into self-doubt. Even throws his arms out like he’s in a drama scene. “I KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME. You found someone with softer lips, didn’t you?” When you finally tell him the reason whether it’s you getting shy, needing a breather, or just being caught off guard by how cute he is, he immediately softens. “Oh. You think I’m cute?” Cue him grinning like a kid on Christmas. “Say it again. Say it three more times. Wait no, kiss me again. Right now. We’re finishing what we started.” Then he makes you reenact the kiss properly, “for closure.” (And yes, he absolutely brags about it for the rest of the day like it’s an Olympic sport.)

HYUNJIN

You pull away mid-kiss with zero warning, and Hyunjin just… stares at you. Lips still parted, eyes wide and sparkly with confusion and betrayal. He blinks once. Then twice. “…Did… did you just cancel me?” You try to keep a straight face, but the way he dramatically slumps back against the nearest surface arms flopping like he’s just been dumped in the most poetic way makes it nearly impossible. “Was it not good? Did I go too fast? Too slow? Was I… too pretty?” You: “You’re literally fine.” Hyunjin: “Fine? That’s it?? Not devastatingly handsome? Not kiss-me-right-now worthy? I’m gonna cry.” (He’s not going to cry. But he will roll onto the floor like an offended cat and mutter to himself in vague Shakespearean despair.) But when you admit you were just teasing him, he gasps. “So you played me?!” Cue playful chaos. He tries to act offended, but he can’t stop smiling. He corners you two minutes later, grabbing your waist like he’s about to perform a slow-mo drama scene. “You’re not getting away with that. Try pulling away again and I’ll chase you into next week.” Then kisses you again just to “reclaim his pride.”

HAN

You pull away mid-kiss, and it takes him a second to catch up. His eyes are still half-closed like he’s waiting for the sequel. “…Did the Wi-Fi cut out or something?” You try not to laugh, but he’s already leaning forward like, “Hello?? I was loading. Why did you press back?” When you don’t immediately explain yourself, he clutches his chest like he’s been mortally wounded. “Don’t do this to me. I already have abandonment issues from when my ramen slipped into the sink that one time.” You: “Jisung—” Jisung: “That one time.“ Once you finally admit you were just teasing him, or got distracted, or simply felt like it he flops dramatically onto your lap, face buried in your stomach. “Unfair. You know my brain is slow and my heart is weak. You can’t just hit the brakes like that.” Then he pops his head up, grinning. “But also… if you wanted me to beg, you could’ve just said so.” Cue chaotic, overly dramatic puppy-boy behavior for the next hour. Constantly bringing it up with zero context. “Remember that time you broke my heart during a kiss?” “That was literally ten minutes ago.” “And I’m still healing.” But he forgives you with extra kisses just to “finish what you started.”

FELIX

You pull away mid-kiss, and at first, Felix doesn’t even notice he’s still leaning in with his eyes closed like he’s waiting for the encore. Then he opens one eye. “…Did I miss the cue?” You’re quiet for a second maybe your mind wandered, or you suddenly remembered that you left the laundry in the washer, or you were just overwhelmed by a random intrusive thought like “Do penguins have knees?” Felix tilts his head, trying to read your expression. “Wait… are you okay?” You nod, explaining it’s nothing serious, and that your brain just lagged a little. He chuckles softly, brushing a thumb over your cheek. “You pulled away like you just got hit by an existential crisis mid-kiss.” (He’s not wrong.) Then he gets serious for a second, gazing at you with those gentle, worried eyes. “You sure everything’s okay though? You don’t have to kiss me if you’re not feeling it. I’m just happy being with you.” You were fine, but now you’re blushing over how sweet he is. Felix gives you a soft smile and taps your forehead. “Next time your brain wanders during a kiss, just tell me what you were thinking. Unless it was about taxes. Then keep it to yourself.” Five minutes later, he texts you a meme of two penguins cuddling. Felix: "They DO have knees btw."

SEUNGMIN

You pull away mid-kiss, and Seungmin immediately blinks at you like you just skipped a line in a script he had memorized. “…That’s it?” Deadpan. Expression unreadable. Hands still resting casually on your waist, like he’s not even pressed about it. “Wow. That was… what? Three seconds? Impressive commitment.” You’re trying to explain maybe your brain short-circuited, maybe you remembered you left your phone on the stove, maybe you just needed a moment. But he’s already shaking his head like a disappointed tutor watching you fail basic math. “I rearranged my entire breathing pattern for that.” You: “You’re being dramatic.” Seungmin: “I trained my lips for days.” You roll your eyes, but he’s already pulling slightly away, crossing his arms like he’s filing a mental complaint. “Don’t worry. I’ll just log it in my diary. ‘Kiss: interrupted. Trust: broken.’ ” But the second you lean in again thinking he might actually be annoyed he’s already pulling you back with a smirk, voice low near your ear. “Next time you pull away, you better give me a good reason. Like your soul leaving your body. Otherwise, I’m finishing what you started.” And even though he acts so chill, later that night he won’t stop smiling to himself. Quietly. When no one’s looking.

JEONGIN

You pull away mid-kiss, all innocent, like you didn’t just commit the ultimate crime against his entire soul. He blinks, stunned. Lips still parted. Offended in 4K. “…Did you just— reject me in HD?” You: “Relax, I’m just teasing.” Jeongin: “Relax? RELAX? You can’t just pause mid-kiss like we’re on a Netflix trial—” He dramatically clutches his chest, spinning away like he’s in a low-budget romance drama. “I trusted you. I gave you my lips. My time. My chapstick. And you do me like this?” You’re wheezing at this point, but he’s not done. He turns back around slowly, finger pointed. “Don’t come crawling back when you want more. This factory is CLOSED.” (Factory reopens 12 seconds later when you give him puppy eyes.) Still, he acts like you have to earn it now. He’s all smug, leaning back like, “I don’t know… should I kiss you again? Are you mentally prepared this time?” But when you finally do kiss him again properly this time he just grins against your lips and murmurs: “Took you long enough. I was literally seconds away from texting Chan that I’ve been emotionally betrayed.”

PERM TAGLIST 📌🔖 ──── @the-sea-called-history02 @oc3anfloor @queenofdumbfuckery @whatdoyouwanttocallmefor @my-neurodivergent-world @bookswillfindyouaway

[ichorai]

xerox ; robert reynolds ; part one.

pairing ; robert (bob) reynolds x reader, thunderbolts & reader

synopsis ; you had one last job before you were free. no more splitting, no more deaths. unfortunately, that job seemed to rope in four other assassins and a... a man in hospital-wear?

words ; 7.8k

themes ; action, angst, slowburn, the beginnings of romance

warnings / includes ; violence/gore/death, human experimentation, reader has the ability to split into multiple bodies (think dupli-kate from invincible), foul language, walker is an asshole, everyone's mental health sucks!

a/n ; this is part one !!! a second part is already in the works :) this was written all today so apologies if there are any mistakes!

main masterlist. read on ao3!

It didn’t seem a hard task. One kill. One more. Then you could go. Quit the clean-up business for good. You could practically hear Valentina’s sickly sweet smile through the phone. 

“You’ll be in and out of there in no time,” her voice crooned. “And I wouldn’t worry too much about your target. After all, you’re rather… disposable, aren’t you?”

You frowned at that. “My self-copies aren’t disposable. I feel it every time one of me dies.”

Valentina laughed—a high-pitched keening noise. You assumed she was waving her hand about in a dismissive manner, as she usually did with you. “You’ll get back up. That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it? Good luck. Try to have some fun. It’ll be your last one, anyway—make the most of it.”

“Yeah,” you said. Your free hand wound around your midriff, almost as if you were cradling yourself. “I’ll take care of it.”

You hung up before you could hear Valentina say one more word.

There were ringing gunshots, muffled grunts, and resounding thuds when you arrived. Who else was here? Your target was only one person—an untouchable woman. A Ghost. Would a thousand of you be able to tackle one of her? 

Or perhaps the better question was… were you willing to sacrifice yourself a thousand times to kill one woman? You definitely have before, on previous missions. Over and over again, the bitter taste of death was stuffed into your mouth, dry as a sock, tainting your innards like black tar. 

You waited outside the junk room’s entrance, counting the voices you heard. One man, for sure. One unidentifiable. Two women. You split yourself into two, then three. With a begrudging sigh, you spliced once more to make four. 

Three copies ran in. One stayed out. 

You spotted the ghost immediately. She was phasing between the shield of another masked assassin. Were they also here to kill her? Another copy spotted a woman being pinned down by another man, a blade inches away from her throat. Not your mission, not your problem.

Though, it certainly became your problem when the woman croaked, “There you are!” upon seeing you. “Holy shit, there’s three of you.”

She bucked the man off after tasing him, scrambling towards her gun. A click, a point, a shot. Your copy dove behind a pile of sturdy cases, but clearly not fast enough. You felt the bullet pierce your chest, the warmth of the blood pool across your ribs—and then you were dead.

“Fuck,” you winced, feeling the resounding ache of the gunshot in your own body, eyeing your dead self. Without a second thought, you split once more. Your copies scattered from your assailant, off to find the ghost. 

You tackled your white-masked target as soon as she materialized once more, managing to get only one powerful strike in before you fell to the ground, the ghost phasing away and disappearing once more. Then your head pierced with the terrible, agonizing pain of a bullet fracturing your skull, and you were dead. Again. And again, and again. Impaled by a shield, stabbed by the ghost. 

You gasped from outside the room, crumpling to your knees. How many more times were you willing to die? How many times could you?

Then there came a nauseous, gagging sound from inside the room. For a moment, you wondered if one of your copies had miraculously survived and was making that sound. You split yourself and crawled inside. Maybe you could save yourself. Spotting you coming in, the man with the shield seemed to realize there was one of you waiting outside. He sent the shield—already covered with your blood—arcing outside and striking you clean across the throat before you could react. Your decapitated head hit the metal floors with a disgusting, bloody noise, lolling to the foot of the entrance. 

That left one copy inside the room. You gasped for breath, air painfully dragging within your esophogas as you clutched at your neck, the veins beneath your skin popping. For safety, you duplicated yourself once more. 

“Woah,” came a voice beside you. There was a man in… hospital clothes? You scrambled away from him. He watched you with an open mouth, blinking in a manner not unsimilar to an owl. 

One of the assassins was dead already, bullet wound in the head, not unsimilar to one of your deaths here. You could see your own bodies scattered about, in varying states of mutilation. The three assassins left were all pointing their guns at each other, then you and your copy, then to the man gagging next to you. 

“Which one of you is the real you?” said the blonde woman. 

“I’m all me,” the both of you said at the same time.

She shuddered. “Well, that’s not creepy at all.”

The man on the ground made a disoriented noise, as if realizing that he really shouldn’t be in a room full of people with guns trying to kill each other. “Actually, I—” He struggled to his feet, then turned to run. Thick metal shutters fell down over all the entrances before he could leave. It crushed your decapitated head as if it were a grape, your blood splattering all over you, your copy, and the hospital-man.

Shit. If you were still outside, you could have gotten away. 

The assassins all trained their guns at the man, spooked by his skittish movements. 

“No, no!” he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m—I’m Bob.”

It didn’t look like he had any place to hide weapons. Still, just to be safe, you split yourself again, now three of you. The faux Captain America flinched. “Fuck!”

“Who?” said the ghost, eyes trained on Bob. 

“Bob,” said Bob, shrugging. 

“Who sent you, Bob?” asked the blonde woman. 

“Nobody, why would I be sent?” he said, hands trembling. He was afraid. “You were all… you guys were all sent?”

His question went largely ignored. The woman’s eyes, lined with hazy blue makeup, darted to you. “You—how am I meant to kill you if you can’t die?”

You raised your hands in surrender now, mimicking Bob. “I can die. It’s the one thing I’m really good at.”

Something flickered in her gaze. She lowered her gun just slightly. “Who sent you?”

The ghost rolled her eyes and lowered her gun. “I’m not sure what’s happening here, but my job is done.” She gestured to the dead assassin on the ground and stepped forward to go. 

One of your copies blocked her way. “My job isn’t.”

She scoffed, then phased straight through you. You felt a cold chill traverse down your spine. 

“Neither is mine,” said the blonde woman, turning the barrel of her gun to you. 

“Don’t waste your time,” you snarled. “I have infinite lives. You have finite bullets—do the math.”

The man with the shield tilted his head at the woman. “Convenient cover for someone stealing weapons from O.X.E.”

“I’m not stealing, Copy-Cat here is ste—” She paused, and realization came over her bloodied face. Then, she raised her hands in the same way you did. “Okay. It’s clear we have all worked for Valentina in some sort of shadow ops capacity.”

“Yeah, so?” said the man. 

“So all of this shit is O.X.E’s secrets. And so are we.” She gestured to the mountainous stacks of boxes and crates.

You felt your heart sink to your stomach. You should’ve known Valentina would pull something like this with you. It should’ve been suspicious how easily she accepted your request to leave. How could you be so stupid? So naive?

“We’re liabilities no one would miss,” said Ghost. 

The man scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I was sent here on a mission.”

“Look around!” said the blonde. “We are the evidence, and this is the shredder! She wants us gone.”

The three began to bicker over who was in the right. From their argument, you learned that the man with the shield was John Walker, officially Captain America for about three seconds before he had murdered a man in public. And the blonde woman—tasked with the impossible mission of eliminating you—was Yelena. Former Red Room assassin.

Bob began to shuffle closer to you, and you tensed. 

“Hey—” he said, reaching out a hand to help you up. “Are you okay? I watched you die, like, fifty times or something.” He fidgeted when you hesitantly accepted his hand, pulling yourself up with his help. Bob took turns smiling at you and your clones, all lopsided. He was so… off-putting. You scrutinized him with a narrowed gaze. 

“What are you doing here, Bob? You clearly aren’t… like us.”

“Wh… Why not?”

“You’re in a patient uniform. It’s the kind of shit I always wore as a kid,” you said, beckoning to his pants. 

Bob was about to respond, but clammed up when John Walker began stalking closer to the two of you. Subconsciously, Bob edged behind you, almost as if he were using you as a shield. You sure as hell didn’t know who Bob was, or what he was doing here, but he certainly didn’t seem deserving of the piercing glare Walker was sending his way.

“I’m not leaving here without completing my mission,” said the man. “Valentina gave me a clean slate, guaranteed—I’m not screwing that up.”

“And you believe her?” you said in disbelief, almost a whisper. You stepped back, bumping into Bob in the process. He felt strangely solid behind you. “She promised to let me go. A rogue, powered assassin let loose out of the cage. I was stupid for letting myself believe her. And you are, too.”

Walker’s face crumpled with anger. “Listen here, you freak. You multiply like… like bacteria. Obviously Valentina doesn’t trust you. She may be lying to you, but she trusts me. And you—” He rounded on Bob. “You were part of my job, so I gotta know. How’d you get in?”

You shifted so you’d be able to see Bob. He seemed to shift with you slightly, unhappy that you were no longer between him and John. Fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve, Bob shrugged. “I don’t… Pfft. I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

One of Walker’s eyes twitched. “Terrific answer. Great. Well, alright!” He beckoned to you, Yelena, and Ghost. “Tie yourselves up. I’m sure there’s rope in here somewhere.”

“Wow,” said Ghost—Ava, you remembered reading her name from your mission casefile. “No.”

“Hey,” whispered Bob, tugging on one of your copy’s utility belts. “I just realized I don’t—I don’t know your name.”

“Now’s probably not the time for niceties,” you said. After staring at him for a moment longer, you sighed. It was pitiful how lost he looked. “I’m known as Xerox.” 

“Xerox—that’s a… that’s a cool name. Way better than Bob.”

To your surprise, you found yourself giving him a small twitch of a smile. “Bob’s a palindrome. Same backwards as it is forwards. That earns it at least half a point on the cool scale.”

Bob paused, regarding you with an equally twitchy, uncertain grin. “I never thought about it that way. Yeah, that’s… thanks.” He let out a nervous laugh that was obviously forced—and yet still somehow endearing.

As you spoke with Bob, Ghost walked on ahead, intent on leaving. She phased out of tangibility, so you knew there was no way you could stop her even if you tried. You watched her go passively—you no longer cared if you failed your mission. It was clear it wasn’t a real mission, anyway. You were glad that Yelena had come to the same conclusion. She didn’t seem intent on wasting any more bullets in your copies’ skulls.

When Ghost drew within an inch from the door, a piercing sound echoed throughout the chambers. You and your copies keeled over in pain. The noise made violent shudders ripple through your body. It reminded you of all those times you had to be strapped down when you were a child before you could control your powers, riding out your seizures with a belt across your mouth to muffle your screaming. 

You could feel shaking hands drift to cover your ears for you. Bob’s. Your head snapped up, meeting his worried gaze. 

Eventually the noise subsided, and his touch fell away. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” you said, eyeing him cautiously. What did he want from you?

“You were hurting,” was all he said in response, tone hesitant and soft, as if worried he’d done something wrong. 

You felt your face soften and you let out a weak exhale, suddenly feeling as if your heart was going to fall out of your chest. Why was he making you so flustered? 

The five of you were left sitting around for the next ten minutes. Walker and Ava took to raiding the dead assassin, Taskmaster’s body. Yelena didn’t seem too happy with that, snapping at them to respect the dead, job or not. 

“You knew her?” you quietly asked the blonde as she paced to and fro like a caged tiger, watching as Ava took a gun off the corpse. 

“I did,” she said, nodding solemnly. Then, she gestured to your own dead bodies strewn about. “Sorry about—” 

“It’s fine. Comes with the job,” you mumbled, voice soft. 

Yelena nodded grimly. “You live and you die, right? You more than most, I suppose.”

You blinked at her. Before you could say anything back, a siren blared across the room. The lights turned an angry shade of red that made the blood on your hands look black as tar. You felt your stomach roil.

Ghost looked upward. “It’s not a shredder,” she said. “It’s an incinerator.”

There was a large timer by one of the entrances that started to count down from two minutes. “Two minutes before Valentina’s slate is wiped clean,” said Yelena.

“Don’t know that for sure!” John protested. “Could be for when they come to pick me up.”

You could only barely withhold yourself from driving your fist into the smug look on his face. It did, however, make you feel slightly better that you weren’t the most stupid, delusional one in the room.

“Do you not feel that? The temperature rising dramatically, as if heat were involved?” Ghost pointed up at the gaps in the ceiling, where heat was filtering in, so strong that space warped and wobbled looking through the columns of air.

“Oh, boy, that is no way to go,” said Bob, nervously wringing his hands. 

Walker scowled. “Well, how would you like to go, Bob? With a hand around your throat choking the life out of you or a bullet to the head? Either could certainly be arranged!”

“Stop,” you barked. “You really want to spend your last moments alive being a complete asshole?”

The man clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Yelena stepped in before another fight could start. “Listen, Ghost-lady—”

“Ava.”

“Sure, whatever. We need to get you through one of the walls so you can open the door.”

“She tried that already,” said John, eyes rolling up to the pipes on the ceiling. 

“I know she did, but we haven’t tried shutting off the sound barrier!”

“If they built a barrier specifically for her,” you said, recalling your casefile. Her weakness was high-frequency sounds that caused interference with her suit’s technology. “The emitter must be in close-range. Somewhere inside the room. Outside would be too weak and dampened to work.” 

Immediately, you spliced a few dozen times and scattered, looking for some sort of power source.

“What—what exactly are we looking for?” asked Bob, hurrying alongside one of your copies.

“Not stupid questions, Bob!” John said. 

“Ignore him. Look for something with circuitry. Wires, a battery cell, that kind of stuff.” You tore through a few crates, feeling up the nooks and crannies of the walls. 

Fifty seconds left on the clock, rapidly ticking down. You were no stranger to dying, but this was strangely a different experience altogether. True, complete death. It sounded like both a blessing and the most terrifying thing possible. You could feel the panic rise up like bile in your throat. 

To your relief, Ava found the power source, and John immediately hacked away at it without thinking, orange sparks flying with the power of his strike. You would’ve been angry with his impulsive behavior if it hadn’t worked—Ghost successfully phased through the walls and disappeared.

Twenty seconds. 

She was going to come back, right?

Ten.

The furnaces above grew hotter and brighter.

Nine. 

One of your copies pushed Bob forward, since he was loitering directly beneath one of them. “Don’t stand under there.”

Five.

One of you caught sight of Yelena shutting her eyes in solemn acceptance.

Four. 

You heard Walker curse under his breath. 

Three.

You braced yourself. Would death be kind to you this time, despite all of its ugly cruelty before?

Two.

And then—a blaring siren. The slabs of metal began to shirk upwards. The four of you dashed out just as the columns of fire began to spew out. 

Bob was slow. You split yourself multiple times to keep shoving him forward. You could feel fire engulf your body, shrieking as the searing flames tore through your suit, into your skin, eating at your flesh, burning you to a crisp.

Some of you escaped, thrown by the explosion. One died instantly with a broken spine. Others clung to the walls, injured but alive. 

You watched in horror as many of your selves wailed in agony, dying a slow, agonizing death. You curled up into yourself, a few tears silently rolling down your cheeks. You supposed that was another one of your talents—you were very good at crying quietly. 

“Thanks for coming back,” you heard Walker say to Ava.

“I had to use someone. They cut the power to the elevator.”

“Hey,” the ghost said, reaching out a hand to you. You looked up at her, furiously wiping the tears away with the back of your hand, trying your best to ignore the pain. “Come on. Up you get. We need to find a way out of here.”

When she helped you up, she noticed that you were shaking violently. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve never been set on fire before,” you murmured. “Burned alive is a new one to add to the books.” You kneeled down to close the eyes of one of your corpses. You caught sight of Bob on the other side of the room, having just woken up from being knocked unconscious beside Yelena. He was uninjured, to your relief. 

“You helped me out,” he said, once you neared him. “Why did… Why did you do that? You died for me—so many times. I’m not…” He fidgeted uncomfortably. You could see the guilt weighing heavy in his eyes. “I’m not worthy enough for that.”

You didn’t know what to say. You were never good with sentimentalities.

To your dismay, John cut you to the chase. “I won’t disagree with you on that,” he told Bob. He stormed forward until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Bob, who cowered away just slightly before straightening himself to his full height. “I’m tired of your bullshit! Tell me how you got in here right goddamn now!”

“I swear I just woke up in this place,” he said, placating, as if he were talking to a spooked mare. “One minute I’m having my blood drawn for this medical study, and the next I’m here. I don’t know what’s happening, I really don’t.”

“Okay, then show me where you woke up!” 

Bob hesitated, then pointed into the incinerated room. “In—in there.”

“Where everything’s on fire,” John deadpanned. “That’s real convenient.”

“Walker, relax,” said Yelena. 

“You don’t remember anything?” asked Ava. “Bag over your head, a needle in your neck?”

“Chokehold? Nerve pinch?” Walker asked. It was beginning to feel terribly like an interrogation of sorts. 

Bob stepped back again. “No, none of those.”

“I think he’s just a civilian,” said Yelena, eyeing Bob carefully.

With an edge to his tone, John hissed, “Okay, well, if he’s a civilian, he knows too much and if he’s an agent he sucks. Either way I say we throw him back into the fire!” 

“No,” you said, glaring daggers at the man. “I died multiple times just to get him out. We’re not murdering an innocent man.”

“What do you want, a medal? And we don’t know he’s innocent!” Walker fired back.

Suddenly, Bob started to laugh. It was a wheezy, chuckling noise. You looked at him in surprise.

“You said you’re… Captain America?” he said, smiling incredulously.

John’s countenance grew even stonier than before. “What’s funny about that?”

“It’s just, heh, you’re… you’re an asshole,” Bob said between his peals of laughter. 

There was a beat of tense silence. Then John smiled, wolfish. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. In an instant, he was an arm’s length away from you and Bob, grabbing Bob by the throat and shoving him back so hard his back crashed into the wall behind him. You scrambled forward, multiplying twice to place enough hands on Walker’s chestplace to shove him back. Yelena also came to help, physically placing herself between the two men. 

“Okay, woah!” said Yelena, shooting a warning glare at John. “We swung our tiny dicks—it was a lot of fun, but we need to have some space now. Walker, you go over there. Bob, come with me.”

You watched the blonde woman whisk Bob off to the side, who followed her with no complaint. When you looked back at John, he was toeing one of your burnt corpses with his boot. He caught you staring at him and stopped.

“Sorry,” he said. Even he knew that crossed a line.

“Force of habit?” you taunted him with a tilt of your head.

John apparently had nothing to say to that. He turned away from you. Then, he began hacking at one of the walls with the shield. “There has to be a way out of here if we go in one direction for long enough, right?”

You shrugged. “Go right ahead. Be my guest.”

After a few more pummels, the solid concrete gave in and revealed metal doors. He pried them open, grunting with exertion, revealing an empty elevator shaft. There were no wires or indented surfaces to climb. Just sheer, smooth metal walls for as far as the eye could see. Likely even further than that. You gulped as you stared up.

“Hey, are you guys done with your therapy session yet?” John snarked to Yelena and Bob. 

Yelena, after saying a final few words to Bob, let him go. Bob made his way to you. Whatever it was that Yelena said to him, Bob didn’t seem particularly settled. You decided not to dwell on it for too long.

“So, this is—our way out?” 

“Looks like it. No way to climb, though,” you said. You glanced at his head. “You okay? That looked like it hurt.”

Bob glanced at you strangely, not used to others being concerned over his well-being. First Yelena, and now you. “Yeah, I’m fine. Can’t have been as bad as you.”

“It’s no competition,” you said, pursing your lips. Then, to the rest of the group, you asked, “Should we all get in there? Maybe we’ll figure something out once we scope it out.”

All of you crowded into the bottom of the elevator shaft, staring up at the endless void above. 

“So… none of us fly? All of us just… punch and shoot?” Yelena asked, looking around.

“Don’t worry,” said Walker. “I got this.” 

He pushed you and Ava to make more space for himself, ignoring both of your startled noises. Then, he leaped up. An insane distance for a regular human, and what you assumed was just above average for one pumped with super serum. You watched him disappear into the darkness for all about four seconds. And then you heard screaming as he came back down. Bob tugged you back just in time not to get crushed beneath John crashing back down on his shield. 

“You should try that again,” Ava suggested, grinning down at him as he struggled back to his feet with a pained groan.

John looked at you and you clones expectantly. “You can multiply. Why don’t you, I don’t know, make enough copies for us to climb up there?” 

“You want me to form a human ladder for you guys?” you asked, horrified. 

“Well, yes—”

“My clones have limited range,” you interrupted, voice curt. “We’re a collective mind. If we don’t all stick within a few meters of each other, I get seizures and lose control.”

Walker frowned down his nose at you. “Is it not worth a shot?”

“Not unless you want to risk me spazzing out mid-climb and all of us falling to our deaths,” you retorted. “We need to think of something else.”

Then, Walker turned his gaze to Ava. “Can’t you just phase up there and throw down a rope for us, or something?”

“First of all, someone other than you would have to ask me,” she hissed. You had to admit, you were starting to warm up to her. “Second, I’ve only ever been able to hold it for a minute, and who knows how long it would take to get up there—I’d be crushed under the weight of it before I could phase back.”

“Just a minute?” Walker deadpanned. “What is it with you lab rats and your limitations?”

“Shut up!” both you and Ava exclaimed at the same time.

“I… have an idea,” said Bob, raising a tentative hand.

All of you turned to him expectantly.

Your backs were pressed up together, your legs splayed out onto the metal wall as the group slowly inched upward. For the plan to work, there was only space for one of you, so you reabsorbed your copies into one body again. The rest of the group watched you do it in a mix of muted curiosity and horror. Bob gave you an awkward thumbs up, which made you smile despite the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

A part of you wanted to leave a copy down on the ground in case something happened, but you couldn’t risk having a seizure if you got too far away, and with everyone else on the line, too.

“Ew,” said Yelena. “Which one of you is wet?”

“Sorry,” Bob winced. “I run hot.”

You shifted the arm looped around his, grimacing at the sweat dripping down your own face. “I get it. It’s fucking sweltering in here.”

“Someone’s got a weird, hard butt,” Walker groaned.

“That’s not my butt, that’s my suit,” Ava hissed in return. “Pardon me for the inconvenience—I only spent my entire life in labs, hooked up to machines so I could create this physical cage to keep my material body from disintegrating at all times!”

You heard Yelena let out a bark of a laugh. “You don’t want to start the whole sob story game. I’d win. Enslaved child assassin over here.”

For some reason, John said, “Well, you were just a kid, so—”

“Oh!” said Yelena. “Does that make it better? Gee, I wish someone had told me that earlier! That makes me feel so much better.”

“Not that it’s a competition, but I’ve spent my whole life quite literally dying over and over again,” you said. 

“Oh, really?” said Walker. “Sounds like you’re making it a competition.”

You fell silent, not wanting to waste your breath arguing. The group, panting in ragged, short breaths, simultaneously decided to fall silent. You were so high up now that you couldn’t see the bottom of the shaft anymore.

After what felt like eons, Walker finally gasped out, “I see a door!”

“Now what?” Yelena asked. 

“Uhm—I guess one of us should… go first…” said Ava from your other side, uncertainty weighing her words. 

“No, then the rest of us would immediately fall!” protested Yelena, breath trembling with the strain of holding herself up. 

“Shit… sorry guys, I guess I didn’t really think this through,” Bob muttered.

“Genius fuckin’ plan, Bob!” Walker exclaimed.

“Always making things worse,” the man on your right muttered. 

Your brows furrowed. “Bob, we’re all the way up here because of you. Come on, we’re so close. I can duplicate and—”

“We can’t risk your additional weight,” Walker barked out. “One slip and we all come tumbling down!”

“Then what do you want to do?” you asked. 

“Hand me a baton, I can reach it!” he said. 

Immediate protesting ensued. “No way, you’re just going to leave us!” Yelena gritted out.

“We have to hurry, I don’t know how much longer I can keep my bloody boots from slipping!” Ghost said. True to her word, you caught sight of her shoes slowly gravitating downward.

Yelena inched upward. “Spin us around and we’ll—” 

“No! Are you crazy?”

Bob shook beside you.

“Bob, are you alright?” you asked, wondering why he was tossing his head from side to side like a dog shaking off excess water.

“Cucumber—cucumber, cucumber!” he said, scrunching up his face.

“What the hell is happening?” Yelena asked.

“Growing up, somebody told me if you have to sneeze, you yell out cucumber to confuse your brain. I have to sneeze, but if I do, I’ll lose control and we’ll—”

“This is insane!” Walker bit out. “I can get us all out of here, I just need to go first!”

“NO!” Ava said. “There must be another way!”

Bob tilted his head back, knocking against yours. “Oh, no,” he said.

“Oh—” You began to panic. “Cucumber! Cucumber, cucumber! Bob!”

Yelena and Ava both began chanting with you. John, his patience worn thin, reached behind and grabbed Yelena’s baton. Then, he jumped out of formation.

You felt yourself falling, your heart dropping to the balls of your feet in sheer horror, trying your best to grip onto the slippery metal walls. In your panic, you duplicated yourself in an attempt to slow down your descent. Just above you, Ava punctured the walls with her dagger, braking to a halt. 

Then, to your shock, you were abruptly smacked against the wall when Ava grabbed hold of your wrist. But only one of you. 

“No!” you exclaimed, watching as your copy plummeted downwards with a blood-curdling shriek. After several seconds, you could feel your mind grow hazy, dizzy with the distance. “No, I’m—”

Your pupils rolled into the back of your head and you began to convulse. You didn’t register that Yelena had grabbed a hold of your ankle as she fell, and she sent a grappling hook down to catch Bob.

He tried his best to catch your copy, but you had streaked past so fast that you slipped right through his arms, and fell into the darkness below. 

The rest of the group, minus Walker, who had climbed through the opening, watched as you shook about violently. After several agonizing seconds, there was a resounding thud and splattering noise. It seemed a twisted sort of blessing that the fall had killed your copy immediately. You broke free of your seizure but immediately fell into a bout of pain, doubling over. It felt as if you were on fire all over again, and someone had carved you open, poured honey all over your innards, and released a thousand fire-ants to crawl over you.

You were so out of it that you only barely realized Ava was pulling you through the entrance with John’s help. Yelena hauled herself up after that, Bob shortly following her.

The ghost kneeled down beside you, gently tapping your face as you came in and out of consciousness. “Hey. Don’t fall asleep on me.”

With slow, painful movements, you nodded, sitting back up. It took you another moment to realize that the entire group was huddled around you. “Oh, God. I felt my brains spill out down there.”

“What did you go doing that for?” Walker said in an irritating I-told-you-so tone, kneeling down beside you. “I told you not to duplicate yourself, didn’t I?”

“I really don’t think a lecture is needed right now, thank you,” Yelena told him. 

“I’m sorry,” said Bob, looking wearing yet another expression of guilt. “I tried catching you, but—”

“Thanks, Bob,” you said, nothing but sincerity in your eyes. “I felt you. Thank you. And thanks for holding onto me, Ava. Even though I tried to kill you.”

The woman averted her gaze, clearly embarrassed. “Yeah, well. Would have been a terrible weight on my consciousness. So really, I did it for my own benefit.”

“Alright,” you said, not believing her in the slightest, but you decided not to comment on it.

With the help of Ava and Yelena, you stood up on your own two feet, albeit a little wobbly, and completely exhausted from the climb up. 

“You selfish prick,” Ava spat at Walker. “If you had just waited for one goddamn second—”

“I made a tactical decision to secure my own safety before ensuring all of yours,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Pretty ungrateful, if you ask me.”

Then, something strange happened. Bob placed a hand on John’s shoulder, saying, “Thanks for saving us, Captain.” 

Instead of making a snarky comment, John’s face grew dazed. Unfocused. He turned and stepped closer to the elevator shaft, feet just a few inches away from joining your dead clone on the ground.

“Walker?” Yelena asked, wondering what on earth he was doing. Both she and Ava stepped closer to check him out.

You looked to Bob, one of your brows arched. “What’s up with him?”

Bob spared you a cursory glance. “I don’t know,” he said. You chose to believe him, but frowned nonetheless. “Are you okay, though? You were—you were shaking really badly in there.”

“A seizure,” you whispered. “Sorry I scared you guys. I panicked and duplicated. It wasn’t very smart on my end.”

“No, I get it,” he muttered. “The only one you can truly trust is yourself. I get it.”

You tilted your head, regarding him curiously. As much as you thought Bob was a perfectly ordinary civilian, he said some very cryptic things sometimes. “Right… yeah.”

“I know I haven’t given you any reason to, but… you can trust me,” he offered. His hand trembled, and you could read the anxiety plainly across his features. When you took a second too long to respond, he retracted slightly. “But, I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t—”

“I trust you,” you said, cutting him off. You spared him a downturned smile, which made him relax just a smidge. “You haven’t given me any reason not to, Palindrome.”

The mellow blue of his eyes shone with mild amusement. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Is that my nickname now? Palindrome?”

“If you want it to be,” you said, shrugging. “It is a bit catchier than just Bob. The same forwards as it is backwards.”

Bob looked back to John, who still wouldn’t move away from the shaft's sheer drop. “I guess that’s fitting,” he whispered. “Nothing changes even if I want it to.”

Before you could ask him what he meant by that, John finally seemed to snap out of it. He stumbled back from the edge of the shaft. 

“Jesus Christ,” Yelena said, completely bewildered. “Are you crazy? What did you do that for?”

“Do what for?” John grouched, waving her away as if she was a fly. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Ugh, nevermind, then,” said Ava. “It’s time we all get out of here.”

Once Ava pressed a button for the exit to slide open, light spilled in from outside. But—it was nighttime. You knew because you arrived at 10 PM on the dot, and you also knew for certain that not enough time had passed for the sun already to be rising. The lights were coming from cars. Multiple of them, at least three dozen. There was chatter as well. Boots. Guns. Tactical armor.

It was an entire squadron out there. No doubt sent by Valentina. 

Ava, John, and Yelena then started bickering about a plan and who was in charge.

“I think I might just surrender, probably,” said Bob. 

“I suppose she won’t hurt you if you’re just a citizen,” you said. “Maybe it’s for the best.”

“Okay, fine,” John said, shrugging. “Every man for themself, then.”

“Why should you be in charge?” snarked Yelena. “You almost killed all of us right there!”

John propped his fists onto his hips. “Well, let’s see—I’ve been in the trenches of every war-torn country there is, rescued God knows how many hostages, and shook the hands of two US presidents!” 

“And how, pray tell, does any of that help us in the slightest way?” you hissed. 

Walker ignored you. “What else—oh! High school state football champs, back to back to back. Go bears!”

You stared at him incredulously. You never met Steve Rogers, but you wished you had that Captain America rather than this one in front of you right now. You were sure Steve was infinitely more tolerable than Walker.

Yelena rolled her eyes. “Oh, wow. When I was five, I was in a peewee soccer team named the West Chesapeake Valley Thunderbolts, sponsored by Shane’s Tyre Shop. We won zero games, and one time one of my teammates did a poo midfield! Anyone else have any pointless stories to share?”

Exasperated, Ava pointed to herself. “Grew up in a lab prison.”

Bob scratched the back of his neck. “Meth-addicted sign twirling chicken. Was a… summer job.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Had my entire skeleton pulled out of my body once. Took me twelve minutes to die,” you said, bouncing on the balls of your feet. The rest of them turned to you, horrified. “What?”

“... Great,” said Yelena. “Now that we’re all done sharing, here’s the plan…”

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the only one on the table. You and Walker take out the first wave of soldiers coming through, wait for Yelena (and Bob) to turn the lights off and back on once the second wave of soldiers came in with night vision goggles, effectively blinding them, all while Ava went out to find an escape vehicle.

Naturally, Walker didn’t wait. He went barreling into the wave of second soldiers, knocking them all down with his shield and picking them off one by one. You hadn’t even bothered to step in, watching him punch through all of them on his own. 

“Thanks for the help,” he spat at you once he was done.

“Didn’t want to get in your way,” you snarked in return. “Now come on. Let’s get their gear on and head out.”

Eventually, Yelena and Bob came back, the former angry that the two of you hadn’t waited for her. John was quick to defend themself, but you merely tossed Yelena and Bob their own sets of tactical wear.

“No time to argue. We can’t keep Ava waiting.”

Walker sneered. “If she’s even waiting for us at all.”

Once everyone was changed, the four of you walked out, dragging Bob as if he were a fallen soldier.

“I don’t think I want to be carried anymore,” Bob groaned, arms stiff and aching from where they were grabbing him. 

“Shut up, Bob. You’re injured, remember?” Walker gruffed, which made Bob fall silent.

“Just a little further. Ava should be here somewhere,” came your gritted mutter. 

“We don’t know where she is. She could be halfway to Mexico for all we know,” Walker retaliated. Behind your visor, you rolled your eyes. 

And then, from the corner of your vision, you spotted Valentina. Pristine as always, sipping a warm cup of coffee. Envy and white hot rage scratched within your chest, but you swallowed down your anger. It took everything you had in you not to storm right up to her, chug down her coffee, and punch a hole straight through her pearly whites. You had a cover to keep up, after all. 

Finally, after a few minutes of dragging Bob, a truck pulled up to the four of you. Ava materialized in the driver’s seat. “Get in,” she said. 

You smiled. A small part of you really did think she was going to abandon you. You were glad she came back.

Yelena and John clambered into the front while you and Bob sat in the back of the tactical vehicle, where there was nothing inside but two wooden benches for seats. “Will you be okay back there?” Ava asked, and the two of you sent her tired thumbs-ups.

Both you and Bob swayed back and forth as the truck began to purr to life and rumble ahead. “I wonder what they’ll think once they see all my bodies down there. Can’t be a pretty sight,” you whispered. 

Bob gave you a sympathetic grimace. “Do you still feel them? After they…?” He motioned vaguely with his hands.

“After they die?” you finished, sucking on the back of your teeth in thought. “I don’t feel them, no. I feel the pain right before they die, though.”

Bob slumped into the truck’s wall across from you. “Sorry,” he said, to which you just shook your head. 

“So…” You started, eager to change the subject. “What did Yelena say to you back in the incinerator after your little argument with Walker? You seemed a bit… downcast.”

Bob squinted in thought, trying to jog his memory. “Oh… that. Well, I told her that sometimes I have… really high highs… and then really low lows… and it’s hard to remember things in the middle.���

“Must be a really low low right now, hm?” you said, a laugh lacing your words.

“Hah… yeah. No, I mean… right now I’m fine, I think. Compared to other times, now is… much better.”

“Yikes,” you said, now only half-laughing. “Glad you’re having a relatively good day, then.”

Bob laughed along with you, awkward as ever, then cleared his throat. “Ahem. And then I, uh, to Yelena I said there’s this… darkness… inside me. Never-ending. Like, uhm, I called it a void. Anyways, she said she felt the same way, so I asked her how she dealt with it.”

You motioned for him to keep going, leaning forward. “And?”

“She—she just said she pushes it down. Deep, deep down. Heh. I mean, i-it makes sense, I guess,” Bob said, stumbling over his words a little. “Like, what else is there to do, even?”

Judging from the way your brows knitted together, Bob came to the conclusion that you didn’t seem to think it made much sense. The thought crossed his mind that you looked rather endearing the way your nose wrinkled in thought. You would be a terrible poker player—the cards were written all across your face. Bob liked how easy it was to read you. It made him feel safer to be around you. But these thoughts were quick to wash away when he remembered that you were just—another bump in the road. You would pass, and everything would go back to being… nothing. A void. 

“It makes sense for an ex-red room assassin,” you told him, not unkindly, roping him out of his drifting thoughts. “Doesn’t mean you should take the same advice, seeing as you’re not an assassin. Right?”

Bob itched at his wrist. “Right.”

The truck slowed to a grueling halt when a few soldiers stopped the group. Walker, to no one’s surprise and everybody’s dismay, insisted on being the one to talk. They asked for identification and a reason for leaving the base, since the medbay was northside, and they were currently heading southward. Walker tried to bluff his way through, but it was clear that the soldiers were not buying his story.

Bob’s expression twisted as if he had swallowed something sour.

“I’m sorry for this,” he said.

“What?” you asked, watching in confusion as he softly took your hand. 

And then, strangely, you were no longer in the truck. 

You were in a hospital. The air smelled distinctly of sterilizing chemicals with the sharp twinge of copper—blood. There was a belt in your mouth. Screaming muffled around the stale leather as they hacked away at your leg. Your copy stood off to the side, also bound, but whole. There were tears streaking down both of your faces. You looked younger then—your hair was longer, your face rounder. The years had weathered you.

“Again,” said one of the surgeons. Your younger, whole self trembled, then split into another copy. It took longer back then. An entire minute of straining yourself just for one duplicate. Now, you could make hundreds of yourself in an instant if you wanted. Nurses came in and took the other copy away. Off for more screenings, more tests, more surgeries, more experiments. That’s what you were to them—an experiment.

“Please stop,” you croaked. You weren’t sure whether that came from the younger you or just—you. “Please… I don’t want to die again.”

“Oh, sweetie,” said the surgeon, coming around the dissecting table to push sweaty strands of hair away from your head. “You’re not actually dying, though. Not really. None of these—xeroxes of you are actually you.”

You broke down into silent, heaving sobs when he returned to the other you, and began hacking away more parts of you. “For science,” they’d always told you. 

Present-you turned, desperate to leave. Only, you were met with… Bob?

You searched his face, completely dumbfounded. “Palindrome?” you whispered.

“That’s where Xerox comes from?” he asked, clearly perturbed by the scene he was watching. You didn’t spare him a response.

His lips pursed and he reached out to take your hand again. In this strange, hazy world that you knew not to be real, his touch was cold. You rather liked how it felt against the warmth of your own palms, sticky with blood. Was that yours or one of your copies? You couldn’t remember. Was there any difference at all?

You held onto him tighter, shutting your eyes. Bob’s free hand raised to cradle the back of your head, shielding you from your own memories. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” he murmured. “I’ll fix it. Leave it to me.”

Then, he pulled away from you despite your protests, and the nightmare realm seemed to spin and spin and spin, caving in on itself—

By the time you came to, Ava was shaking your shoulders and calling your name, as you were passed out on the floor of the truck. You glanced around with glassy eyes, confirming what you already knew to be true.

Bob was gone.

[sixeyesonathiel]

what happens when satoru gojo gets hit by some weird curse technique and shows up to your first date as a girl?

a/n: satoru gojo is the cutest, most dramatic little meow meow and i will stand by him even when he’s gender-swapped, in shoko’s blouse, and spiraling. my babie forever 🙁🩷

you were supposed to be the one freaking out. you were the one visiting tokyo, meeting your online textmate for the first time, risking the possibility that he could be a balding 45-year-old catfish who misused emoticons. but no. no. somehow, satoru gojo was the one on the verge of collapse.

in a bathroom stall. wearing shoko’s blouse.

“i can't do this,” he muttered, gripping the cold edge of the sink, staring at his reflection—his very female reflection. “this is psychological warfare. i'm gonna throw up.”

he tugged at the hem like it could erase the fact that he was, due to one very stupid cursed technique, stuck in the body of what could only be described as a suspiciously hot girl. legs for days, nails neatly manicured by accident, shiny white hair pinned in a hurried messy bun. sunglasses perched too confidently on his nose. the blouse was cream and satiny, a little loose on the shoulders, collar wide and slouching like it belonged to someone cooler than him.

he looked like a girl who ghosted men after two dates and never replied to texts past 10 p.m.

“i can't ghost her,” he told his reflection, dramatically. “she's so sweet. she sends good morning texts. she laughed at my jokes. my stupid jokes!” he punched the air, then immediately winced when his knuckles knocked against the stall door. “i have never felt this emotionally naked. what am i supposed to do, show up like—surprise! your online boyfriend is a woman for now!”

but he had to.

he owed you that much.

and maybe he liked you a little. like, a lot. embarrassingly so. enough to save your texts in a locked folder on his ancient flip phone. enough to call suguru in a panic the night before because you said you were nervous about meeting. he even wrote down conversation starters on the back of an old receipt. one said: if she looks nervous, compliment her earrings.

“she’s gonna think i’m unhinged,” he muttered as he walked toward the cafe, the satin blouse tucked into a pair of black trousers he'd swiped from nanami’s locker. they hung loose on his hips and cinched awkwardly with a belt that wasn’t his. the cuffs were rolled twice over the ankle, revealing socks with tiny pink cats (he’d borrowed those from shoko too, he was desperate, okay?). his stride was stiff, too aware of the clack of his borrowed heeled boots, too aware of every glance tossed his way.

his hair bounced slightly with each step, a few silvery strands slipping from the bun and catching the sun. his heart was thudding so violently it made him feel faint. the sunglasses hid the worst of it—the panic.

then he saw you.

you were already there. sitting at the little outdoor table, your hands wrapped around a cup, your eyes flitting up every time someone entered. your leg bounced under the table—nervous, hopeful. real.

satoru stopped short, breath caught. you were exactly like your photos. no, better. more real. there was a crease in your brow, like you were trying not to look too hopeful, and your fingers kept fiddling with the straw wrapper.

he adjusted his blouse, took a shaky breath, and walked up.

“hey,” he said, voice pitched a little too high, trying to channel that airy, cool-girl confidence. your gaze lifted, blinking. your eyes searched his face, expression pinched with confusion.

“...hi?” you offered, hesitant.

his heart sank. he waved his hand quickly, stepping closer.

“wait! wait—it’s me. satoru. i know, this looks insane, and i swear i'm not here to rob you or ask about your skincare routine, though i could, because your skin is phenomenal—but it’s me. i just had a... situation. with my body. medically. temporarily.”

your brows furrowed. you looked ready to bolt.

“okay, okay! remember the selfie with the strawberry milk? that was me. this is me. same soul. different shell. still terminally embarrassing. look, i even brought melonpan—your favorite! and i printed out your texts. like a maniac. that’s love, right?”

you were still staring. he could feel the blush prickling beneath his cheeks, a little warmth seeping from under the collar of the borrowed blouse. his fingers gripped the tote bag strap like a lifeline.

then your voice came, small, uncertain. “you really saved my texts?”

satoru nodded fervently. “yes! and organized them by emoji usage. there’s a spreadsheet. color-coded.”

a beat. and then—you laughed.

and satoru, in shoko’s blouse and a body that wasn’t quite his, swore he could’ve kissed the sidewalk in gratitude.

his shoulders dropped, face breaking into a sheepish grin. the sun caught in his lashes, and he tried not to look too lovesick while you took the melonpan from his hands.

“i swear, i’ll explain everything one day,” he said, lowering his voice, a rare hint of sincerity slipping in. “like... everything. i just didn’t want to stand you up. i really wanted to see you. even if i look like this. even if you walk away. i had to try.”

and somehow, impossibly—you stayed.

[joshujin]

smile, s.coups

you take a photo with rapper s.coups at the met gala.

1.5k words • masterlist • submit a request pairing: seungcheol x fem!reader cw: none

the met gala isn't something you particularly enjoy attending, but every year, without fail, you're told you're invited and yes, you are going and no, as reigning "princess of the met," we cannot debate this. it's the trade-off for doing what you love and being who you are: no longer having a say and simply going where you're told to go, doing what you're told to do.

you honestly blame this on kwon soonyoung. he's been styling you since your popularity really started taking off, and when you got invited to your first met, it was his art that made you a viral topic for weeks on end. your name was everywhere. you couldn't give an interview without someone mentioning your met gala appearance. your third album released a few weeks later and thanks to the attention already on you, it nabbed you your first grammy nomination—and win.

and from there, for the last six years now, you haven't been able to escape this godforsaken party. and all because stupid soonyoung was just a tad bit too good at his job.

you don't want to sound ungrateful; you know being the topic of conversation at an event as big as this one year after year has opened a lot of doors for you—opportunities served to you on a platinum platter. but being at the met gala felt dystopian to you sometimes.

the blinding flashes, the demanding, almost primal screams of your name, the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to throw the event, then the hundreds more spent on the fashion to attend.

it's a lot and it's not something you ever thought would be a priority when you first started creating music. but here you are, in line to walk the carpet with countless celebrities you still can't believe you are looped in with annually.

the nerves always make you near-despondent in the hours leading up to the event. you hardly talk to the staff that accompanies you—your assistant, manager, and soonyoung—you try not to make eye contact with anyone because you don't want to socialize until you're away from the carpet and away from the photographers, and you try to breathe slowly and deeply in a pathetically weak attempt to calm your heart down.

you fidget for the millionth time, and soonyoung adjusts whatever you fidgeted out of place for the millionth time.

"this is your sixth year," he murmurs gently as his eyes slowly and deliberately sweep up and down your body. you'd accuse him of checking you out if you didn't know that he was just admiring his own work. "this isn't anything you haven't already conquered. you're going to be great."

you give him the tiniest nod and he smiles, resting his hand on your arm briefly before stepping away. it's almost your turn. you raise your eyes and find yourself staring at grey hair. there's something familiar about his stature as the stranger steps forward, immediately welcomed with a wall of roars. it's as disorienting as it always is, but you catch his name early on.

"s.coups!" the name continuously echoes across the carpet.

"s.coups? the rapper?" you ask, looking over at your team, waiting for any one of them to answer. it's your assistant who does.

"yes, he's the ambassador for boss and it's his first time at the met," she steps up and recites it like it's memorized information.

no one ever asks her to, but she studies everyone on the guest list every year like she's in the devil wears prada. however ridiculous, you have to admit it is useful.

"huh," you say more to yourself than anyone.

you were familiar with the rapper and his work. you had even played around with the thought of reaching out to get him on a song, but the idea just never came to fruition. you've been too busy to do much of anything, let alone follow his career, but if the screams are any indication, the man's popularity has substantially grown since you first discovered his music.

it's a cacophony of his name, requests to turn, questions about his outfit, demands for a certain pose. your ear drums rattle at the noise. you're overstimulated. more than anything, you're impressed.

he moves forward to the next spot he's directed to, and you know that means it's your turn.

soonyoung hurriedly prepares your dress to fall the way he wants it to fall, to float where he wants it to float, to stun the world the way he always does. then, staff is waving you to your marker, and you comply, stepping forward.

the crowd gets impossibly louder, and you do your best not to flinch. you see s.coups freeze a little at the sudden increase in noise, and as you walk up to the marker, he turns around, eyebrows raised in curiosity at who could inspire this reaction. when his eyes land on you, it's clear he knows exactly who you are. his eyebrows settle as his lips curve into a warm and knowing smile that reaches up into his eyes.

for the first time in six years, everything is quiet on the carpet. for the first time, you're thankful for the flashes because it allows you to better see s.coups's face. his eyes. his insanely cherry red lips. for the first time, you're not thinking about how much you hate this part of your job or how badly you want to go back to your hotel room or if you'll make a fool of yourself trying to socialize inside.

all your brain can process is the rapper standing in front of you.

it all comes barreling back—the screams, the demands, the nervousness—when you feel soonyoung gently shove the small of your back with a tiny: "what the hell are you doing?"

"oh, sorry," you breathe as you take the last few steps to the tape on the floor.

you make sure you're standing where you need to be and when you look back up, his eyes are still on you, so you return his smile with a small one of yours. his becomes even wider. he turns back to the crowd of photographers, and you both pose for a few moments before the staff is ushering him to the next marker, and you to his current spot.

before he walks to where he's being asked to go, he grins at the photographers and shouts, "i know what you all are really waiting for!" and he makes a show of bowing away from the spot as you walk forward.

you can't help the amused giggle that escapes you, and even with all the sound, he seems to hear it because he looks up and smiles sweetly. you think he's done, but he suddenly offers his hand. and when you take it, not sure of where this is going, he escorts you to the space he was just standing in.

you kind of hope he'll kiss your hand too. that maybe it will leave remnants of his gloss on your skin and you can convince yourself he's real. but he doesn't, simply bowing his head infinitesimally before letting go and following the staff to his next spot.

but the photographers don't let you two get away with that. only a second or so passes before they're screaming at you two to take a photo together. you both try to ignore them at first, but they shout nothing else at you other than: "together! together!"

you sneak a look at s.coups to see that he's doing the same to you, making you both laugh. he tilts his head in question, and without answering, you walk over to meet in the middle. you expect to take the photo side by side, arms politely around each other's shoulders. maybe even just posing together with an awkward distance between.

instead, s.coups has his hands on your waist and guides you to be just a small step in front of him. he lets his left hand rest on your waist, his right slipping into the pocket of his pants. you're thankful that soonyoung's look required an insane amount of blush around your temples and eyes because your face feels like it's on fire.

he looks down at you once you're both positioned and he smiles. "this okay?" he asks quietly.

you nod. "yeah." you're not even sure if he can hear you. you can't force yourself to speak any louder. "it's okay."

he smiles. "good. can't have the princess of the met covered by a nobody like me."

you scoff. "you're definitely not a nobody."

"oh?" he tilts his head again, bits of grey hair falling into his eyes when he does. "and what makes you say that?"

"if you were a nobody, how would the princess of the met know you well enough to know she wants you on a track with her?"

his lips fall open in quiet shock, and you smirk and pat the hand that's resting on your waist.

"smile for the cameras, s.coups."

you don’t bother to wait and see the expression on his face when you reveal you know his stage name. you feel a little more in your element, turning back to the flashes just as a photographer shouts: "OKAY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CAN YOU TWO PLEASE LOOK AT US NOW?!"

a/n: short and sweet. just felt like writing something while i was streaming this stupid event waiting for seungcheol hehe. it ended up being for nothing bc i completely missed him (or the vogue stream didn't show him, i still don't know). edit: the vogue stream didn’t show him. RAGGEDY BITCH BEHAVIOR!!!! anyway, they definitely bang in some isolated bathroom in the museum far away from the party, but i didn't feel like torturing my single brain cell to produce smut today lmao

[szatears]

t.l.c., smoke.

summary: thinking about smoke coming home to you after pulling off a job with his brother...

pairing: smoke x blackfem!reader

warnings: slight description of reader, some details of injury and stitching and injury, mainly fluff, hint of suggestive tones, smoke being smoke.

notes: resisting the urge to go see sinners yet again is so hard 😖 also i'm posting this quite late it's literally 2am ?!

You heard his footsteps first. Quiet yet heavy, slow yet you could imagine him hurrying to take off his coat. He closed the door behind him firmly, the sound echoing throughout your shared home.

You carried on folding the pile of clothes that had finished drying, sat on the small, cosy sofa smoke had bought.

He let out a sigh when he laid his eyes on you, a relaxed one or a content one, you couldn't quite tell. You turned your face to look at him, a soft smile on your lips.

Strands of your curly hair were a little out of place from the tight pulled back bun you put it into, and you were sure you looked even more tired than you actually were. But to Smoke, you looked perfect. And he always told you that, he never failed to.

You stood up, as he walked towards you, hanging his coat up by the door. Placing the basket of clothes down by the leg of the sofa, you welcomed your husband back into your arms after a long three days.

Sure you had company, that company being your siblings and Mary coming over unannounced as she usually did, but it didn't compare to the company Smoke provided for you.

"Hi, baby," He mumbled into the crook of your neck as he hugged you back, his arms gently squeezing you into him as if you'd slip away from him if he didn't.

You leaned back to get a good look at his face, your hand caressing over his cheeks with so much care. "You take care of yourself out there?"

You always asked the same question in a different form, making sure he actually listened to you and came back to you in one piece like he always said he would.

But instead of kissing your worries away and telling you he was fine, Smoke winced a little as he pulled his undershirt up a little, revealing a graze that needed tending to.

You gasped a little, holding his shirt up higher so you could see better. "It's not too bad, mama," he tried to tell you. If it wasn't for you, he'd probably attempt to sleep it off or smoke a cigarette to ease the pain, most definitely leaving it to get infected.

"Stop, don't do that. C'mon." You didn't give him room to argue, pulling him to the bathroom where you had everything you needed to stitch him back up.

The wound wasn't too bad, it looked like a graze from a bullet but he definitely needed stitching to close it up properly.

"Baby, you ain't gotta worry yourself with all that, just leave it, I'ma be fine," Smoke sighed, seeing you get out all your supplies.

You scoffed, ignoring his pleas. "What, you scared of a lil' needle?" you held it up near his face as if trying to prove your point.

Smoke laughed a little, clutching at his side. "Girl, ain't no one scared of yo' lil' ass needle, move." He kissed his teeth, but leaned back against the bathroom counter when you pushed at his chest.

"Take it off," you tugged at his undershirt, which you could see was soaked in blood under the light.

"Ooh, you a fast one," he joked, chuckling when you straight faced him. Nonetheless he took off his tank top, throwing it in the basket of dirty laundry.

"You want a drink? This is gonna hurt."

"... Yeah."

He didn't need to hesitate because you both knew he was gonna have a drink regardless, that's just what a rough day did to him.

You left the bathroom and came back with a bottle of whiskey, handing it to him. You waited for him to take a swig of it before kissing his lips briefly.

"I'm sorry?"

Smoke furrowed his brows a little. "For what─── God damn," he groaned when you thread the needle into his skin, immediately drinking the whiskey again.

It went on like that for a few more moments, Smoke cursing and huffing. He didn't drink too much of the whiskey because he didn't want to get flat out drunk when what he really wanted was to be close to you, what he had been looking forward to all day.

When you finished the stitch, you wrapped it up in a bandage carefully. You let him take a shower whilst you finished putting away the laundry, getting into your nightdress while he did so.

When he came out, you went back into the bathroom to put away what you used to stitch him up. "Here, go sit down while I clean up."

"You gon' come to bed when you done?" He asked, not meeting your eyes as he looked at your handiwork on his body.

You smiled at the way he was still shy to show you that affectionate side of him, that he was still a needy guy underneath that mean and tough exterior he had.

"Yeah, baby, I'll be just a minute."

He nodded, taking himself to your bedroom. You knew he wouldn't be sitting up when you found him but instead lying down, which he was.

He'd put on the shkrts he always wore to bed, this time abandoning a tank top incase the stitches bled through it, which he was sure they wouldn't, you were really good at what you did.

You crawled into bed beside your husband, his warm hands waiting for you. He immediately went to pull you close to his chest but you tutted. "What?" he looked between you two, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"You forgetting you're hurt? Or do you wanna bust open them stitches?" you laughed when the realisation sunk on his face. He was so used to sleeping with you like that, that it had become a natural sleeping position for him.

He grumbled, confused on how to proceed given the circumstances. You took the lead, pulling him over your body so that his head rested on your chest. You knew you wouldn't wake up in the same position but it was still nice to fall asleep close to him like that.

One of your hands gently stroked over his neck, lulling him towards his sleep. Smoke couldn't describe to you just how much he needed moments like this, needed you. There was a specific type of comfort that you brought him, and he longed for it every time he was away from you.

You could feel him relax in your hold, finally being able to let his guard down even if it was just four a couple of hours.

You bent your head down, kissing his cheek softly before you nestled in beside him.

"I love you," he whispered it so faintly, you thought you heard his voice waver at the end. You could never doubt the love that Smoke had for you; he loved you fiercely and he loved you proudly.

"I love you, too."

taglist.

@childishgambinaax @abriefnirvana @blackisy2k @chrisevansmentee @siasoup @amethyst09 @heauxtales @skywalker0809 @thelightknight21 @klssngss @atomicearthquakemusic7 @oc3anbxbyxoxo @honestlyurslol @simpingfor-wakasa

[korn-dawg]

sub!vi getting her shit disrespectfully rocked <3

✄ sub!vi who's sprawled out across the couch when you come home from work, spending her day off taking some well needed rest

✄ sub!vi who immediately notices your pissed off look, knowing it was gonna be a long night

✄ sub!vi who doesn't resist your harsh hand when pulling her in - kisses all teeth and tongue, free hand grasping at every inch of flesh while her other held onto the collar of her cotton tee

✄ sub!vi who lets you drag her to the bedroom, following after your every step like a shadow

✄ sub!vi who waits patiently on the bed as you rush out of your work clothes, baby blue's staring right at your strap as you shuffle the harness on and lube it up

✄ sub!vi who welcomes your body clambering onto hers, calloused hands gentle and soothing on your waist as she spreads her legs for you

✄ sub!vi who's gentle presence contrasts with your strung out and exasperated one, letting you pour your frustrations past her lips and down her throat as forcefully as you need to

✄ sub!vi who sighs quietly at you grinding your strap against her, mouths moving in sync while the silicone rubs against her clit

✄ sub!vi who can't take it after a while, pulling away from the kiss to beg you to just put it in her

✄ sub!vi who agrees with your degrading teasing, giving you puppy eyes in hopes you'll let up

"yes, yes, i'm a desperate slut. just c'mon, please? i need you in me."

✄ sub!vi who moans when she feels you fill her up. not high pitched, not pornographic - it's raw, nearly broken from the teasing alone

✄ sub!vi who hardly gives herself time to adjust to the stretch, already grinding into you before you have the chance to move

✄ sub!vi who reels at the sudden emptiness as you pull out, only to immediately get stuffed again with a swift slam of your hips

✄ sub!vi who gets very little warm up before you start to pound into her, skin slapping against skin full pelt as you grab her ankles to push above her shoulders

✄ sub!vi whose breathing picks up at the pace, coming out as choppy gasps melded with small mewls

✄ sub!vi who rocks into you desperately despite her position, struggling to lift her hips up off the mattress, causing you to snicker

"gettin' greedy now, violet?"

✄ sub!vi who feels the sharp sting on her scalp before her eyes snap open - your hand grasping her hair near the roots, forcing her to look down

"look at yourself. sluttiest fuckin' pussy. aren't you ashamed?"

✄ sub!vi who can hardly form a response, a high pitched mewl tearing from her throat as she tries to close her eyes, only for her hair to get yanked farther

"did i tell you to close your eyes? huh? open that shit right now."

✄ sub!vi who cums not too long after, vision spotting as white hot pleasure floods her veins and arteries

✄ sub!vi whose thighs shake as you abate your movements, rubbing her clit to see her squirm and kick out before smoothing your hands down her thighs

✄ sub!vi who feels your hands grab at her not too long after, shifting her to lay on her back, head hanging off the edge of the bed

✄ sub!vi who feels the head of your strap prod at her lips, her eyes still closed as your voice floods her ears

"clean your mess up."

✄ sub!vi who barely opens her mouth before it's forced open, silicone bottoming out in her throat

✄ sub!vi who gags and chokes, shaky hands on your hips as you fuck her face

✄ sub!vi who swallows around the girth of the dildo, trying to relax as her eyes flutter close again

✄ sub!vi who gasps for air when you finally pull away, arms falling limp when you step out of her reach

✄ sub!vi who doesn't talk much as you clean her up, only answering the more important questions of "are you okay?" or "i didn't push it, did i?"

✄ sub!vi who lets you carry her to the bathroom, setting her in a warm bath while you change the sheets

✄ sub!vi who comes out of the bathroom a few minutes later, looking slightly more alive as she dries off and gets dressed

✄ sub!vi who lays down in bed with you, clinging to your form with her face buried in your neck

✄ sub!vi who gets to pick the movie for doing such a good job for you, falling asleep to heavy praise and kisses

alr everyone thank saturn for helping me w this one or go sit in the corner

taglist : @hihihhihahahha @lolitalovess @peskylez @saturnhas82moons @kylorey25 @lipglosskxsses @mars4hellokitty @hwasddeongbyeoli @foralltheprettygirls @meow4510 @therealhexstrap  @sunflowerwinds

[inkedinshadows]

The Greatest Gift

Pairing: Azriel x f!reader

Summary: Being introduced to a partner's family is always nerve-wracking, especially when Azriel has never talked much about his mother and you don't know what to expect.

Warnings: pregnant reader, barely edited, maybe rushed ending?

Word count: 3.7k

A/N: so sorry for being late in posting this one! Literally wrote the last part today and edited quite quickly so I could post it. Hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Main Masterlist | Week Masterlist | Azriel Masterlist | AO3

@sjmxreaderweek

“Stop fussing. You look lovely.”

You looked at your reflection in the mirror for the hundredth time and frowned. You could see why Az thought that, but there was still something that felt… off. You just couldn't put your finger on what it was.

“Something's missing,” you murmured to yourself, smoothing out non-existent creases on your dress. You had picked your most beautiful one—a nice summer dress that flowed to your feet and hugged your body perfectly. Just tight enough to reveal the small bump that was beginning to show.

Your hair was styled in a low bun at the nape of your neck—classy and delicate, but not too formal. You didn't want to come off as too concerned with appearances. For that same reason, you had kept your makeup minimal and natural.

Maybe that was it. Maybe you should have done more. It wasn’t too late, you could still—

“Y/N.”

Azriel came up behind you, his arms sliding around your waist as he pressed a kiss to your neck. “There's no need to be so nervous, my love.”

Your eyes met in the mirror, but, unlike every other time, his soft smile did little to calm you.

“I just don't want to make a bad first impression,” you murmured. You tasted blood on your tongue and realized you were chewing on your inner cheek again. You stopped immediately.

“And you won't.” His hands came to rest on your hips as you both looked at the reflection. “Look at you. You're gorgeous, Y/N.”

You were beautiful—you could admit that much. But you didn't feel perfect, and that's what you were aiming for.

Turning around to face Azriel, you placed your hands on his broad chest, feeling his steady heartbeat beneath your palms. He had also dressed up nicely, and you knew he had done it for you, to help you feel more at ease. He didn't have to, after all. It was his mother you were about to have lunch with. He didn't have to impress anyone.

“I don't want to disappoint her.” You looked into the depths of those beautiful hazel eyes. “She's your mom.”

“And you're my mate, who's also pregnant with my child,” he answered, his hands now resting on your belly. “You have nothing to worry about. She's going to love you. Trust me.”

Hearing the certainty in his voice, you finally relaxed. You closed your eyes and rested your forehead against his, breathing in his familiar scent.

Despite having been mated for a few years—and all the decades of friendship first and being in love later—you had never met Rosalind. Every time he visited her, after Winter Solstice and for both their birthdays, you never accompanied him. He had never asked you to, and you had never pushed him about it. You knew how he felt about his mother, how he wanted to keep her sheltered from a cruel world that had already taken so much from her.

She's a kind soul, he always said. You didn't doubt it.

That's why you had been so surprised when he had come home after his last visit and told you he would like you to meet his mother.

And here you were now.

Azriel kissed your forehead before pulling back. “You're ready to go, baby?”

You nodded, turning to take one last look in the mirror. And that's when you realized what was missing.

“Wait! Hold on…” You opened the top drawer of the dresser and rummaged through it until you found what you were looking for. “Aha!” you exclaimed triumphantly, holding a little necklace between your fingers.

The jewelry itself wasn't anything special—a thin chain with a small star-shaped pendant—but it held a symbolic meaning: it was one of the first gifts you had ever received from Azriel, back when you were nothing more than friends, and every time you wore it, things went well. It might be just superstition, but it quickly became your good luck charm. That's why it was reserved for special occasions such as this one.

“Your lucky necklace?” Azriel took it as you offered it and stepped behind you to put it around your neck. “I thought we were meeting my mother, not going on some kind of adventure.”

You whirled, worried that your nervousness was starting to annoy him. Instead you found him with an amused smile on his lips, looking down at you with a softness that made your heart flutter.

“Y/N, my love.” He cupped your cheeks, his voice low and gentle. “All that matters to me is that you're comfortable. We can reschedule, if you want.”

You shook your head and a small smile appeared on your face. “No,” you said firmly. “I want to meet her. I'm just a bit nervous.”

When he arched a brow, you chuckled. “Okay, maybe more than a bit.”

Azriel leaned in to brush a kiss across your lips. “I know. But I can already tell you she's going to adore you. Trust me. Everyone does.”

Your smile grew, and with one last look at your reflection, you finally stepped back. “Alright. I just need to grab the pastries and we can go.”

~~~~~~

Azriel winnowed you to the outskirts of a little village. Though the street was quiet, peppered only by a few houses, you could hear children laughing and screaming playfully in the distance.

The manor in front of you—Rosehall, Azriel had called it—was smaller than anticipated, with colorful flowers in every window.

You smiled at the sight and let Azriel guide you to the red-painted door.

When he didn't knock, you looked up at him and found his eyes already on you.

“What?” you asked, brows furrowed.

“You're doing it again.” His hand came up to cup your face. “Stop biting your cheek, love. It'll bleed.”

“I didn't even realize I was— sorry.” With a sigh, you cleared your mind of the nervousness that was starting to rise again. Then you gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”

Azriel nodded, and his hand fell away from your cheek to knock on the red wood. It took only a few seconds for the door to open, revealing a smiling Illyrian female.

Her hair was the same black as her son's, just like her hazel eyes—both common Illyrians traits. But you knew Azriel's face well enough to notice they shared the shape of the nose, the curve of the mouth, the slightly upward tilt of the eyes. He wasn't the spitting image of her, but no one could have mistaken them for anything other than mother and son.

“Oh, my boy! It's so nice to see you again so soon!” Rosalind hugged her son, who could embrace her with only one arm, the other one holding the wicker basket with home-baked pastries.

“Hi, mom,” he replied, his tone as soft as the one he usually reserved for you. She smiled as he leaned down to place a kiss on the crown of her head. She was several inches shorter than him, just like you.

Rosalind then turned to face you, and a second later her arms were around you. “It's such a pleasure to finally meet you.”

You were so stunned by the sudden display of affection that it took you a moment to return the gesture, and another one to find the words. “The pleasure is all mine.”

When you pulled back, Rosalind’s smile was even brighter than before, and it was enough to make you forget any semblance of anxiety.

“Come in. Come, dears,” she said, stepping aside. “Come inside. Let me take a good look at you, Y/N.”

Azriel placed a gentle hand on your lower back to set you walking, and as you passed by his mother, you caught a glimpse of the wings Rosalind kept tucked behind her back. Twin long scars ran down both of them—clipped. A wave of horror coiled in your gut, and you had to swallow to keep your composure.

“Are you alright?” Azriel whispered close to your ear. Ever the observant mate.

You gave him a nod, then quickly took the basket from him just to have something else to occupy your mind. When his mother closed the door and guided you to the sitting room, you offered it to her with a smile. “I made these for you, since it was your birthday last week. It's pastries.”

Rosalind took it, lifting the lid to peek at what was inside. Her eyes gleamed as she looked up again, a bright smile on her lips. “You're too sweet, darling. You didn't have to. Thank you.”

Despite having just met her, you could already see why Azriel always said she was a kind soul. If Rosalind had been your mother, you would want to protect her from such a world too.

The Illyrian female handed the basket to her son, instructing him to take it to the kitchen and if he could please start setting the table. Azriel brushed a kiss to your hair, then disappeared down the hallway.

His mother turned to you again.

“Oh, Azriel said you were beautiful, but…” Her hands hovered over your baby bump, but she didn't touch it. “You're glowing, Y/N.”

You smiled back at her. “Thank you. Az never told me much about you… I'm glad I finally met you.”

Rosalind shook her head. “Of course he didn't,” she said with a soft laugh. “He thinks even talking about me will put me in danger.”

You couldn't help but chuckle with her. You were very aware of Azriel's overprotectiveness. It had only grown since you got pregnant.

“It's because he loves you,” you offered gently.

“Oh, I never doubted that.” Rosalind gestured for you to sit on the plush couch, then followed to settle beside you.

The sitting room was large and inviting, with sand-colored rugs layered across the wooden floor and shelves filled with old books and trinkets. Only a few paintings hung on the wall, and your gaze lingered on them as you leaned back against the deep red cushions of the couch.

“But I think he loves you more.”

You turned to look at Rosalind, opening your mouth to protest that she couldn't compare the two things. But she leaned in as if to reveal a secret, a smile playing on her lips.

“He always talks about you,” she murmured.

Your lips curled. “He does?”

Rosalind nodded. “Oh, yes. He can go on for hours about you.”

Your eyes darted to the hallway, at the end of which you'd caught a glimpse of the dining room as Azriel had walked away to follow his mother's instructions. Now you could hear the faint rustle of dishes being arranged on the table.

“He'd done it since he met you, you know,” his mother went on. “The first time he told me about you, he said you were the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. And that you were so nice and sweet, he hoped you'd fall in love with him one day.”

Your smile grew. Azriel, usually so reserved and quiet, had been talking to his mother about you since the beginning. That shouldn't have surprised you—you'd always been close, after all—but the things he'd told her… You never thought he'd so open about it from the very start, even with his own mother. Maybe you'd just assumed that since he didn't talk to you about her, he wouldn't talk to her about you.

As if on cue, Azriel appeared in the doorway. “The table's ready,” he announced.bhh

His eyes darted between you and his mother, and he arched a brow when twin complicit smiles bloomed on your faces.

Rosalind rose to her feet, wings shifting awkwardly behind her. “Well, I should go check on the food,” she announced. “It's probably ready, or it’ll be soon. So you can start getting comfortable at the table.”

On her way out, she placed a hand on Azriel's arm. “Thank you, dear,” she said with a smile before continuing down the hallway.

Azriel watched her go, then turned to you with a questioning look in his hazel eyes. “Did I miss something?”

Walking up to him, you tried to suppress your smile but failed. Biting your lip was the only way. “Did you really spend hours telling your mom about me?”

He stilled, and you noticed the tips of his ears turning a faint shade of red. For a moment, he didn't meet your eyes.

“She told you about that, I see.”

Mother above, he was adorable when he got flustered.

“She did,” you grinned, leaving the room with him following close behind. You glanced at him over your shoulder. “She also said you hoped I'd fall in love with you from the very beginning.”

Azriel's ears were now completely flushed. But his lips quirked up at the corners as he said, “Of course I did. You were perfect.”

You reached the dining room—smaller than the sitting room, yet just as cozy. Cushioned chairs suited for Illyrians surrounded the table, and sunlight poured in through a large window.

But before you could turn to face Azriel and answer, his arms were already around you, pulling you back against his chest.

“I was perfect?” you repeated as you turned your head back to smile at him.

“Mhm,” he hummed, brushing his lips against yours. “You always have been.”

His broad hands slid down to rest on your small bump.

“And now you're even more perfect,” he murmured.

You finally turned around in his arms and looped yours around his neck. “That's also thanks to you, you know,” you replied with a smile.

His hands found your hips and he pulled you flush against him. "Some days I have to remind myself that,” he admitted quietly. “That there’s a wonderful new life inside of you. And I helped create it.”

He didn’t have to say more. You knew why he needed the reminder—that someone like him could create something so beautiful. After everything he had been through and he had done, he had convinced himself he would never be good enough to create such a miracle. And now he was being proven wrong.

“You did,” you replied, nails gently scratching the nape of his neck. “And this wonderful life will become a wonderful baby. Our baby. And you will be a wonderful father.”

His eyes locked with yours, and slowly, another smile appeared on his face. “Our baby,” he repeated.

Then leaned down, capturing your lips in a tender kiss—a silent thanks you, a testament to the love you shared. And even after you broke apart, the feel of his lips on yours lingered like the last warmth of the sun before it sets.

The delicious smell of roasted lamb pervaded the room, and followed by the quiet rustle of dishes and pans that announced Rosalind's entrance.

She glanced at the two of you still standing there, a warm smile curving her lips as she placed the serving plate in the center of the table, where Azriel had left space for it.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you took a small step back from him.

Even after your chat with Rosalind, being caught kissing her son felt oddly awkward. You weren't quite sure why—you were mated to him and pregnant with his child, after all. And Rosalind didn’t even seem bothered by it.

She gestured toward the table and the chairs. “Come sit, dears,” she encouraged. “We don’t want it to get cold, now do we?”

Azriel placed a hand on your lower back and gently guided you to a chair, pulling it out for you. As you sat, he leaned down to murmur in your ear, “Your cheek, my love.”

He was already moving to sit next to you before you even glanced at him.

You offered him a grateful smile, then helped Rosalind serve the food, realizing only then what she had cooked.

Roasted lamb. Baked potatoes. The same blend of herbs you always used—flavors that bloomed across your tongue at the first bite.

“This is delicious,” you said, smiling. “And it's one of my favorites, too.” With a look toward Azriel, you added, “What a nice coincidence.”

“Yes,” he replied, far too casually. “A lucky coincidence.”

His mother chuckled and you playfully rolled your eyes at him.

“I wanted to make a good impression,” Rosalind explained. “It's not every day I get to meet my son's mate.”

At least you weren't the only one who'd been worried about first impressions.

You turned back to her with a smile. “It's not every day I get to my mate's mother,” you replied. You nodded toward the basket of pastries you'd made, now waiting on the sideboard, ready for dessert. “I asked him too, for the pastries. I wanted to get you a real present, but.. I've never been very good with gifts.”

Azriel had told you not to worry, that you could show up empty-handed and his mom wouldn't mind. But it hadn't felt like enough, yet you always struggled to find the right gift for your friends, so how were you supposed to pick one for your mate’s mother? So you'd asked him what she liked best and baked it yourself.

Rosalind slowly set her fork down and reached across the table to take your hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Don't worry, dear. I have everything I need here.” Her smile was soft, reassuring. “And you've already given me the greatest gift I could ask for.”

At your confused frown, she gave your hand another squeeze. “You make my son happy,” she explained. “It's all I ever wanted.”

Your heart swelled at her words. “Don't worry,” you assured her. “That's all I want too.”

Your gaze drifted to Azriel. His eyes were already on you, love shining in their hazel depths. Beneath the table, his hand came to rest on your knee.

“I told you both you’d like each other,” he said softly, glancing between you and his mother. “You were both nervous for nothing.”

Picking up your fork again, you replied, “That's because you never introduced us before, Az.”

He looked like he was about to protest, but then he sighed instead. “Yes, that's fair,” he conceded. “Maybe I should have.”

“Oh, it's alright,” Rosalind chimed in. “We're all here now and that's what matters.”

You nodded, and while you and Azriel returned to your delicious meal, Rosalind fell silent, a thoughtful expression replacing the smile she often wore.

After a moment, she spoke again.

“Can I ask you something?” she said, looking first at her son, then at you. “A favor, if it’s not too much trouble.”

You nodded without hesitation. “Yes, of course.”

Azriel looked curious now, though he remained silent. Maybe he hadn’t expected her to ask anything, either.

Rosalind hesitated for a second before continuing. “When the baby arrives… could you visit me more often?” She paused, then quickly added, “Or maybe I could visit you? But I’d like to be a part of the baby's life and watch them grow.”

You blinked, stunned by the suddenness of the request. Of course you wanted her to be involved, to know her grandchild and be part of this growing family.

But the emotion behind her words caught you off guard, stealing whatever answer you might’ve given.

Before you could find your voice, Rosalind turned to Azriel.

A new vulnerability shone her eyes—his eyes. A mix of sadness and tenderness in equal parts, as though she were remembering something from their past.

“I didn't get to be the mother you needed when it mattered most,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. Still, she went on. “So let me try to make it up by being the grandmother your child deserves.”

All you could do was watch, your heart straining, as Azriel’s throat bobbed once.

“You were—” He stopped, shook his head, then tried again. “You are the best mother I could ask for, mom.”

They shared a heartfelt smile, and for a moment, you felt like an intruder on a private, sacred moment.

“Of course we can visit more often,” he said gently. “Or you can finally come to Velaris, if you'd prefer. Rhys and Cassian would be happy to see you again.”

Rosalind's eyes lit up, her smile blooming bright. A mother, happy to reunite with her son's world. With his chosen family, and the new life he was building.

You watched her, and wondered—would you wear that same expression when your baby arrived? That same fierce, unwavering love that would never make your child doubt they were wanted and adored.

You hoped you did.

You knew you would.

Azriel already had that look. He'd had it since the moment you told him you were pregnant.

“I'd love to see them again,” Rosalind said. “It's been too many centuries. And maybe…” She chuckled softly, “it's about time I visited Velaris.”

A flicker of uncertainty sparkled in Azriel's eyes, as if he still wasn't sure his mother should be exposed to the potential dangers of the world, even in a city as safe as Velaris. But it was there and gone in a heartbeat, so fast you might have missed it if you didn't know him so well.

Rosalind didn't seem to notice, though, and the conversation flowed easily from there. She asked you many questions—about your childhood, your passions, your job—eager to know you as you were, and not just through Azriel's stories.

You got to know her just as well, and during the few hours you spent together, a connection began to take shape. Quiet and natural, it settled between you like it had always been meant to grow there. You wondered why you’d even been nervous in the first place.

Maybe it was because of your lucky necklace.

When you and Azriel finally left, just before dinner, Rosalind made you promise to return the following week—and to start planning her visit to Velaris.

*lovely divider by @slytherin-pen

Taglist: @mrsjna @navyblue-eternity @paintedbyshadows @highladyandromeda @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @azrielsmate3 @mollygetssherlockcoffee @mirandasidefics @tinystarfishgalaxy @cynthiesjmxazrielslover @anarchiii @readinggeeklmao @anneas11 @lilah-asteria @lorosette @azrielsrealmate @pey2618 @mellowmusings @k8r123-blog @daughterofthemoons-stuff @minnieoo @saltedcoffeescotch @georgiadixon @quiet-because-it-is-a-secret @ivy-34 @yesiamthatwierd @lreadsstuff @littlest-w01f

[r0-boat]

Whb 7 Kings react to sick!reader

WHB x Fem!reader

Sfw but suggestive thanks to several demons.

This post is a gift for @notquitebunnie

But all can read!

To anyone who is sick and finds this rest well! Make sure to eat and drink plenty of water! :)

This is a Headcannon formatted like a storyline! All devil and their parts written will be out of order to fit the plot!! Please enjoy~

Intro:

Did you think just because you were in hell you were safe from the cons of human mortality... Well maybe you did. Until you where woken up by the churning nausea You felt in your stomach the metallic taste on your tongue as your mouth screams for water. But as you turned to get up you crushing feeling of weakness and a searing migraine hits you like a train.

Your nose was stuffy, and it hurt to swallow, Your body ached and you somehow felt cold. You wish you never woke up as you tossed the sheets back over your body cocooning yourself.

But that sweet, sweet relief of peace didn't last long, as your bedroom door slammed open. The lock on your door snapped under the pressure of being forced open, and the loud noise made your head throb. Oh God, how could you forget where you are and who you surround yourself with?

Satan

The human who usually comes for the breakfast and tea Sitri prepares every morning has not even shown up. Sitri was way more pressed about it than Satan who just told Sitri to fuck off. He knew what it's like The sleep inn. Sometimes, your body just doesn't feel ready to get up yet. "Eh fuck off. You're worrying too much... Being 10 minutes late ain't going to kill you..." But then Sitri replied. " When I press my ear to the door that's Solomon usually keeps locked her heartbeat was about 30% faster than it usually is!"

Satan cussed under his breath. This is a human we're talking about—a human the angels are gnashing their teeth to kill. A faster heart rate is a good sign of stress, and if the daughter of Solomon is stressed, there must be a reason. Maybe checking in on her wouldn't hurt.

Caring little for the new lock she installed on her door, he practically beat the door off its hinges as he stormed into the room with Sitri in tow. "HEY! WAKEY WAKEY WOMAN!"

Satan yells as he marches over to your bed carelessly grabbing the sheets and tossing it off. As soon as he saw your body curled up wincing in pain trying to hide your eyes from the bright light he immediately sensed something was wrong. Immediately his harsh tone softens But on the inside his boiling hot rage only increased, seeing her like this made his blood boil. "Is everything all right?!" He hissed through his teeth as his hands quick and urgently checked for any wounds. "You're not physically hurt... What the fuck?"

With a pissed off grow your weak voice managed to tremble out "get out Satan! Trying to fucking sleep I don't feel good..."

Getting yelled at by you was always a treat as he felt his heart flutter, but there were more concerning matters at play. "Fuck no I'm not getting the fuck out. What's wrong with you? Why do you not feel good?!"

You knew screaming at him would just encourage his behavior so you just stayed silent putting the pillow over your head trying your best to ignore him.

Despite you telling him to leave you alone Satan stayed in your room all day on his knees his chin resting on the mattress He looks like a kicked puppy waiting for its master has he pestered you with all kinds of questions that you couldn't nor cared little to answer. "Did you eat something bad?"

"no."

"Is it poison?"

"no."

"are you sure you didn't get stabbed or shot or-"

"No!"

...

... "Is your pussy shedding?"

*irritated sighs*

Mammon

Satan didn't want to do this but he had no choice. if it had something to do with Solomon wants to send it it was a national hell-wide issue. But to not cause complete chaos he couldn't just release it to the public that's something was wrong with Solomon's daughter. So for now he told someone who's he's the closest to.

And he regretted it instantly.

Satan: I think our human is broken.

SilverSpoonBitch: ???

Satan: *sends a picture of a sick human lying face down on the bed.*

SilverSpoonBitch: Maybe she is finally tired of being around poor people.

Satan: ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS I BEEN TRYING TO ASK YOU FOR FUCKING HELP CAN'T YOU JUST COME OVER WITH YOUR FANCY LITTLE GADGETS AND SHIT AND TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IF SHE DIES I'M KILLING YOU.

Mammon came as quickly as he could his helicopter landing right in front of Satan's palace. Instead of a warm welcome he was instead screamed at by a tiny flee.

"CAN YOU FUCKING TRAVEL HERE NORMALLY?!" Satan snarled the way his hair was standing on end and his back was arched to reminded Mammon of an angry kitten.

"Relax my tiny terror. The helicopter is here for a reason. How else am I going to get here with all these things... You told me to bring whatever I could to see what's wrong with her, did you not?" Say no only answered with a growl as Bimet steps out the other side of the helicopter. "Also your majesty Satan. Could you provide us with extra hands? "

...

Great, more noise—that's exactly what you needed. You heard whispered voices coming down the hall. You fake sobbed to yourself as you pressed harder into the pillow. The door that you spent precious time and energy on and also risked the tea you had for breakfast propping up just tipped back and slammed onto the marble floor. You heard Bimet's voice first. "I've seen her look bad wearing hobo rags but never like this... "

Mammon hummed putting a hand to his chin "indeed She looks like she's in pain? Are you sure you checked for wounds?"

"I TOLD YOU FOR THE LAST TIME I DID SHE'S IN PAIN BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE FUCK THE WOUND IS I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THERE IS ONE!?"

Fuck you Satan and you're loud ass voice.

Mammon then chuckles. "Oh you innocent little thing... Have you ever thought about internal bleeding?!" Sitri and Satan's eyes widen as they never thought about that before.

Bimet chimes in with a proud smile "His Majesty Mammon and just blessed you with his wealthy knowledge! Your majesty, you are truly a gift to this world!"

Mammon gets closer You felt his big hands on you, normally you would be more than okay with this but today all you wanted to do was crawl into a hole and never be seen again as you felt his strong hand stroking all over your body trying to find where you might have damaged something inside you. When his fingers pressed on your stomach your eyes shut open. You felt it. The churning in your stomach finally winning you over the devil's watched with wide eyes and shock as you sprint to the bathroom attached to your bedroom life your life depended on it. You didn't even care closing the door as everything you tried eating and have drank goes down the drain. You've never seen such a look on Mammon as he scoops you up off the bathroom floor cleaning your mouth with his own clothes. You putting you back in bed.

"This is serious..." Mammon growls. "I didn't feel any internal bleeding... But when I pressed over her stomach that's what she did. I know very little about stomachs and food... Buuut we know someone who might..."

Beelzebub

Beelzebub Who is leaning against the door just called out to the devil's in front of him "You called?" He said with a sly smile as Mammon and Satan turned around to face him. "The hell did you come from?" Satan asked.

"I mean I was just wondering around but it was hard to miss the giant golden helicopter flying above me. " Beelzebub said his finger twirling to mimic a helicopter.

"So what's happening here?" He asked walking over to your bed sitting on the mattress next to you gently rubbing your side.

"We don't know. I found the daughter of Solomon like this. I thought someone was hurting her. There's something wrong, but we don't know what it is." Satan explained as Mammon continued. " I thought it might have been internal bleeding since Satan found no wounds. So I checked her body for it, but when I pressed on her stomach, she threw up. " Beelzebub's eyebrows furrowed immediately. "Has she eaten anything?" He asked, and Sitri shook his head. " No, Solomon didn't come down for breakfast. It looks like she drank some of the tea I left for her. But It doesn't matter now since She threw it all up. "

"could you prepare something to eat please? Of course she would probably feel pain in her stomach if she doesn't have any food in it. And she probably feels weak because of it as well. "

Satan and Mammon ordered their second in command-to prepare something. The devil Kings continued to discuss and fill in each other today. All this chatter was seriously not helping, as every now and then you would grumble and turn as much as Beelzebub's constant stroking on your back felt good. It was getting old pretty fast. The way she was tossing and turning her eyes glute shut The three kings decided to add another into their mission as Beel pulled out his phone to text an old friend. "You think he'll respond?" Mammon asks leaning over to look at the text message between Beel and Beleth.

"ya, I know Beleth Will respond but... Belphegor. Ehh It will be a while till he gets here."

Sitri comes in with hearty meats from barbecued pulled pork to premium steak then some lambs do with chopped and stewed potatoes. Bimet comes in with stressed rice dishes and grilled fish. Cooked and even plated to perfection Even some smoked salmon and caviar.

You are not hungry in fact the opposite just smelling the food in the room was making You want a hurdle

"Solomon's not eating..." Says a worried Sitri as they watched you for a while only for you to do nothing.

"obviously she's too weak She's gone too long without food we're going to have to feed her."

That sentence from the king of gluttony made you wince without your blanket of protection you just weekly tried to fight back as all you wanted to do was sleep. "Please can I please just go to sleep!"

"Solomon you can't not until you eat something!" Sitri spoke softly trying to spoon feed you a piece of steak but being careful and not being too forceful.

"our methods aren't working... And we don't want to hurt her." Satan hissed.

"I know just the guy that will make her eat." Beel chirped.

Leviathan

When he heard that something was happening to her. They made it sound like she was dying and at first they thought they were just exaggerating until he saw the state she was in.

He wanted to kill and maim everyone in the goddamn room as soon as he saw her. She looked like a disaster She looked like she was already one foot in the grave. "How could you fucking leave her like this?!" "How long was she like this!!"

They tried calming Leviathan down and explaining the situation.

Levi's and stomped over to your bed sliced a piece of something grabbed your face forcefully and tried to force your mouth open.

"You will eat this goddamn food and you will like it!!!" You are screaming back at Leviathan as the two of you start fighting. Every last bit of your strength you could muster from this hellish morning trying to fight off the one bastard you did not want to see today. You look toward the five other devils in the room, screaming for help. Only for them to look to the side, ignoring your cries for help.

"It's for your own good Solomon" Sitri muttered.

When you finally ate some by courtesy and help from your dear Leviathan.❤️

You laid down on the ground catching your breath. For a moment the king's watched you finally thinking they could arrest before you launched up running to the bathroom once more.

"This may take a while..." Beelzebub sighs

"if her body isn't cooperating then we're going to have to force it" Leviathan hissed getting a dark look in his eye that made you shudder as Mammon princess carried you back to your bed.

Belphegor

Belphegor finally arrived on Beleth's back; when he finally entered the room, he woke up with a yawn and a stretch. Beleth set him down on a nearby chair before walking up to Beel. "Sup, your majesty," He says, giving him a handshake. "Aye! I'm all right. Have you tried the stuff I sent you?" As the two talked, Belphegor scooted his chair closer to your bed. " Hm? Sooo... What's goin on?" He leaned to the side, his elbow into the mattress, resting his head on his hand, occasionally closing his eyes for a power nap as they explained. "So the girl just needs sleep eh? Why'd ya call me then? Just close ya eyes, ain't hard. "

"You think she hasn't tried that already we would watch her go to sleep and then wake up. Plus it's hard to sleep when she's rushing to the bathroom every hour."

"did ya feed her?" He asked.

"yep, the finest foods from Tartaros. Didn't matter. She wouldn't keep it down" Mammon answered.

"Well, shit... Anythin puts me to sleep so I ain't sure how to deal with this." Belphegor muttered studying your face You look lethargic but not sleepy

"tsk! Can you be any more useless??? Can't you just use your power to put her to sleep?" Levi's and said his arms crossed his foot tapping.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Majesty Leviathan." Beleth piped up Make it his way to the other side of the bed His hand running through your hair as he pet you. "if we try that she might not wake up for years maybe even decades."

"Okay so that's out, So What the fuck are we going to do sing her lullabies?!" Satan growled

Belphegor did smile and chuckle at the joke but turned to Beleth "This thinking is hard, You got any ideas?"

Beleth Who was petting your head rolled his hand over your forehead His eyebrows creased as they pressed harder taking your temperature. "Your Maj, She's hot..."

"okay no shit?" Belphegor responded His eyebrow raised.

"No your Maj, I mean her temperature. Kind of reminds me of that Christmas cold she got a while back; remember, When she was hotter than a desert in a summer drought."

At this revelation Satan snarled clutching his fists. "So she's holding back her desires again?!"

He stomped forward tearing his white top clean off already but Mammon stopped him "Your eagerness is welcomed but She might already be too far gone, She can't even keep food down I've never seen a Christmas cold do that but can't be good."

"IT'S WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO DO TO STAND THERE WHILE SHE FUCKING DIES?!" Satan screamed this time grabbing Mammon by the collar.

Belphegor already nodding off mumbles "Eh, Maybe you just need someone so lustful that it could cure her even like this."

Someone so lustful...

They all knew who he meant by that but none of the kings wanted to acknowledge him. But it had to be done... For your safety...

Asmodeus

Devils from Gehenna either coward in fear or immediately presented themselves in front of the king of the last as he made his way toward the room where he was called to do his 'work.' This was hardly the time of year to even catch the Christmas call, but who is he to complain? The six Kings, the six th buffoons, called upon him to do a task he possibly cannot refuse! So, despite women and men alike throwing their naked bodies at him, it pained him, but he had to refuse, for someone far greater waited for him.

He was already ready when he entered the room, wearing a red bathrobe and a leather case containing God knows what. The Kings stepped out of their way as he walked forward, literally in the middle of loosening his robes before getting a look at you. His eager smile disappears and is replaced by a concerned and confused look. Despite how hard he was, and believe me, he was fucking rigid. You can't expect them not to be, getting a call from the 6th most handsome devil in all of hell offering him to fuck the one woman you desire and all the world while they watch. A dream come true. But... What he was saying was not the symptoms of a Christmas cold...

"Um... excuse me, but could you mind filling me in on what happened today?" The devils were just as confused as he was, so they relented. They told him everything: the weakness in his body, the refusal to eat, the constant puking, the agitated mood, the heavy breathing, the sweaty body, everything.

And Asmodeus was staring at them eyes wide in silence.

The slut was too stunned to speak.

He stood there in silence until it finally broke but with a wheeze

And then laughter.

Not just laughter.

He was dying.

He laughed so hard that he was trying not to cough. He held his stomach, trying to keep his composure so he would not be on the floor.

He had tears in his eyes as the six kings watched as the king of lust laughed his ass off for 5 minutes before finally regaining composure and wiping the tears from his face. He tied up his robe, grabbed the blanket that had been discarded on the floor this whole time, and sat on the bed with a softened look, tucking you in.

"Are you truly this foolish? Or Is your knowledge of humans this lacking?" He asked as he looked back at the six, trying to hide the anger and embarrassment of how hard he laughed. Before Satan was about to yell Asmodeus continued. "This is no Christmas cold, nor is it a curse; she's not hurt from the inside and the outside, well, not physically... I think she's just sick. Plain and simple. "

The room was silent. And Belphegor was sleeping (possibly wanting to be woken up after the sex is over.)

"I've seen plenty of devils get sick before none of them act like this?" Leviathan questioned pointing to all of you in a slight condescending tone.

"well that's the thing my pretty princess, It's that humans immune systems are not as strong as a devil's. We are sick for hours rarely a day but when humans get sick they They can be sick for possibly days..."

He explains while his gentle hands look over at the barely eaten food keep picked up a small empty bowl getting a spoon scooping up some white rice and some miso soup to mix it together. Something light and good for the stomach.

"Here, my dear,, these animals won't bother you anymore. " He spoke in a soft tone. At first, you were frightened upon seeing him, but seeing his softened gaze and his kind, almost nurturing smile as he held what looked like something you could actually handle, You got up and started eating the miso plus white rice concoction. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't entirely good either, but to your sick mind it was the best thing you've ever had to eat all day.

Asmodeus then picks up the empty cup of tea taking up the tea bag taking out the hot tea bag and the dry tea leaves as he poured a cup of now lukewarm water. "Drink this to, It's water it's not much but you're probably thirsty."

You barely mouth a thank you before taking the cup.

Now, the devils were too stunned to speak as someone they thought would be the most useless ended up helping you. Leviathan was beyond pissed. His face was contorted with pure envy as if that was the same food he tried to force you to eat. Asmodeus got you to eat with little effort and a smile.

And honestly Satan was relieved. At this point anything would have helped, well he was angry at mostly himself for pretty much failing you and just making whatever what's wrong with you worse. Beelzebub was nodding along He didn't take an account that certain foods just won't settle well. "I understand though,"Asmodeus hummed as with his gentle hands eased you back to bed.

"I remember being just like all of you when my late wife pregnant with our first of many good morning sickness. Hehe~I thought I was about to lose her and my child." He reminisced to no one in particular. Before turning back to the group of devils

"I would advise you get a doctor as well. It's not serious. But a medical professional is always handy. "

"call Lucifer!" Leviathan barked a Satan was already on his phone. "Okay okay! God damn!"

Lucifer

Lucifer was pinching the bridges of his nose. Hearing the entire story if they thought it was a Christmas cold why didn't they call him before? He asked but he probably already knew the answer to that.

He didn't normally do personal visits but this was different. With a bag he got out some tools It wasn't much but it was enough for a diagnosis.

"looks like the flu. A common human virus. Mutates every year so humans try to get flu shots every year." He said.

"I would recommend going to the human world and getting this." With a piece of paper and a pen he writes down certain kinds of over the counter medicine and drugs. "If they have it in hell don't give it to her. Those kinds of drugs probably wouldn't be suitable for the human body. Oh and also-"

As he talks to himself he writes down the kinds of food she could eat and what else she could do.

"Her symptoms should last 5 to 7 days, I believe. If they last any longer, don't hesitate to call me." He says. He looks over at your face, and now you are breathing calmly. You finally have drifted off to sleep. A flicker of a smile graces his lips as he leans down to kiss your forehead.

Epilogue:

And with that, the great hell crisis was over... Well almost... You still wouldn't be able to get your beloved peace and quiet as you got many visits from many devils of the 72 over those seven days, some bringing care baskets while others home-cooked meals. Even those from Abbaddon who cannot leave their cells mailed you sweet treats and very saucy letters.

As much as it heavily irritated you about how horrible it was to wake up with seven loud and screaming adult men. But you knew it was out of a place of care.

Silly devils; never change.

[rain-water-flowers]

Take You Down

WC: 1738

Synopsis: Hyunjin doesn't think anyone knows about your relationship. Enter Felix. Literally.

Warnings: smut, unprotected sex (you know better), dirty talk, desperation, very slight exhibitionism, very slight voyeurism, softdom!hyunjin, switch!felix? (maybe), sub!reader, reader is out of it for like half of the fic, jerking off, reader didn't explicitly consent to Felix watching but she's all for it, I think I got it all?

A/N: This was a request from a reader, soooo thank you! There was supposed to be some plot to this. That went out of the window when I started writing the smut. Im disappointed in myself, smh. Thanks to my beta @midnighthazee who continues to put up with my continuous smut writing. Enjoy!!

Y/n was excited when Hyunjin told her that the members were gonna be out for the day — everyone having schedules and being too busy to even think about being at home. Except for Hyunjin. 

He had just gotten back from a promotion video shoot for a skincare company. He had two days off before going back to his regular schedules, leaving him time to spend with y/n.

Hyunjin Do you wanna come over? The members are at schedules all day. I miss you…

Y/n had almost jumped for joy at that text. She hadn’t seen Hyunjin for a month now, starting to feel the distance drag on her. 

Y/n Of course! I’ll be over in like 30 I’ve been waiting to see you for weeks now :((

Hyunjin told her how much he missed her, and that he would cook her a nice big meal when she came over. They planned on watching a movie and cuddling until y/n inevitably had to leave before the members got back. 

He felt bad about keeping their relationship in the dark, but he feared that other people would make it seem like he wasn’t able to do his job if he was in a relationship. That’s how they always act, and he wanted to save y/n from the backlash they would receive — even from management. 

Y/n didn’t care, she wanted the whole world to know. The backlash didn’t matter, and if his managers wanted to scold them then they could scold them. It wasn’t going to keep y/n from being in his life either way. 

— — — —

When y/n had arrived at his dorm, she knocked softly and he opened the door eagerly. Hyunjin immediately took her into his arms and squeezed her so much she couldn’t breathe. 

“I missed you so much, baby.” He said, smiling brightly at her and taking her face in his hands. 

“I missed you too, so much.” She replied. She closed the distance between them and their lips met. 

It had been a month since they’d last seen each other, but now, finally alone, they couldn’t get enough of each other. 

Y/n moaned into the kiss, her fingers making their way to the back of his neck, pulling him closer and pressing herself against him. Hyunjin was just as desperate, his hands roaming her body possessively as he guided her towards his bedroom. 

“You have no idea how much I’ve thought about you these past few weeks,” Hyunjin groaned against her lips, nipping at the bottom one. “Fantasized about having you in my bed again.” 

Y/n whimpered, arching into his touch. “Me too,” she breathed. “I need you so badly.”

They stumbled over to the bed, already tugging at each other's clothes. Y/n yanked Hyunjin’s shirt over his head trailing her fingers down his abs before untying the string on his sweatpants. 

Hyunjin groaned as he pushed her shirt up and off, cupping her breasts in his hands and squeezing them, rolling her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. “Fuck, I’ve missed these,” he rumbled, dipping his head to suck one into his mouth. 

Y/n cried out, her head falling back as pleasure raced through her. She kicked off her jeans leaving her bare except for her underwear. Hyunjin made quick work of that too, tossing it aside and exposing her fully to his hungry gaze. 

“Gonna worship every inch of you,” he promised, his voice roush with desire. “Remind you who you belong to.”

Y/n shivered at his words, the primal possessiveness in his tone making her pussy clench with need. “I’m yours,” she gasped. “Only yours.” 

Hyunjin smiled dangerously. He loved hearing those words from her. He pushed her back onto the bed, settling between her thighs and rubbing his hard cock against her dripping cunt. 

“Fuck you’re so wet for me,” he groaned, reaching down to stroke himself. “Gonna fill you up so good, hm?” 

Y/n spread her legs wider, mind only focused on him and his words. His voice had a strong effect on her, and she could’ve sworn he was born a siren. 

She keened as he pushed into her slowly, his thick cock stretching her open and hitting all the right spots. He was so big it was hard not to. 

“Ah, fuck, yes,” Hyunjin hissed, starting to move faster after pulling out and pushing in once. “Take it all, baby.” 

He reached up and took her hands into his, interlacing their fingers and squeezing. Y/n could only moan in response, wrapping her legs around his hips as he pounded into her. The bed creaked beneath them, the headboard slamming against the wall with every thrust. 

They moved together like they were made for each other, and they were. Hyunjin fucked her so well, sending shockwaves of pleasure up her spine with every pass. Y/n arched her back, urging him on as she chased her release. 

They were so in their little world of pleasure, they didn’t hear the front door shut loudly, the automatic lock clicking into place. They were so lost in each other that they didn’t hear the bedroom door open, Felix letting out a gasp as he saw the scene in front of him. 

Hyunjin noticed him when he gasped, not stopping his thrusts, and only looking in his direction to confirm his thoughts before turning back to his girl, thrusts turning rougher. 

Y/n made eye contact with Felix, unconsciously clenching around Hyunjin. He groaned and moved one of his hands from hers to wrap around her throat. 

“You see him over there, baby? See how desperate he looks just from seeing us?” Hyunjin whispered in her ear. Y/n let out a moan at the sight of him. 

“Looks like we’ve been made.” He said, an amused tone to his voice and a small smirk on his face. 

Felix finally came back to himself after what felt like an hour of staring at the unbelievably arousing sight in front of him. “I–I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you had company!” He rushed out, sounding stressed. 

All y/n could do was moan and lay there and take what Hyunjin was giving her. She was barely able to acknowledge the fact that he was saying anything, Hyunjin’s thrust feeling too good. 

“We were just getting started,” Hyunjin said, that addictive siren-like tone in his voice again. “Are you just gonna stand there? Grab a seat, hm?” 

Felix’s brain glitched.

He stuttered out a response, feeling hot all over. He walked over to the gaming chair in the corner of the room, sitting down and facing the scene in front of him. His dick was so hard in his jeans it hurt. 

Hyunjin turned his focus back to y/n, pounding into her at a ravenous pace. She was gonna cum soon. She could feel it building up and Felix’s presence wasn’t helping. 

Hyunjin could feel her squeeze around him. “So tight,” he groaned, extra loud for Felix. “Gonna cum, sweetheart?” He asked, knowing she wouldn’t answer. She was barely present. 

Felix had taken off his jeans and pulled his cock out of his underwear. He was so hard and red and leaky. He had never been this turned on in his life. Hyunjin kept showering y/n in his dirty words and Felix was so embarrassingly close to cumming all over himself. 

It was made worse when Hyunjin looked his way, gripping y/n’s jaw and turning her head to face Felix. “Doesn’t she look so fucked out, Lix-ah?” 

Felix groaned loudly, taking in the pleasured look on her face and stroking his cock faster. Hyunjin smirked and brought his hand down to her throat, restricting her airflow. 

It took three more thrusts for y/n to squeeze around him harshly, moaning so loud throughout her orgasm that Hyunjin would have been afraid the neighbors would hear if he didn’t feel so good right now. 

He let out a loud groan at the tight feeling of her squeezing around his cock. Felix couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He squeezed his eyes shut and moaned loudly, pitch rising as he came all over himself. He was twitching, stroking himself through his orgasm and letting out soft little moans. 

Hyunjin came next at the sight of Felix cumming and the feeling of y/n squeezing around him. He moaned loudly, the sound tapering off into a groan as he filled her up, pumping into her and working himself through his orgasm. 

Y/n was so out of it, she didn’t even realize he pulled out, subconsciously clenching to keep his cum inside of her. 

“That’s a good girl,” Hyunjin said softly in her ear. 

Felix bit his lip nervously, waiting for Hyunjin to kick him out after he just walked in on them and jerked off to the sight of them. 

He didn’t though. He picked y/n up off of the bed and just as he reached the doorway of the bedroom, he turned back and jerked his head toward the hallway. “Come on,” 

Felix immediately got up and followed him out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. He sat on the toilet as Hyunjin sat y/n down on the counter and started a bath for them. 

“How long have you known,” Hyunjin asked, squirting the bubble solution from the bottle into the water. 

“Maybe two months?” Felix said. 

Hyunjin nodded in understanding. “Do the others know?” 

“Not that I know of,” he responded, glancing over at y/n. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” 

“It’s okay, you were gonna figure it out sooner or later. My main problem is our management. They can be real assholes.” Hyunjin gritted out, walking over to y/n and lifting her off of the sink and into the bathtub. “Get in, Lix.” 

Felix stood and climbed into the tub, sitting opposite of y/n while Hyunjin sat behind her. “I won’t tell them. It’s not my business anyways.”

Hyunjin smiled at that, feeling his love for his band mate increase as he started to wash y/n off. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to tell the rest of the group. They would all be supportive, and would back him when he inevitably told his managers. 

Little did he know, they already knew. Felix had been the last to find out. 

[gojoethereal]

"Warm Enough to Ruin You"

Summary- You shouldn’t have opened the door in that robe—but you did. And now Gojo, Shoko, and Suguru aren’t leaving until they’ve made good on every look they gave you. Slow touches, shared heat, and a night that blurs all boundaries. You thought they were just friends. Turns out, you’re theirs.

tags → poly jjk, soft smut, post-shower tension, gojo is a menace, suguru stares too hard, shoko smirks too much, robe slipping moments, you asked for this (literally), you’re theirs now

You shouldn't have opened the door in that robe.

But you did. Loose tie. Skin warm. Hair slightly damp from the shower. No bra. No excuses.

Gojo’s smile was immediate, stupid, knowing. “Are we interrupting something?” he asked, stepping in without waiting.

Shoko followed with a cigarette between her fingers, already lit, already smirking. “Looks like we’re the ones about to get interrupted.”

Suguru came last, slow and quiet, but his eyes were loud—heavy, dragging down your frame with a hunger that wasn’t even trying to hide.

They didn’t bring drinks. Didn’t bring snacks. They brought trouble.

Gojo sat on your bed like it was his. “You always keep it this warm in here, sweetheart?”

You raised a brow. “You always this nosy?”

Shoko flicked ash into your half-finished water glass, kicked off her boots, and flopped onto your pillows. “She likes it warm. Makes it easier to slip things off.”

“She?” Suguru echoed, eyeing you with a tilt of his head. “Doesn’t she want us to do it for her?”

You swallowed.

Gojo leaned back on his palms, stretching his legs wide, giving you a once-over that bordered on indecent. “You invited us over to chill. This looks like bait.”

“It is bait,” Shoko said dryly, eyes half-lidded now. “Look at her. She’s asking for it.”

Your cheeks flushed, but you didn’t back down. You just stepped into the center of the room, letting your robe slip just enough to make them lean in.

Gojo whistled. “Careful, angel. Someone might actually take the bait.”

“Maybe I want them to,” you said, soft and low.

Suguru was the first to move. He pulled you down into his lap, palms warm on your thighs, thumbs brushing over the edge of silk. His voice was like black velvet. “Is this what you wanted?”

You didn’t answer. Not with words. Just a breath, and a shift, and the smallest whimper when his lips brushed your shoulder.

Shoko crawled behind you, cool fingers trailing up your spine. “You’re blushing. That robe’s gonna come off on its own if you keep heating up like that.”

Gojo was on his knees now, watching the three of you like a predator. “You’re so greedy, baby. Calling us over just to sit in our laps and moan.”

“You’re the one moaning,” you snapped, breath hitching as Suguru’s teeth grazed your neck.

“Not yet,” Gojo grinned, pressing a kiss to your knee.

What followed wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t frantic. It was slow, deliberate, and way too much for a room with that many candles and not enough boundaries.

Later, your robe hung off the corner of your mirror, and you were buried beneath two blankets and three bodies.

Gojo was still kissing the inside of your wrist, like he hadn’t just done unspeakable things with his mouth. Shoko was playing with your hair, strands twirled around her fingers like silk thread. Suguru was behind you, chest warm against your back, drawing lazy circles on your hip.

“Should’ve done this sooner,” Shoko muttered.

“We’re doing it again,” Suguru added.

Gojo smirked into your skin. “Next time, my place. And you better not wear anything at all.”

You laughed—breathless, messy, happy.

They didn’t say it out loud, but it was obvious: You weren’t just theirs for the night. You were theirs.

next

[spiderb00]

- GREEN-EYED MOSTER

Yoo Jaeyi x reader  

“all you were doing was following your girlfriend's plan. But all she saw was green"

Genre – fluff?        warnings - none 

Now playing – Blank Space, by Taylor Swift

“So it's gonna be forever. Or it's gonna go down in flames"

Jaeyi doesn't know exactly when it all started to taste bitter in her mouth, she just knows that at some point the time you were spending with Ye-ri started to piss her off.

She knows it was her idea, I mean, of course you wouldn't be that close to Ye-ri if you didn't have your girlfriend's permission. Not in your dreams would you be so close to another girl without Jaeyi knowing about it. The big deal is that Jaeyi began to bitterly regret the plan she thought up when she saw how comfortable Ye-ri was feeling around you.

Everyone at that school knew you belonged to Yoo Jaeyi, and no one dared lay a finger on you, spoke up, stared too long, or lusted after you. No one was crazy enough to try to defy Jaeyi, at least not until now.

As much as all this bothered your girlfriend, she knew that you would NEVER prefer Ye-ri to her. But Ye-ri's intrusive behavior was already getting on her nerves. The long touches, the way Ye-ri laughed at your stupid jokes, you following Ye-ri to all her classes like an obedient puppy... All of this irritated Jaeyi, because you weren't Ye-ri's! She couldn't be that comfortable with you! You're Jaeyi's!

And she was going to make you remember that.

She waited patiently in your room. The light from your desk lamp faintly illuminating the room in yellow, Jaeyi's cell phone showing your location in real time. She'd seen you walk up to Ye-ri's house - and she'd calculated exactly how long you'd stood at the door, just to make sure Ye-ri wouldn't ask you to come in - minutes before, but now, you're almost at your own house, your steps calm, as if you don't have any worries to deal with.

Jaeyi's phone had already notified her of two messages from you, just asking how she was and if she'd arrived home yet. Her eyes narrowed at this, and she let out a sarcastic snort. “Oh, now you want to know how I am...” That's what she said after seeing your message.

Jaeyi was startled slightly by the sound of the door opening, not even realizing that she had disassociated long enough for you to finally arrive home. She heard your footsteps coming up the stairs, settling into the armchair in your room as if she owned the place (maybe she did).

When the door opened, her eyes immediately landed on you. You were there, confusion stamped on your face as you scratched your head, looking at your phone and probably wondering why your girlfriend hadn't answered your messages yet.

You sat on the edge of the bed with an annoyed huff, still unaware of your girlfriend's presence two meters away from you. “She always makes me answer her messages immediately, but she can't answer a single fucking message.”

Jaeyi's eyebrow arched, surprised that you were saying things like that about her when you were alone, when while you were with her, all you did was nod and agree like an idiot puppy.

“Is that what you say about me when you're alone?” Jaeyi's voice echoed through the silent room.

You startled, jumping onto the bed and almost falling face-first onto the floor. With agility, you managed to put your hands on the floor, looking at the armchair in the corner of your room, only to see your girlfriend with that characteristic little smile that sent shivers down your spine.

“Jagiya!” The name came out of your lips automatically. "Fuck, you scared me! What are you doing here? And why didn't you answer me?"

Your questions were ignored, as was the feeling of love Jaeyi felt when she heard you call her by her nickname.

“Did you have fun with Ye-ri?”

The question made your head tilt slightly to the left, confused as if the youngest of the Yoo's had asked an absurd question - which she doesn't think is the case.

"I left her at home... But I haven't gotten anything out of what she's doing with your father yet, sorry." You've barely finished speaking before you hear your girlfriend's sarcastic giggle.

She was still sitting in the armchair, staring at you kneeling on the floor next to your bed. She loved seeing how dumb you looked in front of her, it was almost as if she sucked all the knowledge out of your brain and left it trapped between her fingers, only letting it slip out when she wanted it to.

“That's a surprise, given the fact that she's so close to you.” Jaeyi's gaze was challenging, almost as if she wanted you to ask what she was talking about.

“All right, I really don't understand.” You got up from the floor, putting your hands on your waist, trying to make yourself look bigger in front of your girlfriend.

“Of course you don't understand.” She stood up from the armchair, and you took a step back. Your hands fell away from your waist, being positioned uncomfortably next to your body. “You're just too innocent a puppy to notice that Ye-ri is shamelessly hitting on you!”

Her words hit you hard, you hadn't realized that Ye-ri was hitting on you, you thought it was just her, being the usual flirtatious girl. Well, it seems you were wrong.

"I was just following your plan, jagiya. I didn't want you to feel that way..."

Jaeyi's footsteps echoed through the room, she slowly approached you.

“Like what, jagiya?” She asked, raising her hand to run her fingers through your hair.

“You know...” You replied, tilting your head and closing your eyes. Letting yourself be carried away by her fingers caressing your scalp. “Jealous.”

The giggle that came out of your girlfriend's mouth made you open your eyes again, looking at her only to find that she was already looking at you with those beautiful eyes.

"Oh jagiya... I'm not jealous, I'm just going to make sure you know you're mine!"

just testing again ;)

i told you how obsessed i was with “friendly rivalry” and then some of you told me to write to the girls and here i am.

i hope you like it, it's not much but it's something ;)

drink water and stay safe

xoxo, spider.

[mashtatosworld]

eyes on me (4)

summary: jiyong is determined to find reconciliation whilst the truth of the scandal tears apart the peace you'd finally found

warnings: mentions of stalking

It was your day off.

The apartment was too quiet.

You hadn’t dared to turn your phone back on since the night Daesung left. Since the day Jiyong's name had flashed on your screen like a storm you hadn’t asked for - demanding to be heard.

But now, the quiet stretched too long. You wanted to speak to Daesung. Needed to.

You sat on the edge of your bed, thumb hesitating over the power button.

And then you pressed it.

The screen lit up.

73 missed calls. 24 voicemails. 107 messages.

All from Ji 🖤.

Your stomach dropped.

The phone buzzed again immediately - a call, his name blinking across the screen like a warning siren. You stared at it, jaw clenched, then swiped it away. Another one immediately came through. Then another.

He wasn’t giving up.

You cursed under your breath and finally blocked his number. The silence that followed felt eerie.

Heavy.

You never thought you’d have to block him.

It felt wrong somehow - to erase someone you used to share a life with, a bed with, a future with. But it also felt necessary. Like sealing a wound. Or stitching one shut.

You finally opened your messages and typed a quick one to Daesung.

[y/n] hi :) are you free today? maybe we could hang out ?

You hesitated before hitting send. It had only been a couple of days since you'd last seen him, but he felt further away than ever.

You waited.

No response.

Instead, the next notification came from your banking app.

Jiyong had transferred you ₩100,000.

Reference: “UNBLOCK ME PLS”

Another one came through shortly after.

₩150,000.

Reference: “NOT GIVING UP”

And another.

₩200,000.

“NEED TO TALK.”

You slammed your phone face-down on the table and let out a loud breath. A bitter laugh escaped before you could stop it.

Of course. Of course he’d try to buy a way back in. Of course he’d resort to any means. He was nothing if not persistent.

It was desperate. And pathetic.

And worst of all - it still hurt.

You grabbed your jacket and left.

𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪

You didn't have much of a plan, but you needed space.

Air.

Anything other than the four walls of your apartment and the ghost of Jiyong breathing through your notifications.

You bought yourself a coffee and walked aimlessly through the streets. You stopped to buy a small bouquet of delicate tulips from the flower shop just because they looked soft and quiet and lovely - everything you weren’t feeling.

And then you passed a cat café.

You paused.

There, behind the glass, perched like a tiny gremlin on a plush cushion, was the roundest grey Scottish Fold Munchkin you’d ever seen. She was chewing on a stuffed shrimp toy with absolute conviction. You snorted before you could stop yourself and snapped a photo through the window.

It felt good to capture the moments that made you feel normal - happy.

You posted it to your private account without a caption.

Not for anyone else. Just for you.

You only had ten followers anyway.

Your old social media accounts hadn't been touched since the dramatic public leak, they were now filled with hate comments and death threats.

But the new upload felt like proof that the day wasn’t completely ruined. That maybe - in small, unexpected moments - there were still pieces of joy waiting for you.

You sat down on a nearby bench, pulling your coat tighter around yourself, and stared at the little grey puffball through the glass.

She looked like she didn’t care about any of it. Love. Loss. Boys who begged for attention through bank transfers.

You exhaled slowly and let yourself smile.

Just a little.

𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪

You were halfway home, tulips in one hand and your phone in the other. The cold nipped at your cheeks, wind curling around your exposed neck.

Then your phone began buzzing in your hand.

Dae?

Your breath caught in anticipation as you quickly lifted the screen.

But your frowned at the number calling. It was your old boss, from the production company.

You answered anyway, cautious. “Hello?”

“Y/n?”

“…Yeah?”

“We need you to come to the office. Right now.”

You laughed sharply, incredulous. “Why? Did I leave my name badge behind or something?”

“N-no this is serious,” they said quickly. “The police are here. They say you need to be present.”

Your fingers went cold around the phone. “What?”

“I don’t know more than that,” the voice said. “But they were very clear. Please come.”

The call ended before you could ask anything else.

You stood still for a long moment. The noise of the street blurred around you. The brown paper around your bouquet crinkled in your grip.

Then reluctantly, you turned back toward the city.

Away from home.

As you passed the cat café again, the little grey munchkin spotted you and pawed at the glass with a squeaky little meow. A tight smile tugged at your lips. You tapped the window once in farewell.

Then kept walking.

The second you stepped through the doors of your old building, your body seized up.

The floors still shined. The coffee machine still hissed behind the reception desk. The air smelled like glass cleaner and stress.

But none of that registered.

Because standing in the middle of the lobby, pacing like a man haunted, was Jiyong.

Your heart thudded.

He was unshaven. Pale. A cap pulled low over his messy hair. Jiyong looked nothing like the sharp, golden man you used to know. He looked tired, crooked.

Hollow.

You turned on your heel instantly.

No. Not today. Not like this.

But your name hit the air like a tether.

“Y/n - wait!”

His hand caught your wrist before you could make it back out the door.

“Let go,” you snapped, spinning around.

“Just - just listen to me - ”

His grip wasn’t tight, but it burned. You yanked your arm back like it stung.

“Is this one of your schemes?” you hissed. “A way to rope me in? A ‘GDragon master plan' to show me how sorry you are?”

“I wish it was,” he said quietly. His eyes met yours - dark and frantic beneath the brim of his cap. “I wish this was something I made up. But it’s not.”

You stared at him, heart racing. The florescent lights buzzed overhead.

“I didn’t come to see you,” you whispered. “I came because they said the police - ”

“I know,” he said softly. “I know because they called me here too. I swear.”

You didn’t know what to believe. But you believed the tremble in his hands and the strain in his voice.

He took a shaky breath. “Still... it’s good to see you.” Then, softer - almost reverent, “More than good.”

You huffed, narrowing your gaze. But something twisted painfully in your chest.

The moment was cut short by the click of dress shoes approaching.

A tall man stepped forward, scanning a clipboard, his police badge glinting around his neck. “Miss Y/n? Please come with me.”

You hesitated, looking at the officer, then at Jiyong.

Your fingers curled around the tulips in your hand. You didn’t know why you’d brought them with you, but it felt good to grip onto something real. Your senses felt blurred as you fell into step behind the officer.

Jiyong reached for your back, as if to steady you gently, like old times.

You flinched away from his touch and stepped away.

He retracted his hand, fingers briefly clenching before falling to rest at his side.

You followed the officer whilst your pulse pounding in your throat. Jiyong trailed behind you in stewing silence.

Everything in your body screamed to run. But the truth - whatever it was - was finally catching up.

And you weren’t sure if you wanted to hear it or not.

𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪

The room was cold, too white, too bright. A long glass table stretched between you and the people on the other side - Jiyong’s security manager, your old boss, and two plain-clothed officers.

Jiyong lingered near the window, biting his thumbnail, jaw clenched so tight it looked like it hurt.

You stepped towards the empty seat warily, the bouquet still in your hand like a shield.

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” you said immediately, your voice low but firm as you rested your hands in your lap. “So if this is some elaborate apology meeting - ”

“We know,” one of the officers cut in. “You haven’t done anything wrong. That’s why we asked you here.”

You stared. “Then why the hell was I treated like I had?”

Silence.

Your old boss cleared their throat. “After… everything unfolded, and the investigation into the footage breach was properly reopened, the actual culprit was discovered. That's when Mr. Kwon decided to take legal action and press charges. And that’s why the police are here now.”

You glanced over at Jiyong. His eyes didn’t meet yours. He was staring at the floor.

The officer now took over. “But during that process, we uncovered some… troubling evidence.”

There was a tensioned pause and you felt the weight of it in your chest.

“The man who leaked the footage - he was working as private security here. Contracted through an outside firm."

You listened intently but the words felt jumbled as seeing Jiyong again had dismantled your thoughts. You could practically feel him and his stiff presence lingering somewhhere behind you.

“This man was assigned to camera monitoring. Which, on paper, is nothing alarming. But the deeper we looked, well," The officer sighed loudly and set papers on the table. Photographs. Each one, a still image of you. At your desk, at the water fountain, on your lunch break. " - well he was watching you.”

Your stomach dropped.

“Every day you were in the building. He wasn’t just doing his job. He isolated the camera feeds in your workspace. Focused them. Recorded them. We believe he studied your schedule.”

You felt sick. You gripped the arms of your chair, knuckles turning white.

“He resigned shortly after you were terminated,” your old boss added quietly, rubbing her forehead anxiously. “With no warning or forwarding details.”

You could barely look at them. “And you only care now?”

A beat passed in which no one answered.

The officer cleared his throat. “Initially, we assumed the motive was financial. A leak for clout, maybe profit. But this man didn’t attempt to sell the footage. He just… released it. And walked away. That suggests something else.”

“Obsession,” murmured the other officer, crossing her arms over her chest. “Control. Isolation. These are all tactical ploys of a dangerous stalker.”

You blinked, trying to breathe through the swirl of nausea in your chest.

“It’s our belief that he wanted to dismantle your life. Cut you off from your career, your circle, your... partner." The male officer looked to Jiyong who was grinding his teeth, glaring at the papers on the table. "He wanted to make you vulnerable, easier to approach.”

You closed your eyes, feeling utterly terrified and violated.

The male officer continued. “We’re applying for a warrant to search his apartment, but it appears to have been vacated. We don’t know where he’s gone. Until we do, we have no way to press further charges.”

“So what?” you said, trying to keep your voice from breaking. “You just wait? Hope I don’t get murdered in the mean time?"

“We’re doing what we can,” the female officer said calmly. “But we can't get involved unless we have more evidence. Until then, we strongly recommend that you relocate. You may be in danger.”

“I’ve already moved,” you said with a sigh. “Weeks ago.”

“Good,” they replied. “Although you should still take precautions.”

“She’ll move back in with me,” Jiyong finally spoke, voice low. “I've already increased my security - ”

You laughed bitterly, cutting him off. “Absolutely not.”

He frowned and moved toward the table. “Y/n - ”

“You had your chance to protect me. You chose silence. You chose to disappear. You don’t get to dictate anything now.”

“I didn’t know,” he said, his voice rising. “I didn’t know it was someone dangerous - ”

“But you should have known!” Your voice echoed across the room, sharp and furious. “You should have known I'd have never done this. You didn’t need the police to tell you that. You could’ve just believed me.”

Jiyong’s lips parted, but you spoke first.

“Besides, I don’t want your security watching me,” you tutted irritably. “I think I’ve had enough people watching me.”

“I’m just trying to keep you safe - ”

“So you can track me like he did?” you snapped. “Have eyes on me twenty-four-seven? No, thanks.”

His face crumpled. “That’s not - ”

“Just find him,” you muttered to the room. “End this. So I can go back to building my new life. A life that doesn’t include any of you - any of this.”

Silence.

The male officer finally stood. “We’ll update you as soon as we have something. For now... keep your phone on. And stay aware. Surround yourself with friends and family.”

You nodded once. Then turned, and left the room.

The tulips were crushed in your fist. You had forgotten they were even there.

𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪

The hallway spun a little as you stepped into the lift.

You pressed the button for the ground floor and leaned back against the mirrored wall, tulips crumpled against your chest. Your hands were trembling. Everything in you was trembling.

The doors began to close -

A hand shot through.

Your heart lurched.

Jiyong stepped in before they could shut, and you rolled your eyes, dropping your head back with a muttered curse.

“Are you serious?”

He didn’t say anything. Just kept his eyes on you.

You jabbed at the button for the next floor, ready to walk the stairs if that’s what it took to be away from him -

But then he moved.

His hand slammed the stop button and the lift jolted to a halt, humming with sudden stillness.

Your eyes widened. “What are you doing?!”

He turned, planting himself in front of the panel, feet spread and shoulders squared as if he was guarding it. “I need to talk to you. Just for a second.”

“I don’t care,” you scoffed. “Get out of my way.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice low, thick. “For everything. For cutting you out. For doubting you. For not picking up when you needed me. I’m so sorry. But please… don’t let your anger blind you.”

You crossed your arms tightly, jaw locked.

“You’re safer with me,” he said quietly. “Or at least… with my help.”

You shook your head, venom in your voice. “Your help? You mean the same help that disappeared the second things got hard? The help that left me alone in this mess?”

He flinched like you’d struck him.

“You don’t get to use fear to claw your way back into my life, Jiyong,” you muttered sharply. “I don’t want you. I don’t want your help. I don’t even want to look at you.”

You moved to shove him aside, reaching for the buttons -

But he stood firm.

And now that you were close, you could see it.

His eyes - glassy, rimmed red, pooling with unshed tears. His jaw trembled, lips parted like he couldn’t quite breathe.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” Jiyong whispered. “But I'm going to. Please. I’m begging you, just let me help. Don’t shut me out completely.”

The desperation in his voice caught you off guard.

So did the way your chest pulled toward him, even as your brain screamed not to.

You stepped closer. So close you could see the dark half-moons beneath his eyes. The air between you tightened, heated. His scent hit you like a memory - clean, citrusy, a little cologne, and a lot of cigarettes.

“I’m scared,” you finally admitted, voice barely above a whisper.

That was all it took for his arms to wrap around you instantly, like his body had been aching to do it since the moment he saw you again. Strong, trembling.

Familiar.

You let yourself lean in to his warmth. He still knew exactly how to comfort you - that you liked your hair to be smoothed down, a warm hand to cradle your lower back, his breaths syncing with your own.

Just for a moment.

Your eyes closed. Heart thundering and skin tingling.

But only for a moment.

With a quiet breath, you slipped an arm behind him - and pressed the button to restart the lift.

It jerked back into motion. And the moment was over.

You stepped out of reach just before the doors opened, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand.

And without another word, you hurried out.

Leaving him alone inside the cold metal box.

The minute you stepped outside and your phone connected to signal again, you rang the only person you wanted to hear from right now.

He picked up on the third ring.

"Hi,"

"Hey... is everything ok? Sorry, I only just saw your message now," Daesung said, as the biting wind from outside hit your face.

"Yeah, uh, I'm all good. Just - will you stay on the phone with me? I'm walking home," you murmured, clutching the device tighter. You had rarely feared walking alone in the day time until now.

"Of course. Are you sure you're ok? Did you want to talk about something in particular?"

You continued your fast pace, eyes glancing around at your surroundings as people passed by, going about their own day.

"No... I don't have much to say. Tell me about your day instead."

𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪 𓆩♡𓆪

im sorrryyyyy i've been so inactive - these assignments are busting my arse. anyway, i hope you keep safe, happy and healthy,

love always,

mash xxx

taglist: @petersasteria, @mirahyun , @allthoughtsmindfull , @gdinthehouseee , @infinetlyforgotten , @redhoodedtoad , @kathaelipwse , @lxvemaze , @loveesiren , @sherrayyyyy , @getyoassoutthetrunk , @shieraseastarrs , @ctrldivinev , @xxxicddbr88 , @onyxmango , @tryingtolivelifeblog , @tulentiy , @bettelaboure , @breakmeoff , @emmiesoverthemoon , @rafesbunniebby , @ricecake9999 , @fleabagspurplewife , @sylviavf , @ldydeath , @wonyluvi , @deliciousmagazinequeen , @heartubeatusalon , @imminsugasgf

[bettelaboure]

⊹The Box⊹ | Choi Seung-Hyun

fifth part in series "Course in Chemistry"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

⊹ Pairing: Choi Seung-Hyun x Reader

⊹ Warnings: sexual tension, explicit sexual content, embarrassment, mature language, peer pressure, and high school dynamics involving gossip and judgment

⊹ Summary: Y/N helps Seung-Hyun explore his sexual curiosity through an intimate and consensual encounter that begins with erotic media and leads to mutual physical exploration

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Jae-mi placed the oversized box on her front porch with a dramatic sigh, brushing her hands down the sides of her jeans as she straightened up.

 "How much do you even have in there?" you asked, squinting suspiciously at the box like it might start vibrating or emitting pheromones. It was that big.

"All the DVDs, magazines, and books that are going to sell out faster than Bible at a church book club. I’ve been posted by the door all morning, guarding the packages like a watchdog. If my mom had opened even one of them..." She shuddered theatrically.

You let out a low laugh, bending down to lift the box—and immediately questioned your life choices. "Jesus, are there bricks in here too?"

Jae-mi smirked and tugged her cardigan tighter against the sharp morning breeze. She tilted her chin at the box. "So? What’s your game plan? Any idea where you're gonna start?"

You paused. The truth? You hadn’t decided. Last night, you were too busy fantasizing about taking down Se-mi in a slow, deliciously petty unraveling of her perfectly curated little life.

That fire still simmered, but for today? You needed to be strategic. Needed certain tools. Certain people. And Choi Seung-Hyun was the centerpiece.

"...I don’t know. I’ll figure out what sparks his interest first."

She made a noise somewhere between a click and a tut and gave you that look like she was dying to say more—but held back. Good friend, that one. You pretended not to notice and grabbed your car keys from your hoodie pocket.

“Thanks again. Seriously.”

Jae-mi wiggled her brows. “No problem, my little sex demon. Now go rock this poor boy’s world—or his dick, if we’re being technical.”

You barked a laugh, flipping her off with a grin as you headed to your car. The box thudded into the trunk and, with a satisfying slam, your plan was officially in motion.

Choi Seung-Hyun’s house was quiet when you arrived. No cars in the driveway. Perfect. You hoped that meant both parents were out. 

You carried the sealed box up the front steps like you were delivering sin in cardboard form. Jae-mi had even taped it closed tight—thank god. Couldn’t have the neighbors seeing a stranger lugging a porn stash through the neighborhood like Santa’s pervy cousin.

You knocked three times, then adjusted the hem of your skirt and twirled a bit of your ponytail around your finger. Within seconds, you heard soft footsteps from inside.

Then the door opened—and there he was.

Tall. Wide-eyed. Caught off guard and looking dangerously adorable in a faded T-shirt and house slippers.

“Y/N?” Seung-Hyun blinked in disbelief. “What are you—”

“Oh, you thought ditching me Friday got you off the hook?” You didn’t wait for him to finish. You breezed past him and plopped the box onto his living room coffee table with a satisfying thud. “Nope. Nerd boy, we have a deal.”

He stood frozen in the doorway, completely lost.

“W-What are you doing here?” he stammered, eyes darting between you and the box like he thought it might explode.

“I told you,” you said, spinning on your heel to face him with hands on hips. “We. Have. A. Deal. Now, are you going to close the door, or should your neighbors get front-row seats to your sexual awakening?”

That got him. Seung-Hyun scrambled to shut the door, ears already burning pink. He fidgeted, mouth twitching like he wanted to explain something but didn’t know where to start.

“I just thought that…”

You cut him off, brow arched. “What, because I gave you your first orgasm I wouldn’t want to look at you again? Please. I’ve given plenty of boys orgasms. You’re not special.”

That clearly landed wrong. His expression twisted in embarrassment.

“I-It’s not that,” he mumbled. “It’s just… it was intense. And fast. And… messy.”

You paused, something soft blooming unexpectedly in your chest.

Poor boy.

No one had ever taught him. He’d probably been walking around thinking he was defective or weird, and now he was standing there, braving humiliation because he wanted to learn. You bit back the teasing for just a moment.

“Look,” you sighed, tugging your ponytail tighter. “I should’ve explained more. I just assumed you’d… y’know… handled yourself before.”

“I told you I’m a virgin,” he said, his tone low. “Why would I…?”

“I meant jerking off, Seung-Hyun.” You didn’t sugarcoat it.

His face turned crimson.

“Oh my god,” you said softly, piecing it together. “You haven’t. At all?”

He hesitated. His lips parted, then closed again. Then he gave a stiff little shake of his head. “No… I haven’t. I just…”

You stepped closer.

“It’s okay,” you said, your voice gentler now. “I'm not here to judge you. That’s not what this is. You’re literally helping me, remember? I’d never use this against you.”

“I’m just… scared, I guess,” he admitted, barely above a whisper.

That made your heart actually skip.

“Scared?” you echoed.

He rubbed the back of his neck, shifting awkwardly on his feet. “I mean—I know how, technically. But when I think about actually doing it, I feel… weird. Like I’m going to do it wrong. Or—ugh, never mind.”

You reached out and gently touched his wrist. “Hey. I get it. But that’s why I’m here. We’re going to ease into it. No pressure. Just… curiosity.”

His dark eyes met yours, full of hesitance but also something warm. Trusting.

You turned back to the box and sliced it open.

Inside: six erotic novels, ten DVDs, a few wrinkled magazines, a box of condoms, and—dear lord—a tub of Vaseline.

You rolled your eyes. Thanks, Jae-mi.

Seung-Hyun leaned in and saw the contents—and instantly recoiled like he’d seen a live snake. “What—what is all this?!”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t pick it,” you said, holding up your hands. “It was Jae-mi.”

He blinked. “Jae-mi? As in… Jo Jae-mi?”

“Yep. My partner in crime. Don’t worry—she’s discreet.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. I never disliked her.”

You smiled. “Good. Now.” You rummaged through the stash and picked out three items: a lightly erotic magazine, a novel with individual short stories, and a DVD labeled Solo Male: Beginners Edition.

“This is your starter pack,” you announced, setting them down in front of him.

He gawked. “You want me to…?”

“Go upstairs,” you said gently. “Look through the magazine. Read the first chapter. Watch a bit of the DVD. You don’t have to do anything if you’re not ready. Just get comfortable. Learn what feels good. Learn what interests you.”

Seung-Hyun hesitated, then slowly picked up the stack, handling it like sacred scrolls. “And I’m going… alone?”

You smiled. “Yes. You need to figure out you first before someone else joins the equation.”

He nodded, cheeks flushed, and padded up the stairs in his socks, clutching the materials like they might vanish.

The moment his door shut, you let out a long breath and planted a hand on your hip.

“Right,” you muttered. You decided to organize the rest of the box by heat level: vanilla, hot, and spicy as hell. Some of the stuff was wild—positions and combinations that made you question human anatomy.

After a while, boredom crept in, and your eyes drifted to the framed photos on the walls. Childhood Seung-Hyun: science fair ribbons, trophies, spelling bees. There were also beach photos—him with an older girl, splashing, building sandcastles. Must be his sister.

Your fingers trailed across the mantel where a dusty photo album sat. Curiosity won.

You flipped it open—and boom: baby Seung-Hyun. Round cheeks. Big, thoughtful eyes. You laughed softly to yourself, flipping pages. He looked so different now—but somehow still the same.

You were deep in a photo labeled Hye-Yoon ♥—a girl in a beret and glittery eyeshadow—when a voice made you jump.

“What are you doing?”

You snapped the album shut like it had electrocuted you. Seung-Hyun stood there, damp hair, hoodie clinging to his shoulders, sweatpants hanging low. Glasses skewed.

Wow.

“I—uh—I was just…” You mumbled. “She’s pretty.”

You shut the album, embarrassed you got caught snooping. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine.”

You stood, brushing imaginary dust off your thighs. “So… how was it?”

He looked down, ears pinking again. “Enlightening.”

You grinned. “Enlightening?”

He nodded quickly. “A lot to take in. But… not bad.”

You tilted your head, studying him. “We doing this again?”

“If… you’re still willing.”

“Oh, I’m willing.” You smirked. “Same time tomorrow.”

He smiled—small, but real.

As you grabbed your bag and headed to the door, you paused. “You might wanna hide the box before your family gets home.”

He snorted. “Definitely.”

You gave a playful wave and stepped outside, the cool air greeting your flushed cheeks.

Progress. That’s what this was. One awkward, curious, beautiful step at a time.

You were packing your bag to head over to Choi Seung-Hyun's house, half-distracted and fully frustrated while you searched for your phone. That damn thing had a habit of disappearing the second you looked away. Today had already been a whirlwind, and there was still tutoring ahead.

Seung-Hyun had been making amazing progress with the box, steadily approaching the spicy section. Every time he returned to the living room—fresh from a cold shower, hair slightly damp and eyes bright with curiosity—you had to remind yourself to breathe. He usually left you with some work when he went off to "study," but you always ended up giving up halfway through. It usually took him a short time to return, but this time... he was taking longer.

You wandered through the house, eventually finding yourself in the kitchen.

The fridge was plastered with magnets and papers, the kind of things families collect over years and forget to take down. Cheesy souvenirs from different countries. A report card here. A toddler's drawing there. Among them were Seung-Hyun's test papers—A's and A+'s from English everywhere. You couldn’t help but smile. Even in his senior year, his mom still pinned up his grades like she was proud of her little genius.

Your eyes danced over a grocery list scribbled in different handwritings:

Apples, yogurt, milk—elegant, cursive letters. Definitely his mom.

Peas, cheese, Captain Crunch—sloppy caps. Dad, maybe.

BBQ pizza, strawberries, Cheetos—neat, sharp handwriting that screamed Seung-Hyun.

A whiteboard hung crookedly beside it:

Seung-Hyun, clean your room. Grandpa's coming tomorrow – Dad

Dad, didn’t realize Grandpa was sleeping in my room – Seung-Hyun

Dear, your father is coming next week, not tomorrow – Mom <3

You laughed quietly, your smile lingering. It all felt so intimate, like you'd stepped into a world no one else got to see.

"Do you always snoop, or is it just my house?"

You spun around, startled. There he was—Seung-Hyun, leaning against the doorframe with a casual grin, his arms crossed.

"You scared me!" You gasped.

"Did you finish the work early?"

"Yes," you lied without hesitation. "And then I got bored."

He shrugged and sauntered to the table, dropping into a chair. "How did you find it?"

"Honestly? It was... good. I finished the other two books and the DVD set you gave me," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

It still surprised you—this tall, hot, brainiac guy studying erotica and still managing to remain untouched. As if.

You pulled up a chair across from him. "Can I ask you something?"

He gave a small nod.

"Why haven’t you... done anything yet?"

He winced a little. "I never really had close guy friends to talk about this stuff with. And my dad... wasn’t around much until a couple years ago."

"Military," you said without thinking. His eyes flashed with surprise.

"The pictures on the mantle," you clarified.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "You really do snoop."

You sat back and folded your arms, grinning.

"I just never had those 'locker room' talks, you know? And as I got older, I got busy. School. Life. Training. And it’s not like girls were lining up for me anyway." He looked away for a second. "I don’t like the unknown. I’d rather wait than screw something up."

You understood that too well. Not knowing was vulnerability. And vulnerability felt like weakness.

"How did you know you liked Se-mi?" you asked, your voice a little softer.

He smiled, leaning back. You’d never seen him this relaxed.

"Kindergarten. I had separation anxiety. Like, intense. I clung to my mom’s leg like a koala every day. Hated being away from her. Then this girl comes up—Se-mi—and holds out her hand. Said everything would be okay. That she’d keep me safe. And I believed her."

You grinned at the mental image. Tiny Seung-Hyun, sobbing into his mom’s jeans.

"And as we got older, she got smarter, kinder, prettier... I just kept liking her more. She’s always been around. Her mom works with mine, so I see her at the shop all the time. She was always perfect."

He looked down again, voice turning quiet.

"The day I asked her out, I had everything planned. A museum date. There’s this music section I know she’d love. Then this little café with amazing pastries. And a walk in the park after. It was stupid."

"It’s not stupid," you said. "It’s... kind of adorable."

He chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "What about you? What’s your perfect date?"

You thought for a moment. "A picnic."

His laugh was immediate. "A picnic? Really?"

"Don’t judge! Picnics are romantic. Tiny sandwiches, plastic champagne glasses, sunset views. What’s not to love?"

"And you say I overplan," he teased.

You gasped dramatically. "Shut up, nerd boy."

He grinned. "You ever been on one?"

You shook your head.

"And Jun-ho never took you? Isn’t he the ‘bad boy’ heartthrob?"

"We broke up," you said stiffly.

He looked unconvinced. "Right."

"What does it matter, anyway? Maybe someone will take me. Eventually."

"Maybe. And maybe you and I can double-date—with Se-mi. In a perfect world."

He didn’t respond right away. His smile faded as he stared down at his hands.

"What if she doesn’t like me? Like... what if she just made that excuse to let me down easy?"

Your heart tightened.

"Why would you think that?"

"No one likes me at school. I’m just the awkward guy people tolerate, you know?"

You stood slowly. Moved to him.

And without thinking, straddled his lap.

His breath hitched as you cupped his face and kissed him. Deeply. Hungrily. His hand found the small of your back and pulled you closer, the other weaving through your hair. He kissed you like he needed it—like it was the only thing anchoring him.

When he leaned in for more, you pulled back, still holding his face.

"Se-mi is going to like you."

"How do you know that?"

You brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. "Because if I can kiss you like that—me of all people, someone who’s supposed to think you’re weird and repulsive—"

"Gee, thanks."

You squished his cheeks before he could protest again. "If I can kiss you of my own free will, then Se-mi will too. What you need, Seung-Hyun, is confidence. You’re not some loser. You’re kind. Sweet. Real. When you let people see that, girls will be lining up for you."

He looked down and chuckled softly.

"What?"

"That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me."

You grinned and pinched his cheek. "Don’t get used to it, nerd boy."

The next morning, you paused at the doorway of the English classroom, hoping to slip out unnoticed like the rest of your classmates. But of course, Mr. Kim had other plans.

"I wanted to talk to you for a second."

You hesitated but walked back in, approaching Mr. Kim’s desk as he gathered up worksheets.

"Yes?" you asked, forcing patience when all you wanted was to flee to your car.

"How's the tutoring going?"

Tutoring? Oh, right. Choi Seung-Hyun. You had to remind yourself that, technically, you were helping him study. It just didn’t feel like tutoring. Not when you were introducing him to a whole new world—one far more intimate than academics.

"Yeah, it's going great," you replied smoothly. If by "great" he meant educating Seung-Hyun in the world of pleasure, then yes, absolutely great.

"Perfect. Just a heads-up, there’s a test on Monday. Thought you might want to prepare."

You forced a polite smile. You hated tests. Everyone did.

"Sounds great."

"Expecting good things, Y/N," Mr. Kim beamed.

You nodded and left, your nerves flaring. You weren’t sure why, but him asking about tutoring made you anxious. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it was the way you had started avoiding Seung-Hyun in public, scared he'd try to talk to you.

Did he think you were friends?

You weren’t.

You were business partners. You both needed something. You provided it for each other. Friends talk in public. Friends share memes and drinks. You didn’t do any of that with him.

Now, you were tapping your pencil against your arm, staring blankly at a wrong present-tense sentence that you had to correct. No clue how to write it. Maybe if you'd paid attention in class instead of daydreaming...

You glanced over at Seung-Hyun. He was engrossed in a book—an erotica novel, actually. One Jae-mi owned, you remembered. It was on her shelf the last time you were in her room. Did her parents know what she read? Definitely not. They thought she was an angel.

You caught the shift in Seung-Hyun's body. He stiffened, coughed to collect himself. He was clearly affected by what he was reading. Maybe you should have skimmed the books first. But then again, you'd probably have kept them.

His neck flushed red, jaw clenched. He wet his lips, ran a hand through his hair—hair that was always dry and frizzy. He'd stopped wearing his beanie around you, which made you think it had been a shield of some kind. Now he seemed more comfortable, even if his hair was a mess.

You bit your lip, watching him squirm in his chair, flipping pages with growing tension. He bit his knuckles. Yeah, he was definitely turned on. This probably happened a lot—reading, watching things, then cold showers to take the edge off.

He needed to know the kind of satisfaction he was missing.

"If I asked you to trust me, would you?" you asked suddenly.

He looked up, startled. His pupils were wide, his breath shallow.

"I... I-I guess."

"Good. Let's go upstairs."

"W-What?" he stammered, standing quickly.

"Upstairs," you repeated, walking ahead into the living room, then up the stairs. The upper floor had photos, wooden signs like the ones you'd see on American dramas: Home Is Where the Heart Is, You Call it Chaos; We Call it Family.

"Which one's your room?"

"You don't need to—"

"Which. Room."

He led you to the one on the right.

You stepped inside, surprised. His room was clean. Immaculate, even. Cream walls, dark wooden floors. Books organized. Bed made. A finished essay on the desk.

"Nice room," you whistled. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Erm... thanks. It's a little messy."

It wasn’t. Not at all. Aside from a hoodie and a cereal bowl by his PC, it was spotless. 

"W-What are we doing up here?" he asked nervously.

You turned and leaned against the desk. "We're going to fix something."

"F-Fix what? Nothing's broken—"

You stepped closer. Inches away. His erection was painfully obvious.

"Fix your hair and show me your brown eyes," you murmured.

"I-"

"Fix. Your. Hair.."

He swallowed and obeyed.

"Get on the bed. Sit facing the TV."

He moved slowly, confusion written all over his face.

"Where's the box?"

"I-In the closet."

You pulled it out and flipped through DVDs until you found what you wanted. Grinning, you popped it into the player and navigated to the right video.

"I don’t understand what’s happening," he admitted.

"You said you’re scared to jerk off," you said gently. "We’re going to try something. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me. But I need your full trust."

A pause.

"...Okay. I trust you."

You smiled, crawling onto the bed behind him. "Watch the video."

He nodded, breath catching as the screen lit up.

A man undressed a woman on a large bed, kissing down her body. His tongue slid over her slit. Roman gasped softly.

You leaned close. "Ever think about doing that? Stroking her clit, finger-fucking her while you taste her?"

He groaned, nodding.

"Look at her tits, Seung-Hyun. You ever want to suck them? Fuck them?"

Another nod. His cock strained beneath his jeans.

"Watch her cum."

The woman moaned loudly. The man hummed against her. You could feel your own arousal soaking through.

Then the woman was on her knees, pulling the man’s pants down. She deepthroated him, humming in satisfaction.

"Ever wonder what that feels like?" you asked.

"Yes," he groaned.

"Answer me."

"Yes."

You placed a hand on his thigh, slowly rubbing over the bulge. "You're so hard," you whispered. "Look at you, baby."

"Please, Y/N," he begged.

"Please what?"

He panted, eyes glued to the screen.

"Touch me."

You smiled, brushing your lips along his neck. You unzipped him, pulling down his jeans and boxers. His cock sprang free.

"Holy shit," you whispered.

"Is... is it okay?"

"You’re huge," you murmured.

Your hand wrapped around him, pumping slowly.

"Ah, shit!" he moaned.

"Eyes open," you said firmly.

He obeyed, watching the screen.

"You like that? My hand on your cock?"

"Yes... yes, Y/N."

"Good boy," you praised. "You’re such a good boy."

You rubbed your thumb over his slit, teasing him.

"Faster. Please."

"Show me. Wrap your hand around mine."

He did, pumping faster.

"Yeah... ah, fuck yeah."

Your clit throbbed with desire. You could picture him inside you.

"Cum for me, baby."

His cry echoed through the room. He released, seed spurting, breath ragged.

You handed him a tissue, wiping your hand. He cleaned himself, glasses fogged, chest heaving.

"Fuck," he whispered.

"How was that?" you asked with a light laugh.

"Amazing," he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

The two of you burst into laughter."Welcome to the world of sex, Choi Seung-Hyun," you grinned. "It is pretty amazing."

Taglist: @petersasteria @redhoodedtoad @mirahyun @sherrayyyyy @sherxoo @dilfismz @breakmeoff @janie-osuih @forevervibezzzz1 @kuinnoa @juliskopf @maskedcrawford @szonyix6277@ldydeath

Series taglist: @1950schick @zaaraaax0 @tabibabib @sofiaaaah

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

Can I request Herta with an S/O who's a massive tsundere?

(H:SR) Herta with a tsundere S/O

Oh, what's that? S/O was being stubborn and getting too embarrassed to say what's on their mind?

Funny/Cute as it was, Herta doesn't have time for this.

Do you think such a beautiful, smart, and young genius like her has time to wait for S/O to stop twiddling their thumbs to say they wanna hold hands?!

Hell no! That's a waste of time for her, AND S/O!

That being said, many people ask: "Madam Herta, if you find that part about S/O annoying, why did you even agree to be with them?"

And her response is rather simple.

(Herta) "And that is any of your business, how, exactly?"

The way Herta gets around this little quirk of S/O's: Isn't it obvious? Just directly bring up whatever to where they can't beat around the bush.

(Herta) "I need a test subject and need to spend time with someone who can actually listen, S/O. Dinner will be made on time, probably."

(S/O) "...Shouldn't you ask if I want to be a test subject?"

Herta simply raised an eyebrow at S/O. They opened their mouth to say something else, but it's not like spending time with their (definitely young and attractive) girlfriend was the worst thing.

Even if there was at least a 50% chance of them imploding.

(S/O) sigh "Alright, what are we doing?"

And being fair to S/O, Herta doesn't really mind nor care of their blushy-attitude that they give her.

If anything, it makes them a little more fun to be around. Heavens know that Herta is a handful to be around, the least she could do for her beloved (test subject) was to return the favor.

Alongside Asta, and some of the Genius Society, S/O was also a voice of reason to stop some insane plan or research she had, lest the entire Herta Space Station blinks into some god-forsaken star, or some other freak abomination.

It also puts S/O's social skills to the test! They can't be a tsundere if they need to tell Asta that Herta was harnessing the power of a star to do Aeons knows what.

And that was the least of S/O's concerns. What they really had to worry about was when she was bored and had free time.

(Herta) "Hm...While I'm here on the Station, S/O, we need to get you a new set of clothes!"

(S/O) "You're not going to make me go into your wardrobe again, right?"

(Herta) "Well, I do intend for you to help me sometime in the next three years, so no, obviously. But that being said..."

She snaps her fingers and immediately, several puppets burst into the room.

(S/O) "You didn't need to snap to summon them."

(Herta) "Has it occurred to you that I do things because I like to, S/O?"

(S/O) "I think that's one of the first things I learned about you..."

(Herta) "Exactly! Now, let's have you visited by the Emanator of Beauty!"

About an hour passes and the entire room is devoured by rolling racks of clothes, with even some of the puppets acting as Coat Hangars, with their arms out-stretched into a T-Pose.

All the while, Herta is sitting on a floating key, trying to decide which shade of purple matched S/O the best, researching some other things on the side of a tablet.

With S/O checking themselves in a mirror, also held by a smaller Herta.

Herta appeared busy with the many things occupying her, S/O stealing a glance from the mirrors and quietly smiling to themselves.

(Herta) "...It'll last longer if you take a picture, y'know."

S/O shifted their eyes away and blushed, mumbling something under their breath much to her amusement.

(S/O) "D-Don't tease me!"

(Herta) "Hm? And you are going to do what exactly? If I continue to do so?"

Suddenly, Herta was by S/O's side, giving them the smirk they (loved) were irritated by so much.

(S/O) "I-I..."

(Herta) "Ah, get flustered. Naturally."

Herta chuckles to herself as she hands the outfit to S/O to try on, finally stepping back onto the ground and checking both herself and her lover in the mirror.

(Herta) "Now, chop chop! Try it on!"

(S/O) "Will this even look good on me?"

(Herta) "I'll ignore the doubt you have in my fashion sense, which is a crime against me I'll have you know, and say, obviously! I'm the one who chose it, and you're the one wearing it."

S/O's face heated up from Herta's own flavor of compliment and took the outfit, preparing to change again.

All the while, Herta just smiled to herself, and turned away for them to change.

She was still looking, and S/O knew that, but for the sake of their prideful heart, they chose not to say anything.

But...admittedly, S/O loved the attention, and Herta knew that damn well.

It was nice to have someone that could understand each other in a more intimate way, and it went both ways.

...Most of the time, anyways.

Its kind of hard to view your girlfriend the same way once she harnesses the power of a nearby star with some unfathomably complicated device just to see if she could and prove some random-ass researcher four hundred sectors away wrong.

S/O was prideful in not admitting they liked to kiss her, but holy shit that was kind of a whole other level.

===

A/N: Do you guys tell how much I love writing Herta? She's so damn funny. I always knew I had a taste for insane brunette scientists (See Hange), and DAMN Herta scratches that itch.

[sharkwidow]

You Knew It | Avengers x Teen Reader

Summary:Missions sometimes don't go as we expect.

Content warning:Heavy angst, death, blood, intense emotional distress

Word count: 1,750

Being a teenage Avenger wasn’t easy. Not just because of the adrenaline of the missions, but because you were constantly reminded that, despite having powers, you were still human. Your telekinesis was powerful, but it drained you quickly, and every time you used it, your body paid the price: you felt like you were about to collapse, your head felt heavy, and worst of all, your nose would start bleeding. You always had to be careful, but missions didn’t wait, and you couldn’t be left behind.

Today, you woke up with a weight on your chest, like something was about to happen. You were nervous, but didn’t know why. Something felt off.

You went down to the kitchen. The team was there, joking around as always, but there was tension in the air. Clint and Sam were chatting with laughter, Wanda stared into space with that thoughtful look she had when she sensed something, and Natasha was sitting near the counter, arms crossed, watching you.

“Morning, kid,” Clint greeted, raising his hand like always.

“Did you sleep?” Sam asked with a teasing smile.

You forced a smile, but it didn’t last. The discomfort wrapped around you like a blanket. You knew something was about to happen.

Natasha didn’t say a word, but her gaze was enough. She always understood you. That’s when she stood up, walked over, and gently touched your chin with her fingers, as if trying to make sure everything was alright.

“маленькая, everything okay?” she asked in her soft but firm tone, like always.

You wanted to lie, but you couldn’t. You just shook your head. She said nothing more, just looked deep into your eyes, knowing you weren’t okay.

---

The mission didn’t start any differently than the others. The Quinjet flew smoothly, and the team moved with precision. Steve was leading, Wanda and Sam covering the flanks, and Natasha close to you. But something in the air told you this time would be different.

“You can stay if you want. This is just a recon mission,” Steve said, looking over his shoulder.

“I’m going,” you replied without thinking. You couldn’t stay behind, not now. That feeling in your chest told you that you had to go, that something was going to happen, and you couldn’t miss it.

Natasha looked at you, then at Steve, then back at you, with a mix of worry and understanding.

“Alright, but if things get complicated, you come back with us. Okay?” she said, her tone protective.

You nodded, though deep inside you already knew what was going to happen. You didn’t want to stay behind, even though you knew this would be bigger than you imagined.

---

When you arrived at the building, things started to go wrong. It was a desolate place, cracked walls and broken windows. You entered cautiously, keeping formation. Everything seemed calm… too calm.

Suddenly, a loud bang. The explosion was so strong you barely had time to react. The sound of metal crashing, walls collapsing, and dust filling the air surrounded you. You hit the ground. You didn’t feel the impact, but you knew something had gone terribly wrong.

The pain came after. It was sharp, intense. A piece of metal had pierced your abdomen, and the blood started to flow rapidly. You fell to the ground, screaming in silence from the pain surging through your body.

Desperate, you tried to move the metal with your powers—with your telekinesis—but it was useless. The strain of using your abilities drained you much faster than expected. It felt like a knife in your head, and your nose began to bleed heavily, staining your hands red. Your vision blurred. You couldn’t think straight.

You tried to breathe calmly, but the air escaped you. Fear paralyzed you, and every time you tried to move, the pain grew worse.

You heard footsteps approaching. It was Natasha. She reached you before anyone else, her eyes filled with worry and rage. She immediately knelt beside you, and without saying a word, held you firmly.

“маленькая, no… no, you can’t do this to me,” she said, her voice breaking.

She looked at you with those eyes full of concern, but you weren’t sure how much longer you could hold on. Your body wasn’t responding. The blood kept flowing, and the anguish made you feel even weaker.

You tried to speak, but the words failed you. All you could manage were fragments.

“I knew it…” you whispered, barely audible.

Natasha, her face twisted in anguish, tried to do something, but the situation was worse than she thought. She caressed your face, a futile attempt to comfort you. You felt the pressure of her fingers on your skin, but there was nothing that could stop what was happening.

Fear consumed you. You felt small, vulnerable. A trembling sigh escaped your lips.

“I don’t want to go…” you said, shaking, as tears streamed down your face, uncontrollably. The pain and fear made you feel so fragile, like you were a little girl again.

Natasha looked at you firmly, shaking her head.

“Don’t say that,” she murmured, her voice breaking. “You’re going to be okay. You’ll get through this.”

But deep down, you knew it wasn’t true. The pain, the fading sensation, the weight of despair… everything told you your time was running out. Your strength was leaving you.

---

Everything around you grew darker. That’s when you heard the sound of the Quinjet approaching. You couldn’t move your eyes quickly anymore, but the Avengers were close, very close.

You saw Tony and Steve running toward you, Natasha still holding you, her hands gripping yours tightly.

“Where is she?!” Tony shouted, his voice torn.

“She’s losing a lot of blood!” Natasha screamed, looking at Tony desperately.

But it was Friday, Tony’s AI, who broke the silence with her cold, calculated words:

“Patient’s vital signs are critical. Abdominal wound is losing blood rapidly. Condition is extremely grave, Mr. Stark.”

Friday’s voice sounded like a death sentence. And as Tony and Natasha looked at each other, their faces reflected a sorrow they couldn’t hide. Tony clenched his teeth, trying to stay calm.

And then, with one last effort, you said through sobs, barely audible:

“I’m scared…” and your tears overflowed, making you feel smaller than ever. It was as if all the fear you felt made you weaker, like all the pain reduced you to a terrified little girl.

Before you could say anything else, darkness completely enveloped you. But just before losing consciousness, you felt a warm hand holding yours. Natasha was still there, looking at you with those eyes that had always given you comfort, now filled with sorrow.

“Shh… it’s okay, маленькая,” Natasha whispered, her voice warm but sad. She knew you weren’t going to survive this, but she kept holding your hand tenderly, giving you the calm you needed in that final moment. “It’s all right. You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here.”

And with those words, the fear vanished. Darkness enveloped you completely.

[do-androids-dream-ao3acc]

[BuckTommy promo pic spec, rom-com style]

“Thanks for meeting me.” It sounds like something Buck has said before, and Tommy's smile is another déjà vu. Tommy lets himself fall heavily into the chair, giving a soft, „Of course.“

“You coming straight from your shift?”

“You too, huh?” Tommy grins, pointing to Buck’s slightly damp curls, sticking out in all directions in today's humidity. He’s spent half an hour trying to tame them before he finally gave up. Tommy, on the other hand, looks great. Even with his shoulders slightly slumped and those tiny, pretty wrinkles next to his eyes somewhat more profound. He must be really tired. I should have noticed  much earlier, Buck thinks, and he doesn't mean the past few days.

A waitress comes over to take their order––the day is to important for coffee to-go in a paper cup. As she leaves, the smile curling Buck’s lips becomes wistful.

“Coffee with two shots of caramel, still?“ he says.

“Hey,” Tommy replies with feigned offense, slapping his washboard abs, “I can afford it.” Then he leans back, crosses his arms, and gives Buck an attentive, somehow more serious look. “It's Gerrard, isn't it?”

Surprised, Buck tilts his head, “How do you... is it that obvious?”

Maybe it really is. Maybe his anger toward Gerrard is as apparent as his grief over Bobby, pouring out of him; an aura that can't escape somebody as perceptive like Tommy. He's always been like this. 

“There's something about him,” Tommy says quietly, no longer smiling. “When you spend time with that guy, he weighs you down. His whole demeanor settles on you like soot you can't wash off.”

“Pretty much,” Buck replies with bitterness in his voice. “It's not even his yelling or his constant insulting people for no reason. He's pretty restrained in that regard, nowadays… guess he doesn't want to risk getting sued in the final stretch of his career. But... Well. I wanted to cook something today. A recipe from Bobby, you know?”

Tommy says nothing, but his gaze softens. Damn, Buck feels his own eyes welling up; he still can't say Bobby's name without feeling like he's about to cry.

“Gerrard looked at me like I was out of my mind. The fridge was full of pizza boxes and other takeout junk.”

It sounds kind of petty, ridiculous even, saying it aloud. It was just another scratch on a half-broken surface, and it still hurt. Cooking? Are you crazy, Buckley? What if the alarm goes off? If you need something to do, use your time to clean.

“You'll find other ways to remember Bobby,” Tommy says gently. “Gerrard is only your captain temporarily.”

“It feels like everything’s falling apart.” Buck sighs. “What's keeping us together with Bobby gone? Eddie couldn't wait to leave after the funeral. Fine, he wants to be there for Christopher. Ravi is keeping his distance. Chimney constantly blames herself, and Hen doubts her ability to lead. But if she doesn't do it, either Gerrard stays captain or someone completely different will get the job, and we're all back to square one. A-and that's why...”

He takes a deep breath, seeking Tommy's gaze. Tommy, who is so forgiving and yielding and simply wonderful, and who has no idea what he means to him. Because Buck just doesn't know how to tell him. He's not cowardly, he's just... inhibited. As if another rejection from Tommy would break him for good. It would be, somehow, the last straw, and Buck would drown, he’s sure of that. Tommy, however, has no idea. He looks at him with that understanding gaze, immediately ready to meet up with him right after his shift, just to listen to him whine about Gerrard.

“Gerrard isn't a guy worth wasting a thought on,” Tommy objects.

“You're right.”

Buck sees the surprise in Tommy's eyes. He's beating around the bush, and Tommy doesn't deserve that. The waitress comes over and sets two cups in front of them, and Buck wraps both hands around his as if to hold on. Tommy doesn't touch his coffee, two shots of caramel, Buck thinks incoherently.

“I don't want this anymore,” he blurts out. “Gerrard and this whole atmosphere and the constant reminders of Bobby.”

“You want to change station?” Now, Tommy is really surprised. And there's something else in his eyes, something deeper and darker, as if he already senses what's coming. Maybe he doesn’t want to hear it. But he’s not fleeing now. He needs to hear it.

“The station, the city, the state if I have to,” Buck says.

Tommy nods, even now he nods understandingly. Buck wishes he would do something, anything. This isn't a romantic comedy, and Tommy isn't going to stand up and knock over his coffee and beg him not to go. But he’s still not running either. Instead, he replies in a voice that is far too calm, “If that’s what you want?”

Buck raises his hands in frustration; his gestures are always erratic when he's upset, as if his hands don't know where to go any more than his thoughts do.

“I don't know what I want,” he says. ”Nothing is certain, right? Only one thing: that there's nothing keeping me here.”

“You have friends, family...”

“Oh, sure, they might be a little sad at first. But they'll be fine.”

“Evan,“ Tommy says, and maybe there's a little plea in his voice. A little hesitation, but now is not the time for that.

“If you don't want me to go, then you have to tell me. I need you to.”

“Evan,” Tommy repeats, and now it sounds questioning.

“I want you,” Buck's voice is almost a sigh now. The cup in his hands is getting cold, but he doesn't care. Nothing matters except the truth, finally. “I want you to be the one to tell me not to go. Because you're the only one who can stop me. The only thing that could keep me here is you, Tommy.”

“Evan, we...”

“No. There is no we, and that's the problem. That's been the problem for weeks. And to be honest, it was even when we were together. It has to change.”

Tommy is still sitting there with his arms crossed. If he put them on the table, Buck could reach for his hands; he wants to hold them, but he knows–finally–that it has to be Tommy’s choice.

“Listen,” Tommy says, sounding unsure how to phrase this, “it's been a lot lately. You lost Bobby, damn it, we all lost Bobby. I think about him so often. Every time I walk into the station, really, though there’s nothing there that reminds me of him. But when you start your shift, you see him everywhere, I bet. He’s not there anymore, and you have to deal with that… with Gerrard. It would wear anyone down.”

It’s not a no, Buck thinks.

“I'm not worn down,” he replies with a sad smile, “I'm tired. I'm tired of the grief and the memories and the pain. A-and I know it's part of it. That you have to go through it, and that I’ll take it with me when I leave. But, T-Tommy...”

He falters. One look into those sky-blue eyes in front of him is enough to make him stutter, but who cares? Tommy never had any trouble understanding him.

“Bobby is leaving something behind. All I’d leave is a gap that anybody can fill, at least at work. T-Tommy… I don't want to be with you because of Bobby or Gerrard. I want to be with you because you are my gap, and you are the only one who can fill it.”

The recipe for a rom-com is simple. Either he’s not the right one, then he’ll get up, make a sad face and confess he doesn’t love him. Or the opposite happens. Life, however, is rarely a romantic comedy.  

“Are you sure?” asks Tommy. He has never sounded so fragile. Buck has hurt him, yes, but there’s more to this. So much more, and Buck wants to explore it, all of it. Even the sad parts.

It’s not a no, he thinks. And maybe, that’s enough for now.