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gloomwitchwrites · 1 month ago

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Dog with No Teeth // Chapter Ten

Simon "Ghost" Riley x Female Reader

Chapter Specific Warnings (MDNI): post-apocalypse au, swearing, mild suggestive themes, mentions of war

Word Count: 4.4k

Under Simon’s watchful eye, Kyle and Johnny keep you occupied during the singles social. Simon has a frank conversation with you.

Chapter Nine // Chapter Eleven

ao3 // main masterlist // dog with no teeth masterlist

“Looking to crack some teeth, Lt?” asks Johnny as he peers into his empty cup.

“More like cracking a few skulls,” replies Simon with a growl.

Across the room, you chat with a man Simon doesn’t recognize. The sizzle beneath his skin becomes a raging boil, threatening to bubble over into action. The fucking wanker shouldn’t be standing that close or smiling at you like he can’t wait to get you under him.

Johnny clucks his tongue in disappointment. “Talking about your jaw.”

Fucking hell.

“What about my jaw?”

“It’s clenched.” Simon promptly relaxes his jaw. “That’s a good lad,” croons Johnny.

“Shut the fuck up, Soap.”

Soft classical musical plays from hidden speakers in the ceiling. The lighting is warm, casting the room in an intimate glow. Simon hates these events. Fucking loathes them. When he first arrived at this Safe Zone after the whole of Task Force 141 was transferred, he met with a family planner just as you did. But because of his position in the military and the importance of his work, they never put up a fuss when he refused their every suggestion. He avoided the socials they told him to attend and ignored each summons to their office.

For a while, Simon was free, unbeholden to everyone except his superior officer. He kept busy, picking up every mission and every job Captain Price brought to him or the team. And when he needed his cock sucked, it was never difficult to find a willing mouth. They left him alone, and Simon forgot all about the pillars and the mandates and the other stupid fucking rules and regulations civilians are forced to follow.

Unhappy is the word Captain Price used. Unhappy with his refusal to propagate.

“They might force my hand, Simon,” Price had said. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Punishment. Rescinding his rank. Forced leave. Price listed off all the possibilities if Simon couldn’t get his shit together and pretend to be involved.

Johnny lightly taps Simon’s upper arm with his empty drink cup. “Need a damn refill.”

“Not stopping you, Johnny,” replies Simon dryly.

As you shift on your feet, popping your right hip, the man you’re talking with glances over your shoulder and makes direct eye contact with Simon. Like a knife to the jugular, the man’s face pales. Good. The bloody wanker gives you a half-hearted smile before turning tail.

Johnny whistles lowly. “Still got it, Lt.”

“Never lost it,” chuckles Simon.

Victory is sweet brilliance—an infinite bath of joy that can only occur when you’ve taken another step toward the thing you want most. Simon could soak in this feeling all damn day.

It’s a temporary exaltation. Fleeting. A momentary triumph.

Like a copperhead lurking in the leaves to bite the wayward hiker, Sergeant Noah Fields strikes. Emerging from nowhere to take the previous man’s place, Fields smoothly slides into conversation, lightly touching your elbow for a stirring of your attention. As you turn toward him, Fields adapts a smile that would fool anyone if they didn’t know him well enough. And you, unknowing of Fields’ transgressions, greet him.

Anger is not the correct word. Red may be the color, but it is not the tangible malice that culminates in his limbs, urging Simon to succumb to poor decisions. It is sharper. Feral. It is bloodthirst and violence.

Johnny notices. And he reacts.

Before Simon can take a step toward Fields, Johnny drapes his arm across Simon’s shoulders, halting his forward momentum. Bringing him in close, Johnny whispers to him. “A drink, Ghost. You need it.”

“Another and I might start swinging.”

Johnny shakes his head. “Ya need a drink. A strong one.” He sighs. “Maybe a fucking walk.”

Fields leans in like he’s about to tell you a secret. You turn your head to give him your ear. The inhale is small, but Simon notices—and he seethes. Fields’ nostrils flare, eyelids growing heavy as he takes a whiff of you. With a slowness that borders on maliciousness, Fields’ heavy-lidded gaze intensifies, flicking upward. Calculated with cold execution, Fields smiles over your shoulder in challenge.

Come and take her, Lieutenant.

Simon tastes metal. If he’s bitten his tongue, he feels no pain. There is only focus, and a great, heaving need to take Fields out in the street for a fucking curb stomp.

“Simon,” warns Johnny through clenched teeth.

His arm around Simon’s shoulders tightens. The empty cup in his hand is quickly discarded as he presses his palm to Simon’s chest. Johnny is just a barrier, one that Simon can easily push aside if the determination is there. And it fucking is. Fields shouldn’t be anywhere near you and why the fuck are you even entertaining him? Simon told you to stay away. It’s infuriating how you listen to him but don’t out of sheer stubbornness and spite.

His dick would be hard and throbbing for you if he weren’t so bloody mad.

“Handle this, Johnny,” growls Simon. “Or I will.”

“Be civil, Lt,” murmurs Johnny, his gaze sweeping outward to observe the surrounding area. “Don’t draw unwanted attention.”

Without breaking eye contact with Fields, Simon speaks out the corner of his mouth. “You and Kyle said you’d keep her occupied.”

“We did,” affirms Johnny.

“Then go occupy her time.”

Johnny squeezes Simon’s shoulder, putting on one of his best smiles. “Can’t be suspicious. Everyone will think I’m desperate.”

“You are desperate. That’s why Kyle’s chatting up the blonde in the corner. Need a wingman to get your dick wet.”

Johnny nods at two men from another unit as they walk past. “You won’t share,” drawls Johnny, giving Simon a pat on the back that’s more forceful than necessary.

“I won’t share her.”

With another squeeze of Simon’s shoulder, Johnny saunters over to where you and Fields chat. The man isn’t in your space like he was before, but the fact that he’s in your vicinity at all pisses Simon off. Every man that looks your way is a threat and Simon’s instinct is to lash out—to push in and shove them away. His interest is the only one that matters.

“Noah!” booms Johnny, extending his arms outward like the two are old friends.

The easy smile on Fields’ face becomes a grimace as Johnny embraces him with overt enthusiasm. Simon would laugh at the spectacle if he weren’t irritated with it all. Johnny deplores Fields just as much as Simon does. Everyone knows this.

The hug is intentional. Johnny places himself between you and Fields, creating a clear separation. From where Simon stands, he can see Johnny’s lips moving, but the distance obscures the words. Fields, to his credit, keeps that forced smile. They’re both pretending—faking it for the sake of control. Johnny aggressively pats Fields’ back before grasping his shoulders. The façade begins to crack, annoyance slipping in between the fractures. The man is about to snap, and it’s exactly where Simon wants him.

Make an ass of yourself, Fields. Go on.

Fields attempts to step away from Johnny, to create space where there is none, but Johnny is a menace, completely obstructing you from Fields.

“Atta boy,” murmurs Simon.

Kyle appears to your right, gently touching your arm to bring your attention to him. You turn, and Kyle gives you a stunning smile. His charm is the perfect distraction, and it takes Kyle no effort at all to herd you away, striking up an easy conversation with you like he’s known you for ages. Fields doesn’t even notice that you’ve disappeared. He’s too focused on Johnny. With a scowl, Fields storms away, heading for the bar. Johnny pivots on his heel, winking at Simon as he makes for the blonde that Kyle was schmoozing minutes ago.

Another hour of this and Simon can take you home. The two of you need alone time. He needs you to listen, to understand that this isn’t a game. On the surface, this entire process might appear trivial—Simon thought so when he first arrived—but eventually, as all authoritative powers do, they sink their teeth in, shaking you around in their maw like a dog toy. Wombs are precious, which is why they’re already shoving this down your throat, forcing you to eat the mandate of genetic contribution all while telling you how good it tastes.

The only choice you’ll have is who. Simon intends for it to be him.

Walking the perimeter of the room, Simon keeps tabs on you. Pretending is the hardest part—faking his disinterest because someone behind a desk wants you to “shop around.” Every glance your way, every step, every word from another man is a threat. From the moment you were brought before him, Simon knew.

You are an opportunity. A way to not feel so alone anymore. He seized it. Cornered you. Staked a claim. From that possession came longing—deep and sharp and bloodied. For Simon, every intimate interaction has been transactional. But with you, he can picture a different future, a path where he has an actual partner and not someone looking for a handout.

Not that he blames any of the women that tried to baby trap him, or the ones that never told their husbands that they cheated. Danger is thrilling for the ones stuck in monotony. They seek escape with him. Others want to ensnare him, bring him to heel simply for their own ends. Simon knows. He understands. Which is why he takes every precaution. It’s why he has a reputation.

Safe Zones bleed with rumor. Civilians eat that shit up, devouring it as quickly as they devour resources. Simon hears what people say about him. It’s no mystery. When women flock to him to seek his bed, it’s easy to sus out who wants a quick fuck and who is looking to get knocked up. Simon always indulged the sex but never took it farther. They never wanted him. They never wanted Simon.

“See the new military ordinance?” Kyle saddles up to Simon’s left side, taking a sip from his cup.

“You’re not with her,” observers Simon.

Kyle inclines his head. “Price is with her.”

Frowning, Simon glances around the room, seeking you. It takes a few sweeps before he locates you near the far wall in animated conversation. The tension in his shoulders dissipates some. In terms of rank, Captain Price is one of the highest in the room. That authority alone will deter anyone from cutting in.

“Surprised he’s here,” replies Simon.

The middle of Kyle’s brow furrows. “The old man isn’t married.”

“No,” says Simon slowly. “But he donates.”

Kyle bursts out laughing. “No shit?” He shakes his head. “Wanking on the weekends.”

“Don’t we all,” comments Simon which only makes Kyle laugh harder.

“Wonder how many little buggers are running around with Captain’s genes.”

“Probably more than we think,” muses Simon with a chuckle. Glancing away from you and Price in deep conversation, Simon changes topics. “What’s this about a military ordinance?”

Kyle’s humor dissipates, replaced by exasperation. “Excessive force.”

“What about it?”

“Use of force must match level of threat,” says Kyle as if he’s reading from a script.

Simon snorts. “That’s nothing new.”

“Use of excessive force against civilians or essential infrastructure is now considered a war crime.”

Simon clucks his tongue. “Sounds like one of the zones was behaving badly.”

Kyle nods. “Bad enough that every zone has to establish a civilian oversight committee.”

“Fucking hell,” growls Simon. “We taking orders from civilians now?”

Kyle shrugs and downs the rest of his drink. “Talked to Price about it. Says military personnel are included in the ordinance. But we’re not the problem.”

“Then who is?” asks Simon. Kyle arches a single eyebrow. Simon scoffs. “Fucking police. Always on a goddamn power trip.”

“Bunch of gits who couldn’t pass basic,” mutters Kyle. “Don’t know the details but Price said it wasn’t good.”

“People died,” states Simon because it isn’t a question.

“Enough that it fired up the Continuity Council.” Kyle takes a slow, lingering look around the room. Leaning in, he lowers his voice until it’s a whisper. “And upped the minimum number of births across all zones.”

“Price confirmed this?”

Kyle gives a quick nod of his head. “Said he’d debrief us in a few days. We might be heading elsewhere for a bit.”

No. No.

You’ll be left unattended. Vulnerable. Up for the taking. Anyone can step in and make themselves at home. Simon won’t be able to stop them.

“Sounds like tyranny,” growls Simon.

“Stinks of it,” mutters Kyle, his mouth curled downward in disgust.

A trio of women saunter by, their gazes lingering on Simon and Kyle in lecherous interest. Kyle sends a flirty wink in their direction, eliciting a few girlish giggles and a fluttering of eyelashes. Simon remains unmoving, expression neutral. They don’t interest him. The only woman he wants is you.

But that future might be slipping away.

“How many days are left?” asks Kyle.

“A few,” answers Simon. “Then she’s on her own.”

Kyle inhales deeply. The exhale is slow—almost a sigh. “You need to talk to her. Make a move before it’s too late.”

“I know,” mumbles Simon, his gaze growing soft as he watches you in animated conversation with Captain Price.

You’re a strong, stubborn thing with a touch of sweetness. There are moments when Simon lingers in memory, when the two of you slept beside each other in that bunk on base. He draws up the desperation on your face, the vulnerability of loss, of how you begged for him to make you feel anything other than the pain you felt in your heart. You were beautiful and soft. Simon hungered to devour every bit of yourself you were willing to give.

If only Johnny hadn’t interrupted. You’d be his right now, and the two of you wouldn’t have to navigate this ridiculous function. There would be no threats, no potential suitors.

Simon checks his watch. “Fucking finally,” he grumbles.

“It’ll work out,” affirms Kyle as Simon heads in your direction.

When you notice him, there is no malice or fear. Your smile widens in pleasure, a clear sign that you’re happy to see him. Hope renews itself, pushing down on Simon’s worry. There is every possibility that things might not go his way, but you continue to gravitate toward him. You will choose him. Simon only needs to make you understand.

“Time to go,” he murmurs, placing his hand on the small of your back.

You melt into him, leaning into Simon’s touch as you gaze into his face. Pride blooms in his chest at how quickly and easily you respond to him. There is no asking—no commanding. You are drawn to him, effortlessly seeking him when he’s close.

“Finally,” you sigh, your gorgeous smile softening. “Thought you’d never rescue me.”

Captain Price inclines his head, a knowing glint in his eye. “Have a good evening.”

When Price is out of earshot, Simon leans in, drawing you closer to him. “Ready?”

“Yes. Please, Lieutenant.”

The way you say his title pleases him. Even when you’re angry, even when you say it with venom, Simon adores it. He wants to bottle up the tone of your voice and bathe in it.

With a gentle push at your back, Simon shepherds you away from the noise and drudgery of societal expectation. There is only the two of you walking in quiet contemplation, simply enjoying the mutual company. While you don’t hold his hand, you stroll along the pavement close to him, your arm occasionally brushing his.

It's not until the two of you enter your temporary flat that Simon drums up the courage to push the issue.

“How was it?” he asks, shutting the door behind him.

Simon steps up to you, helping you out of your coat. “Fine,” you reply. “Better than I thought it would be.”

“Not a social butterfly?” teases Simon.

“No,” you laugh. “Not when it’s forced and with people I don’t know.”

“That’s fair,” murmurs Simon, hanging your coat on a hook near the door. “Family planner will want to hear about it.” The annoyed groan that bursts from you makes Simon chuckle.

“Joann can go fuck herself.” You rub at the back of your neck, rolling it back and forth. “She’s pushy.”

“That’s her job,” replies Simon dryly. You turn, narrowing your eyes in annoyance. “Not justifying it, dove.”

You drop your hand. “Probation isn’t over and she’s up my ass about finding a partner. I don’t even know where I’ll be living once it’s up. And I just started work.”

Kyle’s words from earlier creep in. Enough that it fired up the Continuity Council and upped the minimum number of births across all zones.

It’s no surprise the family planner is being pushy. If the United Nations Continuity Council is upping the minimum number of births across all zones, the family planners and localized governments will do anything to incentivize women to increase their numbers to meet the new standard. You’re an untapped resource they intend to seize.

“Contributing to the genetic pool is the first pillar,” states Simon. “It’s expected from everyone.”

“Is it?” you counter. “Or is it only truly expected from those with a working womb?”

You don’t understand the significance of what you’re saying. There are much larger powers at play that don’t entirely care about your opinion on the matter.

“This isn’t a game,” growls Simon.

“Didn’t think it was,” you retort. “But I will not be forced to choose.”

No. You truly are ignorant to how it works.

Simon slides into a calmer tone. “You’ll have to make a choice.” He takes a step toward you. “They will push. Talk around your options. But you will choose.”

“Will I?” you counter. “How long have you lived here, Lieutenant? Did they ever force you to make a choice?”

Simon draws back from the blow. “No.”

“That’s exactly my point,” you hiss, stepping into his space, staring up at him in challenge. “You’re a man. They would never.”

“That’s not entirely true, dove,” murmurs Simon. “They might covet those with viable wombs, but they need healthy, strong donors to fill them.”

The fire in your eyes fades a bit, your gaze hiding nothing from him. Simon picks up on it, glimpsing the hesitation as you process his words. This place is a stranger to you. Isolation has numbed you to the reality of the world and how it functions in the aftermath of so much death.

You lick your lips, glancing away from him for the first time. It’s not a sign of submission. It’s a consideration.

“It’s not the same,” you murmur.

“No. It’s not.”

A few brief seconds pass before you look up into his eyes. “I don’t want to choose.”

“I know,” he answers softly. “But it doesn’t matter what you want.”

It’s far too blunt, but it needs to be said. If Kyle is right, and they might be leaving shortly for a new mission, Simon needs to have this conversation with you. Bringing you gifts and asking to kiss you might be small steps toward his goal, but they won’t be enough if he leaves for an extended period.

“The fact I have to choose at all is ridiculous.” Your voice breaks, and it hurts him to hear it. “The pillars preach autonomy but contradict it in the next breath.”

Desperation clings to you—holding on like a sickness that just won’t clear the system. Simon understands your frustration, he accepts your anger with it all, but some battles are not achieved alone. Sometimes, you must mold what you have and make it work.

“Picking someone is better than fighting.”

“It’s not a choice, Lieutenant! It’s an illusion.” Your outburst softens into a murmur. “I shouldn’t have to.”

You’re not drawing back from him—not fleeing. Taking a chance, Simon shifts closer, fingers itching to touch you, to feel your skin against his.

“That’s the reality, dove.” You scoff, turning away. Simon reaches out, grasping the back of your neck, forcing you to look him in the eye. “But as long as you pick, they’ll think you’re trying. They’ll leave you alone for a while.”

Even now, your eyes water. Tears are threatening to fall. Simon longs to chase them away.

“And what happens when there is no baby?” you counter. “What happens then?”

Simon’s answer is immediate and laced with finality. “There will be.”

“Really?” you guffaw, clear disbelief in the way you snort. “With who?”

With me.

Simon remains silent. You’ll figure it out.

The deep creases in the middle of your brow start to smooth as your facial muscles relax, shifting from disdain and stubbornness to surprise.

“With you?” you whisper. Your lips part, eyes darting across his face as they seek any hint of confirmation.

“I told you I’d protect you. Provide for you. Keep you safe.”

Your head shakes slightly in abject refusal. “I—I don’t—”

“When they make you choose,” continues Simon. “Who will you be safer with?”

“Don’t, Lieutenant.”

“Who do you think will be patient?” he pushes.

“Stop.”

“Me? Sergeant Fields?” He pauses. “A stranger?”

You attempt to pull away, to remove yourself from this conversation. Simon stays steady, his grip on your neck firm and unmoving.

“I’m done talking about this,” you say, nearly begging.

“But the family planner will ask,” murmurs Simon. “Joann will want to talk.”

Genetic contribution, the rebuilding of society, are veins sunk deep in the very fabric of this new world. Genocide and war will do that. Near erasure of an entire people cripples everyone. There is a reason there are so many rules and regulations now. There is reason in the spreading of cultures across the globe, equally divided among Safe Zones. Isolationism and puritanical eugenics brought the world to a precipice. Then it pushed everyone into the abyss. Even the ones that believed these ideals would save them suffered.

There were no winners. Just carnage and scorched earth. And the remains of civilization.

“Just go home, Lieutenant. Just—go.”

Your voice is breathy, tinged with grief. You’ve right to be angry with him, to blame him for ripping you away from everything you know. It was selfish. Simon won’t deny that. To pursue you after is pure greed.

“Look at me,” he urges, coaxing you with gentle timbre. You shake your head, refusing. “Look at me, dove.” With the lightest touch, Simon taps your jaw with his thumb. It’s brief, a ghost of a thing, but you respond to him. “You’d be safe with me.”

Your mouth forms a sad smile, and it’s an answer unto itself. A revelation. An epiphany toward revealing what you’re truly thought all this time.

“But can you make me happy?” you ask. Your stare is piercing—seeking answers and reassurance.

Simon doesn’t lie. Not to you. But sometimes he twists the truth.

“In time,” he sighs, tilting your mouth toward his.

Maybe you believe him. Maybe you don’t. The only concrete reaction Simon can gleam is your refusal to choose, that in the end, you will have an option. For now, you do have the option, an opportunity to select the man who will father your children. But if you keep denying—keep pushing the decision off—someone will be assigned to you. And if Simon is gone, if he’s away at another zone, it won’t be him.

“It’s not enough.” You place your hands on his chest like you’re going to shove him away. But there is no pressure. Just your palms against his pectorals.

He needs to frame this differently, to give you reason to pick him over anyone else. The truth of the situation isn’t working. For whatever reason, you’re denying it, believing that all will be fine, and your autonomy is intact. When it comes to life in the Safe Zones, this is true. But genetic contribution is their top priority. It is the one thing they won’t budge on.

Drawing you close, he drapes his arm around your lower back, his hand splaying wide across your hip. The way you surrender to him, how you melt and form to him with gentle comfort, should be enough to persuade you. How the fuck do you not see it?

“Then why do you indulge me?” he asks softly, bringing his face closer. You sigh with contentment, eyelids closing, head tilting to welcome him. It takes all but a single kiss. You fully collapse into him, your splayed hands moving upward to hook behind his neck. “You like this,” he rasps against your lips.

“It’s—it’s just a bit of—” Simon’s hand falls to your ass. Squeezing, he nips at your bottom lip. “—comfort,” you manage to gasp out.

Simon nuzzles the side of your face, lips brushing your cheekbone. His hands roam, and with each exploration, you press into his touch, little moans of pleasure falling from your lips.

“You begged for me once,” he murmurs. “Spread your legs and welcomed me.” Simon’s hands slip beneath the hem of your blouse, fingertips caressing bare skin. “You tasted so good,” he continues, licking his lips in remembrance.

Blood rushes downward, hardness becoming an intense, throbbing need. You shiver as his fingertips trace an upward path, and then moan when he palms your breast, thumb brushing over the nipple, bringing it to stiffness.

“Do you want safety with me? Security?” Simon palms your other breast. “Pleasure?”

You whimper, hips flexing as if to grind against him. Words mean nothing in the face of action. Denial dripping from your lips are empty, hollow shells when you surrender to him like this. How close he is to making you his.

Mine.

Always mine.

Simon’s hands descend—retreating. In the haze of lust, you drift upward, emerging as if from a dream. Deep in the recesses of his mind, Simon captures this, storing it away. When you’re bare and riddled with post-orgasm euphoria, is this what you’ll look like?

“I can’t,” you breathe. “I won’t choose until I’m ready.”

Stubborn as ever.

There are no more kisses, no yearning touches. Simon gently cradles your cheek and lightly presses his lips to your forehead. The ticking of the clock on the far wall is an incessant reminder.

Time is fleeting. And it is not his ally.

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live-love-be-unique · 2 months ago

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P. R Nightmare

Series summary: A public relations job typically involves managing an individual or organisation’s reputation and building relationships with the public and media. It generally does not include superheros, terrorist organisations, middle-aged Russian super soldiers who breach media regulations and crushing on a client/ coworker.

This is a Robert (Bob) Reynolds x fem!reader series

Warnings: fem!reader, afab!reader, no specific details about reader appearance are given. Specific warnings will be provided at each chapter.

After battling the New York subway system — which you’re pretty sure had a vendetta against you — you’d made it to your office later than you’d liked. There had been no time to stop and grab a coffee and breakfast from your favourite little cafe near your office, so you’d have to contend with a stale granola bar that you were hoping was still buried in your desk behind some notebooks and a coffee from the communal kitchen.

“You’re late,” your assistant whispered as you walked in.

“I know, I know.”

“There’s someone in your office.”

“What? Who?” You were certain you didn’t have any meetings until at least 11am, you glanced towards your office where you could make out the shape of someone sitting in front of your desk.

“Congressman Barnes, he’s even more handsome since the last time he came by.”

“Aren’t you married, Dorris?” You smirked, she’d been nursing a crush on him since he’d last stopped by your office.

“Barry doesn’t need to know,” Dorris waved her hand dismissively, smirking as she answered her phone.

While it wasn’t uncommon to find someone waiting for you in your office most mornings, most visitors didn’t come bearing a steaming hot cup of coffee, “You join a new team and you’ve given up on the suits? You’ll break Giuseppe’s heart.”

“He’ll live, I’m sure you’ve referred other senators to his tailoring and I’m pretty sure you get a kick back on each suit he makes,” the man chuckled as he watched you walk around your desk and take a seat. “Hi kid.”

“What do you need Barnes?” You lean forward, resting your head on your hands, offering a wry smile, “I doubt you’re here to discuss the finer points of haberdashery?”

“I’m here to offer you a job,” Bucky says, placing your coffee in front of you.

“Last time you offered me a job, you wanted me to help you impeach Valentina de Fontaine,” you eyed Bucky as you took a sip of your coffee. Valentina had been a little too good at covering her tracks for anything solid to actually stick, the hunt for anything incriminating had dragged on for months. “Is this caramel?” you asked, savouring your first mouthful of good coffee.

“Of course,” Bucky sighed, running a hand through his hair. “This time it’s a little less…political. The team needs an assistant, someone to handle the public relations.”

“Really? You were all doing so well,” you smirked. “I saw the Wheaties boxes.”

“Alexei’s idea.”

“The Russian guy?”

“It was his dream,” Bucky shrugs. As he stands he places a file on your desk, “Think about it”

You watched him leave your office before picking up the file, it contained a dossier for every member of the Thunderbolts.

Bucky’s was first, heavily redacted as you’d expected. You knew a little of his past, or at least what he had shared with you while you had helped him with his campaign, but he had kept the details of what had happened while he was under control of Hydra to himself.

John Walker. Former decorated army ranger and Captain America for a short time before the murder of a civilian in a public setting led to his less than honourable discharge.

Yelena Belova. Former Red Room trained assassin with the Black Widow, working as a contract killer for Valentina before the Thunderbolts.

Alexei Shostakov. The Red Guardian, Captain America’s counterpart in Russia. The one behind the Wheaties box…and ‘encouraging’ people in supermarkets to buy them.

Ava Starr. S.H.I.E.L.D operative turned mercenary who could phase through objects due to a constant state of molecular disequilibrium. You made a mental note to look that up later.

And…Bob? You turned Bob’s, Robert Reynolds’s, part of the file over to find that the page in your hand, containing next to no information about the man, was it. There was a picture — he was cute in a boy next door kind of way — and a few sparse details about the man but nothing more.

You quickly closed the file as your office door slammed open, your 11am meeting had finally arrived. Some trust fund baby who wanted you to fix his public image to keep him out of prison. He was charged with several assault counts, all of which he argued were the other person's fault and daddy’s money had brought him two hours of your time.

After his time was up, he had offered you his number like it was some kind of reward. You declined and dialed a familiar contact.

“Barnes? When do you need me to start?”

#bob reynolds x reader #bob reynolds #robert reynolds x reader #robert reynolds #thunderbolts*#robert bob reynolds #P.R Nightmare

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softaestluv · 4 months ago

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Sticky When Wet

Three times Ghost swore he hated honey with his tea and one time he admitted he couldn’t live without it.

Alpha! Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley x Omega! Reader

Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, Omegaverse, Alpha/Omega stereotypical behavior, Scenting, Angst, Miscommunications, Denial, Simon is bad at feelings, Possessive behavior, Jealousy, Size difference, Eventual smut

CW: This chapter does contain a little bit of non consensual touching of the face & harassment. However, Ghost is not the one doing it.

Pt. 1, Pt. 2 of 4, Pt. 3, Pt. 4 | masterlist | ao3

It’s not that you needed someone to look after you, truthfully. You weren’t some weak omega who needed an alpha’s protection— Ghost’s protection.

Ghost just so happened to find himself in these situations; he didn’t want an omega to protect.

Maybe he was lying. Maybe.

However, he couldn’t sit and do nothing about it; his alpha wouldn’t let him, not when it involved you. He could only stand there and listen to a group of trainees rave about you, your honey scent, for so long. They were supposed to be training, but all they seemed to focus on was your lithe frame across the gym and your tempting movements.

Ghost didn’t even know why you were here. Why you chose to work out at this specific time for everyone to see. You didn’t need to work out. You worked in the cafeteria on base; it’s not like you were about to be deployed. Not like Ghost would even allow that to happen if it were possible.

You didn’t need muscle; he was all the strength you would ever need, enough for the both of you. You could remain soft and squishy, plump in all the right places. Just like an omega should be, supple flesh, bulging curves for him to hold, squeeze, use as leverage.

Yet there you were, across the gym during training, for all the recruits to see for some reason. It’s like you fucking wanted them to ogle at you. Ogle at the pretty omega working out in an outfit that seemed too small to be proper clothing. Shorts that barely covered the curve of your ass, rising every so often to reveal a sliver of plump skin during certain movements. Fitted shirt that cinched in the front, deep neckline jutting the fat of your breasts out.

Simon didn’t even want to acknowledge the rest. He didn’t care about it, really. Didn’t care that the plump flesh of your thighs jiggled with each new exercise or how your breasts bounced softly, tauntingly.

He didn’t notice any of it.

Didn’t notice the sweat cascading down your precious skin or how it collected in your collarbones, cleavage, or upper lip. Covering your body in a glistening sheen. Ghost didn’t see any of that; he didn’t even care enough to spare you a glance.

Why would he? He could fucking smell your stench miles away, even through the other alpha's strong scents.

The tones of sage honey and sweet tangerine remained, but now a natural musk joined. An overwhelming scent of sweat and exhaustion intermingled with your sweetness. Ghost supposed you would smell that exact way during sex, though it lacked the arousal that would seep from your scent glands. Tainting the saccharine smell raw and tempting.

He didn’t know what the big deal was. Why all the other men couldn’t keep their urges in their pants to save their lives. No one else complained about your pungent aroma; instead, they seemed to do the complete opposite. Foaming at the mouth like they’ve never smelt omega before. Like your scent was divinity on earth.

The perverted men almost disgusted him more than your scent. Enraged him when they talked about you like you were their dessert.

“Jesus, training ain’t so bad when you get a pretty little show like that, huh?” A recruit laughed, gesturing to your form on the yoga mat.

“You got that right. Practically wearing nothing too,” The second alpha added, smirking wolfishly in response.

The first recruit clapped the other on the back, pulling him closer to mumble to him as if Ghost still couldn’t hear the deceitful words he wanted to share, “Like she wants us to watch her. Especially with that honey fucking scent, begging for our attention.”

“Watch her? She’s probably close to her heat. She's desperate for one of us to fuck her,” the other chuckled.

Ghost's skin was already burning, scalding his bones, but those words, even the thought of another man taking you during your heat had him seeing red. Your heat of all times to take you. When you were so desperate you’d take any alpha that was willing. Regardless of their ulterior motives, regardless if they wouldn’t take care of you the way Ghost would.

You wouldn’t be able to think straight during your heat, just searching for a mate who could knot you, and the fact that the other alphas even thought of taking advantage of your vulnerable state made him seethe with rage.

Besides, Ghost is the only alpha that could take care of you the way you need.

Not like he wanted to help you through your heat.

But at least he would honor your boundaries; your limits. Give you what you craved the way you wanted, not the way he did. Make your throbbing pain go away with his thick knot, keep you nice and satisfied on his cock.

Not like he wanted that.

He was appalled by the thought of your honey scent. Disgusted by the thought of your honeyed slick coating his knot, drenching him sticky, squeezing him tightly.

“Little petite thing too; she’d be easy to make obey.”

God.

Simon was sure there wasn’t a god, but just hearing those words had him hoping there was a higher being to control his actions. Unfortunately, the trainee was right. You were petite. Small structure, lithe frame, dainty little figure. Easily overpowered by every alpha in this room, by Ghost. Tiny little thing in comparison to his massive body. Which is why you do need an alpha’s protection, especially from these men.

You would obey. Though not because you wanted to but because your instincts had no choice but to submit to an alpha’s voice. Simon wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t use his alpha voice with you; wouldn’t even let his scent seep into the room. Intense training had taught him how to control his scent; he would keep the room as sterol as possible keep his dominating scent to a minimum so that your decision was ultimately made by you and not instincts or hormones.

One of the men walked to you, bending over your lying frame on the yoga mat. His dark shadow loomed over your body as you looked up in shock, sliding your headphones off. Simon couldn’t tell what the other man was saying from here, but his jaw ticked in irritation watching you chuckle lightly at whatever he said, sitting up from your lying position.

The man reached out, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear as he iterated smug words to you. Ghost’s alpha snarled loudly in his chest, plotting the other man’s death for even putting his fingers on your pure skin. Tainting your purity. Your scent instantly soured, natural musk turning into apprehension and fright.

Ghost's feet were moving before he even realized, alpha urging him to do something to eliminate the threat to the omega. His hand gravitated to your chin, tilting your head to look up at him. The nervous energy seeped off you, your irises drowning in anxiety as you flickered your eyes at him.

“Hmm?” The alpha hummed, “A dainty omega like you should have an alpha to fuck you through your heat, no?”

You gulped thickly, “N-Not gonna go into heat anytime soon. I’m on suppressants.”

That sentence had Ghost swallowing just as loudly. If this is how strong your scent radiated off you on suppressants, he couldn’t even imagine how strong you would smell off of them. Honeyed scent already ruined his black tea, ruined his food. Made his head throb in irritation and disgust from how overwhelming your sickly sweet scent filled the mess hall. He was sure his head would pulse erratically, probably explode in frustration, if he ever smelt your raw, unfiltered scent. Nauseate him to the core with how sweet you would smell, rot his teeth from one breath.

“What a shame,” He continued, “Though, doesn’t mean you still don’t need an ache met.”

“I’m not looking for that right now,” You mumbled weakly, fingers fiddling with the hem of your shirt as you avoided his domineering gaze.

“No? Why not? I could give you what you want,” The sergeant continued despite your obvious apprehensions.

“Sergeant.”

The man's eyes snapped up to Ghost’s, raising his eyebrows at him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ghost snarled, practically yelling in anger, rage purposely seeping through his scent glands to ward off the other alpha.

“Just talking to this little bird is all,” He responded, smirking proudly as he rubbed his thumb over your chin.

A motion that had you flinching away slightly. A motion that had his alpha growling loudly in warning, balling his fists. A growl that had the other man halting his movements.

“Do I need to take this up with Captain Price? Or would you rather I address this issue myself?” Ghost gritted through his teeth, holding in the urge to solve the problem by ridding him of this Earth himself.

“No, s-sir. You don’t have to tell captain,” The other man stuttered, confident tone disappearing as Ghost stood over him, skull balaclava casting shadows on his face.

“No? Then get the fuck out of here before I use you as an example during sparring.”

The sergeant nodded swiftly, running off just as all the other men had when they met Ghost’s wrath. You shifted from foot to foot, wearily looking up at him.

“Why do you let them do that?”

“Not to sound rude, sir, but I’m not letting them harass me. They just do it. Can’t really fight back against an alpha. I mean,” you chuckled lightly, hands gesturing down your body, “Not really built for that.”

Simon clenched his fists tightly, focusing on your doe eyes so his irises wouldn’t follow your movements, trace every curve on your body. He knew you weren’t built for that. God, did he know. But your dainty frame was definitely built for other things.

“Maybe if you didn’t parade your scent around they wouldn’t approach you so often.”

Your brows furrowed, just as they did in the cafeteria, confusion blooming on your face once again, “Sir, I am doing no such thing. I’m on suppressants.”

Ghost sighed, eyes twitching in irritation, “Next time, come get me. I’ll deal with them.”

Your face flushed a pretty pink, swiping your tongue across your lips, “You don’t have to-“

“Come get me.”

His gaze pinned you to the spot; end of your sentence evaporated from your lips as he interrupted you, nodding your head in agreement.

“Thank you for always looking out for me.”

Ghost grunted in acknowledgment, turning around to walk away, but you grabbed his sleeve before he could, stopping his movements. He looked down, your lip pinched between your teeth as you avoided his gaze.

“Um, is there a certain way you like your tea?” You asked, tiny hand awkwardly falling from his arm.

“What? Why does that matter?”

“Well, I always see you drink it in the mess hall, but if you want anything added I could always mix it in for you. Like milk.”

You paused, eyes shifting to find his.

“Or honey.”

Ghost almost grimaced as you said the word. Voice dripping in the same sugary warmth of your scent.

“Your scent already sweetens it enough as it is.”

The pink on your cheeks bloomed red, spreading to the tips of your ears at his words.

“I’ll try my best not to anymore, sir.”

And if the next day the mess hall smelt sterile, void of all sage honey and sweet tangerine, Ghost didn’t care.

If you served him a tray with scent blockers covering your scent glands, he didn’t feel guilty.

If he drank his black tea, it didn’t taste stale, didn’t lack any sweetness he craved. He was grateful even; he could finally drink his tea plain, just how it always should’ve been.

If he just so happened to leave his cup of tea untouched that day, it was simply because he wasn’t thirsty. Not because it burned his tongue bitterly.

Tag List: @terrifiedanimegirl @night-girl-301 @identity2212

#cherri writes #fanfic #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #simon riley x reader #softaestluv #call of duty #ghost x reader #cod #simon ghost x reader #sticky when wet #alpha simon ghost riley #alpha beta omega #simon riley #simon riley x you #cod x reader

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acid-ixx · 1 year ago

Note

How do think readers relationship with each of the batfam would be had they not been neglected?

what if...? ft. domestic headcanons w/ your family

series masterlist &. request masterlist — long post ahead !

reblogs and interactions are encouraged and appreciated.

a/n: 6400+ words, no beta i'm genuinely insane. help i literally thought abt this yesterday !! i may or may not post a drabble about this one specific dream the reader had about where they had a normal relationship with the batfam but at the same time i want to implement it in the next chapter instead so have food for thoughts instead! slight spoilers below. also please do comment and reblog if u like this ! ^^ supporting my writing just makes me further motivated to write even more !

if you were never neglected by your own family, then i could say that the process of them turning yandere would be a tad bit better or worse. i'm saying, because of your past and because of an incident during your elementary years (that could've been avoided if your family actually never ignored you; so let's assume that that incident actually never happened but it opened a gateway for an even more protective family) the batfam could easily be either a dream or nightmare.

let's say it was bruce and dick who had picked you up from the police station. the moment he sees his own firstborn child, all his thoughts would circulate from just how broken and hopeless you absolutely looked, how the injuries litter throughout your entire body, the way your empty eyes stare at anything.

the child, his child, looked exactly like him all those years ago. he knows just how painful it is to bare losing all your loved ones.

he wouldn't hesitate to approach your form, immediately picking you up and letting your head lean on his shoulders as dick follows in tow, cooing about his significantly younger sibling.

that would be the first time dick would call you his baby bird, with the way you'd stare at him with mixed emotions in your eyes.

if him and dick were to hear about what happened to you inside your old apartment from the police (drugged and abused by the same men who took your mother away from you), then be guaranteed that batman and nightwing would be more brutal during their patrol afterwards (dick would even take more weeks off from bludhaven just to care for his younger sibling), even going as far as formulating a plan for your captors, having oracle stalk each and every person involved in your life.

if anyone thinks the vigilante would abide by his no-kill rule then they're wrong, because he'd turn a blind eye for once if dick were to brutally stab someone at any moment. why? because batman will not settle until his own child's attackers are thrown into putrid prison cells with no guarantee that they'll see the light of the day. the criminals should be grateful that red hood isn't even in the picture yet.

your father would be more perceptive of your emotions if he had never neglected you. he will always be the one giving you rides, he'll shield you away from the mass media trying to take photographs of you— and you're getting carried throughout the manor if your little body were to even express fatigue.

bruce wayne wouldn't admit it, but he absolutely cherishes you and your youth. he had adopted dick and grayson when they were above the age of ten, when they were already growing some sort of consciousness about the world they live in. but you? you're so small and you have so much to learn, your innocence is something bruce would protect. you'll be absolutely coddled by your father, your grandfather figure, alfred, and your oldest brother, dick. even future members of the family knows just how important you are maintaining their sanity.

that means you have the manor in the palm of your hands. you had a nightmare tonight? don't worry, your dad would always be one step ahead of you and would immediately be in your room. hell, if you were comfortable enough, you'd be sleeping in the same bedroom as your dad for the first few years you'll live inside the manor. he'll read you bedtime stories if you want and even have alfred prepare you warm milk or chocolate before you go to sleep. his entire schedule would also be centered around you, making sure that he would always arrive on time from business meetings to have dinner with you, and coming home early from patrols. if he leaves the manor before you're set off to sleep, then he'll be giving you a good night's kiss whilst alfred would be the one substituting for your nightly bedtime stories.

you may call him overbearing once you start to notice the signs the more you grow older, but your father will always track your sleep schedule - he even makes you wear a watch that records your heart rate - from the moment you drift into dreamland to the times you get nightmares— he makes sure the food you eat before dinner is light, booking appointments with nutritionists to make sure you're healthy. he even does specialized training with you, for self defence and to also maintain a healthy lifestyle.

and dick grayson? his visits to gotham would be more frequent. even if his relationship with bruce is strained, he'll always be in the manor faster than you could say 'i miss you' to your older brother on the phone. he loves coddling his baby bird, especially since you were adopted right after jason's death; dick doesn't want a repeat of the past, always making sure you get proper cuddles and affirmations.

spending time with dick means you get all the power to draw on his arms or face or make arts and crafts with him. he enjoys it when his baby bird is at their comfiest state so even if you were seated on the floor, there would always be cozy blankets that count as your chairs and snacks right beside you. you could ask him to get something for you and he's right at it.

he would be the older brother who normalizes physical affection in the household. dick would constantly kiss your cheeks, your foreheads, and any injuries you would obtain (a habit that even bruce adopted once your dad realized how it's an effective way to soften your cries and ease your heart). he's not afraid of picking you up even! always tossing you to the air under alfred or bruce's supervision whenever you feel down. dick would always hold your hand, too, as an assurance that your beloved older brother is always there for you.

you'd probably ignore all the red flags he carries around because of how early he shows off his signs of obsessiveness. so don't question it if him and bruce wouldn't allow you to go to sleepovers with your other friends or if sometimes, just sometimes dick feels the need to just have you in his arms for hours without end after particularly brutal patrols. you're the only person holding him up and if he doesn't breath in that reminder then he might just lose himself.

your brother would literally prioritize you over anything else. he can and will pick you up from school, he makes sure nobody in your class is there to bully you, he'll spoil you with sweet treats whenever bruce is too busy with business meetings. he wants to be seen as your favorite ever since he's discovered himself to be your idol, so he'll always show off his acrobatic skills for your eyes only.

whenever dick would say "i love you!" it always translates to, "if you want me to, then i will give you the world." which means he'll drop anything he's doing right now the moment you invite him over to design your diaries or sketchbooks.

your talents very early on would be heavily acknowledged by your family. that means any single drawing or craft you'd do, whether poorly done or not, would be stored in very protective places or shows off in every crevice of the manor. any father's day gift from you would be framed in bruce's personal office, a personal reminder to him that you are the light at the end of the brooding tunnel he puts himself in. so even if he can't always be there for you, he will always have you in his mind and in his heart.

your existence in the manor would prove to be a healthier way for bruce to cope, for him to get his mind off of the loss of his second child. whenever he looks at you, he'll always be filled with a determination to protect gotham from any further danger, to save the city - if not himself, then for your sake, for his baby to feel safe whenever they would walk on the streets, for his baby to feel protected whenever you two would eat in fancy restaurants or go shopping for your diary's supplies.

criminals would immediately get the message that messing with you means getting on the bad side of both batman and nightwing. you may be the child of bruce wayne, (name) wayne, but if they even think of kidnapping you for ransom then they should pray; pray because if batman's baby even gets a single nick, a single droplet of blood on their body then they're gone. there's no such thing as holding back if it comes to you.

now, your older sister figure, barbara gordon, despite her constantly being busy because of her role as the oracle, would find ways to at least entertain you whenever you would visit her in the batcave. if you feel like your father's overprotective nature and your older brother's coddling is too much, then she will be offer you solace by her side. she may not always be physically there but you two are as close as you are to the other members of your family because you're a creative one. it's not often barbara gets to spend time with someone like you who enjoys having her as a muse for your art pieces. she allows you to also style her hair, and if you like to design clothing, then she'd be your model for as much as you want.

barbara is also your go-to for when dick and bruce are both unavailable. she lets you watch her hack through multiple security systems, explaining concepts that you don't understand. and, because she's the most emotionally stable out of all of them, you'd prefer gossiping to her about your school's drama compared to dick, as she actually gives you helpful advice!

well, little do you know that she had already hacked your school's camera footage and wired multiple recorders on your bag but you don't have to know that! after all, barbara wants to keep the only sane person in the household safe and happy. she's not openly obsessive towards you, but whatever secrets you have that don't compromise your safety are secrets she promises she will bring to the grave. that means if you ever have a crush on a someone then she will hide it from the others.

... that is until you actually end up trying to get into a relationship too early for even her eyes then she won't hesitate sending out the signals to bruce and the others. she can't afford exposing her younger sibling to heartbreaks and emotional attachment towards strangers! so do forgive her if there are times where you feel like there's someone constantly watching your back, because she is that someone; with all the intentions in the world that you wouldn't have to go through what she did with the joker or any other villains who could whisk you away from their arms.

it's obvious that, of course the oracle will use all the power in her hands to guarantee all eyes are on you, so that there would never be an opening for any danger towards you. even if you do know that she's the one in-control of the strings, there's not much you could do but accept it.

then there's tim drake. your brother who had stalked batman and nightwing just to prove a point. his parents are alive and he's fine being on his own, but fuck it if he prefers being in the wayne manor! once you're introduced to tim, he's immediately researching about the first biological child of bruce wayne. and thank god bruce requires the two of you to become familiar with each other because you're just so interesting to him, you and your curious eyes, your small habits— the way you shift in your position as your father's hands are clasped on your shoulder protectively.

tim can already feel himself blast off in excitement just solving the mysteries about you! yet he doesn't know it in himself that the longer you spend time with him, the more the urge to just stitch himself into your very life grows stronger.

if you were never neglected by your own family then you would instead be analyzed constantly. tim is just another set of eyes constantly watching you, but unlike the others, he picks off every single detail about you to a T.

you, your interests, your hobbies, your favorites, your friends, you name it; he will have an entire collection of case files on everything, picking apart your very mind to the seams. it's like he's eating up the information about you, spending sleepless nights researching about a movie you two would watch soon, because the look of amazement in your eyes feeds the growing love he has for his sibling.

at first he'd never understand why bruce and dick seems so smitten towards you other than the case regarding your mother. but he slowly starts to understand why— because just like him, you're perceptive of his well-being. if dick isn't around then you're always the one hanging around his room, visiting him with snacks in your arms or an invitation to watch a cartoon show.

he likes doing your assignments for you, especially your projects even if he neglects his own duties for his own school. and despite how emotionally constipated or unaware he seems, he's obsessed with your personal life. that means you don't even have to rant to him about school drama or your friends or crush because he can and will know it. what he doesn't like, though, is when your attention is towards anything but him. he may not be the most physically comfortable to cuddle but he will offer you his jackets which he would end up not washing right after you use them, instead he wears them, feeling closer to you than ever.

it even lulls him to sleep for the times you're unable to sleep over at his room.

tim may not know how to comfort you like dick whenever you wake up from nightmares but he does know ways to avoid them; he knows a lot of strategic methods to get you drowsy after a moment's panic.

bonus points if you cuddle him afterwards! he loves the warmth that you emanate, loves it when your body leans against him and makes him feel so important. tim loves it when you snuggle him unknowingly, tightening your already bruising grip on him, he loves reciprocating it too, feeling a special bond with his sibling that not even his parents could offer.

though he doesn't openly tell you that he loves you, he does so in his own ways! you don't want to see an entire photography room dedicated to his younger sibling— most pictures contributed by tim. you don't want to see the terabytes of files that are all about you and your interests, millions of video imagery of just you sketching or writing diary entries, sometimes eating or rambling senselessly. you don't know it but tim loves playing the videos of you in the background, especially the ones where you're humming a tune or singing a lullaby; those are his favorites.

it's not his fault that you're just so interesting to him, that your presence is so comforting, that you're the only person closest to him that has the ability to make him melt into you, unknowingly succumbing to your spoiled wishes.

jason todd comes into the picture later, and he is a very enraged man. he's mad at his replacement, at bruce, at you, at the entire universe.

at first he just doesn't understand anything. he doesn't understand why bruce finds it so easy to not only replace his status as robin but to also bring in another child, who's valued and loved more despite not taking the mantle of robin. he's mad at just how quick he was replaced, how it seems like bruce never avenged him, and yet if he threatens your safety then the old man suddenly turns violent towards him?!

jason wouldn't bring you into the fray, because you're unaware of the entire situation, but fuck, he doesn't understand why you are just so cherished when he'd watch the news and sees your picture plastered all over the reporters' walls, talking about the child who bruce never allowed to separate from his side. they talk about how you're the sheltered one, the hearthrob of all media with just how clingy the billionaire is towards his supposed younger sibling.

he's not jealous, he gets why bruce is protective and smothers himself all over you; but he hates feeling replaced, feeling discarded and forgotten by the very man who'll avenge your death if that ever happened.

hence why he has to see it for himself, has to see you for himself. it's a coincidence, a miracle actually that he just seems to easily find you by the kitchen of the manor— a manor whose aura is now different from last time, it seems like it now reeks of life, of personality. clearly you were the main cause of all of this.

you could simply be reading a book and sipping your nightly tea, but jason would soon realize just how... vulnerable you are at the moment. you find him hiding in the shadows and all you offer is a wide stare with no sense of self defense whatsoever. it's the same vulnerability that he sees off the cruelest streets of gotham. you're exactly like the innocent kids who get brutally murdered without justice, just like the children who have never once gained penance for the torture they had to experience just living off of personality.

jason isn't a dumbass, living near the crime alley means hearing the gossips of every citizen. your name, or preferably your last name is famed even in the underground. your mother is infamous for catching the attention of most crime lords by running off with their cash, successful staying hidden to care for her child, just right until she met her untimely demise. you lost her early just like how he lost his mother early as she had fallen victim to drug overdose.

he'll discover why gotham's vigilante seems to be so protective over you. the way you carry yourself, the warmth you give off as you offer him your leftover dinner despite not

you told him that your dad taught you to never talk to strangers— but clearly he's not because "how else would you be able to trespass the millions of security alarms in the manor? you must've lived here before." you'll state as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, sipping your drink before you offer him a seat next to yours, unafraid of the dangers that lie ahead of you—

"you must've really been pampered by the old man, huh?" is all his reply, the voice changer of his makes him sound naturally intimidating, like he's ready to attack but no, that's not his intentions with you. he'll take a seat beside you, try to make out what book you're reading and that's when he knows that you truly have no idea that it's your dead brother who's talking to you. you have no idea of his resurrection whatsoever as you start to mumble off about the novel— he finds it quite amusing that, finally, he's not the only guy who enjoys literature in the family, even going as far as to recommend his own fair share of favorite novels to you.

once he leaves out of the window after a seemingly long session of talking, definitely aware that yes, bruce does have a microchip inserted under your skin, and the watch you're wearing has a voice recorder that sends recordings straight to the batcave's system; jason takes note to visit you more often, finding the normalcy you offer very welcoming.

he likes it, likes your mellow behavior. he'll even admit that you're the only proof that bruce can, in fact, raise a child right, even if that means tracking their entire life. but that's the old man's love language, and jason knows it in himself that he's already planning for a way to take you to ride his motorcycle at night without bruce's knowledge; just so his angel knows the feeling of gotham's breeze flowing through their hair since bruce seems to love dictating your every move.

once he does form a solid plan to take you away, even just temporarily, you don't have to worry about the criminals who litter the streets because jason made sure that nobody's gonna mess with him and his angel's bonding time together.

the youngest, damian wayne, and the second biological child of bruce is a special case. his upbringing as an assassin makes him susceptible to his fits of tantrums. the first time he steps foot into the manor is the same time he will threaten anyone around him; and that includes you, the bastard child. quite frankly, your first greeting with him would be the same as the one in the original storyline, you'll greet him with a tray of sweets in your hand and a small smile and he'll reply with a sword on your neck. but the difference would be the undeniable fact that dick and bruce immediately stopped him from even nicking your delicate skin.

dick's swearing was shut down by alfred's scolding and you, again! pulling on your oldest brother's sleeve with an assurance that you're okay.

that's the very first time he sees his father truly reprimand him with nothing but rage in his eyes. despite damian's annoying antics towards his father the entire day, it seems like you were the snapping point.

his father, bruce wayne, made it very clear that he can mess with anyone and everyone in the family but you. that you have nothing to

his only reply would be a sneer as he demands they take him to his room immediately, unable to shut you down when you offer to help bring his luggage despite bruce's firm unwillingness and dick's hesitant request that his baby bird should instead spend time in his room instead.

but it was always your word above everybody else's and damian hates that, hates that everyone just seems to succumb to your request as long as it doesn't compromise your safety. the bitterness that keeps resurfacing in his heart whenever he sees you wearing tim or dick's jacket, or if he caught sight of bruce giving you affection was a feeling he tried to convince himself wasn't jealousy.

not jealousy towards you, no, but towards them. your behavior towards him was nothing but kind, a kindness that was taught to him as weakness. he thinks you're weak and undeserving of being spoiled and yet he hates it whenever he sees his blood sibling (whom he called a bastard child so many times) become too close with anyone but him.

he hates it, he hates you and his conflicting feelings. he hates it when he pushes you away, hates it when he sees you pout after another failed attempt at trying to have your youngest sibling talk to you.

and as the days or even weeks pass by, with all your effort to try to bond with him, with the days where he can feel dick's energy drain because you insisted on spending time with damian instead of dick again, with tim's intolerable treatment towards the him because you chose to bother damian instead of that loser— are the days he feels himself actually becoming closer to you because he relishes in your insufferable behavior towards them, because you just seem so sweet to him.

damian feels that it's right that you make him the exception.

so it's inevitable that damian will eventually discover both your talents towards art and the love for nature. it's a mistake, really, when one day as he stalks through the hallways he'd find you in your own atelier, painting a portrait of a robin with a color scheme that matches his vigilante suit. the beams of sunlight seems to hit you just right because you looked so at peace with your surroundings, humming a tune, unaware of your youngest brother who has found himself at your most natural state.

he'll budge in without moment's hesitation afterwards, steering clear behind you as he analyzes your art. it would only be after a few minutes would he announce his presence in the room, expecting you to scream at him to buzz off but all you did was jump in your seat, looking back to eye the intruder only to find out it was damian all along, offering him a smile and a seat beside you.

after he does so, you'll both end up spending the entire day bombarding each other with art tips and animal facts. he'll give you comments about the bird's proportions and you give him guidelines on how to properly mix your colors without it looking muddled. it's like you two are meant to be siblings because damian swears he ended up clinging to your side after your painting session, refusing to even seat beside anyone during dinner time if it isn't you because he's not done rambling about the rainbow eucalyptus you had told him you'd seen in a nature documentary once— so it's rightfully his place to be beside you and not drake's or grayson's or even his father.

eventually you two would be as close as peas in a pod because you're seemingly the only one who knows how to calm him down, the only one with the right to raise your voice at him and to ask him of favors because you're his blood sibling. and because you both share the same blood, that means you both should share clothes that complement each other, share snacks and treats, share matching bracelets and necklaces and any jewelry, you're the only one allowed to hang around his room and him in yours.

the others find it annoying that you let him be, but what choice do they have? unless they would like to hear an earful from damian then they should stay silent because you both aren't done painting each other's nails yet!

stephanie brown is shortly introduced to you after her incessant insistence on meeting you right after stepping foot into the manor. she knows of your internet fame for being the beloved bruce wayne's 'favorite' child and she's not afraid to admit that you are indeed adorable in person! unlike your first meeting with damian, steph would immediately coddle you at first glance, insisting you call her by 'steph' and that

due to the short period of time as her robin and her being constantly reprimanded for her antics, you'd take it in yourself to become closer with her, and she accepts your offer without any complaints. she's also one of your muses for your art and it's a good thing she has a sense of style unlike your brothers who are either too flashy (you had to stifle a laughter looking at the discowing costume) or too dull. damian's fashion sense is good but he's often out during the time period you spend with steph, and even if she often doesn't stay still, you at least hsve someone to talk your ears off whilst you try to sketch the poses she chose.

her obsession towards you stems from your willingness to "match her freak" or whatever internet lingo she finds that day, but she's a fun company to be around! she's always there for you when you need to rant about anything regarding your feelings, especially since you're at the age where you're a teenager and your emotions towards your family would be all over the place and she'd relate the most towards that.

so other than barbara, you'll find yourself speaking up about any concerns you have to steph, and she turns your 'favoritism' towards her her entire personality.

but if you think of even spilling your secrets about a highschool crush to steph or news that someone had asked you out for prom them then spoiler alert! don't. like her mentor, steph will drop signs and clues and your brothers would promptly deal with that. awe, don't worry about feeling alone though or if you weren't permitted to go to your highschool prom because steph and babs will be the ones to convince bruce to throw you your own very elegant gala where you would dance with only your siblings!

see, isn't she so strategic that way? psht, you don't need a boy or a girl acting as your temporary reprieve when your entire family is there for you! steph is here for you and you did technically promise to go out with her today to go shopping so...

it's not that she isn't on your side, no! but you're very much the entire family's baby and she doesn't want you losing your attention on her, definitely not! her goofy personality towards you really does cover her intense urge to be by your side really well. unlike damian, it's not obvious that she's trying so hard to monopolize your time for herself but you're just so fun to be around and she's at her best behavior when it comes to you.

so what's wrong if she ditches her other friends to bond with her beloved sibling? it's not like they'd understand what it's like having someone who actually looks at her for her rather than just the surface level.

don't question why most of the gifts she had given you (which ranges from attires like jackets and shles, to matching bracelets, even little fidget toys) all don a shade of purple and blue! and don't also question why her gallery is filled with cute selfies of you and why your phone's lock screen wallpaper is now suddenly matching with hers.

after all, steph likes making it known that you are her favorite!

cassandra cain, when she first saw you, is, of course, silent. but she makes her presence known quickly after she has enough proof that you've no fight in your body. she may not be the most expressive in words but she is through actions.

you were actually the one who had first approached her after bruce initially introduced you two to each other, offering her a handshake and a greeting in sign language. albeit it being crusty, and her insisting that it's alright if you do the talking, it seems like you were more than willing to learn sign language just for the sake of your new sister and she likes it.

she really, really likes it, appreciates how there were no signs of malice in your movements and just how comfortable you seemed with someone who could potentially end your life with just a snap of her fingers. and yet you treat her like she's not a weapon of murder but rather another sibling who is welcomed into your own world.

you ask her if she wants to hang out with you and steph in your own personal sleepover inside your room and she accepts it because of just how comforting your presence is. it's been so long since she had last felt like she was treated as a human and you were proof that she's glad she never took the path to human carnage like her father intended her to because then she wouldn't meet someone who would soon be so precious to her.

cass may not talk a lot but she is a listener.

a listener to both your words and your body language. it's quicker for her to notice if you ever needed a hug or a catalyst for comfort. she knows your boundaries and when you need space the most. she knows it when you want to open up to her about how stuffy the manor is beginning to feel, how it feels as if they're becoming more sensitive about your social life, how you wish your friends aren't distancing themselves from you because of how intimidating your family is.

and you can say all that to her because cass, alongside duke and sometimes steph, would be the only ones keeping your deepest darkest desires to their grave. although she may not understand your reasonings on why you even felt like your family is coddling you too much (because they're not! they love you very much and she does too) in the first place, she's always the one offering you to hold her hands whenever you're going through a momentary panic attack or a shoulder to lean on whenever dick would scold you for something impulsive you've done.

unlike your neglected counterpart, cass would always be by your shadows, watching every one of your moves and to abide by bruce's order to make sure you wouldn't escape, shall you ever feel rebellious during your teenage years. you may be older than her but she's stronger than you, more experienced and can even combat your dad if she wants to.

yet she always seems to let her guard down when it comes to you because you just seem to have that alluring effect on everybody. can't you understand just how important you are to everybody? you're the most important to her, you're one of the first few people who had treated her like a human so she swears on her life to protect you from harm's way like you did her whenever she's often in a pit of despair.

cass isn't the most expressive, so she makes up for it by instead leaving signs that she really cares for you, or sometimes hiding little trinkets for you to find in your room. it's like her very own message that translates 'cass was here'.

whenever you sit beside her at the dinner table, she always slips in extra food by your plate without you looking or sometimes even filling your glass bottles with extra juice and you'll never know why until you realize that it's her way of telling you to eat more. sometimes, your clothes would go missing until you see your sisters wearing your own collection of jackets and hoodies then swapping them in your drawers for their own— you'd realize that cass got that idea from steph and you can't get mad at her or anybody else as it soon becomes tradition that you'll have an entire closet dedicating to the missing clothes you have that your siblings have replaced to their own attire.

cass really does love you and although she can't always say it out loud, you'll always have a constant reminder instead. as long as you're safe and sound then you don't have to witness the darker sides of her that she hides from you.

then finally, duke thomas. he may have been introduced to you the latest but you could say in terms of every trait, he'd be the brother you'd like to keep close for every situation. your first meeting with him is quite frankly the most normal one of them all, introducing yourself to duke through dinner. although he may be temporarily under bruce's guardianship over anything else, he's incredibly comforting to be around as he's quick to catch on your emotions but unlike the others, he doesn't push you to open up to him, but he won't leave your side at all either.

duke is the only metahuman you're probably allowed to be close with because your dad absolutely refuses you from even trying to talk with the superfamily. and duke heavily prides himself with that information, often secretly showing you his metahuman skills and answering whatever questions you have about them.

like jason, duke wouldn't fully delude himself into thinking you're innocent, that you need to be babied to the point they feel the urge to track even the food you eat— so he's your reliable source for any video games you were forbidden to play or any movies dick would consider too gruesome for you. he's chill, he even sneaks you unhealthy chips once in a while which makes him automatically one of the top in your tier list.

but don't think he's entirely on your side, because whilst duke seems the most normal to you - the only sibling who wouldn't smother you in blankets the moment you accidentally cut yourself with a kitchen knife - he's also batshit crazy for his own sibling and he'll sacrifice a lot for you two. so if you even dare try to suggest an idea that duke knows would risk not only him, but especially you, then that idea automatically is relayed to your dad and you wouldn't really want your father's gentle scolding anymore.

you can try to find a loophole to go out with him though! if you want to eat batburgers outside then you can do so when he's at his patrol, seeing as how he's the only batkid who does daytime patrol and that's way safer than eating at night, no?

so do expect spending more time with him the most outside, other than with dick and damian, but you'll be forced to sit in the sidelines where nobody can lay their hands on you whilst duke would be busy fighting crime and afterwards treating you to ice cream like he didn't just 'accidentally' and brutally body slammed a criminal into the wall for giving you heart eyes.

'most normal member of the family, my ass' would be the first thing that pops into your mind, but hey! at least you didn't have to be always locked up into the stuffy manor, right...?

at least you get to spend time with all of your siblings and a very loving and attentive father..!

little did you know that the only reason they allowed you out is to give you this false sense of independence, slowly but surely planning for the ultimate day where they truly would lock you up away from the world.

but they just can't help it, you know? the media's greedy hands are starting to take more than they could; so many eyes are on you and danger awaits at every corner in gotham— they can't afford having their beloved being pried away from their arms.

so is it truly a blessing or a curse in disguise? you don't know anymore.

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darkwitchoferie · 6 months ago

Text

Train Ride

Summary: You start off as just Chan’s beloved girlfriend and end up in bed with all the members.

A/N: This is an expansion of a little oneshot I wrote on Tumblr. Link here. It is specifically an expansion on each of the scenarios in the oneshot, and maybe an additional chapter or two after that. Also, timing wise, this story does take place in the spring/summer. Seungmin’s chapter involves a baseball game and that’s a specific season. So, in case you wonder why anybody’s hair doesn’t reflect their current styles – that’s why. There are, at the moment, 8 planned chapters. That could change.

Also, for you - @skzficpriv for your comment on the original oneshot and therefore the encouragement to actually finish writing these out. Thank you darling!

This post contains sexual content, read at your own discretion.

General cw/tw for the whole fic, not just this chapter: talks of consensual somnophilia, free-use reader, unprotected p in v sex, vaginal sex, talk of and thoughts of sexual fantasies, anal sex between members, oral (m & f receiving), exhibition/voyeurism (thought not actually in public), polyamory, multi-partner sex, established relationship between Chan x fem Reader as well as between Han x Lee Know. 2nd person POV (you/your). I think that's all, might need to add more later.

wc: 2923

Master list

Chan tossed the wet cloth he’d used to clean you and himself into the hamper then lay back down beside you, tugging you over so you could curl comfortably into his side. He chuckled at your feeble protests at being moved, which stopped as soon as you felt the warmth of his bare skin against yours again. You burrowed in, pressing your face to his side.

On a yawn you muttered, “Wish we’d invite the boys to play with me,” before going limp as you faded into sleep.

Chan froze, looking down at your sleeping face. Surely you didn’t mean what he thought he heard? You couldn’t possibly mean that you wanted the rest of the group to join you two in your bed. Right? He thought about shaking you awake and asking, but knew that was pointless, you wouldn’t be any more coherent until after a full night’s sleep. He tried to calm his mind, reassured that he’d be able to ask about it tomorrow, and eventually fell asleep.

He woke up later than he intended the next morning. Quietly rushing around, so as not to wake you before you needed to be up, he didn’t even remember what you’d whispered until he was walking into the JYPE building and caught sight of Felix and Seungmin walking ahead of him. He stopped in his tracks in the lobby, your sleepy words playing on a loop in his head as he watched his two friends head for the elevators, unaware that he was behind them. He shook himself out of it when one of the company’s security guards tapped him on the shoulder. He thanked the man, saying something about not sleeping well, and made his way up to the recording studio he was expected in.

On his way up, he thought over his reaction, both just then in the lobby and the night before. If he’d been posed a hypothetical question like, how do you think you’d react if your girlfriend said she wanted your friend to fuck her – his immediate reaction would’ve been to say he’d hate the idea. He was possessive of you, everyone knew it. But that wasn’t the way he’d reacted to your words. Instead he was … interested might be too strong a word, but definitely intrigued. He resolved to compartmentalize it in his mind and focus on work until he could talk to you about it.

That lasted for maybe an hour. Until Minho groaned in frustration at getting the English wrong again and Chan’s mind immediately, and without conscious decision, jumped to wondering if he’d make similar noises while fucking you. That single thought started the spiral for him. After that his mind wander and he started to wonder more. What would Hyunjin’s face look like when he sank into your cunt? Did Changbin have as much of a thing for tits as Chan suspected he did? Would Felix's voice go deep or into his higher pitches?

And what about you? Would you make the same noises if Jeongin was the one fucking you as you did when it was him? Would you whine the same way for Seungmin? Who would be whinier – you or Jisung? He was absolutely sure Jisung was loud during sex and now, he was allowing himself to wonder exactly what sounds he and the others would make.

Now that he was thinking these thoughts, he was also recalling every interaction you’d had with the other members recently. How Jeongin’s eyes trailed after you when you walked around their apartment. Or how Jisung’s and Felix’s hugs lingered, something he’d always chalked up to both boys being tactile people to begin with. How Changbin’s hands slid just a little too close to your boobs when he hugged you from behind without actually touching them. Or how Hyunjin always insisted you were the best pose model for whatever he was working on and that he needed an otherwise empty room to focus. The way Minho would look at you sometimes and how similar it was to the way he looked at Jisung and they all knew the pair of them were sleeping together, despite not officially being a couple. How Seungmin didn’t even pretend to shy away from your touch if you happened to be sitting beside him during group gatherings. Or a million other things that he was suddenly looking at in a different light that made him wonder.

He had never really thought about defining his sexuality. You’d asked him about it once and he said he was attracted to people, not their gender. But he had admitted to you that, at the time you got together, he had a bit more experience with guys than with girls, which he’d chalked up to being a trainee throughout puberty. But he’d never allowed himself to delve too deeply into any attraction he might feel for his members, fearing it would make him awkward around them. Now though? Now it seemed that your half-asleep comment had lifted a lid off a box in his mind and all sorts of thoughts were tumbling out.

When they stopped for lunch, he made the seven of them leave ahead of him, playing it off as wanting some privacy to call you. The truth was, with his thoughts spiraling into the territory they were, he was hard. Very hard, and there was no way he could stand up from the desk and it not be obvious. He took several deep breaths, screwing his eyes shut, clenching his hands into fists, and tried to will away his boner. Eventually, he called Hannah and that helped instantly, putting him back on an even keel.

Then came dance practice in the afternoon and that put his mind right back in the gutter. Any body roll or anything that looked even vaguely like a hip thrust had him internally struggling with new images. Once, he excused himself to the bathroom and had to take care of his problem before it became too evident. Or at least, he hoped it hadn’t been noticeable.

The day ended earlier than usual, owing to Hyunjin and Felix both having separate photoshoots. While normally, Chan would take advantage of the early end and head back into the recording studio, maybe with Jisung and Changbin, maybe without them, this time he headed straight for your apartment.

“Channie!” You grinned up at him from behind your computer set up in the living room. One of the best perks, to your mind, about working from home was the ability to move your set up out into the living room or kitchen, or really anywhere that wasn’t your home office for a scenery change. “Everything okay?” You could tell immediately that something had your boyfriend edgy. Hopefully everything had gone well at the company.

“Yeah, everything’s okay. Almost done for the day?” He nodded at your computer.

“Just about. I was gonna make a pizza, do you want to pop it into the oven while I finish up?”

“Yeah, baby girl. That sounds perfect.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head as he walked by. He paced the length of your kitchen and back again as he waited, first for the oven to heat, then the pizza to cook. He could hear you working on your computer and didn’t want to interrupt, but he really needed to deal with everything that had been going on in his head all day. Now, surrounded by the familiarity of your apartment, nothing changed. He was still thinking about his friends and wondering how you’d look pinned under Changbin, riding Seungmin, or bent over for Minho.

By the time the pizza was done and you were shutting down your work laptop, he still hadn’t decided if he should just ask you about it, or if he needed to fuck you first, to at least get himself somewhat under control so you could have this conversation. He heard you packing away your set up and taking it into your home office, so he sliced up the pizza and brought two plates out into the living room.

“Thank you, baby,” you grinned at him, sitting beside him and snuggling into his side while you both ate.

Normally, your proximity like this would calm Chan, no matter what kind of day he’d had. You’d snuggle into his side, and he’d relax back into the couch cushions. Not this day. The fingers on his free hand tapped incessantly against your shoulder or the back of the couch. He kept shifting around and could not say at all what show you’d put on the tv.

You waited, somewhat patiently, sure he’d tell you what was going on after a while. Meanwhile, Chan was wondering how the hell to even bring it up. Eventually, you got tired of waiting. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

You sat up to look directly at him. “You’re edgy, babe. Like you get when something’s bugging you. What is it?”

“It’s not…. It’s about what you said last night, before you fell asleep.” At your puzzled look, he said, “You don’t remember?”

“Channie baby, I’m lucky I remembered my own name by the time you were done with me last night.” Smug, Chan grinned and puffed up his chest. “You’re going to have to remind me what I said.” You grinned, playfully rolling your eyes at his smug grin.

“You said, um…. You said you wished we’d invited the guys over so they could play with you too.” Your mind raced. The pair of you had talked about fantasies before, but you’d never voiced that thought out loud, afraid of how Chan would react. Would he think differently of you? If you denied it, would he even believe you? Was he disgusted by you? Or would he think you had or would be willing to cheat on him? Maybe he’d just get really possessive and fuck you into the couch and afterwards you could both pretend you’d never said anything.

Your thoughts were racing so fast that you didn’t realize the time for denial had passed. At least until Chan says, “Baby girl? Did you mean it?”

“I, uh… no?” You tried denying it, but no one would believe a denial that came out sounding that unsure.

“I think you did. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day, baby. Do you know how hard it’s been to get any work done today with these thoughts?” With your terrible denial, Chan grew bolder. You looked away from his face, biting the edge of your thumbnail out of nervousness. When you looked down, you noticed the bulge in his pants. Your eyes widened and shot back up to his face. “Do you have any clue how hard it’s been, all day?” He asked, pressing a palm against his clothed dick. “Hearing Minho groaning into the mic? Seeing Hyunjin roll his hips and wondering….” He trailed off, eyes darkening as he realized that your mind had immediately followed his train of thought and now you were thinking all the same things he’d been thinking.

“You’d… I mean, you’re not upset? That I’ve thought about them, like that?” You asked in a small voice, still somewhat unsure of exactly where this conversation was headed.

Your bed, it turned out, was where the conversation was headed. Chan had gripped your hips, pulling you onto his lap and hungrily kissing you without another word. He’d damn near torn your shirt trying to get it off as quickly as possible before groaning when he realized you hadn’t bothered with a bra that morning. You arched into him as he closed his lips around one nipple, teasing the other with his fingers.

When you started to roll your hips against the bulge in his pants, he’d stood up with you in his arms and swiftly strode to your bedroom, tossing you onto the bed and following right behind you. He didn’t give you time to get your bearings or get situated before he was tugging off your lounge pants and panties. His lips were back to roaming on your neck and chest as his hands smoothed up your thighs, pushing them apart so he could slot himself comfortably between them.

You’d gone from nervous to turned on so quickly that you were struggling to keep up with him, eventually just giving in and letting yourself feel his fingers, lips, and tongue, rather than try to keep track of exactly where your boyfriend’s roaming hands were. Until you felt the pad of his thumb pressing against your clit. You gasped, arching and trying to press yourself harder against that single digit.

“Aw, is baby girl needy?” he teased.

“Channie, please.”

He grinned, leaning down to nip at your collar bone. “You have to do something for me though.”

“Anything,” you agreed, desperate to have him. He pulled completely away from you and you whined. Then you looked over and saw he was standing so he could strip himself. As soon as his boxers were kicked off, you reached for him, pulling him back to you by his wrist.

He claimed your lips in a hungry kiss, right hand sliding down your tummy, over your hip, and covering your pussy. With less gentleness than usual, he dipped first one, then two fingers into you. He didn’t spend much time prepping you, just thrusting his fingers into you a few times before deciding he couldn’t wait anymore. But as wet and turned on as you were, you had no problems stretching to accept him.

He bottomed out inside you, your legs wrapped around his hips, him propped up on his hands and leaning over you. Before he started moving, he said, “You have to tell me what you’ve thought of.” At your blank look, he elaborated. “You’ve thought about my friends. Tell me what you’ve thought about. You said you wanted them to play with you, but I’m sure you have details.”

You groaned, partly embarrassed to be having this conversation but mostly because that was when he started to move. He started off with long, slow thrusts, letting you feel every inch of him dragging through your walls. You knew he’d been turned on by his own thoughts, but part of you was still nervous how he’d react to your fantasies.

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“How could I possibly be mad at you?” he countered.

It took you a while, between your moans and gasps, but you finally told him your favorite fantasies. “I want them to use me,” you started off. “Whenever they want. Like when I’m wearing the necklace you bought me so you can fuck me whenever, wherever. I wanna do that for them too.” You gasped, arching against a particularly hard thrust. “Let them fuck me when I’m asleep after a long day like you do. Or – oh God – call me to the dance studio or recording studio ‘cause something’s not going right so you’re all stressed.” You dug your nails into Chan’s back as he leaned down and bit your neck, sucking a deep purple mark into the skin there. “Wanna cock warm Lixie while he’s gaming or Minnie while he’s reading. Be passed around to everybody during movie night. Wanna ride Bin’s thigh after a workout, when he’s still all sweaty. Let Hyune paint me naked or paint on me, then fuck him.”

As Chan’s thrusts got rougher, it got harder to speak, but you kept going at his insistence. “Wanna – ah – wanna sit on Ji’s face. Suck on Innie’s fingers while he fucks me. Let Minho bend me over the balcony fence so I have to be real quiet.”

Chan had your legs bent up so your knees were at your chest when you finally clenched around him, orgasm rushing through you. Every scenario you gave him, brought him closer to his own orgasm and he followed right behind you, the warmth of his cum flooding into you. He brought your legs down, gently massaging your thighs as you both worked to catch your breath.

With a burst of courage, probably encouraged by how he’d reacted to everything else so far, you decided to tell him one final fantasy. But still, you wrapped your legs around his hips to hold him to you, just in case. “I’d be happy with all that, and more. But I’d like to date them too, if they wanted.” You got quieter as you spoke, suddenly afraid that he might think you thought he wasn’t enough for you.

Chan shifted against you, not moving away, just shifting so he could look up at your face. “I wondered, earlier today, and probably before if I’m being really honest, about kissing them. Think I’d like kissing Lix or maybe Hyune the most. Well, no, maybe most is wrong.” He sighed, shifting again and resting his head between your boobs before he continued. “Point is, I know you love me. I love you too.” He kissed the side of your boob. “But I am totally okay with one or both of us dating one or a couple or all of them.”

You relaxed your legs, letting them drop to either side of his hips. Then started gently carding your fingers through his sweaty hair.

A short while later, as you were cleaning up in the shower, Chan asked, “So, would you want to try to see how many of your fantasies we can bring to life?”

#skz smut #stray kids smut #skz x reader #skz ot8 x reader #bang chan x reader #yang jeongin x reader #felix x reader #hyunjin x reader #changbin x reader #kim seungmin x reader #lee minho x reader #han jisung x reader

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literaryvein-reblogs · 7 months ago

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How to Read a Scientific Article

THE THREE-PASS APPROACH

The key idea is that you should read the paper in up to 3 passes, instead of starting at the beginning and plowing your way to the end.

Each pass accomplishes specific goals and builds upon the previous pass:

The first pass gives you a general idea about the paper.

The second pass lets you grasp the paper’s content, but not its details.

The third pass helps you understand the paper in depth.

At the end of the first pass, you should be able to answer the 5 Cs:

Category: What type of paper is this? A measurement paper? An analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype?

Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases were used to analyze the problem?

Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?

Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions?

Clarity: Is the paper well written?

Purpose of the Sections of Empirical Articles

Section — Use it for

Abstract — This is a great section to read to find out if the article will be relevant to your own research.

Introduction — This section gives you an overview of work that has been done on topics relating to the hypothesis of the article, and will often lead you to other relevant work that has been done in your area of interest.

Method — This section will help you understand the design of the experiment. This is particularly useful if you'd like to replicate the study.

Results — The results will tell you what the author/s found in the course of their experiment.

Discussion — The discussion section is typically easier to read than the method and results section, and it will help the reader understand the implications of the results of the experiment.

References — This is a great place to look to find articles that are related to the one you are reading. If you're looking to build your own literature review, the references are a great place to start.

The Anatomy of a Scientific Paper

Some initial guidelines for how to read a paper:

Read critically: Reading a research paper must be a critical process. You should not assume that the authors are always correct. Instead, be suspicious. Critical reading involves asking appropriate questions.

Read creatively: Reading a paper critically is easy, in that it is always easier to tear something down than to build it up. Reading creatively involves harder, more positive thinking.

Make notes as you read the paper. Use whatever style you prefer. If you have questions or criticisms, write them down so you do not forget them. Underline key points the authors make. Mark the data that is most important or that appears questionable. Such efforts help the first time you read a paper and pay big dividends when you have to re-read a paper after several months.

After the first read-through, try to summarize the paper in one or two sentence.

If possible, compare the paper to other works.

Write a review that includes:

a one or two sentence summary of the paper.

a deeper, more extensive outline of the main points of the paper, including for example assumptions made, arguments presented, data analyzed, and conclusions drawn.

any limitations or extensions you see for the ideas in the paper.

your opinion of the paper; primarily, the quality of the ideas and its potential impact.

The guide below details how to read a scientific article step-by-step.

First, you should not approach a scientific article like a textbook— reading from beginning to end of the chapter or book without pause for reflection or criticism. Additionally, it is highly recommended that you highlight and take notes as you move through the article.

Skim the article. This should only take you a few minutes. You are not trying to comprehend the entire article at this point, but just get a basic overview. You don’t have to read in order; the discussion/conclusions will help you to determine if the article is relevant to your research. You might then continue on to the Introduction. Pay attention to the structure of the article, headings, and figures.

Grasp the vocabulary. Begin to go through the article and highlight words and phrases you do not understand. Some words or phrases you may be able to get an understanding from the context in which it is used, but for others you may need the assistance of a medical or scientific dictionary. Subject-specific dictionaries available through our Library databases and online are listed below.

Identify the structure of the article and work on your comprehension. Most journals use an IMRD structure: An abstract followed by Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. These sections typically contain conventional features, which you will start to recognize. If you learn to look for these features you will begin to read and comprehend the article more quickly.

Read the bibliography/references section. Reading the references or works cited may lead you to other useful resources. You might also get a better understanding of the basic terminology, main concepts, major researchers, and basic terminology in the area you are researching.

Reflect on what you have read and draw your own conclusions. As you are reading jot down any questions that come to mind. They may be answered later on in the article or you may have stumbled upon something that the authors did not consider. Here are some examples of questions you may ask yourself as you read:

Have I taken time to understand all the terminology?

Am I spending too much time on the less important parts of this article?

Do I have any reason to question the credibility of this research?

What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?

How do these results relate to my research interests or to other works which I have read?

6. Read the article a second time in chronological order. Reading the article a second time will reinforce your overall understanding. You may even start to make connections to other articles that you have read on this topic.

Identify Key Information

Whether you are looking for information that supports the hypothesis in your own paper or carefully analyzing the article and critiquing the research methods or findings, there are important questions that you should answer as you read the article.

What is the main hypothesis?

Why is this research important?

Did the researchers use appropriate measurements and procedures?

What were the variables in the study?

What was the key finding of the research?

Do the findings justify the author’s conclusions?

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

#writing notes #studyblr #writeblr #dark academia #spilled ink #light academia #writers on tumblr #literature #lit #creative writing #writing tips #writing advice #research #writing inspiration #writing reference #writing resources

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loveisanimaginarydagger3000 · 9 months ago

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Kinktober Masterlist 2024

Welcome to Kinktober everyone! This is the list and descriptions of all the Halloween fics I have managed to write involving either Wanda, Nat and, in some chapters, even both of them :)

All chapters include 18+ smut and something relating to the spooky season so I hope you all enjoy.

Happy Halloween everyone! <3

All of these fics contain 18+ smut (so MDNI) and all have specific warnings/tags at the start of each so please read these carefully before reading. Some of these one shots contain dark themes so please consider the warnings/tags specified.

1) Madness -Admiring your girlfriend tied up, blindfolded and waiting eagerly for you to play with the new nipple clamps adorning her body, has only one thing filling your mind: how to drive her mad with your touch, how to engrave the feeling of your tantalising lips, teasing fingers and torturous tongue in her mind for weeks. (Dom Reader X Sub Wanda)

Madness G!P Reader Version

2) Pumpkin Carving: Carving a pumpkin with your girlfriend was supposed to be a fun and easy task, well, that was until you got distracted by the sight of her toned arms and her seductive hands, unable to stop your thoughts from remembering how her fingers felt deep inside you. (Dom Natasha X Sub Reader)

3) Trick Or Treat: Knocking on your neighbours door, you were hoping to receive a ‘treat’ from the older woman before her husband and children came back from their trick or treating trip. (Milf Wanda X Reader)

4) What’s Your Favourite Scary Movie?: Whilst on the phone to your girlfriend, the conversation starts off innocently with favourite horror films before escalating down a more sinful path. You tell her how you wish she could be here with you, unaware of the small camera she had hidden in your room, watching as she guides you slide your hands under your panties. (Dark Natasha X Reader)

5) The Devil Made Me Do It: After an unusual dream and the darkhold corrupting her mind, Wanda can’t help but look over at your form, soundly asleep, and wanting to make that dream a reality. (Dark Wanda X Reader)

6) I Promise I Won’t Bite: Ending up in the Maximoff-Romanoff Mansion, you can’t help but be nervous in the presence of both powerful women. Wanda assures you that you had nothing to fear, that she wouldn’t bite, but the same couldn’t be said for her wife, Natasha, who’s smirk showed off her subtle fangs, desire evident in her lustful gaze. (Vampire WandaNat X Reader)

7) One Day A Year: A girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girl can say anything about it. Whilst at a party with your two girlfriends, dressed up in your sinful costumes, the three of you find yourself on the sofa with a blanket over you laps, the two women intending to take advantage of the privacy and how drunk everyone else was, too distracted to notice how your cheeks flushed with arousal. (WandaNat X Reader)

I have not finished writing all of these so I’m not sure what the upload structure will be like. My plan is to post the first fic on Friday and hopefully write the rest of them so I have them all finished by Halloween! (If not I will still write them and just post them as soon as they’re written)

Let me know which chapters you’re most looking forward to! I hope you all enjoy <3

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hivemuthur · 2 months ago

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To Be Known - Ch.6.

viktorxfemale!reader explicit! (and I can't stress this enough, kids shoo!) Modern AU, set in London, current era but not very specific. It's just a love story.

<- previous chapter MASTERLIST next chapter ->

word count: 7,4K (sorry!)

warnings, or rather this chapter contains: attempt at bondage and then light bondage, light verbal degradation, non-permanent marking (light ownership kink), fingering, handjobs, subspace, domspace, aftercare, switch of dynamics (dom/sub Vik + dom/sub Reader), a very very light angst toward the end, YEARNING.

author’s note: This is my take on sub!Viktor. That's it, that's the note :) And as usual, playlist here, @rennethen my beta, massive thank you and artist is @petitesieste ♡

Cross-posted on AO3

—

Viktor doesn’t know when things settled into a routine, but he is very far from complaining. Even though not everything has fallen into the category of easy, the way his little arrangement with you has begun to take shape manages to keep him afloat—amongst the chaos of the Institute, trouble with investors, and all the side work he has to do with Jayce to prove greedy people wrong.

The last goes as expected—slowly, yet steadily. He and Jayce have managed to gather documentation from work they’ve done more times than it was worth, compiling it into a few neat folders. Having Mel on the back end of the plan has helped too, though not without casualties—Viktor had to not only agree to, but express enthusiasm for, a very pressing invitation to yet another social gathering orchestrated by her hand. With everything unravelling close enough to make him relatively content, he deems it a small price to pay, after all.

Another thing that keeps him afloat is the fact that, over the last couple of weeks, you’ve been coming to his apartment in various states—ranging from absolutely enflamed with anger over drama he doesn’t fully understand (mostly involving actors fighting with directors or patrons backing out), to completely deflated, which usually happens at very late hours when the wise thing to do would be going back to Hackney and getting a proper night’s rest. Viktor has to admit, his chest grows a little wider each time you choose otherwise, just to spend a couple of hours with him. And then, on rare occasions, you arrive positively docile—when your work has gone smoothly and without disturbance.

No matter the state you arrive in, though, the state you leave in is what fills him with something adjacent to pride—light, unburdened, a warm smile plastered across your face. The awkward unease of your mornings has fled, shaping itself into something more natural and bare. You are, of course, still skittish, marking your independence at every possible step, and due to that, Viktor is still very much careful. But whenever the haze of discomfort drops low enough for you to muss his hair and give him a sloppy, impatient kiss before you leave for work again, he allows it—no, he welcomes it.

Little signs of settlement are there, all over his apartment—the most obvious one, your toothbrush. The general bag of essentials, containing your sweatshirt, spare underwear (even though you usually bring a fresh pair anyway), a high-collar jumper in case he gets carried away. In the hallway, your warm socks and a pair of trainers he hasn’t seen you wear once, but they are there. There are also things you refuse to bring, like your own shampoo, but he chooses to think it’s because you prefer to smell of him the next day.

This knowledge, as well as many other little pieces, slowly etch their way into his brain like a map of you he has to build from scraps. Starting with the mundane and obvious—your preferred side of the bed, your insane joint flexibility (though here he’s still not certain whether it isn’t something you should get checked), a very firm resentment toward breakfasts, the fact that all your tights get mysterious runs the second you put them on, and the fact that what makes you blush most aren’t the filthiest remarks he gives you but the ones he himself would deem sweet.

Then, sometimes, he gets a glimpse into more serious areas—mentions of your parents and hometown, your firm position on equal chances you try to give theatre creators across the country, the way your social class impacts everything you do, little quirks of your accent when you let it slip into an unguarded tone—those are the tiniest, yet most precious, crumbs he gets given. And day by day, he puts them all together, gluing them into one, while a profound truth shapes somewhere in the periphery of the lie you both have been living in. The lie being: this is all still very casual.

There are moments when he gets to see through the cracks. All of them involve you being at least partially naked—or rather, exposed in a way that leaves the best hidden part of you bare in front of him. From those moments, Viktor has learned the most. And these are the moments when he is not afraid to ask.

Everything he’s learned, he remembers as diligently as his scientific knowledge. Both of them, he’s worked equally hard for. The things you like: cocksucking and cockwarming, thankfully, at the very top of the list—one of the things Viktor is perhaps most grateful for. Light choking, also very high. This provided him insight into the fact that you have no issues with recognising a playful threat as an invitation and a serious one as a warning. Fast learner—that Viktor appreciates as well. Your heart-melting need for handholding once all your guards are down is his utter undoing, and he takes advantage of it shamelessly. He’s also learned that praise mixed with slight mockery can work wonders for your brat-like behaviour. The list remains open and growing.

Then, the things you are not fond of: distance, which you absolutely hate, and have enough nerve to sulk about. Being made to wait also triggers the brat-point meter into dangerously high numbers. Crying, you still perceive as a weakness—you wipe the tears away as soon as they prickle your eyes, much to Viktor’s disappointment. Being told to make a decision, you treat as an absolute chore and sometimes have the audacity to openly whine about it. That, Viktor is not surprised by in the slightest, but he comes back to it occasionally, just to tease you.

At the very far, very well protected end, are the things you don’t want him to see—but he notices anyway. The way you inspect the marks he leaves on you with a lingering smile, fingers ghosting lovingly when you turn in front of the mirror and twist your spine to get a full view of your ass. This he only gets to observe through bathroom door, left ajar. The way you are equally curious about him but refuse to admit it—picking up the books he’s just put down and opening them on the bookmarked pages. The way you no longer ask what some Czech phrases he mutters to you mean—the ones that slip when he’s blissed out beyond control—because you’ve clearly managed to translate them yourself. The way your shared high wears off at similar intervals, so neither of you drops too hard.

These make his heart flutter with something entirely unfamiliar, yet not unwelcomed. As promised, Viktor takes only as much as you grant him, and it feels like enough, so he tells himself it is.

It would be greedy to think otherwise, he believes. It would be greedy to demand more, when—as soon as you see him in the doorway—you obviously force your steps to be dignified, only to let that fake dignity melt away in the first kiss. And the first one is always his dearest, the one you pour all your longing into. It’s the only moment he knows, without question, that you’ve truly missed him through those three, four, at worst five days you two haven’t seen each other. He already associates the thud of shoes being dropped to the floor with something pleasant.

It does inch toward unbearable when it’s five days, but the kiss he gets then is possibly the best. Unhinged. Absolutely greedy. Your hands become greedy as well, usually grabbing his and guiding them to your favourite places—his favourite places. And Viktor doesn’t need to be told twice to undress you.

All of this is why, right now, on another blissful Saturday, his back and forehead are sweaty and he’s growing increasingly frustrated. The entanglement of ropes becomes less and less organised the more he tries to make them form the pattern you both chose. Your sighs, drawn out and distinctly theatrical, are nothing short of unhelpful. He cannot believe that he—possibly a genius, definitely a man who understands geometrical patterns without breaking a sweat—finds the act of rigging not at all exciting. On the contrary, it reminds him of work in a way he would rather not explore during sex.

“Are you alright in there?” you throw over your shoulder, twisting your neck to glance at him from where you're sat in the middle of the bed, arms loosely bound behind your back. He’s certain you’re doing him a mercy; any minute now, you could likely untangle yourself with ease.

“I… yes, I’m just—” he pauses mid-step, rubbing the back of his neck. “Regrouping.” Then, after a beat: “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m just—” your voice cuts in again, dry and amused. “Bored?”

“Oh, thank God,” Viktor exhales, laugh escaping before he can help it, and slumps onto the bed beside you with dramatic relief. “I’m bored out of my mind,” he whines, flopping backward and stretching his arms above his head. The look on your face makes him cackle outright.

“What? It was your idea!” you say, exasperated.

“Well, it seemed like a good one,” he admits, sheepish, flashing you a small smile. “Forgive me.”

“Outrageous,” you huff, freeing your hands with one skilful tug. Viktor’s brows shoot up with incredulity as you toss the rope aside and climb into his lap with the intention of continuing your complaint uninterrupted. “You made me sit here—far from you, I will add—for nearly an hour, and I am the one who has to admit I’m not feeling it?”

“What can I say,” he shrugs, propping himself up on his elbows, “we get to kill our darlings.” His fingers trail apologetically up your thigh, touch feather-light. “At least we can cross it off the list.”

“You can toss these as well,” you mutter, lifting a discarded rope between your thumb and index finger like it stinks.

“Oh no, no, I think I’ll keep some,” Viktor hums, voice dipping low. He leans in and plucks it gently from your hand, eyes not leaving yours. “They can still be useful,” he murmurs. His hands slide behind your back, guiding your wrists together, and you feel the soft pull of rope again, this time with more purpose. He wraps it a few times and secures it with a knot that feels significantly tighter than before. “See?”

“But I can’t touch you,” you pout, twisting a little.

“Terrible, isn’t it?” he says, deadpan, clearly enjoying himself.

“Viktor.”

“All this time and you still think sulking will get you places?” he muses, almost fond. Then his mouth quirks as he adds, “But what am I expecting? You’re just a silly girl after all, aren’t you?”

“Please,” you whisper, rubbing your nose against his cheek, so fast in your surrender. Viktor’s cock already hardening in his pants below you—fully naked. “Please,” you say again, nipping at his lip.

He groans, the sound quiet but unmistakably desperate, and cups your ass with one hand, guiding your hips against his with the kind of pressure that leaves no room for misinterpretation. His other hand snakes up your spine, fingers dragging over the ropes binding your wrists, until he can bury them in your hair and tip your head just enough to claim your mouth fully.

The kiss starts deep—no teasing, no gentle edge to ease into it. It's hunger, plain and simple, drawn out of him like you’ve been waiting with your mouth open since you walked through the door. His tongue meets yours with intent, not chasing but holding, anchoring, coaxing. He breathes you in fully, starving and restless.

Your hips roll down on his, unprompted, and he’s there to meet them, dragging you forward with a firm squeeze of his hand. His cock nudges between your legs, through fabric, and he swallows the whimper you let out. You grind again—instinct, need—and Viktor shudders under you, the kiss breaking just long enough for him to whisper against your lips, “I missed you.”

His voice is hoarse, low, like gravel rubbed between fingers. Your wrists flex behind your back, useless now, and he takes your gasp as invitation to tilt your head again, kissing you harder, this time slower. He pulls your bottom lip between his teeth and sucks gently before letting it go, his mouth hovering just an inch from yours.

“And I’m going to take my time with you,” he murmurs, voice dipping into something molten, made to be obeyed.

You hum against his mouth, a spark of troublemaking sliding under your skin like it’s always been there. “Missed me?” you ask, breath audible as you grind down again, harder. “Or just missed this?”

Your wrists tug instinctively at the rope. His grip on your ass tightens.

Viktor leans back just enough to look at you properly. His hair is a mess, lips wet, eyes steady and burning through you. “You’re getting cocky,” he says, voice still warm, but laced sharper in the edge now. “Is it the rope making you bold? Or the fact I let you speak without asking?”

You smile, crooked and lazy, hips undulating in slow rhythm over him. “I’m just trying to make sure your brilliant mind stays… stimulated.”

His brow twitches up at that, and he huffs a laugh through his nose. “Is that what you think this is?” he asks, slanting his head as if observing a particularly insolent experiment. “You’ve been here,” he says pointing to his lap with a tilt of chin, “five minutes and already you’re trying to get yourself in trouble.”

“Am I succeeding?” you murmur sweetly.

“Absolutely.” Viktor’s smile is all teeth now. He lets go of your ass only to drag his hands slowly up your sides, over your ribs, watching you squirm at the drag of his knuckles. Then he taps your cheek, not hard, but enough to make your eyes snap to his. “You think you’re so clever. You think I won’t leave these ropes on and make you beg properly.”

“I am clever,” you reply, challenging, breath catching when he shifts beneath you again. “You like that about me.”

“I do,” he agrees, lips brushing yours again, cruelly soft. “But I also like when you remember where clever little things like you belong.”

His fingers curl under your chin, forcing you to hold his gaze. “Say it,” he breathes. “Tell me where you belong.”

You hesitate, just long enough for his expression to darken. He leans forward, mouth to your ear now, the heat of his breath enough to make you tremble. “Say it, or I’ll show you.”

You swallow, pulse kicking up against the rope at your back. Frightening, the first thing that comes to your mind, rotten with need. “With you,” you whisper, despite everything you believe. “I belong with you.”

Viktor hums, but doesn’t look satisfied. He leans back again, just enough to run his eyes down your body—his body, his rope, his girl, sitting there with the audacity to provoke him and the gall to think he’d let it slide.

“No,” he says softly, like he’s correcting a student and your heart sinks—both at being incorrect and the fact that now he’s the one denying something you had such a difficulty to admit. “Not with me.” His hand ghosts down your stomach, his fingers resting just above where you’re starting to ache. “To me.”

Your lips part, but he’s already shifting—pushing you gently back onto the mattress. The rope holds your arms behind you, tight enough to bite a little as you land, spine arched to keep balance. He moves slowly, dragging open the drawer of the bedside table, and pulls out a black sharpie.

Breath lodges in your throat, eyes wide. Not fear—something deeper. Heat.

“You think you get to play games with me?” Viktor murmurs, thumbing the cap off with a little pop. “You think you get to run that mouth and stay untouched?” He climbs over you, straddling your thighs, the pen poised in his hand. “You want to be marked, my girl?” His other hand cradles your face now, thumb pressing against your cheek, making you look at him.

“You’ll wear this until it fades,” he says. “And if you smudge it, I’ll do it again. Bigger. Higher. Until the whole city knows what you are.”

His hand slides over your chest, your ribs, your stomach. Slowly, precisely, he starts to write. You can’t see what it says yet—he’s crouched in concentration, tongue pressed to the corner of his mouth, focused like you’ve only seen him during catching up with work in your shared downtime.

When he’s done, he leans back slightly, his palm still resting warm on your abdomen. He shifts you just enough so that you can catch a glimpse of the dark lettering across your skin.

MOJE DĚVČE. My girl.

Below it, in smaller, slanted script:

Patříš mi. You belong to me.

“You know what it means, didn’t you?” he asks, eyes back on your face now. “You knew what I was saying every time I whispered it into your skin.”You nod, and he shakes his head.

“Now—say it.”

“Yours,” you rasp. “I’m yours.” And it’s crushingly soul-baring to you, to admit it, but it does feel right in the moment. You decide you will face the consequences of this little indulgence later, later when your brain is back in the boss state of mind, in the put-together state of mind, the I’ve-worked-too-hard-to-distract-now state of mind. Temporary ownership you can handle.

Viktor smiles then, slow and devastating. “Good girl.” He sits behind you, and the solid warmth of his chest hugs your back. You lean in and rest your head on the slope of his shoulder, your hips cradled between his spread legs. His hand comes down to smooth over your stomach, his breath is a hot whisper in your ear. “Now I get to play with what's mine.”

His hand moves lower, pushing your legs apart, and his calves come to hook over yours, locking you in place. A simple adjustment, yet it makes you feel completely restrained—anchored, tethered to him. Safe and cradled against Viktor’s stomach, his inner thighs, his feet. You exhale heavily as his palm flattens over your leg muscle, warm and slow, drawing unhurried patterns onto your skin.

The first brush of his fingers between your legs is maddeningly soft. Barely there. You tense, seeking more, but he holds you in place, a scold hanging on the tip of his tongue, but instead, he only hums behind you. Lips graze the side of your throat, and you feel the faintest curl of his smile as he begins to circle.

Bordering between gentle and cruel, above all it’s purposeful. Covering as much skin as he can, it’s three fingers flattening over your sex, dipping lower to gather your slick.

“You’ll have to speak,” Viktor murmurs, his voice low, threading its way through your spine. “You know that, yes?”

You nod, but his touch stills. His hand is there, pressed flat to where you keen for him, the tension in his thighs pinning yours in place. “Words,” he reminds, a hoarse whisper. “Your hands are no use right now.”

“Yes,” you breathe, the answer caught somewhere between need and obedience.

A pleased sound rumbles from his chest. “Good girl.”

His hand resumes, fingers finding rhythm again—slow, firm strokes that keep you just on the edge. His free hand rises, settling first at your jaw, then slipping up, thumb and forefinger curling around the sides of your throat. Your breath stumbles in anticipation, something that could be mistaken for fear, but it never is. You fear nothing with him.

It’s a loose necklace of his fingers around your neck, long enough to reach past the borders of your sterno muscles. The weight of his hand is enough to have your head tipping backward, resting on the slope of his shoulder with your throat exposed. His mouth hovers near your ear, breath warming your skin. “Say ‘stop’ at any time and I will hear it.”

You suck in a breath, your bound wrists press into his abdomen, reminding you again just how little space you have to move. But your voice, at least, is still yours. “I know,” you whisper. “Don’t stop.”

“Mm,” he exhales. “Brat, but obedient when it counts.”

Then his fingers press deeper, precise and unrelenting, drawing wet sounds from you that feel too loud in the quiet. He applies the smallest amount of pressure to your throat—just enough to still your breath, never enough to cut it off. Just enough to make you feel the sharpness of every pulse, every twitch, every sensation pooling low and fast in your belly.

You try to hold back, but he knows your tells—how your hips twitch when you’re close, how your breath hitches just before you try to outlast it. “You don’t get to hold it,” he says, low and firm into your ear. “This one is mine.”

Truly, it’s not only this one. It’s all his, singed and marked and he can’t wait to untangle you and have your arms come and drape around his shoulders, you climbing onto his lap and pushing your face into his neck. It’s the most anticipated moment for him—when you are needy and spent and exposed, and he can see the side of you that nobody gets to see. The part that doesn’t have it all as together as you made the world believe, the part that remains after you shed your burdens. The you that he gets to disassemble and put back together two—three times a week when he’s extremely lucky, pure and beautiful and soft, so you can be hardened and strong and relentless when you both say goodbye in the morning. And so he can be patient and kind without feeling weak.

It builds up so thoughtfully with Viktor’s eyes fixed on your mouth, ready for your surrender. As if he’s prepared to read the potential ‘stop’ from the movement of your lips but it never comes. Instead, your thighs flex against his and your back arches, creating a space between your loins and his stomach. Your feet curl and you push against the bindings on your wrists, the burning sensation bleeds, adding to the pleasure between your legs.

The world feels thin when it spills over into a long wave travelling in all directions across your body and has you gasping against him, thighs trembling under the weight of his. He doesn’t let you shy away. Keeps you spread, keeps his hand moving until your moans melt into whimpers, until you sag fully against his chest, spent and breathless.

His hand leaves your throat last, trailing upward into your hair. “There she is,” he says softly. “My girl.”

His girl—tugged safely under a bell jar, where all sounds are muffled, and all worries bounce off the glass surface. He slips the rope off your wrists and closes your legs, rubbing up and down your thighs. You, as on cue, turn in the cradle of his body, climb onto his lap and hug his ribs with your knees, ankles coming to cross on his lower back. Hands tingle once freed and you use that freedom to wrap yourself around him, press your torso into his and rest your nose in the hollow of his shoulder.

Viktor hums, pleased and gentle, when a flat palm travels up and down your spine and another comes to tug at your hair. He kisses your face—your nose, cheeks, jaw, eyes get spattered with soft pecks, slow and kind. He’s always kind, even when he’s mean. Even when he mocks, when he calls you silly, when he calls you a slut, it’s entirely unbelievable with all the affection seeping from his tone.

His warm hands lift the jar and slowly you come back to yourself. One last ounce of neediness, vulnerable and raw tugs at the corners of your consciousness and the words just slip. “Am I yours now?” you ask, quiet and half-submerged, the question sliding out before you can stop it.

There’s a pause. Just a breath, but it stretches.

Viktor stills in front of you. His hand in your hair, his chest against yours—all of him holds perfectly still, save for the way his heart thuds against your heart. He wants to say yes. It's there on his tongue, immediate, instinctive. Yes, of course. Yes, mine, always.

But he knows what that might mean. He knows how far and fast you'd run once you came back to your usual self.

So instead, his hand moves. Down your side, unhurried and grounding. One of his fingers finds the curve of your stomach where the black ink still marks you, and he smears it with a lazy stroke of his knuckle—pulling the words into blur, as if softening the claim itself.

“Here,” he murmurs. “For now. Temporarily.” His voice is low and measured, even as something trembles faintly beneath it.

You shift in his arms, not pulling away but not moving closer either.

Then, quieter still: “But you still belong to yourself. You know this, yes?”

The words are kind. They’re careful. They’re exactly what he thinks you need to hear. What he’s telling himself you want to hear. But they land soft and sad in your chest, blooming just beside the warmth.

You nod. You’re too good at nodding.

And Viktor makes it even worse by explaining, “It’s easier to lose something once it’s yours.” It’s quiet and shy, like a confession he hadn’t meant to make aloud. The notes he made on his copy of Baal ring in your ears—He who demands all is left with nothing.

Then, he cradles you in silence. He even dozes off at some point, head slanting against the bed’s backrest, lips parted in that barely-audible way he breathes when he's too tired to guard it. His arm stays around your waist the whole time, a loose but constant loop. Only when your body cools down enough for Viktor not being sufficient to warm you up anymore, you shift carefully next to him.

He inhales, blinking back to wakefulness. A soft smile tugs at the corner of his mouth as his thumb rubs your cheek. “All good?” he murmurs, voice still husky with sleep.

“Yes, I’m just cold,” you mutter, reaching for your sweatshirt and pulling it over your head, then stepping into a pair of soft cotton pants.

“It’s Saturday,” he hums, stretching his arms behind his head, and the rest of the meaning hangs suspended in the room. You know what he’s asking. “Stay?”

“I would like to,” you say, then glance at your bag. “I have some screenplay reading to do though, if you don’t mind.”

Viktor shakes his head. “Not at all. I have to go through documentation for Jayce.”

“Perfect,” you say, offering a timid smile, and he nods.

You both drift into the living room, quiet but oddly comfortable. You settle on opposite ends of the couch—Viktor with his legs neatly crossed, pen in one hand. You sprawl across the rest of the cushions, your feet propped against his thigh. He doesn’t complain. He just rests a hand lightly atop your ankle and returns to his pages, redlining and humming when something catches his eye.

You, as always, pop your fingers while you read. You murmur lines under your breath, eyes glazed as you stare past him, watching the imagined scenes play out in your head. Viktor never interrupts. He glances at you sometimes, faintly amused, then goes back to his work.

But it’s not enough to quiet the restlessness in your chest. Once the big emotions wear off, all that’s left is cold, meticulous analysis. Dissecting everything. Every word, every look. And Viktor, in your periphery, is too calm for how raw your nerves still feel.

So you stop pretending to look past him. You gather the courage, then ask. “What is it like?” The question leaves you soft, uncertain. Almost naïve. “To be the one in control?”

Viktor’s head tilts. His pen stills in his hand, and he regards you for a moment. Measuring something. “I have a feeling you might know,” he says, thoughtful. Then, after a beat: “But would you like to… see for yourself?”

His voice is soft, almost shy, but it betrays him—he is excited. Curious. His eyes, wide and shining, drill into you expectantly. Then, a thought strikes him. “Unless, of course, you’d rather try that with someone else.”

“No.” The word leaves you quickly, instinctively. The idea of sharing yourself like this with a third party is almost more frightening than baring yourself to him. He does, of course, see right through you but spares you the indignity and only nods. “No,” you repeat, calmer this time.

Viktor tries to smother his triumphant expression, but he’s almost sure he fails. With a smile that feigns encouragement, he shifts on the couch, bringing his foot to rest against the arch of yours. Looking down, he reaches out to hold your palms in his—warm and heavy. You can feel his pulse beneath your touch.

“You can try with me, then,” he murmurs.

Slowly, you rise, your hands still cradled in his. He follows, standing at arm’s length, the two of you facing each other. Then, he steps closer, his hands glide up to your shoulders before giving them a firm squeeze.

“What should I do?” you ask.

“Anything you want.” His forehead presses to yours as he comes closer, his breath warm against your lips. “I will do anything you want,” he whispers—and oh, he means it there and beyond, and hopes that you know.

The golden rim of his eyes is nearly entirely eaten by the black, wanting pupils. His breath trembles as he mutters, “Touch me.”

He guides your hand to his crotch, where he’s already half-hard. Your mouth falls open, eyes dropping to follow the slope of him beneath his clothes. A promise of submission lingers between you—both terrifying and thrilling.

“Tease me,” he breathes, rolling his hips subtly into your palm. “Praise me.”

He rubs his nose along your cheek, his lips brushing yours with every word. Then, in a whisper that feels like surrender—like devotion—he says, “Use me as you please.”

Finally, he takes your other hand and places it at his throat. “I trust you.”

And you are fucking smitten. Breathless, standing there—his cock in one hand, his throat in the other—offered to you freely. He looks at you with nothing but hope and willingness. Gears grind against each other in your head until they stop. Your brain shuts down. All that’s left is the overwhelming need to give him what he’s asking for.

With a steady hand, you undo his belt and tug his pants down, palming him through his underwear. He rewards you with a groan, so sweetly hoarse that it rings in your ears, making you dizzy. Then his eyes roll back as your touch meets the moist tip.

Higher up, your hand cradles the side of his neck, where every open-mouthed swallow flexes his tendons against your skin. Your thumb props his jaw, ensuring he won’t look away. You hold him so dearly he almost melts. A heart hammers in your ears, and you don’t know if it’s yours or Viktor’s.

“Please, talk to me,” he begs, making your breath hitch. His hips stay fixed in place as you tease him gently through the cotton of his underwear, growing more and more damp under your caress.

You yank your hand beneath the waistband and let him rest in your palm for a beat. He twitches and gasps, and you want to freeze this moment—to have it dipped in resin, pressed into an ammonite, carved onto a cave wall on the side of a mountain, known only to you. Possession seeps into your consciousness, wraps itself around your heart, and you wrap your fingers around his cock in tandem with it.

“My sweet thing,” you say. It feels awkward before it leaves your mouth, yet as soon as it’s out, it falls right where Viktor needs it.

“You look so pretty like this.” And he immediately looks prettier—his jaw slackens further, lids grow heavier, and you admire the row of long, dark lashes fanning slowly as he gets progressively more and more drunk on you with barely a touch. Your fingertips brush his balls, and Viktor steadies himself on your shoulders. His lovely weight grounds you, and the moan he spills into your lips tastes almost like love. You wonder briefly if your moans taste the same to him.

More of this, you think.

The temptation to look down is overwhelming, but to lose even a second of those expressions would be a sin. So you fix your eyes on his face, memorizing the arch of his scrunched brows, the wrinkle between them, his parted lips. Emboldened by his need, you move your hand, fingers encircling his head, and Viktor gives you a sound so filthy it has your insides clenching. He is obediently still, yet from the strain in his neck and the grip he has on your shoulders, you can tell how much he’s holding back from rutting into your hand.

“Don’t move. Can you do that for me?” you ask kindly. Something strangled escapes his throat, but he nods.

“You’re doing so well, Viktor,” you coo, trying to mimic everything he usually gives you. Finally, you tug his briefs down, and his cock springs free, slapping against his thigh crease heavily. Another heavenly sound you have to remember.

“Would you like to help me?” you whisper, presenting him with your palm under his chin, and you don’t even have to specify what it is that you want from him. He spits and looks up at you, waiting for praise. It’s there at the tip of your tongue. It’s there—you can hear yourself saying it—it fights to get out, and you don’t have the strength to keep it in.

“My good boy,” you say softly, thumb brushing his lip, gathering the string of drool still connecting his mouth to your palm. And oh, Viktor moans, his eyes flutter, and you have to resist resting your forehead on his.

Your hand comes down to slide across his cock, and you can feel the jolt of pleasure that travels all the way from his stomach muscles to the tip. He’s so painfully hard, so untouched, the underside vein pulsing under your fingers each time you brush it on your way up to smear the precum, mix it with his spit, and give him a teasing swipe on the sensitive spot under the head.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathes when you pick up the pace and stroke him in steady, measured passes, mapping every twitch, every quiver under your fingers.

“Please,” he moans, hot and needy.

“Please what?”

“Please, talk to me more.” A whine, so sweet. So warm in your ears that you blank out and don’t notice when his face comes close and loose lips kiss you clean.

“Please,” he whispers again against your mouth.

How can you say no to him? “Look at you, such a pretty mess,” you mutter, caressing his cheek. His skin is painted pink all the way to where your eyes can reach, and you can only guess it’s the same below. A sheen of sweat covers his forehead, and he looks at you so adoringly it pumps affection into you. Fucking infectious. It swells in your chest, between your legs, spills back from you when you whisper, “So needy.”

“F-fuck,” Viktor stutters when you start to pump him harder. The slide is easier now, the rhythm sinfully smooth. He bites his lip so hard it pales. He’s trembling—shoulders taut, thighs flexing. His cock feels silky in your hand, your thumb fitting perfectly into the little pool at the base where it grows out of his groin.

“Would you like to come, Viktor?” You roll your wrist, coaxing another sharp breath out of him, this one rougher. His lashes fan. His hips jerk into your palm before he catches himself, thighs taut and hard.

“Yes, God, please,” he whimpers, and his head lulls back on his shoulders, exposing his beautiful neck to you. You need no further invitation.

Your mouth leeches to his skin, sucking and biting, making him struggle to breathe evenly. “Will you be good and fuck yourself into my hand?” you ask, licking over the mark you gave him.

“Yes.” A wrecked sound spills from his lips, strained and low, the kind of noise that coils hot inside you. “Yes,” he exhales when you still your hand. “Oh, fuck,” comes next when his hips jolt forward, his cock sliding seamlessly in and out of the circle you made for him from your fingers.

“You are doing so well,” you praise him. And truthfully, he’s so wonderful it almost slips out. The one thing you shouldn’t say—it’s there, ready to escape—when you stop yourself.

“I—I—" you start and swallow it down. He looks back at you, almost daring you to say it. Almost as if he wants you to say it. Almost as if he knows what it’s like to not be allowed. Or it’s just your drunk mind playing with you.

“I’m so proud of you,” you whisper instead. “Be good and come for me.”

Viktor’s hips stutter, losing rhythm as desperation overtakes him. His fingers come to clench around your wrist, urging you to stay steady while he fucks into your palm, his breath coming in ragged, uneven gasps.

“Good boy,” you murmur, tightening your fingers just a fraction. “You’re so good for me.”

A shudder wracks through him, his whole body trembling as he chases it. He comes back to brace on your shoulders, his grip almost clumsy, as though he can’t decide whether he’s holding himself up or holding onto you. The weight of him, the way his forehead presses against yours—hot, damp, pleading—makes you ache between your legs.

“Thank you,” he whispers, voice breaking, and you have to hold back a whine. You feel it again, the crushing wave of devotion, you just don’t know who it’s coming from, him, or you.

Your hand on his cheek slides lower, fingertips ghosting down the damp line of his throat. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard, breath catching when your fingers flex, wrapping firmly around the slender column of his neck. Not tight—just enough to make him feel it, to remind him of your touch, your presence, your control.

Wet sounds of his cock sliding in and out of your hand fill your ears, when you hear it again. “Thank you,” he breathes, barely more than a whimper, and then he’s gone—

His body tenses, shuddering violently as he spills his hot cum over your fingers, gasping through it, his hips rocking helplessly into your grip. You stroke him through it, smearing some of the seed on his stomach, coaxing, soothing, feeling every twitch, every pulse, as he unravels against you.

“That’s it,” you whisper, brushing your thumb over his fluttering pulse. “Just like that. So good for me.”

His breath, a calour against your skin, his fingers gripping your shoulders like he needs something not to fall over. And as his body slackens, the aftershocks still trembling through him, he lets out a soft, breathless sigh—

“Thank you.”

And with this last acknowledgment, you enter the space that is familiar and alien all at once. If you were to name the feeling, it’s like knocking on the back of a mirror pane until it gives way to a water-like surface, and you can finally slide your hand through. On the other side, your fingers are dry. You step out to envelop yourself in warmth, and it’s all coming from him—trustful and pliant as he allows you to kiss him sloppily, with his eyes closed, utterly and entirely surrendered. Made yours.

On instinct, you help him step out of his trousers and drape his arm over your shoulder before guiding him to bed. Hands cling to you when you reach for the bedside table for water, and you know he won’t let you go to fetch a towel to clean him up. So you make do with a box of tissues, convinced that he doesn’t give a flying fuck if the cum on his belly will dry out and crust over the trail of hair encircling his cock. You know he doesn’t—because when you are in the space he is in right now, all you can think of is your lover’s body pressed to yours so tight you merge into one.

“Will you drink some water for me?” you ask, threading your fingers through his hair and holding a glass under his chin. He drinks without complaint, passes the glass back to you, and looks at you pleadingly, tired of waiting.

It hits Viktor so heavily, he almost wishes he could take back time and never have offered this to you in the first place. It’s frightening to feel so much at once, his chest wide open for you to peek inside, and he is so afraid you are going to see the way his heart thrashes around in there.

His only hope—even though you can surely see it, the way he can see it every time you break apart and he puts you back together, piece by piece—is that you won’t be able to recognise it. The attachment that lingers beyond this sacred space, the one that will keep him longing for you days after you leave, until your next meeting, when he will be able to pour a bucket of cold water over the fiery embers by painting your ass the nicest shade of red.

“What do you need?” Your voice reaches him on the wet side of the mirror, under the comatose, stagnant waters of compliance. He blinks slowly and shakes his head, reaching back for you. Nothing but you, Viktor imagines himself saying, but he is too wrecked.

Thankfully, you know. You slide next to him, keeping your arms open so that he can wrap around you. Viktor’s hands cling to you needily—one squeezes between you and the mattress, fisting into your sweatshirt, while the other sneaks underneath to rest on your ribs. He noses into your neck and throws a leg over yours, trapping you completely. Your fingers return to thread through his hair, and he sighs, the first long breath he’s taken since he came.

And Viktor feels the water slowly draining. It’s at his neck, where you brush your fingers over the love mark you left. Then it levels with his chest, where you rest your hand to check his heartbeat. It goes lower, beneath his waist, where you pull the covers up to shield the naked lower parts of his body from the cold, until it drains completely when he hooks his cold foot into the crease under your knee.

Silence, for a while. Filled with breathing and sighing, until Viktor shuffles his arm out from beneath your waist, rises slowly, and props his head on one hand.

“How are you?” you ask him, and he nudges your cheek with his nose. Lips come to yours in another thank-you. “What do you need?” you try again, mumbling against his mouth.

“You,” It’s so quiet you almost have to read it from his lips. “I only want you,” he says.

Your face goes blank with shock. Completely drunk on Viktor’s sacrifice, it eludes you to stick with your common sense, and you nod faster than you can think.

“You have me,” slips past your mouth. You cradle his cheeks, run your thumbs through the hollows and Viktor breathes heavily through his nose. He wraps himself back around you, exactly the same as you tend to do, catching you in his love trap.

When he rolls off to his back, blissfully fucked out, you sneak for a shower. You just stand under the hot stream, cleaning the essentials, mindful not to touch your belly. Once out, you tap it gently with a towel, trying to not smear any of the letters he’s left on you. With a certain sadness you notice that some of the writing has already faded.

#my writing #viktor arcane #viktor fanfic #viktor x reader #viktor x reader smut #viktor smut #viktor x f!reader #viktor x oc #arcane #arcane fanfic #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #viktor nation #to be known

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skye-obsolete · 9 months ago

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Kitchen

ʟᴀᴅs ʙᴏʏs x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

ᯓ❅ ┆ synopsis┆ : How does the LADS boys handle themselves in the kitchen?

ᯓ❅ ┆ tags┆ : prompt, soft, fluff & possible OOC

──────────────── ˗ˏˋ ❅｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽ ˎˊ˗ ────────────────

𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫

Xavier in the kitchen was almost a disaster waiting to happen—no exaggeration. He had a knack for forgetting to turn off the stove or neglecting to set a timer, leaving his meals charred and inedible more often than not. While eliminating Wanderers with effortless precision was second nature to him, cooking seemed to be his weakness. Typically, Xavier gravitated toward quick, easy meals—cup noodles, ready-to-eat options—and never fussed over what he ate.

Despite his mishaps, he genuinely put in the effort to learn, committing to recipes and working to improve. With time, practice, and a few burned pans later, he eventually became efficient in the kitchen. Once he mastered the basics, he started preparing large meals, focusing on quantity so you’d never be short of options, making sure you had plenty of your favorites to choose from.

. . ────────────── ❅ ⁺.

𝐙𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞

Zayne embodied the perfect image of husband material. Though his job as a Linkon doctor kept him busy with back-to-back surgeries and long hours at the hospital, he never failed to make time for you—especially if you were craving his cooking. Despite his demanding schedule, he made it a priority to prepare meals whenever he came home, often late into the night, just to see your face lit up with each bite.

Zayne was meticulous in the kitchen, his precise nature extending from surgery to the ingredients he handled. Aside from his disdain for carrots, he had an impressive knowledge of different vegetables and how to bring out their natural flavors in every dish. Whether he was baking or cooking, he always followed the recipes to a tee, ensuring every detail was perfect, particularly when trying something new. His care and precision in the kitchen mirrored the way he treated you—attentive, thoughtful, and deeply considerate.

. . ────────────── ❅ ⁺.

𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐥

Rafayel may come off as bratty and spoiled, but beneath that exterior, he harbored surprising culinary talent. It wasn’t something he flaunted, considering that most of his meals were either prepared by Thomas, brought or ordered online. But when the mood struck him, Rafayel could whip up a dish with flair, though he often relied on instructions and recipes to guide him. His creativity shined through, however, as he loved experimenting and adding his personal touch to any recipe.

You were always his first taste-tester, the one he’d eagerly present his latest creation to—sometimes a surprisingly delicious innovation, other times an odd combination that left you questioning his choices.

. . ────────────── ❅ ⁺.

𝐒𝐲𝐥𝐮𝐬

Sylus, much like Zayne, could easily be considered husband material, though he typically didn’t need to lift a finger in the kitchen thanks to his personal chef. Yet, when the occasion called for it, Sylus was more than capable of preparing a meal. Confident and knowledgeable, he rarely consulted recipes, instead relying on his sharp memory and expertise.

While patience wasn’t his strong suit, he made an exception when you were involved. If you were there to taste his dish, Sylus would put his full effort into crafting a meal that catered to your palate, making sure each seasoning and flavor hit the right notes. For someone who thrived on power and control, cooking was one of the few activities where he allowed himself to slow down, focusing intently on every detail. After all, he wanted it to be perfect for you.

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╰｡ Author's Note: There's significant parts that are definitely inspired by Infold's Special Chapter; "Ways Of Making Chocolate" chibi report on this prompt.

I'll be working on some requests (specifically a continuation of Grief) by next week since preliminaries are approaching soon, I'll be off from writing for a few days.

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joelmillers-wife · 2 months ago

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take my hand (joel miller x f!reader) chapter three

18+, MDNI series masterlist: here | please check this for complete series warnings and tags | 🎵series playlist pairing: joel miller x f!reader chapter summary: your patrol with joel takes a detour to find the next edition of Savage Starlight wc: 6.3k rating: this story is 18+ (minors, do not interact), there will be eventual smut in later chapters chapter warnings and tags: moderate amount of violence, cursing and tlou lore accurate outbreak content below, TW: alludes to suicidal ideation (please feel free to message me or send me an ask about specifics if you want clarification before reading), angst, reader has no description besides she has hair, jackson!joel, age difference: reader is in her 30s and joel is in his 50s, sloooow burn, enemies to friends to lovers type-beat ao3 | follow @writtenbynic and turn on notifications for chapters! dividers made by: @saradika-graphics , check them out!

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III. ANOTHER LOVE

And if somebody hurts you, I wanna fight But my hand's been broken one too many times So I'll use my voice, I'll be so fucking rude Words, they always win, but I know I'll lose

Your patrol shifts ended up being every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with you on standby as extra help for Fridays—each day changing what time you were scheduled as well as the location. After your first patrol, you had anticipated a new partner, only to return the Wednesday after to see Joel still listed next to your name. Not just on that day, but almost every shift after.

It shocked you at first. In your eyes, this was either because Tommy was forcing his brother to be your partner, or maybe Maria wanted to punish Joel.

“Ya know what it took me to convince Maria to let you stay in this damn town? What with her knowin’ everythin’ you’re capable of?”

You recall the conversation you had overheard between Tommy and Joel that morning. The way Tommy had scolded him for his lack of involvement with other people. How Joel dragged him away for another talk after you both had arrived back to Jackson, you assumed Joel yelled at Tommy to change partners. Considering your designated patrol partner for the near future, you settled on the idea that you were being forced to work with Joel as some form of punishment towards him.

But your confusion grew as time went on, because Joel wasn’t always your partner. If it wasn’t Joel, if he wasn’t available on a certain day for whatever reason, then it was Tommy—only ever Tommy and Joel. It felt odd, considering everyone else in town took turns rotating on who their partners were. It was common that the same groups would be together most of the time, but they all still had some changes every now and then. Not you, though—no. It only made things worse when people picked up on your pairings, and you learned that prior to you, Joel only ever went on patrols with his brother.

The question of how trusted you really were began to plague you. Maybe, on that first patrol, Joel saw something in you he didn’t like—something that he didn’t trust and had confided in his brother to keep an eye on you.

That theory didn’t hold much proof to you, though. You had grown closer with Tommy, and Maria with him. Your occasional shifts with Tommy always went well—the two of you bonding over similar interests such as music, or Tommy talking about being a father and how Benjamin was like. You were invited for dinners every now and then at their house, were asked about your opinions on things going on in town or advice on what would best help the community. They made you feel valued. Were you really a liability if they were allowing you into their space so willingly?

It was almost a year of you being in Jackson with your second autumn here coming to end. You had grown somewhat used to the way things were around here and things felt like they had evolved for the better the more time you spent here. The only thing that never changed was Joel.

The two of you never engaged in small talk—all the information you knew about him was limited, and given to you by either Ellie or his brother. You’d see him around town, whether in the mess hall or at the shops, but all he ever offered was a brief glance in your direction with no greeting. Patrols were nothing out of the ordinary as you never encountered anything more than a few stray infected scattered around on their own, far away from Jackson. Your moments with Joel were the same—quiet. The most you ever got out of him was that he transitioned from grunting and scowling at everything you said to giving you nods, still accompanied by his usual frown.

Progress.

You spent most of your time with Ellie as she still would go to you for quality time. The difference is that she stopped being shy about coming up with excuses to hang out, and instead would just show up to places you were and begin conversing with you. You also noticed Joel began expecting her to be where you were—looking for her in the stables or knocking on your door to check her whereabouts. For some reason, it meant something to you. The fact that you had become someone he was comfortable having his “kid” around. A part of you maybe wished he would find your presence somewhat… comfortable? Just enough to make moments like these a bit less awkward.

The morning weather today felt colder than recent, making you believe winter was approaching a bit faster than anticipated. The good news with the cold is that the infected were less likely to be out soon enough. Not because they feel anything, but because everyone else stays as sheltered and secluded as they can to stay safe, giving the infected no reason to wander off.

Today’s shift has been a typical routine that you and Joel have fallen into. Each time you still offer small comments to him with no response, but you stopped paying his reactions any mind.

The two of you had just cleared the outdoor shopping center, finding nothing more than two clickers in one of the stores when Joel spoke up.

“Area’s cleared,” he says before looking behind him to a small road that leads further into another town. Nodding his head in that direction, he says, “Let’s head into the next town over. Tommy told me he saw a comic book store up ‘ere. Wanna try and find the next volume in the series Ellie’s readin’.”

The idea warms your heart before you show slight hesitation. “Are you sure? That part’s way past anything we’re usually allowed to reach… I mean, Maria is in charge, and she is your sister-in-law so I figure they probably don’t mind you—”

Joel cuts you off firmly. “That’s right. They don’t mind. Now c’mon.”

Knowing there is no use in arguing with him, you silently follow his lead.

It takes you about half an hour to reach the town. Upon arriving, you are a bit surprised to see how much bigger the area is than you expected. The layout resembles a square with an empty park and courtyard in the center. Separated from the middle by roads, you see pet stores, abandoned restaurants, a tattoo shop, and more buildings along the perimeter.

A quick glance around showed you that there was no immediate threat, but a part of you still felt anxious. While the land was wide, the arrangement of the shops made it so you felt you were trapped in a box—opening yourself up to anyone, or anything, that could be looking in.

Seemingly unbothered, Joel kept walking along the road before he found a tall and wide building—the comic book store. It looked to be about two floors tall based on what you could see through the molded windows, the dirt and destruction making it hard for you both to get a good view of what lies inside.

“Son of a—fuckin’...” You hear Joel saying. Bringing your attention to him, you see him frustratingly yanking on both of the door handles to the store. Getting no result, he slams his hand on the glass. “God damn fuckin’ doors jammed,” he says with a scowl on his face.

“Oh, um…” You trail off as you try to look around for another way in. You walk over to the neighboring store, a coffee shop, and take a look through the windows for any immediate danger. Finding no signs of infected, you look further back to notice that towards the back of the coffee shop, a door was slightly ajar—a door that was against the wall being shared with the comic book store.

You hear Joel huff back at the doors of the comic book store. “Whatever,” he mumbles to himself while looking at his feet. “Fuckin’ dumb idea anyways.”

You were stunned to see a tinge of sadness from him, and your heart hurt because you knew what was going on. It wasn’t so obvious that everyone in town knew, but if you spent enough time with Ellie you could tell that something was… off between the two of them. She found more excuses to be out with friends at school, and you’d assume Joel would become stricter because of it. The stereotype of a rebellious teenager being scolded by the overprotective father.

Yet he was always very lax when it came to it—letting her hang out as much as she wanted, being more lenient on curfews while also trying to make sure she stays safe. You could tell he was trying, and whatever it was that was happening between them, whatever had caused this very slight tension, he was trying to fix it. Realizing he potentially wanted to get her something to make her happy, you decide you want to help.

Not for him, though. For Ellie of course.

“Hey,” you call out to grab his attention. “I see a door in the back of this place… It’s open and looks like it may lead into the comic book store,” you suggest while pointing towards the back side.

He comes up beside you and ducks down, looking into the window and following his eyes to where your finger was pointing. Your body shudders as his figure hovers over your shoulder. You take note that he’s closer than he’s ever been to you, his breath on your neck and his body heat making you feel warm all of a sudden. You clear your throat before standing up straight and taking a step away from him.

“We could try and see if we can make it through there?” You offer.

Joel straightens up, looking down at you for a moment until his lips settle into a firm line and he gives you a nod in agreement.

The two of you are able to get the coffee shop door pulled open with a little bit of effort. The moment you step in, Joel pushes past you to reach the back door before you can. He holds up his gun before looking at you. Having done this routine with him before, you knowingly nod before mimicking his movements to position your own gun properly.

His hand reaches for the doorknob and twists it slowly, only for the both of you to be surprised at the fact it opened easily. Joel steps a foot across the doorway to enter into the comic book store, but the both of you simultaneously freeze when you hear it.

Clicking. Much more clicking than you recall having experienced together.

Joel turns his head to look back at you with a brief look of worry in his eyes before putting a finger to his lips. You give a nod of understanding and tense up as you wait for him to fully open the rest of the door.

The building is a lot bigger than you anticipated. It feels more akin to one of those large grocery stores you had run into, except with two stories. The place was very open with wide aisles that were lined with rows and rows of not just comic books, but what seemed to be posters, DVDs, and vinyls. The center of the store had a very large circular area that you chalked up to be the check out area. The back of the store held a small stage with chairs thrown across it, as if this place held some kind of game night or community events at one point. In front of the stage were long tables with books scattered across—chairs surrounding the tables in an unorganized manner. A quick look upstairs showcased even more aisles of books and other items from what you could see.

Scattered amongst the store was infected—potentially thirty of them, but you couldn’t make out all of them with the boarded windows blocking the sunlight creeping in. They looked to be a group mixed with runners and clickers. The runners were bent over, curled into themselves twitching. The unnerving sounds of them groaning made your skin crawl—it was almost as if they were in pain.

That’s something you had learned from the shitty government teachings the quarantine zones would give people at the start of the outbreak. To their understanding, the beginning stages of the Cordyceps infection, the runners, were alive. Their minds overtaken by the fungus, driving them mad with a desire to continue growing the fungus. Humans trapped with poisoned minds and unable to control themselves.

Sometimes that’s why you think they make the sounds they do—it’s as if they’re crying out in pain.

The sounds from runners don’t fill you with the same sense of fear as the clickers do. The third stage of the infection has caused their brains to split open as the fungus grows outside of their body—making them blind and reliant on sound. The eerie clicking noises they make being their only source to know what is going on around them through echolocation.

You’ve dealt with this many infected before. You’ve seen, handled, and killed more than your fair share of clickers. You’ve done this before. You’ve done this on your own. You can do it with Joel.

The two of you quietly step through the door, standing next to each other and watching for any signs that your presence has been made known. Seemingly in the clear, Joel looks to you before pointing to one side of the store. He then points to himself while gesturing to the other side of the store—the two of you in understanding of how to go about this.

You both silently pull out your individual knives, crouching and walking as quietly as possible over to your respective areas. The first infected you come up to is a runner with its position making it so that you walk up on its left side. With a silent swiftness, you lunge up and grab it by its throat with your left arm, holding it in a headlock. Before it’s able to screech out in warning, you bring the knife up to its right temple, sinking your weapon into it as you hear a sickening squelching sound. As you feel its struggling stop, you slowly lower its body onto the floor so as to not make a loud sound that alerts the others.

Reaching the end of that aisle, you take a moment to look over to Joel’s side to check on him and find his eyes already on your figure. He holds a firm and cold look in his eyes, but you see something else in him that you aren’t given the chance to figure out. The two of you give each other a quick once-over, and you share a nod before continuing the same routine throughout the store.

After a good amount of time, the two of you were able to clear the entire store quietly and without causing chaos. Joel walks up to you and whispers, “You alright?”

Your voice matching his, you reassure him that you are. A flash of relief passes over his face before he looks around. “Think we got ‘em all. Don’t see or hear anythin’ else… I checked upstairs too,” he says out of breath.

Speaking at a more normal volume, you say, “Guess we gotta go find that comic book now.”

He looks at you and huffs out what sounds like it could be a laugh. “Yeah… Let’s get on that.”

After he shares the name of the book he is looking for, you part ways to silently search different areas of the store to find the book. You recognize the title, Savage Starlight. You’ve been hearing recaps of it from Ellie after she finished each one she had found.

You search your section of the first floor with no luck and climb up the broken escalator to the top floor. You scan through about five more aisles before you feel as though this store won’t have what it is you are looking for. Off to one side of the upper floor you spot signs for some restrooms in a corner, in front of it lies giant broken wooden beams that are stacked on top of each other. You take a quick glance up to see a piece of the ceiling has fallen and covers a section of aisles you had not checked out yet.

Walking up to it, you struggle to read what is held on the row as so much dust and debris covers the space–your body twisting as you try to peek through the pieces of wood to look at the shelves. You decide to pull out your flashlight from your backpack and try to shine light through whatever pieces of the row that were not covered. When you hit the third row, you smile.

No fucking way.

Your smile growing, you lean over the railing on the second floor. “Hey, Joel, guess what I found?”

He hurries up the escalator and makes his way over to stand beside you as you shine your flashlight through the cracks of the beams. His eyes spot what you found when the light settles on the words Savage Starlight.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he says. For the first time since you’ve been to Jackson, he smiles. A real, full smile. The only person who’s smile was contagious to you has been Ellie—yet you’ve never felt the way you do right now seeing Joel smile.

“Looks like this part of the building fell and the beams covered it. I just need your help moving them in order to reach the books if that’s alright,” you share, scanning your gaze up to the ceiling as you look over the beams. You see Joel nod in your peripheral and turn to see him looking at you, still smiling, but it’s a more distracted smile. You stare back at him for a moment, your heart stuttering from the intensity of his gaze before starting to move the wooden beams out of the way.

Joel quickly takes over by moving some of the larger pieces of wood out of the way first. “I got it. Been doin’ shit like this for years before the outbreak. Used to be a contractor,” he says. That was something you had known about him already as Tommy had told you stories about that part of their lives before the outbreak. But it’s the first bit of information that you’ve heard about Joel, directly from Joel.

Another thing you learned about Joel was something that you had noticed when you first saw him. It was that scar on the right side of his temple. You hadn’t paid it any mind until Ellie had talked about it one day when ranting on how he never listens to her.

“He got shot, they missed, and now he has that scar. He says that’s the reason why he can’t hear me that well sometimes, but really I think that’s just him covering up for getting old.”

The little bit of information made moments with Joel make a little more sense. You’d notice that he’d always ride his horse with you on his left side, leaving his good ear to hear anything important from you. Or when you would point out a noise, he’d always angle his head so that he was able to catch the sound a bit more clearly on his left ear. Knowing that about him just helped you understand his habits a bit more.

Which is why you understand how he doesn’t hear it.

He’s crouched over moving a particularly large wooden beam out of the way when he bangs it loudly against the other beams, an echo following the sound as the pieces clang together. The restroom doors you saw earlier were a few feet to his right, leaving his body angled so that his back is to the doors. With his right ear facing the bathroom, his left ear was only picking up the sounds of the wood moving and the building creaking.

As you went to lay a piece of wood against the wall, you heard a clatter from the restroom. You almost didn’t catch it with the sound being so slight. You squint in the direction, not hearing any other noise for a moment. Suddenly, the bathroom door bangs open and you watch as a clicker screeches and rushes out heading straight towards the noise it heard—straight towards Joel.

You don’t have a chance to think before you yell out Joel’s name, trying to run over to him to reach him before it can. You briefly see him turn around, catching that his movements become quicker after his right ear wasn’t the one facing the bathroom. You push him out of the way, towards one of the reading tables lined across the railing of the second floor.

All you could hear is that clicking noise that never fails to make you nauseous before you realize you succeeded in moving Joel out of the way. Instead, the clicker lunges at you, forcing you and it to topple to the ground with it landing on top of you. It makes a particularly loud screech and rapid clicking before its head rears back for a moment before diving towards you. Just in time, you take a stronger grip on the small piece of wood you were about to throw to the side before, and shove the wood in front of your neck.

Too scared to look, you close your eyes and hold your breath until you hear the crunch of wood as it bites down rabidly into the beam. There’s suddenly the sound of scrambling to your left and the sound of a gun being drawn before you hear a loud bang, the clicking noise twisting into garbled cries. You simultaneously feel something warm and sticky spray across your face, followed by the collapsing pressure of a body onto your chest before being pushed off.

You finally open your eyes to see the clicker’s corpse laying on your right side before looking at the wooden beam you were holding in your hand where you noticed teeth marks sunk deep into it. A loud ringing in your ears engulfs your senses.

No fucking wonder Joel went mostly deaf in his right ear.

You drop your head back against the floor with a deep exhale of breath as your muscles sag with relief. You’re alive. You’re not bit.

The moment of relief ends sharply as you feel your body being roughly pulled up—your eyes slightly glazed over as you try to focus on the cause of the sudden movement you endured. You quickly blink away the fog from your eyes in an effort to focus on the outlined figure standing before you.

Joel. Joel is in front of you. His face is so close to yours that if you moved an inch, your noses would touch. His brown eyes are wide, brows furrowed as always but it was different. It wasn’t out of anger or annoyance… It almost looked like fear. Pure fear.

Your eyes continue to move across his face before you realize his lips were moving. How long has he been talking?

His lips seem to be forming the same word over and over again. Oh… He’s saying your name. You hear it now.

Slowly, the ringing subsides and your brain begins to process what is happening.

“Thought you said to always call out before you take a shot so close to someone’s face.”

He doesn’t seem to find your comment funny, or maybe he just didn’t register it. More of your senses are coming back when you begin to feel pain and look down to see Joel harshly gripping both of your arms whilst shaking you to get your attention. Slowly looking back up to his face, you notice his lips moving again.

Fuck. He was still talking.

“Are you okay?” Joel frantically asks. He repeats your name before demanding, “Are you okay?”

You finally nod but he doesn’t seem satisfied. His eyes look over your body as he begins frantically pushing your sleeves up before reaching to pull the collar of your jacket away from your neck. “Are you bit? Did it bite ya? Are you okay?”

You brush off his hands before bending down to hold up the wooden beam. God, who knew he could be so touchy. “Threw this in front of me just in time. It bit this, not me. I’m fine, I’m not bit.”

His wide eyes look between the piece of wood and you—back and forth, back and forth with that same bit of fear in his eyes that you feel like you’ve seen a lot of today.

“Don’t worry,” you try to reassure.

What you intended to be soothing words seem to have the opposite effect on him. Upon hearing what you say, you see his eyes freeze on yours and watch that fear dissipate and turn into anger. It wasn’t just the usual anger you’ve experienced from him—that typical annoyed anger. No… this was something you hadn’t seen before.

This anger… It’s not like you think he would hurt you. No part of you thinks that. But you’re realizing that he is capable of something much darker than what he lets on around most—something that Maria seemed to already be hesitant about.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

What?

“What?” You ask. His voice isn’t that loud in volume but it still makes you flinch. He speaks with a tone that only comes out of people when they are so angry they can’t see straight.

“The fuck were you thinkin’?! Jumpin’ in front of me like that… Pushin’ me over. You could’ve gotten yourself fuckin’ killed.”

You take a second to process his words. He’s right, you could’ve died… But you didn’t. And if you hadn’t acted as quickly as you did, he would have died.

And Ellie would be alone.

“I heard and saw it before you did, Joel. Your back was to it… You wouldn’t have reacted in time. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t—”

Joel cuts you off. “That ain’t your fuckin’ job now is it? You can’t be actin’ so goddamn reckless and throwin’ yourself in front of danger so often. It’s stupid.”

His voice shocks you. His words shock you—how much venom he holds in them. You’re realizing just now how much he really hates you.

So you fight back.

“What the hell was I thinking…? I told you I’m fine. I wasn’t bit so who cares?” You say, your voice increasing in volume.

Joel seems taken aback for a split second before something dark flashes in his eyes. “I care. So why the fuck don’t you?”

You aren’t given a chance to react as you watch his face twist up in even more anger before shifting into some sort of sick humor. Except he doesn’t yell this time. He laughs to himself. “God… I was fuckin’ right about you.”

You feel your heart drop to your stomach, but he’s not done talking.

“All this damn time you've just been breezin’ through life, huh? Come into town, fit right in, make god damn fuckin’ cookies with your neighbors, make friends with all the people in town, and probably hold your little fuckin’ book clubs every Sunday. And Tommy, my idiot little brother, sticks you with me to make me babysit ya on patrol when you haven’t encountered any real threats. You just get to go out, see the fuckin’ scenery, come home and sleep in your nice warm bed without a fuckin’ worry in the world. And here, today, you’re faced with one single real world problem, and you just act completely fuckin’ reckless.”

You stand there, taking in his words as you silently seethe in anger while his chest moves up and down rapidly as he finishes his rant. You don’t respond right away, blinking a few times and looking around before you finally speak.

“Is that what you think of me?” You softly say at first. He doesn’t show any reaction or sign that he has an answer, besides his mouth settling into a firm line. “You think I’m just some kid don’t you—”

“Oh, believe me, I know you ain’t a kid—”

“Really? Then why the fuck do you keep treating me like one?!” You snap.

You notice the anger on his face flicker as his furrowed brows twitch briefly.

Your voice grows louder as you continue. “All you’ve done since I fucking got here is treat me like a child. The way you look at me, the way you treat me, the patronizing, fucking tone you use when you’re forced to actually talk to me…” You trail off as your chest rises and falls harshly to catch your breath as the words rush out of you.

Your face screws up in anger. “I heard you, you know? Talking to Tommy before our first patrol.”

Joel’s frown deepens in confusion before realization settles over his face causing his scowl to relax a bit. “Yeah,” you bitterly say. “I heard you. I wasn’t gonna get in between a conversation with you and your brother back then, but for fuck’s sake Joel… If you hated me that much, then why didn’t you try to further convince him to get you off patrol with me? When we got back I know you talked to him about getting me off the schedule with you.”

At that, Joel’s face turns back to confusion as if what you said is wrong. You don’t take a break to focus on that though as you continue with your own argument.

“Do you just have this idea that you are the only person who has ever experienced horror in this world? To even think it was possible for me to get as far as I did without a single scratch on me? Seriously? That’s realistic to you?” You huff out angrily, waving your hands around in fury.

“You say that you know I’m not a fucking kid, right? You know that means the outbreak happened after I was born. Meaning my whole world and fucking family fell apart the same way it did for you,” your voice breaks. “I lived through the past two decades in this hell. I fucking lost people and saw horrifying things. I have fought countless of those fucking things every damn day before I stepped foot into Jackson. I was alone for months, surviving on my own. Fighting on my own. Doing everything on my own to keep myself alive until I came here.”

You feel tears well in your eyes and furiously brush them away, frustrated with yourself for letting yourself cry in front of him. Recalling the anxieties you felt when you first arrived in Jackson last year, you say, “Ya know… The first thing I felt when stepping foot into Jackson wasn’t comfort—it was fear. Fear of how normal everything seemed. Fear of being too loud in the streets… Wondering how the hell people could do it without worrying about infected hearing and running in. I mean, god… I haven’t had a full night’s sleep for the year that I’ve been here, despite how much it may seem like I’ve acclimated. I can’t even rest without having one eye constantly open, looking at the door and jumping at every noise I hear in my own home.”

“I did it all on my own, because I don’t have anyone. There’s no one back home that would care if I returned dead or alive. There hasn’t been someone for years. But you? You have people, Joel. So, I’m sorry if my reaction seemed reckless to you, okay? Maybe… Maybe I unconsciously did it because I haven’t really cared about surviving an infected encounter or not for the past decade.”

Joel takes a sharp inhale hearing that. Hearing the crack in your voice as you speak, his face flinching as he stands there with his usual frown.

“The difference between you and me is you have people that care. Your brother? Ellie? Fucking… God, Joel… that little girl depends on you for everything and talks about you like you hung the fucking moon. You can’t leave that. So, I’m sorry that you just see me as some dumb kid, but no one depends on me back home. The least I could do is fucking make sure that the people who depend on you can see you again.”

You notice your body's reaction to your words when you finally stop speaking—how your throat hurts from yelling, how your body is shaking from anger, how your chest is rapidly moving in an effort to catch your breath.

Done talking, you take the moment to properly look at Joel—he doesn’t look completely angry anymore. In fact, you can’t tell what expression he has. His brows are pushed together in a frown, but raised ever so slightly in what looks like it could be surprise. His eyes are dark, but not cold. You don’t know if you’d call that a warm look, but it’s different from the cold ones you’re so used to seeing—the ones you saw a moment ago after you told him to not worry.

His mouth goes between being held in a firm line to opening every few seconds as if he wants to say something but can’t. Looking down, you see his fists opening and closing tightly like he’s trying to calm himself down.

The two of you stare at each other for a moment longer before you become fed up. He doesn’t care about what you say, you realize. He probably didn’t even listen—still thinking about how to scold you even more for your actions from a few minutes ago.

Scoffing, you reach over to move the last wooden beam and grab the novel that you two had come here for. You shove it into his chest. “Here’s your fucking comic. I’m going home.”

In your peripheral, you see Joel standing there holding the comic to his chest and watching you walk away. You can’t find it in you to care to wait on him.

You make your way down the escalator and back out the way you guys had entered, marching straight to your horse after leaving the building. Without hesitation, you hop on and head back for Jackson, leaving Joel behind.

A few minutes into the journey, you hear the sounds of Joel behind you somewhere along the way as he finally catches up to you, but you don’t pay him any mind. He stays a few feet behind you, silently letting you lead the way.

Hours later, you reach Jackson and wait for the guards to open the gates for you both. The moment you ride in, you notice Tommy at the gates walking towards you both. He seems to take in your current state as you see concern wash over him.

“Are you okay? Did you guys have a tough run in?”

Joel looks to you before opening his mouth to respond to Tommy, but you cut him off before he had the chance. “We’re fine. Couple stragglers but we had it handled,” you say. Tommy looks between you and Joel with an uneasy look on his face. “Seriously, we’re good.”

“Well… Alright then. You let me know if you need anythin’, okay?” Tommy offers.

You nod and begin to walk your horse back to the stables. Tying her up, you check to see that Joel has gone before you walk over to Tommy.

“I can’t go on patrols with Joel anymore.”

Tommy’s face flinches with surprise. “What? The hell happened out there? You sure you’re okay?”

“I already said I’m fine,” you respond firmly. “I’m sorry to ask you to change things so suddenly, I just… I can’t go on patrols with Joel anymore. Please, Tommy.”

Tommy hesitates briefly and looks as if he considers pushing on the subject. Having heard the pleading in your voice, he seems to decide against it and gives you a nod. “Alright. I’ll get it changed. I’m gonna give you the rest of the week off, though. Let you take care of yourself for a bit and give us time to rearrange things. Does that sound good?”

You nod without a word before walking back home. The moment you reach your block, you see Joel standing outside his front yard with Ellie who is jumping up and down. Trying to remain unseen, you book it to your place and get about halfway up the walkway before you hear your name being called.

Turning around, you see Ellie making a run for you before she collides with you in a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She yells.

You force out a tight smile before pulling her away. “What are you thanking me for?”

She looks back to Joel and pulls up the comic book in her hand. “Joel said you helped him get this for me!”

You look up to see Joel standing there watching you with a shy expression. It feels odd, seeing the normally stoic and cold man you’ve come to know appear so disarmed and uncomfortable.

Looking back down at Ellie, you say, “It’s no worries. Honestly, it was all him. I’m just glad you get to have another in the series.”

Ellie looks as though she wants to continue talking, so you cut her off. “I need to go inside, get washed up. I’ll see you around maybe,” you tell her before walking straight into your house. You wince to yourself as you ignore the look of confusion and disappointment on her face. You just need to get away from them, from him, as soon as possible.

God, what the fuck is wrong with you?

reblogs and comments are appreciated! i hope you all enjoy <3 a/n: hope you guys enjoy :) next chapter will be out saturday april 26th! i also was asked by a few people to be tagged, so here you go! if anyone else wants to be tagged then please let me know! @dendulinka6 @suzysface @koshkaj-blog @orcasoul @emmasveinyahhdih @thatoneperson38747

#joel miller #joel miller fic #joel miller x reader #the last of us #joel miller angst #joel miller fluff #tmh series

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