#and when she was out and he was here he'd do his home office duties loudly in the living room and vape all around the house

[muqingslover]

Hi! If you're open to requests, what would you think the lads men (or just one guy of your choice!!) would do in the following scenario?

They are out with mc when they run into mc's ex, and mc's ex says, "Damn, your taste in men changed a lot" in like a condescending manner. (Or something along those lines)

I hope you have a great time!! I love reading your stories!!

[ Thank you for the request! <3 I did a little of everyone so enjoy! ]

Sylus

"Your tastes sure have changed since the last time I saw you." is the first thing that actually catches his attention during the otherwise boring conversation.

Sylus is not an overly jealous person simply because he is very secure of his love for you and how good he is to you. The only thing your ex does is greatly amuse him because the difference is too great to even be considered fair.

"Naturally. You surely don't expect someone to eat trash forever, do you?" He would answer for you in a smooth voice while he towers over the both of you with that confident expression of his on his face.

He feels almost sorry for you, who had to make do with such men, but, not to worry, he's here now and he's not going anywhere.

Xavier

Taunting his jealous side is the same as playing with fire while knowing you're going to get burn.

"Is that the type of guy you prefer?" He'd ask the second the two of you are alone again. His hands pin you to the closest surface so you're unable to run from the conversation and he keeps his face very close to yours to watch for even the smallest reactions "Do you like him more than me?"

My advice? Say no as quickly as possible and give him a kiss to shush him otherwise you're in for the long, loooooong haul. Xavier is not easily soothed once he's worked up and he WILL hold grudges.

The next time your ex shows up he is quick to cut the conversation before they can even get a good morning in and makes it clear you belong to him now.

Rafayel

"What did you just say?" His head never whipped back faster mans almost twisted his own neck.

Arguably the most aggressive per se because he's SO obvious. To him it's just staggering you ever went out with anyone else, especially a thing like that, and that it's here, again, approaching you. Does it not see him? He's right there for god's sake!

"She's on duty so she can't talk to you right now. Or ever." He'd grab you by the shoulder as he sized the guy up and down with the most condescending and judgmental look on his face before scoffing. what a diva

He'll nag at you later for being "distracted while on the job" and say you're supposed to pay attention to him at all times otherwise how will his dear bodyguard protect him? Please be more mindful!

Caleb

It was a school reunion party when your old high school sweetheart came up to the both of you.

"Oh hey, I remember you! Weren't you the guy who got kicked out for cheating on his graduation exam?" He says with an innocent grin on his face knowing full well the guy is a deadbeat and making sure others heard it too.

It's canon he kept track of all crushes MC had while growing up and I'm sure he goes out of his way to show you their bad points so you won't even consider looking their way.

In some cases, Caleb had to get rid of them by manipulating things behind the scenes if they didn't take the hint and this one was one of those cases.

The guy was struggling with his grades and who is he to deny a helping hand? All he did was slip the sheet of answers to the test without anyone knowing, it's not his fault if the idiot accepted it knowing it was against the rules. Such an angel, isn't he.

This interaction will lead to him being even more territorial around you and he wants you to just stay home with him where it's safe. Pretty please?

Zayne

He will step in if they are bothering you by pretending he needs your immediate help in the office but otherwise Zayne merely listening in the background.

Once they're gone the silence is so loud.

You can basically feel that he's bothered by something, but he won't open his mouth even if you ask him about it because it's 'petty and childish'.

"Are you happy with me?" He'd eventually ask you after stewing in his own thoughts for the day. What if your tastes hadn't changed and you were just too nice to tell him he's not doing enough? That he is not enough.

Please reassure this sweet man that you're happy in the relationship. Especially so if your ex is the type that is super extroverted and easy to get along with since that's one of the points he struggles with the most.

The problem goes away on its own after some good quality time together and affectionate words.

[fellator]

I love having beautiful roommates because their partners are always kind of simpy and very dedicated which often results in me getting spoiled 🥰

[onmyyan]

hi again i'm the Anon who asked if you take commisions only or requests as well. I love your writing style<3

Soo could you write about Batmom reader, where reader took care of bruce's children as her own. But then bruce gets a mistress, reader still stays becuz of the kids but when everyone started to become cold to her and insult her ' X (mistress) is better mom then you ever were' she leaves gonthem. Then everyone realises she (mistress) was just after their money. They go to batmom's room to apologize only to find it empty. They try to find her everywhere but couldn't. And finally when they do, reader rejects them since she was having the time of her life without responsibilty but gets kiddnapped by the batfam?

Honestly i wanted to commision but i'm flat broke and i'm too busy studying to work and on top of that i don't have my own phone (i use my dad's old laptop) soo yeah... I hope you consider this.

A/N: Loooove this request thank you for sending it in <3 fem reader yandere themes lmk if you want a part two

The (L/n)'s were a wealthy and prominent family in Gotham, right up there with the Wayne's when it came to power over the city, the two families were in business together which is why when Bruce Wayne personal attorney came to you with a marriage proposal, you weren't surprised.

A marriage of convenience. You thought you knew what this would entitle, you knew this wasn't out of love, that this was required of you, it had nothing to do with what you actually wanted, but you were dutiful and signed, inking your name on the paper felt like a deal with the devil.

Bruce hadn't bothered to officially meet you until the day of the wedding, it was beautiful and well done but lacking any form of love of affection, CEOs and other rich folk you didn't recognize filled the pews, the ring felt cold when he slipped it on, his vows perfectly rehearsed, and not an ounce of warmth in his eyes, you knew that night you should have annulled the marriage, but something made you hold on, something your mother had said to you as the makeup artist turned you into the visage of a bride.

"You'll learn to love each other, your father and I did after all." And she wasn't lying, your parents married for convenience as well but had grown to love one another, so maybe you could do the same?

A year after the nuptials Dick Grayson is thrust into your life. Haley's circus was famous in Gotham for its incredible death defying shows, but on this night death would walk the stage, taking with them Dick Grayson's parents in a horrible display, You and Bruce had consoled the boy for only a moment before Bruce was talking to the officers, he'd decided Dick was coming home with you, of course without asking your opinion, but it didn't matter, you felt such pity and grief for the boy, it made perfect sense to you, he was shut down for the first few months, he called you by your name and you had no problem with it, making it clear you never wanted to try and replace his mother, the ice between you two melted one day, one kind word at a time, he couldn't help but confide in you about school or his friends, because you were more emotionally there than Bruce was.

Like the night you caught him sneaking out, a packed bag in hand and the keys to one of Bruce's many cars in his hand. Instead of yelling for Bruce or Alfred you simply smiled at him, "you should take the audi, it's the safest car here."

"..You're not going to try and stop me?"

You shake your head no, still offering that kind smile.

"You know yourself best Dick, if you're unhappy here I won't stop you from finding your peace." He took a moment before tossing you the keys and reluctantly making his way back inside.

You find out about Batman because of Dick. He'd come home with some nasty bruises and it wouldn't take long to put two and two together. Them both being missing at the same time, Dick started to pull away from you, one night, after hours of trying to get to sleep in a bed much to big for one body, your legs decided a walk was necessary, the halls were dark and quiet, giving the manor an eerie air, quietly you walked the long hallways intending on stopping by the library, as you turned the corner you seen Dick in a hidden elevator, the doors just slamming shut as your eyes tried to register what was there. Seconds after the doors close a wall appears, as if nothing was ever there. It's not long after that you see a brief news clip of the caped crusader and his new sidekick, because the longer you stared at the screen, the more familiar they began to look, that dead tight lipped scowl on Batman's face, it was one you'd had the pleasure of looking at for the past few years.

That night you confronted Bruce, he seemed surprised you'd figured it out, but he didn't deny it. Simply saying, "It's late (Y/n), get some sleep."

You nearly divorced him then and there for endangering a child the way he was, but after a moment of thought, you realized Dick would need a real parent around so you stayed, making Bruce swear to be careful.

Jason comes next and he takes to you a lot faster than Dick. He craved the warmth you offered, you two had inside jokes and a closer relationship than him and Bruce, but that all changes the day he dies. You're broken, a ghost haunting the manor with your presence, and Bruce is no comfort throwing himself into the Batman role, you begin to hate him a little with this particular betrayal.

Tim was another hard egg to crack but you were desperate after Jason's death, so you took his verbal lashings with a smile, were always there to offer a helping hand with any of his projects despite the help never being accepted. Tims wound from losing his father is too raw, he takes a lot of his anger out on you. And you weathered the storm with a soft, warm smile.

Damian hated you, from the moment he arrives, which is bitter enough as is because it meant Bruce was unfaithful, he's spitting out insults and comparing you to his 'perfect' mother.

Things weren't great in your life, but one day they started getting noticably worse. Dick no longer responded to your check in texts, Jason (now reanimated which was a heart attack in and of itself) saw you as the enemy, you didn't leave Bruce after what happened to him, so in his eyes you betrayed him, Tim ignored your existence as best as he could, and Damian? He'd started staring at you with this smug look on his face, like he knew something you didn't.

Bruce had all but ran from you, he didn't sleep in your shared room anymore, he barely spoke to you at breakfast, if it wasn't for the cameras he wouldn't touch you.

And it's all because of a woman named Rachel.

Apparently Bruce had introduced this woman to the family, bringing her around when you weren't, slowly replacing you, it was no wonder they started to pull back.

Alfred is the only reason you find out, having enough of the blatant disrespect, he calls you to come home early one day saying it's a dire matter. Of course you comply, and walk in on a discomforting sight. The whole family was gathered at the dining room table, plus a woman you'd never seen before, she sat close to Bruce, toying with his hand intimately. Her green eyes lock with yours and the smile she gives you forms a pit in your stomach.

There's silence before Bruce stands up, he walks over calmly, "Can we take this in the other room." But it wasn't phrased as a question.

"No" you licked your lips, a nervous habit from your youth. Bruce seemed taken back by your sudden backbone. He nods silently.

"I want her gone Bruce. I am your wife. You will show me that semblance of respect."

"I- of course." You don't wait for the words to settle instead, you calmly walk to your room, face unreadable.

Locking the door behind you, your body slides against the frame, a silent sob wracks your frame, your hands covering your mouth, you wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing your cries.

The next morning you wake up to breakfast in bed, a generic yet elegant spread of food lay on a tray in the empty spot Bruce used to stay. The man himself sitting in the chair beside the bed, staring at you with that practiced smile he used to appease people.

"Good morning."

"What's this?" You sat up straight, sleep evaporating from your form as you took in the threat before you.

"An apology. I never meant for yesterday to happen."

"What a comfort that is." Your piercing (e/c) eyes stare at him blankly, unreadable. "How long."

"A year." You scoff pushing the breakfast away from you like it was poisonous. "But its not what you think, Rachel is a childhood friend, a year ago our relationship, evolved into what it is now, but I was never intending to go behind your back."

"Ah of course, your intentions were pure." The words dripped venom, grabbing your robe you quickly dress before standing and walking to the door, "Thank you for the wonderful talk Bruce, really your people skills are top notch." Your hands gesture to the door. He leaves without a word.

The rest of the day is as usual, Bruce avoids you like the plague, the rest of the family acted as if you weren't there. Which made leaving all too easy.

Your lawyers had the divorce papers ready and hour after you called them, signing them felt like the first act of self love you'd done in years. Slipping them into Bruce's study you took the time to analyze the room you never entered.

It matched Bruce that's for sure, pictures of every single person in the family. All except for you.

Walking out the door, wrapped in your ankle length black faux fur coat, the garment whipped in the wind, the designer sunglasses on your face hid your eyes from the world, hair in a slicked back bun, your heels echoed against the pavement, a sleek black car was waiting for you, you look back at the house that had caused you so much misery then got in the back of the car, never looking back.

Life goes on for about a week, your absence goes unnoticed, that is before Rachel is trying and failing to blackmail Bruce out of a billion dollars, she'd collected evidence he was cheating on you with her and presented it to Bruce with a grin, it was only as he went through the pictures of himself and Rachel, did he notice the yellow envelope with his name written on the front.

Hey puts the heartbreaking matter of Rachel's betrayal on the back burner, Bruce opened the envelope and felt his heart completely stop at the word divorce written in bold lettering across the top, your signature was already there, waiting for his to join it.

Ignoring Rachel completely now he turns in his chair, turning the paper over and over as if it would magically change. But it remained the same. Alfred knocking on the door of his study broke him from his trance. "Master Wayne, miss Rachel." He says the latter's name with no warmth. "Escort Rachel to her car Alfred."

"Bruce have you heard a word I've said? I'm serious I'll go to Gotham daily right now if you don't -"

"Now Alfred."

That was all it took for the screaming woman to be firmly escorted off the premises. Bruce all but ran to your room, he didn't bother knocking, and despite knowing in his heart you were already gone, he couldn't help but check anyway.

Your room was empty and cold, he couldn't believe the date he'd read on the divorce papers, it was dated a week ago, meaning you'd been gone for a week and he hadn't noticed. No one had.

That is until Bruce remembers there's someone in the house nothing gets by.

"How long have you known she was gone Alfred?" He asks leaning on his knuckles the divorce papers stared back at him taunting him. "Since the moment she left." The older man replied simply his hands behind his back. "Why didn't you tell me immediately?" Bruce felt himself tense, "Because you've hurt that woman enough Bruce. She deserves at least this." He gestures to the daunting divorce paperwork before turning to leave Bruce with his thoughts.

The news of Rachel's betrayal shook the manor each member feeling violated by their trust being broken. But it was nothing compared to their reaction once they finally realized you were gone.

"That was rough." Jason says after watching Rachel being dragged out of the manor, he blew air out of his cheeks arms crossed over his chest, he looked towards the hallway that lead to your room, you had to have heard that he thought to himself.

Dick sighs through his nose, "Someone should check on (y/n), Rachel was screaming so loud she definitely heard that." No one volunteers so Dick rolls his eyes and heads towards your room.

He lifts his hands to knock but noticed the door was open, pushing it further he's met with a baren room, his brow furrowed in confusion before he makes his way to Bruce's study. "Hey B, have you seen (y/n)? Her room is like weirdly empty."

Dick found his Father where Alfred left him, leaning over the divorce papers silently a storm in his eyes.

As he steps closer and reads the paperwork Bruce was staring so intently at, his heart stopped.

"Holy shit- are those real?"

"Yes." Bruce finally spoke his voice horse. There was a moment of silence before Dick left the room practically running down the stairs to alert the others.

"(Y/n) left Bruce." He said still processing the information, "No fuckin' way." Jason says pushing himself off the counter he leaned on. "Her room is empty and he has the papers, she's gone."

Each member of the family had different reactions to this information.

Dick tries calling you only to be met with a disconnected number, his heart hammering in his chest, he wasn't as close to you as when he was younger sure, but you were a constant in his life, always had been, a pillar of support, and suddenly you weren't. It felt like the floor had gotten pulled out from under him.

Jason curses under his breath, his mind working a mile a minute, he had barely spoken to you since his Resurrection, something he deeply regretted as the information of your leaving sinks in like a brick thrown into a river.

Tim, ever calculating is trying to figure out where you went, you were a figurehead in his life, someone that was literally never not there, sure he wasn't close to you in the slightest but that doesn't mean he wants anything to happen to you, someone as quiet and soft as you on your own in Gotham? It didn't sit well with him. Not one bit.

Damian didn't know what he was feeling at the news, he supposed he should feel nothing, after all you were nothing to him, but there was this nagging feeling in his chest that he couldn't quite place. And he hated it. How dare you leave and upset his fragile ecosystem?

Meanwhile in the Bahamas, far from Gotham and the neglectful family you'd left behind, you sat lounging on a private beach, a knitted hammock cradles your body, a designer baby pink bikini covers you, a matching sunhat protects your face from the hot sun, you can't wipe the smile from your face, humming a tune from your childhood you barely flinch when someone takes the seat besides your hammock.

"Do I want to know how you found me?" You ask, eyes still closed as you bask in the warmth. You knew only one person had the sources to find you on your own island, and despite how much you resent the man, even his presence can't ruin your shine in this moment.

"You're my wife (Y/n), I'll always know where you are." Bruce speaks softly as if trying not to startle you. "Former wife." You correct cracking an eye open, a small smirk curling on your lips.

"Not until I sign those papers- which I never will."

"huh, I thought you'd be thrilled." You muse to yourself before folding your tanning mirror and setting it aside, you take off your Louis Vuitton sunglasses, blinking your pretty (e/c) eyes up at him, "Figured you and your little Twinkie would have tied the knot by now." You laugh softly, the sound, unfamiliar to Bruce, sent warm shivers down his spine, it causes his lips to quirk up in a small grin.

"She's gone."

"Well, I don't care."

There's a beat of silence before he's offering you his hand. "Will you walk with me? I know I don't deserve it."

You sigh before getting up, ignoring his hand, you nod your head reluctantly, "Well? Hurry up I've got dinner at six."

His smile remains as he begins leading you along the shoreline. It's relatively quiet between you two as you walk side by side, a peace between you both you hadn't ever felt. "The manor isn't the same without you." He breaks the silence, "I sincerely doubt that." You laugh at the very notion. "It's true- it's colder, quieter, I want you to come home."

"That was never my home, you made that abundantly clear."

He winces as if your words cut him, "I know I haven't been a good man to you, I know I've failed you time and time again but I..I looked at those divorce papers and my heart stopped." He admits running a hand through his hair.

"You can't leave me."

"I can't?." You scoff, your movement halting, "I'm a grown woman- I'm taking responsibility for my own happiness, you can't stop me."

"I wasn't asking." He says softly, his hands in his pockets, he had this fond look on his face, like he was staring at you for the first time, in a whole new light. "You can't make me." You say, brows furrowed, "You belong back home, you're supposed to be with me, till death do us part, remember?" He steps forward making you step back, your eyes wide, hands shaking, you back into a wide chest, spinning to face Dick, who's grinning at you, he's in his Nightwing costume, he gives you a small wave of his hand, you scrunch your face in confusion, "What the hell-" your thought is cut off by a small pinch in your neck, the needle in Bruce's hand is empty in seconds, he's cradling your stumbling form, holding you tightly, "Don't worry - I'll fix this."

Your sleeping body is gently carried to the batplane, Bruce holding you close to his chest as Dick pilots the plane, he whispers promises into your hair, rocking you against him as he swears on his life to make things right, weather you liked it or not.

[milliesfishes]

౨ৎ꣑ৎInamorata౨ৎ꣑ৎ

[fem reader] contains: bullying, angst pairing: coriolanus snow x fem reader summary: Coriolanus met you during his time as a peacekeeper, and he resolves to bring you back to the Capitol with him. author’s note: Hey hey! First Coryo fic in awhile, I'm excited about this one!! Please enjoy! Pinterest Board Spotify Playlist

You were lying between his legs, hidden in the trees away from the world when he told you he was leaving. It was a sunny day, and the shadows of the leaves were dancing over your faces.

Sitting up from his arms, you turned around, looking at him with your brow furrowed. "What?" You knew a peacekeeper's service spanned twenty years, and Coriolanus had hardly been here seven months.

"I passed the advancement test," he said, looking down at you, his blue eyes solemn. "They're sending me to Two."

"Oh." It was all you could say, and you pursed your lips, turning back around and leaning against his chest. You were quiet.

Coriolanus brought his fingers to your chin, turning your chin to face him again. "Sweetheart."

You looked into his eyes, brow furrowing. "So, you'll still be a peacekeeper? Just...not here?"

He nodded, studying your expression in his way. Coriolanus, you had learned, was always watching you, always inspecting you in some way. You'd grown to find it comforting, though now you didn't know how long that comfort would remain in your vicinity.

Biting your lip, you looked down, the reality of him leaving setting in. You'd fallen in love with him so quickly, and you now couldn't imagine your life without him.

Coriolanus couldn't either.

He'd been disappointed, at first, when he'd been assigned to this city. Bribing the official had been a last-ditch attempt to get to Lucy Gray. The chances had been small, he had known, but still he'd moped during his first week here. Not only was he in District Twelve of all places, but the person he'd spent the last of his money to get to wasn't even here.

But, knowing he wouldn't last twenty years pining over her, he'd pulled himself together and thrown himself into his work. Coriolanus was a hard worker, and he put his skill to good use, focusing solely on his duties.

That mindset had lasted all but a week.

One day he'd been in a bad mood. There were some unusually rowdy citizens that he'd had to round up, and the clouds were getting dark. On top of that, he'd had Lucy Gray on his mind more than usual, wondering (stupidly in his opinion) if she missed him, what she was doing. He'd been patrolling along the street, breathing in coal dust and holding his gun tightly.

There had been a rumble of thunder, and then it began to rain. Quickly, passerby had begun to scramble inside, and he'd cursed his shift, longing to go back to base and have a hot shower. Of course it'd rain today of all days.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking in the downpour. When he turned to get a better look, he'd seen you, carrying a bag on your shoulder.

Although you were strikingly pretty, that wasn't what caught his attention at first. It was the fact that you, in a now soaked through blue dress, weren't hurrying along at all, not eager to get inside like everyone else. No, you were meandering along, smiling as if there was nowhere you'd rather be.

He'd approached you, unable to help it. "Miss," he greeted. "You shouldn't be out in the rain. You'll catch a chill."

You'd smiled so sweetly it made his head spin. "I don't mind a little water, officer. It's a lovely change from the heat we've been having."

"Still," he nodded, trying to quell his thoughts. "You shouldn't be walking."

"I don't know any other way to get home from the market," you raised your eyebrows, teasing a bit.

Coriolanus paused for a moment, realizing you were right. He straightened, nodding. "Allow me to accompany you home, then. At least I'll know you're safe."

You'd smiled coyly, tilting your head. He remembered thinking how pretty you'd looked, with your wet hair sticking to your cheeks, rain sliding down your face like tears, contrasting your happy smile beautifully. "Do you do this with all the girls, officer?"

He'd been unable to help the slight lift of the corners of his mouth. "No miss. Just you."

That had only made your smile wider, and you'd let him escort you home. He carried the bag of fruit and vegetables for you, telling himself it was simply the gentlemanly thing to do. But as you'd chatted with him kindly all the way to where you lived, he'd found himself drawn to you, to your sweet nature, your beauty, you.

He'd never before understood how Romeo fell in love with Juliet so soon after Rosaline.

From that point on, your relationship had bloomed quickly. He began to let his guard down around you, surrendering to the pure goodness of you. He was wholly enamored by your being, by your existence. Coriolanus had thought coming to District Twelve would mean Lucy Gray at best, lung cancer at worst, but he hadn't at all expected to find a treasure like you amidst the dust and grime. The two of you cut a striking picture at first- the peacekeeper in his sharp uniform and the sweetest girl in town with a gentle demeanor.

You pried him open, softened his heart. And he made you feel loved, made you feel special. You cherished him for this reason, which was why this news of him leaving hit you so hard.

Back in the forest, Coriolanus propped his chin up on your shoulder. One of his hands was resting on your tummy, soothing back and forth. "What do you think sweetheart?"

"Of the promotion?" you questioned, leaning back against him. You didn't want to tell him how saddened you were by his leaving. So you, true to yourself, took the positive route. "You'll be happy there. You've worked so hard and I'm proud of you." You knew how he dreamed of escaping the lower districts, how much he missed his home. Transferring to Two was a step closer to getting back. "You deserve to go."

He nodded, kissing your temple. "Thank you, sweetheart." Then he rubbed his hand over your tummy again, the side of his head leaning against yours. "Are you upset with me?"

You shook your head, biting your bottom lip in contemplation. He studied you. "What's the matter then, darling?"

"I just..." you hesitated. It felt so insignificant. In your eyes, Coriolanus had a bright future, and you didn't want to weigh him down. "I'll miss you."

You were afraid he'd think it silly, but instead he cooed, pulling you more snugly into his arms. He pressed his lips to the top of your head. "I'd miss you too." He rested his chin on your head for a moment, thinking. Then, in smooth tones, he asked, "Would you come with me?"

Once again, his words made you turn around. You read his face, trying to determine if he was serious. When you found no trace of humor, you asked, "You want me...to come with you?"

His hand found its way to your face, his thumb stroking your cheek. He smiled in a reassuring way. "Come with me, dove," he repeated. "I know you think I'll be happier there, and maybe it'll be familiar for me. But..." he reached over and squeezed your hand. "I won't be happy without you."

You searched his eyes. "Coryo, I can't-"

Coriolanus leaned in and kissed you softly, his hand running up and down your side. He pulled back slightly, that usual contemplative look on his face. "You've got no reason to stay here."

He was right. Your family was long passed or moved away. But that was beside the point. "This is my home," you murmured as he pressed gentle kisses to your neck. "I grew up here."

"But what does this district have for your future?" he asked, nudging his nose against the soft skin of your neck. He was clinging to reasons to keep you.

"I..." you didn't know how to counter. When he put it that way, he was right. But the idea of leaving here, the only home you'd ever known, was just so daunting.

Coriolanus met your eyes, both his hands coming to your cheeks. "What will you do here?" he questioned, shaking his head slightly. "I don't want you to marry some farm boy and make babies for the rest of your life darling." He heard how selfish he sounded, but he didn't care. "You deserve better, sweet girl. You deserve the world."

You felt yourself soften at his words. "Nobody could give anyone that."

He shook his head. "Give me a little time. A few years to move up. And I will be able to give you everything you deserve."

A little smile came to your face at his loving promises. And now you were actually considering it. Sitting back against his chest, you turned sideways so your cheek was pressing into it. "Is it even allowed? Bringing a girl?"

Coriolanus smiled reassuringly. "I'd send you a ticket once I got there. This is hardly the first time a soldier's fallen in love with a girl where he's stationed."

You nodded, then looked up at him. In truth, the idea was growing on you. To be with him, away from the slums, where you might have more opportunities to pursue the things you loved, sounded wonderful.

The other driving factor was the way he looked at you. The way he so clearly wanted you to come. He wanted you near him. He'd said you made him happy.

So, for these reasons, you sat up a little, and nodded, looking into his eyes. "Okay. I'll come with you."

The words were barely out of your mouth before he was hugging you tightly to his chest, peppering kisses all over your face. You giggled, cuddling into him and imagining your new life with him, far away from here.

He told you he'd be leaving in two weeks. Your train ticket would be sent about a month in, so he could get settled first.

You began to prepare, saving money and gathering together a few things you'd want to take with you. Living arrangements would likely be modest, but you were used to such things. As long as you were with him, you'd endure any circumstances.

In the weeks before he left, Coriolanus suddenly became very busy with his peacekeeper duties, and you didn't see him very much over the next bit. It was only when you heard awful news that you figured out why.

Sejanus, his peaceful, soft-spoken friend, was to be hanged. For conspiring with rebels, you'd been told. You were horrified. Sejanus was the last person you'd have thought to be caught doing such a thing. Your heart broke for him, but also for Coriolanus. That was his best friend. Even though their personalities were stark opposites, and Coriolanus was a little colder in affections toward anyone except you, you knew he was fond of Sejanus.

Since you knew him, you grappled with going to the execution or not. It would be horribly painful to watch, since he'd been your friend. But what if he was looking over the crowd, seconds from death, and he wished to see a familiar face? Someone who cared about him? Or would it be worse then? You went back and forth until you received a message from Coriolanus.

Don't come.

It was a hard order to follow, but you did. The whole day you cried for Sejanus. He didn't deserve this, no matter what he'd done. But like your mother would have said, he was in a better place now.

You didn't hear from Coriolanus at all after that. Knowing him, he wouldn't want to talk about what had happened with his friend, but you'd hoped to get something from him letting you know he was okay. The day he was set to leave came and went without anything.

During the month following, you practically slept by the mailbox, hoping and praying for a letter from him. Anything to let you know he remembered his promise. It was harder than you'd thought to live without him now that you knew what it was like to do so. You missed him desperately, trying to distract yourself but ultimately failing.

In a moment of desperation, you wondered if he really had forgotten you. But then you recalled the look on his face when he'd asked you to come. No. Coriolanus never made promises he didn't intend to follow through on. So, you kept your things packed and waited.

The day the letter came, you opened it eagerly, noting the heavy, fine texture of the paper. His initials were prominent in gold at the top. Maybe this promotion was better than you'd thought.

Sweetheart-

I apologize for not writing sooner. Things have been busy here. This ticket is for the twenty-eighth, at 9:00 am. I'll meet you at the station. I miss you.

Yours,

Coryo

Him closing the letter with the name you called him made your heart sing. He didn't forget you.

Then you realized: the twenty-eighth was tomorrow.

Leaping from your seat, you scurried to put what remained for you to pack in your small, round case (a pretty thing your mother had left you), making sure there wasn't anything you were forgetting. You hadn't renewed your rent on this house yet for the next month. The plan had been to send a letter to the owner from District 2, and you figured you could still do that. You'd thought Coriolanus would give you a little more notice, but it would be okay.

Waking early the next day, you donned your prettiest dress: a white thing with buttons to the waistline and little flowers embroidered on the bodice that tied at the bust. Brushing out your long hair, you checked your appearance several times before leaving. You wanted to look your best when you saw him.

When you presented your ticket to the stationmaster, he directed you to the first-class section. Surprised by this, you hesitantly settled, sure there'd been a mistake. But a few hours into the ride, nobody ordered you out. It was very in character for Coriolanus to do this. To make sure the long journey was comfortable. But first class? You hadn't asked enough questions about his new position apparently.

The train ride was long, but you hardly minded, watching the landscape whiz by through the window like a moving picture. Eventually, your eyes became heavy and it was clear your exhaustion caught up to you. You fell asleep, figuring it was okay since you were in a safer section. No need to keep guard over your possessions here.

Some hours later, awoken by the sound of the brakes screeching to a stop, you wearily stretched, sitting up from where you'd lain across the seats. You rubbed your eyes (not too hard as not to muss your light makeup) and looked out the window, expecting to see the rugged mountains of District 2.

Instead, the sight that greeted you was of a city, shiny and crisp. Buildings stretched tall; their grandeur surprising you. It was true you'd never been to District 2, but you were fairly certain that it had nothing like this.

Maybe you'd been sent to the wrong place? You reached for your ticket frantically. But no, it had your name on it. If this had been a mistake, it'd been a well-planned one. Looking back out the window, you saw a sign situated just on the outside of the train tracks.

WELCOME TO THE CAPITOL!

Blinking in surprise, you looked from the sign to the view of the city again. It certainly looked how you'd heard the Capitol did.

The conductor called for everyone to get off the train, and you stood, taking your case in your hand and hoping he'd really be there when you exited.

You stepped off the train, trying to see if you could find him amongst the crowd. People dressed very nicely here; you noticed as you observed the hoard of people coming and going. Then, as you made your way away from the tracks and into the station, you saw him.

Heart jumping for joy, you started to walk toward him. His appearance caught you off guard for a moment. You'd thought he'd be wearing his peacekeeper uniform, but he was in a red suit, a coat of the same color over it. His hair was longer too. He was studying something in the distance in his serious way. As you got closer, he noticed and turned to you, a little smile gracing his features.

You walked faster at the sight. When you were close enough, he held out his arms and you dropped your case, practically jumping into them. Coriolanus held you tightly, lifting you off your feet and burying his face in your hair.

"Coryo," you laughed, overjoyed to be with him again.

"I missed you sweetheart," he muttered into your hair. Coriolanus pulled back slightly to look at you, arms still holding you up around your waist. Yours were wound around his neck, and you searched his eyes.

"I missed you," you said softly, and he leaned in, pressing his lips to yours. The kiss was gentle, but there was a hint of hunger to it, and you knew when he got you alone there'd be more. For now, you smiled into it, nudging your nose against his.

Coriolanus set you down carefully, picking up your case and holding out his hand for you. You took it, the familiar feeling of his hand in yours lighting you up. As you walked hand in hand out of the station, you were overwhelmed by the sight. This was nothing like anything you'd expected.

He watched your reaction, smiling and squeezing your hand. "I'm sorry for not telling you darling."

"Why didn't you?" you asked as you began to walk down the street. "Did you know you were coming here the whole time?"

Coriolanus moved his arm to your shoulders as he guided you through the crowd on the sidewalk. "I thought I was going to Two until I was about to leave. They sent me here instead." He looked down at you, that little smile you loved so much making you melt. "As for why I didn't say anything about it; I wanted to surprise you."

You smiled at that. It was sweet of him. Then you tilted your head as you asked another question. "Is it the same position, just in the Capitol?"

He shook his head. "I've been discharged. I'm studying at the university."

Now that you were at a lightly less crowded part of the street, you stopped, looking up at him, remembering what he'd told you before about tuition and why he'd been sent out to begin with. "Really? But I thought-"

Coriolanus brought his hands to your arms, setting your case down for a moment. "Strabo Plinth- Sejanus' father- is sponsoring me. He was very grateful for my friendship to his son. And in addition to my studies, I have an internship with Dr. Gaul that pays. Extremely well."

All this information washed over you, and you stared at him in disbelief, trying to understand how you felt about this. Already everything was far different than you'd thought. But he looked excited, and you knew this was everything he'd wanted; to be back home with his family and you, a promising future ahead.

So, you smiled, winding your arms around his neck again and whispering, "I'm so happy for you."

He squeezed you once before you pulled back. Coriolanus lifted your chin with his finger, making sure you were looking at him. "It's going to be so much better than we thought, sweetheart. Just you wait." You nodded, unable to do anything but believe him. The two of you were attracting a few looks as you stood there with him, and you knew it was because you were dressed like the country girl you were. It may have looked odd next to his sleek appearance. You hardly cared though, too caught up in excitement that you were here.

Picking up your case, he took your hand again, leading you further into the city. You looked around at all the sights, excited by the buzz of it all. The structures were so distinguished, with their columns and pillars. It was also chilly. You shivered a bit, and he tightened his arm around you. Back home it'd been spring for a month. But here it still seemed to be winter. The cold, however, didn't stop you from gazing at everything in awe. The view quickly took your mind off the temperature.

Coriolanus watched you take it all in, a look of amusement on his face. He seemed to delight in your wonder. You looked over at him. "Are we going to where you live?"

He shook his head, squeezing your hand. "Not yet sweetheart. We're going to go somewhere else first."

Brow furrowing slightly in confusion, you let him take you to this mystery location, which turned out to be a tall building with lots of windows. He held the door for you, and when you stepped inside, you saw sleek decor, and a woman sitting at a receptionist's desk, looking like something out of a magazine.

She looked up as the two of you approached. "How can I help you?"

Coriolanus told the woman your name, his hand on your shoulder. "She needs to be...outfitted."

The woman nodded, giving him an impressed look. "I'll call someone in to assist."

"Thank you." Coriolanus turned to you, putting your case down beside you. He put his hands on your shoulders, thumbs smoothing over your skin soothingly. "I have a meeting at the university in twenty minutes, but I'm leaving you in-" he paused, looking over at the woman.

"Lyra," she affirmed.

He gave her a charming smile. "-Lyra's very capable hands."

You tilted your head. "What am I about to do?"

Coriolanus tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. "It'll be fun, sweetheart. Don't worry. We're going to get you something pretty. Tigris said this is the very best place in town." He referred to his cousin, who he'd told you was very fashion centric.

Feeling a bit confused still, you nodded hesitantly, and he smiled. "Good girl. And I don't want you worrying about price or quantity. The more the better. I'll see you in a bit." With that, he kissed your forehead and left.

You watched him go, then turned to Lyra, who wore a kind smile, seeming to understand how you felt. "Don't worry. We're here to help you. It can be overwhelming at first, especially here."

"Help me with what?" you questioned, returning her smile nervously.

She stood up as another woman walked in, taking her place behind the desk. "Shopping, of course." Lyra gestured for you to follow her, and you picked up your case, walking behind her through another door.

Behind it was a seemingly never-ending space. You saw racks of clothing, jewelry peeking out from behind cases, and shiny bottles of perfume on shelves. Lyra smiled as she watched you take it in. "Like I said, it can be overwhelming. But it's not as intimidating as it looks, I promise."

She led you to a room with wallpaper in a pleasing shade of blue. There was a three paneled mirror in the center. Two comfortable looking chairs were positioned against the wall in front of the mirror, a side table between them.

Lyra told you you could set your case down, and you did, a little warily. "Would you like some champagne?"

"No thank you," you declined sweetly, and she smiled.

"Now, I'm going to pull some things from the floor that I think would fit you," she said, studying you in an observant way. "Are there any colors you like to wear in particular?"

You thought for a moment, shifting on your feet. "I have a lot of blue things, but I'll wear anything, really."

Lyra took note of this, promising she'd be back in a few minutes with a few options. When she returned with two full racks, you realized you and her had very different ideas of a few. "I sent someone to get shoes."

She held out the first dress to you- long, silky, in a light blue color. "Go on."

There was no area to change in, so you hesitantly stripped down in front of her, avoiding eye contact. She didn't bat an eye, zipping up the dress from behind and nodding at the mirror. "Go see."

Gradually, as you tried on dresses, you began to get more into it, spinning to see yourself at different angles in the mirror. The things they were giving you were very beautiful. You liked how the fabric felt against your skin, so different from the dresses you were used to wearing. Lyra pronounced the best colors for you to wear as pink, red, black, white, and blue. "But honestly, you're so cute you could wear anything."

Another woman whom she introduced as 'Cassia' came in with shoes. You tried those on too, testing them out with different dresses and experimenting walking. You almost felt like someone else in these clothes, but in the best way.

Lyra and Cassia flattered you, adjusting the clothes, telling you the best ways to wear your hair with which ones and what accessories would look good. They hung the dresses you'd liked on one rack, separating them from the others, and did the same with the shoes.

You put the dress you'd worn in on and followed Lyra out to the different departments of the store. First to jewelry, where you picked a few simple pieces, much to her pleasure. "You'll be able to wear these with everything," she said approvingly, holding up a necklace to your collarbone.

She led you to an area with nightdresses and intimates next, which you'd balked at. "Are you sure about this? Nobody will be able to see them." You were looking at what she was suggesting: a set with a black lacy bra and panties.

Lyra gave you a mischievous sort of smile. "It's less for you, and more for him."

"Who?" you questioned.

"That handsome man who brought you in, if I'm not mistaken," she raised her eyebrows. You caught her drift and blushed, looking down. She insisted you pick out a few sleeping pieces too, lacy nightdresses and sets.

You selected a scent of perfume too; one you liked that smelled like roses. Lyra handed you a pretty black and white bag that she said would go with everything you'd picked out today.

Much to your surprise, that wasn't the end of it. Now she was sitting you down in a chair in front of a sink, telling you to lean your head back as she gently washed your hair with warm water and soap that smelled like flowers. "To match your perfume," she clarified, as if to explain the choice.

She rinsed your hair and dried it with heat, using her brush to make it fall in sleek, bouncy curls. You smiled at your reflection, amazed at how chic it looked. Lyra applied a little makeup too, not too much because in her words you "were naturally pretty and don't need it unlike some other girls I've helped before".

When all that was over, she took you back to the room with the mirror, handing you one of your favorite dresses you'd tried on (red with a long skirt and short sleeves), and a pair of black heels. Lyra turned her back when you put on your new intimates, only coming over to help you with the brassiere, which was held together by a ribbon tied in the back.

When you looked at yourself in the mirror, you were in awe. Somehow you looked brand new, but also yourself at the same time. Bouncing on your heels, you thought of Coriolanus, and what his reaction would be. Would he love it or hate it?

Lyra smiled at you through the mirror. "Very pretty." You turned around excitedly, thanking her kindly for all her work. She almost seemed surprised that you did, as if she wasn't used to it. Adjusting your hair behind your shoulder and smoothing the sleeves of your dress, she said that you were a sweet girl and she'd be happy to help you anytime.

You helped her carry your four bags of things, plus your case, to the front. Just before you got to the door, Lyra took the bags you were holding, hoisting them in her arms and giving you a knowing look. "You come out last. For effect, you know?"

She opened the door, an impressive feat with everything she was carrying, and said something you couldn't hear to someone on the other side. You followed her, and instantly saw why she'd wanted to go in front of you. Coriolanus was standing there, his eyes on you as you entered.

His face, in its usual serene position, broke into a smile when he saw you, all dolled up for him. Moving forward, Coriolanus took your hands in his, lifting your arms so he could see you in your entirety. "Look at you," he said in awe. He put one hand down, lifting the other, still joined with yours, up high. "Turn around for me."

You did so happily, doing a slow spin under his arm so he could see the whole dress. His smile seemed uncontainable. "You look beautiful sweetheart. So pretty." He brought your hand to his lips, kissing your fingers. "There's a car waiting. I knew you'd have bags." He nodded at a man in a suit standing near him, and he started to gather them, carrying them outside.

Coriolanus turned back to you, looking over you again with an adoring smile. "You look lovely, darling. Truly." His affections pleased you, and you looked up at him proudly. Then he seemed to remember something, rubbing your arms. "Did you get a coat?"

Lyra stepped in, holding out the white coat with fur around the cuffs and collar you'd selected earlier. He gave her an appreciative nod, holding it up for you to step into. You slid your arms through the sleeves, and he turned you back around, taking the edges to adjust it around you, making sure you were warm enough.

You watched him do all this with a soft look in your eyes. He'd always doted on you like you couldn't believe. Coriolanus closed the coat around you, chucking you lightly under the chin. "I forgot to tell you how cold it stays for a while, darling."

The driver poked his head in, letting him know everything was ready, and Coriolanus took your hand. You turned to Lyra. "Thank you again for everything."

She smiled appreciatively. "It was my pleasure. Come back any time." You could tell she meant it.

Coriolanus led you out to the car, his arm around your waist, and you could see that you were attracting stares from some of the passerby just like earlier. Only this time, you weren't sure why. You were dressed like a Capitol citizen now.

When you asked Coriolanus about it, he smiled, squeezing his arm around your waist. "It's because you're gorgeous. You were before, but now you're beautiful in a way they know."

He kept his arm wound around your waist the whole car ride, and you couldn't help but think what a pretty pair the two of you made. For so much of your relationship you'd been mismatched. The soldier and the country girl. And a few hours ago, the country girl and academic. But now you looked like you belonged together, like you were dolls that came in a set.

The car pulled up in front of a tall, grand looking building. It was clearly old, but in a majestic way. The sun setting made the white exterior appear nearly golden. Coriolanus exited the car first, holding out a hand for you. You moved to get your bags, but he shook his head, offering his arm. "They'll be taken up. Come with me, darling."

Every step you took, you were more unsure of what you were walking into. A man standing guard at the front nodded at Coriolanus, and he returned it curtly. All the way into the elevator, to what seemed to be the top floor, you wondered what it would be like. Living with him. You'd never lived with someone you were in a relationship with before.

When the elevator dinged, signaling your arrival, Coriolanus looked down at you, reaching his other hand to where yours was clinging to the crook of his arm. "Ready?"

You nodded in an assuring way, even though you had no idea what he was asking.

The doors parted to reveal a luxurious space, more elaborately decorated than anything you'd ever seen. One thing you noticed were the accents of red everywhere. And the roses. Both the color and the flower seemed to hold importance. On some unconscious level you'd known this, known red was his favorite color but not why. Known he valued roses, but not the reason. You were thankful for your choice in dress, the same dark, rich crimson.

Coriolanus helped you take off your coat, but he seemed to be looking for something as he did. "Tigris?" he called, removing his own and hanging it with yours in the closet. Or someone.

A pretty, stylish woman with blonde hair emerged from another room. When she saw you, her face lit up. "Is this her?"

"It is," Coriolanus looked down at you proudly. You felt as if he were showing you off, but you didn't mind it one bit. "Darling, this is my cousin Tigris."

She smiled as she looked over you. "You're just lovely...I can see what Coriolanus was talking about."

"It's nice to meet you," you offered shyly, letting go of his arm. She brought you into a warm hug, and a comforting feeling bloomed in your chest. When she pulled back, she looked over the details of you with great interest. "Your dress is beautiful."

"Ah," Coriolanus said pleasantly over your shoulder, and you looked up, seeing an older woman enter the room. His grandmother, you presumed from what he'd told you.

He introduced you to her and she smiled, albeit a bit tightly. "So, you're the girl he met in twelve?" Her tone made it sound like that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Tigris saved the day, swooping in and linking arms with you, asking about you, your interests and how you liked the Capitol so far. You told her a bit about shopping earlier, and she beamed. "I'll finally have someone to shop with! Maybe that's the real reason Coriolanus brought you home," she said teasingly, tossing a look back at her cousin.

He only smiled, holding out his hand. "I'm going to show her the bedroom, Tigris."

Playfully reluctant, she let go, smiling sweetly at you. "We'll talk more tomorrow." Then she hugged you again. "I'm very glad you're here. You and I are going to be great friends."

"I'm sure we will," you smiled, letting go and going to Coriolanus. He seemed pleased that you were getting along with her.

He led you to a pair of doors at the end of a hallway, standing like two white chess pieces. The king and queen, you thought.

Coriolanus took you through the door on the right. It was a rather pretty bedroom, decorated much the same as the rest of this floor, grandly with accents of red. Beautiful of course, like a palace.

"This is your room, dove," he explained, and you smiled at the thought of this elegant space belonging to you. Then, he opened a door you'd presumed was a closet. Behind it, you saw another bedroom, but this one looked a little more lived in. "And this is mine."

"A secret door?" you wondered in delight. He confirmed it with a nod.

"The washroom is just through here," he pointed to another door with a gold handle. "It connects to my room as well."

Instantly, you wondered how much time exactly you'd be spending in the room he'd pronounced as yours. He validated your thoughts, taking your face in his hands. No matter how many times he did so, you loved it, the feel of his big hands caressing your soft cheeks. "They've already brought your things in here. I'll let you freshen up." He chucked you under the chin lightly. "Meet me in my room."

Coriolanus kissed your forehead, looking at you in his typical fond way. "I'm happy you're here, sweetheart."

Your smile stayed on your face until he shut the door behind him, and then you leapt into action.

The bags of things you'd gotten today were set to the side of the bed, beside an open door that looked like a closet. You rushed to them, carefully pulling out boxes and trying to figure out what was in each of them.

Finally, you found the one with your sleepwear and rustled through it, trying to find something...acceptable to wear. He'd implied you'd be sleeping in the same bed. You wanted to be pretty for him, for your first night together in the Capitol.

You pulled out nightdresses and sleep sets, considering. Which one was the prettiest? Which one would he like the best?

Remembering the importance of red, you chose a nightdress of that color with white lace trim and a bow in the center. You would keep your panties underneath on, you decided.

Removing your dress and hanging it in the closet, you put the nightdress on, looking at yourself in the full-length mirror. It was pretty. It made your legs look long and your skin smooth.

You pulled your hairbrush from your case and ran it through your hair a few times, making sure you looked presentable. Suddenly everything about you looked wrong. You messed with your reflection, turning to try and see yourself from the back.

There was a knock on the door. "Is everything alright, darling?"

When you looked at the clock, you realized you'd been in there for nearly an hour. "Yes!" you called, adjusting the straps of your nightdress. "I'll be just a moment."

Looking at yourself one more time, you nodded, hoping this was enough.

Opening the door, you saw him standing at his desk, holding a file, reading the contents. He'd also changed, into a grand looking dressing gown that was open, revealing he was wearing nothing but his boxers.

Coriolanus looked up, grinning when he saw you, and putting the papers back on his desk. He came to you, reaching for your hands. "Beautiful." He looked you up and down, his eyes catching on your delicate nightdress. His gaze grew slightly hungry, and he pulled you to the bed, sitting and guiding you to his lap.

His large hands settled on your thighs, grazing the hem. You searched his eyes, trying to guess at his next move. Leaning in, he kissed you gently, pulling back to look at you. "Have I already told you how happy I am now that you're here?"

"A few times," you teased, and he gave a playful growl, grabbing you around the waist and rolling you over so he was on top of you. Coriolanus' lips trailed hot kisses down your neck, and you leaned back and enjoyed it, sighing softly and tangling your hand in his hair. He'd never had hair long enough where you could do that before.

As he ravished you with attention, you relished in your newfound position. Here you were, lying on silk sheets in a pretty dress being kissed by a handsome man who loved you.

When he pulled back to look at you, your smile was bright. Was there ever a girl luckier than you?

The second he'd met you, Coriolanus knew you weren't destined for the backwater slums of District 12. No, he knew you needed something grander, that you were born to live in luxury.

And besides, you deserved it too. There was a natural sweetness about you that made him protective of you, made him want to spoil you beyond belief. And until now, he hadn't had the chance or the means.

The second he'd spotted you in the crowd at the train station, his heart grew full. You were so adorable, a breath of fresh air in the windowless room that was the Capitol. He grew excited at the chance to spend money on you, and give you every comfort he thought you required.

Pretty dresses to wear, A grand place to live. Silk sheets to...well, he'd come back to that later.

Although the dress you'd arrived in was pretty, he wanted you to fit in here. Besides, you'd look absolutely beautiful in the classic style of the Capitol.

When he'd come back to collect you at the shop and seen you all dolled up, looking like you'd been born into luxury, he'd rejoiced. Obviously, he'd always found you beautiful, but there was something about the way you carried yourself now. You were every inch a lady.

He'd been slightly disappointed at how little you'd gotten, but remembering the way you'd lived in 12, he let it slide. In time you'd become accustomed to it. He'd send you shopping again soon, perhaps with Tigris since she seemed to like you so much.

It was only a few days after you arrived that the first social event you'd attend together came up. He was eager to take you out and show you off.

That night when you emerged from your bedroom in a black and white floor length gown of delicate tulle, a string of pearls around your neck, his breath was taken away. He took your hand in his, kissing it gallantly. "Beautiful darling. Absolutely stunning."

You smiled in your sweet way, and he offered his arm to escort you out. Tigris fawned over your dress, looking lovely herself in pink silk. The three of you made your way down to the car, and he could feel your giddiness at the prospect of tonight, though you kept yourself composed in a way he admired.

Walking in with you, he could feel everyone's eyes draw to the pair of you. As a new face in the Capitol, they'd likely be curious, and he relished in the unspoken interest.

Instantly people came to you. He introduced you to person after person, and you greeted them shyly, but politely. It was obvious after a while that people were becoming enamored by you. The sweetness of your being captivated them just as it had him, just as he knew it would.

Women fawned over you, complimenting your dress and asking where you got it. Men eyed you appreciatively, but saw that you were on Coriolanus' arm, so didn't get too close. Good, he thought, looking down at you. You were his. Anyone who got too close in the wrong way would be buried.

You chatted eagerly with anyone who crossed your path. He kept you close, but still greeted those who approached him. There were certain people he was required to talk to after all, but he wasn't going to let you go for it.

When you went off to get a glass of champagne, an older woman whispered to him, "She's absolutely darling."

Coriolanus' mouth twitched into a smile. "Isn't she?" He was pleased that society seemed to have accepted you, finding you as charming as he did.

The night progressed smoothly, and soon you were caught up in a group of women alongside Tigris, talking about fashion. He excused himself, deciding you were alright for the moment in the company of his cousin.

Making his rounds, he greeted senator after senator, oozing politeness. These events could be tedious but having you here with him helped greatly. He'd look over at you every now and then, just making sure you were okay. Every time, he'd see you caught up in conversation, looking like sunshine in a physical form.

He wasn't worried about your social graces. You were unusually well educated for where you were from, and by your own choice too. There was plenty in your pretty little head about topics Capitolites could discuss for hours. Both intellectuals and opposite. His angel could bewitch anyone she wanted.

You came back to him shyly after a little bit, and he wrapped his arm around you, pressing a kiss to your temple. He could smell your perfume. Roses. His favorite. "Everything alright, darling?"

You nodded, looking up at him. "Who do we talk to next?"

That made him smile. You were so eager to please. He rested his hand on your face, thumb running over your cheek. "We don't have to. We can go home now, love."

You looked nervous. "Just a few more? I don't want to be rude."

Coriolanus looked over you, considering. "A few more." He thought it was adorable of you to worry about manners; you really were too sweet.

He led you over to a group of colleagues, greeting them politely. The group of men looked at you with interest, showering you with compliments. Of course, these compliments were a bit more sexual in nature than the women from earlier, but he let it slide, keeping his grip on you tight. You were oblivious to it, chattering with them and winning them over the same way you had with everyone else thus far.

One of the men made a comment about the way your dress hugged your body, and his fingers splayed on your waist possessively. It's not her fault, he reminded himself. He made a mental note to keep you even closer at the next event.

You excused yourself for a moment, whispering to him that you'd be right back, and he was left alone with the group of men. Back to talking about what he considered to be uninteresting affairs, especially when compared to you.

Twenty minutes passed, and you had not returned. He was growing concerned, looking around the room to see if you were with Tigris, perhaps. But no, his cousin was talking to an older lady in a blue dress.

His brow furrowed as he looked, still trying to stay engaged in the conversation but failing. Where on earth had you gone?

Finally, to his relief, you returned. Your smile was tighter, wearier than it had been before. When he got a closer look at you, he could see dried tear tracks on your face.

Immediately he took you under his arm, nodding a brief goodbye to the men in front of him. Leading you out into the hallway, he searched your eyes, brow furrowed. "Sweetheart...sweetheart, what happened? Are you okay?"

You were trying to stay composed; he could see it. Breathing deeply so you wouldn't cry, you said, "Who else do we need to talk to?"

Coriolanus shook his head, pulling you into his arms. "No one. What's the matter?"

The second he had you against his chest you broke, tears slipping down your face like rivers. He held your head against his shoulder, letting you cry there. "Shhh, I've got you angel. It's going to be okay."

He kissed your hair, rubbing your back lightly as not to wrinkle your dress. "What happened?"

You sniffled, shaking your head against his chest, words muffled. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"It's not nothing if it's making you cry. What happened?" he demanded gently.

Turning your head so your ear was over his heart, you sighed softly. Then, "I heard someone talking about how I'm 'district' and I should go back to Twelve."

His blood ran cold, his arms tightening around you. "Who?"

"I don't know," you said honestly. You were so new to this; he should have figured you wouldn't recognize who did it.

Coriolanus inhaled softly, burying his nose in your hair. "Pay them no mind, darling. They're fools with too much wine in their systems."

"I don't even know how they found out," you muttered, pulling back to look up at him. "I didn't tell anyone where I was from. Did you?"

"No," he said, trying to think if he might have let it slip. Not that being from Twelve was anything to be ashamed of, but he knew the socialites at the Capitol would take it too far in a negative light.

You leaned your forehead against his chest. "I don't know how anyone found out," you repeated.

"It's alright, sweetheart," he promised, his voice a soothing coo. "High society feeds on gossip like this. They'll forget all about however scandalous they think it is in no time."

You nodded, unable to do anything but believe him, leaning back into his chest, safe in the cocoon of his arms.

When the next event approached; a gala to celebrate the president and his wife's anniversary, he watched you build yourself up to attend. You selected your dress carefully, trying to infuse confidence into your appearance.

Coriolanus had known it would be a hard transition, going from living in a poor district to the upper-class world. You were doing wonderfully on your part, and he reveled in that. It was the people around you that were having a hard time getting used to it.

Perhaps he shouldn't have involved himself so much in the world of parties and dinners so soon after returning in anticipation of your arrival, but he couldn't help himself. He finally had money and influence and he wanted to use it. It was like giving a man dying of thirst water.

Anyways, the both of you were stuck in this position now. You were making the best of it, enjoying the life he'd given you despite the whispers heard everywhere you went. His sweetheart had a gift for seeing the light.

Tonight, you looked especially beautiful, in a floor length white, sheer dress that Tigris had assured you was the latest style. You seemed very eager to please, checking your reflection a dozen times before you followed him out the door.

He watched you enter the party with an air of pure confidence. Here you were, beautiful as ever, determined to make everyone like you. It broke his heart a little, that you sook the approval of others so much. But he stayed quiet, letting you do what you pleased.

It started well.

You greeted everyone you'd met before, a bright smile gracing your face. Coriolanus felt a twinge of pride. That was his girl.

He looked up at a group of women who were eyeing you, whispering among themselves, and his eyes narrowed just slightly. Then he turned to you. "Darling, let me introduce you."

Walking you over to them, he put on a polite smile as you sweetly told them your name. "It's lovely to meet you."

"Pleasure," one of the women, a blonde, said, pursing her lips as she peered at you over her glass of champagne.

"Likewise," you gave her a genuine smile and Coriolanus thanked the higher powers for your innocence.

As you began to speak to them in your special you way, he relaxed a little. Maybe he need not be so protective. Maybe you could handle yourself.

After a few minutes, you leaned into him, whispering, "You can go greet whoever else you need to, my love. I'll be fine."

He furrowed his brow a bit. "Are you sure?"

You nodded assuredly. "Of course." Tilting your head up to kiss him briefly, you said, "I know you have people to talk to. Go on."

Coriolanus stood still for a moment, deciding if it was a good idea. Eventually he concurred, giving you a parting kiss on the temple and going off to talk to a nearby official who greeted him heartily.

You watched him go, then turned back to the women, smiling. "I love your dress," you told the blonde who'd said it was a pleasure.

She softened a bit, giving you a squinty eyed smile. "Thank you. It's from the new boutique on Third. I can direct you there if you'd like."

Before you could answer, one of the other women, a brunette, said, "Your accent is so unique. Wherever are you from?"

You froze at the question, keeping the smile on your face. "Up north."

The brunette looked amused, a little smirk on her face. "Oh, so like Seven? Or Nine?"

Another blonde cut in, laughing a little. "Oh no, I bet she's from Twelve. Their accent is very similar."

Feeling tense and not much like lying, you nodded. "I am."

Blonde number two seemed rather pleased to be correct, and she raised an eyebrow as she looked you up and down. "How did you wind up here, then? In the Capitol, I mean."

You ignored the pang in your chest. "Coriolanus brought me here."

All three of the women's faces lit up at the mention of him, now looking interested. "How kind of him," the brunette said, sipping her drink. "The Snows have always been known for their charity. First with the Plinth boy and now with you! How lovely."

It was a jab, but you brushed it off. She probably didn't mean anything by it, you decided. Straightening up, you responded, "Yes, it was. I'm very grateful to be here."

"But how long are you here for?" Blonde number two asked, her eyes wide. She seemed about your age, but you could nearly physically feel the difference between you two.

"As long as he wants me to be," you answered honestly, fidgeting with the sleeve of your dress and looking to see if you could spot Tigris. She was nowhere to be found.

"Ahh, I see," the brunette gave you a smile that almost seemed condescending. "Well, that's very nice for you. A little trip to the Capitol."

"Yes, quite," you smiled politely, feeling like a bug under a microscope. "Excuse me, I'm going to go get a drink."

Once you were away, you took a deep breath. At least they weren't being outright awful. It was better than nothing, you supposed. Grabbing a glass of champagne, you took a sip for courage.

You can do this, you told yourself silently as you made your way back over. Make them forget where you're from, make them-

"She's rather naive, isn't she?"

The words of the first blonde woman pierced your ears, and you halted to a stop, just barely in earshot. The crowd was thick, but you could both see them and hear everything they said.

"Well, she is from Twelve after all," the brunette laughed. "Did you expect anything different?"

"Such a shame for Coriolanus," the second blonde mused, swirling her drink. "I wonder if he felt sorry for her. Or maybe he got her pregnant!"

The brunette gasped, hitting her in the arm lightly as she giggled. "That must be what it is. He's such a gentleman, of course he'd do the right thing even if she's a whore. I've heard most pretty girls from Twelve are."

"Poor man fell in love with her and she's just using him," the second blonde shrugged. "Oh, my word, we have to tell Jenny and Mary!"

You were rushing off into the hallway before they could say anything else.

Hot tears burned your cheeks as they fell, and you leaned against the wall, hand covering your eyes. Why did I ever think I could do this?

You caught sight of your reflection in a mirror on the opposite wall, and it only served you worse. Before tonight it had shown a girl who fit in, who could be every bit as good at society as the women in the next room.

But now all you saw was an imposter. Nothing dressed up all pretty.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you tried desperately not to cry. You didn't want to ruin your makeup and have to go back out there with blackened eyes. Taking deep breaths, you tried to focus on the positive. Everyone else seemed to like you, that was good. The dress you're wearing is pretty.

Opening your eyes, you breathed in and out shakily, smoothing your hair and still harvesting good thoughts. You're in the Capitol. You don't have to worry about money. Coriolanus is-

Right there.

You caught him in the reflection of the mirror and slowly turned your head. His face was solemn. Silently, he held out his arms.

Like a magnet, you were drawn to him. His arms felt like a shield around you, and you could've welded yourself to him in that moment. As a peacekeeper he had always been protective of you, and you were happy that hadn't changed.

No words were said. He knew. Instantly he knew. And you loved him for it.

You were still trying not to cry, and he looked down at you, lifting your chin with a single finger. "Darling."

The single word broke you. Biting the inside of your cheek, twin tears rolled down your cheeks, and his face softened. He pressed your head against his shoulder, holding you to him.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he breathed, holding you against him.

"This was a mistake," you hiccupped, lifting a hand to brush a tear away.

"What do you mean?" he frowned, hand running through your hair.

"I shouldn't have come here," you whispered in shuddering tones. "I know it looks bad for you, being seen with a girl who's 'district'."

Coriolanus pulled back, looking down at you. He looked determined. "Darling, if anything you make me look better. You've charmed just about everyone in that room."

Shaking your head, you choked, "I'm an imposter, Coryo." Your hands were shaking. You'd jumped into the river of Capitol society, and now the words of the women were stones tied to your wrists, holding you down at the bottom when you desperately needed air. "You should just let me go back to Twelve."

"No," he said instantly, tone sharp. Coriolanus held you tighter to him, as if you'd disappear to Twelve any second in a puff of smoke. "You're not going back there. You're staying with me."

"There is absolutely no reason to keep me here," you begged, searching his eyes. "You have so much ahead of you- you don't need me dragging you down."

Coriolanus heaved a sigh, looking firmly at you. He thumbed a tear from your cheek, studying you for a moment. Then, he reached down for your hand. "Come on. We're going home."

"You don't need to-"

"No," he cut you off, looking over you. "Come with me, sweetheart."

You trailed behind him, his hand in yours as he pulled you back into the ballroom. Flushing red a bit due to your slightly disheveled appearance, you kept your eyes on your shoes, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Hearing Tigris' voice, you looked up. She looked concerned, looking between you and Coriolanus like she was at a tennis match. "Is everything okay?"

"We're going to head home," Coriolanus said smoothly, letting go of your hand and moving his arm to your waist, holding you in a protective way.

"Okay," Tigris said confusedly. "I'm going to stay a little longer. I'll call a cab." It was sweet of her, to let you go. You didn't want her evening to be ruined because you couldn't handle what other people said about you.

"I'm sorry," you said quietly, and she shook her head.

"Nothing to be sorry for," she said kindly, reaching out and smoothing the sleeve of your dress. "Feel better, alright?"

You nodded, and Coriolanus guided you away, through the crowds. Their whispering irked at you. You were convinced they were talking about the naive country girl and the Capitol's newest up-and-comer, and what a mismatched pair you were.

The car ride home was quiet, and you sniffled the whole way. Coriolanus kept close, his presence a rock in your panicked ocean of insecurity.

All the way up the stairs and into your room he was silent. It wasn't until he sat you down on the bed, and knelt before you, his hands grasping yours, that he said, "You're not going back."

"You have to let me," you responded dryly, your voice hoarse both from crying and lack of use. "I'm no use to you."

"Darling-" he looked away for a moment, seeming frustrated. "What did they say?"

"I don't want to talk about it," you mumbled, looking at your lap.

"You're going to talk about it," he said firmly, lifting one of his hands to take your chin between his fingers, forcing you to look at him. "What did they say? Don't leave anything out because you want to be nice. I know you, dove. Repeating what they said about you doesn't make you any less of a sweetheart."

Feeling trapped, you avoided his eyes. "It doesn't matter." What the women had said had hurt you, but you didn't want to be the one running to your boyfriend every time someone hurt your feelings.

"It matters to me," he insisted, forcing you to meet his sharp blue eyes. "Don't leave a single word out."

You bit your cheek so hard you tasted blood. Then, seeing no way out, you said in broken tones. "They said...I must be pregnant, or..." you didn't want to say whore. "...or a girl who sleeps around to have gotten you to bring me back here." His eyes darkened, and you quickly tried to smooth it over. "But it's not-"

"Don't defend them," Coriolanus stopped you, squeezing your hand. "Don't. Trust that they'll be dealt with, but do not defend them. They wouldn't do that for you."

"That's not the point, Coryo," you shook your head, scrambling so you wouldn't be the cause of anyone getting hurt. "They also...said I was pretty...?" you tried.

Coriolanus paused for a moment, then laughed lightly in disbelief, bringing your hand up to his lips and kissing it. "You really are an angel, you know that? Always so worried about everyone else. I'll bet it was a backhanded compliment and you're leaving something out."

He'd gotten you. You were quiet.

He nodded in confirmation. "Right. But sweetheart-" he came to sit by you on the bed. "Come here." Coriolanus pulled you to sit across his lap, your head resting on his shoulder. "They didn't say anything true. Women in the Capitol are jealous creatures."

"That's likely all they know," you said softly as he rubbed your back soothingly. "The poor things...growing up competing with each other like that."

Coriolanus kissed your temple, chuckling ironically. "You're too sweet. It'll be your downfall someday."

"They were right, though," you said softly, your fingers hooked on the buttons of his shirt.

"Baby," he muttered against your hair. "No."

You looked up at him, and he exhaled softly, his fingers running through your hair. "I don't want you talking about yourself like that. Especially when what those women think is in the minority."

Furrowing your brow, you tilted your head. "What do you mean?"

He scoffed lightly, in a fond way. "Sweetheart, do you know how many people have asked me about the charming girl I brought home with me? How enchanting everyone finds you?" Coriolanus squeezed your arm. "You've entranced everyone that matters."

"But-"

"There's always going to be someone who can't find it in their heart to admit they like you," he assured, nudging a kiss against your temple. "But you, my angel...you're perfect. And you're staying right here. With me."

The possessiveness of his words did not escape you, but it made you feel safer. "I don't want to hurt your position."

"You are the last thing that would hurt that," Coriolanus stated, and the way he said it made you believe it too. "If anything, you're an asset. The way you draw people in, you're a born higher-up's wife. And you're a thousand times sweeter."

He put both hands on the sides of your face. "I have never found you anything less than radiant. Never. And I do not want you do go back to Twelve. You deserve better. I want you here with me. Do you understand?"

Moved by his words, you nodded, and he wrapped his arms back around you, tucking you into his chest. "That's my good girl." He kissed the top of your head, rubbing your back. "I love you. I'm not about to let you go for anything."

"I love you too," you breathed, eyes closing as your body melted against his. It was safe here. And in that moment, you saw forever with him, here where he wanted you.

Seeing you in distress was agony. Coriolanus never wanted that to happen again.

He had to be careful with how he handled things, however. You were innocent, unknowing. And that was just the way he liked it.

Holding you there in his arms that night, he vowed not to let anyone who made you cry walk the planet. Someone who'd hurt a creature as sweet and good as you were didn't deserve to live anyways, he justified.

Coriolanus had big plans for the future. As he rose to power, it'd be less and less of an issue getting you what he thought you deserved.

And it'd be even less of an issue hiding from you what he had done to get there.

You would never find out that he was the cause of Sejanus' death. You would never know what became of the women who spoke so illy of you tonight. No, he'd continue to distract you with the shine and luster of the Capitol. Tomorrow, he'd send you out for a day with Tigris and then leave his internship early to spend the evening with you. Maybe armed with a gift or two. It likely wouldn't even be as hard as he was thinking, given your tendency to focus on the light.

He would do everything over and over again because he adored you. The love, the light of his life. Too good for this world, his alone to protect and cherish and dote on. He would live for you; he would kill for you.

This was only the beginning.

come talk about coryo here!

[mrsparrasblog]

I wont pay for your therapy after this🥲

Mrs. MacTavish

Scotland—Johnny's birthplace and the place where he would be laid down permanently. The three men closest to him, the men who saw him die, stood together with his ashes in their hands. It felt surreal for them; of course, they knew something like this could happen. They had all lost a great deal of friends, but this was different. This task force should have been invincible, they should have been better—too good to be killed. But here they were, only three of them.

"Who dares wins. Sleep easy, soldier."

"See you down range, brother. We take it from here."

"Rest in peace, Johnny."

The men spread his ashes; he was finally where he felt at home, at least that's what his friends, his brothers in duty, thought.

They sat together in a rundown pub, unsure how to grieve or how to throw a worthy wake. Price said he didn't have any family left, so they were all he had, and they still failed him.

An order of his favorite whiskey stood on the table they usually occupied.

"He'd love that, he loved this place," Gaz said, trying to reassure his brothers. He now needed to be the glue of the group, the job Soap had before.

"One time, he hit an officer when he was still a rookie. The officer touched a female civilian, and Soap knocked him out. He almost got kicked out of the military, but he didn't press charges—too embarrassing," Price said, earning a slight chuckle from Gaz. Ghost stayed still; he was frozen since the death of his best friend.

"He almost beat my record at the SAS. Made me proud when I saw him in the recruitment," Gaz told them.

"He was the best," Ghost said. His voice sounded monotone; if he didn't have this thick British accent, he would have sounded like a robot.

"He tried to enlist in the SAS several times at 16, lying about his age each time," Price chuckled at the thought of his best trainee.

"He was more than his accomplishments." The other two men looked confused at Ghost; they weren't as close, he knew him better than them.

"Of course, he was, son."

"He had a journal, always drawing each of us, calling us his family. But now, he is dead. We failed him," Ghost said, bringing Gaz and Price down from their attempts to cheer him up and to appreciate Soap's life accomplishments. But he was dead, and nothing would ever change that.

After a while of drinking without speaking a word, Laswell came in, looking at the group of guys sitting down next to them. "Holding a wake for him?" she asked, nipping at the shared whiskey.

"Spread his ashes," Ghost replied shortly.

"You did what?" Her voice was loud; they could see the look of panic on her face.

"What's wrong, Kate? He would love resting in the Highlands."

"Please tell me, John, you didn't spread the whole ash."

"Kate, what's wrong?" Price asked, and she only sighed.

"I'm torn between granting the wishes of a deceased person and betraying his wishes at the same time," Laswell said. The inner conflict was visible in the wrinkles around her eyes.

"Laswell, spit it out!" Ghost shouted at her, the normally calm soldier completely losing control of his emotions.

"His last wish was that someone specific get his body in case of his early demise."

"Bullshit, he had no family left," Gaz replied, confused. His brother wouldn't lie to him about his family.

"Who is this person?" Ghost asked, his expression full of hurt. He wasn't mad like Kyle about the possibility that Johnny lied to them; Johnny was always smarter than the rest of them. He couldn't entertain the possibility that one of his brothers or whoever this person was would die because of his enemies.

"Mrs. MacTavish," Kate muttered under her breath. She promised him before joining the task force that she wouldn't, under any circumstances, tell anyone about her.

"Like his mother?" Kyle asked, and Kate only shook her head.

"He was married?"

"For ten years," Kate sighed.

"I will personally tell her and apologize," Price said. He knew this was the least he could do for him.

"I will tell her," Ghost thought. He needed to do this for his best friend, especially making sure that whoever she was, she would never be found by Makarov and could live a safe civilian life.

"Count me in, Captain," Gaz said, determined to apologize to Soap's wife. Maybe if he had been better, faster, Makarov wouldn't have gotten Soap.

These three men were as different as they could have been; the only thing about them that all of them shared was the guilt.

A few days later

The last days were harder than usual for you; the pregnancy took a toll on you. The worst part was not hearing anything from your beloved Johnny for a long time. You were used to not hearing from him; you knew what you were getting into when you decided to marry him. But you never even thought about making him retire. You loved him since high school. How couldn't you? He was a charmer. He had been in love with you since you both were 6, starting elementary school.

He asked you at least every week if you wanted to marry him when you grew older. You always declined his advances. You were sure that you even hit him once for staring too long at you. He looked like an arrogant ass who could have anyone he wanted, but somehow, he never, not even for a second in his life, thought about another woman. So after some years, you decided to give him a chance, and you never regretted this decision once in your life.

The bell rang, and you were sure it must have been one of the neighbors asking if they could have milk or eggs from the farm. But before you could gather your pregnant body up, your six-year-old son ran up, opening the door. "Maybe it's Dad, Mommy!"

"James William MacTavish, how often did I tell you not to open the door?"

Your son was a spitting image of your Johnny. It got worse when he decided that he needed to cut himself a mohawk to look like his dad. You were so happy to see Johnny's reaction to the mohawk when he came back.

At the door stood three muscular, tall guys looking down at the little boy. As Kyle saw the spitting image of Johnny, he walked to the nearest trash can and threw up. It was too much for him. The thought of a wife was bad enough, but a son too.

You walked down and gathered your son who hugged your thigh. You looked at the men; one of them was a bit older with a funny beard, and the other one was blonde with a scared face.

When Price saw the visible baby bump, his heart broke. The thought of you not only having a son but also being pregnant gave him the rest; his guilt was eating him out.

"Mrs. MacTavish?"

"Yes?" you asked in confusion. They didn't seem like the villagers who wanted to buy something from the farm, nor the parents of your students.

"We need to talk about your husband."

"No," you knew what this meant; you knew it in your gut.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. MacTavish, but your husband died while protecting his country."

You always thought these films were dramatic, but it was nothing compared to what you felt right now. The pain was indescribable; you felt like someone pulled your ground from you, and you fell, completely in shock. Your tears slowly started to roll down, and you saw how the older man held the blonde one back from reaching out to you.

"No, my Johnny, he said he would always come back. He will come back, he will come back to us, he always will," you sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am."

From behind, Aiofe and Maeve ran down, our oldest, the twins. "Mom, are you okay?" All your three children sat down next to you, afraid that something happened to their mom.

That was the final straw as Ghost saw even more children, his best friend left behind a wife, three children, and a little one on the way. It should have been him.

You sobbed as you spoke to your children, "It's okay, Simon is just kicking hard in my belly, nothing is wrong with Mommy. I love you."

"We love you too, Mommy."

[trippinsorrows]

How would Solana initiate sexy time with her husband? 🤭 cause we already know Roman has no problem doing it, and he's not afraid of coming out too strong 🥵 in the best way.... but what about my girl, once she gets the groove of things and plans on seducing him

roman knows his wife. knows her well. like the back of his hand. that's why he knows exactly what she wants before she even asks.

he's in his office, sitting at his desk when she walks in, wearing one of those fucking short, skimpy dresses that leaves nothing to the imagination. he loves them on her, but he loves them even more off her.

she gives him a small smile. "got the girls down."

it's a bit of a trial run they're doing. seeing if they can alternate bedtime duties, as lina and leya have fallen into a routine of wanting both of them present before falling asleep.

which is fine, except for when roman has to be out of town for business. or even when he can't make it home until late. thus, them trying out this new solo turn taking endeavor.

"how were they?"

she closes the door behind her, roman noticing the way she locks it as well. "lina was okayish. leya was the hardest."

he nods. makes sense. leya is the more sentimental of the two. sensitive, almost. she required a higher level of assurance than her sister.

"but they're sleep?"

solana nods, making her way over to him, her steps slow, almost hesitant, as if she's waiting for him to send her way.

like that would ever fucking happen.

"are you....busy?"

that smirk returns on his handsome face as he rolls back the chair. roman spreads his legs, again noticing the way her eyes dart to his crotch. the smirk deepens.

he motions her over with his index finger. "never too busy for you."

his eyes stay glued to her breast, her areolas already peppered against the thin material of her dress.

sitting on his lap at a sideways angle, roman shifts her so that her back is pressed up against his chest. she releases a shaky breath. "roman....."

"you wanna tell me the real reason you came in here?" he teases his tongue along the shell of her ear. "why you locked the door?" he moves one big hand to the side of her thigh, slowly sliding up her dress. "hmm?"

her eyes flutter shut, roman groaning as she adjusts herself on top of him, most likely due to the growing erection pressing against that juicy, fat ass of hers. "ro, you.....you know why....."

he smiles, pressing his lips to her temple before playing coy. "no, i don't." she gasps when he slides his hand between her thighs. "tell me."

a moan leaves her pretty mouth, edging him on even more as he circles his finger across her skin, gradually moving closer and closer to her cunt that he'd bet any money is already nice and wet.

just for him.

"roman, please....."

he shakes his head, his other hand moving to her chest. he easily slides his hand through the top of her dress, gently squeezing her breast.

she throws her head back, eyes still closed, roman granted a front row seat to one of the seven world wonders. she's inhumanly beautiful when she's so wanton and needy for him like this.

he shakes his head, one thumb peppering across her nipple, the other ghosting over the cotton of her underwear. "you gotta tell me first, baby......" he's a compassionate man. caring. it's why he allows his fingers to slip past the seam of her underwear, where he's met with the expected wetness that's nearly dripping.

he makes a sound, licking hips lips. her desire for him has to be about what and what with his right now for her. he'd give anything to have his face buried in her sweet cunt, and he just might.

as soon as she fulfills his one request.

"just say it, sol," he glides his fingers across her wet, velvety folds, solana gripping his wrist, writhing atop him. an effort to get him inside of her, to stop this torture. "say what you want papi to do to his sweet girl."

he's certain she almost came right then and there. the combination of his words, the play of his fingers with her nipples and her cunt resulting in borderline overstimulation.

but, it's effective.

eyes open, mouth ajar, panting with burning need, he matches her glazed eyes. "i want you to eat my pussy and f-fuck me, papi."

and not a man on this earth has ever been as blessed as him in this moment. roman practically growls, yanking back his hands and hiking her on her waist before he lays her down on his desk.

"you only have to ask once, amore mio....."

--------

not exactly what you asked for but a lil something! lol

[simplyafountainpen]

Red Looks Good On Us

{𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼}: Demon!M!Reader x Grell Sutcliff

{𝓓𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷}: (Y/n) was particularly rude today, and as much as Grell loved it, it seems like her adorable little girl would need some punishment for that naughty mouth of his~

{𝓣𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓼}: Sub!Top!Reader, Power Bottom!Grell, Demon!Reader, feminization (of reader), punishment, bondage, impact play, Mistress title, praise, Reader wears makeup, Grell's privates referred to as cock and pussy, (y/n) is the "Mourning Dove Demon"

"But belooovvveeddd!!-"

You sighed as you pushed your Master, Alois Trancy, behind you. Today was supposed to be a simple outing with the boy, a little walk through the city and perhaps even through a park to get him out of that stuffy office of his. He had been swamped with work recently, and even if he didn't want to, it had to be done.

For weeks you watched as his patience grow smaller until he'd snap at the slightest inconvenience. It grew annoying, and finally out of control when he decided it would be a great idea to throw an entire piping hot tea set at you and Claude. You quickly ushered him out of the house as the other demon cleaned the mess - also to allow him to calm down and not rip the child to shreds. He still needs the child's soul, after all.

It had been peaceful for a time, until you and the boy ran into a certain red head. You stuffed the boy behind you, ignoring his small noise of questioning, and stared into those chartreuse phosphorescent eyes of hers.

"Grell. I will not be abandoning my duties for you. What ever are you even doing here?" You grumbled. The both of you stared at each other, Grell biting her lips while you could feel the veins budging in your forehead. You had no time for this.

"Well, beloved, I saw you from across the street and I just simply had to say hello to the most scrumptious looking man in my life, right?~" Again, you grumbled.

"Now isn't the time you damned succubus, off with you." You waved her off with a hand, turning back to a less than pleased Alois only to feel her hands on your shoulders, causing you to growl.

"Now now dearest, is that anyway to treat the woman you loovvee?~" You shrugged her hands off, again turning to Alois with a mumble, asking him to go the opposite way as a fly seemed to be buzzing in your ear.

"Oh come now darling, don't walk away!! Let me join you at least!! I'm so very bored and haven't a thing to do for hours!!~" You turned to her.

"What of the paperwork I know for a fact you're putting off right now?" A smirk now laid on your face, and the woman sputtered. Alois chuckled at her face in your grip. Both immediately - but silently - noted that you seemed to puff up in accomplishment.

A fact about you was that you were a being of irony. A demon, yet you were based off a dove. A mourning dove, to be precise. Grell huffed and folded her arms. She leaned closer to your face, noses almost touching.

"Mmm... you're no fun around this brat." Grell mused. Her painted lips were creased into a pout. She stood up strait, looking you in the eye.

"Well then perhaps you should be off then? I certainly wouldn't bat an eye." You leaned even closer, foreheads touching. Both of you continued in silence, until Alois coughed into his elbow. You grunted, backing up quickly and turning back to the boy in question. You sent one more cynical smile her way, accompanied by a wave, and went off with your Master.

Grell stood there for a moment more. She knew you wouldn't truly belittle her or do anything truly physically damaging considering your... relationship, but she still couldn't help but shiver at how dismissive you were. And though she understood why you wouldn't stop to chat - you being under a contract, she couldn't help but feel slightly peeved at how quickly you brushed her off! No long winded insults, no pushing her, no attention, why, you could make a girl feel neglected like this!

She smiled with a dark chuckle. Oh, you'd be paying when you got home that night, she'd make sure of it.~

·:¨༺ ♱✮¨:·ᨐฅ ᨐᵐᵉᵒʷ·:¨✮♱ ༻¨:·˚─── ⋆⋅⛥⋅⋆ ──

You entered the house quietly, a greeting and apology on your lips for how you treated Grell, only to be met by silence and no lights. Immediately you began lighting candles and flicking on lamps to fill the room with light. In doing this, you noted that the lights in the bedroom were on and abandoned your current mission, walking over to the closed door with light pouring from beneath it.

"Grell? Honey? Are you in there?" You knocked gently on the door, pressing an ear to the wood before gently opening it.

"I want to apologize for my... statements... today." Instead of a sleeping or a - hells forbid - working Grell, you found your girlfriend in nothing but her underwear and corset, a satin robe hanging scantily off her shoulders. She looked back at you with a smile, glasses glinting in the light of the many candles lit in the room, speaking of:

The room itself was dimly lit with said candles on holders and on the floor, rose petals delicately strewed throughout the room. On the vanity were a few open makeup boxes, all the makeup being red of course. The bedsheets had been changed to Grell's favorite scarlet ones, and carmine satin ribbons dangled from the headboard and footboard.

The most damning thing, however, was the set of blood red lacey thigh-highs, panties, and bra neatly folded at the foot of the bed.

You didn't notice her stand, but rather heard the door being closed behind you, Grell's fingers making their way around your shoulders, feeling her breath against her neck.

"Oh, so you wish to apologize, is that it?" You felt her lips against your neck, your sensitive skin picking up on the kiss mark left behind. Her hands trailed downward, crossing your chest and fliting over your sensitive nipples, making you suck in a quick breath. Not being able to find your voice, you nodded.

"Well, I think I know of one way you can make it up to me.~" She was by your ear now, lips lightly pressing against it for a moment. You shivered, eyes closing. She giggled.

"You you want to make it up to me, pretty girl?~" You clenched your teeth and turned away, her hands wrapping around your waist and meeting right above your hardened cock. She looked at you for a moment and sighed. Hearing this, you whipped your head around and nodded rapidly, to which she simply walked around you, now facing you with her hands on your ass. One left its perch and took your chin, forcing you to look at her again.

"I want a verbal answer, darling. You're free to say no, you know." Your eyes widened, then you took one of your own hands and placed behind hers, moving both to your cheek and nuzzling into them.

"I do..." Grell immediately smiled, grabbing your face and slamming her lips on yours. She overpowered you easily, tongue invading your mouth with you putting up no resistance. She turned you around and pushed you back onto the bed, forcing you to sit and then sitting in your lap. One of her hands rested on your shoulder, the other making its home around your neck. You whimpered into the kiss and she smiled, breaking it off.

You looked up through tear-laced lashes and she pecked you on the head, getting down on her knees. She began to remove your clothes, starting with your shoes and socks, kissing and nipping up you leg until she made it to your waist. Her fingers made quick work of your belt and the buttons on your pants, you lifting yourself up slightly to make it easier to slip them down your legs. Before you could sit back down, she slipped her finger into the waistline of your drawers, tutting. Wordlessly, she unbuttoned them and drew them down with your pants. You gasped as the cold air of the room hit your now exposed cock, whining. Grell planted a quick kiss to your inner-thigh and continued.

Your waistcoat was removed slowly, the woman above you massaging you shoulders and whispering sweet nothings in your ear. Languidly, she removed the rest of your layers, ghosting her painted nails over skin. Tears layered themselves in your eyes and she kissed them away, cooing at your nakedness. Then, she grabbed the laced thigh-highs and unfolded them, taking one and gently unrolling it, she grabbed one of your legs and slowly pushed the fabric up, fixing and smoothing it out, then doing the same for the other. She grabbed you by the waist, forcing you to stand. Grell then grabbed the panties and lightly bit your neck.

"Lift one of those pretty legs for me dearest, would you?" She whispered into your ear. You nodded, lifting you left leg, and she quickly pushed them up, running her hand over your ass and the small of your back while she slipped you through one hole of the panties. You both then did the same on your right side, and she gave you a quick kiss as a reward. You were then sat back down as she ran her hands over your chest, twisting your hardened nipples, causing you to moan.

She continued to play with your chest, making sure your skin was sensitive to the slightest touch. Grell hummed at her work, grabbing the bra and lifting one of your arms, sliding it into place.

"You know," she said as she slipped the other in and clasped the back, "I got the smallest size for you, darling. And look at this! You can't even fill it out!~" The lace brushed against your skin, forcing a few pants and moans from you. Another kiss was pressed to your temple as Grell helped you up, walking you over to the vanity and sitting you down.

"We're not quite done yet my dear, just a couple more touches and you'll be perfect.~ Don't you want to be perfect for me, dearest?~" You nodded rapidly, but Grell clicked her tongue. More tears filled you waterline as you gasped, quickly correcting your mistake.

"Y-yes. I do want to be perfect for you, M-mistress." Grell stared at you as those whispered words left your lips. Taking a strand of hair between her fingers, she twirled it around.

"Mistress hmm? I quite like that..~" She smiled at you and sat back in your lap, turning around and hovering a hand over a small box filled with red lipsticks, all different shades. The reaper choose a slightly lighter shade compared to your current attire, softly applying it to your lips, humming a turn you didn't recognize. Then it was an eyeshadow, mascara, then a blush, the soft brush tickling over your skin.

"Oh look at you!~ Such a pretty girl!~ Why, I don't think I could even tell you were demon if I didn't know better. I might even dare to call you an angel.~" Her hand was under your chin, forcing you to make eye contact. Your hands griped the arms of the chair beneath you, nearly splintering the wood. Your breathing became heavy as Grell leaned closer, lips caressing over yours.

"What do we say?~" She whispered, and you whispered in kind.

"Thank you Mistress."

With wild abandon, she smashed her lips onto yours, hands tangling in your hair and yours flew to her hips. Grells tongue forced its way down your throat, your eyes rolling back from the sensation. She broke the kiss, staring at your fucked out expression.

"Look at how sensitive you are.~ My good little girl." You whined, drool slipping from your lips as you felt her grind down onto your cock. Her hand began to stoke it through the lace panties, making you whine louder. The tip of your cock peaked from the top, pre bubbling from the tip and onto the lace trim.

"Already ruining your panties? Tut tut darling." Grell mused. She grabbed your upper arms and dragged you up, doing all but throwing you onto the bed. She gripped your hair in her hands, resting against the headboard. One of her painted nails ran over your lips, inserting her thumb into your mouth. Her other hand went down to her own panties, rubbing herself through the fabric at the sight of your disheveled form. Her manicured hand pulled her painties down till the rested beneath her balls, revealing her hardened cock, budging and red.

"Open wide, dear.~" Her thumb slipped from your lips, and her cock was rammed down your throat, effectively gagging you.

"MHMP?!?" "Hehe, look at how well your taking me, pretty.~" Grell's hand traced your throat, squeezing it lightly to feel her length poking out.

"Go on then," she pat your head, tangling her hands in your hair, "Show Mistress what this darling throat of yours can do.~"

You groaned, sucking her down and hollowing your cheeks, dragging your tongue up and down the side of her sex. Your lipstick stained the base as you bobbed up and down, breathing through your nose. Grell's hands landed on the sides of your face as you sucked, nails digging and nearly piercing your skin. Without warning she took control, slamming you up and down her cock, the tip touching the back of your throat and your drool slicking up her entire shaft, making it shine.

Grell continued, your lipstick smearing across her girth as the mascara she had applied ran down your face. She then shoved you all the way down, blocking your airflow. To add to it, she gripped one hand around your neck, making the dark spots in your vision grow faster. Your shaky hands gripped her thighs, eyes rolling all the way back as your throat constricted more, spit running down your chin. She held you for a moment longer, your shaking about to cease, moaning at how tight your throat had gotten. Just a second before your fully passed out - which would be a feat - she pulled you off, your head falling onto the sheets. Your tongue lolled out and drool pooled below you, breathing heavy. Grell quickly began stroking, slick noises filling your ears, and thick white ropes covered your face, some getting into your panting mouth. You whined and Grell chuckled breathily, taking some cum onto her fingers and tasting it.

"You make everything sweeter dear. I suppose white is also a good look on you, isn't it, dove?~" You cooed at the nickname, shoving your head into her thigh, which now had your spit on it. You kissed and sucked at her skin, pupils blown out.

"Oh? Is my dove okay?" Her voice had tilt of merriment to it as she lifted you, switching your places so that now you were against the headboard and she was kneeling on the bed. You cooed again, muttering nothings under your breath as you allowed her to wrap you wrists in the silk attacked to the bed. She tied small yet firm knots, tugging to ensure you could still escape if need be. The reaper pat you on the head, giggling when you nuzzled into her touch with hair puffed up.

"Dove, it's time. Are you ready to finally make it up to me?" you gave a mumbled reply. Grell smirked.

She fully slipped of her panties to reveal a already slicked up cunt, glistening with lube, strawberry scented. She positioned herself above you, spitting on your cock and rubbing it in good, she lined up the head with her hole, before giving you a quick peck on the lips.

"Good girl.~"

She slammed herself onto you, both of you letting loud moans from the feeling. Her hands gripped your shoulders, nails finally tearing into your skin, you hissing at the dull pain. She bounced up and down, walls clamping down on you with such force that you began to cry, the tears that had been welling up spilling over your lash line.

"O-oh dove - NGH - so p-pretty!~ Even w-ith your makeup all - UGH - ruined!!~" Grell complemented, her hips meeting yours with squelching noises. You were no longer comprehensible, borderline animalistic with the bird-like chirps and coo's you released. Your hands tugged fruitlessly on their binds, desperately clawing out towards Grell. Her thighs slapped on yours, her chest pressed to you still sensitive one, compelling a high-pitched keen to escape your throat, which only caused Grell to coo at you more.

She stopped bouncing and grinded on your cock, walls sucking you in and squeezing, your noises never ending, flowing freely from you lips. Grell pressed her head into the crook of your neck, kissing the skin softly and sucking hickies harshly onto your jugular, biting at it even.

You mewled and wailed at the attention, makeup nearly completely washed away by sweat, drool, and tears. Your head was rolled back as she continued to grind you into her, eyes showing nothing but the whites and jaw fully relaxed. After a moment of her slowing down, the stillness, she suddenly picked herself up and rammed you all the way back in, tip to hilt, in one quick movement. Grell's bouncing was much more aggressive than before, your arms reached back and grabbed onto the headboard. Your teeth grind together, and with heavy breaths you released the loudest whine yet.

"Are y-you about to cum, dove?" Grell groaned. Your nodded quickly, and she gave you a kiss on your cheek. "T-then cum for m-me dove!! CUM FOR M-ME!!-" You screamed, cumming hard into the warmth of her cunt. You gasped, sobbing, trying to catch your breath as Grell came in kind, cum painting your chest. She leaned against you, breathing hard and smiling. Her hands immediately went to your hair, tracing shapes in your scalp, giving you time to slow your breathing.

"Are you awake, dear?" You mumbled something, nothing of substance though. Grell smiled at you, before pulling you out of her. You huffed, watching your seed leak from her lightly gaping hole.

"Alright alright hold on..." She untied your wrists and rubbed them to sooth the dull ache she knew would be there - no matter how much you would deny it - and smiled at you.

"I'll go get snacks, water, towels, etc., etc. dear. You just wait right here." She booped you on your nose and you snorted. Grell then laid you down on the sheet and slipped on a pair of slippers, walking out of the room to the kitchen, though you couldn't help but watch the trails of white that flowed down her legs.

You snuggled deeper into the fabric of the sheets, beginning to nod off. All you wanted was for her to return and hold you. Eventually she did, holding a tray filled with aforementioned snacks, water, towels and set it down, leaving for a moment to grab new sheets and popping by the vanity to grab a few makeup wipes. She gave you some water before she began to wipe the streaked makeup off your face.

"You did wonderfully dear, I can assure you you've apologized fully." You giggled and she smiled, leaning in so the bridges of your noses were touching.

"I love you, Mistress." Grell chuckled.

"And I love you, Dove."

·:¨༺ ♱✮¨:·ᨐฅ ᨐᵐᵉᵒʷ·:¨✮♱ ༻¨:·˚─── ⋆⋅⛥⋅⋆ ──

"What are those dark spots on your neck, (Y/n)?" You turned to the sound of Alois's voice, sharply keeping your gaze right above the eyes lest you end up like Hannah.

"Whatever do you mean, your Highness?" You asked, and he pointed to a specific part of your jugular, and after you ran a hand over the bruise, your eyes widened.

"It's nothing, your Highness I promise, nothing that should concern you anyway..." Though that only made the blonde pout and start whining childishly.

"Well now I simply must know!! What is it??" You looked over to Claude who only shrugged with the tiniest of smirks on his face, that bastard.

You were going to kill him one day, if you didn't die of embarrassment first, anyway.

{𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼}: This is a bit longer than the last one. If you could not tell at this point, I adore Black Butler. Thank you for reading.

-🖋️

All publishings on this account belong to @fountain-pen-anon. I do not authorize my fics being altered, translated, stolen or published/reposted to other sites, thank you.

© fountain-pen-anon - all rights reserved

[justwinginglife]

Hi! I absolutely loveeeee your writing!!! Hopefully you’re still doing requests hehe…

Maybe reader and Hoshina were childhood bffs and then the reader’s family sent her abroad (maybe to serve in another county’s defense force???) but now she’s back in Japan and assigned to the Third Division. And ofc they still make an amazing team and know each other by heart and maybeeeee some feelings start to rise now that they’re adults and all that???

HELLO I'm so happy you love my writing! Of COURSE I'm still doing requests, I'm having too much fun with everyone's prompts so thank you for sending me more suggestions!

No Matter The Distance

You were dreaming of Soshiro again. This time you recalled the memory of when you were eight and you'd tripped and scraped your knees so he carried you home on his back. You were such a crybaby back then. You nearly soaked his shoulder, sobbing from the pain. He sang to you the whole way home so you'd focus on his voice and not your bleeding knees. He surprisingly sang rather well.

"Sing to me again." You mumbled in your sleep as you rolled over onto your side. "I like when you sing... to me..."

When you woke up in the morning, he was neither singing to you nor carrying you, in fact, he wasn't even in the same country as you. It was a rude awakening every time and you still hadn't gotten used to it.

You knew it was naive of you to cling to memories from your past, but when you relived them every night it didn't seem so long ago. But now that you counted, it had been about six years since you'd seen him. You'd known each other since preschool and you'd parted ways when you both turned 18. Your parents thought you'd make a better life for yourself in America so you were shipped overseas, never to see his smiling face again.

You wondered if he dreamed about you too. You wondered if he was even the same person you remembered. It'd been over half a decade- a lot could change. You hoped he was still the same. You knew that was naive too.

You try to quit sulking and you finish getting ready for work. You clock in at 0800 and report for duty. You are surprised to find that your commanding officer has been waiting for you to arrive. She takes in the sight of you as if it's the last time she'll see you. Then she smiles. "Good morning Vice Captain."

You nod to her. "Cap'n. Mornin'. What're all the long looks for?"

Her weight shifts and she clears her throat. "Well, it seems the General has made an alliance with the Japan Anti-Kaiju Defense Force and as a show of good faith, he's sending one of our best soldiers to their side."

You raise an eyebrow. "The Director General himself? Who could be important enough from our team that he'd send so far across the seas?"

She coughs.

OH.

"Maybe, I don't know, the youngest female to make Vice Captain in the shortest amount of time? Maybe someone with, I don't know, Japanese background?"

Yup.

You can't decide if you're honored, nervous, scared, or excited. You haven't been back home in so long. Will it still be the same? The same restaurants, the same stores, the same people. Will they still be waiting for you?

"You fly out at 1200."

Your brows furrow. "You're giving me 4 hours to pack up all my things and say goodbye to everyone? That's ridiculous."

She nods sympathetically. "I know. But he wants to get this show on the road, it seems."

You sigh. "Alright. I'll head back to my place, please assemble the squad before I go so I can give everyone my best wishes."

You pack up your entire apartment in two hours. You have less things than you thought you did. You guess that some small subconscious part of you kept you from collecting too many things that would keep you grounded here. Maybe you always knew you'd return home.

It takes even less time to say bye to everyone. You're ready to ship out in just under three hours and the pilot shrugs, saying you're his only passenger anyway and he can afford to leave early. The Director General lent you his private plane after all.

You can't do anything about your nerves so you make the best of this trip, ordering lavish foods while you read. Your favorite book is one that Soshiro bought for you and the ink from the personal message he wrote on the inside of the front cover is so faded from you constantly rubbing your thumb over it nostalgically.

Soshiro. You'll be there soon.

You sleep through most of the flight. You dream about him again, to no one's surprise at this point.

This time you're both 17, you both snuck out of training together to attend a typical high school party. You were in agreement that the two of you wanted one normal high school experience before you both went off and joined the Defense Force and became stiff, disciplined officers. Of course, you'd tease Soshiro that you couldn't see him ever being stiff or disciplined.

Anyway, you'd been playing spin the bottle and Soshiro's spin landed on you and the both of you ended up in a closet together.

"Well this is a stupid game." He grumbled as he searched for the light to the closet. He would never make you do anything against your will and he found it ridiculous that that's exactly what this game was made for.

But you didn't find it ridiculous. You found it lucky. Your heart was beating loudly in your chest. You grabbed his hand before it reached the light switch and you kissed him in the dark.

He hesitated and then he kissed you back, gently pressing you up against the wall.

When someone knocked on the door seven minutes later, he locked the door and stayed in there with you until he was ready to leave. He must've known if the two of you stepped outside, you'd both go back to acting like nothing happened. Like you had plenty of time to figure out these messy feelings of yours. But neither of you could predict that you wouldn't even be in the same country as him a month later, so you both kept ducking the topic and pushing your feelings for each other down. And then it was too late.

Six years too late, you thought to yourself as your eyes fluttered open. The plane was descending. You were arriving in Japan as last.

You wondered who you'd be serving under and if Soshiro would be in the same platoon. The JAKDF had several divisions, it wasn't guaranteed that you'd even be in the same one as him. You'd been told that the position of Vice Captain had been recently opened at one of the Divisions and you were there to fill that spot. You'd do your best to fill the shoes of whoever came before you and make your team back in America proud.

As you step out of the plane you're greeted by your new teammates in the Third Division. Your eyes scan the crowd and they finally find the person they're looking for.

Your breath catches in your throat and you freeze on the last step of the plane.

He holds a hand out to you to help you down all the way.

"Welcome to the Third Division. I'm Captain Hoshina."

You take his hand and step down the last stair. You don't let go of his hand even when he's introducing you to the troops. You think this might be you dreaming about him again and you don't dare let go just in case.

He doesn't seem to mind. He keeps a firm grip on you and when you've finally greeted everyone he tells them he needs to discuss more matters with you privately.

The two of you enter his office and he closes the door behind him. Before you can speak, he's wrapped you up in a warm hug. "Vice Captain, huh? Impressive." He whispers, still holding you close.

You close your eyes and just soak in his voice. "Not as impressive as you- Captain Hoshina. And here I always thought I'd beat you to Captain when we were kids."

He chuckles and the familiar rumble of his laughter makes your heart skip several beats. He releases you from his arms so he can get a good look at you, but he still holds your hands tight in his. "I really never thought I'd see you again. And look at you now. Gorgeous as ever."

You blush. "Still cheeky I see."

He grins widely. "Still me. Always."

You're relieved. He doesn't seem to have changed at all, just gotten a little taller. And a little more... you gulp, a lot more muscular. You didn't realize it when he was holding you close because you were so focused on the way he smelled and the way he sounded. But now that you were getting a full view of him, you could see the efforts of his training peeking through his shirt. You blush deeper. Thank god he's a little dense and doesn't notice. He's just excited to see you again, he doesn't care if you're flushed or not.

"Hey- dinner on me later? We can go to that diner we liked." He nudges your arm.

You smile. "Yeah? I'm game, especially if you're buying."

He walks you to your room and then leaves you alone to unpack your things. You wish he wouldn't go but you know he has a division to run.

"Captain." You say to yourself, shaking your head. You hoped he would be in the same division as you, but you never could've imagined he'd be working this closely with you. You'll have to pay a visit to the shrine later and thank the gods.

You finish unpacking and you meet Soshiro for dinner in the cutest outfit you can find. You wonder if he'll notice.

He notices.

"So you don't wear the combat suit 24/7?" He teases.

You roll your eyes thinking he's not going to say anything else but then he looks away for a moment.

"You, um... you look real good."

You wonder where his confidence from earlier went. He can get away with calling you gorgeous but now here he is making the word "good" look difficult. You almost laugh.

He opens the door to the restaurant for you and then when you're led to a table, he pulls the chair out for you. You don't remember him being such a gentleman but he was still a teenager last time you saw him. It seems he has grown some after all.

As you eat dinner, you fall back into old rhythms- you steal food off of his plate and he does the same to yours. You even sword fight him with your chopsticks and he laughs the same familiar laugh that you love so much.

Then the drinks start to hit harder and the air seems to change between the two of you.

"So listen..." He starts, cautiously. He seems to get caught up in his own thoughts because he doesn't finish his sentence.

"I'm listening." You nudge him.

He gives you a small, pinched smile. "I don't know how to say this actually." He admits.

You wonder if he's thinking what you're thinking, but it's been so long you can't be sure. "You can say anything to me, you know that." You try to reassure him so that he continues.

He sighs. "Do you... remember going to a party? Back in high school?"

Ah. So he is thinking the same thing as you. You nod slowly.

He clears his throat uncomfortably. "Do you... remember what happened at that... party?"

You nod again, your cheeks starting to heat up at the thought of that mind-blowing kiss.

"It's just... we never... we never talked about it. And then you were just gone- just like that. And I know it's stupid to be bringing it up again so many years later, but you're the exact same as you've always been and I'm the same as I've always been and I just thought..." He trails off.

"You just thought...?" You lean in, hoping to god he finishes his sentence.

"I just thought... maybe now we could... talk about it? If-if you wanted."

"Okay, what do you have to say about it?"

He laughs at that. "Boy, you really don't make this easy do you? You never have."

"Sorry. I'll go first then, okay?"

He nods and waits for you to speak.

"I regretted it for six years."

He winces.

You backtrack. "Wait, sorry that's not how it was supposed to come out. Now you're making this hard."

You both laugh. Then he takes your hand.

"I think what you meant to say was you regretted leaving it the way we did?"

You nod. You're glad he's still able to understand you so well even after all these years.

"I do too. I thought, god, if I could just get one chance to tell her how I felt I'd do it. And now you're here and I'm stumbling over my words. But I need to say this. Because I can't wait another six years for you to find out that I love you. Because I love you. Always did, and still do."

You start to cry before you even realize it's happening. He immediately rushes over to your side of the table to brush the tears away.

"Hey, hey, did I say something wrong? Tell me. What's going on in that beautiful mind of yours?"

You can't figure out how to put the words together properly so you kiss him. He kisses you back more intensely than he did back then and you wish you can just freeze time so he can keep kissing you like this. Then he pulls away.

"You know, love, I like the way you're thinking but you still haven't given me an official answer."

You laugh. "I love you too- I should think it was obvious."

"Some of us only have half the brain that you do and need verbal confirmation."

"You got that right." You tease.

He wraps you up tight in his arms.

"So does this make us boyfriend-girlfriend?" He asks in his best "high schooler" voice, grinning like an idiot from ear to ear.

You roll your eyes. "Take me to the prom and we'll see about that."

He laughs. "Just let me date you already damnit."

You kiss him again.

"Was that a yes?"

You nod.

"Okay, again, I'm just checking."

[ghostboneswrites2]

A Mess || Reader Walsh X Daryl || Part 1

New account! @ghostbones was banned! Transferring everything here, beginning with this series since it was the most popular!

Summary: You grow tired of sneaking suspicions of Lori and your husband sneaking off together. When you finally catch them in the act, a grumpy redneck happens to be the one to help you through it in his own, unconventional way.

18+ MDNI || WARNINGS: profanity, nongraphic depictions of sex, TWD typical violence

        You were so sick of him. The way he stood with his hands on his hip, squinting in the Georgia sun as he watched over the camp -- or, more specifically -- watched over Lori. 

        You respected it at first, when Rick didn't wake up and he told you, "We gotta go get Lori and Carol, (Y/N). We just got to. I gotta do right by him."

        You didn't say anything when you were all stopped on the highway, watching the planes drop bombs on the city that was supposed to welcome you into safe refugee centers, and his first instinct was to hold Lori instead of you. You thought she had to be terrified, to lose her man and have to keep their son safe in such trying, unpredictable times. She probably needed that hug more than you, his own wife.

        You were young when you married Shane. A drunken night led to one thing, one thing led to a baby, a baby led to another thing; a ring. But, you had a miscarriage after the wedding, and as we all know that doesn't nullify a marriage. Regardless, it wasn't a bad marriage. The relationship was mostly solid. You had suspicions, like when he'd come home from a night out with the other guys on the force with what you could have sworn were faded lipstick stains that he couldn't wipe off well enough, or smelling faintly of perfume and cigarettes. Still, he took good care of you, and you had a fair bit of freedom. He financed your art supplies, bought you records, helped you get back into school.

        Your parents never had a good marriage so in comparison, you were doing well for yourself. Better than your mom, who lived on wine and Xanax, or your dad, who worked his fingers to the bone in that office, hunched over a computer, addicted to porn and cigars.

        You often wondered if they had survived the initial outbreak, or if they were stumbling around King County somewhere with no heartbeat.

        You shook the thought away, eyeing Shane from atop the RV where you were supposed to be watching for walkers. His skin was shiny with sweat. You wondered how long it'd be before he disappeared into the wood again. Funny how Lori always seemed to disappear at the same time, no doubt leaving Dale or Carol to keep an eye on Carl. Funny how since you'd all set up camp there by the quarry, Lori hadn't been able to make eye contact with you. Funny how he had been short with you, yet somehow managed to remain controlling  as ever. You weren't allowed out of his sight unless he was already out of yours. You couldn't talk to men like Ed or Merle and his brother. You couldn't touch the guns, not until he showed you how to use one properly. You couldn't go wash up in the quarry unless he was there to escort you at night, which he conveniently never was. You couldn't--

        "You alright up here?" Dale asked.

        "Oh. Yeah." You shook your head clean of the whirlwind of suspicion.

        "Don't seem too focused." He observed.

        "Yeah, you're right. Sorry." You said, holding the binoculars to your eyes and turning your attention to the trees.

        "Why don't you go on and take a break. I'll keep an eye out for now." He offered.

        "Actually, you know what? That would be really great. Thanks Dale." You smiled and passed his binoculars to him. You wanted to protest. Watch duty was your favorite, and just about the only thing you could do to make yourself useful aside from washing other people's dirty underwear.

        You climbed down from the roof, expecting to walk over to your husband, but he wasn't where he stood just moments prior.

        You turned to Amy, who was sitting on the steps of the RV, fanning herself. It was a particularly hot day.

        "Hey. Did you see where Shane went? I just saw him over there." You asked, her pointing to where he once stood.

        "I think he went to check the perimeter." She said, holding her hand over her eyes to look up at you without being blinded. It was probably just about noon now with the sun high in the sky.

        "Right." You nodded. You scanned the campers around you. "What about Lori?"

        She shook her head.

        "No, haven't seen her in a while. Carl's over there with Carol. She might know."

        You sighed, thanking Amy as you made your way to Carol.

        "Hey. Seen Lori?"

        "Yeah. She asked me to watch Carl for a bit. Not sure where she went, though."

        You felt a heat in your chest. Exactly as you suspected.

        You jogged back to Amy. "Hey, which way did Shane go?"

        She pointed over to the tree line on your left.

        "Thanks, again." You smiled in a thin line as you marched to the woods. You were determined to put an end to this shit, one way or another.

        You knew they couldn't have gone far. You had just seen him not five minutes ago. You were sure you could catch up. If the Dixons were around, you'd be half tempted to approach one and ask them to track for you. Probably the younger one. That Merle would probably ask you what you were willing to give in return, and you had a feeling he wouldn't be looking for payment in the material sense. You heard quiet rustling and heavy breaths. You ducked down and made slow, quiet steps, glancing down at the ground periodically to avoid any snapping twigs or overly crunchy leaves. You came to some thicker bushes and brush, crooning you neck to peer over the leaves and thorns. 

        Your stomach dropped. There it was. His sweat stained white tee, panting over her navy blue tank top that fit rather loosely with all the weight loss. Her jeans and underwear in a little pile off to the side, his gun set right on top. You clenched your jaw. You wanted to storm over and yell obscenities, to kick them both into the dirt. You were stuck, though. You couldn't move. You were so angry that you were cemented in place. Most of all, you were hurt. You were younger than Shane, and younger than Rick and Lori, but somehow, some way you thought Lori was a friend to you. You watched Carl when she and Rick took date nights from time to time, you two grabbed coffee together, went back to school shopping for Carl just to get you out of the house.

        It would have been one thing had she not known you, had she been a complete stranger, but she was supposed to be a friend, and Shane, he was your husband. Tears stung at your eyes as your pulse became noticeable under your skin.

        That's when you saw something else, a human shape walking up behind them. Could it be? A walker coming to exact your revenge for you? No, you could never be so lucky. It was the Dixon, the young one. His boots were heavy against the forest floor, drawing the attention of Shane and Lori. They both scrambled, Shane standing and buttoning his pants back up as Lori sat and pulled her jeans over her lap to cover herself. 

        "Hey, man -- I -- We can explain --" Shane stuttered, Lori looking mortified.

        "Ain't me ya gotta explain to." Daryl shrugged, glancing over Shane's shoulder at you as you slowly stood to your feet from behind the bushes.

        "Look, man. You say anything --" Shane hissed, no doubt gearing up for some halfhearted threat, but Daryl cut him off again.

        "Won't have to." He told Shane, throwing another look at you, this time prolonging eye contact.

        Shane and Lori followed his gaze and landed on you.

        "(Y/N)" Lori breathed.

        You tore your eyes from the huntsman, shooting visual daggers at your unfaithful husband and his backstabbing mistress.

        Shane took a deep breath, rubbing his hand over his face. You said nothing. There was nothing to say. You just looked at Daryl one more time before you turned around.

        "(Y/N), come on!" Shane called after you. "Let's talk about this."

        You didn't want to. You just stomped your way back to camp, ignoring the curious eyes as you pulled all your things from your shared tent with Shane. You really only had your backpack and a blanket. The two of you shared the sleeping bag and a single pillow, but you didn't want that. It would smell of Shane, and at that moment the thought of him made you nauseous. You took your bag and your blanket, and made your way down to the quarry. Surely that would be the most peaceful place to sleep, by the water, under the stars, away from everyone else. 

        "(Y/N.)" Shane said from behind you after he likely followed you back. "What the hell are you doin'?" He asked, referring to your backpack and blanket in arms.

        "Fuck you." You grumbled.

        "C'mon, what are you doin'?" He asked again. You spun on your heel, seething.

        "No, Shane. What the hell are you doing?!" You shouted, drawing eyes from all around. You didn't care. In fact, you saw it as an opportunity. "Sneaking off?! Getting your dick wet?!"

         "Don't do this here." He said quietly, glancing over his shoulder to where Carol sat with Carl and Sophia. They were all staring in shock, the whole camp. He reached his hands out to grab your shoulders but you stepped back, chest heaving with rage.

        "Oh, why? So your girlfriend's kid doesn't know she's getting down and dirty with you in the leaves out there?" You spat back, only loud enough for him to hear. "You haven't touched me in weeks. Not since the night we left home, but you can't keep it in your pants around your dead best friend's wife?"

        You shoved his chest with both hands, dropping the blanket to the ground in the process. His eyes grew dark, that pleading expression turning cold.

        "I don't give a fuck how sorry you are or aren't. I don't give a good god damn how guilty she feels. I hate you, and I hate her." You added, just to drive the knife in deeper. If they could stab you in the back, you'd stab them in the chest. 

        "Don't be stupid." He growled.

        "Stupid is having unprotected sex in the middle of the woods when your wife is sitting on top of an RV with binoculars. Stupid is fucking your best friend's wife. Stupid is--"

        He grabbed your arm with force, dragging you far away from the others. He lened in close to your face, eyes wide with fury.

        "You need to stop." He warned.

        "I am stopping. I'm stopping all of it. Congratulations, Shane. You don't have to hide your affair anymore. Because you no longer have a wife to cheat on. Oh, and by the way, you suck at hiding it. You both do. The whole fucking camp can see you two disappearing at the same time, every single day. We all see how you look at her, how you play house with her and Carl like your wife isn't sitting ten feet away. Is that what it is? You like making me look like a fool?"

        "I'm only gonna tell you once." He hissed, scowling down at you like you were the one who betrayed him. "Keep your mouth shut."

        "No problem." You sneered. "I'll keep my mouth shut, and you'll keep your distance."

----

        It was dark out. Despite the blazing heat in the daytime, the nights could get pretty chilly, especially down by the water. You didn't mind. You set against the cliff, back rested against your bag, blanket wrapped over you nice and snug. You enjoyed all the stars above. They were hard to see back home, but now, without all the light pollution, they were beautiful.

        "Shouldn't be out here alone." A husky voice rasped. You looked down past your feet to see the shadow of an archer, the very one who happened to catch Shane and Lori when you did.

        "Nah. If any of those freaks stumble through here, they'll be drawn to the fire and the lanterns. I'm safer than ever over here in the dark."

        "Mm." He hummed. "Y'alright? After--"

        "After I caught my husband fucking another woman? Yeah. All things considered, I'm better than ever." You scoffed.

        "Bein' mad don't mean ya gotta be stupid. Can't stay out here." He insisted.

        "Well, my tent is Shane's tent, and the RV is full." You sighed.

        "Jus' take mine." He offered.

        "Yours." You repeated. "And you're gonna sleep where?"

        "Outside. Prefer it that way anyway." He shrugged.

        "Yeah, no. I'm not kicking you out of your own tent."

        "Ain't kickin' me out if I offer." 

        "Well, thanks, but I'll be declining that offer."

        "Suit yourself." He said as he walked back to camp. Daryl wasn't the type to go out of his way for someone else. In fact, it was rather annoying that you couldn't accept his kindness when he felt obliged to offer it. He saw how you looked when you caught them, the sickening blend of grief and rage. You hadn't done anything to deserve that, at least to his knowledge, yet you were the one with nowhere to sleep. It didn't sit right with him.

        He remembered something, though. A bottle of whiskey he had stashed away in his tent. If he couldn't convince you to sleep somewhere warmer and safer than on the bed of red clay by the water, maybe you'd accept something to take your mind off it all.

        He ducked into his tent and grabbed his bottle, paying no mind to his fellow survivors all huddled around the fire making small talk. Lori and Shane sat near each other, Carl in between them talking to Shane about his favorite heroes, Shane telling him stories about his dad.

        Shane's eye caught Daryl as he made his way down the quarry with a bottle of liquor, no doubt on his way to you. He felt a heat in his chest, the same kind you felt when you found him rolling in the dirt with Lori. She noticed his sudden tension and followed his gaze. She looked back to Shane with worry, attempting to calm him with her eyes.

        Daryl found you laying on your side, backpack under your cheek like a pillow.

        "Ya sleep?" He asked.

        "No." You said, monotone and irritable.

        "Ya like whiskey?"

        You sat up. Of course you liked whiskey, this is the south.

        "You have some?" You inquired. He held the bottle out to you and you took it, twisting off the cap and taking a large swig. "Thanks."

        "Ain't a gift." He clarified. "But ya look like you could use a drink."

        He sat down a foot away from you, facing the water. You passed the bottle back to him.

        "Well, thanks for sharing."

        "Mhm."

        "What would you do?" You asked him.

        "Huh?"

        "I mean if you had a wife out here and you caught her fucking someone else."

        "Kick her outta my tent." He said.

        "And if it was her tent?"

        "Too bad. Shouldn't've been sleepin' around." He shrugged, swigging the bottle and passing it to you.

        "Uhuh." You nodded, sipping. "What else?"

        "You askin' me for advice or somethin'?" 

        "Something like that." You guessed.

        "Well I'd probably kick his ass for fuckin' my wife knowin' I was right there."

        "Mm. I'd love to but I can't exactly whoop someone who still has to look out for a kid."

        "Guess ya just gotta ignore 'em." He suggested, taking the bottle as you handed it over.

        "How? I live with them."

        "Want me to kill 'em?" He joked. You chuckled.

        "Kinda." You admitted.

        "Mm. Too easy. I'd tie 'em up outside the city and leave 'em to the walkers." 

        "Oh, you've put thought into this?" You asked. He tipped the bottle bac and took a gulp.

        "Nah. If I did I'd have somethin' more creative."

        "The hell's this?" Shane asked, suddenly looming over the two of you.

        Daryl stood up. "Just havin' a drink." He said, eyeing Shane.

        "With my wife?" Shane stepped forward, so Daryl did too.

        "Looks single to me." Daryl shrugged. He didn't come over with the intentions of making a move on you. Really he hadn't noticed you around at all. He, however, also wasn't one to back down from a fight, and he already had a distaste for the ex-fed, self proclaimed leader.

        "What?" Shane asked through gritted teeth, swaying as he grew more antsy to take a swing. 

        "You're a real piece of work, you know that Shane?" You sighed, standing up. You weren't phased by his sudden intrusion, you knew him too well to be surprised.

        "Yeah, why don't ya go back to sleepin' with the widow?" Daryl added. That was enough for Shane. He threw the first punch, but Daryl recovered quickly, getting a good knock to the ribs in before you inserted yourself between them, one hand to each man's chest.

        "Can we chill with the dick-measuring contest? He brought me a drink because he felt bad for me. Nothing else, because unlike you," you said to Shane, "some men are capable of keeping their willies tucked away."

        "Yeah, right, like he wasn't just waitin' for you to get drunk and start feelin' vengeful." Shane spat.

        "I don't fuck drunk girls, asshole." Daryl spoke up. "That's for cops and losers."

        "Man, you think you can take me? You want a piece of this?" Shane started to raise his voice now.

        "Yeah, c'mon then, prick." Daryl said, throwing his arms up. The two men stepped in circles around you as you tried to keep a barrier between them.

        "Yeah, come on then, pussy!" Shane shouted.

        "Pussy? Nah, man. You're the coward, slidin' your dick in some vulnerable window when ya had a tight piece o' ass right here waitin' for ya every night!" Daryl yelled back.

        "What is goin' on here?" Lori came in, eyes blazing between the three of you.

        "Wha'd'ya waitin' for, man? There's your side piece, go on and get her!" Daryl said.

        Shane lunged forward and you gripped around his torso tight, banking on the hope that he wouldn't hurt you to get past you, at least nit in front of her.

        "Don't fuckin' talk about here like that!" Shane seethed.

        "Yeah well ya sure didn't care 'bout me callin' your wife a tight piece of ass! I see where your priorities lie!"

        You couldn't afford to get distracted with the details as you put all your focus and strength into holding on to Shane to prevent anyone from getting hurt. However, the Dixon made some valid points.

        "Stop it, you two!" Lori begged.

        "Hate to say it," you strained against Shane's strength, digging your feet into the dirt as his strong frame fought against you. "But I'm with Lori."

        "Y'all need to calm down before--"

        "Is everything okay?" Dale's voice sounded from behind Lori, cutting her off. Amy, Andrea, and Morales stood with him. Lori sighed and put her hand over her forehead.

        Shane finally relented and you gratefully let go of him, turning to face the crowd of onlookers.

        "What happened here?" Dale inquired.

        "He was makin' a move on my wife." Shane panted, still coming down from the surge of adrenaline and rage.

        You scoffed, gawking at his audacity. You glared at Lori for a moment, running your tongue over your teeth before you shook your head and chuckled.

        "No, he brought me a drink because he felt bad for me, sleeping out here alone." You corrected.

        "Why are you sleeping all the way out here?" Andrea asked, shaking her head with confusion.

        "Yeah, it's really not safe. You should be up there with us." Amy added.

        "Yeah, Shane, Lori." You cocked your head to the side, crossing your arms as you looked between the two of them. "Why am I sleeping all the way out here? Hm?"

        Lori looked at you with wide, anxious eyes as Shane just shot daggers at you and Daryl. Lori looked back to everyone else, who seemed to be confused, except for Dale who had a knack for picking up on things.

        "Maybe we should head back to camp. It's getting late." Dale suggested.

        "I'm good." You rolled your eyes. "Thanks for ruining yet another peaceful moment." You said to Shane.

        "I'm confused." Andrea spoke up. 

        "Oh, allow me to clarify." You smiled, sickeningly sweet. Lori shook her head at you, but you ignored her. "Shane, my husband, and Lori, have been keeping a secret from us. Care to share with the class?"

        "(Y/N), man, come on. Why you gotta start problems?" Shane let out an exasperated sigh.

        "No? Okay, allow me to speak on your behalf, then. My husband has been fucking Lori, who, if you guys weren't aware, is married to Shane's best friend, who he claims is dead." You said.

        God, did that feel good.

        Everyone looked stunned, save for Lori who just looked humiliated and mortified, and Shane, who was more pissed than anything else.

        "Some leader, huh? A real honest guy." You added, just to add insult to injury. Salt in the open wound, if you will.

        "Oh...kay... Why don't we just.." Dale was at a loss for words.

        "Maybe (Y/N) can stay in the RV with us." Amy suggested.

        "Yeah, I think that'd be just fine." Dale agreed.

        "No need." You looked to Shane, smirking. "Daryl here has offered his tent."

        Daryl shot you a look. He had no intentions of being your pawn in some twisted revenge scheme.

        "You did?" Andrea asked.

        Daryl nodded. "Yeah, told her she could have it 'til she figures somethin' else out."

        "And you're gonna sleep... Where?" She wondered.

        "Outside." He shrugged.

        Shane scoffed and shook his head, hands rested on his hips in that police stance you had grown to hate. Your nostrils flared at him in disgust. 

----

        "Why'd ya do that?" Daryl asked.  You were all back at camp now. He was grabbing some essentials from his tent to make room for you. "Make it like it was somethin' it ain't?"

        "What do you mean? I told the truth. You offered your tent."

        "Nah, you wanted to get under his skin." He shook his head at you as you stood with your bag over your shoulder and your dusty blanket balled up in your arms.

        "I mean, yeah, but--"

        "But nothin'. I ain't gon' be part of your revenge and I damn sure ain't gonna be no rebound dick to ride 'til ya feel better." He cut you off before he stormed away.

Taglist || Masterlist

[sylus-little-meow-meow]

Nice to meet you, Skye

Sylvia watches as the intimidating figure leans over the smaller frame of another woman.

He looks amused.

But there's something about his smile that's completely different from what Sylvia herself ever experienced in the months she spent with him.

As his lover she always felt a barrier was between them.

Hard as diamond. Impenetrable.

She watches as Sylus brushes the hair out of the woman's eyes and she beams up at him.

They look like they're the only two people in the world. 

Is that what he looks like when he's in love?

He'd never looked at her like that. 

She couldn't even imagine him touching her so delicately like he did this other woman. 

Sylvia wraps her arms around her midsection as she leans against the brick wall of a convenience store, trying to keep the cracks in her heart from fissuring outward. 

Did I look like him when we were together?

For her, it felt like the whole world glowed. Warm and soft around the edges and full of light. 

The woman points to something inside and Sylvia notes even the traces of his amusement are a harsh contrast to what she experienced. 

She knew what was missing the night she ran out of his home.

It's why she left. 

And he never contacted her after, never called or texted or reached out. 

She wanted him to.

She wanted him to prove her wrong. 

Sylvia swallows the lump in her throat, ducking her head, trying not to let him get to her. 

???: Sylvia?

Her heart stutters and stops.

She looks up and the woman—who she didn't recognize from a distance—now comes closer, making her easily recognizable.

They both work at the Hunters Association. 

Fuck. 

Sylus follows after her, a fond expression on his face when she's not looking, but when his eyes flicker up to Sylvia, one of his brows merely quirks.

As always, Sylvia puts on her best mask and flips her hair over her shoulder.

She raises her chin, and rests a hand on her hip.

Sylvia fakes her confidence.

Every single bit of it until it becomes as natural as breathing.

She can handle this.

She's okay. 

Sylvia: The one and only. It's nice to see you out of that stuffy office. 

Mc: Yeah, it's been a while since we were assigned on a team together. 

Sylvia: I take it you're not out hunting a wanderer.

She notes, nodding to the girl's civilian clothes, her own attire very much showing she's still on duty. 

Mc: Yeah. I was just out with…a friend.

Friend?

No one blushes like that when introducing a friend. 

She's probably keeping things on the downlow, which is understandable given who exactly Sylus is.

Does he have a thing for Hunters or something?

Then again, that's not giving this woman enough credit because there's no doubt their relationship extends further than a feverish need expressed behind closed doors on quiet moonlit nights.

Fucking stupid.

Sylvia looks up at Sylus and he appears unbothered as ever.

She could never ruffle his feathers no matter how hard she tried.

He looks at her as though he's never experienced her body or carried her into the dark of his room.

He looks at her as if anyone else could be standing here right now.

Sylus looks at her like she's a stranger. 

So Sylvia tries to do the same and lifts her hand, extending it to Sylus with a practiced smile. 

She doesn't reveal her hurt or react to the sensation of his hand meeting hers, remembering how they used to slide over the curves of her body and would carress her.

She's impenetrable like he is. A force to be reckoned with.

Sylvia: Nice to meet you. I'm Sylvia. I work with your…friend here. 

Sylvia: A pleasure. Please call me Skye. 

And here I used to call you mine.

So…

Fucking stupid.

Her hand becomes cold as soon as he lets go and she tries to keep the tears that follow at bay when he sees the same hand that shook hers, reach to brush against the other woman.

Almost like he's trying to erase her touch entirely. 

Sylvia: Well, I'd stick around, but I've gotta go. I'll see you around.

She lifts her hair over her shoulder and gives them a wiggle of her manicured fingers before she sets off in the opposite direction.

It's a few blocks before she finds Lumi—her designated partner for this assignment—and when her sister turns to smile at her, the radiance from her naturally bubbly personality dissipates. 

Lumi: Syl?

There's a slight dampness at Sylvia's cheeks. Sylvia lifts a hand and touches it with her pointer finger, examining the teardrop. 

Sylvia: I'm fine. 

Sylvia: Everything…is fine. 

She lifts her chin up and gives her younger sister a smile.

Sylvia: Let's go get that wanderer, yeah?

[luvrsbian]

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐄

A/N: she's finally here!!! this was initially supposed to be a one shot but has kinda turned into a draft up of a pretty plotless, sweet, fluffy mini series. it follows canon for the most part minus eddies death ofc but because im bad with canon lore and science shit, its not heavily mentioned (some minor canon lore was changed but it's not super important.) this is a fem!reader, no use of y/n, set in 1992, 4k words, and i've kept reader pretty vague for inclusivity minus some background lore. this series is not 18+ (yet) but my page is, so please do not follow if you are a minor. thank you sweet baby mona @enam3l for beta-reading for me (ily)

MASTERLIST ✿ PART TWO

Eddie Munson liked his life. He liked his friends, even if a lot of them have now dispersed across the continental United States for school, jobs, general life (minus Robin who has somehow managed to make her way to Australia doing God knows what.) He liked his home, a house on the edge of town – slightly bigger than the old trailer – which he still shared with his uncle. He liked his style and hobbies and taste in music and movies that haven’t really changed much in the last 5 years since his final senior year. 

He really liked his job. 

Which felt odd for him to admit to himself.  It wasn’t anything like what he thought he would be doing. A younger Eddie Munson would imagine himself traveling city to city, adored by fans, living creatively and free spirited.  

But a middle school janitorial gig kept him young. One could argue 26 wasn't even that old, however, compared to his friends (who he'd already been older than) with their careers, relationships and growing families, he felt like a lonely old man. So, yeah, the awkward, funny, and extremely honest pre-teens made him feel young.  

Initially he thought the job would be lonely. It’s a small town with even smaller schools. Besides him, there was only one other night janitor that he alternated weekend cleans with and only really ran into during day-to-night shift changes. Ron was nice enough, older than Wayne, with a far higher patience for children. Unsurprisingly, behaviours from high school died hard and the teachers and administrative staff all kept to their own little cliques. Resulting in Eddie keeping to himself, rarely speaking outside of his custodian duties or the occasional faculty meeting. 

He didn’t even think he’d interact with the students aside from cleaning the odd vomit or getting stuck balls out of the gymnasium rafters. He unintentionally found himself yet again the outcasted mother goose to a small hoard of pre-teen metal heads when their unofficial leader, Matty Sherman, caught site of the various posters Ed keeps hung up on his office (custodial closet) door. The seventh grader quickly forcing himself under Eddies wings and refusing to budge. Matty was a good kid. Reminded Eddie a lot of himself at that age. He was loud, abrasive, and way too confident for such a gangly frame in ill-fitting clothes. Matty had hair though which 13-year-old Eddie couldn’t relate to. 

There was also Ms. Virginia Wagner. The eccentric, nurse who has been working at Hawkins Middle since Eddie was attending. Maybe even before that, he wasn’t quite sure and whenever he asked anything close to finding out her age, she quickly shut him down. She was sweet. She was funny. She was also a mean old hag sometimes, but God did Eddie love that about her. If he was just 20 - or more realistically 40 - years older and wasn’t almost certain she swings the other way, he’d shoot his shot.  

The Summer season was extremely uneventful for Eddie. Due to the kids being out of school, his hours were cut in more than half with only the yearly repairs and deep cleaning needing to be done. He went into work about 3 days a week, spending the extra free time to do some manual labour gigs here and there around town. When he wasn’t working, he was hidden away at home watching movies, listening to music, trying to plan out ongoing and future campaigns for Hellfire meetings that have begun to be fewer and far between now that everyone has dispersed. On some rare occasions when he didn’t feel like a complete shell of a person and was able to leave the house to socialize outside of life obligations, he met up with the few friends that remained in the Hawkins area (which at this point in time was really only Steve Harrington and Gareth Emerson.) 

It was now the Monday of the week before students would return back to these fluorescent lit halls. That meant all other faculty were now gracing the school to prepare for the year ahead. Organizing and prepping and finalizing lesson plans and class rosters.  

Eddie had a slight pep in his step as he walked through the halls, scuffed up sneakers squeaking on the shiny, extra polished tiles. He whistled a silent tune that clashed with the jingles of his keys that he swung around his middle finger. Getting to the janitors closet to put on his navy coverall and put his hair into a low bun. He zips up the stiff material, covering the self-altered muscle tank top that had the logo for some local band down in Indianapolis he saw a few years back before things went to shit. A cracked and stained mirror hanging up over his work sink being used to make sure his hair looked casually messy in the bun. With a final once over, he hooks his keys to the belt loop of his coveralls and preps for the day's work. A glance at his wristwatch, the one that has somehow survived hell and back just like him, reads 7:58. Just 4 hours and 2 minutes until lunch.  

He couldn’t wait. 

Eddie used those 4 hours and 2 minutes to check each stall in all bathrooms were fully stocked with toilet paper and the likes, clean the actual toilets themselves, and make sure the water was running properly in every sink. Once that was taken care of, he began on his biggest task of the week of dragging desks and chairs out of the back storage building to be put into classrooms. Sheryl from the administrative team having left the small packet of papers indicating how many seats each room would need for the coming year.  

He could move the chairs in stacks at a time but could only really stack two - maybe three if he was careful - desks on his hand truck before it became a safety problem. Once moved into the main building, he had to wipe them down, tighten any loose screws that could make them wobble, and make sure they were still in usable condition. Eddie had completed almost 3 of the 32 classrooms before lunch finally rolled around.  

He grabbed his lunch sack from the custodial closet and whistled on his merry way to the nurse's office. He’s been eating lunch with Virginia for as long as he can remember. Of course, there was those 5 years of High School and then the year of recovery following the events of his second senior year, and the summer breaks of course, but besides all those he’s been eating with her for a good 7 years.  

This ritual beginning in his 6th grade, the first year he moved in with Wayne, all sad eyed and past aside due to events outside of his control. Kids he had grown up with suddenly not wanting anything to do with him. He wouldn’t really make any friends again until 7th grade, and his first band of misfits was created, Corroded Coffin. 6th Grade was the worst year of his life until 1986 and now it’s about tied.  

Sadly, in middle school who you ate a meal with or gave the time of day too was so integral into maintaining the hierarchal balance of the ecosystem. It was bullshit. With everything that happened that lead to his father going to jail and him burdening his uncle, the kids of Hawkins middle school decided Eddie wasn’t worth risking their own reputations. He doesn’t remember exactly how it happened, his brain kicking the memory out at some point to make room for more important stuff like D&D lore. But he does remember he went from eating lunch in the bathroom to eating it in Nurse Wagner’s office.  

Even after being integrated back into the Middle school social circle, he couldn’t just leave her to eat lunch by herself. She needed him with his alternative music education and retelling of the fantasy books he’d been reading lately and his strong headedness that could keep up with her dry and sarcastic quips many interpreted as rudeness. Although Eddie would still refuse to admit it, in actuality he probably needed her more than she needed him. 

He doesn’t knock, just moseys his tall frame into the nurse's office, wide dimpled smile on his lips as he hears rummaging coming from the actual office area that was blocked off by a wall. He looks at the two plastic-y beds covered in paper sheets, inhaling that antiseptic smell that can only seem to be found in medical settings. No fluorescent lights were on, only natural light being let it from the two big windows.  

There are curtains on them now which surprises him. Floral pinks and yellows with lace on the edge that really fit the grandma vibes Virginia has but refused to acknowledge. The windows all have blinds, but curtains were deemed a non-necessary commodity by the school board budgeting team, meaning if you wanted curtains, you’re gonna have to fork money out of pocket for them. Eddie had asked Virginia about it once, commenting about how it would help spruce up the place. Make it look a little less sterile. She told him to go to hell, that she’s a nurse not rich. Any out-of-pocket money she spent on work only going towards things that actually matter, like the allergen friendly laundry detergent and the nicer, name brand candy for the candy bowl. 

Putting his lunch on the side table of the first bed, he lays down in a relaxed position. Hands behind his head, legs crossed, eyes closed, he lets out a relaxed sigh. 

“Virginia, dear, I really love what you’ve done with the place,” he calls out to her, hearing the close of the filing cabinet and footsteps soon following, “feels all homey now, dontcha think.” 

The footsteps stop. 

“I'm glad you like them. You feelin’ comfy there?” 

That was most definitely not Virginia Wagners voice. 

Eddie jolts up, eyes wide and cheeks red. He’s not one to get embarrassed easily but since recent events he’s been a bit more reserved in how comfortable he gets around strangers. And you were most definitely a stranger. A pretty stranger. A very pretty stranger in a teddy bear patterned scrub top and an oversized cardigan with embroidered sunflowers. You’re a disorienting mess of patterns and colors but you’re also, like, really pretty and Eddie isn’t sure how to go about this. 

“You’re not Virginia,” is all he can get his voice to come out with. 

“I’m not Virginia.” You give a chuckle. A positive response, Eddie thinks. 

“Where’s Virginia?” 

Eddie is now standing away from the bed and closer to the door, ready to run from the situation if needed (something he’s learned to embrace in the last few years.) You give him a friendly smile, hands in your cardigan pockets, the sleeves bunched up. You look cozy.  

“Florida. She’ll be in the Caribbean by the end of the month,” you supply. He can tell your fingers are fidgeting in your pockets. His hands are fidgeting at his waist, pinching at the material of his coveralls.  

“Why?” 

You shrug your shoulders, “Retirement.” 

“Oh,” Eddie sighs, eyes breaking contact with yours for the first time since standing, shifting to look at your white - almost pristine - sneakers on the tile floor her spent all summer mopping and waxing and removing scuff marks from. “That sucks.” 

You snort. Teeth biting your bottom lip to stop from laughing at him further during this awkwardly endearing meeting. Your own eyes looking him over now that he isn’t completely focused on you. He’s cute. His cheeks stained your favourite shade of pink once he realized you weren’t the now retired nurse he had been so fond of. Hands covered in jewlery. His inability to stay still so natural it makes you think he doesn’t even realize he’s been shifting his body weight back and forth from his toes to his heels this whole time. Tall, lean, maybe with some extra fluff hidden under the baggy attire. He’s got some shadow of hair on his cheeks. And if you weren’t a civil person and he wasn’t a stranger, you’d be begging to kiss at the column of his throat. 

Your gaze moves to look around the waiting part of the office to avoid thinking even more things about this guy. A brown paper bag chicken scratched with the words ‘ED LUNCH’ catches your eye. Before you have a chance to speak yourself, he starts his interrogation again. 

“Who are you?” 

Your attention cuts back to him quickly. With a smile that shows all your teeth and a hand leaving your pocket, held out for him to shake, you give your full name. 

He takes it with his own reserved smile. His hands and rings are warm, but they still tingle your skin from the unfamiliarity of the metal. You enjoy it you think. Before he can introduce himself, you beat him to the punch. 

“You must be Edward, right?” 

He grimaces, “Just Eddie,” your handshake falls. His hand back to his hip and your hand back into your pocket, “Just Eddie is fine. More than fine, actually. Preferred, really.” 

Another chuckle from you. Eddie knows he’s funny when he wants to be but if it’s this easy to make you laugh, he doesn’t ever want to stop. 

“Well, just Eddie,” you smirk at his eye roll, “you can join me for lunch if you’d like. I feel like my presence may have ruined your initial plans,” you let out a huff of a laugh and gesture to the lunch sack by the window. He grimaces again at your wording and shakes his head. 

“It didn’t ruin any plans just was shocking ‘sall,” his hand moves from his hip to rub at his slightly scruffy chin, pretty brown eyes back on yours, “but um, yeah. Yes, I’d love- like to join you for lunch.” 

You smile. He smiles back. 

Eddie has sat in this chair, in this office, and eaten his lunch for years. Today it feels awkward and unfamiliar.  

It might have something to do with you sitting where Virginia used to sit. Same chair, same desk, same office, but completely different. Virginia didn’t decorate her space, leaving it functional and impersonal, if people wanted to know about her life they could ask her. She wasn’t going to flaunt it.  

You were very different. An orange, gaudy looking vase filled with fake flowers. A matching candy bowl with various sugary, little treats. A picture frame of you and what he could only assume was your family based on the similar features shared between each person. A decorated Coke can with the top cut off and trimmed with glued on lace and covered in holographic stickers of vibrant cartoon animals, sparse enough to still see the iconic red drink logo, was now holding an assortment of colorful gel pens.  

Even the chair wasn’t safe from your interior decorating, a purple knitted blanket folded over the top of the rolling seat. The seat itself now adorning a red, white, and black cushion of an ugly faced bulldog with a spiked color and cap with the letter G, the words ‘GEORGIA BULLDOGS’ splayed above him. A sports team he assumed.  

The conversation hadn’t started back up since the introduction in the sick room. Both of you taking your respective seats in the office area, opening your lunch bags and digging in.  

Eddie being a creature of habit brought his usual bag of pretzels, a can of Pepsi, and a sandwich made of whatever he could find in the kitchen. Today it was two slices of whole wheat, mayo, lettuce, the last piece of deli ham, and shredded cheese.  

Your own lunch seemed much more put together. For starters, you had an actual lunchbox, a bulky and vibrant plastic thing with Snoopy sleeping on his dog house on the front. Inside, there was your own ziploc bag of green grapes, a can of Coke, and a sandwich cut into triangles. White bread, crunchy peanut butter, and grape jelly. A Little Debbies Swiss Rolls pack sitting on the corner of your desk for dessert. 

He’s mid chew on the final bite of his sandwich, half his Pepsi left, his pretzels being the first thing devoured, when you speak up. Your own sandwich having on triangle section left, grapes gone, and Coke untouched. 

“Have you always lived in Hawkins?” 

You’re wiping your mouth with a folded paper towel, curious eyes focused on him. You’re very good at that, he’s realized. Eye contact. Focusing on your center of attention. Eddie has never been good at it, having to remind himself to look at the person talking to him. It’s polite, Wayne would say, shows people you’re listening and interested in what they have to say. Eddie gets so worked up in remembering to seem focused, he loses it and doesn’t hear what’s being said. He hasn’t had that problem with you so far. He thinks he could look at and listen to you all day if you let him. 

“Born and bred,” he swallowed his bite and shrugs his shoulders, rubbing his hands together to get the crumbs off, “you’re not though, are you. Feel like I’d remember you,” he raises an eyebrow. Feeling a little more confident in himself, especially with the obvious signs of you not being a local, and gives a playful smirk. 

“You got me,” you hold your hands up in mock surrender, moving your arms back to rest your elbows on the edge of the desk, “I’m from Georgia.” 

Eddie nods, the seat cushion making sense now. It’s your home team for… sports. A sport. Probably football. Eddie mentally pats himself on the back for guessing it was a sports team. Good on him for knowing sports. (Eddie doesn’t know sports.) 

“So,” Eddie lulls, small talk never being his forte. Much more interested in getting into the nitty gritty of conversation when interested in someone but he doesn’t know you yet. He needs to find something to relate with you on and he can’t do that with tidbits he may know from growing up in town like he could other people his age or older here. “You’re like a southern chick,” it was your turn to grimace.  

“You’re really bad at this,” you snort and shake your head, finishing up the last of your own sandwich. Tidying up your desk, throwing away the ziploc bag and sandwich wrapping and paper towels. Opening the coke can and moving the swiss rolls pack to in front of you, looking back to Eddie. With a tilt of your head and saccharine grin you ask, “Splitsies?” 

He nods at the opportunity to get a sweet little treat before addressing your initial comment, “Small talk requires talking and I just don’t really do that anymore with people who don’t already know me or just have a preconceived idea of who I am,” he shrugs his shoulders again, voice softer, slight regret in being too real. Eyes watching your fingers open the package, folding another paper towel (which he has now realized are coming from a roll kept in the lowest drawer of your desk), and setting one of the processed roll cakes on the indented paper before placing it in front of Eddie’s seated and slouched body. “Thank you,” He looks back up to you and you’re already looking at him. 

“Virginia told me a lot about you,” you smirk, lifting your own cake to take a bite. Your eyes not leaving his except for split a second to give an appreciative glance and hum to the cream filled ‘pastry.’  

“We’ve been corresponding for months,” you snicker at your own use of the word, making you feel like some sort of 18th century countess or captain, rather than a young nurse taking over the position of an older nurse.  

He looks panicked at this reveal. Which is cute considering he had a bit of white cream on his upper lip. Although he looked so pretty when his brow furrowed, it was clear he was frightened so you were quick to reassure him. 

“All good things, of course. I think she’s just worried about you. It’s cute, really, just really cute.” Another kind smile on your lips and your hand holding out the paper towel - his now eaten roll was sat on - as hint for him to clean his mouth off. 

Eddie knew Virgina wasn’t one to gossip but the prospect of a rare new person in town he’s actually interested in, being privy to all his shit-uations without him telling them himself, scared him. But Virginia did love to meddle and that may be worse. She was a big supporter of Eddie needing friends his own age.  

Letting out a sigh of relief that his tragic history had yet to be exposed, Eddie returned your smile with his own half one. You reach into your desk again, pulling out a letter instead of paper towels this time. ‘Edward’ scrawled in a familiar, loopy handwriting with blue ink on the white envelope caught his eyes. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion and intrigue.  

You hold it out for him to take like it was something precious, “This is for you.” From Virginia, is unspoken but recognized between the both of you. Who else would it have been from. Eddie flushing as he realized, Virginia never told him about you. Virginia never even told Eddie she’d be leaving. They didn’t speak much, or really at all, during the summer unless they happened to run into each other outside of these brick walls.  

Callused finger pads grazed your palm when he took the letter from you, he kept his eyes focused on examining the letter. A sad smile on his lips appreciating the loops of the E and W and curves of the D’s. Realistically he knew Virginia probably wasn’t gonna be gone from Hawkins forever, she had roots here. A son. That’s son kid or maybe kids now, he wasn’t sure, hadn’t checked in on Rick since he got out of jail in ‘88. But it still hurt that she was gone, without a word, and was happy enough to talk to her replacement about him but not to him about her. You. 

“I’m gonna read this later,” he mumbles and puts the offending but appreciated letter in his deep pocket. A quick glance at his watch read it’s been about an hour since making his way into the nurses office, lunch was over. He threw his trash out in the bin by your desk and gave you a friendly smile, standing from the seat in front of your desk. 

“Maybe we could do this again sometime,” eyes shifting around the office again, not really taking things in, just needing to not get trapped back into your gaze. “Ya know, with my lunches free now and everything,” he humorlessly chuckles. 

“Eddie,” you spoke softer than you had before, a more sympathetic smile on your lips, “I’d really like that.” 

He looks at you now. You have really shiny eyes. What a weird observation, Eddie thinks, but it’s true. With a quick wave of his hand before retreating them back into his pocket, fingers playing with the paper edges of Virginias letter. He begins his trek out the door.  

“Hey, next time though,” he stumbles in a spin to walk backwards while speaking, “We’ll speak more about you than about me. Feel’s like you know too much about me,” he huffs with a smug smile before spinning back to look forward. “See ya, Peach.” 

Your sweet laughter follows him out into the hall. You call out, “See ya, Eddie,” to his retreating back, watching the door long after he’s left.  

“Peach,” you snort and shake your head, teeth tugging on your bottom lip to stop from smiling too wide. 

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DONT LET ME LOVE YOU | hwang hyunjin

royal au | prince hyunjin x princess reader

PART TWO -> the plan (6k words) (smut warning!)

directory

Jeongin's house was practically your second home. His parents had left him a small fortune when they died, allowing him to keep and maintain the house they'd left in his name. It had served you well over the years, especially when you needed some time away from your overbearing duties.

The cottage lay encapsulated by greenery; shrubs and tall oak trees leaving it hidden to the naked eye. It was one of those places you would only be able to find if you knew were to look. Jeongin had told you it was his great grandmas, and she had handed ownership down the family. That was evident from how old the building was, the walls covered in years worth of vines and wisteria.

After informing your brother of what your whereabouts were going to be for the next week, you'd had to beg him not to say anything to your father. "He'll just get on at me for not being at the palace," you'd said, not wanting to explain to your potentially traitorous brother the real reason you were leaving the palace for just short of a week.

Chan had, peculiarly, dismissed you quite simply. He'd appeared busy at the time, working in your fathers office, and you'd returned to Jeongin in your bedroom relatively easily. An hour was all it took for you to pack a bag of essentials, grab your horses and start your journey to Jeongin's house.

He sits in front of you, now, holding an array of playing cards in his hands. He was bluffing - you were almost certain of it. You could read all his tells - the way his eyebrows raised slightly whenever he lied, his confidence growing.

"I win," you say simply when the time comes, laying your cards flat onto the table after Jeongin reveals his hand. He scoffs, double takes, and then sits back on his heels and rolls his eyes.

"It's unfair," he whines, collecting his hand of playing cards and shuffling them. "I bet you were literally trained on how to play cards well."

You don't bother arguing with him, because he's kind of right.

"Another round?" Jeongin asks, but you shake your head in response. You'd only been at the cottage for an hour or so, but you were already getting antsy. After making sure the horses were safe in the stable behind the house, you and Jeongin had brought out the cards whilst you waited for Minho to arrive. You'd had word from Felix that he'd managed to get a pardon from his duties under the pretence that he'd come down with an illness and needed to set the next couple of days out.

Minho was supposed to already be here, though. You'd told Felix to tell him two sharp, reinforcing that you meant two in the afternoon and not two in the middle of night. Yet, here you were at just past three with no sign of him.

You needed his intel to even start putting together the basis of a plan. Three heads worked better than two, especially when the third head was a Royal Guard of your rival court and could bring information that would be impossible for you to ever get your hands on.

"Why don't I make us some lunch?" Jeongin says suddenly, pulling you out of your thoughts and putting the deck of cards back into their case. He stands up from the floor of the cosy living area, smiling down at you. "I brought some food with me."

"You mean you stole some from the larder," you point out, tilting your head and pulling yourself up from the floor. "They do daily stock checks, so it's your ass if they find out, by the way."

Jeongin waves a hand in front of his face as though he doesn't care, which you assume he probably doesn't. He could talk circles round anyone, that boy. He walks past the sofa from the front of the downstairs area and into the kitchen in the back corner, pulling out a load of bread from the cupboard and laying it onto the countertop.

"Why don't you put your stuff in your room?" He proposes, turning around to talk to you face on from where you remained behind the couch. "I thought Minho could use the room straight on from the stairs, and you could use the one to the left? I'll be in the one on the right."

You nod, giving him a half smile. "Who thought we'd ever see the day Minho is sleeping in the same quarters as us?" You ask, picking up the bag you had packed which you'd dumped onto the floor upon arrival.

"If he ever shows up, that is," Jeongin points out, looking towards the old grandfather clock that sat against the wall to his left. You shrug, unable to say much else, as you wander up the stairs and into the bedroom you usually stayed in whilst you crashed here.

Jeongin had seemingly gone to great lengths to try and make his home as inviting as possible. He'd changed all the bed sheets and cleaned up tremendously since the last time you'd stayed, which may or may not have involved a bottle of your dads best champagne and the two of you getting way drunker than you should have.

You open your bag onto the bed, pulling out your clothes and placing them in a dresser. You'd be here for the next week, after all, and as silly as it seemed you thought it would ease your nerves to try and make yourself seem at home here. This whole situation was completely unknown territory, and you honestly felt as though you were in over your head.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of your mind, you finish unpacking, taking a minute to look out the window and watch the setting sun. Now that the warmer weather was well and truly gone, darkness surrounded you quicker than it used to. There was some sort of commotion going on downstairs, and your best bet was that Jeongin had some how fucked up making sandwiches, though that wasn't so hard to believe.

You have to blink a couple times after you walk downstairs and see Minho sitting at the counter, practically hoovering up a sandwich as Jeongin stands at the other side of the counter filling up a glass of water.

"When did you get here?" You ask, taking the sandwich Jeongin had handed to you and taking a bite.

"Two minutes ago," Minho responds before chugging the rest of his water and placing the glass back onto the counter. "It was a mission."

"How come?" You take a seat beside him, giving Jeongin a look. He shrugs in response, leaning against the counter to listen to Minho talk.

"Do you know how hard it is to get out my duties and escape palace grounds and steal classified information all in the span of a day?" He states the obvious, raising an eyebrow at you. "This isn't going to be an easy feat, princess. We're wasting time just sitting here."

You nod, trying to hide the roll of your eyes. It was obvious Minho ran a very militant ship, which was not what you nor Jeongin were used to. But, if it meant saving both of your courts from whatever shit storm was about to brew, you'd be more than happy to get on board.

Minho bends down to pick his bag up from the floor, unzipping it to bring out a folder. He pulls out some documents as Jeongin clears space on the table, spreading out the sheets of paper.

"Correspondence from the logs of people who have entered in and out of the palace," he states, pointing at a few pieces of paper. "Dated back to a month ago. There's not much information, just your brothers initials a couple times, but it proves I wasn't lying about your brother being involved in all of this. The logs are kept hidden, but even though your brother has been coming secretly, they still keep note. Probably incase he tries to deny it."

It's true; your brothers thick handwriting is scrawled on these pages, his initials in multiple places on the sheets. You lean back in your seat as you read them, feeling Jeongin's intense gaze on you.

"So Chan really is double crossing us?" He thinks aloud. "His own family?"

"Don't jump to that conclusion too quickly," Minho offers, his tone surprisingly gentle. "I know what it looks like, but we don't want to paint him the bad guy so quickly. We still don't know why he was meeting with Hyunjin's dad."

"And you don't think Hyunjin knew anything about this?" You ask, turning to look at Minho directly. He shakes his head.

"I mean, I can never speak for certain, but I was with him almost every hour of every day before he left for training. The only times I wasn't we were either sleeping or he was with you, so I don't see how he could be involved in this," he answers, which reassures you, but also pains you. To know he was out training with no knowledge of the schemes taking place behind his back was terrifying.

"I'm sure your prince isn't in on anything," Jeongin adds, giving you a genuine smile. Minho turns to him, giving him one of those downturned smiles as if he's proud. Jeongin doesn't notice it, but you do. "I think right now we need to focus on Chan. He's your brother, after all, and I know you two don't see eye to eye sometimes, but I'm sure he would never intend to put you or your family in harms way."

That was an understatement. Your brother was a good few years older than you, and whilst you got on well for the most part, your brother was always much closer with your father, opting to spend most of his time learning the ways of running a kingdom whilst you were gallivanting with Jeongin. Despite that, you did agree with Jeongin. Surely your elder brother would never plan something behind your back in a malicious way.

"I don't know," you groan, leaning forward to rub your temples. "This is all pretty insane."

"It's a lot to wrap your heads around," Minho agrees, nodding with his brow furrowed. "First things first, I think you guys need to do some digging. Go back to your palace, find any information you might deem useful. Tomorrow I'm gonna meet with Felix, whilst I'm here, and talk to him. If anyone knows about messages between your brother and Hyunjin's father, it will be him. He oversees all communication between the courts."

"He does?" You ask, shocked that you didn't already know that. You realise now that there was a lot about your court that you had absolutely no idea about.

Minho nods. "Felix knew Chan from school, apparently, so he got him the job."

Jeongin seems to remember this. "I did see them together often," he relays, clearly deep in thought. "I knew I recognised him from something important."

"Yeah, well, I'll see what he knows," Minho confirms, and you nod your head at him in thanks. "He might have picked up on something suspicious. And, I can ask him to make sure he looks out for anything else."

"That would be a great help," you say genuinely. "So while you meet with Felix, Jeongin and I will head back to the palace and snoop around for anything we think might help. Then, we can reconvene afterwards and discuss what we find and try and make a plan from that?"

"That sounds good to me," Jeongin says, giving you a half smile. "Minho?"

"Yeah, fine by me, too," he agrees, and you all look at each other for a second in understanding. There's a moment of peaceful quiet, as you ponder over your plan and the only noise is the birds, until there's a sharp knock on the front door.

Jeongin turns to you with wide eyes, and you're thankful you closed all the curtains. If anyone saw the three of you here...you dread to think what would happen. As you're about to grab the small pocket knife you keep with you at all times to answer the door, Minho saunters up to it without a second thought.

You're first instinct is that he's double crossed you, and somehow you're about to be sent to your deaths. Jeongin seems to be thinking along the same lines, moving forward instantly, until Minho unlocks the door and someone's on the other side.

Hyunjin.

"What the actual fuck?" Jeongin almost shouts, doing a double take as Minho turns and gives him a 'shh!' whilst Hyunjin quickly walks into the house, dumping a back on the ground as he breaths heavily. You make eye contact then, him giving you a half grin, you with your jaw hanging open, dumbfound.

Nobody moves for a good minute, until Jeongin punches Minho lightly on the arm. "You knew he was coming?"

"First of all, ow," Minho responds, rubbing his arm. You and Hyunjin continue to stare at each other as though the other two aren't there, your open jaw becoming a smile. "Second of all, yes."

"How did you? What did you?" Jeongin says, looking between the two men and failing to finish any of his sentences, before turning his gaze to you. "Did you know he was coming?"

You screw your face up. "Do I look as though I knew?"

"It's nice to formally meet you," Hyunjin says to Jeongin, sticking his hand out. Jeongin shakes it cautiously, his face stoic. "I'm Hyunjin."

"He knows who you are you idiot," you say, rolling your eyes and walking over to greet him. He pulls you into a hug absentmindedly, his hand going straight to your hair to hold you in place. You stay like that for a second, until Minho clears his throat and ruins the moment.

"If you two are done canoodling?" He says, crossing his arms over his chest as you pull away from Hyunjin, feeling your cheeks redden.

"How the hell are you here?" Jeongin says to Hyunjin, taking the words from your tongue.

"You should be asking Minho that," he says, finally catching his breath and resting on the arm of the sofa. "I don't even know why I'm here. I take it there's no family emergency?"

"There actually kind of is a family emergency," Minho says with a knowing smirk. "We've got a lot to catch you up on."

"That's for certain," Hyunjin says with a raised eyebrow. His black hair is short, and you reckon he had to cut it for his training. He has a bruise forming near his eye and a split in the middle of his lip, but besides that he looks incredible, as always. "How come you three are in the same room without strangling each other? I though you were still mad at him for punching you?"

He directs the question to Minho, who scoffs. Jeongin butts in before Minho gets a chance to reply.

"If anyone should be mad, it's me! He punched me with a knife!" He groans exasperatedly, rolling his eyes before composing himself. "However, we have put our difference aside us for the greater good. Or the greater evil, whichever."

"How did you get him out of training?" You say to Minho, trying to deter the conversation, and still not really understanding how Hyunjin is sitting in front of you.

"Forged a letter from his father demanding he come to this address in lieu of training, due to a family emergency. I take it my grand escape worked?" He asks Hyunjin, who chuckles and shakes his head.

"It was my grand escape, but it wasn't actually very grand. I showed the general the letter and he believed it without a second glance. Honestly, that man needs fired - he's off with his consort more than he's conducting army training, and he doesn't seem to care much for the whereabouts of his cadets," Hyunjin explains with a shrug. Minho grins, happy his plan worked. "You're lucky, cause if I get found out it's your ass."

You smile inwardly at Hyunjin using a phrase he picked up from you. Before you met him, he talked impossibly proper, so hearing him say thinks like, 'your ass' makes you smirk.

"But it did work though? You're excused until after the ball?" Minho asks, and Hyunjin nods.

"Unless I get caught out, yeah. And I can always say that I had the letter sent to get myself out of army duties, so don't actually worry," he says to Minho, as if Minho was every actually worried. It honestly warmed your heart how much he cared. "But will one of you please explain what's actually going on?"

Jeongin, Minho and you share an uneasy look, and you decide to take the brunt and explain the situation.

"Your dad wants to overthrow my dad. Or, he did until my brother went to see him the other day. Basically, there's a load of shady shit going on and we think Chan is involved but we don't really know anything," you explain as simply as possible. Hyunjin blinks a couple times, turning to Minho for confirmation.

"That pretty much sums it up," Minho says with a shrug. "Did you know about any of it?"

"None," Hyunjin replies, and you can tell he's more than deflated from having no clue about the ongoings of his court, just as you were. "I knew that my dad was getting impatient about how many problems there were in our court, like the overpopulation - but I had no idea he was planning on doing something."

"There's more to it," Jeongin reminds you, and Hyunjin turns to face him. You realise he's going to tell him the part you didn't really want to mention. "Your dad wanted an alliance with hers, and proposed you two get married to solidify it."

Hyunjin blinks again, looking at you with soft eyes. You smile bashfully, trying to avoid his eyes. "Yep."

"I take it your dad didn't agree?" He asks, and you nod.

"Minho knows more about it than I do," you say, looking towards Minho who sighs as he takes a seat on the sofa.

"It seems as though her father denied the grand wedding request and your father didn't appreciate that. However, I suspect her brother has had some sort of involvement to stop your father from declaring war," Minho explains nonchalantly, as if this all wasn't the craziest thing ever. Jeongin scoffs with a smirk.

"That pretty much sums it up," he says, joining Minho on the sofa.

"That's...a lot to take in," Hyunjin raises his eyebrows, looking towards you and you nod at him. "So what are we going to do about it?"

You love the way he doesn't question anything before becoming on board with your elaborate plan to go behind both of your Courts backs. You realise then how much you'd missed being able to talk to him face to face rather than through your letters. Seeing him in the flesh almost didn't feel real.

"That's what we're still trying to figure out," you answer. "Jeongin and I are going to our palace tomorrow to try and find anything of use, and Minho's going to talk to Felix. We don't have enough insight in whatever's going on to come up with a proper plan yet."

"If I know my father, and reluctantly I do," Hyunjin says begrudgingly. "He won't have abandoned the idea of war so easily. He's been looking for an excuse to declare war for years, and now that he has one, I'll be damned if there's not a proper reason as to why he doesn't see it through."

"My thoughts exactly," Minho agrees. There's a moment of silence as the four of you look between each other, agreeing without words that something bad was happening.

"I knew something was off the minute my father was so adamant we attend your ball on Saturday," Hyunjin looks towards you, tilting his head in a way that makes the now cropped black pieces of hair fall onto his forehead. "If it wasn't a sacred tradition, my father would stop the balls altogether, yet this time he was forcing even my cousins to go, and they always seem to weasel their way out of them."

Hyunjin's cousins, Seungmin and Jisung, were two of the strangest boys you'd ever met. The brothers were constantly at odds, yet spent all their time together. Although, they did have a habit of pulling the most elaborate pranks at your balls, which always made you and Jeongin appreciative. At the last winter ball, they'd somehow managed to switch the Winter Court King's chair with a faulty one, sending him topping to the ground, without ever being caught. But by the snicker and low key high five you caught them sharing, the perpetrators were obvious.

"Why don't we get a night of rest," Minho suggests, looking at you for confirmation. "We have a lot to do, and we can start trying to come up with a proper plan once we have more information tomorrow?"

"That sounds good to me," Jeongin says as he stretches. "Now that we know Chan's involved, we know more about what we're looking for. Correspondence is kept in storage in the castle cellar, and there's a locked off area for confidential pieces."

"My fathers kind of insistent on correspondence being kept private," you say, not revealing that it's due to the fact he has a million consorts on the go and receives an influx of letters from them daily. "We each have a safe to keep anything we want private, since the staff deep clean our rooms every other day."

Hyunjin nods, clearly deep in thought. "That's your best bet," he agrees. "How trustworthy are your maids?"

You and Jeongin both look to each other, puzzled looks plaguing your faces. "I mean, I'd like to think pretty trustworthy, why?"

"You didn't hear this from me," Minho smirks towards Hyunjin. "But it's interesting how much maids overhear and don't say anything about because of their oath of loyalty. It's quite easy to get information out of them."

It's obvious Minho has used some pretty unsubtle methods of finding out information when Jeongin starts mimicking kissing noises and he only laughs. You roll your eyes, shocked at how well these sworn enemies are seemingly getting along.

"Well, I'm not going to be using your methods on my maids," you grimace. "But...Daliyah might be of help."

Jeongin snickers, shaking his head. "You're not wrong."

When Minho and Hyunjin give each other a look, you decide to explain yourself. "Daliyah and Chan had a bit of a...secret love affair. My father still doesn't know about it, since Chan cut it off before it became anything serious, but poor Dal has been more than unhappy about the whole thing. She spends a lot of time trying to be in his company. If anyone's overheard anything, it's her."

"Well I never," Minho raises his eyebrows. "Chan with a maid consort?"

You roll your eyes. "We can talk to her when we visit the palace tomorrow. Then, we should really start putting together a plan for the ball."

All three men nod in agreement, leaving the four of you in a peaceful silence. Although nothing substantial had been achieved yet, and time was ticking, having Hyunjin here lifted a weight off of your shoulders. His presence alone calmed you.

"I'm going to do some perimeter checks on the area. I'll take first watch, too," Minho says, stealth mode switched back on. Jeongin rolls his eyes.

"You don't need to take a watch. Nobody knows this place exists. I'll come with you on your checks since I need to make sure the horses will be okay for the night anyway, but don't bother staying up," he mutters to Minho, following him when he ignores the younger boys jeers and leaves mid sentence. Once Jeongin has locked the front door behind them, there's a calmness as you turn to Hyunjin.

"Hi," is all you say sheepishly, unable to quite believe that he was standing in front of you.

"Hi, beautiful," he replies easily, taking a step towards you and engulfing your hands with his own. You lean into his embrace, sighing contentedly as you do so. For a man that just basically escaped the military, he looked and smelled as divine as ever. "I'm sorry about all of this."

You look up at him as he says that. "As long as you're not double crossing me, there's nothing to apologise for. It's not your doing. Plus, if anything, I should be thanking you and Minho. There was no way Jeongin and I could have done anything to stop whatever's happening together if we caught wind of it."

"You doubt yourself," he tuts, smiling down at you. "Shall we go upstairs? My back is killing me. I had to jump over a dozen walls to get here, you know."

"My hero," you fake swoon, leading him up the stairs and into your allocated bedroom. He shuts the door behind him, shrugging off his thick winter coat and placing it neatly on the dresser beside the door. After lighting the logs on the fireplace to provide some warmth for the chilly bedroom, you sit down on the bed, patting the space next to you. "Why don't you tell me all about your time away from me?"

"Well," Hyunjin chuckles, lowering himself onto the bed beside you. "It was torture. The only thing that brought me any joy was reading your letters."

"Really?" You reply, unable to contain your smile as you stare into the eyes of the handsome man beside you. He nods.

"Mhm. I especially enjoyed reading about Jeongin falling off of his horse on one of your outings. I actually laughed out loud," he shakes his head with a smile. "It's a lot to wrap my head around, all of this, but it doesn't shock me in the slightest."

"I understand," you agree, giving him a sad smile. "I feel the same. Let's just forget about all of that while you're here. I take it you won't be staying long?"

He shakes his head, and you feel your shoulders drool subconsciously. "I'm afraid not. I need to return to training before my father finds out I'm gone, which means I'll have to leave as soon as I can tomorrow. But, I'll be back for the ball. You should be used to only seeing me in small doses by now, darling."

His nickname sends a shiver down your spine, but his words cause an ache in your chest. "I miss you terribly regardless."

"As do I," he takes one of your hands in his, beginning to rub small circles in the palm of your hand. "Is it too crazy to believe that one day, our courts will be civil and we can be together in peace?"

"Yes," you can't help but say, which thankfully makes him chuckle. "But I have hope."

"All I want is you," Hyunjin says sincerely, looking between your eyes. The stillness of the air and the white shining light from the moon adds a heaviness to the moment, causing your breath to catch in your throat. "Always. You've consumed my every thought."

You can't find the words to reply, instead letting him move closer towards you and instinctively brush some stray hairs from your face.

"I wish things could be different for us," he sighs, looking between your eyes. You can't help but play with the short dark strands at the nape of his neck, missing the long locks you were used to.

"Me too, Hyunjin," you respond, closing your eyes momentarily and breathing the moment in. When you feel Hyunjin's soft, plush lips push against yours your response is instantaneous, kissing him back with all the want and desire you'd kept captive while he was away.

It takes no time at all for him to deepen the kiss, and you can't help but think about how this was the first time you were kissing him within the safety of four walls and not outside in the warm summer air. He gently pushes you so your back is leaning against the plush bed, embracing it as he moves his body so that it's caging yours.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," he says, pulling away momentarily. You shake your head, smiling up at the handsome boy in your vision.

"I don't want you to ever stop," you say, because truthfully you would never be able to get enough of him. It felt as though you were on cloud nine, having him all to yourself without worrying about being caught. The reasons you were in the confinements of Jeongin's home were forgotten as you stared dreamily into Hyunjin's eyes.

His mouth turns into a small smile. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do, my love," he cautions, but his efforts are futile when you pull him back down towards you and place your lips against his again. He chuckles into the kiss, knowing you wanted him just as much as he wanted you.

You didn't know if you'd ever get the opportunity to be intimate with Hyunjin. The relationship between you and him was secret kisses, hiding in the fields of the border, never wanting to take it too far for fear of prying eyes. Now, however, it felt like the days of hiding were so far in the past.

He undresses you slowly, carefully, as if he doesn't want to rush. You have to remind him that Jeongin and Minho could come back any second, but he doesn't seem to care. When you're both topless, he kisses down your neck and mumbles, "I have you all to myself for tonight. Those idiots won't ruin this for me."

You can't help the laugh that escapes you, his comment turning the somewhat bittersweet moment lighthearted, if only for a second. The tension between you rises quickly, kisses becoming heated, hands unable to stay still. Hyunjin touches every part of you before finally giving in, taking off every piece of clothing both of you had on and discarding them beside the bed.

He doesn't waste a second, kissing down your body until he's right where you need him most, looking up at you as he gently kisses your inner thighs before attaching himself at your core, making you feel a way you've never felt with any other partner you've been with before. He's so gentle, yet eager, and your breathes become short when he starts to use his fingers and tongue at the same time.

There's no feelings of self consciousness with him, not when he looks at you as though you hand painted every star in the sky. The way he comes back up to your face when you squeeze his hand, staring at you under him as though he can't believe he's looking at you. The way he caresses your cheek with his thumb when he finally pushes into you, his other hand interlinked with your own. You wince for a moment, adjusting to his size.

"I've got you," he whispers, forehead pressed against yours, his voice thick. He's suppressing himself for your sake, his eyes squeezing closed as he holds back a groan. "Don't worry, you're okay."

He starts slow, making sure you're comfortable, nodding when he starts increasing his pace and looks into your eyes for confirmation. When the pain starts turning to pleasure, you allow yourself to let go, forget about every ounce of stress plaguing your mind to focus on Hyunjin and this moment.

He kisses you deeply as he pulls himself in and out of you; your collarbone, your neck, your mouth. Your hands find his back, fingers digging deeply into the smooth flesh, pulling him as close as humanly possible. You have no idea if Minho and Jeongin have come inside yet, but right now you couldn't care less. He breathes deeply into your ear, shuddering when you pull at his hair and pushing into you so fast your gasping.

You could stay in this moment forever, attached mentally and physically to the man of your dreams, your prince. The closeness of having him inside you for the first time is a feeling you never wished to forget.

He changes his rhythm, placing one hand against whilst keeping his other firmly enclasped with yours. His combat stamina is no match for how able he is to keep himself together, keeping himself as quiet as possible. You wished for the day you could let loose, do whatever you wished in your own bed in your own home, together. To hear him groan properly without holding it in.

You take what you can get of each other, trying to keep composed but ultimately failing. Your whines slip, especially when he brings his face close to yours. All you want is for him to hear how good he makes you feel. Maybe it was because he was the first person you'd been intimate with you you'd ever loved, or maybe it was because you were so infatuated with him, but you were losing yourself to him.

Never had you been so organically yourself during intimacy. You'd only ever had sex with a couple of men, but you could never call this 'having sex'. Hyunjin was making love to you as passionately as someone had ever before. 

It's not long until Hyunjin's quick and powerful thrusts send you over the edge, your toes curling and your heart racing. He doesn't just stop at once either, letting you recover and bringing back the immensely pleasurable feeling again. He brings you to your high multiple times, watching you closely and whispering sweet nothings in your ear before finally letting go himself.

What must have been an hour later, his head is resting against the headboard as you're on top of him, his firm hands gripping your sides and guiding you slowly. That's when you hear the front door open and the unmistakable sound of your supposed arch nemesis best friends laughing together downstairs.

Hyunjin rolls his eyes in annoyance, thrusting up into you, hitting the best spot a couple of times before slowing down and pulling himself out of you with laboured breaths. You're exhausted, physically and mentally, but it couldn't matter less with Hyunjin by your side. He pulls the sheets around you as you latch yourself onto him, trying to get your breathing under control as the sound of impending footsteps make their way upstairs.

"That was incredible," Hyunjin whispers softly, tracing his pointer finger over your facial features delicately. He's still staring at you with a smile when Jeongin and Minho call 'goodnight' from their rooms. You both reply, thankful that neither of them decided to come inside the room.

"I don't want you to leave again," you whisper back, your stomach twisting into knots at the thought. He shakes his head, tracing your lips.

"Don't think about that right now, hm? You're here with me now. I promise you, my darling, I will figure something out," he stresses, and you know he's being sincere. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"I love you," he says, and although it's not the first time he's said those words out loud to you, they hold so much more meaning now. "I am so hopelessly in love with you it kills me inside knowing that life has made it almost impossible for us to be together. But if I do one thing, it will be to do everything in my power to be with you for the rest of my life."

Tears well at your eyes with his every words, but you hold them back for his sake, knowing that it will make him leaving tomorrow so much worse for the both of you if you get upset in front of him. Instead of crying, you composed yourself, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I love you, Hwang Hyunjin. No matter what," you say honestly, watching as his features soften and he smiles down at you. "It's you and me forever, yeah?"

"Of course, my princess," he agrees, childishly interlinking your fingers. You giggle sleepily at the action and cosying yourself up to him. "You and me forever."

I am so ridiculously sorry for the wait!!! I was gonna make the whole series three parts but I just keep writing too much so it’s now gonna be four hahaha, I hope you enjoy this part !!!

[missadangel]

Little Bird in a Cage (Javier Peña x Reader)

Part 7: He's questioning You.

Gifs by din-jarring

---------------------------- All episodes here ------------------------

It was late in the evening, when you were walking on the street, heading to the station. You have passed by the station many times, but you have never been inside.

The DEA signboard reminded you of Javi. You didn't even know if he was here now, but he must be off duty at this hour.

You shook your head slowly, you had to focus on Caroline. But you had no ideas or plans either. You came here with putting everything on the line. It was just not you to sit at home and ignore all.

There was an armed guard standing, guarding at the entrance, you couldn't see inside clearly. You felt exhausted, you needed to pull your shit together at first, so you went to the nearest bar to take a breath, after all you walked all the way here. If your father couldn’t see your car outside, he might get suspicious.

Now he was thinking you were sitting in your room sulking -like always-. He couldn't say anything because he was already used to it.

The bar was crowded, so you sat near the window, so you could see the station’s entrance clearly. You ordered a drink, however, you couldn't see what was going on behind you because you were looking out the window and your head was full of thoughts.

At that time Steve and Javi were sitting at the bar counter, which was right behind you, but a bit far away.

“Is that why you didn't question her?”

“The chief handed it over to the other officer because I was leaving anyway. After the Cali cartel, these are the crumbs left behind, everyone wants a piece of the action.”

“The Salazars?”

“No, Pacho fucked almost all of them before he surrendered. The North Valley, I mean, they're not very ambitious, well not yet.”

“It never ends, does it, you squash one bug and another one pops up.”

“At least it's not our problem anymore.”

“Yeah for now.”

They clinked their glasses.

“Javi, hi, how are you?” Katie, Javi's coworker, was there too.

You looked over at the same time because you just heard his name. Your heart almost skipped a beat when you noticed him.

How long has he been there? And who the hell was that woman?

“How could you not call me after that night, I'm upset.”

Steve laughed, he was used to it. Javi rolled his eyes.

“I was busy, what the fuck are you doing in Cali anyway?”

You were about to cry with anger as she touched his cheek. Your heart was already broken after what happened, and now seeing him so intimate with another woman broke it one more time. Your hands began to shake as she leaned over Javi's lap and kissed him, suddenly you spilled your drink all over yourself. And tears began to flow.

That's all I need!

You quickly got up from your seat and walked quickly to the exit.

Even though you didn't notice him, Steve noticed you from a distance, wondering why this woman is crying, and then he recognized your face. After you got out, he stood up all of a sudden.

“Where are you going, Stev?” Javi asked.

“I'll be right back,” he said without looking at him and ran off.

Javi pushed Katie away from his lap.

“I'm not in the mood tonight, gotta go.”

Steve was out looking for you when you were cursing yourself because you couldn't hold back your tears. He heard your murmuring. He was thinking how to approach you, what to say.

He realized that you were the little bird. He'd seen enough of your photos in the files when he’s in Bogota.

You were trying to pull yourself together. To take a tissue you zipped your bag open but you realized someone extends his hand, offering a tissue. You couldn't see his face well in the dark, but he was a blue-eyed man with blond hair. You took the tissue.

“Thank you,” you said and walked away.

Fucking embarrassing.

Steve just stood there, watching you walk away, confused as hell, why were you here at this hour? Why were you looking at Javi and crying?

And why were you walking at the police station right now?

He put his hands on his waist, thinking what to do.

------

When you entered the station, you were trying hard to get rid of your thoughts. Of course you were going to cry for hours when you got home, but you can't think of it now.

Paloma noticed you and immediately raised her hand to stop you.

“Señorita, you can’t be here at this hour, unless you've come to surrender,” she smiled.

You swallowed, “No, I'm here for my friend, Caroline.”

“Look, honey, it's really late and no one is going to-”

“Caroline Reyes, arrested a couple days ago, well, she-”

“Cocaine girl,” said a man voice quite loudly.

In shock you looked in that direction. A bulky police officer was approaching to you, he looked angry and curious both.

“Are you the one she wants?

“I'm her friend, I'm here to see how she's doing.”

“Oh, yeah, you brought clean clothes too? Okay, let's take señorita,” he gestured to the other cops.

One of them came up to you, grabbed your arm roughly and dragged you over there.

“Wait a minute, I'm not a criminal, I didn’t do anything just wanna see her.”

The chief laughed cockily.

“Everyone who comes here says the same shit, sweetheart.”

-----

Steve was still standing outside, smoking meanwhile and Javi, who just left the bar, came up to him.

“Fuck man, I've been looking everywhere for you,” he said, but Steve didn't turn to him. “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”

“Did you blow off your date?”

“What date, she came out of nowhere.”

“You two were like very close,” Steve said, still staring at the station.

“It was a one-time thing, way before the operation, never mind that.”

Steve turned to Javi this time.

“So you brushed her off, that's not you.”

“Fuck that, tell me what you're looking at. Why did you take off?”

Steve turned his eyes back to the station, threw his cigarette and stubbed out with his foot.

“Javi, we need to go to the station.”

“No, man, I want to go home and rest, didn’t you say  jet arrives the day after tomorrow? Did you forget something there?”

“Come with me man, you won't regret it.”

Javi frowned as Steve walked towards the station.

“What the fuck does that mean? Are you Mr. Mysterious or what?”

He followed behind him, confused as hell.

When Steve and Javi got in, Paloma greeted them.

“I thought you were gone.”

“Me too,” Javi grumbled.

“Where's the chief now,” Steve asked.

“In his room, it's a bit of a busy evening.”

“Okay, thanks, come on Jav.”

Javi didn't understand what was going on, but he trusted his old friend.

The Chief was surprised to see them, opened the door and came out.

“Agent Peña, Agent Murphy?”

“The girl who just walked in, where is she now?,” Steve asked.

“We took her to the interrogation room. How did you-”

“Did you find out who she is?”

“No, she refuses to give her name, Morales is about to interrogate her.”

“No need, we'll take care of it, right Javi?” He winked at him.

Javi was very surprised but nodded.

“Fine, but your transfer is in two days-”

“Sir, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important,” Steve said.

The chief didn't understand, but he nodded.

“OK, fine by me, you're the experts.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As Steve and Javi heading to the interrogation room, Javi asked out of curiosity.

“Who is this girl? What's going on?”

“We're about to find out,” Steve said as he opened the door to the observation room and walked in. Morales was there.

“Agents?”

“The chief wanted us to do this, why don't you just break off?”

“He did?”

“Yeah, he believes that it's our specialty,” Javi said, backing up his buddy, even though he didn't know what the fuck was going on.

“Okay,” Morales said, demoralized, and left the room.

When he left, Javi immediately turned to Steve.

“Are you going to tell me what's going on?”

Steve was looking through the one-way mirror directly at the person in the interrogation room, which is you.

“Javi, do you recognize this young lady from somewhere?”

Javi had been in this room countless times, interrogated with countless criminals. But he never had this feeling before. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw you in that room.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Our little bird.”

When you were in the interrogation room, it was impossible to hear or see the other room. So as you sitting in that room, waiting, feeling like clock ticking very slowly. You were very bored also angry that they took your bag.

“At least give me some water,” you complained.

And then you huffed with boredom.

“She's so cute,” Steve giggled, they were behind the glass so they could hear you.

Javi looked at him frowning.

“Why the hell is she here? How did you notice her anyway?”

“I saw her-“ he skipped the crying part. “Going into the station, why don’t you interrogate her and find out. Chris and Danny said there is something going on between you and her.”

“They talk too much,” Javi hissed.

“So there is?”

“What?”

“So you have something with her, you didn't deny it,” he said with a big grin.

“We'll talk about it later, now I have to ask her why she's here,” Javi said as he opened the door. “Aren't you coming?”

“I'll watch for a while and come if you need me.”

Javi rolled his eyes and left the room.

-----

You were resting your head on the table when the door opened. You heard the footsteps of the person entering, you immediately looked up. You almost fell off the chair when you saw Javi.

You swallowed hard but avoiding eye contact with him because realized how much you missed him.

Javi pulled the chair in front of you, he didn't like when you looked away. He missed you too, but he certainly didn't expect to see you in here so he kinda upset too.

He sat in the chair and crossed his arms, leaned back.

“I have a lot of things to ask, but Y/N, what exactly are you doing here for fuck's sake?”

When you looked at him, his brown eyes were looking at you curiously.

“I,” you were thinking about what to say.

After all this time, it must be a twist of fate that you met in a place like this.

“I'll answer any question, but please let me see my friend, Caroline.”

“The cocaine girl?” Javi was surprised. “She's your friend? And you just came to ‘see’ her? How irresponsible.”

“What are you saying, she's my best friend, I need to see her.”

“Do you have any idea what you're accused of-”

“I know, why don't you let me see her? Obviously someone set her up, let me talk to her, please Javi- Well, Agent Peña.”

Javi remained silent then Steve, who was watching everything, entered the room. “Let's get the girl Jav, let them meet,” he smiled at you.

You were surprised when you remembered he was the man from before.

“You?”

“Hi, I'm Agent Steve Murphy, Javi's partner and friend, you might know me,” he extends his hand.

Suddenly remembered his face and name. You have seen him on tv and all newspapers years ago.

“Yeah, you're the guy who took down Escobar,” you shook his hand. Then you narrowed your eyes. “You must be also the one of them, who planned to kidnap me,” you turned your eyes to Javi.

Steve chuckled.

“Both smart and cute, Javi.”

Javi pursed his lips.

“I don't know, it didn't seem smart of her to come here so reckless.”

“Hey, I'm here for my friend,” you said frowning.

“You should have come to me then, isn't it stupid to just walk straight into the station and say you wanted to meet with your friend who was caught with cocaine?”

“I thought you'd already left, and besides, I wasn’t sure about you’d help me or not.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Last time I checked you didn’t do anything I say, you didn’t even call me for days.”

Steve laughed.

“That reminds me of our arguments with my wife.”

You both turned your head to him, he was still laughing but you weren't.

“Oh, I'm sorry, it's just. Anyway, Im gonna get the coke girl, Caroline I mean.”

When he left the room, you and Javi looked at each other, but you were both silent. He came up to you and perched himself on the edge of the table.

“Your dad doesn't know you're here, does he?”

He was so close to you, but you had to lift up your head to look at him.

“No, he even threatened me not to come here.”

Javi laughed. “You're unbelievable,” he said, leaning down to look at you, his eyes locked on yours. He put his hand on your cheek, strokes gently.

The moment he touched you, you felt like you were electrocuted, but it was so nice, you missed his touch so much. Your heart was beating so fast.

“What am I going to do with you,” he murmured.

His face was very close to yours now, you blushed.

When the door opened, he stood back.

“Caroline!” You felt relief as soon as you saw her.

Steve gestured for her to come in but his eyes were on you and Javi.

“Y/N!”

You hugged her tightly, finally were able to see her. You shocked when you realized there are few bruises on Caroline's face and her lips were almost white.

“Caroline, what happened to you? Are you okay?”

“I am now,” she said, her voice shaking, her eyes looking at Javi and Steve with fear.

“Have a seat,” Steve said, pulling out the chair for her to sit, when she sits next to you, you grabbed her hand.

Javi was leaning his back on wall, crossed his arms. Steve came up to him. As the two of them looked at you, Caroline began to tell you what had happened to her.

According to her, it was the guy from the last nightclub you went with her. The night that Javi, Danny and Chris raided the club and caught David, -well they had to shoot him-. Caroline said those two men, related to the other narcos.

The North Valley.

“Not the drug cartels again,” you hissed.

Javi and Steve also were looking like fed up too.

“Caroline, how did they find cocaine on you, what happened?” you asked.

“Alejandro, he invited me to his house, I had been there once before but his father wasn't there, he was there the second time. I think he's name is Orlando-”

“Fuckin Orlando Henao Montoya? Fuck this man,” Steve growled, takes a cigarette from his pocket and puts it in his mouth.

“The Overall Man.” Javi sighed, unlike his buddy, he take nicotine gum out of his pocket but taste was awful, he made a face.

Steve smirked.

“Who,” you asked while looking at Javi who chewing nicotine gum, just like you said, you smiled at him, he caught your smile and blinked at you.

“Their leader,” Steve answered as he lit up his cigarette. “Señorita please keep telling about all.”

“Yes, when I was there,” she swallowed. “He forced me to use drug, I mean cocaine. I wasn’t in myself for a while you know. I don’t remember what he did to me.”

“Hijo de puta,” you got disgusted.

“What about the car?” Steve asked, as he and Javi were going through a file. “According to your statement here, you were caught on the road with a carload of cocaine. Driver is shot by police, you were with him. Surprisingly, he has a clean criminal record, just like you are.”

“My brother, they threatened me with him, they said they would kill him if I wouldn't get in the car. I don't know the driver though, but they threatened him with something I’m sure of it. He just panicked and try to shoot the police but they got him.”

“What about your brother,” you asked.

“Yes, he told us that he got a job as a truck driver a month ago, but he was actually their driver. I saw him there.”

“Where is the destination and where did you set off from?” Javi asked.

“It marked on the map. We got caught before we could get there so,” she looked embarrassed and bowed her head, you patted her hand..

Javi and Steve found the map among Caroline's belongings that the police had confiscated before she was taken into custody.

“This place-,” Javi said, surprised.

“Do you know where it is,” Steve asked.

“It was the last warehouse of the Cali Cartel. But it was empty when police raided it. According to what Chepe said during the confession that night, 700 kilos of cocaine were supposed to come here from New York. But it was empty. Then we went after Miguel, nobody cared rest.”

“Fuck, they grabbed themselves a big slice of the pie.”

“Yeah, but where are they gonna eat it?”

They looked at each other, then at Caroline.

“Is your brother still their driver?”

She nodded.

“Any chance you can talk to him, I mean, if we find out where they took the coke-”

Javi grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing? We have to be in Bogota in two days.”

“700 kilograms coke, Javi, we can't just wait without doing anything.”

“Steve, you came here to testify for the operation, we took the Cali shit down, and when I get back there I'm probably gonna be dismissed, so who are we gonna ask for help? Just the two of us can't take them, man. It's suicide to do it without backup.”

“What are the cops doing here? We'll talk to the chief.”

“We're not even sure where the coke is. What if we get there and we don't find what we're looking for?”

“I can find out,” Caroline said, and everyone in the room looked at her in surprise.

“Caz, are you crazy?”

“No, his father trusts Alejandro so much like blindly. I mean, he's holding him responsible, I guess, to make him a leader in the future or something. He gave him papers with the destinations of all the shipments and stuff. I was there for two days, and when I asked him what those papers were-”

Caroline stopped, she looked like she was going to cry.

“He beat me to death,” she said, which explained the bruises on her eyes and body. You hugged her when she started crying, you were so angry.

“It's okay, sweetheart.” You patted her back with your hand.

You felt so sorry for her, she must have been so scared, so desperate, it was so awful this happened to her.

“I would do anything to save my brother, but help me please,” said Caroline.

Javi and Steve looked at each other, neither of them knew what to do.

While you were talking to Caroline, Steve went to the other corner of the room to talk to Javi.

“I think we should leave this to the cops here, officially the North Valley is not a cartel yet,” Javi said.

“But if we catch them with 700 kilos of cocaine, they will. Come on man, just like the old days.”

“What about backup? I can't ask Berna for anything anymore, motherfucker is about to get what he wants.”

“So you haven't given it to him yet?

“I'll give it when I get to Bogota.”

“What if you need to expose the North Valley before? We know he doesn't like them either.”

“Fuck this man. Not him again.”

“We don't have a choice, Jav. If she sneaks in easy and locates the coke, we've got it in the bag. They won't be expecting us. They have no idea. Piece of cake.”

Javi and Steve turned to you and your friend.

“Okay, if you can locate the coke,” Steve said, ”we'll raid and your brother will be safe from them.”

“How,” Caroline asked.

“We'll put him in witness protection, but we need to find the cocaine, all of it, or the whole thing goes down, then we fucked.” Javi added.

“I'm sure he has the list, he knows where it is. I just need to go into his room and look at the paper. He is a junky, always high.”

“But,” you said suddenly. “If they know the police captured you? They'll kill you if they find out.”

“He knows I won't talk to protect my brother, the man next to me is already dead, I'll tell him that I blamed it on him. Anyway, they're having a party tomorrow night, I have to be there. He insisted.”

“Party?”

“Yes, I don't know what is it about, but he said it's very important.”

“This might be our only chance,” Steve looked at Javi.

Javi nodded.

“I'll go with her,” you suddenly said. They all looked at you. Javi was incredibly angry.

“Are you fucking out of your mind? No way!”

“I can't send her there alone!”

“Yes you can!”

Javi was leaning over you in anger and Steve grabbed his arm from behind.

“Y/N, he's right it's dangerous, I can't put you in danger,” Caroline said. “Hugo will be there anyway, it's better if he doesn't see you.”

“What do you mean, Caz?”

Javi and Steve looked at her.

“Yeah, he likes you a lot, I mean he wouldn't shut up asking me when I was going to take you to see him and stuff like that. Obsessed maniac.”

“Who the fuck is Hugo?” Javi asked, getting furious.

“Alejandro's cousin, he tells him everything. I mean really everything,” she said with a disgusted expression.

“That's better, I can make that idiot talk,” you said confidently. Of course you were scared, even though you trying to look brave.

“No! Out of the question,” Javi growled.

“Javi,” Steve said. “Since we can't go in and find out, it makes sense. We'll plant a listening device, and we’ll be on the watch.”

“If they suspect the slightest thing-”

“We won't let them, we'll surround them, and then we'll fuck them up.”

Javi was looking at you worriedly, Steve grabbed Javi's shoulders.

“We'll never let anything happen to her, we've done it before haven't we? We've got to do it man, we've got to get that coke shit, before they scatter it far. We're doing this for our country, and this country’s citizens, we gotta get that cocaine before it gets everywhere. You took down the Cali Cartel, don't you want to take down the poison they left behind too?”

Javi said nothing, he didn't really care about anything, except you. The idea of throwing you to the wolves, was torturing him badly.

But there was no other choice, for now.

---------

So Steve is in the story now, Hope you guys enjoy with my fic :)

---------------------------- All episodes here ------------------------

[the-ace-with-spades]

Almost finished with the last chapter of just hold my hand and questioning whether to write one more, so here are some bits that didn't (won't) make it into the fic

tw mpreg

• Jake and Bradley won't ever name their kid after someone, at least not exactly the same way, but they're okay with using some version of their parents' names, or will use it as a second names if exact same, like with the twin girls (Tommy Carole and Nicky Patricia). The exception is of course their boy, PJ (Peter Jacob), because Jake wanted some kind of name that can be shortened to XJ, like CJ, AJ, etc. Peter is also Jake's (late) dad's second name. Jake's family has a tradition of doing all of the above with all their kids.

• PJ is definitely daddy's boy (Bradley's) and he's extremely shy around strangers. Even when he was an infant and technically couldn't recognize people, he'd get very fussy when someone who wasn't Bradley or Jake's mom would hold him. Yes, this applies to Jake as well - he was on deployment the first few months after PJ was born and when he came back, PJ would regard him as stranger for the first couple of months. He accepts only a couple of people, including his favorite aunt, Nat. He's also a quiet, angel of a baby.

• Ronnie is also quiet but not as much of an angel. I've mentioned it but she has speech development issues and instead communicates in different ways - this includes being a bit more touchy and more expressive with her body language as well as simply trying to do/get what she needs herself without asking for help. They've taken her to her paediatrician but she wasn't too worried as she seems to be developing well socially and has plenty of support and examples at home.

• Both Ronnie and PJ are a bit clingy, just because Bradley spent a lot of time with them when he was on maternity leave/pregnancy leave/office duty due to the timing of the both pregnancies being so close. The twins were more used to staying with Jake's ma and had been going to the nursery/preschool most of their lives so they're the most social and the most independent of the kids. (I also think they have ADHD and are a bit oblivious to social cues...)

• The first pregnancy wasn't planned. (I might allude to it in the fic so spoilers) Bradley and Jake were actually broken up when Bradley found out - it had been Bradley who started getting a bit scared and had his issues resurfacing and did the breaking up when Jake started being more serious about them. This has happened before and Bradley would always come back within a month so Jake was going to just wait it out - he didn't know it, but this time Bradley was more adamant and had planned to be transferred and have that break up be permanent. The whole plan changed when he was pregnant just because he couldn't be stationed at Atsugi and because he felt like Jake should have a chance to be present in the baby's life. It took Jake half the pregnancy for him to actually get them to move in back together (and that only happened because Bradley was having trouble getting by alone in his apartment) and then almost another month for Bradley to actually let them get back together - he had a lot of issues before but after he found out he was pregnant it was like he started worrying about them about three times as much. It was a very emotional time for them.

• Bradley started therapy before the twins were born and Jake proposed to him when they were still in the hospital after labour (not very romantic but Bradley liked it) and married when the twins were around six months old, no ceremony, just them, the twins and Jake's ma

• The second pregnancy was planned. It was Bradley who brought up that he wanted another kid - Jake had been thinking about it for some time but remembering that pregnancy wasn't easy on Bradley, he didn't want to pressure him. It took them ten very frustrating months but another nines months later Ronnie (Veronica Rose) was born. Her second name was Jake's memaw's first name and Veronica is a name Bradley's mom really liked for a girl.

• The third pregnancy was kinda planned - they knew they wanted another kid, they just thought they would wait a couple of years before trying so it was a surprise when not even a few months later and during Bradley's flight fitness physical it turned out he was pregnant again.

• Obviously, the fourth pregnancy wasn't planned at all. They haven't talked about having more kids, but neither was opposed to, even if it was implied they would wait at least a couple of years so Bradley could get back into service for some time.

• Bradley did have problems with work related to having kids -- each time there had been offers (that sounded more like orders...) of early retirement or switch to non-flight positions and a lot of pressure to take them. Each offer and its rejection was followed by some shit happening - first time around, they put Bradley on alternative jobs that were too physical for his condition or gave him minimal maternity leave ultimateum; second time around, it was Jake's deployment being moved from after the due date to before and during the due date, Jake being sent abroad for special training way more often than anyone else. It was also why Bradley was held back from being sent to Top Gun, the argument being 'we send you there, you take a place of someone who won't get pregnant and be out of action for months'. It changed when he and Jake transferred from Oceana to Lemoore, partially due to Ice's influence behind scenes. 

• Jake had been amazing through each pregnancy, even if the first one was an adventure of trials and errors. Bradley was very stubborn and emotional and Jake had the patient of a saint and didn't take it that personal whenever Bradley would explode/reject/etc at him. But also pregnancy wasn't the easiest on Bradley (each time, the last 2-3 months he'd end up on med leave, not because he was high risk but because the symptoms were quite intense), also in the emotional sense (he's really sensitive to hormone changes) so Jake tried to make it as easy as possible on him each time.

• Further into the future, Mav will pretend he can actually tell no to the kids (he can't) but Ice straight up melted and doesn't even try to say otherwise. It's enough that they mention something once and Ice already makes up a plan to get/do it for them...

• Mav is also absolutely hypnotized by Bradley's baby bump once it shows, always so taken back when he sees it. He'd be glued up to his side if he didn't know how much it annoys him (and if Hangman was always nearby and taking the spot already...)

• Jake's ma, Pat, is quick friends with Ice (she teaches him to knit and quilt). Mav is friendly with her but it takes him awhile to warm up to her completely - mostly because he's kinda jealous? that she was there for the boys the whole time, since the twins were born, while Bradley never even thought to reach out to them or even just tell them about the kids (even if he knows it was his own fault)

• Mav and Ice also have different perspectives on Bradley having kids. Mav never thought about it, having Bradley stuck on being barely 18 in his head, and Ice always knew that Bradley would eventually make his own family, he just prayed they would be included in it.

• The first time Mav watches the kids, the twins lose their front teeth. They trip and don't even cry but when Mav checks them out, they're each missing one of the front teeth. He absolutely panics, thinking that Bradley will absolutely hate him and will never let him watch or even see the kids and then Hangman comes to pick them up and he's ready to be ripped to shreds and Jake just goes, "Oh, yeah, they've been moving the whole week. Did you keep them for the tooth fairy?" Ice makes fun of him for weeks for this even though he'd be scared shitless too, if that happened with him.

• Jake and Mav eventually do have a truce, even if they still are a bit sharp with each other. It's the typical (if less toxic) in-laws relation where Mav still thinks Bradley could do better and where Jake still thinks Mav had been a bit of a crappy dad and has a slightly limited trust in him (mostly follows Bradley's cur tho). Ice likes Jake for Bradley a lot tho.

Could go on but I'll leave it here...

[mercurygray]

@latibvles said: #but MERC. MERC. #I need to know everything about this marriage and how it came about and most importantly how MARION FEELS!!!!#which is going to hurt so much but still #pacing around running my hands through my hair #are we getting ‘we shouldn’t be doing this part 2 electric boogaloo’ #PLEASE MERC WHERES THE REST OF IT

Poet, I love your unhinged tags so much. Please have some meta for this piece (and further emotional damage.)

Harding is sent home in March of 1944 with impacted gallstones. He has been ill for months and is in terrible pain, so much so that the Army decides he's going off the active duty list for several months after this surgery and it will just be better for him to recuperate stateside.

Marion has known this whole time that he is married, that this will be a temporary thing, and yet the nature of his going cuts them off without real closure. They are in the middle of this relationship, rather than at the end, and so there is a…a longing there, and a lingering question of the other ways it could have ended. For Neil, that means 'maybe we could have stuck it out and I could divorce Doris and we could be together' and for Marion, that means 'it was lovely, but he's home now and he wouldn't have left her anyway'

And after all of this, she meets Prentis, who is an officer at one of the other local RAF establishments, and he is lovely and kind and dashing and very interested in her and also happens to have a deal of money (although she doesn't find that out until later) and as a second son his family's not all that concerned that he's in his forties and hasn't settled down yet. Her heart is a little bruised and longing again for that connection. And she thinks "Well, what am I waiting for here?" So they get married. It's the end of the war, lots of people are getting married, and they're adults, not kids. They know what they're about. It's not a grand passion but they get along.

Meanwhile, Neil is home, and after his stint in the hospital he and Doris try to make it work, but it's too little and too late and she finally gives him an ultimatum that he's going to sign these papers and he can take a job far away and see the girls at Christmas and that's that. He's basically lost all the things - he's lost Doris, he's lost his girls, he's lost Marion, and now he's got a new job.

And then it turns out that he hasn't lost her at all - and for her, that they could have had a chance, and just…never got to take it.

So Marion is also devastated, but fortunately or unfortunately for her, she's had a week or more to process this information about the new Wing Commander over at Hickam. When she sees Neil, she's already had her cry and fixed her face and rehearsed what she is going to say. (She wasn't going to wear the dress she's wearing, because it's got pink flowers on it and Pink is - well, she's never told Prentis about that nickname and she never will but Prentis told her to wear it because he'd already ordered her flowers to match and he loves her in that dress.) So she's already feeling bad, and then there he is, thinner and older and alone, and she doesn't like that she looks like she dressed up to remind him of what they had, because she already knows this is going to hurt.

She turns. He is there next to Prentis - one man who loved her once, and another who loves her now. And the pain and longing in Neil's face tells her they have both made a terrible mistake.

[fontasticcrablettes]

I recently watched an 11 hour critique of Arise, because I'm the kind of person who loves an 11 hour video essay, but it's got me thinking about all the building blocks Arise put in place but under-utilized. So I've been brainstorming some "I can fix him" ideas.

For now I'm focusing on the lords, and how each one sorta has a connection to a party member in a way reminiscent of the God Generals or the Chimeriad. But those connections are flimsy and not fully realized, so how can we make this better?

Originally this post was going to be ideas for all of them, but my total rewrite of Vholran and Alphen's backstory got away from me so this is just focusing on Vholran for now.

--

Vholran desperately wants to be a dark foil for Alphen, but he comes across more like Zagi in his meaningless obsession with cruelty and totally one-sided rivalry with the protagonist.

So what if, Vholran and Alphen had a pre-existing relationship? 300 years ago, they were soldiers together in Dahna, with a bit of a friendly rivalry going on. Both came from noble Dahnan families, and they became friends when they entered the military academy around the same time (for even more spiciness, they could also have been lovers).

That friendly rivalry, though, was started to become progressively less friendly as Vholran grew jealous of Alphen receiving more attention and higher scores. It got even worse once they were actually officers on the field, and Alphen was promoted faster and received more decorations from their superiors.

One of their biggest clashes was in how they valued their troops. Alphen cared about every soldier, and was hesitant to use strategies that would cause large casualties, while Vholran saw them as expendable and would use reckless tactics to secure goals even if it led to high casualties for his troops. Vholran justified this by claiming that since they were of noble birth, it was their right to use the lower classes for their own gain. Alphen, meanwhile, thought all people had equal value, and nobility meant he had a duty to defend those with less power.

Then, they both got kidnapped by Renans to be used in the sovereign experiments. Neither of them really knew what was going on, except that it involved giving them some kind of power and the researchers were trying to find the 'strongest' subject to receive them. Vholran's jealousy intensified, and he was furious when Alphen was chosen and not him.

Vholran escaped the lab and sabotaged the Spirit Channelling Ceremony, and it was his interference that caused Alphen's powers to go berserk and cause all those people. Naori gave Alphen the mask as per the game, and took Alphen to the space ship back to Dahna.

Seeing this as a chance to get home, Vholran stowed away when she wasn't looking. Naoir had set the ship to cry-sleep for the trip home because Alphen had been injured in the destruction and needed the healing. But, Vholran once again fucked things up when he snuck his way onto the ship, and instead of being frozen for a few months to heal, they both ended up sleeping for 300 years.

Vholran came to his senses a bit before Alphen did since he hadn't been injured to start with. A quick scouting trip from the ship gave him some idea of what was going on in Calaglia. With his ability to use magic and pass as a Renan, he dragged a weak and still mostly out of it Alphen to the nearest Renan troops and announced he'd captured a runaway slave.

(At which point they would have put a spirit core on his hand, because... seriously why didn't they do that)

From there, Vholran does his thing in Ganath Haros, killing and replacing the current lord. His goal from here is to win the Crown Contest so he can return to Lenegis as the true Sovereign and take his revenge on the Renans for what they put him through 300 years ago. Once he hears about the uprising and Balseph's death, however, he decides to go investigate.

When they first encounter Vholran in Cyslodia, Alphen has a sudden flash of memory that this was the guy who'd sold him out to the Renan's a year ago. They have no idea who he is or where he came from, but the party is immediately wary of him as they see him as someone who had the chance to help an escaped Dahnan find freedom and instead turned him in.

The next time they meet, on their way to Mahag Saar, Vholran talks to Alphen more and flashes of memory come back, leaving him certain that he knows Vholran from somewhere. It's even more powerful than his sense of knowing Shionne from somewhere, because he actually does have strong memories of Vholran rather than her simply resembling someone he knew.

So when we finally get to the Ganath Haros arc, Alphen's mask has been smashed and he has all his memories back. Now, the opponent they are facing is not just the lord of Ganath Haros who kidnapped Shionne and has a one-sided grudge against Alphen. Now Alphen is out to confront his old friend who became his enemy out of jealousy and an inability to work together or value others. Alphen wants to rescue Shionne, but he also wants to confront the man who sabotaged the ceremony and put all those people's blood on his hands, the man who sold him into slavery, the man who ruined his life in so many ways over the years even though all Alphen ever wanted was to be friends.

But this shouldn't end in Ganath Haros. As the main protagonist's biggest foil, Vholran should be the main antagonist through to the end. So, after they defeat him in Ganath Haros, Vholran flees back to Lenegis with the Helganquil. Vholran isn't a Renan, so he has been able to see the Red Women the entire time, and figured out what was going on.

Because simply being ruler of Lenegis isn't enough for him, especially when he realizes Rena is empty. What's the point of being sovereign of a dead planet? But they have starships, and there's a whole galaxy out there. The water master core already gave him massive amounts of power, so what could he do with the astral energy of an entire planet?

The final act sees Vholran as the main villain, who has given up ruling Dahna, in large part because he's a petty bastard and wants Alphen to watch his world die, and has set his sight on the stars. He uses the wedge to begin draining Dahna of energy, and plans to use the Great Astral Spirit + Dahna's energy to power Renan starships to another world and begin the colonization and extraction of astral energy all over again.

We can tie Shionne's thorns into this, too. In the year since Vholran awoke and began plotting to use the Great Astral Spirit, his manipulation of it triggered heightened activity in her thorns, giving her the visions of the thorns destroying the world and convincing her to set off on her own journey.

I'm not entirely sure how he fits in with the Helganquil. I try to keep as much as possible from canon in proposed rewrites, but... I really think Vholran needs to be the main architect of evil schemes here. Perhaps he's overthrown the Helganquil and part of the third act sees the Helganquil reaches out to the party for help.