#apologies to the like 11 people who follow me

[fleur-alise]

I should really figure out what this whole queue business is

[rafecameronssl4t]

Night out || Drew Starkey x fem!reader

Summary: A night out with your boyfriend and Madelyn and waking up to pictures of you and Drew circulating around social media.

Warnings: none :)

Word count: 1,591

A/n: Send me drew starkey requests pleaseeeeeee

MASTERLIST

Divider by @yoonitos

“Look at you,” Drew says with a playful grin, his eyes tracing every detail of your outfit with admiration. You giggle, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks as you catch your reflection in the mirror, pleased with your appearance. “What time are we meeting up with Mads again?” you ask, tearing your gaze away from the mirror to glance at Drew as he checks his phone.

“Uh, like right now,” he says sheepishly. Your eyes widen in surprise. “Drew!” you exclaim, a mixture of amusement and exasperation in your voice. Without wasting a moment, you grab your perfume, quickly spritzing it on as you rush to the other room to retrieve your Sambas.

“I feel so bad for making her wait,” you mutter to yourself, hastily tying up your shoes. “It’s fine, babe. The drive is only like five minutes,” Drew reassures you, the keys jingling in his hand. You shoot him a playful glare, your bottom lip jutting out in a slight pout.

“Still!” you retort, a hint of mock annoyance in your voice. With a quick glance in the mirror to ensure everything is in place, you grab your bag and hurry out of your cozy Charleston home, Drew following closely behind.

In the car, you carefully apply a layer of lip gloss, glancing at yourself in the visor mirror. Drew’s hand rests warmly on your thigh as he admires you, his eyes filled with affection. Feeling his gaze linger, you turn to him with a smile. “What?” you ask playfully, catching his eye.

Drew grins, his thumb gently rubbing circles on your inner thigh. “You’re just so pretty,” he gushes, his voice full of admiration. You giggle, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks. “Thanks, babe,” you reply, your heart fluttering.

~

“I’m so sorry we’re late,” you apologize as you and Madelyn go in for a hug, embracing each other warmly. “No, it’s okay. I was sorta late too,” Madelyn chuckles, pulling away from the hug with an understanding smile. Drew joins in, pulling Madelyn into a hug as well. “Hey Mads,” he greets, smiling down at her. “Hey Drew,” Madelyn replies, pulling away from the hug and smiling up at him.

You three catch up, ordering drinks and food, simply enjoying each other’s company. As the night rolled on, the three of you decided you wanted to walk down the street to your guys’ favourite bar.

It was around 11 at night, and the streets of Charleston were still bustling with a few people. “Wait, I’ll just go to the bathroom,” Madelyn says just as you step outside. “Want me to come?” you offer, concerned. “No, it’s okay, I’ll be quick!” she assures you with a smile as you nod in understanding.

Drew pulls you close to him, his arm wrapping around your waist protectively as you wait for Madelyn to return. “Do we have any choc chips in the fridge?” you randomly ask, looking up at Drew.

“I doubt it, why?” He chuckles as you couldn’t help but smile, “I wanted to make choc chip pancakes in the morning,” You say, “I’ll just buy them tomorrow,” He wraps his arm around your shoulders, pulling you even closer. “Thank you,” You smile, going up on your tippy toes to place a kiss on his lips.

“You lovebirds ready?” Madelyn calls out. You and Drew turn your heads toward her, both smiling. A playful grin spreads across your face as you step away from Drew, immediately missing the warmth of Drew. Linking arms with Madelyn, you share a glance. She sticks her tongue out at Drew, who feigns offense, placing a hand dramatically over his heart.

Drew walks behind the two of you as you giggle about something Madelyn said. The sight is pretty amusing—how small the two of you look next to him, with Drew towering behind like a protective shadow. It’s almost as if he’s your loyal Doberman, following closely and keeping an eye on his favourite people.

The three of you arrived at the bar and immediately ordered drinks, though Drew opted for just iced water since he was the designated driver. The atmosphere was relaxed and cozy, with only a few people scattered around. After about an hour, Madelyn decided to head out, mentioning her early start the next day.

The bar was nearly empty, the clock inching past midnight, but you and Drew decided to stay. The two of you continued to chat, enjoying the quiet intimacy and the time together. His hand rested on your thigh as you talk about something, his eyes watching your side profile in awe at how lucky he was.

“We ready?” Drew asks, downing the last of his water. You hum in agreement, getting up and thanking the bartender, who returns your smile warmly. With a final glance around the nearly empty bar, you head out into the night with Drew by your side.

~

Waking up, your hand moves across to Drew’s side of the bed, only to find it empty. Lifting your head from the pillow, you catch the faint sound of music coming from the kitchen. Curiosity piqued, you slide out of bed, your feet hitting the cool floor. As you leave the bedroom, Bella, your cocker spaniel, trots up to you, her tail wagging enthusiastically.

You crouch down, scooping her up into your arms, her soft fur warm against your skin. With Bella nestled comfortably, you head towards the kitchen.

Rounding the corner, you spot Drew at the counter, mixing something in a bowl with his back turned to you. “Morning,” you say softly, catching his attention. He turns around, a warm smile spreading across his face. “Mornin’, baby,” he greets, his voice filled with affection. You walk up beside him, and he instinctively wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you close. Curious, you peer into the bowl.

“You’re making pancakes?” you ask with a smile, looking up at him. Drew grins down at you. “Mhmm, I got the choc chips in the fridge. Could you grab ’em for me?” he asks. You put down Bella, who trots off happily, and head to the fridge to fetch the chocolate chips, feeling a surge of affection for Drew and his sweet gesture.

“I didn’t start them too long ago, so sit down,” Drew says, giving your ass a light pat as you pass by. You lean up to kiss his cheek, “Thank you,” you say warmly before heading to the other side of the kitchen to make your coffee. The aroma of freshly ground beans fills the air as you start the coffee maker, glancing back at Drew, who’s humming along to the music, focused on making the pancakes.

You settle down on one of the kitchen stools, enjoying the comforting warmth of your coffee as you watch Drew mixing the batter . Scrolling through your phone, you’re suddenly interrupted by a FaceTime call from Madelyn.

“Mads is calling,” you inform Drew before answering the call. Maddy’s cheerful face fills the screen as you prop your phone up on the counter. “Hey!” You greet her as she does replies in the same cheerful tone.

“I’m getting my hair and makeup done right now, and I got bored, so I called,” Maddy explains, chuckling as she looks up to let the makeup artist do her eyeliner. “Hey Maddy!” Drew calls out.

“Hey Drew!” she greets back, her voice bright. “What are you doing?” Madelyn questions Drew as you flip the camera around to focus on him. He’s in the middle of flipping a pancake, his expression concentrated yet relaxed. “Making pancakes,” he replies with a smile “Stoppp, you’re making me hungry. I haven’t had breakfast yet,” she groans, letting out a loud sigh.

“Where in Charleston are you? We can drop some off if you want?” you offer, genuine concern in your voice. Maddy smiles gratefully at your kindness. “You’re too sweet, y/n. Thank you, but I feel bad making you drive out to me. I’ll just ask my manager to get an açai bowl or something,” she replies, her gratitude evident. You hum understandingly, appreciating her consideration.

~

After about ten minutes of casual conversation, Maddy brings up something that makes both you and Drew pause mid-chew. "What are you talking about?" you ask as Drew pulls out his phone.

"Are you guys living under a rock? It's all over social media right now. I thought you would've found out last night or at least this morning," Maddy says, sounding surprised.

"No, we haven't been on social media at all since we left the house yesterday afternoon," you explain while Drew opens Instagram and heads to the explore page. Almost instantly, you spot what she's talking about. "Oh, I see it," you say, leaning closer to get a better look at the post.

drewstarkeyupdatez

Liked by 1,947,208 people

Drew and his partner y/n spotted out in Charleston tonight!!

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"Aww, these picture is really cute," you smile, swiping through the images as Drew chuckles beside you. "Oh, and one of the workers at the bar made a TikTok about seeing us there. They even took a photo of you guys from the CCTV camera," Maddy adds, "I'll send you the TikTok too."

(the pic)

With Drew being a well-known celebrity, you're used to pictures of you both popping up on social media. Still, you always enjoy looking at them, finding them wholesome and cute.

[notanactressyayy]

—𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞—

pairing. ex! Natasha Romanoff x fem! reader

summary. in a day you simply wanted peace, two unexpected visitors showed up. for one of them, you were glad.

warnings. smut! I am NOT responsible for your content consumption! — making out, thigh riding, strap on usage, cursing, angst (w happy ending), soft dom Nat.

notes. my first language is portuguese, so I apologize for any grammar errors. feel free to give me advice, though!

divider credits: @cafekitsune ★

Natasha Romanoff was known as a cold, ruthless woman, who never cared for anyone besides herself. Most of the people didn't know this was due her past — the Red Room was always in complete secrecy, so they feared her. She was already used to it. Whenever she started something with someone, in the next day, she had an empty bed as a gift. To be completely honest, she always felt used. Men and women touched her, to leave her in the morning.

That changed when she met you.

You could say you'd changed her completely, for the best, of course. She became more open with you, learned to express herself better and was not known as the most selfish Avenger in the team anymore.

But just like people say, not everything is a bed of roses.

Instead of using that achievement to improve your relationship, she began to care a little too much about her team of superheroes. At some point, she was no longer paying attention to you.

Reports this, reports that. Missions and more missions. "I have to go somewhere with Cap." "I have to train with Tony to a mission." "I can't, I'll have to go with Clint."

When you confronted her about this, begging for her to understand and willing to help her change, she decided that it was a better option to part ways. You were devasted, and she saw it. That made her heart ache — someone actually lov— liked her enough to want to stay.

This was the one and only reason Natasha didn't forget about you. The only reason she thought about you everyday. The only reason she teared up whenever entering her car and seeing the polaroid with the heart pendant you gave her hanging on her rearview mirror, that she didn't dare to take down.

Today, you were leaving work, heavy tired steps echoing on the pavement's wooden floor as the moonlight illuminated the room. The building was already empty, the streets, darker than your thoughts.

As you started walking to the nearest bus stop, you heard quick footsteps behind you — it was already late and usually there was no people on the streets like this. You turned your head, "you gotta be kidding me".

"Hey, Y/n!" Peter exclaimed, running to catch up with you. "I didn't know you were going to be here at 11:30pm."

You rolled your eyes and took a sharp inhale, but like always, tried to be polite. This so called coworker of yours was always looking at you, following you everywhere, and asking you things, not always work-related. You always made it clear that you weren't interested in men, and he insisted on saying he could 'change your mind'.

"Hey, Peter." you replied, faking a smile and nodding. "You need me to review your documents again?"

"Oh, no. I was just wondering if you wanna go on a date with me. Did you see the restaurant that just opened over there? I could treat you to—"

"No, I don't." you cut him off, more harshly than you intended to. "Look, Peter, I'm sorry. But I don't want anything to do with you, alright? So if you want, go ahead and find somebody else."

You shook your head, not even waiting for his reply and picking up the pace again, quickly rushing to the bus stop. That's when the guy showed you a side that you just suspected, but preferred to believe he didn't have

"C'mon, Y/n." he grabbed your arm, nails digging into your skin. "You won't broke my heart, will you? You're such a gentle, beautiful, kind woman. You will give me a chance."

You cleared your throat, feeling him get closer, and thinking about a certain Red Head — how she would gently, delicately graze your skin with her fingers, so softly whispering into your ear and bringing you to her embrace—

"Back off."

"Oh, no." he laughed. Such a creep. "I won't back off. And if you don't cooperate, I'll make you give me a chance."

Your hands trembled now, silently praying to whoever was seeing this just call the cops or do something. You didn't know the guy anyway. He didn't talk to anyone at work beside you, and you never got to know him, you would never. That's when it would be a good use to have a spy girlfriend. Just the last thing you expected to happen was to hear the sound of a gun cocking behind you, and a very familiar female voice.

"She said back off."

Relief unconsciously washed upon you as your arm was released, only because of the gun, though. You knew that if if wasn't for her, who knows what could've happened there. Peter left, annoyed, but the Russian swore to herself that she'd make his life a living hell.

"... Natasha?" you whisper, turning around with a confused and even scared frown.

"Yes," she worriedly rubbed your arm, shooting you, slowly making the feeling of the disgusting hand fade away. "Are you okay?"

"I am..." you nodded subtly, leaning into her touch. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I saw a woman being harassed. What was I supposed to do? Mind my business?" she said, obviously avoiding your question.

"You know this is not what I mean." you frowned, carefully letting go of her caress and wrapping your arms around yourself.

Natasha sighed, trying to think of a way to explain herself. 'Oh, I'm here because I miss you so much I can't even sleep anymore.'? No, it wouldn't do.

"I... followed you."

"Oh, great, so I'm being stalked twice today." you hissed, making Natasha look down with your harshness.

"No, Y/n.. I'm here for.. personal reasons. I saw you leaving work, and I noticed that guy following you. I decided to follow too, until he grabbed you and I knew I had to intervine." she explained quietly.

The fact she had said 'personal reasons' deeply hurt you, but you couldn't do anything, you had broken up after all. You nodded, and prepared yourself to walk tp the bus stop again.

"Wait," Natasha quickly stopped you, her eyebrows furrowed. "I won't let you go home like this."

This was something about the old Natasha you knew, the protective one. It was okay, you were tired, and a ride would be no harm. "Where's your getaway car?"

She smiled softly at your joke, and tilted her head. "Around the corner."

You two walked silently towards the vehicle, as she unlocked the doors with the keys and you entered the passenger seat. You threw your bag on the backseat before you could focus on the environment around you, and see the polaroid of you and Nat with the heart pendant you gave her hanging on the rearview mirror.

Natasha noticed your gaze as soon as she entered the driver seat, clearing her throat and starting the car's engine. "Couldn't bring myself to take those down."

You stayed silent, but your eyes could tell everything. I'm glad. Oh, I'm so glad.

Natasha remembered your address as if you hadn't broken up nine months ago, and when you reached your place, you too much disappointed for your own good.

"Thank you for the lift," you whispered, turning your body to be able to grab your bag from the backseat — in the exact same moment Natasha turned to unbuckle her seatbelt — your fronts touching, which made you two a little startled.

The problem was that you didn't pull away, neither of you. You slowly turned your head to meet Natasha's gaze, your face so close to hers you could feel her breath. Familiar. It was pure instinct, almost muscle memory, of the times she always kissed you goodbye when dropping you somewhere.

You didn't even notice your hand going up to hold the back of her neck, much less when she placed her hand on your thigh, and leaned in so your noses brushed. Natasha closed her eyes for a brief moment, almost savouring your closeness, your aura enveloping her once more. Then your lips barely, barely grazed, breath hitching, as she couldn't take it anymore.

The redhead pressed her lips against yours, giving them a long peck. It was surprising how much time you lasted without air. You didn't break the kiss, just darted the tip of your tongue out to lick her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She gave in, trying to pull you closer but being stopped by the goddamn control panel. As soon as you felt her tongue touching yours you realized that this was going too far. You pulled back harshly, leaving you two panting for air and a disappointed Nat.

"Do you..." you shakily breathed. "... wanna come in?"

"Mhm." Natasha hummed, turning off the engine. "Can I?"

You didn't answer, just opened the door and slipped out the car. As you entered, you could practically feel Natasha's eyes burning the place. How you didn't take down any picture of yours. How her stuff was spreading across the pavement. It gave her a sense of... hope? Of course, since she was in the same situation.

"So.. are you seeing anyone?" you asked her while kicking off your heels and leaving them by the door.

"I think you know the answer for that." the redhead practically hissed, making your head snap towards her.

"But I want you to say it." you retreated. "I want you to look at me in the eyes and tell me you didn't forget me. I want you to look at me in the eyes and tell me the reason of why you came to my town again and followed me when I left work. I want you to tell me the reason of why you kissed me just like we always did before."

"I didn't! I didn't forget you, Y/n!" Natasha snapped, looking away and tucking the loosen strands of hair of her braids behind her ears. "I didn't forget you and I never did. Alright? Happy now?"

"Is that so?" you laughed humorlessly, crossing your arms. "I thought you cared more about your superheroes buddies. Where are they now!?"

"I left them." Natasha replied, looking at you again with a mixture of anger and pain. "I left them and came back, to you, Y/n."

You froze at her words, swallowing your saliva. "... okay?"

"I came back here, because I wanted to at least a chance to explain myself. I wouldn't be able to live knowing that I hurt you, and that you think that I did it on purpose. So please, just give me a chance."

"...go on."

Natasha sighed in relief, exhaling the air she was holding. "I'm sure you know my story. You were the first one to know everything about it, about me. And I'm also sure you know you're the first one to ever love me. No one else ever loved me like you did."

You leaned against the kitchen counter, listening carefully to her words, ready to give her time and patience, like you usually did.

"... I didn't know what I was doing, Y/n. Every other relationship I had, ended in less than a week. Love is a weapon and it's letal for me, for people like me. I was, I am startled by all of this, by this fuzzy warm feeling that you always gave me, that you still do, in my thoughts.. the Avengers were my first family, and when I panicked, I tried to hang on to them. In order not to hurt you, and myself." she didn't even realize the tear rolling down her cheek, and shook her head. "That's it. I'm sorry for everything, but Y/n, you will always have a piece— you'll always have my whole heart in your hands. I'll get off your hair n—"

You couldn't. Not anymore. You rushed towards her and grabbed her face, cutting her off with a deep kiss. She was taking aback, but her hands traveled to your waist, pulling you flush against her, your fronts pressing. Nothing changed. Natasha pushed you backwards against your room's door, her tongue entering your mouth and dancing with yours. You could feel yourself getting lost in her, damn it, once more. It was like she had this spell on you — you were trapped, and didn't complain.

"Y/n," the russian uttered, hands slipping inside your shirt and giving your waist a squeeze. "I've got to have you again, at least for one last time. Please, just this once—"

Tired of her rambling, you smirked and grabbed her by the jacket, pulling her into a kiss again and dragging her into the room, slamming the door shut. Natasha took this as a 'yes', and her hands, under you shirt, went to unclasp your bra, making it fall to the ground and a groan of relief escape your throat. Before she could remove the rest of the fabric of your body, you stopped her, pushing her down to the bed.

"I always wanted to do that," you started to slowly, so slow that it almost tortured her take off your clothes, stripteasing for her.

"Shit, Y/n." she quickly started to get rid off her jacket, snd everything else she was wearing. You were careful not to trip on the pile of clothes on the floor, and walked over to her again, straddling her leg on the edge of the bed.

Natasha's hand grabbed your hips roughly, keeping you in place and it didn't take two seconds before you started to grind on her. "Nat," you breathed, arms going to circle her neck.

"Who else touched you like this while I was away?" she growled in your ear, pressing your body against hers. "Answer me,"

"No one," you whined, giving her a subtle shake of your head. "No one, Natty. J-just myself,"

"My poor girl," Nat began to roam her hands up your sides, her lips pressing kisses on your jawline, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help,"

"You're here now..!" you gasped, your movements faster, as she began to move her thigh to stimulate you more.

"And I don't plan on going away," Natasha murmured, tilting your head to look at her in the eyes. Even in your high, you could make sense of her words, and the weight they beared.

"Nat!" you moaned, closing your eyes shut. "I need... please.. I—I need you, inside me."

Natasha almost lost her mind with that, grabbing your hips and pinning you down to the bed. She reached her arm out for the drawer that she hoped your strap still was, and luckily, she was right. "I'm gonna fuck you like never before, Y/n." she attached the silicone cock to her hips with urgency, holding your hips in place as she ran the tip of it across your folds, making you whine in need.

"Don't tease me," you gently gripped her arms on your hips and looked at her with dreamy eyes. She couldn't resist — but your walls were so tight she had to put a little effort to enter you.

"Holy fuck, baby." she moved her hand to brush your hair behind your ear, giving you a little time to get used to the length. "So fucking tight for me,"

"I—" you breathed, interrupted when Nat started to slowly move in and out you, her red hair falling into your face. You moaned, putting her hair up in a makeshift ponytail and with your free hand, holding her neck. "God, I missed you,"

Natasha pounded faster in you with those words, your moans only getting louder by the second. She grabbed one of your legs and placed it over her shoulder, allowing her to hit your g-spot repeatedly. You thumb went to your mouth, wetting it and starting to rub her clit — she couldn't say she expected that, her soft moans saying everything.

"Cum with me," you breathlessly requested, eyes fluttering close. Natasha didn't have to be asked twice. Her hips slammed into yours, the wet sounds of her thrusting echoing the room. "Natty!"

You back arched, head thrown backwards as your orgasm hit you. Natasha's legs shook, her weight falling onto you and your arms immediately wrapping around her, keeping her close.

"Don't make me go away,"

"I could never."

[bluetooththereptile]

Crimson bride

(Yandere Damian Wayne x twin sister reader)

( English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes in the following text.)

Summary: Your life is going to end horribly, your will to live is slipping away, will your only hope come to save you?

Tw: mentions of violence and abuse

The smell of blood and incense had filled the air, your lungs could hardly bear the responsibility of bringing you oxygen under the pressure of your stress, not that they could easily filter the smoke in the air anyway. It felt like the air was on fire, with each breath your body shuddered slightly, your body could hardly bear the burden of keeping you alert. The beads of sweat slithered down your spine, making the already uncomfortable rags even more unbearable. You were just 11, why were you stuck in a room full of adults in dark long robes...you were not sure...or perhaps you knew what was going to happen, but you didn't know why on earth you were there. You eyed the sacred blade in the hand of the leader of the group, the light of the candles shimmering on its uneven blade, and swallowed your saliva down your throat that now had turned extremely dry. You could already feel the pain in your chest. Dear God, if you hear me...please help!

The dark monks' chants echoed in the chambers, and the puddles of red wax candles under the feet of pillars carved with different images of unholy creatures, seemed like oozing puddles of blood to you, already boiling with crimson liquid of life right out of hell, where they hailed their master from. The veil on your head was thin enough for you to recognize people's faces, well, at least the ones who didn't have a mask on, and your terrified eyes spotted the figure of your grandfather standing behind the leader, himself holding a golden bowl at hand. You gritted your teeth at remembering his words. The memory is still fresh for you, it was just two months ago when he was having a drink with the leader himself in his boudoir, with you present by his side.

"She's a fitting lady Ra's...I give you the credit of having good hereditary genes..." the leader spoke in his smooth voice, his eyes scanning you up and down. You knew how the way he looked at you was inappropriate but you still stayed, holding the tray of drinks, standing by your grandfather's side, if you were going to flinch even for an inch, your mother wouldn't be happy. "She is..." your grandfather hummed, rubbing his chin before he chuckled "What is it old friend? You seem too interested in my child..." the words spoken made your shoulders stiffen slightly, your fingers tightening around the edges of the tray. "I am...but not for what you think...she is too young for marriage for a mortal man..." his smirk grew wider as he continued "But she's at the ripe age for being gifted to our dear lord...she'd make a decent bride..." you could see Ra's hold on his glass of drink tighten, what did his friend mean? Did he want to marry you off to someone? You wondered, but your confusion soon turned into horror as the leader continued "Her heart fits the unholy bowl perfectly" Oh no...you had heard from your nanny that this man was bearer of bad news but this...this was unpredictable! Your head turned to your grandfather to see how he'd respond...please say no, please say no, I've been a good granddaughter...please say no! "What price do you offer?" And with that, your whole world shattered, you felt like life was slipping away from your shell of being as he negotiated the price of marriage, did he...did he just agree on making you a sacrificial lamb?!

You snapped out of your thoughts by feeling the extremely warm hold of the leader on your naked arm as he pulled you away from the corner of the damp room, the metallic chains on your weak ankles clinking loudly as you dragged them on the floor, your feet already bruised by the rough edges of the old tiles on the floor, leaving red trails of blood. He walked you to the alter, your heart skipped as you saw the white dressing of the stone bed, flower petals spread on the surface, how hauntingly fitting for a bridal bed... The man stopped you right before the altar and started chanting in a language you didn't know a word of. But whatever it was, it was working...because the tiles under your feet started to turn unbearably hot, the circles and symbols drawn onto the walls and the floor turned bright red, oh dear God...if you hear me...please help! You had lost your hope a long time ago, but still, you wanted to hold onto a sliver of hope, maybe your grandfather would change his decision at the last minute, or perhaps he would come...but no...how could Damian come to the other side of the world that quickly? He was just a child, like you, sure, he was a capable boy but still, he was just a boy. His words circled in your mind as the priest poured a warm liquid on your body that painted it red, its sweet aroma filling the air, unbeknownst to you, it was a poison that through skin pores penetrated the body and ran into your blood, slowly relaxing your muscles until your heart would stop, this way, if the demons preferred to have your body whole, you'd still be dead. As you felt your skin itch and your vision turn slowly blurry, Damian's voice echoed in your mind "I will come...I promise...I promise!" His voice was filled with determination, but you knew he'd be late. It was already too late...

They helped you lay down on the alter, the wet veil sticking to your face, slowly suffocating you, but you were too weak to move on your own, your eyes were closed, as if the liquid had sealed your eyelashes together, and the voices around you were turning into distant murmurs, your hands limp as they crossed it on your chest. It was too late...and he hadn't held up to his promise...your lips formed a pout, unable to cry, hardly latching onto the task of breathing, your breaths became labored. Soon your chest would be cut open and your warm paralyzed heart would be put into that golden bowl, and then thrown into a fire...you had hoped things would be different, but you knew from the very start, that you were unwanted, and one day, your family would give you up if they have the chance to do so.

Your ears couldn't detect the loud sound of the explosion of the tear gas in the room, how the cult members shouted and pulled out their weapons but were disarmed quickly by the man in black and a few younger ones. You didn't notice them until someone yanked the wet veil from your face and wiped the clotted liquid off of your nose and mouth, putting an oxygen mask on your face "Y/N!" The voice seemed familiar, but you were too weak to respond "Y/N!" He cried for your attention, his trembling hands shaking your shoulders, his voice muffled by his mask, his hold was pushed away from you when you felt a sharp pain on your neck, the detoxing liquid surged in your veins forward by copious amounts, yet you were already unconscious to see your father cry silently as he held your body close to his chest. Poor girl...poor poor girl...he wished he was there sooner.

Your nanny had pulled the small phone behind her apron with trembling hands, she knew your actions had consequences, but she wanted you to feel happy, so she'd do anything in her power to ensure it'd happen. You quickly snatched the phone out of her calloused hands and started to take the number you had repeated over and over in your mind since the moment you had snuck into your mother's study and had found it deep in her files, it was the Wayne Manor's, where your Damian lived with your father. You were separated since birth, him getting most of the attention of your mother, well the one who was to be her weapon, you were too weak to fight from the very first moments you had started to walk, but still, you tried to have a connection with your twin, who even if neglected your attention or bullied you, still felt a twinge of sibling love deep down. It was not until when he was sent to live by his father that Damian had found out how much he dearly loved you, and how much you meant to him. You dialed the number, hearing it slowly beep, one...two...three...you could hear your nervous breaths into the phone, and four "Hello?" You stiffened at hearing Damian's voice, moving your lips to speak but you couldn't, the sheer luck of having him pick up the phone himself was too much! "Hello?!" Damian's voice turned sour with annoyance, you knew he'd hung up quickly so you finally spoke "Hi..."

"Y/N?!" Damian's voice had turned from annoyed into one of surprise and concern, you spoke softly, asking how he had been doing, smiling as he quickly stammered to answer you, but then, when he was rambling on about missing you, you smiled sadly "Hey...I wanted to tell you something..." you interrupted him "Hmm? What is it?" He had asked with curiosity "Please, forgive me if I've done you anything wrong...okay?" "W-wait...Y/N..what do you? What is happening?!" "Grandpa wants to marry me off...to death..." and there was silence, a very uncomfortable silence. "I will come..." his voice was now filled with determination "I will come, I promise!...w-when's is the ceremony?" "Within two weeks-" the phone had slipped off of your hand when your mother's stinging slap met your face, you turned to look at her with wide eyes, trembling as you heard her crush the phone under her feet.

Your eyes opened up to a white light, with warmth surrounding your body. Were you in heaven? You naively asked yourself, but when the pain washed over your body, you knew you were still alive. "Hi..." Damian's voice made you turn your head to his direction at your side, your neck strained from being motionless for too long. He was holding your hand tightly, and your blurry vision could find the outlines of his face in what you could recognize as crying. "Welcome back..." his voice trembled as he sniffled, adjusting the oxygen mask on your face. You blind a few times to make your vision better, still, it felt a little blurry, but you could at least recognize you were somewhere dark, which you'd find out was the Batcave in the future, and Damian was sitting on your side. Your lips curled upwards slightly at how he held your hand to his chest, looking at you affectionately "Sorry I was late..." he spoke softly "But I will make things right from now on, I promise" he promised, and he would do anything in his power to ensure that.

[ihavenoideawhatiamdoinganymore]

Some (bad) art I made for my series on Ao3: Hail, the Conquering Hero, under the name Akulreas. This account is actually a side blog (not even it’s own blog, just a side one) because my main account is followed by my sister and I’m sorry, but I am not letting her see the art I made for a Percy Jackson/Epic the Musical fanfic that I wrote. Here’s the link, by the way, since this makes little to no sense without the context of the AU:

Basic summary: ghost Odysseus and Perseus end up haunting Percy and become his New Dads™️ (Poseidon fucking DESPISES them)

Do I know how anatomy works? No. Am I going to learn it all? Maybe. Am I going to learn it all for some silly little sketches I made for my fic? Of course not. People who actually know how to draw anatomy (or just draw in general), I sincerely apologize.

This one was because of a Tumblr post I saw at 11:00 PM and I thought ‘oh, this fits them perfectly’ and then spent thirty minutes drawing this before immediately going to sleep. First time I ever drew Percy. Never again. (The first guy’s Perseus, by the way. Second guy is Odysseus.)

This happened because I was talking with someone who was commenting on Like A Victorious Hero and they mentioned a scenario where Zeus attempts to hug Perseus and Perseus immediately starts cursing him out and telling him to go away. It tormented me for about a week before I gave in and drew it since I didn’t feel like writing it out. I chose Neal Illustrator’s Zeus design for it and if you look at Perseus for like, two seconds, you’ll see some minor similarities (mostly the hair).

Maybe I’ll add some more another day. Not now, though, because it’s late and I’m tired. Please don’t kill me, I know I’m not Good At Art.

Edit: this is my hundredth post on this side blog. Oh my gods, I don’t remember reblogging that many things??

[enzstr]

Only You || K. Bakugo

Pairing: Bakugo x Reader

synopsis: starz26708 and Dino.tnt609, two students who first met in an online chatroom. A friendship had flourished between them. With the strong need to meet each other, 6aku.tnt609 slowly gains curiosity regarding the other's identity, which sparked the desire to meet her within him. What could possibly go wrong?

💭: btw, this is inspired from the Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff movie A Cinderella's Story!!

author's note: My deepest apologies it took me so long to upload the new chapter!!! I've been having finals and examinations but I'm free now!! New chapter might come out in a few days or a week since it's in my drafts now...

words: 3.7k

Chapter 2: The Two People

Reader's POV

The following day, I sat in my classes, feeling unusually unfocused. I found my thoughts continually returning to the message I had received the night before from my friend, Dino.tnt609. The words and emotions contained in that message had left a powerful and lingering effect on me, making it difficult for me to fully immerse myself in the subjects being taught.

“Please meet me at the school’s party. I’ll be waiting for you at 11:00 in the middle of the dance floor.” 

Those messages had set themselves so deeply into my thoughts that it was as if they were on a constant replay in my mind. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to rid myself of their presence. They continued to resurface, over and over again, like a stubborn memory that refused to be forgotten. The more I tried to dismiss them, the more their contents seemed to linger in my thoughts, refusing to be pushed aside or ignored.

“Y/n, what is the difference between speed and velocity?”

My heart dropped. I have been half-listening, my mind drifting, thinking about the message Dino sent to me—contemplating meeting him, and the school party. But now, I was completely caught off guard. Difference between speed and velocity—the words sounded fuzzy in my head, like fragments of a puzzle I wasn’t sure how to put together.

That was when she noticed him.

Bakugo.

He was sitting at the back of the class, leaning back in his chair, hands casually folded behind his head. He was grinning—the kind of grin that wasn’t friendly or supportive. It was the kind of grin that only came when you were sure someone else was about to fail. He’d been watching me for a while now, and I could feel his gaze boring into me. I knew exactly what he was thinking: She wasn’t paying attention. She doesn’t know the answer. This is my chance to look good in front of everyone.

The grin on Bakugo’s face widened ever so slightly, and I could almost hear his internal smirk. He had the confidence of someone who’d aced every test without breaking a sweat, someone who knew how to get under your skin with the smallest of gestures. And right now, his quiet, almost smug enjoyment was aimed directly at me.

My stomach twisted. It wasn’t that I cared about beating Dylan, exactly. But I did care about not looking foolish in front of the class—especially when he was clearly expecting me to fail. The challenge hung in the air, palpable, like an unspoken duel. I could almost hear him thinking, Come on, mess up. Please mess up.

The competitive spark in me flared to life, and in that moment, something shifted inside of me. I wasn’t going to let him get the last laugh. No way.

I straightened up in my chair, eyes narrowing just slightly, and forced myself to focus. I don’t need to know everything, I told myself. I just need to know enough to get this answer right.

My gaze locked back onto the board, and suddenly, it wasn’t so hard to make sense of the question. It was a simple logic question—something I could handle if I stopped panicking.

Mr. Aizawa was still looking at me expectantly, but now I had a plan. I took a steadying breath and spoke, my voice clearer than she felt.

“The difference between speed and velocity lies in their definitions, speed is a scalar quantity, meaning it only describes how fast an object is moving, without any reference to direction. For example, if a car is going 50 km/h, that's its speed.”

Her eyes flicked back to the board, confirming her answer. She could feel the weight of the moment—this was what it was all about. She hadn’t been paying attention before, but she was focused now, and she was going to finish strong.

“Velocity, on the other hand, is a vector quantity. This means it not only describes how fast an object is moving but also in which direction. For instance, if the car is traveling at 50 km/h to the east, its velocity is 50 km/h east. In essence, while speed only tells you the rate of motion, velocity provides both the rate and the direction of motion.”

Mr. Aizawa nodded approvingly. "Exactly, Y/n. Well done."

I felt a small surge of relief, but it wasn’t just the satisfaction of getting the answer right. It was the feeling of having turned the tables, of having taken control of the moment that had threatened to spiral out of my grasp. I glanced over at Bakugo, just as he was about to sit up straighter in his chair. His grin faltered when he saw the glint in my eyes.

And that was all the encouragement Bakugo needed.

I couldn’t help myself. A small, almost mischievous smile curved on my lips. It wasn’t an innocent, pleased-with-herself smile—it was the kind of grin you wore when you knew you’d just pulled something off, when you’d just made someone else realize they’d misjudged you.

Bakugo’s expression shifted, his eyes narrowing slightly, the smugness faltering for the briefest of moments. He’d thought I’d fumble. He’d thought I wouldn’t know the answer. But I had shown him, and not only had I known the answer—I said it with confidence, without hesitation.

He looked away first, clearly frustrated, but I didn’t miss the way his jaw tightened. I knew that look. He didn’t like losing, even if it was just a small moment, a little victory that nobody else in the room might even notice.

But I noticed. And that was enough for her.

As the class continued, Ellie let herself settle back into her seat, but her mind was sharp, focused, and alive with the thrill of competition. Dylan might have been the golden boy of the class, but today, in this small, unexpected moment, Ellie had beaten him. And for once, it felt really good to smile back at him—just a little bit smug, just a little bit competitive—knowing that he hadn’t seen this coming.

The moment I finished answering the question, I could feel it—a mix of pride and adrenaline coursing through me. I had nailed it, no hesitation, no second-guessing. The class had been quiet after I spoke, the silence hanging in the air before the professor acknowledged my answer. It felt like the eyes of the entire room were on me, but in that instant, I didn’t care. For once, I was the one who had it together.

But then there was the scoff.

I didn’t even need to look at him to know exactly who it was. Bakugo. The ever-present thorn in my side. His chair creaked as he shifted, his eyes narrowing in that way I was so familiar with. He looked almost... irritated, the kind of expression he wore when he thought someone was challenging his spot as top dog in this class. And right now, it was clear that he did not appreciate the fact that I was the one who had answered confidently.

Why does it always have to be him? I wondered, my hands clenched under the desk. I knew it was coming—he was going to find some way to one-up me, to make me feel small for doing something as simple as knowing the answer. I hated how predictable he was, but I hated even more that it affected me so much. I’d never let him see that, though. He had to think I was just as indifferent as he was.

I kept my eyes trained forward, pretending like his irritation didn’t bother me, like I wasn’t still replaying the way he’d looked at me, the way he always tried to put me in my place. It’s just a class. It doesn’t matter, I reminded myself. This isn’t real life. This is just some stupid competition.

The bell rang, breaking my thoughts, and the class started to pack up. As usual, Bakugo shoved his things into his bag with that signature smug expression, as if he'd already forgotten the moment I’d answered correctly. He probably wouldn’t give it a second thought, while I would be stewing in it for the rest of the day.

I grabbed my phone, hoping to distract myself. A new message from Dino.tnt 609 popped up. My fingers tapped the screen eagerly, relieved for the sudden shift in focus.

Dino.tnt609: “So, Halloween party tomorrow night.. what do you think? You in?”

I smiled at the message. Dino. He was the one person who could make everything feel lighter, even when things felt heavy. Talking to him always made me feel like I could breathe again after a day of dealing with Bakugo’s constant need to compete. Dino was my escape. He didn’t care about grades or the stupid academic battles I fought with Bakugo every day. He just… gets me.

But then I hesitated. My thumb hovered over the keyboard as I began to type, the excitement of the invite quickly dampened by a twinge of anxiety. The party. It should be fun, right? Just a Halloween party. But the idea of seeing someone in person—someone I had only ever known through texts and memes and game chats—suddenly felt overwhelming. What if I didn’t click with him in real life? What if meeting him was awkward?

But more than that, what if it turned out that the person I was texting with every night was someone I couldn’t stand in real life? What if he was one of those people who, once you met them face to face, you realized you just didn’t vibe with? What if it was someone like Bakugo?

Wait, no. Don’t think that. I tried to push the thought out of my head. I knew it was irrational. Dino wasn’t Bakugo. He couldn’t be. Dino was the one who listened to my rants without judgment. Bakugo would’ve laughed at my complaints, probably turned it into some kind of competition. But Dino didn’t—he understood. He had always been there when I needed to vent about school, about life, about how exhausting it was to constantly feel like I had to prove myself to people who didn’t deserve it.

I bit my lip, still unsure. Maybe I was overthinking it. It’s just a Halloween party. Just one night. The mask I planned to wear would make it easier, give me an extra layer of comfort in case things felt weird. And if it turned out the person I was meeting in real life was someone I couldn’t stand? I could always leave early, or just keep the mask on, keep things light. No pressure.

With a sigh, I finally typed back.

starz26708: “I’m not sure yet. I want to go, but I keep thinking about who I might run into. What if it’s someone I already know and just don’t get along with? I hate the idea of meeting someone and realizing they’re not who I thought they’d be…”

I glanced at the message after I sent it, my heart pounding slightly. What if Dino didn’t understand? What if he thought I was being weird or overdramatic? But no, Dino would get it. He always did.

My phone buzzed almost immediately, and I opened the message from him.

Dino.tnt609: “I totally get it. Meeting people in real life is a lot different, especially when you’ve only talked to them online. But hey, no worries. If you don’t like the vibe when you get there, you don’t have to stay. Just come and hang out for a bit, if you feel like it. We can just keep it lowkey. And honestly, the mask thing sounds awesome. No pressure at all.”

I felt the tension leave my shoulders as I read his reply. Dino’s message was so casual, so easy-going. It reminded me that I didn’t have to overthink everything. The idea of the mask suddenly felt like a safe haven, a way to protect myself if things didn’t go as planned. And if things went well? Even better.

I glanced at my costume on the chair across the room, the simple, cute outfit with the eye mask. It was just for fun, right? It would be a way to keep things light, to feel like I could still hide behind some layer of anonymity, just in case. I could show up, meet DIno, and see how it felt. If I didn’t like the vibe, I could leave. No harm done.

Taking a deep breath, I typed out my response.

starz26708: “Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll come to the party. And I’ll wear the mask. No pressure. Just… a fun time, right?”

I hit send and sat back in my chair, feeling both nervous and excited. The thought of meeting Maverick in real life still made my heart race, but now there was a sense of excitement bubbling up, too. No more overthinking. Tomorrow would be what it would be.

As I tucked my phone back into my pocket, I couldn’t help but think back to the classroom earlier that day, the way Bakugo had looked at me with that scoff, like I was some kind of threat to his place in the class. I couldn’t stop him from being irritated or annoyed by me. But for once, I didn’t need to care. I was about to meet someone who saw me for who I really was, not just some competitor in an academic race.

And for the first time in a while, that felt like enough.

The library was still, the kind of stillness that envelops you like a blanket, pressing in with its quiet whispers. The scent of old books and fresh paper, mingled with the faint hum of fluorescent lights, filled the air. I sat at my usual spot in the corner near the back row of tables, tucked between two towering bookshelves. The table before me was cluttered with textbooks, notebooks, and a half-finished cup of coffee that had long since cooled. It was late afternoon, and the golden light from the windows cast long shadows across the floor, making everything feel a bit more serene than usual.

I liked it here—the calm, the solitude, the sense of focus that always seemed to find its way to me in the midst of my chaotic thoughts. But today, there was an odd distraction. Him. Bakugo.

It wasn’t that he had suddenly appeared or made his presence known in any way. No, he’d been here for a while now, sitting at the table across from hers, his head bent low over a stack of textbooks. His usual aloofness was present, that edge of arrogance that always seemed to follow him like a cloud, but it was muted somehow. Less blatant. Less in-your-face.

I could feel the tension in her chest as I stole a glance at him. My eyes lingered for just a moment, not sure what to make of it. He wasn’t showing off, wasn’t playing the part of the smug academic genius. He was just… working.

It was weird. It had been a while since I’d seen Bakugo like this—since he had been normal. Or maybe that wasn’t the right word. Maybe it was more like he was letting his guard down a little, just enough for me to notice. He was still Bakugo, the same guy who had scoffed at me when I answered that question in class with confidence, the same guy who’d shot me looks of condescension every chance he got. But today, there was something… different.

I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with the way my thoughts were spiraling around him. I didn’t like this feeling. I didn’t like the fact that I was starting to care, even a little, about what Bakugo thought—or, worse, starting to wonder if he was, in some way, not the person I always assumed him to be.

My focus snapped back to my notes. I had a test coming up. A test I needed to ace. No distractions. No thoughts about him. And yet, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting back to him.

Bakugo had paused in the middle of writing, a pencil hovering above his notebook as he looked at something in the distance, his gaze unfocused. There was a tiredness about him today, something uncharacteristic, as though the weight of his own expectations were getting to him. His posture had shifted slightly; no longer the rigid, always-perfect stance, but more slouched, as if the constant pressure of being the best was beginning to wear on him. I had always known that he had his own demons, just as I did. But today, it felt… real somehow. It felt more human.

I tried to shake it off, to tell myself that this was just another moment of my own weakness, my need to understand people. To make sense of things. But it was harder now. It was harder to keep the walls up when I had seen a flicker of something real underneath the arrogance.

Bakugo cleared his throat suddenly, breaking the silence between them, and my eyes shot up, my heart giving an unexpected jolt. He was looking at me now, but not with the same sharp, dismissive gaze I was used to. No, this time, it was... different. There was still a hint of skepticism, but it wasn’t the biting kind. It was almost... curious.

“You’re doing that thing again,” he said, his voice a little hoarse, but not with the usual irritation. It was more like an observation. “Staring off into space.”

I blinked, surprised by the comment. “What?”

“You’re distracted,” he said, his voice quieter now. He shifted in his seat, rubbing the back of his neck with a tired sigh. “You’ve been looking at me like I’m some kind of puzzle you’re trying to figure out.”

I frowned, annoyed at how accurately he’d read me, even though I hadn’t been aware of it myself. “I haven’t been staring at you,” I muttered, though it wasn’t very convincing. I hadn’t meant to stare at him, but it was hard not to when something about today felt... off. In a way that was hard to describe.

Bakugo smirked, the edge of his usual arrogance slipping back for a moment. “Sure you haven’t.”

The flicker of their old dynamic was still there, but there was something softer in the way he said it. No ridicule. No malice. Just a simple, half-amused observation.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. This wasn’t helping me focus. And yet, there was something about the way Bakugo was acting today that made me feel like he wasn’t just my academic rival anymore. He wasn’t just the guy who competed against me for every grade, for every small victory.

For a split second,I entertained the thought that maybe—just maybe—I had misjudged him. But I quickly dismissed it. Bakugo was still Bakugo. Still arrogant. Still stubborn. Still too proud for his own good.

“I’m trying to focus,” I muttered, feeling a bit of tension in my chest, my irritation creeping back.

Bakugo didn’t respond right away. Instead, he picked up his pencil again and started scribbling something in his notebook. The sound of the lead scraping against the paper was oddly calming in the otherwise quiet space. I could feel the weight of the moment stretch out, the minutes slipping by as both of us worked, neither of us speaking.

And then, unexpectedly, Bakugo spoke again.

“You know,” he said, his voice a little softer than before, “you’re not the only one stressed out about this stuff.”

I blinked at him. What?

“Yeah,” He continued, not looking up from his work. “I might seem like I have everything figured out all the time, but I don’t. I—” He paused for a second, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something that wasn’t arrogance in his eyes. “I hate feeling like I’m always just... expected to be the best, you know?”

I was taken aback. I didn’t know how to respond at first. This wasn’t the Bakugo I knew, the Bakugo who acted like he had the world on a string and was just waiting for it to fall into place. No, this was different. This was... human. Vulnerable, even.

I swallowed, the words catching in my throat. “I get it,” I said quietly, before I could stop herself. “I feel the same way. Like I’m always trying to prove something. Like I’m never enough.”

Bakugo finally looked up at me then, his expression more thoughtful than I had ever seen it. The usual arrogance was still there, tucked beneath the surface, but it wasn’t all-consuming. For a second, he just looked at her, as if considering her words. And for a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say next.

Then, surprisingly, Bakugo offered a small, almost imperceptible nod, the corner of his mouth twitching upward, not into a smirk, but a genuine smile. It wasn’t much—certainly not the kind of smile I ever expect from him—but it was enough.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice quieter now. “Guess we’re not so different after all.”

I was silent for a moment, processing the unexpected turn in their conversation. There was still so much about him that grated on my nerves, but in that moment, sitting in the library with him, I realized something. Maybe—just maybe—there was more to him than the arrogant exterior he always wore. Maybe there was a real person beneath all that pride and stubbornness.

And maybe, just maybe, I was starting to see him for who he truly was.

“I guess so,” I replied, offering him a small smile of my own.

Both of us went back to their work, the silence stretching out between us again, but this time, it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was… peaceful. There was an understanding now, an unspoken truce. They weren’t enemies, not really—not anymore.

For the first time, I realized that their rivalry didn’t have to define us. We could just be two students, studying together in the same quiet space, both trying to survive the pressures of their lives.

And in that simple moment, sitting across from each other, we both found a kind of peace.

taglist: @sara4uuu @zoast32 @lemon-lav @instantmagazineconnoisseur (comment to be added on my taglist!)

enzstr © 2024. please don't steal, modify or copy my writing on any other platforms!

[sunkissedscribbles]

☆ 𝐷𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝐿𝐸𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑁𝑆 – 𝐻𝑂𝐺𝑀𝐴𝑆 𝐷𝐴𝑌 𝟷𝟹

PAIRING: lorenzo berkshire x reader

☆ HOGMAS 2024 LIST ☆ MASTERLIST ☆ TAG LIST ☆ KIARA'S PART

Most people didn't understand why you had never been in love. Not really, I mean. You just had a different concept of love, you thought. Because whenever you had talked to someone about love, they brought up that whirlwind of emotions that digest you. This was what they called 'you just know it when you see it.'

But you? You needed to be friends with this potential love interest first, get to know them as a person, as a human being, let them in slowly, and let them figure out who you really were. It was only fate's doing afterwards. You'll just know when you feel it.

Lorenzo Berkshire was the perfect example of that.

You’d been friends with him since first year, had seen him go through good and bad; puberty changes, friendship- and relationship breakups, and had seen him talk girls into his countless hookups, too. You'd been through confrontations together, big arguments, near-friendship-ending fights, but none of that was strong enough of a power to actually separate you two.

"Over my rich, hot, dead body," he exclaimed half-humorously after one of those arguments last summer, after he ran after you in the pouring rain to apologize and reassure you no relationship could ever stand between the two of you. He was dating Daphne Greengrass back then. And, that was when you realized you should be the one dating him, not her.

But you kept denying it, ever since.

No, you didn't like him.

But you didn't like seeing his arm around another girl, either, even if it was for a demonstration on how to waltz, preparing for the upcoming Yule Ball, a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Yes, like that. Miss Bulstrode, follow Mr Berkshire's lead, don't try to make him submit," Snape's bored yet strong tone echoed through the Duelling Club's classroom, which was temporarily emptied for the dance lesson.

"Bet she'd submit if they were horizontal," Mattheo gushed into your ear with that significant, mischievous grin.

In response, you elbowed his ribs, and he let out a quiet snicker, rubbing the skin through his Slytherin sweater. "Oi, jealous, princess?" he continued with that annoying grin still plastered on his lips, "You'd willingly submit for him, too, wouldn't you?"

"I'll make you drink Veritaserum and admit your feelings for Amara if you don't stop," you shot him a threatening glare.

"That's illegal," he points out, almost a bit afraid you'd do it.

"Yeah, but you brewed it with Theo," you raised your eyebrows at him knowingly, and for a moment he seemed like he was about to say something as his mouth opened, but then he closed it as his lovesick gaze landed on the girl mentioned above, on your best friend, across the classroom, chatting with Kiara, your other best friend whose pinky was interlocked with Theo's.

By the end of the dance lesson, your feet hurt because, to say the least, Mattheo's feet made more contact with yours than with the tiled floor. Partially because neither of you was able to concentrate on dancing when your crushes were dancing together, and partially because neither of you exactly excelled at the art of waltz.

And, as the Yule Ball only came closer and closer in time, closing in on you like the dreaded deadline of a Potions essay, you had no other choice than to approach your best friend in desperation, the night before the ball.

"You need to teach me to dance," you stated, standing in the middle of the currently empty Slytherin common room, at 11 pm.

"To dance?" he furrowed his brows in confusion. "You've been learning to dance in the past four weeks."

"Yes, but Mattheo sucks at dancing. And so do I."

As if contemplating not helping you, he waited a few seconds before letting out a quiet, tired sigh and offering his hand to you. You looked down at it before taking it with a grateful little smile.

"Put your other hand on my shoulder," he commanded before gently placing his right on your waist to pull you closer, leaving you with butterflies in your stomach. "Left foot back on one, close, three," he started counting while leading you slowly, "...and forward, two, three. Let me lead."

"Sounds like a mistake," you commented humorously, to which a quiet huff of a chuckle left his lips, and at the sweet sound, a smile made its way onto your lips.

You warmed up to it after a few minutes, and your movements started becoming somewhat more elegant than they were when you were trying to learn to dance with Mattheo.

“Have you asked anyone?” you looked up at him, meeting his eyes, trying your best not to let your gaze drop to his lips. “To the ball, I mean.”

“I haven’t,” he replied, tugging you slightly closer. “Anyone asked you?”

You shook your head, keeping a bitter chuckle from escaping your mouth, only able to reduce it into a small, discontented smile which you tried to hide from him by gazing down, but he, grabbing your chin, earned eye contact again. “What’s the face for?”

Your stomach fluttered, his touch freezing you in place as his fingers lingered under your chin. He tilted his head slightly, his brows furrowing like always when he was focused on solving a problem. Except now, the problem was you.

“It’s nothing,” you murmured, your voice quieter than you intended. You stepped back, gently breaking free of his hold, and tried to regain composure. “Just… nervous about the ball, I guess.”

“You? Nervous?” he asked, amusement flickering in his eyes. “You’re never nervous. I’ve seen you stand up to Snape and talk back to McGonagall. What’s so terrifying about a dance?”

You couldn’t tell him the truth, not when your heart felt like it was ready to burst from your chest. Not when every glance at him made you wish for something more than friendship, even though you’d convinced yourself it was impossible. So you forced a laugh instead. “Have you seen me waltz? I’m a walking disaster.”

Lorenzo’s lips curved into a smile, but his gaze didn’t waver. “You’re not a disaster,” he said softly, his tone sincere. “And if you’re nervous, then… I’ll be there. I’ll make sure you’re alright.”

Your breath caught. He meant it in the way Lorenzo always did – as a loyal friend, always reliable. But you couldn’t help but wish he meant something else, something deeper. You nodded, unable to muster more than a whispered, “Thanks.”

The moment stretched between you, charged and fragile before he took the initiative of the situation and broke the silence. He exhaled softly, his thumb brushing your chin before he finally spoke. “Come to the ball with me.”

Your heart skipped a beat, your eyes widening slightly. “What?”

“You heard me,” he said, his smile growing. “Come to the ball with me. Let’s show those waltzing disasters what we’ve learned.”

A quiet laugh escaped your lips, and you nodded. “Alright. I’d like that.”

Lorenzo’s expression softened, and for a moment, the world felt still. He leaned down, his lips brushing against your forehead first in a gentle gesture, then, with a slight hesitation, he kissed you softly on the lips. It was brief, almost tentative, but it left your heart racing.

“Goodnight, love,” he murmured, his breath warm against your skin before he pulled back, leaving you standing there, heart pounding and cheeks aflame, as he walked toward the boys’ dormitory with a satisfied smile.

tag list: @inksoakedparchment @mattiesgf @girllblogging777 @mqstermindswift @myysunshine @yelanare @mamartinez @s00ty-feet @malfoylover4l @potterxz

[lillsisamarshmallow]

7 Hybrids Moved In With Me Masterlist

Pairing: Hybrid!Poly!BTS x Fem!Reader

Word count: 88k

Read time: 7hrs

Warnings: Slight Swearing, Homelessness, Mentions of Violence, Blood, Fluff, Reader is described as being ‘smaller’ and ‘shorter’ than the boys.

Genre: Hybrids AU, Fluff, Angst, SWF, Caretaker!Reader

Status: Ongoing

Description:

When the dog hybrid who visits her bakery starts taking extra food Y/N follows it through the alleys to find out why, but what happens when she stumbles upon an empty alley only to find 6 more hybrids and some very familiar pastries?

Chapters:  19/30

Teaser (0)

Bake, Eat, Run (1)

Trespassing (2)

Bunny Boy (3)

Nurse Y/n (4)

Roommates? (5)

Living Arrangements (6)

Water Fountain in the Kitchen! (7)

Rainy days, mysterious notes, and wet apologies (8)

It’s over…? (9)

Working Boys (10)

The Plan (11)

Fair Day (12)

The Betrayal (13)

House Guests (14)

Jealous! Jealous! Jealous! (15)

Hickeys, House, and Heated gazes (16).

Moving day! (17)

Getting back to normal (18)

Finally at peace (19)

Unwelcome guests and the problems they bring (20) coming soon...

Overdue Reunion (21) coming soon...

Resurfaced Memories (22) coming soon…

Keeping it Together (23) coming soon...

Falling Apart (24) coming soon...

*This story is also posted on my Wattpad*

 ⚠!This is a work of fiction so please to don't apply anything seen and shown in the book to real life people or situations!⚠

 P.S.

I love receiving feedback and seeing people make up their own theories, headcannons, and ideas about my work so please feel free to do that and ask me any questions you like about the work! This is also my first long term/full length project and the first writing project in a few years. 😊

[lowkeyrobin]

MCYT with a reader who would literally get into a fist fight for them?? Literally, if someone even looks at them wrong reader will throw hands. It's literally that meme (Random person) "GET YO FUCKING DOG BITCH" (MCYT) "it don't bite" "YES IT FUCKIN DO-" I'm sorry I'm feeling silly 😔

OH MY FUCKING GOD I LOVE THIS PROMPT AND THE REFERENCE TO THIS MEME LMFAOOO OH MY LORD BSHWJRHEJJAJW ; very vine oriented so I apologize. you threw me into a loop referencing that

MCYT ; "anytime, anywhere, I'd beat a bitches ass for you"

includes ; tommyinnit, ranboo, badlinu, nihachu, slimecicle, quackity, & foolish gamers

warnings ; language, talk of blood/injuries, physical fighting, vine cringe because I got very carried away and you can tell

masterlist

TOMMYINNIT

he was one of those kids in high school that made light offensive jokes but would never fight anyone over anything, he's not a violent person at all other than in his jokes

but God forbid some random person look at you two weird in public, you're on their ass

you're more offended that they were judging Tommy at all, you couldn't care that they were judging you

"sorry, do you have a problem?" You squint your eyes at the person, "me and my boyfriend are just trying to shop and you keep following us around and staring, like, can I help you?"

just a teenage Karen

yall do take it outside when the motherfucker follows you out and begins to record you

you beat this fuckers ass to a PULP

Tommy's just holding the few bags of stuff you'd purchased staring down, jaw on the fucking floor like "Oh my God wtf do I do"

he had the vlog camera on so he kinda got it all on video before he pulled you away from the person

yall sprinted the hell away bc the security guards were running towards yall 😭😭

#neveridentified

#the person admitted guilt anyways and said they were planning to hurt you so no point in trying to track yall down for self defense

#i barely know the law shush

RANBOO

they just kind of accepted that you were like this

"I do not endorse violence unless you are y/n. I can't make them un-violent. I have tried, they're a vicious guard dog now"

hurricane Katrina? more like hurricane tortilla when you enter the building

yk the free style dance teacher vine? that'll be ranboo out in public and someone will stare at them all weird and you'll glare back

"walk away, walk away" you mumble, watching the person hurrily walk away as they see you like glaring daggers into their skull

your dynamic is the one vine that's like "Oh can I have a sip of your water?" and "It's not water or vodka, it's vinegar" "bitch what"

then you'll go make angsty edge lord posts to the one bojack horseman audio "I'm not a violent dog" and insert a clip of you beating the shit out of someone in high school

FREDDIE BADLINU

you post the "look at all those chickens" vine on your Twitter everytime you see a hate comment made for one of you

you love instigating fights w people online it's the funniest fucking thing

if you don't know how to reply to some dumbass edgelord response you'll just spam the guacamole vine until they shut up

"wait, why does y/n have so many soaps?"

"MIND YOUR FUCKIN BUISNESS DAVID"

Freddie's response to your violence is usually the saxophone seal vine. he genuinely laughs everytime he sees you fighting w someone online

sometimes you'll stream it while you wait for a response and while you're fighting online trolls who've been brainwashed by Twitter

"You're gay?!?!?!?11??11"

insert the "ms keisha dead" vine and the battle is over idk what to say

fight fire with fire I guess

NIKI NIHACHU

she hates yet loves that you'd fight ppl for her

oh, someone treated her wrong? you'll be trending on Twitter for fighting the person

#y/u/n will literally be at number 1 for a week

people edit the fight too

she appreciates it though, even though she doesn't exactly like to promote violence, she'll accept it from you

"Oh, don't worry about them, they're just a little... nervous around people sometimes"

"nervous? girl that mf is SNARLING at me"

you'll see a post that's like "me when someone tries to start shit w my s/o" and reply with the "hahaha I do that" vine

when I tell you she CACKLES reading online fights with people 😭🙏

CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

"get the F off my yard!" proceeds to have to drag you away from situations where someone's actin a little funny in a /neg way

he genuinely thinks you fighting people for him is funny

he'll tell the stories on stream and to his friends like "dude they fucked this guy up, I honestly feel bad for laughing"

honestly most the time it's people victimizing themselves

like that one meme where the lady very obviously and fakely falls over that bench on LIVE TELEVISION.

he's your biggest supporter

he's the old guy from that one vine of the kid singing "Oh wait a minute mister postman" and he does the whole ass high note

"here's y/n fighting someone for idk what because they're talking to the police 😋"

you're a problem at this point

QUACKITY

you've physically fought so many wild racists for him it's crazy

he'll gladly cheer you on

"AHHHH COME GET YO DOG BRO HELP"

"Oh it don't bite"

you proceed to bite the bitch

online fights are usually responded w the purple teletubby twerking meme

"L don't be a weak ass racist pussy next time"

you fight Logan Paul for some reason??? Twitter drama mostly

don't worry quackitys there to watch

17-3 don't worry... ehehehrhahahha

when he tells you that you need to stop instigating fights you send him the "They ask you how you are but you just have to say that you're fine when you're not really fine" meme BAHDNHAHA

FOOLISH GAMERS

"YOU KNOW WHAT DUDE? IM OUTTA HERE" vine in a nutshell with you two. I can't explain this but it makes sense I swear

"whatd you do to your eyebrows?" meme except its "Whyd you fight that person!?" "I don't really know!"

Twitter fights are like "and they were roommates!" "ohmygodtheywereroomates" I swear to fucking god

you love instigating shit with Twitter trolls

when you stand up for him/reply to edgelord haters for him he replies with the "country boy I love youuuuuuu" vine

"GIVE ME YOUR FUCKIN MONEY!" vine with the law and order intro is literallt how physical fights go

let's just say some stalker edgelords tracked you guys down at the streamer awards...

HE AND PUNZ GENUINLEY CHEER YOU ON

here you go trending on Twitter again

[persevereforahappyending]

A Beacon in the Dark |13|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 6k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13

You punched the sandbag over and over again. Your eyes were closed as you let the thumping of your fists hitting the bag fill your ears. Inside your head though, you couldn’t stop picturing the look of horror on Joey’s face, the fear she felt at seeing you change into a monster. You punched harder and faster when more memories flashed through your mind, waking up covered in blood, having to fight off a pack of werewolves, and lastly Cody dying.

“Hey,” a muffled voice said, though familiar, you couldn’t place who it belonged to. “Hey!” The voice got louder making you tilt your head; you still couldn’t quite place who it was though. “Hey!” Came as if the person were right next to you, finally making you snap out of your trance.

Your eyes snapped open, and you looked down as your fist had gone through the punching bag and sand was now pouring out of the hole. You instantly ripped your fist out, causing even more sand to pour out. You looked down at your hand when you caught sight of a spec of red and saw your wrapping, which was originally white, was now stained red.

“Come on,” Grace said. You jumped, whipping your head around to see Grace right next to you, she had been the one calling you before.

She gently took you by the arm and led you out of the gym. You let out a sigh and kept your eyes on the floor, it had been a long time since you had done something like that. When you first started working out to calm down and burn energy you had quite literally tore through most of the equipment. You might not have been able to remember your time as a wolf still, but you were doing better at keeping your emotions, specifically your temper, in check.

Grace led you to the bathroom just off of the gym, and she nodded for you to take a seat. You sat there quietly as she gathered her stuff. Even if it had been a while Grace got to work as if it had been just yesterday.

“Let me see,” she said softly.

You hissed as you opened both your hands, and your claws came out of your skin. “Sorry,” you mumbled.

“You never have to apologize.” Grace began dabbing a wet cloth around the wounds. You healed quickly and a wound this shallow, even from your own claws would only take a moment but Grace still liked to clean around the area.

“Which one were you thinking about?” Grace asked, she never even looked up from what she was doing. Your wounds had already started to close up and she was basically just wiping away the blood.

“Both of them,” you mumbled.

“It wasn’t your fault.” You let out what was meant to be a humorless laugh, but you couldn’t even get that out, so it turned into more of a huff.

“Hey,” Grace said a little louder, she gently lifted your chin with her finger, forcing you to meet her eyes. “None of it is your fault.”

You nodded; you didn’t really believe her words but there was no use arguing with Grace on this subject. “What’s up?” You asked, attempting to change the subject. “Or were you just worried about me?”

“I always worry about you,” Grace smiled. “But we have a job.”

You nodded. “Where at?”

“Canada.”

You raised your eyebrows at that, it wasn’t the farthest you traveled, it wasn’t even the first time you’ve had to go out of the country for a job. “What’s up?” you followed Grace out of the bathroom.

“There’s been reports of missing hikers for a while now.”

You nodded, that didn’t exactly scream supernatural, hikers went missing all the time, especially depending on the area. “Know what we’re dealing with?” You followed Grace to her office. You tilted your head as Grace hesitated when reaching for the doorknob.

“We’re not sure,” she said slowly but you could tell she was holding something back. “There’s been reports of howls.” She pushed open the door and the two of you entered her office.

You sucked in a breath. “I’m sure there’s wolves all over Canada.”

Grace nodded but didn’t seem fully convinced, not that you were either. “The good news is the attacks don’t match a werewolf.” You released a breath, it wasn’t good people were dying, it not being a werewolf meant you had no idea what it could be, but at least you didn’t have to face a pack again. “The attacks are sporadic; hikers go into the woods and don’t come out.”

You nodded along. You glanced at the bulletin board Grace already had all set up, there was a large map of the forest you could be traveling to. On the map there were red and yellow push pins.

“Location of attacks?” You asked, pointing to one of the red pins.

“Where the bodies were found,” Grace corrected. “The yellow are the campsites.”

You furrowed your brow. Usually attacks happened in the same place as where the people were last scene, it was rare for a monster to drag its prey somewhere else. You tilted your head, the locations were close, but it was clear the hikers either wandered off from their campsite and were attacked or the monster dragged them to another location. On top of all that was the fact that the attacks were spread through the forest, none of the pins were in the same spot.

“Call Joey,” Grace said, snapping you out of your thoughts. “See when the best time is for her to leave.” You remained frozen, your eyes glued to the bulletin board. “Do you want me to call?” You really didn’t, you didn’t want Joey coming with you. She agreed to continue working with you but that didn’t mean she was ready to travel out of the country and go out into the woods with you, alone.

Grace didn’t wait for you to answer though as she stepped away to call Joey. You knew you were a coward, Joey called you specifically to tell you she’d keep working with you. You didn’t know how okay she was with everything though; you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near yourself if the roles were reversed.

“We’re in luck,” Grace said as she came back over. “Caleb is at his dads this weekend, she just had to drop him off then you’re all set to go. Just got to be back by Sunday night so she can pick him up.”

You nodded. You were sure you could do it; you had a long drive but leaving after Caleb got dropped off would give you day Saturday and part of Sunday. You were more worried about being stuck in a car with Joey for nine hours. The most you spent together was a little over an hour and there wasn’t much talking done, you weren’t sure how nine hours of silence would go.

“You’ll be fine,” Grace reassured as she rested a hand on your shoulder.

“Let’s just go over the case,” you said, focusing on what you were meant to be hunting would keep your mind preoccupied from thinking about Joey, at least that’s what you hoped.

“Well,” Grace turned to face the board. “There’s not much info, considering no one had survived an attack.

 You let out a hum, it wasn’t like most people would run around telling everyone they were attacked by a monster if they survived. You know you didn’t, you didn’t speak a word about being kidnapped, let alone about werewolves. Screaming about monsters was the quickest way to get locked up not to get help or stop said monsters.

“There are reports from groups that were camping who lost one or two of the people they were with,” Grace continued. You furrowed your brow; it wasn’t out of the question to allow others to live but it was certainly uncommon. “They say their friends wandered off, usually together for one reason or another,” Grace rolled her eyes, and you couldn’t help but smirk.

“Anyway,” her voice got louder as she glared at you. “They never returned, the rest of the group always reported noises.”

“What kind of noises?” You asked, furrowing your brow. It was a large forest, noises weren’t uncommon, it could have literally been anything. When one adds the supernatural to the list then things just got even more confusing and hard to narrow down.

Grace shook her head and gave a little shrug. “Voices.”

“Like from their friends?” You tilted your head; these people didn’t seem like good friends if they listened to their friends being attacked by something and did nothing.

“Various voices, usually calling out their names.”

“And they don’t go after them?”

“The ones that did never came back.” You sucked in a breath, whatever the creature was either could mimic human voices to lure away its prey away or it was strong and terrifying enough to force its victims to lead their friends to their own death as well.

“So, what’s the plan?” You crossed your arms. The forest was big, hundreds of people hiked and camped it every day. There was also no telling where a monster would strike, it moved around, it could come after you, or it could attack campers’ miles away.

“Most attacks seem to be here,” Grace picked up a red marker and drew a circle around an area on the map. Most of the attacks seemed to happen within the circle, with only a few outliers, but despite what it looked like on the map you knew it was a lot of ground to cover. “So, I’m thinking you park around here,” she made a little dot at another spot. “You hike through here,” she drew a line to represent the path. “And camp around here,” she made another little dot.

“Camp?” Your eyes snapped to Grace. “Camping? Like in a tent?”

“That is how camping generally works,” Grace deadpanned.

Your eyes went wide at the thought. It wasn’t that you disliked camping, you loved being outside, you were pretty sure it was a werewolf thing. The idea of being in a tent with Joey though, that was another story. This was going to be the first time she got in a car with you, asking her to sleep next to you in a small space was a lot.

“You’ll be fine,” Grace said.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” you mumbled.

“She wouldn’t have agreed to continue working with us if she was truly uncomfortable.” Grace’s gaze softened, she seemed to understand where you were coming from.

“Asking her to sleep next to me after I almost tore her apart feels much different than just working together.” You crossed your arms, you could probably just take a sleeping bag and sleep right outside the tent, that would probably be better for everyone.

“It’s not a full moon.” Grace rested a hand on your shoulder, making you look up at her. “You will be fine.”

You nodded with a huff, even if you disagreed you knew there was no other way. The only other option would be to not bring Joey along but that probably wouldn’t go over too well with Grace or Joey. “I’ll be in contact with you if you need anything,” Grace assured.

“Okay,” you sighed.

“Come on,” she nodded her head. “I’ll help you pack all the stuff.”

You gave her a soft smile and followed her to the garage. She had more than one garage and sadly she didn’t bring you to the one with all the cars, she brought you to the one filled with a bunch of junk. You knew she wouldn’t appreciate you calling it junk, but that’s what it looked like, even if everything inside was incredibly expensive and got a lot of use.

When she opened the garage door to let in some light you jogged off to pull your car around. You appreciated Grace being willing to help pack the Jeep, but you weren’t about to make her walk back and forth to load everything up. Grace was tossing everything she thought you’d need into the middle of the garage as you backed the car up.

You tossed a tent in first, it seemed perfectly sized for two people. Then Grace tossed in two sleeping bags, one blue and the other silver. “And here,” she said, handing you a black backpack. You looked down to see a matching red one sitting at her feet. “One for each of you,” she pointed to the packs. “Stocked with flashlights, lanterns, hunting knives-”

“A gun?” You asked, cutting her off.

She rolled her eyes. “Not across the border.”

You chuckled and nodded. You could take guns across the border, but you needed papers for them, which Grace could easily get, but all of that would raise questions. As much as having a gun would, potentially, make the job easier, drawing attention to yourselves would make it ten times harder.

You had just shut the trunk to the jeep when your phone vibrated, showing you got a text from Joey. “Perfect timing,” you mumbled.

Grace followed you as you walked around the side and hopped in the car. “Be careful,” she said, leaning against the door. “I’ll keep researching, see if anything pops out.” You nodded. “And if you see anything-”

“I’ll call it in,” you finished for her. “As soon as I know something, so will you.”

“I can’t help if I don’t have enough information.”

You nodded, there had been far too many missions where you didn’t know how to kill the monster until you called Grace and told her something new. It was insane how the most seemingly mundane information could lead to identifying a creature. Sometimes knowing what it looked like, or specific features it had, to how it killed, or how it left its victims, could show what you were up against. There were plenty of creatures that were similar but there was always something that separated them.

“I know,” you assured her. “We got this.” Grace hesitated to step away from the Jeep but eventually nodded and took a step back so you could pull away. She always got like this when there was a mission out of state, especially when she wasn’t going with you. There were few times when you’d go on a mission completely solo, Grace usually came with you and set up in a motel or in an unsuspecting van nearby.

With that you made your way to Joey’s. She had texted you saying she had just dropped Caleb off, and you were good to pick her up. You tried to focus on the fact that she messaged you and not Grace, despite Grace being the one who called her. You briefly considered the idea that maybe Grace was right and everything would be fine, if Joey was contacting you then maybe she truly was okay with doing this.

Your worrying seemed to pay off because before you knew it you were at Joey’s apartment. You shot her a text saying you were there. Your fingers drummed against the wheel as you tried your hardest not to glance at the door. Every time you felt your eyes drift towards the door you instantly forced your eyes to look straight ahead. Time felt endless before you heard the passenger door open and Joey hop in but when you glanced at the clock you saw it hadn’t even been five minutes.

“Hey,” you rasped out, instantly clearing your throat. You shifted in your seat, trying to force yourself to relax, it was going to be a long drive if you remained tense this whole time.

“Hey,” she greeted.

You left it at that and pulled back out onto the road. Your GPS was already set for Algonquin Park, and it looked like it was going to be a little over a nine-hour drive, that was if you didn’t make any stops. Your fingers tapped the steering wheel as you tried not to look at Joey, you would do your best to make this silent car as least awkward as possible.

“Are you serious?” Joey asked, breaking the silence. You glanced at the clock, you had only been in the car twenty minutes, you weren’t even out of the city yet and somehow, you’d already managed to annoy her. You flicked a glance at her but quickly went back to staring at the road ahead.

You heard Joey scoff and caught her rolling her eyes out of the corner of your eye. “You’re really not going to speak to me for nine hours?” She asked.

You opened and closed your mouth a few times as you tried to come up with a plausible excuse. You finally sighed, you were stuck in a car with her for nine hours, on top of about to be spending the weekend sleeping next to her in a tent, you couldn’t exactly avoid her.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to,” you admitted quietly. “You agreed to continue working with me, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You don’t make me uncomfortable.” Your eyes widened at that, and you couldn’t help but finally fully look at Joey. She was staring out the windshield, her elbow resting on the door and her head resting on her hand, she looked just as at ease as she had during any other car ride. “I’d prefer if you didn’t try and kill me again,” she chuckled, and your mouth twitched but you still couldn’t bring yourself to laugh along with her. “But I just want things to go back to normal.”

Joey turned and met your eyes, you stared at her, trying to get a read on how truthful she was being, even though she had no reason to lie. “But no more lies,” she said as she continued to stare you in the eye.

You nodded, being honest with her was the least you could do after she agreed to give you another chance. “No more lies,” you repeated.

“Good.” Joey finally broke eye contact and fell back into her original position.

You weren’t sure what it was about such a simple conversation but your shoulders instantly relaxed and you flexed your fingers to loosen your grip around the wheel. You reached over and turned up the music a bit, not missing the small smile that tugged at Joeys lips. You were still unsure about a lot, especially sharing a tent with Joey but at least the car ride wouldn’t be awkward, unless you managed to make it awkward, which was possible, you did have nine hours to do or say something stupid after all.

“So, where are we going?” Joey asked as she leaned forward to get a better look at the GPS.

“Algonquin Provincial Park,” you answered, you had spent a good while memorizing the name so you would say it right. “In Canada.”

Joey let out a hum. “That’s why Grace told me to bring my passport.” You nodded. You generally used your real passport for traveling out of the country, you were sure Grace knew a guy who could make a good fake but if you got caught it would cause all the trouble you didn’t want to be getting into. “What are we dealing with? Grace didn’t give me many details.”

“That’s cause there’s not much to tell,” you sighed. “Some campers have been going missing, for years now.”

“And it’s just now being investigated?” You shrugged. Campers and hikers all over the world went missing, sometimes it was simply the place they were at was dangerous or majority of the time they were someone inexperienced who got in over their head.

“It’s hard to know if missing people are just missing or something weird happened.”

Joey let out a hum. “So, how to find something if we don’t know where exactly it’s at or what exactly attracts it?”

You gave a little shrug. “Just got to hope it attacks us or we stumble upon who it does go after.”

“Great,” Joey said, clearly not pleased at the plan.

“Which,” you said slowly, your eyes darting from Joey back to the road. “We’re going to be camping, so we’ll have to share a tent.”

Joey was silent for a moment, and you actually had to turn and look to make sure she wasn’t regretting agreeing to come with you, you still had time to turn around if she was. She was just looking at you though, her eyebrows all scrunched together.

“Okay?” She said, though it sounded more like a question. You opened your mouth, but nothing came out, you were confused why she seemed so confused. “Wait,” she tilted her head. “Did you think I’d have a problem with that?”

“I mean,” you shrugged. “Wasn’t sure if you wanted to sleep next to the monster that almost killed you,” you whispered.

You stared ahead at the dark road before you, you weren’t sure you could look at Joey again. “I’m not scared of you.”

Your eyes fell slightly. “Maybe you should be.”

“I was scared in the moment.” You closed your eyes as if Joey’s words physically hurt you. “But I know that’s not you, all you’ve ever done is protect me.” You decided to risk a glance at Joey and saw nothing but care in her eyes. “And I can’t hold that against you, not when you’ve never held my past against me.”

You smiled at that then continued the drive in silence. The two of you made a little conversation here and there but it was an otherwise quiet trip, besides the music playing. It was a comfortable silence like it usually was with the two of you in the car, much better than the tense awkward silence you figured you’d be experiencing at the moment.

About halfway through the drive, you pulled off the side of the road and into the parking lot of a 24-hour diner. You figured eating before crossing the border was best because once you got into Canada you’d want to get to the park as quick as possible. It was already going to be dark when you started setting up camp, but you were hoping to at least get a little sleep.

You and Joey made your way into the diner and took a seat at one of the booths by the window, not in the far corner but with the perfect vantage of seeing the front door, your car, the register, and even into the window that led to the grill. There were a few other customers, even though it was dinner time it seemed to be mostly truckers that stopped. Almost as soon as you sat down an older blonde woman with her hair all done up came over and sat two menus in front of you.

You flipped open the menu, letting an impressed hum at the amount of food they offered. After a couple minutes the woman came back and took your and Joey’s order, only to return a moment later and sit the drinks you both ordered down.

“Did you ever look for a cure?” Joey whispered after the waitress walked away.

Your eyes snapped up and you dropped the straw wrapped you had been playing with. You should have expected that question; it was a rather reasonable thing to be curious about, but you couldn’t help your surprise at Joeys directness.

You cleared your throat, even though you didn’t need to, and sat up a bit straighter. “Yeah,” you whispered. “Spent my first year with Grace scouring over every shred of information I could find, no matter where it came from.”

“And nothing?”

You shook your head. “Grace offered to keep digging but I was losing it.” You remembered back to that time, when you would stay away until you passed out. Anytime a cure seemed like it might actually work and wasn’t just complete bullshit you tried it, you practically tortured yourself trying to find a cure, but nothing ever panned out. “I had to call it off and just accept my reality, it would have driven me mad if I continued.”

Joey let out hum and gave you a sympathetic smile. She opened her mouth to ask something else but snapped it shut when the waitress came back. She put the plate of food down in front of the two of you and your mouth started watering at the sight. One of the odd perks of being a werewolf was the insatiable hunger. Which would normally be a problem because you were hungry, all the time, but when something that looked and smelled this good was placed in front of you, you didn’t want to stop eating.

Once the two of you finished your meal you paid the bill then left a nice tip for the woman at the table. You hopped back into the car and then the two of you were on your way again. “What were you going to say?” You asked, glancing at Joey. “Before the food came.”

“Have you met other werewolves?” Joey asked cautiously. “Besides the ones who…”

“Yeah,” you said, your eyes flicking down before going back to the road. “Every pack is different, they didn’t all hunt like the one who…” you cleared your throat. “But they still all have a similar mentality.”

“Have you killed others before?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “Not another pack, I’m not sure how I survive that first one honestly, I’d say luck but…” You shook your head, trying to keep the memories from that night away. “Got lucky that the few packs I’ve come across weren’t the threat, they’re dangerous but a lone wolf is dangerous and unpredictable.”

“Is that what you are?” You nodded. “Is that why you were so…”

“No,” you sighed, you wished you had that excuse, that if you had a pack everything would be better, but it wouldn’t be. “Having Grace helps, usually a lone wolf is completely on their own, struggling to make it and killing anything and everything in their path when they shift.”

“And you don’t desire a pack?”

You could feel Joey’s eyes on you, but you kept your eyes forward. “No.” That ended the discussion, you didn’t want to get into all the details about why you didn’t want a pack.

Joey seemed to leave it that because the rest of the drive was silent. You crossed over into Canada with no problem. You continued on with the drive towards the park. Before you got to the park you pulled off into a small gas station.

“I’m going to fill up,” you said. “You want to pick out some snacks? I can meet you inside after.” Joey nodded and hopped out of the car and made her way inside. You hopped out and swiped your card.

As you waited for the tank to fill up you looked around, getting a better look as to where you were. There was hardly anything around except for the gas station, which was dead except for you and Joey. You constantly looked back at the building, making sure you could still see Joey through the windows, you weren’t sure what it was about this place that had you on edge.

When the tank was finally full you made your way into the store. Right to your left as you entered was a cashier, a large, bearded man who was counting something. He didn’t so much as even glance in your direction, but something told you he knew you were there.

You walked further into the store and turned right down an aisle with chips. Your eyes skimmed the shelves until you finally snagged your favorite type of chip. You rounded the aisle in search of Joey and glanced to the left again, there was another employee stocking the shelves. It was a younger guy, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he continued to pull bags of candy out of a box and stuff them in their home on the shelf.

You weren’t sure what it was about the kid that gave you pause but continued on your way. Most gas stations you’d been to only had one employee working, exotically so late, there wasn’t usually need for more. You tried to shake it off, it could very easily be a requirement because of safety, or this was a family-owned location, and the two guys were related.

“Find anything?” You asked when you finally found Joey looking at the drinks. Joey turned and held up a bag of gummy worms. You let out a hum of approval and then opened one of the fridge doors to grab a water.

You and Joey made your way to the counter. As you passed the aisle that the employee had been in you noticed that he had moved further up in the aisle, closer to the register. The kid was still hunched over, pulling out items from a box but you walked on joeys left side, making sure she was farthest away from the kid.

When you got to the register you set all the items on the counter. The large man behind the counter instantly stopped what he was doing, as if it weren’t important at all, and began ringing you out. The man was silent for the most part as he scanned the items and placed them in the bag.

“It’s awfully late,” the man said, his voice just as gruff and deep as you thought it would be. “Where you two kids headed?”

You and Joey shared a look. “Algonquin Provincial Park,” Joey answered. The man paused his movements as he bagged one of the items, anyone else would have missed it but not you. “We’re going camping.”

“It’s dangerous up there, been a lot of people going missing.” You glanced out the side of your eye to see the kid come out of the aisle and pretend to be stocking one of the endcaps.

“I think we can handle it,” you said.

“That’s what they all say,” he said.

He looked up from the bag and stared you directly in the eye. You narrowed your eyes in challenge. You didn’t know what this dudes deal was, but you weren’t going to back down.

“Come on,” Joey whispered, resting a hand on your chest as her other arm snaked around your back. “Let’s get out of here,” she leaned close to your ear. “I’m tired,” she pressed her body against yours.

You finally broke your stare down and looked at Joey, your gaze instantly softening. “Of course,” you said softly. You pulled out your money and paid the man, not even bothering to wait for your change before you snatched up the bag and wrapped an arm around Joey’s waist as you led her out of the store.

You kept the act up, neither of you letting go of the other until you reached the car. You even went as far as to opening the door for Joey and handing her the bag of items you bought once she was situated. You jogged around the front of the car and hopped in, quickly starting it and pulling off back onto the road.

“What the hell was that?” Joey asked, looking back as the gas station slowly disappeared from view.

“I don’t know,” you said, looking in the rearview mirror to make sure no one had followed you. “Let’s just get to the campsite.” You shook your head, you had missed something at the gas station, you just didn’t know what.

The drive the rest of the way was rather uneventful. The park wasn’t to far from the gas station and before you knew it you were parking the car. You and Joey hopped out of the car and grabbed the backpacks from the trunk. You looked around at the rest of the parking lot, there were a few cars that probably belonged to other campers, but it was otherwise empty, you were sure it would fill up by the morning though.

You grabbed the sleeping bags and connected them to the bottom of each of your backpacks, so you had one less item to carry. “Ready?” you asked, glancing back at Joey.

“Yeah,” Joey said, though she wasn’t looking at you, she was looking at your surroundings.

You hoisted the tent up onto your shoulder, making sure to shut the trunk and lock the car before you got moving. Joey used a flashlight to find the trail you were meant to use. The two of you stuck close together as you worked your way to the camping spot. You kept your ears on high alert for any sort of voices or screaming, like what had been reported before, but you could only pick up on the usual nature sounds, running water a mile or so away, about a billion insects, and a few other small critters.

“We’re here,” Joey announced, looking down at the GPS.

You let out a sigh of relief as you dropped the bags and the tent onto the ground. While Joey got a fire started you worked on building the tent. Joey got the fire going almost instantly and spent the rest of the time watching you fight with the tent. You had been camping plenty of times but you either didn’t use a tent or Grace was the one who set it up.

“Guess we all have something we’re not good at,” Joey commented. You whipped your head around, shooting a glare at her. “Let me,” she stood up, taking whatever piece of the tent you had out of your hand.

You stepped back, holding your arms up in surrender. Joey quickly stepped past you and got to work setting up the tent. You furrowed your brow at how quickly the tent started to look like a tent.

“And there!” Joey said, gesturing proudly at the tent. You frowned down at the tent, sure it looked great but you felt like you contributed nothing. “Don’t worry,” Joey patted you on the shoulder. “You carried the stuff.” You continued to pout at that but took the win.

“Well,” you cleared your throat. “Guess we should get to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

You grabbed one of the sleeping bags and turned around, looking for the best spot to lay it. You didn’t want to go to close to the fire, you might roll over and burn yourself, but you didn’t want to be too far away because you might get cold.

“What are you doing?” Joey asked. You looked back at her to see her raising an eyebrow at you.

“I just-” you started, looking around at the area.

“Get in the damn tent,” Joey snapped.

You nodded and did as she asked. If she wasn’t uncomfortable then you certainly weren’t going to argue about sleeping in the tent. You quickly got settled on one side inside the tent while Joey got settled on the other. You laid on your back, completely stiff, making sure you didn’t so much as brush against Joey. You already knew this would be a long night.

You must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing you knew you were shooting up, your eyes darting around to locate what had woken you up. You held your breath, focusing on nothing but the sounds going on outside the tent. After a moment you settled back down, you must have been dreaming of something. Just as you were about to lay back down a piercing scream echoed throughout, causing Joey to jump awake.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked.

You opened your mouth to answer her, but another scream cut you off. You moved into a sitting position, subconsciously sliding closer to Joey just in case something attacked. Another scream happened; this one sounded much more human than the previous ones.

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @thatshyboy1998 @chxrry-lov3

@bella423 @morganismspam23 @pianogirl2121

[hunterofartemis7]

Adopted by the gods AU pt.15

Anticlea: *holding an ice pack that Hera gave her to her cheek*

Laertes: *sitting by his wife rubbing her back*

Zeus: I deeply apologize for the way my daughter acted today. She is never like this. I assure you, she will be punished for thi-

Laertes: thank you lord Zeus, but that won’t be necessary.

Apollo: your wife got slapped in the face twice by one of the eldest goddesses on Olympus and you don’t want her punished? Bro you need better priorities.

Laertes: I at the very least want her to apologize for..that and for us to figure what ACTUALLY happened that night. I don’t believe Lady Athena just took him and made up this story of us abandoning our son. Something had to have gotten lost in translation the night she found him.

Aphrodite: found her! *dragging Athena in by her arm*

Athena:🙄

Hera: *crosses her arms* Athena. Do you have something to say?

Athena: I’m only here to find out what really happened my son.

Aphrodite: *elbows her in the ribs*

Athena: ow!

Hermes: *flies in* okay! Got the spell from Hecate!

Anticlea: what does that do?

Hermes: this will show us what really happened, from both your perspective.

Zeus: and when this is over, you will apologize to the queen first the way you acted

Athena: *rolls her eyes* when it shows my son was abandoned, those people will stay the fuck away from my kids.

Hera: and when it doesn’t, you will return both boys back to their home kingdoms.

Athena: THE FUCK I WILL!!

Hermes:….okay! Let’s get this show on the road! *throws the vial on the ground and blue mist surrounds them, showing a vision from the day Odysseus was taken*

*The vision shows baby Odysseus being taken from his crib in the middle of the night by some random man. Laertes sends the guards out to chase the men and they follows him to the waterfall, where he throws the baby off the edge. It then shows Athena catching baby Odysseus and hiding behind a tree when the guards look over the edge for. It shows the guards leaving and Athena taking the baby back to Olympus. She flies to the palace where the captain tells the king and queen that their son has died and his body wasn’t found. What Athena heard made it sound like the king and queen planned to kill Odysseus, but in reality they were just in shocked that their newborn son was dead. She had flown off before she could hear the queen break down in tears*

*the vision ends, and all the gods look between Athena and Anticlea*

Hermes:…….so at least we know this was a huge misunderstanding *laughs nervously*…this is awkward.

Anticlea: I told you I never abandoned my own son.

Athena: he’s not your son

Anticlea: are you still going to be like that!? You just saw with your own eyes what really happened—

Athena: and that doesn’t change the fact that neither you or your husband actually looked for him, and I’ve been the one raising him for the past 11 years! You might have given birth to him but he is my son!

Anticlea: need I remind you that you were the one who hid him when he fell!?

Athena: he would’ve died if I hadn’t!

Zeus: BOTH OF YOU ENOUGH!!!!

Anticlea and Athena: *shut up*

Zeus; where is the boy? He needs to know the truth

Odysseus: *comes out from under the table with Diomedes* right here grandfather, and I heard everything.

Zeus: well that saves me some work.

Athena: Odysseus…

Odysseus:….*runs up and hugs her*

Diomedes: *follows and hugs her too*

Athena; *drops to her knees and hugs them both close*

Hera: Odysseus, since you heard what really happened, it seems you have a choice to make.

Odysseus: *let’s go from the hug* what do you mean?

Athena: yeah what do you mean?

Hera: the boy knows he’s the real heir of Ithaca, and that he wasn’t abandoned as you previously said. So it seems he has a choice; stay with you till he turns 18, or go with his birth parents now.

Athena: over my dead body is he going with them!

Hera: you don’t get a say Athena.

Athena: he is still underaged and I’m still his mother! There is no choice to be made here!

Apollo: wouldn’t Anticlea have a say in this since she’s his birth mother?

Athena: stay out of this!

Apollo: yes ma’am!🫡

Athena: and no she doesn’t because she didn’t raise him!

Laertes: lord Zeus, if I may. I don’t want to lose our son again after just learning that he is in fact alive, but I don’t want him taken away from the woman who’s raised him either. Isn’t there some kinda of compromise we can come to?

Odysseus: how about we forget this whole thing and I stay with my mom and brother?

Hera: the boy needs to learn how to be king Athena.

Athena: I can teach him that. Besides he has 7 more years before he can even become king!

Artemis: than just do that. Both boy stay with Athena till their 18, and in that time she will teach them how to be kings.

Laertes: or at the very least until they need to become kings

Artemis: what he said.

Hera: I suppose that could work. Athena? Could you comply with this?

Athena: *sighs* if I must.

Odysseus: what!? Mama I don’t want to leave you!

Diomedes: me either!

Aphrodite: you won’t be leaving her immediately, just when you become adults. By then you’ll be sick of her and want to leave anyway

Athena: hey!

Odysseus: *clings to her leg* never!

Diomedes: *clings as well* yeah! We’re never leaving mother!

Zeus: you both will when it is time for you to become kings. End of discussion.

Anticlea: wait, does this mean I still won’t get to see my son for another 7 years?

Zeus: well—

Athena: that’s exactly what that means

Hera: Athena!

Athena: I’m not going to make Odysseus go somewhere he doesn’t want to!

Zeus:..*sighs* if the boy wants to visit his birth than he shall, but he cannot be forced.

Athena: *mumbles* thank the gods.

Odysseus: *buried his face Athena’s side* yay

Diomedes: *does the same*

Athena: *holds them close*

Hera: now I believe there’s still the matter of an apology that you owe Anticlea for slapping her.

Athena: *rolls her eyes* I’m sorry I hit you, after you called me a bitch in my own home😑

Zeus: just go

Athena: *takes her kids hands and leaves*

[v1b3ss]

✧A Dance of Synchrony and Solitude✧

♡Neuvillette x fem!reader♡

11:37pm-

Loud.

That's what it was. It was overwhelmingly loud and crowded. So many people, and yet here you were– standing alone by the bar with a glass of half-drank champagne in hand and anxiously observing.

You had been invited to Fontaine's grand ball only because Lady Furina insisted you come. For context, you had been enjoying your afternoon in the city when you spotted Lady Furina whining about something. Curious, you had gone over to see what the fuss was. After a bit of eavesdropping, you had discovered that Furina had left her money at home, therefore being unable to pay for her macaroni. You kindly paid for her and that's when she insisted you come to the ball later that night, so here you are.

You had been scanning the crowd all evening and still couldn't find Furina anywhere. You felt so out of place-- so awkward in this pompous event. Nobles, politicians, and other upperclassmen were present and you were but a mere botanist.

Where is she..? you couldn't help but ask yourself in your mind. It occurred to you that she was probably dealing with adoring fans in some other room of the grand estate.

With a sigh, you begrudgingly forced yourself to push off of the bar and leave your drink there as you went to find Furina. You awkwardly shuffled through people, muttering small, half-hearted apologies and mumbling "excuse me" a few times.

After successfully pushing through the mass of people and making it closer to the stage where a live orchestra was playing, you let out a sigh of relief.

Okay, you're away from people, you have a good view of the room, if you don't find her, the door is just to your left... you thought to yourself, looking around and over people's heads.

No sign of her anywhere...

Sighing once more, you decided to turn for the door when you spotted a figure with white hair and dark blue attire. Ah, that must be Furina!

With a wave of relief you pushed through people once more. You didn't exactly want to leave--this was a grand event. You were just lonely.

You squeezed through people who were rushing to approach the white-haired figure that was calmly walking away. The clamors of the crowd grew louder the closer you got to the figure, making you all the more anxious to reach Furina.

However, just as you were about to call her name, someone shoved you with an aggravated huff, causing you to collide with the person you had been following. Well-- who you thought you were.

You collided head-on with the person, quickly finding that that person was quite tall with a wide chest. You let out a small "oof" as your face was pushed into their chest before you took an unsteady step back.

A hand that was undoubtedly larger than your own swiftly and firmly caught you, holding up your back, pulling you back to your feet.

"Ah-- my apologies. Are you alright?" That was most definitely not Furina. Furina didn't have a deep velvety voice like that.

You were hoping that the person you had just bumped into was, in fact, not who you now thought it was. However, that voice was unmistakably known throughout all of Fontaine. Catching sight of the figure only confirmed your suspicions.

The Chief Justice, Neuvillette, was standing above you, lilac eyes staring at your own with a much friendlier gaze than that ever seen in court. Of course-- he still had that somewhat apathetic look to him. It was simply part of his character.

It suddenly occurred to you that you were staring at him like an idiot and had not answered his question yet. You cleared your throat and took a step back, keeping your head down as you sputtered out a response.

"Oh-- um...yes, I'm fine... thank you..!" You muttered awkwardly, tripping over your words. You could practically feel his sharp gaze directed towards you. You glanced up at him again before looking away into the crowd in the hopes that Furina would be here to save you from your embarrassment. The only thing you were met with were the jealous and envious stares of the citizens and elites around you.

Neuvillette noticed your anxious gaze and let out a small hum, acknowledging the fact that you were uncomfortable in the "spotlight," so to speak. He leaned down to speak to you a bit more privately.

"I assume you would like to stay out of the eyes of the public..? There's a private room here," he said quietly as your head snapped in his direction, staring at him in bewilderment. You hadn't expected him to get so close all of a sudden, especially after bumping into him.

You spoke with uncertainty, your response somewhat forced as you said, "I...wouldn't mind that... can we go now, please..?" You asked, feeling your stomach twist and your heart leap to your throat. There were so many people here and they all seemed to hate you.

Neuvillette, though bad at dealing with mortal emotions, understood that this entire ordeal was rather...overwhelming for you. He gently took your hand and used the other to wave over a few members of the Marechaussee Phantom, giving them a directive to keep the guests away as he softly tugged on your arm and led you away.

You were caught off guard by the sudden movement but followed nonetheless.

A few melusines kept the people at bay as you and Neuvillette disappeared into a dark hallway before turning into a room lit by candles and a fireplace. In one of the loft chairs you spotted another figure with white hair and blue clothing. Furina turned to see who had entered the room and her expression went from suspicion to delight.

"My, my, (Name)!! Neuvillette, how kind of you to bring me our esteemed guest!" She exclaimed with excitement, standing up and approaching you with a smile before hugging you. As she pulled back, she kept her hands on your shoulders and spoke to Neuvillette.

"This is the one I was telling you about! This lovely lady paid for my lunch, so the least I could do was invite such a kindhearted person to our ball."

Neuvillette nodded and hummed, his hand on the small of your back as you stood still, smiling awkwardly at Furina.

"Ah, yes...well, I'm here," you said with an uncertain chuckle. You were never one to be so awkward, but you had just met the Furina this afternoon, and literally had your face in the Chief Justice's chest but a few moments ago.

"(Name)..." Neuvillette repeated your name as if trying to recall if he had heard of you before. With a sigh, he then spoke again, this time, to you.

"Please-- have a seat. I insist," he said, using a hand to gesture to one of the sofas in the luxurious room. Furina nodded and smiled happily as she took your wrist and pulled you over to the sofa, sitting down and pulling you with her.

"Oh, (Name), I'm so happy that you showed up! When I didn't see you, I thought I might've been a little too pushy, but you're here, and that's what matters!"

You nodded along what Furina was saying, taking note of how Neuvillette took a seat across from the two of you and stared at you specifically.

While half-heartedly listening to Furina's ramblings to you, Neuvillette studied you. He felt as if he had seen you somewhere before..perhaps he had seen you in the paper once, or simply recognized you from a walk. Who were you, exactly?

-----------------------12:56am----------------------

After a much-needed break, you followed Neuvillette and Furina back out towards the ball. They said that you could stay with them for the remainder of the night, and for that you were thankful.

For Neuvillette, it was a convenience. He got to learn more about who this mystery woman was and what she was doing here. He wanted to know why Furina had taken such a strong liking to you, and this was exactly how he was going to do it.

Furina dragged you out onto the dance floor as she giggled mischievously. The smooth sounds of the violin and the deep notes of the piano along with the sounds of chellos, trumpets, and other various instruments of the orchestra reverberated through the ballroom as Furina guided you through the movements of the dance.

"No, no-- you're doing it all wrong! Here, it's like this, and then this, and then you kinda go like this..." Furina said, teaching you to dance which left you completely and utterly befuddled. What was all this for?

Furina, on the other hand, was quite happy with how things were going. She had a plan-- a good one. In order for this to work, she needed you to at least know the basics of dancing. If you tripped up, that was fine. As a matter of fact, it was even better.

Then, the slow dance came on.

Marvelous! I'm such a genius. She thought to herself as she glanced over at Neuvillette. She prompted him to come over, as if she had something she had to tell him.

When he stepped onto the floor, Furina pulled him towards you and spoke hastily. "My apologies, I have business with the governor. Neuvillette, be a gentleman and finish the dance with our esteemed guest, will you? It's rude to keep someone waiting, after all!"

Without waiting for a response, she rushed off through the crowd of people, leaving the two of you hand-in-hand.

Neuvillette was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the space where Furina had run off to. He looked dumbfounded and felt just as perplexed as he appeared.

After a few seconds, he snapped out of it and looked at you apologetically, not knowing what to make of the situation. Luckily, he wasn't the only one feeling awkward. You just stood there, vision zeroed in on where he was holding both of your hands with his own.

You glanced up at him, hoping to be able to excuse yourself, but before you could get the words out of your already open mouth, the slow dance started up and people flooded into the dance floor.

The two of you looked rather surprised as people began to dance. This was when you realized that the only way to get out of this without causing a scene was to join the fray. Only one problem though-- you didn't know this waltz. Or any, for that matter. From the looks of it, Neuvillette seemed just as lost as you were. He too had no clue how to dance.

Seeing as how Neuvillette was seemingly stuck in one place, you took the initiative to pull him along with the rest of the guests, trying to find the correct timing. Luckily, the slow dance was just that: slow.

You attempted to spin with him, dragging him along with you as you copied the movements of other patrons. It didn't take long for Neuvillette to realize what you were doing and put in some effort as well. The two of you clumsily followed in the footsteps of the strangers who were your examples.

Little apologies were heard only between the two of you as you accidentally stepped on one another and maybe spun a little bit too fast.

While Neuvillette was typically a knowledgeable and collected man, he had no clue how to act in such an abrupt situation. He was, quite literally, dragged into this. It was so...out of the ordinary for him. He didn't know how to feel about it, but that wasn't a surprise. He struggled to comprehend human emotions. Give him a break, he's trying his best.

The dance ended just as quickly as it had started, and the two of you were both left rather embarrassed and befuddled. It was quiet, and you really didn't feel like speaking up. You had no idea what to say! Fortunately for you, Neuvillette stepped up this time and took the initiative to speak first.

"I apologize, I have never engaged in a waltz before..." he said rather quietly, hoping that you would be the only one to hear. His gaze was averted as he continued on. "I haven't had the time to learn before. Please excuse my profuse clumsiness."

Wow. Even while embarrassed, he still managed to be so gentlemanly and professional in his apology. What a cutie patootie.

You smiled gently at him and let out a huff of amusement as you replied. "No, no, it's more than okay. I had no clue what I was doing either," you stated honestly. It then occurred to you that the two of you were the only ones left on the dance floor and people were staring.

With a flushed face, you quickly scurried off of the floor, dragging Neuvillette along with you. After all, it's rude to just run off mid-conversation.

You towed the two of you along to the balcony of the grand estate, closing the large solarium doors behind you as you did so. You breathed out a sigh of relief and walked over to the edge of the balcony, happy to get both some fresh air and some space. Neuvillette was just as pleased.

His slow and hesitant steps were heard from behind you as he approached the railing of the balcony, albeit a few feet away from you as he placed his hands on it.

Silence ensued. The only noise was the muffled chatter of guests inside and the soft shuffling of leaves as they swayed in the breeze. It was nice...

After a good thirty seconds or so of complete, comfortable silence, you spoke up. "That was...unexpected. I think we were played," you stated with a huff of amusement.

Neuvillette looked over at you through the corner of his eye, curiosity and a hint of amusement evident in his gaze.

"Indeed... I do think that Lady Furina has decided to play cupid tonight," he said with a more relaxed tone. He had never had an encounter like this before, and the way the conversation so casually continued, even on such a bizarre topic, was refreshing to him. When he said that he was going to learn more about this "mystery woman," he was not expecting this...

You nodded and gave a long hum of agreement as you looked over the mountainous terrain of Fontaine. It was a clear night, and the moon was bright enough to illuminated both of your faces. Neuvillette looked rather ethereal with how the moonlight accentuated his pale complexion. However, if you were to ask him, he would feel the same about how the soft light bounced off of your skin.

He, who was inhuman in nature and struggled to comprehend the emotions of said humans, found himself rather...at peace. When was the last time he had felt as if he belonged? Especially within the presence of a mortal. Far too long, he concluded.

You spoke up once more, bringing Neuvillette back to reality and away from his desk thoughts. "Furina most definitely set us up...but I wonder why," you mused, the perplexion from the situation clear on your face.

Neuvillette hummed before speaking again, his low voice now holding a tone of curiosity within it. "Well, I do trust her judgement, to some extent... she has good intentions. She most always does, but I cannot help but question her choices from time to time," he admitted. You let out a small chuckle which, to his surprise, made him feel a tinge of happiness. How peculiar...

You let out a content sigh as a smile graced your lips. You glanced over at him for a moment with an amused smile, unaware of Neuvillette's pride in making you laugh as you proposed something. "This was fun... I think Furina knew what she was doing," you said as you turned your head back to the green landscape. "If you'd like, or if you have time, I'd like to meet up for lunch sometime. Maybe we can learn to dance properly for the next time an event comes up," you joked lightheartedly.

Neuvillette smiled softly and glanced over at you. How can a man, so infamous for being a cold, strict judge, look so soft and compassionate so suddenly?

"I do believe I would like that..."

-----------------------9:33am----------------------

The memories of the ball were fresh in your mind, even as you sorted through the small jars of herbs within your apothecary. As people entered your shop and browsed your wares, you noticed that a few stopped to stare and whisper.

That doesn't happen...

Eventually, after the fifth person stopped to chat with their friend, you turned around and gave them a confused yet somewhat annoyed expression as you crossed your arms.

"Is there something on my face? People have been whispering all day," you said with irritation clear in your tone of voice.

The people, rightfully surprised, looked at you with astonishment. After a few seconds of silence and wide-eyed staring, one of them spoke up.

"You don't know? People heard about last night," they said, pulling out a newspaper. You recognized it as The Steambird, the local newspaper of Fontaine.

Taking the newspaper with a small "thank you," you read over the front page. You were astonished to see a photo of you and Neuvillette on the balcony from last night. The headline you read made your face heat up in embarrassment.

"Monsieur Neuvillette and Local Botanist Mademoiselle (Name) seen at Fontaine's Grand Ball--Read for More Information!"

Handing the newspaper back to the pair that were in your shop, you thanked them quietly, even through your rather dazed state. They then made their purchases and left with a polite wave.

Not soon after, when you were checking your mail, you found an envelope. You hummed and looked at it with curiosity. It looked important. Wax seal on it, the emblem of Fontaine-- the whole nine yards.

Bringing it inside and sitting at your desk in the back, you opened it. You still had no clue who it was from, but you could tell that it was something from the Fontainian government with how regal and professional it looked. Not at all nerve-wracking. Last time you checked, you had paid all your taxes in time.

Upon opening it, you found polaroid photos of you and Neuvillette, again at the balcony, but from different angles and at different times. Shocked, you searched through them for any clues on why you were sent a legal document with pictures of the brief interaction you had with Neuvillette last night.

There was a small note inside with very elegant handwriting on it. You mentally gave appreciation to the person who wrote it. The note read, "Dearest (Name), I hope you enjoy your memorabilia from your first night at Fontaine's Grand Ball! Hosted by yours truly, of course. Please feel free to drop by any time for lunch! And please, let me pay. You covered last time, so I'll do it now! Consider this your free-lunch-with-Furina coupon. Hope to see you soon! -With love, Furina"

Ah...that made sense. Looking at the bottom, you found another small note.

"Also, I didn't take these pictures-- Charlotte did ♡"

If you were to guess, you'd say that Charlotte also wrote the story that just so happened to make the front page. Well, this will probably be good for business. Unless, of course, some crazy Neuvillette fanatic comes looking for you because you got attention for it...

With a sigh, you set the envelope down, and just as you did, what looked like a ticket fell out. Picking it up, you noticed that it was a reservation. A reservation for a very prestigious restaurant known here in Fontaine. A reservation for two, it said, and your name was listed alongside Neuvillette's. How convenient that it was listed as a couples' night.

Furina could be so mischievous at times, truly.

But oh well-- you would probably never forgive yourself if you didn't take such an opportunity. ♡

𓋼𓍊Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this. I've been getting back into writing, and have had this one in my drafts for a while. I haven't posted since 2024, so this is my first post of the year! Yes, late, I know, but hey-- I'm a busy gal. Please let me know if you'd like a continuation of this, and requests are always open! 𓍊𓋼

[sofs16]

rehearsal?

my first lando fic hehe

lando norris x influencer!reader

fc: madeline argy

yn

liked by landonorris, and 2,484,595 others yn u gotta loveeee spring time

view all 123,586 comments

liked by 653,686 others landonorris freshhhh

view all 172,585 comments

landowins LETS GOOO MONACO

yn

liked by landonorris, mclaren, and 3,272,228 others yn humahumahuma

view all 83,686 comments

ynlauver whats a humahumahuma

⤷ yn @ynlauver idk… when do we ever know what i’m saying tho

mclando4 mclaren wyd here 😋

━ yn just tweeted !

yn @yn • 1h

STUPID FUCKING STUPIDDDDDDD

15:22 • 05/27/23 from earth • 543k Views 54k Reposts 10k Quotes 143k Likes 10k Bookmarks

Replying to @yn amelie @ynsbaee • 1h WHAT HAPPENED MOTHER?

Replying to @ynsbaee yn @yn • 41m your mother is an idiot. WHO CALLS QUALIFYING “REHEARSALS” AND THINKS THE CARS GO IN ONE AT A TIME AND SAYS IT TO THE FUCKING DRIVERS IM SO STUDPIC IM GOING TO MFKSSM 😭😭😭

jess @ynsracetrack • 30m

is yn talking abt f1.. HELLO?

15:52 • 05/27/23 from earth • 1,383 Views

21 Reposts 11 Quotes 943 Likes 2 Bookmarks

Replying to @ynsracetrack lia @ynloml • 1m THE FUCK SHE MET LANDO AND OSCAR

ynupdated

liked by landonorris and 13,383 others ynupdated NEW| Yn with Lando Norris at the Monaco Grand Prix! Via @ mclaren

view all 235 comments

landonoririzz lando.. we see you…

landohasrizz so proud of our boy! met his long time crush 😵‍💫

⤷ ynxoxo who wouldnt have a crush on my wife?

yn

liked by landonorris , charles_leclerc, and 4,978,808 others yn @ landonorris @ oscarpiastri @ mclaren is my public apology for calling qualifying “rehearsals”

view all 1,228,334 comments

landonorris Anytime! You looked great today 🧡

[ COMMENT DELETED ! ]

landonorris Had a great time at rehearsals with you! [ COMMENT DELETED ! ]

landonorris Anytime! Hope you enjoyed 🧡🧡🧡

[ COMMENT DELETED ! ]

landonorris Anytime! Hope you’re enjoying Monaco so far 🧡

⤷ yn oh believe me, i did ;)

landonoriszz lando😭

mcla1en user landonorris has stoped working

oscarpiastri We had a good laugh, all good! Enjoy the race tomorrow 🧡🏆

━ yn just followed back @ landonorris ! ━ yn just followed @ lando.jpg !

━ @ lando.jpg just followed back @ yn!

ynupdated

liked by 2,586 others ynupdated NEW| yn with a fan leaving the Monaco gp with P2 champion, Lando Norris! view all 112 comments

yncutiebae oh we’ve lost her.

yn

liked by landonorris, and 7,383,595 others yn mans got p2 and made me drive. i see how it is, norris. + sun here has got a GRIP on me view all 1,218,596 comments

ynwifeys HARD LAUNCH WHAT

ynmotherly mother knows what she did putting that last slide in her hard launch

landonorris Well, I am a passenger princess and you’re a better driver 😁🧡

⤷ yn awwwieee our lil lando princess ❤️😊

⤷ landonorris youre ruining this for me

⤷ yn buckle up sweets, you're in for a lot more! youre stuck with me for the week! ⤷ carlossainz55 landonorizz ❌ landohasrizz ✅

lando.jpg

liked by yn, and 843,585 others

lando.jpg day 4

view all 23,585 comments

f1over giggling. lando following back yn even if he doesnt usually follow back people (literally only follows his main and daniel’s jpg acc 😭)

yna @ynlandos • 4d

guys is ynlando still alive.. they havent interacted with each other since monaco … 😓

17:21 • 12/27/23 from earth • 12k Views 2k Reposts 532 Quotes 5k Likes 112 Bookmarks

replying to @ynlandos lia @ynloml they can’t be over, i refuse.

landonorris

liked by yn and 3,282,596 others

landonorris Word on the street is me and my gf broke up? Huh? Lando NoRizz never took off for a reason 🧡 Happy 7 months @yn lovely 🫀

view all 1,119,495 comments

carlossainz55 Lando Norizz certainly took off, what are you talking about, my muppet friend?

oscarpiastri Bet you’re grateful you were the one who brought up Yn to be invited to the GP 😂

⤷ landonorris shhh pastrami shhhhh

⤷ yn thanks babe

yn

liked by landonorris, and 7,338,696 others

yn i’ve done a lot of researching over the last 7 months to the point i can become the team principal! (andrea this is a JOKE IM SORRY). anywyas, love u my cutie patootie photographer @ landonorris loveulovuelovu

view all 1,670,707 comments

landonorris i am NOT a cutie patootie!

⤷ yn fine, no cuddles ig

⤷ landonorris IM A CUTIE PATOOTIE,NEVERMIND

[pastafossa]

🌊TUNA-TOBER🌊 PROMPT CHALLENGE 2024 🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

Hello friends! So last month I realized that one of the reasons I'm struggling to get my writing back up to my old speed is I am seriously out of practice since Dec/Jan when shit went down and I stopped writing for a while. After some thought, I decided I was gonna set up a little prompt challenge for myself, just a general, 'here's a prompt a day' thing for about a month. And I tossed this idea out onto my fave Daredevil discord server to see if anyone would want to join. And I'm happy to say there were takers, including some of my favorite writers in the fandom! So I've set up a delicious prompt challenge for all of us, and for anyone else who wants to take part.

For each day in October, there are three prompts: an 🌧️angst/whump prompt🌧️, a 🌻fluff prompt🌻, and a 🔥kink prompt🔥. Participants are free to choose which one of the prompts they want to write or make art of, or they can try to incorporate two, or even all three prompts into a single fic or art piece. They can write a short fic/make art every day, or just on whichever days they feel like (personally I'm going to shoot for one fic a day, but we'll see), or even incorporate those prompts into the chapters of longer fics. There are also four 'backup' prompt options for each category in case anyone hits a day or prompt where they aren't really feeling what's available on the chosen day. If any of these prompts inspire you, you can feel free to take on the Tuna-Tober challenge even if you're not in the server! This challenge is also not fandom-specific (although I have a feeling I'm mostly gonna write Charlie Cox characters, a surprise to precisely zero people, but again, we'll see).

Sometime this week, I'll be setting up a sideblog specifically for Tuna-Tober. That sideblog blog will reblog any Tuna-Tober fics/art or link to those fics that are posted on Ao3 so they'll all be easy to find. That blog will also have instructions for how to tag your Tuna-Tober fics and/or art pieces. If you'd like to be notified when that sideblog is up so you can follow it, let me know in the comments.

Without further ado: our Tuna-Tober prompts!

🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

Day 1: Falling Asleep In A Hospital Room ⚜ Reading To Each Other ⚜ Somnophilia

Day 2: “Why? Why do you love me?” ⚜ Flower Crowns ⚜ Mutual Masturbation

Day 3: Broken ⚜ “I feel real when i’m with you.” ⚜ Role Reversal

Day 4: “This isn’t you.” ⚜ “Are you blushing?” ⚜ Sixty-Nine

Day 5: Self-Loathing ⚜ Watergun Fight ⚜ Begging

Day 6: "Shh, I've got you now. I'm here." ⚜ Love Bites ⚜ “Spread your legs for me.”

Day 7: Nightmare ⚜ Honest Apology ⚜ Nothing Underneath

Day 8: Shaking ⚜ “You can sleep here tonight.” ⚜ Overstimulation

Day 9: Anxiety ⚜ “You don’t need to do that.” “I want to.” ⚜ “Open your mouth.”

Day 10: "I'm not good enough." ⚜ A Hug That Lasts A Little Too Long ⚜ Strap-on/Pegging

Day 11: Tears ⚜ “I’d be lost without you.” ⚜ Breast Worship

Day 12: "I did it for you.” ⚜ “You remembered?” ⚜ Deep-Throating

Day 13: Loneliness ⚜ Playful Kiss ⚜ “Beg me for it.”

Day 14: "Please look at me." ⚜ Sleep Talking ⚜ Accidental Stimulation

Day 15: Hiding An Injury ⚜ “Are you jealous?” ⚜ Threesome

Day 16: Exhaustion ⚜ Accidental Kiss ⚜ Against A Window

Day 17: "I'm not leaving you." ⚜ Tickling ⚜ “Touch yourself for me.”

Day 18: Scars ⚜ Pillow Fort ⚜ “I’m so proud of you, you’re taking me so well.”

Day 19: Touch starved ⚜ “I’ll always be there for you.” ⚜ Gags

Day 20: "Who did this to you?" ⚜ There Was Only One Bed ⚜ “You were made for me, weren’t you?”

Day 21: Fainting/Collapsing ⚜ Flustered ⚜ “Was that an order?”

Day 22: "You haven't done anything wrong." ⚜ Breathless Kiss ⚜ Aphrodisiacs

Day 23: Father ⚜ “If you won’t take care of yourself, I will.” ⚜ Toys

Day 24: Drugged ⚜ Drunken Confession ⚜ “Shh, do you want them to hear us?”

Day 25: "What's Wrong?" ⚜ Playing With Their Hair ⚜ “Did I say you could do that?”

Day 26: "You're not fine." ⚜ “Shut up and kiss me.” ⚜ Under The Desk

Day 27: Near Death Experience ⚜ Overheard Confession ⚜ “Let me see what that pretty mouth can do.”

Day 28: Chronic Pain ⚜ Sharing An Umbrella ⚜ Hair Pulling

Day 29: "Talk to me, please." ⚜ Forehead Kiss ⚜ Restraints

Day 30: Healing ⚜ Road Trip ⚜ “Take it off. Slowly.”

Day 31: "Why wasn't I enough?" ⚜ Blanket Hog ⚜ Stockings/Thigh Highs

🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

🌊Tuna-Tober🌊 Backup Prompts:

Bound/Chained ⚜ Moving In Together ⚜ Almost Getting Caught

"Take me instead." ⚜ “I’m in love with you, and that scares me.” ⚜ High Heels

Insomnia ⚜ Adopting A Pet ⚜ Scent Marking

"You're not alone." ⚜ Playing A Game Together ⚜ Ass Worship

🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

[incognit0slut]

Right Kind of Wrong (12)

She never thought she would be involved in a murder investigation and encounter her one-night-stand again, the awkward guy who isn’t exactly that good in bed—Or is he? Offended by the sentiment, Spencer is determined to prove her wrong… But as he gets tangled with the beautiful stranger, he realizes there is more to her than what meets the eye.

Part Summary: Spencer gets closer to the truth while she feels suffocated by the situation. wc: 4.3k

Series Warnings: 18+ explicit content, graphic details of murders, mentions of suicide, mentions of SA

a/n: Let me give you a long part as a token of my apology for being a slow writer. I hope this was worth the wait

Other parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

"WE BELIEVE WE ARE DEALING WITH A MALE OFFENDER IN HIS LATE 20s TO EARLY 30s," Aaron Hotchner announced, his voice loud and jarring. "Based on the crime scenes, the Unsub doesn't have a lot of experience as they were most likely done in a moment of rage."

The team stood in front of the bullpen, facing a room full of officers and agents scattered along the space. Pens clicked and notepads rustled around them as everyone prepared to add insights to their unfolding narrative.

Rossi, who stood by the evidence board, skimmed his eyes across the room. "It suggests someone who is impulsive and might have difficulty controlling urges. This could also be a sign of an underlying mental illness."

"It's likely that there is some kind of history there, either of abuse or trauma in their childhood," JJ added. "It seems that the Unsub may have difficulty connecting with or relating to others and may be socially isolated as a result. He would mostly like to keep to himself."

Spencer took a step forward and carried on with their profile of the unidentified suspect. "The Unsub might also have grown up in a deeply religious environment. Their beliefs may have become twisted and distorted, leading them to believe that they possess a unique calling to carry out their crimes as a way of punishment."

"Based on the victims, the Unsub has targeted specific people whom they believe have harmed one of our witnesses," Morgan added, his voice seeming to turn deeper as he continued, "Y/n L/n."

A jolt of electricity surged through Spencer's consciousness. The human mind really was a powerful thing. Somehow the simple sound of her name projected the memories he had of her and suddenly he was seeing her face, her radiant smile, her beautiful eyes—he was seeing her so clearly as if she were standing right before him.

But then Emily moved past him, jolting him awake from his reverie as she bumped against his shoulder. "The Unsub has a sense of loyalty to her that they are acting out these crimes as a desire for retribution on her behalf. They might believe that they have a connection or some kind of relationship with Ms. L/n."

"We believe the Unsub might know her personally," Hotch addressed, his eyes, sharp and penetrating, scanning around him. "Go through places where the witness is most likely to go. This could be her neighborhood, workplace, daily commute, and so on."

The atmosphere seemed to shift as he finally dismissed the room. Everyone rose from their seats, each one heading to their respective posts and assignments. It didn't take long for the phones to ring in the background, followed by the constant shuffle of feet as the entire space started to come alive.

And as Spencer turned back to his desk, a familiar man pushing the glass doors of the office suddenly caught his attention. His steps faltered while the man looked around the room as recognition hit him. Spencer walked over, addressing him as one of the witnesses. "Mr. Adler?"

The other man blew out a sigh of relief. "Eric, please." He entered the office and gave Spencer a look. "The people downstairs told me I could find you here."

"You were looking for me?" He frowned. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I hope so," Eric replied. "Has there been any missing person report lately?"

The confusion on his face grew prominent at the question. "Not that I know of. Why? Is someone you know missing?"

"A coworker of mine hasn't shown up to work and I can't contact any of his family members," he explained. "I'm starting to get worried."

"What's his name?"

"Oliver Walsh."

Having an eidetic memory helped him recall the name easily. His mind went through all the information he gathered these past few days and remembered the exact name written on the list of employees. "When did you last see him?"

"Three—no, four days ago. He left work looking very troubled."

Spencer's brow was furrowed, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on Eric's. "Troubled?"

Eric nodded. "He seemed distracted."

"Do you have any idea why he acted the way he did?"

"No," he responded. And then it suddenly happened. His eyes, previously engaged in maintaining eye contact, drifted upward for a fleeting second. It was as though a switch had been flipped in his mind and the gears of his memory whirred to life. "Although he did seem to act different that day... especially towards Y/n."

His stomach churned. A subtle tremor coursed through his limbs, betraying the unease that was slowly but unmistakably creeping into his consciousness. "...Y/n?"

"You remember her, right? She was with me the night it happened."

Remember her? She was the only person he couldn't stop thinking about. Spencer cleared his throat and leaned forward. "I'm aware Ms. L/n was also a witness."

"Well, Oliver has been fixated on her for so long, everyone in the office knows this. Y/n mostly thinks of it as a joke but I don't think Oliver sees it the same way as she does."

"And something happened between them on the day you last saw him?"

"I'm not sure." Eric sighed. "I saw them talking after work hours, and by the looks of it, I think Y/n was pissed at him." He then crossed his arms, his brows in deep concentration as he seemed to be recalling that day. "She looked like she was under a lot of stress, actually."

"Did you hear what they were talking about?"

"No. But after that, Oliver didn't seem like himself anymore. Then he didn't come to work the next day..." Eric trailed off, his eyes casting down before he mumbled, "I still don't know where he is now."

Spencer's mind suddenly became a whirlwind of calculated chaos, connecting the dots with lightning precision. His heart raced in his chest, pounding out a rhythm of urgency that echoed in his ears. There was no room for hesitation, no luxury of second-guessing.

He needed to move fast.

"Emily!" He called out as he saw his friend walking past them, quickly stopping her pace at the mention of her name. "Can you help Mr. Adler file a missing person report?"

"Uh..." she looked between the two men, uncertainty written across her face. There were questions lingering at the tip of her tongue but she stopped herself when she saw the urgent look Spencer was throwing at her. "Of course," she decided to agree, her attention shifting to the other man. "Right this way."

With a swift, purposeful stride, Spencer left them behind, his footsteps echoing the urgency that had taken hold of him. His heart was still racing when he walked down the corridor, quickly making his way to the room down the hall.

The door swung open with a resolute push, and he entered the room, his senses on high alert. "Garcia."

"I wasn't doing anything!" The woman sitting before him shrieked, closing the window tabs on the screen in front of her. Usually, Spencer would tease her on how unprofessional it was to be doing something else that wasn't related to work, but he didn't have the time to engage in playful banter.

Spencer stepped behind her, placing a hand on the back of her chair. "Garcia, I need you to find Oliver Walsh for me."

She wasted no time. Her fingers danced across the keyboard with a rapid, almost feverish intensity. "Oliver... Walsh..." The soft clatter of keys echoed in the room as she navigated through files and databases. "There are too many Oliver Walsh in this country."

"He works at the same company as Y/n."

"Should've mentioned that sooner." Her eyes scanned lines of text, images, and documents in front of her. "Bingo. Oliver Conrad Walsh was born on 18th December 1991 as an only child—wait, look at this. His family was part of The Haven Hill... a sanctuary of unwavering faith and profound tranquility?"

"Is it some kind of a cult?"

"I don't think so." Her eyes landed on an old article buried within the archives and clicked on the link before a picture of a worn-out brochure greeted them. "Prospective members are welcomed into Haven Hill, a secluded and serene enclave where faith and tradition unite. It seems like a very tight-knit community with a very religious belief—oh!"

Her fingers moved as she navigated through digital records. "Reid..."

"What is it?"

The screen suddenly displayed a grim history of illicit activities and misdeeds, a virtual breadcrumb trail leading them closer to the truth.

"Oliver Walsh was far from being a saint albeit growing up in a religious environment. Along with his group of friends, he was constantly rebelling ever since a very young age. He had to do a lot of community service for it too; underage drinking, burglary, public disturbances—oh dear."

"Attempt sexual assault?" Spencer read out loud.

"...a group of underage boys was proved guilty of trying to violate a fourteen-year-old girl on school grounds—"

"Garcia," Spencer stopped her, not wanting to listen to the rest of the story. "Give me his current address."

"Already on it," she responded, her fingers hovering over the keyboard.

Spencer's heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't believe this, the suspect was no longer a shadowy figure; they were becoming real, tangible, and within his grasp. Then his eyes caught the shot of the man on the screen. A jolt of recognition surged through him as he scrutinized the suspect's image on the screen. The face staring back at him carried a haunting familiarity.

Memories raced through his mind like flickering images from the past. He remembered him, he always remembered people's faces, and that man right there was the same man he had seen in Y/n's house that afternoon. There was a huge chance this was all a coincidence.

But there was also a possibility of Oliver Walsh being the Unsub.

He didn't know which one was true, but what he did know was that he needed to find out the truth.

The sudden, shrill ring of his phone shattered the intensity of the moment. It was a jarring intrusion, snapping him back to the present. With a swift, almost automatic motion, Spencer reached for the device and answered the call without looking away from the screen. "Yes?"

"Agent Reid," the person on the other line greeted, their words rushed in a moment of panic. "I can't find her."

Spencer pulled his phone away from his face and glanced at the caller ID. Officer Anderson. A sense of relentless panic coursed through him as the realization hit like a lightning bolt. He felt a knot tighten in his stomach, a visceral reaction to the gravity of the call.

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

"I—" There was a sigh. "I-I was watching inside my car and I somehow ended up sleeping. She's nowhere inside the house now—"

"Did you call her?"

"She left her phone in the kitchen."

At that moment, he was acutely aware of every heartbeat, every pulse of blood coursing through his veins. Panic resounded through his thoughts, casting a dark shadow over him. It was a visceral, gut-wrenching sensation that threatened to paralyze him like the ground had suddenly shifted beneath his feet.

"I apologize, Agent Reid."

But then anger coursed through his body. He was suddenly angry—Angry at the situation, angry at the Unsub, angry at the officer who couldn't seem to do his one simple job. His jaw clenched, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone tighter, and his eyes flashed with fury.

"Being sorry isn't going to help you find her," he snapped. He then straightened himself. "I'll be there in ten."

"What happened?" Garcia whispered, noticing the sudden tension in his shoulder.

Spencer shoved back his phone and turned to her. "Garcia, I need you to inform the others, I have to go."

"What?!" She yelped, watching as he turned away from her. "Right now? Where are you going?"

But her question was left unanswered as he bolted out of the door.

There was no other way to explain what being followed by a disguised officer felt like. It was suffocating. Even everything felt suffocating these days, and when she meant everything, Y/n really meant everything.

At first, the idea of protection had offered comfort, but now it was an oppressive weight that bore down on her shoulders. Everywhere she turned, a shadow loomed, an unwelcome reminder of the loss of her freedom. The suffocating sensation was inescapable, restricting her every movement.

The constant surveillance had pushed her to the brink of stress and manifested in the form of tension that coiled within her, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. Her patience wore thin and the weight of anxiety rested heavy on her chest. One moment she was on the verge of tears, the next, she was snapping with sharp words, irritable and sullen.

She really needed a break.

"You should go to the gym," Sandy had suggested the other day. "It might help relieve the stress."

After debating whether it was a good idea to visit the gym when she couldn't even remember the last time she stepped foot on a treadmill, she finally decided to slip out of the house. She walked over to the black car she already grew familiar with and stood by the window—only to find Officer Anderson fast asleep behind the wheels.

A pang of guilt tugged at her, but the allure of temporary freedom was too strong to resist. It was an unexpected opportunity, a rare moment of freedom dangling before her like a tempting prize. Was it wise to leave without informing him? Probably not. But she couldn't imagine herself working out—all awkward, tired, and sweaty—with Officer Anderson watching her from the corner.

So silently, she retraced her steps. Her pulse quickened with a mix of trepidation and exhilaration as she walked away. It would be fine, she had assured herself. She would be back before he realized she was even gone. And with that thought in mind, she quickly made her way to the closest gym around the corner.

The place felt both familiar and foreign as she navigated the equipment, but she finally found her place in an exercise routine. Her muscles protested the unaccustomed effort, but with each movement, she could feel the tension slowly dissipating. It wasn't until she could barely feel her limbs anymore that she stopped and left the place.

Even though her body was aching from pushing her body to its limit, she did feel slightly better. Her steps also did feel lighter when she walked back to her home, and her mind felt calmer, and less chaotic than it did when she left her house. But as she approached her street, a knot of unease tightened in her stomach.

The evening's fading light cast long, ominous shadows that seemed to reach out and embrace her front door, which stood ajar. It was an unexpected sight, one that sent a chill down her spine. Two things flashed into her mind at that very moment. One, she realized Officer Anderson was nowhere in sight. His usual parked car looked very much abandoned with no one inside the vehicle. Two, she could probably die if she entered her house alone in this state.

Maybe she should call the police. Maybe she should call Spencer... Yeah right, she didn't even have his number. Maybe she should just call Agent Jareau. Or Agent Prentiss. Yes, that would be a wiser option than to—shit. She clutched her empty pockets.

She didn't even bring her phone to begin with.

She cursed to herself. This was a bad, bad decision. She was probably going to regret this, but she couldn't just stand there and do nothing. So very cautiously, she approached her house, her senses on high alert.

As she pushed the door open wider, it revealed a slice of the dimly lit interior. She couldn't help but hold her breath as she stepped over the threshold, her footsteps hesitant, almost reverent, on the creaking floorboards.

She stepped deeper into her home and slowly entered the dimly lit kitchen. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a figure standing shrouded in shadows, a silhouette in the gloom. A gasp of shock emitted through her lips, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, recognition washed over her like a tidal wave.

"Officer Anderson!" She yelled, placing a hand over her heart. "You scared me!"

"Ms. L/n," he breathed out, his expression softening when he saw her. "Where have you been?"

Guilt washed over her as she noticed the concern in his eyes but she quickly dismissed it, stepping further into the room, and grabbing a water bottle from the fridge. "I went to the gym."

"Why didn't you tell me? I'm supposed to accompany you—"

"You were asleep, I didn't want to wake you."

"You should've woken me up, Ms. L/n."

"You looked like you could use some sleep," she mentioned before glancing at the clock perched on the wall. "I was only gone for like an hour, it's not a big deal."

Officer Anderson looked like he wanted to argue with her, but stopped himself before letting out a sigh. "Can you please inform me whenever you step out of the house, even when I might be asleep?"

His concerned gaze met hers as he turned to her, a mixture of relief and worry in his eyes. Guilt twisted in her chest as she nodded. "Alright, I will."

"And please bring your phone with you at all times."

Her eyes snapped towards the device sitting on the counter. "I did forget to bring it with me, I'm sorry."

With a nod, the officer excused himself, giving her a moment of privacy to collect her thoughts. She watched him go, his retreating figure a testament to his dedication, despite the surprise of her brief absence.

Feeling overwhelmed by the mix of emotions—being scrutinized by an authority, being a potential target of a serial killer still on the loose—she retreated to her room, seeking solace in the familiar confines of her private space. She quickly peeled off her clothes which clung to her body from all the sweat and stepped into her bathroom.

The sound of running water filled the room as she turned on the shower, its warmth a soothing embrace. Steam enveloped her, and as the water cascaded over her body, the tension that had coiled within her began to unravel. Under the gentle caress of the water, she closed her eyes. Her shoulders trembled with the tension she had carried for so long, the weight of guilt, responsibility, and emotions too complex to unravel.

How had things turned the way it did? A few weeks ago her life seemed normal, yet now she was linked to a crime with her name at the center of it. This felt so unfair. Why her? Why now? Wh—

Bang!

She opened her eyes.

What was it now?

It sounded... it sounded like a thud coming from somewhere in her house.

The sudden interruption jolted her from the sanctuary of the shower. Her heart raced as she hastily wrapped a towel around herself and emerged from the bathroom, water droplets glistening on her skin. The door to her room suddenly wrenched open with force before a figure she last expected walked in.

"What the—Spencer!" She gasped, not believing who she was seeing. "What the hell?!"

His gaze met hers, and she saw something in his expression that sent a shiver down her spine. It was an anger she hadn't seen before, a storm brewing beneath the surface of his usual calm demeanor. His jaw was clenched, and his normally warm eyes were steely and cold.

"Are you crazy?" He suddenly snapped.

"Me?" She wailed, tightening the towel around her body. "Are you crazy? What are you even doing here?"

"What were you thinking going out without notice?" Spencer's tone was incredulous, his anger unabated. "Without informing Officer Anderson?"

So this was why he was here? To confront her reckless action perhaps?

She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "He looked like he needed the sleep after constantly watching me with little to no rest."

Spencer's frustration deepened, his brows furrowing. "He's assigned to you to keep you safe. You can't just disappear like that, it's irresponsible."

"Well excuse me for being considerate," she retorted.

"You were being reckless."

"No," she argued. "I was being thoughtful."

"Why are you not taking this seriously?" His voice grew sharper, a desperate attempt to make her understand as he stalked towards her. "Can't you understand you were putting yourself at risk?"

"I was only gone for an hour."

"Something could've happened!"

"But nothing did!"

She met his frustration with a defiant glare, holding her ground as he approached her, his tall, intimidating frame only stopping when he was directly in front of her. She saw his eyes drift down her body before pinning his gaze on her face again.

"Y/n, I need you to be safe."

"I am safe! I've been safe ever since you guys put someone to watch over me. I've been safe ever since the same person has been following me everywhere I go, which if you haven't caught on my sarcasm, has made me feel more like in prison than actually feeling protected." Her voice was tinged with frustration as she squared her shoulders, refusing to back down. "It's like I'm being controlled."

"It's not about controlling you, it's about ensuring that nothing bad happens to you."

"I was simply gone for an hour, Spencer," she reminded him again. "No need to go all dramatic over it."

Then in the blink of an eye, the heated tension that had filled the room seemed to snap, leaving them both breathless and disarmed. But instead of reacting with anger or shouting, Spencer's frustration found a different outlet.

"Why are you not fucking listening to me?"

And in a sudden and unexpected gesture, he cupped her face in his hands. Their eyes locked for a fleeting moment, filled with a mix of emotions too complex to name. And then, in a burst of raw and unspoken desire, he leaned in and crashed his lips on her.

She was too stunned to speak, too stunned to respond. There was nothing else she could do but to give in his advance, because dear god, it felt too good to have his mouth moving against hers again. Spencer had kissed her many times before, but not like this. Not this rough. She could even feel the frustration seeping from his body as his lips moved against hers with urgency.

He continued to kiss her, biting hard at her bottom lip, teeth gnashing against the soft flesh of it as a rumbling noise vibrated deep in his chest. Each time she gasped in response at his teeth, his tongue forced its way into her mouth and lapped so mercilessly that she was left desperate for air each time he returned to assaulting her with his teeth and lips.

"Is this what it would take for you to listen?" He growled against her mouth. "Is this what you want?"

Speechless, she responded to his ardor with a fervor of her own, her body leaning into his, fingers tracing the contours of his face. She continued to stare up at him, trying to quickly piece together what was going on, though she nevertheless found herself aroused. It was as if their desire, long suppressed by their arguments and differences, had suddenly ignited, leaving them both powerless to resist the pull of passion.

"Answer me," he barked out.

"Yes," she finally breathed out. "Yes."

Releasing her face, his hands rose in between them. Her eyes dropped down, watching as he gripped her towel with so much force before he ripped it off her body in one swift movement, throwing the material onto the floor.

His eyes roamed over her body, tracing every curve and contour with an intensity that sent shivers down her spine. His hands traced over her sides before he gripped onto her hips, tugging her towards him desperately. "I won't be able to restrain myself."

She knew what he meant. She was acutely aware of the tension seeping from his body, all the anger, all the frustration. She understood how hard these past few days had been for him, she could even feel it from the taught in his muscles. He was tensed and from the way he was looking at her with hooded eyes, he needed a release.

And so did she.

The intensity of the moment had ignited a different kind of fire within her, and her previous anger and frustration began to fade away, which was why she found one of her hands caressing his cheek, pulling him closer as he leaned his forehead against hers. "Then don't," she whispered. "Use me."

His eyes snapped to her.

"You can use me, Spencer," she assured him. "Use me in any way you want."

There was a moment of silence as he contemplated her words. "Do you mean that?"

She nodded. She missed this—dear god, she missed him so much. She hadn't realized how much she missed being close to him until she was standing naked underneath his heated gaze.

She pressed her lips against his softly. "I'm all yours."

And then he deepened the kiss and she melted into him, her tongue dancing with his. He slowly loosened his grip on her hips and found its way onto her hand resting against his cheek. He pulled away from her, tugging her hand towards him, his mouth hovering above her wrist.

"In any way I want?" He asked, gently brushing his lips over her pulse.

"Any way you want."

He smiled at her then, the first smile she saw on him ever since he barged into her room unexpectedly. But there was something about his smile that sent her into a frenzy of nerves. It wasn't genuine, it wasn't gentle.

It wasn't until his other hand reached behind him that she finally understood what his smile meant. Because right at that moment, to her surprise, he retrieved a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and with a soft click he carefully bounded one of her wrists, the steel bracelets feeling cool against her damp skin.

And then his smile morphed into a more dominant edge as he leaned closer, his eyes burning with need.

"Any way I want."

>> NEXT PART

a/n: Did you think I wasn't going to insert another smutty scene in between all the chaos? You thought wrong!

.

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[python333]

scary dog privileges — python333

— — — —

synopsis ur super duper scary to almost all 141 soldiers, but to price soap ghost and gaz ur just the sweetest little thing ever :3

relationships platonic!taskforce 141 & gn!reader.

characters cap. price, soap, ghost, gaz.

word count 4.6k

warnings 2nd person pov [you/yours/yourself], no usage of c/n [call sign chosen for this fic is 'Cerberus'!], might sound kind of rushed/shitty :{

note normally i try not to rush fics BUT i started this at like 12 pm and as im typing this out its 11 pm and ive only written 2285 words so im kind of rushing this so i can keep up my little posting daily thing!! this idea has also been rotting in my brain for a while, so i might make a hcs thing from it, idk, but for now its just this fic!! also, thank you everyone who gave reblogged my last fic, reblogs are the best sorta motivation for a reader and i absolutely appreciate all of them :> anyway this is all fluff + comfort no hurt and has some soft!ghost in it because hes my dad and i love him so enjoy!!

The Private in front of you may as well have been pissing his pants with how scared he looked. His commanding officer, and one of your closest friends, Soap, had reported him to you for ‘insubordination’. He’d said, verbatim, when telling you about him, “I’d deal with him myself, but I’m too tired to,” so now you had to deal with one of his subordinates. 

You sighed through your nose as you looked down at the Private in front of you, the latter comically small compared to you, both physically and mentally. 

“Well?” You ask expectantly, raising an eyebrow at him, “Are you gonna tell me what happened?” The Private shakily nods and you can hear him gulp, “Right, yeah, so basically, it was earlier this morning and I was following orders and everything, doing what I was supposed to, then I accidentally interrupted Soap while he was giving me orders, which I didn’t mean to do, I swear, I just wasn’t thinking and it happened and I just— I didn’t mean to do it. And then later on, we were both—me and Soap—talking with a few other people who I guess were some higher ranked soldiers from different tactical operations and I accidentally interrupted some of them. It was—” “I’m sorry, hold on,” You put a finger up to silence him, to which he responds with immediate silence, letting you talk, “You don’t accidentally interrupt someone. Either you do it or you don’t. You don’t just slip up and interrupt your CO in the middle of him giving you orders. Secondly, always refer to Soap as ‘Captain MacTavish’, or ‘Captain’ if that’s somehow too hard for you, don’t act like you get to talk about him like you’re both all buddy-buddy and—” “Okay, but if you’d just let me finish—” The Private tries to interrupt you, making you draw your eyebrows together in confusion. “Excuse me?” You ask, mildly offended that he had the audacity to interrupt you, “Did you just interrupt me?” The Private stays silent for a moment, looking up at you, wide-eyed. His whole face looks even more stupid like this—like he doesn’t even know what he did. 

“I asked you a question, Private,” You remind him, leaning down a bit, tilting your head to the side questioningly, “Did you just interrupt me?”  “Right, yeah, I did, sorry about that—” He tries to apologize, “Didn’t mean to. Swear.” “Right,” You narrow your eyes at him, standing back up straight and crossing your arms, “Remember what I just said? About not accidentally interrupting people?” “Yeah, I do.” “Could you say ‘Yes, Lieutenant’ instead of that?” You ask, “This isn’t a casual conversation. This is one of your superiors telling you that you can’t blatantly disrespect your commanding officer, so act like it.” “Yes— Yes, Lieutenant,” The Private stammers, which really shouldn’t make your lips twitch at the corners but it does, and you have to fight off a smile, pursing your lips instead. 

“Like I was saying earlier,” You continue your words from earlier, “In conversations like these, when you’re not out doing an assignment, I don’t want to catch you referring to Captain MacTavish as just ‘Soap’ ever again. And you don’t want me to catch you doing that either, you understand?” “I understand, Lieutenant.” “Good, good,” You nod, before gesturing for the Private to keep giving you his side of the story, “Continue telling me what happened then.” “Right, so, after that, Captain MacTavish gave me some new orders, and I felt like I had a better idea of what to do than him because I’d thought of something that makes more sense than what he told me to do, so I told him as such, and he acted all shocked like I didn’t have a really good idea, and told me that I was to follow his orders not the ones I tried to give to myself so I told him that mine were better and—”

“Have you read the military regulations and codes of conduct? Ever?” You interrupt, making the Private shut up almost immediately and hesitantly nod his head affirmatively. “I really don’t believe you. Everything I’ve heard so far is a direct violation of it, I just—” You pause to give a small, humorless laugh, “You have me speechless here, really.” The Private watches nervously as you struggle to find the appropriate words to say, before you finally come up with, “Is there more that you need to tell me about?” “… Yeah,” The Private answers sheepishly, making you sigh through your nose and gesture for him to tell you the rest. He clears his throat before starting up again, “And then he said that he’s the commanding officer for a reason and that what he says goes so I said okay and did what he told me to do. Then after that whole thing, he told me to go to your office and tell you what I did.” Why do I have to do all his dirty work? “… Okay then,” You look up at the ceiling and try to think of what to do, before taking a deep breath and looking down at the Private, muttering, “Well, I appreciate that you didn’t go into my office without my permission, at least you know not to do that.” You clear your throat before speaking louder, “Let’s head into my office instead of just standing out here. This is probably violating some sort of code…” The Private nods and lets you unlock the door to your office that’s just a few steps away and walks in after you, being sure to close the door behind him. He automatically sits at the chair across from your desk and you sit down at your own chair behind your desk. 

“Right, okay, let’s see…” You dig around the drawers of your desk, before letting out a small ‘ah-ha!’ and pulling a corrective action assignment form out of one of the small drawers of your desk and setting it onto the top of your desk. You grab a pen from the small cup by your desk and write down the date on the form in your usual neat handwriting. 

You read a question on the form and look over at the Private, “Could you give me your full name, please?”

“John— John Williams,” The Private stammers again, making you raise an eyebrow.

“Your name is John-John Williams?”

“No, just John Williams, Lieutenant.” “M’kay,” You write down his name and fill out a few more things on the form before signing it off with your name and looking over at the Private once again, folding the paper in half as you do, “I’m gonna trust you to bring this to Soap, and tell him that it’s from me. You think you can do that?” “Yeah, of course,” John breathes out, grabbing the paper from you as you hand it to him. “Yes what?” “Yes— Yes, Lieutenant.” “There we go,” You sigh and lean back in your chair, “Go on and pass that to him. And tell him to send anyone else who’s being insubordinate to Ghost or something, anyone but me.” 

John simply nods and gets up, walking out your office door and making sure to close it behind him. You cap the pen you’d used and put it back in the cup where the rest of your writing utensils are, before yawning and leaning forward to rest your head on your desk when suddenly there’s a sharp knocking at your office door. You muffle a groan and wait a moment before calling out, “Come in!” You watch as your door slowly opens, making a creaking sound that hurts your ears a bit, and much to your annoyance, yet another Private is standing in your doorway, looking just as sheepish as the last. “Oh my f— you know what?” You stand up and take a deep breath to momentarily calm yourself, “Who sent you? Was it Soap?” “… Yes,” The Private answers, their voice shaky as they speak to you, the whole thing only making you more annoyed. “Where is he right now?” You ask, walking towards the door and opening it wider, towering over the much smaller Private in front of you. 

“The— the training facility.” You blink at the Private and you take another deep breath to calm yourself. “Yeah, no sh— ugh, you know what? Thank you. Just—” You look up at the ceiling and tell yourself not to snap at this poor rookie, and look back down at them, “Just follow me. I have to go yell at him.” 

“What?” The Private asks dumbly, their eyes widening a bit in surprise. You don’t bother to look over your shoulder and check that they’re following you, instead just walking out of your office, somehow hearing their footsteps even with the thundering stomping your boots made as you walked. 

You eventually made it to one of the training facilities, the only one that currently had anyone in them, and opened the door louder than you meant to. You walked in, the shaking Private behind you as you walked up to Soap and took several deep breaths to calm yourself, ignoring the several rookies that stared at you as you walked over to him. You could hear small whispers forming amongst Soap’s small platoon of soldiers, but ignored them as well, simply walking up to Soap, who finally noticed you. He turned to you and gave you a knowing grin, like he knew exactly why you were here. “Hey, L.t—” “Why have I had two Privates coming into my office telling me you sent them because you couldn’t do your damn job?” You question him immediately, ignoring the small gasp from the Private behind you, “Do you know how many CAA forms I have left? Three. Three forms. Because you can’t deal with your own rookies. If I wanted to be dealing with them, I would’ve let Price make me a CO. You know what I said when he asked me to be one? Fuck no. I said it for a reason.” 

“… Sae ye din’t want me tae report onyone else tae ye?” Soap asks, like the little shit he is, in a teasing tone. “Absolutely not.”

“Noted,” He nods, as if he understands, and gestures for the Private he’d sent to you to come back over to him, “I actually got yer message a minute ago from Williams. I think he almost shat himself.” 

“I’m kinda happy about that, honestly,” You mutter, “Everything he told me was like… a direct violation of the code of conduct and was just so stupid.” “I ken!” Soap agrees, “I swear, naebody reads the code ‘o conduct ony mair.” “I asked him if he did, and he said yes, but I know he’s lying,” You roll your eyes before adding on, “And you know what? I’ve only had issues with British people ever since you and Gaz started reporting people to me. I think that they’re just the issue.” 

“Jesus, I ken,” Soap mutters, “Fuckin’ Brits.” “Fuckin’ Brits.” You nod in agreement, before sighing and looking over at the rest of Soap’s platoon. You look back at him, “I also told Williams to actually refer to you as ‘Captain MacTavish’, so… there’s that.” “Guid, guid,” Soap nods, before clearing his throat and continuing,

“So did ye only come here tae yell at mae?” 

“Yeah.” You admit, making Soap laugh lightly.

“And yer done now?”

“… I guess,” You mutter, making him chuckle and pat you on the shoulder.

“Guid,” He says, looking over at his group of soldiers he’s meant to be training, “I think yer scarin’ my soldiers more than mae.”

“How can you tell?” You ask sarcastically, following his gaze to the rookies that were trying their best not to look like they were eavesdropping when they clearly were. “They don’t even know we’re talking right now.” Soap huffs out a small laugh, “Right, o’ course.” 

“I’m gonna head back to my office and take a quick nap,” You let Soap know, “So don’t send me anymore people. They’re stinking up my office, it’s ridiculous.” Soap raises an eyebrow at you questioningly, “Why don’t you just go to your sleeping quarters?” “Don’t tell me what to do.” Soap raises his hands in surrender, “Alright, then.” You huff out a tired breath and say, “So if anyone asks where I am, just let them know that.” You don’t wait for a response before you walk away from Soap and immediately hear whispers starting up again, but you ignore them as you walk out the door, sort of used to them at this point. You didn’t know why you were so scary to some of the lower-ranked soldiers (and even some of the higher-ranked ones), considering you never intentionally did anything to scare them. Sure, you were taller than most of them, and maybe just a bit quicker to lose your temper with people, but it was never that bad. 

You vividly remember Gaz and Soap when they both found out a majority of the soldiers that were apart of the 141 were afraid of you or at least intimidated by you, the two had said that they wanted you around more often, just hanging out with them, so that they wouldn’t get bothered as much by people for unnecessary things.

Scary dog privileges, you remember they’d said, laughing as they did. It’s actually where you’d gotten your call sign, Cerberus. 

It’s not that you hated it at all, in fact, you didn’t mind being a little scary if it meant people were less likely to bother you, it’s just that it makes it a hell of a lot harder to actually talk to people without them starting to stammer or shake.

It was one of the reasons you turned down being a commanding officer—you didn’t really like the thought of commanding a platoon of soldiers that cowered in your presence. Plus, it was getting really annoying, not being able to talk to another soldier that wasn’t Price, Soap, Ghost or Gaz without them looking like all they wanted to do was leave the conversation. 

You finally make it back to your office and let out a sigh of relief as you open the door and walk in, closing it behind you, not even bothering to lock it as you immediately walk over to the chair behind your desk and sit down in it.

You reach below your desk and pull out a nice, fluffy blanket and a fluffy pillow to go with it that you always kept in your office—just for times like this, when you felt like going to sleep in your office, for whatever reason.

Were you supposed to be napping at all? No. Would your superiors let you anyway because you’ve somehow managed to get emotionally adopted by both Price and Soap? Absolutely.

You move some of the papers cluttering your desk out of the way and set down your pillow, as well as wrapping yourself in the blanket, and sigh happily as you lay your head down onto the pillow. 

Just as you’re getting comfy, you hear a knock at the door. No. You don’t get up to answer it. You just sit there, head on your pillow, nice and comfy. In fact, you refuse to answer the door, because you’ve opened it for two other people already, and God knows who you’re gonna snap at once you open that door.

Another knock—you ignore that one too, knowing full well you told Soap to tell anyone who was looking for you that you were in your office but also knowing that you never said you’d open the door, you just said you’d be there. 

You bury your face into the pillow and scream into it, knowing the scream wouldn’t be too muffled with how loud it was, but doing it anyway. You then take a deep breath and call out, unenthusiastic and tired, “Come in!” 

You watch the door open and see Ghost step in, and you’re silent as you watch him close the door behind him and walk over to you, his century old shitty laptop in hand as he sits down in the chair in front of your desk and sets down said laptop.

You pay no mind to it, deciding you’d rather take a nap, and set your head back down on the pillow, pretending that you can’t feel Ghost’s eyes on you. “… Are you okay?” He asks, sounding a little concerned as he looks at you bury your head into your pillow, before his concern turns into confusion as he asks, “When did you get a pillow in here— you have a blanket, too?” 

“Mmph.” You don’t respond with actual words, even if you did they’d be muffled beyond relief by your pillow. You can’t see him but Ghost raises an eyebrow at you and his lips twitch into a small, amused smile. 

“What, you’ve just had those in here?” Ghost asks, knowing he’ll get nothing more than a muffled hum from you. 

“Mmph.” “Alright, then,” He mutters, “Keep your secrets.” “Mmph.” You feel too tired to bother responding with anything else. “I feel like you shouldn’t sleep in your office, considering you have your own sleeping quarters you can sleep in.” “… Mmph.” “That’s fair,” Ghost nods. You hear him opening his laptop and you hear it crack when it opens, the noise making you huff out a small laugh into your pillow. God, that thing is so old, it’s ridiculous.

“What’s so funny?” Ghost asks as he types in his password. You don’t say anything in response, which doesn’t shock him in the slightest.  You feel yourself start to get closer to sleep, but can’t get quite there, instead sort of just hanging right on the edge of sleep.

You quietly grumble in frustration and shift a bit in your seat, not knowing what the issue is. Ghost notices this and raises an eyebrow at you, but doesn’t do anything about it just yet, instead getting back to his work. Why’d he have to go into your office to do his work? Who knows.

You shift again in your seat and Ghost knows that he’s not gonna be able to focus if you keep shifting—why wouldn’t he just go to his own office?—around, so he sighs and picks up his laptop and drags the chair in front of your desk with him around to behind your desk where you are.

You lift your head up to try and see what he’s doing, confused, and see him putting his chair right next to yours and setting his laptop down onto the desk. 

Before you can ask anything, he gently puts a hand on the side of your head and guides it to rest on his shoulder, and—oh. This is much better, somehow. 

He seems to know that it’s that much better, too, because his eyes crinkle a bit, giving away the fact that he’s smiling. However, he stays silent, and keeps his hand on the side of your head for a moment before letting it fall down to the side of your forearm, his thumb gently rubbing soothing circles into your skin.

He opens up his laptop once again and types in his password with one hand, the typing going by significantly slower than it would’ve if he used both hands, but he decides against keeping his hand off of you, seeing as it assists in helping you go to sleep.

Are you supposed to be asleep right now? Definitely not. But like mentioned before, Price wouldn’t mind. And you’d probably laugh if Soap minded, because even if he’s a Captain, he’ll always act like a little shit. Ghost knows this too, and with this information, he figures that he might as well help you sleep, since he knows exactly how to help you sleep. 

One too many nights spent pacing in your room, which eventually woke Ghost up, which led to him helping you sleep, so that he could sleep too, You sleepily remember, He always said he was annoyed by the pacing, and that’s the only reason he helped you sleep. But now, seeing what’s happening now, makes you question that a bit. Was it his annoyance, or something else? Or am I thinking too much about this?

Cutting off your train of thought is another knock at the door, and it’s not loud enough to completely snap you out of your drowsy haze but it’s enough to make you a little more aware, and for you to readjust your head your head so that your face is practically buried in the crook of Ghost’s neck. His thumb stops rubbing against your forearm, and he glares at the door like it was the door’s fault it got knocked on. 

The knocking persists and neither of you say anything, just waiting on whoever it is on the other side to give up and go away, but whoever it is must be feeling pretty determined because even louder knocks sound at the door, making you and Ghost sigh in unison.

You both continue to stay silent, hoping that whoever was on the other side just goes away, but they don’t. You don’t hear any footsteps retreating, and the knocks keep coming.  

“Hello?” You both hear Price’s voice on the other side, “Cerberus? You in there?” “Say no,” You mutter into Ghost’s neck. He nods and clears his throat. 

“Nope!” Ghost calls out in response to Price’s question. 

“… Ghost?” Price’s surprised voice comes through, “What are you doing in there?” “Say this is your office,” You murmur, making Ghost huff out a small, amused laugh and nod again. 

“This is my office,” Ghost responds, “Why wouldn’t I be here?” “What? No,” Price’s voice becomes confused, “This is Cerberus’ office.” “No it’s not,” Ghost denies, lying straight through his teeth. You laugh quietly against his neck. “Uh… but it is?” Price argues, “It has their name on the front.” “No it doesn’t,” Ghost blatantly denies, continuing his thumb’s slow circle movements on your skin, the soothing action making you hum contently. You don’t know how, but somehow your humming is loud enough for Price to hear. Does he have his ear against the door or something?

“I can hear Cerberus in there,” Price argues again, “Don’t lie to me.” “Sorry, lamb,” Ghost apologizes to you softly, tone significantly more soft than it typically is, “I think he’s caught onto us.” “… I guess it’s fine for him to come in, then,” You mumble against his neck. He responds with a nod. 

“Come in!” Ghost calls out, and almost immediately you hear the door open and Price’s loud footsteps walking in. You can’t see him, but he opens his mouth to say something, when his eyes catch on your face buried in the crook of Ghost’s neck.

He looks questioningly at Ghost, the latter simply blinking over at Price, daring him to comment on it. 

He doesn’t, and instead closes the door behind him and walks up to the desk. 

“Cerberus?” He asks. You hum offhandedly, and he takes that as a sign to continue, “You okay?” “Mhm.” “You know you can sleep in your own sleeping quarters, right?” “Mhm.” “And you’re choosing not to?” 

“Mhm.” Price blinks at you for a moment before muttering, “Alright, then,” under his breath and turning to Ghost, “And you’re here because?” “Felt like having some company,” Ghost answers simply, watching as Price glances at his thumb rubbing circles into your forearm, and continues to watch as his eyes slowly make their way up to the way your face is buried in the crook of his neck. 

Price looks at Ghost, mouthing the words, ‘I’m telling everyone about this,’ to which Ghost mouths back, ‘Don’t you dare.’ Price grins at this and opens his mouth to say something else before there’s another knock at the door. 

“Are you always this popular?” Ghost asks you, sounding both mildly annoyed and amused. 

“Mhm.” You hum affirmatively. 

Ghost sighs and he and Price call out in unison, “Come in!” The door opens and you temporarily readjust your head so that you’re just resting your head on Ghost’s shoulder with your face facing the door, and you watch as Gaz enters the room and his neutral face turns into one of both surprise and confusion. 

“Were you lot having a party in here, or something?” He asks, closing the door behind him.

“Not originally,” Ghost deadpans, watching as Gaz walks over next to Price and leans against your desk, “What’re you here for?”

“Needed an extra corrective action form,” Gaz answers. Ghost looks down at you for permission to rummage through your desk drawers and you nod.

“Second drawer to the right,” You mumble, and Ghost opens that exact one up and pulls out a CAA form, handing it over to Gaz, who takes it with a ‘thank you’ and folds it in half, stuffing it into his back pocket.

He looks between you and Ghost questioningly, and opens his mouth to say something, before Ghost gives him the same look he did to Price, and Gaz immediately snaps his mouth shut.

“If you’re tired, Cerberus, you should go to your sleeping quarters,” Price comments, tone worried. You look over at him.

“What if someone needs me, though?” You ask, slowly blinking at him.

“Kid, I don’t think anyone would get any good help from you with the state you’re in right now,” Price says honestly, ignoring the small glare you send him. “Anyone who needs you can just refer to someone else.”

You hum neutrally and sigh before muttering, “Fine,” and tentatively take your head off of Ghost’s shoulder and unwrapping the blankets you’d wrapped around yourself earlier, bundling it into a little ball and putting it into the box under your desk, putting the pillow in there as well.

You crack your knuckles quickly and get up from your seat, quickly putting your hands on the edge of your desk to steady yourself, standing up on slightly shaky legs. “I can help you get over there,” Price offers, frowning a bit when you shake your head negatively. Ghost lets out a sigh and stands up, closing his laptop before quickly walking over to you and wrapping an arm loosely around your side, over your arm, pulling you closer to him and helping you stand up a bit straighter. Gaz observes all of this with a raised eyebrow but otherwise says nothing, instead watching with Price—who watched this with disbelief in his eyes—as Ghost walked with you to the door wordlessly, opening the door and walking out of it with you, not looking back as he closes the door behind him. “You think everyone’s gonna think Cerberus is all scary after they see them leaning on Ghost trying to get back to their sleeping quarters?” Gaz asks Price, staring at the closed door. “Somehow, yeah,” Price says after a moment, still caught up in his disbelief, “That is… the strangest thing I’ve seen all day.” “It’s only thirteen, Captain.” “I don’t think anything’s gonna top that.” “Top what?” Gaz asks, a little confused, “Seeing Ghost helping out Cerberus?” “Yeah.” Gaz huffs out a laugh and pats Price’s shoulder, “Jesus, man. I’m surprised that’s the first time you’ve seen that.” Gaz ignores Price’s confused look and walks towards the door, opening and closing it as he walks out, leaving Price dumbfounded in Cerberus’ office. “Huh?”