#because now you’ve just got soul soup | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

i-am-baechu · 2 years ago

Text

♡ Summary: Being friends with a famous boy group is laughable but here is L/N Y/N, best friends with Bts. Years of friendship and trust but all of sudden they start acting differently and it makes her question everything

♡ Paring: OT7 x Reader

♡ Rating: Pg-14

♡ Genre: No romance (okay maybe a little with a member but shh), friendship!, cafe worker! Y/N, angst and fluff

L/N Y/N is a normal girl. She worked at the local cafe, paid her bills a week later than it's supposed to be, lived in a small apartment and is best friends with Bts. Normal. You may be asking, how did she become best friends with Bts? Well, it all started in grade school. She met Jeon Jungkook and they became best friends. They were so close in fact, their families became close and they saw each other as brother and sister. She remembered how she met him...

It was the first day of second grade and Y/N just got settled into her new home but now she had to settle into her new school. Her father came back to run her grandparents tea shop and it was convenient because her brother got accepted to a college near there. It all worked out for the L/N family. Y/N hated speaking in front of people, it made her sweat and stutter. It was annoying.

The teacher gave her a gentle smile and Y/N looked at the new faces that were staring into her soul. She swallowed some spit and rubbed her hands together roughly, “H-Hi, my name is L/N Y/N....I-I can’t wait t-to be friends.”

She quickly turned her head to look at the teacher who continued to give her a gentle smile. The teacher looked out the seats and her eyes landed on an empty seat near the window, “Ah, L/N, your seat will be next to the window and Jungkook will be your seatmate. Jungkook, can you raise your hand?”

Y/N looked and saw a boy with chubby cheeks and a bowl cut but his bunny smile made her smile. She bowed to her teacher and made her way to her seat ignoring the curious looks on her back. She sat down in her seat and the boy next to her leaned towards her, “H-Hi, my name is Jung-Jungkook. I hope we can be friends..”

“I hope so.”

That was eighteen years ago and now she's friends with six other men that became important in her life. When Jungkook debut with Bts, he never forgotten about Y/N and her support. She would stay up with him every night practicing his high notes as his parents yelled at him for being loud and she would make him lunch for the days he would train. She met the rest of Bts by accident. She walked into their dance room and saw all the future members. They made fun of Jungkook for being friends with a girl but it bloomed into friendship.

She was walking home with a coffee in her hand and dark circles under her eyes. She worked five days in a row and for ten hours straight. She was tired to say the least. She unlocked her door and did her usual routine (taking off her shoes, locking the door, etc). She entered her living room and her eyes widened when she saw food waiting for her. She glanced at the kitchen to see Yoongi cooking away. She felt her heartbeat faster at the scene but she quickly shook that off.

“Yoon, what are you doing here?”

Yoongi looked up from the pot and gave her his famous gummy smile, “Jungkook told me how busy you’ve been so I thought, I would make you food.”

She placed her coffee on the coffee table and ran into the kitchen with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and placed a quick kiss on his cheek, “Thank you...You didn’t have to do this.”

“Shut up. I wanted to do it. Let's eat.”

Yoongi poured some soup into bowls and Y/N grabbed the bowls from Yoongi. They made their way to the living room and they sat next to each other. She turned on the TV on some random channel and they started eating. She took a sip of her water and she looked at him with a soft smile, “Thank you Yoongi. I appreciate this. I really do.”

His face turned a little red and he ran his fingers through his hair, “It’s no problem.”

“How is everything?”

“Things have been busy...the company is looking into something.”

She raised her eyebrow at this and wiped her mouth, “What is it?”

“I’m not sure but they said they’re looking into something and it affects all of us.”

“Well that's extremely vague.”

“I know, it's annoying. Let’s not talk about that. Let’s relax tonight.”

She smiled at this and brought some rice to his mouth, “Yeah, just you and me.”

『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』

“You're lying.”

The next day the members of Bts were called into the office by one of the managers. Apparently someone posted unseen pictures of them on this forum and it was making its rounds around the internet. The pictures weren't crazy, just them at bars, vacations, and leisure time but it was private moments. Moments that were exposed to the internet. The managers traced it back and the members were shocked by the suspect.”

The manager sighed and rubbed his forehead roughly, “Why would we lie about this?”

Jungkook glared at him and let out an angry chuckle, “Y/N would never do this...I’ve known her for almost my whole life, she never would.”

Jin nodded his head and looked down at the table, “Y/N wouldn’t.”

Yoongi stood up from the table and went to look outside the window, “Y/N wasn’t even on her phone last night.”

Jimin raised his eyebrow at this and glanced at the older man’s back, “How do you know?”

“I was with her all night.”

Taehyung let a smirk escape and leaned back into his chair, “Oh?~ Hyung you spent the night at Y/N’s place. Interesting.”

Namjoon sighed and rolled his eyes, “Enough. I’m sorry, what do we do now?”

“Don’t speak to her.”

Yoongi turned his head quickly to stare at the manager with wide eyes, “What?”

“Don’t speak to her. Even you guys said these photos were on Y/N’s phone. No interaction until we can figure this out.”

The guys looked at each other and Hoseok sighed, “F-Fine.”

The manager nodded his head and stood up to leave but stopped at the door, “Maybe you guys don’t really know her.” And with that the manager walked out, leaving them with more questions than answers.

Jungkook shook his head and looked at them, “There’s an explanation to this.”

Namjoon sighed and rubbed his forehead, “We know Y/N took those pictures...we don’t know if she posted them.”

Yoongi let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, “She didn’t have her phone at all last night. It was posted last night, explain that.”

Jimin sighed and shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe she had it scheduled to be posted last night.”

“Hyung, you believe this!?”

Jimin put his hands up towards Jungkook and ignored Yoongi’s glare, “I’m not saying I do...I’m just saying there's a way this can happen.”

“We can’t speak to Y/N...until this is done. Okay, Jungkook and Yoongi.”

Yoongi scoffed at this and turned back to look at the window, “Whatever.”

“Fine...hyung.”

Y/N entered the store and gave a smile at the person in front, “Oppa, thank you for fixing my phone.”

The worker, Jin-young smiled at her and handed her phone to her, “Technically it was Hanni that did it.”

“Whoever it was, thank you.” Y/N unlocked her phone and smiled when she saw the flower home screen. The flowers were from Yoongi when she graduated and they meant a lot to her.

Jin-Young shook his head and looked at her, “You know you should get a new phone.”

“Stop, you've been telling me that for years.”

“I wonder why. This is like the sixth time it broke this month.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “You got money for a new phone?”

“No...”

“Then shut up. I gotta go, I’ll see you later.”

“Get home safe!”

Y/N walked out of the store and opened her messages with a smile. She quickly clicked on the group chat and sent a message, Hey guys! Sorry that I haven’t been able to message you! Been so busy : (

She didn’t want to tell them that her phone was broken because they would try to buy her a new one. She frowned when she saw no messages but shrugged her shoulders, they could be busy. Yoongi did say they had a meeting that morning. She put her phone back into her pocket and made her way back to her job. What she didn’t know was that her week was going to be like this, with no messages from her friends. Nothing whatsoever.

『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』

She typed in the code to their dorms and slammed the door open. She made her way down the long hallways and usually, she would admire the artwork on the walls but not today. She put in the code to the second door and slammed it open causing all the guys to jump into the living room. She stomped her way into the room and glared at them, “What the hell is going on?”

Jungkook glanced at Namjoon who was staring at the shorter girl with a nervous look, “Noth-”

“Shut the fuck up Namjoon, I know you’re lying.” She glanced down at Jungkook and smirked to herself, “Kook, you can’t lie to me. Now, tell me.”

Jungkook looked into her angry eyes and then back down at the carpet with a nervous look. He’s only seen her mad like this once and that was when these kids bullied him in grade school. He slowly looked back up to see her still looking at him, “Y-You see...”

“The company said you posted the pictures that’s been circling around and blocked your number on our phones.”

She turned to look at Yoongi with wide eyes and then back at Namjoon, “You don’t think...”

Namjoon sighed and went towards but she took a step back, “Y/N, please.”

“No...You guys think I would do this.”

“Jungkook and I didn’t think so.”

Namjoon glared at Yoongi but looked back at Y/N with a small smile, “We were just listening to them...”

“They think I did this and you went along with it....Do you guys not trust me?”

“We do-”

“Then why would you believe them?”

Hoseok sighed and rubbed the back of his neck roughly, “It's pictures that you took and we know you had them on your phone...that’s all we know.”

“I just got my phone back a week ago because it was broken.”

“Wait what?”

“Yeah, you assholes. My phone was fucking broken so I didn’t have my phone for awhile. It couldn’t be me because I didn’t have it for almost this whole month.”

The room went silent and the members looked at each other with nervous eyes. She shook her head and left the room, the only thing that was heard was the door slamming shut. Jungkook leaned back onto the couch and gripped his hair tightly, “Fuck, we fucked up.”

“Who fixed her phone?”

Yoongi pulled out his phone and sighed, “It was probably Jin-young...I was the one that showed her that place. She wanted new headphones but I think she was lying about that now...”

“Do you think it was Jin-young?”

“No, even though he fixes tech shit, he doesn’t know anything about the internet. He doesn’t even have a google account.”

Yoongi put his phone on ear and looked at Namjoon, “I’ll find out who did this.”

Y/N quickly went back to work with an annoyed aura. None of her coworkers wanted to talk to her but that was normal. Y/N’s boss, Jae noticed this and approached her, “Neh, Y/N is everything okay?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine...just got into a fight with my friends.”

“Oh? Was it those boys you talk about?”

Y/N sighed and nodded her head. She stopped wiping the counter and looked at her boss with a frown, “How would you feel if your friends accused you for something that goes against your nature?”

“I would be annoyed. I would also question if they truly knew me. How about you take a thirty, you’ve been working too much. I appreciate all the hard work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you need time to think about things.”

Y/N smiled at him and made her way to the corner table that gave her the window. She looked down with her glass of water and stared outside with a frown. Do they really think I would do that? I thought they knew me better...She sighed and took a sip of water, maybe they didn’t know her the way she thought they did.

『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』『♡』•『♡』•『♡』•『♡』

“I knew she didn’t do it.”

“I’m so sorry Yoongi, I had no idea she would do this.”

Yoongi sighed and nodded his head at Jin-young, “It’s not your fault. We’ll take care of it, okay.”

“Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Yoongi thought this whole thing was weird. Y/N’s phone was getting repaired when this whole thing happened and it was weird that the manager expected something to happen. So, Yoongi went to Jin-Young and asked him about Y/N’s phone and who worked on it. When he heard Hanni worked on it, he knew he found the person. Hanni was obsessed with him and had a crush on him but he never liked her back. He likes someone else but that's another story. When he asked the manager to his face if he knew about the leak, the manager confessed after he got Bang involved. Hanni and the manager worked together to frame Y/N, which angered Yoongi.

“It’s okay Jin-Young. I’ll see you later.”

Yoongi waved at Jin-Young and walked back to the van. He saw all the members except for Jungkook looking down at the floor with shameful looks. Yoongi shook his head at them and closed the door, “You guys need to apologize to her.”

“We know hyung....”

Jungkook let out a snicker and took a bite of his corn dog, “I know what you guys can do.”

Y/N walked back to her apartment and felt a form of deja-vu. It was another long day at the cafe and she finally paid her phone bill, making her feel less stressed. The only people she was talking to were Yoongi and Jungkook. The rest of the guys tried talking to her but she wasn’t in the mood. She was still hurt that they actually thought she did it. Integrity was the most important trait in her mind and the fact they didn’t see that, hurt. It really hurt.

She opened her door and her eyes widened to see all the guys making dinner and cleaning her place. She raised her eyebrow and let out a small coughing causing everything to stop, “Y/N, welcome back.”

“What are you guys doing here? The only ones that are welcome here are Yoongi and Jungkook.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the rest of the guys who looked nervous. Taehyung let out a small laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, “I didn’t think you did it. The company kind of gave us no choice.”

“What?”

Jin nodded his head and placed some bowls at her coffee table, “They said if we didn’t follow through then they would take away all forms of communication. We never had this problem before and we just listened because we didn’t know what to do.”

“Y/N~! Please believe us, we didn’t want to do it but we had to!”

She looked at Jimin who had a pout and she let out a small laugh, “So who did it then?”

Hoseok handed her water and sighed, “It was one of the managers.”

“How did he-”

“Apparently, Jin-Young's worker, Hanni, was his daughter and he used her to take you down.”

She turned towards Namjoon who had some pillows in his hands. She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, “Why would he-”

“Hanni wanted to date me and I didn’t like her...so this is how she got back at me. She saw us together at the store and probably thought we were together.”

She looked at Yoongi who walked out of her bedroom and she glared at this, “She liked you?”

“Oh~ Is Y/N angry?”

“Shut it Jungkook.”

Y/N sighed and looked down at her socks before looking at Jin, “You guys aren’t off the hook.”

Hoseok let out a small laugh and grabbed a little bag. He handed it towards her and she glanced down at it with a raised eyebrow, “We know that but we’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

She opened the bag and she frowned when she saw the newest Iphone. She sighed and looked at Namjoon, “How much was this?”

“Nothing. Y/N, your phone has been broken for months. Let us treat you, you’ve done so much for us.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes, “Fine...but your guys aren’t off the hook still.”

“We expected that. We have Pride and Prejudice waiting for you.”

Her eyes widened and smiled at Jimin, “That’s a start...come on guys let’s watch the movie!~”

“Yeah, hyung can be your Mr. Darcy.”

“Jungkook, shut up before I beat you.”

“Sorry Yoongi...”

Extended ending:

“Y/N! Can we be done?”

She looked over her couch to see everyone but Yoongi and Jungkook washing all the dishes. She glanced at Jungkook and tilted her head, “What do you think, Kook? Should they be done?”

Jungkook took a sip of his water and looked at them with a small smirk, “Nah, they need to clean the whole kitchen and then that’s enough.”

Y/N nodded her head and looked at Yoongi, “You think that’s good, Yoon?”

“Yeah.”

Y/N smiled at this and looked at the guys, “You heard that guys, clean my kitchen.”

“Ugh!”

#bts reactions #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts jungkook #bts namjoon #bts seokjin #bts taehyung #bts jimin #bts yoongi #bts x reader #bts hoesok #Bts #ot7 x reader

208 notes · View notes

nkirukaj · 3 months ago

Text

Fawning for You (21)

Pairing: Alastor x Voe (Fem!OC)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Fluff, Angst (& Humor!)

Word Count: 4.6K

21. Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)

“Hey baby, hey,” she walks up to her children, they both stare before Alyson crawls away. Vernie, however, stared up at his mother and watched her movement. Voe squats down and sits before her son “Hi baby,” she says. She is met with wide eyes and no movement or response. “Come to Mommy?” she holds her hands out for him as he continues to stare up. Voe drops her hands and just stares back at him “I’ll win your heart one day,” she pouts at him

Vernie stares as Voe gets up and walks away, making a little bleat.

“They’ll get to know you, they just gotta get used to you,” he turns to Cherri “Is that it?”

She shrugs “I don’t know, I’m not a mother,” she puts a piece of gum in her mouth

“So,” Angel starts again “How do you plan on getting your souls back?”

Voe shrugs “I have no idea. Most of them went back to the Vees, so they’re not even claimable,”

“Why don’t you just go kill ‘em again?” Cherri offered

“You could do that,” Angel agreed “Show them who Voe the Beau is,”

“Eh,”

“What? What’s wrong toots?”

“I was a different woman when I did that,”

“What? It’s because you’re a mother now?” Cherri rolled her eye

Voe shrugs again “Being a mother changes you!”

“You and Smiles, bringing down your rep!”

“Hate to say it toots, but this is Hell, if you want those souls back, you gotta get your hands dirty,”

She tilts her head “Can I be honest?”

“Eh, sure,”

“I’m not that upset that they’re gone. I mean being an overlord did matter to me, and I’m glad that I achieved it, but I don’t know if it’s a goal that I want to keep pursuing,”

Cherri hits Angel’s arm “See Angie? And you thought she was gonna be mad that you went back to Val!”

Voe whips her head around “What?!”

Angel glares at Cherri as she slinks away “Oh shit….”

Voe steps up to Angel “You went back to Valentino?”

“Look, I needed a job and-“

“After everything he’s done to you?!”

“He’s done things for me too!”

Voe is flabbergasted “I’ve done things for you,”

Angel furrows his brows “Look, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done, but,” he seems exasperated “Val’s the one that made me famous!”

“Yeah? So?”

“I’m tired of being unknown! There were people on my live last week asking ‘Who the fuck is Angel Dust’? Can you believe that? ‘Just some porn actor’ they said. I’m not just ‘some porn actor’, I’m the porn actor!”

“So fame is worth more than your safety??”

“Yes,” he sounds resolute, but she can tell that he’s unsure “I won a Sex-xx-i Award! 5 years in a row!”

“And what did it feel like? Huh? When you came home and Val would smack you because you deviated from the approved speech, or didn’t smile correctly?”

“I don’t care about all that! I care about fame! I want millions of people to see me on their screens. I can’t be forgotten! I want to be loved again! ”

Her volume increases “ANGEL YOU ARE LOVED!”

“Good on you for being a mom and all that, but I gotta do things my way,” he glares at her and walks away

Voe goes back to her room and face plants on her bed. There was nothing she could do to fix anything anymore. At this point, all she wanted was for her children to love her, and that would be enough.

_________________________________________

“Okay Casper, what can we do the fix the theater? The theater is my biggest love and I want to share that joy with the denizens of Hell, no matter how many souls I do or do not own,”

“Well, we can try to put on another show, or have a party? You know, I don’t know,” he sat and thought “I got it! What if we did something for poor sinners instead? Like a soup kitchen or something,”

“And we can run it out of the Hotel! Casper, you’re a genius!”

He looks proud of himself, “Yeah,”

“So what do you think Charlie? Can we do it here?” Voe asks

“Oh my gosh! Of course!” Charlie has tears in her eyes “You are getting better every day. You are gonna be redeemed in no time!”

Off in the shadows where he was the most comfortable, stood Alastor watching his wife converse with the princess.

“Why I think it’s a wonderful idea! Why don’t I help out?” He steps forward

Voe is shocked “Really?”

“Of course! I will my wife anyway that I can!”

She smiles “That’s so sweet Alastor,”

“Of course, anything for you, my dear,” he wraps his arm around her “And maybe Angel could help! He could make something Italian,”

She looks over at Angel who says “Uh sure, I can help…if Voe wants me to,”

Voe looks down and turns her head away from Angel and at the floor.

“Look, I know that you don’t want to talk to me, I just want you to know that whatever I do is my business. But you’re still my friend and I’ll help you if you want me to,”

“Okay, I guess,”

“Great! You know Voe this is amazing!” Charlie beams “I thought you might have given up after the thing with your businesses and all that!”

Voe tilts her head demonstrating that she would rather not talk about that, and turns to Alastor “Well, we’ll need your best recipes babe,” she pats his chest

“I will make sure that they are the best dishes any homeless sinners have ever had. If they’ve ever had any! Ha ha!”

Voe taps his arm “Thanks babe,” she tells him

“Good morning Sam!”

“Niffty,” Voe kneels in front of the housekeeper “That is not his name,”

“Oh! Come on Vernie!”

“Hi, Vernie!” He made a bunch of gibberish noises and a happy bleat in response. “How are you doing baby?”

He stares up at her with curiosity, and his little nose twitches rapidly. She sits on the floor and allows him to climb up onto her.

“Hi Vernie! Hi!” he runs his nose over her as he climbs up her legs. He continues to sniff her and then lays his head on her shoulder. Voe slowly wraps her arms around her son to see if he would allow her and he does not protest when she does. He stares at her from his spot on her shoulder, taking her in as she holds him. Voe is quietly excited, to not startle or upset him. “It’s Momma. I’m your Momma,” she tells him, with him blinking in response.

Vernie continues to rest there on her shoulder, opening and closing his hand, and letting out a fawn squeak in return. Voe tries not to smile but can’t help it, and Vernie smiles back.

“Alastor! Look, at what Vernie has on!” She tells him

Alastor looks as she holds up their son, and he’s wearing a cute red onesie with black feet. “Cute,” he muses

“Look, it has a little bowtie like yours!” she is so excited to be dressing him ever since he let her hold him. Vernie is opening and closing his fingers with his other fingers in his mouth. “And the bottom has little hoof prints like your shoes!” she lifts his little foot to show him

“Aw isn’t he precious?” he states looking down at them both

She hands Vernie to him and Alastor is taken aback by it for a moment, then holds him properly as Voe holds up another onesie.

“I got this one for Aly, but I don’t know if she would let me dress her. It has a bow like my dresses, and it has hoof prints too!”

“Well, why don’t we go see?”

They approach Aly in the crib, she’s sitting up when Voe approaches, and she puts her arms out reaching for her daughter. Aly looks up and sniffs her mother the same way that her brother did, analyzing her scent to make sure that she is trustworthy. After careful sniffing, Aly reaches up for her mother.

Voe gasps in happiness as she picks up her daughter “Alastor!” she whispers

“I see,” he responds, shocked himself as he holds Vernie

She turns to her daughter “Let me massage your little hoovsies,” she smiles, putting her down on the bed and rubbing her hooves. Voe pulls out the onesie, Aly claps her hands, and smiles her pacifier falling out of her mouth. “Someone likes the onesie. Can Momma put it on?” Aly grabs at it “Ooh patience!” she puts on the onesie, tying the bow. She holds her. “Look!” she shows Alastor, tearing up.

“My dear, she’s adorable,” he hugs Voe

“Look at us a big happy family!”

Alastor sighs “Indeed we are,” he kisses her forehead

“I’m gonna cry,”

_____________________________

On the day of the soup kitchen, the turnout was wild. The Hotel was full of. impoverished sinners looking for a meal. There was nowhere for any of the residents to sit, but that was worth it to be giving back to the community. Voe had her hair tied up and big plastic gloves on behind the table as she served salad and rice alongside Casper, Niffty, Charlie, and Vaggie. The dispenser of juice sat at the

“Don’t forget your bread!” Niffty calls out

“Actually I can’t have any-“

She giggles “Don’t forget!” and piles some garlic bread and rolls on the demon’s plate

“This is amazing, right Casper?”

“Definitely, this was a good idea!”

“Well, it was your idea,”

Casper sighs proudly “Yeah,”

They had Cherri at the door since Bean was unavailable, and she seemed like she was doing a good job

“You sign in or you starve!” she called out

“What do you think Charlie? Is this great or what?”

“This is AMAZING! Oh- you look really hungry,” she piles food on the demon’s plate

“This is so fun! I’m so glad we’re doing this!” Voe seems cheery and teary-eyed

Casper chuckled “Don’t cry into the food,”

Charlie gasps, about to put food on the empty plate “Eric! What are you doing?”

“I just want some lasagna, just put it on my plate,”

“Uh no! This food isn’t for you!”

“So we have to starve?”

“Eric, this food is for homeless sinners!”

He scoffs “So I have to starve because they’re homeless?”

Charlie is appalled “Leave,” she points

“Ugh,”

“Don’t forget your bread!” Niffty places a large roll on his plate

“Damn, thanks Niffty!” Eric takes a large bite out of it, swallowing quickly. When he walks away there’s a queasy look on his face before vomiting on the floor. Everyone stops and stares at him. It’s complete and total silence before someone else vomits. Then another, and another. Everyone who had eaten was throwing up the food. Voe spotted someone recording in the corner before they threw up as well. Charlie and Vaggie ran out to try and help the sick sinners, but all that Voe could do was stand behind the table in disbelief as it all went to shit.

“At least we had somewhere they can rest?” Casper offered

Alastor appears “What a shame there’s no hospitals in Pentagram City,”

Voe widens her eyes “What about my hospital?”

“That’s right! We can take them there!” Casper agreed

“How are we going to get all those sinners there?”

Voe thinks, “Well I can fly…”

“Why don’t we bring everything here?” Charlie asks

“Where are the residents going to be?”

“There are still rooms left and the sick ones can stay here until they’re better,”

Voe sighs “Fine,”

“Great! Let’s get everyone to a room!”

They each help sinners to a room, filling them all in about an hour. Voe and Casper collapse on the couch

“Well, that was a disaster,”

“Well, at least we were able to fix it,”

She sits up and looks to her assistant, “We gotta do something else,”

“Like what?”

She looks away “I have no idea,”

Casper sits up with her “Maybe a…state fair? People Love State Fairs,”

Voe turns and shakes Casper “Why are you so smart???”

“Uhh, I don’t know,”

“Hi again Lucifer!” Voe sings entering the King’s room

He turns to greet her as he looks up from his novel “Oh hey,”

“I need a favor again,” she smiles tightly

“Okay…”

“So, our soup kitchen didn’t turn out well…”

“Oh yeah, I saw that,”

She gets closer to him “So, I was thinking…maybe we could have a state fair?”

He slams the novel shut “A what? Where are you having a state fair?”

“Well, remember you told me about how you had a theme park?”

“And remember how I told you that we can’t leave this ring? Sinners cannot leave the Pride Ring,”

Voe falls over him “But why…?”

Lucifer tries not to laugh “Because…should I remind you that sinners are here for punishment? Not on vacation. This is what you get,”

“But I wanted to do something nice!”

“Sinners don’t get nice,”

“Please!” she begs

He sits up “I’m sorry, they can’t leave the ring. It’s not just me, you’d have to ask the Seraphims in Heaven for permission too, and you’re not going to get permission from them,”

“Maybe make one in the Pride Ring? Please?”

He sighs “Fine. I will help you, but only because I feel bad about you dying,”

She twirls her hair “Is that the only reason?”

“Do you want my help or not?

“Of course!”

“Okay then,”

“Oooh A state fair! That is amazing that you helped out Dad, remember LuLu Land? Great memories!”

He crosses his arms “Yeah, something like that,”

Voe is standing along with Alastor, their children in baby carriers, and Voe is beaming “Isn’t this amazing Alastor?”

“It’s an amusement park, pretty childish isn’t it?”

“I like amusement parks! And we should be able to be silly instead of killing each other all the time!”

“I suppose, but most of these sinners are adults, it’s a bit strange,”

Charlie butts in “I think it’s amazing!”

“I think it’s a great idea!” Lucifer agrees with a wide grin

Alastor squints in frustration “Very well,”

“Alastor, have you ever been to an amusement park?”

He sighs “I guess not,”

Voe’s eyes widen and her jaw drops “You’re going on a ride,”

“Oh, I’m not the ride type, my dear,”

“You never know until you try!” Voe goes up to Vaggie “Can you watch them, please?”

“Of course,”

“Look at my girl being a babysitter,”

Vaggie puts her head behind her ear and blushes, taking the twins “Whatever,”

Voe pulls Alastor to a rollercoaster and goes to the bathroom while waiting in line. Some sinner demons in front of them turned back and flinched ostentatiously when they saw the Radio Demon behind them.

“Don’t turn around,” they whispered and Alastor’s grin grew wider. As he waited for his wife, he leaned over to the side and slowly loosened a visible screw in the ride, just before his wife rejoined him at his side.

“Did I miss anything?” she asked

“Nothing at all, my dear,”

Alastor dissipates his cane and steps on, the ride creaks as it starts up and Voe holds on to the bars in the seat.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes indeed,” he says with a smirk

The ride starts and up they go, when they come to the first dip everyone physically reacts except for Alastor, whose stance and smile stay in place. Once they get to the highest point on the ride, they get to the tippy top of the hill she grabs into Alastor’s arm, and the creaking returns as they head down the hill. The car starts shaking intensely and instantly falls apart. Dozens of sinners are free falling in the air, including Voe. All that was running through her mind was that she would have to get reacquainted with her children again and how they wouldn’t remember her. She starts to cry when she feels cool hands around her back and legs. She opens her eyes.

“Oh! Look at that. I wasn’t expecting to win something so beautiful at the carnival today,” She throws her arms around Alastor’s neck and cries “Aww you must be frightened, don’t worry I’ve got you,”

“Oh my god Voe are you okay?!” Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, and Lucifer rush up to the doe “I swear it was sturdy this morning. We tried it out so many times,”

“Yeah, I was the one riding it the whole time,” Angel agreed

“Huh,” Alastor muses as he puts his wife down.

“What?” Angel asks

“And where were you today? Didn’t want to join in on the festivities?”

Angel tilts his head “Huh?”

“And you went out and never returned a few weeks ago during the soup kitchen. Why is that?”

“Now hold on, I know you not blaming me,”

“Come on guys, let’s just make sure Voe is okay. And everyone else!”

“I’ll take care of my wife,” Alastor pipes up

Voe runs over to Vaggie “Give me my babies!”

“Of course!” She holds her twins close to her and they are utterly confused by her tears.

Casper runs up to her “Are you okay? Are you injured?”

She shakes her head, not able to speak through her tears.

“This is probably not a good time,”

“Is there something wrong Casper? Let’s discuss,” Alastor takes him to the side and questions “What is it that you wanted to tell her?”

“Well, whatever sickness was going around a week ago is back, and people are throwing up by the barrel. There’s also some other malfunctioning rides on the other side of the park, and Sinstagram is ripping her a new one, so tell her to stay away from social media,”

“Oh my,”

“In a bad way right? You’re saying it in a bad way?”

Alastor does not respond to the question but instead says “I will take care of it, don’t you worry!” his grin growing wider

Alastor returns to Voe who has finally stopped crying “Hello my dear, how are you doing now?”

She inhales “I’m okay now,” the twins are in their carriers “I am so sorry for making you go on that ride,”

“Now now, you are not to blame. I think you should call it a day,”

She nods “Yeah, I just want to spend time with my kids right now,”

“Splendid,” Alastor agrees “Oh here’s your phone,” he hands it to her

She sniffles “Thanks,”

“A LuLu Land knockoff gone wrong,”

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,”

“Is Voe the Beau trying to kill people?”

“Worse than any Overlord,”

“This is just insulting at this point!”

Voe shuts the laptop urgently and falls back on her bed. She looks over at her kids in their crib as they sleep, knowing that they deserve a mother who does wonderful things for people and is not disgraced by the public. Two outings, two L’s, she had one more chance to get a W, and she had to make it count.

____________________________

“Lucifer,”

“Hmm?’

“I have a question,”

“Yeah, but first I have a question for you. Are you okay?”

She waves him off “Don’t worry about me. But, what is the rest of Hell like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is it like this? Or is it like a proper society?”

“I guess you could say it’s a proper society, but it’s kind of hard for them because of poverty,”

“Excellent,”

He looks up confused “Huh?”

“No, not excellent that people are poor. But excellent that there are some societies in Hell,” she turns her back to him “Can you leave this ring?”

“Oh yeah!”

“I need you to bring something to another ring for me,”

“Wait is this about redemption?”

“Why?”

“I think you should take it slow, maybe rest?”

She whips back around “I can’t rest, my children my children have a disgrace for a mother!”

“What? Voe you’re not a disgrace,”

Voe slumps onto his bed “Everyone else thinks so,”

“Screw what everyone else thinks!” he sits next to her

She leans on his shoulder “I don’t know why things keep going wrong,”

“Maybe, just take it easy. Relax. The people that love you do not think that you’re a disgrace,”

She looks up at him through her lashes “You love me?”

“Of course I do,” he kisses her forehead “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know what to do Lucifer,”

“You know what? I’ll make sure nothing happens to your next event, you’ll be guaranteed to succeed,”

Voe sits up “Really?”

“Really,”

She went and posted a video saying “I’m going to have a bake sale out of my theater, and all the profits will be sent to orphans in the Greed Ring. Run, don’t walk!” She’s scared to do lives now, afraid of what people would say, but she posts the video and closes the app immediately, hoping that it would make some kind of noise.

“Do you need any help, my dear?” Alastor asked as Voe prepared to bake

She shakes her head “No, I love baking, I can do this on my own. Besides, you’ve done enough baby,” she kisses him, and he is frustrated now unaware of how to proceed.

The video did make some noise, but unsurprisingly was mostly people who were coming to see her fail. They stood outside the theater screaming and making fun of her entire plan, kind of like the opposite of a protest.

“Would you like me to take care of them?” He raised his brow

“I thought you weren’t killing anymore,”

He smirks “I didn’t say I was going to kill them,”

“It’s fine, leave them be,”

“Your choice,”

Voe meets Lucifer inside and she hugs him before he helps her set up the booth. Everything was going quite well, people hoards of people buying baked goods from Voe the Beau, perhaps they didn’t care about the cause but it didn’t matter, she was feeding them and they weren’t throwing up and nothing was collapsing.

“Hey babe, could you watch the stand and keep everything going for me? I have to use the bathroom,”

“Of course!”

Lucifer stood by as she left. Why hadn’t she asked him? He was the one who pledged to make sure that nothing went wrong today. He was basically watching over everything anyway. He knew that his chances with Voe were over, but it still irked him to see her ask him to do any of the things that he knew he could do for her, which was everything that he did and more. He could do anything that Alastor could do… including standing there and letting people take the money from the box???

Lucifer jumped into gear, stretching out his hand and paralyzing the would-be thieves, before he went over and retrieved the money from them, turning them into worms for good measure. Voe comes storming out when she hears the commotion.

“What just happened?” She asks

“These two sinners were trying to steal all of your money,” Lucifer told her immediately

“What?”

“And Alastor let them!”

Voe looked as if she was smacked in the face by those words “W-what?” she asked, much softer “No, I think you saw wrong Lucifer,” she looked up at her husband and waited for his response

“Of course, he saw wrong. I would never do that! I was trying to stop them! If anything, I would talk to Angel,”

Voe blinks slowly “See Lucifer, you had it all wrong,” she says, but her tone betrays something else. And so does her silence for the rest of the event as Alastor stands beside her.

__________________________________

When Alastor enters Voe’s bedroom, he sees that the twins have already been put to bed, everything is in order and Voe lays on the bed with her back to the door. He reaches over to give her a kiss goodnight when she sits up.

“I think you should go to your room tonight,”

“What? What’s the matter, darling?”

She looks away from him “I don’t…want to share a bed with you,”

“…Why? Do you really think I would try and sabotage you?”

She looks down at her fingers and takes a deep breath “Alastor you were there,”

“What do you mean?” he squints

“For everything, you were there,”

“Well I-“

“You were the only one that was there for everything,” she stares at him as he stands in silence “Say something!” she hisses

“What would you like me to say?”

Voe shrugs “I don’t know, maybe ‘Of course I didn’t’”

“You seem to have made up your mind that I did do it,”

Voe shakes her head and laughs “Why you would do this to me? I know you may not love me, but I thought you at least cared about me,”

“I didn’t do anything,” he asserts

“Ruining not only my endeavors, but my reputation and I could have died!”

“But you didn’t and I saved you, that proves I didn’t do anything. I was also on that ride,”

“There was a moment where you were left unattended every single time,”

“You really think I would do that to you?”

Voe rubs her forehead “Please stop lying to me,”

“I don’t know what you want to hear,”

She stands and rushes him “Why are you fucking up my progress?!

“I do not know what you mean,” his smile was tight

“What’s your problem?”

He stood in front of her, the ever-present smile wavering ever so slightly

“I don’t think Heaven is the proper place for you, dearest.” That was all he said

“What?! That’s why I’m trying to be redeemed!” She crosses her arms

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t.” He spat back quick as ever

“What? Why? I’m so close to finally leaving this place!”

“Well, maybe I don’t want you to leave!” His radio filter dropped, along with his ears, eyes, and the rest of his body

“May I touch you?”

“No,”

“Okay. You may touch me.” He turns and looks over his shoulder apprehensively, before turning back and slinking his arms around her waist, burying his face in her chest.

She stood very still, suppressing the urge to hug him back, her arms limp at her sides, when he took her hands and placed one on his back and the other in his hair. She smiles softly and scratches the spot behind his ears, and they perk up

“You know you could try,” she tells him

Alastor stares up at her in slight confusion “What?”

“You could try to be redeemed, and we could go together. Bring our kids along with us. You’ve already chosen to stop killing, so you’re on your way. Have you ever thought of that?”

No, he hadn’t thought about it. He hadn’t even considered that there was a universe where he was good enough for Heaven, or one where he wanted to go. But in truth, he wanted to be wherever she was.

“How about this, I’ll halt my redemption plans for you. That way we can go together, however that works. Ha ha,”

“How does it work?”

She shrugs “I have no idea,” she laughs “But we’ll make it work, for us,” she holds his chin “Okay?”

Alastor gives her a soft smile and relaxed eyes “Okay,” he buries his face into her chest and they sit there for a moment. One nice and peaceful moment, that is immediately ruined by the sound of attack drones firing outside the window.

9 notes · View notes

rossellini-tyrell · 1 year ago

Text

Nothing’s Gonna Change My World

Ch. 3 - The World Was Waiting Just For You

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Word Count: 3,940

Warnings: Reader is still traumatized from the events of chapter 1, reader deals with some insecurities, including around her body/appearance.

Pairing: Pavitr x F!Reader also found on AO3 and Wattpad. ---------- Preface: This story takes place several years after the events of Across the Spiderverse, Pavitr and the reader are somewhere in their 20s at this point in time. This story involves a reader who survives an attempted SA, there will be brief description of the rescue from the event, and extensive discussion of the emotional impact of the event on the reader. There will be no graphic descriptions of the event itself. The contents of this story may be triggering for some to read, for that reason. ------------ You stretch, your joints cavitating in a series of satisfying pops and crackles as you reach to greet the day. The remains of your sleep are shrugged off, heavy and drape-like, like a lover's embrace. Morning spills through the window in saffron sheafs, watery and pale. Light, like your soul feels. Was that all a dream? Flashes of the night before flit behind your eyelids. The muddled dialogue from the TV melting into gibberish soup as you straddled the bounds of the waking world. A pair of arms easily spiriting you away, tucked against a solid chest. Gentle hands pulling blankets to just under your chin, gentle lips lingering against your brow. It makes you feel bubbly inside that your body got the sleep it desperately craved, finally able to feel safe with him there to guard your rest. You need not go far to find a clue to his intentions, a neon pink Post-it is stuck to your phone screen where it lays charging on the bedside table, which is not where you'd left it last night. You remind yourself to thank him for that later, except later is now because the note he left reads: "Good morning! I hope you rested well. Shoot me a message when you wake up :)" His cell number is scrawled at the bottom, in the same loopy script you remember from his previous note. You deftly add it as a new contact, and shoot off your first message, giddiness increasing because Spider-Man passed you his number. You: Hi! It's (You). Thanks for plugging my phone in last night by the way. Clearly, he's been waiting for your message, because the typing indicator appears on screen immediately. Pavitr: Good morning, sweet girl :) You are so welcome, I'm glad to hear from you. Did you sleep well? You just about died right then, because Pavitr is not fucking around with his intentions. You emit a squeal into the confines of your pillow before replying. You: Best sleep I've had in a while! No bad dreams to be had. Sorry for falling asleep on you last night, you didn't have to haul me all the way to bed, although my back certainly appreciates you for doing that ^_^ Pavitr: You seem to forget that I'm pretty strong ;) It's no trouble at all, after the last few nights you've had, I didn't feel right leaving you there when you'd be so much more comfortable in your own bed. You deserve better than that. Pavitr: Did you know that you sleep with your mouth open? It's super cute! Your face flares hot, feeling scandalized. You: We have been talking for literally 2 minutes and I'm already deceased. Pavitr: Oh no, now I'm sad. Look at my sad face --> :( Pavitr: I sincerely apologize for making you deceased on our first text. May I make up for it by inviting you out with me today? Pavitr: No worries if you can't or don't feel ready for that yet. All at your pace, sweet girl. You're not sure whether to feel nervous or giddy. The side of you that's been burned before is digging her 3-inch heels into the carpet. The side of you that yanked Pavitr's mask down to kiss him in the first place can't say yesyesyes! fast enough. After a few minutes of stomach-churning deliberation, you tap out your reply. You: I'd be happy to! Can I ask what it is I'm being invited to? The typing indicator oscillates on the screen for a few moments, starts, stops, and starts again. Pavitr: Classified ;) What I can tell you though is I want to give you some happier memories. The way we met was...not ideal. So I figured we should do something fun, without all the bullshit between us. I promise you'll like what I have in mind. Is 3pm ok? Meet at mine? You: 3 sounds great! Pavitr: !!! It's a date then. See you real soon, sweet girl :) This isn't happening. This can't be real. You are about to go on a date with Spider-Man. Your life feels unreal, like someone's fanfiction from that site the local extremists tried to shut down. You rush to the bathroom mirror to stare at your reflection, chanting holy shit holy shit holy everloving shit to cope with what your life has become. The you of 2 weeks ago would have died of an aneurysm laughing if she'd heard this. Since you'd slept in pretty hard this morning, you snarf down a quick brunch composed of whatever past you had remembered to stock up on before...all of this shit happened. It's off to the shower after that, followed by a stop at the bathroom sink to fix your hair and makeup. After spending an inordinate amount of time agonizing between two different outfit options, you settle on a a smart-looking sundress, not too heavy for the summer sun outside. Before you can blink, it's three in the afternoon, and you're tapping on the front door of apartment 406. You hear the clatter of a chain before the door swings open, revealing a rather...drippy Pavitr, clad head to toe in very expensive street-wear. You count a Supreme headband, a tight-fitting Pelota top, Stussy jeans and the latest Jordans, topped off with a pair of blue Wayfarers perched atop his head. The getup is hugging him in all the right places, and he knows it. Most of all, you notice the genuine smile plastered on his face, just as radiant as you imagined it would be when you met him with the mask still on. "Darling! Hi!" Pavitr exclaims. You don't have time to react before he's brushed a kiss against your lips, short and sweet. It leaves you stunned, frozen and burning at the same time, leaving Pavitr to giggle as one hand holds your chin. "Aww, you're so shy. That's adorable," he coos. His thumb traces along your jawline to gently pinch your cheek. "M'not shy!" you squawk. "Just...surprised, that's all," "Your mouth says you're not, but the eyes popping out of your head right now determined that was a lie," he jokes, locking the apartment door behind him. "Come with me?" he offers, extending his hand to you. His eyes glimmer on a soft face as he waits for you to respond. After a few moments, your hand finds his, and you know that if he had a tail, he'd be wagging it. Pavitr leads you into the elevator, all the way to the garage floor. Once there, he fishes a key ring out of one of his many pockets, presses a button that unlocks a nearby white car with a clunk and a chirp. You lay your own eyes on the car, and just about die right there, because it's a- "You drive a Porsche?" you exclaim, shocked that someone your age is able to afford a car that's solidly a year's salary for you, if not two. Pavitr gives a low chuckle. "A Porsche Taycan, to be specific," he explains, coming around to open the passenger door for you. "It's all-electric too. Check it out." You ease yourself into the seat, immediately noticing the red all-leather interior. "I have to admit, the red-on-black is pretty on-brand," you remark. The inside of the car is spotless, the leather well-maintained and the electronics keep a well-polished sheen. "Definitely got a funny look at the dealer when I went for this package without blinking," Pavitr says, starting the car up. The engine hums low as the car whirs to life. The dashboard comes alight in hundreds of intricate LEDs and neons, and you realize just how over the top this car is. Pavitr wheels the car out of the parking spot, every move guided by indicators and sonar because he's loaded and surely he could have whoever he- "Oh dear, you're shaking," he observes. You look down and notice your fingers are tremoring, clammy and cold in your lap. He takes one in his own, holds it atop the center console. The weight is steady and grounding. "You're okay, you don't have anything to be nervous about, it's just me," Pavitr soothes. It would have been more helpful if he wasn't literally Spider-Man. "S-sorry. I was just thinking," you apologize. Pavitr looks unimpressed, arches an eyebrow at you as he waits for the light to change. "This is all new to you, isn't it, sweet girl?" he contemplates. Your breath catches in your throat, because how did he know? "Yeah, I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed right now," you admit. The leather starts to feel tacky against your skin. Pavitr's expression softens, and he gives the back of your hand a reassuring rub. "Sorry for being an idiot. I should have known that someone who hasn't been in a relationship before might not appreciate coming on that strong." "But I have been in a relationship before. I've been in three," you clarify. You sense Pavitr stiffening in his seat as he completes a turn. "I just assumed- you seem so surprised that I'm showing you affection," he explains. "You react to it like...you're kidding," he makes wide-eyed eye contact through the rear view mirror. "About what?" "Three relationships and none of them has treated you like this? Not even holding the door for you?" Pavitr presses, his hold on your hand now still. "Not really, I sure do know how to pick them I guess," you sigh. "And now I've just met you and I'm already being given gifts, and you're so nice to me but I don't have the same kind of money-" "Ahh, I see now," he murmurs. The hand he's holding is lifted, fingers woven in between as he brings it to his lips to feather a kiss on your knuckles. "This is how you're supposed to be treated in a relationship, (You). Honestly, I'm not sure why these other idiots even bothered if they weren't going to take it seriously," states Pavitr, looking at you the best he can while still keeping eyes on the road. "And yes, I've been very fortunate with the success I've had, but I don't see the point of it outside of it being something to share with the people I care about. I'm happy to back off if you're not comfortable, but if you can, let me spoil you, darling. Just a little." He finishes with a wink, and plants another kiss to the back of your hand. Your heart flutters inside your ribcage, jitters transforming into sweet shivers from the contact. Never before have you met someone that's so damn full of affection and kindness that he can't carry it all, has to let some spill over the sides to function. "I think I can try that," you acquiesce. Pavitr beams, pecking your hands once more where they are joined. "That's all I can ask of you," he hums. He pulls the car onto a freeway entrance, and off you go in comfortable silence, the car accelerating smoothly as you speed towards your destination. You can tell Pavitr is really enjoying this car, the way he nimbly darts in and out of lanes with practiced ease, much like he does as Spider-Man. It's not long before you're pulling into what you recognize as a high-end shopping district. He parks in a quiet part of the parking structure before coming around the car to open your door. You accept the offered hand, and he leads you into what appears to be some kind of boutique. One he's been to before, judging by how the salesperson enthusiastically greets him as "Mr. Prabhakar" as he passes. You wind up next to a rack of exquisite dresses, a glance at one of the price tags makes you want to faint. "Was this the 'classified' activity you had in mind for today?" you inquire. Pavitr responds by pulling a dress from the rack, holding it out against your frame. "I was thinking that you might have some bad memories attached to us meeting. So I wanted to make some new ones together, and that starts with getting you a brand new dress- but not this one, we are leaving cottagecore in 2020 where it belongs," he explains. "Pavitr, that dress costs hundreds, I can't afford any of this," you whisper-shout, hoping the staff and other patrons don't figure out you don't belong in here. Pavitr rolls his eyes, and fishes something out from his wallet- holy shit is that a black Amex? "But I can. And as much as you like to deny it, you do deserve this. You do not exist as an object for men to play with and put back in the box when they're done, you are a good person who has been through some hard things, and you have more than earned the right to feel cared for," he challenges. "Let. Me. Spoil. You," he gently taps the corner of the shiny plastic against the tip of your nose to punctuate each word. "I- alright then, I really appreciate you doing that for me," you sigh, defeated. "But if I can ask, how are you able to afford all this?" "Started my own blockchain game company," replies Pavitr, as if it's nothing. He's shuffling through the racks, quickly rejecting different dresses for things like fabric, cut, and color. "Leaves me plenty of time to do...other things." "Other things...like making sure you don't miss the Supreme drops?" you joke. The implication doesn't go unnoticed, where "other things" is a pretty boring, nonspecific way to say "being Spider-Man". "Mmm, something like that," he replies, not missing a beat. You catch his face lighting up as he settles on a pair of dresses, runs the fabric between his fingers before retrieving them from the rack. "One of these is a winner, I can feel it," Pavitr declares. He's grabbing your hand again, leading you enthusiastically to the fitting rooms. "Wanna see how they fit on you?" You feel at this point like you can't win. Once again, insecurity comes raging down the path, nails digging into the flesh of your shoulders and sending a chill down your spine. "I'm uh-," you swallow your pride, figuring it's easier to just tell him. "I don't want to look stupid." Pavitr doesn't say anything at first, choosing instead to hang the dresses on a nearby hook, and takes hold of each of your shoulders. You feel gently contained, thoughts buzzing around inside your head clicking back into place. "You're beautiful, I hope you know that," he begins, quietly enough where anyone else shopping wouldn't be able to hear. "And if you don't, I'll keep telling you until you believe me. Also, if you've known me for at least three seconds, you'd see that I have a little bit of an issue with clothes." "Allegedly little," you snicker. "Okay, fine, I'm a hypebeast, I like clothes. Which means in no world would I let you look stupid," expresses Pavitr, his hands traveling up to cup your cheeks. "I think you'll like what I picked, but if you don't, we'll find something you do. You don't have to show me if you don't feel comfortable, the point is for you to feel confident, okay?" "Okay," you breathe. Pavitr's expression is fond, adoring even. He pecks your forehead just below your hairline, and then hands you the dresses. "Let me know if you need anything, darling, I'll be right outside," he instructs. He hands you the dresses and finds a seat on a nearby divan. You find yourself in the dressing room, alone with the dress and your thoughts. The first one he selected is navy blue. Sleek, form-fitting, with lovely detail on the shoulder. A weight hanging down the inside of the dress creates the appearance of heavy, drape-y fabric and a scoop neckline. It shows off a lot and you're not sure you're ready for that right now. Logically, you know Pavitr would hype you up instead of leering, chase out the insecurities when he runs his hands along- No. You're not going there. Your walk out of the dressing room is stiff, hesitant despite your best attempts to own the dress. Pavitr looks up, gives an obviously appreciative once-over, but you can tell he sees right through you. "Well?" you ask, patiently awaiting a verdict. Pavitr guides you by the shoulders to face the mirror. His palms on your exposed skin leave an invisible sear where they touch, even though there's only tenderness in the act. "I'm thinking that this dress isn't helping you see what I see," he answers, eyes meeting yours in the reflection. "I think it's lovely, I think you look classy in it, but the fit is just...not letting you feel like you. Maybe the other one is worth a try?" You nod, and feel yourself deflate a bit. Pavitr gives your forearms a brisk, encouraging rub as you head back to the dressing room. You peel off this dress and turn your attention to the second choice he's made. This one is a rich, emerald green, with sheer sleeves. There is an intricate bodice that shimmers in the mirror, when you slide it on, you notice the outer skirt is sheer like the sleeves are, with chevron patterning that suggests ivy leaves. The neckline is deep, but you don't feel overexposed. The dress feels like a natural extension of yourself, as if grown from a seed and wound around you, as a passionfruit vine finds purchase on a trellis. Is this what he was talking about when he said you should feel like you? You close up the zipper and exit the fitting room, this time with fluidity in your step. The mid-length skirt swishes when you walk, the beading on your bodice softly clattering as you move . You see Pavitr's head turn from across the room, and he would swear up and down to anyone who would listen that his heart stopped. He's positively beaming, contagiously so, the warmth in his countenance causing you to smile in return. He's quick to grab your hands and just about drags you over to the large mirror. "Give me a twirl, darling," he directs, eyes half-lidded and voice throaty. You comply, the skirt following along smoothly as he guides you through with one hand. "I think you're right, Pavitr, you have great taste," you acknowledge. You love the way you feel right now, radiant and tall, standing next to him like you belong there. Pavitr snorts, one arm gently rounding your waist. "I do have great taste. In fashion, and in women," he smugly retorts, pulling you to stand in front of him in the mirror. "And now, you can see yourself how I see you." "What do you see?" you ask. Pavitr drops a squishy kiss atop your head. "The only woman strong enough to kiss Spider-Man on the mouth and know he'd come back for more," he purrs. He wishes he could bottle this radiance up, store it in the fridge for you to savor on a rainy day. "I think you and I look good together," he remarks. "Yeah, we do," you agree. You know he's not referring to the clothes. "I also think that this dress looks so exquisite on you, you should wear it out of the store. How does that sound to you?" Pavitr proposes. You flush at the prospect of going out in public looking like this, but, strangely, you don't seem to mind getting extra attention right now. Not with the way he's looking at you like the damn heart-eye emoji. "I think I like the sound of that." Pavitr beckons a saleswoman over, who silently materializes behind you to accept his credit card. The hair on the nape of your neck stands on end as Pavitr places a flat hand on your back to deftly extract the price tag from its attachment on the dress's zipper. You crane your neck to get a glimpse of the number, but he's quick to dispose of the tag. "Don't worry about it, sweet girl. You getting to feel like this is more than worth that," he assures with a tap on the end of your nose. You feel like a celebrity when he leads you outside by the hand. The late afternoon sun catches the beading on your dress and reflects on the lenses of Pavitr's Wayfarers. Heads turn, and you're half-expecting to see paparazzi jump out from around corners, but you're finding you don't mind the looks. With him, you feel a hundred feet tall. "I don't think I ever said 'thank you'," you remind him when you're in the car later. "You're welcome, and you more than earned it," he replies. "Would you want to come up to mine after?" "Oh, um..." you falter, wondering what it is he's expecting. "Shit, not like that, I mean-" he stutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. "God, that sounded terrible. Tonight I was thinking of ordering in, talking, maybe watch a movie?" "Pavitr, I just had a fucking heart attack. You can't scare me like that," you wheeze, dying of laughter. "I should have clarified, I'm really not expecting anything like that from you, not unless that's what you want, and- you know what, I'm gonna stop talking," Pavitr rambles. "Oh my god, Spider-Man is so flustered right now, this is gold," you giggle. "Feel free to bask in my embarrassment. It's good for your skin," he snarks. You end up in his living room. It's surprisingly cozy inside, all rich, dark colors and plush furniture. Pavitr orders from his favorite spot around the block while you explore. You don't notice him fiddling with his phone when he's done, connecting to his bluetooth speakers and queuing up what sounds like a Beatles song, the first string notes tender and sweet. You turn to face him, and find him with his hand outstretched. "I was thinking, since you have a new dress now, might as well go dancing in it?" he invites. His expression is almost...nervous? "I think that's a wonderful idea," you accept, taking his hand. Pavitr holds you delicately at the waist as you slow dance around the living room. You're so close you're sharing breath, you smell the spicy scent of the aftershave he'd applied over the hollow of his throat. "This is what I want you to remember when you think about when we met," he rasps. "How beautiful you feel, how nice it is to be so close to someone so handsome." "How about 'so vain'?" you bite back, no venom in your words and a smirk on your face. "My point stands, darling," he hums. You feel his nose gently bump your cheek, not quite a nuzzle. "I don't know how I can thank you enough for today, for...everything, not just the dress," you tell him. Pavitr ghosts a kiss on your jaw, just below your ear that feels like he's just teased you with a feather. "I don't want you to thank me, but if you decided you wanted to kiss me again, I wouldn't say no to that, sweet girl," he whispers, his breath tickling your ear. You're not one to turn down a good thing, so you do. The kiss is languid, lips moving against each other comfortably and easily. Pavitr cups the back of your head and slips you a little tongue, and it's glorious, you feel like you're slowly melting into a puddle of hot molasses. It's crazy how in the span of just twenty four hours, this man has simultaneously lifted you up and brought you to your knees in the best possible way. You could forget all the other bullshit. You'd never forget the delightful way his lips engulf yours over and over again, his arm caressing your waist as if you'd shatter, the way he can't contain all the affection inside him, spilling out over the sides and bathing you both in its light.

#Pavitr Prabhakar #pavitr prabhakar x reader #pavitr my beloved #atsv pavitr #pavitr x you #Pavitr x reader #spider-man: across the spider-verse #spiderman india #spiderverse x reader #across the spiderverse #spiderverse x you #spiderman astv #spiderman astv imagines #astv fanfic #x female reader #fanfiction

46 notes · View notes

starsscarmyceiling · 2 years ago

Note

Hello! I notice that you are a voracious Merrical shipper! This is a thing we share in common. I'm looking to write a few Merrin/Cal drabbles or shorts. I like to think I'm pretty alright at that part, but not so alright at coming up with initial ideas. Would you care to drop me some prompts you might have rattling around in your brain? I consider my strengths to be romance, fluff, hurt/comfort emotional type stuff. Space Chicken Soup for the Soul or something. Anything that allows me to say something about them as a romantic couple. Thanks!

I MEAN…what gave me away?? LOLOL of courseeeeeee I am a voracious shipper of our fav space ginger jedi and space goth best girl!! I am honored you’d reach out to me for such a thing anon. I do feel like I always just have fic ideas banging around in my head like a bunch of loose not approved space trash, so I would be happy to help! Now, did you want canonverse or AU prompts? Well I am here to give you both like the feral Merrical that I am. (also space chicken soup for the soul I cackled)

I hope you love tropes!

Haha some of these are just a few sentences and some of them are whoops Katie got a little carried away and already wrote out half the fic for you in the most unhinged, blathering manner you’ve ever seen so prepare yourself for that (it’s actually a lot of them so…🙃)

Canonverse:

Canon Compliant:

Alright, who doesn’t love a sexy spy intel fic? Yeah, pretty stereotypical plot, buy HEY listen. Okay, typical gathering intel mission at some cantina somewheres (and they are not together in my mind because of course that makes it more fun). Maybe there’s a drink or two…oh hey maybe even some dancing to appear nondescript…and wow hey they are at just the right place to complete the mission but OH—what is this the people they’re spying on are actually coming right for them WHAT SHOULD THEY DO TO DISTRACT—um come on is this even a question?? I personally think it would be more unexpected and satisfying if Cal were to be the one to initiate it.

Because of course he’s wanted to do this, kiss her like this, feel her like this. He’s kind of surprised he’s held out this long, and he’s nervous, feeling like he’s made a mistake because she’s not responsive, so he’s already formulating his extreme apology once they are in the clear—

He feels her fingertips slowly touch at the skin on his neck as her lips respond to his. The way in which it escalates caused Cal to forget what its intended purpose was because his brain blanked out as her body pressed to his, arms snaking around his neck now as it only seemed natural to wrap his around her… you know, something like that

UM, SPARRING??? Xcuse is there anything better?? A Jedi and a Nightsister can you imagine? It starts off innocent enough, but then hey Bogano is hot—perhaps Cal takes off his shirt, they get competitive trying to one up each other, Merrin takes off her shirt idk and of course there’s gots to be banter banter banter sethy sethy banter sethy, we’re all watching like YO these two want to SMOOSH their FACES TOGETHER RIGHT??? They have a moment, an impasse if you will, where they are very close or are actually just pressed up against one another, or hey maybe even one falls on top of the other—I’m not picky.

They realize they’ve gotten too carried away or crossed a line 🥵—blush blush or lingering lewks—but then they get a hold of themselves. Because hey, that’s a normal thing to do, right? Just have this sexually charged sparring session and brush up against your bud in the process?? I mean, we’ve all been there…

They’re both embarrassed, trying to scurry away to preserve their dignity…Merrin walks away first and then Cal like grunts with his hands in the air like wtfff why didn’t I kiss her??

~Later~ Cal’s beating himself up in his cot, tossing and turning on just how much Merrin means to him because it was weird and awkward for them at dinner and was he really imagining everything that’d built between them?

Cal just can’t let this go and gets up to confront her about it, and he gets up to find her in the hallway walking towards his room, and—he sees her face and automatically deflates because there’s conflict on her face. They again awkwardly kind of be like saying at the same time I’m sorry about that oof whoops I didn’t mean that unless maybe—okay well GNIGHT—

Cal goes back to bed, sits on his bed and sighs, knowing he biffed it again—almost starts spiraling disassociating, and then shakes his head like man wtf am I doing go to her—so he gets up again—he goes up to her door, hyping himself up, but then like two seconds later, Merrin opens it, and they are shocked, they stare, Cal goes in for it—pulls away—they stare—they both go in for it and hehe idk wtf do you think happens after that???????????//

Um, I am envisioning a dynamic where like, there has been some flirtsing between them, but nothing that has really committed to the bit, you know? And then they go on either a mission or go like to a marketplace (somewhere public) wherein one notices how much the other is getting checked out, and they are like ooof wow everyone in this Cantina is seeing how hot they are how could I even have a shot??? Well let me tell YOU babes…you do. you have a shot. You have the most shots. Just…shoot your shot. I feel like there should def be some unintentional swagger going on and the other is like wow why are they being so hot rn…THAT is rude.

They get home…there’s an awkward feeling where they don’t know how to act around them…and the other is like um tf is up with you??? And it’s like they forgot how to be a person around them…what?? What is hUmAN iNteRaCtIon???? Would you I—how do I—*wheezes* Okay the more I write this out the more fun I think it would be for Merrin to be getting all flustered about this (esp because she is usually the one that is seen to be more composed). It’s up to you but come on there is much room for Cal busting out that charm he doesn’t even realize he has and Merrin is just 🥵 swoon. Also him taking off his shirt for no reason or looking hawt while doing Jedi shit. Then she just snaps. We love to see it. Just think about it. I know you are. Please write this shit for us I beg of you.

I also like the thought of Cal looking for something in the mantis, and he accidentally picks up one of Merrin’s things without thinking about it and sees an echo from her. It actually isn’t sad. It’s a happy one, which for some reason seems to only make it worse. He doesn’t exactly know how to address it with her and starts to feel awkward around her. Sometimes he really resents the fact that people’s private moments are just projected into his head. They are tasked to do something together on another planet, where she eventually confronts him on why he is acting weird. He tries to play it off with some lame excuse and she sees right through him and stalks off.

He sighs, setting out to find her, where she is at like an outside café or hell somewhere super secluded. Cal sits down with her without a word. They are silent for a bit, but then he tells her of a happy memory that he has of him and Jaro and their battalion, or maybe something from the temple.

She is happy he’s shared something intimate with her, but then she questions where this is coming from. Then he is pulling something out of his poncho, dropping it into her lap. There are profuse apologies coming from him and tells her what he saw. It was a complete accident. Upon seeing the object, she tells Cal it’s fine she knew he didn’t do it on purpose, but there still seems to be something bothering her.

Cal says how sometimes it’s easy to forget there were better times before this, and thinking about those memories now almost makes them feel tainted.

Merrin tells him that she thought she’d never have another happy memory again. But then she tells him of the first good one she made with him. He smiles, feeling bashful. Merrin says knowing that I still can be happy makes me feel like my past wasn’t for nothing. And I have you to thank for that. They decide they should be getting back and stand…one of them starts to hesitate, and the other notices, asking what is wrong…but then the former approaches them and perhaps they kith I mean of course they kith this is a fanfic after all I mean what else are we doing here.

Who doesn’t love a mission where Cal has taken too long (with Saw or the partisans or whatever), and Merrin is really starting to worry that something bad has happened to him. She can’t feel him through the force and she has devolved into a nervous wreck (up to you what the state of their relationship is at this point). Cere and Greez do their best to try and distract or comfort her. she feels her heart rip apart in her chest because she just cannot go through this again—she’s already lost her sisters and almost lost him too. Him being gone and uncertain of his fate is making her face how she truly feels about him, which makes it only worse.

She is trying to distract herself with practicing her magicks, menial tasks, meditation, sparring techniques that Cal has taught her—which just makes her think of him just like everything eventually does.

And just when she thought she truly was going to lose her mind, resorting to shutting out these feelings she’s only just realized, she feels him, something that is only a flicker compared to how bright he normally feels—and she’s running, she can teleport, but she just wants to chase this feeling of where he is—because if she doesn’t she is just simply going to lose her mind—

There he is, at the top of the ramp, and there is this moment where they meet eyes (and wow our boy could certainly be injured, which could explain why she didn’t feel him before), and they are running towards each other—and wow what a beautiful reunion of DON’T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN and such things. Could have a debriefing session looking over the sunset of Bogano where ✨feelings✨ are discussed. If they aren’t together certainly someone shoving their face into the other for the first time, or if they already are def have the L word thrown around…also there has to be a ‘coming back to you was like coming home’ moment because yes. Should be full of fun timez.

Canon Divergent:

I love love looooove the idea of Merrin has been able to get off Dathomir and becomes a bounty hunter (and Ventress is alive and thriving and living her best life OF COURSE), and perhaps they sometimes work together (it is my own personal HC that these two are aunt and niece together but I digress). And guess who are the most wanted beezies in the galaxy??? JEDI. And there’s a redheaded Jedi going around causing a lot of trouble.

Merrin is on a planet and happens to find him in a Cantina. He fits the description with his build and his hair, despite the hood he is trying to conceal himself with. Perhaps most people would miss him, but not this Nightsister. She follows him to somewhere secluded, and he of course senses her and is like um why are you following me…you know the answer to that, she says. He knows he’s discovered and so don’t we have a FUN Jedi Nightsister brawl. Both catches one another off guard with their abilities…but of course we know who has to get the upper hand if this fic is going to progress.

Cal is captured…there are some fun moments in captivity where Cal is like please don’t do this…do you really want to give the Empire what they want, and she is just like fuming Jedi are liars and selfish thieves bit. Could go a few different directions from here. I like the thought of another group ambushing them, and Cal offers to help and she is like no you are my prisoner and he is like girl would you rather die? So she reluctantly says FINE Jedi—he ends up accidentally touching something of hers in the midst and feels an echo that you know, reveals some sad shit and she is like WTF ARE YOU DOING WE NEED TO GET A MOVE ON IT BUDDY—

They end up having to crash land anyway—perhaps onto an uninhibited planet or one with a small population…Cal saves Merrin, and when she wakes up and realizes what he has done and she is almost resentful. Why would he do such a thing. She takes her anger out on him. And he just takes it all. And it makes her even more angry that he isn’t even reacting to it like he was before.

Eventually when she is done, he tells her that the Jedi weren’t the monsters she was told they were. Perhaps he even busts out the object he touched before and tosses it to her. He apologizes and explains what happened on the ship before he stands, explaining everything that needs to be fixed on the ship.

He’s walking away, but he pauses, idk if you want to bust out the ‘I know what it’s like to lose everything’ line here but I don’t think it would be a bad place. Or at least something to that degree. And you know what progresses after that…(psst, it’s their relationship) Holy shit the more I’ve gotten into this the more I need it please someone write this I may die without it!

(OR—another direction you can go with it is that they are both captured by WHOMSTever and they have to work together to escape…I mean who could truly stop a Jedi and a Nighsister reluctantly working together? I truly pity the fool)

Clone Wars AU where Cal and Jaro are assigned to try and recruit the Nightsisters to try and get the upper hand in the war with Dooku (lol I wouldn’t say exactly a Dark Disciple route but that’s up to you). Merrin is voluntold (the opposite of volunteered) by Mother Talzin to try and become allies with the Jedi (they could have their own shady Nightsister ulterior motive going on as well), and Merrin reluctantly goes with the Jedi. And oooooooOoOooo wow the shenanigans that can ensue from that. (Merrin also has to try really hard not to lose her shit over leaving Dathomir for the first time in her life). I’d imagine a lot of frustrations from both parties. The clones mercilessly make fun of Cal and his Nightsister gf (but they also have to tell him what’s up). He thinks she’s unreasonably obtuse and rude, and she thinks he’s frustratingly smug/arrogant. Merrin could prove to be a definite asset in battle. Cal probably thinks it’s hawt 😳 OH NO SHE’S HOT SEE LOOK HOW WE GOT HERE WE LIKE TO HAVE FUN HERE.

Now suddenly she’s mysterious and complex, and he’s frustrated that he wants to know more. He’s actually the sweetest person she’s ever seen and she’s angry about it. She constantly has to check in with her sisters and it’s getting harder and harder to go behind his back or deny that she maybe might not hate him anymore she maybe even may want to smooch him WOAH who knows. They bond over feeling used in this war. Come on. You got it from here right?

AUs:

Modern:

Idk why this has been in my head but like—(I imagine them as good friends with insane chemistry, well, they always have insane chemistry but you know what I mean), and they are at a party, probably drinking involved, because that could give you some like beer pong shenanigans if you so choose. They have a good fun time, maybe there’s a moment where either one of them (depending on who’s POV you are using) thinks it’s gonna happen. Merrin smiles in just the right way, or Cal says something dorky and adorable like he does, and I mean…they’re in a fanfic, so of course they get INTERRUPTED—

They may either be too tried or too drunk to leave, and they end up both on the couch, and hey at the time it seemed like a perfectly normal thing for them to just fall asleep like that. Cal probably still tries to respect Merrin’s boundaries and though her face is like literal centimeters from his, he tries his best to give her space and awkwardly contorts his body so he is still not touching her. But Merrin still rests her head on his arm anyway, and both of them feel that warmth and rush throughout their bodies because maybe perhaps also Cal tucks her Merrin’s hair behind her ear just before they fall asleep—

AND IN THE MORNING, they’re closer now, both of them in that haze of awakening, their lips are ever so barely touching, BUT THEN—they spring apart. Their eyes are wild on each other and within this space, seconds tick by as the gravity of that sinks in before they give each other one last heated look and then they are just macking on each other let’s GOOOOOOOO

My goodest frond @arosesee (who thought of this and the next three ideas) actually just came up with this one, and I LOVE it. A direct quote from her, “Mom Merrin subbing for Dad Kestis at a PTA meeting I would DIE,” and I mean basically. And I am not even someone who normally goes for fics with kids, but omg I would go feral for this one. Can you imagine? Cal is friends with all the moms and they are just smitten with him, and they are always like so when do we get to meet your wife?

And he’s like lol y’all ain’t ready for that smoke…but then hey Cal gets sick or something and so his goth wife has to step in and demand why they aren’t disciplining her children more I mean do they know who their father is??? And the moms just had no idea what Merrin was about, so they are just a bit surprised. UGH, I would be obsessed. Obsessed.

A stranded island survivor metrical fic could be fun. AHHHHH omg can you imagine all the arguing and the bickering and the 👀 —back to bickering again

“Oooooorrr a one-shot meet cute tourist trap with Merrin working the cash register and Cal the campy decked out tourist tripping over himself cause he doesn't want to be inconsiderate but ohmygod she's so pretty

He like TOTALLY drops his wallet (probably drops it twice)”

He’s like there for a thing—like maybe a family thing with Cere and Greez and it just turns into them constantly running into each other (um should the wallet dropping bit be throughout uh yeah I think so and at the end SHE picks it up akakakakakkakk), and finally she eyes him, sighing, and invites him to the hotel bar or a local spot, basically just yanking him along and Cal is just like okAYYYY 😍

“Ooooh one more idea, both of them are college RAs for the same dorm building, and it's super awkward but FINE during the meeting but then they have to plan weekly socials for the baby freshmen TOGRTHRr and like it's fine like so totally fine”....Narrator: it was not fine

This one was suggested by my boo @galacticsirensong: “Listen I want a carnival AU now with Cal going on the ferris wheel alone cuz his date stood him up. He bought allllll these tickets and doesn’t wanna waste them. So he decides to hop on the ride but the carnie operator is like yelling into the crowd STEP RIGHT UP! STEP RIGHT UP! ANYONE WANNA GO FOR A RIDE WITH THIS GINGER? WE GOT A LONELY GINGER, LADIES!! ANY TAKERS??

Merrin is like at her aunt’s palm reading tent nearby (see this is where I continue to push forward that Asajj is Merrin’s aunt agenda leave me alone). She overhears the ruckus and notices Cal is completely mortified. So she just squeezes through the narrow gaps of people, goes up the steps, takes a ticket from Cal and hands it to the operator without a word.”

Cal barely has time to register her before she sits down and starts moving, and he like clears throat um--

Merrin’s just like I hate this ride operator he’s always trying to embarrass people like that so I am doing this out of spite

Then they kind of notice one another may be cute and well Cal’s stumbling over his words like he do, and Merrin pretends not to be flustered by it because she is into that shit, and once the ride is over....Merrin’s just like well let’s spend the rest of these tickets

Because you know, out of spite for Cal being stood up

AND THAT’S IT

Harry Potter:

Either them being students or teachers. But Cal is a NERD happy go lucky Hufflepuff and Merrin is a typical broody Slytherin. Perhaps they have to work together either on curriculum or a class project, and neither are really that happy about it. I could see Cal trying to be overly positive about the situation just to be able to get through this because she is such an edgelord, and Merrin could take it as him being insincere or fake. (IF they are students, you can play around with Merrin rolling her eyes at Cal being a teacher’s pet, but then at the same time she is a total know it all LOL).

(ALSO could Cal still have his psychometry powers I know this an AU but come on it’s a crossover we do what we want who is to say an Earth wizard can’t do such a thing)

They could come from tragic pasts that they are very reluctant to share…but somehow they manage to start…getting along? Lol I love the thought of them rolling their eyes at the other houses like omfg Ravenclaws are such know it alls or the Gryffindors are such bruts. Maybe there’s Quidditch involved…only adding to the rivalry. But that is for YOU to decide, isn’t it???

Old West:

Sorry I am on some Red Dead Redemption shit but I simply cannot help myself but to shove all of my favorite things together alright. (@namesonboats I am looking at chuuu 🤠) Cal is apart of some kind of roaming squad (IF you chose a band of outlaws I wouldn’t be opposed), and they are in this one town for a bit. He starts to go to a general store where a Russian aunt and niece run it, and a lot of people just assume Merrin doesn’t even speak any English and dismiss her a lot of the time. But maybe he’s seen her at one of the saloons or tending to one of her horses and thinks that there’s more to her than what she is presenting to the world (and lol she is prettyyyy 😍)

He goes into the store with Greez one day, and he ends up asking Merrin something, and Greez is like lol why do you bother she isn’t going to answer you. Cal is like pssssh this girl is trolling all of you I just know it. Merrin looks at him like he’s grown a second head, and then Asajj comes out and starts to put on the charm and Merrin just yeets right out of there.

Perhaps Cal was wrong. Maybe she didn’t understand him, but that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t want to get to know her. So he just continues to go to the store anyway and keeps talking to her all the time (We all know the boy can ramble let’s go). Maybe he even runs into her at other parts of town, or even on the outskirts where she’s taken her horse out, and he happens upon her while he’s on his. She does some target practice with a pistol and he’s impressed. He wished he at least knew her name.

There’s a Russian woman in their group, and Cal asks her about a few Russian phrases, to which she complies, but then asks why. Cal is all SUPER red and is just like LOL NO REASON K THX BYEEEE!

Cal goes into the shop, tries out a phrase or two, attempts a hello and asks her how she is doing. He feels like he is making a fool of himself, but then he swears out of the corner of his eye he sees her smirk. He asks her name in Russian, and she sighs…so Cal assumes he’s asked her wrong he clearly couldn’t remember it right and looks at the ground. “Merrin,” she says. His heart races. Asajj comes out and interrupts them OF COURSE.

The gang wants to move on soon, but Cal isn’t ready to let go. It seems silly because practically every interaction they’ve had have been one sided conversations, but he still goes to the store nonetheless and tells her they are going to be leaving. She looks at him poignantly, and he still just doesn’t know if she’s pretending or really doesn’t understand. He dips his cowboy hat to her and tells her it was nice meetin’ ya milady dasvidaniya.

Merrin shouldn’t be disappointed in the American man who came into her shop all the time to annoy her, really it doesn’t matter. How could it? He was really just a nuisance more than anything else, that Calvin ‘Cal’ Kestis.

But, he was truly the only person that she could recall in what feels like a lifetime that looked her in her eyes, talked to her like a person, even if it was at annoying constancy. And GD he even learned some Russian just for her...but she tries to just forget about that handsome, redheaded cowboy all the same.

Merrin is tasked to travel to a few towns over to pick up a delivery for the store, and after the long journey wherein she is going to have to spend the night anyway, so she decides to go to one of the saloons. She rolls her eyes as she sips at her whiskey because more than one man has approached her and thought she was a hooker.

A brawl breaks out and she rolls her eyes harder. Stupid men. All of them were just children.

But then this man comes in the middle of it and tries to break it up. His voice sounds familiar, but she thinks he’s hearing things. She tries to tune it out, but notices he gets punched anyway, and his hat flies off. Yeah, no there was no denying that red hair. She wants to leave, but she can’t; she’s stuck on her stool. Once the fight finally ceases, Cal is with that small man he came into the store with sometimes as he retrieves his hat. He talks with the short man, and she thinks he’s going to leave, and he is just going to be lost to her again, but then he seems to stay for another drink, probably wanting to nurse that black eye he’s no doubt going to get.

He sits at one of the stools and downs a drink. Oh lordt should she go up to him now? After everything she’s lost, it seemed ridiculous to do such a thing, but she finds her feet moving of her own volition. Oh GOD what is she even going to say.

“That is quite the punch you took,” she says, sitting down next to him, “I probably have something in my supplies that could help with that.”

Cal whips his head to her and quickly voices her name, which she was certain he was going to forget. And he seemed most certainly shocked that yes she does indeed know English and has this whole time.

There’s smiles all around as he offers to buy her a drink and she accepts. But she also has to make fun of how terrible his Russian was.

Lol was that enough of the plot for you. AND I MEAN GD I’VE DONE IT AGAIN—

Treasure Hunters:

SHUT UP NO I AM NOT JUST THINKING OF ALL MY FAV VIDEO GAMES THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UNCHARTED GET THAT THOUGHT OUT OF YOUR HEAD. Cal and Greez are a typical team that also work a lot with Cere.

For this new job, they have to go to Russia for like whatever treasure is there, and Cere has recruited a new member, a surly woman named Merrin that was apparently an expert in Russian history and treasure and all of that (maybe even chemistry or something too because our girl is SMORT). But she is mean and yeah maybe he thinks it’s a little hot but that is besides the point. Why is she even here him and Greez have always gotten along just fine. Do they have to steal something from a Russian big wig crime boss, yeah most probably. Merrin looks WAY too sethy 🥵 in her dress as she tries to distract the men Cal needs to get around…they get caught of course and wooo, calamity ensues.

They get to the location, and whenever they have to make camp, she is always off by herself, even when Cere invites her to sit with them.

Come on this is also a PERFECT opportunity for Cal to show off some parkour skills. And Merrin doesn’t notice them. No, she doesn’t notice them at all she is adamantly not looking—dammit, she looked.

They get deeper and deeper into this job. Cal opens up about how he was an orphan and Greez took him in when they are checking out one of the rooms in this abandoned site. He doesn’t really know why he’s telling her this, but he’s just caught her sad face too many times for him to not think about what was going on in her head. But she’s made it clear she’s only here for the job and doesn’t really care about any of them, so this whole venture was useless anyway.

They still bicker, oH LORDT do they fight about everything. Cere and Greez just assume they are going to bone if they haven’t already. Cal gets all defensive when Greez asks about it like NO…where did you even GET that from omG.

They find the underground area they’ve been trying to get to…and of COURSE the gang gets separated. Cal and Merrin end up in a room they can’t find their way out of. They are STUCK. WtF Cal is stuck with this grump and Merrin is stuck with this way too enthused arrogant asshole—

They try all their options and argue the whole time. They don’t know how long they’ve been stuck in here, but Cal still insists she has the last of the water. And she insists he has the last protein bar. Maybe there was only one bed roll you never know....

Merrin doesn’t know why, but she opens up to him about how she got into all of this. Her mother, that is how her parents met in this deathtrap of an industry, was always fascinated in this treasure in particular. In some sort of stupid way, she thought she was honoring her…it sounds stupid now.

It doesn’t sound stupid, Cal declares.

And look at that they have to WoRk ToGEtHeR to get out and there haaas to be close proximity and touching for that to happen. Come on now I know you have it in you. SOOOOO, yeah that was that one.

Was that enough?? I am so freaking sorry that I pretty much wrote out like almost all the plot to like…most of these. I would start with an idea and before I knew it—I was several paragraphs deep and what is my life. No excuses…I have no way to defend myself…don’t look at me

ANYONE out there, please, if any of these ideas inspire you, take them and roll with it! You in no way are obligated to follow my outlines directly. Take it, make it your own, or follow my plot, IDC, as long as we are getting some more Merrical content out there! Hell, you could even do a combination, a continuation, whatever you want! I was having a pretty shitty week, so this was honestly a fun distraction for me to put together. I can’t believe I went this insane...but actually no I am not.

And if anyone has any more ideas, don’t be shy! Comment on this post, DM me, or write into my ask box. I would love to get your thoughts out there for all of us to see! I am like so thrilled about the amount of Merricals coming out from the woodwork. YESSS, these space nerds just belong together no matter the universe! So I really hope this helped you anon! Would love to add to this list with all y’alls ideas!

Also, if any of you wanted to bounce these ideas or any other ideas you had, also please don’t hesitate to reach out! I am always here to have a fic sesh, believe you me.

Alright, well.. I’ve rambled long enough for the next 500 years, I’ll just…see myself out.

And I am just going to tag some of my Merrical peeps (and ones I know that are around even if we haven't talked before) if you guys are at all interested in writing or contributing! 🥰

@namesonboats @believe-in-alderaan @misfitz-7 @myfaenwy @starryjediknight @dolcid @wayfaringjedi @separatist-apologist @mistressorinoco

#ooooof wow #i perhaps might have ran a little wild with this one folks #or maybe a lot #but like??? hopefully some of these may inspire you????#i certainly hope so #i think i put out a nice plethora #a smattering if you will #anyway #let's go merricals let's GOOOO!!!#i expect to see a lot more fics in the ao3 tag now #lol jk no pressure but that would be awesome #okay genuinely will stfu now #calmerrin #cal x merrin #merrical #merrical fanfic #fanfic #merrical fic recs #ask

47 notes · View notes

snorlaxlovesme · 5 months ago

Note

For the ask meme:

41) Who’s your favorite character you’ve written?

66) What’s a fun fact about let me do this for you?

68) Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do?

74) Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

(You don't have to answer them all if you don't have the wherewithal I just love asking questions to writers!!)

smooch smooch smoochsmoochsmooch LC you know I love you and you know I love talking about writing

41. Who's your favorite character you've written?

like, OBVIOUSLY Soul or Maka otherwise I wouldn't have dedicated the past like ten years of my life writing for Soul Eater. but a secret third option? Hagakure from My Hero Academia. probably because Horikoshi gave me absolutely NOTHING to work with besides "girl who is constantly invisible and wants to be hero" so I got to come up with everything else for her on my own. and since I can't think of a single 15 year old girl on the planet that would be comfortable with fighting naked while everyone else was clothed, invisible or not, I gave her a complex about it. and it's a pretty rad fic if I do say so myself. [x] i

66. What's a fun fact about let me do this for you? [x]

the long-lost soup recipe was inspired by a couple different things! there's an episode of Spy x Family where Yor is trying to learn to cook for her fake family and a co-worker tries to teach her how to make a stew, I think. at the end of the cooking process her co-worker asks Yor where she's from and deduces that the region where she lives probably adds sour cream into the stew, and when Yor and her brother taste it it brings back memories of their childhood. i had a similar experience 2 years ago when i went to Chicago. we went to a fancy restaurant and by total coincidence the mashed potatoes I got as a side dish tasted EXACTLY like how my grandmother used to make them. when i was a kid we'd always have Christmas and Easter at my grandma's house and her mashed potatoes were different from how my parents made them and they were SO yummy. she passed away in 2015 so being able to eat what felt exactly like her cooking in 2022 felt really special. those kind of things reminded me just how special home-cooking is, and how taste can trigger memories. i thought it would be comforting for Cheng Xiaoshi to have a memory food like that, that he really wished to taste again, and to have Qiao Ling love her brother enough to attempt to make it over and over again so he can experience that kind of warmth again. and honest to god, hand on the Bible, i had not watched s1 in a while and had COMPLETELY forgotten about the noodle lesbians and didn't know that i was subliminally channeling a plot Link Click had already used LMAO

68. Are there any fics that inspired you to write the way you do?

that's hard to pin down since I don't have even really have a definitive writing style, really. if you look at the work I used to put out in the 2010s, it's mostly snappy sitcom-style romantic comedy things (which I would say was largely influenced by the Soul Eater fandom as a whole and Bittersweet Romanticide's [x] many many excellent Pokemon one-shots and longfics. those were my core texts when I started writing fanfiction so my earlier style comes from them I'm sure. nowadays? i think maybe since being in the TRC fandom I've switched up my style to be a bit more prose-heavy. that's more Maggie Stiefvater's influence than anything, since I've taken like four of her writing courses. i've been able to flesh out ideas better and have been more intentional with my pacing since learning from Stief

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

no matter how many times i reblogged it, you'd come over, right? [x] was chronically ignored and that remains one of life's greatest tragedies it's a TRC pynch one-shot that takes place in the middle of the end of the world. apocalypse NOW, RIGHT NOW, truly. but ironically despite the fire and brimstone raining down, it's more of a backdrop to the emotional turmoil Ronan is going through, as he experiences the end of days alone. (angst with a happy ending, though, soooooooo. it deserves to be read. it is very good. )

#again SMOOCH :*#thank you for the questions LC you're an angel #kelly got an ask #mykingdomforapen

3 notes · View notes

spicyraeman · 11 months ago

Note

Well interacting with you makes my week too! **aggressive friendly fist bump**

I hope your holidays are going well 😁

Wolfheart is ending me. Can I pet that dawg? CAN I PET THAT DAWG? (https://vt.tiktok.com/ZGeN9U7kG/)

I love seeing the hairy SH art! PCOS / trans / wolf girlie, I stan all versions I see. We're not cowards here! The new band drawings are fire, still making my heartrate go jglcbxlw. And seeing the growth? Honestly it's magic to me, I think it's perfect then it becomes even more perfect and I'm just how?? How possible?

Veteran'zel, Baby'zel, Beam'zel, Horny'zel, Rat'zel, all I do is love'zel! The cheetah/dog doodle + wet rat'zel made me hiccup from laughter, we were blessed.

Buddy, Karlach's got her tail docked like the gith children, that's why! See, problem fixed **insert Flex Tape meme**

Also for Lae'zel's accent : yes, she would have such a harsh accent! As a foreign speaker, the pronunciation isn't always intuitive and is sometimes paradoxal. She probably never used some sounds, and it's hard to guess a lot of them. It's so inconsistent. I lack air in the middle of my sentences because of the tonal accentuations differences. Languages are crazy man. Lae'zel would have a stroke, struggling to say "library" with Gale correcting her.

I've been upgraded to bestie? Careful, I feel like the most specialest goblin in town now 😎

I also wanted to share with you my recent victory : I passed my exams with unexpectedly high grades! It's been 10 years since I succeeded in anything school related, I feel strangely proud and hopeful. I attribute this partly to the intense hyperfixation for BG3. I can come back to this fandom and get comfort when I feel burned out and in need of motivation. Thank you for being part of it and sharing your blorbos with us. Good soup for our cold starving souls. So yeah, you and your art matter even if you find it bleh sometimes and you doubt yourself.

I wanted to be brief but I'm incapable of shortening shit even if my life depended on it. Violently dumping my brain in your ask like I'm late on garbage collecting day. Sorry not sorry for the awkward emotional stuff. Take care of yourself, bestie ✌️

🫀🚑

Sry for answering these “backwards”, I just needed to get the conlang stuff out first before all my good braincells shut down lol

hope the holidays are going well on your end as well :]

To pet a werewolf truly is the dream isn’t it, wereshart is prob my fav hc for her it just fits so well. I've been trying really hard lately to figure out how to draw her recently bc despite the art disparity her and lae’zel are neck in neck at being my fav characters. Seeing the growth in the bass drawing really gave me that boost of confidence that I'm at least slightly getting there lol

I truly do love Lae’zel in every form, but wet rat’zel rotates in my mind more than it should, sadly its not a hc I could ever commit to considering I can’t even remember Karlach’s canon tail lmaoo I really should just hc that karlach got her tail docked at this point, that or I need to make a checklist for her so I can go through and make sure ive got all her bits when I draw her

Also Ive already posted my big rambling mess about Gith accents but yeah harsh accent lae'zel best lae'zel, it just makes sense

But yoooo big gratz on the exams! Def something to be proud of!! I can agree this fandom really is a huge motivator, I haven’t had this much drive to do anything I've been doing recently in years. Glad I could help provide a lil comfort spot full of blorbo soup for the soul lol

Dw about shortening shit as you’ve prob seen i’m prone to rambling and also every emotion I experience is awkward so that's just par for the course here.

Hope life treats you well till the next ask, peace ✌️

#asks #again sry for answering backward #I just got sucked back into the conlang fixation

9 notes · View notes

chickensarentcheap · 1 year ago

Text

In a Heartbeat- Chapter Three

ANDOM: EXTRACTION

PAIRING: TYLER RAKE AND ESME DRUMMOND (ESTABLISHED OFC)

WARNINGS: angst. Big time angst.

SUMMARY: Dhaka nearly ended everything before it even began. In it’s aftermath and with Tyler’s life teetering on the threshold between life and death, Esme is about to realize just how strong she can be. And that love happens when it happens. There’s no rules. No rhyme or reason. No timeline.

Warnings: profanity, angst, mentions of childhood cancer and death, brief mentions of blood, brief mentions of gun violence, brief mentions of depression and anxiety

Link to Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48691714/chapters/127504024

Tagging: @tragiclyhip @youflickedtooharddamnit @secretaryunpaid @munstysmind @themaradwrites @ninjasawakenedmystar @asirensrage @residentdormouse @kmc1989 @karimac @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @occommunity @alisbackalleybbq @thebewingedjewelcat

****

One week later

“Tell me about the place. In Austria.”

His eyes are closed as he speaks, and his voice is low and quiet. It has started to lose the raspiness; a side effect from the irritation caused by prolonged dependency on life support. And while every day his wakeful periods increase, the weakness continues to ebb and flow: brief bouts of having the strength to attempt to feed himself mixed with moments of barely being able to lift his head from his pillow.

During those tough and trying times, he wears his emotions so plainly upon his face: the frustration that comes with the inability to properly hold utensils and the embarrassment that follows when she’s quick to tend to him. Always so patient as she does; never complaining or viewing him as a burden as she carefully and gently spoons soup or oatmeal into his mouth or holds the straw in place as he sips from a cup of ice water. And each time, it leaves him wondering what he’d ever done to deserve someone like her. A woman whose heart is so much larger than her diminutive frame; loving with every ounce of her body and soul.

Regardless of whether she receives the same -or even close to it- in return.

“You WERE able to hear me.”

“I don’t know if I heard everything you said, but I heard a lot. What I can remember, anyway.”

There’s a faint, audible squeak as she pushes her chair away from the side of the bed. “I probably annoyed the shit out of you, huh? Just talk, talk, talk, talk. I bet you were just dying to tell me to shut the fuck up.”

“Why would I ever tell you that?”

“Because I’m a chatty Cathy and you’re not. You’re a man of few words. I’m a woman of many.”

“Well, what’s that saying? Opposites attract?”

“We are about as opposite as you can get,” Esme muses. “In EVERY way. We make a pretty odd couple, you know. I mean, let’s start with the obvious. The enormous size difference.”

“I’ve only got a foot and three inches on you.”

Giving a small laugh, she perches herself on the edge of the bed. “‘Only,’ he says.”

“And about a hundred pounds.” His eyes flicker open as one of his hands comes to rest on his stomach; brow immediately furrowing. “Okay, maybe not that much NOW.”

“I wouldn’t stress too much about it. You’ll put the pounds back on in no time. I’ve seen the way you eat.”

A grin tugs at the corners of his mouth.

“And you haven’t lost THAT much muscle tone. The way YOU fight when the personal support worker tries to get you out of bed to take a shower? You’re like a man possessed. All those months in a coma, and you’ve suddenly got the strength of five grown men.”

“I don’t want his help. I don’t want some guy holding me up while I take a shower. It’s…I don’t know…wrong.”

“Tyler…” She clasps one of his hands in both of hers.. “...it’s his job. Impressive as it is, your dick isn’t the first he’s seen. And it won’t be the last.”

“I don’t give a shit. I don’t like it. The idea of it. So if you can’t do it, I’ll go a week without showering if I have to.”

“You’d be pretty damn ripe, that’s for sure. I was there, remember? In that warehouse. In that sewer. At Gaspar’s before you took a shower. I distinctly remember what you smelled like. And believe me, it wasn’t pleasant.”

“You didn’t complain about it then.”

“I was too in lust to think anything bad about you. You smelled like a man. MY man.”

“And now?”

“And now we’ve gotten past the honeymoon stage of being scared to insult one other. We’re in the comfort zone now; we’re able to say whatever we want without hurting feelings.”

“You’ve gotten past the honeymoon stage. You’ve had six more months than I have.”

“Through no fault of your own. And you still smell like a man. MY man. Just a much more pleasant version. I have to say, it’s pretty delicious; the whole coconut and honey and milk thing you’ve got going on. I’m starting to understand why you like it so much. Why you used to sniff my hair when I was sleeping. In Dhaka.”

“I never ONCE did that.”

“You admitted to it. When we had that fight.”

“I never said I sniffed your hair. Or you in general. I said I wanted you to stick close to me. So close I could smell your hair.”

“Mmmhmmm. Sure. You may have said that, but it’s not what you meant. You were just being a total creeper, weren’t you? While I was asleep.”

“If you only knew the things I would do while you were sleeping next to me.”

“Oh, I know the dirty things you were up to, young man. I wasn’t asleep EVERY time.” She laughs when a blush creeps into his cheeks; spreading along the line of his jaw and down onto his neck and all the way to the tips of his ears. And she leans in to peck the corner of his mouth; palm gently cupping his cheek when he turns his face into hers and kisses her in earnest. A long, dreamy sigh escaping her lips when she pulls away; her eyes closing and her nails lightly scratching at his beard as she rests her forehead against his.

He’s surprised by how much he enjoys it. How much he enjoys HER. The sound of her voice and her laugh, the familiar scent that clings to her hair and clothes, the touch of her hand and the taste of her lips. It’s profound and all-consuming; the depth of his feelings and the strengths of his wants and his needs. Emotions he’d long thought dead the moment he’d condemned himself to a life of solitude; punishing himself for the horrendous mistake he had made and opting to live the rest of his existence drowning himself in booze and painkillers while wallowing in grief, regret, and tremendous self-hatred.

It was what he deserved, after all. For abandoning his wife and child when they needed him the most. It was a loathsome, vile, and completely unforgivable thing he'd done; showing up at the hospital to say goodbye and not even having the courage to even go into the room. And only a monster would betray his own child like that; allow himself to be seen lingering in the hallway and then witnessed callously turning his back and walking away.

He’d been desperate for it to all end. The guilt and the regret and the profound grief that he just couldn’t shake. Lacking the courage to pull the courage himself, he’d instead prayed for a different ending; hoping he’d find himself in the direct path of a sniper’s bullet. Although he had briefly considered just staying in the water that day; simply allowing his air to run out and surrendering himself to the darkness that had haunted him since the day he’d walked away from his son.

But something had told him that it wasn’t his time yet; he still had unfinished business to tend to. He didn’t understand it, nor did he bother to question it; instead, he listened and obeyed and headed home. And within an hour, he’d discover the reason he was meant to continue his journey. All five feet, a hundred and ten pounds of it.

He wants to be better for her; willing to commit to whatever it takes to be the man that she already sees him as. Someone that she can be proud of and show off and brag about. The kind of partner that she wants and needs. And deserves.

He just doesn’t know where to begin.

She pecks the bridge of his nose and pulls further away. One hand still tightly gripping his as she reaches out with the other to clear wayward strands of hair out of his eyes and off his forehead. “What do you want to know? About the place in Austria?”

“I don’t know. Everything, I guess.”

“Well, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Rural Gmunden. VERY rural. And it’s just a little place; a cabin, more or less. There’s two decent size bedrooms, an open-concept kitchen, living room, and one and a half bathrooms. It’s pretty dated, though; I don’t think it’s been renovated or re-decorated in about twenty years. But we can worry about all of that once we’re in there and you’re back on your feet. STEADILY.”

“Whenever that’ll be.”

“It looks so beautiful, Tyler. Where it is. Surrounded by mountains and trees. And there’s a little lake practically right out the front door. We can fish and swim. Maybe even skate once it freezes over.”

He arches a brow.

“Okay, so I’LL skate. You can just hang out on the sidelines. And bring me hot chocolate. With tons of marshmallows and whipped cream. And maybe even coconut shavings on the top of it all.”

“Whatever you want. I’ll make you all the hot chocolate in the world. All day long. But you’re not getting me on skates. I just got my knee replaced. Let’s not take a chance and blow it out, yeah? ‘Cause I could do without another hospital stay. For the rest of my life.”

“You and me both, buddy. It’s been an adventure. To say the least. It’s almost over, though; it won’t be too much longer. And I know we’re going to love this place. It’s tucked away and it’s quaint and it’s cozy and it’s perfect for two people that are still in that ‘getting to know you’ stage. Mind you, most don’t immediately jump into living together, but…”

“I’m sure we’ll manage. I’m sure I won’t drive you completely insane the first week. I can’t make any promises about the second, though.”

“I think we’ll do just fine. If we can co-exist in that shitty little hotel room in Dhaka, I think we’ll be able to handle things in paradise.”

“Your definition of paradise is a lot different than normal people.”

“It’s nature at its best. Its most beautiful. I can’t think of anything better than that.”

“I keep forgetting. You’re a ‘freezing your balls off’ kind of weather girl.”

“I promise you that your balls will remain exactly where they are. I think it’ll be good for us; being away from noise and chaos and tons of people. And you were living like that before I ever came along. Not to mention you were completely alone. At least this time, you’ll have company. Unless…” Her eyes narrow as she quickly drops his hand. “...this is some passive-aggressive attempt on your part to say you don’t WANT company. Especially MY company.”

Heaving a sigh of disdain, he casts a scowl in her direction. “You really didn’t just say that.”

“I mean, a girl likes to know where she stands. And it’s not that we've been able to really talk about this kind of thing and…”

“You think you’d still be here if I didn’t want you to be? That if I didn’t want you here, I wouldn’t have just told you to ‘fuck off’ already?”

“Like, could be passive-aggressive or…”

“I don’t do ‘passive aggressive’. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but that should’ve been pretty damn obvious from the start.”

“You’ve got a point there. You’re nothing if not honest. Brutally, at times.”

“With you?” He scowls, trying to wrack his brain for a time and place. A moment -within the past week or even during their time in Dhaka- that he’d been unintentionally cruel to her; a moment when he may have been frustrated or tired and taken it out on the wrong person. Of all the people in the world who don’t deserve that treatment, it's her; all the patience and tenderness she continues to show and that assertive, tenacious way in which she fights for what’s best for him.

“You tried to choke me out,” she reminds him. “In Dhaka.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do.”

“But first, you threw a temper tantrum. When we got back to the hotel. You totally lost it on me, remember? Just completely pulled rank and flipped out and expected to get away with it.”

“Well, if you had just listened to me…”

“I don’t listen to ANY man. You’re not special.”

He smirks.

“Okay, MAYBE you are. Just a little bit special. But don’t let it go to your head, okay? Because I’m not afraid to put you back in your place.”

“You know, you’re awfully cocky for someone so tiny. Someone I can pick up and put in my pocket and carry around all day.”

“It’s always the little ones though, isn’t it? That you really have to watch out for? That cause the most trouble?”

“In your case? Yes.”

“I bring only the best possible trouble.”

“Yeah? And what’s the best possible kind of trouble?”

“The one that comes with blow jobs and orgasms. What better kind of trouble could there be?”

“Don’t talk like that. It’s going to be a while. Before anything like THAT happens. Hope you realize you’re in for a long wait.”

“How long could it possibly be? Months? I’ve already lasted six. I think I can handle a couple more.”

“What if it’s even more than that? Before things are working again?”

“Jokes on you, buddy. I’ve gone a lot longer than that without. I’ve gone YEARS. Besides, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I’ve got two hands. I know how to order toys off the internet. You’ll just have to learn how to use them. I’m sure we can teach an old dog some new tricks.”

“You’re an evil little human, you know that?”

“However long it is, I’m sure we’ll both survive. We’ve gone this long, haven’t we?”

“I didn’t really have a choice. I wasn’t exactly conscious. You, on the other hand, stuck in a place with all kinds of single doctors. I’m sure you could have found one to…”

“You were in a coma and I wasn’t interested. I know how good the goods actually are. And believe me, they’re well worth the wait. And as far as this living in Austria thing…”

“Not this again. I don’t know what more you want for me. What else you need me to say.”

“I just want to make sure that we are on the same page. A girl likes to know where she stands. Especially when it comes to a guy. And if I’m just yapping on like a stupid bitch and you don’t want me there…”

“I can’t imagine NOT having you there. I didn’t know you needed me to say it. Or that you wanted me to ask you to come along. I guess I just assumed you knew. I thought it was pretty obvious; considering everything that’s happened in the past six months…”

“Sometimes women like to feel wanted. They like to HEAR it. They want to know they’re needed.”

“Believe me, you’re needed.”

Smiling, she leans in to peck the corner of his mouth; giving a small, startled squeal and then a musical giggle when a hand aggressively seizes the nape of her neck. A long, content sigh escaping her when he kisses her in earnest.

God, how she’d missed it; the taste of his lips and the delicious scratch of his beard against her skin. It had been so long; since they’d been able to share any of the most innocent and simplest forms of intimacy. And while she knows the wait will be long until they can finally venture further, she also knows -from first-hand experience- that it will be more than worth it.

******

“Mmmm…” She’s smiling as she pulls away. “That was…nice.”

“That’s it? ‘Nice’? For the first REAL kiss in six months? I spend half a year in a coma and put in all the hard work to wake up and all I get is ‘that was NICE’?”

“It was very nice,” she assures him, and presses a kiss to the top of his nose. Her eyes closing as she rests her forehead against his, and a hand reaches up to toy with his thick, unruly dirty blond tresses. It’s growing on her; the extra length and how it curls around his ears at the nape of his neck and the way it falls across his forehead.

“I need a haircut.”

“As soon as you’re released, we’ll get you to a barber. Or get one to come to you. Clean you up a bit.”

“For what it’s worth, you did a pretty good job. Keeping things under control.”

She laughs. “A hair stylist and beautician, I am not. But at least you don’t look completely homeless.”

“You did alright. I think I’ll keep you on the payroll.”

“Yeah? And what’s the hourly rate?”

“No actual pay. Just benefits.”

“And just what kind of benefits are we talking about?”

“The best possible kind. The only kind that matters, actually.”

Grinning, she affectionately ruffles his hair and then moves to the bedside table, winking at him as she lifts the remains of a takeout cup of tea to her lips. “You’re going to have a lot of benefits to hand out when you’re finally feeling up to it.”

“Well, hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later, yeah? For both of us? Keep our fingers crossed that it won’t stretch on until we’re both really old and really gray and I can’t get it up for other reasons?”

“Don’t worry, baby. If that ever happens, I’ll slip Viagra in your prune juice.”

“If I ever need that stuff, you have my full permission to shoot me in the head. With a very large calibre bullet.”

“Sorry, no can do. I like having you around too much. For reasons that far surpass your ability to…what’s a delicate way of putting it…pitch a tent.”

“You can’t tell me you’d be happy if it never happened again.”

“I wouldn’t be thrilled. I mean, I’d miss it. Being with you in the biblical sense. But it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I’m not solely with you because of your penis.”

“Solely?” He smirks. “So what you’re saying is that it plays a part.”

“I’m saying you have a very nice penis. And you know how to use it. Boy…” Sighing, she swallows the last of her tea. “...do you EVER know how to use it.”

“You’re not making me feel any better here.”

“Look, I’m with you for your body AND your brains.”

“Sure you are…”

“You can’t fault me for enjoying what you bring to the table. Maybe if you weren’t so good at certain things…”

“First you say shit like ‘that was nice’ and now you have the balls to complain about my skills? You certainly didn’t have a problem with them in Dhaka. When you were pulling my hair and biting my neck and shoulders and telling me to…”

“The only complaint I have is that we didn’t get longer than five days. Through no fault of your own, by the way. A bullet to the neck can really spoil the mood.”

“Technically speaking, I was actually shot six times.”

“And yet here you are, alive and well. And…” she shoots him a wink. “...already being an enormous pain in my ass.”

“I’m kinda bitter about things, too,” he admits. “That I only got five days to prove myself worthy. I never even got the chance to bring out the really big guns.”

“Oh, I’ve seen and experienced the REALLY big gun. It’s been six months and I’m still not walking properly.”

“I’m talking skills-wise. I didn’t give everything away. In Dhaka. I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“That are even better than the ones you already spoiled me with?”

“I mean, I’m my opinion, yeah.”

Frowning, she dramatically slams her empty cup down on the bedside table. “Now who’s the evil one? I can’t believe you have the goddamn audacity to tell me something like that! Especially when you know I have to wait Lord knows how long to find out if you’re bullshitting or not!”

“Doesn’t really matter, does it? Even if I did have the strength and the energy, it would be impossible. I still have a tube up my dick so I can take a piss.”

“Look on the bright side! You’ll be graduating to a bedpan soon.”

“Lucky me!”

“Does it soften the blow if I promise to wipe and powder your ass REALLY well afterwards?”

“Don’t make me call security and have you thrown out of here.”

“You should consider it both a privilege and a blessing that I’d even consider it, let alone do it. I don’t just wipe the ass of every man I know.”

“That’s not what I heard. I’m not the only one that has a rep in this circle.”

Smirking, she tosses the empty cup in his direction. “You cheeky fuck.”

He watches her as she tidies up the bedside table. Busily clearing away the remnants of that afternoon’s cafeteria-purchased lunch, the scissors, comb and nail clippers that she’d used to ‘tidy him up,’ followed by one many magazines she’d purchased the evening before at the gift shop. And the pen and pad she’d procured in order to let him doodle and scribble; a simple exercise for fine motor skills that wouldn’t take too much thought or strength and wouldn’t tire him out. At times resorting to providing ‘hand over hand’ support; when his movements became fluid and precise and needed a bit more control.

The admiration runs deep. And constant. This tiny, incredible woman that had been dropped into his life and showed no desire to leave. Her dark hair thrown up into a messy bun; loose tendrils brushing against the nape of her neck and dangling down the sides of her face. That petite frame clad in a jumpsuit; one of many outfits Nik had brought her within the past month alone. The shade of orange sorbet; the simple, smooth cotton boasting white and yellow pinstripes. And with no makeup gracing her features, he can clearly see the freckles that decorate the bridge of her nose and spread onto the tops of her cheeks. Making her look years younger.

“You’re beautiful.”

A slight blush creeps into her cheeks as a smile curves her lips. “I look like shit. But I appreciate you trying to boost my confidence.”

“You couldn’t look like shit even if you tried.”

Her smile broadens. “Those meds they have you on must be really good. You’re hallucinating.”

“I am completely lucid.”

“So you’re biased, then.”

“Just take a compliment, would ya?”

“Thank you. I still think you’re biased, though.”

“Maybe I am. Just a little bit. Doesn’t make it less true, though.”

Holding up a styrofoam cup of ice water, she raises a brow as she waves it in his direction. And when shakes his head, she returns it to the table before once more taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Regarding him with adoration as she reaches out to push the hair off his forehead and out of his eyes before once more taking one of his hands in both of hers)

“I’m sorry.”

She trails a fingertip along the scar that graces the bridge of his nose. “For what?”

“I got a little shitty. With you. I don’t mean to get that way. Especially with you.”

“I think you’re entitled to your less than sun-shiney moments. I mean, you were shot more than half a dozen times, you were clinically dead, spent six months in a coma, and you have a tube in your dick so that you can go to the bathroom. I think you’ve earned your right to be ‘a little shitty’ from time to time.”

“I don’t mean to get grumpy. Not with you, anyway.”

“Tyler, let’s be totally honest here. You were grumpy long before any of this ever happened.”

“I really will have you kicked out of here.”

“Bullshit, you will. You’d miss me way too much.”

“I would, actually. I really would.”

Smiling, she leans in to peck his lips.

“How long do you think it’s going to be? The whole being released thing.”

“I don’t know. They haven’t even given me an estimate, let alone an exact number of days. Gotta give it some time; you’ve only been conscious for a little more than a week. It’s going to take a bit.”

“Shouldn’t I be farther ahead than this? They haven’t even tried getting me the fuck outta this bed. I can’t lie here forever. Just going insane, staring at the fucking walls.”

“You’re not ready to get out of bed.” She keeps her voice gentle and soothing. Patient. I know you THINK you are, but you’re just not there yet. Like I said; you were clinically dead and in a coma for half a year. You lost weight and muscle tone and it’s going to take a while to get any of that back; to build up your strength and your stamina.”

“It’s just hard, you know. Being this way. I’m not used to this. Being this weak. This pathetic.”

“You’re not weak OR pathetic. You’re recovering. From one hell of an ordeal. Believe me, you are in way better shape and are healing a lot faster than most people would. Don’t rush things, alright? I know it’s frustrating; being stuck in bed. But your body is healing. Let it do its thing.”

“Can’t it do its thing any faster?”

“It happens WHEN it happens. You’re just going to make things worse; if you try and do too much. The more you force it, the bigger the setback will be if something goes wrong. I don’t want that for you. Complications keeping you in here even longer than you need to be.”

“I just feel like they’re wasting time. They could be working on things. Working on ME.”

“Babe, the first -and last time- they tried, do you remember what happened? How bad it went?”

He nods.

“You refused to use the walker for balance and wouldn’t let them help you and you fell. Flat on your face. And you ended up with six stitches in your forehead and a concussion to show for it. Can we NOT have a repeat of that, please?”

“I can’t live like this. Stuck in bed, completely fucking useless. I can’t…”

“This isn’t a permanent thing, Tyler. Sometimes it may seem like there’s no end in sight, but I promise you; you’re not going to spend the rest of your life like this. It’s just a setback. A little detour. And a year from now, we’ll look back on and find something to laugh about.”

“It’ll probably be about me falling on my face. You probably laugh about that already. When I’m asleep.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m laughing WITH you. Not at you.”

He scowls.

“I’m kidding. Obviously. I would never laugh about that. But I am telling you right now, you fall on the ice in Austria? I will be in absolute fucking hysterics. I’ll be on the ground and everything. Just dying. Peeing my pants and all. Because that shit is funny.”

“You really ARE evil.”

“I promise I will not laugh at any of your misfortunes. At least not out loud.”

A grin plays at the corners of his mouth. “Fuck off, Esme.”

“We both know you don’t mean that. You’d hate it if I weren’t around. I keep things interesting.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

Leaning in, she pushes a hand through his hair and presses a kiss to his forehead). “Listen, you’re doing great, okay? Everyone here? They didn’t expect you to even breathe on your own once they took you off the machines. And yeah, you need some help and it’s a struggle to do even the simplest of things, but you’ve got a lot of time left, Tyler Rake. To re-learn what you need to. To get your feet back under you. You shouldn’t even be on this side of the ground. But here you are. ALIVE.”

He sighs. Tears brimming his eyes as he considers her words.

“I know it’s frustrating; someone like you being cooped up like this. You’re so used to being able to rely on your body and your skills and your instincts and all of that. But you paid one hell of a price back on that bridge. For your mistakes. But you know what? You’ve made your amends. The slate’s been wiped clean. And now it’s time to rest. Believe me, you’ve earned that.”

“Have I?”

“Yes, you have. You have more than earned it. And now that we’re talking about more serious stuff…”

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“Your primary nurse and I were talking; about how drastic your mood changes can be. How quickly you can go from chatty and upbeat to just downright…well…how can I put this? You can go from being friendly and cute to being a miserable fucking prick in two seconds flat.”

“Not with you.”

“You’re never like that with me. Probably because you know how fast I’ll put you in your place. But no one else can even get close to you without having their head bitten right off. They’re just doing their jobs. They’re trying to help you.”

“I don’t want their help. I have you.”

“But I’m not a professional. I’m not a nurse or a therapist or a doctor. I can only do so much, you know? But these people? They get paid to take care of you. And other people like you. They have the experience. So let them use it, okay? You have to trust them, Tyler.”

He shakes his head.

“They’re not the enemy. They aren’t here to hurt you. They’re here to HELP you. I mean, you trust ME, right?”

“With my life.”

“Then trust everything I’m saying. Let them help you. The sooner you comply and you let them do their jobs, the sooner you’ll get out of here. So if you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for ME. Because I don’t want to see you hurting yourself or complicating things. I want you out of there just as badly as you want to be out here.”

“And these meds? That they want me to take?”

“It’s a combination. Of an anti-depressant and an anxiety med.”

“I’m not crazy.”

“No, you’re not. You’re sick. You’re healing. And what you went through? It was very traumatic. And it would fuck with anyone’s head. I was there. I saw everything. I know how bad it was for me, let alone you. If it helps, I’m on meds.”

“You are? When? When did that happen?”

“About three months after we got here. I fought the idea, too. I kept telling everyone I was fine. That I was just tired and stressed and worried. And if it wasn’t for Nik and Yaz nagging the shit out of me every day? About MY moods? Who knows where I’d be now. Probably completely insane.”

“So I AM a burden. To you.”

“No! No! That’s not what I said. And it’s not what I think. It’s the situation. It’s hard; seeing the person you care about go through something like this. And not just the coma and the ‘will he or won’t he’ when it came to dying. But what happened on that bridge; the things I saw and the things I had to do. It was a horrible, horrible thing to witness. And none of it was your fault.”

“If I had done things differently. That first night. If I hadn’t called Gaspar…”

“No. We are NOT doing that. We’re NOT playing the ‘what if’ game. Because it won’t lead to anywhere good. You did the best you could. You made the decisions you had to make. And no one is questioning that or blaming you for the outcome. Especially not me.”

“And these meds will help?”

“It’ll take a few weeks; to really notice the difference. And sometimes you have to try a couple of different kinds. But yeah, they will. They’ll help you. And that’s all I’m trying to do. Get you help?”

“If you keep taking yours, I’ll do it. I’ll take them.”

“Perfect!” She lightly tousles his hair. “Teamwork! We can be accountability buddies. Was it really that hard? To agree?”

“It hurt. A lot.”

“Smart ass. Now…” She kisses each corner of his mouth, followed by his lips, and then slides off the bed. “...you need some rest. You’ve been up a long time. The longest you’ve stayed awake since coming out of the coma.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Well, I am. I am in desperate need of a nap. So I’ll take on the chair, you take on in your bed. I mean, I’d climb in there with you if I could. But I don’t think that would go over well with your doctors. So…”

He snags her by hand when she turns away, fingertips pressing into her skin in order to capture her full attention. “Did you mean what you said?”

“When? You’re going to have to be a little more specific. I say A LOT, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I heard what you said. Right before I woke up. The whole ‘love’ thing. Did you mean it?”

“I did. I DO.”

“I was wondering if maybe you just said it because of the situation you were in. It was a hell of a thing you went through, too. Not to mention you put your entire life on hold for a guy you barely knew. Fought for him to get the care he needed. Didn’t give up on him like everything else did.”

“I knew you were fighting your back. I also knew you needed time to do it. I wasn’t going to let them win. They were not taking you off that machine until you were good and ready.”

“Thought maybe it was all that…all the stress and the fear and whatnot…that made you say what you did.”

“I meant it, Tyler. I meant it then and I mean it now. And I needed to get it out there. Into the universe. You needed to hear it and I needed to say it.”

“I even thought maybe I imagined it. I’m still not sure what was real and what wasn’t. When it comes to stuff I heard. If I actually DID hear it or my brain just made it up.”

“You heard. It was real. And I don’t regret saying it. I needed to be honest with you and myself. So…” She shrugs. “...I was. And look, I don’t expect anything from you in return, okay? I don’t want you to feel pressured into saying it back. I know that it’s all so crazy. We haven’t known each other that long, and really, minus the time here, we only spent five days together. So don’t think you have to spare my feelings, alright? You don’t HAVE to say it back.”

“Esme…”

“I didn’t tell you to get another in return, is what I’m saying. I did because I felt it and I needed to say it out loud, you know? To really make it real. You probably think I’m totally nuts. Or that I’m some kind of weird, obsessive stalker or something; falling in love that quickly. But I swear; I am normal. Well, as normal as you can get, considering…”

“Esme…”

“You just take your time, okay? Don’t rush on my account. I can’t wait as long as it takes. Until you’re feeling the same thing. I can wait to hear it. Because I want it to be real when you do. Not just something you’re saying to make me happy.”

“Esme…” He tightly squeezes her hand to grab her attention. “...can I get a word in here?”

“Sorry. I ramble. When I’m nervous. I’m sure you noticed that already. In Dhaka. The morning after we…you know…the first time. And I was worried you were regretting it and that you were going to tell me it was a huge mistake and that it was NEVER going to happen again…”

“I love you.”

She takes a sharp inhale of breath, then releases it shakily. Her free hand coming up to her face; fingers fidgeting with the loose tendrils of hair that brushes against her left cheek. “Don’t say that. Not unless you mean it. I’ve had that happen before; someone saying it and getting my hopes up only to totally ruin me. In more ways than one.”

“I’m not him. I’m not anything like him.”

“I know that. I do. But when you get used to something, it’s hard to expect anything else. And that’s not a slight on you, believe me. It’s all me.”

“I’m saying it because it’s true. You should know by now; I don’t say shit unless I mean it.”

“Not even in a circumstance like this? To someone who’s spent half a year at your bedside? Taking care of you? Not even then?”

“Not even then. Not under ANY circumstance.”

“You REALLY mean?”

“I really mean it.”

“People are going to think we’re nuts. I’m sure a lot already do. Or at least they think I am. Giving up my entire life for a guy I barely knew. Falling in love with him so fast. Don’t you think it sounds crazy? That it SEEMS crazy? To feel this way so soon?”

“All I know is that it feels right. And that’s another thing you should know by now. I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.”

“You do march to the beat of your own drum.”

“Who cares what people say? It’s just ‘cause they don’t understand it. ‘Cause it’s never happened to them. I sure as hell never thought it was possible; feeling this much, this soon.”

With a firm grip on his hand, she sinks down onto the edge of the bed. “It’s scary. How quickly this is all happening. It’s not normal, is it?”

“If you really think about…how we met and how things happened and everything on that bridge…you’d realize you and I are far from normal.”

“So what now? Now we’re both feeling it? Now that we’ve both said it?”

“We go to Austria. Shack up in that little cabin. And hope for the best. I might drive you crazy after a couple of months.”

“I’ve dealt with crazier than you, Tyler Rake. What if I drive YOU nuts?”

“You’re already there.”

Laughing, she leans in to peck his lips. “Asshole.”

Reaching up, he loops strands of hair behind her ears, then tightly grips the nape of her neck. “We just get to Austria, shut out the rest of the world, and take things one day at a time.”

She smiles. “Sounds good to me.”

“But first, I gotta get the fuck out here. And…” Lifting the blanket, he scowls as he nods down at the remaining tubes attached to his broken body. “...we get this tube out of my fucking dick.”

#Tyler and Esme series #Tyler Rake #Tyler Rake fanfic #Tyler Rake fan fiction #Extraction #Extraction 2 #Extraction fan fic #Extraction fan fiction #Tyler Rake x OFC #Chris Hemsworth #Esme Rake #Esme Drummond

16 notes · View notes

janeykath318 · 1 year ago

Text

Steve’s Christmas Miracle (Shieldshock)

“Man, Steve, you’ve got to get yourself a little holiday cheer man. This place looks like the barracks,” Sam commented, shaking his head at the lack of decor in Steve’s cabin. “I’m free to help with tree duty, if need be.”

Steve shook his head, morosely sipping a beer.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Sam. I’m not feeling it this year. I can’t do festive. Thanks for the offer, though.”

Sam frowned, a little worried about how dead Steve’s expression was. Ever since the defeat of Thanos fourteen months ago, Steve had lived like a hermit and had been very withdrawn.

“Okay. Just so you know, the offer to come to Louisiana for Christmas is still on the table. You’re sure you’re alright, Steve?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just need the solitude this year.”

Sam didn’t fully believe him, but he didn’t push. He understood what Steve was going through. He only hoped the man wouldn’t go too far inside his shell.

“Okay, but you call me if you need anything. Take care, Steve.”

He squeezed his friend’s shoulder and quietly left, dialing Bucky on his way out the door. He’d have Bucky do another check in on Steve before the trip.

Steve sank back into his sofa and shut his eyes. He didn’t know how he’d ever be able to celebrate again. They’d won, but at a high cost. The image of Pepper weeping by Tony’s body flashed in his mind along with Clint’s grief stricken face returning from Vormir. He didn’t know how much more pain he could take.

“Agent Lewis?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Michael has an assignment for you. In his office.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Darcy nodded solemnly at her heavenly superior, but she was inwardly squealing at the thrill of finally having another assignment. It was the time of year when humans needed their help the most and she looked forward to helping bring hope to hurting souls. She’d spent her earthly life volunteering in shelters and soup kitchens during the holidays, and now she got to spend it helping reignite the joy of the season.

“Agent Lewis, you will be working with agents Carter and Romanoff on our next subject, one Steven Grant Rogers.”

Darcy’s eyes widened, but she kept her mouth shut. Even she knew better than to interrupt Michael.

“Here are the files for you: Past, present, and future,” Michael handed each one a folder. Darcy noted that hers said PRESENT. Hmm, this could be interesting. “I chose you three because you all knew or interacted with Steve during your time on earth and would have unique insight into his character. Steve’s heart is still soft, unlike many of our clients, but years of hardship have left him cynical and wounded and deeply depressed. Your mission is to point him towards help and healing and remind him of life’s joy’s. It is critical that he not continue to cut himself off in his grief and drive away his friends. He may not be a Captain America anymore, but he needs to see that there is very much a place in the world for Steve Rogers. Do you understand?”

They all nodded solemnly, Peggy and Natasha giving each other knowing looks.

“Good. Mission starts on Christmas Eve. I expect you will be prepared and follow the rules.”

He stared a little longer at Agent Romanoff and Darcy hid a smile. Natasha was still new to the job of heavenly messenger and tended to meddle more than what was strictly allowed.

After they were dismissed, the three members of team Save Steve gathered in their cozy angelic staff lounge to go over their files and talk strategy.

“So, how did you know Steve?” Peggy asked Darcy, after Natasha had brought them up to date on her last memories of Steve and his mental state.

“That’s the thing. I really didn’t,” Darcy sighed. “I remember him as this skinny kid who was a regular at the diner I waitressed at. He’d always smile this beautiful smile at me, but he never said a word and let his friend do all the talking. He seemed nice, though. I feel like we might have had an encounter of some sort, but it was really close to when I died and all my memories of that day are still blocked. It’s kinda frustrating. I honestly think Michael might have found someone else who knew him better.”

“There are no mistakes,” Peggy said firmly. “You must have had more of an impact on Steve than you thought. At that time in his life, a friendly face would have meant a lot, even though he was too shy to talk to you. He didn’t have many friends and unfortunately, most strangers were bullies.”

Darcy grimaced. “Ugh. Poor Steve. This file was tough reading. How do you think he’ll react to us, Agent Romanoff?”

“Steve isn’t phased by much anymore,” Natasha answered. “But he’ll likely think he’s dreaming. He’ll be cooperative, unlike a certain person I will not name.”

She scowled and Peggy and Darcy chuckled. Natasha had just handled a particularly stubborn old codger, who’d been a lot like the infamous Scrooge. She’d proven successful, but not without a struggle.

“This sounds like it’s going to be an interesting mission,” Darcy predicted. “I’m going to have to trust that Michael put me in this for a good reason.”

“That’s the spirit,” Peggy approved. “This is my last mission with the agency and it’s a very important one. Let’s give Steve a Christmas he won’t forget!”

#shieldshock #steve rogers #darcy lewis #a christmas carol remix #ghost! Darcy #ghost! Peggy #ghost! Natasha

9 notes · View notes

babeyun · 1 month ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/babeyun/764378892133892096/out-of-my-head-lhs-m

there we go again using jake for their shitty ass delusion 💀 bitch just make a hee x y/n story and don’t use jake for you just to abandon him and hurt him.

if there’s anyone hurt there it’s jake not heeseung . you want ppl to pity loser hee so bad 💀 and fuck y/n for using jake. And fuck your shit story no one’s buying it not when you only use jake for your hee y/n agenda

hi jake anon that i’ve seen everywhere! welcome to the babeyun blog — where i think about jake 24/7/365 and yearn for him behind the scenes. please read below the cut, i’ve included some jake things for you, as well as a response.

i’m ngl to ya, i stopped reading the moment i saw you sent me my own link 💀 you’ve got quite the reputation around these parts! but you’re right, i DID want people to pity heeseung. i DID use jake for the heey/n agenda. i’m sorry jakey, i won’t do it again (yes i will, because this is fiction. doesn’t dictate how much i like or care about jake — bc if he said jump i’d ASK HOW HIIIIIIIGH SIM JAEYUN THE MAN YOU AREEEEE ❤️)

anyway — you know, anon, it’s so insane that you send this when i was LITERALLYYYYYY talking about jake wips last night 💀 anyway, let me cater to u since maybe you need some chicken soup (sim jaeyun) for the soul.

so this one is a snip of a wip i call “hobbies”:

this is a LINK to a detective story TEASER i have, FULLY based around jaeyun & y/n falling in love because he GETS her.

easy, kitty | sim jaeyun

and, here, i’ll even throw in a wild card one-sided enemies to lovers (ONE SIDED ENEMIES to lovers, so y/n is NAWWWWT nice to him BUT HE WANTS HER SO BAD 😭 like bro P L E A S E) and i call this one “lucky charm”: (are you for the one-sided pining agenda??? or no???? just send me what you like. i’ll make it happen for you.)

now, i have no problem posting for jake if that’s what the people want. you’re people, i’m sure you want jake fics.

howevaaaaaa ☝🏻 just because you don’t like what i post, doesn’t mean other people won’t like it. you’re free to stick around and i dunno, wait, until i post them. i’m not gonna be mean to you because i have no reason to be, even if you said things that would’ve hurt anyone else (sorry my parents genuinely beat you in that department 😬)

i do recommend you stop treating people like this, though. i don’t mind writing whatever you want — but i don’t owe you a thing. no one does. so just…be nicer, you know.

“hey writer i saw you posted xyz heeseung, and i didn’t really like xyz dynamic between jake & the other characters. i was just wondering if you’d ever post xyz jake. i’d like to read that, if you could write it for me.” and i’d say yes. i’d write it as soon as i got time, because that’s nice. it’s polite, it tells me what you don’t like. it’s easy.

be nicer. jake is one of the nicest people in kpop. don’t be opposite him. stay swag.

#bbyun.anonz #bbyun.TNVN #enhypen #be nice.

1 note · View note

aajjks · 10 months ago

Note

tc!koo *hearing the heavy door shut behind the love of her life, she turns to see the dead body in front of her. if she had seen a dead body weeks ago, she’d scream and run for cover but now? nothing but numbness. once again he’s only killed to finish business. holding onto the bed, she rises up to look at the window and looks down. she sees the people, house, animals. all under her care now. something she never wanted. she wanted to stay with jungkook, she wanted to snuggle up in the bed in the morning with him before he went off to his duties, eat dinner with him he listens to her talk about her day… the babies she wanted with him. now she’s all alone again. unable to speak. unable to feel. unable to heal. being abandoned by the man who went through so much to get her just goes to show she’ll never be loved. she was born unloved and she’ll die unloved. walking over to the dead body, she rips the sword of her former lovers from the lifeless corpse. walking back to the window she sits and stars out it quietly until the doctor walks in.*

yn! if your majesty! here is some water, and you can not eat any hard foods so i prepared some soup for you! here eat up… why are you… your highness, is everyt-

*is all the doctor can say before she jabs the sword in the man’s heart. a broken hearted women will rip every beating heart in half. she’ll become the queen. the queen of broke hearts. if she has to suffer in silence the rest of her life then everyone will feel her pain. the sword of her beloved witch be what kills every soul it comes across. just like the owner did hers. lying back down, holding the sword close to her chest as she silently cries. cries for the love she lost, the kids she’ll never get to have, the happy ending that she was robbed of. even if emotionally, the broken hearted queen has officially died. the queen of iksan-so has taken her place.*

Everything is finished.

He did everything to have you and he did but then you left him without any explanation and then try to give away your life to save him? How is he supposed to even comprehend that you’ve always hated him, and made him realize that you will never love him?

Honestly, he’s tired. He’s tried with you for years, but you never got to love him. And even if you did, then your own way he’s never felt loved by you. And he sounds really selfish but.. that is the truth.

He rides back to his palace and his kingdom. He feels like he’s left his heart here because you are his heart. He will become a heartless man once again. Who is not capable of loving at all.

Because he loved once, and he lost.

#ask: tc!jungkook

1 note · View note

nepheleai · 2 years ago

Text

i: “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

She smiles distractedly, waving at her assistant as they pack up to leave for the night. It was a Friday and while everyone else moved with an urgency to start their weekend, she had other reasons to stay late. She taps away at her keyboard, trying to ignore the sound of steady footsteps headed toward her office. She measures her breath and pretends not to be phased by his presence at her open door.

“You’re working late again,” she finally speaks, realizing that he won’t interrupt her work. She looks up from her monitor and he’s got a sly grin on his face.

“Yes, well, my boss would be very upset if I didn’t get these reports in before I left the office,” his hands are full but he manages to pull a manilla folder from under his arm. It’s then that she takes note of the takeout bags he is holding with his other hand. She gestures for him to come closer and he strides forward, handing her the folder. It’s not necessary for her to check his work, he’s always been more than adequate at his job and she trusts him.

“Thank you. I appreciate all the extra time you’re putting in,” she replies with a tilt of her lips before tilting her head at the bag he is holding, “are you headed home now?”

Suddenly flustered, he flicks his eyes at the ground before looking back up, almost as if he’s composing himself. “No, actually this is for us. We’ve been talking about having dinner together for a while now and you’ve been busy so…” He trails off and lifts the bag up with a shrug, “I thought I’d bring dinner to you.”

His feigned nonchalance is strangely endearing to her. She realizes that he had been steeling himself for rejection. Things between them hadn’t been the same since she had gotten her promotion, which put herself in a position of power over him. They had known each other for years and flirted heavily for a majority of their friendship. But it seemed like the risk of committing an HR violation drove a wedge between their budding relationship.

Rogue thoughts of dominating him float into her mind and she shoos them away. With a flimsy chuckle, she gestures to the seat across from her, “thank you, I actually didn’t realize how hungry I am. I haven’t eaten since noon.”

There is a look of concern that spreads across his face, frowning as he makes room on her cluttered desk. It’s a familiar look that brings back memories of their early years at the company. “I know this isn’t really my place to say it but,” he cuts himself off as he begins unpacking the feast he had brought. Shanghainese food- her favorite. She flashes him a gentle smile, knowing where this was probably going.

“But, you don’t have to work so hard to prove yourself anymore. There are so many people on your team who are willing to take on some of the work,” he grins at her and she can’t help but notice the fluttering in her tummy, “You’re the boss, y’know?”

“I know…” she pauses, “I just- don’t know…” She can’t eloquently put her feelings into words. What doesn't she know? How to give up control? How to trust the people around her to do the right thing? She smiles ruefully and shrugs.

As if sensing her discomfort, he returns her smile and shrugs too. “And that’s why you’re moving up in the company and I’ll always be a middle tier grunt worker,” he attempts to set the table so that they are sitting across from each other, the expensive oak desk feels like an ocean dividing them. Picking up her plastic plate and utensils, she walks around the desk and makes herself comfortable in the seat adjacent to his.

“It’s not that you don’t know what you’re doing or that you’re bad at your job-” she laughs because they’ve had this conversation many times before. He adjusts to her seat change, tilting his body toward her as he serves her a soup dumpling. “It’s because I refuse to sell my body and soul to corporate America,” he finishes the sentence for her, “and believe me, I’m happy with that.”

“Says the person who stayed just as late as his boss on a Friday night,” she teases before taking a bite of her dumpling.

“What can I say, I had ulterior motives,” his eyes flicker toward hers and there’s a flirtatious glimmer that sets off a warmth in her lower abdomen. It’s familiar and welcome. She crosses her legs unconsciously and the movement causes his gaze to trail her legs. It was a nice feeling- being served, being desired. She lets herself bask in it.

“You know,” she says after a moment of consideration, throwing caution to the wind, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. I knew you were going to stop by to drop off the reports. I waited all day for you.”

She doesn’t know why it’s taken her so long to accept his advances. Why she’s deciding to do it now that things are infinitely more complicated than when they were just coworkers- but she just does. His eyes are warm and his smile soft. So similar to the way he used to look when he used to stop by her cubicle with coffee just to check on her. She misses that look. She misses flirting with him in the break room. She misses their lunches. She misses their after-work happy hours. She missed her friend and perhaps she missed her opportunity to make him something more.

It’s as if he can see those thoughts flickering behind her eyes because he leans closer to her and offers his hand before stating firmly, “I’m here.”

Without hesitation, she slips her hand into his warm palm and her pulse begins to race. She looks at their joined hands and attempts to swallow down the knot of anxiety that forms in her throat. This was why she couldn’t accept his feelings. This didn’t feel right. The thought of how much trouble she was going to get into. No romance was worth losing a job she worked so hard for. There were so many people counting on her- she imagined the disappointment in her younger siblings’ faces. The image jars her from her thoughts and with reluctance, she attempts to drag her hand away from his.

As if sensing her reluctance, he shifts his thumb to gently hold her hand in place, allowing her to pull away if she still wanted to. She holds her breath, looking at him in confusion only to realize he is looking down at her hand in his. “Hey boss…” his eyes trail up her torso to meet hers, “I quit.”

Her eyes are wide and she struggles to collect herself. She tries to convince herself that surely he is joking. But his earnest smile and openness in his eyes prove otherwise. He seems … happy. Her mouth opens and shuts as she attempts to form cohesive words.

“You want to quit? What about this j-”

“I don’t need it.” The “it” in question being his job.

“What if-”

“I’ll find another job. I’m fairly likable.” An understatement.

She pauses, thoughts finally catching up to her and she asks a question she already knows the answer to: “for me?”

“Work stopped being fun when I lost you,” it seems like he has more to say so she nods her head encouragingly for him to continue, “I want you back in my life again and I want you to choose this too.” He squeezes her hand ever so gently, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb. Reminding her what this is.

All her life she had known sacrifice. As the eldest daughter, she was expected to pave a perfect path for her siblings. Endless hours working, studying and working more. Pouring and pouring until her cup ran nearly empty. Sacrifice was almost second nature for her. But here he was. So willing to give up his job just to be with her.

The second part of what he said catches up to her belatedly. A choice. He’s offering her a choice. Although he is leaning slightly toward her in anticipation, his body language validates his intentions. With his gentle grip on her hand, he moves with slow and deliberate movements. He is giving her every opportunity to pull away and reject him. To make excuses. To say no. Here he is, risking his feelings, laying out his cards at her feet and with a choice. A choice that she refused to dawdle with any longer.

Finally, she surrenders. She leans forward, eyes fluttering shut as she closes the distance between their lips. She can feel him exhale as she presses closer to him, his lower lip slotting perfectly between hers. He guides her hand, still clasped in his, to his chest so that she can feel his heart thumping under her palm. Letting go of her hand, he trails his hand over the side of her neck to cup the side of her face. His touch feels almost reverent, like he’s trying to memorize the slope of her cheek. She smiles at the thought of that and when she can feel him smile back, she can’t help but let out a soft giggle.

Pulling away slightly to lean his forehead on hers, they both open their eyes and exchange almost identical expressions of mirth. “What are you laughing about, huh?” he questions her with a quirk in his smile.

“I’m just happy,” she responds, dragging her free hand over his torso and behind his neck with the intention of stealing another kiss. She feels him respond with a “me too” against her lips and she decides that is her new favorite thing. This is how she would like to take his words from now on.

#ssos #prompt i

0 notes

obitohno · 2 years ago

Text

friend-zoned

hanma, draken, taiju, kazutora, sanzu, ran, rindou, nahoya, kokonoi, izana

synopsis ⤸

after two long years of being stuck in the friend-zone, you decide that you’ve had enough.

themes ⤸

fem! reader, 18+, smut, friends to lovers, mutual pining, nipple play, inverted nipples, reader with small breasts, rough sex, creampies, cowgirl, the dragon, size kink, size difference, first kiss, first time

word count ⤸

4.8k (unedited)

a/n ⤸

so, this is my first ever tokyo revengers au, yayay! i've only ever written in second person once before (for ao3), but i really wanted to give it another try bc i want to create more x reader fics, as they're my favourites to read... i hope that i did an okay job this time, n i really hope that you guys enjoy the read! tbh, although this can apply to any of those listed above, when i was writing, i actually had one character in mind, so it'd be interesting if you guys can guess which one :')

reblogs are appreciated ~

the friend-zone is a place reserved for those poor, pathetically unfortunate souls that are either pitied or ridiculed by their peers, and it is a place that he’d never thought that he’d ever fall victim to. but, on the day that he met what he can only describe as both the light and the bane of his existence—yes, you—the world had clearly decided that it was high time that he should be humbled for the first time in his life. and, so, for the past two years, the friend-zone is the place of which he’s been subject to, much to his chagrin, and one that he’s yet to escape. at first, he thought that you were just utterly clueless to the effect that you have on him, and he even went as far as to blame it on the fact that it’s just been fucking forever since he last got laid. but the more comfortable you grew around him, the less and less you seemed to view him as a man. and he was loathe to admit that that thought had sucker-punched his ego straight into next year. didn’t you know just how crazy you drove him whenever you greeted him at the door of your apartment, dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts and a scrap of fabric that he thinks is supposed to pass off as some sort a crop top? and surely you aren’t that oblivious to his gaze burning into the surface of your skin when he follows you inside, to the slow bobbing of the lump in his throat as he breathes in the scent of your home—of you—to the lazy crawl of the lopsided smirk that tilts the corner of his mouth every time you greet him?

no, he surmises. you must be doing it on purpose.

right now, the two of you are lounging in the living room after inhaling a hot bowl of soup, one that he’d reluctantly consumed after you’d insisted that it’d be good to for him because it’s cold outside when he’d turned his nose up when you told him what was on the menu for tonight. it most definitely wasn’t because he’d weakened at the sight of the downward tilt of your lips, for fuck’s sake, who the fuck did you think he was? still, his stomach is now warm with the heat of the spice that you’d used to season the broth, and he won’t admit it aloud, but you were right; it was good for him.

you’re rambling away next to him, something about sarah-the-office-bitch-from-work, but, truthfully, he’s not listening to a word, having already zoned out a good ten minutes ago. he’s too busy staring at your mouth, offering a low hum here and there whenever you pause to check for his reaction, his eyelids heavy as they slowly blink down toward the shadow of your collarbone.

‘you’re not listening,’ he hears the mild annoyed bite in your accusation. he manages a grin.

‘sorry, doll,’ he drawls, not sounding very sorry at all, far too tired to conjure a lie to placate you. you huff something undecipherable under your breath, shifting to cross your arms over your chest, which only serves to amplify the curve of your small bust as the modest-sized mounds are pushed upward. he’s not even trying to hide the way he stares at you—and for once, you take notice of the tense clenching of his jaw, a low breath exhaling from his nose.

his name is whispered between the small gap between you, and fuck, when had he leaned closer? his mouth is dry, despite him swallowing once, twice, thrice, for fuck’s sake, he needs a drink or something. but just as he’s leaning out of reach and making to stand from the settee, your hand catches the curve of his wrist, holding him still. his eyes meet yours, and to his absolute bafflement, the colour of your irises have darkened significantly. your cheeks are a little flushed, but he can’t tell if it’s from the spice in the soup, or if it’s because you’ve some kind of epiphany and finally realised that you want him just as much as he wants you.

god, he fucking hopes that it’s the latter.

and for a long, painfully quiet moment, you both stare at one another. your tongue darts out to parch your dry lips, and he’s almost embarrassed by how quickly his eyes snap to follow the motion before the muscle disappears from view once more.

neither of you are sure of who moves first.

his mouth is following after that tongue of yours, and when you next inhale, your breath is shared with his. the kiss is anything but sweet; it’s a feverish battle that has you moaning down his throat when his tongue presses against yours. he responds just as eagerly, long fingers tangling into the tresses of your hair, and tugging you closer until you’re panting against his lips. he’s just as breathless as you are, and once again, he’s humbled by the strain that his work trousers are suddenly subject to. but, he’s too busy with his mouth to feel embarrassed by how quickly his cock hardens between his legs—that, and he’s also too fucking horny to find it in him to actually give a shit.

at some point, he’s so distracted by the taste of the inside of your mouth that he fails to realise that your hands are slowly pressing to the meat of his thighs and eagerly gliding toward that spot that is rapidly warming with each heated sigh and gasp that is shared between the both of you. it isn’t until the palm of your hand actually slides over the bulge hidden under a thin layer of finely stitch linen that your lips part. he sucks in a sharp breath, and it is with every drop of self-restraint—and a tad sprinkle of regret—that he summons the strength to clasp your hand to halt your movements.

he doesn’t miss the grimace that dances across your face as you withdraw enough so that he can look at your face properly.

‘you don’t wanna do that, doll,’ he warns, voice hoarse as he shifts his left leg, daring to shoot a pitiful glare down at his own crotch. he hears you huff a short laugh, sounding everything other than amused. it’s a laugh that he already associates with the familiarity of your irritation. when his eyes drag over your features, it takes everything within him to avoid staring at your kiss-swollen lips. your gaze, although half hidden behind heavy eyelids that have dropped with the weight of his kisses, are ablaze with what he can only see as poorly veiled anger. in turn, the pettier sider of him can’t help but react with the same level of annoyance that is aimed towards him. ‘what you fuckin’ poutin’ for?’

somehow, your scowl deepens, marring the pretty features on your face.

‘just when i thought that you’d finally grown a pair.’

the words are viciously spat into the space between you, but before he fully processes what in the flying fuck you’d just said to him, you’re already jumping up from the settee. dumbly, he gawks as you snatch your empty bowls from the coffee table, pointedly ignoring him as you march from the room. his body is already moving before his brain catches up, and he’s following you into the kitchen. ‘the fuck d’you mean?’

it doesn’t take much to suspect that part of your anger is aimed toward the notion of being rejected. and if he wasn’t so pissed by your bratty attitude, he’d take you right back to that settee—or, more preferably, your bed—and finish what he’d started.

‘nothing,’ your tone is cold, your answer contradicted by the sound of you practically throwing the dishes into the sink. the ceramics clash together in a way that makes his teeth grit, followed by the distinct sound of something breaking once it hits the bottom of the sink.

‘nothin’?’ he grunts, repeating your answer. ‘sure don’t look like nothin’ to me.’

it’s the wrong thing to say.

you whirl on him, and you swipe a tea-towel from the kitchen surface and launch it across the room so roughly that it actually smacks him square in the face. he allows the offending fabric to drop unceremoniously to the ground and your eyes widen as his eyes slide shut, the corners of his mouth curling up into a vicious smile. the sight of it should make you feel even just a smidge of fear, but it only serves to cause your breath to hitch in the back of your throat, heat warming the inside of your underwear.

in truth, you had fallen for him almost immediately after your friendship began.

your meeting as an accidental romance-story-gone-wrong.

two years ago, you were rushing to work after in fear of being late after your train being held up that morning. and you’d ran into what you’d initially thought to be the most intimidating man you’d ever met, quite literally, head first. his coffee had actually left you with a minor burn scar on the inside of your thigh, and after he’d insisted on offering to replace your beverage-stained blouse, despite not falling in love and living happily-ever-after, the two of you somehow stayed in contact. it didn’t take long for you to fall for his charm that very few are accustomed to, and you like to think that you are now one of the few select people that are blessed with with a side of him that no others get to see.

and it wasn’t long before you began to notice him showing signs of mutual interest. at first, you’d been delighted whenever you noticed his heavy stare fixated onto you, and you only. you’d been shy, but hopeful when you’d catch his gaze lingering on the curve of your lips when you smiled at him, or when he humoured you enough to wrap his arms across your shoulders each time he left your apartment, despite him grumbling about his reputation every time he indulges you. and whilst you were happy, even if it meant that you’d never breach past the friendship stage, you also couldn’t help the disappointment that sunk deep down in your stomach every time he left without kissing you.

so when his lips had finally pressed against yours, when his hands had clung to you desperately, when your tongue had desperately tasted him just enough to engrave it deep within your tastebuds, when your fingers had felt just how much he wanted you; well, you were ecstatic.

except, you hadn’t expected to finally receive the attention that you’d been craving for the past two years, only to be rejected within the same breath. you must’ve done something truly horrific in a past life, you’d fumed as you’d marched your way into the kitchen, because you didn’t understand how you could be this unlucky.

yet, now, as you watch him exhale a long, low breath, before his eyes slowly peel open to stare down at you, you can’t help but hope that you’ve finally pushed him enough to snap.

and snap, he does.

he steps over the abandoned tea-towel, eyes glinting with something darker as they watch you swallow thickly. he chuckles, and then he says, ‘was tryna be nice to you, doll… makin’ sure you don’t do somethin’ you’ll regret.’

his eyes narrow down at you and he leans into your personal space, towering over your smaller frame until the countertop digs into the small of your back and you have to crane your neck to look him in the eye.

‘’m done playin’ nice.’

this is the only warning that you receive before two large hands are curling around the back of your thighs and you’re hoisted into the air so roughly that you can’t stop the shrill shriek that bursts past your lips when your abdomen meets the point of his shoulder. your heart lurches so rapidly that it feels like it’s thrumming inside your throat, but upside down like this, you are privy to an appealing eyeful of his toned backside. the jet black material of his trousers have evidently been tailored made to fit him snugly, and you certainly aren’t complaining about the view.

the ground moves below you, and as the tiled kitchen flooring gives away to a light beige carpet, you realise that he’s carried you into your bedroom. your stomach twists with anticipation, thighs clenched tightly together as you watch him kick the door shut behind him. suddenly, you’re falling, body bouncing on the mattress of your bed as you’re roughly deposited onto it. the motion makes your head spin, but you don’t have time to process it, as he’s suddenly on top of you, mouth claiming yours for the second time this evening. the weight of him pressing you into the mattress feels delicious and your fingers grip his hair, as you kiss him with everything you’ve got. pride fills you when his groan is bitten into your bottom lip, his hips jutting forward once, twice, clearly testing your boundaries. only when your legs widen to accommodate him, knees bending to curl your calves against his lower back, does he repeat the action, drawing a breath gasp from your mouth, which he’s quick to swallow down.

the last two years of back-and-forth, what-if’s and what he’d thought to be unrequited feelings, is quickly destroyed with each brush of your clothed cunt, and he relishes in the way his name is shakily whispered into the curve of his ear. your breath is hot on the side of his face, the sound of each broken breath forced from your lips making his cock throb so painfully that he wishes that you’d both undressed before he’d kissed you. with this thought, he places one short kiss on the curve of your cheek, and pulls away so suddenly that you flinch at the loss of his weight pressing you down into the mattress. his thumb drags across the hem of your shorts before his hand pulls away.

‘take ‘em off.’

he waits until you’ve pushed yourself upright before he climbs from the bed, hands already rushing to pull open the buttoning of his dress shirt. you move to stand before him, your movements not as rushed as his appear to be, but it’s mostly because your eyes are distracted, greedily taking in every inch of skin that is exposed to you. he’s almost naked by the time you gather enough wit about yourself to do as he’d told you. nerves and self-consciousness have you avoiding his gaze until you’re clad in nothing but the skin that you were born with.

when you look at him, he’s already sat at the edge of your bed, and your gaze zeros in on the fingers that are currently fisting his cock in a lazy upwards stroke as he watches you from where he sits. the lean muscles in his abdomen flex, and in turn, so do the inner muscles of your thighs as you press them together. once he realises that your attention is focused on the reddened tip that is leaking slick arousal down the ridges of his fingers, his bottom lips drags between his teeth and he beckons you over.

‘c’mere.’

you have to gall to look hesitant as you make your way over to him, hands making to reach up and cover your breasts in a pathetic attempt to protect your modesty. he scoffs at you, his free hand reaching out to tug your arms away, baring your entire body to his heated stare. he can’t help dragging his eyes over every inch of your body; he’s wanted this for a long time, and he’s sure as hell is going to make sure he makes the most of it whilst it lasts. and with this thought, his eyes roam over the gentle curves of your lithe form, hips narrower and breasts smaller than what society would deem as ‘attractive’, and yet the sight of the lightning streaks of your stretch marks, your puffy areola that surrounds two nipples—both of which are, to his pleasant surprise—inverted, make him ache for you. he sucks in a deep breath at the sight of them, cock twitching, hard against his abdomen. his fingers reach to trace the surface of your stomach, the corner of his mouth quirking when you breathe in sharply when he tickles your ribs. his fingers trace the shape of your left breast, watching as your chest begins to rise and fall a little faster.

with arousal, or anxiety, he’s unsure.

when his thumb brushes over your nipple, he’s taken aback by the lack of reaction. it must’ve shown on his face, because your expression drops into one of apprehension, and you lean back so that he’s no longer touching you.

‘they don’t…’ you trail off, looking down at your own chest, expression twisting into one that is a mixture of both self-loathing and disappointment. he doesn’t like that look on your face. but before he can voice it so, you clear your throat, ‘um… they’re inverted. but there’s not much sensation in them, so touching them doesn’t really do anything—’

he interrupts, ‘much sensation?’ you blink at him, allowing him to touch your skin again if only to appease his curiosity. ‘so you feel some stuff, right?’

you’re flustered, ‘well, yes. but like i said, touching them doesn’t do much, so it’s really not worth—’

he’ll decide what is or isn’t worth his time, thanks.

his lips are already curling around your nipple before you can finish your sentence. your words are cut off with a sharp intake of breath, and you shiver when hot air is exhaled from his nostrils, his tongue probing at your nipple. it tickles, but it isn’t until his teeth pinch where his tongue had traced, when you actually feel a dull throb of arousal from his ministrations. he hears the quiet moan that slips past your lips, and when he glances at your face, your eyes are closed, lips parted, a soft redness blessing your cheeks and the tips of your ears.

his moan is deep, low, and it vibrates across your breast, and you can’t help but moan along with him. his teeth are careful as they tug on your nipple, and with his attentions, the tip starts to protrude outwards. of course, having experimented by yourself before, this isn’t new to you. but when he eventually releases the abused skin, revealing a faint bruise that is starting to form, you allow him to indulge in his own smugness before he turns his attention to the other nipple. whilst doing so, his fingers tease the newly raised nub and your toes curl into the carpet, another moan echoed by the very man who is causing them.

by the time that you deem that he must be satisfied with his handiwork, you’re left a breathless mess, and you lean back so that your nipple pulls from between his lips with a wet pop! your eyes lower to where his fingers are curled around the base of his cock, and for the second time today, he watches as your tongue darts out to lick your lips. the girth is a little daunting, but considering how much bigger he is compared to you, you shouldn’t really be surprised that his cock is on the thicker side. still, despite the size, your mouth salivates at the sight of the vein that traces the entire length, disappearing under the swollen tip, just beneath the bundle of nerves that you’re itching to trace with your tongue.

but, as if he can read your thoughts, he chuckles from where his lips are pressing to the gap between your breasts. ‘not today, doll.’

and then, before you can protest, or even attempt to convince him to let you have just a taste, he’s pulling you onto his lap, his mouth dropping open when his cock slips between the dripping folds of your slit. you’re positive that he must feel the way your clit throbs for him, because in response, his length jerks and his hips cant upwards, his hands pressing you down to grind against you. his eyelids droop, heavy with wanton need, ‘so fuckin’ wet f’me.’

you keen, pressing your nose into the curve of his neck, grinding your hips in time with his thrusts. ‘a-all for you,’ you pant into his ear, and he’s holding you so tightly that you suspect that you’ll wake with bruises tomorrow. every ridge of his cock drags over your cunt, which drips messily all over him, a puddle already soaking the trimmed patch of dark hair that rests at the base of his erection. you would be embarrassed if he didn’t voice his approval in the form of a grunt, tongue lapping at your skin as he licks and sucks his way up the length of your neck. a particularly harsh bite to your collarbone has you yelping, and it almost ruins the blissful moment when he finally presses into you.

he enters in one, long stroke, his entire length gliding into your heat with ease, and he’s so dazed with the feeling of you that he belatedly remembers that he probably should’ve stretched you out with his fingers first. but you don’t seem to care, because you’re crying out as you rise up onto your knees, before dropping your hips back down, forcing him to empty and fill you over and over again. the stretch of his girth makes your insides ache, but it burns in a way that makes your toes curl with bliss.

‘f-fuck,’ he croons, one hand pressing to the mattress for balance, and the other, weaselling its way to your clit, rubbing tight fast circles in a bid to feel your gummy walls twitch and flutter and squeeze around him. ‘that’s it, baby, use my cock—hng, fuck—make this cock yours.’

‘m-mine,’ you whimper above him, nails digging into his shoulder blades as you cling onto him.

‘’s’right, babydoll, all fuckin’ yours,’ he agrees, moaning loudly when one harsh thrust has him stuttering on his own breath. ‘c-can you feel it, huh? look how hard i am—look what you do t’me.’ you feel him twitch inside you, the warmth of him pulsing from deep within your heat. your clit is caught between his thumb and the texture of his public hair, and you throb for him, already well on your way towards your release.

it is at this point that he decides that you’ve had enough of your fun, his hands holding tight to keep your hips still, before his thighs flex lower and his entire length springs free from the wet cavern of your cunt. your hole clenches, now empty, and a thick gloop of slick drips from between your legs. your orgasm is ruined, and you whine at the loss.

‘look at you,’ he coos, awed.

and then, he’s moving your body, positioning you so that you’re now laying with your stomach pressed to the sheets, your legs spread wide. you wait for him to press in above you, the heavy weight of him carefully lowered to your back. he rests on his forearms, but his entire body covers yours, and suddenly, you feel very small. the size difference is staggeringly obvious, and if the hitching of his breath is of any indicator, you’d say that he likes it just as much as you do. you mewl his name, and two, long fingers come to tuck under your chin, tilting your head toward your shoulder so that he can kiss you again.

it’s harder to kiss from this position, and your tongues battle messily, but soon enough, he’s entering you again, and you sob as he leaves no time for you to adjust before he sets a punishing pace. the room is soon filled with the wet sound of his pelvis repeatedly colliding with the soft meat of your backside, and you don’t have to look to know that your arousal is already soaking the sheets.

he’s loud like this, you quickly realise, and he’s moaning, babbling promises of what’s more to come in the future, praising the fact that your pretty little hole is made just for him. his cock batters your cunt and your dripping walls welcome him in with each thrust, and before long, your orgasm is gaining a powerful momentum. he chants your name like its his lifeline, and it’s with this that you realise he’s fast approaching his own peak, too.

long fingers curl a fistful of of your hair, tight enough that your scalp protests weakly as your neck stretches, baring itself for him to clamp his teeth onto the skin to mark you yet again. his thrusts become heavier, sloppier, faster, and the squelching clap of his balls slapping against your clit, and just like that, just like that, yes, yes, yes, gods, yes—!

you white out.

only for a second or two, but when you regain consciousness, it’s to the sound of his guttural shout of unfiltered, pure pleasure that ripples its way across his entire body and enters your cunt, painting it white with ropes of seed that spills on and on and on, until he collapses against your back with a strained murmur of your name. he nuzzles the crook where your shoulder meets your neck, and you lay there, struggling to catch your breath. your pussy is still throbbing with the aftermaths of your orgasm, and you can already feel the slow trickle of cum starting to spill from your hole, despite the fact that his length still claims its home within your inner walls.

it takes a good few minutes for the thrumming in your veins to quieten to a dull hum, and another five for him to move just enough to brush an open-mouthed kiss to your temple as you reach back to push the dampened strands of his hair back from his forehead. there’s a satisfied ache settling into your limbs and it forces a yawn out of your mouth. at this, he hums, pressing his lips to the crest of your cheek, and you squint at him from the corner of your eye when he manages to huff out a short, tired laugh.

‘you better not be fallin’ ‘sleep on me, doll,’ he warns, though his own voice betrays him, thickened with exhaustion. you turn to peek at him, your index finger tracing down the slope of his nose, a light dusting of pink staining the bridge. his eyes glaze over for a moment or two, before he blinks back to the present, and then the gentlest smile that you’ve ever seen graces his lips and the sight makes your stomach twist, pulse racing within your veins.

eventually, when you trust yourself to speak clearly, you tease your fingers between his own until they’re snaked together, and you say softly, ‘of course not.’

your answer makes something flash in his eyes, but you’re unable to decipher the meaning behind it, because suddenly, his girth slips free, along with the gush of your release that has mixed with his. he pushes his weight from your prone form, and as much as you enjoy having him crush you into the mattress, the relief on your back is instant. when you muster the energy to roll onto your side, his eyes are glued to the space between your legs, and if not for that tiny smile that softens his entire face, mortification would have made you blush from head-to-toe.

when you ignore the aching of your thighs to sit up properly, his hand shoots out to curl around your ankle, holding you in place. ‘where’d’ya think you’re goin’?’

he’s sat on his haunches, but he’s leaning over you again, easily reminding you of the size difference that turns you on more than you care to admit. his eyes are dark as they skim over your freshly-fucked body, previously unmarred skin now littered with new bruises and hickeys that you know will take all week to disappear. his smirk widens, but you can see that he’s not entirely unaffected, the pink blush still present, along with the hardened prick that bobs between his legs, yet to soften. he leans in close enough for his lips to steal another kiss from yours and you allow him to take you into his arms, whispering, ‘nowhere. i’m not going anywhere.’

something akin to contentment settles over him, but his fingers are already dancing across the slant of your waist, and you shiver at the unspoken promise of what’s to come next.

#♡ jordy is writing ♡#tr x reader #tr smut #tokrev x reader #tokrev smut #hanma x reader #hanma smut #draken x reader #draken smut #haitani ran x reader #haitani ran smut #haitani rindo x reader #haitani rindou smut #sanzu x reader #sanzu smut #kazutora x reader #izana x reader #taiju smut

779 notes · View notes

bigskydreaming · 3 years ago

Text

Okay, so you know “Justice League meets Batman’s kids, who they’d previously been unaware existed” AUs?

So picture that.....but this time, instead of them just having no knowledge of any of these other Gotham vigilantes at all....the Batkids all migrate to various cities as they get older and become known as their protectors - Dick in Bludhaven, Tim in San Francisco, Cass in Hong Kong, etc....

Meaning they’re all established figures, the Justice League are aware of them as solo local heroes who stick to their cities and so they just don’t interact with them much if at all, or else some are members of team lineups but are particularly vague about their histories or life outside of the team’s adventures....

So the big reveal isn’t that they become aware of all these other Gotham vigilantes all at once....its that some big conflict or whatever requires a huge team up of all available heroes, and in the aftermath, they figure out that like.....despite being known as solo heroes who work alone or loners outside of their team settings, 80% of these heroes all not only seem to already know each other, they seem to be related.

And so naturally they all turn to Batman, who has profiles on every known hero and they thus figure had researched these individuals too and just never mentioned this little detail, and they’re like, “Did you know about this?”

And then Nightwing turns to him too, arms crossed and is like, “Yeah Dad, did you know about this?”

And the infamous Red Hood is all: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never met any of these people before in my life. Lives? Whatever.”

And then Red Robin moodily grates out “I have no siblings.” Since he’s nursing a grudge since Dick and Jason broke into his apartment the night before and replaced all his custom Red Robin gear with Darkwing Duck merchandise and his vengeance will be swift and also totally disproportionate because things escalate quickly in this family, that’s true in every universe.

Cass meanwhile has deftly skewered Jason’s lie by walking over to him and brazenly patting down the man with many many guns with no fear whatsoever. He squawks and futilely attempts to bat her hands away as she riffles through his many pockets, but he doesn’t seem shocked, just annoyed. Eventually, she pulls away and triumphantly reveals a box of Hello Kitty themed band-aids.

“So these are yours then? Just for you?” Black Bat asks smugly. Red Hood squints at the box.

“What the fuck? How long have those been in my jacket? Why are those in my jacket? Did you freaking plant them in my jacket just on the offchance you could at some point in the distant future use them at my expense?”

Black Bat frowns, puzzled. “Yes?”

“Oh come on, Dead Hood,” Spoiler says with an exaggerated toss of her head meant to convey she’s rolling her eyes beneath her own mask. She skips her way across the room to Black Bat and then drapes herself languidly all over the smaller woman. Who in turn doesn’t so much as twitch beneath the sudden added mass as Spoiler holds out her hand towards the box of band-aids.

“One please. I have a boo-boo,” she says with easy familiarity straight into the intimidating cowl of Black Bat. Only then does she deign to finish her train of thought with Red Hood.

“I mean seriously, are you saying you don’t have potential blackmail set-ups, pre-rigged releases of incriminating material, and a random assortment of traps, pratfalls and mortifying scenarios in place for the express purpose of being able to humiliate any and all of your siblings at any given moment, without any need for additional prep time?”

“Is this true, Little Wing?” Nightwing whirls on the larger Red Hood with a faux-scandalized gasp. The founder and leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans, renowned for his stratagems and calm competence when directing squads of supers in the heat of battle while he keeps pace with nothing more than naturally acquired acrobatics and a utility belt that apparently uses the same technology as Wonder Woman’s invisible jet....now appears to be....staggering with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead, moaning about how he felt....faint?

What is happening right now, several dozen superheroes want to know. Is this a drill? Are they supposed to be checking for signs of a mental ambush from undetected psychic saboteurs? Did they all hit their heads at the exact same time and are now experiencing some kind of shared mass concussion?

Look, that wouldn’t be the weirdest thing to ever happen on the Watchtower.

“Have I failed you so utterly?” The veteran child hero bemoans with a dramatic twirl - that when contrasted with his stern demeanor of a mere ten minutes ago - makes the fears of telepathic infiltration seem less paranoia and more....concerningly probable. “Did you learn nothing from me? Did you learn nothing from B?”

He stops and jabs a finger up at the sky. “Quick, everyone! What is the very first rule of Living While Batty?”

As if by rote, over a half a dozen voices chime in from all over the room, causing various heroes to jump. Spooked by yet more and more vigilantes joining in some kind of mass recitation like they and they alone have some kind of clue what the hell is going on and everyone else just hadn’t been invited to the party. Which is just rude, honestly. Nobody likes feeling like they weren’t invited to the party. Not even superheroes.

“If you’re not going to bother preparing for every possible contingency and at least six impossible ones, you might as well just stay in bed.”

Even the Red Hood joins in the Illuminati chant or Cub Scout pledge or demonic ritual or whatever the fuck that just was, though his slumped and exasperated posture gives away every hint of sulkiness his headgear otherwise would have kept safely hidden. He’s surprisingly more...expressive, than most who’d only known of him by reputation had expected him to be. The day continues to yield surprises.

“Of fucking course I do,” he growls out, snatching the box from Black Bat. She doesn’t even fight to hold onto it, just lets it go with a knowing smirk. “I wasn’t surprised by the idea of it, I was just surprised she bothered with such a weak effort. Like yeah whatever, actually those could be mine. I use those all the time at home. So what?”

He aggressively yanks one of the band-aids out of the box, fumbles with the peel-off strips with one hand and he roughly rolls up the sleeve of his jacket with the other. Then just slaps it on his forearm and raises said appendage high, showing it off this way and that. “See?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Signal drawls from the other side of the room, nodding his head approvingly. “Totally convincing. Nice job walking that one back, you really showed them.”

Red Hood’s head snaps in his direction with ominous intent. “Watch it, Day-Glo.”

Signal just snorts.

“Yeah, like I’m gonna take constructive criticism on my name and costume from a dude who’s spent the last several years calling himself Red HOOD while running around in a freaking HELMET.”

“Its not meant to be literal, you fucking pedant.”

“So wait, its not literally a helmet? Huh, does it at least protect your head literally, or just like...symbolically? Like if Bane were to clock you across the head, would your concussion just be a metaphor? What’s the treatment protocol for a metaphorical concussion? Fluids, bedrest and a philosophical prescription of two chapters of Chicken Soup for the Soul as needed?”

“Laugh it up, KC and the Sunshine Band,” Red Hood bats back. “You just got yourself disinvited from Thursday night’s poker game.”

Signal just grins and folds his arms over his chest cockily. “Please. You’ve been looking for an excuse to ban me for weeks, cuz you know until you can prove I’m using my ghost vision to cheat, you can’t actually bring suit against me for it in Family Court.”

“That, and also Family Court isn’t a real thing, you toddler. Stop validating Wing-a-ding-ding’s obsession with Shitty TV Nostalgia and just call it that thing where Oracle traps us all in a room until we settle our latest fight without anyone getting stabbed.”

“Yeah, but like, say that five times fast,” Spoiler pipes up. “Its just not practical. Family Court’s way easier.”

“Says the one who’s not even in our fucking family.”

“And yet I grace you all with my sublime presence anyway,” she blows a kiss at him, beatifically unbothered. “You’re welcome.”

The Red Hood scoffs and rounds on his heel, zeroing in on Batwoman in the far corner.

“Hey Auntie B, my siblings are all dead to me and I just helped stop an alien invasion so I deserve nice things like a fun Saturday night. Can you get me into Dad’s fundraiser so I can crash it? He won’t put me back on the list until I promise not to bring any C-4 with me and I won’t promise not to bring any C-4 because he should just trust me that I won’t when I say I’m not gonna and he won’t trust me that I won’t until I admit I shouldn’t have brought any to that sting last month where three tiny little yachts blew up through barely any fault of my own, and I’m just not gonna do that ever because I have convictions and I feel I shouldn’t have to be punished for that. Y’know?”

Batwoman blinks at him. “Kid, I’m not gonna lie to you. You’re my nephew and I love you, but I stopped listening three seconds into all that.”

“Ugh, fine. Can you help me crash Dad’s event tonight so I can teach him a lesson about why he should just trust me not to make a scene so I don’t have to always make a scene to make a point.”

“Tempting as you make that sound,” she says wryly, “I have a strict policy for dealing with you lot and your......everything. I only worry about tolerating one of you at a time, and there’s seven of you, and seven days in the week. You each get your own. You know perfectly well its Robin’s day today. You get me on Tuesday, just like always.”

“Auntie B, we’re not like other families, are we?” Red Robin’s delivery is sarcastically childish and his question clearly rhetorical. Most of his attention is fixated on whatever it is he’s doing with his wrist-mounted computer.

“No sweetie, we’re all severely fucked in the head and a little bit too comfortable with that.”

“Just checking. Oh hey, Hood, I just emailed you a patch for the hole in your firewall I exploited when replacing all my shit using your accounts just now.”

“You did what?”

“Used your accounts to pay to replace all my stuff that you fucked with last night?” Red Robin says slowly. “Did you not realize that I’ve been sticking within ten feet of you for the past five minutes just so I could clone your devices and do all that while BB and Spoiler kept you distracted? I gotta say, bro, I feel like that’s on you then.”

Red Hood swivels his helmeted head in the direction of the aforementioned two. Black Bat waves. Spoiler shoots him an utterly unrepentant thumbs up.

“You’d side with your ex over me? That’s what its come to?”

“My only allegiance is to chaos,” Spoiler says brightly. Black Bat shrugs.

“Plus he bribes better.”

“Hateful,” Red Hood points at Black Bat, moving on to level the same finger at Spoiler, who curtsies in acknowledgment: “Hateful-er.”

Then the finger rounds the bases to aim judgmentally at Red Robin. “Hateful-est. And that was all Nightwing’s idea anyway, not mine.”

“Oh, I assumed as much,” he says casually. “Your idea of a prank tends to have more of a Carrie vibe. Or be a literal literary reenactment.”

“Its called an homage, 4chan.”

“Whatever, plagiarist. And anyway, I couldn’t go after ‘Wing for payback on this one. He used an Immunity card. If you didn’t want me getting back at you, you should have used one too."

Red Hood looms aggressively. Red Robin ignores willfully. Round and round they go. Superheroes who can survive excessive G-Forces are getting dizzy just watching them have a largely motionless stand-off. That shouldn’t be how that works, but whatever. All the most infamously reclusive and isolated heroes in all hero-dom are apparently part of the same one big reclusive and isolated family of fucked up weirdos and they’re all officially bonkers. Nothing makes sense anymore. Reality broke. Try another stall.

“Okay, but see, in order to have an Immunity card, I would have to participate in one of you losers’ stupid Immunity challenges,” the Red Hood drags out with exaggerated patience. “And I’m just not going to do that, on account of those all being fucking stupid. You see the problem there?”

Red Robin just shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you, bro. You can have principles or you can have an Immunity card. You can’t have both.”

Meanwhile, on another side of....the same room.....look, its like, an octagonal room, probably. It has a lot of sides. Robin fends off questions from an aggrieved looking Superboy.

“You never told me you had a bajillion brothers and sisters!”

“Yes but I never said I didn’t either.”

Superboy rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, so I should just assume everyone I meet has a bajillion secret brothers and sisters?”

“Well clearly it would have worked out in your favor in this instance if you had, now wouldn’t it?”

“Assuming of course that you can trust what has been said or implied here today and I am actually related to any of those numbskulls. Which I am not actually admitting to,” Robin tacks on hastily.

Superboy eyes him dubiously. “You joined in the same creepy chant all the others did and then got super self-conscious and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Which uh. I did.”

“First off, your interpretation of body language is abyssmal. I do not get self-conscious,” Robin says with a delivery that probably could have benefited from being a little less self-conscious. “And second....that proves nothing. I guessed what they were going to say.”

“Word for word,” Superboy says super-skeptically.

“I’m very good at guessing things. You know this.”

“Okay. Guess how much I believe you right now then.”

Robin glares and folds his arms grumpily across his chest.

“And what was that anyway? Was that like....you guys’ family motto or something like that?”

“Oh no,” Spoiler pipes up. “That’s much shorter.”

Superboy balks at that. “Wait, you guys actually have one of those for real?”

“Yup,” Steph says, counting out the words with her fingers. “He who laughs last....probably works for the Joker. So tranq him just to be safe. See? Only sixteen words. The first rule of Living While Batty is way longer, and what we said was just the abridged version. You should hear the original, before Black Bat put her foot down and refused to memorize it unless sizable edits were made.”

Superboy hovers between her and Robin now, both in mid-air and on the verge of taking Spoiler’s words as an invitation to hear just that. A low growl arises from Robin’s direction.

“Must you?” He asks the older vigilante, with a most put upon expression.

She looks at him pityingly. “Do you actually need me to answer that? Like, we’ve met, right? Hi, I’m Spoiler.”

“Wait, so Robin said that I just never specifically asked him if he had a bajillion brothers and sisters, and that’s why he didn’t tell me, so that means he wouldn’t have just lied and there’s not some code of secrecy that flat out forbids telling other people stuff, right?” Superboy realizes excitedly.

“Yes, excellent direction. Go on,” Spoiler says, steepling her fingers. Robin buries his face in the palm of one hand.

“Soooo, what other stuff could you tell me about Robin’s super top secret family that I wouldn’t think to ask about but that he would tell me about if I knew what questions to ask?”

She claps once, lightly but with emphasis. “Well done. You’ve passed the first barrier. Untold secrets await you behind just a few more.”

“I’ll get you for this,” Robin vows calmly. She waves a hand at him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it before January 1st, remember? You’ve promised retribution like ten times already this year and those don’t roll over, y’know. Rules are rules.”

“Enough!” Thunders a voice then, from the front of the room. Well one of the fronts anyway. Like sides, it has a lot of them, but this is the one where Batman’s standing. All eyes snap to him. Which is kinda just what eyes do when Batman says stuff like that. Its like his superpower, except he doesn’t actually have superpowers, which is what makes it scary. But where the snapping of the eyes (directional) is usually followed by Batman saying something else besides just “hey look at me,” here he pauses in the wake of his own call to attention’s waning reverberations. Uncharacteristically silent.

Not that, y’know, he’s normally Mr. Talkity Talk, but usually his silences feel like he has the words to fill them, he’s just withholding them. This though, this feels more like he doesn’t have any words at all. And he’s as confused by it as any of them, and most everyone else is confused by Batman being confused, and its this whole trickle down economy of confusion and its wrecking havoc on the value of the golden silence standard.

Of course, not everyone present is rendered spellbound with confusion.

“C’mon B,” Nightwing cajoles, leaning forward and practically radiating delight. “I think you know what you have to do now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its not likely to come around again.”

Red Hood snickers beneath his helmet and chimes in. “Yeah Pops, go ahead. You do this and you’ll actually have my respect for a whole twenty four hours. No, wait. Sixteen. No! Eight. Yeah, eight. Still a good deal.”

“Carpe diem, B,” Red Robin grins, leaning back as if to enjoy the show.

“Hey! Infringe on my trademark one more time, dude,” Signal throws a faux-glare at the former. Red Robin just quirks an eyebrow.

“And what, you’ll start saying Yum every time you eat a burger? Oh no. I’m hoist by my own petard.”

Signal flips him off with a grin and then redirects his attention back to Batman. “Yeah seriously though B, you kinda gotta do it now. Because if you don’t do it, then you’ll forever be the guy who didn’t do it, and you don’t want to be that guy, do you?”

“Yeah you really don’t want to be that guy,” Spoiler shouts out. “Nobody likes that guy. He’s the worst.”

“Do it, do it,” Black Bat starts chanting beside her, steadily picking up speed and volume. Several others start joining in. Even Robin appears to be slightly anticipatory, albeit trying very hard to hide it.

Batman sighs, and somehow everyone manages to hear it. Stills. Waits for....something? Nobody but them seems to have any clue what, but the air is thick and heavy with portentiousness. Something is about to happen, and all most of the heroes present could say for sure is it was something they never would have in a million years seen coming.

Finally, Batman straightens with the resigned air of a man about to have oh so many regrets. He crosses his arms, shakes his head, and in an absolute deadpan monotone, says:

“You are awful children. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing your father.”

2K notes · View notes