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onceuponaoneshotfanfic · 1 year ago

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hi i’m so in love with the way you write roy omg!! i was wondering if you could write something where the reader is maybe the team physio and she has a daughter like around phoebes age? just like fluffy pining roy <33333

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Roy Kent x Mom!Reader

1.9k words

Warnings: Language

I'm such a sucker for pining Roy!! And potential step-dad Roy? Oh my heart 😫

“Good morning, Mister Roy!”

Roy wasn’t expecting to see your daughter sitting in the corner of the treatment room when he walked in with your morning coffee. Despite his surprise, he offered her a smile as he handed you a to-go cup.

“Morning, Bevs,” he responded, deciding that your kid was the politest one in Phoebe’s class. He turned to you. “Didn’t know it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Would’ve brought her a hot chocolate.”

With a sigh, you shook your head, making sure Beverly had turned back to the book in her hands. “School was out today and tomorrow for some conference the teachers have,” you explained in a low voice. “And my mum’s still recovering from her surgery, and I couldn’t get a sitter, so Bee’s with me today.”

Roy couldn’t help the way his eyebrows flew up. “Her dad wasn’t able to help out? Thought he worked from home. It’s not like Bev needs constant supervision.”

Your grip tightened around your cup as you rolled your eyes. “It’s not his day,” you whispered, your voice full of annoyance. “Which apparently means he’s not a parent until Friday afternoon.”

“Fucking twat,” Roy snorted. He immediately remembered that there was a child in the room. “Shit. Sorry.”

The laugh that flew out of your mouth sent a shiver down his spine, especially when it was punctuated by your hand touching his bicep. “You’re fine,” you assured him, giving his arm a squeeze before letting go. “It’s completely true, anyways. Even Bee knows that, although maybe in less colorful language.”

Roy returned your smile as he watched you bring your coffee to your lips. “Right, right.”

He wondered if you knew he fancied you. You had to know. He brought you coffee every morning, was always on time for his sessions with you despite his reputation for chronic lateness, he somehow always managed to be the one to bring Phoebe to playdates with Beverly, even when his sister was available, and he knew the way he looked at you was rarely, if ever, professional. In most cases, he’d have asked you out already.

But he knew that, as a single mum, your situation was different from most cases. He saw it with his sister. You had to prioritize the wonderful little human that sat in the corner of the treatment room who called him “Mister Roy” and always gave him a hug and thanked him for rides home from school on those days that you were desperate for help. He also knew that asking you out meant more than drinks and straight to bed; it would be something real, something he’d have to commit to. And he definitely was interested in that; he just didn’t know if you thought so.

Sam Obisanya poked his head into the room, interrupting the silence. “Good morning.” His eyes found your daughter. “Oh, hey there, Beverly!”

Your daughter waved. “Good morning, Mister Sam!” Roy found it adorable the way she always called adults “Mister” or “Miss”.

“Hey, Sam,” you sighed. “Ready?”

Sam nodded and plopped himself down on your table. Roy saw your eyes shift over to Beverly. He could see it on your expression: She’s going to be so bored.

Without a second thought, Roy approached your daughter, taking his time to crouch down in front of her in spite of his knee. “Oi, Bevvie.” She looked up. “I know you’d probably rather read your book, but I’ve got all these papers in my office, they need to be put in alphabetical order. Think you could come help me with that? And maybe after you could come out on the pitch, help us with training. Then we could grab some lunch with your mum.” He looked over his shoulder at you. “Would that be alright?”

For a moment you thought you were going to cry. Fuck, Roy Kent was such a nice guy. If he wasn’t a gorgeous retired professional footballer, you’d have wanted him to ask you out ages ago. Or hell, you’d do it yourself. He was better with Bev than her own dad sometimes.

“That would be great,” you managed to choke out as you got started with Sam. “Bee?”

Beverly was already out of her seat, taking Roy’s hand in hers, book forgotten on her chair. “Can I really go out on the pitch?” she asked Roy, eyes glittering with excitement.

“Fuck yeah,” Roy assured her as he led her to the door. “You can even yell at Jamie Tartt if you want.”

As the pair passed by on their way out, you shook your head at Roy, smiling. “Thank you,” you mouthed.

With his free hand, he gently touched the small of your back. You wondered if he could feel you shiver in response. “Anytime,” he whispered in your ear. He turned his attention back to Beverly. “Let’s grab you a hot chocolate first, alright?”

After a morning of work, you made your way to the coaches’ office, where Beverly was sitting at Roy’s desk, drawing a picture while Roy talked with Nate and Beard. He lit up when he saw you.

“Ready for lunch?” he asked in place of a greeting.

“Sure.” You walked over to Bev and looked over her shoulder at her artwork. It was a drawing of her and Roy on the football pitch. You ruffled her hair, taking note of the whistle she wore around her neck. “Bee, did you thank the coaches for letting you hang out this morning?”

She jumped out of Roy’s seat and approached each coach, giving them a hug in turn. “Thank you, Mister Beard. Thank you, Mister Nate.” She gazed up at Roy with adoration on her little face. “Thank you, Mister Roy.” Instead of a hug, she offered him her drawing. “This is for you. For being so nice to me today.”

He blinked rapidly as he took the picture. “This is fucking great. Thanks.” Immediately, he went and pinned it on the corkboard behind his desk, where there were already several pictures made by Phoebe hanging up. He looked at you as the other coaches made themselves look busy. “Called my sister. Phoebe’s at my mum’s, said Bev’s more than welcome to hang out there this afternoon. And I can drive her home when I pick up Pheebs. She can go over tomorrow, too.”

“Oh my God, thank you.” Without thinking, you threw your arms around Roy’s neck, pulling him into a hug.

After his brain stopped malfunctioning at your touch, he let his arms wrap around your waist, returning the embrace. Over your shoulder, he could see Beard eying the two of you with raised eyebrows and offering him a cartoonish thumbs-up while Nate watched with a wistful smile. Despite Roy never saying a word, the other coaches were painfully aware of his crush on you.

Once Roy recovered from the joy of being hugged by you, he drove you and Beverly to a nearby chip shop, where he insisted on treating the two of you.

“Come on, Roy,” you pleaded as he shoved your hand away from the credit card machine. “It’s the least I can do after you helped with Bev.”

He shook his head. “Fuck no. My mum would kill me if I let a woman pay for a meal that I invited her to.” He offered you a smile as the machine read his card. “When you invite me to lunch, I’ll let you pay. Deal?”

Your heart skipped a beat. Did that mean he wanted you to ask him to grab lunch sometime? “Fine. Next one’s on me,” you conceded, hoping you didn’t sound too excited at the thought.

As the three of you sat at an outside table and ate your lunch, you couldn’t keep your eyes off Roy. The way he looked Beverly in the eye when she spoke to him and gave her his full attention wasn’t something you were used to seeing. You didn’t date too much, and you very, very rarely introduced men to your daughter. On the couple of occasions where she did meet the guy you were dating, it was never like this. Sure, they were polite and nice to her, but you could tell it was only because they were trying to make a good impression on you. None of those men stuck around much longer after meeting your daughter. And you didn’t really want them to.

But Roy was so genuine. He asked her questions and was fully invested in what she told him, and he even let her steal some of his chips after she’d finished her own. You know most of this came from his own experience as Phoebe’s devoted uncle, but you knew it was also because he was just a genuinely kind person under his gruff surface. And it only made your silly little crush grow.

As the three of you climbed back into Roy’s giant car after lunch, Roy showed you a text he’d just gotten on his mobile. “From my sister.”

Does Bev want to sleep over? I can take them both to mum’s in the morning.

“Oh, that would be great,” you said. You turned around in your seat. “Bee, d’you want to sleep over with Phoebe tonight?”

The squealing coming from the backseat gave you your answer.

By the time you arrived at Roy’s mum’s house, Beverly was so excited she barely looked at you as she leaped out of the car and sprinted to the door, where a bouncing Phoebe waited for her. You and Roy followed and said quick hellos to his mother. You gave Beverly a goodbye hug and kiss, thanked Roy’s mum, and followed Roy back to the car.

Roy opened your door for you before climbing in on his side. The short ride back to Nelson Road was much quieter without an eight-year-old chattering away in the back seat.

“Thanks again,” you finally said. “I really appreciate you helping out.”

He shook his head. “Don’t mention it. Figure this way you can focus on work, and Bev can hang with Pheebs.” His fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “Plus, now you’ve got a free evening.” He glanced sideways at you. “Got any plans?”

You shrugged, wringing your hands a bit at the interest in his voice. “Probably just take myself out to dinner. Don’t usually get to do that during the week.”

Roy nodded. “Don’t suppose you’d want some company?”

Surely, you’d heard him wrong. “Company?” you echoed.

“Only if you want,” he quickly clarified. “I know alone time’s important; my sister really likes relaxing with a glass of wine by herself, but I mean…” He shrugged, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. “Might be nice. Sharing a meal together that doesn’t come in a Styrofoam box.”

“Are you going to let me pay for this one? Since I let you pay for lunch?”

A snort flew out of his nose as he pulled into his spot in the parking lot. “Fuck no. I never let a woman pay for a first date.” He offered you a small smile as the two of you climbed out of his car and met behind it. “Pick you up at six?”

In spite of your racing heart, you folded your arms coolly, returning his grin. “Sounds good. Just anything but fish and chips.”

The sound of his laughter made your heart dance. “Deal.”

#request ❤️#he's here he's there he's every fucking where #roy kent #roy kent x reader #roy kent fic #roy kent fanfic #roy kent fanfiction #ted lasso #ted lasso fanfic #ted lasso fic #ted lasso fanfiction

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the-arkhamwolf · 1 year ago

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Reverse Robins Tim Drake

I have a lot of Reverse Robin Aus so I thought it would be fun to compare the different versions of Characters in each starting with Tim

Falling in Reverse

My first ever Reverse Robins deals with Tim's many self-worth issues. In this version Tim dies due to his fear of failure.

Tim was a neglected child who felt he had to earn everything including his place as Robin. After his parents died he moved into Wayne manner. Damian wasn't much help making Tim feel like he belonged.

Things got better between them but Tim's never got over that feeling of not belonging. He never spoke out on this just worked hard to prove himself. Believing Robin was the only reason he wasn't tossed aside. So when he was benched, due to him "Not being fit to be on the field", he took that badly and went out to prove himself. Overworked and paranoid he walked into a trap that ended his too-short life.

Tim then takes a dip in the pit and wakes up cold and reserved. Ras is amazed believing that the pit had no effect on him, that was indeed far from true. The pit gave Tim a different kind of rage, a quiet rage, something Ras would come to realize was far scarier.

For a while, Tim stays with the league learning and waiting. During this time Ras tries to brainwash Tim and he plays along. But the truth is Ras never had Tim under his control. When Tim is ready to leave he sets off his plan basically destroying the league. He then confronts Ras and kills him. This is Tim's first kill and while Ras doesn't stay dead (Thanks to the pit) He becomes fearful of Tim.

Tim is able to control the pit (for the most part) making it safer for those around but deadly for those he deems as a threat.

He goes back to Gotham and despite Ras's best efforts Tim doesn't hate the bats and even feels relieved Bruce took another Robin. After all, Tim wasn't really suppose to be Robin.

Tim blames himself for his death and thinks he has brought great shame to Batman and Robin. Tim sees himself as a failure that does not deserve to rejoin the bats, this is reinforced by the pit. So he works to protect the bats doing the dirty work to keep their hands clean.

Some people deserve to die and that's where he comes in. Because Batman doesn't kill and Damian should never be put in that spot again, not after how far he has come. Tim sees himself as a necessary evil.

He actually has a great relationship with his replacement even if he didn't mean to. He works hard to make sure the kid is safe. Jason is a great kid and will never go through what Tim did. He and Damian have a complicated relationship but both still care for each other.

He gets along with Cass pretty well even if they disagree on killing. He thinks Steph is the funniest thing ever and loves to watch her annoy Damian.

Tim leads the outlaws which is him, Roy, and Rose. Tim doesn't need friends he needs to focus on his work. Roy refuses to let that happen and somehow sneaks his way into being friends without Tim realizing it.

Rose flirts with Tim at first because it always flustered him but slowly they grow to like each other.

Tim is touch starved and he is the only one that doesn't see that as a problem. He also is a workaholic so Rose and Roy have to keep an eye on him and make him take breaks.

Tim has a deep love of photography even as Red Hood. It is a way to connect him to his past and Robin.

(Spoiler- When he becomes a dad He leaves the role of Red Hood and becomes a new paper photographer)

Something I love about this version: Tim has a deep love of Fnaf that drives everyone crazy

The Watchers

The Watchers is a much more darker take on reverse robins and the main reason is because Tim doesn't die. Watchers switching things up a bit with Tim having a good relationship with his parents. Tim is still a little sneaks out and becomes Robin.

Damian and Tim's relationship is much worse in this version. With Damian being jealous of Tim and his family. After Tim's parents die he moves in with Bruce and Damian becomes angry. (Damian is a lot more resentful due to stuff that happens to him but this is about Tim right now)

One night Damian cuts Tim's line and he crashes into a building. It doesn't paralyze him but it does give him permanent back problems. After that, Tim stayed on for another year as Oracle, A whole year of putting up with Damian's harsh insults and mocking unable to do anything. Finally, Tim had enough and quit the hero game altogether.

He leaves Gotham only to be brought back a few years later by an unexpected visitor. Batman has stepped down and Gotham is full of crime and the Court of Owls is at the center of it all. There is going to be a purge on Gotham Tim hates this city but it was his home. He and this guy name Jason team up to take back Gotham.

As soon as he moved back Tim started having nightmares. He doesn't get much sleep and his back is not going to let him go into the field so He becomes SkyWatcher. The court finds out about him and sends a talon after him. Turns out it's a child (Dick Grayson). He decides he's going to bring him home and raise him. It takes a while to earn the child's trust.

Tim comes across Rose and the two end up having a relationship sort of like Batman and Cat Women.

Tim has a deep resentment for photography because it reminds him of Batman and Robin. He also hates Damian and this gets worse when Damian takes Stephanie under his wing and makes her Robin.

Something I love about this version: Tim trying to raise a kid that is constantly trying to stab him

Falling Slowly

Falling Slowly is not exactly a Reverse robins set up as Tim is actually the oldest. While Watchers is the darkest version I think this is the saddest.

Tim's parents weren't around much so he would sneak out at night to take pictures of Batman. Batman gets injured one night and Tim is forced to reveal himself to help Bruce.

After Alfred patches Bruce up he imminently takes Tim home telling him to not sneak out anymore. Of course, Tim doesn't listen because someone needs to be there to help Batman when he's in trouble.

Eventually, Bruce gave up and started training him, not to fight but to protect himself. Tim started helping Bruce with cases and spent a lot of time at the cave. He was given the code name backup but he's not allowed to join in the fighting.

Everything was great until Tim's parents got killed during a robbery. Bruce took him in and tried to help him. Feeling guilty about his death Tim tried to go out and avenge his parents but Bruce stopped him. He made Tim his sidekick hoping it would help Tim the same way Batman helped him. And it did Tim became less restless and more focused.

Tim becomes Cardinal but because of how tiny he is the media started calling him Robin. Tim hated this and is sick of correcting people. While Cardinal Tim and another sidekick he was friends with got attacked. Tim only got minor injuries but the friend was nearly killed and lost the ability to walk. Tim blamed himself and started to spiral lucky someone was there to pull him out.

After Tim graduated he moved out to go to college. He came home for the weekend to find that he had a little brother.

Tim is beyond thrilled, he always wanted a little brother. Jason was a little standoffish at first but eventually warms up to him. Tim spends his weekends training Jason and eventually passing down the mantle of Robin to Jason once he's ready.

Tim couldn't help but blame himself because he gave Jason the suit. Tim dropped out of school and moved back to Gotham to keep an eye on Bruce. He gets a job at W.E. and becomes Redwing. Tim is in a spiral and no one seems to be able to pull him out until Selena goes a talks to her. She manages to convince to get therapy.

The therapy ends up helping. Tim still has a long way to go but there's definitely an improvement.

The therapist advises him on getting a therapy dog. Tim's skeptical after all his mother had taught him dogs were fealty creatures that would chew him up.

However, while working on a case he finds Ace a poor German shepherd that has been mistreated and hurt. The dog tries to tear him to pieces so He brings it home. Slowly he earns Ace's trust after taming him some work he takes to a class to get him trained. Ace doesn't care for other humans or dogs but he has gotten to the point where he chooses to ignore rather than attack.

Ace completely trusts Tim and Tim completely trusts Him.

One day while walking in the cave he was attacked by a child assassin aka Bruce's son Damian. Damian doesn't like Tim at first but Tim keeps an eye on him because the kid is his little brother.

One day Damian walked up to Tim and Bruce and demanded the Robin mantel. Tim puts his foot down before Bruce could say anything reminding him of what happened to Jason.

One night Damian steals the Robin suit and sneaks out. He runs into Red Hood and somehow the villain knows his every move. Luckily Tim comes to the recuse, unlucky Tim isn't prepared to deal with the fallout.

Something I love about this version: Tim loves to skateboard and even teaches Ace how too

Dying Birds Au

While my first Reverse Robins has Tim having a bad life and then dying this newest one has Tim being happy then dying. Okay, Tim's parents are still neglectful and he still gets a rough start as Robin (or whatever name I use) but the rest is pretty happy.

It all starts when Damian gets shot. He's not killed but he's is paralyzed from the waist down. Damian had been Robin Tim's hero and Batman's sidekick. After getting shot he left Gotham leading to a much darker Bruce. Batman needs Robin, Tim didn't sign up for this but here he is.

Bruce is better but he and Damian still aren't talking. Tim decides to put a stop to that. Damian and Tim get off to a rocky start with Damian finding Tim annoying and also having an underlying resentment for the kid Tim doesn't care.

Slowly the little brat grows on him and Damian does come back to Gotham. The two become pretty close. Damian convinces Tim's Parents to let Bruce adopt him and Tim moves in.

Tim is a people pleaser so Damian makes sure no one takes advantage of him. And Tim makes sure Damian doesn't bet himself up over mistakes.

Tim effectively becomes friends with a villain's daughter and takes her under his wing. Stephine trains under Tim to become the next Robin

Tim plans to leave the mental to start his own team but is too nervous to tell anyone but Damian and Stephanie.

Tim gets hurt bad on a patrol trying to help someone. Damians on the headset the entire time talking to him as Tim lies bleeding out.

Tim's death spits the family apart and causes Steph to leave.

Tim comes back via Lazarus pit plays Ra's, destroys the Lazarus pit, leaves the league in shabbles then starts up his own team with Roy and Rose.

He can't control the pit messes with his head making him cold and dangerous so he stays away from the bats to protect them.

Cass is sent to kill Tim instead he takes her and trains her she in return becomes his unrequest bodyguard. He tries to give her as normal a life as he can.

One big difference between this and Falling in Reverse is that in FR Tim had his own run-down apartment. Whereas here all of the outlaws live together in an abandoned building.

Something I love about this version: Tim and Cass's sibling dynamic I just find this adorable

Wrap up

Falling in Reverse: Ashamed Red Hood in desperate need of a hug

The Watchers: Tired dad with back problems and a murderous child

Falling Slowly: Guilty older brother trying to make up for the past

Dying birds: Scared Red Hood who pushes everyone away

What character would you like to see next?

If there's you have any questions or want me to talk more about one of these drop it in my inbox

#batfam #reverse batfam #reverse robins #Tim drake #The wolfverse #red hood #damian wayne #batman #fanfic #au #Robin #dc

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mrgaretcarter · 2 years ago

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Everything I enjoyed about Ted Lasso 3x10

It was so exciting to watch them announce the players that got into their national teams

Laughed at Ted not knowing Bumbercatch is swiss

Appreciated the whole team being there for Sam when he was snubbed

I genuinely laughed out loud at all the jokes to do with Dani's personality change

When it cut from the title sequence to ted sitting down with rebecca for biscuits with the boss i really thought it was for real gonna be an OG one but then they panned to trent and i was disappointed but i couldnt even be mad because it was so funny

Ted is a LIAR we have seen him gossip so many times he is such nosy biddy 🤣

Trent loving getting a good grade in girl talk was so funny and cute!

"So chaps, what do we think?" was such a fun line to me for some reason

All 3 of them going "Nah" and making the same face, so fun!

Ted was saying such nonsense for the rest of that scene and they made sure to show us Rebcca's reactions to every single one and she looked so fond every single time

Of course Rupert is saved on Rebecca’s phone as "The Devil" she is so insane

I loved Keeley's green skirt suit

I laughed at Beard's 17 throwing axes that he brought to the UK with him 🤣

"Sneaking in here today reminded me of the first match I ever saw at Nelson Road." "Ah, when they used to play by candlelight." 🤣🤣

I was SO happy to see Phoebe, then happier still to see her mum! And Jamie is totally right, she is fit

That whole scene was an absolute delight, filled my heart with joy, the England kit! the E for U swap! the tie dye shirt with Roy colors! One thing I can say about this season is that things do tend to go great when Jamie is involved

I laughed at the doomed handshake at Sam's restaurant, he was so resigned to his fate 😅

Nate breaking into his parents house in the middle of the night because he felt lonely and lost reminded me of 13 Going on 30

I was happy to see Rebeccas Amsterdam pants again! Especially with that purple blouse ��

I love that Higgins knows Keeley, Ted and Sassy are Rebecca's top options in that order and that this is unquestionable

Higgins' comparing Akufu to the Chocolate Factory kids was both very accurate and very funny 😆 "I hate to break it to you Rebecca, but those children are dead."

I really liked Rebecca being insecure about the meeting because she knows she's only been invited as a token. It felt true to life and also reminded me of a favorite moment from a beloved show of my past, The Good Wife, where a character expresses a similar concern and gets much the same advice as Higgins gave

I really thought Rebecca was taller than Higgins' office door and was momentarily scared she was going to bump her head on the way out 😆

I liked Keeley and Mae's conversation, though I, much like Keeley, did not understand the lightning saying 😅 did appreciated the little "Maybe" joke though, it felt like something Ted would do and I always love to perceive them mirroring each other

Everyone noticing Roy's cheerful t-shirt was very funny

I loved that we saw Rebecca studying for the meeting

THE!! TOY!!! SOLDIER!!!!!! She's been carrying it around!!! She is fond of it!!!!! She treats it with such care, and it still brings her strength, gosh!! To think of the moment she picked it up off the ground and stored it away, of whenever it was she decided to keep it with her as an amulet!!! I'm breathless!!!!!!!

Kenneth saying "twins" to Roy lmaooo

The fact that Rebecca has panic attacks is something that can be SO PERSONAL that meant so so SO much to me, I could cry just thinking about it, I've always been sure she did and to have it confirmed was a thrill, and so emotional and satisfying to me to see her self soothe and how it paralleled Ted, truly beautiful gorgeous amazing

Ms Bowen is blonde now! Idk why but that was exciting, I like her! I think Roy should introduce her to Beard, I feel like she could beat up Jane. It was also hilarious to me that they named her Leann for real 🤣 they have no shame!

Barbara's Juicy couture tracksuit and "I like clothes that tell the truth" LMAOOO COMEDY GOLD

Barbara and Keeley's snow globe exchange was delightful. Barbara slowly grew on me throughout the season and was a true highlight in this particular episode, I was very glad that she chose Keeley.

I love that Rebecca went to that meeting in a bbp top and one of her less murderous earrings

I appreciated seeing Rebecca in a professional setting, taking a stand, and going to bat for the club and for football in general, it's something I have always longed to see from her and I'm glad I got it even if it was late in the game

Really liked that Nate plays the violin

I liked the window into Rupert and Rebecca's past and the glimpse into why they were in love once

I liked the contents of Roy's letter to Keeley and thought it was funny that she couldn’t read his handwriting

It was exciting to see Rebecca at Keeley's house! She demanded a hug! She's going to fund Keeley's firm! Their friendship has stayed beautifully consistent throughout the season and I appreciate that.

Keeley writing down the number and saying "This is how they do it in the movies" was another Ted-like moment (down to Rebecca being endeared by it!)

I enjoyed the joke of Roy walking in when he did and I loved loved loved that he and Rebecca saluted each other again! I'd been waiting for that!!

I think Nate's apology to Will - how he did it, the score, the note with the sprig of lavender, how it was filmed - felt like such a season 1 moment that it filled me up with this sense of right-ness and I truly appreciated it. Possibly one of the best moments of the season 🥹

Rebecca looked so at peace hanging that painting and also SO beautiful in that dress

Ted sat down without being invited, and Rebecca scooched a little closer once he did 🥹🥹

She specifically wanted to tell him about this big emotional milestone and Ted looked? I have no idea how to describe it, but it was new, it was a face he's never made before, and it was so?? I don't even know, I don't know what to do with it, or with "I wanna win for us too."

Rebecca is truly insane for spitting on his face on purpose like that lmao

Aaaand that's it! I liked a lot of the bits and pieces of this episode as you can see, and I had a mostly good time while watching it. There were a couple big things that bothered me though, but I'll save those for a different post later in the week once I've gotten a chance to collect my thoughts!

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #If you noticed me avoiding mentioning certain things... there's a reason for that #tl ramblings

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bluejaysandblackbats · 5 months ago

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Honor in Crisis

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, NTT, Titans, JLI, Arrowfam, Flashfam, GL Corps, Infinity Inc

Summary: Every chapter will focus on one character specifically and then I'll update their statuses in order.

This is a no powers au/fix-it fic for Heroes in Crisis. I wanted to focus on the characters and their healing. I decided that'd be easier to put some of these characters in a fic like this and work on it more from a real-world perspective. I DO want to say that I do not believe healing is linear so don't plan on a clear-cut happy ending. I'd say (and idk for sure) we're gonna eventually get a bittersweet ending for certain characters but nothing tragic.

Chapters: 7/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Kole Weathers, Lilith Clay, Eddie Bloomberg, Michael Carter, Michelle Carter, Rani Carter, Charley Parker, Grant Emerson, Roy Harper, Grant Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Thaddeus Thawne, Bart Allen, Helen Claiborne, President Thawne, Todd Rice, Alan Scott (DCU), Damon Matthews

Relationship(s): Damon Matthews/Todd Rice

Additional Tags: No Powers AU, Canon Divergent AU, Fix-It Fic, Angst, TW // Self Harm Mention , TW // Suicide Attempt Mention

Chapter Seven: Resurface (Joseph Wilson's POV)

Joey picked at his bandages. "Joseph," his therapist whispered. Joey placed his hands flat on the man's desk. He knew it was a warning from how his therapist looked at him. His therapist was gentle, mouse-like, and clumsy. It almost brought a smile to Joseph's face how cartoonishly sheepish the man seemed. "Thank you, Joseph... Last week we spent a lot of time discussing the note you wrote to your friends and family. Were you satisfied with where we left things, or would you like to expand on your feelings about it in today's session?"

Joey shook his head and drew his hands back. He planned on going out quietly in his apartment, surrounded by his final work. He'd planned things down to the last moment, his last breath. Things still went horribly wrong, even then. He screwed up, taking in alcohol with pills, and combined with the blood loss he endured, he ended up answering a phone call. He wasn't even sure who had called him. Everything was a blur. The only thing he remembered was pain. Cracking ribs, an immediate withdrawal, pressure on open wounds, blinding lights, blaring sirens. It was an assault to all the senses, and he couldn't speak for himself with his hands bound. He winced at the memory of it.

Now that he could tell his therapist everything, he couldn't gather his thoughts. Everything played in his mind at once. His childhood, his adulthood, his failed relationships. Everything was messy and impossible to grasp without falling apart entirely. He found himself doing that a lot lately. Drifting far away with his thoughts, forgetting the present. That wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't so difficult to return to his body afterward. He used to do it on purpose as a child. It was the best way to remain positive and shut out the worst of what went on around him.

"Joseph. Please don't pick at your bandages," his therapist whispered. Hearing his first name like that called him back to his body.

"Sorry," Joey apologized, "I went away..."

"Joseph, are you aware of how long you—. You said you went away... Where did you go?" his therapist asked.

"In my head... It's like when you're swimming and fully submerged in the water... Except you don't ever have to come up for air," Joey answered, "I used to do it when I was younger when my parents argued."

"It sounds like you spent a lot of time in your head as a child," his therapist replied. Joey nodded. "Can I ask you when you started doing this?"

"I don't know... I've done this for as long as I can remember. I can't control it anymore... It just happens," Joey replied. His therapist took off his glasses and wiped them clean. He opened his mouth to speak before Joey recalled something relevant to the question. "Wintergreen... He's my father's friend. I remember he told me I could make it go away."

"It?" his therapist asked.

Joey chewed his lip. "The noise... The arguing and fighting. Most of it had to do with moving houses or my dad taking dangerous assignments," Joey replied, "It was unbearable... But Wintergreen said I didn't have to hear anything I didn't want to. I could make all the noise disappear... In my mind." Joey frowned at the memory.

Usually, the doctor was a man of few words, but Joey noticed something bubble to the surface. "I want to leave you with a question: Were you going away to protect yourself... Or were you trying to protect mom and dad?" the therapist whispered. His therapist said mom and dad the same way all the adults said it to him growing up. It wasn't patronizing. It was something else. The words were softly cushioned as if it would've been painful to hear their names. Joey appreciated the man's gentle nature.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

"Children can often minimize their needs when they see their parents struggling... Expressing basic needs might feel overly demanding. There might not be any fear of punishment, but there might be a hint of guilt. Do any of those feelings apply?" his therapist questioned. Joey let out a breath as if he'd been punched in the gut. He wasn't sure how to answer.

"See you next week?" Joey asked. His therapist nodded and thanked him for coming. Joey rushed out of the office and returned to his room.

His roommate sat on the bed, struggling to write something in his journal. He looked up at Joey when he heard footsteps. "Therapy kick your ass today?" his roommate asked.

"Yes... You okay, Charley? Do you want to talk?" Joey asked. Charley scratched his head. Joey wasn't in a rush for an answer. Charley understood ASL, but it took him a little longer to piece the sentences together.

"Oh, yeah. I'm alright... Well, no. No, I'm not okay," Charley replied as he flopped back on his bed. Joey sat on his bed and cocked his head. "But aren't you tired of people dumping their crap on you?"

"Dump on me, and I'll dump on you," Joey replied. Charley chewed his lip. "What's wrong?"

"Oh... Well, it's about you. I don't want you to take offense, though," Charley whispered, "Listen, I like you and everything, but I think it's fucked up what you're doing to your brother."

Joey knit his brows together and lifted his hands to reply. "No, no. What's up? He comes to visit every day, and every single day, you turn him away," Charley chastised him, "I wish I had family that wanted to see me. I've got nobody."

"You don't understand... My brother abandoned me—."

"But he came back... And he saved your life," Charley blurted out. He covered his mouth.

"Charley, say that again," Joey commanded. Charley shook his head.

"Joe—."

"Who said you could speak to my brother?" Joey asked. Joey wasn't mad at Charley. Not really. Joey knew Charley was right, but he was in shock as well. How could Grant have gotten there in time? Why was Grant there? What could he possibly want? He hadn't seen Grant in years, and he definitely didn't want Grant to see him like that. Weak, broken, pathetic. Joey wasn't in the mood to be ridiculed.

"I didn't mean any harm... He bumped into me when I was visiting my lawyer," Charley explained, "And he looked like you, so I just assumed—."

"I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry... I don't want to see my brother, but not because I hate him. I love my brother, but he's hard to get along with. We're so different," Joey replied. Different. That was an understatement if he ever heard one. Charley tapped his pen on his journal.

"That's not what's wrong with me, though... You know I'm working through some stuff about my anger?" Charley asked. Joey nodded. "Where am I gonna go if I get out of here?"

Joey sat up straight and frowned. "Charley, I'm sorry... I didn't know—."

"Yeah, I didn't really think about it, but this week's been good... What if they make me leave... And I've got no place to go?" Charley questioned. Joey frowned. "I shouldn't be putting this on you... I should talk to Doc Morton."

Joey took a deep breath and lay down. He wanted to shut everything away and sleep, but there was still more to do. Soon it'd be time for dinner and group. Everything would keep moving. He would keep breathing and thinking and feeling... And he didn't want to.

#fic #hic fic #ntt #titans west #Joseph Wilson #Grant Wilson #Charley Parker #No Powers AU #Canon Divergent AU #Fix-It Fic #Angst #TW // Self Harm Mention #TW // Suicide Attempt Mention

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chanceshirley · 11 months ago

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A Golden Age

It’s been said (by Comics Buyer’s Guide editor Maggie Thompson, or maybe it was comic book writer Roy Thomas) that the golden age of comics is five. Meaning that no matter how comics historians might define the Golden Age of comic books (and the Silver and Bronze Ages), what really matters to the individual comic book reader is the time that they started reading comics. I was probably interested in comic books when I was five years old (this was the mid-1970s, and it seemed like comic books were everywhere then, but I particularly remember seeing them in grocery stores and convenience stores), but I didn’t actually read my first comic book till I was seven.

I wasn’t a great reader at that point. It took me hours to read that first comic book because I was still at the stage in my reading life where I had to sound out every word. (And I probably had to ask my poor parents to help me out with several words per page.) But having spent so much time with my first comic book, I remember it vividly 40-plus years later — it was the 180th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, a story titled “Who Was That Goblin I Saw You With?” The DC superheroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and pals) were on TV every Saturday morning back then on the Super Friends cartoon. And Super Friends was appointment television viewing for me, but I first saw Spider-Man on The Electric Company, a PBS educational show I watched every weekday afternoon. Spidey was on The Electric Company to encourage kids to read (this version of the character didn’t speak out loud — his words were all presented in on-screen comic dialogue balloons), but Marvel, the publisher of Spidey comic books, surely didn’t mind that seeing Spidey on TV probably encouraged a few kids to buy Spider-Man comic books.

That was certainly the case with me. One morning I asked my dad if he’d pick me up some comic books on his way home from work. He asked me which comic books, and I said “Spider-Man!” And that afternoon Dad brought me home Amazing Spider-Man no. 180. I think he also brought me home a Batman book and, possibly, a third comic. But this was a very long time ago — I don’t even remember if I bothered to read the other book (or books) he brought home that day. (Owning more books than they read is a thing that all book people do, right?)

I still love Spider-Man (and I am not alone — he’s a big movie star now), and I still love Spidey comic books, especially Spidey comic books from the late 1970s. Because that’s my golden age of comic books. I’ve been thinking lately about how, if I’d been enterprising enough to find a job that would hire a seven-year-old in the late 1970s, I could have read all of the Spidey books of the era plus most everything else that Marvel published at the time. These comic books were, after all, generally only 35 cents a piece (about $1.60 a piece in 2022 money). An hour or two of minimum wage work would earn you enough to buy a week’s worth of Marvel books.

They say you can’t go home again. But thanks to the internet (something we definitely did not have in 1978) and services like Marvel Unlimited and Comixology, you can read a whole lot of old comic books. So I decided it might be fun to go back to the month my first comic book hit newsstands (which according to the Fandom.com Marvel wikiis February 1978) and read all (or at least most) of the Marvel comic books of the era in the order of publication. And then I decided if I was going to read all of those comics, it might be fun to write a little about the experience.

Based on a quick survey of a few months in 1978, Marvel was publishing (in the United States) around 40 titles a month in those days. My first thought was to write a comic-book-a-day column (with due respect to Brian W. Collins’ iconic Horror-Movie-a-Day blog) about my Marvel Time Warp, covering a month of 1978 books in a month of columns. But I’d need to read (and write about) approximately 1.3 comic books per day to keep up a month-for-month pace, and I’m probably not going to be able to manage that. Because, if nothing else, I have a bunch of other nerdy hobbies that I like to spend time on.

And I’m also not sure how much I will have to say about some of these comic books. I expect for the first month or two I will have a good bit to say because a lot of these books and characters (at least the 1978 versions of these characters) are new to me. But after that, who knows? Which is fine! So far I’m having a lot of fun (and learning a lot of new things about the comic books of my youth), and I’ll keep on with the reading (and with the writing about the reading) as long as it is fun.

And if you��re reading my writing about my 1978 comic book reading, hopefully you’re getting some entertainment out of this little adventure, too!

In the tradition of many comic book stories of the 1970s, I’ll close out this premiere column with a tease to (hopefully) get you to come back for my second column…

#comic books #comics #bronze age comics #marvel #spider man

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book-place · 3 years ago

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Real Family

Warnings: bullying, parent death, cursing, tiny bit of violence, let me know if I missed any :)

Pairings: Team arrow x teen reader

*not my gif*

Summary: People are so hung up on the fact that your biological family isn’t around anymore, that they don’t realize that you have a family right in front of you

A/N: I know that nobody really reads Arrowverse on here, but it was kind of fun to write

Please don’t plagiarize my work, you may reblog if you like but I’m asking that you don’t steal my hard work

You sighed, stepping into the elevator and pressing the down button.

To say you had a rough day was an understatement. It wasn’t uncommon for you to be made fun of at school, but today everyone seemed to take it too far.

Three years ago you had lost your parents in a car accident, and you had nowhere to go. That was until a family friend, Oliver Queen, decided to take you in.

He introduced you to his friends John, Felicity, Roy, Laurel, and of course you already knew Thea. All of them immediately loved you and made sure to help Oliver take care of you, because that man may be a responsible adult, but he knew nothing about taking care of a teenager.

Of course you missed your parents more than anything, but these past three years had been amazing ones with your new family, the ones that took care of you when nobody else would.

You had always been a very smart kid, and about a couple months into living with Oliver, you found out about him and his friends' secret.

He was trying to keep it just that, a secret, but let’s be honest, Oliver was not the most subtle person in the world when it came to keeping secrets from his loved ones, even if it was to protect them.

When you first found out you insisted on helping in some way, and of course Oliver and everybody else refused. They did, however, let you go down into “The Arrow Cave” as Felicity called it, and they helped train you in case they weren’t there to help you in a situation where you needed to defend yourself.

As the elevator went down you looked at yourself in the reflection of the doors. You winced as you saw a dark bruise circling your eye where your bully had decked you when you tried to stand up for yourself.

You were the easy target in school. The girl that had no parents. The weak kid who couldn’t stand up for herself. It never seemed to end.

None of them knew that you did in fact have a family now, with Oliver and the others. But they wouldn’t stop even if they knew, so why bother trying to tell them?

Out of all of the kids that bullied you in school, none of them dared lay a single hand on you. They only caused mental damage.

You had finally had enough and decided that today would be the day that you stood up for yourself. So that’s what you did, and in return you got a nice black eye.

Coming to the cave was a decision you made based on the fact that nobody would be there until later. They all still had daytime activities that they had to do so nobody got suspicious. And the decision was mostly made based off the fact that Thea brought makeup down here to hide any visible, physical wounds for anybody who couldn’t let others see.

Your plan was to quickly apply the makeup and get back home to your apartment before Oliver got suspicious and worried about where you were.

As soon as the elevator doors opened though, your heart dropped to your stomach. Everybody was there. Felicity was spinning in her desk chair as fast as she could while Roy cheered her on. Thea and Laurel were sparring while casually talking and laughing. And Oliver and John sat at the table, chatting while watching the scenes before them unfold with smiles on their faces.

You quickly turned around, planning to get back into the elevator and hope that they didn’t see you, but you weren’t having a good day, why have your good luck start now?

“Y/n!” Roy called out, and even though your back was to him you could hear a smile in his voice.

You quickly squeezed your eyes shut and took a deep breath before putting on a fake smile and spinning around to face the team.

You kept your head slightly down though, letting your hair fall in front of your face in hopes that they wouldn’t be looking too closely.

“Hey guys!” You said in a fake cheery voice.

“What’re you doing down here?” You could also hear the smile in Oliver’s voice, so obviously he hadn’t seen what was on your face yet.

You shrugged, “I thought I could come down here and do some homework for a while since it would be empty, but now that I see it’s not, I’ll go back to the apartment to do it.” You quickly lied.

“Well you’re top of all your classes,” Oliver replied, “Why don’t you take a small break to hang out with us? You can finish your homework later.”

This caused you to start panicking, “Sorry, Ollie. I have a lot of homework so I think I’ll just go home to try and get it all done.”

“No, come on!” Roy whined childishly, dragging out the ‘n’, jogging over to you and started lightly pulling on your arm.

You tried to keep your eyes trained on the ground as you pulled against his hold.

“Oh don’t be like that, we just want to-“ The man quickly cut himself off, “N/n, what the hell happened to your face?”

The team, who had been watching your interaction in amusement, immediately dropped their smiles and rushed over to you, worry consuming them.

You finally looked up, ignoring Felicity and Thea’s gasps, you gently pushed Oliver’s hands away from your face as he tried to get a closer look,“Nothing, I’m fine.” You lied yet again.

“No, you’re not.” Oliver insisted, trying to see your face again.

“Oliver,” Laurel snapped, then made her voice more gentle, “Give her a little bit of space.”

The man hesitated before taking two steps back.

“What happened?” Felicity asked, a lot softer than Roy had.

You hesitated, finally glancing up at her, before quickly averting your eyes back to the ground, “I said nothing.” You finally grumbled, pushing past them.

They followed behind you like lost puppies as you went over the the mini fridge that Roy and Felicity had begged Oliver to put in, and grabbed a soda, kicking the door shut behind you.

You glanced up at them in annoyance once you found them all still staring at you, “What?” You snapped, stomping over and plopping down in the chair that Felicity had been spinning in just moments before.

“N/n,” John said softly, “You have to tell us what happened.”

“Why?” You glared at him.

“So we can help you.” Thea insisted.

You huffed and rolled your eyes, but secretly hesitated again, “It was just some kid.” You mumbled, but they heard you.

“Some kid did this to you?” Roy asked with wide eyes, practically screaming, causing Thea to elbow him in the ribs.

“It’s not a big deal.” You said, taking a sip of your soda.

“N/n,” Oliver said quietly, slowly approaching you until he was right in front of you, as you watched him slowly sink to his knees in front of you, “Why did that kid do this?”

You shrugged, looking away so the team wouldn’t see the tears in your eyes.

“Y/n.” Laurel said, slightly sternly, “If you tell us, we can help you.”

You looked up at her, eyes swimming with tears, “It’s because my parents are dead.”

Their jaws dropped, “This kid was bullying you…” John said slowly, trying to comprehend what you said, “Because your parents are gone?”

You nodded, looking down and shuffling your feet.

“Oh, n/n.” Thea said, walking over and bending down to bring you into a reassuring hug.

You hugged her back tightly, tears starting to run down your face.

You pulled away after a minute, sniffling and wiping your eyes, “Sorry.” You let out a shaky laugh.

“Hey,” Thea moved your face to look at her, “You have nothing to apologize for, you hear me?”

After a moment, you nodded.

“Now come here.” Felicity brought you into a quick hug before walking over to the mini fridge and coming back with an ice pack and towel wrapped around it.

You hissed slightly as she pressed the ice pack against your bruise and she muttered a small apology.

Upon her orders, you held the ice pack to your face as the adults walked away from you, in a group huddle, talking in hushed voices.

You had tried to ask them what they were talking about, only to get told not to worry about it, which made you huff and fall back against the chair.

As they continued talking, Roy shuffled over to you and pulled a bag of chips out of his hoodie pocket, “You seem to need these more than I do right now.”

You happily took them with a grateful ‘thank you’ and munched on your chips, spinning slightly in the chair with the ice pack still over your eyes as Roy went back to the top secret circle.

After a few minutes they all broke away from their circle and they all, besides Oliver, made their way to the elevator.

They all sent you a smile until the doors closed and it was just you and Oliver left.

It was silent for a few minutes before he came and kneeled in front of you again, “Chip?” You offered, your mouth still full.

He chuckled slightly before reaching up and gently taking the ice pack out of your grip and away from your now freezing cold face.

“How long has this been going on, n/n?” He asked, looking you dead in the eye, and this time you didn’t look away.

Knowing you couldn’t lie to him anymore, you answered honestly after clearing your throat, “Since they died.” You admitted.

The heartbroken look on Oliver’s face made you immediately feel guilty, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

You shrugged, “I didn’t want to worry you guys.”

“Well consider us worried.” He said, tossing your now empty bag of chips into the trash. He then paused, “Have they ever… hit you before?”

You shook your head immediately, “It never went this far.”

The blonde man nodded, “But you know how to stand up for yourself, to throw a punch, why didn’t you?”

You shrugged, “I don’t want to be like them.”

Oliver’s eyes softened, “You could never be like them, you are so, so much better. Always have been, always will be.”

You nodded, feeling slightly better.

“Come on,” he said, standing up and then whispering, “I’m sure the others are in the elevator trying to listen to what’s happening.”

You looked at him in confusion until he walked over to the elevator and pressed the button to open the door.

And sure enough, Felicity and Roy came tumbling out, proving that they had just been pressing their ears against the door to try and hear your conversation.

Thea, Laurel, and John all stood against the wall with slightly guilty expressions on their faces showing that they didn’t try and stop the other two, and were probably even having them relay what they were hearing.

You giggled as Oliver let out a little laugh, looking down at the two on the floor, “Comfortable down there?”

“Very, actually.” Roy mumbled before jumping up and helping Felicity up as well.

“Come on,” Oliver said in amusement, turning around and walking over to a cabinet, pulling out an arm full of junk food. “Let’s have a movie night.”

Felicity squealed and grabbed your hand, dragging you over to the training mat where a projector was set up for moments just like this.

John and Laurel disappeared for a moment before coming back with their arms full of pillows and blankets.

The rest of the night was spent watching movies, eating junk food, and laughing, making you completely forget all about what had been happening at school.

The next day Oliver pulled you out of that school and with your permission moved you to another one, where you made lots of real friends and you had no bullies.

And whenever someone asked you about your family, you would tell them about your smart, kickass aunts, childish uncle and your strong one, and above all, your amazingly wonderful father, Oliver Queen.

#platonic #platonic imagine #team arrow #x reader #oliver queen x platonic! reader #felicity smoak #roy harper #thea queen x platonic!reader #team arrow x reader #john diggle x platonic!reader #laurel lance #the arrow #arrowverse #arrowverse x reader #teen reader

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nightwings-circus · 3 years ago

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A nice surprise

18+. Minors will be blocked

A/N: this is kinda shitty but I thought it was still cute so enjoy.

CW: smut. Pet names, oral (M! And F!Receiving), finger stuff, kinda getting caught??? (Over comms), hair pulling.

Synapses: you and your best friend Jason spend Valentine’s Day in the bat cave, and boy is this Valentine’s Day different then any other. Smut

Valentine’s Day had always been an awful Holliday.

You’d grown up on the streets of star city, the lonely child of two members of the league of assassins. You had been a secret, but when you found out about another secret child you had been brutally executed.

Your parents had secretly revived you with the pit before dumping you in star city, untraceable and unknown to anyone, so you hadn’t grown up celebrating “Valentine’s day” it was just another day for you.

That was before you had attempted to beat the shit out of a certain redhead named Roy Harper in a fit of bloodlust.

He had brought you back to Ollie, who upon you calming down and explaining your past to him, had quickly called in the justice league to help figure out what the fuck to do with you.

Eventually it was decided that the only one who could handle you was the one and only Bruce Wayne, a billionaire by day and Batman by night with his own clan of orphans. Seemed like an amazing fit, minus the adoption this time.

The league had eyes everywhere, and could easily find forged adoption documents or anything of the sort. You were introduced to the public as a recently deceased family friend’s daughter, and it worked without raising any suspicion.

That was where you had met Jason Todd, a bookworm with a sharp tongue and enough sarcasm to overpower even Gotham’s most cynical of people.

You had always been close, bonding over books and music and movies, and your shared love of tormenting the others.

Valentines days in the manor were spent on patrol, the occasional sounds of barb and Dick “talking” back in the cave when they accidentally unmuted themselves on the coms. You and Jason would yell at them, telling them to fuck some other time, a time when you weren’t kicking the ass of Gotham’s most wanted.

When Jay died, you had been heartbroken. That’s what it took to realize you might have been in love with the one and only Jason Todd. It took four-ish more years of him being revived and fighting with bruce before ultimately returning to the manor to accept that yes, you definitely were in love with him.

It was your first Valentine’s Day with everyone back in the manor, with Dick visiting after a particularly bad breakup with Kori, Jason back on the good guys team, and you, Tim and Damian being there to hold down the Fort as always.

This Valentine’s Day was turning out to be unlike any other. You and Jason were the ones stuck at home after a few recent bloodlust relapses, with Dick, Tim, and Dami on the streets kicking ass.

“If I hear anything similar to what you told me about Dick and Barb I’m ripping my ear piece out and stomping on it,” Damian sneered over the coms, followed by a noise that sounded like a swift backhand to the back of his head and the muffled sound of Dick telling him off.

You looked over at Jay, stifling a laugh as he flushed slightly, or were you imagining it? You didn’t have time to tell before he quickly looked down and started pulling up cam footage around the city.

Two hours went by of basically nothing. It was the first time you and Jason had been in a room together and had barely talked, it was strange. Something felt off. You both sat on the small couch in the bat cave, Jason reading and you watching the security for anything you could tell the others.

“Happy Valentine’s Day by the way,” his voice was soft, but guarded, like those words were dangerous when spoken aloud.

“Never thought you were one to celebrate Jaybird,” you smiled at him and he flushed at the nickname, and this time you were certain you weren’t imagining it.

“Neither are you! Don’t forget that time you made Tim those secret admirer love hearts that said ‘eat an ass’ on them.” He laughed and closed his book and set it on the ground.

He ran his hands through his messy curls and smiled at you. It made your heart flutter.

“Yeah well B’s reaction when he found them was worth it,” you grinned at him as the computer started to beep. You both jumped up and raced to answer.

“What’s up B,” Jay’s voice rang through the echoing cave.

“Just checking in. We need a couple names ran through the system.” Bruce listed them off and you wrote them on a sticky note before writing each assigned patrol person beside it. Without even thinking you hopped onto Jay’s lap so you could sit and see what came up as he reached his arms around you and looked up the list one by one.

“Thanks you two,” Bruce’s voice rang out after Jason rattled off all the information you found, and Bruce thanked you guys, and ended the line between you and him until he needed it again. You were still sat on Jason’s lap and after you realized you stood up and blushed.

“What, didn’t like the seat?” He teased and you felt your face heat up even more. You replied without even thinking,

“Like the view a little better,” he was the one blushing now, looking up at you with a mix of shock and a little bit of excitement. He stood up and slowly moved towards you, bringing you closer to him than you had ever been outside of your wildest dreams. Then, it finally happened.

Jason pressed his lips against yours softly, and you immediately kissed him back. He was gentle, almost like he was holding himself back in case this would end up terribly. But you did not.

You deepened the kiss, biting his lip gently and earning a moan from him as you ran your hand along his abs through his shirt with his hands on your waist holding you close.

You swore you could melt under his touch, the fact that you were kissing him at all was enough to send your head spinning. After what felt like no time at all he pulled away, his lips slightly redder and a bit more swollen then before.

You pulled away from Jason and started kissing down his neck, his pupils blown out from the lust and adrenaline in his body. Your kisses went even lower as you hooked your fingers around the waistband of his suit pants and underwear, slowly unzipping his pants and freeing his hard cock from its restraints.

Fuck he was huge, way bigger then you thought he would be. You licked along his length, causing a loud moan to erupt from his lips as he tangled his hands into your hair. You wrapped your lips around the swollen head and slowly took as much as you could into your mouth, swirling your tongue as you sucked.

You stroked what you couldn’t fit into your mouth with your hand, picking up pace as he moaned and growled under your touch. He gripped your hair and moved you faster, almost choking as you adjusted to the new speed.

Soon he was coming undone, his breathing getting more ragged and his long cock twitching in your mouth.

“Fuck princess I’m gonna cum,” he moaned as he emptied his load into your mouth, the salty taste hitting your tongue as you swallowed it.

You moved your mouth off, his cock exiting your mouth with a soft pop. He pulled you to your feet and quickly pushed you back into the chair, pulling your legs apart and tracing his fingers up your legs.

“You gonna be a good girl for me?” He was teasing you now, and fuck was it turning you on. In this moment you were almost grateful that you had to wear your costumes (or at least a more “casual” version of it) even in the cave, just in case you had to leave on backup in a hurry. The tight black miniskirt was a blessing in this moment.

He slowly slipped your panties down your legs and pulled up your skirt, leaving you exposed. Goosebumps appeared on your skin as he slowly moved his fingers to tease your entrance.

“Already so wet for me princess, and all you did was suck my cock. You like having me in your mouth that much? Such a good girl.” His voice was like a purr as his fingers entered you, plunging into your heat as he moved to trace circles around your sensitive clit with his tongue.

His fingers hit a spot inside you that made you shake, your entire body filled with pleasure as he licked your swollen bud like it was his last meal. Soon you felt the knot in your stomach start to unravel, and you came all over Jason’s thick fingers and into his mouth.

But he didn’t stop.

Instead he kept eating you out, his fingers still working into your core as you moaned, whimpered, and let out half-coherent sentences of begging and his name.

“Gonna come again for me pretty girl?” He picked up the pace, the pleasure coursing through your veins as once again you lost control of your senses. Your vision blurred and your head became fuzzy as waves of pleasure flowed through you, cumming harder then you had in your life.

“Well this is turning out to be the best Valentine’s Day I think either of us have ever had. I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time.” Jason grinned as he slowly put your panties back into place and pulled your skirt back down onto your shaking legs. “You taste fucking amazing princess. Such a good girl for me.”

“I think we have some things we need to discuss when we get back,” Dick’s voice rang over the monitor, making both of you jump.

“Dick??? Who else’s line is fucking open.” Jason blushed a dark red as he snapped at his older brother.

“Mine,” Tim’s voice sounded off, the uncomfortable-ness like a blanket smothering his words.

“I’m smashing my ear peace,” Damian snarled.

You buried your head into the crook of Jason’s neck and flushed, wanting the floor to swallow the two of you up.

“You’re just mad the girl I had in the cave actually fucking likes me dickhead,” Jay growled, making you laugh as Dick tried to argue.

“What’s going on?” This time it was Bruce’s voice on the comms.

And like good friends and siblings, the moment you all heard that the only thing you could say was a choir of sharp,

“NOTHING B. Everything’s fine.”

#jason todd #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd x y/n #jason todd fluff #jason todd smut #red hood smut #red hood fic

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amelikos · 3 months ago

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Some character notes and episode notes for HZ062, writing them down for future reference.

The episode starts with Roy still feeling down about Rhyme's words. Liko snaps him out of it and Roy gets motivated to try again. Nemo suggests going through an awesome training before Roy challenges Rhyme again and involves everyone in it, not just Roy. They build up stamina by running together in the snow with their Pokemon, improving Pokemon's moves and speed, etc. After the training, the trio and Nemo take a break and talk together. Nemo points out to Roy that his battle style was repetitive and that he needed to be more unpredictable to have a chance at winning. Liko also reminded Roy of Rhyme's question and asked him what made him like singing in the first place. Roy says it's probably because his parents always used to sing when he was younger.

Roy talks a bit about his past and says his parents are sailors, currently working away from his island. Sometimes they brought him on their boat with them and sung together. After they left him with his grandfather, Roy still liked singing which made him become friends with a lot of Pokemon and led him to meeting Hogator eventually. Talking about it made Roy realize something, which made him want to train with Hogator more. Liko and Dot go back to the plaza to buy some time before Roy comes back. Liko and Dot are both too shy and reserved to go up on the stage, so Welcamo volunteers (he knows it's not going anywhere otherwise ww). Liko follows his lead and brings Dot with her on the stage. For their performance, they have Nyarote shoot down the berries they are carrying on them before Welcamo finishes his dance (nice display of trust between Liko and Nyarote in that scene). Roy eventually comes back in time after their performance.

Second part of the episode is the rematch between Roy and Rhyme, which is a 1 VS 1. Roy won the battle this time, took advantage of Hogator's speed, came up with a new song to create new movements etc. And he properly used Terastal (and his Terastal phrase too). Roy properly realized what singing meant to him and explained that it's not a tool for battling but something that lets him share the same feelings as Hogator and to bond with him. Singing reminds him that he is not alone, which helps his heart (and Hogator's) get stronger. Rhyme tells Roy that whether Hogator reaches his full potential or not is up to him and makes him pass the implementation test. Only Liko is left now (and Grusha was watching at the end before leaving).

Overall, I got what I expected from this Roy episode. I had a hunch that his singing had something to do with his parents after last week's preview (and it was a good way to implement it in his backstory). I am glad we got to see his parents and that they are alive. The flashback with them was very cute (and the sunset looked beautiful in that scene). The implication is that Roy sings because he misses them and feels close to them by doing that (and he got to meet Hogator thanks to it, so now he is not as lonely anymore). Also liked that Roy reframed his view on singing since he was becoming obsessed with getting stronger and winning. His answer at the end about what singing meant to him felt satisfying.

I also really liked the way Liko cheered up Roy at the beginning of the episode when he felt down and she asked him "Is this the end? Did you and Hogator come this far for nothing?", I felt like she was echoing Friede's words when he cheered her and Roy up after the battle against Rayquaza in HZ045. Liko did say she wanted to be more like Friede and admires his ability to give courage to those around him, so it's nice to see actively trying to do just that. Though, she was also like this towards Roy from the beginning. She encouraged Roy to take a step forward in HZ006 and encouraged him to talk to his grandfather and let him know that he wanted to travel. Their relationship is a two-way street, Liko is often there to encourage Roy and calm him down when he feels nervous (see: their confrontation against Galar Fire in HZ022 and HZ023, against Rayquaza in HZ033, etc). Liko asking Roy why he likes singing was also an opportunity to look inside himself and helped him find the answer to that question.

Also enjoyed the bits of comedy in this episode! Nemo having less stamina than Dot somehow, Dot and Nyarote hiding in igloo to keep warm together, Liko and Dot's entire thing about being too reserved to go up on stage and being like "I can't do it, you should go first" and Dot hiding behind Liko when Welcamo went up on stage... very good stuff. Liko and Dot is really that "she asked for no pickles" thing. And I do appreciate that Liko and Dot's relationship gains additional layers to it every time. I feel like they've gained a lot of new aspects to them this chapter.

#hz062 #character notes #episode notes

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mochegato · 3 years ago

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Puddle Jumper

The air all around the city seemed to be weighed down with gloom. Dark clouds loomed overhead threatening to break open and spill down another torrential rainfall at any moment. The ominous atmosphere had driven almost all the neighborhood residents indoors except for one father and daughter returning home from the grocery store. Laughter suddenly cut through the drizzly and dreary streets bringing a touch of brightness to the street as the daughter found her target.

“Puddle!” the little girl yelled excitedly. She pointed at a puddle ahead of her and charged for it, her bright red raincoat flapping behind her. She stopped right in front of it and tensed her body in preparation. After a few seconds, she jumped into it over and over again before running down the sidewalk in search of another puddle.

Large or small, no puddle would be spared. She finally spotted another and rushed directly toward it, stopping just in front of it again and setting and resetting her feet until she was satisfied with the positioning. She jumped into it, squealing with delight at the splash.

Roy pointed to a large puddle toward the end of the block. “Look, Squeaker, there’s a big one!”

Lian gasped. Her eyes widened at the size of the puddle. It was by far larger than any of the other puddles she’d seen so far, except the ones in the road that she wasn’t allowed to jump into. The splashes she could make with that puddle would be legendary! She ran toward it, her mind buzzing with too much excitement to pay attention to the world around her.

As she ran toward it a woman turned the corner and started walking toward them as she talked on her phone, clearly very engaged in whatever conversation she was having judging by how wildly she was waving her hands around as she spoke. Roy looked up and noticed her just before Lian reached the puddle. “Lian!” he called out loudly.

He thought she heard him since she had stopped, but he noticed just a few seconds too late that she was prepping. She jumped into the puddle and Roy watched in horror as the puddle yielded the best splash so far, reaching the woman despite being a few steps away.

The woman yelped, dropping her phone in surprise. She juggled her phone a few times and just managed to pull it into her stomach safely. She let out a slow breath and quickly brought the phone up to her ear. “I’ll call you back, Alya… No, not a cataclysmic event. No need for horsepower. Calm down. Talk to you later. Bye.”

Lian was frozen in the water, her eyes widened after the realization of what she did had washed over her. She watched the woman intently to pick up on her reaction. She didn’t seem angry but some people didn’t and then they yelled. Lian hated it when people yelled, especially when they yelled at her. Usually people were yelling at her Daddy, like Grandpa Ollie, but when someone did yell at her, she really, really didn’t like it. She could hear her daddy rushing to her already, but she was still nervous.

The woman looked down at her and quirked her lips to the side. “I don’t know who your parents are,” she started in an exaggerated fatigue, “but they have failed in your education.” She took off her now saturated shoes as she spoke and tossed them into her bag.

Roy picked up his already quick pace to get to them sooner. It was an accident and while he could understand being upset at getting wet, Lian was a child and the woman wasn’t watching where she was going. And who walks around in a downpour, okay it wasn’t raining anymore but it had been raining a little bit ago and it was probably going to start again any second, so the point still stands. But, anyway, who walks around in a downpour and expects to walk away dry? The woman had no right…

“You’re never going to get a big splash like that,” she continued, a smirk making its way to her face. “Here, let me show you” she motioned for Lian to back up a bit. “You need to extend your legs just before you hit the surface of the water…” she jumped into the puddle, extending her legs just before she hit is to increase the force of the impact. Lian squealed in excitement as the water splashed so far it doused the little cats on her red rainboots.

“Now you try,” Marinette encouraged.

Lian stared excitedly at the puddle but then stopped and watched the stranger warily for a few seconds. The woman picked up on her hesitation and backed away to give her space. She gave Lian a bright, supportive smile that instantly made Lian feel comfortable and welcome. All of the apprehension Lian had earlier melted away in an instant. The only thing left was a sense of excitement and anticipation for how much fun she could have with the woman.

Lian giggled and did a clumsy imitation of Marinette’s movements. She hit the water a bit too early, but the splash was still a bit larger than it had been originally. This time, it splashed up onto Marinette’s coat. Roy had to jump back to avoid the splash.

“Yes! That was amazing!” She grinned proudly at her as she clapped and bounced in her excitement. “You did a great job.”

Lian beamed up at Roy. “Did you see, Daddy? Did you see?”

“I certainly did, Squeaker. Good job,” he chuckled as he squeezed her closer for a moment. He looked back up at the woman with a contrite smile, all the mounting anger from a few seconds ago melting away instantly upon seeing how she interacted with Lian. “I’m so sorry. We weren’t paying close enough attention.”

Marinette waved him off. “It’s fine. There are so many puddles, they are just calling for someone to splash in them. Honestly, I’m upset I didn’t think of it sooner. What are you doing with your life if you aren’t jumping in puddles today?”

Roy didn’t say anything in response at first but smiled in appreciation. “I’m Roy. This little troublemaker is Lian,” he joked, ruffling her hair affectionately. Lian giggled and pushed his hand out of her hair.

Marinette smiled at them and gave a small awkward wave. That’s what American’s did, right? They waved? No, they shook hands. She cringed internally. Well, it was too late to shake hands now. “I’m Marinette. It’s nice to meet you two. Do you live around here?”

Roy nodded. “We do. You?”

Marinette pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, desperately wishing she had paid more attention to her appearance before leaving her studio. Damn cute men with adorable daughters. Life was cheating. “Uh, yeah. A few blocks away. I got off the bus at the wrong stop.” She shrugged sheepishly. “I just moved in and am still figuring out the area.”

“Welcome to the area,” he offered kindly with a smile that threatened to make Marinette forget every English word. “It’s a… neighborhood,” he hedged with a wince. It definitely wasn’t the worst neighborhood, far from it, but it could definitely be safer and friendlier.

Marinette laughed loudly, her whole body relaxing as they spoke… and she always had been a sucker for green eyes and a charming smile. “Yeah… that’s kind of what I’ve picked up too.”

Lian watched the woman for a few seconds and quirked her head to the side as she studied her. “You should jump again. It’s really fun,” she commented. Her face was serious and thoughtful. Suddenly her eyes widened in excitement. “Will you jump with me?”

Marinette looked up to Roy for approval. He shrugged. “You don’t have to,” he said quietly, hoping his voice was casual enough that she wouldn’t be able to tell how much he hoped she would want to anyway.

Marinette nodded and grinned at Lian before looking back at Roy pointedly. “I bet if we worked together, we could get your dad.” Marinette looked back to Roy to make sure he was comfortable with the situation.

He laughed and spread his arms wide in invitation. He smirked and raised an eyebrow in challenge to Marinette. “If you think you can…” he taunted. He turned and placed the grocery bags on a step. “Bring it on.”

Marinette clicked her tongue and nodded, a playful smirk on her face too. “Oh, the challenge has been issued,” she lowered herself until she almost kneeled down but at the last second remembered how wet the ground was and sat on her heels instead. She fixed Lian with a conspiratorial look. “What should we do? How should we respond?”

“Crush him!” she yelled, throwing her fist up in the air and sending her daddy a glare.

Marinette froze for a second then barked out a laugh. “You,” she pointed to Lian with a brilliant smile, “you speak my language. I like you.” She looked back up at Roy with a playful smile but froze when she met his eyes. He was looking at her with a smile so soft she couldn’t look away until Lian grabbed her hand.

Marinette blinked and shook her head subtly to refocus. “Okay,” she pointed to the middle of the puddle, “this is the goal. We want to hit this point or just shy of it. That way, the force of the splash will be directed toward him, yeah?” She waited for Lian’s nod before quickly glancing back at Roy with a smirk. “Jump on three. 1… 2… 3.”

They both jumped and landed in the middle of the puddle. The splash got them more than Roy, but it did, in fact, reach Roy so Marinette was counting it as a win.

“Did we get you, Daddy? Did we? We did!” Lian cheered. She jumped over and over again in celebration, splashing Marinette repeatedly. Roy floundered for a second and grabbed her before she could do any more damage but Marinette was laughing too hard to even notice. Her laughter bounced off the buildings around them and Roy couldn’t help but join in as well.

The revelry was cut short when they felt drops of rain on their skin. Roy looked up at the sky warily before opening up his umbrella. He noticed Marinette reaching into her bag and focused on picking up Lian and getting his grocery bags. When he looked back at Marinette, she had stepped out of the puddle and put her shoes back on but there was no sign of an umbrella. Instead, she was pulling her coat closer but making no move to get an umbrella herself as the rain picked up.

“Well, I should…” she started shyly, motioning in the direction of her apartment.

Roy quickly moved so the umbrella would cover her as well. “We live right around the corner, like two buildings away, if you’d like to get out of the rain.”

“And dinner!” Lian cheered.

Roy chuckled. “And we were going to start dinner when we got home. It isn’t much, just spaghetti and garlic bread, but you’re more than welcome to join us to make up for getting you soaked. And you can wait out the rain someplace warm with us.”

“You don’t have to make up for anything,” Marinette assured him. She was now close enough that she had to crane her neck slightly in order to look in his eyes. “I didn’t expect to make it home dry anyway and this was a lot more fun than how I thought I’d end up getting wet.”

Roy’s smile softened. He looked down for a moment before looking back up with a fond look in his eyes. “Well then, can we invite you to dinner because we enjoy your company and would love to have more of it?”

Marinette hummed in thought. If Adrien found out she was going home with a man after knowing him for a whole half an hour, he would lecture her for days and probably try to move in with her to protect her from herself. If Alya found out, she’d lecture her for a few minutes before demanding details. But then again, neither needed to know, right? And Lian was awfully hard to resist, a quality she definitely got from her father.

Roy noted her hesitation and angled slightly away from her. It was hard to do under the umbrella, but he didn’t want her to feel like he was pressuring her. “Sorry, I mean we could also walk you to your apartment so you don’t get wet…”

Marinette immediately shook her head. Her eyes widened in guilt. “Oh, no! I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

Roy groaned to himself. Of course, she was just being nice. She was being friendly, and he was pressuring her into a date. A woman like that was probably in a relationship already. “I don’t want you to feel like… It doesn’t… I didn’t mean for… I mean, I did mean… I didn’t even ask if you were dating anyone,” he stuttered.

“Well, I mean, no… I’m not…” she answered just as awkwardly.

“Would you like to?” Lian asked excitedly. She bounced in her daddy’s arms a bright hopeful smile on her lips.

“Lian!” Roy chided lightly, his cheeks blossoming into a blush.

Marinette stared at Lian for a moment. That was the question, wasn’t it? Leave it to a child to know what to ask. “The thing about dating,” she looked up to meet Roy’s eyes with a meaningful look, “is it has to be the right person, or it isn’t worth it. You don’t need to date just to date.”

“Oh, Daddy’s the right person,” Lian answered confidently.

“Lian…” Roy groaned. He ran his hand over his face in a vain attempt to wipe away his embarrassment, but it only added to it as it was the hand holding the umbrella and the movement exposed him and Marinette to the rain. He quickly corrected the umbrella and let out a groan. After a deep breath, he looked over to Marinette. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t train her to be a wingman.”

“No, Grant did,” Lian added helpfully. “He said you needed the help.”

“Of course he did,” Roy sighed toward the sidewalk. He shook his head in exasperation.

“So, if I saw someone that made you smile and I liked too, I should invite them to dinner,” she explained breezily looking back at Marinette brightly.

Marinette blushed and looked away to hide the wide smile on her lips. “Well, I can’t argue with logic like that. I would love to join you.”

Roy’s face brightened, almost as much as Lian’s did at her comment. “Yeah?” He searched her eyes for confirmation.

Marinette looked back to meet his eyes, suddenly feeling warmer at seeing his and Lian’s smile, and nodded. “Yeah. It sounds like fun.”

“Yay!” Lian cheered. She reached out for Marinette. “Can you carry me?”

Marinette glanced at Roy to make sure he was okay with it before responding. “I would love to!” she answered enthusiastically. She grabbed Lian out of Roy’s arms and settled her on her hip. “Lead the way, Small Fry.”

Roy smiled fondly as Lian bounced in Marinette’s arms, babbling about all the things she wanted to show Marinette when they got to their apartment. Marinette grinned back, eagerly asking questions about all the items, encouraging Lian’s excitement. This might be the brightest rainy day ever.

Continued in Water Logged

#maribat #roynette #dilf roy harper

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hood-ex · 3 years ago

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This is a fic written for @stxleslyds! The prompt was: a fic with Dick, Roy and Lian spending time together in the Outsiders era. Thanks for the donation, Tati 💙.

Important: This fic takes place a week after the events of Outsiders (2003) #19.

“We could use you here,” Roy says. Even with his voice coming directly through the comm, Dick almost doesn’t hear him say, “I need you here.”

A soft wind blows through Blüdhaven, ruffling through Dick’s sweat-matted hair. What a filthy night it is for a Friday. Thunder rumbling in the distance with hot, humid air filling Dick’s lungs. It’s the kind of air that isn’t natural for a place like the ‘Haven. It’s here for whatever reason, and it’s no better now that the sun has been replaced by pink and purple neon lights flashing across the strip. It’s nights like these that Dick can admit to missing his red tunic and green shorts. It was shit to wear them in the winter but an absolute godsend in the summer.

Dick sighs deeply, moving away from the ledge of the building and away from his view of the herds of drunk people whose laughter echoes between the bars and casinos. There’s a tall HVAC unit in the middle of the building that he walks over to and sits against. The fabric of his suit rubs against it, and he squirms a little at the uncomfortable position. He bears it because this is a conversation that requires a little support.

“Dick.”

“I know,” Dick mutters.

He should be under the streets of Brooklyn the same as all the other Outsiders should be. Considering the circumstances, it’s no surprise that some of them have deserted the ship for the time being. Licking their wounds in private so to speak. Dick’s not proud of it. He tacks it onto his mental bulletin board of shame where it sits up there all torn and ugly like the rest of his deplorable moments.

“I’d feel better if you were here to watch Lian when I step out of the room,” Roy says in Japanese. Dick’s brow furrows. Either Lian is in the same room as Roy and he doesn’t want her to know they’re talking about her or there’s an Outsider nearby that he doesn’t want listening in on his personal issues. “She hasn’t started therapy yet and her separation anxiety is still high.”

“High for both of you,” Dick points out. He thinks back to a few days ago when Roy had called him in a panic because he’d left all of his groceries in the middle of the store after his paranoia got the best of him and had him running back to the base to check on Lian.

“Tell me about it,” Roy laughs dryly. “I feel like I’m going fuckin’ nuts, dude.” The strain in his voice sends a full body shiver down Dick’s spine. “All I can think about is whether she’s okay and if the base is protected enough, and if I can really trust everyone here. You and Kory are the only ones I feel okay leaving her with.”

You shouldn’t trust me like that, Dick thinks bitterly. Lilith and Donna trusted me with their lives and look where they are now.

“Everyone else is… I trust them as teammates. I trust them with my life. But I can’t—"

“Trust them with Lian’s,” Dick says, knowing how much this whole situation has fucked with Roy's ability to trust anyone and everyone. Except him and Kory, apparently. Probably Ollie and the rest of Roy's family too.

He thunks his head against the HVAC unit and stares up at the dark sky. Not a single star up there, he thinks, and something like guilt burns in his chest. You took them all with you, didn’t you, Donna? Put them in your pockets and faded away. “She might not be comfortable with me there,” he says after a moment.

It pains him to think that Lian could be scared of him. Scared of him because he looks similar to one of the blue-eyed, dark-haired kidnappers who murdered her babysitter and then branded her like cattle. That type of trauma association doesn’t go away after a week.

“Kory told Lian you might stop by, and you know what Lian asked her?”

Terrible things flash through Dick’s head. Things like words born of fear or disgust. He hugs his arms around his knees and squeezes them tight.

“No, what did she say?”

“She asked, ‘Is Uncle Nightwing gonna bring Blue’s Clues with him?’”

A smile tugs at the corner of Dick’s lips and his eyes start to sting. He can’t believe that’s the first thing she thought of. It only seems like yesterday that he was watching Blue’s Clues with her in Titans Tower. Sometimes he would pause the show and ask Lian questions about each of the clues just to hear what kind of outlandish answers her kid brain could come up with. Other times the detective in him couldn’t help but steer her towards a logical answer. Roy used to always roll his eyes and tell him to stop trying to turn her into a mini Nightwing.

“That doesn’t mean she’ll be okay seeing me in person and you know it,” Dick reminds him.

Roy’s sigh is soft and muffled in his ear. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Dick’s not one to wait around.

“Let’s cross it now.”

“You’re coming over?” Roy asks, and even though he mostly sounds neutral, Dick can hear the disbelief hidden under it all.

If there was an award for the world's most shitty friend, Dick would probably be in the lead to receive it. Here Roy is dealing with the fact that his daughter was abducted and almost trafficked, and what’s Dick been doing for the last few days instead of sticking by his side? Working himself to the bone in Blüdhaven, that’s what. Hiding away from the fact that he almost lost another important person to him. Trying to avoid the crushing weight of failure that clings to him like a second skin.

Pathetic. Some safety net he is.

“Yeah, give me an hour,” Dick says.

The commute from Blüdhaven to Brooklyn isn’t bad at this time of night. Most of the traffic is packed downtown where all the bars are lined up. Dick takes the highway to avoid the worst of it.

The roar of the city dies off once he goes underground. Down here the HQ looms over him in all its steel glory. Dick’s always thought of it like one giant elevator. It’s all hard angles and sleek, silver walls. Hardly a place one would describe as homey, but it was home to a few people nevertheless.

Dick goes inside after getting his eye and hand scanned by the computer. He heads down the hallway, keeping his footsteps light and quiet out of habit. So far there’s no sign of Jade, Indigo, or Rex in any of the rooms he passes. They’re the most likely to be here around this time. From what Kory told him the other day, Grace has been spending most of her time clubbing, and Anissa has been staying with her dad. He hates to admit it but it’s almost a relief that he doesn’t have to worry about running into either of them.

He ends up finding Roy and Lian in the rec room. Lian is sitting on the leather couch in the middle of the room. She must have had a shower not too long ago because her hair is a little damp and she’s wearing a pair of purple pajamas with unicorns on them. A Cinderella blanket is strewn across her lap and a stuffed rabbit sits discarded on the floor by her feet.

Roy looks small squatting in front of her. His pants are the only sign of his Arsenal gear, and it makes Dick feel slightly out of place since he’s still decked out in full mask and suit. It’s the first time Dick’s seen Roy in person since they brought down Tanner’s operations a week ago. He looks how Dick would expect any parent to look after being targeted by a major sex trafficker: stressed and exhausted.

Those tired eyes of his shift to the doorway where Dick stands, and Dick can see the way Roy looks him over from head to toe, assessing Dick’s condition. He can look as hard as he wants, but he won’t find anything. Dick keeps his face blank and unreadable.

“It still hurts,” Lian whimpers, and both Dick and Roy's attention immediately snaps back to her.

She wraps her arms around her stomach and bends over her lap like she’s going to throw up all over the floor. Roy doesn’t move to try and avoid any possible bouts of vomit. Nothing happens as the seconds tick by. No retching or anything. There’s only the sound of Roy’s hand rubbing up and down Lian’s arm.

“Me and your Uncle Nightwing are gonna get you feeling better soon,” Roy assures her in a gentle voice. “And guess what?”

Lian makes a questioning sound in the back of her throat.

The look Roy shoots Dick is somewhere between caution and amusement. “He’s been playing quiet mouse behind you this whole time.”

Dick braces himself as Lian shoots back up like a rocket. “He’s behind me?” she asks, twisting around in her seat. Dick’s heart starts jackrabbiting because what if she’s scared of him? What if he accidentally triggers her PTSD? What if— “Uncle Nightwing!” Lian shrieks.

Relief shudders through him because she sounds happy to see him. Not scared or angry or disgusted like he feared. She’s looking at him like he just told her he brought her a bag of candy, and that revelation is enough to make him take a breath and finally enter the room.

“Hey, kiddo,” Dick says, hurrying over to the couch so that she doesn’t have to get up. “I missed you.”

Lian reaches for his hand and holds on to it. It’s not like the hug Dick usually gets from her and maybe that’s because she doesn’t want anyone touching her back after the incident. Dick will take anything he can get. His much larger hand closes over her own and he swings them back and forth lightly.

“Me too,” Lian says. She squeezes his hand three times. “Why do you still have your gloves on?”

“My hands are cold,” Dick lies. “Why were you bent over like an accordion just a minute ago?”

“Her tummy’s been hurting,” Roy says with a frown.

“It’s because tigers used to try and eat people,” Lian tells him matter-of-factly. Roy looks like he’s about to correct her but she quickly hurries on. “My brain says there’s danger and it makes my tummy stop working.”

A lightbulb goes off in Dick’s head as he realizes that she’s describing anxiety. A simplified explanation of how the digestive system shuts down and sends blood to other parts of the body when there’s danger.

“My tummy does that too,” Dick says after a pause. “I get a lot of anxiety sometimes. Do you want me to show you how I try to make it go away?”

Lian scrunches her nose. “Do we have to take medicine?”

“Nope. All we need to do is sit up straight and breathe. Breathing really deep helps our brains calm down and makes our tummies feel more relaxed,” Dick explains. He sinks down on the plush couch and demonstrates how she should be sitting. “Now move back until you’re sitting like me.”

Lian does as she’s told and scoots back until she’s resting against the back of the couch. Dick only remembers how short she is when he notices how her feet stick out straight in front of her instead of dangling over the edge of the couch.

“Now tell your daddy to get in position.”

“Daddy,” Lian slaps the free cushion beside her, “sit next to me.”

“Magic word?” Roy prompts.

“Please,” Lian pouts.

“That’s better.” Roy’s knees pop when he shifts out of his crouched position. The whole couch rocks when he falls back against it. “What’s the strat here, Wing? We need to close our eyes or what?”

Dick wants to ask him why he’s acting like he’s never done this before but the playful words stick in his mouth like glue.

“We’ll close our eyes in a second. Lian, I want you to watch how your daddy and I take really deep breaths, okay? Then we’re all going to do it together.”

“I can take really big breaths!” Lian insists. She scrambles out of her pose and gets on her knees. Her little fingers wrap around Dick’s bicep as she leans in close to him. “I can take one million breaths as big as an elephant!”

The tired and apathetic part of him tells him to ignore her kid logic and to get back on track. The uncle part of him is another story. It wants him to be fun and helpful. To distract Lian from the worries and fears she has.

In the end, he does what he always does best: puts on a performance.

“Oh yeah?” Dick challenges with a grin that hopefully doesn’t look as strained as it feels. “I can take five billion breaths as big as a planet.”

“Elephants are bigger than planets,” she says.

“I think maybe the elephants are only bigger in your dreams.”

“Yeah, they are,” Lian agrees because she’s a typical kid who will support anything that proves she’s right in some capacity.

Roy looks amused when he puts his hands on Lian’s shoulders and steers her to sit back on her bottom. “Alright little missy, no more talking. We’re gonna do what Uncle Nightwing says now, okay?”

“Okay,” Lian agrees, looking over at Dick expectantly.

Coaching Lian through the exercise is easy. The most important part is making sure she’s taking breaths that are deep enough to make her stomach expand like a balloon. Dick has her place her hands on top of her stomach so he can see them rise when she inhales.

Roy follows along and Dick can tell that he’s taking advantage of the exercises for his own benefit. His face looks peaceful and relaxed as he follows along with Dick’s instructions to suck in a breath on the count of one and exhale up until the count of ten.

“Keep focusing on counting,” Dick tells them while they exhale. “We don’t want any other thoughts in our heads. No bad thoughts or funny thoughts. Only think about counting to ten.”

They run through a few more cycles. Dick’s pleased when he hears both Lian and Roy’s stomachs grumbling as they exhale. It’s a good sign that the deep breaths are massaging their organs and decreasing any kind of stomach pain.

“That’s it,” Dick says. “We’re all done.” He opens his eyes and sees Lian slumped against the back of the couch. Her hands are still resting on her stomach, but she looks languid instead of tense like she was when he first saw her.

“I’m tired now,” Roy says. His movements are slow as molasses when he slides forward to the edge of the couch and bends over to rest his arms on his thighs. He looks at Lian. “How about you, princess? You feeling any better?”

“Mhmm. My tummy doesn’t feel really uh…”

“Tight?” Dick offers.

“Yeah, it’s not so tight anymore.”

Roy pushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “Good. Mine feels a little better too.”

“Can we do Uncle Nightwing’s breathing thing again tomorrow?” she asks through a yawn.

“Sure thing,” Roy nods. His attention shifts to Dick. “Are you gonna still be here to lead us through it?”

This isn’t some kind of test but it feels like one. It feels like if he says no then he’s only proving that he’s a bad friend. That he can’t be relied on. He doesn’t want to give Roy that impression because it’s not true. Roy can rely on him the same way Dick relies on Roy. He hopes showing up here tonight is proof of that.

“That’s the plan,” he says, voice soft.

Roy leans over the couch and squeezes Dick’s knee gently. “You sure?” he asks, and his eyes roam over Dick’s face like he’s trying to find evidence that Dick is lying.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He pats Roy’s hand reassuringly in the same way Alfred's done for him and Bruce a hundred times. It's only now that he realizes it's a habit he's picked up.

Lian suddenly leans into Dick’s side and presses her weight against his arm. She pats both his and Roy’s hands.

“I’m sure too,” she says, and this time Dick can’t help but smile.

#Dick Grayson #Roy Harper #Lian Harper #tw: mentions of sex trafficking #tw: mentions of past kidnapping and child abuse #my fic #fic commission

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fantasy2739 · 3 years ago

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Prompt idea: Jamie and a woman he has a one night stand with have a pregnancy scare. He's really worried about being a bad father (the sad part), so he insists on taking care of one of those RealCare baby dolls that cry and hijinks ensue (the funny part).

Okay so I had to google what a RealCare baby is because we don’t really use them where I am (or we do and I’ve just never seen one). So the accuracy is definitely a no.

Jamie stares at Amy like she’s grown a second head.

“You’re what?” He croaks. She purses her lips.

“I said, I might be pregnant.” She repeats. They’re sat in Jamie’s house, which he is eternally grateful for because he’s pretty sure he almost spat juice everywhere. “My periods late and my stomach has been feeling shitty.” Jamie cringes a little at that because what the fuck is he supposed to say.

“But we used a condom.” He says, it’s almost a whine. Amy sighs.

“They’re only so effective.” She says.

“And you’re not like, on the pill?” He asks, wary that he might be crossing some line. Amy shakes her head and Jamie nods, because fair enough. “What do we do then?” Amy considers it for a moment.

“I’m gonna get one of those fancy tests that tells you early and then we’ll go from there.” She says. The look she gives him is almost pitying. “I just wanted to let you know, cause there isn’t really anyone else I can tell.” Jamie nods and insists that he pay for the test. Amy smiles at him and tells him she’ll text him. Jamie sees her out and goes to curl up on the sofa. He’s mulling over what happens if Amy is actually pregnant. Do they keep the baby? Do they not? He can’t force Amy to do either. He wraps his arm around a cushion and stares at the wall.

He’d be a shit dad.

Well no, maybe not. He doesn’t actually know. But then he doesn’t have the best idea of being a dad. His dad is a piece of shit. What if they keep the baby and he’s shit with them? What if they don’t like him?

What if he hurts them?

Jamie grips the cushion tighter. He’s terrified. He’s breathing faster and he’s scared of this child that may not even be a thing. How the fuck is he supposed to be a parent if he’s freaking out over the idea of one? He spends the next couples of days pacing back and forth, mulling it all over in his mind.

He’d hurt his kid.

He doesn’t want to be like his father.

He hopes he’s like his mum.

He doesn’t know if he can break the cycle.

Amy’s text is a blessing.

‘Hi Jamie, I took two tests to be sure, both negative! Thanks Amy X.’

Jamie feels so relieved he nearly cries. He’s been teetering on the edge of uncertainty for too long. He shakes it off, sends Amy a quick thanks, and tries to forget.

Except he can’t.

Now that he’s thought he could be having a kid he’s almost desperate to prove he wouldn’t be shit. Or at least he’d like to know. So after an hour of googling he ends up order a fucking RealCare baby. He’s never regretted a purchase so quickly. But it’s too late now. He needs to know.

Okay so maybe he shouldn’t have turned up to Richmond with the fucking baby but he’s supposed to treat it like an actual baby.

“Why the fuck do you have a fake baby?” Roy asks like Jamie has just personally caused every problem Roy has ever had. Jamie doesn’t know what to say, so he shrugs and puts the baby, who he’s named Babs, on the bench. “Jamie, seriously what the fuck?”

“It is cute.” Sam says. “But also very creepy.” Isaac is moving from side to side.

“It’s eyes are like following me.” He says. Ted comes out to see what the commotion is about and he sees Babs.

“Well who’s this little cutie?” He asks. Jamie smirks.

“Babs.” He says. “It’s one of them RealCare baby things.” Ted is all smiles.

“Reminds me of high school, take a bag of flour home, treat it like a baby.” He says. He pauses and looks at Jamie with wide eyes. “You’re having a baby?” Jamie shakes his head.

“Had a… scare.” He admits. “Wanted to try it out.” There’s silence and then.

“So have you brought lots of clothes?”

“Let me hold the baby.”

“Does it cry all the time?”

“Do you have to feed it and shit?”

“Can I be the fun uncle?” Jamie blinks a few times and smirks.

“I want Babs to have good role models. So none of you fucks.” He says. “Except maybe Ted and maybe Sam.” Sam grins. “Roy you can be Babs’ great grandad since you’re fucking old enough.” Roy growls but there’s a softness in his eyes. Jamie picks Babs up and cradles her gently. He steps towards Ted, who has his arms ready in a second.

“Cute as a button.” Ted says as he holds her.

“Takes after her mum then.” Bumbercatch jokes. Jamie sticks his tongue out at him.

“Oh hush now.” Ted says. “I think it’s real great you’re doing this Jamie.” Jamie shrugs and takes Babs back. He crooks his arms around her and cradles her. He makes a cooing face. There’s a flash and someone has definitely snapped a picture. Jamie flips them off and goes back to his baby. Some of the team are leaning off his shoulder.

“Oi, we still have training to do.” Roy reminds them.

“We can’t leave her in the locker room.” Colin says. “She’ll get hurt.” There’s murmurs of agreement.

“Fucking fine, I’ll hold her while you all practice.” Roy caves. Jamie smirks.

“Here Babs, say hello to your great grandad.” He says, carefully handing her over. Roy takes her and it must be a trick of the light because he almost looks sweet. “Be good yeah, he’s too old to do things quickly.” Roy glares but cuddles Babs close. They go out and practice. When Dani scored he runs over to Babs and holds her up.

“That one of for you chiquita mia.” He says. Roy’s rolling his eyes but Jamie thinks it’s great. Babs has a special place in all their hearts

The next day he turns up sleep deprived but oddly pleased. Babs had cried all night. Jamie had tried everything he could think of; changing, feeding, holding. He had been annoyed but he’d also been scared. He was so worried about what might be wrong with Babs and he just wanted to make it better. Sitting up on his bedroom floor, cradling Babs gently to his chest he realised he hadn’t once thought about yelling at her or hitting her. So he was smiling as he strolled in. He was met by an avalanche of people.

“Look, we got Babs her own little kit!” Issac said, thrusting a bag at Jamie.

“I made her something.” Bumbercatch says, holding out a beautiful red and blue scarf. Jamie smiles widely, it’s all very sweet. Sam comes forward with a little blanket that he wraps around Babs. There’s a little noise of contentment and the room aw’s

“I just want to check, we do know that it’s a fake baby?” Nate asks, almost timidly. They all look at him. “Right, okay, yep, Babs is adorable Jamie.” Jamie rocks her slightly and they’re rewarded with more cute noises.

“You look tired.” Jan says, blunt as ever.

“Fatherhood, keeps you on your toes.” Jamie says with a shrug. The day dissolves into different teammates stealing Babs to play. Jamie catches Colin and Issac gently cooing over her in the boot room. Bumbercatch wraps her in her scarf and takes a million photos. Zoreaux and Dani run around with her, showing her Richmond like it’s a fucking museum. Even Jan caves and hugs her close for twenty minutes, telling everyone it’s comforting.

Babs stays with Jamie for another week. Despite how tired he is at the end of it he knows he’ll do anything for his kid. He’s not ready to be a dad yet, way too busy. But it’s reassuring to know he won’t be completely shit.

And he knows the team will be there, every step of the way.

#fanfiction #ted lasso tv #ted lasso #jamie tartt #realcare baby #pregnancy #pregnancy scare #sam obisanya #Colin Hughes #isaac mcadoo #jan maas #thierry zoreaux #Roy Kent #this is a team of himbos #it takes a village #fear of being a parent

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novaiya · 4 years ago

Text

Diamonds & Rust Part II - Arthur x Reader (NSFW)

Part I

Summary: It’s been three years since that fateful night. Three years during which you couldn’t stop thinking about him. Now, the fate once again brought the two of you together. Was it for the last time, or was something else bound to happen?

Words: 8k

Warnings: Cheating, F!Reader, Smut

A/N: If you prefer to read this on AO3, click here. This took me two months to write LOL But in the end, I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

Your hand shook as you held the pen above the crisp, spotless paper. You took a deep breath, writing the date, but couldn’t proceed beyond that. You dropped the pen and planted your elbows on the table, hiding your face in your hands.

It’s been three years since you last saw each other. Three years since you were held in his hands and caressed by his lips. The time you shared on that cold, foggy night felt both lightyears and a touch away. You thought it to be a perfect, picturesque ending to your imperfect relationship, like a final scene in a play, but it seemed it was merely an intermission.

After a few moments of rest you wrote, “Dear Arthur” and spilled out the reason for your letter. Few nights ago, your ranch was attacked by a group of local cattle rustlers. Seeing how well your ranch was doing, they wanted their cut, and when you stood your ground, they were less than happy. They left you alone for the moment, but promised to be back in numbers, and that they were. Not a couple of days later, you were woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots and a fire outside your window. Like they promised, they were back and ready to take what they felt they were entitled to. You watched them take away your cattle and set fire to your barn as your husband hastily packed up your valuables, and not shortly after, you were on your wagon, bound for your mother-in-law’s house, barely escaping the flames and the bullets.

You signed off with your name and an address of where you were staying, and with fleeing hope, posted the letter the next day.

As you patiently awaited Arthur’s reply or an arrival, a curious elephant entered your household that neither you or your husband were ready to address. The woman that your husband knew you as was a kind, gentle woman who’s biggest crime was accidentally buying two gallons of milk and only paying for one. He never saw, or could imagine you carrying a weapon, and for all he knew, you didn’t know how to use one. The woman he saw during the attack, however, he did not know. She skillfully held the shotgun in her hands, dropped the slugs in without even looking and didn’t fall backwards when the recoil hit. She had a fire in her eyes that threatened to overpower the one outside, and for a second, even he, her husband, was afraid of her. Having been born to a simple family in which his mother was gentle and submissive, serving as a pliable partner to his father, he was shocked to see you so strong and hard. He was still deciding what he thought of this discovery of this new you, and during that time, you could feel him drift away.

You didn’t miss the change in him, how he eyed you from the corner of his eyes during dinner time, or the cold space between the two of you when you went to bed. It hurt and it stung and it made you long for Arthur’s arrival so much more. With him, there were no secrets you had to hide. You never went to bed with a fear that one day your facade would fall apart, and he would shriek at seeing the real you. From the beginning, he knew everything there was to know about you, and accepted it. What some would see as character flaws, he simply saw as character traits that made you who you were. With him, you could be you, something that you realized you couldn’t be with your husband. When the two of your married, you hoped that it would put a final nail in the coffin of your past self, but it seemed that your past self refused to die, and your husband shrieked at seeing the dead corpse.

__________________

“There’s a letter for you, Arthur,” said Miss Grimshaw as she passed Arthur who was hitching his horse to a hitching post.

He thanked her and made his way to his tent where an envelope laid on his cot.

“Let’s see,” he said to himself as he tore the envelope open and pulled out a piece of paper. As he read your name on the bottom of the paper, he felt a familiar pang that the thought of you always brought to him. He skimmed through the rest of the letter, plucking the main points as well as your address before shoving the paper in his satchel and making his way to the back of the wagon that served as a wall to his tent. He looked over a map that was there, calculating how long it would take to get to you. Eight hours, he thought, six if he cut on any unnecessary breaks and sleep. He once again made his way around the wagon and went to a chest at the end of his cot, picking out a pair of fresh clothes and other necessary items for the trip. He was doing everything on autopilot, for his mind was too clouded with the thoughts of you to pay attention to what his hands were doing. He remembered your last meeting, and how it opened so many old wounds and created even more new ones. In that moment, when the two of you held each other, whispered love confessions into the silent night, he felt as if he was on cloud nine, but when he left, the blow was just as strong.

When he finished packing, he looked around; Pearson and Abigail were busy chopping vegetables, with little Jack sitting at his mother’s feet. Dutch and Molly were in their tent, talking (arguing would be a better word). The girls were doing chores, with Miss Grimshaw watching over them and correcting their techniques. Most of the men were out on jobs, leaving only Javier standing at guard duty. Even though everyone had free rein to come and go whenever they pleased, Arthur especially, he didn’t want to be asked unnecessary questions, so he waited until Javier was on the other side of the perimeter to mount his horse and ride away to you.

__________________

As you sat at the dining room table of Bertha’s, your mother-in-law, house, you kept praying that Arthur got your letter and found it in himself to help you. You found yourself thinking that maybe it might’ve gotten lost, or perhaps the rain soaked the envelope and the letter to the point it had to be thrown away. With nothing to do but wait, you kept fidgeting with your dress as you sat by the table, only to promptly raise up when you heard the sound of the hoofbeats approach. You pushed the front door open with a smile as hopeful as that of a child, for it to only fall apart when you saw that it was your husband, coming back from a run to the town for provision. The change in your expression didn’t go unnoticed by him, but he didn’t say anything, and just kissed your cold cheek as he moved past you into the house.

“You still think he’ll come?” your husband asked one morning as he sat at the dining room table and you washed the dishes. It’s been about a week since you posted the letter, and Arthur still hasn’t come. You were beginning to lose hope, but didn’t show it.

“I’m sure,” you said, not turning away from the dishes in your hands. You told your husband that you knew someone who could help, and when he inquired who it might be, you told him it was a friend from your past life, someone who helped you get back on your feet after you lost your parents. That didn’t satisfy his curiosity, so he pried on. Answering his questions was like walking through a field full of landmines. Every answer had to be calculated, giving just enough information to satisfy his curiosity and not to lead to more questions. At the end of the conversation, you were hopeful that the newfound information you shared would bring you two back together, but in fact, it did the opposite, and he felt that there was even more he didn’t know about you.

As you washed the dishes, you looked through the window in front of you and felt thunder run through your entire being. You could never mistaken that mare for anyone else, with her unique coat and her silky locks; it was Boadicea, and with her, someone else you could never mistaken; Arthur. You watched him through the dirty kitchen window as he hitched Boadicea to a tree nearby and made his way to the house in strong, long strides. You dropped the dishes back into the sink with a splash and ran to the door, opening it as Arthur was about to knock.

“Arthur,” you said with a smile that lit up your whole face.

He could feel his heartbeat all over his body as he was met with your face. Your smile made your entire face glow, and he could see sparkles in your eyes as you looked at him. Knowing that he was the reason for your reaction, he could feel the familiar haze of feelings cloud his entire being.

He spoke your name in return, his voice enveloping each syllable with affection and tenderness that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, and which your husband could hear from where he sat at a dining room table.

The two of you stood at the threshold for a brief moment, caught up in each other’s eyes and closeness. You fought the urge to embrace him, to kiss him and to tell him how much you missed him, and he did the same. Instead, you moved away and motioned for him to get inside. As he did so, he almost instantly met eyes with your husband, who rose up from his seat to greet the man.

“Roy Dorset,” your husband said as he extended his hand.

“Arthur Morgan.”

As you watched, the two men shared an awkward, silent handshake, during which you had a chance to compare and contrast the two of them. You certainly had a type, you though, as you looked at the men before you, both of them tall and handsome. There were, however, noticeable distinctions that differentiated them, and served as a representation of the person you were with each of them. Roy, being a part time rancher and a part time bookkeeper for a general store in your town, was dressed as a man about town with carefully ironed pants, clean shirt and a vest with all the buttons attached. He was a proper god-fearing, law-abiding man who had traditional standards for people, some of which you sometimes felt you couldn’t reach yourself.

Arthur, in contrast, was dressed haphazardly, wearing old, patched jeans, boots that have seen better days and a shirt that has clearly been washed many times over. By his look, you could tell Arthur didn’t care what others thought of him. He wore - and did - what he wanted, without a care for other people’s opinion. He didn’t hide himself behind anything, and that’s what you wished you could do now.

After a moment of pleasantries, the three of you sat at the dining room table to discuss the matter at hand. You sat at the head of the table, with Roy to your left and Arthur to your right. You and Roy explained what happened at the ranch, adding details that you forgot to write about in the letter. At some point as the three of you talked,

your daughter came up to the table. With her grandmother asleep and all of her toys left at home, she had nothing to do, so she decided to join you.

You hoisted her up to your lap and let her stay with you as you continued talking.

Despite the conversation still going, Arthur lost all attention as soon as he saw your daughter. What shocked him first was that you had a daughter in the first place, but what shocked him even more was how little the girl looked like your husband. While still trying to seem as he was listening, Arthur inconspicuously kept looking between your daughter and your husband. While Roy had dark, brown hair, the little girl in your lap had light, dirty blonde locks. Her eyes, which were traveling all over the room, looking for something to busy herself with, were a whirlpool of green and blue, while Roy’s, which at the moment were looking down on his lap, were a dull, brown shade. Suddenly, realization hit Arthur. He started to think back on your last encounter. Could it be? He tried to figure out how old the child was, and tried to remember the time of the year when the two of you were together. He could feel himself getting lightheaded as all the thoughts filled his mind, making him not hear his own name being called.

“Arthur,” you said once again when he didn’t answer you the first time. As if being pulled out from a dream, he looked around, suddenly forgetting where he was.

“I said, what do you think about the plan?” you said, looking at Arthur at the same time as the girl in your lap.

Arthur could feel all the eyes on him, and a color painted his face. He could faintly remember what you talked about a moment ago. Something about the best path to take back to the ranch, how dangerous the road might be with wolves roaming around. After a moment of pause, he returned with, “Sounds good to me,” and the conversation went on, with Arthur still barely paying attention.

_________________

You carefully slipped out of the covers, trying not to wake your husband up, before walking across the room on your tiptoes, opening the door and leaving the room. You couldn’t sleep. With Arthur’s proximity, you found yourself laying in bed with the thoughts of him. You tried to squash those pesky thoughts, turned from one side to the other in your bed as you kept telling yourself that you couldn’t, shouldn’t do it despite how much you wanted to. As you looked at your husband, his face illuminated by the light from the moon outside, you thought of doing to him what you did to Arthur all those years ago. You left Arthur for a search for a better, calmer and stable life, and now you want to leave that life to go back to Arthur.

You leaned against the kitchen counter as you poured yourself a glass of whiskey, looking out of the window into the world outside. With it being late fall, some trees have already shed their leaves, leaving once bushy woods stripped. You could see birds, once hidden from the prying eyes by the leaves now on full display on the branches. They were close enough that you could hear them sing, but not enough to understand what it is they were saying.

Suddenly, you heard the wood planks squeak behind you and smiled.

“Can’t sleep either?” you said without turning around.

“No,” Arthur replied as he went to stand next to you.

Without another word you took a shot glass and poured him one.

“Thank you for coming,” you said as you gave him the glass. “I was worried you wouldn’t.”

“‘Course I would,” he said before swinging back the shot.

At finally having a moment alone with him, you were fighting back the urge to spill everything that’s been on your mind, to ask every question and tell every answer that you’ve been holding for the past three years and for the past few hours that he’s been here. You decided it’s best to start off slowly.

“How have you been? How’s the gang?”

“Fine, I guess,” he said as he turned around to lean against the counter, crossing his hand on his chest. “Picked up a few people along the way. The gang’s twice its size now.”

You nodded at his answer.

“Seems you’ve had an addition too.”

The statement made heat rise to your face, and you swallowed down, nodding again.

“What’s her name?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

“Lily.”

“Beautiful name,” he said. “How old is she?”

“Three,” you said, knowing very well where this was going.

“Is she mine?” His voice was calm and reticent despite the fact that his mind was racing so fast he thought he was going to faint no matter what your answer was.

You closed your eyes, letting the weight of his question wash over you. The question that was lingering in the air since the moment your daughter was born, and that only became stronger when Arthur came today, was finally asked. To your own surprise, you felt yourself relax after a few seconds had passed. With the question being finally asked, you could feel the weight of it lifted from your shoulder.

“I don’t know,” you said, turning your head away

“What do you mean you don’t know?” he returned, somewhat exasperated.

“I don’t know, Arthur,” you repeated, your voice more stern, but still hushed as to not wake anyone up. “I don’t know.” You lowered your head before speaking again. “I don’t know. Roy and I were trying during that time.”

You held yourself in your hands, your head hanging low. About three years ago, Roy and you have been trying for months to get pregnant. Nothing was happening, until suddenly, it did. Roy was overjoyed, feeling that Isis has finally shined her light on the two of you. You, however, knew it took more than an Egyptian goddess of fertility to bring you to the situation at hand. Right away, you did the math, and despite how much you tried to tell yourself that the days could be a little bit off, the numbers didn’t lie. It only became more apartment when your daughter was born; within a few days, you could see traces of him in her; her light hair, her blue eyes. Even her lips and nose looked like his. She was a visual reminder, everyday, of what you and Arthur could have had.

“She looks like me, you know,” Arthur said, walking around to stand in front of you, his proximity making your heartbeat quicken like it always did.

“I know,” you said, your voice barely audible.

“What if she’s mine?”

You didn’t say anything, keeping your head low and your eyes focused on the ground until you felt his hand, soft and warm on your cheek, making you look up.

You felt enveloped in his love as you looked into his eyes. They were kind and inviting as he looked at you, and without saying anything, they offered shelter from all the worries of life.

His thumb traced your lower lip and you involuntarily opened your mouth, gasping. He stepped a little bit closer, pushing you against the counter with his body, making you feel all of him against you, the thin material of his union suit not leaving an inch of space between the two of you.

“I missed you,” he said.

He pressed his lips softly against yours, giving you a chance to slip away if you so desired to. You didn’t, waving your hands in his hair and bringing him closer instead, deepening the kiss. You hated yourself for not being stronger, for not resisting your inner desires. You hated how with just a touch, he had you under his control. His hands ran down your sides, following your curves from your chest over your waist and to your hips, stopping there. One of your hands reached out to touch his cheek, feeling a light stubble there (he went to you right away after finishing a mission, not having a chance to even shave) You remembered the night the two of you shared three years ago, how the feeling of his lips lingered on your for months after.

You wanted to get lost in the kiss, in him, but suddenly, a voice coming from the stairs pulled you out of your reverie, and the two of you broke apart as fast as you came together. You were slightly panting, both from the kiss and from the rush of anxiety at being caught. You looked up at the stairs from where the voice came, and after a few moments, two small feet came into the light, padding barefoot down the stairs.

“What are you doing here, sweetheart?” you said as you kneeled down to look at your daughter.

One of her hands held onto the arm of her stuffed bear, a friend who kept her company at night, while the other brushed the sleep out of her eyes, trying to stay awake long enough to talk to you. “Grandma’s snoring,” she drew before yawning.

You smiled, ruffling her blonde locks a bit before saying, “Well, you can sleep with daddy and me tonight then.”

Arthur stood a few feet away, watching the two of you without saying a word. He could feel resentment bubbling in him at your husband, and at the same time, himself. Despite how much he wanted to put all the blame on Roy (for “stealing” you), he realized that the only person he had to blame was himself. If he wasn’t so stupid all those years ago, if he just took your hand and let you lead him out of the outlaw life, this - a life with a house, a daughter and you as his wife - could’ve all been his. “Darlin’, right now ain’t a good time,” he would say when you would press him about finally making your escape. “We need more money if we wanna start on our own” would be another of his excuses. Truth be told, as much as he wanted to start a fresh, new life with you, he was afraid. Outlaw life was everything he’d ever known. He was raised and became the man he was today in it. He was terrified that out there, in the world of law and order, in which one woke up in the morning to start a day of work, and had proper suppers at the table with their family, he wouldn’t survive.

The sound of Lily’s voice, calling for him, pulled him out of his thoughts. Her clear, blue eyes, looked up at him as she asked him if he was her mother’s friend. You turned around to look at Arthur, and after a few seconds he said, “Yeah, I am. Something like that.” She smiled in return, calmed at knowing that the strange, big man was not a stranger at all but a friend. As you picked her up, ready to take her to bed, she introduced herself to Arthur, and asked him what his name was. He introduced himself, and in return, she said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Arthur.” You didn’t know why, but at seeing the scene play out, you could feel tears well up in your eyes. It could’ve all been so different, you thought. The three of you were so close at being a family, practically looked like one right now. You took a shaky breath, trying to calm yourself down before murmuring that it’s already too late, and walking over to your bedroom door with your daughter in your hands. You stopped at the door for a second, fumbling with the door knob. Arthur watched your back as you stood, your daughter’s head peeking from behind your shoulder, before you turned the knob and disappeared into the room.

He stood in the dark, empty dining room for a few more minutes, going over the scene that just unfolded a million times. He could feel the weight of everything crushing him down, breaking his bones and turning them into dust. He leaned heavily against the kitchen counter, shaking his head.

“Idiot,” he said to himself before taking the bottle of whiskey and pouring himself another shot.

______________

The sound of birds singing outside accompanied you as you woke up. It was still early and no one was up yet, so you got ready without any hurry before going into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Not a while later, Bertha joined you in the kitchen, and the two of you had everything ready right as the men came to take their seats at the table.

You kept quiet as you ate breakfast, with Arthur sitting across from you, Lily next to him, and Roy next to you. Bertha, being the kind host that she was, something that she got used to from the years of marriage to an army Sergeant, couldn’t sit still and continued to check up on everybody, pouring coffee even when the cups were halfway full and making sure there were no empty plates on the table. It was only when Roy said, “Enough, mother” did she take a seat at the head of the table and started her own meal.

As you ate your breakfast, Roy and Arthur talked, discussing once again the best route to take back to the ranch. Despite not planning on going himself, Roy still wanted to make sure his opinion on the matter was considered and suggested the main road, which although would take longer, was safer from wild animals and any “savage outlaws that roamed the plains.” Arthur snickered at his choice of words, and noted that if he wanted to “come back to a ranch and not heap of ash, a shortcut is a better option.” Roy didn’t reply anything and turned back to his meal.

As Bertha sipped on her coffee, she turned to face you and asked, “Are you going too?”

“No,” both Roy and Arthur said in unison, and “Yes,” said you.

An awkward silence fell over as the three of you looked between each other. You could feel the men eyeing you in bafflement, Roy especially, but you looked at Arthur and spoke to him first.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” you said, disbelief painted all over your face.

Arthur shook his head, looking away and furrowing his brows.

“You’re not coming, it’s too dangerous,” he said, turning back to face you.

You let out a small chuckle before saying, “We’ve faced far more dangerous things than some puny cattle rustlers.”

Arthur dropped his fork and knife on the table with a loud thud and said, “You have a daughter now, I ain’t gonna let you put yourself in harm's way.”

“But you’re gonna let yourself get in harm's way?” you returned, tilting your head and squinting your eyes at him.

“They know who you are, they don’t know me,” he said, the volume of his voice long past what was appropriate for a breakfast conversation. “I can get in and out and they won’t know what hit em”

“And do you expect me to just sit patiently and wait?” you said, throwing your hands around. “What if something goes wrong? What if they’re more dangerous than we thought? Am I supposed to just wait till someone brings in your body?” Your words began to tangle in each other, becoming almost incoherent as you spoke faster than your mind could process. They, however, were cut short as Arthur shouted your name and hit his palm down on the table, making a glass of water spill.

Finally, the silence fell over the dining room once again and the only thing that could be heard were drops of water hitting the floor. Both Bertha and Roy sat wearing similar expressions, their mouths hanging open, eyes wide at what they just saw and heard. They felt like spectators, watching a play unfold before their eyes.

As you tried to calm yourself down, you remembered how back when you were in the gang, the two of you almost never went on missions without each other. At first, it bothered Dutch that if he wanted to send you on a mission, Arthur was bound to come along (and vice versa), but soon, he came to accept that the two of you were a package deal. He even took a notice that the jobs went smoother when the two of you were together, evident by the fact that you would get the job done quicker, and your gains were higher than those that Arthur and you brought when you went separately.

“You know I can’t let you go alone, Arthur,” you said after some time.

As if riding down the same memory lane you just did, he sighted and shook his head.

“I know,” he said before getting up from the table and going over to the room where he stayed.

Slightly shaken up from the intense display that took place, Bertha got up from the table, and without a word started cleaning up, taking empty plates and cups and putting them in the sink. You sat with your eyes closed, taking deep breaths, and bracing yourself for what was to come. You could already feel Roy open his mouth, could already hear his voice…

Arthur was haphazardly throwing his stuff in his bag, crumpling his shirts and pants into balls and pushing them into his bag as if the clothes themselves were at fault for his mood. He remembered how much fun the two of you had when you went on the jobs together. How the sight of blood and the smell of gunpowder did nothing more than excite you. A smile broke through his solemn face at the memory. But now, he thought, it was different. Not only had it been years since you were in the line of fire, but you now had a child. Your life has changed, you got away, broke free from the never ending nightmare in which one has to always look behind their back and sleep with one eye open and a gun under their pillow. He didn’t want you back into that kind of life, if it could even be called that. Deep in his mind, however, he knew it wasn’t for him to decide.

He ran a hand through his hair, leaning over a dresser and closing his eyes. He could’ve probably plunged deeper into his thoughts, but a sound of hushed tones outside got his attention, and he straightened up, inching closer to the door and pressed his ear against it.

“I was okay with your past, but this is pushing it,” Roy said.

“Is my past pushing it?”

“Your past is in the guest bedroom, getting dressed.”

Your shoulders slumped as a heavy sigh left your lips. You and Roy have been bickering for the past five minutes. Truth be told, the bickering has been going on for the past few days, but only now has it culminated. The tension that he felt between you and Arthur just a few minutes ago drove him over the edge - the edge to which he came from seeing you hold a gun, hearing more about your past and now, seeing Arthur - and he found himself not being able to hold his thoughts and feelings in any longer. Just like it always happened with couples who started arguing about one thing, only to move on to a completely unrelated one, you both got defensive. The conversation was fruitless. Nothing of the matter was discussed, no solution was reached and everyone was left thinking the other was in the wrong, leaving the two of you sitting next to each other like strangers in a train station, waiting for the next train.

“I’m doing this for us, Roy,” you said.

“You’re doing this for yourself,” he spit out before adding, a little bit softer, “You’ve changed a lot in these couple of weeks. I feel like I don’t know who you are anymore.”

You felt yourself detach from the world upon hearing his words. You could faintly hear him continue talking, referencing the relationship between his mother and father, and how the former always consulted her husband before any major decision, but you were not listening. You smiled weakly to yourself at the irony that upon showing him the real you, with all your past and your secrets, he said he didn’t know you anymore. Didn’t know, or he didn’t want to, you thought. Your mind instantly went back to Arthur, like it often tended to these past few days, and you thought of how from the beginning, he knew who you were, and without a word, accepted and loved you.

“You ready?”

Arthur’s voice pulled you out of your mind, and stopped Roy in his speech. You looked at Arthur, and then at Roy. For the first time since you got married, you didn’t feel anything when looking into your husband's eyes. You could see him plead, silently, for you not to go.

Without saying a word, you got up from your chair and went to your room to get

ready.

_________________

You turned your head around to watch your husband stand on the porch as you and Arthur roared off to your destination. You wondered what he thought as his figure grew smaller and smaller till he completely disappeared behind the trees. You turned back forward, spurring your horse.

The feeling of being back on a horse, with an iron on your hip and wind in your hair was exhilarating. You could feel life flow through your veins as you held the reins. Through clear plains, mountains and forests, the two of you rode non-stop for a few hours. There was not a single person on your way, only occasional elks, deers, and raccoons accompanying you on the journey. For a moment, you felt like you were once again an outlaw. All of this felt so familiar; you and Arthur, adrenaline in your veins, dirt road ahead. For a moment, you caught yourself thinking that if it weren’t for your daughter back home, you simply would’ve kept riding on.

As you kept going, the sun slowly began to set, painting the road in front of you in orange.

“Let’s make camp,” Arthur said when the sun completely disappeared, and the night loomed over.

As you found a secluded space in the woods, the two of you fell into a long-established routine, with you going out to get some firewood and Arthur hunting a rabbit for the two of you to eat. The night might’ve been a bit chilly, but with the campfire next to you and the rum Arthur found in his satchel, the two of you were nice and warm as you enjoyed food, drinks and conversations that piled up from years apart.

Your combined laughs could be heard all throughout the forest as Arthur told you about the latest predicament that John got himself into, and which he of course had to save him from. Sounds like John, you thought. You couldn’t tell how many times you and Arthur were sent to rescue him from some sort of trouble. Being the youngest, John always felt that he had to prove something to someone, which in the end, only proved that he was still the baby of the gang (despite at that point being a full grown adult).

Gradually, the laughter died down, but the smile still lingered on your lips.

“What are you so happy about?” Arthur said.

You looked into the fire, watching the flames dance and reach towards the sky, as you answered. “It’s been so long since I felt so at ease, so free…” you said.“I just-I’m real happy being here.”

Arthur hummed at your answer before saying, “Ranch life ain’t cutting it for you no more?”

“A woman can only shovel shit for so long,” you said, making Arthur chuckle. You took another swig of the rum before passing it to Arthur.

“I took this all for granted when we was together,” you said, looking around, “the freedom, the nature, the road. And now when I don’t have it, I crave it.”

You looked up, catching Arthur’s gaze and holding it as you continued.

“I find myself so often thinking about the past,” you said and added, a little lower, “about you, how much I miss it all.”

Arthur could already feel the effect of your words on him, could already feel the intensity with which his heart beat faster. Hearing you say those words, sparked a flame in him. Only a few seconds passed before you continued speaking, but it was enough for Arthur to imagine, for a brief moment, a future with the two of you together. Could it be possible? Did he still have a chance at the happy ever after? He always was a firm believer that you can’t expect good things to happen to you while doing bad things, but in that instance, he allowed himself to believe that something good could happen.

“Oh, Arthur,” you said, shaking your head, “I think I made a mistake all those years ago.”

The camp was silent except for the crackling of fire as your words hung in the air. Unlike a few years ago, you didn’t backtrack on your words, didn’t feel embarrassed by them. You meant every syllable and every letter. As much as you adored your current life, with your cows and your ranch, you found yourself thinking more often that you weren’t meant for it. You were tired of playing the role of the doting housewife, a rancher, shoveling shit and milking cows. The real you was out there, among the horses and the gun smoke. The thought only got stronger the closer you were to Arthur, and now that you were sitting next to each other, your thighs almost touching together, it reached its pinnacle.

No more words needed to be said as you held Arthur’s gaze. Everything has been said years ago. You stood up and got into his lap, draping your hands over his shoulders while his instantly went for your hips. The two of you stayed like this for a moment, admiring each other under the moonlight. You were conscious of nothing except the feeling of each other’s bodies against one another. Finally you moved your head closer, brushing your lips against his. You could feel his breath on your lips, the rum that the two of you drank still fresh on them. He closed his eyes, already leaning forward towards you.

His hands tightened on your hips when you pressed your lips against his, slow and gentle like you always were. The two of you quickly found a comfortable pace, your lips moving against each other in a perfect flow, your tongues brushing against one another every once in a while. Instinctively, you started to move your hips against his, searching for that delicious feeling you were craving. Arthur wasn’t holding back either, moving his hips in tandem with yours, brushing his clothed erection over your center. His hands left your hips, moving to your blouse and unbuttoning it, revealing your naked chest.

You helped him completely remove your blouse, throwing it into direction unknown. As soon as it was away, his mouth was on your skin, starting at your neck and moving down to your chest.

“Arthur,” you moaned when his tongue circled your nipple. You tangled your fingers in his hair, gently massaging his scalp and pushing your chest closer to his mouth. You could feel his beard scraping at your chest, adding a slight burn that only heightened your pleasures. One of his hands started palming your other breast, rolling your nipple between his fingers and making you throw your head back, moaning into the night.

He started going up your neck once again, leaving light nips and kisses from your chest, up your collarbone and neck, reaching to your ear. He kissed behind your ear while one of his hands was palming your breast, sending jolts of pleasure all through your being.

“Darlin’,” he said, kissing over your jaw and cheek, “I ain’t never lettin’ you go again.”

When it came to words, Arthur’s were always simple. He didn’t use any extraordinary vocabulary or elaborate euphemism. He always said what he meant, and his words always came from his heart. Hearing him utter this promise now, which held a vision of the future so beautiful you could hardly imagine it, made you teeter on the verge of crying tears of joy. You crashed your lips against his, not knowing any other way to express the sheer mix of love, lust and longing you were feeling.

Neither of you could wait much longer and you untangled yourself from each other, standing up and starting to remove each other's clothes. He helped you unbuckle your belt and throw it aside while you unbuttoned his shirt. His lips were back on yours as he helped you pull his shirt away and went to work on the buttons of your pants. Before long, the little camp you set up was littered with your combined clothes, leaving you in just your drawers and Arthur in his union suit.

It was a beautiful night, with a sky so clear that the amount of stars around was inestimable. You, however, didn’t pay any attention to them, keeping your eyes on Arthur as you slowly pulled down your drawers, letting them fall to the ground. His breathing became haggard as he took in your naked form, flushed in pink from the campfire next to you. He's seen you naked before countless times, yet the sight of our body never stopped to take his breath away. His breathing was caught in his throat as he watched your every movement, following your hands as they reached out to the buttons of his union suit.

You could see the reflection of the fire in his eyes as you stood in front of him, popping button after button of his union suit, revealing his tan skin. Once the last button was open, he helped you take his union suit off, leaving the two of you naked to each other.

He took your hand in his and helped you down to the bedroll, covering your body with his. With the campfire next to you, and Arthur’s body covering yours, you felt warm and safe, protected from any and every thing the world could throw at you. One of his hands reached out, cradling your face.

You placed your hand on his chest, running it up to his head and tangling it in his hair, bringing him down and pressing your lips against his. The kiss was as fiery and as hot as the fire you were laying next to, and in that moment, you realized that you never fell as alive as when you were with Arthur. “Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for things it has forbidden to itself,” you remembered a quote from the book you were reading a few weeks ago, and realized you were tired of resisting. You didn’t know what tomorrow had in store for you, but right now, you had Arthur and that’s all that mattered.

Breaking the kiss, he looked you in the eyes and said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You didn’t even have to think to answer. Your answer came so quick it almost sounded as if the two of you talked at the same time.

The lopsided smile that appeared on Arthur’s lips at your words was so genuine and innocent, it made you smile in return. You made sure to burn the image of it in your memory, just like all the others you got throughs the years when the two of you said, “I love you”.

He settled comfortably between your spread legs and took a hold of his member before slowly pushing in.

“Arthur,” you moaned his name, clawing at his back when he bottomed out. You were practically dripping with how wet you were, yet his girth still gave you that delicious feeling of being stretched.

He kept still for a few moments, letting you get used to him all while whispering praises in your ear and kissing down your neck. When you felt you were ready, you moved your hips.

As if in a dream, silhouetted by the trees, the two of you made love under the starry night sky. The erotic novels would be envious of the passion the two of your shared; your bodies, sweaty, moving against each other in a perfect rhythm, your hands and legs, entangled in each other, your moans and sighs, unbounded, sounding in an empty forest. You were so lost in each other, you didn’t care if anyone heard you, the existence of other people didn’t register to you. The world was only as big as your camp, and the only people in it were the two of you.

You could feel yourself near the peak, could feel your legs twitch each time Arthur hit that delicious spot in you. He could feel it too, with how your walls were squeezing him tighter, and how your eyes were rolling to the back of your head each time he pushed in you. He wasn’t far behind either. One of his hands reached between the two of you, finding your clit and teasing it. It was as if an electric current shot through you; all your energy centered on where Arthur was touching you. You dug your nails into Arthur’s back, holding on to him as you breathed his name into his ear.

“Come on, darlin’,” he whispered in your ear, “let me feel you.”

As if hearing his voice was the last piece you needed to fall apart, you did. You saw white for a few moments as the immense pleasure took over your body, igniting every last nerve in you to life. You kept your body moving against his, your primal urges making you chase every last bit of pleasure you could get.

The sight of you so lost in lust, your face contoured from the pleasure you were feeling pulled Arthur overboard, and he came a few moments later, spilling in you and warming your walls with his seed.

The two of you stayed like this for a few more minutes, entangled in each other, whispering “I love you”s as you showered each other with kisses, from neck, to cheeks, to forehead and lips.

In the end, the two of you moved to the tent, draping a blanket over your bodies and holding onto each other. As the night went on, the tent filled with your combined dreams and hopes for the future. For the first time since the two of you got together, Arthur seriously discussed the possibility of leaving the gang so the three of you (You, Arthur and your daughter) could run away somewhere. You listened to him with your mouth open, not daring to make a single noise in fear of missing even a word he said. Could it be possible, you thought. Could you finally have the perfect ever after you’ve always dreamt of with Arthur? By the tone of his voice and how deeply in details he went as he planned the possible escape, you realized that your new life was right around the corner.

Despite the exhilarating conversation you were having, the two of you remembered you still had to wake up early tomorrow to make it to the ranch in time (the final loose end you had to tie before you were free). Reluctantly, you brought the conversation to a close - hopefully to be picked up again later - and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

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ragingbookdragon · 3 years ago

Text

Each Word Gets Lost In The Echo PT. 1

Roy Harper x Batbrother!Reader

Word Count: 2.9K Warnings: Explicit Language, Mature Themes

Author's Note: I had way too much fun with this but PT. 2 is going to be angsty and y'all are gonna hate me for it. >:) Enjoy! -Thorne

********************************************************************************

So, are you planning on getting us together soon?

He hummed in response, pulling out the pan and spatula. “I dunno. With Gutierrez’s wife giving birth, I want Esmeralda to have some time with her daughter before we pull out again. I know her Samantha wants her home.”

Understood, but…what’s happening in Syria…it’s not going to get better on its own.

“I know it won’t, Nadeen. But until we get a mission from somebody overseas, we can’t exactly go out.” He pulled a few eggs from the refrigerator, cracking them on the rim of the pan, watching the yellow yolks fall in. “Besides, it’s the first week of a three-month leave.” He smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re already bored.”

Are you kidding me? Um and Ab have grounded me from flying. I’m stuck here, (Y/N).

“How is your family by the way? Wasn’t your sister attending the Cairo University?” he asked.

Yeah, and Um is so proud of her.

(Y/N) chuckled, whisking the eggs in the pan. “Someone’s jealous.”

Well, I can’t exactly tell my parents I work for an illegal black ops squad. Kinda puts dampers in relationships.

“Nadeen, we’re not an illegal squad. We’re government sanctioned.”

The fuck we are. They just don’t bother us because they know they can’t kill us all.

Grabbing the pepper, he ground some into the pan. “Jesus, take a vacation, Nadeen. Go to France or something.”

Fuck France. I’ll go to Saint Petersburg first. Oh shit, speaking of SP, have you spoken to Vitsina yet?

(Y/N) frowned, setting down the pepper grinder. “Why? Is something wrong?”

What? No. I was just wondering if you had. She really needs to get a hobby. Hey, maybe I can get her and Walker to come hang out with me at home.

“You’re not going to get Walker out of his flat, Nadeen. You know how he is when he gets on leave.”

And what about Nakamoto?

“You know they’re both paranoid. Remember to—” something clanged down the hallway and he stopped, mid-sentence, going silent.

Hello? (Y/N)? Captain, you alright?

He frowned and turned off the stove, opening a drawer at the far end of the counter. Pulling out the Glock, he cocked it and murmured, “Asghar, lemme call you back.”

Ten-four, Captain. Be careful.

The line went dead, and he crept to the edge of the doorway and paused, inhaling sharply before he peeked around the corner, gun ready. Nothing. (Y/N)’s frown only deepened as he moved down the hallway, quiet and breathless. He got to the first room in the hall, his study and he shifted against the wall, listening for movement. When he heard nothing, he moved slightly, gun pointed into the door as he swept the room. Empty.

Exhaling deeply, he started to move when he heard the noise again and he peeked out the door to his bedroom. There. (Y/N) crept along the wall again until he was at the doorway and he leaned against the frame, listening carefully. Something was in there. Something or someone, he didn’t know what, but he did know.

(Y/N) waited until the noise got closer then turned the doorway and moved in. Someone’s hand shot out, grabbing the gun and he grunted, throwing up his elbow into their jaw. The intruder cried and with their free hand, grabbed (Y/N)’s shirt and yanked; they went tumbling to the ground, the gun falling away, but he didn’t waste his chance, scrambling atop the stranger as he went for the Strider he had in his back pocket.

He flicked it out and brought it down when the person beneath him grabbed it with one hand, the other ripping off the hood he wore. “(Y/N)! It’s me!”

“Roy?”

The archer sighed and went slack beneath him. “God, yes, it’s me!”

(Y/N) relaxed and tossed the knife to the side, hanging his head down. “Jesus Fuck Roy, I thought you were an assassin.”

“Get those often?” he shot back and (Y/N) glowered at him.

“Yeah, I do actually.” He rolled off Roy and got to his feet, holding out his hand for him to take.

“God, remind me not to sneak up on you again.” He let himself be tugged up and rubbed his jaw. “I thought you dislocated my jaw for a second.”

(Y/N) shoved a finger in his face. “You’re lucky you managed to grab the gun because I almost shot your ass.” He bent down and picked up his Glock and knife, putting the latter back in his pocket after he’d flicked it shut. “Are you some kind of idiot? Why the fuck didn’t you just knock on the door? What possibly justified sneaking into a mercenary’s bedroom through the window?”

Roy shrugged. “I thought you weren’t home yet.”

He opened his mouth to retort, then shut it and nodded. “Alright, that’s actually not a terrible excuse.” Sighing, he shoved past Roy and walked down the hall into the kitchen, the archer following him. “But don’t do it again.”

“Why? Worried you were gonna shoot your boyfriend?” Roy teased, wrapping his arms around (Y/N)’s waist, nuzzling into his neck.

“Yeah, I was.” He put the gun back in the drawer and lugged the archer towards the stove where he flicked the burner back on. “Next time just text me and ask if I’m home.”

Roy hummed, pressing a kiss just above the mercenary’s collar. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well,surprise me you did,” (Y/N) griped. “I seriously thought I was about to have a firefight in my own damn apartment.” He paused, seeming to remember something and said, “I live in a penthouse.” Glancing at Roy, he questioned, “How the fuck did you get up here?”

“I’ve got skills, babe,” Roy grinned, waggling his brows and (Y/N) rolled his eyes before tapping the Bluetooth headset at his ear.

“Call Nadeen.” It pinged for a few moments.

Captain, you’re back. Everything good?

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Roy was in the apartment.”

You live in a penthouse? How’d he get up there?

“His ‘skills’ apparently.”

Nice. He still going around with your brother?

(Y/N) nodded forgetting she wasn’t in front of him and reclined into Roy as the eggs started cooking. “Yeah. Got a new gig as Red Hood and Arsenal.”

Roy blinked. “Wait, does your squad know…about you know…”

He waved and (Y/N) completed, “That my family and friends are vigilantes? Yeah. Why?”

“Isn’t that a breach of security?”

He snorted. “You act like my squad is friends with every government in the world, baby.” He shook his head. “I trust my team with everything. And in return they trust me with theirs.”

Aww, Captain you do care.

“Does your dad know that they know?”

(Y/N) shrugged. “Probably. But he doesn’t tell me how to live my life and I don’t tell him how to live his.” He scrambled the eggs. “Nadeen, go hang out with Vitsina for a week or two if you’re really that bored.”

She’s back in Russia right now, isn’t she?

“I think so. Said she had a loose end to tie up with Antonovich.”

Oh shit, she’s gonna fucking kill that guy. She might need air support then.

“Hence why I said go hang out with her.”

Wanna come along? You could bring your boy-toy?

“Did she just call me a boy-toy?” Roy blurted. “Excuse you, I am not a boy-toy. I am a boy-man.”

Well, from the pictures Captain’s showed us, you are in fact a boy-toy, Roy.

He blinked and looked at (Y/N). “What pictures did you show them?”

“Nothing,” he coughed. “Nadeen, shut up.”

The ones with the red lace and matching heels.

“You didn’t.” Roy breathed. “You showed them the pin-up photos?!”

(Y/N)’s mouth fell open and closed as he vaguely gestured around. “I didn’t directly show them. Nakamoto hacked my phone like the nosy asshole he is and found ‘em.”

“So that means you still showed them because you apparently didn’t stop them from seeing!”

Oh, look at that, Captain, Ab is calling me. Talk later!

She hung up on him and (Y/N) huffed a laugh, pulling the device from his ear. He set it aside and shrugged out of Roy’s arms, pulling two plates out of the cabinet beside them. He plated the food, smirking at the flush across Roy’s cheeks. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re embarrassed, baby?”

“You showed my nudes to your black ops squad. It’s hot. Ridiculously hot. But also embarrassing.”

“If it makes you feel any better, they were very impressed with them.”

Roy tried and failed horribly to hide the grin coming over his lips. “…They were?”

(Y/N) set down the plates and got up in Roy’s personal space and flirted, “Oh absolutely baby. They were so stunned at how pretty you looked all dolled up in that red teddy, your lips painted crimson.” He gripped Roy’s hips and pulled them flush together, and while Roy was about five-eleven, (Y/N) had a couple inches on him. He smirked when he felt the definition in Roy’s jeans. “Wanna know what my favorite picture is?”

Roy swallowed thickly, one hand coming to grab at the island behind him, the other grabbing (Y/N)’s shoulder. “Which—which one?”

He pressed a kiss to the underside of the archer’s jaw, trailing his lips to his ear where he breathed, “The one where you’re bent down on the bed…” he reached up behind Roy’s back and tugged at the hair at the nape of his neck. “Your ass is up in the air and...”

“Uh huh, what else?” Roy begged, hips canting forward.

“God, you’ve got that pretty red flush across your cheeks.” (Y/N) whispered. “You looked incredibly ravishing.” He breathed in Roy’s ear. “We were on that mission in Kazakhstan for two whole months and all I could think about was getting back home and drilling you into the mattress until you couldn’t walk.”

“(Y/N)…” the archer groaned shamelessly. “Babe, please.”

He smirked, pressing a kiss to Roy’s cheek. “I didn’t show them that one though,” he said, pulling away without a second thought, picking up the plates. “I kept that one to myself. It’s still in my wallet if you wanna go check. I look at it a lot.”

(Y/N) wandered towards the living room and plopped down on the couch, propping his legs up on the coffee table. He snorted when he heard Roy’s moan of frustration followed by the man stomping into the living room with the other plate in his hand, the free one adjusting the front of his jeans.

“I hate you.” He scowled, sitting on the other end of the couch. “I hate you so fucking much it’s not funny.”

(Y/N) shrugged and picked up the remote, switching the channels until he found a football game to watch. “You snuck into my penthouse and almost made me shoot you point blank.” He shot Roy a grin. “I guess we’re both doing things to each other we don’t like.”

“I thought you weren’t home!”

“Mhm. Punishment is still a punishment, baby.” He turned up the volume and dug into his eggs. “Jason know you’re in Gotham City?”

Roy swallowed the food in his mouth, answering, “Told him I was in the area.”

“You know he’s gonna wanna see you.” (Y/N) replied. “If not to hang out, to make sure you’re not into trouble.”

“Are you saying I’m trouble, babe?” Roy retorted and he chuckled.

“You’re my kind of trouble.”

The archer went silent, and his cheeks flushed. “…That was a low blow.”

(Y/N) winked. “Uh huh.” His side vibrated and he reached down, pulling his phone out.

“Who is it?” Roy asked.

“Alfred.” He slid his thumb along the bottom and put it to his ear. “Hello, you’ve reached the answering machine of your favorite grandson. How may I assist you today, grandpa?”

You’re absolutely hysterical, Master (Y/N). You should go into comedy.

“I would but it doesn’t pay that well unlike merc missions.”

Hmm…how are you today, Master (Y/N)?

He smiled. “Not too bad Alfie. Could’ve eaten a perfect parfait with fresh fruit and granola, but beggars can’t be choosers, huh?”

You did miss an excellent breakfast if I do say so myself. Nevertheless, it is Sunday morning. Shall I expect you later tonight for dinner?

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Alfie.” (Y/N) agreed.

Wonderful. I shall set out an extra plate in case you decide to invite Master Harper. Have a good day. Until tonight, sir.

The line clicked and (Y/N) pulled the phone from his ear, staring at it in confusion. “Babe? What’s wrong?” Roy questioned.

He shook his head. “Alfred knew you were here.”

“What? He did?”

He looked up at Roy. “Yeah…said he was going to set out an extra plate for you tonight at dinner in case you wanted to come.”

“I get to come to the Wayne Family Sunday Night Dinner? Really?” he seemed awfully excited.

“Dude, it’s just dinner.”

“That you guys do every Sunday night and don’t allow anybody to tread on,” Roy retorted with a glare. “This is special.”

(Y/N) rolled his eyes. “Are you that eager to be introduced to the family?” he dodged the pillow Roy threw at him. “But…if you wanna come, you’re free to.”

“Really?” Roy doubted. “You want me to come over? I thought you wanted to keep this quiet?”

He sighed and pulled his legs from the table, setting the plate on it. “It’s not that I want it to stay a secret. It’s just…I worry about it.”

Roy set his plate down on the coffee table and scooted close. “What about?”

“I don’t know, Roy. I’m just worried that the more people that know about us the more danger I put you in.”

“Babe…” Roy started, placing a hand on the other side of (Y/N)’s cheek so he could turn his face to the archer’s. “We both live dangerous lives. There’s always going to be danger surrounding us.”

“I know,” (Y/N) sighed, leaning into Roy’s hand. “I still worry though. About you…about us.” He met those evergreen eyes. “I’m just worried that every time I leave, it’s going to be the last time we see each other.”

Roy chuckled. “Afraid I’m going to get offed?”

“No,” he murmured, turning his lips into Roy’s palm. “That I will.”

The archer gaped at him. “(Y/N)…why haven’t you told me about this?”

“Because I’m a super soldier who was trained to keep my emotions under control by an anal retentive, over glorified kitchen scale of a father.” (Y/N) deadpanned, then heaved an even bigger sigh and rested his forehead against Roy’s shoulder. “You’ve got enough on your plate.”

“Yeah, Jaybird keeps me pretty busy with missions.”

He chuckled. “Gonna have to tell my little brother to let my boyfriend have a break.”

“Break smeak.” Roy quipped, pressing a kiss to (Y/N)’s temple. “Listen to me, you’re a strong man, (Y/N). You’re probably the best out of your family. Smart and skilled off the charts.” He ran his calloused fingers down his lover’s neck. “If anyone is going to get out alive on a mission, it’ll always be you. Always.”

He sighed, turning his nose into Roy’s neck as he whispered. “You think so?”

Roy smiled, gripping his chin lightly to pull his head up. “I don’t think so, babe. I know so.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to (Y/N)’s. “I love you,” he murmured against the soldier’s lips. “So much.”

(Y/N) hummed and pressed a hand to Roy’s chest, shoving him backwards onto the couch and he crawled atop him. “I love you more,” he replied and pulled his shirt off his body before pressing his hand to Roy’s chest, except the archer hissed and he let up. “What’s wrong?” he worried, and he shook his head.

“Nothing.”

“Roy.” He warned, cocking a brow. “Where are you hurt?” he asked, pressing the same spot again.

“Ow! Stop that!” Roy grunted. “It’s tender.”

“What’s tender?” (Y/N) inquired and Roy sighed.

“I got a new tattoo.”

He narrowed his eyes and gazed down at him. “Of?”

“Nothing.” The archer muttered, though pink was coming across his cheeks and he sighed.

“C’mon Roy. Talk or I’ll tease it out of you.” He shot him a glare. “And you know I will.”

They stared one another down for a minute then Roy sighed and pulled his shirt off and (Y/N) peeled away the bandage. His eyes went wide when he saw the silver spartan helmet atop the black shield, the gold lettering underneath.

“Is this…”

“Your squad designation?” Roy offered. “Yeah…thought it seemed right.”

(Y/N) traced the raised flesh, eyes flashing to Roy’s when he shivered from the calloused touch. “I can’t believe you got my squads symbol tattooed on your chest.”

“You don’t like it?” he sounded hurt.

“I love it,” (Y/N) huffed, gesturing to his own tattoo on his ribs. “We match now…though you forgot to put your name inside the shield.”

“Well, I’m not technically a Spectre, (Y/N).” Roy said.

“Maybe not, but that’s still where your name goes.” He retorted and smiled. “It’s awesome, baby.”

Roy’s thumb brushed his hipbone. “So does the tattoo get me out of punishment for sneaking in?”

(Y/N) smirked down at him. “It just might.” He reached down and tugged the front of Roy’s pants. “Why don’t you show me how sorry you are for it? I just might decide to forgive you before subjecting you to dinner with my family.”

A multitude of emotions flashed through Roy’s eyes. Arousal, desire, need, and then surprise. “Oh shit, I forgot about dinner.”

“Seriously?” (Y/N) blinked, unsurprised. “God you’re such a man.” He crawled out of Roy’s lap much to the archer’s dismay and groaning.

“Where are you going?”

He paused and looked back at him. “I’m not fucking you on my couch, Roy.” He started towards his bedroom. “Hurry up or I’ll start without you.”

Roy rolled off the couch and to his feet as fast as he could.

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